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The free-to-play title Sword of the New World has received mixed reactions from players, but the folks at IMC Games are undeterred. Later this month, they plan to release the first expansion to the unique fantasy title - Nocturnal Sonata. IGN has up a quick preview of the new content, which looks to be a significant addition to the game. Nocturnal Sonata will offer players the brand-new region of Caebolan, a mysterious once-magical nation. Within those lands is a mighty prize, the lost city of El Dorado. The preview includes a bit of lore about the realm, discussing a dangerous miscalculation by the wizard Montoro and its cataclysmic result on the nation.

What's encouraging is that this new content won't just be dolled out to Sword of the New World players; they're going to have to work for it. Before Caebolan can be reached, each server is going to have to collaborate to unlock the path. IMC is taking a unique approach to this event, forcing multiple clans to work together to overcome a massive, fearsome hill giant. The beast is said to be able to crush individual characters with little more than a flick of the wrist, so a group effort will really be required to get to the new content. An interesting approach indeed. Be sure to check out our previous posts on the expansion, and look for Nocturnal Sonata to drop June 25th.

IGN has a scoop on the new 'Nocturnal Sonata' expansion to Sword of the New World, an MMO also known as Granado Espada in Asia. Sword of the New World is a free-to-play title brought to North America and Europe by the K2 Network. Massively has looked at this game in the past and found it to be a quirky title; IGN describes its setting as 'the European Baroque period if it was designed by a modern anime artist'. Sword of the New World becomes even more surreal given that its old world setting is juxtaposed with a techno soundtrack.

Surreal qualities aside, the game has some interesting features, particularly the use of collectible UPCs, or Unique Player Characters. The concept is somewhat comparable to the Heroes in Guild Wars. You control up to three characters at once who are members of your 'family'; certain NPCs for whom you've successfully completed quests offer themselves up to be added to your family as UPCs and called upon to aid you in your adventures. They provide access to special hybrid classes with unique powers to match. There are over 40 such UPCs, and two more are initially being added in the Nocturnal Sonata expansion: Vincent Rio (who inflicts damage with music) and Baek Ho (martial artist extraordinaire). Yet more UPCs are to follow in the coming months, adding new gameplay possibilities to Sword of the New World. The Nocturnal Sonata expansion will be released on June 25, and closely follows the 'The Land of the Dead' expansion released only three months ago.

The developers of innovative, free-to-play MMO Sword of the New World have released Update #4 of their Manifest Destiny expansion which introduces the new area, Bahamar Bayou. This swampy area is filled with new monsters, bosses and quests for your adventuring enjoyment. Need a new friend? Then stop off in Auch and start your quest to earn Garcia Gygax, brother to Eduardo, skilled with pistol and rapier. You will need to have completed ALL the Auch quests before you can start the quest for this honorable and ferocious fighter. (And yes, the Gygax brothers are named in honor of the father of role-playing games, E. Gary Gygax).

Also in this patch are new swim trunks and bikinis for those times when you just need to relax and recharge between forays into the wilderness. Also added is Lucifer's Wing Pack and two additional Lacquers.

Be sure to read the full patch notes for the complete list of new features and bug fixes in this latest update!

K2 Network, recently named the 2008 Entertainment and Gaming Company of the Year (in Southern California), has announced a new expansion for their MMO Sword of the New World. Like any good patch, "The Land of the Dead" includes new monsters, new Cash Shop items, new spells, new elites and more. This patch also introduces the Polisher System which brings Ancestral items into the mix. These are extremely powerful and rare items which are similar to the Elite items, yet will be bound to your family only, and can't be dropped or traded.

"The Land of the Dead" includes a PvP-enabled player map filled with all creatures of the dead, where everyone is considered the enemy. It can be accessed through Los Toldos in Porto Bello, A Deserted Quay. Two new UPCs also join the fray, with the introduction of Kurt and Eduardo. These Unique Player Characters add a new element to the existing pool of UPCs we've encountered previously. So head on over to the Sword of the New World main site to check out more details on this new highly-anticipated expansion.

You've got to love that "new world smell". Sword of the New World or Granado Espada was created by imcGames and the creator of Ragnarok Online, Hakkyu Kim. K2 Networks has brought the game to North America and has made it free to play via the GamersFirst network. I'm not one to pass up a free to play game and since I had already been eyeing Sword of the New World with interest, it seemed like the perfect setup.

The first step was to create an account on GamersFirst. The site/network plays host to a number of free to play games you can gain access to and manage from their site. They also have giveaways and who doesn't love giveaways? Brace yourself, however, the game client is a 3-gig download and then you need an additional 600mb patch once you start the game. My advice: start the download before you go to work, provided you have a job. Then, start the patch when you come home for lunch. By the time you get home, the game should be ready to play and you'll be ready to go where no one ... well, where a bunch of people have gone before. But it will be new to you!

After announcing that Korean MMOG, Granado Espada, would be commercial on 30 August, 2007, Asia-Pacific operators IAHGames have announced that the MMO will be free-to-play at some (as yet) unannounced date in the Asia-Pacific region in the very near future (The game is, as we understand it, already free-to-play in North America, having gone free-to-play on 21 August 2007). That's Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

Granado Espada (also known in North America as Sword of the New World, where it is operated by K2 Network), won the 2006 Korean awards for Best Graphics, and for Game of the Year. Reviews and responses in North America have been more mixed, but Granado Espada does provide some interesting departures from more regular MMO fare.

The Escapist reports that following disappointing profits despite record sales, Chinese gaming company The9 (the Chinese carrier of World of Warcraft) saw its stock values plummet by 32% recently. The company then took the opportunity to purchase back $50 million worth of shares in itself.

CEO and Chairman Jun Zhu was quoted by The Escapist saying, "We think that the current shares price level do not reflect the company's value and potential. Mirroring this confidence, our board of directors has authorized the company to repurchase up to $50 million of its own stock."

This curiously comes after a great deal of growth of the Chinese World of Warcraft player-base in Q3 and the recent launch of Sword of the New World: Granado Espada.

For those of you wondering 'K2 who?', you're not alone; the interviewer himself admits to having to look up the company on its website before beginning the interview. However, as publisher of mostly Asian free-to-play MMO titles such as Knight Online, Global MU Online, and the recently-released Sword of the New World, K2 Network is well-stocked with potential gaming goodness.

One of the questions I've always had about these free-to-play MMOs is 'How do they make money?' The answer is 'Item sales', where in-game objects are paid for through purchased currency, which is apparently the standard business model of these types of games in Korea.

It's an interesting interview, and one that made me curious to see these games, so watch for my take on them in the near future.

[Thanks, Siam!]

We had a chance to hit up the inaugural year for E for All in Los Angeles, and while turnout wasn't so hot, there were a few goodies we were able to get our hands on. We collated the MMO-related shots for a Massively-flavored E for All gallery:



We also offer a screenshot gallery from the time we got to spend with Warhammer Online:



And some initial screenshots from the upcoming title from Avatar Reality, Blue Mars:



For the full mega-gallery featuring your required dosage of cosplay and Rock Band almost-stars, check out the complete Joystiq E for All gallery:

Gallery: E for All 2007