Server populations on Age of Conan are apparently not at the levels Funcom anticipated. Aiming to ensure "more healthy" populations, the company will be merging servers in both Europe and North America.

Game director Craig Morrison writes on the game's official forums that Funcom is "actively working on an approach" to the server merge.

"Still, there are many complexities involved in this, and we want to ensure that everything happens as fair and streamlined as possible," says Morrison.

"That work has now started, and we are naturally making sure that guilds and players can get to new servers in the best possible way. We will come back with more info on this, but I hope that this will serve as a positive injection to the social scene in the game."

Morrison also says that players can expect to see DirectX 10 functionality, which remained on the internal test servers for Age of Conan's launch, entering the full test server environment with the next gameplay update.

"How long it will take to transition to live will depend on the testing of course, but it’s starting to shape up nicely," he says.

In mid-August Funcom called AoC's launch a success, at that time having sold over 800,000 copies and gaining 415,000 customers. While the company expects subscription dollars from the game to drive its third-quarter revenue, it also pledged to "commit enhancement and corrections" to AoC based on player feedback, as part of its retention strategy.

[The preceding article by Simon Carless originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Second Life developer Linden Lab has announced that Tom Hale is the company's new Chief Product Officer.

Hale most recently served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Knowledge Worker Business Unit at Adobe Systems, and is to report directly to Linden Lab's CEO Mark Kingdon in his position responsible for "driving the product strategy and business for Second Life."

Prior to Adobe, Hale was an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Redpoint Ventures, and at Adobe, Hale drove the strategy for businesses including Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Connect and the Flash Media Server after the acquisition of Macromedia. Hale also holds a bachelors degree from Harvard University.

“Tom brings deep experience at every stage of the product lifecycle – from creating, launching and marketing great products to building large businesses around them,” said Mark Kingdon, CEO, Linden Lab. “Second Life is made up of an unusually complex array of products, and few executives have the range required to craft and execute a product strategy for such a rich, vibrant and diverse experience. Tom does. He will play a pivotal role in taking Second Life to the next level and will be a great partner for me.”

KingsIsle Entertainment has announced a "family subscription plan" for its tween virtual world Wizard101, with multiple accounts (charged to the same credit card) to be available for $6.95 each, a reduction from the general subscription rate for one account, which is $9.95.

Discounts to the general subscription plan are also available for six-month and one-year subscriptions.

Wizard101 remains free-to-play, with the subscription available for those who wish to experience "advanced play content and features" -- though KingsIsle note that they intend to continue to add to both the free-to-play and ssubscription game environments are planned on an ongoing basis.

In support of this announcement, KingsIsle forwarded several positive messages from adult players of Wizard101, including "Olivia Jadeflower" (her in-game name) stating "I live 1500 miles from my grandchildren... and now this is the game we play. They both think it's great that their grandma plays with them and like to brag about it to all their friends," and "Donna Mythcaster" claiming "...of all the games out there for kids, this is the best one by far! The chat is safe, it's exciting, and great fun for parents to play with their children."

Provider of in-game commerce ecosystems Fatfoogoo has announced it has appointed Stevana Case as Vice President of Business Development and Sales.

Stevana "Stevie" Case is a well known figure in the industry -- from her position as one of the first recognizable female gamers (by beating John Romero in a Quake deathmatch -- she later worked, and had a relationship, with Romero) but she has most recently worked in business development for mobile software solution developer Tira Wireless.

Before that, Case led product development team for Warner Bros. Online's Mobile Group.

Previously, Fatfoogoo announced it has made its monetization software system available to developers in Project Darkstar, an Sun Microsystems Laboratories' open source development environment.

“Stevana is widely respected in the videogame industry with impressive experience as a professional gamer, designer, author and more,” said Martin Herdina, co-founder and CEO of Fatfoogoo. “Her knowledge of the industry and deep passion for gaming is a winning combination for Fatfoogoo as we expand our business in North America.”

Nexon America has announced its free-to-play, online, multiplayer first-person shooter Combat Arms is to launch its paid-for content on October 1st.

From that point, the game will feature an in-game cash item shop called the "Black Market", and there players will have the ability to purchase male and female mercenaries as additional characters, customized items and "fresh start" options to help complete missions.

Nexon have also announced that the game is to introduces a "revamped" melee system including new melee weapons available for players to purchase. New aesthetic gear (such as masks, hats and backpacks) are also to be available for purchase.

Players and clans will also be able to use Nexon Cash to purchase name changes and statistic resets through the Black Market. Clans can also distinguish their squad by creating their own "Clan Emblem", which will be permanently displayed to all other players both in-game and on the official web site.

Combat Arms' free content includes over 40 weapons, eight maps, four game modes, and character and weapon customization features, and Nexon has promised to continue to enhance and upgrade both its free and paid offerings with bi-monthly content updates.

“Combat Arms had a great beta run, with players of all levels loving the fast-action FPS game play and in-game community features for ranking and challenging other players,” said Min Kim, vice president of marketing for Nexon America. “With this launch, gamers now have access to additional play options that help the player stand out without compromising the fairness of play.”

Flying Lab Software has announced it is offering free 14 day trials of its seafaring MMO Pirates of the Burning Sea to interested users who visit the website, with no purchase necessary – though players who wish to continue to continue playing after two weeks will have to purchase a copy.

Pirates of the Burning Sea is published by Sony Online Entertainment, and is set in the Caribbean in the 1700s. Players can play a nationality (French, Spanish or English) or a pure pirate in a player-driven economy.

Download instructions and trial keys for new players are available through the Pirates of the Burning Sea website.

“Our 14-day free trial program is an effort to give everyone a taste of Pirates of the Burning Sea game play,” said Russell Williams, CEO of Flying Lab Software. “People are really going to enjoy their experience with us, and I’m excited to welcome these new members into our community!”

Following its previous announcement of a partnership with online child protection solution developer Crisp Thinking, Metaverse Mod Squad has announced an integration partnership with Parature, a developer of on-demand customer service software.

An avatar staffing firm for virtual worlds, by usingParature’s software, Metaverse Mod Squad’s moderators and customer service teams intend to more effectively serve and support the residents of virtual worlds.

“As the global leader in on-demand customer service software, we are delighted to announce this partnership with the top-notch moderators and support teams of Metaverse Mod Squad,” said Chuck Coulson, Parature Vice President of Business Development. “Parature is the fastest growing customer service and support software company in the United States, and this integration partnership opens even more doors and expands our presence in virtual worlds, online communities, and the gaming industry as a whole.”

Avatar community/virtual world WeeWorld has announced that, according to data from comScore, it has grown the fastest amongst virtual worlds and social networking sites such as Facebook, Gaia, Habbo, Meez, Zwinky, MySpace, and SecondLife.

According to the data, WeeWorld’s growth in the United States surpassed competitors based on unique visitors, total number of visits and total time spent in the virtual community over the last year – with, for example, Weeworld’s engagement growth in total minutes quadrupling in the last 12 months.

WeeWorld’s global user base has also grown to more than 24 million WeeMees worldwide.

“The WeeWorld fan base has grown dramatically in the last year,” said Lauren Bigelow, General Manager and SVP of Marketing, WeeWorld. “We are thrilled to see how deeply engaged WeeWorlders are with our social network and virtual world. WeeWorlders are spending over half an hour on the site every day creating, playing and communicating with friends and family. WeeWorld is an entirely new type of entertainment and social media that is a huge hit with the younger generation … and the whole family.”

Toy and game developer 10VOX Entertainment has announced two new entertainment properties -- KooKeys and Tracksters. Both offer real world toys which offer connectivity to virtual worlds – KooKeys being plush animals, while Tracksters are die-cast vehicles.

The toys are to be available at retail this fall, with no additional costs to users for continued access to the virtual worlds.

In the KooKeys virtual world, players will be able to create avatars as well as design their home and clothes in "KooLand." The world is to also offer games that are to be "both entertaining and educational," with unlockable rewards including earning “KooKoins” to buy additional items.

To maintain player safely, player interaction will be limited to predetermined communication phrases emoticons and animations. There is to also be a translator feature to allow communication between native languages around the world.

With Tracksters, users purchase one of twelve licensed die-cast vehicles (such as the Chevy Camaro, Ford GT or Dodge Viper) and in the world can create their own racing avatar and compete in racing environments, including drift, drag, off-road and oval track racing against online competitors worldwide. Players can buy, sell or trade cars and socialize.

"Track Pack" trading cards are to also be available at retail, to allow users to upgrade cars, design custom wheels, buy turbo boosts, superchargers, custom paint schemes and more.

“10VOX is very excited to announce the launch of our first two toy and massively multiplayer online games for kids: KooKeys and Tracksters,” said Alex Reece, 10VOX Entertainment partner. “The toy and online game hybrid category is the hottest segment in both the traditional toy and video game markets. At 10VOX, we have teamed up with toy industry veterans, top licensors and first rate video game developers to take this fast growing category to an entirely new level – by adding higher production values, deeper gameplay experiences, educational content and a more compelling pricing model for parents.”

Born in 1968, Jeff Freeman, formerly a senior game designer for Spacetime Studios and Sony Online Entertainment, took his own life on September 24th.

Freeman is best known by gamers for his work on MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies. In addition to his work as a game designer, Freeman also served as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves.

He is survived by his wife, Brenda Freeman; sons, Jeffery Freeman and Jesse Freeman; stepdaughter, Destiny Coffman; parents, Roy and Samantha Clark; sister, SaDonna Moser; and brothers, R.G. Carr and Dwayne Archer.

"I still remember a young kid showing his older brother a program he wrote where a red ball bounced on a screen. He was so excited," Freeman's brother Archer said in a posting on Star Wars Galaxies server emulation forum SWGEmu.

"I thought, 'What's the big deal?' But I knew he was special. He had a mind like no one I knew, he was truly a brilliant man, and I will miss him everyday."

Freeman played a key role in designing SWG's pet system, but is also known for bearing criticism from misinformed players who incorrectly blamed him for the MMO's unpopular "New Game Enhancements" update in 2005.

The game designer took responsibility for implementing features that led bitter players to attack him online for all of the update's changes, including its simplification of game mechanics and professions.

Veteran MMO designer, Raph Koster, who worked with Freeman on SWG and helped him find a job at SOE, said in a eulogy posted on his personal blog, "He spent a huge amount of time talking to the players, talking to people for years afterwards, explaining, apologizing, justifying what he didn’t need to and shouldn’t have had to."

"I want everyone to know that it was not SWG that lead him to take his life," added Archer on the forum. "He has been troubled for sometime. There were [a lot] of personal issues that tore at him. Regardless of how SWG turned out, we must admit that many of the great things we enjoyed about [the pre-combat update game] was because of his work."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

A US district court awarded Blizzard $6 million in damages against MDY Industries, the developer behind software bot Glider, which allows players to automate repetitive actions in MMORPG World of Warcraft, such as killing monsters and scavenging loot.

Blizzard claimed that the program infringed its copyright and filed suit in February 2007 against MDY founder and Glider creator Michael Donnelly, asking for "injunctive relief and compensatory damages."

The action was in response to a previous lawsuit filed in November 2006 by Donnelly against the publisher, arguing that Blizzard had no right to terminate Glider's distribution.

Judge David Campbell ruled against MDY in July, declaring that Glider not only broke the license terms that players agree to when playing World of Warcraft, but that it also "tortiously interfered" with Blizzard’s relationships with its customers through its sales.

According to a report from the BBC, Donnely is thought to have sold more than 100,000 copies of the $25 application. The court's ruling was helped by an admission in court from MDY's side that it would be reasonable for it to pay some form of damages.

MDY could delay the damages award if it decides to appeal against an earlier judgment, which dismissed its claim to double or even triple the cash settlement.

The case is scheduled to go to court again in January 2009 when it will be decided whether MDY broke the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and whether Donnelly will pay the damages from his own pocket.

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Some interesting links passed our way via our sister blog GameSetWatch that are virtual world related enough that we feel we should repost them here:

Metaplace - Community Spotlight - Virek Online by Fredriksson – As Simon Carless states over at GameSetWatch, this is a good example of the kind of real thing that is being constructed in the community/MMORPG maker Metaplace – a "folk music RPG."

Ai Sp@ce First Impression – Japan isn't one of the first places you think of when you think "virtual worlds" (despite their mastery of the video game space otherwise) so this is a unique insight into one of their entries into the market -- a surprising cross between the traditional Japanese dating sim and virtual worlds, which reminds us of…

Japanese Girl Sensation: Virtual Boyfriends (Webkare) – a recent TechCrunch article on the popular cross between social networks and dating sim Webkare, that's interesting as look at another format for the "dating sim" game design within the social world context.

First a little background; Warhammer Online is a traditional MMORPG, but one that is interesting because a large part -- if not the majority -- of content (certainly for high level players) is in "Realm vs. Realm" play -- direct competition between player groups on a massive scale. The culminates in "sieges" of the factions' capital cities.

Well, it looks like the first siege has occurred on the European Karak Eight Peaks server with the sieges of the Order faction city of Altdorf, despite multiple claims from Mythic that the "endgame" wouldn't begin until at least a month into the official launch of the title.

Comments from the community -- for example from the Warhammer Alliance forums -- seem to argue that the quick siege was the result of bugs, with commentators complaining that the attackers managed to enter locations via doors that they should not have been able to, bypassing battles that would normally be required -- allowing a group of "underpowered" players to perform a task that should be too much of them.

There has been no official statement from Mythic (or GOA, who administrates the servers in Europe) concerning the siege, but according to reports the server has since been reset, ending the defeated state of Altdorf.

Patch 1.01 of Warhammer Online was also released today, which includes largely functional patches to interface and game systems.

Vanilla Live Games has announced the launch of the massively multiplayer online racing game BETandRACE in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In BETandRACE, players racing against other human opponents for real money, on tracks set in locations including Berlin and Vienna using real-world vehicles such as the Golf GTI.

The "real money" mode is voluntary (and only for players aged 18+) – the game is free-to-play in the "play money" mode. In the real money mode, players can turn their winnings into cash to be paid out at any time, similar to gambling websites.

"BETandRACE captivates by its excellent 3D graphics, fast and easy entry and short, but very action-packed races," said a BETandRACE representative.

Child-orientated virtual world Woogi World and online child protection developer eGuardian have announced "Every Kid Votes," a campaign intended to engage elementary school-age children in the voting process in "a safe and welcoming environment.

Also partnering in the campaign is the classroom supplement, Studies Weekly and 55,000 teachers across the United States.

Every Kid Votes is specifically a new feature in Woogi World, and between now and one week before the 2008 United States presidential election, children will be given the opportunity to share their comments, debate issues, communicate with politicians and other children and vote for their candidate of choice.

The winning Every Kid Votes candidate will be announced after the online election ends Nov. 3, 2008.

"The United States is 139th in the world in voter turnout," said Ron Zayas, chief executive officer, eGuardian. "We, as a country, need to re-instill in our children the importance of the right and responsibility to vote. Every Kid Votes is a great way to empower our children, giving them the opportunity to cast their vote and participate in the upcoming presidential election in a safe online atmosphere."

Western publisher Codemasters is closing down the European and North American servers for massively multiplayer online (MMO) game RF Online, after failing to reach an ongoing agreement with South Korean developer CCR.

A statement on the game’s official website says that the RF Online’s last full day of service will be November 9th, and European and North American servers will shut down on the morning of November 10th, GMT. As such, Codemasters has removed the ability to purchase in-game "Novus credits," as well as the option to create new game accounts and subscriptions.

The nature of the disagreement with CCR has not been made clear. All Codemasters says is that it has been unable to reach an agreement to renew its contract. The game will continue to be made available via other local publishers in South America and Asia.

"RF Online was Codemasters Online's first MMO service, and we have been very proud of its development and success during its three years of existence," says the company's statement.

"It was also one of the first Eastern-style MMORPGs to ever make it to Western market and do well, and it's with much fondness that we look back and remember these achievements."

Concludes the statement, "We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who declared their allegiance and gave us their support with RF Online over the past few years and especially, to thank all the players who spent countless hours with us in Novus."

[The preceding article by David Jenkins originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

['The Game Anthropologist' is Michael Walbridge's regular GameSetWatch column looking at gaming communities and subcultures. We thought we'd crosspost it here on Worlds in Motion, as he's speaking about the developing community of EA/Mythic's new MMO, Warhammer Online.]

If you want the real dirt on Warhammer Online, the best reading comes from those who've played. Electronic Arts, Mythic, and the publications covering WAR can discuss features all they want, but that hasn't always kept those investigating satiated, which is why you'll see forums, comment threads, and sometimes published articles directed toward what it's like to play WAR with other people. There's playing a game by yourself, and there's playing a game with people, and when we have a rare challenger to World of Warcraft, we need to compare both parts.

So, what's the community like in WAR? Plenty of factors make this question a very personal one, but I'll attempt to answer it from these two simple viewpoints of trying it alone and trying it with someone else.

If you try WAR alone, it'll feel lonelier than some other MMOs. For starters, grouping requires less communication, which enhances play time but lessens bonding or memory of other players. I've not yet added a single person to my friends list because it simply doesn't enter into my mind.

Because WAR gives you multiple paths to level your characters, there's no urgency to find someone you can rely on for a specific task—if a task is difficult, it is not an opportunity you regret skipping. Continuing to explore or saying “you know, I'd rather do something else instead, I don't want to wait around” give the journey a different flavor.

The path to glory is still heavily shaped by the game design, but it makes players feel like they have more control due to the abundance of options and the ease with which a person rotates among those options. More control means less submission to imposed standards, which means less cohesive socialization.

Acclaim Games has announced the official launch of Tribal Nations, a free-to-play browser-based multiplayer online role-playing game.

The world of Tribal Nations is the 15th century "new world" of the Americas, where Aztecs, Mayans and Native Americans struggled for control of the continent. In the game, players create a profile for a character and interact with other players and NPCs, and can farm land, raise livestock, run a tavern, work in a temple, a mine, or as a warrior.

As with other Acclaim titles, players can also purchase items (such as food, raw materials, special items, and weapons) and additional in-game currency using Acclaim Coins.

“We are excited by our new ‘Play Now – Play Anywhere – Play Free’ initiative and Tribal Nations is one of the titles to really deliver that message. It’s a deep, rich experience in a very easy to access form, and it costs absolutely nothing to try it out!” said David Perry, the Chief Creative Officer of Acclaim.

Virtual world for tween girls Hip Chicas recently announced that it has opened registration for its beta trial, and we found the concept -- a Latina-themed virtual world for tween girls with a strong theme of "helping improve the planet" simply too intriguing to pass by.

As a result we talk to Lazaro Fuentes, CEO and Creative Director of the Hip Chicas "interactive brand", discussing the intentions of the world, the importance of the themes to the world and its design, and what the future holds.

How did the company come into being?

Lazaro Fuentes: We saw that games targeted at Latinos were stereotypically negative. We then looked at casual games targeted at girls and they were either inappropriate, or about bling-bling, shopping or lipstick. So we decided to create a hip option that engaged more fully girls in general and Latinas specifically, treating them as more than just lipstick and bubblegum while maintaining a feminine appeal. The result was Hip Chicas.

Why a Latina themed virtual world?

LF: 50% of the kids born in this country since 2004 are Hispanic but there is a gaping hole in the market for Latino tween content. If you look at the pre-school content, there's plenty. You have Dora, Diego, Handy Manny, Maya and Miguel and Dragon Tales. Dora, the leader of the pack, kicked off serious interest in the space in 2000 and has done $8 Billion in revenues alone in only 8 years. Most importantly, it introduced kids from all walks of life to Latino culture. But as girls graduate from pre-school content into their tween years, suddenly the options narrow to Barbie and Bratz.

We wanted to extend that general introduction to Latino culture that kids received as preschoolers in more specific ways and with content more suited to the age group. We also wanted to update it for a digitally savvy tween market and bring it to where they are: online.