NCSoft is sending word that it's got two to-be-named MMO games in the works. What makes this announcement interesting is that both titles will be powered by the Unreal Engine 3 - the same engine used in high-profile titles like Gears of War. More details are available in the full article.

In line with the recent release of Issue 11: A Stitch In Time, NCSoft is sending word of two referral programs it's set up which entitles residents of their City of Heroes and City of Villains MMORPGs to a free extra game credit. Head on over to the full article for further details.

NCSoft is sending out word that the Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack has been activated and is now accessible the next time you go online. Wondering who you need to meet in-game to take advantage of this special treat? Head on over to the full article to find out!

You can now take that love for NCsoft's Guild Wars to a new level, because a bunch of goodies are up for grabs. Whether you're into art prints, stylized shirts, pins, or other Guild Wars-themed swag, either the Guild Wars Gear Store or PlayNC Merchandise Store should have something in store for you.

Find out more at the full article!

NCSoft is sending an early season's greetings to the players, as they announce their upcoming Guild Wars holiday promo. This promo will entitle purchasers of the Guild Wars: Eye of the North expansion to hefty discounts for any other Guild Wars expansion packs they choose. Full promo details are available in the full article.

As the first week of NCsoft's new massively multiplayer online RPG Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa winds down, the official Tabula Rasa site rolled out Feedback Friday where important comments and suggestions were highlighted and answered by the developers themselves. Useful information on plans about early bugs, Collector's Edition freebies, and much more were discussed to shed light to subscribers.

The full story follows at the full article!

With the servers for Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa now open, NCSoft is currently letting those who availed of the Pre-Order headstart trickle in.

It appears there are still a few problems with the log in process, though, but it's nothing that a little patience can't overcome. community manager CuppaJo recently posted the following on IGN's Tabula Rasa Vault:

Everyone should be able to log in now (all the pre-order bonus headstart people). If you have issues, wait about 20 minutes and try again, if that doesn't work, go to support.plaync.com and go to the ask a question area to contact support.

Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa will officially go live on November 2.

New details about the upcoming Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack have been revealed by the pack's design lead, Colin Johanson. The Bonus Mission Pack is a four-mission collection that NCSoft is giving away as a thank you to players who have spent at least US$ 29 or purchased Guild Wars: Eye of the North during NCSoft's in-game store and PlayNC promotion.

The pack contains four single-player story missions. Each mission is tied to the Guild Wars games, with one story each for the original Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, and Guild Wars: Eye of the North. Players will get to play as a historical character - Saul D'Alessio, Master Togo, Turai Ossa and Gwen, respectively - with a custom Skill Bar and specialized attributes.

The missions will take place in existing Guild Wars world maps but the events themselves will take place in the past. No artwork has been recycled. Players will be able to check out, for example, some early Ascalonian architecture as well as how the river of Elon looked before the construction of the Fortress of Jahai.

The Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack is available for a limited time only. Those interested should try and get their hands on one before the promotion ends on October 31.

Online gaming fans planning to take on Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa by NCSoft should take note of the following pricing information, to better plan your budget ahead of time.

Those who wish to pay by credit card have the following options to choose from:

• US$ 14.99 per month
• US$ 41.85 per 3 months (pay only US$ 13.95 per month)
• US$ 77.70 per 6 months (pay only US$ 12.95 per month)
• US$ 143.40 per year (pay only US$ 11.95 per month)

If you think you're going to like Tabula Rasa enough to keep playing for more than a year, then its a good idea to just go all out and plonk for dough for the US$ 143.40 annual payment.

On the other hand, those who do not wish to use their credit cards can buy the generic PlayNC game time cards. Cards for other NCSoft games such as City of Heroes, City of Villains, Lineage II can also be used for Tabula Rasa.

UK or European customers take note: if you want to get a non-European version of the game for some reason you may do so. However, charges will be billed in US$, which can get a bit tricky. In addition to that, the non-European version of Tabula Rasa can only access North American servers, so there may be some problems if you want to play with your neighbors.

With the game's release on October 16, it's a good idea to start planning ahead. No one wants to wake up only to find out that his game account is way over due with his account suspended.

In a recent post on the PlayNC.com Dev Corner, Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott let out some tidbits of info about NCSoft's new relationship with Sony.

According to Garriott, the NCSoft-Sony deal will allow the former to develop titles across all of the latter's hardware platforms. The focus will be on the PlayStation 3 home video game console, but the PlayStation Portable handheld gaming system will also be getting its share of loving.

While no titles were revealed in the post, Garriott did mention that NCSoft's first PlayStation console titles will hopefully be out by next year's holiday season. NCSoft will also reportedly be concentrating on putting out titles based on a mix of old and new IPs.

Developing games based on new IPs will take longer, however. Garriott estimates that development for these particular titles will probably take a minimum of two to three years.

It also looks like NCSoft will be sticking to its tried and tested business models for its Sony products. According to Garriott, gamers can expect the usual traditional subscription models, micropayment systems and free-to-play games with membership options. Keep checking back here for more details.