MMO worlds are stagnant. They have cardboard cutout monsters and NPCs that stand in their assigned space. Players knock the monsters down like a fantastical shooting range, but after a few minutes, the pulleys whir, the monsters stand up, and the world reverts to its static state. On a micro level where thousands of players are sharing the same game space, this is to be expected. The problem is that it also exists at a macro level and constantly echoes in the background, "This world is not real... this world is not real..."

Suzie Ford chats with Monty Sharma at Vivox - the team behind the in-game voice chat in games like EQ, EQ2, and SWG.

In this week's RoleCraft, Jim Moreno looks at the options RPers have when dealing with the old MMORPG standby - the expansion pack.

In this week's "RoleCraft," Jim Moreno looks at the difficulties of scheduling RP events with an established group, and some of the solutions involved.

In this week's "RoleCraft," Jim Moreno looks at different ways to roleplay with weather effects in-game.

In this week's "RoleCraft," Jim Moreno continues his look at character alignment in MMORPGs - this time focusing on how in-game factions make characters "evil" (or not).

In this week's examination of Clausewitz "On Gaming," Jonathan Steinhauer looks at what victory and defeat mean ... to NPC monsters.

Star Wars: Galaxies has a new producer, Dotanuki, who swung by the official forums. He gave fans a bit of news about upcoming events and takes a look at the latest update. Click below!

In this week's RoleCraft, Jim Moreno looks at the standard D&D concept of alignment, how it works in roleplaying, and how it's applied to MMORPGs.

Sony Online announced today that "Station Voice" is now live on both Everquest 2 and Star Wars: Galaxies servers. Station Voice is a free voice chat system developed by Sony in conjunction with Vivox. Check out the details after the jump.

Update 5 is now live on all Star Wars: Galaxies servers. The servers were updated early this morning. For a list of changes in this update, click below.

Jonathan Steinhauer continues his application of the writings of Carl Clausewitz to MMOGs, this time focusing on defeat and "life after death" in online worlds.

This week in RoleCraft, Jim Moreno looks at ways for roleplayers to deal with the Fairer Tongue of Elvish.

Jonathan Steinhauer continues his application of the writings of Carl Clausewitz to MMOGs, this time looking at what happens when victory is yours.

The Star Wars: Galaxies test center will be updating soon with Update 5. Players will be able to test out the new features and fixes. Check out what's what by clicking below.

This time on RoleCraft, Jim Moreno wants to hear from you roleplayers out there.

Empire Day is coming to Star Wars: Galaxies beginning on Monday, June 24th. There are legion activities for both Rebellion and Imperial factions. Check out the details by clicking below.

The Chapter 10 notes for Star Wars: Galaxies have been released. Called "The Search for the Meatlump King", the notes are comprehensive in listing the improvements, enhancements, balances and bug fixes. Check them out after the jump.

In this installment of RoleCraft, Jim Moreno looks at an interesting idea from WoW RP Realms: Full Immersion Roleplaying (FIRP).

Jonathan Steinhauer continues his study of Clausewitz and examines the art of the kill.

Jeff "Jaskell" Haskell has penned a preview of the puzzles that will be featured in the upcoming deployment of Chapter 10 and Meatlump theme park. It's an interesting article about how they will function for players. See what we mean by clicking below.

Update 10 has been placed on the Star Wars: Galaxies Test Center and the patch notes for the upcoming deployment of Chapter 10 are published as well. Click through to look them over.

Just in case you may not be aware, RoleCraft isn't the only place where you can find roleplaying related info on the interwebs. Of course you know that, and I'm only joking. During the course of my day, I am given and locating sites which are directly related to or merely referencing some aspect of roleplaying, and I consider it part of my duty to help keep you, my fellow roleplayers, informed as much as possible.

Tomorrow is D-Day for Star Wars Galaxies Update 4, according to a forum post today. Here are the particulars:

On Tuesday, May 27, at 4:00 AM PDT all U.S. and European galaxies will be taken down for server maintenance and a live update.

When the update is complete, all galaxies will be live but unavailable while we complete final testing. All galaxies will be made available after that time.

4:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles) / 6:00 AM CDT (Austin) / 7:00 AM EDT (New York)
11:00 AM GMT (London) / 1:00 PM CET (Berlin) / 8:00 PM (Tokyo)

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Click through for the patch notes.

Since we are dealing with computer-generated cyber worlds that are more than likely not our own creations, there are certainly roadblocks and speed bumps in these games that challenge roleplayers to improvise and adapt. These game mechanics come with the nature of the beast, and many are very necessary to the operation of the games, and are often so obvious as to threaten to pull a roleplayer out of character. While they may not be pleasant to experience during roleplay, their effect in-game can be at least lessened through the lens of imaginative roleplaying.

Star Wars Galaxies' Associate Producer Ellen Anderson is the latest team member to step up to the plate and introduce herself to the SWG community.

What's your favorite video game of all time and why?

Favorite Console Game Old School: Dark Wizard; It's an old turn-based, RPG strategy game that I played over and over again. I love strategy games.

Favorite Handheld: Puzzlequest on PSP. Great game for the PSP!

Favorite PC: Dark Ages Of Camelot only because it was my first MMO. I played hardcore for about two and a half years. My next MMO was SWG; I was in beta and I played for about six months after it released and now I'm playing SWG again. Oh, and I have very fond memories of Diablo and Warcraft.

Favorite Guilty Pleasure Game: Chuzzle because it's cute and the chuzzles get mad when you poke them.

Outside of work, what do you like to do?

I like to spend time with my husband and friends. I play games, watch BluRay movies and I watch more TV than I probably should. I also love to cook.

Read the rest at the SWG site.

Massively is featuring a gameplay video outlining some of the changes to the Jedi Knight in Update 3 coming in the near future.

The update introduced major overhauls to the popular Jedi profession, and this short piece will make sure you're on the right page. You can watch and listen as outgoing Community Events guru Jason "Pex" Ryan talks us through the new Jedi expertise. Light Jedi are now fully supported in their role as tanks, while Dark Jedi have the ultimate in DPS abilities.

The video awaits at Massively.

As game worlds become more and more advanced, they also grow larger and larger. The by-product of this improvement is the long distances that must be traveled between locations. For some reason, with this increase in world size, there is not a corresponding improvement in traveling systems. Indeed, there seems to be almost a perverse joy in sending players on quests that involve running back and forth between two distant points with no other objective but carrying a bickering message between a pair of NPCs.

Players relishing the epic feats of 'bug squashing' and play testing new material should head over to Star Wars Galaxies. Update 4 is heading for TC Prime and the Test Center. In fact, at this writing, it may already be up and running.

Check out the patch notes after the jump.

Jim Moreno tackles the difficult task of roleplaying a merchant in this edition of RoleCraft: "Even roleplayers are known to struggle with this cookie cutter gameplay, and with keeping their characters from looking and acting just like every other character in game. What to do? One sure way to avoid the pitfalls of routine is to realize that there are many other classes in game besides adventurer. It's time to become a professional roleplayer!"

Titling his swan song at SWG "Time to Say Farewell", Jason Ryan announced today that he's moving to Free Worlds and taking on the Community Manager position there.

Greetings, all!

The time has come to let everyone know that I'll be leaving the SWG team and heading across genres to become the Community Manager for our upcoming title Free Realms. There is definitely a bitter-sweet sensation to moving to a new title. I'll miss the people I have met and interacted with. I'll also miss the events themselves and the fun discussions leading up to them. I'll miss talking about schemes and plots and super-weapons and attacks and kidnappings and weddings and...you get the idea.

I know, I know. "How can you leave Star Wars for something...not Star Wars?" The decision to leave wasn't easy. I've been with SWG for almost five years now. I've lived and breathed Vader and the Rebellion and all the storylines ever run by. I've had a blast and I have never ceased to be amazed by the creativity and dedication I have encountered.

Click through to read the rest.