There isn't much in the way of fresh MMO news this morning, because the world of massively multiplayer gaming spent most of yesterday trying to outdo itself and every other section of the gaming industry in an orgy of funny fakery. And we have to say it did rather well.
Top of the heap, as ever, was World of Warcraft developer Blizzard, which brought its usual levels of polish, professionalism and money to three beautifully-crafted spoofs. Our favourite was the unveiling of a new (guitar) Hero Class for WOW: the Bard. But honourable mentions also go to the slick trailer for an 8-bit console version of WOW's raid dungeon, Molten Core ("HAS SOUND!"), and the incongruous introduction of the WOW's Taurens to StarCraft II. The latter isn't that funny, but the actual in-game models and gameplay footage defy belief. Some people just have more money than sense.
Elsewhere Lord of the Rings Online debuted a new content update, The Battle of Amon Hen, featuring a new chicken race with its own epic quest arc: Crossing the Road. Developers Turbine also mocked EA with the Pimp My Warforged addition to Dungeons & Dragons Online. ("New Skills: Fly: All other players want to be like you.")
Codemasters stablemate, the forthcoming Jumpgate: Evolution, announced that its developer would be changing its name from NetDevil to NetAngel to reinforce its commitment to making "socially responsible" MMOs. MMORPG.com added a witty rejoinder: the conservative American Standards Senate had requested the game's name be changed to Jumpgate: Creationism.
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