Do you hear that? That faint yet alluring noise drifting over the MMO plains? ‘Tis the siren song of the free gametime, my child. It twists and turns with the wind, seeking out every nook and cranny where a potential player may be hidden. Few can escape its call, but then again, why would they want to?

Over on the Darkfall forums comes the announcement of a Return to Darkfall campaign aimed at previous players. If you were a Darkfall player before April 2010, Adventurine wants to invite you back for a two-week free play session. North American players also have the option to transfer to the NA server for free during this period. Adventurine is directing NA players to sign back up here, and EU players to head over there.

The 14-day free play offer will end on May 31st, so if you tasted of the fruits of Darkfall in the past and want to see if it’s sweeter today, now is the time to hop back on board!

Dungeons and Dragons Online fans know that the DDO Store has items on sale almost constantly, but rarely does the crew at Turbine mark items down with such enthusiasm.

The normal DDO Store sales usually involve a handful of Adventure Packs and maybe a few other items. This sale, however, includes all Adventure Packs at a 30% discount, as well as an impressive array of other items large and small. Some of the more expensive premium items are discounted — the Drow and Warforged races and the 32-point build — as well as items all the way on the other end of the scale. Cleric Hirelings can be had for as little as 5 Turbine Points, for example. If you’re planning to stock up, keep in mind that the DDO Store only allows you to purchase items appropriate to your character’s current class and level, so you’ll be a bit limited according to your current character roster.

If you’re a fan of the DDO Store or have been considering a purchase, this is a good time to take a look. The sale ends on the 29th.

The DDO Offer Wall launched yesterday, and was met with a very enthusiastic reaction from fans of Dungeons and Dragons Online. Unfortunately, a lot of it was negative.

Players greatest concerns stem from the fact that Turbine is working with SuperRewards, a third party lead generator, for these point opportunities. Giving personal information to an unknown is worrisome, of course, and concerns have grown to the point where some players claim that just looking at the offers page will infect your computer. On the other hand, many players are reporting that they checked out the offers, received their points, and moved on with a computer that was completely unaffected.

Update: Turbine has since added an update post to their forums, giving further information about the program. The Offer Wall has been temporarily removed while Turbine investigates player concerns over email and username security.

Trading rewards for offers in this fashion is nothing new — Runes of Magic does something very similar, and the concept itself goes back years in the form of sites such as MyPoints. So what’s the truth behind this new promotion?

We’ve contacted Turbine and are awaiting a response, and keep an eye out for Thursday’s Exploring Eberron when we take an in-depth look at this new feature.

Not only is the ANKAMA team working on the DOFUS 2.0 graphic update, but they also keep on improving the game’s gameplay. This new version of DOFUS includes:

The integration of special class spells

Each class (Cra, Feca, etc.) will have its own special spell. This 21st spell can be obtained with a Doploon token. Players can get that token by defeating a Dopple in their class temple. A Dopple is a powerful creature with the spells of one of the playable character classes at their disposal. Doploons can be exchanged for experience and items, and that’s why they’re so sought-after by players.

The harmonization of characters’ vitallty and Acceleration of the health points and enegry restoration process

Players now gain 5 additional Health Points per level as of level 1. This used to be restricted to high level characters. Besides, the restoration of Health Points and Energy is accelerated for all characters whether they’re disconnected, sitting or moving.

Spotlighton pvp quests (player vs player)PvP quests appeared with DOFUS version 1.26 and are aggression contracts against other characters. The experience gained with these quests has been increased by 50% in order to make PvP a real alternative to PvM for making characters evolve.

Among other new things, there are the Strokens. Each time players win a PvP fight, they get 2 Strokens, as well as experience and Kamas (in-game currency). These are tokens and are connected to one character. Payers can accumulate them before exchanging them for specific rewards to the NPC which gives the PvP quests in their city (Bonta or Brakmar). These rewards include Characteristic Scrolls-which are used to improve the characteristics of a character (Strength, Agility, Chance etc.)-or Spiritual Gems (soul stones which enable players to challenge a powerful dungeon monster in an arena).

If a player is designated as the target of another player and wins a fair fight, that player will then get half the reward (1 Stroken and half of the experience).

The revision of the Sacrier class spellsThe revision of the Sacriers’ spells has been carried out to balance their power compared to the other classes (by reducing it) but also to increase their effectiveness in solo play, mixed teams and PvP. The Punishments of the Sacrier are now limited in duration, and can be recast once their effects are over. As long as a Punishment lasts, all blows taken by the Sacrier give them bonuses (which depend on the level of the Punishment)-until the threshold is reached. Bonuses may vary according to who is hitting the Sacrier-a monster or an ally. Bonuses that Sacriers can gain in a turn will last 5 turns and can be accumulated.

The introduction of unhealable damageIn order to avoid endless PvP or PvM fights, healing power has been reduced. With each blow taken, only part of the Health Points lost will be restored. Therefore, the maximum number of Health Points of a character inexorably diminishes during each fight-regardless of the number of heals received. This new system emphasizes the tactical aspect of the game.

Spotlight on class temple dopplesPlayers can challenge their class Dopple once a day. If they defeat the Dopple they get a Doploon. Doploons allow players to get their Special Spell, the weekly bunch of dungeon keys (which gives players access to all dungeons once a week), and a Guildalogem (a rare stone with which players can create their guild) or to forget a level of spell.

New quests and alignment rewardsWar between Bonta and Brakmar continues! 10 new alignment quests (level 40-50) are now available! An additional Order quest has been added for each order. Both cities have three orders and joining one of them enables players to specialize as warriors, priests or spies. When specialized, players can access the second rank of their Order and receive alignment rewards (Attack, Resurrection, Liberation, itemouflage or iMMObile camouflage potions). These rewards are linked to PvP fights but cannot be used in combat.

New challengesChallenges are missions given to players for each fight. If they complete their mission, they will receive experience bonuses and items at the end of the fight. 37 challenges (including 3 hidden ones) have been added to the game.

New method of calculating initiativeInitiative is the characteristic which determines in which order monsters and players play.

From now on, calculation for Initiative only takes into account Health Points and Initiative bonuses from equipment and consumable items.

A fairer calculation for tackling

Tackling is the action which enables players to keep their enemy in close combat. It is now calculated as follows: players with equal Agility have a 50% chance of tackling the other.

The greater the gap between the players’ Agility, the easier tackling becomes for the player with the highest Agility.

All of these modifications have been made to revive the tactical aspect of the game and its fun for casual players.

More details about this update can be found here: http://www.dofus.com/en/mmorpg/21-st-spell-1

From: http://news.mmosite.com/content/2009-04-09/20090409195834452,2.shtml

Next, you need a guildogem. This is a global drop, and is fairly cheap to buy nowadays (last I checked, it went for 250kk). Take the gem and go to (1, -9). There, you will create a guild name and choose your shield’s design and color. Be careful! Once the name and design are set, you can’t change them. (TIP: Before creating a guild, get nine other people to join you at the temple. Recruiting right off the bat with no one in mind to become a member is hard.)
What now?
Congrats, you’re a leader of a guild! But why isn’t your symbol and guild name showing up above your head? That’s because, in order to attain guild status, you must have ten people in your guild. If you haven’t taken the advice from the above paragraph, it’s time to go to a public zaap (or start pm’ing and begging) to recruit members.
A word about yourself, the leader.
You are the reason people join. Let me say this again–YOU are the reason people join. You are the core, the center. You’re the keystone. You are confident, smart, patient, gentle in giving directions, yet firm enough to enforce the rules. You are the unbiased ear in hearing out problems, and can make fair decisions others can depend on. You are optimistic–especially about the guild’s status and future–up until the very end.

During the first few days, think of your guild as a child. It needs to grow, and the initial days/weeks will determine whether that guild survives or not. YOU are the reason it will survive. You will constantly be there. You are leveling partner for the guild members wanting to hunt. You are the source of items/crafting for those in need, or you will know someone that can provide. A guild should aim to be self-sufficient–its own mini-community on the server–and you should the number one asset.

From the viewpoint of the average guild member, a leader has all the answers. A leader supports their members, thus is the source of any questions that may arise. If you don’t know the answer to a member’s question, point them in the direction where they can find answers. If tell a member “I don’t know” too much, they will lose confidence in your leadership skills, and seek a better guild out elsewhere.
Don’t discount f2p.
Today’s low-level Astrubians are tomorrow’s high-level Amaknians. If a new players is generally nice, willing to work on their level, and wants to contribute to the guild, give them a shot. You never know what loyal members they can be until you let them show you.
35 to stay alive.
A guild can be considered moderately stable if it has at least 35 members. Above 35, stop recruiting for the moment so that too many players aren’t turned away (eventually, this can be bad for you). Below 35, put up a recruitment thread again. Don’t overexploit your guild on advertising, or people will be sick of hearing about it and won’t want to join at all.
Democracy, not dictatorship.
After a while, you should shift your managerial responsibility to other trustworthy members. These people should have proven over time that they are able to handle managing a guild, are loyal, and can make as fair decisions as you can. Your guild will also change a few rules and policies on things as you go along. Let it–nothing ever survives without adapting a little.

If outside responsibilities get in the way of you leading the guild, hand it off to someone who can steer things in the right direction, while helping them on the side. Holding on to a leadership position, when you’re unable of handling it, will only make everyone unhappy.

By the same token, any officers who seem overly bossy to other members should be temporarily demoted or have certain rights taken away from them. This should be a warning to them; if they quit as a result, they never deserved such a position anyway. Fair warnings, with a verbal correction, will most often keep things in check before they can escalate.
Know when to get support.
Alliances (and sometimes merging) create stronger guilds. This can be a complicated matter. Each side should have something to gain, and should be in agreement on all terms. Terms of alliances will vary from guild to guild, but harmony amoung all members is the basis of this type of agreement.