MMOG Holiday Quickies

Holidays are always interesting times of the year in MMOGs, as development teams gear up for live events that change the face of the typical worlds we play in. Everquest 2's Holiday is in full swing, with the Frostfell event. Aggro me has a review for the curious. Planetside is featuring Holiday headgear, and Ultima Online offers up goodie packs with trees and presents. Azeroth's Feast of the Winter Veil has snowballs, lost reindeer, and once again has players selling cookies for outrageous prices on the Auction House. Ahh...the holiday spirit. City of Heroes/City of Villains is going all out this year (possibly to make up for the lack of a Halloween event this year). Heroes and Villains both have their own version of the event, with a mysterious Gamester entering the arena for some general holiday mischief. Finally, Final Fantasy XI not only has the Traditional Starlight Celebration, thanks to the Moogles, but just had a massive patch that's (as always) causing some stir in the player community. Happy New Year to all, be you Carebears, Gankers, or Forum Trolls! Update: 12/27 20:31 GMT by Z : Some users pointed out that I neglected to mention Red Moon Rising, Eve's new expansion, and the Guild Wars Holiday event. I promise, folks, it has nothing to do with malice. Some game events just catch my eye more readily than others, so thanks for keeping things Holiday cheery!

Guild Wars

[TrickFred]

Guild Wars doesn't get a mention? 3 major cities (and a major PvP area) got a snowy overhaul decked out with trees and giant gingerbread cookies and such. 'Wintermas' themed quests, where you fight Grentches and Humbugs, or destroy all of a settlement's presents. Candy cane weapons! Gingerbread and Peppermint Candy shields! Egg nog! Snowman Summoners! Gifts traded in town via a mini game in which presents spawn around town, and you have to get them to a young child before the 'Grentches' blow them up! And PvP Snowball fights complete with unique snowball combat skills (Avalanche, Yellow Snow, etc.) And on New Year's Eve, an epic battle between the God of Death and the Goddess of Life to determine if the world will ever see spring! (Think Combat Groundhog Day).