With the desire to create new and unique arms and armor reaching an all-time high, Square Enix has announced the introduction of the new Evolith system. Making use of long-neglected stones that can be obtained after certain requirements are met, this system, slated for a release as early as late November, will allow for far more unique and customized equipment than ever before.

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Breaking News! Blizzard has just put up the two new companion pets, Lil' K.T. and the Pandaren Monk, for sale in the Blizzard Online Store. They've even donating 50% of the proceeds (from the monk) to the Make-A-Wish foundation! This looks to be just the beginning, the FAQ indicates that there will be more pets to come.

The items are for sale for $10 USD each, and can be gifted to another player's account. The pets are BoA, and will apply to all future characters on the account it was purchased for.

Edit: Nethaera has just posted about it here. Full text after the jump.

Last week, NCsoft announced the launch of their Veteran Rewards program. The program will become available today. If you are eligible for the first month's package and have not received your items, don't panic!

From Tamat:

Hey guys,

Today is the first day of Veteran Rewards. If you're eligible but can't receive your Veteran Rewards yet, hang tight, we're still processing some accounts.

You can follow the official updates here. We at ZAM will continue to provide you with new information, so keep checking back.

Due to the "overwhelming success" of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited, Turbine is opening a new high-capacity server today named Orien. The server is only open for new players and character transfers are not available for the new world at this time. It looks like Orien is the perfect place to start fresh in DDO Unlimited.

In addition, Turbine just posted a new video on YouTube for the San-to-Kor adventure pack, which is meant for characters levels 3-5. "Fight your way through the Kobold Blockade and defeat the powerful hobgoblin leader of the Caverns of Shaagh to reach the Halls of Shan-to-Kor and retrieve your prize!"

Bornakk announced on the official forums that free character transfers to select PvP realms will begin tomorrow, Nov. 5, at 11:15 a.m. PST. The transfers are scheduled to end on Nov. 12 at 11:15 a.m., but be sure to make the move ASAP since the tranfers could be disabled early if Blizzard's goals are met before the deadline.

All of the transfers are for Alliance only. Players from select North American PvP servers can transfer to Cho'gall or Mal'Ganis, which are both Central time zone PvP realms. Players from select Oceanic PvE servers can transfer to Thaurissan, an Oceanic PvP realm. The full list of servers can be found after the jump.

In the upcoming 3.3 content patch, as some of you already know, Icecrown will be home of the updated instance difficulty setting which can be changed on a boss per boss basis. It will be able to be switched at any time during a raid without leaving and reentering the instance. Some restrictions on when you cannot change it will be in place. Such as, you cannot change the difficulty in combat or during certain scripted events. To enable it you will have first have to have defeated the Lich King on normal mode, and heroic mode will not affect trash in anyway and will only change the bosses.

You can read more after the jump.

Have you ever wanted to join a PUG with members of the World of Warcraft development and community teams? Well now's your chance! Zarhym announced on the official forums that blue posters will be on the PTR today at 4 p.m. PST (7 p.m. EST) to test out the new dungeon system.

For a chance to group with the Blizzard team members, you need to use the Dungeon system and choose the "Random Heroic" option. All employees will have the <GM> tag next to their names and be able to choose whichever class, realm and faction he or she wants. 

GameIndustry.biz is reporting that Funcom has been awarded a $262,000 grant to help create Board with the World, a free-to-play social MMO based around extreme sports. Erling Ellingsen, the director of communications at Funcom, said the game will focus on snowboarding at first, but different sports may be added later.

"We also want this to be a social world rich with different types of media content and pop-cultural elements such as music, video and even fashion," he said, noting that Funcom expects to start working on an initial prototype in January 2010.

Fantasy MMO based on Conan the Barbarian? Check. Upcoming creepy MMO filled with conspiracy theories and secret societies? Check. Free-to-play extreme sports MMO? It looks like Funcom can now check that off their list as well.

Patch 1.1.3 goes live today in Fallen Earth, and the lengthy notes showcase a number of bug fixes and changes to the game. For example, the team has re-enabled the /sitchair command based on player feedback and added two new encounter areas to Sector Three.

Willoughby's Garage is a new encounter area composed of level 35 group content. According to the notes, "The Franklin's Riders sent out a Riders' Escort team to protect the area from bandit attacks, and bit off more than they could chew." The Banker’s Pre-Fall Relic Museum encounter area includes merchants, missions and group content.

The full patch notes can be found after the jump.

Unless you've been living under the weight of an ogre's buttocks, you've probably heard of Dragon Age: Origins. Today marks the release of Dragon Age: Origins on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. We're impressed by BioWare's immersive RPG, as can be seen in our hands-on preview and our interviews with the co-founders of BioWare and Executive Producer Mark Darrah. You can now join the Grey Wardens and fight the gritty, dark, violent battle with your swarthy brethren.

And there are even some surprises to be found in your brand new game! If you're a devout purchaser of EA products - or if you just happen to be an owner of Warhammer Online - you'll find a code that unlocks the "Adventurer's Handbook" (which gives you a 10% XP Bonus when used) and the "Skaven Skin Cloak" (allows your to take on the appearance of the ratty Skaven).

That's a pretty sweet deal, especially for folks that own both products. I certainly do, so it was a pleasant addition to an excellent package.