Weekly MMO news round up – Aion Cleric Class, Second Life Avaline service, WAR’s Wild Hunt event

By Stephany Nunneley

Loads of World of Warcraft stuff is coming out of BlizzCon 09, but you knew that already.

We also told you about the new CCP game Dust 514 this week thanks to GamesCom, but there is other stuff that went on in the world of MMOs as well.

The Avaline service is now available in Second Life, Warhammer Online is having it’s Wild Hunt Event, an Aion has revealed the Cleric class.

More is through the break.

• Brett Close has left 38 Studios. His position of CEO has been taken over by former VP of business development Jennifer MacLean. Hopefully, this won’t affect development of Copernicus.

• The Cleric has been revealed for Aion. Clerics follow the path of healing, using the power of magic to strengthen allies and heal their wounds. They can resurrect their allies. They are formidable opponents in melee when using a mace and a shield. Sounds like a Cleric alright. More about Aion can be found via the official website. There is also a new gameplay trailer over on BigDownload.

• Loads of new screens for DC Universe Online have popped up over on Play.tm. You should go have a look. It’s out for PC and PS3 in 2010.

• The Wild Hunt live event for Warhammer Online takes place from August 31 – September 7 and pits the forces of Order and Destruction against the ultimate quarry in the new instanced dungeon, The Hunter’s Vale. Taking inspiration from the Celtic myth of Herne and the Wild Hunt, players can hunt the mythical white stag to get a special buff and the favor of the Gods. Following the Wild Hunt live event, special weekend-only events are planned with special versions of the Mourkain Temple (September 11-14), Gates of Ekrund (September 18-21) and Temple of Isha (September 25-28) scenarios. More information can be found through the official site.

• CPP revealed its FPS/RTS MMO Dust 514 this week, and if you have not had a look at the PS3 and Xbox 360 game- Shack has some footage posted.

• The Avaline service for Second Life Avaline is now available and allows land-lines or mobiles to call a logged-in user within the game. Avaline subscriptions are paid in Linden Dollars, L$1500 ($5.60) per month or L$1200/month ($4.50) if paid annually. Subscribers are then issued their access number that they can advertise for would-be callers. Sounds like Second Life is drifting more into real life more and more. Thanks, Massively.

• New screens for LEGO Universe are over on Kotaku, and the set shows off the level of character creation. It really looks rather cute if we’re being honest. See if you agree here.

• Global Agenda’s second round of Beta testing began August 21 and runs until tomorrow, August 23. This time around the focus is on the higher level characters, and soon Beta and Alpha testers will be able to go at it during the third test. More over on Massively.

• Free Realms is huge. Millions of players huge. Sony Online is very happy about that. ere are some screens of it on Play.tm.

• Stargate Worlds is safe for now. Seems that Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment has received the funding to continue development and also pay off debtors. “Things are actually very good here right now,” said CME’s creative director Shane Hensley. “We received some funding commitments that will provide financing over time and allow us to move forward with development and start catching up on our past due financial obligations, including some back payroll that we paid last week.” More over on MMORPG.