While we here in the wesht were shelebrating with our tankardsh and getting a little tipshy, ok I'll stop that now, Chinese WoW players also had something to be happy about. NetEase finally flicked the switch and officially put WoW's servers back online in China. The game has been offline for over three months after changing operators from The9 to NetEase. The new operators had to re-apply for permission to run the game, but were told it was too scary for Chinese players. Skeletons, bones and icons featuring severed body parts have been removed or replaced to comply with the regulations set out by China's governing body.

Despite all this, WoW's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, still hasn't launched in China. The highly successful update went on sale in Europe and the US in November last year, but WoW's former operators in China, The9, didn't manage to get the expansion approved. NetEase currently has a version of WotLK under review with the authorities, and says it hopes to push the expansion live soon.

Fans of the upcoming Guild Wars 2 got a treat this week, as a book featuring some concept art for the game went on sale. The hefty hardback tome, stuffed with over one hundred pages of images by the artists working for GW2 developers, ArenaNet, will set you back £20, and gives you a teasing glimpse of the content we can expect in the long-awaited game.

The Tokyo Game Show was chosen as the venue for the unveiling of the latest Final Fantasy XIV trailer this week. The indisputably beautiful video shows of some stunning in-game footage and gives a little background on the setting of the game. The trailer also features some classic FF music, check it out over on IncGamers TV.

With Champions Online now well under way, Cryptic Studios continues to churn out new information on its other upcoming MMO, Star Trek Online. Late last week, it was revealed that STO would feature a skill-based progression system, as opposed to an experience point one. As players progress through the game, they will receive skill points that they may spend to improve on certain skills, such as engineering or science. Characters start off with a fairly broad choice of skills to improve and, as they spend the points, their options narrow down, allowing them to specialise. The game also features five ranks ranging from Lieutenant to Admiral. Players advance through the ranks once they have earned a set number of points.

In other STO news this week, Cryptic revealed a new class of ship; the Discovery. Based on the now legendary Voyager, Discovery class ships are primarily exploration vessels, capable of operating for extended periods of time without backup from Starfleet. While not equipped with the best weapons, their advanced sensors make them ideal support ships in battle, allowing them to detect ships and lock onto targets quickly, they are even able to disrupt tractor beams.

So if all that sounds pretty exciting to you, or if you're just dying to get your hands on the game, then our Star Trek Online competition should be right up your street. Cryptic Studios has given us three closed beta keys to give away to readers. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning a key is take part in our caption contest. Come up with a fitting caption to the image provided and if we think it's in the top three, you'll be playing on the STO closed beta before the end of the year (subject to beta schedules, of course).

So that's it for this week folks. I could go on all day but I'm getting glared at by the editor. I'm sure there will be plenty more hot news up for discussion next Friday but, until then, I'm off to slip on my headset and immerse myself in whatever world awaits today.

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