Daybreak Game Company unveiled its new logo and website last week, giving a fresh face as it looks toward the future. We chatted with Daybreak President John Smedley and the Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing Laura Naviaux yesterday evening about the origins of the company's new name and logo, Columbus Nova, the future of its fan convention, and more.

We've already heard about the Halloween event kickoffs for both the EverQuest and EverQuest II Nights of the Dead, but what's haunting SOE's other four games?

Dragon's Prophet takes a dive underwater with the release of its first underwater dungeon, the Shrine of Handras. With the new Olandra zone update players will enjoy new boss mechanics, powerful new weapons, stone shards, more dragons and a level cap increase to 94.

Following the tail-end of some spectacular Halloween events, Senior Producer of Dragon's Prophet, Todd Carson, took to the community in the form of the November Producer's Letter that set the stage for new content to make its way to the game. This week, Dragon-Riders all across Auratia have been hit with the previously announced new features including Dragon Prophet's first 10-player raid instance, a new zone, an increased level cap and a new PVP system.

Hello to all our new readers, and welcome back to those who have been following ZAM's bi-weekly column, The Free Agent. Our mission, as always, is to answer the question "Can gaming REALLY be free?"

Last time on the Free Agent the Oculus Rift inspired us to brave shrapnel and rocket launchers in the FPS mech title Hawken. If you happened to miss out on the action don't worry, you can always go back and give Episode 12 a read.

But for this week's episode we're back to MMOs again. And unlike my last foray into free-to-play MMOs, this one seems to diverge somewhat from the traditional MMO template. After a minor launch delay Dragon's Prophet stormed onto the scene on September 23rd under the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) banner. Even with so much on the go it seems SOE is more than happy to bring Dragon's Prophet to North America from Taiwan based developer Runewaker Entertainment.

With a name like Dragon's Prophet it's no surprise that dragons feature quite prominently in this title. Of course dragons are kind of a staple to the Fantasy MMO genre, so that isn't exactly much of a hook. However, for the dragon obsessed among us (you know who you are), Dragon's Prophet offers up something new that should put a grin on your face; a giant, scaly, many-toothed grin. Let's take to the skies and learn more.

Dragon's Prophet soars into the scene with its official launch (after some delay), announced by publishers Sony Online Entertainment (NA) and Infernum Productions (EU). The free-to-play MMO features dragons, dragons, and even more dragons. Players can capture a wide variety of unique dragons who can be brought out (one at a time!) to fight at your side.

A lengthy open beta, with characters created being carried over for launch, led to many features being overhauled, tweaked, and added to the game. New dungeons, a level cap increase, and a revamped starter zone are only a few of the improvements made that players of all levels can now enjoy. The game's action-oriented combat and end-game siege system will keep you locked in for hours of fun.

Dragon’s Prophet, a free-to-play MMORPG developed by Runewaker Entertainment and published by Sony Online Entertainment, has been staying visible with its “BetterWithDragons” and the more recent “SUPERMETAL” social media campaigns. In addition to engaging fans over platforms such as Twitter during their final stretch toward the game’s official launch date of September 18, we saw firsthand how passionate the team behind the dragon-filled world of Auratia can be. Earlier this week we attended a tour run by Senior Producer Todd Carson and Associate Producer Rod Haza and got the scoop on what’s in store for Dragon’s Prophet, and even snagged some Crystalline Dragon codes to give away.

It’s time to pull out those thick coats and strong boots, as winter is heading to Auratia.  Earlier this week, Dragon’s Prophet was hit with Game Update 0.2, bringing the new zone of Wintertide, raising the level cap to 70, and more besides.

To show off everything arriving in the latest patch, SoE senior producer Todd Carson took me on a whistle-stop tour of Wintertide and the new features it brings – quite literally, as we arrived there by train. Carson also revealed that he’ll be announcing a release date at SOE Live next month, although there’s more to come as open beta continues.

Winter has come to Dragon's Prophet and a plethora of new features and improvements are making their way to the game as its first big beta update goes live. Wintertide is here!

Want to know when Dragon’s Prophet is likely to head from open beta into live MMO? ZAM’s very own Scott Hawkes managed to catch up with senior producer Todd Carson at E3, and managed to get a few clues on when SOE’s free-to-play dragonfest will be ready for launch.