Christmas has come early this year for Oblivion, with plenty of great mods being released these last two weeks, ranging from houses to armor to new races. Not to mention a few Christmas-themed ones.

Mod of the Week
It was very hard to choose this week but at long last I decided on one, Woodland Village by Shezrie (It’s the last one on the page). This Wonderful little town is located on the road between the Imperial city and Skingrad, if you get lost don’t worry. There are signs along the road that will set you on the right path. The village contains 23 buildings including a bakery, an inn, and a buyable house. There are also several stores and houses for all the villagers. There are also two quests for you to do in addition to exploring the town and stocking your home with your loot.

Other Mods I Considered for Mod of the Week

Kendos Demon Consort by Kendo 2
mjy nebinay castle by mjy
Better Cities of BananaSplit by Bananasplit, Reckless, Wolfslady, and Several others

And this last one I just have to include due to the subtlety with which it was suggested to me in the previous discussion thread: Armamentarium for MOBS by herrjork

So see? Be creative about your suggestion and it might just end up in the news.

Modding news

News Item 1
The MORE Homes Challenge over at Oblivion Real Estate has gotten in all their entries and the Judging is about to begin. In total five entries were received so regardless of who wins we are sure to get five amazing new house mods just in time for Christmas. 

News Item 2
Xilverbulet over at the Official Bethesda forums has created an awesome trailer for his mod Midas Magic. The trailer can be viewed here

This weeks poll

How many new characters do you create in an average week?

Be sure to visit the discussion thread and vote. Last week we only had 7 people vote; let’s try and get at least 10 this week.

Final thoughts
Please leave any comments or ideas you have in the discussion thread. Also feel free to suggest news/mod releases for inclusion in the next news post.

Hello and welcome to the first ever Gaming News Digest!
I am Kai Hohiro, your gaming news reporter and here I will be covering the latest news of the Games Industry, with a focus on everyone’s favourite genre: RPGs.
Today, in the spirit of the famous christmas story A Christmas Carol, I will present you a MMO announcement of a franchise from the past, a demo release of a game from the present and trailers from games that will be released in a not too distant future!

Might & Magic franchise goes MMO
As one of the most long standing RPG franchises in history, the announcement of a Might & Magic MMO comes with little surprise.  However instead of a RPG, the game will be a browser based version of its strategy offshoot series Heroes of Might & Magic.
Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms will feature the series renown turn based strategy gameplay in a persistent online world, where you pit your kingdom against players from all over the world. The first ever Might & Magic Massively Multiplayer Online Game (short: MMMMOG) is due to launch in spring 2008.

The Witcher demo released
This fall saw the release of CD Project’s PC RPG The Witcher, based on Bioware’s Aurora Engine, which drops you into the boots of professional monster hunter Geralt. Since its release the game has garnered a large amount of positive reviews, critics favourably noting the meaningful consequences the player’s actions have on the game world.
If you’ve been waiting for a chance to get an impression of your own or were wondering how well the game would perform on your system, now’s your chance. A 1.97 GB Demo was recently released that allows you to experience the prologue and the entirety of the games first act.
So grab the demo here, pack your alchemy tools, strap on your silver sword and get ready to explore the gritty fantasy world of The Witcher.

Final Fantasy Media Blowout
While most developers finished their games for a timely Christmas release and are probably enjoying a little peace and quiet over the holidays, the folks at Square Enix appear to be going into overtime, releasing one trailer after another.
Among them is a new trailer for the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV. The game will feature the same 3D engine that was used in the Final Fantasy III remake, as well as new content, an extended storyline and voice-overs. You can watch the Japanese trailer of this classic reborn here.

Most notably however is the new trailer of Final Fantasy XIII that effectively blurs the line between CGI and in game graphics. Watch this visually stunning video over at Gametrailers.com.

I’d like to welcome Kai Hohiro to the Spellhold Studios Staff! He is our new Gaming News poster, and I’m sure he’ll do a wonderful job! :) Great to have you aboard, Kai.

- K’aeloree/Liam

Hello again, everyone.

Welcome back to the continuing NWN Modding Digest. As before this biweekly Friday update will be focusing on topics of interest around the NWN modding scene, including a romance out, some tales of adventure, and the beginning of something new.

So on to the news.

Romance Is In The Air...
While many a tale of romance tells of a knight in shining armor sweeping a damsel in distress off her feet, few liked the lines of dialog strung together and proclaimed as a Casavir romance that shipped with the original campaign for NWN2. One such player was known as Domi_Ash on SHS, and she was more interested in another character, Bishop. On November 21st Domi_Ash released the Bishop Romance for NWN2. For more information be sure to check out this topic.

Bards Live For These Kinds Of Conflicts
Both NWN and its sequel have at times been put down as boring and uninspiring. Yet two authors of SHS certainly seem to have different thoughts. DalreiDal and Orthodoxia have both set to their hands to fanfiction for the series. The former is author of both
A Spymaster’s Musings, a tale of Aarin Gend and his reflections on a certain hero and Out of the Dark and the Mist, the adventures through the HotU expansion for Aarin’s hero. Orthodoxia, on the other hand, has begun work on the sequel with Silver Shards on the Blue Moonlight, a story of a hero who really doesn’t want to be one.

Kellen’s Chronicles
While not fanfiction I’ve begun a thread that will include my take on the storyline as I venture through NWN2 and its expansion with my Elven rogue Maerdor d’Arthian. Expect pictures of my favorite spots, choices that were intensely difficult, or even just moments that I especially loved. I’ll probably toss up favorite quotes and rants on people that were particularly irking. Go ahead and check it out here if you’d like.

NWN Patch
The last NWN patch 1.69 is now available in beta form. Details of content are available here. There’s a discussion thread on the Bioware forums here. Keep in mind it is beta; if you don’t like beta, don’t use it.

See you again soon.

To get into this 12 Days of Christmas going on in the Spellhold Studios, the 24th Fanart Challenge’s topic is The Holiday Season! This time you get to go nuts - just think of the scenes that might happen when the Holidays and Christmas especially meets Baldur’s Gate - the cast, the plot, the place! Have fun, be imaginative, silly and have loads of merry Christmas spirit.

Check out the entries and participate in the Christmas spirit in the Fanart Challenge Forum!

Peaceful Christmas,
-Ilmatar / Lina