This week's Earthrise "Question of the Week" features an explanation of the teleport system. Click below to find out more about long- and short-distance teleporting.

How much of an MMO is button smashing and how much involves actual skill? This installment is an investigation of how armor choices and shield employment can yield more combat decisions.

The Earthrise team has sent out a very newsy letter packed with information about the game, various media interviews and screenshot links. Check out what's up for summer by clicking below.

Masthead Studios' latest Question of the Week feature discussed Earthrise's skill advancement and its impact on gameplay. Read it after the jump.

I like stats as much as the next person (probably more), but when warfare is boiled down to raw probabilities, battlefield skill disappears. The building of the best stat base becomes much more important than any sort of tactical competency. Instead of seeking a skill based work-around, games come up with new statistical probabilities.

In this installment, Jonathan Steinhauer looks at the last MMO class archetypes, the Healer, and why this role at least is solidly developed.

The archetypal concept of the tank assumes that PvE opponents have the mental capacity of cattle. Instead of a monster intelligently attacking what would make his enemy most vulnerable (the Healer) or what is the greatest actual threat (the DPS), it attacks the one opponent that isthe smallest real threat and the hardest to kill: the Rodeo Clown... er Tank.

Earthrise developer, Masthead Studios, released the first in-game footage at the Game Developers' Conference held in San Francisco a few weeks ago. It's a great look at the game so click below and prepare your eyes for a feast!

In this week's RoleCraft, Jim Moreno looks at the issue of player housing in MMOGs and how it can shape one's roleplay experience.