Fret not, MMO fans – Guild Wars 2 is still on the way. Details so far about the game have been hazy-at-best, but nonetheless the MMO will have a beta this Spring, with the game to follow in 2012. The beta will be press only at first, but then will switch to a selective public offering (just like TOR).

Considering that by the developer’s own admission Guild Wars 1 was not an MMO (but a heavily instanced CORPG), I’m pretty excited for their second effort, which seems to be more of a complete, non-instanced experience; once again without monthly fees. Will Guild Wars 2 and Mists of Pandaria take a significant chunk out of TOR’s userbase? Tune in sometime this Fall/Winter to find out!

Source: ArenaNet

[These impressions are written from the perspective of a level 41 character (out of a possible level 50), with experience in Warzones, World PVP, Questing and Flashpoints - basically everything but Operations. A full scored review will not follow until we have explored and experienced the entire game. All screenshots are in-game.]

The Old Republic has a lot to live up to. After all the hype and all the budgeting, a game that is now known as “the most expensive MMO ever made”  is going up against a number of market leading MMOs, including the up and coming Guild Wars 2.

So is this “story driven MMO” worth $15 a month, or does it take the “Massive” out of MMO? Read on to find out.

Without hesitation, I have to state that TOR gets it’s hooks in you pretty deep pretty quickly. Almost every class has an incredibly intriguing setup, to the point where each intro could easily be the next Knights of the Old Republic game in their own right.

The Republic Trooper will find his transport ship shot down in the middle of a warzone, right at the beginning of the game; the slave-born Imperial Inquisitor will find himself vying for an apprenticeship against overwhelming odds – whatever your personal style is, there’s something here for everyone. Accompanying these gripping stories is a major selling point: full voice acting.

When I say “full”, I really mean “full” – even meaningless quests from lowly officers and beggars are voiced by a diverse array of individuals, and the acting itself is top shelf material (drawing from industry greats such as David Hayter and Nolan North as player characters).

The starting/early areas such as Hutta and Coruscant are sure to delight, and it’ll feel like you’re blazing through planets at 88 miles per hour. By the time you next check the clock, and realize you’re a human being again, you’ll be somewhere around level 15.

However, after that initial honeymoon, the big budget sheen starts to become just that; a sheen After you progress past the few first planets, the game starts to become more and more like a typical MMO. Quests will start to blend together into kill/fetch variations, and the worlds will become more barren/typical fare.

Initially, you were blazing through planets at what felt like a breakneck pace – now, you’re spending 4-5 levels per planet – and those levels are much harder to earn (incurring some grinding). Of course, you have the option to grind through Space Missions or PVP in addition to PVE content, but both of those aren’t exactly the most exciting options after doing them for the 50th time.

Space Missions will invoke some memories back of old on-rails Star Wars action; but keep in mind the key word here is “some”. These missions are completely guided, and feature your own personal ship, armed with missiles, lasers, and a few special abilities/weapons. At first, these missions were pretty enjoyable, and enough of them kept springing up to the point where the time spent playing them was worth the experience obtained.

Eventually, I realized that none of these missions are varied – they’re the same exact thing every time, down to the last enemy starship appearance. It had gotten to the point where I had memorized every nuance of enemy patterns and the ship’s heading and course – unless it was absolutely necessary, I avoided these missions after level 30. Hopefully, Bioware can patch in an AI system for these missions to keep things varied a bit.

Warzones are also similarly boring after repeated play. At the current moment, there are only 3 missions: Huttball (basketball/soccer), a Hoth-centric Capture the Point/Domination, and a Bombing Run variant set in a hangar. In my opinion, Huttball is a lost cause, as most players ignore the ball in favor of killing each other in the middle.

The Bombing Run is also not the most exciting gametype, as it’s incredibly easy to defend a door (any damage will stop an attacker from arming a bomb), and you need to bomb/hack 5 entry points to win the match. So, that leaves Hoth as the only fun PVP map, and even then, you have a 1/3 chance of getting it when you queue up. Because of this lack of ability to choose your gametype, I hardly play PVP anymore.

At level 41 (you get your “fast” mount at 40), I’ve only encountered World PVP a grand total of ten times, even on a High[ly] populated server – if you’re looking for a heavy world PVP game style like Aion or Dark Age of Camelot, I’d look elsewhere.

Diversions aside, at level 30, the game completes it’s transformation into a run-of-the-mill MMO. You’ll trek across planets slowly with your 90% speed increase mount you get at level 25, find flight paths, do typical quests, and hearth/take those flight paths to turn those quests in. Although you could find solace in Flashpoint based instance distractions, you’re going to want to do the bulk of your leveling through questing or PVP, and your mileage may vary on either account. Stories continue past level 30 (into a second Act), but they’re  not nearly as exciting as the first half, mainly because of all the grinding involved at later levels, and how sparse the actual story content is.

For the most part, I solo quested all the way to 41 – I only stopped a few times to do “heroic” missions (quests suggesting 2-4 players). The reason I only stopped a few times wasn’t out of boredom, however, as the XP rewards are pretty decent for heroics; but availability.

Simply put, in my experience, you have to spam general chat or keep your eye on general for heroic advertisements. At any given time, there are only around 30-50 people on my current planet, making it hard to find groups often, and showing a disadvantage of the fragmented “planet” system, and not one cohesive world, a la most MMOs. Another issue is if you’re in the hub section (The Fleet), getting someone to come to your planet and help with a quest is more of a pain than running over to your friend’s real life house across town.

You have to enter at least 4-5 different load screens before you can exit the Fleet, get to your ship, select the planet, leave the airlock, enter the planet, and get to the actual quest. Most MMOs have it figured out by now (ie portals in WoW’s hub worlds) – unfortunately for TOR, it further fragments the game.

However, despite my issues with it, I’d personally recommend that everyone give The Old Republic a chance. I truly think it’s as close as we’re going to get to KOTOR 3, and I’d go so far as to say that each individual story (all eight!) rivals the epic scale of KOTOR 1. At the very least, you’re going to want to pay the ~$50 to take the plunge for your trial month, and then decide from there; because end-game wise, there really isn’t a whole lot to get your feet wet with.

At the current moment, there are two Operations (raids), three total Warzones, and a level 50 PVP planet (Ilum). That’s about it. On my server (and many others), Guilds have already cleared out all of the Operation’s Hard Modes for days, and are hungry for more.

The true test of survival for TOR will be if they can pump out new Operations and Warzones at a faster rate than they bleed subscribers. From what I’ve seen on a personal level, a lot of people are already going back to World of Warcraft, or are planning to play Guild Wars 2 if TOR doesn’t get more updates.

Personally, I don’t think I’m going to do much with my main after I become 50, but that won’t stop me from making at least two to three more characters and experiencing their stories. As long as the prospect of a mostly solo journey doesn’t bum you out, I’d suggest doing the same.

In case you were too busy nerf-herding, The Old Republic launched this week, and it’s kind of a big deal. Part KOTOR/Mass Effect style action-RPG, part MMO, the newest game in the Star Wars franchise has finally hit. Of course, you can never be too careful to protect yourself from online smugglers, so some extra security methods are available.

Similar to WoW’s extra authentication method, Bioware and EA are offering both a physical authenticator device (for a fee) or a free mobile app to help secure your account. Either option helps protect your account by generating a random number that you must input before logging into the game, or your online account. Considering how easy it is to keylog these days, I’d highly recommend picking up either option.

Also, as per the usual MMO routine, you’ll have to put a credit card or game card on file before utilizing your 30 day free period – to bypass this, you can use Paypal on the official website, or use a pre-paid Visa Giftcard (just make sure it has a 3 digit security code on the back, and an expiration date).

Gala Networks Europe and Noria unveiled their latest MMORPG to the world Wednesday, SEVENCORE. Among other claims, the unveiling focused on the fact that it will uniquely blend typical fantasy tropes with sci-fi action. So, as Gala Networks Europe pre-production manager Matt Poujade explains, “you get to carry a really big sword the size of a tree and ride flying motorbikes with plasma guns on the side.”

Who’s up for some duel gun wielding, troll slashing, futuristic-yet-not action?

The announcement also assures hardcore MMORPG fans they will get the in-depth character customizations and race variations they have come to expect from other fantasy based titles. A solid storyline developed through quests and NPCs is also promised. At the same time, SEVENCORE is to deliver loads of mount-based combat, giving players a chance to ride various beasts and machines as they do battle. They’re calling this amalgam of new and tried-and-true gameplay fusion-fantasy.

“We are excited to partner with Noria on SEVENCORE,” said Nicolas Pajot, COO of Gala Networks Europe. “SEVENCORE is one of the most promising projects we have ever worked on and we are certain it will be a huge amount of fun for players when it launches.”

Here’s a gameplay trailer. What do you think? What would you think if we told you the game will be free-to-play?

MORPG Rusty Hearts (RH for short) made a big splash at E3 this year. Captivating hardcore MO and traditional hack-and-slash fans alike, RH has been compared to such titles as Guardian Heroes and Devil May Cry. This has been on account of its stylized presentation, fast paced dungeon crawling action and deep, yet accessible RPG elements. Add in PvP and the fact that RH is free to play, it has people clamoring for access to the closed beta, which began Wednesday morning.

Gamer Limit sat down with Perfect World product manager Mark Hill to get an in-depth look at what makes RH a stand out game. We toured the streets of fictional Slatina, braved its lower canals and decimated waves of skeleton warriors. Judging from what we saw, gamers won’t want to miss this gem from Perfect World and Stairway Games.

The Economics Of Beauty

One of the first things you notice when you get dropped into the world of Rusty Hearts is the anime inspired, cell shade art direction. It is quite impressive, with a wide color palate and vivid detail. Battles transpire through rapid combo chains and flashy spell casting, all with seamless animation. It’s reminiscent of an anime that serves generous helpings of sword play and magic. Bleach anyone?

The style, it turns out, isn’t there just to turn heads.  “There’s a lot of action on the screen,” Hill explains, “especially when you’re [in] a party full of people. The cell shaded style keeps everything really tight.” It also enables RH to keep relatively low system requirements. Cell shade animation does not tax a system as much as its 3D counterpart. “We want to lower the barrier of entry into the game but still offer a really high quality triple-A look.”

No matter how seamless the art and action is, though, too much too fast can cause a sensory overload for beginners. Stairway Games found a way over that hurdle as well. While running from battle to battle, our progression through the early dungeons was controlled by large sternum-looking gateways that retract only when all the enemies were cleared.

Hill promises that once players get a hang of things, battles won’t be as stop and go. “These areas are pretty small as you can see . . . but in later dungeons, the rooms get much bigger, there are much more enemies, and they are a lot more difficult.”

Dungeon Crawler Unlimited

‘Dungeon’ is a loose term in Rusty Hearts. The preview focused on the canals of the fictional town of Slatina, which are the closest things to dungeons visually. Stone walls rise from a zig zag causeway, soiled with fungus and detritus. Once the game gets out of closed beta, however, RH aims to deliver more environments like Gothic castles, expansive cellars, sewers, etc. For the sake of naming convention, however, let’s call them all dungeons.

Each dungeon is preceded by a staging area. “This is where there are NPC [who] can give you skills,” Hill explained. Some of them will also dole out story quests.

We were also directed to a nearby wanted board where players can accept quests unrelated to the storyline. These unrelated quests offer a way for players to jump out of the plot and engage in more than just random grinding. Players can partake in straight-up gaming oriented challenges, like kill x number of enemies or finish this dungeon within five minutes.

Story focused gamers shouldn’t ignore the chance to play hero-for-hire, however. Hill says these unrelated quests “help you progress. They help you level up, give you xp. They [will] have some really cool items, too.”

Once in the dungeons, expect loads of hack-and-slash. We didn’t preview anything that made RH stand out in this regard. At the same time, we didn’t see anything wrong with it either. Hack-and-slash is, and should be, a straightforward endeavor. And in RH, there was plenty of it to be had, with droves of skeleton warriors and a fleshy, obese butcher boss to be taken down. Once the game is ready for the public, expect flying demons, sadistic maids, exoskeleton giants and other baddies.

Each playable character has a unique style of fighting and range. I played as Angela, who has an extravagant black scythe which makes for long range sweeps and slashes. Her magic was powerful, with an especially gratifying combo that included tossing an enemy in the air, a few quick scythe strikes and a pillar of purple and pink magical energy. Purple and pink never looked so good.

Players can also take advantage of Frantz, a rapier wielding nobleman who reminded me of a dark haired Alucard of Castlevania fame. He has more of a medium range with controlled sword swipes. Finally Tude, with a bitching gauntlet claw for a weapon, is for players who enjoy getting up close and personal and who aren’t too enthused about magic. I’d like to say that RH has something for everyone.

We Can Do This The Easy Way, Or The Hard Way

Both the wanted board quests and dungeons will be available in multiple levels of difficulty. As players complete each one, a higher difficulty is unlocked. For dungeons in particular, there are four: Normal, Hard, Very Hard and (my favorite) Blood Mode.

“There are some in game quests you have to complete before you have access to [Blood Mode].” Hill let us know that players will not be ready for this mode until their characters are significantly leveled up. “Enemies that were bosses before become normal mobs in Blood Mode. It’s super intense, but it’s really, really cool.” Really cool as in more xp, more loot and special items.

To make sure the people you play with are ready for the same kind of intensity you are, Rusty Hearts makes creating parties really easy. With just a few clicks, you can give your party a name, establish how many players are allowed and what level they need to have. Jumping in and out of a party is even easier. You can literally create, join and leave parties on the fly without having to exit to a menu screen, making it possible to maintain the high levels of action promised by RH.

Since the game is played across multiple servers and channels, the developers implemented a system where players choose a server to play in (ours was called Ruska) as well as a numbered channel. Players can switch between servers and channels at their discretion just like they do parties. In fact, they can join parties on other channels through the same interface and instantly be transported.

Like the art style and dungeon design, the server-channel system also lends to the economy of play. When a server gets too crowded with characters running all over the place, a player can easily switch to a new one and everything carries over seamlessly – location, character, party, etc. – without missing a beat.

Making The Grade

So you’ve killed a bunch of monsters, racked countless combos and pummeled the dungeon boss into a pulp. Do you get any special prizes? The answer is yes.

Similar to other hack-and-slash, beat-em-up games, Rusty Hearts gives you a grade at the end of each dungeon. The grade in this case is based on style (# of skills used, combos, etc.) and the amount of damage taken. Getting a triple S is always gratifying if just for the simple fact that the computer approves of your gaming skills. Well, it’s not that gratifying.

Thankfully, RH goes further than that with the loot card system. While in battle, felled enemies sometimes drop special cards. Then, at the end of the dungeon, any cards picked up get put into a shuffle giving players a chance to gain extra money or gear.

Hill explained the dynamics of this loot card system. “If you’re playing on your own, you can choose, pick one and pay a certain amount of in-game gold to re-select. But if you’re in a party, everyone chooses from the same deck.”

So, sometimes it pays to do things alone if only to raise the chances of getting valuable items. Then again, higher difficulty levels yield better loot cards. Therefore, one has to be cautious when going solo, especially when trying to score loot from harder dungeons.

Putting The RPG In MORPG

During the preview, Angela had two base skills – fire and dark magic, which amounted to small blasts of yellow and purple light respectively. As your character progresses, these blasts will turn into massive conflagrations, and you can add new skills for a total of 12, based on a simple skill point system.

“Each skill and each new level of skill has a certain skill point cost associated with them.” Hill remarked. “You can concentrate on leveling up your current skills, or spend your points on a wider range of skills.” This forces the player to really think about how s/he plays the game, strategizing gameplay as well as parties.

Functional customization doesn’t stop there, according to Hill. “You’re constantly finding gear. And you can gear up your character based on the direction you want him to go.” Just like skill, donning gear will be a strategic decision, based on whether you want your character to be magic heavy, a powerful tank, etc.

One must not confuse gear with costume, however. In Rusty Hearts, these are two separate elements. While the former is focused purely on augmenting stats, the latter is almost completely cosmetic. We weren’t able to play around with costumes, but judging from the screen shots we’ve seen, it seems you can get pretty creative.

Equipment durability, crafting and item auction are also present in the game. Returning to the staging area, we visited what was called the Unmanned Store. This is a place where players can sell and re-purchase items, as well as spend coin to repair their gear. We didn’t get to test out crafting or the item auction, but, these will be available through a number of shops and the in-game menu respectively.

Now, About That PvP

Rusty Hearts offers five PvP modes: Solo Survival, Team Survival, Leader Match, Tag Team and Team Deathmatch. Both survival modes give players one life; the last man/team standing wins. The leader match plays out a bit like traditional warfare in the sense that once the team leader is killed in action, that team loses. Tag team pits one player from each team against each other, with a new team member jumping in once someone falls. Then there’s good ol’ team deathmatch.

When asked about it, Hill started glowing. “A lot of players are really going to love PvP. It’s really exciting, kind of a Smash Brothers style arena where everyone gets in and starts fighting.”

Unlike Smash Bros., RH guarantees no two players is going to have the same set of abilities. This is because players will use the same character in PvP as they use in the campaign. So, set your heart on taking advantage of your fully customized character when in the arena.

This isn’t without a set of checks and balances, however. A level 30 Tude won’t be able to go on a rampage choking out level 10’s willy nilly. “There are different rooms [in PvP]. There’s beginner, intermediate, advanced and free,” explains Hill. “Beginner is level ten to fifteen, and so on. So [the game] groups people together based on their levels. And eventually there will be a ladder system that will automatically group people together based on their stats.”

One of the best parts of PvP is the fact that the rewards you earn smacking other players around carry over into the campaign. There’s no leveling up in PvP, but having at least one benefit that helps you progress through the greater part of RH is comforting.

Controller or Keyboard, That Is The Question

Rusty Hearts let’s players choose between playing with the keyboard or the controller. It seems that Stairway Games recognized that RH carried with it influences from the old console based hack-and-slash, beat-em-up games. This was a way to make the game more accessible to fans of these games, even to those who have never touch a PC for gaming before.

Albeit, core PC players need not worry that the controls will have been dumbed down. “One of the things that the development studio made sure of is that [the game] was balanced between both control schemes so one doesn’t have an advantage over the other,” says Hill.

That said, the main challenge Stairway Games faced on the controller side was the obvious physical limitations. For example, there are twenty keys which I use heavily for RH. There are eight buttons on the Xbox 360 controller minus select, start and home. In order to compensate, Stairway mapped the default attacks to the face buttons, the spells to the shoulders, and implemented button combinations that players can customize.

Hill remarked, “we did a lot of testing to make sure that it was balanced and people were able to deploy the same amount of attacks, to make sure that characters were the same speed, could cast spells, take potions.”

This may not be the ultimate factor that decides whether the game gains a large following, but, it definitely helps. At the recent expos, the Perfect World booth was always full with people playing RH and they had many console gamers stopping and telling them that this will be their first core PC game. The effort, it seems, is paying off.

The Beta And Beyond

All this talk of Rusty Hearts is making me want to play some more Rusty Hearts. Truth be told, I’m not a traditional PC gamer myself. I actually just a few months ago purchased my first true gaming laptop which now sits on my desk like a supersized stealth jet waiting to be booted. I’m not a big fan of Multiplayer Online games either.

There was just something caught my eye with RH ever since my first experience with it at E3 and now, after this preview, I understand why. The game is combining the best elements of hack-and-slash and RPG, PC and console, and shaking things up until you get a truly immersive, fast paced and fun game.

Shall I see you in the closed beta? For those who don’t have a key, hit me up on Twitter. I might still have a few lying around. *smile*

Earlier today, EA showed off about 45 minutes worth of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Personally, I am extremely excited for this Star Wars based MMO from Bioware. Not only because I’m a huge Stars Wars nerd and fan of MMOs, but because Bioware’s track record speaks for itself.

Anyhow, enjoy a recording of the stream after the break and be sure to check out more from EA at their E3 site.

Have you guys heard of The Secret World before? You might have heard of it by its former working titles: Cabal or The World Online. It’s an upcoming MMORPG that’s being developed by Funcom, and they just released some new footage.

Funcom put the brand new trailer from GDC 2011 up on their website and YouTube. Hit the jump for more details about this modern-day MMORPG about mysterious secret societies.

I’d never heard of the game up until very recently. I’m not really a MMO player, but there’s something about The Secret World that’s caught my attention. Maybe it’s the modern day setting? Maybe it’s the fact that the Illuminati and the Templars are factions in the game? I don’t know, but either way Funcom’s new trailer shows off a lot about the game.

The trailer reveals more about skills, missions, PVP, setting, charcter progression and more. Plus it has actual gameplay footage! In my book that’s always preferred to straight up CGI trailers. Check out the trailer for The Secret World and head on over to the official website for more info. Any WoW players out there that are sick of the fantasy settings that seem to permeate all MMO’s these days?

Say you love MMORPG’s and retro games? Up until now those two categories have been mostly mutually exclusive. No longer. Today Silk Games launched NEStalgia, an online multiplayer RPG that features a retro 8-bit visual style and aesthetics. Hit the jump for more information and a trailer.

NEStalgia just finished its beta period and is now available to download for free. Players are able to create their own avatar, rendered lovingly in 8-bit graphics, and join other players on quests. Battles are turn based affairs, which might feel strange for MMO players, but it should make retro gamers feel right at home.

However this isn’t simply playing a 2 player NES RPG lookalike. NEStalgia includes features inherent in modern day MMORPG’s: “In addition to the cooperation-focused PvE experience and memorable storyline, NEStalgia offers an incredibly balanced PvP system.” Not only that, but players are also able to create and join guilds, complete with their own customizable guild capes.

While I personally have never played an MMORPG outside a small stint with Fly For Fun because my brothers liked it, I’m intrigued by NEStalgia’s premise. I’m a sucker for sprites and retro artwork, so this might be the perfect game for me to test the MMO waters.

You can download NEStalgia from the game’s official website, though you need to also download the BYOND multiplayer game creation system in order to save your character and stats. But considering the game and registering with BYOND is 100%, I think most people won’t complain.

It’s little projects like this that really get me excited, much more than some of the big AAA titles out there. Go check it out. Maybe we’ll run into each other on a quest or something. I call dibs on a tank/melee class!

Last night, at the first ever Games Developers Choice Online Awards, Riot Games and their DotA clone, League of Legends, cleaned house by winning five out of nine awards. The awards ran the gamut from ‘Best Online Game Design’ to ‘Best Online Technology.’

Other noteworthy winners include EVE Online for ‘Best Live Game,’ World of Warcraft for ‘Best Community Relations’ and NCSoft’s Aion for ‘Best Audio for an Online Game’.

Created to honor “the accomplishments creators and operators of online video games – from large-scale MMOs through free-to-play titles to social network games,” the Game Developers Choice Online Awards  one of the few award ceremonies dedicated to “the rich history and growing world of online specific games.”

Personally, I’m glad to see Riot Games got some formal acclaim. The developer made a free game with a lot of depth and replayabilty and deserves every word of praise.

What do you guys guys think about this? Do you agree that Riot Games deserves all this attention? If not, than which of the nominees would you have like to see win? Let us know with a comment below.

Source: Shacknews.com

Some of you guys may remember the  time before World of Warcraft, when the hottest MMO on the block was EverQuest. Well, in an attempt to reclaim the throne of king MMO, Sony Online Entertainment announced the newest installment in its EverQuest franchise.

Currently referred to as EverQuest Next (I can’t imagine this name sicking), the new MMO is said to be more of a “reboot” rather than a sequel. Apparently, in hopes of furthering the idea of a “reboot,” Everquest Next will feature a new “distinctive” art style.

According to SOE president John Smedley: “We want to make something that still keeps the flavour of the original and the lore and the core tenets of it, but we want to make something that is truly next generation. We want EverQuest players and EverQuest 2 players to feel like they’re at home, but a new home, one that’s really awesome.”

What do you guys think about this? Do you think EverQuest Next could topple the colossus that is WoW? Are there any die hard EQ fans out there? If so, what are some of your fondest EQ memories?

Source: Shacknews.com

Well, it seems to be that time again: summer. You know what I’m talking about; when the excitement of getting out of school and having no responsibilities wears off and all you’re left with is boredom and an empty wallet. Well, don’t fret. Your buddy Alex is here with the first piece in what I hope will be  a long series of articles listing free-to-play games that will help you pass the rest of the season.

I know what you’re thinking. “Free to play? There are tons of free to play games… and they all suck.” Well, lately there has been a major push from studios like Turbine Entertainment and Valve to get some AAA free-to-play games on the market. I’ve done my very best to ween out all the crap games so that you have a concise, organized list of decent titles that are actually worth your time.

D&D Online

Some of you may recall a point in the past when D&D Online was a subscription based MMO in direct competition with the unstoppable force that is World of Warcraft. Well, since then, Turbine Entertainment has switched things up a bit to provide gamers with a pretty robust free-to-play MMORPG. While you may not get access to tons of character slots, all the player classes, or all the regions and adventures, there is still plenty of content there to warrant checking the game out.

What’s pretty cool about DDO is that Turbine allows you to buy specific content packs from the DDO Store. This means that instead of paying a monthly fee to have access to everything, you can pick and choose content à la carte. Not only does this save you money in the long run but it also lets you gauge how much time (and money) you are willing to sink into the game. Another cool thing Turbine did with DDO is it set up a referral system where you receive DDO Store credit (which can be used to unlock adventures, regions, etc.) for getting your friends to sign up (which you were probably going to do anyway).

In terms of gameplay, DDO is what you would expect from your standard fantasy MMO. You make a character, kill monsters, and complete quests for money & XP. The game runs on a system similar to Guild Wars, with players interacting in towns and all other locations being instanced. Combat has a distinct action-RPG feel with left-click triggering your attack. At one point while playing the game, my girlfriend came in asking if I was playing Diablo II on account of all the clicking.

Where DDO really shines is with its character progression. You see, DDO is pretty faithful to D&D tabletop’s 3.5 edition rules. That means you’ll be picking feats, landing critical hits, and rolling skill checks throughout your adventures. While it may not be a direct transfer of D&D tabletop rules, it’s close enough that I didn’t mind (and I’m pretty hardcore about my D&D tabletop).

My only complaint about D&D Online is that there is an annoying in-game pop-up that appears every so often (I saw it maybe three times in a 2 hour session) telling you that you that you should check out the DDO store. By no means is this pop-up game breaking or overly obnoxious (I mean Turbine has to make a buck at the end of the day), but it does bear mentioning.

While the story may not be as gripping or epic as WoW’s (but whose is?), Turbine has provided enough content and information about their Eberron world that gamers who are into the whole RPG thing can sink their teeth into it. If you are a fan of MMOs, or are looking to try one out to see if it’s your kind of thing, you should definitely check out DDO. For a free game, you could do a lot worse.

Lord of the Rings: Online

I’m going to go ahead and cheat a little. You see, LOTRO isn’t exactly free to play yet. Run by the same great people who handle DDO (Turbine Entertainment), LOTRO is currently in free-to-play beta (with the official launch scheduled for sometime in September). The folks over at Turbine were nice enough to hook me up with beta access to help me out with this article.

Anyway, LOTRO is by far the best free-to-play MMO I’ve gotten my hands on. Basically running on the same system DDO works on (most content is free with additional content added though microtransactions or subscription), LOTRO offers a fantastic alternative to subscription-based MMOs like WoW.

Like DDO, LOTRO features an in-game store where you can purchase items, buffs, skills, character slots, and new adventures. Also along the lines of DDO, LOTRO has ways for you to earn in-store credit though in-game achievements and referrals. Sure, grinding out 60 bandit kills may be tedious, but it beats breaking out the old wallet.

When you sign up for the free version of LOTRO, you will have access to the three main zones (Ered Luin, Shire and Bree Land). These three zones feature 800 quests and enough content to get your character up to level 22 (without grinding). I should also mention that a free subscription has no limit on level, meaning you are able to hit the level cap (65) without paying for a subscription. Once you are done with these three zones, you will be able to continue the main storyline quest into other regions. Any peripheral quest givers, however, will need to be unlocked via microtransaction. According to LOTRO Executive Producer Kate Paiz, there is about 300 hours worth of gameplay available to free players.

In terms of combat, LOTRO is very similar to WoW. You click on an enemy to target it and your character will automatically move in and attack. As you unlock new spells and skills, they will be stored on your hotbar. Just press the corresponding number and you’ll execute your special attack.

One thing that Turbine is holding back for non-subscribing users is the “Monster Play” feature. Basically functioning as PvP, Monster Play puts you in a special realm where you can play as one of five classes of monsters. Since this article is about what you get with a free account, I’ll leave researching Monster Play to you guys.

While it may not have all the bells and whistles that a subscription-based MMO features, LOTRO is by far the most robust free-to-play MMORPG I’ve seen. When the free-to-play mode hits this September, do yourself a favor and check it out. You just might be surprised by all that is available to you without spending a dime.

Alien Swarm

It should come as no surprise to you guys that I am a complete and utter Valve fanboy. It’s hard not to be one when they give away games with as much depth and replayability as Alien Swarm.

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to play AS, let me break it down for you. Built on the Source Engine, AS put gamers in a squad of four space marines who must work their way though an infested colony. There are 8 characters to choose from, two from each class: Medic, Officer, Special Weapons, and Tech. Each class has its own special abilities, weapons and uses. For example, the Officer class doesn’t really pack much fire power, but radiates passive damage buffs to his squadmates.

In terms of bad guys, Alien Swarm features a pretty wide variety. You can really see how Left 4 Dead influenced the enemy design. Each alien is designed to exploit a particular weakness in your squad. For example, there are parasites that can infect you, which deals constant damage over time until you die. The only way to combat this type of alien, aside from not getting grabbed by it, is to have a medic heal your infection. If you medic isn’t on the ball, there’s a good chance you’ll be six feet under before he’s aware you need help.

While there is only one campaign (consisting of 8 maps, each map will run you 10-15 minutes), there is plenty of replayablity thanks to unlockable weapons and upgrades. On top of that, Valve gave away the SDK, meaning that right now gamers are hard at work making custom maps and game modes. Just one week after the game was released, there is already a fan-made survival mode which works wonderfully.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out Alien Swarm, you can get it off of Steam, or just click here. You won’t regret it.

Well, that’s all I have for you guys… for now. As more and more companies adopt the free-to-play system for their games, expect more articles as the year wears on.

I have never understood the acronym “MMORPG”, because it lies.

Role-playing games are what I played as a kid in high school. Combat tables, equipment, and loot only served as structure for the interactions between our player characters and the non-player characters (NPCs) portrayed by the Dungeon Master. The role-playing was the heart of the experience.

Nowadays, we drop the RPG altogether and refer to the genre as MMO. Combat mechanics and loot tables are all that computers are fit to replicate from the tabletop. Role-playing requires human beings, and writing and performing your own dialogue is a challenge for most people. MMO players often establish unofficial “roleplay servers” to make it easier to find one another, as they are so few in number.

When Bioware announced their focus on story in The Old Republic it sounded like a step in the right direction, but I couldn’t figure out how a focus on individual plot lines was going to support the group play that is so essential to a successful MMO. If all the players have their own, individual stories to pursue, what’s to keep them gaming together over time? When I sat down with Daniel Erickson after my hands-on demo of TOR at E3, this was the first question I asked him.

“The demo you played takes place on the origin worlds,” Erickson said. “Most of that is class specific content, but you can still work together to accomplish those goals.”

Why, I asked, would we stay together after that point?

“The great majority of our content is not class-specific,” Erickson said. “Each planet in the game has a world arc. They are giant, multi-quest stories that are designed for party play. Also, you get different dialogue options from NPCs for being in a party,” he added as an aside.

I raised an eyebrow.

“If I talk to an NPC by myself, I get a different set of dialogue options than if I was in a group?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“If I have different types of character classes in my group during different conversations with the same NPC, do I get different dialogue choices each time?” I asked. No MMO has ever given me a reason to repeat a quest other than loot runs.

“We had to prototype the multiplayer dialogue system before we even had an engine,” Erickson laughed. “Brad Prince, our lead world designer, only plays MMOs. He’s a strictly multiplayer gamer, so he always asks how groups work. What we wanted to do was recreate the pen-and-paper tabletop roleplaying experience that people have always wanted.”

In other words, Bioware wants to create the first MMORPG that lives up to the name.

Here’s roughly how it works: you and your party of three players are on a quest together and encounter an NPC. Someone from your party starts the dialogue from the familiar Bioware radial menu. The NPC speaks, and then each member of your party gets to select a response from their personal radial menu, and you all issue your “lines” to the NPC. Think the party dialogue in Dragon Age, where party members opine about the potential choices you might make while dealing with an NPC, but now that party dialogue is being generated by human beings.

“In pen-and-paper roleplaying games, groups tend to move toward the extremes,” Erickson said. “You have a small group of dominant personalities all trying to control the direction of the party.” He gave me an example of how The Old Republic replicates this. Let’s say that your group is composed of three Light Side characters and you’re a Dark Side character. Your party begins the interaction with the NPC, and your three compatriots select Light Side dialogue choices.

You decide to screw with your party and choose a Dark Side dialogue choice.  That gets the NPC riled up, and now your other party members have to try calming him down as the dialogue continues, while you continue messing with them.

NPCs in modern-day MMOs serve as little more than quest bookends. Bioware is not only turning these interactions into substantive content through full voice support, but where groups of players are concerned has turned them into roleplaying exercises.

Bioware has taken the onus off players to learn how to successfully roleplay. The Old Republic may not even require roleplay servers because the game turns everyone into a roleplayer. Groups will no longer be solely about 40-man raids into instances, but about playing characters creating a story.

This may not make roleplaying the heart of the experience, but even introducing it as part of the default experience returns the RPG to the genre’s acronym and may forever change what players expect from an MMO well beyond expecting their NPCs to speak to them.