In this week's episode of Game On, hosts Som Pourfarzaneh, Bill Murphy, and Hillary "Pokket" Nicole bring you the latest news from the industry with their unique brand of insightful commentary. We also sit down with Rift's Producer Hal Hanlin to chat about the game's plans for 2012, and we take in some of our listener mail as well. Be sure to mail in all your questions, suggestions, and critiques to gameon at mmorpg dot com!

One of the most controversial words these days in MMOs is "microtransaction". The idea of microtransactions always stirs a lot of emotion. In today's Guild Wars 2 column, we explore the thought of microtransactions in GW2. Read on and let us know what you think in the comments.

ArenaNet had a nice system for Guild Wars where they used micro transactions to sell mission packs. ArenaNet has said that they will be using micro-transactions for Guild Wars 2, but they didn't want players to have an advantage over others just because they spent a few extra dollars. This is a real game, not one of those Facebook click-fests that pulls our money out of us by inconveniencing us. To get back to the mission pack, it takes place in the lore of the game, using a different character with skills the game gave you. You controlled the character to see an event that took place in the games past. What was great about this mission pack was that it really expanded the universe.

Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: Micro-Awesomeness.

You should not have the top gear in the game, and have finished all main quests within the first month of the games release. That’s just too short of a game.

The busy bees at BioWare have released a flood of information on what's coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic in the patches leading up to and beyond Game Update 1.2. Join us in this week's SW:TOR column as we discuss all the latest developments.

Last week was pretty eventful for Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare kicked off their debut Community Q&A, shedding some light on what players can expect to find in store for the game in the not-too-distant future. Additionally, players who have been up in arms over the recent changes to the global cooldown UI were treated to a dev blog promising a solution that honestly went above and beyond my expectations.

Read more of Michael Bitton's Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Future is Bright (or Dark, if you prefer).

The Korean government is increasingly active in it pursuit of limitations on youth gaming. Is this a good idea? What are the reasons behind the attention? Check out The Free Zone to find out and then let us know what you think.

It would be a definite stretch to answer the question above in the affirmative. However, the past couple of weeks have brought news that the Korean government is continuing to increase its efforts to restrict the amount of time its young people can spend playing online video games. Accordingly, it seems clear that the popularity of online games is perceived not just as a problem, but as one serious enough to warrant considerable attention and some serious regulations. There can be no real argument that free to play has contributed significantly to the growth of the market. So, it’s not much of a leap to think the powers that be may see it as a causal factor, albeit certainly not the sole one.

Read more of Richard Aihoshi's The Free Zone: Is F2P Ruining Korea’s Youth?

Nexon has sent out a new trailer showing the warm and fuzzy love side of MapleStory. The video, called by devs " a romance proclaimed in pixels", illustrates why MapleStory players who marry in game tend to stay hitched longer than the average American "real world" couple. Check it out and then log in with your sweetheart!
 

Runes of Magic servers will be updated today with the latest patch. Among the patch notes is the news that the Flower Festival will be arriving in game as well as the new Magic Wardrobe System.

The Flower Festival contains thirteen multi-part quests for players to complete that will yield special items. The Magic Wardrobe System gives players a new 'bag' for their magic clothing items which allows player to "keep their favorite armor skins once and for all without having to remodel every time a new armor is acquired."

Read the full patch notes on the Runes of Magic site.

The Hedone team has released the latest patch notes for its upcoming MMOFPS. Among the big changes coming to closed beta testers are several new arena locations and a new game system, "search and destroy".

The full patch notes can be read on the Hedone site. It's a long list but worth the read!

The Dragon Saga team has announced the release of special Valentine's Day events and is giving players a peek ahead at the "Jump Into the Action" event that is slated to begin on February 22nd.

Trouble in the Cookie Factory is an event with players trying to restart the production of chocolate. The factory has been taken over by two gangs which players will take on throughout the journey. This event offers two all new instanced mission map, twelve new quests, four new recipes, new costumes, and Valentine’s-themed pets.

When Jump Into the Action goes live, players will be allowed to create a brand new character that will begin its journey at level 40 and will come equipped with a great set of armor and a weapon.

Find out more about Dragon Saga.

The Crystal Saga team has announced that the much-awaited marriage system is now live in the game. According to the dev team, this means that players will no longer have to live in "virtual sin". The team has also deployed new Valentine's Day quests, activities and promotions.

Lastly, the Rebirth system has been released:

The wait is over... rebirth is coming to Vidalia! Are you level 80 yet? Rebirth is only available to level 80 characters, but don't worry there is still time to level-up! Rebirth resets your character's level to 1, while giving you 10 extra skill points and 50 extra attribute points. Use these extra benefits to become even stronger as you take Vidalia by storm! Race to level 80 before Wednesday, February 15th to secure your place as one of the first reborn Vidalians!

Find out more on the Crystal Saga site.

Fans of the Blacklight series will be happy to know that Perfect World Entertainment's Blacklight Retribution, an MMOFPS, will be ready for open beta testing beginning on February 27th. The closed beta will close down on February 17th as developers tweak the game for the open beta release.

Among the changes the dev team will be implementing prior to open beta are:

• Three new maps
• Custom built Hero characters
• Data Node system
• New backgrounds and systems

Check out the Piledriver map in this new trailer released by the dev team:

Find out more about Blacklight Retribution.

Last night, our own Pokket dove into TERA's first beta weekend with a level 15 Elin Warrior. Get a glimpse of questing, combat, and creepy bunny women. This is a NEW 'best of' straight from Pokket herself! Enjoy!

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to check in with NetGame's Rise of the Dragonian Era or RODE as it is more commonly known. RODE is currently in closed beta testing with this weekend being one that specifically targeted the game's PvP aspect. See what we thought of our time in the game.

There are several features that RODE developers are quite proud of when talking about the game though there was no opportunity to see them during this weekend's PvP event. Among other things, players will be able to ride dragons. But these dragons will be more than simply mounts. RODE will ship with aerial combat with players mounted on dragons. If that doesn't conjur visions of Eregon, nothing will. Players will also have the chance to participate in castle sieges in the contested Piral zone as well as have their holdings randomly attacked by monsters utilizing the "Deablo" system. According to what devs have said, this is to "create tension".

Read more of Suzie Ford's Rise of Dragonian Era Beta Weekend Preview.

Ankama Games and Square Enix have announced the addition of a new multi-tiered quest line to the game when the next update goes live on February 15th. The ultimate goal is to conquer Ogrest but getting there is half the job. Ogrest resides on Mt. Zinit, crying his eyes out over the loss of his lover. Players will have to scale the mountain and take on new quests, monsters, bosses and more on their way to the top.

Devs have announced that the first part of the Mt. Zinit storyline, the game's primary storyline, is free to all players.

Find out more about Wakfu.

The Martial Empires team has announced that it has deployed a "huge PvP update" to the game. The update now includes a tournament mode and a region war mode where up to sixteen guilds battle over contested zones. Winners each week will be able to levy and collect taxes for that week before the next battle begins.

In addition, players at Level 52+ can head to the new high-level dungeon to loot crafting materials used to create top tier equipment. The enchantment system was also overhauled to add a more consistent chance of success and the costs have been reduced.

Find out more on the Martial Empires site.

Sometimes we just want to get into a game and not only feel like we're saving the world, but saving it in a truly badass way while we're at it. In The List today, we take a look at five games that can make us feel like the baddest ass on the planet. Check it out!

Ok look, many video games out there do a great job of pulling you into the story or giving a romance to care about. Today we want to go over games that just flat out make you feel epic! Sure I am sitting on my couch with a pile of Doritos around me and a half spilled soda on my shirt. Even in this state these games make you feel supersonic, hardcore, and awesome! The list spans the ages so there are older games on here too. And no, not all of them are MMOs.  Let's call this List a diversion shall we?  Let’s start our list! Get psyched, drink a Red Bull, do a push up and pump up for the fight!  

Read more of Garrett Fuller's The List: 5 Games to Feel Badass.

Carbine Studios' WildStar is a game that many are watching with a keen eye as 2012 unfolds. We had the opportunity to chat with Producer Troy Hewitt about WildStar and about Carbine's plans for the year. See what makes WildStar one of our most anticipated titles for 2012 in our exclusive interview.

In dealing with a sci-fi genre game what are the biggest challenges?

One of the biggest challenges in dealing with sci-fi is the “sci” part of the equation. That might sound weird, but let me explain: First, mixing sci-fi and fantasy is great. The creative freedom you get by taking the best elements of both and combining them has been a lot of fun. We can tell almost any story we want, and it feels threaded into the fabric of our world, rather than trying to introduce some discordant add-on that ends up feeling like some strange exception to all the rules.

Read more of Bill Murphy's WildStar: Troy Hewitt Interview.

In The WoW Factor today, we take a look at the concept of "utility" in an MMO with specific regard to a recent post by Blizzard's Ghostcrawler. "For MMO purposes we'll just say anything that isn't directly prioritized on fulfilling a roll of the holy trinity of tank, healer, or DPS is utility." Check out what we think about utility and how it can be managed in WoW. Let us know what you think in the comments.

In Ghostcrawler's most recent post the lead system designer addresses the topic of "The Role of Role" and throws around some ideas about how things may be handled in WoW’s Mists of Pandaria Expansion. All in all it is a very interesting write up that shouldn't be missed by anyone who concerns themselves with MMOs, yet I feel Mr. Ghostcrawler left out a bit of desirable discourse on the topic of utility within the role system. Whether this was through intent or with forethought for length and readability I cannot say, nonetheless there is plenty to discuss regarding what I see as the sickly bastard child of the holy trinity.

Read more of Joe Sanicky's The WoW Factor: The Role of Utility.

That is one crustacean with a sharp tongue and a keen sense of purpose.

Our own Pokket is in this weekend's TERA beta event. She will be live streaming her experiences in TERA's game world beginning at 7:30 p.m. CST (8:30 EST, 6:30 MST, 5:30 PST) so make plans to join her on the MMORPG.com LiveStream Channel on Twitch.TV!

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