 | The new microtransaction based MMORPG Warrior Epic launched as scheduled on the 19th of May.
Read more here. |  |  | Perfect World Entertainment announced the launch of The Age of Spirits expansion for Perfect World International.
Read more here. | |  | Cryptic Studios has announced that they have pushed the expected release date of their upcoming MMORPG Champions Online from July 14th to September 1st of 2009.
Read more here. | | | | Get more news on our site here! | | |  | |  | | Current Offer From Our Rewards Program | |  | |  | |  | | | | | Featured Article: Most Anticipated Games: Where Are They Now? | | | | | | In this week's list, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood takes a look at past and present winners of MMORPG.com's Most Anticipated Game awards to see if, in hindsight, those much looked for games lived up to the hype. Every year, usually sometime between Christmas and New Year, video game sites hand out their hardware. Every site does it different, and we at MMORPG.com has traditionally held two levels of awards. Our editorial awards are chosen by the staff, while the Reader's Choice awards are based on popular vote. More recently, we moved to solely Reader's Choice awards, with our own nominations. Since 2005, MMORPG.com has given out a number of awards in many different categories. While most of those categories reflect on the year that was, one category consistently looks forward: The Most Anticipated Game. A number of different games have taken home MMORPG.com's Most Anticipated award, but today we take a look back to see what became of those games when they stopped being anticipated and move into the "launched" category? You can read the full article here. More features can be found on our site here |  | |  | | | | | | Column Spotlight: Jess Lebow's MMO Story Hour | | | | | | Fresh out of a trip to the dentist, Lebow retells the tale of one strange encounter during the development of Guild Wars. For all my life I've had good teeth. Well, let's clarify. I had crooked teeth that for one reason or another managed to remain cavity free--even through the torturous orthodontic nightmares of braces and retainers--until the age of 30. I brush my teeth twice a day and go to the dentist regularly, like I suspect most people do. I've just been lucky I guess. But when I started at ArenaNet I got a new dentist. My old dentist was a long way from the office and my apartment, and he wasn't fully covered by our dental insurance. Several of the people at the office were going to a dentist only a few miles away. They all loved her, so I took their recommendation. The first visit was completely painless. The cleaning went fine, and when the dentist came in to examine my teeth she asked me if I had any questions or things I wanted to discuss with her. I said, "Just tell me I don't have any cavities." Check out the column here. Visit our boards today! |  | This week's Game of the Week is Runes of Magic.
MMORPG.com reviewer Sean Bulger recently took a look at this free to play fantasy MMO, echo general sentiments that while the game is a bit generic and formulaic, Runes of Magic still hits the mark and gives you good bang for your buck.
Free-to-play games have a certain stigma attached to them by most people, at least in the West. They tend to have less content, fairly simplistic gameplay, and are often little more than mindless-grind fests. I've played a number of these types of games in the past, and every time I do, I question why I haven't learned my lesson yet. Runes of Magic has shown me why: because there's always the exception to the rule, and hopefully one that will be a trend-setter. It is far from being a perfect game, but many gamers out there may find that Runes of Magic has enough to it to hold their interest.
While Runes was developed by Taiwanese company Runewalker Entertainment - it was localized for the West by the German company Frogster - it shares a surprising amount in common with Western MMOs. In fact, I would say that Runes of Magic is an excellent example of a formulaic, generic MMORPG. Everything from the classes, the world, the story, the quests, the combat... It is all very generic. Honestly, even the UI looks like it was ripped right out of World of WarCraft or Warhammer Online. Yet, the game does do a few interesting things to it and it does come at the low, low price of $0 a month. That's hard to argue with.
Learn more about Runes of Magic, or check out our game list here. |  |  | | The Week that Was | Monday, May 18
City of Villains - Starting A Life of Villainy
Tuesday, May 19
Perfect World International - Exploring the Genie System
Wednesday, May 20
Jumpgate Evolution - System Talk With Scott Brown
Thursday, May 21
World of Warcraft - Trouble with Ulduar
Friday, May 22
Football SuperStars - Interview with the Team | |  | | | Fortune Cookie Fun: He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at. | | | | |
