Hello and welcome to the first MMORPG Weekend Warrior! As you may already know, this is a weekly round up of the hottest topics in the world of MMORPGs. So let's get started...

This week sees a number of major updates including Sony Online Entertainment revealing details about the DC Universe MMORPG as well as their E3 line-up (which sports a number of online games), a pair of patches for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Rob Pardo's revelation that World of Warcraft was originally designed to be free-to-play, and two awesome giveaway promos for those who are thinking of starting a free-to-play MMORPG.

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It seems that Sony Online Entertainment has released a number of details on a new MMORPG for the PlayStation 3 and PC called DC Universe. The game will apparently allow users to create their own unique hero. This doesn't mean that you won't be encountering big name characters in the DC universe such as Batman though. If you cause enough mayhem in Gotham, you may just find the Caped Crusader knocking on your door. In addition, we also put up an article on SOE's line-up of games for E3 which include The Agency and more updates on EverQuest I and II!

Link: SOE spills DC Universe details
Link: SOE unveils E3 line-up

Moving on, we saw a pair of patches go live in Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures last week. These patches addressed quite a number of issues in the game, as a number of players will attest, including the problems with siege warfare as well as some improvements on the various questlines.

Link: Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - June 23 patch notes
Link: Age of Conan update: patch notes for June 26, 2008


On the World of Warcraft side, we have Rob Pardo revealing that their hit MMORPG was originally designed to be a free-to-play game. Unfortunately, after crunching the numbers, they realized that revenue from advertisements wouldn't be enough to sustain the game and Blizzard. It makes one wonder if they would actually be earning more if they did take up the free-to-play mantle considering how popular the game has become.

Link: Rob Pardo reveals World of Warcraft originally designed as free-to-play

Finally we have a pair of giveaway promos for those looking to start a free-to-play MMORPG. The first giveaway promo is from the guys over at Mgame International who gave us a number of keys for those who would decide to participate in the Hero Online: Muse Class Update Event.

Link: QJ.NET's Hero Online Muse Class Update Event free item giveaway


The second giveaway is from Ingle Games and their MMORPG, Magic World Online. Players who decide to pick up this game to play will be getting a few items that will help them get started. If you've been playing the game for some time now, then don't fret because there are some level 20 items included in the package as well.

Link: QJ.NET and Ingle Games' Magic World Online exclusive gift code giveaway

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MMOs: What kind of people to expect when playing an MMORPG?

Ever since MMOs became popular, there have been a number of factions that have popped up. To the outside world, all MMORPG players are the same, but this isn't the case as can be seen by recurring arguments that have graced a number of MMO forums in the past.

Each group seems to be separated by the reasons they play the game, so we decided to release a little info on the three most common ones.

First up, we have the most prominent (and some would say the loudest) group in the MMO world, the Player vs Player (PvP) gamers. Yes, these are the people who min-max their characters and scream in fury when their class gets nerfed (well, at least scream louder than any other group). These are the people who calculate the time it takes to get off the move and would like nothing more than to see their opponents fall before their blade.

The next group on the list are the Player vs Environment (PvE) gamers. Referred to by the PvP players as "Care Bears" (a reference to the 80s cartoon Care Bears) for their unwillingness to engage in regular PvP matches, these group of gamers tend to prefer cooperative gameplay and taking down powerful bosses with friends and guildmates.

Finally we have the Role Players or RPers as they're more commonly known. These are the people who like playing the game with their avatars "in-character" so to speak. Expect RPers to create storylines as they play and to talk in the same way their in-game characters would normally use. These individuals normally don't care too much about leveling their characters and are (usually) quite approachable.

Of course these aren't hard and fast rules with regard to the different factions in MMORPGs. Guilds and the players that make up their ranks (organizations of players) are normally a combination of one, two, or even all three of these players. So if you're going to be playing an MMORPG for the first time, don't worry about fitting in. You're sure to find your own niche of players and friends in no time.