Week in Review: Unchained

At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. Miss a big MMO or WoW Insider story last week? You've come to the right post.

We knew Age of Conan's free-to-play conversion was coming; we just didn't know when. This week, Funcom saw fit to surprise everyone by pulling down the servers and launching AoC: Unchained. The short notice even took our veteran AoC expert by surprise, but fortunately, he works (and plays) well without sleep. AoC: Unchained delivers more than just a free-to-play option for players; it also includes a new cosmetic system, new dungeons, and casual-friendly gameplay tweaks.

Join us past the break for a glimpse into this week's other top MMO stories!

• WoW's patch brings indefinite free trial, GamersFirst welcomes WoW to 'the free-to-play revolution'
  We saw the first hints of Blizzard's behemoth's own F2P "endless trial."
• DC Universe Online launches in-game market
  Sony Online Entertainment's superhero MMO is its next to feature microtransactions.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic reintroduces the Bounty Hunter progression
  BioWare's newest class video showed off the Bounty Hunter class.
• Upcoming Darkfall relaunch is 'a new game'
  Aventurine announced major restructuring changes for its sandbox MMO.
• Why you need to play Guild Wars right now; GW2's Ascalon Catacombs intro cinematic
  Rubi explained why playing GW is critical to understanding GW2.
• SOE issues an official response to Star Wars Galaxies petitions
  Sony said it would not be reversing SWG's impending sunset.
• EA quotes '200 hours of gameplay per class' in SWTOR
  Frank Gibeau claimed SWTOR will be a "gigantic" game.
• MMObility: Staying desktop-free with Splashtop Remote
  Beau tested the latest tool in remote and mobile gaming.
• Blizzard's Titan a 'casual' MMO
  Analysts suggested Titan will be aimed at a more casual audience.
• Enter at your own Rift: Checking out Update 1.3
  Karen scoped out RIFT's newest patch.
• The MMO Report: Guild Wars 2 edition
  Casey tooled around with GW2 alongside the ArenaNet staff.
• Captain's Log: Shop till you drop (out of warp)
  Brandon investigated the most popular items in Star Trek Online's C-Store.
• The Perfect Ten: Reasons to go back to older MMOs
  Justin outlined the reasons we should play oldies-but-goodies.

And from our sister site, WoW Insider...

• Patch 4.2 release patch notes
  The Rage of the Firelands update arrived in World of Warcraft.
• Previous tier of raid content is meant to be pugged, says Bashiok
  Bluenames explained the rationale behind the content shift.