Free-to-play

If you're an avid player of Perfect World International, February 15th will be the day that it all goes down. That's the launch date for the game's latest expansion, Descent, which brings along a variety of improvements and upgrades to the game. Despite the low implications of the name, the expansion will be focusing on high-level conflict, with a new zone open to players of level 95 and up to explore. Said zone includes new quest hubs, two new dungeons, and of course several new pieces of equipment.

Progress through the zone will also bring characters into contact with the three Orders, forcing players to choose between the Orders for special character perks and improvements. Even without membership, however, each class will be gaining some new and unique skills that should alter the current distribution of abilities rather than reinforce existing roles. If this sounds right up your alley, check out the full expansion trailer just past the cut, and mark your calendar in advance.

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You! Yeah, you! You still haven't played Global Agenda, have you? I know, I know, you're going to get around to it, it's on your list, blah blah and etc. While you've been dilly-dallying about, Hi-Rez Studios' sci-fi shooter has gone and turned two years old!

That's OK, though, because the game has more options, more content, and more pew-pew than at any time in its history, and thanks to a gaggle of anniversary events, now is the perfect time to saddle up.

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Victory was originally picked up to be published by GamersFirst, but after three years of deliberation, Vae Victis decided to self-publish the title "to best fulfill each particular need it will have and finally create the best possible product for our beloved players." The official post goes on to announce the initiation of Victory Beta 1, which is "a new version of the game that offers dozens of new features and fixes," such as the addition of a matchmaking system, achievements, new game modes, the Pro class for experienced players, and much more. For the full details, head on over to Vae Victis' blog, and then click on over to the game's official site to get behind the wheel.

As the groundhog pops up to see his shadow, so too do the devs of Champions Online pop up with their monthly UNTIL Field Report, dishing out the plans and proposed future updates for the game. This month's report is rather lengthy and kicks off with a promise about upcoming "ambitious" re-itemization of all items and rewards in Champions.

Currently in testing and on deck for the near future is a '90s Iron Age costume set, alerts, zone balancing, and a look at why them women folk walk so dang funny (apparently arms and legs are moving out of sync on female characters). Players also have a new travel power -- Distortion Acrobatics -- and specialization trees to look forward to.

There's also some good information in the report as to why some features and concerns have yet to move from low to high priority, such as the "lukewarm" feedback of team duels and the difficulties of balancing XP gifting.

As the next update for Champions Online nears, Cryptic promises a more in-depth series of dev diaries detailing the changes.

Do you consider yourself a rock star within your MMO? Do men and women swoon upon your approach? Does a soundtrack ring out exalting your triumphs with every step you take? Do you carry a Sharpie around at all times to autograph body parts? Then you probably have an ego problem or something.

For everyone else, A Casual Stroll to Mordor is calling on creative talents to come up with fun "I am a rockstar" videos for Lord of the Rings Online -- and the site is willing to pay handsomely for the best efforts. Players are tasked with making a rock star-themed commercial, which can be any shade of serious or funny, and submitting it for a chance to win in-game store cash. Two Turbine Point cards, valued at 2500 and 1500 TP, are up for the first and second place winners.

Entries for the contest are due by February 17th. There are several rules for prospective video-makers, so head on over to CSTM for the full details.

We here at Massively always have a soft spot in our otherwise cold and calculating hearts for players who take the initiative to help a fellow gamer out in a fun and creative way. So we couldn't let a story slip by about how a group of EverQuest II vets are planning to shower newbies with gifts and goodies in the hopes of fostering a better server community.

Jayne on EQII's Freeport server is helping to organize the return of the Pay It Forward player event, an activity that apparently got a lot of great responses the last two times around. What is Pay It Forward?

It's a day when adventurers and crafters come together to donate crafted goods, items rotting away in your bank, plat, rares, masters... you name it... to young adventurers, asking only that they perform some random good deed for a complete stranger in return.

He's asking that interested participants meet at the crafting area on the Isle of Mara tomorrow, February 4th, at 4:00 pm EST with gifts to hand out to low-level players.

Bigpoint has let us know that it's about to kick off what it calls "space trials" for some new carrier-class ships in Battlestar Galactica Online. The craft will be visible on the Kobol beta server today in both Colonial and Cylon variants.

Carriers function as support and supply vessels and can also serve as mobile outposts with repair and recharge capabilities.

What's that? You say you want to pilot one of these shiny new vessels? Well, this is Bigpoint, so you'll need to enter a lottery via the community forum for your chance to jump in the cockpit of BSGO's latest and greatest. If you're not up for that, the ships will be available to all players on all servers after the completion of the trial period at the end of this month. You'll need to be level 40 (and in possession of nearly 500,000 in-game cubits) to get one for yourself.

With WAKFU's launch rapidly approaching later this month, the information is pouring forth fast and furious from this free-to-play title. One of the biggest questions that players have at this stage is just how a game is going to make its money, and in the case of WAKFU, Ankama is certainly hoping that the experience is fun enough to warrant a regular subscription.

If you're already on board with the WAKFU philosophy and wish to subscribe for a premium membership, then Ankama has a few great pre-launch offers for you. By signing up for three, six, or 12-month plans, you can net yourself plenty of in-game items as well as the esteemed title of "WAKFU Pioneer."

Ankama has also published a helpful chart illustrating the differences between the F2P and subscription plans -- such as whether or not you can become an eco-terrorist (we kid you not). Other differences include the ability to own a home vs. set up an in-game shop, how many professions you can master (six vs. 16), and whether or not you can run for office.

[Thanks to Derek for the tip!]

"Forge alliances... or all will be lost."

If those words don't give you chills of anticipation, then perhaps you need to take a gander at the video for the brand-new featured episodes coming soon to Star Trek Online. Titled "The 2800," the video begins by showing an invasion fleet popping out of a wormhole as the Federation and Klingons scramble to respond.

During this story, the Jem Hadar will be staging a massive attack upon Deep Space Nine, and it's up to players to warp in and save the game.

The 2800 will debut in the game on Saturday, February 11th, following this weekend's second anniversary celebration. You can watch the full video after the jump!

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It's time for This Week in MMO, kids, and no, you don't need to adjust your televisions monitors. That is not Gary Gannon behind the mic this week, but it is Mike Schaffnit, and he's joined by Mike B. and Jason Winter for the customary MMO news roundtable.

Tops on the agenda is TERA, which went from announcing its launch date to having a potentially launch-affecting lawsuit leveled at it by NCsoft. As the week wore on things got a bit better thanks to pre-order announcements (and the associated closed beta invites), but there's still a bit of a cloud hanging over En Masse's maiden title that our trio discusses at length.

Other newsy bits include The Secret World's new trailer, World of Planes namechange, and the overbearing nanny-state that is South Korea. Check out the full show after the break.

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It's hard to believe that it's already February and that spring is now within striking distance. City of Heroes feels the season coming on strong, which is why it's bringing back its Spring Fling holiday event from February 8th through the 27th.

The event this year will be a mix of the old and the new. Returning from the past are tangles with Arachnos, quests to fetch underwear for Eros, and a smackdown of Snaptooth. New for the 2012 season are a couple of additional missions for the restless hopeless romantic in all of us -- Widow in Red and Valentines -- with accompanying badges.

The former quest will have players looking into the love life of Lord Recluse (Match.com has no entry for "super-villain," much to his dismay), while the latter will send heroes all across the game world looking for valentines to deliver or redirect. The Valentines missions reward players with temporary powers such as Arrows of Romance and Arrows of Jealousy.

DC Universe Online's Game Update 9: Assemble For Battle is now live and operational, and it brings with it a few very interesting features, especially for players interested in group content. One of said features is the addition of role-optional alerts. As any MMO player knows, there's often a rather large population disparity between various roles. Generally, there's a ton of DPS with much lower numbers of tanks and healers, which can make finding a group a PITA if you're in the former camp.

As of this update, all alerts are considered role-optional, which means the longer a group waits in the group-finder for a certain role (such as a tank or a healer), the less picky the group-finder will be about filling that role. For instance, if a healer can't be found after a substantial period of time, the role will be filled by another available role. This is possible thanks to the team buff. Any time three or more group members are within range and line-of-sight of one another, the whole group will gain a buff to compensate for missing roles. For instance, a group missing a tank will get a damage mitigation buff, a group without a healer will get a health regeneration buff, and so forth. The official post notes that "the buffs are by no means a replacement for having the actual role in your group. But with some self-reliance, it will... allow you to complete the Alert successfully." For the full details on the new system, plus other features such as Novice Raids, click on through the link below to the official site.

Did that grab your attention? Nexon is sure hoping it did, as the company is in the throes of its "Get a Hat Trick!" promotion. For the next month and a half, players who dive into Vindictus, Dragon Nest, and Dungeon Fighter Online and get to level 20 in all three games will have a shot at several nice prizes -- including the above 2012 BMW M3. So, in effect, just by playing MMOs, you could be netting yourself one of the sweetest rides in town.

While Nexon has already handed out awards for the third and fourth place winners, there are still prizes left for aspiring gamers. First of all, everyone who gets a hat trick (as defined by achieving level 20 in the above three titles) will be treated to $20 worth of in-game items. Additionally, three players will get an Alienware Aurora desktop computer, and 30 people will win $50 "Karma Koins."

As for the Beemer, the prize will only be unlocked if 30,000 players achieve hat tricks by March 15th -- and even then, only one car will be given away after that. So good luck and may the game be with you!