Cash money. Much like in real life, your character in World of Warcraft is going to need it. While it isn’t as important for a starting character in WoW as it is for a higher-level toon, you’ll find that starting to amass a sizable stash of gold right out of the gate will make things a lot less stressful as you move on. Having enough cash to pay for training, flight masters, repairs, the occasional piece of gear, and ultimately your first mount (and the training required to begin riding around Azeroth) is important. It’s also not that difficult if you follow a few simple rules.

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The holidays are done and now it’s time to put down the warm eggnog and catch up on games. If the newly released Vindictus is tops on your list of brand-new MMOs to break in, then Nexon seems to have the perfect starter pack for you.

The New Year’s Renewal Pack, now on sale at 9900 NX credits or roughly $10 at the cash shop, offers newbie conveniences like 10,000 Gold for purchasing survival gear and an expanded storage chest for storing items. (Warning though: it only lasts 90 days, with the unlimited version sold separately.)

There will also come a time when you’re sick of looking at your avatar. Rest easy knowing you have two appearance-changing coupons included in the pack–one coupon for a new hairdo and the other coupon for a temporary body tattoo. Your character also receives the title of “Might of Lepus,” which aside from having well-rounded stats of 1 STR, 1 AGI, 1 WIL and 1 INT, is also quirkily named after Chinese zodiac conventions (2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, y’all!)

It’s pretty clear how the Vindictus Renewal Pack can boost beginners and help them hit the ground running. Still baffling though: Why call those Christmas-themed underoos as “inner armor” when they barely cover anything.

The first week of this new year 2011, the Far Seas Trading Company has chosen Gorowyn, to celebrate the monthly festival that has become a tradition on Everquest 2. Every month, a new city is chosen for the festival and all Norrathians, can participate, enjoying the different festive activities you can expect:

Adventurers who visit the City Festival will find quests, collections and rewards, many of which are city-specific. For adventurers who don’t want to wait for the festival to begin, never fear! City Tokens are now being given as further reward for completing city writs.

Some of the rewards include food and drinks, house items, clothing and each city has its own collection quest. I’ve enjoyed many festivals on EQ2 and I assure you they worth your time, away from hunting, questing or raiding, for a refreshing change of your agenda.

For more information about the festival, go to the official website of the game.

The Gorowyn City Festival started on January 1^st and will run until January 7^th, so go ahead and don’t miss this chance. If you miss it, you’ll have to wait for next month’s festival. Which city will be chosen then?

Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft is another huge success for Blizzard Entertainment, but doesn’t mean is perfect. The devs of the game know this and seem to be working hard to fix some bugs related to the release of patch 4.0.3a and the last expansion for the number one MMO, with more than 11 million players, all over the world.

Classes, Dungeons and Raids, Blackwing Descent, items, professions and other features, are addressed with yesterday’s update for this huge Hotfix, making WOW, probably, the most polished MMO ever. Whether you like or dislike what WOW has become, cause has changed a lot since launch, none of us can deny this game works so well.

To see how Blizzard polishes Cataclysm through new Hotfixes, visit the official website and check everything you need to know, about what’s been fixed.

Many of you surely have been following the Rift Podcast already. For those of you who didn’t know about it, we bring to you today the latest one released: Podcast 25, where the betas are discussed along with overall state of this upcoming MMORPG. Here at mmocrunch.com we’ve been following its progress and even participated in some of the Beta Events and we are sure you’ll enjoy hearing Kaelistis, Ananiah and Aimgar’s opinions and impressions about Rift: Planes of Telara overall state.

Subjects like crafting, Invasions, recent changes and what would be needed to keep improving what seems like a game that could mark the difference are discussed in these release of the Rift Podcast and will enlighten if you didn’t have access to a Beta Key, or maybe confirm your own impressions if you have taken part on any or all the events. With the next Rift Beta Event so close we can only hope things keep improving and getting better and better.

Last event Enter the Rift was not the last to come for the upcoming MMO Rift: Planes of Telara. Trion has just announced Warfronts!, beginning next Friday January 7 at 10AM PST and lasting  till  Monday 10 at 10AM PST. All participants invited to the event, will have the chance of throwing themselves into the first PvP experience of Rift. Whether you play Guardian or Defiant side, if you’re in, you’ll face the enemy, though not the true one, as Regulos must be laughing hard, watching Guardians and Defiants fight each other, clearing his way to domination.

In addition to the thrilling experience of fighting other players, next event will offer the opportunity of exploring the zones of Gloamwood and Stonefield and two new dungeons: Deepstrike Mines and Darkening Deeps. As well, all players will see an increase of the level cap to 27, offering more soul points for you to try new skills on the soul trees. In my opinion, the best feature of Rift.

If you still want to try some of the private closed beta events, go to the official website and sign for it. Trion still gets new applicants and maybe you’re lucky enough to get an invitation.

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Welcome everyone, to a new gaming year. 2011 could be one of those special years when several major MMOs hit the market. Many of you avid gamers are veterans that know a lot about your favorite games: quests, gear, raids, dungeons… but, what about MMO economy? In all these years playing, I’ve realized that earning money in an MMO (virtual money, of course) can be such a pain. Let me tell you of my experience with regard of this topic.

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When you meet a snooty nobleman in Star Wars: The Old Republic, there are many tactics of persuasion to get him to cooperate with your mission. You can be forceful and say “You’re wasting my time!” or attack the nobleman’s lack of diplomatic finesse with an indignant “So much for etiquette!”

Having such choices makes the game more engaging for players, according to Lead Cinematic Designer Paul Marino, who let us know why interactive cinematics are so important in the upcoming Star Wars MMO.

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Hello once more, fellow adventurers, and welcome to another week of Hyrkanian Insight, in this first day of a brand new year. As I don’t think many of us will have a head for much thinking I thought I’d entertain you with a little story of how this woman spent the last night of the year and the strange circumstances in which she awoke the next morning…

Now, before we proceed, I ask you to kindly bear with me during this attempt at storytelling.

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