Today I want to talk about that staple of RPGs: Side Quests. One of the difficult things about RPGs is that there has to be a way for characters to level up, and that leveling up has to fit into the narrative of the story as a whole. Otherwise, it’s just a series of repetitive tasks until you’re finally tough enough to face down the Big Bad at game’s end.

As much as I complain about them, they really are a necessary part of any RPG, (MMO or otherwise.) Aside from giving characters a chance to level up, like sub-plots in a good book, it’s the side quests that flesh out the bare bones of the main plot, giving the whole thing a depth and solidity that it wouldn’t otherwise have without them.

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Hail, avid gamers! This week’s column is about one of the most challenging features of any MMO: raiding. We all dream of getting fabled loot and defeating mythic opponents, side by side with your guildmates and friends. Raiding can be so exciting (and sometimes repetitive and boring.)

Come along with me after the jump and let me tell you of my experiences and opinions.

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Bioware has recently presented Flashpoints, a form of group missions for its upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. This caused quite a big revolution among the ranks of all the SWTOR community and is a very juicy information, for all the curious minds trying to know how the game will be. Now, Jesse Sky, a world designer for this game, goes deeper into what Flashpoints are and how the team creates them.

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DC Universe Online players also like to frolic in Azeroth and gun down their online friends with an AK-47 while saving the world from Brainiac’s evil schemes, according to a new report from game tracker application provider Raptr.

Using data gathered from its namesake multi-platform chat service, Raptr found that DCUO players also dabbled in World of Warcraft, Call of Duty: Black Ops, League of Legends, Starcraft 2 and several other MMOs.

“The stats show that DCUO players predominantly play MMORPGs specifically and multi-player games in general. World of Warcraft, the number two most played game on Raptr in the last month, was also the top game that DCUO players played and stole the most playtime from,” said Raptr.

Raptr community manager Allen Wang added that even though DCUO stole playtime away from WoW, it wasn’t enough to gimp the reigning MMO champ. “While WoW was affected the most, overall dent is pretty minimal as the overall gameplay hours tracked for WoW week in and week out keeps it at the top of the charts.”

Jump past the cut for the Top 10 rankings of games preferred and set aside by DCUO players in the two-week period after the superhero MMO launched last January.

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Today, Earthrise ships out to digital storefronts in the U.S., with retail channels only open in Europe for the time being. The post-apocalyptic scifi MMO offers a skill-based progression system somewhere in between Darkfall and Eve Online, so sandbox fans need not worry about running out of activities. Masthead Studios boasts an intricate and organic player economy, along with PvP combat that is designed to make a real impact in the land of Enterra.

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The deities that once ruled benevolently upon the Mediterranean and Middle East have become drunk with power. Men, helpless to resist the overwhelming force of these corrupted gods, cower in shame and fear – what else can be done? Fortunately, there exists a single, gleaming hope for mankind; even the mighty gods answer to a higher authority. The sisters of the Fate have watched the affairs of the malevolent gods and entrenched men for many millennia, but this turbulent time calls for intervention. Declaring an end to the gods’ reign, the sisters have given mankind a chance to prove themselves worthy of emancipation.

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Curious about the intricacies and impact of the Mathosian civil war, an event that ravaged Telara and shaped the history of both Rift factions?

Trion Worlds has unloaded new lore surrounding the Mathosian civil war, including excerpts from the war journal of Aedraxis Mathos who battled his brother Zareph for the royal throne. Aedraxis reveals his scorn and dabblings in dark magic before eventually turning into an undead king.

Head past the cut for screenshots of the bloody civil war, and take a peek at the High Elven leader Shyla Starhearth who turned away from her lover to help Telara in its time of need.

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Taking a refreshing angle on the Action Strategy genre, Aeria Games has officially begun Closed Beta testing for Realm of the Titans. ROTT is a DoTA-inspired F2P title, boasting a “robust statistics & record tracking” system, among other things. Check past the cut for more details & screenshots.

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MMOs are games that are always changing and evolving. Sometimes, those changes are for good and the community of the game is happy with them, but sometimes not. Usually, MMOs remove some features, while the devs try to create a better game. Looks like Runescape is taking back two features from the past: Wilderness and Free Trade. After a referendum made by Jagex Games Studio, over 1,2 million players voted and an astounding majority wanted those two features back.

Wilderness is a form PKing (player-killing)  in Runescape, very appropriate; Free Trade allows players to give their friends gifts and access to unrestricted trade. These changes will come along with this month’s update, for the joy of many players. Newbies, you better run now that Wilderness comes back.

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It’s me, Ditto the monster.  To anyone who might not be familiar with me or my bloggy-thingy, I guess I am somewhat unique in the gaming blog community, probably because I have orange hair – apparently that’s pretty unusual.  It may also be because I am what some people would call a puppet, though I prefer to be known as a Fabricated American – ‘no strings attached’ as it were.  I’m really not so different from anyone else (though I do tend to spend a lot more on shampoo) but I have a pretty normal life; I have a job, good friends, I like music, cool movies, fantasy and science fiction books, the usual suspects, but most of all I love video games!

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