Pretty much to no one’s surprise, gPotato has launched the cash shop for Prius Online, which seems to be in the final stages of open beta testing. The newly opened store is initially selling class starter kits, costume sets and crafting upgrades — all in all, a mixture of combat- and appearance-enhancing items.

But the forums are already buzzing on whether the most controversial items on offer — instant HP potions, and a temporary pass that lets players wear gear five levels above them — will be abused in PvP. This issue is nothing new in gPotato games and, to some extent, in all free-to-play games that sell combat advantages in their cash shops.

Amid all the heated discussions on the OP-ness of the premium items, Prius Online fans see one silver lining: Now that money-making business is out of the way, maybe developers will be getting back to work on real content.

Along with its sibling titles from Sony Online Entertainment, DC Universe Online went back online this week and its executive producer Lori Jameson wrote a welcome back post meant to reassure fans that while the “downtime has caused our publish schedule to shift a bit”, development work is chugging along.

In the letter, Mr. Jameson rattled off the content coming in the now-delayed Game Update 3, like the inclusion of an Oolong Island hard mode alert, a tightly tuned Ra’s al Ghul encounter, and a spring brawl between Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing.

Still, the main attraction for Update 3 is the Two-Face-themed duo instance, where the erratic coin-flipper ventures into the sewer lair of The Penguin, setting up what seems to be a four-way free-for-all between heroes, villains and the two crime bosses. Radioactive shapeshifter Clayface also makes a cameo.

Mr. Jameson then teases the new Raid series in Game Update 4 as being set in a “somewhat crystalline location”, a description that brought up the Fortress of Solitude in my mind’s eye. Read the producer’s letter for the full teaser details, complete with MegaServer pimping and all.

T3Fun is prepping us for a hectic month of April with special in-game events scheduled for CardMon Hero and WYD.

In the card collection MMO Cardmon Hero, it’s a race to kill monsters in the Trial of Time dungeon challenge or a battle for survival via the gauntlet matches of The Rise of Heroes tournament. Trivia fans will also get to flex their mind muscles with the GM-hosted pop quizzes with prizes for providing the correct answers.

Meanwhile, over at the 3D fantasy realms of WYD, there’s a popularity poll and art contest afoot. Players can win prizes when they invite their friends to register for a new account and get voted as the most popular hero in the game. Budding Picassos can also submit stunning illustrations or even screenshots of their character. Easter also brings in the ubiquitous egg hunt event, with festive boxes strewn about the game world ready for the picking.

Keep on checking the official CardMon Hero and WYD websites for more info on these community shindigs for the coming month.

A new rank 6 dungeon called the Vault of Lies will be opening in Rappelz as part of its Epic 7.2: Dimensions update, bringing new menaces and allies in the fight against the insidious Church. Fresh armor sets like the Ergon Cratos and Stormguard Suits have been crafted to help players clear this sprawling dungeon.

Epic 7.2: Dimensions update also introduces the Ice Maiden pet (shown above), a magic attack buffer and mana restorer, which along with the other pets in Rappelz can now be leveled while a player is offline through the Pet Stable System. Learn more about the cool upgrades coming to this free-to-play fantasy MMO such as a new user interface and other at the official Rappelz Dimensions microsite.

After treating us to three new classes in the Big Bang update, MapleStory is now giving a character unlock reward to dedicated Cygnus Knight players. Once a Cygnus Knight character hits the max level 120, its owner will unlock the Ultimate Explorer which is a new character that can be played immediately at level 50, saving hours of level grinding. To make the climb to 120 easier for all Cygnus Knights, Nexon has equipped them with new skills like the Empress’ Shout and Empress’ Prayer.

Aside from letting you create your own Ultimate Explorer, the Aftershock Update also improves contribution tracking for guilds and delivers a new boss fight against Black Mage lieutenant Von Leon also known as the Red Lion King. High-level characters will be able to lay siege to his castle, while lowbies will have to settle for Von Leon’s dangerous pet Ani. The Aftershock update is now live, so start gunning for those Ultimate Explorers now.

Bruce Wayne is a man of many secrets, and most of them are stored in his supercomputer in the underground Batcave. Unfortunately, the mad computer system Brother Eye is seeking to use the same supercomputer as a nexus point for sending signals around the world, none of which include updating its Facebook page or sending spam e-mail.

No, Brother Eye has a global agenda and DC Universe Online players will have to unplug the dastardly scheme afoot. Sony Online Entertainment has released the new video above, which shows off the hectic encounters to be had in Batcave: Inner Sanctum, the latest group combat raid to be added in the brand new superhero MMO.

The minute-and-a-half trailer reveals the three boss encounters in Batcave: Inner Sanctum. First is ARC, which unleashes knockback whirlwinds and summons powerful adds. Second is Zetta-Drone who likes to spin around and wreak area-wide havoc. And finally Brother Eye who throws a punishing array of laser and eye beam attacks, making the encounter more of a survival fight than the usual tank-and-spank.

Feel free to rewatch the new trailer for DCUO Batcave: Inner Sanctum raid to get a feel of the action, and maybe even pick up a pro tip or two before your first attempt.

Late last year, EVE Online launched the Incursion expansion that introduced a host of new features to its resident space pilots. CCP experimented with staggered releases for Incursion, spreading out its massive content that ranged from a new character creator to the arrival of Sansha’s Nation, a particularly nasty enemy faction, over two whole months.

This method of smaller but more frequent content releases and updates proved popular among the player base that it was adopted as a new paradigm by CCP. The new Incursion 1.2 update released today continues in this vein, introducing minor but much-appreciated “quality of life” improvements.

In broad strokes, Incursion 1.2 smoothed out the kinks of clone usage, removed user interface annoyances like having to open containers before being able to drop items into them, and minor balancing adjustments to Incursions. For the full list of the roughly 20 convenient upgrades that came with Incursion 1.2, read the full dev blog notes here.

EverQuest II just launched its new Destiny of Velious expansion, and the game is proving to have an interesting cast of creature NPCs.

Lodizal is a giant ferry turtle that serves as the transport leading to the continent of Velious. More than 600 years old, Lodizal is a native of the frigid Iceclad Ocean and has been around long enough to witness the turbulent Age of Cataclysms and Age of Turmoil. Plenty have attempted to hunt the legendary turtle probably for his prized meat and impentrable shell, but he remains elusive to captors because of his divine powers handed down by Ocean Lord Prexus himself.

Also standing guard over Lodizal is Nipik, the longest-living Othmir in history. Nipik had fled the Cobalt Scar along with his people after it was devastated by the Rending. In their new home at Velious, Nipik found out that his premonitions of the Rending disaster was given by Prexus, the same god that protected Lodizal. It became clear to the wise Othmir that he was chosen to help Lodizal ferry new adventurers to the shores of Velious according to the wishes of the ocean lord.

In-game, Lodizal and Nipik serve as nifty throwbacks to the original EverQuest game where the turtle served as rare spawn. While players now won’t be able to wipe on the giant turtle, they can still take screenshots atop his spiked shell like they always did back in the original game. Better yet, have that screenshot framed and placed alongside your Lodizal plushie displayed in your house or guild hall.

Zeus, the Greek god of sky and thunder, can be pretty scary if he puts his booming voice and crackling lightning behind it. In the new Mytheon trailer, we get to watch an irate and gigantic Zeus threaten the mortals (aka you) who dare defy him. While no actual gameplay was included in the trailer, the depiction of Zeus tells us all we need to know: He’s going to be one difficult boss.

“Challenging Gods is at the heart of Mytheon, and this trailer gives players a glimpse at the colossal battles that are in store when they tackle such mythological legends as Zeus,” said Peter Cesario, director of product development at UTV True Games, the developer behind Mytheon which is now in closed beta.

As an online multiplayer action RPG, Mytheon has a Diablo-feel to it and features three distinct Stonecaster classes. For a pro tip on how to deliver the “Mortals!” line with a thespian’s aplomb, watch the Zeus Mytheon trailer after the jump:

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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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