As anyone that knows me knows, I once was a huge MMO player. Originally, I played a lot of Asheron’s Call and World of Warcraft, but I’ve also dabbled in many of the other online games as well. I had played the original Guild Wars for a few months back when it initially released. And due to my relationship with IGN, I was lucky enough to beta test Guild Wars 2, but I never got too far with either game. Last month, Guild Wars 2 announced that they were going free-to-play in preparation for an upcoming expansion, so I thought I’d download it and take it for a spin.

The game starts off much like every other MMO. I was placed in a starter town, and a bunch of onscreen tool tips held my hand as I ran around the map. I saved some farmers, collected some tools for the workers, and performed other minor tasks. Somewhere around level 5, I ran into a large group of players that happened to be passing through. Brother Drake invited me to join their RP adventure as they trek across the lands.
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Whenever we have a new MMO on the horizon, everyone piles there hopes and dreams on what ultimately becomes a letdown next to industry leader World of Warcraft. It is pretty much expected that any game on the horizon is going to pale in comparison, until one day some mythical developer from some mythical land releases the next big thing.

Will Star Wars the Old Republic push the MMO genre forward? No, probably not, but with very few successful MMOs on the market, if anyone can step in and hold their ground, it will be Bioware (with some help from the Force).
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Interested in tanking as a Rogue Riftstalker in Trion World’s RIFT? Look no further than the latest issue of Sprawl’s Scrawl that focuses exclusively on the infamous scout tank. This is not your traditional warrior tank that stands in place while absorbing massive amounts of damage. The nimble Riftstalker uses a plethora of teleports and finisher buffs to thwart its foes.

Learn the secrets of tanking as a Riftstalker – what to do and more importantly, what not to do in Sprawl’s Scrawl: Riftstalker Rogue Tanking in RIFT.

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