With summer fast approaching and bringing with it the joy of no school, time in the sun, sweet sweet air-conditioning, and everything else, I’m highly anticipating the time I finally get to spend without being graded constantly. The upside (and possible downside) to all this is a sudden burst of free time. Veteran MMO players groan at the thought of the zerg of teenagers pouring back in barrens chat. Trust me, I’m right there with you.

If you’re like me, you may find sometimes, with that nice extra amount of free time, you being to grow bored of the things you’re playing. Naturally, I could always go outside and maybe play a sport, or perhaps take up stamp collecting. But, um, no. I’m a gamer. And if you’re here reading this, so are you. A lot of us freeload…er…gamers, may or may not have the money to spend on picking up a new console game or MMO every couple of months. Because of this, I’ve decided to try to be helpful and put together a list of free options for summer gaming fun.

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As Spring approaches I grow more anxious about the impending release of Aion: Tower of Eternity for the PC. This game has been on my “Oh God, OH GOD I want this game” list since one of my good friends sent me a few links to the videos of it from E3. It’s been in development for a good while, while the company making it has released tantalizing details sporadically so as to keep the drooling public (me) hooked and on the edge of our seats until it does come out.

I’m not going to compare Aion to any other MMORPGs on the market because doing so would be foolish and detrimental to all MMOs out there. Each online game, as far as I’ve seen, has brought something wholly unique to the gaming table as a whole, and comparing them in a bizarre contest just does them a huge disservice. Some people like World of Warcraft, others like Guild Wars. Saying any one is better than others based on any criteria (be it number of players, graphical capabilities, etc.) just doesn’t work. Surely there is a standard that all MMORPGs aspire to reach, but if they were all carbon copies of each other. Well. That would be pretty damn boring.

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Video games have always been my own personal hell, as I have a tendency to be perfect in everything I do. I had to be the person with the top kills in a shooter, I always have to have top performer in Rock Band, and when it comes to a Korean grind MMO I’ll always aim for the max level. When it came to playing World of Warcraft though, that attitude had to change–a little. Instead of the entire group being rewarded with an accomplishment, only a few choice individuals were rewarded. Despite the annoyance of the system, I grew fond of it. You worked hard to get your new piece of shiny loot, then you would sit in a capital city for a few days just so that everyone who inspected you would congratulate you or ask where you got it. Despite how annoying it always was, you’d answer, just to see the reaction of how great you were.

Lately I have noticed how lackluster accomplishments have become and how little of a challenge games are. There have always been cheat codes for console games that would make everything easy, so I grew attached to MMORPG’s. World of Warcraft is the one I’ve played for three years now and well, what is there left to that game that can be considered a challenge?

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I thought I could play World of Warcraft casually. I really did. I thought I could enjoy running a Karazhan on the weekends, perhaps someday stepping foot into Gruul’s Lair and Zul’Aman. I had dreams of Kharmaa’s Shroud of Hope, and a high ranked 2v2 team in the notorious BG9. Fuck, I mean, I even thought I could have a little fun while doing this.

Well, I have my cape now and I have a decently ranked 2v2 team.

But I’m also a new raiding member of an Illidan farming guild preparing for Sunwell.

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I am one of those people who doesn’t notice the change of holidays until my online game patches for it. One day I’ll log into my World of Warcraft character and see Christmas trees decorated with weapons and know that Christmas is coming soon. Nothing perks my game up more than logging into a virtual winter wonderland. Seeing as I am an Internet junkie, I have seen my fair share of holiday themed events in different online games including the responses, not only from other players, but the game developers regarding them.

Several MMORPG’s have their own holiday themed events and I wanted to share the diversity between them with the rest of you.

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The other day my Political Science professor was talking about types of leaders, and heuristic devices. Inevitably she stumbled upon the million dollar question: can women be leaders as well as men?

We’ve heard both sides, probably. We’ve heard there would be no wars if females were president and we’ve also heard that females should learn to stay in the kitchen and mind their own business. Politically, I could just point you to Margaret Thatcher of the UK and her reign as prime minister or Hilary Clinton’s upcoming run for the 2008 presidency. I mean, they’re leaders, right? But while GDG has feminist tendencies, it’s not a political blog; it’s merely a blog about video games by gamers who just so happen to be women. And as such, the million dollar question becomes more intrinsic to us when posed like this: can women be leaders in video games as well as men?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is a quagmire that makes Iraq look simple.

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