I wonder how the citizens of Rhode Island feel about free-to-play games... Ultimately their opinion is of paramount importance now that the state owns the rights to Curt Schilling's first MMO project, Copernicus. So what does free-to-play have to do with it? Well, apparently the plan for 38 Studios' first MMO was to launch it as a free-to-play game, according to Boston Magazine. At least that is what Schilling told the publication...

Sony Online Entertainment has officially relaunched its fantasy MMORPG Vanguard Saga of Heroes as a free-to-play game worldwide. SOE claims that Vanguard Saga of Heroes' transition to a free-to-play model marks the beginning of an "exciting new direction" which will include entirely new game enhancements, regular updates and brand new content.

Former Empire: Total War designer Jan van der Crabben offered a dire prediction for companies thinking of swimming in the free-to-play pond: expect a 70 percent drop in initial registered users.

In a shocking turn of events, Wargaming has purchased video game middleware company BigWorld for $45 Million, according to a GamesBeat report. Wargaming is best known for its wildly popular online game World of Tanks. That game has more than 35 million registered users who can play for free or buy virtual goods to enhance their game experience if they so choose.

While it has been hinted at for awhile today it's official: Star Wars: The Old Republic has gone free-to-play. EA made the announcement after revealing yesterday that the subscription numbers for the MMO developed by BioWare had fallen well below one million registered users.

Nominees for the 2012 Game Developers Choice Online Awards have been announced, with Star Wars: The Old Republic picking up the most in six different categories. Other games picking up multiple nominations this year include League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Rage Of Bahamut, Empires & Allies, Realm of the Mad God, Rift, CastleVille, The Sims Social, and Draw Something.

UK-based Jagex Software announced today that its free-to-play massively multiplayer online adventure game RuneScape has hit a major milestone: 200 million registered player accounts worldwide. Jagex claims that over the last 10 years, RuneScape has garnered the support of over 200 million players from more than 150 countries around the world since its launch as a 3D web based MMO in 2001. They say that, if RuneScape were a country, it would be the 5th largest population in the world.

According to Sony Online Entertainment CEO John Smedley, 70 percent of DC Universe Online players prefer the game on the PlayStation 3. Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Smedley says that his company has proven that free-to-play gaming on Sony's console is a viable market, and one that's supported well. Smedley makes a good point considering that there are more MMO's on the PS3 than there are on any other console and the PS3 is the only console system that has successfully supported the free-to-play model in games like DC Universe Online and Free Realms.

While Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't free-to-play yet, BioWare and EA have made a move similar to what Blizzard did with its World of Warcraft trial version. BioWare announced today that the trial version of the game will let players try out the game free of charge up to level 15. Players will have access to all eight character classes, as well as access to player versus player and player versus environment gameplay.

Sony Online Entertainment announced today that one of its last remaining subscription-based MMO's is going free-to-play. Via a Producer Letter, SOE announced that Vanguard: Saga of Heroes will be free later this summer. The company has actually been working on the transition to free-to-play for quite some time, but today's announcement makes it official and lays out some of the changes players can expect.

On the eve of Funcom's latest MMO The Secret World being officially launched, the company's Chief Executive Officer has decided to step down from the role. While Trond Arne Aas has resigned from the post he's not leaving Funcom any time soon either. Aas said that he left the position of CEO to take on two new roles within the company as its Strategic Advisor to the Board and Chief Strategy Officer.

BioWare’s Emmanuel Lusinchi, lead designer on the company's MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, says that the company is looking into the possibility of switching the game from its current monthly subscription-based business model to free-to-play. Speaking to GamesTM, lead designer Emmanuel Lusinchi said that the MMO space is ever evolving, and acknowledges that BioWare must adapt to the changes.

A few months ago rumors were flying that Japanese MMO company Nexon was going to buy a gigantic company like Electronic Arts. Today we see a more realistic investment from the company responsible for Maple Story and other free-to-play games in the U.S. Nexon has bought a 14.7 percent stake in South Korean MMO maker NCsoft. Nexon purchased 3,218,091 shares from NCsoft CEO Taek Jin Kim for ₩804,522,750,000 (approximately $686.8 million USD).

According to a GamesIndustry International report RuneScape maker Jagex Software will shut down its latest free-to-play MMO 8 Realms and lay off employees it can't relocate to other teams within the company. Apparently the company will shut down the game because it only garnered 10 percent of the amount of players needed to make the game profitable.

Why did Frogster censor its MMO TERA when it seemed like no one was calling for them to do so? We don't know, but Andrew Eisen explores the whole affair in his latest video, and channels perhaps the creepiest person I have ever seen on a YouTube video. You'll know it when you see it.. 

We also discuss the issue in the latest episode of the podcast just for fun...

As always, you can check out all of Andrew's videos on his YouTube channel.

BioWare has laid off an unknown number of the STAR WARS: The Old Republic team today as part of a restructuring plan. BioWare's first MMO launched five months ago to critical acclaim, but it didn't generate the kind of subscriber numbers that both EA and BioWare had hoped for. Recently it was revealed that the number of subscribers had dipped from 1.7 million paid members in February to 1.3 million.

The government of Japan has decided that it needs to ban 'complete gacha' mechanics in video games, particularly those used by companies like Namco Bandai, Gree and DeNa. Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency will ban 'complete gacha' mechanics because they see it as encouraging the addictive nature of gambling.

In a lengthy interview with Eurogamer, Frogster's Lucile Le Merle tries to explain why European publisher censored the scantily clad Elin race in TERA. In South Korea the game features this female race in skimpy outfits revealing their panties, but in Europe and the U.S.

According to an announcement made by Funcom this morning over one million users have registered to take part in the beta test for its upcoming MMO The Secret World. This "impressive number," they say confirms the game’s position as one of the "most highly anticipated massively multiplayer online games in the world." They also note that the number of players who want to try this game out early is much higher than the volume its previous MMO Age of Conan enjoyed.

You may recall last month that European players of the MMO TERA were up in arms over the fact that the game in their region had been stripped of blood. They started a petition and took to forums to complain about it with much gusto.

CCP Games announced some good news for EVE Online players in the United Kingdom: UK players will be able to pay £9.99 for their monthly EVE Online subscriptions in pounds sterling. The alternate payment method was introduced, they say, to accommodate requests by the UK Community to pay in British Pounds rather than in Euros. This means that UK customers are saving about 20 percent on the price of their EVE subscriptions.

CCP Games said last week that it would not interfere in the player-created EVE Online in-game event "Jita Burning." The event that was planned for months by members of the Goonswarm alliance, and on Friday thousands of ships converged on the Jita trade hub for a massive and violent attack. The trading center of the EVE Online universe really was on fire.

CCP Games has told Eurogamer that it will not interfere in an in-game campaign of destruction that is targeting the monetary system in its online space game EVE Online. Controversial former Council of Stellar Management boss Alexander "The Mittani" Gianturco (who CCP banned for encouraging the community to grief a suicidal player during a recent FanFest event) plans to lead a major attack the Jita trade hub.

Perfect World Entertainment's Cryptic Studios has issued a statement warning customers of its various MMO titles that it has suffered from a security breach. The security breach happened way back in December 2010, but was only recently detected because the company beefed up its security. The breach resulted in hackers obtaining user account names and encrypted passwords, some of which they apparently have managed to crack.

While there has been plenty of talk about BioWare's and EA's MMO Star Trek: The Old Republic suffering subscriber loss already, it seems that the game's owners and operators have a great way to inoculate themselves from further erosion: making the game available in more countries. EA announced plans to launch the game deeper into Europe and in countries in the Middle East.

Players that managed to grind their way to level 50 in Star Wars: The Old Republic as of last night (5:00 PM GMT), got a nice gift from EA: 30 days of free game time. BioWare is also offering former SWTOR subscribers seven days of free game time to come back and check out the latest update that was released yesterday. If players reactivate their old accounts before April 21, BioWare will also give them a Legacy Tauntaun Ram Pet - the same pet it gave to all current subscribers of SWTOR yesterday.

Here is what they say about the new update:

A company called Worlds Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for infringing a patent the company holds related to virtual worlds. Let the trolling begin anew. Worlds Inc. claims that the company is violating a patent it holds related to "systems and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space." The company alleges in its claim that Activision's World of Warcraft and Call of Duty games violate its patents and that it is due compensation for it.

Registered sex offenders of all designations residing in the state of New York will no longer be able to interact with children in some online console and PC games. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office has convinced several platform holders and game companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. and Disney Interactive Media Group to shut down the communication privileges of registered sex offenders.

China has an estimated 180 million gamers, and a new report suggests that they spend a fair amount of their hard earned money every month on online games. This news comes from a new study conducted by analyst group Niko Partners.

We're not sure if it's right or wrong, but Nival Interactive says that it plans to offer female players discounts and incentives to join a team and play its upcoming online strategy game, Prime World. This kind of gender preference is usually exclusive to things like dating services, and bars that host ladies night... Female players will pay less for virtual characters, and teams formed of men and women will receive bonuses.