This month's installment of MMOCO is a bit of a philosophical edition. Stuff has certainly gone down within the last month in the MMO department, but it's kind of a steady murmur. And as I sat here, trying to figure out what to focus on for this month's edition, it struck me that we MMO players are in the middle of a pretty great time of innovation and change of the genre.

This year at PAX East, the showfloor was bursting with MMOs, Free-to-Play (F2P) games, and F2P MMOs. We went hands-on with some and were shown the demo for others. If you missed our impressions of these games before, sit back and relax while I round them up for you and break them down.

Last weekend at PAX East, I had the opportunity to check out TERA, an upcoming action MMO. Buzz has been in the air about TERA for quite some time, but it was only last weekend that I had a chance to go hands-on with it.

This month in MMO Co-Opportunities we do something a little different. Rather than highlight a certain MMO, or do an MMO news round-up, we look at some of the reasons we play MMOs as co-op games.

Another day, another contest at Co-Optimus.  This time we're giving away a Collector's Edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic as well as a Prima Games guide for the game.   We've talked about the MMO on a few occasions, now is your chance to check it out for yourself!

MMO Betas are like your way to apply to be in the "cool club."  Today is the day you put on your fancy pants, pop your collar, and attempt to understand what the hell a Ke$ha is.  Guild Wars 2 is having an open call for beta participants, the game is attempting to redefine what it means to be an MMO.  Instead of grinding and meaningless kill 10 rat quests, the game promises a strong focus on story and character development.

Last month for MMO Co-Opportunities we did a little preview of what the latest blockbuster MMO (the Old Republic) may have in store in way of Co-Opportunities. Now, a few weeks after the game's launch, we take and closer and more informed look.

After a skipped column in November, we’re back in December for another edition of MMO Co-Opportunities. It’s been exceedingly quiet on the MMO front of late (thus, the skipped November issue), but this month marks the release of Bioware’s first MMO: the Old Republic. Come, let us gossip and geek out about it.

There's this game series called Dragon Quest. You may have heard of it. Okay, tongue-in-cheek attitude aside, it's true - the upcoming Dragon Quest X will have online co-op. Players will be able to form parties to go forth and quest for dragons. Yes, it sounds like it'll basically be an MMO. It also has a somewhat ridiculously long subtitle: Dragon Quest X: Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku Online (which translates to Waking of the Five Tribes Online).

This month for MMO Co-Opportunities we look at Dragon Nest, a newly open-beta'ed F2P MMO with an action twist and the recently announced various editions of Star Wars: the Old Republic. We also visit the world of MOBAs.

In a surprise move today, Blizzard has dropped the previous 10 and 14-day trial time restrictions on World of Warcraft.  Players interested in trying out the co-op friendly MMORPG can now play the base game for free up to a maximum character level of 20, including draenei and blood elf characters.   The only requirement is you have a Battle.net account and an Internet connection.

This month MMOCO features a guest writer: the lovely and talented Andrew Gaskill, who is quite possibley writing this very blurb himself. He sure is awesome. Today he'll be discussing his co-operative experiences with the other super hero MMORPG, DC Universe Online.

Those of you who have been following some of the things I've said about RIFT already know that the game has some unique co-opportunities (e.g. a unique class-building system and group dynamic events). This month in MMOCO we explore the endgame co-opportunities as well as the new World Events.

I would be a bloody liar if I said that Guild Wars 2 wasn’t one of my major reasons for going to PAX East. I’ve been playing the original Guild Wars since the launch of GW: Factions back on April, 2006. Guild Wars is the game I always fall back on when I’m in-between games, and as a result, I’ve logged over 2,000 hours in the game. It’s safe to say I’m pretty darn excited about the sequel. That may or may not have come across in the preview I wrote up last fall. Mike and I had the opportunity to have an interview/demonstration with the developers and Mike, Nick, and I all had a chance at other times during the event to try out the game for ourselves.

This month in MMO Co-Opportunities we take a look at one of the superhero MMOs for a change a pace: Champions Online. A deep character customization system and a personalized Nemesis experience offer some unique ways to play with others.