When we first broke the news that RIFT was going F2P--in our interview with Trion's Bill Fisher--fans were undoubtedly excited.

RIFT, particularly with the added landmass and content of Storm Legion, is a huge game with involving character customization, huge bosses and a fantastic player housing system in Dimensions.

Fisher promised that the F2P version of RIFT would not be pay-to-win and the promise of "no trials, no tricks and no traps" certainly seems to have held true.

All EverQuest II Servers will come down on Thursday, June 20, at 4:00 am Pacific Time for an update. The expected downtime is four hours. There are no game update notes associated with this downtime.

Here's our Time Zone Conversion Tool to help you plan.

Attention all Arc Hunters! Today Defiance has announced the beginning of its "Recruit-a-Friend" campaign and is offering players some pretty nice loot for bringing their friends on board the Defiance train.

Like a massive fish tank, EVE Online is a game that I love to watch. Unusually for an MMO, it’s the actions of players that create headlines across the gaming world. Whether it’s a simple mistake that has major consequences, or all-out war between two major factions, it’s fascinatingly unique.

But if there’s one thing I learned from EVE FanFest in Reykjavik, it’s that observation only gets you so far. I couldn’t spend my days tapping on the glass and peering into the murk – I needed to dive in and experience it for myself. I was also curious – could I find my own stories about life in New Eden?

In the debut episode of Hearthstone Deck Tech, HSSpaceWizard gives us a breakdown of the Twisting Dragon deck. Each week HSSpaceWizard will be building, testing, and breaking down decks to help players get an edge before Hearthstone goes into beta.

Every card shown can be viewed in Wowhead's complete Hearthstone database here:
http://www.wowhead.com/hearthstone

Be sure to follow SpaceWizard:
http://twitter.com/hsspacewizard
http://youtube.com/hsspacewizard

 For those holding off on purchasing your marbles for the Eleventh Vana'versary Mog Bonanza, the deadline is fast approaching. On Thursday, June 27th, the venerable Moogles of the MHMU will close off all sales for the Bonanza, so if you wish to see if Lady Luck is on your side, you have only one week left!

Purchased your marbles already or waiting until the last minute? Let us know over on the ZAM forums!

With excellent overviews of each match and interviews with the expert summoners involved, RheingoldRiver brings insight into the events that enthrall millions as part of the League of Legends Championship Series.

RheingoldRiver is a valued member of the terrific LolKing community; the site for all of your League of Legends tools, guides and information. Rhein also streams regularly and you can get updates on her latest League of Legends content here.

Walking around E3 you find yourself bombarded with trinkets and trappings to make your luggage swell to the size that makes airline baggage handlers quiver.

The most impressive bit of swag--yes, I know the word is painful, but it's appropriate in this case--I received at E3 this year was courtesy of the fine folks at Wargaming: the MSeven mobile headphones with snazzy Wargaming inserts, as pictured above.

As tempted as I am to use them myself--and believe me the temptation is powerful--I decided I should give these marvelous examples of audio excellence to one of our similarly wonderful readers.

Interested in a career in the games industry? Do you have a strong prose style and a passion for gaming? If so, this is the opportunity for you.

ZAM.com is looking to expand its writing team with a small number of demonstrably excellent volunteers.

Here are the patch notes for this morning's game update (finally some new hot zones!):

*** Highlights ***

- Hero's Forge armor has a new look! You can change your existing Hero's Forge ornaments between the new and old versions by right-clicking them.
- Corrupted Shissar Fangs may now be found on many Shissar.  Norx Blackheart, who is currently studying in the Overthere, will be able to use these items to create a new set of armor ornamentations for you.
- New Hot Zones have been implemented!  Head for the following zones in the following level ranges for bonus experience, and see Franklin Teek and Skal Nethul in the Plane of Knowledge for new quests.
-- Level 20 - Warslik's Wood
-- Level 25 - Marus Seru
-- Level 30 - Frontier Mountains
-- Level 35 - The Dawnshroud Peaks
-- Level 40 - Jaggedpine Forest
-- Level 45 - Burning Woods
-- Level 50 - Corathus Creep
-- Level 55 - The Bloodfields
-- Level 60 - Undershore
-- Level 65 - Plane of Air (AKA Eryslai, the Kingdom of Wind)
-- Level 70 - Wall of Slaughter
-- Level 75 - Oceangreen Hills
-- Level 80 - Hills of Shade
-- Level 85 - Old Bloodfields
-- Level 90 - Valley of Lunanyn
-- Level 90 - The Grounds