The winds of change, they are a-blowin'. I have arrived on that proverbial breeze, though not actually ON it; I'm much too heavy for that. I'm Sarah Williams, and I have been tasked with bringing you all your MMORPG-related info. I am a sucker for free-to-play MMOs. Currently, I'm playing FLYFF, 9Dragons, Dream of Mirror Online, Rappelz, and 2Moons. I also had a brief stint with Tales of Pirates.

How things may change from my presence, I can't say. This is quite new to me. But it's very exciting and I hope to give you all something to enjoy in this column. And so ::da, da, da::, IT BEGINS.

MDY Industries and founder Michael Donnelly have both been dealt a nice, hard monetary smack on the behind from World of Warcraft creator Blizzard. Back in July, Donnelly’s software "The Glider," also called the "MMOGlider," was ruled by US District Court Judge David Campbell to have violated Blizzard's WoW copyright. The Glider software, costing $25, can basically play your WoW character for you and is said to have sold more than 100,000 copies.

Blizzard now looks to be getting about $6 million in damages from MDY Industries. The case is set to resume in January 2009 to decide who should pay the damages: MDY Industries or Donnelly himself. Permit me to shed one large crocodile tear for those poor players who now actually have to play the game themselves.

Otherland, a cyberpunk book series by Tad Williams, is being adapting into an MMO. For those out of the know (myself included, so forgive me as I try to summarize four books into one sentence), Otherland is set in a future where the internet has advanced to the point that people can hook themselves to their computers and experience virtual reality as reality.

Helmed by publisher dtp Entertainment and developer Real U, the Otherland MMO will start the player as a featureless, sexless avatar. Since the entire world in the game is made of computer code, you are able to manipulate the things around you to differing degrees. As you progress, your understanding and powers relating to the code will increase. "Telemorphic capacity," as it's termed, will give the player abilities ranging from altering how your avatar looks, to equipment and skill modifications. Hacking information from the game world and other players, along with computer viruses that can be crafted to aid your avatar, will also be part of gameplay.

I don't know anything about Otherland, but using the books for MMO idea fodder sounds intriguing. The sheer amounts of bells and whistles that are being proposed are a bit mind-boggling. But if the developers can deliver it all in the end, the game will probably be amazing.

Age of Conan’s game director has confirmed on the official Age of Conan forums that the North American and European game servers are going to be merged some time in the future. It is hoped that the unification will "serve as a positive injection to the social scene in the game."

RF Online will be closing its virtual doors on November 9th, 2008. Codemasters, the license holders for the title in the UK and North American, was unable to renegotiate with the Korean developers, CCR, on a renewal of their contract. Game credits can no longer be bought, and no new game accounts can be created.

I never did get a chance to try out RF Online, but it's too bad the game has already run its course.