Week in Review: Post-order elation

At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. Miss a big MMO or WoW Insider story last week? You've come to the right post.

Early in the week we began to get word that the Star Wars: The Old Republic pre-order was about to hit -- and lo and behold, it did. For fans desperate to get their hands on the title, knowing that there's a copy out there reserved just for them became the next best thing. Unfortunately, we also learned that not every region was to get SWTOR initially, and a few grumpy feelings ensued. Hopefully the other SWTOR news coming out of Comic-Con, such as confirmation of beta weekends in September, is enough to keep the pre-launch anticipation positive and peppy!

Hit the jump to see the rest of this past week's top stories.

• The Tattered Notebook: Mercenary or player, which would you choose?
  Karen debates the priority level of EverQuest II's newest feature.

• SDCC 2011: New City of Heroes: Freedom screenshots, trailer
  Issue 21's new powersets and features are finally displayed in all their glory!

• LotRO's Rise of Isengard beta begins July 27th
  The hobbits are going to Isengard!

• RIFT founders receive free game client for friends
  Sharing means caring.

• Final Fantasy XIV launches patch 1.18
  FFXIV's companies get a little grander.

• Disney Interactive Media Group appoints Bill Roper as Vice President, Marvel Franchise
  And the comments section goes wild!

• Scott Hartsman says gold farming hurts our games more than we know
  The age-old debate of gold buying and selling pops back up.

• Order & Chaos Online now available on Facebook
  But what if we "like" both Order and Chaos?

• XLGames making Civilization MMO
  Dibs on the Aztecs!

• Star Trek Online producer previews the new Enterprise-F
  Check out the ample nacelles of this Odyssey-class starship.

• Free for All: Recreating my teenage superhero with Champions Online
  Beau never left his childhood, and we're all the better for it.

• Digimon Masters Online closed beta registrations open
  We're crossing our fingers for a Digimon/Pokemon cage match MMO.

• The Soapbox: In defense of consequence
  To sum up: If things don't matter, you don't care.

• New PlanetSide 2 screenshots show troops in action
  Armor should be brightly colored!

• Flameseeker Chronicles: Come one, come all. Except you.
  Rubi hates it when someone is left out in the cold.

And from our sister site, WoW Insider...

• Blizzard responds to Swifty ban incident
  The Swifty-boat scandal comes to an end.

• Thrall's return to the Horde and more lore from San Diego Comic-Con
  Bring back Thrall! Bring back Thrall!

• Fully localized WoW launching in Brazil
  WoW majors in Portuguese.