WRUP: Summertime blues edition

Summertime is here for the northern hemisphere crowd, and for Americans it's a long holiday weekend. Steam says it's dangerous out there, and we're alternating between enjoying outdoor summer fun and hiding in the air conditioning playing games.

The Massively team is playing a variety of games this weekend and enjoying a variety of activities in the 3-D world, and as always, we're lining up to tell you all about them. Follow along after the jump to see what we're playing, then tell us what you're playing.

Want to jump in on the bonus question? What are you doing to beat the heat this summer?
Beau Hindman (@spouseaggro): I will be playing some more Sacred Seasons this weekend, along with WURM Online and looking at a few betas! To beat the heat we will be avoiding the ridiculous mall fireworks and instead finding a nice, virtual fireworks show to cheer at.

Brendan Drain (@nyphur): Having just activated my old mining account in EVE Online, I then discovered that the Hulkageddon event is scheduled to begin in under a week's time. I guess I'll be throwing the mining barge into the mothballs and spending another weekend playing World of Warcraft. As for keeping cool, thankfully the temperature here in Ireland hasn't gotten that bad lately. We're due for another heat wave, though, so if you hear any news about a crazy EVE writer drowning in a bathtub full of ice, that'll be me!

Brianna Royce: I'm still tinkering around as a lowbie in Champions Online, running my shop in Star Wars Galaxies, and cackling gleefully over all the awesome Steam deals lately. Just too many fun things to do! As for keeping cool... I spent six years living in an actual desert, so I'd like to think I'm acclimated to high temps, but dang, California is on FIRE. I'd like my comfy desert back, please! In the meantime, I am all about the central air and home-made lemonade slushies.

Dan O'Halloran: Don't have a lot of playtime over the holiday, but looking forward to EQ2's double exp weekend and more time with Fable 2 on my new Xbox.

Eliot Lefebvre: I have a lucky four-day weekend, so I'm going to fill it up with prepping for Going Rogue in CoH and playing plenty of Guild Wars, including trying to buy the Bonus Mission Pack after an unfortunate billing oddity. (The staff resolved it very quickly, props for that.) I'm also going to take on some more War for Cybertron online play. As for the heat, I beat it via an apartment-wide system of fans and open windows, which works slightly better than sitting in a fridge and praying you turn into some kind of superhero.

Jef Reahard: The usual AoC and EQ2 here, and I also re-upped both my Station Pass and my Darkfall sub, so I'll be getting in a little Vanguard and probably a little unavoidable gankage while trying to craft in Agon. As for heat, my home office features four gaming desktops, two laptops, and a big energy-inefficient window, so yeah, business as usual and looking forward to October.

Jeremy Stratton: I'm going to be hard at "work" figuring out all the nuiances of Runes of Magic's new pet system and I'll be visiting the Inn of the Prancing Pony, as I discover the joys of Lord of the Rings Online for the first time. Outside of the house, I will be beating the heat with a visit to Laurel Caverns this week.

Krystalle Voecks (@Krystalle): A long weekend of downtime and gaming are on tap for me, so I'll probably dive in to Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, and APB as well as firing up my Star Wars Galaxies account since it seems to be winning in this week's Choose My Adventure poll currently. Outside of that, there will be grilling, and catching a friend playing an acoustic set at my favorite local spot for my anniversary. As for how I beat the heat — there's nothing better than a frosty beverage and good friends, although the homemade apple pie ice cream sandwich at The Refinery is also high on my list of "oh yes, please!"

Lisa Poisso (@emused): Investigating two new kids MMOs for MMO Family, plus firing up LOTRO again and — oh, who am I kidding? That's enough, right there. My office is going to be like an inferno with all the computers going at once in this summer heat!

Patrick Mackey (@mackeypb): I'm playing Cosmic Break, which a friend introduced me to. I'm also getting a World of Tanks beta key so you can expect to see me there. This week in our pen and paper game, our heroes are investigating a potential conspiracy involving one of the most hated kingdoms on the planet. The heat is no big deal to me, since I'm comfortable in 90-110 degree Southern California weather. Also, because I'm in Portland, OR, our seasons start a little late so we haven't gone fully into the summer heat just yet. My advice to everyone on that front: suck it up. :D

Rubi Bayer (@Rubi_): My little sister and Just Dance buddy is in town for the holiday weekend, so we'll be flailing around all silly-like for much of the weekend. I'll definitely find time to check out the Guild Wars Dragon Festival, and spend some time in DDO enjoying the new guild renown system. (OnedAwesome is level 10, yay!)

Ryan Greene (@thatgaynerd): I nabbed Torchlight for $5 on Steam the other day, so I'll be click-click-clicking away all weekend. And with July upon us, I'm entering month six of find-a-job-before-you-run-completely-out-of-money mode. So, fun. Oh, and nothing beats the heat like Ben & Jerry's Key Lime Pie ice cream, of which I've been eating way too much lately. Harris Teeter needs to stop putting it on sale EVERY week!

Seraphina Brennan (@sera_brennan): This weekend is all about what makes America into America. It's about massive fireworks during the Fourth of July, eating grilled hot dogs, and shooting as many perps as possible in APB with a giant gun. Ahhhh, America.

Shawn Schuster (@sschuster): I will be installing and staining new cabinets in my kitchen, watching the fireworks with the family and thinking a whole lot about gaming. I actually enjoy the heat much more than the cold, so I don't spend a lot of time trying to beat it.

Tateru Nino (@taterunino):
For a change, I'm planning on a bit of a try-out of Dungeons and Dragons Online, and see where that takes me (though, presumably the answer to that is... well, Eberron). Sure, I've read all of our great coverage on it, but there's a big difference between reading about the game and getting your feet impaled by a spike trap in some noisome underworks somewhere. How will it actually play? I'm intrigued yet a little dubious at the same time. It's Winter right now and you Northern Hemispherists have pinched all our gorram heat! Trying to keep my fingers warm enough to type will remain a key goal throughout the weekend. We will have our revenge later in the year — assuming it isn't too hot to exact it, come Christmastime.