Depending on where you live you may or may not be celebrating Independence Day today. Here in the United States we celebrate the holiday as the signing of our declaration of Independence from the British Empire. That signing led to a long and bloody war. Battles were fought, families were destroyed, independence was won, and a nation was born. Luckily, time heals all wounds and the US is now good friends with our neighbors in across the pond.

Despite our past and the fact that the holiday is not recognized in many other countries, there is one thing that we can all celebrate and that’s the gaming goodness that comes during this little holiday of ours. Starting this week a number of MMOGs will be celebrating with in-game events, some themed after the holiday and some not, but all delivering a dose of gaming goodness. Join us as we take a trip around the web to see a few of the things that players can enjoy this week.

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RIFT

Help light up the skies of Telara with fireworks in RIFT. Starting today, Trion is adding 31 flavors of fireworks to the RIFT store. Those same fireworks will drop from rifts throughout Telara for one week to celebrate the 4th of July holiday. Find and set off each one and you’ll earn the new “Life of the Party” achievement and a pack of assorted fireworks.

Dark Age of Camelot

Not to be left out of the holiday fun, Dark Age of Camelot is hosting a Holiday Bonus Weekend that will offer bonuses to XP, BP and RP along with bonus crafting speeds in capital cities and home zones.

The Secret World

By luck or by chance, The Secret World’s first anniversary fell quite close to the July 4th holiday, so Funcom kicked off their in-game events yesterday and will keep it running through July 8th. Throughout the holiday weekend, you’ll be able to defend Gaia through new in-game events, gain bonus XP, double ability & skill points, and more.

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APB: Reloaded

GamersFirst gets creative for July 4th by giving players a new piece of clothing just for logging in to APB: Reloaded Players that login during the event will receive the Uncle Sam Stovepipe Hat. A customizable version will be made available in the store if stars and stripes aren’t your thing.

Players will also find a little homage to one of the most notorious presidents in US history, Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon. Yes, even back then they had Internet style monikers. It should be amusing to watch all of the Nixons of San Paro shooting up the streets, running down pedestrians, and smiting bystanders all while screaming “I am not a crook” just before running off.

As a final piece of the festivities, GamersFirst is holding some content hostage. You can read the announcement for the lengthy details but in short, last week 11.5 million player characters were killed in APB. If you want to see the Asylum content again you’ll have to help push that genocidal number up to 13 million between July 4th and July 11th. Some restrictions have been put in place to make sure that there is no cheesing of the numbers.

World of Tanks

Wargaming is celebrating the 4th with a bang...and a blast...and a boom. World of Tanks is hosting a weekend of tiered tournaments. Tournaments take place for Tier III through Tier X with in-game currency prizes. Read all the tournament details and sign up for some weekend combat.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

BioWare hosts another Double XP Weekend starting today to offer a double dose of the good stuff for standard and Legacy levels in Star Wars: The Old Republic. This is the final double XP event currently schedule but that doesn’t mean it’s the last. Since we don’t know when the next will be, make it a good one.

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Champions Online

Enjoy a new star spangled travel power in Champions Online. From now through July 8th, players can complete two special missions to earn the event-exclusive Flag-speed travel power.

TERA

En Masse Entertainment is bringing back the bonus drops for TERA this weekend. Starting tomorrow, all servers will receive a double-drop weekend bonus lasting through July 8th.The only exceptions being Tempest Reach and Mount Tyrannas servers, who won the latest Weekend Challenge. Those two servers will instead receive a triple-drop bonus.

And with that our little trip around the gaming space comes to a close. Have a safe and happy 4th of July and weekend holiday. And if it’s not a holiday for you, have a great weekend and some fun gaming all the same.

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