Round up the posse, Wild West Online is now in Early Access

Wild West Online, 612 Games' western MMORPG (which will forever be compared to Red Dead) launched into Early Access today.

WWO, which is described as an "R-rated playground", offers players a wide open map to explore and a number of careers to choose from. Players can decide to be an outlaw out stealing stuff and causing a ruckus, or a lawman charged with cleaning up the West. Don't want to do that? You could decide to be a farmer, but judging by most westerns I've seen, that will only end with you hanging from a pole with your barn burning cinematically behind you.

No matter what career path you decide on, you will be able to engage in PvP combat with other players. There is a cool dynamic where towns are semi-safe zones. Players can still attack each other in town, but doing so will be punishable. Getting killed means losing your quest items, but all your other stuff will re-spawn with you.

If you aren't a PvP enthusiast, there are a lot of other PvE activities to take part in. Players can farm (bad plan), mine, gather stuff, sell stuff, craft stuff, or form a posse to do some good in the world (or some evil).

Or, judging by the picture below, you can gather some buddies, stand on a porch, and stare moodily at the ground.  Western-style!

More info is available at http://www.playwwo.com/. See you in the tavern! Watch out for Maeve. I hear she is trouble.