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Are you looking for the latest industry headlines? Look no further.

1. Daily Column
2. New MMOG Articles at TenTonHammer Today
3. Hot Content
4. Real World News - You Can't Make This Up

1. Daily Column

Hooboy, our Gods and Heroes community manager, Todd Davis has come up with the article title to top all article titles. I like to think that my Loading... titles are on occasion quite witty, but they are a mere shadow of wit next to Todd's simple yet elegant, "Gods and Heroes: The Right to Arm Bears". Gold.

Video games are not an addiction; the American Medical Association says so and News.com feels it is important enough to report on. This is a problem.

If games and in particular MMO games are not an addiction then I can stop whenever I choose to do so. Gone are the days of telling my wife that I'll be going to bed soon. Gone are the days of shirking my work, or better yet pretending to be reviewing a MMOG when really I'm just playing it. (My bosses don't read this column so I'm free and clear!)

From Wikipedia, so you know it must be 1/3 true is this Treatment Modality Matrix, which takes a behaviour consistent with addiction, plunks an intervention on it and hopes to reach a set of goals.

Behaviour #1 - low self-esteem, anxiety, verbal hostility. The stereotypical gamer. In reality maybe 1 in oh...3 are really like this, but the public thinks it's the majority. Ignorance.

The intervention for this problem is relationship therapy. As long as they do it over Vent I say we're OK with it, oh and two-thirds of the males need to be playing female characters.

The goal is to increase our self-esteem. Well, let me tell you, nothing increases your self-esteem like standing in a virtual world with 25 other virtual people and killing some big virtual creature. That is character building, figuratively and literally.

Wikipedia's droppings only further prove that the AMA is correct. Playing video games in no more an addiction than homosexuality is a disease. What's next for gamers? Will they try to cure us? We were born this way. It's natural. I can hardly wait for the Game Pride Parades. Thousands upon thousands of pasty faced gamers with transparent skin dancing on floats made to resemble the Dark Portal or Qeynos would be a site to behold.

Gamers, be loud! Gamers, be proud! You are not addicts. You don't have a disease. Now start building your floats.

Comment in the blog or email me directly.

2. New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

• Win A Trip To BlizzCON!
  "Your flight, your hotel, your BlizzCON ticket and $200 spending money will be on us. Tickets are sold out, but not for TTH Premium Members."
• Blog: Madden Madness
  "My theory is that MMO gamers often enjoy a good sports game like the Madden series. Hey, enough people play it online that it almost has an MMO-like following."
• Anarchy Online: Images of Virtual Sale Items
  "In a first for the Western marketplace, Funcom has introduced a new business model to the six-year old sci-fi MMOG, Anarchy Online. Virtual items will now be available for players to purchase, which takes the game full circle from the previous pay-to-play system it was once held to. It will be interesting to see if Anarchy Online will generate any revenue from virtual items, and if they do whether older pay-to-play MMOGs take up the same sort of system to enhance the cash-flow of their games. As always, Ten Ton Hammer has hosted the official press release for you to view, along with a large selection of images! "
• EverQuest 2: Freeport City Writs 65-70
  "Freeport city writs for levels 65-70 have now been added to our EQ2 City Writ compilation!"
• Gods and Heroes: The Right To Arm Bears
  "The bears are armed, and clawed! Be sure to watch out for the later ;) Whether you're planning a "shopping" expedition for a new rug, or just found out you'll be traveling in the wilder areas of the world, be sure to stop by and check out the ground-based animals that may take offense at your presence! You might also find out which ones would make a nice rug :P"
• Lord of the Rings Online: Updated Guardian Skill List
  "The true powerhouse of Lord of the Rings Online, no fellowship is really complete without a Guardian. What skills and traits does this mighty class have? Ten Ton Hammer has your complete list for you including what each trait does and how to obtain it."
• Lord of the Rings Online: Top Ten Reasons To Play LotRO
  "Reviews of Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar continue to roll in from different sites, but RadarX simplifies things by telling you 10 good reasons to play. If you aren't looking for a long winded in-depth review, this is the feature for you."
• Vanguard: URT Armor Quest Guide
  "There's nothing like free armor, complete with lots of experience and some coin loot. Shayalyn recently collected her freebies from the United Races of Thestra. How did she do it? (No, not by entering codes off Mountain Dew caps.) She kicked off the quest series by collecting rocks to appease a giant."
• Warmonger: Hands On
  "As a development studio, NetDevil has never been intimidated by any challenge and when the opportunity to create a physics-based FPS presented itself, they jumped at the chance. Titled Warmonger - Operation: Downtown Destruction, this FPS features almost completely destructible environments. At the NetDevil Open House, Cody "Micajah" Bye had the opportunity to play through the game, and he has transcribed his gameplay experience into an enjoyable article."
• Wiki: All Points Bulletin, The Agency and Free Realms
  "Three new pages have been added to the wiki. All Points Bulletin is a game in development by Real Time Worlds. The Agency and Free Realms are both games in development by Sony Online Entertainment. These three games epitomize the variety of new games that are currently in development. Head over to our wiki and check them out!"

3. Hot Content

• Warmonger: Hands On
• Win A Trip To BlizzCON!
• LEGO Universe: Preview
• Pirates of the Burning Sea: Interview With Kevin Maginn
• Warhammer Online: Interview With Jeff Hickman and Paul Barnett
• Warhammer Online: Interview With Erik Mogenson
• Top Secret: Declassified
• Gods and Heroes: New Screenshot - Anonymous Goddess

4. Real World News

• Scientists Reverse Mental Retardation In Mice [Thanks Matt]
  Algernon meet Jack Thompson.
• Video Games Are Not An Addiction [Thanks Matt]
  I'll read the article after just....one....more....level.
• Woman Accosted By Donuts
  Let he who has not pelted a woman with a donut cast the first....well donut.

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

John "Boomjack" Hoskin