Welcome
to the 1,282nd
edition
of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily
MMOG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

Stereoscopic 3D has been around for generations, even in computer
gaming. Until now though, it was only ever deemed as a gimmick at best.
The "gimmick" seems to be catching on with new movies and new games
supporting new technology. Today we take a look back at earlier days of
stereo 3D and finally learn the secret behind Ben's failed romances in
Loading... 3D or Bust.

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result
is the Ten Ton Pulse ( target="_blank">What is The Pulse?).

Here are today's top 5 Pulse results over the last week:

  1. World of Warcraft
  2. EverQuest II
  3. Lord of the
    Rings Online
  4. EVE
    Online
    (UP 3)
  5. Dungeons and
    Dragons Online
    (down 1)

Biggest movers today:

  1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/swtor">Star Wars: The Old Republic
    (UP 4 to #14)
  2. Warhammer
    Online
    (down 3 to #8)
  3. Dragon
    Age: Origins
    (UP 3 to #17)
Recent Releases
  • 12/1 - href="http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/464-answer-the-call-of-war">LotRO:
    Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
  • 12/1 - href="http://www.eveonline.com/Dominion/">EVE Online: Dominion
    (expansion)
  • 12/15 - href="http://everquest.station.sony.com/everquest.vm">EverQuest:
    Underfoot (expansion) 
  • 2/1 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926">Global Agenda
    (release date)
  • 2/1
    - Mortal
    Online
    (release date)
  • 2/2
    - Star Trek Online
    (release date)
  • 2/16 - href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
    2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
  • 2/16 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81479"> LotRO: Oath of the
    Rangers (content update)



Upcoming Releases
  • March 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/998">APB
  • April 2010 - href="http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/game_updates/issue_17/issue_17_overview.html?utm_source=COHemail&utm_medium=US&utm_campaign=banner">City
    of Heroes: Issue
    href="http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/game_updates/issue_17/issue_17_overview.html?utm_source=COHemail&utm_medium=US&utm_campaign=banner">17
  • Spring 2010
    - Mytheon
  • TBA 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2079">Final Fantasy XIV

  • Spring 2011
    - Star Wars: The Old
    Republic




Upcoming Events

  • 3/9 - 3/13 - href="http://www.gdconf.com/">Game Developers Conference 2010
  • 3/26 - 3/28
    - PAX East 2010




Loading... Daily

Several years ago while I was making my daily rounds between style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest sites something had
caught my attention over at EQatlas (now only mirrored href="http://www.eqmacwiki.com/eqatlas/atlas.html">here). The
site's owner and operator, Muse, had stumbled upon something
revolutionary that would surely change the world and shift the powers
to the forces of good and pure, thwarting once and for all the devious
evil that hindered our enjoyment of MMOGs. He found the Holy Grail, the
epitome of technological advancement, the ultimate uber loot, the Lost
City of Atlantis, the scarecrow's brain. Yes, he discovered
stereoscopic glasses by href="http://www.edimensional.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=28">eDimensional.




I read the pages in awe and tried to grasp the reality of the concept.
3D. Real 3D. The kind of 3D that makes you feel like you're actually in
the virtual world. I was already severely addicted to style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest to the extent that I
would feed my girlfriend nothing but food with natural seditives in
hopes that she would fall asleep early allowing me time to sneak away
to the computer to play all night. She would come home from work
shortly after I did and would start talking about her day and how she
needed to relax and just have some fun that night.



"Of course, dear," I would listen empathetically. "We'll go out to the
movies tonight. But first, let me give you a massage while you eat this
heaping plate of tryptophan."



Yes, I was addicted to the game in a very real manner. So the thought
of getting another tool that would further help me spiral into total
neglect of reality seemed like a swell idea.



So one night after toasting to our five-year anniversary with a bottle
of warm milk I snuck to the computer with my credit card clenched in
hand. I pulled up the eDimensional website and went to the order form.
But I remained grounded in responsibility. We were short on rent money
for the next month, so I decided to save $15 (at that time) by getting
the wired version of the glasses and not the wireless. I wasn't insane,
after all.



Grinning ferociously, I gladly typed in my credit card number. Hell, I
would have given them my date of birth, SIN (the Canadian equivalent to
the American SSN), mother's maiden name, and documents waiving my
paternal rights to my firstborn child had they asked. But they only
wanted my credit card number. Suckers.



Two very long weeks later the glasses arrived. I called in sick to
work, disconnected the phone, took the batteries out of my pager,
locked the door, shut the curtains and taped a "Do Not Disturb" sign on
the lobby buzzer to our apartment. My girlfriend was gone to work and I
had exactly nine hours before she'd get back home. I pre-ordered a
roasted turkey for dinner from a local delivery place (which was
surprisingly hard to find) and I was good to go.



I tore open the package with childlike glee and pulled out the
contents. I hurriedly installed the included software, skimmed the
manuals to learn what I needed in order to get the things to work. In
no time I was wearing my connected glasses and loading up style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest. I sunk back into my
chair as the loading screen populated my monitor. I was about to be
brought into the new generation of modern technology. Soon I would no
longer need my physical body as I would be living in the game, in all
its glorious 3-dimensional DirectX 7 beauty.



Finally the character selection screen was displayed while the glasses
flickered at a nauseating pace to simulate true 3-D. "Wowwwww...." I
breathed. It was marvelous. Sure, the flickering would eventually send
me into an epileptic seizure, but... wowwwwww.... I reached out to try
to touch the goblins and other baddies that suddenly seemed so real (in
that blocky, pixelated way of circa 2001). True 3D was really a thing
of the future.



Nine hours later my girlfriend arrived at home. "Honey?" she called.



"grrbllwb," I replied.



"Whatcha' doin'?" she asked, taking off her coat and walking into the
guest room where we kept our computer.



"Mlpfhhwwt," I explained.



She stepped into the room as I slumped my head sideways to see her. I
had been gaming all day with the pair of flashing plastic lenses
pulsing an inch away from my iris. A little drool dripped out of the
side of my mouth as I stared at her with pupils the size of dinner
plates, bulky plastic glasses strapped to my head, gigantic headphones
pressed against my ears, cheeto crumbs on my bare chest, one sock on
one foot, and sweat pants.



"That's sexy," she said.



I never did figure out why we broke up.



Now, on a happier note, almost a decade later, real 3D is becoming more
popular. Movies are using it to a larger degree, and games are starting
to embrace it more as well. In fact, Crytek has included href="http://www.crytek.com/news/news/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=171&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1&cHash=62b24da5f5">stereoscopic
3D in their new CryENGINE 3. The new engine will allow developers
to see the end result in real time, which is a huge asset. What this
means to MMOGs? Well, there are rumors that certain devcos are looking
into using the CryENGINE to power some new MMO games in the near
future.



But will it catch on? As an experienced veteran of the topic, all I've
got to say is that if you don't live alone, start searching now for
turkey-delivery restaurants, cuz they're pretty hard to find. And help
out your peers. Share your findings href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=49923">in the
forums.


Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day




From our /OOC
(Off-topic)




23
Million PS3s Crash Overnight




Not
to be outdone by the Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death, Sony has apparently
discovered a way to make grown gamers cry and assume the fetal
position. A glitch between the PS3's clock and the Playstation Network
rendered the network (and many games, even if they weren't online
games) inaccessible to those with older, "phat" PS3 systems. (My own
household has a Slim model, which was unaffected--hooray for the latest
technology!) The fix is in the works, but meanwhile gamers are growing
increasingly restless, and thumbs around the world are beginning to
atrophy.



Did you mourn your lost PS3 time? Want to have a good
long laugh at those PS3 fanboys who mocked your Xbox's Red Ring of
Death? Want to gloat because this is why you're a PC gamer? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=49917">Head
right here!



==============================

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread




"LOL Consoles.



/pets his PC

"



- kageyfna

==============================



Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!

New and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

9 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 17 in March! 247
in 2010!

INTERVIEWS



An Exclusive Interview with Video Game Composer Matt Uelmen


http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81501



An excellent soundtrack has the ability to take an already great gaming
experience to the next level. This was certainly the case with
Torchlight, which was developed by Runic Games and features music by
industry legend Matt Uelmen. Like many PC gamers in the late 90s, I
spent many, many all night gaming sessions clicking my way through the
genre defining Diablo series, and still consider them to be some of the
best PC games out there to this day. Ever since, much of the music from
those soundtracks has had a permanent place on my iPod, and I’m sure
I’m not alone in considering Matt’s compositions to be some of the best
in gaming, both past and present.



Ten Ton Hammer recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with
Matt about composing music for video games, the differences between
composing for a single player title vs. an MMOG, some of his musical
influences, and even some advice for aspiring musicians looking to make
a career in the video game industry.



Microcosms Issue #7 - The Duel is Epic


http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81605



With virtually every subscription based game that strays from the
tired..err tried and true formula of WoW like mechanics and ease
suffering a disappointing fate, it has fallen upon the shoulders of
free-to-play games to take up the mantle of innovation for the genre.
While we have chronicled several of these games recently here at Ten
Ton Hammer, a new title has quietly invaded our playtime. EpicDuel
is a new side scrolling PvP themed game from Artix Entertainment, and
Microcosms has tracked down the man behind the game for an exclusive
interview to get you up to speed on this addicting new MMOG.



REVIEWS



WoW: Stormrage Novel Review


http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81590



The latest novel in Blizzard's lore series, Stormrage, has hit the
shelves bringing about a ton of World of Warcraft lore. It details the
return of Malfurion in time for Cataclysm, the internal war between the
Druids and the Sisters of Elune, and much more. Is the book really
worth the price and time? Well, we've read the entire book and have an
answer for you. You'll have to read our review to find that out.



GUIDES



EQ2 "Digging in the Dirt" Heritage Quest Guide


http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81551



EverQuest II's heritage quests are your key to useful status and great
new gear goodies. Why waste time doing city writ after city writ when
you can turn out a good HQ and snag tens of thousands of status in one
run? To help you get started knocking out those Sentinel's Fate HQs we
are adding to our heritage quest compendium and the latest walk through
guide leads you step by step through the "Digging in the Dirt" HQ. Get
the guide and be on your way to oodles of status and loot!



Calling Targets As A Newbie Fleet
Commander In EVE Online


http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/combat/calling_targets



Deciding whom the shoot is arguably the most critical skill that a
fleet commander can develop in EVE Online. In this new guide, Ten Ton
Hammer Contributing Writer, Space Junkie, continues his series on
leading fleets as a new player.



OPINIONS




Star Trek Online: One Month In and
Still Waiting


http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/one_month_in



Star Trek Online is one month into its lifespan and the development
team has made great strides to improve the game. Even so, there are
many pre-launch questions that need some answers. Where do we stand on
the pre-launch promises? Today Medeor highlights a few key issues that
we’re
looking very forward to for fixes and/or updates.



Will Cataclysm Spark Life into the
Game Again?


http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/editorials/cataclysmspark



World of Warcraft seems to have lost some of its lustre to many players
over the time since WotLK has been released. It could be that raiding
has become easier and more players get through all the content in the
game faster than previously. What many players are now wondering now
though, is will Cataclysm bring some of the lustre back to the game?
What it comes down to is what players think of the proposed changes,
are they good, bad, non-issues? Join Byron "Messiah" Mudry as he looks
over just a few of the proposed changes to the game and talks about
their impact on getting players excited about the game once again.



WoW Weekly Report: "Death Penalty in
WoW - Harsh or Fair?"


http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/newsletter/issue56



Is the death penalty too harsh in World of Warcraft? This week's
Overpull takes a look at the death penalty in WoW and gives you all of
this week's WoW news. Keep up to date with WoW with our once a week
newsletter that gives you a simple look at the past week's news and a
catchy editorial about hot topics in WoW. Be sure to subscribe to get
it in your inbox every week.



GDKP - A Viable New Method for
Distributing Raid Loot?


http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/gdkp



The new fad sweeping World of Warcraft servers is an Asian inspired
loot system that demands that you have gold to buy the gear that drops
in raids. While it ensures that everyone gets something out of a raid
is it fair to have to buy loot? There are some advantages and
disadvantages to this system, and our very own Byron "Messiah" Mudry
looks at them in this guide to the system. He then continues on to give
his own opinion on it at the end of the guide portion with a
minieditorial.



Today's
Hottest Articles and Guides

  1. An style="font-weight: bold;">Exclusive Interview with Video Game
    Composer Matt Uelmen
  2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/combat/calling_targets">Calling
    Targets As A Newbie Fleet Commander In
    EVE Online
  3. style="font-weight: bold;">EQ2 "Digging in the Dirt" Heritage
    Quest Guide
  4. A Sneak Peek at href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81479">LotRO href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81479"> Volume 3 Book 1
  5. A New Dawn with style="font-weight: bold;"> Gods
    & Heroes - Q&A with Tim Schubert
    style="font-weight: bold;">

  6. Going
    Rogue with City of Heroes
    - A Q&A with Melissa
    Bianco
  7. style="font-weight: bold;">Microcosms Issue #7 - The Duel is
    Epic
  8. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/editorials/fleetactions">Star
    Trek Online
    href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/editorials/fleetactions">:
    Putting the ‘Fleet' Back In Fleet Action
  9. Aika Class
    Interview Series Part
    1 - The Paladin


  10. Mytheon href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/mytheon/video/introQA_pt2">
    Video
    Q&A Part 2: Sound, Loot, Launch Plans, and Microtransactions

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network

- Benjamin J. de la Durantaye
and the
Ten Ton Hammer team




Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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