Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
PAX 2009 hasn't even started and there's already talk
of new
games and expansions. One big rumor that we were able to confirm with
an inside source at PAX is that SOE is working on a new and likely more
casual Star Wars MMO property. Read on to see what juicy details we
could discover in Loading... A New Star Wars MMO?
The Pulse
You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse (
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).
Here's today's top 5 Pulse results:
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/41"
target="_blank">World of Warcraft -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/860">Champions
Online - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254">Aion
-
EverQuest
2 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/115">Age of
Conan
Biggest Movers today :
MMO Releases
-
8/4 -
World
of Warcraft Update 3.2 (content patch) size="-1"> -
8/25
- CrimeCraft
(release date) - 9/1 -
Champions
Online (NA release date)
Important
Dates
- 9/4 - 9/6
- Penny Arcade Expo
(PAX) - 9/15 -
9/18 - GDC
Austin - 10/1 -
10/3 - href="http://fanfest.eveonline.com/">EVE FanFest
Releases
- 9/9
- Dungeons
& Dragons Online Unlimited (release date) - 9/15
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/177">Fallen
Earth (release date) - 9/22
- Aion
(release date) - 10/9
- Cities
XL (release date) - Early 2010
- APB
Loading... Daily
From time to time we get to hear some juicy tidbits while we travel
from event to event. With crowds of adrenaline-pumped gamers, and
energetic developers, lots of conversation takes place, and every once
in a while we hear something that causes everyone’s ears to
perk up.
The
latest of such incidents: Ten Ton Hammer has learned from an inside
source that Sony Online Entertainment has once again partnered up with
LucasArts to do another Star Wars MMO. While we have not yet learned
the title of the upcoming game, it sounds like SOE is planning to use
the browser-based Free Realms engine to power the game, and the
game’s
setting will be the Clone Wars. Does this mean Star Wars mini-games
within the game, like the holographic chess-like game as seen in A New
Hope? Unknown, but it would be cool to hit up a cantina with some buds
and sit down for a few mini games.
A casual Star Wars MMO
property was probably obvious in hindsight. Look no farther than LEGO
Star Wars for proof that a fun, stylized version of Star Wars can sell
big, attracted kids and adults alike. Plus, there was an unusually
large focus on Star Wars Galaxies at this year’s Fan Faire,
and perhaps
this was in attempt to rekindle the SOE/LucasArts hype.
Too
soon? Former and current Star Wars Galaxies players can still remember
the sting of the NGE that changed the face of that game for everyone.
SOE has repeatedly said that they have learned from their mistakes, and
plan to not repeat them. If SOE isn't expressly targetting the hardcore
segment this time around, they (unlike BioWare) won't have quite the
same initial level of expectations to deal with.
Don't let
us give you the impression that SOE plans to take on BioWare, and their
highly anticipated MMOG debut, The Old Republic, particularly given the
engine the game is rumored to be based on. More plausible is that it
will be based off the Clone Wars CGI animated film, offering a more
stylized approach to the universe. Free Realms boasts over four million
registered players, and a lot of this can undoubtedly be attributed to
the accessibility and polish of the web-based engine. The initial
download is exceptionally small, as the client downloads content as
players explore the world. This formula seems more and more to be a key
component to popular MMOGs, if the success of Free Realms and to a
larger extent, World of Warcraft, is any indication.
So who’s
the target audience of the game? Again, it’s unknown.
It’s possible,
though quite unlikely, that it will be aimed at a younger audience.
More likely it will target a casual crowd of several generations who
have had Star Wars ingrained as much into their culture as Burger King
and McDonalds.
What do you have to say about SOE doing a new Star Wars
MMO? Let us know on the
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=45987">forums
or shoot me an
email.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6">Articles,
News and Events Discussion forum
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=45993">Funcom
Reveals The Secret World's Secret Societies
Lately
in the MMO world the talk has been all about either Champions Online
(launched!) or Aion (almost launched). But today Funcom revealed a bit
more about it's game in development, a game they've been pretty
hush-hush about, The Secret World. We now learn about the secret
societies withing The Secret World (there are a lot of secrets here,
aren't there?), and the game's intrigue deepens.
Are you
fascinated by The Secret World? Have you decided which of three secret
societies--the Illuminati, the Dragon and the Templars--suits you? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=45993">Talk
about it!
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"In other news: New
achievement:
For the Good of your server you have killed 5 characters with afro
haircuts; all further earn double rewards!"
- Anacche
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!
4 new MMOG home-grown articles today! 14 in
September!
956 in
2009!
New Coverage and Guides At Ten Ton Hammer Today
Features:
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73787">Turbine vs.
Atari href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73787">, Round Two
It's
been almost a week since we heard about Turbine's fairly large suit
aimed at Atari concerning Dungeons and Dragons Online, but the parties
in question haven't forgotten about the allegations and neither side is
going to go down quietly in this squabble. style="font-weight: normal;">
Today, Atari finally fired back at Turbine's legal comments, saying,
“Last week, with no warning, Turbine filed what can only be
viewed as a
frivolous lawsuit against Atari." style="font-weight: normal;">
While no company would ever think that a suit against them was anything
but frivolous, Atari then upped the ante and escalated the conflict a
bit more with their next statements. "This action can ultimately do a
great disservice to D&D fans and to the MMO community at large." -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73819">
style="font-weight: bold;">World of Warcraft -
The Black Market of Acheivements
World
of Warcraft has a very competitive spirit and the achievement system
brought in the precursor patch to Wrath of the Lich King sparked a big
flame into the fire. David "Xerin" Piner takes a look into the seedy
underbelly of achievements as players offer up their hard earned gold
for the rare achievements. What achievements are for sale and is there
a long history of this going on? Find out here at Ten Ton Hammer as we
take a look at the black market of achievements. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73810">
style="font-weight: bold;">World of Warcraft
Podcast Roundup and Review
There
are literally hundreds of podcasts that include World of Warcraft in
their description. The iTunes podcast area has become a graveyard of
pod-faded washouts, but a few shining stars still plug away. If you are
tired of subscribing to podcasts only to find the last production was
in 2008, then step over into our audio nook to listen to the best and
brightest in WoW podcasts. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73833">
style="font-weight: bold;">Aion Spell Lists:
The Assassin, Chanter, and Sorcerer
The
path to Ascension is fraught with danger at every turn. Only strength
of will and an intimate knowledge of your abilities will allow you to
complete the journey intact. In an effort to stave off defeat, Dalmarus
has scribed the secrets of three more classes this week to aid you in
your quest for immortality. -
style="font-weight: normal;">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73821">New
style="font-weight: bold;">Knights of Dream City
Promo Video
Knights
of Dream City is an upcoming sci-fi mmorpg based in the distant future
where the remnants of human society travel back in time to prevent the
hostile arrival of the “legion” (mass spawning
cybernetic and robotic
AIs). It's time to take the fight to the legion and save humanity. Have
you got what it takes to be a Dream Knight?
style="font-weight: bold;">Giveaways:
Hottest Content:
-
style="font-weight: bold;">Champions Online vs. Aion:
Battle of the Year -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73787">Turbine vs.
Atari href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73787">, Round Two style="font-weight: normal;"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73819"> style="font-weight: bold;"> -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73819">
style="font-weight: bold;">World of Warcraft -
The Black Market of Acheivements -
style="font-weight: bold;">Aion: A Tale of Two
Halves - Elyos and Asmodae -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73810">
style="font-weight: bold;">World of Warcraft
Podcast Roundup and Review - Aion
Images Detail Westernized Character Options -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/champions/humor/queereye2">Champions
Online: Queer Eye for the Superhero Guy #2 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rise_of_the_godslayer/craig_morrison">Age
of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer Interview with Craig Morrison - EverQuest
Wedding Package Images from the Station Marketplace - Champions
Online: Embracing the Future of MMOGs
style="font-weight: bold;">Real World News
Have a piece of weird news that Phil can mangle into something funny?
Email [email protected]. href="http://www.kirotv.com/video/20701337/index.html">
-
Man
uses car to rob porn shop
His
vehicle appeared to be in need of a lube job, and video of the getaway
showed his trunk open, spare tire visible, and the jack off. -
href="http://www.wwl.com/Woman-posing-on-police-car-leads-to-probe/5142745">Woman
posing on police car leads to probe
Authorities have yet to determine which detective will be assigned to
probe the woman. -
href="http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=d523a8c8-ca9b-45f4-b1b2-37db6f2ee0c9&cat=f80e2f30-7238-4241-8dcf-487f0325ed61&src=front&title=KTLA:%20Finger%20Bitten%20Off%20During%20Health%20Care%20Rally,%20Manny%20Medrano%20Reports">Finger
bitten off during Health Care rally
It’s unknown if the victim has valid health coverage, but we
are aware that the injury count is sure to run into single digits.
Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team
