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Welcome to the 809th Edition of Loading...

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Daily Column

Loading... less drama than a Lindsay Lohan movie.

First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.

If the Top 10 isn't enough, we now show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)

Age of Conan - 200 BPM
World of Warcraft - 60 BPM
Lord of the Rings Online - 22 BPM
EverQuest 2 - 19 BPM
EVE Online - 19 BPM
Lineage 2 - 17 BPM
Warhammer Online - 16 BPM
Guild Wars - 14 BPM
Vanguard - 13 BPM
Dungeons and Dragons Online - 10 BPM

Age of Conan is a mere month away from release, but that hasn't stopped the Warhammer Online team from grabbing some attention. Mark Jacobs has stepped up once again to answer some questions about the Warhammer Online beta. His timing is impeccable as fans have begun to use get uneasy. I haven't read so many dirty words since the "Dick Van Dyke" show was playing on RetroTV. Mark always tells it like it is.

The same can't be said for bot-maker Michael Donelly, who has apparently gotten very wealthy by ruining the gaming experience of thousands of World of Warcraft players. You may remember, or you may not, that back in February Blizzard sent some representatives to the home of Mr. Donelly explaining that his WoWBot infringed on their copyright. What would any good grief causing miscreant do when faced with the wrath of an enormous company? He sued Blizzard of course, which in turn meant that they needed to file suit against him. [See Gamasutra]

So far nothing has been solved, but that doesn't stop the legal gears from turning. Both parties have now filed for summary judgment, which in terms that most of us can understand means that they want the court to make a decision without going to a full trial. This is somewhat ironic, since Mr. Donelly was the one who filed for a full trial in the place attempting to draw the case out as long as possible.

Blizzard claims that Mr. Donnelly has sold $2.8 million worth of his WoWBot. You can download the motions from GamePolitics. What a community! 10 million players and at $25 per bot over one million are using a bot? I'm not sure this is a valid number. If 1 in 10 players are using a bot I'll eat my shorts. It would explain some of the PUGs that I've been in though....just kidding.

If you would rather spend your money on action figures (I won't call them dolls) than on 1001 ways to cheat a MMOG then this Tauren Hunter might be for you.

If you would rather spend your money on a psychiatrist then stand up and check out Dr. Tanya Byron's TV show. Dr. Byron claims that we are all addicts and if a doctor on television says it's so, then it must be true!

I'd love to hear her astute thoughts on the forum thread titled, "So, You Call Yourself a Guild Leader?" This is comedy gold waiting to happen. Jump in and post your opinions, but first this old-school video of one of the most famous guild leaders to ever grace the MMOG stage. [Warning coarse language and stupidity]