Welcome
to the 1,258th
edition
of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily
MMOG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
Remember
drinking
games, those collegiate events where certain cliches uttered
in movies or TV shows meant we had to take a swig or down a shot? Some
events were so predictable they could put you on the floor (or, at the
very least, dancing on the table with a lampshade on your head) in no
time flat. Inspired by an
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/state-of-the-union-drinki_n_436932.html">article
in today's Huffington Post Comedy section, we propose a new MMOG
drinking game all our own in today's Loading... Bottoms Up!
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
are today's top 5 Pulse results:
- World
of Warcraft -
EVE
Online (UP 3) - Dungeons
and
Dragons Online - Lord
of the
Rings Online -
EverQuest
2 (Down 3)
Biggest
movers today:
- Sword of the New World (UP 14 to #18)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (UP 3 to # 19)
- Dragon Age: Origins (UP 2 to #13)
- 10/8
- Cities
XL (release date) - 11/3
- Dragon
Age:
Origins (release date) - 11/10
- Final
Fantasy
XI Ultimate
Collection (release date) - 12/1
- LotRO:
Siege of Mirkwood (expansion) - 12/1
- EVE
Online: Dominion (expansion) -
12/2
- DOFUS
2.0 (update) - 12/15
- EverQuest:
Underfoot (expansion) - 1/26
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2389">Mass
Effect 2
(release date)
Releases
- 2/1
- Global
Agenda
(release date) -
2/2
size="-1">
- Star
Trek Online
(release date) - 2/16
- href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion) - March
2010
- APB -
style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2011
- Star Wars:
The Old
Republic
Loading... Daily
An email alert from The Huffington Post hit my inbox this morning and,
even pre-caffeine and groggy from having stared blankly at the ceiling
for most of the night when I was supposed to be (and would have liked
to have been) sleeping, gave me reason to smile. The subject header was
simple enough:
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/state-of-the-union-drinki_n_436932.html">State
of the Union Drinking Game.
Im not much of a drinker (something to which any Ten Ton Hammer staff
member whos attended an event with me will attest), but I do have fond
memories of my 19 year old self playing The Bob Newhart game (Bob
used in a sentence meant you took a drink, Hi, Bob!" meant you
chugged whatever was left) and various and sundry buzz-word-related
alcohol imbibing challenges.
I realize I just dated myself with the whole Bob Newhart thing. But,
anyhow, onward.
Tonight, President Obama gives his first State of the Union Address to
an American public anxiously awaiting promised change.
href="http://huffingtonpost.com/">The Huffington Post
decided to put a comedic spin on the event. They offered drinking game
suggestions such as downing two shots if Joe Wilson yells something,
three if Joe Biden nods off, laughs inappropriately, or starts talking
before the speech is over, and one if Nancy Pelosi
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/25/nancy-pelosi-puts-biden-t_n_169982.html">claps
like a seal (fortunately, youre encouraged to STOP
DRINKING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD if Pelosi becomes a
seal.) Its good, clean, intoxicating American fun.
The
Huffington Posts drinking game got me thinking about predictable
events and the dev behavior (like seal-ish clapping, but not) that
affects gamers and the games we play. I figured Id present my
own MMOG Drinking Game, with a little help from John "Boomjack" Hoskins
(former Loading... columnist, now not-so-evil brain-in-a-jar mastermind
behind Ten Ton Hammer), Ten Ton Hammer Executive Editor Ben de la
Durantaye, and Contributing Writer, Stacy "Martuk" Jones.
Please keep in mind that I accept
no responsibility for those who get liquored up and hit on the nearest
mangina or botch the raid (but if you do, get footage for a YouTube
video. One viral video could earn you your 15 minutes of Leroy
Jenkins-esque fame.) And, of course, this is all for comedic affect, so
please don't really drink yourself to oblivion, mkay?
that the broken mechanic you reported is "working as intended."
proclaims his game "easy to learn but difficult to master."
need them)
pulls some outrageous publicity stunt.
suit or some reasonable facsimile.
announces he has a "vision" and he's bringing it to a new next gen
video game.
become one of his employees, stay away from parking lots.
Richardsson wears gold Spandex, platform heels and angel
wings.
states that buying the game allows you access to open beta.
beer; you'll get more entertainment that way. [Boomjack]
game.
the game will be launched. That's 15 shots for a MMOG, but only eight
for a RTS. [Boomjack]
Blizzard's announcement, Mike Morhaime uses the word
"exciting."
at least six shots. [Boomjack]
firmly plants his head in his ass with a statement like, "I think of
pirates as a marketplace."
to put you under the table.) [Boomjack]
online world yet."
need it to stay awake as you aimlessly wander that empty world. [Ben]
announced.
anything else in such vast quantities would be lethal. [Ben]
preorder Collector's Edition complete with special trinkets
(ie.- Star Trek Communicator badge, custom made leather map ala Age of
Conan, etc.)
trinket on your MMO shrine while using one
of your growing stack of "next big thing" MMO DVDs as a
coaster. [Martuk]
Do you have some of your own MMOG Drinking Game ideas? Share them in
the Loading...
forum.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6">Articles,
News & Events Discussion
SOE
Brings Massive Invasion Warfare to Star Wars: Galaxies
SOE is bringing battle on a massive scale to href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/42">Star
Wars: Galaxies with the game's latest update, Galactic Civil
War: Forces Under Siege. The update, which went live
yesterday, features new massive invasion scenarios in thee major
cities. Players can join the faction of their choice and engage in new
gameplay such as sieging an enemy city with an AT-AT or defending a
city's walls by manning a defensive structure such as a turret. New
rewards and faction-specific NPCs have been added for quests and
rewards. As an added bonus, SOE is reactivating old accounts and
players can return to the game and play for free between February 1st,
and March 1st, 2010.
As you can imagine, this news was received with enthusiasm by the
members of our community who have fond memories of the NGE. No, really!
I'm serious. I'm...okay, I'm lying. But perhaps SWG can win you back,
if even for a short time. And perhaps you (like me) don't blame SOE
entirely for its downfall. Want to talk about it? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=49217">Join
us!
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"No offense to SOE but with it being old content
they're putting back in should this even be called an update?
I mean, this stuff was in in 2003 for EU and US and 2004 for
the Japanese. This content is seven years old."
- stefman123
==============================
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
8 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 108 in January! 108
in 2010!
INTERVIEWS
Conquest Agenda - A Global Agenda Q&A with Todd Harris
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79985
Conquest,
or AvA play in Global Agenda will have Agencies vying for power around
the world. But how exactly does the system work? Who can contribute?
When are players safe from attack? Find out the answers to all these
questions and more as we speak with Todd Harris, Executive Producer of
Global Agenda. Todd's got all the answers and tells all in this
exclusive Global Agenda interview.
EXCLUSIVE MEDIA
New Star Trek Online Intro Movie
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79986
Star
Trek Online is just under a week from launch and Cryptic Studios has
added a new intro movie to the game with one of their final open beta
updates. The new movie is narrated by Star Trek icon Leonard Nimoy, who
reprises his role as Spock to explain some of the back-story of the
game and introduce players to the current story that they will first be
involved in. Nimoy also explains the alternate timeline that Spock was
pulled into after the destruction of Romulus and the current dilemma
facing the Federation in the "prime" reality, where the game takes
place.
EDITORIALS
Top 10 Improvements the Next Great MMO Needs to Have
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79964
Everyone
has their ideas of what the next big MMOG needs to include in order to
be a truly great game. In the last couple of years, many companies have
tried to create the new standard, but almost all have failed. What must
game developers do to lift their games out of the cesspool of
mediocrity and into the spa of greatness?
FEATURES & GUIDES
Star Trek Online Beta Journal #6, Enemy At The Gates
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79975
Star
Trek Onlines Open Beta heads toward both the finish line and starting
line as it caps the last few days of beta prior to launch. Join in on
our pre-launch jitters as we prep for our first official journey into
the final frontier.
Star Trek Online End of Beta Event Breakdown
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/editorials/end_of_beta">http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/editorials/end_of_beta
Star
Trek Online celebrated its final day of beta with a special event full
of adventure, intrigue, and more than a bit of hair pulling. Ten Ton
Hammers Eric Dalmarus Campbell was witness to it all. Join him as he
relives the tales from this event.
Champions Online - Cool Costume Unlocks
http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/coolcostumeunlocks
While
the character creator gives you a ton of choices, there are many
costume pieces you can unlock in Champions Online. Your pals
at Ten Ton
Hammer are here to show you a small sampling.
Runes of Magic - The Druid: Dual Class Guide
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom/guides/classes/dualclass_druid_guide">http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom/guides/classes/dualclass_druid_guide
The
Druid is one of the few Hybrids in the Runes of Magic. How do you pick
a second class for the Druid when you basiclly already have a second
class already built in? Join our resident Runes player ZeroMerc as he
takes a look at possibly one of the more difficult
dual classes.
AdventureQuest Worlds: Battle the 3rd Lord of Chaos, Kitsune!
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79951
AdventureQuest
Worlds has been building up to an epic showdown over the last few
weeks. Each week Artix Entertainment brought us a new blog detailing
the challenges that faced players of AdventureQuest Worlds on Yokai
Island and this week they return with new details on the long awaited
epic showdown with the Chaos Lord Kitsune.
Today's
Hottest Articles and Guides
-
Conquest
Agenda - A Global Agenda Q&A with Todd
Harris
- Getting
Ready
for Earthrise
- A Q&A with
Atanas Atanasov -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/space_combat_guide">Star
Trek Online Space Combat Guide - Another
Leap
Forward - A Preview of DDO
Update 3 - The
Rise of
Free-to-Play - Industry Insiders on the Future of MMOGs - Gamer
Rehab - An Interview with the Founder of a Video Game
Addicition Clinic -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/uimods/reviews/WIM">WoW
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/uimods/reviews/WIM">:
UI Mod
Review - WoW Instant Messenger -
Top
10 Improvements the Next Great MMO Needs to Have href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79964">
- Avoiding
the
Progress Trap - An MMOG Retrospective -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/space_ui_guide">Star
Trek Online href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/space_ui_guide"> Space
UI Guide
Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!
- Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg and the
Ten Ton Hammer team