Welcome to the 984th Edition of Loading...
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The Pulse
First, you vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Hammer Pulse (What is Pulse?). Here are the daily rankings:
Here are the biggest movers in the Top 20 today:
- Requiem: Bloodymare (UP 5 to number 9)
- Guild Wars (down 4 to number 12)
- Lineage 2 (down 3 to number 13)
Loading... Daily
Loading... happy endings daily, without the cleanup.
Many of you gave to the CME kids donations drive earlier this month, and I'm pleased to share an off-site link with you that shows that the money made it not only into the right hands, but also made a difference. Here's a few clips from Steve Williams' blog:
Needless to say, I was in a pretty bleak mood when I heard that the gaming site Ten Ton Hammer was performing a fund-raising drive to give parents at CME gift cards to buy their kids gifts. The way it was reported to me, and the general cynicism of the office, made me immediately suspicious. TTH needs publicity to thrive, and it seemed to many of us that their gesture was a publicity stunt.
Shay can testify that we both realized how this drive could backfire on us if we gave anyone reason to think we were exploiting the drive for PR purposes. As a result, as a network didn't pimp the drive nearly as hard as we could have, and certainly- unfortunately- not as hard as the cause deserved.
Still, in addition to the nice outpouring of donations, there was plenty of cynicism and negative comments in my inbox daily anyway. So, in the end, my biggest takeaway was simply to give it our all next time we attempt something similarly worthy, and let the Internet do its worst.
The blog went on to have something of a happy ending, due to the generosity of the Ten Ton Hammer community and others:
Then the Ten Ton Hammer donation came in. At this point, things were definitely looking... well, not good, but not bad given that I had entered the month wondering if I would be evicted from my apartment, and ending it with presents under the tree for my kids, and most of my bills paid. So here I can publically thank TTH for their donation. I know now you are not doing it with the hopes of thanks, but I thank you nonetheless.... TTH, as a site that shows the pulse of the gaming fanbase, has shown me that gaming fans are still the best fans in the entertainment industry.
So again, major props to those who gave, especially the last minute anonymous donor who slipped in an extra $400 at the very last moment, pushing the donations total to $1,050. You all made the end of 2008 a little happier for folks that really deserve a break.
Switching gears back into shameless plug mode, join us for the inaugural edition of Loading... Live tonight at 7pm Eastern in Voon's Ten Ton Events room (download Voon here) where myself, Tony "RadarX" Jones, and Coyote will be paying tribute to Not Funny... Ever. If you can't make the live show, we'll have the podcast available later this week.
Thoughts? Comments? Share them in the Loading... forum, or as always feel free to email me directly.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our Tavern
of the Ten Ton Hammer Forum
Female MMO Gamers More Likely to be Bi-Sexual
Gentlemen, start your engines...and log into EverQuest II.
CelestialLord posted a link to a study of EQ2 players that
purports female MMO gamers are more likely to be bisexual. So, if
your fantasies include women whose doors swing both ways, your odds of
finding one in the wilds of Norrath are, apparently, slightly better
than out in the world at large.
Of course, not all of us agree
with this study. In fact, most of us, it seems, don't. In this thread,
Savanja wields her Epic Blade of Male Fantasy Destruction, Demonyx
suggests that girls who like violence are naturally more butch (and
thus more likely lesbian or bisexual), I argue with him, and
Sardu attempts to (rather unscientifically) determine whether MMOG
gamers with Mario mustaches are more prone to head butting boxes marked
with question marks than the average gamer.
=================================
Awesome Quote from the
Epic Thread:
"The fact that bisexuality is nonexistent and is mostly an expression
of human stupidity and frail-mindedness is overridden by pop culture
and the fact that it's currently trendy and unique to be bi. Yayyy.
So what does this survey really tell us?
Most MMORPG players are idiots. Don't associate with them."
- Barbarious
=================================
Do you have a favorite Epic Thread? Let
us know!
5 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 177 in December! 3151 in 2008!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]
Interviews
Op/Eds
Guides
Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:
- The MMO Industry's Dark Horses of 2008
- Warhammer Online: The Wild Ride of 2008
- Warrior Epic: Whispers of Hope
- What drives 11.5 million players to World of Warcraft?
- Consoles and the MMOG Industry
- World of Warcraft: A Year in Review
- Appealing to the Gamer - NHN USA's Philip Yun
- WAR Secrets to Ultimate Pwnage - Knight of the Blazing Sun & Bright Wizard
- Exclusive Conan Movie Interview with Fredrik Malmberg
- Ten Ton Turnip Issue #3 - Happy Holidays!
Real World News
-
Neighbour stabbed over glued door [Link Courtesy of Ross H.]
Charged with assault, he's not sure how he'll get out of this jamb; claims he's being framed. -
Man tries to stab woman with utensils
She says she told him 'no', didn't want to fork, only to spoon. -
Man charged in cell phone beating
Woman was badly hurt, but he did Nokia her.
Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
-- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Stargate Worlds Game Page.
