Loading...
is the premiere daily MMOG newsletter, only from Ten
Ton Hammer!
Welcome
to the 1,437th
edition
of Loading...
It was a surprisingly robust
weekend for MMORPGs at NY Comic Con, with in-depth updates coming in
for games like
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars 2,
DC
Universe Online,
style="font-style: italic;">Rift: Planes of Telara,
and City
of Heroes. We'll survey the
coverage and add what we saw firsthand in today's
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/oct/11">Loading...
NY Comic Con 2010 Report.
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/">What
is The Pulse?).
Today's
top 5 Pulse results:
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow">World
of Warcraft - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2">EverQuest 2
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/99">Lord
of the Rings Online -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/115">Age
of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
(UP 1) -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/43">EVE
Online
(UP 1)
Biggest
movers today:
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2035">Rift:
Planes of Telara
- down 4
to
#16 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/88">Warhammer
Online: Age of Reckoning
- down 2
to
#6 style="text-decoration: underline;"> -
style="text-decoration: underline;">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1234">Runes
of Magic
- UP 2
to
#13
-
size="-1">7/27
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2" target="_blank">StarCraft
II: Wings of Liberty
(release) -
size="-1">8/17
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/140">City
of Heroes: Going Rogue (release) -
size="-1">8/18
- href="http://everquest2.com/free_to_play">EverQuest
II Extended (release) -
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">9/7
- size="-1"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion">Aion:
Assault on Balaurea (free
expansion) -
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">9/29
- Everquest
2 Extended
(release) -
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">9/30
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ffxiv">Final
Fantasy XIV (release)
Releases
-
style="font-weight: bold;">October 14-15, 2010
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo">Dungeons and
Dragons Online: Update 7
(expansion) size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;"> -
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">October
26, 2010
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/170">LEGO
Universe (release) -
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">October,
2010
- Champions
Online: Demonflame (expansion) -
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">November,
2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve">EVE Online:
Incursion (expansion)
-
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">December
7, 2010
- World
of Warcraft: Cataclysm
(expansion)
-
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">Early 2011
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1407">DC
Universe Online (release)
size="-1">Upcoming
Events
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">
- Ask the Devs!
Have you got a question about style="font-style: italic;">Rift:
Planes of Telera?
Well, you have a chance to ask the devs at Trion Worlds directly. Just
submit your questions href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=53660">in
our forums.
alt="World of Warcraft PlayerScore"
src="http://images.tentonhammer.com/misc/PlayerScore/2010/PlayerScore_101110.jpg">
What's
your PlayerScore? World of
Warcraft players, find out at
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/playerscore">playerscore.com.
Loading... leading the fight
against the Master Control Program.
Another New York Comic Con has come and gone, and the biggest
difference I saw firsthand was that the Baroness and Slave Leia
costumes have given way to a whole host of anime characters I don't
recognize. Sad times when vaunted, legendary IPs are trumped by the
nichey newcomers downstairs, but it was probably inevitable when NYCC
merged with the Anime Expo this year to become New York City's second
biggest expo next to Fashion Week (the week when all my photographer
friends suddenly disappear and reappear a week later a shadow of their
former selves).
MMORPGs were well represented at NYCC, in fact, probably as well
represented as any other kind of game. That was a surprise even to me,
given that GDC Online in Austin overlapped the event. No developer or
publisher had a more prominent presence than NCSoft, who rented out a
swanky mid-town venue for an entire day of demos and interviews and a
laid back party that gave many
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars 2
fans a chance to check out the game for the first time.
During that day, I had a chance to speak with
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars 2's
Eric Flannum and Martin Kerstein, whose thoughts on endgame,
microtransactions, personal story, and much more have been condensed
into a pretty good Q&A by Sardu and our
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars 2
crew. I also got a first glimpse at
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/charr-arena-event">The
Last Whiskey Bar, a dynamic
event involving three of our favorite
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars
motifs: Charr, drinking, and lots and lots of fighting.
During the MMO panel series on Saturday, Trion's Rodrigo Sanchez was
on-hand to convey a few new details about dynamic events in
style="font-style: italic;">Rift: Planes of Telara.
A full slate of The Amazing Society devs were on-hand for the
style="font-style: italic;">Marvel Super Hero Squad
Online to discuss
their transformation of fairly dark Marvel superheroes into something
kid-friendly. Like many kid-oriented online games, Marvel seems a
little confused as to who to target their games toward: parents (who
can see microtransaction collectible schemes coming a mile away), or
kids (who are notoriously unresponsive to all the usual forms of games
marketing), but it was nice to see the panel well attended by both
parents and kids.
Next up, Melissa "War Witch" Bianco and a host of Paragon Studios devs
delivered long-awaited details on
style="font-style: italic;">Issue 19: Alpha Strike,
the update that will finally give
style="font-style: italic;">City of Heroes
players room to progress. Two new task forces (
style="font-style: italic;">CoH
speak for focused, instanced content) will all but require players to
have use new Alpha Slot abilities to stem the tide of an invasion from
Praetoria, the new content area introduced in last month's expansion.
Add to that new fitness pool abilities, three new live events, new tip
missions, and much more, and Issue 19 is shaping up the be
style="font-style: italic;">City of Heroes'
biggest update yet.
I rounded out the day with the
style="font-style: italic;">DC Universe Online
panel featuring Game Director Chris Cao, Art Director Mark Anderson,
and comic book legend Jim Lee. I continue to be impressed by Jim Lee's
MMO saavy, who drew interesting comparisons to
style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest
(heretofore his favorite MMORPG) during the meet and greet afterward.
When asked about the release date slip, he expressed hope that the
players would take it as a mark of integrity on SOE's part since
they're essentially passing up the holiday buying frenzy to make a
great game.
In other DCUO
news, it sounds as if a major Green Lantern expansion is more of a
"when" than an "if." Chris Cao explained that the Light / Electricity
powerset (and by extension a Flash and Green Lantern inspired-by) is
being held back to amp up the awesome explicitly for the introduction
of a Green Lantern story, and Jim Lee noted that to introduce Green
Lantern, the setting has to "blow up" beyond earth to take in more of
the universe. It's safe to say that the immense fan attraction to Green
Lantern isn't lost on SOE, and with a major motion picture slated for
2011 it only makes sense to hold back. More on
style="font-style: italic;">DCUO,
especially on the newly revealed glimpse at character creation, coming
in a feature article coming later today.
One major MMORPG that didn't make it into panel form but nonetheless
had a floor presence was
style="font-style: italic;">Final Fantasy XIV.
Square Enix essentially had the PAX Prime demo of the game running and
the booth was well attended when I walked by, but I didn't have a
chance to chat with any of the folks from
style="font-style: italic;">FFXIV.
All in all, it was a worthwhile weekend for MMORPGs in the heart of
Manhattan. No big news or reveals for the toe-testing mainstream
MMOers, but plenty of in-depth nifties for fans of games like
style="font-style: italic;">Guild Wars 2,
DC
Universe Online, and
style="font-style: italic;">Rift: Planes of Telara.
What are your thoughts on the weekend's festivities? Share them in the
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=54074">Loading...
forums!
Shayalyn's
Epic Thread of the Day
From our
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=724">Guild
Wars 2 General Discussion forum
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=53974">
style="font-weight: bold;">[Facebook] Update
The
team over at ArenaNet announced last week that their
href="http://tentonhammer.com/gw2">Guild Wars 2
Facebook page has exceeded 91,000 fans. They added, "When we hit 100K+
we'll need to do something special to celebrate." What will that
"something special" be? Our community is having a little fun while on
GW2 fan count watch.
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=53974">Join
in! (And while you're at it,
join
href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ten-Ton-Hammer/9621518062">Ten
Ton Hammer's Facebook page.)
=====================================
Awesome
Quotes from the Epic Thread
"Its
over 95,000!"
-
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showpost.php?p=443649&postcount=11">Annatar
=====================================
New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer
7 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 32 Ten Ton
Hammer features in September! 1092 in 2010!
NEW
YORK COMIC CON 2010
style="color: red;">HOT!
The Last Whiskey Bar - An Exclusive First Look at the Charr Arena Event
in Guild Wars 2
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/charr-arena-event">http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/charr-arena-event
One of the defining gameplay elements in
href="http://tentonhammer.com/gw2">Guild Wars 2,
dynamic events, have already begun to have a dramatic impact on how we
look at MMOGs. At
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/event/nycomiccon/2010">New
York Comic Con,
Ethec was treated to some hands-on time with one of the numerous events
found in the Dragonbrand region. While The Last Whiskey Bar may not be
on the scale of Steeleye Span or The Shatterer, this charr arena event
certainly packs a mean punch and will no doubt become a favorite
destination of mid-level players looking to blow off some steam.
style="color: red;">HOT!
Design Philosophy and the Endgame - An Exclusive Guild Wars 2 Interview
with Eric Flannum
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/interviews/endgame-philosophy">http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/interviews/endgame-philosophy
While
ArenaNet may not have had the same kind of massive floor presence as it
did for gamescom and PAX Prime, the developer nonetheless still managed
to make a huge splash with Guild Wars 2 at
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/event/nycomiccon/2010">New
York Comic Con 2010.
During the event we had the opportunity to sit down with Lead Designer
Eric Flannum to discuss some of the design philosophy behind Guild Wars
2, including an interesting look at how crafting will fit into the game
and what players can expect once they’ve reached the level
cap.
Rift
“Bonus Rounds,” Player Housing, & PvP
discussed at NY Comic Con 2010
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift/features/nycc10">http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift/features/nycc10
Ricardo Sanchez, Trion VP of Digital, came out swinging during the
Trion panel at
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/event/nycomiccon/2010">New
York Comic Con 2010.
“What we’re creating is the most polished and
complete MMO released
since 2004… Basically, it’s pick whatever you want
from an MMO and
we’re going to give it to you.” For Rift: Planes of
Telara, Sanchez
went over an array of topics, including player housing, PvP, and rift
“bonus rounds.”
FEATURES
& GUIDES
Exploration
Implants In EVE Online
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/business/exploration-implants">http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/business/exploration-implants
Ever
the diligent Eve Online scribe, Space Junkie brings us a
compilation of the exploration-themed implants. These special items are
installed into your character to give a permanent bonus to exploring,
at least until your escape pod gets blown up.
Dungeons
in Guild Wars 2
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/editorials/looking-at-dungeons">http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/editorials/looking-at-dungeons
We've
compiled everything there is to know about dungeons in the upcoming
Guild Wars 2 into one helpful article. Looking forward to GW2 as you're
farming away at the Hall of Monuments? Take a second to see what
dungeons will be like, how loot will work, and to learn more about a
few dungeons we know will exist when the game launches.
Ten
Ton Hammer's All New Lord of the Rings Online Champion Class
Guide
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/champ/overview">http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/champ/overview
If
you are new to The Lord of the Rings Online, the Champion is an ideal
choice for a first character. This is the class to play if you enjoy
charging into the fray with reckless abandon and swinging wildly at
everything that moves. Learn everything you need to know about playing
the Champion in our latest LotRO guide.
WoW
Paladin Guide Update
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/paladin">http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/paladin
With
Patch 4.0.1 likely to be released this week, it was time for the
Paladin class guide to get a huge update. After all this
patch is
a huge class changing event for Paladins. As a result of the changes
coming in 4.0.1 almost the entire guide received an update, including
the pages talking about the Paladin Class in general, basics, combat,
equipment, spells and talents, and more.
Today's
Top 10
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/charr-arena-event">The
Last Whiskey Bar - An Exclusive First Look at the Charr Arena Event in style="font-weight: bold;">Guild Wars 2 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/war/interviews/carrie-gouskos-skaven-10.5.10">Skaven
Exclusives! A style="font-weight: bold;">WAR
Q&A with Carrie Gouskos -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/cataclysm_druid_talents">4.0.1
Updated Cataclysm
Druid Talents & Moonkin Mechanics -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/champ/overview">Ten
Ton Hammer's All New style="font-weight: bold;">Lord of the Rings Online
Champion Class Guide -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift/interviews/reader-submitted-questions-part1">Reader
Submitted Rift
Q&A, Part 1 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/previews/lego-universe-preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warlock">
style="font-weight: bold;">WoW
Warlock Guide Updated - 4.0 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/business/exploration-implants">Exploration
Implants In EVE
Online -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/interviews/endgame-philosophy">Design
Philosophy and the Endgame - An Exclusive style="font-weight: bold;">Guild Wars 2
Interview with Eric Flannum style="font-weight: bold;">
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/previews/lego-universe-preview">
style="font-weight: bold;">LEGO Universe
Preview -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/twin_peaks">
style="font-weight: bold;">WoW:
Cataclysm - Introduction to the Twin Peaks Battleground
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 City of Heroes Game Page.
