Loading... Territorial Pissings

Welcome to the 1,039th Edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier MMORPG news and commentary daily newsletter from Ten Ton Hammer. Play World of Warcraft? Jay "Medeor" Johnson's weekly WoW newsletter "The Overpull" keeps you entertained and informed on all the latest developments in WoW. Sign up!

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is Pulse?).

Here's today's top 5 Pulse results for today:

Biggest Movers in the Top 20 today :

Lego Universe (UP 46!! to #13)
Bounty Bay Online (UP 15 to #12)
Darkfall (UP 14 to #16)

Loading... Daily

Loading... because pissing on bad games should be a leisurely pursuit, not a territorial one.

MMO gamers tend to be extremely territorial, especially with their first MMO. Ten Ton Hammer's Ben de la Durantaye had this insight last night, and it seems true, even obvious, to me in retrospect, and portentous. As much as we (Ten Ton Hammer) like to think of MMORPGs as a category and work from the common framework of all MMOs - a large online community to interact with or fight against - you're far less likely to think of yourself as an MMO gamer than a WoW player, an EVE player, an EQ2 player, LotRO player, or in terms of whatever game has its hooks in you. That doesn't change what we're trying to do - we think there are fundamental similarities between these games that are well worth exploring, but it does mean that we have to get fairly in-depth with each game to catch the attention of even the most one-track gamers.

But being territorial means that the typical MMO gamer isn't just enjoying their chosen game on their own terms, they typically enjoy it to the exclusion of all others. The great hope of WoW as the gateway drug to the MMO genre, that it would grow the total audience playing these games and not just its own, seems to have dried up - at least in the short term. If you tell the typical WoW enthusiast about a exciting new MMO, be prepared for an attack. As much as the developers don't believe their MMOs aren't in direct competition with one another (reference WoW Lead Producer J. Allen Brack's comments on WAR at last year's BlizzCon - video link), their audience typically isn't quite as transcendent. I could cite any number of AoC vs.WAR vs. WoW threads, but it boils down to attacks on how the game looks too similar, "stole" this or that game mechanic, or won't work purely in theory (since just about every extremely vocal player is a self-proclaimed expert).

Rare is a critique that focuses on how the game's differences might be to a player's benefit or disadvantage, and rarer still is a comment from anyone that's actually played the opposing game in any depth. The upshot with a game as dominant as WoW is this: you have an incredibly vast audience picketing and poo-pooing any game that comes down the line based on how it's been described to them by other people reacting against the trespass of new game. And how do they, at the source, form their opinion? Usually not by the competing game's merit, but by its marketing. Given the power of word of mouth in today's noisy online culture, this is devastating.

If you're playing an upstart MMO and enjoying it, you've probably tuned all of this nonesense out. Good for you for not mindlessly following the crowd, you'll be rewarded with a unique experience. And if you genuinely enjoy WoW, good for you too. This isn't another "WoW is the anti-MMO" rant - there's absolutely enough room for all of our MMO preferences and a growing number of MMOs to fulfill them. And if WoW or some other MMO has grown stale for you, there's plenty of alternatives. Ten Ton Hammer, among other outlets, will do our level best to inform you of them minus the PR fluff.

Don't feel like you have to keep pouring hours into a game you don't enjoy just because you've fenced yourself in or lent your defense to the glory of a particular MMO. More than one MMORPG can be absolutely worth playing, though it's easy to forget that fact because these games take so much time to really get into. If you're looking for a change, free-to-play Runes of Magic launched today, which may be the best thing to come out of Berlin since the Wall, or you can try your hand at player-generated content with the Issue 14 of City of Heroes, which entered open beta yesterday. I'm currently working on a preview of Chronicles of Spellborn, currently in closed beta for us UK and NA folks, and elements of that game are extremely refreshing - it might be the first time since 2004 since I've felt like I was truly in an immersive new world.

Had a quality MMO experience off the beaten path? Share it in the Loading... forum, or toss me an email.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Stargate Worlds Forum

So is this game dead or what?

Mama
always said, "What good is life without a lot of pointless
speculation?" (Okay, well, she probably never said that specifically,
but it sounds like solid advice, doesn't it?) And when it comes to
pointless speculation, there's nothing like a good old-fashioned "Is
this game dead?" thread.

Today's speculatory target happens to be Stargate Worlds. Plagued with talk of financial crises, multi-level marketing schemes, and lawsuits,
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment seems to be struggling to produce a
game where once the prospect of a MMOG based in its popular sci-fi IP
had Stargate-branded Hummers rolling through the streets of Leipzig, Germany.

What
does the future hold for Stargate Worlds? We don't know (hence the
whole speculation thing). Most gamers want to see SGW hit the
shelves--one can never have too many MMOGs, especially those based on
original and entertaining intellectual properties, to choose from. And
yet, when I ask whether SGW will launch my Magic 8 Ball says,
"Reply hazy, try again."

What does your Magic 8 Ball (or other prognosticating device) have to say? Tell us here!

==============================
Epic Quote from the Epic Thread

"I'd say more than likely it's never going to make it live. I love the
show, and I loved the promise of the game....but I fear it'll never
make it live and if it does it won't survive. There's too much
competition and it's already encountered too many set backs it seems.
Can't wait for the new Star Gate show though."

- LordCable
==============================

Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!

6 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 77 in March! 337 in 2009!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]

Runes of Magic: Exclusive End of Beta Interview

The beta for Runes of Magic is over and release day is here! With all of the localization issues nearing completion, the Frogster America team is pulling out all the stops to make sure the public knows about the launch of its game. Sean Kauppinen, Interim President and CEO of Frogster America, Inc., checked in with Ten Ton Hammer's Garrett Fuller to give us all the latest information.
EverQuest at Ten: The Devs Share Their Memories

At the end of last week, the Ten Ton Hammer staff offered you a look into our personal EverQuest stories. Now we have a special treat for Ten Ton Hammer readers; we asked the staff of EverQuest to write down their favorite memories from the ten year old title, and they came back with some fantastic responses. From simple stories of excellent combat strategies to epic guild flashbacks, make sure you check out all of these amazing memories!
Forever Fantasy: EverQuest III - The Return of the King

EverQuest is celebrating its tenth anniversary this week and although they're still going strong, Dalmarus can't help wondering if we'll ever see an EverQuest III. Could it be done? Even more importantly, *should* it be done? In this week's edition of Forever Fantasy, Dalmarus attempts to rein in his cranky old geezer dreams about "the good old days" while discussing what should be critical if a third rendition of EverQuest were ever made.
World of Warcraft: Selecting Talents for the Paladin

World of Warcraft: Selecting Talents for the Priest

This week at Ten Ton Hammer we are looking at World of Warcraft talent specs and updating them with a level-by-level suggestion for each class and each build on where to spend your talent points. No fuss, no muss. Quick and easy charts are being put into all of our talent guides to help you spec with confidence. Let's take a look at the Paladin with Jay Johnson and the Priest with Matt Lowery.
Guild for Sale: Buying Your Way Through EQ2

The most sought after items in EverQuest II are undoubtedly the class mythical weapons that cannot be bought or begged for no matter how badly you want them. Or can they? Guilds are selling their raid abilities and players are paying large amounts of plat in order to score one of these prestigious weapons. The real shocker is that these clandestine trades are completely legitimate.

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:

Real World News [All links today courtesy of Matt N.!]

List of the Most Embarrassing Canadians

Celine Dion noticeably absent from.. oh, wait, there she is.
Dog eats $400, but woman recovers, washes some of it

Charges of money laundering to follow.
Woman accused of punching, biting son's school administrator

Says she understood it wasn't really called for, but it was the principal of it that caused her to react..

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 Runes of Magic Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

Featured

About The Author

Comments

Related Content