Welcome
to the 1,309th
edition
of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily
MMOG news and commentary
newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

Vast quantities of
href="http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/allergies/weather/27617"
target="_blank">pine pollen
weren't the only thing to descend on Raleigh, NC
this week, as the city also played host to the second annual href="http://www.trianglegameconference.com/" target="_blank">Triangle
Game Conference. Reuben "Sardu"
Waters was on hand
for the two day event to catch the buzz on this growing hotspot for
regional game developers and platform pugilists. While there he caught
up with many of the MMOG masterminds behind href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/fallenearth">Fallen
Earth
to get the
scoop on Lee Hammock's new position with href="http://www.gazillion.com/gargantuan/#/home"
target="_blank">Gargantuan
and what
wastelanders can look forward to over the coming months. All this and
much more today in href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/apr/9">Loading...
Wasteland Triangulation.

cellspacing="0" width="100%">

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:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow">World
   of Warcraft
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2">EverQuest II
   (UP 2)
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aoc">Age of Conan
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo">Dungeons and
   Dragons Online
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve">EVE
   Online

Biggest
movers this week:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest
   (UP 5 to #9)
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/34">City
   of Heroes (UP 6 to #19)
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto">Star Trek
   Online (Down 3 to #12)
   

size="-1">Recent Releases

• size="-1">2/1
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926">Global
  Agenda (release date)
• size="-1">2/2 size="-1"> - href="http://www.startrekonline.com">Star
  Trek Online (release date)
• size="-1">2/16
  - href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
  2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
• size="-1">2/16
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81479"> LotRO:
  Oath of the
  Rangers (content update)
• size="-1">4/5
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/83086">Pocket
  Legends (iMMOG - release date)
  
  
  

size="-1">Upcoming
Releases

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1004">

• size="-1">April
  2010 - href="http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/game_updates/issue_17/issue_17_overview.html?utm_source=COHemail&utm_medium=US&utm_campaign=banner">City
  of Heroes - Issue 17: Dark Mirror
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2010
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1801">Mytheon
• size="-1">Summer
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/998">APB
• size="-1">TBA
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2079">Final
  Fantasy XIV
  
  
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2011
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/swtor">Star Wars:
  The Old
  Republic size="-1">
  
  
  
  

size="-1">Upcoming
Events

• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">4/17 - 4/18
  - href="http://www.ankama-convention.com/en">Ankama
  Convention #5
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">6/15 -
  6/17 - href="http://www.e3expo.com/">E3
  Expo
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">6/25 -
  6/27 - href="http://www.lfgexpo.com/">Looking
  for Group
  Expo
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">7/22 - 7/25 -
  Comic-Con
  International
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">8/5 -
  8/8 - href="http://events.station.sony.com/fanfaire/">SOE
  Fan Faire 2010
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/6 - href="http://www.dragoncon.org/">DragonCon
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">10/22 -
  10/23 - href="http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcon/?rhtml=y">BlizzCon
  
  
  

Congrats
to the Star Trek Online Season One Giveaway Winners!

These members won some awesome prizes with the Star Trek Online Season
One giveaway. You could be a winner too in the next Ten Ton Hammer
giveaway, so watch for it!

• Grand
  Prize Winner:
  Bitter Beard
  • Killer Xeno Pro
    NIC, Star Trek Online Collector's Edition with a 6 month subscription
• First
  Prize Winner:
  MissMacLeod
  • Killer Xeno Pro
    NIC, Star Trek Online Collector's Edition
• Second
  Prize Winners:
  Ranger081,
  Fatemaster, Malthol
  • Killer Xeno Pro
    NIC, Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition
• Third
  Prize Winners:
  Raizer, Popalx, Ohm, Radic202, liontooth, jlAristotle, Blackjac2000
  • Star Trek Online
    Digital Deluxe Edition
    

Loading... Daily

Over the past five or
so years since I made my triumphant trek back to the east coast,
I've had the opportunity to witness the Raleigh, NC area
blossom into a new hub for game development. Boasting brand-name
bigwigs such as href="http://www.epicgames.com/" target="_blank">Epic
Games, href="http://www.redstorm.com/" target="_blank">Red
Storm Entertainment and more
recently href="http://www.insomniacgames.com/" target="_blank">Insomniac
Games, the area
also continues to attract an impressive number of independent
developers and platform specialists, each working towards bringing
gaming into the next generation.

Nowhere was this growth more
apparent than during the second annual
href="http://www.trianglegameconference.com/" target="_blank">Triangle
Game Conference, which provided
an excellent overview of why
Raleigh and the surrounding area is quickly becoming the next major
center for gaming in the U.S. In sharp contrast to last
month's href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/GDC2010">GDC
and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/PAXEast2010">PAX
East, the Triangle show was
certainly a
more intimate affair, but it also provided an excellent opportunity to
connect with some of the movers and shakers from the area.

Prominently featured among them
was the post-apocalyptic MMOG
powerhouse href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/fallenearth">Fallen
Earth.
Over the course of the two day event I had the
chance to attend an excellent discussion on Narrative vs. Gameplay
presented by content team lead for Fallen
Earth, Marie Croall, and
otherwise express my long standing child-like fascination with prairie
chickens to
associate project manager Dave Haydysch who assured me that players
will be seeing more of the awesomely awkward beasts in coming months.

However, I was also interested
in learning more about href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/83139">Lee
Hammock's departure from the
team which was officially
announced at the start of this week. To bring you up to speed in case
you missed the news, Lee will be starting in a new position as Story
Designer for href="http://www.gazillion.com/gargantuan/#/home"
target="_blank">Gargantuan,
which many of the people from Fallen
Earth
that I spoke with explained is somewhat of a golden opportunity for the
now beardless Lee. Not only has he previously penned tales for Marvel,
but he's also a massive fan of comics in general so getting
the chance to contribute to upcoming href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/289">Marvel
Universe
is indeed a worthy
reason to switch teams mid-season.

Fallen
Earth fans need not fret though,
as Lee's legacy will
live on well into the wasteland's future. While much of the
game's lore has been directly shaped by his particular
narrative styling, the team has a bevy of game updates and future
sectors mapped out, such as the amazing href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/paxeast2010/fallenearth_iphone_app">iPhone
app we saw in action at PAX East
and the upcoming Blood Sports instanced PvP
maps (which I was assured has nothing to do with the Jean-Claude Van
Damme movie in case you were wondering).

"We appreciate the
contributions that Lee has made to the
project," said Colin Dwan, project manager for Fallen
Earth.
"We have laid a solid foundation which includes experienced
leadership and a project plan with attainable milestones. Fallen
Earth
fans will be seeing an impressive array of new content and features in
the months ahead."

The team is currently preparing
a new state of the game address which
will be unleashed fairly soon, and in the meantime Fallen
Earth will
also be joining us for a special episode of href="http://omfg.fm/index.php?p=Shows&ID=13">Ten Ton
Hammer Live! this
Saturday at 7pm EST, so be sure to mark your calendars folks!

Are there other aspects of the
Triangle Game Conference you'd like to hear more about? Be sure to let
me know in the Loading... forums!

---

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day



From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=641">Final
Fantasy XIV News & Articles Discussion forum



href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=50624">Escaping
the Shadow if Final Fantasy XI



Ten Ton Hammer writer Adam Stow cares about Final
Fantasy XIV.
In fact, he cared enough to tackle a potentially hot topic--what FFXIV
will have to do to step out of the shadow of its aging MMOG
predecessor, Final Fantasy XI
which, although a arguably a great game, didn't have the appeal to the
Western market that it could have.



When Stow voiced his opinions on some pitfalls he hopes FFXIV will
avoid, our community members had plenty to say. Check in and href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=50624">add
your own comments in our FFXIV
forum.



==============================

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"If players are unwilling to
adapt, or at least change their attitudes, to different
development/gaming styles then perhaps they should stay within their
'fluffy zone'. If all some people want is for things to remain 'familiar'
so that they can continue to feel comfortable then we may as well stop
making new games as that sort of thinking leads to stagnation."



- Annatar

==============================



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

3 new Ten Ton Hammer
features
today! 41 in April! 400
in 2010!

BETA GIVEAWAY



Battle of the Immortals Beta
Key Giveaway

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/boi_cbt">http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/boi_cbt



Battle
of the Immortals is a 2.5D multiplayer game that incorporates eastern
and western cultures ranging from Norse Mythology to the Qin Dynasty.
Closed beta for Battle of the Immortals has started today, Wednesday,
February 10, and you can test out the game with a key from Ten Ton
Hammer!



FEATURES & GUIDES



StarCraft 2: Turtling Newbies -
Why Turtling Doesn't Work

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/editorials/turtlingnewbies">http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/editorials/turtlingnewbies




Many
players fear the darkness in Starcraft 2. They fear it so much that
they never leave their base, opting to build their defenses until they
feel secure and tech straight to Carriers. Yet, does this strategy ever
work against a good player or even at all? David "Xerin" Piner takes a
look at this in our latest article on Starcraft 2.



Champions Online: Vibora Bay
Apocalypse Guide

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/viborabayapocalypse">http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/viborabayapocalypse



To
gain access to the new Vibora Bay zone in Champions Online, players
must first complete the Vibora Bay Apocalypse. Players will take part
in the final battle between good and evil within the Champions
universe. Will your hero be able to stem the tide and thwart the
demon-angel Therakiel? Not to worry, my friends. Your pals at Ten Ton
Hammer are here to steer you through these troubling times.

Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/83225">Battle
   of the Immortals Closed Beta Key
   Giveaway Begins
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/83193">WoW:
   Cataclysm Class Previews -
   Shaman, Warlock and Priest
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/features/everquest/nostalgia">Awakened
   Nostalgia - EverQuest
   Relived
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/finalfantasyxiv/editorials/shadowofxi">Final
   Fantasy XIV href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/finalfantasyxiv/editorials/shadowofxi">
   - Escaping the Shadow of XI
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/pocketlegends/spacetimestudiosinterview">Pocket
   Legends MMMOG for the IPhone - A
   Q&A with Spacetime
   Studios
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/facebookthewowkiller">Is
   Facebook
   the WoW
   Slayer?
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/83125">Free-to-Play
   MMOGs: Microcosms - Nobody's Fool
8. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/83079">PoxNora
   Q&A with Tony "RadarX" Jones
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/paxeast2010/apb_impressions">PAX
   East 2010 - Hands-On with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/paxeast2010/apb_impressions">All
   Points Bulletin
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/paxe10/coh/bianco_goingrogue">City
    of Heroes href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/features/protoss_earlygame_evolution">
    Praetoria Q&A with Senior Designer Melissa Bianco

---

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Reuben "Sardu" Waters
and
the Ten Ton Hammer team