Welcome to your Thursday Loading... You can read previously enjoyed editions of Loading... in the blog archive. (For the navigation impaired that means you click the link and then look in the right menu.)
The 461st edition of Loading... is brought to you by...
Free game trials! Drop 'n Play technology! Buying and downloading PC games has never been easier! DISCover all this and more with My Games today!
- Crazy Political Ad (Real World News)
- CIA / Google Partnership (Real World News)
- El Catastrophe (MMOG News Headlines)
- Win A Vanguard Pre-Order (TenTonHammer Exclusives)
- Burning Crusade Preview - Shattrath City (TenTonHammer Exclusives)
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Or not, a bit of off topic drivel to start the blog today. I've been working on a new project at TenTonHammer that involves copious quantities of tedious writing and editing. While I have been editing I've been watching Firefly. I watched the show on and off when Fox was playing it, out of chronological order, then complaining that the audience didn't get it. This is an incredible show, especially when the episodes are watched in the right order via DVD. I haven't watched the movie yet, so please don't mail me with spoilers. Here's a "bet you didn't know" moment though, in the pilot for Battlestar Galactica (the new series) you can see the ship Serenity flying past in an early scene.
Now, really, back to your regularly scheduled programming.
With the exception of this column the exclusive articles, content and op/eds on the network are well written, informative pieces fashioned to appeal to not only new MMOG players, but also veterans of the massively multiplayer trenches. Once in a while our team delivers an article that is received so well that it takes on a life of its own.
The first article that garnered attention above and beyond the norm was SOGA: Bridging EverQuest 2's "Uncanny Valley". Until I read Jeff Woleslagle's illuminating article I thought that the "uncanny valley" was a non-recycle zone at the local dump. Imagine my surprise when I found out that EQ2 wasn't an emotional junkyard, but was in fact a blue box. Colour me embarrassed.
Recently, and by recently I mean not-so-long-ago, Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg tapped out a little ditty called Inside the Vision, an article about Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and the impressions she collected from playing in the beta.
At TenTonHammer.com tell it like it is, pulling no punches. Sometimes it causes a flood of angry e-mails. Sometimes we, and by we I mean "I" try to get a point across through humour. This is inconceivably difficult given that others don't find me funny and ironic in that I'm the nemesis of not funny...ever. My subtle, yet not so subtle knee-slapper that all female gaming teams were passe and pointing them in the direction of an industry that will give them attention, porn...was met with so much vitriol that I had to go back and read the piece again. Those of you that stop by Loading... regularly know that I don't even read my pieces once to proof them for spulling errors. Being forced to read my own writing ranks somewhere on my "care to do it" scale between listening to Lindsay Lohan sing and having scorpions eat my eyes.
I thought I had a chance to rise to the top, with the Woleslagles and the Hertzbergs when I asked for the Seven Wonders of MMOGs. In fact, the development community was all over it. The players, well, not so much. If you folks don't know what you like, then how can you complain when developers don't deliver it?
What do you like? There must be places, zones, creatures...something for Pete's sake that you have seen in a MMOG that made you go..."Woah!"
Do tell, either in the forum or at the bottom of this blog. If you are shy (or female and sending in naughty pictures) you can E-Mail me.
Every good guild needs a home. A home free of gold ads and secondary market farmers. Look no further than GuildPortal.com.
Exclusive new TenTonHammer.com Content!
Let us entertain you or at the very least waste some of your time at work.11.02.2006 Exclusive Content
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Dungeons and Dragons Online: Defensive Assault Dwarf
"With the recent release of Module 3, Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) has a new level cap of 12. Nuitaran already knows how his fighter will progress through the new levels--and beyond!" -
EverQuest 2: Where Have All The Good Men Gone?
"Pick-up groups are one of those necessary evils in MMO gaming, but are they all that bad? Guest star Brokain, takes a look at gaming with pick-up groups in his desperate quest for experience." -
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Official Forum Roundup
"Another week, another forum roundup. Aunraye's back with the goods from the official Vanguard: Saga of Heroes forum. We're covering the spectrum from selfish bastages to altruistic drive-by buffing. Would you rather beat people up and take their stuff in PvP? We've got that, too. Check it out!"
Vin Diesel Fact of the Day - Vin Diesel is bald because his hair is afraid to grow.
Now from the real world. You can't make this stuff up.
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Mutant Fruit Flies Resistant To Alcohol
Get more dates, win more poker games. -
Web Reaches 100 Million Sites
Nigerian princes selling V1agrA take up at least 30 million spots. -
Virus May Be Eating Your Brain
Or it may be a zombie. -
French Bring Viral Fossil Brought Back To Life
Let dogs crap on street, Check! Bring ancient virus back to life, Check! Surrender, Check! -
Teens Who Read Poorly More Likely To Commit Suicide
Teens who spell poorly more likely to play World of Warcraft. -
Texans Go To Bed To Test Robots
All hail our promiscuous robotic overlords.
As always, thanks for visiting TenTonHammer.com,
-- John "Boomjack" Hoskin
