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is the premier daily MMOG newsletter, only from Ten
Ton Hammer!

Welcome
to the 1,388th
edition
of Loading...

The latest weekend official forum explosion is brought to you by City of Heroes, whose efforts to merge forums in preparation for next month's Going Rogue expansion have created some community consternation. The tightrope walk between giving players a (wrathful) god complex or turning forums into a police state goes ever on, but is there a better way?

Insightful thoughts from a triple A developer on how to gather good community feedback without ramping up expectations to a ridiculous level in today's Loading... System of a Town!

The
Pulse

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

Today's
top 5 Pulse results:

1. World
   of Warcraft
2. EverQuest
   II
3. EVE Online (UP 5)
4. Age of Conan (UP 1)
5. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (UP 4)

Biggest
movers in the past 24 hours:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/52">Pirates of the Burning Sea
   
   - UP 30 to
   #11
2. Guild Wars
   
   - UP 23
   to #12
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo">Dungeons and Dragons Online
   
   - down 5
   to
   #9

• 5/26
  - EVE
  Online: Tyrannis
  (expansion)
• 5/27
  - Craft
  of Gods
  (release)
• 6/9
  - Mortal
  Online
  (release)
• 6/29
  - target="_blank">APB
  (release)
• 7/13 -
  target="_blank">Mytheon
  (release)
• 7/27 -
  target="_blank">Need
  for Speed World
  (release)
• 7/27 -
  target="_blank">StarCraft
  II: Wings of Liberty
  (release)

• August
  17, 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/140">City
  of Heroes: Going Rogue (release)
• September
  7, 2010 - Aion:
  Assault on Balaurea (free
  expansion)
• September
  30, 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ffxiv" target="_blank">Final
  Fantasy XIV
  (release)
• style="font-weight: bold;">October
  26, 2010
  - LEGO
  Universe (release)
  
  
• style="font-weight: bold;">November
  2, 2010
  - DC
  Universe Online (release)
  
  

Upcoming
Events

• style="font-weight: bold;">8/5 -
  8/8 - href="http://events.station.sony.com/fanfaire/" target="_blank">SOE
  Fan Faire 2010
• style="font-weight: bold;">8/18 -
  8/22 - href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/gamescom/home/index.php"
  target="_blank">Gamescom 2010
• style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/5 - href="http://www.paxsite.com/paxprime/index.php" target="_blank">PAX
  Prime
• style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/6 - target="_blank">DragonCon
• style="font-weight: bold;">10/22 -
  10/23 - href="http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcon/?rhtml=y" target="_blank">BlizzCon
• style="font-weight: bold;"> 3/24
  -
  3/26 (2011) - target="_blank">CCP
  FanFest
  

style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">HOT!
Visit Ten
Ton Hammer's StarCraft II Guides
portal to gain that competitive multiplayer edge, or to read our Wings
of Liberty
single player campaign mission walkthroughs!

Loading... Daily

This weekend's flare-up in the City of Heroes forums related to the planned forum merges and deletions is a reminder of the constant wrestling match between game developers and communities. The thread is pretty tame and enjoyable by (dare I say) World of Warcraft standards, but it underscores the difficulties related to maintaining a relevant and constructive dialogue between players and developers.

A developer I talked with recently compared running an MMORPG to running a small town government, the primary difference being what he called "hypercommunication." Instead of a group of selectmen to represesent the voice of the community or a town hall or city council meeting where citizens can voice their concerns, the most vocal citizens of most MMORPGs can assemble mob-like any time, day or night, and demand to be heard. Heard, that is, not necessarily as a group, but as a collection of individual opinions that devs must singly address or ignore at their peril.

Now, running a small town government is no easy thing. Anyone that's ever sat in on a council meeting will never wonder again why Stephen King built his popularity primarily on destroying small New England towns in creative ways. Every small town has a collection of half-crazed paranoiacs who probably had a legitimate gripe at one point or another, but gripes have a way or twisting the gripee into a manifestation of their ugliness if you don't drop them at some point.

But imagine, if you will, a small city which is active outside normal business hours across all the most populated time zones hosting a significant number of those gripees, who are themselves emboldened either by anonymity or a constant craving for attention. Add to this the abiding belief that the mayor could instantly change things for the "better" if they weren't so lazy / greedy / invested in projects the player community supposedly cares nothing about.

If I sound like I'm sympathetic to devs on this point, you couldn't be more correct. Constant communication between people in an office setting is hard enough, let alone communication between developers and a playerbase in the thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions. The core of this hypercommunicativeness is the official forums, which like democracy (to paraphrase Winston Churchill) is the worst system of MMORPG representation except everything else that has been tried.

What else has been tried? When Warhammer Online attempted to launch without official forums, the community (and some of the devs, I might add) made unofficial forums their de facto official boards, and the flames rose ever higher for the lack of official moderation. The result? Soon after Mark Jacobs' departure, WAR got official forums.

EVE Online went the other way and attempted to create a representative council of players. The Council of Stellar Management was first met with applause (finally, true e-democracy!), then growing unease, then real apathy as many in the player community feel that the council is a token marketing measure without any real power to change CCP's development priorities.

What's the solution? I asked the aforementioned dev that question (and I'm not quoting him directly since my voice recorder quietly ran out of battery on him and I'm afraid of a misquote). His answer was direct and succinct - players aren't responsible for making, fixing, or balancing the game, therefore they shouldn't be tapped for what should be made, fixed, or balanced in the game.

Devs have the objective tools to effectively measure, fix, and balance the game- that's their job, in other words, leave it to them. But that's not to say that devs shouldn't be interested in feedback. Instead of letting players be the devil in the details, devs should, in essence, tell players what they're making and ask what they want to see more of.

What kind of role should players have in shaping a game? Are official forums enough, or should devs focus on player councils and other forms of player representation? Exercise your right to free speech in the Loading... forum!

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day

From our Technical Advice & Discussion Forum


AMD or Intel? ATIor Nvidia?


Today's epic thread simply and purely serves my own selfish
interests. (I think I'm entitled to that every once in a while, right?)
 My husband has generously offered to allow me a new gaming rig so
my son, who is dedicating his high school studies toward the pursuit of
a career as a quest writer and designer for the gaming industry, can
have my old one. (Which is no slouch!) I've always been an Intel girl
(for no other reason than it's what I know), but we have a couple of
options on the plate right now. AMD (cheaper) or Intel (fewer processor
cores)? Nvidia or ATI? Want to help me pick one? Tell me why you prefer one processor or video card maker over another. Debate!


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

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread


None yet. Make some!
==============================

New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

9 new and exlcusive
Ten Ton Hammer
features
today!  9 Ten Ton Hammer
features
in August! 825
in 2010!

INTERVIEWS


VIP Video Q&A  with Guild Wars 2 Ghosts of Ascalon Author Jeff Grubb
http://www.tentonhammer.com/guild-wars-2/video/jeff-grubb/ghosts-of-ascalon

Ghosts
of Ascalon, the first of three novels that will bridge the story of
Guild Wars with that of its highly anticipated sequel, was released
this past week. For a quick overview of the book and a closer look at
how its lore will impact Guild Wars 2, we recently met up with Jeff
Grubb, co-author of the book and Arena.net game designer. Jeff reveals
a few surprises for Guild Wars lore-hounds along the way, and we'll
finish up with a quick geography lesson prompted by one of our Premium
Members' questions about Cantha. Check out our latest showcase article,
a Video VIP Q&A with Guild Wars 2's Jeff Grubb!

PREVIEWS

WoW Cataclysm - Tirisfal Glades Preview
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/previews/tirisfal-glades

Tirisfal
Glades; Forsaken starting zone and location of the Undercity, bastion
of the Forsaken’s power. Tirisfal is also home to pockets of Scourge,
and the pinnacle of the Scarlet Crusade’s religious seat, the Scarlet
Monastery. See what the Tirisfal Glades of Cataclysm has in store for
you, as we at Ten Ton Hammer take you on the grand tour.

EDITORIALS

Can LOTRO Duplicate The Success of DDO?
http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/free-to-play

Following up on his rant about free-to-play games, Mattlow takes a look at the good and the bad of Turbine's decision to go free-to-play with Lord of The Rings Online.

FEATURES & GUIDES

Flying The Imicus In EVE Online
http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/ships/flying_imicus

The
Imicus frigate is probably the single best newbie mission ship in
existence because of its accessibility, cost, and ability to absolutely
destroy low-level mission NPCs. In this guide Space Junkie gives us the
inside dirt on this little marvel.

Static Progression - Guild Wars 2 Weekly Report
http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/newsletter/issue-9

The
Guild Wars 2 Weekly Report is here with the latest in Guild Wars 2
news. ArenaNet just got back from Comic-Con and graced us with an
explanation of how leveling and progression will work in GW2 while
Ghosts of Ascalon has bookshelves everywhere. Be sure to check each
weekend for a recap of the latest GW2 news with our Guild Wars 2 Weekly
Report.

StarCraft II Mission Guides Part Three: The Covert Missions
http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/guides/covert-missions


Most
missions let you take your sweet time building a base, throwing up
defenses, and watching the hordes run into you until you build an
unstoppable force. None of this applies to the Covert set of missions
though. These missions have you controlling heroes, dodging lava
surges, and vying for supremacy in a king of the hill battle! StarCraft
II has plenty of variety, and we've got plenty of guides to cover each
and every mission in the Covert section!

StarCraft II Mission Guides Part Four - The Rebellion Missions
http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/guides/rebellion-missions

The fourth installment of our complete single
player campaign walkthrough for Blizzard Entertainment's recently released RTS
masterpiece, StarCraft II: Wings
of Liberty, covers each of the Rebellion missions. As with previous
missions in the series, many of the Rebellion missions are fairly inventive and
will certainly put your skills to the test at the Hard or Brutal difficulty
settings. Each is a blast to play through, however, and fortunately enough for
you we have complete guides to help you and your pal Jim Raynor kick plenty of
Dominion, Zerg and Protoss behind. So what are you waiting for? Read our
full StarCraft II Mission Guides for the Rebellion
Missions!

For more guides covering everything from units, basic and
advanced multiplayer strategies and each of the campaign missions be sure to
check out Ten Ton
Hammer's StarCraft II Guides portal.

StarCraft II Mission Guides Part Five - The Artifact Missions
http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/guides/artifact-missions

While the StarCraft II: Wings
of Liberty single player campaign may have an overarching storyline for
players to navigate their way through, it also contains numerous side story
mission chains focused on different NPCs and themes. The fifth installment in
our complete walkthrough for StarCraft II, covering the Artifact
missions, is no exception. In it, you’ll find yourself collecting various
artifacts for the mysterious organization known as Moebius, but to what end?
Find out in Ten Ton Hammer’s StarCraft II Mission Guides Part Five: The Artifact
Missions!

We also have a massive collection of guides focused on the
multiplayer side of the SC2 coin, so be sure to check out our StarCraft II Guides portal for information on strategy, units
and more!

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Interface Changes
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/cataclysm/ui-changes

Blizzard
has a history of taking some of the best community created UI mod ideas
and merging them into the game to become part of the basic UI. 
This happens each and every expansion, and sometimes even with major
patches. Therefore when Cataclysm launches we all expect to see some
changes to the UI, but what will they be?  Byron “Messiah” Mudry
walks you through some of the many UI changes so far in the beta in his
look at the Cataclysm Interface.

Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features

1. VIP Video Q&A with Guild Wars 2 Ghosts of Ascalon Author Jeff Grubb
2. StarCraft II Guide Portal
3. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Interface Changes
4. WoW Cataclysm - Tirisfal Glades Preview
5. Can LotRO Duplicate The Success of DDO?
   
6. New LotRO Screenshots Show Starting Area Changes
   
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2/interviews/free-to-play-georgeson"> style="font-weight: bold;">EverQuest
   II Goes Free-to-Play - A
   Q&A with Producer Dave
   Georgeson
8. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/coh/going-rogue-preview">Into
   the Gray: A Hands-On
   Preview of City
   of
   Heroes: Going Rogue href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/coh/going-rogue-preview">
   
   
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/dc-universe-online/trailer/blur">DC
   Universe href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/dc-universe-online/trailer/blur">
   Online
   Blur Trailer from San Diego
   Comic-Con 2010
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/vindictus/interviews/gyselinck">Golem
    Arise! A
    Q&A with Chris Gyselinck about style="font-weight: bold;">
    Vindictus href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/sylvari">
    
    

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle
and the Ten Ton Hammer team