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

Welcome
to the 1,379th
edition
of Loading...

How "real time" do you want your real time strategy games?
What about MMORTS games? Today we take a look at Ubisoft's upcoming style="font-style: italic;">Might and Magic: Heroes Kingdoms
to see where this new game fits in in today's market. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/jul/20">Loading...
A Preview of Might and
Magic: Heroes Kingdoms.

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 this month:

1. World
   of Warcraft
2. EverQuest
   II
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest
4. Dungeons
   and Dragons Online
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/43">EVE
   Online

Biggest
movers over the past 24 hours:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/39"> style="text-decoration: underline;">Dark Age of Camelot
   
   - UP 41 to #18
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/42">Star
   Wars Galaxies
   
   - UP 12 to #12
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/183">Guild
   Wars 2
   
   - UP 11 to #8

• 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)

• July
  20,
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2461"
  target="_blank">Need
  for Speed World (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;">7/22 -
  7/25 - target="_blank">Comic-Con
  International
• 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
  
  
  

Loading... Daily

I've mentioned in the past that I'm no good at real-time strategy
games. I always get creamed. Part of this is due to my failure to
translate production, implementation, and execution into a single
streamlined thought where I can sit back lazily on auto-pilot and let
my hands do the work as I consider the course of action thirty moves
ahead. Some people are quick at that sort of thought process, but I'm
not.



The game has changed with Ubisoft's style="font-style: italic;">Might and Magic: Heroes Kingdoms.
Not only do I have time to consider my next move; I have so much time
that I have allowance to consider and reconsider every single bit of
information and make an educated (hopefully brilliant) maneuver each
and every time.



Who of us hasn't wanted to play video games all day? With this game,
you can play all day every day without the tedious side-effect of it
consuming all your time. You see, when it comes to strategy, this game
is more real-time than most others. If we execute a command, we can
expect the results two, three, or even ten hours later. Send your
troops out to take over a mine? They'll arrive in a couple of hours.



The luxury here is that you can execute commands and then forget about
it for a while as you go about your daily routine. As the game runs in
a browser, you can keep it up all day at work or on your iPad, and only
pull it up for a few minutes every so often to execute your next move.
It's like one of those really long chess games between old friends that
lasts 40 years.



Except this is no chess game. I dare say it may be more complicated and
deep than that. In fact, if you don't take your time with the game and
learn it slowly, you will almost certainly forget one element or
another quickly enough. The layers of strategy richly run through the
game to an extent of Euclidean bliss. For a taste: you build a tavern
which allows you to recruit heroes. Heroes have armies. Armies consist
of different roles. Each role has an advantage over a different role in
battle. You can recruit these roles by building different structures in
your city. Your hero can gain careers to improve building efficiency or
conquering prowess. To build you require resources. Resources are
gained through mines. Mines are conquered by heroes and armies. Mines
are upgraded with resources and heroes. Marketplaces allow you to buy
and sell with NPCs and other players alike should you need a
supplementary income of resources. And that's not even touching the PvP.



The game can be enjoyed by anyone at any time, and that's the beauty of
Might and Magic: Heroes
Kingdoms. It's a game that will have you constantly
thinking about it during the day, plotting your strategy, but it won't
require you to be sitting at your PC for massive hours. A virtual world
populated by players who have enough time to make a thoughtful decision
every time promises to be a completely new experience in the strategy
game genre. Add the charm of Might
and Magic heroes, the layers of complexity and the ability
to create alliances with other players and we're surely going to see
epic war games unfold before us when the game opens to the public.



Sound like your kind of game? Tell us in the forums.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day

From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3">Tavern
of the Ten Ton Hammer forum



Stupid,
stupid, stupid



Sylvinstar thinks it's stupid when power gamers race to get to the
end game of a MMOG and then grumble that there's no content, like
children "skipping a four-course meal so that they can eat dessert, and
then complaining that they are still hungry." Power gamers are the
minority in most MMOGs, but they tend to be a loud minority. What's
your take? Are those whose only goal is getting to the end-game
"stupid, stupid, stupid" and meant to be ignored? Or is it a legit
playstyle that developers need to design for? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=52347">Discuss!



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

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"It isn't the norm. It's
just what you hear about. There is also nothing wrong with it."



- href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showpost.php?p=436882&postcount=4">Thansal

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

New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

8 Ten Ton Hammer
feature
today! 63 Ten Ton Hammer
features
in July! 775
in 2010!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS



First Impressions:
Exploring LEGO Universe’s Gnarled Forest

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lego-universe/gnarled-forest-preview/july2010"> http://www.tentonhammer.com/lego-universe/gnarled-forest-preview/july2010



Few
franchises have stood the test of time like LEGO, so when we learned
that NetDevil would be developing the LEGO Universe (LU) MMOG it
naturally caught our attention and we learned just how creative the
developers have gotten with the IP at E3 2010. So much so, LU managed
to capture two of our awards from E3, earning both the “ href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/86631/page/6">Most
Innovative” and “ href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/86631/page/10">Best
of Show”
awards. Ten Ton Hammer was recently invited into the LU beta to check
out the game and while we can’t talk about everything that we’ve had
the chance to experience, we can discuss one of the worlds in LU as the
NDA for the Gnarled Forest has been lifted. What we learned is that the
pirates of the Gnarled Forest not only have the Maelstrom to deal with,
but also ninjas and pistol toting monkeys.



Microcosms: Wing and A
Prayer – A Heroes in the Sky First Look

http://www.tentonhammer.com/microcosms/2010/july/29



One
of the greatest advantages that free-to-play games have over
traditional subscription-based games is their ability to be bold and
unconventional. Few MMOGs are bolder and more unconventional than
Heroes in the Sky. Taking the genre to new heights, Heroes in the Sky
looks to transport players back to World War II and give them a bird’s
eye view of the action. Join Jason “Medawky” Bolton this week as he
attempts to earn his wings in this ambitious new title.



GIVEAWAYS



Runes of Magic Runesurfer
Bundle and Summer Prize Giveaway

http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom/giveaways/runesurfer



Ten
Ton Hammer and Frogster have partnered to bring you free item codes and
a chance at a number of cool prizes! Redeem a gift code now for a free
Runesurfer Bundle and hit the waves of Taborea in style with your new
Flying Rune Disc while scoring some serious bonus experience
points. Along with the bundle, redeeming your code will also
enter
you into our prize drawing with a chance to win an iPad, SteelSeries
gaming accessories, and much more, so grab your Runesurfer code today!



FEATURES & GUIDES



Aion: Assault on Balaurea
- Content Galore!

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/features/editorials/assault-on-balaurea">http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/features/editorials/assault-on-balaurea



If
one thing could be said of Aion, it would be that very few games can
manage to put out as much free content in the first year after launch.
And more is coming with this year's expansion Aion: Assault on
Balaurea. With a level increase, new overland zones and new instanced
dungeons, many would expect this expansion to come with an equally
impressive pricetag, but players will enjoy the new content
for
free! What will the low, low price of nothing get you? Get the
highlights of the much anticipated update to see what tempting treats
Aion will offer to lure you back!



Chainsaw Diplomacy: A
Debate Over the Pros and Cons of DLC

http://www.tentonhammer.com/chainsaw-diplomacy/DLC



Testing
out a new kind of editorial, Mattlow and Jeffprime are having a
spirited debate over the pros and cons of DLC (downloadable content).
They'll offer differing viewpoints on the subject and kickstart what
should be a great discussion in our community.



The Races of Guild Wars
2: The Norn

http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/norn




There
are many strong races in the Guild Wars universe, but one very strong
race, the Norn, will be playable in Guild Wars 2. Who are the Norn and
what has happened to them in the long period of time since the defeat
of the Great Destroyer? Find out here at Ten Ton Hammer.



StarCraft II - Zerg
Support Units In-Depth Stats and Strategy

http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/guides/zerg-support



Even the strongest army needs support, and the Zerg is no
different. You can punch your way through early game armies
and through inferior opponents with brute force, but once the enemy
begins using support, you need to as well to not forfeit the advantage
they provide. Stow provides strategies to help you gain the edge in his
latest guide.



WoW Cataclysm:
Introduction to Goblins

http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/goblin_intro



Ever
wondered where the Goblin race came from? Or why they finally decided
to join the Horde? Get these questions and more answered as we here at
Ten Ton Hammer give you the run down on the newest addition to the
Horde.

Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lego-universe/gnarled-forest-preview/july2010">First
   Impressions: Exploring
   LEGO Universe’s Gnarled Forest
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/interviews/death-and-healing">Death
   and Healing in Guild
   Wars 2 - An Exclusive Q&A with ArenaNet's Jon
   Peters
3. Ten
   Ton Hammer Live Episode 15 - EA Black Box and style="font-weight: bold;">Need for Speed World
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/reviews/hardware/killer2100">A
   Test of Speed - Reviewing the Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card from
   Bigfoot Networks
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom/giveaways/runesurfer"> style="font-weight: bold;">Runes of Magic Runesurfer
   Bundle and Summer Prize Giveaway
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/cataclysm/zones/vashjir-preview">WoW
   Cataclysm href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/cataclysm/zones/vashjir-preview">
   Beta: The Zone Aquatic – Exploring the Zone of Vashj’ir
   
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/cataclysm/previews/throne-of-tides"> style="font-weight: bold;">WoW Cataclysm Beta: Throne
   of Tides Preview href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/nfsw/interviews/john-doyle">
   
   
8. style="font-weight: bold;">The Ten Ton Hammer E3 Awards
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/editorials/orgrimmar_makeover"> style="font-weight: bold;">WoW Before and After
   - Orgrimmar Gets a Makeover
   
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift/interviews/class-callings-scott-hartsman"> style="font-weight: bold;">Rift - Class and
    Callings Q&A with Scott Hartsman

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Benjamin J. de la Durantaye and the Ten Ton Hammer Team.