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

Welcome
to the 1,381st
edition
of Loading...

This week Jeff
“Ethec” Woleslagle is our man in the trenches at
the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcomic-con/2010">San
Diego Comic-Con. In fact,
he’s telepathically beamed
today’s edition of Loading… back to the Ten Ton
Hammer HQ to warn us of the many perils that await show-goers this year
based on his experiences
thus far. So read on for an epic Ethec blast
wave and links to our first coverage from the event in
today’s Loading… Comic-Con Conundrums.

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/">What
is The Pulse?).

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
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo">Dungeons and
   Dragons Online
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/vanguard">Vanguard:
   Saga of Heroes

Biggest
movers over the past 24 hours:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2">Guild Wars 2
   
   -
   UP 5 to #8
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/140">City
   of Heroes
   
   - UP 5 to
   #19
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/284">The
   Agency
   
   - UP 4 to
   #17

• size="-1">5/26
  - EVE
  Online: Tyrannis size="-1">
  (expansion)
• size="-1">5/27
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2422">Craft
  of Gods size="-1">
  (release)
• size="-1">6/9
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1004">Mortal
  Online size="-1">
  (release)
• size="-1">6/29
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/998"
  target="_blank">APB
  (release)
• size="-1">7/13
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1801"
  target="_blank">Mytheon
  (release)

• size="-1">July
  20,
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2461"
  target="_blank">Need
  for Speed World (release)
• size="-1">August
  17, 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/140">City
  of Heroes: Going Rogue (release)
• size="-1">September
  7, 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion">Aion:
  Assault on Balaurea (free
  expansion)
• size="-1">September
  30, 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ffxiv" target="_blank">Final
  Fantasy XIV size="-1">
  (release)
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">October
  26, 2010
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/170">LEGO
  Universe (release)
  
  
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">November
  2, 2010
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1407">DC
  Universe Online (release)
  
  

size="-1">Upcoming
Events

• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">7/22 -
  7/25 - href="http://www.comic-con.org/" target="_blank">Comic-Con
  International
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">8/5 -
  8/8 - href="http://events.station.sony.com/fanfaire/" target="_blank">SOE
  Fan Faire 2010
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">8/18 -
  8/22 - href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/gamescom/home/index.php"
  target="_blank">Gamescom 2010
  
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/5 - href="http://www.paxsite.com/paxprime/index.php" target="_blank">PAX
  Prime
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/6 - href="http://www.dragoncon.org/" target="_blank">DragonCon
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">10/22 -
  10/23 - href="http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcon/?rhtml=y" target="_blank">BlizzCon
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;"> 3/24
  -
  3/26 (2011) - href="http://fanfest.eveonline.com/" target="_blank">CCP
  FanFest
  
  
  

Loading... Daily

Last night was preview night at
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcomic-con/2010">San
Diego Comic-Con, also known as
Comic Con to the uninitiated (the New York event apparently has the
rights to the hyphenless Comic Con).  But let’s not
kid ourselves - no celebrities were out, few costumes were worn, no
events were planned, so the three hour “preview”
night is really to give the most diehard collectors an excuse to bum
rush the floor and grab up those hard to find comics and tschotchkes at
reasonably inflated prices.



I can respect that level of dedication, what I can’t respect
is folks standing in a double  wrapped line to buy a generic
item easily purchased online, should the impulse last long enough to
make it to a website. Such was the case at the BBC America, where fans
by the dozen lined up to buy a Matt Smith Doctor Who shirt. Nothing
against Matt Smith (he won me over with the Van Gogh episode after some
dubious moments) much less Doctor Who, but I can’t help but
get the feeling that some Comic-Con goers see a line and stand in it,
often without knowing what’s awaiting them at the end
(hopefully its not the Satan Pit or the End of the Universe).



Another thing I really can’t respect - and it’s
become a theme, not a joke, at Comic-Con - is B.O. It starts out bad
and only gets worse as the day wears on. It’s time,
international pop entertainment lovers, to take a shower daily, slather
some deodorant on those pits (maybe Degree or Sure could be tapped to
sponsor a swag bag offering),
and cut back on the black t-shirts and cheap artificial fibers.
I’m only telling you because we’ll be packed in
here like sardines for the next three days, and I think it’s
entirely possible that our collective olfactory system could be dealt a
serious blow, leading to more B.O. and the perpetuation of a needless
stereotype.



And should you go to Comic-Con (or any reasonably sized fan event),
there are some moves you should master to navigate the clogged
intersections and occasional asshat camera crew collectively moving
backwards against the flow of traffic for the sake of their own
cinematographic autoeroticism. There’s the ever popular
sideways shimmy, the common cut-through-the-corner-booth, and if you
happen to have an accommodating boyfriend handy, just grab onto his
backpack and hang on for the ride. Or you could just accumulate enough
baggage that folks have to get out of your way, or else be lacerated by
your many shinies, figurines, and trade paperbacks.



All that said, we love Comic-Con - it’s the least
presumptuous event we attend, and nowhere else can you (literally)
brush elbows with such a wide variety of celebs. What excites you about
events like Comic-Con? What’s your favorite fan expo story?
Share it in the Loading... forum.

Shayalyn's
Epic Thread of
the Day

From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=693">DDO
General Discussion forum



href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=52465">Recent
DDO bannings bring into question Turbine's staff



From the, "Okay, I'll bite..." department comes today's Epic
Thread. MarcusCole, a new community member, began a thread to discuss
Turbine allegedly banning players for repeatedly killing respawning
mobs in order to gain guild renown in Dungeons & Dragons
Online.
Several of his contemporaries (or at least people with different IP
addresses--I checked!) have come to discuss the problem in our forums.
Do these folks appear to have a legitimate gripe, or should they take
the sage advice in href="http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=3136587&postcount=41">this
post on the official forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=52465">Give
us your thoughts.



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

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"Talking about bans is a
bannable offence...

oh wait wrong forum...



we can actually talk about stuff here"



- href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showpost.php?p=437006&postcount=8">JOTMON

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

New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

5 Ten Ton Hammer
feature
today! 72 Ten Ton Hammer
features
in July! 784
in 2010!

SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON EVENT
COVERAGE



SOE Unveils Legend Play for DC Universe Online

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcc2010/DCUO-Legend-Play">http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcc2010/DCUO-Legend-Play



Fans of DC Universe Online have long been asking for a way to not just
interact with their favorite DC characters, but play as these
characters as well. This posed a challenge for SOE, whose design team
stated clearly that DCUO is about building your unique character into a
legend in his, her, or its own right. SOE found a way though, and at
San Diego Comic-Con 2010, fans’ prayers were answered with
the all-new Legend system. Learn more about what Legend Play offers and
how it helps players build their skills (and build up their unique
characters) in our first feature article from the San Diego Comic-Con
show floor!



INTERVIEWS



Half-Orc Smash! A DDO
Q&A with Turbine’s Fernando Paiz and Erik Boyer

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo/interviews/paiz-boyer">http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo/interviews/paiz-boyer



DDO shook the MMOG world when they switched to a
free-to-play model. To get the inside scoop on why the change was made
and what’s in store for DDO in the future, Ten Ton Hammer
tracked down
Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer, and Erik Boyer, Producer. After
plying them with numerous flagons of ale and casting charm spells on
them, they agreed to talk.



FEATURES & GUIDES



From Subs to F2P –
Which Subscription Model is Best?

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/editorials/subscription-model-comparison">http://www.tentonhammer.com/editorials/subscription-model-comparison



Game
companies need to make money in order to be successful, but most gamers
have limited budgets. Which subscription model should a game company
use and which models are best for players? Is it a monthly
subscription? Free-to-play? Lifetime subscriptions? Jeffprime examines
the various MMOG subscription models and gives you the good and the bad.



Top Ten Reasons To Play EVE
Online

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/politics/ten_reasons">http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/politics/ten_reasons



EVE
Online is a fantastic game, and noteworthy as one of the few successful
MMOs that are not essentially WoW clones. The game has a lot of salient
characteristics, but the economy, meta-game, and politics are probably
the most important. This isn't your mother's MMO. Read this list and
see why.



The Worgen of Cataclysm

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/worgen_main">http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/worgen_main




Worgen
are one of the two new playable races that will be available in the
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion. They have the outward
appearance of werewolves; lupine figures that walk on two legs. Worgen
players are in fact former humans that have been infected by an ancient
and malignant curse. Learn more about them in our latest Cataclysm
guide.

Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/podcasts/live/16">Episode
   16 - Paiz and Boyer from
   Dungeons & Dragons
   Online:
   Eberron Unlimited href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/podcasts/live/16">
   
   
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lego-universe/gnarled-forest-preview/july2010">First
   Impressions: Exploring style="font-weight: bold;">
   LEGO Universe’s Gnarled
   Forest
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/interviews/death-and-healing">Death
   and Healing in style="font-weight: bold;">Guild
   Wars 2 - An Exclusive
   Q&A with ArenaNet's Jon
   Peters
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/politics/outpost1">Building
   An Outpost In EVE Online
   (part 1)
   
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/podcasts/live/15">Ten
   Ton Hammer Live Episode 15 - EA Black Box and style="font-weight: bold;">Need for Speed World
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/reviews/hardware/killer2100">A
   Test of Speed - Reviewing the Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card from
   Bigfoot Networks
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom/giveaways/runesurfer"> style="font-weight: bold;">Runes of Magic Runesurfer
   Bundle and Summer Prize Giveaway
8. style="font-weight: bold;"> 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
   
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/locations-and-lore">The
   Changing Landscape of Tyria in
   Guild Wars 2 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/locations-and-lore">
   
   
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/spymaster/48"> style="font-weight: bold;">EVE
    Sins of a Solar Spymaster #48 - The Trends of the Nullsec Metagame
    
    href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/spymaster/48">
    
    

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer Team.