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is the premier daily MMOG newsletter, only from Ten
Ton Hammer!
Welcome
to the 1,386th
edition
of Loading...
Somewhere between the
massive buzz surrounding the launch of
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2">StarCraft
II, the release of the
first Guild
Wars 2
novel, and the announcement that
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2">EverQuest
II would
be adding a free-to-play option, another major announcement this week
was all but completely overlooked. It seems another NCsoft title is
about to face its grim fate as
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/108">Exteel
will be shutting down
permanently. Well take a closer look at each of these hot
ticket items today in
href="http://tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/jul/29">Loading
Massively Morbid.
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:
Biggest
movers for the past 24 hours:
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/154">Ultima
Online
- UP 18 to
#18 -
Fallen
Earth
- UP 12
to #19 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1407">DC
Universe Online
- UP 11
to
#16
-
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)
Releases
- 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!
Be
sure to check out all of
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcomic-con/2010">Ten
Ton Hammer's San Diego Comic-Con 2010 event coverage!
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
In an address to the
community earlier this week titled
href="http://www.exteel.com/us/news/archives/2010/07/all_good_things.html"
target="_blank">All good things must come
to an end, NCsoft
made the announcement that it would be
permanently shutting down the servers for
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/108">Exteel
on September 1st
during the normal maintenance time. While I could certainly never claim
to have been a massive fan of the game, its always a
somewhat unsettling experience for me to read this kind of announcement
nonetheless.
In many ways its a
reminder that not all virtual worlds are
created equal, nor do they have that special spark that attracts and
entertains a large enough audience to maintain service for years or
even decades, regardless of their potential. Its also
interesting to note that even though some publishers are currently in
the midst of receiving ten heaping tons of praise for opting to spread
the
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/everquest-2/news/eq2-goes-free-to-play">free-to-play
MMOG love, still others are
unable to make ends meet
and keep their free offerings afloat. Maybe
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/editorial/jumping-on-the-free-to-play-bandwagon">free-to-play
isnt the wave of the future
and
industry messiah that everyone claims it to be after all.
Either way, it looks like
Ill soon need to add another title
to my makeshift MMOG graveyard alongside past fallen NCsoft titles
Tabula
Rasa
and Dungeon
Runners.
Lets just hope that once
the impending zombie apocalypse finally arrives, dead MMOGs
dont rise up from their virtual graves and take over the
world. Dont laugh, it could happen!
On a less gloomy NCsoft related
note, though one still awesomely
involving ghosts, the first
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2">Guild
Wars 2
novel, Ghosts
of
Ascalon
hit store shelves this Tuesday. I managed to snag
the only available copy at my local bookstore right when they opened,
but sadly havent had time to dig into it as of yet.
Its been sitting here on my desk for the past few days
seductively whispering read me every time I look
away, but alas that will have to wait until one of the many massive
projects Im working on are closer to completion. Thankfully
David Xerin Piner from our Guild
Wars 2 site is
on the case and will be sharing his thoughts on the book in his full
review next week.
Speaking of massive projects,
by now Im sure many
of you have already installed a brand spanking new copy of
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2">StarCraft
II: Wings of Liberty.
The latest RTS title from genre masters Blizzard
Entertainment is nothing short of spectacular, at least if
youre into the hectic micro-management gameplay that SC2
provides. Resident SC2 expert Stow has been burning his way
through the single player campaign at an impressive clip this week, and
has already published
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/guides/mar-sara-missions">walkthroughs
for the Mar Sara mission chain.
Be
on the lookout for the next installment of our complete campaign
walkthrough covering all four of the awesome Colonist missions which
will be
blasting its way onto the site later today.
As noted above, all good things
must come to an end, so
its that time once again for me to scamper off into the
aether. But before I go, Id love to hear your thoughts on
the
closure announcement for Exteel,
the Ghosts of Ascalon
novel and the StarCraft II
single player campaign. So hop on the nearest enchanted broomstick and
ride it on over to the Loading
forum and have your say!
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6">Articles,
News & Events Discussion Forum
Are We Jumping on The Free-to-play Bandwagon too Early?
Mattlow, our illustrious contributing writer, is an ornery ol'
cuss. (Well, he's still younger than me, so, "Get off my lawn, kid!")
His latest editorial let fly with his disdain for all things
free-to-play, and he pulled no punches. The editorial was just
published last night, but I'm waiting for this thread to go nuts.
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=52608">We
need your help!
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"I've said for a long time that games should be judge on the
game not it's business model."
-
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showpost.php?p=437678&postcount=7">bobfish
==============================
New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer
5 new and exlcusive
Ten Ton Hammer
features
today! 102 Ten Ton Hammer
features
in July! 816
in 2010!
INTERVIEWS
Dev Talk: Top MMOG Devs
Weigh in on Today's Trends
http://www.tentonhammer.com/interviews/devtalk/2010/jul
Trends--they
can dictate what clothes we wear, what music we listen to, what TV
shows and movies we watch, and whether we're using MySpace (so
yesterday) or Facebook. When it comes to trends, no one seems to be
immune, and the MMO gaming industry is no exception. As yesterday's
innovations become today's standards, we asked our developer friends to
talk to us about what trends they're spotting in MMOGs in 2010, and how
their own games fit into the big picture. Check out what the developers
had to say in this month's Dev Talk.
FEATURED EDITORIAL
Are We Jumping on The
Free-to-play Bandwagon too Early?
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/editorial/jumping-on-the-free-to-play-bandwagon">http://www.tentonhammer.com/editorial/jumping-on-the-free-to-play-bandwagon
Mattlow
takes a look at the current trend towards free -to- play games... and
then rakes them over the coals. In this very opinionated article
Mattlow has some harsh remarks for developers and the media where free
to play is concerned.
FEATURES & GUIDES
EQ2 Enchanter Sample AA
Specs
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2/guides/specs-enchanter">http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2/guides/specs-enchanter
With unbelievable soloing power and huge group appeal the Enchanter
classes, the Coercer and the Illusionist, can handle just about
anything they take on. If you've decided to play one of these great
classes then you may be looking for an equally great alternate
advancement build. We've scoured the 'net and talked to our favorite
Enchanter friends to get AA advice that you can use. Keep these AA
specs as is, or just as easily tailor them to suit your personal needs,
either way your starting point for an AA build is here!
StarCraft II Mission
Guides: Mar Sara
http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=52598
We're
finally here. StarCraft 2 has arrived in its oh-so-glorious beauty, and
the single player is absolutely mind-blowing. If you're having trouble
with, or want to step up your game, we have what you need. We've got
the best guide on the internet for destroying Blizzard's latest
campaign on Hard difficulty, and it starts with Raynor's departure from
Mar Sara.
PvP Changes in Cataclysm
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/cataclysm_pvp
Cataclysm
is coming and World of Warcraft PvP will never be the same again. Take
a look at some of the changes to class balance and resilience that are
coming as well as a preview of the two new Battlegrounds!
Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/wow/cataclysm/closed-beta-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">WoW Cataclysm
Closed
Beta Key Giveaway -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/guides/mar-sara-missions">StarCraft
II Mission Guides: Mar Sara -
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 -
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">
-
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 -
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/vindictus/interviews/gyselinck">
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcc2010/lego-universe/video-interview">Exclusive
LEGO Universe
Video Interview on
Factions, Reputation and More! -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcc2010/reckoning-preview">Kingdoms
of Amalur: Reckoning href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcc2010/reckoning-preview">
From 38 Studios Unveiled -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcc2010/tera/glyph-preview">A
Preview of href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcc2010/tera/glyph-preview">TERA href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/sdcc2010/tera/glyph-preview">'s
New UI, Glyph System and More -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/sylvari">The
Races of Guild
Wars
2: The Sylvari href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/sylvari">
Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
- Reuben "Sardu" Waters
and the Ten Ton Hammer team
