Loading... is the premier daily
MMOG news and commentary
newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

Welcome
to the 1,342nd
edition
of Loading...

Summer time may not be officially upon us yet, but the days
are longer and warmer, a holiday weekend approaches for the US, and the
time to watch parades, vacation, or just sit in the shade with a glass
of lemonade (or a margarita, if you're so inclined) has come. Summer is
a time for escapism, but if you're short on holidays, barbecues,
parades or vacation days, gaming can still provide the escape you're
looking for. Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg is your tour guide to
some MMO gaming hot spots  in today's href="http://tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/may/26">Loading...
Incoming! Summer Doldrums.

width="100%">

The Pulse

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

Here
are today's top 5 Pulse results:

1. World
   of Warcraft
2. EverQuest
   II
3. EVE
   Online 
4. Age
   of Conan 
5. Dungeons
   and Dragons Online 

Biggest
movers this week:

1. Fallen
   Earth (UP 15 to #19)
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926">Global
   Agenda (UP 11 to #17)
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest
   (Down 10 to #18)
   

Recent Releases

• 2/16
  - href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
  2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
• 2/16
  - LotRO:
  Oath of the
  Rangers (content update)
• 4/5
  - Pocket
  Legends (iMMOG - release date) href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1004">
  
  
• 5/1
  - href="http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/game_updates/issue_17/issue_17_overview.html?utm_source=COHemail&utm_medium=US&utm_campaign=banner">City
  of Heroes - Issue 17: Dark Mirror
  (content
  update)
• 5/11
  - Age
  of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer
  (expansion)

Upcoming
Releases

• May
  26,
  2010 - EVE
  Online: Tyrannis (expansion)
• May
  27,
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2422">Craft
  of Gods (release)
• June
  9,
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1004">Mortal
  Online (release)
• June
  30,
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/998">APB
  (US - July 2 in EU)
• style="font-weight: bold;">Q2 2010
  - Mytheon
• TBA
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2079">Final
  Fantasy XIV
  
  
  
  

Upcoming
Events

• style="font-weight: bold;">6/15 -
  6/17 - E3
  Expo
• style="font-weight: bold;">6/25 -
  6/27 - Looking
  for Group
  Expo
• style="font-weight: bold;">7/22 -
  7/25 - Comic-Con
  International
• style="font-weight: bold;">8/5 -
  8/8 - href="http://events.station.sony.com/fanfaire/">SOE
  Fan Faire 2010
• style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/6 - DragonCon
• style="font-weight: bold;">10/22 -
  10/23 - href="http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcon/?rhtml=y">BlizzCon
• style="font-weight: bold;"> 3/24
  -
  3/26 (2011)- CCP
  FanFest
  
  
  

style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Win an
EverQuest II Prowler Mount

Last week new
mounts were added to the Marketplace store in
EverQuest II. This week, get a chance to win one of them FREE! Simply
send an email to [email protected] with the subject line "Gimme a
Prowler!" for your chance to win.



Additionally tune into href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/podcasts/live">Ten Ton
Hammer Live this Saturday at 7pm EDT for another chance to
win one of these cool new mounts. Participants will need to be in the href="http://omfg.fm/?p=Chat">podcast's live IRC chat
for to enter the contest.



Winners of the Loading... mount giveaway will be announced Friday, May
28, 2010. Winners of the podcast mount giveaway will be notified during
the show.

Loading... Daily

It’s been one of those mornings. I woke up cheerful, but then fell into
a slump when I realized anew (as I do every day except during the
winter) that weeds own my yard, and they think my sprayer and
concentrated Roundup are, you know…kinda funny. I drove my kids to
school and got stopped at a railroad crossing by a train that had, for
some reason, opted to park on the tracks. With cars fore and aft, I
wasn’t going anywhere. Then, I finally made it home (and quickly
sprayed a bit more Roundup on some weeds, which they thought was
freakin’ hilarious, I’m certain) to find that my adorable children had
consumed all the milk and instant oatmeal which meant no
breakfast for Mom. To top that off, my dogs are shedding and there are
hair tumbleweeds drifting around the hardwood floors on stray air
currents despite the fact that I vacuumed yesterday evening.



Yeah, it’s been one of those mornings. I’ve had worse, but at the
moment I could really use a little escape. My favorite form of escapism
is, of course, gaming. My friend Danny asked last night, “So, are we
gonna game together some day, or what?” I told him we certainly would
if we could only find a multiplayer game we both enjoyed. And therein
lies the problem--none of the latest games have really done it for
either of us. And, given the mood on our forums lately, I suspect there
are more than a few gamers in the same boat.



So, now what?



There are plenty of options, actually. It costs nothing but some time
spent downloading and installing to try out some of the many
free-to-play games available. Jason “Medawky” Bolton has been helping
gamers track down the best of them in Ten Ton Hammer’s weekly
free-to-play column, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/features/microcosms">Microcosms.
There are some new
games launching soon that bear investigating, too. Among them are
Mortal
Online, and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/998">APB.
(Look for Jeff “Ethec”
Woleslagle to provide more APB goodness direct from
Scotland,
birthplace of Grand Theft Auto, very soon.)



But, if free-to-plays and upcoming games don’t have you scampering (you
do scamper, don’t you?) eagerly to your PC, I bid you not to forget the
fun factor inherent in revisiting an “old” game--a game you played and
enjoyed but set aside for one reason or another. There are even some
MMOGs giving you extra incentive to come back this week. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/287">Free
Realms (yeah, I know it’s
free-to-play, but hear me out) has just added hoverboards to their
kid-friendly but adult-addicting worlds. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/84722">Hoverboards! The
Lord of the Rings Online
is running a “Welcome
Back Week” promotion which grants plenty of bonuses
including free travel and an experience boost. EverQuest II’s
game
update 56, "Halas Reborn," went live yesterday. Savanja has prepared a
preview.
They may not
have any sort of bonus week going on at the moment, but if anticipation
for Guild
Wars 2 isn’t enough for you,
David “Xerin” Piner has provided href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/editorials/return-to-guildwars">plenty
of reasons to
head back to Guild
Wars (not the least of which is the fact that
there’s no monthly fee.)



So, even when you have the kind of morning like I did--the kind with
rampant yard weeds, trains stalled at railroad crossings and nothing
but an empty gallon jug of milk awaiting you for breakfast--there’s
hope for your gaming future, and you don’t have to spend a penny.
Simply explore some free-to-play goodness, or return (with incentives!)
to an old reliable game. And, whether you’re heading for a new game or
back to a game from your past, remember to recruit friends--it’s what
massively multiplayer is all about, after all. Our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/">game community
forums are a great place to start the
recruitment process.



Will you go free-to-play or head back into a well-loved game this
summer? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=51515">Talk
it up in the Loading… forum.

---

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day

From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=724">GW2
General Discussion



What
will your first Race and Profession be?



Guild Wars 2
activity is lighting up our forums today. This may have something to do
with our href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/contests/guildwars2_post-a-thon">GW2
Post-a-Thon contest. Regardless, there are a lot of folks
chatting and you'll undoubtedly want to get in on the fun. Today's Epic
Thread provides a good place to start, and every post you make to our
Guild Wars 2 community forums could get you one step closer to winning
a copy of href="http://www.guildwars2.com/en/shop/the-art-of-guild-wars-2/">The
Art of Guild Wars 2. What are you waiting for? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=724">Post!



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

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"While I do have a penchant for playing human female toons (I
prefer staring at a female figure over a super-muscular bloke's arse. .
.) my main will likely be a Charr Ranger. All those hours
deathlevelling Charr in pre-searing have indoctrinated me!"



- Powerdrunkfiend

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



Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!

---

New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

8 new Ten Ton Hammer
articles today! 97 Ten Ton Hammer
features
in May! 568
in 2010!

FEATURED EDITORIAL



The Many Reasons to Return to Guild Wars

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/editorials/return-to-guildwars">http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/editorials/return-to-guildwars



There
are many reasons to return to Guild Wars, but the biggest is simple:
it's free to play, so you'll drain no cash out of your pocket to hop
right back in. If you need more reasons, including changes since you've
probably played, then take a look at our latest Guild Wars editorial.



FEATURES & GUIDES



What's New In The Tyrannis Expansion To EVE Online

http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/politics/tyrannis



The
Tyrannis expansion will change the fundamental economy of EVE Online,
and plenty more besides. Fortunately we have Space Junkie to comb
through the details and distill them for us.



EQ2 Deity Miracle Updates for Good-Aligned Classes

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/55218



With
all the stat changes that have happened in EverQuest II, there is no
better time to re-evaluate your deity choice. Perhaps the god you have
been following no longer offers the benefits you need or maybe another
god now suits you better. Either way, we have you covered on deity
quest guides and blessing and miracles information. We've updated the
good-aligned gods to reflect recent changes. Check out Quellious,
Tunare, Mithaniel Marr, and Rodcet Nife to see if one of these gods are
right for you!



Guild Wars 2 - The Anatomy of a Skill Bar

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/skill-bar-anatomy">http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/skill-bar-anatomy



We may not know the specifics of available skills for title="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2"
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2" target="_blank">Guild
Wars 2 as of yet, but thanks to one of the first
combat reveals for the new title it seems the great build debate will
continue to rage on even 250 years into Tyria’s future. Only this time
around, ArenaNet has added a bit more structure to the ways in which
builds are constructed which we’ll take a closer look at in title="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/skill-bar-anatomy"
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/skill-bar-anatomy"
target="_blank"> title="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/skill-bar-anatomy">Guild
Wars 2 – The Anatomy of a Skill bar.



STO: Starship Basics – Weapons

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/guides/starship_basics_weapons">http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/guides/starship_basics_weapons



Starship
combat is the main activity in Star Trek Online, but the game doesn’t
necessarily do the best job of defining what makes a ship good in
combat and what weapons to use. Are cannons better than phaser arrays?
Can I have a ship with all torpedoes? What does a quantum torpedo do
anyway? Can I make a tribble my tactical officer? Well, the answer to
that last question is no, but otherwise your friends at Ten Ton Hammer
are here to provide an overview of starship weapons in STO.



Ultimate Gold Making Guide for World of Warcraft

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



Making
gold in World of Warcraft is very similar to making money in the real
world. There are a few basic paths that you can take, each is very
different and relies on your experience and the resources available to
you. In our guide to making gold we will walk you through everything
from the most basic aspects of the WoW economy to advanced strategies
for raking in tons of gold.



The WoW Weekly Report - Patch 3.3.5 and the Death of AVR

http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/newsletter/issue68



The
WoW Weekly Report is our newsletter dedicated to giving you a
wrap-up
of the previous week in news, stories, and more. This week we take a
look at the upcoming patch 3.3.5, the breaking of AVR, and all
the
latest WoW news. Don't miss a thing, take a look at our WoW Weekly
Report every Tuesday.



Things We’ll Miss from World of Warcraft when Cataclysm
Launches

http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/editorials/things-well-miss



Over
time we have all gotten used to many things in World of Warcraft, and
take most of them for granted. While the things  we
all like and
dislike may be different, many of them are going to change when
Cataclysm is released. Which of those things you miss will differ
drastically depending on how you play. We’ve compiled a list of the
things we’ll miss the most with the launch of Cataclysm.

Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/interviews/dev_talk/2010/may">Dev
   Talk: Top MMOG Devs Weigh in on User-Generated
   Content
2. Ten
   Ton Hammer Live Ep. 8 - Neil
   Kaplan Man of Many Voices
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/editorials/return-to-guildwars">The
   Many Reasons to Return to Guild Wars
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/beyond/guides/war-in-kryta">Guild
   Wars: The War in Kryta Guide
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/newsletter/issue-1">The
   War in
   Kryta Advances - GW2
   Weekly Report
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/contests/guildwars2_post-a-thon">Win
   a Guild Wars 2 Art Book
7. Ten
   Ton Hammer's Guild Wars 2 Community Site Launches!
8. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/reviews/dragonage/Darkspawn-Chronicles">Review:
   Dragon Age: Origins-”The Darkspawn Chronicles”
   (PC)
9. Ultimate
   Gold Making Guide for World of Warcraft
   
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/forsaken-world/cbt">Forsaken
    World Closed Beta Key Giveaway

---

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg
and
the Ten Ton Hammer team