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

Welcome
to the 1,452nd
edition
of Loading...

style="font-style: italic;">Starsiege: Tribes
was a foundational multiplayer experience for many multiplayer FPS
enthusiasts, and now Hi-Rez Studios, makers of style="font-style: italic;">Global Agenda,
announced their intention to bring style="font-style: italic;">Tribes
into the new millenium with style="font-style: italic;">Tribes Universe.
We'll look at a few of the features of style="font-style: italic;">Tribes Universe
and why TU
marks a new step on a well-worn path for Hi-Rez in today's href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/nov/1">Loading...
Trials and Tribes-ulations.

cellspacing="0" width="100%">

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 2
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/43">EVE
   Online (UP 1)
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/99">Lord
   of the Rings Online (down 1)
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ddo">Dungeons and
   Dragons Online (UP 2)

Biggest
movers today:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift">Rift: Planes
   of Telara
   
   - Up 7
   to
   #19
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1234">Runes
   of Magic
   
   - UP 3
   to
   #14 style="text-decoration: underline;">
3. style="text-decoration: underline;"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/88">Warhammer
   Online: Age of Reckoning
   
   -
   down 2
   to
   #7

size="-1">Recent Releases

• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">9/7
  - size="-1"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion">Aion:
  Assault on Balaurea (free
  expansion)
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">9/29
  - Everquest
  2 Extended
  (release)
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">9/30
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ffxiv">Final
  Fantasy XIV (release)
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">10/20
  - Champions
  Online: Demonflame
  (expansion)
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">10/20
  - Dungeons
  and Dragons
  Online: Update 7 (expansion)
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">10/26
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/170">LEGO
  Universe (release)
  
  

size="-1">Upcoming
Releases

• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">November,
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve">EVE Online:
  Incursion (expansion)
  
  
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">December
  7, 2010
  - World
  of Warcraft: Cataclysm
  (expansion)
  
  
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">January
  2011
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2539">Test
  Drive Unlimited 2
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Early 2011
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1407">DC
  Universe Online (release) size="-1">
  
  

size="-1">Upcoming
Events size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">

• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;"> 3/24
  -
  3/26 (2011) - href="http://fanfest.eveonline.com/" target="_blank">CCP
  FanFest
  

style="font-weight: bold;">Rift
- Ask the Devs!

Have you got a question about style="font-style: italic;">Rift:
Planes of Telera?
Well, you have a chance to ask the devs at Trion Worlds directly. Just
submit your questions href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=53660">in
our forums.

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Loading... yes we clan.

For gamers of a certain age, style="font-style: italic;">Starsiege: Tribes
largely defined the multiplayer FPS experience, especially on a LAN.
Released in 1998 and known simply as style="font-style: italic;">Tribes,
the game revolutionized the FPS experience by adding jetpacks and
z-axis gameplay (I'm trying hard not to say "verticality"... damn, I
just did) to the mix. That makes all kinds of sense, because its
publisher (Sierra) and developer (Dynamix) were at least as well known
for its engaging, RPG-esque flight sims ( style="font-style: italic;">Red Baron,
Aces
Over Europe, etc.)



That year (1998) was my first at college, and I fondly remember getting
schooled in style="font-style: italic;">Tribes
by upperclassmen floormates. Weaned on the style="font-style: italic;">Dooms,
the Quakes,
and the Unreals,
I could track jumping, running, and strafing players, but when range of
motion becomes less limited by gravity than by jetpack fuel on open
terrain, things get complicated. It's the same sort of mind-expanding
feeling I had when first playing style="font-style: italic;">Global Agenda,
though flight is arguably more about movement in style="font-style: italic;">GA
than it was about combat in style="font-style: italic;">Tribes.



Succeeded in graphics and name (but not in reputation) by style="font-style: italic;">Tribes 2
and Tribes:
Vengeance, style="font-style: italic;">Tribes
included a variety and number of maps (40+) on a scale we'll probably
never see again, along with seven different map types. It was also the
first really successful multiplayer-only triple-A game that didn't
carry the MMO moniker.



On nearly the three-year anniversary of the shutdown of the Sierra
Master Server, Hi-Rez announced that style="font-style: italic;">Tribes Universe
was in active development at its Atlanta studios. Hi-Rez's freshman
title, Global
Agenda, was itself in many
ways a Tribes
successor, bringing jetpacks along with a persistent campaign map,
MMO-ish social layer, and UE3 smoothness to the MMOFPS scene, so in
many ways the IP has come full circle.



In a Tribes
Universe Q&A
published today at Ten Ton Hammer, Hi-Rez noted that style="font-style: italic;">Tribes Universe
will capitalize on the silky smooth action of its predecessors, but
also "emphasize group strategy, counters, progression, specialization
and tactics that are more extensive than anything a style="font-style: italic;">Tribes
game has had before." Hi-Rez also opened the discussion on large-scale,
persistent PvP, non-combat specializations (transporting troops, etc.),
and vehicles.



Even if you're not a style="font-style: italic;">Tribes
or MMOFPS fan, you have to be cheered by Hi-Rez's success. They join
developers like Mythic, Turbine, and NetDevil who, having launched a
niche success story, acquire bigger and more promising IPs. Let's just
hope that Hi-Rez avoids the fate of a few of its indy predecessors -
selling their soul to a hamfisted publisher and becoming a shadow of
its formerly creative self.



Were you a Tribes
player? Have fond memories to share? How can Hi Rez preserve that
old-timey Tribes
nostalgia for you while bringing the game into the 21st century in a
persistent format? Share your thoughts in the href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=54430">Loading...
forum.

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Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the
Day

From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=84">Vanguard
General Chat



href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=54424">The
truth about Vanguard



Talk
about your undead rising--here's an epic thread about Vanguard, the
long-forgotten contender that reeked of potential but then showered in
fail. One of our newest forum members dropped by to offer a (lengthy)
bit of conspiracy mongering labeled as the "truth." It's an interesting
read, but the wall o' text doesn't have our community convinced. Will
it convince you? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=54424">Read
on and discuss!



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

Awesome
Quotes from the Epic Thread



"If
the game was as great as the revisionist history people would have us
believe, then you would have stuck it out as the game was
'fixed/improved' over time instead of 'quitting the game pretty
quickly' and then deciding to hitch your wagon to the 'Vanguard was the
greatest game that never was' band wagon."



- href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showpost.php?p=445040&postcount=4">Annatar

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

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New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

5 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 5 original features in November! 1169
in 2010!

INTERVIEWS



Tribes
Universe
Q&A – The Coming of Sci-Fi PvP Action

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/tu/interviews/hi-rez-10-31-10"> http://www.tentonhammer.com/tu/interviews/hi-rez-10-31-10

 

We here at Ten Ton Hammer love first-person shooters, so we became
delirious with joy when we heard the announcement of Tribes Universe.
This online multiplayer shooter is based on the Starsiege: Tribes
universe and will probably result in many missed hours of work when it
is released. Ten Ton Hammer sat down with Hi-Rez Studios to get more
details.



Champions
Online Q&A with Shannon Posniewski – Fighting Crime
without
Spending a
Dime!

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/interviews/shannon-posniewski-10-31-10">http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/interviews/shannon-posniewski-10-31-10

Champions
Online has made a lot of news recently. First,
there was
the release of the Demonflame adventure pack, and after that came the
huge news
that CO was going to go to free-to-play in early 2011. To get the
lowdown on
all the recent events, Ten Ton Hammer talked to Executive Producer
Shannon
Posniewski.

FEATURED
EDITORIAL



The
Fate of Microtransactions in Guild Wars 2

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/editorials/dungeons-for-sale">http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/editorials/dungeons-for-sale



Dungeons may be for sale in a Guild Wars 2 near you soon and many
are pondering just what that means. Although nothing is
confirmed, a recent interview it was revealed
that GW2 may sell dungeons, XP potions and more in the GW2 store. Are
dungeons as DLC a good idea or are expansions
much better for that type of content? Come to Ten Ton Hammer for our
take.



FEATURES
& GUIDES



Ten
Ton Hammer's Beginner's Guide for LotRO - Where Should I Be
Questing At My Level?

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/basics/leveling-guide">http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/basics/leveling-guide



As The Lord of the Rings Online grows and new players join in, many for
the first time and
with little or no previous knowledge of the game or the setting, the
progression from start to finish can be a bit confusing. LotRO does
not advance in a straight line; moving from one area to the next
adjacent region can see massive leaps in mob levels. So the question
often arises: "Where should I be questing at my level?" Our newest
guide has the answers.



MEDIA



TERA
Screenshots Show Off Spooky New Content

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/tera/screenshots/halloween">http://www.tentonhammer.com/tera/screenshots/halloween

Today's
Top 10

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/races"> style="font-weight: bold;">World of Warcraft
   Race Guide Portal
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift/interviews/reader-submitted-questions-part4">Combat
   and Abilities - style="font-weight: bold;">Rift: Planes of Telara
   Reader Submitted Q&A #4
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/tol-barad"> style="font-weight: bold;">WoW:
   Introducing Tol Barad
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/interviews/shannon-posniewski-10-31-10"> style="font-weight: bold;">Champions Online
   Q&A with Shannon Posniewski – Fighting Crime without
   Spending a Dime!
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/basics/leveling-guide">Ten
   Ton Hammer's Beginner's Guide for style="font-weight: bold;">LotRO
   - Where Should I Be Questing At My Level?
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/diablo3/classes/preview/demonhunter">Hands-on
   with the Diablo
   III Demon
   Hunter
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/tu/interviews/hi-rez-10-31-10"> style="font-weight: bold;">Tribes Universe
   Q&A – The Coming of Sci-Fi PvP Action
8. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/races/goblin"> style="font-weight: bold;">WoW
   Cataclysm: Goblin Portal
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/blizzcon/2010/raid-dungeons-panel">BlizzCon
   2010: World
   of Warcraft
   Dungeons and Raids Panel Overview
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/dcuo/images/dr-fate-lair">Exclusive!
    DC
    Universe Online Screenshots
    – Dr. Fate’s Lair

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Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

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