Welcome to the 852nd Edition of Loading...

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Daily Column

Loading... It's like Fed Ex, but for MMOGs.

First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.

If the Top 10 isn't enough, we also show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)

  1. Age of Conan - 200 BPM
  2. World of Warcraft - 190 BPM
  3. EverQuest II - 65 BPM
  4. Lord of the Rings Online - 62 BPM
  5. EVE Online - 46 BPM
  6. Warhammer Online - 33 BPM
  7. Guild Wars - 31 BPM
  8. Lineage 2 - 30 BPM
  9. Vanguard - 25 BPM
  10. Tabula Rasa - 24 BPM

World of Warcraft threatens to retake the #1Pulse spot after nearly two months at #2. EverQuest II and Lord of the Rings Online both rise on the backs of their current reintroduction programs. EQ II has given previous subscribers free play time until July 31st and Lord of the Rings Online has offered previous subscribers and beta testers a chance to pay a discounted fee to buy and play the title. EVE Online also makes a large jump thanks to the release of their newest expansion, Empyrean Age and the launch of their premium community site here at Ten Ton Hammer.

Apparently Garrett was bored yesterday and somehow came across an abomination called AllGirlArcade.com, which is home to All Girl Star Squad. Well, he was bored or surfing for "All Girl" in Google. I'll let you decide. I'm not going to even start with how they plan to prove that the users are girls. Nor will I begin ranting about the nonsense that is 'all girl' gaming.

Instead I give you the original intellectual property that these all girl products are obviously copying. Teen Girl Squad! (seriously, you want to see this.)

And, you want to see this... Cody has written his Age of Conan Review. This four-page look at the recent blockbuster launch title. If you are considering purchasing Age of Conan or just want to read what all the fuss (good and bad) is about, then your wish is granted.

This industry runs headlong from one enormous launch date to the next. With Age of Conan only in the pot for a month already players are beginning to pine for another huge release. Fortunately, it won't be long before the next giant stalks the MMOG landscape. Warhammer Online is, barring any catastrophic problems, going to release in Q3 or early Q4 of this year.

John Riccitiello, EA CEO expects the game to produce well, but not at the levels of World of Warcraft.

"No, I don't think it's going to rival WoW, but no one would ever predict that. But it is a strong game that will ... get our returns for us. We're proud of it." - Next Generation

Unlike the other major MMOGs Warhammer has an enormous gaming history; larger even than that of the Warcraft series. Players (like myself) have been painting Warhammer models and playing the game for over 20 years. Our own Phil Comeau has even acted as a referee at Games Day tournaments. The market is enormous and all indicators point to this title becoming the second most popular game in our space. It's no coincidence that the EA-Mythic team are playing cat-and-mouse with the Blizzard team regarding release dates.

Were you or are you a Warhammer tabletop player?

Do tell. The Loading Forums await you. Do you feel the need to contact me personally with naughty pictures or derogatory comments? Here's my E-mail.

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[A big thanks to Phil Comeau for putting together the links, headlines and taglines today. ]

14 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 187 in June! 1483 in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

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Real World News

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com. Thanks to Phil Comeau for doing the heavy lifting with the links.

- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Dissecting and distilling the game industry since 1994. Lover of family time, youth hockey, eSports, and the game industry in general.

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