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Daily Column

Loading... Bringing you the goods faster than a short-order
cook.

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 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com" target="_blank">homepage.
( target="_blank">What is Pulse?)

1. World of Warcraft - 200 BPM
2. Age of Conan - 132 BPM
3. Lord of the Rings Online - 65 BPM
4. EverQuest II - 60 BPM
5. EVE Online - 45 BPM
6. Guild Wars - 43 BPM
7. Dungeon Runners - 41 BPM
8. Warhammer Online - 41 BPM
9. Lineage 2 - 35 BPM
10. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - 35 BPM

As John “Boomjack” Hoskin href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37794">noted yesterday,
he’s on the road for the next few days, which leaves you (the
readers) in the hands of Phil “Ralphabetsoup”
Comeau and I (Cody “Micajah” Bye) for the remainder
of the week. What does that mean for you? A variety of different
Loading… flavors in the span of three days! We’re
like the Baskins-Robbins of massively multiplayer gaming!



Lately I’ve been spending my online time playing
CCP’s EVE Online. Although my in-depth thoughts (on the
character creation aspect at least) href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37816" target="_blank">can
be read by going here, there
are a few things that seem to fit perfectly for the Loading…
crowd.



First, the game is incredibly deep. Honestly, I haven’t felt
this overwhelmed by an open game world since I first entered href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest
years ago. There’s so much in the game to learn, advance, and
participate in that your first few days in-game are spent doing little
more than trying each and ever option out. Like any game with lots of
little options, there’s also a portion of the game
that’s frustrating to the side of me that enjoys instant
gratification.



You see, unless you’ve selected a particular
race/bloodline/profession, you won’t be able to use
everything in the game at the outset. However, unlike href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/41"
target="_blank">World of Warcraft
or any class-based game, you don’t get an immediate
disclaimer saying “you can’t use this because
you’re X class”. Instead, it just tells you that
you need a particular skill in order to equip and use the item. For me,
that’s where a lot of my initial frustration sets in.
Honestly, it’s taken me quite a bit of digging to find how I
might get a particular skill, and even then it’s not an easy
process (it usually involves buying a skill training manual or
something of the sort). But I’m sure the process gets easier
the longer you’re in the game.



On a happier note, the tutorial has been slimmed down quite
dramatically from the last time I tried to boot up the game. I finished
the entire thing in about two hours, which was a dramatic improvement
over what it had been in the past. Kudos to you CCP!



Also, make sure you stay on the look out for any upcoming news on 38
Studio’s MMORPG super-secret href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/883"
target="_blank">“Copernicus”
project. According to our raving reporters, the big man himself
– Mr. Curt Schilling – is going to be making an
appearance on The Jace Hall show, a fairly funny pop-culture look at
the world of video gaming. Here’s the teaser that they have
advertising the upcoming interview:

Since we’re checking out videos, make sure you check out our
exclusive Q&A Video from the Warhammer Online Baltimore Games
Day sessions. These videos are terrific if you’re
anticipating Warhammer Online, and you definitely need to check
‘em out (and listen for the glorious Ten Ton Hammer plug
during one of them)!



Warhammer Gamesday Q&A  href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37523">Part One
and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37524">Part Two



Other than that folks, I just want to give everyone a friendly reminder
to keep your eyes peeled and locked on Ten Ton Hammer during E3.
We’re going to have some very special reporting straight from
the show floor that I think you will all enjoy!  


Those of you who have played EVE Online, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the spaceship game and what you experienced with your first few bits in the game. Is there anything that I should talk about in my editorials? What did you love (or hate) in the game?

Do tell. The href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=30879"
target="_blank">Loading Forums await you. Do you
feel the need to contact me personally with naughty pictures or
derogatory comments? Here's my href="mailto:[email protected]">E-mail.

--

[A big thanks to Karen Hertzberg for putting together the headlines and taglines today. ]

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com.

-Cody "Micajah" Bye and the Ten Ton Hammer Team