Welcome to the 869th Edition of Loading...
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Daily Column
Loading... Always the sweetest part of your morning meal.
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?)
- World of Warcraft - 200 BPM
- Age of Conan - 160 BPM
- Lord of the Rings Online - 82 BPM
- EverQuest II - 69 BPM
- EVE Online - 47 BPM
- Warhammer Online - 46 BPM
- Guild Wars - 43 BPM
- Dungeon Runners - 39 BPM
- Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - 39 BPM
- Lineage 2 - 34 BPM
Hail and well met travelers! Cody “Micajah” Bye at
the helm of today’s Loading… I know that
yesterday I promised that Phil Comaeu would be filling in on this
edition of Loading… for Boomjack, but alas the world is not
always a friendly place. Phil’s back can attest to that.
A collective cheer went up around North America yesterday as the
largest single nuisance to video gaming hit a brick wall larger than
his own ego. For the last year, Jack Thompson (aka “Mr.
Boldface Liar”) has been fighting with the Florida courts in
a professional misconduct case, which subsequently led to a 10-year
recommendation of disbarment from the Florida State Bar Association.
Well, a
href="http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/07/09/we-have-judge039s-report-recommending-permanent-disbarment-jack-thompson"
target="_blank">judge’s report has been issued,
a 169-page document that shows the judge’s familiarity with
Jacko, and .
However, the judge’s conclusion reads something like this:
disbarment for a period of ten (10) years. This Court respectfully
declines to follow the Bar’s recommendation... This case
involves factual findings of cumulative misconduct, a repeated pattern
of behavior relentlessly forced upon numerous unconnected individuals,
a total lack of remorse or even slight acknowledgement of inappropriate
conduct...
Additionally, the Court
is taking into consideration a review of the Respondent’s
conduct not only as proven by the evidence, but by what this Court has
witnessed of the Respondent’s behavior throughout the
eighteen (18) months of litigation. The undersigned finds no evidence
whatsoever to indicate that the Respondent is amenable to
rehabilitation, or even remotely appreciates the basis upon which a
need or purpose for such rehabilitation is warranted...
style="font-style: italic;">
Over a very extended
period of time involving a number of totally unrelated cases and
individuals, the Respondent has demonstrated a pattern of conduct to
strike out harshly, extensively, repeatedly and willfully to simply try
to bring as much difficulty, distraction and anguish to those he
considers in opposition to his causes. He does not proceed within the
guidelines of appropriate professional behavior, but rather uses other
means available to intimidate, harass, or bring public disrepute to
those whom he perceives oppose him.
style="font-style: italic;">
Thus, after careful
consideration of the underlying facts in the instant cases, together
with the Florida Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, the
applicable aggravating and mitigating factors and the precedent case
law, this Court makes the following recommendations for John Bruce
Thompson:
A. Permanent disbarment,
with no leave to reapply for admission.
style="font-style: italic;">
B. Disciplinary costs
currently totaling $43,675.35.
Score one for gamers. I wouldn’t mind simply forgetting Jacko
in a few years, and I hope anyone that states that GTA is a
“cop killing simulator” gets equal treatment to
this idiot. Way to go Florida!
On a note of news that hits a little bit closer to our MMOG home,
Cryptic Studios has announced that 2K Games (the publishing label
behind Take-Two Interactive Software) will be the publisher for their
upcoming title Champions
Online. Although Cryptic had mentioned self-publishing in
the past, they have apparently decided that
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37951">2K Games is
the publishing house for them.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today
that it will be the North American and international publisher for
Cryptic Studios'™ highly anticipated massively multiplayer
online (MMO) action game, Champions Online™, being developed
for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from
Microsoft* and Games for Windows®. Champions Online is
scheduled for release in spring of 2009.
style="font-style: italic;">
"2K Games is excited to
work with such a talented group as Cryptic Studios," said Christoph
Hartmann, president of 2K. "Given their stellar pedigree and amazing
grasp of the MMO genre, we are confident that Champions Online will
deliver an innovative and exciting action MMO experience to gamers."
I firmly believe that this could really help Cryptic in the long run.
With Take-Two’s determination to hold out against a buy out
from EA, they’ve shown a remarkable dedication to their
products and the people that work with them. However, if EA does
successfully sweep up Take-Two, that will mean yet another MMOG to add
to the stable of upcoming EA MMOs. Fascinating!
To round out our coverage of Cryptic Studios, Ten Ton Hammer's very own
Jeff Woleslagle went straight to the Cryptic compound in San Jose,
Calif., to find out all the juicy details of the upcoming action MMOG.
For his first piece of information, Jeff has pumped out a video
featuring Chief Creative Officer Jack Emmert discussing the backstory
of Champions Online and why he decided to pick that world to make a
video game. It's a pretty solid video, so make sure
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37989" target="_blank">you
check it out!
Speaking of EA, we also have the third part of our Gamesday Q&A
up and ready to view, so if you want more Jeff Hickman and Josh
Drescher,
target="_blank">come in and have a look!
So what do you – the gamers – think about all this
news? Do you have a favorite Jacko quote or story to throw out? Do you
think this move by Cryptic and Take-Two is right for gamers?
Do tell. The
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=30919"
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.]
Interviews
-
target="_blank">Champions Online Backstory with Jack Emmert
[Video] -
target="_blank">Champions Online: Developer Interview -
Christopher Chamberlain -
target="_blank">Tabula Rasa Q & A: Checking In With
Starr Long - target="_blank">WAR: Baltimore Games Day Q&A Part 3
-
target="_blank">WAR: A Look at Living Guilds with EA Mythic
- Finale
Images/Video
-
target="_blank">Atlantica Online: In-Game Screens, Beta
Dates Announced -
href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=688"
target="_blank">LotRO: Book 14 Screenshots: Instance of the
Elven Forge
Official Announcements
Reviews
Community
- target="_blank">AoC: Border Kingdom Cryer - Testlive is Live
- AoC: Clan
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37913" target="_blank">Interview
and target="_blank">Showcase - Born In Chaos
- target="_blank">Pi Story: New Game Page at Ten Ton Hamster
-
target="_blank">Tales of Pirates: New Game Page at Ten Ton
Hamster
Beta
Hot Content -
Or, what I took a
fancy to
- target="_blank">AoC: Tortage Premium Video Guide
- target="_blank">AoC: Wildlands of Zelata Premium Map
-
target="_blank">Tabula Rasa Q & A: Checking In With
Starr Long - target="_blank">WAR: Baltimore Games Day Q&A Part 3
-
target="_blank">WAR: A Look at Living Guilds with EA Mythic
- Finale - target="_blank">Top Ten Free-to-Play Games Week Twelve
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37571" target="_blank">Ghost
Online Open Beta Giveaway
Real World News
-
href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/07/10/swastika-child.html"
target="_blank">'White pride' mother regrets redrawing
swastika on child's arm
It's only funny until somebody tries to breed a master race. -
href="http://700wlw.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104673&article=3936232"
target="_blank">'Desk Rage' hits America
After stolen staplers, it's the #2 reason it's better to telecommute. -
href="http://www.nbc10.com/news/16844553/detail.html?dl=mainclick"
target="_blank">Naked Barbie Doll, Porn Display Get Man
Arrested
Hasn't Barbie suffered enough humiliation? She's not even anatomically
correct!
Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com. Also, a big happy
birthday to Tory Bye! Go get drunk for me!
-Cody "Micajah" Bye and the Ten Ton Hammer Team
