Ten Ton Hammer | Loading... Comic Con - It's Like Halloween, Only

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Daily Column

Loading... putting the 'Mo' in MMOG.

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?)

World of Warcraft - 200 BPM
Warhammer Online - 132 BPM
Age of Conan - 95 BPM
EVE Online - 22 BPM
Lord of the Rings Online - 20 BPM
Atlantica - 20 BPM
Tabula Rasa - 19 BPM
Stargate Worlds - 11 BPM
EverQuest II - 11 BPM
Dungeon Runners - 10 BPM

Coming to these shows can be fun or it can be a waste of time. In the end it comes down to 'moments'.

As event days go, yesterday was both productive and exhausting. It's hard to start your day better than sitting in on a private showing of Stargate Worlds. We were the first journalists to ever see the gameplay first-hand. Better yet, Phil got to jump in and play through an encounter with Chris Klug, the Creative Director (Read his exclusive Comic Con Blog Here!) and Demetrius Comes, Vice President of Technology (Congratulations on the fancy new title Demetrius!). I'm fortunate enough to be the one who will be writing this piece up, so expect it very soon. Thanks to Kevin and Katie for having us as the first group in talk to the team. Moment: One of the team hinting at [insert static here].

We left the Cheyenne/Firesky team and literally ran to our next appointment, an entertaining hour-long session with Will Wright, where he let slip that the game should ship early September. The game? You need me to tell you the name? Spore. Before you send in the nasty-o-grams telling me that it isn't a MMOG, let me explain why we covered it. There are thousands of game websites out there, but you choose to come to Ten Ton Hammer. The least we can do is make sure that you can read about the games that you are interested in. For many of our readers Spore will be a must buy title. After seeing it for an hour, I as excited about playing it as you are. I'll have a very short piece up on this in the next couple of days for those of you who can wait. Jeff will probably also have video of the entire presentation. Why only 'probably' you ask? Press with video cameras were setup against one wall as if they were lining up for a firing squad. The angle on the presentation was poor at best, but I'm sure Jeff will see what he can do to get you some shiny bits. Moment: Will letting slip that the game will be out early in September.

Visions of space conquest in my head it was time to rush to the Warhammer Online booth where I chatted with Josh Drescher, Associate Producer about the state of the game, the changes that were announced, football, superheroes, moist fans and oh so much more. Jeff was once again on the case. Video evidence will be posted soon. Thanks to Josh who is an all-around cool cat for taking so much time with us and going along with the slapstick comedy routine. Moment: Too many to pick just one. You need to watch the video.

We had a 45 minute break to have a coffee and a muffin before cruising to the Cartoon Network booth to chat with Rich Weil, the Community Director for Fusion Fall. Once again it was Jeff behind the camera, me in front of it. I will also be writing up a piece on this game. Those of you with children who watch CN will want to check it out. We didn't get to play the game due to time constraints on our part, but the kids that were there were having a blast! Thanks Rich and Wendy for giving us so much of your time. Moment: Watching Rich light up when he talked about the game. He loves this title and it shows.

Next was Freaky Creatures. We rocked out with our socks out at the U.S. Grant Hotel, chatting with the Abandon Entertainment team. Jamie Ottilie, President and COO hooked us up with his team and gave us a great look into another game aimed at tweens. If you wondered why Jeff and I were doing all the work while Phil and Michael's names were never to be found, wonder no more! Phil will be writing up the bit on this title, which looked pretty cool. In a nutshell, you purchase an action figure and get to battle with it online versus other Freaky Creature owners. You can mod your creature, feed it, play with it, etc. I know my kids would love this game. Phil will tell you more when he emerges from his den today. Moment: Not being the one to do the interview. Thanks Phil.

I was just kidding about Michael too. He took so many pictures that he drained the battery on his camera. Not a minor accomplishment. I hope those pictures of Phil line-dancing at the country bar turn out. Phil also spent hours taking pictures, attempting to best his E3 escalator shots.

Last and certainly not least we hooked up with a couple of Ten Ton Hammer readers. We chatted MMOGs with Michael and Angel (Cripes I hope I spelled Angel's name right. The guy could rip a telephone book in half with his teeth) for a couple of hours and then headed back to the hotel to prep for today. Unfortunately I never got to meet Bill, one of our readers who often sends in Real World News links and is a genuinely nice guy. I botched up the meeting instructions by getting them to him too late. My apologies Bill.

So, what's up today? We have appointments with NCSoft, Stargate Worlds, 38 Studios and SOE. I hope to see some DC Universe gameplay today if they are showing it at the booth.

Thanks for reading. I promise more content and less "today I walked from booth 3675 to hall 20" commentary once things slow down, which will be Sunday. Loading... today is brought to you by, 5:00am, the number 6 and the letter T.

I know you're thinking something. Share! 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.

[A big thanks to Phil Comeau for putting together the links and Real World News.]

12 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 265 in July! 1843 in
2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

Comic-Con 2008

E3 2008

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DC Universe Online: Concept Art - Harley Quinn and the Amusement Mile

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

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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