Tabula Rasa at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

Welcome to the 941st Edition of Loading...

If you aren't reading this in your e-mail, you could be. Sign up! Are you looking for gaming news? Look no further for all of the headlines. General industry news, right down to game specific and forum thread feeds are all yours as part of Ten Ton Hammer's RSS Feed . Enjoy!

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The Pulse

First, you vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is Pulse?). The Pulse saw things settle back into their pre-WAR launch nesting behavior, but expect some turmoil as this week unfolds!

1. World of Warcraft - 200 BPM
2. Warhammer Online- 129 BPM
3. Age of Conan - 42 BPM
4. Star Wars: The Old Republic - 35 BPM
5. Tabula Rasa - 14 BPM
6. Lord of the Rings Online - 13 BPM
7. EVE Online - 11 BPM
8. EverQuest 2 - 11 BPM
9. Atlantica Online - 9 BPM
10. Runes of Magic - 8 BPM

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.

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Daily Column

Loading... the e-z squeezey cheese of MMOG news and commentary.

Runes of Magic is one of the hottest free-to-play MMOG titles out in development, consistently scoring in the Ten Ton Hammer Pulse Top Ten. And, as a reminder, today is the last day to enter the Runes of Magic closed beta giveaway. The giveaway is now open to all of you, not just premium members. A little bird tells me that if you enter now (as in, before the end of the day) , you're pretty much guaranteed a spot.

It was another odd weekend in MMOG news. First, if you've had enough of the zombie epidemic in World of Warcraft, how about World of Peacecraft, a violence-free, frolicsome MMOG adventure through the founding and history of the Religious Society of Friends, a.k.a. the Quakers? Ten Ton Hammer's Morvelaira unearthed the story, and apparently it's not a joke (despite the merry face on your oatmeal box, Quakers don't joke - take it from a Pennsylvanian). But if you think fruitless complaints and protests about the horrors and injustices around you began when the WoW official forums went live, play this game to be duly, non-violently corrected.

Richard Garriott in Space update..... doot da doot doot da doot yay last one. Lord British landed safely in Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, and while he decompresses or is hosed down or whatever happens after you're exposed to zero-g and solar wind radioaction for a week, Tabula Rasa players get a Soyuz spacecraft model to play with in-game when the Bane aren't in your base, devouring your resources.

Another sort-of, pseudo MMOG punched its ticket for the Brad McQuaid Memorial Parking Lot for Cancelled and Discontinued Games over the weekend. After the Flagship Studios implosion that also suspended development of Mythos (a F2P fantasy MMOG that made it as far as closed beta), publisher NAMCO BANDAI announced that Hellgate: London would succumb to the flames on January 31, 2009. To NB's credit, players can access the game's servers for the last three months of its existence for free .

When's the right time to kill an MMOG? Unless a game continually re-invents itself (like EVE Online or Ultima Online), it has to die someday. It's not likely that modern day devs will make like the Carol Burnett show and cancel at the height of their popularity - a move which makes your brand the stuff of legends despite the short-term contempt. There's simply too much money to be made. Not to mention that there's a powerful argument for keeping a game alive for the sake of a few diehard fans.

But, for my part, my memories of EverQuest would have been sweeter had I not tried to log back in a few months ago, only to find that I couldn't go back. Low-res graphics, a fixed, obtrusive UI, and (especially) the complete lack of chatter in East Commonlands, PoK, and the Bazaar was close to heartbreaking.

Death with dignity, or let MMOGs live until the last gasp... what's your call? Share your thoughts in the Loading... forum or, as always, feel free to email me with your thoughts.

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Ten Ton Hammer Epic Thread of the Day

Sometimes they're funny; sometimes they're foolish; sometimes they're flaming; sometimes they're cool. Whatever this one happens to be, it's our Epic Thread of the Day.

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From our SWTOR: General Discussion Forum

Why SW:TOR is Doomed to Fail

Boomjack posed a question that has our community talking. "We know what happened to another Star Wars MMOG," he says. "Can TOR be any different? Why? Why not?"

Is the fate of Star Wars: The Old Republic linked to the fate of Star Wars Galaxies? How will LucasArts affect the development of the game? Can BioWare really do no wrong? Tell us what you think.

Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread:

"A lot of finger pointing to SOE, but no one's remembering the changes that LUCASARTS imposed on the game. It wasn't SOE's drowning baby. And LucasArts is also hands-on with SW:TOR. There is danger, people."
- revolution77
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Do you have a favorite Epic Thread? Let us know!

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15 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 260 in October! 2760 in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]

Images/Video

• Age of Conan: PvP Gear Screenshots
• Warrior Epic: Promotional Video
• GodsWar Online: Alpha Info and Screenshots

Interviews

• Star Wars - The Old Republic Art - Tweaking the Lightsabers
• Carbine Studios: Q&A with Design Director Tim Cain

Op/Eds

• World of Warcraft: The Zombie Invasion

Community

• WAR-Torn #10: An Exercise in Futility
• Age of Conan: Border Kingdom Cryer - Notoriety and Murder
• Vanguard: Dalmarus' Chronicles - The Undead Are Rising

Guides

• World of Warcraft: The Scourge Invasion/Zombie Infestation Guide - Part 1
• World of Warcraft: Achievement Guide
• World of Warcraft: Barber Shop Hairstyles (Part 1) - Tauren, Troll and Blood Elf
• Warhammer Online: Coyote's Ultimate Guide to WAR, Part 2 - High and Dark Elves
• Warhammer Online: Chaos Tier 2 Leveling Guide - Part 2
• Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Warden Overview

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:

1. Warhammer Online: Coyote's Ultimate Guide to WAR, Part 2 - High and Dark Elves
2. Star Wars - The Old Republic:: Art - Tweaking the Lightsabers
3. Carbine Studios: Q&A with Design Director Tim Cain
4. World of Warcraft: The Zombie Invasion
5. WAR-Torn #10: An Exercise in Futility
6. Age of Conan: Border Kingdom Cryer - Notoriety and Murder
7. Vanguard: Dalmarus' Chronicles - The Undead Are Rising
8. Star Wars - The Old Republic: Lightsabers, The Force, & Space Combat
9. Star Wars - The Old Republic: Q&A with Daniel Erickson

Real World News

• Bees kill 3 dogs, injure 70-yr old woman
  Possible suspects include the hounds, the bees, or the hounds that shoot bees out of their mouths
• The Stink in Farts Controls Blood Pressure
  Men everywhere continue to control their spouse's blood pressure by administering Dutch Oven maneuvre
• Paris Hilton Buys Ticket on the Virgin Enterprise Rocket
  Notable because you don't see her name and 'Virgin' in the same sentence very often

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

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