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Daily Column

Loading... : MMOG news and entertainment :: Walther PPK : James Bond.

It's been a busy week here at Ten Ton Hammer. In case you're just catching up:

Ten Ton Hammer delivered over a dozen videos and articles from EVE FanFest 2008 last weekend.
Then we led off the week with a rare look inside the development of Guild Wars 2 in an interview with Bobby Stein.
Ten Ton Hammer's Micajah learned about the possibility of graphics improvements and superheroes between good and evil in City of Heroes and City of Villains in a Q&A with Matt Miller.
And, finally, two nights ago we were on-site for the World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King official launch event in New York City (pics, video, interview with CEO Mike Morhaime).

That's not even mentioning over 25 other guides and exclusives turned in by our elite writing staff. And with all that's been going on, today's our day to catch up on some of the news that may have slipped through the cracks.

First up: EVE Online's Quantum Rise expansion arrived on servers yesterday after a bit of extended downtime, but with no erased boot.ini file issues to speak of [applause!]. Quantum Rise will build on the new player friendly (friendlier?) Empyrean Age expansion released this summer with plenty of support for corporation-level industrial ventures, medals designed and assigned by corporations, and certificates to know exactly what you're getting with potential recruits

Next, Age of Conan's going to Korea. Being that AoC is a fundamentally a subscription game, has character models that are better described as meaty than anime-slender (not so much spikey hair either), Asia seems an unlikely market, but here's to variety. The endgame guild focus, PvP aspects, and beautiful soundtrack (composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen was just nominated for an award, by the way) will definitely play well, and Korea is after all the natural next step after Russian localization, which is set to go live on December 15th.

Robert E. Jordan fans were delighted to learn that Red Eagle Entertainment has incredibly ambitious plans for the Wheel of Time IP, including an MMORPG, a spread of video games across multiple platforms, and a feature film that (to do the job) will probably have to beat out several Ken Burns series, Roots, and Grandmother Martha combined in terms of sheer length. If you've been meaning to read the 12-volume Wheel of Time series, start now and you'll probably be finished before the next press release from Red Eagle Entertainment.

To close things out before I wish you a great weekend, I thought I'd editorialize a moment on the new James Bond film. It sucks. Between screwed up sleep patterns from Iceland and the WotLK midnight launch, I figured I'd catch the midnight showing of Quantum of Solace. If you're set on going to see the movie, watch Casino Royale again and be sure to take notes. Otherwise you'll have to shrug off a good portion of the plot; this is a dyed-in-wool sequel that recaps absolutely nothing from the original, and doesn't come close to capturing the emotion of Casino Royale either.

And, without spoiling things too much, we've seen Bond villains go from building gigantic lazers and solar mirrors, threatening ruinous earthquakes under large cities and attempting to destroy the gold reserves of an entire country to... raising the utility rates of a beleaguered third-world country? Important, yes, but doesn't MI-6 have an intern or something to handle things like this?

You've got thoughts and opinions, why not share them? Post in the Loading... forum, or feel free to email me with your thoughts.

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.

====================

From our Articles & Features Discussion Forum

WoW: The Warcraft Effect

Dalmarus penned an editorial about his disdain for World of Warcraft and its effect on the MMOG
marketplace. "If this sick and twisted vision of 'games not beginning
until you've
reached the end' had remained locked within the tortured little world
of Azeroth, I'd be content to sit in my rocking chair and yell
obscenities at the local whippersnappers as they run across my lawn,"
he wrote. "As
it is though, this poisonous thought has slowly been creeping into
other games, and it's time for the madness to stop."

Did our community agree with him? The answers (or lack thereof) lie in today's epic thread, a heated debate about the Warcraft Effect.

Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread:

"Has nothing to do with e-peen; has to do with the fact that Dalmarus
seems to think rush-to-the-end-itis was somehow invented by WoW. Every
video game EVER has had people who play this way. He was the one who
made the statement that this "phenomenon" somehow originated in WoW. It
did not."

- Darammer

====================

Do you have a favorite Epic Thread? Let us know!

14 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 87 in November! 2885 in 2008!

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

EVE FanFest 2008

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Op/Eds

World of Warcraft: WotLK - Lines in the Dark

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Guides

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

Real World News

No communion for Democratic voters

Priest says president-elect's support of abortion rights is an Obamanation against God
Man kills goat as payback

Prosecutors are unsure what the goat did to him to deserve such a fate
China considers crackdown on lip-syncing

In unrelated news, Britney Spears cancels plans for tour of China

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

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

To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our City of Villains Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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