Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

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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?).

1. World of Warcraft
2. Warhammer Online
3. Age of Conan
4. City of Heroes
5. Stargate Worlds
6. City of Villains
7. EVE Online (UP 1)
8. Guild Wars (UP 2)
9. Atlantica Online (UP 2)
10. Star Trek Online (down 1)

Biggest Sinkers and Floaters in the Top 20

1. Champions Online (UP 6 to no. 19)
2. Tabula Rasa (UP 5 to no. 11)
3. EverQuest 2 (UP 5 to no. 14)

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Loading... Daily

Loading... and Ten Ton Hammer, your first source for breaking MMOG news and straight talk.

We've reached a quarter of our $1500 goal in the CME kids donations drive but we still have a ways to go in just under five days. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Yesterday was a pretty exciting news day but, as it turns out, all's well that ends well. We experienced the full range of MacGyver episode emotions from "wow, that has the potential to suck" to "man, this is on the edge of cheesy" to "how are they going to get out of this one" to finally that "warm, glowy feeling" you get when Mac not only disarms the bomb and saves the village from the opium lord, he also pulls a few strings to have Jack Dalton fly the African children's choir to their noon concert in the Vatican on time.

So, in honor of Season 1 going up on Netflix's Watch Instantly service, I give you the rundown of yesterday's news, MacGyver style, in case you blinked and missed one of the seven big news stories and exclusives of the day.

Potential to suck - Any large scale acquisition has big time potential to suck, no matter how much happy gas the PR team and execs inhale before talking to the press and fans afterward. So, in the wake of Atari's acquisition of Cryptic, we went to one person we knew would give it to us straight - Jack Emmert. It turns out he's very ok with the deal and points out a few awesome facts that we hadn't considered (see below). April Jones of 2K Games also sent us word that they're excited for Cryptic's news and are still looking at what it will mean to the publishing deal they have in place for Champions Online.

On the edge of cheesy - SOE's Station Cash announcement had many folks wondering what microtransactions would do to EverQuest and EverQuest II. Ten Ton Hammer was able to clarify a few of the sticking points with SOE President John Smedley. The article is short and well worth a read before joining the discussion. Additionally, BioWare is hinting at microtransactions for "mid-session games" but we're still waiting for more details on that.

How will they get out of this one? - Sony terminating 8,000 jobs and downsizing non-core businesses is far from good news for the employees and families affected. But here's a silver lining: SOE confirmed yesterday that not only has the company not fallen prey to the corporate cutting board, they simply aren't affected.

That warm glowy feeling (a.k.a. the bonus) - Not only is Jack Emmert fully behind Atari acquisition, he's hinting at a possible Atari fan event á la BlizzCon and using Atari's licensing power to create (drumroll please) ... a Forgotten Realms MMORPG? We might be seeing another seriously serious Blizzard challenger in the making.

Share your thoughts in the Loading forum or my inbox is always open for comments.

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Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Tavern of the Ten Ton Hammer Forum

Free MMORPG vs. Pay MMORPG

I'm a pay-to-play MMOG snob. I can't help it; I like what I like, and I happen to like MMOGs that are to gaming as The Lord of the Rings trilogy is to movies--big, epic, and expensive. But others can see the entertainment value in free MMOGs. Ten Ton Hammer's Danny "Ralsu" Gourley has been publishing his Top 10 Free to Play Games list since April, 2008. He assures me that playing F2P games isn't the Engrish-laden, graphically craptastic torment I would expect it to be. In fact, he plays Atlantica Online...for fun, and not just because he's getting paid to write about it. Fun F2Ps? Who knew?

In a thread in our MMOG discussion forum, liamkincaid asks, "In this time of global crisis, which of these two formats will prevail? And how about you? Which one will you choose?" Our forum community seems to be leaning pretty heavily toward pay-to-play games. When it comes to big budget games with monthly fees versus free-to-play games with micro-transactions, where do you stand?

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Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread:

"I'll take the obviously polished, well supported, carefully maintained MMOs in the pay models any day of the week. And these games, because they are monthly fee games, are held to much higher standards and it shows. "

- camazotz

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

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9 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 71 in December! 3045 in 2008!

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

Premium Content

• Invitation to Interview the Developers of Darkfall

Exclusive Interviews

• Jack Emmert on Atari's acquisition of Cryptic Studios
• SOE President John Smedley on Station Cash: "We aren't going free to play."

Op/Eds

• Give the Gift of Gaming

Comics

• Geeked: "Alternate Payment"

Guides

• World of Warcraft: Alliance Northrend Leveling Guide
• Warhammer Online: Secrets to Ultimate Pwnage - Squig Herders and Zealots
• Warhammer Online: Witch Hunter Class Guide Update
• Warhammer Online: Tier 4 Scenario - Serpent's Passage
• Age of Conan: Armorsmith Recipe Guide - Tier 2
• Atlantica Online: Level 1-15 Guide

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

1. Give the Gift of Gaming
2. Geeked: "Alternate Payment"
3. Atari: Jack Emmert on the acquisition of Cryptic Studios
4. Invitation to Interview the Developers of Darkfall
5. The Agency: Advancement Q&A with Matt Staroscik
6. Warhammer Online: 1.1 and You - A Look at the Next Patch
7. Warhammer Online: 7-Day WAR Report
8. Warhammer Online: WAR Torn - "Last Chance"
9. 38 Studios: Senior UI Designer Irena Pereira
10. Ten Ton Turnip #2 - Blizzard Buys Mythic!

Real World News

• Man arrested with a case of crabs at Mexican border
  We're told that he was driving with a suspended lice sense.
• Study finds hairspray linked to genital birth defects
  Cats, Guys and Dolls linked to low birth weights
• Man bleeds to death from picking his nose
  A former assembly line worker, it's not believed that the condition resulted from exposure to anything from the olfactory.
  

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network and have a great weekend!

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