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The Pulse
You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is Pulse?).
Here's today's top 5 Pulse results for today:
Biggest Movers in the Top 20 for today :
- Champions Online (UP 5 to #18)
- Darkfall (down 4 to #12)
- EVE Online (down 2 to #7)
Loading... Daily
Loading... more fun at parties than Dr. Manhattan, and twice as angsty.
Writing is a moot issue to most MMO gamers, who usually just click through quest text. I'm probably in the minority in that I try to read the quest text and NPC dialogue when I first come across it, and I've never really regretted the effort (except in poorly localized games like Hero Online). With a little imagination, a good read can make a little headway against tired gameplay. As an aside, I think this attitude is why we've been historically, editorially (if that's an adverb) bad at reviewing games in the past - we're looking for reasons to like the game on its terms, not sto tretch the facts in order to rip it to shreds.
Oddly enough, it's the games that seem to be the least fertile ground for good story that surprise me the most. EVE Online for example - I gushed about Tony Gonzales's book EVE: The Empyrean Age. The market seems to have confirmed my thoughts; the book quickly outsold its first printing.
That seeming limitations can make for a compelling story shouldn't surprise me. Three years ago at GDC, when the event was still in San Jose (and I had a forlorn hope of attending a Sharks game, though I was twelve years too late to see NHL at the Cow Palace), I attended a keynote by Battlestar Gallactica producer Ron Moore, who revealed that human cylons were a simple solution to the low budget for the expensive CGI-heavy "toaster" animations. That budgetary decision turned into the series' most compelling plotline. BSG was perhaps at the height of its popularity then, and the lesson was poignant - roll with your limitations, capitalize on them whenever possible.
It's a shame that storytelling MMORPGs often don't merit a look beyond their "lack of innovation," "paltry graphics," "obtuse/simplistic gameplay" and any other catchphrase I often see in mainstream reviews of MMOs. I fear the same for Champions Online and Jumpgate Evolution - that reviews and forum dwellers will turn them into something they're not and beat that something up - the classic straw man argument. Rest assured we'll do our best to review these games from all the angles when they come out, but know that we're still not really into the naysaying gamer spirit of the age.
For example, Zero Punctuation videos may be funny, but as they're all about the funny and not so much a full disclosure of the facts, its definitely not a genuine review. I'll join with MMORPG.com's Jon Wood in saying that the popularity of ZeroPunking has started to unravel the meager credibility of Internet reviews faster than a fanboy attitude ever could. At least fanboy reviews are open to criticism - criticize a Zero Punctuation "review" on certain boards or in certain conversation circles and it's like you tipped over and pissed on a sacred cow. The urge to entertain at the expense of facts is powerful, we must resist.
Back on track, I brought up story today because we have exclusive piece of official fiction from Nathan Knaack at Hi-Rez Studios, makers of the upcoming MMO shooter Global Agenda. I was trying to shy away from Phillip K. Dick comparisons when I wrote up the short story for PR, but I think there's definitely a connection. "The Utopian" left me wanting to read more, and Knaack has a knack (sorry) for setting the futuristic scene and bringing about a subtle twist at the end. Hi-Rez does well to start staging their story now, since far-future MMOs can have a tough time making their worlds seem inviting enough to live in. If you need a fun little escape over your lunch break or while on a flight path, I encourage you to have a look.
Enjoy the story of an underrated MMO? I have a few in mind. Let's discuss them in the Loading... forum or feel free to email me.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our Tavern of the Ten Ton Hammer Forum
The decline of WoW will be the death knell for this generation of MMOs
What
happens when you've lost that lovin' feeling for a game you once cared
so deeply and passionately about? When you finally drift away from the
game that first made you experience the magic of MMOs, will you ever be
able to recapture it with another game, or will the experiences with
new games spark brief flashes of infatuation that end in bitter
disillusionment? These are the questions that Mikes asks (albeit not
quite as poetically, because that's not how he rolls) in his thread in
our Tavern of the Ten Ton Hammer forum.
"I reckon there are millions of people out there who long for the feeling
that WoW gave them when they first started playing," he says. "That sense of
achievement when they hit the level 60 cap. That rush the first time
they entered Onyxia's Lair. WoW doesn't give them that feeling
anymore."
He adds, "The vast majority of these people don't want to play another MMO. WoW
will likely be the only MMO [they] ever play and when they've had
enough they'll chalk it down to experience and move on to another
pastime."
Is
Mikes right? Once WoW's bright spark has gone dim, is the current
generation of MMOGs doomed? Will there ever be another MMOG that
recaptures the rush of that virgin MMOG experience? Or will some
developer have to reinvent the MMOG from the ground up to make an
impact? Weigh in on this heavy subject!
=================================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread:
"I
swear developers forget that its a massively multiplayer online game.
Stop designing everything to be solo and small group friendly. Make
people interact with each other. If I wanted to play by myself or with
a couple of friends, I would go play Xbox."
- Reavie
"Eventually something will come along. I see WoW as vanilla ice cream:
the standard ice cream that made people like ice cream. They will always
want vanilla, but they'll start to mix up it with more and more different type
of flavors eventually. Odd analogy, but I hope it makes some sense."
- Acidbaron
=================================
Do you have a favorite Epic Thread? Let
us know!
5 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 139 in February! 275 in 2009!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]
Op/Eds
Previews
Features
Community
Guides
Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:
- A DCUO Success Story: Doing Justice to the Justice League
- geeked: "He Was Not Prepared"
- Warhammer Online: Look! Here Comes Da Choppa!
- WoW Celebs: An Interview with Oscar Winner Steve Preeg
- The Final Frontier: How can EVE Online stay ahead of Star Trek Online?
- City Heroes Isse 14 w/ NCSoft's Joe Morrissey
- EVE Online: The Mittani's Guide on 'How Not to Kill a Titan'
- City of Heroes Architect Edition: Hands-On Preview
- Darkfall: A Promise of Hope?
- Loading... Live #5 : Dev Chat with Star Trek Online's Craig Zinkievich
Real World News
-
Man discovers human teeth in new wallet
Representatives for Wal-Mart say they do not expect this story to cause a dentin sales. -
Man guilty of spraying his own feces in English shops
Testimony from stool pigeon was instrumental in the conviction. -
Son kills father with chisel and candlestick
Miss Scarlet and Colonel Mustard still at large.
Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
-Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team
