Loading... Luck of the Irish

Welcome to the 1,037th Edition of Loading...

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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?). Ten Ton Hammer says happy birthday to EverQuest in our own way, as the Norrath we all knew and loved makes a rare visit to the top ten.

Here's today's top 5 Pulse results for today:

Biggest Movers in the Top 20 over the last 30 days :

Jumpgate Evolution (UP 19 to #10)
EverQuest (UP 12 to #15)
City of Heroes (UP 14 to #16)

Loading... Daily

Loading... where shillelagh law is all the rage.

It's the wearin' o' the green today, which is exactly what happened to me after the last time I tried to down a Shamrock Shake (the longstanding McDonald's tradition joined Crown Royal and Jack Daniels on the list of never, ever again beverages for me on that sad afternoon last year).

Just about every other MMORPG developer out there has to be green with envy at EverQuest's ten years of success. SOE celebrated the day (their day, but only in San Diego) with details about FanFaire 2009 (June 24-27 at Bally's Hotel and Casino, like you needed an extra reason to go to Vegas). I spoke with Game Designer Ed Hardin about how the game has both stayed true to its roots and improved over the last decadeand whether he was a fan of how the industry has become far more about casual appeal than hardcore dedication. Catch that interview on Ten Ton Hammer as we bid EverQuest success going into its eleventh year.

Finding a MMO game developer flush with cash might be as rare as finding a four leaf clover (which incidentally is how St. Patrick taught the Irish about the Trinity and Vin Diesel... ::instant rimshot::) and though fans of Stargate Worlds were celebrating MGM's acquisition of the stargateworlds.com domain (taking that as a signal that the studio licensee would see the project through, whois verifies the acquisition), CME again found itself in court over an "unpaid open account." Since we have no further details, we'll keep the speculation to a minimum, but this clearly isn't the kind of publicity that the game needs. Nor is this, but that's just my opinion.

If you're looking for St. Patrick's Day events, you won't have much luck of the Irish this year. Archlord is discounting all its potions 50% (especially the green ones - I'd link you but their site appears to be down at the moment), and OGPlanet games (Cabal Online, La Tale, Rumble Fighter) have giveaways and new store items like Saint Patty's Pajamas... goodness. And that appears to be it. Maybe St. Patrick's Day is more of an east coast thing after all.

But there might be a pot of gold waiting at the end of a different rainbow. WSJ is reporting that Marvel Comics struck a deal with the exuberantly named new publisher Gazillion Entertainment for a Marvel superhero MMORPG. While its fun to think about fighting alongside the X-Men and Spiderman (though I know,I know, Marvel never brough superhero universes together like DC), is the comic book the new fantasy ? Can we only develop one genre at a time?

Our very own Danny Boy, Ralsu, has a Bounty Bay Online Starter Pack giveaway going, so feel free to try your luck. And do your St. Patrick's Day drinking, cussing, and fighting in the Loading... forum , it's safer that way. Or my inbox is always open to your shenanigans.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day

From our Vanguard: News & Announcements Forum

Widespread RMT for Vanguard?

Once
upon a time, a man named Brad McQuaid* had a Vision (tm). His Vision was
to build a massive fantasy MMOG that would become the predecessor
to EverQuest (the game that made McQuaid a rock star) in spirit if not in
name. He co-founded a development company called Sigil and set to work
on his task. But many rumors, a handful of scandals, one SOE buyout and a
lackluster launch later the game continues to struggle for survival, and Brad
McQuaid is, for all intents and purposes, out of the picture.

Which
is probably good, because it was McQuaid who insisted that
Vanguard would never be part of SOE's Station Exchange. Never ever. No
trading of in-game merchandise for real-life cash for ol' Brad--no way!
And yet, Sony Online Entertainment has just announced that they
have "partnered with Live Gamer to provide
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes customers with the same exchange system
that EverQuest II customers on The Bazaar and Vox servers enjoy."
In
essence, SOE has announced that something akin to their Station
Exchange is coming to Vanguard.

Savanja's
thread related to SOE's announcement sparked a discussion on our Vanguard forum. Was sanctioned RMT (real
money trading) inevitable for Vanguard? How are players reacting to the
news? Will it affect the game or its economy? Have your say!

*Sounds McIrish, doesn't it? Happy St. Paddy's Day!

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

Awesome Quote from the
Epic Thread:

"I
don't think this will change much: a few will leave, some will join,
Vanguard will continue to limp along. I would argue though that if this
doesn't happen, maybe SOE would close Vanguard. We don't know if
Vanguard itself is profitable, even though reports have indicated that
SOE is meeting targets.

If its a choice between Live Gamer and Vanguard or no Live Gamer and no Vanguard, then I will happily put up with Live Gamer."

- bobfish

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

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

7 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 65 in March! 325 in 2009!

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

Interviews/Previews

Community

Lord of the Rings Online: A Journey to Mt Doom (Part 2)

Features

EVE Online: Sins of a Solar Spymaster - "Bad Crazy in Internet Space"

Guides

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

Real World News

Pope says condoms won't prevent the spread of AIDS

"This gum loses flavour almost instantly, " he was overheard to have said.
'The Watchmen" causes parental outrage

How dare they have explicit sex, violence and nudity in a movie that is clearly rated R and 'contains scenes explicit sex, violence and nudity'. Won't someone think of the children???
British family that are 'too fat to work' says 30K/yr in benefits is not enough to feed them

Personal chef to Jabba being contacted for advice

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 EverQuest Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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