Welcome to the 1,079th Edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

In today's Loading..., we'll discuss The Mittani's report from EVE Vegas and a compelling idea for the next EVE expansion, a sweeping interview with bestselling author R.A. Salvatore on his creative process for 38 Studios' Copernicus, and a look at the granddaddy sandbox of them all, Ultima Online, and its upcoming Stygian Abys. That and more in Loading... Something Old, Something New.

Coyote is back in a big way at Ten Ton Hammer, and his daily column explores all things geek with Coyote's trademark wit and humor in It's All Geek to Me, fresh daily at Ten Ton Hammer. Today's topic: It's all in your MIND... - Is telekinesis REAL?


Recent MMO Releases

Upcoming Releases

Important Dates

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:

  1. World of Warcraft
  2. Warhammer Online
  3. Aion: The Tower of Eternity (UP 1)
  4. EverQuest 2
  5. Age of Conan

 

Biggest Movers in the Top 20 today :

  1. Perfect World Intl. (UP 19 to #10)
  2. Tabula Rasa (UP 5 to #14)
  3. Lineage 2 (UP 3 to #17)

Loading... Daily

Jumpgate Evolution dev chat tonight at 7pm US Eastern in Voon room Ten Ton Events. Bring your JGE questions!

So news has slowed down quite a bit after a frantic push at the start of the week, but fortunately today's Ten Ton Hammer articles make a little news of their own.

The Mittani's report from EVE Vegas contains much of what you'd expect from sending the leading voice of EVE's most infamous corp to Earth's most tastefully debauched city. Yet Vegas itself inspired a pretty unique idea for an expansion to jazz up the incredibly underutilized lowsec space surrounding the empire strongholds. Smuggling and contraband are part of any good space game, and cargoholds full of "boosters" and exotic dancers added a nice touch of personality and story-inspired risk to the alternately frigid / absolutely terrifying nature of EVE gameplay.

What could take EVE to the next level of Han Solo-inspired smuggling intrigue greatness? Those in attendance at EVE Vegas figured out how to bring a little bit of Vegas into their game, and I'll let you read our latest Sins of a Solar Spymaster article to learn what came out of a dev prompted brainstorming session for EVE's next expansion.

Ten Ton Hammer's Cody Bye just spoke with bestselling fantasy author R.A. Salvatore, who shares a few entertaining stories from his MMO gaming past before addressing how much creative control he has over the 38 Studios project, and how much he wants players to share in the storytelling. He tells how he created a 10,000 year history for the game with his two sons, hinting at a wiki that contains hundreds of pages of lore. There are dozens of thinly veiled insights into how Copernicus is progressing, so if you're a fan of the deep-in-development game or simply believe (as we do) that you can't go wrong with the likes of Todd McFarlane, Salvatore, and the host of MMO development talent 38 Studios has put together, Ten Ton Hammer's latest R.A. Salvatore interview is an excellent read.

Ultima Online holds the Guiness World Record for longest continuously running online game (12 years and counting) as well as the record for first to 100,000 subscribers, according to Lead Designer Tim Cotten. And if there were a record for first MMORPG where you can go out into the woods with a bunch of your friends and build your own city, then ping the GMs for some extra permissions after a few months to make it more city-like, UO would have that one too. The Stygian Abyss expansion might be taking a little longer than expected, it'll fuse Brettonia and the new gargoyle land of Ter Mur in an impressively huge dungeon experience. Garrett's dishes on Stygian Abyss, its inspirations and additions, in a brief Ultima Online preview piece from Baltimore Games Day 2009.

Have a game or expansion you'd like to see us cover in more detail, or maybe a dev team you'd like us to haul in for a vooncast? Comments always welcome in the Loading... forum. Also, again, we're trying out an MMO release calendar above, so if you have anything to add or if you see breaking MMO news, feel free to email me!


Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Tavern of the Ten Ton Hammer forum

Blizzard's next MMO a new franchise


Blizzard's next MMOG won't be based on an existing IP. Although that's not exactly unexpected,
but a lot of fans are reacting to a recent post by Blizzard community
manager, Zarhym, iterating that fact. And with the knowledge that a new
IP means lore, art and gameplay developed from scratch comes plenty of
speculation on what sort of rabbit Blizzard will pull out of their
gigantic hat.


What sort of MMOG would you like to see Blizzard
produce now that you know it's not going to be Starcraft Online or
World of Diablo? Ten Ton Hammer members are dreaming and speculating in
this thread.

==============================
Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"I would guess that they will take on a setting similar to Shadowrun: hi-tech sci-fi mixed with fantasy; not a real Shadowrun world/universe but something along those lines. "

- Kralle
==============================

Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!

4 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 48 in May! 575 in 2009!

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

  • Exclusive Interview with R.A. Salvatore

    The act of creation is thrilling. Whether you're a painter, musician, actor, or writer, making a world come to life in a particular medium is an amazing experience. So imagine that you're creating an entire world - top to bottom - that will be filled with thousands (if not millions) of people that are creating their own individual stories. Intimidating? You bet.
    But if there's anyone that can do it, 38 Studios' R.A. Salvatore certainly has the credentials to make it happen. Every so often, we sit down with R.A. to see how the story and history of Copernicus is progressing. While the studio still can't state specifics, there certainly are some hints in Salvatore's discussion. Check it out!
  • EVE Online: Sins of a Solar Spymaster #11- EVE and Loathing in Las Vegas

    During the last few months, Ten Ton Hammer patrons have read about the Mittani's entertaining antics throughout the galaxies in EVE Online. His actions in-game are often elusive and tainted with deception, but what about his real world persona? This week, we get a taste of the "real" Mittani as he regales us with his recount of the first EVE Vegas conference. Was it all spaceships? Or were there strippers involved? Keep reading to find out!
  • Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss at the Baltimore Games Day

    Baltimore Games Day was not all about Warhammer Online for Mythic
    Entertainment, the company also gave us a look at the latest Ultima
    Online Expansion, Stygian Abyss. For those who may not know, Ultima
    Online is the grandfather of all MMORPGs and it is still strong today.
    The game has been around almost twelve years and has a very hardcore
    player base. Stygian Abyss is adding a new zone into the game, a new
    race, the Gargoyles, and much more for players to enjoy. Lead Designer
    Tim Cotten gave the presentation, so check out some of the highlights.
  • World of Warcraft: Selecting Warlock Talents (Updated)

    Oh boy! 3.1 patch has changed a lot of things and Selecting Talents for the Warlock has been updated with the changes to the class talents.



    Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:
  1. Warhammer Online: Land of the Dead Preview at Baltimore Games Day
  2. Warhammer Online: Land of the Dead Q&A Video
  3. geeked: A Wee Bit Creepy
  4. Loading... Live #16 - Aion Dev Chat Podcast
  5. Warhammer Online: Games Day - The Future of Classes and Careers
  6. Aion: Class Interview #2 - The Templar
  7. Warhammer Online: Land of the Dead Trailer
  8. Warhammer Online: Baltimore Games Day Image Gallery
  9. Warrior Epic: Closed Beta Giveaway
  10. geeked: Pass the Torch, George

Real World News


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 EVE Online Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Jeff joined the Ten Ton Hammer team in 2004 covering EverQuest II, and he's had his hands on just about every PC online and multiplayer game he could since.

Comments