Welcome to the 1,082nd Edition of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
In today's Loading..., there are forces at work almost beyond our comprehension as every MMO approaches its launch date. I'm not talking about the Force, the Schwartz, serendipity, or the sorts of topics Coyote writes about daily. But no matter your spiritual tastes, you'll probably agree that hype (I like "momentum" better) plays a role in how every game is received, for better or worse. And among the biggest hype-busting buzzkills is a launch day delay. Are developers getting too complacent about releasing games as promised? Does it hurt sales and staying power more than they realize?
We'll examine this topic plus link you in on a preview of one of the more interesting PvP games we've come across in a while, Silkroad Online, and offer you Ulduar-updated gear guides for WoW's Death Knight and Paladin classes and a new guide on WoW Multiboxing in today's Loading... All About Momentum!
Play World of Warcraft? Jay "Medeor" Johnson's weekly WoW newsletter "The Overpull" comes out every Tuesday and keeps you entertained and informed on all the latest developments in WoW. Sign up! Or catch the latest edition online, where Jay discusses the BlizzCon ticketing process, the latest from Ulduar, and Blizzard's new IP. It's all in The Overpull for May 19th, 2009!
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Recent MMO Releases
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Upcoming Releases
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Important Dates
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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:
- World of Warcraft
- Lord of the Rings Online (UP 2)
- Warhammer Online
- EverQuest 2 (down 2)
- Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (down 1)
Biggest Movers in the Top 20 this month :
- Asheron's Call (UP 54 to #18)
- Anarchy Online (UP 36 to #12)
- Lego Universe (UP 31 to #16)
Loading... Daily
Sports commentators often talk of a single determining force that, more often than not, shapes how a game plays out: momentum. The concept is simply that success often breeds success, and if your making mistakes its much easier to make more mistakes. Momentum manifests in tangible and intangible ways; a team might play with more confidence after scoring on a tough play, but a comfortable lead might allow them to conserve energy and play with a more defensive strategy.
Momentum plays a role in games development too, especially as games approach their launch date. I like the word "momentum" more than "hype"; hype implies style over substance, that a game hasn't earned the enthusiasm of its fanbase. Sometimes that's the case, of course, but momentum is earned through past successes; by word of mouth and through building a reputation for excellence. We live in a gaming niche that punishes games that are overhyped and emphatically rewards games that have earned their momentum through renewed subs and continuing microtransactions.
You can also lose momentum in a variety of ways, if you allow the public to see the game before it's ready, if testers discover that the endgame is a lie, or if you sign a developer that has a reputation as a shyster, for example. Or, if you simply delay past your publicized release date.
In yesterday's epic thread, someone was wondering aloud whether any MMO developer had ever released their game without delaying past a previously announced release date. Though I'm often critical of the gruesomely accessible hodgepodge they call their flagship MMO, I can name at least one developer that keeps its word. Blizzard has a pretty solid track record with retail releases, most recently releasing Wrath of the Lich King right on time. Not so with many MMOs and expansions, the most recent of which is Champions Online. Bad news typically emerges on Friday (maybe casual clothing puts the execs in a bad mood), and last Friday's bad news was that Cryptic is pushing the release date for Champions Online two and a half months down the line to September 1st.
Calmer heads note that it's better to release a (more) complete game, but I'll point out that it's best of all not to delay and still release a complete game. No MMO developer has ever released a complete game. The old adage serves - no matter how much testing goes into your game, more man hours of gameplay will go into your game in the first hour after launch than in all your years of QA. If your open beta testers are telling you that your game isn't ready in major ways - stability, performance, flat gameplay, ways that predicate a release date push - you probably weren't ready for public testing in the first place. Studios, PR firms, and publishers should learn from the crash-strewn landscape of MMO marketing and wait until they're absolutely comfortable to reveal a date. But: no surprise releases, let the hype build for a month or two after the announcement, if not for marketing reasons, to give the community resource hubs (like ours) a chance to power up.
One of the usual excuses is that retailers need a 6-month lead time to build their planograms and prepare their own marketing push. Would you rather piss off a single retailer (who you'll piss off anyway when you delay), or the most devoted portion of your customer base, the folks that will give your game the word-of-mouth power it really needs to take off? Despite your fans' conciliatory words, a delay shakes everyone's confidence in your ability to produce a quality game - that the people communicating with the playerbase aren't in touch with the people making the game or vice versa. Harsh, maybe, but be ye perfect as developers like Blizzard are relatively perfect.
What I'm really railing against is the increasingly casual attitude that studios seem to be taking toward release dates. It used to be a wry commentary in our own conference calls when planning community sites that if a developer announces a release year, we should add a year, if they announce a release quarter we should add six months, and if they announce a release date, we should add three months to arrive at the actual release date. Aside from Blizzard, the formula has worked to stunning effect. If Vegas put odds on this sort of thing we could probably be rich.
But any kind of delay means the momentum train has to pull off onto a siding. And, as someone that studies metrics on individual MMO games as a big part of my livelihood, that momentum train has trouble building up steam when it's time to get moving again. Do you agree that momentum is key in the launch day success and staying power of a game? Can you name a few solid game concepts that never built up momentum, or shakily uninventive ones that seemed to ride a wave of momentum into popular appeal? Share your thoughts in the Loading... forum.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day
From our /OOC (Off Topic) Forum
The Sims 3 Will Own Your SOUL
C'mon, admit it...you like The Sims
I know there are some people, like our forum regular Annache,
who just ain't pickin' up what The Sims are layin' down, but I'm not
one of those people. Ever since I heard that EA was at work on The Sims
3 I've been somewhat obsessed with the idea of a game that puts a
whole new spin on the franchise that has stolen hours of my life
away. And if The Sims 3 improves upon its predecessor even half as much
as The Sims 2 improved on the original, I think I'm going to be
spending some sleepless nights once this puppy launches.
And so,
I created this thread where all you sworn MMOG gamers can come to
confess your secret single-player Sims addictions. I know I laid my
soul bare, and others have stepped forward as well. Won't you join us?
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Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread
"I pre-ordered two of the Collector's Editions months ago.
Help me. "
- CelestialLord
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
4 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 61 in May! 587 in 2009!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]
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Silkroad Online: Legend IV Tour
Silkroad Online might be set in the 7th century, but don't believe for a second it won't give you a modern day beating if you aren't careful. Promoting a three pronged faction system it brings PvP to medley of destruction and mayhem. Ten Ton Hammer had the opportunity to take a look at their newest dungeon and it lives up to the Silkroad tradition with a maze, difficult creatures, and epic encounters. Find out what is waiting in store for you! -
World of Warcraft: Multiboxing Guide
Have you ever wanted to take advantage of the Refer-A-Friend program in World of Warcraft but lack the friends to get the most bang for your buck? Well why not run multiple characters at once? David "Xerin" Piner gives us all the information we need from opening a second WoW client to getting the hardware and/or software to really get serious. So get started playing multiple characters at once with our multiboxing guide! -
World of Warcraft: Raid Gearing for Death Knights
In the World of Warcraft once you hit level 80, the game has only just begun. For many players the game does not even really start until they hit the level cap and enter their first raid. What drives these players is gear and progression, which go hand in hand. To get better gear you need to progress to harder content, and to beat harder content you need better gear. But, what kind of gear should you be looking for as a Death Knight in a Raid, that’s the question Byron “Messiah” Mudry looks at in his article Raid Gearing for Death Knights. -
World of Warcraft: Raid Gearing for Paladins
Since all three Paladin talent specs are perfectly viable for raiding, this guide has not one, not two, but three mouth-watering gear guides. Stop in for some window shopping to see what all the hip kids will be wearing after they get a few Ulduar runs under their belt. This guide is not for the timid. It includes gear that most people will not see until they are level 90 and we're another expansion down the road. This guide includes even the legendary Val'anyr.
Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:
- Warhammer Online: Premium Member Q&A at Baltimore Games Day 2009
- Lord of the Rings Online Interview with Jeffrey Steefel - Book 8 and Don Guldur
- Comic: Geeked - "A New Old Friend"
- Alganon Class Interview #4 - The Healer
- Exclusive Interview with R.A. Salvatore
- EVE Online: Sins of a Solar Spymaster #11- EVE and Loathing in Las Vegas
- Warhammer Online: Land of the Dead Preview at Baltimore Games Day
- Warhammer Online: Land of the Dead Q&A Video
- geeked: A Wee Bit Creepy
- Loading... Live #16 - Aion Dev Chat Podcast
Real World News [All links today courtesy of Matt N.! I Lub j00, Matt!]
You know, I have no idea why we have Victoria Day as a statutory holiday. Someone told me that not even the British take a day off for this. It must be an ongoing plot to annoy Quebec. I grew up referring to this long weekend as the 'May Run' in Prince Edward Island, an traditional time when underage drinkers would converge on the campgrounds in Cavendish and celebrate the beginning of summer by running Parks Canada staff ragged.
It's the old traditions that are the best. If you must know the actual reasoning, the Wiki Knows All!
-- Phil the Link and News Monkey
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US will pay $2.6 Million to Train Chinese Prostitutes to Drink Responsibly on the Job
No word on how much it will cost to train research grant source to do the same. -
Computer repairman steals hard drive, tries to charge company for 'retrieving' data
If found guilty, the prosecution intends to ask for the Maxtor sentence possible. -
Saudi files for 'killer' tracking chip patent
Similar patent requests have been made by the same inventor to a stone-throwing mini-gun for state executions and a radar that can detect when women are driving cars.
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 Champions Online Game Page.
