Welcome to the 1,096th Edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer. It takes about 10 seconds to have this newsletter sent straight to your inbox if you aren't getting it there already.

A good storyline, like an offer to help you move or a check in the mail, is something often promised but seldom delivered in today's games. But if you haven't completely given up hope that MMORPGs can be as much about raw story-driven entertainment as aquisition and prestige, the next wave of MMOGs is for you.

We'll look at the bold new ways upcoming MMOs seek to draw you in aside from levels and loot in Loading... The New Storytelling and continue to deliver new and exclusive articles from E3 and games like Huxley, Free Realms, Final Fantasy XIV, and Star Wars : The Old Republic.

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 this week:

  1. World of Warcraft
  2. EverQuest 2 (UP 1)
  3. Lord of the Rings Online (UP 2)
  4. Warhammer Online (UP 2)
  5. Age of Conan

Biggest Movers in the Top 20 today :

  1. EverQuest (UP 13 to #14 )
  2. Star Wars Galaxies (UP 13 to #16)
  3. Ultima Online (UP 6 to #12)
Recent MMO Releases
Upcoming Releases
Important Dates

Loading... Daily

Today's question: if the storyline in an MMO isn't important to you, how could it become important? Does it take the dynamic content approach of Heroes of Telara or APB , where in lieu of scripts on a timer the world is actually changing unpredictably around you? Does a game have to sell you on the worthiness of its world, perhaps through the single player experience which will evolve into an MMOG, like Torchlight? Does it take a visually astonishing world and a variety of new core gameplay mechanics, like we're starting to see with Aion? Or must the game make a concerted effort to revolve around you and your party, as with the voice- and choice-driven stylings of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

We asked Gordon Walton, one of the true legends of the industry, about story at E3 2009. "Usually I'm the anti-story curmudgeon... Reading a great book or a great comic book versus an average one is a totally different experience, and frankly most of the other games I've played were average experiences; they weren't above average experiences. I think that the quality of what we're doing [in Star Wars: The Old Republic] hooks me, and typically I would go 'Story? How can I tune it out?' Because it's getting in my way. Here it doesn't get in my way, it actually drags me in, which is a new experience for me and I'm very, very excited about that." (watch the entire interview here)

A philosopher I read during my college days, Hannah Arendt, wrote something to the effect that "good storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." No sort of entertainment offers such a broad canvas to discover and tell your own story than an MMORPG, but perhaps past MMOs have relied to heavily on the open world setting to reveal that meaning or made the serious error of "definining meaning" as a tedious and ultimately unfulfilling grind, first to the level cap and then to acquire the best items available. Here's hoping that the next generation of MMOs offer us more reasons to be interested in the journey and those making the journey with you, not just the destination.

Are the next generation of MMOs on the right track with storytelling? Could the concept of storytelling become important to you again if you've become jaded towards it? Have your say in the Loading... forum, or as usual, feel free to email me.


Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Aion Forum

Can Aion Dethrone WoW?

From graphically thrilling to WoW-killing?

With
many triple-A game launches we find ourselves asking whether this
upcoming MMOG will have the chops to top World of Warcraft's
stratospheric success. So far, the answer has been a resounding no.
(There were people who insisted Vanguard would be a WoW killer,
although none of them will own up to it now.)

Enter graphically stunning Aion,
which is taking the Asian markets by storm as we speak, and poised to
launch in North America a few months from now. As more information
comes to light about the game behind the graphics, interest in Aion is
beginning to simmer. Will Aion's world of angels and demons draw
players away from the elves, tauren, and undead of Azeroth? Tell us what you think!


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

"I
don't want any game to kill WoW personally. Blizzard made the perfect
moron-trap. Not that I'm saying every player is an idiot, but [WoW]
sure does a good job of keeping the 12 year old mouthbreathers from
infesting other games.
"


- kitsunegirl
==============================

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

7 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 55 in June! 692 in 2009!

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

  • SW:TOR - Delivering a New Hope - An E3 '09 Video Q&A with Gordon Walton and Rich Vogel
    Bioware Austin Co-Studio Heads Gordon Walton and Rich Vogel, legendary MMO developers in their own right, discuss the keys to success for creating Star Wars: The Old Republic. Gordon and Rich deliver an update on the SW:TOR's progress, chat about what it's like to work with LucasArts on a Star Wars game, and discuss why they elected to go with a fully voiced-over presentation of the game, the importance of story, and much more.
  • The Future of Free Realms - An Interview with Senior Producer Andy Sites
    Now that SOE has topped 2 million players in Free Realms, what's next? Free Realms Senior Producer Andy Sites discusses the future of the game both over the summer - with racing, demolition derby, soccer, and housing - and talks for the first time about the new area his team will be releasing in the fall in this entertaining five minute Free Realms video interview at E3 2009!
  • Blacksmiths of Intellectual Property: The Rise of Originality in MMOGs

    (Now available to standard members!)

    Over the last half decade, gamers have been forced to wander through familiar worlds and universes. Studios have been licensing IPs left and right, grabbing everything from the Wheel of Time to Star Trek. Originality seemed to be a lost art, and although these worlds were fun to adventure in, many didn't hold the same sort of magical spell that original titles like EverQuest or Dark Age of Camelot once enjoyed. But change is coming. Blizzard Entertainment unveiled that their next MMO would be an original IP, and this year's E3 lineup featured more brand new games than titles derived from existing worlds.
  • Aion: Fantasy Takes Flight Beta Event - Hands On Impressions

    Over the weekend NCSoft hosted the first of a series of closed beta events leading up to the North American launch of Aion later this year. After spending some quality time with the game, Reuben “Sardu” Waters shares his hands-on impressions from the event, offering some insight as to what makes Aion tick and why he walked away eager to see more in the coming weeks.
  • Huxley: E3 Hands-On Demo

    At E3 this past week we got a chance to play Huxley in a demo. This
    game has been on the burners for a long time so it is good to see it
    finally getting ready for launch. If you are a shooter fan then Huxley
    will have everything you want, plus an open world environment where
    players can interact and show off their trophies, trade, and set up
    future fights around the game.
  • Final Fantasy XIV Roundup

    Sony created quite the buzz at E3 2009 when it announced Final Fantasy XIV Online launching on the Playstation 3 console in 2010. Ten Ton Hammer got busy to bring you the first fourteen screenshots from the official website. Next, G4 started digging for answers to some pressing questions. IGN brought some questions to SE, too. Then came the Square Enix press conference. After that, ZAM got in on the action. Now there is so much great FFXIV information available that it’s hard to keep it all organized. Ten Ton Hammer is here to help, offering a FFXIV Roundup to get you caught up to speed with all of the data conveniently located in one place.
  • EVE Online: Mission Guide - Lost That Bet

    The best way to earn credits as a young player in EVE Online is by running missions.  Not only do you earn a solid reputation with the agents around the systems, but you can pick up some very useful items and the much needed credits.  Some missions are very tricky though so be sure you know what you are getting into before you are knee-deep!  Our mission guides will help you get the mission done quickly so that you can earn those bonus rewards.

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

  1. Aion: Exclusive Preview Event Screenshots
  2. Champions Online: E3 Preview with Bill Roper
  3. geeked: The More-er You Know!
  4. Blizzcon Blitz 2009 Ticket Giveaway
  5. Global Agenda Hands-On Preview
  6. Star Wars: The Old Republic E3 2009 Trailer
  7. Final Fantasy XIV at E3 2009
  8. Jumpgate Evolution PvP Q&A Video with Scott Brown
  9. Crimecraft E3 2009 Trailer
  10. Heroes of Telara E3 Trailer

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 Aion 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