Welcome to the 1,120th Edition of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
Discussions about Aion's endgame are filling up MMO forums around the Internet. Is Aion luring co-op PvE players into an essentially PvP endgame with a serene soloing level-up experience? While Chinese version players are saying one thing, we're still taking NCSoft at their word. Today's newsletter separates facts from rumors and tells you why co-op PvEers have nothing to worry about (yet) with Loading... Aion and Aztecs!
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The PulseYou vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is The Pulse?). Here's today's top 5 Pulse results for today:
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I think most of us have had the experience I'm about to describe, if not in an MMOG than in some other kind of computer game. Let's change it up and use Civilization, just about everyone has played Civ. Here you are, happily building your little enlightened empire of peace and prosperity, you've foregone military expenditures for thousands of years to build wonders and centers of academic, cultural, and commercial excellence. It all comes to a screeching halt right around 1302 A.D. when Montezuma declares war on you. No visible buildup, no warning. You were simply easy pickens and the Aztecs noticed. Rather than see your empire swiftly reduced to rubble by Monty's super stacks of elephants and catapults, you might do what I do: realize the irreconcilable error of my ways. And quit.
That's just an example, but it probably encapsulates the fear among Aion PvEers that, at early and mid-levels, they're happily playing your friendly co-op PvE style of game only to find that in the endgame, they're really playing someone else's PvP game. It's been fueled by rumors on our boards and other forums, by gamers supposedly deeply in touch with the Chinese English version of the game strongly suggesting that Aion rapidly devolves into a PvP gankfest . While in an MMO you don't suffer the humiliation of watching your glorious cities fall into Aztec hands and can respawn relatively unscathed but nonetheless a little poorer (thanks to the soul healer), having zero skill or desire to go PvP in a PvP game is crippling enough.
At Ten Ton Hammer, we've been careful to comment only on what we can see of the NA / European version of the game. If you're playing the Chinese version of the game, keep in mind that you're getting the Chinese version of the game. As for what we've seen of the beta, there's no reason yet not to take NCSoft North America Producer Brian Knox at his word (from a Ten Ton Hammer vooncast on May 13th):
Brian: As far as end game content goes, we don’t want to force players down a certain route in our game. You’ll be receiving benefits and rewards from PvP and PvE that are pretty much the same. By doing that, we allow players to transfer back and forth a little bit easier between the two playstyles. Aion’s the type of game where, if you don’t want to participate in PvP, you don’t have to. But you very well can and enjoy capturing fortresses and pwning people as well.
It's been stated plainly enough often enough that NCSoft's localization efforts go well beyond translation. In any case, we're putting together a Q&A for NCSoft that will hopefully get at the heart of the matter.
For now, let's just say that a game should always gradually prepare and familiarize its players for the endgame, whatever that endgame might be. Classic World of Warcraft was brilliant in that it had group instances familiarizing players with group play at level 10 (arguably level five, before everything got much faster and easier). It prepared players for raiding by degrees. It was a smart design choice that went by the wayside as everything got much faster and easier, and now WoW is by all accounts really two games, the level-up solo game and the level-cap raiding game.
As for PvP, you might hate the gray ganking and the hardcore PvP of games like Darkfall and, to a lesser extent, EVE Online, but these games are pretty honest about the player-induced dangers you face right from the get-go, before your time played eclipses the number of credit-hours you've sunk into your bachelor's degree. Let's hope Aion is equally honest about what kind of game it becomes, and I personally hope I'm playing one game, not two, come September.
Share your thoughts in the Loading... forum, or as always feel free to email me.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day
From our Tavern of the Ten Ton Hammer forum
Farming...good, bad, otherwise?
No, not the kind that requires a tractor.
Anyone
who's ever desperately wanted to earn in-game cash has probably heard
advice like, "Just go farm [Instance X] or [Zone Y] for a while."
Farming gold has become as common in MMOGs as casting spells or
rebinding hotkeys. But is farming a good thing? Is it a legitimate game
strategy or a sort of exploit? (Certainly we know that gold farmers who
sell in-game gold for cash are exploiting.)
Step into the Tavern forum and share your take on farming in MMOGs.
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Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread
"A game that makes farming viable has a bad design from the start. If
you need to [perform] this special kind of repetitive task (not like
crafting or training for skill gain and the like) until you can get
'items' that you might think are needed to be competitive, then [the
game] is boring and silly."
- Kralle
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
6 new Ten Ton Hammer articles today! 43 in July! 808 in 2009!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today
Exclusive Articles:
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Kicking Tights: In-Depth with Champions Online PvP
How do you duel other players in a game with flight and other travel powers? Why is player vs. player combat (PvP) relevant in an MMO where every player is, to some degree, a good guy? Champions Online Producer Rob Overmeyer and PvP Designer James Laird tell us explore these questions and tell us all about what makes player vs. player combat unique in Champions Online, before getting to the heart of the matter: how best to kick other players in the tights in Champions Online PvP! -
Champions Online Dev Update & Nemesis Showdown Video
In the first of our highlight videos from this weekend's Champions Online PvP press event, Cryptic Studios CEO John Needham introduces us to the Nemesis system and updates us on the development progress of the game seven weeks before launch. Then Chief Creative Officer Jack Emmert talks a little bit about the history of Cryptic and Champions and what makes the game truly different, before Executive Producer Bill Roper takes the mike and demos character creation, nemesis creation, and a first ever look at a "showdown" instance where heroes will take on their arch-enemy and his (or her) minions for the very first time. -
Aion Class Preview - The Ranger
Aion's scout classes are both very distinct and interesting making it hard to decide which to choose once you ascend. Will the Assassin's stealthy hands on approach appeal to you, or is the Ranger's ranged combat focus more your style? We take a closer look at the early levels of the Ranger and detail the pros and cons of this versatile class! -
World of Warcraft - Patch 3.2 "Call of the Crusade" Highlights
The upcoming patch for World of Warcraft is an amazing update without the cost of an expansion. With completely new content and overhauls to existing content, the lands of Warcraft will be very different after the patch. See why in this article. -
World of Warcraft - Malygos Loot Guide
This is a guide for the loot that drops off of Malygos in Eye of Eternity. It goes as far is specifically giving a class and key stats to make your decisions upon. -
World of Warcraft - UI Mods and Addons for the Shaman
This week please join Russell on his continuing saga to update the Shaman Guide. Every class in World of Warcraft has specific Mods to enhance or modify their game play. This week Russell gives his input on the best Shaman Mods, how and where to download these Mods and a quick discussion on how they work.
Giveaways:
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(New) Ten Ton Hammer EVE Online Summer Giveaway
Gamers who play EVE Online are cut from a different cloth than their peers. They crave intrigue and cold calculations. They understand that a lot of planning before the battle can decide its outcome before the first shot is even fired. EVE fans are proud of their accomplishments, and Ten Ton Hammer understands that. We've teamed with CCP Games to deliver a horde of prizes for the EVE enthusiast.
Hottest Content:
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Online VIP Interview - Cryptic Bucks, PvP, and More -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70988">Aion
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Interview - The Spiritmaster - EVE
Online Sins of a Solar Spymaster #19: Hacking in New
Eden - Myth and Reality - A
Beginners Guide to Crafting in Aion - Age
of Conan 2009 Update Tour, Part One - An
Intro to All Points Bulletin (APB) with
Chris "Ulric" Dye - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70855">Aion href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70855"> Flight Facts
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Online Power Set Interview - Dual Blades, Single Blade,
Fighting Claws and Unarmed - 38
Studios Developer Discusses Level vs. Skill -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warrior/raidgear">World
of Warcraft - Comparing Raid Gear
Real World News - We couldn't make this stuff up if we tried:
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Wal-Mart Customer Sold Wrong Ammunition, Pulls Out Gun
But if she had the wrong ammunition... -
Air Emirates Jet One Hundred Tons Too Heavy, Barely Escapes Crash
In other news, Kirstie Alley had a wonderful time in Melbourne. -
Annual Train-Mooning Draws Crowd of 400
Rail passengers dismayed, thought they'd booked a lunar tour.
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 World of Warcraft Game Page.
