Welcome to the 1,160th edition of Loading...

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

More in-depth coverage from this past weekend's PAX 2009 event
is still coming your way, and Ten Ton Hammer's Reuben "Sardu" Waters
somehow found time the
whole crazy experience that has become the industry's feature fan event
in North America. Part two of two follows in today's Loading... Sardu's
PAX 2009 Journal (Part 2 of 2).

width="100%">

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).

Here's today's top 5 Pulse results:

  1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/41"
    target="_blank">World of Warcraft
  2. Lord
    of the Rings Online
  3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/860">Champions
    Online 
  4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/115">Age of
    Conan 
  5. EverQuest
    2
     

Biggest movers today:

  1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2036"
    target="_blank">Guild
    Wars 2
    (UP 64 to #14)
  2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/117">Star
    Trek Online (UP 24 to #19)
  3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2213"
    target="_blank">Dragon
    Age Origins
    href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38"
    target="_blank"> (UP 18 to #10)
Recent
MMO Releases

Important
Dates

  • 9/15 -
    9/18
    - GDC
    Austin
  • 10/1 -
    10/3
    href="http://fanfest.eveonline.com/">EVE FanFest
Upcoming
Releases

Loading... Daily

Ten Ton Hammer's Reuben "Sardu" Waters, especially valued by us not
only for his knowledable nice-guyness, love of MMOs, and his complete
inability to turn off his gamer side (as you'll see), made
several withdrawals on the old sleep account to journal his experience
at PAX 2009. Unprompted and unscripted, they turned out far too cool
not to share. This is the second part of his artfully constructed
running
commentary from the show, and you can check out the first part href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/74131">here.
Enjoy!

===

Saturday (PAX, Day 2)

Today was another busy day for the Ten Ton Away Team. Captain Ethec
beamed us directly down to the show floor for our first meeting of the
day with Funcom, this time to take a look at the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/74078">Rise of the
Godslayer expansion for AoC. There’s tons of cool stuff going
on in this one, and I have to admit I’m really looking forward to
checking out the new content. Say what you will about the game, but
Funcom earns a +10 badge for game design in my book for being one of
the few developers who realizes that creating new mid-level content is
far cooler than simply tacking on an increased level cap and new spell
ranks.

It was also obvious that after the Day 1 stress test, the PAX
developers decided to increase the server cap as the exhibit hall was
about as packed as it could get without crashing. Most players seemed
to naturally gravitate to specific content which made questing in those
areas next to impossible. For example I never did get a chance to play
Diablo 3 in spite of my best efforts. On the plus side I did get some
hands-on time with some real gems like href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/torchlight/pax/trailer">Torchlight
which is just as cool as D3 in my book.

Getting to play Global Agenda was another highlight, even though I felt
somewhat stumpy doing my usual thing of wanting to click on all the UI
buttons to see what they do rather than focusing on the fact that I was
in the middle of a live 8v8 match. The folks from Hi-Rez were all
extremely nice and it was pretty cool to have the lead game designer
giving me pointers on how to play Recon effectively. Score one more
point for the gamers-as-developers team.

Speaking of game development, Guild Wars was the game that originally
led me down the path of studying (and currently writing about) the MMOG
industry to begin with, even if EQ will always be my first true MMOG
mistress. That said, sitting in a small meeting room with Jeff Grubb,
Mike O’Brien and Daniel Dociu to talk about href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/74119">Guild Wars 2
was my personal highlight of the entire PAX experience. Even though we
couldn’t really talk about specifics, I’m a total lore nerd so it was
awesome seeing Mr. Grubb’s eyes light up whenever I’d ask a
story-related question. He’s one of those people in the industry that
I’d love to have an entire day to sit and discuss game design with
because it’s readily apparent how much he enjoys what he’s doing. Well,
that plus I’m one of those nutty GW players who think things like Zho’s
journal (and related quest to earn a black moa chick) are one of the
more brilliant aspects of the game.

PAX 2009 – Post Mortem

Modern airport design incorporates a pretty cool gameplay mechanic
called Recharge Stations which function somewhat like location-specific
crafting stations in many MMOGs. While these are perfect for solo
gamers, they’re also almost too popular for their own good. At the Las
Vegas airport (where this is being beamed directly onto my hard drive
via the cybernetic implants in my brain) every one of these stations
was filled with very important people having very important
conversations on their very important cell phones. As a result I’m
currently sitting on the concrete floor with a cramped ass and a giant
row of slot machines buzzing and beeping only a few feet from my head
as my only recourse for getting close enough to an outlet to plug my
beast of a laptop into. It’s entertaining to be sure but not exactly
the ideal situation for writing about MMOGs. But just like a rock star
that puts up with the sub-par cheese trays backstage at the arena, so
too will I endure the less glamorous side of games media to bring the
fans the content they demand.

And it truly is all about the fans. Call me crazy, but I’d gladly put
up with ass cramps and forgo sleep for the sake of writing about the
MMOGs we all know and love (and sometimes love to hate). Part of what
got me into this nutty world of games media in the first place is the
genuine enjoyment of absorbing game info not unlike a human sponge for
the sake of communicating it to other gamers to the best of my ability,
and for what it’s worth PAX has provided ample opportunity to achieve
exactly that. Seeing the absolute dedication and drive of Ethic in
action also reminds me of why TTH rocks like no other site out there.

And with that I’m off to dive headfirst into getting some of our other
PAX content put together for your reading enjoyment. While the show may
have lacked a ton of massive announcements and game reveals (though
there were a few of those too), it more than made up for it in the form
of a giant pile of MMOG developers who enthusiastically talked about
their games not unlike a proud parent showing off pictures of their
newborn sons and daughters. So be sure to keep your eyes on the site as
we roll out a number of in-depth interviews throughout the week.

This is Captain Sardu, signing off!

===

Check out all the new
coverage from PAX 2009
and take your thoughts and comments
to our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=46149">Loading...
forum.


Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day

From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6">Articles,
News & Events Discussion forum

href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=45981">Champions
Online vs. Aion: Battle of the Year

It's
been an exciting month for gamers: two new games with open
betas
September launches. Champions Online has already kicked off, and Aion
will take flight September 22. Which one will win your favor? The
discussion thread that accompanied href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73767/">Savanja's
editorial on the subject of Champions versus Aion is bursting
with gamers' opinions. href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=45981">Add
yours to the fray!

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

"Not really a battle;
they are entirely different game genres. I plan to play both.
"

- celestian
==============================

Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!


6 new MMOG home-grown articles today! 10 in
September!
952 in
2009!

MMO Coverage from PAX 2009

  • Aion's
    Lani Blazier on 1.5, Pre-Launch Improvements, and More

    Lani Blazier will take us headlong into the Abyss to show us exactly
    what PvPvE means in a tactical sense. We'll take on the AI-controlled
    balaur and confront one of the instance's mini-bosses, then end with a
    look at the Dark Poeta instance - an alternate history look at a
    now-beautiful Elyos zone had the rifts remained open and the Balaur and
    Asmodians been allowed to storm in. That and much more in this
    information-packed Aion video from PAX 2009!
  • href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/torchlight/pax/trailer">T href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/torchlight/pax/trailer">orchlight
    PAX Trailer Shows Off Gameplay and Story
    Torchlight is set to launch on October 27th, 2009, but the latest video
    from PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) shows off what the game has to offer. The
    latest trailer shows some of the Diablo-inspired gameplay and offers a
    look at some of the story behind the game through the characters
    involved.
  • Fallen
    Earth
    : Exclusive Interview on Factions, Beta and Beyond

    This
    past weekend at PAX 2009 the Ten Ton Hammer ground crew had the
    opportunity to speak with Lee Hammock, the lead designer for upcoming
    indie MMOG Fallen Earth to discuss the recent open beta as well as what
    the studio has planned for the game after the official launch later
    this month. We covered a wide range of topics, so whether you’re a
    seasoned beta vet or simply looking for your next great gaming fix
    there’s plenty of great Fallen Earth info to be found in this exclusive
    interview.

More from PAX

More Ten Ton Hammer Features:

  • Comic:
    Zeroes - "Firecracker Meets Dr. Destroyer"

    Champions Online is all about superheroes. The big, the bad, and the
    bold all share Millennium City as their home. But what about the less
    than average caped crusaders? Who will tell their story? This week the
    fiery lass by the name of... well, Firecracker happens upon Millennium
    City's most notorious villain. Apparently, he's in need of some action.
  • Making
    a Classic - An Interview with Dragon Age's Lead
    Designer Mike Laidlaw

    As a developer, what do you do if you've already created a handful of
    the most beloved roleplaying games of all time? How can you ever top
    games that are already considered the best of the best. The folks at
    BioWare Edmonton had to deal with those questions, and more, when they
    began work on Dragon Age: Origins. With the release date of Dragon Age
    quickly approaching, a number of questions still remained in the air
    for eager fans. Ten Ton Hammer sat down with Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw
    in Edmonton to try to hammer out some of the lingering questions.
  • New
    Runes of Magic Screenshots Show the 'Course of
    Terror'

    Runes of Magic will be offering players a new solo challenge from the
    clown Malatina. This new mini-game will send the players to meet the
    challenge of the ‘Course of Terror’. Once per day, players can take
    Malatina's challenge to enter the obstacle-packed dungeon. The new
    mini-game will be added as part of the final content update along with
    the full launch of ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’, on September 15,
    2009. In the meantime, enjoy these new screenshots of the coming
    content challenge.
  • World
    of Warcraft
    : Druid Theorycraft - Balance

    The Druid theorycraft series returns this week with a look at the
    ranged DPS branch of the class, the Boomkin! Theorycrafting can often
    be a jumble of conflicting ideas and overly complex math equations,
    Medawky breaks down it all into an easy to read primer. So if you have
    ever wondered how much hit, haste, spell power or spell crit you need
    to get the most from your Balance Druid then look no further, its all
    here for you.

Giveaways:

Hottest Content:

  1. Aion's
    Lani Blazier on 1.5, Pre-Launch Improvements, and More
  2. Fallen
    Earth
    : Exclusive Interview on Factions, Beta and Beyond
  3. The
    Future of Tyria: An Exclusive Guild Wars 2 Interview
  4. Making
    a Classic - An Interview with Dragon Age's Lead
    Designer Mike Laidlaw
  5. LotRO
    Siege of Mirkwood Sneak Peak Interview Video with Jeffrey Steefel
  6. Hands-On
    with Star Trek Online at PAX 2009
  7. Images
    and Impressions of Global Agenda at PAX 2009
  8. New
    Runes of Magic Screenshots Show the 'Course of
    Terror'
  9. New
    Pirates of the Burning Sea Expansion Announced
  10. Independent
    States: The Future of Indie MMOGs

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Reuben "Sardu" Waters and the Ten Ton Hammer team


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Age of Conan: Unchained 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.

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