Welcome to the 1,166th edition of Loading...

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

Executive Producer Jeff Hickman took the podium at Austin Game
Development Conference and shared the biggest mistakes (and some of the
successes) of Warhammer Online as he saw them. Many ex-WAR players are
using the opportunity to vent their own views of WAR's shortcomings, so
we'll try to separate face from fiction in today's Loading... Make
Blame, Not WAR.

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. Dungeons
   & Dragons Online 
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254">Aion 
4. EverQuest
   2 
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/860">Champions
   Online 

Biggest movers today:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/265"
   target="_blank">The
   Secret World (UP 8 to #12)
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926"
   target="_blank">Global
   Agenda href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38"
   target="_blank"> (down 3 to #15)
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/306">Lord of
   the Rings Online (UP 1 to #6)

• 8/4 -
  World
  of Warcraft Update 3.2 (content patch)  size="-1">
• 8/25
  - CrimeCraft
  (release date)
• 9/1 -
  Champions
  Online 
• 9/15
  - Runes
  of Magic "The Elven Prophecy" (expansion)
  

Important
Dates

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

• 9/9
  - Dungeons
  & Dragons Online Unlimited (release date)
• NEW - 9/22
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/177">Fallen
  Earth (release date)
• 9/22
  - Aion
  (release date)
• 10/9
  - Cities
  XL (release date)
• Early 2010
  - APB
  

Loading... Daily

Much is being made of Jeff Hickman's comments about what went so wrong
with Warhammer Online as reported by Gamasutra. To summarize his take
on WAR's mistakes: 1) PvE content was too easy at the beginning, 2) WAR
didn't have enough reasons for players to socialize, despite the game
having social tools, and 3) the unimportance of the economy, which
"brings people together". No mention was made about communication
between devs and players, specifically the lack of an official forum at
launch, or the single-biggest issue the average ex-WAR player is likely
to point to: class balance.

Up until recently, the official word from Mythic was that the problems
with imbalance were minor, that they had the numbers to back up their
claim, and to be expected with a predominantly PvP game, and these were
being addressed, as with any other MMO, in a series of tweaks. Whatever
the reality about the severity of imbalance in WAR, and I'm certainly
not going to play referee, I think it's unfortunate that Mythic didn't
do more to at least deal with the perception of imbalance, instead
treating it as a bromide.  

Players who voiced genuine concerns about the game were mostly met with
talk of live events and the Land of the Dead expansion.
Well-intentioned marketing initiatives were viewed by players as
misdirection, and the disenchantment only grew. Some sort of fan summit
or elected player council, along with good faith action to redress some
of the player complaints, might have done much to preserve the good
opinion of many WAR devotees. Instead, it seemed to many like Mythic
was constantly trying to change the subject or simply pushing forward
on their own agenda, an agenda that failed to interest many fans of the
game.

But, along with Jeff Hickman's more humble tack at AGDC, Mythic's
perspective on balance seems to be changing with 1.32. From a Ten Ton
Hammer interview
posted today with Producer Josh Drescher:

"We're looking at (sort of broadly) trying to normalize abilities
across both realms. We've kind of noticed over the past few months that
there has been an up tick in dissatisfaction with some of the abilities
that exist in one realm, but not the other... And then sort of on a per
career basis, just making sure that everybody is as close to balanced
as you can ever get in an MMO. Sort of tied to that, we're going to
continue our struggle with crowd control, trying to make sure that is
not a particularly frustrating experience."

I have little doubt that Warhammer Online will become a better and
better game, and talk of the past is only really useful if it can
enable future successes. Some of the MMOs coming to market are just as
competitive and complex as WAR is, so in that vein, everyone has their
own theory about Warhammer Online's downturn, so here's mine. When you
make a competitive game, whether you like it or not, you
incorporate the players into the design of the game and, to some
extent, invite the players onto the development team. The more complex
and competitive the game, the more the players feel like they should be
part of the decision process, whether or not they really want
to be part of the process. Consequently, if things go south, people
start to bail - they feel obliged to take on more commitment than they
signed up for. For, despite ever growing beta numbers, testing still
requires an uncommon dedication and mindset, and that sort of
selflessness is, if anything, on the decline in today's gaming
culture.  If, on top of testing the game, they have to fight
to be heard, that just might be a bridge too far for even some of the
most dedicated players.

Instead of addressing PvE difficulty, lack of socializing, or a
lackluster economy, gaining and keeping the trust of the overwhelming
majority of your players is critical. That what all this talk
of running games as a "service" should boil down to. Too
often, that "service" element is just an excuse for a premature launch,
but that's another topic for another day.

What do you think? Instead of what did Mythic do wrong with WAR, what
steps could Mythic have taken to help the game reach its potential? Do
you disagree with Jeff Hickman that a big, sweeping revamp patch would
be "a shot to the head" for the game? Your thoughts welcome in the  href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=46369">Loading...
forum.

From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=666">Members
Only: Ten Ton Topics forum

LotRO
Siege of Mirkwood Questions Needed!

Today's epic thread is a bit of a tease (but not in a skanky way).
I  want you to consider becoming a href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/membership">premium member,
so I'm going to taunt you with premium member exclusive goodies.

As often as we can, we give our premium members access to their
favorite developers via VIP
Access Interviews. Most recently, we carried their questions
to PAX and brought back juicy details on href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/74219">Star Wars: The
Old Republic. And now we want questions for Turbine
on their upcoming Lord
of the Rings Online expansion, Siege of Mirkwood. 

If you haven't already, make sure to take a look at our popular href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/74019">Siege of
Mirkwood sneak peak interview from PAX, then href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=46346">fire
off your questions
for the Turbine dev team. But just remember, only premium members can
submit questions or access the exclusive premium forum. Not a premium
member? It's easy to href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/membership">join the ranks!

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

No quotes, just questions. href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=46346">Bring
it!

==============================

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

• RvR
  Fixes and Patch 1.32: An Exclusive Interview With Warhammer
  Online Producer Josh Drescher
  One year ago today, Warhammer Online went live and the world of PvP
  hasn't been the same since. Mythic had been the granddaddy of Realm
  versus Realm combat for years, but even they had a few missteps along
  the way with Warhammer's release. Ten Ton Hammer recently had the
  chance to sit down with Associate Producer, Josh Drescher, and what an
  interesting interview it was. In a unique twist in the interview world,
  Josh stepped up to the plate and didn't beat around the bush with any
  answer.
• EVE
  Online Sins of the Solar Spymaster #27 - The Five Types of
  Alliance Leaders
  With Eve Online: Dominion's focus on involving more players in alliance
  life and warfare, The Mittani decided to examine the five types of
  alliance leaders for Eve Online. In the latest "Sins of the Solar
  Spymaster" he examines the various personalities that lead alliances in
  the universe of Eve Online ranging from the simple geek to one of the
  boys.
• City
  of Heroes Going Rogue Q&A with NCsoft's Matt Miller
  Going Rogue will introduce a staple comic book theme to the City of
  Heroes world - the slow descent of a hero into villainy, or the
  redemptive rise of a villain into more heroic pursuits. Not much is
  known about the transformation process or the pros and cons of
  switching allegiances, so we tracked down Exec. Producer Matt Miller
  for some answers on what Going Rogue entails. We'll also share some
  exclusive news on what Hero-Con attendees can expect at next month's
  event along with the latest info on Going Rogue.
• NCsoft
  to Include Praetorian Clockwork Costume in City of Heroes
  Hero-Con Goody Bag
  NCsoft is going big, super big, and wants you to be involved. This
  year, in San Jose, NCSoft is hosting the second annual Hero-Con, and
  this time you've got even more reason to attend. Included in the swag
  bag from the event is a Praetorian Clockwork code, which will transform
  the player into a very cool cybertronic machine. Click the link to have
  a look!
• 10
  Reasons why Aion is your next MMOG
  By
  now I’m sure everyone has heard of Aion, and some of you may be asking
  yourself that same old question…so why pick it up? Here’s are a few
  good reasons to head on over to your local retailer of choice, or pick
  it up through digital order before launch day on the 22nd.
• Dungeons
  and Dragons Online - New "Demon Sands" Promo Video
  If you've ever been to the desert, you know it can be a beautifully
  hostile place. Multiply that by about twenty billion and you'll get a
  bit of an idea how mean the desert can be in Turbine's newest adventure
  pack for DDO Unlimited, Demon Sands. Be sure to bring a a snake-bite
  kit.
• World
  of Warcraft - The myth of the indispensible UI Mod
  Is it possible to play without mods effectively? In this chapter we're
  here to say you can. Watch as we take a player of each archetype and
  throw them into a comfy chair of a powerhouse machine... with an empty
  UI folder on raid night. Can seasoned players still make the best of
  it? Or are people lost without their mod crutches?
• World
  of Warcraft - Druid Theorycraft Series - The Feral Druid
  The final edition of the theorycraft series for Druids focuses on the
  most popular spec of all, the feral druid. Pouring over the talent
  specs, glyphs and wondering how much of each stat you need can be a bit
  overwhelming for both new and veteran players alike. A quick and easy
  to understand guide to help you all sort it out awaits you, join
  Medawky and get the simple answer to the complex questions.
• World
  of Warcraft - Raiding Isn't Everything
  In response to the pitchfork crew that raised their voices in support
  of the article about players being overgeared and underskilled, Medeor
  brings the conversation back to center and reminds everyone that many
  of those who think they are in that 5% strata of "good players"
  probably aren't. And even if they are, they aren't having fun.
• One
  Level Too Many: A Look at MMOG Addiction
  We all have vices, habits , hobbies and interests, but when they cross
  the line to the point of obsession they can change from a pastime to
  something far more sinister. Have MMOGs become the hypodermic needle of
  choice for the tech generation? Were our Nintendos and Play Stations
  the gateway drug to a never ending hamster wheel of dependency? Join
  Medawky this week as he looks at the darker side of online gaming, the
  addiction factor.

Hottest Content:

1. RvR
   Fixes and Patch 1.32: An Exclusive Interview With Warhammer
   Online Producer Josh Drescher
2. EVE
   Online Sins of the Solar Spymaster #27 - The Five Types of
   Alliance Leaders
3. City
   of Heroes Going Rogue Q&A with NCsoft's Matt Miller
4. World
   of Warcraft - The myth of the indispensible UI Mod
5. 10
   Reasons why Aion is your next MMOG
6. One
   Level Too Many: A Look at MMOG Addiction href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/guides/new/playerresource">
7. The
   Secret World - Combat System Q&A Video
8. Star
   Wars: The Old Republic VIP Interview from PAX 2009
9. Global
   Agenda - Two New Maps & Female Character Models Video
10. World
    of Warcraft - Raiding Isn't Everything href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/74420">

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team