Welcome to the 1,168th edition of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
The stage is set for a good week in entertainment, whether
you're preferences run to newly minted MMOs or quality season
premieres. Yet this weekend's early access period for Aion and Fallen
Earth ended more often in frustration than in gaming bliss. Check out
my comments in Loading... Access Denied and see if you can relate, plus
we have a whole new slate of features and guides to get you through
launch week in today's newsletter!
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:
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/41"
target="_blank">World of Warcraft - Dungeons
& Dragons Online - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254">Aion
-
EverQuest
2 -
Lord
of the Rings Online (UP 2)
Biggest movers this past week:
MMO Releases
-
8/25
- CrimeCraft
(release date) - 9/1 -
Champions
Online (release date) - 9/9
- Dungeons
& Dragons Online Unlimited (release date) - 9/15
- Runes
of Magic "The Elven Prophecy" (expansion)
Releases
Important
Dates
- 10/1 -
10/3 - href="http://fanfest.eveonline.com/">EVE Online FanFest - 10/23 - 10/24
- Hero-Con
Loading... Daily
I'm realizing that this might have been the perfect week for a
staycation. Champions Online still certainly has plenty of folks
milling around the
Millenium City tutorial area and the two 11-20 destinations, and not
only is Aion primed to launch on the 22nd, but so is Fallen Earth. I
have to admit I'm drawn to Fallen Earth because I love games with a
post-apocalyptic feel (the more realistic the better), and this game
lacks the 1950s gone horribly wrong pastiche of Fallout 3, the matchbox
cars racetrack feel of Auto Assault, and the alien influences of Tabula
Rasa. The faction wheel alone- that your actions don't just increase
your reputation with faction x and decease it with faction y, but
impact your standing with four other factions at the same time - should
lead to some refreshingly complex MMO decision-making.
And if you're the sort of gamer that enjoys a fine bit of television
watching with your MMO gaming, this is the best week yet
for season premiers are airing in the US market, including
Castle (with Firefly's Nathan Fillion continuing his flawless
transition from sci-fi to prime-time), NCIS and its new
spinoff, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, all the CSIs, The
Mentalist, the still-dubious (to me) yet Joss Whedon-fueled Dollhouse,
and old standbys like House, Heroes, Law & Order. If
I'm missing your favorite, it's probably because my Tivo can only do so
much.
That's what's in store for this week, but if you were one of the folks
lucky (or unlucky) enough to get preorder access to Aion and Fallen
Earth, you might have been as disappointed as I was. While I'm told
that Fallen Earth early-access folks have been playing since the 9th,
my purchase through Steam ("play right away," according to the
href="http://store.steampowered.com/news/2844/">Steam news
blurb), downloading the game and attempting to launch only
resulted in a "This game is currently unavailable" message.
Zero for 1, so I tried to log into Aion when early access
began at noon pacific yesterday. Some of my coworkers and friends had
selected a server and faction in advance, and trying to log into said
server put me in a two hour long queue. I figured I'd come back later,
and after watching my Steelers lose pitifully, I tried again after
dinner and email. The queue was 2.5 hours long at 8:30pm Eastern, so it
was time for some doppelgaming with Champions Online.
To NCsoft's credit, the timer was spot on. At 11pm I finally got in and
played for a bit before bed, and was pleased to see that the starting
area chat was as full of pointless nerdfights and retarded sexuality as
I'd hoped. If old-time WoW Barrens chat was any indication, this game
has a bright future full of zillions of subscribers. With just about
all my friends queue-quitting, I kept to myself, not wanting any real
association until the game branched out a bit. This will be my third
trip to 20ish so it won't be long.
Someone commented that queues would be the downfall of this game, and I
couldn't agree less. Queues show how popular a game is, and everyone
wants to play the game that's popular. Look at Tickle Me Elmo or the
Wii. Once a product has gained a certain level of popularity, everyone
wants it, and the fact that they can't have it makes them want it more,
not less, because that you have that coveted product or once you're in
the inaccessible game, you have something lots of other people want but
can't have. Gamers are already all about extraordinary levels of
dedication and patience to win that hard-to-get thing or achievement,
so this is just icing on the cake. Be thankful that I'm not a suit at
one of these companies, I'd think very seriously about trying to
engineer mild shortages just to trigger the kind of feeding frenzy
we're seeing.
What were your early access experiences with Aion and Fallen Earth?
Finally knit that sweater or paint that room that you'd been meaning
to? Your thoughts welcome in the
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=46463">Loading...
forum.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=589">Aion
General Discussion forum
Same
server but can't meet friends
If
you're playing Aion as part of the pre-order headstart, you're not
alone. And yet you might find yourself alone when you're looking for
your friends on the same server. Imagine the frustration of the new
Aion player who has confirmed that both he and his buddy are
standing smack dab in front of the Akarios Village food
vendor,
and yet neither one can see the other.
If you're having this
common problem, welcome to the world of instanced worlds. Savanja
provides a simple solution to getting everyone on the same channel in
today's not-quite-epic but truly
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=46441">useful
thread.
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"Bless you Savanja!! I
was pretty sure we could all actually read and did get on the same
server.
I owe ya another beer!
Thanks!"
- Setter
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums?
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!
8 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 51
in
September! 1,003 in
2009!
Today's New MMO Coverage and Features
-
Forever
Fantasy: The Philosophy Behind Dragon Age: Origins
How
many fantasy RPGs does it take to make a gaming market? Hundreds, if
not thousands, apparently. In a day of so many fantasy based RPGs, one
has to wonder if another game of the genre will take off, particularly
a game that is single player only, with no multiplayer options. Ten Ton
Hammer got together with Dragon Age Executive Producer, Mark Darrah, to
talk about just that. We asked Mr. Darrah what BioWare was bringing to
the table with the new game, and he shone a light for us on The
Philosphy Behind Dragon Age: Origins. -
Champions
Online: Queer Eye for the Superhero Guy #3
Everybody's
favorite fashion arbiter, Ronaldo, returns with a new installment of
Queer Eye for the Superhero Guy! Sit back and enjoy as Ronaldo takes
his critical eye to the great (and not-so-great) costumes worn by your
favorite superheroes! -
A
Sneak Peak at Torchlight Classes
No, we're not offering lessons on how to build a
torch out of a table leg, an old t-shirt, and lighter fluid (we're
pretty sure you can figure that out on your own). We ARE, however,
talking about three classes you can play in the upcoming MMO game,
Torchlight. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/editorials/thehypedfan">Aion:
The Hyped Fan - A Gaming Lovestory
Aion launches this week and hordes of hyped fans are waiting to attack
servers with the hope that this game will be the one that they have
been waiting for. So then what if it's not? Learn
the pit-falls of following the hype and find out how to avoid that
often inevitable post-launch let down in this Ten Ton Hammer editorial. -
Dragon
Age: Origins Swimming in the Dangerous Waters of the
Mature Rating
Gamers have been clamoring for a company to step up and deliver
something truly epic for as long as anyone can remember. If all goes
according to plan, BioWare will do just that with their upcoming
release of Dragon Age: Origins. Packed with intense violence, a gritty
world, and some "wardrobe malfunctions" of its own, it's destined for a
Mature rating. Will that have any effect on potential sales? Join
Dalmarus as he gives his own thoughts on this controversial subject.
Guides
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/guides/general/stigmabasics">Aion:
Stigma System Overview
Upon reaching level 20, you've come a long way but many challenges
still await you on your journey as a Daeva. You primary reward for
obtaining level 20 is your ability to use Stigma Stones. To help
everyone get a grasp on the Stigma System and just what it does, check
out our brief guide. -
World
of Warcraft - Getting into the Perfect Guild
Getting
into a guild is easy, or so most people think. When actually faced with
the prospect of finding a guild, most learn that in the World of
Warcraft getting into the perfect guild is anything but. Some quake in
fear at the daunting Guild Recruitment Forums, while others make basic
mistakes filling out their guild applications. This week Mem hands out
some tips and pointers to hopefully allow you to make it through all
these steps and more with your sanity intact. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/seasonal/brewfest">World
of Warcraft - Brewfest 2009 Guide
Are
you ready to get drunk in style? Well guess what? It's now the perfect
time to do so! Brewfest 2009 has started up and 'ol Direbrew has
powered up (so has his loot) along with a ton of achievements and
festivities. Brew of the Month, pink elekks, and a ton of other awesome
quests await. There is so much to do but don't fret. Our Brewfest 2009
guide has everything you need to know about the event so you don't have
to resort to the dreaded event general chat to try and figure things
out.
Hottest Content:
- Forever
Fantasy: The Philosophy Behind Dragon Age: Origins - Champions
Online: Queer Eye for the Superhero Guy #3 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/editorials/thehypedfan">Aion:
The Hyped Fan - A Gaming Lovestory - RvR
Fixes and Patch 1.32: An Exclusive Interview With Warhammer
Online Producer Josh Drescher - EVE
Online Sins of the Solar Spymaster #27 - The Five Types of
Alliance Leaders - World
of Warcraft - Getting into the Perfect Guild -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/seasonal/brewfest">World
of Warcraft - Brewfest 2009 Guide href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/74507"> - World
of Warcraft - The myth of the indispensible UI Mod - Aion
Newsletter - The Daeva Weekly #1 - 10
Reasons why Aion is your next MMOG
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 Fallen Earth Game Page.
