Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

I've always been the helpful sort.  I spent hours creating scrolls in Ultima Online so that I could give them away to people who needed them.  I played a Shaman in EverQuest and I always tossed out buffs to new players on my way to the PoK book in Everfrost.  It's just my nature to want to help and I never thought of it as a bad thing.  Everyone needs help every now and again and someday you may need the favor returned.  It's just good karma.

So I was a little taken aback when I received a less than favorable response to a recent New Player Guide on our forums.  Our reader seemed a bit displeased that we spent time pointing out the basics which leads me to ask...are the days of lending a hand to newbie players fading away?

Modern day MMOGs have put the kibosh on some of the features that we enjoyed in older games such as the original EQ.  EverQuest II still has many of the wonderful buffs that its predecessor had, but most are only usable by the caster or within the caster's group making drive by buffings impossible.  They also implemented locked encounters, something I was first introduced to in FFXI, which are great if you're overly concerned about kill stealing, but the moment you get into trouble and everyone is just standing around and watching you die, you wonder if the KS prevention was worth it. 

One of the features that drew me to Aion was the feeling of freedom in assisting other players.  You can buff random players as you see fit, and if you see someone struggling with enemy encounter, you can walk in and help without waiting for someone to find a "yell" key.  There is something beautiful in a community that is encouraged to help one another and while others may not have the time to lend that helping hand, you can be certain that there are still many of us out there who will.

Ten Ton Hammer won't always focus on new player guides of course.  We will do what we can while the game is new and we hope to work on a wide variety of content for all types of players in the future.  Is there something you'd specifically like to see us do?  Let us know and we'll add it to our content ideas list!

-Savanja, Aion Site Lead

Our screenshot contest is over, but we still have plenty of codes for in-games goodies!  Drop by our forums and post to let us know you want one, and we will continue handing them out until supplies are gone.

Ten Ton Hammer Features:

• Intro to PvP in Aion - Not sure how it all works?  Get the basics to get you started in PvP.
• Fodder Into Kinah - A Guide to Selling in Aion - Turn that loot into cash easily and quickly.
• Good versus Evil - The Two Sides of Aion's Factions - Have devs taken the easy route with two faction systems?  Read about it in this editorial.

News From Around the Community:

• Aion Continues to Dominate PC Sales - Pre-sales aside, the game is still topping charts.
• Aion Celebrates First Fortress Capture - Read on how this legion snagged a major milestone.
• NCsoft Takes Action Against Player Store Abuse - 30 minute limits enforced to ease queue times.

Tip of the Week - Want to mark your map with locations to share with other players?  Ctrl + Right Click on your map to save a location (Tutty's location for example).  Click your chat dialog box and Ctrl + Right Click the location you have saved to add it to the chat box.  This will make a blue link to the location that will show other players exactly where they need to go.

They Must be Roleplayers...

If you ever watched your mom work out in the 80s then you may be familiar with Richard Simmons.  There are a disturbing amount of his fans wondering about and while I caught one on Lumiel, I was a little frightened to see that he wasn't the only Richard out there.

I'm not sure he's really suited to be a mage, but any man who can squeeze into those shorty shorts has to have magical powers.

Have you seen a great in game name?  Share it with us!