Loading... Halloweenery

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Posted October 23rd, 2009 by Ethec

#1,193 - Ten holiday events that offer MMO players plenty of tricks and treats.

Welcome to the 1,193rd edition of Loading...

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

Ah, fall. The air is crisp, the leaves are changing, and the evil undead are rising up to eat our brains. Halloween is always a popular season for MMO holiday events, and there's no shortage of werewolves, demons, and ghouls in your favorite MMOs this year. (The most fearful apparition of all, Zombie Cthulhu Boy Band, remains to be discovered. Maybe next year.) We'll list all the Halloween events for your favorite MMOs and demonstrate why the Halloween event is important (perhaps indispensable) to the gamer psyche in Loading... Halloweenery.

The Pulse

You 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:

Biggest movers this week:

Global Agenda (UP 18 to #18)
Fallen Earth (down 4 to #16)
The Secret World (UP 3 to #15)

Recent 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)
9/22 - Fallen Earth (release date)
9/22 - Aion (release date)
10/8 - Cities XL (release date)

Upcoming Releases

11/3 - Dragon Age: Origins (release date)
12/1 - LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood (release date)
12/1 - EVE Online: Dominion (release date)
12/2 - DOFUS 2.0 (release date)
Early 2010 - APB

Important Dates

10/23 - 10/24 - Hero-Con

Loading... Daily

Interesting news of the day: 38 Studios is hiring a Senior PS3 Programmer for its Big Huge Games studio in Maryland. Is Copernicus the latest MMO striving for next-gen consoleness or is this for an unrelated, unannounced project? Only time will tell.

TV fall syndication runs and countless horror movies have conspired to make Halloween the second biggest holiday in the entertainment industry. We like to see the odds supernaturally stacked against the protagonists and watch them gorily succomb or impossibly prevail. That's just our nature; gamers in particular exhibit what psychologists would call "sensation seeking behavior."(What's so DSM-IV about sensation, anyway? Who doesn't like sensation?) That, and given our competitive nature and statistical masculinity, like to show we can tolerate a particularly gruesome scene even if we don't exactly enjoy the ludicrous gibs.

But males and females alike among MMO gamers, being a particularly social breed, like to discuss entertainment that produces strong emotions. Zombies, robots, and supernatural horrors are all textbook, over-the-top, certifiably strong emotion-producing villains in gaming and movies. So it only makes sense that every MMO that has seasonal events (I'm looking at you, MMOs-that-are-not-EVE Online) will do a Halloween event.

Whether you think holiday events are a grievous waste of developer time or some much needed relief to the everyday hoohah, Halloween events are one of those ubiquitous things (like fast travel and gender bending potions), that if one MMO has it, given enough time just about all of them will. It remains to be seen what would happen if one big-time MMO jumped off a cliff, or was that Star Wars Galaxies?

Anyway, we'll just say Halloween events are fun stuff, and here's a big list of events in your favorite MMOs:

World of Warcraft's Hallow's End is back, running from October 18th to October 31st. Adventurers can get tricks and treats courtesy of the local Innkeeper and work toward "The Hallowed" title achievement. Need a hand to be hallowed? Check out the Ten Ton Hammer Hallow's End guide!
Fallen Earth, besides being the perfect place for a zombie uprising, is now offering a free 15-day trial to coincide with the Days of the Dead event. Grab a key right here at Ten Ton Hammer, and go knock some zombie heads! Event runs weeklong from 10/23.

Nights of Lost Souls doesn't just describe your last trip to Vegas, it's Age of Conan's Halloween event this year. Track down the lost souls and defeat them to get some cool rewards - the "Unholy Backscratcher" being the absolute coolest. Event ends 10/31.
Daemon Moon will have players collecting evil masks to defeat the demons trapped within, along with a new public quest and special RvR scenario in Warhammer Online from October 23rd through November 2nd.
Aion's Harvest Revel is about to begin, which will see the Asmodeans hunting up a delicious feast while Elyos frantically hunt down invading bands of undead. It's good to be Asmod! Event runs 10/25 through 10/31.
While not an in-game event, Turbine has put together a pumpkin carving contest for LotRO and DDO players, winner gets 500 Turbine points.
EverQuest 2's fan-favorite annual event Nights of the Dead is in full effect this weekend, with events Friday - Sunday nights. If you're in need of a surprising costume for the Sunday night masquerade ball, the race change potion was just rolled out on the marketplace. EverQuest has a few new Halloween marketplace items of its own, too.
Champions Online's Blood Moon event is on the horizon (get it?) and coming your way on October 27th, but Cryptic pointed out yesterday that the Zombie Apocalypse PvP scenario is available now for those jonesing for some zombie headhunting action.
City of Heroes The Deadly Apocalypse is nigh, running from October 20th - November 3rd. Also, Hero-Con is this weekend, and even though there's nothing explicitly Halloweeny about this, seeing gamers like myself decked out in full cosplay tights and codpieces would be extremely scary.

Know of more events? Dressing up as a Ten Ton Hammer this Halloween? Share your frightful comments in the Loading... forum and have yourself a ghoulishly good time this weekend! (insert evil laugh here)

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our STO News and Articles Discussion forum

Its finally here folks!

If you've been waiting for Star Trek Online to go into beta, your wait appears to be over. Time to start checking your inbox obsessively! Our forum community is talking about the STO beta, and you can join in right here.

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3 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 103 in October! 2,051 in 2009!

Today's New Features & Guides

15-day Trial Key Giveaway for Fallen Earth 'Days of the Dead' Event
http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/daysofthedead

It's that special time of the year again. You know, the leaves are changing, there's a chill in the air, and the undead are rising up to make a snack of the living. Accordingly, the makers of the post-apoc themed, story-driven MMORPG Fallen Earth have crafted a "Days of the Dead" event so momentous, they're offering a special 15-day trial starting today, October 23rd. Grab a free key, then grab a cricket bat and do some undead head hunting before the zombies overwhelm what's left of civilization!
Aion Newsletter - The Daeva Weekly #6
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75829

Does the game you play decide how you play, or does your gaming style dictate the direction of your gaming experience? Whether you level slowly or quickly in Aion, every player should have a voice in the community and should have some say in how the game evolves, right? Read more on this topic and get the week's Aion news from Ten Ton Hammer and around the 'net!
WoW: Mage Guide
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/mage

Our World of Warcraft Mage Guide relaunches better than ever. We've got a lot of new and updated content. It's like a full Arcane library. We've got a new basics and combat page along with an updated list of trainers, Mage quests, and a lot more. If you're a Mage, old or new, then this guide is for you. So head on over and take a look at our new Mage guide!

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