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

Welcome to the 1,200th edition of Loading...

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

Today is Dragon Age: Origins Day! Even though not an official holiday, it should be. BioWare's biggest RPG hits the shelves today, and Ten Ton Hammer Executive Editor, Benjamin J. de la Durantaye, has a hard time deciding which version of the game to buy. With ports for the PC, Xbox, and PS3, the decision isn't an easy one; but in the end, will it matter?

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: World of Warcraft Dungeons & Dragons Online  Lord of the Rings Online Star Trek Online (Up 13) EverQuest 2 Biggest movers today: Atlantica Online (Down 4 to #15) Champions Online (Down 3 to # 11) Age of Conan (Down 2 to #7)	Recent Releases 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) 11/3 - Dragon Age: Origins (release date)
	Upcoming Releases 12/1 - LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood (expansion) 12/1 - EVE Online: Dominion (expansion) 12/2 - DOFUS 2.0 (release date) 12/15 - EverQuest: Underfoot (expansion) Early 2010 - APB Feb. 2010 - EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)

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If you're like me (and several other TTH staff members), today's been circled on your calendar for a while. Across the nation, gamers are calling in sick to work and school and rushing out to buy their copy of BioWare's newest RPG: Dragon Age: Origins.

I'm not going to bother writing today about how cool the game is. There's no point. You know it, and I know it. And I'm not going to bother linking our Dragon Age: Origins page on Ten Ton Hammer either, because you've already seen it. What I am going to do though, is ask for your assistance.

This decision is one we, as gamers, face frequently. When a new game launches, do we buy it for the PC, Xbox, PS3, or Wii? Don't get me wrong, it's a nice decision to have to face, but sometimes we make the wrong choice, and regret it later. (I once bought Alone in the Dark for the Wii, instantly regretted it, bought it again for the PC and then realized that it's just a game that shouldn't have been bought at all). So, until someone invents PS-Wii60, we're just going to have to make this decision from week to week. Even moreso, now that several MMOGs are planning console ports.

So, back to the topic at hand - Dragon Age: Origins. It's not available on the Wii, so that takes care of that. To make things a bit easier, I also don't own an Xbox, so I don't have to make that decision. That narrows it down to the PC or the PS3.

For myself, I can't play an MMO on a console. I did the whole EverQuest Online Adventures thing, and it just wasn't the same. It never felt right. But DA:O isn't an MMO, so that doesn't help me. I started thinking about things like graphics, and while that should have made things easier, it really didn't. I have a couple of Radeon 4890 HDs in Crossfire in my PC, and it's pretty sweet. However, I'm still playing on a 24 inch monitor, and if I buy it for the PS3, I can enjoy it on my 47" HDTV. Yes, I know I can hook up my PC to the tv, but I'm not going to. So the route of graphics didn't help resolve my little problem.

Another factor to consider is the game style. Is this the type of game I can sit upright to play for hours on the PC, entrenched in the story and game play? Or is it the type of game I'd like to play with my feet kicked back, with a cold lemonade on the end table? I haven't actually played it yet, so I can't answer this question, and my decision isn't made any easier.

So, I think the deciding factor for me is that I just want something I can enjoy for hours on the PS3. I was a sucker and bought one when it was still $600 (a pox on those of you who recently picked up the slim for $299!) and to this date, I still haven't gotten my money's worth out of it. Not because there aren't good games for it, but because I haven't personally played a game on it that has kept me involved for more than 10 hours. Uncharted (the original) was a  great game, but it wasn't that long. DA:O promises to be considerably longer, so I think I'll finally have a title that will have the $600 price tag pay me back a little by offering many more hours of enjoyment.

So, that's my decision as it stands. I'm heading out later today to pick up my copy of DA:O on the PS3. How bout you? How do you decide on which platform to buy your games? Let us know in the forums.

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Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Articles, News & Events Discussion forum

The Overpull - "Camping or Questing?"

This isn't an epic thread...yet. I'm making a prediction that it'll evolve into an epic conversation. After all, Xerin asked a great question in our weekly World of Warcraft report, The Overpull: camping or questing? I'm a camping kind of girl, myself, preferring a nice comfortable camp to running around completing quest objectives, but I'm kind of old school. We want to know what you think, and we've got some other WoW-ish topics for you to discuss, so head over to our WoW forum to weigh in.

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3 New Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 8 in November! 2,080 in 2009!

Today's New Features & Guides

• In-Depth Torchlight Q&A with the Runic Games team: Post-Launch and MMO Plans
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76260
  Ten Ton Hammer spoke with Max Schaefer, Travis Baldree, and a great cast of Runic developers regarding some of the ins and outs of the just-released Action RPG Torchlight, plus post-launch plans (including when we might see the highly anticipated Preditor level editor and the Mac OSX version) and some initial thoughts about the upcoming Torchlight MMORPG. It's all in this in-depth post-launch Torchlight Q&A with the Runic Games team!
• Greenwood the Great – A Look at what the Siege of Mirkwood Brings to LotRO
   http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76265
  War is coming. The dark lord Sauron has cast his dark shadow over Mirkwood, the once lush land known as Greenwood the Great has fallen. War is building on all sides and it's up to you to help defeat the coming tide of darkness and aid the peoples of Middle-earth in pushing back the shadow of Mordor. Will you press on to the dark tower of Dol Guldur, or will you flee at the sight of the Nazgul flying high above on their fell beast? This is the decision you must face in The Lord of the Rings Online's (LotRO) latest expansion Siege of Mirkwood (SoM). This week Ten Ton Hammer takes a look at what SoM will offer LotRO players and why skirmish combat will make old areas new again.
• WoW Weekly Report: The Overpull "Camping or Questing?"
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/newsletter/issue39
  The Overpull this week brings a heaping helping of news, cool facts, and a hefty amount of discussion. This week we go over the tanking changes in Icecrown, camping or questing?, the war between the Alliance and the Horde, and lots of other cool and exciting things. Check out the Overpull today! Remember, you can also subscribe online to get it sent automatically to your email each week. 

Hottest Content:

1. Managing Fan Expectations - An Interview with Vanguard Visionary Brad McQuaid
2. Star Trek Online Space Combat Q&A with Craig Zinkievich
3. The Cleric's Guide to Healing in Aion
4. Lord of the Rings Online - Siege of Mirkwood Live Preview
5. DOFUS 2.0 Beta Key Giveaway
6. EVE Online – Ten Tips to Go From Noob to Noobtastic
7. Champions Online : Nemesis Basics
8. Sins of the Solar Spymaster #30 - Dominion Post-FanFest
9. Global Agenda: Conquest and Pricing Interview
10. Recession Proof Gaming

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Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network! 

- Benjamin J. de la Durantaye and the Ten Ton Hammer team