Welcome to the 1,219th edition of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
It's expansion day! Both EVE Online and Lord of the Rings Online
launch their expansions and players already are sitting at their
keyboards waiting for servers to come up so they can lose themselves to
the new content. Sick days have been called in, and nights out have
been postponed. How far will you go to be among the first to explore
new content? We take a look at the power of the expansion in Loading...
Can't Hardly Wait.
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Ah, expansion day. Every once in a while our MMOGs of choice experience
something wonderful. They evolve overnight. New content, more levels,
new content, cutting-edge mechanics, new content; it's a wonderful
thing and an expansion can make even the most grounded of us a little
crazy.
Expansions are almost as exciting as a launch of a new game. In some
ways, they're even more anticipated. Long-time players who are already
passionate about their game get something to look forward to that makes
the game new all over again. Kind of like when your secondary other
gets home from the plastic surgery clinic.
But how far will you go to enjoy the expansion as soon as you can? Call
in sick? Cancel a date? Build a
href="http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/02/11/look-alike-robots-long-distance-relationships-arent-a-problem-anymore-video/">robot
look-alike to stand in for your wedding? We've all done it. Ok,
maybe we haven't ALL done THAT, but I'm sure it's happened. Somewhere.
The point being that expansions are a happy time and a lot of us simply
can't function during expansion day doing anything but getting ready to
play. It's far to distracting to try to go into work and get anything
done when your mind is solely focused on dominationg in Dominion, or
Sieging Mirkwood. So I send a plea out to employers everywhere. If you
have a worker who needs some time off to enjoy a new expansion, give
them a day. Heck, give them a week. They won't be of much use to you or
the company anyway until they can get their fix.
Some of us can be counted as lucky. I used to work at a networking
company where my boss was more excited about a WoW expansion than I
was. He was great to deal with. I'd sometimes come in with bloodshot
eyes and a gigantic can of energy drink and stare blankly at my
computer screen for ten minutes before starting the day. He'd look at
me and ask "raid?" I'd nod. "Me too," he'd say as he took a gulp from
his oversized coffee.
And my current boss is even cooler. Come expansion day, if I'm not
playing he'll come down hard on me to quit slacking off and get
playing. Sometimes I'll protest, telling him I really want to analyze
some web stats, but he'll hear none of it. He runs a tight ship. In EVE
too.
Expansion day should be a national holiday. With dozens of millions of
online gamers worldwide, you'd think someone by now would recognize it
as a legitimate lifestyle. When you apply for a job you should need to
check off which games you play so the company can be prepared to let
you off work for expansion days. If you're on the fence about this one
I'd suggest checking off games like EverQuest, as that would guarantee
you at least one or two days off per year.
But, we need to face the reality. Most EVE and LotRO players won't get
the day off today. They'll be forced to go into work. They'll be
sitting at their desks all day, sneaking peaks at websites like Ten Ton
Hammer and official forums, hoping the boss doesn't notice, having to
live out their passions in secret for the entire day, and then fight
traffic on their way home, stopping briefly for a microwaveable burrito
for dinner and calling their loved ones to let them know they'll be
indisposed for the rest of the evening, so if their
husband/wife/kids/goldfish could make sure the PC is on and at the
login screen and the microwave door is open and the timer is set to one
minute and fifteen seconds so that when they get home they can throw
the burrito in the nuker and sit down and log in without having to
waste those valuable seconds doing all that menial work themselves,
that'd be just swell.
And yes, that was a run on sentence. I'd fix it, but I'm too busy
waiting for servers to come up. Who's with me? Join me
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48149">in the
forums.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48093">PC &
Console Games forum
style="font-weight: normal;">Australia not going to receive AvP3
As
everyone knows, Australia is entirely peopled by criminals, and
criminals are not to be trusted...with games like Aliens vs. Predator
3. (No, I'm not picking on the Aussies. If you didn't catch the
Princess Bride reference, don't blame me for your pop culture
ineptitude.)
Anacche, one of our resident Aussies, is
grumbling because the game Aliens vs. Predator will not be coming to
the Land Down Under. Come share a comment (or a jeer) in our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48093">forum.
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"I guess that's what happens in a
prison colony."
- AngryBeaver
"Pedantry
alert! South Australia is actually the only state in Australia that was
never a prison colony. It was in fact founded by an ex prisoner,
however, which is something they like to keep quiet."
- Mikes
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!
7 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG
features today! 119 in November! 3,092
in
2009!
New Exclusives and Guides today at Ten Ton
Hammer
-
Sins of the
Solar
Spymaster #33 - Preparing for href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/77400">Dominion
With the arrival of the Dominion expansion for Eve Online
today, The Mittani returns with a list of things to expect and help
prepare you for the game's 12th free expansion. How might server
stability be? What kind of changes have been implemented? Find out all
this and more in this week's Sins of the Solar Spymaster. -
style="font-weight: bold;">Dragon Age: Origins - Creating Your
Own Adventures
The time has finally come. Youve beaten Dragon Age: Origins. Youve
played every race and experienced every origin story. Youve devoured
every ounce of downloadable content from the BioWare development team.
Join Eric "Dalmarus" Campbell as he walks you through the creation of
your very own module. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom/guides/crafting/the_professions">
style="font-weight: bold;">Runes of Magic - The Professions
Mix, Stir, Pound, Bake, Forge, Weave, Sew, Cut, Boil, or Fry! Come one
come all ye Runes players and get a look at the professions that are
available to you. You can craft, craft and craft some more. Join
ZeroMerc as he explores the professions in Runes! -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/guides/classes/spiritmaster_stigmas">
style="font-weight: bold;">Aion Spell List: Spiritmaster Stigmas
Trying to gauge which stigmas you should slot in those spots? Well
check out the whole list and determine when you'll be able to pick them
up. This week we look into stigmas and today it's all about the
Spiritmaster. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/editorial/microtransactions">Lights,
Camera, Action Figures! Micro-Transactions in style="font-weight: bold;">Champions Online
Micro-transactions are becoming increasingly popular in MMOGs. The
question is, are they good for the game or bad? Well do our best to
answer that question as we examine micro-transactions for online
gaming, with particular emphasis on Champions Online. -
style="font-weight: bold;">WoW How to Play a Holy Paladin
So you want to be everyone's knight in shining armor and save the
day? Well, youve come to the right place. This guide will
walk you through the basics of playing a holy based Paladin, or
Healadin as they are commonly called. -
style="font-weight: bold;">Aion Newsletter - Visions Sooner or
Later
The "Visions of Aion" trailer showed off a lot of great features and
gave hope to a somewhat downtrodden playerbase but a lot of questions
have been left unanswered. When will this update go live and will it be
free content? Ponder with the rest of us and get all the latest Aion
news in this week's Aion Newsletter.
Today's Hottest Content
-
style="font-weight: bold;">Dragon Age: Origins - Creating Your
Own Adventures - Gearing Up in Star
Trek Online An Exclusive Interview with Cryptic Studios -
Sins of the
Solar
Spymaster #33 - Preparing for href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/77400">Dominion - style="font-weight: bold;">WoW How to Play a Holy Paladin
- Dragonica
Online Impressions: Side Scrolling Madness - Rolling a Save
vs. Budget - a Look at Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron
Unlimited - Odus Comes to EverQuest
2 - A Sentinel's Fate Expansion Q&A with Alan Crosby - Interfacing with
Star Trek Online - A UI Discussion with Cryptic
Studios - style="font-weight: bold;">Torchlight (PC) Review
-
style="font-weight: bold;">Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood
Beta Impressions
Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!
- Benjamin J. de la Durantaye and the Ten Ton Hammer team
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our EVE Online Game Page.
