Welcome to the 1,225th edition of Loading...

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

Once upon a time, World of Warcraft and EverQuest II came along and
took MMOG gaming to the next level, setting a benchmark for 2nd
generation MMOG design with their polish and innovation. But have we
seen a game since that could truly be called a 3rd MMOG, much
less a 4th? This, plus WoW patch 3.3, Fall of the Lich King, in today's
Loading... Generation X.

width="100%">

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 are today's top 5 Pulse results:

1. World
   of Warcraft
2. EverQuest
   2
3. Lord
   of the Rings
   Online
   
4. href="http://tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2213">Dungeons
   and Dragons Online
   
5. Age
   of
   Conan: Hyborian Adventures
   

Biggest movers today:

1. Star
   Trek Online (Down 3 to #14)
2. style="text-decoration: underline;">Champions Online
   (Up
   2 to #13)
3. Aion (Up 1 to #8)

Recent Releases

• 9/22 -
  Fallen
  Earth (release date)
• 9/22
  - Aion
  (release date)
• 10/8
  - Cities
  XL (release date)
• 11/3
  - Dragon Age:
  Origins (release date)
• style="font-weight: bold;">11/10
  - Final Fantasy
  XI Ultimate
  Collection (release date)
• 12/1
  - LotRO:
  Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
• 12/1
  - EVE
  Online: Dominion (expansion)
• 12/2
  - DOFUS 2.0
  (upgrade)

Upcoming
Releases

• 12/15
  - EverQuest:
  Underfoot (expansion) 
• style="font-weight: bold;">2/2
  - Star Trek Online
  (release date)
• 2/16
  - href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
  2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
• Early 2010
  - APB
• style="font-weight: bold;">Q1 2010
  - Global
  Agenda
  (release date)

Loading... Daily

World of Warcraft's patch 3.3 has been released into the wild. I'm not
a WoW player myself, but I'm sure that if I was I'd be grateful that
Ten Ton Hammer has the patch available for download so I don't have to
fight against the teeming masses to get me some. Grab your patch href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/patches">right here
and get back into the game to explore the new content sooner
rather than later.



A couple weeks ago, I promised to visit the topic of 4th generation
MMOGs. When I brought this up to a gamer friend last night he
commented, and rightly so, that first I'd have to show him a convincing
3rd generation MMOG. While many developers talked about ushering in
the fabled 3rd generation, it doesn't seem to have happened yet. I
figure which
particular generation we're entering, 3rd or 4th, is open to
interpretation, so let's just focus on next gen MMOGs in general.



TERA
is an acronym for The Exiled Realm of Arborea, and the name of an
upcoming game by Bluehole Interactive that loudly proclaims
itself The Next Generation MMO. "Created by a development
staff of over 200 people, and led by the core
members of Lineage® II team," the game's marketing materials
state, "this upcoming title will take the gaming
world by storm." A pretty bold statement, that one.



I'm skeptical; I'll believe it when I see it. While I'd love to see a
game that sets a new standard for MMOG development, I've heard this
promise
before. Vanguard was supposed to be a next generation MMOG--undoubtedly
a notch above its predecessors, games like World of Warcraft and
EverQuest II. I've always felt that EQ2 raised the bar for innovation,
and WoW raised the bar for polish back in their day; they were indeed
next generation MMOGs following on the heels of earlier titles like
EverQuest, Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot. But was Vanguard
advanced enough to call itself the next generation? I think we all know
what happened there. Not only was Vanguard less polished and (generally
speaking) less innovative than either WoW or EQ2, but it launched early
and fell flat on its face, largely due to performance issues born of
steep system requirements and poor optimization.



Off the top of my head, I can't really think of a game that has
launched around the time of, or since, Vanguard that
represents a benchmark in MMOG design, or so much innovation and polish
that we would be forced to admit that it represents the next step
forward. Some, like the distinctly different and much ballyhooed Tabula
Rasa, tried to cut themselves from the herd and failed. (In Tabula
Rasa's case, the highly-anticipated game folded about a year after
launch.) NCSoft's Korean export, Aion, certainly set a high water mark
with amazing visuals, but many (myself grudgingly included) find it
little more than a grind with wings. Polished? Mostly, although Aion's
plague of botters and in-game gold spammers leaves much to be desired.
Innovative? In some aspects, sure. Player flight is something that
hasn't been explored extensively in any MMOG to date. But while Aion
has some innovative features, in most ways it's a newer, shinier
version of the same old same.



Will TERA represent the next generation in MMOG design? Its href="http://www.tera-online.com/about_tera/overview/overview.php">game
overview states:

I guess I'd call that a qualified maybe. The whole "visually stunning"
thing has been done. Games like Age of Conan, Aion and even Vanguard
have done wonders when it comes to beautiful in-game vistas.
If TERA can kick that up a notch, I'll certainly be impressed.
Ground-breaking gameplay? Heard it before. I'll have to see this in
action before I become a believer. Having "full control over my
attacks" sounds dangerously close to "this game is twitchy as hell" to
me, but I guess we'll have to wait and see as more information about
combat in TERA is released. Right now, very little has been revealed.
Bluehole also says that "players will dictate the flow of the economy."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that how it works in most, if not
all, MMOGs? Or will TERA take things a step further and eliminate the
common economy-shaping commodities known as vendor trash and money
sinks and leave everything in the hands of the players? Again, it's a
wait-and-see.



I don't think the MMO gaming industry has fully realized a
next-generation MMOG since the launches of EQ2 and WoW set a new
standard. I feel a bit mean spirited coming down this hard on TERA,
because while part of me is cynically writing off the game as just
another upcoming fantasy MMOG trying to make us believe it's a Really
Big Deal, the optimist in me definitely wants to see Bluehole
Interactive pull it off. As Hewie Lewis proclaimed back in the 80s, "I
want a new drug." I know many of you are with me on that sentiment.
Together, we'll all see what 2010 (and beyond) will bring.



What will it take for a MMOG to be truly next gen? Are there any MMOGs
on the horizon that strike you as being capable of raising the
bar? Talk about it in the href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48337">Loading...
forum.

---

Shayalyn's Epic
Thread of
the Day



From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=139">WoW
General Discussion



style="font-weight: normal;">World of Warcraft: Beyond Arthas



Now that WoW patch 3.3 is upon us BlackDragon asks the all-important
question: which World of Warcraft villain has the style="font-style: italic;">cojones
to succeed Arthas, the Lich King, as top badass? It's a
legitimate
question and one that bears further discussion. Hit our WoW forum to href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48292">share
your opinion.



==============================

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"Deathwing. style="font-style: italic;">"



- AngryBeaver



"Deathwing is a no one;
screw him."



- Xerin



"Someone needs a nap."



- AngryBeaver

==============================



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! 36 in December! 2,217 in
2009!



New Exclusives, Features, and Guides today at Ten Ton
Hammer

• style="font-weight: bold;">WoW
  Patch 3.3 Released and Available for Direct Download
  
  Patch 3.3, Fall of the Lich King, has hit World of Warcraft. Ten Ton
  Hammer has the latest patch available for direct download with no
  queues, timers, or slow connections.
  
  style="font-weight: bold;">
• style="font-weight: bold;">Age of Conan -
  Update 6 Q&A with Craig Morrison
  
  We sat down with Craig Morrison, Age of Conan's
  Director and Executive Producer, to talk about the renown system and
  other changes in store for the game in Update 6.
• Champions
  Online - "The Nemesis Confrontation" Interview with Bill Roper
  
  What's in store for Champions Online with The Nemesis Confrontation
  update? Bill Roper answers our many questions in this exclusive
  interview.
• style="font-weight: normal;"> style="font-weight: bold;">EVE Online Guide -
  ECM: Electronic Warfare For Newbies
  
  ECM is EVE Online's most powerful form of electronic warfare. Ten Ton
  Hammer Contributing Writer, Space Junkie, gives new players a primer on
  the basics of using this powerful PVP tool.
• style="font-weight: bold;">EVE Online - Sins of
  the Solar Spymaster #34 - Dominion First Impressions
  
  CCP successfully deployed the 12th free expansion to the EVE Online
  universe last week with the Dominion update. This week The Mittani
  examines the latest content and changes added with the expansion and
  what it brings to the game.
• href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/guides/classes/sorcerer_spell-rotations"> style="font-weight: bold;">Aion Guide -
  Sorcerer Spell Rotations
  
  Our latest Aion guide teaches sorcerers to maximize their mana
  potential.
• href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/guides/crafting/handicrafting_1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Aion Guide
  - Handicrafting 1-99
  
  If you're feeling lost on your way to being an expert handicrafter,
  we'll get you on the right track. Get your 2x4s ready and
  let's take our first step to handicrafting glory!

Today's Hottest Content

1. Building
   a Fleet
   - A Star Trek Online Q&A with
   Lead Programmer
   Stephen D'Angelo
2. Ten
   Ton Hammer's
   Gifts for Gamers
   2009
3. State
   of the
   Republic - A Q&A with Star Wars:The Old Republic
   Producer Jake Neri
4. Star
   Wars: The Old Republic - Press Tour and Gameplay Preview
5. EverQuest:
   Underfoot Expansion Preview
6. Global
   Agenda
   Robotics Class Q&A with Todd Harris
7. style="font-weight: bold;">Age of Conan Evolved
   - A Synopsis of
   The Rise of the Godslayer Preview
8. Dragon
   Age:
   Origins
   - Creating Your
   Own Adventures
9. Gearing
   Up in Star
   Trek Online - An Exclusive Interview with Cryptic Studios
10. Guild
    Wars 2 Races of Tyria Trailer

---

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!

- Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg and the Ten Ton Hammer team