Welcome to the 1,229th edition of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
Guilds can make or break a MMOG. In fact, you might say that
the MMOG with the highest number of loyal guilds wins. (Just ask
Blizzard.) But building a game that attracts guilds seems rather hit or
miss. What's the magic formula? See whether or not we're able to
uncover it today in Loading... The Guild Factor.
Become a Premium
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/membership">much more.
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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:
- World
of Warcraft - EverQuest
2 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/117">Star
Trek Online (Up 11 to #3)
- Lord
of the Rings
Online -
Dungeons
and
Dragons Online (Down 2 to #5)
Biggest movers today:
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/769">Requiem:
Bloodymare (UP 8 to #18) -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2213">Dragon
Age: Origins (down 3 to #15) -
Aion
(down 2
to #10)
-
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
(update) - 12/15
- EverQuest:
Underfoot (expansion)
Releases
-
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) - March 2010
- APB -
style="font-weight: bold;">Q1 2010
- Global
Agenda
(release date)
Loading... Daily
For a while, I enjoyed Aion. When I'd been away from the game for a
while, I found myself missing it and wanting to play, which is
usually a sure sign of a good game for me. I was intent on leveling up
my character and, unlike some Western gamers, I wasn't really minding
the Eastern grind and the slower level progression. The
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72385">lore
was interesting. The game world was vast and beautiful. My character
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75054">looked epic
and executed exciting skills. And I was part of a small but cool guild.
The most fun I had in Aion was running the Krall quest line with some
guildies. We'd meet outside of Verteron Citadel and, beside our
fearless leader, none other than Ten Ton Hammer's esteemed Ben de la
Durantaye in Templar form, we'd charge in and wreak havoc. Ben's
tanking style is fast and relentless. I'm reminded of Marty
McFly in Back to the
Future telling the stunned band at the Enchantment Under
the Sea Dance, "All right, guys, uh, listen, this is a
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w28Eh95gRQM">blues riff
in B; watch me for the changes...and try to keep up, okay?"
We tore the Krall stronghold up, and then tore it up again. And it was
hella fun.
But, after a while, the grind seemed to get to some of our guild
members and a few stopped showing up. Some leveled much faster than the
rest, leaving those of us whose schedules don't permit power gaming in
the dust. Others, with even busier work and family lives, lagged behind
the ones in the middle. The guild was small enough, and the gaps were
great enough, that logging into Aion meant a session of soloing. And,
regardless of how much I happen to like soloing, playing alone got old
after a while.
Is it the guild's fault that my interest in Aion waned? Of course not.
We've talked
before about how games live and die by the strength of their
communities, and now I'll take that a step further and suggest that
they also live and die by the strength of their guilds. Having large
and powerful guilds loving your game is definitely an asset for any
MMOG--just ask Blizzard or CCP how it's worked out for WoW or EVE
Online. But smaller, family style or casual guilds have an impact, as
well, and I believe the next MMOG that can keep both types of guilds
entertained will be a winner.
The problem seems to be that building a game that attracts the
attention and loyalty of established guilds is a bit hit or miss. I'm
not sure anyone has found the magic formula or, if they have, I'm not
certain we've truly identified it yet. Certainly features like robust
guild management tools and
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48178">Web
features with real-time updates help. Fun, addictive gameplay
is essential, but that's sort of a given. Strong end-game content goes
a long way toward keeping the hardcore guilds happy, especially when
it's in place early on so those same guilds don't have to wait for it
to arrive in successive updates once they've completed their
post-launch race to the level cap. But we know all these things
already--I'm not telling you anything new. And I'm not telling MMOG
developers anything new, either; most of them have been striving to
make these features and more available in their AAA games.
But if games like Aion and its predecessors this year did their level
best to include the features I've mentioned above to attract the
loyalty of guilds, then why aren't they more successful? Why have we
yet to see the fabled "WoW killer" after 5 years of World of Warcraft's
dominance over the MMOG industry? I'm not sure there's an easy answer,
but I'm willing to bet that the next game to find it will succeed in a
way that others haven't.
If you're in a guild, what do you think it will take for a game to win
your guild over for the long haul? Does your guild affiliation, or lack
thereof, influence your enjoyment of a game as well as how long you
stick with that game? Talk about it in the
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48497">Loading...
forum.
Shayalyn's Epic
Thread of
the Day
From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=666">Members
Only: Ten Ton Topics forum
Your vote
counts! Game / Expac of the Year 2009
If you were a premium
member, you'd be able to vote for Game of the Year in today's
epic thread. Oh, if only! You could pick your favorite MMOG or
expansion pack from a list of 15 launched this year and have your
opinion factored into our Members' Choice Award for 2009. If you are a
member, you should head straight to href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48394">this
thread to make your opinion known. If not, why not take
advantage of our Lifetime
Premium Membership and get a first chance at beta keys,
contest prizes, exclusive members only content, VIP access interviews
(where you ask the devs your questions) and more?
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"There are some good
games on the list, but the only one that really beat any expectations
for me was Free Realms. Sure, it isn't something I'd play for any real
lengths of time, but it was still a pretty solid experience and is
popular with their target market."
- bobfish
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!
6 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG
features today! 74 in December! 2,255 in
2009!
Exclusive Interviews and
Previews
-
Getting
to the Bottom of DOFUS
2.0
This
week, Ten Ton Hammer caught up with Cedric Gerard, Ankamas
International Marketing Manager, to see what makes DOFUS 2.0 stand out
from the rest of the herd. -
Will
of a Tyrant - A Review of the EverQuest
II Game Update
With Game Update 54, EverQuest II introduces
a staggering number of bug fixes, item updates and game tweaks, as well
as the newest in a series of live events that transition players into
the upcoming Sentinel's Fate expansion. Join
Medawky as he dives into the update and gets down and dirty in Norrath.
Editorials,
Features, &
Guides
-
Dev
Blog: AdventureQuest
Worlds:
Twas The Knight Before Frostval'
This
week Artix returns with a new blog to talk about the second annual
Frostval event in AdventureQuest Worlds and what kind of content the
event will offer players, including all new seasonal quests to earn
rare seasonal items and the chance to smack fellow players in the face
with a snowball. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/sesonal/winterveil"> style="font-weight: bold;"> -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/sesonal/winterveil">
style="font-weight: bold;"> WoW: The Feast of
Winter
Veil Guide
The Feast of Winter Veil is now live on World of
Warcraft servers and players are scrambling to earn their achievements,
fill up on seasonal food, and enjoy all of the holiday events. We've
got a brand new guide for all of the holiday achievements, the quests,
and more! -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/crafting/tailoring_pt1">
style="font-weight: bold;">Aion Tailoring 1-99
We've covered how to be the bane of the mountainside with our guides to
smithing, and we've covered how to exploit the land for our cooking and
vitality extraction guides. Now it's time to exploit the animals that
roam it and maybe a few fabric-producing plants along the way.
Videos
& Media
-
Star
Trek Online Starbase 24 Trailer style="text-decoration: underline;">
Star Trek Online will be warping into stores early next
year, but Cryptic Studios is still churning out videos showing off the
impressive atmosphere and space combat in the Star Trek-based MMOG. The
Starbase 24 trailer chronicles an ongoing battle between Federation and
Klingon forces.
Today's Hottest Content
- Getting
to the Bottom of DOFUS
2.0 -
style="font-weight: bold;">Kung Foo for
Beginners: An Interview
with Devin Grayson and Perfect World -
Will
of a Tyrant - A Review of the EverQuest
II Game Update href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/general/dungeonfinder"> style="font-weight: bold;"> -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/general/dungeonfinder">
style="font-weight: bold;">WoW: Dungeon Finder
Guide - MMOG
Wishes - The Devs'
Letters to Santa -
style="font-weight: bold;">EVE Clandestine Moon
Mining (Part
One) - WoW
Guide to the Halls of Reflection
- Building
Starships - A Crafting in Star Trek Online
Q&A
with Al Rivera -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/interviews/visionsinterview">Aion
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/interviews/visionsinterview">"Visions"
Interview with Lance Stites - WoW:
Icecrown
Citadel 5-man Attunement Quest Line Walkthrough
Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!
- Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg and the Ten Ton Hammer team
