Welcome to the 1,233rd edition of Loading...

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

The Klingon Kontroversy reached new heights over the weekend, but could it have been avoided? How can developers better handle these solar flares in already flame-prone official forum threads during a game's development. We'll look at five good beta practices designed to keep players' and developers' blood pressure within a healthy range during beta in today's Loading... Avoiding Beta Bombshells.

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For our new viewers, keep in mind that this column is pure editorial, and the views expressed here are not necessarily those of Ten Ton Hammer or its sponsors, though these views are guaranteed to be entertaining and correct at least 92% of the time. It was a relief to see that I could still elicit a flaming response; I thought I'd either lost my touch or that you'd all fell asleep waiting for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I was going to do a piece on the holiday season, candy canes, dancing elves, and the brotherhood of all men, but all this talk of Klingons has put me in a warlike mood. I think my comments and response pretty much stands on their own, ripped apart and tortured as they've been, so we can keep the banter going on the forums if you like. I still can't find anything anywhere where Cryptic promised Klingon PvE or a two-faction game like WoW, but I'll gladly eat some of my words if someone can link me an official interview or promo to that effect. Otherwise, feel free to continue to tilt at Klingon PvE windmills.

Now that everyone who has a deeply imbued hatred of MMOGs / the Federation / Cryptic Studios / life itself has something that they can point to for disliking Star Trek Online, we can continue exploring what the game really has to offer. Before we really move on, however, I'm all about what we as an industry can carry forward from this seeming snafu. Let's talk about how five simple rules for devs to avoid a serious closed beta publicity nightmare like the one we witnessed late last week, and how Cryptic scored on each, in my opinion:

1. Inspire confidence in your game and company whereever possible - Any public promises and promotables, including release dates, are appointments with destiny, whether you make or break them. And please, please don't say things like "this feature or this race was cut due to time constraints." If it was truly important, you would find the time, and if you don't have time for important things, how can folks trust you to develop your game? Better to simply say that "You're making a game about x, and y doesn't fit what you're making." That shows that feature y is at least something you considered, and it's the kind of honesty players can respect. Cryptic gets a C on this one, largely due to the Emmert interview, but that doesn't impugn the excellent array of information that they've been offering for months.
2. Avoid the temptation to garner public reaction to features you're not wholly committed to - Throwing ideas against the wall to see what sticks usually only results in a nasty mess to clean up. There's a place for this kind of focus testing, but it isn't anywhere near the Internet. A few devcos have had good success with bringing in college students and other gamers for some in-house conceptual testing under strict NDA, and I'd like to see that trend continue. Cryptic gets a D on this one for not dealing with the perception of what Klingons would be. But having read pretty much everything (outside the ever painful oboards) about the game, I still can't see how detractors can honestly feel that they've been lied to.
3. Have a PR plan and stick to it - Loose lips sink ships, so do as much as you can to make sure that the surprises don't come from in-house. If your devs believe in your vision for the game (and value their jobs because they truly believe in their company), this is much easier. Don't forget that the best plans allow for leaks and contingencies, and a ready-for-primetime blast showing the silver lining on a dark cloud should be a PR priority. Cryptic actually did a great job on this front, I'll give them an A-. Though some of Jack Emmert's initial comments were ill-considered, a fact sheet on what Klingons were all about, a new Ask Cryptic, and an interview on some of the ins and outs of Klingons and PvP play were all on the scene in relatively short order.
4. Restrict the official forums to beta players only until launch - Or at least NDA-drop, which is practically launch. Much of the Klingon angst could have been bottled up until the whole story came out had this simple rule been in place. Family disagreements (short of Maury Povich material) are best kept in the family, and posts from serious players on the official forums take on the ring of gospel truth. Cryptic gets an F on this one. That said, closed forums are never truly airtight, which leads me to my last bullet point...
5. Be careful who you let into beta - At least until you're ready for launch. This one's a C - STO has historically been a tough beta key to get, with rumors of a small world population in each of the limited playtests, but it seems like there's plenty of beta player impersonators out there, likely due to the reasons mentioned in #4. The ideal beta tester is a rare breed: they're committed to the game beyond a fanboyish obsession with one race, class, or feature; they're thoroughly critical (and will document her criticism well) not because their dissatisfied, but because she genuinely wants the game to succeed; they respect the NDA; and, perhaps most importantly, will persist with just as much enthusiasm even if their criticisms aren't heeded for one reason or another. I, for one, would like to see MMORPGs get away from using open betas as marketing and a game's free trial.

Agree with my assessments? Have more to add? Don't want to let the Klingon thing drop? Feel free to disagree in the Loading... forum.

From our STO News & Articles Discussion

STO: Klingons and PvP Q&A with Cryptic Studios

Ethec's Loading... editorial about the "Klingon Kontroversy" drew a lot of fire Friday, both on our forums and the Star Trek Online official forums.
I'll let you read Loading... for yourself and decide upon which side of
the controversy you stand. Meanwhile, Dalmarus posted a promised
interview with STO lead content designer Zeke Sparkes last night, and
the thread garnered attention immediately. Let the Klingon conversation
(and speculation, as seen in the epic quote) commence. Engage!

==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread

"So it is going to be almost
identical too LOTRO's Monster Play, which you can unlock at lvl 10 or
in less than or about 5hrs as well. PvMP in LOTRO is dying off, sure it
has its hardcore players that do it all the time, but its not a feature
many flock too. When he said that the Klingon Empire consists of
multiple factions, that's pretty much the same as all the diff monsters
you can choose to be in LOTRO too."

- Khalus
==============================

Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell
us!

10 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG
features today! 95 in December! 2,276 in
2009!

Exclusive
Interviews Today at Ten Ton Hammer

• Star Trek Online: Klingons and PvP Q&A with Cryptic Studios
  Any game risks the wrath of rabid fanbois every day, but take an IP with a fanatical fanbase like Star Trek, and you've got the perfect tinder for flamefests around every virtual corner. The recent announcement that Klingons would be PvP-only set the boards alight in record time so Ten Ton Hammer sat down with Lead Content Designer, Zeke Sparkes, to get some answers surrounding this controversial subject.

New and Exclusive
Features

• LotRO Siege of Mirkwood Complete Edition Holiday Giveaway
  Ten Ton Hammer is giving away 20 The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood Complete Edition keys (US edition only), including the all-new Siege of Mirkwood expansion, as well as the original Shadows of Angmar game and the Mines of Moria expansion.
• Aion "Solorious" Holiday Event Review
  After the disappointment over Aion's Harvest Revel non-event during the Halloween season, NCsoft couldn't afford to disappoint players again. So how does this holiday stack up and did the game manage to wow players with a fabulous in-game event?
• New Tales Runner Chapter 4: Return of Dr. Hell Screenshots
  Tales Runner is getting a new update December 23rd with the release of Chapter 4: Return of Dr. Hell. How can an update go wrong with a Bruce Campbell-style B-movie name like that? To see a little of what's included with this update, check out our latest screenshots.
• Avoiding a Guild War - Finding a Balance Between Community and Progression
  Communities can often make or break a MMOG, making a marginal game tolerable or even dragging a good game into the depths of the unplayable. From providing social structure to facilitating events that can transcend the standard gameplay experience, guilds can create long-term memories and player bonds that often persist over many years and many games. Join Medawky this week as he tackles this question - are guilds still a viable community builder or just a means to an end?
• A look back at Aion in 2009
  What keeps you involved with Aion? Do you have fond memories of your first gliding away from (or into!) danger? Are you a PvP maniac who farms fortress guards by day and sieges fortresses by night? Or have you already had your time with this game and are keeping a watchful eye on it to see if they fixed the problems that caused you to quit? We get into it all with our year ending editorial on Aion in 2009.

New Guides

• World of Warcraft: Popular Mounts and How to Get Them!
  Regardless of if you are an avid mount collector, or just desire that one special mount to make your character complete, there is one question that is shared by all. Where can I find that mount? This guide will give the answer to that question for some of the rarest and most sought after mounts in the World of Warcraft.
• A Glossary Of Slang In EVE Online
  EVE Online is full of bewildering acronyms that are sure to make new players say WTF? But don't worry, Ten Ton Hammer Contributing Writer, Space Junkie, has provided a basic lexicon of the most common words and abbreviations.
• World of Warcraft Priest Guide - How to Play a Healing Priest: Discipline
  Looking to roll a Discipline Priest in World of Warcraft? Curious about how they work and what kind of healing they excel at? Then this is the guide for you! This guide will attempt to give you a basic understanding of how a Discipline Priest works, in hopes to answer many common questions.
• Runes of Magic Add-On Guide
  MMOG developers have become increasing more open to the creation and use of player created addons, those little tweaks or sometimes massive overhauls to the game’s native user interface that can reshape it into something altogether new. Frogster’s free-to-play powerhouse, Runes of Magic, is no exception but with hundreds of options to choose from it can sometimes become a lengthy process to weed out the real gems from the major duds. To help get you pointed in the right direction, Ten Ton Hammer has put together a list of our top addon picks for Runes of Magic.

Today's Hottest Content

1. Star Trek Online: Klingons and PvP Q&A with Cryptic Studios
2. LotRO Siege of Mirkwood Complete Edition Holiday Giveaway
3. World of Warcraft: Popular Mounts and How to Get Them!
4. Aion "Solorious" Holiday Event Review
5. A look back at Aion in 2009
6. Runes of Magic Add-On Guide
7. Mass Effect 2
   Hands-On Preview
8. Playing it
   Forward: A Mass Effect 2 Video Q&A with BioWare's Casey
   Hudson
9. Ten Ton Hammer's
   Star Trek Online FAQ
10. World of Warcraft: Pit of Saron Video Walkthrough
11. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/sesonal/winterveil">WoW:
    The Feast of Winter Veil Guide
12. Avoiding a Guild War - Finding a Balance Between Community and Progression
13. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/general/dungeonfinder">WoW:
    Dungeon Finder
    Guide
14. MMOG
    Wishes - The Devs'
    Letters to Santa
15. EVE Online
    Clandestine Moon
    Mining (Part
    One)

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team