Welcome to the 1,234th edition of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
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It's rare that an MMOG developer will ever state they plan on taking
on World of Warcraft as a serious competitor. In fact, this is the only
time we remember anyone going on record and saying that. But this is
just what Square Enix has done with their plans for Final Fantasy XIV.
Will the new title be able to fell the beast? We take a look at this
prediction in today's Loading... To Slay a Dragon.
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Last week president of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada,
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78409">stated in an interview
that they believe Final Fantasy XIV
will be a serious rival to World of
Warcraft's throne. That's a pretty bold statement, and no one to
my recollection has ever made such a claim. A typical developer
response when asked if their game will take on WoW is something along
the lines of "that's not what we're trying to do. We're simply making
an alternative game."
The Final Fantasy franchise
certainly has the name to make a good attempt at taking over the number
one spot. The IP has been a favorite of many gamers all the way back to
the original Final Fantasy
game which was released at the end of 1987. That's a full four years
before Blizzard was even founded and a whopping seven years before the
pioneer Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
was born in 1994. Does older necessarily mean better though?
Well, let's take a look at this analytically. Using the term "better"
may be a bit fast and loose. WoW isn't necessarily a better game than
some others, much like a burger from McDonald's isn't necessarily
better than one from Red Robin. McDonald's has more customers though,
and by business standards would be viewed as a more profitable and
successful franchise. So to take over WoW's #1 spot on the top of the
charts, maybe we don't necessarily need to look at the quality of the
game but simply the market appeal. Can Square Enix market a game as
successfully? It would be tough as the MMO market has already been
deeply penetrated.
This leads us into another hurdle any game would face when vying for
the title of top dog. MMO gamers by nature are viciously territorial.
We needn't look any further than forum posts when a new game is about
to launch to see a large number of fans of other IPs expressing their
opinions that the new game will suck. Trying to convince a player to
leave their current game, particularly if they're still enjoying it, is
much like trying to take a bone from a wild dog. You're probably going
to get bit in the process.
Wada's statements seem to demonstrate that they're not going into the
fight blindly. He said that they "believe there is a number of people
that will stay attached to each title, but we are optimistic in that
sense for Final Fantasy." An important part of any battle is knowing
what you'll be facing, and by this statement it would seem Square Enix
are quite aware of what lies ahead.
Will Final Fantasy XIV have
what it takes to defeat World of
Warcraft? We will certainly find out. But one thing's for sure;
after a statement like that, many will be watching.
Who will hold the title over the next decade? Let us know your thoughts
in the
forums.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our /OOC
(Off-Topic) forum
style="font-weight: normal;">It's Christmas! Getting in the mood....
Whatever
you celebrate, from Christmas to Hanukkah to Kwanzaa...'tis the season.
And so Mikes posted a threat for discussing holiday plans and just
generally getting into the spirit of things. href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48571">Join the
chatter!
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"Hmm at present recording Muppet
Christmas Carol to watch later. I could say it's for my daughter but it
would be a lie. I am 32 and love it!!!!"
- goldenarrow
==============================
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! 101 in December! 2,282 in
2009!
Exclusive Interviews Today at Ten Ton Hammer
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78431">The Cause of style="font-weight: bold;">Mass Effect - An Interview with the
BioWare Founders
From writing medical software to producing a string of epic bestselling
RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Dragon Age:
Origins, and the upcoming MMOG Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare
founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk know how to tell a tale
with a game, but they also have a few tales to tell of their own. Learn
about BioWare's founding, what a Greek eggplant dish has to do with the
conception of Mass Effect, and much more in The Cause of Mass Effect:
An Interview with the BioWare Founders, only at Ten Ton Hammer!
New and Exclusive Features
-
The Ten
Ton Hammer Best of 2009 Awards
The Ten Ton Hammer Best of Awards is about recognizing excellence in
the industry. Hundreds of thousands of hours of sweat and toil go into
designing, developing and marketing the games we play, and we here at
Ten Ton Hammer feel the men and women of the industry deserve a bit of
recognition from time to time. This year we have awards for the best
expansion, the best RPG, Members' Choice, the best free-to-play game,
and the coveted best subscription-based game. As a bonus, we even have
an award for the best community; just a little something to recognize
you, the players.
style="font-weight: bold;"> -
style="font-weight: bold;">Aion Weekly Newsletter - Double the
XP, Double the Fun
Aion players enjoyed their first double experience weekend
and
it seems it was quite the success! Crafting areas were over flowing
with players and the cities were alive with activity. It seems the
experience boost revitalized the game, is this exactly
what we needed or is it just a lazy quick fix to a serious problem?
Read up on the first double experience weekend and get the latest Aion
news in our weekly newsletter! -
style="font-weight: bold;">WoW: Weekly Report: The Overpull -
"What's his power level?"
The WoW Weekly Report: The Overpull is here again with more news, lore,
and more for World of Warcraft. This week we delve into the "hot" topic
of merchandising and discuss the power levels of various characters in
the lore. Join us each week as we go over all the happenings in WoW.
New Guides
-
Weapon Systems
In EVE Online
Combat in EVE Online can be a convoluted affair. Ten Ton Hammer
Contributing Writer, Space Junkie, begins to parse the many intricacies
in this article examining the basic weapon systems in EVE. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/instances/hallsofreflection/video">
style="font-weight: bold;">WoW: Halls of Reflection Video
Walkthrough
We've got a new video up from The Frozen Halls from World of Warcraft's
patch 3.3. This time we've got a complete video walkthrough, including
the roleplay event, of The Halls of Reflection. Watch Sylvanas and
Arthas face off and get the pro tips you need to claim victory over
this tough but exciting encounter.
Today's Hottest Content
-
The Ten
Ton Hammer Best of 2009 Awards
-
Star
Trek Online:
Klingons and PvP Q&A with Cryptic Studios - The Cause of
style="font-weight: bold;">Mass Effect - An Interview with the
BioWare Founders - LotRO
Siege of Mirkwood Complete Edition Holiday Giveaway - World of
Warcraft: Popular Mounts and How to Get Them! -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/reviews/soloriusevent">Aion
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/reviews/soloriusevent">
"Solorious" Holiday Event Review - A look back at Aion
in 2009 - Runes
of Magic Add-On Guide - Mass Effect 2
Hands-On Preview - Playing it
Forward: A Mass Effect 2 Video Q&A with BioWare's Casey
Hudson
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 World of Warcraft Game Page.
