Loading... Multiplayer Miracles
Posted December 29th, 2009 by B. de la Durantaye
How a miracle happened to me
Welcome to the 1,238th edition of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
For a single 32-year-old editor with no holiday family commitments,
Christmas is enjoyed about as much as a dutch grandmother enjoys Senior
Prom. She may smile and be polite, but in the end it's just a bunch of
people having fun around her, and she doesn't really understand why. This
Christmas was a special one though. Find out why in Loading...
Multiplayer Miracles.
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Whilst my colleagues and majority of my friends were visiting family or
opening presents under the tree this weekend I sat at home wishing I
had remembered to buy enough food to stay nourished during the 48-hour
international and civic lockdown known as Christmas. Even more, I
wished I had gotten around to building that robotic pal from the
internet so I would have someone to play a game with. Then, a true
Christmas miracle happened. I received a very special Christmas present
from Ten Ton Hammer's Matt Lowery in the form of a Steam Gift. It was Borderlands.We had reviewed Borderlands a little earlier this year, but I hadn't had the chance to play it myself. Eric Campbell got the office copy for the review (which, by the way, I still think was a grave injustice. Someone was obviously playing favorites in trade for powerleveling.) Matt was on my side though, and decided to take it upon himself to right the wrong and get me my very own copy. "We'll play together!" he said excitedly, as we jumped up and down giggling gleefully in a field of daisies and clovers.
My celebrations were shattered when only later did I find out that Matt, too, was a normal person and had family and friends that he wanted to spend time with during the holidays. This isn't a slight against Matt. In fact, I would have felt bad if he had played with me over the holidays. My point simply being that again I found myself alone, with a shiny new toy in hand and nobody to play with. Tears welling in my eyes, I sat down, rested my head on my hands and stared distantly at the download progress bar in Steam. 64%... 65%... The bar treaded onward. I knew that soon enough I'd have this great new game but even so the numbers held no meaning any more. 66%... 67%... Oh, why didn't I fight for that relationship all those years ago to avoid being alone today? 68%... 69%... If only I had gotten her to play EverQuest we'd still be together. 70%... 71%... Or maybe I could get a pet of some sort. Are koalas available in Canada? 72%... 73%... OH! I forgot I have Oreos!
After gorging on chocolately goodness, I sat back down in front of the PC. The game was ready to play. Bachelor blues be damned, I was determined to have a good time. As I booted up the game and picked chunks of chocolate cookie out of my teeth I heard the unmistakeable chime of MSN Messenger. A little puzzled as to who could possibly be so pathetic as to be on MSN during the holidays, I tabbed out to see who it was.
"Hey man, I got Borderlands and a couple hours free. Wanna play?" It was main site writer, Jason Bolton.
"No WAI!" I exclaimed, cookie crumbs spattering across my screen. The second Christmas miracle had just happened.
We hurriedly jumped into Ventrilo after a quick drive out to the field of daisies and clovers to do our giggling man-dance and booted up the game. In no time we were distributing fear among the residents of Pandora and having the time of our lives. The hours flew by and eventually the inevitable came to be, and Medawky said he had to go.
"No problem, man. Thanks for playing today," I told him.
"It was my pleasure, dude," he replied.
"And Jason?"
"Yes?"
"I love you, man."
There was an awkward few seconds of silence ended by Jason saying "ok then! Have a good one." I believe in my heart that he felt the Christmas miracle too.
The day turned out alright. I was content. At that point I would have said "yes, for sure miracles can happen," and I probably would have believed it for a little while. But nothing prepared me for what happened next. The third and final miracle was about to unfold.
Bla-bloo-boop (that's onomatopeia for the sound MSN Messenger makes when you have a new message). I figured it was probably just Jason wanting to say "I love you too, man," but much to my surprise, it was someone completely different. It was returning contributing writer, Jeff Francis!
"Dude, I heard Matt got you Borderlands. Wanna play?"
"DOOOOD!" I exclaimed as I started putting on my shoes again in preparation for the field of daisies and clovers.
And that's how my Christmas weekend ended. Jeff and I have been playing Borderlands every night for the past few nights. And it's been awesome. We eat Oreos and shoot things in the head in a cooperative effort to bring order to the chaos that is Pandora. Next week, I think I'm going to ask Jeff if he wants to take our relationship to the next level and do an all-nighter of Borderlands.
So, dear readers, I'm here to say that Christmas Miracles do happen. Even to a 32-year-old bachelor editor like me. With some good friends, Oreos, and some good games, miracles can happen to you too.
Have your own miracle you want to share? Tell us in the forums.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day
From our Vanguard News & Announcements Forum
Vanguard 2010 Content Plans Scaled Back with Another Possible Server Merger
Poor Vanguard. I've loved this game, been burned by this game, and loved it yet again though it's a pale shadow of what it could have been had it been optimized and relatively bugless at launch. But now we're hearing that, primarily due to a small and overworked staff, projects that the remaining Vanguard loyal have been anxiously awaiting (such as Alternate Advancement) are being scrapped and server mergers are a possibility.
Are you one of those people like me who hate to see Vangaurd not realizing its potential? Or could you care less if it crashes and burns? What will revitalize the game? Talk it up!
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread
"Yo SOE listen here.
Take VG off the market.
Reskin it to be EQ3.
Add support and fixes and content.
Profit."
- AngryBeaver
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
3 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 122 in December! 2,304 in
2009!
Exclusive Features and Guides Today at Ten Ton Hammer
- Dungeons & Dragons Online – The
Favored Soul: To Buy or Not to Buy
Dungeons and Dragons Online went to a free to play model this past September, re-titling itself as Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited and there's little doubt in anyone's mind now that it was the right move. And although the majority of classes are completely free to play, not all of them are. Join Eric “Dalmarus” Campbell as he test-drives the Favored Soul class in order to determine whether this ride of divinity is worth the price of admission. - Runes of Magic - The Mage: Dual
Class Options
Runes of Magic puts a spin on standard classes by adding the Dual Class system. Setting it apart not only from the free to play format but also spicing up the MMO world in general. This alone can cause an amount of uncertainty for any game so join resident TTH Runes player ZeroMerc as he explores the dual class options for the Warden; one of the newer Runes classes. - WoW Death Knight Equipment
Death Knights have many options when it comes to gear. This is due to the fact that they can choose to play as a damage dealer or as a tank. Even knowing their role, depending on their talent spec the priorities for gear can shift subtlety. Which gear is best, which stats are best, how about glyphs and enchants? Byron “Messiah” Mudry brings all this information together in one place as he explains in detail all about Death Knight equipment.
Today's Hottest Content
- The Ten Ton Hammer Best of 2009 Awards
- Going Klingon - A Star Trek Online Q&A with Zeke Sparkes
- Behind the Curtains - The Story Behind Popular WoW Memes
- Mythos Q&A With Redbana Global Manager - Eric Liu
- Star Trek Online: Klingons and PvP Q&A with Cryptic Studios
- The Cause of Mass Effect - An Interview with the BioWare Founders
- Champions Online : Winter Event Hands On Impressions
- Flying The Drake Battlecruiser in EVE Online
- A look back at Aion in 2009
- Dungeons & Dragons Online: New Character Build - The Summoner
Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
- Benjamin J. de la Durantaye
and the Ten Ton Hammer team
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