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Posted Wed, Jan 06, 2010 by Shayalyn

Welcome to the 1,243rd edition of Loading...

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

We humans are a cynical lot, and that cynicism is ever-present among MMOG gamers these days. Game launches in the past few years have followed a cycle of incredible hype followed by bitter disappointment. Are we becoming too jaded to see the promising MMOGs of 2010 with fresh eyes? Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg recommends a dog's-eye view in today's Loading... Happy Happy Joy Joy.

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is The Pulse?).

Here are today's top 5 Pulse results:

Biggest movers today:

Dragon Age: Origins (Down 3 to #10)
Champions Online (Down 3 to #10)
City of Heroes (UP 3 to #17)

Recent Releases

9/22 - Aion (release date)
10/8 - Cities XL (release date)
11/3 - Dragon Age: Origins (release date)
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)

Upcoming Releases

1/26 - Mass Effect 2 (release date)
2/1 - Global Agenda (release date)
2/2 - Star Trek Online (release date)
2/16 - EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
March 2010 - APB

Loading... Daily

A few mornings ago, I found myself lumbering around in a sleepy haze. The kids were on their way back to school after a long holiday vacation, and I had to get used to getting up at the crack of dawn-thirty again. I moved through my routine as caffeinated relief dripped too slowly into the coffee carafe. While my groggy kids did their morning thing, I sat down to begin my Ten Ton Hammer rounds: check for reported forum posts, ban spammers, compile a list of the day’s articles for a press release, and put together the Epic Thread for Loading….

It was then that I heard the telltale clicking of claws on our hardwood floors. I glanced up to see Toshi, our shiba inu (a dog breed I've nicknamed, not coincidentally, the "shiba annoyu") go merrily prancing by with a sock in his mouth. Our bathroom door doesn’t latch properly, so he’d pushed it open and stolen the sock from my son, who was in the shower.

“Toshi, no!” I scolded. I sighed and retrieved the undergarment from him, then tossed it back in the bathroom so my poor son would have all the pieces of his wardrobe handy when he got out of the shower.

I sat back down at my desk and tried to regain my focus. It wasn’t long before I heard that same claws-on-hardwood sound…clickclickclickclick! I looked up, and watched as our furry, fox-like puppy sailed by, in full Wonder Dog leap, with his front paws outstretched, his back legs tucked up, and his tail held high, looking for all the world like he should be wearing a cape.

And, of course, he had a pair of stolen boxer shorts in his mouth.

I might have been frustrated--after all, I was getting nothing accomplished and my work had been interrupted for the second time in under five minutes--but I couldn’t help laughing. The thing that struck me in that moment was the abject joy with which this little dog went about his pursuit of pilfered underwear. There’s nothing quite so gleeful as a dog who has something he knows he’s not really supposed to have, and who suspects that, despite the odds, he just may have gotten away with it this time.

Author George Bird Evans wrote, “I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren't certain we knew better.” And he’s right. The more I observe my dogs, the more I come to understand what a cynical lot we humans are. I keep dogs around in part to remind me to stay focused on enjoying the simple things, that even when I’m chasing my own tail…it’s all good.

Cynicism is present just about everywhere you look these days. The economy’s still in crisis, and jobs are still in short supply. War is still raging in the Middle East. But those are the big ticket items. On a much smaller scale, I see the ever-present cynicism on our own forums every single day. We publish an article about Allods Online, a promising new free-to-play title, and within minutes the hostility begins to flow.

I’m not holding this jaded viewpoint against gamers, and especially not against our forum members, who are unabashedly cool. It’s no one’s fault, really. While logic tells us that no developer in his right mind is going to want to make a lousy game, new MMOG releases have generated a cycle of incredible hype followed by bitter disappointment. Part of the problem is that now we’ve come to expect the disappointment. Instead of giving the games we play a fair shake, we enter them instantly looking for flaws, for a reason to say, “See? I knew it! I knew this game would let me down.”

My proposition, and indeed my own personal resolution for 2010, is to try to enter this year’s crop of MMOGs with fresh eyes; to realize that just because it’s been bad doesn’t mean it will necessarily stay that way. We have some promising new titles on the horizon, from Star Trek Online to Star Wars: The Old Republic to Final Fantasy XIV. I’m going to let myself look forward to them. I’m going to go into them looking for what’s right instead of what’s wrong. I want to find joy in playing again, because there was a time when running around a virtual world collecting virtual items and hanging out with friends and their virtual avatars brought me quite a lot of happiness.

Failing that, at least I’ll have my pup to remind me that there’s nothing like a freshly laundered, pilfered pair of boxers to make the day complete.

Are you a jaded gamer? Are you hopeful about the games of 2010 or are you skeptical? Share your thoughts in the Loading... forum.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Articles, News and Events Discussion forum

BioWare Announces Expansion for Dragon Age: Origins

Our news writer estraordinaire, Martuk, posted yesterday that a new expansion for BioWare's single-player PRG, Dragon Age: Origins, was on the horizon. The expansion, called Awakening, will be available on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 for the price of $39.99, with the PC version retailing at $29.99. Immediately, our community members said the expansion was too expensive. And then that it wasn't. And then that it was. Which side of the debate are you on? How much would you be willing to pay for a full-fledged expansion? Tell us!

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Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"Well if it is a full-fledged expansion I'm willing to fork out 40$. What I expect is something at least 70-80% as long as the original game, with perhaps a deeper story now that the core setting is out of the way.

Better this way than 5$ DLCs that add 30-40 minutes of game time."

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

5 new Ten Ton Hammer features today! 16 in January! 16 in 2010!

Exclusive Features and Original Guides Today at Ten Ton Hammer

Star Trek Online Beta Journal #3 - Rising Through The Ranks
Star Trek Online advertises itself as a skills-based system, not an experience-based system. This means that the player determines where the advancement occurs, not some pre-determined value or math equation. If you think this sounds confusing, you're not the only one.. Read Jay "Medeor" Johnson's latest STO beta journal and it will all become clear.
Aion Carebear's Guide to Dodging PvP
Being a carebear in Aion is nothing to be ashamed of! Whether you regularly strive to avoid PvP combat or just want a few moments of peace every now and again, the tips in this handy guide will show you how you can avoid PvP confrontations in a PvP-centric game so you too can be a sly PvP-dodging carebear.
Dungeons & Dragons Online: New Character Build - The Tinkerer
The Tinkerer is a technologically obsessed Rogue/Wizard build with a twist of arcane magic designed with the roleplayer in mind. Join Eric “Dalmarus” Campbell as he creates this new character build, complete with feats, skills, spells, and its very own history.
Aion Weaponsmithing 100-199
If you're lost on the path to crafting the lost weapons of Aion, fear not. We have you covered for that lovely stretch of titanium and beyond. Tier 2 of Weaponsmithing is a costly venture but a necessary one to trudge through on your route to becoming an expert. So take out that loan from a legion buddy and get ready to hit that forge!
Look into the Hole with Two New Exclusive EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate Screenshots
EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate will introduce more of the classic zones from Odus to Norrath and this week Sony Online Entertainment has sent us two exclusive screenshots from the Hole, a popular dungeon from the first EverQuest game being added with the Sentinel's Fate expansion. The new screenshots offer a look at some of the content that will soon be available for exploration in the dungeon when the expansion goes live.