Good on you for reading this today! One +Karma point just dropped into your bucket!
I’m John Hoskin and I’ll be your MMOG tour guide today. Enjoy the ride!
“We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about sicence and technology.” – Carl Sagan
Everyone can use a feel good moment to start the day. Let’s go with this…
Thanks for taking some time out of your day to read this column. I appreciate it. If you happen to use Twitter, you can follow me @BoomjackTTH. I rarely use Facebook, but I do occasionally post gaming related tidbits on Google+, where amazingly people use real names.
Real names, what a concept; how would our gaming lives be different if we played with Bill Smith and Mary Goodman, rather than XXikillnubsXX and Fhuhqtoo One of the most memorable comics for me first hit the public eye in 1993.
“On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” – Peter Steiner
First shown in The New Yorker, this comic blew through the gaming company where I worked because it was poignant both from an Internet privacy point of view, but also from an Internet sociological angle. It touches upon how as human beings our behaviour changes when we are anonymous, as in truly anonymous and beyond any repercussions for our actions.
I can’t reach through my computer screen and screw Fuhqtwo’s head on straight when he refuses to enter an instance and can’t be booted from the group. His behaviour is purely malicious with an intent only to ruin the game experience for everyone else involved. He’s the same guy (and I’ll take a quantum leap assuming such) that:
Enters as a tank, but has DPS gear and is in a DPS spec
Pulls and then exits the instance leaving everyone else to die.
Needs on everything that he can need on.
Goes AFK between every trash pull.
And so on.
Would FuhQtwo do this if his real name was being broadcast on the screen? He might; there are certainly individuals out there who act like this without the wall of anonymity, but most of the trolls would behave in a more socially acceptable manner. At least, I’d like to believe that.
But I don’t believe it . If we used real names and by some miracle the names were truly the real name of the individual it would just be another way for miscreants to beat their chests and annoy others without any repercussion. It’s a lot like this Oatmeal Comic. If the “kids” in that comic had real names attached it wouldn’t change a thing. In fact, it might make it worse!
Blizzard’s RealID was a step in some direction, I’m not sure if it was good or bad. The uproar over privacy was immense, roiled by the same group that posts pictures of themselves drunk on the bathroom floor on Facebook where their 8,723 close friends can see it. My real name is all over the Internet and I have yet to have anyone call me at home or knock on my door. I have had some weird experiences at gaming events where readers of my old column tracked me down in Las Vegas and camped my spawn for three days. It was harmless, good intentioned and provides a good story now and then. No harm. No foul.
Red5 Studios Founder Mark Kern introduces us to the Orbital Comm map, one of many locations available in the PvE and PvP side of the game. Along the way we'll see the renewed Recon and Medic classes, learn about clan and competition mechanics, and find out what awaits us from Firefall at PAX Prime 2011!
Deus Ex has often been referred to as the Holy Grail of gaming by its rabid fans. After a misstep with Deus Ex: Invisible War, now it’s up to the guys at Eidos to learn from their mistakes and make a worthy sequel of a legend. But did they succeed?
Earlier this year Jagex announced its latest MMOG project, Transformers Universe. Details were still a bit thin so Ten Ton Hammer caught up to Art Director Steven Huckle on the show floor at gamescom this year to see what more we could find out. As it turns out, Steven was happy to answer our questions.
The Fallen Earth team is looking to fix the in-game economy and this week Producer Marie Croall has posted a new blog detailing how the team aims to accomplish that goal.
Swords and spells meet their match with plasma guns and flying motorbikes in gPotato's new fusion-fantasy MMORPG, Sevencore. Gala Networks today announced new details about their latest project along with a new video and gameplay trailer for the game.
While this story doesn’t relate to MMORPG news directly, we still think it’s relevant to many of our readers. GameStop has managed to find itself at the center of new controversy following yesterday’s launch of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. More follows.
Good guys, bad guys and fast cars--that's what APB: Reloaded is all about. APB, originally cancelled in 2010, has been retooled and is gearing up for its free-to-play relaunch in November, 2011.
If you're revved up about this online chase game, designed by the creator of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, then we've got the goods for you. Our trip to gamescom yielded some APB swag, and we want to give our premium members a shot at winning it. Here's what you could get:
We're working on a full-featured World of Warcraft database to accompany PlayerScore. For now, we've just cracked the door open to give you a peek at what's to come.
We'd also like to ask for your help. There's some information, such as mob drops and npc locations, that must be gathered in-game. We've run all over Azeroth and Outland, but without more help we'll never get it all ourselves. So, please consider downloading our AddOns to help.
Jeff joined the Ten Ton Hammer team in 2004 covering EverQuest II, and he's had his hands on just about every PC online and multiplayer game he could since.
