MMO news, guides, reviews, features, interviews and more at Ten Ton Hammer

Maybe their tights are just too tight?
GameSpot has a City of Villains interview posted featuring Jack Emmert, the creative director on the game. The Rhino charged into our offices and smashed them to bits. In the rubble we found the following:

" It's good to be evil, or that's the lesson that NCsoft and Cryptic Studios hope that you'll learn later this year, when City of Villains launches. This follow-up to last year's online role-playing game City of Heroes will twist things around a bit. Instead of creating a unique and powerful superhero and saving the world from destruction, you'll create a dastardly supervillain who is looking to become rich, powerful, and infamous. You'll not only battle computer-controlled opponents, but you'll also get into scruffs with other villains, not to mention those meddling superheroes. City of Villains is currently undergoing its beta test for the November launch, so we caught up with Jack Emmert, City of Villains' creative director, to learn more about what you'll be able to do in the game. "

You can read the entire City of Villains interview at GameSpot.

Hobbit Illustrated.
The official Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar site has some new screenshots for your viewing pleasure. Two hobbits who were talkingveryfastsaidsomethingthatresembledthis:

"

This is a test of the emergency description system. If the folks at LotRO had posted a description of their screenshots you would have read it here. Remember this is only a test. In the case of a real emergency you will find us hiding in a well."

You can view the Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar Screenshots at the Official Site.

SWDP (Single White Dwarf Priest) seeks Elven paladin level 10-12 for long walks in a dungeon.
GameSpy has posted a Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach preview based on their experience with the title at GenCon in Indianapolis. Samuel L. Jackson rolled the dice and exlaimed:

" I came to the 2005 GenCon Game Faire in Indianapolis with only a small
list of "must-do" items. Sitting somewhere in the top five roughly between "get 'Geek version 2.0' t-shirts for my kids" and "finally buy that plush Cthulhu toy" was "get in some hands-on time with Dungeons & Dragons Online." Okay, I'll admit it, I was a big ol' D&D geek back in the day, and while I haven't had the time to play in many years, I still have a lot of affection for the game. Add to that the idea of building a whole MMO around it and I'm in. Rather than just dive in, though, I decided to wait until after my extended conversation with Dave Eckleberry. I'd wait to see what he had to say about what makes the product distinct and then judge for myself by actually playing the game. "

You can read the Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach Preview at GameSpy.
More DDO than you can shake a bugbear at: DDO.TenTonHammer.com.

Not the 25-cent sack of candy from the local confectioneer..
Nope, its the DAoC weekly grab bag! This week: questions about champion weapons from the coming "Darkness Rising" expansion.

Q: (Insert question here about the champion weapons in Darkness Rising.)
A: From the Really Evil Overlord of Camelot, Jeff Hickman: "We are aware that there have been some concerns about what we are doing with the champion weapons and encounters in Darkness Rising. We want to clear up a few misconceptions:
1. Champion weapons are almost identical in power to many popular artifacts, and we are looking forward to user feedback during testing.
2. Champion Quests can be done with one group (eight players) or fewer. Players can of course bring MORE players to make the encounter easier, but please note that due in part to our “one group” design decision, many steps are instanced. And as you know, no more than one group can get into an instance.

All this and more in this weeks Dark Age of Camelot grab-bag!