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

Paying $15 a month not to play a game.
TGDaily has chatted with a World of Warcraft bot programmer. You too, can pay not to play a game.

" Mercury told us that the primary purpose of WoWglider is to allow busy people to "level up" their characters. When he first started playing WoW, Mercury felt left behind because his friends were already at level 60 and he had little time to catch up. "I also wanted to get to 60 to come along on the instance runs, but I had no time to grind it out between work and social life." Many areas of the game are only available to higher level characters, so Mercury wrote WoWglider to accelerate his game. "

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Tights, Their Not Just For Women Anymore...
Protectors
of Paragon City! Miss Liberty has a special message for you...

Transcript of Miss Liberty’s Radio Address on December 2nd, 2005:
Heroes of Paragon, as the threat of Arachnos darkens our shores and the Rikti
menace remains unchecked, these are dangerous times certain to try even the
strongest hero’s resolve.
Yet, day after day you ceaselessly strive to protect the freedom and honor
of your home. Your stalwart struggle against the tyranny of evil is for neither
fame nor money. Instead you rise above these concerns as you fight for what
you know in your heart to be right.
We believe that this selfless dedication to the principles of justice must
be recognized! In order to acknowledge your superlative contribution to the
ongoing and ever growing glory of Paragon City, we at Freedom Corps have arranged
a special holiday gift for you all!

But, be warned! The City
of Villians has already heard of this and are formulating a plan as we speak!

Take this to Silver Mantis right away!
Silver,
I just overheard a radio address from that old bag Miss Liberty and she’s
made some tasty toys for her cloth-wearing weaklings to buy a little loyalty.
Sounds like it will be a high-tech gadget and I’m going to catch a shipment
before they get to Independence Port. Assuming it isn’t just some holiday
piece of junk, I want to build it into my armor.
Lord Recluse gave the go ahead but only if I share the spoils with those
destined scum that have overrun my territory like rats. Ah well, we can keep
most of the haul for ourselves as long as we give enough away to keep the
Arachnos wannabes quiet.

Hurry! You only have from December 8 to January 2!

• Here
  are some clues that might help you!
• Remember, to defeat your enemy, you
  must understand them!

"Bring Out Your Dead!"
MMORPG.com
got an exclusive trailer of Age of Conan for your viewing.

The MMORPG.com exclusive video footage you are about to see are taken from
an Acheron ruins complex on the island of Tortage. This island is the area
where players find themselves at the start of Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventure,
the forthcoming Online Action RPG from Funcom. The island has a great variety
of locations, and some of the ingredients are an active volcano that towers
over the island, deep lush forest paths, beautiful beaches, dense jungle,
mystical ruins and challenging monster areas. Your journey will eventually
lead you to the bustling pirate city of Tortage, where wild adventures and
rough bar brawling fights awaits.

• Take
  A Look At The Trailer
• Get
  Some More News On Age of Conan From TTH
• Or, Visit The Official
  Site For All Your Barbaric Needs

The Fanta Girls: Coming to an MMO Near You
A new Nielson survey, sponsored by Activision, found that in-game activision works. Not only that, but gamers seem to enjoy seeing the ads in games like Anarchy Online. I guess its like when cowboys used to write about how glad they were to see a train pass by; a little slice of civilization.

Research results also found that, contrary to the assumption that highly pervasive ads would detract from the game play and frustrate gamers, a majority of study participants said that when the product is relevant to the game, advertising enhances the experience. Underscoring relevance, the study revealed that the vast majority of gamers who recalled a product in a game felt it fit the game they were playing. Moreover, a much higher percentage of gamers changed their opinion of the product positively versus negatively after having played the game.

Now, how are they going to get Viagra ads into fantasy MMOs? Town crier? Broadsheet notices? Check out the results of the Activision / Nielson survey on in-game ads at the Activision investor's site!