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

Computer, Dev Notes On Screen!
STO developed Daron Stinett posted a large blog entry detailing the basic design of the game, namely what will be availble to players as they rise through the ranks of the Federation. So begins a long parade of silly trekkie one-liners we'll use to announce the slightest bit of news coming out of the Perpetual camp!

" At lower levels, players will access away missions via transporters and NPC piloted shuttles for missions beyond transporter range. As players rise in rank, they will gain access to player piloted shuttles and ships, and ultimately assigned a permanent commission. Personal (PC) ships are small to medium sized and assigned based on player department. They are primarily designed to be piloted by the owner but may have options for multiple players to work together as a bridge crew. Groups of players with ships can band together to tackle missions. Players will be able to walk around their ships, with medium sized (i.e. Defiant class) and larger ships providing more elaborate interiors and appropriate amenities. Manning any of the bridge consoles will enable an external tactical view for combat. The performance, appearance, and amenities of personal ships can be upgraded and customized."

Head here to read the entire Dev Blog entry at Perpetual.com!

Will SOE Run Into a Great Wall in China?
Gamania Entertainment will open public testing of Everquest 2 in China on August 23rd to compete with the incredibly successful release of World of Warcraft in the Asian block. Somehow the idea of Everquest 2 Cafes just seems... wrong.

""EverQuest II's" advanced animation and game play should allow the title to compete well against "World of Warcraft." However, hardware requirements may act to hinder development of "EverQuest II" in China. The U.S. version of "EverQuest II" requires a minimum of 512 megabytes of RAM, with a recommended 1 gigabyte of RAM, in order to play the game, requirements that few PCs in China now meet."

Read the entire article, courtesy of Interfax China.

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Attack of the Show on G4TV went into bi-polar mode today. The high was having Drew Curtis of Fark.com on the show giving us the lowdown on why space shuttle launches are like NASCAR. The low, akin to a cockroach in a wagon rut, was seeing Sean Baby, formerly of UGO fame yipping and yapping like a chihuahua, his pink mohawk sticking up off his skull like a flourescent beacon of what was cool in the 80s. To give Sean Baby credit, he has overcome the pink mohawk and the name Sean Baby to last 10 years on the Internet.
Remember, nasty mail, spam and angry thoughts should all be directed at the new guy, Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle. Good karma should be directed my way along with paypal donations and Jinx.com T-shirts.
A Challenge to both of you who read this column. Go break the TTH Search Tool. I mean it. Go break the thing and then send me the error or a screenshot of the tool in its death throes. I'll pick one or two exceptional entries and fire you out something nifty.
Now on to the real world, you can't make this stuff up.

• Economists To Explore Online Games
  
  These online games might not be a fad.
• NASA To Conduct Spacewalk
  
  Astronauts relieved that NASA will do it instead of them.
• Man Injured in Tombstoning Jump
  
  Australian man to be renamed Mr. Obvious after Tombstoning nearly gets him his own.
• Apple Makes 2-Button Mouse
  
  Apple computer that runs needed programs still unavailable.
• Squirrels Trained To Crack Nuts
  
  Training dogs to bark still in development.
• Plane Plunge Panics Passengers
  
  Meal and headphones still $5 each.
• Bacall Rips Cruises's 'Vulgar' Behaviour
  
  Scientology teams head to Bacall's estate to "clear" the place.
• Scientists Invent Logo Robos
  
  All kneel in the presence of our new robotic logo overlords.
• Bird vs Jet Engine (with video)
  
  Bird 1 - Expensive Jet 0
• Iran to Resume Some Nuclear Activities
  
  And by "some" they mean all.
• Thief Steals Dwarves
  
  MMOG guilds unavailable for comment.

I wonder if Team Arena has met Team America - World Police?
TenTonHammer.com has released a guide to Guild Wars Team Arena. PvP and no monthly fee:

"mk of an up-and-coming guild rapidly climbing the GvG ladder, Angry Businessmens [aB], plays Team Arenas during off-times when enough people aren't around. However, he feels that it has merits and can be fun, as well. Provided in this article are a brief introduction to the wonders of Team Arena, and also a featured build and how to execute it for success. Two hammers with two energy draining monks - it has seen much success, going undefeated for hours."

You can read the entire Wonders of Team Arena and a Featured build at GuildWars.TenTonHammer.com.