Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

I wasn't alone when shortly after Aion's launch in September of 2009 I found myself getting a little bored. The game was nice looking, and had some decent mechanics but overall the solo grind through the levels left me begging for some group content. By the time I had reached a level where the first group dungeon was open to us many of my friends had quit and I found myself back at square one. Alone in an MMORPG.

Exploring a dungeon in Reckoning. What makes a great game? Defining that could take an entire series of articles and more words than the Internet can hold. For some it would be graphics, for others it would be story. However there is a simple answer to that question. No matter what game you prefer and for whatever reasons, the root is always the same. What makes a great game? Its visionaries and the team. When it comes to visionaries it's hard to argue that 38 Studios has anything but the cream of the crop. We've seen their team and we've seen what they've done in the past. Earlier this year I was able to join the quad of minds behind the plans at the Studio in a panel discussion. What ensued was nothing short of inspirational to any game enthusiast. Of course, when you have a team of all-stars on any panel it's hard not to get swept away. In attendance to discuss the vision behind 38 Studios was the Studio's founder, Curt Schilling, along with Todd McFarlane of Spawn and other comic book fame (as well as some major motion pictures), RA Salvatore best known for his NY Times best selling Dungeons & Dragons novels featuring the iconic Drizzt, and Ken Rolston of Morrowind and Oblivion fame.

After a hands on with TERA at GDC, Ten Ton Hammer followed up with En Masse the next week at PAX East to talk a bit more about the AI, UI and the big-ass monsters they saw. Senior Producer Brian Knox and PR Director Matt Atwood filled us in.

I admit, when APB was canceled by Realtime Worlds, I was disappointed. I wouldn't say the game was a must-play to any extent, but I did have enough fun with it that I was sorry to see it go. I did have some major gripes about it, though, as did the rest of the community. So, when GamersFirst announced that they had acquired the rights to the game and would be bringing it back with APB: Reloaded, my first instinct was one of caution. It frankly wasn't fun to step into the streets and get gunned down in seconds by players who were 50 levels higher than you. It was frustrating to chase someone down on the streets, filling them full of lead from your gun, hitting them 50 or 60 times without their health going down much, if at all; and then having them turn around and kill you with a single shot. These things were not cool, and I was praying that GamersFirst would address those issues. Well, they have. That, and more, as I saw at GDC this year.