Welcome to the 780th Edition of Loading...

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Daily Column

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First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.

If the Top 10 isn't enough, we now show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)

1. Age of Conan - 200 BPM
2. World of Warcraft - 93 BPM
3. Warhammer Online - 36 BPM
4. EverQuest 2 - 30 BPM
5. Lord of the Rings Online - 30 BPM
6. Lineage 2 - 30 BPM
7. EVE Online - 25 BPM
8. Guild Wars - 19 BPM
9. Tabula Rasa - 18 BPM
10. Vanguard - 15 BPM

Some things are inevitable, like any movie car chase taking place in Asia having a scene where the car hits a fruit cart or readers giving me the one-finger-salute when I write about one game too much. ( I like to think that they are telling me that I'm #1.) Such is the case with Age of Conan. I'm not so sure that it's my column that has them buzzing or the enormous Pulse numbers. Either way, I got an earful in that inner monologue voice that you hear when you read an e-mail that I was spending too much time on AoC.

Fair enough...

Let's talk about what is coming down the pipe in 2008 and beyond. What are my most anticipated games? You may be surprised.

1. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - My Warhammer passion goes back a long way. I've been part of the game industry for a long time. I was part of a large and successful team that built game communities back in 1997, when the web was just starting to resemble something that you could use efficiently. Before that, I played and coded MUDs. At one point in my journey down the path that placed me in front of you I owned a 5,000 square foot gaming center where players enjoyed not only games like EverQuest, but also tabletop games like Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Blood Bowl. My excitement over the release of a Warhammer MMOG is obviously much deeper than what I have seen and been told by EA-Mythic. It's part of my gaming gene pool.
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - I play WoW and I enjoy WoW. I would like to enjoy it for some time to come. Though I'm not as excited about this expansion as I was about Burning Crusade it's hard not to feel a tingle when I think that I'll have some new content to consume, probably this year.
3. Age of Conan - It looks great and the development team is eager to talk about it. There you go e-mailers, short and sweet.
4. LEGO Universe - One word, "fun". Next to Pokemon this might be the biggest intellectual property in the world of MMOGs.
5. StarGate Worlds - An open-ended intellectual property that has the potential to blow the doors off the industry. I have also watched every second of every Stargate episode.
6. World of Darkness - White Wolf + CCP = Win!
7. Jumpgate Evolution - I'd like X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter in a MMOG. Is this it?
8. DC Comics - With Marvel dead, is this the last great hope for comic fans?
9. FusionFall - Turner is entering the MMOG market. They can't afford to burn up on entry.
10. Chronicles of Spellborn - Even though the "reset" button was hit on some of the design that I felt was the most innovative, this title still has great appeal to me.

What are your Top 10 most anticipated MMOGs? Tell us in The Loading... forums.

Do you feel the need to contact me personally with naughty pictures or derogatory comments? Here's my E-mail.

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9 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 236 in February! 513 in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

• Age of Conan: Border Kingdom Cryer
• Dungeons and Dragons and Gleemax Insider Interview Part Two From GDC '08
• EverQuest 2: Expansion Blues - EQ2 Humour
• Lord of the Rings Online: Weekly Troll Report 02.29.2008
• Tabula Rasa: Guide to Baylor Base
• Tabula Rasa: Sanctus Grotto Dev Diary
• TenTonHamster: How We Pay For Our Kids' Gaming Habits
• Vanguard: Poll - Developer/Community Communication
• Webkinz: Zingoz Pie Throw

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to

1. Age of Conan: Jason Stone Interviewed at GDC '08
2. Turbine's Craig Alexander Video Q&A from GDC '08
3. Dungeons and Dragons / Gleemax Developers Interviewed at GDC ' 08
4. Stargate Worlds: Preview From 'GDC 08
5. Lord of the Rings Online: Jeffrey Steefel Book 12 Interview at GDC '08
6. 38 Studios: An Interview with Brett Close on the BigWorld License
7. Dungeons and Dragons Online: Kate Paiz Video Q&A From GDC '08
8. Earth Eternal: Interview With Matt Mihaly From GDC '08
9. Tabula Rasa: Creature AI Changes Video
10. GameOver Podcast #14 - Abusing Superpowers

Real World News (100% Phil "Ralphedelominius" Comeau Created Today!)

• Gary Bettman To Testify That NHL Is Steroid-Free
  Players will no longer have to pay for their steroids. Leafs suck.
• Michael Jackson May Auction Items From Neverland Ranch
  Everything must go! Boy's pants half off!
• Man Arrested For Sex With Dog
  Ex-girlfriend reports that he liked it ruff.

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team