Welcome to the 765th Edition of Loading...

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Daily Column

Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle sitting in on Loading... again today for John "Boomjack" Hoskin.

From the "OMG Blizzard is making Starcraft Online" dept., Xinhua (the People's Republic of China's people's state press agency of the people) is reporting that Netease.com won it's bid to operate Blizzard's next MMORPG, which the article names as (drumroll please) Starcraft Online. Neither Blizzard nor Netease would confirm the rumor, which must of course mean that it's true. When asked if the move was just a propagandist attempt to drive up stock prices piecemeal in the face of the 100-year snowstorm that paralyzed parts of China's economy in January, the anonymous industry insider reportedly said, "Hey, look over there!" and scampered off.

Now for some more substantive Blizzard news. Via a great article at VirtuallyBlind, the big B won the first lawsuit of its kind against In Game Dollar (DBA Peons4Hire) for advertising via chat spam. As the article states: "Peons4Hire was not the largest virtual property dealer in World of Warcraft, but it was well known for aggressive in-game marketing via chat spam. The lawsuit could be seen as a shot across the bow of larger sellers."

While its a settlement rather than a judgment (meaning it doesn't carry quite the same "precedental weight"), this injunction nevertheless has teeth. The terms prohibit Peons4Hire from "engaging in the sale of World of Warcraft virtual assets or power levelling services" or "investing in a new operation doing any of the enjoined acts." The California court retains jurisdiction to award punitive damages if Peons4Hire violates any of the terms.

Score one for Blizzard, who has taken the fight against goldsellers into the courts. Will this serve as a warning to other goldsellers, or will another head simply appear now that this one's been cut off? Tell me in the Loading... forums.

Forget the naughty images request, I didn't even know that was possible. Here's my E-mail anyway.

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11 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 78 so far in February! 355 so far in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

• Age of Conan - Border Kingdom Cryer
• Age of Conan - Hyborian Beta Tester Guide
• Anarchy Online Developer Diary #4: Every NPC is Special
• Chronicles of Spellborn - Dev Journal: Combat Testing
• City of Heroes "XP Curve Smoothing" Q&A with Matt "Positron" Miller
• Lord of the Rings - Weekly Troll Report 2/8/8
• Tabula Rasa - Guide to the Devil's Den
• Tabula Rasa - Poll: Do We Need Military Surplus?
• Vanguard - Poll: So What's It Going to Take?
• WoW - Guide to Emotes / PvP & Channel Commands
• WoW - Rogue Guide Extended - Poisons and Combo Points

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to...

1. Age of Conan - Exclusive Female Ranger Screenshots
2. Myst Online: Uru Live - An Interview With GameTap
3. Lord of the Rings Online: A Book 12 Session With Turbine - Part 2
4. Anarchy Online Developer Diary #4: Every NPC is Special
5. Age of Conan: Class Interview #6 - The Ranger
6. Tabula Rasa - Community Forum Q&A #5
7. Jumpgate Evolution Bi-Weekly Interview #1 - The Basics
8. Lord of the Rings Online: Nine New Exclusive Screenshots From Book 12
9. Dungeon Runners: Dev Diary - Making a Monster
10. EverQuest II - Epic Weapon Video Preview

Real World News

• Brit Jailed in Dubai For Speck of Marijuana on the Bottom of His Shoe
  Islam forbids a last dance, even a prance, with Mary Jane.
• 3rd Grader Goes Transgender, Parents of Classmates React
  Psychologists blame Dora the Explorer for blurring gender lines.
• Feuding Scot Clans Take to Streets with Swords
  William Wallace rolls over in his grave, er, graves.

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer Team