by John Hoskin on Mar 05, 2008
Welcome to the 783rd Edition of Loading...
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Daily Column
Loading... it's like being a kid again, except you can afford to buy your own games.
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?)
Age of Conan - 200 BPM World of Warcraft - 119 BPM Lord of the Rings Online - 38 BPM EverQuest 2 - 33 BPM Warhammer Online - 27 BPM Lineage 2 - 27 BPM EVE Online - 25 BPM Tabula Rasa - 19 BPM Guild Wars - 18 BPM Vanguard - 18 BPMAuthors like Ray Bradbury and Robert E. Howard (Conan The Conqueror) inspired him. The worlds that they created, vibrant and exhilarating were nonetheless passive, like gazing upon a painting without being being able to alter it to better suit your personal tastes. As fate would have it, his works would eventually be responsible for giving writers like R.A. Salvatore a palette with which to inspire others.
From these passive, static backgrounds he created a canvas that allowed gamers to live in the worlds rather than merely gaze upon them. Without him, chances are that the MMOG you enjoy today would be very different. Without him, roleplaying may indeed be very different. He allowed us to live in a world of dragons, magic and swords. He did this while giving us the reins to drive our story in the direction that we desired, beside our friends, comrades against a common foe. He brought gamers together in a way that was unique and wondrous.
MMOG developers building on the foundations of those that came before them can't help but step into his footprints. MMOG writers like myself owe our livelihood to the man who not only created roleplaying in its current form, but who inspired video game developers to do the same. You wouldn't be reading this column today without his influence.
His works brought joy to people from every walk of life. In one way or another he has touched the lives of nearly every person in the massively multiplayer online gaming industry.
Gary Gygax, the father of modern roleplaying and creator of Dungeons and Dragons passed away yesterday morning (Tuesday, March 4 2008) at his home in Wisconsin at the age of 69. He is survived by his wife, Gail, and six children.
I was fortunate to have met Gary. We once swapped stories and chatted about the future of the game industry. He was a down-to-earth fellow with a passion for his work. Wherever you are Gary, we miss you.
Post your thank-you messages, tell your favourite D&D stories or just reflect on how Gary affected your life 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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14 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 34 in March! 547 in 2008!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today
Ten Ton Hammer Forum Awards Program Ten Ton Hammer Kicking and Screaming Forum Referral Contest -- Age of Conan: Art Book Preview - Stygia Club Penguin: Guy For Hydro Hopper Dungeon Runners: Heaving Up Some New Screenshots Jumpgate Evolution: Combat and Controls Interview Lord of the Rings Online: Scholar Product Statistics Update SAGA: Launch Trailer Tabula Rasa: Paramount PvP TenTonWiki: Rohan: Blood Feud, Release Date Calendar Updated Vanguard: Monster Project - Sillis One-Fanged Webkinz: Gardening Guide Part 1 World of Warcraft: Choosing A Class World of Warcraft: Guide to the Auction HouseHot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to
Anarchy Online: Developer Journal #5 - The Best Memories World of Warcraft: New Ten Ton Community Site EVE Online: Interview With Valerie Massey - A Story of Breaking Into The Industry Age of Conan: Active Blocking and Sneaking Video From GDC Final Fantasy XI: Dancer and Scholar Interview Kwari: Preview from GDC '08 Mabinogi: Video Preview with Nexon's Min Kim Age of Conan: Jason Stone Interviewed at GDC '08 Turbine's Craig Alexander Video Q&A from GDC '08 Dungeons and Dragons / Gleemax Developers Interviewed at GDC ' 08Real World News
Police Reject Candidate For Being Too Intelligent [Thanks Matt]Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com
- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team