Welcome
to the 1,305th
edition
of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMOG news and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

It was a good weekend to let your inner nerd shine, with Clash of the Titans debuting on Friday and the iPad's release on Saturday. Sadly, with April 15th looming, all non-discretionary spending has been frozen at the Ethec household, but I'm actually ok with that. You see, Pocket Legends made it's free-to-download debut for the iPhone and iPad on Saturday as well, and we've got a first look and a dev interview for this iMMO contender in today's Loading... A Legend in my Pocket.

The Pulse

You vote with what you
view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result
is the Ten Ton Pulse ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).

Here
are today's top 5 Pulse results:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow">World
   of Warcraft
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2">EverQuest
   II
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aoc">Age
   of Conan
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/vanguard">Dungeons & Dragons Online (UP 3)
5. Lord of the Rings Online

Biggest
movers today:

1. The Chronicles of Spellborn (UP 17 to #19)
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/140">Star Wars: The Old Republic (UP 5 to #16)
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/117">Star Trek Online (UP 3 to #9)

• size="-1">2/1 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926">Global
  Agenda (release date)
• size="-1">2/2 size="-1"> - Star
  Trek Online (release date)
• size="-1">2/16 - href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
  2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
• size="-1">2/16 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81479"> LotRO:
  Oath of the
  Rangers (content update)
• size="-1">4/5 - Pocket Legends (iMMOG - release date)

• size="-1">April
  2010 - href="http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/game_updates/issue_17/issue_17_overview.html?utm_source=COHemail&utm_medium=US&utm_campaign=banner">City
  of Heroes - Issue 17: Dark Mirror
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1801">Mytheon
• size="-1">Summer
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/998">APB
• size="-1">TBA
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2079">Final
  Fantasy XIV
  
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2011 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/swtor">Star Wars:
  The Old
  Republic size="-1">

size="-1">Upcoming
Events

• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">4/17 - 4/18 - href="http://www.ankama-convention.com/en">Ankama
  Convention #5
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">6/15 -
  6/17 - href="http://www.e3expo.com/">E3
  Expo
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">6/25 -
  6/27 - href="http://www.lfgexpo.com/">Looking
  for Group
  Expo
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">7/22 - 7/25 - Comic-Con International
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">8/5 -
  8/8 - href="http://events.station.sony.com/fanfaire/">SOE
  Fan Faire 2010
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/6 - DragonCon
• size="-1"> style="font-weight: bold;">10/22 -
  10/23 - BlizzCon

Ten winners already - you could be a winner too!

Ten Ton Hammer is partnering with Atari and Bigfoot Networks to offer you a chance to win an incredible prize packs in celebration of Star Trek Online's newly revealed "Season One: Common Ground". Check out these remaining prizes:

• Grand Prize: Killer Xeno Pro NIC, Star Trek Online Collector's Edition with a 6 month subscription
• First Prize: Killer Xeno Pro NIC, Star Trek Online Collector's Edition
• Second Prize: Killer Xeno Pro NIC, Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition

One entry per registered user, premium members get additional entries. Enter for free here: Star Trek Online Season One / Bigfoot NIC giveaway. Winners will be posted in this thread Monday through Wednesday next week.

Loading... Daily

Though the hamster inside my iPhone seems to be slowing down (or it could be all these leching teen-oriented apps I keep downloading... er, for the comic value, of course), I've been watching and waiting for a true iPhone MMO for a long time. Aurora Feint, though faintly fun as a RPP (role-playing puzzler), wasn't it, and it never fails to astonish me that so many multiplayer co-op games assume the MMO moniker, even as games like APB that technically qualify as MMOGs take pains to shed the category. (Editorial aside - in APB's case, I would have spent that same time and marketing effort trying to shed comparisons to GTA4.)

I had the pleasure of playing Pocket Legends last month at GDC, though Machail and I were sworn to absolute secrecy until today. Before our wondering eyes, Gary Gattis slid three iPhones onto a dimly lit barroom table at an undisclosed San Francisco location and proceded to show us an action MMORPG in miniature. I was expecting a lackluster wannabe RPG, to be honest, and found myself engrossed; it was hard to hand over the phone after a few minutes of hands-on.

And while I'm still not sure that we aren't blurring the MMOG line, PL is much closer to a truly massive online iPhone experience than anything else I've seen so far. The game plays much more like an action RPG than a more traditional MMO and makes some natural concessions to the platform - enemies are auto-targeted and players are limited to a few hotkeys. The interface, chat (quickchat or full chat), and map overlay is cleverly done, however, and players can opt for click to move or a "virtual joystick" that turns a part of your screen into an arrow pad. And with a fully 3D engine, excellent graphics that compare favorably with Free Realms or Torchlight, and content that scales to your level and group size.

Most surprisingly, however, was the sheer speed of the client server communication. Gary showed us how, over a 3G connection (we were told it works just as well over EDGE's 75k-135k speeds), updates were nearly instantaneous from iPhone to the servers in Texas to another iPhone. The graphics scale nicely to the iPad if the player reviews that have started to trickle in since Saturday are any indication and, good news to iGadget gamers, Gary noted that the iPad transition is an easy one for newer iPhone games.

Be sure to read through Machail's interview with Spacetime Studios for more info on Pocket Legends. When you're finished, what's your take on iMMOs or (/sigh) MMMOGs. Are they here to stay, or just a passing fancy? Share your thoughts in the Loading... forum.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day

From our Ten Ton Torched forum



The Daily "It Made Me Laugh!"



This
thread has over 3000 replies and nearly 104,000 views. As old as it is,
it's still one of the more popular threads on our forum, and with good
reason--it's full of funny. But I'll warn you in advance that it's not
always politically correct, nor is it always safe for a work
environment. Chuckle at your own risk. Now, go have a laugh!



==============================

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"Oh gawd that email conference between the parent and the 'school
chaplain' made me laugh all the way through! And I practically bust a gut at the 'email from god!'"



- Beerkeg

==============================



Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell
us!

New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

8 new Ten Ton Hammer
features
today! 22 in April! 381
in 2010!

INTERVIEWS

Pocket Legends MMMOG for the IPhone! A Q&A with Spacetime Studios
http://www.tentonhammer.com/pocketlegends/spacetimestudiosinterview

MMMOGs
(Mobile Massively Multiplayer Online Games) are coming to the iPhone
and iPad in the form of Pocket Legends, developed by Spacetime Studios.
Ten Ton Hammer sat down with some members of the development team at
Spacetime Studios to discuss this revolutionary game that blazes a new
trail in the gaming frontier.

PoxNora Q&A with Tony “RadarX” Jones
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/83079

Tony
'RadarX' Jones is Community Manager for PoxNora, a turn-based online
multiplayer strategy game developed by Sony Online Entertainment's
(SOE) Tucson Studio. He is responsible for communicating player
feedback and getting the word out about the game and the many features
it has to offer players, including the recent Facebook launch of
PoxNora, making it SOE's first Facebook game. Ten Ton Hammer recently
caught up with Tony Jones to talk about the game's newest expansion and
its launch on Facebook.

MEDIA

Star Trek Online Flanking Video [not exclusive]
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/83082

Star
Trek Online gives players the option to fight by flanking the enemy,
but not everyone is fluent in this tactic. Luckily, Cryptic Studios has
released a new video to offer a little tutorial in the fine art of
flanking your enemy. Click here to start your training.

FEATURES & GUIDES

Champions Online: Vibora Bay Hands On Impressions
http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/editorial/viborabayimpressions

Vibora
Bay, the newest zone for Champions Online, is a mystical city located
on the Florida panhandle. Your pals at Ten Ton Hammer have been
questing throughout the zone, smacking bad guys, and eating tons of
shrimp gumbo in order to bring you their impressions of the new zone.
Is it great, bad, or somewhere in-between?

Supplying Minerals Through Market Acquisitions In EVE Online
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81864/

When
you're running a production business in EVE Online, there are always
supply issues to iron out. Space Junkie shows us a slightly less common
method of mineral acquisition.

Scamming In EVE Online
http://tentonhammer.com/node/83093

Unlike
many other MMOs, scamming is part and parcel of playing EVE Online.
Space Junkie explains the two most basic kinds of scams, so that new
players can avoid them, and certainly not utilize them.

EQ2 Befallen Shard Quest Guide
http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2/guides/befallen

Gearing
up for EverQuest II Sentinel's Fate content is no easy task and, as we
have already covered, shard gear is a great way to go if you need high
quality upgrades. Come take at look at the Befallen instances and read
up on the quests that reward those coveted shards. Get step by step
instructions in our Befallen Shard Quest Guide to find out how to get
these quests done so you can get that reward quicker!

WoW: Noblegarden Guide
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/seasonal/noblegarden

World
of Warcraft's take on the Easter holiday is here again this April with
tons of bunnies, candy, and colored eggs. Not to mention the vast
amount of achievements available and cool loot. So find everything you
need this Noblegarden holiday with Ten Ton Hammer's guide to
Noblegarden.

Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features

1. Pocket Legends MMMOG for the IPhone! A Q&A with Spacetime Studios
2. PoxNora Q&A with Tony “RadarX” Jones
3. PAX East 2010 - Hands-On with All Points Bulletin
4. City of Heroes Praetoria Q&A with Senior Designer Melissa Bianco
5. DDO at PAX 2010 Video - The Blood Road
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/82924">NVIDIA's
   Newest Line of GPUs
   Introduced at PAX East 2010
7. The Future of Global Agenda
8. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/features/protoss_earlygame_evolution">The
   Evolution of StarCraft
   Armies - Early Game Protoss
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/paxe2010/APB/gameplay">Video: style="font-weight: bold;"> APB
   Gameplay Preview style="font-weight: bold;">
10. EverQuest 2 Alternate Advancement Basics Update
    
    

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle
and
the Ten Ton Hammer team