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is the premier daily MMOG newsletter, only from Ten
Ton Hammer!

Welcome
to the 1,370th
edition
of Loading...

Some of  us have to have every new bit of
technology that comes along while others are slow to adopt the
newfangled goodness. Some walk around with the same utilitarian phone
for years while others have to be first in line at the Apple store to
pick up an 8 GB iPhone on launch day. The same principles apply to
MMOGs, but Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg has found that even though she's
content with the tried and true much longer than most, she finds it
very difficult to turn back once she's seen the light. She explores the
pursuit of shiny things in today's href="http://tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/jul/7">Loading...
All That Glitters.

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/e3/2010"> src="http://images.tentonhammer.com/misc/Loading/e32010.gif"
alt="E3 2010"
longdesc="http://images.tentonhammer.com/misc/Loading/e32010.gif"
height="90" width="210">

The
Pulse

You vote with what you
view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result
is the Ten Ton Pulse (What
is The Pulse?).

Today's
top 5 Pulse results this week:

1. World
   of Warcraft
2. EverQuest
   II
3. Lord
   of the Rings Online (UP 3)
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/88">Warhammer
   Online (UP 3)
5. Age
   of Conan (Down 2)

Biggest
movers today:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/42">Star
   Wars Galaxies
   
   -
   UP 12 to #18
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/154">Ultima
   Online
   
   - UP 9 to #17
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest
   
   - down 8 to #7

• 5/1
  - href="http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/game_updates/issue_17/issue_17_overview.html?utm_source=COHemail&utm_medium=US&utm_campaign=banner"
  target="_blank">City
  of Heroes - Issue 17: Dark Mirror
  (content
  update)
• 5/11
  - Age
  of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer
  (expansion)
• 5/26
  - EVE
  Online: Tyrannis
  (expansion)
• 5/27
  - Craft
  of Gods
  (release)
• 6/9
  - Mortal
  Online
  (release)
• 6/29
  - target="_blank">APB
  (release)

• July
  13, 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1801"
  target="_blank">Mytheon
  (release)
  
  
• July
  20,
  2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2461"
  target="_blank">Need
  for Speed World (release)
• August
  17, 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/140">City
  of Heroes: Going Rogue (release)
• September
  30, 2010 - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/ffxiv" target="_blank">Final
  Fantasy XIV
  (release)
• style="font-weight: bold;">October
  26, 2010
  - LEGO
  Universe (release)
  
  
• style="font-weight: bold;">November 2, 2010
  - DC
  Universe Online (release)
  
  

Upcoming
Events

• style="font-weight: bold;">7/22 -
  7/25 - target="_blank">Comic-Con
  International
• style="font-weight: bold;">8/5 -
  8/8 - href="http://events.station.sony.com/fanfaire/" target="_blank">SOE
  Fan Faire 2010
• style="font-weight: bold;">8/18 -
  8/22 - href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/gamescom/home/index.php"
  target="_blank">Gamescom 2010
  
• style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/5 - href="http://www.paxsite.com/paxprime/index.php" target="_blank">PAX
  Prime
• style="font-weight: bold;">9/3 -
  9/6 - target="_blank">DragonCon
• style="font-weight: bold;">10/22 -
  10/23 - href="http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcon/?rhtml=y" target="_blank">BlizzCon
• style="font-weight: bold;"> 3/24
  -
  3/26 (2011) - target="_blank">CCP
  FanFest
  
  
  

Loading... Daily

I’ve never been an early adopter when it comes to most technology.
Don’t get me wrong--I like technology just fine, it’s just that my
frugal side will not allow me to spend money on new tech when the old
tech I have is perfectly functional. For example, I had a cell phone
that I used mostly for its primary purpose--to make phone calls while I
was away from home. Why would I want to spend, say, $600 to snag an 8GB
iPhone on launch day?



For a long time I thought that SmartPhones were cool, especially when I
saw commercials for Android and all of its spiffy apps, but I was
convinced I didn’t need one. Until I got one. My dearly beloved picked
me up a shiny new myTouch slide in candy apple red. Now I have no clue
how I ever lived without it.



“Check this out!” I say to my daughter. “I’m watching YouTube videos.”



She thrusts out one hip, twirls a strand of white-streaked blonde hair
around her index finger, rolls her eyes at me condescendingly,
in the way only a 13-year-old girl can, and says, “Mom, I watch YouTube
videos, like, all day.”



“Yes,” I say, “But I’m watching them… style="font-style: italic;">on my phone.”



And many of my conversations about my new phone go the same way:



“Ohmigawd, look! I’m doing this cool thing”



“So?”



“…on my phone.”




So, see? I'm not immune to the lure of new technology. It's just that I
can avoid nearly any bit of technology for quite a while before I
become a raven craving the shiny object she spies out of the corner of
her eye. I think my resistance to shiny new things is actually pretty
high (hell, my family only just recently got an HDTV because I’ve
muttered for years that our 32” CRT was good enough), but once I’ve
witnessed the glories of anything new, especially if it’s particularly
useful, it’s very difficult for me to look back.



And I’m the same way with MMOGs. I was quite satisfied playing href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest,
and indeed I enjoyed the hell out of it for several years, but once I
experienced feature-loaded EverQuest
II it was very difficult for me to log into the Norrath of
old with it’s elderly UI, stripped down character creation, and old
school graphics. Games like EQ2, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/115">Age of
Conan and Aion,
each a sparkly MMOG in its own right, spoiled me for more utilitarian
games, solidly constructed and fun to play though they may be.



I’ve come to think of my never-look-back mentality as a character flaw,
at least when it comes to gaming. Undoubtedly, there are great games
I’m missing out on because they’re too simplistic and lacking in all
that glitters. Are there some more basic games that you think I’ve
overlooked? Am I right to want each new game to offer a little
something new (or to at least keep up with the high standards of the
glitzy games I’ve mentioned), or am I dead wrong? Know any cool Droid
apps? Tell me in the href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=52227">Loading…
forum.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day

From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3">Tavern
of the Ten Ton Hammer forum



Blizzard's
new system using real names. Just amazing.



Blizzard's Real ID feature is takin' it to the forums, and OneEye Red
got angry about it yesterday:

Will
using real names discourage trolling by revoking the anonymity that
breeds it? Or is it a breach of privacy destined to inhibit
player-to-player conversation? This is a HUGE topic to explore, so href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=52222">head
to the forums.



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

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"I have a right to give
(or not
give) my personal information to anyone I choose. Blizzard has taken
that right from me and made decisions on my behalf. As stated in
Cyrak's article I think there is a line that has been crossed between
real life friends and 'e-friends'. I have a lot of fun with a lot of
people on these TTH forums and look forward to interacting with you
guys every day, but I don't see any need for y'all to have my first
name, last name, home address or any other information about me. If I
want you to have it, I'll give it to you myself."



- href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showpost.php?p=435825&postcount=7">Chilidawg

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

New
and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

1 Ten Ton Hammer
feature
today! 15 Ten Ton Hammer
features
in July! 733
in 2010!

style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">MEDIA



New TERA Video Showcases
Intense Combat Gameplay

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/tera/video/e3-cutdown-press-demo-trailer">http://www.tentonhammer.com/tera/video/e3-cutdown-press-demo-trailer



Gamers
have been drooling over TERA, the upcoming fantasy action MMOG by En
Masse Entertainment. With its emphasis on placement, dodging, and
player skill, TERA isn’t your old fashioned button masher MMOG.
Highlighting the play style and gorgeous graphics is the newest trailer
for the game. This trailer is a cut-down version of the press demo held
at E3 2010. In the trailer, which is composed entirely of in-game
action, five basic classes are shown, as well as the intense combat
against a fearsome pirate captain and his minions. All of us here at
Ten Ton Hammer are itching to play this game!

Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features

1. Ten
   Ton Hammer's StarCraft II
   Guide Portal
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/interviews/elysean-council"> style="font-weight: bold;">Aion – The Divine
   Fortress Taken! An Interview with the Elysean Council
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/dcuo/yanagi-interview">Sock!
   Pow! Bam! DC
   Universe
   Online – An
   Interview with Senior Producer Wes Yanagi
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/tera/video/e3-cutdown-press-demo-trailer">New
   TERA
   Video Showcases Intense Combat Gameplay
   
5. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/features/previews/humans">The
   Races of Guild Wars 2:
   Humans
6. style="font-weight: bold;">DC Universe Online's Senior
   Producer Wes Yanagi on Ten Ton Hammer Live Episode 13 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/nfsw">
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/guides/apb/symbol-designer">APB:
   Spotlight on the Symbol Designer
   
8. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sherwood-dungeon/interview">Exclusive
   Interview With Creator of
   Sherwood Dungeon href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sherwood-dungeon/interview">
   
   
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/e3/2010/company-of-heroes-interview">Introducing
   href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/e3/2010/company-of-heroes-interview">Company
   of Heroes Online href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/e3/2010/company-of-heroes-interview">
   - A Video Q&A with Producer Greg Wilson
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/instances/ruby-sanctum"> style="font-weight: bold;">WoW Ruby
    Sanctum
    Guide
    
11. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/guides/apb/10-tips-for-noobs"> style="font-weight: bold;">APB for
    Dummies
    - 10 Tips & Tricks to Help Get You Started
    

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg and the Ten Ton Hammer Team.