by Jeff Woleslagle on Jul 24, 2009
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
Three bits of news to kick off your Comic-Con weekend. First, the makers of Lord of the Rings Online confirm that they're working on a console MMO, all or most of your Aion PvP questions answered in our first Q&A live from San Diego Comic-Con, and could CME, makers of Stargate Worlds, be down to their last hurrah? We'll review today's news in today's Loading... Comic-Con Kicks Off.
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You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is The Pulse?).
Here's today's top 5 Pulse results:
World of Warcraft Champions Online Age of Conan (UP 1) EverQuest 2 (down 1) EVE OnlineBiggest Movers this month :
Global Agenda (UP 31 to #15) Aion (down 4 to #9) Dungeons & Dragons Online (UP 2 to #6) Recent MMO Releases 6/25 - WAR "Land of the Dead" 6/30 - City of Heroes Issue 15: Anniversary 6/30 - Lord of the Rings Online Book 8 7/7 - Darkfall Player Housing Expansion 7/13 - Darkfall NA launch 7/21- FFXI "Moogle Kupo d'Etat" Addon (release date)Important Dates
7/23 - 7/26 - San Diego Comic Con '09 7/31 - 8/3 - Aion Beta Weekend 8/21 - 8/22 - BlizzCon '09 Upcoming Releases 8/25 - CrimeCraft (release date) 9/1 - Champions Online (release date) 9/9 - Fallen Earth (release date) 9/22 - Aion (release date) Early 2010 - APBThree worthy bits of news to close out the week, but tune into our San Diego Comic-Con portal over the weekend for a constant stream of updates from the event.
It's official: Turbine confirms they are, in fact, developing a console MMO, meaning that the console devs they've been hiring weren't just part of an elaborate ruse. Console MMOs are proving to be a handful, though. Age of Conan and Champions Online both had X360 versions planned with no console-ation in sight, nor have we seen much in the way of release dates on the PS3 side. But Phantasy Star Online and Final Fantasy XI proved that it can be done, so we'll watch and wait to see what happens with Turbine's foray into lean-forward gaming.
Rumors of PvP prevalence in Aion proved partially true, as our man Cody Bye got with Aion producer Brian Knox for some straight talk about Aion PvP. If I understand correctly, much of the endgame revolves around the three tiers of the Abyss, but players can complete Abyss objectives and gain decent endgame items through PvE. But while its relatively painless to switch between PvP and PvE (Aion's concept of PvPvE comes to mind), you won't be able to avoid open PvP entirely. I'm not opposed to PvP - in many ways that's the direction MMOs have been going in for quite a while now - I just hope the game smoothly transitions players into a PvP mindset, instead of setting things up as "what a lovely PvE game, let me stop to admire the cascading waterfa... ::gank::".
Finally, on a more somber note, MMORPG.com is reporting that CME has until August 1st to raise more money or lose the Stargate Worlds license. I'm not sure what to feel about this. I want to see Stargate Worlds made, who doesn't? But many indy developers have done far more with far less than what CME had to work with. Here's hoping that the IP and the good people still working on the game find a good home, should things fall through.
Share your thoughts on this hectic week in MMO news in the Loading... forum, then have yourself a great weekend!
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day8 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 86 in July! 851 in 2009!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]
Features:
Aion PvP Q&A with Producer Brian KnoxGuides:
World of Warcraft Updated PvP Tactics for the PaladinScreenshots:
Five New Images from City of Heroes Issue 16: Power SpectrumGiveaways:
The 'Empty the Vault' GiveawayHottest Content:
Aion PvP Q&A with Producer Brian Knox Demystifying Micro-Transactions in Champions Online EVE Online - Sins of a Solar Spymaster 21: How to Survive a Failure Cascade EverQuest II Revisited: Norrath is New Again World of Warcraft - The Ultimate Guide To Ulduar Bosses: XT-002 Deconstructor Champions Online: Ten PvP Tips from the Devs Aion Asmodae Beginner's Guide to Ishalgen Dungeons & Dragons Online - Ten Facts You Should Know Before Playing Champions Online @ Ten Ton Hammer Goes Live! Lord of the Rings Online - Vol. 2 Book 7: Leaves of Lórien Epic GuideThanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network! Have a great weekend!
-Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team