Welcome to the 1,139th Edition of Loading...

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

How do you make a sandbox MMO "fair"? Most would argue that you don't. EVE Online's senior producer had some interesting things to say about the game's economy. As it turns out, in an age of government intervention on a grand scale, CCP seems to find it far more interesting and freeing to let the players control large aspects of the game, rather than vice-versa. How much control should players have over the game? Will future MMOs lean more toward "directed play"or sandbox-style gaming in the future? Thoughts on who should wear the MMO pants in today's Loading... Control Freak.

Coyote's daily column explores all things geek with Coyote's trademark wit in It's All Geek to Me. Read it daily at Ten Ton Hammer! Today's topic: Vampires shouldn't sparkle... (ever)

Loading... Daily

In an Q&A posted yesterday at gamesindustry.biz, the interviewer threw Nathan Richardsson an oddball questions about the how the rising price of tritanium has impacted manufacturing in the game. I'm not sure how much gamesindustry.biz's readership cares about the EVE's virtual economics on a micro- level (or you or me, for that matter), but I found Richardsson's to be interesting far beyond mineral prices:

"The fundamental thing is that you want the supply and demand to be 'affectable' by a player, because that's where you really put in real supply and demand, and the effort around it which creates the real price of it."

It took me a few moments to figure out why this quote resonated with me. Richardsson is one of the original Icelander devs behind EVE Online's success. He, along with Torfi Olafsson and a handful of others, carved out a top-tier MMORPG studio at the base of the arctic circle (of all places) at a time when European studios were light years behind their California counterparts. Per-capita creativity has been a particularly rich resource for Iceland - what other similarly sized nation has produced a Sigúr Ros or a Björk?

But MMO development isn't like producing a CD or even a film, it's about designing and marketing entertainment on a grand scale. Unlike even other types of computer games, you're creating a concept that has to hold up for years, possibly decades. It's a huge undertaking that involves not only building the game, but building the tools as you build the game all under a massive amount of publisher pressure to meet deadlines. It's a distinctly Scandanavian trait, a ruggedly calm and patient attitude toward the impossible, that built EVE Online. And perhaps contributed to the Icarian collapse of Iceland's banking system, but we won't get into that. Nonetheless I could wax poetic about CCP all day: what they've done is nothing short of astounding especially in contrast to a studio like CME, which arguably had all of the advantages.

But back to the quote, which hints at why CCP has managed to create a successful sandbox MMO where many others have failed; they bring everything back to the players. Making supply and demand "affectable" by players doesn't necessarily mean making things fair all the time. That plays into it; you're not going to buy 1000 units of Tritanium and only find 887 in your cargohold when you make the pickup, but you can put together a cartel to limit supply and artificially raise the price. Good design means it's not easy to do and can be broken up easily enough through the complexity of how these complex social interactions work out, people being people, but it's possible.

With MMOs like EVE, a developer's role is to fix things only, as Richardsson says, when "something has blatantly gone wrong." Aside from that, EVE gives players a chance to affect things on a large scale. I've heard more than one PvP MMO developer say that it's far more interesting to see what players do with each other when, at some point in the game, you abandon your utopian notions and stop trying to control their actions. It's the sort of thing only possible in an MMO.

What say you? Do you enjoy the "directed experience" found in the early levels of MMOs and just about every single-player game? Or are you looking for something a little more random in your games? Is sandbox-style gaming part of MMO gaming's past, or its future? Your thoughts and opinions welcome in the Loading... forum, or feel free to email me.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our WAR: General Discussion forum

State of the Waaaggghhhhh!

WAR! (huh!) Here's what it's good for?

If
you played Warhammer Online and abandoned the game, or if you haven't
yet given WAR a try for whatever reasons, I've got a thread for you.
Linuscalling kicked it off by saying that he's been playing more WAR
than posting about it. Why? Because he believes that now is a great
time to be discovering (or rediscovering) the game. Do others agree
with him? Check out the thread to get the scoop.

==============================
Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"Well,
I'll give Mythic a months subscription just to test it out now. And if
my choppa can happily wade into a big group of Order, 'kill dem til dey
iz deaded' and then die a glorious death, I will be happy!"

- Beerkeg
==============================

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

6 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 22 in August! 882 in 2009!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]

• Aion: Elyos and Asmodian Ascension Walkthrough
  
  Flying in Aion is not only good fun, but also an important aspect to gameplay.  Flight isn't just given to you though and each player, Elyos or Asmodian, has to earn their wings through ascension.  Find out just how a young Daeva gains the gift of flight in this guide that walks you through the process for both factions.  With this guide, you'll be off to roam the heavens in no time!
• Exporing Lore and Understanding the Story of Aion
  
  Most gamers who have an interest in Aion know the basics--Aion is a game that pits angel-like beings against demon-like beings in a post-cataclysmic fantasy realm. But a deeper understanding of the game world you're about to inhabit can lead to a richer experience, especially in a game with lore as compelling as Aion's. We've prepared a summary that wraps everything you need to know about thousands of years of Aion lore into a tidy nutshell.
• The Hollywood Cycle: Comparing the MMOG Industry with the Silver Screen
  
  With video gaming - specifically the massively multiplayer online titles - quickly surpassing Hollywood’s cash flow, it seems logical that the silver suits at Tinsel Town would begin paying attention to their digital brethren. On the same line of thought, Hollywood provides the MMO industry with a history in the entertainment medium that we simply don’t have. With this in mind, Ten Ton Hammer’s Cody “Micajah” Bye sat down with four industry experts to draw together some similarities between MMOs and films, and he attempted to use those points to draw out some predictions for the future of our industry. Was he successful? Read on to find out!
• World of Warcraft: Drop That Gold Guide!
  
  Don't you hate in when you're reading a site about World of Warcraft and all of a sudden you get this big in your face thing about someone's gold guide and why you've got to buy it? Me too! Ever wondered why so many of them exist or why some famous WoW names are attached? Well, David "Xerin" Piner takes an in-depth look at the amazing world of gold guides in his latest editorial "Drop That Gold Guide". Don't be fooled by their checkmarks and silly videos. Stay informed and stay smart with this look into the world of gold guides.
• World of Warcraft: PvP as a Profession vs. Big Sports Money
  
  Bringing home the bacon has never been so fun. Can you imagine playing a video game for a living? Who wouldn't want to do that? The only caveat is that you have to be one of the best in the world. In World of Warcraft 3v3 you need to find two others at the top of the sport that will join you. In today's report we review a top PvP player's earning potential as it stacks up to other professional sports.
• World of Warcraft: Priest Arena Guide
  
  In Player vs. Player combat you have several different ways to play against other players in World of Warcraft. You can duel another player, you can go to the battlegrounds or you can join an Arena team. All these are completely different from each other and Yadiera talks about how a Healing Priest can play their role in an Arena and tips to surviving.

Hottest Content:

1. Champions Online Beta Keys Available for Premium Members
2. The Guild In-Depth Interview with Director Sean Becker
3. World of Warcraft - Trial of the Champion Instance Guide
4. Bringing MMOs to Consoles - A Discussion with Turbine
5. A New Saga Begins - A Fresh Look at Vanguard
6. Age of Conan - A Year Later
7. Aion Prologue Videos
8. Aion Class Guide - The Spiritmaster
9. New Champions Online Comic: Zeroes - "Nothingman"
10. EVE Online - Sins of a Solar Spymaster #22 - The Seven Types of Spy

Real World News

• Cheating man's genitals super-glued to his stomach
  
  Wife says it was for his own good; the man was Krazy and coming unglued, and this was the only way to keep it in Elmer's pants.
• Horse trampling car caught on tape
  
  The horse is resting comfortably in hospital and the car has been taken into custody while mechanics free it from the tangle of adhesive strip.
• Reading service for the blind out of money
  
  I guess nobody saw this coming. /obligatory play on words, sorry
  

Seen news you think I can mangle into a vaguely amusing snippet of text? Send it to me.

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

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