Welcome to the 1,190th edition of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
How immersive can a game get? A new tech toy promises to deliver real
time sensation to gamers and audiophiles alike. But is it going too
far, or is it just the next logical step in the evolution of the gaming
industry? Read more about this technology in today's
Loading... Gaming Immersion, IRL.
The Pulse
You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse (
href="http://www.gunnars.com/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).
Here's today's top 5 Pulse results: href="http://www.gunnars.com/">
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/41"
target="_blank">World of Warcraft - Dungeons
& Dragons Online - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254">Aion href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254">
-
EverQuest
2 -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/115">Age of
Conan
Biggest movers today:
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (UP 5 to #11)
- EVE Online (Up 3 to #6)
- Runes of Magic (Down 2 to #16)
MMO Releases
-
8/25
- CrimeCraft
(release date) - 9/1 -
Champions
Online (release date) - 9/9
- Dungeons
& Dragons Online Unlimited (release date) - 9/15
- Runes
of Magic "The Elven Prophecy" (expansion) - 9/22 -
Fallen
Earth (release date) -
9/22
- Aion
(release date) - 10/8
- Cities
XL (release date)
Releases
- 11/3
- Dragon Age:
Origins (release date) - 12/1
- LotRO:
Siege of Mirkwood (release date)
- 12/2
- DOFUS 2.0
(release date)
- Early 2010
- APB
Important
Dates
- 10/23 - 10/24
- Hero-Con
Loading... Daily
One day, during beta of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, I was wandering
around Thestra and found an old run-down road that led into a forest.
As I walked up the road, I could hear the birds singing in the
distance, and see the wind rustling through the trees, swaying the
branches and grass in a soothing rhythm. I thought I could even hear a
woodpecker in the distance. I leaned closer into my monitor, and peered
through the line of trees. I took a few steps forward and stopped to
listen again, seeing if I could find where this woodpecker was pecking.
As I stood there, hypnotized by the wind and the birds and the rustling
of leaves, my mind wandered a bit, and I started thinking how nice it
would be to just curl up under one of these trees for a nice afternoon
nap. I remember thinking if I was going to do that, I had better bring
a blanket, as the ground was probably pretty damp.
Then, suddenly I snapped out of my daydream. I realized with a bit of
embarrassment, how ridiculous I was being. I was playing a video game,
and here I was trying to decide if the ground in the game was too damp
to rest on. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we can call immersion
in a game. Sometimes a game captivates you so much, you can feel as if
you're almost there.
Yesterday, an interesting
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75703">news bit
dropped into my inbox. Immerz, Inc. has developed a technology that
allows the user to actually FEEL sensations in a game, or music and
movies. Using a new form of "accousto-haptic" technology, the device
apparently vibrates on your chest so minutely, that it's unlikely
you'll feel much of it. What it does accomplish though, is apparently a
very real sensation of 3D space, allowing you to perceive that "7th
sense" - like when you know someone is approaching you from behind in a
real world situation.
This all sounds so very cool, but it sounded a little gimicky to me. "I
mean, c'mon. Really?" I asked. Well, according to the gal that sent me
the info, she was quite impressed with it herself, having tried it out
recently.
Currently the device is in the finals of the CEA
href="http://i-stage.ce.org/"> i-stage competition,
but if it really is as impressive as it sounds, we can expect to see it
at next year's Consumer Electronics Show. If that happens, you can bet
I'll be buying one over the next few years, and maybe finally get that
chance to curl up under the tree on some damp grass after all, while
the woodpecker continues his pecking.
Immersion or gimmick? Let us know what you think in the forums.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=689">PC
& Console Games (Non-MMO) forum
Borderlands
You asked us for a href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=689">PC
& Console Games forum,
and we were happy to give you one. And now you're getting busy in that
forum talking about your favorite non-MMO games. Today's hot topic is
Borderlands, complete with embedded videos. Take a look and href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=47180">give
us your opinion.
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"A randomized system
that can
literally generate a bazillion weapons as well as a plethora of random
mobs. If this game is as good as the hype it is going to rock!"
- OneEyeRed
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!
1 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 73
in October! 2,021 in
2009!
Today's New Features & Guides
-
Interview:
Exploring the Lore of Star Trek Online
For this week's interview with Cryptic Studios, Ten Ton Hammer spoke
with Lead Writer, Christine Thompson, and Executive Producer, Craig
Zinkievich to find out what awaits us in deep space, where no one has
gone before. -
Aion
Editorial: Speed Leveling or Sauntering?
The
bulk of MMOs hitting the market are so concerned with making a great
first impression that the games die off in the mid-level content and
may or may not ship with any relevant end-game content. Aion attempts
to overcome this by making the midpoint of leveling (level 25) a
critical hinge point in the over-arching endgame. Aion has a few other
mid-level-markers that make progressing achievable and rewarding as
well. Aion has most player progression types covered, whether it's
those wanting to blast all the way to endgame, or those wanting to
gather, craft, PvP or explore all of the zones. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/newsletter/issue37">WoW:
The Overpull - "Hallow's End and the History of Stormwind"
The
Overpull is back this week with more news, gossip, and fun all relating
to World of Warcraft. This week we talk about guys who play girls or
girls who play guys, The Guild's latest episode's insanity, a look into
the kings of Stormwind, and recap the rest of this week's news. Be sure
to subscribe if you want to see The Overpull in your inbox every
Tuesday morning. -
Editorial
– Which World of Warcraft Class makes the best Tank?
When
forming a group in WoW, you know you need to get a tank, but which
one? Which of the four possible tank classes are
best? Should you
pick the AoE based Paladin or Death Knight, or should you pick the more
single target based Warrior or Druid? Byron
“Messiah” Mudry looks at
the various options that exist and their current viability in the World
of Warcraft. -
href="http://tentonhammer.com/rom/guides/beginner_warden_guide">Runes
of Magic– The Warden: A Beginner’s Guide
Free-to-Play
games are a dime a dozen these days, but there are a few that rise
above the pack. Runes of Magic is one of those few to make the grade.
Easy accessibility, smooth graphics, and fun gameplay combine to make
this one F2P game that’s worth checking out. To help get you
on your
journey, Dalmarus has created this handy guide for Wardens just
stepping into this dangerous land. -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/editorials/fairplay">Aion
Fair Play: Be Cheat Free and the Best
With
the recent mass bans in Aion, many players are left questioning what
earns a ban and how they can avoid breaking the rules without losing
their competitive edge. Find out what NCsoft considers cheating in a
quick over view of the User Agreement and get some great tips on how to
step up your game without the risk of losing your account. -
Mix
It Up: A Guide to Synergy in Champions Online
The
Power Sets in Champions Online are designed in such a way as to be
independent from one another, but that doesn’t mean Cryptic
intentionally made it so players have to stick to one set and one set
only. Just as there are powers in each set that compliment each other,
some from different sets work wonderfully together. William
“JoBildo”
Murphy shares what to look for in terms of power synergy, and offers a
few examples in this guide. -
DUST
514 Trailer Video (High Quality)
DUST
514 from CCP will bring action shooter gaming to the EVE universe as a
separate, yet associated game. Players from both games will be able to
affect the universe in their own ways, and offer assistance to each
other to reach higher goals. It's a new concept, and a cool one. This
trailer video shows a little action from DUST 514, now in high quality
video format.
Hottest Content:
-
style="font-weight: bold;">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/editorials">
style="font-weight: bold;">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75709">Mix it Up: A
Guide to Synergies in Champions Online - Which
World of Warcraft Class makes the best Tank? - Exploring
the Lore of Star Trek Online -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/world/MC_overview">Champions
Online: Millenium City Overview - Gated
Communities: Finding the Right Gaming Home -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/guides/world/abyssguide">Aion
Beginner's Guide to the Abyss - Can
Aion overcome the re-subscription blues? - Runes
of Magic: New Player Introduction - The
Rift Between Us - A Guide to Rifting in Aion -
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rom/guides/beginner_mage_guide">Runes
of Magic - The Mage: A Beginner's Guide
Thanks for
visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
- Benjamin J. de la Durantaye and the Ten Ton Hammer
team
