Loading... GCDC Moments

by John Hoskin on Aug 25, 2008

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Welcome to the 901st Edition of Loading...

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Daily Column

Loading... putting the 'Mo' in MMOG.

First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.

If the Top 10 isn't enough, we also show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)

Warhammer Online - 200 BPM Age of Conan - 166 BPM World of Warcraft - 163 BPM Tabula Rasa - 16 BPM EVE Online - 13 BPM Lord of the Rings Online - 12 BPM Everquest II - 10 BPM Stargate Worlds - 9 BPM Vanguard - 8 BPM Dungeon Runners - 6 BPM

For the first time in the history of Ten Ton Pulse World of Warcraft has been pushed out of the top two spots. Warhammer Online GCDC coverage has driven the soon to be released title back into the top position. If you haven't viewed Paul and Josh Do Leipzig or as I call it, 'PB and J Do Leipzig' then sit back with some popcorn and be entertained. Part two of 'PB and J Do Leipzig' also now posted. Also buoying Mythic's boat is the new Warhammer Online cinematic Trailer, which was shown behind closed doors. The trailer was shown on a huge screen with fans and lights providing some special effects to add to the experience. A quick poll of the Ten Ton staff at the show gave WAR's trailer the nod as the best at the show.

Age of Conan has pushed it's way back into the #2 spot in Ten Ton Pulse after weeks at #3. The Age of Conan DirectX 10 Images have been more popular than any other coverage on the network. We were not allowed to film the DX10 vs DX9 portion of the Age of Conan Closed Booth Presentation, but I was there and the difference is dramatic. Beautiful graphics were never an issue for me in Age of Conan, but what was great, just got better. We also had the opportunity to video Erling Ellingsen and Thorbjørn Olsen as they talked to Garrett Fuller, giving us an Age of Conan: State of the Game.

It's not often, and by often I mean 'ever' that World of Warcraft isn't in one of the top two spots in the Ten Ton Pulse, especially with the release of the latest World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King cinematic trailer. Our very own Byron Mudry has also delivered a Wrath of the Lich King walkthrough video of Azjol Nerub. Byron lays down the smack as the tank that leads you through 'AN'. Take a screenshot, because you may never see WoW at #3 again.

The GCDC in Leipzig is almost guaranteed to move to Cologne next year. In many respects it is disappointing. Leipzig was a unique city where many things that we take for granted in North America are simply not available. Traveling to Leipzig was an experience that most people will never have. Cologne is a more 'west friendly' place, with a larger convention center, more hotels and better infrastructure for getting the masses to and from the venue. Cologne will be more like home and though that has a comforting ring to it, I'm not convinced that the experience itself will be superior. I'll leave you with a story that will open a small window into the week that was Leipzig GCDC.

Hotels in Leipzig are not situated close to the convention center. Though it was setup by the convention staff for us, our hotel was not even situated in Leipzig. Owned by Ramada and apparently built by the Soviet Farming Union it was surrounded by fields of corn in the middle of nowhere. Who stays there when there no convention is going on remains a mystery. Suffice to say that it is a long way from where we needed to be each day. It was a 55 Euro taxi ride each way. We had seven staff at the event which meant that we were probably going to need two cabs at 55 Euros a piece both to and from the convention center. Fortunately, we lucked upon a cab driver that had a van. He could fit all seven of us in, plus our bags of video cameras, electronics gear, etc. He took us to our hotel, spoke relatively good English and when he dropped us off asked if he could pick us up in the morning. We ended up with our own personal driver who would come when we called, no matter the time or the place.

I can't imagine this ever happening in a big city. Those drivers are two busy to plan their schedule around seven foreign journalists, but Thomas, our driver was not. He told us about Leipzig, about his yearning to learn English and about his family. One evening as he picked us up at the show he gave each of us a gift; small cakes, in decorative boxes, with the story behind this baked Leipzig delicacy where graciously handed out by our 'host'. We were astonished and somewhat humbled.

The next morning we delivered our own gift, a Ten Ton Hammer exclusive soccer jersey, the same kind that you see us wearing in our Leipzig videos. It was his turn to be surprised. The following day he arrived to pick us up wearing it and wore it the rest of the day as he drove his cab around the city. We know this because as he was going about his duties a pair of gentleman happened to enter his cab and ask for a ride. One of them exclaimed, "I know Ten Ton Hammer! I can't believe you are wearing a Ten Ton Hammer jersey. I need to get a picture of this!" The gentlemen were none other than Dan Elggren and Kevin Balentine, developers on the upcoming AAA title Stargate Worlds. You might remember Dan from this interview done inside a Humvee. We had dinner with Dan and Kevin a couple of nights earlier and had told them about our incredible experience with the taxi driver. Now they had lucked upon him as well.

Thomas was beaming as he told us the story while driving us to the airport. He even offered to come to Cologne and drive us next year. You don't have experiences like that in Los Angeles or San Francisco and although every amenity is at your disposal in the large western cities, you miss out on the little joys like meeting Thomas.

I often write that these events are about the 'moments' that you have. The big picture doesn't really do the event justice. With that in mind, here are my Top 10 Moments from what is likely the last Leipzig GCDC.

Thomas our cab driver, delicately handing us each a gift of a Leipzig specialty cake. Finding 'love notes' from my kids hidden through my luggage, each with the day of the week that I was allowed to open it scribed on top. These trips are long and I'm a stay at home kind of guy. I had something from home to look forward to every day. Dinner with the Mythic team. I had never met Mark, Rowland, Kate or Justin and that for me, pushed this moment high up the list. Watching Paul Barnett and John Hammond banter back and forth was perhaps more enjoyable than the food. 10 Mythic and five Ten Ton Hammer staff chatted for four hours about topics ranging from poop to who is the best comic book hero. This was a great way to start the show. Dinner with the Stargate Worlds team. Dan and Kevin are grade-A guys. Again, the conversation was uplifting. We talked about coaching kids, the trials and tribulations of staying in Leipzig and laughed about the customer service. The waitress told Dan that "She didn't have time to give him a recommendation from the menu." It was a time to decompress from the show. It is rare that press and development teams can meet and not have some tension. With the SGW guys there was none. Interviewing Dan Elggren in a humvee. I had never done a video interview while cruising in a Hummer. Fun and informative all at once. Paying the bartender in our hotel pub to keep the pub open for another hour. We had a gem of a bartender, who catered to us as if we were princes. One evening after I had already gone to bed Garrett called me and told me, "The Funcom guys are down here in the pub. You should come down." I threw on some pants, brushed my teeth and went down only to find that the pub had just closed. After a few Euros, the rest is history. We spent an hour or so hanging out with the Funcom team on our 'borrowed time'. Watching attendees point and laugh at Phil as he sauntered around the show in a kilt. Getting to know our very own Tony "RadarX" Jones better. Tony's wit is every bit as sharp in person as it is in print. He even ordered a steak and asked for the 'lady-cut'. Taking one look at the bathtub/shower setup and saying, "I wonder how many Americans will fall down in that before we leave." Then going down for dinner and Garrett telling us, "Man, I fell down in the bathtub". Picture a slip N slide covered in teflon and shaped like a bowl. Now add water and Garrett. Dinner at a restaurant where English was not spoken. We received English menus, which I'll post pictures of when Tony gets them online. I can only assume that they were translated from German to English by a Frenchman who spoke neither language.

We still have a veritable flood of GCDC content to post including our annual awards from the show. Jet-lagged and foggy, I'm signing off for today.

The Loading Forums await you. Do you feel the need to contact me personally with naughty pictures or derogatory comments? Here's my E-mail.

Ten Ton Hammer Epic Thread of the Day [Thanks Karen Hertzberg]

Sometimes
their funny; sometimes they're foolish; sometimes they're flaming;
sometimes they're cool. Whatever this one happens to be, it's
our Epic Thread of the Day.

====================
From our Tavern of the Ten Ton Hammer forum
Submitted by uh....lots of people!

"Seriously."

Once
upon a time, Acierocolotl's evil invisible twin signed him up for a Ten
Ton Hammer account. He never posted, so after 6 months we sent him an
automated letter asking him to come back and hang out with us. (We were
sure he was just going through a phase.) The real Acierocolotl
apparently got the letter and didn't appreciate the humor in our (we
must say) finely crafted invitation to return, so he went just the
teensiest bit postal on us. Hilarity ensued, and several of our
members suggested we make his thread our Epic Thread of the Day.

Sure,
you can have an Epic Thread that starts off with a complaint against
Ten Ton Hammer, especially when the thread gives us an opportunity to
have a little fun at the OP's expense.

Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread:

"Please, pretty please, text me. I won't be whole without you, and I hear that's what all the kids are doing these days." - Koshira

"Acierocolotl, Forum Lurker. A troll barely alive. Gentlemen, we can
rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build
the world's first bionic forum troll. Acierocolotl will be that troll.
Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster." - Spare
====================

Do you have a favorite Epic Thread? Let us know!