Welcome to the 1,119th Edition of Loading...

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

A quick recap of the Champions Online PvP event from Thursday,
some great song titles from a Japanese novelty punk band sure to liven
up any party, and the one word you never want to hear a TSA agent say.
That's what we have for you in today's Loading...

Humorist writer Coyote's wit and off-color wisdom comes at you
every day at Ten Ton Hammer with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/features/geek">It's All
Geek to Me. Today's topic: href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71037">UnCONVENTIONal
wisdom (Comic Con 2009 baby!)

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).

Here's today's top 5 Pulse results for today:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/41"
   target="_blank">World of Warcraft
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/43">EVE
   Online
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254">Aion
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/115">Age of
   Conan
5. EverQuest
   2

Biggest Movers today :

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/140">City of
   Heroes (UP 7 to #19)
2. Star
   Wars: The Old Republic (UP 2 to #11)
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest
   (UP 2 to #14)

• size="-1">6/24
  - Age of Conan
  Update 5: Gangs of Tarantia
• size="-1">6/25
  - WAR
  "Land of the Dead"
• size="-1">6/30
  - City
  of Heroes Issue 15: Anniversary
• 6/30
  - Lord
  of the Rings Online Book 8
• 7/7
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/109">Darkfall
  Player Housing Expansion

Important
Dates

• 7/13
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/109">Darkfall
  NA launch
• 7/17 - 7/19-
  Aion
  Beta Weekend
• 7/23 -
  7/26 - San
  Diego Comic Con '09

• Late July
  - FFXI
  "Moogle Kupo d'Etat" Addon (release date)
• 8/25
  - CrimeCraft
  (release date)
• 9/1 -
  Champions
  Online (release date)
• 9/22
  - Aion
  (release date)
• Early 2010
  - APB
  

Loading... Daily

There's one word you never want to hear a TSA cop say:
"Freeze!" That, friends, is part of the reason Loading is late today.
The other part is an Airporter driver with a fast dash clock, but
that's neither here nor there. In case you're wondering, when one TSA
agent yells "Freeze!," every TSA agent repeats the command, doors to
the airport terminal shut immediately, and everyone's left motionless
standing and staring fearfully at whoever seems to be the highest
ranking authority figure, like in that casino scene from Run Lola Run
(one of my favorites). Thankfully it was just a drill, and after a few
tense moments, my heart thrilling with the new experience, I was on my
connection-snarled way back to my hometown via Charlotte and
Pittsburgh.

Enough on that. I was treated to a fun evening of Champions
Online PvP last night, discussing strategy and the future of PvP in
Champions Online with Producer Rob Overmeyer, PvP Designer James Laird,
and of course Bill Roper. Cryptic CEO John Needham was on-hand as well,
as was Jack Emmert, and John noted that the game is now feature and
content complete on the dev server. With seven weeks to go before
launch, the team is all about the polish.

I'll get much more in-depth with articles and videos next
week, but if you're been following CO at all you know that Champions
Online PvP comes in three varieties: Ultimate Tournament of Champions
(UTC - team-based deathmatch), B.A.S.H. (non-HERO sanctioned instances
of zones with free-for-all PvP, complete with kill stealing and free
looting), and Apocalypse (team based PvP with objectives - the first is
a training exercise set in Stronghold, pitting heroes and "villains"
against each other with the objective of calling in reinforcements to
take out two primary NPC "sigs" (signature characters from the original
Champions lore). Dueling (likewise sanctioned) is also brand new and
allows players to test out their PvP builds against fellow players
anytime, anywhere, with a 200 foot sphere that allows the use of travel
powers without fear of going out of bounds and losing the match.

With everything going on in Champions Online (and the Ten Ton
Hammer staff has been impressed with powers customization and character
development in the game - it's a truly unique and interesting approach
to traditional time-worn leveling patterns), why an event about PvP?
Rob noted that the PvP community within the CO playerbase is small but
growing and is tenaciously loyal to the concept. Bill explained that
unlike in most other MMO, CO PvP offers experience and acclaim points
(except for dueling, which only offers bragging rights) which can be
traded for items, making it a viable level-up path. Bill felt that it
was important to get these concept into the game before launch, both as
a proof-of-concept and the start of bigger things. To illustrate what's
in store for PvP, James explained that a lava arena will be hitting the
beta in the next few weeks, which not only looks cool, but offers
plenty of environmental hazards for your knockbacking pleasure.

Over-the-top Japanese punk band "Peelander Z" finished out the
event in high octane fashion, performing such memorable tunes as "Ninja
High School," "Karaoke Party," "Too Many Mike" (sic), "Steak Medium
Rare", and "Mad Tiger" (which somehow turned into a limbo / jumproping
competition) before cleverly closing out the evening with "We Are The
Champions". Thanks to Cryptic for putting on such an enjoyable event,
and look for more coverage starting this weekend.

Anything strike you about PvP in Champions Online so far? Does
Champions Online PvP still have some 'splaining to do to justify itself
in PvE players' eyes? Share your thoughts in the href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=44114">Loading...
forum, or feel free to href="mailto:[email protected]">email me.
Have a great weekend!

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

Delusions
of Grandeur

Share
your experiences with tyrannical guild leaders.

Blehack33
says, "You ever sit there, playing your favorite MMO and just having
fun...and then, you join a guild/clan/whatever, get on headsets for
some team
action, and realize that you have a Napoleon-wannabe barking commands
and trying to turn your game into some sort of job?"

I've been
fortunate enough to belong to some great guilds--particularly my
original EverQuest guild (shout out to Cazic Thule server's Endless
Knot--they're still out there somewhere), but I've heard all the horror
stories of tyrannical guild leaders. Got one to share? Tell your tale
in our Tavern
of the Ten Ton Hammer forum.

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

"The
guild leader was a 'barker' to say the least, and even demanded that,
if I couldn't attend a given raid, I give my account info to him so he
could assign someone to dual-box my character through the
raid.
Um, no. Guy was a total power tripper to say the least."

- Sardu
==============================

Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!

8 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today 37 in July! 802 in 2009!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

Exclusive Articles:

• (Premium Only until Monday) href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71000">Champions
  Online VIP Interview - Cryptic Bucks, PvP, and More
  You asked your Champions Online questions, and we got you your
  Champions Online answers straight from the mouth of Bill Roper!
  It’s been awhile since we ran our last VIP interview, so we
  thought it’d be good to start back up with some question on
  the upcoming super hero MMO. You definitely had some tough questions,
  but Bill was game enough to answer them all. We cover everything from
  new player experiences to player housing to PvP content, so sit back
  and enjoy!
• Exclusive
  Aion Spiritmaster Screenshots
  You have read the in depth Aion interview featuring the Spiritmaster
  class, now see the exclusive screenshots! These images depict a
  powerful mage in action with the ever present assistance of the spirits
  in which they summon. Calling upon the forces of earth, fire, water,
  and air, the Spiritmaster make battle side by side with the elements
  aiding their allies with stellar debuffs and magical damage.
• 38
  Studios Developer Discusses Level vs. Skill
  Last week, Ten Ton Hammer’s Cody
  “Micajah” Bye brought together a panel of
  developers that explored the two main advancement systems in current
  MMOs: leveling and skill-based progression paths. Due to the discussion
  that these questions brought to the forefront, we’re going to
  supplement the article with a few more answers from the developers at
  38 Studios, specifically Lead Game Designer Travis McGeathy. Although
  he couldn’t talk in depth about the two systems because his
  game is still in development, McGeathy did weigh in on two of the
  questions that the Ten Ton Hammer staffers presented to the panel.
• Jade
  Dynasty Developer Journal - Imbuing and Refining Gear
  Perfect World Entertainment continues its series of exclusive Jade
  Dynasty developer journals with Ten Ton Hammer, this time showcasing
  the ways to enhance gear via imbuing and refinement. The unedited
  journal entry includes two exclusive images.
• A
  Beginners Guide to Crafting in Aion
  If there's one piece of the MMO puzzle that has the potential to cause
  more confusion than any other, it’s the crafting system. Some
  games take a simplistic approach, some complex, and others make you
  feel like a monkey staring at a math problem. Each method attracts its
  own group of fanatical devotees. The crafting system within Aion isn't
  complex, but it does require a little explaining.
• World
  of Warcraft: Mages after 3.2
  What's changing in World of Warcraft's patch 3.2? A LOT! So how about
  Mages? Well, that's for you to find out in our latest WoW guide that's
  all about the upcoming changes to those Fireball slinging cloth wearing
  Mages you see hanging around Dalaran and flat on the ground in front of
  things with pointy sticks. So find out what's changing with the Mage
  here at Ten Ton Hammer hot off the PTR.

Hot Content - Or, what I took a
fancy to:

1. Champions
   Online VIP Interview - Cryptic Bucks, PvP, and More
2. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70988">Aion href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70988">Class
   Interview - The Spiritmaster
3. EVE
   Online Sins of a Solar Spymaster #19: Hacking in New
   Eden - Myth and Reality
4. A
   Beginners Guide to Crafting in Aion
5. Age
   of Conan 2009 Update Tour, Part One
6. An
   Intro to All Points Bulletin (APB) with
   Chris "Ulric" Dye
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70855">Aion href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70855"> Flight Facts
8. Champions
   Online Power Set Interview - Dual Blades, Single Blade,
   Fighting Claws and Unarmed
9. 38
   Studios Developer Discusses Level vs. Skill
10. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warrior/raidgear">World
    of Warcraft - Comparing Raid Gear

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

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