by John Hoskin on Sep 02, 2008
Welcome to the 906th 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 World of Warcraft - 84 BPM Age of Conan - 35 BPM Tabula Rasa - 11 BPM EVE Online - 7 BPM Lord of the Rings Online - 7 BPM Everquest II - 6 BPM Vanguard - 5 BPM Dungeons and Dragons - 4 BPM Stargate Worlds - 3 BPMWith the launch only 16 days away, Warhammer Online is the unsurprising king of the Pulse. Our Warhammer Community had more people visit it in August than our main page. If the title can live up to the pre-launch hype there will be a lot of very happy MMOG fans.
EVE Online remains in the top five without much hype at all. I reloaded EVE to give it another shot. Now that there is a Mac client I really have no excuse not to have it running in the background while I'm doing research. There is almost a consensus in the industry that EVE is a successful game. With 300,000ish subscribers this independently developed game is viewed as a jewel in the crown of the MMOG genre. A rough launch didn't hamper the team who kept building upon a solid foundation with positive results.
Age of Conan, which has settled into what seems like a semi-permanent spot at #3 in the Ten Ton Pulse is widely perceived as a failure. Fans and press have turned on the game which sold 700,000 copies and currently has 415,000 subscribers. AoC also had a rough launch in some respects, though overall it was a solid start to a solid game. The problem with AoC wasn't the game, but the expectations. Rightly or wrongly, players had expectations that certain features would be in place and when they weren't, things on the public relations front went downhill in a hurry.
EVE had many problems at launch, but the were corrected and now the game has not only longevity, but legs going forward. Will fans look back on AoC in three years and consider it a tremendous success? They probably should be doing that now. 415,000 subscribers puts the game somewhere in the #2 to #4 spot in the genre. On the flip-side, EVE never lost 285,000 subscribers. What is your take? How should the industry measure success?
PAX is over. We didn't attend this year and I for one am glad that we cut it out of our schedule. With GenCON, Leipzig and numerous other shows so close to PAX there was really no new coverage for us there. PAX is a show for the players, not for the press. Publishers that attended the show ended up rehashing coverage that has already been beaten thin, marinated and consumed by the public.
On the bright side, industry super-star Jeff Hickman, the Executive Producer on Warhammer Online took time out of his schedule every day at the show to blog for you about his experiences. At least, that was the plan. What Jeff did was above and beyond what could have been expected. He read our forums and replied to many of the questions that you posed. Jeff wrote three blogs with the hopes of topping the numbers of viewers that Paul Barnett (Creative Director - Warhammer Online) drew at Comic Con and that Josh Drescher (Associate Producer - Warhammer Online) drew at E3. The votes are in and our readers have given Jeff a slim victory over Josh. All hail 'The Hickman'.
However, not to be outdone, Paul and Josh (PB and J) currently hold the record for most views to a video series with WAR's Paul and Josh Do Leipzig. Who is #2 you ask? It's none other than our Exclusive Video Interview with WAR's Jeff Hickman.
WAR is breaking all traffic records except for one. The biggest traffic day in the history of our network belongs to Age of Conan. Can WAR topple that record as well? We'll find out on September 18th.
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.
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Ten Ton Hammer Epic Thread of the Day
Sometimes they're 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...No one; we just liked it.
Good Times Canceling My WoW Account
After
playing WoW for a good long time, Demosthenes left the game for WAR.
When he cancelled his account, Blizzard put him on a serious guilt
trip. He included screenshots of the WoW "guilt screen" for our
amusement. (And amuse us it did!)
Will WoW suffer when WAR goes live? Talk about it in this thread.
Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread:
"In case you are curious, the... years my wife and I played works out
to just under $1500. That is the equivalent of watching 162 movies.
Going out for dinner for two 48 times. Having at least 15 nights of
drunken barhopping. (Drinks are cheap here.)" - Demosthenes
====================
Do you have a favorite Epic Thread? Let us know!
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23 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 23 in September! 2217 in 2008!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for the Links and Real World News]
Images/Video
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Drak'Tharon Keep Gallery Warhammer Online: Executive NPC Concept Art Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Screenshots Blackstar: Teaser Video Aion: Vista, Characters and Monsters Silkroad Online: Immense Battles and Epic Settings Zu Online: Flying Features ScreenshotsInterviews
Earthrise: PvP Interview from Leipzig GCDC 08 Diablo 3: Video Interview with Lead Designer Jay WilsonCommunity
World of Warcraft: Messiah's WotLK Beta Journal - Getting to 74 Star Trek Online: Fiction Update 2379-2380Developer Blog
Exclusive Jeff Hickman WAR Blog at PAX- #3 The Hickman Leaveth Exclusive Jeff Hickman WAR Blog at PAX - #2 The Hickman Invades Exclusive Jeff Hickman WAR Blog at PAX - #1 The Hickman ReturnsOp/Eds
Vanguard: Can PvP survive?Comics
If real life were more like... WAR WAR-Torn: Lending a Helping HandContests
The WoW 'Summer's Over' Contest Play Atlantica Beta GiveawayGuides
Warhammer Online: Bright Wizard Guide Warhammer Online: Dwarf Rune Priest Guide Warhammer Online: Witch Hunter Ability List Age of Conan: Thunder River Quest Guide, Part 2Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to
Exclusive Jeff Hickman WAR Blog at PAX- #3 The Hickman Leaveth Exclusive Jeff Hickman WAR Blog at PAX - #2 The Hickman Invades Exclusive Jeff Hickman WAR Blog at PAX - #1 The Hickman Returns Diablo 3: Video Interview with Lead Designer Jay Wilson Earthrise: PvP Interview from Leipzig GCDC 08 Leipzig GCDC 2008 Vanguard: Can PvP survive? State of the MMOG Nation - A Frenzy of NegativityReal World News
WoW Players Using Treadmills to run Azeroth [Courtesy of John B.]Guiding You to the Next
Level... [Thanks Karen Hertzberg]
Let there be no doubt; our community site teams work hard
to put out quality guides to help you get the most of your gaming
experience. And now we've got your weekly guide to the guides. Here's a
recap of the information and updates published on our community sites
last week.
Age of Conan
Lord of the Rings Online
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
Warhammer Online
Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com.
- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team