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Canada's "Own the Podium" Olympics program has already resulted in a better showing for the host country than in previous home Olympics, and in the wide world of MMOGs we've seen a similar all-out effort from SOE, culminating in the release of the EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate expansion today. We'll take a look at other interesting similarities between the Olympics and the games we play in today's Loading... Own the Podium.
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If you've caught any Olympics coverage so far, you've probably heard about Bilodeau. Despite hosting their third Olympics in Vancouver, freestyle moguls skiier Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada's first home gold Sunday night. Bilodeau, who cites his brother (a cerebral palsey sufferer) as constant inspiration, got a hugely wet Valentine's Day kiss from a luxurious blonde (that may or may not have been someone he knew five minutes before) after a short TV interview, then last night tearfully sang "O Canada" with the jubilant Canadian crowd at the awards ceremony Monday night. As Olympic storylines go, it was the complete package.
Taking nothing away from Alexandre Bilodeau, his efforts were sustained by Canada's "Own the Podium" program, a massive investment designed to catapult Canucks to Olympic greatness. There's no reason why Canada, with its excellent climate and training facilities afforded by past Olympic games, couldn't be a winter Olympics powerhouse on par with the US, Russia, and Germany. While the program may or may not result in finishing high in the overall medal count, Canadian athletes have already shown vast improvement. And MMOGs and sports programs have this much in common: they're either getting better or getting worse - there's no middle ground.
SOE an equally ambitious program too for EverQuest 2, launching PvP battlegrounds earlier this month, and following up with an all-in-one "Sentinel's Fate" expansion today at retail (the digital download version will be out next week). Guides that yours truly wrote four or five years ago continue to push EQ2 to the top of the Pulse charts (and that's more attributable to Savanja's constant improvements and the game's appeal than my writing), so the community's certainly hanging around for this game.
We've long held the view that EQ2's insular audience and marketing practices have limited its potential. It's a niche game, but there's no reason why it shouldn't have widespread appeal. We ask devs what MMO game their playing aside from their own and hear EQ2 just as often as WoW. In just about every category except open PvP, lore (minus 2 points for a lack of Arthas, or for that manner any characters that aren't frozen in their archetype), and (arguably) art direction, EQ2 is as good as any MMO out there, even in the fringe categories like add-on creation and player or guild housing. More than one pundit has credited EQ2 with being the most complete MMOG on the market more than five years after it's inception, and I still can't find any reason to disagree.
EQ2 might have as good a chance at rousting WoW from its elevated podium position as Canada has of offing the US or Germany this time around, but why shouldn't developers like SOE try as hard as their budgets and talent pools allow? For some smaller devcos, that might mean being a niche leader, going after session PvP or vehicular combat like the Netherlands goes after speed skating or Scandanavian countries go after cross-country skiing. Since Sentinel's Fate includes the basic game and all the expansions, it's a great time to check out EQ2 if you have any interest. Planning to jump in? What appeals? Share your thoughts and opinions in the Loading... forum, or feel free to email me.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day
From our Articles, News & Events Forum
Stargate Resistance Launches with a Few Bumps
"Stargate
Resistance launched today," wrote Martuk in our news forum last week,
"but the game is already off to a rough start." But, despite some
Direct2Drive distribution hiccups, the game should be rolling along
now. The problem is, it's difficult to determine whether anyone cares.
Our own thread about the game quickly turned into a thread about the
various Stargate TV series. Do you have a comment about Stargate
Resistance? Get this thread on track! If not, you can always bash on Stargate Universe like everyone else.
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"Hope it is good enough to net them some profit so Stargate Worlds has a chance of seeing the light."
- Stark1
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell
us!
New and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer
9 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 72 in February! 187
in 2010!
INTERVIEWS
Defining the Lore of Guild Wars 2 - A Q&A with Jeff Grubb
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81024
While
ArenaNet is not yet ready to disclose many aspects of the gameplay for
its upcoming MMOG, Guild Wars 2, we were able to catch up with ArenaNet
Game Designer, World Builder and all-around Lore Guy, Jeff Grubb. Jeff
tells us a little about the art of the game and a whole lot about
what's coming in the way of lore.
Love Connections: Developers' First Gaming Loves
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80902
Ten
Ton Hammer asked some of our developer friends to wax nostalgic about
the first blush of MMOG love, and they jumped at the chance, proving
yet again (although it hardly requires affirmation) that you never
forget your first. Read on to learn about the experiences that guided
these devs to a career dedicated to fun and games.
EDITORIALS
Wow - Tank and Healer Symbiosis in Cataclysm: A Wish List
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/editorials/tanksandhealersincataclysm
World
of Warcraft has changed significantly since it’s initial release. Some
of the biggest changes occurred to tanks and healers, and there are
many more changes coming. Byron “Messiah” Mudry walks you through what
he thinks would make interesting changes for the classes in Cataclysm.
FEATURES & GUIDES
Hybrid Theory - The Final Archetype Preview for Allods Online
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81043
Finishing
up our series on Allods Online archetype previews, this weeks
Microcosms focuses on the final two groups--the Summoner and Warden.
Join Medawky as he dives in to the Allods version of hybrid classes
that feature some of the most powerful and fun to play classes in the
game. We also review the weekly Top 10, spotlight ZeroMerc's look at
Runes of Magic microtransactions and highlight the weeks top
free-to-play stories and articles.
WoW Weekly Report - "The PuG Factor"
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/newsletter/issue54
This
week's Overpull is full of World of Warcraft news and an excellent look
at the frustration players experience when dealing with pugs (pick-up groups). Do you
feel frustrated by the dungeon tool or even low level groups for
elites? This Overpull is for you as we delve deep into the subject.
An Introduction to Aika
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80962
gPotato,
the North American gaming portal for Gala-Net, is set to bring another
large scale PvP oriented game to the market. With five Nations, six
Classes, fifteen unique areas to explore and one very interesting
combat pet, Aika may be one of the more intriguing titles to hit our
shores in quite some time. Join Medawky this week as he gives us a
quick overview and introduction to the game that is just kicking off
beta in preparation for a Spring 2010 North American launch.
Flying The Stabber In EVE Online
http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides/ships/stabber
Cruisers
are a powerful tool in combat, yet readily available for use by newer
players in EVE Online. Space Junkie tells us about flying the Stabber,
a Minmatar vessel that is as fast as it is deadly.
Star Trek Online: Bridge Officer Training
http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/bridge_officer_guide
Star
Trek Online throws you right into middle management with little to no
preparation. Very early on in the game, players get their first bridge
officer and then they start accumulating points and merits to help
bolster their abilities. It can be a little daunting, so this week we
look at how to cope with the responsibility.
WoW Guide to Running Chain Heroics
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/chainheroics
One
of the major ways for characters to gear up in World of Warcraft is
through badge rewards. Badges are earned by running heroic
instances or raids. Many players however do not have ready access
to raids since their guilds do not run them or they do not have the
time to dedicate to them. This leaves running many heroics, or
chaining heroics, to earn as many badges as possible. Join Byron
“Messiah” Mudry as he walks you through some of the best ways to earn
massive numbers of badges.
Today's
Hottest Articles and Guides
- Love Connections: Developers' First Gaming Loves
- Defining the Lore of Guild Wars 2 - A Q&A with ArenaNet's Jeff Grubb
- style="font-weight: bold;">Bioshock 2 Review
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/globalagenda/editorials/whatclass">
style="font-weight: bold;">Global Agenda Questionnaire - Which
Class is Right for You - WoW - Tank and Healer Symbiosis in Cataclysm: A Wish List
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/features/first_impressions"> style="font-weight: bold;">Star Trek Online - First Impressions
- style="font-weight: bold;">EQ2 Battleground Preview
-
EVE
Online
Sins of a Solar Spymaster #38: Self-Immolation for Fun and Profit - Top 10
PvP MMOGs -
Top
5 Single-Player Games That Need To Be MMOGs
Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!
- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle
and the
Ten Ton Hammer team
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our EverQuest II Game Page.
