by Jeff Woleslagle on Aug 10, 2009
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
We have a variety grab bag for you after a busy beta weekend. More speculation regarding just what Atari and Cryptic have up their sleeve bubbled up following a re-post of a line from Atari's recent financial statement. Odds are we won't know anything until Champions Online and maybe event Star Trek Online have their day, but its fun to speculate. The latest from the Champions Online beta, a quick look at our latest feature article on the paralells between MMO developement and Hollywood, and a quick snippet on how CCP helped it's employees weather the Icelandic economic crisis round out today's Loading... Pac-Man the MMO.
Coyote's daily column explores all things geek with Coyote's trademark wit in It's All Geek to Me. Read it daily at Ten Ton Hammer! Today's topic: Space... the final frontier (Sexin' up the aliens)
You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is The Pulse?).
Here's today's top 5 Pulse results:
World of Warcraft EverQuest 2 Champions Online (UP 1) Age of Conan (down 1) AionBiggest Movers today :
Jade Dynasty (UP 7 to #16) Runes of Magic (UP 5 to #14) City of Heroes (down 4) Recent MMO Releases 7/7 - Darkfall Player Housing Expansion 7/13 - Darkfall NA launch 7/21- FFXI "Moogle Kupo d'Etat" Addon (release date)Important Dates
8/19 - 8/23 - Gamescom Cologne 8/21 - 8/22 - BlizzCon '09 9/4 - 9/6 - Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) 9/15 - 9/18 - GDC Austin Upcoming Releases 8/25 - CrimeCraft (release date) 9/1 - Champions Online (release date) 9/9 - Dungeons & Dragons Online Eberron Unlimited (release date) 9/9 - Fallen Earth (release date) 9/22 - Aion (release date) 10/9 - Cities XL (release date) Early 2010 - APBCody's feature article, The Hollywood Cycle: Comparing the MMO Industry with the Silver Screen, is available for public consumption today, and it's well worth a coffee break to read and discover the finer points of what makes MMORPGs unique in the entertainment industry. We're really on the cusp of a completely new social entertainment medium, and I like the fact that Hermann Peterscheck reminds us that even at 12 years old, the MMO concept is still very young, especially compared to film and even mainstream video games.
As if Star Trek Online and Champions Online aren't enough to handle, the dynamic duo of Atari and Cryptic are working on a "series of new games based on existing and historically successful" Atari IPs. We've known this for about a year now, and Metal raised the issue again in the forums based on a line taken from Atari's latest financial statement. Fan sites have long been whispering Neverwinter Nights, but Metal's hoping for a .hack// MMO and others are quietly pulling for new games based off of X-Com and Sid Meier's Pirates. I'm personally hoping for a Super Breakout MMO, or maybe something in the line of Pacman. Just one giant maze with nothing but dots to chomp and other Pacmen and ghosts (PvP!) to avoid.
Jokes aside, I really enjoyed Test Drive Unlimited. It was a highly underrated MMO-ish concept that would be a fun MMO with the kind of tweaks Cryptic could deliver. I've been hankering for a decent driving MMO ever since Burnout Paradise, and hopefully we'll see the MMO category continue to go in directions beside YMF (yet more fantasy).
Reports from our beta key winners inside the Champions Online beta weekend are starting to trickle in, and though they're under NDA, the prevailing attitude was predictable. People either love or hate the art direction - the cell shading and comic book-like stop-frame animation - and it seems to color their experience of the opening part of the game. My advice is my advice for just about every top-tier MMO: give it 20 levels before forming an opinion. You're doing yourself and an MMO a disservice otherwise. Champions Online in particular really grew on me after getting out of Millennium City and getting my travel powers.
Today's news that CCP (maker of EVE Online) paid its employees in foreign currency during the economic meltdown in Iceland isn't exactly news; we knew they were taking these kind of measures last year. But big kudos to CCP for looking out for its employees.
This week will be a busy one here at Ten Ton Hammer (Gen Con, SyndiCon, and a Bioware press junket are all on tap later this week), so I hope I'm not disappointing all three of my fans with a short Loading... or two or six in the coming days. But, as always, your thoughts and opinions are welcome in the Loading... forum, or feel free to email me.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day
From our Aion: General Discussion
Is Aion better than WoW?
It is if you think it is!
Artificial,
a new member of our forum community, stepped in to ask a simple
question that, when posed revelant to just about any game, stirs up a
heated discussion: Is Aion better than World of Warcraft?
Of
course, whether it's better or not is all a matter of perspective. My
own take is that Aion is a very solid game, with great lore and amazing
graphics. It's not my perfect game, but to me it's better than WoW, in
part because I'm one of the few who's never liked WoW. To you, there
may be no comparison.
So, Is Aion better than WoW? Whatever
your thoughs on the question, scanning through a collection of varied
opinions can prove interesting. Check out this thread, and give us your take.
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Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread
"It's
better if you like it and think it's better! I'm in the extreme
minority where I don't like WoW at all so I pretty much think anything
is better.
I do think Aion is up there with some of the other
good games and holds enough mass appeal to captivate a broad range of
player types. I think if one enjoys WoW then chances are Aion would be
a good game to try on."
- Savanja
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
9 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 31 in August! 891 in 2009!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]
Features and Interviews:
Ten Ton Hammer's Aion Community Site LaunchesGiveaways:
Runes of Magic Item GiveawayGuides:
An Advanced Guide to Crafting in AionScreenshots:
New City of Heroes Issue 16 Power Customization ScreenshotsHottest Content:
Champions Online: Exclusive Interview on Sidekicks, Super Groups, and Supervillains The Hollywood Cycle: Comparing the MMO Industry with the Silver Screen Ten Ton Hammer's Aion Community Site Launches The Co-Op PvE side of Global Agenda: A Q&A with Exec. Producer Todd Harris Runes of Magic Item Giveaway An Advanced Guide to Crafting in Aion Ten Ton Hammer Hands-On Preview - Wonderking Online The Guild In-Depth Interview with Director Sean Becker World of Warcraft - Trial of the Champion Instance Guide New City of Heroes Issue 16 Power Customization ScreenshotsThanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
-Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team