by Reuben Waters on Mar 25, 2010
Loading... is the premier daily
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Airport is one
of the many thrilling open world
dungeons available to MMRLG players of all skill
levels. As the Ten Ton Hammer team makes their way to Boston for this
weekend’s PAX East, today's Loading... is
being beamed to you live from not just one, but two different instances
of Airport. Read on to discover how Airport stacks up against next gen
dungeon crawls and what it shares in common with upcoming MMOG
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The overall zone
design of Airport never fails to fascinate, or at least amuse me. By
and large the entire concept is a throwback to earlier MMOGs when
shared dungeon spaces were the norm and instancing was just a twinkle
in Funcom’s eye. Much like some of my old favorite zones from
the original
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/38">EverQuest,
the shared user experience of Airport is not without its
equal share of both positive and negative gameplay elements.
For example,
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow">World
of Warcraft
players are all too
familiar with the
dreaded gear checks that have become par for the course with endgame
raiding. Now, in WoW gear checks to determine raid viability is a
wholly player created concept which varies slightly from server to
server or even guild to guild. Not so in Airport. Gear checks are not
only a mandatory requirement to enter the bulk of the zone, but
they’re so thorough that you literally have to remove your
feet slot items to make sure they pass inspection. On the plus side, at
least Airport is part of a massively multiplayer game where sock slot
gear is
a norm rather than a just a pipe dream of mine as is the case in the
vast majority of MMOGs.
Graphically Airport tends to be
an odd blend of both photo realism and
some of the blandest interior spaces I've yet to experience
in the MMRL metagame. I suspect that the logic behind the low
resolution textures for things like the walls and flooring are meant to
account for the high volume of players the dungeon is able to
accommodate at any given point. Case in point, my slow crawl through
one of the smaller Airport zones this morning had easily hundreds of
players all logged into the zone at once but Airport didn’t
once suffer from lag or any noticeable loss of framerate. So all things
considered even if the graphics of Airport are a tad on the bland side
at least general gameplay doesn't typically suffer due to
graphical issues.
During peak hours Airport's
servers can indeed contain so many players that the
handful of available NPCs will be so heavily camped that most players
will be forced to begrudgingly wait in line for a chance to interact
with them. This was certainly the case when I ventured deeper into the
dungeon to find the nearest overpriced coffee vendor. Indeed, even
during off peak hours it can be hard to find a quiet corner of the zone
for your group to camp, though curiously most players in Airport are
also distinctly antisocial outside of their specific groups. I suppose
on a positive note at least there
are no annoying [Dirge] jokes getting spammed in trade chat the entire
time you’re playing.
Speaking of in-game chat,
that’s one area where
Airport truly shines, or more specifically the integrated voice chat
options available to players. Not counting the very wooden, lifeless
voice
acting of just about all of Airport’s narration, the game
uses a highly advanced version of voice chat that’s light
years ahead of most MMOGs. I say most MMOGs here, because Realtime
Worlds' upcoming All Points
Bulletin has incorporated a
similar voice chat
option into the game, as featured in their
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/82652">latest
podcast.
I’m
one of those gamers who typically have mixed feelings
about integrated voice chat, but in the case of APB I find myself
genuinely intrigued by the way the system is being implemented. In a
nutshell, voice chat will be somewhat location specific. So much like
in Airport, you’ll be able to hear random conversations as
you scamper by other players, or optionally begin chatting with any of
them within range without having it broadcast across the entire server.
Very cool stuff, which is only one of the many things I look forward to
checking out this weekend at PAX East where I plan on getting some
hands-on time with the game.
That's about all I have time
for today, but stay tuned to
your local Ten Ton Hammer network for plenty of hot exclusive content,
straight out of the PAX East 2010 oven. Will you be attending
the show this weekend? Have anything you're dying to find out
about APB or any of the other MMOGs being shown at the event? Drop on
by the forums and let us know!
This
edition of Loading... has been brought to you by Airport and the
letter R!
5 new Ten Ton Hammer
features
today! 101 in March! 331
in 2010!
CONTESTS
Star Trek Online: Season 1 and Killer NIC Giveaway
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It's free and easy to enter, so
do it today! Prizes beam out from March 29th to April 2nd
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you a chance to win an incredible prize packs in celebration of Star
Trek Online's newly revealed "Season One: Common Ground". Check out
these great prizes:
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entries. Winners will be posted in this thread starting March 29th and
running through April 2nd.
New winners will be announced every day next week in this forum thread:
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href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=50349">http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=50349
FEATURES
& GUIDES
Champions Online: New Tier 4
Powers Overview
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/powersets/tier4powers">http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/powersets/tier4powers
With
the introduction of Vibora Bay in Champions Online, Cryptic has created
new Tier 4 powers for the heroes to use. Your pals at Ten Ton Hammer
are here to provide the lowdown on these new powers, and to give you
all the information you need on whether you want to get them or not.
I’m betting that you do!
The Evolution of StarCraft
Armies - Early Game Terran
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/features/terran_earlygame_evolution">http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/features/terran_earlygame_evolution
StarCraft,
without question, has the most prolific history of any real-time
strategy game. Its impeccable balance, which spawned hundreds of unique
strategies, map designs, and builds, is legendary in the online gaming
community. As StarCraft II prepares to take up the mantle of its
predecessor, Ten Ton Hammer continues to look at how the armies of
StarCraft II have evolved, this time focusing on early game Terran.
Star Trek Online: Ten Ton
Hammer's Galactic Map Archives Updated
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While
the process of warping between local systems in Star Trek Online has
been made relatively easy, sometimes traversing the vastness of space
can still be a difficult endeavor. To help get you pointed in the right
direction, Ten Ton Hammer is pleased to bring you detailed maps for
each sector in Federation space and beyond.
Star Trek Online: Captain's
Blog, Season One and Jack Emmert Center Stage
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/captains_blog_8">http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto/captains_blog_8
This
week we eagerly await the arrival of Season One, the first major
content patch for Star Trek Online. Instead of twiddling our thumbs
though, we review what Jack Emmert, Chief Operating Officer of Cryptic
studios had to say in a recent interview. Discussing everything from
Godzilla to how WoW has ruined the MMOG market (see the easy segue
there?), Jack is amazingly open about the past, present and future of
Cryptic Studios and Star Trek Online.
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