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The Pulse

First, you vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is Pulse?). You'll notice a number of space MMOs have moved up significantly, and Ralsu's Space Race Editorial is to blame. Check it out if you haven't already!

World of Warcraft Warhammer Online Age of Conan Star Wars: The Old Republic (UP 3) Stargate Worlds Jumpgate Evolution (UP 21!!) Star Trek Online (UP 37!!) EVE Online (down 2) Atlantica Online (down 5) Guild Wars (down 5)

Biggest Sinkers and Floaters in the Top 20

Star Wars: The Old Republic (UP 5 to no. 7) EverQuest 2 (UP 4 to no. 16) Lord of the Rings Online (UP 3 to no. 10)

Daily Column

Loading... where we'll never quit our day job.

I almost hate to admit it, but offline training is one of my favorite MMOG mechanics. Maybe not to the extent of EVE Online's training system, where you could literally spend six months in a station swapping skills then (provided you sell a timecard for some ISK) go load out a battleship for bear and arrrr! have your way with low sec until a bigger fish (or fleet of fish) comes along. But I wouldn't be surprised if more than a quarter of CCP's revenue comes from that truly value added-feature alone. I've opted to train that really painful 30 day skill rather than unsubscribe more than once. But CCP, recognizing that the good feelings offline training offers only goes so far, drew the line at the much-requested training skill queue, explaining that they'd like even the most casual players to log in sometimes.

EVE Online is the extreme example, but most if not all of the popular MMORPGs have a bonus to XP-gain for offline time, sort of a thank you for paying us and dragging out your character development while not tying up the servers excessively. EQ2 and several other games offer veteran rewards for time subscribed, regardless of advancement.

But I've always wondered why traditional MMORPGs didn't have an alternate advancement system designed around offline training. Blizzard could never do it now, but I've often wondered if the rush to 80 (and the resulting churn) wouldn't be slowed down somewhat if talents were trained over weeks and months of real time instead of by a typical RPG point buy with points awarded by level.

At least one venerable franchise has heard my mostly subconscious yearnings. City of Heroes/ City of Villains Issue 13: Power and Responsibility (which launches today) introduces an interesting offline bonus system, and the concept plays nicely into the feel of the games. "Day Jobs" will allow heroes and villains to log off in select areas, like a hospital, and log back in with a caregiver (hero) badge or pain specialist (villain) badge, offering an out-of-combat regen bonus. We have a somewhat fun little dramatized exclusive Issue 13: Day Jobs video that highlights the feature (not to mention the first-in-class machinima capabilities of City of Heroes), but check out the dev blog for more in-depth info.

Day Jobs and the Leveling Pact (which allows two new characters to have permanently in-sync XP, no matter who plays more), show that you can teach an older game (or games) some exciting new tricks. I have to agree with a Loading... forum poster a while ago that wrote that the leveling pact idea should become standard among MMORPGs. I'm sure there's a non-gamer in your life that would play a subscription game with you on occasion if you were always at the same level (that is, without you always having to log in as an less-powerful alt).

What do you think about offline training and bonuses? Does it make your subscription a little more worthwhile, or take away from the core game? Share your thoughts in the Loading forum or, as always, feel free to write to me directly.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day



From our Articles & Features Discussion Forum

The New Space Race: Four MMOGs Taking Gamers into Outer Space in 2009


Every article published on Ten Ton Hammer includes a link to a
related discussion on our forum. For that reason, I don't usually
include article-related links in the Epic Thread. But this thread
begged to be the exception, if only because the topic seems to pique
the interest of many gamers.

Our main site writer, Danny "Ralsu"
Gourley, crafted an editorial sure to make a few people want to...oh, I
don't know, tear a droid's arms out of its sockets, or something. He
took a look at four upcoming space MMOGs and offered his take on how
they'll fare in 2009. You'll have to read the editorial
to find out why Ralsu says, "I have pissed off a lot more
Stargate fans than I had previously." Then head over to our forum to be
pissed off...or just post your own opinions about Star Wars: The Old
Republic, Star Trek Online, Stargate Worlds and Jumpgate Evolution.


=================================

Awesome Quote from the
Epic Thread:



"Well, it's about damn time we had some big name sci-fi MMOs lined up! I've had enough of Orcs and Elves."



- Xebek



=================================



Do you have a favorite Epic Thread? Let
us know!

5 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 25 in December! 2999 in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]

Videos

Ten Ton Hammer Exclusive First Look: City of Heroes Issue 13 'Day Jobs' Video

Interviews

EverQuest 2: Post-'Shadow Odyssey' with Bruce Ferguson and Noel Wellen

Op/Eds

The Madness of Crafting

Community

Ten Ton Comics: Geeked - "Hindsight is 20/20"

Guides

Age of Conan: Armoursmith Recipe Guide - Tier 1

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

EverQuest 2: Post-'Shadow Odyssey' with Bruce Ferguson and Noel Wellen The Madness of Crafting Ten Ton Comics: Geeked - "Hindsight is 20/20" The New Space Race: Four MMOGs Taking Gamers into Outer Space in 2009 Red 5 Studios: Exclusive with Chief Creative Officer Mark Kern 38 Studios: Audio with Aubrey Hodges Warhammer Online: 7-Day WAR Report Warhammer Online: WAR-Torn - "Of Iron Maidens and Holy Divers" Ten Ton Turnip - Issue #1

Real World News

Hardened criminals win right to moisturizer

Convicts were unhappy with pore living conditions Man jailed for having sex with a horse

Representatives for Sarah Jessica Parker were unavailable for comment. Thousands of hens killed in animal rights activism raid

Fleeing suspect thought to be super-villain, seen with a capon

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

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