by Jeff Woleslagle on Mar 19, 2009
Welcome to the 1,039th Edition of Loading...
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The Pulse
You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is Pulse?).
Here's today's top 5 Pulse results for today:
World of Warcraft EVE Online (UP 2) EverQuest 2 (UP 1) Warhammer Online (down 1) Age of ConanBiggest Movers in the Top 20 today :
Lego Universe (UP 46!! to #13) Bounty Bay Online (UP 15 to #12) Darkfall (UP 14 to #16)Loading... Daily
Loading... because pissing on bad games should be a leisurely pursuit, not a territorial one.
MMO gamers tend to be extremely territorial, especially with their first MMO. Ten Ton Hammer's Ben de la Durantaye had this insight last night, and it seems true, even obvious, to me in retrospect, and portentous. As much as we (Ten Ton Hammer) like to think of MMORPGs as a category and work from the common framework of all MMOs - a large online community to interact with or fight against - you're far less likely to think of yourself as an MMO gamer than a WoW player, an EVE player, an EQ2 player, LotRO player, or in terms of whatever game has its hooks in you. That doesn't change what we're trying to do - we think there are fundamental similarities between these games that are well worth exploring, but it does mean that we have to get fairly in-depth with each game to catch the attention of even the most one-track gamers.
But being territorial means that the typical MMO gamer isn't just enjoying their chosen game on their own terms, they typically enjoy it to the exclusion of all others. The great hope of WoW as the gateway drug to the MMO genre, that it would grow the total audience playing these games and not just its own, seems to have dried up - at least in the short term. If you tell the typical WoW enthusiast about a exciting new MMO, be prepared for an attack. As much as the developers don't believe their MMOs aren't in direct competition with one another (reference WoW Lead Producer J. Allen Brack's comments on WAR at last year's BlizzCon - video link), their audience typically isn't quite as transcendent. I could cite any number of AoC vs.WAR vs. WoW threads, but it boils down to attacks on how the game looks too similar, "stole" this or that game mechanic, or won't work purely in theory (since just about every extremely vocal player is a self-proclaimed expert).
Rare is a critique that focuses on how the game's differences might be to a player's benefit or disadvantage, and rarer still is a comment from anyone that's actually played the opposing game in any depth. The upshot with a game as dominant as WoW is this: you have an incredibly vast audience picketing and poo-pooing any game that comes down the line based on how it's been described to them by other people reacting against the trespass of new game. And how do they, at the source, form their opinion? Usually not by the competing game's merit, but by its marketing. Given the power of word of mouth in today's noisy online culture, this is devastating.
If you're playing an upstart MMO and enjoying it, you've probably tuned all of this nonesense out. Good for you for not mindlessly following the crowd, you'll be rewarded with a unique experience. And if you genuinely enjoy WoW, good for you too. This isn't another "WoW is the anti-MMO" rant - there's absolutely enough room for all of our MMO preferences and a growing number of MMOs to fulfill them. And if WoW or some other MMO has grown stale for you, there's plenty of alternatives. Ten Ton Hammer, among other outlets, will do our level best to inform you of them minus the PR fluff.
Don't feel like you have to keep pouring hours into a game you don't enjoy just because you've fenced yourself in or lent your defense to the glory of a particular MMO. More than one MMORPG can be absolutely worth playing, though it's easy to forget that fact because these games take so much time to really get into. If you're looking for a change, free-to-play Runes of Magic launched today, which may be the best thing to come out of Berlin since the Wall, or you can try your hand at player-generated content with the Issue 14 of City of Heroes, which entered open beta yesterday. I'm currently working on a preview of Chronicles of Spellborn, currently in closed beta for us UK and NA folks, and elements of that game are extremely refreshing - it might be the first time since 2004 since I've felt like I was truly in an immersive new world.
Had a quality MMO experience off the beaten path? Share it in the Loading... forum, or toss me an email.
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day6 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 77 in March! 337 in 2009!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]
Runes of Magic: Exclusive End of Beta InterviewHot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to:
WoW Celebs: An Interview with Olympic Gold Medalist Matt Grievers Preview: Get your Freakémon on in Freaky Creatures Jumpgate, LEGO Universe, and Gazillion: An Exclusive Interview with Scott Brown geeked: "Call it Karma" EverQuest 2: 10th Anniversary Q&A with Game Designer Ed Hardin Warhammer Online: Call to Arms - The Slayer and The Choppa Preview of Bounty Bay Online EVE Online: Sins of a Solar Spymaster - "Bad Crazy in Internet Space" geeked: They Are Everywhere Building on Success: The Growth of Atlantica OnlineReal World News [All links today courtesy of Matt N.!]
List of the Most Embarrassing CanadiansThanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
-Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team