Loading... The Right Way to Run a Beta

Welcome to the 1,115th Edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

The highs and lows of a holiday weekend chock full of beta events are the subject of today's newsletter. General game impressions from playtesting Aion and Champions Online - as well as what's right and what's wrong about how the developers are conducting these beta events - will join the latest Champions Online exclusive powers interview in today's Loading... The Right Way to Run a Beta.

Need more newsletter? Play World of Warcraft? Jay "Medeor" Johnson's weekly WoW newsletter "The Overpull" comes out every Tuesday and keeps you entertained and informed on all the latest developments in WoW. Sign up!

The Pulse

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 for today:

World of Warcraft EverQuest 2 Age of Conan Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (UP 3) Aion (down 1)

Biggest Movers in the last 30 days :

Global Agenda (UP 41 to #16) Guild Wars (UP 17 to #9) EverQuest (UP 9 to #13) Recent MMO Releases 6/16 - EverQuest 2 GU 52 6/24 - Age of Conan Update 5: Gangs of Tarantia 6/25 - WAR "Land of the Dead" 6/30 - City of Heroes Issue 15: Anniversary 6/30 - Lord of the Rings Online Book 8

Important Dates

7/17 - 7/19- Aion Beta Weekend 7/23 - 7/26 - San Diego Comic Con '09 Upcoming Releases Late July - FFXI "Moogle Kupo d'Etat" Addon (release date) 8/25 - CrimeCraft (release date) 9/1 - Champions Online (release date) 9/22 - Aion (release date) Early 2010 - APB

Loading... Daily

Here's hoping you had a relaxing holiday weekend. And if you didn't have a holiday weekend, chances are you live in one of those countries that has a mandatory 35 hour workweek and a month of mandatory vacation, so you didn't need a holiday weekend anyway.

When I wasn't setting off hot dogs and roasting firecrackers, I spent a good portion of this weekend in Champions Online and Aion. I have to say I enjoyed both. Champions Online has really grown on me, as several friends said it would after getting my travel power at level 8ish. Closing in on level twenty, I'm starting to appreciate what powers customization really means too. I've stuck close to my guslinger framework with my character; he's pretty much all offense, but within that framework I've built up a pretty powerful set of direct-damage and area-of-effect attacks, as well as some decent crowd control, self healing, and escape abilities. It's nice having a little something every level, and even the stat boosting "talents" make a marked difference in combat, at least at low levels. As for PvP and endgame, I'll be traveling to San Francisco this week to find out more about these little discussed aspects of Champions Online.

So CO was Friday. On Saturday (when I wasn't sampling the Declaration of Independence and reciting the Apple Pie) and Sunday you could find me in Aion. I have to say, The Guild Wars-inspired beta weekend is absolutely the right way to run a beta. It must suck for the systems engineers and other on-duty personnel at NCSoft, but as a player, having a weekend as opposed to an evening to play completely changes your perspective. The pressure to level drops way down, and you feel like you can actually spare a moment to socialize, or to report a bug or share some feedback.

That is, I would have reported bugs if either of these games had a decent (or decently apparent) in-game bug reporting tool at this point. CO did used to ask me about quests as I completed them at one point, but stopped asking recently. Maybe the tool got offended when I noted that it was the occasional "stuck" quest that desperately needed my feedback, but I couldn't offer feedback because I couldn't complete the quest.

Aion just invites my feedback to the beta boards where, if my search for an already-reported bug turns up nothing and I bravely start a thread, I'm probably welcoming a chorus of boos and hisses from folks contemptuously noting that said issue was, in fact, well-known and how dare I not devote a significant portion of my life to following these boards before commenting. You're much more likely to get my detailed and well-documented feedback if I can send my merry little bug report- in-game and anonymously- into the big black CSR void.

I've been working on a Sorceror in Aion and, despite not being the coolest class on the block, I'm enjoying it immensely. Maybe I'm undergoing a ranged DPS phase or something. My journey from the previous cap of 10 to not quite 20 added some nice direct damage options as well as shielding, self-healing, and mana regen spells that significantly reduced downtime - a necessity for pure mage fun.

I like the addition of Divine Power (DP) abilities, too. DP is a sort-of second mana bar that builds up ever so slowly as you kill baddies, leading to some massively powerful abilities. It took me about two hours to fill it halfway, enough to charge my one DP skill. The downside is that you lose all DP when you log out, but you can apparently transfer it to another character. That's a nifty social thing, but while soloing and leveling this sort of mechanic encourages extremely lengthy game sessions, which is likely to cause spouse aggro and make it that much harder to log in next time.

Have some good beta this weekend? Have the burgers and bean salad digested properly? Share your experiences in the Loading... forum, or feel free to email me!

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Aion Forum

My "Preview Weekend" Review

A lot of gamers played. Were you one of them?

I
got my hands on Aion for the first time this weekend. While it didn't
blow me away, and the early quests seemed standard fare, it didn't bore
me, either. Give me a friend or two interested in playing Aion and I
could see myself enjoying it for a while. (This coming from a busy
gamer who never quite found the time between family and fireworks
to earn her Elyos warrior's wings.)

If you haven't played Aion yet, stop by our forum to see what the buzz is about. If you have, come share your opinions. Fly on over! (Sorry.)

==============================
Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"To
me, allowing kill stealing as a game mechanic infers that the devs
aren't looking to limit the social aspects of the game. As a whole, I
see most systems (like the WoW one tag and own a mob) as a use of game
mechanics that circumvents people socializing. In a KS-legal game you
might need to find a group for some mobs/quests, or you might need to
keep track of the seedier people in the community."

- Koshira
==============================

Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!

4 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 20 in July! 785 in 2009!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

Exclusive Articles:

Champions Online Power Set Interview - Dual Blades, Single Blade, Fighting Claws and Unarmed
For the latest installment of Ten Ton Hammer’s weekly review of the Champions Online power sets, we spoke with Bill Roper about the title’s martial arts themed power sets; Dual Blades, Single Blade, Fighting Claws and Unarmed. Each of these sets will provide some interesting options for those of you looking to get into some fast-paced martial combat, so read on to learn all the details! **Now public** The Dilemma of Level vs Skill - How Old Became New Again
Since MMORPGs became a mainstream medium, players have debated the two primary methods of advancement. Which is better? Is it the level-based system that is so dominate in today's MMORPGs or the lesser used skill-based system? This has been a strong subject of debate on many forums, blogs, and gaming sites for as long as the genre has existed. This week Cody "Micajah" Bye investigates the two concepts and gathers input from some of the brightest minds in the gaming industry about their thoughts on the two systems of advancement. World of Warcraft - Selecting Talents for the Shaman
This week's Shaman guide update dives into the all important talent selection process of being a Shaman, whether you are Enhancement, Elemental, or the uber Restoration Spec. Both casual and hardcore Shammies will find this guide helpful! World of Warcraft - Warlock Reputation Rewards
Our latest Warlock guide will offer you the information to put a powerful gear set together with reputation rewards. Once you get this gear together, along with some heroic and emblem gear, you'll be ready to start raiding!

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

asdf The Dilemma of Level vs Skill - How Old Became New Again EVE Online: Sins of a Solar Spymaster #18 - Defending Allah's Sacred Domains 13 Things to Know Before Playing Aion Gangland Gankage - A CrimeCraft Hands-On Preview Champions Online Power Set Interview – Telekinesis, Force, and Telepathy Basic Primer to World of Warcraft Machinima Age of Conan Game Update 5 Funcom Interview Ten Ton Hammer E3 2009 Awards The Agency: Fan Faire 2009 Report

Real World News - We couldn't make this stuff up if we tried:

Experimental Aircraft Association Offers Free Rides for Youths
Just push the red button at 58,000 feet, kids!
1.6 Million Vie for Michael Jackson Tribute Tickets
That's about how many wanted to see him alive during the tour (belatedly) named "This Is It." Teenager Auctions Naked Pictures of His Mother
Mother's actual reaction: "You cheeky little git." They're from New Zealand, which makes this somehow less weird.

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

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