by John Hoskin on Apr 11, 2008
Welcome to the 806th Edition of Loading...
If you aren't reading this in your e-mail, you could be. Sign up. Are you looking for gaming news? Look no further for all of the headlines. General industry news, right down to game specific and forum thread feeds are all yours as part of Ten Ton Hammer's news syndication program. Enjoy!
Daily Column
Loading... It's like a Kinder Egg for MMOG players.
First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.
If the Top 10 isn't enough, we now show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)
Age of Conan - 200 BPM World of Warcraft - 73 BPM Lord of the Rings Online - 27 BPM EverQuest 2 - 25 BPM Warhammer Online - 19 BPM EVE Online - 18 BPM Lineage 2 - 18 BPM Vanguard - 15 BPM Tabula Rasa 12 BPM Guild Wars - 18 BPMYou have one week left to win a lifetime subscription to Age of Conan, compliments of Funcom and Ten Ton Hammer.
"Ten Ton Hammer forum members have only one week remaining to submit their entries for some outrageous Age of Conan prizes. On the line are ten beta keys, 6 Age of Conan Collector's Edition boxes (one signed by Gaute Godager himself), a framed piece of concept art, and a lifetime subscription to Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. All hopeful contestants have to do is submit a forum entry of 100-250 words explaining why they will be playing Age of Conan for life. So far, over 550 people have taken the challenge, writing an estimated 140,000 words about this blockbuster title. Don't miss your chance; the AoC 4 Life contest closes April 18, 2008."
Captain Obvious invaded Sony UK headquarters recently,
"Sony Computer Entertainment UK MD Ray Maguire has predicted that 90 per cent of games sales will be taking place online in ten years’ time." -- MCV
I'm curious how many of you buy via digital download (analog download is not so great) rather than purchasing a box in a retail store. I personally prefer a box, because I can reinstall easily, but those of you with uber-fast connections may feel differently.
Uber-huge would be a fair assessement of Blizzard and uber-security would describe how they protect their alpha tests. A little bird flew past my window a couple of days ago and told me that Wrath of the Lich King had entered Alpha testing. This is generally a developer only or a friends and family type of test. I refrain from posting these bits of information, but now that the cat is out of the bag and being swung by its tail my secrecy doesn't seem to matter. This timing bodes well for a holiday release. Warhammer Online vs World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. I wonder of Osama will play WAR. Apparently he is playing WoW.
As are Canadians, who weren't required to pay to enter the WoW Arena tournament. Instead, we were required to write an essay.
"Canadian residents are not required to pay an Entry Fee in order to enter. Instead, Canadian residents may enter by submitting a 250 word typewritten essay comparing the video gaming culture in Canada to the video gaming culture in the United States on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper and mailing their essay to Essay Entry for The North American Blizzard Entertainment Arena Tournament, P.O Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623. Essay entries must be received no later than March 31, 2008 in order to be eligible. Essay entrants represent and warrant that the essay is their original work and does not infringe the rights of any third party. By entering, essay entrants hereby grant, without further consideration, all right, title and interest in and to their essay to Sponsor."
I believe I speak for all Canadians when I tell you that the video gaming culture in Canada is identical to the one in the United States. We play the same games on the same machines and get this... we walk among you. We look like you. We talk like you. One day, when the signal goes out, we will rise up and you will find yourselves living in the United States of Canada, drinking 5% alcohol beer, playing hockey and cleaning up after yourselves. Your insatiable urge to play any game made by Bioware, Ubi Soft, Relic or Rockstar Vancouver will drive you to many sleepless nights.
Oh, for those of you keeping score, [Note this link has nasty pop-ups that may or may not give your system herpes] this is why developers don't talk to fansites and instead talk to those that take the industry seriously. I stand by my earlier prognosis that influencer programs are a stroke of genius that inevitably get diseased by an individual who thinks he is bigger than the game or the group.
I rambled, now it's your turn. The The Loading... forums await you.
Do you feel the need to contact me personally with naughty pictures or derogatory comments? Here's my E-mail.
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12 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 100 in April! 852 in 2008!
New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today
Images/Video
Bringing the Funny
Contests
Age of Conan: One Week Left in AoC4Life ContestInterviews
Champions Online: Developer Profile of Geoff TuffliGuides
World of Warcraft: Magister's Terrace Guide Update World of Warcraft: Phase 3 of the Shattered Sun Offensive Guide EverQuest 2: Monk Guide Update World of Warcraft: Alterac Valley Guide UpdateForums
Age of Conan: Border Kingdom Cryer Lord of the Rings Online: Weekly Troll ReportHot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to
Coyote Sharptongue: Shards of the Shard of Hate Champions Online: Developer Profile of Geoff Tuffli City of Heroes: In-Game Advertisements Warhammer Online: Marauder Career Mastery Ten Ton Hammer at Comic-Con New York 2008! Wonderland: Closed Beta Key Giveaway Warhammer Online: Inevitable City Walkthrough Video - Premium Members Version Contest: Warhammer Online Post-a-Thon ContestReal World News
Man lights candles in park gazebo, trees for romantic marriage proposal [Thanks Phil - headline and tagline]Old Major, Snowball, unavailable for comment
New Grid Could Make Internet Obsolete [Thanks Bill]Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com. Thanks to Phil Comeau for doing the heavy lifting with the links!
- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team