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Daily Column

Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle sitting in on Loading... today. Though MMORPG news has been relatively slow this year - at least nothing like the fireworks supplied by Vanguard around this time in 2007 - yesterday offered a rare bit of controversy. You could probably guess that said controversy centered on Age of Conan, but no, we're not talking about nipples - that subject was covered (uncovered?) admirably in yesterday's Loading...

As usually happens a few months before open beta, a jackass forum poster on an unofficial board posted a list of rants against Age of Conan, thus breaking the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement, a voluntary vow of silence you take to get yourself into a beta). To Vault Network's credit, that post was pulled very quickly, but not before it re-entered the blogosphere.

With a little googling, you'll find the re-post - we're not here to feed those kinds of sites traffic with direct links. So why mention it at all? Because this particular rant was unique in its sheer ignorance of Funcom's public communications about the game. Most or all of the bullet points were addressed very openly weeks ago by Funcom, who (in my opinion) has been very up front about what's in the game at present, what's not, and what may not make it in by the time the game launches in May. Check out the Oslo dev panel transcripts here and here and let your jaded gamerness find some temporary solace.

Anyway, one of Belisama_Bors's most melodramatic points was that female models aren't yet playable. As a fitting counterpoint, Funcom sent us some female Ranger screenshots to show that, yes, the fairer sex will be represented in AoC and, yes, they're entirely worth the wait.

Shifting gears a bit, we were treated to an exclusive Lord of the Rings Online Book 12 play session earlier this week with Turbine notables Exec. Producer Jeffrey Steefel and Producer Aaron Campbell. You can read all about our experiences in Martuk's excellent Book 12 hands-on preview articles, but the biggest highlight of this free expansion (coming in mid-February) is character costuming, taking the stats from one set of equipment while taking the appearance of another set.

There's plenty to look forward to in terms of elder game and monster play as well, but the most enjoyable part of the evening was discovering one of the many house items added in the expansion, a keg. But not just an ordinary keg providing the usual fun alcohol-induced effects on vision and movement, this keg seriously messes you up to the point of blacking out and waking up in some very surprising places. To learn where we ended up, see Part 2 of Martuk's preview.

Want to vent about NDA breakers or NDAs? Is LotRO Book 12 enough to make you pick up the game again, or keep playing? Tell me in the Loading... forums.

And with Boomjack out today, can I get in on this naughty pictures thing!? Here's my E-mail.

10 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 67 so far in February! 344 so far in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

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Real World News

Man Arrested for Impersonating a State Trooper to Score Free Train Rides
Caught when he didn't answer the question "Do you know why I stopped you?" correctly.
State Policeman Caught Breaking Into Church to View Porn on Nun's Laptop
Not to be confused with tomorrow's headline: "State Police Arrest Man for Jumping onto Nun's Lap Top to Act Out Porn"
Court Decides Mother Cannot Sue Over Errant Circumcision
"Fore"tunately for the doctors, the court got a "tip" leading to a signed consent form.

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer Team

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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