Practice Versus Theory

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1. Daily Column

Shiver me timbers! It's talk like a pirate day! Spend your day at work calling the ladies "wenches" and the men "scurvy dogs". It's perfectly acceptable today. Go ahead...make it happen!

I can't remember where I heard it first, but the saying, "In theory, practice and theory are the same. In practice they are not" is the crux of Steve "Moorgard" Danuser's latest blog entry. I have said many times and in many ways that companies can't compete with Blizzard, not because their ideas are less viable, but because they simply cannot deliver a product as polished as the titles that Blizzard delivers.

Why is this? What is it that allows Blizzard to deliver product after product that break sales records and keep consumers coming back for more?

In my humble opinion the #1 reason that Blizzard is successful is project management. Could Everquest 2 or Vanguard be as successful as World of Warcraft had some different project decisions been made? Of course they could have. From a gameplay perspective WoW delivered less than EQ2 at launch, yet what it delivered was polished and well executed. Vanguard, well, we don't need to go there.

The forum trolls will be crawling out from under their bridges right about now wailing and gnashing about Blizzard's warchest of cash being an unfair advantage. Brian did this to some extent, though I don't consider him a troll. Does having truckloads of cash make a difference to a developer? Of course it does, but Vanguard and EQ2 both had truckloads of cash. It wasn't the cash that made a great game it was the team and that team only made a great game because the project manager was doing a great job.

There are some excellent responses to Steve's blog from Brian Green, Jessica Mulligan and Damion Schubert that explore this fascinating topic.

Comments, questions or naughty pictures? Hit the blog or hit my mailbox. --Boomjack

2. New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

AGDC: Allegorithmic Middleware: Compressing Massive Worlds - Cody "Micajah" Bye Blog: Hate/Tolerate Relationship - Cody "Micajah" Bye Bounty Bay Online: New Screenshots - Cody "Micajah" Bye Dream of Mirror Online: New Images - Cody "Micajah" Bye Fury: New Cinematic - Cody "Micajah" Bye Gods and Heroes: Minion Combination Guide - Greg "Darkgolem" Stanley Lord of the Rings Online: Epic Guide - Book Six - Stacy "Martuk" Jones Tabula Rasa: PvP FAQ - Tony "RadarX" Jones Vanguard: What Do You Want Most? - Danny "Ralsu" Gourley Vanguard: Pantheon Guide #15 - Benjamin "Machail" de la Durantaye World of Warcraft: Karazhan Guide Revamp - Gabriel "DarkFact" Zamudio

3. Hot Content - What our readers viewed the most yesterday! Did you miss anything?

EverQuest 2: Re-Review Warhammer Online: Mark Jacobs Interview Ten Ton Hammer Gallery EVE Online: Ambulation Unveiled at PAX 2007 Comics: Listing Leipzig 2007 Awards EVE Online: Avatars Video GDC 2007 Vanguard: Re-Review Comic: Blood Elves Meet the Crip Elves World of Warcraft Overview

4. Real World News

Ride The South Lake Union Trolley [Thanks Matt]
Because "Ride the Promiscuous Public Transit Vehicle" was just too long. It's Talk Like a Pirate Day [Thanks Matt]
Parrot optional. View Co-Host Doesn't Know If World Is Flat
No surprise that her answer revolved around food.

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team