Welcome to the 773rd Edition of Loading...

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Daily Column

Loading... Rock, Paper, Sword.

Congratulations to EA-Mythic and the Warhammer Online community for making an incredible jump up the industry pulse charts yesterday. I haven't seen anything that hot and that high since Richard Pryon lit himself on fire years ago. Pirates of the Burning Sea also deserves commendation, shivering enough timbers to stay in the Top 10 list only eight BPM (beats per minute) out of 7th place. (What is Pulse?)

1. Age of Conan - 200 BPM
2. Warhammer Online - 177 BPM
3. World of Warcraft - 156 BPM
4. Lord of the Rings Online - 61 BPM
5. EverQuest 2 - 47 BPM
6. Lineage 2 - 39 BPM
7. EVE Online - 34 BPM
8. Vanguard: Saga of Heroe - 30 BPM
9. Tabula Rasa - 27 BPM
10. Pirates of the Burning Sea - 26 BPM

GDC day number one is behind us and with it visits to see Age of Conan, an SOE party and an interview with Matt Wilson, Director of Development for The Agency. The Age of Conan presentation was nothing short of spectacular. I wasn't a believer in this game when I first saw it over two years ago, but I'm a believer now. The truth will be in the playability, but what I have seen lends me to believe that the gameplay will be as good as the graphics are stunning. Hats off to Funcom for hand delivery of my first beer of the day. Jørgen, Erling, Gaute, well played...well played.

The SOE party was merely a disguise to trick me into watching a panel for GIRL (Gamers In Real Life), an SOE initiative that will be giving $10,000 and an internship to a fortunate female who wishes to enter the industry. Ironically, they are actually gamers in their virtual lives, not their real lives, but GIVL doesn't make for a very memorable moniker, though it's sure a lot of fun to say.

Apparently my views on hiring based on gender were not shared by some of the crowd who delivered boisterous applause amidst the hoots and hollers. CNN showed up to film the annoucement which I expect will take lead spot in the news ticker ahead of the War on Terrorism and the cure for cancer. To confuse the non-industry press even further a trailer for The Agency was shown during the press conference starring a buxom, scantily clad female character. I commented that I could see that appeal of such a character to females interested in being part of our industry to which I was showered with mixed jeers and cheers.

Thumbs down to Courtney Simmons, Director, Corporate Communications and PR at Sony Online Entertainment for not mentioning Ten Ton Hammer as part of the esteemed group of guests when she did her "cool kids who are here tonight" roll-call. OK, so I don't have an ethernet card named after me, but Fata1ity doesn't have 400,000 people reading his thoughts every month. I think it's a wash! Then again, I didn't have to stand for photographs in a GIRL t-shirt. A GIVL t-shirt on the other hand might have been enough to turn me to the dark (and feminine) side.

Thumbs up to Taina Rodriguez for getting our interview with Matt Wilson setup so efficiently and expediently. She is always, always, always a pleasure to work with.

Now it's back to writing the Age of Conan article which may even be posted by the time you read this!

GIRL or GIVL, which do you prefer? The Loading... forums await.

Do you feel the need to contact me personally with naughty pictures or derogatory comments? Here's my E-mail.

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11 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 164 so far in February! 441 so far in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

• Age of Conan: Art Book Preview
• Age of Conan: New Images From GDC
• Age of Conan: Funcom Shows Off Mounts and City Building at GDC
• Cabal Online: Interview With David Hoffman at GDC
• Cabal Online: 54 New Screenshots from GDC
• EverQuest 2: The Fens of Nathsar Zone Guide Part 1
• Rappelz: Seven New Images
• Tabula Rasa: Wrangling Rumours
• Tabula Rasa: Overview of Valverde Pools
• The Agency: Video Interview With Matt Wilson at GDC
• Warhammer Online: Career Mastery - Chaos Chosen

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to

1. Age of Conan: New Images From GDC
2. Age of Conan: Funcom Shows Off Mounts and City Building at GDC
3. The Agency: Video Interview With Matt Wilson at GDC
4. Jumpgate Evolution: Bi-Weekly Interview #2 - Factions and Missions
5. PlayXpert: Widgets and Community, An Interview With CEO Charles Manning
6. Warhammer Online: Interview With Josh Drescher and Lance Robertson
7. Age of Conan: Exclusive Bear Shaman Screenshots
8. Age of Conan: Class Interview #7 - The Bear Shaman
9. Contest: Be Mine, Land Mine
10. Dungeon Runners: Creating a Ten Ton Hammer Interview With Mark Tucker

Real World News

• Employee Sues Over Run-In With Goose
  If only he would have taken a gander first he would have been fine.
• 4-Tonne Railway Bridge Stolen in Czech Republic
  You turn your back for one minute and BAM, somebody has stolen a bridge.
• Thief steals urinal sensor.
  Urine trouble now Mr. Thief.

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

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