Welcome to the 1,103rd Edition of Loading...

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NCSoft has released North America pre-order details for Aion, and at long last an MMO publisher has figured out a way to reward pre-order customers with that most coveted of pre-order bonuses - the ability to play the game months before launch. This and a look at the state of interactive hardware in the MMO industry - are we falling behind mainstream gaming? Could MMO developers do more? Those topics, plus a link to an in-depth Jumpgate Evolution lore article and a few more new and exclusive Ten Ton Hammer articles, are on-deck in today's Loading... The 4D MMORPG.

Coyote comes at you daily with his trademark wit and off-color wisdom in It's All Geek to Me. Today's topic: Welcome to the border! (just don't drink the water)

Loading... Daily

Ever since Sins of a Solar Empire showed that allowing preorder-ers into beta could boost early revenue and build genuine excitement around your game, I've been steadily campaigning in Loading... to see more MMO developers take this approach. Everyone talks about "vertical slice" development, so why not allow players who are willing to invest in your game before launch experience those vertical slices, those standalone play experiences that, though necessarily limited, are fun in their own right.

It took Aion to finally crack that nut, as we can see from the Aion preorder beta event schedule released yesterday. Aion has the advantage of being a published and polished game in Asia, so it's a natural candidate for an early preorder beta while NCSoft continues to hyper-localize the game. I know NCSoft's got my pre-order money, and I look forward to diving into Aion (pun intended) next beta opportunity even as we continue to release excellent preview content from the last playtest.

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Are MMORPGs doing enough with interactive hardware? That was the question that popped into my mind as I watched this very cool (yet product placement laden) 4-dimensional zombie videogame video. If you can't watch the video, Georgia Tech students using an Nvidia prototype handheld game console / video camera hovered over a stereoscopic map, and the camera / console produces 3D effects from the map and simulataneously layered in the 4th "gameplay" dimension - zombies to shoot and civilians to save from your pretend helicopter.

I think this particular approach has more to offer tabletop gamers (imagine the D&D possibilities), but I do feel like this is one area where MMOs are lagging behind the videogaming mainstream. No one thought that gamers would pay extra for bundled hardware until Guitar Hero and Rock Band came along, and the Wii showed that a couple accelerometers and infrared sensors can make even the most blindingly stupid kids games entertaining. And yet here we sit in front of our PCs and Macs, the most versatile gaming platforms ever imagined, and can't break free of our mouse, keyboard, and headset.

When you're talking interactive hardware you're really talking about new ways to gain control and change perspective on the game. So I'm not knocking the mouse and keyboard, actually, as control and (relatively noiseless) chat interfaces they can't be beat.

But we could do something about perspective. I've been tinkering a lot with my TrackIR, a nifty infrared device that tracks head movement and changes field-of-view on screen. It's at its best in flight sims, but in mouselook mode it does an ok job with unsupported MMOs; if you don't mind the extra keypress to go into mouselook mode or recalibrating the TrackIR often. Jumpgate Evolution is listed as a game that will support this hardware natively, though Hermann Peterscheck wasn't convinced of its value over something like a triple head monitor setup in our last vooncast with the JGE team.

I agree that you do need a huge monitor (26 inch plus) to make it really work for you, but nevertheless I think there's potential here. I'd rather play MMOs in first-person rather than third-person view simply for the immersion factor, and the TrackIR's ability to allow me to quickly, naturally look around and check for adds or PvP agressors makes first person much more feasible, even desirable, as games like WoW, Jumpgate Evolution, and Aion take combat into the the third dimension with flight.

Are you happy with the interactivity level of today's MMORPGs? Are you taking NCSoft up on their Aion pre-order offer? Speak your mind in the Loading... forum or feel free to email me.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day


From our /OOC (Off-topic) Forum

Any Twitter Addicts?

We tweet, therefore we are.

Ten
Ton Hammer's staff writer, Dalmarus, wants to know if any of our
community members are hooked on Twitter. So far, folks are answering,
"Meh." But the Twitter phenomenon seems to be huge, so someone's gotta be doing it. Confess, you Twitter junkies!

And
since you're obviously out there (the odds support it), I feel the need
to inform you that you can follow Ten Ton Hammer on Twitter right here.

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

"I
don't see what the big fuss is really. The secretary at my work uses
it, and from what I hear, she updates it with everything. And she
isnt the most exciting person on the planet... 'Oh I just watered my
plants', 'I fed my cat.' As if I care!"


- kitsunegirl
==============================

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

4 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 87 in June! 724 in 2009!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

Features

• Jumpgate Evolution Exclusive Interview - Lore and History
  It's the lore and history of a game that creates the framework that will transform you from a person sitting at your computer to a character immersed in an alternate reality and that's something NetDevil understands. Jumpgate Evolution's Producer, Hermann Peterscheck took some time recently to answer some questions about the lore of their universe from one of our space combat junkies, Eric "Dalmarus" Campbell.
• EverQuest 2 Monument and Might GU#52 Overview
  Ten Ton Hammer was recently invited to tour the brand new Game Update #52 content and we couldn't pass that up! EQ2 Community Manager, Christie "Kiara" Renzetti took a group of press into the Breaching the Void instance and the Emperor's Athenaeum and we are sharing the highlights with you! Along with the usual chatter about the latest update, Kiara also shared some great info regarding the next expansion that you will definitely want to know!
• Jade Dynasty Factions Developer Journal
  Perfect World Entertainment was nice enough to share a developer journal about the Factions system in Jade Dynasty exclusively with Ten Ton Hammer. The unedited journal entry includes fifteen exclusive images.

Guides

• WoW - Dual Spec for the Hunter
  With the release of patch 3.1 Blizzard presented the Dual Spec feature which had most players of hybrid classes in an frenzy of excitement. This article will describe how hunters can use this feature.

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

1. Jumpgate Evolution Exclusive Interview - Lore and History
2. EverQuest 2 Monument and Might GU#52 Overview
3. EVE Online: Sins of a Solar Spymaster #15: A History of the Second Great War, Part Two
4. Champions Online Power Interview #3 - Fire, Ice and Electricity
5. WoW - Boss Guide: Malygos
6. E3 2009 Portal
7. Paul Barnett Sums Up E3 2009 (video)
8. Ether Saga Online: Launch Update Preview
9. Atlantica Online State of the Game - June 2009 Q&A
10. E3 2009: The Agency "Bergerbilder Estate" Preview Video

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

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