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Welcome to the 863rd 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... your fireworks for tomorrow.

First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.

If the Top 10 isn't enough, we also show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)

1. World of Warcraft - 200 BPM
2. Age of Conan - 122 BPM
3. Lord of the Rings Online - 68 BPM
4. EverQuest II - 57 BPM
5. Vanguard - 49 BPM
6. Warhammer Online - 46 BPM
7. Guild Wars - 35 BPM
8. EVE Online - 34 BPM
9. Dungeons and Dragons Online - 26 BPM
10. Pirates of the Burning Sea - 26 BPM

Special thanks to Cody "Micajah" Bye for covering Loading... yesterday. Cody set the bar quite high as far as this column is concerned. I'll right that wrong today, setting the bar back at ground level. Facts and grammar... be gone!

The Blizzard World Wide Invitational '08 was a tremendous success no matter how you measure it. Hundreds of thousands of players either attended or read about the event online.

We have 17 videos and articles posted from the event in our Blizzard WWI '08 Portal. New today, compliments of Jeff Woleslagle our Executive Editor are the following pieces:

• Wrath of the Lich King "Siege Vehicles" Video Preview - Welcome to drive-by shootings, from the land or the air.
• Wrath of the Lich King, New PvP Area "Wintergrasp" - World PvP returns.

Wintergrasp looks like it is going to be a blast to play. There has been a lot of crying, wailing and gnashing of teeth in the message forums about World of Warcraft PvP, especially world PvP. Hopefully this zone, which was announced at BlizzCON last year (and not created overnight because of Warhammer Online) will put the thrills back into world PvP.

Ten Ton Hammer focuses on massively multiplayer games, however the largest announcement at WWI '08 was the third installment in the Diablo franchise, aptly named Diablo III. The return of Diablo caused the press to scamper about asking questions about a game that won't be released for ages instead of throwing a few questions at the Blizzard crew about the new hardware security product that they have created.

Fortunately for you, David "Xerin" Piner has put his opinion to virtual paper in "Is The Blizzard Authenticator Worth It?"

"Security Keys are the rage these days in the tech world. Small devices that fit on keychains and lanyards are increasing as a secure way to login to any kind of remote service. Services such as PayPal and eBay along with many banks offer these small little trinkets to make logging in more secure… and more annoying. At the World Wide Invitational it was announced that Blizzard would be offering these small devices as well for a small fee. Are they worth the hassle though?" - David Piner

Whether you want one or not, you can't currently buy one. They sold out almost immediately.

" Our U.S. online store is currently sold out of the Blizzard Authenticators, and we're working on obtaining additional stock. Please note that due to the nature of the technology in the device and the related manufacturing procedures, it will be several weeks before they're available again. We're working hard to expedite this process as much as possible.
We're also aware that non-U.S.-based players on our North American realms were unable to purchase the Blizzard Authenticator from the online store when it was available. This was due to shipping-related issues with our store for this device that could not be resolved by the time it first went on sale. Rather than delay the launch, we felt it was important to make the Authenticator available to as many people as possible as quickly as we could. We're continuing to work on a solution for these players and will provide an update as further progress is made.
The Authenticator helps safeguard account access against third-party programs, such as keyloggers, Trojans, and viruses, that are designed to steal players’ login information. This type of malicious code is often hidden in add-ons/mods and web pages and goes undetected until an account has been compromised and a thief has sold off the valuable items from the characters on that account for gold, which is then sold back to players by the third-party companies benefiting from this practice. " --Tyren, WoW CM on the Official Forums

Is the authenticator worth it? The answer in my opinion is maybe. When World of Starcraft is announced and we have two Blizzard MMOGs to play then, yes, it probably is worth it. Perhaps even the launch of Starcraft 2 makes it worth it if players can accumulate rank, etc. For $6.50 it doesn't put much of a dent in your wallet and keeps the jackasses out of your toybox. I wish there was a way to do the same with the content we write. Here's a big one-finger-salute to the gold farming miscreants to copy this column each day and post it as their own. If you are reading this anywhere other than TenTonHammer.com please let me know.

Will you buy the Authenticator? Does Wintergrasp give you the chills?

Do tell. 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.

--
[A big thanks to Phil Comeau for putting together the link and Real World News.]

20 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 59 in July! 1637 in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today

Blizzard WorldWide Invitational 2008

• [NEW!] Siege Vehicles Preview Video
• [NEW!] PvP Panel - Wintergrasp
• [NEW!] Wintergrasp Video
• [NEW!] Caverns of Time: The Culling of Stratholme
• [NEW!] Culling of Stratholme Video
• Halls of Stone Presentation Video
• Sneak Peak into The Halls of Stone
• Class Discussion Panel
• 'The Occulus' Sneak Peak Video
• Sneak Peak (article) at 'The Occulus'
• Nihilum Battles Kil'Jaedon at Blizzard Paris Worldwide Invitational '08
• Anatomy of Dungeons and Raids Discussion Panel
• Anatomy of Dungeons and Raids - Presentation Video
• Costume and Dance Contest Pics
• Invitational Swag Gallery
• Death Knight Images
• World of Warcraft Q&A
• The Big Announcement - Diablo III

Interviews

• Atlantica: Strategy to Create a Hit, with Producer Kim Tae Gon
• Champions Online: Content Designer Brian Gilmore
  

Features

• Warhammer Online: M eet the Devs - Strike Team Leader Ahmad Zabarah
• Lineage II: Content Expansion Backstory

Images/Video

• Atlantica: Exclusive Concept Art
• Sho Online: Pet Screenshots
• Angels Online: Paper Model Contest Winners
• Star Wars Galaxies: Online Trading Cards

Giveaways

• Project Powder: Closed Beta Keys

Community

• Vanguard: How Helpful Are You?

Guides

• World of Warcraft: Understanding Threat
• Age of Conan: Khemi City Guide
• Age of Conan: Khopshef Province Quests
• Age of Conan: Necromancer Skill Lists - Lvl 41-60
• Lord of the Rings Online: Tier 3 Auction House Price Guide

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to

1. WWI 08: Siege Vehicles Preview Video
2. WWI 08: Wintergrasp Video
3. WWI 08: Culling of Stratholme Video
4. Vanguard: How Helpful Are You?
5. Age of Conan: Lost in Hyboria - Like an Episode of Maury
6. World of Warcraft: Anatomy of Dungeons and Raids Discussion Panel
7. World of Warcraft: Anatomy of Dungeons and Raids - Presentation Video

Real World News

• New Zealand man sells soul to highest bidder
  I guess he's not married, since he still has one to sell
• Peeping Tom not charged, victims told to fix their blinds
  The nerve of those people, walking around naked inside their own house
• 14-yr-old breaks into home, orders $100 of on-demand porn
  In other news, we've found the last 14-yr-old without internet access
  

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