Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Welcome to the 1,203rd edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

Once upon a time in the magical land of MMOGs, in-game anniversary celebrations set the bar for what would become one of the staples of the industry in the years to follow. Much of the more recent flood of holiday themed events came into being thanks in large part to how developers formerly opted to commemorate milestones in the overall lifecycle of their creations. With two such major milestones just around the corner, we take a look at how one of these events stacks up to the celebrations of yesteryear today in Loading… Fabled or Forgotten?

The Pulse You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is The Pulse?). Here's today's top 5 Pulse results: World of Warcraft Dungeons & Dragons Online EverQuest 2 Dragon Age: Origins (Up 1) Age of Conan (UP 4) Biggest movers today: Diablo 3 (UP 139 to #15!) Champions Online (Down 5 to #9) Lord of the Rings Online (UP 2 to #6)	Recent Releases 9/1 - Champions Online (release date) 9/9 - Dungeons & Dragons Online Unlimited (release date) 9/15 - Runes of Magic "The Elven Prophecy" (expansion) 9/22 - Fallen Earth (release date) 9/22 - Aion (release date) 10/8 - Cities XL (release date) 11/3 - Dragon Age: Origins (release date)
	Upcoming Releases 12/1 - LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood (expansion) 12/1 - EVE Online: Dominion (expansion) 12/2 - DOFUS 2.0 (release date) 12/15 - EverQuest: Underfoot (expansion) Early 2010 - APB Feb. 2010 - EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)

Loading... Daily

This weekend marks the 5th anniversary for EverQuest 2 - has it really been that long already? It seems like only yesterday I was casting Swarm of Rats for the first time on my necro and shaking my head in dismay when I discovered that the “swarm” consisted of a single rat, but I digress!

While the game clearly lost the epic tug of war over forced grouping vs. solo friendly MMOG gameplay long ago, any current players who were around for the game’s launch will no doubt wax poetic about the equally epic round of changes EQ2 has seen over the past 5 years. In a somewhat bizarre turn of events though, the big anniversary celebration for the game is being held on the Test server next Monday and Tuesday. You read that right folks; the big party is going down on a server the bulk of you likely never play on.

EverQuest II will be celebrating its 5th Anniversary very soon! In honor of this, we'll be hosting a birthday celebration on the Test server! There will be one party on November 9th at 5pm PST and another at 11am PST (7pm GMT) on November 10th. The party will be held in the Community Lounge and there will be cake, fireworks, and some trivia with prizes! Make sure to update Test well in advance, especially if it's your first time on the server.

Back in the old days when dinosaurs still roamed the earth I was a fairly hardcore player of the original EverQuest. I still consider the 5th anniversary for that game to be one of the best examples of live events in MMOGs. Not only were entire zones full of noobs slaughtered each and every time the undead army would claw its way out of the ground near the Wayfarer camp in Butcherblock (and elsewhere), but fabled versions of some of the most notable mobs in the original game also made an appearance, complete with fabled item drops for those lucky campers able to get a good spot in line to take a crack at the mob during the event.

The lands of Norrath were thrown into a temporary state of chaos, and it was a total blast. Mind you my necro’s corpse summoning business also went into overdrive for the week, but the pleasant byproduct of aiding numerous players recover their corpses was that my social circle on the server expanded exponentially during the event.

Perhaps it’s simply too soon after the latest round of holiday festivities, or maybe there is indeed some new sigma surrounding major MMOG events occurring in November as Ethec discussed earlier this week – whatever the reasons may be, I for one am somewhat surprised that SOE isn’t going all out for their latest milestone anniversary. Give me giant armies of red Skeletal Commanders and Fabled Fippy Darkpaws any day of the week – you can keep the virtual cake and fireworks.

Do you think developers should go all out for anniversary events for their longer running titles, or is the market already far too saturated with seasonal events for them to retain their former impact? Share your thoughts right here in the Loading… forum!

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Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our  /OOC (Off Topic) forum

Fort Hood Shootings

Today's epic thread offers solemn condolences to the friends and families of the fallen and injured in the Fort Hood shootings. I ask that you please limit your comments on the tragedy to this thread and, of course, keep them respectful and sane.

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Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"My thoughts go out to the families of the injured and fallen. My wife was there today and was supposed to be working in the dome, but decided to work in her office instead. I'm so insanely grateful, I can't express it. The base just lifed the lockdown and she's safely on her way home now."

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

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3 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 22 in November! 2,094 in 2009!

Today's New Features & Guides

• World of Warcraft: Hunter Guide
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter
  Fresh new information has been poured into several of Ten Ton Hammer’s Hunter guide pages. Currently the main page, basics page, and the combat page have all been brought up to date. If you are just starting a Hunter and looking for some information on how to get started this guide is for you.
  
• Aion Weekly Newsletter: The Fanboi vs. the Hater
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76379
  While most of the Aion playerbase stays quietly tucked away in their blanket of innocence, and epic battle grows between the two sides of the vocal minority as we watch it play out on gaming forums across the web. Agree or disagree with the vocal, it is hard to turn a blind eye to the bickering. Get in on the discussion and catch up with this week's Aion and Ten Ton Hammer news in the latest newsletter!
  
• World of Warcraft Instance Guide Portal
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/instance
  Our Instance guide portal for World of Warcraft has all of the info you need to know about instances in one place. We've got a large list of available guides to help you through the various instances and raids along with a guide on just what instances are, how to prepare, and more. So don't struggle to work your way through the instances when we've got all of the instance guides you need to get to the next level.
  

Today's Hottest Content

1. Managing Fan Expectations - An Interview with Vanguard Visionary Brad McQuaid
2. Star Trek Online Space Combat Q&A with Craig Zinkievich
3. World of Warcraft Patch Patch 3.3 Preview
4. Champions Online: Blood Moon Hands On Impressions
5. Champions Online Developer Diary - Systems Balancing, Pt 1.
6. The Cleric's Guide to Healing in Aion
7. Lord of the Rings Online - Siege of Mirkwood Live Preview
8. DOFUS 2.0 Beta Key Giveaway
9. EVE Online - Ten Tips to Go From Noob to Noobtastic
10. EVE Online Sins of a Solar Spymaster #31 - Lessons from a Failed Invasion

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Thanks as always for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network! 

- Reuben "Sardu" Waters and the Ten Ton Hammer team