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An in-depth look at the AoC soundtrack album
Have you ever wondered what goes through the mind of a game music composer as they write the theme for our favorite games? Why was this particular piece chosen for this part of the game? Was it written with the game's lore in mind, or written beforehand, and just added to the game afterwards? In the recently released Age of Conan soundtrack album, composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen poured his heart and soul into making what could be argued as the best game soundtrack in awhile. In an article at Ten Ton Hammer, Haugen talks in-depth about his masterpiece soundtrack album, and what inspired him to make the music. Each piece is described in detail in an order relative to how you would hear them in the game. You can play and listen to six of the tracks straight from the article, to entice both AoC players and non-players alike.
First hints emerge concerning Champions Online's Omega System
In a recent interview with Ten Ton Hammer, Champions Online's lead designer Randy Mosiondz divulged some of the first specs of information about the game's previously mentioned Omega System. Apparently the end-game system is being designed with the goal of offering content for solo, small groups and large groups alike. According to Mosiondz one of the ultimate goals for players participating in end-game will be to become an "Omega", which are some of the most powerful super-powered beings within the game's universe. Do we get a silver surf board too, or how about a gold one?It all sounds pretty exciting, if a little bit vague. We can't wait to hear some more news about the system as time marches onwards. Springs isn't getting any further away so we suppose it won't kill us to be patient. Well, it could.%Gallery-17946%
A Star Trek Online interview about time travel and travel time
We've said before that the main source of information on Star Trek Online at this point is hints and implications peppered through interviews with Cryptic Studios' Jack Emmert. The latest of those interviews is lighter on details than were previous conversations, but it's still worth a read.Speaking to Ten Ton Hammer at Gen Con, Emmert started out vaguely answering questions about character customization. Nothing new there. But it got a bit more interesting when he used time travel as an example of something pivotal to the franchise, but that's made difficult to implement by technological and budgetary limitations. He spoke as if he'd already given a great deal of thought to it; perhaps that's a clue that despite the problems, time travel is something Cryptic intends to put in the game.Other topics included the uniqueness of Star Trek ship design, instancing, procedurally-generated areas for exploration, and travel time.
LotRO weekly roundup questions Turbine's intentions with the Rune-keeper
In this week's Lord of the Rings Online forum roundup over at Ten Ton Hammer, some interesting points are made on the state of game, Tolkien's view of magic and the player impressions of the Summer Festival. Don't let the high-brow lore excerpts fool you though, the expected forum negativity still shines through this week.The Summer Festival horse's appearance has been a topic of debate since the photos from Roheryn first surfaced last month. The bright green and yellow saddle has been called everything from psychedelic to nauseating. So it should be no surprise that players are petitioning for a change. Plus, the most-heated debate in this week's roundup revolves around Tolkien's view on magic, its usage by Man and the new Rune-keeper. Does this mean the new magic-user class won't be accessible to the race of Man, or does it mean the lore will need to be stretched a bit? Either way, expect a few complaints here and there.
LotRO weekly forum roundup gives player impressions of Book 14
In the latest forum round-up over at Ten Ton Hammer's Lord of the Rings Online division, it's no surprise that the focus is on Book 14's new content. There are gleeful praises and there are angry rants, but perhaps the most interesting is the speculation on what's to come with the expanded Critter Play feature.As one player predicts, the word is out that we may be able to play as Gandalf in Mines of Moria. Now, keep in mind that this is one player's speculation and the evidence he presents for this theory is a bit of a stretch, but wouldn't it be interesting if they were right? Imagine being Gandalf in that infamous Balrog battle scene, protecting the Fellowship from certain doom all by your lonesome. Now that's immersive game play.
AO designer says adieu, moves on to The Secret World
Anarchy Online content designer Nina "Aythem" Sund has been writing developer journal entries over at Ten Ton Hammer for several months, sharing game design wisdom and insider anecdotes with players. Her latest entry had a different tone, though. She used the medium to bid farewell to AO players as she moves on to work on Funcom's next MMO, The Secret World.As a parting gift, she spent the rest of her entry telling fans how they too can become game designers. Hers is good advice if that's an aspiration for you. Unfortunately, she didn't slip out any news or information on The Secret World, which as so far been very, well ... secret. Ten Ton Hammer attached two bits of concept art, though, so savor that!We hope Funcom will continue to support AO even though it now has Age of Conan and The Secret World to worry about, too. Sund was a popular quest designer at AO; we're glad she'll be adding her touch to TSW, but poor AO!
More Jeffrey Steefel goodness regarding the Korean LotRO launch
In line with the recent interview at MMORPG.com, Lord of the Rings Online's Jeffrey Steefel speaks in another interview with Ten Ton Hammer regarding the plans to bring LotRO to Korean audiences. This is something that has been discussed for quite a long time now, but with the Korean release imminent, we now get into the details of this launch and what LotRO hopes to offer to this specific audience.One of the most important points made in this article is the projected number of players who could potentially be involved with this game at launch. While Steefel is reluctant to give figures, he says that with half the population of Korea playing online games (which would be a potential market of almost 37 million people), "the numbers could be astounding," he says.
EQ2's GU46 patch notes meet the Pool Noodle
You don't have to be crazy to read EverQuest II's Game Update 46's patch notes, but it helps. It also helps if you're Ten Ton Hammer's Coyote and RadarX, but I guess that's redundant? Read on for tales of brave shadow knights and their pink pool noodles, armor that loves you so much it hurts, and surprise colonoscopies via your faithful rhino mount.[Ten Ton Hammer]
Jumpgate's Peterscheck talks shop, massive battleships
Hermann Peterscheck is the producer of NetDevil's Jumpgate Evolution. He has a lot of experience working on MMOs -- including the original Jumpgate. For those reasons, Ten Ton Hammer decided he would be a great subject for an interview about the process of developing an MMO. You can read the result now.Apart from the revelation that the game will feature four kilometer-long battleships (cool), the interview was a little bit light on JGE details. But if you're interested in learning how and why games are made, that's okay, because there's a lot of content on that subject.We thought it was particularly interesting when Peterscheck explained the philosophy behind NetDevil's decision to make JGE. "It is very difficult to steal people away from other MMOs so you are much better off going after an underserved market," he said. He also suggested that every single big MMO succeeded because it (to some extent) created a new market instead of converting users in an existing one.
Sci-Fi releases the genre for their new MMO
Recently we've reported on a partnership between Trion World Network and SCI FI channel to create a new MMO that will be tied into a SCI FI show. But, for all we knew about the new project, we didn't know what genre it would fall under or what the setting would be.That all changed in an interview from Ten Ton Hammer with Adam Stotsky, the executive vice-president of SCI FI channel, about the new SCI FI project. While most of the interview focuses on the partnership between Trion and SCI FI, Cody "Micajah" Bye was able to pull out the setting for the new project from Stotsky.Stotsky confirms that the project will be science fiction in nature, centering around Earth in an alternate universe."It will be a very different Earth than the one we currently know today," Stotsky told Bye during the interview.For the rest of the interview, drop by Ten Ton Hammer and check it out.
Empyrean Age designed to make PvP more accessible
Ten Ton Hammer spoke with EVE Online developer Matt Woodward about the features of and the design philosophy behind the Empyrean Age expansion, which is set to go live in just a few hours.Naturally, the entire conversation focused on the new factional warfare system. Woodward explained that CCP hopes factional warfare will lower the barrier for entry into the PvP side of the EVE experience. Up till now, the transition from low sec mission running and mining to high sec PvP conflict has been intimidating to many players, in part because they might face opponents whose skills and ships far outclass their own. Factional warfare, which for the most part matches participants up against opponents at a similar level of advancement, will make it easier to transition between the two gameplay modes.Woodward also noted that regardless of what you do in factional warfare, you'll still be able to dock at any faction's station (in cases where you would otherwise), although the NPC navy ships of opposing factions will engage you in high sec space. Fighting back will have no impact on your security rating, though.
WAR's White Lion's pets designed to be meaningful
The guys n' gals over at Ten Ton Hammer were able to speak with Mark Jacobs about the newest Warhammer Online class, the White Lion. Pets that gain levels are pretty standard in the MMORPG world, in fact it's almost a given anymore. However, in an interesting twist, players will keep and level just one pet throughout their time with the White Lion class. EA Mythic is promising a dynamic experience that makes each player's lion meaningful, but hasn't yet gone into the mechanic bits of everything just yet.While this may not be groundbreaking news, it's very interesting to note Jacobs enthusiasm for giving players a pet with which they'll develop an attachment. Just knowing that there won't be any re-teaching of skills and abilities is definitely a big relief to us, too. Now we just have to wonder how many players are going to roll this class -- a worry that many Destruction players are likely sharing.Then again, Squig Herders still have that whole thing where they jump into their pets and use them like a suit of squishy, toothy, crazed armor. Not to mention the fact that some of the higher level Squigs looks exceedingly awesome. Seems to us like Warhammer Online's supposed imbalance fears may be over before they've even begun, thanks in part to EA Mythic's keen sense of what we're now referring to as "Class Coolness".
Mark Jacobs continues talks on Warhammer's crafting
What do you want to know about Warhammer Online? Last week Massively went to war with Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. The result was an information bonanza never before seen on this site for any big title in development. Our coverage runs the gamut and ranges from crafting, guilds, various classes, capital cities, interviews with developers, and even a controversial post regarding perceptions about the game and its delayed launches. With such an emphasis placed on PvP and combat, until recently not much has been known about Warhammer's crafting. Mark Jacobs has sort of become the official spokesperson for WAR's crafting system and is still making the rounds hitting up TenTonHammer in this one and two part interview. Nothing new is really discerned if you've been following the news closely. In the TTH interview Jacobs discusses scalability, the impact Apothecary will have on other areas of the game like combat, and more. A definite must read while you wait for your beta invite and are frothing at the mouth for anything WAR related.If you missed out on all the news be sure to check out first-hand coverage for all the latest goods on Warhammer.
The Chronicles of Spellborn close in on a North American Publisher
In a recent interview over at Ten Ton Hammer, Pierre-Yves Deslandes, the Public Relations Manager for The Chronicles of Spellborn answered some interesting questions about the upcoming fantasy MMO. One of the first questions on the minds of those at TTH and the minds of most players is why the game's launch has been post-poned another six months until autumn of 2008.Of course, as with most game-launch delays, the development team is still working out some bugs. Plus, to complicate matters, the game is still without a North American publisher. But in addition to this news, we get treated to some wonderful information regarding the unique features of the game, including the "Dress to Impress" gear system. Head on over to TTH to read the complete interview.
Product manager gives an inside look at the AoC launch
Ten Ton Hammer spoke with Funcom product manager Erling Eddison about his experiences at the company, the Age of Conan launch, and ... his vacation plans!Apart from a few vague hints about future patches, there's not much information about the game itself in this interview. However, it does contain an inside look at what the Funcom team went through in the days leading up to AoC's launch. For example, on May 17th (the early access launch day), there was a large screen in the Funcom offices that showed how many players were logged on to the servers. When the servers opened to the early access players, and the numbers skyrocketed, the team broke out the champagne.Eddison plans to take a nice, long vacation -- possibly to Egypt -- before continuing to promote AoC and The Secret World.
An ION 08 interview with Nexon America's Min Kim [Updated]
In a recent interview at Ten Ton Hammer, Nexon America's Min Kim spoke out about some of the company's plans for upcoming games, including their online FPS entitled Combat Arms which will be entering closed beta next week. He also talks a bit about another upcoming MMO title being produced by their Vancouver studio, but details are still not available.In addition, Min Kim speaks at great length about some of the existing titles they have have available in Korea, that they're hoping to port to the North American audience, including the wildly-popular Korean title KartRider. To garner interest with North American players, Min Kim realizes that the audiences are different, and social competition is where it's at. No other information was said about KartRider's introduction to North America, but he says more details will be available soon.Update: Though we initially listed both Audition and KartRider as games Nexon was looking to bring to North America, Audition has been available to North American audiences for some time now, complete with a catalog of familiar songs!
AoC feats calculator released into the wilds
World of Warcraft's various talent calculating applications have always been an essential item in every player's toolbox. An empty talent tree is rife with possibilities; who do you want to be, and how might you become that awesome person? Most importantly: how much longer will you have to grind before you finally get Silencing Shot? Talent calculators helped you figure all that out.We don't doubt that a similar tool will be just as important for players of Age of Conan. Neither did Ten Ton Hammer; that's why the folks there released a fully functional feats calculator to coincide with with AoC's public launch. All the classes are there, everything seems accurate, and the interface is pretty good; it's a great tool. Go forth, fledgling barbarians, and calculate your paths to greatness!
Interview with The Agency's Kevin O'Hara
Every bit of news from The Agency gets us increasingly more excited about the possibilities that this spy MMO will bring to the table. In part one of a recent interview with Kevin O'Hara, Senior World Designer for The Agency, we learn even more about the environments, levels and combat mechanics of SOE's upcoming game.One point of this interview that stuck out in our minds the most is the mention of an open vs. linear environment. This seems to be a big draw for many MMOs these days, where players are requesting more and more vast areas to explore, trying to escape the funneled experiences we get with more linear storylines. Thankfully, The Agency seems to tackle this concern by allowing more options in your questing experience, while still allowing a "cool-down" area to prep for the next encounter. The overall faster-paced feel of the game promises to set it apart from the traditional MMOs we know today.
This post has absolutely nothing to do with Age of Conan
We interrupt your regularly-scheduled Age of Conan launch news to bring you a little something about City of Heroes. As you may already know, CoH Issue 12 has gone live today, bringing with it the introduction of time travel to ancient Roman and Greek-inspired lands. This time-traveling Task Force content brings us the beautiful persistent area of Cimerora, which is described as a unique place of its own, using its very own mission and zone content which will all be interconnected.So in a recent developer's diary at Ten Ton Hammer, Senior Art Lead Ken Morse walks us through some of the conceptual phases behind Cimerora from beginning to finalized product. It's certainly an interesting read if you're curious about the entire conceptualizing process, or just love looking at the pretty pictures!
Vanguard's dead horses and phoenix ashes
A lot of hot topics come up again and again on the Vanguard forums. Will the rumored Vanguard free trial replace the existing racial homelands? Will Age of Conan and other upcoming games kill Vanguard? Is SOE going to make a "hardcore" server for the trufans, and what will that do to normal servers if they do? Ten Ton Hammer's Dalmarus says, enough with these dead horses. The free trial won't avoid the traditional starting areas. Players don't seem to be flocking to Age of Conan. There is no hardcore server in the works. All dead horses who have been beaten long enough, and deserve a rest.But there's better news, a sort of bright light coming from that heap of ashes over there. New players are coming to Vanguard; old players are returning. Server populations are increasing, and the game is finding its place in the world. Why focus on dead horses when there's live ones standing all around? Dalmarus makes excellent points. Vanguard has had troubles, but it's far from dead.
