Technical Difficulties

Yesterday I was all set to do Lost Vale for the first time. My guild was putting together a group, so why not? It seems my small interest in PvE angered the RvR Gods. I was just about to scroll to the Lost Vale, when things took a bad turn.

WAR had been running fine earlier in the day. All of a sudden, my screen started to flicker and red pixels were scattered on the screen. WAR locked up and I got a strange message from Windows:

"Display driver stopped responding, but has successfully recovered."

Soon after I got a nice Blue Screen of Death with the code of 116. It seems the Timeout Detection and Recovery system (which is in Vista and Windows 7) saw a problem with my video card (Nvidia 8800GT).

I tried all sorts of drivers with no change. Microsoft blames Nvidia and Nvidia blames everything under the sun except their driver. I even tried a System Restore from a few days ago.

My best guess is that the card overheated. To help prove that, I downloaded Furmark (a benchmark tool). Using the stability test, I was able to see the cards temperature.  It started out just fine, around 60 degrees C.  It slowly worked its way up and as it got into the mid 70's the problems began.  Eventually it got up near 80 and blue screened.

One oddity was video card fan never kicked into high gear.  I download rivatuner in order to control the fan.  I set the fan to max and ran furmark again.  No luck as it crashed pretty quickly.

On a later reboot, the screen became distorted even before Windows loaded.  On the BIOS screen I have all sorts of dots.  In fact, Win7 doesn't even bother to load the driver anymore, as it sees a problem with the video card. 

So here I sit, lines all across my screen in 800x600 resolution.  I hope to go grab a new video card later today.  Not many brick and mortar stores sell them around here, so Best Buy is my only hope.

I really don't want to start the new year WAR-less :)

Read More

Invasion

Usually on weeknights, I don't play much in the evening.  Last night I made an exception and logged in for some WAR.  I really had no agenda and just went on to see if anything was happening.  One member of my guild was putting together an Invasion (Purge) group for the Tomb of the Vulture Lord. I joined up and we were off to the Land of the Dead.

I really have not done much with the Land of the Dead yet.  Some PQ's and alt leveling pretty much sums up my experience.  I've never run the TotVL or even any lairs. Tonight's adventure would be my first purge group and my first post test server visit to the dungeon.

Unlike dungeons in the rest of the game, your group can invade an enemies instance.  Once you enter, a PQ starts with the goal of eliminating your enemies.  The same goes for Lairs in the Land of the Dead.

We helped finish up the entrance PQ and then went to invade.  We were not the only ones with the idea but we did find an instance.  Oddly enough, there was only a single DoK inside.  He was quickly dispatched and the PQ finished.  As there was only 1 enemy, we did not get enough contribution.  I did get a new tome unlock and trophy though.

Once we were finished with the purge, we came up with another plan.  Destruction was almost ready to gain control once again, so we waited in the instance for one of their purge groups.  They were taking their sweet time though and we decided just to leave and engage them outside of the instance.  Turns out they were almost finished with the PQ and we went out in a blaze of glory.

Even though the night didn't go as planned, it was still a fun time.  The Land of the Dead gets a bad rap sometimes, but it is a lot more alive than people think. Dungeon/Lair runs and purge groups are actually pretty common, I just never had the block of time to do one.

I think part of the problem is the zone is 'out of sight and out of mind.'  There are a couple ways to fix the issue.  One, a better LFG/WAR Report that lets players know what is going on down there.  Two, a Live Event in the zone would remind people it is there.

---

Warhammer Time Card

Read More

A belated gift

Yesterday was a rough day in WAR.   It just so happened I kept running into organized Destruction groups (premades) and got trounced.  We were not organized, so it was our fault.  To seek refuge, I joined a keep defense.  We repelled the attack and I got a late gift from Santa.

A Royal Crest!  For those that are nor familiar with WAR, Royal Crests are the highest tier token in the game.  They can be traded in for Sovereign gear if you have a high enough Renown Rank.  My rank is 57, so I won't be getting that gear anytime soon.

These crests are pretty rare.  I have been playing since day one and this is the first one I have received.  The second highest tier is Warlord, which I have a single crest for too.

The neat thing about tokens is that you can break them down into lower tiers.  For example, the Royal Crest is worth:  5 Warlord -> 25 Invader -> 125 Conqueror -> 625 Officer.

My dilemma is, should I break down this crest?  I currently have 3 pieces of Invader gear and 27 invader crests.  What I lack are the Officer medallions.  Broken down, the Royal Crest, could allow me to buy 2 or 3 more pieces of Invader right now. 

Unless major changes are made to the end game, I don't see myself getting sovereign gear for at least a year.  Until then, it would just be sitting in my inventory doing nothing.  Too bad I can't earn interest on it.

---

Warhammer Time Card

Read More

Tasteless Rewards

I received The Saboteur as a gift a few days ago.  So far all I have had time to do was open the package.  Inside I found a code to redeem.  Neat-o right?  I was rather surprised about what the code was for...

"Redeem for in-game topless dances..."

What the...  did I just get a coupon for a virtual Nudie Bar?  I know the game is Mature rated and we run around blowing up Nazi's.  Still this seems just a bit over the top for me.  Needless to say, I will not be redeeming this coupon. 

---

The Saboteur

Read More

Part Time Klingon

Big Star Trek Online news recently; Klingons will only have PvP content (sorta).  I am actually torn about how I feel about this announcement.  This isn't exactly original, as Lord of the Rings Online's Monster Play sounds very similar.

As it is a Monday, I am going to start with the down side.  One of the major problems with LoTRO's similar implementations is that PvP is not a priority for Turbine.  The PvMP (Player versus Monster Player) was put in as a diversion and another way to earn Destiny Points.  While it has received some content, like a raid dungeon, compared to the rest of the game it has lagged behind.

In the most recent expansion (Siege of Mirkwood) the Monster Players only had their level increased to keep up with the player characters.  It could be that Cryptic will place a priority on PvP, but most of what we've heard about makes me think it is primarily a PvE game.

Another issue will be population.  Every player will have a Federation character while only a segment will have a Klingon.  LoTRO ran into the issue of players hopping on their monster character to gather intelligence, then hopping back on their freep (Free Peoples, Player Character).  It was eventually solved with a lockout timer.

Ok, that is enough negativity, on to the good!  I really liked LoTRO's Monster Play.  Prior to it, I never really liked PvP in a MMO.  Now look at me, I'm a PvP junkie.  I never really played my Hobbit burglar again and was always on my monster.  However, it soon became apparent that it was not a priority for Turbine and I had to look elsewhere for my PvP fix.  That is what led me to WAR.

Looking at it from a lore perspective, it would seem to be a great fit.  Klingons are not really known for helping poor colonists out when in a jam.  They like to fight, talk about fighting, sing about fighting and so on.  Seems like that is what they will be doing in the game.

This post has run a bit long for a Monday, so I'll leave you with one more thing.

Romulans > Klingons.

---

Star Trek Online | Lord of the Rings Online

Read More

!work - Holiday Edition

Christmas eve has to be the longest day of the year when you're at work.  I likely will not be posting again until next week, so everyone have a great holiday.  Here is some stuff to do instead of watching the clock.

Back to the Dark Age has a new project, 'While you were Mezzed'.  You can see the patch note history of any class, to help you get reacquainted to the game.

By way of Grimnir, there is a new WAR stats site (sorta like WAR heap).  The site gives very detailed population info, very interesting. 

Tirew is not your traditional Santa Clause.

Gratuitous Space Battles has a new patch on the way.

Mykiel has a few video podcasts which are nice.  Watch WAR while he goes over some of the latest happenings. 

MMORPG has a beta report on the kind of missions (quests) you may encounter in Star Trek Online.  I will be playing STO on launch day :)

Did you know Fallen Earth has Public Quests (Town Events)?  Check out an article on them.

Read More

First Night

Keg End isn't the only holiday event in town.  I've also been playing Fallen Earth and their First Night Event.  I was hoping to put together a video but decided against it.  I still have not found a way to make watching me going after resource nodes exciting.  I do have some nice pictures though.

The main focus of the event (at least where I am) is to do some quests for S.A.N.T.A (Seasonal Arctic Network of Toy-based Altruism).  So far they are mostly kill or gathering quests.  Once completed, you get some experience points, candy canes and a gift package.

The rewards are pretty good and have amusing descriptions.  Who wouldn't like a 5% speed bonus?  You can also turn in your unopened gift boxes for a chance at a White Top Hat.  You still get other stuff if you don't win the 'prize.'

As Wes mentioned, we do get to kill some Elves!  Well, E.L.F.S, but still, they want to wreck First Night and we just can't have that.

One of the rewards is a Dirt Man Assembly Kit.  I don't see any snow around here, do you?  This guy costs 7 Candy Canes and looks pretty cool.  Grimy the Dirt Man is a fairy tail they say....

It has been a fun event.  I especially like that those E.L.F.S have useful drops and experience points.  Not only am I getting some nice food but also crafting materials.

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way... Oh what fun it is to ride... with a one-horse soap, and slay!

---

Fallen Earth

Read More

Werit at WAR: Keg End

This past week has seen the arrival of Warhammer Online's winter event, Keg End. It has been a lot of fun and one of the best events so far. This episode of Werit at WAR showcases some of the action. The music is a tribute to my favorite Christmas movie, Christmas Vacation.

---

Christmas Vacation | Warhammer Online

Read More

Why WAR: PvP

This is the first, in a series of posts, about why I play Warhammer Online.  There seems to be a generally negative perception about the game going around.  While some of it may be justified, it really has no impact on the reasons I enjoy the game so much.

It may come as a surprise, but I used to really only play PvE in games.  A while ago, I was playing Lord of the Rings Online.  One day I decided to try out their Monster vs Player mode (PvP).  After that, I never logged into LoTRO to play PvE.  While I enjoyed LotRO's PvP, I always knew it was just a diversion and not the focus of the development efforts.  That's when I saw Warhammer Online was coming out and the focus was PvP (RvR).

Fast forward to today and I just can't enjoy PvE very much.  Every so often I like it, but it is just too static for my taste.  With WAR, I can start PvP'ing as soon as I create a new character.  I never really have to stop either.  The fact that you can level via RvR is one of my favorite aspects of the game.

You can play 95% of the game without ever having to PvE.  Ok, I made that number up.  As the game stands right now, the Warlord and King encounters are the last bit of PvE that you would have to do.  Even that will be changing though.  In the Producer's Letter, Bruce mentions they want to change these to RvR encounters instead. 

While you don't have to PvE, a lot of players choose to and WAR supports that type of gameplay.  It is often easier to run a few dungeons to get gear than it is to collect it in PvP.  This is a choice though, one which I rarely ever choose.

In WAR, I just enjoy the fight.  All I want to do is log in and fight the enemy.  I'm not concerned about having the best gear, or even winning.  Those are all nice bonuses, but not really the focus of my gameplay.  This is where WAR excels, the PvP is very accessible.

I'm not sure I would say WAR has the best PvP of any MMO.  That title I would probably give to the sandbox games like EvE and Darkfall.  But the accessibility of WAR's is what keeps me coming back.  As I have limited times I can play, it is perfectly feasible for me to log in for 30 minutes and have some fun in PvP.

Mythic still has some work to do in order to make everything you can get in PvE available to the PvP side.  Once they do that, it should make a lot of the min/maxer players happy.  For me though, WAR's PvP is still a lot of fun even after a year+ of playing.

---

Warhammer Online | Eve Online

Read More

December's Producer Letter

Yesterday, Mythic released the much anticipated Producer Letter for December.  Well, it was much anticipated to me anyways.  It is a bit odd, after reading the letter I am both excited and disappointed.  So what does Mythic have in store for us?

It appears WAR has had a change in leadership.  Jeff Skalski was the Producer, but it was announced that Bruce Maclean has taken over for him.  Bruce was the Live producer for WAR.  Normally I would be worried, but Jeff has not jumped ship and is still working on Warhammer.  I thought Jeff was doing a great job, so I was quite surprised about the change.

Now on to the letter!  Most of it is a recap of the year.  Reading through it does remind me that Mythic has been very busy with WAR.  It has been a good year overall in my opinion.  But that is enough dwelling on the past, what does our future hold?

Next year is going to be an exciting one, and I am looking forward to sharing more of our plans during the frigid days and long winter nights of January.  We’ll have exciting new Live Events, new weapons and cloaks earned by spilling the blood of your enemies in RvR, a new Scenario structure, economy and loot drop improvements, adjustments to the King and Warlord encounters to convert them to RvR-only battles, UI customization enhancements, Tier 4 RvR campaign improvements, daily quests and so much more -  and that’s just our near term plans for 2010.

That is all that was said about the future of WAR.  It is disappointing that there was nothing concrete mentioned.  Most of WAR's competitors have actually told their players of specific plans.  Instead, we get vague concepts that may never happen.  I can't remember how many improvements that Mark Jacobs mentioned that never saw the light of day.

I understand they don't want to tell us something that may not happen, but they went to the opposite extreme.  Now it seems like nothing will happen with WAR, which is just as bad if not worse.  How many times can they say 'we are working on improving the game'?  Blizzard, the lumbering giant, tells their players specific details, even if they are a year away.

Now I did mention this letter got me excited, so let's end on that note.   The best 'news' in that paragraph is they are working on making the final encounters RvR based.  No more RvR to PvE!  I think that will be a welcome change by most players.  It is good to see WAR is finally embracing its RvR aspect, which is why players are here.

A new scenario structure and economy improvements were mentioned as well.  Not much can be said about it, but it seems like a good direction.  Another big deal is the 'new weapons' mention.  As it stands now, you have to PvE in order to get the most advanced weapons.  Hopefully this means they will be adding new ones that can be obtained by RvR.

So that's about it for the Producer's Letter.  I like the direction, but the lack of any actual details is really starting to bother me.

---

Warhammer Online

Read More

Time to Re-enlist

Mythic has announced that between now and December 23rd, players who have left WAR can return at no cost for 10 days.  No subscription required.  So is it time for you to re-enlist in the WAR?  I think so, and here is why.

Action.  There is plenty of RvR action on all of the servers.  Even if your guy is stuck in a middle tier, using the new apprentice system you can get involved in the Tier 4 campaign.  The WAR Report is a great way to get into the action no matter which tier.

Performance.  Ever since the 1.3.2 patch, WAR's performance has been top notch.  Watch for yourself.  If WAR's past performance was an issue, you really should check it out again.

Keg End.  Right now the Keg End live event is in full swing.  There are a bunch of fun things to do (pub crawls!) and some very neat rewards.  The Black Fire Basin scenario is also enabled for all tiers.  I know, this wasn't the best scenario but it has gone through some changes.  Now that a single flag is in the middle, it is action packed.

Free.  It's free.

Bonuses.  All players get a 20% Experience, Renown and Influence bonus until the 23rd. Returning players also get some free items. 

If you have been gone a while, you may have to transfer your character.  If I may suggest one, head to Badlands.  If you do, be sure to look me up (Tirew)! I'd be happy to apprentice you up to 40 for some Tier 4 RvR.

---

Warhammer Online

Read More

Keg End... Begins

Today marks the star of WAR's winter event, Keg End.  There are fireworks to set off, Giants to slay and Ale to drink.  As always, some nice rewards to be had, which are different than the previous years event.  Read on the for the task list and some of the rewards.

The list doesn't look too shabby.  Should be able to get the Elite reward without a huge amount of work (unlike last year).

The basic reward looks to be a trophy.  Mmmm Troll tears.

Now this reward is pretty cool. Boosting your morale is always welcome, and it grow stronger the more you use it.  Much like the Event slot items, it has a decay timer.  Looks like this will get us up to New years.  Great idea.

And last but not least, the Event Slot item.   

I'm looking forward to getting on there tonight and finding some Giants!  Hopefully I can procure one of the new rare drop Ale hauling pets too.  We shall see.

Read More

What WAR Needs

I think it is safe to say most WAR players want Mythic to release an expansion soon.  I happen to agree, so I figured it would be a great time to settle into my recliner and put on the Armchair Game Designer hat.  What does WAR need to do in a hypothetical expansion?

More Renown Ranks.   Currently the RR cap is 80 and a bunch of players have reached it.  In an expansion, this cap should be raised by 20 to 100.  What good is RR if there isn't anything interesting at the end?  Along with new bonuses, I think a new tactic slot would be an excellent reward. 

A fifth career tactic would be nice, but it may also be unbalancing.  Another Renown or Tome tactic slot may be the way to go.  When expanding the RR cap you must keep all the low level folks in mind.  In order to help them keep up, I envision a new loot drop which gives X amount of renown.  This could be given to alts or low level players to help them catch up.

More Guild Ranks.  The Guild cap is presently 40 and a number of guilds are already there or close to it.  Twenty more ranks is a large expansion, but I have something special in mind for these ranks.  More on that later.

New Crafting.  I think a new type of crafting should be added to the mix.  Perhaps Weapon or Armor crafting?  Whatever it is, it should continue to embrace WAR's philosophy of being useful and accessible. 

New RvR Zones.  This is the big feature of the expansion.  Four new zones, which are fully RvR enabled, would be added and linked to form a square.  As for the theme, it doesn't really matter.  The important part is what is in the zones. 

The new RvR zones would be populated with guild claimable objectives.  Unlike the city campaign, these would be claimed until your enemy defeats you.  A couple examples of objectives would be Keeps for large guilds and camps (towers) for smaller ones.  The only rewards for capturing/holding these objectives would go to the claiming guild.

Keeping the rewards for guilds only is very important.  It would hopefully discourage zergs, as only one guild  will get anything out of it.  This form of Guild RvR should round out WAR nicely. 

• Realm vs Realm: City Campaign
• Guild vs Guild: New RvR Zones
• Small Group: Land of the Dead

These objectives should help guilds through the twenty new Guild Ranks. I could even see them provide a new alternate form of advancement (i.e. Prestige Ranks).

New Dungeon.  While I don't run dungeon's much, they can be pretty fun.  Perhaps it can be in the new RvR zones.  Of course, it would be invade-able.

You will notice I don't mention any new classes.  We finally have something approaching balance, so lets not rush into shaking things up quite yet.   Same goes for a 3rd realm.  While I would love to see one, it just isn't realistic.  Hopefully Mythic is working on something.

Read More

Werit goes Camping

Fallen Earth introduced Camping in yesterdays 1.2 'Social' patch.  Using the new Construction skill, you can create semi-permanent structures in the game world.  Of course I had to check this out, so I went on a camping trip.

My first stop was Embry Crossroads to visit the new Construction Trainer.  We chatted a bit and I bought the first of three skill books.  After some reading, I had some new recipes.

My skill started at 9, so I got to work making Wooden Supports. They are used for the more advanced camps.  So what do these camps do?

• Campfire Bundle:  Gives you a stamina regeneration bonus.
• Pup Tent Bundle:  Gives you a health regen bonus which improves over time.
• Firing Range Bundle: Gives you a bonus to Firearm skills. 
• Training Dummy Bundle: Gives you a bonus to Melee, Melee Defense and Dodge.

All bonuses (buffs) seem to last for an hour so far. The camps only persist for a certain amount of time, in the case of the Campfire, it was 30 minutes.

After a while, I got my Construction skill up to 15.  It was time to make a Campfire Bundle!

I hopped on my trusty steed and went off into the wilderness looking for a spot to camp.  You can't just camp anywhere;  uneven ground, npc's and monsters all restrict where your camp can be placed.  It took me a few minutes, but I found a nice spot and used the camp.

When close to the camp, the buff is applied to you and continuously refreshed.  The one applied by this most basic camp was:

When it comes time to leave, you can click on the camp giving the option to deconstruct it.  This option DESTROYS the camp.  It seems like these are one shot items.  They aren't terribly difficult to construct, but they are not free either.  You should make it count when you put up a camp.

Seems like a very neat addition to the game so far.  The more advanced camp's provide a lot more than just buff's.  This was just a piece of the patch, a winter event and taverns were also introduced.

---

Warhammer Online

Read More

A Dwarf and his Dog

As a reward for participating in 1.3.3's PTS event, players received a non-combat pet.  In the case of Order, it was the Imperial Hunting Hound.  While I am not a huge fan of vanity pets, who doesn't like a good dog?  I know you want to see this fine specimen... and the dog, so read on.

That dog is almost as big as me!  I better remember to feed him, otherwise I could be in some trouble.

Speaking of pets, WAR's winter event begins tomorrow!  Keg's End will, among other things, give you the chance to win an Ale hauling pet.  Hmm, if someone else is carting around my keg, then that means I can carry more weapons.  I like it!

Read More

Rising through the ranks

Leveling a character in WAR has never been easier.  Over the weekend I played a bit on my Rune Priest, which was Rank 17.  I saw one of my fellow CoW's was online (Hi Tzu!), who was rank 40.  Seemed like a great time to try out the Apprentice/Mentor system.

We formed a party and my guild-mate sent an apprentice request.  When accepted, it raised my rank to 40, along with my stats and skills.  It only applies while you are near your mentor.  If you wander too far you go back to your original rank. Also, you don't get access to any new skills or mastery points.

First up, we went off to kill a Hero mob for a tome token unlock.  It took a while, but we defeated the mini boss.  For my part, I received the tome unlock and 15,000 xp!  That was pretty good for a single kill, even if it took a few minutes.

Neither of us knew if we could both go to the Land of the Dead.  Using a Summoning Stone, he was able to bring me along.  Once there we headed to a bandit camp.  Much to our surprise, two Chosen were there, but AFK.  As we brought them down, one came back but it was too late.

Now that we had the bandit camp to ourselves, we went to work.  For each kill I gained 2,200 xp.  This was rested xp, but even halved, this was a great way to level through Tier 2.  I was with a White Lion, so the kills came very quickly.

A few minutes later, I noticed that the two Chosen we had dispatched had not released yet.  You can probably guess where this is going.  Soon after, they were up and I was down.  My mentor had to go anyways, so it seemed like a good place to quit for the day.

The Land of the Dead is a great place to level a character if you have a mentor.  Not only did I get scarabs (which are trade-able), but the XP was very nice as well.  Add in some PvP and it was a fun time.  Despite the name, the Land of the Dead is certainly not dead.

Read More

!work - 12/11

It's been a fun week for gaming.  Both WAR and WoW released some patches, which is likely keeping a bunch of gamers busy.  For those of us stuck at work, that is little comfort.  At least we can read about other people having fun.

Grimnir put out a huge guide to WAR free trial twinking.  It's got a bunch of tips and a few lair videos. 

Keen visits Allods Online and returns with a dangerous video. 

Spinks takes on a bunch of dungeons due to the new LFD. 

Syncaine tells a story of peril on the high seas. 

Crafting in the Dark Ages (of Camelot).

Shiver my (me) Timbers!

Tis the season for Christmas lists.  Here is one, another and another!

Read More

Honor and Service

Every so often I get the PvE itch. Usually when it strikes I head over to Everquest 2. It has been an interesting time with recent updates and the expansion, Sentinel's Fate, on the horizon. I ended up making a video (with commentary) covering some of the neat aspects of EQ2 and my adventures.





Direct Link.

Read More

Retribution

Yesterday morning, WAR's 1.3.3 patch (called Retribution) went live.  I have been talking about it quite a bit, so I'll skip the rehash.  The big question is, how is the game now?  It is too early to make any big conclusions, but I am having a lot of fun.

Along with the 1.3.3 patch, they delivered a hot fix:

Fixed an issue that would sometimes reward Scenario Victory Points to the incorrect Realm.

This was a huge issue, as it made locking zones easier and caused more city sieges. 

Expedition Resources are now classified as Usable Equipment and can be properly filtered in the Auto Loot tab.

Yes!  No more loot windows for Expedition Resources.  This may be my favorite fix.  Well, that and the 'balancing' of Ravage.

Overall, the WAR Report is my favorite thing about 1.3.3.  If you like alts, this is a great tool as you can see at a glance where the action is.  On Badlands, it was easy to see that RvR was going on in all of the tiers.

I ended up playing my Engineer, Ironbreaker and Bright Wizard yesterday.  My BW is still rank 11 and hanging out in Tier 1. There were 50+ Order playing (during the afternoon) just in the default guild and most were low levels.  Some are likely trial accounts, but it is encouraging none the less.

Read More

WAR Christmas List

The holiday season is fast approaching.  There are a few things I'd love to see from WAR, who better to ask than Santa?  I will be trying to keep my list reasonable, as I don't expect Santa to be able to arrange a 3rd realm.  Read on for my list.

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good Dwarf this year.  Many Destruction have been killed and I even raided his home a few times.  It would make me very happy if you could bring me things on my list.  I hope you enjoyed the Ale and cookies.  Better not give any to Rudolph... one of you needs to stay sober.

1.  Remember those neat siege weapons, the Axe Hewer and the boulder tossing Toll?  We got 5 as a reward during Bitter Rivals but that was the last we saw of them.  I would like to see them available in the game again.

2.  Don't get me wrong, I like my gyro-copter.  It is kind of boring though, as all the variations look so similar.  A new Dwarf themed mount would be super.

3.  Ordinance prices are great now.  Could you give the same treatment to the stuff for sale in the Land of the Dead?  The crafting ingredients and banners are pretty expensive. 

4.  Speaking of the Land of the Dead,  I would like to see the crafted potions persist through death.

5.  And finally, I would like to know what WAR has planned for the coming year.  Scurvy Dogs looks good, but still is not official.  As others have said, we just want something to look forward to.

Sincerely,

Werit

So what is on your WAR Christmas list?

Read More

Coming Soon to WAR: Scurvy Dogs

A few days ago, I was searching for information in order to upgrade my Fight Finder add-on.  During the search I stumbled upon some evidence of new content for WAR.  Read on for some details about WAR's new Live Event, Scurvy Dogs.

In the November Producer's Letter, Jeff mentioned a brand new live event with the not-so-subtle hint of 'yarrr.'  A pirate themed event seemed like a pretty good bet.  From my poking around, I found references to an upcoming event called Scurvy Dogs.  It even has the following description:

"The seas run with blood! Dwarf ironclads, steaming out of Barak Varr, carry legions of blood-mad Slayers to raid and plunder the enemy's ships and ports. Meanwhile, Orc sea-hulks, loaded with Choppa freebooters, have ambushed the Dwarfs in the Black Gulf, and the sea is choked with the carcasses of the dead!"

It appears that the Scurvy Dogs event will showcase a brand new scenario called 'The Ironclad.'  As you might expect, this scenario will take place on a Dwarf warship.

"Board the Ironclad and seize the vital Central Gangway! Crush your enemies over and over again and throw their broken bodies into the cold, dark sea! Swear your foulest pirate oaths at member of each and every career! Avast!"

I did ask Mythic for comment, but got the expected response of: "We have no comment on in development and unannounced future content."

There is a chance that this is inaccurate or even something that we will never see.  I'm leaning towards it being true though.  Fighting on a ship?  Sign me up.  I'm happy to see something new coming along, too bad I could not find a release date.

Read More

WAR 1.3.3 PTS: Part 2

Last Thursday, Mythic held the 2nd part of the 1.3.3 testing event on Warhammer's PTS.  The primary goal this time was to stress test the client while using the 'Oooh Shiny' setting.  Over 200 players participated and for the most part the results were good.  There is video of the battle after the break.

The video below was taken using the 'Oooh Shiny' setting, which is High Quality plus post-processing (HDR and Bloom).  The client performed very well for me, as I noticed no slow down due to the new graphical options.  I'm using an 8800 GT card, 1680 x 1050 resolution and fraps to record.



Shadow WAR also has some video of the event, go check it out for a different perspective.

You know all that Ordinance you have saved up?  In 1.3.3 you'll actually be able to use them!  They lowered the costs of ordinance items significantly. Prior to this patch, they cost around 900 a piece.  Now look at them:

Read More

!work

My post about last nights WAR PTS event will be out on Monday.  Until then I'll leave some keywords for it:  200+ Players, little to no lag and Oooh Shiny.  I have some nice battle footage to go along with it.  Now onto the !work list.

• Syp takes us on a tour of his armory.  Really, he needs those just for hunting. 
• Elves may be in for a rough holiday, as we learned in a Fallen Earth Q&A.
• Halloween is over Shadow WAR. 
• Dark Age of Camelot is still alive and kicking. 
• A holiday classic gone MMO. 
• The Tribe has spoken. 

This weekend I plan on playing some Warhammer Online, Everquest 2 and Fallen Earth.  I really enjoy playing small doses of all 3.  I also have to put my latest WAR video together and one for EQ2.  Expect those next week.  

Read More

WAR 1.3.3 PTS: Part 1

Last night a PTS event was held to put the latest patch (1.3.3) through its paces.  The focus of the event was on the new WAR Report system.  I ended up wandering around the world checking out the new HDR/Bloom graphical option.  Read on for a run down, pictures and a video!

NOTE: Part 2 can be found here.  

The goal of the WAR Report is to give the player a picture of what is going on in the game.  Upon logging in, you will see if any keeps are under attack, what the most active PQ is, where the most players are and any recent Hot Spots or the Battlefield objective's taken.

It also gives you the opportunity to teleport to the closest warcamp once every 8 hours.  That should at least save you 40+ silver once a day.  I'm not sure how often the WAR Report refreshes, but it seemed to do it in a reasonable amount of time. There is a page for each tier, not just tier 4.

In your User Settings window, under the video tab, there will be an Oooh, Shiny setting.  This will turn on HDR and Bloom post-processing.  These are client side effects, so it is likely many players will have a different experience.

I put together a short video illustrating some of the differences between High Quality and Oooh Shiny.



Overall, I was not very impressed with the HDR/Bloom.  In some scenes, I had a hard time even seeing a difference. Sometimes it was an improvement and other times it looked worse.  They probably need to tweak it some more,  so I will reserve final judgment until later.  The next video will show combat with these settings active.

So when I started out on my travels, I could not find the flight master.  He was no where to be seen... until  I looked up.  In the patch notes they mentioned that the flight master would be using the appropriate mount.  So when this goes live, be sure to look up.

Overall it was a fun event.  I think around 180 people showed up to test, so there was a lot of fighting to be had.  Tonight is part 2, which is supposed to be more of a stress test.  If you participate you will receive an in-game pet (imperial house or chaos hound I think).  I'll be there!

Read More

WAR Quickie

Later today I will post an article about the PTS event last night. I made a video for it, but it will take some time to render and upload.  By the way, the WAR 1.3.3 PTS event continues tonight at 8pm est.  There are a couple things to talk about until then.

If you have some time you should really stop by WAR's PTS tonight for the second part of the event. Everyone who participates will get an in-game pet. I forget the exact name, but it is a dog or Order. Destruction get's something that probably used to be a dog :)

Shadow WAR came across some images of the Korean version of WAR. The character models are quite different. Apparently gritty doesn't sell over there. I think they look pretty bad, but to each their own.  Shadow has a bunch of examples if you are feeling brave.

Read More

Q&A with Fallen Earth's Wes Platt

The last time we talked with Fallen Earth developer Wes Platt, it was just before launch.  Since Fallen Earth has been out for a few months, I wanted to catch up and see what they were up to.  Wes was kind enough to answer some more questions.  Thanks Wes!

Werit: Fallen Earth launched a couple of months ago.  It seems to have gone pretty well from a players standpoint.  How was it from your perspective?

Wes Platt: It was the first major MMORPG launch I've ever been involved with. From my point of view, it was a great experience. Turning the game loose on the world, letting people play what I had a hand in creating, that's really exhilarating. We've received a lot of positive feedback on our missions – especially the character dialogue – so that has meant a lot to the writers who put so much time and energy into crafting the stories that we set out to tell in Fallen Earth.

Werit: I have seen a lot of praise for the quests in Fallen Earth. The humor in them is especially nice. Do you have any favorites?

Wes Platt: I'm particularly fond of missions where the person offering the mission is mistranslating old history in the course of sending the player off on the next big adventure. In Trailer Park, for example, there's a lunatic of the tinfoil-hat variety who talks about the late President Jimmy Hoffa's treasure. In Depot 66, we've got an actor in a play who thinks a duck is a type of Internet – a joke that gets a reprise, for those who pay attention, in the town of Watchtower.

I don't just like laughing at my own jokes, though. We've got quite a few funny people writing missions for Fallen Earth. Few missions are as memorable as the one that starts with a severed ear on the ground in Boneclaw or the “meat pants” mission for the CHOTA in a later sector.

Werit:  You guys recently had the Days of the Dead event for Halloween which seemed to be a hit among the players.  Can we expect a Christmas Event?  If so, will it involve a mutated Santa Claus?

Wes Platt: Yes, we'll have a winter holiday event. You might even get to kill some elves.

Werit:  There has been a lot of talk about how to get Fast Travel into the game.  Some of the ideas revolve around the remains of the monorail system in the game and perhaps a server wide effort to rebuild it.  Is a server wide goal something you guys are open to?

Wes Platt: It's something we're thinking about on a regular basis, sure. The monorail idea is interesting, maybe we could ask Leonard Nimoy to attend the dedication, but it presents numerous artistic and technological issues that would be difficult to overcome anytime soon.

Werit:  In the future, as new sectors are added, will we be leaving the Grand Canyon?  If so, any hints on what locales we may see?

Wes Platt: We're liable to explore what's left of the world beyond the Grand Canyon at some point, but no guarantees when that will be. We've been thinking about taking the game to some denser, more urban environments as we get beyond the Grand Canyon.

Werit:  Camps have been mentioned as something you guys are working on adding to the game.  What will they be for and are they different than player housing?

Wes Platt:  Permanent player housing is still on the horizon. I like the feel that camps will bring to the game, though – the idea that you can set up your shanty out in the middle of nowhere, make it your own patch of land in the post-apocalyptic world, but it's never quite permanent. Keep an eye out. In the coming weeks, we'll have dev journals on some gaming sites about new features coming in our next big patch.

Werit:  As far as content goes, what is your team up to now?

Wes Platt: Lately, we've been working on a lot of bug fixes, as well as holiday planning and development of new content for Sector 3 and beyond.

Werit: There have been free trials on some of the major game sites already.  Are there any plans for a broader system so that subscribers can give out keys?

Wes Platt: We're always conjuring up more ideas for promotions and it makes sense to think about ways to involve communities—friends of friends and that type of thing—since MMOs are built around that structure. We will also continue to promote trials via some of our partner media sites and our site, so players can always direct their friends to existing promotions.

Werit:  You've got an app coming out for the iPhone soon.  Might we see the same for other devices, like Android enabled phones?

Wes Platt: The iPhone application is our first foray into mobile applications for the game. We are working on development for other devices. It’s an exciting step for the game because it furthers the interaction that players have with the game while they’re away from their PC, like getting to their crafting queue, mail and chat.

Werit:  Anything else you would like to tell the readers?

Wes Platt: If you're playing Fallen Earth, thanks for your support! If you're not playing Fallen Earth, give it a shot! Visit http://www.fallenearth.com to learn more about the game. Follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/FallenEarth

Read More

PTS Event Tonight

Tonight on WAR's PTS server is the first part of  the testing for patch 1.3.3.  It is an official test, so you have a chance to win a special mount for just participating.  The test usually doesn't last too long and is a lot of fun.  I will be there on my Engineer named Werit. 

The download for the patch is already available.  It came in at a hefty 1 gig, which you may want to start downloading sooner rather than later.  The 1.3.3 patch introduces HDR and Bloom graphical effects, so your performance feedback should be very valuable to Mythic. You'll need to enable them in game.

NOTE:  The PTS event has been moved to tomorrow (Wed) night.

---

Warhammer Online Game Card

Read More

1.3.3 Patch Notes

Last night, WAR's 1.3.3 patch notes were posted.  Back when 1.3.3 was announced it was billed as a bug fixing and polish patch.  They accomplished that goal, as there are quite a few bug fixes.  They also managed to add a couple neat features with this patch.

Recently, I talked a bit about WAR's December plans, which includes 3 of the big features in this patch: Underdog, WAR Report and Graphical updates.  The basic gist of the Underdog system is the realm that loses their city will have a smaller victory point requirement and quicker Tier 4 timers.  I'm not sure if this will help underpopulated realms compete, but we will see when it hits live.

Now on to the fixes!

Damage dealt by Morale abilities will now correctly remove Stagger.

This is a good thing, being unable to move while someone tee's off a morale on you can hurt quite a bit.

Resolute Defense: This ability will now defend against Morale-based crowd control effects.

I always forget to use this ability.  I'm sure some players, who are better than I, use it... I need to start.

Ravage: Fixed an issue which caused this ability to gain too much damage from stats.


Yay!  Getting beat down by 2h Chosen for 1k+ damage was a bit much.

The Healing Boon, Defensive Boon, Merchant's Gift, and Artisan's Gift buffs associated with the capture of Battlefield Objectives have been removed from the game.

This is an interesting change.  While I don't think the buffs were very useful, I am surprised they were removed from the game. Might it be in preparation of a another change involving forts?  We will see I guess.

Fixed issues that caused the Bonus Renown and Experience values to not calculate correctly on the scenario scoreboard.

I've always wondered about the numbers on the Scoreboard.   Glad to see this fixed.

Sovereign Trinkets will now drop from players as intended. 

I can't use them yet, but it would be sweet to get some as loot. Of course with the auto-loot system, I rarely even see what we are rolling on anymore.

An issue was fixed that caused Player Armor Bits not to drop in RvR. These should once again be dropping rarely from player kills.

I have no idea what Player Armor bits are.  

All Ordinance-purchased siege weapons and consumables have had their respective costs reduced.

It would be great if these weapons were cheap enough to be used.  I'll have to login to PTS and check out the prices.

adjustments have been made to the Mythic Tomb King merchant weapons

Looks like LotD weapon's received a few fixes and buffs.   Check out the notes for which ones were involved.

Those are just a handful of changes that caught my eye.  be sure to go check out the full notes, as there are plenty more.  Now that 1.3.3 is on it's way out, I wonder when the next Producer's note will be?

---

Warhammer Online Game Card

Read More