Scurvy Dogs is live!

The first of WAR Weekend Warfront is live, Scurvy Dogs.  Along with the new Ironclad scenario, it brings its own set of tasks and rewards.  For a look at the task list and elite reward, continue on!

All of the tasks revolve around the new 6 vs 6 Ironclad scenario.  I encourage you to get together a group for this one as it is crucial for success.  In any case, the event and the scenario will be gone on Monday, so get to it. 

 

 

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News from the Front 2/26

Another busy week for WAR,  February has been a very interesting month for the game.  In this weeks news, we have several Ironclad videos, articles from Mythic, a new guide and more.  1.3.4 is live and the WAR population has swelled with a lot of old names and faces.

Mythic

• Mike Wyatt tells us about the latest scenario changes in a new development diary. 
• 1.3.4 is now live.  You can check out all of the changes here. 
• Carrie delivers her first Producer's Note.  It includes info on the next two patches. 
• The Scurvy Dogs live event, which includes the 6 vs 6 scenario, should be starting up this weekend.

Articles

• Shadow WAR tells us about the highs and lows of his weekend.  Spoiler:  A huge Claymore is a high.  
• Blaze hits up Bilerot for the first time, on his Knight of the Burning Sun.  In WAR, you can run the enemies dungeons while you are in the city.
• Bootae inspects the latest WAR producer's Note. 
• Grimnir posted an audio recording of last weeks PTS Event Q&A.
• Mr. Meh doesn't like.... wait, he does like the latest Producer's Note?  That can't be right :)
• Cydoc, of the Warhammer Vault at IGN, posts a nice guide to Sigmar's Crypt. 
• Yitu, a German WAR blogger, gives us a look at the Grave of the Fallen Slayer.
• Yes, Yitu gets two entries as he's new to the Front and mentions me ;)  In this article, he talks a bit about motivation. 

Video

• One Shard takes a look at Choppa armor set progression.  Orcs do have some amazing armor in WAR.
• Shadow WAR has a video of The Ironclad from last weeks PTS event. 
• Mykiel is on a boat, T-Pain was not able to make it.  (Language warning)
• More Mykiel!  This time he has been streaming live video of his 1.3.4 experiences. 
• Excellent video, from WAR Russia I think, showing some outnumbered open RvR. 
• This video from Karak Norn, show some LotD Grinding and a boss fight versus the Skull Lord.
• Maul0r1 brings us a look at WAR's newest scenario, The Ironclad.   

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Highlights

Yesterday, Mythic released the February Producers Note on us all.  It weighs in at over 1,600 words and is full of interesting information.  The biggest news is Carrie Gouskos has taken over as WAR's Franchise Producer.  She had quite a bit to say.

First, I'd like to send a congrats out to Carrie.  She was kind enough to answer some questions a while back and has always been open to the WAR community.  As you can tell from the Note, she seems pretty passionate about the game.  Alright, on to the highlights!

More Communication.  They hope to have a monthly note rather than it being tied to patches.  It was also mentioned that they would do more with social tools like twitter.  You can't go wrong with more communication.

Participation.  Players like to feel involved in the game they devote so many hours to.  We may start to see contests where we can contribute to making WAR better.  Loading screen tips (with credit) sound like a good start.

In the face.

1.3.5.  Carrie confirmed their commitment to making the city sieges about PvP and not PvE.  During the Q&A that followed last weeks PTS Event, it was mentioned that Mythic was looking more guilds into their Core Test Team for 1.3.5.  I can't wait to get some more information about this, it will be a critical improvement. 

Also coming in 1.3.5, more things to spend in-game currency on!  Inventory space and bank space look to be first up.  I know I could use some more of both.  New low level characters will be able to purchase more bag space whenever they want, rather than getting it every 10 ranks.

1.3.6.  The Note also gave us our first look at the 1.3.6 patch.  It is light on details but it looks like it will focus on the economy and auction house.  I suspect this will also include more stuff to do and stuff to get, but we'll have to wait and see.  Mythic will also make a decision on the armor redesign which has been idle for a few months.

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WAR News with a side of DAoC

Today is a big day for WAR...

• Patch 1.3.4 is live! Check out the mostly correct patch notes here.  
• The February Producer Note is out!  Lots of stuff to read so I'll post about it later this week.

Back to the Dark Age has a very nice interview with a Mythic Developer, Adam Coleman.  There is a lot of good info in here about Dark Age of Camelot's future, so check it out.  

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Werit does a dungeon

Yep, you read that correctly.  I Werit, the guy who writes about how he doesn't enjoy PvE, ventured down to the Tomb of the Vulture Lord.  Last weekend the stars aligned and I was able to give this dungeon a serious try.  How did it go?  I'm sure you can guess.

First, I'd like to say that the dungeon itself looks amazing.  The artists and designers at Mythic did a fantastic job.  I am a really big fan of the Egyptian inspired theme of the whole Land of the Dead.  The dungeon does not disappoint when it comes to aesthetics.

I'd also like to say the folks I grouped with were awesome.  We couldn't get passed the fifth boss (out of 8), but it was because of our group makeup and not anyone's fault. 

There are three general reasons why I don't enjoy PvE dungeons and raids.

Time.  In my history as a MMO player, I've found that group PvE content rarely finishes in the planned time.  My Vulture Lord trip was supposed to take about one and a half hours.  It actually took over three.  Now that I'm older (job and family) time is my most valuable resource.

Loot.  My first trip was as much about exploration as it was getting some new equipment.  Any other attempts at this dungeon will pretty much be just about getting loot.  The Random Number Generator was not friendly to me at all.  I lost all but one roll on everything from boss drops to scarab's.  I left with a Kamenra fragment (AP steal), which is better than nothing.

I did get 4 Silver Ankhs since I lost every Boss PQ.  I did need these, so that is something.

Boring.  This is especially true as a dps.  All I had to do was make sure I stood in the right spot and kept up spamming Firebomb.  I barely had to be awake to get through the run.

Now we get to my biggest problem with WAR.  Doing the PvE in the Land of the Dead is almost required if you want to stay competitive.  There is a lot of awesome stuff to get down there, but it is all PvE.  Tyrant armor, nice weapons, the best souls (time limited talismans), crazy jewelry sets, Odjira talisman without spending a lot of gold and the list goes on.

I should mention the nice jewelry sets can be had for 12 Silver Anhks, which are also rewarded by raiding the opposing warcamp.  Still, I have to stop what I'm doing (PvP), fly down there, hope for a warcamp warband, trek all the way across the zone and more than likely take an empty warcamp. That's not how I like to spend my time. 

I have Invader Crests and Medallions which have no use to me right now.  I would love to trade all of these for a few Silver Ankhs.  I have no idea when I might see the ToVL again (or if I even want to), so most of what the Land of the Dead offers is out of my reach.

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The Ironclad Part 2

In yesterdays post I showed a video and wrote about some of the positive aspects of WAR's new scenario, The Ironclad.  While I am looking forward to playing it once it hits live, there are some aspects that I'm not so sure about.

6 vs 6.  The Ironclad is meant for single group versus group combat.  The problem is that solo players will queue for the scenario too.  The age old premade against pug problem will be very pronounced in The Ironclad.  Since WAR lacks any matchmaking options to put premades against other premades, there really is no way to avoid this.  Personally,  I don't mind and plan on running this scenario in a group most of the time.

Maybe there should be a warning label in the scenario description?  In the lower tiers, I don't expect this to be a problem.  Tier 4 is a different story of course. 

Spawns.  As I mentioned yesterday, player spawn points are not mirrored.  Order starts inside the ship while Destruction starts on their own platform.  As much as I like the potential that non-mirrored spawn gives, this is just asking for trouble.  I expect there to be numerous complaints about how Mythic favors one side due to the non-mirrored spawn points. 

One popular suggestion to this is to alternate spawn points.  I think that will just lead to players quitting if they don't have the better perceived spawn location.  If it were me, I would add an Order platform to the other side of the ship.  Although, I fear this may lead to players ignoring the other objectives and just camping.

Group Healing.  In WAR, group healing spells do not need line of sight.  This makes them especially effective in the Ironclad.  A player can heal his buddies on other decks or in adjacent corridors without much risk.

Line of Sight.  The indoor objectives will make life tough for several classes.  Single target healing, which needs line of sight, will be much more difficult when compared to group healing.  Ranged classes, without a pbaoe, will have a tough time since they have to get close. 

Three Objectives.  Having three objectives may lead to more running around than fighting.  The Ironclad is similar to Gates of Ekrund, but the objectives are not as close together due to the indoor nature of the scenario.  We'll have to see how this plays out on the live servers.

It is too early to pass judgment on the Ironclad.  Even though I have a few concerns about the scenario, I am looking forward to playing it.  Mythic has said they are 'testing the waters' with this 6 vs 6 scenario.  If you enjoy it, you really should let them know.  The people who don't like it will be doing just that.

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The Ironclad

Last Thursday, we got our first look at WAR's newest scenario, The Ironclad.  Taking place on a Dwarven Ironclad, this scenario is for group vs group (6 vs 6) play.  The event was a lot of fun and the new scenario should prove to be interesting.  Continue on for some video and impressions of The Ironclad.



I am going to split my impressions of this new scenario into two posts due to length.  First, let's talk about the postive aspects of this new scenario.

Scenery. The Ironclad and the surrounding scenery look great.  It feels totally different than any of the other scenarios.   The art team did an amazing job.

Varied.  There are three objectives to capture and they are all a bit different.  The upper objective is on the top desk and wide open.  The central objective is at the intersection of corridors.  The lower one is in the Engine room and it somewhere in between the sizes of the other two.

Spawns.  Unlike most other scenarios, the spawn points are not mirrored.   It offers a nice change of pace but this will appear on the negative list too.

Strategy.  The variety that the scenario offers could allow for differing strategies.  It should make premade vs premade battles very fun. 

Tomorrow, I will post some of the concerns I have with The Ironclad.

EDIT: Part 2 is up. 

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News from the Front 2/19

Another busy week for WAR.  1.3.4 is fast approaching so Mythic held a testing event on the PTS which was a lot of fun.  If I were to prognosticate (yea, Groundhog Day was on TV a lot this month) I'd say 1.3.4 may be going live next week. On to the WAR community!

Mythic

• A Developer Diary was posted about the new scenario currency system.  There are some hints that this is just the beginning, so stay tuned. 
• Andy let us know about the new approach to the scenario structure.  It also gives some background on why they went this way. 
• Mythic started a thread to gather ideas for alternative scenario rule-sets.

Articles

• Grimnir gets ready for the upcoming scenario storm.  He's still worried about the premade vs pug issues and I can't blame him.
• Bootae gives a breakdown of the blogger challenge entries. I think I won, yea let's just go with that :)
• Great post over at Shadow WAR about why he loves WAR.  Those are all reasons why WAR is still the game I play the most. 
• Gaarawar  has a post about the new Ironclad scenario from last night.  I'm not sure he sleeps. 
• Mr. Meh takes on the lastest Dev diary.  What do you mean 'you people'?
• Want to know how to be killed by the Colossus? I heart Gorefang has the ultimate guide.
• Zizlak breaks out the offensive Rune Priest with some good results. 
• WAR brings people together, even if it is just to kill others. 
• Should Mythic have charged for the Land of the Dead expansion?
• The Little Things are good... that's what she said?

Videos

• A look at a very large keep siege in Eatine.  Warning, the music may cause you to fall asleep at work :)
• RvR video from our WAR cousins in Korea.
• MMOGamePlay shows off some Tier 1 Bright Wizard action.
• 6 vs 6 gameplay from WAR in Taiwan. 
• Some duel footage of a DoK vs IB. 

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PTS Event Tonight 1.3.4

The second part (first part) of the WAR's patch 1.3.4 starts tonight at 8pm EST.  Players will be able to check out the new scenario structure and the brand new 6 vs 6 scenario: The Ironclad.   I'm actually pretty excited about tonight's test.  The new scenario has a lot of potential for small group play. 

"Werit, how do I get on the PTS (Public Test Server)?"  I'm glad you asked, it's easy.  First, open up explorer (not IE) and go to your Warhammer Online directory.  You should see an executable called testpatch.  Once you run that, the launcher will pop up and then restart.  Now log in in normally.

You will likely not have any characters on the Warpstone server so you'll have to create one.  The good news is you can make a RR80 template for any class in the game (Destruction or Order).  That's pretty much all there is to it.  When you want to log back into the live servers, just do so as normal.  The launcher will restart again and you'll be all set.

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Healing is like Football

American Football that is.  This week I have been putting a lot of time in on my Rune Priest.  He had been sitting in Tier 3 for a while, but yesterday I got to Tier 4.  While healing during PvP, I often get the feeling I'm playing Football, more specifically the Quarterback.

In Football, You have linemen whose job it is to block and pretty much keep the opponents off of the Quarterback.  The better job they do, the better their QB can preform.  They end up forming a bubble, called the pocket, in which the QB can move around in.

During many scenarios, a pocket for the healer will develop.  You have players attacking their lines and some keeping players off of the healer.  When this happens, healing becomes much more effective.  Just like offenses in Football when their QB has time to make plays.

Sometimes, there is no pocket for the healers.  When that happens we often have to scramble around to get away from the charging melee.  It becomes much tougher to heal if you are on the run.  Just like Football, some healers can still operate well in those situations. 

I'm finding the Rune Priest to be a good scrambling healer due to its many short cast-time spells and procs.  Being mobile is an essential part of playing a healer in WAR.  It isn't like PvE where all you have to do is move once in a while.  As the battle ebbs and flows, your position on the battlefield will become very important. 

Much like a Quarterback, a healer will also get all of the blame for anything that goes wrong.  Even if you win and do the most healing you're likely to receive some nasty tells.  Usually from Prima donna receivers, or in WAR terms:  Bright Wizards.

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Portaits of WAR Contest

The Portraits of WAR site is running a contest in celebration of its first anniversary.  If you've never dropped by, you really should.  The authors specialty is art and he has done some amazing stuff.  The prize will be a custom illustration from any part of the Warhammer Universe. 

His past work is incredibly detailed, so it is a heck of a prize.  To enter, all you need to do is post a comment answering a few questions.  One winner will be selected in a few weeks.  Good luck!

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Challenge Accepted

Last week, Bootae issued a challenge to WAR bloggers.  He asked, "If we were Mythic, what would we do for 2010?"  It is a good question and every so often a little armchair game design is fun.  Who knows how feasible any of this really is though.  So, what would I do?

First, an assumption.  We already have an idea what the 1.3.5 patch will look like.  My guess is we will see it late March/early April, so we will work from that point.  1.3.5 is a critical patch which may solve one of the biggest complaints against WAR, City Sieges.  If successful, it should free up the staff to work on new content.

Spring.  First up, I would throw everything I could on the existing token vendors.  Crafting materials, PvE weapons, siege weapons, mounts and everything else.  Give players something to do with those officer medallions.  It would also let players get everything without being forced to PvE.

If The Ironclad (6 vs 6) scenario works out, I would also add a second 6 vs 6 scenario.  Bug fixing happens every patch, but I would make a special effort to ensure every ability and tactic works as described.

Summer.  Time for a new Live Expansion (i.e. Land of the Dead).  The key features would be:  Raise the Renown Rank cap, raise the Guild Rank cap and a new zone.  The zone would be as large as 4 LotD's and in a square.

The goal of this new zone is to give Guilds something to own and fight over.  Think of it as something similar to Eve's null-sec space.  Objectives would range from small camps to large keeps, giving guilds of all sizes something to own.  Rewards would be for individual guilds only, to discourage zergs. 

Fall/Winter.  My goal here would be to expand the game horizontally by adding a new race to each faction.  One of WAR's strength is the class variety, so lets build on that.  I think Ogre's and Beastmen would be fun and a new class or two would be great around this time of year.

That is what I would do if I was Mythic.  I don't think any of it is too far fetched either.  It's hard to tell if players would like a plan like that, as we can be a bit fickle.  I'm hoping Mythic has it's own plan, which I would love to see.

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Four score and seven minutes ago

Monday was actually a busy news day for Mythic.  We got some news about events, policy and a request for some feedback.  Usually I would wait for my News from the Front posts to mention these, but time is of the essence!

Dial WAR for Murder. The Night of Murder live event was supposed to end today.  Due to some early bugs with the event, Mythic has extended it to next Tuesday (2/23).  Plenty of time to get the +10% potions for all of your characters. This will also give more time to stock up on those marking potions.

Shiver me Timbers. A PTS (Public Test Server) event was announced for this Thursday (2/18) at 8pm EST.  The new Scurvy Dogs 6 vs 6 scenario, The Ironclad, will be open for players to check out.   Now is the time to give feedback, so hop on the PTS.

Bizzaro World.  Andy, Mythic Community Wrangler, started up a new thread over on the forums.  Now that a number of scenarios are being moved to Weekend Events, they have the opportunity to change their rulesets.  In several posts this week, Andy seems to have been possessed by a demonic chicken.  It would seem they are looking for fun ideas, not just improvements.

There can be only one... keystroke. Thanks for Back to the Dark Age for bringing this to my attention.  Mythic has clarified their position on macro's and multi-boxers in Dark Age of Camelot.  In short, both are against the EULA.  Could the same policy be coming to WAR soon?  Check out the Camelot Herald for all the details. 

I apologize for the bad puns present above.  Also for the title, in which only the word Four makes any sense with this post.

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The Saga Continues

That's right, the WAR scenario saga is not over yet.  Late last week, Andy (from Mythic) posted their new approach to the scenario restructure.  Many players, including myself, were upset about how many scenarios were being moved to the Weekend Warfront list.  Did Mythic address our worries?

Mythic came back with the following structure:

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Gates of Ekrund Mourkain Temple Tor Anroc Serpent's Passage Nordenwatch Nordenwatch Nordenwatch Nordenwatch Weekend Warfront Reikland Factory Reikland Factory Reikland Factory Weekend Warfront Lost Temple of Isha Lost Temple of Isha Weekend Warfront Caledor Woods Battle For Praag Weekend Warfront

I am much more pleased with this new setup.  In the original list, Ekrund and Nordenwatch were carried through every tier.  Now, only Nordenwatch is in every tier.  Each tier (above 1), also features a scenario that is not carried through to tier 4.

Variety was my primary concern as I like to play alts.  With this new setup, each tier will have its own feel.  Add in the Weekend Warfront scenarios and it meets my variety requirement. While opinions differ about which scenarios should be present, I think most would agree that the remaining scenarios are some of the best.

I still have some concerns about the overall scenario changes.  Will the campaign feel too simple now that scenarios are no longer tied to zones?  Will the matchmaker do a good enough job spreading players out over the scenarios since they are all active?

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News from the Front 2/12

The big news this week is snow.  Most of the Mid-Atlantic has record breaking quantities of snow over the week.  This most likely hampered things at Mythic causing it to be rather quiet.  That's just the way it goes.  I remember actually looking forward to snow, now it's just a pain.  Luckily, there was plenty to read and watch about WAR.

Mythic

• Andy stopped by to tell the players that their feedback was heard and they have developed a new plan.  Hopefully we will get more details on this soon but still, it is good to know. 
• The Night of Murder holiday event is in full swing. 

Articles

• Gaarawarr posted a comprehensive guide to the Night of Murder event.
• One Shard writes about the importance of having a guild.  I agree, WAR is a lot more fun when you approach it as a team. 
• i heart gorefang does not heart Dammaz Kron.  I don't use this addon, not for any particular reason though.  I wish it was built into WAR. 
• Fight on the Flag has some ups and downs with WAR. 
• Mr. Meh is not too fond of this years Night of Murder.  It certainly isn't WAR's best event. 
• Bootae throws down the gauntlet and challenges WAR bloggers.  I plan on addressing this in the coming week.
• Shadow WAR takes down the Destruction king. 
• Zizlak tries out a new Rune Priest spec. 

Video

• Testpig shares a video about improving WAR.  I don't agree with everything he says, but it is a nice video. 
• Shadow WAR took some video during the 1.3.4 Stress Test event.
• A look at some of the new animations for WAR.  
• There is a lot to love about WAR.  This is a great video, so it gets the bold treatment.  
• Drragnorr shows off  some open RvR and Land of the Dead invasions. 
• Mykiel is back with another video podcast.  Likely not safe for work :)

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It came from the files

There is often a lot of interesting information hidden within the files of your MMO client and WAR is no exception.  A while ago I found information on the upcoming Scurvy Dogs event and The Ironclad scenario.  In the 1.3.4 patch I found some other interesting information.

DISCLAIMER:  All of this should be treated as a rumor.  The information could be old, just tests, something they abandoned or changed their minds on.  None of this may ever be seen on the live servers.  It is all unverified by Mythic.  For all I know, these could just be renamed or used in their foreign markets.

There is actually a ton of info in the files, but I am not going to mention most of it.  I'm only going to focus on things that are newly added since they have the best shot at being true.  Hopefully one day these will make it into the live game.

First up, two new mounts were added:

Mount - Dumpy Horse Destruction
Mount - Dumpy Horse Order

These may just be NPC mounts, it's hard to tell. 

Next we have some new ability names:

Minor Coinkeeper's Boon
Common Coinkeeper's Boon
Major Coinkeeper's Boon
Glorious Coinkeeper's Boon
Minor Instructor's Boon
Common Instructor's Boon
Major Instructor's Boon
Glorious Instructor's Boon
Minor Herald's Boon
Common Herald's Boon
Major Herald's Boon
Glorious Herald's Boon

You may remember Boon's from the RvR lake Battlefield Objectives.  There are 4 of each, one for each tier I'd guess.  There are 3 sets of them which is coincidentally the amount of pairings.  Of course, maybe they are just BO buffs renamed. 

And last but not least, we have some new player abilities:

Sheet Shock, Conquering Club,  Conquering Spoils, Spoiling Sweep, Squig Gas, Healing Rash, Squig Shackle, Termination, Reactive Reinforcement, Reactive Retaliation, Reactive DMG, Demoralize, Conquering Stand

These abilities are clearly labeled as tests and really could be for anything from items, monsters, events or just experimentation.

I have been on the fence about posting this for a couple weeks now.  Even though I consider this to be a fan site, I still want to be responsible about what I post.  I've come to think that the perception that WAR has nothing new coming down the pipe is much worse than posting some of this new information.

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Don't know what you got, till it's gone

The announcement that a majority of scenarios would be moved to weekend events caused quite a stir in the WAR community.  They have since went back to the whiteboard and we should know their new plan soon.  I found the reaction to this proposed change to be quite interesting.

In the WAR community you would be hard pressed to find many positive opinions about WAR's scenarios.  You would likely find a lot of complaining about some of the less fun scenarios.  This is a problem with all MMO's.  For the most part, people only share their negative opinions.

I'm guilty of this too, in hundreds of blog postings I'm not sure I ever praised WAR's scenario variety.  It wasn't until they talked about taking it away that I voiced how much I enjoy them.  The same goes for a large part of the WAR community.

When Mythic introduced scenario based events, a good amount of players gushed how much they like playing the old ones (i.e. Nordenwatch) again.  Considering that the positive feedback for those was far more than they got for the current scenario setup, is it really surprising that they wanted to give us more?

While it turned out not to be Mythic's best idea, it isn't entirely their fault.  We (me included) really should try to give both positive and negative feedback about the games we play.

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Night of Murder Task List

Night of Murder is Warhammer's take on Valentine's Day.  The only hearts you will find here are impaled on a blade.  This event was introduced last year with some mysterious letters.  This years event is similar to the previous with the marked opponent mechanic.  Read on for the task list.

Nothing too difficult on the list. As always, you don't need to complete every task to get the Elite reward.  There are a couple rare world drops:  Lobbin' Noggin and a Burning Blood potion.  The former is something your enemy can mail back to you.  Not really sure what the potion does this year.

 

The head on a pike should be pretty neat as is the Butcher's Blessing buff.  You can gain extra renown/ event influence by doing the Marked Quests.  Your targets will appear like this:

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Werit at WAR: 1.3.4 Stress Test

Last week, Mythic held a stress test for the upcoming 1.3.4 patch on the Public Test Server.  It turned out to be the largest one yet with over 300 players and 100 bots participating.  The game held up very well, as you can see in the video.



You may notice a lack of animations.  When there is a high load on the client it will only show effects that have to do with your character.  As I was not really fighting, my client didn't show much in the way of animations.  The feedback on vent after was pretty good.  Very few crashes and complaints were heard.

For those who are interested, my video card is a Radeon 4850 1gb.

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Play Din's Curse Today

Din's Curse is the latest Action RPG (PC and Mac) offering from Soldak Entertainment.  I've talked a bit about this game before and have been following its development.  Last week Din's Curse entered its beta testing phase.  There is a wrinkle, if you preorder Din's Curse you will get immediate access to the latest build. 

It is not very expensive and they offer a 30-day money back guarantee.  If you're interested, head over there and check it out.

I do plan on jumping in once I clear out the backlog of games I have waiting to be played.  So many games, so little time.

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Back to the whiteboard

Last week, Mythic announced plans to alter its scenario structure by moving a majority of them to weekend events.  This was not received well in the WAR community.  In response, Andy let us know that they heard us and are going to try and address our concerns.  What should Mythic do?

First, I think it is important to understand why players want some of the scenarios removed.  The less popular scenarios tend to be the ones which involve the least amount of fighting.  Stonetroll Crossing is a good example, as it involves a lot of running around.  If you're not killing players you're not getting all the XP and Renown you could be.

The core scenarios that Mythic chose for 1.3.4 ( Nordenwatch, Gates of Ekrund, Mourkain Temple ...) all involve a lot of fighting.  The downside is that they often don't involve much in the way of tactics.   During previous weekend events, players were excited to play some of these scenarios again.  I think if they are the core scenarios on every tier, they will get old very fast.

Scenarios like Phoenix Gate and Khaine's Embrace could be a lot more fun in 1.3.4 since there will actually be a good reward for completing the objectives and winning (Emblems and Insignias).  The scenario weapon system may actually encourage players to work together instead of just trying to get player kills.  I wouldn't mind seeing the scenario restructuring pushed back to 1.3.5 to take this into account. 

I'm glad Mythic is not forging ahead with cutting 75% of the scenarios.  Variety is one of WAR's strengths and I hope they keep that in mind.  Weekend Events sound great and I think they would be even better with a smaller scenario rotation.

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News from the Front 2/5

It's been quite a week for WAR.  The patch notes for 1.3.4 were released which caused some rejoicing and a lot of uproar.  A stress test event was held on the PTS server which was followed by a Q&A.  I hope to have a video of the event out early next week.  So what was going on in the rest of the WAR community?

Mythic

• The 1.3.4 patch notes.  Yay for RvR weapons! Boo for cutting so many scenarios. 
• Mythic is running a poll concerning the popularity of some scenarios. 
• 1.3.4 also includes some sound updates, what do you think?

Forums

• Rldisi was kind enough to write up the Q&A session which followed the PTS event.

Articles

• Grimnir is none too pleased with the scenario cuts.  He has the pictures to prove it. 
• Shadow WAR gives his take on 1.3.4.  He is also not a fan of the scenario changes. 
• WAR Bureau takes a look at the new Destruction weapons. 
• Bootae is also not a fan of the scenario changes.  Hmm, I see a pattern here. 
• Blaze has some thoughts on the new scenario currency.  He does bring up a good point about the cost. 
• Was Tor Anroc really as fun as you remember?  I think so, of course I had a knockback :)
• Mr. Meh gives 1.3.4 a meh.  He also does not think much of the scenario changes. 
• Gaarawar shows off some of the RR 75 weapons. 
• Fight on the Flag fights in Chaos Wastes... and is also not a fan of the scenario changes. 

Video

• Mykiel breaks out his Shadow Warrior and makes it look fun. 
• A look at one the the early Order Public Quests. 
• City siege video from Karak-Azgal.  Death metal warning, adjust speakers as needed.  It is actually a 4 part series.  
• A 1080p look at a keep siege video.  Death metal warning on this one too. 
• Pax Mortis takes on Destruction in Altdorf.  Nice to see another Engineer!

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1.3.5 Info

Along with information about the new scenario currency, Nate and Andy filled us in about what may be coming for the 1.3.5 patch.  If what they have planned makes it in, it should be a very interesting update.  Of course, this is all subject to change.

• Weapon DPS for all.  One issue with releasing improved weapons is that certain combat classes (i.e. melee) will benefit more than others, like healing classes.  What's a healer need an extra 10 DPS for?  In 1.3.5 they are looking to apply the weapon DPS to all types of abilities (i.e. heals).
• Give those Marauders a hand.  The Marauder class uses a single 1h weapon and a mutated arm they can change.  Since they cannot truly dual wield, they miss out on things like talismans and other bonuses.  The dev team is looking at making them a true dual wielding class.
• We built this city on RvR.  Andy re-confirmed that they are actively working on making the city sieges a full RvR experience.  They couldn't divulge any details, but it is coming, and hopefully soon :)

Overall the Q&A was insane.  It lasted for at least an hour and a half.  That's when I left because it was getting late.  There we still numerous questions in the queue, so it may have gone on for quite a while. Both Andy and Nate were very straightforward when answering the questions.

It was also mentioned that WAR's population has been rising over the past month.  Hopefully it continues.

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Insignia Details

Yesterday in the PTS Q&A session, we found out some more about how the new scenario weapon system will work.  One major question still remained.  How will we obtain the high level insignias?   The answer will certainly please some and frustrate others.

We saw yesterday that the advanced 'scenario' weapons are obtained with emblems and insignias.  Winning a scenario ( also city sieges and keep warfare )  will net you some insignias.  Which insignias you recieve is determined by which type you have unlocked.

Unlike crests, insignias use a ladder system.  Everyone (in Tier 4 I assume) starts with the ability to get Conqueror insignias.  Once you purchase a Conqueror level weapon, you will unlock the Invader insignias.  From that point on, all insignias you receive will be Invader.  Insignias can be broken down, so you can still get multiple weapons from the lower tiers.

I think this system is actually a good way to go.  I am biased since the Conqueror level weapons will actually be an improvement over my influence weapon.  Of course, I am getting on the ladder at the bottom rung.  Players with advanced weapons may not be nearly as pleased with the system.  They have to work their way through the lower levels so they can unlock useful Insignias.

I don't think there was a perfect way for them to give out the high ranking insignias.  Treating them like their crest cousins would be a mistake.  How many players have gotten Warlord crests much less Royal?  With the ladder system, you can eventually get Royal insignias by doing a lot of different activities.

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Weapons of 1.3.4

One of the more exciting features of the 1.3.4 patch for Warhammer Online is new RvR weapons.  Mythic really went all out with these weapons so there should be something for almost everyone.  I put together a quick breakdown of what you can expect with the new gear.

Originally, I was going to put together screenshots of all the new weapons tooltips.  That idea quickly went out the window because there are just too many.  I'm talking about several hundred new weapons for each realm.  The lowest start at RR 10 and the highest go up to RR 75.  There are multiple choices for each class at many different renown ranks. 

If you are want to check out the tool-tips for the Royal level weapons, Blaze has them for Order and the WAR Bureau has them for Destruction.  Gaarawar took some screenshots of the models and they look pretty cool. 

So where do these weapons fit in the scheme of things?  The table below is based off of DPS values from 1h weapons.  This does not reflect that stats that the items give, so it is really just an estimate.

51 dps - Officer Emblems
53 dps - Influence Weapons, proc
56 dps - Conqueror Insignias (RR 45)
60 dps - Lost Vale
61 dps - Invader Insignias   (RR 55)
65 dps - Warlord Insignias (RR 65)
66 dps - Tomb of the Vulture Lord
66 dps - Warlord PQ (city)
70 dps - Royal Insignias (RR 75)
70 dps - King Encounter (RR 80), proc

How many emblems/Insignias will these new weapons cost you?  On PTS, you can expect to pay several hundred emblems and Insignias for a weapon.  These values are subject to change though just as Medallion costs have been altered.

On PTS last night, winning a scenario got you a few Conqueror Insignias depending on the score.  I'm not sure how you get the Invader (and greater) Insignias yet.  We should find that out tonight.

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Guest Post: 1.3.4 Opinion

Today we have a first for this site, a guest post!  Rancid, from Back to the Dark Age, had some thoughts on the new WAR 1.3.4 patch.  Since his site doesn't deal much with WAR, it seemed like a good idea to have him post it here.  Thanks Rancid!  Continue on for his take on 1.3.4.

For some reason, there’s something that emotionally ties me to WAR.  It might be the fact that I've tracked it since I played DAoC back in the day.  It might be the fact that DAoC brought me into the MMO world, and I feel a certain attachment to the company that made it.  It could also be the fact that I was a Core Tester and got to see a little bit more of the Devs than the average WAR player.  To me, it really doesn't matter.  The attachment is there.

I believe that attachment is what is causing me to speak up about a game I no longer play.  I want the best for Mythic.  I really, really do.  They're still developing and maintaining the love of my life, DAoC.  A failure in WAR is a failure for the players of WAR, Mythic as a whole and really...the entire MMO Community.  Whether you're a fan of WAR or not, competition breeds better games.  And there's no doubt that other games have borrowed from WAR, just as WAR has borrowed from other games.

Looking over the 1.3.4 notes, it is quite disheartening to see how many resources aren’t being used.  “How can you tell this?” you may ask.  Well, the meat of the entire patch is four features: Scenario Currency, Scenario Structure, Contested City state and T2 Dwarf Quests.

As I don’t work for Mythic, I can’t speak to how much time it takes to implement some changes.  Based on prior history, lets look at some of the features:

1. Scenario Currency.  The groundwork for this system is, as I’d guess, probably already been laid by Mythic in the 1.2.1 release that had the first Token system in it.  That entire patch took 1.5 months to roll out, compared to a full two months for 1.3.4.  There was also quite a bit more meat in 1.2.1, too.
2. Scenario Structure.  I think this title is fanciful and misleading.  This is not a new SC structure.  This is the combination of Live events.  We already know Mythic can turn on and turn off SCs at their own free will, so what dev work actually went into this?  Also, going from 27 SCs down to 6 is…. it hurts.  It hurts me as I’ll never get to play some of my favorite SCs again, save the random weekend binge on whatever they decide to spotlight.
3. Contested City State.  This really just boils down to when does Mythic flip the switch.  Again, knowing nothing of the architecture…it would be hard to argue this was a significant development task.
4. T2 Dwarf vs Greenskin Quests. Making the game accessible for new players is a good thing.  I think keeping the game interesting for the existing players is…more important.  That’s just my personal opinion though.  Many, many, many people made it past T2 just fine as it was.  And really, how long do you spend in T2 anyway?  This screams bad opportunity cost and diminished RoI.

After those set of changes, we move onto Combat and Careers, or C&C.  Fifty-five bug fixes and nine balance changes.  And of the most disheveled classes (Magus and White Lion) one didn’t see any sort of balance tweaks.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad about this patch.  Nothing in there is bad for the game.  The problem I have is the stagnant feeling that has been going on since I’ve left.  There’s nothing in here that changes that.  In fact, things just appear to be slowing down even more.  I think everyone needs to be asking the question….

Mythic:  Where’s the beef?

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1.3.4 Patch Notes

The patch notes for WAR's 1.3.4 release are up!  We pretty much knew what to expect but now we have the details to obsess over until it hits the live servers.  1.3.4 will also be up on the PTS later today so be sure to check it out.  Read on for what caught my eye.

"You will now earn Recruit, Scout, Soldier, and Officer Emblems for completing any Scenario match. All players who participated in the scenario, on both the winning and losing sides, will receive Emblems based on their realm's final score. Emblems convert upwards at a rate of 5:1 and can be broken down from Officer to Recruit." ... "Additionally, Rank 40 players will also collect Insignias which are needed for the most powerful of these new items."

The new currency will be very similar to the current medallions except you can actually trade up or break it down.  Insignias are the new crests and can be obtained in scenarios and world RvR.

Both the winners and losers will get a form of the new currency.  That makes me nervous since I really don't want to see players focusing on getting the scenario finished as quickly as possible, win or lose.  It all depends on the amounts players are given.

"Open RvR and Scenario bolsters have been modified. Within Tier 1 you'll now be bolstered to rank 11, in Tier 2 you'll be bolstered to rank 21, in Tier 3 you'll be bolstered to rank 31, and in Tier 4 you'll be bolstered to rank 40."

This move was not expected, but I think it is a very good idea.  It will make lower ranked players a bit more competitive.  My only concern is the bolstering of the free trial players.  Some of them will be quite powerful as twinks at Rank 11.  However, this should benefit non-twinked players which is a good thing.

"* Tier 1
    - Nordenwatch
    - Gates of Ekrund
* Tier 2
    - Nordenwatch
    - Gates of Ekrund
    - Mourkain Temple
* Tier 3
    - Nordenwatch
    - Gates of Ekrund
    - Mourkain Temple
    - Phoenix Gate
    - Highpass Cemetery
* Tier 4
    - Nordenwatch
    - Gates of Ekrund
    - Mourkain Temple
    - Phoenix Gate
    - Highpass Cemetery
    - Battle for Praag"

Above is the new scenario structure.  As you can see, they removed a lot and really concentrated on the more popular ones.  The scenarios which were removed will be back as weekend events.

I'm not sure how I feel about this change.  On one hand, trimming some of the less fun scenarios is a welcome change.  On the other, they trimmed much more than I expected.  I like to play alts and the variety of scenarios between tiers was one of the nice aspects of leveling in WAR.

It won't be so bad if the weekend events happen regularly.  I like Nordenwatch, but I'm not sure I want to play it all the time on every one of my characters. 

Those are just some of the changes coming in the 1.3.4 patch.  There is a bunch more in the notes, so go check them out.  Also, on 2/3 at 8pm EST there will be a PTS test event.  I'll be there, so come say hi!

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Want some Ramen?

It's a delicacy back on Earth.  That is just one of many humorous background conversations in Mass Effect 2.  Over the weekend, I got time in on STO, WAR and Mass Effect 2.  I must say that I am extremely impressed by Bioware's latest offering.

I usually don't gush over games, but I am close to doing that with this one.  Let's start with the graphics.  On the 360, they are some of the best I've ever seen.  The nightclub on Omega (Afterlife) is a great example.  Combined with the lifelike animations and top notch sound, it is hard to get any more immersive.

Being able to import your character from the first game was a great idea.  Even if you don't like some of the choices you made, they can be changed through conversations.  In the original game, I let the council die and put humans in control.  The game really feels like it reflects that choice.

Combat is most like a FPS and not too different than the previous title.  What I do like it all the voice cue's that the AI and your teammates give you.  It's a great way of letting you know about the battle and still feeling immersed in the game.

Perhaps Mass Effect 2's greatest strength is that it is seamless.  The transitions from conversations to movements and combat feels great.  ME2 set the bar to new heights when it comes to interactive storytelling.  Your team is voiced and has their own background, just like Dragon Age: Origins. 

So yeah, you could say I like ME2.

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