night-of-murder
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Warhammer Online encourages murder most foul
In the happy, carebear world of Warhammer Online, we've reached the time of year when the clouds break to let in a ray of sunshine that warms the souls of all it touches and sprinkles hearts with... oh, forget it. It's Murder-o-Rama, aka the Night of Murder. Mythic's annual WAR bloodfest centers around players attempting to appease a gruesome Elf god by taking out contracts on each other's lives. From February 9th through the 22nd, players will try to complete Tome of Knowledge tasks by completing "Marked for Death" quests and killing those with a dripping red skull-and-crossbones over their heads. The rewards are worth the effort, though, with items like Lobbin' Noggins, Khaine's Caress, and a fun pike sporting your opponent's head that you can slam down next to a defeated foe. It's the yearly holiday your mother always warned you about, but you never listened then and you're probably not going to start now.
Night of Murder brings holiday butchering to Warhammer Online
It's hard to deny that Warhammer Online takes place in the most metal universe anywhere. That becomes especially clear during the Valentine's Day event in the game, which features absolutely no affection between characters but a great deal of rampaging bloodlust. The Night of Murder event is upon players once again, giving everyone an in-game opportunity to completely bypass the usual plethora of chocolates and cards in favor of battleaxes and bloody vengeance. Running from February 8th until the 22nd, the event is a celebration of Khaine, during which even the forces of Order wind up drifting close to the chaotic side. Players taking part can net a variety of rewards, including the quite desirable Butcher's Blessing buff, which increases both Experience and Renown gains by 10% for three in-game days. Hop in now to enjoy Warhammer Online's senseless slaughter, which includes nearly as many hearts as the usual take on the celebration (except that the usual holiday involves those hearts remaining within the ribcage).
Warhammer Online giving everyone a butcher's blessing
While the Night of Murder event has been pretty well received by the Warhammer Online crowd, there have been certain persistent issues with the event's mechanics. The staff extended the event slightly in order to try and ameliorate the problem, but it kept sticking around for some reason; one of those relentless bugs that avoids squishing no matter how resolutely you aim for it. The major sticking point? Butcher's Blessing, a substantial buff to both experience and renown accumulated. While not a game-breaking issue if unresolved, it was certainly obnoxious for anyone looking forward to the improved growth rates. As a result, the staff has apparently been all but swimming in tickets about the buff not applying or functioning correctly. So the development staff decided to go with the straightforward solution. For today and tomorrow, there will be a 30% buff to experience and renown gained for all characters, regardless of the blessing functioning or not functioning. That's a pretty substantial leap in gains, and it's high incentive for Warhammer Online players to hit the ground running. So go ahead, log in, and start enjoying the blessing of butchery on all of your characters.
No candy hearts in Warhammer Online
There will be no Ewok Love Festival in Warhammer Online, and not simply due to the lack of Ewoks. If you're feeling a little fed up with everyone taking this time of year to put down whatever sharp implements they're holding in the spirit of giving out gift baskets and looking bashful? That's what the Night of Murder is all about. From February 9th to the 16th, the Night of Murder event will be taking place, wrapping the world in a haze of bloodlust and death, with the will of the elven god Kaela Mensha Khaine spurring on the fierce rage and love of battle on both sides of the conflict. Order and Chaos alike will be rewarded with the chance to mount the heads of their enemies on pikes, and certain players on both sides will periodically be marked for death as a part of the "festivities." Warhammer Online has never shied away from the darker aspects of its setting, and this event seems to still walk in that direction. Whatever your opinion on recent news and developments regarding the game, this version of the holiday is certainly a nice change from futzing about to get a heart-shaped wand.
An interview with Mythic's Live Events Lead, Mark Davis
If you were a fan of Witching Night, Heavy Metal, Keg's End, Night of Murder, and Bitter Rivals, you will probably enjoy this interrogation of, er, interview with Mark Davis, Live Events Lead for Warhammer Online. Syp of the WAAAGH! Blog had a chance to ask Mark some interesting questions about these events, which surprisingly weren't even a planned feature until shortly after the game's release.According to Mark, Mythic received the most positive feedback for the Night of Murder event, which focused primarily on RvR. They received the worst feedback for the PvE-heavy Keg's End event. The dedicated team is always trying to improve Live Events based on player feedback and finding new ways to incorporate them into the Warhammer IP. If you enjoy re-occurring seasonal/holiday themed events, you will not be disappointed as they plan to bring them back bigger and better each time around. Check out the WAAAGH! Blog for the full interview, including an interesting list of lessons learned since unleashing their first Live Event.Do you have a favorite event? If so, why?
Love is in the air as the Night of Murder goes live in Warhammer
Last week we brought you the news that the Night of Murder would be the precursor event to the ambitious Call to Arms live expansion to Warhammer Online. As February 14th inches ever closer (remember, your leveling partner might like a gift or two), the developers have pushed the first of these in-game events live to the servers. To accompany the new event, the Herald has a brand-new Grab Bag of bountiful information for you to sink your teeth into. Some highlights: All tasks for the event are unlocked from the get-go. No need to wait to get into the thick of it. Roughly 2 out of every 10 players will be marked, so there should be plenty of death to go around. Additionally, all keep lords are marked. Credit for marked kills goes to the group that killed the marked player; keep lords slain during the event bestow credit to everyone involved in taking out the keep. Rewards for the event include: a special title, a unique Night of Murder trophy, and at the top tier a unique trinket that will give you +5% renown when you're participating in RvR. That last item has a level 35 item restriction placed on it. For the full story, make sure to check out our interview with Jeff Hickman about the event, the official event page on the WAR site, and the full Grab Bag about the Night of Murder. Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Warhammer Online patch 1.1.1 drops onto the live servers today
Just a week after the announcement of the ambitious Call to Arms expansion for Warhammer Online, the first in a series of live events drops onto the game servers. Today sees the release of the 1.1.1 patch to WAR, bringing with it the sinister Night of Murder Valentine's Day event. This macabre outing (traditionally associated with the Witch Elf class) will give a poisonous new meaning to this traditionally saccharine-sweet holiday. Check out a snippet from our interview with Mythic's Jeff Hickman to get a sense of what you'll be doing for the next week.Other features of the 1.1.1 patch include the addition of new flight points throughout the game world, brand new quests from Keep Lords, and the launch of Warhammer Online in Russia. The Open RvR changes in particular are outstanding, continuing to build on the influence system the company put in with the last few patches. Full patch details are available on the Warhammer Herald site. Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Mythic's official website highlights the new Call to Arms expansion
All through the mid-day we've been talking about the newly-announced Call to Arms expansion coming for Warhammer Online. It's impressive stuff, with brand-new classes, an enormous new mega-zone, and a brand-new holiday event slated all for the next few months. That ambitious schedule and the great information we've had on the site today is great to read through.For more details, head on over to the official Mythic website for their take on the events. Their preview of the expansion itself gives a great timetable on the events: Call to Arms: Bitter Rivals Live Event (March): The Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer answer the Call to Arms and join WAR! (March) Call to Arms: Beyond the Sands Live Event (April) Call to Arms: Rise of the Tomb Kings Live Event (May) Land of the Dead Opens (June) They also have more information on the Bitter Rivals event (including some hints about the tasks we'll be taking on). And as for the Night of Murder, well, they have a bunch of information about how we'll be marked for death come Valentine's Day (as in the picture above). Head over to the Herald for more of those great WAR-related details. Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Valentine's Day in Warhammer Online announced as the Night of Murder
Alongside the announcement of the Call to Arms expansion, the Bitter Rivals event introducing the Choppa and Slayer, and the Lands of the Dead mega-zone, Jeff Hickman revealed to us earlier this week that Valentine's Day will be a scream in Warhammer Online. Tying into the recent 'bloody valentines' sent to bloggers, Jeff walks us through the Night of Murder.Warhammer Executive Producer Jeff Hickman: We have a new event coming out soon, it's our Valentine's Day event. Starting in Mid-February it begins before call to arms, but we've been planning this event for some time. It really highlights some of the things we're trying to do with live events that are different and unique. It's an event that happens in the IP called "The Night of Murder." We felt that was appropriate for Valentine's Day.The Night of Murder is this great week-long event, very RvR-centered. As a player I can go get a murder quest, where I will be asked to go assassinate five marked targets. We've put some interesting tech in that causes enemy players to be marked. They're literally marked on the battlefield, a big skull hovers over their heads. The players don't know that they're marked, though, so you get to the battlefield and you see your opponents arrayed against you ... and they don't know who you'll be going for. Unbeknownst to you, you might be targeted as well. So it will be pretty exciting.Some of these marked targets, when you loot them, they'll drop a skull. One of the tasks for the Night of Murder is to play a game of skull tossing; literally on the battlefield there will be people tossing their dead enemy's skulls back and forth to each other. You'll see skulls flying around, all over the place. And in some rare cases when I kill a marked enemy target I'll be able to loot his head. When I loot that, it will give me the ability to send my enemy a special Valentine's Day surprise. A Night of Murder message about the trophy I got at his expense.It's clever, it's comical, but there are just a ton of cool new things we're doing with that event. Things we haven't done before. Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Mythic announces the first live expansion to Warhammer Online!
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Warhammer_Online_first_expansion_has_new_classes_huge_zone'; Massively.com recently had the chance to speak with Warhammer Online Executive Producer Jeff Hickman. Mr. Hickman laid out for us the much anticipated 'bombshell' news for their PvP-focused MMO: an entire expansion being released over the next few months as live events. Warhammer Executive Producer Jeff Hickman: We've been launched for four or five months now, and all we've done for this time is looking at the game, listening to our players, playing the game ourselves. We've been drilling down into all of the little pieces that weren't quite right for us. We've been looking at client/server stability, what we can do with the RvR system, introducing the two new classes ... we've drilled down on any and all concerns that players might have to perfect the game as it stands right now. With that starting to be under control, we looked ahead and said to ourselves, "we have about four or five months to do some really interesting, cool new events." We're calling it a live expansion. We're trying to hit really hard for players that haven't tried Warhammer, or perhaps players that tried it and then went off to play Lich King or something like that. We want them to come back, see all the improvements we've made, and all the new content coming up. We're calling it "a Call to Arms." Read on below the cut for full details on the expansion, head over to the official site for their take, or click through to one of our related posts for further information: The Choppa and Slayer enter the game in "Bitter Rivals" The Land of the Dead recalls Darkness Falls in an all-new mega-zone Valentine's Day gets bloody as "The Night of Murder" %Gallery-21882%
