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WAR shakes up the world with patch 1.4.1
After a few weeks in testing, Warhammer Online's 1.4.1 patch has hit the live servers today. Topping off the list of improvements to the game is a brand-new claim window, which was designed to handle the various account entitlements that players have accrued. This interface now replaces the in-game mail system as a way to deliver the special goodies that players have earned or purchased over the years. Patch 1.4.1 is also aiming at shaking up the game with two major changes to the status quo. Several PvP armor sets are now much easier to attain, and in many instances they can be purchased at a lower level than before. This means that players will find themselves better-equipped to participate in the brutal hand-to-hand combat that the game offers. WAR is also rotating its scenario lineup: Some scenarios have been called out of retirement, some have changed tiers, and some are being put in mothballs for the time being. You can read the full 1.4.1 patch notes over at Warhammer Online.
Warhammer Online bringing 1.4.1 out for testing
Scenarios have formed one of the PvP cornerstones for Warhammer Online, leading to a large-scale overhaul of Scenarios several months ago. Certain Scenarios were placed on a weekend rotation, while others were permanently available at different level bands for players to enjoy. Patch 1.4.1, which is due to hit the public test server, Warpstone, tomorrow, is making some alterations to which Scenarios may be played at all times, with some cycling into a permanent slot and others entering retirement for a time. While the shifting lineup is certainly one of the big elements of the patch, it's not the only one. Balance changes have been made for several Skaven abilities, including several overhauls for the Packmaster class. A number of item sets have had their Renown Rank requirements lowered, as well, to give players easier access to the items; there has been a new set added to fill the newly created gap between the Warlord and Sovereign sets. Warhammer Online players can examine the current patch notes and take part in the testing starting tomorrow.
Catan app adds Seafarers expansion with in-app purchase
The great Catan iOS game has added in its first expansion, available via an in-app purchase, and it's based on the Seafarers of Catan expansion from the original German board game. The expansion introduces ships and shipping routes to the kingdom-building simulation, and it includes 10 different scenarios to build ships in, as well as pirates, a Gold River tile and some extra victory cards with different bonuses. The expansion content is US$3.99 inside the app, but even if you don't want to shell out the extra four bucks, one of the scenarios is included, so you can at least see how it changes the game. The Catan app itself has been critically acclaimed, and I really like this model of releasing content -- it seems like a nice solid way of both making sure that content updates are significant improvements to an app, as well as allowing developers to get their own reward for releasing that content. Hopefully we'll see some more apps, outside of the board game model, take this approach in the future. [via TouchArcade]
Warfronts star in the RIFT beta 4 patch notes
As you may or may not have heard, Trion Worlds is unleashing the fourth RIFT beta event today, an event that spans the entire weekend. And as Uncle Ben used to tell us, with great beta events come great patch notes -- so what do players have to look forward to with this update? The most significant change to RIFT's beta is the increase of the level cap -- to 27 -- and the unlocking of the Stonefield and Gloamwood zones. In the prior three events, players were limited to a maximum of level 20 and confined to the two starter areas. This round, players looking for more PvE dungeon goodness should enjoy the Darkening Deeps and Deepstrike Mines, while PvPers will rejoice at the inclusion of Warfronts (Black Garden for level 10 and above, The Codex for level 20 and above). Warfronts are like World of Warcraft's battlegrounds or Warhammer Online's scenarios -- instanced PvP areas where (hopefully) evenly matched teams can go at it under special conditions. There are several quality-of-life improvements rolled into this patch as well. The skill soft queue has been upgraded to a full next ability queue, more hotbars are available, and many of the souls are getting tweaked. You can read the full patch notes here.
Waging WAR: RvR packs, the "wait and see" edition
This week Waging WAR rides the double rainbow of gameplay customization via downloadable content and takes a cursory glance at the RvR packs being teased by the folks behind the development of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Let's follow along and see what Greg can unleash this time. It is difficult to talk about the future of WAR right now. Not because it doesn't have a future, but because the availability of information regarding it is not exactly easy to find. Actually, information on the future of WAR is all but non-existent, surrounded by controversy on all sides, and steeped in rumor, speculation, assumption and misinformation. The best I can put together is that we, as players, can look forward to some sort of set of three different "RvR Packs" allowing us to "customize" our gameplay experience moving forward. The packs have been called "Power," "Progression," and "Personality." What exactly each contains is a mystery, although the few talking points I was able to find regarding these RvR packs are speculatively disappointing at best. Although Carrie, Andy, and anyone else involved with the Mythic development team have said time and time again that they are not discussing moving toward the free-to-play business model, what they're proposing with these customization packs looks suspiciously like the item shop established by Turbine, implemented in Dungeons & Dragons Online and soon in Lord of the Rings Online as well. V.I.P. membership, anyone? Although concrete information is scarce and difficult to find, let's take a look at the most commonly referenced points of interest after the break.
July letter available from Warhammer Online's executive producer
Back when she was first placed in the position of Executive Producer for Warhammer Online, Carrie Gouskos promised to try for a letter every month. She's stayed true to that promise, and as the end of July approaches at breakneck speeds, there's a new letter for the fans. After a quick recap of the known news about the game (the testing of patch 1.3.6 and the European migration), there are several other updates, starting with the return of the Wild Hunt to the game with the coming patch. The letter also contains the promise of a new 6v6 scenario for the Weekend Warfront rotation, citing the matchup as a popular format that needs more representation. We also get a hint of future plans to help encourage RvR whilst leveling, said plans involving new enemies with high XP values being added to the RvR lakes. There's also a promise of a rework to the mechanics of some of the ranged classes, a coda to the most recent letter which should have several points of interest for dedicated Warhammer Online fans.
Waging WAR: Revisiting the new player experience
Waging WAR moves a step backward this week to take a fresh look at the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning new player experience. Greg gives us his take on what he thinks we can expect from the Endless Trial or a Re-enlistment subscription with a new character. He takes us through his experience over a few casual days of play and tells us about the leveling process, scenarios, RvR, twinking and more. Lately, I have spent quite a bit of my time on my rank 40/70 Archmage, focusing on emblem collection and participating in the newly formatted Tier 4 city sieges. Earlier this week, as I considered topics for this weekend's column, I realized that it had been a while since I had experienced the low-level content. Conveniently enough, I was just starting to suffer a bit from healer's burn-out (thanklessly healing day after day can wear a person down), and decided I would take a break and tool around on a lowbie for some fresh kicks and giggles.
Is my iPhone making me dumber?
I love my iPhone. It goes with me everywhere. Leaving my house without my iPhone would feel just as unnatural as leaving without my pants (although I'd probably get fewer stares). There are so many things my iPhone is able to do that it's become an indispensable part of my daily life... and that's actually beginning to worry me. Sometimes I wonder if my iPhone is making me dumber. This didn't start with my iPhone; it started with my first cell phone (and the only phone I owned before the iPhone), a monstrous Sanyo SCP-7200. Suddenly, once I was able to store all of my friends' and family members' phone numbers in my phone and dial them with just a couple of button presses, I became virtually incapable of remembering their phone numbers on my own. That was just the beginning of my cognitive downslide, though. Since getting my iPhone, it seems like it's been getting exponentially worse. Read on to find out how the iPhone may be damaging my brain. Hint: it's not the cell phone radiation.
Mytheon has both PvP and Co-Op on the menu
Mytheon wants to know: what's your poison? Do you want a tall glass of beatdown with live players, or a cooperative shot of teamwork in a PvE environment? We haven't heard a lot about this title over the past year, but Petroglyph is increasing the game's profile as launch looms for this "online multiplayer action RPG." As the beta period winds to a close, the devs are excited to reveal the game's two primary modes: PvP and Co-Op play. Mytheon appears to lean toward PvP, as Petroglyph emphasizes both the PvP arenas and PvP scenarios. The arenas -- such as the Ring of Destiny and Olympus -- are ranked, and come in either 1v1 or 2v2 varieties. If 4v4 is more your style, then head on over to one of their three PvP scenarios, such as the Forest of Despair. However, Co-Op mode is available for a different flavor of gameplay, challenging two teams of players to compete against each other in a PvE setting until there's only one victor, who then fights a unique scenario boss. All of these modes offer experience and loot as a matter of course. Producer Randy King encourages players to find their own style: "Giving players the ability to group together, or play against each other was only the start. It was important to us to use the rich setting of Greek mythology to provide these incredible scenarios that they can experience with others."
Warhammer Online Producer's Letter teases 1.3.5 improvements
As March winds down to a close, the WAR continues -- and Mythic producer Carrie Gouskos steps up to rally the troops behind a few juicy, if tantalizingly vague, quality of life improvements coming in the 1.3.5 patch. Take my hand, Dorothy, for it's dyes, scenarios, Marauders and minimaps, oh my! Following Warhammer Online's patch 1.3.4, the team has kept a close eye on the PvP scenarios, and while they are happy overall, the plague of player /AFK's have taken their toll. Carrie promises that they are "actively investigating a solution for this problem." She also highlighted the improved communication efforts of the team, as seen on the official Dev Discussions forum. Small but attractive improvements are in store for WAR's 1.3.5 patch, including a sharper look for armor dyes, "gutters" for the minimap to show off-map objective directions, and dual wielding for the mutated Marauder class.
Development diary explains the Warhammer Online changes
The rebalancing of Warhammer Online's Scenarios has been an arduous process for both the players afraid of losing well-loved content and developers trying to narrow down the field to help everything achieve critical mass. After a fair dose of testing and evaluation, they've reached a point where they're comfortable letting development manager Mike Wyatt write up a development diary giving a clearer picture of what informed the rather sweeping changes to the game's structure. As Wyatt puts it, first of all, trimming the number of Scenarios consolidates the best-liked encounters and weeds out the less-popular versions. Second, a smaller number of Scenarios allows better balancing and tweaking of each, helping improve the overall experience. Lastly, the smaller number can have their rewards more easily brought in line, to avoid making one Scenario much more profitable than others. What follows is a listing of the Scenarios that will rotate in and out versus those that are constantly available, which seems a bit smaller than the last one we received. The diary makes no mention of population concerns, content loss, or the general community reaction (ranging from "meh" to "no"). Still, with an ambitious change we can only hope that Warhammer Online's revisions prove to be a good thing for the game as a whole.
Warhammer Online reveals new Scenario structure
People were not happy with the first version of Warhammer Online's plan to streamline the game's Scenarios to create a better structure. They were so not happy, in fact, that Mythic Entertainment decided it was better form to pull their original plans, wipe the slate clean, and start over with a clearer picture. And it seems to have worked, as Andy Belford has announced the revised plan for the scenarios as a whole. The result is a slightly larger list, but one with a bit more variety between tiers and a clearer picture of what the development team wanted to accomplish. As the post explains, the biggest concerns for the scenarios was that they feel different from tier to tier, that each one be unique and interesting in its own right, and that each one can achieve critical mass easily enough that neither faction feels completely helpless. Response to the announcement in the thread seems largely positive, with a wider range available at endgame and a careful re-distribution of what scenarios show up when. Warhammer Online players still have the opportunity to test this new environment on the test servers, and in all likelihood it will be going live soon enough, which represents a definite effort at compromise from the developers.
Back to the drawing board for Warhammer Online's scenarios
When Warhammer Online promised to greatly streamline its scenario structure and remove several of its less popular ones with the upcoming patch 1.3.4, the response wasn't altogether positive. There was a definite concern that the game was trying to mitigate its difficult times by removing one of the most fun aspects it had, which sounds like a bad idea all around. However, the developers have clearly been paying attention -- after collecting additional feedback from players and receiving plenty of input from the test server, Andy Belford announced that the team was going "back to the whiteboard" for their plans on streamlining and removing scenarios. While Belford makes it clear that the ultimate goal is the same -- to remove the unused and disliked scenarios and move the lower-tier ones that are well-loved to greater accessibility -- he also says that the team was getting clear input that they'd gone too far in the wrong direction. No dates are set, but a revised scenario setup and mass stability test is planned to go live sometime next week, hopefully with a better lineup. Whether or not you're currently playing Warhammer Online, it's always good to see developers paying close attention to what the players want.
Warhammer Online brings 1.3.4 to test server
A test server patch isn't quite as good as live, but it means that the patch is only a couple of weeks away, barring unusual circumstances. We recently heard a bit about the upcoming 1.3.4 patch for Warhammer Online, and true to forecasting, the patch is scheduled to hit the test realm right about... well, now. That means that we're that much closer to live weapons obtainable via RvR, a welcome change for the people who came for PvP to begin with. Of course, patches on the test server invariably mean a set of patch notes, which helps to give more detail on what's en route for the game. As promised for buying weapons, there are new currencies awarded -- Emblems, which go in ascending ranks from Recruit to Officer. These can be traded for a variety of items and are rewarded for Scenario participation, which goes hand-in-hand with the extensive scenario restructuring also present. The emblems can also convert up and down, so characters taking part in low-level content can hold on to their rewards if they so desire. Mixed with extensive balance tweaks and bug fixes, this looks to be a good patch for Warhammer Online players, so head on over to Warpstone and get in on the testing.
EverQuest II rolls out the battlegrounds
Starting February 16th, get ready to PvP across servers. EverQuest II is catching up with the mainstream MMO trends by adding battlegrounds to the mix, giving EQII PvP players the instanced scenarios that they've been looking forward to for a while. The three scenarios include the Battlefield of Ganak, a 6 vs. 6 game of capture the flag in Iksar territory, Smuggler's Den, a 24 vs. 24 game of hold the point conducted on small islands, and the Gears of Klak'anon, a 6 vs. 6 game of hold the relic that saps your heath but makes you do crazy damage. Playing these scenarios does not go unrewarded, of course, as winners can look forward to claiming the very sexy new chaos armor set -- an armor set of dirty, twisted, spiked platemail that looks good on any battleground champion. And, if you were wondering what yesterday's puzzle post was all about, wonder no more! We had pieces of of the battleground maps of Klak'anon and Smuggler's Den. But, not to worry, we've included the full maps and screenshots in the gallery below for your viewing pleasure. Happy battling! %Gallery-83975%
Cross-server PvP battlegrounds confirmed for EverQuest II
Next year is going to be a brand new year full of fighting, queuing, and PvP for players of EverQuest II as Senior Producer Alan "Brenlo" Crosby has confirmed to the forum community that cross-server PvP battlegrounds are on their way. According to the latest newsletter, the new battlegrounds system is set to launch on February 16th of next year, giving PvP fanatics some time to prepare. While details are very sketchy right now, there's a reason for that -- Brenlo has also said that the team is still working out the final details of the system. Maps, rewards, and gameplay styles are still being worked on and tested by the team. But, needless to say, this system will be integrated across all servers and will give EQ II PvPers a quick selection of scenarios to jump into. As more information on the system appears, we'll be sure to keep you updated. [Thanks for the tip, Biggin!]
Warhammer Online interim city siege fixes
Mythic has been pulling out all stops lately in an effort to improve Warhammer Online. One of their latest changes was to remove fortresses from the RvR campaign equation because many players found them to be a laggy and boring hurdle to be overcome. Doing so, however, had a predictable result: Cities were sieged much more often. While Mythic was acutely aware this would happen, they didn't have measures in place to handle an "all city siege all the time" situation. Today, Andy Belford announced a suite of interim city fixes. Check out the official forums for the complete run-down. A few notables include: The durations of stage 1 and 2 city siege have been cut in half, many parts of the city are no longer tied to city rank, city rank recovers much more quickly, and the Reikland Factory and Twisting Tower scenarios are making a comeback to provide those not engaged in city siege with something to do. Many players and bloggers have pointed out that these fixes only address the symptoms and not the core issues related to WAR's RvR campaign. Andy was quick to mention that these are only initial changes and more will be coming (e.g., the Underdog system). Testing of these changes should begin next week so keep your eyes on the Herald.
Looking ahead to WAR's second year
Although we've seen celebrations for some time now, with the Wild Hunt event and a couple of special scenario weekends, Warhammer Online's actual birthday came and went at the end of last week. Executive Producer Jeff Hickman took the opportunity to sum up some of the things that the development team will be focusing on, moving forward into year two: "In addition to the four new careers, numerous Live Events, the medallion system, Keep upgrades, city siege improvements, and other new features, we're now turning our focus to improving balance, performance, and the Tier 4 game play experience."Also on the cards for improvement is the "new-player experience", an area that many MMOs have fine-tuned later in their life with excellent results. The birthday celebrations haven't quite wrapped up yet either, with the "Isha's Sorrow" event taking place over the coming weekend in the Temple of Isha scenario. It may have been a bit of a rocky first year for Warhammer Online, but we'll hold out hope for year two. Happy Birthday WAR!
Games Day '09: A moment with Paul Barnett and Josh Drescher pt. 2
So, I know this is on many player's minds. Is this going to replace city raid content?Josh: No. Ok then. Josh: Well, I mean the short answer is no. Paul: My answer is totally no. "This is a long term, total commitment from our studio to our players and to our newer players coming along." Josh: Long answer, I've been with Mythic for eight years. I was here before Camelot launched and we know what this type of content does to a greater RvR campaign. While the RvR campaign is certainly more diverse and larger in Warhammer than in Camelot, but we know pragmatically that by tying the content to the campaign and requiring success on the battlefield to gain access to this content, that success may push you towards capital city content. Even if RvR is not your focus and your focus is to get down into the dungeon, you're going to wind up working your way towards the capital city. It just happens organically, so we're really not concerned about that too much. At the end of the day, if people end up deciding that they enjoy this content more than city capture, we never felt that we need to integrate the players into the game in one set, specific way. Personally, I really love scenarios over everything else. I don't have much time to play, so for me, 15 minute scenarios are the way to play. That doesn't mean I won't engage in RvR, but overall I get 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there, and scenarios will always be my core fascination. But there are other people who like large-scale raid content, who don't like RvR or PvP. This is a great way to have them go down and get that Disney Land experience while running through well-thought out content, but there's also that added danger that at any moment enemy players can swarm in. Also, as Paul likes to say... Paul: I don't like building fart balloons. *Laughs* Paul: It's like the extended cut of a great movie. You have the main core of the movie, but you also have that extended stuff. You can watch the main core of the movie, but if you really want to obsess and you really want to see all of the detail you can watch the extended cut. It's more of the same, but it's new and cool. That's what it is. The movie is still the movie, our game is still our game, regardless.Ok, so, this is basically a small expansion, honestly. Where do you see Warhammer going from here?Paul: Go straight, go straight, go straight, go straight. This is a long term, total commitment from our studio to our players and to our newer players coming along. Try it out, it's never going away, it's only going onwards and upwards.Josh: I agree with Paul. Our boxed expansion schedule, such as it is, is probably going to mirror very closely to what we did in Camelot -- an alternating sequence of free expansions via patches and then boxed retail expansion content. Almost certainly you will see retail expansions in the near future, but you will certainly keep seeing free expansions as well. "To go to a person at a time like this when unemployment is rampant, the economy is in the tank, and retirement funds have gone away and say, "Hey, can I have 10 to 15 dollars of your money every month to play my game?" is actually a pretty bold request." We've always felt the relationship we, the developer, have with our players should be something more than just simple money extraction. At least 50 percent of it should be grateful generation of wonderful things for them to have for free.All right. Now the hard question. 300,000 subscribers -- how do you guys feel about that? It's the number you started with, and it's the number you currently hold now.Josh: There is no start and there is no now. Now, as a company, we're legally not allowed to comment on those numbers any further than what was reported, but we're very happy with the enthusiasm and continued dedication of people all over the world who have played Warhammer for the last nine months.It's been a really difficult time not just for the games industry, but for everyone. To go to a person at a time like this when unemployment is rampant, the economy is in the tank, and retirement funds have gone away and say, "Hey, can I have 10 to 15 dollars of your money every month to play my game?" is actually a pretty bold request. So for people to come to us and say that the commitment we've shown and the game that we've built is worth that kind of display, we have nothing but thanks for those people. We are unbelievably grateful that they've stuck with us and we hope that this type of content that we've been developing for the last nine months is an indication of our dedication to our end of this type of interaction. They trust us to do this, and we're trying to make good on our end of it and bring great things to them consistently.We are very happy with where the game is. We would obviously love to have more people try Warhammer, which is why we have the trial out...Paul: Which you can download right now!Josh: And we're very happy to continue on into the future. Also, this event is the last thing I'm allowed to do before I go get married. I'm very excited, I'm getting married next Saturday.Paul: It's an exclusive for Massively!Josh: I love you Aubrey, please continue marrying me. Put that in big bold letters. Breaking news: Josh loves Aubrey. I will totally do that. Josh, Paul, thank you so much for your time! The sands of the Tomb Kings are coming as the final release in the Call to Arms live expansion, the Land of the Dead approaches! Massively has your back with coverage from Mythic Entertainment at Games Day '09, so get your WAAGGGHHH ready for RvR mayhem as Massively re-arms for WAR!
Nordenwatch scenario weekend in Warhammer
Mythic has just announced their first special scenario weekend for Warhammer Online. The Nordenwatch scenario will be available to players across all tiers and will grant a unique title and an additional 10% renown and experience from now until Monday, May 4, 2009 at 8:00AM EDT.Those familiar with Warhammer scenarios will know that Nordenwatch is usually only available to characters in tier 1 (ranks 1-11) and is widely considered one of the best scenarios in the game. Nordenwatch is an island off the coast of Nordland containing a lighthouse, barracks, and lookout fortress. Each of these three locations is capturable and grants points the as you hold it. The zone's terrain and openness make for some truly epic battles.When the teams are evenly matched, it's anyone's game and stealth capture tactics are well rewarded. It's not uncommon to see all manner of RvR in this scenario from zerg rushes to smaller 3-on-3 skirmishes to 1-on-1 action. It will be interesting to see how this scenario plays out in tiers 2 to 4, as players generally get more powerful crowd control abilitites as they rank up. A well-placed knockback at the fortress or lighthouse could result in a long swim back to the action.
