Gold, Silencing and Skaven . . . OH MY!
I would love to say that I have been busy with IRL things, or something epic was happening that I couldn’t post. . .but the truth is. . I have just been lazy and didn’t really have much to post. There hasn’t been too much to really to get me excited enough to post as of late, with the lack of information flowing from Mythic. Anyways, enough Negative Nancy speak.
With 9/21’s Hot Patch we have seen some small yet decent changes to the game. . specifically MOAR OFFICER MEDALLIONS! Now, I am not sure on the actual change or “ratio” that was added, but I do know that with my Witch Hunter, Grekor Heretictcklr, being freshly into T4 this week, he has over 130 Officer Medallions. Small change, and I LIKE IT. I also like how they are slowly putting the smack down on Trial Accounts, in this Hot Patch Trial accounts will no longer be able to speak in Global Chat Channels, including Advice and Region. Now. . . kick them off the damn forums!
Also, upon us is the Two Year Anniversary of WAR. Along with it, a few Rewards for those with a cumulative subscription of two years.
- WAR Double Aegis – Let those who stand beneath these twin banners never know fear in the face of their enemies!
- Regenerating Firework Launcher – Using this unique item will launch a fireworks display. After each display, it will regenerate, allowing it to be used forever!
- Celebratory Cloak – Crafted of the finest satin and inlaid with a decorative pattern, this cloak commemorates two full years of WAR!
So, really the “best” thing out of this is the Double Aegis, which comes with a nice 20% increase in XP/RR/INF. And fireworks would be nice to set off over the dead body of a slaughtered Gobo as well, but not necessary.
Along with a Double XP/RR Weekend (which of course I missed because I was too busy drinking my face off at a campground) and the 2 Year Anniversary Rewards, we get a nicely put together Video Podcast from the Crew at Mythic. Now. . . watch it all the way through. I would have preffered some in-game footage of these creatures at their best. . . but concept art will do for now. . . I guess.
A Deeper Look into the 8/6/10 Q&A Session
Q – Do you plan on doing any other minor patches before 1.4.x?
Carrie – That’s still undecided but currently the plan is to plow towards 1.4.x.
Starts us off light, but could 1.4.X be the “BIG” one we are looking for? If anything 1.4.X was mentioned in a previous Producer’s Letter, Carrie said she was VERY excited for it. I would think it would be released in conjunction with some sort of big content. . . reaching for straws? . . . Probably
Q – How do you add to end-game RvR after everyone kills the King? Do you expand laterally or do you create a new high-end goal?
Carrie – Is this a theoretical question? How does one if one were expanding? I think the answer is you try to do both to some degree. You certainly want to be conscious of not nullifying the end-game. Obviously we’re aware that the people that have been playing the game for a while are looking for new things to do. So you try to accomplish both…in this theoretical question.
Q – Hypothetically, if we were to see something like an expansion, what might be seen as far as new content? Would it be more Trials of Atlantis or Shrouded Isle or New Frontier style?
Carrie – Again, these are hypothetical questions/answers. There are enough people at Mythic who’ve been with us a long time, so I think we’re not interested in going with a TOA style if anything. But this is entirely hypothetical, so it’s hard to say what direction we would go in.
Andy – If we were, in fact, to do something like that…hypothetically.
So. . . new armor, new weapons, lvl cap raised as well as new content to slaughter in? I have been a bad boy, and have not gotten up to speed on Warhammer Lore, but Trials of Atlantis out? Whats better Lore buffs, Shrouded Isle or New Frontier? Eh. . its all theoretical of course
Q – How do you intend to balance the power gap between people who are just Rank 40 and those that are Renown Rank 70+?
Nate – There’s a couple different environments that that can come up in. When you’re talking about Open RvR, to a large extent Open RvR, if you think about it this way, is like the Wild Wild West. It’s just a big pile where everybody goes in and we’re not going to do a lot of balancing like that because it’s such a large-scale battlefield. When you start talking about things like Scenarios, where it’s significantly fewer people and much more focused and targeted gameplay, we do have some thoughts and plans of how we’d like to make Scenarios a little more competitive for everyone involved but it’s a little too early to get into details.
Q – Do you feel the power gap in terms of itemization between Rank 40 players and higher Renown Rank players is ok or does it need more work?
Nate – There is a bit of a power gap, obviously, between a new and a higher Renown Rank player. I guess the short answer is yes, we feel that sometimes it is a little too much and we’re trying to make it feel better for everybody at both the high and lower levels.
Now this is something I would really like to see implemented. Not in the form of nerfing or anything of that nature. And not necessarily in ORvR, more on the Scenario front. Nothing is more demoralizing, then going into an SC as a new T4 member or lower RR player and just getting THROTTLED by higher Renown Ranked players. It would be great to pull from FPS Multiplayer Matchmaking in this situation, set a priority on trying to match pugs and groups to closer RR levels trying to keep things on a closer playing field like T1-T3 are. Similar rank, similar gear, usually similar skill levels. I also wouldn’t mind seeing a priority system set into place that attempted to match Premades to Premades/Pugs to Pugs as well.
Q – For people that have been playing the end-game for two years, are there any plans to add any more end-game Cities or Zones?
Carrie – Yeah, I think I’ve finally given up and said no to the Cities. Not because they’re not cool and not because we couldn’t possibly do them in the future, but we’re going to focus the gameplay experience on Altdorf and the Inevitable City. That being said, we’re aware that the people that have been playing for a while would like some more options for the end-game and that’s certainly foremost in our minds.
. . . Damn. I wouldn’t mind seeing some development on that unused realestate. Hopefully come the end of August we will find out what is “certaily foremost in our minds” coughexpansioncough
Q – Do you have any plans to add more things to buy with Insignias once you have your weapons?
Nate – Yes. We want to continue expanding the alternate currency uses pretty indefinitely into the future. We just want to keep adding more and more to keep the system feeling lively and fleshed out.
Well this is good news. New items are always a good thing. . unless they are timed Talismans that boost your speed by 1%. . . 1%. . . . really? That being said, I guess if I didn’t have Toon A.D.D. I might actually have enough insignia’s to buy something. Still good news for players that have alternative currency they don’t know what to do with.
Q – Any chance you’ll introduce Critical Hit Reduction talismans for Shoulder slots?
Nate – Maybe…
Stop being a tease and just say yes or no damn it!
Q – Can we see a WAR iPhone app?
Carrie – “No, you can’t see the WAR iPhone app” is the answer to the question.
Now. . . this is something that I would LOVE to see. Specifically, something similar to the Fallen Earth iPhone App. A few highlights on that app:
* Check in-game mail
* Interact with clan members and online friends
* Visit the auction house to browse bids and keep tabs on auctions
* View available crafting recipes and check progress on those active
* Examine character profiles and equipped gear
* Access the world map
Fan-F’ing-Tastic. And with the way that answer was worded. . I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw one pop up in the future. Which would make me giddy.
Q – Can we expect any “fluff” like Player Housing or improved Crafting?
(dead air)
Andy – I’m guessing that’s a “No Comment”.
. . . . LOL
Q – Are there any plans to make the game more playable for people on less expensive computers in large-scale RvR?
Nate – The change we made in 1.3.6 to the collision detection should hopefully have drastically improved your performance in large-scale RvR.
Carrie -As well, we basically have people who work full time on performance and things like that.
(This would be referencing the removal of Friendly Collision) This is actually something I am really excited about. Nothing is more annoying then 100 players trying to cram through a “tiny” Keep door. So, to remove that annoyance AND give me a 15-20% performance boost? SCORE!
Q – What is the patch date for 1.3.6?
Andy – Soon (TM).
Carrie – We don’t give out patch dates until we give them out.
If Friday was the last PTS test, my guess would be by the end of next week at the latest.
And that’s really about it. So, really nothing concrete (surprise) but some small hints and a little bit of info to chew on. There is plenty more info that was discussed in the Q&A, a lot of class and mechanics questions which I could honestly care less about at this point. So, if you are interested in the full transcription, please visit Gaarawarr’s Blog.
Public Test Server Q&A on 8/6/10
Just so that the one person that reads this blog doesn’t think I have abandoned them. I am currently reading over the Public Test Server Q&A Session. I am going to pull some of the questions that have some weight behind them a little later. In the meantime, feel free to flip through the entire session of which Gaarwarr was nice enough to transcribe for everyone.
Lost in WAR
It has been a few days since I have posted. I have been struggling with what to put up honestly. There most likely wont be too much on the information front until the end of August (HURRY UP GOD DAMN IT!), and in game I have felt slightly lost as well. I have been making a good attempt to trying to get Helltrek, my Slayer, up to 40. It almost feels like, I log in, check to see if LoTD is open, if not, I log Helltrek off and play another toon. I seem to cringe at the thought of a City Raid, most likely due to Helltrek being a lower level and not up to snuff gear wise. But, it also seems when I do go into a City Instance, there is only about 10 minutes of actual play. After that, people just quit.
“OH NOES! WE LOST A BO! IM LEAVING!” seems to be the mentality of a lot of players. Or the, “OMGZ THAT’S A LOT OF RED!! I think I will just stand here and watch everyone else get slaughtered.” So, there I am, with my jarhead mentality of bringing the plague of Death upon all, just running to the first Destro I find and make an attempt at murder. Most people laugh, or say “STOP THAT! YOU’RE GIVING THEM POINTS!! Now come and hide with us”. WTF?! I didn’t join a City Raid to HIDE, I came to slaughter, mame and kill. And if I have to do it alone, I will. I 99.54% of the time, end up like this. . . and no. . . he’s not drunk.
So, with that being my City experience the last 6 raids/defenses, I have not been so eager to jump onto the City Train. On a lighter side, since the lack of action with Helltrek, a new a slightly womanish elf has been born into the WAR world. Please welcome Hellfanger and my little cub ClaireBear (named after my real life little cub . . eerr. . Daughter), a currently 11/11 White Lion.
I have been thoroughly enjoying the White Lion class so far. Although, throughout T1 all toons seem to keep that “new car smell” until mid 20s where the rest of my toons are stuck at. If I can keep it in the back of my mind to keep notes while playing, I will try to keep a running track of Hellfanger and ClaireBear through their journey. Lets see how it goes. . .
Warhammer Online Forums now with Bioware
I am still on the fence about this move. Maybe it’s due to the major change? Maybe its due to fact that the forums are no longer residing on the games site? Maybe its the fact that they seem to visually blow? Or maybe its due to the fact that the Official Warhammer Online RSS Feed was broken for the first few days, which honestly made me giggle. When I would click the link stating “Welcome to the BioWare Social Network!” I was met with a “Fatal Database Error”, you just have to laugh. Awesome intro to the new site.
In any Event, it looks like that mess has been cleaned up (FOUND HERE) as well as the look of the newly merged forums have seem to of received a face lift from when they first launched not too long ago. Now, if you are “Dedicated Forum Goer” and don’t know how to setup a forum account, Bioware Mythic has produced a video podcast JUST FOR YOU! (FOUND HERE). One change I really do wish they would have made to the new forum was to not allow endless trial accounts to have a Forum account. To me, when I actually do check the forums, it always seems the trial account players are being straight up Negative Nancys, which is one massive reason that I generally don’t dig too deep into the forums. Whiners. NOTE: If you don’t like the game, or you think its dying. . then either unsub or stop playing. Pretty easy concept.
On that note, please go check out and support the new Warhammer Online Forums, everything is fresh, shiny and even still have that new forum smell for you to enjoy.
Helltrek: Being bad at all things 