Werit

Striking the balance

2010-03-15T07:31:00.001-04:00

The upcoming changes to the city siege system may be the most exciting part of 1.3.5, but it is not the most important. Mythic will be changing the way classes benefit from the weapons they use. In the process, they will be taking a look at damage across the board. So, what does this mean for you?

Under the current system, all careers benefit from the stats (+20 wounds for example) given by the weapon. The problem is that only a few careers benefit from the weapon's DPS value. Melee classes get the benefit of both, while healers only use the stats. As more powerful weapons get introduced, the melee careers benefit more than others.

In 1.3.5, Mythic has proposed applying the weapons DPS value to all careers. In the case of a healer, the DPS value would increase the power of their healing spells. This also applies to the damage abilities of other careers.

As a part of the process, abilities may have their abilities base damage reduced. The Bright Wizard and Sorcerer would become even more powerful with this change otherwise. Due to their class mechanic, they get a large damage bonus. Hopefully this will be taken into account when adjusting their abilities. If there is one thing Order and Destruction agree on, it is that they out out too much damage.

One lingering question is what will this do to Damage over Time abilities? Increasing the base damage will result in a small increase per tick. DoT heavy classes may fall behind even more when compared to BW's and Sorcs.

Here is an example from the thread:

Rune of Restoration, with 750 Willpower

Current (1.3.4 Live) - 1575 healing
1.3.5 with a 68 DPS staff - 1767 healing
1.3.5 with a 101 DPS staff - 1906 healing

As with any change, some players are a bit apprehensive. Melee characters may not gain much in the way of damage, while healing and other damage dealers will. I don't really agree with this as a nerf for them, since they were profiting greatly from the new weapons. For the future health of the game, this seems like a necessity.

Overall, it is a change that had to be made. All classes should benefit from their gear. How much of a difference will this actually make? We'll have to wait for it to go up on the PTS to find out. Balance is pretty good right now, so I'm hoping they go conservative.

News from the Front 3/12

2010-03-12T07:47:00.001-05:00

As we head deeper into March, Mythic has started to talk about 1.3.5 and 1.3.6 a bit more. We still don't know when 1.3.5 will land on the PTS, but it probably isn't too far off. The greater WAR community has been especially active the last couple of weeks, did it continue?

Mythic

A Community Spotlight, focused on bloggers! A lot of great sites on there, so check it out.
Three new feedback threads concerning 1.3.5 and 1.3.6.
Mythic wants some guilds to help test the 1.3.5 city siege changes

Articles

Bootae talks about the importance of playing smoooooooth.
Zizlak gives us his take on some of 1.3.5's changes.
WARgames tells us why we should be using YakUI.
Yitu does some detective work on the recent Video Grab Bag for expansion details.
Grimnir posted his thoughts on WAR's economy.
Blog the Witch finished part 1 of his Bloodkiss novel.
Syrner, a new blogger, talks about his Knight of the Blazing Sun.
i heart gorfang posts some truly scary pictures.

Videos

Footage of a Witch Elf soloing folks in Tier 1.
Gamelinx made a video about Tier 1 RvR as a Bright Wizard.
A video from WAR Russia. There are cats with machine guns, zombies, a lot of blood and WAR RvR.
It was only a matter of time, WAR meets the Loveboat.
Tier 2 Squig Herder action. Another one from WAR Russia, the are certainly keeping busy over there.
AoS has some 6-man vs pug video... with the expected results.
RvR from Volkmar. Keeps, Land of the Dead and more! Great video with an epic feeling.

So many articles and not enough time. Apologies to anyone I could not include this week :)

WAR's Economy

2010-03-11T07:51:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday, Mythic is looking for feedback on some of their upcoming patch ideas. Only the one about improving the WAR economy is causing me some concern. There is a lot to say about this topic, but I am going to make it concise as possible. There is a TLDR version at the bottom too.

What Mythic is proposing: Players do not have enough to spend gold on which may be helped by more BoE (Bind on Equip) items from PQ's, drops and other avenues.

That sounds all well and good, so why am I concerned (based on the info we have)?

PvE. Nearly every PQ in the game is PvE, including dungeons. Mythic is finally getting rid of the PvE in the city siege, so why add a new economic emphasis based on PvE?

World Drops. The most popular world drop is probably the Sandstorm class of weapons. From dungeons it may be the Odjira fragment. Both of which are BoE and sell for a nice price. However, these are obtained through PvE. The only valuable drop from PvP is a piece of Sovereign jewelery which a small segment of the population can use.

All of the armor set (glove, boots) drops cannot even be sold to a vendor. The market is usually flooded with them, so selling on the AH is not productive either. This leads me into my next concern, how will PvPers get gold?

Gold. It seems to me that gold is a PvE currency, for PvP it is tokens. This is partly due to there being no reliable way to earn gold by PvP. There are kill quests, but you have to travel to each warcamp to pick it up and turn it in. You'll spend a large chunk of your reward just traveling.

Unless a new way to make gold by PvP is implemented, many will forced to PvE to get items that actually sell. If that happens, I will be quite discouraged.

Gold Sellers. There are a small amount of gold sellers in WAR now. Putting more emphasis on gold will just increase their presence.

Alright, that went longer than I hoped. Here is the TLDR version:

Please do not make me PvE in order to get gold. I get tokens from doing what I like already, why can't they be used?

It is possible Mythic may have addressed these concerns, but all we have to go on is what they posted. WAR is about fighting other players, at least it is to me. The economy should support that, not encourage people to PvE. Next week I will offer up my half-baked ideas :)

Mythic wants your feedback

2010-03-10T12:12:00.002-05:00

Mythic has created new threads over on the official forums asking for feedback. Three future patch topics are covered:

Economy Improvements,
Weapon DPS applied to all damage and healing.
Upcoming class balance changes for 1.3.5.

I'm still digesting the info, so I'll refrain from posting opinions until tomorrow. I will now quote the great sage, Meat Loaf. "Two out of three ain't bad"

Tools of WAR: Loyal Pet

2010-03-10T07:20:00.002-05:00

In this video series, I plan to show some of the interesting add-ons which are available for WAR. I'm not a big add-on user, but I think that a lot of them can be helpful and make the game even more enjoyable. Continue on for the first Tools of WAR.

Last week I posted about getting more out of your pet (Turret, Lion, Squig and Demon). To do that, I used the Loyal Pet add-on. That seemed like a great one to use for the first video.

You can find Loyal Pet at Curse. To install, just download it and unpack it into your Interface/AddOns directory. Once in game, you can access it using: /lpet gui

NOTE: Loyal Pet also needs LibSlash to run.

Werit takes on The Order

2010-03-09T07:08:00.001-05:00

I've talked about Gratuitous Space Battles a few times in the past. It's a fun and original space combat strategy/simulator game from Positech Games. Recently, they offered me a review copy of GSB's latest expansion pack, The Order. As I enjoy the game, I happily accepted. For my impressions and a video, continue after the jump.

The expansion pack adds a new race to the game, called The Order. They are on a crusade to convert everyone else to their religion (similar to the Ori in SG1). They bring with them a bunch of new toys for you to cause mayhem.

Let's start with the ships. The pack comes with 11 brand new ships ranging from fighters up to the big cruisers. The art and design for these ships is amazing. They are pretty original as video game space ships go. I really like how they use a beam to hold themselves together rather than some solid material.

There are several new weapons, some of which can only be used on Order ships. A common theme for The Order is radiation. Two of the new weapons deliver this nasty payload. In MMO terms, it'd be a DoT. If you can get it through the shields, you will cause some nice damage over time.

The expansion pack also has two new maps in which you can fight. The first is a survival scenario. Survival maps are like arcade games. You will face an endless wave of enemies in your quest for the top score. Of course, what good is a high score without a high score list? The second is a regular battle map, but with asteroids.

The pack itself doesn't change much about the game itself. Gameplay will remain largely the same, except for more toys to play with. If you are a fan of GSB, it is likely worth the money. If not, it probably won't change your mind.

Overall, I liked the expansion pack. The new ships are great and add some more replay value to the game. The pack will set you back $6, so it is cheaper than a movie. It is a digital download, so go here for more information. As of this writing, it is not yet available on Steam but would be found here.

Does the Underdog System work?

2010-03-08T07:22:00.003-05:00

One problem WAR has been fighting with since launch is one realm dominating the other. Often this was due to population imbalances, organizational issues or just a loss of morale. In 1.3.3 we were introduced to the Underdog system which was supposed to help. Has it worked?

You will probably get a different answer depending on the server. On Badlands, I think the system has worked great. Prior to the patch, Destruction would routinely push to Altdorf while Order only rarely made it to the Inevitable City.

If you look at Badlands now, both sides are getting to their enemies city. I'm not sure I've ever seen a -3 Underdog rating, usually at -2 the opposing realm is able to start a city siege. All this without really punishing the winners for winning. I was skeptical, but in the case of Badlands I am pleased with the results.

Of course, not all servers fared as well as Badlands did with 1.3.3. Where there was a wide population imbalance the same issues still remain. Population is a tough problem to solve. A bonus to exp and renown does not seem like it is enough to have people switching servers. Even though 1.3.3 helped, there is still some work to be done.

How are things on your server? Has the Underdog system helped at all?

News from the Front 3/5

2010-03-05T07:25:00.001-05:00

Is WAR's population on the rise? It sure feels like it. Over the past week I have seen an influx of new players and players returning to the game. The same applies to the blog community, as three new blogs have joined the scene. For a complete rundown, read on.

Mythic

Nate fills us in on the future of scenario weapon pricing.
Two new videos about the 1.3.4 patch and the new scenario weapons.
High Pass Cemetery looks to be the feature of this weekends Warfront.

New Blogs

Welcome to Keagen, the Back Seat Dev and WARgames.

Articles

One Shard enjoyed The Ironclad quite a bit. I have to agree, it was a fun scenario.
WARgames came back for the Endless Trial and stayed.
Shadow War senses a WAR revitalization.
Keagen talks a bit about gear for those squishy DPS types.
Mykiel, usually known for his video podcasts, drops some science on us in a written post!
Grimnir has some suggestions for Tier 2 and 3.
Blaze reaches Renown Rank 80, congrats!
Bootae asks the question, "If you could change one career..."
Zizlak has some decisions to make. I often find myself pondering my career mastery setup too.
Mr. Meh has a WAR joke for you.
NOTE: There were actually a few more sites to cover, but I have to end it somewhere. I'll try to get to those next week :)

Videos

Tier 1 Shaman action from WAR Russia.
An Auction House video from Germany. It's short, but how many AH videos have you seen?
Footage from a keep defense in Troll Country.
A look at Gunbad's Pit Boss. Don't think I have ever actually been in Gunbad, so it was new to me.
A Talisman making tutorial, in German.
Some Chosen PvP action. Nice solo video mostly in Praag. A 2h Chosen can put out some good damage. RAVAGE.
Tier 2 RvR fights. Music is Metallica, so that makes it awesome in any case.
NOTE: This is only a small sampling of the videos this week. As with the articles, there were just too many :)

Getting Involved

2010-03-04T13:06:00.000-05:00

The Warhammer Vault over at IGN is looking for some help. They are in need of news hounds, columnists and artists. While they may not be paid positions, they do offer a great opportunity. It gets you involved with the WAR community, including players and developers. It's a great way to get your name out there and make some contacts too.

Getting more out of your pet

2010-03-04T07:08:00.002-05:00

I've been playing WAR for more than 18 months and am still learning new things all the time. My Engineer is a great example. I never really used his turret (pet) much due to the low damage and inability to really control it. A few days ago, I found out it can be controlled.

Turrets and other pets can be set to aggressive, defend and passive. They also have several special abilities which are usually set to auto. That was pretty much all the control I thought I had over it. While browsing the WAR forums, I saw a fellow Engineer mention wanting to put his turrets special abilities on the hotbar. It got me thinking and I remembered a pet addon.

LoyalPet is an add-on which allows you to have more control over your pet whether it be a lion, squig, daemon or turret. I never realized it could keep you and your pet on the same target. So when I switch targets to a healer, my turret will also start firing on them. This has made my turret feel much more useful.

This is especially true for my gun turret. Its special abilities are an armor debuff and machine gun. The armor debuff is very helpful as a lot of players are sporting armor potions. Since rifle skills are mostly physical damage, getting the debuff on your target is very helpful.

The machine gun ability is also very important despite its low damage. Due to its rapid fire, it can setback/interrupt a caster or healer. With LoyalPet, all this happens with no micromanagement.

Alright, back to the original question. Can you control your pets abilities from the hotbar? Yes you can, with a macro. Type this in your chat box, with a flame turret out:

/script CommandPetDoAbility(425)

That's all there is to it. You can put the above into a macro and place it on your hotbar. Here are the other numbers, taken from LoyalPet.

White Lion

Lions Roar: 429
Leg Tear: 431
Shred: 430
Gut Ripper: 434
Maul: 433
Fang and Claw: 432
Terrifying Roar: 428
Bite: 426
Claw Sweep: 427

Engineer

Penetrating Round: 420
Flamethrower: 424
Shock Grenade: 422
High-Explosive Grenade: 423
Machine Gun: 421
Steam Vent: 425

Magus

Daemonic Fire: 443
Warping Energy: 445
Flame of Tzeentch: 447
Flames of Change: 448
Coruscating Energy: 446
Daemonic Consumption: 444

Squig Herder

Squig Squeal: 442
Gore: 438
Goop Shootin: 440
Poisoned Spine: 437
Spine Fling: 436
Spore Cloud: 441
Head Butt: 439
Death From Above: 435

Weekend Warfront Rewards

2010-03-03T07:42:00.001-05:00

Weekend Warfront's are like other live events, you get a task list and three levels of rewards. The elite level reward was nice, as it gave you extra scenario Emblems for winning. The lower tiered rewards were not as desirable. How can they be improved and what can we expect from future Weekend Warfronts?

As we saw in the last It Came from the Files, more than just the Vanquisher's Boon was added. There were also the: Coinkeeper's Boon, Instructor's Boon and the Herald's Boon. If I had to guess, I'd say these give more money, more XP and more renown. They would put us at 4 boons, enough for a months rotation.

All of that is just a guess though and those new boons may have nothing to do with future Warfront rewards. It is also a bit strange to offer rank 40 players an experience buff. We should see Friday if I am on to something or not.

The lower tiered rewards for Scurvy Dogs were single low level potions. I'm not even sure why they bothered if those were going to be the rewards. Here are some of my ideas for future rewards:

Gold. You can't go wrong with an item that you can sell for a few gold pieces.

Renown. I believe it was the first Night of Murder which offered consumable items that gave the player renown.

Influence. Just like the one above, an item that grants the player influence when used.

Ordinance. How about 25 or 50 pieces of ordinance? I'd be more likely to spend what I have if there was another source of these.

Axe Hewer's and Trolls. Remember those neat siege engines from Bitter Rivals? Bring those back as a reward.

Potions. 5 or 10 potions would be a more worthwhile reward.

Currency. I wouldn't mind getting medallions, crests or even Land of the Dead currency as a reward.

Crafting. How about a bag which has a choice of crafting materials?

I think there is a lot of options for those lower tiered rewards. As we have a new Warfront every week, they don't need to be very large rewards, but they should be a bit more interesting.

Ironclad Improvements

2010-03-02T07:12:00.004-05:00

WAR's first Weekend Warfront has come and gone. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. One of the nice things about scenarios, like The Ironclad, only making an appearance every so often is that it can be improved more easily. While fun, I think there are some things that can be done to make The Ironclad even better.

Bugs. The scenario itself was a bit buggy, at least for my Engineer. On the Central Gangway, there were numerous spots where my turrets and land mines would end up falling through the floor. At least that's my guess, they just disappeared. I disappeared through the floor on one occasion too. Maybe the Ironclad was in the Bermuda Triangle?

Spawns. While it was fun (for me) knocking Destruction back into the water as they left their spawn, it probably wasn't very fair. It brought back some fond Tor Anroc memories :)

Guards. This seems to be a 1.3.4 issue rather than just The Ironclad. If you aggro the spawn guards, be prepared for them to rampage through the scenario killing everyone in their path. The lesson, be very careful if you camp a spawn. Or it could just be a bug.

Healing. I played this scenario a bit on my Rune Priest. It was extremely boring. Here is how nearly every scenario went: Pick a spot, spam group heal skill. Due to the corridors, it was the only way to be protected from melee. It was also the most effective way to heal as group heals do not respect line of sight.

There really doesn't seem to be much Mythic can do about it though. Maybe a debuff which reduces the range of group heals? The downside would be it favors melee even more.

Ranged. This isn't really a bug, but more of an observation. Most of this scenario is not friendly to ranged classes who don't have overpowered pbaoe's. That's all well and good as it is a temporary scenario. I would love to see a scenario in the future which favors ranged, to balance things out.

Tasks. Most of the tasks for the Scurvy Dogs live event were fine. I do think that completing 25 scenarios was a bit on the high side. Let's say each scenario averages 10 minutes, that's over 4 hours just in the scenario. It used up nearly all of my weekend game time. In my opinion, 15 would be a better amount to require.

Hopefully the scenario will be even more solid the next time it rolls around. It was fun to do for a weekend and I am already looking forward to the next Warfront.

Neglect

2010-03-01T06:46:00.001-05:00

The past few months have been an amazing time to be a gamer. There have been so many good games released that I've had a hard time keeping up. In fact, I have even been neglecting games that I enjoy. It turns out that I am a two game kinda guy. Even so, I feel a little bad about the games I just don't have time for.

As I mentioned, I only have time to play two major games at a time. The primary one is Warhammer Online (I know, big surprise). The current number two game is Mass Effect 2, which I hope to complete in the next couple weeks. When I do, a new game will move into its place. It could be any one of the following:

Fallen Earth. I've been a big fan of FE since before they launched. Even though I have not played it lately, I am still subscribed. Icarus has made a lot of great improvements and I expect them to continue to do so. One challenge FE will face getting back to the #2 spot is its theme. Science Fiction is my favorite genre and there is another game which fits the bill.

Star Trek Online. STO will likely be the next game I play when I finish ME2. It's no secret that Cryptic rushed its release, but I am pretty patient these days. When I do return to it, it will be primarily for PvE. I just don't expect Cryptic to be able to balance PvP well.

Global Agenda. I own the game and don't need a subscription, so I'll just play this whenever I feel like it. being able to jump in and play whenever will get it played more often than a game I have to re-subscribe to. It's a shame I suck at First Person Shooters though. That's why I let the turrets do the shooting for me.

Everquest 2. My time with you is not finished EQ2. I expect to come back for a month now and then, as there is too much content to ignore and some great people to play with.

Dawntide. I am still watching how this game develops. There is a lot of potential and the dev team makes some big strides every patch. It's just that lately I have had less free time, so I want to spend it playing rather than testing.

Scurvy Dogs is live!

2010-02-26T12:53:00.002-05:00

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.

News from the Front 2/26

2010-02-26T08:10:00.002-05:00

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.

Highlights

2010-02-25T07:23:00.003-05:00

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.

WAR News with a side of DAoC

2010-02-24T12:14:00.000-05:00

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.

Werit does a dungeon

2010-02-24T07:29:00.004-05:00

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.

The Ironclad Part 2

2010-02-23T06:57:00.002-05:00

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.

The Ironclad

2010-02-22T07:33:00.002-05:00

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.

News from the Front 2/19

2010-02-19T08:09:00.002-05:00

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.

PTS Event Tonight 1.3.4

2010-02-18T12:13:00.001-05:00

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.

Healing is like Football

2010-02-18T07:16:00.004-05:00

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.

Portaits of WAR Contest

2010-02-17T12:13:00.000-05:00

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!

Challenge Accepted

2010-02-17T07:26:00.002-05:00

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.