Me and my friends have been having a fantastic time in Warhammer Online so far. I’ve gotten rather a taste for RvR not matched since my DaoC days, and many an orc has fallen to the guns of Osgard, Dwarven Engineer! I do have a few concerns though.
Mostly I’m worried about open world RvR. With so many different RvR zones to choose from, finding where, if anywhere, the action is, can be pretty time consuming. I know a lot of people, on reaching tier 2 and finding they can’t just walk up the hill in Nordland to find a scrap any more, just start a new character. That’s not particularly ideal. There is an attempt to help, in that you receive a warning if a Keep in your current pairing is under attack. Unfortunately that warning is usually a complete lie. I have stood on the battlements of Mandred’s Hold and been informed that the Lord was under attack when there was not an enemy in sight, much less one inside the keep.
Are there just too many battlezones? Most open world RvR seems to involve avoiding the enemy army, and going to an empty zone to take objectives and keeps before the enemy figures out where you have gone. I am wondering whether some sort of count of players in each RvR zone might be a useful piece of information to be able to display. Or would that upset everyone who likes to take objectives without a fight?
There are special sets of armour that only drop during RvR. For tier 1, it is the Decimator set, and tier 2 it is the Obliterator set. That’s a great idea. My problem is that I’ve only seen about 5 pieces drop since I’ve been playing, and they were all foot items. Maybe the other parts are gained some other way? I have no idea. There is no hope of anyone completing the lower tier RvR armour sets before they have outgrown the tier. It may be different in the higher tiers, but the tier 1 drop rate needs to heavily raised, and the tier 2 drop rate could use an increase also. Once you outlevel the tier, you can’t go back and get these items later , and as they each give you an unlock, that hurts.
Update: I just read an interview that tells us where to find the rest of these armour sets. The Decimator chest can be looted from the champions guarding tier 1 objectives, the Obliterator chest comes from Keep Lords, and the Obliterator gloves can be purchased from a renown vendor. Nevertheless, I have never seen any of these items drop, and I’ve killed a whole lot of tier 1 champions, and tier 2 keep lords. Given how many people it takes to defeat a Keep Lord, and how many of them you are likely to defeat during tier 2, your chances of getting a chest for your class is damn slim. I have found my Obliterator gloves hiding at the bottom of the list on the renown vendor though, so progress has been made. Just need the chest now.
The Warhammer looting system (standard “need”, “greed”, “pass” system) had been breaking down in scenarios, where people can’t be kicked out of the group, or otherwise have good behaviour forced upon them. On our server we’ve had a few people taking advantage of that by “needing” every single item, while being completely silent in the face of community condemnation. While there is some small satisfaction in adding them to my blacklist, and letting them die, it has been extremely frustrating, and terrible for community cohesion. I am extremely pleased that 1.02 will only permit “needing” in scenarios if the item is usable by your class. I suspect this complete exploit was being used as a source of funding for goldfarmers, and overall it is going to make scenarios much more relaxing.
Another problem with scenarios has been that for some reason, you can only get into some of them. In tier 1, folks only seem to sign up for Nordenwatch. It’s a nice map, but frankly I’d rather play Ekrund. I have still never got into the tier 2 dwarven scenario. In a recent patch, it was added that you could sign up for a the scenarios for the other pairings provided you were in the right tier of land. In 1.02, you will be able to sign up for all 3 with a single click of a “join all” button. I hope that helps. But one annoying thing is that if I am in a tier 1 land, or in Altdorf, I cannot sign up for a tier 2 scenario at all. You have to be in a tier 2 land, and that seems to be to be a rather pointless limitation upon us. Also, getting into the Nordenwatch scenario removes me completely from the Ekrund queue, meaning that if I ever want to play Ekrund, I am not allowed to play any other scenario while I wait. Once again, needlessly limiting.
I am told Tier 3 has five scenarios to choose from. I wonder if it’ll still be just one or two that I ever get to play. I would prefer it if we didn’t pick specific scenarios. If the scenario was chosen at random when it launched, we’d see a much better mix.
I am not as concerned about all these issues as I might otherwise be, because Mythic is actually doing a really good job of addressing Warhammer’s problems. I wouldn’t be surprised if 1.03 chops the head off a few more of my worries.
Warhammer Online Patch 1.02 is now live on the US servers, and will be hitting Europe on Friday morning. Lots of good stuff in there. The patch notes continue below. Hit the link if you’re on the blog’s front page.
Highlights
* The war against the gold spammers continues. We’ve added new code that will hinder the spammers as they seek to carry out their nefarious deeds! This is only the next step, not the final one, in our continued battle against them.
* We have added a ‘Join All’ button to the scenario window which now allows players to join all scenario queues in their current tier at once.
* In order to promote realm and population balance, some realms on some servers will now award their players with a +20% bonus to renown and experience. This is not a permanent bonus, but rather a temporary incentive to promote balance. Realms currently offering this bonus are marked on the server list with a colored icon; blue for Order and Red for Destruction – Check the Herald for the latest list! Update: This is now live in game. Information can be found at the server select screen and on the Herald.
* In response to player feedback, we have made several improvements to the behavior and responsiveness of the siege weapon interface. In addition we have fixed some issues with the control and release processes of siege weapons.
* In an ongoing effort to deter players from going AFK while in scenario starting areas, we have made the following changes:
o First, players who join a scenario and remain in their realm’s spawn area for two minutes will be automatically removed from that scenario.
o Second, upon entering the spawn area of a scenario, players will receive a debuff that prevents them from earning renown and experience. This debuff will be removed when the player leaves the spawn area.
* The level range at which players are able to receive the “Bolster†buff while in RvR has been expanded. This buff will now be available starting three levels lower than it had been previously. Please note this change only applies to Scenarios on Open-RvR Ruleset Servers.
o In tier 2, the buff will apply from rank 8 to rank 17, and will raise players to Battle Rank 18.
o In tier 3, the buff will apply from rank 18 to rank 27, and will raise players to Battle Rank 28.
o In tier 4, the buff will apply from rank 28 to rank 35, and will raise players to Battle Rank 36.
* In response to player feedback, we’ve added RvR and NPC chat tabs for new players. These tabs filter scenario chat and NPC chat respectively. In order to minimize frustration to users who have already customized their chat window, we will not be overwriting any current settings, so this change will affect only new players. Players who wish to add these tabs may do so through the normal chat configuration options.
* While in scenarios, players will no longer be able to select “Need” in their loot windows unless their career or race can use the item being offered. Please note: players of a lower level than required by the item are still able to roll. Outside of scenarios, this feature is an optional setting that may be turned on manually by group leaders .
* We have fixed an issue that was causing claimed keeps to forget that they had been claimed after a server restart.
* Improvements have been made to how pets follow and they should now return to their owners more quickly.
* We continue to work on the issues with the pet window. We have identified and corrected another bug which was causing this window to disappear.
Improvements have been made regarding an issue that was causing pets to teleport back to their owners after combat.* Fixed a bug that prevented players from creating an alliance with more than two guilds. Now that this issue is resolved, alliances can grow to great numbers to crush their enemies!
* The patch note regarding the chat window position changing was erroneously posted. As a result, the following note has been removed: Fixed an issue that was causing the chat window to reset to its default position at logout.
* Due to reports that text logging in RvR may have been affecting performance in some cases, we have set combat and chat logging to be turned off by default. Players who wish to turn their logging on once more can do so by changing their game settings. Please note that there is a certain risk to changing your game settings, and so this process is only recommended for advanced users.
o In the game directory, in the user folder, locate the file named UserSettings.xml
o Edit that file with Notepad or Wordpad (double clicking on it will usually result in Internet Explorer showing the file and it will not be editable)
o Find the line that says,
o Change “false†to “trueâ€
o Save the file to the proper directoryGeneral Changes and Bug Fixes
* Ongoing improvements have been made to client and server stability.
* In order to deter players from spam-mailing, WAR continues to enforce a 5-second delay between sending mail messages. However, we have reduced this delay to 1 second for mails being sent to alts or guildmates.
* We have fixed an issue that was causing monsters to lose their aggression toward players in some rare cases.
* We have identified a small percentage of monsters in the game that were slightly less challenging than originally designed. We have adjusted the abilities of these monsters to bring them in line with their intended level of difficulty.
* Fixed an issue that was allowing players to change their tactics configuration during combat.
* Guild Recall Scrolls have been fixed so they can be purchased and used correctly by guild members of a Guild Rank 17 Guild. This fixes an issue where the scrolls were potentially being purchased ahead of time and could not be used until Guild Rank 17.
* Addressed an issue which was causing the servers to crash.
* Fixed an issue in which graphics settings sometimes did not save properly.
* One of the things we’ve been hearing from players is that our Talisman making system was a bit more time-consuming than we wanted it to be. So, in an effort to make Talisman making more accessible to lower/mid-range crafters, our Items team changed Gold Essence (originally a product of Apothecary) to Gold Dust and added Gold Dust to crafting merchants to eliminate the need for a third crafter to level their skills. Unfortunately, this change was released slightly ahead of schedule and Gold Dust had no sell price. Rather than change everybody’s character, we decided to leave the change live. However, in order to avoid an impact on our economy, we have made it so that Gold Dust, that had been purchased prior to server restart cannot be sold but it can still be used. This item can still be traded. So, since Gold Dust could previously be bought for no cost, well, you haven’t lost anything.
o Players who previously had Gold Essence will notice that it has been converted to Gold Dust, which can be used in all recipes that previously required Gold Essence.
o As a result of this change, Goldweed, which had previously been an ingredient used to create gold dust, has now been converted to a stabilizer for Apothecary. This is a boon to Cultivators, who could not previously create a stabilizer and it will help make tie Cultivation and Apothecary more tightly together.
o Players can now purchase shattered and ruined equipment from Hedge Wizard Merchant NPCs to help in improving their crafting skills.
*
Content
* The following note has been posted Erroneously. Additional testing is required before the Lost Vale can be opened. It remains closed at this time. We have made several fixes and improvements to the behavior of monsters and encounters in the Lost Vale dungeon. Access to this dungeon has been granted once more, and it should now provide an appropriately challenging experience for high-level players.
* Trolls will no longer knockdown players with their Overhand Slam ability.
Combat and Careers
Archmage
* We’ve corrected a bug that caused Balance Essence to not do as much damage as it should.
Squig Herder
* Da Smell Don’t Bother Me has had its effect overhauled. It now provides a slight Heal Over Time effect to the Squig Herder while he is inside the Squig Armor.
* Git ‘Em will now upgrade correctly.
* The following abilities should now be useable in Squig Armor:
o Don’t Eat Me
o Farty Squig
o Squig Frenzy
o Tastes Like Chicken
o All Pet summons spellsWitch Hunter
Trial By Pain can now be used while moving, and will not be able to be setback.Capital Cities
* Tome tactic trainers in the libraries of capital cities will once again offer training.
Items
* Warlord Set Trinkets were missing their career requirements. Career requirements have been added to these items.
User Interface
* In response to player feedback, we have made several improvements to the behavior and responsiveness of the siege weapon interface.
* The words in the chat tab labels will no longer disappear when players change the game’s graphical resolution.
* The chat window will no longer slide upward when being resized.
* Fixed some issues with the creation of chat tabs. Newly-created chat tabs should no longer continue beyond the border of the chat window.
* Players who interact with guild vaults while their inventory is full will no longer see items in the guild vault disappear.
* We have fixed an issue that was causing the game not to remember the chat prefix (/tell, /g, /wb), forcing players to retype it each time. The game should now correctly remember the chat prefix.
* Chat font settings will now save properly.
* Fixed an issue which was causing healers to lose targeting on a player who they just resurrected.
* A number of game actions and NPC and monster communications were being sent to players through the wrong chat channel. We have made several fixes relating to these issues.
Realm vs. Realm
* The pre-scenario countdown timer should now work properly once again.
* We have fixed an issue that was causing claimed keeps to forget that they had been claimed after a server restart.
* Players’ use of siege weapons will be no longer be interrupted when those players take damage.
* We have fixed an issue that was preventing players from opening the main door of a captured keep which belonged to their realm.
* Players will no longer erroneously receive the “Bolster” buff when entering the Destruction war camp in the Chaos Wastes.