Before I get into this…random thought of the week: Does anyone else think that Peter Pan is now a disturbing story? I think Tink has homicidal issues…..
…annnnyway. Warhammer!
Patch 1.1a went live yesterday and there seems to be quite few fixes that address some major issues that have plagued WAR since it’s release, i.e. people avoiding open war for other activities.
I’ll get this out there right off the bat…I don’t really agree with their first cut of how to solve the oRvR issue. I think it’s a step in the right direction, i.e. they provided the carrot that MMO gamers love to chase. They have not, however; solved the population issue when it comes to RvR. I still think this whole tier approach to oRvR needs to be looked at in regards to how they are going to encourage oRvR across all areas and not just the higher tiers. How are they going to encourage high level players back into tier 1 and tier 2 in order to give that sense of war to new players? Solve that problem and it just might convince me to get back in there again to check WAR out again….finances pending 
One huge improvement that was sorely needed was making PQs solo friendly:
Easy Public Quests – PQs are great but sometimes it’s hard to get enough people together to complete them, especially in the lower tiers. So, we are redesigning one PQ per chapter so that it can be completed by 1-3 people.
Before this, if you started a new character, you would not be able to finish a PQ past phase II with two people…as my brother and I later found out. You certainly could not solo your way through a PQ. This usually snubbed you from content because Phase III of these PQs are very enjoyable encounters. Good change that gives players more options to go through content.
WAR looks to be heading in the right direction with these patches, but I still don’t think it’s ready for me to go back to just yet.
D out.
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December 12th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Well, I’ll tell you one thing that you’re missing. Yeah, you’ve got your eye on the big changes, which are great. They are smoothing out the rough edges, so to speak. What’s really making the game is the “under the hood” stuff. Client tweaks, server tweaks, performance tweaks. Honestly, it really does feel like a new game. The past 2 patches especially have brought huge improvements to all of those areas. The responsiveness in combat (even heavily lagged combat) is amazing.
I’ve been leveling some alts now, so I’m re-experiencing a lot of the content, and I’ve yet to be hit with any of the issues that bugged me the first time through. Scenario RvR (even ORvR) is a perfect example. There were some scenario’s that seemed like there were graphic issues in, that would just brick my machine when I would try to walk from point A to B. No indication of any of that. Yeah the ORvR still needs work, it will for a while I think, but it’s leaps and bounds from where it was. I’ve heard talk that some of the RvR combat mechanics from DAoC may be making their way into the game, which I think is a wonderful thing. I’m surprised they weren’t in there to begin with, but at launch, simpler can be better.
I agree with you that they are very much on the right track. I said when I started the game that the main reason for me pre-ordering it (I don’t do MMO pre-orders anymore, not since EQ2’s wonderful release) was Mythic. They have shown me that I was right in doing so. Yes, there’s a lot to be done, but they have been devoted, fairly quick to act, and responsive to player input. That’s what will keep this game going.
December 12th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
It’s improving at a really alarming rate… if it’s not ready for you now, it likely will be by the next major patch.
The lower-level RvR thing’s always going to be a problem unless they introduce reverse-bolstering. I’m hoping they do. But in the meantime it seems A LOT of people are playing alts and the new tanks, so it’s actually a good time to come back if you want some RvR action.
The RVR is wicked now, more than even before, and they’re slowly fixing zone crashes. They still happen in T4 mainly, but less frequently. I’m still not convinced the game can handled several hundred on several hundred, and wonder if they shouldn’t make layers of the RvR zones a la the City Sieges. But the fact is… they’ve really added a huge layer of all-around polish in the past month and it’s only getting better. This is just the first bit of total-game improvements they’ve listed in interviews and in Mark’s RvR Update.
By the time things like RvR Quests, Daily Objectives, and the like make it in, WAR’s going to be the place to be for concentual RvR. Now if only, they added that Darkness Falls like dungeon. I suspect it’s coming sooner or later.
I hope you x-fered your characters to Badlands, mate.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
“It’s improving at a really alarming rate…”
Well, I saw that Keen was certainly alarmed by some of the new patch.
December 12th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I played WAR in late beta and early release, and cancelled my account as of November. I’m glad to hear that they are making improvements, but for much of the playerbase (like myself) its too little too late. I remember preordering the game after seeing beta, and loving the preview weekend. At launch I was on the Skavenblight server which was a ghost town after a mere week. We made the difficult decision to re-roll on Avelorn since we couldn’t get scenarios to pop, and were very happy with our new community. Then with no warning Mythic opened up server transfers away from our new home. After seeing two servers die I ended on Ostermark which seemed just as bad as Avelorn.
During this whole time I’d clawed my way through the mindnumbingly boring PvE supplemented with the exciting and fun scenarios. RvR rarely happened but was fun when it did. Then, I made it into tier 4 I found that only one scenario ever popped and there was no RvR worth the name. What little there was consisted of warbands avoiding each other instead of fighting so that they could take undefended keeps. Why? There is no benefit to defending.
I cancelled my WAR account and bought Wrath of the Lich King, and am shocked at the high quality of PvP in Wintergrasp and Strand of the Ancients. It turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for from WAR, and I doubt I’ll return. Mythic pulled a Funcom and released a game that clearly wasn’t ready. This after they’d sworn that they wouldn’t release the game until it was ‘great, not just good’. I wanted to believe in them, but they’ve already burned the fan base pretty badly and winning back trust is hard.
Its great that they are fixing problems, but they game they hyped as the WoW killer was a year away from being ready for release when I bought it =(
December 12th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I think they are gonna have to have a relaunch sometime in the middle of next year if they want to pull people back. New marketing campaign, maybe 2 weeks free for all previous subscribers. Right now it feels like they are slowly bleeding out users and that’s never a good thing.
December 14th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
The PQ changes piqued my interest while reading the changes.
I haven’t had a chance to see it first hand yet and I’ll say as much as some are saying these changes are coming fast, IMHO they haven’t been timely enough.
It’s hard to get my interest level back up to where it was at release. Mythic drops and picks up the ball so much I think they’re dribbling it.
That said, I’ll login and put in a few hours and see how I feel about it then.
December 15th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
It killed me to leave WAR. I loved the classes, the world itself, and the look and feel of the game. But when the thing you’re touting as the key feature of the game is what’s killing that sense of “world,” I’m just not sure where you can go from there shy of a total redesign.
I think you’re suggestion about eliminating the tiers would be a huge leap in the right direction. Yet another example of how the tired leveling system = a whole lotta suck in MMOs.
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I believe you crossed the line when you said that “Tink” has “homicidal issues”.
That is slander sir. and her lawyers will be in contact with you shortly.
As far as War goes I have never played it and till you bloger/podcasters say that it has been fixed I want pay good money for a bad game.
beside that a game has to be at lest a year old for me to think about buying it.
Alik Steel