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One of the first and often touted systems being developed by Mythic for Warhammer Online was contribution. Anyone who's played a through a few Public Quests or Keep captures knows the contribution system is supposed to monitor how everyone plays and then dole out a proper score before a dice roll is applied to give it all a twinge of randomness. Well, a post over at Wizards & Wenches claims that they've discovered the secret formula to contribution: it doesn't exist.

The claim -- which has discussions threads at forums, along with screenshots -- is that when a player enters a zone, they are given a dice roll that applies to them until they leave the zone or log out. This means that a player who gets first will continue to do so, no matter what, until another player with a higher roll comes along.

Following the release of patch 1.0.5, a further update to Warhammer Online has addressed a large number of bugs in various quests and PQs, the full list of which can be found in the hot fix patch notes. A handful of RVR-related problems were also quashed, most notably the lack of Healer NPCs in Kadrin Valley warcamp, and some missing set items in Tier 3 Gold Keep bags.

Further tinkering with client performance and stability made it into this hot fix as well, with a focus on "periods of intense combat" -- we'll have to see how that one pans out. However, arguably the best part of the patch is one of the simplest changes -- WAR's EULA will now only need to be agreed to when changes are made to it. Joy! It's the little things in life that make us happy.

With the introduction of Patch 1.0.4, Witching Night has hit Warhammer Online. This is the first seasonal event the game has seen since its launch in September, and Mythic are doing their part to keep up with the whole "MMO holiday" thing that is so popular across many games. Participating in the events of Witching Night gives you a chance to get your hands on a number of rewards, including masks, cloaks and titles.

Although the special PQs have some irritating aspects (detailed in our guide), you'll still probably find yourself coming out to see what all the fuss is about. We've made a gallery guide of all that Witching Night has to offer, so click on the button below to find out all there is to know, before the event ends on November the 2nd!

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

It was only the other day when we reported that the first Warhammer Online city siege endgame had begun. Initial reports indicated that a relatively small group of players, in average gear, managed to capture Altdorf on the EU server Karak Eight Peaks, partially due to bugs in the game. However, rumors of the death of Emperor Karl Franz have been exaggerated. More details have come to light since then; Electronic Arts contacted MMO blogger Tobold, and set the record straight.

As it turns out, Destruction didn't fully capture Altdorf. Rather, they put it in a contested state, and the would-be conquerors on the Destruction side were ousted by Order before they could complete enough public quests to reach the final battle against Emperor Karl Franz.

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Before the game's launch day came, a lot of people found themselves thinking there was a stigma that came with Warhammer Online. There was a concern that you couldn't play the game without having to participate in PvP or that the PvE content assumed a much smaller role within the game. People were just plain scared/worried/concerned about PvP in general. Today when I log in I'll find countless strangers and friends all participating in some form of PvP content during their play session. So just what is Mythic's apparently potent secret sauce?

Do you know where your developers are tonight? Chances are the guys and gals over at Mythic Entertainment are busy scrambling to triple-check everything for the second time today. Meanwhile, the rest of us are awaiting one of three "launch" days with bated breath. Many of you are probably waiting for Tuesday, when the general pre-orders get to join the head start. However for a lot of players day one is coming tomorrow. So on the eve of "Hurricane WAR" approaching, I felt like going over some random bits about the game before it's no longer a beta and instead a newly launched MMORPG.

Ryan Shwayder has posted a short rant on why he feels Warhammer Online's Public Quests are anti-social. His reasoning behind the claim comes down to the notion that because players can be jerks, they'll always act the role. We're apt to not subscribe to the idea that everyone online become dissenting human beings, because if that were true than every MMO's social aspects -- which is all of them -- wouldn't ever work.

We're not saying that PQs are perfect, but they're hardly breeding grounds for total infantile behavior. These are a new form of PvE and they're going to take some time for Mythic to work out the kinks. We're also inclined to mention that nobody wants to play with people who take every chance they get to screw someone over. Even with anonymity in play, people will still remember someone who was going out of their way to be a real pain in the neck.

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

EverQuest, World of Warcraft, The Lord of the Rings Online, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online and many other MMOs all have one important thing in common. Well, okay; they have a lot of things in common -- like about 85% or more of their gameplay mechanics. But the main thing -- indeed, the reason why they have so much in common -- is that they are all descendants of a kind of text MUD game called Diku.

Acknowledging that, virtual worlds blog Terra Nova published a "State of the Diku" article for the year 2008. The article was written by Timothy Burke. It's mostly a dispassionate look at game design -- serious business. Burke starts out questioning the purpose of "vendor trash" drops (or grey items as they're generally known in many popular contemporary MMOs). Then he analyzes the public quests of Warhammer Online, viewing them as a positive variation on traditional Diku design.

If you're into thnking critically about MMO design, it's worth checking out. We take for granted the fact that most of today's MMOs are based on the Diku formula; maybe that means we're clinging to old ideas that don't make a lot of sense in today's world.

Our long-running Massively goes to WAR series comes to an end with the lifting of the NDA. Our visit to Mythic Entertainment's offices back in May, along with additional information we've picked up along the way, has all been wrapped comfortably under this banner for your enjoyment. We'll have loads to talk about in the coming weeks, but for now enjoy this look back on our pre-NDA lift exploration of Warhammer's world.

	E308: Warhammer Online is pretty much done We had a chance to chat today with Josh Drescher and Adam Gershowitz, two of the leading lights behind EA Mythic's Warhammer Online. Even just two months after our huge Massively goes to WAR series, there were new elements to view and discuss.
	Comic-Con 08: Hands-on with Warhammer Online Last week at Comic-Con in San Diego, I sat down with Warhammer Online producer Jeff Skalski and got my hands on the beta for the first time. I could go in-depth on all the new features and functions of the game, but our own Michael Zenke beat me to the punch on that one. Instead I want to give my impressions of the game from the perspective of a long-time MMOG player with little time to play these days and even less interest in PvP.
	E308: Exploring an improved Inevitable City in Warhammer Online Last week we got the chance to see an updated version of the capital, and learned about what the extra time removing the other capitals has netted the Mythic Entertainment development team. Read on to hear Adam Gershowitz talk about city improvements, the endgame reward cycle, and how the two-cities structure has focused the player experience.
	E308: Warhammer's designers explain the career/city removal Careers lead Adam Gershowitz and Associate Producer Josh Drescher were instrumental in making our Massively goes to WAR series a success. Our lengthy discussion with the two Warhammer Online designers resulted in our in-depth analysis of (at that point) every class slated for the game.

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	Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

The first Public Quest (PQ) we came across while playing our Dark Elves was a very cool experience, especially considering that this is only the first of many PQs. We suppose it's in Mythic's best interest to -- pardon the term -- wow players early and often and the Spires of Narthain PQ does exactly that. Around level four or five, you'll be headed to the area your map has conveniently indicated for you to complete some quests. Suddenly, an objective indicator will show up in the upper-right portion of your screen. What's this? Well, you've arrived at the Spires of Narthain, the last bastion of High Elf defense in this area. Get ready for some action.

Massively's exclusive coverage of the Elves of WAR continues with a look at the first five levels in the Warhammer Online for High Elves. Whether you roll an Archmage, Shadow Warrior, Swordmaster or White Lion, your High Elf will follow the same quest line, unless you fly to one of the other racial starting areas. Either way, prepare to have it out with Dark Elves from the get go.

Upon creating your High Elf you start the game in the outpost of Moonrise on the Blighted Isle. You'll have some basic abilities/spells already slotted in your hotbar. There is only one quest giver in the outpost, Silvshara Greywind. She gives a kill quest for six Dark Sprites in the forest, then five Dark Elf Infiltrators.

After completing the kill quests, your High Elf will be level two and be able to train in a new spell/ability by talking to the NPC with the bullseye over their head. If you don't have enough cash, you can kill a few more Dark Elves in the forest for coin and loot you can sell to the vendor.

Your next quest sends you to the quest hub in Calumel to the southeast. On the way there, you'll find an Elf who will give you the quest to shoot Harpies with the Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower next to him. This uses none of your spells/abilities, but puts you in shooter mode where you take control of the launcher and aim the crosshairs at the Harpies. This is just training for RvR use of harpoons and other siege equipment later in the game. But don't pass this up as it's easy exp and he will send you on to the same place you were heading anyway.

I was kicking around Silvermoon City of World of Warcraft a few nights ago, working on a new Blood Elf warlock as a way to relax and just forget about the long day, when I saw an extremely peculiar conversation in my chat window. What it boiled down to was a guy who was trying to get help with the warlock Voidwalker quest because he couldn't figure out where to go to find the void crystals specified in the quest log.

Now, instead of someone responding with a generalized location as to where you could find these crystals, the response, "Get QuestHelper and it will tell you where to go," was made. Needless to say, this guy was new to the game, and he was pretty baffled.

With the advent of custom interfaces, it seems that many people would rather have the game play itself than take the time to actually work things out. At the worst, people would rather pay to be able to "skip" through the game; thank you RMT. So, the key question around here remains: "Does anyone actually want to play anymore?"

Diet Warhammer Online: same great taste, less content. Is it bad that the recently re-branded Mythic Entertainment just cut out a large portion of our Warhammer Online pie and put it in the deep freeze? Well it's certainly not good when a developer cuts content they've been talking about publicly for so long, especially when launch is only three or four months away. I've already written about why this MMO ode to classic tabletop trappings shouldn't be shoved onto shelves half-baked and I still feel like I'd rather see a delay than see so much content cut. While there have been plenty of delays already, that doesn't mean more would have been intolerable.

I'm going to try and take an honest look at what the removal of four capital cities and four classes means for Warhammer Online. I will admit that when the news first hit, a vile and seemingly ancient sort of anger began to boil up inside my lungs. It was the onset of some form of draconian rage at the removal of so much content that I'd been personally invested in as a future player. I never really got into Chaos and planned on playing Dark Elves, but now a large part of that content is gone. At first I felt anger and confusion towards Mythic. It wasn't until after that initial knee-jerk anger passed that I was able to give some real thought to their choice and was able to consider the varied consequences.

Over the last week or so we've already talked about some of the most innovative features of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We've covered the Tome of Knowledge, the game's one-of-a-kind crafting system, and today we had a lengthy look at their approach to classes and races. Friday will be our last day of hands-on WAR coverage (for the time being), and between now and then we'll talk about RvR scenarios, keeps, and siege gameplay. But we're missing something in all this, one of the most unique elements to the game.

That element is the Public Quest. There's a great explanation of what Public Quests are over at the official Warhammer site, but there aren't a lot of gorey details. What's it like to complete one, for example? How long does it take to fill up your influence bar, and how do you get loot after the PQ finishes? We had the chance to play through two early-level Public Quests during our time at EA Mythic, and we're here to report back. Read on below for details on all of the above, plus a reflection on the question "Why Public Quests?"

So ... guess where Massively is today? That's right, we've ventured outside the labyrinth of tunnels and warrens that makes up our headquarters, and are spending some time today and tomorrow with the fine folks at EA Mythic. Our hands-on time with Warhammer Online means tons of information for you, the greenskin fanatic or Chaos cheerleader. But we're only human, after all, and there's only so many hours in the day.

We want to know, then: What do you want to hear about? Does the game's unique Tome of Knowledge system make you sit up and take notice? Are you really looking forward to those innovative Public Quests? Or do you just want a bunch of footage of dudes killing each other hardcore in RvR? Whatever you're in the mood for, we'll try to keep our eyes and ears open. Don't expect to see much on the site just yet, but your two cents today could make you a very happy MMO player next week. Leave a comment below!