war-patch-1.3.4 posts

More woes with Warhammer Online's new weapons

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 5th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Patches, PvP, Warhammer Online, News items

It's a highly-anticipated feature, but it's been causing more than a few headaches for Warhammer Online's developers. We're speaking, of course, about the RvR weapons that were one of the large features of patch 1.3.4 and have been proving rather awkward in implementation. The short version is that when prices were lowered in a recent live change, there was a bit of an unintended rush of progression, which the developers stepped in as quickly as possible to fix. The problem arose with the people who had been progressing legitimately and wound up finding themselves denied their weapons and the corresponding achievements.

The development team has posted a new item asking for players to petition the GMs in a specific fashion to resolve the issue, as well as giving some insight into what went wrong with the whole fix. In short, when they asked players to petition, they didn't ask for enough information the first time around. The statement includes an apology and an assurance that the matter will be quickly escalated for resolution. While it's been an unfortunate period of back and forth for Warhammer Online, hopefully the issue is finally resolved and players can begin enjoying their new battle-earned weaponry once again.

Tags: bugs, ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, glitches, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, rvr, rvr-weapons, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea

Warhammer Online tweaking their weapon prices

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 3rd 2010 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, PvP, Warhammer Online, News items

The problem with testing things in any MMO is that so much is contingent upon who decides to log in to the test servers and how much they're willing to play. Ultimately, for all we hate untested dungeons or mechanics or whatever, the only real test for them is to have them go live. Warhammer Online hasn't had too many problems with their most recent patch, but the exact pricing of the newly-introduced RvR weapons has been a bit of a sticky widget. So they've done the most responsible thing possible: they've gone ahead and tweaked the pricing right away.

Low-Renown weapons are the most affected by the price cut, but every weapon has been given a nice drop in cost to make the more accessible. The full announcement goes into some detail about the philosophy behind it, no doubt part of the effort at increased transparency from the development team. Best of all, there's no delay in the changes -- they've already gone live and can be enjoyed by all players. So if you feared the long march in Warhammer Online for a decent weapon from RvR and for RvR, you've had a lucky day indeed.

Tags: ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, price-drop, pricing, reduction, rvr, rvr-weapons, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea

Warhammer Online gets a new producer's letter

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 24th 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Patches, Warhammer Online

Hot on the heels of the 1.3.4 patch, we've received another letter from Warhammer Online's producer discussing the state of the game and its immediate future. Carrie Gouskos, who has apparently inherited the position formerly held by Bruce MacLean and Jeff Skalski, has taken the opportunity to share information of the coming updates to the game. It's also a chance for a new outline of how the team wishes to improve upon community relations, with the promise of more frequent news and updates along with early player involvement in the testing process.

In addition for soliciting players for loading screen tips, the letter talks about what can be expected with the next two small patches for the game, 1.3.5 and 1.3.6. The former is slated to shift the core experience of cities and city sieges to an RvR experience, emphasizing PvP combat and with encounters balanced to shift based on population sizes. On the other hand, the latter is going to examine armor sets closely and try to provide a redesign for maximum player benefit. Warhammer Online fans can look forward to more about these features in the coming months, with any luck.

Tags: bruce-maclean, carrie-gouskos, city-siege, ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, jeff-skalski, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, pvp, rvr, set-redesign, state-of-the-game, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, war-patch-1.3.5, war-patch-1.3.6, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea

[Updated] WAR 1.3.4 patch coming soon, brings Scenario and City Siege enhancements plus more

by Kyle Horner Feb 23rd 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Warhammer Online, News items

Warhammer Online's 1.3.4 patch ~~has gone live as of today~~ is coming soon. The update includes a torrent of changes with a primary focus on streamlining Scenarios -- the game's beloved-yet-flawed ~~open-ended PvE encounters~~ easy-to-access PvP instances -- and City Sieges. These changes are aimed at pleasing the game's community, who've been giving plenty of feedback to Mythic.

The original problem with Scenarios were a matter of player population. If you didn't have enough people to ~~complete a 5 or 10-person~~ start a Scenario, well, you were waiting in queue forever. Hopefully, the issue of achieving "critical mass" should all be in the past with the 1.3.4 patch. While new weapon rewards are being added to Scenarios, not everything is making the cut. Less popular Scenarios have been removed, although Mythic is promising that some will return in special weekend events.

For an in-depth explanation of the Scenario changes, look no further than this awesome developer post. You can also find a shortlist of the various updates and improvements after the break. Or, if you prefer, you can find the full breakdown of patch 1.3.4 on Warhammer Online's official patch notes section.

Update: Due to the 1.3.4 patch not going live as scheduled, we've updated the post to reflect as much. Additionally, we've corrected factual errors as well. Our apologies to anyone confused by the original post.

Tags: ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea

Development diary explains the Warhammer Online changes

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 22nd 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, Warhammer Online

The rebalancing of Warhammer Online's Scenarios has been an arduous process for both the players afraid of losing well-loved content and developers trying to narrow down the field to help everything achieve critical mass. After a fair dose of testing and evaluation, they've reached a point where they're comfortable letting development manager Mike Wyatt write up a development diary giving a clearer picture of what informed the rather sweeping changes to the game's structure.

As Wyatt puts it, first of all, trimming the number of Scenarios consolidates the best-liked encounters and weeds out the less-popular versions. Second, a smaller number of Scenarios allows better balancing and tweaking of each, helping improve the overall experience. Lastly, the smaller number can have their rewards more easily brought in line, to avoid making one Scenario much more profitable than others.

What follows is a listing of the Scenarios that will rotate in and out versus those that are constantly available, which seems a bit smaller than the last one we received. The diary makes no mention of population concerns, content loss, or the general community reaction (ranging from "meh" to "no"). Still, with an ambitious change we can only hope that Warhammer Online's revisions prove to be a good thing for the game as a whole.

Tags: developer-diary, ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, mike-wyatt, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, rebalancing, scenarios, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea

Warhammer Online explains upcoming RvR weapons

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 17th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Previews, PvP, Endgame, Warhammer Online

It's always been a bit hard on Warhammer Online that up until now, RvR never netted you a viable weapon as a reward. There were reasons given, of course, but in order to get a decent weapon you had to take part in different activities. For a game where on of the major draws is PvP, it seems like a rather egregious oversight. Clearly, the developers ultimately agreed, hence the new Scenario rewards including RvR weapons in the upcoming patch 1.3.4. Item developer Sean Bosshardt put together a new developer diary to help explain the purchasing system, the philosophies in operation, and how the team dealt with balance concerns.

The currency is balanced between Emblems and Insignias. Emblems are awarded for taking part in a scenario all along the leveling road; Insignias, on the other hand, are for the endgame and are restricted to players who have reached rank 40. They are also acquired from scenarios, as well as taking or defending a keep and the initial city public quest after attacking. The system will also apparently "unlock" higher levels of weaponry as the player purchases lower ranks, thus keeping a steady flow without skipping ahead. Warhammer Online players would do well to take a look at the full diary for more details, and get ready to start getting your due rewards for crushing skulls.

Tags: developer-diary, ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, rvr, sean-bosshardt, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea, warhammer-online-patch-1.3.4

Warhammer Online reveals new Scenario structure

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 15th 2010 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Patches, PvP, Warhammer Online

People were not happy with the first version of Warhammer Online's plan to streamline the game's Scenarios to create a better structure. They were so not happy, in fact, that Mythic Entertainment decided it was better form to pull their original plans, wipe the slate clean, and start over with a clearer picture. And it seems to have worked, as Andy Belford has announced the revised plan for the scenarios as a whole. The result is a slightly larger list, but one with a bit more variety between tiers and a clearer picture of what the development team wanted to accomplish.

As the post explains, the biggest concerns for the scenarios was that they feel different from tier to tier, that each one be unique and interesting in its own right, and that each one can achieve critical mass easily enough that neither faction feels completely helpless. Response to the announcement in the thread seems largely positive, with a wider range available at endgame and a careful re-distribution of what scenarios show up when. Warhammer Online players still have the opportunity to test this new environment on the test servers, and in all likelihood it will be going live soon enough, which represents a definite effort at compromise from the developers.

Tags: andy-belford, ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, scenarios, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea, warhammer-online-patch-1.3.4

Back to the drawing board for Warhammer Online's scenarios

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 6th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, Warhammer Online

When Warhammer Online promised to greatly streamline its scenario structure and remove several of its less popular ones with the upcoming patch 1.3.4, the response wasn't altogether positive. There was a definite concern that the game was trying to mitigate its difficult times by removing one of the most fun aspects it had, which sounds like a bad idea all around. However, the developers have clearly been paying attention -- after collecting additional feedback from players and receiving plenty of input from the test server, Andy Belford announced that the team was going "back to the whiteboard" for their plans on streamlining and removing scenarios.

While Belford makes it clear that the ultimate goal is the same -- to remove the unused and disliked scenarios and move the lower-tier ones that are well-loved to greater accessibility -- he also says that the team was getting clear input that they'd gone too far in the wrong direction. No dates are set, but a revised scenario setup and mass stability test is planned to go live sometime next week, hopefully with a better lineup. Whether or not you're currently playing Warhammer Online, it's always good to see developers paying close attention to what the players want.

Tags: andy-belford, ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, revisions, scenario-revision, scenarios, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea, warhammer-online-patch-1.3.4

Warhammer Online brings 1.3.4 to test server

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 2nd 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, PvP, Warhammer Online

A test server patch isn't quite as good as live, but it means that the patch is only a couple of weeks away, barring unusual circumstances. We recently heard a bit about the upcoming 1.3.4 patch for Warhammer Online, and true to forecasting, the patch is scheduled to hit the test realm right about... well, now. That means that we're that much closer to live weapons obtainable via RvR, a welcome change for the people who came for PvP to begin with.

Of course, patches on the test server invariably mean a set of patch notes, which helps to give more detail on what's en route for the game. As promised for buying weapons, there are new currencies awarded -- Emblems, which go in ascending ranks from Recruit to Officer. These can be traded for a variety of items and are rewarded for Scenario participation, which goes hand-in-hand with the extensive scenario restructuring also present.

The emblems can also convert up and down, so characters taking part in low-level content can hold on to their rewards if they so desire. Mixed with extensive balance tweaks and bug fixes, this looks to be a good patch for Warhammer Online players, so head on over to Warpstone and get in on the testing.

Tags: currencies, ea-games, ea-mythic, ea-warhammer, ea-warhammer-online, electronic-arts, emblems, mythic, mythic-ea, mythic-entertainment, pvp, rvr, scenarios, war, war-ea, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-ea, warhammer-online, warhammer-online-ea, warhammer-patch-1.3.4, warpstone

Warhammer Online reveals tidbits about 1.3.4

by Eliot Lefebvre Jan 25th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, PvP, Warhammer Online

After the storm of updates, changes, and news over the holidays, Warhammer Online has been pretty quiet lately. Under the circumstances, that might be a little more unsettling for the game's players. But the silence has at long last been broken, as community manager Andy Belford recently shared some information with the community about what can be expected when patch 1.3.4 arrives. And at least one of the announced features is something that should make a large number of players quite thankful -- the promise of weapons available via RvR gameplay instead of PvE.

Belford stresses that the weapons will be purchased via a currency system that works with the game's scenarios, rather than any existing medallions or crests. As a connected point, he mentioned that scenarios were due for some more evaluation, with the promise of re-evaluating or removing several of the less popular options. There are also changes planned in the way that the game handles capturing cities, clearly designed to make defending captured areas more of a tactical decision for players. The patch is intended to go live on the test server by the second week of February at the absolute latest, which should be good news for all Warhammer Online fans.

Tags: andy-belford, community-manager, ea, electronic-arts, mythic, mythic-entertainment, patch-preview, rvr, war, war-patch-1.3.4, warhammer, warhammer-online, weapons

Breaking news Feed

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
Dragon*Con	Sep 3-6, 2010
PAX Prime	Sep 3-5, 2010
Clone Wars Adventures Launch	Sep 15, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV Launch	Sep 30, 2010
GDC Online	Oct 5-8, 2010
LEGO Universe Launch	Oct 26, 2010
DCUO Launch	Nov 2, 2010

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Seraphina Brennan	Senior Editor
Brianna Royce	West Coast Editor
Dan O'Halloran	Features Coordinator
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Rubi Bayer	Contributing Editor
Tateru Nino	Contributing Editor
Beau Hindman	Columnist
Edward Marshall	Columnist
Greg Waller	Columnist
Jeremy Stratton	Columnist
Larry Everett	Columnist
MJ Guthrie	Columnist
Patrick Mackey	Columnist
Ryan Greene	Columnist
Lisa Poisso	Columnist