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Trouble is, when they finally do implement something of real value, it's usually too late for those of us that have been begging for such things for most of the last year (see my posts from another thread that has some merit in this discussion)... Joined: 9/06/08 The problem lies with the decision makers over at Mythic. What it boils down to simply, is a severe lack of forward thinking! It seems like they are late on everything. In order to be successful in this industry in the extremely competitive state that it's in, requires a lot of insight. That is what has made Blizzard so successful! Just look at Cataclysm; a potentially huge risk that (mark my words) will be a giant success (and I am not a fan of WoW). Unfortunately Mythic is severely lacking in that department and until changes are made to rectify that, this company will continue to be standing at the plate swinging late on every pitch. It really is a shame. Joined: 9/06/08 Apprenticeship system sounds pretty cool, nothing worth coming back for though... 2. Give ALL players the abiltiy to sidekick lower level players (ala apprenticeship) to immediately help with tier imbalances. Give higher level players a "mentoring" reward, tome unlocks, and/or the ability to attain gear within their sides major city as an incentive for mentoring. Low level players might receive bonus XP, but would receive medals and monetary drops at the higher "boosted" level, thus increasing their ability to afford nicer gear, mounts earlier on. Mythic could restrict gear drops from those that are sidekicked or tailor it in such a way that the mentoring players don't have to compete for gear with the sidekicked players. Here is the link to my original post on the Warhammer Forums: http://forums.warhammeronline.com/warhammer/board/message?board.id=dev_discussions&view=by_date_ascending&message.id=2502#M2502 Notice the date from that post was 06-23-2009 04:44 PM. Like I stated above, I had been pestering them for additions like these as well as many of these changes, fixes, for the longest time and well before the linked post.
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Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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DillingerEP
Hard Core Member
Joined: 9/18/07
"Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The ex- makes it sound cool." |
The underdog system is just going to be another bandaid slapped on the game. To the cover the fact, that Mythic has fucked this game up time and time again. And never wanted to walk down the path of handling a real issue, with the population imbalance. They wanted to waste their time, and your's with shit like Land of the Dead for example. In the letter they state career balance fixes... that's going to be a load of dung. It's more sunshine their going to try to shine up your butt, and fail to deliver on.. yet again. Bug fixes? Their track record hasn't been good with that, all I'm going to say on that. Then RvR enhancement's? God only know's what that's going to be. Then we have- •Ability to walk and sit. (RP players rejoice!) = Who the f fricken cares. •Various UI fixes, such as making sure timers synchronize properly on PQs.= Again who the f fricken cares. •Graphical enhancements (Bloom, improved weapon trails, heat shimmer, etc…).= You go Mythic!!!! Make that pile of dump.. more shiney looking. •Pet and monster pathing improvements. = They already have tried three thousand times already, and still haven't fixed pathing. Going to release the game in more regions WOOT! Other countries can now cuss Mythic out, in new languages! I loved this game, but Mythic is a big laughing joke. |
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It looks like it's too late for Mythic to learn how to manage a community. Honestly they're absolutely hopeless when it comes to these "state of the game" letters. When there's a depth of animosity as powerful as there is for this game you really shouldn't be laying /sit and /stand emotes as the top new feature for a new patch. They've paraded silly little changes like that in many of the state of the game type letters in the past, all it does is make them look unable to provide any direction for the game going forward. It makes them look like clowns frankly. That said, as someone who has been a firm critic of WAR in the past, I would say this is the first time I've actually felt a glimmer of confidence for the direction of the game. Community management issues aside this is the first patch (and subsequent developers letter) where some of the key issues that this game has have been fixed/addressed. The server and graphical performance issues have been massive stumbling blocks for this game, and I couldn't see this game ever getting of the mat without big improvements there. The game runs MUCH better now. Still not perfect, and I don't think the engine will ever be as smooth as something like WoW, but it's very playble. I've yet to see a massive RvR fight though so I can't comment on the truth to the server performance issue. The "underdog" system is likely not everyone's preferred option for fixing imbalanced realms, and alot will depend on the implimentation of the system, but it does at least appear to be a whole hearted attempt at fixing the problem. I see alot of people saying Mythic should focus on action and not words. The anger of the community towards this game is justified and understandable, but I think there needs to be at least a modicum of acknowledgement that there are some of the big problems being undertaken in these two patches. Server/Client performance and realm imbalances were high on any critics list of WAR's biggest faults. I can't fathom anyone actually playing the game saying that there hasn't been improvements in this last patch. That said there is a LONG way to go, and I'm still skeptical that WAR can pick itself up off the floor. As everyone knows it's bleeding subs, and for a game with so much group based content that's an enormous problem. The game is still too zerg friendly, and end game could stand to be more engaging. Still I will give credit where it's due. |
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Originally posted by Amarok44
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Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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Originally posted by MrcdesOwnr
Player 2: "I could no longer deal with the fact that my character couldn't walk or sit! So, I said enough is enough and let my sub run out." LOL, or the new mailbox artwork, I wonder how many subs didn't cancel because of this. Really. |
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Little things add up. |
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Originally posted by BoudahXL
Player 2: "I could no longer deal with the fact that my character couldn't walk or sit! So, I said enough is enough and let my sub run out." LOL, or the new mailbox artwork, I wonder how many subs didn't cancel because of this. Really.
Queue for Aion Waiting... The server is full. Position in Queue: 3296/3600 Estimated Wait Time: About 9hr 17 min...
Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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Indeed. They just keep reminding us of their complete lack of priorites when 'fixing' this mess. It's quite staggering to witness at times. The emotes should have been left in, but not mentioned at all. It is nothing to brag about and just makes them look ridiculous. |
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Originally posted by Skeeterxi
When the Titanic is taking on water, it doesn't matter how many thimbles you are bailing with. |
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Originally posted by Skeeterxi
Queue for Aion Waiting... The server is full. Position in Queue: 3296/3600 Estimated Wait Time: About 9hr 17 min...
Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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MMO developers usually have different teams working on different areas of the game. Moving a resource from one area of the game to help fix another just doesn't work out because thats not their field. The people adding 'fluff' to the game per say, are not the people who are going to be able to help with the games performance issues and stuff like that. Arguements like, "Why are you fixing A when B is broke and needs fixing and is more important?" are just not valid. I don't blame people for complaining things are broke, but complaining other things are getting fixed over more important issues doesn't hold water when they are two different areas of development. |
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Originally posted by Skeeterxi I heard that excuse for months on Warhammer Alliance, and frankly - rah bah bah. Fire the fluff makers and hire people who can write code worth a damn. Fire artists and hire more testers. |
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Originally posted by Skeeterxi
Queue for Aion Waiting... The server is full. Position in Queue: 3296/3600 Estimated Wait Time: About 9hr 17 min...
Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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Originally posted by Skeeterxi
This works both ways tho... For some reasons there isn't alot of talk about this patch here or on any MMO site tbh. For those that are actually playing... they might tell you about the "performance improvements" that are bringing down whole servers - Or of a "Balancing" acts that actually do not work one bit. - If you dont belive me - ask the loosers that have lost their city 3 times in 24 hours.... Underdog system will not come soon enough to save this game... Unless ofc you are playing Destro. It seems like all the devs wanted to play it - And the order got all the crappy classes (white lion melee with pet ? ) - ( Dorfs "flying" on helicopters? seriously...
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AFAIK, Jeff Hickman is still in charge of Warhammer Online. I guess he's too busy giving lectures to other devs on how to design MMOs to write the letter himself. Irony rules this universe. |
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DillingerEP
Hard Core Member
Joined: 9/18/07
"Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The ex- makes it sound cool." |
I give them maybe a little credit with improving the performance a bit. But it was a on going issue for to long, ever since beta. The fact it took them this long to help really improve it. Go's to show their mind has been in the gutter about how to save this sinking ship. I know damn well Mythic loves this game, or why would they have made it. They also didn't want the game to be in the state it is now.. and they put a lot of work and time into it also. But they absolutely fail at commuication with it's playerbase.. it's been said many times by me and other people. That they have to be one of the most out of touch dev companies out there. For example when we needed job's to seriously be fixed, they just beat around the bush... act like kid's and go about how they want to do shit. Which most of the time, ended up blowing up on them. Cause they allways thought they knew best, and we were a bunch of crybabies that didn't know better. Mythic has gone a great way of showing, how they couldn't really give a crap about their customer's. It's why this game is in the sad pathetic state it is. They could've bit the bullet and shaped this game, into what the majority of what it's playerbase wanted. But we were left with a game that kept getting fucked over, time and time again. Cause Mythic thought they knew best.... ha, this game could've been awesome, but Mythic suck's far to much at what they do. It sadden's me to think, that theres a chance War, and DAoC... could cease to exsist in a year or two. I don't see EA supporting this train wreck of a company for to much longer. |
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Maybe if there were some real life in game leaders for the factions. Someone to dole out quests, or give PvP tactical orders. Someone to get everyone on the same page and working together. They pretty much just threw the players into the game and let them decide for themselves what to do. And while that may sound great to give players freedome or whatnot, this whole lack of direction thing is pretty big in my opinion. I'm not saying I want to be told exactly how to play by the developers or GMs, but it would be nice to log on and be able to find out where the action is and how I can help my faction win something.
In real war there are commanders and soldiers. The better those two work together, the more successful they are, but when you have 7 different guilds on the same faction all doing their own thing, how is anything significant ever supposed to get done? What do players fight for right now? It certainly isn't any sort of faction pride or loyalty. There is very little comaradarie among players of the same faction. Players are basically given the option to fight for shallow material rewards, which become meaningless very quickly. The focus of progress is on the individual rather than the whole. If you can convince players to work together to build a stronger community instead of competing directly with every other person on the same side, I think the game would be alot more fun and meaningful. |
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Originally posted by MMO_Doubter I heard that excuse for months on Warhammer Alliance, and frankly - rah bah bah. Fire the fluff makers and hire people who can write code worth a damn. Fire artists and hire more testers.
Queue for Aion Waiting... The server is full. Position in Queue: 3296/3600 Estimated Wait Time: About 9hr 17 min...
Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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Originally posted by MMO_Doubter
Queue for Aion Waiting... The server is full. Position in Queue: 3296/3600 Estimated Wait Time: About 9hr 17 min...
Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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Queue for Aion Waiting... The server is full. Position in Queue: 3296/3600 Estimated Wait Time: About 9hr 17 min...
Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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Originally posted by MrcdesOwnr
Take things personal much? No reason to resort to elementary level disses. Having a character be able to sit and walk is a pretty simple thing to do. I would not highlight in the notes as a feature, but I wouldn't leave it out of the game, or get mad at the development team for putting role playing features in a role playing game. And if I was indeed in charge at Mythic, I wouldn't let a garbage beta game hit live servers because I wanted to beat another games expansion to store shelves. So that point is pretty worthless. I absolutely despise companies releasing incomplete games, and I would step down as the lead of a company before I let my name get ruined doing that. |
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Originally posted by MrcdesOwnr
Throwing more people at something doesn't necessarily mean it will get fixed faster or more efficiently. I think the problem would lie more in organizational skills and communication skills rather than lack of man power. This companies whole development process is obviously fubar. |
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Originally posted by Skeeterxi
Take things personal much? No reason to resort to elementary level disses. Having a character be able to sit and walk is a pretty simple thing to do. I would not highlight in the notes as a feature, but I wouldn't leave it out of the game, or get mad at the development team for putting role playing features in a role playing game. And if I was indeed in charge at Mythic, I wouldn't let a garbage beta game hit live servers because I wanted to beat another games expansion to store shelves. So that point is pretty worthless. I absolutely despise companies releasing incomplete games, and I would step down as the lead of a company before I let my name get ruined doing that.
Queue for Aion Waiting... The server is full. Position in Queue: 3296/3600 Estimated Wait Time: About 9hr 17 min...
Waiting... The dominion is full. Position in Queue: 2,804,993,768/3,000,000,000 Estimated Wait Time: Muhahahahaha...
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Originally posted by Skeeterxi The point isn't that there are man hours going towards implementing fluff features in the game. The point is that managing the community in a game as population dependent as Warhammer is a key job for developers here, particularly when the game has been universally panned and is in the process of dying slowly (or quickly depending on your PoV) due to subscription loss. By all means put the change in (I think adding flavor to the world is something important in an MMOs development) but for the love of god don't parade it in a developers letter at the top of a list of new features. All it does is take the focus off the very positive steps this game has taken forward with the new patch. That said I resubbed for a month, as did a few of my friends. The game really is playing a fair bit better for me and I'm enjoying playing for the moment. Performance was one of my biggest issues with this game, and it did not stand a chance without it improving. That said it still does not stand a chance in the medium term if Mythic do not get better at managing the justified distrust and despondency about the direction of this game. |
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Ya I totally agree, it shouldn't have made the patch notes at all. Simple stuff like that should be ninja fixes. I don't believe Mythic ever lacked manpower. I do believe somewhere in the development process, organization or communication skills were lacking. That is probably the lack of good leadership and management. WAR had a pretty short development, around 3 years right? Its like Mythic tried to zerg it. WAR is obviously the best IP for an MMO besides arguably LoTRO and Starwars. I never believed the game would be a WoW killer, I did think it would be the second best MMO to WoW though. At the very least it should have sat around 300k subs like LoTRO and been a niche game, which usually has better communities anyway.
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