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Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Interviews: Looking Back on 1.3.2
MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller spoke with Mythic's Josh Drescher and Jeff Skalski about patch 1.3.2, how it went and what we can expect in the future of WAR.
By Garrett Fuller on November 06, 2009
Yesterday we sat down with Josh Drescher and Jeff Skalski to discuss Warhammer Online's changes after Patch 1.3.2 was put into effect. The game has seen its ups and downs in 2009 and looks to make a come back as we near 2010. Josh and Jeff explain some of the issues the game has had as well as offer solutions for the future.
In discussing Patch 1.3.2 Josh and Jeff explained that performance has been the biggest boost within the game. Many of the performance issues were solved with the patch and the game has been moving better than ever. Josh mentioned that they keep a close eye on performance and constantly look to improve it. They have the performance now at a good base line to be able to work on other areas and get them set up. The team admitted it was the performance that was holding them back from making certain changes, now that they have it in check, they can move forward with other ideas.
Jeff talked about the response from players to the new city siege system now that fortresses are out of the picture. The game has seen a mixed response from players because now sieges happen more frequently. This can create some problems with the population on either faction because players are only logging in for the sieges. Jeff explained that the team is hard at work on an Underdog system. The Underdog system will give advantages to the side that has lost its city. It will allow the side being dominated to bounce back rather than just be beaten regularly. It almost acts like a handicap in Golf, Josh explained and he wished the Washington Redskins had a system like this to play better football. The goal is to implement the system in Patch 1.3.3, so expect more news on it in the coming months.
In terms of overall RvR the team explained that the new keep difficulty system that scales ranks and rewards has been working well with players. Jeff explained that the server populations are closer than people think with no one side truly out numbering the other. We all agreed that some player guilds are just relentless when it comes to taking cities and this causes the other realm to feel out numbered. Josh said that metrics play heavily into all their decisions on end game RvR and they watch closely what players are doing. The changes and decisions to Tier 4 RvR remain one of the top priorities in the game and the team pays close attention to what is happening on the servers.
Out of these two issues, the guys said there is a third issue that they put above all others. That is class balance. Some class balance changes have been implemented into the game, but there are more to come. This is one area the team feels is the top priority of any RvR game. Jeff mentioned the changes to the stun and root rules that went into effect in Patch 1.3.2 as an example of making the RvR battles more fun for every player. They want to allow people to play the game, not just be stuck in one spot for fifteen seconds while they are killed. The team also mentioned that they are working heavily on the area of effect issues the game has been suffering from and hopes to see those balances in place.
;)
Another element to Warhammer that is new is the unlimited free trial system. Players can now take the free trial with Tier 1 content and do not have a time limit set on their game play. The free trial is unlimited. Jeff explained that this will do a lot to allow players to enter the game on their own terms. Players are not limited by a ten day free trial as some games do. They can log in and play whenever they want with no deadline. Josh said that they wanted to unshackle the limitations on players to get into the game. They want more people to try Warhammer and expect this system to put the terms in favor of the player in allowing them time to try the game. The team said that they have already seen positive results and players are coming into the game more now. Jeff explained that this helps the higher tier paying players as well because it can have a great impact on boosting the population. In an RvR game where population is critical, the more players you have the more targets you have in RvR. Jeff was happy to say that everyone benefits from the free trial.
Overall Warhammer seems to finally be moving in the right direction. Jeff and Josh said that the team continues to work on their top three priorities with RvR, Class Balance, and Performance being the three. They will continue live events and Josh said that 2010 is the "commitment to quality" year for Warhammer. I asked about the possibility for more classes and races and Jeff explained they want to get the baseline for the game cleaned up before they start moving toward more classes and races. He did say, that everyone wants to play the Skaven! If the Skaven cloak that you get with a copy of Dragon Age is any indicator, who knows maybe in the far future we will see the skaven enter the world of Warhammer Online.
FINALLY! It's getting to the point it can bounce back, it's not going to be a big game by any means but it's seeming that the game could be taken off life support at last and not be in fear of closing, the J&J seem to have relised and brought in the things that really needed the game to be less painful and more fun to play....
PS. GRRRR!!!! I own dragon age in the EU - yet again I lose out on a Skaven Cloak!.. DAMN YOU GOA I'LL GET MY CHOPPA!
patch 1.3.2 is what made me quit WAR
to explain:
I did the 10 day trial on my level 32 char, enjoyed it very much and re subbed at level 38.
patch 1.3.2 hit and I was level 40, able to finally raid Altdorf on a nightly base!
Altdorf was the most glitchy, instanced, boring WAIT-FEST (yes stand around and WAIT for things to cap over and over and over) with PVE boss fights that literally embarrassed the game. (glitchy mobs disappearing, running all over the place randomly).....you had to do this same INSTANCED scenario for 2 hours, if you won within the two hours, you got to go to an even glitchier and unfinished public quest.
The game has been out for over a year, and end game city sieging is a joke. Which is a real shame because I love WAR's leveling content and loved the Fortress sieging (Fortresses rocked)....
Agreed. These games shouldn't even release unless end game is working properly.
The highest I got a character was L33, because I knew there was nothing in end game worth the time and effort.
It's great to see some more changes coming in 2010.
I've been playing since closed beta and I have played it (without breaks) since launch. In my opionion it is one of the best MMO's I've ever played as it really suits my middle ground play style (not casual, not hardcore). The game has some great classes which has made me create 6 or so alts and I don't see the end to my current subs.
In the future I hope there is a 3rd faction introduced as an expansion and I hope that some portion on the development team is working on that already. The underdog system sounds great, can't wait for that one either.
Khan
I do hope WAR gets off Life support too, I enjoyed the Rank 1 to about 25 (witch I did get to 40) content, but once ya hit T3 and aspecially T4 the RvR/ CC and stuff got way out of hand, T1 was such a blast though. I followed WAR about 2years in development. I was hopping there was some sort of 10day Retrail. Id like to check out all the changes but Im not willing to drop even a month sub for it. So if anyone has a Refer a friend or something to that effect PM me. who knows if I dedide to re sub ya got a free month, enywho a tad off subject (coffee!!). honestly though what lacked IMO was the PvE content some what.
Sadly, a lot of the game involves overly repetitive BO humping and taking undefended keeps. Interesting & fun the first few times, dull after 100s of times, mind numbing after 1,000s of times. But since the influence rewards are so nice, it's a struggle to get anyone to do a PQ, and a lot of times it can be a long wait for a scenario to pop.
T3 is just a copy of T2 and smacks of laziness. Oh wow, now you have to break down an extra door, and there are extra siege slots. Awesome, I can't wait to grind out another 1,000 keep sieges, while avoiding the enemy WBs who are busy taking our undefended keeps.
This game has a lot of potential, the classes and skills are fun. But the format of the game, the same old same old routine really drains the fun out of it. At least now I can do Tier 1 PVP to my hearts content. I just wish we could get more skills earlier. I wish they could replicate the fun of Tier 1 in all the other tiers.
OH, can't forget this gem - "They want to allow people to play the game, not just be stuck in one spot for fifteen seconds while they are killed" HEY, they just summed up DAOC in one sentence!
wait.. you just got to 40 and you want to raid altdorf on a nightly base ??? WTF... We've been waiting for a damn long while to get to atldorf, now we're in and we're trying stage 2. Sorry but every order on every NA server were always in IC, explain me how Mythic should be able to make altdorf without bug if we are never in the damn instance ?
And serisously if you play WAR just to get inside altdorf... you're missing the whole goal of the game : Kill peoples ! Main reason why WAR is losing lots of peoples atm, each time we log in the game we're stuck in altdorf, fucking boring !!! i wanna kill peoples i dont wanna wait... Tho some players prefer freenown by flipping stuff instead of killing for it.
"Fortress rocked" ? Fortress are gone, big mistake imho but they're gone... And it wasnt that much fun, limited peoples, lord lvl 300 and laggy as hell.
If you say that altdforf is buggy and laggy, you never been in a fort seige imo..
T1 is now free, download, create account and kill peoples
Lacked PvE ? You're weird... its a PvP game with RvR and you want more PvE ? We're already killing millions of mobs while taking BO, keep and city, and you want more PvE ?
War is the funniest MMO, it should be the best MMO, but the lack of a lot of things like the option to chalenge a friend or a bit more of professions doesnt let this game get this title. But I'm still loving War. What made me take a break of this game is exactly this expansion that have overpowered Destructin faction while ORder now lost two good classes powers: Shadow Warriors and White Lions. Destro players hits Altdorf 3 times a day, every day. It´s being boring as I said before. I´d love to up my chars but i dont see future for this game, I hope to be wrong.
Underdog system..? I remember talk about a system like this when I played the game... at launch. So they're soon going to implement it? Took their sweet time it seems :(
I don't believe underdog system was promised at launch, although there were other things that were that got held back. That said, the problem with WAR is they lost track of telling the story of Warhammer and now the game only revolves around RVR and City seiges, this game dies because it lacks more depth.
The major breaker for me and my friend's was that Mythic placed a wall in leveling your character, that is renown unless there's rvr or scenerio play, which dies for hours at a time, you get no renown and that's just one of the problems with this game, I could go on but it is just not worth any more time.
I put in constructive feedback after feedback report and nothing. And now you find out their big excuse is the game didn't run well enough to fix. I just think they don't want to invest what it will take to truely make this game they want to do small easy stuff and hope that will work, thats my opinion. Good consept very poor follow through on Mythics part, sad really.
T1 is now free, download, create account and kill peoples
Lacked PvE ? You're weird... its a PvP game with RvR and you want more PvE ? We're already killing millions of mobs while taking BO, keep and city, and you want more PvE ?
Let me refine. When I said Lacked with PvE I meant to refer to the quality,not quantity. I know WAR leans more toward PvP/RvR then PvE.
To busy playing DA to bother.
All I can say is that WAR needs to fix alot of issues and it seems like Mythic isn't up to the task. Its ok game - Just dont worth the sub.
the only problem WAR has that if fixed it would most likely gain all its subs back is T4. The city siege system really needs to be polished and refined. Ive done all the pve dungeons they are actually pretty decent but the rvr is the core of the game. the pvp lakes are always alive but you can only do that with scenerios so long before its boring.
Actually it was, the feature was called Dogs of War at the time.
It went the way of the dodo prior to launch.
The funny thing to why I quit playing was actually the other people in my faction. It wasn't performance, though granted it could have been better. It really wasn't becuase of class balance, though that too needed to be looked at. No, it was most of the players in scenarios that where playing these scenarios as if they where a team deathmatch game. Most of the time they completely ignored the objectives to get a team win. They just wanted to be the top dps'er or the one with the most kills. It always seemed like it was just me and my buddy on TS that where the only ones running the flag or going after the murderball, while everyone else sat in one clump just fighting for the sake of fighting. Oh well.
Yet another good point. Lol thats why a lot of matches were lost (when I was doing scenarios) destro would treat it as such but order would be more Tactical in there approach.
Yet another good point. Lol thats why a lot of matches were lost (when I was doing scenarios) destro would treat it as such but order would be more Tactical in there approach.
Speaking of Scenarios, they haven't made a single one that comes close to being as good as those in WoW. Arathi Basin is my favorite, you have to split into smaller teams and coordinate your attacks, communicate constantly, stealthers can wreak havoc on lightly guarded objectives. The nodes change hands multiple times and you end up racing all over the place on defense and offense. There are numerous approaches and tactics, some guilds even dedicate themselves to perfection in certain battlegrounds, the exact makeup of groups as far as size and classes to compliment one another.
Warhammer has a lot of different Scenarios, but they just aren't as tactical or fun. The ones I've played were overly simplistic - there wasn't enough depth to allow for strategic maneuvers. You run in with everybody, try to kill a few before you get wasted, respawn, run back, rinse, repeat. Objectives aren't dynamic and don't encourage dynamic play. Some have potential, but need some extra and or refined elements.
The perfect MMORPG would have battlegrounds/scenarios with the Quality of WoWs and the Quantity of Warhammer.
No thanks Mythic, you had your chance. I played from launch till May, left for the summer (travel), came back and didn't resub (had trial when I came back). What a shoddy mess the game was in. The population on my server was poor, all the best guilds had moved on, the fortresses were gone and Altdorf was still a huge laggy waiting fest. Not to mention my class (Marauder) still majorly sucked.
No Mythic, this "lets stick every race in Chaos vs. Empire" thing is totally stupid. I'm happy with WoW and I see no end in sight for that game (solid PvP, amazing PvE, tons of content, and Cataclysm + Icecrown Citadel in 3.3). Learn from Blizzard - add content, fix bugs, fix classes, be honest.
I think they're doing good work now and not rushing into changes, you can clearly see that they're moving forward with the game as almost all basic issues are resolved.
If you like non-ffa loot pvp and rvr this is the game, no other comes close.
To those that like wow: Stay there ^^
Ill probably fool around in T1 a bit now that that is free and I liked t1 a lot but until they make a drastic overhaul of t4/cities I wont be re-subbing.
Same here. City Siege is terrible.The only time I would want to wait in line for a Half hour Plus to get into something, is the movies..and a damn good one at that. Its real sad when City Siege was one of the MAIN features they were boasting about, and its one of the worst things in the game atm...IMO.
I'm going to be trying this game out (but currently downloading the patchs).
Looks fun so cant wait.
It is for the most part. its the end game that needs a lot of love.
Wow... is it really that bad? I didn't play very long(I was in open beta), but it seemed pretty solid through tier 1.
Wow... is it really that bad? I didn't play very long(I was in open beta), but it seemed pretty solid through tier 1.
Tier one is a F'N Blast,Tier 2 as well, but from there it kinda went south a bit. its not a bad game, but when you hit T3&4 the Crowd control...got well,out of control.I did read previous patch notes where they did address this issue. And the other was end game: the stupid ruins u needed to get so the bosses in dungeons did not smack you for 300%damage, and the horrible stability and lag of city siege.
the worst problem in WAR is the TTK. takes way too long to kill someone.
DAoC was much more of a challenge and fun.
This is very true too, even in (and I hate to compare but) WoW PvP players could be taken down a lot quicker,and wow was a pve game.
Im sorry but its hard to take anything mythic says seriously or have faith they can turn anything around. When you follow daoc and not only make the same mistakes but actually make a worse game you obviously have no clue what you are doing. Class balance important in a rvr game?really?wow what a concept. Exact same issues with crowd control and area of effect as in daoc?really?wow,who would have thought.
Im going to laugh when they release an expansion that forces a pve grind for rvr goodies.
All I can do is shake my head. The Warhammer team has been clueless from the start and still is as such. They really just don't understand players. Sure they can keep their small fraction of players. But the game is simplistic and dumped down.
If you want a great RVR game this is not it. Christ play Daoc instead. were there is more teamwork.character customization, group strat and abilities and spells, items and such. If you want some dumbed down version that takes little time to master and figure out then by all means.
Too little, too late...
Actually it was, the feature was called Dogs of War at the time.
It went the way of the dodo prior to launch.
nope that is something completely differenet.
The Dogs of War was for scenarios onlly. Basicly if there were not enough people on your side for a scenario you would then get NPCs to help you fight.
The Underdog system is completely different. From my understanding if your side is getting destroyed in ORVR then your side gets a buff and it is easier to cap zones.