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Star Trek Online's Season 5 content almost ready for prime time

Jef Reahard — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play

Another day, another Path to F2P dev blog from Star Trek Online. The 24th entry in the series takes the wraps off the game's newest content update, and the Season 5: Call to Arms patch is almost ready to see the light of day on the holodeck server. Season 5 boasts the new Borg invasion of Defera ground combat map, reworked Borg strategic task force maps, new non-combat Federation and Klingon Academy maps, a patrol mission revamp, and more.

Gameplay tweaks abound as well, with improvements to duty officers, space skills, and the leveling curve among the changes. Read the full list at the official STO website.

Star Trek Online's Season 5 content almost ready for prime time originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Soapbox: Eat your tanking or you won't get your ice cream

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Classes, Culture, Game mechanics, Patches, Opinion, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous

Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column.

Picture this -- you're a parent of a squalling child. (For some of you, this may be a very easy picture as you sit at the dinner table.) Your child is refusing to eat his or her dinner on the basis that the broccoli doesn't taste like doughnuts covered in Skittles. Being a mature adult and realizing that a lifetime of Skittle-based food toppings is not a viable dietary choice, you are trying to patiently reason with said child despite the fact that the child assumes Kevin at school is evil incarnate because he took the good swing despite your child's having called it.

Eventually, you break down. You tell your child that a special treat awaits if he or she eats all of those vegetables. And so your child queues up for a random heroic in World of Warcraft, and -- wait, we skipped ahead of the metaphor, but that's essentially what the whole Call to Arms feature boils down to. And it brings up interesting questions of bribery, choice, and what makes a fun and functional mechanic.

Continue reading The Soapbox: Eat your tanking or you won't get your ice cream

The Soapbox: Eat your tanking or you won't get your ice cream originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ultima Online's Call to Arms bringing back live events

Jef Reahard — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items, Ultima Online

Ready to take a trip down MMO memory lane? BioWare Mythic has your ticket to adventure in the form of Ultima Online's new Call to Arms event. Players signing up for new (non-trial) accounts will be rewarded with new-player tokens that grant 20,000 gold, skill gain boosts, and premium armor and weapons.

Veteran players aren't left out in the cold either, as advanced character token templates have been updated, and there's also the prospect of increased skill advancement when partying with new players. Veterans and newbies alike can also pick up the latest Ultima Online expansion, Stygian Abyss, for a new lower price. PvP arena gameplay also makes its first appearance in the long-running MMORPG, as players can now engage in one-on-one duels in two new arenas.

Finally, one of the staples of classic Ultima Online gameplay is making a comeback in the form of live events. Gamemasters will be leading in-game events and story arcs as well as re-introducing characters from the game's past, all centering around the town of Magincia.

Ultima Online's Call to Arms bringing back live events originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythic responds to negative Land of the Dead community poll

Brooke Pilley — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Special thanks to Mythic Community Coordinator, Jess Folsom, for pulling together these responses for us.

Q. What do you make of community poll results?

We work very closely with our fan sites, especially Warhammer Alliance, and view the polls as a valuable source of player feedback. We take all poll results seriously, and carefully evaluate the subject of the poll, the wording of the questions, who is allowed to vote, and other factors, especially if there is an overwhelming majority vote. It's important to note that polls alone will never force a change, but we do take them into consideration, along with all other feedback we receive.

Q. What were you able to glean from the recent Land of the Dead poll on Warhammer Alliance in regards to its impact on open RvR? Did the poll results fuel any in-game changes?

The poll helped to confirm what we were seeing on our end -- the initial release of Rise of the Tomb Kings on June 24th did have an impact on open RvR activity at the time the poll was taken, particularly in Tier 4. We saw a large surge of players flocking to the new areas, and enjoying all of the exciting and innovative new content and RvR battles that the Land of the Dead offered. We see this kind of initial surge of interest any time we release new content such as weekend Scenario events or Live Events.

"Tier 4 open RvR is back in full force"

Now that the Land of the Dead has been out for a little over a month, and more players are equipped with the powerful talismans and vessel weapons available, players are often making the choice to continue to stay in Tier 4 RvR and fight in the campaign, even when their Realm controls access to the new area. As a result, Tier 4 open RvR is back in full force, with warband-on-warband skirmishes, epic Keep battles, and lots of Scenario action going on.

Players enjoy the added purpose to zone captures that ownership of the Land of the Dead provides, and appreciate that they have a choice to stay in the Tier 4 open RvR Lakes, or venture into the Land of the Dead, and feel that the choices complement each other. One change we made recently (7/23) to Expedition Resources was based on player feedback, and has had great results.

The number of Expedition Resources necessary to win control of the Land of the Dead has been reduced to 500, and the number of resources awarded from zone control is now 250. This will make the Expedition Resources earned from defeating enemy players in open RvR have a greater impact on securing the Land of the Dead. The number of Expedition Resources that drop from players and NPCs in Tier 4 RvR lakes and invaded capital cities will remain the same, which greatly increases their relative worth toward gaining control of the Land of the Dead.

What this change did, was encourage open RvR even more and allow for faster control of the Land of the Dead, and made player kills more valuable toward gaining that control. This is the kind of adjustment we can (and do) make as a result of player feedback from our official forums, in-game feedback forms, and fan sites.

Since the initial release of the Land of the Dead, and the Warhammer Alliance poll, we are now seeing very active Tier 4 RvR lakes, where the Land of the Dead is a reward for open RvR victories. If players still feel that the Land of the Dead is impacting open RvR, we absolutely encourage you to let us know and offer your suggestions on our official WAR forums. Our number one goal for the Land of the Dead is that is a fun, challenging, and rewarding place to control, and add a tangible incentive to participate in Tier 4 open RvR, not to take away from it.

We are continuing to evaluate Tier 4 open RvR activity versus the Land of the Dead, and encourage our players to continue to offer feedback.

< < Poll results

Mythic responds to negative Land of the Dead community poll originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Are you enjoying The Land of the Dead?

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, Opinion, The Daily Grind

The Call to Arms live expansion for Warhammer Online was over six months in the making. It gave WAR players the Choppa and Slayer classes, RvR tokens, keep upgrades, and culminated last week in the arrival of The Land of the Dead mega-zone. Massively wants to know if you're enjoying it.

We've been keeping tabs on various WAR bloggers who have shared their thoughts. Keen feels that the zone flips a bit too easily but is happy with the new content overall. LotD isn't the mecca of RvR that Bootae had hoped for, but he's still quite pleased with the quality of it (over the quantity). As for Thulf, well he was actually drawn back to WAR after a couple months' absence to give it a shot. It's too early for him to tell whether or not he'll keep his subscription open for it.

This writer is still waiting for the dust to settle. I don't know if there are any major issues with the zone or its effect on RvR, but I'm hesitant to jump in head first and have my experience spoiled by anything. The ancient undead can wait a little longer for this explorer.

The Daily Grind: Are you enjoying The Land of the Dead? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Land of the Dead is open for business

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST

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

Hot sun. Sandy beaches. Exotic creatures. It almost sounds like a great vacation spot until you realize the heat is unbearable, the beaches run alongside a poisonous river, and the creatures are determined to kill you and then mutilate your corpse. The Land of the Dead may not be for your average snowbird but courageous adventurers will find treasures and excitement in great abundance - and it all starts today.

Game Update 1.3 launched exactly one week ago and introduced a special Live Event called Rise of the Tomb Kings. The event pitted the realms of Order and Destruction against each other in a massive resource-race to determine who would gain first access to the Nehekharan desert via airship. That race ended this morning and Mythic just released a patch that grants the winners 24-hours of uninterrupted dungeon access.

The Land of the Dead was a massive undertaking by Mythic that began shortly after launch in September 2008 and it will change the way Warhammer Online fans play the game from now on. How will it affect open field RvR, city siege, scenarios and other raid instances? Only time will tell (and we'll keep our eyes on it for you).

The Land of the Dead is open for business originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The dead rise as Warhammer Online patch 1.3 goes live

Kyle Horner — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Patches, Warhammer Online, News items

Today is patch day for Warhammer Online players -- huzzah! Bug and balance fixes are of course in full swing, but the big news is the Land of the Dead live event launch. Of course, before getting to any of those juicy new content areas, players will have to participate in the brand new live event: Rise of the Tomb Kings.

This event is the final chapter for Mythic's Call to Arms content expansion and functions as a good intermediary between those initial massive updates and these new ones. So while plenty of content is indeed being added today, there's a lot more on the way in the coming months, too.

We'll be giving you plenty of coverage on the ins and outs of patch 1.3, so keep your eyes peeled for more.

The dead rise as Warhammer Online patch 1.3 goes live originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's coming for you: Land of the Dead dated for June 16th

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST

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

We finally have a date on the release of Warhammer Online's brand new RvR zone, the Land of the Dead. Everyone make sure you have your swords sharpened and your armor ready for June 16th, because that's the day when the Tomb Kings rise from the south.

Land of the Dead will include a brand new zone filled with public quests, traps, and some intense RvR combat as the sides of Order and Destruction fight over control of the entire zone. To mix things up, many of the new quests will feature elements that have more in common with action RPGs than with MMO mechanics -- emphasizing movement, positioning, and cooperation over straight number crunching exercises.

We got some great interviews and a first hand look at Land of the Dead during Games Day '09, plus we also are hosting a Tomb King Cartouche puzzle contest where you can win an exclusive in-game item for WAR! So get your wagggghhh on, because the Tomb Kings are coming, and they're coming for you!

The sands of the Tomb Kings are coming as the final release in the Call to Arms live expansion, the Land of the Dead approaches! Massively has your back with coverage from Mythic Entertainment at Games Day '09, so get your WAAGGGHHH ready for RvR mayhem as Massively re-arms for WAR!

It's coming for you: Land of the Dead dated for June 16th originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big gear changes coming to WAR in patch 1.3 (part two)

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion

The New System (post-1.3)

The greatest thing about the concept of wards is that they allow you to progress through more difficult PvE content without granting insanely large stat bonuses that negatively impact RvR. Wards are simply a flag that determines whether or not an NPC hits you for 50% damage or 500% damage (not the exact numbers but they do well to illustrate the point). The various sets (and set bonuses) do grant players an advantage in RvR, but the difference from set to set is fairly miniscule (i.e., roughly a 5-8% stat/attribute increase per set).

To bring more diversity and flavour to WAR's gear, Mythic will introduce a combination of three new features in 1.3. Disclaimer: These changes are currently on the Public Test Server and are subject to change.

Sigils

In simplest terms, sigils are like wards but don't require that you actually wear the ward gear. You will now get a Tome of Knowledge unlock when obtaining a piece of ward gear and from that point forward you will receive the benefit of that ward even when you wear a completely different piece of gear.

One of the biggest complaints about the various PvE dungeons is that the drop rate for ward gear is too low due to the small group size and variety of classes in each realm (exactly a 1/12 chance). The new sigil system will partially address this issue as well. After killing the boss X times (number unknown atm), you will be guaranteed to unlock the ward/sigil. Those seeking the actual piece of set gear will still have to grind for it, but at least you'll get the ward.

The sigil system means that it is now viable for you to equip your influence, PQ, or other rare drop gear in place of set gear and not have to worry about a lack of wards when raiding fortresses, cities, or a high rank instance (as long as you have the Tome unlock).

Vessels

Vessels are weapons that allow for much greater customization through the application of talismans and/or soul essences. The vessels we have seen so far on the Public Test Server work like this: Blue weapon has a competitive DPS rating, a single stat value, and two empty talisman slots (two-handers have three empty slots). Vessels are awarded as PQ loot, drops, and can be purchased with special tokens. There may be rarer purple vessels as well.

No longer are you forced to abide by WAR's strange and inconsistent itemization. You can tailor your weapons to suit your playstyle, augmenting the various strengths and weaknesses you want for your character. Currently, it seems like vessels are only available as weapons. I think most casual gamers and min-maxers alike would agree: let's see vessels reach out to armor and accessories and truly take advantage of the new sigil system.

Tokens

Land of the Dead tokens come in several forms; silver scarabs, golden scarabs, silver anhks, golden cartouches, and sacred masks. Tokens are gained from player kills, mob/boss kills, and PQ loot. The tokens are soulbound, which means you can't trade them. Personally, I dislike this feature, but it seems the route MMOs are taking these days. "More grind for the grind god!"

Scarabs are used to buy more common items like blue vessel weapons, souls, and special crafting items. Anhks and cartouches will get you powerful accessories like rings, necklaces, cloaks, and belts. The masks can be traded for some pieces of Tyrant gear, which is on par stat-wise with Warlord gear found in cities. Word is that Tyrant gear does not grant wards or sigils though, so it won't make Darkpromise, Invader, or Warlord gear obsolete.

Conclusion

As you can see, sigils will give players the benefits of a ward system, while increasing the diversity of gear in the game and not imbalancing RvR. Vessels and soul essences will offer even more weapon variety, giving players more customization options. The new tokens mean that even if you are extremely unlucky with drops in this PvE/RvR mega-zone, you'll still be able to work toward something.

These are great improvements to WAR's gear system. The next improvement I'd like Mythic to make would be some kind of token system or shift in the random loot mechanic in "old world dungeons" (e.g., city dungeons, Lost Vale, etc.).

Sigils allow you to get the wards from these dungeons eventually, but players going after the physical set pieces will still be subject to low and random drop rates. Would it be too difficult for them to add a token system to these dungeons? What about a mechanic where bosses only drop loot usable by classes that form the instance group? Nothing is worse than finally downing a boss and having him drop two pieces of gear that no-one in your group can use. Oh wait, I forgot... "More grind for the... ugh whatever." Prove me wrong! Please?

< < The old gear system?

Big gear changes coming to WAR in patch 1.3 (part two) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big gear changes coming to Warhammer Online in patch 1.3

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion

After looking at the big gear changes coming to Warhammer Online in patch 1.3, Dorothy-type gamers might loudly exclaim "Sigils and vessels and scarabs. Oh my!" The first two features will be completely new to WAR, while the last one is an expansion of the current RvR token system.

Let's first take a look at how players currently earn and use gear in WAR and then discuss how it's going to change once The Land of the Dead introduces sigils, vessels, and scarab tokens. For simplicity's sake we're going to only talk about the endgame, which is rank 31-40.

Continue reading Big gear changes coming to Warhammer Online in patch 1.3

Big gear changes coming to Warhammer Online in patch 1.3 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crafty WAR marketing reveals the "Rosetta Bones," hints at upcoming contest

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Culture, Events, real-world, Expansions, MMO industry, Warhammer Online

First it was a movie and a box of hair dye that announced the coming of the Choppa and Slayer in Warhammer Online. Then it was the infamous "violent valentine" cards that announced the Night of Murder event coming to WAR. Now... now we have blogs receiving bones with glyphs and letters on them. You have to hand it to Mythic's marketing department. They have some pretty inventive ways to do announcements, one has to admit.

This announcement however, is pretty big. In conjunction with the release of the Land of the Dead, blogs all about the blogosphere will be getting "Rosetta Bones." These bones will feature different symbols on their faces, each linked with a letter of the alphabet. The bones will also be accompanied with a map that points out special tomb unlocks, a flag to show which version the bones belong to (Europe or North American audiences will be getting different bones) and a parchment page containing storyline clues for what will be occuring in the future.

Continue reading Crafty WAR marketing reveals the "Rosetta Bones," hints at upcoming contest

Crafty WAR marketing reveals the "Rosetta Bones," hints at upcoming contest originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR's Call to Arms live expansion wraps up with Land of the Dead

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST

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

We first learned about Warhammer Online's Call to Arms live expansion back in late January 2009. After nearly six months of tests, live events, content updates, monster patches, and an ongoing story arc, the expansion will come to an end some time this month. They have saved the best for last of course and Call to Arms will be sent off in style with the release of the highly anticipated Land of the Dead mega-zone.

This week may be your last chance to test patch 1.3 before it goes live. This (last?) phase will focus on the Tomb Kings zone itself. That's right; testers will finally be unleashed upon the desert of Nehekhara! As a special reward, random testers will be awarded special manticore and griffon mounts akin to those gained from Mythic's recruit-a-friend program.

Many players agree the game has improved by leaps and bounds in the last six months and population has been holding steady quarter to quarter. This new mega-zone may prove to be the extra push that encourages new and past players to hop aboard the WAAAGH! train and give WAR a(nother) try. Interesting times are ahead.

WAR's Call to Arms live expansion wraps up with Land of the Dead originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, PvP, Warhammer Online, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

RvR is a carefully titrated, expansive system, and no one knows that better than Mythic Entertainment's Jeff Skalski. Jeff is the RvR team lead on Warhammer Online, and we recently had the chance to sit down with him at Games Day and pick his brain about many different aspects of WAR's RvR combat.

So what can we expect from city sieges in the future? What's the current priority for the RvR team? What's their plans for open RvR and keep sieges? What's it like designing a zone that includes a heavy emphasis on RvR and RvE working in tandem? These questions and more are answered inside this Games Day interview.

Continue reading Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski

Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Lands of the Dead design discussion with Gabe Amatangelo and Jeff Skalski pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Warhammer Online, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage

Now you guys have a really interesting design going on with Warhammer, regarding the City Siege system. You've basically built in your own cap on the game's system, which is very different from other MMOs in the market. What's it like designing something like Land of the Dead with that restrictive cap in mind?

Jeff: It's challenging. Sometimes it feels like we're splitting hairs, but we planned to do this type of stuff earlier on, so we left some space to design in. We wanted to make sure this was a free expansion that all players had access to that runs parallel to the tier four campaign...

Gabe: It compliments many different areas of our content. It compliments many types of players with many types of gear and gives them new objectives to achieve. But the top end, yeah, it's definitely a challenge, and that's the one campaign. We have three campaigns. The Warhammer world just has so much stuff in it. There are so many other armies and other things to be inspired by to make new content.

With all of that other stuff in mind, where would you like to take Warhammer if the decision was solely up to you?

Gabe: There's alot. You know, when we explored the RvR gated "Darkness Falls" dungeon, we explored a bunch of different things. We explored Mordheim, we explored Skavenblight, and then we fell across the Tomb Kings. This was perfect for us, as it allowed us to explore a bunch of different gameplay dynamics.

But still, I think Skavenblight is a very cool element. Then you have the whole Vampire Counts dark world...

Jeff: We still got Sylvania and getting out there to do. Personally, from a visual standpoint, I'd like to see Lustria. I think it's an environment we just don't have in the game at the moment, which was one of the reasons I was really excited about Tomb Kings. I like having a completely new environment and it's a setting we don't have at all in our game.

Gabe: And it also really depends on what we want to get out in regards to content. Is it a dungeon, is it a new open zone? That affects where we go with it. If it's a dungeon, oh well then we should go to Skavenblight as it's a underground thing over there. If it's a whole new mini-zone, then maybe we go to Lustria. Of course I'm talking in broad general terms, but that's the stuff that directs where we take it.

Is there anything that got left out of this expansion that you wish would have made it in?

Jeff: We accomplished alot, but there is that one thing we had to cut back on, as we needed to get moving with production, and that was being able to bring the Tomb Kings in as an ally in the RvR siege. In the early days of the design, we were thinking about giving the assistance of the Tomb King and his army out during city sieges.

Gabe: There were several ways we strayed away from that and one was certainly production issues, but another was that we wanted the campaign system to be the campaign system. Land of the Dead is gated by the campaign, but it doesn't hinder or affect the system in any way and we wanted to leave it like that.

The one for me was that we wanted people to be able to access Land of the Dead from level one. But, well, we just couldn't do that. We pushed it back to level 25.

Jeff: But the majority of our players meet that requirement anyway. The other other thing that we wanted was for instances to be able to let more players in. So there's six man runs right now, but there was this "other one" where we wanted to get that number higher, but we didn't get that in.

Gabe: *evil laughter* Not yet.

Now one of thing some of our commenters are going to point out as a problem is the power leveling. You can be level 25, then get bolstered to level 36 in Land of the Dead, and you gain level 36 experience at level 25. Why did you guys decide that?

Gabe: Well Darkness Falls was very successful as an alternate spot for power leveling. So we went and followed that form and put it into Land of the Dead.

The other thing to note though is that you can lose control of the Land of the Dead, and that will cause power leveling to spike. It's another carrot on the stick for players to gain control of the area. So I don't think it's going to be a problem, I think players are going to enjoy it.

Jeff: It gives you another track, an accelerated track, and it happens right at 25 for a reason as it's in that lull between tier three and tier four. It's going to be that extra push that will get people into tier four. We've done many things to help ease that lull, like new epic questlines and boosted quest experience, to get people into tier four.

So, ok, let's pretend I'm a newbie to Warhammer. Why should I come and play your game?

Jeff: If you want PvE content, we got the public quest system which is a trendsetter in the industry and I know we're going to see more of it pop up.

Oh yeah, Runes of Magic already jumped on that.

Jeff: Oh yeah, we know, and it's cool. It's just a good system because it helps get people together. From an PvP standpoint, our game was built for realm vs. realm combat. You can do it from rank one in our game. There are scenarios, there's RvR areas, they're dynamic, there's a lot of variety. We slowly introduce the player to harder and harder mechanics as they advance through the tiers, like keeps, and outer walls of keeps, and city sieges. To me, that's why players should come. If you want PvP then there's no other place to go.

Gabe: With Land of the Dead specifically, it's the pyramids and the necropolis. There's no other setting like that in modern MMOs. It's the action RPG elements and working together to overcome them as a group as well as individually. There's just nothing like it. You like Zelda, you like God of War? Then check this out.

Games Day '09: Lands of the Dead design discussion with Gabe Amatangelo and Jeff Skalski pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 May 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Lands of the Dead design discussion with Gabe Amatangelo and Jeff Skalski

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Warhammer Online, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

After saying goodbye to Paul and Josh, I soon found myself sitting down with Gabe Amatangelo, the senior designer on Land of the Dead, and Jeff Skalski, the RvR team lead, with the task of getting inside the Land of the Dead development process.

What I got were some great insights into how testing and development works at Mythic Entertainment, as well as some inside facts on Land of the Dead and some great reasons for why players should come back and try out some WAR. Interested in what sparked the movement to an action RPG dynamic? Wondering what features may not have made the final Land of the Dead cut? All of that and more is inside this Games Day interview.

Continue reading Games Day '09: Lands of the Dead design discussion with Gabe Amatangelo and Jeff Skalski

Games Day '09: Lands of the Dead design discussion with Gabe Amatangelo and Jeff Skalski originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 May 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: A moment with Paul Barnett and Josh Drescher pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

So, I know this is on many player's minds. Is this going to replace city raid content?

Josh: No.

Ok then.

Josh: Well, I mean the short answer is no.

Paul: My answer is totally no.

"This is a long term, total commitment from our studio to our players and to our newer players coming along."

Josh: Long answer, I've been with Mythic for eight years. I was here before Camelot launched and we know what this type of content does to a greater RvR campaign. While the RvR campaign is certainly more diverse and larger in Warhammer than in Camelot, but we know pragmatically that by tying the content to the campaign and requiring success on the battlefield to gain access to this content, that success may push you towards capital city content. Even if RvR is not your focus and your focus is to get down into the dungeon, you're going to wind up working your way towards the capital city. It just happens organically, so we're really not concerned about that too much.

At the end of the day, if people end up deciding that they enjoy this content more than city capture, we never felt that we need to integrate the players into the game in one set, specific way. Personally, I really love scenarios over everything else. I don't have much time to play, so for me, 15 minute scenarios are the way to play. That doesn't mean I won't engage in RvR, but overall I get 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there, and scenarios will always be my core fascination.

But there are other people who like large-scale raid content, who don't like RvR or PvP. This is a great way to have them go down and get that Disney Land experience while running through well-thought out content, but there's also that added danger that at any moment enemy players can swarm in. Also, as Paul likes to say...

Paul: I don't like building fart balloons.

*Laughs*

Paul: It's like the extended cut of a great movie. You have the main core of the movie, but you also have that extended stuff. You can watch the main core of the movie, but if you really want to obsess and you really want to see all of the detail you can watch the extended cut. It's more of the same, but it's new and cool. That's what it is. The movie is still the movie, our game is still our game, regardless.

Ok, so, this is basically a small expansion, honestly. Where do you see Warhammer going from here?

Paul: Go straight, go straight, go straight, go straight. This is a long term, total commitment from our studio to our players and to our newer players coming along. Try it out, it's never going away, it's only going onwards and upwards.

Josh: I agree with Paul. Our boxed expansion schedule, such as it is, is probably going to mirror very closely to what we did in Camelot -- an alternating sequence of free expansions via patches and then boxed retail expansion content. Almost certainly you will see retail expansions in the near future, but you will certainly keep seeing free expansions as well.

"To go to a person at a time like this when unemployment is rampant, the economy is in the tank, and retirement funds have gone away and say, "Hey, can I have 10 to 15 dollars of your money every month to play my game?" is actually a pretty bold request."

We've always felt the relationship we, the developer, have with our players should be something more than just simple money extraction. At least 50 percent of it should be grateful generation of wonderful things for them to have for free.

All right. Now the hard question. 300,000 subscribers -- how do you guys feel about that? It's the number you started with, and it's the number you currently hold now.

Josh: There is no start and there is no now. Now, as a company, we're legally not allowed to comment on those numbers any further than what was reported, but we're very happy with the enthusiasm and continued dedication of people all over the world who have played Warhammer for the last nine months.

It's been a really difficult time not just for the games industry, but for everyone. To go to a person at a time like this when unemployment is rampant, the economy is in the tank, and retirement funds have gone away and say, "Hey, can I have 10 to 15 dollars of your money every month to play my game?" is actually a pretty bold request. So for people to come to us and say that the commitment we've shown and the game that we've built is worth that kind of display, we have nothing but thanks for those people. We are unbelievably grateful that they've stuck with us and we hope that this type of content that we've been developing for the last nine months is an indication of our dedication to our end of this type of interaction. They trust us to do this, and we're trying to make good on our end of it and bring great things to them consistently.

We are very happy with where the game is. We would obviously love to have more people try Warhammer, which is why we have the trial out...

Paul: Which you can download right now!

Josh: And we're very happy to continue on into the future. Also, this event is the last thing I'm allowed to do before I go get married. I'm very excited, I'm getting married next Saturday.

Paul: It's an exclusive for Massively!

Josh: I love you Aubrey, please continue marrying me. Put that in big bold letters. Breaking news: Josh loves Aubrey.

I will totally do that. Josh, Paul, thank you so much for your time!

Games Day '09: A moment with Paul Barnett and Josh Drescher pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 May 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: A moment with Paul Barnett and Josh Drescher (also, Josh loves Aubrey)

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

Even with all of the excitement occurring at Games Day, Mythic's Paul Barnett and Josh Drescher still had a moment to sit down with us at Massively and talk a little shop about Warhammer's overall status, Mythic's future direction of the game, and why players should come back and experience the Land of the Dead.

But they're tricky folks, Paul and Josh! They even tried to turn the interview back around at us at some points! But we stayed strong for you readers, and were able to get some interesting answers out of them regarding Warhammer Online. Also, we have exclusive coverage that Josh indeed loves his fiancee, Aubrey. Yay marriage!

Interested in the full interview? Hit that link and read on!

Continue reading Games Day '09: A moment with Paul Barnett and Josh Drescher (also, Josh loves Aubrey)

Games Day '09: A moment with Paul Barnett and Josh Drescher (also, Josh loves Aubrey) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 May 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Expansions, New titles, Patches, PvP, Warhammer Online, PvE, Opinion, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage

Get caught in one of the clouds and you'll find yourself teleported to the bottom of one of the nearby tombs, stuck in a sarcophagus, and taking damage from the curse. Your friends can't get into the tombs due to barriers that are placed over the doors, turning this into a race to get out of the tomb before you die. These moments were filled with frantic cheers and laughter as we all danced around trying to avoid the dust clouds, accompanied by laughs of anguish as people would get caught and stuck inside of the tomb.

Overall, the PQs are really enjoyable and a nice step away from "kill, rinse, repeat." Even if they involve killing monsters, there's usually some sort of trick to the PQ that makes it into a very active experience, rather than a strict button mashing period. Plus if that last boss battle sounded crazy, think of how it could go when the zone flips sides and the enemy begins running in. Now you have a boss, enemy players, and dust clouds. Fights in the tombs while curse is in effect, anyone? Luring enemies to stand in the way of dust clouds?

Eventually though, we were taken away from the PQs and had the chance to step into the Tomb of the Vulure Lord itself -- testing our mettle against the various traps. The first one that stood in our way was a hallway filled with swinging pendulum blades.

These blades were stacked very close together, with little room between them to stand without getting yourself sliced in half. One hit kills you, so don't try running through aimlessly because it's not going to end well. This trap is all about timing, placement, and pattern recognition -- a classic console adventure trap. What I liked the most about these traps was that they don't require the whole party to make it. Three people is all you need out of your group of six, and dying in the dungeon will just respawn you at the entrance (as long as you maintain control, of course.)

"It's very different, and it's alot of fun."

Eventually making it past that trap gave us access to the Terracotta Army hall -- a room filled with terracotta statues of soldiers and chariots. The whole room could be categorized under "things that never end well" because, as you would expect, walking next to some statues causes them to come to life. This whole encounter is a hybrid PQ/boss battle, as killing enough soldiers will awaken the final boss of the room, an angry skeleton who switches between different stances while you do battle with him.

Overall, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this. I was expecting an area and a dungeon filled with standard MMO trappings of trash mob pulls, boring grindfests, and RvR mixed in with all of that. What I got was a very carefully crafted zone that caters to all types of MMO players and merges PvP content with PvE content in a really inventive fashion. Even the Tomb of the Vulture Lord doesn't feel like a traditional MMO dungeon. It's an adventure through a tomb rather than a series of trash pulls with scary bosses. It tells a story and immerses you rather than just throwing themed encounters at you. Sure, this mystique will wear off over time, but I don't see this dungeon becoming something like other MMO dungeons. It's very different, and it's alot of fun. Land of the Dead is totally something you need to experience.

Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Expansions, New titles, Patches, PvP, Warhammer Online, PvE, Opinion, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage

So we've been over the cold, unfeeling facts about Land of the Dead. It's big, it's a throwback zone to action RPGs, it has RvR and PvE, and it's filled with mummies. But you don't want the facts, right? You want to know how it plays and you want to know if it's worth your time to pick up Warhammer or resubscribe to the game.

During my time at Games Day, I got the chance to participate in a bunch of the PQs in the new zone and try out a few areas of the Tomb of the Vulture Lord, the capstone dungeon of the whole experience. I got to be shanked by swinging blades, pierced by surprise dart traps, and I even got to wear the Sovereign armor set, the pinnacle armor of the game. (Yes, it looks completely badass.)

Continue reading Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead

Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: An overview of the Land of the Dead, pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, New titles, Previews, PvP, Warhammer Online, PvE, Massively Event Coverage

All of this culminates in the Tomb of the Vulture Lord, a massively long dungeon filled with 7 public (in this case, your group) quests and 8 unique bosses. Between these events are your standard trash pulls, but there are also rooms filled with Indiana Jones-esque traps. For example, one hallway is littered with swinging pendulum blades while another has columns that shoot darts. Three people need to successfully clear these action/movement oriented traps so they can be shut down for other players to pass. Even to get into the instance you need to complete a public quest "puzzle" that involves your group attempting to open the doors of the tomb. Also... the final boss battle... let's just say that it won't be the last time you'll be seeing the king once you defeat him. You'll see him again very, very soon.

Finally, there's the infamous "purge" mechanic that occurs when the Land of the Dead changes hands over to the opposing realm. As mentioned before, when the zone changes hands, the prior owners lose the right to respawn. They will be alerted of the switch in ownership, but they will not be kicked out of the zone. Their new task will be to defend themselves as the new realm recieves quests to purge the enemy from the public quests and destroy the other realm's base camp on the other side of the map. Purging the enemy gives lots of experience and rewards, so it's a very lucrative thing to do, especially as you have free respawns and your enemy doesn't.

"Mythic has built in a purge mechanic for the instances as well -- giving the enemy the option to invade your instances while you're still in them."

At this point, smart players are thinking they can hide in the various instanced lairs and the Tomb of the Vulture Lord. Wrong. Mythic has built in a purge mechanic for the instances as well -- giving the enemy the option to invade your instances while you're still in them. Don't think of trying to do cooperative realm dungeon clears either, because the minute your enemy hits your boss, he'll no longer reward experience or loot. Dungeon crawling players will be informed that their instance has been invaded by the enemy, and they'll recieve the new objective of "survive for X minutes" while the other players have the sole objective of "destroy all enemy players."

If you're invading the Tomb of the Vulture Lord, beware! Defenders may not be able to respawn, but they do have the ability to reset the traps they've cleared in the dungeon! Players who progress further will be able to reset more traps to bide time against the invasion, allowing them to continue to clear bosses while the invading enemies wiggle their way through the traps littered in the instance.

Finally, it all comes down to loot. Land of the Dead will be offering loot that will be on par with and a little below the endgame gear offered in city sieges. This will come from drops, but it will also come from the various tokens that will be dropped by literally everything in the zone, from public quests to players. The big change comes with the new sigil system that's going to now encompass the prior ward system.

Wards will now be pieced together to form character-centric sigils, which are placed inside of the Tome of Knowledge instead of on the armor itself. These sigils are always active, no matter what armor you're wearing, eliminating the need to carry the right wards on the right parts. Prior players who are loaded with ward gear, do not fret! Your wards will combine together to form sigils right off of the bat, so you won't be outdated when the new system hits. Even if you don't have the right wards to get a sigil, you can now unlock "pieces" of the ward by completing achievement objectives, like defeating a boss that would give you that piece of ward armor X times. So even if it never drops for you, you'll still get it eventually.

Overall, the Land of the Dead is a very active zone with much going on inside of it and for it. Token drop system, new sigils, action oriented design, and crazy RvR objectives are simply a gloss over what this place has going on inside of it. Come back later in the day, when I'll be speaking on my direct experiences with the "dungeon zone" and what I enjoyed inside of it. WAAAGGGHHH!!

Games Day '09: An overview of the Land of the Dead, pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 May 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What are you going to do in Land of the Dead?

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Events, in-game, Opinion, The Daily Grind

We have a bunch of Warhammer Online coverage lined up for you this week, with everything from exclusive interviews with some of the staff of Mythic Entertainment to a complete overview of the new Land of the Dead zone that will be heading to WAR subscribers everywhere thanks to a free game update. With all of this new information comes more hype, so we want to know exactly what you're feeling about the new dungeon coming out.

Are you excited about the release of the spiritual successor dungeon to Dark Age of Camelot's Darkness Falls? Are you going to be jumping in to the new RvR zone with glee? Are you interested in the slew of new PQs that will be in the Necropolis, or are you looking forward to that new instanced dungeon? Or, maybe it's the tweaks to tier 4 that's getting you all excited?

Whatever it is, we want to know about it. Throw your comments in here and let us know!

The Daily Grind: What are you going to do in Land of the Dead? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 May 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Winds of Change to blow through Warhammer

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

What's the worst case scenario for an MMO pitting hundreds of players against each other in epic large-scale RvR combat? Lag. Crashing. Rollbacks. Unfortunately, many Warhammer Online players have experienced all these issues while participating in open RvR. Mythic has been working on server stability since launch and now plan on taking a more aggressive stance by testing a new mechanic called The Winds of Change (WoC).

The WoC will basically teleport certain players to the nearest PvE safe spot (warcamp or chapter hub) when the server determines it is under enough stress to soon buckle. If people do not voluntarily leave once the WoC message is broadcast across the zone, dead players in the effected area will be teleported first, followed by the severely wounded. On the plus side, at least those players who qualify will still have a chance at rolling for rewards.

Some players believe the solution is not ideal because it forces people out of RvR, the game's bread and butter, but Mythic says the WoC only be a temporary fix until they can solve their server stability issues once and for all. One has to wonder if that is even possible given the game has been on the market for over 7 months already. Still, we remain cautiously optimistic. A more permanent solution may arrive with The Land of the Dead as we predict many players will flee the original open RvR campaign for RvR in the desert.

Update #1 - Mythic has released a server maintenance announcement.

Greetings!

Today, 4/29/09, all North American and Oceanic servers will be brought offline at 9:00 AM EDT for an update. We anticipate all servers to be back online by 1:00 PM EDT. This update will improve City Instances and server stability; in addition the Winds of Change feature will be removed from Dark Crag during this downtime.

Thank you and as always keep an eye on the Herald for the latest news and information during server updates!

Update #2 - GOA's Nilax has released this statement on the official European forums.

"After reviewing the metrics and community feedback Mythic have removed the Winds of Change feature from Dark Crag. As they will continue to look at this or similar options to improve stability I will leave this thread open for now."

Winds of Change to blow through Warhammer originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer's Beyond the Sands event now live

Kyle Horner — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Warhammer Online, News items

Starting yesterday and continuing on through Monday, April 27th, Warhammer Online players have access to the next phase of Mythic's Call to Arms live expansion, Beyond the Sands. The event focuses on both factions competing over artifacts of the Nehekharan Kings and to defeat their undeathly Liche Priests. According to Mythic, this particular event focuses primarily on RvR but does contain a dash of PvE as well.

Although those looking for more PvE content won't be waiting too much longer, as this is all leading up to the Land of the Dead update which is purportedly bringing new instanced dungeons. Then again, it's also bring a large new RvR zone as well, so all things in balance we suppose.

The content just keeps on coming for Warhammer Online players, and that's never a bad thing. With the biggest content still yet to come, there seems to be plenty about this game to remain excited about.

Warhammer's Beyond the Sands event now live originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Land of the Dead draws nearer in Warhammer

Brooke Pilley — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:00:00 EST

Warhammer Online's Call to Arms live expansion has been rolling along for months now and players are getting mighty excited about the prospects of the Tomb Kings and The Land of the Dead mega-zone. One WAR blogger is so fired-up he has an on-going guide feature dedicated to it.

Greg Moran, a fan favorite webcomic artist and owner of the Tome of Knowledge blog, just released part two of Bring Out Yer Dead. In it, he uses a hearty blend of Warhammer IP knowledge, Mythic promotional evidence, and speculation to provide details on what players might find once set loose upon the sands of Nehekhara. Part one gives an excellent primer on Tomb Kings history and lore.

The feature is supplemented by a number of fantastic original illustrations and links to external resources. We suggest you watch part one and two of Mythic's very own Land of the Dead production podcast at the very least. Part three will be released in the May newsletter. There's also a new Beyond the Sands live event running in-game from April 20-27, which will reveal many secrets leading up to the full-scale zone launch.

Land of the Dead draws nearer in Warhammer originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A rocky start for Warhammer's 1.21 patch

Brooke Pilley — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:30:00 EST

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

Patch day in an MMO is always hit or miss, but according to a number of sources, Mythic's 1.21 patch for Warhammer Online broke many core components of the game that still haven't been fixed several days later. A public acknowledgment appeared on the WAR Herald this past weekend, but some players are still furious.

The major issues revolve largely around end-game content, such as tier 4 open RvR, fortress raids, and city sieges. Many players in the endgame are experiencing debilitating lag, targeting issues in RvR, crashes, and even the inability to log back on to their main characters. A recent crash even created a rollback situation for some characters, which means they lost everything they had gained over a certain period of time before the crash (from XP and renown to Darkpromise gear).

This is an unfortunate situation for Mythic because it seems to be overshadowing many of the great new features in 1.21, such as a new token system for RvR gear and enhanced keep siege options. The living guild interface received a major overhaul as well and many players were reporting that cast lag was nearly abolished before the other issues started cropping up.

A rocky start for Warhammer's 1.21 patch originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Land of the Dead details emerge from WAR dev

Brooke Pilley — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

We've been hearing a slow trickle of details from Mythic these past few months about the new Land of the Dead zone in Warhammer Online. In his recent developer diary entry, Gabe Amatangelo, Senior Designer, Dungeons & Encounters Lead, shares new information about and inspirations behind the new Tomb Kings area.

We learn that Gabe was given the go ahead to conceptualize the zone in September 2008, shortly after launch and that it will come in two forms: The Necropolis desert, which is an open, non-instanced zone and The Tomb of the Vulture Lord dungeon.

Control over this dungeon will depend on a new Expedition Resource system, which will come as a blend of zone control and open RvR kills. Not only will you fight over the new dungeon, you will fight in it as well and the only safe spot will be the zone-in spot. The dungeon will have instanced encounters, but players will actually be able to storm instances and chase after enemies.

As a PvE expansion to their newly announced RvR token system, monsters in The Necropolis desert will also drop tokens, which can be used to purchase powerful gear and crafting materials. If any of this sounds interesting to you, keep your eyes peeled for the April newsletter.

More Land of the Dead details emerge from WAR dev originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR 1.21 patch hitting the public test server this week

Brooke Pilley — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EST

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

Mark Jacobs stopped by the official Warhammer forums to give players a list of highlights from the 1.21 patch hitting the public test server later this week. While the patch number suggests this won't be a major patch, the highlights suggest otherwise.

Most people agree the biggest issue on Mythic's plate right now is combat responsiveness. Currently, players experience a sigificant "stretch" or "pause" when executing longer duration abilities (animation glitches don't help matters either). Mark says this issue will be fixed in under "normal" gameplay conditions, but may still exist to a degree under high server load.

Other items of note are improvements to the keep siege system that will allow guilds who claim keeps to upgrade their defenses, a Beyond the Sands live event, more bug fixes, and special versions of the Gates of Ekrund and Nordenwatch scenarios.

The balance issue with stacked ground target area of effect damage spells introduced in the previous patch is not touched upon in Mark's highlights, but Adam Gershowitz made a post on the Ranged Damage Dealers forum detailing the changes coming in 1.21. Overall, this is looking like a solid patch as fans await 1.3.

WAR 1.21 patch hitting the public test server this week originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythic invites old subscribers to try WAR again for free!

Brooke Pilley — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Were you one of the 450,000 or so players that didn't stick with Warhammer Online after release? If so, you might not want to pass up this deal! Mythic is inviting all subscribers who quit WAR more than 30-days ago to give the game another shot for free. This isn't a new trial account either; you will get to play your old account.

This is a great deal on many levels. Mythic recently consolidated 40 low-population servers into 16 stronger ones and launched a free trial (meaning you will have people to play with). They have also made huge game improvements since you left. The early tiers are reinvigorated with the release of the Slayer and Choppa careers. As if the conditions weren't ideal enough, you will also receive special buffs that increase your XP, renown, and gold, a few new quests, and a special item.

To allow you to meet up with friends, you will receive one free transfer to any server of your choosing. All you need to do is reactivate your account and you're all set. Mythic put together a special FAQ that tells you everything you need to know. There has really never been a better time to give WAR another shot.

Mythic invites old subscribers to try WAR again for free! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively re-arms for WAR: State of the opinion address

Brooke Pilley — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST

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

Mark Jacobs just released his WAR State of the Game announcement. I think this is a pretty important one because next week marks WAR's 6-month anniversary. Here are my thoughts about it.

I found the intro paragraphs to be pretty standard for this type of announcement. On the plus side he's admitting that WAR isn't where they'd like it to be but he balances that by patting his own back. I realize he needs to say these things for shareholders, but comments like this always make me roll my eyes: "Given the proximity of these two releases, I think it is pretty safe to say that these represent one of the largest (if not the largest) amount of new content, tweaks, adjustments, etc. to any MMO over the course of several months." I simply love how someone can spin nearly 1,000 bug and polish fixes into a good thing (especially at the six-month point in the game's life cycle). It is and it isn't, y'know?

Anyway, on to the meat and potatoes of the SotG. Mark mentioned 11 key areas of focus for the next few months. Here are my impressions of these sections (find his original text in the official SotG letter).

Continue reading Massively re-arms for WAR: State of the opinion address

Massively re-arms for WAR: State of the opinion address originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer Online's 1.2 patch might just bring you back

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST

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

Not only is the 1.2 patch huge in terms of size, it is also huge in terms of the impact it will have on Warhammer Online. According to the table of contents, there are 75 sections and subsections in these patch notes. Yikes! Almost every area of the game is affected by 1.2, including combat and careers, crafting, itemization, quests and public quests, items, realm vs. realm, and the user interface.

This patch is chock full of goodness but if you had to pick the top three highlights, they would probably be the Bitter Rivals live event, Zone Domination system, and fixes to combat and careers. Bitter Rivals is a weeklong live event that will provide you with plenty of fun tasks to complete, a new Twisting Tower scenario, and the ability to unlock early access to the new Slayer and Choppa careers. Zone Domination is an alternative way progress the RvR campaign more quickly. It also encourages more rigorous defence of objectives and keeps. Every single career in WAR had some of their abilities fixed or balanced, which makes this the most comprehensive career balance patch since 1.06 in early December.

Make sure you read the full 1.2 notes because they cover so much more than this.

Warhammer Online's 1.2 patch might just bring you back originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively re-arms for WAR: Slayer

Kyle Horner — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Massively Hands-on

Dwarf Slayers are just about ready to start hitting the live Warhammer Online servers for all their worth. With the orange tide imminent, I've been running around the test server for the past several days, looking to learn all I could about these wonders of Dwarven kind. Including -- but not limited to -- the underlying cogs of their special mechanic, how they handle PvP and PvE, and most importantly where they hide their booze -- here's a hint: it's underneath something.

Now, with many honorable deaths under my massive beard, I've come here to present you, our dear readers, with a neatly packed bundle of information.

Continue reading Massively re-arms for WAR: Slayer

Massively re-arms for WAR: Slayer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa (part 3)

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Massively Hands-on

Continue reading Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa (part 3)

Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa (part 3) originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa (part 2)

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Massively Hands-on

Continue reading Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa (part 2)

Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa (part 2) originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Massively Hands-on

With the release of the orc choppa only days away, Massively thought you might be interested in a career guide. I had a chance to try out the choppa this past weekend on the public test server (PTS). Mythic was giving out free rank 40, renown rank 41 templates and asked us to wreck some havoc in the world of Warhammer Online. I played my choppa extensively in open RvR and even tried a bit of PvE.

Introduction

The orc choppa is the most psychotic greenskin career. Heck, make that the most psychotic career in all of Warhammer Online! The goal of the choppa is to throw himself upon his foes and work himself up into a blind fury. The longer he stays in combat, the more damage he will do. Of course, with such little regard for personal safety, he will also become more susceptible to damage. This next part may seem a bit confusing, but realize that greenskins are actually quite simple: choppas are named after their weapons, which are called choppas. These implements are sharp and jagged hunks of metal strapped together with wood and leather. Choppas can use one big choppa or two smaller choppas. They are very basic but very deadly...

Continue reading Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa

Massively re-arms for WAR: Meet Da' Choppa originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What excites you most about WAR's Call to Arms?

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Events, in-game, Expansions, Game mechanics, Launches, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Today's the big day for Warhammer Online's Patch 1.2, and we can honestly say that you will be pleased at our coverage throughout the day. We have guides for the new classes and more on what this patch brings to the table. Now the question is, what are you most excited about?

Are you excited for the Choppa, or perhaps you're more of a Slayer? Maybe you can't wait to get your hands on some official forum action? You might just be itching to dive into that shiny new dungeon or experiment with the new RvR or crafting changes. Or better yet, none of this new content may interest you at all, and you're just excited that hundreds of bugs will get squashed with this patch. No matter what it is that tickles your fancy today, we want to hear about it. Let us know!

The Daily Grind: What excites you most about WAR's Call to Arms? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer's 1.2 patch to go live March 3, 2009

Brooke Pilley — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST

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

The 1.2 patch for Warhammer Online is going to be huge. Mark Jacobs gave fans a highlight reel of what it will deliver back in early February, which includes fixes to over 500 bugs, two new careers, class balance, and much more. Since that time, Mythic put 1.2 up on the public test server for everyone to give feedback on. Here is a summary of some blog feedback we found (because not everyone can view the beta forums atm):

Keen shared his thoughts on the new Choppa career.
Book of Grudges has a good review of Slayers.
Part 1 of Garrison of WAR's review (map improvements, realm status changes, and new mounts).
Part 2 of Garrison of WAR's review (rage mechanic and how it performed in both PvE and RvR).
Part 3 of Garrison of WAR's review [additional map improvements (more accurate group and warband dots), the new parties and warbands window, potions persisting through death, and how all MDPS careers will receive a pick lock skill that lets them enter postern keep doors].
Stunty Stomper and Obsessive Focus talk a bit about crafting changes.

Arbitrary of the Book of Grudges is also reporting that the latest US WAR newsletter in her inbox says patch 1.2 will go live March 3, 2009. The Bitter Rivals live event will start March 4, 2009.

Warhammer's 1.2 patch to go live March 3, 2009 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythic announces free 10-day WAR trials on FilePlanet

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Mythic just announced free 10-day trials for Warhammer Online through FilePlanet, which is available to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and U.S. residents only. Up until now, the only way to try WAR for free was if you received an invitation from Mythic's Recruit-a-Friend program. For a limited time, anyone to takes the free trial through FilePlanet will also receive $5.00 off the full purchase on Direct2Drive.

You can download the trial here. The trial will expire 10 days after you activate your account, even if you don't log in. Trial accounts are restricted to tier one and capital city zones. You may purchase items from the auction house and receive in-game mail but you can not sell items on the AH or send in-game mail (to prevent spam/bot accounts). Trial characters can only be created on designated servers. Check the official free trial FAQ for more details.

It is unknown when or if the 10-day trial offer will expire. The ideal time try WAR for the first time is probably in early March once they implement the 1.2 patch. Patch 1.2 will feature the Bitter Rivals live event (many interesting tasks, a new scenario, and will usher in the Choppa and Slayer careers), fix hundreds upon hundreds of bugs, and aim to balance almost all the game's careers.

Mythic announces free 10-day WAR trials on FilePlanet originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earn special character customizations for your Slayer and Choppa

Brooke Pilley — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST

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

Remember when Mythic said there would be incentives for being an active contributor on their new official forums for Warhammer Online? Apparently, they're about to give away the first of these in-game incentives we've heard so much about. Say hello to Snorri's Spikes and Chompin' Teef, two new customization options you can earn for your new Slayer and Choppa.

Snorri's Spikes is an especially painful looking mohawk for your dwarf and Chompin' Teef will have you looking like a greenskin version of Jaws from James Bond in no time. You can earn these rewards by logging in to the Public Test Server and playing the heck out of the two new careers (Choppa and Slayer). Report any bugs you find in game or on the forums and provide any useful feedback you can think of. Mythic will reward top contributors with these character customizations. "Top contributor" criteria are unknown, which may promote people trying hard instead of just enough. The Warhammer community is speculating that the 1.2 patch will drop late next week or early the following, so you may want to start soon before you miss out.

Earn special character customizations for your Slayer and Choppa originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Come on in, the WAR is lovely

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Classes, Events, in-game, Interviews, Warhammer Online, News items

Warhammer Online has plenty on their plate for the coming months. The whole Call to Arms expansion is bringing live events, two new classes, a brand new dungeon themed from the Tomb Kings, and plenty of changes and additions to RvR combat.

So what does creative director Paul Barnett and executive producer Jeff Hickman do on their spare time? Well they go to the New York Comic Con and film silly videos about Warhammer with MTV Multiplayer! While the video is amusing, the two also get into some of the nuts and bolts of WAR, including a few reasons why any player should give their game a try and what they're doing to make the whole experience better. Also, they have giant foam warhammers. You just can't turn down giant foam warhammers.

Come on in, the WAR is lovely originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Test server patch notes for Warhammer's "Bitter Rivals" event released

Michael Zenke — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Patches, Crafting, PvP, Warhammer Online

Patch days are like mini-holidays for MMO players. They're worth a beer, a cheer, and a heck of a lot of investigating. The upcoming Warhammer Online Patch 1.2 is worth a lot of cheering, as it ushers in the first of the proper Call to Arms expansion live events. What's more, at 55 pages, you'd cheer your throat raw before the improvements ran out. The biggest news, of course, is the addition of two brand-new character classes for the Greenskins and Stunties. The Choppa and Slayer will inject some much-needed enthusiasm into the game's playerbase.

Here are some of the other highlights the devs have chosen to single out:

A brand-new Tier 4 Scenario called the Twisting Tower. Much like the Reikland Factory during the Heavy Metal event, this is a limited-term engagement. Make sure you check it out while the event is up and running.
All-new systems are being put into place for Open RvR! A "Rallying Cry" will draw players to conflicts in the first two tiers, while a new Zone Control Domination system will give players incentives to truly conquer those zones.
Itemization has been revamped across the board, with dungeons, fortresses, and PQs all recieving tweaks and reconsideration.
"Easy-mode" Public Quests are being added throughout the 2-4 tiers, allowing solo players and small groups to get that sweet PvE loot without having to grind Stage 1.
Crafting is being given a significant overhaul. All the 'gathering' skills are now extraordinarily streamlined, and the 'creation' skills are now definitively associated with two gathering skills.

Beyond the above there are numerous changes to classes, user interface improvements, brand new mounts, and an army's worth of bug fixes. The scope of this patch is daunting to contemplate, let alone read through, but if you want to give it a try the full and unadulterated list is available at the Warhammer Herald. Put on your helmed horn and go check it out.

Gallery: Warhammer Online: Concept Art

Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Test server patch notes for Warhammer's "Bitter Rivals" event released originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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