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ZAM News (full) http://www.zam.com/ ZAM gaming news rss feed ZAM Returns to Warhammer Online: Part 1 [Warhammer Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=22976 Despite an exciting launch in September 2008, with a respectable number of players, <a href="http://www.zam.com/game.html?game=12" target="_blank">Warhammer Online's</a> subscriber base took a substantial hit just two months later, when Wrath of the Lich King dropped in November. An abundance of gameplay bugs, balance problems and client issues didn't help WAR's hemorrhaging player base either, as we noted in <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=18905" target="_blank">an editorial</a> last summer. However, a lot has changed since the MMO's launch in 2008; new classes and content were added, bugs were squashed and entire game systems were revamped. Last year's <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=18570" target="_blank">Land of the Dead</a> content update helped retain many of WAR's already-devoted players, while Mythic's free-to-play "Endless Trial" system is attracting more new players every day. In anticipation of the MMO's two-year anniversary this fall—as well as the substantial changes and new features added since launch—ZAM is returning to WAR! This new feature series examines WAR from the perspective of players who left the game in early 2009, like many original subscribers (either to explore Northrend in Wrath or because they weren't satisfied with WAR's early development). In this first installment of our "Return to War" series, we offer our initial impressions of the new features and gameplay changes. During the next few months, ZAM will dig deeper and explore certain aspects of today's WAR (solo/group PvE, open RvR, Scenarios, City Sieges) in more detail, including the occasional interview with Mythic's game producers. Continue reading the first part of our "Return to War" series after the jump, and leave your comments or questions for future installments—including our Q&As with Mythic—in the dedicated <a href="http://www.zam.com/forum.html?game=12&mid=1281579795112446177" target="_blank">Return To War forum thread</a>.<a name="pause" title="pause"></a><img src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/174025.jpg" alt="" /> Many of us at ZAM are big fans of Games Workshop's Warhammer franchise, which spans multiple platforms, from tabletop miniatures to desktop video gaming. Today's "next big thing" is the recently-announced <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=22543" target="_blank">Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online</a> MMO from Virgil Games and THQ, which garnered huge attention this summer at <a href="http://www.zam.com/news/tags/E3_2010" target="_blank">E3</a>. But in early 2008, a similar crowd of gaming fans eagerly awaited <a href="http://www.zam.com/game.html?game=12" target="_blank">Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning</a>, the first MMO based on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_Fantasy_%28setting%29" target="_blank">Warhammer Fantasy</a> franchise. Developers at Mythic Entertainment (<a href="http://www.zam.com/game.html?game=37" target="_blank">Dark Age of Camelot</a>, <a href="http://www.zam.com/game.html?game=51" target="_blank">Ultima Online</a>) hyped an innovative design that would launch PvP to a whole new level in modern MMO gaming, while providing a unique and accessible PvE experience via "<a href="http://war.allakhazam.com/wiki/Category%3APublic_%28WAR_Quest_Type%29" target="_blank">Public Quests</a>" and other features. To some extent, WAR succeeded in its quest to "break the mold" when the market was overrun by World of Warcraft clones and dozens of uninspired, free-to-play MMOs. Beyond WAR's slick graphics and well-established lore, Mythic developed a robust Realm vs. Realm (RvR) system—built upon the foundation of its earlier Dark Age of Camelot—that rewards players as much, if not more, than typical PvE gameplay. One of WAR's earliest selling points was the concept that players could level up their characters all the way to max rank purely via RvR combat. Catering to both solo-and group-oriented players, WAR strove to be the best MMO in its class for PvP gameplay. Unfortunately, most early players never had the chance to experience the full potential of WAR's ambitious RvR; instanced <a title="Scenarios" href="http://war.allakhazam.com/wiki/Scenarios" target="_blank">"Scenarios"</a> and open RvR were inherently flawed due to faction imbalances and low-population servers. The basic "combat and careers" system was often bug-ridden and ridiculously lop-sided, while game client instability during large battles frustrated players even more. Many of the server-related problems worsened as more players left the game, because WAR is an MMO that thrives in a player-rich environment. That's why one of the most important things we noticed when we returned to WAR earlier this month was the reduction in the number of North American servers. Mythic spent the past year merging servers, <a href="http://war.allakhazam.com/story.html?story=18820" target="_blank">one group after another</a>, whittling them down to just four in all: Badlands, Gorfang, Iron Rock and Volkmar (we've also heard <a href="http://mrmeh.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/warhammer-online-server-merges/" target="_blank">rumors</a> that another merge or free character transfer is on the way). <img src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/174034.jpg" alt="" /> The fact that WAR is cropped down to just four servers doesn't bode well for its public image, but now that Mythic is more concerned with player retention than saving face, the problems stemming from low-population and imbalanced servers aren't nearly as severe as they were last year. In fact, it's never been easier for new players to find around-the-clock RvR action since Mythic launched its "Endless Trial" system, which essentially converted Ranks 1 to 10—or <a href="http://war.allakhazam.com/wiki/Advancement_%28WAR%29" target="_blank">"Tier 1"</a>—into a free-to-play MMO. (To learn more, read our <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20759" target="_blank">"Tour of WAR's New User Journey, Endless Trial"</a> published late last year.) Returning players of all ranks should notice a vast improvement in Scenario queue times, as well as open RvR activity, such as Keep Sieges, Battlefield Objectives and even City Sieges. However, because the majority of active players are Tier 1 and Tier 4, there's still a bit of progression disparity from ranks 11 to 31. On any given day and time, we usually had no problem finding open RvR and short Scenario queues in Tiers 1 and 4. Activity waned a bit in Tier 2, especially on low-population servers. We had the most difficulty in Tier 3; unless you're on the high-population Badlands server, it's tough to find open RvR and Scenario activity during non-peak hours, depending on your faction. Fortunately this "inverted bell curve" of player ranks doesn't pose as much of a problem as it would have in the early days of WAR, before we had access to all the new tools and features introduced throughout the past year. All Scenarios are available to every Tier now, while the least-popular were removed from the pool. In addition to PvE reward currency, Mythic introduced a new "Scenario currency" in February's patch 1.3.4; these tokens can be earned as early as Rank 1 and are used to buy rare and epic gear, potions and talismans.<a name="pagebreak" title="pagebreak"></a><img src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/174024.jpg" alt="" /> Mythic also streamlined character progression and increased rewards across the board, in both RvR and PvE gameplay. For example, the Empire and Chaos paired continent is the "default" PvE path for now, which prevents each server's population from spreading too thin throughout the world. Players of any race can still access their home continent and zones via Flightmasters (and those zones are still being developed for improved quest flow), but for now, Mythic is nudging us closer together to give us more opportunities to find groups and enjoy all those Public Quests. Many core game systems have also been upgraded or entirely revamped and, depending on how long they've been gone, returning players will find new <a href="http://war.allakhazam.com/wiki/Category:WAR_Careers" target="_blank">careers</a> and PvE/RvR content like <a href="http://war.allakhazam.com/wiki/Land_of_the_Dead_%28WAR%29" target="_blank">Land of the Dead</a>. Literally dozens—if not hundreds—of convenience-related issues were fixed and new mechanics added, spanning from inventory management to dungeon encounters. When we returned to WAR with one of our higher-rank characters, we were a little worried about being able to find our bearings and get back on the progression track. Jumping in with a Tier 1 character is one thing; there's a whole new tutorial in the "New User Journey" to help  the noobs. But surprisingly, many of those features are available to characters of any rank, like the handy "Advice" chat channel. The "War Report" is another useful feature that displays real-time updates of open RvR for each tier; the report also indicates zones with a high player concentration, and you can even use it to teleport directly to those locations (with a few hours of cooldown). <img src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/174027.jpg" alt="" /> It's also easier than ever to create, find and join parties and warbands with the upgraded group tools and "Rally Call" feature. Previously, the only way for players to find an "open" group was to be in the same zone. Today, the group tools can be used to search throughout the entire world, and for specific quests, public quests, open RvR, dungeons and more. It's like Blizzard's new Dungeon Finder tool, except 9000 percent more awesome and flexible! We didn't belong to a guild nor have any remaining friends when we came back to WAR, yet we were running around in open RvR warbands our first night back, and joining a City Siege by the second day. So far, our return to Warhammer Online has been a pleasant surprise, especially from the perspective of an early quitter (having left the game in early 2009 and only popped in twice since then). WAR is finally becoming the MMO it was meant to be, from a development standpoint; unfortunately, these vast improvements might have come a little too late, when the active subscriber base isn't high enough to fuel the game's true potential. The free-to-play trial is bringing in fresh blood every day though, so it's possible Mythic might someday recoup a few hundred thousand of the players who quit last year. More fixes and gameplay improvements are scheduled for the big <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/patchnotes/index.php?id=2010_1-3-6" target="_blank">v1.3.6 update</a>, which is now live on the public test realm. The combat system and careers (dubbed "C&C" by the development team) are receiving some <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/patchnotes/index.php?id=2010_1-3-6#patch:-1_section:10" target="_blank">major attention</a> in the upcoming patch, along with new bonuses in open RvR and various improvements to the auction house, user interface and more. <img src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/174029.jpg" alt="" /> ZAM's "Return to War" series will continue next month with more coverage from the unique perspective of new and returning players, detailing the best improvements (and at times, the worst neglect) in Warhammer Online since 2009. We'll also be talking to Mythic's lead game producers about WAR's progress this year and what it means to returning players. Of course, we won't forget to ask about the future as well, especially with the MMO's two-year anniversary coming up in September and the speculation about patch 1.40. Have questions, comments or suggestions for this series and our Q&A with the producers? Drop them in our "Return To War" <a href="http://www.zam.com/forum.html?game=12&mid=1281579795112446177" target="_blank">forum thread</a> or in the comments section below!<a name="pagebreak" title="pagebreak"></a> Mythic lays off Warhammer Producer Josh Descher [Warhammer Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=22579 Some sad layoff news for the gaming industry arose yesterday as Josh Drescher, the Producer for Mythic's Warhammer Online, <a href="http://twitter.com/joshdrescher" target="_blank">noted on his twitter account that, as of 11:00 AM, he would no longer be an employee of EA Mythic</a>. Josh is, however, ever the gentlemen, as he quickly follows up this tweet by noting that "I can't get into details . . . I don't HAVE any more details . . . but it was a layoff. I wasn't fired and I still love Mythic." As well, Josh is emphatic in his support of Warhammer Online, and his parting words to the team are quite touching: <blockquote> WAR isn't dying. The game is better now than ever before and more goodness is on the way. Even though it's not my baby anymore, I'm proud of what it's become and want the team's hard work to be rewarded moving forward. </blockquote> With so many layoffs coming from the Warhammer Online team, let's just hope Mythic employees can keep their heads up and going strong. WAR Online: Games Workshop Sues Curse Network [Warhammer Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=22294 <img style="float: right; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/166307.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="252" /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_Workshop" target="_blank">Games Workshop</a>, creator and owner of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_Fantasy_%28setting%29" target="_blank">Warhammer games franchise</a>, recently filed a lawsuit against the Curse Network for "operating and maintaining WarhammerAlliance.com," according <a href="http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?s=ed91c70ce1a937d26ec8821cb5b299a3&t=326733" target="_blank">this announcement</a> at Curse's forums. WarhammerAlliance.com is a <a href="http://www.zam.com/game.html?game=12" target="_blank">Warhammer Online</a> forum and fansite created in 2005 and owned by the Curse Network. In the recent forum announcement, Curse described the lawsuit from Games Workshop as citing "trademark infringement, cybersquatting (on the domain name), dilution and unfair competition," according to the post. The announcement also provides a link to a <a href="http://www.warhammeralliance.com/legal/Complaint.pdf" target="_blank">PDF copy of the official complaint</a>, which Curse is hosting on its servers. The complaint was filed on March 29, 2010 in the District of Maryland Court by Games Workshop's attorneys and indeed cites trademark infringement related to Curse's use of the "Warhammer Alliance" name and domain usage. In the complaint, Games Workshop asserts its claim to the Warhammer franchise and applicable trademarks since 1984. That information will come as no surprise to most Warhammer fans, who have played GW tabletop games like Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40k for years. So why the lawsuit, and what motivated it?<a name="pause" title="pause"></a>The following excerpts from the official complaint could be the most likely reasons why Games Workshop filed the suit: <blockquote> "The domain name warhammeralliance.com and the mark WARHAMMER ALLIANCE itself literally states and implies that Defendants and their business are in an "alliance" with Plaintiff and its products and services offered under the WARHAMMER Marks." "Defendants' website at the URL warhammeralliance.com displays HTML links featuring banner advertisements, and, upon information and belief, when Internet users click on one or more of the displayed HTML advertisements at the warhammeralliance.com website, Defendants receive payment from one or more advertisers, search engines, or affiliate programs." </blockquote> The complaint includes seven Causes of Action in all, including a few allegations about Curse's acquisition and operation of the actual Web site domain. Games Workshop claims that Curse registered the site via the "Domains By Proxy" service, in which "registration is maintained anonymously to conceal the identities of Defendants," according to the complaint. It also alleges that Curse "knowingly provided incomplete or materially false contact information in maintaining the registration for the warhammeralliance.com domain name." According to older copies of the site's <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060327080433/www.warhammeralliance.com/page_about_us.html" target="_blank">"About Us" page as it was hosted in 2006</a> (via <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.warhammeralliance.com" target="_blank">Archive.org</a>), the Warhammer Alliance was "originally formed back in 2004 in omage to the orginal [sic] Warhammer Online." The page is signed by Shelby "Garthilk" Cardozo, a former community manager at Curse, Inc., according to his <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/shelby-cardozo/10/b65/90a" target="_blank">LinkedIn.com profile</a>. Cardozo <a href="http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4666095&postcount=51" target="_blank">posted a comment</a> in the Warhammer Alliance forum yesterday, shedding some light on his history as the site's founder. In his post, Cardozo explains that Warhammer Alliance was a re-launch of the older forum community, WarhammerOnlineForums.com, which closed shortly after Climax Entertainment stopped developing the originally-planned Warhammer Online MMO (later picked up by Mythic Entertainment). He also mentioned his communication with "Sanya Weathers of Mythic Entertainment and Erik Mogensen, the Licensing Manager for Games Workshop," which prompted Cardozo to add a "proper disclaimer at the bottom of the site." Community reaction to the lawsuit is mixed, even among Warhammer Alliance's own forum members. In the <a href="http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?s=ed91c70ce1a937d26ec8821cb5b299a3&t=326733" target="_blank">announcement thread</a>, some posters mention that Games Workshop has always tried to keep its intellectual properties on a conservatively-close leash, while others say it's a blatant grab for a share of the revenue that Curse has generated from the site. According to the complaint, Games Workshop demanded a trial by jury, seeking various damages and the discontinuance of Curse from using the "Warhammer Alliance" name and domain. Don't expect to learn the outcome of this issue anytime soon, though; like most civil suits, it could be quite awhile before any developments are made, whether it's a settlement, dismissal or the case actually goes to trial.<a name="pagebreak" title="pagebreak"></a> THQ Says Warhammer 40k MMO Can Easily Break Even [Warhammer 40K] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=22272 Gamasutra just <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/28417/THQ_Warhammer_40K_MMO_Doesnt_Need_A_Million_Subscribers.php" target="_blank">reported</a> the results of a THQ financial earnings conference call in which CEO Brian Farrell expressed his confidence in the upcoming <a href="http://www.zam.com/game.html?game=306" target="_blank">Warhammer 40k</a> MMO, currently under-development by <a href="http://www.vigilgames.com/games_40k.php" target="_blank">Virgil Games</a>. According to Gamasutra, Farrell said that the "relatively low initial investment" of Warhammer 40k means that it will be easier for the publisher to break even, similar to its recent success with the low-investment <a href="http://www.metro2033game.com" target="_blank">Metro 2033</a> first-person shooter. The last time Farrell mentioned Warhammer 40k was in March, when we reported his claim that the MMO wouldn't be directly competing with the likes of <a href="http://wow.allakhazam.com/" target="_blank">World of Warcraft</a>. According to Gamasutra, Farrell reiterated his confidence in the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO in the conference call earlier today: <blockquote> "One of the reasons that we think our costs are under control here is because we think we're building this game right," Farrell explained. The exec said that the game will initially cost on the high-end of a non-MMO triple-A retail game. We started with a very small and experienced MMO team who gave us the very wise advice to prove out all the technology and world-building tools before you start adding to the team and really ramping up all of the content that an MMO requires. That's why we think our budget is going to be very competitive." </blockquote> Farrell didn't cite a specific number of subscribers that will allow THQ to break even with Warhammer 40k, although he did admit it won't be near the 1 million mark. "You can imagine that given the fact that we have a lower initial investment than some of our competitors talk about," he said, according to <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/28417/THQ_Warhammer_40K_MMO_Doesnt_Need_A_Million_Subscribers.php" target="_blank">Gamasutra</a>. "We don't need the kind of subscriber levels that people throw around, like a million subscribers, to make a lot of money on this title. If we get anywhere near that level, we'll be making a lot of money." As we <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21453" target="_blank">reported</a> in February, THQ is expected to unveil the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO in more detail at this year's <a href="http://www.e3expo.com/" target="_blank">Electronic Entertainment Expo</a> (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which takes place from June 15 to 17. So far, we've heard a lot of hype about Warhammer 40k from THQ, but we won't get our first glimpse of the MMO until next month at E3. And we're hoping the game lives up to the hype, because the Warhammer 40k universe has a ton of potential to make a great MMO, as we noted in last year's <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21012" target="_blank">2009 ZAM Awards</a> when the MMO won an honorable mention for our <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21012&storypage=3" target="_blank">"Most Anticipated Established IP"</a> award category. Check back with ZAM's <a href="http://www.zam.com/game.html?game=306" target="_blank">Warhammer 40k portal site</a> for more information and upcoming news as it's available! THQ: Warhammer 40k Target Audience, Revenue Models [Warhammer 40K] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21776 As we <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21453" target="_blank">reported</a> last month, THQ President and CEO Brian Farrell said fans of the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO can expect an official unveiling at this year's E3 on June 15. In a recent <a href="http://pc.ign.com/articles/107/1071607p1.html" target="_blank">interview</a> with IGN, Farrell offered a bit of insight about the upcoming MMO's target audience, in addition to an interesting statement regarding its potential revenue model. When asked about Warhammer 40k's chance for success in a market dominated by MMOs like <a href="http://wow.allakhazam.com/" target="_blank">World of Warcraft</a>, Farrell said that THQ is confident Warhammer 40k will stand on its own, noting the IP's established fan base. "On the PC alone, the Warhammer 40K series has sold over five million units, so there's an audience there that likes that universe," he told IGN. "We think there's always competition in every market, but you got to have an x-factor, a point of differentiation, and we think we've got that." Farrell also pointed out the stark differences between the sword-and-sorcery genre of WoW and the gothic sci-fi themes in Warhammer 40k. "World of Warcraft is a great game, but as you know in entertainment, there's always the juggernaut and that means there's opportunities out there for the right MMO," Farrell said in the interview. "What we love about the Warhammer 40K MMO is that it's different in that it's a sci-fi, futuristic-based world. We're not competing directly in the orcs and elves fantasy environment that World of Warcraft is in. We can differentiate ourselves." Finally, Farrell hinted at a unique, region-dependent revenue model that THQ might be adopting for Warhammer 40k. He told IGN that THQ is developing the MMO with a "flexible business model in mind." Farrell said the traditional, subscription-based revenue model "still works" throughout North America and Europe, although it's a harder sell in the Asian markets. He told IGN that THQ is developing Warhammer 40k in a way that lends itself to several pricing models, including "time-based sessions or microtransactions" for the Asian market. The upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO is based on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_40k" target="_blank">Games Workshop tabletop miniature game</a> of the same name. THQ published a real-time strategy PC video game version, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_War" target="_blank">Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War</a>, in 2004. <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20755" target="_blank">Virgil Games</a> is developing the Warhammer 40k MMO, which takes place thousands of years after the events of the Warhammer Fantasy series. In January, we awarded Warhammer 40k an honorable mention in the <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21012" target="_blank">2009 ZAM Awards</a> for <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21012&page=3" target="_blank">"Most Anticipated Established IP."</a> Taverncraft and Mythic make Warhammer Steins [Warhammer Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21753 <img style="float: right; border: 2px solid black; margin: 6px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/158490.jpg" alt="" width="201" height="265" />Taverncraft has just announced that they have partnered with Mythic Entertainment to bring genuine hand-crafted fine-grain stoneware steins in the theme of Mythic's Warhammer Online to fans in May 2010. These steins are specifically designed for the two factions in Warhammer Online, with the Order of the Griffon (Order) and the Raven Host (Destruction) collection steins, which feature exclusive artowkr by Michael Phillippi and Eric Polak, respectively. These steins will cost fans $99.99 for a single stein from either limited edition collection, or for $179.99, you can get both. As well, the steins come with exclusive in-game items for Warhammer Online players in the form of in-game Ale Steins! Should you drink from these steins while playing, they grant a +15% bonus to experience, renown and influence for 120 minutes (for both Order and Destruction). Taverncraft is also offering even more unique "Legendary" steins for both the "Order of the Griffon" and "The Raven Host," but these steins will be limited to 500 total worldwide, and they will be signed by Michael Phillippi or Eric Polak, depending on which stein you purchased. These legendary steins also come with in-game Warhammer Online items. <a href="http://www.3point.com/taverncraft/default.aspx?productline=warhammeronline" target="_blank">You can check out Taverncraft's great deals on their website!</a> First Weekend Warfront Kicks Off in Warhammer [Warhammer Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21728 Today marks the launch of the <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=1040" target="_blank">first Weekend Warfront</a> in Warhammer Online. The Scurvy Dogs event is scheduled to end on Monday, March 1. here are the details from the WAR Herald: <blockquote> "Shiver me timbers and call me matey, prepare to set sail on the high seas of bonus renown and experience for participating in the all new 6v6 Scenario, The Ironclad! Also, you may notice that you're pillaging more booty when participating in the Weekend Warfront in the form of increased RvR weapon currency. So get out there are keel haul those Scurvy Dogs and let your enemies know that you are, without a doubt, on a boat!" </blockquote> International Talk Like a Pirate Day is still seven months away, but it looks like you can use some <a href="http://www.talklikeapirate.com/howto.html" target="_blank">popular pirate phrases</a> during this Weekend Warfront. YAAARRRRRR! 30% Renown, Exp Buff Implemented During Bug Fix [Warhammer Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21705 As we reported, Warhammer Online patch 1.3.4 <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21699" target="_blank">went live this week</a> and introduced a new scenario structure and scenario currency to the game. Well, it looks like there's already a glitch that's making it difficult for players to receive renown and currency rewards while participating in a scenario. Mythic is currently working on a fix, but until it's implemented you can <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=1038" target="_blank">enjoy a 30% renown and experience buff</a> on all servers. Mythic doesn't have an estimated time for the fix, so take advantage of the 30% buff while you can. The team will update the <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsOverview.war" target="_blank">WAR Herald</a> when the bug is squashed. Warhammer 1.3.4 Launches; Producer Looks Ahead [Warhammer Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21699 Patch 1.3.4 is <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=1034" target="_blank">now live</a> in Warhammer Online, and it brings with it the much-discussed new scenario structure, scenario currency and Tier 4 campaign changes. You can check out the <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/patchnotes/index.php?id=2010_1-3-4" target="_blank">patch notes</a> for all the details. In honor of the occasion, new Franchise Producer Carrie Gouskos has written a <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=1035" target="_blank">lengthy letter</a> that gives some insight into the development process and what we can expect to see in versions 1.3.5 and 1.3.6. Gouskos says that the team plans to squash more bugs, keep game play fresh with maximized content, and make targeted big changes to the game where it's needed. As far as 1.3.5 is concerned, Gouskos says Mythic is adding new options to increase your inventory space and shift the focus of the city experience from PvE to RvR. The team plans to improve the auction house in 1.3.6 and will make a decision, one way or another, on the armor set redesign. You can read the long letter after the jump.<a name="pause" title="pause"></a><blockquote> <div style="text-align: left;">Hello all, allow me to (re)introduce myself. My name is Carrie Gouskos, and two weeks ago, I became the Franchise Producer for Warhammer.  The job of the Franchise Producer is to work with our illustrious Executive Producer Jeff “the” Hickman, and a team of talented and committed people, to plan the future and vision of Warhammer, and I’m elated to have this opportunity. If you’re wondering about the departure of my predecessor, Bruce MacLean, never fear, he is still around and working hard on other projects.</div> For a brief background: I’ve been working on various aspects of WAR’s development for three and a half years. Prior to launch, I was the Project Lead on the teams that created the UI and the Tome of Knowledge. Since then, I’ve worked on a number of different projects such as WAR for the Mac. Most recently I have been working on development of WAR for our Asian markets. It is in this most recent capacity that I have been doing the work that is most relevant to our current live players. The WAR Asia team has been looking at the game with a different and fresh perspective, and we hope to bring that perspective to the live game. This doesn’t mean everything being developed for Asia will be released in the other markets (it doesn’t all translate), but the good news is that nothing is too precious for us to re-examine…carefully! So we’d like to share some exciting opportunities that we’d like for the community to participate in over the coming patch cycles. Additionally, we want to give you insight about what we’re working on now and some details about the next three versions; from 1.3.4 to 1.3.6. Keep in mind that I’ll give less information about the versions that are farther away. However this is good news for the community, as you still have an opportunity to impact those versions with your feedback and bug reporting! As I said, we want to give you greater insight into the development process. This already happens with dev diaries and videos to an extent, but we’re going to step it up a notch with even more outlets for communication. To start with, you should absolutely expect to hear from me at least once a month via the producer’s letter. I may not have breaking news, but I do want to check in and let you know the general vibe of the team. Additionally, we’ll be upping communication via your popular social-media outlets, such as Twitter (Community team note: you can follow Carrie’s Twitter at http/twitter.com/cgouskos) as well as greater and earlier insights into our features via not-so-disguised threads on our official forums.   We want to get community and Core Tester feedback earlier in the process. We’re also interested in letting you guys have more active participation in the game through some fun contests with unconventional prizes. Not just titles and vanity items, but your own ideas and input into the game with full credit granted. To start with, we’d like to introduce the Loading Screen Tip Contest. We challenge our players to come up with their best Loading Screen help tips (whether genuine or just plain silly). Your tip will be added to the loading screens and immortalized for all eternity. Further details and submission rules will be available soon on the Herald and in the official forums, so keep an eye out! So what exactly are we working on here in the studio? First off, we are taking a new charge at bugs that have persisted for much longer than they should have. Bugs aren’t often sexy, and we have fixed many, many bugs over the course of the past year and a half, so I won’t dwell on this point, except to say that we are still committed to making sure we banish the bugs from Warhammer. It’s also important to keep game play fresh. As such we’re finding ways to maximize our content. The first way you’ll see is the announced Weekend Warfronts, a rotating weekend Scenario schedule, featuring a different Scenario each weekend. This might be an old favorite that was removed from the permanent rotation so that we could better concentrate populations, or it might be a new spin on a scenario with improved rule sets. Perhaps it will be something completely silly for a bit of entertainment. We think live events like these are a great way to keep giving you interesting places to play and explore as well as new and fun ways to kill other people…in the face. Finally; we’re looking at making targeted big changes to the game, where it’s most needed. This doesn’t mean turn Warhammer into a completely different game, What this means is gathering feedback, and then striking at major features that still don’t sit right with us or the players. For example, since the city started regularly launching, we’ve received a lot of feedback about the current implementation of the cities. The fact is that the endgame of our RVR game has far too much PVE in it. Now we’re looking at cities, as big as they are, to see how we can improve the endgame for our players. That’s our first big change, and we’re very interested to hear what players want us to take on next. And now, for the part you’ve probably already skipped ahead to; what’s on the horizon for the next couple of patches? Version 1.3.4 has just launched, and it brings with it a first step into the initiatives I’ve been describing. Our new approach to  Scenarios, no matter how controversial, was to greatly improve the experience of Scenario game play while at the same time giving them players new incentives (in the form of scenario currency and weapons) aside from the incentive of “I just like to kill people”  (which is also perfectly acceptable). We look forward to seeing if your experience mirrors our goals. With 1.3.4, we’re also introducing the Scurvy Dogs event and with it our first 6v6 Scenario; The Ironclad. We’re especially interested in player feedback about this experience, as it will help to guide how we treat the Weekend Warfronts and live events going forward.  In 1.3.4 we’ve given players a new goal to attain in the form of the RvR Weapons. So where will you put all these rewards? Well, in 1.3.5 we’re going to be giving you new options to increase your inventory space by opening up more bank room for each character and adding another tab to the guild vault. You will have to purchase this additional bank space with in-game currency, but we think they’re worth the cost! Players below Rank 40 will no longer have inventory space grow with leveling, but will be able to purchase the space as soon as they have the money to do so. This means higher-level players looking for inventory space by creating “Mules” will have an easier time of doing so. Don’t worry all players will be grandfathered in to the new system, so you won’t be forced to purchase bags you have already rightfully earned. Additionally, we’ve added a little boon for guilds; officers with the permission to edit the guild heraldry and/or tactics will now have the ability reset them as well.   Of course the major announcement for 1.3.5 is the aforementioned city changes.  Through these changes we’re going to shift the focus of the city experience from PVE to RVR. With these changes, we’re going to provide a fun and exciting new player experience that speaks to the heart of what our core community is interested in, that whole thing with the killing of the people in the face. While the details are still in development, the motivation  is to create a city siege experience that isn’t dependant on population and will make compelling game play, no matter if you’re hardcore, casual or somewhere in between.  To accomplish this we’re going to be inviting players to participate in testing these changes as early as possible. There are also other initiatives, such as bugs and minor feature tweaks with the express purpose of improving your experience. We’ll share more on that as we finalize the version and in next month’s producer’s letter, we’ll definitely have more details to share about 1.3.5. And finally, there’s 1.3.6 and even though the minutiae is not yet finalized, one aspect that we’re considering improving is the auction house. We want to foster player-driven interaction and trade, especially as we introduce more and better items to the game, and you can’t do that with an auctionhouse that doesn’t function as it should. These improvements go hand in hand with our plans to improve the game economy, allowing us to improve the value of new items by making them have more meaning. Also, by 1.3.6 we will make a decision, one way or another, on the armor set redesign. We’re going to maximize the effectiveness of the armor changes for the most players, without taking development time away from the systems that are most important.   I hope that this has provided even just a little clarity and insight into our commitment to you moving forward, and our dedication to WAR. There are many wonderful and talented individuals working every day to make this game everything that you want it to be, and we’re  doing our best to share that with you both in word, and on the battlefield. See you out there. -Carrie </blockquote><a name="pagebreak" title="pagebreak"></a> Dev Diary Looks at New Scenario Structure [Warhammer Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=21662 Development Manager Mike Wyatt published a <a href="http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=1033" target="_blank">developer's diary entry</a> today that explains the reasoning behind the upcoming scenario changes in Warhammer Online. A lot of Scenarios were removed from the queues to ensure that the remaining ones "are worth the same amount of time and effort." Also, maintaining fewer scenarios allows Mythic to better focus on balancing and other issues. The scenarios that have been removed will return in the form of Weekend Warfronts. You can read all the details in the diary entry after the jump.<a name="pause" title="pause"></a><blockquote> <div style="text-align: left;">We track a lot of data – there’s almost nothing that we don’t know about the ebb and flow of what’s going on within Warhammer Online by staring at endless spreadsheets filled with all sorts of numbers. What may be the truth on one server isn’t necessarily the truth on another. While these spreadsheets do provide us with factual data, we also evaluate information from the community team based on feedback from the players that metrics simply cannot acquire. By analyzing both of these sources, we are able to ensure the decisions we make are for the betterment of the game across all servers. This is all a precursor to my next paragraph – brace yourself!</div> From an RvR perspective, since the release of Warhammer Online, we’ve wrestled quite a bit over balancing the desire to participate in Open RvR and Scenarios. As you may recall, when the game first launched the rewards for participating in Open RvR were substantially less than that of Scenarios. This led to the introduction of OpenRvR currency, influence, experience and renown additions or modifications. So in our continued pursuit of balance, we decided to come up with all new rewards for Scenario participation purchasable by currency, earned for completing Scenarios. However, this in turn required a scrutinizing look at Scenarios in general. On to the metrics! We’ve removed a lot of Scenarios from the queues. We anticipated that this would be a welcome change for some, not so welcome for others, and then there’s the group who doesn’t mind it either way so long as they get to continue to beat enemy players’ faces in with huge swords and searing magic.  Before anyone goes out and purchases a pitchfork to storm the Mythic Entertainment studio (too late?), we have sound reasons for this change! The most important reason is, based upon metrics, Scenarios were chosen for their time to complete, ending scores of both Realms, rule sets and popularity. Identifying Scenarios that fit into these criteria ensures that, in general, all Scenarios are worth the same amount of time and effort. Another important reason is that maintaining fewer Scenarios allows us to better focus our attention on making balance adjustments, game play adjustments, and fixing exploits as needed.   Another consideration is that for the new RvR currency to be a successful addition, it’s imperative that Scenario X isn’t the only Scenario that players do because it’s the easiest and fastest to accumulate wealth in. Because the fact of the matter is, even for players who love variety, it’s hard to resist the temptation of the few scenarios that allow them to progress faster, and to acquire more money. Don’t get me wrong, we love money just as much as the next person – but being paid $500 an hour shelling pistachios would be awesome for all of two weeks. Whether it’s work or play, mixing it up a bit is never a bad thing!  It’s our job to ensure that the time and effort put forth in Scenario A is roughly equivalent to that of Scenarios B, C, D, E, and so on. With fewer Scenarios to work with, we can focus more on making them interchangeable as far as time/effort spent and value gained, thus providing more actual variety.   We will continue to have Tier-specific Scenarios but will now be introducing some old favorites from the earlier tiers into Tier 4, so that players will be able to play them at any level! The new Scenario lineup going forward is as follows Tier 1 Unique <ul> <li>Gates of Ekrund</li> </ul> Repeating <ul> <li>Nordenwatch</li> </ul> Tier 2 Unique <ul> <li>Mourkain Temple</li> </ul> Repeating <ul> <li>Nordenwatch</li> <li>Reikland Factory</li> </ul> Tier 3 Unique <ul> <li>Tor Anroc</li> </ul> Repeating <ul> <li>Nordenwatch</li> <li>Reikland Factory</li> <li>Lost Temple of Isha</li> </ul> Tier 4 Unique <ul> <li>Battle for Praag</li> <li>Serpent’s Passage</li> <li>Caledor Woods</li> </ul> Repeating <ul> <li>Nordenwatch</li> <li>Reikland Factory</li> <li>Lost Temple of Isha</li> </ul> With the new lineup, this also means that available Scenarios are no longer tied to zone contention and are open for queuing almost all the time! As is the case currently, Tier 4 players will not be able to queue for any Scenario if Altdorf or The Inevitable City are in a contested state, however with 1.3.4, the campaign (and thusly all Scenarios) will be reopening when a city goes into Captured state, or stage 2.  Participating in any Scenario will also reward Victory Points to all pairings within a Tier. While all other Scenarios have been removed from the lineup – they are, by no means, removed from the game. We have exciting plans in the form of Weekend Warfronts to utilize the removed Scenarios, giving them their own due focus and will result in rewards much greater than a unique title. Some may feel a little melancholy for the loss of your favorite Scenario, others may be ecstatic for a permanent Tier 4 Nordenwatch, and some just want to give it a whirl to start earning the currency. Whichever your outlook – we’re always looking forward to any feedback you have and thank you for coming out to the Public Test Server to give the new changes a try! </blockquote><a name="pagebreak" title="pagebreak"></a>