As my blog goes on I hope to write a little about a few subjects, class guides, upcoming content and such like. I will draw on on various people I play with.
But for now a teaser.
Friday, January 30, 2009
The latest news from Mythic: looking promising
The Choppa
Will we see a lot of Black Orcs rerolling?
Will we see players come back to try out the class they wanted to play at launch?
The Slayer
One of my favourite classes in tabletop and fantasy role play. I think this will give Order a small bounce in numbers.
Who is going to play hardcore and reroll ever time your Slayer dies?
The Call to Arms:
This looks like it has potential but at moment I would like to see a timetable for fixes to problems we have at the moment.
Top 3 issues for me:
Zone Domination
Class fixes
Resist stacking
The Night of Murder:
Our third event, lets see what mythic have learnt, I found the previous events amusing. I prefer useful rewards rather than fun rewards but just as many people like a new talisman or title. Will have to learn more.
Bitter Rivals
Ignore what I said above they just got me interested in and event.
New siege weapons and a class unlock. I am looking forward to it
This is what Mark Jacobs had to say.
I think these are fair points he makes and Mythic should get some credit.
Will we see a lot of Black Orcs rerolling?
Will we see players come back to try out the class they wanted to play at launch?
The Slayer
One of my favourite classes in tabletop and fantasy role play. I think this will give Order a small bounce in numbers.
Who is going to play hardcore and reroll ever time your Slayer dies?
The Call to Arms:
This looks like it has potential but at moment I would like to see a timetable for fixes to problems we have at the moment.
Top 3 issues for me:
Zone Domination
Class fixes
Resist stacking
The Night of Murder:
Our third event, lets see what mythic have learnt, I found the previous events amusing. I prefer useful rewards rather than fun rewards but just as many people like a new talisman or title. Will have to learn more.
Bitter Rivals
Ignore what I said above they just got me interested in and event.
New siege weapons and a class unlock. I am looking forward to it
This is what Mark Jacobs had to say.
I think these are fair points he makes and Mythic should get some credit.
This "Call to Arms" expansion arc represents a large amount of content that will be spread out over a few months. When you factor in all the content that will be added as part of this arc, it certainly makes it one of the largest subscription-based content upgrades/addons done by any MMO developer.
Once the Choppa/Slayer go LIVE, we will have added four careers to the game over the first 6 months of its life, and at no additional charge to our players. No other subscription-based MMORPG that I am aware of has ever added 4 new careers to its game as part of a regular update/addon/free expansion.
... as for the Tomb Kings and the RvR dungeon, I think it is very safe
to say that DAoC's Darkness Falls was one of the most successful addons to the
game. Over the last few months we've gotten a ton of feedback and requests (once
again, here on the Vault) asking us to create a next-generation DF, and we are
in the process of doing just that. So, if you liked DF, then this zone/dungeon
we are creating is right up your alley. It is truly the spiritual successor to
DF and I expect that when you see where we're going with it, you'll like it a
lot.1) Bug fixing - Correcting bugs, even little ones, is still a priority for us. The list of bug fixes in the next couple of patches is lengthy and we will continue to hot fix bugs on an ongoing basis. The team has been working on everything from small bugs (tooltips) to larger issues.
2) RvR code fixes - Over the last two weeks, the number of Fortress crashes have shrunk down to a total of one per week total across all servers. The number of Fortress takes/sieges has also increased every week and it is safe to say that things are better than ever in this aspect of the game so I can happily steal a line from The Princess Bride and say "Have fun storming the castle!" even now. Work will continue until those crashes go down to zero. Once that happens, we can look at increasing the hard cap.
3) RvR changes/improvements. - This is a rather lengthy list which includes a new scenario, changes to the Zone control system, lots of Keep Upgrades (this is only our first pass at it), oRvR events and additional rewards for Zone and Campaign captures.
4) Career balancing - Lots and lots of changes/fixes in this next patch across all careers. As I mentioned in one of my posts, I was going through the preliminary bug fixes/balance changes patch notes and after reading through 15+ pages of them, it’s safe to say that the C&C team has been rather busy lately. We know how important balancing the careers of an MMO is to the players and that’s why the team has put so much effort into it to date and will continue to do so going forward. Every career has gotten some attention from the team in 1.2 whether it is fixing bugs or balancing their abilities. The team has paid particular attention to crowd control abilities and will continue to do so with 1.3.
5) Changes to "quality of WAR" such as new armor and mount color diversity for high-level guilds, flight masters added to every zone that doesn't have one, ability to attach multiple items to mail system, improvements to the Guild and Warband UI, and improvements to our Guild Reward systems.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Multiple personality gamer
I love a good flame war. Back in the day in Everquest we called them NAG, Nearly Anything goes posts. In WoW we had our own community forums long before the official ones went up. The best read threads were always the juicy fights, the name and shames.
My forum personality is split though.
On certain forums Rugby and Theorycraft I tend to be civil, conscientious helpful. On class specific forums I tend to approach things the same. I am all for the sharing of information and knowledge and these forums allow that (not that I don’t get distracted)
But in certain Threads my better angels take a vacation, temptation rears its head and I am quite happy to dive right in. Sometimes its goading an individual that is ripe for harvest so that his rage explodes across his keyboard ( I am disturbingly talented at this). Another is catching someone talking about a subject they haven’t a clue about and slowly illustrating their ignorance. My favourite of these was a poster pontificating on Alexander the Great’s military tactics on which I based one of my Masters Degrees.
My personality in MMO’s suffers a similar spilt, in PvE I am calm(relative term) and in PvP I am consumed with passions. In PvE I think I would be characterised as helpful .I enjoy getting angry, I enjoy the stress of close games and I love banter across vent as the game gets hectic and tempers rise. It makes the victories sweeter. Fortunately while I burn hot I don’t burn long. In fact I can switch back to normal mode pretty handily. On the other side I can often be the peace broker between others,
These various personalities are similar to the real me (does the real me write this?) but they are different too.
Lots has been said about how the anonymity of the internet allows us to do what we may not normally do.
I think the more interesting question is why we create the personalities we create. Why will I goad someone on a forum? Why will I get real pleasure for destroying my foe in a PvP battle?
Is it is simple as releasing the demons we normally keep hidden? I am not sure it’s merely about letting go. In some way that is too passive, I don’t open the cage and let them out. I create and polish them and while they are similar it’s their differences that make me wonder. My forum persona can be the most vicious. I looked at some posts I made over 4 years ago and I was surprised and some of it.
I think back to some of the arguments I have had over vent, some raging screaming matches.
The thing is, I don’t have many regrets. I enjoy the rough and tumble of debate and if it gets rambunctious and frays at the edges, so be it. We live in a such a victim culture that it might do us no harm to push the edge out as adults. Its no harm to be passionate, there are too many grey men and John Majors in MMO’s. They are more holier than thou hypocrites in games and games forums than at an abstinence rally.
So by all means create you own persona, at least have one
I can take it, can you?
My forum personality is split though.
On certain forums Rugby and Theorycraft I tend to be civil, conscientious helpful. On class specific forums I tend to approach things the same. I am all for the sharing of information and knowledge and these forums allow that (not that I don’t get distracted)
But in certain Threads my better angels take a vacation, temptation rears its head and I am quite happy to dive right in. Sometimes its goading an individual that is ripe for harvest so that his rage explodes across his keyboard ( I am disturbingly talented at this). Another is catching someone talking about a subject they haven’t a clue about and slowly illustrating their ignorance. My favourite of these was a poster pontificating on Alexander the Great’s military tactics on which I based one of my Masters Degrees.
My personality in MMO’s suffers a similar spilt, in PvE I am calm(relative term) and in PvP I am consumed with passions. In PvE I think I would be characterised as helpful .I enjoy getting angry, I enjoy the stress of close games and I love banter across vent as the game gets hectic and tempers rise. It makes the victories sweeter. Fortunately while I burn hot I don’t burn long. In fact I can switch back to normal mode pretty handily. On the other side I can often be the peace broker between others,
These various personalities are similar to the real me (does the real me write this?) but they are different too.
Lots has been said about how the anonymity of the internet allows us to do what we may not normally do.
I think the more interesting question is why we create the personalities we create. Why will I goad someone on a forum? Why will I get real pleasure for destroying my foe in a PvP battle?
Is it is simple as releasing the demons we normally keep hidden? I am not sure it’s merely about letting go. In some way that is too passive, I don’t open the cage and let them out. I create and polish them and while they are similar it’s their differences that make me wonder. My forum persona can be the most vicious. I looked at some posts I made over 4 years ago and I was surprised and some of it.
I think back to some of the arguments I have had over vent, some raging screaming matches.
The thing is, I don’t have many regrets. I enjoy the rough and tumble of debate and if it gets rambunctious and frays at the edges, so be it. We live in a such a victim culture that it might do us no harm to push the edge out as adults. Its no harm to be passionate, there are too many grey men and John Majors in MMO’s. They are more holier than thou hypocrites in games and games forums than at an abstinence rally.
So by all means create you own persona, at least have one
I can take it, can you?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Warhammer Word Puzzle
There is a lot of chatter on the Warhammer Blogosphere about a code coming with the Valentine’s cards to certain bloggers’. A neat piece of promotional hokum.
As it stands these are the letters are
_ T _ I _ T N _ V _ R A _
If we take the letters and accept one of the words is valentine we are left with an R and a T and 2 unknown’s
V A L E N T I N E
_ _ R T
Could it be:
R I T E
A valentine rite?
As it stands these are the letters are
_ T _ I _ T N _ V _ R A _
If we take the letters and accept one of the words is valentine we are left with an R and a T and 2 unknown’s
V A L E N T I N E
_ _ R T
Could it be:
R I T E
A valentine rite?
Being proactive with guard
Over at Breakfast at War Pancakez makes some very good points about tanking. One thing that wasn’t highlighted is the proactive use of Save da Runts. I usually run with my healers runted in open rvr and scenarios until we are engaged.
Yesterday one of my Bikini clad followers lets a shout out that he was being ganked. We ran towards him to find a tank on him and a warrior priest and his health down to 25%. A switch of guard to him from the healer followed by a Challenge that got both enemies in the cone and then a root allowed the healer enough time to land the kill saving heal and turn the fight in our favour.
Don’t be afraid to switch guard a lot. Do remember its only group members you can help in this way. If your buddy is in trouble get within 30 feet, guard him, challenge his attackers, use a Level 3 morale to reduce incoming damage (I find quit your squabbling the lvl 1 morale a good ghetto save). Now drop a root and let him run for the hills. This is one of those times that a knockback is a good idea. Some of those attackers will switch to you.
If the fight is going the other way with your on the offensive with your healer sitting back unmolested, switch guard to the dps beside you, he will love you for it. If you are on the same enemy player, stick to your buff-debuff role and let him do the damage. A Blorc doing this can really soften up a target for the dps classes. Slow the enemy, set back his timers, silence him, reduce his damage, reduce his weaponskill, drain his AP, strip his armour, root him, and reduce his strength. These may not give you big numbers and will mostly go unnoticed but you’re taking one for the team. The beauty of this is it’s a style of play you can use when your renown and Career choices are directed towards survivability.
Yesterday one of my Bikini clad followers lets a shout out that he was being ganked. We ran towards him to find a tank on him and a warrior priest and his health down to 25%. A switch of guard to him from the healer followed by a Challenge that got both enemies in the cone and then a root allowed the healer enough time to land the kill saving heal and turn the fight in our favour.
Don’t be afraid to switch guard a lot. Do remember its only group members you can help in this way. If your buddy is in trouble get within 30 feet, guard him, challenge his attackers, use a Level 3 morale to reduce incoming damage (I find quit your squabbling the lvl 1 morale a good ghetto save). Now drop a root and let him run for the hills. This is one of those times that a knockback is a good idea. Some of those attackers will switch to you.
If the fight is going the other way with your on the offensive with your healer sitting back unmolested, switch guard to the dps beside you, he will love you for it. If you are on the same enemy player, stick to your buff-debuff role and let him do the damage. A Blorc doing this can really soften up a target for the dps classes. Slow the enemy, set back his timers, silence him, reduce his damage, reduce his weaponskill, drain his AP, strip his armour, root him, and reduce his strength. These may not give you big numbers and will mostly go unnoticed but you’re taking one for the team. The beauty of this is it’s a style of play you can use when your renown and Career choices are directed towards survivability.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Karak Izor server tranfers
In Order to kill two birds with one stone I thought I might say something about the Server transfers from Karak Izor.
Firstly browsing the forums for Karak Izor I see people are taking a great deal of time to carefully gather information so that they can make the correct decision about their destination. This strikes me as a greatly positive indicator for the life span of Warhammer. We have people who are obviously enjoying the game and want to ensure that enjoyment is not diluted.Noone is interested in easy mode play and as such balance is a key issue. Useful data on which servers need which faction have been provided.
Beyond this we have groups of guilds looking to transfer in mass without unbalancing the game play. This is the way such things should be handled and I applaud it (Cant find a clappy emote)
I have a vested interest in this saga as my server Karak Hirn is a possible destination server. But in the interests of fairness I will attempt to provide an impartial impression of Karak Hirn.
In terms of population Order are slightly outnumbered, War analytics gives a ratio of about 1.27 to 1.(tier 4) Recent census takes by players on either side indicate it is a closer with a ratio 1.03. to 1. Examples of both can be found on the Karak Hirn forums.
On any given day either side can be in the ascendancy and on some days we have large scale encounters with both sides well represented. This is not to say that on any given day in any given zone you will not be rolfstomoped by a zerg of either hue.
In destruction where I play there are 2 active alliances, both with slots available for non alliance guilds. On days that we attempt locks there is cooperation and pretty decent support for those trying to coordinate matters. Adding another alliance into this fold should not be an issue. As a destruction I find the order to be organised, there are a number of competent leaders who coordinate regularly and are successful.
In terms of game play I have had no issues with lag at keep sieges in the last weeks or so. On Friday (I believe) I attended a fort attack and a fort defence and game performance was excellent. I do have a decent machine though so cannot speak for low specs.
The community on Hirn is vibrant with good give and take and for the most part respect on both sides. I would wager that the community elements of Karak Izor would prosper and not be consumed.
I believe Karak Hirn has great potential as a server and as this game prospers as I believe it will so will the server.
Krak Hirn would benefit from a balanced influx of players but make your decisions based on all the available data and where ever you play enjoy yourself.
Firstly browsing the forums for Karak Izor I see people are taking a great deal of time to carefully gather information so that they can make the correct decision about their destination. This strikes me as a greatly positive indicator for the life span of Warhammer. We have people who are obviously enjoying the game and want to ensure that enjoyment is not diluted.Noone is interested in easy mode play and as such balance is a key issue. Useful data on which servers need which faction have been provided.
Beyond this we have groups of guilds looking to transfer in mass without unbalancing the game play. This is the way such things should be handled and I applaud it (Cant find a clappy emote)
I have a vested interest in this saga as my server Karak Hirn is a possible destination server. But in the interests of fairness I will attempt to provide an impartial impression of Karak Hirn.
In terms of population Order are slightly outnumbered, War analytics gives a ratio of about 1.27 to 1.(tier 4) Recent census takes by players on either side indicate it is a closer with a ratio 1.03. to 1. Examples of both can be found on the Karak Hirn forums.
On any given day either side can be in the ascendancy and on some days we have large scale encounters with both sides well represented. This is not to say that on any given day in any given zone you will not be rolfstomoped by a zerg of either hue.
In destruction where I play there are 2 active alliances, both with slots available for non alliance guilds. On days that we attempt locks there is cooperation and pretty decent support for those trying to coordinate matters. Adding another alliance into this fold should not be an issue. As a destruction I find the order to be organised, there are a number of competent leaders who coordinate regularly and are successful.
In terms of game play I have had no issues with lag at keep sieges in the last weeks or so. On Friday (I believe) I attended a fort attack and a fort defence and game performance was excellent. I do have a decent machine though so cannot speak for low specs.
The community on Hirn is vibrant with good give and take and for the most part respect on both sides. I would wager that the community elements of Karak Izor would prosper and not be consumed.
I believe Karak Hirn has great potential as a server and as this game prospers as I believe it will so will the server.
Krak Hirn would benefit from a balanced influx of players but make your decisions based on all the available data and where ever you play enjoy yourself.
A Repentant Elitist
Are you the guy that farms content over and over so that your guild mates get their set pieces? I have been lucky and completed my sentinel set weeks ago. Since then I have run Bloodwrough and a Bilerot every cooldown (Other than on Christmas Day). Our bank overflows with Sentinel belts and everyone is getting gear with a large number of us in full sentinel. There are still new level 40’s to get gear for but the city dungeons are an easy farm for us.
We have moved on to Lost Vale. As it can be a pain in the ass to master we decided to take 2 groups who would learn it by playing together so that the experience could be used to get others through. Over the last few weeks we have done this and now we 12 players who are comfortable with the fights. The guild has another 6 to 8 players that are curious about Lost Vale and would like to give it ago.
We decided to try for 3 groups on the coming Sunday to allow some other guild mates to get a taste. We were going to break up the 2 original groups and sprinkle the classes and experience across the 3 groups and then add in the players who were ready for the instance but had not yet got the opportunity.
Then it seems things exploded. A guild member quit( excellent player and nice guy)It seems one of the groups doesn’t want to break up. Now in fairness they have had little luck in drops and I can see where their coming from, they have just mastered the instance.
However, we have other players who were promised that they would get a chance and as we prepared to give them that chance it is being taken away from them. We are also in a guild which for a long time parroted against any form of elitism. Unfortunately some of those that spoke out against elitism are now the ones who want to leave others behind.
I am left in a difficult situation as by nature I am an elitist. I prefer to play with the best players in the best gear. I have played in guilds that lived and died by the dps metre I subjugated this inclination as that’s what the guild wanted and I could bend to that will. I have done city raids with all classes and all players including those in greens (my personally favourite 3 Blorcs, WE, Shaman and Zealot in Bilerot).
However I am not a hypocrite and I can’t abide pretending that a 2 tier guild is anything other than a 2 tier guild. If people wish to change to a more elitist structure I can be comfortable with that once it’s done above board. Let tell people that they are reserves for Lost Vale or that as people level they can put together their own group.
If we go down that line openly at least we treat people with respect. It would also allow us to try a few other things.
Premade groups designed to farm scenarios could be kept to the more geared players, at present we take anyone from any class with a guild tag.
We could introduce dps/healing meters and prioritise places in groups based on performance.
Warband slots on alliance ORvR raids could be managed to get the best geared players in rather than taking anyone who is a member.
It would be a change in mindset and ethos for the guild but it would be above board. Asd I see the one thing worse than being a second class citizen is not knowing you’re a second class citizen.
A change to a more elitist structure would bring me great benefits personally; I would continue in a successful Lost Vale group and equip myself fully in a few weeks. I could create a premade scenario group with people geared and specced specifically to farm renown. I could balance warbands so that they are more powerful instruments. I could step back from farming dungeons I have no interest in.
And there lays my problem, I am an elitist by nature and allowing one of our groups to change the ethos of our guild would benefit me and my gaming experience but all of a sudden I find myself not wanting to exclude others.
Maybe I have been contaminated.
We have moved on to Lost Vale. As it can be a pain in the ass to master we decided to take 2 groups who would learn it by playing together so that the experience could be used to get others through. Over the last few weeks we have done this and now we 12 players who are comfortable with the fights. The guild has another 6 to 8 players that are curious about Lost Vale and would like to give it ago.
We decided to try for 3 groups on the coming Sunday to allow some other guild mates to get a taste. We were going to break up the 2 original groups and sprinkle the classes and experience across the 3 groups and then add in the players who were ready for the instance but had not yet got the opportunity.
Then it seems things exploded. A guild member quit( excellent player and nice guy)It seems one of the groups doesn’t want to break up. Now in fairness they have had little luck in drops and I can see where their coming from, they have just mastered the instance.
However, we have other players who were promised that they would get a chance and as we prepared to give them that chance it is being taken away from them. We are also in a guild which for a long time parroted against any form of elitism. Unfortunately some of those that spoke out against elitism are now the ones who want to leave others behind.
I am left in a difficult situation as by nature I am an elitist. I prefer to play with the best players in the best gear. I have played in guilds that lived and died by the dps metre I subjugated this inclination as that’s what the guild wanted and I could bend to that will. I have done city raids with all classes and all players including those in greens (my personally favourite 3 Blorcs, WE, Shaman and Zealot in Bilerot).
However I am not a hypocrite and I can’t abide pretending that a 2 tier guild is anything other than a 2 tier guild. If people wish to change to a more elitist structure I can be comfortable with that once it’s done above board. Let tell people that they are reserves for Lost Vale or that as people level they can put together their own group.
If we go down that line openly at least we treat people with respect. It would also allow us to try a few other things.
Premade groups designed to farm scenarios could be kept to the more geared players, at present we take anyone from any class with a guild tag.
We could introduce dps/healing meters and prioritise places in groups based on performance.
Warband slots on alliance ORvR raids could be managed to get the best geared players in rather than taking anyone who is a member.
It would be a change in mindset and ethos for the guild but it would be above board. Asd I see the one thing worse than being a second class citizen is not knowing you’re a second class citizen.
A change to a more elitist structure would bring me great benefits personally; I would continue in a successful Lost Vale group and equip myself fully in a few weeks. I could create a premade scenario group with people geared and specced specifically to farm renown. I could balance warbands so that they are more powerful instruments. I could step back from farming dungeons I have no interest in.
And there lays my problem, I am an elitist by nature and allowing one of our groups to change the ethos of our guild would benefit me and my gaming experience but all of a sudden I find myself not wanting to exclude others.
Maybe I have been contaminated.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Da Toughest
I have been lucky in most MMOs that I have played that my first character has been the one I have fallen in love with. I tend to research classes carefully before rolling.
In Warhammer I wanted to go back to Tanking and as I have always enjoyed green skin humour a Black Orc was an obvious choice.
As I was guilded I made a conscious decision to build him for survivability and as an unapologetic min/maxer I am always looking for the optimum build that will allow my healers to keep me up as long as possible.
At the moment I spend about half my time in PVE content tanking Lost Vale and the city dungeons. I have been looking for a spec that I can stick with for RvR ( I am bankrupt in yet another game)
At the moment I have gone for the following builds
Career
Renown
The logic behind this is to give me as the essential PVE tanking skills from Da Toughest tree (combined with the buffs to the associated skills) and to have a selection of other attacks to harass healers and DPS.
I find that the build shines in PvE and in mass RvR and with some changes in gear I can be a pain in the ass in a scenario too.
I have been taking Weaponskill as it increases parry for a PvE environment and increases armour penetration in a PvP environment( not that the benefits are exclusive to either)
In Warhammer I wanted to go back to Tanking and as I have always enjoyed green skin humour a Black Orc was an obvious choice.
As I was guilded I made a conscious decision to build him for survivability and as an unapologetic min/maxer I am always looking for the optimum build that will allow my healers to keep me up as long as possible.
At the moment I spend about half my time in PVE content tanking Lost Vale and the city dungeons. I have been looking for a spec that I can stick with for RvR ( I am bankrupt in yet another game)
At the moment I have gone for the following builds
Career
Renown
The logic behind this is to give me as the essential PVE tanking skills from Da Toughest tree (combined with the buffs to the associated skills) and to have a selection of other attacks to harass healers and DPS.
I find that the build shines in PvE and in mass RvR and with some changes in gear I can be a pain in the ass in a scenario too.
I have been taking Weaponskill as it increases parry for a PvE environment and increases armour penetration in a PvP environment( not that the benefits are exclusive to either)
Black Orc the issues
Shameless cut and paste from my thread.
1. Our Shield from Rock Ard applies before mitigation not after, if this is working as intended the shield needs to be strenghtened.
2. The range on Big Swing and Big Slash is too short
3. Our AP Regen Shout Get 'Em doesnt work in combat
4. Can't Hit me--animation and cast bar doesn't shut off unless manually turned off. If you are disabled, interrupted, or AP runs out, it continues to animate and the cast bar continues to drain, but the ability effects do not continue.
5. The 'Plan' mechanic: it's only has drawbacks and gives no clear advantage. Second and third attacks in the attack chain should be more powerful or give some sort of bonus for coming later in the chain.
6. The 'Plan' mechanic + CC: 3 out of 4 CC abilities are on either the second or third attack in an attack chain, our root being the only exception. meaning a BO has to hit an enemy at least twice before ithe CC is applied. Being a melee class plus people running all over the place plus all sorts of lag makes this a serious problem.
7. Big Swing + Big Brawling: neither the attack itself nor the tactic for works properly. The AoE range is too small and the snare proc is utterly unreliable.
8. Big Slash: the knockback distance is too small when compared to other classes.
9. Itemisation: specifically the rarity of 2h weapons pre rank 40ish and the lack of any RvR 2h weapons. This has been fixed somewhat with the introduction of the RvR influence rewards, but still a BO has very few 2h weapons available during lvling. The fact that there were only 2 graphic skins (pre RvR influence) for 2h weapons doesn't help, but is less issue for me.
10. A number of our "Best Plan" attacks cost AP (eg. Down Ya Go, Shut Yer Face). Having an AP cost for these attacks removes the tiny benefit we get from our class mechanic.
11. The Gork Smash! tactic only applies its crit bonus to the first hit of T'ree Hit Combo. The rest of the hits occur in a "no plan" state. I haven't tested this for the last month and a half or so, so this may have changed. I'll parse my combat log tonight to check.
12. We have a couple abilities/tactics that appear to be remnants of the beta process and need review, especially when you consider their placement in our mastery trees:
Down Ya Go which is our *only* knockdown requires a two handed weapon, ap (see first point), a snare (for 100% success), and a Best Plan state, on top of the mastery points required to buy the ability. Remove the snare/ap requirement or the 2h requirement to make it a bit... friendlier.
Mor Hardcore, I don't think anyone would bother slotting this tactic right now. It should really grant a knockdown effect instead of knockback to the related abilities (similar to the IB tactic Punishing Knock) or be changed to completely different effect if a knockdown is imbalanced.
Walk it off (Rank 3 Morale - 120 toughness to your group for 15 seconds) one of the worst morale abilities I've ever seen, especially since its a Rank 3 morale ability. This one I've yet to purchase from the trainer.
13: Server lag, basicly nullify all our melee attacks due to improper placement of enemies combined with low range.
14: Juggernaught not working on some roots/snare effects, and why does it remove silence?
15: Once serverlag is gone, recheck abilities not being able to land, i assume alot of the BO current problems are related to the lag.
16. An Bestest should have its ranged increased to 65ft.
17. An Bestest (since last patch) no longer seems to apply the Stamina stat to your stats.
18. Guard should be applicable to targets within a War Band, not just a group.
19. our group buffing is compared to the other tanks
20. The need to incorporate a system like planb into the game to sitch action bars as we move through stances.
21. The Armour proc on Da Greenest is a worthless 24.
22. issues with animations not completing and stoping halfway through makes my game feel sticky because i stuck in that position untill i hit something else
23. Only BO ave useless tactic - fer Shut yer face, which reducin cd o'dis one BUT in case o'game mechanic wiv 10sec immune... itz not workin. Most o'da squishyz already silenced once, so no point to tell "yer snotling, use on uvva targetz
24. The renown Talents taht increase resist stats are not working beyonf the first purchase.
25. trip em up should lead to da gud plan, not to da best plan
26. Blorcs need a knockdown usuable with a shield
27. the top half of the Da Boss tree needs to reworked to make it worth while spec'ing into, it seems 90% of all Black Orcs are Brawler or Toughest spec with the lower section of the Boss tree acting as a utility buffer, I'd like to see three viable trees rather than two and a half.
28. i would love if Challenge became an AE taunt with like 20foot range rather then a frontal taunt since i find if mobs are slightly off to 1 side you can miss them when trying to round them
up.
Tank class general issues: (I'm assuming all tanks suffer form these)
1. RvR as a tank: There is a penalty for fulfilling the job of a tank in RvR. Players get renown/xp for doing damage or healing those that did damage. Blocking, taking damage, and other archetypal tank actions gives 0 renown.
2. Protecting allies: there's no good way to protect allies. Guard helps a little, but a tank really has no effective way of peeling an enemy of their allies.
3. Defensive specced tanks are unpowered in ORVR other than in tank walls in keeps(where they shine) elsewhere they need some buffs
TacticsKeep It Goin'! (Brawler) - This is a remnant of beta when Big Slash didn't have a knockback effect. More damage and less AP is good in theory, but in reality because Big Slash is now a knockback its use is situational and we don't gain much by equipping this tactic. By rights this tactic should enhance the knockback portion of the ability; take the Ironbreaker's Powered Etchings tactic as an example and make this tactic add a snare component to the knockback and/or increase it's knockback distance.
An Bestest! (Brawler) - Good tactic for PvE, but needs a boost in range to be worth slotting regularly in PvP
.Stop Hittin' Da Runts(Toughest) - This tactic isn't worth using... ever. I like the idea of enhancing our guard, but this tactic would be better off increasing the range of our guard or giving our guarded runt a buff (armor bonus or damage return?)
Mor' Hardcore (Toughest) - Another tactic that isn't worth using. There is really no question about it - this tactic should add a knockdown effect to the related abilities and not a knock back.
No Choppin' Me (Boss) - Weapon Skill isn't a useful enough stat to justify slotting this; especially when just one application of Wot Armor? on a target will provide more benefit and not use up a tactic slot.
In my opinion this tactic position in the mastery tree should be occupied by something that improves Da Big'un or allows you to buff a groupmate with Rock 'Ard.Lookin' For Opp'tunity
(Class) - Most BOs won't recognize this tactic because it is probably still sitting on the class trainer waiting to be purchased. This tactic simply is not good enough to justify using Clobber in PvP, and the tactic has no effect in PvE. If it must stay as a buff to Clobber then have the tactic add an initiative buff or flat -crit buff.
AbilitiesDown Ya Go (Brawler) - AP cost and snare requirement have to go.Trip 'Em Up (Brawler) - I would love this to be a "no plan" attack to allow us to more effectively snare an opponent who is running.We'z Bigger (Boss) - Good group buff (really the only one in this, our buff tree), but needs to have it's range extended
.WAAAAAAAGH! (Boss) - I'm not entire sure how Mythic can justify giving Black Orcs Waagh! and Ironbreakers Earthshatter (and earlier in their mastery tree). Raise the damage on Waagh significantly and add a snare debuff and I would happily spec into "Da Boss". As it stands right now, once disorient gets nerfed there will be no reason to touch this mastery line at all.
Da Greenest (Boss) - Now that roots break fairly regularly on damage this war bellow has left my action bar. The amount of resist it grants doesn't make much impact and the entire ability should be reevaluated.Morale Abilities
Walk it off! (Morale 3) - 120 toughness to your group for 15 seconds... really? Compare that to the other tank's racial Morale 3's:Blackguard - Armor Of Eternal ServitudeChosen - Sprout CarapaceIronbreaker - Gromril PlatingKotBS - Emperor's ChampionSwordmaster - BladeshieldGeneral
1. Our Shield from Rock Ard applies before mitigation not after, if this is working as intended the shield needs to be strenghtened.
2. The range on Big Swing and Big Slash is too short
3. Our AP Regen Shout Get 'Em doesnt work in combat
4. Can't Hit me--animation and cast bar doesn't shut off unless manually turned off. If you are disabled, interrupted, or AP runs out, it continues to animate and the cast bar continues to drain, but the ability effects do not continue.
5. The 'Plan' mechanic: it's only has drawbacks and gives no clear advantage. Second and third attacks in the attack chain should be more powerful or give some sort of bonus for coming later in the chain.
6. The 'Plan' mechanic + CC: 3 out of 4 CC abilities are on either the second or third attack in an attack chain, our root being the only exception. meaning a BO has to hit an enemy at least twice before ithe CC is applied. Being a melee class plus people running all over the place plus all sorts of lag makes this a serious problem.
7. Big Swing + Big Brawling: neither the attack itself nor the tactic for works properly. The AoE range is too small and the snare proc is utterly unreliable.
8. Big Slash: the knockback distance is too small when compared to other classes.
9. Itemisation: specifically the rarity of 2h weapons pre rank 40ish and the lack of any RvR 2h weapons. This has been fixed somewhat with the introduction of the RvR influence rewards, but still a BO has very few 2h weapons available during lvling. The fact that there were only 2 graphic skins (pre RvR influence) for 2h weapons doesn't help, but is less issue for me.
10. A number of our "Best Plan" attacks cost AP (eg. Down Ya Go, Shut Yer Face). Having an AP cost for these attacks removes the tiny benefit we get from our class mechanic.
11. The Gork Smash! tactic only applies its crit bonus to the first hit of T'ree Hit Combo. The rest of the hits occur in a "no plan" state. I haven't tested this for the last month and a half or so, so this may have changed. I'll parse my combat log tonight to check.
12. We have a couple abilities/tactics that appear to be remnants of the beta process and need review, especially when you consider their placement in our mastery trees:
Down Ya Go which is our *only* knockdown requires a two handed weapon, ap (see first point), a snare (for 100% success), and a Best Plan state, on top of the mastery points required to buy the ability. Remove the snare/ap requirement or the 2h requirement to make it a bit... friendlier.
Mor Hardcore, I don't think anyone would bother slotting this tactic right now. It should really grant a knockdown effect instead of knockback to the related abilities (similar to the IB tactic Punishing Knock) or be changed to completely different effect if a knockdown is imbalanced.
Walk it off (Rank 3 Morale - 120 toughness to your group for 15 seconds) one of the worst morale abilities I've ever seen, especially since its a Rank 3 morale ability. This one I've yet to purchase from the trainer.
13: Server lag, basicly nullify all our melee attacks due to improper placement of enemies combined with low range.
14: Juggernaught not working on some roots/snare effects, and why does it remove silence?
15: Once serverlag is gone, recheck abilities not being able to land, i assume alot of the BO current problems are related to the lag.
16. An Bestest should have its ranged increased to 65ft.
17. An Bestest (since last patch) no longer seems to apply the Stamina stat to your stats.
18. Guard should be applicable to targets within a War Band, not just a group.
19. our group buffing is compared to the other tanks
20. The need to incorporate a system like planb into the game to sitch action bars as we move through stances.
21. The Armour proc on Da Greenest is a worthless 24.
22. issues with animations not completing and stoping halfway through makes my game feel sticky because i stuck in that position untill i hit something else
23. Only BO ave useless tactic - fer Shut yer face, which reducin cd o'dis one BUT in case o'game mechanic wiv 10sec immune... itz not workin. Most o'da squishyz already silenced once, so no point to tell "yer snotling, use on uvva targetz
24. The renown Talents taht increase resist stats are not working beyonf the first purchase.
25. trip em up should lead to da gud plan, not to da best plan
26. Blorcs need a knockdown usuable with a shield
27. the top half of the Da Boss tree needs to reworked to make it worth while spec'ing into, it seems 90% of all Black Orcs are Brawler or Toughest spec with the lower section of the Boss tree acting as a utility buffer, I'd like to see three viable trees rather than two and a half.
28. i would love if Challenge became an AE taunt with like 20foot range rather then a frontal taunt since i find if mobs are slightly off to 1 side you can miss them when trying to round them
up.
Tank class general issues: (I'm assuming all tanks suffer form these)
1. RvR as a tank: There is a penalty for fulfilling the job of a tank in RvR. Players get renown/xp for doing damage or healing those that did damage. Blocking, taking damage, and other archetypal tank actions gives 0 renown.
2. Protecting allies: there's no good way to protect allies. Guard helps a little, but a tank really has no effective way of peeling an enemy of their allies.
3. Defensive specced tanks are unpowered in ORVR other than in tank walls in keeps(where they shine) elsewhere they need some buffs
TacticsKeep It Goin'! (Brawler) - This is a remnant of beta when Big Slash didn't have a knockback effect. More damage and less AP is good in theory, but in reality because Big Slash is now a knockback its use is situational and we don't gain much by equipping this tactic. By rights this tactic should enhance the knockback portion of the ability; take the Ironbreaker's Powered Etchings tactic as an example and make this tactic add a snare component to the knockback and/or increase it's knockback distance.
An Bestest! (Brawler) - Good tactic for PvE, but needs a boost in range to be worth slotting regularly in PvP
.Stop Hittin' Da Runts(Toughest) - This tactic isn't worth using... ever. I like the idea of enhancing our guard, but this tactic would be better off increasing the range of our guard or giving our guarded runt a buff (armor bonus or damage return?)
Mor' Hardcore (Toughest) - Another tactic that isn't worth using. There is really no question about it - this tactic should add a knockdown effect to the related abilities and not a knock back.
No Choppin' Me (Boss) - Weapon Skill isn't a useful enough stat to justify slotting this; especially when just one application of Wot Armor? on a target will provide more benefit and not use up a tactic slot.
In my opinion this tactic position in the mastery tree should be occupied by something that improves Da Big'un or allows you to buff a groupmate with Rock 'Ard.Lookin' For Opp'tunity
(Class) - Most BOs won't recognize this tactic because it is probably still sitting on the class trainer waiting to be purchased. This tactic simply is not good enough to justify using Clobber in PvP, and the tactic has no effect in PvE. If it must stay as a buff to Clobber then have the tactic add an initiative buff or flat -crit buff.
AbilitiesDown Ya Go (Brawler) - AP cost and snare requirement have to go.Trip 'Em Up (Brawler) - I would love this to be a "no plan" attack to allow us to more effectively snare an opponent who is running.We'z Bigger (Boss) - Good group buff (really the only one in this, our buff tree), but needs to have it's range extended
.WAAAAAAAGH! (Boss) - I'm not entire sure how Mythic can justify giving Black Orcs Waagh! and Ironbreakers Earthshatter (and earlier in their mastery tree). Raise the damage on Waagh significantly and add a snare debuff and I would happily spec into "Da Boss". As it stands right now, once disorient gets nerfed there will be no reason to touch this mastery line at all.
Da Greenest (Boss) - Now that roots break fairly regularly on damage this war bellow has left my action bar. The amount of resist it grants doesn't make much impact and the entire ability should be reevaluated.Morale Abilities
Walk it off! (Morale 3) - 120 toughness to your group for 15 seconds... really? Compare that to the other tank's racial Morale 3's:Blackguard - Armor Of Eternal ServitudeChosen - Sprout CarapaceIronbreaker - Gromril PlatingKotBS - Emperor's ChampionSwordmaster - BladeshieldGeneral
Other Blogs:Tobold
Well worth a read.
I thought this was particularly insighful.
I thought this was particularly insighful.
And as strange as it sounds to have "Blizzard" and "rushed" in the same sentence, Wrath of the Lich King is still obviously missing some development time. If you look at the expansion critically, you'll find that Blizzard shipped it without any major new raid dungeon. There are a few one-boss dungeons, and one raid dungeon recycled from 2 years ago, and that is it. How hard raid content is doesn't matter as much as how much there is of it. The current version of World of Warcraft also has obvious big problems with class balance. And I'm not talking about subjective feelings of underpowered classes, but of facts of classes being boosted in one patch, just to be "nerfed to the ground" in the next. Several classes have seen their power level yoyo all over the place.So many games, Warhammer included have suffered froma rush to the market. Take your time prelaunch to get it right and after launch fix the remaining pieces as fast as you can. The MMO customer wants your product, treat them with respect.
Why Warhammer?
Ever since I came across the concept of PVP in an MMO I have been intrigued by it if not convinced about the pleasures.
In Everquest I viewed it as a waste of time and remained sceptical. I was not adverse to playing against others player rather than a AI but I thought it was better left to the FPS and RTS genre.
My epiphany happened the day they patched PvP into World of Warcraft. I was lvl 55 or so and a friend who was a mage was saying in guild chat that there was fun to be had at the crossroads. I wasn’t up to much so I flew down expecting not to enjoy myself at all. I logged out 8 hours later exhilarated. The random chaos the back and forth play, the one shotting of casters as the drank (I was a rogue) the being zerged made for a new type of gaming experience.. I loved PvP from the moment I tried it and I still love it.
For me Warhammer brings even more to the table. In enjoy solo play but an MMO doesn’t come into its own until you are grouped. Working with others and winning with others is what keeps me coming back to this game.
I can enjoy a nice one on one fight. I had a twenty minute duel with and Ironbreaker recently that we both walked away from on full health which I enjoyed.
However my favourite moments in Warhammer have been in Open RvR with a group or 2 or indeed a Warband.
With one group you can set ambushes, killing the stragglers as they make their may to a Keep.
With two groups you can fly from a non RvR area to quickly take a Battlefield objective, hoping that your speed will have caught the defenders while they are distracted. You can hold your ground nervously watching the timer and play out of your skin to slow the hordes as they overwhelm you, praying for one last attack to knock them back from a recapture.
With a warband you can hold that last keep in the zone, arraying your tanks to block the enemies approach, as your healers sweat and swear and you dps shout out “the numbers, the numbers” in a semi orgasmic chant. Holding your foe at bay knowing at any minute it could all fall apart and they will wash over you to the tasty squishes behind.
With multiple warbands you can tilt at zones. You can work with you alliance. You can sit on the walls of a keep organising groups of defenders in key areas, check on allies farming PQ’s for precious victory points. You can send in your crack squads armed to the teeth (and with teeth) to crush the opposition in Scenarios. You can spend all your time cajoling and prodding while you barely move yourself.
From 1v1 to whole alliances taking on a zone lock, PvP in Warhammer has a much to offer you if your willing to grasp it.
In Everquest I viewed it as a waste of time and remained sceptical. I was not adverse to playing against others player rather than a AI but I thought it was better left to the FPS and RTS genre.
My epiphany happened the day they patched PvP into World of Warcraft. I was lvl 55 or so and a friend who was a mage was saying in guild chat that there was fun to be had at the crossroads. I wasn’t up to much so I flew down expecting not to enjoy myself at all. I logged out 8 hours later exhilarated. The random chaos the back and forth play, the one shotting of casters as the drank (I was a rogue) the being zerged made for a new type of gaming experience.. I loved PvP from the moment I tried it and I still love it.
For me Warhammer brings even more to the table. In enjoy solo play but an MMO doesn’t come into its own until you are grouped. Working with others and winning with others is what keeps me coming back to this game.
I can enjoy a nice one on one fight. I had a twenty minute duel with and Ironbreaker recently that we both walked away from on full health which I enjoyed.
However my favourite moments in Warhammer have been in Open RvR with a group or 2 or indeed a Warband.
With one group you can set ambushes, killing the stragglers as they make their may to a Keep.
With two groups you can fly from a non RvR area to quickly take a Battlefield objective, hoping that your speed will have caught the defenders while they are distracted. You can hold your ground nervously watching the timer and play out of your skin to slow the hordes as they overwhelm you, praying for one last attack to knock them back from a recapture.
With a warband you can hold that last keep in the zone, arraying your tanks to block the enemies approach, as your healers sweat and swear and you dps shout out “the numbers, the numbers” in a semi orgasmic chant. Holding your foe at bay knowing at any minute it could all fall apart and they will wash over you to the tasty squishes behind.
With multiple warbands you can tilt at zones. You can work with you alliance. You can sit on the walls of a keep organising groups of defenders in key areas, check on allies farming PQ’s for precious victory points. You can send in your crack squads armed to the teeth (and with teeth) to crush the opposition in Scenarios. You can spend all your time cajoling and prodding while you barely move yourself.
From 1v1 to whole alliances taking on a zone lock, PvP in Warhammer has a much to offer you if your willing to grasp it.
Evercrack and all that Jazz
With all blogs they recommend you write a profile of your self to give a little background.
My first foray into MMOs was Everquest. It started with me looking over a friends shoulder as he wander through Kelethin (He was lost, again). The graphics were appalling but there was something about the scale of the place that was enticing.
I bought the game and various expansions and started to play (on dial-up). I still remember my Level 1 Paladin making his way out of the Dwarf capital. Little did I know that I would be playing the game for 3 years, 65 levels and 70 odd AA.
While it was the scale of the MMO genre that sold me on it initially it was the social interaction and community that kept me playing (and still keeps me playing MMO’s).
Finding a group to grind out a camp or kill Emperor Crush, Joining a guild, raiding NTOV are all milestones in my MMO experience. As I type this I have just MSNed a a guy I first met on EQ 7 years ago. We would grind in the caverns on Luclin while he fed the baby. Now he has 2 more and his wife plays( She still has active account Everquest account)
I gradually grew tired with Everquest and dabbled in a lot of other MMO’s, I didn’t find the combination of emersion and community that I wanted until World of Warcraft. I don’t regret a day played in Wow which is arguably tone of the best computer game of all time ( if such comparison can be made)
As I tired of WoW I was pleased to see Age of Conan and Warhammer on the hozizon. Age of Conan and its failures are well documented elsewhere, its greatest failure for me was that I could have been the best MMO out there had they had the courage of their convictions and waited a year.
So here I am in Warhammer. It certainly has the immersion and the community is developing. Launching so close to Wrath of the Lich King has hurt it but I am optimistic.
No MMO is a finished product on launch and Mythic have been working on their game and do seem to be continuing in this vein. I will be interested to see it looks and feels 6 months into its life. It flawed but its still fun and once there is a willingness to fix it that is backed up by actual fixes it can become a success.
In the hope that it does grow, I will endeavour to try and blog around it.
My first foray into MMOs was Everquest. It started with me looking over a friends shoulder as he wander through Kelethin (He was lost, again). The graphics were appalling but there was something about the scale of the place that was enticing.
I bought the game and various expansions and started to play (on dial-up). I still remember my Level 1 Paladin making his way out of the Dwarf capital. Little did I know that I would be playing the game for 3 years, 65 levels and 70 odd AA.
While it was the scale of the MMO genre that sold me on it initially it was the social interaction and community that kept me playing (and still keeps me playing MMO’s).
Finding a group to grind out a camp or kill Emperor Crush, Joining a guild, raiding NTOV are all milestones in my MMO experience. As I type this I have just MSNed a a guy I first met on EQ 7 years ago. We would grind in the caverns on Luclin while he fed the baby. Now he has 2 more and his wife plays( She still has active account Everquest account)
I gradually grew tired with Everquest and dabbled in a lot of other MMO’s, I didn’t find the combination of emersion and community that I wanted until World of Warcraft. I don’t regret a day played in Wow which is arguably tone of the best computer game of all time ( if such comparison can be made)
As I tired of WoW I was pleased to see Age of Conan and Warhammer on the hozizon. Age of Conan and its failures are well documented elsewhere, its greatest failure for me was that I could have been the best MMO out there had they had the courage of their convictions and waited a year.
So here I am in Warhammer. It certainly has the immersion and the community is developing. Launching so close to Wrath of the Lich King has hurt it but I am optimistic.
No MMO is a finished product on launch and Mythic have been working on their game and do seem to be continuing in this vein. I will be interested to see it looks and feels 6 months into its life. It flawed but its still fun and once there is a willingness to fix it that is backed up by actual fixes it can become a success.
In the hope that it does grow, I will endeavour to try and blog around it.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Numbers numbers numbers
Mark's message.
Folks,These threads always make me chuckle a little bit. EA's earnings call is in a few weeks and after that, there will be a lot more clarity about our numbers. As always, I can't talk about it before the call but after that it will be fair game. There is no question that WotLK (like BC before it) and everything else swirling around us had an effect on PC game sales but we expected it would happen so we were not surprised. As I've said in interviews both before and the game launched, we knew going up against WoW was a marathon and not a sprint and we're still in it for the long-term. I can't give you sales numbers today but I can say this, that if I compared the number of new people trying WAR today than one month ago (or even 2 months ago), there are more people today than on Dec 17th or even Nov 17th (and this holds true for lots of other days as well, for those of you who think I'd engage in semantics ).
This, of course, will have no effect on the doomsayers/naysayers/etc. but the fact remains that we've come through one of the most competitive and challenging retail environments in the history of gaming (world economy in tatters, WoTLK, other great RPGs, etc.) and are still selling nicely even though we are a new subscription game. The fact is that almost everyone is hurting these days and calling us a failure because we didn't achieve WoW numbers (which I always said we wouldn't do) overnight is just silly. WoW didn't reach their peak subscriber numbers overnight and neither have we. If I thought that we had peaked already, I'd put WAR in maintenance mode and call it a day. Not only are we not doing that but we are investing heavily in WAR. The extent of some of that investment I'll be discussing soon.Mark
Good marketting or good news, possibly both.
Second class citizens
It has become rather fashionable on EU servers to blame GOA for all the problems of this game. The vast majority of our issues are not with GOA but with Mythic but players do not make the differnetiation. Class Balance and game play issues are solely their responsibility and are often misleadingly left at GOA’s door.
After copious reading of forums, and Warhammer sites a slow realisation came across me. The EU player base is not important to Mythic and Mythic do not listen to feedback from GOA.If we look back at the premature announcement of the fixing at all crashes on EU servers or indeed Mark Jacob’s recent Birthday clip (where he doesn’t have a notion which EU servers are having issues) it becomes pretty obvious.The EU player base is easily as large as the US yet Mythic’s responses are tailored toward the US.On these forums, you notice Magnus of GOA taking the time to reply on a number of topics. I wonder when he communicates these concerns to Mythic whether they get a fair hearing.It is not unreasonable to come to the conclusion that Mythic are ignoring the feedback they get from GOA. I have come across players who have run into difficulties because they use non US characters in their names, Mythic seem to have forgotten the existence of umlats and accents. This is one small example but it illustrates that Mythic are nor actively considering the EU in their planning processes
My question is
Do Mythic pay any attention to their EU customers or indeed to GOA (is there any evidence that they do)?I am aware that it is fashionable to be disparaging to WOW but amongst its strengths is the fact is you did not feel that the EU player base is of a lesser importance to other regions.
After copious reading of forums, and Warhammer sites a slow realisation came across me. The EU player base is not important to Mythic and Mythic do not listen to feedback from GOA.If we look back at the premature announcement of the fixing at all crashes on EU servers or indeed Mark Jacob’s recent Birthday clip (where he doesn’t have a notion which EU servers are having issues) it becomes pretty obvious.The EU player base is easily as large as the US yet Mythic’s responses are tailored toward the US.On these forums, you notice Magnus of GOA taking the time to reply on a number of topics. I wonder when he communicates these concerns to Mythic whether they get a fair hearing.It is not unreasonable to come to the conclusion that Mythic are ignoring the feedback they get from GOA. I have come across players who have run into difficulties because they use non US characters in their names, Mythic seem to have forgotten the existence of umlats and accents. This is one small example but it illustrates that Mythic are nor actively considering the EU in their planning processes
My question is
Do Mythic pay any attention to their EU customers or indeed to GOA (is there any evidence that they do)?I am aware that it is fashionable to be disparaging to WOW but amongst its strengths is the fact is you did not feel that the EU player base is of a lesser importance to other regions.
Blogging is it for me?
My metamorphosis from a gamer to a MMOer has always been intertwined with my interaction with forums. I am not sure that I really paid much attention to forums until I became engrossed in Everquest. As I wanted to learn more about my paladin, I began to browse looking for a useful source of Information. I eventually made it to a Paladin forum. The joys of my server forum came next and an education in flaming and trolling.
Today as I browse for information I tend to hit more and more blogs. The thought strikes me, why don't I give this a go.
So here I am.
Today as I browse for information I tend to hit more and more blogs. The thought strikes me, why don't I give this a go.
So here I am.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)