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Reducing the dreaded spawn camp scenerio – warhammer online

08 Sep

Spawn camping has been an annoyance since day one and can happen in any game where two sides collide and skill, numbers and class balance factor in.

Spawn camped scenerios are unenjoyable for both sides. People being pinned in feel frustrated because they have no room to move out in a lot of cases. Your forced to go forward into a gauntlet of positioned opposition.

People doing the spawn camping have generally boring time too. Some groups try to hang back more but unless you have communication and influence over the second group, your risk them getting run over if you pull back. If you stay up with them, you risk them pulling guards and wiping a bunch of your force.

I have in the past posted up discussion threads on ways spawn camping could be reduced by minor or major changes to scenerio layout, mechanics etc..

At this point in time, I think most development is being spent (properly) on the new rvr pack and major patch changes. Existing scenerios will probably not be changed to accomodate complicated ideas and scenerio redesigns such as auras around the warcamp that up damage/healing or alternate exists/portals.

A simple way to aid in reducing spawn camping in existing scenerios that would -hopefully- involve little to no coding would be to increase the damage on the camp seige weaponry by large amount. Maybe even have this player controlled seige weaponry kill people in a single shot if they are silly enough to go into range of a warcamp/spawn location and get hit by the weapon.

People would quickly learn and adapt to the new range and more breathing room outside of your spawn area would be allowed. You would also be more in control of clearing the campers out, instead of pinning your hopes on unreliable guards which seem at times to do nothing at all.

Obviously this does not solve the root causes of spawn camping, nor is it meant to. This is simply an idea for a quick fix to give more breathing room outside of a spawn location in a scenerio and move the fight more to the middle of the scenerio. In the same swipe, it should help remove NPCs from being a factor in scenerios.

 
6 Comments

Posted in Bioware, Gaming, Mythic, Online Gaming, Warhammer

 

News: Korea drops Warhammer Online

08 Sep

It has been reported that NHN will no longer be servicing Warhammer Online in Korea as of the end of September 2010, which will mean the end of Warhammer in Korea.

“We had no choice but canceling the service because we have been informed that no longer proper support for developing from EA is expected”

Who knows what this means for EU and NA Warhammer, but with RvR packs coming out in a couple months, lets hope they go well and at least a small amount of development resources remain to continue to build on Warhammer.

Source: http://www.thisisgame.com/go/?p=1911

 
2 Comments

Posted in Bioware, EA, Mythic, Warhammer

 

time to change tactics? warhammer online

01 Sep

Recently, a friend and fellow blogger Going Rancid interviewed Nate from Bioware|Mythic and one of the questions asked was regarding tactics, the response was as follows:


“Our general goal for tactics is that we want players to agonize over their loadouts and have to make tough choices between several desirable options and end up with a loadout that they’re happy with once the choice has been made. Additionally, we want players to be using different loadouts for different situations, and tactics to be less “set and forget” – hence the multiple loadout sets built into the basic UI. It’s pretty common knowledge that there are some tactics which are viewed as “must-haves”, and we see from our metrics that players don’t frequently change tactics. Broadly speaking, our approach to improving tactics is to take one or two of the least-used and consider what improvements can be made to them; in most cases, we’d rather make bring up under-performing tactic options and make them as desirable as the most-used tactics.”

This got me thinking about tactics and how I think Nate is spot on in his thoughts on people picking a load out and just sticking with that.
On my Zealot I have the 4 I feel are the best and unless I go and do some PvE, those tactics do not change.
On my Choppa I actually have 3 tactic sets, each a varying degree on survivability from running solo to being in a solid group with guard. Really though, I would switch tactics maybe once per scenerio at most or just when I join a group.

The biggest thing preventing people from switching tactics based on the situation they are in is the restriction from switching while in combat. If this was lifted, you could further improve smooth transitions by allowing macros/hotkeys for tactic sets and linking tactics to stances/mechanics (eg. the new Zealot/RP mechanic for healing and damage modes). A cooldown may be required however.

This would add some interesting new group vs group dynamics as whole groups could have alternate strategies and flip to them on the fly.

It also just makes sense for ORVR as you often cannot get out of combat and you really do not know what you will encounter next. At the moment it creates an experience that promotes the most generic set it and forget it setup to ensure you will not be hand-cuffed with more specialized tactics.

What do you guys think? Aside from people that complain that there is mystery to their opponents, what other things could go horribly wrong?

Read the full interview by Going Rancid: http://goingrancid.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/war-qa-with-cc-developer-nate-levy/

 
4 Comments

Posted in Bioware, EA, Gaming, Mythic, Other bloggers, Warhammer

 

Appearance system part 2: compromise – Warhammer Online

27 Aug

In response to my last article, there has been some resistance from people who feel that they will not try as hard if they scan over someones gear and it appears they are not in end game equipment. This makes them upset that they could be tricked into losing.

My opinion on this this is pretty simple. If you don’t try your best against everyone you fight, I have little sympathy if you lose. This is not a “hardcore” stance, this is just a “realistic stance for a mmo fight against other people.

Others have mentioned that people do use the information for tactical reasons, like running away if they feel they are outgunned. This is somewhat valid and I can at least accept that gear can be useful for people who want to know if they are out matched and make decisions based on their risk tolerance.

I have instead decided to offer a compromise. I would like to suggest that a visual way of determining the relative gear level to your oponent be put in. Allow appearances to be set any way you like and have that be viewable by all. Perhaps a colour coded “con” system or star rating for which people to tell someones approximate rank or approximate relative rank compared to yours. An exact number would not be required, just a general range based on RR/Wards. People could then use these as indicators of gear level and not be cheated out of winning battles they are capable of winning because they didn’t try. Realm titles do show under the character names, but perhaps this isnt “visual” enough.

I know Bioware/Mythic put a lot of work into the new appearance system and the way it stands right now it feels incomplete and it is getting laughed at because it can only be seen by yourself and realm. I understand why Bioware/Mythic is hesistant to put this in full scale for both sides however, there are a decent number of people against it. More then I would have expected.
I like having some mystery about my oponents, and I like that people can customize their apperance for all to see. An opt-in sort of option may work, but it still seems weak. For people to get on board and fully enjoy the new appearance system, it needs to not hinge on someone from the other realm checking a check box somewhere for it to work.

 
4 Comments

Posted in Bioware, EA, Mythic, Warhammer

 

WAR solves gear issues for healing Zealots/Rune Priests

26 Aug

For a long time (since day 1) I have hounded Mythic make it so that Zealots, Rune Priests (and other healers) could itemize inteligently and functionally for healing without having to do a ton of PvE instances. Up until now, annihilator served as a decent set, but once you hit 40, your first RvR set healing update comes partially in the form of Warlord, and then Sovereign. For almost every healer, PvE instance gear is the standard and the most functional healing gear you can find.

An update announced today will solve this long time problem. Stats will be moving to 1:1 ratio with the heal mode/dps mode mechanic for zealots and rune priests.
I immediately and excitedly hit up WarDB to check out how the RvR sets in the huge gap from annihilator and Warlord would fair as healing upgrades and I was very pleasantly surprised.

I have not included all stats/bonuses, just some key stats for quick reference. Obviously mixing and matching these sets may yield even better results and results more tailored to your favorite bonuses.

Heal Zealot: Sentinel Set
318 wp + 21 heal power
51 tough
100 wnds
5% heal crit

Heal Zealot: Conqueror Set (wow!)
378 willpower +20 heal power
37 tough
112 wnds
8% heal crit

Darkpromise: Heal Mode
352 wp
129 tough
35wnds
8% heal crit

Invader: Heal Mode
341 wp +24 heal power
55 tough
120 wnds
5% heal crit

In summary, it looks amazing, the rvr sets look at least equal to PvE equivalent and depending on your perspective, they may be better. Zealots, like all classes still have a few remaining issues, but I am amazed at the progress they have made recently.

Imo, this should be a pretty huge boost for people looking to roll a healer. I have written in previous articles about how a healer is often a hard sell because of the amount of PvE that is required to gear it properly. Now that you can play the game mainly just doing RvR and stay in top gear for your level, it can’t do anything but make zealot/rp a pretty attractive option.

Set Reference:

Conqueror
1100 armour
144 wp
37 tough
46wnds
12 init
102 int
4 disrupt, 3 ap, 3 magic crit, 2 reduced armour pen, 20 heal pow

66 int
66wp
66wnds
5% magic crit
10% chance to gain 50 morale

Sentinel
1100 armour
144wp
51 tough
34 wnds
8 init
6 wep skill
108 int
11 hate reduction, 14hp, 3 crit reduce, 21 heal power

344 elemental
66 wp
66 wnds
5% heal crit
10% chance on hit to form a 126hp barrier on hit

DP
1209 armour
163 wp
57 tough
35 wnds
11 init
7 wep skill
117 int
3 ap, 3 morale, 2 reduced armour pen, 2 reduced chance to be disrupted, 3 heal crit

72 willpower
5% heal crit
72 toughness
5ap sec

invader
1209 armour
162 wp
55 tough
48 wnds
7 init
8 wep skill
107 int
2 morale, 15 hp, 24 magic pow
3 reduce crit

72 int
72 wnds
5% magic crit
10% on hit to recover 41 hp
+120 increased range

 
1 Comment

Posted in Bioware, Mythic, Online Gaming, Warhammer

 

Character customization great, but needs to be seen by all – warhammer online

13 Aug

I would also like to begin by saying that I really like the way they have implemented appearance altering. I suggested a long while back that they go off the armoury and allow you to set appearances of any item you have unlocked in your tome, but this expands and improves on that in several ways.

However, my focus today is on a pretty big drawback to this addition and that is that it can only be seen by your realm, not your enemies. More directly, this post is aimed at the reason posted today on the items and appearances article. I love all the guys over there at Bioware Mythic, so in a way it pains me to call them out like this, but unfortunately this is part of the reason I created BSD.

A couple years ago, my cell phone company sent me a letter in the mail, saying they were modifying my plan to include some extra charges that were not optional, for my convenience. I got a good laugh out of that because the most convenient thing for me would be to not pay the extra money for the same service.

This snippet from the post today explaining why the enemy realm can not see armour customizations reminded me of that, in part because I feel there is probably a good and valid reason kicking around somewhere why they do not want to implement it as showing to both sides, perhaps a performance issue, but instead we get a reason which seems to imply that players would prefer it this way.

    “In light of the fact that we do not want players to use this system solely to confuse the opposing realm in RvR, the appearance you apply to your equipment can only be seen by players of your own realm. Players of the opposing realm will see the equipment as if no alternate appearance has been applied to it.”

Lets take a look at this from two different perspectives, both the Warhammer tabletop side of it, and the Warhammer Online practicality side of it.

Warhammer Tabletop: While I never played the tabletop version, one of the biggest selling points of the game seemed to be the ability to customize your figurines and paint them as you like. If you were a good artist, you could make them look pretty amazing, if you were not, your army would look pretty rag-tag. Either way, when you played against other people everyone had their customized armies on the board. Would anyone complain that it was unfair that they lost to a poorly painted army because they didn’t expect them to be able to fight as well as an army painted by a professional?

Warhammer Online: Imo, any person that is running into a battle, evaluating the equipment level of the people they are fighting, then adjusting the effort and concentration they put into winning the battle based on that equipment evaluation, deserves whatever outcome they get. Fight the player, not his gear.

Adding the customization should be a patch that adds the tabletop feature of making yourself look how you envision with the different pieces in the game and dye jobs available, but I feel it is important to reflect that appearance to your enemies as well for the full effect of taking pride in doing that to come through.

I really enjoyed the old way of doing things. In DAOC you knew very little about your opponent beyond his race. You had to fight your hardest no matter what and you had to expect the unexpected. With the gear sets and weapon restrictions/itemization in this game and the looks of the characters, most classes are easily distinguished. A bright wizard can not really be mistaken for a warrior priest etc, no matter how you customize it.

In conclusion, I would just say that if the reason posted is the actual real reason and it is being restricted to help the players out, toss up a poll for players and see how it turns out. I know how I would vote and I -think- I know how it would turn out, but I can’t say for sure. What do you guys think out there?

Read all about the appearance changes here: http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=1218

 
6 Comments

Posted in Bioware, EA, Gaming, Online Gaming, Warhammer

 

Want to transfer? Stop paying for 3 months? -Warhammer Online

11 Aug

It seems like many people I know are unhappy with their current server and attempts to move to a different server are all receiving the same response from customer server, “unsubscribe for 3 months and you will be granted a free transfer to any server”. They then incorrectly lash out at the service/support people who are just enforcing the policy. Everyone has a reason why they should be the exception to the rule, but it even one person gets around the policies in place, you can easily imagine the chaos that would come of that.

Obviously a company having a policy where people need to stop paying them for a period of time in order to solve their problem is mind boggling, but there is a reason for it and it does solve potential problems that can arise, I just think it solves it in a crude way that could have improvements or additional options.

If character transfers were allowed for everyone that wanted them, Bioware-Mythic would have no control over server populations and would not even be able to “attempt” to monitor and regulate the gaming experience they want to provide on their servers. Even if it was time restricted, you would still immediately have a lot of high end guilds decide to pile on one server, which snowballs to include alliance/following guilds as well. Even if they detect at some point that people are piling onto a particular server, how can they stop it or cut it off? They would ophan people from their friends/guilds and that would be even worse of a situation.

Any solution to transfers that could be considered by Bioware-Mythic would have to include something that shows a serious comittment by the player that they are not just server bouncing. The demand for a solution to this is definately out there so I hope that ideas and options are being explored.

A few ideas I would kick around:

Allow players to purchase ($$) an unlock for their account for 24hrs, allowing them to move characters between servers in that timeframe.

Pros: -You do not lose a sub for 3 months, and with people dead set on transfering you would end up making what amounts to more then a full boxed product in revenue.
-Most people would happily pay a fee to transfer to get back with friends etc..

Cons:-You lose some control, because assuming you have a lot of players with a bunch of extra money, they could immediately start moving around. The fee amount would need to be carefully chosen.
-You also have an issue with how some players would perceive this. In times like now, where many players feel their servers are unplayable, announcing a transfering fee just seems like the server issues were not solved so that they could grab at money for transfers. I honestly feel for them for this situation, as it would be an amazing solution, but only once servers do another round of population balancing.

Require a player to level a character up to level 25? 40? on their intended destination server and side, which would unlock 1 – single use transfer to that server. Possibly even overwrite/replace the character they leveled up?

Pros:
-You dont lose a sub for 3 months.
-You have the player show a commitment to their intended server.
-Population stats for servers -may- remain more reliable/predictable due to having to roll and level up a character on that server.

Cons:
-None really at this point. It would seem a bit meaningless to some players, but I think most players set on transfering would choose this before unsubbing for 3 months.

 
2 Comments

Posted in Bioware, Gaming, Mythic, Online Gaming, Warhammer

 

High level dropped and repairable items – Warhammer Online

09 Aug

My Warrior Priest on Badlands hit 40 this weekend and I started looking at gear options to try to get him in something somewhat good before working up my RR.

I did a bit of research and searching on the AH to try to find the different search keywords for decent gear and repairable items, for those interested, here are some good keywords to search to try to find some good bridging gear to the dungeon/rvr sets.

Green Quality: Antiquated, Staunch, fallen explorer
Blue Quality: Favorable, Relic, Remnant, Desert Storm, warden
Epic Quality: Priceless, Sandstorm, watcher, primeval, overlord, ancient

Hope this helps out!

 
3 Comments

Posted in Bioware, Gaming, Mythic, Online Gaming, Warhammer

 

BSD Predicts merger will combine US and EU servers – Warhammer Online

02 Aug

I am going out on a limb, but I am going to predict the next round of server merges will mix EU and US players.

If you follow developers and Bioware/Mythic staff comments, you know several statements have been made about how the playstyles of US and EU contrast, and even how they would love to see them collide. Foreshadowing? Who knows, but it makes for a neat prediction.

Combined with Carrie’s comment from the Dev Q/A that seems to imply that Iron Rock (and probably others) are looking at mergers at some point (soon I hope), I think this would make for an interesting way of doing it. It also seems like it would be a great way for the Bioware/Mythic staff to experiment with players like rats on a battlefield.

This is just a unsubstantiated prediction on my part. It may not even be possible to combine a US and EU server due to latency etc.. I am no network engineer.

 
9 Comments

Posted in Bioware, Mythic, Online Gaming, Warhammer

 

warrior priest – warhammer online

30 Jul

With my home server of Iron Rock a bit slow in action and summer activities taking up a lot of Jaded Souls time a few of the guys decided to try out some Order characters on the busy server of Badlands.

I was late rolling my char, but after trying out what seemed to be every class to level 10, I settled on trying a Warrior Priest. It was tough to pick a healer as a temporary alt due to the fact that they are forced to do large amounts of PvE at 40 to get the same level of gear other classes can get just by having fun PvPing.

Level as a warrior priest is easy enough. A group is great, but not really necessary, you have the tools you need. A banner with thorns and exp on it is even better! I wanted to get to T4 as soon as possible so I could join some friends.

I hit T4 last night just as a city flipped, awesome timing.
I zoned into the city and we steam rolled a bunch of destro. I had top heals at level 32, but it wasn’t exactly an epic battle. I won a purple bag, gold bag, purple bag, but neither of the purple bags yielded an item I would use as a healing warrior priest.

For the full seige, populated with destro, I received 10k exp or 75% of the amount I can get from a single, solo’able mob in PvE. In other words, going to the city was enjoyable, but at best 5% of the exp I could have received doing other things in that time. That is a bit disapointing. I have long fought Mythic on the renown gain in the end game pvp event that is the city, perhaps I need to add exp to the list as well.

Next stop, level 40.

 
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Posted in Bioware, Mythic, Warhammer

 
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