Patch 1.0.6 - Highlights and more

[Arthur_Parker]

Linky

Folks,

With 1.0.6 ready to go tomorrow, here are the highlights of the patch. The full patch notes will be on the Herald shortly after I post this message. FYI, the patch notes are 23 pages of patchy goodness.

1) New Careers Released! With this version we are happy to announce the release of the Empire’s Knight of the Blazing Sun, and the Dark Elf’s Blackguard! These new careers are available early for players who have successfully completed the Heavy Metal Event!

2) Mastery Refunds – Due to a number of significant changes to many of our careers, provided a full mastery refund to certain careers. Players who belong to one of the careers below will need to speak with a Trainer to retrain their Career Mastery: Black Orc, Bright Wizard, Chosen, Engineer, Ironbreaker, Magus, Shadow Warrior, Sorcerer, Squig Herder, Swordmaster

3) Morale Responsiveness - Morale abilities will now be much more responsive. These abilities will now fire immediately when activated by the player on the first attempt, and will display their cooldowns correctly at all times.

4) Root Responsiveness - We have made a number of adjustments to root spells to ensure that they break properly and feel more responsive to players. Changes include a chance to break on ANY damage including DoT damage, as well as a 5s immunity to being rooted again after the current root effect breaks.

5) Improvements have been made to autoattack animations. Players will now see smoother, more consistent weapon swaps when players change from ranged to melee autoattacks, and vice versa.

6) The responsiveness of ability activations has been improved. Players will now see less of a delay between the activation of an ability and the corresponding animation.

7) Fixes have been made to issues which were causing guild promotion and demotion not to work properly.

8) Numerous fixes to the UI.

This patch is truly the "Combat and Careers" patch that we have been talking about for many weeks. There are a ton of changes and bug fixes in this patch as you will see in the full patch notes. Linkage to the full patch notes: http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=477

So, as usual, we're happy to thank those members of the community who participated in helping us test, iterate and refine 1.0.6 through feedback as well as playing on our PTS! We hope you continue to do so going forward as we've got a ton of stuff in and coming down the pipeline.

Mark

linky

Folks,

Here's a quick update on where things stand as of this evening:

1) Patch 1.0.6 is looking good for going LIVE tomorrow.

2) The fix I talked about last week that will improve overall client performance in RvR, especially in high traffic situations, *may* go LIVE tomorrow. It involved a major change to the client and we need to be 100% sure that that we don't make some things better but at the same time, make some things worse with this change.

3) We hope to have a fix to the major issue that is causing fortress crashing going either to the PTS this week and/or possibly rolled out to one or two commercial servers this week as well for testing this week as well. As above, this also involved a significant change (but this time to the server) so we need to be a little bit more careful than usual before it's rolled out to all the LIVE servers.

4) I hope to be able to post tomorrow going into a little bit more detail about the influence system that we hope will go LIVE with 1.1. FYI, 1.1 is still looking good for going LIVE this month. It can still be pushed back of course but it's still on track as of today.

And no, I don't ignore threads once they get to a certain point but I do tend to stop commenting in them unless I have something useful to say. There is no point in simply saying "it's coming soon" again and again.

Mark

Bets on something major going wrong?

[schild]

Bets on something major going wrong?

Stop baiting the new fish, they're already incoherent enough.

[Nebu]

Fixing 3, 4, 6, and 8 this long after release = priceless.  I'm trying hard to recall a date when these things were first mentioned as being a concern... it was a LONG time ago. 

[Arthur_Parker]

From the top of the patch notes.

The update you've all been waiting for, 1.0.6, is almost here!

Intentionally ironic?

[schild]

This patch is truly the "Combat and Careers" patch that we have been talking about for many weeks.

First one was a big lie.

[Kail]

2) The fix I talked about last week that will improve overall client performance in RvR, especially in high traffic situations, *may* go LIVE tomorrow. It involved a major change to the client and we need to be 100% sure that that we don't make some things better but at the same time, make some things worse with this change.

Personally, this is what I'm most looking for.  Right now, warband vs. warband combat is a slideshow for me.  Fixing everything else isn't really that helpful if this isn't addressed.  So, hearing that they're looking at it is nice.

Saying "the patch which is going out tomorrow may or may not contain major client changing code, we aren't sure if it'll completely screw things up so give us a couple hours to test it" is kind of worrying, though.

[Ard]

Bets on something major going wrong?

Stop baiting the new fish, they're already incoherent enough.

I hate image macros as much as anyone, but this is so very appropriate.

[Hindenburg]

What?
No ctrl+f "experience" 0 results posts? Not even when they're adding new classes that'll obviously need to be leveled to demonstrate all the flaws? 

[tazelbain]

Seems like a big retention patch, but nothing to win back upset players.

[Bismallah]

At least they are attempting to fix something. Nothing was more frustrating then being a healer, hitting that morale ability for the insta heal and nada.

These next patches are crucial for Mythic. I am sure they have had way too many meetings then I can imagine banging home that point.

[Pennilenko]

No amount of fixing is going to makes things like they were before everyone left.

[Zira]

These next patches are crucial for Mythic. I am sure they have had way too many meetings then I can imagine banging home that point.

No... the last few patches were crucial for Mythic.... the next patches dont matter...  People have left because the T3/4 grind hurts too much.

[Votan]

No a lot of people have left because the game is just plain bad in so many area's that it is just not worth playing. 

[Redgiant]

This game is not finished and no one should be paying for it.

All the channelled animation bugs are STILL happening. Pit of Shades being one shining example due to its ridiculously annoying size, but it is there for many animations on many classes. In a solidly implemented, released and maintained game like WoW, this would have been an immediate hotfix. I mean, it makes certain class specs nigh unplayable. But yep, still around - for how many months now?

Call me when someone really makes a worthy DAoC RvR successor with no instances just to placate the WoW retards.

[Arthur_Parker]

Interview - Destin Bales, Live Producer

Worth reading the whole thing just to see him avoid answering the questions.

Tamat : Grinding for control over a zone has become more of a problem. No one likes to grind their way to anything, including achieving a new Rank, or simply crafting sandwiches for their hungry group. How is Mythic getting away from grinding with each content update, especially concerning Renown experience?

Destin : We make an effort to offer a wide variety of experiences for players, so they aren’t forced to do the same thing over and over again in order to advance.  We continue to look at designing and creating systems which are fun and engaging so players want to do them.  Once someone is having fun doing something, the gains (be they Renown, XP, or a nice Mutton, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich) become the result of the action, not the means for it.
.................
Tamat : With the average Rank steadily increasing on mature servers, how are you keeping low level Public Quests from becoming too difficult to complete, or simply pointless, when no one else is around to help?

Destin : Currently, Public Quests offer two levels of difficulty – “standard” and “difficult”.  Where standard PQ’s are geared towards 6 to 9 players, difficult PQ’s require multiple groups to successfully complete.  In the near future, we will be introducing the concept of “easy” PQ’s to WAR.  Easy PQ’s are retooled Public Quests that have been adjusted to require 2 to 3 players for completion.  With each version, you will see more easy PQ’s in the game until almost every chapter has a balance of easy, standard and difficult PQ’s, allowing for a wide variety of grouping and play options.
...................
Tamat : I’ve personally seen drops repeat themselves in such long cycles that groups gets tired of instances because they either already have the item or don’t need it. We’ve seen a lot of fixes and adjustments in recent updates. When will we see more varied content, especially content relevant to the attending players?

Destin : We’re doing heavy itemization revisions, particularly for the dungeons. These changes are slated to be out in the near future and will improve the itemization even further.
...................
Tamat : Crafting and other more economic oriented activities have been said to have been an afterthought when the game was produced.  Will crafting ever gain respect, or is the game solely meant for RvR hungry players that don’t care to craft sandwiches or sew shirts?

Destin : The team here is committed to making crafting a meaningful and satisfying experience for players. In WAR, the primary purpose of crafting will always be to support and contribute to the RvR experience.  That being said, the team is currently focused on looking at our crafting skills and improving them across the board.

Our goal is to make the entire crafting experience easier for the player to get into with more meaningful results that players find attractive to use. Long term we’re looking to expand our crafting systems to link in closely with RvR, which means we’re heavily considering things like Siegecraft and other RvR related items.

[Bismallah]

Edit: Nevermind, it's just too easy to keep punching this company in the face. It's not even fun anymore...

[Hindenburg]

Haha.

Tamat : Players will often drop out of a group once entering a zone to gain unfair amounts of experience.  What are some of the ways you are making Scenarios not only more balanced, but more fun for those that do play fairly?

Destin : The game is about realm advancement and realm victory. Players who drop out of a group are still contributing to the success of the team in a scenario or open RvR. Even so, by deciding to “go it alone” they are accepting greater risk. They have less backup and less healing and are therefore more vulnerable, making them a weak point the other realm can exploit, and reducing their odds of getting good loot.  A dead player doesn’t get many rewards.

With all that said; we are actively looking into the scoring and contribution systems in our game to make sure they are as fair and balanced as possible.

They AGREE with group dropping in scenarios.


Yeah, my WE Vintre really got fucked in the ass in that one.

As batshit insane and functionally retarded as Mark is, at least he doesn't do PR speak 100% of the time

Edit: Nevermind, it's just too easy to keep punching this company in the face. It's not even fun anymore...

Pussy.
---

Haha, the patch fucked my client to the point where it CTD's as soon as I push play. Good to see the effects of the sooper seekrit test server.

[Arthur_Parker]

Linky

I have become aware of an issue where players of opposing factions are dropping standards for each other and allowing captures so that they and their entire group can gain large quantities of renown. This has been going on for quite some time as I've been told.

You guys hotfixed the renown gain in scenarios the other day very quickly, can you please fix this bug that is allowing players to already be past renown rank 60 who were less than RR40 a week ago?

Funny, not just funny because Mythic's whole fort capture mechanic is basically an approved version of the same thing.  But funny, because someone thinks normal player behaviour is a "bug", what he really means is please nerf renown gain for capturing standards.

[Fordel]

I can't wrap my head around the whole Scenario Group dropping thing.


Why would that even be allowed to begin with? 


So much stupid.

[ghost]

Tamat : Grinding for control over a zone has become more of a problem. No one likes to grind their way to anything, including achieving a new Rank, or simply crafting sandwiches for their hungry group. How is Mythic getting away from grinding with each content update, especially concerning Renown experience?

Destin : We make an effort to offer a wide variety of experiences for players, so they aren’t forced to do the same thing over and over again in order to advance.  We continue to look at designing and creating systems which are fun and engaging so players want to do them.  Once someone is having fun doing something, the gains (be they Renown, XP, or a nice Mutton, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich) become the result of the action, not the means for it.
.................

Translation:  You must do each and every one of these "experiences" ad nauseum to advance, and in particular, gear up for the end-game experience.

[rk47]

Where's the fun in that.
Guild told me yes zone control pushes every weekend. Weekdays just schedule among yourselves on what to do, whether it's keep taking, lost vale etc.
I chose Left 4 Dead while logging in for zone pushes till my sub expire mid December.

[Bismallah]

Yeah I have to agree this PR interview is pure shit.

Hell, you don't even need to drop group to make serious XP/Renown with a WP above 30. If you spec Grace and you get the +Wounds buff you can keep spamming the buff and healing overtop for Renown. If you have your group nearby for each time you cast that +Wounds buff then AE heal you can get around 15-20 Renown per player in your group nearby instantly. Then you get all those healing points added to your final score as well, try doing that 50-60 times and watch the Renown rack up wicked fast. How it works = every time you cast a new +Wounds buff it acts like they never had the buff in the first place. At 38 I could get it around +75ish wounds meaning 750 points of healing per person in the group with the AE heal. Voila, instant RP.

Fuck, I could do well over 200-250k healing just standing at the spawn point SOLO and buff/heal rinse repeat. I ended up getting somewhere around 3-5k Renown (because I was lower RR) and 15-20k XP. The whole thing is seriously fucked if you can stand inside a Scenario, just buff/heal, get top healer and earn more XP then a quest. Hell it got to a point anytime the group stood around for 2-3 seconds, I would "refresh our buffs" and then AE heal for instant Renown gains and top the healing charts nearly every time.

[tazelbain]

After the last patch notes, the stubborn refusal to acknowledge WARs problems is expected. 

They need to bring in Hartsman, he's the only person with credibility to turn a game around.

[ashrik]

Who is Hartsman?

Edit: heh
For the double: I didn't expect google to be that kind. Guy's got a pretty cool website. Hopefully he'll update it some more.

[schild]

Who is Hartsman?

This is what every new person just said when they read that post. And as f13 sighs, you're the only one who had the balls to ask it while others are hoping for the best from Google. Luckily, the Google is kind.

[Lantyssa]

Scott Hartsman, formerly of EQ2.  I don't know his history very well, but I believe he is the one who shook the game up and turned it into one of the better options out there now.  The NGE which worked.  He's a pretty nice guy, too.

After the last patch notes, the stubborn refusal to acknowledge WARs problems is expected. 

They need to bring in Hartsman, he's the only person with credibility to turn a game around.

That would require them acknowledging there is a problem.

[HaemishM]

Fuck these patch notes in the ear. My witch hunter just got the nerf of his fucking life:

Seal of Destruction: The Witch Hunter’s attacks will now ignore 50% of their target’s armor.

Yep, those Black Orcs you can barely scratch IF you're lucky enough to get behind them or manage to get your 15-second positional buff to go off? They will now fuck you even harder than before. Don't even bother trying to take on a tank or MDPS with any sort of armor, just get used to trying to stealth hump those casters before they kill you because those are the only fuckers you'll have a chance to kill. At least until they root then knock you back away from them.

[Nebu]

Yep, those Black Orcs you can barely scratch IF you're lucky enough to get behind them or manage to get your 15-second positional buff to go off? They will now fuck you even harder than before. Don't even bother trying to take on a tank or MDPS with any sort of armor, just get used to trying to stealth hump those casters before they kill you because those are the only fuckers you'll have a chance to kill. At least until they root then knock you back away from them.

Welcome to the Rock - Paper - Scissors world of Mythic class balance.  Light tanks kill casters, casters kill light tanks, and heavy tanks kill everyone.  Ok... so it's not quite Rock - Paper - Scissors. 

[Hindenburg]

To be honest, WE's kill everyone.

Also, why the fuck would a WH attack an orc?

[HaemishM]

Because there's nothing else close, he's lost all stealth and/or 3 other people are banging on said orc?

[Hindenburg]

Right.

You lost?

[HaemishM]

Not always. But I'm sure after 1.06, if I were still playing, yes, I would always lose.

[tolakram]

Arguing over class balance issues is silly; I don't believe anything I read.  If this game was fun these issues would all be secondary.   Time to put my earplugs in again and wait for 1.1   nah nah nah and all that.

[Grim]

Bets on something major going wrong?

Stop baiting the new fish, they're already incoherent enough.

[Shatter]

To be honest, WE's kill everyone.

Also, why the fuck would a WH attack an orc?

Exactly my question.  Your job is to F up the back lines(healers and range DPS) cause u can stealth to get there when others cant.  If you are trying to kill BO's you are doing it wrong