Patches 1.1a-d Have Arrived

[Nebu]

Anyone else feeling that's it, it's over? Packed away the DVD's never to be found again, its been removed from my HDD, don't really care anymore to read the newsletter.

We're almost 4months in (heck a full quarter) and I have yet to see improvements from peoples comments on how the game has improved substantially from launch.

Uninstalled and done.  It's sad... I'm a DAoC fanboi and should have been an easy sell.  I lasted 2 weeks before losing faith and unsubbing.

[Mrbloodworth]

Just like all new MMO releases, give it 6-12 months.

[Nebu]

Just like all new MMO releases, give it 6-12 months.

It took almost 4+ years for Mythic to release the classic servers.  I'm not optimistic.

I think WAR may be my last try with an MMO until someone comes along and does something COMPLETELY different than WoW.  I'm not holding my breath for this either.

[Shatter]

We're almost 4months in (heck a full quarter) and I have yet to see improvements from peoples comments on how the game has improved substantially from launch.

My suggestion to you is to stop reading this board then cause the people here rarely have anything good to say about most games, not just Warhammer.  If you want accurate info on the game Id recommend other sites to get it where people are a little more mature about their opinion with real comments other then "THE GAME SUCKS I PEED ON MY DVD!".  Warhammer is stable right now with the changes they made in December and my server which is about 15th on the population list is hopping nightly in multiple tiers.  My guild had 28 people online last night now that Xmas holidays has passed.  The game has made improvements and has more to go so I would give it more time but its on the right track.  I havent had a night of anything less then constant ORvR since early December with many battles over 100+ people.  Now that Ive said that Ill wait for the board trolls to hit reply and continue their negativity about this and just about every other game. 

[Vinadil]

Eh, Shatter no need to go all "woe is me and warhammer" here.  The old crew F13 folks don't make any bones about being biased against most MMOs.

That said, very few of the things said in this or any WAR thread are untrue.  The fact is that is WILL be fun for a few people, maybe even a few hundred thousand of us... but it will NOT hit the numbers it needed to hit to be considered a success (500k I think Mark said?).  At least it does not seem to be there right now in any case.

But, I have not returned to WoW, and some of my guildies who did are talking about a return to WAR simply because the bulk of our guild has enjoyed our time here.  Perhaps it is the casual status of our gaming time now that we are all older and have families, but WAR still scratches that little PvP itch and allows us to do both tactical and logistical warfare on a level that no other MMO does (yea, EVE but it is really too spreadsheets not enough Wing Commander).

WAR just had too many initial negative issues to push through to have a successful post-launch... and only time will tell if they can come back from it.  But, history teaches us that MMOs rarely come back in a significant way after such a launch.  And, the fact that they stopped posting numbers a few months back is not too good either.  For now those of us enjoying the game simply have to hope that there is enough money in the coffers to keep our servers up and to keep changes/fixes coming.

[Nebu]

If you want accurate info on the game Id recommend other sites to get it where people are a little more mature about their opinion with real comments other then "THE GAME SUCKS I PEED ON MY DVD!". 

I'm dying to hear which site he's referring to.  It's certainly not WA nor VN.  Those sites are the dregs of the intraweb.

I come here to read objective, intelligent, and critical reviews.  If I want to read about the view of WAR through rose-colored glasses, of course I'd go elsewhere.

[Arthur_Parker]

Paul Barnett 5th January 2009

Short bit saying incoming fixes to server crashes, contribution systems, tier lock downs, & general improvements.  I suspect a general balance pass for all classes which should be fun to watch.

Shatter, nobody really minds if you want to post about how much you are enjoying WAR.  This forum isn't exactly a hive of activity with so few of us still playing, I'd like to read about your experiences even if it's just to be able to track what's happening and stay reasonably informed.

[Bandit]

I really can't comment on "substantial" changes since launch, I wasn't there at launch.  I have only played about 2 months.  Improvements have been made since I arrived, there is much more Orvr than when I started.   I have leveled Tier 3 in Orvr completely (no scenarios or PVE at all).  There is a definitely a grind aspect, but I haven't really noticed as I do enjoy the game as long as there are big battles.  Basically, I log out and log in and warcamps - survey the action a bit then decide as to whether anything interesting is going on.  More often than nought, there are good battles to be had.

That being said, I am hoping they add more to Orvr.  Sitting at battle objectives capping them for 3 minutes is not fun.  Trading battle objectives/keeps while avoiding confrontation is not fun, and I usually just drop warband at that point. 

I find that warhammer does hold vast potential, just not exactly realized at this point.  I really dig this game though when there is even a smidgen of actual tactical combat going on, even zerging can be enjoyable at times.

I am not looking forward to the crowd control-fest that apparently happens in T4.  T3 was pretty good though.

Edit - just to add, contribution is FUCKED, I have won 3 gold bags by walking into the keep at the last second the lord is killed, and only 1 gold bag through trying to contribute as much as possible.

[Ingmar]

Reports that the game is fun now don't really surprise me; after all the attrition I imagine the majority of people left are the ones who enjoyed it wholeheartedly in the first place.

[Jherad]

I find that warhammer does hold vast potential, just not exactly realized at this point.

A few MMOs back, I told myself that if I find myself using words like 'potential' to describe a MMO, I should give up on it. It took AoC to really drive that home. If the potential isn't being realised by launch, it probably won't. Ever.

[UnSub]

I find that warhammer does hold vast potential, just not exactly realized at this point.

A few MMOs back, I told myself that if I find myself using words like 'potential' to describe a MMO, I should give up on it. It took AoC to really drive that home. If the potential isn't being realised by launch, it probably won't. Ever.

I think this is unfair - MMOs can improve dramatically over time as new systems are brought in and other things altered. I intend to play AoC (as well as a whole heap of other MMOs when they offer free trials) to see if I enjoy them.

Launch is really the worst time to play a MMO - you get an audience full of players who are the hardcore grinders of MMOs, systems that haven't had large-scale testing (even open betas aren't generally large enough to properly battle test a system) and you face a future of some pretty harsh patching. The only reason to buy a MMO at launch is either 1) you have a compulsion to be in on the ground floor or 2) you believe in what the studio is trying to do. Otherwise, waiting to see what changes are made and trying it out several months post-launch is actually a smarter move.

[rk47]

Hahah fun is fun. But sometimes you'd like to see some progression, but seeing as how the Fortress is just unplayable at the moment, I decided it's not worth subbing for. The guild I left turned into some sort of hardcore WoW raider with silly plans like getting 4 grps of active raiders every weeknights because RVR turned into a Zerg v Zerg affair that doesn't really take much coordination except hitting that mass AoE button at the right time and dps all the way.

[Bandit]

Launch is really the worst time to play a MMO - you get an audience full of players who are the hardcore grinders of MMOs, systems that haven't had large-scale testing (even open betas aren't generally large enough to properly battle test a system) and you face a future of some pretty harsh patching.

Yes, pretty much my philosophy as well.  I never play an MMO at launch anymore.  I played EQ2 about a year into it, and loved it, and ended up playing for over a year.  I pretty much did the same with LOTRO.  We all know 99% of games are rushed out at release, most need time to mature.  Unfortunately, people move on quickly because of initial disappointment - which is fair.  I am surprised I even subbed this early into Warhammer.  Obviously the game has problems, but I am hopeful.

[UnSub]

At this point, the only MMO I intend to play at launch is ChampO. If I get into some other alphas / betas, more could be added to this list.

[Ratman_tf]

I find that warhammer does hold vast potential, just not exactly realized at this point.

A few MMOs back, I told myself that if I find myself using words like 'potential' to describe a MMO, I should give up on it. It took AoC to really drive that home. If the potential isn't being realised by launch, it probably won't. Ever.

I think this is unfair - MMOs can improve dramatically over time as new systems are brought in and other things altered. I intend to play AoC (as well as a whole heap of other MMOs when they offer free trials) to see if I enjoy them.

I tend to agree with him. WoW isn't dramatically different from when it launched. It has more bells and whistles, and is more streamlined, but that's it.

Anarchy Online... Ultima Onlin... Everquest... all the lot of 'em. Tabula Rasa... Dark Age of Camelot... I can't think of a single MMOG that has lived up to it's "potential", or even been able to get a consistent description of what exactly "potential" is, or why it's going to make a certain game great.

Generally, I see the word Potential as meaning, "It's shit, but we shipped it anyway.".  

[Jherad]

I certainly didn't mean that MMOs can't get better, or more polished. Just that when you're making the 'stay or go' decision, if you're thinking in terms of all the cool things that might be possible down the road when X gets implemented, or when the playerbase starts doing Y, then you're in for disappointment.

Mechanics will largely remain unchanged, and the playerbase matures onto paths of least resistance, not new interesting avenues of play.

I meant it as more a kind of personal 'don't expect too much' defense, than a rule of the interwebs though. What you see in the first month will be what you see in 6 months to a year - perhaps with bugfixes and streamlined gameplay, but largely similar overall.

[Shatter]

Its nice to see some intelligent conversation here for a change.  I agree with most here, I've played MMO's over 10 years and over the last 4 years much has changed IMO.  When EQ1 brought out an xpac we EXPECTED delays, bugs, problems, etc etc as that was standard.  I remember going 2 days off of one EQ1 x-pac because they had to keep taking servers down.  This was the nature of the MMO world and that stayed true with most games until WOW came out.  WOW didn't have a perfect launch either but it was far better then what we saw with SOE and EQ1, SWG, etc.  Now, 4 years after WOW and the significantly higher number of MMO players(thanks to WOW) people expect a more polished product.  This is how it SHOULD of been back in 1999 but SOE set the bar very low.  In today's MMO market if your product isn't ready at launch you will fail, reference AOC, VG, Tabula Rasa, EQ2, SWG and I unfortunately have to add Warhammer into that group.  Many of these games improved over time, AOC, EQ2, even Warhammer is better in the few months its been out but you dont get to give birth to the same baby twice.

[Bismallah]

Well, I am sure we will see some miracle message from Mark and company in the next days (you would hope) or at least next week promising all these delightful changes so folks hold on for dear life until then. I am sure the message will be filled with 'WAR numbers have increased over the holidays, servers are more stable, lagbeasts have been slain', etc... typical PR bullshit. Too bad most of the gamers, even the fanbois, see through that shit these days. Whether they want to believe it or not is up to them, they know PR spin when they see it. Even some of the diehard fanbois from the VN boards have started cutting back on their propaganda (which is actually sad to see, they were pretty funny to watch flail around).

RUMINT is that Origins was pulled (still trying to verify that it was said at a road trip/round table), despite the fact when you login to DAOC it has "Origins" on the top of the login talking about the "new server type". <shrug>

[Nebu]

Its nice to see some intelligent conversation here for a change. 

If you had bothered to look at posts from the past, you would have found many like the one you just made... some from several years ago. 

We all love games here.  We just aren't willing to praise something that doesn't deserve praise.  WAR did a few things right, but they were greatly overshadowed by the number of missed opportunities.  It was even more disappointing when you consider the advances Mark had made in DAoC. 

Intelligent conversation has been here as long as I have.  Just because a thread doesn't agree with you, doesn't mean that there isn't something of value to be found in it. 

[Arthur_Parker]

I am sure the message will be filled with 'WAR numbers have increased over the holidays, servers are more stable, lagbeasts have been slain', etc... typical PR bullshit.

I might have lost count but I think they just killed their 53rd server, two days ago.

[Bismallah]

If that's Hochland, then yes. The exact number eludes me (I thought it was in the mid 30s?). For open PvP ruleset that means that what started as 7 servers, is down to 2. For RP servers what started as 5 is down to 2 as well. Won't be long before each of those rulesets is down to 1 server a piece and they have to merge the open PvP/RP server into either of those two rulesets, probably open PvP. What was 36 Core servers is now down to 11 I believe, probably trim that a little more by the end of January.

All in all (rounding up a little for one ruleset and a little down for another) you had about a 1 in 3 shot of picking a server that is still around now, three months after the game got released, whew... That math any way you slice it is not good for a game. That doesnt include the fact that many folks picked a new destination server only to be told to move again. Some folks have moved three times already.

I don't know how they can spin that in a better light, but I am sure they will find a way.

[Arthur_Parker]

I double checked, if you include the EU it's 53 I believe.

[Bandit]

Those are not server shutdowns and mergers, they are free character transfers to pre-determined servers.

[Typhon]

[...]Intelligent conversation has been here as long as I have.  [...]

Dude, get over yourself!    ...   (giggle!)

[Tarami]

[...]Intelligent conversation has been here as long as I have.  [...]

Dude, get over yourself!    ...   (giggle!)

What. The. Fuck. Way to tickle all my peevees. Well done.

[waffel]

http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=564

Mythic's 'fix' for fortress raids:

We will be implementing a hard cap on the total number of players that are able to occupy the Fortress area during a siege. The purpose of this change is twofold: to improve server stability, and allow even more players to participate in, and benefit from, capital city sieges.
When the Fortress population reaches certain population thresholds, players who are attempting to enter the area of the besieged Fortress that are Rank 35 and below will be teleported to the warcamp for the region they are in. When the next area population threshold has been met, players that are Rank 37 and below will be teleported to the warcamp. The final population threshold applies to players that are Rank 39 and below. Once the total population cap has been met for the area surrounding the Fortress, all players that attempt to enter the area will be teleported back to the region’s warcamp.


Yet, according to Andy_Mythic:

Most sieges that we've seen in the last 3 weeks have not exceeded the cap we have implemented. [face_love]

[Ingmar]

So, they're going to 'allow even more players to participate' by allowing less players to participate?

[Nebu]

Wow... just wow.  "Our engine can't handle the situation we had hoped for so this is the best work-around we could come up with on a shoestring budget."

BAIL BAIL!   

[Hindenburg]

Ahm, why don't they just instance the forts?

[Fraeg]

So, they're going to 'allow even more players to participate' by allowing less players to participate?

yeah that was some tasty verbage on their statement.

I can remember the moment and the subsequent wave of nausea that washed over me when i read they would re-use Daoc's engine.  I imagine they saved a lot of money by doing that, and it sure as hell shows.

[Bismallah]

Those are not server shutdowns and mergers, they are free character transfers to pre-determined servers.

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not heh... unfortunately, when they ask everyone kindly to leave a server and head to a new one that is effectively a server shutdown put more politely then saying "get the fuck off the server before we make you get the fuck off".

So, they're going to 'allow even more players to participate' by allowing less players to participate?

Hilarious. And what do they intend to do when people's groups get split because half of their warband isnt the required level cap? Haha. Well played Mythic!! I know my guildies not quite 40 will love to be told that they can go fly a fucking kite while I try to defend the Fort. Imagine if all your healers were sub 35 because no one else was on?

[UnSub]

Green is for sarcasm, Bis. We use it so much around here it needed its own colour to avoid people falling into the sarchasm.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the announcement: WAR is everywhere, but please don't all go at once.

This means, of course, that large scale battles will see players pop out of existence. You know what would be hilarious? If the population cap wasn't done on a per side basis. Which would mean the large side could cause members of the smaller side to pop out to the warcamp if they were below a certain level, making the smaller side's job even harder.

[Bismallah]

Gotcha, tks UnSub... still kinda new to the overall forum.

I just finished reading the whole write up for their whole Fortress changes and wow, sooo ass backwards. Totally against almost everything that realm versus realm combat is supposed to support and for what? Because they can't find a better solution to the Forts crashing so they have to start limiting people by level? Jeez.

I am so glad I don't play this game anymore. I would feel ashamed to have to tell my friends lower then the cap yet still in T4 who helped lock a zone that they can go fly a fucking kite because a whole group of 40s logged in to take their spot in a Fort siege. Fucking ludicrous.

[Lantyssa]

So, they're going to 'allow even more players to participate' by allowing less players to participate?

If the zone crashes or is unplayable under normal circumstance, then technically more people get to participate if they're capable of some sort of action.

Of course if things are going belly-up before they reach those caps, I'm not sure how it works.  There's probably some other little twist of words to accomplish that.

[ashrik]

ohohoh dudes I'm 106 xp away from dinging rank 40, what should I do to put me over the edge?

Edit: KEKEKEKEKEKEKE