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Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning: Update 1.3.4 Interview
MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller asks a few questions of the team at Mythic Entertainment of the most recent update to their MMORPG Warhammer Online.
Interviews By Garrett Fuller on February 25, 2010
Numerous Mythic Entertainment developers take a stab at answering Garrett Fuller's questions about the recently launched 1.3.4 update including: James Casey (Associate Producer), Mike Wyatt (Designer), Nate Levy (Lead Designer), Carrie Gouskos (Producer), Amber Turner(Designer), and Sean Bosshardt (Items Lead).
| MMORPG.com: | How does changing the scenario system impact players the most? Will removing the less used scenarios help with wait time? |
| James Casey: | The biggest impact of the scenario system changes is that there is a higher concentration on scenario quality and consistency. For some of the more popular scenarios, we're extending them across multiple tiers, so players can learn the ropes in the lower tiers and be masters of the scenario by the endgame. Each tier also has unique scenarios, so there's something fresh to experience. In selecting those, we focused on scenarios that were more appropriate given the abilities players would have at those levels. This new scenario allocation also means that at any given time, people will always know what to expect from the scenario systems, the gameplay, and the rewards. This is especially important in Tier 4, where the dependency on the campaign meant that there could be as few as one scenario open for players. Now there will always be at least six. As for wait time, removing the less used scenarios should help with wait time in a number of ways. With a consistent and manageable core group of scenarios (in tier 4 especially) that are comprised of some of the most popular scenarios, the pool of players for any given scenario should be larger, which in turn brings less wait time. Additionally, the scenarios that were selected for Tier 4 centered around a group of scenarios that have similar ending times and renown gain, so that players would be more likely to embrace the variety. With the addition of Warfront events, weekends will be buzzing with players revisiting old scenarios, which should drive bigger pools in a targeted fashion. We'll be monitoring the metrics of scenarios post 1.3.4 to see how well the new lineup affects wait time amongst a number of other measurable goals. ;) |
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| MMORPG.com: | The new Patch continues to bring adjustments into the Tier 4 RvR system. Tell us how you have seen the city siege system change from launch and where it has improved the most? |
| Mike Wyatt: | The cities have gone through a couple revisions since launch, and though there are many things about the cities that we think are exciting and interesting, we kept coming back to one core problem: the RvR endgame is PVE content. While we strive to support both of these major focuses of Warhammer Online, the endgame for the RvR focus needs to be RvR-centric. We have exciting new plans in Patch 1.3.5 for the RvR endgame to address this core problem by making the RvR endgame entirely RVR! |
| MMORPG.com: | How does Patch 1.3.4 continue to improve class balance? What changes will impact the classes the most? |
| Nate Levy: | 1.3.4 continues our war on bugs, across all careers. Our ongoing career balance improvements will continue, as we've mentioned before, with smaller-scope, targeted, incremental changes over time, and 1.3.4 moves forward in that direction with some changes such as the addition of Feeding On Weakness to the effect of the Black Guard's Dark Protector ability, and several improvements to the White Lion, among other things - check the patch notes for the full list! |
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| MMORPG.com: | How has the endless free trial been working for the game? |
| Carrie Gouskos: | We've seen a lot of interest in the free trial, and players are getting in there and experiencing the first taste of what Warhammer has to offer. We think this provides a good entry experience to our game, for both trial players and new subscribers, as the servers are vibrant and alive in those areas. Additionally, more people getting their eyes on the game, means more people deciding to become subscribers, thereby giving our current players more competition, so we think it's working out well for everyone! |
| MMORPG.com: | Can you give us some hints on live events in the game that are coming up for 2010? |
| Amber Turner: | In addition to the triumphant return of our previously established calendar events, 2010 will herald the release of our new Weekend Warfront events. These events will center around scenario game play and award players will various exciting bonuses and/or new shiny things with which to cheerfully slaughter other players on the battlefield. |
| MMORPG.com: | RvR remains the core part of the game, what are you most happy with in terms of RvR in recent months? |
| James Casey: | We love RVR, and we're very happy that we've been able to retain our focus on it, because we think it's one of the things (if not *the* thing) that players enjoy about our game the most. And because we hold it in such high esteem, we choose to continually challenge our approach (instead of putting it on a pedestal and leaving it alone). For example, even though removing content is something we like to avoid, we made the tough decision to pull the fortresses out of the campaign, as they were inhibiting players' ability to enjoy RVR. We experimented with a number of different approaches internally before coming to that decision, but felt the more significant change was the right one. Now after making this change and seeing how the community has responded, we believe we made the right change. And so we begin the process again, after giving a serious look at Open RVR, we've turned our eye straight to Scenarios. And after that, we'll be focusing on the RVR balance in the city sieges. And then we'll look at Open RVR again. Being able to constantly improve, listen to feedback, and react, we think keeps this aspect of our game fresh and exciting, and that of course, makes us quite happy. |
| MMORPG.com: | How has RvR currency helped to improve players getting loot in the game? Do you feel like it is better than the normal drop system? |
| Sean Bosshardt: | RvR currency acts as a failsafe for obtaining loot. Traditional loot methods focus on chances to drop, which makes obtaining loot unreliable at best. On the other side of the coin, using an alternate currency system is extremely straightforward and the player knows exactly what they need to do before they can obtain a desired item. We feel like combining the two systems creates an experience that is both satisfying and fun for the player. There are still those moments where the player gets a rare drop, however if all else fails they know that if they have a string of bad luck they're able to obtain the item eventually through the store. |
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| MMORPG.com: | You mentioned changes to the Orc and Dwarf Tier 2 leveling, what has improved there for players? |
| Mike Wyatt: | The adjustments to the Greenskins versus Dwarf Chapters within Tier 2 were exclusively quest flow. Quest flow has been dramatically improved to cause less of the "back and forth" traveling and better placement of quests to ensure that players receive quests associated with the same area around the same time. |
| MMORPG.com: | Do you see a shift in players now moving more towards RvR content vs. the PvE parts of the game? |
| James Casey: | That's a tough question to quantify. With changes like the consolidation of Tier 1 in the New User Journey and the endless trial, RVR has picked up in Tier 1. We've seen the same pattern with some of the changes we've made over time for other tiers. City sieges are hopping and we hope to make them more attractive and chock full of RVR in the near future, so it's absolutely something we've been focusing on, and we think our players are responding in kind. |
| MMORPG.com: | Can you give us some hints on Warhammer's plans for 2010? |
| Carrie Gouskos: | We're still working through the year's master plan, but we've released our next steps in the most recent Producer's Letter. The letter focuses on some near term initiatives like the city changes and increased inventory space in 1.3.5, as well as our intention to realign communication with our community. One thing we want to focus on going forward is the spirit of collaboration, so that our vision for the game matches the future that our players desire for it. |
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In my opinion, one of the more vocal complaints in closed beta was that the endgame city siege had too much PvE. Wth Barnett hyping them to no end, about capturing a king, pillaging the enemy capital, etc, it seemed so anti-climactic.
It always seemed to fall on deaf ears. Glad they are finally looking into it, but it should have been done a long time ago..
Thanks for the interview! I'm glad that devs finally communicate again recently. (Though they should do it on a more regular basis, tbh.) I'm really looking forward to seeing those changes in action.
And i still wait for an expansion announcement. :(
I've got 10 free days on my account, I'll give it another shot for a bit.
Downloading the client now.
The main reason for that really is that they cut out the 4 additional cities and put in some fast PvE stuff instead. When you are fighting for control over your race city things would be very different, if your side lost 2 all the players would be crowded in the last city.
The races of the same side were also originally intended to be able to backstab eachother, that would also add a lot to the endgame.
Keeps and the PvE just is a fast fix for this but the game really needs those cities to be whole, canceling a huge part of the endgame is seldom a good idea.
And to truly fix the endgame they will have to add those cities, nothing else will be enough. They said that they were almost finished but not polished enough and would soon be patched in when they launched but I guess that was a lie and they never even started on them.
I am not sure they can fix the endgame now with so few employees, but one can always hope.
Thanks for this Garrett.
It seems there are nice changes ahead.
I would like to hear about a npc fix though. The mobs are bugged, running away from the players and resetting their health. It is very annoying in sieges specially when they pick on the healers.
Maybe someone will read this and add it to the "to do" list.
Happy gaming,
V
I was kinda hoping they would add the skaven, lizardmen, and more content to the game for me to come back. Maybe I was being too optimistic.
(BBBBBWWWWAAAAAHHHHH fires plunger at Mythic for ruining a good IP)
The main reason for that really is that they cut out the 4 additional cities and put in some fast PvE stuff instead. When you are fighting for control over your race city things would be very different, if your side lost 2 all the players would be crowded in the last city.
The races of the same side were also originally intended to be able to backstab eachother, that would also add a lot to the endgame.
Keeps and the PvE just is a fast fix for this but the game really needs those cities to be whole, canceling a huge part of the endgame is seldom a good idea.
And to truly fix the endgame they will have to add those cities, nothing else will be enough. They said that they were almost finished but not polished enough and would soon be patched in when they launched but I guess that was a lie and they never even started on them.
I am not sure they can fix the endgame now with so few employees, but one can always hope.
It may be my age, but i'm pretty certain we were testing city sieges before the (announced) cut of the other capitals, i could be wrong, and I wish I could be positive.
I (personally) think the current endgame was (always) their intent, other than the other cities of course, and I know they were pretty adamant in thier defense of how they wanted it to work, despite the cries of the testers. I also don't entirely believe their reasoning for cutting them, and considering the feedback they were getting, perhaps they should have reconsidered, as that is obviously why you have a closed beta.
Yes, money, time, EA, but in my opinion their end game was almost the complete opposite of what they were selling, and look where it got them. Theres other issues of course, but for me, this was always the biggest.
As I said, I am glad its finally getting a revisit, though I highly doubt you'll see the addition of the the other two capitals.
Well sad to say with the new patch and Day 1 always being the busiest of any new patch.
That the lower tiers stil (t2 and t3) have hrs on end of waiting to get into scenarios,In t4 sure its nearly insta pop but once mor e the dead zone of t3(more so then t2) is just that dead zone ,waite for Land of dead and grind there,Would be nice if they could force /add more bos or somethign into t3 to encourage actually rvr and scenario pops for this tier.
Played since launch and this is the tier where alot of players start to leave the game.
Its great to hear that they are making the city sieges more about RvR and less about PvE. I remember our first city siege and how people were just farming the instances instead of actually fighting each other. I was so discouraged that I didnt log on for a week after that.
Have they done anything to the fortresses or are they still instanced? When I quit I swore I wouldnt go back until the lifted the 'temporary' cap on players duty a fort raid.
They removed the fortresses a long time ago and the games keeps have two ramps + multi upgrade systems. They forgot to mention the best part of this patch. There is no 30 minute city safe mode timer :)
Wow I guess I havent been paying attention. I'll have to go back and read how they are doing it now. Its a shame they removed the forts instead of fixing them though, they were the highlight of WAR RvR before they instanced them.
Wow I guess I havent been paying attention. I'll have to go back and read how they are doing it now. Its a shame they removed the forts instead of fixing them though, they were the highlight of WAR RvR before they instanced them.
They will come back as relic raids once they figure out the best way to implement it. I personally never liked the FORTS but it might be better now that the server can handle 400v400 battles without any lag.
so finally they are adding the other 2 cities that they announced they would add after a few months after launch?
LOL...
I had high hopes for this game and wasted 80 bucks on collectors edition, i wont resubscribe to this POS even if its free.
Please let it die in peace....RIP WAR
The forts actually felt like they had a reason. We wanted to defend them because we didnt want the other team having access to our city. The keeps were just for gear farming so people wanted the other team to take them.
The lag was the one thing I disliked about forts, but that was due to bad design (forcing everyone into the same small room) and buggy code(clicking on a fort gate would drop my FPS from 75ish down to 1-4, but as soon as I untargeted the gate my system would run smooth again).
If they make city sieges fun, the lack of forts wouldnt be so bad.
Although I had a good amount of fun in this game, what eventually led to me leaving was the lack of people pvping. Most everyone was hiding in the group duel instances. I kept hearing dev's spew the 'War is everywhere!' stuff, yet I could rarely find pvp anyplace. Imo it would have helped a ton to not have terrain barriers all over keeping the 2 warring factions seperate.
Same here. The best time is when they have some kind of trial. After that its DEAD..
You know you are facing a DEAD game if asking a dev about this YEAR's plans yields you the answer "more inventory space".
End of the month the long-promised mass lay-offs will begin. And from the interview it's already apparent that this game is maintenance mode; there are no long-term perspectives. All they think about is "the next patch in 3 months" (with great content like... more inventory space!).
Anyway, long time ago I said that WAR will never see its first expansion. Just a pity. There was so much potential.
Honestly, I'll never understand those who wish any game's death. If you don't like it, you don't have to pay for it and play it, fair enough. But what's the benefit from if it 'finally' dies? Weird...
I'm hoping that this is going to be the year when this game takes off again.
Tier 1 is manic, massive amount of action - ah its free I thought, what about Tier 2. Well much to my surprise, again full BG charging around the PvP lakes and massive keep attacks and defense - all excellent fun.
Currently I don't have any T3 to check that, and I daren't log my T4 Shaman back on till I have worked out how to re-spec :)
What this games now needs is a shot of adrenaline - new races please :)
Its time for me to play warhammer again!
Funny, I am on Badlands, and I had a day off yesterday, I was able to find PvP from about 9am till about 8pm est. Granted I had things to around the house, so I wasn't constantly logged in, but I never felt like I had to wait for PvP.
I was playing my T4 character, but i would have to say, thats pretty much the opposite of dead, yes?
The game is far from dead. Hell even T2 and T3 are quite busy on Iron Rock. I m having fun again at least.
Same on the european servers.
I guess those who say that WAR is dead, are not playing the game. Instead of spending time posting stupid comments on the forums they should be playing their favourite games.
Give them time to grow up :)
WAAAAAAGGHHHH!!!!
Peace and Happy Gaming
Speaking of karak-azgal server(EU), it is almost always full of action. Indeed last night there were at least 6-7 wbs at each side in RvR, if not more. And much more ppl for scenarios and dungeons.
I am sure other EU server Karak norn is almost the same.
So it is far from dead, over populated would be more true i suppose for karak-azgal.
Game performance also increased a lot. Still have some lag from time to time ofc but only when there is a real zerg of players.
I know they have upgraded the hardware for karak-azgal server, dont know others.
Also havent checked t2/t3 but i have a t1 alt and t1 is full of pvp and scs(scs pop almost instantly) too.
One last word, end game needs some improvement for sure and hopefully it is coming with 1.3.5(next patch).
This. I am all for the changes they are talking about, but adding new fresh content/new areas is also important to me.