WAR : 1.3.6

[Maeve]

Is live today. They did not go forward with the removal of friendly collision amidst a frenzy of crying. I think the main concern was the loss of the tank wall. This patch will hopefully improve open rvr in T2 and especially T3, which has been lacking because of LotD.

Also this week, there is expectation of a "major" announcement from the BioWareMythic team at Gamescom in Germany. Speculation is rampant.

Patch Notes

Short Podcast

[Keinermacht]

Is live today. They did not go forward with the removal of friendly collision amidst a frenzy of crying. I think the main concern was the loss of the tank wall.

Maybe that's because so many of the people who hate friendly collision quit the game already. Tank walls seem like a pretty crappy reason to retain a feature that causes so many performance problems... then again I don't play a tank in this game.

Also this week, there is expectation of a "major" announcement from the BioWareMythic team at Gamescom in Germany. Speculation is rampant.

Hmm... without my wasting more than 2 brain cycles on this I will speculate that this major announcement involves F2P and/or microtransactions. Guess I better scratch off my last WAR 60day time card and check out 1.3.6 before it becomes worthless

[Qhoren]

I'm still not clear on how removing friendly CD affects tank walls.

I guess that it's easier to get knocked back if you can fly through friendly players, but then why not add a knockback immunity to shield wall or something like that?

[Keinermacht]

Aug 17, 2010 14:22:48 GMT -5 Qhoren said:

I'm still not clear on how removing friendly CD affects tank walls.

I guess that it's easier to get knocked back if you can fly through friendly players, but then why not add a knockback immunity to shield wall or something like that?

Yep that's exactly it, I'm guessing all the tanks who played on the test server started freaking out when their walls became easier to punch holes in using knockback. Tanks flying back 30 feet and scrambling to get back in position, instead of being nudged back a few inches into the nearest friendly.

A special tank-only, total knockback immunity skill would be the best solution but it would have to be balanced... 5 minute duration, 10 minute cooldown maybe?

[Rer]

I thought they didn't remove them because of coding issues? or at least that's what ShadowWAR said. Removing it affects so many things they wanted to look over stuff before doing so.

[Maeve]

Well, from last I heard, they wanted to look at it longer. But in part, there was a more negative outcry than they had anticipated also. People were also concerned that you would be able to stack up a warband and hide your numbers, something you can't do now. Or I could essentially hide inside a tank, making it very hard to target as I nuked. Things like that. It probably did need a little more testing in general as well.

[Maeve]

Oh, forgot to mention that Andy is hinting on Twitter that the big WAR announcement at Gamecom is tomorrow. Supposed to be coming in the form of an interview.

@ Keinermacht I have read that Carrie has said WAR will not go to a F2P/microtransaction model. But I've not read this myself. I have seen it second hand only.

[Slurm]

I believe Andy said something similar about no F2P. Saying that it wouldn't work for their game.

Really, I don't see how they could. What would they put in an item store that people would want to buy that wouldn't be used in RvR, thus pissing people off who can't/won't buy it. Trophies? pffftfttt

[Maeve]

I've ventured into T3 for the first time since I've returned to WAR. I had avoided it as people were talking about how desolate it was in terms of open RvR secondary to LotD and power leveling. I can say that, at least on both Iron Rock and Badlands, T3 is alive and well again.

The Skaven in the open RvR lakes has indeed picked up some skirmishes. There is something in T3 (maybe T2 but I never encountered it) called a gutter runner. He is fast. And he becomes unattackable at times, so you have to chase. He hangs out between the two warcamps. So it has been my experience that both sides do indeed chase him. He is worth like 5k renown or something like that, at least this weekend. I'm assuming that is inflated with the renown and xp bonus from this weekend.

Also, against all odds does indeed have more people playing in open again. It will give you a huge percentage boost if your realm is out numbered.

Again though, with the bonus weekend going on, we'll see if this all persists after it is gone.

It's actually been a lot of fun. I've been in some epic keep sieges, lasting 45 minutes or so.

On a completely side note, you can totally power level by running the oil solo. I discovered this quite unintentionally as I was in a keep getting gear when it was attacked. I had oil and boiled me up some greenskins. You just have to know how to stand out of that AoE...

[Aberrant]

In the IP, Gutter Runners are elite Skaven assassins, if I recall correctly.

Hopefully T3 stays hopping.

[Grimnir]

Aug 22, 2010 17:15:24 GMT -5 Maeve said:

I've ventured into T3 for the first time since I've returned to WAR. I had avoided it as people were talking about how desolate it was in terms of open RvR secondary to LotD and power leveling. I can say that, at least on both Iron Rock and Badlands, T3 is alive and well again.

A big part of this reason, IMHO, is that 1.3.6 has blocked T3 toons from entering Land of the Dead. No flightmaster, no summoning stone. Straight up c-blocked from desert grinding. It's something I've clamored for pretty much since LotD was released.

T3 isn't exactly a short jaunt on the way to T4, there's no reason that it shouldn't be the second most populated tier (aside from the joke T1 turned into since the Endless Trial). All the vast open spaces and apparent emptyness were purely due to very easily accessible powerleveling in Land of the Dead.

Although... there's starting to be a bit of resurgence for PL'ing in T4 PQ's again which makes me happy since Bag loot is BoE...

[xXJayeDuBXx]

My Engineer made it to T2 last night, so I'm hoping that it's atleast half as active as T1 has been. I don't mide PvE, I love it really, but I'd rather join a WB and oRvR everynight instead.

[Maeve]

T2 is still quite active, even before the patch, so I think you're safe.

Interestingly enough, what I have found on Iron Rockl, is that open RvR is more active and scenarios don't pop as frequently. I tend to enjoy my time on Iron Rock a little bit more because the people don't seem to be quite as caught up in the whole influence RR stuff and actually seek out destruction for fights. Badlands is much more whiny and more Rvdooring.