Mythic's big cheese came through on his promise to release some information about the state of open RVR. Not long ago this message appeared on the herald:
Over the last few months I’ve spoken about our continued focus on improving our open RvR systems. While we have taken some major steps in the last month, we believe that there is much more we can do to encourage people to take part in oRvR throughout the entire evolution of their character(s). Over the next few months we have some very exciting changes and additions taking place. Please note that as always, this does not represent everything that either we are doing or thinking about doing, just what we, as of now, plan on adding to WAR.
We have a number of major initiatives planned for oRvR in WAR. Please keep in mind that these changes/systems apply to oRvR only and not to scenarios. This is not all we are working on but these do reflect the majority of oRvR additions that we are currently working on/planning for the next few months.
First, we have created an RvR Influence system. This system is designed to reward our oRvR players with lots of new stuff that you can only get through oRvR. This will be a complimentary system to our PQ Influence system. This system is already implemented in 1.1 and is scheduled to go LIVE along with that version in December.
Second, we want to improve the visibility that players have into oRvR and make it easier for players to get involved in the action quickly and easily. We have a number of wide-ranging changes going into our map and travel systems to allow players to better understand the state of oRvR in our game and also allow them to get to the action faster. We have already taken one step with putting a Rally Master in each Warcamp but we will also add the ability for people to have a second bind point to make it even easier for players to move around the maps. We will also make it easily for players to see where players from their Realm are engaging in oRvR, a Campaign HUD for all tiers and other improvements We will also improve Tier-wide messaging about what is going on in Battlefield Objectives and Keeps. Other additions include changes to the UI, in-game manual improvements, map enhancements, and a few other changes.
Third, we want to provide greater incentives to players to participate in oRvR. In order to accomplish this we will be adding additional layers to the questing system of oRvR including the addition of Keep Quests, “Daily Event Quests”, Chained RvR Missions, improve the initial Tome Unlocks and other oRvR-oriented Events. We will also improve our BO itemization. Our goal is to provide players with even more incentive for participating in oRvR than we have already.
Fourth, we want to encourage guilds to take and control keeps, and we will continue our work on adding better rewards for Guilds who own Keeps as well as the addition of a system of Keep upgrades. This system will be added to the game in several stages beginning in the late winter.
Finally, we will begin work on a global oRvR “Fame” system that will be tied directly to the Tome of Knowledge which will provide more rewards, titles, experience, etc. for participating and being successful in oRvR. This system will provide even more incentives for people to participate in oRvR than the current systems and one that fits nicely both with the ToK’s concept as “This is your life” as well as an additional advancement and reward system.
Please keep in mind that these additions are subject to change and given the nature of these changes/improvements, they will not go LIVE until we have thoroughly tested them. However, these are crucial improvements to WAR and are being treated as such by the team.
Finally, I want to close this out with a brief explanation about the role that we believe that oRvR should play in WAR. It’s really as simple as this, oRvR should be a major focus for leveling, item gain, etc. in WAR. Some of the systems are already in place and in Tier 4, oRvR is alive and well. On other Tiers, however, oRvR is not being engaged in as often as we had hoped when we launched WAR. Our goal is to ensure that oRvR is the place where players can level the fastest, get the best items and overall, have a great time while doing it. It is supposed to be riskier, more challenging but ultimately, more rewarding than any other place within WAR. What is outlined in this letter are some of the ways we plan on making this happen over the next few months and beyond.
As always, we thank you for your patronage and support. We won’t let you down.
My first reaction to this is...bleh. Not really a whole lot new here. We knew the RVR lake influence stuff was coming, and with it were going to be more RVR quests and also tome unlocks. I think the main thing worth noting here is the Fame system he talks about. This could really have people pitching their tents inside the RVR lakes. If the carrot is dangled there with good rewards and incentives, the players will follow. The fame system and the fact that they are working to encourage more guilds to capture keeps is good news.
However, I don't see this as extremely promising because its all still just a bit too vague. And of course its vague, because they are still working on and haven't figured out the exact implementation yet. Maybe this will be more exciting when its a little more concrete, perhaps when ready for testing.
Personally, I might just cancel my account for 2 or 3 months and come back when all these improvements are in place. I hope its not a "too little, too late" kind of scenario for most people. In fact, that just might be the time that people start falling into a rut with WoW again and come back to check out all the new stuff. As unmotivated as I am to even reach level 40 (still halfway to 35 on my Shaman right now) I just don't know why I would want to give 30-45 bucks to Mythic just to wait around for the improvements that might intice me to want to jump in again. Time will tell I guess.
Is this motivating you to get your WAR on? How do you feel about the proposed changes?
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blog comments powered by DisqusI enjoy the blog. And thanks for the helpful BW vidz you've posted on YouTube.
I like these proposed changes and it will definitely make the whole RvR a better experience. I am new to MMOs, WAR being my first. So I don't have the depth of knowledge of you or other MMOers. I'm a lifetime gamer so can bring some perspective.
So, from a new guy, I like WAR to this point. A LOT! I run a BW and am currently L26, enjoying my time in T3. I was a little ahead of the curve but finally there are a good number of players in T3 on my server (Ungrim) to make the experience a whole lot better for PQs and RvR.
Adding incentive to jump into the RvR lakes would go a long way to making it a more memorable and fun experience. An example, yesterday's Heavy Metal task of slaying 15 enemy players. One had to know that there would be a ton of RvR action. And on my server it was no disappointment. Things were happening for a Monday (I know this was originally planned for Sunday until their delay). I was able to play several hours with my T3 BW and then again later in T2 with my WP.
At one point in Talebecland, our warband had been trying to capture Passwatch for over an hour. Making good progress we got through the front door, then into the keep itself. Destro shooed us out and before we knew it we were outside again and a full-on skirmish of big proportions ensued.
It's difficult to play, react, attack, and read the chat but I looked down and someone typed "Holy zerg!". I looked up and you would've thought there was an army of Destro staring at us. The next chatline was a simple LOL. I laughed too. It was awesome and scary at the same time. Needless to say, they whooped us right out of there, but it was a ton of fun.
Getting players into RvR makes this a whole different ballgame. So better ways to notify players when there's something going on in RvR, making it easier to get there, and the added bonus of better loot should only make things better.
Keep blogging!
It's something, and I'm happy that they're at lease planning on doing SOMETHING about oRvR.
I still like the game, but I have a feeling that WoW really has ruined MMOs by creating this notion that if the game isn't perfect at release then it's garbage, despite WoW being far worse than WAR after it's release.
I recently read a forum about contribution with taking keeps, and how essentially your "contribution" isn't based on how much you "contribute" at all, but instead it's completely left to chance. It seems that if RvR is and always has been a primary focus in WAR, that's something that REALLY needs to be hashed out first. I'm including the link, I'd love to hear your opinion on it.
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190135
Lacey I just hit publish on an article on this exact topic :)
Totally agree, I have already cancelled my account and won't be reactivating until these changes are actually made. I'm not into paying for two MMO's at once.
The announcement is vague and I'm past the point of listening, I'll only be convinced by actual results from now on.
I have yet to play Lich King cause I don't have the money to pay for two games at once and I don't really want to spend another 50 bucks, but if this next big patch doesn't make the game more exciting, I will probably do what you said Brent, I will probably cancel my account for a few months and wait for updates. Right now my Ironbreaker is lvl 25, and it isn't too fun for me since the newness wore off. I'm looking forward to trying the knight of the blazing sun, and seeing how this new patch goes, but in the end I may just go back to WoW for a little while, or just stick with my x-box live
I'm hyped! Currently, I love the ORvR in WAR. Maybe it's b/c I'm at a point to where I can jump between T3 and T4 at my discretion and still feel like I'm contributing to the overall outcome. T4 has been crazy lately and T3 is still about as constant as it used to be. Implementing Fame, Influence, Quests and Item incentives is the icing on the cake.
Maybe, it's also because I've decided to take a different approach to WAR. I'm used to jumping on the 'grind train' trying to keep up with the hardcore players and bypass tons of content for the sake of reaching an end game, which in itself becomes a grind. With WAR I play for enjoyment. I have no burning desire to reach 40 in any specific time frame. By just playing to 'play' rather than playing to 'level' I've found that the RvR nuances in WAR compared to other MMO's such as WoW is what keeps me around.
-Xo
My first reaction to your post.... Bleh. Just another blogger saying he'll quit. You're videos were one of the reasons I decided to jump into WAR. Now this bloody whining about quiting is making me want to stay in WAR even more. Go back to WoW if you want but please stop bitching about a game that have seen a more involved dev team than any other game before.
Pantsula...tou are welcomed to read elsewhere if you aren't interested in what I'm saying. No reason to get hostile here, this blog is about opinion...which I'm entitled to have. Any other smart ass comments are going to get deleted from here on out, so keep it civil please cause I don't want to start doing that.
Well, maybe Pantsula's tone wasn't right, contentwise I'd have to agree. You do often jump to hasty conclusions, remember your Post about the early Fall of Altdorf ? For me it's easy to see (especially through your new X-Fire Profile) that WoW's got you hooked again. No Need to Bash WAR though, things will work out just fine.
Forgive me if I came over as hostile. Your's were just the last in a series of blog posts pulling the old "quit the game till it's fixed" routine. And to do it on a post about more changes proposed by Mark Jacobs (to the betterment of the game) just irked me.
We know you wanna play WoW for the next three months so why not just let your WAR account die silently while you get your grind on :)
Personally, I'm taking it easy with WAR. I try to log on as much as possible but I recently made my gaming nights a dual affair between WAR and TF2. I'm also lvl 35 and find the last push to 40 a relative pain (as with other MMOs). The mix with TF2 does the trick.
@Seb
Point taken, I knew it was only a matter of time until I was reminded of that one :) However, that time I reacted to bad information and now I feel like I've read through several sources that have come to the same conclusion (or assumption, your choice) about this. If Mythic comes up with some information magically explaining this all away then I'll retract or edit my post. Until then I'm sticking with the original article.
Also, I wouldn't say I'm "hooked" on WoW so much. Its just that I'm passing the time with a Death Knight until I can find the motivation to get back into WAR full time.
@Pantsula
All is forgiven, I understand. Thanks for coming back with your well expressed opinion. I actually don't wanna play WoW for the next 3 months...I really want WAR to be the game that engages me. I don't know what can happen for it to grab ahold of me again...so I'm just kinda waiting it out. I do log on for 10/20/30 minutes or more every night still.
I also think that my guild (which was fully of flighty casuals like myself) kinda dispersed after the free month, and it only got worse after the 2nd month. Regardless, I still feel there are real issues to deal with. I do have faith that Mythic will be able to correct things, but who knows how they'll do it.
I found this to have a DE-motivating effect. Before, I thought that Mythic had a good idea of what needed to be done and had been working on it all this time. Now, it seems obvious that Mythic doesn't actually know what needs to be done, and is only just now starting to work on it. As thousands of people drop the game. I dunno if it's even worth it to renew my sub at this point.
MJ is playing it safe. There's a lot of "this may not be in the final patch," "these aren't the exact changes," etc.
Can't blame them, though. With all the pitchfork-wielding fans that will quote you on everything just to spite you.
I'm loving war and were constantly running around with 12+ guild warbands and kicking ass in tier 3 atm, taking it slow and easy like the ladies like
You can't blame Brent for being disappointed. The game was so hyped up and we were all excited to play it. And no one can deny this game has some serious issues. It is a let-down when you get so excited for a game, shell out your hard-earned cash to buy it (especially in today's economy) only to find out it is not what you were expecting, or in some cases you were flat out lied to.
If Mythic has gotten the memo and they want to fix their game that is great. If they actually pull it off and people start coming back to the game, great.
But why do people feel the need to defend Mythic? Why shun the people who have decided to cancel until they can get their act together?
We are paying customers, if we don't get the product we want we have every right to cancel.
Vote with your wallets, Mythic will get the message. This is the risk they took when they decided to create an MMO.
I wanted to play Warhammer when it launched. But due to the computer requirements and school. I haven't been able. I plan on gettin a new computer and such but that will probably take a few months.
Ive read up plenty and been wanting to play this game for months. So hopefully when I get up and going this game will be a lot better with its error's and complications and such.
IB all day... Or of course if they implement the slayer ;)