Patch 1.1 in the works!

[Rubino]

Continuing the big push Mythic is making to improve the game - the initial set of changes coming with 1.1 has been posted here: http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=490

Highlights

With 1.1, we have been working hard and listening to player feedback to make the great game of WAR even better. We’re proud to introduce to the game several exciting changes that you requested! These changes include the following:

    * Two New Careers - The Knight of the Blazing Sun and the Black Guard have joined their allies and are now available to play for everyone!

    * Open RvR Influence System – As part of our ongoing effort to encourage people to take part in oRvR, we are pleased to announce the release of an influence system geared solely to oRvR. Players who participate in this part of WAR will now have additional incentives for fighting for their realm. As part of this patch we have also made quite a number of changes and fixes to oRvR places and NPCs as well.

    * Easy Public Quests – PQs are great but sometimes it’s hard to get enough people together to complete them, especially in the lower tiers. So, we are redesigning one PQ per chapter so that it can be completed by 1-3 people.

    * Chat Hyperlinking – One of the most requested features by the community has been adding the ability to hyperlink items, abilities and quests in the chat window and now it has been added.

    * Armor Set Improvements – Armor Set Improvments – We have made a number of adjustments to armor sets to ensure that they continue to be some of the most attractive items in the game. In addition we have made adjustments to ensure they are more frequently available to players at all levels.

    * Main Assist – RvR is exciting, chaotic and always challenging but this feature will make it just a little bit easier to help your group fight the good fight.

    * Player Statue System – Nothing says “you’ve made it” more than having a statue with your name on it in the capital city of your realm.

    * New Content – Whether it is new lairs, new quests and changes to items, this patch is full of lots of fun new content additions to the game.

    * User Interface – Lots and lots of fixes, changes and new additions to our user interface and API functionality, new additions to the chat system and graphic options incorporating community requested features a channel flashing on activity, the ability to turn the chat bubbles on/off, a gamma slider and so much more.

[Kaffedags]

Nothing but good things. Especially looking forward to the itemization changes. Who knows, maybe they've made ward-gear actually useful! *gasp*

[Mangala]

The RVR Influence system is THE winner for me

[Rubino]

I've been following the VN forums and there's a thread talking about the importance of 1.1 by a player: http://vnboards.ign.com/warhammer_online_age_of_reckoning_general_board/b22997/109647122/p1/?0

As more info about what's actually coming appears (outside of the Herald posts) - I'll update here.
Some quotes from players:

The short moment I logged into the PTS for patch 1.1, something felt different. The difference between a 1.06 game vs a 1.1 is night and day. 1.1 patch is actually a huge step in the right direction. It's more polished even down to the GCD graphics. As a matter of fact I was just deciding whether I should log on to the live game or PTS and I think I'll choose PTS.

One thing worth mentioning is that you get influence from doing RvR much like in a PQ. The rewards are given out by the new Rally Masters in the war camps that were implemented in 1.05. So far, there are 4 basic rewards, 4 advanced, and 4 elite to choose from. They are further separated into two groups, one for an average renown rank at the appropriate level for the war camp (blue equipment items), and one for "hardcore" players with a higher than average renown rank(purple equipment). All of the rewards are renown equipment and they have nice stat bonuses that actually matter for each class they're meant for, and the purple items are the same as the blue item except with higher amounts of the same stats. I know this probably sounds confusing because it confused me just trying to explain it. Hope this helps... that's about as far as I got into 1.1 before I went back to playing on my main.

I logged on 1.1 and played around and the game felt so much better. The animations were much smoother, there were more visual feedbacks in the form of animation, the game felt much more fluid and they really managed to make the combat feel more fun. Instantly I found myself wanting for the first time to work on one of my alts because 1.1 was going to be coming around.

[Mangala]

I'm trying to stay very downbeat about 1.1, but reading that thread through is giving me smiles. It does sound very promising indeed.

[Rubino]

There's no official date for it yet - but many expect it in the coming week.

[Rubino]

Patch 1.1a is being applied later today in the US - so it's likely to be applied tomorrow morning in the EU.

Edit:
The client performance is much much better.  Memory usage is down to around 900mb from 1400 mb - so around 35% less memory.
Returning to Windows after playing the game and you can actually use the desktop without waiting 20s or so.
The client feels much smoother in use - with less laggy pauses or judders.

The RvR INF rewards are a mixed bag - in TM the rewards are decent with 4 items being available for each point you achieve (Basic, adv & elite) - essentially similar item pairs - only differing with the RR required.  In TM the higher RR items have special procs (similar to the epic quest items).

[Torgal]

Hi chaps.

Lookin forward to checkin out the feedback from this one. let's hope it's the turn around patch eh?

[Rubino]

If you jump on the EU PTS  you'll be able to see 1.1 in action

[Caradir]

I ask once again didnt they state at release that EU would get these things at the same time as the US?

Hope this fixes my issues with the game if it does youll see me about again

[Rubino]

What were your issues?

[Caradir]

just a general feeling of "mehh" once i hit 20, grindy feeling to levelling (which i hate), ORVR being great when it was on didnt offer any reason to defend keeps once captured so a round about game started. Scenario grinding sucked for RR levelling (getting the theme i hate grinding , i like having a choice), the PVE aspect of the game is a bit lame (i know its  PVP game mostly but when i dont feel like PVPing 100% i want something to do)


Contributions really not working properly is horrible (especially as a healer).  Im sure i have more issues but thes eare off the top of my head.

p.s. if i wanted a grindy game id play one of those horrible free to play Korean pish that lurk about the web.

[Rubino]

just a general feeling of "mehh" once i hit 20, grindy feeling to levelling (which i hate), ORVR being great when it was on didnt offer any reason to defend keeps once captured so a round about game started. Scenario grinding sucked for RR levelling (getting the theme i hate grinding , i like having a choice), the PVE aspect of the game is a bit lame (i know its  PVP game mostly but when i dont feel like PVPing 100% i want something to do)


Contributions really not working properly is horrible (especially as a healer).  Im sure i have more issues but thes eare off the top of my head.

p.s. if i wanted a grindy game id play one of those horrible free to play Korean pish that lurk about the web.

There will always be some element of grind.  What makes it worthwhile is looking forward to the skills & abilities it unlocks.
Working in groups helps make it a little easier in some ways - but worse in others with the way that XP/inf is split between group members.

This patch doesn't fix the issues with defence - but those changes are in the pipe (upgradable keeps, NPC's for quests in keeps, etc).
I'm not sure how RvR is going to pan out with this patch - you now have additional rewards (rather than just RP's) which should promote more activity. Additionally the changes to the notification system when things are under attack should make things a little more proactive.  However many people find defending boring - essentially you're waiting for somebody to turn up.  RvE can be interesting and rewarding - the epic quests offer decent rewards and can be a challenge.  Generally they offer EQ with decent proc's.

The RvE can be pretty decent - and the start of changes allowing you to work PQ's in smaller groups is one of them.

I've not been able to see if contribution has been fixed yet - but to be honest I can't think of a decent approach that would be fair to all.

I guess something along the lines of the scenario XP score is the best approach.

[Mangala]

Seconding Epic Quest recommendation

Doing the Human T4 one on Beo - 22 parts long and only up to 11 or so, been damn good fun. I shall be looking for the starts for all the rest soon enough (assuming each racial tier gets one?)

[Rubino]

Aye - the PQ's & some quests have had a real haul over.

The patch notes are out: http://img.war-europe.com/syndic_img/news/patches/Patch1_1a_EN.html

Regarding RvR lakes, BO's & keeps:

# Keep/Fortress Contribution: Fixed a bug with earning contribution towards Public Quests for taking a keep/fortress. With this fix players who actively participate in Keep/Fortress assault will earn contribution from many different actions associated with a siege.
# Keep/Fortress Defense: Players successfully defending a Battlefield Objective, Fortress or Keep will now correctly receive an experience, renown and influence reward. This reward directly reflects the amount of attacking players killed in the area of the Public Quest related to a Battle Field Objective, Fortress or Keep. Defenders who throw back their enemies forces will be rewarded when it is apparent that the battle has subsided.