The Warhammer beta community has had a huge impact on the latest build of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Jeff Hickman and team have a gigantic list of changes and improvements. See what we're talking about...
Beta 4.1.1 Producer's Letter - Open Beta
Hello Everyone,
It's great to see all of you enjoying Open Beta! The past few days have been exciting and eventful and we couldn't be happier with the feedback we've been receiving. Even so, it's clear there are still some pesky bugs that need to be exterminated and we will continue working around the clock in order to do so!
Before launch we wanted to get out a final update that cleared up many of the topics we've heard from you about, and put the icing on the cake for many of our features. This update is full of fixes and tweaks that, combined, will make your experience playing WAR even better!
We look forward to your feedback with launch just a few short days away. These are exciting times and we're proud to have you with us.
See you on the battlefield...WAAAGH!!
- The Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning Team
General Changes
You asked for it!
The Community is a vital part of making WAR a successful game. With your feedback we're able to better chart our course as we move into the months and years ahead. It's important that the changes we make are a reflection of the players that will experience them, and so we are dedicated to listening to all of you along the way.
Below you will find a sample of what we've improved directly based on what we hear in game and on the forums. It is our goal to create a fun, engaging, and entertaining experience every time you log into the game. By continuing to play and provide us with feedback you are helping us to make that happen.
Keep up the great work and thank you for helping us make WAR an even better game...WAAAGH!!!
Loot Sparkles
We've continued to improve loot sparkles and have corrected one last small bug that caused corpses to sparkle even when you weren't able to loot them.
Pet User Interface and Behavior
In the near future we'll be working to make sure the Pet UI stays up for as long as your pet does so that it doesn't on occasion disappear when you log out or zone. For now you can re-open the Pet UI window simply by summoning another pet. One change that hs been made to pets already is that they have grown ever braver and will now listen to their masters' directions. Their responsiveness and pathing has been dramatically improved, and we've made improvements to Magus pets and Engineer turrets.
Continued Improvements to Performance and Crash to Desktop Errors
Your ability to play the game smoothly and reliably is always our most important goal. We continue to work to apply fixes that will make your experience even more enjoyable. To help us out and make the experience better for you, be sure you have up-to-date drivers - including audio! Out of date video and audio drivers are among the highest contributors to game crashes.
"Ability Not Ready Yet"
We've recently improved ability responsiveness which will reduce the chance of you receiving the "Ability Not Ready Yet" message erroneously. This should help combat feel more natural!
Open RvR Ruleset Change
You've given us your feedback and we've listened! Open RvR servers will now allow you to play one tier below your current level without turning into a chicken. This will allow you more time to experience the PvE content of the first 3 tiers, and it also adds more danger to the mix.
Improved Graphics Options
We've got some great plans for improved graphics options as we continue through launch. Our number one priority is player performance. It's important in an RvR game for performance to be smooth and allow the game to be accessible to as many people as possible. In order to achieve our goals, we had to ensure a certain level of compatibility between devices. With all of the combinations and options available, we wanted to keep things simple and accessible to everyone.
With that in mind, we have a fix that may improve the ability of higher end machines to load textures, and we will continue to smooth out the process of the way textures load on your screen. In addition to this, we are exploring other options to add which will further enhance the graphics for mid to high range computers. If you find that your textures seem blurry or 'popping' visit this site for help.
Improvements to RvR Itemization
We feel that it's important for players to be able to play RvR and PvE without missing out on appropriate loot for their level and career. See below for some of the changes that we're looking into.
From Battlefield Objectives
Battlefield Sergeants will be itemized with the same loot table we use for other "Rare" spawn champions in PvE. This is to reflect the fact that BO's do not turn over super frequently and have a 15 minute lockout after they are taken. While they won't drop awesome loot every time they will drop much better loot more frequently!
From Keep Siege
We have increased the number of "loot bags" that drop from a successful keep capture from 4 to 12. We have increased the number of GOLD loot bags that could drop from a successful keep capture to 2 bags. Players should see more high end loot entering through keeps as a result.
From Fortress Siege
We have increased the number of "loot bags" that drop from a successful keep capture from 8 to 18. We have increased the number of GOLD loot bags that could drop from a successful keep capture to 4 bags. Players should see more high end loot entering through keeps as a result.
RvR - Now With Better Loot
We heard the call and upped your loot! Now, coin gained from RvR kills has been modified so that it scales to be more on par with loot gained in PvE. Also, we improved the item parity between those gained in PvE and those gained purely from RvR. Now you can kill your enemies and reap the rewards!
Thought I Knew Dat...
Abilities will no longer disappear from a player's quickbar when exiting a scenario. Now your quickbars will stay just as you arranged them while zoning.
NPCs Will Behave
Imagine going to work in the morning and knowing it's your job to be pummeled into a bloody pulp by the masses. We wouldn't want to do it either! But we've whipped our NPCs into shape. Now they'll come when provoked, attack back right away instead of flinching and hesitating like wussies, and properly engage the enemy rather than staying stuck at range. Also, they'll no longer fall into an "Unattackable" state or disappear in mid-combat.
Wait, My Boots are Really Gloves?
Wearing boots on his hands makes it a little difficult for a Bright Wizard to perform his casting incantations, or a Black Orc to swing that axe. All items which displayed incorrect item icons have been fixed.
Mister Who?
We resolved an issue in which Tome titles went missing, so they're there now!
For the Absentminded Newbies
Rally Masters in the High Elf Tiers 1-2 areas will now give you a replacement Book of Binding if you lose, destroy, bloody, or hack your original one into tiny bits.
More Merchants - Less Confusion
Previously, in some locations normal merchants were also selling Renown gear. This proved to be a source of confusion, and so now this gear will be sold by the proper merchants in the first couple of chapters.
Pick That up, ye Git!
Previously when a Guild Standard was dropped on the field, it would fall too far in front of the Standard Bearer which sometimes resulted in it getting lost in the brush or rocky crevices. Now, when Standards are dropped, they will fall to the Bearer's feet making them easier to recover.
And that's just the beginning. There is a TON more listed off for your examination at the link above.
