7 Day WAR Report: November 23-29, 2008

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Posted November 30th, 2008 by Taea

weekly news #4

The Past Week in Warhammer Online
November 23rd - 29th, 2008

News

The Grass is Always Greener

Another round of free character transfers surfaced this week, but with a few surprises. At least one Destination server was reverted to a Source, and players cleared their mailboxes for yet another move. The continued consolidation of server populations is great in concentrating the number of players on certain servers, but the whole thing smacks of impending closures. That's right, I said it, and I'm not the first to do so. All new MMOGs go through a period of server shut downs, once the mad hype of a game's launch period passes. What I don't understand is why gaming companies try to hide their plans for said shut downs. While there will always be a few doom sayers in the world, I have faith that most players realize that consolidating game servers makes for a better experience over all. Shutting down the less populated servers does not mean the end of the WAR.

In any case, server shut downs are still just speculation. Mythic Entertainment has made no announcement about them, yet.

Fame! I Want to Live Forever
Mark Jacobs promised many improvements to the state of the RvR system in the game this week, with his Open RvR Update. A separate influence system for Renown will arrive in a December Game Update. A second bind point will aid travel around the RvR campaign, and Tier-wide messaging will allow for better communication. Daily Quests aim to help bring people into the RvR lakes. A new Fame system gives players even more reason to broaden their player vs player combat experience, with titles, rewards and more goodies earned and tracked in the Tome of Knowledge. More guilds should be claiming and holding Keeps, and Mythic Entertainment made adjustments to make the process more appealing. Lag in the large scale battles continues to be improved (so those 100 vs 100 Praag encounters shouldn't elicit as many profanities).

RvR is a the focus of WAR, as Jacobs has said: 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.

The Art of WAR

The Herald featured a How-To guide for painting that miniature that came with the Collector's Edition of Warhammer Online. From a broken up set of metallic pieces, to a flawless work of Greenskin art, the painting guide will show you the way. Artistic talent not included; you must furnish your own.

Last week's fiction about a young Knight of the Burning Sun was continued this week with Chapter 2 of The Sword is Forged. Read as Regina and her new allies venture to the Village of New Emskrank and come across a dark Destruction canon that uses souls for ammunition.

WAR is Everywhere
Were you lucky enough to attend DreamHack in Sweden this week? If so, I'm sure you saw that WAR was in attendance. Magnus, a WAR EU Community Manager, and the rest of the WAR team brought several demo computer stations to the LAN party, and offered 7 Day Trials to everyone there.

The WAR EU site finally got their first round of free character transfers. If all went well, the battles should be larger and more glorious on their servers.

Tip of the Week

RvR Armor Sets are part of the fun of leveling up your Renown in game. The Body piece comes from Gold Bags after Keep Sieges, the Boots are dropped in scenarios and random oRvR; but did you know the Shoulders and Gloves are purchased at Renown vendors at Keeps and in the Cities? So gather up your gold and go shopping to complete your full armor set! You can even earn a special title for your efforts. (T3 Devastator set shown here.)

Wow! Take a look back in time at this first iteration of the Warhammer Online logo. One hammer, and no "Age of Reckoning?" We've come a long way, Baby!

Ten Ton Hammer Works For You

Americans celebrated their Thanksgiving Holiday this past Thursday, and dinner tables everywhere groaned with the weight of turkey, pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving is traditionally a time for giving thanks for all that you appreciate in life, and players of Warhammer Online are no different. We asked, and you provided us with all the things your character is thankful for in game. See it all here as WAR Players Give Thanks.

Bildo Grudgekeeper of Karak Eight Peaks is thankful for "the wee little keg he keeps in his beard. It comes in handy during long days of travel through High Pass, working for the Empire sods."

Ten Ton Hammer never sleeps, as the following articles prove. Check out the latest in our ever growing collection of guides, interviews and more!

Features

Guides

RvR Info

Forum Fun

The hot bed of the Warhammer Online Community can be found right here in our forums. This week, your fellow players talked the most about:

Happy Thanksgiving
My Lil Opinion
Slayers and Choppas
Going Back to WoW - Lag is Unbearable
Random Thoughts
Rating Destro, From an Order PoV
Choppa or Hammerer
Pong Anyone? The Woes of the Flying Zealot!
How Do Healers Get Gold Bags in Keep Battles?

With all those character transfers, do you find yourself alone? Looking for a guild to join? We have the answer for you in our Guild Discussion and Recruiting forum. You may even be able to Moo with the CoWs.

Have a story you'd like featured in our weekly report? Screenshots, fan art, fiction and links can be sent to taea@tentonhammer.com.