Friday, April 29, 2011

News from the Front: It's back, sorta

That's right, after a long hiatus the News from the Front is back.  It won't be weekly, but I figure it's a more appropriate name than WAR Potpourri.  It'll just cover some miscellaneous info that was not quite deserving of its own post or I just didn't have the time to make one.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Scenario Experiment

Last weekend, Mythic tried something new with a couple of their scenarios.  Gromil Crossing and Thunder Valley had their player amounts upped from 12 vs 12 to 18 vs 18.  The goal was to increase the action by increasing the amount of participants.  Did it succeed?  Continue on for a video.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Cross-Realming has arrived

During yesterday's update, Mythic enabled cross-realming for Badlands and Karak-Norn.  This means that players will now be able to create Order and Destruction characters on the same server.  To try and curb abuse, there is an 8 hour lockout timer.  Read on for my thoughts on this change.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Spare some change?

I'm a sucker.  Last week I said I was on the fence about purchasing the Scrounging Pet Pack which was added to Warhammer Online.  I had every intention of holding off, until they announced that the sale was ending.  I folded and bought the pets.  May as well post some screenshots of them....

Monday, April 25, 2011

April Community Update

In a surprise move, Mythic released their monthly Community Update a week early.  Usually it arrives at the very end of the month, but this time it came out last Thursday.  Better yet, this months Update brings word of new stuff on the horizon for Warhammer Online.

Friday, April 22, 2011

WAR Potpourri

It's been a busy couple of weeks for WAR around the Werit offices (ok, one office).  It's been nice to have some stuff to talk about and show off.  It looks like that trend will continue with the latest Community Update, but I want to save that for a post next week.  On to a smattering of news and dev posts!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Career Builder Update

Just a quick note today.  Over the weekend I brought the Warhammer Online WARdrobe Career Builder up to version 1.4.2.  This includes the Disciple of Khaine and Warrior Priest changes which were in 1.4.1.  There may still be some incorrect tooltips, but the important changes have been applied.  Please let me know if I have missed anything.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Mourkain Temple Video

One of the surprise changes that came with the 1.4.2 patch was the layout change to the Mourkain Temple scenario.  In the middle of the map, they added an actual Temple which houses the artifact.  Prior to this, you could not enter it and the artifact was on the outside.  Continue on for a video.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

1.4.2 goes live today!

Less than 2 months after 1.4.1, Warhammer Online's latest patch will hit the live servers today.  This isn't really a feature heavy patch, instead it addresses a lot of players major complaint: the power gap.  Will is solve all of the issues? Probably not, but it is a big step.  Read on for details about what you can expect in 1.4.2.

Monday, April 18, 2011

More 1.4.2 set changes

The changes coming to armor sets in 1.4.2 are not without their detractors.  One issue that has popped up is whether the Doomforged and Warforged armor sets are even an upgrade or worthwhile, respectively. It's a valid concern when looking at the stats.  On Friday, Mythic introduced some new changes to these sets.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Gaming Update

Despite my lack of gaming posts lately, I've actually been pretty busy playing.  I figured Friday was a good day to cover that.  Surprisingly, most of my game playing has been taking place on my X-Box 360 rather than my computer.  It is mainly due to the backlog of games I have for it.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The WARdrobe joins the Arsenal

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the WARdrobe, an item database and career/renown builder for Warhammer Online.  It is run by Rancid, a fellow Blogger and former WAR player.  Sadly, he is unable to continue maintaining the project and will be closing down the site.  Don't worry, it will live on!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

1.4.2 Armor Sets and Scenario Weapons

One of the biggest changes coming to Warhammer Online in the 1.4.2 patch is the re-balancing of the armor sets and weapons.  Since effective levels are being reduced from 20 to 4, the amount of stats on all of the new post-renown rank 80 armor and weapons must also be reduced.  As a result, I have added a new feature to the Arsenal of WAR.

Monday, April 11, 2011

1.4.2 Patch Notes

Last week, Warhammer Online's 1.4.2 Patch landed on the PTS.  Turned out to be a bit earlier than expected, which was a nice surprise.  While there are no major new features, this patch does include some critical gear balancing.  Read on for more about what this new patch means for WAR.

Friday, April 8, 2011

New Ships and the Haulers Union

This week in Stellar Fortune I accomplished two important things.  The first was adding the ability to purchase new ships.  The second was the introduction  of the Haulers Union faction.  Read on for more details and screenshots.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

TOR Gameplay Recap

Recently, Moon Over Endor was able to attend BioWare's special UK event for Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Basically, he got to play for an hour.  Like a good blogger, he posted a recap about his experiences at the event.  I found it to be an enjoyable read, with some things that stood out.

Crafting a Shuttle

In a recent update, Star Trek Online added the ability to craft your own shuttle craft.  In the case of the Federation, it is the Delta Flyer.  While I may not be a big fan of the ship, it was a little too good, I can't miss out on making my own.  So, what does it take to build your own shuttle?

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

March Producer's Letter, sorta

March has come and gone.  At the beginning of the month, Warhammer Online's 1.4.1 patch was released.  Usually at the end of the month we get a letter from the Producer's letting us know what is up next.  Sadly, that is not the case for March.  We did get something though...

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

How to make hauling fun

Let's face it, moving cargo from Point A to Point B isn't the most exciting gameplay.  In Stellar Fortune's first Alpha release, that is all there really was to do.  Hauling cargo is only meant to be a short term activity until you advance beyond the Merchant rank.  That doesn't mean it shouldn't be fun.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Ownership and Companies

It was quite a successful weekend as far as Stellar Fortune goes.  I implemented ship buying, which required me to rethink a bunch of code.  More on that later this week.  The task currently on my mind is, who owns a Factory?

Changing the Rules

In the latest Developer Discussion, James Casey asked the community for ideas involving changing a scenarios ruleset.  Ever since Weekend Warfronts were introduced, the possibility of different rulesets was talked about.  So far, none have come to fruition.  It sounds like we may be seeing some progress though.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Aspirations

Developing a video game can be a difficult task.  It is certainly a time consuming one, which is a very valuable resource.  Especially when it takes away from playing games, oh, and spending time with family and friends.  Many try their hand at video game development and a lot falter.  That's why I try to keep my aspirations low.