Warhammer Online RvR Pack a paid DLC?

Really? So, I have to pay you 15 bucks, on top of my 15 bucks just to get 20 more RR? Sounds.. fishy. Well, you heard it here. Or... there.

The temperature is dropping and we hope that, as you sit huddled around the glow of your monitors, our fall offering of The Verminous Horde, Skaven-themed RVR packs will keep you warm. There’s so much to share that we wanted to make sure everyone is up to speed on what’s been going on the month of October, and what to expect in the near future.
For the last month, we’ve been hitting the Public Test server harder than ever. Through these tests and your feedback, we’ve been constantly iterating and improving aspects of the all new ORvR experience, the new Skaven RvR Dungeon, “Thanquol’s Incursion”, and many other aspects of the RvR Pack and Game Update 1.4.  It’s not too late to come out and give your feedback either; Public Testing on Warpstone is still ongoing, so be sure to watch the Herald for PTS updates. 

The Verminous Horde

When we launch The Verminous Horde, it will be available for purchase at the EA Store (http://eastore.ea.com) for all regions. You will receive codes that, once applied to your account via the Mythic account center (https://accounts.eamythic.com/), will unlock the offerings of RVR packs. We’ve focused the paid content into 2 packs, Progression and Personality, while the rest of The Verminous Horde content will be available for free via Game Update 1.4 Details of what’s offered in each of these packs can be found at the bottom of this page. The packs can be purchased independently for $10, or together for $15. Moving forward, we want to keep offering our Community more Packs like this at regular intervals. This, of course, depends on player reaction and how well you like this model, so please, give us your feedback and share your thoughts!

The other major part of The Verminous Horde is Game Update 1.4.0 which contains content for all subscribers of the game, whether you choose to purchase the RvR packs or not. It is our hope that doing it this way will maximize the population in all RVR areas and ensure the best possible play experience. The full patch notes can be seen here. Highlights include an entirely revamped ORVR zone capture mechanic, the Skaven dungeon Thanquol’s incursion, and controllable Skaven classes that players can use in ORVR once the dungeon has been conquered. And with that, we will see you on the battlefield!

The Verminous Horde RVR Pack Details

Progression Pack

    * Access to RR 100 which grants you access to achieve:
          o Two new armor sets: Doomflayer and Warpforged
          o All new high level scenario weapons.
    * Accelerated RR leveling across all characters on the account up to RR 80

Personality Pack

    * 4 Barber Surgeon tokens to change your character’s appearance
    * 4 Vanity Pets including the Ugly Hound and the Iron Hawk
    * Heavy Mount for RR60 characters with a 70% speed bonus
    * New dye options on the dye merchant

Looks like we'll be getting the mechanics changes. However, if we want to be as good as everyone else we have to pay for it. Doesn't that sound strangely like what almost ALWAYS goes wrong with Free to Play games? I thought so, too. Looks like Mythic is jumping on the bandwagon. However, I don't think they realized they hopped the wrong one.

Reaver Starting Zone Revealed!

Perfect World Entertainment released information about the Reaver starting zone today. The Reavers are one of the races being introduced in PWE's upcoming MMORPG, Legend of Martial Arts. Reavers are characterized by chiseled features and long, pointy ears. Facial features hold animal traits. Which shouldn't be too surprising. The Reavers have a set of Transformations that allow them to shift into various animal forms. Their homeland is classified by awe-inspiring cliffs and lush forests.

Screenshots were released today along with the announcement. I must say, it looks promising.

"The Reaver starting zone is a breathtaking landscape of immense scope. Cliffs rise to dizzying heights, and small, unthreatening creatures dot the terrain. This is only half the picture, though, as you will find the moment you step through the mouth of a great cave that grants entrance into the massive dome that your character will call home, at least for the time being…"

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, this isn't like most games you're used to seeing from PWE. The graphical style is completely different. More reminiscent of World of Warcraft and Runes of Magic. A refreshing feel on games we've seen from them lately. I have high hopes for this game so far. It looks to offer quite a bit. Especially for those of us into the brighter, light-hearted feel of this art style. Keep up with this blog to get all of the latest on PWE's releases. Hopefully, later into the week, I'll be able to offer you a hands-on look at Forsaken World. Until then, peace.

This Weeks Events: Oct. 18 - Oct. 24

Blizzcon Ends: So, Blizzcon wrapped up last night. It was as expected, no more announcements. So, all-in-all it was pretty uneventful. Some major events went down. Starcraft II finals ended with the victor (NexGenius) walking away with 25,000 dollars. The WoW 3v3 Grand Finals ended with Complexity.Red walking away with 75,000 dollars. Both sets of players performed marvelously. Congratulations to all of you. I still feel Blizzard could have offered a bit more at their convention this year, but what can you do? Maybe they'll give us something with spending that 40 bucks next year. (Don't you feel a little cheated for spending that money?)

Forsaken World Beta Invites Go Out: So, an upcoming game, Forsaken World (A game by Perfect World Entertainment) sent out CBT 1 invites this week. A lot of controversy surrounded them during this time. Talks of conspiracies keeping players out of the test. Lots of hate on the forums from players who have been following this game for months. All-in-all, they handled this pretty bad. A rumor spread out that a single guild was guaranteed access to this early CB phase by an employee at Perfect World Entertainment.

This caused an uproar among players. Especially given that the guild granted access was a European guild for the North American phase of testing. Some photos went out to support these claims, but PWE has since denied such involvement. Going so far as to remove most posts pertaining to this debacle.

My Wrap-Up On Company Of Heroes Online: So, the end of the week has arrived. I've enjoyed my time in the game and will continue to play. The mechanics are very intriguing to me. I'm loving how the micro/macro works in this game. Who knows, it may even get me into RTS games. Being a long time FPS/MMORPG player I'm not entirely certain that will be the case, though. Overall, I'd give the game a solid rating. I highly recommend it to anyone into the RTS genre of games. It could use a little more balancing, but it's a sold game nonetheless.

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The weeks events have been pretty slow, but I'm looking forward to the week ahead. You can expect a few more games out of me this coming week. I'll probably be looking back into Runes of Magic and Allods Online. To at least see how far the games have come. I'll also be bringing you a small review on Fallout: New Vegas, so look forward to that. The weeks events are going to be a little chaotic, but I hope you guys continue to head on back and check out my thoughts. Until tomorrow, and the start of my week, peace.

Blizzcon: A hit? Or a Cataclysmic miss?

So, Blizzcon started yesterday. It was good. I got to see some pretty new graphics for Diablo III. Even a few custom maps for Starcraft II, but that was really all. Their big announcement for the year was Cataclysm. Wasn't that their announcement a few months ago, too? They went through this whole stage show to get you into Cataclysm. Consisting of closing your eyes and listening to the clash of rubble caused by Deathwing's awakening.

Really? Was that it? What about this new MMO you're supposedly working on? It's being tested in house right now. Yet, it's not far enough along to actually be press worthy yet? Well, if it's being tested then it obviously has a concept. If it has a concept then it obviously has details to offer. I think a lot of people were disappointed that this announcement wasn't made.

I was one of those people. I watched in wait. Figuring "well, they released a little bit about it a few weeks ago. Surely they'll let us know a little more". However, that simply was not the case. Which ultimately left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This Blizzcon was definitely pretty dry. Metzen stated that all of the big announcements for the year have already been made. Maybe he's fooling us? Maybe there will be something big today. Maybe they'll come out of nowhere with it. If they do, then I'll immediately recant my statement. 

However, I found the bulk of Blizzcon's first day to be pretty uneventful. I know it's for the players, but the players expect to be wow'd (no pun intended). I really don't think they've pulled that off this year. I almost feel like I've opened a present on Christmas morning only to find out the box was empty. However, day II is about to get rolling. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

Company of Heroes Online: My experiences so far.

So, I'm not a big RTS player. In fact, the only RTS I've put any real time (no pun intended) into was Warcraft III. That was more for the Campaign than the actual game. Soon after, I dropped it and moved on to other things. The RTS genre is rarely good at keeping my interest. However, I've come across Company of Heroes Online in the last few days. All in all, it's a pretty solid game. I'm enjoying it quite a bit because the overall feel is a little more like I expect a strategy to be. It's not all about sitting on one or two bases and farming minerals. It's about squad based play and territory control.


It has some pretty interesting aspects that I feel bring a fair element of strategy to the genre. A little more-so than just tech trees and macro/micromanagement. It has that too, but it has a few things that set it apart.

Squad Based Gameplay: In company of heroes you don't work on individual units, for the most part. When you spawn a unit, you generally spawn a squad of 5-6 that act under a collective health total. Now, that is one unit in essence. However, it gives a much larger feel when conflicts break out on the battlefield. It also adds another element to the game. The squads are pretty large. Which means the micro has a little more to it. It's not incredibly complex, but I feel it's a little more than say Starcraft.

Commanders/Abilities: This is the first thing that I really think sets this game apart. When you first start the game you'll create your account. You'll then be prompted to create a commander once in the game. Now, I've only focused on American Commanders so far, but the game has two factions. Americans and Wehrmacht. American Commanders consist of three types. You have Infantry Commander, Airborne Commander and  an Armor Commander. Each are pretty self-explanatory as to what they actually do.

Well, I'll go a little bit into here for you:

• Infantry Commander: The Infantry Commander is basically the guy who swarms with ground based troops. He's stronger with them than other commander types. His special abilities support his ground troops. As well as various other things.

•  Airborne Commander: The Airborne Commander has control of the skys. His abilities consist of things like Strafing Runs or Recon Flyovers. He has the ability to paradrop in squads of troops on the map as well.

• Armor Commander: The armor commander has control over vehicles and I believe defensive capabilities. His focus is on tanks and things of the like.

Command Tree: Basically, as a commander you will get abilities specific to your command sect. These abilities are equipped in the commander window. Things like Bombing Runs, Strafing Runs, Troop Drops, so forth. When equipped, the abilities provide a new skill that can be used in game. The Command Tree is a way to improve these abilities. Each ability you equip has it's own Improvement Tree. You can use this tree by leveling up. 1 level awards 1 Improvement Point. Think of them like Talent Trees. You can lower the cooldown on an ability. Lower the cost to use it. Increase it's damage and so forth. It adds an interesting level of tactic to the game.

Army Depot/Hero Units: Next we have the Depot and Hero Units. The Army Depot is a window outside of a match that displays all of the buildings you could possibly build for your base. Well, each of these buildings have special equip slots. Each slot can be filled with a different type of Hero Unit. Hero Units are special units that function like a normal squad. They'll generall be the Hero counterpart to the normal squads you already have, with a bonus. They can level up. They have a total of 5 levels and as they do, you gain a new ability for that unit. Something only useable by that specific unit.

The units have charges. Charges are uses for the unit. You'll generally use around 10 or so for that unit in a match if you play with them heavily. Don't worry, though! You get points called Supply as you play matches that you can use to buy more charges for that unit. Or, you can unequip the unit to stop using charges. They WILL use charges just for being equipped while in a game.
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Now, I'm sure I've left a few things out here. However, I think I covered most of what I feel makes the game stand out. It's pretty solid so far, but I'm still learning. I hope to get a little better, and maybe even branch out into competitive play. It's been a while since I've looked at a game like that. I think this one provides enough of a challenge for me to do just that. It seems to have quite the number of people playing. At least a few hundred every time I'm online. So, it's pretty easy to find games and whatnot. Anyone else currently playing? Any thoughts on the game?

Warhammer Online: Love it? Hate it?

So, I've been in this discussion over the course of the week with a Blogger I follow pretty often. He and I have had a few heated words, but I don't consider it anything serious. I've stated my opinion just as he has. Well, the focus of the discussion has been Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. A game I am currently in love with, actually. I try not to fanboy it up or anything. I really just enjoy the game. It's moved forward a fair enough amount since release. The new, upcoming changes promise more as well. Things I won't necessarily go into right now. Maybe for another post later.

I was just wondering, guys. What are your thoughts on the game? I'm sure we'll come to a vast array of opinions. Some will love it. Some will hate it. It tends to be one or the other. Let's try and keep it civil, but I would love to hear some thoughts. Maybe the reasoning behind the love/hate. I've found it to be one of the better PvP experiences available right now. That's my biggest draw. So guys, thoughts?