A Patch-History of WAR ~ The Golden Age

My apologies for not posting more often and keeping true to my word to launch my project June 1st. Unfortunately I have to push back my launch date a tad to give my friends time to work on/polish the artistic projects I’ve got lined up. Due to the magnitude of the project, its really a work in progress so I’m trying to plan ahead and have at least 1 month of material done in advance. However, I shall begin laying the foundation of my project today by taking a step back in time, by taking a look at the history of WAR via the patches. Perhaps not the most interesting of reads, but there is a great deal to learn from looking over the highlights of each patch and to see how far Warhammer Online has truly come. I will give a brief overview of each patch with the highlights (game-changing updates) in bold, perhaps some things that players today take for granted. After the ‘list-mode’ of the patches, at the end I will sum up my thoughts regarding this patch-cycle. So without further ado, lets take a look at the Golden Days of Mythic’s patching, the patches of 2008…

1.0 Sept 26 2008
Fixed NPCs getting stuck when using Ranged attacks
Fixed Roots
Remove merchants from the Inevitable City
NPC spawn speeds adjusted (slowed in most areas, sped up in others)
Fix quests and PQs – tons
Fix NPC realm orientation & ranks (some NPCs were hostile to their friendly realm and too powerful/weak)
Fix armor icons
Fix Guard and absorbs stacking

1.0.1 Oct 2 2008
Tab targetting to select nearest enemies
Fix friends list and /ignore command
Fix pet pathing and pet window disappearing when zoning
WL’s Pounce now requires an enemy target
Gunbad lockouts down from 24hrs to 30minutes
Fixed issue with monsters dropping items for other realm
Autoloot introduced
Cycle Enemies added to improve ‘Target Next Enemy’
Fixed Guild Heraldry cloaks
Fixed numerous chat-window bugs
Fixed Marauders Terrible Embrace so it didn’t pull enemies other than the one selected
Fixed Arbor of Light terrain exploit

1.0.2 Oct 9 2008
‘Join All’ Added to SC queues
 +20% Renown/Exp bonus added for under-populated realms on servers to promote balance
AFK in SC spawn after 2 minutes leads to booting
    Need on Use automatic in SCs
Improvements to pet pathing
Fixed issue allowing players to change tactics in combat
Fixed issue of players not being able to use doors in captured keeps belonging to their realm
Fixed abilities a Squig Herder could use in Squig Armor
WH’s Trial By Pain can now be cast while moving and will not be set back
Troll NPCs no longer knock down players
Gold Essence moved from Apothecary to Talisman Making and changed to ‘Gold Dust’. Goldweed converted  to stablizer.
Experience acquisition rates improved in T3 and T4
Experience for killing enemy players increased 50%
Increased dificulty of Fotress lords. Wards introduced for Annihilator and Conqueror gear to match PvE sets.
Fixed an issue with players respawning in enemy spawn points in SCs
Players no longer able to destroy postern doors.
Experience added to keep captures

1.0.3 Oct 15 2008
Chapter-based chat channels replaced with region chat
Mail Icon added to edge of mini-map
Seeds for Cultivation drop-rate reduced
Improved monster pathing and behavior
Fixed crash-isue when entering dungeons
Nurglings no longer make aggressive sounds when dead
Reduced deployment and pick-up time for standards
Capturing enemy standards grants renown
City instance NPCs strengthened requiring Greater and Superior Wards
Engi Landmine and Magus Daemonic Infestation will detonate on proximity once again
Players flagged for RvR in fortress zones
Lost-Vale closed and re-opened to fix terrain exploits
Exp from killing enemy players in ORvR increased to 100%
Numerous quests and PQs fixed
Magus Chaotic Rift no longer affect unlimited number of players.
The Ethereal Sprites will now correctly attack players that do not have the “Worldbearer Branch.”
It is no longer possible to remove the “Whitefire Web Bolt” debuff without the Torch of Lileath.
WL Pounce can no longer be used on objects and keep doors

1.0.4 Oct 29 2008
Introduction of first Live Event: Witching Night
Dungeon Teleportation Scrolls Added
Renown from healing players increased slightly
T4 zones require fewere scenario victory points for capture
Increased damage on AM’s Balanced Essence
Numerous PQ, Quest, and Dungeon fixes
Capturing BOs now grants Exp

1.0.4b Nov 11 2008
Keeps offer 3 gold bags, Forts offer 6 gold bags
Rally Masters added to Warcamps
Scenarios of a single type pop less frequently to fill queues faster
Fixed an issue that was preventing a group from earning influence if group leader in a different zone
Engi Magnet and Magus Rift cost reduced, CD increased, Build-Time increased, cannot build on move, it can be defended against, and max number of people pulled reduced
Wards now affect damage dealt
SM Balance and BO Plans no longer reset randomly while using abilities

1.0.5 Nov 18 2008
Heavy Metal Live Event begun
        Reikland Factory SC introduced
Character Collision Improved
AFK players in PQs and Keeps no longer receive influence and contribution
    RealmWAR introduced

1.0.6 Dec 2 2008
Knight of the Blazing Sun and Black Guard Careers introduced
Roots improved to break on any damage, including DoTs
Morales improved to fire off immediately
Auto-Attack animations made smoother
Enemies can no longer right-click item effects off themselves
    DoT damage increased across the board
Roots now grant 5s ‘Freedom’ Effect preventing players from being rooted again.
Players or player’s enemies cannot be knocked back while under the effects of Champion’s Challenge
Point Blank will ignore Knockback and Knockdown immunity and not trigger it
Raze will not longer be interrupted while on the move
First major Career Balance patch.
Time delay added to spawn of murderballs in Murderball scenarios
Oil health increased
Pets now receive group buffs
Hammers and Great-Hammers have been added to the Ironbreaker. Dwarves may not use Empire Hammers.
Oil pads moved to be targetable by ranged attacks

1.1.0 Dec 11 2008
 Implementation of ‘Easy’ PQs designed for 1-3 players in Tier 1
Introduction of Main Assist
Addon Management introduced to support mods
Chat Hyper-Linking
 Gold Bag drop-rate increased in PQs
ORvR Influence System introduced
Player Statues introduced
Mobs with names that have profanity matches will no longer have their names bleeped out (Ex: Assassin)
Rare and Very Rare items added to Mini-Bosses of Dungeons; Bosses drop rare dye 100% of the time
Bloodlord Gloves from Bastion Stairs moved to PQ Gold Bags
Various NPCs in capital cities adjusted to use appropriate weapons and degrees of courage
Two new lairs added in Saphery and Talabecland
Bastion Stair and City Dungeon lock-out timers reduced by 4 hours; Lost Vale lock-out timers reduced by 8 hours
Temporary Overflow slot added to backpacks
 Gold bags contain set pieces exclusively
Massive Quest/PQ update/fix
BOs fortified with realm-specific pallisades
New animations have been added for hotbar ability cooldowns. After an ability is used, a radial wipe animation will play that counts down the time until the ability can be used again.
Choosing to hide helm and/or cloak and heraldry settings on cloaks will persist after logging or zoning
Sending a tell to an AFK player will return a message stating that the recipient is AFK.
SCs shut down if imbalanced
Change in renown gains to better reflect differential between a player’s rank and renown ranks, and that of his opponents
Unstoppable effect added to crowd-controls for all careers
 Guild standards now affect a max of 36 players (instead of previously unlimited ammount)
Siege Weapon damage increased against other Siege Weapons
Experience required for Ranks 20-33 lowered
Chests persist longer in Fortresses to give players more time to collect rewards
RR80 no longer causes pets to summon at Rank 1
Fortress doors will close properly upon the campaign resetting
Introduction of Keg End Live Event

This first selection of patches from the launch of Warhammer Online on September 18, 2008 was, in my opinion, the Golden Age of patches. Though every company wants to launch a perfect MMO, bugs always crawl out when you least expect them. Mythic took no time to begin the crusade against the scores of bugs that appeared upon launch. If you notice the dates in this patch-cycle, you will see that major patches were being put out weekly, sometimes with hot-fixes daily, a vast difference from our current state.

WAR’s first patch, 1.0, spearheaded the effort to amend the wrongs of WAR, and we see an overwhelming emphasis in these early patches on bugs in PvE. Lets face it, WAR’s PvE has always been horrendously bugged, though now it is arguably in a far better state than it was at launch. 1.0.1 gave us two tools which most players now take for granted: tab-targeting nearest enemies, and Autoloot. 1.0.2 tackled the slow experience-gain in the game by introducing more gradual experience curves in T3 and 4, and by adding exp to keep takes. 1.0.2 also introduced wards to the game, as a means of surviving high-end NPCs, though at that point in the game you had to wear the piece to have the ward. 1.0.3 gave WAR region chat and took further steps towards increasing exp from RvR (part of the campaign to show that players could level via PvE or PvP). 1.0.4 gave us Rally Masters in Warcamps, and 1.0.5 gave us the Heavy Metal Live Event and Realm WAR. By December of 2008 we had 1.0.6 which was perhaps the first ‘huge’ patch giving us the KotBS and BG, fixing roots to break on DoTs, increasing DoT damage, introducing Root immunity, adjusting Oil, buffing pets, and fixing an issue that allowed players to remove enemy debuffs off themselves.

A week after 1.0.6 a new numerical cycle was started with 1.1.0, though it was in fact more akin to the 1.0 cycle in time and style, so in my mind 1.1.0 was really 1.0.7. 1.1.0 was the second major patch in WAR changing many things across the board, such as gold bag drop rates and contents, reducing dungeon lockouts, a massive PQ/Quest fix, renown gains reflecting differential in level and RR, and lowering experience requirements in order to level- and these are just some of the changes. Introduced to WAR was the concept of an ‘Easy’ PQ (in its trial stages in T1), main-assist, add-on management, the ability to link items in chat, the ORvR influence system, SC population imbalance, ability cool-down animations, the over-flow slot in player backpacks, and the New Years Live Event – Keg End.

With 1.1.0 the weekly patch-cycle ended, and with it ended the Golden Age of patching up Warhammer. Was 2008 the Golden Age for WAR? Heck no, it was buggy as hell. However, it was the Golden Age for improving WAR. PvE got massive fixes, which today are completely overlooked as very few people do PvE, but nonetheless today WAR’s PvE is in a far more polished state than it was at launch. One thing you do notice in this patch-cycle is that most of the attention was given to improving the PvE and experience gain of WAR, but very little was done in terms of class balance and PvP.

Irregardless of what players (both present and past) think of WAR’s launch and the state of the game in 2008, many good, nay great, changes were made to WAR which many players today could not deal without. Can you imagine WAR without tab-targeting? Without realm chat? Without sc population imbalance? Without fixed ignore lists? With nurglings making noises when they’re dead? I for one am deathly terrified of nurglings and am glad they don’t make noises anymore when they’re dead. Tomorrow we take a look at a more gradual improvement of the game and its first major content release, and how these impacted WAR today.