p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Well, the highly-awaited 1.2 patch notes hit the Herald last night, and as expected the community is abuzz with discussion of all the proposed changes, tweaks, bug fixes and nerfs. Mark Jacobs obviously wasn’t kidding when he said they were going to be 50-plus pages in length. I’m going to go through the notes in order, pointing out specific ones that catch my eye and giving you my thoughts on them. This may be a really long post, so I may split it into multiple parts. Without further ado, let us begin./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”We already know about the Slayer and Choppa, as well as the Twisting tower scenario, but something that just jumped out at me was this:/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”*Answer the Call to Arms with new Realm vs. Realm gameplay enhancements! Introducing the new Open RvR Rallying Cry system that summons you to key battles for Tiers 1 and 2./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”What is this? I’ve never heard about this before, I even missed it when going over the notes last night. From the sound of it, it could be a button similar to the scenario button, except that instead of porting you to a scenario, it posts you to where there is heavy RvR occurring in your tier. This could have a great impact on ORvR, as well as making open RvR more dynamic. Instead of flying out to the camp to defend the keep, your warband can be ported to the area in question and be able to join the siege that much faster. Of course it remains to be seen how close to the action you get ported, this could be a great feature, so long as it’s implemented properly./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* New treasures await! Across-the-board itemization improvements have been made to the Fortresses, world dungeons, and city dungeons of WAR, including better world drops, quest rewards, Influence rewards, and more!/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”Better loot is always good, not much to see here, maybe I’ll see less Willpower on the non-healing gear./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Crafting System Improvements! We’ve made many improvements to the game’s crafting system, including pairing-off specific gathering skills with specific production skills in order to make crafters more self-sufficient. Also, the leveling curve of trade skills has been improved and fewer components are required to create items. Last, but certainly not least, is the addition of new craftable items!/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”This is great news for dedicated crafters. I personally am not a big crafter, but I scavenge on quite a few characters to make some extra money, mostly. I tried leveling Apothecary and Talisman making, but I tend to fall behind in my crafting since I outlevel the mob range that drops the mats that I need. I have yet to hit 200 on any profession save for scavenging. More details on this later./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Multiple mail attachments! Now you can send several attached items with a single mail message./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”Amen. Thanks Mythic, this was sorely needed./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* When instructed to attack a target on the other side of a closed door, pets will no longer run through the door./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”This fix was a long time coming, and hopefully after this is implemented we will see much less complaining from players regarding Engineer turrets or Magus pets continuing to attack them through closed doors. Good fix./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* When attempting to loot from a pile of corpses, the client will now prioritize corpses with loot on them over empty corpses, making it easier to loot./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”This. I’m very happy about this. I would get very frustrated on my tanks when I would AoE grind and then be unable to loot some mobs because they would be stacked on each other and I simply would be unable to loot. This is a minor fix, but highly appreciated./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Monsters which flee from combat due to being at low hit points will now immediately begin moving at a slower speed.br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial” /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”This too. Many players don’t experience this, as they kill mobs one at a time, but tanks and certain dps classes who AoE grind know the pain of dying, not because of a bad pull, but because a mob will flee exceedingly quickly, then evade to full health and return to the attack because its original position was within aggro range. I’ve died to this more than once. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* All Disorient effects cast by players will no longer stack. Only the most powerful Disorient will affect the target./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* We have adjusted the way that the Disorient debuff will effect characters. Instead of increasing all ability cast times by a flat value, it will now increase cast times by a % of the total cast time of the spell. As a result, melee abilities and instant cast spells will no longer be affected by Disorient since their cast time is effectively 0 seconds. Specific abilities for each career affected by this change are noted below./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”This is a pretty major change to the disorient mechanic, it hits Marauders pretty hard, and other classes in varying degrees. This is a pretty major buff for melee, as the majority of their attacks are instant, and so will no longer be affected by disorients. I’m pretty stoked on this personally, as I play melee characters mostly, and now melee will be a lot more effective in T4, simply because they will be able to maintain their damage output without being setback by disorients./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* All absorb shield buffs have increased in effectiveness, and will now absorb roughly 50% more damage in most cases. Specific abilities for each career affected by this change are noted below./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”Looks like a blanket buff to damage shields, although how many careers have those? I know SM’s and BG’s have them, BO’s can spec for one, and the Zealot and Runepriest have them as well. I’ll have to do more research to see how many careers are affected by this change./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”Black Orc:/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Wot armor?: This ability has had its stacking % armor debuff replaced with a fixed-value armor debuff. Additionally, it will now apply its maximum debuff value in a single hit./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Da Toughest: This ability will now grant less Wounds and health to the Black Orc when it triggers./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Shut Yer Face: This ability will now deal more damage and cost no AP to activate./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Down Ya Go: This ability will now deal more damage, knock the target down for 3 seconds, and cost no AP to activate./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* T’ree Hit Combo: This ability will now deal more damage but will receive less damage contribution from stats./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Not in da Face!: This ability will now deal more damage and also make you and your group briefly immune to disabling effects./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”* Dat Was Great!: This Tactic has been changed to match the changes to Wot armor?. The Tactic will now increase the duration of Wot armor?, and reduce the victim’s Toughness./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”Looks like all the percentage-based armor debuffs have been replaced by a flat value, this sounds painful, but it’s a bit early to tell the long-term effect of this change. I do like using the armor debuffs on my tanks, but so long as the flat value isn’t completely pitiful the ability will still be useful in my rotations. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”I’m sad to see the Da Toughest nerf, I loved that thing in PvE hopefully Mythic will change the value it gains from speccing into the Da Toughest tree, so Blorcs built for survivability will continue to get decent returns from this ability. Good to see the AP requirement removed from Shut Yer Face and Down Ya Go, it was kind of dumb to have these finishers consume AP while others did not. This helps with the AP consumption issues the BO has from time to time. Not in da Face! conferring a short immunity to diable adds some utility, as well as helping the BO spearhead a push into the enemy ranks./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”I’m unsure about T’ree Hit Combo, as it seems to be both a buff and a nerf, and testing will be required to see how it shakes out./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial”There are a lot more notes to go through, and I will continue updating throughout the day./p p/p p/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-6293908491715797571?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QqP4Fao3Ndg/SZCqGZy9g3I/AAAAAAAAABU/Jwe7nkdoi-o/s1600-h/WAR_concept_jan09-31.jpg”img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 219px; height: 320px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QqP4Fao3Ndg/SZCqGZy9g3I/AAAAAAAAABU/Jwe7nkdoi-o/s320/WAR_concept_jan09-31.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300923788395643762″ //abr /p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”First off, I’d like to apologize for the lack of updates over the past few days. It’s been a busy weekend, both for me and the game. The NY Comic Con just ended yesterday, and over the weekend there has been quite a bit of news, So much new info is now out there that I though I’d wait a little while for the dust to settle, and go over the news that interests me. Mythic debuted the Choppa and the Slayer at Comic Con, and Adam Gershowitz showed off the first hands-on footage for both careers in two videos over at Tentonhammer. There was also new info on improved mounts for high-level guilds./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”On the whole, the Slayer and Choppa are shaping up quite nicely, Their rage mechanic icon, while different for each career of course, looked easy to read and the look of both careers at level 40 was great. I thought the Choppa looked nice and threatening in the demo, wiv lotsa spiky bitz stuck on his armor. I know the Choppa is technically medium armor, but the gear showed looked very close to heavy, with spikes, chains, heads on spikes and all that lot. He also had some cool-looking choppas, with what appeared to be either goat or ram skulls mounted onto the axes, very bad-ass. Adam also showed off character customization options for the Slayer. In addition to the default options, Slayers get to select some pretty awesome tattoos, as well as a few beard options that are exclusive(!) to the career. Even the mohawk has some nifty choices, ranging from the classic crest to a split mohawk and even a more ragged look to the basic crest./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Gameplay-wise the two careers came off looking pretty similar, which is expected. Lots of cool slashing and spinning moves and effects, and some nice autoattack animations as well. Adam stated that both careers would have Mastery paths split into Greatweapons, Dual-wielding and Balanced. The Greatweapon Mastery focuses on big hits that drain your rage bar, the Dual-wield path is based on getting your rage as high up as possible and staying in the redzone dishing out tons of damage/AoE while getting real squishy, and the Balanced is well, balanced. One interesting thing is that the AoE for these two careers will be significantly different from that used by other careers. Adam stated that their AoE will be more powerful, but with a caveat: it will be somewhat random. Your selected target will always be hit by the AoE, but surrounding targets will be hit at random. They will NOT be hit by every AoE attack, but when they are hit, it will hit them harder. So instead of the typical sustained dps of other AoE, it will be a sort of “burst” dps./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”The unpredictability of this new type of AoE is crucial to the Slayer/Choppa’s role of “linebreaker”. The new careers will be best used to slam into bunched opponents and bursting down random targets in the with their AoE, with the random nature of their AoE making it difficult for healers to focus heal. Properly played, the Slayer and Choppa will be great for breaking up the assist train and breaking up the zerg. This sounds pretty stonking great, and I already have visions of slamming into a packed group and dealing out death left and right./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica” /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Some other shared abilities include a move in which the Choppa/Slayer lashes out at anyone attacking them for several seconds. now what makes this different from the other “backlash” type abilities is that it looks like it hits back for the same damage as a regular attack, instead of a preset value. This could lead to some pretty hard-hitting revenge hits. I didn’t see too many morale abilities except for one Adam called “Doomseeker” in which the Slayer sweeps with both weapons around him in an arc twice, which I assume hits for MASSIVE DAMAGE./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”That’s mainly what I was paying attention to over the weekend. I hit 39 on my IB as well. I ought to hit 40 this week, and I have the boots for the Conqueror set and the Sentinel belt waiting for me in the bank. Thanks for bearing with me, and I’ll be seeing you guys again in a few days./pp/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-1487476894179804430?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Despite the title of the post, this is not another doom and gloom article. I’m as saddened as anyone else about the layoffs, but I’m still cautiously optimistic regarding the future of WAR. Let me give you some personal background about the type of work I do. I work in retail, in a very niche/enthusiast activity. My business, aside from the apparel sales is based on an activity that is completely dependent on discretionary income. In this economy, my industry is hurting fairly badly, many brands have gone out of business, and many retailers have failed as well. This past Christmas season was the worst one we’ve had in seven years. The business I work for is still doing okay, but we have tightened our belts and cut costs as much as possible. Sales are down, and we are hurting, but we are much luckier than most./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Okay, with that out of the way, let me attempt to address the current topics./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”1. 300,000 Subs: All right, this is the current number of active subs released by Mythic. This is down from the 750,000 number of active subs that was released some months ago. Of course, people are freaking out, and proclaiming that the end is nigh, without looking at the whole picture. The 750K was when many players had yet to renew their subscription after the first free month. Also, the WotLK and Mines of Moria expansions were released shortly after this period. And one should not be surprised that many players flocked back to WoW and Lotro, after WAR’s “new MMO shine” had worn off. I will also admit that WAR had many more issues in those days than it does now. One must commend Mythic for the sheer amount of new and improved content that they delivered since then. We are currently looking at the final two careers debuting soon, a huge new zone and dungeon from the Lands of the Dead expansion. Stability is much improved etc, etc. Of course there still are issues and bugs, but you have to give credit where credit is due. In the limited timeframe since launch, the amount of “new and better” stuff Mythic has released is incredible. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Lets not forget, 300K subs is roughly 4.5 MILLION dollars every month. That’s nothing to scoff at. I also positively believe that number of active subs will only go up. Many players are excited about the upcoming expansion content and new careers. I also personally know many players coming back to play the Slayer and Choppa. 300K is a solid base to grow from, and I think that it will slowly grow over time, like the playerbase for EvE and Lotro. At 4.5 mil a month, I think WAR will continue to be a profit-maker for EA/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”2. Mythic layoffs: This sucks. Flat out. But it is not completely unexpected. Again, despite claims that the video game industry is “recession-proof”, the game industry is hurting. Just like many other industries all over the world. We have seen publishers and game developers go under, Free Radical, Ensemble and more. THQ is laying off close to a quarter of its staff. In recent months as you all know, Mythic has had to let go playtester, QA and CS staff, and now some members of the design and dev teams. Mark Jacobs has taken flak for both not speaking out fast enough, and when he did speak about it, he took flak for the tone of his post. I don’t envy MJ is position right now. He’s damned either way, no matter what he says or does. He has to try for a positive spin, otherwise the doomsayers will point to his post and say that even the main guy is telling people the game is doomed. Players still criticized the positive parts of his statement, saying that he’s not in touch with reality and that he’s living in his own happy world. See what I mean?/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Even though I personally would have liked him to say “yes, this sucks, and we feel bad about this”, I understand why he can’t. He also can not remain silent. I may not feel great about his statement, but I understand the position that he is in. He has to do the best he can, within the resources available to him. It’s a bad bit of news, but Mythic has to keep its chin up. I know that the remaining team feel terrible about what has happened, even though they may make no official statement about it./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”3. Now what?: Actually, syncaine over at Hardcore Casual just put up a great post on a similar subject. Basically, WAR is in the post-tourist/launch hype stage. Many players that played WAR at launch because it was the new hot MMO have left, and a core number of players have settled down. A large infusion of new content is coming soon, and while enthusiasm has been dampened by the sad news, anticipation is still high for the new careers and events. Mythic is in a position to consolidate their gains, and solidify their position. I think that so long as Mythic shows it’s commitment to the playerbase and continues to add and tweak content we can expect some steady growth for the game. I think that 500k active subs by the end of the year is a doable goal. Also that 300K is a good, solid number, especially when compared to the numbers of games (Other than Wow) that are considered successful, such as Lotro or CoH/V.br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica” /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Personally, I would like Mythic to start minor consolidation of the servers. I’m not speaking of massive server merges, but reducing the number of servers by 15-20% would be a good start towards helping the population on some lower-pop servers. Also, opening up an Asian client and getting some Korean and Chinese players going, could only be a good thing for the bottom line. Don’t forget that WoW gets a considerable chunk of its revenues from the Chinese market. So much revenue in fact, that Blizzard actually modified some parts of the game in order to conform to Chinese tastes and laws. No reason that WAR can’t get a slice of that pie./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”In closing, I’m gonna say that I’ve already made my choice. I’m sticking with WAR. I want to experience the new expansion. I want to play as the new careers. I’m sad about the layoffs, but I hope that if WAR does well, and the economy starts doing better, we may see some people rehired. I want to help the game grow. The Warhammer IP is so unique, and i doubt we will see another MMO based on the Warhammer Fantasy IP again anytime soon if WAR fails. This may be a one-time chance for us all. For crying out loud, you can play a freaking SLAYER! Show your pride! Give your free trials to your buddies! Go fight! For Order! For Destruction! For the Emperor! WAAAGH!!!/pp/p p/pp/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-1960076455042917743?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”So, I’m one of those guys that ireally/i gets into the characters that I play. I’ll sometimes talk in character, as the mood strikes me. And one of the things I spend the most time on when creating a character is the name. I’ll sit and brainstorm for hours sometimes, trying to come up with a good name for the character I’m creating. I usually try to avoid derivative names, as well as pop culture references. No Leeroy Jenkins or Sephiroths here. I also try to match the name to the race and class of the character. I do make exceptions, such as naming my Shadow Warrior, Zanshin. Zanshin is a Japanese word relating to a certain mental state in martial arts, including archery. So the name works for me, even though it’s not a typical “elf” name./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Now with my new Slayer, which I’ll be playing as a role-playing character, I’m facing this issue when coming up with a name again. I’m trying to come up with a good, snappy Dwarf name that reads and sounds good. Unfortunately, my Order server is pretty heavily populated and nearly every name I pick is already taken. As a matter of fact I’ve even considered contacting the current owner of my first choice name and offering him gold to delete the toon so I can use the name. The guy is only level 6, so it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle to re-level. But I’m not going to do that. The logistics involved in doing that are pretty daunting, so I’m just gonna go with another choice. I really get personally invested into my characters, so I wouldn’t really want to take a name away from someone who was really stoked on it./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I tend towards getting really into my guys, and with this Slayer, who will be my first serious role-play character ever, I really need a good name. I don’t know why the name is so important to me, but if I play a character with a crappy name it starts to nag at me more and more. So I can’t do funny or joke names either, that just gets old. So I really prepare and research. br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica” /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I usually comb through Warhammer books, and I also read the Khazalid (Dwarf) dictionary to get an idea of what I’m looking for. I’m also writing a backstory for this character, so that’s an additional consideration. I then start to write out multiple name possibilities on a piece of paper, experimenting with different spelling and pronounciation. I repeat this process over and over, adding new names and scratching out old ones as my mood changes, until I have about three or four final names. I make my choice from these, and I’ll also have my fiance go over the names and tell me what she thinks is best./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”At the moment, I think I have my final four choices lined up and awaiting final selection. I need to get back home from work and reserve ‘em first, because my earlier choices are all taken. I had to settle for variations earlier on at least two names because all my ideas were taken, weird spellings and all. I’m pretty confident about the new ones I’ve come up with. They’re appropriately Dwarfy, and they read well and sound cool. I’ll let you guys know when we have a winner./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Oh yeah…patch 1.11 came out today. Night of Murder event is on live servers now. Also, there is an interesting patch note regarding fort lords. Check for the notes at the Warhammer Herald. Link is in my blogroll. Thanks for reading and happy murdering! /pp/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //p p/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-3478201365379778787?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I just hit Rank 38 last night on my Ironbreaker, somewhere in Dwarf Chapter 19. I’m finally feeling closer to the end of the leveling road. I hope to hit 40 this week. I’m pretty stoked, even though I really don’t have any cool new abilities coming up, aside from a few tactics and the default rank 4 Morale. Oh yeah, I do get my movement barb at 40. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”On my Black Orc though, I did get to Rank 31 and I’m preparing to start questing my way through Tier 4, but I will admit to a bit of burnout. Leveling tanks can be a very tedious process, especially in PvE. I’m considering speccing into Da Boss Mastery for the WAAAAGH! AoE ability so that I can start AoE grinding. However one of the main abilities for AoE grinding is not attained until Rank 35. So I may do some theoryhammering about the spec until I feel ready for it. /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”This does touch onto a sore subject for me, the leveling curve. I’m coming to the conclusion that the leveling curve in WAR is tuned too slow in Tier 4. Now, I do recall that Mythic just buffed the xp curve from 20-33 if I remember correctly, so maybe I need to just power through those levels on the Blorc. Also I may not be completely objective on this subject. The deal is that I can only play nights and I try to play at least 2-3 characters every night, so when the leveling curve slows down I perceive it to be worse than it actually is since I make less progress in my allotted time. However I’m sure that if I actually sat down and computed the xp gained per hour while accounting for the increased xp needed per level, I would find out that I’m still making decent progress.  /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Other than that, leveling multiple characters is a daunting undertaking. The game really tries to reward you for investing a lot of time into a particular character. Acquiring gear, trophies, leveling professions and raising renown ranks all come into play with a single character. Also in a strange way, the banking and bag system is a factor. I’m always having problems juggling bag and bank space, especially if the character is a crafter. I’ve had to take close to half an hour to reorganize my bags. Granted this doesn’t happen often, but the bag and bank stuff can be irritating. /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”My goal is to level three characters. A tank, a melee dps and a ranged dps. The tank is coming along nicely, my Shadow Warrior is in the middle of T2 at the moment, and of course the Slayer will be my third. I’m just worried that I’ll still be leveling characters when the Tomb Kings are released, heh. In any case I’ll be toughing it out in the coming weeks and with any luck I’ll be hitting 40 for the very first time this week./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Edit: Oh yeah, finally picked a name for the Slayer, I’ll post it next time, gotta reserve it first./pp/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-4040259250411980092?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”This will be quick, but some good news on my end. I’ve finally gotten XP re-installed on my PC about a week after I had to reformat and my original XP disc wasn’t installing properly. I had to wait for the OEM to send me a new disc, which took a few days. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”But now I’m back and will be resuming my regular play schedule. Unfortunately, since I’m a week behind, I’m going to have to cancel my plans to raise my Renown Rank on my Black Orc and just get back to straight leveling. And my Ironbreaker needs to push through those last few ranks to 40. I guess I can always raise my RR at 40…sigh./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”But at least I can finally play again, the nights of no WAR were getting old, but I was able to come up with new ideas, like the comic while my PC was down. Well, it’s back to the battlefield tonight, and I’ll see you all ingame./pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-2132364710110409059?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”And so, the cycle is complete. Over two years ago, I heard about an upcoming MMO called Warhammer Online. Being a current WoW player, I was intrigued by the new game, and so I started to try to learn about it. I found out it was based on the Warhammer Fantasy IP, and that it was being developed my Mythic, who was known as the developer of Dark Age of Camelot, another MMO that was based around a player-versus-player mechanic. I wanted to know more about the setting and it was recommended to me that I try out the first book in the Gotrek and Felix series, Trollslayer. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I was captivated by the book. I admit that the earlier stories were pulpy and a bit short, but it was my first glimpse into the setting of Warhammer Fantasy. It is a world far from most author’s visions of a fantasy setting. It is dark, dirty and grim. Heroes are few and far between. The Empire seethes with corruption, while the Dwarfs keep mostly to their mountain holds and the Elves hold themselves apart in Ulthuan./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”And here we have Gotrek, the most (in)famous of Slayers, accompanied by his companion and Rememberer, Felix Jaeger, Gotrek is possibly the most successful Slayer in all Warhammer lore. Or perhaps the most unsuccessful, depending on your interpretation. Wielding what is rumored to be one of the legendary axes of the Dwarf ancestor god, Grimnir, Gotrek has slain trolls, skaven, daemons, vampires, dark elves and greenskins unnumbered. Driven to take the Slayer Oath to seek a glorious death in battle by a secret shame, he wishes for the story of his death to be recorded by Felix in an epic poem. I loved the premise, and am now a huge Gotrek and Felix fan./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”And so, when the Careers for WAR were finally announced, I was disheartened by the fact that the Slayer was not an available career for the Dwarf race. Instead the Hammerer was to be implemented. I had wanted so badly to play a Slayer and emulate the character of Gotrek, like any child who pretends to be a favorite super-hero from a comic book. Still, I was glad that WAR was coming along in development, and I would finally get to have my adventures in the world I had only read about. Some time later, when the report that four cities and four careers, including the Hammerer had been temporarily dropped from the game, I was bummed of course, since who wants content to be cut? But deep in the back of my head the thought that there was some hope for the Slayer to be added after all still burned. /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Later still, WAR launches, and I am having a great time with it, playing many careers. Some time after launch, they re-introduce the Knight of Blazing Sun and the Blackguard, but still no word on the last two cut careers. Rumors surface that one of the cut classes is going to be cut completely from the game, and the forums go wild with speculation. Many players start petitions demanding the Slayer, and many arguments rage across the internet. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Of course, you know the rest. After weeks of hints and speculation, today Mythic has made some huge announcements, including the official confirmation of the Slayer and Choppa careers, as well as events based on their launch. For more on the news, check the official website at www.warhammeronline.com./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”And the latest newsletter is now up on the official site, and it has a great overview of the Slayer and Choppa background and mechanics, as well as great artwork./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”At last I can play as a Slayer, the character that drew me into Warhammer in the very beginning. I’m going to take the Slayer Oath. In a twist on my usual playstyle, my Slayer will be my role-playing character, and his adventures will be the source of the material for the webcomic I am starting. I honestly can’t wait. This is what I have been hoping to do for years. I’m very excited about this whole deal, and again I am grateful to Mythic for listening to the fans and bringing in the Slayer, who is possibly the most iconic character in all of Warhammer. /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”The latest newsletter is now up on the official site, and it has a great overview of the Slayer and Choppa background and mechanics, as well as great artwork. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”And now the long process of selecting a name and coming up with a backstory for my Slayer begins. Yup, I’m one of those guys that actually sits around for days trying to come up with a name for his toons. I expect to take even more time with name selection for the Slayer, since he’ll be an RP character. This is gonna take a while. On a related note, this might be the cure for my altitis, at least for a little while./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I know this post has been rambling and all over the place, but hey, I’m hyped and my mind is running a million miles a minute./pp/pp/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-7681925534456051632?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Well, today is the big day that Mythic has been hinting at and they do not disappoint. If you have been keeping up, you know that Mythic has been heavily hinting at several “big” announcements this past few weeks. And today is the day. From Warhammeralliance, here is a quick rundown on the big points:/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”New Careers, the Choppa and Slayer./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”More events, namely the Bitter Rivals introduction event for the new Careers./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Also, a Live Expansion starting in March, along with other stuff like the Night of Murder event. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”All this stuff leads up to the Rise of the Tomb Kings event that opens up the Land of the Dead dungeon zone. Many players have referred to it as the successor to DaoC’s Darkness Falls dungeon. I’m not too familiar with Daoc, but it is basically a PvE dungeon with great rewards and challenges, that is only unlocked for your realm through RvR. So, this actually sounds pretty sweet, it would definitely add more incentive for RvR and be another reward to aim for./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”There is really way too much for me to go into so I suggest perusing the links below. Some cool artwork at some of those links too./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Verdana”bspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=” font-weight: normal; font-family:Helvetica;”http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242560/span/b/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”http://www.warhammeronline.combr //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Awesome news, now more than ever, it’s a great time to be playing Warhammer Online./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Edit: CALLED IT! /gloat/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-8879386352390442497?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QqP4Fao3Ndg/SX452WL-stI/AAAAAAAAAA8/xvxpcsHfz18/s1600-h/Warhammer_05.jpg”img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QqP4Fao3Ndg/SX452WL-stI/AAAAAAAAAA8/xvxpcsHfz18/s320/Warhammer_05.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295733817665827538″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QqP4Fao3Ndg/SX45rBOyTTI/AAAAAAAAAA0/lVbtaL_q4jk/s1600-h/Warhammer_05.jpg”br //abr /p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”So, with my time off from WAR, I’ve had some time to browse many blogs and forums and think up new ideas. And so in conjunction with my upcoming role-playing character, who will be a Slayer, I’ve decided to start a web-based comic. Yes, I know, there are already a ton of webcomics out there and all that, but bear with me. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”The comic will follow his adventures through Warhammer Online in an in-universe style. I figure, since the game is already laid out in a chapter-based fashion, it would be interesting to follow my character as he progresses through the quests and the storyline. And since I’m going to play him as an RP character, I can use that as a narrative base. I dabble in manga-style art as a hobby, and I enjoy drawing my characters. Also, most of the WAR-based webcomics are done in a self-contained episodic format, and I plan to have a single coherent narrative./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I plan to give him a small backstory, with his overall quest taking him to Karak Kadrin, the Slayer Keep. Of course, there will be a certain amount of poetic license involved, but I’ll try and not stray too far from the source material. I hope I can also take common experiences, such as open RvR and keep sieges, and integrate them into the storyline. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”This is a completely new venture for me, and I honestly have no idea how often I’m gonna be putting out pages, and I’m still debating what format I’m going to use. I’m probably going to try to release 3-6 pages every week and a half or so. I’m currently sketching up character designs and other background art. Check back in a few weeks and I’ll try to have some sketches uploaded. Wish me luck, and lets hope I don’t completely suck at this./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Image credit to Chuck Voit-kev-itch and www.chukw.com/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-4512069182313525619?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Well, my gaming PC is out of commission for at least a few days. I had to reformat following a trojan infection, but when it came to reinstalling Windows XP, the disc I had originally received from the manufacturer wasn’t being recognized. After speaking to tech support, they decided it must be a bum disc and they will ship one out to me within the next few days./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Unfortunately this means until then I will be unable to play WAR. However, I will still be browsing forums, blogs and news, and I will still be updating this blog. I do not expect to be away from the game for too long, And I hope you will continue to check back with me here. I’ll see you guys back ingame soon. Now… what to do with all the extra free time?/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-495931082276999486?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”So, yeah. Being the easily swayed weakling that I am, after I read a discussion on the forums I frequent about Shadow Warriors, I just had to roll one up. I hit Rank 11 last night, and I also maxed out my RvR Influence for the T1 Empire vs, Chaos pairing. So now I’m running around New Emskrank looking for fights and just messing around til I hit 12 and have to move on to the next tier. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I gotta say, I’m enjoying the Shadow Warrior a lot! I had rolled one up shortly after release, but shelved him at Rank 3 because the career didn’t grab me right away. I didn’t realize how much of a difference getting all my stances would make on my fun factor. Skirmish stance, which is the mid-range mobile dps tree, is simply so much fun to play. It feels great being able to run around whilst firing off bow attacks. Once I got Spiral-Fletched Arrows and Takedown, the career just got so fun to play. I know that my melee stance, Assault, is considered the best stance to be in, but I still like the mobility I get from Skirmish./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Another amazing thing is the versatility of the career. In a single engagement, I can select say a Witch Elf from range and begin dpsing with my bow in Scout stance. As they get closer, I switch into Skirmish and snare and DoT, then kite a bit. When they close to melee I can swap into Assault stance which buffs my Armor and  Strength, and bring them down with very respectable melee dps. I love having the potential to switch roles in an instant, which sometimes confuses my targets. Today I started picking off a Witch Elf from range, she started to run, so I chased her down in Skirmish, DoT-ing and dpsing. She ran behind some cover to break my line of sight, but I guess she didn’t expect me to flip into Assault and run her down, where I cut her down in melee. I guess that move confused the other Destro players around her, because she got no heals, and I was able to make my escape. I guess they didn’t expect an archer to move in and finish the job at close range. Now I’m aware the situation I’ve described is pretty much an ideal situation, but still, it’s pretty cool when it happens./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Perusing the forums reveals that veteran SW players do have several issues with the class, but the general feeling is that the career needs some tweaks, but is doing quite well otherwise. Also, the more experienced players agree that the career is in very good shape, but I’ll reserve judgement until I have several more ranks under my belt./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”iSOME DAYS LATER…/i/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”i/ibr //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Well, I am very close to 14 now, and have some more observations about the career. I still enjoy the Shadow Warrior, but I’ve come across my first issues. One is just a graphical issue, when I equip my helm it changes my selected hair into a “default” hairstyle that’s the same for every SW of the same gender. Only the original color is retained. Not a big deal really, as I like my selected hair and don’t mind turning the helm graphic off./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I’ve also gotten a chance to play some Mourkain’s Temple. Overall, I enjoy it on my SW. I’m much squishier than I’ve ever been before, and it’s a very different mindset to play as a ranged damage dealer as opposed to tanking or melee dpsing. I like finding good vantage points for sniping, and killing or harassing squishies and healers. Once the focus fire finds me though, I’m dead meat. Still, it’s a great change of pace, and a great feeling to take down that Witch Elf who just popped out behind the healing line. /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”PvE-wise, my Shadow Warrior is competent, if a bit repetitive. Of course, I’m still low in Tier 2, and don’t have access yet to many of my abilities. I’m spending lots of time in Assault Stance, basically DoT-ing and pulling from range until the mob closes and then finishing it off in melee. I try to kite a bit, but I think Skirmish could use a bit more range, and it seems that it’s quicker to just pull, then melee.br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica” /pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I’ll continue to try and level this guy, who I have named Zanshin, after the Japanese martial arts term referring to a certain mental state. I hope that I can somehow find time to level all my other characters before the Slayer/Choppa is implemented. Still, we shall see where I stand on the Shadow Warrior some ranks from now./p p/pp/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-1897261712875886570?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”First off I’d like to apologize for the lack of updates these past several days. I’ve been busy playing more than writing, and I’ve also been waiting to see how some news items developed. So let’s see:/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”If you have been following up on WAR news and rumors, I’m sure you have already read about the speculation going around that Mythic has suffered some job losses following EA scaling down it’s operations by about 10%. I’m not really going to comment much on this, as the reaction has run the full the spectrum of internet discourse already, and I don’t feel like rehashing previous statements. I will state however that I feel many players are blowing it a bit out of proportion, and I feel Mark Jacobs has done an admirable job in addressing these rumors and communicating to the player base. As always, I continue to have faith in Mythic. More info can be found at Massively.com and at Warhammeralliance.com./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”On a more optimistic note, I hope you saw Keen’s post over at www,keenandgraev.com regarding that “teaser package” that was recently sent to him by Mythic. The package contained some hair dye, an electric razor and a card bearing the WAR logo and the date 1.29.2009. If you know anything about Warhammer lore, the super obvious hint is that the Slayer will be announced as the new Dwarf MDPS career on that date. You know, Slayers shave their hair into a crest and dye it before taking up the Slayer oath to seek a glorious death in battle to atone for some past shame or failure. So that looks dead-on as a hint towards Slayers. Now for the Greenskin MDPS, you could argue that the razor might also represent the Choppa being re-introduced, but that’s a bit tenuous. Still, Slayers look to be in, and this is the place where I gloat and claim to have seen it coming all along. Which I kinda did, heh./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”If you’d like to learn more about Slayers, I heartily recommend that you purchase the first Gotrek and Felix Omnibus novel, which should be available at your local bookstore. It’s a great read, and it was my first exposure to the Warhammer setting./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Also, I rolled another alt. Yes, I know I’ll never hit 40 at this rate, but I have settled into a comfortable rhythm with my leveling on my Ironbreaker and Black Orc. I just hit 37 on the IB and am preparing to max my influence for my current chapter before moving on, and I hit 30 on my Blorc. I plan to RvR on my Blorc for the next 2 ranks to get my Renown Rank up, which currently sits at a dismal 17. I know, that’s super low. But i’ll be fixing that soon, hopefully. More news on that alt later./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”That’s it for this post, I’ll see you guys on the battlefield!/pp/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-1220381586975778893?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”As I’ve said before, I’m an admitted altoholic. I have played and leveled eleven separate characters, spread over two servers and both factions. Currently, I’ve settled on my Black Orc and Ironbreaker, and I play a Black Guard as well, though not as often. However, I seem do be having the hardest time picking on an Order DPS career. On that note, I’ve leveled a Witch Hunter to 24, an Engineer to 19 and a White Lion to 11./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I constantly bounce around forums, reading up on the different careers and getting excited about them. But this also leaves me swapping characters very often, I’ll get amped up and play one career for a while, then get excited about another one and shelve my current character. It also doesn’t help that the Order DPS characters are widely believed to suffer from several issues. Now I say “widely believed”, this is just opinion, and is only supported by feedback from players and the forums. Sometimes I agree with the perceived issues, sometimes not. My problems are as follows:/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Engineer:/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”- Most viable tree is the AoE tree, Grenadier. Unfortunately, this tree does not really fit my playstyle, but is considered the best overall. It has a few issues, but has fewer problems than Rifleman or Tinkerer. Rifleman, the single-target tree, was recently buffed, but still has several bugs. This is the tree I would have played, but it has some issues with abilities not working properly, as well as abilities taking longer to cast than they should. And the Tinkerer tree getting Electromagnet nerfed pretty much killed it. Add to this the problem with landmines not deploying properly, turret issues and others. I still like the Engineer, but he needs several fixes to make him live up to his real potential./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”White Lion:/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”- The WL is actually in pretty good shape, the main complaint is that the lion’s survivability is very low, and if the lion dies the WL loses a lot of utility. Some players get around this by not using the lion at all and slotting the Loner tactic to supplement their damage. While this is a viable workaround, I feel that the lion needs to either be buffed, or have it’s stats scale with it’s masters’ stats. Another issue is the apparent uselessness of several tactics, as well as certain tactics simply not working properly. Also, they are poncy elves./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Witch Hunter:/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”-The WH, while widely viewed as inferior to their mirror, the Witch Elf, is really not as gimped as many players believe. All three Mastery trees are considered viable, and each does well in their respective roles. The major complaint is that the WE Kiss system is viewed as being superior to the WH’s Blessed Bullet system. This assertion is definitely arguable, with players on both sides coming up with figures that support either system as being “better”. So for now, I’m going  to defer to my belief that equivalent complaints are a sign of good balance. The itemization for WH’s could definitely use some tweaks. Where a Witch Elf only has to stack Strength as a primary stat, Witch Hunters have to get both Strength and Ballistic Skill, as STR determines the effectiveness of their melee attacks and some Executions, while BS affects their pistol Executions. Now WH’s have a naturally high BS value to compensate, but I can’t help but wonder if instead Mythic could implement a system where a portion of their STR value was added to their Ballistics. This is similar to how Shadow Warriors in Assault Stance have their Ballistics from items also count towards their STR. Something like that would simplify gearing for the WH, as well as be a minor buff overall./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Slayer/Choppa: /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”These guys are actually a really big reason I have trouble sticking to a DPS alt. You see, in the back of my mind the knowledge that these careers are going to be announced and re-implemented soon is putting a serious damper on my desire to get really into one of my current alts. I’m holding back, mentally at least, until I can see just what the new careers will be and how they’ll work. Even though I have my own theories about them, nothing is set in stone until they are introduced. Only then will I be able to impartially gauge all the careers and finally figure out what I want to go with. And maybe not even then, heh. /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Hopefully, it won’t be too long until the announcement. I really just wish they’d hurry it up and give us some news that we can theoryhammer about. Honestly, sometimes I feel that I enjoy theorizing about careers, mastery builds and abilities more than actually playing the game? But I guess it’s because WAR so fully engages my imagination that I enjoy playing it so much./pp/pp/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-3988162091569005577?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

divbr //divdivp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”In a recent post, Mark Jacobs alludes heavily to a “big” announcement at the end of this month. Many rumors are swirling around regarding this pronouncement, and my guild has been discussing this ingame and on our forums. From these conversations, these are my theories./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Dwarf and Greenskin Melee DPS Careers: /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”This is the most probable announcement, and it is also likely the easiest to implement, from Mythic’s viewpoint. After all, they’ve probably already done most of the work involved, since the careers were cut early on. They have had a good bit of time to tweak and iterate these careers. And with the successful re-launch of the Blackguard and Knight of the Blazing Sun, anticipation is high regarding the last two careers. The Choppa and Slayer are favored to be the new careers. The Hammerer is widely rumored to be out, and a Euro CSR has stated that the Hammerer is a “relic of beta”. This statement was in regards to some players being able to access the Hammerer career on the PTS for a short time. The CSR went on to state that this was a bug, and the Hammerer was not going to be made available.  As far as implementation goes, Choppa and Slayer npcs, with complete combat animations are currently ingame, and so all Mythic would really have to do is flesh out the itemization and mechanics for the careers. I am totally going to roll one, or both careers when they hit release./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”New Races:/p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”My money is on Skaven for Destruction and Lizardmen for Order. Many of my guildies call for a Vampire Counts/Bretonnian pairing. I disagree based on several factors. First, I feel that both Order and Destruction players will have problems with the races. I can already see Destruction not wanting “emo vampires” and Order complaining about “lame knights”. The KotBS was criticized for not looking as cool as other careers, due to the use of feathers and codpieces in their design. In addition, Vampire Counts in particular do not usually directly involve themselves in events. Instead, Vampires usually stay behind the scenes and manipulate events from the shadows. Also, Vampires are extremely powerful beings, with a slow rate of population growth. It would be very difficult to implement them as even a player race, since lore-wise even fledgling vampires are significantly stronger than even seasoned warriors. The balancing would be tricky. Bretonnians are not as difficult to implement lore-wise, but they are pretty similar to the Empire,  at least on a basic aesthetic level. Which touches on why Skaven/Lizardmen make more sense./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Skaven and Lizardmen are aesthetically very different from all the other races. If you recall, four out of six races are mirrors of each other visually. Empire and Chaos are both humans, and High Elves and Dark Elves are technically the same race. These races are differentiated mainly by the appearance of their gear and the overall color scheme of their cultures. Were you to remove all the gear from a Chosen and a KotBS, and stand them side by side, they would be very similar in appearance. The distinctive profiles of the careers are created mainly by the gear they wear and in the Zealots’ case, the posture./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Whereas Skaven and the Lizardmen would be immediately recognizable and obviously different from all the other races, in the same way that Dwarfs and Greenskins  are. Skaven are already ingame, and so again, they would only need some touchup to animations and gear. Lizardmen would need to be designed from scratch, of course/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”The main problem I see with the Skaven/Lizardmen pairing would be that both races don’t really mesh seamlessly with the existing Cities. I mean, it’s kind of hard to imagine Lizardmen casually walking through the streets of Altdorf! The Skaven would be easier to integrate into the Inevitable City, but I think the best thing to do would be to give them their own capitals. Yes, Skavenblight and Itza/span style=”font: 13.0px Helvetica”Tlaxtlan!/span(?)/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”And so, to properly introduce these new races and their cities, we need…an EXPANSION!/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”Announcing a new expansion is listed as number one in Snafzg’s post, “Mythic’s Top Ten Priorities for Warhammer Online in 2009″. I heartily agree with this as it gives us rabid gamers something to look forward to and theoryhammer over. Don’t underestimate the anticipation that forms around MMO expansions, and this sort of buzz is what got many of us playing WAR. A major feature of course would be the new races and capitals. I don’t think we need another 10 Ranks though, I’d like to see WAR move away from the whole deal of adding 10 levels every expansion. Instead, I’d like horizontal expansion. New quests, new weapons, new items, while still keeping the highest level “new” items on a similar level as existing endgame items. I don’t want expansions to invalidate previous content. I would much prefer that the items look different and “new”, while being equally, iNOT/i iMORE,/i effective than current gear./p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”So say a weapon from the Lost Vale does 78 dps with +67 Strength/Wounds, while a similar weapon from the Lustian dungeon have identical stats, but a very different look. Look to WoW for proof of this lesson, the expansions are great, but they basically trivialize old content, and new items are leaps and bounds better than existing content, so everyone blows through to level cap, grinds out the uber gear, and everyone looks exactly the same again…/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I’d like the option to have my own look, while still maintaining effectiveness. For example, I’d like to have one of my characters have a savage/Lustrian based look, with obsidian weapons and armor from a new dungeon,  while another character can have the Darkpromise set, but perform at the same level as the first guy with the new gear./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”As always these are just theories and predictions, but it would be so cool to be right on at least one point. That way, when they announce Skaven and Lizardmen, I can say…Called it! /p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px”br //p p style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”What do you want the big announcement to be about?/pp/pp/pp/pp/pp/pp/pp/pp/p /divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-5316620336254686118?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div

divbr //divdivp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I’ve been doing a lot of PvE grinding recently, doing quests, PQs and accruing Influence for chapter Influence rewards. I have fallen behind on my RvR though, and my renown rank is falling behind my natural rank. So after reading on our forums that some of my guildies were going to be concentrating more on ORvR and maybe picking up some ORvR Influence rewards, I decided to do the same. Now, I don’t have that much experience in Open RvR, I did a couple of keep assaults, some incidental skirmishes, but this was all some time ago. Before the RvR influence system and the stability improvements to the servers. Since then, I had been concentrating more on leveling and PvE, with some scenarios thrown in./pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”I logged in, asked if there were any RvR groups going and one of my guildies said that she was running with a warband out the the Empire vs Chaos Tier 3 pairing. I said I’d be joining her, and flew my Black Orc  out to Talabecland. Now the warband she was in was currently full, but I told her that I would just tag along and hope for an invite in the event someone had to leave. We proceeded to take BO’s and keeps, almost completely locking Tier 3 within an hour. There was very little resistance from Order, perhaps small fights here and there. When we had almost taken all the keeps and objectives, the warband got word that Order had retaken Ghrond’s Sacristy. We fly back to the Elf pairing and begin the siege.br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”The initial push went smoothly and we got through the first 2 doors, and got ready on the bottom floor. Order was harrying our flanks the whole time, but most of them holed up in the lord’s room and jumped us when we pushed up the ramp. We were doing okay, but it was wearing us down. The warband broke, and many of us died and had to release. But as we were running back it turned out that we had a healer survive, and he rezzed half the  warband back into the bottom room. We continued the push, picking off the rest of the Order who had survived our initial attack. We went from a near-wipe to taking the keep and locking the pairing for our side. I even got a cool belt!br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”A few days later…I’m questing in the Elf pairing when I hear the call over the alliance chat that Order is close to locking the pairing. I ride to join the attack at Ghrond’s, which we are trying to take to stall the zone flipping. However, this assault is less well-coordinated and the BO’s are still held by Order. We break both doors down, and begin the push into the lord’s room. However, Order’s resistance is stiff and they have a good number of tanks and healer holed up with the lord. Our assault stalls in the lord room, the defenders just burn us down. We semi-wipe twice, regroup, and get beaten back. Our warband leader decides to cut our losses, and I leave the warband after rezzing back at the warcamp. Well, that was a wash. br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”br //pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”/pp style=”margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica”What was different this time? It’s really hard to tell. It seemed that the defense had a better number of tanks and healers, and this time we didn’t seem as coordinated. The BO’s were not taken, and thus guard respawn was a lot quicker. But you know, it could have been anything. It was still fairly fun, and I’ll be doing it again soon. I was surprised at how quickly the RvR influence accrued, and I’ll be trying to get some more sieges under my belt. I look forward to earning my RvR epics soon!/p p/p /divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/2205416172038754050-6270353895824755172.gif?l=grumble-and-mutter.blogspot.com’//div