Thursday 22 July 2010

Change is as good as a rest (XP?)

Bit slow posting today due to dubious head making me a bit wobbly, so you've probably already heard, but anyway here's today's scoop.

Link to Mythic post about T2-3 RvR changes. And because I'm helpful, here's the info:

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We'd like to announce some additional upcoming changes for RvR in v1.3.6. These changes are aimed to improve the ORvR gameplay within Tiers 2 & 3.


"Land of the Dead
Players may no longer be summoned to this zone.
Players must be Rank 32 in order to use the flightmaster to this zone.


Due to the above adjustments, players may now enter the Tomb of the Vulture Lord by interacting with a Window of Perpetuity within the Temple of Ualatp PQ area and are no longer required to progress the PQ to the final Stage. A Window of Perpetuity is only available to those who have previously entered the Tomb of the Vulture Lord.


Tier 2
Plague Rat sightings have been reported within the RvR lakes of Troll Country and Ostland. (Developer Note(s): there have been two encampments added within the RvR lake of fast-spawning Core-con monsters. These encampments are available at all times and grant increased experience.)


Tier 3
Plague Rat sightings have been reported within the RvR lakes of High Pass and Talabecland. (Developer Note(s): there have been three encampments added within the RvR lake. Two of these are filled with fast-spawning Core-con Plague Rats with an occassional Packmaster. Another is filled with Champion-con Plague Rats with an occassional Packmaster. These encampments are available at all times and grant increased experience. There is also a Gutter Runner scout who traverses throughout the entirety of the RvR lake. This Gutter Runner is stealthed but will break upon entering combat. Broadcast messages will be sent to all players within the RvR lake as to where this Gutter Runner has been spotted. The Realm who performs the killing blow (it's important to reiterate that it is just the killing blow) will have all active participants rewarded with Experience, Renown, and Influence equivalent of fully capturing all four Battlefield Objectives from the enemy Realm. The Gutter Runner will respawn somewhere between 30-60 minutes but will not do so if a Keep is currently under attack."
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These changes sound good to me. Land of the Dead had made Tier 3 in particular totally pointless, which was a shame, but at the same time it was far too slow to level in. This should address that. It sounds like it will also speed up Tier 2-3 leveling, which is no bad thing obviously.

My only concern is that some folks are seeing this as a sign of Skaven being added as a 3rd NPC controlled faction. That would be a massive mistake and huge missed opportunity. Since launch people have been screaming out for playable Skaven and complaining about RvR being too much RvE. With the city sieges taking us away from their hideous previous RvE style, I really wouldn't want the game to take a step back towards RvE and on an even larger scale than ever before. I play WAR more to fight players, than NPCs.

That said, this could just be teases towards Skaven being introduced as playable, certainly wasting all those career options and buckets of character would seem incredibly stupid. Plus if DAoC expansions are any clue, Mythic have a history of adding lots of new careers and races. But who knows...

So I view this news with both an approving smile and a buttock clenching grimace of concern. I don't want to play PVEhammer.

6 comments:

  1. If I may point out. If only one race is added as a 3rd faction, balance would fall through the floor.
    Not only will more players WANT to play the Rats, but with them being a 3rd faction with some "evil" tendencies...we are guaranteed double Destro zerg on a regular basis.
    Now, that is my opinion...besides which I think Mythic just does not have the resources to make such a wide sweeping change...at least this year.
    I HOPE I am wrong, and they have something up their sleeve...but I am still from the camp that thinks Skaven as a 3rd player faction may not happen at all, and could lead to disastrous results...no matter how much we want it.

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  2. I don't see this as a lead-in to a new faction. This is merely a tactic to get people in the lower tiers out into the lake. If you're going to grind mindlessly on mobs, why not do it where you can get more XP, and possibly some Renown? Seems like a win-win.

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  3. Oh I wouldnt want only one race mate. Need one for Destro and one for Order ofc.

    Just have to wait and see...

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  4. Was that Andy's "exciting news"?

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  5. Doubt it, this is just another 1.3.6 patch dev discussion post.

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  6. Cool ... we can only hope that since they picked Skaven for these makeshift mob spawns that it's a precursor to their entry into the game. And not as an NPC third realm.

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