Down with O.P.P.?

Ah O.P.P., reminds me of grade school dances.  Wait, should they have been playing that at a kids school dance?  Anyway, this time that last P stands for profiles.  The latest Wrath of Heroes patch contains a feature called 'Other People's Profiles' which lets you look at, and compare, profiles.

It's very simple to use, just right-click on someones name and choose View Profile.  From there you can see theirs as you would yours.  If you look at Hero Stats, it will compare yours versus theirs.  Let's take a look at me versus WAR Stratics Editor Mykiel.

What's that?  I just chose a Hero I know I played a lot more than he did?  Purely a random occurrence I assure you :)  It's a neat little feature, but really seems like the beginnings of rankings which is something I very much want to see.

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I'm one of them

Recent bad news for SWTOR has spurred some discussion about the state of the MMO industry.  Specifically, whether or not the focus on the solo game has contributed to the apparent decline.  Keen's post was before the SWTOR news, but others who I cannot find at the moment did make a link between the two topics.  Or maybe that was just a dream, no matter, facts will not stop this blog post!

It turns out these I am one of these solo players.  It's not because I am anti-social (well, maybe a little), there are a lot of reasons why I like to go it alone.  Time constraints, immersion, less hassle and so on.  If you have a good solid group of friends that play, then sure the multiplaying aspect can be very attractive.  If you don't, not so much.  

Why do I play MMO's then?  It is simple.  I like playing in a living world which is constantly evolving.  You cannot get that from a single player game.  Just because I don't want to play with other people doesn't mean I don't want to be around them.  I think that is a perfectly legitimate style of gaming.

That doesn't mean I expect every game to try to cater to me.  There should be old fashioned group focused games, and games like SWTOR.  TESO is the latest game to hop on the latter style of gaming.  That means I'll probably give it a shot.  Hrm, I need to finish Skyrim.... but mounted combat is coming out soon so I may wait for that.  

Where was I?  Oh yeah, solo MMO's.  If anything, the solo-ification of these games is what grew the market (or maybe blew up the bubble?) so there is certainly money to be made.  Sadly, it seems to be at the expense of the more traditional MMO.  

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Invasion Recap

The Invasion of Mythic's HQ last week seems to have been a success.  The ones who traveled there successfully made it out again.  I'm not sure if they were tortured like we were the last time.  It is only fair that they were too.  I was dialed and videoed in, so lets talk a bit about it.

Wrath of Heroes was the primary topic of discussion.  First up, we were introduced to a new hero:  Amenadresh the Tomb King.  This guys is pretty awesome.  He had ranged AoE damage and heals and a very cool theme.   It will be very nice to have another healer other than Glowgob.

The 2nd big topic was the introduction of a new map, The Pyramid of Settra.  This is set in the land of the Dead and is very nice looking.  We were able to try it out (with the new hero) and I had a lot of fun.  It is basically a combination of Black Fire Pass and The Arena.  It's objective based, but small so there is a lot of fighting.





We talked about a bunch of other topics, which I'm not sure we can share quite yet.  Mythic has a lot of plans for WoH and there really is a lot of potential.  Tomorrow, the patch with Settra and Amenadresh launches!  I will probably spend some money to buy the new hero.  I have a thing for ranged support :)

WAR was also talked about, but due to some technical issues I was unable to really hear what went on.  Once some of the people who were physically there transcribe the conversation, I'll pass it along.

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Invasion and Conquest

Today, WAR Stratics and 6v6v6.com embark on their invasion of Mythic HQ.  They are not in this alone, as I will be throwing my support behind the operation.  Of course, I will be doing it from the safety of my own home.  Basically, it's a press type event where we will get a glimpse of what the Mythic folks are working on.

The trip is primarily about Wrath of Heroes, so I don't expect much about Age of Reckoning although we know what they are up to (1.4.6!).  There will be an embargo on what we see, so sadly I probably won't have anything good to immediately share.  It should be fun though!

--------------------

For your Friday reading, I suggest Massively's hands-on with Rift: Conquest.  I've written about Rift's new PvP system, Conquest, before but now have a better understanding about what it actually is.  Primarily, it is much bigger than a warfront, but is still an instance.

Conquest has certainly piqued my interest.  However, I don't think I have it in me to PvE to the cap just so I can check it out.  Trion made a short developers video about Conquest, watch it here.

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Tomb King Approaches

The latest Hero has been announced for Wrath of Heroes:  Amenadresh the Steward.  This handsome fellow is a Tomb King who specializes in Area damage and Area heal.  It looks like his flight should arrive early next week.  He probably had to check that sweet hat.

Amenadresh was in earlier versions of the beta and I do believe his abilities have changed since then.  I don't remember him having a heal before, but I could be wrong.  This guys ability affects were awesome, so I hope they remain.  He had this cool sandstorm, which could be a bit much sometimes but was nice.  Check out his abilities here.

Mythic also announced more hero price drops this week.

Bax is available for 23,000 Gold
Nethys is available for 23,000 Gold
Ikkrik is available for 16,000 Gold
Ilanya is available for 16,000 Gold
Aessa is available for 9,000 Gold

These changes have made heroes quite obtainable, especially if you have a Gold boost in effect.

They also put Mastery points up for sale.  I do have an opinion on this move, but I am going to save that for another post.

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Swamp of Sadness

Most of you have probably heard that SWTOR was hit with some layoffs yesterday.  No real insight on how severe they were, but one casualty looks to be Stephen Ried (community manager).  He seemed to be the primary communication outlet, so I am sad to see him go.  Why they chose him, considering it makes the situation look even worse, I don't know.

The Swamp of Sadness scene from The Neverending Story is one that has stuck with me ever since I was a kid.  Poor Artax just couldn't pull himself out of the mud.  The Internet, and bad MMO news especially, often reminds me of this scene.





Layoffs are pretty negative, and that is something maladjusted people on the Internet love.  Lets face it, we're surrounded by them so it is very easy to start feeling like Artax and just keep sinking.  Is this good news for SWTOR?  Of course not.  It's also not the end of the game either.  The future just isn't as bright as a lot of people hoped.

We've been through this with WAR and a number of other games.  I handle the mud by just focusing on the here and now.  I like playing SWTOR, and I will continue to do so until I don't.  The future of the game does not really matter, so long as I am having fun right now.

In the end it's a video game, not a life commitment.  I play games for entertainment and getting drowned in negativity is not my idea of fun.

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Bolster Change

One of the important changes in Warhammer Online's 1.4.6 patch involves the bolster mechanic.  On the live servers, when players enter a RvR lake in Tier 4, their stats are increased to a level 40 equivalent.  That used to be the cap, in 1.4 it was actually raised to 45 but hidden from the player.  Once you surpass RR 80, you start getting those levels.

In 1.4.6, the bolster will raise players to 45, if they are not already.  Your character sheet will still say you are level 40, but your stats will get buffed.  How much?  That depends.  Lets take a look at an example.  My RP below is geared poorly at the moment, so keep that in mind.

Hurrik, Rune Priest (RR 49)

Before

After

As you can see from the screenshots, my RP ends up with some buffs after the bolster.  They are not very large, but a buff is a buff.  On a tank character, for example, you'll see a greater armor improvement compared to mine.

Currently, there is a bug on PTS which grants RR80+ players an extra bolster, but that should be taken care of soon.  What I don't show here is the effect level 45 has on the combat formulas, which will also make life better for low players.

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StarDrive Check-in

StarDrive is an in-development 4x game by Zer0sum Games.  It's actually a project I Kickstarted, because there can never be enough 4x games!  The game is currently still in development, but a number of improvements have been made.

First, they signed a deal with Iceburg Interactive for publishing.  Congrats to them!

Now on to a quick look at the beta.

The Race selection screen is coming together nicely.  This screenshot does not really do it justice because the portraits on the left are actually animated and look great.  The art has been coming along very nicely!

This screenshot shows Subspace Projectors.  These installations are automatically built (by your planets) to connection two colonized systems.  They are new to 4x games, so I asked the developer about them.

Subspace projectors are used to extend the area of influence for your empire.  This is important because you can warp for free while inside your borders.  Outside of your borders, you pay a massive power penalty for warping.  As you tech up, you can even gain bonus movement speed while inside the influence of your projectors.  The concept is that you will build 'roads' with these to speed movement within your empire.  Furthermore, as you tech up, you can add warp inhibiting effects to your projectors, which slow enemy movement speed within your borders, or even prevent enemy FTL altogether.

You can check it out at http://stardrivegame.com/

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SWTOR and Planetside 2

Another Friday, another slacking day for me on this blog.  Today I have a good SWTOR site for you and a freaking amazing video.  My week has been spent mostly playing League of Legends and SWTOR.  I really want to get to 30 in LoL, just because.

TOR Fashion.  Custom armor is one of the things I really like about SWTOR.  It lets you look how you want, but is also a part of the game system (unlike appearance tabs).  The problem is, how do you find that look you want?  That's where TOR Fashion comes in, it is a site dedicated to showing off those armor sets.

Check them out at:  http://tor-fashion.com/

Planetside 2.  If your not sure what PS2 is.... it's an open world MMOFPS.  I'll just let the video speak for itself.





How awesome was that?  Seriously, this is easily my most anticipated game now even though I suck at shooters.  Now I just need some dirt on a SOE employee for blackmail so I can get into beta.  I was contemplating trying out Planetside 1 just because of this video.

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1.4.6 Patch Notes

The patch notes for Warhammer Online's 1.4.6 update are up! They are pretty hefty and should provide a good way to spend some time today if you are so inclines.  This is primarily a bug fixing patch, but there are also some very important changes.  Below are some that stand out to me.

City Siege.  This one was unexpected.  There will only be a single city instance allowed at a time now.  The population cap has also been increased to 60 ( 60 vs 60!). When the city instance is over, another will open up.  That means no more instance hopping to find an empty instance!

Tier 4 Bolster.  In Tier 4 RvR lakes, all eligible  players will be bolstered to rank 45 (up from 40).  This will effectively eliminate the advantage of hidden levels.  It will also do some interesting things to your stats, so be warned.  It will hopefully bring better balance to Open RvR.

Scenario Brackets.  Currently, scenarios are bracketed by levels only.  In 1.4.6 there will be only 3 brackets:  Level 1-15, Renown ranks 0-69 and Renown ranks 70-100.  This is a tricky change since you want to provide a fair fight, but also make sure they pop frequently.  We'll see how it goes.

1.4.6 should also be on the PTS later today!

Patch Notes:  http://ageofreckoning.warhammeronline.com/article/Version-146-Comes-PTS-0517

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Rift's 3 Faction PvP

While I do not play Rift, my interest was piqued when they announced 3 faction PvP yesterday.  I like PvP and the more factions the better I say!  So I figured I should look into it a bit more.  It is not exactly what I expected, but interesting none the less.

Warning Signs.  While reading about Conquest, a couple things stood out to me:  "the excitement of Open World PvP at its best"  and  "Capturing the Essence of Open World PvP".  They never say what, exactly, Conquest is, but from these it sounds like it is not Open World PvP.  That means it is probably a warfront (scenario) or something similar.

Three Factions, sort of.  Trion is not adding a new player faction to the game.  The Defiant and Guardians remain.  Instead, they are adding 3 new factions which players from either side can choose to align with.  When in the Conquest instance, that is the side they will fight on.

Capture Points.  There will be no fortifications/keeps, instead a number of capture points.  Holding these grants you buffs and new abilities, which actually sounds pretty interesting.  These do not seem to be game wide though as it mentions they are for you and your team.

It Ends.  The article mentions that 'the match ends' when a specific condition has been met.  That makes it really sound like a warfront, rather than a persistent PvP area.  BUT.....

They add this condition as well:  "or 5,000 players are killed"  That's a lot of players. So maybe it is not a warfront exactly.

I do have to applaud Rift for trying something new.  They may not be adding a true 3rd faction, but they are adding to the game.  Who knows how they can build off of these 3 mini-factions in the future?  It probably won't be enough for me to re-subscribe to the game, there is just too much out there to play.  I will be following how it goes though.

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Hero Price Drop

Good news for Wrath of Heroes players, Mythic has announced a price drop on select heroes.  The savings are significant, so now may be the time to spend some of that horded Gold!  Gem prices will be adjusted as well. Thanks David!

Glowgob will be available for 40,000 gold

Drulg will be available for 23,000 gold

Felicia will be available for 16,000 gold

Volrik will be available for 9,000 gold

From http://wrathofheroes.warhammeronline.com/news/61

These price changes should definitely provide more options for players so they can spend their Gold, rarther than the steep 30k cliff that it was before.  Looks like I'll be buying Felicia very soon :)

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Genocide

My Jedi Knight was 'doing work' on Nar Shaddaa when I got to a certain Planetary Mission.  Besides class quests, these are usually the other interesting types of quests.  I had done this one before on my Trooper main, but never got around to writing about it.

The title of the mission leaves little to the imagination, Genocide.  This was a pretty good mission, the kind that makes me love SWTOR.  The only problem I had with it is that it kind of came out of nowhere.  Up until that point I was cleaning up street gangs and rescuing some Republic captives.

Then all of a sudden I get: "Hey, if you have time could you look into this Imperial guy committing genocide using a massive death room?  Thanks."  I did not really have an idea who the Evocii were and why the Hutts and Empire would not like them.

I would have liked to see a bit of a lead in to this mission.  Learning about the Evocii might have been a good start and maybe a little investigation before the Genocide revelation.  Overall though, it was a fun mission.  Taking down a nutcase is always satisfying.

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Another Kickstarter Benefit

The Age of Kickstarter is upon us and I am enjoying it quite a bit.  I've backed a number of projects so far:  OtherSpace, StarDrive, Double Fine, The Banner Saga, Shadowrun Returns, Wasteland 2, Storybricks, and Two Guys SpaceVenture.  Surprisingly, I've had a fun time doing it.

Besides the actual result and the listed rewards, I've found that there is another benefit to backing some of these projects.  The teams behind them often send out updates on their progress.  Sometimes these are just quick notes, but other times they are a lot more.

Two Guys has sent out a number of mini-podcasts already and even a quick prototype that has to do with their new game.  The Shadowrun crew has sent out videos and just recently a survey asking where the location of one of the new areas should be.  Looks like Berlin is winning at the moment.

While not specifically sent to backers, Storybricks sent out a demo of their product so people can see what it is all about.  It lets you play through a story and even create your own.  Double Fine has also sent out special videos to its backers.

Kickstarter can really make you feel involved in what you backed, and I think that is one of the best parts about it.

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Warhammer Stuff

Today feels like a Warhammer kind of day.  On the Wrath of Heroes side of the house, we got a pretty big patch this week which included a new Hero.  For Age of Reckoning, we got some more information about the upcoming 1.4.6 patch.

Kai hit the forums to tell us:

If all goes well, we should be able to open PTS with 1.4.6 next week.

Yay!  You can read about what to expect with the patch here.

For Wrath of Heroes, a code for a free Wooden Chest was posted on the Origin Facebook page.  Note:  I think this is the same code that was posted on the Beat.

I saw this nice 'Thank You' video from a RR100 Slayer to his groupmates.

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1.3 Details Emerge

SWTOR's 1.3 patch is currently in development and we do not yet know when it will be released.  However, some information about what will be in the patch is starting to become available.  It's looking to be much more of a systems patch than content.  So what do we know about the so called 'Allies' patch?

LFG.  The primary feature of the patch will be a Looking For Group system.  This shouldn't be confused with the pseudo-lobby LFD/LFR system WoW has.  I expect it to be a bit more traditional and just help you group up.  The pocast talks a bit about the LFG system.

Is it really that simple though?  They did say this:

However, if you play the random game, especially for flashpoints and heroic flashpoints, and you just set yourself purely random then like yeah we are going to throw a cookie at you.

That they can give rewards makes it sound like more than a normal LFG system.

Armor.  Right now, Social Armor is all of the Light variety.  In 1.3, it will be adaptive.  That means if you wear Heavy armor, it will also change to Heavy.  Good news for a lot of classes that want to wear our Containment gear.

Augments.  An Augment is pretty much a bonus talisman slot currently obtained through crafting critical's.    In 1.3, players will be able to add an augment slot to gear by using those item modification tables and Augment Kits.  The kits are obtained from your friendly neighborhood crafter.  Now non-crafted gear can compete with crafted fully.

Ranked Warzones.  Will these make it in the 1.3 patch?  Still a mystery.

Legacy.  The legacy system will be expanded in 1.3 to include the stuff on the coming soon page.  It includes ways to customize your leveling experience through boosts and other shortcuts.

I don't expect that this is a complete list, but it is shaping up to be a decent patch considering there is little to no new content.  For me, that is fine.  I have tons of content still do since I am such a slow leveler.  Hopefully they get it turned around quick, so people craving new content can get some.

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Missed Opportunity

I like Star Wars: The Old Republic, but there are times when the game just frustrates me.  I've been playing on my Jedi Knight, who just finished up Taris.  Most of the planet is themed around Rakghouls, which are not all that interesting to me.  However,  during one of my last missions things got interesting.  This post contains minor spoilers.

Then they got un-interesting very quickly.  I forget the actual name of the mission, but lets call it The Archive.  I was sent to see what was in there (other than Rakghouls, of course).  So I find a lone droid standing by a door.  Someone actually posted the cutscene...





I think that's pretty cool, except for the fact that is all there is to it. You don't get to go in the room, you don't get to learn anything more about who is in there. It ends up just being a one step side-quest.  This is where SWTOR frustrates me, why couldn't this have been more involved?  At least let me go in the room and read something.

It feels like such a waste since so little story was given. This could have made a very interesting story arc.  I've said it before, but the side quests are still the most disappointing aspect of SWTOR to me.  Grrr, that mission.  Give a 'tell me more' option, then say "My programming instructions end here."

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Big WoH Update

Game Update 0.19 (it is technically still beta) arrives for Wrath of Heroes today, with some very interesting features.  This patch also contains a new Hero, a Dwarf!  I can't believe it has taken this long to get one in the game.  It has been shown that a games awesomeness scales proportionally with the amount of Dwarves contained within.

Let's take a look at some of the big ticket items in this update.

Rent a Hero.  For a small Gold cost, you can gain access to a Hero during a scenario.  Let's say your opponents are using Glowgob and none of you have Volrik, now you can unlock him for the match.  This might add some very interesting flexibility.

Health Potions.  These potions are used when out of combat to regain health.  They will be available in the store, but there is no word yet on if they are Gems only, or can be bought with Gold.  Overall, I'm not too concerned about out of combat stuff, except maybe on the Skaven.

Free Hero Tactics.  Free Heroes are now able to equip tactics which you have access to.  You can't get access to their mastery trees, but you can still improve them.  You get the tactics back afterwards too, so no loss.

Matchmaking.  The system will now try to pit players in warbands against each other first, which should result in less pug vs premade battles.  Looking forward to seeing how well this works.

There is a lot I didn't mention, so go check the rest out:  http://wrathofheroes.warhammeronline.com/news/56

And last but not least, Olwyn Shieldbearer.  It is going to be tough not to buy her this week.

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Gratuitous Tank Battles

Gratuitous Tank Battles is the latest product from Positech Games, makers of Gratuitous Space Battles.  I've covered GSB a bit on this blog before, since it is spaceships blowing each other up.  When I was offered a copy of their latest offering, GTB, how could I refuse?

GTB is quite a bit different from its space faring cousin.  Instead of setting up the fleets and watching them go at it, it is much more like a tower defense game.  That is really not giving it the credit it deserves though, since it is a very deep game.

There is a campaign mode, which is not quite linear, but throws different challenges at you.  the neat part is that on most of the maps, you can choose to either defend or be the attacker.  It will keep your best scores and let you choose the difficulty level.

When you enter the scenario, you are given even more options when it comes to the AI.  You can just use the scripted unit selection, or let the AI make its decisions based on what you are fielding.  Finally, you can give the AI access to the custom units in the game, which we will see in a bit.

As with GSB, the graphics are very nice.  You can zoom in quite a bit to really check out the action.

Like other tower defense games, there are paths which units follow.  If attacking, you want to get your units across the map.  if defending you want to prevent them.  GTB allows for multiple paths, and even branching ones.

Now we have some action going on.  In this scenario I am defending.  Spoiler alert: I end up losing.  There are a bunch of different units being used by both sides.  The gray areas are bunkers, which house infantry units.

Gratuitous Tank Battles also offers an online mode.  Instead of multiplayer, you have a challenge system.  This allows players to create their own maps and AI scripts, post them online and challenge their friends.  You can rate it and leave comments as well.

As I mentioned before, you can customize the units that you use.  As you progress throughout the game you unlock hulls and components.  Want a Heavy tank that is good against infantry?  Just go design it.  This is a great feature which adds a lot of depth to the game, especially online.

From the developers site...

Airstrikes?  Yes please.

What I like?

• Quality.  This is a polished game.  The theme is wonderful (World War 1 which never ended) and the graphics are very sharp.  
• Unit Creation.  Customizing your units adds a lot of replay value to the game and lets you do things your way.
• Night Mode.  There is a night mode, which has spotlights and everything.  Very neat.

One drawback for me is that it is a Tower Defense kind of game.  If you are a fan, then add that to the positive list as well.  Otherwise, I find it to be an enjoyable game and certainly worth the cost.

Technically, GTB is still in beta but it sure does not feel like it.  You can purchase access to the game though.   According to the developers blog, it  should be heading for release any time now.  It should also be available on Steam soon.  

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NKOTB

For you youngins out there, that's New Kids on the Block.  It's the month of the New Blogger Initiative, and it seems like a good time to make mention of some of the new blogs which have resulted!  Remember to head on over to http://nbihq.freeforums.org if you want to get involved.

First up is My Staff is Bigger than Yours.  What a great name!  And no, it isn't.  MSiBtY is a Guild Wars 2 blog so the timing is perfect.

Another new blog is Warrior Needs Time Badly, a title we can all relate to I'm sure.  Quadzi gets around, and likes to talk about it.  Around the MMO gaming world that is.

Try and give those sites a visit.  I'm not a fan of blogging for stats, but knowing people see what you wrote is very encouraging :)

This song always reminds me of Roller Skating.

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Salem Updates

Salem got a bit of an update today.  You can head over to the Paradox forums to check it out.  The crime and punishment system they have going is very interesting, I'll have to do a post on it sometime.  For now, here is part of the changes to wet your whistle.

Summoning: Whenever you pick up a scent from a summonable crime you will receive a piece of evidence of the particular crime. The evidences can be matched against other evidences to determine if they were left by the same perpetrator by holding one piece of evidence and right-clicking on another. When you have tracked the homestead of the perpetrator, hold the evidence and right-click on his or her homestead to summon the perpetrator into the game and open a combat relation. Proceed to execute for great justice.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?605579-Game-Development-You-Have-Been-Summoned

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Elite Tactics

Elite Tactics, in Wrath of Heroes, are obtained by purchasing Ornate Chests.  These are the best tactics you can obtain at the moment.  On the bright side, they can be purchased with in-game Gold or the real currency Gems.  I did a little data mining and got a list of all the ones currently available.

Since this info has been data mined, not all the data is present.  Some of these may not even be in the game yet, so just use as a guideline.


Acceleration Increases your movement speed by {COM_0_VAL0}%.

Alertness.  Reduces all area damage you take by {COM_0_VAL0}%.

Altruist's Gift.  15% chance on healing someone else:  You deal {COM_2_VAL0}% more damage for {COM_2_DURA_SECONDS}.

Bleak Pragmatism.  You deal {COM_0_VAL0}% more damage to targets that are below 40% hit points.

Bloodthirst.  20% chance on hit:  Regain {COM_1_VAL0} hit points.

Carnage.  20% chance on hit:  Deals {COM_1_VAL0} damage to 2 other enemies near the target.

Counterblast.  25% chance on being hit:  Deals {COM_1_VAL0} damage to all nearby enemies.

Escape!  20% chance on being hit:  You sprint for {COM_1_VAL0_COM_0_DURA_SECONDS}.

Eternal Knowledge.  Reduces ability cooldown times by {COM_0_VAL0}%.

Fervor.  Increases your maximum hit points by 250.

Gods' Gift.  5% chance on hit:  Reset all ability cooldowns.

Hardened Flesh.  Increases your armor by {COM_0_VAL0}%.

Illustrious Stand.  You deal {COM_0_VAL0}% more damage when you are below 40% hit points.

Maim.  15% chance on hit:  Snares the target for {COM_1_VAL0_COM_0_DURA_SECONDS}.

Massive Blasting.  25% chance on hit:  Knocks the target away from you.

Murderous Attacks.  Increases all damage you deal by {COM_0_VAL0}% when attacking from the rear.

Overwhelming Force.  Increases your bonus critical hit damage by 35%.

Perfect Adaptation.  100% chance on being critically hit:  You cannot be critically hit again and you take {COM_2_VAL0}% less damage for {COM_1_DURA_SECONDS}.

Perfect Agility.  Reduces the durations of all root effects used on you by {COM_0_VAL1}%.

Perfect Aim.  Increases your chance to critically hit by {COM_0_VAL1}%.

Perfect Assault.   30% chance on critical hit:  Increases the damage you deal by {COM_1_VAL0}% for {COM_1_DURA_SECONDS}.

Perfect Balance.  Reduces the durations of all stagger effects used on you by {COM_0_VAL1}%.

Perfect Bulwark.  15% chance on healing someone else:  The target absorbs up to {COM_2_VAL0_COM_0_VAL1} damage for up to {COM_2_VAL0_COM_0_DURA_SECONDS}.

Perfect Proficiency.  Reduces the durations of all knockdown effects used on you by {COM_0_VAL1}%.

Perfect Recovery.  30% chance on dodging:  Deals {COM_1_VAL0} damage back against the attacker.

Protection of the Gods.  You take only 10% damage while knocked down.

Responsiveness.  Increases the effectiveness of most healing used on you by {COM_0_VAL1}%.

Restorative Surge.  25% chance on being hit:  Regain {COM_1_VAL0} hit points.

Tearing Edge.  8% chance on hit:  Deals {COM_1_VAL0_COM_0_VAL0_TOD} damage over {COM_1_VAL0_COM_0_DURA_SECONDS}.

Temerity.  Reduces all damage you take by {COM_0_VAL0}% when you are below 40% hit points.

Some of the entries can also be found here over on the wiki:  http://wrathofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Ornate_Chest

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Do NPCs belong in RvR?

In a recent developer discussion about the campaign, NPCs being reintroduced into the RvR lakes was brought up.  Back during the 1.4 RvR revamp, NPC's were rounded up and expelled from the lakes.  Is it time that they make a return?

Before 1.4, NPCs guarded objectives and keeps. So why were NPCs removed in the first place?  Basically, I remember a good amount of complaints about players not wanting to PvE in the RvR lakes.  A lot of times this was the result of a lack of defenders, so there would just be NPCs to fight.

If you remember the old implementation of Fortresses, the Lords which were housed their were particularly nasty.  It was a tall order to defeat them in addition to the mass of enemy players.  It is a PvP area, so shouldn't it be able killing those players and not the mini-raid boss?

I think the intention of the change was good, make it all about players fighting players.  If no one showed up to defend, then they deserve to lose the objective.  However, I am not sure that the result is that much of an improvement.

NPCs are pretty common in PvP areas in other games.  DAoC and Lord of the Rings Online both had them in their RvR areas as do games like Eve and Darkfall.  And thinking back to early WAR, NPCs were never a complaint of mine (except for the city).

In fact,  I remember a lot of times where NPC guards allowed me to fight on when outnumbered.  From an offensive point of view, they do provide something to fight even if it ends up being quite boring.  Something is better than nothing, right?

Fighting in RvR will always be about the players since NPCs are usually little more than speedbumps.  That brings up another question, how should NPCs be balanced if you have players of all power levels in an area (Conqueror to Warpforged)?

I should mention that there are some NPC's in the RvR lake, specifically in the Forts.  The Generals are NPC's unless a player takes them over and the Guardian is an old fashioned boss.

So to answer my own question, I would be ok with NPCs making a return to the RvR lakes.

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So easy a Werit could do it

What am I talking about?  Blogging of course!  This month marks the return of the Newbie Blogger Initiative, spearheaded by Syp.  the NBI is all about getting new blood into the blogging arena, especially when it comes to gaming.

To me, game blogging is the modern day equivalent of talking about games with your friends in the schoolyard. We all used to do that, right?  As an adult, those opportunities are few and far between these days.  Blogging serves as a great outlet for that sort of thing.

Another important part of blogging to me is just getting involved in what I enjoy.  Warhammer Online is what got me to start up this blog, and as a result increased my enjoyment of the game.  Getting involved with the community, making tools like the Arsenal and even meeting the folks at Mythic have been a great time.

If you have ever wanted to do more than just play your games, blogging is a good low-overhead way to start getting involved.  It doesn't have to be about any game in particular of course, it should be whatever you want it to be.  You don't need to be an expert writer either, just look at me :)

A whole bunch of bloggers ( 70+ !) are willing to help you get started.  Just head on over to http://nbihq.freeforums.org  and check out the forums.

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Giveaway almost over!

As of this writing, the Wrath of Heroes XP Boost giveaway ends in about 16 hours.  It is very simple to get your chance at a free boost.  Just enter your email below and answer a simple WoH question.  Tomorrow morning, I'll pick 5 winners at random!  That's all there is to it.

You can use the boost to gain XP for mastery points to spend on Olwyn Shieldbearer!

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