I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the state of the game letter that Jacobs put out today.
Just go read it HERE
It’s full of goodness.
Tag: Warhammer
Minor authorization problems, big customer support issues
Longest blog post title ever…
Anyway last night lots ‘o folks had trouble logging into Warhammer for a while. For some, persistence was the key to getting past an “Invalid Password” message coming up even after we were logged in, with our passwords, which just worked. Um, invalid? Anyway for others, we just had to wait for the IT doodes at Mythic to reboot the Authorization Server.
It sucked but stuff happens, yes?
However before I realized it was a widespread problem, I thought my account was borked. So I attempted to open a support ticket. First thing I learned is that the account I use to manage my Warhammer Online game account is useless for opening support tickets with EA. I needed an EA account for that.
So I created one and…huh, apparently I already have one, as my email is in use. So I hit the “Forgotten Password” button and was assured my password would be mailed to me. Uh-uh. 15 or so hours later, still no email (and yeah, I checked the spam folder).
So I created one again. Nice thing about using gmail… you can put a . anywhere in front of the @ sign and systems like EA’s will consider it a “new” email but Gmail won’t. So I finally got an account set up, and opened a ticket.
I got a response at 1:24 am local time, though the response itself was time stamped 10:24 pm. The email was (and I’m sure this will shock you) a canned response about password management that urged players *not* to use special characters in their password! (As a web developer this killed me a little inside.)
Anyway, I’ll paste the whole email below.
Overall response time wasn’t too bad, but the response itself indicates no communication between the IT guys and the Support guys. What I *should* have gotten was an email saying “We apologize, our authorization servers were experiencing technical difficulties this evening, you should now be able to log in normally.” rather than sending the poor schlub user on a wild goose chase of trying to figure out what s/he did wrong.
Also, the Herald should’ve been updated during the problem. The Server Status page shows only gameplay servers, which were all up. Maybe Mythic needs to add Patcher and Authorization Servers to that page?
Anyway, credit for a reasonable turn around time but everything else was handled poorly. Let’s hope someone learned something during this event (honestly there have been very few issues like this so the customer service chain probably hasn’t had as much in-the-field testing as one might expect by Launch+1 month).
Here’s the pertinent part of the email. Note the lack of formatting between Q’s & A’s and no indication that the rep actually read and understood the issue. They do, towards the end, mention servers being down but then direct you to a page where all the servers showed as Up during the problem.
Greetings,
Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts.
If you are having problems using your account name and password, here are some common problems, and solutions that we have encountered.
Are there any general rules on entering my new account information before I submit my information?
There are no rules persay, but it is always best to make sure you use Alpha & Numerical characters ONLY, when creating an account name and password. Refrain from using any special symbols or characters as it will make it easier for “you”, the user, to remember these in the future.
I am getting the message “Your password is incorrect”. What can be the problem and what can I do to correct this issue?
Please double check and perform the following, to assist you:
* Passwords are case sensitive, please note how you entered this info in your new account section.
* Make sure you check to see if your CAPS LOCK button is on or off. .
* Account names cannot be longer then 18 characters in length or you may have problems logging into the game. .
* If your account name and password are repeatedly coming up incorrect, try typing them up in a notepad document and compare it against the account information to rule out any keyboard malfunctions.Also,
There can be one possibility where the servers are down and so you are getting incorrect password error. The server status can be located at the below mentioned link.http://realmwar.warhammeronline.com/realmwar/ServerStatus.war
If you have any questions about this material or have any additional questions about your issue, please let us know. Take care.
Sincerely,
EARep Hagan
Player Relations
Electronic Arts
Regional Chat is a double edged sword.
As we all know, Mythic added a regional chat channel to Warhammer Online a few days ago. Last night was my first experience paying any attention to it. I was on an unguilded alt so wasn’t watching my “Guild Chat” tab.
There’s good news and there’s bad news.
The bad news is pretty much what you’d expect. I didn’t actually see any Chuck Norris jokes, but there was plenty of pointless ‘spam’ chatter. Some idiot randomly saying “poopiekickkick!” for instance. Yes, thank you very much for sharing and reminding me that a quarter of the people playing these games are mentally about 5 years old, no matter what their chronological age.
And then there are names. Names are a big deal with me. I really don’t like names that deliberately break the ‘tone’ of the game. No, I don’t report names (at least not on a non-RP server) unless they’re deliberately offensive/obscene, but I do avoid people with names that I, (as judge, jury and executioner), deem “stupid”. In a bind and need help, but have the name Azzblaster? I’ll watch you die rather than help you. At least on my alts. If I’m on a guilded character, I have the reputation of the guild to think about and so suppress my vengeful side.
Thing is, I’m old and my eyes are bad, so generally I don’t notice names in the “3D World” unless someone is standing right next to me. When someone runs by me, chances are I won’t be able to make out their name before they’re gone. So before regional chat was put in, I only really noted names when I was grouped with someone. But now, my chat box is full of names like Jeffyweffy (a dwarf, no less) and Graphic. Actually Graphic isn’t so bad now but you know when he gets a last name it’s going to be Violence or Secs or something equally stupid.
On the positive side, at one point Destruction took control of Nordland/Norsca. (Weird, I thought everyone on Destruction/Averheim was Tier 4 already!) Almost immediately, over Regional Chat, someone asked if we were going to take control back, and a few others replied with (I paraphrase) “Hell yeah we are!” And that brightened my mood considerably. (Now if only taking control back were as simple as capturing Battlefield Objectives, but that’s a whole different post.)
If Regional Chat helps OpenRvR get a bit more attention from the players, then I guess I can clench my jaw when “MyDiaperIsFull” starts yelling “Change Me!” over the chat channel. /ignore is for more than just gold sellers, I guess.
Easily influenced
Last night you got a rant. Now you get uncomfortable naval-gazing….
That’s right, its the introspection post! Woot!
A couple of nights ago I went tearing through Tier 2 with CoWs and others and had an absolute blast playing. Since then I haven’t had any significant time to play. But I’ve been following blogs and some boards and this whole scenario issue has been eating at me.
And before ya know it, I’m ranting about everyone playing scenarios and no one doing OpenRvR when *the last time I played* all we did was OpenRvR. Granted most of Destruction didn’t get the memo but it was still fun to be in a big group (that wasn’t playing a scenario) taking down objectives.
I dunno why I let myself get caught up in the negativity. I think it has a lot to do with being frustrated because I want to play but can’t. So already my brain is headed down the road to snarky and when there’s other snarky brains headed in the same direction, mine just joins the warband and the snark breeds.
Before I do any more commenting on Warhammer, I’m going to wait until I find some time to put a few solid hours in. Get the joy back. Pretty much every time I log into Warhammer, I have a good time. Often I have a great time.
Maybe I’ll get to play tonight. I’ll definitely get the chance tomorrow. Blessed weekend, come to me!!!
The Averheim Declaration
I’m proud to share the fact that the Casualties of War leadership has signed The Averheim Declaration.
This strikes a blow not only for Order in a role-play sense, but for quality OpenRvR for the server in general. It’s good news for everyone who plays on Averheim.
Scenarios are not MMO
Warning: This is an opinionated, biased rant. 🙂
Jobildo’s post got some excellent comments and in turn got me to thinking about scenarios and why I resist them as much as I do.
And the answer, it turns out, is pretty simple: I’m not paying $15/month to play Team Fortress with some RPG trappings. I’m paying to play a Massively Multiplayer game with a persistent world. Call of Duty 4 allows me to play missions over and over on the same handful of maps while leveling up a character and guess what? It doesn’t cost me a penny once I’ve bought the game.
For people who sit in a warcamp and grind scenarios, there is really no need for a persistent world. A lobby would do just as well, wouldn’t it? A lobby would require vastly fewer server resources and would’ve cost orders of magnitude less to develop.
Essentially, this is battle.net.
It feels stupid for me to pay a monthly fee to, in part, support the infrastructure for a world that no one wants to use.
And I’m kind of dubious that after ranking through 40 levels in scenarios, people are suddenly going to go into OpenRvR (erm, that assumes that T4 scenarios exist…I honestly am not sure if they do)! More likely they’ll either leave the game or keep grinding scenarios until they hit 80 renown, and then leave.
What I’d like to see is all the scenario grinders funneled off to one server, and all the OpenRvRers gathered together into another server. The grinders shouldn’t have to pay $15/month to play, either, but that’s a side point. The OpenRvR Server shouldn’t even offer scenarios.
What irks me is that, yeah, it’s hard to find OpenRvR even on high population servers. Why? Because everyone is grinding scenarios while commenting that OpenRvR isn’t fun because no one does it. Curiously, I wonder if there isn’t MORE OpenRvR on less populated servers with longer wait times for scenario queues. I plan to find out.
I understand people want to get to cap as fast as they can. That’s why the gold sellers also offer leveling services. Grinding scenarios isn’t the fastest and easiest way to cap: paying someone to level your character is. But I don’t see anyone openly suggesting this is the best way to go about it. Why not? If all that matters is getting to 40 as fast as possible, why not just buy your way there?
If you really enjoy running scenarios, then this rant isn’t really directed at you. Enjoy the game, though why you pay a monthly fee to do in this game what you could do for free in any of a multitude of others is beyond me.
But I’m seeing people expressing opinions along the lines of “I don’t really like standing around grinding scenarios but there’s nothing else to do.” Well you sir/madame, are part of the problem. Get out of the damned queue and get out and start exploring the world! Yeah, it might be quiet at first, but if people on both sides of the battle just opted to not grind scenarios for one night and head to the RvR Lakes, there’d be *plenty* to do!!
OK, end rant.
Whew, I feel better getting that off my chest.
And Mythic, for the love of all that is holy, stop sticking us in a friggin’ scenario queue every damned time we move into an RvR Lake. You’re just fanning the flames doing that, tempting people to leave!!!
OK now I’m REALLY done this time.
Improving OpenRvR in Warhammer
Jobildo has a great post up outlining some ideas to make OpenRvR in Warhammer more appealing than it is now. It is (unsurprisingly) a well thought-out post and you should go read it if you haven’t already.
I was honestly a bit shocked when I learned how much exp you can get from playing a scenario mini-game. Now I understand why everyone does them over and over until they start talking about the boredom of grinding scenarios.
Note to Mythic: When players start putting the word “grinding” ahead of one aspect of your game, it’s time for you to pay attention. For many (not all) players, Grinding isn’t an affectionate term.
Note to Players: We’ve seen evidence that Mythic listens and responds to player feedback. So don’t get discouraged! As Moltke said, keenly anticipating the age of the MMORPG, No battle plan survives contact with the enemy and WAR is a matter of expedients. I’m pretty sure Mythic’s battle plan didn’t anticipate people ignoring 3/4ths of the world in order to sit in a scenario queue all night, and that they’ll continue to refine the game until players are enjoying all aspects of it. Mythic’s method seems to be to slowly add bonuses rather than to go overboard and then have to nerf. Smart fellas.
What can we do? Provide feedback to Mythic, either on forums or in blog posts. Link to good posts like Jobildo’s to get it more attention. Make some noise and let Mythic know we want to be able to progress at a reasonable pace via OpenRvR!
It will come in time. WAR is Everywhere and Everwhen. It isn’t going anywhere; at least not anytime soon.
Keep Cap Exp, huzzah!
Today Mythic added some experience rewards for capturing a Keep, so the Casualties of War decided to go see what that was all about. We had Tier 3 and Tier 2 groups roving the RvR Lakes; I was with the T2 groups.
Great fun. For the record my Rank 15 Witch Hunter got 2300 exp for taking a keep (and 700 renown). My understanding is that at 15 he’s pretty much getting the max, and honestly given the organizational time, cost (for siege machines), and difficulty, it should be more, but this is a step in the right direction at least.
In all the excitement I only took a couple of screenshots, and none of them at the Keeps, but here is our merry band standing around “defending” a Battlefield Objective. (No Destruction types were silly enough to try to take it back.) We had 1 full warband of maybe 75% CoW members, and a second Warband that I’m thinking was about 2 groups. Keep battles were still a challenge since some of us were in Vent, some not, and there were 2 warbands so /shout was the best way to communicate (we probably should’ve created a channel…an idea that only just now occurred to me). Plus the design of the keeps can make it hard to bring all troops to bear at once…
Anyway, click for a much larger version:
Defending Altdorf
Tonight on Averheim, Destruction took another shot at Altdorf. In fact the battle rages as I type this (slain by the bedtime monster!).
I was determined to get involved, so off I went, a mighty rank 15 Witch Hunter ready to kick some Destruction ass!
OK not really. I knew I wouldn’t be any help but just wanted to see how things worked. The first challenge was getting to the battle. At first the fight was in Stonewatch, and I was still trying to figure out how to get there when Destruction moved on Reikland. I had come out the exit in the slums of Altdorf (the back exit, I believe) and crossed through the Heinrich Estate to the walls, except I was on the wrong side of it!
Luckily I found a Postern Gate and got in, then up on the walls. Destruction already had a ram on the main gate. I got close enough to pew pew with my pistol, but the best that did was earn me a scalding from some finger waggler. I had to run for my life and heal up.
I was looking at the map and talking to a guildie when the gate came down, and Destruction didn’t bother to stop to kill a level 15 on the walls. I closed the map and found myself alone on the walls. I manned an Organ Gun and for a while used it on incoming destruction reinforcements.
So the first thing I learned… if you have low level guildies who want to defend, let them take control of a siege weapon and they can make a meaningful contribution.
That said, a single siege weapon wasn’t killing anyone and we all know how fast one heals in WAR, so I judge my efforts there futile. I jumped down off the walls and ran up to the Destruction Horde pounding on the door of the keep. I shot one, and he turned and came after me. A level 40 marauder named Nobody. I fled of course, out through the gates, getting hung up for precious seconds on their abandoned battering ram. It was enough for Nobody to catch me and soon I was releasing back to a warcamp.
For some reason this was a camp at the other end of the zone. Rather than run back I flew into Altdorf and came out the main entrance and ran towards the battle. I ran around a corner and right into a marauder who more or less 1 shotted me. As I looked up I saw that it was… Nobody!!
I had to laugh, I’d taken the big circular route around the battlefield and came back to run into the same darned guy.
Next trip, I ran the length of the zone, getting a look at the lay of the land. Took me quite a while…
Thing two I learned. Fly to Altdorf and run out, it’s much faster.
..and soon I was back at the Postern Gate and slinking through. I ran all the way back into Altdorf to catch my breath, then back into the fray, ducking between some High Elves in full armor (I should note that there were open Warbands but I didn’t want some healer wasting their healing juice trying to keep a level 15 alive, so I remained solo.).
Suddenly the elves reversed direction and about trampled me. I rolled out of the way, jumped to my feet and followed them to… a sewer opening? People were clustering around it, pushing to get through. I followed, elbowing a dwarf in the head in order to cut in front of him. Inside was a claustrophobic spiral staircase, up I went, and popped out to face grim Order faces looking at me. Before I could ask “S’up Doodes?” I started taking damage. As I ran I glanced behind me…there were like 10 Destruction troops standing there… sneaky Destruction types, they were clonking people on the head as they emerged from the stairwell.
It was getting late and I’d learned a couple of things so I called it a night.
I can’t wait to get a few more levels so I can get into these battles in a meaningful way. Right now, in spite of what anyone tells you, there’s darned little a Tier 2 player can do, short of manning a siege weapon (It occurs to me that this might not be as true with Healers). A good tight warband of Tier 2 players could in theory act as a harrying force, but they’d have to be players that didn’t mind getting killed over and over again, and have a couple of healers hidden somewhere just to do resurrections.
But practically speaking, it makes more sense to spend your time gaining levels vs throwing yourself at much players twice+ your level.
And here’s where my personal weirdness comes out. I had a BLAST going out to defend Altdorf!! Being in a group of 20-30 players all running out to fight the enemy was great fun in DAoC and its great fun here, too.
Yeah, Altdorf might fall tonight, who knows? I don’t honestly care that much. What I care about is that the battle was fun. If it was fun at level 15, I can’t imagine how great it’ll be at 30 or 40! And I also care that Order was reacting and organizing. There are players on the Order side who want to put up a good fight.
I’m excited about the future of WAR, and I’m glad to be on Averheim. It’s a great server to play Order on.
And on the off chance that Nobody reads this (as opposed to the usual nobody reading it) I have to ask, and be honest. You came after me cuz I was so damned flash, didn’t ya!?? 🙂 I mean, what self-respecting Marauder could resist taking a shot at the Witch Hunter in the purple armor!!?
Update: Saylah hung around for the whole battle. Read her account here: Order on Averheim say, “No, you can’t take it during prime time!”
Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus
My eyes are red and tearing from my last heroic push to complete this tome. Do I get an unlock for that? Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus
Gotrek Gurnisson is a Slayer; a dwarf who has suffered some shame (this far the details of which have yet to be revealed) and as a way to make amends is seeking a glorious death. Felix Jaeger is the son of a rich merchant; a scholar and poet, who was expelled from university after killing a fellow student in a duel. After this, he somehow provoked the famous Window Tax Riots, during which Gotrek saved his life. The two went out and got good and drunk together after this incident, and Felix swore an oath to travel with Gotrek and record his doom.
The books are written from Felix’s point of view (which fits well as he is the chronicler of Gotrek’s journey), and it is his growth as a character that keeps things interesting. Gotrek is more or less a force of nature, running towards any and every hopeless battle while Felix reluctantly follows along and inevitably ends up performing better than he ever hoped he would.
Trollslayer has the pair cavorting across the lands encountering all manner of evil in a loosely linked series of stories. Skavenslayer is more focused and concentrates on the Skaven (rat-men) plot to take over the city of Nuln. King’s rendition of the Skaven is wonderfully awful; cowardly, malicious creatures who are always one scare away from “squirting the musk of fear” or chewing their own tails out of nervousness or frustration. In Daemonslayer, Gotrek and Felix take part in an expedition into the Chaos Wastes of the North.
As a stand-alone book, Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus is great fun, a wonderful swords and sorcery (and bit of steampunk) yarn. My only real Warhammer connection is Warhammer Online, and I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed the book any less had I not been playing WAR; I’d recommend it for any fan of s&s fantasy.
On the other hand, reading the book really helped keep me in the mood for playing the game, so if you’re a WAR subscriber you might want to keep that in mind.
You may be a bit lost at first (I was) since the first book is all short stories, but soon enough you’ll get a feel for the characters and really start enjoying them. King’s skill as a writer improves through the three books as well (or so it seemed to me). The writing seems to get better and better as the series goes on.
I don’t usually get caught up on price, but this is also quite a bargain. Amazon lists the book $8.79 USD at the time of this writing, and it runs 763 pages. The downside is that it’s a mass-market paperback with about a 1.75″ spine, so it probably won’t stand up to too many readings without the spine cracking.