Overly Positive

Warhammer Online’s latest patch, 1.3.0b, seeks to begin the long and arduous process of correcting core problems in the game design, starting with a fix for Area of Effect spells. AoE’s been apparently an issue in WAR for quite some time, with the pinnacle of the current damage situation being “bomb groups” consisting of mostly AoE-specced damage dealers annihilating groups of players. The latest changes were pushed to the Public Test Server this past weekend, but after only 4 days, Mythic has pulled the plug and is preparing to yank the trigger on this round of tests. This has of course set off a bunch of worry and concern that bugs won’t be fixed and feedback won’t be listened to.

As always, this site likes to look a bit on the brighter side of such a short testing cycle. For one thing, AoE has been an issue in WAR for quite some time. It’s been a pain point for many players and in some cases it has caused them to unsubscribe in frustration. Along with the crowd control, AoE has been a sticking point for many of WAR’s subscribers, so the immediate action regarding its testing cycle might not be such a bad thing to get the ball rolling on some changes.

There’s also the notion that since this is a “lettered” patch and not a full-on major fix, that Mythic is taking the cautious, incremental approach to their balancing. While this means a lot of short term pain for players who might feel gimped until their class is looked at, it creates a better long-term environment in which things are a bit more in line with what was intended. Fewer things to fix mean a shorter testing cycle, as well as more time before release to address bugs uncovered. So while it may suck to be, say, a Magus in the environment of this change, continued feedback about the class should ensure that it will receive its turn in the sun in due time.

Lastly, and perhaps not least, WAR appears to be at a point where no matter how much they actually talk about something that is going to change or get better,  there’s players out there who believe it’s just lip service. To be honest, MMO players no matter how nice they are about playing a game respect results. If that means a faster testing cycle to stave off all the constant complaints about how there’s all talk and no action, then so be it.

Some people don’t like to “pay to beta test” but those are the kinds of people who probably don’t understand that all MMOs need public tests and testing processes from real players to make sure they aren’t seeing the forest for the trees. WAR’s PTS is no different in this regard, and however long or short it’s open for, I hope WAR’s players are taking advantage of it to provide the right kind of feedback to make the game better.