Highlights

• The Heavy Metal event has begun… Fight and adventure for your chance to play the Knight of The Blazing Sun and The Blackguard before anyone else!
• Character collision in RvR has been improved. Players should no longer move sporadically when being blocked by another player.
• Players who go AFK while in Public Quest areas or during keep sieges will no longer receive contribution credit towards those encounters.

General Changes and Bug Fixes

• There were some instances in which the reticule for ground-target-area-effect abilities was allowing these spells to be cast in areas which were not originally intended. This has been adjusted.
• Several issues have been addressed that previously allowed players to get to locations they were not supposed to be able to reach.
• Players will no longer appear mounted when they are not.

Realm vs. Realm

• Fixed several issues that caused the User Interface to display improper Zone Control information. Objectives and Keep icons as well as the Zone Control bar will now properly display the status of contested zones in Tier 4.
• Tier 4 Zones: Based on player feedback, we have reduced the number of Scenario Victory Points required for Zone Control. Also, Battlefield Objectives and Keeps are now worth more Victory Points, and capturing a T4 zone can be accomplished more quickly than before.

Warhammer Online Web Site

• The Realm WAR offers many new features to help you stay in the game even when you can’t login! Check out the changes for yourself and visit realmwar.warhammeronline.com.
• Changed Realm War section of the web site to reflect new navigation options
• Added Realm War selection page with server status and direct links to RvR Racial Pairing pages of each server
• Racial Pairing pages display current status and level of each city, status of the Tier 4 campaign, and victory point sliders for each zone
• Added maps of each zone focusing on RvR lakes with the status of each objective and keep, as well as Guild keep ownership, and when the keep was last taken
• Provided a Campaign status pop-up so players can keep a discrete tab on the progress of the war on their server

Content

• The Final March: The “Gharvin’s Brace Badge” will now correctly step this quest.
• Blood for the Blood God: This quest now correctly states that players must kill Jinnivul Blisswhisper.
• Cronrel Grimstar will no longer spawn faster than intended.
• Clearing the Way: Fixed an issue that was preventing players from obtaining this quest again after abandoning it.
• Testing the Waters: The test vials will no longer be removed from the player’s quest inventory until all of the quest objectives are completed.
• The Devil Inside: The Crazy Peasant will once again spawn properly, allowing players to complete this quest.
• A Claim to Power: Fixed an issue that was preventing players from getting the 15th Heart of the Pure and preventing players from completing the quest.
• Heads Will Roll: The Uthorin Raidlord who is part of the Griffon Gate Public Quest will no longer kill the named NPCs that are the target objective of this quest.
• Big Feathers: Featherscale Eagles will now properly give credit for this quest.
• Riding to War: Fixed an issue that was preventing players from obtaining this quest again after abandoning it.
• Griffon Gate: Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause the Griffon Defenders to spawn at the wrong time while this Public Quest was resetting.
• Fixed an issue that was causing some Magma Crawlers in Thunder Mountain to respawn too quickly after dying.
• Adjusted the level of the lair boss Karerg the Reaver to make him a more appropriate level of challenge for players.
• Fixed an issue that would cause NPCs at the Cloudbreaker Estate not to react when attacked by players.
• Fixed an issue that was sometimes causing the monster Belfarus to despawn in the midst of combat.
• Juggernauts in the Bastion Stair dungeon will no longer spam erroneous chat messages.
• Lord Yldrian in the Ruins of Anlec once again offers Basic influence rewards.

Lost Vale

• Sarthain the World Bearer: Nature’s Wrath will no longer persist on players after death.
• The Ethereal Sprites will now correctly attack players that do not have the “Worldbearer Branch.”
• It is no longer possible to remove the “Whitefire Web Bolt” debuff without the Torch of Lileath.
• The door to the Keeper of Secrets room will now open after she is defeated.
• The Darkpromise Beast’s “Infectious Poison” will now correctly affect one player at a time.

Combat & Careers

Chosen:

• Discordant Turbulance: This ability will now correctly debuff enemies.

White Lion:

• Pounce: This ability has been adjusted so that it no longer targets objects. This includes quest and public quest object targets and keep doors.

Disciple of Khaine:

• Convenant of Clerity: This ability will now correctly appear as a debuff on enemy players.

Magus:

• Chaotic Rift: This ability will no longer effect an unlimited number of players, and follows the same target restrictions shared by all other Area of Effect spells

Sorcerer:

• Triumphant Blasting: This ability will now correctly grant knock-back immunity to enemy players.

Items

• Vanguard Spanner: This item now appears correctly as a wrench.

Realm vs. Realm

• Phoenix Gate Scenario: Resolved an issue in which players could sometimes reach the Destruction Spawn location.

One of the most anticipated games of 2008 isn’t Wrath of the Lich King, and its not the already released Age of Conan.  It is Warhammer Online, which has been delayed multiple times and really reworked from the ground up by EA Mythic.

This game is going to solely based on masive multiplayer PvP action, in clan versus clan and even World (read server) versus server embattlement.  To a PvP lover such as myself, I love an ever changing battle, one that is not scripted, and requires players to make smart decisions with catlike reflexes. Warhammer seems to fit this bill quite nicely.

This is a game type that Blizzard has never been able to commit to with World of Warcraft, as the game is mired in PvE content… which I have also come to love over time.  However no game has tantalized my senses as much as Warhammer, they have been teasing me for a year and half with this game… and the payoff is close at hand finally.

However, lets not diminish the fact that I love the Arenas in World of Warcraft, in fact you can see much of my expertise at work with Spugnort’s PvP Guide… thats if you are one of the few who don’t already have a copy!

I had delayed taking action after hearing that players who purchase the Warhammer: Age of Reckoning Collector’s Edition would get guaranteed access to the upcoming open beta.  Finally yesterday I went in search of a copy… only to find that they were all sold out at the major retailers listed on the Warhammer website.

After a diligent search I did find a copy for myself.  This has only been available for Pre-order for a mere week, and with an exorbitant cost over and above the normal game of an extra $40.  So its easy to see I am not the only one very excited about this game.

Players will most likely flock to Warhammer, just as they did with Age of Conan… in fact I would venture to guess that Warhammer will break AoC’s record of first month sales!

Thats all for today…now I wait patiently for September and a Warhammer Beta ticket!!!