The newest Grab Bag is out, with Mythic answering questions about the upcoming Game Update 1.3.2! With the removal of the Fortresses from the T4 Campaign, the loot system is going to be changing a bit.

The Fortress loot has now been moved to Keeps.  In game update 1.3.2, we’re introducing the Keep difficulty system where a keep will be rated on how difficult it will be to defend/attack based on the Keep’s rank and how many attackers and/or defenders there are.  The Keeps with the highest difficulty rating will drop the Fortress and Conqueror gear.

The full list of questions and answers is after the jump!

James Casey, the associate producer for the features team, has written a dev blog entry that outlines the "New User Journey" features that are being added to Warhammer Online in patch 1.3.2. Casey says these new features will be helpful for all users, whether they are new to WAR or are a current or returning player.

The biggest chance is that all characters will now start in Empire and Chaos, based on their Realm choice, regardless of their race. "Combining the starter locations for each Realm into a single pairing allows us flexibility and helps to provide a better population for players experiencing the game for the first time, or for existing players starting another character," Casey said. "Because we are dealing with a single starting location, we are able to tailor and revamp the content offered in the pairing to make the quest flow more intuitive, give better itemization / rewards for players' efforts, and provide a better detailed and informative play session."

Other upcoming changes include a new tutorial window system, updates to the existing help tips, new content added to the in-game manual, and new global chat channels. You can read all about these changes in the dev blog after the jump.

Mythic has made a couple updates to the official Warhammer Online page. First, the redesigned fan content page is now live and contains artwork and fiction created by players. The revamp includes the release of "Blood Tribute," the first monthly piece of WAR fan fiction. It's written by Tomas Herbertson, also known as Melchais Fallion of Phoenix Throne.

In addition, the Daemon Moon Rising live event page has been unveiled. The event will be held from Oct. 23 to Nov. 2. There's a number of masks to collect, and this year each one grants a unique power to the holder that can be used in battle. Mark David, the live events strike team lead, discusses the event in this video, so check it out to see what you can expect when Daemon Moon Rising begins next month.

Mythic announced today that the Mac version of Warhammer Online will be released on Oct. 28. The client will be available to new users as a digital download for $19.95 and includes a month of free game time. If you're already a Warhammer subcriber, you'll be able to download the Mac client for free.

If you're an existing player who would still like to participate in the beta test for the Mac version, just head over to this page and download the client. New players who want to try out the Mac client just need to sign up for a 10-day free trial account first.

All players who participate in the Mac beta test will receive an exclusive title and trophy reward for their characters. The full announcement can be found after the jump.

As surmised earlier this week, Mythic announced today that the Public Test Server for Game Update 1.3.2 opens tomorrow (9/29/09) morning!  This update contains another batch of significant updates, as well as the usual round of bug fixes and balance changes. 

Look for a new 'Apprentice' system that will enable to you to temporarily adjust your rank (upwards or downwards) to the level of another player in order to play with them.  While the ability to adjust rank upwards is certainly surprising, note that you will not be able to queue for any Scenarios that you did not previously have access too.  For example: You have a rank 1 Shaman, and your friend has a rank 11 Witch Elf.  If your friend Apprenticed you, you would then be scaled to rank 11, and be able to queue for Tier 1 scenarios.  If your friend was level 30 and Apprenticed you, you would be unable to queue for Scenarios together.

Other notable changes include the temporary removal of Fortresses from the Tier 4 campaign, and all races starting in either Empire or Chaos Tier 1 starting area by default.  Check out the full patch notes here!

Mythic has pubished the second article in its three-part Armor Set Redesign series, and this one shows before and after shots of four Order and four Destruction careers in their Sentinel, Conqueror, Darkpromise and Invader armor sets.

You can view all of the images in the article. Just remember they're still a work in progress and the set dye colors haven't been applied yet. You can share your feedback in this thread on the official forums.

Mythic closes out the week with a few minor hot-fixes.  It's been a relatively hotfix free week, all told.  Could we see the next big patch on the PTS soon?

The Lost Vale: Fixed an issue that could cause N’kari’s orbs to become invisible to players at certain graphical settings.

The Lost Vale: Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent players from looting N’Kari’s corpse.

See the full list of fixes after the jump!

The month long favorite Scenario festival continues!  This weekend, it's the T3 favorite, The Lost Temple of Isha.  Now even your Tier 1 characters can enjoy the experience of shouting at people to get in the Temple!

Should the forces of Destruction complete all of their tasks and successfully desecrate the Temple of Isha they will be awarded with the title of "Sorrowbringer" while those amongst the armies of Order who manage to successfully defend the temple and complete their tasks will find themselves dubbed as "Isha's Champion".

Crafting Designer Philip Chan discusses upcoming crafting changes in patch 1.3.2 in a new Dev Diary.  It seems like butchering is finally getting the attention it deserves!  'Pchan' discusses the addition of new defensive-oritented hybrid potions (those fancy level 40 potions that boost multiple stats).

On another note, since I understand how much time crafters spend in the field and how quickly they often end up filling their bags, I have also gone ahead and streamlined trash loot collection. From now on, players will receive one item in varying quantities based on the level of the monster. This should significantly reduce the number of inventory slots that trash loot reserves. Moreover, all trash loots will now stack to 999, making loot from the corpses of your victims easier to manage and sell!

See the full diary after the break!

The "Battle at the Gates" live weekend event was activated this morning, which is a day earlier than normal. "This is one way in which we are saying thank you to everyone for their patience during yesterday's service issues," the Warhammer Online team said in the maintenance announcement on War Herald.

The event focuses on the Gates of Ekrund scenario and challenges players to complete all of the tasks, such as holding the Gate Switch for the entirety of the battle, to earn the "Gatekeeper" title. The event ends Monday morning, so enjoy storming the gates this weekend. WAAAGH!