Looks like Mythic has been busy tracking down Land of the Dead bugs. I'm certainly glad to see some of these getting fixed.
- Four Tombs for Four Pillars: Raven’s Wing will now spawn properly in the waypoint location for the associated steps of this quest chain.
- The Keys of Zandri: Aloysius Roemer will now spawn properly in the waypoint location for the associated steps of this quest chain.
Check after the jump for the full list.
As we reported, it was announced this week that EA is restructuring its RPG and MMO games development into a new group that includes both Mythic and BioWare. In addition, former Mythic General Manager Mark Jacobs left the company on Tuesday. An ex-Mythic staffer told Massively "people are shocked and in disbelief about Mark leaving" following the announcement, and now Jacobs is telling his side of the story on his blog.
In an entry titled "All Good Things Must Come to an End," Jacobs sums up how his departure came to fruition after 15 years of leading Mythic: "Early in May, Electronic Arts let me know that they wanted to make some changes within the Games Label and as a result of those changes I have been out of the office (and out of touch with the team, game, etc.) since that day."
Jacobs says the past two months have been extremely difficult and he will miss working with the people at Mythic the most. He says he will be using his blog to thank certain people and companies, which he has started doing in his most recent entry by thanking Games Workshop. "However, if you are looking or expecting me to damn EA or anyone there, you will be sorely disappointed," he said. "As always EA has my thanks for their interest in acquiring Mythic and in supporting the development of Warhammer."
You can read Jacobs' full entry after the jump.
Even though every Warhammer player may not celebrate Independence Day on July 4, the team is still celebrating summer by offering 10% more XP and Renown for kills through July 7. In addition, enemy players will drop fireworks so you can "enjoy the start of summer with a BANG!"
But before you go destroying your enemies to gather some fireworks, check out Grab Bag Number 19, which answers 17 questions from players. You can find the entire Q&A after the jump.
As we reported, EA is restructuring its RPG and MMO games development into a new group that includes both Mythic and BioWare. Mythic General Manager Mark Jacobs left EA on Tuesday, and Massively spoke to a former Mythic employee about Jacobs' departure, who said, "People are shocked and in disbelief about Mark leaving. But they're also excited to be working with BioWare. I can't even fathom Mark leaving a company he loved so much, it was his life. Personally, I can't see that this is voluntary in any shape or form."
The ex-staffer, who asked to remain anonymous, said Jacobs had been on sabbatical for more than a month. "No one had seen him in a long time, so people already had it in their minds that he was probably going away," the former employee said.
The source emphasized he or she left Mythic on amicable terms. "I can't imagine anyone saying anything bad about Mark. He mostly stayed up on the eighth floor and did his own thing in his office, but he had a vision for the way [Warhammer Online] could be and he definitely follows his vision," the source said.
Wow, just wow! Big changes going on over at Mythic:
Today we have important news to share with the community. EA is restructuring its RPG and MMO games development into a new group that includes both Mythic and BioWare. This newly formed team will be led by Ray Muzyka, co-founder and General Manager of BioWare. With this change, Ray becomes Group General Manager of the new RPG/MMO studio group. BioWare’s other co-founder, Greg Zeschuk will become Group Creative Officer for the new RPG/MMO studio group. Rob Denton will step up as General Manager of Mythic and report to Ray. BioWare’s studios remain unchanged and continue to report to Ray.
Mark Jacobs, current General Manager of Mythic will leave EA on June 23, 2009. We thank Mark for his contributions at Mythic and wish him the very best going forward. Mark played a major part in the success of Mythic with his contribution as General Manager and Lead Designer of WAR.
It seems as if everywhere we turn, someone has a problem with video games these days. Even the President of the United States, it appears. Addressing the American Medical Association last week, President Barack Obama outlined a series of "preventative care" issues deemed important to modern health care reform. Limiting the amount of time that kids spend playing video games is a small part of that plan. "The second step that we can all agree on is to invest more in preventive care so that we can avoid illness and disease in the first place," Obama said at the press conference, referring to his reform plan. "That starts with each of us taking more responsibility for our health and the health of our children. […] It means going for a run or hitting the gym, and raising our children to step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside."
Sure, it's not exactly a defining topic of the speech, or even a full paragraph's worth. But it does indicate—at the very least—that modern video game culture has the attention of the Obama administration, in some capacity. It doesn't read like a "call to arms" against video games as a whole. More so, it seems as if the administration is urging the AMA to recognize video games as a potential "health hazard" (if only in the sense of physical fitness and mental well-being). The question remains: "Does the government believe video games—including MMOs—pose a risk to public health?"
The wait is over! For the industrious realms who were victorious in the Rise of the Tomb Kings Live Event, the Land of the Dead is now open and accessible! Be sure to check out our Land of the Dead info page, which we will be filling as we learn things. If you'd like to contribute, feel free to edit the wiki yourself, or post in the official Land of the Dead thread on the forums.
When the servers come back up today, the winning Realm will be able to fly to the Necropolis of Zandri via the Flight Master in their capital city. Expedition Resources will during this early access period, but you cannot turn them in—they will expire. The early access will end tomorrow at approximately 10:00 AM EDT, at which point players will be able to turn in Expedition Resources to the Expedition Resource Quartermasters once again, and control of the Land of the Dead will be up for grabs!
Check out the rest of the announcement and server list after the jump.
Looks like our speculation has proved correct! Patch 1.3 will be rolling out tomorrow. This patch will begin the Rise of the Tomb Kings Live Event. We'll have all the information about the new Event as we get it in this thread.
1.3 will be going live on Tuesday, June 16th. All North American servers will be brought down at 8:00 AM EDT with Oceanic servers to follow at 9:00 AM EDT. We expect all North American servers to be back up and running by 1:00 PM EDT, and Oceanic by 3:00 PM EDT.
Check out the full announcement after the jump. Be sure to also check out the 1.3 Update Notes and the Allakhazam Wikibase Land of the Dead information page!
It seems that patch day is coming very soon! Mythic has made the bulk of the gigantic 1.3 patch available for predownload here.
Upon visiting the 1.3 download page you will be prompted to download PrePatch1.3Setup.exe, which is a single 880 MB download. Simply install the file and continue to play the game as normal. The file will automatically be activated with the release of Game Update 1.3. That's all there is to it!
Please note: This pre patcher is for North American and Oceanic clients only. The GOA team will be launching our European pre patcher early next week.
This week's Grab Bag ranges all over the map, and is filled with useful information. It seems like work on patch 1.3 is progressing. I can hardly wait! Be sure to look after the jump for the full Q & A.
Q. Are the new jewelry sets going to be catered to each class or to each archetype?
A. The first jewelry sets are designed by archetype, but are usable by any career, so we expect to see cross-use of many of these sets. The final jewelry set is custom per career, and as such has bonuses specific to that particular career.
Q. What power level of weapons are we able to look forward to? (LV weapons? Watcher level? Warlord PQ weapons?)
A. Tomb King weapons are uniquely customizable, and as such they significantly vary in power. The base weapons players can find range in power from mid 30’s weapons all the way to Watcher-equivalent weapons; however, each one of these weapons can be slotted with special talismans unique to the Tomb Kings content. These unique talismans will allow players to boost their weapons to much higher power levels for a short period of time. In addition, there is one set of weapons similar in power to the Warlord PQ weapons that will take a decent time investment to obtain.
