The WAR Herald is full of interesting news today, from City Siege hotfixes to a dev diary on combating hackers. To start things off, Mythic has officially introduced the endless free trial. It should come as no surprise since we reported on it earlier this week, but you can now play the free trial for as long as you like if you remain in Tier 1 content, below Rank 11. Check out the FAQ for more information.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's look at today's hotfixes. According to the notes, Mythic is "making a number of changes that will improve the overall Capital City invasion experience for all players." For example, guild halls, the Emperor's Palace and the Eternal City will now remain open to players at all times, regardless of the city's current rank. You can read all the changes after the jump.

Lastly, Development Manager John Cox has written a diary entry explaining how Mythic deals with hackers. While it doesn't contain and earth-shattering news, it is an interesting read. "Believe it or not, any of you hackers out there, we’re members of your online communities, sometimes silently listening, sometimes actively participating. The best place to figure out what hackers are trying and what they’ve figured out about us is to hide among them," he said.

Capital City Changes

In the wake of game update 1.3.2 we have seen a marked rise in the number of Capital City sieges across all servers. In response, we are making a number of changes that will improve the overall Capital City invasion experience for all players. Specifically, these changes include the following:

• The guild hall in each capital city will now remain open to players at all times, regardless of the city’s current rank.
• The Emperor’s Palace in Altdorf will now remain open to players at all times, regardless of the city’s current rank.
• The Eternal City in The Inevitable City will now remain open to players at all times, regardless of the city’s current rank.
• If Altdorf is in a captured state, players may choose to not take part in the city battle and instead face their foes inside of the Reikland Factory Scenario shortly after the city becomes captured. Players from tiers two through four will be pitted against one another and earn increased renown and experience for their efforts. All players under rank 40 will be bolstered to that rank. Players cannot queue for this Scenario from inside of a City instance.
• If The Inevitable City is in a captured state, players may choose to not  take part in the city battle and instead face their foes inside of the Twisting Tower Scenario shortly after the city becomes captured. Players from tiers two through four will be pitted against one another and earn increased renown and experience for their efforts. All players under rank 40 will be bolstered to that rank. Players cannot queue for this Scenario from inside of a City instance.

Combat and Careers

General

Bug Fixes

• Players will no longer be able to remove the effects of a Stagger by right clicking its icon.

Chosen

• Dreadful Agony: Damage dealt by this ability will now correctly break Staggers.

Knight of the Blazing Sun

• All-Out Assault: Damage dealt by this ability will now correctly break Staggers.

Crafting

Cultivation

• Fixed a bug which caused some rare seeds to enter the world far too frequently

Items

General Changes & Bug Fixes

• Tentacle Pies now properly stack to 20 and will no longer vanish upon zoning or relogging.

Realm vs. Realm

Capital Cities

• The Gates leading to the Altdorf War Quarters will now remain closed once the city has been captured.