One of the hot topics this week would have to be the announcement that PvP experience might get rolled back with the fix for an exploit that some people had been making use of to gain PvP levels faster than intended. Needless to say there have been many in the community concerned that this might end up rolling them back even if they gained it legitimately. Funcom’s Senior Community Manager Oliver ‘Tarib’ Kunz was quick to jump in and address these concerns and answer a few other questions in this thread.

• You can view the new Cryer here.
• Discuss this week’s hot topics on our forum.

Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures has undergone a lot of changes and class balances since the game went live. The Demonologist is one class that has undergone several changes since we created our Feat Tree Calculator and this week we have brought this class up to speed. Now you can view the new updates and plan out your feat builds using our freshly updated Demonologist Feat Tree Calculator.

• Plan your feat build here.
• Discuss it on our forums.

Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures (AoC) new PvP Armor sets have been a hot topic for the AoC community. After our last image preview of the male PvP gear the community was anxious to see the female version. This week we have put together just that. Now you can see what the level 80 PvP armor looks like on the female class of your choice.

• View all the armor sets here.
• Discuss this and more on our forums.

Whether you are a casual soloer or a hardcore raider, your help can be used. A lot of testers will log in and keep close tabs on the chat channels looking for wider testing opportunities such as test groups forming or raids being coordinated. Other players might just log to go about their regular business and wait to stumble onto something out of the ordinary. All types of players with all kinds of play styles are needed and everyone is important to the testing process.

Curious about the test servers and what they have to offer? Savanja shows off some of the best features of the test servers and explains why you will want to play there too!

Wayne: My main duties include monitoring and interacting with our online community as well as acting as a liaison between the community and our various internal departments (Development, marketing etc.). I also assist with moderation and administration on our community forums and advising our player base of upcoming events.

• Read the full Interview here.
• Discuss it on our forums.

Halloween is a time celebrated by many people, but its roots are drawn back to a Celtic Festival once known as Samhain. At the time the people of that era believed that on this day the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead were opened allowing the dead to cause problems for the living. Costumes and masks were worn by the people of that time to confuse and sometimes appease the ghostly dead.

During this Halloween season be safe and have fun.

• Share your Halloween thoughts and stories on our forums.

Contest winners will be notified via email on Monday April 28th with instructions on how to get a hold of their copy of the game.

For more information on AoC, check out Age of Conan WarCry and check back regularly for updates on the beta and upcoming launch of Age of Conan.

When: 04/09/2008 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific (Wednesday)

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The following Flying Lab developers will be on hand.

• Russell Williams (FLS CEO)
• Kevin Maginn (Lead Game Designer)
• Joe Ludwig (Producer)
• David Hunt (Game Designer)
• Drew Clowery (Game Designer)
• Troy Hewitt (Director of Community Relations)
• Tom Atkinson-Edwards (Community Specialist)

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client , Chatspike’s IRC Client or an mIRC Client.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Your details:

When: 04/09/2008 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific (Wednesday)

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The following Flying Lab developers will be on hand.

• Russell Williams (FLS CEO)
• Kevin Maginn (Lead Game Designer)
• Joe Ludwig (Producer)
• David Hunt (Game Designer)
• Drew Clowery (Game Designer)
• Troy Hewitt (Director of Community Relations)
• Tom Atkinson-Edwards (Community Specialist)

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client , Chatspike’s IRC Client or an mIRC Client.

We look forward to seeing you there!

When: 03/20/2008 8pm EST

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The following Flying Lab developers will be on hand.

• Russell Williams (FLS CEO)
• Kevin Maginn (Lead Game Designer)
• Joe Ludwig (Producer)
• David Hunt (Game Designer)
• Drew Clowery (Game Designer)
• Troy Hewitt (Director of Community Relations)
• Tom Atkinson-Edwards (Community Specialist)

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client or Chatspike’s IRC Client.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Click below to enter.

When: 01/30/2008 8pm EST

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The developers of Warhammer Online

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client or Chatspike’s IRC Client

We look forward to seeing you there!

When: 01/23/2008 8pm EST

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The following Turbine developers will be on hand.

• Jeffrey Steefel (Executive Producer)
• Brent Schmidt (Content Lead)
• More to be announced…

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client or Chatspike’s IRC Client

We look forward to seeing you there!

Chat log now available, click on to see what juicy questions were answered.

When: 01/23/2008 8pm EST

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The following Turbine developers will be on hand.

• Jeffrey Steefel (Executive Producer)
• Brent Schmidt (Content Lead)
• More to be announced…

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client or Chatspike’s IRC Client

We look forward to seeing you there!

There are three tiers of Tales of Pirates prize packs: Five people will receive a “Chest of Enigma” valued at each, 10 people a “Chest of Demonic World” valued at each and 100 people a “Novice Package”, valued at each. From Myth War we have five “Constellation Packs”, which are valued at 0 each. Finally, from Voyage Century there is are 10 limited edition “Christmas Packs” valued at each. Winners can redeem any of these prizes in-game.

Click below to enter.

When: 12/19/2007 8pm EST

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #vanguard
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The following SOE developers will be on hand.

• Thom “Phathom” Terrazas (Producer)
• Nick “Glip” Parkinson (Associate Producer)
• Salim “Silius” Grant (Lead Designer)
• Sharon “Moonlight” Morris (Senior Customer Service Manager)
• Ryan Elam (Director of Technology)
• Julie “Ellyra” Burness (Community Rep)

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client

We look forward to seeing you there!

Come join us for a dev chat this Wednesday, December 12 2007 at 8pm EST.

When: 12/12/2007 8pm EST
Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #ddo
General chat will be available in #warcry

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client or the Chatspike Java Client

So bring you questions on the new level cap, module 6, and the extra tough ones on new quests.

We look forward to seeing you there.

See you there!

For more information on PotBS, check out Pirates of the Burning Sea WarCry and check back regularly for our reoccurring Q&As every other Monday and our weekly screenshots on Thursdays.

Click below to claim a key.

Click here for the survey.

This contest is the chance for those of you who have been on the fence to get a copy of the recently released expansion. Simply enter your details and you could win one of 20 copies.

Click below to enter!

For more information on Tabula Rasa, please visit Tabula Rasa WarCry.

Click below to enter.

Here on WarCry, we offer you the chance to win one of 20 box copies, to be distributed after the game launches.

Interested? Click below to enter for free.

The strength of WAR is its license. The less than serious and popular Warhammer fantasy IP provides an original twist on the typical fantasy setting and permeates every aspect of the game.

This contest provides a lucky ten winners with Beta keys that after entered into your Warhammer Online Beta Center account grant guaranteed access to the Beta in the near future.

Click below to enter. It’s free!

When: Monday, August 27, 2007 at 6pm PST/7pm MST/8pm CST/9pm EST and GMT -8

Where: irc.warcry.com::6667 (irc.chatspike.net::6667) #nwn2

Don’t have an IRC client? No problem! You can use our Java client.

So connect early and chat with others about NWN2, then chat with the Obsidian Entertainment developers. Thanks to Obsidian Entertainment and Shane DeFreest for their commitment to the community.

Sign up here!

For more information on Fury, you can visit Fury on WarCry or their official website.

For more information on Tabula Rasa, please visit Tabula Rasa on WarCry. You can enter to win a key at the link below.

Winners of this contest receive full access VIP Beta Keys to the ongoing Fury Closed Beta. While many players will get to enjoy Fury on their upcoming Beta Weekends, winners not only enjoy the weekends, but can also play Monday to Friday so they can collect new skills and master their characters in advance of the big events each weekend.

As an added bonus, during the weekday testing, players will be able to fight with and against each other, other VIP testers and even the Auran development team.

NOTE: These VIP Beta Keys are only restricted by server maintenance and will be unable to log in while servers are down for upgrades, but that goes for any/all beta accounts including the developers themselves.

Korath Kag’et laughed…not a pleasant sound. “Stories? So where did the name ‘Tou-Te-Ghan’ come from in your stories? Why do they tell such stories in Aquilonia and in Stygia?”

Haros looked at Aema. “What stories? I have heard no such stories.” Then to Korath Kag’et “Speak, Stygian!” The Aquilonian put his hand on his sword hilt.

Korath Kag’et shook his head in annoyance. “Do not forget who protects you even now, fool! If you would know, then ask your little priestess to tell you a story to frighten children!”

The Stygian rose with his walking staff. In the blink of an eye, the staff had whirled around into the ready position of an experienced staff fighter. Korath Kag’et advanced on the Shemites, a wicked smile twisted his lips. “Come and die, children!”

A fourth Pict emerged from the woods to Glarg’s rear. Curran spotted the movement of the bushes a split second before the attacker rushed forth. Curran’s legs sprang into action and with a diving leap he embedded his axe into the Pict’s face.

Content Additions

Following on from the revamps to the Black Castle, Pyramid of the Ancients and the Tomb next to receive a little bit of an overhaul is the Catacombs. In this update you will find a host of new quests and encounters to challenge you in this group instance. Head to the Tarantia Noble district to explore the depths of the Catacombs!

New Voiceover

One of the more frequent feedback topics from players has been that they would like to hear more voice acting outside of the destiny quest lines. Well, we have listened and this update sees the start of that process! There are now many more voice acted quest dialogs throughout the game.
New patch notes are out, still no pvp xp.

Class Changes

All twelve classes and three of the four archetypes will see some adjustments and changes. For the most part we had a closer look at some of the spells and abilities also taking into account feedback from players which we gathered on the forums as well as in-game petitions and suggestions. There are almost 25 changes for the Conqueror alone and also every other class had some spells and abilities adjusted. Balancing and adjusting classes is of course an ongoing process so you can expect more such changes in future updates.

Massive PvP Updates

This update sees some continued updates to Massive PvP. Siege weapons such as ballistas and catapults have gotten tweaked so they should now be easier to use and the damage mammoths and rhinos do to buildings has been increased. Combined with a number of changes to the rules to improve the way sieges are happening, we are working through the great feedback received since launch to help ensure that the siege gameplay improves further with each update.

Quest and NPC Updates

A number of different quests in various playfields have been reviewed and changed where needed. Atzel’s Approach or Kheshatta for high level players and Khopshef Province for lower levels have been focused on but there are also other quests in other playfields that have been adjusted. The following list shows some of the ones that have been changed in one way or another:

• Atzel’s Fortress: Kidnapping & Torture - Any leftover Flasks of Oily Pitch will be removed when you complete this quest.
• Atzel’s Approach: Revenge of the Ape God - This is now a group quest.
• Atzel’s Approach: Power Behind the Throne - Item “Orders with the Mark of Set” no longer tells the player to right click on it to get a quest.
• Kheshatta: The Grim Grey God - You will now reset to the location where you zoned in if you log out in the instance.
• Kheshatta: The Grim Grey God - Sarcophagi and pedestals will have a progress bar when they’re being used..
• Kheshatta: Heady Kaphil Liquor - The flowers to be collected now have visual effects to help identify them.
• Kheshatta: Hunting the Waste - Weapons for this quest will now have a visual effect.
• Kheshatta: Wanted, The Blasphemer - Ashka should now spawn correctly.
• Khopshef Province: The Slave Rebellion - The cage key will now drop correctly.
• Khopshef Province: Blessed Caves - Anata’s Key should no longer remain in the player’s quest inventory.
• Khopshef Province: Trapped by Lions - We have added a few new, interesting encounters. In addition, Lisimba now moves a bit quicker. The quest is now level 21 to reflect the surrounding mobs.

At the same time, the behavior of some NPCs and mobs have also been tweaked so they now use their proper weapons skills and abilities and also walk their patrols the way they are supposed to. Some are now also harder to defeat which will hopefully offer players a new challenge.

The update also features changes on other topics like GUI, Combat, Mounts, Guilds, Tradeskills and more. For the full list of updates please check out this link.

We hope you enjoy the update and your stay in Hyboria.

Player Character

• Dead team members will now get quest kill credit if they are within range.
• You now only prohibited from entering stealth mode if team members are in combat nearby.
• All your team members and their pets will now get the fatality buff when a team member performs a fatality.
• The mentor and apprentice will see an onscreen message regarding confirmation or declining of pending apprenticeship requests.
• Mesh effects during spellweaving should no longer rotate with the character.
• Shield of the Risen will only display particle effects on hidden players if they are on your team.
• Animations for the ‘grin’, ‘laugh’ and ‘laughheartily’ emotes have been tweaked for both male and female characters.
• Emote ’squirm_on_ground’ has been renamed to ‘lounge’, to better fit the animation.

Classes

Assassin

• The following abilities now have new effects: Cat’s Paw, Opportunistic Strike, Kidney Shots, Avatar of Death, Lotus Overdose, Necrotic Leech, Corrupting Strikes, and Lunge.

Barbarian

• Feats “Eyes of Madness”, “Rampaging Horde”, “Welcoming Death”, and “Too Many To Count” now have visuals associated with them.

Demonologist

• Earth Recharge ability will have a better visual indicator of activation.
• Let Them Burn should now have the correct cooldown.
• Let Them Burn will now properly increase in damage the longer it is channeled.
• Shockblast (Rank 1) and Inferno of Amher (Rank 1) will now scale correctly when compared to Rank 2. The additional splash damage of Shockblast now scales correctly, as it dealt more damage than intended previously.

Necromancer

• Frostblast now has a visual cone of frost.
• Ice Shackle spell is now less invasive and more optimized.
• The tooltip for Malefic Chant now shows up as intended.
• Night of the Harvester should now correctly increase the effect of the Harvester mana/stamina heal by 15/30%.
• To offset the change to Void causing the pet no longer to be rooted, the drain effect of Void has been reduced and now scales more consistently based on level.
• Spell “Siphon Unlife” now has visuals and sound.
• The casting time of Set’s Ruin, Set’s Cold Hatred, and Blasphemy have been reduced from 4 seconds to 2 seconds.
• Parasitic Soul Swarm is now less invasive and should take up less screenspace.

Priest of Mitra

• The Spellweaving animation has been tweaked.

Ranger

• The ranger’s tracking list can now be sorted by distance.
• Dead NPCs and players will now longer appear when using the tracking ability.

Tempest of Set

• Set’s Life Spark should now trigger a resurrection prompt instantly after dying.
• Puppets of Set should now draw the attention of nearby NPCs if you attempt to cast it on a group of NPCs.

Combat

• Combos and all other actions will be aborted when you start to charge.
• The combo chain will now be stopped when you begin a charge.
• You can no longer start combos in the middle of a charge.
• Dismembering fatalities should now show appropriate visual effects.
• You can now abort multihit combos without all the damage being rolled back.
• Aborting multihit combos will not make the target’s health become desynced from the client/server anymore.
• Fizzle and immunity rolls have been moved to the end of your spellcast. If your target becomes immune after you start your spellcast but before it deals damage, your target will resist the spell.
• Stealth is checked again at the end of your spellcast. If your target hides before you land the spell, your spellcast will fail.
• The distance to your target while casting a spell is checked again at the end of your spellcast, with a 25% bonus to your range.
• If your target is behind an obstacle when you’ve finished casting your spell, the spell will fail
• Combo finishers (the last attack in the combo chain) now have 25% extra range, making them easier to land in PvP.
• Mobs will keep you in combat from further away now.
• Aborting unarmed attacks (using a knockback, for example) will now properly cause the damage not to be dealt.
• Clickable abilities with instant effects will not be queued after your attack anymore, but executed right away.
• You cannot use abilities while jumping or falling anymore.
• Dying while knockbacking NPCs will not cause the npc to become stuck in combat mode anymore.
• Attack animation speed should be more balanced between genders (note: this does not yet include the combo animations).
• Combat music has been tweaked so that tension music will be area specific, rather than ra