So after the death and failed resurrection of my PS3, I used most of my weekend play time in Warhammer Online. With the 1.4 patch, and a chance to try out a new spec on my Marauder, I had a lot of changes to get used to.

I’ll save my Marauder talk for another post, I originally started off with that on this article, but quickly got off on a tangent that should just be contained elsewhere. I really just want to use this as a means to convey my thoughts on the 1.4 open RvR changes as that was, and still is, my main focus when playing WAR. When I log on, the first thing I do is see where people are fighting. I’m not in a large guild that does events or…really…anything, so it’s not like there’s something else going on that I can get involved in without a large time investment. It’s ORVR or bust!

Before 1.4, T4 open RvR was probably up there (or down there) on my list of least favorite things to do in the game. On some rare occasions, I would find some small fights during off hours, or be able to get in on a keep siege. Keep sieges in particular could be fun at times, but they were very “mechanical.” You pretty much knew what to expect going into it. But I don’t want to completely poo-poo T4. I do like city sieges. Sure, I still have far fetched dreams of being able to simply walk an army into Altdorf naturally and destroy every merchant and guard I see, but I understand the technical limitations of doing such a thing. I personally think that Mythic has done a great job of giving us a siege mechanic that is functional and which gives a feeling of accomplishment when completed successfully.

But back to the open RvR aspect, and the changes we’ve been given with the new patch.

Short answer: So far, I’m in love.

Long answer: Soooooo faaaarrr, IIIIII’mmmmm iiiiiinnnn loooovveeee.

But seriously, the new mechanics added have been fantastic. In the first few days, not once did I see any zerg near the size of the ones I did pre-1.4. Instead I see broken up groups going after different objectives, people always on the move, seldom waiting at a Battlefield Objective for a renown tick (because it no longer exists). I see people in the realm war chat using it to strategize. It’s almost like we’ve gone from a pee-wee soccer league where all the kids from both teams move around the field in a huddle, sometimes not even knowing which goal is theirs, to the Premiere League (or Bundesliga for our German friends) where everyone is trying to get into positions and both sides are trying to move from one end to another.

The most impressive thing to me, and it literally had me giggling with excitement on Friday night, was the way fights happen now. In Chaos Wastes particularly that night there were a good handful of times where opposing groups would clash, and then more people from one faction would pour in, and then seconds later, the other faction would flank the attack. It wasn’t like it was even planned, but it was magical. It’s been that feeling of uncertainty and excitement that I’ve been wanting in WAR for a long time.

Now, I’ve only had the chance to partake in a couple keep sieges so far, and they were a total mess. This is mostly due to people still not being acclimated to the new mechanics. I even saw a couple people try to attack the keep doors and say, “why can’t I attack the door?” So, I’ll withhold any judgment I have towards this aspect of the realm war until it to go smoother. I think (and hope) with the changes though, it could lead to more strategy being involved.

Overall, I’ve been excited to get online every night. It about killed me Sunday night when my wife wanted to watch a movie and I didn’t get to play. But I love her anyways (hey, she let me replace my PS3).