As mentioned earlier, Scenarios have been given an important performance increase. The devs have more on the tweaks for Scenarios:

It's been an exciting few days here at the Studio as we rolled out 1.01 and added many new hotfixes in addition to the update.

One of our primary focuses with 1.01 was to improve performance in Scenarios. Thanks to your feedback it looks like we hit our mark and Scenarios are now running smoother than ever, especially on high population servers.

Your performance in game is still our top priority and we'll continue to listen to your feedback and address your concerns until as many people as possible can enjoy the glory of WAR.

Click here for an thread in our forums discussing Scenario performance.

Our second guide is for the Ekrund starting area . We've made adjustments to the Nordland guide as well.  You will notice we're starting with the Order areas. As soon as the third Order starter guide is released we'll get those Destruction guides to you!

If you have any input into the guide we would love to hear your suggestions on how we can fill out the series more!

Have you had questions concerning shield blocking after the 1.96a patch notes? Then check out tonight's Grab Bag , where it is a topic of some discussion, along with: art work for bounty point cloaks, runed demon seal fragments, the quest 'Grave Honor' lvl, a bashful Dob among other things. Read on to learn more:

Q. I remember in the past, the Midwinter Medal of Honor quest was available below Level 50. The new quest is a Level 50 only quest so I can't make temps for Cathal Valley that included this necklace. Is there any chance the level of the quest will be lowered and, if not, when can I hope to see another chance to get this necklace below level 50?

A. Smiling joyfully the Lady of the Jewels has some great news for you: The quest 'Grave Honor' can now be completed at Level 49. This was changed during this past week in a hot fix. Enjoy!

Q. In a recent Grab Bag it was stated that the change to shield block rates in the 1.96a Pendragon Patch Notes "only affects the RvR block cap". Does this change affect block caps on the PvP ruleset and when dueling realm-mates?

A. The Equalizer while gazing up at the ceiling was ready to clarify this: RvR, or Realm versus Realm, is the term that we use to refer to any combat between two players, rather than combat between a player and a monster. As such, this change to the blocking cap affects all combat between two players, including duels and combat on Mordred.

Today we're releasing the first of a series of guides for those adventuring in the starter areas of the game. 

Our first guide is for the Nordland starting area. Some of the features of this guide and those to follow are:

* Ordered list of public quests
* Ordered list of battlefield objectives
* Landmark locations and descriptions
* Advancement path recommendations

Click here to access the guide.  If you have any input into the guide we would love to hear your suggestions on how we can fill out the series more!

There's a frightening trend taking place in the MMO industry. One fueled by marketing teams and retailers who don't understand the industry, the customers, or the experience that those of us who play these games are looking for. You see, I remember back in the day, when pre-ordering a game meant that when it shipped, you were sure to get a box. That's all it meant.

Everyone in the pipeline was aware of the expectations (launch day, box in hand!) and for the most part, minus shipping issues - it worked for pretty much everyone involved. But then folks had to go and try to get fancy. So far, no one has delivered a flawless, or even partially flawed, experience. Every MMO pre-order experience has been fraught with issues that should have been avoided but instead tortured players with out of reach goodies and poor customer service. Early access, in game items and titles, and beta access are all used as ploys to sell as many boxes as possible, often before the boxes are printed and ready for public consumption.

Test Version 1.96a Release Notes are up and running on the Pendragon server:

CLASS CHANGES AND FIXES

Shield Changes
- Shield Block Cap has been lowered to 60%.

Enchanters

- An AOE Damage and Debuff spell has been added to the Bedazzling Specialization line.

Level 9 - "Field of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 20s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 25 Damage (Heat) / 10% Heat Resist Debuff - 7 power
Level 19 - "Array of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 20s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 53 Damage (Heat) / 10% Heat Resist Debuff - 15 power
Level 30 - "Sea of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 25s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 85 Damage (Heat) / 15% Heat Resist Debuff - 24 power
Level 40 - "Sky of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 25s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 113 Damage (Heat) / 15% Heat Resist Debuff - 32 power
Level 50 - "Galaxy of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 30s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 141 Damage (Heat) / 15% Heat Resist Debuff - 40 power

As published by shacknews , there are many developers who have put their time, heart, and soul into the development of the games that they are working on who are left unmentioned, unaccredited.  Sometimes you hear news of massive layoffs just prior to the release of a game, wheras others - you just don't hear anything.

There is one such individual who would like to discuss their personal accountings of this growing trend.

This individual is a former employee of EA's Mythic - Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning development team, and wishes to remain annonymous, but would like to speak out about the increasing issue that is happening with not only the company that he worked for, but within many companies in the industry.

Tune into Online Gaming Radio for a very unique show.

What? Design & Conquer
When? Thursdays, 5pm - 7pm Pacific
Who? Hosts Guntar & Sheyla
How? Tune In