Game Update 0.16

Game Update 0.16
Released	21 March 2012
Highlights
Achievements Beta Rewards
Related Links
Official patch notes
Update Chronology
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Game Update 0.15	Game Update 0.17

The Game Update 0.16 has been playable non-stop since 21 March 2012, 4pm ET (8pm GMT) to 27 March 2012, 10am ET (2pm GMT).

Gameplay

Achievements

In addition to scenario specific achievements that must be done during the scenario, we are introducing a new Achievement system with tasks that can be done over the course of your play sessions. The following notes describe this new system in detail:

• All players will now have three ongoing achievements that can be accomplished over time.
• The current list of Achievements can be found in the Lobby on the Profile. This list will show what is required for each achievement as well as the current progress towards completing that achievement.
• In the lobby list, a button to remove is included on each Achievement. Doing so will clear the achievement and a new Achievement will be given in 24 hours. This gives the player the opportunity to get new Achievements at the cost of waiting for the opportunity.
• The current list of Achievements is also shown in the post-game spinner window. It is listed here as players can redeem completed Achievements on the Spinner window.
• Any completed Achievement will show Redeem under them. Choosing the Redeem option will allow the player to turn in the completed Achievement for an additional reel on any Scenario’s Spinner.
• Redeeming your completed Achievement will grant one additional reel if there are additional reels available.
• Once a completed Achievement is redeemed a new Achievement is assigned from the available pool.

Beta Rewards

As a thank you to our loyal Beta players, we plan to offer rewards and recognition to players based on their level of participation. So don’t feel bad that we’ve wiped you guys a few times.

For this Beta, we have rewarded our Beta accounts based on their level of participation. Depending on the tier of activity, we have credited the accounts with varying amounts of gold. This way, our Beta testers will be able to afford items on the store right out of the gate!

Although we hope to not need to do it again, if for some reason we need to wipe again, we will ensure this reward is maintained so that Beta testers will have Gold right from the start when we go into Open Beta.

Rewards

Based on feedback and metrics, we are adjusting our Experience per Scenario. It was previously accelerated for testing purposes and at this point we are changing it back to its intended rate of accrual.

• As noted above, Beta Scenarios will no longer award hugely inflated amounts of Experience.
• Scenario Reward Wheels have been modified to always give a reward. This means that spins will never produce a Coal result.
• Chests will now contain only Masteries (Tactics, Perks, or Alternate Abilities) as a potential reward. Winning a chest will no longer result in merely gaining gold.
• Due to the changes above, the rewards for each Spinner wheel have been adjusted.
• The sixth reel on the Spinner has been enabled and can now be unlocked if enough tasks have been met or Achievements are redeemed.

Heroes

Free Heroes Rotation

The following Heroes are considered free and available to all players during this Beta session:

• Aessa the White Lion
• Ilanya the Sorceress
• Volrik the Marauder

Removed Heroes

The following Heroes have been removed from this Beta session:

• Conrad the Warrior Priest
• Durrig the Engineer
• Gromki the Runepriest
• Korith the Shadow Warrior
• Zathis the Assassin

The removed Heroes were based on feedback and metrics from our previous Beta sessions as well as a competition on Facebook.

General

• Players can now sell their last copy of a particular Mastery.
• The proper character portrait will be shown to the victim if the player that killed them was in a temporary form. If killed by a Rat Orge, granted by the Terrible Transformation Perk, the killed player will see the base Hero portrait of the killing player versus a blank portrait.
• Jumping will no longer incorrectly stop a casting bar.

Scenarios

Arena

• This scenario’s sixth Scenario Achievement has been modified. It now requires 20+ Kills to unlock.

Black Fire Pass

• This scenario’s fifth Scenario Achievement has been modified. It now requires 3+ Captures to unlock.
• This scenario’s sixth Scenario Achievement has been modified. It now requires 20+ Assists to unlock

User Interface

Similar to the makeover of the Lobby in the previous Beta, the in-game UI has had some artistic love given to it. In addition to new graphical elements, there have been changes to the layout. Details follow:

• The mini-map has been moved to the bottom right of the screen and defaults to a smaller size.
• The mini-map can now be resized in its new location by dragging the top left corner in or out.
• The Scenario timer and points has been relocated to the top right of the screen.
• The frame for group members has been changed. The layout of the health bar, portrait, and name have changed.
• The hotbar section of the interface has been expanded and graphically enhanced.
• Self and Target information has been moved into the hotbar section of the UI in the bottom center of the screen.
  • A player’s self portrait, health, and buffs will now show on the left side of the hotbar section.
  • The target portrait, name, and health are displayed on the right side of the hotabr section.
• Information for self, target, and group members are color coded by team color.
• Notifications for objective changes in a scenario have been moved to join the combat messages under the scenario point section in the top right. These messages are now color coded by the team color that originated the message.
• Chat has been moved slightly and docked to the bottom left of the screen.
• If a character has perks slotted, they will show up in the center top of the hotbar section of the screen. They will populate from left to right in the UI regardless of which slot they are placed in the Hero loadout.

Store

• The prices of the Heroes and Skins in Gold have been adjusted. In addition purchasing of items in Gems has been enabled where appropriate.
• Gems are a form of paid fictional currency that can be purchased via the Store.
• If you do not have enough Gems to pay for an item, just click the ‘buy more’ button that shows up and you will be directed to the available options to purchase Gems.
• There are a number of offers available to purchase Gems at various prices. The higher priced bundles provide a greater number of Gems for the price giving you additional value.
• As noted in the Beta Rewards section, we do not intend to wipe again, however should the need arise, any purchased Gems will remain intact. This may mean that any spent gems are refunded if owned items are wiped, but you will have the access to re-spend those gems if this is needed, meaning nothing will be lost if that becomes a necessity.
• In addition to our previous methods of feedback, we have enabled the following website to assist in any issues that arise with the use of the store or specifically with Gem purchase or spending. If you can’t find an article to assist you, there is a form for appealing that can be utilized and goes to our customer support. You will be required to login with the same account information as the game to submit a ticket.
• In addition to Heroes and Skins, a new category called Items has been added to the store. This section will allow access to XP and Gold Boosts as well as Wood Chests.
• XP or Gold Boosts last for 24 hours when purchased. Buying additional copies of a particular Boost will add 24 hours to the current remaining time, if any. Boosts are based on real time, not game time.
• Wood Chests are available on the Store and operate similarly to chests won in the Spinner after a match. To redeem a chest, purchase it on the store and then close the store window. The chest will be immediately redeemed.
• When redeemed, the Wooden Chest will award the player with a random Tactic or Perk. You can have multiple copies of a particular Tactic as universal Tactics can be used on any Hero you own and if you get an extra copy of a Hero specific Tactic, the extra can be sold for Experience.
• At this time, only one chest of any type may be purchased until you have redeemed that chest. Once you redeem a chest, you can purchase another of that type.

Lobby

General

• Tooltip windows have been reskinned to match the new graphic treatment of the lobby.
• The Display Name window has been reskinned to match the new graphic treatment of the lobby.
• Indicators for what Boosts are currently enabled has been added to the upper right of the Lobby information. The two indicators will indicate the current level of XP or Gold accrual boost that has been enabled for the account.
• There are now unique status icons for Mastery Tier levels 1-10 that will display in the profile.

Chat

With this Beta, we are introducing the concept of Chat Rooms. Chat Rooms are population limited chat channels for general discussion. Details are as follows:

• Players will automatically be placed in a Chat Room when they enter the game.
• Chat Rooms are population limited, but this functionality and joining rooms are automatic and mostly transparent to the user, with the exceptions noted below.
• The Chat Rooms are numbered and the number of the current Chat Room is displayed when you enter it.
• Players are able to switch Chat Rooms to join their friends if they desire and their friend has been put in a different Chat Room number. To do so, players can choose the Join Lobby Chat option when right clicking on a friend’s name in their friends list.

Heroes

• The skins page has been updated to allow players to view available skins as a full 3-D render of the hero.
• The Hero Details on the Hero Stats page can now be sorted. This will save while you are in the Lobby, but resets when you leave or enter the game or a match.
• Available Masteries on the loadout page can now be filtered.
• Background concept art has been added to a number of Hero pages.
• Loadout and Tech Tree pages have been updated to better identify that a Hero needs to be owned before you can equip or purchase masteries for that Hero.

Warband

• Warband Leaders can now kick someone from the group, even if the player has not yet accepted the invitation.

Store

• We’ve made some graphical changes to the store and updated the available Heroes and Skins to match the current lineup of Heroes in the game.
• The Store will now display items in both their intended Gold prices as well as their Gem price.