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Friday, 2 Feb, 2007 - Middle Earth Vault News
RotWK Beta Patch! Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - MEV - Community EA Predator has given us some good news on the latest and greatest on the official ROTWK patch 1.01. With the patch in full motion it looks as if EA Predator is going to try to get a BETA patch out to the community, while EA Predator has stated this is not a 100% for sure thing that will happen, but he is hopeful that EA can make it happen.
Something I wanted to let you guys know is that I am working hard on getting approval to release an early Beta Patch 1.01 for ROTWK. No 100% promise yet, but I'm very hopeful we can make this happen sooner than later while you guys wait for the final patch.
The main goal of the beta patch would be to get you guys playing on it early, only take extreme critical feedback, but by and large get it in your hands early while we go through our normal QA and approval process.
That is the latest, I'll know more in a few days about that. We're close to having a build of the patch ready for approval/QA testing - which is just the typical standard process i've explained many times that anything and everything we do must go through :-)
Overall it sounds promising and offers us a chance to give EA vital feedback needed before the full patch is released.
ROTWK Unit Update Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - MEV - Community For those of you following EA's Battle for Middle Earth 2: Rise of the Witch-King, I have good news. I have added all the new units within the expansion to our official ROTWK Unit section. The Unit Section breaks down each unit by faction and lists its abilities, health, cost, CP cost, upgrade options and a brief description of the unit with an in game screenshot. To check out the complete section head on over here.
ROTWK & The Semi Missing 8th Faction "Arnor" Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - Community - MEV A few days ago our faithful community manager gave a statement on the real facts why the faction Arnor didn't make it into our beloved ROTWK. The facts are pretty straight forward, but in all EA Predator agrees with us as a community and did want the full faction in the game as well. Here is what EA Predator had to say:
We knew full well that Arnor was in the INI code but when we did research on this game and asked you the fans what you wanted, by and large most people wanted to balance out the other factions with new units, and by and large people wanted a new faction added. We did both.
Rise of the Witch-king is based almost entirely off fan feedback on BFME2.
Right now there are 7, yes 7 factions in the game! That is an INSANELY high amount for an RTS game and especially one that is incredibly hard to balance. Just think that BFME1 start with 4 factions, BFME2 then added three more (even with the combining of Gondor and Rohan), and now Rise of the Witch-king adds another.
Aside from Age of Empires, you'd be hard pressed to find such an RTS with so many factions that are as distinct and unique as the BFME series with Rise of the Witch-king.
To read EA Predator's full response head on over here.
Screenshots, Maps & Saves Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - Community - MEV We have added a few new files to Middle Earth's Vaults, including a user submitted Screenshot for our weekly SS contest, and a new ROTWK Map from first time poster rgr "who is currently seeking other map ideas to add to his creative list". We also have the save files from the BFME2 campaigns if you missed out on those. So make sure to check these out and submit your own files today.
Who Is Your Favorite Angmar Unit?
Black Numenoreans - 53
Dark Rangers - 159 Dire Wolf - 13
Gundabad Warriors - 10
Hill Trolls - 17
Hwaldar - 7
Karsh - 60
Morgomir - 19
Rhudaur Axe Throwers - 12
Rhudaur Spearman - 5
Rogash - 78
Snow Troll - 56
Sorcerer - 37
The Witch-King - 133 Thrall Master - 26
Troll Stone Thrower - 23
Wolf Riders - 9
Total Votes: 717
I never would have guessed that the Dark Rangers would of have taken this poll. The Witch-King was the one unit I figured would be the #1 along with Rogash. But overall it is good to see the community like at least most if not all of the Angmar units.
Community Submissions Print News | Mail News | Category: Community - MEV As a community we have tons of mods, maps, replays, screenshots, saves etc… submitted daily to MEV. But daily I find 80% of these submissions missing a description or the files needed to complete the entry. If you would like to submit files to MEV but are having troubles, make sure to ask how to submit the files so we can help you. The community loves new content, and we love accepting community made content. So instead of submissions without the proper files feel free to E-mail me here for a bit of extra help so we can get that new content posted.
Also if you have made a submission in the last 2 months and have not seen it on our front page, it is because you have not responded to the Admin notes. Make sure to check your submissions and fix or complete your entry so it can be posted on our homepage. I look forward to posting about new maps, mods, replays etc… so make sure to keep them coming.
MEV ROTWK Strat Contest "Judges Wanted" Print News | Mail News | Category: Community - MEV - BFME2 Exp. With BFME2 ROTWK being on the market for over 2 1/2 months strategies have taken shape for all the factions. So with that, Middle Earth Vault is hosting its first ROTWK Strategy Contest. The goal is to come up with a strategy that will rule them all. Users are limited to 1 strategy per faction and we will DUB 1 winner per faction within this contest. And to make things even better we will have the strat's judged by community members. So before we open the gates to accept strategies, we need to pick 4 community members that know ROTWK pretty well to judge this contest. So to apply to be a judge make sure to read this thread and send me a PM.
Partial ROTWK 1.01 Change List Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - Community - MEV While EA is working on Patch 1.01 for ROTWK, EA Predator has given us something to nibble on. Please note, these are subject to change are NOT FINAL but you can see some of the general direction EA is taking with the 1.01 patch.
- All Forged blades weapons (except for the Lorien Warrior one) now have a +100% damage bonus vs other infantry units and +50% vs heroes
- Height range bonus fixed at 1 for ranged units and heroes and 2 for artillery units; Mountain Giant bonus 2.5
- All structures now take only 1% from pierce damage, across the board
- HeroMiniFoot resistance increased, now 40% slash, 40% pierce (from 60% both). More vulnerable to Structural, taking 80% (from 50%)
- HeroMiniMounted resistance to slash (20% from 60%) and pierce (30% from 60%) increased. More vulnerable to Structural (100% from 50%) and specialist (150% from 100%)
- Hero armor more resistant to pierce (18% from 25%), specialist (15% from 25%), magic (20% from 75%) and poison (40% from 75%); more vulnerable to slash (40% from 25%) and crush damage (50% from 10%)
- Light Hero Armor more resistant to flame (10% from 35%), frost (15% from 45%) and specialist (10% from 35%) damages; more vulnerable to crush (50% from 15%)
- All archers and axe throwers (armored and unarmored) now take 50% more from crush damage, across the board
- Heal power restores up to 50% of health (from 100%), radius 200 (from 100); no longer works on ring heroes, machines or monsters
- Darkness, Freezing Rain (6m from 9m) and cloud Break (7m30s from 8m20s) recharge faster; Rain power now also debuffs the enemy, duration 2m30s (from 3m)
The list is looking like they are going to be adding quite a bit of patch 1.05 to the overall build, but make sure to read the direct Angmar changes and the other information EA Predator provided here.
My Favorite Is... Poll! Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - MEV - Community This week’s poll is to find out who is your favorite Angmar unit "Who Is Your Favorite Angmar Unit?" Make sure to vote on the right under the tall ad. As for last week, the results are:
What Faction Is The Most Over Powered In ROTWK 1.00?
Men of the West - 80
Elves - 98
Dwarves - 207
Mordor - 39
Isengard - 37
Goblins - 38
Angmar - 370
Total Votes: 869
I had a good feeling both Dwarves and Angmar would be at the top of the list. With the evil Axe throwers and the Angmar faction just having everything a bit better, The poll reads the way I though it would. Let see what EA has planned for patch 1.01 and once it is live we will revisit this poll and see what has changed.
1) The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack - Electronic Arts
2) Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe - Microsoft
3) The Sims 2 - Electronic Arts
4) Medieval II: Total War - Sega of America
5) World Of Warcraft - Vivendi
6) Battlefield 2142 - Electronic Arts
7) Microsoft Flight Simulator X - Microsoft
8) Age Of Empires III - Microsoft
9) The Sims 2 Holiday Edition - Electronic Arts
10) Guild Wars Nightfall - NCsoft
11) The Sims Complete Collection - Electronic Arts
12) Company Of Heroes - THQ
13) The Sims 2 Open For Business Expansion Pack - Electronic Arts
14) Age Of Empires III: WarChiefs Expansion Pack - Microsoft
15) Civilization IV - 2K Games
16) Neverwinter Nights 2 - Atari
17) The Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack - Electronic Arts
18) The Lord of the Rings: The Battle For Middle Earth II: Rise Of The Witch-King Expansion Pack - Electronic Arts 19) The Sims 2 Glamour Life Stuff Expansion Pack - Electronic Arts
20) Warcraft III Battle Chest - Vivendi
So people are buying the game so it seems and with patch 1.01 coming I can see a bright future...
The "Hobbit" Issue Again! Print News | Mail News | Category: MEV - Community - LOTR The producer Saul Zaentz who was a financial backer in all of the 3 of the current LOTR films and who originally owned the film adaption rights told “Cinema” magazine this just a few short days ago.
Saul Zaentz said to a production of the film ”The Hobbit”: “It’ll definitely be made by Peter Jackson. Only the date is arguable. He firstly wants to make another film. The rights of the film fall back to my company next year. I suppose that Peter is going to wait this remaining time, because at ours he will get the best deal of the whole branch. He’s bored with the studios, too. He had to fight for his profit participation at the “Lord of Rings” – trilogy in court.”
It seems to be that New Line Cinema wants to push thought the film fast, before they have to abandon the rights and before they are displaced. Whether a good film can be developed under such conditions is doubtful. But there are rumors whereby Sam Raimi, the director of the “Spiderman” – trilogie and “Dead” – line, is the favorite candidate of the film studios.
Once again more hosh-posh of the "Hobbit" and Peter Jackson are turning up. But the true fact still stands, we will find out who is directing it once it is in production or when it hits the theaters.
ROTWK Wins Game of The Month! Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. The February issue of Game Informer has named Rise of the Witch King its PC Game of the Month! One of the magazine's reviewers has given it an 8, while the second has given it an 8.25!
Outside of the dubiously executed narrative portrayal of the Witch-King's rise to power, Rise of the Witch-King is everything you could ever want out of an expansion pack: a cool new faction with unique gameplay mechanics, a lengthy-single player campaign, and tweaks to many areas of the game that streamline the experience. In particular, the enhanced War of the Ring mode is extensive enough to keep you enthralled for months.
This is good news for the Rise of the Witch-King community, showing that the game is widely played and is still popular. A thanks to hdrhq.de for the heads up on this news.
The Lone Wolf Mod Print News | Mail News | Category: B4ME - Community - MEV Community member Erkenbrand The Cut, has been working on a mod titled "The Lone Wolf" for EA's Battle for Middle Earth. While the mod is 75% done, they have released a new site that contains new render's and screenshots of the mod. No date has been set for release, but it is a mod to look forward to. To get more information on the Lone Wolf mod click here.
If you are working on a mod for any of the BFME series games and want people to know about it, make sure to send me info about it. Mods are an important part of a community and we want to make sure it gets played. To send me an e-mail click here.
BFME2 & ROTWK Maps Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - B4ME2 The community is getting creative once again, releasing a few new BFME2 maps along with 1 new ROTWK map. Follow the links below to download and test out these new maps.
First off, my honest sincere apologies on my extended absence from the forums in such a critical time. Between the Holidays and gearing up C&C; 3 community community events in December, my time got completely sucked and was not dedicated enough to the community that needs me the most right now.
So, with that said, the most common comments on the forums i've seen thus far in relation to balance:
-Axe Throwers are ridiculously over-powered
-Archers are over powered and have too great of range
-Heroe Hordes feel useless
- Infantry and Hero units should not be able to attack walls
And the biggest one of all...
Put the Patch 1.05 changes back in.
Here's the deal, Rise of the Witch-king is a very different game than BFME II in terms of factions, new units, and Angmar. We cannot just mirror copy patch 1.05 in to the game, that would break a lot more than do good, trust me
That said, we CAN take the most important changes from 1.05 and balance them in, and the number of changes is not limited, we just can't directly copy changes over. They have to be tested and balanced.
For Patch 1.01, I'd like to take the most critical balance changes from 1.05 and apply them to 1.01 ROTWK.
So, what do you guys think are the most critical BFMEII Patch 1.05 balance changes that should be balanced into ROTWK 1.01?
So to submit your changes you would like seen in patch 1.01, make sure to post them in our already thriving balance thread here.
The Power of Being OP Poll! Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - Community This week’s poll is to find out what faction you think is currently over powered in BFME2: ROTWK "What Faction Is The Most Over Powered In ROTWK 1.0?" Make sure to vote on the right under the tall ad. As for last week, the results are:
Do You Think EA Is Being Fair With Patch 1.01 for ROTWK?
Adding Full 1.05 is Fair! - 210
Adding Top 25 of 1.05 is Fair! - 45
Adding Full 1.05 is Unfair! - 7
Adding Top 25 of 1.05 is Unfair! - 11
Let's Wait & See! - 219
Waiting For The Patch To Buy The Game Still! - 45
Total Votes: 537
I honestly found these results surprising, with all the talk and hate towards ROTWK because it did not ship with the full changes of patch 1.05 from BFME2. The overall vote is let’s wait and see what happens! But we also see a big part of the community that would like the full revision in place. I guess there is only one thing we can do “Let's Wait & See!”
ROTWK Mod Print News | Mail News | Category: BFME2 Exp. - Community Community member robnkarla has built a new mod for EA's BFME2: Rise of the Witch-King titled "RJ - RotWK" This mod is based on the BT2DC that Maddox and his team created for BFME2. From the sounds of it almost all the adjustments have been added to the game plus a bit more to balance out Angmar. To download this exstensive mod head on over here. Also make to to leave you comments and suggestions in the same section once you have givent the "RJ-RotWK" Mod a try.
