With Update 1.0.5 well into testing on the test server, the official 1.0.4b update is to be implemented tomorrow!

1.0.5 is cooking away on the Public Test Server! In the meantime we had a few changes we wanted to patch to all live servers to continue improving your game experience.

Tomorrow morning (11/11/08), starting at 7AM EST all North American servers will be brought offline to begin updating to 1.0.4b. Oceanic servers will follow at 9AM EST and we anticipate all servers to be back online by 1PM EDT.

Click "More..." below to view the 1.0.4b update notes. We've also included a copy in our forums.

Another round of Hot Fixes today!  Categories include: General Changes, Combat and Careers.

General Changes

Additional Renown merchants have been added to the cities. They can be found in the Altdorf Marketplace and near the Apex in the Inevitable City. These are the same merchants that were previously only available in the guild taverns.

Combat and Careers

Melee Archetype Realm vs. Realm Abilities

Faultfinder: This ability will now properly work only against keep doors.

The Child's Play 2008 charity drive has officially launched, and the Web site has been updated so you can donate toys and games to children in hospitals worldwide. The charity was organized in 2003 by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade.

We ended our 2007 drive with over 1.3 million dollars in donations, thanks to gamers all over the globe. We’re welcoming ten new hospitals in Canada and the US to the Child’s Play network, so please have a look at the map to see if your local children’s hospital has come on board. Every hospital has a wish list full of gifts, and is hoping for your support.

We hope you'll visit the Child's Play site and consider purchasing some gifts. All you have to do is click on a hospital on the map and you'll be sent to the hospital's wish list on Amazon.com. It's that simple. For more information, check out Mike's recent post on the Penny Arcade site. The "thank you" letter they received from a hospital in Connecticut says it all. The full post is also below.

In an effort to help you review important game changes, we've include a complete list of the Patches, Game Updates, Hot Fixes, and other updates right here in our wiki.

As this list grows we will be consolidating it into a "review" format to make it super easy for you to understand what has been updated over the course of the game's development.

In addition to the wiki, we've updated the database to include many more mouse-over information events.  Peruse the database and let us know what you think of the ease of searching for what you need!

As per our previous news, the action has begun on the freshly delivered Public Test Server ! Now you can strategize and deliver defeat to the enemy before making it permanent on your own server.  Waaagh!

The Public Test for Game Update 1.0.5 has begun! We look forward to reading your feedback and bug reports and improving the game even more with your help!

As a reminder the Public Test Server is subject to unannounced downtimes, bugs, and issues you may not find on the Live Servers. The notes are not final and all the fixes and features may be changed, altered, or removed.

Check out the Game Update 1.0.5 notes and test server character transfer instructions here !

In this Grab Bag the team discusses group influence, female career options, Tier 4 zone locking system, zone control, the Heavy Metal event, and more:

Q. I noticed that I don’t receive influence when my group leader is not in the same zone as the Public Quest I am doing. Is this the way it should be?

A. Yes. Currently, in order to receive influence for Public Quests, your group leader needs to be in the same zone as you. This means if you’re in Nordland, your group leader must also be in Nordland in order for you to properly receive influence.  Based on player feedback, we’re working to improve these mechanics soon!

Click "More..." below to view the Q&A, including the extensive feature, Zone Control 101.  We've included everything in our forum as well.

Another round of Hot Fixes today!  Categories include: Content and Quests & Public Quests

It's been quite the week here in the studios. With the announcement of the Public Test Server and the release of the 1.0.5 game update notes, we've certainly been hopping, but we've still got plenty of hot fixes coming your way! Here's today's list of hot fixes.

To view the list of Hot Fixes, click "More..." below.  We've also included the list in our forums.

With the public test server coming online soon, WAR Herald has posted some useful information on how to prepare to log into the server with your existing characters, as well as the test server 1.0.5 update notes!:

The purpose of the Public Test Server (PTS) is for the players to help us refine and test the latest version of the game by experiencing the changes firsthand and providing feedback and bug reports to Mythic. As such, we want to remind you that the content introduced to this server is still considered “in development,” and that bugs and issues not found on the LIVE server may occur on the PTS.  All features and fixes listed below are subject to change until we release Game Update 1.0.5 to all live servers.

Click "More..." below to view the rest of the server preparation notes.  We've included these instructions and the complete 1.0.5 update list in our forums.

iGames is all about developing and promoting community game centers around the world.  With the introduction of Warhammer Online, they have included the game in their support services.  Today they've announced ten upcoming local events for WAR:

The LAN parties will be held throughout the month of November at iGames member LAN centers across the country. Each LAN party will include fun, organized activities for WAR including leveling contests, scenario play, keep raids, dungeon runs, and more. Free food, drinks, and limited-edition Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning t-shirts will also be made available and over $17,000 worth of total giveaways will be provided!

Click "More..." below to view the participating LAN centers!

Mark Jacobs posted a huge list of upcoming updates for WAR through the 1.05 Patch.  With the final update being over 17 pages long, get started here!:

Okay, here’s the first part of the 1.05 patch from us. The 1.05 patch is the anxiously awaited “Combat and Careers” patch. As I mentioned already, it is over 17 pages long and still growing and it includes, among other things, adjustments to every career in the game. Some careers got a special shot of extra-loving goodness and some careers also got some tough love as well as some goodness as well. We hope to post the full patch notes tomorrow morning but as we continue to conduct a final review of all the preliminary changes and the notes themselves, it might be held up a bit longer, but I certainly hope not. It is, by far, the largest WAR patch yet and is by its very nature, full of far-reaching and sweeping changes. Here are some of the highlights of the patch.

Click "More..." below to view the preview list. We've include 1.05 Patch Preview information in our forums.