The Unofficial 2.02 Patch

I just want to share a few quick thoughts about the unofficial 2.02. First of all, it should be clear to everyone that Electronic Arts no longer cares about this game (if it ever did?) since Rise of the Witch-King cannot offer any more money, at this point, even if they release free patches for it. In that light, an attempt by fans to make an unofficial patch is applauded, but for me, terribly late.

To be more specific, I was reading through the mod‘s changelist (an unofficial patch is basically a mod, even if it is advertised as a patch) and it is fixing the Lindon Horse Archer trample bug. Wow. That has been around since Rise of the Witch-King was released, more than a good year ago. And personally, I had forgotten about it… Because I corrected this in this mod, and I did so many months ago.

Of course I did not only correct that one bug. I fixed the attackspeed of many slow units, increased the hero revival times, improved siege warfare, decreased the cost of banner carrier upgrades, added regeneration to several monsters… Do you see a pattern here? These are all things that this “2.02 patch” mod accomplishes. If you have been playing the “Realms of the Elf-Lords” mod in the last months, you do not even care about most of these things by now, because the game is already awesome for you. In the end, the “2.02” mod takes a good, solid step towards balance; but it also proves what I stated long ago, that “Realms of the Elf-Lords” does create a balancing experience, and is not only about staying true to the books and movies – which is also what distinguishes it among all the mods out there.

So, the 2.02 mod is definitely commendable work, but too late, people… Those that do care about balance have either stopped playing, or switched to a mod like the one that this site is dedicated to. To the few that do worry about balance and will try the 2.02 mod: Congratulations are in order, you win the “I am Patient” awards. Also congratulations to the people in Clanwars that endorse that mod and support it.

~ by Julian Gellert on January 18, 2008.