Destiny 2: Weekly Reset on 30.01. – Start of the new questline ‘Riven’s Wishes’

Britta ♤ BeAngel Britta ♤ BeAngel Reading time 5 minutes

Season 23 in Destiny 2 is now live in the extension. We have to bridge the time until the next DLC The Final Shape and for that, there is a new questline this week. MeinMMO has all the details for you and tells you what else will be reset.

This is happening this week: In the extension of Season 23, Bungie will first bring the weekly quest “Riven’s Wishes” to its guardians. It challenges you to take on various challenges in the Dreaming City and should make the wait for the DLC more bearable.

  • Players can obtain the quest every week from Mara Sov in the H.E.L.M.
  • For the quest, challenging objectives in the Dreaming City, such as the dungeon or Legendary Lost Sectors, must be completed.
  • After completing the quest, you will receive a “Wish Token” that you can use to secure your enticing wish loot from three categories.

In addition, Triumph Moments 2024 are also returning, and of course, the other weekly activities are rotating again. MeinMMO has the complete overview for you as always.

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The key information on activities from 30.01. to 06.02.

Nightfall

  • “Sea of Shadows”, in the European Dead Zone
    • Your task is to free the water supply from the threat to secure clean water for the population. Additionally, Bungie has spiced up this activity for Lightfall 2023, so you will need to adjust your gameplay a bit.
Earn the Nightfall weapon this week: Undercurrent, Arc Waveform Grenade Launcher

Crucible – This is the rotating PvP activity

  • This week you can play the modes Momentum, Showdown, and Dynamic Control in Destiny 2 PvP.

Bonus this week

  • Lord Shaxx grants you double Crucible rewards.

Endgame: Raid Challenges and Dungeon Rotation

Farmable endgame on a weekly rotation: For those who love the challenge and perfected loot, the so-called Legacy Rotations await in the endgame. These can be repeated and farmed.

What does “Farmable Endgame” mean in Destiny 2?

Since Season 21, older missions and raids rotate every week as Legacy activities and are farmable. This means: the active rotation raid, the active rotation dungeon, and the exotic rotation missions can be farmed in the week. Therefore, you can complete the individual encounters multiple times to receive different items and complete your collection. Including any exotics available in these activities.

  • The weekly legacy raid is “Deep Stone Crypt” with the exotic rocket launcher Eyes of Tomorrow
  • Additionally, you can farm the dungeon “Pit of Heresy”. In these depths, you can find the exotic machine gun Xenophage.
  • The weekly exotic mission is “Operation Seraph’s Shield” with the pulse rifle “Revision Zero”.

Weekly Activities

For those who have not yet completed the story and their triumphs for Season 23, this can still be done. Even after the end of the story, these contents remain available.

  • New weekly quest: Riven’s Wishes. You can find out more about it in this article:
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These are the ritual activities of Season 23:

  • The Circus: Cross the dangerous paths of the Dreaming City every week and uncover the secrets left by Riven.
  • Protect the Nest: Retrieve the lost eggs from Riven’s enclosure over the ley lines every week to fulfill your part of a dangerous bargain.
  • Storm the Watchtower: Enter the dungeon Warlord’s Ruin and banish the derision and the possessed from the wish magic.

  • The weekly legacy raid is “Deep Stone Crypt” with the exotic rocket launcher Eyes of Tomorrow.
  • Additionally, you can farm the dungeon “Pit of Heresy”. In these depths, you can find the exotic machine gun Xenophage.
  • The weekly exotic mission is “Operation: Seraph’s Shield” with the exotic pulse rifle Revision Zero.
revision-null-weltraum-s20-nunstier.destiny2
In this exotic mission, you will go high: Operation Seraph’s Shield

Weekly Activities

For those who have not yet completed the story and their triumphs for Season 23, this can still be done. Even after the end of the story, these contents remain available.

  • New weekly quest: Riven’s Wishes. You can find out what awaits you there in this article:
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These are the ritual activities of Season 23:

  • The Circus: Cross the dangerous paths of the Dreaming City every week and uncover the secrets left by Riven.
  • Protect the Nest: Retrieve the lost eggs from Riven’s enclosure over the ley lines every week to fulfill your part of a dangerous bargain.
  • Storm the Watchtower: Enter the dungeon Warlord’s Ruin and banish the derision and the possessed from the wish magic.

Lightfall – Weekly Campaign Mission

  • “No Time Left”
    • In the weekly Lightfall mission, you can ride a tank this week. You have no time left and need to help Rohan at the Radial Mast.

Ascendant Challenge – Dreaming City

  • Petra Venj can now be found in the Dreaming City right at Rheasilvia – as always during the 3rd curse week. At the same time, the 1st Ascendant Challenge is active.

All Sources for Top Loot in Season 23 of Destiny 2

More power level comes automatically: Bungie has already eased the power level grind in Destiny 2 for a long time. The hard power cap has remained unchanged at 1,810 for several seasons. Thus, no player is forced to deliver top performance every week, but levels up the artifact level automatically in all activities. However, there are still a few activities in the game where you can benefit from an artifact level up to +20.

If you are currently not yet at the hard cap of 1,810, we have listed the best sources for top loot for you here.

This top loot brings your power level up to 1,810:

  • Top raid “Crota’s End“ (+2)
  • Top dungeon “Warlord’s Ruin” (+2)
  • Exotic mission “Cursed” on Legendary (+2)
  • Legacy raid rotation this week: “Deep Stone Crypt” (+2) – farmable
  • Legacy dungeon rotation “Pit of Heresy” (+2) – farmable
  • Legacy exotic mission “Operation: Seraph’s Shield” (+2) – farmable
  • Reach 100,000 points in The Wind (+2)
  • Earn 200,000 points by completing Nightfalls (+2)
  • “Challenges of Eternity”: Achieve at least 250,000 points or more (+2)
  • Complete the exotic mission //knoten.ovrd.AVALON// in the EDZ (+2)
  • Complete the area in Neomuna while holding a polysymorphic shell code.
  • Weekly Lightfall campaign mission on Legendary (+2)
  • Play “Area Restart” on Neomuna
  • Complete ritual activities in the Vanguard, Gambit, or Crucible
  • Hawthorne’s clan task: Give 5 appreciation cards to other guardians (+2 and 7 enhancement cores)
  • Trials of Osiris (+2)

If more sources emerge until the end of Season 23, we will update this immediately.

Glitter Dust Highlights in Eververse

For those who long for a touch of individuality and style and have earned enough glitter dust, Tess has fresh goods ready again. If you’re still missing glitter dust, use our glitter dust guide and farm yourself a bit more of the sparkling cosmetic dust in 2024.

Exotic weapon ornament “Westfront” for the exotic auto rifle “Monte Carlo”

These are also available in Eververse:

  • Exotic emote “PitschPatsch”
  • Exotic emote “Cozy Campfire”
  • Legendary emote “VR Exploration”
  • Exotic sparrow “Cosmos Star”
  • Exotic ship “Wanderer Wing”
  • Exotic ghost shell “Firetrail Shell”
  • Exotic ghost shell “”
  • Exotic weapon ornament “Westfront” for the exotic auto rifle “Monte Carlo”
  • Exotic weapon ornament “Chronos Exegesis” for the exotic pulse rifle “No Time to Explain”
  • Ghost projection “Crow Projection”
  • Shader:
    • “Clear”
    • “Radiant Charoit”
    • “Safety First”
    • “Chrome Shaft”
    • “Iridescent Coral”
    • “Welded Brass”
  • Teleport effects:
    • “War Satellite Arrival”
    • “Rift Oracle”
    • “Minotaur Effects”
    • “Swirling Leaves Arrival”

With the weekly reset in Destiny 2, thrilling challenges, worthwhile rewards, and exciting activities are waiting for you again. Which reward are you particularly looking forward to this week? Feel free to tell us in the comments. Or check out the statistics of a guardian who calculated it down to the detail: Destiny 2 promised more loot than ever before, now a player calculates and says “That doesn’t look good”

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Diablo 4: The best combination for the Seneschal makes every class significantly stronger, increases damage for all builds

Nicole Wakulczyk Nicole Wakulczyk Reading time 2 minutes

In Diablo 4, with Season 3, the Steward was introduced, a mechanical companion for all classes. A player is now showcasing a combination of stones that significantly increases damage for all builds.

The Steward is a mechanical companion, which you can enhance and customize with various rune stones. He accompanies you throughout Sanctuary and cannot die, only be staggered. At release, the Steward seemed quite weak. Now that many players have found and leveled up more stones, that has apparently changed.

A player has now presented the best combination for the Steward on YouTube, making each class considerably stronger and increasing damage for all builds. However, one of the rarest stones is required for this.

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Massive damage boost and cooldown reduction

What is this combination? In the YouTube video, “RageGamingVideos” demonstrates on January 29 a powerful combination of stones for the Steward that can greatly increase your damage. The following stones are necessary:

  • Lead Stone: Adrenaline Rush – Provides a quick adrenaline boost, multiplicatively increasing the player’s character’s damage (by 20% at Rank 10)
  • Coordination Stone: Continuous Support – Increases the duration of supported skills (by 4 seconds at Rank 10)
  • Coordination Stone: Tactical Support – Reduces the cooldown of the supported skill (by 40% at Rank 10)
  • Coordination Stone: Genesis – Increases the effectiveness of the supported skill by 150%.
You can only receive the unique Coordination Stone “Genesis” from the Echo of Malphas.

Because the Genesis Stone increases the skill’s effectiveness by 150%, and “Adrenaline Rush” multiplicatively increases the player’s character’s damage by 20%, according to “RageGamingVideos”, you should ultimately achieve a multiplicative bonus of a substantial 50% as well as a few additional bonuses.

Where can I get “Genesis”? Genesis is one of two unique Coordination Stones and drops exclusively from the Echo of Malphas – the new Uber boss in Season 3 of Diablo 4. Additionally, the Echo of Malphas drops legendaries at a high chance and has a chance for 925-item drops, which are the best in the game.

How you can summon and fight the boss can be found here:

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“Hurricane” as an alternative

Is there an alternative? You can also play the combination for the time being without “Genesis”, as it is still worthwhile. Another useful Lead Stone is “Hurricane”. It deals an electric charge to an enemy, causing damage to itself and another enemy. At Rank 10, “Hurricane” deals about 10,500 damage every second over 5 seconds.

You can combine “Hurricane” with various Coordination Stones, depending on class and build. If you use builds that depend on resources, “Resource Support” is a good choice, as you receive primary resource when the supported skill deals damage for the first time.

“Break Support” ensures that enemy barriers are destroyed. There is also a chance to make enemies vulnerable for 2 seconds – at Rank 10, the chance is 100%. “Safety Support” grants you damage reduction, and with “Efficiency Support” your critical hit chance for struck targets increases.

Finding the right combination of skills poses a significant challenge for some players. Another player has listed more useful combinations for the Steward companion: Diablo 4: Player shows the best combinations for the Steward – How to make the pet really strong

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. YouTube

Destiny 2: Update 7.3.4 from 30.01. is here – All patch notes and information

Britta ♤ BeAngel Britta ♤ BeAngel Reading time 3 minutes

On this Tuesday, Destiny 2 is receiving an update again. For players, this means a short break from gaming. MeinMMO will tell you when you can log in again.

What you need to know today: Like almost every Tuesday, there is a new update for Destiny today. This requires the servers to go offline, which means you won’t be able to play for some time.

However, MeinMMO will keep you updated. We will let you know how long the downtime will last. Additionally, we will update this article as soon as new information becomes available.

Update history:

6:05 PM: The update is here. On PC, the file is 684.0 MB in size. Once you have downloaded it, you can log back into the game.

3:19 PM: The servers have just gone offline. You can find the further schedule of the update below in the article.

2:00 PM: Background maintenance has started. Therefore, there may already be minor issues in the form of error codes. Please keep this in mind if you are still in the game just before the server downtime.
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Maintenance on 30.01 – All times for server downtime

These times are important today: Bungie informs its players via x.com (formerly Twitter) about the exact outage times. It is planned that the servers will be inaccessible today for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

This is the maintenance schedule:

  • At 2:00 PM, background maintenance will start on all platforms.
  • At around 3:15 PM, the servers will go offline. Players will be automatically kicked from the game.
  • During the downtime, Bungie will gradually roll out update 7.3.4 so that players across all platforms can download and install it.
  • At 6:00 PM, the shooter is expected to be back online, and you can log in again.
  • The maintenance will continue in the background until 8:00 PM.
Things to consider during downtimes: As long as the background maintenance is running, there may be recurring connection issues in the game. Additionally, there may be login queues forming, as Bungie will gradually grant access to the servers to avoid issues caused by overly high server load. Therefore, you may have to wait longer until you are back in the game.

Also consider that third-party applications as well as the official companion app may also be unavailable for a while, so you cannot use them.

What changes with update 7.3.4 in season 23

This will be fixed today: At the end of last year, Bungie began making some improvements to the language filtering in text chat. However, there are still issues. For example, players may see less or more language content than before. Bungie aims to reduce these effects in its updates.

For season 23, it was also announced that the seasonal challenge “A Fulfilled Wish” currently requires 66 weekly challenges. Bungie will also correct this today to the intended number of 63 required challenges.

Otherwise, here are the latest issues that players have reported to the developer in the help forum and which could also be addressed.

  • The totems in the dungeon “Spire of the Warlord” sometimes do not spawn correctly.
  • In the description of the perk for the exotic gauntlets “Winter’s Call”, the term “ensnared” appears instead of “frozen”.
  • Reworked “Dreaming City” weapons do not count towards the Cursebreaker title.
  • Guardians do not receive the correct triumphs after acquiring ritual ornaments for the sword “Gallant Fire”.
  • Seasonal bonuses cannot partially be completed by guardians. Only 9 instead of 10 are displayed, even if you have completed everything.
  • Player name changes cannot be adjusted indefinitely via bungie.net. Many players are still waiting for the return of the option to change their player name, instead of receiving the message “You have no name changes available”.
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Patch Notes for Update 7.3.4 in Destiny 2

What’s in the patch notes? A complete overview of all fixed issues and improvements will only be available later today after the update has gone live.

We will update our article and provide you the link to the patch notes. Because it is possible that the patch notes may be changed or corrected by Bungie afterwards.

Read the patch notes for update 7.3.4 (English)

These are currently all the information about today’s update. If there are any unforeseen changes, we will of course keep you updated. So feel free to check back. Until then, we recommend this article about Destiny 2 on MeinMMO: Destiny 2 has been missing an important feature since 2020, with which I built my best builds

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Bungie Help

Twitch bans 30-year-old for the 8th time: Amouranth reveals the reason

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Streamer Amouranth has received her 8th ban on Twitch. She explains the reason, but it seems hardly believable. Fans suspect that the ban could be a deliberate action by the streamer.

This was the ban:

  • Amouranth was banned by Twitch on January 27.
  • It was a temporary ban that lasted only 1 day.
  • Even the 7 previous bans of Amouranth lasted only briefly, usually just a few days.
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Amouranth hints: Accidental nudity caused the ban

This is what she says about the ban: Amouranth posted on Twitter: “Man that slip was crazy. My bad.”

There was also an “Oh God, I don’t want to look, but I will anyway” smiley.

That means something like: “Oh, what slipped out was really crazy. My fault.”

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With “slip” she refers to having accidentally shown a body part that according to the rules of Twitch should not be visible in the stream. For this, she received a ban.

Such a ban indeed happened to the streamer Alinity in 2020, where a naked breast was accidentally visible for a millisecond while she was dancing and adjusting her clothing.

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No one has pictures or videos of this “slip”

What’s the problem? There is no indication that this really happened. In a clear “slip” ban, videos usually circulate within a few hours showing what really happened and what the reason for the ban is.

There is nothing of the sort with Amouranth.

A ban for “unauthorized nudity” from Twitch would typically have resulted, if it was really as serious as Amouranth claims, in a 72-hour penalty, not a 24-hour ban.

There is no indication that anyone knows why Amouranth was really banned.

Her suggestion that nudity was involved fits her image but not the facts at hand.

As Twitch does not publicly disclose why a streamer is banned, it is up to Amouranth to interpret her ban, and she takes advantage of that.

Critics suspect: Ban could have been deliberately provoked

This is the discussion: Amouranth speaks very clearly about her self-presentation on Twitch as a “shameless e-girl.” The 30-year-old has previously said that bans on Twitch benefit her more than harm her, as the bans attract attention and people watch her even more when she is back.

Moreover, bans are like little vacations for streamers.

It is now suspected (via reddit) that Amouranth deliberately caused this Twitch ban to lure viewers to other platforms where Amouranth can monetize them better than on Twitch.

In any case, this could be a risky game for Amouranth, the master of PR-effective Twitch bans. One of her competitors, Indiefoxx, received 6 bans from Twitch in a year while trying to keep up with Amouranth. She was then permanently banned from Twitch:

Twitch gives in to pressure, removes partnership from streamer after 6th ban

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Riot would like to hide it, but the layoffs will impact LoL

Niko Hernes Niko Hernes Reading time 2 minutes

Last week, Riot Games laid off 530 employees. In the announcement, it was stated that the focus would be more on the 4 major games. However, some employees responsible for new and upcoming content in League of Legends were also let go.

As Riot announced last week, the company will lay off 530 employees. As part of this, smaller projects like Riot Forge will also be shut down. In the statement from Riot, it was said that the focus would be on the 4 major games. These include Wild Rift, Valorant, TFT, and LoL.

However, as can be inferred from X.com and laid-off employees, LoL will also suffer under the layoffs. As Riot Lexical, who is responsible for Product Management for LoL Champions, informs on their X account, there is uncertainty regarding the planning of future content and the timelines.

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I only regret that I couldn’t do more.

In her tweet, she confirms that, at least for now, the release of the new champion Smolder and the rework of Skarner will not be affected by the current situation. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that there will be some changes to the release structure and also to announced updates. There is no new roadmap for the year and beyond yet.

Stephen Auker, known as Riot Raptorr, is among the laid-off employees. He worked on Smolder and was responsible for the visual update of Shyvanna. He confirmed his layoff on X.com.

Despite the announcement that Smolder and Skarner will be released as normal, Riot Llama was also laid off. He was responsible for K’Sante, as well as for Smolder and the new Skarner. On X.com, he posted: I only regret that I couldn’t do more.

There is currently no official statement from Riot on how the layoffs will influence the future of LoL.

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It is still unclear how the layoffs will specifically affect the release timelines and new content for LoL. However, seeing that important designers for new champions have been laid off, it can be assumed that there will be some changes to the rhythm of new champions and reworks. Although Legends of Runterra has not been canceled, the future of the card game still seems uncertain: The future of a spin-off to LoL looks grim: “We love the game, but …”

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
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Players demand, Steam giant Valve must ban a tool to save DOTA 2

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the popular MOBA and LoL rival DOTA 2 (Steam) a front of professionals and players is strongly opposing the third-party app Overplus. This would cause trouble both in the professional realm and among regular players.

Who is calling for this ban?

  • The former pro Joanatha ‘Loda’ Berg took a stance against the app ‘Overplus’ on January 29 (via twitter). Generally, there has been growing discontent in the DOTA 2 community against the app for several weeks now. Two weeks ago, the question was asked: When will Valve finally ban people using the ‘Russian cheating app’ Overplus? (via reddit)
  • The app would reveal a lot of data about the opposing team before the match even starts. This is bad for DOTA 2, Loda writes. Valve should take action against the app and ban it.
  • He noticed that suddenly many champs with the highest winrate are being banned from his own team before a match starts – even when these heroes are not ‘meta’, meaning they are not the typical bans. These are apparently targeted bans that result from the fact that opponents have accurate information about the players’ preferences.
Select a MMO video…

App provides such a strong information advantage that it feels like cheating

This is the problem: As the US site Dotesports reports, the app Overplus offers many functions for DOTA 2 players, where players could even use cosmetic skins they do not own.

However, the point of contention is the function ‘Pick Stage Analyzer’, where the tool sifts through the database and gives the user an advantage in the draft phase before each game.

Parts of the community already see this as ‘cheating’: because the app reveals which skills and items the opponent prefers for the heroes – allowing one to anticipate and prepare counters.

Even streamers on DOTA 2 are joining in, saying the advantages are simply unfair.

Furthermore, the app, as Dotesports writes, is even said to be able to access data even when one tries to prevent it.

Some are now calling for the ban of Overplus to preserve the integrity of DOTA 2. Valve has yet to comment on the matter.

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This is what it’s about: This is a case of an app that offers such advantages that one practically has to use it to keep up, even if one does not want to.

While one can argue that ‘pro teams’ also pay people to observe and analyze opposing teams to gain the advantages that Overplus simply offers – this level of effort is hardly justifiable in regular play and provides real advantages that are akin to cheating.

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Former Nintendo developer explains the problem of Palworld for gaming, calls out Asmongold

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 4 minutes

The game developer Stephen “Mortdog” Mortimer has 19 years of experience at Nintendo and Riot Games. He is currently the head of Teamfight Tactics. He now explains how he sees Palworld as a game developer and the potential impacts on gaming. He also takes a jab at the Twitch streamer Asmongold.

Who is that?

  • Stephen Mortimer, known as “Riot Mortdog,” is one of the smartest minds at Riot Games (known for League of Legends and Valorant). On his own YouTube channel “Mortdog – TFT,” he frequently addresses players.
  • Mortdog spent 11 years at Nintendo, working on games like Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Mini Mario & Friends.
  • He has been at Riot Games since 2016 and is the leading mind behind Teamfight Tactics here.
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Games build on existing ones – that is fundamentally good and important

What he says about Palworld: In a video from January 28, Mortdog elaborates on how he sees Palworld and game design.

Games consist of a variety of layers that individual employees or teams work on:

  • The menu
  • The game progress
  • The system design
  • The AI that controls opponents
  • The behavior
  • Characters
  • Level design
  • Level graphics
  • The engine

Now, it has always been the case that successful games have taken existing parts from their own games or from others. So, further Zelda installments from Nintendo have continuously borrowed functional elements from older Zelda titles and only partially and sporadically changed certain elements.

Other gaming companies had already been copying trend games like Street Fighter 2 in the 90s. And the “good clones” became strong brands in their own right, like Mortal Kombat.

This is completely normal and healthy. Game development is hard. The goal is to create good games. Anything that serves that purpose and represents a shortcut is fundamentally good.

riot-mortdog
This is how Mortdog sees Palworld: Much borrowed, but what they have done themselves is very good.

The success of Palworld could establish a dangerous trend

This is how he sees Palworld: Regarding Palworld, Mortdog says it’s a really good game, but it has taken a significant portion, about 70%, from existing games and then just added a bit on top.

The problem is: Palworld is so extremely successful that it could now serve as a template for further copies of this working method.

Studios will always move where the money is. And because a game that uses mostly existing parts is so successful, it could become a norm for games to take functioning concepts from other games and just add a part on top.

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Reskins with existing source code as a difference to clones

This scares him: Mortdog makes a clear distinction between copying a game and starting with the product from scratch, or having existing code and modifying it.

Thus, the entry of Palworld seems suspiciously similar to the entry of the last game by Palworld’s developers, Craftopia.

If you do the work “from the ground up yourself,” it is challenging and real work, even if it represents a copy:

“But if you have the source code and just put a new skin over it, it’s damn easy. And what I’m saying is: That looked pretty damn easy now. That’s a bit disgusting. If you simply say: Thanks Nintendo, for this, it’s mine now and I’m adding something on top – that’s a bit weird.”

However, Mortdog admits that what Palworld has added on top is “really, really good.” Palworld is fun and is a good game.

The worst aspect of this development is seen in “reskins”: Studios might take 90% of existing games and only change 10% (the characters), in hopes of achieving success. On Fiverr, you can commission a reskin of a Unity game for $55.

No good games can come out of that if you’re only investing $55.

This widespread appropriation of other systems he calls “a bit disgusting” and strange. If Palworld establishes a trend here, it scares him.

https://twitter.com/bromojumbo/status/1750065967600992360

Palworld could establish a trend similar to cosmetic items back then

What he says about Asmongold: Asmongold tweeted on January 24, that all the criticism of Palworld is irrelevant. The artist’s opinion doesn’t matter. What’s important is just a good game.

Mortdog talks about the statement of a certain “bald streamer” and says: You have to be cautious. Asmongold warned about the first microtransactions in gaming many years ago, the horse armor in Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion. This established a very negative trend in gaming: microtransactions.

Here too, the industry followed the money.

Mortdog fears that even though Palworld is a good, fun game, it could also establish a negative trend in gaming that scares him.

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Link to the YouTube content

What does Asmongold say about it? Asmongold has made a pretty big mistake with a rant against people who are upset about Palworld. He said that such complaints, like copyright or artist opinion, don’t matter; it’s all about a good game.

However, Mortdog’s criticism seems to particularly hit him because the developer still has a full head of hair at 40, while he himself is described as “bald.” That’s just unfair.

Asmongold struggles with Mortdog’s criticism of the game. He doesn’t really know. The criticism is already very good and fair. Ultimately, the customer is always right. If people buy a game, there will certainly be copies of the concepts in the future.

More on the topic: Twitch streamer explains why Palworld is such a hit: Aimed at normal people, not insane freaks

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

EA FC 24: Players open thousands of packs without success, pull not a single TOTY – “The worst pack weight of all time”

Thomas Dummer Thomas Dummer Reading time 3 minutes

In EA FC 24, you can draw twice as many Team-of-the-Year cards (TOTY) this year; your chances have theoretically never been higher. However, perhaps you have also noticed how hard it is to get a TOTY this year. Many fans confirm that the success rate seems to be extremely low this year.

What is it about? Since last Friday, January 26, all TOTY cards have been in the packs. This year, the women’s team has released 24 really strong cards all at once. Given the number of players, the chance of getting one of these coveted cards has never been higher.

However, reality looks quite different. TOTYs are a real rarity; even the “Honorable Mentions,” which can be referred to as mini-TOTYs, seem to be scarce. And this is despite the fact that EA Sports has made a plethora of upgrade packs available. This raises questions within the community.

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Fans react to the miserable pack weight for the TOTY

An entry on reddit.com addresses the issue of the TOTY event. Under the question “What does EA gain from this pack weight?” the disappointed community is actively discussing. In the EAFC community, “pack weight” refers to the amount of strong, rare, valuable cards that are in a pack. If many of these cards are in a pack, it counts as “good” pack weight. On the other hand, with poor pack weight, worthless and common cards dominate the packs.

What are the community’s reactions? Many of the posts have a simple answer to the question from the subreddit. They see the poor pack weight as a simple strategy to get people to buy more and more packs.

The top comment with the most likes, regarding what EA Sports gains from the poor pack weight, gives a simple and clear answer: “Money, a lot of it.” (via reddit.com)

But even those who do not invest money in shop packs are on the brink of despair. This is evidenced by another comment in the subreddit.

User makes more than 1700 upgrade packs, does not get a single TOTY

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“This must be the worst pack weight we have ever had,” begins the post by the user ‘rockethot’. He has taken the effort to list all the upgrade packs he has crafted and opened since the release of the entire TOTY+TOTY Icons+Honorable Mentions+Twelfth Man. He comes to the incredible total of 1736 packs.

We calculated how many rare gold players the unlucky guy drew without pulling a single TOTY card. A staggering 5,710 rare gold players without a TOTY had to endure by the user. We can only guess how many hours and nerves it must have cost to craft and recraft the upgrade SBCs. In the end, however, he stands there without a single TOTY.

A similar fate befell user ‘sushquad’, who also opened a huge number of upgrade packs without getting TOTY cards. (via reddit.com)

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FC 24 Pre Season: In Ultimate Team you can secure strong packs for FC 25 with just 3 games a day – but you have to hurry
von Thomas Dummer
„I have never seen anything like this“ – Twitch streamer pities the opponents of the new world champion in FC 24
von Julian Schröder
Wonderkid dominates in the largest tournament of FC 24, directly claiming the title
von Julian Schröder

Despite 17 TOTYs: German YouTube star with mediocre return

A prominent content creator on YouTube also demonstrated how difficult it is to obtain TOTY cards.

Who is it about? Content creator Simon Schildgen, better known as GamerBrother, has celebrated 17 TOTYs. This initially sounds like a good yield. However, two things must be noted:

  1. The YouTuber claims to invest 70,000 FC Points for a pack opening. For 12,000 FC Points, you pay almost €90 in the EA FC shop. In other words, for an hour of pack opening, the streamer easily spends €500, and often even more. He therefore urges his community to watch him rather than buy packs themselves.
  2. Despite having twice the chance of getting a TOTY in EA FC 24, his yield is nearly identical to last year. In FIFA 23, he pulled fourteen TOTY cards (via YouTube.com), but this year he has only gotten 3 more cards, totaling 17 (via YouTube.com).

Additionally, the strongest and most expensive TOTYs, such as Haaland or Mbappé, were not part of his yield. On the contrary: he often pulled the cheaper TOTYs multiple times. It shows that the chance of obtaining TOTY cards from packs is very low, even if you invest an extreme amount of money.

If you still want to test your luck, it’s better to do it without real money. We show you a method to craft virtually unlimited upgrade packs for TOTY.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

A new Pal has been discovered in Palworld that resembles Mewtwo: “You can’t be serious”

Cedric Holmeier Cedric Holmeier Reading time 2 minutes

The dispute over the authenticity of Palworld and its similarities to Pokémon designs has reignited because a data miner found a Pal that resembles the Pokémon Mewtwo.

Since the release, there has been an ongoing dispute between Palworld and Pokémon fans regarding the authenticity of the Pals in Palworld. Many of them are inspired by Pokémon, some are even copies of the designs from the video game classic. A recent find has sparked discussions.

A player has already created a Pokémon mod for Palworld, you can see more about it in the video.

Start video
Palworld is in Early Access and there is already a Pokémon mod

Data miner finds unreleased Pal in the code

What new Pal was discovered? A data miner found an unreleased Pal in the code of Palworld that closely resembles the Pokémon Mewtwo. This Pal is not yet implemented in the game, but it already has attributes, abilities, a name, and its appearance is complete.

In the post by Pokémon YouTuber Lewtwo on X (formerly Twitter), you can see the unreleased Pal compared to Mewtwo.

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User Lewtwo shows an unreleased Pal on X.com

The Pal is named “Dark Mutant” and is of the Shadow element. With level 3 in crafting and medical production as well as level 2 in transport, this Pal is among the stronger Pals in the game. We have presented the best Pals for combat, base, and as mounts here.

Even though the Pal is not yet available in the game world, it could potentially be added in one of the upcoming updates.

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Authority cancels Nintendo’s patent for summoning and fighting creatures
von Dariusz Müller
Instead of working on Palworld, a developer prefers to play Crimson Desert: “Wants to stay at home and play for 12 hours straight”
von Cedric Holmeier
Palworld 1.0 is coming in 2026, but the developers advise: It’s best to delete everything you’ve built in the last 2 years
von Ody

The discovery of the Pal reignites the debate

What does the community say about it? The Pokémon YouTuber Lewtwo, who points out the similarity between the two monsters in a post on X (formerly Twitter), has rekindled the debate over the similarities in the designs.

Under his tweet, the familiar division between two camps is evident: those defending Palworld and those siding with Pokémon.

In the original tweet, Lewtwo himself writes: “Hahahaha, holy shit, look at this Palworld design they left in the data, you can’t be serious man.”

  • FizzaAgain writes: “‘Left in the dataset’ so it’s not in the game. Got it.”
  • mydearnari_ writes: “Still, it’s more fun to play.”
  • MaxwellCra17122 writes: “They aren’t even trying.”
  • tenzspeed1 writes: “I don’t care, let me enjoy the game.”

Not only players, but also the Pokémon Company has taken a look at the similarities between the two games. The Pokémon Company recently made a statement to the public: Palworld: Pokémon Company releases statement – Here’s how they deal with the Steam hit

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Dexerto

Pokémon GO gets its ‘Pokémon of Love’ on Valentine’s Day, but players don’t like the date at all

Max Handwerk Max Handwerk Reading time 2 minutes

The legendary Pokémon Cupidos will soon appear in Pokémon GO. And even though the Valentine’s Day timing fits the release, the date has sparked criticism.

What kind of Pokémon is this? Cupidos belongs to the group of Pokémon known as “forces of nature.” This group includes the legendary Pokémon Boreos, Voltolos, and Demeteros alongside Cupidos. It made its debut in the game Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

While the other three have been in Pokémon GO for a long time, Cupidos has been missing so far. As it looks, you can see the official post about the debut of Pokémon GO here (via X.com).

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Like the other three monsters, there are two forms of Cupidos: the Incarnation form and the Animal Spirit form. In Pokémon GO, the Incarnation form will appear on February 14, which is Valentine’s Day. This is quite fitting, as Cupidos is known as a symbol of love and spring in the Hisui region.

However, the timing and the type of release has sparked criticism.

Start video
Pokémon GO shows the new season “Timeless Travels” in the trailer

Trainers criticize top raids with Cupidos on Valentine’s Day

What is the problem? The fact that the release aligns with Valentine’s Day is seen as an obvious idea by some trainers, but there is a difficulty: Cupidos will not appear in normal raids, but in the so-called top raids.

These top raids have a few peculiarities:

  • They only occur during specific time slots. In this case, on February 14, the times will be as follows:
    • 12:00 to 13:00
    • 13:00 to 14:00
    • 17:00 to 18:00
    • 18:00 to 19:00
  • The top raids are generally very difficult and require numerous trainers to defeat.
  • And they can only be completed on-site, meaning not as a remote raid.

However, Valentine’s Day in 2024 falls on a Wednesday, right in the middle of the week on a regular working day. Therefore, the combination of the mentioned time slots and the need to be on-site is leading to criticism from some trainers.

Here are a few example voices from the reddit community “TheSilphRoad” regarding Pokémon GO:

  • “It feels weird to have a top raid day on a weekday,” says user DevilMaster7 (via reddit).
  • “Well, I won’t be able to get one. My wife won’t be very happy if I give her the cold shoulder,” writes user Wicked_Odie (via reddit).
  • “Having this specifically during work/mealtime on Valentine’s Day (in the middle of the week!) is really a decision,” criticizes user JRE47 (via reddit).
  • “If this can be beaten in a duo, that’s medium-good news. If it can’t, that’s terrible news,” thinks user OdgeHam (via reddit).
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Winner of a Pokémon GO tournament is “wrongly” celebrating, causing him to lose the victory again
von Caroline Fuller
Pokémon GO: All Events in April 2026 – Important Dates in the List
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Pokémon GO: Dynamax-Regice – The best counters against the monster
von Paul Kutzner

Some note that for them the timing collides with work, while for others it clashes with Valentine’s Day planning. The other question is whether there will actually be enough trainers available at these times to defeat them, since top raids are specifically designed to be harder to beat.

What do you think about the raid with Cupidos? Does the raid fit into your plans, are you perhaps going to catch the new monster together? Or does it not fit in with your plans either? Let us know in the comments! And if you want to know what’s happening in the game: Here you can find all events in February 2024 in Pokémon GO.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

An app for cleaning could be the perfect excuse to buy a VR device for 4,000 euros from Apple

Benedikt Schlotmann Benedikt Schlotmann Reading time 2 minutes

A developer has created a brilliant app for cleaning the house. It’s almost the perfect excuse to justify buying an expensive VR headset.

Most VR devices are not exactly cheap. For Meta’s Quest 3, you pay around 600 euros, while Apple’s VR system, the Apple Vision Pro, costs almost 4,000 euros. A developer has now introduced a brilliant app that allows you to visualize house cleaning.

Cleaning is easier with an app

What kind of app is it? As reported by the colleagues at Dexerto, a developer has created a fantastic app for cleaning tasks. To use it, you need either an Apple device or Meta’s Quest 3. Then, you must scan the play area with the device. That is, the area you want to clean.

The app automatically tracks where you have already vacuumed, and the light green overlay disappears from any spot that has already been cleaned. You can watch a short video showing how it works on reddit:

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To check how far the vacuum has cleaned, the developer attached the Quest 3 controller to his vacuum cleaner. You can see this at the very beginning of his video.

What are the reactions? The reactions are mostly positive. One person explains that with the right gamification, it would even get his son to clean the hallway every day. Another adds that it needs just such apps and ideas to make VR interesting for the mass market. He explains:

Honestly, this is one of the first things I have seen that I believe are necessary for VR to truly hit the mainstream. (…) This is hands-free and practical, I hope we see more of such stuff.

More about VR systems: PlayStation VR 2, or PSVR 2, is the new VR device exclusively for the PS5. Along with extensive hardware, the system also comes with some new, exclusive titles designed to entice purchases. But what do the first tests say, and who is this system really worth it for?PSVR 2 for PS5 in test overview – Who is this device worth it for?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. 3djuegos.com

Destiny 2: Lawyer wins $7.2 million with lawsuits against cheaters and haters – Bungie fires him

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In Destiny 2, there weren’t many highlights in the game in 2023, but in court: A lawyer from Bungie, Don McGowan, managed to win important cases against cheaters and trolls, claiming $7.2 million. In November 2023, he lost his job at Bungie after 3 years. He is now calling for the establishment of a union for employees in the gaming industry, modeled after Hollywood.

Who is that? Don McGowan studied law in Montreal in the 90s and then worked for 16 years as a lawyer for Microsoft, Xbox, and the Pokémon Company.

In 2020, he ended up at Bungie. Here, he won two important cases for the Destiny developer in 2023:

In November 2023, it was over for McGowan: He and many of his colleagues lost their jobs at Bungie during the last wave of layoffs, which probably also led to the delay of the release date of The Final Shape. In the future, Sony’s legal team will represent Bungie in court.

Start video
Destiny 2 before the end? – Service games must learn to die

“The company kills you if you let it”

This is what Don McGowan says now: In an interview with Gamedeveloper.com , the lawyer now advocates for the video game industry to have a union that operates like the “Hollywood union”.

He says: As a lawyer, he is usually hired to prevent unions, but after the “brutal layoffs” at Bungie and when looking at the gaming industry, he says a union is urgently needed. Such a union could ensure developers are better paid while a project is running, receive better healthcare and pensions that follow developers when they switch jobs.

The studios need a form of labor that allows them to build and dismantle the workforce depending on how their projects are going. With a model like in Hollywood, that would be possible. Minimum wages for certain roles could also come into play here.

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von Christos Tsogos
“I shouldn’t have opened my mouth” – Twitch streamer dared to criticize her colleagues, now says what consequences it has for her
von Johanna

Gaming studios promote people to prevent unions

Nowadays, studios often protect themselves from unions by promoting people to management positions. When employers feel that employees want to form a union, they are often promoted or receive higher salaries.

This leads to problems because people who cannot lead are pushed into management positions. It also increases costs for projects in unhealthy ways, whereas a union would ensure healthier salary increases.

McGowan sees his own dismissal in the context of the “whole news going around“, very coolly, saying “The company will never return your love. If you let it, they will kill you.”

Bungie won several major lawsuits in 2023. The question remains whether they will actually see the money or if the companies will file for bankruptcy: Destiny 2: Romanian cheat creator has to pay Bungie as if they bought Lightfall on Steam 240,000 times

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Your skill is not the most important factor in Call of Duty matchmaking, says Activision

Dariusz Müller Dariusz Müller Reading time 2 minutes

Call of Duty finally gives details on how matchmaking works and says your skill is not actually the most important factor.

The matchmaking of Call of Duty has been a major and much-discussed topic in the Call of Duty community for years.

Simply put, the theory of many players is that your skill and gameplay performance determine which opponents you get. The better you play, the stronger your opponents will be. The term SBMM – skill-based matchmaking – is often mentioned.

As the players suspect, various aspects count under the factor “skill.” In addition to the number of kills and deaths as well as wins and losses, players also suspect that your movement and crosshair placement might play a role.

Start video
Trailer for Call of Duty MW 3 shows a lobby in real life

In early December 2023, Activision spoke for the first time in the history of Call of Duty about the functioning of matchmaking. However, they only stated that matchmaking combines various factors like skill and latency. Now, the developers have provided more detailed insights.

8 factors, but “skill is not the dominant variable”

What do the developers say about matchmaking? Initially, they avoid the term SBMM and explain that matchmaking considers and prioritizes multiple factors when creating lobbies, contrary to the theory that matchmaking is primarily based on your skills.

In the blog post, they write: “Call of Duty considers skill, like most games in the industry, as one component, but skill is not the dominant variable.”

The various factors that are considered in matchmaking include:

  • The connection (“Ping is King”)
  • The “time to match” (how long the game search takes)
  • Playlist variety
  • Recently played maps and game modes
  • Skill and performance
  • Input device (controller or mouse and keyboard)
  • Platform (PC, console)
  • Voice chat (is it on or off)

Activision made it clear that your connection is the most important factor with the greatest influence on matchmaking. This makes sense because none of us want to play against people in Brazil or Japan who have a completely different ping than us depending on the server location.

In second place is the time-to-match. Activision emphasizes that it is important for them that players spend time playing and not on the menu screen waiting to find a match.

All other aspects are jointly in third place.

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Season 5 of Call of Duty starts and there are cheaters with Xbox logo everywhere, Activision explains the reason
von Karsten Scholz

How does skill affect matchmaking? Skill is measured based on a player’s overall performance. To this end, Activision mentions kills, deaths, wins, losses, “and more.” The mode and the most recently played matches also play a role.

However, skill is not only an important factor in finding opponents but also in finding teammates. Additionally, it is a continuous measurement that is constantly updated.

Why is the functioning of matchmaking interesting? SBMM is heavily discussed in the CoD community.

Some players like it because it protects them from matches where they have to play against significantly better players. Others feel intense anger when they think of SBMM and accuse the system of forcing them to play only against the best players in the world.

Some players and YouTubers even manipulate CoD MW3 matchmaking to play more relaxed matches and face weaker opponents: MW3: German YouTuber explains that he finally enjoys the new Call of Duty by tricking the matchmaking

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Call of Duty
  2. Gamespot
  3. Charlieintel

One of the most wanted games on Steam can be tested for free for 3 hours – Here’s how you can participate

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time 2 minutes

The survival game Nightingale is currently high on the list of most desired games on Steam. Just before release, you can participate in a test and play for 3 hours to stress the servers. The release will be shortly thereafter.

What kind of game is it?

  • In Nightingale, you play as a “Realmwalker.” After the Earth is on the brink of destruction, you will travel through portals to foreign worlds and search for a new home.
  • The game completely dispenses with PvP and instead focuses on PvE, exploration, and boss battles. Alone or with friends, you are supposed to explore the worlds and can talk to NPC races, make peace, or claim an area for yourself by force.
  • The setting is quite unique: it’s called gaslamp fantasy, reminiscent of the Victorian era, featuring technologies and even characters from that time, but also with a comprehensive magic system.

Here’s how to participate in the test: On Friday, February 2, Nightingale will launch a stress test. This will last only 3 hours:

  • On February 2 at 7 PM German time, the servers will go live (11 AM MT)
  • They are expected to close again at 10 PM (2 PM MT)
  • You can start the download only from 6 PM German time (10 AM MT); those who have access earlier can still only play starting at 7 PM

You can register directly on the Steam page of the game for the test. A click on “Request Access” is enough. The developers will send out the invitations for the test in waves.

On the official website, it says that you should refresh the Steam page frequently to see if you have been invited to the test.

For testing, you will receive a character with pre-made equipment, similar to what you would get after 10 hours of gameplay. The tutorial will be skipped, and you can basically do as you please. Progress will be lost after the test, but it is not under NDA. You can therefore quite safely find content about Nightingale on Twitch and YouTube.

Start video
Nightingale is considered a great hope for survival, without PvP – The latest gameplay looks fantastic

Thousands are waiting for Nightingale, I’ve already played in the first tests

The initial tests of Nightingale have already attracted over 12,000 players. However, testers have not been able to disclose much so far, as the majority were bound by a confidentiality agreement.

In the global wishlists on Steam, Nightingale currently ranks at number 8, right behind 3 other survival titles: Frostpunk 2, STALKER 2, and ARK 2. Nightingale is set to be released on February 22 for PC on Steam. There are currently no plans for versions on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

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von Benedict Grothaus
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von Benedict Grothaus

2024 is already shaping up to be a good year for fans of survival and sandbox titles: With Palworld and Enshrouded, two games that dominate the genre have already been released – especially after the severe setback from The Day Before.

With ARK, Frostpunk, STALKER, and especially Nightingale, more promising survival games are coming that cover a wide range of different settings. Nightingale in particular stands out with its fresh, Victorian approach. You can find more exciting games in our list of the best survival games on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Steam: New game for Dragon Ball shows legendary battle between Goku and Vegeta in the trailer

Linda Knabe Linda Knabe Reading time 2 minutes

In a new trailer, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! Zero, which will soon be released on Steam, showcases the two characters Son-Goku and Vegeta in their various forms in a legendary battle.

What kind of game is this? DRAGON BALL: Sparking! Zero is the next installment in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, the popular and long-standing fighting game series in the Dragon Ball universe. It is expected to be released later this year for the PS5, Xbox, and on Steam.

In the game, you can expect a plethora of playable characters known from the anime and manga. While there isn’t an official list yet, the trailer gives a first glimpse of familiar faces like Frieza, Piccolo, C17, or Krillin.

You will also see two of the playable characters in an exciting battle in the trailer:

Start video
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! Zero shows what Goku and Vegeta are capable of in battle

What to expect from Goku and Vegeta: In the trailer, you’ll witness massive action in a fight between Son-Goku and his rival Vegeta. Here, you can catch a glimpse of the combat gameplay, various attacks, and different maps created in Unreal Engine 5.

The trailer also showcases the various Gokus and Vegetas that you can play in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! Zero. The two protagonists each have 24 different forms available to them. Our colleagues at GamePro have listed them out in detail.

In the trailer, you can already get a first impression of the various abilities of the possible versions of Goku and Vegeta. For example, you’ll see how Vegeta in his Weraffen form can smash the entire map or how both characters unleash their full power in their different Super Saiyan forms.

Most importantly, the trailer promises the action that you are accustomed to from previous installments of the series. Many effects that usually do not clutter the scene provide exactly what fans of games in the Dragon Ball universe hope for.

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Fans have been waiting over a decade for this game

What are the reactions? The trailer, and hopefully the game, captures exactly what Dragon Ball fans are hoping for, as evidenced by the comments (via YouTube):

  • UnrealEntGaming writes: “To those who have been waiting since the days of Budokai Tenkaichi 3, the wait is 100000% worth it”
  • user-fs7ed2rx9u writes: “The details, the scope, the destruction, the combat damage, the transformations … the perfection!”
  • codelgs writes: “I’ve been waiting over a decade! I’m so ready; this will easily be my most played game on Steam!”
  • ZonsCHANNEL writes: “We need local PvP, please!! The game would sell so many more copies. I know several people who aren’t Dragon Ball fans, who loved Budokai Tenkaichi 3 because it was the best local multiplayer fighting game.”

Looking further at the comments, the reactions mainly show that many fans are excited for a new game after a long time.

Dragon Ball is full of strong characters, and some of them are even “ordinary” humans: The probably strongest human in Dragon Ball has apparently just been forgotten

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Bungie admits: The Destiny 2 story is too predictable, it should change in June 2024

Britta ♤ BeAngel Britta ♤ BeAngel Reading time 3 minutes

Destiny 2 has recently been criticized for its too predictable story structure. In an interview with MeinMMO, Bungie admitted this and explained that starting in June 2024, they will aim to surprise players more frequently with new episodic content want.

Bungie wants to change this soon: For some die-hard Destiny 2 fans, excitement has diminished because they find the seasons too predictable. Gradually, a growing fatigue has spread due to the current season model, which has been received less and less positively. In a recent roundtable interview with MeinMMO, Bungie acknowledged that they are aware of this fact.

“Speaking only for the narrative team, we hear our community loud and clear that the structure of our story may have become predictable, even though the quality of the story is still high.”

said Jonathan To, Lead Narrative Designer at Bungie

This is one of the reasons why moving away from the stagnant season model in June 2024 has been a top priority for Bungie.

Start video
Destiny 2: The Final Shape – The last DLC of the first saga

Exciting Episodes instead of Predictable Seasons

The old season model is obsolete: Starting June 4, 2024, with the release of the new DLC “The Final Form”, Bungie will scrap its old season model.

  • Instead of four seasons per year, they will now release episodes, each lasting about ten weeks.
  • Each episode will be divided into three acts, with larger narrative segments leading to new weapons and armor, activities, and other content.

This change aims to allow developers to be more flexible and present the story in a less predictable format.

  • Episodic content will introduce new stories and characters without having to adhere to a rigid format.
  • Thus, there will be more room for unexpected twists and surprising events, which will surely please some guardians who have grown tired of the old season model.

The exact dates of the episodes are listed in this article: Destiny 2 will soon abandon seasons to avoid player burnout – Here’s what they are doing now

What kind of content will that be? Unfortunately, Bungie did not want to reveal that to us. Jonathan To just said:

We are currently working on a number of things that we cannot explicitly share, but that involve a change in structure so that we can pleasantly surprise you more often in the future.

As a small compensation, Nicco Stevens and Ryan Baker instead revealed to us how the “Nezareck” tastes, which was widely discussed in the Destiny community during the “Season of Plunder.”

  • It was a black brew made from the body parts of Nezarek, a disciple of the Witness.
  • The Orisis, weakened by Savathûn’s attack, had to drink it to recover, and some guardians still wonder how it might have tasted.

Both Bungie developers agree that it tasted like licorice. So not bad for a centuries-old alien that was crumbled into tea.

This very special “Nezarek tea” reportedly tasted like licorice according to Bungie.

Why have seasons become so boring? In response to the question of how the seasonal storylines of Destiny 2 became so predictable and thus boring, Bungie’s narrative team points to the constraints that come with developing a live service game at such a constant and rapid pace.

“When you create a framework for how content should be created, it facilitates the rapid production of that content because everyone pulls together. But it can also become predictable because everyone pulls together.”

explained Bungie’s Senior Narrative Designer Nikko Stevens to us

This repetitive framework gives Bungie a baseline to follow. However, the unintended side effect is that the content often feels predictable as well.

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However, Brian Frank, Design Lead at Bungie, also made it clear in this context that these “framework conditions” are not always bad. A good example is the current Season 23. Here, Bungie was able to use this kind of “survival strategy” that comes with the constant and relentless deadlines of a live service game to quickly create additional content.

“The moment we knew that the launch of ‘The Final Form’ would be delayed, we began adding additional content to the season,” Jonathan To revealed, adding that the team is excited for the players to see what they have been working on.

Destiny 2 still has many more stories to tell, even after the Final Form, leaving many possibilities for the future open.

What do you think about Bungie’s decision to say goodbye to the traditional season model and instead switch to episodic content? Do you think the transition will improve the quality of the player experience in Destiny 2? Let us know in the comments. Or would you prefer to know what leaks are currently circulating about the Final Form? Then take a look at this article: Destiny 2 is supposedly getting activity for 12 players: Will the bug become a feature?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Why does Michael J. Fox have a J in his name when his 2nd first name is Andrew?

Marie Friske Marie Friske Reading time 2 minutes

Many know the actor Michael J. Fox from his role as Marty McFly in “Back to the Future“. But where does the J in his stage name come from when his real name is Michael Andrew? There is a simple reason behind it.

Why isn’t he simply known as Michael Fox? In his biography Lucky Man: A Memoir, the actor explained how he came to his stage name Michael J. Fox.

The Screen Actors Guild forbids two members to work under the same stage name. Since they already had a Michael Fox registered, the actor from Back to the Future could not sign up under the same name.

Here you can see a trailer for the sci-fi classic Back to the Future:

Start video
Back to the Future – German Trailer for the Sci-Fi Comedy from 1985

“Michael, a Fox“

So a different stage name was needed. Andrew or Andy Fox did not appeal to the actor. But the first letter of his middle name was also not an option for the actor.

Because there is a problem in the English pronunciation and spelling. Because Michael A. Fox translates to Michael, a Fox.

The actor did not want that. So he explained that the name Michael A. Fox “was even worse, as the word ‘Fox’ had recently come into use as a synonym for ‘attractive’. (Presumptuous?) It also sounded uncomfortably Canadian – Michael Eh? Fox – but maybe I was just overly sensitive.“

For more on Back to the Future, you can read here with our colleagues at Filmstarts: This mistake in “Back to the Future” could completely change your view on the 80s cult classic!

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Why J. of all letters? So the actor looked for a new name option. In doing so, he remembered one of his favorite actors, Michael J. Pollard, whom you might know from Bonnie and Clyde.

So he decided on a J. in the name, which he sometimes said “stands for Jenuine or Jenius“. Therefore, the actor again submitted the forms to the Screen Actors Guild and became known by the stage name Michael J. Fox.

More about Back to the Future: A sci-fi classic poked fun at Hollywood today as early as 1989

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Lucky Man: A Memoir

German survival hit on Steam doesn’t want PvP – sneaky players still manage to harm you

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time 2 minutes

The new survival game Enshrouded is supposed to impress with a beautiful world that you can explore with friends or alone. Danger only comes from NPC enemies; there is no PvP. However, one player has found that trolls can be annoying even without PvP—through theft. He advises caution.

What kind of game is this?

This is how players can harm you: Enshrouded completely dispenses with PvP. You cannot attack or kill other players. There isn’t even an option for mutual consent, as in Valheim.

As in Valheim, Conan Exiles, and similar games, you can start private rounds or open a server to play with friends. This can accommodate up to 16 players in a round. However, there is a problem with this.

If your server is not protected by a password or otherwise secured, anyone can join. Even if you don’t know the person. This happened to a user on Reddit. He and his partner were briefly absent when a few trolls came by.

The rascals then looted their base. They plundered all the chests and left, as loot from one’s own pockets can be easily transported between worlds in Enshrouded.

Start video
Enshrouded: The Early Access trailer for the new survival hit on Steam

“That’s some toxic Rust nonsense”

Since the thread is quite small, such break-ins seem to be rather rare, but frequent enough to warrant caution. Some other players report that similar things have happened to them.

Passwords reportedly didn’t work for a short time, but they wanted to play and ignored the problem. Soon after, trolls appeared and looted the base. Another user claims that this is exactly the crap that only happens in toxic Rust.

There are also tips for protection: backups and dedicated servers are just as important as passwords. One should not forget all this.

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Enshrouded itself is getting a tremendous amount of positive feedback. Even though it has to contend with the surprise hit Palworld, the building system is especially a revelation for many fans.

The survival game is somewhat like Minecraft or Lego for adults: you have pre-made components like floor plates, but you can also build everything pixel-perfect from individual parts. Even caves are possible through terraforming in the game. You can find a detailed impression in the gameplay report: A new survival game from Germany could become the next Steam hit, but it has one big problem

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. PCGamer

Pokémon GO: Events in February 2024 – All Dates & Bonuses

Max Handwerk Max Handwerk Reading time 3 minutes

Here you will find all events in January 2024 for Pokémon GO at a glance. We will show you the known dates so far and highlight which ones are particularly worth attending.

What kind of dates are these? Every month there are numerous events in Pokémon GO that determine what content you can find. These include thematic events that run over several days, standard dates such as raid and spotlight hours, and large events that bring particularly exciting bonuses.

To keep you informed about what’s happening in February 2024, we are creating this overview for you. This will be updated continuously as not all event information is clear yet. As soon as new details are known, they will be added here.

February still belongs to the current season “Timeless Travels”:

Start video
Pokémon GO shows the new season “Timeless Travels” in the trailer

All events for Pokémon GO in February 2024 at a glance

What events does February bring to Pokémon GO? As usual, you can look forward to some raid and spotlight hours. In addition, there are exciting events such as the Community Day and especially the big Sinnoh Tour, which is coming up in February 2024.

In the list, you will find all currently known events. For more details, you will find appropriate links with further information at the events where more details are known. The list will be updated continuously.

DateEvent
On weekendsLegendary Crypto Raids with Crypto Articuno
January 31 to February 15Mega Raids with Mega Latias & Mega Latios
February 1Last day of the event “Stolen Treasures”
February 4Community Day with Chansey
February 5 to 11Lunar New Year: Unleashed Dragons
February 6Spotlight Hour with Dratini and double XP
February 7Raid Hour with Mega Latios
February 10GO Battle Day
February 11Raid Day: Hisuian Voltorb
February 13Spotlight Hour with Somniam and double catch candy
February 13 to 15Carnival of Love
February 14Top Raids with Cupidos
February 15 to 20Stage 5 Raids with Darkrai
February 15 to 22Mega Raids with Mega Absol
February 16 to 18Pokémon GO Tour Sinnoh: Los Angeles (local live event)
February 19Special Raid Hour with Darkrai and the attack “Sludge Bomb” (6:00 PM)
February 19 to 23The Way to Sinnoh
February 20 and 21Stage 5 Raids with Cresselia
February 20Special Raid Hour with Giratina (Origin Form) and the attack “Shadow Force” (6:00 PM)
February 21 and 22Stage 5 Raids with
Vesprit (Europe, Near East, Africa, India)
Selfe (Asia-Pacific)
Tobutz (America and Greenland)
February 21Special Raid Hour with Vesprit, Selfe, Tobutz (also regionally dependent, 6:00 PM)
February 22 and 23Stage 5 Raids with Heatran
February 22Special Raid Hour with Darkrai and the attack “Sludge Bomb” (6:00 PM)
February 22 to March 1Mega Raids with Mega Garchomp
February 23 to 26Stage 5 Raids with Giratina (Origin Form)
February 23Special Raid Hour with Darkrai and the attack “Sludge Bomb” (6:00 PM)
February 24 and 25Global Sinnoh Tour
February 24 and 25Raids with Dialga and Palkia in their Origin Forms
February 26 to March 1Stage 5 Raids with Cresselia and Heatran
February 27Spotlight Hour with Sandshrew & Alolan Sandshrew and double trade candy
February 28Raid Hour with Cresselia and Heatran
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Which events are particularly interesting in February?

February 2024 could generally be an exciting month, as some events bring new Pokémon or promising bonuses.

  • The Sinnoh Tour on February 24 and 25: The GO Tours usually come with many bonuses, numerous Pokémon, and also Shinies. Additionally, the debut of Origin Dialga and Origin Palkia is coming. Probably the most important event in February.
  • The Way to Sinnoh starting February 19 is the preparation event for the Sinnoh Tour and brings you a different legendary boss every day. You can even get them through field research.
  • February 14: Cupidos appears in Top Raids. This marks a Pokémon debut, and who knows when it will return.
  • Other Pokémon debuts are Sen-Long at the “Lunar New Year” event and Hisuian Voltorb during its own Raid Day. These events should also be worthwhile.

Furthermore, practical new features for Pokémon GO have recently been tested. There are no official details on this yet, but we hope these features will also be made available to other trainers in the near future. Which event are you particularly looking forward to in February? Let us know in the comments!

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.