The WoW project by Papaplatte, HandOfBlood, and Metashi12 has been running for less than a week, but it has already taken the international Twitch by storm and given the MMORPG a visible boost.
What kind of event is this? Sauercrowd is a content guild of the German Twitch streamers Metashi12, HandOfBlood, and Papaplatte, modeled after OnlyFangs, who helped WoW regain its glory on Twitch single-handedly. The event started on December 27, 2025, with over 200 participants and the declared goal of conquering the raid Zul’Gurub.
HandOfBlood is one of the organizers of the event.
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HandOfBlood: The most important thing about the YouTuber and Twitch streamer in under a minute
WoW grows by 150%, Twitch is full of death clips
It is so successful: The WoW event has not only conquered the German Twitch landscape but also goes far beyond national borders. Both the MMORPG itself and the participating streamers are experiencing significant viewer growth, and wherever you look right now, you see streamer characters dying.
In numbers, this looks like:
The event has given WoW a visible push on Twitch: In the last 7 days, both the number of hours watched and the number of average viewers increased by 152.7% (Source: SullyGnome, as of December 31, 2025)
World of Warcraft is currently ranked 3rd worldwide on Twitch for most-watched games, and even 1st in the German-speaking region, ahead of the overpowering “Just Chatting” (Source: SullyGnome).
With Papaplatte and HandOfBlood, two of the organizers are in the top 5 of the currently most-watched streamers on Twitch, while Metashi12 reaches at least 13th place. Within the WoW category, the top 9 spots in the top 10 are all German streamers, led by the 3 guild leaders (Source: SullyGnome)
For the second day in a row, the most popular Twitch clips worldwide are all Sauercrowd moments. The streamer JenNyan can currently boast the most-watched clip of the week with her AFK death (Source: TwitchTracker).
Although the event is extremely successful from a content perspective, one can’t necessarily say the same for the individual players. Many of the participating streamers are trying WoW for the very first time, and of course, they are making all the mistakes that beginners tend to make – from pulling too large to standing AFK in dangerous areas.
But at least: The compilations of death clips on the fan-operated YouTube channel have already become significantly shorter after the first day, and fewer characters are meeting their end. This is necessary, as entertaining as the shameful deaths at the start are, in the end, the goal is to reach max level and conquer the raid Zul’Gurub.
And somehow the schadenfreude is even greater when a character that has been ground to a high level for countless hours bites the dust.
On Steam, there are countless games, from expensive AAA productions to small indie games from solo devs. For developers who offer their games on Steam, there are therefore various rules and conditions from Valve. One of these conditions means that a developer has been reminded for 7 years that he does not earn money with his game.
Note: This article was previously published in an earlier version on MeinMMO. Whether the developer still received the messages this year could not be determined with certainty.
What is behind the reminder? An indie developer mentioned on Reddit that he received an email from Valve informing him that he would not receive a payout from Steam for August 2024. He had not reached the required minimum for a payout.
Another indie developer commented below the post, reporting that he has received the same email every month since 2017. He shared his screenshot via imgur.com, which shows the email correspondence with Valve and confirms his statement.
The special thing is: the developer does not expect any revenue from Steam at all. He has been offering his game since 2017 with a free-to-play model and has sold nothing on the platform since then. Therefore, the developer has been reminded every month for 7 years that he does not earn money with his F2P game.
Valve is currently also working on a new game. We present it to you in the video:
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This is Deadlock – The new MOBA shooter from Valve
Minimum amount is intended to protect indie devs from costs
What is this about the minimum income? One condition for developers on Steam states that they must earn at least 100 US dollars before they can receive a payout. This is to prevent developers from incurring disadvantages due to any costs and bank fees, says Valve.
However, this does not mean that Steam simply withholds the developers’ earnings and enriches itself. Instead, the money is kept and collected until the developers reach the minimum. Valve says about this:
Due to the costs and potential bank fees associated with each individual payment we make, which are charged to you upon receipt of the payment, it would be disadvantageous for you if we were to pay out small amounts. Therefore, we may hold your payment until you have earned a minimum amount of 100 USD.
Steam also offers developers the opportunity to set a minimum amount themselves if bank fees take a large part of the payouts for sales on Steam.
The developer says he asked Valve several years ago to stop sending him emails and just keep the money or donate it to charity. However, they refused. The most recent email in the screenshot is from the morning of the day the capture was made, presumably from September 28, 2024.
Valve has not only various conditions regarding the payouts of revenues on Steam. There are also regulations regarding the design of the Steam page of a game.
Some players have companions in World of Warcraft that no one else can obtain. One player belongs to the handful of hunters in the world.
In World of Warcraft, like in most other MMORPGs, players want to brag about special achievements and stand out from the crowd. Hunters, in particular, have many options to acquire unique companions. However, even among the rarest pets, there are a few that are much more exclusive – for example, because they are not even wild animals and therefore should not be owned by the character.
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WoW: Patch 11.2.7 – The warning shows what threatens Quel’thalas
The player Dizzy_Director_7506 spotted a hunter in WoW that he had to showcase immediately on the game’s subreddit. With the name “Holy crap, a hunter ooze pet” he presented his find:
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The gnome Sneedge possesses a pet that he can use in combat, with a rather unusual shape: an ooze, which is more commonly found in the world. However, these oozes are generally not considered “wild animals”, but rather “elementals” or “deviations” and therefore should not be tamable. This makes it an extremely rare sight.
However, Sneedge seems to have a cohesive appearance, having styled his entire look around it. For instance, his gnome wears green clothing, a gas mask, and additional green companions that clearly indicate that someone has a fondness for green ooze.
Hunter companions were available for only a few days
What kind of pet is this? This exact ooze could be encountered during a quest in the Sholazar Basin from Wrath of the Lich King. It only appeared during a quest line and was mistakenly marked as a “wild animal”, making it tamable by hunters – at least for a few days before Blizzard fixed the error.
Now, the pet is only owned by a few hunters who were active back then and still are today.
Is it still possible now? No. The corresponding enemies were corrected by Blizzard long ago, so it is no longer possible to tame an ooze. Anyone trying to do this today will simply receive an error message and cannot repeat the attempt. This is precisely what makes this find so rare.
Are there other pets of this kind? Yes. In the past of World of Warcraft, there have been moments where hunters could temporarily tame enemies that were actually not suitable for it. For example, one could tame a small worgen, and a plant creature was also temporarily possible.
However, most pets of this type have been corrected by Blizzard. When appropriate companions are summoned from the stable, they largely transform into a more appropriate form. For example, one could tame a wolf completely covered in oil – but once summoned or entering an arena, the oil would be removed.
A similar solution has been applied to all other pets that hunters should not own. In this case, it seems our gnome in the picture has been fortunate. If you want to have a pretty exclusive pet as a hunter, you can get the spirit beast Sul’raka from the Emerald Dream – it is highly sought after.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
While many MMO fans are currently crying into their pillows (metaphorically), friends of the RPG genre are delightfully looking back at one of the best role-playing years of all time – at least that’s what MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz thinks.
At the beginning of 2025, I had quite a bit of hope that a good role-playing year awaited us. Since I really enjoyed the first Kingdom Come: Deliverance, I was very much looking forward to the sequel. The same went for Monster Hunter Worlds and the upcoming Wilds sequel.
It was also certain that at least one new role-playing game from the Obsidian creatives (the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and The Outer Worlds) was on its way, as they never publish total failures. And my list of upcoming MMORPGs was long.
However, I had no idea how good the role-playing vintage of 2025 would actually turn out to be in the end. Thanks to positive surprise hits that came out of nowhere, and despite the ultimately very frustrating year for MMORPG fans. From my perspective, there are good arguments to suggest that one of the best RPG years of all time is already behind us.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is, for many RPG fans, the best game of the year – here is a trailer:
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – JRPG with French Flair has Release Date
Game of the Year – which RPG should it be?
This year I had the opportunity to play and complete a lot of games again. And it speaks volumes that in my heart, ultimately, 3 very different role-playing games competed until the last minute for the title “My Personal Game of the Year.”
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was – I had already hinted at it – my anticipated favorite. The developers at Warhorse Studios delivered a great sequel, which, although not perfect, is immensely charming and entertaining in its own quirky way.
I simply love the turn-based combat with its real-time elements and a certain degree of Soulslike difficulty. Plus, the gorgeous visuals, the catchy soundtrack, the exciting setting, the nostalgic overworld, and the heart-wrenching story. This qualifies as “Game of the Year” material and one of the best role-playing games of the past decade.
Then, in November, Where Winds Meet was also released, which actually does everything to be disliked by Western players: mobile port. Free2Play model with countless battle passes, shop, and gacha system. A flood of currencies and resources plus an extremely convoluted, nested interface. A poor, quite likely AI-assisted localization.
However, behind this seemingly generic Free2Play game from Asia lies one of the most remarkable and exciting role-playing games of recent years.
Role-Playing Year 2025 vs. 2017 I can only remember one other game year in which 3 role-playing games competed for the title “My Personal Game of the Year”: 2017. At that time, I was equally captivated by Divinity: Original Sin 2, Nier: Automata, and Persona 5. In the end, the sequel to Original Sin won the race. A few years later, I was therefore also very pleased that many strengths of the game made it into a certain Baldur’s Gate 3.
The Great Role-Playing Games from the Second Tier
However, the role-playing year 2025 is not only marked by a strong peak for me. The RPGs from the second tier, although not grand, but still very enjoyable, have also made a good impression in recent months.
Similar to Monster Hunter Worlds, I played the new Monster Hunter Wilds (in the review) at launch with great joy. The way small and large monsters behave within the ecosystem and during hunts continues to fascinate me, even if everything was certainly not perfect in Capcom’s blockbuster.
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Monster Hunter Wilds Shows What It Has to Offer in Launch Trailer
I was also pleased with two solid role-playing games from Obsidian: Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2. Experiencing the universe of the two “Pillars of Eternity” parts (which I also like very much) from the first-person perspective works better than I was fearing after the first trailers. Additionally, it is surprisingly fun to explore the world by running, jumping, and climbing.
I personally enjoy the humor of the “The Outer Worlds” series, the different ways to tackle the challenges of the RPG, the colorful crowd of companions, and the motivating character progression. Part 2 indeed delivered what I was expecting from the predecessor.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers – New Action RPG from China Shows Boss Fight and Release Date
Furthermore, I unexpectedly had fun with the early access version of Titan Quest II, which gives off a wonderfully old-school vibe while also feeling like a sensible continuation of the action-RPG classic Titan Quest. Here, I am already looking forward to upcoming content updates.
The Forgotten Gems
Surely some of you may have a role-playing game that has not been mentioned still on the tip of your tongue. For instance, I only briefly played the remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I lack the courage for The First Berzerker: Khazan, it’s supposed to be incredibly difficult.
Since I am writing this article before the Game Awards, I will refrain from speculating about how many role-playing games might win awards by the end of the year. Likewise, there is no glimpse into the role-playing games of 2026.
A father promises his son a PS5 and GTA 6 for his birthday if he can master a very special challenge.
What is the task? A user with the nickname Terminally Dyslexic tells in a post on X (formerly Twitter) about a special challenge he has devised for his son. He promised his boy a PS5 including GTA 6 for his birthday in 2026 if he manages to collect all achievements in a very specific game.
The game is Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, a 3D platformer. The user gifted the game to his son for Christmas. It is currently available on Steam for half price until January 5, 2026, for €19.99.
You might think that this is not too difficult a task. However, those who think so have probably never tried it. The reactions of other players clearly show how tough this challenge is.
Here you see the game in the gameplay trailer:
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Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time – Gameplay Trailer
Father presents son with a “wicked” challenge
How players react:
“That’s one hell of a challenge and I’m saying that as someone who have done it on PS4,” writes a user on X. The father replies that he has already mastered this challenge himself – twice.
“Oh you are EVIL,” comments another user on X – many share this opinion. The father always responds with humor and an evil laugh.
The post has also made it to Reddit. There it states in a post: “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.” Another one states: “Well thats one way to keep your kid away from GTA.”
Why is this task so tough? To unlock all achievements in Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, the boy has to put in a lot of effort in the game. He not only has to complete the story but also collect collectibles, finish time challenges, and fulfill some hidden tasks.
According to the website HowLongToBeat, it takes about 85 hours to complete the game 100% – and that with a story that only takes 10 hours.
According to PSNProfiles.com, it takes around 100 hours and 4 runs to get all trophies. The game receives a difficulty score of 9/10. In comparison, Elden Ring only has a 6/10 (source: PSNProfiles.com).
On Steam, only 2.3% of players have thus far mastered this challenge. On PlayStation, it is a bit more with 3.5%, but still so few that the platinum trophy is considered “ultra rare” [as of December 31, 2025].
Obtaining the achievements through technical means such as the Steam Unlocker is obviously not allowed for the son. Making the game easier with mods is also prohibited.
At least the boy is not completely unprepared for the game: He has already played all the original parts on PS1 and the N. Sane Trilogy. The father accompanies the challenge and regularly shares updates on his profile. If you follow these posts, you can see that the son is making quick progress.
Slowly, the father realizes what he has gotten himself into. As for the fact that he will probably have to buy his son a PS5 and GTA 6 in the end (which will likely hit his wallet hard), he shared the following GIF on X on December 31, 2025:
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The end of the year is the perfect time for MeinMMO editor Lydia to tackle a few titles from her endless backlog on Steam. One game has taken up more of her time than expected.
Between baking cookies, buying the last gifts, and getting the place ready for the family visit, I didn’t have much time – or inner peace – for gaming before Christmas. I didn’t want to start an epic adventure just to have to interrupt it after an hour or two because something else needed to be done.
Instead, I decided to tackle my Pile of Shame, which has grown alarmingly over years of Steam sales and bundles. I looked for titles with a playtime of just a few hours, perfect to finish in an afternoon before Christmas.
On a bit of a whim, I started Overboard!, an adventure game by Inkle from 2021. Honestly, I don’t even know how it ended up in my library. But as a big fan of detective games, the premise of being the murderer myself and needing to cover up my crime attracted me – and before I knew it, I was hooked.
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Overboard! zeigt die mörderische Seefahrt im Trailer
The life insurance only pays out if someone else goes to jail…
In Overboard!, we take on the role of former actress Veronica Villensey, who has seen better days. On the voyage to America, she disposes of her unfaithful husband to collect the life insurance and start anew.
With 8 hours until arrival in New York, it is essential to divert suspicion away from herself, so that her new life doesn’t start off less than glamorous in jail.
This endeavor isn’t difficult in itself: While I got tangled in contradictions during my first run, I managed to convince my fellow travelers of my innocence during my second attempt and even hooked the dashing ship’s captain.
A run takes about 30 minutes, which is quite short, and the experience left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied with a “Is that all?”. But alright, I wanted a little gaming snack, and theoretically, nothing should have stopped me from checking off the game and focusing on something else. If it weren’t for one detail.
Because as Veronica – and I – quickly find out, life insurance doesn’t pay out in cases of suicide. It’s not enough to convince everyone that my spouse threw himself into the waves – I needed a murderer.
The next days were spent coming up with more and more devious plans to optimize my timing and commit the perfect murder. I found that I had fun, even when I wasn’t technically playing.
Because after each run, when I put away my Steam Deck, I immediately started planning my next run: What could I do differently next time? Maybe take the sleeping pills first and then… Would I still have enough time for my rendezvous with the captain?
The game itself provides some additional incentives. For example, you can also con the young Englishman out of his money while playing cards, or chat with God in the chapel… or whatever pretends to be that.
For a game that was only supposed to fill a cold afternoon, Overboard! kept me occupied this way for several days, even though the playtime on Steam ended up being just a few hours.
For the full price, that might seem too little for some, but conveniently, the title is currently 50% off in the winter sale until January 5, 2026, on Steam, costing only €6.24. If you want, you can also get the sequel Expelled!, which was released in March on Steam.
After Christmas, I finally had the muse to engage in a somewhat more intensive gaming project, and I started catching up on the game that probably no one could escape this year: Clair Obscur. Now I can also understand why the role-playing game has captivated so many – and is now already attracting the first imitators.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
5 years have passed since the low point of World of Warcraft. MyMMO demon Cortyn looks back at how Azeroth has changed.
World of Warcraft has now been around for over 21 years. And for at least 20 of those years, it has been claimed from all sides that World of Warcraft is “dying right now”. This has always been the case without exception.
Even when paladins joined the Horde and shamans joined the Alliance, death was prophesied.
The introduction of the “Dungeon Finders” was then the next blow that was supposed to kill the game.
The setting of “Mists of Pandaria” also sparked many discussions about why WoW had to be so “cute”.
These are just a few examples where WoW was “practically dead”. Most of these accusations came from former fans who did not recognize themselves in the modern game and were unwilling to accept that there is indeed a large and often even larger target audience for the modern WoW with its changes and that they simply did not belong to it anymore.
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WoW Midnight – The opening cinematic of the new addon shows the attack on Silvermoon
The Low Point of World of Warcraft
However, there was one single period in which World of Warcraft was truly at death’s door. In hindsight, it is quite ironic that this was precisely the expansion that dealt thematically with the afterlife and death: Shadowlands.
It has now been almost 5 years since Shadowlands was released – and at the beginning, it looked pretty good. Shadowlands was heralded by great “Afterlife” cinematics. In the beta, the Tower of Torghast looked promising and fun. The leveling zones were creative and well-told.
Shadowlands started relatively well. But the mistakes and problems became apparent quickly.
But then came the brutal crash, as the endgame of Shadowlands was nothing less than hell. In some parts, even literally, as the “Maw” was developed as an area where one should feel uncomfortable and unwanted – not only narratively, but also through the gameplay there. In hindsight, a crazy concept, where one can critically ask who thought it was a good idea.
Also, the originally exciting Tower of Torghast was drastically reworked with the release. Instead of being optional, with fun in the foreground, it quickly became “Choreghast” – a weekly chore that one had to complete if one did not want to fall behind irreversibly.
It also became increasingly clear that tying character power to story and cosmetic decisions was not a good idea. A covenant granted powerful abilities in Shadowlands, but one could only belong to one covenant at a time. A change was not intended and was associated with a lot of effort. A catastrophe for those who wanted to enjoy more than one type of content. Because if a covenant provided a strong power in dungeons, it might be of no use in PvP or nearly useless in raids.
Many found the development of Sylvanas in Shadowlands terrible.
Also, the story displeased many. Characters suddenly acted incredibly stupid or old stories were devalued. Almost the entire lore of Warcraft was suddenly attributed to the brilliant plans of the Jailer. A meme that still persists today when something in the story makes little or no sense.
These problems were also garnished with extremely long wait times between the individual patches. Content updates took several months to arrive and in some cases brought not fun, but rather one of the most terrible endgame areas of all time: Korthia. An endless, soulless grind that drove even the most loyal WoW fans insane.
I could also feel this at work. My WoW articles reached fewer and fewer people, and the general interest in the game seemed to simply be declining.
No matter how you turn it: Shadowlands was the low point of World of Warcraft, although the zones, dungeons, and raids were appealing. The endgame, the theme, questionable decisions, long wait times, and incredibly unyielding developers in (much too rare) statements also triggered the thought in me at that time:
For the first time, World of Warcraft could really be dying.
The MMORPG to which I dedicated almost 15 years of my life until then was not only struggling, but felt like it was on the brink. A question arose:
End or renewal?
WoW has often been declared dead – but only once was it truly close.
The Turnaround of the MMORPG Giant
Fortunately, we now know that World of Warcraft has chosen renewal. Already in the last patch of Shadowlands, which after much too long wait brought the area Zereth Mortis, one could feel the first improvements.
But the real “turnaround” only began with Dragonflight. There, the developers remembered old strengths and wanted to let go of old ballast at the same time.
But only in Dragonflight did development really pick up speed. New stories were woven while old systems were revised. The enhancement system was still in its infancy back then, but has since become an integral part of the game. Everyone can work on small, individual progress at any time – according to their own taste.
With Dragonflight began the turnaround.
More and more content is optional, as there are many ways to reach the goal. If you want the best gear, you don’t necessarily have to visit raids. If you don’t want to do Mythic+, you don’t have to set foot in there either. Crafting creates powerful items; particularly committed solo players can also obtain good gear. And the best part: content earned once is also accessible to all other characters on the account.
We now live in a completely different World of Warcraft than we did 5 years ago. Even this small list shows how drastically Azeroth has changed:
Each specialization now has comprehensive talent trees with numerous customization options.
Accounts now have a warband that shares almost all progress and makes alternate characters more enjoyable to play than ever before.
Solo players receive the same attention as group fans because, in addition to dungeons and raids, there are now depths.
There are cross-faction guilds that are even cross-server.
We have damn housing! Something I never thought we would actually get 5 years ago.
Own houses in WoW – long unimaginable, now a reality.
And yes, this renewal is not yet complete, but it is progressing rapidly. In a few weeks, “Midnight” will begin, and with it, World of Warcraft will bid farewell to the ancient tradition of interface add-ons that grant an advantage in the game. A controversial decision, but one that the developers hope to benefit from. Because it lowers the entry barrier to WoW and finally allows designers to develop boss fights that are not immediately automated by a WeakAura.
I am optimistic and excited about the future that World of Warcraft will still have. Because we already know that even after “The Last Titan”, it will not be over. New expansions are already in development. If Blizzard continues to show the community the same positive and understanding attitude as in the last years and does not slip back into “old arrogance”, we might still have the best years in World of Warcraft ahead of us.
Five years ago, I would not have believed it possible that World of Warcraft could shine again like it currently does. I hope that the path will be maintained. Because it is a game with which I would like to grow old, and that may accompany me for many decades to come. But that’s probably the case for most people, who have found a second home in Azeroth.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In 2019, the e-sports scene was talking about a young Brit and his mother, as she took the then 15-year-old out of school so he could spend more time on Fortnite. He has since moved on from the Battle Royale and is now successful in another shooter.
Who is the 15-year-old and what is his story? In 2019, Epic Games had major news for all players of Fortnite’s Battle Royale: The first and only Fortnite World Cup was announced, featuring a prize pool of 30 million US dollars.
The best 100 solo players and the 50 best duos from around the world came together to compete against each other. Each qualified player was guaranteed at least $50,000 in winnings, while the winner of the solo championship was expected to earn even $3,000,000. Among the participants of the World Championship was the then 15-year-old Benjy David Fish, better known as Benjyfishy. He qualified for the World Championship in both the solo and duo competitions, ensuring him 100,000 $.
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Fortnite: Shows Chapter 7 “Pacific Break” in its new cinematic trailer
With a lot of money at stake in the tournament and a unique opportunity for Benjyfishy, the e-sports athlete’s mother made a remarkable decision: She took her son out of school and instead had him taught at home by a private tutor – with a customized schedule.
What he would have learned in school over 2 years was now to be taught to him in 3 years. This way, he would have more time for Fortnite and preparation for important tournaments without feeling tired in school the next day.
The Beginning of a Career
At the following World Championship, Benjyfishy was not among the big winners, but he managed to build a career in the shooter. Still in the same year, his Twitch channel grew significantly. While he had fewer than 1,000 followers in January 2019, by December there were already over 531,000. At that time, over 8,000 people were watching him simultaneously on average (via Sullygnome).
The curve shows the increase of Benjyfishy’s followers on Twitch in 2019 via Sullygnome
At just 16 years old, Benjyfishy had won prize money amounting to 539,623 US dollars and was able to continue growing his Twitch channel. In 2020, he was among the 100 most-watched streamers. Suddenly, he was competing with streaming giants like Ludwig and Gronkh in terms of watch time and left renowned names like moistcr1tical and Ninja behind.
But as his career as a content creator gained momentum, his path as a professional Fortnite player began to falter. Epic Games canceled the second iteration of the Fortnite World Championship planned for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never brought the grand event back. Initially, there were still the seasonal Fortnite Champions Series, but that too would ultimately disappear in 2021 – thus closing the opportunities for an e-sports career with Fortnite.
Break and New Beginning in Another Game
In the summer of 2022, the break followed: Benjyfishy announced he was ending his Fortnite career. The then 18-year-old Brit stated that he had “lost his love for Fortnite.” He wanted to be a professional gamer because it would give him a job he enjoyed. At that point, that was no longer the case, so it seemed “meaningless to continue with something” that no longer brought him joy. However, he had already found a new calling: Valorant.
Benjyfishy mentioned at that time that he was playing a lot of Valorant and was having as much fun as he hadn’t had since 2019. He even played it when he wasn’t streaming and wanted to dedicate himself to Riot Games’ tactical shooter. Initially as a streamer, and later as an e-sports athlete.
Later that same year, he joined Team Enterprise Esports as a substitute player but switched to the Spanish organization Team Heretics just half a year later. He is still active there today.
The Situation in Winter 2025: From Content Creator to Valorant Pro
In Valorant, Benjyfishy is following almost the opposite path of his Fortnite career. This started as a professional gamer and allowed him to establish himself as a content creator. In Valorant, he started as a content creator and then became a successful professional player.
With his current teammates at Team Heretics, he soon achieved his first successes:
2nd place at the Valorant Masters 2024 in Shanghai – Prize money: 200,000 $
2nd place at the Valorant Champions 2024 – Prize money: 400,000 $
In 2025, the first title victory followed: In July, Benjyfishy’s team won the Valorant tournament at the Esports World Cup 2025, previously known as Gamers8. This is an e-sports event in Riyadh, initiated by the Saudi Arabian “Public Investment Fund” (a state fund). Although it is not an official tournament organized by Riot Games, it brought the Brit’s team a prize of 500,000 US dollars.
The big goal for the now 21-year-old Brit is likely to be winning the Valorant Champions 2026, the most important official tournament of the tactical shooter. At the Valorant Champions 2025, Team Heretics was eliminated early against the later fourth-placed players from Paper Rex and finished the competition only in 5th-6th place.
In Valorant, Benjyfishy’s career is currently on a good path overall, and he has successfully established himself as an e-sports athlete in the scene. However, his Twitch channel had taken a big hit in the process. In 2025, he was only live 71 times and could only average around 2360 viewers – the lowest annual average he has ever had.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
It is rather unusual in the gaming world to still offer a standalone launcher for one’s game in 2026. However, the developers of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader want to score points with this measure.
What is this measure? According to a report by PCGamesN, the developers of the best RPG of Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, have planned an interesting advertising measure for 2026.
In an announcement on Steam, the developers explain that many Pathfinder 2 players, according to their statistics, would like to play a similar game, but they are not finding their way to Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader.
That is precisely why the developers want to ensure with their own launcher that players switch from one title to another more easily by presenting some advertising prior to the launch.
Here’s more about the best game of Warhammer 40,000:
Will the launcher be mandatory? No, the developers know that launchers are still something players would prefer to eliminate even in 2026. Therefore, they are trying to placate the community in advance. They offer the option to set the games to start directly without a launcher through the launch options on Steam.
However, this method is basically an opt-out that, especially technically less savvy users may not find directly. Furthermore, the developers want to make the launcher “as seamless and easy as possible”. This means no one has to log in to access their own content.
If you do choose to log in, there are additional contents to discover, and you gain access to betas and game tests. Players who have signed up for the test of Warhammer 40,000 Dark Heresy must play the test through the new launcher.
How is the launcher being received? Despite the developers’ attempt to address some criticisms in advance and present the launcher as a positive extra measure, the comments are quite negative.
A user explains on Steam: “Do I understand this correctly: You want to force us to download a program that we might not want to use at all, and that takes up more space on our hard drives than your game needs, just so you can push advertising for other products on us?”
Another user predicts that the launcher will be seen as a mistake in 5 years and will be removed again. One player suggests that the developers could build in a mod launcher there that makes using a launcher more attractive. However, whether such a feature is planned for the future remains open.
Launchers are one of the most unpopular features among gamers, primarily because they often do not add any value. That the developers of Owlcat are opting for this precisely in 2026 seems unusual. Whether this measure will be successful remains to be seen. Another company has said goodbye to its own launcher in 2025: A publisher finally gives up, removes annoying feature from its games on Steam and Epic Games
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
At the Game Awards 2025, one game clearly dominated. Meanwhile, a really strong role-playing game completely went unnoticed – now it’s a top seller on Steam and cheaper than ever.
Which game is being talked about? We mean Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (KCD2). The role-playing game transports you to medieval Bohemia and was released in February, where it quickly became a hit: The developers celebrated 1 million players, a new peak on Steam, and a 91% positive rating shortly after launch.
Almost a year after its release, the role-playing game is back on the list of top sellers on Steam (as of December 30, 3:20 PM). One reason might be the winter sale. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 currently costs €29.99 on Steam and is thus cheaper than ever before.
Here you can see the trailer for the Royal Edition of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2:
Start video
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 shows Royal Edition with all DLCs for the medieval role-playing game
The Game of the Year that was overlooked at the Game Awards
Why is KCD2 the forgotten game of the year? Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is indeed a really good role-playing game, but it completely went empty-handed at the Game Awards 2025. The title was nominated three times but did not win a single award.
What kind of game is this? Gameplay-wise, you can expect an action RPG with an open world set in 15th-century Europe. It is played from the first-person perspective, as in part 1, with immersion and realism taking precedence. You will search in vain for fantasy elements such as magic or dragons.
Part 2 takes Heinrich to new areas, such as the city of Kuttenberg. However, your goal remains the same: to find the murderer of your parents. On his journey, Heinrich encounters many new characters as well as some characters he has already met in the first game.
By the way: For an additional €10, you can also get the Royal Edition of the game on Steam. This also includes all additional content for the game, including the three story DLCs Brushes with Death, Legacy of the Forge, and Mysteria Ecclesiae.
MeinMMO author Christoph Waldboth cannot help but return to his absolute favorite series Twin Peaks at least once a year. However, 2025 was a particularly emotional experience as an important person passed away.
Who killed Laura Palmer?
When this question occupied countless television viewers in the early 1990s, I was not even born yet. It wasn’t until years later that I caught up on Twin Peaks. As a big fan of David Lynch, who created the series together with Mark Frost, I wanted to understand what so many people loved about Twin Peaks.
Two seasons and 30 episodes later, I understood. Since then, I watch the series at least once a year, preferably during a dark season, because it fits the mood of the story well.
Although Twin Peaks has become a cult series over the years, it is rarely mentioned in the modern series landscape. So to refresh your memory: What is Twin Peaks actually about?
On the surface, the series tells the story of the murder of Laura Palmer and the investigations that this tragic event triggers in the small town of Twin Peaks in the Northwest of the USA. FBI agent Dale Cooper comes to solve the case and soon has to deal with the quirky residents of the town.
While the main focus is on clarifying the question – Who killed Laura Palmer? – one quickly learns about the small and big stories that happen aside from the main plot.
Twin Peaks presents a vibrant world full of quirky characters. Most of them are somehow connected to Laura Palmer and constitute a big part of the series’ charm. While Dale Cooper investigates, a multifaceted small-town world, with all its problems, worries, needs, and even small joys, reveals itself to him and us as an audience. Even if it’s just the black coffee, which Cooper likes to describe with the following words:
“This is damn good coffee.”
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Trailer for Season 1 & 2 of the mystery series Twin Peaks
A Unique Genre Mix
Twin Peaks fascinates me to this day with its unusual blend of different genres. While the main plot, especially at the beginning, feels like a classic crime story, mystery elements are soon added. No wonder, after all, David Lynch was one of the great surrealists of American cinema. Dreams and nightmares play a significant role in solving the case.
This leads to absurd, enigmatic moments within the series that continue to occupy fans today, allowing for new interpretations to emerge. Some of the surreal images have long become iconic, especially the so-called “Red Room,” where many of Cooper’s dreams take place and which has even been referenced in the Simpsons.
A mysterious man in the “Red Room” (Image source: youtube.com)
Apart from that, Twin Peaks also contains elements of a soap opera – love is an important theme for many characters, and romantic relationships dictate entire subplots. Added to this is the comedy genre, which appears in the form of certain figures like the clumsy policeman Andy or Nadine – a woman who tries to make curtains as noiseless as possible.
These funny moments lighten the usually dramatic main plot and ensure that Twin Peaks never becomes too dark. Thus, a good balance is created with the few horror moments that David Lynch and Mark Frost sprinkle in.
The murder victim Laura Palmer (Image source: youtube.com)
Especially the first fourteen episodes manage to captivate me with their story and the themes being negotiated – even though I already know the (unusual) resolution of the murder case. Twin Peaks then continues for another sixteen episodes. The further plot qualitatively unfortunately drops a bit, but in the end, it is the characters that keep me engaged.
They ensure that I return to Twin Peaks year after year. Despite the sad occasion – the death of Laura Palmer – the series has a profoundly optimistic underlying tone. This is mainly due to the main character Dale Cooper and his actor Kyle MacLachlan, who also made Blue Velvet and the 1984 Dune with Lynch.
Even the nostalgic images and the melancholic music by Lynch’s long-time composer Angelo Badalamenti continue to enchant me anew. It was just that the return to Twin Peaks in 2025 was a whole lot more emotional than in previous years.
David Lynch also appears as an FBI agent – here on the left in the picture next to Kyle MacLachlan as Dale Cooper (Image source: youtube.com)
A Master Leaves the Stage
David Lynch passed away on January 15, 2025. He leaves a gap in American cinema and I will personally miss him very much. When I heard of his death, I rewatched his films (Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Blue Velvet …), and then also Twin Peaks again.
This rewatch was much more emotional than the previous ones and made me realize once again what a masterpiece Lynch and Frost created – including the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Not only did they create a milestone in television history, but they also influenced many subsequent productions.
Particularly the mystery boom of the 90s with series like The X-Files is largely due to Twin Peaks. Later series like True Detective, Riverdale, or Fringe also show influences.
Then a third season was released and surprised many fans with a significantly darker tone and a surreal plot that strayed far from the original. The new episodes correspond more to Lynch’s later films than to the original Twin Peaks and are much more cryptic and puzzling. The third season is definitely recommended, even though it lacks the lightness of the first two (which you MUST see beforehand for spoiler reasons).
Again and again this question. Of course, I won’t reveal the answer. Consider it an invitation. All of you who do not know the series yet and can appreciate a mystery story should be warmly recommended. And all others who are already fans are invited to return to the quirky small town. For a coffee and a piece of cherry pie at the Double R Diner. See you there!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A gamer received an excessively large delivery from Amazon but is allegedly allowed to keep the valuable goods.
The featured image is a symbolic representation.
This happened to the gamer: A gamer reports on Reddit that he received a wrong delivery from Amazon. He had ordered two “Samsung 9100 Pro” SSDs with 2 TB of storage each from the online marketplace but instead received 2 packages of hard drives.
In photos he attached to the post, the Samsung SSDs are shown stacked next to the user’s gaming equipment. One picture shows the extent of the delivery: a total of 20 brand new hard drives are on the user’s desk.
A single “Samsung 9100 Pro” SSD with 2 TB of storage costs 279 euros on Amazon (in Germany, prices may vary regionally). Thus, the user received hard drives worth 5,580 euros.
Start video
In Germany, there are over 400 USB sticks protruding from walls – What is the ‘Dead Drops’ project?
Amazon gives the happy gamer a free pass
To what extent is he allowed to keep the hard drives? In the comments under the post, the Reddit user explains that he is allowed to keep the erroneous delivery (via Reddit). He had spoken with Amazon’s customer service, and they told him he doesn’t have to return the extra delivery.
However, one user advises him to document everything and to get written permission that he can keep the hard drives. He should prevent that customer service reassures him over the phone that he can keep an erroneous delivery, only to then demand that delivery back weeks later. And in the worst case, he would have no proof that it was previously stated that he didn’t have to return anything.
The user’s own statements should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism, but similar mistakes do happen from time to time. One possible reason is that an entire box is mistakenly scanned and shipped as a single unit at Amazon. Various posts in the forum Amazon Seller Central show how this looks from a seller’s perspective.
What is the legal situation in such a case? We at MeinMMO asked a lawyer about this issue in 2024, as we regularly report on similar cases. He stated concerning German law that while you do not have to independently contact the seller, they do have a claim to the return of the goods or the payment of the purchase price for three years.
If you receive a similar delivery, it is best to talk immediately to the seller and a legal advisor before selling the excess goods and sitting on the costs months later. What exactly the lawyer we consulted said about the topic can be read here: What to do if Amazon sends you additional items by mistake?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Currently, the Sauercrowd event in WoW Classic is extremely popular on Twitch. However, the organizers face a major challenge because many streamers are cheating.
What are the rules of the event? The Sauercrowd event in WoW Classic takes place on a hardcore server. If you die, you must level up a new character from the beginning and lose all your progress.
Moreover, using an optimized leveling route to reach the endgame as smoothly as possible is prohibited. Yet, the rules are repeatedly broken by the streamers.
Start video
This is how challenges for Papaplatte became a livelihood
The project management punished the actions of the streamer, although he initially did not want to accept the penalty. But this is just one of many examples where the rules are not fully followed by the streamers.
What is the status of the rules? In a new clip on YouTube, you see Papaplatte watching the streamer Sunglitters cheat. She is in a precarious situation and types “Help” in the chat, after which her viewers rush to help her to avoid death.
This babysitting by viewers is difficult to prevent, but the direct request to the viewers to save the streamer from death is prohibited. The rules clearly state: “Playing with other characters outside the guild is forbidden.”
How does Papaplatte react to the clip? Co-organizer Papaplatte finds the behavior of the streamer wrong. He says, “The [rule violations] are increasing. We need to discuss this again tomorrow.”
Papaplatte wants to address the issue with the other organizers and find a solution. The outcome of the discussion is not yet known.
One-Punch Man set new standards with its first season. The 3rd season, however, is considered the biggest disappointment in the anime year 2025 – and it’s not over yet.
What was announced? The official account for One-Punch Man announced on December 28 on X that there will be a Season 3 Part 2. The airing is scheduled for 2027. A short teaser on YouTube suggests that fans can “look forward” to an, well, epic confrontation between Saitama and the self-proclaimed hero hunter Garou.
Start video
One-Punch Man: Special Announcement for Season 3 of the Anime
Fans say: Please don’t
Why is this bad news? While for most fans a continuation of their anime would be a reason to celebrate, fans of One-Punch Man seem to see a continuation more as a divine punishment. Season 3 has so far been a massive disappointment, especially after waiting so long for it.
After all, it has been 6 years since the mixed 2nd season – some surely hoped that during this time the issues of its predecessor would have been resolved. Instead, the quality of the animations has rather decreased, and fans were also unhappy with some content changes. A small character detail got fans particularly riled up, as reported by colleagues from GamePro, when a cigarette turned into a lollipop.
For user Calems_Rule2005, it is therefore not even an announcement on YouTube, but: “Bandai THREATENS to release more of One Punch Man Season 3.”
Now one could hope that Part 2 will succeed in turning the tide and at least reaching the quality of the second season. Unfortunately, however, Part 2 is already under a bad star.
Users quickly noticed that the key visual of the announcement was the same that had already been used for Season 3 – just with differently arranged characters.
Even in the teaser on YouTube, the camera pans over the same image for nearly 30 seconds, with Saitama and Garou now at least given fiery flame auras. Kqder already mocks: “Even the teasers are PNGs.”
An actor from GTA 5 received a visit from the police in the middle of a livestreamDuring this incident, it came across so casually that one might think the officers were just visiting a friend.
Whose actor is being referred to? The person in question is Ned Luke. Fans who paid attention during the credits of GTA 5 know that he plays one of the protagonists – the bank robber (and film producer) Michael De Santa.
The actor also streams on YouTube and Twitch. However, he has been dealing with incidents involving the police for a few years now. Since November 2023, the 67-year-old has already been the target of so-called swatting for the 8th time.
Here you can see the second trailer for GTA 6:
Start video
Rockstar Games presents GTA 6 in the second trailer
Police intervention turns into a friendly visit
What is swatting? The term derives from the abbreviation “SWAT”, the English term for special police units – comparable to the German SEK. In swatting, the perpetrator fakes a danger situation to provoke a police intervention at the affected person’s location.
Swatting is not a harmless prank and is even punishable by law. The officers never know what exactly to expect at the scene. Swatting can be traumatizing for the victims and, in the worst case, can lead to their deaths or that of other people present.
Ned Luke was once again the target of swatting: The last incident occurred on December 23, 2025. At that moment, Luke was livestreaming with Rob Wiethoff, the voice of John Marston from Red Dead Redemption. You can find a recording of the stream on YouTube.
The actor has received visits from the police so often that they now casually walk into the room. One of the officers directly told him that he was “being swatted again.”
Luke also reacts completely calmly to the situation. He greets the officers with a friendly “How’s it going, guys?” and asks the viewers in the stream to wish “his friends” a Merry Christmas. After a brief conversation, they say goodbye amicably.
You can see the entire incident in a clip on X.com (formerly Twitter). The situation is also being actively discussed there. Jokes about the absurdity of the situation are being shared:
“At this point, they should just join the stream as guests…,” writes X user @SeyiGlobal. @megachogash agrees with him, saying: “I really expected them to just sit on the couch.”
@WarriorNight007 warns against underestimating the seriousness of the situation: “People who joke about it don’t realize how life-threatening it is.”
For at least one of the individuals who swatted the actor in the past, legal consequences are now likely to follow. On December 27, 2025, Luke shared a picture on Instagram showing a charging document. Along with it is a clear message: “Fuck around and find out”.
About the New Year’s Eve, there will be a suitable event in Pokémon GO. And this brings you a strong, permanent change.
What kind of event is this? On Wednesday, December 31, 2025, at 10:00 AM, the “New Year 2026” event will start in Pokémon GO. It will be active until Sunday, January 4, 2026, at 8:00 PM.
In addition to some bonuses, strong item rewards, and an increased shiny chance, there will also be a permanent change starting with the event from which you can benefit.
Start video
Pokémon GO shows its new season in the trailer
All content from New Year 2026 in Pokémon GO
What kind of change is this? With the start of the event, the number of guaranteed lucky trades will be increased. While there were previously 35, there will now be 45. You can trigger a guaranteed lucky trade when you trade a Pokémon caught in 2020 or earlier.
There is no way to see in the game how many of the guaranteed lucky trades you have completed so far. However, if you know that you have already used the previous 35, you can be sure that you can now carry out 10 more.
Which Pokémon are there? You can find various event Pokémon both in the wild and in raids. These include:
In the wild:
Bulbasaur with party hat*
Jigglypuff with ribbon*
Hoothoot with New Year’s outfit*
Pikachu with party top hat*
In 1-star raids:
Pikachu with party top hat*
Wurmple with party hat*
In 3-star raids:
Raticate with party hat*
Nidorino with party hat*
Gengar with party hat*
Woobat with party hat*
What bonuses are there? If you complete raid battles during the event, you will receive double the amount of experience points and stardust. Additionally, the chance to find a shiny Pikachu with a party top hat is increased.
In addition to event field research, there will also be daily field research in “New Year 2026”. You will receive this when you log in for the first time of the day, as long as you have 3 or fewer field research tasks.
If you complete a daily field research task, you can receive a lucky egg or incense as a reward.
When you are out in the game, you can also discover festive fireworks in the sky.
Further content: With the start of the event, you can also purchase a new accessory in the in-game shop for your avatar. These are Kecleon boots. Even after the event ends, you can still purchase this accessory.
In addition, there is a paid ticket that you can purchase for $1.99 (approximately €2.50). This will grant you an additional raid pass at gyms each day during the event. Additionally, this unlocks a limited research task in which you can receive 2 premium battle passes, 3,000 stardust, and encounters with the costumed Pikachu when you complete it.
In Path of Exile 2, a player defeated the final boss of the game without any gear or weapons and did it in under a minute. The community is astonished, but the player himself sees it differently.
Who is it about? The YouTuber “isfooPoE” has recently been taking down the bosses of the ARPG one by one without any gear or weapons. His latest victim is the final boss of the game, the Arbiter of Ash.
The boss is known to be particularly stubborn, and it seems almost unimaginable to defeat the opponent in just one minute without any weapons or gear. However, the YouTuber has demonstrated this in a video.
Here you can watch the video:
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How is this possible? In Path of Exile 2, it is indeed possible as a Monk to go into battle without any weapons. While this may not be the best way to equip your character, it has been taken into account by the developers.
So the YouTuber has also created a build that is designed to survive the fight against the strongest bosses in the game without any gear. He uses a skill that conjures ice blocks, which he then destroys with a dash to deal damage to the enemy.
The fight lasts only one minute in the video, but is only successful because the player is a professional who skillfully dodges most abilities. At one point, it shows how much damage the boss deals, making the build a glass cannon build.
Start video
Path of Exile 2 zeigt Gameplay zur neuen Druiden-Klasse
How does the community react? The community is beside itself. Players find it quite incredible that someone has managed to defeat this challenging boss fight naked. For many, the Arbiter of Ash is already a good challenge with all tools available, where many have already failed.
There are also comments about the budget of the build, which is practically free of charge without any equipment, making it attractive for other players.
On Reddit, one player explains that the video only proves how bad he really is in Path of Exile 2, perhaps because he would never face this boss challenge himself.
The player describes his performance in the video description rather modestly: “I didn’t think I would be able to do this OP with zero gear. In general, this fight is not hard even with zero DPS and zero defense, but of course, it is fun to complete it as quickly as possible.”
Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen is a former e-sports player from the Netherlands who has made a name for himself primarily with the strategy game Warcraft III. He is now 39 and streams on Twitch. He has currently joined the German WoW project Sauercrowd.
Who is it about? Grubby is a former strategy pro who has been considered one of the best players in Warcraft 3 since 2004. With his former clan 4Kings, he set a record for the most wins in the WC3L, the most important team league of the strategy game. He is also among the top players in the player statistics there.
His most significant victories include the World Cyber Games 2004 and 2008, the Electronic Sports World Cup 2005, and the World Series of Video Games 2006. In total, Grubby earned more than $363,500 in prize money, of which about $58,000 was from Starcraft 2.
Currently, however, Grubby is showcasing another Blizzard game: He has joined the German WoW project Sauercrowd, organized by the streamers HandOfBlood, Metashi12, and Papaplatte.
Start video
HandOfBlood: The most important thing about the YouTuber and Twitch streamer in under a minute
Twitch streamer is “naturalized” by HandOfBlood
How did it come about? Grubby came to Sauercrowd via sunglitters, a German Twitch streamer who appears as a potato and streams in English. sunglitters and Grubby had already participated together in OnlyFangs, the American counterpart of the WoW project.
To participate, Grubby had to go through a strict application process, including a “naturalization test” with HandOfBlood. The Dutchman was also required to install the WoW client in German to promote immersion.
You can see a snippet from the test here:
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This is how it is going for him now: So far, Grubby is doing quite well, both in terms of WoW and playing in German. Even if some subtleties may be lost in translation, like in this clip on Twitch.
Moreover, the Dutchman has already expanded his vocabulary with important phrases, such as “Order is half of life” and of course “Speak German you…” (Source: Twitch).
In contrast to many other participants, Grubby has considerable experience with WoW, as many of the Twitch streamers are attempting the MMORPG for the first time.
At least the Dutchman looks most of the time as if he could vaguely remember having seen all this before. However, Grubby not only has to remember how it works, but also explain his knowledge to his clueless companions in German, as in this Twitch clip.
Grubby has also already experienced his first death. He lost his priest at level 12 and reacted, as always, with a heartfelt “Oh shit.” The clip has received over 36,000 views, and you can watch it here:
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For the event, Grubby, with his charming personality and sympathetic grammar blunders, is a real asset. But it could also turn out to be a success for him to participate. For with OnlyFangs, the Dutchman had already succeeded in attracting a much larger audience on Twitch than with his usual streams. Now it remains to be seen whether he can repeat that.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In ARC Raiders you can strictly fight against other players or be friendly. However, some players are often in peaceful lobbies more than others. Now the community believes there is a way for PvP players to also access the peaceful lobbies.
What is the community convinced of? A few days ago, Reddit user “WG_Envoy” addressed the community and vented his frustration. He complained about the lobbies where he plays the extraction shooter. Everyone would immediately start shooting upon sight and no one speaks in voice chat. He asks the community how he can return to the peaceful lobbies of ARC Raiders.
And he got a response.
Some players wrote that he should behave friendly, especially near other raiders, and signal to the matchmaking that he has friendly interactions. Other players were sure that the lobbies are simply random and that there are no friendly lobbies and separate PvP lobbies.
Start video
ARC Raiders zeigt im Launch-Trailer, wie der Kampf Mensch gegen Maschine aussieht
Raider back on the straight path
This is now his gaming experience: Four days later, “WG_Envoy” returned to the community on Reddit and reported that his way back to peace was successful. He has now been in friendly, peaceful lobbies for two days straight.
“In my current lobbies, everyone is running around carelessly and just greeting people they pass by. They loot openly, walk past others without drawing their weapons… I hardly ever see PvP.”
He even successfully participated in a fight against the queen in solo lobbies, where several random raiders helped each other. No one shot another sneakily in the back.
How exactly did he return to the peaceful lobbies? “WG_Envoy” says he played several matches without shooting a single raider – not even to defend himself.
This is what the community says: A Reddit user explained with a Fight Club reference that the first rule of peaceful lobbies is not to talk about peaceful lobbies. But he added a somewhat “more serious” note: “Welcome to the oasis. Please help keep it that way.”
Another user added that the beauty of the “PvE lobbies” is that it only takes 2-3 matches to get back into the “PvP lobbies” when one suddenly starts playing PvP. However, many agree that it also requires “the rats” who occasionally stir up a fight in peaceful rounds to maintain the excitement of an extraction shooter.
Today, streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney Plus dominate home cinema. It wasn’t always like this, and the much better alternative was video rental stores, as MeinMMO author Christoph Waldboth points out.
I will never forget the smell in my favorite video rental store. Somewhat musty. It was accompanied by warm, dry air and quiet voices in the background. I fondly remember how I used to visit the video store near my parents’ house after school and take my time choosing a movie. It had a meditative quality and brought me great joy.
Today, those days are long gone. Video rental stores are now a rare occurrence, and most of us stream movies and series comfortably from home. Services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus and similar options seem to make it easy for us to decide what plays on the screen right from the sofa.
While that may seem convenient, I still believe that something is missing in this way of watching movies. Video rental stores had a significant advantage that is hard to find in the digital age.
A famous director worked in a video store before his career: Quentin Tarantino:
Start video
Pulp Fiction – Trailer for the cult film by Quentin Tarantino
Every film was a conscious decision
In a video store, I made a conscious choice for a movie. I patiently strolled through the aisles, was lured by the covers of the VHS and DVD cases, read titles and descriptions, and then made a choice.
Afterward, I carried the movie home, where it waited for its moment to be watched. Until that moment arrived, my anticipation grew, and my expectations increased.
And here I see a big difference compared to Netflix: With streaming services, I often find myself opening the page just before the deadline, scrolling aimlessly through the offerings, and after half an hour, frustrated – the evening is already progressing – deciding on something that ultimately appeals to me the LEAST.
Rarely does my choice fall on a film I truly wanted to see and that genuinely interests me. Anticipation cannot build because I immediately press the start button after the decision.
What is also missing in streaming: recommendations from knowledgeable staff that were often found in video rental stores. Sure, the Netflix algorithm BELIEVES it knows what I like, but most of the time I sit there shaking my head as I go through the recommendations.
All of this may seem unimportant to some of you, but as a big film lover, I love to make the movie experience a ritual. Including conscious selection, anticipation, screening, returning the film to the video store, and subsequent exchange of opinions.
Since I don’t want to end on this sour note, I have an alternative to video rental stores that you all know: libraries. Since they emerged thousands of years ago, they have developed significantly and today often house not only books but also other media such as films.
I can only advise you to visit a library with a well-stocked film collection. The experience that a video rental store provides can surprisingly be recreated well there. The selection is often broader and includes older titles that are not available on streaming services.
Moreover, libraries are often significantly cheaper, even compared to streaming services. In my case, I paid around 30 euros annually for membership in a German-speaking city. That is roughly equivalent to two months of Netflix in the standard subscription without ads (13.99 €).
To be honest: Sitting on the sofa is comfortable, but for a more rounded film experience, I am happy to take the trip to the library. But now I would like to hear your opinion. Have you experienced video rental stores and miss this way of choosing films? Feel free to write it in the comments. In any case, more and more people are streaming, which leads to lists like this: The 10 most-watched films of all time on Netflix in ranking
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
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