The 2nd part of the Winter Holidays starts in Pokémon GO. You can expect a new monster and an increased shiny chance for rare monsters.
What kind of event is this? The 2nd part of the Winter Holidays follows immediately from the 1st part. The event starts on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, at 10:00 AM and runs until Monday, December 29, 2025, at 8:00 PM.
How do I get Klonkett? The rock-type monster Klonkett is part of it. You can evolve this 8th generation monster into Wagong for 25 candies and then into Montecarbo for 100 candies.
You can find the new monster with a bit of luck in the wild, and you can also challenge, defeat, and catch it in 1-star raids. You cannot obtain the monster as shiny for now.
Start video
Pokémon GO shows its new season in the trailer
All content from Winter Holidays: Part 2
Which monsters are there in the event? Within the 2nd part of the Winter Holidays, there are event monsters that you can encounter in the wild. You can also receive special monsters in raids and from eggs.
In the wild:
Galar-Flampion*
Arktip*
Flaniwal*
Dedenne in holiday attire* (rare)
Klonkett (rare)
In 7-km eggs:
Pichu in holiday hat*
Kussilla*
Petznief with holiday bow*
Frigometri*
Snomnom
In 1-star raids:
Alola-Sandan*
Galar-Flampion*
Klonkett
In 3-star raids:
Galar-Pantimos*
Mogelbaum in holiday attire*
Akkup in holiday attire*
What bonuses are there in the event? Additionally, there are several bonuses waiting for you. These are:
Chance to receive items like Quick and Charged TMs, silver pineapples, golden razz berries, and even special candies while catching Pokémon
increased chance for the shiny variants of Damhirplex in holiday outfit as well as Dedenne in holiday attire
Field research where you can receive stardust, experience points, and encounters with event Pokémon
the GO Pass: Winter Holidays 2025 is still active in the 2nd part of the Winter Holidays
The year 2025 is approaching its end rapidly. However, the first events of the new year are already known. This also includes the first Community Day of the new year, which takes place in January 2026 and brings you a really strong starter monster right at the start.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With Season 11, Diablo 4 has received a new crafting system that gives unpredictable effects to your items. This can even affect the already extremely strong Mythics.
Surprisingly, the Paladin has also joined the game, which all pre-order customers of the second expansion Lord of Hatred can now select as a class.
In addition to new uniques, there is also a new seasonal crafting system that further enhances your gear: the Sanctification. This is the final upgrade of your loot. An item receives a random effect and cannot be changed afterward. Learn how Sanctification works in detail here.
Currently, extremely powerful items are emerging in Diablo 4 due to Sanctification. One player has obtained the ultimate over-item, and gets to enjoy a double Shako effect. But many others are also raking in rewards with the new system.
Start video
Diablo 4: So funktioniert das neue Feature Heiligung in Season 11
“Are you ready for the Doom Crown?”
What are players bragging about? If you scroll through the Diablo 4 subreddit, you’ll come across numerous threads where players showcase their latest loot. Particularly prevalent are Mythics, the strongest mythical items in the game. With Sanctification, these have received an additional effect, in some cases even another mythical property.
Here are some highlights from the community:
bloodfangz91 shows the Mythic helmet “Heir of Perdition,” which has gained the mythical effect of the Harlequin’s Crown through Sanctification. He writes on Reddit: “You may have seen Heir of Perdition and Shako, but are you ready for the Doom Crown? I. Am. Speechless. This is an absolutely brilliant Sanctification […]. I never thought I would be so excited about a Mythic item.”
mf_decap was also lucky and got the effect of the Harlequin’s Crown, but on the Mythic sword “Doombringer,” as he shows on Reddit.
nerdmanwhippy presents the Mythic sword “The Grandfather” on Reddit, which has gained the effect of the Mythic ring “Ring of the Starless Sky” through Sanctification.
But not only Mythic Uniques benefit from this. Also, “normal” Uniques (and other items) can get mythical effects. For example, Mediocre_Drop_9760 was lucky and received the effect of the Harlequin’s Crown on the Unique shield “Herald of Zakarum”.
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The powerful Mythic Uniques play a central role for many of the strongest endgame builds in Diablo 4. With Sanctification, you can further upgrade these already strong items and refine them to perfection – with a bit of luck even including mythical effects. You can find the best builds for all classes in Season 11 of Diablo 4 in our tier list.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
An American WoW streamer has such a bad reputation that even Germans mock him in the stream.
World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore is an experience you have to be prepared for. You need trust in the team, confidence in your own skills, and you must know all the little details of the game almost perfectly to assess dangers competently. That is why many expect great entertainment from the German streamer event “SauerCrowd.” However, a preceding incident has now been imitated, one that sparked a heated debate in the US counterpart “OnlyFangs.”
In modern WoW, everything is currently waiting for Midnight:
Start video
WoW: Patch 11.2.7 – The warning shows what threatens Quel’thalas
What did Rumathra do? During a visit to the Flame Pit in a practice run for WoW Classic Hardcore, the group of streamer Rumathra starts to sweat. The fight spirals out of control and some group members are already dying. Rumathra, however, has to grin and sees his opportunity.
He announces that he “can make the Pirate Software,” before he hops and runs towards the exit to escape character death. He then explains in English that he “has no mana” and that he “can’t do anything” – a clear reference to an incident at another hardcore event.
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What situation does this refer to? In the hardcore event “OnlyFangs” featuring several international streamers, there was an incident involving the streamer PirateSoftware. In the dungeon Grim Batol, there was a faulty pull where more enemies were engaged in the fight than intended. This is a potentially deadly situation that carries some risks but can still be resolved by good players.
But although the group leader announced to face the situation, PirateSoftware took to his heels and fled, claiming that he “had no mana” to help. That was an obvious lie, as he was actively using his mana and still had items (like the “Mana Jewel”) to regenerate mana.
It was precisely this incident that led to PirateSoftware falling out of favor with many. Because in an objective review, it was simply evident that the streamer could have helped his own team to escape. As a consequence, he was also expelled from the guild.
Since then, it has become a buzzword in parts of the WoW community to “pull a Pirate Software” – one abandons the team and secures one’s own safety, despite having had plenty of opportunities to help the group, which one also denies.
Whether the German event “SauerCrowd” will also produce as many memorable experiences remains to be seen. The event starts on December 27 and the goal here is also to defeat Ragnaros. Since many WoW newcomers will also be participating, there will likely be plenty of drama and many amusing cases of spontaneous character deaths.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Vince Zampella (55), the head of Battlefield at Electronic Arts, passed away on Sunday, December 21, 2025, in a car accident.
Who was Vince Zampella?
Vince Zampella was the head of the Battlefield series at Electronic Arts.
He is co-founder of Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind Titanfall and Apex Legends.
Before Zampella started at EA, he was an Executive Producer at Activision for Call of Duty.
According to U.S. media reports, Vince Zampella died at the age of 55 in a car accident in a Ferrari on December 21, 2025. According to NBC Los Angeles, the accident was reported on Sunday around 12:45 PM local time.
What is known about the cause of death: As NBC Los Angeles reports, the accident reportedly occurred on the Southern California Angeles Crest Highway. Besides the developer’s Ferrari, no other vehicle was involved in the accident. Zampella was, however, not alone in the car.
Zampella’s car apparently veered off the road and crashed into a concrete barrier. A passenger was ejected from the vehicle during the impact. The driver was trapped in the subsequent vehicle fire and died at the scene of the accident. The passenger later died in the hospital.
Further information about the accident and whether Zampella was driving the vehicle involved is currently unclear. However, local police reportedly have a witness video that could provide additional information.
Friends and acquaintances confirm the incident: Shortly after the news of Zampella’s death was published by U.S. media, friends and acquaintances of the deceased spoke out on social media, expressing their sorrow and condolences to the bereaved and confirming the sad news.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
An activist group has created a backup of the Spotify library. They want to offer millions of songs for free.
What kind of hackers are these? Unknown individuals claim in a blog post on “Anna’s Archive” that they have created a backup of Spotify.
Anna’s Archive is a so-called meta-search engine that specifically searches shadow libraries. Shadow libraries are online databases that provide copyrighted content such as movies, e-books, and music without the permission of copyright holders for free.
Anna’s Archive has set itself the special goal of collecting, cataloging, and making accessible the entire knowledge of humanity in one place for free.
According to initial reports regarding the data theft at Spotify, Anna’s Archive is currently unavailable. There are also no links to the original blog post available anymore.
Start video
Students spy on passersby with hidden cameras and AI, find name and address in seconds
Data theft on a large scale
What kind of hack is this? The blog post on Anna’s Archive states that they possess 300 terabytes of metadata and music files from Spotify. In total, there are 256 million songs, of which 86 million are distributed via bulk torrents. Now they want to use the data to build a preservation archive for music:
“Normally, Anna’s Archive focuses on text […]. But our mission (the preservation of the knowledge and culture of humanity) does not differentiate between media types. Sometimes, an opportunity arises outside the text domain. This is one such case. Some time ago, we discovered a way to scrape Spotify on a large scale. We saw a role for ourselves in building a music archive that is primarily focused on long-term preservation.”
The responsible individuals state that while Spotify does not have all the music in the world, it is a start and an attempt to initiate a preservation archive for music: “It is the world’s first ‘preservation archive’ for music that is completely open (which means it can be easily mirrored by anyone with sufficient storage). It comprises 86 million music files, covering about 99.6% of all streaming requests.”
Spotify confirmed the incident in a statement to billboard and stated that the company is investigating unauthorized access by third parties, where unauthorized individuals gained access to some music files on the platform.
What the hack tells us about Spotify: Anna’s Archive also presents some data from Spotify that was obtained from the hack in the blog post. They write, for example, that the sorting function of songs on Spotify is significantly influenced by a so-called popularity score calculated by an algorithm.
The popularity score, in turn, largely depends on the total number of plays and their recency. The popularity of artists and albums is mathematically derived from the popularity of individual tracks. Currently, popular songs include “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga, “DtMF” by Bad Bunny, and “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
At the Game Awards, the studio behind Baldur’s Gate 3 announced their new project. The new GameStar Talk discusses Divinity, the studio head’s ambitions, and the current AI allegations.
What is this Talk about? In the new GameStar Talk with host Lea, the upcoming Game Divinity from Larian Studios is discussed. It was announced during the Game Awards 2025 with a disturbing trailer.
Lea talks here with GameStar author Fabiano Uslenghi and MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski about the Divinity brand, the new development opportunities for the studio without the Dungeons-&-Dragons license, and studio head Swen Vincke. Additionally, the currently hotly debated AI topic surrounding the game is addressed.
Here is the Talk on YouTube:
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Delusions of Grandeur and High Ambitions – Divinity in GameStar Talk
What will be discussed in the Talk? In the GameStar Talk, the participants discuss the new game from Larian Studios, Divinity. The game belongs to Larian’s own series. We have gathered everything you need to know about the franchise.
Specifically, it is about how Larian was able to celebrate a massive success with Baldur’s Gate 3. For their next game, they have a correspondingly larger budget. Also, with Divinity, the license from Wizards of the Coast for Dungeons & Dragons is no longer in effect. This is expected to give the developers more freedom overall.
MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski mentions that she asked Swen Vincke if he wasn’t being a bit egotistical, considering that he seemingly wants to create the perfect role-playing game.
Another topic is the current debate about the use of AI in the development of the game. In an interview with Bloomberg, Larian CEO Swen Vincke stated that his team would be using generative AI tools in pre-development.
With Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios celebrated their biggest success to date:
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Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to PS5 – Trailer prepares for console release
The year 2025 is coming to an end and some players take this as an opportunity to do some calculations. A trainer in Pokémon Go analyzed how much you could have spent on tickets this year.
How much do the tickets for 2025 cost? The Reddit user DonaldMick did some calculations and found out how much money you could spend on each event ticket of Pokémon Go. In a detailed list, he named each ticket for the twelve months and their total price.
A total of 104 smaller event tickets were offered. Together with the four major events, the Reddit user calculated a total of 548 dollars, which would be approximately 467 euros.
What shocking discovery did he make? The 467 euros are already shocking enough. The trainer also realized that with this amount, one could buy a Switch 2, the latest console from Nintendo. Currently, the console costs 459 euros on Amazon (as of December 22, 2025, at 1:00 PM).
Start video
Pokémon GO shows its new season in the trailer
Most tickets are considered unnecessary by the community
Why are most tickets considered unnecessary? In the comments of the Reddit post, some players from the community wrote that many of these tickets are rather unnecessary.
The Reddit user krispyboiz writes that it is an interesting but also shocking analysis and notes: “As scary as this total amount is, I still think one should acknowledge how easily most tickets and passes can be skipped.”
According to the trainer, you receive many of the additional items from the tickets while playing Pokémon Go for free. In total, over 500 other players agreed with him (as of December 22, 2025, at 1:00 PM).
Even the Reddit user EMPTY_SODA_CAN bought most of the tickets for Pokémon Go before his unemployment. After the trainer had to pay more attention to his spending, he found out that he didn’t miss many ticket contents.
A former employee of Electronic Arts spoke about the development of Battlefield 3 and revealed that we almost got an entirely different game.
Which Battlefield are we talking about?
Battlefield 3 is considered one of the best Battlefields in history today and is often referred to by fans when asked: “What should the latest Battlefield be based on?”
The shooter is appreciated for its modern, non-futuristic setting and realistic weapons and uniforms. Additionally, it features “sluggish” movement that makes you feel more like a real soldier rather than a startled squirrel.
Many BF3 maps are considered legendary today and returned in later releases, including maps like Operation Firestorm and Métro, but also maps like Caspian Border and Noshar Canals are legendary.
Start video
Battlefield 6: Mit diesen Tipps werdet ihr zum besseren Squad-Spieler
The big project that never came
How was Battlefield 3 planned as an MMO? David Goldfarb, a former employee and lead designer at Electronic Arts, talked about the development of Battlefield 3 in an interview with /noclip on YouTube in the summer of 2025, among other things. He was responsible for the campaign of the game.
Goldfarb explains that Battlefield 3 originally differed significantly from how it was later released. The game, which was then under the working title “Project Venice” developed by DICE, was supposed to be more like an MMO:
Everyone was pretty much working on the “big project” that was the then BF3. However, it was a completely different BF3. It was actually more like an MMO.
/noclip reports shortly thereafter that Project Venice never really took off and was ultimately canceled. Later, a team was formed that was supposed to reset Battlefield 3 and subsequently created the game as we know it today.
What happened to the remnants of the MMO project? As Goldfarb mentions later in the interview, they were able to rely on assets from Project Venice during the development of Battlefield 3.
Among the contents used was Paris, which became the setting of the sixth campaign mission “Comrades,” in which Russian soldiers must prevent the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Paris.
A player shares his negative experience with Amazon on Reddit. Instead of new RAM, the PC enthusiast receives fake RAM that doesn’t fit his PC build. The community then gives him advice.
What happened? The user Leading-Growth-8361 reports on Reddit on December 21, 2025, that he bought a DDR5 RAM kit from Amazon for his new PC. However, he claims that upon opening his delivery, he discovered it was a fake.
According to the PC builder, he purchased the hardware directly through Amazon. Amazon itself was listed as the seller. The Redditor then attempted unsuccessfully to install the faulty RAM in his PC.
He reports that upon closer inspection of the supposed DDR5 kit, he found that it was actually a DDR4 kit with a DDR5 casing attached. This rendered the RAM useless for him as his PC requires DDR5 modules.
It is possible that the Steam Machine is also affected by the currently high RAM prices:
Start video
Valve presents the Steam Machine in the new trailer
The community knows the scammer’s trick
What does the community say about it? The story is circulating on social media and people are sharing their comments:
LockedUnlocked says on Reddit: “That’s the oldest trick in the book.”
Roddy explains on X: “Fraud with returned goods is currently skyrocketing. Much RAM is not securely packaged, and it’s easy to return old RAM instead of new.”
Sigamus, a Redditor, writes: “That’s why I film everything I open, but I probably would have missed that too.”
How do I protect myself from fraud? Our tips should help you minimize the risk when buying RAM: Check the goods immediately upon receipt. As soon as you accept a package, inspect the goods and check their functionality if possible. Because if the goods are defective, you can quickly return them and get your money back.
Opt for official hardware shops like Alternate and Mindfactory, as these shops specialize in PC components and have an interest in ensuring you receive functioning hardware.
And very importantly: Do not accept opened packages. If the seal on your package has already been opened, the chance of fraud is high. Refuse acceptance in this case and then inform the seller or the store.
In the housing of World of Warcraft, many items have no function at all. But that is about to change – your house will become more useful.
With the introduction of housing in World of Warcraft, some concerns arose. Some feared that players would never have to leave their digital house again if they could do too much in the houses. Therefore, the house has so far been mostly purely cosmetic – but that will change in Midnight. Because a category of decorations will actually become functional with Patch 12.0.
Start video
So gestaltet ihr in WoW einen Weihnachtsbaum für die Feiertage
Which items will be functional? With the release of the pre-patch, various mailbox items will receive their function. Until now, they were exclusively decorative items, but with the release of Patch 12.0, they can actually be used to send and receive letters.
The different mailbox decorations are currently available mainly through the crafting system, such as enchanting or inscription. Therefore, you can also buy them through the auction house. Examples are “Stampwede’s Postal Portal” and “Gilnean Mailbox”.
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Why is Blizzard being cautious? In the Warlords of Draenor expansion, the social features of World of Warcraft had fallen a bit by the wayside. The garrison allowed so many functions at that time that players basically never had to leave it. There were vendors for all needs, you could earn a lot of gold through table missions, and even access to the auction house was possible. It was simply hardly necessary to ever go to a capital city.
As a result, the current capital felt accordingly empty and lifeless – something Blizzard has avoided in the following expansions.
Are there any other “useful” items? Until now, apart from mailboxes, there are only cooking stations like stoves or fires that can actually be used to prepare food. Other items with actual game-relevant functions – such as crafting stations – are not available yet.
Blizzard had also announced in advance that they wanted to be very careful in introducing objects that actually have a function. This is to prevent a player house from becoming the “ultimate hub” where a player can basically accomplish all important tasks, as that would make housing feel more and more like a requirement.
Why are mailboxes allowed then? Both mailboxes and cooking stations can already be used by players more or less “everywhere”:
Cooking is possible almost everywhere, as you can manually set up a fire, and there are even some pets (like Little Ragnaros) that serve as fire.
Mailboxes can also be set up anywhere. This is possible not only through the expensive mount with the auction house but also through various toys that allow temporary access to mailboxes.
This gives the house just a new function, which was previously already possible through toys or mounts. Furthermore, it felt a bit strange not being able to write letters in your own house – since where else would you do that?
Even though the housing feature is received very well by many, there is also a whole group of fans who cannot make anything of it. If you belong to this group and don’t know how to fully express your creativity with housing, take a look at this fascinating house that was discovered in a neighborhood.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The story of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was highly praised this year and rewarded with several awards. The game’s lead writer did not even orient herself to creating a story for a game.
How strong is the story of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? The RPG Clair Obscur not only won at the Game Awards this year, but also received further awards that recognize the game’s story: In addition to the Game Award for Best Narrative, it also received the Golden Joystick for Best Storytelling.
The responsible lead writer of the game, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, explains (via GamesRadar+), that it could be due to her unique approach, which is rather atypical for a game and even sounds counterproductive at first: Because she didn’t try to write a story for an RPG at all.
Here you can see the trailer for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33:
Start video
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – JRPG with French Flair has Release Date
“I didn’t think of it as writing an RPG”
How did the team approach the development of the content? Svedberg-Yen explains that the team faced some challenges, as many contributors to Expedition 33 previously had no background in game development. However, this also turned out to be their strength, as they could not rely on previous approaches but brought their own perspectives that occur outside of gaming.
The success of Svedberg-Yen’s story proves this, written by a writer who, as she herself admits, “doesn’t really play video games” (via GamesRadar+).
What did the writer orient herself by instead, if not by other games? Since Svedberg-Yen had rather little experience with video games, she found her inspiration for writing in other media such as TV series or books. She explains that she loves science fiction and epic fantasy stories that harbor particularly large, immersive worlds and cultures, which have influenced the worldbuilding for Expedition 33.
In the actual writing process, she focused less on creating a story for an RPG and saw her work as an entirely different approach: “I felt like I was writing an HBO drama” (source: GamesRadar+).
Clair Obscur had a lot of success this year at various award shows, but one of their victories was rescinded because they communicated information incorrectly. The incorrect statement ultimately led to them losing their title as Best “Debut Game” at the Indie Game Awards: Expedition 33 wins the Game Awards but loses an already won award due to the use of AI
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Many developers have been inspired by other works to create their video games. Now one has revealed what thought brought him into the industry.
Which legendary developer is it about? Hideo Kojima is a well-known developer who created the “Metal Gear Solid” series under Konami. After his time at Konami, he founded his studio “Kojima Productions” in 2015.
With the studio, the development of the action-adventure “Death Stranding” also began. The second part of Death Stranding was released in 2025 and was nominated for Game of the Year.
Start video
Hideo Kojima presents Death Stranding 2 in a 10-minute long trailer
Kojima was excited about Super Mario, but wouldn’t play it today
Which gaming classic inspired Kojima? In an interview with WIRED on YouTube, the legendary developer talks about his inspiration that brought him to video games.
Hideo Kojima says he neglected his classes to be able to play. Furthermore, he talks about the classic Super Mario Bros. and writes the following: “Without Super Mario, I probably wouldn’t have ended up in this industry.”
While he sent the plumber from left to right to rescue Princess Peach, one of his thoughts was: “When I saw this, even though it was pixel graphics without a story, I felt that this medium would one day surpass movies. This conviction brought me into the game industry.”
Why wouldn’t the developer play Mario today? In the same interview, Kojima says that he wouldn’t play the classic nowadays.
As the main reason, he cites the gameplay of Super Mario and says the following: “At the moment, I can’t really do much with it. It’s a side-scroller. Mario just runs from left to right, in the end, you just jump.”
In Pokémon GO the last Spotlight Hour before Christmas is coming up. MeinMMO has looked into whether it is worth it for you.
What is it? The Spotlight Hour is a 60-minute event that you can find in Pokémon GO every Tuesday. During this time, there is at least one Pokémon that is the focus, as well as a bonus.
In the edition on December 23, 2025, Seemops, the Pokémon from Generation 3, will be featured. It has the Ice and Water types and can evolve into Seejong and then into Walraisa.
Start video
Pokémon GO shows its new season in the trailer
Spotlight Hour on December 23, 2025 – Start and Bonuses
What time does it start? As usual, the event starts at 6:00 PM. It ends an hour later at 7:00 PM.
What bonus is active? If you evolve Pokémon during the 60 minutes, you will receive double the amount of experience points.
Can you catch Shiny Seemops? Yes, with some luck you might encounter the Shiny variant of Seemops as well. However, the chance for that is not increased.
Is the Spotlight Hour worth it? If you are looking for one of the best attackers in Pokémon GO for your raid teams, you may not get your money’s worth during this Spotlight Hour.
If, on the other hand, you want strong attackers for the battle league, you should take advantage of the hour. While Seejong is among the current top 10 in the Super League, you will get a top 20 attacker in the Hyper League with Walraisa.
Seejong should know the moves Powder Snow, Surf, and Body Slam. For Walraisa, you should focus on the moveset Powder Snow, Ice Spear, and Earthquake. For Powder Snow and Ice Spear you will need top TMs.
Additionally, you can take advantage of the event bonus if you are actively leveling up and want to snag some extra experience points through evolutions. If you use Lucky Eggs during this, you will even receive four times the amount of experience points for each individual evolution.
Events are an integral part of Pokémon GO. Even at the end of the year, there’s another one that will carry into the new year. And it not only gives you a higher chance of a Shiny but also a lasting opportunity to obtain more Lucky Pokémon: all information about New Year 2026 in Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Stardew Valley is a source of relaxation and joy. Unless, you do everything wrong. Just like MeinMMO author Max Handwerk.
Ah, the Stardew Valley! A magical, idyllic place characterized by the community of its inhabitants, the daily work on the farm, a few adventures in mysterious caves, or an extensive fishing trip by the sea.
This place particularly delights my wife and me in this cool winter. Instead of letting the rainy, cold weather outside bring us down, we currently enjoy spending a few hours on the couch, sipping tea and playing Stardew Valley in wonderful split-screen co-op.
For those who haven’t tried it yet, due to the graphics or anything else: It’s really the perfect game to get through the winter together. That the game still ranks number 2 in the best-rated Steam Games doesn’t surprise me at all (even though we play on the PS5).
But! One should not confuse Stardew Valley entirely with a cozy game. Sure, it’s not Dark Souls or anything, but there are quite a few tough challenges that require skillful planning or time. And if you don’t meet those, you have to wait a long time until you can proceed again.
It’s particularly frustrating when you think you’ve done everything right, only for the success to be thrown straight into your own trash can. Or rather: into the cooking pot.
Start video
Stardew Valley Trailer
Goodbye, beloved eel
In Stardew Valley, one of the great tasks is to rebuild the town’s Pelican Community Center. To accomplish that, you have to produce, mine, or find a lot of resources and goods and deliver them in bundles to the Community Center.
The difficult part: Many of these goods can only be obtained if you have already met certain prerequisites. Or only in certain seasons. And that was the catch.
One of the last things we needed for our finished Community Center was a regular eel. You can catch it in Stardew Valley in both spring and autumn. However, only in the ocean, only when it’s raining, and only between 4 PM and 2 AM.
You have to figure that out first. No wonder I spent ages fishing to catch an eel from the sea. While my wife took care of the cows and goats, slayed monsters in the caves, and maintained social relationships with the village, I joined Fisher Willy to catch the slippery fish.
The eel successfully hid for a long time
It took a while, but eventually it happened! There it was, fresh from the sea: An eel, just as the Community Center could wish for. I was thrilled with the success and set off. But not to the Community Center.
As soon as I left the beach, something must have distracted me. In any case, I completely forgot what I was planning to do within moments. I only realized my mistake later: When I cooked a huge batch of sashimi in the kitchen of our farm.
This recipe uses random fish from the inventory. And so my eel ended up not in the Community Center, but in the sashimi for village trader Pierre, which he had requested.
A mistake with a learning effect. Really!
When I noticed the mistake, I could hardly believe it. All that work! For nothing! My wife was laughing, but now the hunt for the eels was back on. Now that I knew what to do, everything went a bit faster.
I had learned my lesson, of course. Never again would something so stupid happen to me. After all, I wanted to finish the Community Center.
From now on, I would pay very close attention to what I throw into the cooking pot.
Do you know what else you need for Stardew Valley’s bundles? A pufferfish! And you can only get it in summer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t summer when I realized this. And that meant: We would have to wait a long time to be able to fish this rare fish for our bundles.
But we were lucky! At some point, the traveling cart actually had a pufferfish for sale – even though it wasn’t the season! What luck! I bought the fish right away, planning to deliver it to the Community Center.
At least that was the plan. But, as it is in Stardew Valley: Something seems to have distracted me. Because when I returned to the Community Center a few hours later to deliver items, the pufferfish was conspicuously missing.
Honestly: This time I don’t even know what I did with it. Maybe I threw it away, ate it, or… cooked it again. The fact was, it was no longer there, and we had to wait for summer to come again.
It took a while, but today the Community Center is finished – with a complete aquarium
Today my Community Center is completed, but it was a long road. The one that, with a bit more attention, could have been a lot shorter.
But that’s something in Stardew Valley: Amidst all the relaxation, you really have to be careful. Recently, for example, I blew up all my mayonnaise machines because I accidentally equipped a mega bomb and laid it down instead of putting an egg in the mayo machine. It happens! Have you made similar mistakes? Tell us in the comments! And if you want to see what happens to a Stardew farm after 1,000 years, check this out.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Dungeons & Dragons, heroes, antagonists, and ordinary inhabitants can adorn themselves with tattoos that are either purely cosmetic or can invoke their own powers. In this list, we want to present you the best of these tattoos.
In the book “Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything,” which contains the accumulated knowledge of the namesake Tasha, the famous sorceress introduces all the well-guarded secrets she has collected during her career on her adventures. In addition to new artifacts, spells, and even goodies, it also includes explanations of magical tattoos, which she explains as follows:
Magical tattoos combine magic and artistry with ink and needles, bestowing wondrous abilities upon their bearers.
The tattoos are initially bound to magical needles, which transfer their magic to a being.
Once inscribed on the body of a being, damage or injuries no longer impair the function of the tattoo, even if it becomes defaced.
During the tattooing of a magical tattoo, a being can customize the appearance of the tattoo. A magical tattoo can look like a brand, a carving, a birthmark, a scale pattern, or any other cosmetic alteration.
The rarer a magical tattoo is, the more space it typically occupies on a being’s skin. The sizes of the tattoos required for a particular rarity are as follows:
Common: One hand or foot, or a quarter of a limb
Uncommon: Half a limb or the head
Rare: One limb
Very Rare: Two limbs or the chest or upper back
Legendary: Two limbs and the torso
All listed tattoos can be found in “Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.” We have ranked them here based on their utility, their impact on gameplay, and of course – not to be underestimated – their coolness factor. After all, it’s about tattoos.
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The Mighty Nein – First Sneak Peek of the New Fantasy Series on Amazon Prime
The Spellwrought Tattoo
Brief: It allows for a one-time casting of a spell
Rarity: Varies by spell level (cantrip and level 1 = Common, level 2 to 3 = Uncommon, level 4 to 5 = Rare)
Appearance: Self-chosen design
The tattoo enables the bearer to cast a predetermined spell without needing material components. It can range from a cantrip to a level 5 spell.
The utility of this tattoo resembles that of a spell scroll, but unlike that, it is usable by any bearer, even if they do not belong to the class on whose list the spell is found.
When used, the tattoo glows faintly before it eventually fades from the skin. It is definitely not a useless tattoo, but it is significantly less spectacular than the others on this list.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The joy of World of Warcraft is being hindered. For errors from the past are now particularly painful.
For several weeks now, the housing craze has erupted in World of Warcraft. This has led to beautiful homes, while also revitalizing the old game world. For everywhere you can encounter characters visiting former factions or gathering old resources to buy decorations for their homes.
But this also clearly shows the problems the resources that had to be farmed in the past cause. Because there is far too little of them – and that hasn’t changed to this day.
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So gestaltet ihr in WoW einen Weihnachtsbaum für die Feiertage
What is the problem? Many of the old resources are exhausting to farm. They require either a lot of time or stamina over days and weeks. Because often these resources are also limited, so you cannot “infinitely” farm them. This is a problem when there are many new rewards like decorations for the house, but old rewards are also not exhausted yet.
This is also described by the player Goldman_sax in the WoW Subreddit in the post titled “We do not complain enough about Resonance Crystals/Dragon Isles Resources and Anima”:
The core idea behind these currencies is that you receive them while playing daily. The catch is, I’ve played The War Within almost every day since launch and gathered about 110,000 [Resonance Crystals], but I still need 830,000 to buy every item once (and you often want to buy decorations multiple times).
This leads me to two points:
1. If the idea behind these currencies is that you receive them while playing, why are these currencies not part of core gameplay activities like M+, raids, or PvP? Why are they only received from world activities that you typically no longer engage in once you are reasonably well equipped?
2. Why is there no good farming method for these currencies? Nearly all the fastest methods are blocked by daily or weekly variants through timegating, and the amount is low. To give an example, the fastest Anima grind is from the rare mobs in Zereth Mortis, which give about 7,000 – 8,000 Anima per day and hour. I still need over 600,000 Anima to buy everything once, which means I have to farm for another 75-85 hours and 75 days.
Which resources are particularly problematic? The biggest problems have already been addressed by Goldman_sax. Especially the following resources are problematic:
War Supplies (Battle for Azeroth)
Anima (Shadowlands)
Resources of the Dragon Isles (Dragonflight)
Resonance Crystals (The War Within)
These are all resources that you mostly receive in small amounts from weekly tasks or world quests. However, the required amount for rewards is usually in the thousands, so a single item can correspond to the effort of 10 or 15 quests. Particularly frustrating for items needed in large quantities when planning something specific in housing.
The community has several solutions: How to solve the problem is also being discussed within the community. Some of the suggestions include the possibility of exchanging resources for others. Some also advocate for converting all “old” resources into a unified “Legacy Content” resource that can be used everywhere, as Whatifyoudidtho describes:
I believe the solution to this is (if they don’t just drastically increase the amount received), ironically, another currency.
A currency that you can only use for old content, for example, for exchanging Anima or War Supplies or whatever. The acquisition can be through all old content – timewalking, visiting old dungeons/raids, old quests, events, and so on.
This would not only fix the currencies that are incredibly hard to farm, but would also simply require playing the game to acquire them.
How do you deal with old resources in World of Warcraft? Do you farm them with a pained expression? Do you simply ignore the rewards? Or are you waiting for Blizzard to “finally cave” and come up with a better solution for the resources of the old expansions? What grand houses are already possible now, a neighbor shows with a truly bizarre house.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Eldegarde has been in Early Access on Steam since February 2025. Former developers from Blizzard are involved in the title. Here, Arc Raiders meets a setting with wizards, warriors, and rogues.
What is Eldegarde? Imagine the extraction shooter Arc Raiders in a classic fantasy setting. Then you have a rough idea of what to expect in Eldegarde:
You choose a class that you know from many role-playing games. Each class has unique abilities – for example, priests can hover over dangers, and warriors break through walls.
After that, you dive into a PvPvE roleplaying tumult, alone or with friends. On the map, you will need to search for treasures, level up, and eliminate mobs as well as other players.
At the upcoming launch, there will also be a pure PvE mode if you don’t feel like facing human opponents.
In the town, you can use the looted items for elixirs and retreat to your private quarters in the tavern.
When will it be released? Eldegarde has been in Early Access on Steam since February 2025. As the team from Notorious Studios announced, the game will be released for PC next month. Version 1.0 will celebrate its release on January 21, 2026, on Steam.
Alongside the announced release, the developers have released a new trailer. The fights from the game are in focus here.
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Eldegarde sieht aus wie ein Mix aus WoW und Arc Raiders
Eldegarde is developed by former Blizzard developers
Which developers are involved? The development studio Notorious Studios was founded by Blizzard veteran Chris Kaleiki. He has contributed to several parts of World of Warcraft, including the original game, Wrath of the Lich King, and Mists of Pandaria.
For the past 11 months, he has worked with the community to give Eldegarde sufficient polish. He said in a press release we have:
Initially, it was a purely hardcore PvPvE game, but over time we learned that players also wanted a PvE experience, something like a “mini-MMO,” if you will. Eldegarde is an example of those efforts. It is the name of the world in the game, which now offers a variety of experiences, including PvE, PvP arenas, a social hub, and PvE dungeons, and welcomes both new and returning players.
How is it being received so far? On Steam, the title currently holds 70% positive ratings from 3,902 votes. The colorful graphic style, the class system, and the fights are highlighted positively. The interesting genre mix is also well received by fans.
However, there is also criticism. One of the most common negative points is the technical condition. Players report crashes, performance drops, and server issues. Moreover, the controls are still a bit clunky and newcomers find it hard to win against veterans.
Currently, you can buy the Gold-Trimmed Trader Brutosaur again in World of Warcraft. The price for the mount is so steep that a player has built an alternative.
Special features of the Gold-Trimmed Trader Brutosaur include two NPCs offering unique services. While one helper gives you mobile access to the auction house, the other acts as a useful postman – and all of this anywhere you are allowed to summon mounts. For comparable alternatives some WoW players have dug very deep into their gold pockets.
The housing feature is really popular within the WoW community:
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In WoW könnt ihr Häuser anheben – Pimp Your House Edition
“Brutohausus”
What alternative has a player found? Wuqingji uploaded a picture of his new Brutosaurus on Reddit. However, this is not the expensive mount, but a self-built home in the shape of a dinosaur. His comment on the picture: “If you can’t afford a Brutosaurus …”
How does the community react? With over 2,800 thumbs up and a lot of praise.
LeJewBringer summarizes on Reddit succinctly: “Brutohausus.”
Novirtue celebrates on Reddit the building: “The creativity of some people really impresses me.”
Thoragh comments on Reddit: “If it’s cheaper to own a house in the shape of a Brutosaurus than a real Brutosaurus… then you know the economy is upside down.”
No_Issue_8224 jokes on Reddit: “Something frightened this budget Brutosaur, and now it’s pretending to be a house.”
How do you like the Brutosaurus house? Let us know in the comments! By the way, WoW demon Cortyn recently sneaked through the neighborhood. One house in particular became especially impressive – and it was open. What Cortyn found there, you can read here: My neighbor in WoW has the best house of all
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A player was recently able to pressure the developers of Arc Raiders into an unusual update with his collection passion. However, his small collection has now evolved into an army of rubber ducks …
What’s behind the rubber ducks? Rubber ducks are items in Arc Raiders that can be found throughout the post-apocalyptic map of the extraction shooter. These cute bath companions are a type of artifact from a bygone era and can either be sold for $1,000 or thrown to create a small distraction.
If you hear the name BigBootyTom, you might also consider the yellow rubber ducks priceless collectibles that should be preserved for posterity. This player already had 600 of these ducks in his inventory in November 2025. At that time, he complained: You can only display 9 ducks on the shelf!
ARC Raiders zeigt im Launch-Trailer, wie der Kampf Mensch gegen Maschine aussieht
“That would be a great addition to Arc!”
What does the collection look like today? It has now grown to 4,200 rubber ducks, as BigBootyTom shows on Reddit. In his post, he explains that he is looking forward to the upcoming expeditions, as he will then have 12 more storage slots available to accommodate 180 additional ducks.
How is the community reacting? With over 1,500 thumbs up and a new request to the developers of Arc Raiders:
Nfl_porn_throwaway writes on Reddit: “Rubber ducks should have their own storage space so that they can be kept and displayed in the room without taking up space in the actual inventory.”
Numerous_Vegetable_3 thinks it’s a great idea: “It would generally be nice to have separate storage for items. I really hope they add something like this.”
ENEYEL8 points out on Reddit: “Tarkov has a Hall of Fame where collectibles can be stored and displayed. That would be a great addition to Arc!”
Austoman expresses shock on Reddit: “Wait, someone else did this too? Damn, I only have around 100 ducks.”
The two YouTubers Robert Hofmann and David Hain talk about the new movie Avatar: Fire and Ash in their podcast “Two Like Luck and Chatter”. They draw a comparison to World of Warcraft, but not a positive one.
What does Avatar 3 have to do with World of Warcraft? The third part of the Avatar series has just premiered in theaters. The two YouTubers have already seen the film and rated it 2.5 out of 5 points.
However, Hain adds that the DLC could be completed in just 14 minutes. For him, there is far too little of the new race and their homeland to see. You would have seen exactly one volcano, one unidentifiable burned tree, and a bit of ash.
The new Fire race would not be seen for half the time. It seems as if James Cameron had no interest in them.
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Avatar: Fire and Ash – The trailer for the third part of the Na’vi story
The movie is received worse than its predecessor
What do the two praise? Not much. The movie was a 3:17-hour disappointment. After watching, Hain felt like a sack with the air let out. One of the few positive aspects they mention is the “cool visuals”. But even they catch some flak.
What do they criticize in detail? Part 3 uses the HFR technology, which stands for High Frame Rate. It usually has 48 frames per second or more, while 24 frames per second is typically the standard in cinema.
However, such images appear like a telenovela because they are so smoothed out. The two compare it to video game sequences like from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
In part 3, there is also always the same loop: Someone gets lost, gets captured, and there is a fight. The same conflicts from part 2 are continued, with the same characters. There is no escalation or development, as seen in other movie trilogies. In addition, the immersion into the world present in part 2 is missing.
How is the movie generally received? Depending on the review platform, the ranking of the Avatar films is mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes, Avatar 3 ranks last of the three films with a 68% recommendation rate from critics. However, among cinema-goers, it looks different: Avatar 1 is rated the worst here, with 82% recommendations. Avatar 3 gets 91%.
On IMDb, the films are all rated similarly. They range between 7.9 (Avatar 1) and 7.5 (Avatar 2) out of 10 possible points. Avatar 3 lands with a 7.6 between the two films.
Keep in mind that the ranking can change in the future. As the two YouTubers suggest, the Avatar films have only experienced a significant increase after the holidays.
