Pokémon GO is a game that can change a lot – depending on where you play it. However, the difference from Germany to Japan was something that MeinMMO author Max Handwerk did not expect.
You probably know the feeling: you’re on vacation or a little trip, and just curious how Pokémon GO looks here.
I love making these comparisons and thought I had seen every situation.
I made my first steps in Pokémon GO in a tiny village with no noteworthy stops and gyms.
Later, I moved to Hamburg and found plenty of POIs and fellow players in the city park.
Just recently, while hiking in the Thuringian Forest, I encountered the situation of basically having no gyms and stops at all.
Currently, I live in Hannover, where at least there is a reasonable distribution of gyms, stops, and fellow players.
As I said: I thought no stop situation could surprise me any longer.
But then I went to Japan for a week as part of the Pokémon World Championships. And what awaited me in Tokyo and Yokohama – I did not expect.
So many stops that you can barely click properly
Not only did Yokohama gradually become Pokémon City over the week and an absolutely contagious Pokémon enthusiasm developed: Pokémon GO also had a prevalence that I had not known before.
To make it short: there were simply so many PokéStops and gyms that you could hardly play properly. Everything was so ridiculously close together that you constantly clicked on the wrong thing when you wanted to tap somewhere. If you’re used to just a handful of stops nearby, it’s crazy to suddenly have so many options.
You can see what it looked like here:
Stops, gyms, raids, routes: In Yokohama and Tokyo there was everything in large quantities
For a player like me, who knows significantly fewer stops from Germany, it was like a Pokémon GO paradise. I don’t know exactly how much XP and Pokémon I collected during this time – but it was a lot.
But it didn’t stop with stops and gyms. Overall, Japan felt like a bonus level in Pokémon GO, because everything was so much easier. Raids that I can’t manage at home because of missing players were completed here within seconds because the lobbies were so full.
You clicked into a raid and suddenly had around 20 fellow players without even having to organize anything. The event Pikachu collapsed after three seconds, Cresselia didn’t last much longer. At the event site of the Worlds, I was less surprised by that – but even in the city, I experienced such situations. It was dreamlike.
Another example: the routes. While I can hardly find routes at home, in Japan I could sometimes choose from 18 at once. It was impressive how many players had seemingly made sure to distribute the new feature across the city.
What was challenging, however, was taking gyms, or earning coins. New challengers showed up so quickly that the Pokémon barely lasted long enough in the gym to bring home even 10 coins.
It was an impressive trip, as it showed me how the game can feel when you have a huge community present. It’s a pity that it usually only works in a similar way here during big events.
What was the best place you have ever played Pokémon GO? Tell us in the comments!
Al’ar’s Ash is one of the rarest mounts in World of Warcraft. But now you have a bonus chance for the mount.
There are many rare mounts in World of Warcraft that still evoke envy or wonder today. One of the first mounts of this kind is the Phoenix Al’ar, obtainable through the item “Ashes of Al’ar”. In fact, this is a very, very rare drop from Kael’thas Sunstrider in the raid “The Eye” – but there is now another source from which you can obtain the mount with a bit of luck.
What kind of mount is it? Al’ar’s Ash is still a unique and beautiful mount even today, more than a decade after its release. The orange-gold Phoenix from Kael’thas Sunstrider leaves red streaks in the sky and is still one of the most beautiful and rarest mounts.
There are many players who have tried for years to obtain this Phoenix and have never had any luck.
This is not surprising, as the drop chance is only 1.70% – and you only have one attempt per character per week.
Al’ar’s Ash is still one of the most beautiful mounts. Source: wowhead
How do you get the bonus chance? To do this, you need to make use of the “Timewalking: The Burning Crusade”. More specifically, you need to complete the quest “Disturbance Detected: Black Temple”. This is a mission that is only active during the corresponding Timewalking.
The quest requires you to defeat Illidan Stormrage during the Timewalking in the Black Temple – in its Timewalking variant. This means you need a (somewhat) capable group to tackle this raid in Timewalking.
While the raid is not particularly difficult and is significantly easier during Timewalking than it was at launch, you still need a raid group to have any chance. It’s best to check the “Looking for Group” channel to see if someone is trying to set up such a raid group – or just create your own.
You can pick up the quest directly in the Black Temple (entrance area) or in Shattrath.
Community is excited: In the World of Warcraft subreddit and in the comments on wowhead, the fact that you can now obtain Al’ar’s Ash from another source is praised. Many first thought it was a bug or that fellow players were “trolling” them by claiming that the Phoenix was obtainable from the Timewalking chest. However, there is now so much evidence that has confirmed this.
Have you also had such luck and obtained Al’ar’s Ash? Or is this mount still eluding you?
In Baldur’s Gate 3 you can play the ultimate villain. However, lead author Adam Smith interprets “Dark Urge” as the most heroic playthrough. You can find more details on MeinMMO.
As the “Dark Urge” you have no memories of the past. You only feel an eerie sense of having committed terrible deeds. A mysterious force tries to push you to create chaos and violence. The Dark Urge is a mad killer, which can quickly lead to an inner conflict.
Here are 5 helpful tips to make your life easier in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Start video
5 helpful tips for Baldur’s Gate 3
Dark Urge – “Possibly the most heroic playthrough”
The Dark Urge is not the right choice for everyone. The character loves everything related to blood and violence. He literally feeds off killing.
However, the lead author of Baldur’s Gate 3, Adam Smith, recently revealed in an interview with PC Gamer that he plays the Dark Urge in a different way. For him, the playthrough with this character is possibly the most heroic of all.
My Dark Urge resists the dark impulses and deeply regrets all the terrible deeds that have been done. […] For me – and I will try to remain as spoiler-free as possible – the experience of playing through the Dark Urge could be the most heroic variant. When one confronts one’s inner demons, resists them, and ultimately survives together with loyal companions, in my opinion, the most epic version of the game is created.
Adam Smith
Adam Smith has a deep affection for the RPG and finds a particular fascination in his “Dark Urge Monk.” Instead of a mad killer who shows no remorse, he plays a tormented hero with a conscience. He plays him as a character with a good heart.
Whether you accept the dark nature of the “Dark Urge” or fight against it. The character presents one of the most fascinating gameplay options. So it does not necessarily mean that you will experience a completely evil playthrough with the Dark Urge.
It is still up to you how you resolve the inner conflict of this mysterious and bloodthirsty character. You could still achieve a good and epic ending.
A new MMORPG called Wayfinder was released on Steam a few days ago. However, the reviews are quite weak, with Mostly Negative ratings.
On August 17, 2023, the Early Access of Wayfinder launched on Steam. However, players are anything but enthusiastic. As of August 20, 2023, the ratings stand at Mostly Negative with 30% positive reviews out of about 8,000 reviews. Even Overwatch 2 is currently rated even worse on Steam.
What are players upset about? Many people are frustrated that the game is completely unplayable in its current state. Either they can t even get onto the servers, or they are plagued by technical problems.
As soon as 5,000 players are on one server, it seems that’s it, and you receive an error message. And when the game crashes, you have to wait in line again, and the fun starts all over:
A player angrily states that according to Steam, 17,000 players are playing Wayfinder, but 12,000 are stuck in the queue because the servers can only accommodate up to 5,000 players.
A review refers to the game as a new Queue Hell , reminding players of Lost Ark and New World.
Is there anything positive? Yes, several players say that the game is fun and looks really nice when it actually works. The game has great potential, and many on Steam hope the developers will soon get a handle on the issues.
Many see Wayfinder as a great opportunity for MMORPGs. Many gamers are reminded of the failed WildStar and therefore have high hopes for Wayfinder. However, currently the majority of the player base is simply dissatisfied. The developers have also commented on the situation, promising improvements.
Developers want to solve problems and simplify queues
What do the developers say? On Steam, the developers explained on August 19 that they simply weren t prepared for the influx of players. Because in no beta had so many players flooded the servers as during the EA on Steam.
Due to technical problems, they had to limit the number of players on the server. This would then lead to the unwanted error message Maximum Player Limit Reached . The developers explained:
We will make further optimizations to the queue and servers in the coming days and weeks until all players are in the game and can play.
What happens next? Overall, many players are left with a bitter aftertaste. For many, Wayfinder is one more reason to steer clear of so-called Early Access games.
A new video from “Julien Bam” impressively shows how much quality there is on YouTube. It is receiving praise and a lot of upvotes.
Many have turned their backs on German YouTube. Videos in the style of “Trash TV” and various pranks have driven away numerous viewers. However, there are some gems in the German sector that stand out even in a global comparison. One of them is Julien Bam with his “main videos”, which now tell an entire saga.
The latest installment of the series, “The Man in the Moon – Act 1 (Songs from the Bean)” was released yesterday on 19.08.2023 and immediately took German YouTube by storm.
What is the series about? The “Songs from the Bean” saga now includes 9 main videos and a whole series of smaller offshoots. Telling the whole story could take a while, as the “JCU”, the “Julien Cinematic Universe”, has become quite extensive and intertwined.
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At its core, it’s about magical beans. When consumed, they give one certain “superpowers” – one can suddenly perfectly imitate the music style of a certain musician and magically escape from tricky situations.
Especially when one watches the first videos of the series, which are now 4 years old, and compares them with the newer videos, it becomes obvious how much the quality has improved. Besides some quite impressive effects, like crashing spaceships or impressive camera movements, the series still maintains its quirky and sometimes slightly childish humor.
A trademark is also that Julien repeatedly incorporates other YouTubers and musicians. In the latest installment, for example, you see the (infamous) Money Boy as a nasty alien boss or Younes Jones and Sturmwaffel in various supporting roles.
This is how the community reacts: On German YouTube, the videos always hit like a bomb. Just 5 hours after the release, the current “The Man in the Moon” had more than 700,000 views and nearly 170,000 upvotes, with less than 1,000 dislikes.
Meanwhile, the view counts, 22 hours after release, have risen to 1,500,000.
In the comments, the latest video is celebrated and especially the high quality is praised. Here are a few excerpts from the comments:
“This is no longer YouTube. This is so much more. The JCU reaches a peak here that has never been seen on YouTube Germany. The quality of pacing, dialogues, characters, acting performance, and visual effects is magnificent.” – Shadestan2240
“Every time I see something like this, I remember why I want to make sketches and films. The whole team is a gigantic motivation and it’s incredible what you have created. An absolute masterpiece.” – ColinTM
“It feels so good to enjoy this incredible content. It feels like there are only reactions, beef, and Let’s Plays on YouTube. Thank you for being there!!!” – Fumanshu85
The comments and the like-to-dislike ratio speak a clear language. This is apparently among the best that “YouTube Germany” currently has to offer. No matter whether you like the parodied music or not – the production quality must simply be acknowledged.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has existed since 2008 and to this day, several films about the superhero universe are released every year. MeinMMO author Niko Hernes is actually a big fan of superheroes, but he has a lot to complain about the current MCU.
When Nia DaCosta says in an interview that her Marvel film will be different from the others, I can only shake my head. For years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been, for me, a collection of mediocre films without heart and soul.
And this development makes me really angry because I am actually a superhero fan. Comics, games, and series on the topic are incredibly fun for me. However, the MCU, which back then ushered in a new era of blockbuster cinema, is something I find incredibly generic today.
This is based on three main points:
Lack of consistency in the film’s plot
You have to have seen movies or series to understand parts of the story
The films and some series feel the same and look the same
Start video
Marvel Studios’ The Marvels – Teaser Trailer
Every film feels the same
In my opinion, the MCU films of recent years do not stand on their own. They are always part of the larger universe and have to contribute to the next big event.
This creates no creative experiments, but instead films that, no matter the theme of the film, must be squeezed into the typical MCU framework. And for me, no film symbolizes this more than Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Director Sam Raimi could have made a surreal horror film here with elements of his classics like The Evil Dead. And there are few moments that show this, but the film still has to be like every MCU film.
The film Eternals, which according to Rotten Tomatoes wasn’t very popular anyway, also feels like an unplanned film without a red thread. Chloé Zhao is actually a talented director with an eye for nature and landscape. You can see hints of that, but each time they are destroyed by the dialogues and story.
Why Thor: Love and Thunder is different
Do I even like any of the newer Marvel films? Yes, and one of them is probably surprising. I really liked Guardians of the Galaxy 3. I enjoyed telling an emotional story that focuses on a side character.
The other film I appreciate is Thor: Love and Thunder. Thor 4 by director Taika Waititi is too silly for many, but I don’t understand that. It fits for me with the new Thor that we know since Thor 3, and in general, you can notice Taika Waititi’s slapstick influence, who always tries to balance between funny and silly.
If you know 5 Rooms Kitchen Coffin or JoJo Rabbit by Taika Waititi, then you know how frontal he uses humor. And unlike in films like Avengers Infinity War, where the occasional jokes pull me out of the drama, Thor 4 is silly from the start.
For me, the most important thing is that Thor 4 feels different from the other films. Yes, it doesn’t fit everyone’s taste, but why does every film actually have to do that? Why not experiment with genres and why not do something outside the MCU? Not every film needs to be as silly as Thor 4, but you should experiment and allow the director more freedom and personal style.
Thor himself also has his issues with the 4th part:
What do I wish for from the Marvel films? Personally, I believe that creativity outside the MCUs would do Marvel and Disney good. Give me a real horror film, a drama, or an exciting thriller. If you separate such films from their universes, you have a lot of creative freedom. This also partly works for me in Guardians 3 and Thor 4.
The Batman showed in 2022 that you can also be successful away from the classic superhero feeling. The series The Boys is successful and bloody and rated 18+. Not every film needs to be targeted at FSK12, and a greater willingness to experiment from the Marvel Studios would also make me happy to sit in the cinema again.
What does the outlook for the future look like? Due to the current writers’ strike in the USA, Marvel’s schedule will shift a bit. Whether The Marvels fulfills my wish, I doubt. In the new version of Blade, there is potential to do something different, and Deadpool 3 could finally herald a more brutal MCU and the exit from the FSK12 hell.
And I am also looking forward to Marvel Zombies and hope it at least brings a bit of horror to the MCU. But as with everything, we have to wait for the projects to be released. What do you think about the current MCU? Are you disappointed like me or still actively engaged? Write it in the comments.
At least the second season of Loki looks promising so far:
Many people are now annoyed by Diablo 4and Blizzard has now stated that at least 2 things will be revised, which many players are complaining about. One is the overcrowded inventory and the other is the controversial elemental resistance.
The release of Diablo 4 has been 3 months ago and the 1st season has begun. However, many players are dissatisfied with the hack and slash. Especially the annoying inventory system of Diablo 4 is a constant topic for many users.
But now Blizzard has stated that two new features are on the way. One of them is supposed to deal with the inventory and correct at least one thing.
What are they working on? Primarily, two requested features are in progress:
a loot filter for the inventory to sort your stuff.
The revision of elemental resistance.
Start video
Diablo 4: The Official Announcement Trailer for Season 1
Inventory filter and elemental resistance are in progress
Why is this being revised? Players in Diablo 4 have long complained about the far too full and confusing inventory. The overcrowded inventory menus are absolutely no fun, and it becomes really annoying when you want to find very specific equipment in the inventory.
Elemental resistance has also been a topic among players for a while. Many consider the value to be useless and have already demanded that it be abolished altogether. Now Blizzard wants to take another look at this value.
When will the changes be released? There is still no release date for the loot filter and the revision of elemental resistance. However, the revision of elemental resistance is supposed to happen at the start of the 2nd season.
Many players welcome the changes and hope that there will be further meaningful changes in the future. Because loot is one of the most important features in Diablo 4. At the same time, loot is so complex that it is extremely difficult for the average player to identify upgrades:
On Steam there are numerous shooters that offer either PvE, PvP, or a mix of both. But which shooters are the most popular?
How was the list compiled? To determine the 5 most popular shooters on Steam, we took a look at the player numbers of each game. In particular, the number of average active players over the past 30 days was significant (as of August 18, 2023).
What kind of game is this? Call of Duty has a slight advantage over other games on the list. The renowned shooter franchise combines several titles under one common umbrella.
Both the 2022 released Modern Warfare 2 and the “Battle Royale” offshoot Warzone share player numbers on Steam.
Moreover, it is quite possible that the numbers for Modern Warfare 3, which will be released on November 10, will also fall into the same category, as Activision states players can seamlessly continue their journey, progress, and story for a year for the first time (via callofduty.com).
How popular is it? If the player numbers for MW2 and Warzone were shown separately, a place in the top 5 for the shooter series would have been fiercely contested. In the past 30 days, the CoD combination averaged 65,119.9 players.
With the upcoming release of Modern Warfare 3, player numbers are expected to rise again – at least temporarily. CoD veterans from 2009 can at least look forward to the return of all maps from the original MW2:
What kind of game is this? Team Fortress 2 is a hero shooter released in 2007 by Valve, where you play with unique characters in various PvP modes to achieve victory. Each hero has special abilities, weapons, and roles within the team.
Classic modes like Payload and Capture the Flag are played. Team Fortress has also inspired games like Overwatch, which, however, has had a rather modest start on Steam and is even one of the mostpoorly rated games of all time.
Otherwise, Team Fortress 2 is particularly characterized by its rather comic-like style as well as its quirky humor.
How popular is it? Team Fortress 2 averaged 96,601.6 players over the past 30 days. This is a bit weaker than in July 2023 but stronger than in the previous months of May and June.
However, Team Fortress seems not to be popular with everyone – developer Valve avoids providing the hero shooter with regular updates or even a remaster despite its success. This has led to Team Fortress 2 players being envious of another shooter.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Some of the strongest builds in Baldur’s Gate 3 are hidden behind very special combinations of classes, abilities, and talents. MeinMMO reveals why polearm paladins are considered completely OP in D&D.
What kind of talent is that?
Polearm Master allows you to make extra attacks with halberds, spears, staves, and pikes.
Especially in combination with a paladin, Polearm Master becomes a deadly tool that can wipe out many opponents in one round.
This is the strong combination: Polearm Master together with a paladin is one of the best combinations known among D&D players. It is similarly strong in Baldur’s Gate 3.
This is what makes the build so strong: As a polearm paladin, you have several advantages in battle:
you can attack opponents with a reaction when they get too close – this usually only works when they run out of range
by default, you already have another attack as a bonus action per round
paladins inherently gain a second attack at level 5
What makes the paladin so strong in conjunction with the talent is his Smite. You have “Divine Smite” as an action by default, which you can use to enhance your next attack. You add 2d8 additional damage plus one further d8 per spell level used.
In addition, paladins also have the choice of other variants that can ignite, frighten, or smash opponents. Depending on the situation, you can enhance an attack, and that works as a Polearm Master with almost any attack.
The only disadvantage: in Baldur’s Gate 3, there are only a few truly strong polearms. The currently known strongest polearm is a glaive, which is hidden behind a long quest and certain decisions. Otherwise, primarily rely on halberds.
Level 2: Choose “Great Weapon Fighting” as your fighting style
Level 4: Choose the talent “Polearm Master”
Level 8: Choose the talent “Great Weapon Mastery”
Level 12: Choose the talent “Sentinel”; alternatives are: “Lucky”, “Savage Attacker” or an ability improvement
Raw attack power on paper is indeed inferior to fighters or barbarians with this build, but your true strength comes from the Smite. You generally benefit from having bonus damage on every attack. Poisons, oils, or dipping into fire help you immensely.
5 Tips to Level Up Your Characters Properly in Baldur’s Gate 3
Polearm Paladin – Here’s how you play him
In principle, you play like a fighter: attack an enemy with full strength and use your Smite. Depending on the circumstances and group, various types of Smite may be more sensible.
However, pay attention not to waste your reaction unnecessarily. You need it for a third attack when an opponent moves towards you or when you want to attack using the Sentinel talent. Especially ideal if a tank is standing next to you.
A barbarian or fighter can push enemies out of your reach with the shove ability to force them to run back to you on their turn. This way, you also force another attack per round without the Sentinel.
Use your spell levels exclusively for Smite when you are going for pure damage. For Oath abilities, it’s best to use Inquisitor’s Might (against many opponents) or Oath of Enmity (against bosses).
Finally, you can always make an attack with the end of your polearm as a bonus action when an attack hits, or you can even execute a full additional attack when you critical hit or kill an opponent. If you want to plan your character first, you can find the right tool here:
A company wanted to throw away a graphics card. But a gamer is instead happy about the free upgrade.
The RTX 3060 is one of the most popular graphics cards that gamers can install in their systems. A gamer is now very lucky and received an RTX 3060 as a gift from his employer. Because he wanted to throw it away.
Managers want to dispose of wrong delivery because the effort is too great
What kind of graphics card is this? The player himself explained on reddit that only RTX 3050s and GT 1650s are sold in the store where he works. But in the last shipment, an RTX 3060 was mistakenly included that they hadn’t ordered. And his boss wanted to dispose of it because that would have been the easiest for the daily routine in the company:
The department heads who have no idea about PC parts decided that it would be too much effort to register them for sale in the system and told us to just throw them away. There was only one item in the order, and they didn’t even want to bother returning it. So I took [the GPU]. I couldn’t stand the thought of this card being thrown away out of ignorance.
At home, he now wants to replace his old GTX 1080Ti with it. And this could be really worth it for him, depending on the scenario.
What was the problem? The user described the “problem” with his department heads so thoroughly that not only the business but also the involved persons could be identified. Under his post, some users already warned him that he should urgently remove details. Because such a rant isn’t really worth risking your job over. If his bosses read this, it could have serious consequences and ultimately harm other people.
In the updated post, several details have now been removed. For an RTX 3060, he probably didn’t want to risk his job after all.
Old GPU offers more performance but fewer features
Is the “upgrade” even worth it? On paper, the 5-year-old GTX 1080 Ti is slightly faster and offers more performance than the RTX 3060. However, one should not overlook that the RTX 3060 is the significantly more modern GPU with:
RayTracing
DLSS
long-term software support
Furthermore, the RTX 3060 offers faster and larger video memory and is (depending on the manufacturer) also significantly quieter than a GTX 1080 Ti. The new graphics card also consumes less power (power consumption) than the old GTX 1080 Ti.
Some users even recommend that he sell both the GTX 1080 Ti and the RTX 3060 and then use the money to buy a faster graphics card. That might ultimately be the most worthwhile.
In the most frustrating case, the user would then also have to upgrade his remaining hardware. Which upgrades are absolutely not worth it for a gaming PC, you can find in the following article on MeinMMO:
Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street was the head of the LoL MMORPG for years. However, in 2023 he left Riot Games and founded his own company, which is now working on a new game. While there are hardly any details, it sounds really good.
“We don’t want to radically change the genre, but we want to do it right,” Ghostcrawler writes in his latest tweet. And that’s exactly what I want to hear from an indie studio. As silly as it sounds, but for really big innovations, you need a company with a lot of money. That probably won’t be the case with a newly founded studio.
Innovations in MMORPGs are always difficult anyway. Many long for their old title in a modern guise, with modern game systems and a new world and new stories. Because nothing is as fun as exploring a new world for the first time.
But even aside from this tweet, Street writes things that sound really good to me. And they give me more hope than the big LoL MMORPG by Riot itself.
Who is speaking here? Alex is the MMORPG expert at MeinMMO. He actively plays Guild Wars 2, ESO, Black Desert, and New World. Additionally, every new game is immediately tested.
Start video
The 3 largest MMORPGs in Germany in 2023, according to Google
“I am not the best developer, but I can listen to players well”
The new game is aimed at MMO fans. At its core, it addresses players who like titles such as WoW or Final Fantasy XIV. Ghostcrawler also wants to reach players who think they don’t like MMORPGs but appreciate at least parts of them.
He emphasizes that they are not creating a game for the “younger generation“, but they won’t be young forever.
Another important aspect is the openness of the development. Players should be involved the whole time. He promises that you can get hands-on experience with the title very early, much earlier than at other companies:
I often use analogies from the restaurant sector, so let’s try it here too. We will have an open kitchen where you can watch the preparation of the dishes and try them on the way.
We know this approach will not please every player. But don’t worry. We will make sure you know when the game is ready so you can try it out.
In several tweets, Greg Street emphasizes that while he may not be the best developer, he sees his strengths in his love for the genre and in communicating with the community. This foundation will guide the development of the new MMORPG.
Dungeons, Raids, and a lot of Action at Launch
What is known about the game’s content? Well, not much, not even a name. However, the launch of the game will likely be very action-packed, as there will not be a launch with many running and talking quests. Generally, worldbuilding will take place over time and not bombard the player too quickly.
This can at least be inferred from a tweet:
A tip: World designers, including dungeon masters, do not send their group to any city with more than 20 NPCs that they have to talk to just a few hours after the game starts. It destroys all momentum.
My opinion: Almost every RPG introduces you too quickly to civilization while players are still learning and enjoying combat.
Let characters engage in battle within a maximum of 15 minutes. Don’t drown new players in world building until they actually care about the world.
And I completely share this opinion. Guild Wars 2 solved this quite elegantly for me by throwing me right into a mission with other players at the start and even fighting a big boss at the end.
I immediately feel that my little section of the world is threatened and that I need to look for the cause. This creates a connection, like as a Charr to the region of Ascalon and the spirits there.
However, I wish that the action continues a bit further afterward. Too quickly, one lands in typical quests and in the first city. Ghostcrawler also has an opinion on this:
Do I want to buy a bunch of equipment from the merchants? I don’t know! I just started your game 30 minutes ago. Does this world work like that? Do I need good gear? Do I want to spend money at the inn or just camp? I damn well don’t know yet.
Our role in the story of Guild Wars 2 is also often that of a higher soldier, not that of the great leader. Even at the end of the main story, we were an important part, but Sylvari Traherne was the leader of the pact. This could also be the case in the new MMORPG.
I like it when you are just a persistent person, not the chosen one, not the champion of the world, and that for as long as possible. Personal taste.
Ghostcrawler has not yet commented on further game content. However, we still know some of his views from his time at Riot Games:
He wants to deviate from the standard with the camera perspective only if there is a truly important reason. But he himself is a big fan of the third-person view. A similar statement was made about the combat system. Street seems to be more of a fan of tab targeting.
The image Ghostcrawler is currently painting of his new MMORPG sounds simply fantastic. A kind of modern WoW Classic with dungeons, raids, and tab-targeting as the combat system, but with a completely different and action-packed start.
It doesn’t bring any crazy innovations and is not aimed specifically at young players, but rather the older MMORPG generation. Furthermore, Street repeatedly emphasizes the close exchange with players and the early tests that are planned.
While the last two points carry some risk and Crowfall has shown that this can also be a nail in the coffin, Ashes of Creation has managed to maintain a small hype over the years this way. And if what has been shown is good, I prefer a small world for testing rather than writing about theories and blog posts for years without seeing gameplay.
And after the latest statement about the LoL MMORPG, I am sure we will see gameplay from the Ghostcrawler MMO before we see it from Riot Games itself. Meanwhile, his development studio doesn’t even have a name yet.
What do you think of the MMORPG? Are you as hyped as I am or are you waiting for more information first?
An MMORPG that also doesn’t belong to the mainstream managed to captivate me with its trailer:
In Anime it gets wild – but gay and lesbian marriages are a taboo. So great that a couple is now quickly “de-married” retroactively.
The world of anime is colorful and often quite bizarre. Besides the “beach episode” cliché, the often very similar harem protagonists, questionable tentacle monster attacks, and also the repeatedly alluded incestuous relationships, there is actually nothing that the medium shies away from. Nothing? Almost.
Because with a marriage between homosexual characters, a limit seems to be reached, as Ninotaku explains.
What kind of video is this? German-speaking anime fans are likely to know Nino Kerl as “Ninotaku TV” on YouTube. In his videos, he informs not only about the latest topics related to anime itself but also about the whole surrounding – such as the problems in production or the reasons why many anime never get a second season.
In one of his latest videos, he takes on a topic that is particularly important to him. Because while anime hardly shy away from depicting even the most questionable things, one thing seems to be a taboo: homosexual couples saying ‘I do.’
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What happened? In one of the latest Gundam anime (“Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury”), the engagement of the two protagonists, Miorine Rembran and Suletta Mercury, occurs very early on. The relationship between the two is an important element throughout the series, even though this may seem rather unusual for Gundam series.
That this relationship ultimately leads to a marriage is implied at several points. As Ninotaku reports, an interview with the two protagonists’ voice actresses was published in the magazine “Gundam Ace”. The voice actress for Suletta revealed here that the two characters got married after the final battle.
This is confirmed elsewhere: After all, the two characters are each wearing a wedding ring in the anime’s epilogue. A post by the American Gundam account on Twitter also featured the two characters, and in the alt text of the image, it was clearly stated: “Suletta Mercury is sitting on the left side of the image and holding the hand of her wife Miorine Rembran, who is sitting next to her”:
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Such alt texts are written so that Google can better assign images. In addition, these texts are read aloud to blind people through assistive devices so they can form an idea of the displayed image.
The “evidence” is therefore quite clear that the two characters got married at the end of the series.
All the more strange it becomes later, because: In the digital version of the magazine “Gundam Ace”, the story was retroactively modified, and the passage regarding the marriage was removed. The change was made because there was “an error in the original interview,” and they want to “leave the interpretation of the relationship of the two ladies to the audience.”
Why was this done? As Ninotaku explains, Japan is the only country in the G7 states where marriage between homosexual partners is still not recognized. The reason for this, in his eyes, is the conservative ruling party, which stands mainly for “traditional marriage,” meaning only between man and woman – even though the majority of the Japanese population supports the legalization of same-sex marriage (71%, according to Kyodo via nzz.ch)
Ninotaku finds it particularly ridiculous that such marriages are denied while much more tasteless topics, like the sexualization of minors or rapes, repeatedly find a place in anime.
The topic is also being discussed vigorously in the comments under the video.
What do you think about it? Does it fit your image of anime, where Yuri and Yaoi series are also very popular?
Actually, there is a subscription requirement in Final Fantasy XIV. Players must pay a monthly fee to be able to log into the game. Since MeinMMO editor Jasmin had too little time, she skipped the payments in recent months. However, a free promotion brings her back to the game.
I joined Final Fantasy XIV very late. When I started the game, the Endwalker expansion was just announced. A friend encouraged me to just give the game a try, after all, the first expansions are free. And I fell in love instantly.
After I saw the credits roll during Endwalker, I enjoyed the endgame content for a few more weeks – but after some time I let my subscription expire. Due to a career change, it was no longer worthwhile to invest a lot of time in the game.
Has that changed now? But Square Enix has currently started a promotion to bring back lost players like me – and it worked. If you meet the following conditions, you can snag up to 14 days for free:
You own the full version of FF14
You do not have an active subscription
Your subscription expired at least 90 days ago
Then you have the chance to log in for free. The promotion period coincides with the period from August 9 to 31, 2023, which is the Gamescom week, which even has its own role-playing game this year. However, if you are not attending the convention or only for a few days, you can focus intensively on the new content of Final Fantasy XIV.
Why is it worth returning? You can use the game time, among other things, to progress further in the story. Since the end of Endwalker, Square Enix has been releasing new updates that move the story forward.
This way, you are well prepared for the upcoming Dawntrail expansion, which MeinMMO presents in a trailer:
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Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail – Trailer for the new expansion
The Dawntrail expansion will be released in summer 2024. Before that, there will be Patch 6.5 in October 2023, followed by Patch 6.55 in January 2024. The quests between the expansions often bridge the old content and lead to the new adventures.
And the story in the patch quests after Endwalker is captivating. I was immediately hooked by the content that awaited me after the final battle against the last boss. It takes the group to another shard world, which has been overtaken by darkness this time.
Furthermore, the dragons are again coming into focus in the story. We experience the tale surrounding Azdaja and Vrtra and the consequences of the conquest of Meracydia.
If you are not interested in the story and just want to focus on the endgame content, you will soon be able to skip most of the story and catch up with a summary:
How do I find my way after returning? Final Fantasy XIV has many mechanics to make it as easy as possible for returnees like me. If your active time was a bit longer ago, you can stick to the following things:
Get the returnee status and receive a green plant icon. This way, other players can recognize that you are new.
At the same time, you can join the newbie chat, where a mentor is assigned to you, and you can ask questions about the game.
Your main quest will be indicated to you with a special symbol. You can recognize where to go to progress in the main story by the meteor symbol.
Against weak mobs and training dummies, you can practice your rotation again if you might have forgotten it.
The community in Final Fantasy XIV is considered to be very helpful. In no other MMORPG were players so patient when I didn’t immediately understand a content. Instead of insults, I often received tips on how to defeat boss XY. Bad apples were rather rare.
No wonder, then, that Final Fantasy XIV is not only one of my favorite MMORPGs but also convinces our MMORPG specialist Alexander:
Is it worth it as a newcomer? Even if you have so far avoided Final Fantasy XIV, I can highly recommend the title to you. As already mentioned, you can skip the story for real money if you fear losing track.
However, no player will be left behind. Thanks to the randomly chosen content of the dailies, veterans are often grouped with beginners and run the beginner dungeons with them.
This ensures that especially in low-level areas, no dungeon remains empty and players do not have to wait for hours until they find players who want to run the content with them.
With the quests, there is also regular gear that is adjusted for the level. This way, you are well equipped at every level to dive into the trials, dungeons, and other content.
Overwatch 2 launched on August 10 on Steam and has already boasted the title of “worst game on Steam” just days after its release. Now, the head of Overwatch 2 has commented on what he thinks about it.
Overwatch 2 is Blizzard’s first PC release since the introduction of the Battle.net launcher. However, the release has not been well received. The game has nearly 150,000 reviews (as of 19.08.2023) and its status on Steam is “extremely negative.” This has made Overwatch 2 the worst game on Steam – at least according to the users.
In addition to criticism of Blizzard and poor FPS performance, there are also numerous negative reviews that only express opinions through memes or recipes.
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Overwatch 2: The 2nd season brings new heroes – and quite crazy skins
Head understands that many are unhappy about the canceled PvE content
How does Blizzard respond? In a blog post, Aaron Keller, the Game Director of Overwatch 2, commented. He explained:
Even though it’s not fun to be bombarded with reviews, it was great to see how many new players have entered Overwatch 2 for the first time.
Many of the reviews on Steam mention the cancellation of the much larger PvE component that was announced in 2019 as one of the main reasons for their dissatisfaction with the game. I understand that. This announcement was about an ambitious project that we ultimately could not realize.
If we can’t turn back time, what can we do? We can continue to expand and improve Overwatch 2.
Keller also stated that they want to continue developing the game and adding further features. However, what they have planned for the future was not revealed in the post.
However, according to a China specialist, the review bombing largely stems from the fact that Chinese players are extremely angry at Blizzard because they can no longer play Overwatch. In January 2023, they shut down live streaming for Overwatch there:
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Release on Steam is a big success, despite devastating critiques
How is the game doing on Steam? Surprisingly well. Despite the many negative reviews, around 50,000 players still play Blizzard’s hero shooter daily on Steam. At times, the new game even climbed into the top 10 bestsellers on Steam, although it is officially a free-to-play game. This indicates that many players are willing to invest money in Overwatch 2.
Blizzard has likely achieved its goal of reaching a new user group for its shooter. Especially if Blizzard can manage to keep the new players engaged consistently.
Are there PvE missions in Overwatch 2? Yes, there are, and Cortyn has tried them out for you. However, the price for the handful of missions is quite steep. You can read more about it directly on MeinMMO:
Hi-Rez Studios develops the popular games SMITE and Paladins. Now there were plans to switch to an AI voice output in their own games. However, this did not sit well with the players or the voice actors.
Now the creators of Paladins and Smite, Hi-Rez Studios, have gotten into trouble on social media after a voice actor discovered plans to use AI to clone voice recordings.
Players and voice actors vented their frustrations on Twitter about the company, which then eventually withdrew its plans and announced a change to contracts.
AI Is Supposed to Clone Voices, Players Are Angry
The voice actor Henry Schrader posted on Twitter that the company Hi-Rez Studios allegedly has plans to clone voices. So he writes on Twitter:
For those who do not know yet: Hi-Rez Studios, the creators of Paladins and Smite, have stated that they will use AI to clone voices and have refused to enter into contracts that would protect the actors.
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The post by voice actor Henry Schrader garnered so much attention that the president of the studio, Stewart Chisam, presented a modified version of the contract addendum on Twitter.
This smoothed things over for the time being, but players are still upset. And concerns not only involve the game studio but also many other areas of life. AI has been gaining power for months.
What Is Behind the Discussion? For months, the functions and capabilities of AI have been discussed. Many are not only impressed by the capabilities, but are also afraid that artificial intelligence could eventually take over jobs.
The angry reaction from voice actors is therefore not surprising. The use of AI would likely mean the end of their work or at least a reduction in their time.
The fear of becoming obsolete had to be experienced firsthand by a woman:
A streamer accidentally makes exactly the right sound – and Blizzard takes the opportunity to poke fun at it.
Who is Voxy? Voxy is a Twitch streamer perhaps best known for her content around the Magic card game. Most of her streams end up on YouTube, but those videos have typically had rather modest view counts, mostly ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand.
However, a few weeks ago, she collaborated with another streamer on Hearthstone. They created two videos that were well-received by both communities: It was about a Magic player evaluating various Hearthstone cards and creating an arena deck while the Hearthstone player did the same with her Magic deck.
For Voxy, this video was the breakthrough, as it had 139,000 views.
Watching and evaluating the cards – and presumably also the success – had Voxy “hooked,” so she wanted to check out Hearthstone. Together with her viewers, she primarily played the solo adventures, as there is no time limit, allowing her to look at, get to know, and plan the cards at her leisure.
What happened next? During the solo adventure “Dalaran Heist,” Voxy activated a Discover effect and was confronted with the “Weasel Tunneler.” The art of the card depicts a small, cheekily grinning weasel with a felt hat on its head and a cigar in its mouth. The sight amused Voxy so much that she first burst into laughter and could hardly control herself.
The community found it even more amusing because during her laugh, Voxy sounded almost exactly like the sound the Weasel Tunneler makes when played: a particularly throaty, raspy laugh.
When addressed about it, Voxy initially reacted indignantly and was sure that she did not sound that terrible – but only until she heard both sounds back-to-back:
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This is how Blizzard reacted: At Blizzard, there was apparently someone who found Voxy’s videos just as amusing as the community did. Because just a few days after the incident, Voxy received two packages from Blizzard at her doorstep.
In the first package, just as Voxy expected, was a felt hat, so she could visually get a bit closer to the Weasel Tunneler. Even though Voxy playfully tumbles a bit in front of the camera, she and the community seem to be happy about the gift as she reads Blizzard’s message:
We really laughed loudly about your Weasel Tunneler saga, even if we didn’t sound as awful as you. Enjoy these little keepsakes of your true self, and we’ll see you in the Dalaran Heist.
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When putting on the hat, she laughs so hard at her own appearance that she has to make the iconic sound of the Weasel Tunneler again.
The second gift is also well-received. It is a mug featuring the “Weasel Tunneler” design along with the phrase “Up to no good” – that was Voxy’s first assessment upon seeing this card.
Even if Blizzard receives a lot of criticism from the player base in the Hearthstone area – at least they made a streamer and her pretty positive community happy.
MeinMMO-Demon Cortyn plays with two friends Baldur’s Gate 3, who only cause chaos. Because accidentally, everything always ends with someone dying.
I love Baldur’s Gate 3. So much that I’m now playing 3 save files concurrently. One “main save” with a friend, another solo (with really nasty decisions), and now a third with two other friends who have never really gotten into the genre.
But this third save file brings wonderful yet devastating chaos, as somehow the group always manages to kill absolutely everything and everyone.
Spoiler Warning: The article discusses some events from the first act of the game. This includes roughly the first 8-10 hours of gameplay. You have been warned.
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Launch Trailer for the Role-playing Game Baldur’s Gate 3
The thing is, these two players haven’t had much experience with such games.
They aren’t really role-players in the sense of pen & paper, but I was pleasantly surprised that at least the player behind the halfling had given it some thought: His rogue is interested in gold. Everything else is irrelevant to him. Gemstones, securities, books, or even weapons that would have high selling value – he’s all about the gold. It’s a bit simplistic, but also incredibly funny.
At least, I thought it would be funny. Because already at the first real encounter on the Nautiloid, I had to bite my tongue. They took surprisingly long to free Shadowheart from her capsule – because without a magically gifted character and without a strength hero, the answer isn’t that simple.
After we freed the fair cleric from the capsule, the question immediately arose: “Can I steal from her too?”
Honestly, that was a thought that never occurred to me. “Give it a try …,” I mumble to myself and regret it when “Sleight of hand failed” pops up. Shadowheart is apparently not impressed by the attempt and a fight ensues.
Yes, my dear friends. After only 10 minutes of gameplay, Shadowheart was already murdered. Exactly the Shadowheart with whom I sat by the campfire for hours in other save files, explored the Shar Temple, and mocked the Selûnite.
Shadowheart was killed after just 10 minutes.
To ensure the story doesn’t completely come to a standstill, the magical relic automatically passes into our possession.
The rest of the Nautiloid went surprisingly smoothly.
But just after arriving at the beach, and just reaching level 2, the chaos continued. Like almost everyone else, we encountered Lae’zel in her cage, who is currently being held captive by two tieflings. I breathe a sigh of relief as the rogue lies to the tieflings to free Lae’zel from the cage afterward.
“How can we get her out of there?” “Look around, I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
Well, they found it too.
Maybe it was bad luck, maybe fate, or maybe there’s some demon in hell who bears a grudge against me, but:
Almost simultaneously, the two tried to free Lae’zel from the cage by attacking the floor of the cage. However, the brief delay of maybe half a second led to this result:
The druid successfully attacks the floor of the cage with his thorn whip and destroys it. This causes Lae’zel to fall from the cage. At exactly that moment, the rogue also clicks with his crossbow on the floor of the cage – which no longer exists.
The end result is a Lae’zel lying on the ground with a crossbow bolt in her head.
Well. I can cope with Lae’zel’s death. We killed her in my main save file too, although I was mostly forced into good decisions there most of the time.
Lae’zel did not survive the fall from her cage. Accident.
Onward to the Emerald Grove. This is basically the first “real” fight, as a group of kobolds attempts to overcome the defense of the small camp, but with the help of the hero party, the fight is actually survived quite well. Plus, the potential companion Wyll is also jumping around there, dismantling everything with his warlock spells.
I can still hear “Why is the camera control so crap?” when once again a crossbow bolt whizzes past my tiefling and hits one of the defenders in the back.
Lucky us: They apparently don’t hold this “slip-up” against us and everyone survives the fight more or less unscathed. Everyone, except for that one fighter with the bolt in his back.
Fearing that the two might somehow completely ruin the save file here, I hastily say in Discord: “Be careful what you do in a village. If you provoke someone there, the whole village could hate you and then …”
I can’t get any further. The rogue has already robbed the merchant in the camp of the tiefling refugees, was caught, and lets himself be taken to prison without resistance.
It takes a good 15 minutes until we are reunited again, rescued the rogue from prison, and can listen in on the NPCs’ conversations a bit.
Upon arriving at the Circle of Druids, the usual scene unfolds: Tieflings argue with the druids and the latter make it clear that they currently do not tolerate strangers in the Circle’s area. Even our dwarf tries his luck once more, but the druids do not allow us to pass.
“Can’t I just walk past them while they talk to the dwarf?” our rogue asks and promptly tries it out.
I didn’t know that was possible. I didn’t know what would happen next. But the scenario was as follows:
The druid guards immediately engage our group in a fight because we are intruders. At the same time, a large part of the druids storms into the camp of the tiefling refugees and a cutscene plays. The druids start mercilessly murdering all the refugees.
In the Circle of Druids, everything is now poisoned.
We barely survive the fight against the druids’ guards, expending almost all resources. We rush back to the refugee camp and once again I can hardly believe my eyes. Important characters like Zevlor lie dead on the ground. Wyll’s adventure has also come to a swift end under the assault of the druids, as his corpse lies here as well.
I want to emphasize again: We were at level 2, so basically just off the Nautiloid. Kargha (the high druid) is level 5 and possesses spells and abilities that can one-hit us with a bit of bad luck – which she did multiple times. Moreover, she has many druids with her who can permanently heal her or deal hefty damage themselves.
We had to restart the fight multiple times and it surely took us two hours to just manage to survive it. And that was only possible because we used the last remaining tiefling refugees as “meat shields” and our druid dwarf in animal form blocked a door.
The result after a few hours is therefore: Shadowheart is dead, Lae’zel is dead, the tiefling refugees are dead, the druids are dead.
All tieflings are dead. Yes, even the lovely bard.
I’m already afraid of what they will do in the goblin camp. But actually, I don’t have much time to think about it, as I’m already being asked:
“I want to join the tentacle people. Can I?”
I’m a bit afraid of where the journey will lead. Because originally, the two didn’t intend to intentionally kill anyone. But it just turned out that way.
I still need to teach the two not to always just chase after the quest log – but after nearly 20 years of MMORPGs, they may have ingrained the habit of always following the glowing marker on the map, which leaves me fighting a losing battle.
Have you also had such experiences with your friends in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Using artificial intelligence, the YouTuber Kapuzenwurm created a video in which he plays the game Phasmophobia together with streamers Gronkh, Pandorya, and Tobinator. How Gronkh reacted live on Twitch and what concerns he expressed is told by MeinMMO.
Who is Kapuzenwurm? Michael “Kapuzenwurm” Dorrer (31) is a well-known figure in the world of streaming and online entertainment. Kapuzenwurm was a key member of PewDiePie, the famous YouTuber with 111 million subscribers until 2017.
In his position as a producer, he was responsible for programming, creation, and ideation for over two years. He then joined Gronkh’s team. He has since made a name for himself and is now successfully active as both a streamer and a YouTuber.
More about Gronkh can be found here:
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Gronkh, the man with the voice – Career and life of Germany’s most famous Let’s Player
What video is it? Recently, Kapuzenwurm took on a special idea: a AI-generated video in which he plays the horror game Phasmophobia together with established streamers Gronkh, Pandorya, and Tobinator.
The four had previously played together regularly as the M.E.T.T. crew, but recently had fewer opportunities due to Gronkh’s busy schedule. This apparently led Kapuzenwurm to the idea of creating such a video to revive the missing quartet.
Similar ideas are currently being pursued more frequently. Recently, an unknown person had a AI version of xQc stream and was able to generate some viewers.
How did Gronkh react to the video? The premiere of the AI-generated video took place in one of Gronkh’s recent streams. The streamer was visibly surprised when he saw the opening scenes of the video for the first time.
Already after the first seconds, Gronkh could hardly contain his laughter. “AI still needs a bit,” he commented. The presented streamers in the video had a funny, robot-like accent, which caused numerous laughs among Gronkh and his viewers. Particularly, the funny distortion of the face and the exaggeratedly wide-open eyes of Tobinator provided significant entertainment value.
You can see the video along with the reaction here:
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How was the video made? During the video, Gronkh eventually realized that Kapuzenwurm not only used AI for the video but also dubbed the presented streamers. The otherwise absent Austrian accent of Gronkh and Pandorya revealed Kapuzenwurm’s involvement and led to further funny moments.
At the end of the video, Kapuzenwurm provided insight into the creation of the AI video and showed how he dubbed the voices together with a colleague. Gronkh’s chat repeatedly commented ironically: “Better than the original”.
At the end of the video, Gronkh explained: “One can be curious about how it might look in a few years. That was more of a joke. Kapuzenwurm could probably have made it a lot more realistic, but then it would naturally be much more elaborate.”
However, the streamer also expressed concerns: “But I think at some point it will become frightening. Or maybe it won’t be frightening; maybe at some point someone else will sit down here to stream.”
As artificial intelligences are increasingly advancing into various creative fields, the question arises about the potentials and dangers of this development. The ability to use AI-generated content in the entertainment industry presents both new opportunities and ethical considerations.
In Baldur’s Gate 3 there is a small annoying thing that can be easily solved. You can quickly clean your dirty face after a fight with 4 simple tricks. You can find more details here.
How do I quickly clean my character’s face?
Use a water bottle
Run into a body of water, for example a river
Through the spell or trick: “Create or Destroy Water.”
With a cloak that permanently grants you the “wet” state.
Here you can find tips on how to reduce your carry weight in Baldur’s Gate 3:
Start video
3 Tips to Reduce Your Carrying Weight in Baldur’s Gate 3
How to get rid of your bloodied face
Especially as “Dark Urge” you will likely be running around permanently bloodied. Baldur’s Gate 3 offers 4 ways to clean your character’s face after it has been covered in blood, dirt, and bruises. All options, who would have thought, require water.
Use a bottle of water: To clean yourself and your party members, simply throw a water bottle at your feet. You should probably have plenty of water bottles if you’ve been diligently looting everything. With a water bottle, you can also extinguish flames and cause the “wet” state for two rounds. This will make you resistant to fire damage but will incur double lightning damage.
Run into a body of water: You just need to dip your toes into a body of water – for example, a river. There are numerous water sources in Baldur’s Gate 3, especially in Act 1 and Act 3.
Spell “Create or Destroy Water”: You can use the spell/trick “Create or Destroy Water” to clean your party members. However, I wouldn’t prefer this method, as it wastes a level 1 spell slot.
Find the reverse rain cloak: This cloak grants the wearer the “wet” state. So when you put on the cloak with your character, you will be instantly freed from all dirt. After that, you can switch the cloak again. You will find the cloak at the fairground at the beginning of Act 3, just spin the prize wheel.
These options free you from dirt, blood, and anything else that comes with it – without requiring a long rest. Because through a long rest, you will also become clean again.
In this RPG, you feel like you are constantly wandering around with a bloodied or dirty face, as adventures and battles are at the forefront.
However, experiencing blood-stained political negotiations, serious conversations, or intimate moments with companions is not for everyone. Fortunately, there are these simple ways to remove the dirt, so you can start your conversations completely clean.
The story chief of Baldur’s Gate 3 thanks BioWare. It is one of the reasons why Baldur’s Gate 3 has turned out so well.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is as successful as no one could have imagined. Neither the players nor the critics or even the developers would have believed in this huge success. Nevertheless, the story chief behind Baldur’s Gate 3, Adam Smith, remains humble. He believes that we owe a lot to “BioWare of the 90s”.
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Launch Trailer for the Role-playing Game Baldur’s Gate 3
What was said? In an interview with PCGamer magazine, lead writer Adam Smith talked about the doubts that existed at the beginning at Larian Studios. There was concern that they might not be up to the big shadow and, thus, the responsibility of making a successor to Baldur’s Gate 2.
After all, Baldur’s Gate 2 was back then one of the highest-rated PC games of all time – and still is today.
It’s easy to forget that because our game has now been released, but when we started working [on Baldur’s Gate 3], it was a gigantic task. [Baldur’s Gate] was such a big shadow. We asked ourselves: Can we even look okay in this shadow? There was a lot of concern about that.
Especially at the beginning of the early access phase of Baldur’s Gate 3, there was a lot of criticism. Again and again, people said it was just “Divinity: Original Sin 3 and not really Baldur’s Gate 3.”
The criticism was taken to heart and worked on:
We told ourselves: ‘No, we love Baldur’s Gate. We want to create Baldur’s Gate 3.’ And there was a reason for that, because so many of us grew up with it.
Why do we owe something to BioWare? Even though BioWare has somewhat fallen out of favor with players in recent years – especially with Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem – the studio was considered an absolute exception in the field of RPGs in the past.
Especially the first two “Baldur’s Gate” games and their expansions come from the old BioWare, and that is exactly what Smith refers to.
Especially the character Jaheira, whom veterans may remember from the earlier games, was close to Smith’s heart. He always wanted the character to appear in Baldur’s Gate 3 because the story takes place about 100 years later, and it is exciting to have a character who has experienced so much suffering and loss and then reappears after a century to prepare the next heroes.
That is exactly what Smith is particularly proud of when he receives praise:
It means a lot to me when I see someone who had something to do with the original [Baldur’s Gate] games and is satisfied because we owe them a lot, and I hope we made them proud.
If you look at the ratings of Baldur’s Gate 3 and the current playing times on Steam, then you might well conclude: Yes, it worked.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
