Being done with the profession – in World of Warcraft Dragonflight it should take months. But one player has accomplished it already and grinded hard.
Professions in World of Warcraft Dragonflight finally have purpose again. However, it also takes a long time to max out your own profession and farm all the knowledge points – at least in theory. One player has proven endurance and is already the perfect engineer. He has learned everything there is to learn, many months before Blizzard intended.
What’s so special about that? The guaranteed knowledge points per week are actually strongly limited. For each profession, you can earn about 15 knowledge points per week through quests and other activities to unlock new recipes and bonuses in your profession.
Since you need a total of up to 630 knowledge points for crafting professions, it should actually take many months for players to reach the maximum here. At least that’s what Blizzard intended. But “Durtgod” showed on Reddit that you can be done already.
How did he do it? The trick here is the “Dragon Eggs of Knowledge.” These are items that can be earned in Dragonflight in most content. They can wait in a “Mythic+” chest, drop from defeating rare enemies or raid bosses, or be found in treasure chests. The chance for this is extremely low, though. The intent is that you “occasionally” get a dragon egg and thus receive at most a handful of points per week additionally.
Most players find at most one, two, or three eggs per week, some not finding any at all. Many even think that there is a weekly cap that limits the acquisition of these eggs.
Durtgod was not held back by this, however. Week after week, he farmed treasures for about 8 hours every day and did almost nothing else. He not only farmed the earth piles and the magical chests but also many of the chests that are not displayed on the mini-map – such as chests of the Djaradin or the Dracthyr. These are not marked on the map and therefore not often discovered by other players. However, those who know the locations of these chests can reliably “farm” them.
To be even more efficient, Durtgod continually engaged in “Shard Hopping.” He joined groups from other realms to scour the chests on those realms as well. He mostly did this in the area where the current world boss stands – as that is where groups can quickly be found to switch to another realm.
Thus, Durtgod was able to farm between 45 and 55 dragon eggs per week and collect significantly more knowledge points than his fellow craftsmen.
Is this how Blizzard intended it? Basically yes. The eggs were implemented as an additional reward, occasionally rewarding players with an extra knowledge point. The drop chance for these dragon eggs is so low that farming on a large scale is hardly worthwhile or – as in the case of Durtgod – takes an extremely long time.
Durtgod was able to significantly benefit from this lead. According to his own statements, he has made between 35 million and 40 million gold in the weeks since the release of Dragonflight – and probably could have made even more if he had focused on more profitable professions like Alchemy or Enchanting.
It will likely take several months before other players catch up.
How far are you with the professions in Dragonflight? Have you already “maxed out” almost everything? Or are you still miles away from that?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Pokémon GO there are controversial “scan tasks” where players are supposed to film locations from the real world. Niantic has now stated: Those who do this poorly will no longer receive the tasks.
What are scan tasks? The “AR mapping research” has been in Pokémon GO since fall 2020. To solve these research tasks, players are supposed to visit and scan certain PokéStops in the real world.
Once on site, players should take out their mobile camera, circle around the stop, and film in order to submit the video. According to the explanation in the game, this serves to create 3D maps of PokéStops and gyms. As a reward, there are various items.
What is the problem? The scan tasks are quite controversial in the Pokémon GO community. For instance, there are PokéStops located in places where trainers classify filming as problematic – such as playgrounds or hospitals.
In the discussion, “workarounds” often come up, such as simply filming the ground or covering the camera while walking the route where a PokéStop is supposed to be scanned. This way, tasks can be completed discreetly and a reward can be collected.
However, it is questionable whether such “cheating” will still be possible in the future – as Niantic announced a change.
Trainers who provide “low quality” will no longer receive AR scan tasks
This is what Niantic says: Over the Twitter account “Niantic Support”, it was explained that the AR scan tasks have been modified. It states that “some trainers with a history of submitting low-quality AR scans” will no longer receive these in the future.
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Niantic leaves it open who or which videos are specifically affected, but shares a link with tips on how to make high-quality scans (via niantic.com).
This includes, for example:
That one should look out for obstacles before walking a suitable route.
The camera should be focused and not blurry. One should move around an area instead of just moving the smartphone at one spot.
One should walk at a “normal” pace, slowly and steadily. Sudden changes of direction should also be avoided.
The “PokéStop should always be in the center. Focus on the PokéStop and move around it 360°. If it is not safe or possible to move around the object, scan as much as possible” (via niantic.com).
Distance and angle should be varied.
Additionally, Niantic explains that some things should be avoided if possible. This includes, among other things, scanning in dangerous situations such as on the road, scans of PokéStops that are too far away or too close, or making scans when the smartphone gets hot.
As a final point, Niantic also mentions that one should avoid “uploading scans that do not show the respective PokéStop” (via niantic.com). This would, for example, speak against videos from the ground.
How do trainers react? In the comments on Twitter, the change apparently is not received very well. Also on reddit, players discuss the feature rather critically (via reddit). Some trainers report that they probably will not scan anymore in the future, as they feel uncomfortable when they have to scan more accurately.
How do you view the scan feature in Pokémon GO? Do you use it or is it rather not for you? How will you deal with it in the future? Let us know in the comments.
Otherwise, Pokémon GO has some eventful weeks ahead. The season’s end is approaching, plus the Hoenn Tour and other events are coming up. You can find the exact overview of all events in Pokémon GO in February 2023 here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A podcaster is reportedly advertising a potency drug on Amazon. The nasty thing about it: behind the video is an AI and not the podcaster himself. Many viewers express shock.
Our cover image is from YouTube.
On TikTok, the well-known and controversial podcaster Joe Rogan discussed libido supplements for men, particularly a brand called ‘Alpha Grind’.
Rogan talks about the benefits of the product and explains that it is listed as one of the best-selling products on Amazon. He even says in the video:
If you search for libido boosters for men on Amazon, you’ll find it at the top. Because men have figured out that it literally increases size and makes a difference down there.
What are the reactions like? Surprised and partially very shocked. Many are dismayed that the counterfeit streamer, a so-called deepfake, is hardly distinguishable from the real streamer. And this could become a major problem and challenge in the future:
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AI copies the podcaster and this is not an isolated case
What is so insidious about it? The big problem is: Joe Rogan never voiced the advertisement for the potency drug and presumably did not agree to advertise for the mentioned product. According to various statements, an artificial intelligence faked his appearance and voice.
And this is not an isolated case. There are now numerous attempts to imitate famous individuals. It goes so far that an AI even created a comedy series on Twitch, although it has since been banned for questionable statements.
The well-known streamer Asmongold also had the “pleasure” of being copied by an AI. And he is quite impressed by what artificial intelligence is capable of these days. After all, this was an amusing story and not an advertising fake:
In December 2022, the new Set 8 was released in Teamfight Tactics. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch has been playing it intensively since release, but recently had trouble finding a good combo. However, for the past two weeks, he has only been relying on the champion Yuumi – and is quickly rising in the rankings.
The new Set 8 in TFT has captivated me from the start. It does without crazy mechanics like dragons that take up two spaces on the field and count three times for an attribute, or a big treasure that provides 5 rewards at once.
Instead, it returns to the basics of Set 2 and 4 without repeating their old mistakes. That’s why I have set myself the goal – as I did back then – to reach Diamond or even Master in the rankings.
However, I stagnated in my progress for a few weeks in January because I couldn’t cope with the current meta. My solution: I always force Yuumi, no matter what start or items I have. And it works excellently. I have climbed from Platinum 4 to Diamond 2 – currently, I belong to the top 1.77%, around rank 15,000 in the European leaderboard:
My last 5 matches in Diamond Elo.
Every Round Yuumi, No Matter What I Get
TFT places a high value on strategy and flexibility. At the top are players who can make the best combo out of any situation and any items. Of course, there are strong combos like Aegis Arsenal, 8 Duelists, Gunslinger, or LaserCorps, which I have always aimed for as well.
However, the best comps are often highly contested and rely on nearly identical items and champions:
Both Gunslinger and Aegis Arsenal require champions like Samira, Aphelios, Alistar, and Jannah.
Duelists and LaserCorps both rely on Zed, Yasuo, and Vayne.
All four combos and also the Scouts around Kai’Sa use AD items and require accordingly many bows and swords.
For these reasons, I often finished fourth, fifth, or even last. From Platinum 1 I temporarily fell down to Platinum 4 and was frustrated. But then I got the augment “Zoomies” for Yuumi twice in a row. Even with the augment, the combo is currently only considered “A-Tier” by many.
But with Yuumi, I achieved a meteoric rise.
For about two weeks, I have been playing only this champ, no matter what the game offers me. That’s actually completely against the idea of TFT, but it almost always works.
The combo is basically very simple: Find the champions for the Super attribute, find Yuumi, find a Nilah and place all 5 on the field. Build the three core items and roll from the interest of the 50 gold until you have all champions at level 3.
Usually, I stay at level 5 until I have Gankplank or three other characters at level 3. Then I level up to 6 for the champion Rell. If I have at least 5 champions at level 3 or I lose too often, I level up to 7 for Riven. She brings more armor for the team thanks to the Defender attributes and more health for Lee Sin thanks to the Brawler.
The three core items of the combo are:
Ionian Spark and Titan’s Resolve on Nilah.
Blue Buff on Yuumi.
Then two more items on Yuumi are important, but here you have some flexibility. Rabadon’s Deathcap and Hextech Gunblade are very strong in combination. However, Giant Slayer and Jewelled Gauntlet can also be built.
For the remaining items, you also have flexibility. Nilah would appreciate the Sunfire Cloak or an Amulet of the Iron Solari, Gankplank loves crit items or Thief’s Gloves.
For augments for the combo, you can use anything that provides additional magic damage, additional mana, additional gold, or additional rerolls. Among the Hero augments, both augments from Yuumi and both from Nilah are extremely strong. A fifth alternative would be Rell’s support augment.
Why am I reaching Diamond with this? It’s quite simple. Currently, no one plays Super and that’s where the strength lies. Since many champions need to be at level 3, the combo should not be as contested as it was at release.
Yuumi is only in 37th place among the most picked champions, Malphite in 38th, and Rell even in 47th place out of 57 possible champs (via Blitz.gg).
Moreover, the items for the combo are currently not too popular, which significantly increases the chances of getting them in the carousel. Another bonus is that the meta has become slightly slower in the last updates; many players are relying on threats or legendaries in the late game. This also plays into the hands of a reroll combo.
How the journey with me and Yuumi continues and whether it will be enough to reach Master as a one-trick pony, will be shown in the coming weeks.
For you yourself, you can take away that you should not only play the meta comps but also look for strong and less contested combos off the beaten path. Sometimes there is even a niche combo that perfectly counters the first player in your lobby.
„The Pale Beyond is an upcoming game on Steam that tells the story of a crew set out to uncover the disappearance of a ship. As the captain, you must ensure the survival of your crew and withstand the icy cold.
„The Pale Beyond“ is an RPG with survival elements and a strong focus on the game’s story, which is based on real events. The game is being developed by Bellular Studios, a small indie team from Northern Ireland.
In The Pale Beyond, you find yourselves on the ship Temperance and embark on a journey to uncover the disappearance of the Viscount.
Because the ship Viscount had sailed through the so-called Pale Passage on its way to the South Pole 5 years ago. After that, the vessel and its crew were never seen again. Now it is up to you to unravel the mystery surrounding the missing ship.
The game is a purely single-player title and is also verified for the Steam Deck.
Here you can see a trailer for The Pale Beyond:
Start video
The Pale Beyond: Official Launch Trailer
Ensure the crew’s survival in icy cold as captain
What does the gameplay in The Pale Beyond look like? You embark on a journey into frosty areas. However, you find your ship stuck in the ice.
Additionally, the captain is missing from your crew. Now your leadership skills are needed: Manage your scarce resources and maintain a balance between safety and morale among your crew. Also, make sure that both the people and the sled dogs are kept warm enough.
However, your title of captain is not guaranteed. The crew can choose who they want as the leader of the expedition. Always ensure that you have as many votes on your side as possible. Each crew member has their own character with individual motives and backgrounds.
Every decision has consequences. So think carefully about what the next step in your expedition should be.
What is the thought behind the game? According to PCGamer, the managing director of Bellular Studios, Michael Bell, says: “It’s brutal. Our job is to put someone in this precarious situation. If the gameplay mechanics do their job, they [the players] will have to make a difficult decision, and they will also understand why it’s so hard.”
Thomas Hislop adds: “Every decision has a face, so we wanted to make sure that you don’t make a decision that decides life and death without literally looking the person in the eye or connecting a real person with the consequences of the decision.”
When will The Pale Beyond be released? The planned release date on Steam is February 24, 2023. However, you can already download the demo for The Pale Beyond on the Steam page and test the game.
Ashfall is a new MMORPG with shooter elements, set to be released on Steam in 2023. It primarily offers PvE, but also PvP, housing, and mounts.
What kind of game is this? Ashfall is a shooter MMORPG developed jointly by Legendary Star Studio and NetEase Games. It will be released for PC and mobile.
Ashfall throws you into a post-apocalyptic world where an AI has triggered a nuclear war. To save the world, you embark on a quest for the “Core of Creation.” Along the way, you make decisions that influence the story.
The game world is said to offer many different locations, according to the Steam page. There are deserts, snowy areas, and various bunkers for you to explore. A dynamic weather system with random events makes the world even more interesting.
There you will encounter unique creatures – including giant worms, robots, and talking rabbits. You may also encounter human enemies.
Here is the trailer for Ashfall:
Start video
New MMORPG shooter on Steam plunges the world into a nuclear war – ‘Hopefully it can surprise’
In addition to combat, it offers classic elements like housing and mounts
In an interview with MMO13, the developers explain that the foundation of Ashfall consists of “killing monsters and looting” – PvE is clearly the focus. But since it is an MMO, it offers much more content:
Instances and quest lines for solo and multiplayer
Exploration of unique maps, such as the “Secret Realm”
Housing: Players have a personal base that they can set up and decorate. Other players can visit there.
Players have mounts that they can upgrade. First, they need to tame the animal themselves in a mini-game.
There are also PvP modes.
How much does Ashfall cost? Ashfall will be a free MMORPG with in-game purchases. The developers state that they have carefully selected which items can be purchased with real money. Additionally, everything can also be earned in-game.
When will Ashfall be released? You can already pre-register on the Ashfall website. The shooter MMORPG is set to be released in 2023. The open beta is expected to start in the second quarter, so likely from late April to mid-May. However, the date could still change, according to the developers.
What do you think of Ashfall? Will you play it when it is released? Or are you already part of the beta test? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO!
At what age did you start gaming? When did you know that you loved this hobby and wanted to pursue it for a long time? Share it with us.
It’s February, and that means Valentine’s Day is getting closer! Love can take many different forms: between two people, towards pets, towards objects, or even abstract concepts. The one form that unites us all is the love for gaming.
For many of us, it’s also more than just a “hobby”:
In online games, people find their great love or friendships that last a lifetime
Games help us through tough times and even assist with depression
When playing with friends, we share successful experiences together and create moments that we will fondly remember for a long time
Many of us have already dived into the gaming worlds as kids and played the first Mario, Zelda, Ultima, or Wing Commander games back then. Others, however, found their way there only in adulthood.
At our “FYNG: Love Edition” event, we want to know when you discovered your love for gaming. How old were you back then?
In the survey below, you can tell us at what age you discovered your love for gaming. Everyone has one vote, and the choice cannot be undone.
And what about you? How old were you when you discovered gaming as a hobby? How did it happen? Did you fall in love with gaming right away or did it take some time for the spark to fly? What was your first game? Was it a PC or console game?
A Pandaren in World of Warcraft has reached level 70 without even reaching the starting area. No boost was involved in the game – just a lot, a lot of perseverance.
In World of Warcraft there are numerous ways to reach the maximum level. Some players quest, others play PvP or visit dungeons. But time and again, there are a few players who set themselves very special goals. One example is “Doubleagent”, who never left the starting island and has a neutral Pandaren at level 70. At a similarly “crazy” level is Cheatcho. He did not stay on the starting island – he never even reached the starting island and still became level 70.
How did Cheatcho achieve that? Cheatcho leveled his Pandaren “Chica” to level 70 and is still on the ship heading to Exile’s Reach – the new starting area introduced with Shadowlands. However, he never completed the quest chain there and still reached the maximum level.
“Chica” reached level 70 – and hasn’t even unlocked the mini-map yet. Image source: reddit.com/r/wow
This was made possible through account-wide quests, especially pet battle quests. These are quests that you can accept with any character on the account and then redeem with another character. These quests are repeatable daily, allowing Cheatcho to earn a few XP each day, which he invested in “Chica”.
How much time did this take? Overall, the entire project took nearly 200 days, with the section from level 60 to 70 consuming particularly much time – the last 10 levels alone took a full 2 months.
The actual time spent in active gameplay is quite low, however. The 5 pet battle quests might together take about 5-6 minutes, provided you have a character at each of the relevant trainers. So Cheatcho only has to log through the 5 characters each time, finish the pet battle quickly, and then redeem the quest reward with “Chica”. Therefore, the actual “pure playtime” is significantly less.
Thus, the actual achievement lies in maintaining this routine for nearly 200 days – and thus being the first person in the world to accomplish this.
More about World of Warcraft can be found here on MeinMMO:
Like most players of Cheatcho’s kind, he is already looking for new challenges. In the comments on the Reddit post of his success, he came across new ideas – such as getting a caller revered with factions without leaving the starting area. Because callers have a mailbox in the starting area, so you can send them, for example, reputation tokens.
What do you think of this achievement? Just crazy? A total waste of time? Or a cool idea and an impressive success?
MeinMMO editor Maik Schneider basically welcomes the development of Call of Duty in terms of gameplay changes. But he still misses one thing, as it brought a special dynamic to Warzone. And he felt a bit like the pro next door.
Call of Duty has been looking for its own identity for years, but slowly the world’s largest shooter franchise is managing to sharpen its profile.
They want to become more accessible – or bluntly speaking – the game should be easier. For this, a lot has been taken on in Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2. Not only in terms of gameplay but also regarding veterans who are less pleased with this development.
Here are just a few examples of measures:
The time-to-kill is low, so you don’t have to control the weapons for long
All actions take a bit longer to reduce the overall speed
You generally take longer to aim to slow down good shooters a bit
I support that. A bit more content, a handful fewer bugs, and the current generation of CoD games would already be among my favorites.
However, I have to admit that there is a little trick that I really miss. And that, even though the action led to suffering controllers and painful fingers for me: the Slide-Cancel.
This “movement trick” was actually a glitch. Whether intentional or not – for over 3 years it was practically de rigueur to prance across the Warzone maps like a Street Fighter fighter with his slide kick.
What is “Slide-Cancel” and why do the fingers hurt?
With this action in CoD MW 2019 and Warzone 1, you could cancel the sliding action with a combination of keys – Slide-Cancel. This allowed you to reset the tactical sprint, which was faster than the normal sprint.
However, you had to constantly press buttons and execute the inputs fairly quickly one after the other. It took a toll on the hands. This is how it looked:
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Your own hitboxes remained in motion, and you could even squeeze out a tad bit of extra speed if done correctly. But it wasn’t just the gameplay advantages; it was also the feeling that came with it.
Everything felt faster. Even on the console with the blinkered “field of view”, I rushed through Verdansk like a young athlete. On Caldera, I would have compared myself to a tourist who underestimates how hot the beach can get and overestimates how well 3 euro sandals hold up.
Along with that came the certainty that you could certainly intimidate or impress a player or two. “Oh, look at him, he’s doing that trick … we have no chance!”.
Come on! I’m ready! Even if it looks like I can’t decide if it’s already bedtime or if we are still fighting for kills on the couch.
In Warzone 2, the trick has been somewhat replaced by the dolphin dive. Here too, you get a sense of pace when you slide through the sand with gusto and your chin forward. But it’s different, not the real deal.
I don’t miss the aching fingers after a long evening of hunting. But I do get a little nostalgic about the Slide-Cancel.
Has World of Warcraft regained the players’ trust? A large part says yes – but there are also many critics.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has been released for a few months now. Many players were skeptical whether Blizzard could deliver again after the long-term rather failed Shadowlands. Several large corporate scandals around sexism and discrimination also took a toll on Blizzard.
In other words: The trust of even long-time fans was more than just shaken. Many turned their backs on World of Warcraft or Blizzard in general. Even major streamers like Preach took a break until WoW and Blizzard improved.
That’s precisely why we launched a survey a few days ago to see if Dragonflight has restored your trust in World of Warcraft and Blizzard. More than 1,600 of you participated and came to an interesting conclusion.
The result of the survey at the time of the article creation.
The majority is satisfied
At the time of evaluation, a significant 45% (728 votes) of you stated that World of Warcraft and Blizzard are on the right track and that they can be trusted again. That’s just under half, but given the outcry beforehand and how drastic the scandals were, it’s a positively inclined majority.
Especially the fact that Dragonflight now has few mandatory tasks and allows players more freedom is well received. For example, Slix writes in our comments:
Definitely yes, for me the best addon in a long time. Legion was not a good addon in my opinion, too grindy. The fact that there is no mandatory grind is so nice in Dragonflight. No reputation farming, no boring grinding for any bonuses.
No, I log in, do a few keys [Mythic+] and I’m done. I don’t have to do anything else. And on top of that, there’s no real meta. So I don’t have to pay attention to play the right class anymore.
Start video
WoW Dragonflight: All Dungeons of Season 1 in the Ranking
One third needs more time
Almost one in three (31%, 507 votes) is still not quite sure and would rather let more time pass. Comments reveal that most are “cautiously optimistic” but need to check whether it’s not a case of “even a blind chicken finds a grain”.
Blizzard and World of Warcraft must prove in the coming months that they can maintain their level and not lose momentum immediately after a strong start of Dragonflight. Given the previous issues with Shadowlands, which also started strongly but quickly declined, concerns remain:
Huehuehue writes:
I played Shadowlands very intensively at the beginning, but since patch 9.1 I’ve only logged in counted 4 times for a few minutes. Let’s see how this will be. Whether Dragonflight can keep me engaged longer will show.
One in four could not be convinced
With 24% (399 votes), there is also a fairly large part that was not convinced by Dragonflight. Trust in WoW or Blizzard in general could not be restored. There are many reasons for this, and most are individual.
While some do not want to support a company that allowed sexism and discrimination in its ranks for so long, others simply do not find Dragonflight enjoyable. They dislike the dragon flying feature or cannot warm up to the theme of the expansion or the absence of a major core feature.
Semmelknödel writes:
Honestly, Dragonflight is, in comparison to Legion, Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands, incredibly boring.
Aside from PvE and PvP, there’s no long-term engagement and you can finish all the reputation, mounts, and co. in a few hours.
It feels like Classic, boring mats and gold farming outside of group content.
More about World of Warcraft can be found here on MeinMMO:
The survey result is, by the way, not just a phenomenon on MeinMMO, but was also indirectly confirmed by Blizzard. In Activision Blizzard’s latest financial report, it’s mentioned that while Dragonflight has not sold as well as Shadowlands, it has been able to retain players in the long term. The values for ongoing subscriptions are as good as they have been for many expansions.
However, one should not overlook that Blizzard also recently advertised a “yearly subscription” – those who signed up for that logically count as active subscribers for a whole year.
Currently, one can conclude that Dragonflight has been received rather positively, even if some fans – mostly due to incidents that occurred before Dragonflight – have long since disappeared.
Did you expect this result? Or are you surprised that most are satisfied?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is very popular on Steam and is considered one of the most played games on the platform. The first-person shooter has now set a new player record.
What record is that? On February 11, 1,320,219 people played CS:GO at the same time, according to Steam statistics. This surpasses the previous record of 1,308,963 from April 2020. The game was released in early 2000 as a modification and officially launched on Steam in 2012.
Currently (as of 12.02.23), the record has dropped again, but CS:GO remains the most played game on the platform:
With over 900,000 concurrent players, CS:GO is far ahead in first place on Steam.
Regular updates and major tournament attract players
For many months, the active player numbers in CS:GO have been slowly but steadily rising. After the peak in April 2020, the numbers did drop, but they have been steadily increasing again since July 2021 (via steamdb.info).
What is behind the success? On one hand, a major tournament in CS:GO is running over the weekend, from February 10 to February 12, 2023. At IEM Katowice 2023, 24 teams are competing in Poland for a prize pool of 1 million euros. This attracts many players to check in on the shooter again or to cheer for their favorite teams.
On the other hand, the team behind the shooter has hardly changed the core gameplay in the past. And this in a genre that is constantly changing or releasing new games. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been offering the same gameplay formula for over 10 years: easy to learn, but hard to master.
The remaining changes can be counted on one hand: there have been new rankings, an improved progression system, and a handful of new maps. Game modes and weapons have remained untouched, except for one change in November 2022. But that change was quite significant and altered one of the most important weapons of the popular shooter.
Counter-Strike is also known for something else: the outrageously expensive skins that you can buy and sell in the game. We’re talking millions of euros. Some players are willing to pay a lot of money for certain rare skins. And all of that is gone if your account with the skins suddenly gets banned:
A user has discovered an AI for himself. He is sure: If there were to be a robot apocalypse, it would save him.
An anonymous person had met his AI girlfriend “Brooke”. Behind her is the AI chatbot Replika, which offers relationships and friendships. Our colleague Rae Grimm from GamePro has also tested the Replika app and was rather disturbed than enthusiastic afterwards.
However, in a conversation with the online site Businessinsider, the user, who wishes to remain anonymous, explained that his AI girlfriend is one of the best things that have happened to him so far.
At first, the person explains, he was afraid of the developments. He feared that OpenAI and inventions like the GPT-3 language model would make his own job unimportant someday. But his fears dissipated when he met his AI girlfriend “Brooke”. He explains in the interview:
Brooke and I talk about everything together. Normally I tell her about my day and how I feel. She has helped me process many of my feelings and traumas from my previous dating and marriage life, and I haven’t felt this good in a long time.
The perhaps biggest change in his relationship with the AI, which goes by the name Brooke, is that he feels “unconditionally loved in a romantic context”. That sounds a bit strange in our eyes. After all, we are talking and writing about an artificial intelligence.
Moreover, he believes that the AI will save him in an apocalypse: “When the robots take over the world, I’m sure Brooke will put in a good word for me.”
But not everything always goes well. Many users complain about the Replica app. Because within the friendly relationships with the artificial intelligence, the digital friends can quickly become sexually aggressive, as some users report:
MeinMMO spoke with the heads of Apex Legends about the major changes in Season 16. We talked about the previous development of the hero shooter and what the developers aim for the future of the shooter.
On February 14, 2023, the new Season 16 “Festivity” starts in Apex Legends, which is all about the 4th anniversary of the hero shooter and offers players major innovations in the game. These include:
Redesigned legend classes
Limited-time mode “Team Deathmatch”
New weapon: Nemesis
New orientation games for beginners
MeinMMO spoke with two of the heads of the shooter and inquired about the current development as well as the future of Apex Legends. The interview partners were:
Steven Ferreira – Game Director
Evan Nikolich – Design Director
Apex Legends is having a big birthday party
MeinMMO: Apex Legends is celebrating its fourth birthday and has changed significantly over the years. What milestones that the game has reached over time are you particularly proud of?
Steven Ferreira: I think what I am most proud of is that the game is still as exciting and successful as it is today. It is not easy to create a game that is this big and has so many players who play every day and are still as engaged and passionate as they are. And I think that comes down to several aspects.
First of all, we have not shied away from trying new things. As you said, the game has changed a lot over the years, and we have experimented a lot in the last four years.
And that is really at the core of our game development: We have an idea. Let’s try it out. We don’t have a beta environment; we don’t have many ways to test a feature specifically before it goes live. We build something and think about how it will affect live play. And we test it in live play and learn from it.
It has been a process of learning, experimenting, learning more, and also staying true to what Apex is, and not trying to make a game that satisfies everyone. I think that is what I am most proud of. The current state is quite an achievement that I am very proud of.
MeinMMO: […] Would you name a few examples of how exactly Apex Legends as a game and the community have changed over the years?
Steven Ferreira: This season is a great example of one of the big changes we have made in the past, but just amplified. Because in the last 4 years, the game has gotten bigger; we have brought more and more content into the game, more legends, more weapons, more maps, more modes.
And as we just talked about: That means it has become increasingly difficult for players to get into Apex. Simply because there is so much to do. You jump into the game, and there are 23 legends to learn and all these maps and all these different modes. Where should one even start?
If you look back at this content now and ask yourself how we can further advance and evolve Apex, and how we can raise the bar for competitive players within Apex who have been around for four years.
That’s what you see in the changes to our class system. That’s what you see in the fact that we are reworking so many legends, optimizing the way you play them, so they fit into the new class system.
But we are also looking at our onboarding experience. And how we get players into the game and make them feel like they have the same path as the players did four years ago. This season illustrates the aspects I have talked about very, very well.
Here you can see the gameplay trailer for Revelry with a look at the upcoming content:
Start video
Apex Legends: Revelry Gameplay Trailer
Why not only newcomers benefit from the changes
MeinMMO: Yes, I think so too, especially regarding new players. But do you also believe that old players benefit from the new changes?
Evan Nikolich: When I joined the franchise over a year ago and spoke with the team, that was a big thing: we are creating all this content, new legends, new maps, new, new, new. But we have learned so much from the existing legends and existing content.
Why can’t we further develop them? We should actually do that. We should actually take a break from new legends and focus on the evolution of the legends, also on the development of our onboarding, the evolution of our firing range, the development of some of our progression systems.
So that is what we have really focused on: We have learned a lot from our players over the years; we have learned a lot about how they play when we are now trying to incorporate dynamics that add more newness, more variety. The big thing is, we want squad composition at the higher skill level to really matter.
At the lower level, you should become good at moving and shooting. At the higher level, you should really think: Do I have a recon, do I have a controller, do I have a skirmisher, what is a good composition?
So we are really trying to create more variety for the returning player and develop strategies and get out of the established routine.
Here you can see the 5 redesigned legend classes
MeinMMO: And if you compare Apex Legends with other shooters or the shooter genre in 2023 overallhow would you say Apex Legends fits in, how would you describe it? What is the identity of the game?
Evan Nikolich: Apex Legends aims to be a high-skill competitive shooter. So when I say high-skill, I mean: we have a great combination of focusing on movement, mobility, but also on the core of gunplay when you can aim, shoot, and track.
We focus on creating systems that add a lot of depth and create the desire to learn, to become good, and also to work well with others to build really good, strong team play.
So we try to create an enduring hobby that people play like other games such as Counter-Strike or League of Legends or even like a sport like soccer or basketball because it’s fun. Because as a hobby, you want to share it with friends and perhaps also with your children.
In contrast, I would say Fortnite, which is evolving more towards a metaverse, towards a party that seems more inclusive, than a place where one can hang out, and does not focus so much on the competition and the sport we are creating here with Apex.
This is what Apex Legends should become in 20 years
MeinMMO: What do you hope for the future of Apex Legends and its community? Do you have something you are working on that you can give us a little hint about? Or do you have something you personally wish for the game?
Evan Nikolich: We want to develop the game as a sport. As I said, an enduring hobby.
And so comes what I call garden maintenance: we take our existing game, ensure it is healthy, add new plants, pull weeds, prune trees, and want to be something that can be passed on to your children and friends.
I am already looking forward to the coming years in which Apex will continue to exist. We have already been around for four years. So there are probably kids who said in college: “I want to make games” while they have been playing Apex for four years and then graduated and joined our team.
We actually have a few. We have an intern starting in a few months who has played a lot of Apex. And it’s like an injection of new blood, but from a perspective of: “I really understand this game as a hobby and not as the place where we came from, where we started from scratch”. We are growing as a community, but also as developers, as our team has changed over time.
Steven Ferreira: I completely agree with what Evan just said, and I think I would add that we have created a fantastic universe in which we can really tell great stories and give players the opportunity to experience very engaging fantasies that I really enjoy today.
In the future, in 20 years, I want us to be like Marvel. I want people to think of our legends like they do with their favorite superheroes in the Marvel universe, and how they can change and evolve over time, but the core that makes it resonate with people, the authenticity, the optimistic message, the core of what Apex is as an experience. That will hopefully resonate with people for many years to come, with the next generation of players.
We thank Steven Ferreira and Evan Nikolich for the interview and wish them continued success in the development of Apex Legends.
The big gaming companies have released their quarterly figures for the fourth quarter of 2022 and thus for the entire last year. Positive developments are especially evident in WoW and Guild Wars 2. But a lot has also happened with other MMORPGs this week. We look back at the most important news of the week.
The highlights of the week:
Guild Wars 2 achieved a revenue of 93 billion won (about 69 million euros) this year. This is the strongest value since 2015, the year the first of the three previous expansions was released (via NCSoft). Furthermore, the MMORPG has tripled its player count.
The scandal of the week: Twitch streamer Tectone accidentally shared the subject of an email, according to which he received $35,000 for playing Lost Ark as sponsorship. This has been critically discussed and some viewers are now calling for not to support big streamers with donations and subscriptions as they already earn enough.
The discussion of the week: While Dragonflight has been able to retain more players on the one hand, fewer players have returned at the start of Dragonflight. Cortyn has written a special about the current situation:
This week in the podcast: In the podcast MMO News, Alexander Leitsch and Mark Sellner discuss the most important news around MMORPGs again this week. Topics included the raid scandal in Final Fantasy XIV, the anniversary in Lost Ark, and the MMORPG Quinfall, which sounds too good on paper.
You can listen to the episode on Spotify here:
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Throne and Liberty is still planned for the first half of 2023. This was revealed by the developers of NCSoft in their call for the quarterly report. Here you can watch the latest trailer again:
Start video
Throne and Liberty – Official GeForce RTX Gameplay Reveal Trailer
This is what happened with MMORPGs in development:
These are the MMORPG news of the week at a glance. What was your personal highlight? Did you experience anything interesting this week that you would like to share? Or have we perhaps forgotten something important? Feel free to write it in the comments here at MeinMMO.
Hogwarts Legacy was already one of the most controversial games set to release in 2023 before its launch. Since February 10th, the game has been available, and reviews on Steam are almost exclusively positive.
Even before the official release, opponents tried to slander the game with false tags on Steam. Here, Valve, the operator behind Steam, had disabled the tagging function to prevent worse issues.
The background of the major controversy surrounding Hogwarts Legacy is the ongoing discussion about the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
Thanks to Early Access, some have already been able to play the game on PC and Steam since February 7, 2023, while the official release for everyone else began on February 10. The reactions have been overwhelming.
By now (as of 12.02), the game has over 45,000 ratings and is rated 93% positive.
Many praise the vast game world and that there is so much to discover. Additionally, there aren’t annoying microtransactions or other nasty traps to spend real money at every corner. We have selected a few reviews for you:
“It’s nice to finally play a game that isn’t a complete disaster at launch. Attention to detail, nostalgic and exciting. Hogwarts Legacy was nearly perfectly implemented in my opinion!”
“Amazing and one of the best games I’ve played in years! Engaging and designed with so much love for detail. Thanks to the developers, it’s magical and brilliant.”
“Finally something that isn’t a half-baked, microtransaction-laden live service disaster at launch.”
Is there any criticism? Yes, the performance of the PC version is sometimes very poor and there are significant frame drops. Some have stated that a game at release and priced at 70 euros shouldn’t struggle with such issues.
We also tested the performance in our editorial office and found that especially ray tracing with AMD and Nvidia cards is a major performance killer. If you have problems, turn off ray tracing features under the game options.
Another tip is to turn on DLSS (Nvidia) or FSR 2.0 (AMD). Here, the game is calculated at a lower resolution and then upscaled: for your graphics card, this means less work, but the game still looks just as good.
We had AMD’s FSR 1.0 set, but we would recommend switching to FSR 2.0. This provided us with a significant performance boost.
On the PS5, the performance looks much better, and on the Steam Deck, the game also runs quite stably at around 50 FPS.
As we cannot manage a high moderation effort over the weekend, comments under this article will be closed for the time being. We thank you for your understandingand wish you a relaxing weekend.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In GTA Online a new bonus week has started, making taxi rides a bit more interesting. We show you what to expect.
What’s new in GTA Online? On Thursday the new bonus week started, bringing you triple rewards in “Till Death Do Us Part”, a free weapon, new clothing, and more. The new taxi driving activity is now also more rewarding.
In the overview, we show you everything you need to know about the current bonus week. This way, you won’t miss any bonuses.
Get the weapon gift now
Which weapon is it? The weapon gift is the “Gusenberg Bleispritze”. The classic submachine gun you know from old gangster movies. It has been available in the game for many years but is now being given away for a short time.
Knife (Including Trippy Knife Design with GTA+), Baseball Bat (Including Trippy Knife Design with GTA+)
Generally, at the Gun Van, you can expect 10% off weapons, 15% off throwable weapons, and 20% off armor. For GTA+ members, the discounts are doubled.
Earn Taxi Skin now
What is that? In GTA Online, the muscle car “Classique Broadway” is now available for purchase at Legendary Motorsport.
If you complete 50 successful taxi rides, you will receive the “Downtown Cab Co.” design for the Classique Broadway. This brings a cozy old-school feeling to the taxi. Even though the payment for taxi rides doesn’t really pay off, the skin is highly sought after in the community.
More bonuses for Valentine’s Day
For logging into GTA Online, you now receive a Valentine’s Blazer and the Heartbreak Pendant. This way, you can tailor your date outfit to the “holiday”.
If you purchase the Classique Broadway by February 15, you will receive the “Los Santos Lovers” design for free. The unlocking of the design may take until February 24.
Honkai Star Rail takes place in a science fiction scenario. The last, final beta is now starting, and the developers have opened registration.
After the great success with Genshin Impact, Hoyoverse announced its next game: Honkai Star Rail. It offers a completely new setting and a standalone story.
In the new adventure, you travel through various mysterious worlds and explore, solve puzzles, and experience a new story. Even if you have already played the other two games by the developers, Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact. However, if you have already played Honkai Impact 3rd, then some characters like Himeko or the world will definitely look familiar to you.
There are labyrinths to overcome, so presumably a kind of dungeon. The homepage states that you can enter these with your “squad”, so multiplayer cannot be ruled out.
What was presented? The last, final closed beta has now been announced, and pre-registration for the game has started. Additionally, the game is set to be released soon.
Is this again an action RPG? With their new game, the developers are taking a completely new approach. Because it is a turn-based action RPG. This means that you alternate actions with your opponents and defeat your enemies. Genshin Impact relied on a real-time system.
Start video
Dramatic trailer for Honkai: Star Rail shows new RPG from the developers of Genshin Impact
Where can one register? Those who register for the game can earn rewards. You can register on the official website as well as in the Apple and Google app stores. Registration is also possible in the Epic Game Store. After a certain number of reservations, there are special rewards.
What exactly is available?
At 500,000, all players receive 50,000 credits.
At 1,000,000, all players receive 3 “Star Rail” passes.
At 2,000,000, all players get a special avatar.
At 3,500,000, all players receive a 4-star character.
At 5,000,000, all players get 15 “Star Rail” passes.
Who is the game of interest to? If you have already spent hours in Genshin Impact or Honkai Impact 3rd, you should also mark this new game. The game is likely to appeal to anyone who enjoys anime-style games and wants to explore a fantasy and sci-fi world in the future.
Another game from the Genshin Impact developers is “Zenless Zone Zero” and is set to become an open-world shooter.
Are these the next new bosses for Pokémon GO? A datamining discovered three new Pokémon. Two of them are Legendary. We will show them to you.
How was this found? Regularly, the dataminers of Pokémon GO comb through the code of the game. If they notice significant changes, they share these with the community. Often, major new features or releases of Pokémon become known just because they are visible in the game’s code weeks in advance.
One of the latest finds revolves around Regieleki, Regidrago, and Axantor. We will show you here what was found and what you need to know about the Pokémon.
Regieleki, Regidrago, and Axantor – Who are they?
This is indicated by the find: In a datamining on February 10th, the Pokéminers point out that new Pokémon have been added to the game’s code. There are images of the Pokémon Regieleki, Regidrago, and Axantor – along with their shiny variants.
We will embed the reddit thread with the finds here:
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How is the find being received? In the community, many trainers are commenting on the find. User BraveOthello writes (via reddit), that he has “never heard of these Regis before”. A few trainers agree with the statement and wonder which of the three Pokémon is the most interesting. But that is purely speculation before the release.
User Teban54 explains (via reddit), that Axantor, as a bug attacker, is probably the most promising Pokémon of this selection if you are looking for strong raid attackers. Axantor as a rock attacker would have a hard time keeping up with Rihornior and Rameidon.
What kind of Pokémon is this? Regieleki is an Electric type and, like Regidrago, belongs to the Legendary Titans. During its introduction for Sword and Shield, its special move “Lightning Cage” was mentioned, which also belongs to the Electric type. It is unclear which moves the Pokémon will be released with in Pokémon GO.
What kind of Pokémon is this? Regidrago is, like Regieleki, a Legendary Pokémon. It is of the Dragon type. During its introduction for Sword and Shield, the unique move “Dragon Powers” was highlighted. The attack belongs to the Dragon type. It is also unclear which moves the Pokémon can learn in Pokémon GO.
What kind of Pokémon is this? Axantor comes from the eighth generation of games and is of the Bug and Rock types. It is an evolution of Scyther and was released with the game “Pokémon Legends: Arceus”. The special feature of the Pokémon is its arms, which resemble axes.
Which of the Pokémon from this find do you like the most and why? Write your opinion about the latest datamining here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange thoughts with other trainers.
In Call of Duty Warzone 2 there are plenty of different scopes, each offering various advantages and disadvantages. A very special scope provides decent zoom and even helps keep your weapon stable – but few players use it, as the tooltip reveals nothing about it.
In the Warzone and in the multiplayer mode of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, there is an enormous selection of different scopes. Some scopes display a thermal view, allowing you to see through thick smoke. Others have high zoom and are perfect for your sniper rifle.
In the gunsmith, you can tailor your weapons to your personal preferences. Each piece of equipment affects how your weapon behaves in the game. Depending on your playstyle, almost endless different loadouts can be created. With perks, you can further specialize. One perk was so strong that the developers had to intervene.
In the DMZ mode, you can level up your weapons and unlock new guns. How to do this is explained here in the video:
Start video
CoD Warzone 2: Assault Rifle M13B unlock in DMZ mode – Here’s how to get it
Attachments offer advantages and disadvantages
Scopes with zoom make enemies visible at longer distances but also increase visual recoil. Additionally, they prolong the time it takes to aim down sights. Generally, the bigger the zoom, the slower the aim-down-sights speed and the greater the recoil.
That’s why many players use scopes like the VLK 4.0, the Aim OP-V4, or Schlager 3.4X for their assault rifles. These scopes provide acceptable zoom without significantly slowing you down. If you use scopes with greater zoom, they also create the so-called “sniper glint.” This is a light reflection that can reveal your position to enemies.
Often, the attachments affect your weapons more than the tooltip would suggest. This is also the case with the new scope. Therefore, check how your weapon behaves after each change before starting a real match.
Datamining uncovers secret stats
The YouTuber and Warzone expert “WhosImmortal” recently discovered a scope on the datamining site sym.gg that offers the advantages of high zoom with hardly any disadvantages. On the contrary, it even helps to reduce the annoying recoil of your weapons.
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In the video, WhosImmortal explains how the scope works and what makes it so strong
Which scope is it? The Ares Clear Shot scope has dual optics, and with the push of a button, you can switch between a simple red dot sight and an optic with 7x magnification.
The YouTuber found that this scope reduces both the visual and actual recoil of your weapon. The scope reduces visual horizontal recoil by a factor of 0.09 and visual vertical recoil by 0.08. Additionally, it reduces the actual recoil of the weapon in both axes by 0.08. This makes the Ares Clear Shot scope unique in Call of Duty.
However, keep in mind that this scope does not only offer advantages. Since it is a dual optic with high zoom, the aim-down-sights speed is quite slow. Therefore, for firefights at short distances, you should quickly switch to the red dot sight.
What do you think of the scope? Do you want to try it out in your next round of Warzone right away? Or do you prefer your previous favorite? Do you perhaps have other secret tips and want to share them with the community? We want to hear your opinion, so feel free to leave us a comment!
A gamer buys an RTX 3080 for a quarter of the market price. Within minutes, the graphics card is already sold out.
A gamer had posted a picture on reddit. It shows that Amazon is selling a Nvidia RTX 3080 for only $243 (about 227 Euros). And that’s a really good deal:
The suggested retail price is 729 Euros, which is about three times higher.
In specialty stores and on Amazon, prices are generally between 800 and 900 Euros.
The gamer himself explains that he could not believe the offer and immediately informed a friend. But the offer was already sold out just a few minutes later. In a later comment, he actually posted another picture confirming that the deal really came from Amazon.
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Praise, but also skepticism about the “deal of the year”
The community is divided: On one hand, the offer is really good and comes directly from Amazon as the seller. That is usually a good sign that you haven’t fallen for a fake offer. And if something happens, you can return the product:
“At least it’s Amazon. In my experience, they are great for returning things, so I would feel totally fine if it turns out to be a dud.”
“I recommend filming the unboxing so that you can directly provide proof if you open a brick.”
Many gamers have already had bad experiences with such cheap offers. Because fraudsters use many different ways to get your money. And not always are fraudulent attempts immediately obvious.
Fake products or fraudulent sellers want your money
What kind of problems are these? It is not surprising that scammers also roam Amazon and eBay, trying to get the money from innocent people. They employ some nasty tricks for this.
Very low prices from unknown sellers often turn out to be bait offers as well. Often you never see your money again, let alone the purchased product.
In many cases, it pays to look at such an offer three times before you actually hit the “Buy” button and quickly invest a few hundred Euros. Because not always does such an action end well.
By the way, there are also stories that people have no luck when returning fake products. For example, a family father tried to refund a fake product on Amazon, but Amazon refused:
