In FIFA 23 the Future Stars event is currently taking place and players can diligently collect tokens to receive strong rewards. However, one token is hidden behind a really nasty task and causes the otherwise relaxed friendly matches to become a chore.
Anyone who wants to have the best rewards during the Future Stars event must collect tokens. In total, there should be 30 of them, which will be gradually introduced into the game. They are hidden behind tasks, SBCs (Squad Building Challenges) and there are bonus tokens that can be found in packs.
Where you can find all the tokens, we tell you here in our guide:
Now there is already a second token that seems unreachable for most players and ruins the fun of playing.
What is this nasty task? It is about the task “First Owner Fiesta”, which takes place in the friendly match mode “Homegrown Eleven” of Ultimate Team. Here you can earn a total of 2 tokens.
You play with teams that consist exclusively of first owner cards. You have to compete with a team (including substitutes) that you have drawn from packs yourself. Additionally, however, you can also include SBC players and task players.
Only after 7 wins do you receive both tokens.
You receive the first token for one win and the second for 7 wins.
A task that at first glance doesn’t seem that hard, but there’s a catch: You can only play a total of 12 games. If you lose 6 games, then the second token is no longer achievable and forever unreachable.
And this happens faster than you think, especially when opponents seem to have incredible pack luck and field top cards like TOTY Mbappé, R9, Eusebio, and so on, while you are struggling to find good cards in your club that you haven’t bought on the FUT transfer market.
Community annoyed by task that is almost impossible
This is what players say about the task: In the FIFA subreddit, more and more threads from FIFA players appear, who are frustrated about this second token and the associated task. For example, Reddit user r4vtagsta complains about the opponents being far too strong:
The worst part about the first owner task for me is seeing what luck others have with packs. I have seen Prime Gullit, TOTY Mbappé, WC Cruyff, Eusebio, Marvel Lucio, and many other endgame cards in just 4 games. Meanwhile, I’m playing with my Mid Kaka and other average cards. That kind of hurts.
We have picked out a few more exciting comments for you:
nhat: “The mode should be called ‘How was your pack luck?’
itsjohn_stamos: “I played the mode tonight. It is the only mode that makes me want to delete FIFA.”
Shake0K5071: “I would be fine if there wasn’t the 12 game maximum. What’s the point?”
Jealous-Raccoon3475: “I think it’s nice to have another competitive game mode during the week while waiting on FUT Champions.”
weathermanpetro: “No chance. I’m not the best but I’m not terrible either. Last week I won 0 out of 7 games.”
What do you think about the task? Have you tried it and even completed it successfully? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
Many players are likely hoping that the new Future Stars cards are found in packs more often than the TOTY cards. How difficult it is to get a TOTY can be seen here:
On February 7, Hogwarts Legacy, the latest game in the popular Harry Potter book series, was released. Despite all the discussions leading up to it, the action RPG set a new record on the streaming platform Twitch right from the start.
What is behind the boycott? There have been discussions about the “Harry Potter” franchise for several years now. The author J.K. Rowling has been accused of transphobic remarks, while she sees herself as an advocate for women’s rights.
Critics also speak of racist and anti-Semitic views that are reflected in the naming of certain characters and in the stereotypical depictions of some magical creatures.
With Hogwarts Legacy, the debate gained fresh momentum. While fans could hardly wait to dive into the magical world, critics called for a boycott of the game. Some streamers decided not to show it on Twitch.
Yesterday, on February 7, Hogwarts Legacy launched in Early Access, which is reserved for owners of the Deluxe Edition – and immediately set a new record.
The success of Hogwarts Legacy was probably predictable at least after this trailer from gamescom 2022.
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Hogwarts Legacy presents the officially best trailer of gamescom – Has over 600,000 views on YouTube
What record did the game break? At its peak, 1.25 million people watched on Twitch as streamers played Hogwarts Legacy. This puts it in 15th place among the games with the most concurrent viewers of all time (via TwitchTracker).
This is quite an achievement given that the action RPG is not a multiplayer title, contrary to some hopes. Normally, games like LoL, Minecraft, Fortnite, or CS:GO dominate Twitch, alongside categories like “Special Events” and “Just Chatting.”
Hogwarts Legacy thus surpasses Cyberpunk 2077 as the single-player game with the most concurrent viewers on Twitch. Cyberpunk managed to attract 1.14 million viewers at its launch in 2020.
For comparison: The record for 3.33 million viewers is held by Spanish streamer Ibai with a boxing event, followed by LoL with 3.11 million. These numbers usually stem from multiplayer games due to significant tournaments that are prepared for weeks.
Where does the success come from? The success of Hogwarts Legacy can be explained by several factors:
Hogwarts Legacy uses the “Twitch Drops” strategy: for every 30 minutes watched, viewers can receive a total of 4 cosmetic items.
The exclusivity of the early access: until February 10, access to the magic school is reserved for owners of the nearly 70 € expensive Deluxe Edition.
Some of the biggest streamers in the world are playing Hogwarts Legacy and already bring a huge reach themselves.
Another possible reason is that fans of Harry Potter want to experience the game without financially supporting it, which is why they choose the indirect route through Twitch.
Now it remains to be seen whether Hogwarts Legacy can live up to the hype or whether the interest fueled by the controversy will soon wane.
Hogwarts Legacy is not only well-received by viewers on Twitch but also by players and testers. The game apparently impresses especially with its game world, exciting battles, and likely a significant nostalgia factor. You can read here what the first tests say:
The end date of Season 27 in Diablo 3 is set. Therefore, we also know the date when Season 28 will start at the earliest.
What’s going on in Diablo 3? In the last few weeks, the test for Season 28 has already taken place on the Diablo 3 PTR server. This is the next season that is coming up for you. It was revealed with a powerful altar and exciting content from patch 2.7.5.
Now it is known on which Sunday in February the current chapter will end.
End of Season 27
When does it end? As the Diablo 3 team reveals in the blog post, Season 27 in Diablo 3 ends on February 19. That is a Sunday.
From this announcement, you have about 1.5 weeks left to enjoy the currently active bonuses. We have some exciting articles for you that you can use in the remaining time:
Is there an official start date? No, so far Blizzard has not announced a specific start date for Season 28. This could be due to the fact that they are currently implementing the feedback from the test server and still working on the patch.
When can we expect a start? It is known that seasons of Diablo 3 always end on a Sunday and always start on a Friday. Typically, there is a break of one to two weeks in between. After Season 27 ends on February 19, the earliest possible date would be:
Friday, February 24, 2023
If the work on the patch takes longer, the start could also be delayed to March 3.
The Diablo 3 team wants to communicate “soon” more details about the upcoming patch and the start date. You can read about it on MeinMMO.
The new expansion of World of Warcraft is full of dragons. The problem: Dragons have wings, and they often cover important effects, especially for melee fighters. An enchanting item from Warlords of Draenor offers a solution and makes the winged ones transparent.
What is this item? The Enchanted Dust is a craftable and usable item that was introduced with Patch 6.0.1 in Warlords of Draenor (2015). The recipe is one of the first that enchanters could learn in the expansion.
To craft it, only one unit of Draenic Dust is needed – which you can easily obtain through disenchanting, buy at the auction house, or even simply buy from merchants in the garrison if you still have some old garrison resources left. You can also find the Enchanted Dust easily at the auction house.
What does the Enchanted Dust do? When used, your target is surrounded by a faint shimmer, and more importantly: it becomes transparent, so you can simply look through it.
It is actually just a fun gimmick, but it has proven to be extremely useful in the new expansion Dragonflight, as some players found out.
The dust helps you in raids and in Mythic+, especially if you are a melee fighter. Here you can see all dungeons from Season 1 in ranking:
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WoW Dragonflight: All Dungeons of Season 1 in the Ranking
Huge dragons cover deadly effects – dust helps
Where is the dust useful? In a now deleted post on reddit, a user shares that the dust can be applied to enemies. There are several bosses in Dragonflight where this is enormously helpful, such as:
Raszageth in the Vault of the Incarnations
Kraas and the Echo of Doragosa at the Algeth’ar Academy
Umbrelskul in the Azure Vault
At the respective bosses, there are ground effects and other abilities that you should avoid as much as possible. However, that is not so easy for some classes, as the wings and bodies of the bosses obstruct visibility.
Especially melee fighters and summoners often have trouble seeing the respective effects. With the dust, it’s easier. But beware: The dust only lasts for 5 minutes and brings you into combat. So use it only after the pull.
Is this intentional? Yes and no. The dust works exactly as it should. Whether bosses are meant to be made “easier” 8 years later is certainly not how it was intended back then. However, it is unlikely that Blizzard will intervene because of this.
Nevertheless, the reddit user deleted his post as a precaution, and some other players already joked: Better not say that too loud, or “fun detected” will happen. So if you can’t defeat Raszageth because your melee fighters are constantly standing in soup, use the dust while you can.
By the way, Dragonflight is one of the best expansions in years, at least in terms of retaining players – even though it sold worse than Shadowlands:
During the winter break, a lot has happened with the teams in the League of Legends scene. The Fnatic team has been working on adjusting their lineup for the upcoming season. But despite new players, they completely embarrassed themselves. The players are upset and are finally speaking up.
How did the winter split go for Fnatic? The dream of a successful star team at Fnatic was already shattered with their exit before the group stage at the beginning of the year. The team had restructured at the end of 2022. They brought in professional players Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen and Carl Martin Erik “Rekkles” Larsson.
The old bot lane was replaced, and especially the former supporter Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov was visibly surprised by the decision. He mentioned that he did not think he would be replaced, especially in combination with Upset (via reddit). Fnatic put the German Elias “Upset” Lipp on the bench and hoped for much success with Rekkles as ADC and Wunder on the top lane.
However, the team could not deliver good performances over the days. They only managed to secure a victory against Excel and KOI. But last weekend, they had a chance to potentially make it into the group stage.
They did not take that opportunity and thus were eliminated for the winter season. The players are visibly disappointed with themselves and their performance as a team. They have reached out on social media channels to apologize for their style of play.
Season 13 has started in League of Legends and brings a new cinematic trailer:
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LoL Season 2023: The Cinematic “The Brink of Infinity”
Tears are also expected among the professionals: The players themselves have not been heard much since the season started. But Rekkles could not help but speak out. He apologized on Twitter with two videos about his poor performance and promised improvement.
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As you can see in the video, the whole topic affects him deeply and he is visibly moved to tears. The ADC of Fnatic talks about how he was unable to deliver and admits to needing improvement. Although he is known for his solid play style, he has not yet adapted to the new meta.
Currently, one can even see the strong ADC champions in the support role. Rekkles has not shown such a play style before. He tends to play the usual solid compositions. What will change for the team now, or whether the second ADC Elias “Upset” Lipp will be in the running for the spring season, is currently unclear.
Which player do you see more in the ADC role and how will Fnatic perform in the next split? Let us know in the comments.
A gamer saved money for an upgrade for a new Nvidia graphics card. But after months he is dissatisfied and regrets the upgrade. The problem is not the graphics card, but the other installed hardware.
A user replaced his old Radeon RX 570 with a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. On paper, it’s a noticeable upgrade. But he is not really satisfied, he explained in a reddit thread:
The performance is hardly better than before and sometimes the games even stutter.
Moreover, the new card is annoying with coil whine.
He himself explains that he honestly regrets the upgrade and that the new card has only caused him a lot of stress. However, he does not want to return the card anymore.
So where lies the problem? On reddit, several users explain that his installed processor is much too weak. His Ryzen 5 2600 is simply too old for the new Nvidia graphics card and is limiting his system. However, the gamer just does not want to accept this. Someone writes: “He is absolutely CPU-limited, but he does not understand it.”
But what is a “bottleneck” and when do you recognize that hardware can be limiting?
What does “bottleneck” actually mean? Bottleneck means that often a certain component slows down the rest of your system. You buy a new graphics card, but your processor is also 10 years old or you still have a slow hard drive (HDD) installed. Such a “bottleneck” then means that individual components cannot be fully utilized.
How do you recognize such a limitation? You usually recognize this when you check your hardware under load. Normally, the load should distribute fairly evenly across all hardware. If one part, such as the processor, is limiting, then this is often quickly recognizable:
Your RAM is only low-loaded.
Your graphics card is hovering at around 10%.
But the processor is near maximum and has hardly any room to spare.
These are often helpful signs that your processor cannot keep up with the rest of your hardware.
When does such a limitation happen? This often happens when gamers upgrade their old systems. Often the graphics card is thought of, which symbolizes concentrated performance in gaming for many players. If money is available for an upgrade, hundreds of euros are often invested in a new graphics card – and it is quickly forgotten that a gaming PC consists of many components.
Especially beginners quickly pump money into a graphics card and are surprised that the impacts are not as great as hoped.
However, it is often forgotten that all parts of your gaming PC play an important role. With older systems, it is often sufficient to replace your slow HDD with an SSD.
Once you look away, the January of the year is gone. A brief glance away and it was announced that 15 games would be discontinued or they have already been closed. 2023 starts with a lot of game adjustments – and even a game platform has already said goodbye.
How has your year 2023 been so far? My January was pretty good, so the current February can be a bit more stressful. Between the local carnival and our campaign “Find Your Next Game: Love Edition”, there’s currently little room for any other fun.
However, I have not been affected as hard as the following 15 games. All have either already been discontinued or will not receive any further support throughout the year. Some can still be played afterwards, while others will disappear completely from the market.
For each game, we write a small paragraph about what it is about. The list is also sorted a bit by relevance – some games may be more familiar to you than others.
Here is the complete list:
Marvel’s Avengers
Apex Legends Mobile
Battlefield Mobile
Rumbleverse
Spellbreak
Babylon’s Fall
Knockout City
CrossfireX
Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights
Crimesight
Deathverse: Let It Die
Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero’s Bonds
Echo VR
Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier
Hellfire Tactics
“Bonus”: Google Stadia
The Gaming Graveyard 2023 starts with many discontinuations
1. Marvel’s Avengers
For the brawler MMO with the famous Marvel superheroes, the stars were not very favorable at release. For such a service game, this phase is crucial to build a solid player base. Official support will last until September 2023. After that, Marvel’s Avengers can still be played, but there will be no updates or customer service.
2. Apex Legends Mobile
The mobile spin-off of the popular Battle Royale will close its doors in May 2023 – just over a year after its release. EA states that it was unable to achieve the desired quality. The lack of connection to the main game is also said to have played a role. Apex Legends Mobile will no longer be playable.
3. Battlefield Mobile
The mobile version of the shooter franchise didn’t even have a chance for a release. EA attributed the discontinuation to changed market conditions. Here, they also want to strengthen the Battlefield titles together, and Battlefield Mobile was designed too independently. They want to improve BF2042 and are already working on new Battlefield experiences (via ea.com).
4. Rumbleverse
The battle royale with physical contact lasted almost 7 months but will be discontinued at the end of February. It was fun for some players, but apparently was not successful enough for publisher Epic Games. The developers want to bring it back in another form at some point (via irongalaxystudios.com). For now, however, it’s over and Rumbleverse will no longer be playable.
5. Spellbreak
A battle royale with magic and colorful graphics. But the enchanting approach unfortunately did not generate the attraction necessary for a sequel – Spellbreak has been shut down and is no longer playable. Some streamers logged in for a farewell round and even talked about possible private servers.
6. Babylon’s Fall
The action RPG was supposed to be a hit for publisher Square Enix with strong effects and an exciting co-op mode. However, it often received the title “worst PS5 game ever” and disappears from the market in less than a year. After the end of February, the servers will shut down – Babylon’s Fall will then no longer be playable in either co-op or single-player mode.
7. Knockout City
The dodgeball action was once a new sports game apart from the well-known soccer or NBA games. But players did not thank the title. Despite fairly good ratings, the game will close in June 2023 and will no longer be available afterwards.
8. CrossfireX
A free-to-play shooter exclusive to Xbox based on a successful Asian brand? An attempt that did not succeed. In May, the servers for the multiplayer content will shut down. The solo missions in the game will remain available.
9. Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights
The spin-off of the popular RPG series Bravely Default was not intended for the German market, but is still another game from publisher Square Enix that will soon close its doors. Service will run until the end of February, after which it will switch to an offline version.
10. Crimesight
Many tried to copy the success of the surprise hit Among Us, but most failed. This includes Crimesight. The Steam game will remain playable until the beginning of May, after which it will be gone.
11. Deathverse: Let It Die
A crazy battle royale with a hack & slash approach that has its fans. The developers explain that it’s not the end of the game, but for now, it will be stopped in mid-July. There are major issues in managing the lags and matchmaking. Once this has been resolved, they want to return to the market (via deathverse.com).
12. Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero’s Bonds
Oh yes, Square Enix seems to be going on a diet. The mobile spin-off of Dragon Quest will close in April and will then no longer be playable.
13. Echo VR
Robot teams fight in zero gravity in a kind of soccer with frisbees. All this in VR as well. The concept could not convince, and so the game will end in early August 2023. Echo VR will no longer be playable then.
14. Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier
What would a list like this be without a Final Fantasy from Square Enix? Right, so the servers of this mobile battle royale in the Final Fantasy VII universe also went offline. Since January 11, Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier can no longer be played.
15. Hellfire Tactics
A free-to-play card game with obvious similarities to the Blizzard hit Hearthstone. Here, it’s all over at the end of February 2023, as they failed to attract enough players to cover the costs. Hellfire Tactics will no longer be playable.
The cloud platform was Google’s largest foray into the gaming market and a total flop. After about 3 years, the project was discontinued, and players were partially compensated.
Whether it was ahead of its time, wanted too much in too short a time, or the market developed in a different direction, can only be speculated at this point. This experiment failed on January 18, 2023. Much to the regret of our author Jürgen Horn.
Do you miss a game on the list? Are you mourning one? Leave a comment on the topic.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Elden Ring there are many game endings that fans can influence and direct during a playthrough. One is considered very complicated and yet, according to statistics, it is the ending most achieved by players.
The normal ending ranks second with 18.9% (on PlayStation) and 19.3% (on Steam). The 3rd place is held by the ending “Lord of the Frenzied Flame” which has only 13.8% (on PlayStation) and 13.2% (on Steam).
The fascinating aspect is that despite Ranni’s quest being so complicated and convoluted, it is preferred by players. Most of the time, players start in FromSoftware’s Souls games without prior knowledge and eventually reach the end.
The statistics thus show that many players have sat down and worked towards activating the Age of Stars before completing the ending.
How do the endings work in FromSoftware games? The endings in FromSoftware’s Souls games are different. The normal ending can be activated effortlessly on its own. Secret endings, however, require significant preparation, such as collecting a specific item that is only given by a specific NPC after defeating a certain boss.
This preparation involves much effort and requires prior knowledge of how to progress in these quests, as there is no quest journal in the world of Dark Souls or Elden Ring. You have only the dialogues and item descriptions from the NPCs you encounter on your journey.
Now to you, what do you think about Ranni’s ending being the most popular? Have you also aimed for and experienced this ending, or have you preferred to stick with the standard ending? Let us know in the comments!
The Elder Scrolls Online will receive a new expansion this year called Necrom. For many, the highlight is the new class, Arcanist. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch was able to talk with Creative Director Rich Lambert about the new content.
What was discussed in the interview? We spoke with Rich Lambert about the past year 2022, but also about the innovations in 2023. The focus was mainly on the class Arcanist and the new update structure. The director also revealed that the story could be stretched over several years in the future, which is a significant innovation for ESO.
In the end, there were also some general questions about PvP, inventory space, and Rich himself.
Rich: Overall, it was a good year for ESO. But we received very similar feedback. Some of our long-time players say that some things seemed a bit formulaic to them and they wanted something different. They want to be surprised.
The story of High Isle was a more grounded storyline, more traditional fantasy. It was good – some say it was the best we’ve ever done. Others felt it was just okay. But please surprise us more in the future.
We took much of this feedback to heart. And I believe this year reflects a lot of that feedback.
MeinMMO: So you made adjustments to the update cycle, the story, and the DLCs only in 2022, or was that planned for longer?
Rich: It was definitely accelerated by the year 2022. There were many instances where we did not present ourselves in the best light regarding overall performance and stability. And that is why we wanted to focus on that and improve it, and we will dedicate a whole update to show people that we are committed to the game.
Here you can watch the cinematic for the upcoming expansion:
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The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom – Cinematic
As an Arcanist, you should constantly make decisions and not follow a rotation
MeinMMO: The big highlight for many is the new class Arcanist. However, there is also criticism that it is too similar to existing classes, rather than bringing something completely new. How do you see that?
Rich: No one has played the class yet, so I’m not sure how anyone can say that it’s too similar to one class or another. We have just scratched the surface of what this class is, what it can be, and how it works.
The new class really stands out from the others; it is connected to a completely different mechanic than our old classes. We have the combo point system, or Crux as we call it, a system where some abilities build points while others consume them. Here, players have to make many decisions. And Crux is important. The use of Crux can change how an ability functions.
I have healed a lot with my Arcanist, and one of my favorite abilities is called Remedy Cascade. It’s an energy beam that you shoot in front of you and need to aim precisely. So if you look up, the beam goes up; if you look left, it goes left, and if you look right, it goes right. You aim at this beam and try to hit people with it. And that’s how you heal.
However, if I turn it into a Crux-using ability, then the ability restores not only Health but also Stamina and Magicka. The gameplay experience of the Arcanist is very different; you do not follow a fixed rotation, but look at how to best use Crux for the given situation.
The gameplay feels very smooth, very fluid, and the sounds are exceptional. I can’t wait for players to finally get their hands on the new class.
The Arcanist in ESO.
MeinMMO: Can you explain the system with the abilities and the use of Crux in more detail?
Rich: Sure, there are abilities that can build Crux. Then there are abilities that expend Crux when used. However, you do not necessarily need to have Crux to use these abilities.
Some abilities neither build Crux nor consume it. But some of them can be morphed to either build or use Crux. Here, players have to make a decision.
Overall, the class is like a big toolbox from which you can choose various options. But you also have to engage with it to master it.
MeinMMO: Now that you seem to have rediscovered the classes, can we expect new classes more regularly from now on?
Rich: All I will say is: Classes are something special. If you release one every year, it will not be special anymore. There are also a lot of technical challenges when trying to develop a class.
It not only affects balance but also the performance of the game. A new class means new memory, new assets, and so on. And that’s why we want to keep them special.
2023 seems to be the beginning of a great story that does not end immediately
MeinMMO: Until now, it has always been the case that the fourth DLC of the year brings an ending to the story. 2023 will not be like that. Does this mean that the story will be shorter and completely closed within the add-on?
Rich: Um, all I can say is: Who says it will be done this year?
Let me take a step back. The storyline over a year was really good for us because it helped the entire team organize and focus on what we wanted to achieve throughout the year. It was also very easy for players because they understood where to get in and out.
But it prevented us from telling larger stories that didn’t fit into a year. And this new format allows us to do that if we want to.
Screenshots of the new areas in Necrom.
MeinMMO: This year there will be one less DLC because the dungeons are dropping in the fall. Will there therefore be fewer dungeons overall? And what are your plans for new dungeons throughout 2023?
Rich: So, if you listen closely to the global reveal, I said that the dungeon team is doing something different this year and building something that simply needs more time. And that’s where all the time is going.
We’ll see what the future brings, but that’s why there are fewer dungeons this year.
MeinMMO: Can you share more about the update in the last quarter?
Rich: Not yet (laughs).
MeinMMO: Then maybe some additional details about the two new companions?
Rich: Yes, of course. There’s Azandar, who’s a male Redguard and a somewhat aloof character. You know, I affectionately refer to him as a kind of Willy Wonka meets Dumbledore, just from a personality perspective. He is very inquisitive, focused on imparting knowledge, and serves as a sort of father figure. And when you meet him, well, I don’t want to spoil too much, but he has an experiment that went wrong and needs help to clean up the chaos.
And then there’s an Argonian. He is a bit mysterious. He’s a very quiet, reserved character, a mercenary who has had an extremely tough life. And you come to help him and try to crack this nut, to break through his hard shell to learn more about him and why his life was as hard as it was.
These are the two new companions.
Changes to PvP will come when performance is right
MeinMMO: What some missed in the announcement for the 2023 content are innovations in PvP. Can you tell us something about that?
Rich: We are currently working on the hardware upgrade. It’s simply not a good idea to add more content to PvP if the performance isn’t great, right? It’s like adding more pain to existing pain. We have focused on improving performance and completing the hardware upgrade.
While it wasn’t part of the global announcement, we just rolled out an update for the hardware upgrade. It has been delayed a bit again, and we plan to bring all servers up to date in April, or at least all except for PC in North America.
Once that happens and performance improves, we want to add more things and refresh the PvP experience. But until then, it doesn’t make much sense to do that.
MeinMMO: A recurring discussion point in our comments is always the issue of inventory space. Many players find it insufficient. Are you planning another expansion?
Rich: We’ve done that a few times over the years, and each time we’ve increased the space, players have said it’s not enough. So I think we’ve shown overall that we’re trying to take some of that burden off. That’s also why the collectibles album was created.
The space in the inventory is something players need to think about for several reasons. Firstly, there’s a reason to return to town. But secondly, it also helps with overall server performance. We need to think about what happens if there are millions of players all with full inventories and then we increase that. How does that affect the database? How does it affect the whole server regarding character loading, and so on?
So there are a number of reasons why we have these restrictions, but we are always looking for ways to ease that burden.
Rich is an avid Elder Scrolls player himself and has worked on Oblivion
MeinMMO: What is your personal relationship with the Elder Scrolls franchise? Have you played the single-player games, and which was your favorite?
Rich: I have played Daggerfall, Morrowind, and of course everything that came after. I even worked on Oblivion, which was my first game I contributed to at Bethesda.
They all have unique moments for me. So, Daggerfall was kind of my first introduction to what a truly massive RPG can be. So, that’s definitely a very, very important point for me, even though I crashed my save game three times and had to start from scratch three times.
Morrowind was the first game I upgraded my PC for four times. I just had to upgrade my PC to play something so great. And that was actually the game that made me want to work for Bethesda and develop games like this. Oblivion was, of course, the first game I got to work on at Bethesda. And then there was Skyrim, and of course dragons.
All of these games have something special that I hold dear. If I had to pick one, well, I would probably choose Oblivion because it just has so many good memories of the development process. Seeing it go from paper to completion and then playing it afterward was surreal.
MeinMMO: How much have the old games influenced you in the development of ESO?
Rich: Most stories in ESO come from there. For example, when we made Morrowind, the entire chapter was a kind of love letter to TES 3, but with our interpretation of what Vivec City would have looked like a thousand years ago.
We definitely took cues from how we structured the world. At launch, ESO was very different from what it is today. And a lot of what it is today is a direct result of what those earlier games were and how important exploration and the freedom of exploration were for Elder Scrolls players.
You know, the launch of ESO was not exactly fantastic. We didn’t set the world on fire. A few people left because they said, “We’re not happy; the game is not good.” But those who remained saw what the game could be, and we worked really hard on it. And I think One Tamriel in 2016 was kind of the first major turnaround for us. Since then, we’ve been focused on continuing to evolve the game and continuously improve it.
It has developed into one of the best games on the market. And that’s extremely gratifying as a developer. And it’s only going to get better this year.
MeinMMO: Do you think Elder Scrolls 6 will influence ESO and could perhaps even be a major competitor?
Rich: I certainly hope so. They have a long way to go. They are currently trying to finish Starfield. And yes, I can’t wait to play it.
MeinMMO: Thank you, Rich, for taking the time for the interview!
What do you think about Necrom and the new content? Will it be a stronger year for ESO again? MeinMMO author Melli is certainly excited:
Moreover, new raid bosses, changed spawns, and fresh field researches are coming into the game. And in those, there are currently 3 Pokémon that give you extra Stardust. You can take advantage of that.
3 Quest Pokémon bring extra Stardust – But you can get even more
These are the 3 quests: In the Pokémon GO subreddit, user “Pendergilr4” (via reddit) points out that currently, the following quest monsters can be obtained during the event:
Wadribie is found in the quest “Open 5 Gifts”. It brings 750 Stardust per catch.
Bubungus is also found in the quest “Open 5 Gifts”. It brings 500 Stardust per catch.
Ohrdoch is found in the quest: “Spin 10 PokéStops or gyms”. Ohrdoch gives 2,100 Stardust per catch.
Warning: Behind the quest with the 10 PokéStops and gyms, there may also be Chaneira or Mamolida hiding, so Ohrdoch is only a chance of 1/3. Bubungus and Wadribie are, meanwhile, the only options from their quest.
Here’s how to get a lot of Stardust: Once you have completed the quest, do not catch the Pokémon from the reward encounter. Instead, flee from the catch screen without catching the monster.
This way, you save the encounter for later. You can save up to 100 encounters from field research (via Twitter) and claim them at a later time.
Now it is worth waiting with the Stardust Pokémon until the next Stardust bonus. However, that occurs already on Tuesday, February 14 at 6:00 PM during the spotlight hour with Fleknoil.
There, you will get double the amount of Stardust. If you also activate a Star Piece during that time, you will get even more Stardust for each catch. Now it really makes sense to catch the saved encounters.
Now collect the 3 researches as often as possible – At stops and gyms
Complete them to receive the encounter
Flee from the encounter and save it
Wait until February 14 for the spotlight hour
Utilize the double dust bonus
Use a Star Piece item if necessary
In addition to the Valentine’s Day event, there are many more events this month, such as the Hoenn tour. You can find a detailed overview here: All events in February 2023 of Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Destiny 2 is slowly entering the hot phase as the new DLC “Lightfall” is about to be released. Therefore, we met with Bungie for an interview to exclusively provide you with some special insights into the new super ability “Strand” in advance.
Where do the infos come from? Bungie has conducted an interview with many editorial outlets, including MeinMMO. The focus was on Strand, the new ability in Destiny 2: Lightfall. Our interview partners were the long-time Combat System Design Lead, Kevin Yanes, and Eric Smith, the Gameplay Feature Lead.
We asked you many interesting questions.
Including how you will unlock Strand.
How it will compare to Stasis in PvP.
And what specific ability options you can expect from it.
Since the interview was very extensive, we decided to split it into several parts. So stay tuned in the coming days to see what we were able to extract from the Bungie developers.
Start video
Destiny 2 shows new insights into Strand in its trailer – The focus in Lightfall
The unlocking of Strand should be simple
What do the developers say? With the DLC “Beyond Light”, a class of darkness was already implemented. However, players had to grind hard to fully exploit the potential of the super after a tough grind. This should simplify in 2023 with Lightfall regarding Strand. Eric Smith said:
[…] Strand will be unlocked by completing the campaign, and you will know that as you continue, you can unlock more elements of the subclass kits. One thing we want to avoid is making it too grindy when you try to unlock your entire class.
So it should become easier to unlock the complete Strand Ultimate to make full use of your new element. Kevin Yanes adds:
[…] We learned a lot from “Born in Darkness” [the lengthy Stasis quest at that time]. There are definitely some cool things about “Born in Darkness”, like a meaningful journey to a permanent upgrade. But the grind there was way too big, especially for new players who came in and couldn’t see the new stuff. […] From there, we created something like a “Take-a-Gift-Type System” where you can tackle things the way you want and earn them.
You can then decide for yourself at what pace and what you want to unlock. So you won’t be forced to shoot green crystals in Neomuna with a new Exo, as it was in Beyond Light.
Strand can also be found in Neomuna
However, there will also be no quests like “Go to location X and kill Y enemies”. Bungie wants to express that it should not feel too grindy or too complicated and annoying.
Strand will still keep you busy for a while: As Bungie revealed to us, Strand will also be developed seasonally, similar to Stasis, throughout the entire expansion year.
The plan here is to bring more Strand aspects into the game over all seasons of Lightfall. By the end of the DLC year, you will have a quite complete subclass kit capable of keeping up with your existing powers. And you will probably also discover a playstyle that is currently not available to you. With Strand, you should “feel like a god”.
Particularly interesting is of course the gameplay itself. So the question was whether there will again be synergy mechanisms with Strand that players can use? And here Bungie gave us a glimpse of the so-called “Clumps” that you can expect with Strand.
[…] Every enemy weakened by a [Strand] strand will turn into a Clump when killed. A Clump is a swirling, volatile bundle of strands. So after you have weakened an enemy with a melee attack or certain grenades, you can transform them into a Clump. Pick up the Clump, and you can throw the enemy like a bomb. Or you can shoot the Clump where it lies. If you hold onto a Clump, it will cost you neither grip nor grenade energy, so you can use the Clumps to set up “Gripper Arenas”.
Explained Eric Smith
There will also be various aspects, exotic armors that will change the entangling in many ways. The core description of Strand will thus revolve around bindings, weaknesses, and dynamic gameplay.
Quickly on the move with the Titan
And Bungie lets you choose freely from Lightfall onwards, as Eric Smith notes: “Use your instinct to just say: Oh, I will change the path. I will change the way I attack this encounter because I see a Clump there. […] If I can change everything in a dynamic way, then I can probably maximize my effect.”
Kevin Yanes particularly points out: “Things like grabbing a Clump, throwing it, and grabbing it, seeing that very Clump and following up with a grip hit is something you can’t do with any other subclass. But when you chain those actions together, you feel like a god.”
Hunter Threadrunner: Silk Strike
Hunters weave a silk arrow to take down their enemies. The light attack throws the arrow forward to hit a single enemy. Hitting an enemy with the tip of the arrow deals bonus damage, and enemies defeated in this way explode. The heavy attack swings the silk arrow over a wide area, dealing damage to all enemies in the vicinity.
Titan Berserker: Blade Fury
Titans form large blades on their arms as they sweep across the battlefield with light and heavy attacks. With light attacks, the Titans can quickly slash their enemies and build energy for their heavy attacks, where they swing their blades to shoot projectiles that bind and incapacitate enemies on impact.
Warlock Threadweaver: Needle Storm
Hovering in the air, Warlocks conjure a wave of piercing Strand projectiles. When these projectiles hit their enemies, they detonate and weave into threads that pursue nearby targets.
This is how Strand will perform in PvP
A question that many players have already raised with great concerns is: “How will Strand perform in PvP?.”
When Stasis was released with Beyond Light, the new ability was not only very powerful in PvE but also in PvP. Players could eliminate foes with the Glacier Grenade and its shatter in a blink. Also, the duration for being frozen was simply too long.
Will Strand be as annoying in PvP as Stasis? Bungie wants to reassure players with these concerns. Strand should not be as dominant and annoying in PvP as Stasis was back then. Eric Smith explains:
Yes, I think you know that Stasis was delivered with a 5-second stun in PvP […] It’s like being frozen and not really able to fight back. We wanted to avoid this hard crowd control [CC] and give you a way to fight back this time. […] If you get caught by Strand in PvP and are bound, you still have some movement control. You can still fight back by shooting and hip-firing. So you won’t feel as helpless when caught by the [Strand] debuff.
Nevertheless, with all the preparation, it will always be a balancing act. The Bungie team will primarily notice where there are still issues when “Strand” is released, which may need to be improved.
Stasis is a very powerful crowd control ultimate, and Strand is supposed to venture in that direction as well, just with a more pleasant kind and better entry experiences.
Strand will give you a new sense of mobility
What challenged Bungie about Strand? However, the development behind Strand was not characterized by ease either. When asked which aspect of Strand was the most challenging for the developers, Bungie named two new Strand features:
The “Grappling” or “Swinging”
A new feature that allows players to swing around like Spider-Man.
The “Binding”
Players can hold enemies and Guardians in the air with strands.
When swinging, it was mainly about how players can use this feature of the Strand grappling hook even outside the new target location “Neomuna”.
This sounds very much like Destiny 2 will go much faster from Lightfall onwards. Strand will likely give you a new kind of mobility, and thus more freedom, which may also propel you into the virtual beyond at too high a speed.
The second and, above all, more interesting issue is how the new “Binding” talent behaves in PvE and PvP.
Your enemies have no chance against you
In PvE, Guardians can “hang” other enemies like Cabal, Vex, and Fallen in mid-air with “Strand” with ease. While this is fun in PvE, it looks different in PvP because it makes you helpless.
Already with Stasis, the total helplessness was a flaw that many Guardians despised. However, with Strand, Bungie wants to avoid exactly that and has now created something that behaves differently in PvP. You will rather suffer a debuff, with which you will also be swinging in the air but not completely helplessly exposed to a hail of bullets.
How Bungie has precisely worked this out, we will probably only know once Lightfall has seen the light of day. Until then, how do you find the insights Bungie has shared about Strand? Are you looking forward to how Strand will perform? And what serious question would you like to ask Bungie? Feel free to leave us a comment!
The Twitch streamer Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker is raising funds to support the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey. However, some people’s aversion to him seems to be so strong that they want to prevent the donations.
What good cause is it about? Like many others, the streamer was shaken by the earthquake that struck parts of Turkey and Syria on February 6. More than 4,300 people have lost their lives, many more are still missing and may be buried under the rubble (via CNN).
In addition, there are people whose access to water or electricity has been cut off.
On the same day, HasanAbi shared a fundraising call from the Turkish streamer Jahrein and promised to do everything in his power to help those affected (via Twitter). After just 15 minutes, it is said that $150,000 in donations had already been collected (via Twitter).
But the streamer’s efforts have been sabotaged.
Start video
Twitch streamer with only 1 viewer becomes famous through a nice gesture – This is her story
Viewers prevent $50,000 donation
How was the fundraising campaign sabotaged? Several major content creators wanted to participate in the fundraising campaign. Among them was YouTuber IShowSpeed, who is usually known for his quite hyperactive and loud streams.
IShowSpeed not only called on his viewers to donate but also wanted to contribute $50,000 himself. However, fans of the streamer claimed it was just a scam: HasanAbi would pocket the money himself and go on expensive shopping sprees.
Personal aversion should not stand in the way of a good cause
How is this being discussed? YouTuber Cr1tikal talked about the situation in a spontaneous video. He made it clear that both HasanAbi and IShowSpeed are indeed controversial figures in the streaming scene, but in this case, they are undeniably doing something good.
Cr1tikal urged viewers not to let their personal aversion to the content creators blind them or come up with reasons why what they are doing is somehow wrong:
No matter how you look at it, bringing money to people in need after such a tragedy is a great thing. […] You may dislike Hasan until the end of days, you can tear them apart on Twitter as much as you want, […]. But when he does something good, like this, don’t try to find some crazy way to depict it as a terrible thing.
How does HasanAbi himself react? The Twitch streamer has now expressed himself in his own stream about the attempts to sabotage his fundraising efforts. He said he has done nothing wrong, neither in this situation nor in the past.
He has only bought a house and a nice car, according to HasanAbi. However, he pointed out that there are major problems right now, and affected people suffer from the consequences when donations are blocked.
I hate it. These people are so damn desperate to portray me as the villain, even when I am actively trying to raise money for a cause, that they harm the fundraising efforts. Literally, people are buried under rubble right now.
HasanAbi
Despite the opposing efforts, HasanAbi has already raised over $700,000 in donations (as of February 7, 8:20 PM, via softgiving). On Twitter, the streamer thanked his community:
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The incredible sum that HasanAbi has already been able to raise for the earthquake victims shows the influence Twitch streamers can have when they use their reach for a good cause. Be it large planned fundraising marathons or completely spontaneous actions:
In life, we make many decisions and very often we only realize afterward how good or bad they were. Some of these decisions change our lives so much that we can hardly imagine how it would have been otherwise. To find the love of my life, I had to make one decision in particular, one that I never thought would lead me to her.
Therefore, I want to tell you the little story of how I met the woman I later married and with whom I now have a wonderful child.
The article was published as part of our action Find Your Next Game: Love Edition. Here is the overview of the joint event with GameStar and GamePro:
The release of World of Warcraft in 2005 redirected my life in a whole new direction. Back then, I was 17 and had to beg my parents to pay for the monthly subscription to WoW. Not so easy to explain to parents why they should now pay 13 euros per month for their child to spend even more hours in front of the computer than they already do. Fortunately, they eventually gave in. Daily nagging and talking for hours about how important it was to me must have worked.
It was my first real MMORPG and especially the first one that captivated me. The huge open world, the possibility to play with others, the fast and quite easy entry, as well as all the things you could discover. It was just incredibly exciting because everything was unknown and new to me. I had never seen anything like this in gaming before.
That was my first character in WoW. A paladin who reached level 40 – but with a shovel as a weapon!
Over the years, countless hours in the game and in TeamSpeak followed. Especially the latter is part of the whole nostalgia around WoW Classic for me. Hanging out with others in TS until 4 AM, running in circles with your character in Ironforge while talking about life and everything – that was a special, unforgettable beautiful time. Back then, I was also a smoker and during those nights, cigarettes were consumed faster than I let lemmings fall to their death in Lemmings. Definitely unforgettable how the keyboard looked from the ash of the cigarettes.
Lemmings was a game for the Amiga.
To this day, I have spent over 20,000 hours in WoW. It would be interesting to know how many of those hours I spent running in circles. Ultimately, WoW ignited a fire in me for MMOs and specifically for MMORPGs. Accordingly, I tried everything that came onto the market as a WoW killer – Lord of the Rings Online, RIFT, Warhammer Online, and whatever they were called. But one also captivated me and, like WoW, brought my life in a new direction – Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Star Wars and a new MMO? I have to play this!
These were my thoughts in 2009 when I first realized that Star Wars: The Old Republic from EA and Bioware would be available. Of course, I knew Star Wars Galaxies. However, the train had passed me by for too long, so I saw SWTOR as the chance to make my mark in this wonderful universe because I love Star Wars.
Back then, I informed myself about games on various gaming websites and through magazines. In 2010, I happened to stumble upon Oldrep.de. Maybe some of you know this SWTOR fan site from gamona, which later continued to exist under SW-Planet.de. In any case, they were looking for voluntary contributors to report on SWTOR.
At that time, I was a student, had time, and wanted to see what it was like to work editorially. My studies in German and Scandinavian studies might suggest an editorial career path. However, I applied more out of whim than because of a concrete career vision. Oldrep.de seemed like the opportunity to write something about a topic I was passionate about.
Oldrep.de became SW-Planet.de and covered Star Wars in general.
As someone who spent countless hours in MMOs and was willing to write articles for free, I was probably a good candidate for the site operators. They certainly didn’t hesitate long and took me into the team. A passionate volunteer and MMO nerd – that must have sounded fantastic back then.
How important the decision was to apply back then only became clear later. Without this application, I would neither have met my wife nor would I likely be practicing my current profession. Accordingly, my work back then, although unpaid, was an absolute gain for my life.
“I am the guild leader – don’t you want to join my guild?”
My wife was playing Aion and Guild Wars at that time. She found her passion for MMOs with both games and earned a lot in these two games. I am still amazed at how easily she can grind things in games – I totally stink in comparison. In any case, she was also interested in SWTOR and had an internship at gamona during her master’s degree. She was then part of Oldrep.de, and that is where we got to know each other.
That was initially purely a professional collaboration and stayed that way for quite some time. We communicated as a team back then through Google Hangouts and there was not much more to it at first. That only changed after the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Because after the release, my wife was looking for a guild and as luck would have it, I was then the guild leader of a great guild called Calacyria. We came from WoW and simply wanted to play SWTOR as well.
So back then I said to my wife: “Hey, I am the guild leader of a guild – don’t you want to join my guild? No problem, I can just add you.” Why I emphasized being the guild leader, I don’t remember. As if it were some kind of special feature or an accolade. Fortunately, she wasn’t put off by the “Look how cool I am” and joined the guild.
The two SWTOR characters of my wife and me on Makeb.
In the guild, we logically spent more time together in the game, more time in TeamSpeak. We played dungeons, raids, earned hard-earned credits, and left no survivors as bounty hunters and Sith warriors – it was great. Over time, more developed between us, and it happened that she visited me in real life. What can I say: She blew me away.
Back then, I wasn’t sure if I wanted a relationship. My last few relationships were already two to three years ago, but somehow I was undecided. What I did know was: If I enter into a relationship, then one that could potentially end with marriage and children. I was tired of short stories. I told her all of this just as openly and honestly. It didn’t scare her off and we entered into a relationship that has now lasted over 10 years.
So we got to know each other through work and then slowly fell in love through SWTOR. Today we play World of Warcraft together since I was able to convince her that this could be our gaming home after a modest development of SWTOR.
I certainly haven’t forgotten the little extra income. That I found my wife had another significant impact on my life. The decision to build a life together with her also led to me becoming self-employed today (in the areas of editing, online marketing, and project management) and working for GameStar, GamePro, Mein-MMO, and others. This self-employment would never have been possible without her.
My wife was the one who had a first trainee job after her studies and financed our life with it. My self-employment only generated around 200 to 300 euros per month in the first few months. Accordingly, she had to finance and support both of us. In the meantime, my work is on solid and successful ground. She has also pursued a great career path and is very successful.
However, she is still the one who supports me in difficult moments of self-employment. Without her, I wouldn’t be living my dream job – I know that. For this, I am forever grateful to her. I am daily grateful to have a strong, loving, and fantastic woman in my life.
All of this just because I started with WoW in 2005, discovered my love for MMOs, and thus became interested in SWTOR. I then whimsically applied for an open position at Oldrep and was lucky that my wife looked past some “macho thing”. These are the decisions in life that later made me think: “Wow, that really changed everything.”
I look forward to the next adventures with my wife. A big one is currently our child, and what comes next will show itself. Only one thing is clear: MMOs will always be a part of our lives, and we make a damn great team.
A reputation faction in WoW: Dragonflight is quite unpopular – because players always miss it. Now the developers are significantly improving it.
In Dragonflight, there are a handful of reputation factions where farming is worthwhile. However, one of them is particularly tricky for some players. The Tuskarr can theoretically be quickly brought to “maximum reputation”, but in practice, this takes quite a while – at least when one does not constantly keep an eye on when the cooking event in Iskaara takes place.
To help players catch up more quickly here – and to complete the weekly mission more reliably – Blizzard is helping everyone and changing the event.
What was the problem? The most annoying problem with the cooking event was the time interval at which the event takes place. Because it only happened every 3 ½ hours for 15 minutes each time. Those participating could earn between 400 and 900 reputation within those 15 minutes – depending on the crowd and a bit of luck with the distribution of tasks.
However, one always had to check in advance when the cooking event was taking place. Although there is already a timer on the world map 15 minutes before the event, anyone who wanted to be really efficient had to have the timers displayed externally, such as through addons or websites like wowhead. Often, one simply missed the event because they were in a dungeon at the time of the start.
At the Tuskarr, cooking is being done – now even more than before.
What has changed? From now on, these problems are smaller; the cooking event now takes place every 90 minutes. This means not only that you can earn significantly more reputation with the Tuskarr per day, but also that you always see a timer on the world map:
15 minutes before the event starts, you will already see the symbol on the map indicating that cooking is about to begin.
During the 15 minutes of cooking, you can also read this on the timer.
In the hour after cooking, you can see that the event is over and that the soup can just be eaten – before the cycle starts again.
This way, it is permanently visible on the world map when the event takes place, and one can plan their time better. At the same time, it is not so bad if one misses a cooking event, as there are now many more opportunities to participate.
If you are interested in more about World of Warcraftthis might also interest you:
What else has changed? In addition to the more frequent occurrence, the head chef should now also give out multiple tasks simultaneously. This was a problem when a lot of players participated in the event. Then it could well happen that one did not receive any tasks for minutes and made no progress, while the others rushed from mission to mission.
What do you think of this change? Useful and helpful? Or do you earn reputation now way too quickly and without effort?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Pokémon GO you currently have a short time to secure the heart-shaped haircut at Coiffwaff. We at MeinMMO show you how to get this rare form and how long you have to do it.
Which Pokémon is it about? In Pokémon GO, from today, February 8, 2022, the Valentine’s Day event is running, where you can encounter the Normal-type Pokémon Coiffwaff. The special thing about this dog-like monster is its penchant for various hairstyles, which is why it can show a total of 9 different forms.
One of these forms is the so-called heart-shaped haircut, which you can secure in the coming days. What you need to pay attention to and how long you have time for it, we have summarized for you below.
How to get Coiffwaff with heart-shaped haircut
How do you get the heart form? Unlike most other Pokémon, you can’t simply catch the different forms of Coiffwaff in the wild, but you have to transform them into this form yourself. However, this is quite simple, but it will cost you a lot of Stardust.
First, you need to catch a Coiffwaff (fluffy form). This is the standard form. Once that is done, you need to proceed as follows to give it a heart-shaped haircut:
Select the desired Coiffwaff in your Pokémon bag
Now click the “Change Form” button
Now you have the option to choose one of the available forms, for example, the heart-shaped haircut.
After you have chosen your desired form, you just need to confirm the change by clicking “Change Form” and you have secured the heart shape.
This is how you change Coiffwaff’s form
By the way: In this way, you can change the forms repeatedly. So you do not always have to use a Coiffwaff in the fluffy form, but can also adjust any other form.
How expensive is the form change? To change the form of Coiffwaff to another, you need to pay 10,000 Stardust and 25 Coiffwaff candies for each change.
How long do you have for the heart-shaped haircut? With the form change, Coiffwaff does not only offer the one special feature, because you cannot secure the different haircuts anytime and anywhere. Thus, the heart-shaped haircut is only available during the Valentine’s Day event.
You only have the opportunity to give your Coiffwaff this form from February 8, 2023, at 10:00 AM local time until February 14, 2023, at 8:00 PM local time. After that, it will no longer be changeable into this haircut for the time being.
When it will be available again is not officially known yet, but based on experience, it is expected to be at the next Valentine’s Day event. So if you want to secure the heart-shaped haircut, you should hurry.
But there is also a lot to consider with the other forms of Coiffwaff. How to get them and what they look like, we will reveal to you in the following article:
Here you can find Coiffwaff for the event: To get the fluffy form of Coiffwaff, you should stay alert in the game over the next few days. During the Valentine’s Day event, it will spawn more frequently in the wild.
Is there a shiny Coiffwaff? Yes, the shiny variant of Coiffwaff has been active in the game for a few months. However, for the first time, you can also transform a shiny specimen into the heart shape. In the following image, we show you what it looks like.
Coiffwaff in fluffy form and heart-shaped form normal (left) and as shiny (right)
Is Coiffwaff strong? Coiffwaff is not particularly strong, and it also cannot benefit from any evolutions. For this reason, it is especially interesting for collectors and shiny hunters.
For use in the GO Battle League or in raids, you should rely on other monsters, such as the best attackers in Pokémon GO. We show you a selection of the strongest Pokémon in the following video:
Start video
Pokémon GO: The strongest attackers of all types in the video
What do you think of the heart-shaped form of Coiffwaff? Will you secure the form during the Valentine’s Day event? Or is the form change simply too expensive for you? Let us know here at MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers.
In Pokémon GO, the Limited Research “Lovely Wishes” coincides with the Valentine’s Day event 2023. We show you all the content in overview and what the different paths bring.
What kind of research is this? In this research, you can choose a path that either gives you more catching XP, longer duration of the Daily Adventure Incense, or double catching candies.
Here in the overview, we show you all tasks and rewards, so you know exactly what to expect.
Stage Reward: If you complete all three tasks and collect the respective rewards, you will also receive 500 Stardust, 500 XP, and 1 Lucky Egg.
Choose a path: After you finish the first chapter, you will need to choose a path.
The Yellow Path gives you double XP for catching Pokémon
The Red Path doubles the duration of your daily adventure incense
The Blue Path gives you double candies for catching Pokémon
The bonuses last until the end of the event
Depending on which path you choose, one task and one reward will change in the next chapter – You will receive the corresponding bonus
Lovely Wishes 2/2
Task
Reward
Catch 10 Pokémon
Encounter with Swablu (Pink)*
Catch 25 Pokémon
Encounter with Swablu (Blue)*
Catch 8 different species of Pokémon
Encounter with Swablu (Pink)*
(Yellow Catch Path) Earn 25,000 XP
(Red Smoke Path) Catch 15 Pokémon with the daily adventure incense
(Blue Candy Path) Use 25 Pineapples when catching Pokémon
Encounter with Swablu (Blue)*
Send 25 gifts to friends
Encounter with Swablu (Pink)*
*You can encounter Swablu as Shiny
Stage Reward: If you complete all three tasks and collect the respective rewards, you will also receive an encounter with Swablu (Blue)* and an Incense Module. If you chose the red smoke path, you will also get 25 Ultra Balls.
In this research, you have the opportunity to encounter some Swablu. With a bit of luck, you may even catch your first Shiny of this species that gets activated with the Valentine’s Day event 2023 in Pokémon GO.
The bonuses you can tailor for yourself in this research are also exciting. Let us know in the comments why you chose which path.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Pokémon GO the Valentine’s Day event starts and brings you plenty of spawns, bonuses, and a new Mega Evolution. And shiny hunters will also get their money’s worth. We at MeinMMO show you all the content you can expect for this event.
What kind of event is it? On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, a corresponding event is held every year in Pokémon GO. In this event, you can especially encounter monsters that fit perfectly to this occasion due to their appearance or type.
Now it’s that time again, and starting from February 8, you can expect plenty of spawns and bonuses. New Shinies and a new Mega Evolution will also be present. We have summarized what content you can look forward to in the coming days.
When does the event take place?The Valentine’s Day event runs from February 8, 2023, at 10:00 AM local time until February 14, 2023, at 8:00 PM local time.
All spawns for the Valentine’s Day event
During the Valentine’s Day event, you will encounter changed spawns in the wilderness, in raids, and in 7 km eggs. These are thematically oriented around Valentine’s Day, as in previous years. Some new monsters will also be included.
We have summarized which spawns will be available and where you can find the individual Pokémon.
All monsters that you can also encounter in their shiny forms are marked with a (*)
All wild spawns
In the wilderness, shiny hunters should keep their eyes open for Quabbel (female) in the coming days, as this monster will appear in its shiny form in the game for the first time.
But monsters like Flabébé or Coiffwaff can also be found there during the event. Note that Flabébé has different forms that you can only catch in certain regions. For instance, in Europe, only the red variant spawns alongside the ones with white and orange flowers.
The following monsters are also waiting for you:
Nidoran (female)*
Nidoran (male)*
Eneco*
Volbeat*
Illumise*
Fleknoil*
Quabbel (female)*
Flabébé (Red flower in Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Coiffwaff (fluffy form)*
Bubungus
With a bit of luck, you might also encounter these Pokémon:
Chaneira*
Ohrdoch*
Mamolida*
Flabébé White flower
Flabébé Orange flower
More Flabébé can be found during the event in the following regions of the world:
Flabébé (Blue flower) in the Asia-Pacific region
Flabébé (Yellow flower) on the American continent
All Raid bosses for the Valentine’s Day event
The Raid bosses also adapt to the event. For many players, Mega-Gardevoir will be especially interesting, as it makes its debut in the game in this context. Gardevoir is already counted among the best attackers in Pokémon GO. Its Mega Evolution is a bit stronger and can especially be seen as one of the best fairy Pokémon.
Another interesting monster is Kapu-Fala. The legendary Pokémon from the Alola region will also be found for the first time in its shiny form. You will recognize it by its black color.
Kapu-Fala normal (left) and shiny (right)
In the raid battles, it is best to rely on the strongest attackers in the game. We have summarized a selection for you in the following video:
Start video
Pokémon GO: The strongest attackers of all types in the video
Contents of the 7 km eggs
As you already know from other events, the 7 km eggs are occasionally changed and filled with event Pokémon. This is also the case during the Valentine’s Day event, which is why you will find the following Pokémon in the eggs:
Schlurp*
Kussilla*
Wonneira*
Quabbel (female)*
Quabbel (male)*
Mamolida*
Here again, Quabbel will be especially interesting, as this monster can be caught in both its forms for the first time as shiny. It can also evolve into Apoquallyp.
Quabbel and Apoquallyp female and male normal (top) and shiny (bottom)
All bonuses for the Valentine’s Day event
Besides plenty of spawns and Shinies, you can also expect various bonuses during the event. We have summarized what you can look forward to:
What kind of day is it? As you might already know from other events in the past, there will also be a research day for the water Pokémon Liebiskus. On this day, you can spin limited tasks at the PokéStops, rewarding you with encounters of the heart-shaped fish. With a bit of luck, you might even encounter one or the other shiny specimen.
Liebiskus normal (left) and shiny (right)
In addition, during the mini event, the wild spawns will briefly change, allowing you to encounter the following monsters:
Flegmon*
Schlurp*
Miltank*
Liliep*
Barschwa*
Parfi*
Imantis
Mamolida* (rare)
When does the research day take place? The research day with Liebiskus will take place on Saturday, February 11, 2023, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
Which contents of the Valentine’s Day event do you like best? Will you secure Mega-Gardevoir? Or do you have another favorite? Let us know here on MeinMMO in the comments.
The new quarterly report from Activision Blizzard reveals fantastic numbers for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. As a player, however, the release was experienced quite differently – shaky and unfinished. Why, then, is the shooter still breaking franchise records?
How successful was CoD MW2? The new quarterly report reveals broken records for Modern Warfare 2 among the premium titles in the series, meaning the annual paid titles (via investor.activision.com). Here, the latest shooter in the series can put down two big exclamation points:
Most sales in the first release quarter
Most play hours at this point after a release
Activision Blizzard does not provide exact numbers, but it makes comparisons with values from previous years. After 2 rather weak years, Call of Duty is back on track, which also applies to the Blizzard games.
Exciting is the approximately 60% increase in revenue compared to the previous year from operating business for the Activision segment. A real figure, and since Activision is effectively made up entirely of Call of Duty, the increase is almost entirely due to the franchise.
This also includes Warzone or CoD: Mobile. But the direction is clear. However, many players perceived the release of CoD MW2 as really bad – how does that fit together?
How did the release of CoD MW2 go? On MeinMMO, we closely followed the release, were often in the community and maintained a server downtime article for a long time. Because the servers were very unstable throughout the entire first weekend.
Some were lucky, able to play for hours without issues
Others could hardly start a match or play at all
Additionally, there was significant criticism regarding missing features that had been present in almost every CoD release until now. At first, one could not access statistics – in Warzone 2, that still isn’t possible to this day.
There was great disappointment due to the absence of hardcore modes. These are only coming with Season 2, which were also delayed by 2 weeks. Additionally, the first content drops from Season 1 for CoD MW2 consisted of two old maps that were recycled.
On top of that, there were the usual small errors, glitches, and bugs that accompany almost every major release.
Overall, the release went worse than it had in years. Especially with the server problems, the usual CoD level was not reached, making it hard to play for long periods or invite friends to the squad.
What’s already known about Season 2 can be read here:
So why was CoD MW2 so successful? Call of Duty is an incredibly large franchise with annual full-price titles. It is too short-sighted to only look at one year. For many players, 2022 was once again a CoD year to look forward to.
Black Ops Cold War (2020) had an interesting setting but was already weaker than 2019
Call of Duty scored a hit in 2019 with the reboot of Modern Warfare. Together with the release of Call of Duty: Mobile (before) and Call of Duty: Warzone (after), new standards were set. After the problematic CoD Black Ops 4 (2018), they achieved a turnaround with a reboot.
Similar factors are playing a role again now. We live in a time of “sequels”, whether in gaming or other parts of the media landscape. Many players of CoD MW 2019 had been waiting for the successor to arrive. And they were rewarded.
Additionally, there is the “Warzone effect”. The first part of the free Battle Royale utilized the technology of CoD MW 2019 and attracted millions of new players into the world of Call of Duty. Warzone 2 utilizes the technology of CoD MW2, and all these players already knew the advantages of owning the premium title MW2 in Warzone.
It was a calculable success, but certainly, more could have been achieved. Then, due to the poor release, CoD MW2 stood in its own way.
Activision writes in the latest report: “Across the entire Call of Duty franchise, our teams are working to enhance the success of the fourth quarter, with our plans for 2023. This includes more engaging live services across all platforms and the next full annual premium release in the blockbuster series.”
Currently, there is discussion about what this could mean. Some see this as a clear announcement of a new CoD title. The author of the report “No CoD 2023”, journalist Jason Schreier, further states that this could rather involve DLC content, not a standalone CoD.
First theories are already surfacing that the next CoD reboot is on the way and that the popular Black Ops series may reboot. Due to the successes of Modern Warfare, this is indeed a plausible option.
The YouTuber Maximilian “HandOfBlood” Knabe (30) is one of the most popular gaming influencers in Germany. Because he used gender-sensitive language in a video, he received hate comments – now he explains why he still uses gendered language.
What was that video about? In a YouTube video from February 5, 2023, HandOfBlood showcased the new office of I3 Holding GmbH, which includes the creative agency Instinc3 and the eSports team Eintracht Spandau.
At the time of the article, the video had nearly 620,000 views and reached 6th place in the general trends on YouTube. This actually indicates the success of the video, but it also means that it is viewed by many people outside of the intended target audience.
In this case, it led to comments from people expressing their displeasure that the content creator uses gender-sensitive language: He genders, for example, referring to influencers as Influencer*innen. The comments reportedly range from claims that he is state-funded to death wishes.
On Twitter, the Spandau native explains why he still genders.
If you want to learn more about the eSports team Eintracht Spandau, check out our video:
Start video
Everything you need to know about the LoL team Eintracht Spandau – in 4 minutes
YouTuber wants to contribute “his part”
Why does HandOfBlood use gendered language? By using gender-sensitive language, he positions himself in solidarity with people who are discriminated against due to their gender identity.
I do my part to make language more neutral, which will automatically make people think more openly about gender roles. Because language leads to recognition. Those who are linguistically underrepresented lose significance.
The YouTuber acknowledges that changes in language can be exhausting, and he himself struggles at times. However, the more often one uses new words, the easier it becomes. He concludes by encouraging everyone to give it a try, as language change has always occurred.
We have embedded the beginning of the thread with HandOfBlood’s explanation here:
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How is that received? As unpleasant as some of the comments on the original video may have been, the content creator also receives a lot of support on Twitter.
Although the comments on the thread are closed, that doesn’t stop people from expressing their opinions in the quote tweets: This is the reason why they still actively follow him as one of the few content creators or why he is their favorite YouTuber (via Twitter).
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Other Twitter users express their confusion about why people can get so upset over the use of gendered language, even wishing death on someone: “I don’t understand why inclusion still triggers so many people,” they say (via Twitter).
There seems to be hardly any criticism of the statements. However, it will likely take some time for gendered language to be as normalized as HandOfBlood wishes.
Gendering divides opinions. While advocates like HandOfBlood see it as a normal part of language change and an important sign of equality, critics perceive it as a threat to the German language.
The creator of the survival hit 7 vs. Wild expresses his own opinion on this matter:
This week is all about PvP in Destiny 2. Both Uncle Shaxx and the 14th Saint are calling the Guardians to them and offering more attractive options for that. In PvE, however, Sedia screams at you from the map when it gets intense during the strike “The Corrupted” in the Nightfall.
This week: The most important question first. There are still no further developments in the seasonal story this week. If you’re hoping to experience the finale of Season 19, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. New, final story developments along with the secret triumph will only occur in the last two weeks before the end of the Season of the Seraph.
If that frustrates you, you can let loose this week in PvP with Lord Shaxx and the 14th Saint.
In the normal Crucible, Rift is active for a week. The better Spark Runner wins.
On the weekend, there will also be Freelance in the Trials plus bonus Trials ranks.
Especially in Trials, these are the last weeks where the hand cannon “Forgiveness” and the kinetic fusion rifle “Burden of Guilt” can still be earned. In Season 20, they will be replaced by the shotgun “Astral Horizon” and the new submachine gun “The Immortal” in the loot pool, as Bungie announced.
Bungie introduces the new ability Strand: While the Guardians still take care of their last tasks in Season 19, Bungie has marked major changes on the horizon. Today, during a major premiere, they introduced “Damage Type 5”. That was the working title of the new Lightfall ability Strand, which will soon provide you with “Woven Armor” and more.
Woven Armor is a buff that envelops Guardians in a protective net of Strand matter, reducing incoming damage. In PvP, this armor only reduces body damage. Headshots and melee damage remain normal.
In-game, Strand looks really fast, agile, and extremely deadly, as this trailer shows:
Start video
Destiny 2 shows new insights into Strand in its trailer – The focus in Lightfall
Additionally, the loot shooter is already planning a spooky future for Halloween, and your opinion is needed. So vote and decide which armors will come to the game in autumn 2023. Here is the survey.
The most important information on activities from 07.02 to 14.02.
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Vanguard: Nightfall – The Firewall
The Corrupted, in the Dreaming City
The Guardians must find one of Queen Mara’s closest advisors, Sedia, and free her from the control of the Taken. However, she is very screechy and often coughs Guardians off the map into the bottomless void. So be careful when you get too close to the Techian.
Earn the Nightfall weapon “Slingshot” (Master) this week, a lightweight grenade launcher.
Playlist Strikes have the following modifiers this week:
Arc Singe
Stasis Burn
Grounded
The Singe modifier will follow you all week; the others change daily.
In the current raid “Kingsfall”, grass grows again with the first challenge. Time to mow!
To complete the challenge “The Grass is Always Greener”, you must, after you have taken the buff from one side and delivered your points, switch sides. This means that after you have first delivered the witch, the knight, and your points on the left side of the totem, you will move to the right side and do the same procedure there.
You’re faced with the following raid requirements and challenges:
In Normal mode, completing a challenge brings you double loot.
You will only receive status-specific armor and master weapons from the Grandmaster raid.
You can also earn the new raid-exclusive exotic cosmetics in the look of Oryx in Grandmaster.
Additional Legacy Pinnacle Rewards from Endgame:
The weekly legacy raid is “The Student’s Oath” in Savathun’s Throne World.
Additionally, in the Calus dungeon “Duality”, there is also extra pinnacle loot to be obtained from the boss.
The Trials offer not only the Freelance but also bonus Trials ranks – so perfect for more reputation.
Weekly Activities
Here are the most important activities of this week:
Savathun’s Throne World – Weekly Campaign Mission
“The Communion”
You head to the Pyramid on Europa, where Caiatl’s Cabal are already waiting for you. The Light has made you forget, and now the Vanguard wants to use the Darkness to uncover old memories.
Ascendant Challenge – Dreaming City
If you still need triumphs from the Dreaming City, then pay attention. The second stage of the Corruption reveals new accesses with a sip of “Queen’s Leaf Tincture”.
Petra Venj can be found in the area of Rheasilvia in the Dreaming City. The whole zone is in the 3rd curse week. You need to master the 4th Ascendant Challenge.
All sources for pinnacle loot in Season 19 of Destiny 2
So you know where you can effectively grab your pinnacle loot, we provide you with a quick overview of activities every week.
This is the new max level: In the new Season of the Seraph, the maximum power level of your gear is 1,590. Thus, the power level at the start of the new Season 19 has increased by +10 compared to the previous Season 18.
This pinnacle loot brings your power level to 1,590:
