Hardcore players are looking for new challenges in Elden Ring and are beating the game in unusual ways. For example, with completely crazy controllers that you wouldn’t normally think of.
Games from developer FromSoftware are known for their crunchy difficulty, and Elden Ring is no exception. However, for some fans of the series, the challenge is not enough, and after the credits roll, they look for new ways to play through the game.
This leads to speedruns or mods that turn every enemy in the game into the hardest boss . Other players seek the challenge in the control and play Elden Ring with really crazy controllers. Here are 4 of them.
Harp
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The musician Anna Ellsworth has been playing harp professionally for many years and has already participated in major gaming concerts like “The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses”. She is now bringing her passion for her work into gaming.
In a video on her YouTube channel, she shows how she has turned her harp into a controller. With it, she beats bosses like Margit, who was hated by many for his difficulty right at the release of Elden Ring, at level 1 and naked.
The harp is connected to the PC via a pickup, and the individual strings act as “keys”. The “key mapping” is managed through special software, wherein Anna has assigned her strings the functions for auto-run, different directions, dodging, and healing.
An old proverb says that the pen is mightier than the sword. The Elden Ring fan TheSGTTaco has decided that the pen is also mightier than a controller and has repurposed his drawing tablet.
In several videos, he showed how he defeated various bosses in Elden Ring using the stylus and the touch controls of a tablet. This included Margit on the difficulty level New Game +7 and Margott. The movements of the stylus indicated the movement direction for the character, while dodging is activated by one of the control buttons of the tablet.
In a comment, the reddit user explained that modifying controllers is not uncharted territory for him. He does it regularly to help people who cannot play with normal controllers due to disabilities.
E-Guitar
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Guitars used as controllers have become well known and accepted since the popular Guitar Hero games. However, Guitar Hero is specifically designed for this type of control, whereas Elden Ring is not.
However, that didn’t stop YouTuber LT_Tom from using his e-guitar as a controller for the game. In the video, you can see on an overlay which buttons of the Xbox controller are being pressed while he plays the guitar. The guitar controls are, however, “minimal” and can be confusing, leading to occasional unintended actions like suddenly jumping or using healing while at full HP.
From the chords and riffs that emerged from the rhythm of the battles, LT_Tom ended up composing a song at the end of his adventure in Elden Ring.
More about Elden Ring on MeinMMO can be found here:
Though it may sound strange, bananas have almost become one of the more traditional controllers in SoulsBorne games. Dark Souls 1 was already played through with this crazy control scheme, so it’s no wonder that YouTuber SuperLouis64 has brought out his bananas for Elden Ring as well.
With a setup of a total of 12 bananas, he hacks through the game, noting in the video that this controller “is very strange and smells very bad”. Each banana corresponds to a button of the PS5 controller:
On the right side are the movement bananas, such as forward banana, backward banana, etc.
On the left side, you find the actions like jump banana, attack banana, or dodge banana.
Louis admits that he actually needs 24 bananas for the complete PS5 setup and is missing some buttons. Nevertheless, he managed to play through Elden Ring completely with it. That is more than many people achieve with proper controllers.
What do you think of the absurd controllers? Do you know of even stranger ways to play games, or have you even tried them yourself? Share your experiences and opinions in the comments.
When The Cycle was released in 2019, MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus had a lot of fun with the game. But then it was shut down and fundamentally overhauled. He didn’t like the new version at all – until he tried it again now. Now he can’t get enough of it.
I was correspondingly disappointed when I tested The Cycle for the first time in 2022. Somehow everything felt slower and more boring. Now I talked to the developers at gamescom 2022 and tried the game again for research. Luckily.
Because now a round of The Cycle is part of my almost nightly ritual after work. Here is the announcement trailer for The Cycle: Frontier:
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The Cycle: Frontier gameplay in the trailer
The Cycle: From Pseudo-Battle-Royale to ‘Tarkov in Space’
A little excursion into what The Cycle used to be:
you start solo or in a team at random positions at the edge of a huge map
like in a battle royale, the playable area gets smaller over time
the goal is to complete tasks and collect loot to then escape
certain points and tasks attract players and become “hotspots” with wild fights
In the match, new weapons and vehicles could be purchased for credits earned while playing. Additionally, there were loadouts with suits that had special properties, such as improved jumps and things like that. This created dynamics and exciting PvP battles.
Today, The Cycle: Frontier is a completely different game. There is still a space station from which all heists are planned, and you are still supposed to bring back certain items from the inhospitable planet.
However, the big difference is that there is now a much greater focus on looting. Similar to Escape from Tarkov, it’s about recovering and safely bringing back particularly rare or sought-after items.
Random events that attract players’ attention and promise big rewards are no longer present – or not yet. But more on that later. At its core, it’s about looting the ruins on Fortuna III and gathering materials.
Sounds easy, but it’s not. Because everything and everyone on this godforsaken planet wants to kill you, including the planet itself. Plenty of NPC monsters lurk around, and even the weakest can eat your face if you’re not careful.
Additionally, other players are on the move, who might be looking for the same resources as you. Since they are scarce, there are disputes. And if that weren’t enough, a storm will roll in after some time, making escape temporarily impossible. So time pressure is an additional factor.
The match starts in a landing capsule.Greedy beasts are everywhere.Annoying birds reveal your position.After a fight, healing is also needed.Loot is everything!Loot can be found in crates.Loot is lying around.Loot is available while mining.On the map, you will find extraction points.The landing ship doesn’t wait, but once inside, you’re unprotected. Timing!The goal: escape with the loot.
A Greater Challenge, Even Though PvP is Almost Completely Absent
Like in Hunt: Showdown, gunshots and even footsteps can be heard from miles away. If you fight monsters without a suppressor that are cornering you, it often attracts players who want to finish you off.
At the same time, you stomp and clatter louder when your backpack is heavier and after a sprint, the character has to audibly gasp for air. To top it all off, there are damn birds that get startled and shriek your location when you walk by.
I can no longer play as recklessly as before. There are also no revives – if I die, everything that’s not stored in my secure pouch is gone. And that pouch is tiny.
The gameplay has become significantly slower, less frantic, which is captivating in a different way. There’s always the thrill that someone might be camping around the corner who has heard me. The longer I am on the move, the greater the fear of losing everything.
This constant paranoia keeps my adrenaline level high, which was only intense in combat situations in the earlier versions of The Cycle. And the best part: A round usually lasts about 20-30 minutes. Ideal for a few rounds in the evening.
For the skeptics and experts among you: the TTK, meaning the time it takes to kill enemies, is relatively high. Good players can still fend off an ambush with some luck.
What stuck in my memory especially was how an apparently experienced player waved to me to give me something. He threw loot on the ground and as I reached down to pick it up, he immediately stabbed me with his knife.
Since then, I know no friendship in The Cycle. Anyone who steps in front of my gun gets a load of buckshot. No compromises. And I like this play style much better than the cautious dancing around.
At gamescom 2022, I spoke with the developers of The Cycle. Here are our highlights from the fair:
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MeinMMO at gamescom 2022 – Here are our highlights
Developers are Actively Working on the Biggest Problem: Cheaters
Even though I’m enjoying The Cycle again, there’s a major problem that even the community is upset about. The number of cheaters is a significant point of criticism, and I’ve encountered at least one player who suspiciously knew where I was hiding.
At gamescom 2022, I had the opportunity to briefly talk with Creative Director Dan Banefelt and Game Designer Armando Gracia. They confirmed to me that this very cheating problem will be addressed more intensively in the upcoming Season 2:
We are going to bring out the big guns when it comes to cheaters. […] I can’t talk about what software we are currently going to use, for obvious reasons. […] We are ensuring that our auto-detection becomes more reliable. We are making sure that auto-bans become more reliable, hardware bans, and so on.
Besides that, we are starting to collaborate with other software that is specifically designed to make cheating hell for cheaters. Making it simply harder, more annoying, less rewarding, less lucrative, and longer lasting.
Armando Gracia in an interview
The upcoming new map will also play a major role, according to Gracia. It will yield the biggest rewards so far, but it won’t be available immediately. To unlock it, one must first play through the campaign.
Cheaters who create new accounts (“burner accounts”) won’t have an easy time here and won’t be able to access the new map immediately. The fight against cheaters will, however, be an ongoing conflict that will be continuously worked on.
In addition to the measures, the future of The Cycle includes several new features, as explained by the two:
Perks will come into play to further refine playstyles
Events will return, where something can randomly happen on the maps
A new map is coming that revolves around the theme of “alien mystery”
“Quality of Life” improvements such as a reconnect feature and loadouts
A new battle pass with new cosmetics will be introduced
Here is the trailer for Season 2:
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Der Trailer zu Season 2 von The Cycle: Frontier
In Season 3, new weapons will also be coming, but I haven’t learned anything specific about that yet. First, Season 2 will arrive on September 28 with many new features. However, it will also come with a wipe – a double-edged sword, in my opinion.
The Cycle regularly deletes all progress. Only content purchased with real money remains in the game; everything else must be replayed from scratch. On one hand, this ensures that veteran players do not just wipe everyone out. On the other hand, all the work from the past months is gone.
How much I appreciate this, I don’t know yet. For now, though, I find The Cycle: Frontier super enjoyable and I’m glad I gave the game another chance and can only recommend everyone to try it as well. At the latest on September 28, even the pros will have to start over, so it’s definitely worth checking out.
By the way, anyone who enjoys hardcore shooters like Tarkov – and evidently The Cycle – should also take a look at the new project from the studio behind GTFO:
The shooter series Call of Duty is one of the biggest pop culture brands in the world. For years, the series was also released for Sony consoles such as PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. With Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, that could change at some point. The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, has now guaranteed another release of CoD for the PS5. But what exactly does Phil Spencer say?
What statement could worry players on PS5?
The head of Xbox gave the site “The Verge” a statement on September 2nd (via theverge):
In January, we made a written agreement with Sony that guarantees that Call of Duty will continue to be released on PlayStation, with “feature and content” parity, for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract. An offer that goes far beyond normal agreements in the gaming industry.
Phil Spencer
What does that mean? The statement means:
Call of Duty will definitely be released for PlayStation 5 for several more years – probably for at least 4 more years
All content coming to PC and Xbox will also be available on PlayStation
The crucial question, however, is: “How long does Sony now have the guarantee that new Call of Duty games will continue to be released on PlayStation 5?”
This is Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s gaming division, Xbox.
What is difficult about the statement? Phil Spencer remains intentionally vague:
He neither explains how long the current agreement from Sony regarding Call of Duty lasts
Nor does he explain how long exactly Microsoft’s “additional agreement” guarantees its release now
Both key pieces of information in the statement are missing and they seem to be intentionally omitted. Spencer could have also said, “Legally guaranteed, Call of Duty will continue to be released for PlayStation until 202x.”
In the coming years, Call of Duty will continue to be released for PlayStation:
Start video
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II “Ultimate Team” Teaser
How long will Call of Duty be available for PS5? The “current contract” that Sony has regarding Call of Duty is reportedly set to last “at least” over two more years, i.e., through 2022 and 2023. This was reported by Bloomberg in January 2022 (via bloomberg).
Phil Spencer stated that the new deal guarantees “several more years”, meaning at least two additional years are secured: 2024 and 2025.
If one follows the logic, Call of Duty should therefore be safely released for PlayStation 5 until at least 2025.
For the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft needs the approval of regulatory authorities. Sony has already pointed out: With the acquisition, Call of Duty falls into the hands of Xbox, which could lead to a market imbalance. Because according to Sony, Call of Duty has no competition and will never have any.
If this assessment from Sony prevails with the regulatory authorities, the authorities could prohibit Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Phil Spencer seems to counter this with the promise that Call of Duty will be guaranteed to continue on PlayStation 5 for a few more years.
However, there is a risk that Microsoft only allows Call of Duty to continue on PlayStation 5 for a few years in order to secure approval from regulatory authorities, but then, once the contracts expire, makes Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox and PC.
The “catch” in Spencer’s generosity: Xbox could leverage the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for itself by adding Call of Duty to the Xbox Game Pass on day one:
The SF mega project Star Citizen has now been in development for 10 years. Fans of the game are currently excited about a YouTube video in which a developer announces an important internal development step towards the “persistent universe”, the day when “everything in Star Citizen matters”, like in a real MMO. However, there is mockery from the outside.
How much money has Star Citizen made so far? The SF project Star Citizen has currently generated 496.9 million US dollars in revenue from 4.06 million “Star Citizens”. That is 499.2 million euros.
What is the important step? In a 14-minute video, a developer from Star Citizen, Benoit Beausejour, explains the important step his team has just accomplished:
The step involves moving the “persistent universe” of Star Citizen from an experimental stage, where only a small team is working, to mainstream development so that the whole team can work on it.
So it is an internal, important development step that, however, currently has no impact on players:
the persistent universe is getting closer
Star Citizen does not yet have a date for when it will be available in the playable version.
Crowdfunding MMOs have had a hard time in the past – Star Citizen aims to triumph:
Start video
4 crowdfunding MMORPGs that really flopped
What is the persistent universe? The “persistent universe” ensures that servers in Star Citizen remain stable and every action taken there has lasting consequences.
The developer explains it this way:
The system allows us to make the entire game world persistent. We can then restore it at any time, so nothing is lost. The changes made by players are significant.
every time they return to a server, the game will be in the same state
if you leave a ship or a drink can somewhere, they will stay there
When will this be the case in the game? There is still no exact date for this. The tech chief only states that an important step has been taken to integrate this technology into the main development branch of Star Citizen. Now it is about stabilizing this important step.
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Fans of Star Citizen are thrilled about the announcement
How is this received by fans? The video is enthusiastically received by the fans. It has already garnered 5,470 likes with just over 73,000 views. Fans praise in the YouTube comments, as someone speaks without a PR filter:
The video is a proper “deep dive”, the described step is an extremely important step for the future
One user says: “Congratulations on uniting the development branches. This is a big moment for the game and for the team”
Another says: “It’s so exciting to see that you have worked so hard and it’s now taking shape. Keep up the great work.”
How is it viewed from the outside? On the site Massivelyop, the video is also discussed. Here, the mood in the comments is skeptical to hostile (via mop):
“It’s really nice that you are testing some fundamental technological stuff… 10 years after the development began.”
Another user quips: “You’re supporting a 500 million US dollar project that can barely run at 60 FPS on the best system on the market. 10 years in development and only a fraction of the planned content and systems are in the game so far.”
Star Citizen can only be understood if you are “in” it
This is behind it: The view of Star Citizen differs significantly depending on whether you are “in the bubble” or “outside the bubble”.
The step described in the video is immensely significant for insiders and the developers themselves because it shows: “It’s progressing”.
For outsiders, such a step is hardly comprehensible, as these are internal developments that are not discussed in other games at all. New features are usually shown to players in other games twice: when they are announced and when they go live. Such intermediate steps are usually done internally and not discussed.
Outside the Star Citizen bubble, players think of terms like “beta start” or “release date” when it comes to important development steps. However, Star Citizen no longer wants to talk about such things.
Apex Legends set a new record for player numbers on Steam. Over half a million Steam users checked out the shooter in August 2022 to play Season 14 and its content.
This is how Apex Legends is doing on Steam: On August 9, Apex Legends experienced a significant spike in active player numbers, culminating in a new record of 510,286 concurrent players (via Steamcharts), which is a whopping 100,000 more than the previous record.
The spike continues the upward trend that Apex Legends has enjoyed on Steam for many months. Since 2020, the average number of active players per month has steadily increased, showing healthy growth for the shooter on Steam.
Apex Legends started with just under 75,000 in November 2020, reached 230,000 in August, and is currently in the Top 3 most played games on Steam, right below CS:GO and Dota 2. Although the initial spike has flattened out, many have stayed with Apex.
There was also a significant increase in positive reviews, bringing Apex Legends to a rating of “very positive” with over 500,000 reviews. 85% of those showed thumbs up.
“I don’t like battle royale, but Apex is very decent”
This is Season 14: The increase in player numbers and positive reviews coincides with the launch of Season 14 “Hunted” of Apex Legends. Despite a call in the community for a boycott of the game, the player numbers exploded.
The new season brought numerous adjustments, a season pass, and the new legend Vantage as a playable character. The level cap of 500 was also increased, and players could continue to level up their accounts.
After the spike in new reviews at the release of the season, Apex Legends received steadily between 350 and 500 positive reviews per day with about 70 to 150 negative ratings.
In the positive reviews, players (along with a lot of nonsense) wrote that the shooter could convince them, although they actually don’t like battle royales.
“Fun FPS. I don’t like BRs. But Apex is very decent.” – deadweird.
“Feels very smooth, like an old school shooter.” – Souler
“[…] I can say that it has always brought me joy, as it is constantly being worked on. It’s definitely suitable for a few rounds in between, but also as a main game.” – Zerox
While the negative reviews pointed out the problems of Apex Legends, they still often had some good words for the game.
What is your opinion of Apex Legends? Do you think the shooter has improved over the years? Have you perhaps already played Season 14? Let us know in the comments.
In the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online there are 6 different classes. We asked you which your favorite class is. And you decided! We created a ranking of the classes here at MeinMMO.
On August 7th, we asked you which your favorite class in ESO is. You could participate in this survey until September 2nd at 5:30 PM. A total of 1,885 of our readers voted, and we created a ranking of all classes based on your votes.
Rank 6 – The Dragonknight
What distinguishes the Dragonknight? – The Dragonknight has many fire and poison abilities, some of which deal damage over time. The class has been available since the release of the MMORPG and was the only class that could be effectively played as a tank in the early years.
Few of you voted for the Dragonknight. With 280 out of 1885 votes, it only secured 14.85% of the reader votes.
Rank 5 – The Necromancer
What distinguishes the Necromancer? – The Necromancer has set foot in Tamriel with the Elsweyr Chapter. He can summon undead and use corpses for further abilities. He has a wide range of spells and deals many different types of damage including plague, fire, frost, and shock damage.
The Necromancer reaches 5th place with just 2 votes ahead of the Dragonknight. He could only win 282 votes, which is 14.96% of the total.
Rank 4 – The Warden
What distinguishes the Warden? – The Warden appeared with the Morrowind Chapter. He is therefore the first class that found its way into the game after the release. He can summon nature creatures like a Netch, a Scrivener, and a bear.
The placement of the Warden was also a very close race. He achieved only 287 votes, which is 15.23% of the reader votes, narrowly beating the Necromancer.
Rank 3 – The Sorcerer
What distinguishes the Sorcerer? – The Sorcerer has many lightning spells and can summon daedric creatures in combat. He is a popular class for beginners due to his strong shield and significant self-healing.
The Sorcerer won the tightly contested last 4 places. 290 readers’ votes went to him, achieving a share of 15.38% of all votes.
Rank 2 – The Nightblade
What distinguishes the Nightblade? – The abilities of the Nightblade are reminiscent of an assassin. She can become invisible and deals great damage with her executing ability, Assassin’s Blade.
The Nightblade secured 2nd place with 320 votes. However, with a total of 16.98% of the reader votes, she only had a small lead over the following classes.
Rank 1 – The Templar
What distinguishes the Templar? – The abilities of the Templar are all enveloped in golden radiant light. He is a popular class for healers. Although now every other class can serve as a healer, he was for a long time the dominant choice for this role. He is one of the 4 classes that have existed since the release of ESO.
The clear winner is the Templar. With a share of 22.6% and a total of 426 votes, he secured 1st place in the race.
This makes him the most popular class in ESO by a significant margin based on the results of our survey.
If you are interested in more about ESO, you might also be interested in this:
Did you also participate in our survey? Were you surprised by the result, or did you expect similar results? Let us know in the comments. If you did not participate in the survey, feel free to also tell us your favorite class.
In ESO, not only the class is crucial for a character’s abilities. The choice of race also has an impact, especially on the passive abilities of your favorite. Here you can find out which race is best suited for each role in ESO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The head of the new survival horror shooter Callisto Protocol raved about extremely long working hours and crunch at his studio in a tweet. He faced harsh criticism from other representatives of the gaming industry.
Who is Glen A. Schofield? In game development, the founder of Striking Distance Studios is considered a veteran. He has worked on about 50 different games across various genres, ranging from colorful children’s games to the worst survival horror games.
Some of the most well-known titles Schofield was involved in include Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Dead Space, and Call of Duty: Black Ops. In June 2019, he joined the Korean publisher Krafton as CEO of the newly established Striking Distance Studios, which will develop the sci-fi shooter The Callisto Protocol.
Start video
New horror game comes from a developer of Dead Space and looks exactly like that
12 to 15 hours a day – 6 or 7 days a week
Schofield said: On August 3, Schofield created a lot of negative buzz with a post on his Twitter account. In the tweet, the CEO spoke about the many hours of work that go into his game:
[…] We work 6 to 7 days a week, no one forces us. Exhaustion, fatigue, Covid, but we work. Bugs, glitches, performance fixes, a final check through the audio. 12 to 15 hours a day. That’s gaming. Hard work. Work during lunch and dinner. You do it because you love it.
The post and screenshots of it were picked up by other big names in the gaming industry and went viral. However, other developers and journalists did not share Schofield’s enthusiasm for extremely hard work.
This was criticized: Schofield’s enthusiasm was seen as bragging about crunch within his studio. Crunch refers to extreme overtime during the development of a game, which can lead to 65 to 80 hours a week over several months.
Journalist Jason Schreier commented on Schofield’s tweet, stating that the CEO weaponizes love and passion for gaming against his employees. No one is forced, but those who do not crunch have lower chances of promotion.
Other journalists agreed with Schreier. Journalist Paul Tassi of Forbes wrote in a tweet that “bragging about crunch” makes him more skeptical about a game.
Imran Khan from Fanbyte Media even offered in a tweet that employees of Striking Distance Studios could contact him anonymously to talk about the work culture at the developer.
Many other representatives of the gaming industry also had no positive words for Schofield’s tweet.
“Crunch is unnecessary and represents a failure of leadership.” – Tom Farnsworth, Senior Design Lead at Bungie.
“Do not normalize crunch. Do not set unrealistic schedules based on your team’s ‘passion.’ Healthy, functioning teams make great games […]” – Carrie Patel, Game Director and Senior Narrative Designer at Obsidian.
“I have friends who have been hospitalized due to crunch on a video game […]” – Kolbe Payne, Level Designer at Crystal Dynamics.
Schofield’s comment that his team worked through the Covid pandemic was also harshly criticized. However, it is not known whether the developers had to continue coming to the office or were allowed to work from home. This is not clear from the original tweet.
This is how it ended: Schofield has since deleted his tweet and replaced it with an apology. In it, he wrote that he originally stated that he was “proud of the effort and the hours his team invested.” That was wrong. He values passion and creativity, not the many hours.
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While some users in the comments sought reconciliation and wished Schofield success with his game, others were less impressed with the apology. They felt it did not address the core message of the original tweet.
Developers like Bungie and Grinding Gear Games are clearly positioned against crunch. The head of Grinding Gears spoke about it on reddit:
The streamer with the most followers on Twitch, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins (31), has apparently had enough. During an ongoing stream in Fortnite , he pauses, says he just can’t take it anymore, and quits everything. Observers are speculating: Is this just a show or real? MeinMMO shows you the Twitch clip from Fortnite and asks for your opinion.
This is the situation:
The Twitch streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins was in 2016 still one of many shooter streamers floating in the middle of Twitch. Blevins had an average of about 1,300 viewers and frequently faced rage outbreaks and flame attacks: He had made a name for himself as an eSports professional in Halo and was now playing popular online shooters like PUBG.
By the end of 2017, however, with Fortnite came Ninja’s breakthrough: He streamed the colorful shooter from Epic like a madman and suddenly gathered millions of followers. Ninja broke into new dimensions on Twitch, was invited to talk shows, and grinned from the cover of a sports magazine. In 2018, he averaged 78,000 viewers and was practically online constantly. That year he racked up 2,767 hours in Fortnite. Later he said Ninja: He said during that time he didn’t live, was a slave to the stream.
Ninja’s career is inextricably linked to Fortnite:
Start video
Everything you need to know about the battle royale shooter Fortnite
“I’m fed up – I can’t take it anymore”
These are the 59 seconds in which Ninja quits everything:
Ninja plays a completely normal round of Fortnite and has just gotten a kill, his duo partner, Sypher, asks him something, but Ninja no longer responds.
Sypher asks: “Ninja?”, but the streamer coughs, laughs, and says: “I can’t take it anymore, buddy – I’m fed up.”
Ninja then says he’s had enough of the players, of all this stuff. He needs a break from streaming. He tells the chat that he doesn’t know when he will be back on air. He has to get out of here. Then he quits Fortnite and the stream, he’s just gone.
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Ninja seemingly quits everything: No more Twitch partner
What happened next? Ninja has not streamed since then and has deactivated his social media channels by deleting the profile picture and replacing his name with “User Not Found.”
Moreover, he is no longer a Twitch partner.
What’s behind this? There are two possibilities:
Ninja actually had a “burnout” moment and really quit everything.
He only simulated this “breakdown” as a PR stunt because he wants to draw attention to himself to make a big announcement.
The strange thing is that he announced the stream with the words “Big things are coming.”
And that Ninja is fed up with playing Fortnite is plausible:
Ninja has played Fortnite on Twitch for 471 hours over the last 180 days – almost nothing else. That is much less time than he racked up at his peak, but he has again become a typical “one game” streamer.
Before the last half year, Ninja used to extensively play League of Legends, Apex Legends, or Final Fantasy XI – he has now given all that up and fully returned to Fortnite.
This could suggest that he can no longer stand Fortnite.
This week, there were many news updates in the world of MMORPGs. Especially in the games under development, a lot has happened, and some betas and alphas are scheduled for September 2022. We at MeinMMO summarize the highlights.
The Kickstarter indie MMORPG Genfanad will be released on Steam on September 27 and will be available for everyone (via massivelyop).
The colorful 2.5D MMORPG Cinderstone Online has also started a new beta (via mmorpg.com).
These are the news of the week at a glance. What is your personal highlight? Did you experience anything cool this week? Or did we perhaps forget something important? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
With Arc 3.0 came a completely new coat of electrifying talents in Destiny 2. While Hunters were excited about the new features, Warlocks and Titans were initially disappointed. Therefore, we will show you a deadly build for the Titan that will make you a true survivor.
What kind of build is this?Titans could become an immortal volcano with Solar 3.0 and scorch their opponents. Now that Season 18 revolves around Arc 3.0, many Titan mains are wondering how they can make their behemoth viable again with the refreshed element. Because their Arc moves were initially still unfamiliar.
We have therefore picked out a cool build that you can recreate. Your Titan abilities will be optimally enhanced and will never run out. In addition, we will tell you what exactly you need to set up so that the build works optimally.
Enhanced abilities and fast regeneration
We have searched for a build that is not specifically focused on extremely high damage numbers, but rather places value on your survival. We have come across the suggestion from gamespot.
The build is suitable for Raids, Nightfalls, and Gambit, and allows you to play as usual. You also do not have to perform any complicated mechanics to benefit from its advantages.
This is what the build looks like with all aspects and fragments
What do I need for the build? The only important requirement for the build set is a special Exotic armor for the Titan. You will need the following items from your collection:
How does the build work? Essentially, you just need to use your abilities. The Exotic chest piece of the Titan will enhance your two unspent abilities when you use your third talent. The following things will be enhanced:
Grenades deal more damage
Your melee attack also deals more damage
Your barricade has more hit points
Your two unspent talents will also receive an increased ability recharge rate. So you will get them back faster than usual to use them again.
Moreover, Arc is specifically designed for the recovery of your abilities. With the fragment “Spark of Reloading”, your melee and grenade will restore faster when you are critically wounded.
Additionally, you can swap the fragment “Spark of Shock” for “Spark of Concentration” to receive increased class ability regeneration through your sprint.
So, if the immortal volcano annoys you and you finally feel like actively intervening in the battle and jumping into the crowd like a Striker, this build is just right for you.
This will turn every Titan into a deadly and underrated soldier with useful talents that will never run out. Why not try it out and feel free to let us know your opinion in the comments.
Have you found your Arc 3.0 build yet or are you still searching? Would you like to learn more creative builds that we can present? Then let us know!
You can find a summary of the story of Destiny 2 here:
Modern shooters are action-packed, often leaving little time to breathe, and are among the most popular gaming genres of our time. However, it wasn’t always like this – it was only with the release of Wolfenstein 3D in 1992 that shooters really took off. MeinMMO shows 5 examples of how Wolfenstein 3D has influenced the genre to this day.
The first-person shooter genre was established by Wolfenstein 3D. Back then, everything was new; there was no template, innovation had to be sought at every corner – and Wolfenstein pioneered many elements that can still be found in shooters today.
MeinMMO takes you back to the year 1992. A little time travel to the early days of first-person shooters, showcasing 5 examples of why Wolfenstein 3D was groundbreaking back then.
Heroes and weapons were defined
Wolfenstein didn’t redefine graphics at the time – that was already achieved by its spiritual predecessor “Catacomb 3D,” which was also developed by id Software. Here, you could shoot fireballs from a first-person perspective, which was quite close to that first-person shooter feeling.
However, Wolfenstein 3D defined characters and tools in a way that we still use today. It introduced specific “archetypes” that shooters still reference today.
The idea of a powerful lone wolf was entirely new to the genre. A character capable of toppling entire regimes, changing the world, and defeating evil. Even today, numerous shooters rely on this type of narrative.
Weapons followed a similar path. Wolfenstein introduced certain types that are now essential in almost every shooter arsenal, including:
The small pistol as a starter weapon
A submachine gun with a higher rate of fire
A rocket launcher with a big bang
Slow-firing bolt-action rifles
By the way, a year after Wolfenstein 3D, the first Doom was released, completing the weapon mechanics with important elements: The shotgun made its debut, and various ammunition types for weapons were introduced.
The developer studio for Doom: Also id Software, with its iconic developers John Carmack and John Romero, who also laid the foundation for Wolfenstein 3D. Later, Quake joined the ranks, another legendary shooter:
Wolfenstein 3D directly defined the 3D environment for shooters.
The combination of specific enemy types and level design that creates varying difficulty in almost every room is still standard in single-player campaigns of first-person shooters today.
There are also hidden areas that remain concealed from the player if they simply rush through the levels. Ammunition, health, armor, secret levels – if you don’t look around, you miss a lot.
While you couldn’t look up and down in Wolfenstein 3D, its level designs were groundbreaking at the time. What is now considered “logical” and “self-evident” was a significant leap in 3D level design for shooters back then.
A hidden door behind a picture? Standard today, innovation back then. Source: YouTube
World War shooters were born
With Wolfenstein, the boom around World War shooters began, which significantly shaped the genre. While it wasn’t the first game set in World War II, a real story featuring themes around National Socialism in Germany was rare before the release of Wolfenstein. At most, it was based on licensed games that addressed such themes.
In the multiplayer realm, Call of Duty and Battlefield lead the way for modern shooters that originated from a World War scenario.
Wolfenstein 3D never took itself too seriously. It aimed to be a bit wacky and its cartoon-like graphics contributed to this. Along the way, it laid the groundwork for countless games that address World War II, such as the current Call of Duty: Vanguard.
This, however, also led to the title encountering problems with authorities in Germany. For a long time, the game was banned here, initially due to its violent scenes.
Repeatedly, the symbolism was criticized and cited as a reason for the ban. This led to the so-called “Wolfenstein ruling” in 1998, which ensured for many years that unconstitutional symbols in video games were prohibited in Germany (via grimme-game.de).
Since 2019, the original Wolfenstein 3D has no longer been banned in Germany.
Wolfenstein 3D was considered very violent at the time. Source: YouTube
Wolfenstein sets a fast pace
The 3D shooters before Wolfenstein 3D were more aligned with a slower gameplay style that players were accustomed to from RPGs, similar to the aforementioned spiritual predecessor “Catacomb 3D”.
They were RPGs with gun violence that retained much of the pace of their RPG predecessors.
Wolfenstein 3D cranked up the pace. The developers pushed the gameplay more towards a “real” shootout. Chaos could erupt quickly, with a lack of overview and panic – Wolfenstein became the first real shooter because it was no longer an RPG.
It wasn’t Dungeons and Dragons that served as a model but rather the reality of a firefight.
This new chaos in video games also led to an entirely new level of immersion. To this day, shooters rely on the feeling of merging with your character and forgetting everything else around you.
There are certainly other concepts to create a high level of immersion. But Wolfenstein 3D raised the concept to a new level and showed shooters, as well as many other genres, how to captivate their players with constant action.
If you want to take a peek into the gameplay of that time, we’re embedding a suitable YouTube video here:
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Officially, only the spiritual successor Doom was mod-friendly. However, even back in Wolfenstein 3D, players found ways to introduce their own content into the engine, completely rebuilding the game as a result.
Wolfenstein 3D was one of the pioneers of the modding trend, and id Software knew exactly how to handle this player passion – to encourage it rather than suppress it.
In terms of modding, you cannot say that big shooters are directly influenced by it today.
This is also due to the popular but closed console systems of PlayStation and Xbox, where modding is only restricted or not possible for “normal” players. The later focus on the multiplayer aspect of many major shooters also hindered modding.
Indirectly, however, the influence is enormous.
Hobby developers started their careers with modding, professionalized, and greatly influenced the development of many games.
The large indie game scene would certainly be in a different place today if id Software had decided to protect its blockbuster games from modding instead of opening them up.
Although it was not intended, Wolfenstein 3D also created a legacy that will have lasting effects on the gaming market.
Wolfenstein 3D introduced some mechanics that feel completely natural to us today. But someone had to come up with them first.
It showcases the incredible creativity of the developers, who understood back then what makes a good shooter. Such surprising yet significant innovations are rarely found today, and often more in indie games.
Which game has defined your relationship with shooters or gaming in general? Was there a game in your gaming career that really showed you what possibilities games offer? Let us know in a comment.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Jasmin is known as Gnu and the largest gaming YouTuber in Germany. MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya met her at the gamescom and talked to her in an interview about the reactions to Jasmin’s recently published book, in which she speaks for the first time about her eating disorder. But also, how she approaches her content on Twitch and YouTube.
At the gamescom, I meet a person for the first time whom I had only known from behind the monitor. In 2020, still in the early days of the Corona pandemic, I spoke digitally with Gnu about sexism in the gaming industry.
Back then, I didn’t know that the young woman had struggled with an eating disorder for years. She tells about it for the first time in her recently published book “You can’t do it”, which really touched me while reading.
This is enough reason for me to meet Jasmin at the gamescom and talk to her about her life after this soul striptease.
MeinMMO: How is it for you now in retrospect to have released the book and everyone knows that you struggled with an eating disorder?
Jasmin: I often said back then to my manager and to Lisa Ludwig (co-author) that I was unsure whether I should do it. I talked to her almost every day back then. What’s interesting is that I actually don’t have a problem with people reading it who don’t know me, as much as I do when, for example, my partner’s parents read it. That’s really strange.
But I believe that in today’s time, it is all the more important to address such things. That there are problems and that not everything is this perfect life that you present on social media. I just got fed up with that.
The trigger for the book was when someone told me that everything about me was always so perfect and so boring. And I just thought: If you only knew.
Then I got the offer for the book and told myself, why not. It’s a part of my life and this story brought me here. It gives people hope that, no matter how badly they are doing, they can still achieve something cool.
“I wanted to talk about the negative aspects of life”
MeinMMO: Why was now the right time for you to publish the book?
Jasmin: I used to always say I would never write a book. But now I have a certain distance from it. When the publisher approached me, I talked about wanting to talk about the negative aspects of life too.
This “You can’t do it” and the solutions I found for myself. This guide to my life, what I could have done better. That is something I would have wished for at 15.
Then I thought to myself, why not turn something negative into something positive. Now I’ve done this soul striptease and if it helps even just one person, it’s been worth it.
Leya: How were the general reactions to the book?
Jasmin: During the book tour, I was scared. On release day, I had already considered whether to retreat completely for a few days and not look at any reactions. In fact, there were already some positive comments during the book tour, which made me very happy.
Actually, it has remained generally positive. I haven’t received any negative comments about it. Of course, only people who know me read it now.
Many thought they were alone with their problems and thanked me for bringing it up. I met someone earlier who told me that I described her exact problem and now she sees a solution for herself on how to deal with it.
As content creators, we are all very dependent on the platforms and the algorithm: What gets suggested? What gets watched?
“The biggest problem of all platforms is that it’s about quantity and not quality”
MeinMMO: What responsibility do you see here for platforms like Twitch?
Jasmin: The biggest problem of all platforms is that it is primarily about quantity and not quality. For creators, it is simply more attractive to go with quantity and service the quick, low-quality content.
Especially when that brings more views, why should I then take more time and invest more money in a high-quality video? I believe that’s the problem: More content, more trends, faster, better, and the fixation on numbers. Is your video from yesterday better than today’s and why? It would be nice if that would somehow change. But honestly, I don’t believe that will happen.
MeinMMO: Would you like to conclude by telling us what projects you are currently working on?
Jasmin: As always gaming!
But my third channel is currently my new passion project, where I talk about things that are personally important to me.
Like a toxic self-perception thanks to social media or also sports and how to motivate oneself in a healthy way for reasons other than diets. I want to invest more time in this in the future and expand it further.
MeinMMO: Thank you very much for the conversation.
I asked my manager if this would be the end of my career. I also don’t want that stamp that if you’ve spoken out about problems, you keep getting confronted with them.
Start video
The Life of Faker – Why He is a Living Legend
“Honestly, the perfect life bores me”
MeinMMO: Is there a shift happening in the entire industry? You describe in your book that on Instagram, influencers portray a perfect life. We all prefer to talk about successes, take the 100th selfie to see which angle is perfect and to make sure no pimple shows. Is there currently a counter-movement and do you see yourself as part of it?
Jasmin: I believe there is, yes. There are Instagram profiles like Dana Mercer, which I enjoy watching. She has lost a lot of weight and shows her body as it is. She has no problem showing that she has cellulite and that there are rolls on her stomach when she sits. She shows that it is completely normal for skin to live and move. I think the trend is increasingly going toward many people in public showing their naturalness and humanity.
I find that important and honestly, the perfect life bores me.
People want to have the Disney love and see it, but that simply doesn’t exist. The bigger the disappointment when the image of the perfect life is shattered. Now I’m glad I never built that up.
MeinMMO: If you switch on your stream, you can already see that you burp or fart.
Jasmin: (laughs shocked) How did you get to that?! Those are all just sound effects.
MeinMMO: So, all just played! Do you think that made it easier for you to publish such a book? That you gained understanding for yourself and your persona because you have always presented yourself as quite “normal”?
Jasmin: I believe so. The only topic that was really difficult for me was the eating disorder. That is something I even told my best friend, whom I have known for many years, only shortly before the publication of the book.
That’s why the topic was so important to me. I now recognize when others have such issues. There are many people, and no one talks about it.
Just my eating disorder is one where people often say the silence or secrecy, and I think that shouldn’t be secret.
“It always gets easier when it’s over”
MeinMMO:That is indeed a trend we are observing. More and more stories are coming up. Recently, Kalle Koschinski, who took a break due to mental issues. Is that a topic that, in your view, happens too much behind closed doors?
Jasmin: I believe that especially when it comes to burnout, more and more people are daring to come forward. I think it always gets easier when it’s over. My eating disorder is over. I believe I wouldn’t have written a book about it if I were still in the middle of it.
MeinMMO:Being a content creator is often associated with a lot of pressure.We have had stories of people,who died after marathon streams.What do you think about that?
Jasmin: I’ve been regularly uploading videos for years and keep telling myself that this video must still come. It just looks nice on the channel, and the community looks forward to a short video on Saturdays.
But in the end, you have to learn to tell yourself that the world doesn’t end if a video doesn’t come.
Leya: When you get to know you better, you know that you approach your work very analytically. How do you actually go about feeding the platforms’ algorithms?
Jasmin: That is difficult because it changes constantly. We also have regular meetings with my management and discuss what is currently trending, what can be made out of certain games? Above all, what unique things can we create from it? Games are researched, and ideas are developed for the community or initial ideas are collected for video titles and thumbnails.
Of course, when a hype game comes along, like Among Us recently, we look at: Okay, everyone is playing that right now. What can we do with it? What could be funny? How can I implement something that suits me? Thinking about such things is really fun for me.
That’s why we approach it so analytically, because you can never really assess the algorithm or other influences. We noticed this summer, for example, that it was the first summer where people could go out again without major restrictions, which also has an impact on views.
As content creators, we are all very dependent on the platforms and the algorithm: What gets suggested? What gets watched?
“The biggest problem of all platforms is that it’s about quantity and not quality”
MeinMMO: What responsibility do you see here for platforms like Twitch?
Jasmin: The biggest problem of all platforms is that it is primarily about quantity and not quality. For creators, it is simply more attractive to go with quantity and service the quick, low-quality content.
Especially when that brings more views, why should I then take more time and invest more money in a high-quality video? I believe that’s the problem: More content, more trends, faster, better, and the fixation on numbers. Is your video from yesterday better than today’s and why? It would be nice if that would somehow change. But honestly, I don’t believe that will happen.
MeinMMO: Would you like to conclude by telling us what projects you are currently working on?
Jasmin: As always gaming!
But my third channel is currently my new passion project, where I talk about things that are personally important to me.
Like a toxic self-perception thanks to social media or also sports and how to motivate oneself in a healthy way for reasons other than diets. I want to invest more time in this in the future and expand it further.
MeinMMO: Thank you very much for the conversation.
For years, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominated the top ratings in FIFA. However, new talents are slowly emerging – which stars could become the best players in FIFA 23 and beyond?
How strong are Ronaldo and Messi: Of course, Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are still not bad players – neither in real football nor in FIFA 23. Both can still amaze viewers (and opponents) with absolute world-class performances.
However, especially in the FIFA series, players are slowly emerging that can at least surpass both top stars in the long run – if they haven’t done so already.
At the same time, other talents are increasingly rising in ratings. We take a look at some of the most exciting candidates to succeed Messi and Ronaldo.
What kind of list is this? It is already clear that besides Messi and Ronaldo, players like Benzema, Neymar, or Lewandowski will also be at the top of the rating scale – but these are long-established stars. Here we focus primarily on talents that still have a lot of potential for development.
Kylian Mbappé
Start video
FIFA 23: Official Reveal Trailer
This is what makes Mbappé special: Mbappé is the obvious choice, and there is no way around him. It feels like he has been around forever – but Mbappé is only 23 years old today. But that happens automatically when you become a world champion at 19.
According to the leak, Mbappé is supposed to get a rating of 91 with absolute top values, and he is also one of the cover stars of FIFA 23 – and has been for several years. Mbappé is already one of the best players in FIFA, if not the best. This is unlikely to change in the near future.
Erling Haaland
Haaland left Dortmund for Manchester – will he become a world-class player there?
This is what makes Haaland special: Erling Haaland is even younger than Mbappé, but the 22-year-old has already been a contender for the title of “best talent in the world” for some time. He moved from Dortmund to Manchester City this summer and immediately started tearing apart opponents.
Looking at the global market values in real football, Haaland is currently directly behind Mbappé (via Transfermarkt): With 150 million, he is currently the second most valuable player in the world. At the moment, there is nothing to suggest that this already extremely strong striker will become even better in the coming years – and thus be among the best players in FIFA.
Vinicius Jr.
Vinicius Jr. was already a favorite in FIFA 22
This is what makes Vinicius Jr. special: Fast, skillful, with endless skills and also a decent finish – Vinicius Jr. is essentially all that FIFA players wish from an offensive player.
The agile Brazilian currently plays for Real Madrid and is getting better from season to season after a somewhat shaky start. The 22-year-old has already secured a starting position on the wing and already has two goals and one assist in just three games.
Looking at the global market values, Vinicius is currently the third most valuable player behind Haaland and Mbappé. And due to his ideal skill set for offense, it is likely that Vinicius will be an important player in FIFA for years to come.
Phil Foden
The 84 from FIFA 22 is likely to rise further
This is what makes Foden special: Good dribbling, strong vision, clever passes – with these qualities, Phil Foden has secured a starting position at Manchester City, which is not so easy given the competition in midfield.
In real football, he is – you probably guessed it – number 4 in terms of market values. 90 million is currently Foden’s worth, on par with top players like Salah and Kane.
According to the Xbox leak, Foden is expected to receive a rating of 85, unless it is changed before the release. This would only mean a small upgrade compared to the 84 card from last year and still not quite enough for the top. But: At just 22 years old, Foden still has plenty of time to rise higher.
Jude Bellingham
Bellingham is set to make a leap in FIFA 23
This is what makes Bellingham special: Another Englishman, another midfielder – and just like Foden, Bellingham will at least not rise to the absolute top in terms of overall rating in FIFA 23.
However, according to the leak, the Dortmund midfielder is expected to receive an 84 card – which would mean a jump of a whole 5 points compared to FIFA 22. And last year, Bellingham also received special cards that made him one of the best midfielders in FIFA 22.
And now it should be considered: Bellingham is only 19 years old. If his development continues like this, he is likely to become one of the absolute best players in FIFA in the short or long term.
The list of talents in world football is long. Therefore, there are many players who could also rise to the top in the long run. Some examples:
Christopher Nkunku had an extremely strong Bundesliga season and is expected to achieve quite good ratings in FIFA 23. Especially after the departures of Lewandowski and Haaland, he could fill an offensive gap.
Pedri from FC Barcelona is also highly regarded. The 19-year-old is considered a real midfield jewel.
Alphonso Davies from FC Bayern is already one of the best left-backs in the world at just 21 years old. His values also fit perfectly with FIFA and are expected to continue to rise in the coming years.
Dusan Vlahovic from Serie A scored everything last year, now moved to Juventus Turin. His market value is 85 million, and he has already scored 4 goals in 4 games this new season.
Jamal Musiala is one of Germany’s absolute top talents and is establishing himself more and more at FC Bayern. At just 19 years old, this offensive player is also likely to move towards the top in the coming years.
Will any of these talents end up becoming calibers like Messi and Ronaldo, who will dominate football (and FIFA) for years? That remains to be seen. Who are your favorites in world football? Let us know in the comments!
Have you lost your joy for World of Warcraft? Cortyn has a method to fix that – if you want.
If you’ve been playing World of Warcraft for almost two decades, at some point the air can run out. Somehow you’ve seen everything and no matter what the developers come up with, it has been there in some modified form before. You become a bit numb, everything turns into a routine, and often you catch yourself thinking: Why was it so much more fun before? Was the game just better? Or is it really just you?
A pretty healing remedy for this fatigue is the “Newcomer” channel in World of Warcraft, or in German, the “Einsteigerchat”.
Because engaging with the joys and problems of complete newcomers as a veteran is actually a lot of fun.
After almost 20 years, you lose sight of the details
Since the possibility exists, I have been in the “Newcomer” channel with my characters. This is the channel where new players are automatically thrown when they start with World of Warcraft. Veterans who have completed a series of achievements can offer themselves as “mentors” to help newcomers with tips and simply answer any questions that arise.
And what kind of questions those can be is hard to imagine if you’ve been so deep into World of Warcraft for 18 years that you wouldn’t even recognize the problems anymore.
On the Isle of Exiles, newcomers experience their first adventures.
Most of you have probably played the “Isle of Exiles” by now. This is the latest starting area that was implemented with Shadowlands to provide a unified game start. The quests there are quite linear, relatively simple, and serve as a tutorial. No one should have major difficulties there – or?
Not at all.
One of the most common things you see in the “Newcomer” channel are chat messages from newcomers posting something like:
“wave”
“wave to gorgroth”
“type /wave to gor’groth”
The reason for this is one quest on the island where the character disguises as an ogre and supposedly leads captives through the ogres’ camp. As a step in this quest, you have to wave to one of the ogres to signal that you are bringing fresh prisoners.
Messages like this appear every half hour.
And this quest step turns out to be a significant barrier.
Elitist veterans might roll their eyes here and think: “Anyone who is too stupid to type an emote, I don’t want to see in the endgame either.”
But you have to keep reminding yourself that there are simply an extremely large number of newcomers who may have never played another MMORPG before or have had no contact with video games on this dimension.
And from my own experience in the Newcomer channel, I can say that this quest line represents quite a barrier, which is not particularly well explained by the game either. Because for the quest, you not only have to enter a chat command for the first time (“/wave”), but you also need to have targeted the corresponding NPC. Both are poorly explained by the game and, when you think about it, is quite a break from the previous missions.
Completely clueless in World of Warcraft – that’s how many newcomers feel.
But if you’ve learned to use emotes here and there for teasing each other, thanking someone for an enchantment, or threatening the nasty rogue in PvP with a swinging fist for over 18 years, then the quest is a complete triviality.
It is incredibly hard to imagine that you might have not been able to complete the quest on your first attempt.
It’s difficult to help these players who may not even be paying much attention to the chat yet. But if you succeed, you get the nice feeling of having helped a fellow player who doesn’t have to end the game in frustration because he can’t solve this quest line.
But by far the greatest fun is experiencing the joy of other players who are excited about the smallest things that you might only smile tiredly at.
It often happens that a beginner enthusiastically asks in the Newcomer channel:
“How do you get this black unicorn as a mount?! It’s so cool!!!”
This then leads to conversations where you tell about the big puzzles that ultimately reward with mounts like the Lucid Nightmare.
I also vividly remember a druid player who apparently experienced his personal Christmas in the middle of summer when he proclaimed in the Newcomer channel (in all caps):
“I CAN TURN INTO A CAT!!! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!”
It’s such a banal basic ability of every druid, but for someone who hasn’t played MMORPGs before, this was apparently the best thing that could happen. This almost childishly exaggerated joy is simply contagious, and you can’t help but smile a little.
Transforming into a cat – actually so simple, but some are very happy about it.
This always reminds me of my own beginnings in World of Warcraft. I remembered that back in the day, during “Vanilla” times, my mage took on a quest in Ashenvale where you could transform into a Furbolg with a quest item. That was the first quest of this kind for me, and I was so excited about this transformation that I never finished the quest.
I kept the quest item because, unlike many other quest items, you could use it anywhere in the game world. Whether later in the Molten Core while raiding or in the battleground of Warsong Gulch. I could show up as a Furbolg mage everywhere and thought that was really grand at the time.
So my advice to you, if you are a long-time WoW veteran and perhaps have lost a bit of your enthusiasm, sign up as a mentor to help newcomers with advice and assistance. But only if you truly intend to help the newcomers a bit.
This innocent joy is simply contagious – and at the latest when someone writes “wave to gorgroth” in the chat channel again, you have to smile a bit again.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A Piepi Party starts in Pokémon GO in September 2022. We will show you the brief details of the three-hour event.
What kind of event is this? In recent weeks, Niantic has already hinted on social media that a Piepi event will take place in September. However, the developers initially withheld the details. Trainers suspected that it could be a similar event to the Bidiza outbreak of 2021.
Now Niantic finally shed light on the situation and revealed the short and concise details of the event.
Piepi Party in September 2022 at Pokémon GO – Start, Shiny, Bonuses
When does it start? The event takes place on September 10, 2022, in the evening. It starts at 6:00 PM local time and ends at 9:00 PM local time. So you have three hours to engage with the event.
What bonuses are there? During the event, you will encounter Piepi more frequently in the wild.
Are there Shiny Piepi? Yes, you can find and catch the shiny form of Piepi.
Shiny Piepi and Pixi compared
Is that all? Niantic did not disclose any further details about the event. They added in the blog post “Who knows what discoveries you make in the moonlight?” Trainers are now speculating what it might mean (via reddit.com).
“I hope they are just giving a first glimpse of the event. I thought double Stardust and [the move] Fairy Wind would be part of it,” writes Eirkir
“So a spotlight hour for three hours?” asks ImmortalDawn666
On Twitter , Joe Merrick, the operator of Serebii.net, explains an explanation for the event. The Pokémon Company contributes to the “Moon Viewing Festival” in various games, which runs on September 10. This even includes taking over a weather channel.
This event is part of it, and the logo in the upper right corner of the event image is the campaign logo.
Event bonuses may therefore be rather limited. How do you feel about a brief event like this? Will you participate?
On September 2, 2022, LEGO Games released its own version of a brawler titled “LEGO Brawls”. Similar to what we know from Super Smash Bros or MultiVersus, players can battle against each other with their fighters in various arenas.
With the developer studio Red Games Co., LEGO Games recently launched its first brawler set in the LEGO universe.
In classic LEGO fashion, players can assemble their fighters in minifigure style and compete against each other in various arenas.
The game features 10 different areas from the LEGO universe, such as Pirates or Western, and offers various game modes – including multiplayer options.
On which platforms is the game available? In addition to Steam, the brawler is also available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Apple Arcade.
Start video
LEGO Brawls – Launch Trailer
This is LEGO’s new fighting game
What does the gameplay in LEGO Brawls look like? In the first step, players can create their own fighter, called a “Brawler”, in LEGO minifigure style. Over time, new items can be unlocked to further customize and upgrade the Brawler. This includes additional figure parts, weapons, or emotes.
The player can choose from various game modes, where specific challenges or victory conditions must be met. Available modes include:
Brawl Royale (Solo): Eliminate opponents to win
Collection (Team & Solo): Collect and keep items to win
Control the Point (Team): Capture and defend a level point to win
Free for Brawl (Solo): Last player standing wins
The Brawler fights with different types of attacks that can be used depending on the player’s fighting style. From “Dashing” to close-range attacks and “Ground Pound” attacks, he can finish off opponents.
This is what the gameplay in LEGO Brawls looks like:
What themes are in the game? Currently, LEGO Brawls integrates 10 different thematic fields into the game:
Ninjago
Monkie Kid
Jurassic World
Pirates
Western
Vidiyo
Hidden Side
Space
Castle
Alien Invasion
The website announces that more themes as well as seasonal content and events will follow.
Is there a multiplayer? In LEGO Brawls, there is the option to play alone, but also together with others. Crossplay with consoles is possible, and players can compete in 4v4 matches. The game also offers a party mode and a battle royale mode.
Important for multiplayer: Console players need an active membership for the respective platform, such as PS Plus, to play online. You can also play offline, but without all the online features (via legobrawlsgame.com).
How much does LEGO Brawls cost on Steam? Currently, you can purchase the brawler on Steam for €39.99. If you want to try the game first, you also have the option to download the demo. You can also find this on the Steam page.
What do you think of LEGO Brawls? Have you tried it already? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
The developer of the gladiator game Domina has repeatedly posted political messages and insults in his patch notes. After his latest escalation, Valve has had enough and removed the game from Steam.
This is the situation:
Domina is a gladiator management simulator from Dolphin Barn Incorporated, which was released on Steam on April 3, 2017.
The game received positive ratings of 78% and was also popular among critics. Our colleagues at GameStar even called it “great”.
The developer behind the game, Nicholas Gorissen, has made headlines by posting political, religious, and aggressive remarks in the patch notes of Domina. This led to negative reviews, dragging the rating down to 33%.
The ban, however, did not change the developer’s behavior. He referred to the Steam staff on his Twitter as “Stupid Fucks”, “Clowns”, and “trash” and announced that his game would no longer receive updates in the future.
It didn’t take long for his next escalation in the patch notes, but this time Valve reacted more harshly.
“Ask God for Courage”
This was stated in the patch notes: The news about update v1.3.25 had very little to do with the actual game. The majority of the notes consisted of transphobic messages that mocked the concept of gender transition.
It was allegedly claimed that the name of the game was changed to “Dominus” because there were no more ideas, that it was “mentally unstable and completely degenerate”. This suggested that the game had “changed its gender”.
Additionally, Gorissen directly attacked the trans streamer Clara “Keffals” Sorrenti in the notes and pitied “the poor drunken guys who had sex with transvestites like Keffals”.
At the end of the patch notes, the developer called for people to stand up for what they believe in and ask God for courage.
This is how Valve reacts: After their last warning fell on deaf ears, Valve completely removed the game Domina from Steam. The product page of Domina no longer exists, and the original link leads to Steam’s homepage.
The reason for the removal was multiple violations of Steam’s policies, including insults and attacks on other personalities.
In a statement that Gorissen shared on his Twitter, Valve explained that they would “end the business relationships with Dolphin Barn Incorporated and remove all related products from sale.”
Meanwhile, Gorissen’s Twitter account has also been suspended, and his tweets are no longer readable.
A father shared in a Destiny 2 group on Facebook about the loss of his daughter, who passed away from cancer. He called for everyone to wear gold in September to raise awareness for childhood cancer. The community spread his call, and many players followed his request.
This is the situation: A few days ago, a longer post appeared in a Facebook group about Destiny 2, where a father shared his sad story with other Guardians. He recounted that one of his children, a young daughter, had passed away from her cancer several years ago.
Since then, the father has called on the community every September to wear golden shaders to raise awareness for childhood cancer. September is officially the “Awareness Month” for childhood cancer, the month during which there is a strong focus on raising awareness, and the golden ribbon is the symbol for it.
“Awareness Ribbons” are small ribbons worn as a sign of solidarity and support for specific groups. They often symbolize certain serious illnesses, such as the red ribbon that stands for AIDS. More about it on Wikipedia.
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Destiny 2: The Witch Queen – “Season of the Plunder” Trailer
“No profits, just a supportive gesture”
This is what was in the post: On reddit, the user LunarPengu shared the call with the title: “Please join me to make this man’s dream come true”.
Below, there is a post that was published in the Facebook group “The Dad Gaming – Dadstiny”. In this, a father reports about the loss of his daughter in May 2020, who had died of cancer.
“I gain no profits from this. It is just a gesture of support, directed from one father to others. I ask you again, fathers and Guardians, to join me and wear gold in the month of September. It would be fantastic to see a Tower full of golden Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks.” Below, you can also see a photo of the father with his daughter.
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The community is moved and gives each other fashion tips
This is how the post spread: The community picked up the father’s post and began to share it diligently. Besides reddit, the Twitch streamer AnneMunition shared the call on Twitter. She is a well-known shooter streamer, and although she doesn’t play Destiny 2 herself, she found the father’s post moving and shared it.
In her tweet, she also mentioned well-known Destiny streamers like Gothalion and Dr. Lupo, who has already raised funds for a children’s hospital. Gothalion remarked: “No one should ever lose their child, especially not to something so terrible as cancer.”
Thanks to the retweets, the call quickly went viral and garnered over 23,100 likes. Bungie employees also took notice and got involved. Bungie’s Senior Community Manager picked up the story on Twitter and listed shaders that players could use as part of the campaign.
No one should ever lose a child, let alone to something as awful as cancer. This is why we raise money for St Jude and spread awareness when we can.
How is the community reacting to the call? Under the reddit post, players are giving each other tips on which golden shaders work best for the campaign. Many say they will follow the call. AmericanGrizzly4 states: “Really all my fashion options are on hold for the entire month. It will only be gold, no question.”
It’s similar on Twitter: the father’s story moves the community. User Bruisr writes: “[…] As a father myself, I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child. I will proudly be a golden Guardian this month!”
Further, there is a note: “This shader is ‘Dawning Welcome’ and it mainly shades gold with a blue accent. Looks really good on weapons, Sparrows, Ships, and Ghosts!” He shows, as many other players do, his Guardian in golden gear in a photo below.
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What does the father from the post say about it? The father from the post has now also commented on Twitter and thanked AnneMunition, other streamers, and Bungie employees who had spread the call. He is grateful for their help in raising more awareness for childhood cancer.
What do you think about the community’s reaction to the father’s post? Will you perhaps wear gold in September? Let us know in the comments.
The MMORPG Bless Unleashed was released in 2020 on consoles and is now approaching its end. Support for the game on consoles will be discontinued in November 2022, but the PC version is not affected at least for now.
This is Bless Unleashed: The free action MMORPG was the reboot of the previously failed Bless Online and was developed by Round 8 Studios. The publisher was still Neowiz.
In Bless Unleashed, players explore a large open world, complete quests, battle world bosses in action-packed fights, hack their way through dungeons, and compete against each other in PvP.
The game was initially released on Xbox One and PS4 and later, in August 2021, also on Steam, where it briefly even landed in the Top 10 most played games. However, Neowiz now announces that support for the console version will be discontinued in just a few months.
When does the game go offline? The servers are expected to be shut down on November 30 at 8:00 PM our time (via Blessunleashed.com).
As of September 1, the premium currency Lumena and other cash shop items were removed from the stores of Sony and Microsoft
The prices for all items in the in-game shop have been drastically reduced to 1 Lumena
Customer support via tickets and chat will continue until the end of the year
Additionally, game master events will be held for the remaining players until the servers are shut down.
What happens to the PC version? The PC version of Bless Unleashed is not affected by the shutdown, at least for now. While Neowiz was the original publisher of the MMORPG on Steam, the rights and development were transferred to Valofe / VFUN in January 2022 (via steampowered).
Valofe / VFUN may be known to some of you as the publisher of the MMORPGs Riders of Icarus and Atlantica. Both are games that linger on Steam with just over 100 to 150 active players per day.
In comparison, Bless Unleashed, according to the statistics page Steamcharts.com, has about 1,388 daily active players, giving some fans hope that the MMORPG will at least be continued on Steam for a longer period.
Some players suspect that Bless Unleashed is being shut down so that Neowiz and Round 8 Studios can invest more resources into their new game Lies of P, which was very prominent at gamescom 2022.
