The Japanese game “Uma Musume Pretty Derby” (PC, Android, iOS) is considered one of the most successful mobile games worldwide. The game features horse girls competing against each other in races. In 2021, the game generated over 937 million euros in revenue.
What is Uma Musume Pretty Derby? Uma Musume Pretty Derby is a mobile game developed by Cygames. It is marketed on Google Play as a training simulator.
On February 24, 2021, the game was released as a mobile game. A PC version followed on March 10, 2021. However, the game was only released in Japan.
In addition to the mobile game Uma Musume Pretty Derby, there is also an anime series and a manga set in the same universe. It thus constitutes an entire multimedia brand.
Here you can see the Japanese trailer for Uma Musume Pretty Derby:
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Uma Musume Pretty Derby – Trailer of the crazy horse girl game
What is the focus of Uma Musume Pretty Derby? The game centers around human characters with animal traits – in this case, horse girls.
They compete against each other in races designed similarly to horse racing. Although the game is referred to as a “training simulator,” many players are likely more interested in the anime waifus in the game than the races themselves.
The term “waifu” refers to female characters in animes that represent archetypes of women or girls – and with whom players are meant to build an emotional connection.
What does the gameplay of Uma Musume Pretty Derby look like? The player assembles a team of different horse girls. They can spend time with the girls and train them to make them stronger and improve their chances of winning the races.
The characters have various stats that can be improved by the player: These stats include speed, strength, and wisdom.
The game features various game modes. There is a story mode, as well as PvE and PvP elements. Similar to Genshin Impact, Uma Musume Pretty Derby is also a gacha game.
Huge revenue, despite only being released in Japan
How successful is Uma Musume Pretty Derby? The revenue total in the release year 2021 speaks for the game Uma Musume Pretty Derby.
The website SensorTower analyzed its data and created an overview: It included the top mobile games in terms of global revenue in 2021. There were 8 games that earned over 1 billion US dollars in 2021. Uma Musume just barely missed this billion-dollar mark, landing in 9th place.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby achieved revenues exceeding 937 million euros from launch until December 14, 2021. It is important to note:
Uma Musume Pretty Derby launched only on February 24
It is only available in Japan
Note: With these limitations, the revenues are even more impressive and show how much money the controversial gacha games can bring in.
Will the game also have a global release? So far, no official global release date has been announced.
Are there more games like Uma Musume Pretty Derby? Uma Musume Pretty Derby is not the first game to feature hybrid female characters (as anime waifus). Azur Lane, a mobile game from 2017, already featured this unique concept.
In Azur Lane, it involves an alternate timeline of World War II. The characters in the game embody the various warships of different countries.
The horror shooter Hunt: Showdown relies on a permadeath mechanic that allows you to theoretically lose everything if you die. How this works and why you can only theoretically lose everything is explained in this article.
How does death work in Hunt? First and foremost, we need to distinguish between death in the match and a truly permanent death in Hunt:
If you have teammates, you can still be revived and rescued
If you are alone in the match and die or cannot leave the round, you are permanently dead
Being dead does not mean you receive no experience; your bloodline still levels up
This means that the game is a little more challenging on its own, and you have several attempts in a group before it’s truly over for you. How this works exactly and why you still make progress no matter what happens will be explained below.
This means your permanent death
When am I really dead? Permanently dead status occurs when you die alone in a match or receive the “You are dead” screen and the sound takes on a dull tone. From that moment on, your character, also known as Hunter, is considered to have died permanently and cannot be rescued.
What happens next is quickly explained: You lose everything that the Hunter had with him, as well as the character himself. For the round that you didn’t survive, you will only receive half of the bloodline experience.
See the trailer for Hunt: Showdown here:
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Hunt: Showdown Launch Trailer
What is bloodline experience? The bloodline defines your match-overarching progress in Hunt: Showdown. Whether you lose a match and die or emerge alive from the fight, you receive experience points on your bloodline for what you did in the game.
This raises your bloodline level from 1 to 100. By leveling up in the bloodline, you unlock new abilities, weapons, and equipment that you can then use with new Hunters. This is the only type of safe progress in Hunt: Showdown.
You can still be revived in a team
How does death work in the match? Now it gets a bit more complicated. The prerequisite for everything that follows is that you play in a team of two or three. If you die alone in a round, there is only the permanent death described above.
If you die as a team, however, you can be revived. However, this does not work indefinitely and is determined by the number of your health bars. This can vary from Hunter to Hunter. Overall, a Hunter has 150 health points, while the left health bar always accounts for 50 health points. The remaining 100 are divided into either 50 or 25 health bars.
With each death in the match, you permanently lose the bar on the far right. In the worst-case scenario, you have three large bars and can thus only be revived twice. In the best case, however, you have five bars (the large one on the left and four small ones on the right) and can thus get back up four times.
Between your Hunter and your weapon, you can see the health bars of your Hunter
If you exceed this number, you are permanently dead, and the scenario described above occurs. However, if you manage to make it out of the match alive after death, you can sacrifice the experience points of your Hunter to refill your missing health bars and start fit into the next round.
Recruit new Hunters and continue playing
What happens after death? If you lose your Hunter, that’s not the end of the world. To continue playing, you can simply recruit a new Hunter and start the next match. If you ever run out of money, the left Hunter is always free. This is basically your joker when nothing else works.
After each match, even if you win, you can reload the recruitment page and get new Hunters presented to you if the current ones do not appeal to you.
Tip for beginners: If you’ve been wondering what the hell I’m talking about, you are probably below level 10. Because until you have completed bloodline level 10, you are under a kind of puppy protection.
If you die, you simply lose nothing at all. You just need to refill your Hunter’s health bars, but you still keep him in your repertoire. But be cautious, because once you reach level 11, this Hunter is also lost if you come up short in the Bayou.
In EverQuest 2, a special server was established in 2015, where cheaters were banned. However, Drunder has now been deleted – with consequences. Accounts there have been permanently banned, but not every player was really a cheater.
Banned accounts could only play on this server and continue their lives there, albeit without Game Masters, without customer service, and in the presence of other cheaters. A subscription was still required. The inmates therefore continued to pay for their gaming experience.
What has happened now? Daybreak Games, the developers of EverQuest 2, have closed Drunder. All characters and accounts that had accumulated on this server have been permanently banned. However, this had some consequences:
On the other hand, innocent players were also affected, who had consciously transferred their characters to this server to continue playing with their cheating friends. These players also lost all access.
Start video
5 old MMORPGs that are still actively played
Players are angry at Daybreak, but there is hope
How are players reacting to this? In the end, only about 1,000 accounts are said to be affected, as EQ2Wire reported on Twitter. There was no significant outcry outside the EverQuest bubble, as the closure of Drunder already occurred on July 1.
However, in the Discord for the MMORPG, there were some players expressing disappointment. They wished for an early announcement about the closure of the server so that they could react and create a ticket. This would likely have spared the developers many discussions.
Some also criticize that while players were cheaters, they still had fun with EverQuest 2 for years. Their enjoyment has now been ruined.
What do the developers say? They point out that players were warned when transferring to Drunder that this was a “One Way” ticket. At the announcement back then, it said (via DayBreak):
There is no customer service for Drunder and a membership is required to gain access and play. Instead of disturbing the live servers to join the “prison server,” players can use our /petition system to request to join Drunder. To be clear: You will not be able to move individual characters to this server while keeping characters of the same account on another server. This is a “One Way” ticket for an entire account forever.
However, players who did not cheat should contact customer service. If it is determined that they were wrongly banned, the account will be restored. However, players must create a new account to submit a ticket.
What do you think about the concept of prison servers? And is it right to suddenly be banned even though one has had fun with a game for years?
In another MMORPG, many permanently banned players have now been unbanned:
Aero Tales Online is an MMORPG in anime graphics. Starting from August 2, 2022, you can play it for free on Steam.
The developers Anisage Games recently announced that Aero Tales Online will be released on Steam and will enter Early Access in August. Additionally, you can download a mobile version of the MMORPG via Google Play.
What kind of game is this? In Aero Tales Online, you create a character and enter an anime world in a fantasy setting. The MMORPG focuses equally on PvP and PvE. The graphics look somewhat like the game is a few years older.
From a certain level, you can explore the world by flying
Here you can watch the official trailer:
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Official Trailer of the MMORPG Aero Tales Online: The World
What other features does it offer? If you do not want to fight permanently, you can take a look at the more relaxing features of Aero Tales Online:
Decorate your own house
Farming
Making music
Marrying your in-game partner
Who is the game suitable for? Aero Tales Online is suitable for fans of anime graphics, but do not expect a look on the level of Genshin Impact. The system requirements are correspondingly low, which may be convenient for some.
Additionally, through Aero Tales Online, you can find out which combat style suits you better. With the ability to switch between tab-target and action combat, you have a direct comparison.
Since the MMORPG is still in development, you should be patient if a few bugs arise.
What do you think about Aero Tales Online? Have you heard about it before? Do you plan to try it out even though the graphics are not the latest? Do you generally like anime graphics, or do you prefer something darker and less colorful? Feel free to write it in the comments here on MeinMMO!
Diablo Immortal floods you with rewards and a multitude of different currencies, each serving a different purpose. One of them seemed inexhaustible at first, but the influx will soon end. You need them to purchase emblems.
What is this currency? Hilt is a type of supplementary currency to gold. Unlike platinum, you cannot buy it directly, but only receive it through playing, similar to gold.
With Hilt, you can purchase special items from the special Hilt vendor in Westmark. The currency is especially important for free-to-play players.
Why is this currency so important? The vendor sells you items that as a free-to-play player you can only obtain in limited quantities, as well as items that actually fall under the loot limits:
Many of these items can only be purchased once a month or are limited per week. Especially the legendary emblems and the gemstone are important here, as they are some of the few ways to reliably obtain legendary gemstones for free.
What exactly the gemstones are about and how to obtain them can be seen in the video:
Start video
Diablo Immortal: What are legendary gems? Facts and locations in 3 minutes
Hilt are getting scarce – How to save correctly
Why is the currency getting scarce? At the beginning of Diablo Immortal, you will be flooded with Hilt as a new player. This is because the reward for most achievements as well as for mastering challenge portals is Hilt.
However, achievements are unique or become increasingly difficult to obtain, just like higher-level portals. This means you will receive less Hilt the longer you play. Later, your only reliable sources will be the Battle Pass and some quests of the Shadow faction.
Once you have completed the Battle Pass, you will even receive fewer Hilt rewards than during the regular level-ups in the pass. The upcoming update is supposed to improve the Battle Pass, but how it will look and when it will come is still unclear.
How can I save? If you have already reached the endgame and completed many of the achievements, you should start only buying specific items. As Diablo YouTuber DM: Diablo Immortal explains (via YouTube), your priority at the Hilt vendor:
The legendary emblem once a month
The second legendary emblem if you are Immortal
Rare emblems
These items are the most important to maintain your grind. You will always need them to obtain better loot from elder portals and to improve your legendary gemstones. This will enhance your combat rating and your resonance, the key factors for becoming stronger.
Normal and legendary gemstones should only be purchased if you are really sure that you still have enough Hilt left for all other important items in the coming weeks.
Legendary items are not worth it at all, as you can farm them better. This works through grinding in dungeons, rifts, or in the open world. The same goes for spells and crafting materials.
Despite the many criticisms, Diablo Immortal actually has some good approaches that MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus would love to see in the sequel:
The streamer Félix “xQc” Lengyel sees himself as “the face of Twitch” in a tier list of the best streamers. However, he comes up empty in the “Streamer of the Year” nominations for 2022.
What’s this about being “the face of Twitch?”
The term “the face of Twitch” is an unofficial title for the current most successful, trending, and relevant streamer. It means something like: This is Twitch’s figurehead. This is the person you think of first when talking about Twitch streamers.
The title was first claimed by DrDisrespect: He revolutionized Twitch with his persona as a mustachioed character. But in 2018, he was overtaken by Ninja, who greatly benefited from Fortnite and brought Twitch into the mainstream. Already in 2019, however, shroud took over, a veteran of the platform. He was again a “classic streamer.”
Then shroud and Ninja moved away from Twitch, and a new generation took the reins in December 2019: In recent years, xQc has been the most successful and largest streamer on Twitch and thus “somehow” the face of the streaming service. xQc primarily attracted a young audience and took Twitch quite a bit away from gaming towards an entertainment niche with his reaction streams.
These were the former “faces of Twitch” before the term existed.
Start video
Twitch: Who were actually the first successful streamers?
xQc says: These 4 people are “the face of Twitch”
This was the tier list: The streamer xQc created a tier list about 3 weeks ago of who he thinks belongs at the top of Twitch.
Among those at the highest level, the “face of Twitch,” the streamer counted:
Himself, xQc,
Summit1g, a shooter player and veteran on Twitch who puts in an immense number of hours
How was the list received? The list was intensely discussed in the English-speaking Twitch community:
Pokimane is somewhat annoyed that she only appeared in the “B-Tier” as the first woman – and she has always been nice to xQc, even inviting him over and letting him use her bathroom.
The political streamer Hasan saw it as a personal attack that he only made it to the B-Tier and created his own “I could punch him” tier list, clearly placing xQc as a victim.
Strangely enough, DrDisrespect is also on the list, who is no longer even found on Twitch.
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These are the 12 nominees for the “Streamer of the Year” – xQc is not on the list.
Nominations for “Streamer of the Year 2022” are more diverse
What is xQc surprised about now? The problem with the list is that it focuses purely on the English-speaking area and does not take any non-English-speaking streams into account. As a result, xQc has now confronted a reality check.
At the “Esports Awards,” the “Streamer of the Year” is honored. This is a relatively coveted award, which the Spaniard Ibai won in the last two years. Previously, streamers like DrDisrespect or Tyler “Ninja” Blevins received it.
However, this list of nominees for the award is significantly more diverse than xQc’s:
With QTCinderella and Valkyrae, there are two women on the list
With Ibai, TheGrefg (both Spanish), Gaules (Portuguese) and Kameto (French), there are 4 people on the list who do not stream in English
With shooter specialist Tarik, there is also a player on the list who plays no role in xQc’s world
The Spaniard Ibai has won the award for Streamer of the Year in 2020 and 2021. For many, he is “the face of Twitch.”
How does xQc react to these nominations? He is quite astonished when he sees the names of the nominees and searches in vain for his own.
He is particularly annoyed that “Tyler1” is found on the list.
xQc solemnly states that he doesn’t care about not being nominated for such lists but that it hurts him visibly that Tyler1 is on the list and he is not.
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Spaniard Ibai is a strong favorite to be awarded Streamer of the Year again in 2022
How is this list discussed? On reddit, there is a general consensus that the Spaniard “Ibai” will surely win the election and snag the award for the third consecutive time: He simply has too many fans, as he recently proved with a big event.
That xQc is not on the list despite being so successful may be due to his tendency towards gambling streams, it is believed. This could significantly reduce his nomination chances.
What’s behind this: The development underscores that there is no longer “a single face of Twitch” as the platform has become too diverse.
The English-speaking Twitch is only part of the global Twitch – in various countries, local scenes are developing, especially the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking scene is growing enormously.
It’s a bit sad that no streamer who streams in German made it onto the list. Because the streaming landscape has also changed in Germany:
Trainers of Pokémon GO can soon look forward to a long-awaited chat feature. We at MeinMMO have taken a look at what “Campfire” is all about and spoke with Philip Marz about when this app is expected to be available for all players.
What kind of function is it about? Trainers in Pokémon GO have been wishing for an in-game chat or another way to communicate with each other for years. Such a function does not yet exist in the game, which is why players have to resort to other platforms like WhatsApp, Discord, or Facebook to make arrangements.
Especially for raiding together, but also to build friendships or exchange Pokémon, it is important to be connected. But now Niantic wants to finally remedy this and has announced a new app: Campfire.
We at MeinMMO talked to Philip Marz, Head of Regional Marketing Pokémon GO (EMEA), during the GO Fest in Berlin, and had Campfire explained to us. Everything we need to know about the new app and when it is expected to be available for everyone is summarized for you below.
Campfire – All Information about the new App from Niantic
What is Campfire? Campfire is a standalone app from Niantic, the developers of Pokémon GO, and is intended to facilitate communication between players of all Niantic games in the future.
What can Campfire do? As Niantic has already communicated on their website, Campfire is intended to cover the social component of their games in the future. It is meant to help trainers “find new people, places, and experiences in their area” and connect with local communities. The following features are planned:
Find local communities / players nearby
Join communities
Add and manage Niantic friends
Send group messages
Send direct messages
Display and plan joint activities
Send signals on a map for others
With the help of these functions, you should have the opportunity to exchange messages with other players, announce raids, and share photos and locations with friends. The networking of users across all Niantic games is intended to be possible.
This is also confirmed by Philip Marz in the interview. He highlights the functionality and possibilities of Campfire as follows:
There will be both the opportunity to find communities nearby to then arrange group activities like raids together. There will also be the opportunity to exchange messages to then essentially engage in direct dialogue.
Philip Marz
In the following image, you can see initial impressions of the graphics and functionality of the Campfire app:
After there was a beta phase for Ingress Prime, another Niantic game, in recent months, worldwide tests in Pokémon GO are now planned. Selected groups of trainers in specific regions will have the opportunity to try out Campfire. You will find out which regions those will be on Niantic’s social channels.
When will Campfire be available for everyone? Of course, many trainers are looking forward to finally being able to chat with other players, so we asked Philip Marz this question in the interview and wanted to know when a release of Campfire is expected.
However, he could not give us an exact date. One reason for this is the feedback from the test groups, which they want to wait for in order to potentially adjust the product. He says:
The exact timing of when Campfire will be rolled out widely to the entire Pokémon GO community is not yet defined at this time. We are currently in the testing phase, of course, we are trying to implement all the experiences we are having and the feedback being shared, to provide the best possible experience.
Philip Marz
So when it will finally be possible for us to contact other trainers or search for communities nearby remains to be seen for the moment. If there are any new updates on this, you will naturally find out from us at MeinMMO.
In the interview with Philip Marz, it becomes clear that Niantic aims to cater to the different interests and ambitions of players with the release of Campfire. Above all, having a single point of contact for the various functions is, according to Marz, an advantage and significantly improves Pokémon GO. He tells us in the conversation:
Campfire will fundamentally elevate the experience of Pokémon GO to a very, very positive next level. Also, in our ambition, we say the metaverse of Niantic is something where the focus still takes place in the real world. But through these digital and, in our case, augmented reality experiences, we can present this in a much more multifaceted way. And Campfire contributes to this, where it is no longer the case that I can or must do everything separately in individual groups. And first have to figure out how to ultimately find the people in my area who share this passion? Instead, I have a product, everything is integrated, and I can access this […] very easily anytime I want and benefit from it. And if I don’t want to, that’s perfectly fine too. But I have everything really in one tool, in one app.
Philip Marz
In doing so, Niantic wants to make Pokémon GO even broader and positively expand it through such features. According to Marz, the developers are not only looking at a product life cycle of 5 to 10 years, as is common with other mobile games, but see Pokémon GO itself as a so-called “Forever Game”:
This will also meet our ambition, and we have seen it over the past six years. Pokémon GO has continuously evolved, and while the content is naturally limited, we have the opportunity to draw on a very, very broad portfolio of features that we can use to expand the gaming experience and adapt to very individual needs. We have already seen that PvP is of course a topic, there are those who only want to catch and collect. Some others are more focused on social issues. There are those who combine both. And here we are genuinely taking the path to say we want to make Pokémon GO even broader. For us, in our ambition, it is called a Forever Game.
So the birthday is next week, and then we will be entering the seventh year. So you can tell that more than half of the regular time has already passed. Our ambition goes much further. And this also requires us to broaden our features. And that is definitely something we are doing with Campfire.
Philip Marz
How Pokémon GO will continue and whether the game will actually become a “Forever Game” as the developers envision, will show time.
How do you find the planned app to finally communicate with each other? Will you download Campfire as soon as it becomes available? Or do you find it totally uninteresting? Please feel free to share your opinion here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers about it.
By the way, Niantic is hosting a special anniversary event for the 6th birthday of Pokémon GO with cool new costumes and a Rocket weekend. We will show you all the content of the event.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
MeinMMO author Maik Schneider has been covering Call of Duty for us for over 2.5 years. During this time, the shooter series has changed, primarily due to the successful Battle Royale Warzone. Above all, Maik appreciates one development in the ‘new CoD’, and if the responsible parties continue the Warzone path, Modern Warfare 2 could become a milestone.
Top graphics, refreshing gameplay ideas, few bugs, and please no World War II – this is probably the typical requirement profile for a new Call of Duty at the moment.
CoD 2022 is called Modern Warfare 2 and aims to fulfill all these desires.
There is one thing I want to add to this wish list. A ‘feature’ that Call of Duty has neglected for years: direct communication with players.
This one thing makes Warzone so much better than all the other CoD games. You can think what you want of the Battle Royale, but the communication between player and developer has developed greatly in recent years.
I have been playing Call of Duty regularly for 14 years now, know every title at least superficially, and some have even been played to death until they were no longer enjoyable. What I have rarely or never experienced is a healthy relationship between the developers and the community of the largest shooter franchise.
This is so important, and Warzone currently shows how this can function properly. If Modern Warfare 2 takes a cue from this, the latest CoD game could actually usher in a new era for the series.
I will discuss how CoD MW2 could benefit from a better feedback culture and how Warzone is currently implementing this successfully.
If you want to take a look at the gameplay of CoD MW2 first, you can find here in the video almost a complete mission from the campaign:
Start video
CoD: Modern Warfare 2 shows gameplay of a full level – looks more realistic than ever before
I do not want to claim that the communication in Warzone between developer and player is perfect. Not at all. Topics like the “Field of View” settings on consoles and “Skill-Based Matchmaking” still cause a lot of frustration today.
And the first 1.5 years of Warzone were marked by “secret” changes to the game, little communication, and a lot of closedness. But then suddenly something changed, which I want to illustrate with three examples:
Experts for their own gameplay meta
Explanation of the thoughts behind changes
Gameplay decisions over community
Experts for their own gameplay meta
It sounds completely absurd, but in the first year of Warzone, the adjustments to the weapons were sometimes very arbitrary. Strong meta-weapons weren’t nerfed for a long time, and generally, there was rather little change to the weapons.
Then, almost overnight, the changes suddenly made sense. I remember an analysis by CoD expert “TheXclusiveAce” who said in a video about Warzone: “I think they hired someone who is now taking care of this”.
Since then, we receive detailed patch notes, regular weapon adjustments, and it is noticeable that Warzone is intensively dealing with weapon balance and the corresponding player feedback.
The developers now regularly explain their thoughts behind changes in the patch notes for Warzone. They even reveal their long-term strategy. Currently, the changes in the Battle Royale are based on three pillars:
More counters
All mechanics should have corresponding counter gameplay
More movement
You should move forward faster, and movement techniques will be expanded
More playtime
The time you spend watching in the match should be reduced
A clear message to all players about how things will proceed. Something to potentially look forward to. Communicating such thoughts helps us players to understand decisions and gives us a glimpse into the future.
Gameplay decisions over community
The preliminary peak of Warzone’s feedback culture: A player survey on Twitter that actually had an impact on the game.
With over 75,000 votes, nearly 72% of participants voted for an increase, which then came into play with the Mid-Season 2 – first for the large Battle Royale and later also for the modes with fewer players.
Such a feedback culture brings us as players closer to the development process, creating connection and understanding.
One player has particularly caught my attention positively: Ted Timmins, the Senior Creative Director of Warzone developer Raven Software. Time and again, he has been seen participating in contentious discussions in the past few months and providing clarifications.
The Call of Duty community has always been used to receiving little to no answers. In the past, the authorities rarely responded to the concerns of players, especially after the game had been released.
The low willingness to communicate from the authorities is also one reason why the CoD community has developed into a rather toxic direction. No official instance has even attempted to do anything against these trends in the community. If anything, only the ban hammer spoke.
With CoD Vanguard, this “disconnection” recently reached a preliminary peak. The setting in World War II went far past the wishes of many players, and the zombie mode was torn apart by the otherwise so engaged zombie community.
With Warzone, Call of Duty has proven that the responsible parties can respond to feedback. They even use it to shape and improve the Battle Royale.
And it is high time for the premium titles to adopt this behavior from Warzone. Vanguard already showed this in parts. However, due to the overwhelming negative feedback on the game, the willingness to communicate after release quickly declined again.
Although Vanguard was not a flop, it sold excellently compared to other games. But it was weaker than Cold War. And Cold War was already quite a bit lower than CoD MW 2019.
If Modern Warfare 2 does not achieve the turnaround, Call of Duty will quickly be seen as a problem franchise at Activision again, similar to after Black Ops 4, the CoD from 2018. And suddenly, the important annual premium releases are at risk.
I truly believe that the key to success lies in engaging more with us players, actively moderating feedback, and discussing ideas to improve the game together with us.Especially if there really is no CoD 2023.
Then I might even believe the authorities this year when they say: “Experience the new generation of Call of Duty.” Then CoD MW2 will be the hit of the year!
I also want to know your opinion on the topic. Discuss my thesis about the new CoD in the comments or tell me what, in your opinion, should not be missing in CoD MW2.
In League of Legends, there is a new champion, Bel’Veth, who is played in the jungle. Currently, she has the highest ban rate of all champions in the game: This indicates that she is a champion that players simply do not want to play against. The jungler is considered someone who can determine the outcome of a game on her own. Some already refer to her as a ‘Hyper Carry’.
How do you measure the strongest champ in LoL? It is difficult to say, who the strongest champ in LoL is, because heroes in different roles can have a completely different impact on the game, and therefore individual statistics do not always tell the full story.
Good indicators are, however, a high win rate and a high pick/ban rate: How often is a champion banned? How often is he played?
All these values suggest that the new champion in LoL, Bel’Veth, is significantly stronger than Riot Games assumed.
She is quite a nasty killer:
Start video
LoL explains the skills of the new jungler Bel’Veth in the trailer – 2 forms and infinite attack speed
Bel’Veth is banned almost twice as often as the second-worst heroine
In which statistic does Bel’Veth excel? Bel’Veth has by far the highest ban rate in LoL.
With 61.69%, she is almost twice as high as the second-most banned champion, Yuumi (31.02%). Only a few champions have a ban rate beyond 25%: Besides Yuumi and Bel’Veth, there are also Zed and Yasuo.
The statistic refers to all regions and all ranks in 5vs5.
People either do not want to play against a too strong Bel’Veth on the opposing team, or they do not want their own inexperienced teammate to choose Bel’Veth just because she is new, then possibly messing up the game.
However, since Bel’Veth also has a win rate of 53.15%, much indicates that the champion is feared.
What makes the heroine so strong? As the site Dexerto writes, many compare Bel’Veth with the hero ‘Master Yi’ at the beginning of LoL. She acts like a hyper-carry. Through her constant DPS, her mobility, and her ability to avoid damage, she forces opponents to keep her in check. Otherwise, Bel’Veth simply devours them.
Especially the item ‘Kraken Slayer’ is said to significantly enhance her and make Bel’Veth a force in the Rift, which players apparently have great respect for: With the item, attack speed is accelerated, and damage accumulates for a ‘True Damage’ hit.
A “Hyper Carry” is considered a champion who has such a constant and high damage output at the end game that he almost certainly wins team fights as long as his teammates keep him alive. He is like a “ticking time bomb” that goes off if no one defuses it early enough (via reddit).
What is Riot doing? Riot Games has already attempted to limit Bel’Veth’s dominance with initial nerfs when her win rate approached “55%”. This is then considered “much too strong”.
But apparently, even Riot Games could not stop the Queen of the Void. She is hungry.
A few weeks ago, Bel’Veth was already considered feared, especially in the “Low Elo” area:
The MMORPG Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is a major hope for many PvE fans. It promises a focus on group content, massive bosses, and aims to bring back the feel of the old MMORPGs like EverQuest. In a new video, the developers spoke for nearly an hour solely about the topic of dungeons.
What is special about the dungeons? Pantheon is set to launch with 15 dungeons. This number may slightly change before the final release, but 15 is the developers’ goal.
However, players shouldn’t sign up for the dungeons through an interface and complete them with a random group in a few minutes. Instead, the game leans more towards “Old School” games, where dungeons are something special and challenging:
The game is designed so that players should plan for at least two to three hours of playtime for big successes. This also applies to dungeons. Some may take a bit longer or shorter, and the travel time to the instances also plays a role, but everything should roughly align with this time frame.
There will be entry requirements, such as specific keys for the dungeons. Additionally, there will be requirements within the dungeons, such as a certain skill in climbing, as players won’t progress otherwise.
The dungeons will generally have a beginning and an end, but the path in between will offer various possibilities. This includes secrets that can be discovered but also overlooked.
In a dungeon, you can reach certain “safe spots.” Here, new players can be summoned into the dungeon if necessary. However, the summoned player must have already been to this spot themselves.
What makes Pantheon so special? Generally, the new MMORPG focuses on PvE. It impressed during a crowdfunding campaign in 2014. The core features of the game are:
Where does Pantheon currently stand? In December 2021, it was announced, that 2022 would be spent preparing the game for an alpha and conducting it within the same year – but whether this will actually happen seems questionable.
Because there hasn’t been much cohesive gameplay so far.
We have taken a closer look at the current state of Pantheon here:
Destiny 2 will again sell a large hand-painted statue in collaboration with numskull. This is the temperamental and unbridled PvP overseer “Shaxx”. But despite its detailed modeling, it lacks an important feature.
What feature is missing? Lord Shaxx is known for his temperamental character. He encourages Guardians in the Crucible, the PvP of Destiny 2, with his shouting and rewards them with loud words from time to time. Basically, it is a wonder that players can still hear anything after a round in PvP.
Despite his loudness, Shaxx is very popular among Guardians. Perhaps this is the reason why Bungie has now chosen him and dedicated a 30 cm large statue in collaboration with “numskull”. The piece is hand-painted and costs a proud 110 €.
This is what the 30cm statue of Lord Shaxx looks like.
But even though the statue looks damn good, it lacks an important feature: namely that distinct shout of the PvP coach. If the statue could shout and motivate you during your matches, it would be even cooler and perhaps even worth considering for purchase. Especially since Lord Shaxx’s motivating shout in Destiny 2 has already been honored in special ways elsewhere.
Lord Shaxx has his own training CD in Destiny 2
We already reported on Shaxx in March 2020. At that time, clever Guardians spotted a training CD in Zavala’s office. With this, Guardians can interact to listen to Shaxx’s motivating speeches. If you have overlooked the CD until today, you can go to Zavala’s office.
Where is the training CD? Directly to the left of the entrance, at the top, almost unreachable, there are some dumbbells and the mixtape in a shelf. To activate the cool beat of the workout soundtrack, you have to jump very high and quickly interact with the tape.
If you can’t find the tape but still want to listen to the music, we have incorporated Shaxxercise, which Commander Zavala apparently trains to regularly.
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Even though the tape has no real use and players can only interact with it, the action was celebrated. Such Easter eggs are well received by the community and show the fans of the loot shooter that Bungie also wants to put a smile on players’ faces outside of the story.
Recently, Bungie even fulfilled the community’s wish that Banshee-44 should permanently tinker with the exotic weapon Telesto, as it is worthy of the Queen of Bugs. However, it is still uncertain whether that was really a good idea.
If Bungie had implemented Shaxx’s mixtape into the statue, the 30 cm large model would have been complete. Nevertheless, the hand-painted, imposing Shaxx statue looks good. If you are looking for something to boost your PvP spirit, you can place the statue next to your TV or monitor. Even serious looks can motivate.
What do you think of Shaxx? Do you think it’s cool that Bungie includes such Easter eggs in the game, and do you also find it a pity that the statue doesn’t talk? Feel free to leave us a comment about it.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Icons are among the best cards in FIFA 22 – or at least they should be. But too many legends simply fall behind compared to other players.
The problem with the icons: Ronaldo, Maradona, Pelé, Cruyff, Ronaldinho, and more – yes, there are some icons in FIFA 22 that still have it.
The problem is: Compared to the “top icons,” there are unfortunately many legends in FIFA 22 that simply cannot keep up.
Alessandro Nesta. Dennis Bergkamp. Michael Owen. Ruud van Nistelrooy. Frank Lampard. Miroslav Klose. Raúl, Ballack, Schweinsteiger. The list of illustrious names that currently barely play a role in FIFA 22 is long.
Because although these players have achieved great things in their careers, their strong playing style simply does not translate well into the game. Andrea Pirlo, for example, was a fantastic passer and playmaker, but due to his low pace, he is only second-class in FIFA 22.
Top striker in real life, but not in FIFA: Miroslav Klose
Similar is true for Klose: A deadly striker who simply does not exude the same threat in FIFA 22 as the real World Cup record holder did on the field. With 71 goals, he holds the record for international goals in the German national team, and no one has yet topped his 16 goals in World Cups.
Furthermore, icons are also very hard to obtain. You need extremely good luck to pull them – and if you’re unlucky, you only get them when they can no longer keep up. If at all.
On the other hand, there are players who may not excel in real life but are among the most popular cards in FIFA 22.
Atal & Co. show: The legends need revamping in FIFA 23
In FIFA 22, there are some players who are extremely popular in Ultimate Team. This is due to particularly great stats, high pace or skill stats, body types, and more.
Take, for example, the “FUT Fantasy” card of Allan Saint-Maximin. The Frenchman is undoubtedly a talented, good player in real life. But should he really have a card worth 2,600,000 coins that is better than most attackers in the game – including legends?
In the recently concluded Premier League season, he scored five goals and provided five assists for Newcastle. That’s okay, but not outstanding.
Another example: Youcef Atal from OGC Nice. The right back is also good, but not really exceptional. His new Shapeshifters card is, however, one of the best midfield cards in FIFA.
One of the best players in FIFA 22: Atal
Other meta players in FIFA come to mind, such as Varane, Joe Gomez, the special card of Nabil Fekir, Vinicius Junior, or even the new Hero Shapeshifter card of David Ginola, which is among the absolute best in the game.
“Heroes” are actually categorized under “icons” – but Ginola is currently perhaps the best attacker
All of these are good, some even great players – but should they really be better than most of the icons?
What could change? Year by year, special cards in Ultimate Team become stronger, numerous events bring superstar after superstar. This has already devalued the Team of the Week significantly – and the icons simply cannot keep up at times.
This is also being discussed in the FIFA subreddit. There, a player named “reznovelty” writes: “With all this power creep, I hope icons really get a boost next year. Honestly, just make the Prime Icon Moments 95+ with crazy stats. At least they are real icons and not just any guys like Atal (no offense, Atal, if you’re reading this)” (via reddit).
In the discussion, however, the counterpoint is also raised: “On the flip side, the performance curve needs to be massively lowered,” says a user (via reddit).
Start video
FIFA 22: 10 helpful tips that will improve your gameplay
Another suggests leaving the power curve as it is – but adjusting the entire rating system and starting the season with lower values (via reddit): “You can do the same promo schedule next year, but if you just started with base cards being 5 overall points lower, the curve would be much less severe.”
Additionally, a reworking of currently outmatched icon cards is conceivable. Then icons like Pirlo or Klose might receive values that fit better into the game and are not quickly surpassed by other special cards.
The problem with special cards has existed for a long time and was also a topic in FIFA 21 and FIFA 20. Whether the icons can even keep up next year? What do you think?
In Pokémon GO there is a spotlight hour with Ledyba and an XP bonus taking place today. We at MeinMMO will show you what to expect at this short event, whether Ledyba can be caught as a shiny, and if it is worth your time.
What kind of event is this? In Pokémon GO, a so-called spotlight hour takes place every Tuesday. During this, a specific Pokémon is highlighted and spawns nearly everywhere in the wild for 60 minutes.
Today, on July 5th, it’s that time again, and the first spotlight hour in July features the bug and flying Pokémon Ledyba. The event is complemented by an additional XP bonus.
Spotlight Hour with Ledyba – Start, Bonuses & Shiny
When does the spotlight hour start? The short event starts as usual at 6:00 PM local time and lasts for 60 minutes. It will therefore end at 7:00 PM, and the spawns will change.
What bonuses are there? During the spotlight hour, you can primarily encounter Ledyba at every corner. Those who want to collect even more specimens can also set up a lure. Furthermore, you will receive double experience points (XP) for catching Pokémon during this time.
Can you catch shiny Ledyba? Yes, Ledyba is also available in its shiny form in the game. You can recognize it by its orange wings.
Ledyba and Ledian normal (left) and as shiny (right)
Is the spotlight hour with Ledyba worth it?
How strong is it? Ledyba is a bug and flying Pokémon from the 2nd generation of games, which can evolve into Ledian. However, the monster is not particularly strong, and its evolution does not impress much with its stats. Therefore, it is unsuitable for use in raids or the GO battle league.
Who should take advantage of the spotlight hour? Ledyba is one of the monsters that is rather uninteresting for most trainers. Only shiny hunters will benefit from this Pokémon.
Otherwise, the spotlight hour is mainly worthwhile because of the XP bonus. Anyone who is on the way to level 50 and is still missing some experience points has the opportunity to collect some today.
If you prefer to encounter a different Pokémon, you can alternatively light a mystery box and spawn Meltan. However, keep in mind that you should not set a regular lure, as it may cause problems with spawns.
What do you think of the spotlight hour with Ledyba? Will you participate today? Let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
We at MeinMMO are often asked why we don’t cover Final Fantasy XIV more extensively with articles. After all, the MMORPG belongs at least in the top 3 in the world and is mainly competing with WoW for the crown. However, if you only look at Germany, Final Fantasy is in a very tight battle with ESO, GW2 and Lost Ark and is pushed to 3rd or even 4th place.
What is the interest in the MMORPGs like? This is always a bit difficult to say, as almost no company shares concrete player numbers. However, certain trends can be observed:
WoW, on the other hand, recently experienced a low because the content gaps in Shadowlands were quite long and even a patch was missing compared to previous expansions. The MMORPG experienced a bit of hype with the announcement of the new expansion Dragonflight.
Lost Ark, in turn, experienced a release hype in the West, which caused interest to soar.
If you look at Google Trends, you can see exactly these elements reflected. Google Trends evaluates search behavior, puts it in context with other data, and estimates an overall interest from it.
In a global comparison, it is clear: WoW and Final Fantasy XIV are competing for the top spot, the hype around Lost Ark is slowly fading, and Guild Wars 2 (blue bar) plays hardly any role.
The global interest in the five mentioned MMORPGs in the last 12 months in comparison (via Google Trends).
German Players Love ESO and Guild Wars 2
What are the numbers for Germany like? In Germany, WoW dominates. The other MMORPGs are far behind. But aside from 1st place, the ranking is really exciting. In the last 12 months, for example, 2nd place clearly goes to Lost Ark. We’ve also hidden Lost Ark’s bar in the first image because it disrupts the exciting three-way battle behind it.
In 3rd place is Final Fantasy XIV, in 4th place ESO, and in 5th place Guild Wars 2. But there are some peculiarities:
At the release of the End of Dragons expansion, Guild Wars 2 even held 1st place for almost 30 days among the three mentioned games. Worldwide, it didn’t even come close to ESO.
If you look at the last 30 days, ESO holds the first place in this three-way fight. The reason for that is the release of the latest expansion High Isle at the beginning of June.
Even Lost Ark is entwined in a tight four-way struggle in the last 30 days.
Also curious is: Guild Wars 2 has the largest interest worldwide in Slovenia, followed by Germany. Germans clearly prefer GW2 more than, for example, Americans or Brits. This was also confirmed to us by an employee from the developer ArenaNet, whom we met at gamescom in 2018. Germany and France are important for the MMORPG, even together they are more important than the USA, it was said.
German trends of the last 12 months.German trends of the last 30 days
How reliable is Google Trends? Trends derive their values from search queries on Google and, of course, do not show player numbers. Nevertheless, the tool is useful for our work to check interest in games.
So far, the numbers from the tool have always coincided with our experiences.
What causes the difference in popularity? Final Fantasy XIV is a hit in Japan. No other MMORPG comes close to these numbers. Also in the USA, Final Fantasy is now slightly more popular than WoW.
However, in Germany, the game from Japan is not so well received. Possible explanations are:
Games like ESO and Guild Wars 2 are still relatively closely oriented towards our world, even if one encounters magic, dragons and monsters. Both also offer a mode where one besieges and conquers castles.
German players, on the other hand, have a fondness for medieval games. No wonder titles like Gothic, Skyrim or strategy games like The Settlers are so popular here.
Some German players find this too much. They prefer a more subdued experience. Time and again we read in the comments that our readers are trying to like FFXIV, but the game world simply does not match what they expect.
Start video
These are currently the 7 most popular MMORPGs 2022
That Germans prefer classic MMORPGs is something we also experience repeatedly in discussions around gender lock and races or classes that are considered too childish. While, for example, the new classes Painter and Aeromancer are celebrated in the Korean community of Lost Ark, we often read comments like from Aldalindo:
This gender lock is simply not up to date and now even the lollipop lane, really? Well, the Koreans probably love it… but for me, the game is heading in the wrong direction.
This criticism has been raised for almost every MMORPG that has come to us from Asia, including recently Astellia and Elyon. This genre of games certainly has its followers here, but not in numbers as great as in Japan or Korea.
The childishly and cutely styled Astells were not well received.
What is your attitude towards MMORPGs? Do you prefer Guild Wars 2 or ESO or are you team Final Fantasy XIV? Should the game world be more classic for you or can it also be a little more unusual? Feel free to write it in the comments.
Where the largest MMORPGs currently rank is shown in our tier list:
In World of Warcraft, the auction house is undergoing drastic changes. The consequences could be profound and forever alter how you earn gold.
Those in World of Warcraft who need gold simply farm resources like herbs or ores, craft a few potions, or sell cloths in the auction house. But many players fear this may soon bring virtually no profit. Because WoW merges the auction houses of an entire region – meaning all European realms. How will you earn gold in the future?
What is happening with the auction house in WoW? Blizzard has announced that with patch 9.2.7, a significant change will impact the auction houses. These will now be interconnected throughout the whole region. This means all realms in the European area will have access to a common market – at least for “daily commodities,” in English “Commodities.”
This affects crafting materials as well as consumables like potions, flasks, and buff foods. Equipment items are not affected by this. They will still only be available on their respective realms.
What are the consequences of this change? The exact effects are not yet fully foreseeable, but many wise individuals are already considering this, and at least in some points, there is consensus. The most significant changes will likely be (via wowhead):
Farming materials on realms with low player counts will become unattractive.
The profit margin for crafting consumables will be much smaller.
Buying up resources and selling them for a higher price will be difficult, if not impossible.
However, the advantage is that realms will no longer be able to be “dominated” by a handful of players who completely monopolize the auction house. With a significantly increased mass of players and, consequently, resources, it is nearly impossible to fully control a market.
The end of the great gold mountains?
However, this also has repercussions for everyone who wants to sell their materials at reasonably fair prices.
Because on every realm, you know those players who drastically undercut even reasonable prices – they just want to get rid of their goods, no matter if it results in a theoretical loss. With only a handful of players per realm, this can be balanced out. But if several hundred players flood the auction house with their materials at throwaway prices and constantly undercut each other, it will drive prices down.
What is the mood in the community? That probably depends on whom you ask.
From a purely consumer standpoint, that is from the perspective of a player who only shops in the auction house and never wants to sell anything, the change is probably positive. Because the prices for consumables like potions and buff food will very likely decrease significantly on most realms.
From the perspective of players who have made their gold so far through farming resources or flipping, the merger is likely to be quite a problem. Because farmable materials will likely decrease in price on almost all realms. The net profit resulting from buying and selling or farming will likely decrease drastically, making these gold farming methods unattractive.
Farming groups of multiboxers are likely to earn even less soon – or dominate the market.
The great hope of farmers is that supply and demand will balance out again. Because if it turns out that you can no longer make a significant profit from farming herbs and ores, then fewer gatherers will be out, reducing the amount of available material and ultimately raising prices again. However, this hope is diminished by the increased number of “undercutters” who want to get rid of their material at any price.
However, there are also a number of pessimists who fear the worst. Some believe that the merging of the auction house will ensure that the rich players become even richer. Because those with several hundreds of millions of gold may easily dominate the market of an entire region for certain items.
In the end, there is only one thing left to do: wait and see. But how players will earn gold best is likely to change drastically soon. That could still be a positive change.
The Summer Swap Tokens in FIFA 22 can bring you strong rewards – but where are they? In the Summer Swaps Tracker, we collect all tasks, SBCs, and objectives.
What is the Summer Swap in FIFA 22? On June 24, 2022, the Summer Swap in FIFA 22 started together with the new Shapeshifter Team.
The Summer Swap brings a total of 50 tokens over the coming weeks that you must earn. They will gradually appear until July 25. However, the tokens do not come in one single way, but appear at all possible points in Ultimate Team.
They are found in:
Squad Building Challenges
Weekly Objectives
Event Tasks
Or in the Shop
What do I do with the Summer Swap Tokens? You can exchange your collected tokens for strong rewards using special SBCs. We will show you the complete rewards overview below.
FIFA 22: The Summer Swap Token Tracker – All SBCs and Objectives at a Glance
Where are the Swap Tokens? To let you know where to find the tokens, we will list the current locations of the Summer Swaps here.
Note that some tokens are only available for a limited time – so you should grab them in time.
Update, July 5, 2022, 08:30 AM: We have updated the list to the current status.
When can I redeem the Summer Swap Tokens? You can redeem the tokens starting Friday, July 8, 2022, at 7:00 PM. Until then, you can already collect tokens diligently.
What rewards are there? We summarize all rewards in a list here for you. There are strong icons, among other things, but also useful packs for Ultimate Team.
Keep in mind: You cannot obtain all rewards, as the total number of tokens is not sufficient for that. So you have to consider carefully what you want and what you are collecting for.
All Rewards:
Required Token Amount
Reward
1
82+ Rare Players 25 Pack
2
83+ Rare Players 25 Pack
3
84+ Rare Players 25 Pack
4
Icon Moments Schmeichel
5
85 Rare Players 20 Pack
7
Shapeshifters Player Pick (1 of 3)
9
91+ EFIGS TOTS Player Pick (1 of 4)
10
Shapeshifters Kimpembe (92 Overall)
15
93+ Shapeshifters Player Pick (1 of 5)
17
95+ EFIGS TOTS Player Pick (1 of 5)
20
Icon Moments Cafu
23
95+ Shapeshifters Player Pick (1 of 5)
25
92+ Icon Moments Player Pick (1 of 3)
27
Shapeshifters Kimpembe (95 Overall)
30
96+ EFIGS TOTS Player Pick (1 of 5)
33
Prime Ronaldinho
36
94+ Icon Moments Player Pick (1 of 3)
40
Icon Moments Zidane
In total, there are very good rewards for the tokens if you find the time to collect them all. Those who want to get them all will likely be quite busy.
Upgrading in Lost Ark is incredibly expensive. That is no secret. However, a reddit user shows a trick that can make your life easier. We at MeinMMO summarize.
What does the trick show? Normally, to reach the gear score of 1,415, you need to fully upgrade your current gear to +15. This is nerve-wracking, costs a lot of crystals, and especially a heap of gold. To at least save you some gold, a reddit user calculated how to make it easier (via reddit).
It is also important to mention that the post takes the upgrade rates of an endgame character. This means the exact numbers only apply if you already have a character at level 1,460 and have researched the honing buff in the stronghold.
The actual trick is as simple as it is: Don’t upgrade your entire gear to +15. That’s expensive and inefficient. Instead, improve some pieces to +17, so you can leave expensive parts like your weapon at +11. This saves you an average of several thousand gold.
And it helps you to reach Vykas, the latest Legion Raid in Lost Ark:
Start video
The legions raids are the most difficult fights in Lost Ark – See the frightening attacks of the demon Vykas
How does it work in detail? This depends on whether you play support or DPS, as you will have different priorities that affect your gear. As a DPS player, you prefer gear pieces that give you a bonus to attack power, while as a supporter you would rather have more health points.
For DPS players, this means:
Gloves and shoulder pieces +17, as you get more attack power here
Helmet +13
Pants and top +12
Weapon +11, as it is the most expensive, and you lose hardly any damage due to the additional attack power on gloves and shoulders
For supporters, it looks like this:
Top and pants +17, as they provide you with the most bonus to vitality and allow you to distribute larger shields
Helmet +13
Gloves and shoulder pieces +12
Weapon +11
This makes the support build a bit more expensive than the DPS build, as the top and pants require more gold for upgrades than gloves and shoulder pieces. However, this way is still much cheaper than pushing all gear to +15. In both variants, you end up with a gear score of 1,415.
If your support build, by the way, focuses on damage buffs, you can also go the DPS route. Damage buffs scale with attack power, while shields and heals scale with vitality.
How much gold you exactly save can be seen in the thread itself:
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Should I choose the method if I don’t have the honing buff yet? Yes, definitely. Although the reddit thread creator refers to the rates that you have with the large buff at 1,460, the method basically still works without any issues.
The buff that you can research at 1,460 improves your upgrade chances by 10% and simultaneously reduces the material consumption by the same amount. This means you still save a lot of money even without this buff; the calculated numbers just do not match your experience.
Even if you’re currently playing your first character and don’t have much gold yet, this little trick is worth it to save a bit of gold. You’ll need it anyway, as the path to 1,460 is long and, above all, expensive.
What do you think of the method? Have you used it yourself, or do you prefer to have everything evenly upgraded to +15? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
Nintendo offers both the Switch and the Switch OLED. MeinMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann bought the Switch OLED and would no longer recommend purchasing the regular Switch after several hours of gaming fun.
Nintendo introduced the Switch OLED as an “upgrade” for the popular handheld console. However, many users expressed disappointment with the OLED version. After all, better and faster hardware was expected, not just a new display. Depending on the offer, Nintendo charges 50 – 70 euros more for the Switch OLED than for the standard version with an LCD screen.
I had the same considerations and pondered whether the price increase was really worth it. After all, it is “just” a new display. However, I have since spent several hours with the Switch OLED. Since then, I would hardly recommend the regular Switch to anyone.
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Is the OLED version really an “upgrade”? Definitely!
Here’s why the OLED display is so good: You can really notice the difference when you lay the consoles side by side. My girlfriend bought her Switch a few years ago, and it has the LCD display. When I place my Switch OLED next to it, the difference is very clear:
The display is slightly larger, or the bezels are slightly slimmer.
The colors and contrasts are much richer and more vivid.
With the slightly larger display, small text appeared a bit blurry to me at first glance. But that could just be my imagination.
Backlighting is significantly better, as each pixel in the OLED display lights up individually.
Switch OLED (top) vs Switch normal (bottom). The larger display is clearly visible.
Especially the richer colors are noticeable. Everything looks more washed out and lifeless on the regular Switch. This is especially visible in very colorful games. I am not alone in this view, as many testers praised the Switch OLED for its display.
Pay attention to certain colors in the first image. For example, the blue on Bulbasaur or the purple flower above it. Especially with colors like blue, red, or green, you notice the advantage of OLED. The larger display is also noticeable.
Above the OLED version, below the normal Switch.
In the second image, you can see it as well. Pay attention to the upper right triangle or the red pants. Or the richer yellow on Pikachu in the upper right half. The colors of the regular Switch appear somewhat paler and less saturated in comparison.
And if you don’t believe pictures and words, then check out the video by “Open Surprise” on YouTube: Here you can see the OLED version on the left and the regular version on the right. The differences are clearly visible.
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OLED is great for me – If you only play on the TV, save the money
Is the regular Switch no longer recommended? Since I use the console exclusively in handheld mode, the regular Switch is no longer recommended for me. The OLED display is a huge improvement for me, and I hope Nintendo retains the OLED display in a possible Switch Pro.
But here comes the big and important “but”: If you use your console exclusively at the docking station, then the OLED variant is not worth it. Because you don’t benefit from the great display if you play on the TV. And the docking station with LAN port, which is included for the first time with the OLED, can be purchased separately for around 60 euros. You don’t need to buy the expensive version of the Switch for that.
You can also read about the similarities and differences between Switch OLED vs Switch in the following article:
More tips and tricks around the Switch: If you already have a Switch or have bought one like me? Then take a look at our extensive special. Here we present the best tips and settings for the Nintendo Switch:
About a month ago, Diablo Immortal was released, marking the first real Diablo MMO. It launched with great success, but also faced heavy criticism and massive discussions. Now, the game has become quiet. MeinMMO checks the status and shows what the future bringst.
The endgame area and the final dungeon in the trailer brought a good atmosphere back then – but they were also the last major “content update” so far:
Start video
New gameplay of the last area from Diablo Immortal – No player has been here yet
Diablo Immortal is stagnating for too long
What is the current status of Diablo Immortal? At least the financial success of Diablo Immortal continues. According to the analysis website AppMagic, the mobile MMO is said to have generated over 47 million Euros in its first month (via mobilegamer.biz).
However, the general interest in the game is decreasing significantly. On Twitch, the viewer count has dropped drastically after the first few days (via sullygnome.com). Many streamers now prefer to show Diablo 3, even though it is already 10 years old.
Also, fewer and fewer people are searching for Diablo Immortal on Google. Google Trends are an important indicator for us at MeinMMO regarding interest in games. Worldwide, the search volume has fallen to less than a quarter compared to the release:
The situation shows that while Diablo Immortal is a financial success despite criticism, it gives the impression that this cannot last indefinitely. At least not if the developers and Blizzard do not change something soon.
What is the problem? After the significant criticism of the pay-to-win aspect of Diablo Immortal, several influencers have turned their backs on the game. Even the important service website, Maxroll.GG has stopped covering Diablo Immortal because it is incompatible with their morals.
The bigger problem, however, is that there has been radio silence regarding updates since the release. There has been exactly one patch for the still-buggy PC version, one week after the release. Bugs remain, and new content is missing.
Since Diablo Immortal has been played a lot despite the discussions, there are thousands of players who have engaged with the content even in free-to-play. There are even comparisons showing that Immortal performs better than Diablo 2. However, players are now reaching a point where they have nothing more to do.
Once they reach the endgame, there is nothing left to do except grind for higher levels and legendaries. Diablo is about looting and leveling, and the grind wouldn’t be the problem if there weren’t loot caps and other problems that concern fans.
In the podcast, editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski and editorial manager Gerd Schuhmann discuss pay-to-win in Diablo Immortal:
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This is how players see it: Many hardcore players have already stopped after a few days. The systems in Diablo Immortal prevent them from grinding as much as they want while still making progress – unless they pay.
However, even casual players have now reached this point, making up the much larger part of the player base. On reddit and other social media, questions are repeatedly raised about when Diablo Immortal will die and reports of dead servers. Players allegedly can no longer find groups to complete dungeons.
Starting from Hell difficulty 1, they need a group to complete a dungeon. As some players progress further, the community splits more and more over the different difficulty levels. Consequently, it takes longer and longer to find fellow players.
Another major issue is the PvP system with the two factions, Shadows and Immortals. Here, there is only about a weekly change of the leading faction. For Shadows, there is little incentive to work towards this showdown for so long.
Here are suggestions for improvement: In many threads, players explain that they would like to continue. They just lack the incentive to do so. They have several ideas for which they would come back if implemented:
Dungeons should be soloable
The limits for loot and resources need to be raised
Rewards must be significantly better
Free-to-play players need more opportunities to keep up
One of the ideas is to revise the legendary gem system. You can get legendary gems for free, but it takes an enormous amount of time. If there were better opportunities to earn the important items, more players would have an incentive to play.
In the video, we explain what exactly the gems are about and how to obtain them:
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Diablo Immortal: What are legendary gems? Facts and locations in 3 minutes
New classes, new features, more content
What content is still to come? Diablo Immortal is a service game like WoW and is expected to receive updates similarly. From some discussions with the developers, we already know what upcoming content is planned:
Since Diablo thrives on loot and leveling, there should also be a supply of new content in this area. New legendaries and sets have already been promised, but we do not yet know which ones they will be. In our list, you can find all sets of Diablo Immortal and where to find them.
Currently, Diablo Immortal offers 6 classes, which you can find in the ranking in our tier list. You can see gameplay here in the video:
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Diablo Immortal: All 6 Classes in Brief Overview with Gameplay
When are the updates coming? MeinMMO already inquired with Blizzard a few weeks ago about the current status and a roadmap. So far, however, there is only the information from the source that “more information will come soon.”
It is possible that all players worldwide are to receive updates simultaneously, so that not different versions are in circulation that need to be managed. However, this is pure speculation.
If this is the case, it is also unclear when exactly the first updates will come. Because Diablo Immortal cannot yet be released in China:
The Sorceress is one of the strongest classes in PvE of Lost Ark. She is also quite useful in PvP. She deals a lot of damage at great distances and can especially handle groups of enemies very well. We at MeinMMO have taken a close look at the class for you and reveal what is important.
What kind of class is this? The Sorceress is a ranged fighter who acts with magical damage and uses a large staff. She has many AoE abilities that are based on specific elements.
Especially in the early game, it is easy for you to control your enemies and quickly eliminate them. In the endgame of Lost Ark, the Sorceress is a sought-after support and provides your group with a lot of damage.
Her identity skill consists of two different aspects. You collect magical energy as you deal damage to enemies. You can then activate it with X to perform a teleport or “blink”. The jump then consumes 30% of your energy.
Alternatively, you can activate the ability with Y, which provides a massive boost to your damage, but completely depletes the energy.
In comparison to all other classes, the Sorceress can withstand very little damage, which is why you will likely activate your identity skill most often with X to jump away. Currently, the Sorceress is the only mage class in Europe focused on damage, which will change in July with the Arcana.
We last updated this article on July 5 and added some formulations, as well as information.
Pro
Massive area damage
Easy to level
High mobility
Very popular in groups due to her massive damage
Contra
Can withstand very little damage
Long casting times
Little push immunity
For which game content is she useful? The Sorceress especially shines in PvE. With her enormous area damage, she can swiftly annihilate whole hordes of enemies. She is also quite effective against bosses.
In PvP, the Sorceress is somewhat of an adjustment period. Here, you must use a completely different build than you would in PvE to be successful.
While the Sorceress ranks in our Tier List at PvE in A-Tier, which is the second-best, she must yield to B-Tier in terms of PvP. Nevertheless, she is quite fun to play.
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This is how the Sorceress plays
What are the two builds? In the long term, you can play the Sorceress in two different ways. One build particularly focuses on the heavy casting skills of the Sorceress. You must charge these beforehand, making the magician considerably slower. The other build completely forgoes such skills and uses only the so-called “instant casts”. This means you forgo a bit of damage but move faster.
Both builds are well playable in the endgame but require different prerequisites from you. We will explain these in more detail later in this guide. At the beginning, you play a mobile Sorceress, with which you do not have to think much during the leveling process and can swiftly take down most enemies.
All Skills of the Sorceress
At this point, we would like to give you an overview of all the skills of the magician. However, we will omit the exact damage numbers, as these also depend on your attributes and already allocated points.
Fire – Costs 74 mana: Shoot a wall of fire forward that remains on the ground for some time and pulses. It deals initial damage and then causes briefly lasting area damage.
Energy Discharge – Costs 61 mana: Fires a sphere of concentrated energy that pierces your enemies and deals damage. You can activate the skill again to fire a second, stronger charge.
Lightning Vortex – Costs 80 mana: Creates a sphere of lightning that remains in place for 3 seconds and pulses. If an enemy is hit, it is pulled into the sphere, where it takes additional damage.
Frost Call – Costs 110 mana: You must hold this skill for it to work. If you hold it for the maximum duration of 4 seconds, it hits all enemies in the radius 9 times.
Gust – Costs 85 mana: Creates a whirlwind that is shot in a cone away from you and deals damage three times. The enemy is knocked back.
Angelic Jubilation – Costs 96 mana: This skill unleashes a tidal wave on your enemies, originating from you. It hits enemies in its path and deals damage to them. If it hits an enemy already in the air, the wave keeps the enemy airborne.
Inferno – Costs 96 mana: Creates a pillar of flame that rises from the ground and deals fire damage to enemies within the explosion radius.
Punishing Strike – Costs 119 mana: Calls down a massive thunderstrike from the heavens onto your enemies and deals lightning damage in a large area.
Gravitational Inversion – Costs 91 mana: Creates a field around you that lifts enemies into the air, briefly holds them there, and then violently slams them down. The ability deals double damage to your enemies and grants you super armor.
Frost Shower – Costs 77 mana: A quick ability with no casting time that deals water damage in a cone in front of you and also grants you super armor.
Lightning – Costs 110 mana: If you hold this skill, it fires a massive lightning beam that you can steer with your mouse at a 50-degree angle. It hits your enemies 5 times within 2 seconds.
Esoteric Reaction – Costs 110 mana: Creates a crystal at your cursor that pulses three times before ultimately exploding, causing area damage and knocking back enemies.
Hoarfrost Arrow – Costs 105 mana: Rain icicles fall in a rectangle in front of you, causing water damage and hitting enemies multiple times.
Explosion – Costs 119 mana: After a long casting time, you shoot a meteorite at your enemies that explodes in a massive inferno, dealing massive damage in a large area.
Switch – Costs 14 mana: You receive 30% less mana regeneration, but gain a shield that redirects all damage from your health to your mana. However, you lose 330% mana relative to the health points you would lose.
Envika’s Power (Awakening) – Creates a large sphere of lightning energy that deals damage in a wide area and pulls all enemies together before the sphere explodes and knocks your enemies away.
Call of the Apocalypse (Awakening) – Causes meteorites to fall from the sky for 8 seconds. If an enemy is hit by an impact, they take fire damage and are thrown to the ground.
The Sorceress in the Leveling Process
How do I play the Sorceress most effectively at the start? At the beginning, it is important not to shoot wildly around you with everything you have. Many of your skills have a long cooldown and also longer casting times.
So it’s best to pull a swarm of enemies behind you before you stomp them into the ground with your AoE effects.
At the start, you should focus on the skills Fire, Lightning Vortex, and Frost Call. They provide a lot of area damage and have comparatively low cooldowns. However, as you progress through the leveling process, you will exchange two of them. But this is not a problem, as you can reset your points for free at any time.
Right at level 12, you will let the Lightning Vortex go. You will keep the skill on the list, but remove the points and set them on Inferno. A skill that will accompany you until the end of the game.
At levels 14 and 16, you will get the skills Punishing Strike and Gravitational Inversion. You can safely level both; they are still part of your main damage skills later on. Feel free to take your points off Frost Call for this.
At levels 28 and 32, Hoarfrost Arrow and Explosion will come. You will always want to have both skills available.
Crit, specialization, and agility help you level up
Which equipment is good at the beginning? You should rely on the values of crit, specialization, and agility for the equipment. While crit ensures that you land more critical hits, specialization helps you deal better elemental damage.
However, you should not overlook agility either, as this primarily benefits you from shorter cooldowns in your skill set.
How do you distribute your skill points? Make sure to always unlock the next tripods. This happens at skill levels 4, 7, and 10. The points you require to level these skills vary from ability to ability.
At the very beginning, you can put your points into “Fire”. In the first tripod, you initially select “Ignite”, which causes your enemies to burn as soon as you hit them. Later, when you have a bit more abilities, swap the tripod for “Enhancement of Torment”. This ensures that you and your group deal 6% more damage to enemies hit by fire for 8 seconds.
If you play more solo, leave Fire at level 4. If you are often in groups, bring Fire to level 7 and then add the tripod “Flame Charging”, which significantly increases the radius of “Fire”.
From level 14, you will receive the ability “Punishing Strike” – bring it to level 10 as quickly as possible; it is one of your best abilities. Focus on the tripods “Wide-angle Attack”, “Inevitable Fate”, and “Mage Enhancement”.
As a second priority, you should boost the skill Inferno. You should also bring it to level 10 and equip it with “Tear Acceleration”, “Flame Area”, and “Fire Power Enhancement”.
Once you unlock Explosion at level 32, you can take the points from Inferno and invest them in Explosion to bring it to level 10. Choose “Ignite”, “Counterfire”, and “Mage Enhancement” for this.
If you have points left, you can distribute them according to your preference. However, we recommend boosting the skill Gravitational Inversion with the tripods “Wide-angle Attack”, “Cloudy Blessing”, and “Weakness Detection”.
As for the Awakening skills at level 50, both spells of the Sorceress are viable. However, we recommend focusing on Envika’s Power, as it can be used more purposefully than the random meteorites of the other spell.
This leveling build is especially suitable for massive area damage. It is optimized for monster groups and not optimal against bosses or in PvP.
For PvP, you must use a different build, otherwise, you are much too slow
The Sorceress in Endgame
In the endgame, there are various builds for the Sorceress, all of which are good in their own right. However, we want to focus on the builds revolving around the two engravings.
The Reflux Sorceress: Focuses on the Reflux engraving, without which this build does not work as well. It ensures that you drop one of your identity skills (the Y-skill) and instead receive more general bonuses.
The Reflux Sorceress has more mobility, as she can use all her magical energy for the jump. Furthermore, she excels in sustained damage rather than in short burst windows. As main attributes, you focus on crit and agility for the Reflux Sorceress.
You mainly rely on the skills Fire, Frost Call, Punishing Strike, Gravitational Inversion, and Esoteric Reaction. A detailed guide on this build can be found at maxroll.gg.
The Igniter Sorceress: This build relies on the Igniter engraving of the Sorceress. It fundamentally does the exact opposite of the Reflux engraving. It ensures that your identity ability (Y) is enhanced. You get up to 50% less cooldowns and 50% more damage as long as you are in this form.
In comparison to the Reflux Sorceress, the Igniter Sorceress relies more on burst damage, as you cannot maintain continuous damage. Your burst window is whenever you have successfully charged your Y ability.
The Igniter Sorceress loses some mobility, as you should not use your X ability to maximize your damage. Additionally, in this build, you have more downtimes during your skill rotation. The main attributes of the build are specialization and agility.
Your main skills here are Frost Call, Punishing Strike, Esoteric Reaction, Explosion, and Inferno. A detailed guide on this build and how to play it can be found at maxroll.gg.
Both builds can be played in both an instant cast and a long cast variant. Depending on what you choose, you should prefer different engravings that complement your class engraving. It is therefore difficult to give a general tip; however, the usual DPS engravings like Wrath and Cursed Doll are suitable.
What do you think of the Sorceress? Do you enjoy the area damage and the heavy skill effects, or do you prefer to focus your damage on another class? How did you level the Sorceress and which build are you currently playing in the endgame? Which engraving do you prefer? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
All guides to Lost Ark, including builds and general beginner tips, can be found here:
