The Twitch streamer Lily “LilyPichu” Ki (30) is switching from Twitch to competitor YouTube Gaming after 10 years on the platform. This means Twitch is losing one of its few established gaming female streamers: The American had one of the 100 channels with the most followers on the platform and was one of the few successful women entertaining viewers with gaming.
This is LilyPichu on Twitch:
The 30-year-old American has roots in South Korea. With 2.5 million followers, she owns one of the top 100 channels on Twitch. She is one of the few successful women on Twitch who show a lot of gaming. Other women are successful on Twitch with chatting formats, as a cosplayer, or DJ.
The streamer LilyPichu was the “most-watched streamer on Twitch” in 2020, especially with content related to League of Legends, Minecraft, and Valorant – in addition, she makes music on the keyboard and collaborates with members of her group “OfflineTV” such as Pokimane and Disguised Toast. She also voices the character “Sayu” in Genshin Impact.
LilyPichu has been on Twitch since 2012 – now her time is ending: She is switching to YouTube Gaming.
The subscription “Amazon Prime” is behind the financial success of many Twitch streamers:
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Prime Gaming, the secret behind Twitch’s success
LilyPichu no longer on Twitch from July 8 – Exclusively on YouTube
This is how she announces her switch: LilyPichu released a video in which she apparently cannot decide between two options:
The purple button stands for Twitch, her main platform
The red button stands for YouTube Gaming, the competing offer
In the video, ultimately her dogs, Temmie and DaViinky, decide for her and eat from the red food bowl, thus choosing YouTube. From July 8, she will switch there and stream exclusively for YouTube Gaming.
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LilyPichu has, like many Twitch streamers, built a second pillar on YouTube and has 3 million subscribers there; she will now also fuel the channel with live streaming and no longer just with “video on demand”.
For years, Twitch was considered “unparalleled” when it comes to live streaming – but YouTube has been catching up for years by consistently poaching established streamers from Twitch:
YouTube seems to be exclusively bringing in “nice, friendly streamers”, preferably women or people with a comedic touch.
The typical flaming hardcore gamers like Tyler1, Tfue, or xQc are left quiet on Twitch.
Twitch is likely hurting that after Valkyrae, they are now losing the next big gaming streamer. Twitch still had many successful female gaming streamers in their lineup, and now they are losing one of the few who had built a name for herself in 10 years and who had fought her way into the top 100 largest channels.
YouTube started its poaching spree in January 2020: Back then, they recruited Valkyrae, an up-and-coming streamer on Twitch. Shortly thereafter, she became a star on YouTube:
In a survey, we wanted to know from you at MeinMMO whether you prefer to play in groups or alone in MMORPGs. The result clearly shows: Almost 80% of you usually or always play alone.
742 participants (64.30%) reported that they usually play alone
191 participants (16.55%) said they exclusively play alone
188 participants (16.30%) mostly play with others
Only 33 participants (2.85%) indicated that they exclusively play with others
This confirms that a large part of our readers spends their time alone in MMORPGs. This aligns with current trends, as more and more games even focus on offering a large portion of content for solo players:
You want to share the world with others and achieve something meaningful
What do our readers say on the subject? The general sentiment is that coordinating with others is difficult these days – which is not only due to others, but sometimes also to oneself. Zapfhähnchen writes, for example:
In the past, back in school days, I was an absolutely loyal guild player. Playing an MMORPG solo was actually unthinkable. Nowadays, however, things have turned around 180° for me: Playing in a guild has become impossible. The reason for this is the time commitment: I can no longer come online three times during the week and all weekend evenings like I used to, just to quickly defeat the boss or whatever.
Therefore, many of you quest and level alone. This can also have its advantages. Zapfhähnchen further states in his comment that this way he finally gets to read quest texts. AlexMK, on the other hand, watches YouTube videos or listens to podcasts while playing solo.
Nevertheless, many also enjoy interacting with other players, especially in dungeons, raids or against world bosses. Jahjah comments:
That’s what I love about ESO. You can play it solo, but you are never alone, you help each other, but you aren’t tied down. In High Isle during events, there are always random players. You join in, complete the event together, and then go your separate ways. Or you do your dungeons and always meet other players in them and can fight together until you’re done.
If you want to reminisce about the good old days, you can find here old school MMORPGs that are still played:
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5 old MMORPGs that are still actively played
But it’s not just our readers who feel this way. I have also explained in a column why I simply can no longer play single-player games:
What do group players say? Our reader ParaDox cannot imagine playing an MMORPG alone:
I can’t imagine playing an MMORPG for a longer time without a fixed group. For me, the motivation would be gone after a maximum of 90 days.
Ooupz puts it simply: “Content intended for groups is mastered in groups. Everything that can be done alone will be done alone.”
Are you surprised by the result of our survey or did you expect that most players prefer to go solo? Feel free to share that and your own attitude on the topic of solo vs. group in the comments.
Wouldn’t single-player games be more suitable? This question is raised by our reader Ooupz. But our readers do not see it that way:
Damian, for instance, is bothered that no single-player game is developed as regularly as an MMORPG. Trading in auction houses or joint events wouldn’t happen in a single-player game.
Marcel, on the other hand, is fascinated just to watch other players succeed in their activities while he himself plays Final Fantasy XIV.
But it’s not just our readers who feel this way. I have also explained in a column why I simply can no longer play single-player games:
What do group players say? Our reader ParaDox cannot imagine playing an MMORPG alone:
I can’t imagine playing an MMORPG for a longer time without a fixed group. For me, the motivation would be gone after a maximum of 90 days.
Ooupz puts it simply: “Content intended for groups is mastered in groups. Everything that can be done alone will be done alone.”
Are you surprised by the result of our survey or did you expect that most players prefer to go solo? Feel free to share that and your own attitude on the topic of solo vs. group in the comments.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Players claim that Blizzard is giving them 150 card packs in Hearthstone – why are the developers feeling generous?
In the Hearthstone subreddit, several posts have accumulated in recent days, leading to a lot of skepticism and disbelief. Some former players claimed that they suddenly had a gift from Blizzard for Hearthstone in Battle.net. They were said to have received a whopping 150 card packs as a “casual” gift. Others were only gifted 20 card packs.
But how true is that?
Well – quite a bit. Because it is true. More and more players are reporting that they have received numerous packs for free.
Which players are affected? In a conversation with PCGamer, Blizzard explained that this is a test limited to certain regions. It states:
We conduct many different limited and targeted tests to find out what drives the interest of new, former, or current players, which is standard practice in this industry. This was a region-specific test for Hearthstone in the United Kingdom and France, for a subgroup of relevant players who were previously sorted into random groups and then received an appropriate offer of between 20 and 150 packs.
How many packs were offered to each participant was supposed to be completely random – after all, players were placed in different, random groups.
However, since the test was apparently limited to France and the United Kingdom, no one in Germany should currently hope for such a gift.
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How much is that worth? Some must have rubbed their eyes in disbelief when they logged into Battle.net. Because 150 card packs correspond to a value of 150 Euros, assuming the cheapest pre-order offer. If you consider the “current” price, without pre-order discounts, the value even rises to about 180 Euros – quite a significant amount.
On July 9th and 10th, Pokémon GO will host the Battle Weekend. During this event, you can benefit from event attacks with certain Pokémon. We from MeinMMO have looked into which Pokémon you should definitely evolve.
What kind of event is this? Currently, the anniversary event is taking place in Pokémon GO for the 6th birthday of the game. This includes a mini-event in the form of a Battle Weekend. During this event, you can encounter Team GO Rocket and benefit from some bonuses.
One of these bonuses is special event attacks that the starter Pokémon from the first 5 game generations can learn when evolving this weekend. Below, we have created an overview of which Pokémon you should definitely evolve and, above all, why it is worth it.
When does the mini-event run?The Battle Weekend begins on July 9, 2022, at 00:00 local time and runs until July 10, 2022, at 23:59. During this time, you have the opportunity to secure the event attacks.
These are the 5 Pokémon you should evolve
What kind of attacks are these? The special event attacks are attacks that these Pokémon were able to learn in the past, for example, during Community Day.
Outside of such events, a switch to these attacks is only possible by using a Charged TM or Elite Charged TM. The following attacks can be learned:
Event Attack
Evolution
Flora Statue (Charged Attack)
Bulbasaur to Venusaur Chikorita to Bayleef Treecko to Sceptile Turtwig to Torterra Snivy to Servine
Fire Spin (Charged Attack)
Charmander to Charizard Cyndaquil to Typhlosion Torchic to Blaziken Chimchar to Infernape Pignite to Emboar
Water Gun (Charged Attack)
Squirtle to Blastoise Totodile to Feraligatr Mudkip to Swampert Piplup to Empoleon Oshawott to Samurott
Ember (Fast Attack)
Charmander to Charizard
What does the overview include? Not all of the above-mentioned Pokémon are used in raids or the GO Battle League. For this reason, we have listed 5 Pokémon below whose evolution is particularly worthwhile for you. We explain which areas each Pokémon is best suited for.
Mudkip to Swampert
Swampert
Event Attack: Water Gun
What kind of Pokémon is Mudkip? Mudkip is a Water-type starter Pokémon from the 3rd generation. It evolves into Swampert through Marshstomp.
Why is the evolution worthwhile? Swampert is a true all-rounder and should definitely not be missing in your Poké bag. The Pokémon can score especially in stamina. But its attack and defense stats are also impressive.
Since Swampert is not solely a Water-type Pokémon, but also has the Ground type, it is not as susceptible to Electric, Rock, and Poison-type attacks compared to other Water starter Pokémon. Especially against Electric attackers, it is significantly more resilient.
However, Swampert is also more than suitable for the GO Battle League, which is why you should secure several specimens. The Pokémon is indeed among the top in all three leagues.
According to the ranking from PvPoke, it ranks 15th in the Great League, 4th in the Ultra League, and 29th in the Master League. In PvP battles, it is best to use a moveset of Mud Shot, Water Gun, and Earthquake.
Bulbasaur to Venusaur
Venusaur
Event Attack: Flora Statue
What kind of Pokémon is Bulbasaur? Bulbasaur is the Grass and Poison-type starter Pokémon from the 1st generation. You can evolve it into Venusaur through Ivysaur. Furthermore, Venusaur has a temporary Mega Evolution that you can trigger using the corresponding Mega Energy.
Why is the evolution worthwhile? Those who enjoy and frequently participate in raids should definitely have a Venusaur. With its good stats in attack, stamina, and defense, along with a moveset of Vine Whip and Flora Statue, the Pokémon ranks among the top 10 Grass attackers in Pokémon GO.
Since it additionally has a Mega Evolution, if possible, especially in battle, you should utilize it. This not only boosts your own attacks but also the attacks of your teammates.
In contrast to Petal Blizzard and Solar Beam, the two charged attacks that Venusaur can also learn, Flora Statue charges significantly faster and deals increased damage. Additionally, it benefits from its Poison type. This makes Venusaur less susceptible to Fighting and Fairy-type attacks.
However, Venusaur is not only impressive in raids. It also performs well in the Great and Ultra Leagues. Meanwhile, its low CP causes issues in the Master League. It’s possible that at some point it could even encounter its Mega Evolution if it should become available for the GO Battle League.
Charmander to Charizard
Charizard
Event Attack: Ember and Fire Spin
What kind of Pokémon is Charmander? Another starter Pokémon from the 1st generation is Charmander. This Fire-type Pokémon evolves into Charizard through Charmeleon. Furthermore, you can evolve Charizard into one of two different Mega Pokémon using Mega Energy.
Why is the evolution worthwhile? Unlike all other starter Pokémon, Charizard can learn two event attacks during the Battle Weekend: Ember (Fast Attack) and Fire Spin (Charged Attack).
This Fire and Flying-type Pokémon has average stats in attack, stamina, and defense. Nonetheless, it can benefit from a fast and powerful moveset, making it one of the best Fire attackers in Pokémon GO.
With its two Mega Evolutions, Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y, it can perform even better with the same moveset and additionally boosts all other fire attacks in battle.
In the GO Battle League, you can particularly utilize Charizard in the Ultra League. According to PvPoke, it ranks 35th. Unlike in raids, the event fast attack Ember is also utilized here.
This attack is of the Dragon type, incredibly fast, and it deals solid damage as well. Therefore, in the GO Battle League, it is best to use a moveset of Ember, Fire Spin, and Dragon Claw.
Chikorita to Bayleef
Meganie
Event Attack: Flora Statue
What kind of Pokémon is Chikorita? Chikorita is a Grass-type starter Pokémon from the 2nd generation that evolves into Bayleef via Bayleef.
Why is the evolution worthwhile? The Grass Pokémon Bayleef may not score highly in attack, but it impresses in stamina and defense. For this reason, it is one of the best candidates for the GO Battle League.
With a moveset of Vine Whip, Flora Statue, and Earthquake, it can particularly rank 44th in the Great League and 14th in the Ultra League. It’s advisable to also consider the Shadow variants of Bayleef, which even ranks 8th there.
Just like Venusaur, it has a fast and powerful charged attack with the event attack that you should secure for the Battle Weekend.
Squirtle to Blastoise
Blastoise
Event Attack: Water Gun
What kind of Pokémon is Squirtle? The Water-type starter Pokémon from the first generation is Squirtle. The little turtle evolves into Blastoise through Wartortle, which, just like Bulbasaur and Charizard, has a Mega Evolution.
Why is the evolution worthwhile? Examining the stats of Blastoise, one finds they are only average. It can score a bit more in defense and stamina than in attack. Therefore, the turtle doesn’t make it into the top 10 best Water attackers in the game.
Only in its Mega Evolution does it find use in raids with a moveset of Water Gun and Water Gun. It can benefit from a fast attack combination of Water Gun and Water Gun, dealing significant damage to opponents.
In the GO Battle League, it could also be interesting for you in the Ultra League. Even if it’s not as strong as Swampert, it ranks 34th there as a Water attacker and is a good alternative. Use a moveset of Water Gun, Water Gun, and Ice Beam.
Are there other strong starter Pokémon?
Yes, besides the 5 mentioned Pokémon, there are other starters worth considering. If you want a strong candidate for raids, you can also rely on these evolutions, as they are all among the best attackers in Pokémon GO:
Sceptile
Torterra
Emboar
Feraligatr
Samurott
In the PvP League, the following evolutions are also suitable:
You can also benefit from event attacks with your Shadow Pokémon if you evolve them. During the Battle Weekend, you also have the chance to make your Shadows forget the Charged Attack Frustration.
How does that work? What you need to pay attention to in order to secure the event attacks for your Shadow Pokémon is explained by user _The-Space_Monkey_ in his reddit post. Thus, if you want to develop a Shadow Mudkip into Shadow Swampert, you first have to use a Charged TM on it. If the Charged Attack Frustration has changed to any other attack, you can then evolve the Pokémon and finally get a Shadow Swampert with the event attack Water Gun.
Is it worth it? Shadow Pokémon benefit from a 20% higher attack than their normal forms. For this reason, they are particularly suitable for raids. Since they become weaker in defense, they do not last as long in battle. However, you can also find some strong Shadow Pokémon in the GO Battle League.
Are you already looking forward to the Battle Weekend? Which Pokémon will you evolve to secure the event attack? And which Shadows do you want to forget Frustration? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments here on MeinMMO and exchange ideas with other trainers.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Diablo Immortal, looting and leveling really starts when you reach level 60. However, it is difficult to find the best farming spots without help. Therefore, we show you two locations where you can easily and quickly farm XP, legendary items, and monster essences.
Why do I need to farm after level 60? Once you reach level 60, the true experience of Diablo begins. You now have access to various difficulty levels that will make your life harder.
Additionally, this grants you better loot, which benefits you. This makes your hero stronger and allows you to participate in more challenging but rewarding activities to acquire more loot. If you still don’t know how to change your difficulty level, we have the right guide for you:
Your Paragon is important for farming: To efficiently and noticeably obtain more legendary loot, you need to have selected the “Treasure Hunter” skill tree for your Paragon.
This provides you with very useful bonuses for farming and looting monsters in open areas. However, you first need to be Paragon level 50 to select the skill tree.
You need to be Paragon level 50 for Treasure Hunter
A high value of your “Magic Find” attribute can also help you receive more legendary loot. However, you need to have legendary gems of level 5 socketed in your gear. The more stars your gems have at level 5, the higher your Magic Find value.
The Realm of Damnation should be used for farming
Which other places work well for farming?With an update, the known farming spots “Cemetery of Zakarum” and “Zoltun Kull’s Archive” were nerfed in Diablo Immortal. You now receive less legendary items from these locations.
However, there is still one place you can use, which is the Realm of Damnation in the “Abyss of Torment” area.
Abyss of Torment is your new farming targetCemetery of Zakarum can still be good for XPIf you want to farm legendary items, rather go to the Realm of Damnation.
In this area, you will move around the rock formations and constantly defeat the enemies that come at you in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.
By continuously killing the enemies, you can collect monster essences, grab legendary loot, and achieve kill streaks that will even grant you an XP bonus.
Are there other possibilities? You can also farm XP and legendary loot in Elder Rifts. However, this is more time-consuming and less profitable. The old farming spots, like the Cemetery of Zakarum, are still profitable for XP and monster essences, but they are not worth it for farming legendary items.
Those were all the important informations regarding farming legendary items, XP, or monster essences. If you have any further comments or even better farming spots, please let us know in the comments!
The technology is constantly evolving, along with the creative abilities of artificial intelligence. Now there are even AIs that can create really cool or funny images from written texts, winning Twitter over.
Which AI are we talking about? There are several AIs capable of creating images from written texts. Two of the most well-known are Dall-E from openai.com and Midjourney (via midjourney.com). The third AI in the group is Craiyon, for which a dedicated Twitter account has been created.
Each of these three AIs is capable of creating an image from a written text. Some of these images look really good, while others are just incredibly funny. Like this very special Pikachu:
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How can you let the AI draw for you? For both Dall-E and Midjourney, you need to request access to the beta test on the companies’ websites. This access is granted in waves, so it may take some time before you find out whether you can test the AI.
If you receive access – which will be communicated to you by email – creating images using AI is very easy. You enter a few words into the text field, wait a couple of minutes while the AI creates your image, and you have your own artwork. Midjourney even offers a Discord bot that you can integrate into your Discord server.
If you don’t get access to Dall-E or Midjourney, Craiyon is still freely available at craiyon.com. Craiyon was previously known as Dall-E mini but changed its name at OpenAI’s request to avoid confusion with Dall-E.
From Demogorgons to Mushroom Cities in Snow Globes
How does social media react? The internet is thrilled by the works of the AIs. On Twitter, there is even a special account called Weird Dall-E Mini Generations (@weirddalle via Twitter) with over a million followers, posting the crazy creations of Dall-E mini or Craiyon.
The various images and collections from Weird Dall-E Mini Generations regularly receive thousands of “likes” and retweets.
The pinned tweet from the account, for example, shows the Demogorgon known from the hit series Stranger Things holding a basketball and received over 160,000 likes and was shared over 13,000 times.
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Craiyon’s images of a Demogorgon holding a basketball
But not only Craiyon creates fascinating images that are shared on social media. Twitter user @fabianstelzer showed, for example, an impressive comparison between Dall-E and Midjourney.
He fed both AIs with the words “A mushroom city in a snow globe sphere, stunning detail, hyperreal rendering” and shared the different images.
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The mushroom city in a snow globe: Dall-E on the left, Midjourney on the right
AI Creates Images from Memory
How does the AI work? On the website of the company Weights & Biases (via wandb.ai), Boris Dayma and Pedro Cuenca explain how the Craiyon AI works. According to craiyon.com, Boris Dayma trained the AI. Pedro Cuenca worked on the backend. Regarding the operation of Craiyon, they say:
The AI would be trained by looking at millions of images from the internet with their corresponding captions.
The AI learns over time how to draw an image based on a text prompt. In doing so, the AI learns some concepts from memory because it may have seen similar images.
The AI can also learn to create unique images that do not yet exist. As an example, they mention an image from the text “the Eiffel Tower lands on the moon.” For this, the AI combines multiple concepts. To achieve this, it must combine multiple models. According to them, these models include:
an image encoder that transforms raw images into a sequence of numbers, along with its corresponding decoder
a model that converts a text input into a coded image
a model that assesses the quality of the generated images for better filtering
What is all this good for? The question that naturally remains is: what is all this good for? Besides creating funny or interesting images, there must be a practical use.
How the AI will work in the distant future and what humans will use it for is of course still pure speculation, but functions like drawing composite sketches are certainly conceivable.
What do you think about the AI that can draw a picture for you? Do you find it an interesting and potentially useful technology, or do you think it’s just an unnecessary gimmick? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
In another project, researchers wanted to prove what an evil AI could do. You can see the results of the investigation with us on MeinMMO.
In Pokémon GO findet am 09. und 10. Juli 2022 ein besonderes Kampf-Wochenende statt. Bei diesem könnt ihr euch auf zahlreiche Begegnungen mit Team GO Rocket, neue Crypto-Pokémon aber auch coole Boni in der GO Kampfliga freuen. Wir von MeinMMO haben euch alle Inhalte des Mini-Events zusammengefasst.
What is this event? Currently, Pokémon GO is celebrating its 6th anniversary and is throwing a anniversary event. Part of this event is the so-called battle weekend.
This mainly revolves around Team GO Rocket and the GO Battle League. But you can also benefit from one or the other bonus during raids. Below, we have summarized all the features of the battle weekend for you.
When does the battle weekend take place? The battle weekend starts on July 9, 2022, at 00:00 local time and runs until July 10, 2022, at 23:59. You have two full days to take advantage of the event content.
All bonuses for the battle weekend around Team GO Rocket
The highlight of the event will be the return of the Rocket leader Giovanni. Many players have been waiting for him for quite some time. By reaching the Hyper Bonus during the GO Fest in Berlin, you were able to earn additional bonuses or improve the planned ones.
Look forward to the following Rocket bonuses during the battle weekend:
2 mysterious components when you defeat Rocket Grunts
double Stardust when you defeat Rocket Grunts
Unlearn Frustration with a Charged TM
New Crypto-Pokémon
Especially the chance to unlearn the move Frustration from your Crypto-Pokémon will be very interesting for many players. You only get this opportunity a few times a year, so you should take advantage of it. Which Pokémon are particularly suitable for unlearning Frustration and how you can do that is explained in our related article:
Just in time for the start of the battle weekend, a few of the Crypto-Pokémon used by the Grunts as well as the Rocket bosses Arlo, Sierra, and Cliff will change. And Giovanni has added Crypto-Latios as a legendary reinforcement to his team.
The following new Crypto-Pokémon can be encountered starting from the battle weekend:
Crypto-Latios (on Giovanni’s team)
Crypto-Kleinstein
Crypto-Sheinux
Crypto-Felilou
If Niantic announces any further Crypto-Pokémon, we will add them to the article accordingly.
All bonuses for the battle weekend in the GO Battle League
If you prefer to be in the GO Battle League, you can also look forward to a bonus or two during the weekend. The following features await you:
20 battle sets (100 battles) per day
5x Stardust when you win battles
From rank 16, you will have the chance to encounter legendary Pokémon
In which leagues can you play? During the battle weekend, you can compete against other trainers in the GO Battle League in the following leagues:
Great League
Ultra League
Master League
What you need to know: When selecting your teams, note that the Pokémon have a maximum CP limit depending on the league. In the Great League, only Pokémon up to 1,500 CP are allowed, and in the Ultra League up to 2,500 CP. In the Master League, there are no upper limits.
Which monsters will receive an event move when evolving? When you evolve the starter Pokémon from the first 5 game generations, they will receive an event move. They have previously been able to learn this at other events, such as the Community Day.
Event move
Evolutions
Flora Statue (Charged move)
Bulbasaur to Venusaur Cyndaquil to Typhlosion Treecko to Sceptile Turtwig to Torterra Snivy to Serperior
Lohekanonade (Charged move)
Charmander to Charizard Totodile to Feraligatr Torchic to Blaziken Monferno to Infernape Pignite to Emboar
Aquatic Cannon (Charged move)
Squirtle to Blastoise Totodile to Croconaw Mudkip to Swampert Piplup to Empoleon Oshawott to Samurott
How do you like the bonuses for the battle weekend? Which ones will you use? Or do you find the content rather uninteresting and prefer to skip the mini-event? Share your opinion on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers.
In Pokémon GO the battle weekend is now running, and Giovanni has added Crypto-Latios to his team. We at MeinMMO have looked into what kind of Pokémon this is and whether it is worth it at all.
What kind of Pokémon is it? Currently in Pokémon GO, the battle weekend is happening, where you can encounter Team GO Rocket more frequently. With a new special research, you will also gain access to a Super Rocket Radar, which allows you to meet the leader Giovanni.
For the battle, the members of Team GO Rocket have also acquired one or two new Crypto Pokémon. At the forefront is Giovanni, who now has a legendary Crypto-Latios on his team. But what kind of Pokémon is this and is it worth your time?
We have summarized all the important information about Latios for you.
What is Latios as a Pokémon?
Latios is a legendary Pokémon from Generation 3 and is the counterpart to the Pokémon Latias. It belongs to the Dragon and Psychic types and has no pre-evolutions or evolutions. The legendary creature can only benefit from a temporary Mega Evolution.
So far, you could occasionally find Latios in level 5 raids or more recently after the respective Mega raid. Now it will also be available for the first time in its Crypto variant in the game.
Is there Shiny Latios? Yes, the legendary Pokémon also has a shiny form. You can recognize it by its green body. According to current information, however, the Crypto variant is not catchable as a Shiny for the time being.
Normal Latios (left) and Shiny Latios (right)
How strong is Latios? Latios stands out primarily for its high attack value, but its stamina and defense are also solid. Its charge attack, Psyshock, is very strong and deals significant damage to the opponent, which is why it is one of the best Psychic attackers.
With its moveset of Fire Spin and Dragon Claw, it also qualifies among the top 10 Dragon attackers. And even in the Master League, the legendary Pokémon makes an impressive appearance.
Is Crypto-Latios worth it?
Latios is already one of the best attackers in its normal form in Pokémon GO and is thus well-suited for use in raids. With the Crypto form, its attack value increases by another 20%. For this reason, you should not overlook Crypto-Latios, especially as a Psychic attacker for PvE battles.
In PvP battles, however, it is only useful in the Master League. There, it ranks 23rd in the PvPoke ranking with a moveset of Fire Spin, Dragon Claw, and Flash Cannon. However, if you are still looking for a strong Pokémon for the Super or Ultra League, Latios is not the right choice and you should look for a better alternative.
Should you catch Crypto-Latios? If you want to secure a strong attacker for raid battles, you should definitely get Crypto-Latios on your team. Even though it does not surpass its competitor Mewtwo, it is still a good alternative.
In the GO Battle League, Crypto-Latios is only usable in the Master League. And even here, there are a few dragons that are even better, such as Zekrom or Reshiram. In the Super and Ultra Leagues, it plays no role at all.
Additionally, you must consider that Crypto-Latios is not currently available as a Shiny, making it slightly less interesting. Furthermore, you only receive one Super Rocket Radar, giving you only a limited chance at Crypto-Latios.
So if you do not need Crypto-Latios for raids and have no use for the legendary Pokémon, you might want to think about whether you prefer to save your Super Rocket Radar for another monster.
To secure a Crypto-Latios, you first need a Super Rocket Radar. If you do not have one from previous research, you can secure one through the new special research for the battle weekend.
Once you have obtained a Super Rocket Radar, you can start searching for Giovanni. Activate the radar and click the icon on the right side of the screen. A map will then be displayed showing possible locations of Giovanni. But be careful, it could also be a grunt trying to deceive you.
When you eventually find Giovanni, you only need to battle and defeat him. As a reward, you will have an encounter with Crypto-Latios. Now you just have to catch it.
What do you think of Giovanni’s new legendary Pokémon? Have you already secured one? Or is Crypto-Latios completely uninteresting to you? Feel free to share your opinion here on MeinMMO in the comments.
Many users are now considering finally upgrading their PC after a long wait. But what is important to you when you want to buy a graphics card?
Design, cooling, or performance – what is important to you in a graphics card?
Our readers have already told us how much money they are willing to spend on graphics cards. But before you spend your money on new hardware, you need to think about what you absolutely want among the many graphics cards available. Because there are often dozens of ways to invest your money in new hardware:
There are various manufacturers that produce graphics cards with a graphics chip from AMD or Nvidia.
Many graphics cards differ significantly in design from one another.
Some graphics cards focus entirely on performance, while others emphasize low noise in their GPU.
Depending on the price category, graphics cards also offer features like ray tracing or DLSS.
Since there are so many options, we want to know what you pay the most attention to when buying a graphics card.
Your opinion is requested
How can I vote? You can make your choice as always in the poll tool in this article. You can also discuss with other readers under our article. You can select up to three points simultaneously. Thank you for voting!
What is most important to you? How did you decide on your last graphics card purchase or how will you decide in the future? Tell us in the comments what interests you the most.
Before you buy a new graphics card, you should at least keep in mind that the next generation of graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia is already on the way:
After the release of the 1st content update, fans of Diablo Immortal are disappointed and disillusioned. The patch allegedly did not bring enough new features. And what is available is partly just copied, say the players.
What’s in the new update? Overall, there were 3 new contents in the update from July 7. Two of them are actually gameplay relevant. Vitaath is a new raid boss that was released on July 2 and is far too hard for most players.
Secondly, on July 15, a weekend event will start with some rewards, which will run until July 18. The third and actually biggest change is the new Battle Pass for Season 2. Players can grind 40 levels again for various rewards, including:
legendary and normal gems
cosmetics
crafting materials
However, it is precisely this Battle Pass that is causing a ton of threads to appear on reddit, complaining exactly about this new content.
The update revamped 2 of the weakest classes in the tier list of Diablo Immortal, monks and sorcerers. Check out gameplay for all 6 classes here:
Start video
Diablo Immortal: All 6 Classes in Brief Overview with Gameplay
Fans are disappointed: “Literally a copy”
What’s the problem? Since Vitaath is too hard and the event hasn’t started yet, the Battle Pass is currently the only engagement with long-term incentive for many players. Here, fans feel that there is simply too little love put into it.
The levels and rewards are nearly identical to what was already seen in Season 1. On reddit, people complain that the Battle Pass is “exactly the same” as the previous one and a “disappointment“, nothing more than a copy of the first.
While there are new cosmetics, there are only a few and only if you pay. Some players report that they uninstalled Diablo Immortal after seeing the Battle Pass. Many are particularly annoyed by the statement of the Blizzard CEO regarding monetization:
The Battle Pass was supposed to be the biggest motivation for playing Diablo Immortal, alongside the grind for loot and leveling. In the interview with game director Wyatt Cheng, he explained to MeinMMO how important he finds Battle Passes when they are well done. That is exactly what players are currently missing.
Positive reactions are hardly seen. The bug fixes are well received, but according to many players, the update simply lacks substance. The mood may change after the event weekend from July 15 to 18.
Some fans also complain that critical points are not addressed. Legendary gems are still important but a pay2win factor. In the video, you can find out what this feature is about:
Start video
Diablo Immortal: What are legendary gems? Facts and locations in 3 minutes
What’s next? Blizzard has already promised further updates in July that will bring even more content. By the end of the month, the class change feature is supposed to be released. This was a big news upon announcement, as it allows you not to need secondary characters.
Cheng also mentioned in the video that more story and new classes will be part of the free updates for Diablo Immortal. However, we do not yet know exactly when these will arrive.
The current development is fracturing the player base of Diablo Immortal. Many are disappointed with the game, as it actually has great potential – as even MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus finds:
Skull & Bones finally shows gameplay and brings exactly the multiplayer aspect we always wanted in Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. However, the game is now several years late and comes quite different than it was announced.
What is Skull & Bones anyway? It was not so easy to answer for a long time and to be honest, it still isn’t.
The first trailer for the pirate adventure appeared at E3 in 2017. The first gameplay was already shown in 2018 and a release was promised for 2019. But then it suddenly went quiet about the game. So quiet that many thought Skull & Bones had maneuvered itself into Davy Jones’s locker.
But now there is fresh, new gameplay, a release on November 8, 2022, and insights into what has changed in the last four years. And quite a lot has changed. Because what in 2018 looked like having taken the ship battles from Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag and packed them into a standalone game with a pinch of Hunt: Showdown has suddenly taken a different direction.
What are the features? Because the multiplayer with its intrigues, the struggle for the fat loot, and boarding enemy ships are no longer that prevalent. Instead, Skull & Bones relies on the following features:
The ship combat as the main aspect of the game – you rarely leave your ship
A campaign in a sandbox open world, where you start with a small ship and gradually upgrade it to a formidable warship
You follow the same pattern of accepting quests, completing missions, upgrading, and taking on more difficult quests
The entire game is playable solo and offers co-op options to sail together on the hunt
The PvP component that was emphasized in 2018 is now only optional
The new focus is on constantly collecting more loot and thereby improving to unlock new things for your ship
Skull & Bones shows 7 minutes of gameplay – Looting and leveling on the high seas
Different than before, but still exciting
What happened to PvP? If you look at the gameplay from 2018, Skull & Bones still seems like a completely different game. In the old video, you could randomly ally with other players and they could betray you to ultimately get away with the loot from the battle.
This seemed to be the core aspect of the game, but this changed over the last four years. Now PvP is only optional and you don’t really have to flee anymore. Instead, you simply share your open world with enemy ships. What has remained is the hunt for valuable loot that you can still lose.
The optional PvP could be a highlight: Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to see of it yet. It is also unclear whether it can be motivating in the long term and whether the game mechanics will mesh well or end up in some form of spawn camping.
But the PvP has great potential, especially since the game is coming four years late and just in time.
To catch the big hype from Black Flag, Skull & Bones is a bit late, but currently, the so-called EFT-likes are experiencing a surge that hasn’t been seen before. The games are named after the shooter Escape from Tarkov, but titles like Hunt: Showdown are also good examples.
You can see the gameplay from 2018 here:
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PvP matches, where you can lose everything and fight fiercely for loot that only one can have.
Even in the battle royale genre, you go home empty-handed if you don’t survive a round. Still, games like PUBG, Fortnite, and Apex are still very popular.
The fact that many fans of such genres are out there is a big bonus for Skull & Bones. Because while it was still questioned at the original announcement in 2017 whether a Black Flag where you can also lose your valuable loot can be fun, we now know better.
EFT, Hunt, and co. clearly show that with the right twists, a concept can work and keep players engaged where you lose everything. And Skull & Bones is still not as merciless as the mentioned examples.
The PvP theme is a bit smaller than expected.
You only lose your loot: Which is already annoying enough, admittedly. But your ship remains intact and you do not have to start all over again with the hard-earned progress when an enemy ship gives you broadside.
Instead, you just had a mission wasted. Which is initially unfortunate, but definitely manageable. Unfortunately, we still do not know exactly how the mechanics of Skull & Bones work here, but with the right twist, it has great potential to impress long-term and hold fans as long as current EFT games can.
If Skull & Bones wants to work, it needs good PvP
Key point game depth: The question remains how much space the optional PvP will take up in the pirate adventure. Because as nice as open-world, co-op sailing, and a bit of looting and leveling are – to engage long-term, a lot is needed. A fully developed PvP mode could help with that.
And the premise for that is given. There are many different weapons in the game. Special abilities and various tactics are also possible. Currently, we cannot say if that is enough for the PvP to become the highlight it should be. It would be desirable after all the waiting.
Ubisoft has proven multiple times that it can offer this depth. Looking towards shooters, Rainbow Six: Siege shines with tactical diversity and practically endless ways to play a match. The Division with its “Dark Zone” is also a good example of a strong PvP mode, as long as the balancing works.
That the ship combat itself is fun has already been proven by them 9 years ago with Black Flag itself.
If Ubisoft manages to bring both together – loot mechanics and strong PvP – Skull & Bones can become a real pirate affair. A feast not only for PvP fans but also for the setting itself. But we can only find out in November.
What do you think about the new gameplay? Do you like the game better as it is now? Or do you look back at 2018 with a sad eye? Did you even have Skull & Bones on your radar? Feel free to let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO.
343 Industries, the developers of Halo Infinite, want to make unfinished levels from the Halo history playable for the first time. They are getting help from modders. This includes a level from Halo 2, which was shown in the trailer 20 years ago but never appeared in the game itself.
Since Bungie is no longer working on the Halo franchise and is instead responsible for Destiny, 343 Industries is the developer behind Microsoft’s shooter titan.
And although Halo Infinite has been struggling with a content drought since release, the developers managed to score points with fans. They want to revive the iconic “Halo 2” demo from E3 2003 as part of a larger modding project – as well as other cut content that players were never allowed to play.
This trailer shows you how Halo Infinite has been trying to tackle the content drought so far:
Start video
Halo Infinite finally launches Season 2 – Shows the new maps and badass armors in the trailer
Developers and modders make unfinished content playable
This is what the developers have in mind: In a long blog post, 343 Industries introduced their so-called “Digsite” project. Here’s what it’s about:
The developers are gathering content from the Halo history that was never officially playable and was never completed.
They also want to repair unfinished assets so they can make these findings playable in the Halo: Master Chief Collection.
Together with well-known modders from the scene, 343 Industries has split “Digsite” into two teams: Digsite Alpha restores content from before the release of Halo: Combat Evolved, while Digsite Delta is responsible for development leftovers from Halo 2.
For the first Halo, Combat Evolved, they want to restore a version of the game that was originally a real-time strategy game, among other things.
However, the “Digsite” project for Halo 2 is getting a lot of attention in the community. When the first gameplay trailer for the game was shown at E3 2003, it became legendary and created immense hype around Halo 2.
It showcases diverse battles in a sci-fi city called “Earth City,” which left fans salivating back then. Earth City served as the basis for levels 2 and 3 in the game but was never playable in this form. 343 Industries aims to change that now, after almost 20 years.
You can watch this ancient trailer here:
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“Fan service can be good and this is an example of that.”
What do the fans say? The otherwise critical Halo fans are thrilled after these announcements. On reddit, users are writing:
“Fan service can be good and this is an example of that.” – john7071
“This is pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted.” – Metatermin8r
“Are you telling me that after 20 years I can finally experience Earth City for myself? I destroyed a DVD player back then while watching the demo over and over again.” – TemptedTemplar
“I’m so excited. I can’t believe this is actually happening.” – dj88masterchief
What do you think about these announcements? Do you remember the trailer from E3 2003? Or would you prefer more content for the latest Halo rather than repaired content from the oldest games in the franchise? Let us know in the comments.
After several years of stagnation, a real E3 is finally taking place in 2023. The event is set to offer digital content but will also take place physically. Media as well as visitors are welcome, it says.
The US company ReedPop has now announced that it will host the E3 next year (via GamesIndustry.biz). ReedPop is also behind events such as PAX.
So, 2023 will see one of the largest gaming fairs in the world again. A physical event is even planned for the second week of June.
This is what the organizers say: ReedPop is working with The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) to host E3 2023. Exhibitors and a schedule are still pending but are expected to be shared in the coming months.
The goal is to provide both digital showcases and opportunities for visitors who are present in person. Presumably, there will be the chance to try out some of the games showcased directly.
In recent years, E3 has only been available in a reduced form or was completely replaced by individual events from other exhibitors and organizers.
There were also some smaller events from indie developers, which, however, did not gain as much traction – even though one was even moderated by the English speakers of Geralt and Yennefer (The Witcher).
In the showcases, there were some hidden gems, such as the presentation of a new Lord of the Rings game and even major highlights like the surprise announcement of the Diablo 4 release.
Besides Nightingale, the new survival game from Lord of the Rings was the big highlight of the shows:
Start video
Der Gameplay-Trailer zu Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
In general, however, all shows were seen as rather disappointing. Partly because the event feeling was missing – but also because the games simply could not convince. Even the few games that were really worth it received little attention.
The “trailer storms” of recent years have drained more than hyped in many places and were even really bleak this year, says MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski:
The streamer and YouTuber Niall “Pyrocynical” Comas has lost his partnership on Twitch. Now he claims on Twitter that nothing better could have happened to him.
The British streamer and YouTuber Niall Comas, better known by his pseudonym Pyrocynical, has been trying for months to secure a partnership with Twitch. Although he is a big name on YouTube with over 4.7 million subscribers, this process has dragged on for a long time.
Then at the beginning of 2022, he finally became a partner on the streaming platform, only to lose his status on Twitch again on May 24. He had to switch to YouTube streaming and now claims that nothing better could have happened to him.
Pyrocynical is not the first prominent streamer to have difficulties with Twitch. This video summarizes the most spectacular Twitch controversies of recent years:
Start video
The 5 biggest Twitch bans that caused a lot of commotion
Twitch gives streamer a “soft boot”
What exactly happened to him? The streamer was not banned; his channel is still online and has 269,000 followers. However, he lost the partnership with Twitch, so his “Subscriber” button is gone. He no longer earns a cent on the streaming platform. He calls it a “soft boot.”
On Twitter, he says that this boot is the best thing that could have happened to him. He claims that his viewership has quadrupled, as have his earnings. He calls it “the fattest W imaginable”:
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The reason for this is known: YouTube is said to pay about twice as much as Twitch, and streamers receive 70% of the money from each subscription. On Twitch, it’s usually only 50%. For this reason, YouTube Gaming is more profitable for streamers like Ludwig:
Twitch accuses streamer of “unfair behavior” when securing the partnership
What led to the Twitch boot? In a YouTube video from May 30, he describes from his perspective what led to the boot from the Twitch partnership and how he assesses it. The video has already garnered over 1 million views:
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In the email from Twitch that Pyrocynical received and reads in the video, the reason mentioned is “unfair behavior” when applying for the partnership.
Specifically, he reportedly requested a partnership from Twitch North America after having been denied this partnership by Twitch EMEA (Europe-Middle East-Africa). That was not acceptable, which is why the partnership was revoked.
Pyrocynical is not the first Twitch streamer to be forced to switch to YouTube. Dr Disrespect also appreciates the money rain on YouTube but particularly misses one thing about Twitch:
The grind in Dead by Daylight is a major point of criticism and is supposed to be reduced. But players are angry – because the developers are doing it all wrong.
What is the problem in Dead by Daylight? Unlocking new perks requires a lot of time and a huge amount of blood points. Currently, the grind increases exponentially with each new character and makes it nearly impossible to unlock all perks. Newcomers, in particular, face several hundred hours of playtime – just to have all perks on a single character.
What should be changed? Dead by Daylight wants to simplify acquiring new perks and tie them to the prestige level of the respective characters. For example, if you have Claudette at Prestige 3, then all other survivors have Claudette’s perks at Rank 3.
On paper, that sounds good, and the developers even promise a reduction of the grind by a whopping 75%.
So what is the problem? The developers’ numbers are wrong and do not take into account other adjustments made in the same patch. Because there are 2 serious changes that will massively change the earning and spending of blood points.
The two perks “Barbecue & Chili” and “We’re gonna live forever” lose their components with which you could earn additional blood points. Both perks could increase blood point earnings by up to 100%.
The prestige of a character will now cost 50,000 blood points. Currently, increasing the prestige level is free, but comes with the loss of all items.
Even though the community comes to different conclusions in various calculations, the grind may actually end up being even worse than before in some cases. Especially the additional 50,000 blood points that players have to pay for leveling up make players angry. Because leveling up the prestige level is no longer an option. Once you reach blood net 50, you must spend 50,000 blood points to increase the prestige level.
While you can simply refuse to do that, the character will not be able to unlock new offerings, items, or addons – because the blood net is locked with the “prestige requirement”.
How the community reacts: In the Subreddit of Dead by Daylight, the problem has been discussed for days. Here are some of the comments that received a lot of upvotes:
[…] If you ask me, the whole problem is simply how slowly one receives blood points in general. With or without this update, it takes thousands of hours to unlock all perks, simply because you receive blood points so slowly. [The patch] helps to reduce the grind after you have unlocked the perks, but it still takes forever to unlock them in the first place.
ExiledMythos
These changes are 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
Prestiging grants all perks [of the character] for everyone. Great! But removing learnable perks means that you HAVE to prestige to learn the perks, which means you have to level up 10 additional levels in the blood net with another 50,000 bonus cost. Really?
No prestige limit, but you are reset to level-1 blood nets and have to spend 50,000 blood points every time or you can’t access the blood net at all. Which damn idiot thought that was a good idea?
Chazrat69
If you want to have all the perks on a single character, then your grind increases by 500,000 blood points per 3 perks. Incredible, right?
Ana1661
With all the criticism, it seems likely that the developers will reconsider these changes and make a few adjustments. However, so far there has been no response from Behaviour – but the patch is also not live yet, only available on the test realm.
As soon as there are any news, we will of course report on it.
Other players also suspected that DPS could rely on the raid leader to handle all difficult functions with the push of a button in the future.
On YouTube, some users already referred to this addon as ‘cheating’ or as an ‘extended arm for multiboxing,’ because in essence, one player could control several accounts – in part.
User Belegnole bluntly said: ‘This should be banned and removed from the game. Also, this ability to use such should be completely removed.’
However, there were also players like Troodon80, who considered the feature good for supporting sleepyheads or inexperienced players. However, all involved should have to activate this feature manually, and it should not be active by default (via ESO Forum).
Developer bites back but still removed the feature
What did the addon developer say about the criticism? The developer of Hodor Reflexes published another update two days later, in which he removed the feature. However, he sarcastically added a new feature that did not actually exist:
The function introduced in the last update has been replaced by a new one: You can now automatically report a player if they do more DPS than you or ignore the raid leader’s commands.
Otherwise, he reacted sharply and sarcastically to the criticism of his addon. Nevertheless, in the end he succumbed to the criticism.
What do you think of such an addon? Should a player have the ability to control and manage entire raids alone? Should another player implement such an addon? Or does that clearly go too far?
MeinMMO author Mark Sellner appreciates addons, especially DPS meters:
What do you think of such an addon? Should a player have the ability to control and manage entire raids alone? Should another player implement such an addon? Or does that clearly go too far?
MeinMMO author Mark Sellner appreciates addons, especially DPS meters:
Other players also suspected that DPS could rely on the raid leader to handle all difficult functions with the push of a button in the future.
On YouTube, some users already referred to this addon as ‘cheating’ or as an ‘extended arm for multiboxing,’ because in essence, one player could control several accounts – in part.
User Belegnole bluntly said: ‘This should be banned and removed from the game. Also, this ability to use such should be completely removed.’
However, there were also players like Troodon80, who considered the feature good for supporting sleepyheads or inexperienced players. However, all involved should have to activate this feature manually, and it should not be active by default (via ESO Forum).
Developer bites back but still removed the feature
What did the addon developer say about the criticism? The developer of Hodor Reflexes published another update two days later, in which he removed the feature. However, he sarcastically added a new feature that did not actually exist:
The function introduced in the last update has been replaced by a new one: You can now automatically report a player if they do more DPS than you or ignore the raid leader’s commands.
Otherwise, he reacted sharply and sarcastically to the criticism of his addon. Nevertheless, in the end he succumbed to the criticism.
What do you think of such an addon? Should a player have the ability to control and manage entire raids alone? Should another player implement such an addon? Or does that clearly go too far?
MeinMMO author Mark Sellner appreciates addons, especially DPS meters:
In The Elder Scrolls Online, players can develop their own addons and then install them. One of these addons is called ‘Hodor Reflexes’ and received a new feature in June 2022. Raid leaders could temporarily press a button to prevent all players from using further abilities. However, many felt this went too far. The feature has since been disabled, but it continues to be discussed.
What exactly was this feature? The group leader was given a function through the addon to prevent other players from using abilities. This can be important when certain boss mechanics require a so-called damage stop, and teammates do not respond in time.
The duration of the damage stop could even be determined by the raid leader themselves, as stated in the official description. Furthermore, the function was automatically active and could not be disabled.
Ability to stop damage to bosses when the greedy damage dealer ignores the raid leader again. You can set a special hotkey for this and adjust the duration if necessary (addon settings->misc->stop damage duration).
However, as a prerequisite, the other players also had to have the ‘Hodor Reflexes’ addon installed. It is used by many players, even as a DPS meter for raids.
Why was this so useful? There are bosses in the game that heal during certain phases when they take damage. It is essential that players do not deal any damage. Occasionally, a damage dealer might miss this phase. With the addon, the raid leader could ensure that everyone stops attacking.
Is it still working now? No. The developer removed the feature after a lot of backlash. However, the basic function is still present in the API, so other addon developers could make use of it.
A few weeks ago, the new expansion High Isle was released, and here you can watch the release trailer:
‘Such a feature only makes everything worse’
How was this feature received? In the ESO forum, this innovation in Hodor Reflexes was discussed for several days. In the thread, players shared their concerns that such an addon would only worsen the situation with inattentive DPS players. For example, Baertram wrote:
But features like these will not solve the problem, but rather make it worse. Every addon and every tool that helps simply press 1, 2, 1, 2 will further decrease brain activity and make them watch videos on the second screen or whatever.
My best raid runs were the ones where even the DPS knew what was happening when, what the boss was doing, and why. We trained that beforehand in theory, with videos and guides.
What do you think of such an addon? Should a player have the ability to control and manage entire raids alone? Should another player implement such an addon? Or does that clearly go too far?
MeinMMO author Mark Sellner appreciates addons, especially DPS meters:
What do you think of such an addon? Should a player have the ability to control and manage entire raids alone? Should another player implement such an addon? Or does that clearly go too far?
MeinMMO author Mark Sellner appreciates addons, especially DPS meters:
Other players also suspected that DPS could rely on the raid leader to handle all difficult functions with the push of a button in the future.
On YouTube, some users already referred to this addon as ‘cheating’ or as an ‘extended arm for multiboxing,’ because in essence, one player could control several accounts – in part.
User Belegnole bluntly said: ‘This should be banned and removed from the game. Also, this ability to use such should be completely removed.’
However, there were also players like Troodon80, who considered the feature good for supporting sleepyheads or inexperienced players. However, all involved should have to activate this feature manually, and it should not be active by default (via ESO Forum).
Developer bites back but still removed the feature
What did the addon developer say about the criticism? The developer of Hodor Reflexes published another update two days later, in which he removed the feature. However, he sarcastically added a new feature that did not actually exist:
The function introduced in the last update has been replaced by a new one: You can now automatically report a player if they do more DPS than you or ignore the raid leader’s commands.
Otherwise, he reacted sharply and sarcastically to the criticism of his addon. Nevertheless, in the end he succumbed to the criticism.
What do you think of such an addon? Should a player have the ability to control and manage entire raids alone? Should another player implement such an addon? Or does that clearly go too far?
MeinMMO author Mark Sellner appreciates addons, especially DPS meters:
There has been a lot of debate about the microtransactions in Blizzard’s cross-platform mobile MMORPG Diablo Immortal since its release in June 2022. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, CEO Mike Ybarra defended himself and claimed that 99.5% of the game is actually free.
This is the situation:
In June 2022, Blizzard brought the popular action RPG series Diablo to mobile devices with Immortal – the title is also running in a beta version on PC
Despite all the controversies, the game had a strong launch and is also successful in Germany
CEO Mike Ybarra stands behind the monetization despite all the criticism and sees it as an advantage
At the center of the pay-to-win controversy of Diablo Immortal are the Legendary Gems. See more about it in the video:
Start video
Diablo Immortal: What are legendary gems? Facts and locations in 3 minutes
Microtransactions Ease Access
Mike Ybarra just wants what’s best for his players: There is heated debate over microtransactions in games. For many, the monetization in Diablo Immortal has reached entirely new heights.
While there are some free content options for casual players, those who want to achieve something usually have to dig deep into their pockets. Raising a single Legendary Gem to level 10 already costs €1,000, and with bad luck, significantly more. A complete character can theoretically cost over €500,000.
However, it is claimed that the only desire behind this is to make Diablo Immortal as accessible as possible.
When we think about monetization, […] it was, “How do we give millions of people a free ‘Diablo’ experience where they can literally do 99.5% of everything in the game?”
Mike Ybarra in the Los Angeles Times
What is the truth behind the statement?
How free-to-play is Diablo Immortal? The fact is that Diablo Immortal can be downloaded for free. Both the main storyline and dungeons and raids can be experienced without spending a cent, as long as you are willing to progress a bit slower.
It is also true that players are deliberately tempted to spend real money. At the beginning, players are literally flooded with rewards, later on, progress stagnates and even one of the most important currencies becomes scarce.
More about the pay-to-win mechanics, including assessments, can be found in our podcast on the subject:
In a follow-up email, a Blizzard spokesperson stated that the overwhelming majority of players do not spend any money. However, there were no statistics on this.
Instead, they cited over 110,000 positive user reviews in the app store. This is supposed to imply that the complaints are not representative of the gaming community as a whole.
Moreover, monetization only comes into play in the endgame.
The philosophy has always been to move forward with great gameplay and ensure that hundreds of millions of people can complete the entire campaign at no cost.
Mike Ybarra in the Los Angeles Times
From this perspective, Immortal is an excellent introduction to “Diablo”. Nearly half of the players are completely new to the Blizzard universe, according to collected data.
Mike Ybarra sees a need for improvement primarily in the gap between “Diablo 3” and “Diablo Immortal”. A whole generation of players has been missed there.
Not everyone is bothered by pay-to-win mechanics. Some, who lack the time or simply the desire for daily grinding, see them as a convenient shortcut. Others find the purchased advantages unfair.
What do you think? Are microtransactions a good alternative for busy individuals, or should they be limited to cosmetics?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Diablo: Immortal is officially in its 2nd Season and has released a new Battle Pass. On MeinMMO you will find all information about the new pass including an overview of contents and prices.
How does the Battle Pass work in Diablo Immortal? The Battle Pass works, as often seen in service games:
The Battle Pass also includes Legendary Gems. More about the controversial items can be found in the video:
Start video
Diablo Immortal: What are legendary gems? Facts and locations in 3 minutes
Diablo Immortal: Battle Pass Season 2 – Price & Content
How much does the Battle Pass cost? Every player levels up the pass while playing and receives corresponding rewards. If you spend money, there are more items:
Standard pass: 0,- Euro
Empowered pass: 4.99 €
Collector pass: 14.99 €
Below you will find an overview of the contents.
What does the free pass offer? On the free path you will receive the following items:
8 x 500 Hilt
26 x 150 Hilt
14 x 150 scrap
9 x Rare emblems
4 x Normal gems
3 x Reforging stones
1 x Magical dust
1 x Spell
1 x Legendary item
1 x Legendary emblem
1 x Mysterious reforging stone
1 x Legendary 1-star gem: Seled’s Weakening
1 x Legendary 2-star gem: Zealous Fang
The free path is an excellent source for Hilt, the most important currency for Free2Play players. Other than that, there is a lot of scrap (for the blacksmith) and occasionally there are small highlights, like a Legendary gem or emblems. The good rewards come every 5 levels.
What does the Empowered Pass offer? For 5,- € you unlock something more at each level. This includes cosmetics – a weapon skin right at the beginning and an armor skin at the end of the pass.
We will embed an image here where you can admire the style of the Season 2 cosmetics:
You receive all rewards from the free pass and additionally the following items:
Weapon skin at level 1
Armor skin at level 40
2 x Legendary 2-star gem: Zealous Fang
3 x Legendary 1-star gem: Seled’s Weakening
55 x Scoria (Reliquary of Hell)
10 x Normal gems
12 x Normal emblems
36 x Challenger keys (Tomb of Fahir)
2 x Legendary emblem
2 x Chat emojis
What does the Collector Pass offer? For 15,- € you receive all rewards from the free path, the items from the Empowered Pass, and additionally the following bonuses:
14 level jumps
Portal cosmetic
Avatar frame
With the Collector Pass, you directly gain a lot of items and experience points in your account.
How long do I have for the Battle Pass? The Season 2 pass runs until August 4 and a total of 28 days.
Is it worth it? Unlike in other games, such as CoD: Warzone, you do not receive premium currencies from the pass to refinance it. This is a decisive disadvantage of the Battle Pass in Diablo Immortal.
However, the premium path at 5 euros is relatively cheap. Competitors often charge 10,- euros. If you play a lot, this path can definitely be worthwhile. If you are unsure, wait until the end and decide shortly before the end of the pass whether your earned levels are worth the 5,- euros.
With the Collector Pass, it depends on whether you really want the two extra cosmetics and/or the fast progress. Otherwise, it is better to stay away from it.
Season 17 in Destiny 2 was story-wise concluded this week. Players experienced the last cutscene and witnessed the final story fragments. The next chapter will likely follow with the start of Season 18. However, Bungie has already left some hints pointing to a season featuring the most ruthless NPC in the loot shooter: the Drifter.
What is happening in Destiny 2 right now?In week 7 of Season 17, the end of the story finally took place. The Guardians discovered Calus’s location and followed him, aiming to put an end to his machinations with the Darkness – but without success. Calus is gone, but the threat is not defeated.
The next events of the story are likely hidden until Season 18. However, Bungie has left some clues about what might come next and why a cunning little rat could be at the center of it all.
The Drifter in the spotlight of Season 18?
What points to a Drifter season? If you have read the lore, you will notice that the Drifter and Eris are currently quite busy. They are working together to figure out what the Egregore spores and their fungi are all about. The Drifter even claims that they scream when you fry them.
The cold gaze of the Drifter
The story’s end of Season 17 last revealed a radio message from Eris. In this message, she wants to continue her investigations in the Moon Pyramid. However, this message is not directed at you, but addressed to the Drifter. He is the one referred to when Eris uses the term “rat.”
Eris has been using this name for the Drifter for a long time now. Mainly because this designation suits his character well.
But it’s not just this that points to the ruthless Gambit leader. Since Beyond Light, the Drifter has not had a spotlight appearance in Destiny 2, despite clearly being the character with the most experience with the Darkness.
He could provide the Guardians with further insights into the Darkness in Season 18 with his casual sayings and help them understand it better. Perhaps even the modified red-eyed ghost of the Drifter will assist you in taking down Calus and the Witness.
What could Season 18 look like? No one knows for sure yet, but if the Drifter is in the spotlight, some weapons from the first Drifter season could reappear from the vault.
Minor adjustments for Gambit or even the return of old maps or implementation of new ones could bring fresh air in the particle mode. Ultimately, even the mere appearance of the unscrupulous lightbearer would bring joy to many Guardians.
Despite the fact that the Drifter has had the most trouble dealing with the Darkness and its beings on an icy planet, Bungie has yet to give him much attention.
Perhaps it’s time for the Drifter to finally bring a bit of light to his dark history and for the Guardians to find out what his past looks like.
What do you think about the idea that Bungie might dedicate a second season to the Drifter? Do you think it’s cool and would you celebrate it? Or would you prefer to have Ikora in the spotlight instead? Let us know!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
