Call of Duty: Vanguard is plagued by players using unfair methods to secure high ranks in Ranked Play despite poor performance. A player who has taken advantage of this particularly shamelessly has now been severely punished. Read the full story here on MeinMMO!
What’s the issue with Ranked right now? In CoD Vanguard Ranked Play, you earn points through wins and continue to climb the ranks. The more Skill Rating (SR) points you have, the higher your rank. The scale goes up to 3,000 points and above, with the last rank only available to 250 players worldwide.
On the other hand, you lose points through defeats and can drop ranks. Naturally, no one wants that, and to avoid the consequences of failure, unscrupulous players often disconnect when a loss seems imminent. A loss that never happens due to the disconnect is not counted.
This is certainly not in line with the developers’ intentions, who want to ensure fair competition. Therefore, they are now taking a strong stance against the worst offenders.
Player oversteps and is severely downgraded
How are the developers reacting? To ensure that Ranked matches are fair and balanced again, the developers have now taken measures. They have analyzed the number of disconnects within the player base.
Among 2 percent of players, excessively high rates of such disconnects were found. According to the developers, this is evidence of unfair behavior, and therefore these players are now being heavily penalized.
The worst offender has even been mentioned on Twitter; he reportedly experienced over 280 disconnects in just 3 weeks. That would average out to 16 disconnects per day!
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On Twitter, the developers at Treyarch sarcastically congratulate him on his “success”:
A typical example: The leaderboard player has interrupted his connection more than 280 times since Ranked Play started. Enjoy your -2,000 SR loss, chief. We hope it was worth it.
[Narrator: It wasn’t]
This is how the affected player reacted: The developers’ actions have cost the mentioned player his top rank and are likely to throw him back to the third-worst position.
But the guy takes it with dark humor and quickly responded to the tweet. He cheekily corrects the developers and shows self-irony:
At least do the math when you say I’m supposed to lose 2,000 SR. I’m losing 3,600 points. At least do the math correctly.
He then adds about his new rank: “At least I’m now where I belong”.
So much for cheating in Ranked Play. What do you think of the developers’ crackdown? Will it change anything, or will just more dishonest players come forward, disconnecting whenever things go badly for them? Let us know your opinion in the comments here.
Eintracht Spandau defeated their opponent Gamer Legion 3:0 in the playoffs of the League of Legends Prime League. In particular, they had a firm grip on the second match from the very beginning. This secures them second place in the playoffs and a direct qualification for the European Masters. There, they will compete for the European Cup and face players like Rekkles.
At halftime of the season, the team was at 4 wins and 5 losses in 8th place. However, they needed at least 6th place to qualify for the playoffs.
By the end of the season, Eintracht Spandau really picked up the pace. They won 8 games in a row. They consistently relied on the same strategy. In the end, they secured 2nd place, allowing them to compete in the upper bracket of the playoffs.
There, they faced Gamer Legion, the league’s first-place team, on March 8, against whom they had lost both matches in the regular competition – particularly dramatically in the second.
Eintracht Spandau faltered in the first match, sets a record in round 2
What were the matches like? The playoffs are held in a Best of 5 format. The team that wins three rounds first secures the overall victory and advances to the next round. The loser from the upper bracket gets another chance in the lower bracket. However, those who lose in the lower bracket are completely out.
Eintracht Spandau and GamerLegion played as the 1st and 2nd place teams in the league for direct entry into the finals. However, the loser can achieve a rematch if they defeat the team in 3rd place in the lower bracket.
This is what the bracket looked like at the start of the playoffs.
How did the first match go? The first match was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams met on even terms, and the lead in gold and map dominance shifted repeatedly.
By the 17th minute, Gamer Legion actually had the game under control. On both sides, one tower had fallen, and both teams had a dragon. However, Legion had 2,000 gold more, thanks to Jinjo’s excellent farming on the bot lane.
But a lost teamfight led to the second dragon and the second mid lane tower for Eintracht Spandau. A second won teamfight at Baron at the 22nd minute resulted in a Baron and a gold lead for Spandau. Particularly Special in the mid lane for Spandau showed a strong performance.
After that, Eintracht Spandau unfortunately got caught off guard twice and lost control again.
At the 30th minute, Gamer Legion lost a teamfight, resulting in the second Baron for HandOfBlood’s team. The gold was previously almost equal, but then clearly shifted towards Spandau.
At the 36th minute, however, Eintracht Spandau lost another teamfight, and Gamer Legion came back. They secured their first Baron but lost the dragon soul to Spandau. At this point, both teams had 69,000 gold.
A final teamfight at the 42nd minute sealed the victory for Spandau.
How did the second match go? The second duel between the two giants was dominated by Eintracht Spandau from the start. Already at the 8th minute, a teamfight occurred in which GamerLegion lost 4 players and shortly before that the dragon. They never recovered from that.
Eintracht Spandau even set a record. They finished the match in 22:04 minutes, which was also the shortest match of the entire season. They beat the previous fastest match by almost 40 seconds.
How did the third match go? It started off strong for GamerLegion, who secured the first blood before the 2nd minute. Obsess, the jungler for Spandau, had been too aggressive in an invade at the Bluebuff.
However, Obsess recovered well on Udyr. Already at the 4th minute, he executed a gank on the bot lane, which significantly advanced his carry Kynatic.
But GamerLegion stayed on them and kept landing good pokes. At the 14th minute, the team secured 3 kills, and shortly after, AD-carry Jinjo achieved a double kill. By the 22nd minute, GamerLegion was leading with 13:8 kills but had less than 1,000 gold advantage and was behind in towers and dragons.
A good teamfight at the 27th minute, especially with Kynetic performing well on Aphelios, secured important kills and the first Baron for Eintracht Spandau. They utilized this Baron immediately to take down the entire enemy base and won the series against GamerLegion 3:0.
You can watch the complete matches again on YouTube:
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Eintracht Spandau is the favorite of the DACH region, soon to face international top teams
What does the victory mean for Spandau? HandOfBlood’s team is guaranteed a spot in the European Masters in spring. In this tournament, the best teams from various regions in Europe compete against each other.
Meanwhile, in the Spanish LVP, the second team from Fnatic is currently dominating. Both Karmine Corp and Fnatic TQ were the teams that battled for the European Masters final in summer 2021. The German team BiG managed to achieve 3rd/4th place at that time.
Whether Eintracht Spandau can go on to win the European Cup remains to be seen. However, after their strong performance against GamerLegion, they are currently the great hope from Germany. The only German team that has previously won the EU Masters was BiG in summer 2019.
In the highest European league, the LEC, the regular spring split has also recently concluded. And last year’s champion could not reach the playoffs:
Twitch has informed Russian streamers that their options to receive payments are limited. They are adhering to the international sanctions against Russia imposed due to the invasion of Ukraine. The streamers are now worried about their livelihoods. They lost it overnight as their last source of income via Paypal closed on Sunday.
This is what Twitch says: The Washington Post has obtained an email sent to Russian streamers by Twitch, informing them that they will no longer receive money (via twitter):
Payments to the financial institution associated with their Twitch account have been blocked as a result of the situation. Twitch complies with the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other governments due to the situation in Ukraine.
These sanctions may affect or restrict how they access payments, how they monetize their streams, or how they can financially support other creators.
It is then stated that Twitch understands how frustrating and difficult the situation is. However, they assure that they want to pay the streamers once they find an “alternative financial institution.” If it is allowed, they want to transfer the money to them.
Paypal joins sanctions – This is bitter for Twitch streamers
What does this mean? Ultimately, the email says: If the streamers have their money in one of the banks affected by international sanctions, that is, in a Russian bank, they can no longer access their money.
This wasn’t a major problem until recently because Russian streamers could switch to Paypal. But the payment service Paypal has also joined the sanctions over the weekend, making it now practically impossible for Russian Twitch streamers to earn money through Twitch and make a living.
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The Ukrainian Digital Minister triumphs. Paypal joins the blockade.
Streamer says: Livelihood was gone overnight
Here are the reactions: The Washington Post spoke with some streamers who stream from Russia.
A female streamer says:
She feared that something like this could happen, but did not expect it to happen so quickly and overnight over the weekend.
The last 12 days have been some of the most stressful of her life, the Twitch community has helped her stay sane.
If she runs out of money for her VPN, she will be cut off from the independent internet and will not be able to learn what is really happening in the world, but is limited to propaganda.
He has not yet been affected by the sanctions, but feels that the payment restrictions on Twitch are now the beginning.
Our expertise at MeinMMO relates to gaming. Anyone who wants to learn more about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is recommended to visit official sites or news magazines:
Important note:If you are troubled by dark thoughts due to the current situation: You are not alone. Please seek help. For example, through the telephone counseling service at 0800/111 0 111 or the online counseling, where you can also use a chat. It is free and valid nationwide.
Streamer says: He had to flee Russia, sanctions still affect him
One of the largest Russian streamers with an average of 14,500 viewers, Alexey “Jesus AVGN” Gubanov (featured image) says:
He had to flee from Russia to the USA because he opposed Putin.
Nevertheless, he is now affected by the sanctions, many companies that used to advertise have left the Russian market, and his Visa and Mastercard will soon be blocked.
He believes there is a real possibility that Russia will simply shut down Twitch.
The Post quotes him:
“For many years, I was against Putin’s regime, for which I had to flee my home country, and I still have to account for the terrible actions of Putin, even though I live in another country.”
Alexey “Jesus AVGN” Gubanov
Ukrainian Twitch streamers are particularly suffering from the consequences of the war against their country:
The action RPG MMO Lost Ark responds to isolated criticism of the outfits of female characters. There are supposed to be more options, but the original clothes will still remain in the game. What the developers are exactly planning can be found here on MeinMMO
What was wrong with the clothes? The successful action MMORPG Lost Ark comes from South Korea and, like many Asian games, features female characters often equipped with sexy outfits and animations. Particularly, the Gunslinger class usually only wears hot pants, and other classes seem to wear revealing costumes instead of armor.
Most critics were not even concerned about the existence of sexy outfits, but rather the lack of alternatives. This point of criticism seems to be met by the developers now.
Developers want more options, not less
Will the sexy outfits be replaced? In a statement to the site Eurogamer, franchise lead Soomin Park commented on the clothing situation in Lost Ark. There is indeed a concession from the developers here.
According to Park, they want to introduce changes to the presentation and new options:
As far as the armor sets are concerned, we are not changing any of the original costumes from the game, but we are making adjustments so that the more revealing options are no longer at the forefront, e.g., in our marketing or on the character creation screen.
We will also be incorporating some new outfit options that are not quite as revealing, but these are an addition and not a replacement.
We are aware of the balance between hardcore fans who want a Lost Ark experience that is close to the Korean original version and new players who may not like the current armor and costume options, and we are adding outfits and alternatives to the game instead of taking away options.
They do not intend to remove the sexy clothes from the game or dress all women modestly. Rather, they want to provide options for anyone who wants to present their heroine less provocatively. This is exactly what most critics demanded, as very few had a problem with sexiness per se.
This is what the developers still want to do: Another important point in Soomin Park’s statement was the gender lock in the game. Most classes are only available as female or male.
What do you think of the developers’ plans? A good thing and long overdue or a waste of the developers’ time, who should be releasing more endgame content? Let us know in the comments below the article.
In Destiny 2, there are many ways to complete quests and missions, but some Guardians don’t understand what Bounties are, why players farm them, and where to find them. That’s why we will show you everything important about Bounties on MeinMMO.
What are Bounties? Bounties are small tasks that you can purchase daily from NPCs for Glimmer. The acquired Bounties then appear in your Quest tab when you access your map. To make it easier to complete the mini-tasks, you can pin them to your Ghost. When you summon your Ghost (on PC via Tab), all your marked Bounties will be displayed. However, only a maximum of three tasks can be highlighted.
Important Information about Bounties
Zavala needs you to complete his Bounties
Where can I find Bounties? You can get the mini-tasks from almost every NPC in the Tower or at other locations. The following NPCs sell you their tasks:
Shaw Han – Cosmodrome
Devrim Kay – EDZ
Failsafe – Nessus
Eris Morn – Moon
Variks, the Loyal – Europa
Petra Venj – Dreaming City
Xûr – Xûr’s Treasure Hoard
Starhorse – Xûr’s Treasure Hoard
Fynch – Savathun’s Throne World
The 14th Saint – Tower – Only when the Trials of Osiris are active
Lord Saladin – Tower – Only when Iron Banner is active
Zavala – Tower – Bounties for the Vanguard
Lord Shaxx – Tower – Bounties for the Crucible
Banshee-44 – Tower – Bounties for Weapon Tests
The Drifter – Tower – Bounties for Gambit
Suraya Hawthorne – Tower – Bounties for your Clan
You can purchase the daily Bounties for 250 Glimmer only once per day. However, you can also acquire repeatable Bounties for 3,000 Glimmer.
What is the purpose of Bounties? Many players use Bounties to level up the Season Pass significantly at the beginning of a new season quickly. A large amount is stockpiled before a new season and redeemed later. Furthermore, Bounties are primarily used for leveling. Usually, you receive an easy task like ‘Kill 10 enemies with a submachine gun.’ Once you’ve completed it, your assigned task will be checked off, and you can redeem it.
What do you think about Bounties? Should Bungie change the existing system to make it easier to access, or do you like the current system? Let us know in the comments!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The LMG Bren has long been considered the best range weapon in Call of Duty: Warzone – despite some nerfs and “repairs”. The Warzone professional “IceManIsaac” has now presented a setup that should make all previous weaknesses forgettable.
What’s going on?
With the introduction of the new map Caldera, the Vanguard weapons took over the meta in Call of Duty: Warzone
Right at the forefront: the LMG Bren – although also because the weapon was a bit broken
After some nerfs and repairs, the Bren is slightly weaker, but with the right setups, it is still a powerful companion
CoD Warzone: Bren Setup after the Nerfs
Why is the Bren so strong? LMGs are slow behemoths with low mobility. The weapons need to offer something special to be convincing.
For example, the Bruen Mk9 from CoD MW. The weapon was very dominant in Warzone for a while because it provided a mobile assault rifle magazine, high range, and low recoil.
The Bren is again such a case. The damage is very high, it can be controlled very well, and due to broken barrel attachments, the LMG had “infinite” range for a long time – losing no damage over distance.
What has been nerfed so far? So far, only the broken barrel attachments have been fixed, and there has been a weakening of damage to limbs.
The important base damage to chest and stomach has not yet suffered, and in terms of control, the Bren remains an extremely strong and reliable option at range.
This keeps the LMG one of the best weapons in the game – and even the best weapon at range for those who are not bothered by limited mobility.
The Warzone professional “IceManIsaac” has revisited the popular rifle after the nerfs and changes of the last weeks and developed a new setup that, according to him, makes the weapon “better than ever”.
What makes the setup strong? You maximize range and benefit from high damage up to 45 meters.
The time-to-kill is 600 milliseconds (250 health points) and then increases to 700 milliseconds. Strong values for a range weapon at the level of the AK-47 from Cold War. However, it can not be controlled nearly as well.
In comparison to previous meta setups for the Bren, you also have a larger magazine that can be relatively quickly reloaded for 100 rounds. Also, the vertical magazine no longer interferes when aiming.
As a disadvantage, the somewhat sluggish LMG mobility can be noted. If that doesn’t bother you, then the Bren still rocks as a range weapon.
If you want to see gameplay of the Bren with the shown setup, we will embed the English video from “IceManIsaac” here:
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With the exception of a small breakout of the broken PPSh at the beginning of Season 2, the weapon meta has remained suspiciously stable since the introduction of Caldera.
On one hand, this is good – you can play your favorite weapons for a long time and fully master their quirks.
On the other hand, this leads to an unfair weapon meta: players who handle the weapons better have an advantage.
For the Safari Tour in Seville, trainers can finally purchase tickets for Pokémon GO. However, these tickets have already sparked quite a conversation on social media, and some players are annoyed. We at MeinMMO will show you what this is all about.
What is the Safari Zone? The Safari Zone is a so-called live event held by Pokémon GO. A specific location is chosen where special monsters spawn during the event period.
Unlike other events in the game, you cannot participate from anywhere in the world but must actually visit this location. This also reflects the core concept of Pokémon GO, which encourages trainers to go outside, explore their surroundings, and make new friends.
Niantic has now announced a Safari Zone for the Spanish city of Seville and has opened ticket sales. However, one thing is already annoying trainers about the event, and we will show you which one.
When does the Safari Zone take place? The Safari Zone runs from May 13, 2022, to May 15, 2022, in Parque del Alamillo in Seville, Spain. To participate, you must purchase a ticket in advance. We have included the link to purchase tickets here.
This is already annoying trainers about the Safari Zone
As Pokémon GO announced via their Twitter account on March 8, 2022, ticket sales for the Safari Zone in Seville have now started.
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However, especially around the ticket, there are some controversies in social media. The reason for this is the prices, which many players see as high.
Prices too high for the Safari Zone in Seville
Niantic charges 21 euros for a standard ticket to participate in the Safari Zone in Seville and 26 euros for an early access ticket. The duration of validity is especially criticized by many trainers.
Although the actual event runs from Friday to Sunday, trainers can only purchase a ticket for one of the event days. This allows them to play in Parque del Alamillo from 12 PM to 6 PM with a standard ticket. With an early access ticket, they can start playing at 9 AM.
Many trainers find this too short for the price they have to pay for a ticket. After all, some are traveling specifically to the Andalusian capital for this event. Here are some comments from reddit (via reddit.com):
shadraig: “21/26 EUR seems completely overpriced for a Safari Zone.”
d1ckpunch68: “21/26 [euros] and only 6 hours on one of the days? That’s brutal. Why not grant full 3D access when it’s only for 6 hours?”
Denarnia: “I still remember when they were free, like the Safari Zone in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Unfortunately, this seems to be the ‘new normal’ for Niantic events.”
justifizier: “This price is crazy.”
Trainers wish for a virtual Safari Zone
Some trainers, on the other hand, argue that Niantic should also offer the Safari Zone as a virtual event. This way, these players would be independent of possible restrictions due to the Corona pandemic.
Maserati777 therefore suggests that at least Corphish should have an increased shiny rate worldwide (via reddit.com). Mikebellman also believes that a chance has been missed here and writes:
Niantic really missed the chance to hold mixed events. Sell virtual, non-personal tickets with reduced benefits for a small ticket fee.
The physical experience of the Safari Zone is really cool. The props, the music, the bonuses, and the events are a lot of fun. (I was in St. Louis and had a great time), but it is a tiny venue. Niantic would make a lot of money, and we could all enjoy a Safari Zone-lite.
Nonetheless, there are also trainers who are looking forward to the planned Safari Zone and have purchased a ticket. They are now hoping for cool Pokémon. Niantic has already provided an initial glimpse in their Twitter post. The image features Miltank, Solrock, Corphish, Frillish, Unown, and Tauros.
However, which monsters will be available during the event weekend in Seville remains to be seen.
What do you think about the planned Safari Zone in Seville? Will you get a ticket and participate? Or is it too expensive for you, and would you rather enjoy a virtual event? Feel free to share your opinion on this with us here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange views with other trainers.
There is still a lot coming up in Pokémon GO in the coming weeks. We have summarized all the events in March and show which are particularly worthwhile.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny 2 there’s brand new loot that’s quite remarkable. The new weapons from the raid “The Oath of the Student” are not only visually captivating. MeinMMO presents them and reveals how strong these endgame weapons are and what they can do.
This is what to expect in the raid: In the brand-new Witch Queen raid “The Oath of the Student,” you can expect not only an epic, dark setting but also well-crafted puzzles, challenging tasks, and a revelation that changes everything. Although the raid is only a few days old, it is already considered one of the best raids in Destiny 2 by the community.
In addition to the cool content, players can also expect some rewards in the new raid. Especially the raid weapons, including the latest raid exotic, are known to be strong options that one should not miss.
What makes the raid weapons unique: The new legendary weapons from the raid feature not only a unique weapon animation and the origin perk “Soul Drinker.” Each weapon also has a blueprint for weapon crafting that can be extracted.
Once the first raid run was completed, the Destiny universe was also changed as a result. You can read more about it here:
Note: All status values provided in the article are the base values of the weapon. Thus, without bonuses from perks, such as range. Compared to other legendary weapons, the base values are quite solid.
[toc]
Insidious – Pulse Rifle
Insidious – Arc Pulse Rifle
This is what the weapon can do: “Insidious” belongs to the rare pulse rifles with a hard-hitting, aggressive four-round burst. The weapon visually resembles the popular black-red weapon “Forge” from the Black Armory.
Specific origin perk: The new raid weapons feature the unique origin perk “Soul Drinker.” This means that all weapons from the raid “Oath of the Student” provide health based on the number of hits before reloading.
Stats of “Insidious”
These are currently popular perks on the weapon: For the pulse rifle, the new perk “Lock and Switch” is particularly strong. It causes damage dealt within a short time with other weapons to also increase the damage bonus of this weapon. This way, the pulse rifle can be perfectly combined with any weapon in your loadout.
Otherwise, the perks Quickdraw and Steady Hands are also potent options for the pulse rifle.
Is there a good alternative? Currently, the legendary pulse rifle “Holy Origin” from the raid “Garden of Salvation” would be a viable alternative.
In which encounter do you get the weapon? The pulse rifle Insidious drops in the second encounter (The Caretaker) and against the final boss in the “Oath of the Student” raid.
On the next page, we’ll continue with a fast, small primary weapon.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The hardcore action RPG Elden Ring poses great challenges for most players. But there are outstanding pros like the speedrunner niko bellic. He completes the entire game in just 2.5 hours without dying even once. How he did that can be found here on MeinMMO.
Who is it about? niko bellic (no, not the guy from GTA IV) is a powerful gamer and speedrunner. He has made it his mission to get through the hardcore action RPG Elden Ring as quickly as possible.
What did he do? To execute his speedrun, he chose the Vagabond class and immediately ran off after character creation as if a wild wasp was chasing him. Whenever he wasn’t running, he was perched on the back of his loyal mount Torrent.
Speedrunner shows you how to blaze through the entire game in 2.5 hours
How did he do it? From there, things moved quickly. Fights were skipped whenever possible. Only the necessary battles were fought, only essential items were collected. Every step bellic took in the game was precisely optimized for economy and progress.
In the embedded video here, you can see how he did it all. But keep in mind that it’s full of spoilers.
https://youtu.be/C9lDh8IX8g4
Even bosses like Margit were skipped or postponed whenever possible. Whenever there was a way to skip an area or take a shortcut to areas that were not intended at that time, bellic took it.
Often, whole hordes of nasty creatures chased after him, but the brave runner didn’t care at all. Stoically, he dodged, darted through shadows, evaded ambushes, and did everything to complete the game as quickly as possible.
If he did encounter a boss fight, he approached it methodically and precisely. Since he was basically running around with starting armor, he had to be particularly careful, and if you watch the footage of his run, you will see how effectively and almost mechanically he dodges attacks and ruthlessly beats the bosses piece by piece into oblivion.
Truly a powerful achievement by bellic, but was everything above board?
Were glitches and exploits used? Indeed, there have always been absurd glitches and exploits in past Souls games that allowed players to complete certain challenges much more easily or even skip them entirely.
However, that was apparently not the goal of niko bellic. He fights, runs, and sneaks his way through the game without using any clearly unintended methods from the developers.
What do you think of this insane achievement? Let us know in the comments. If you want to be that good too, then first check out our useful starting tips.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
BikiniBodhi is one of the most well-known names in Rainbow Six: Siege. The YouTuber and streamer entertains his fans with crazy videos and a consistently cheerful demeanor. However, he is now banned until June and says: He deserves it.
Who is it about?
The Swede Tobias “BikiniBodhi” André is a YouTuber and content creator in Rainbow Six. He is part of the e-sports organization Fnatic and even worked as an analyst at the majors in Sweden.
However, he is currently banned from all official tournaments and activities of the game – due to a tweet.
What did BikiniBodhi do? On Twitter, the YouTuber clashed with several other fans of Rainbow Six. It was about the upcoming majors in August. These were originally supposed to take place in the United Arab Emirates.
The decision was retracted after criticism from the community. However, the discussion continued and expanded on the reasons. At some point, the topic shifted to the culture of the country. In response to a comment, BikiniBodhi said:
“If your culture wants you to murder others for who they are, then that is a shitty culture that does not deserve to exist.”
As he himself says, he crossed a line with that. He offended the entire Islam and the people in the respective countries. That was not his intention, but he became too emotional.
In a statement, he writes: “I do not seek forgiveness, I do not deserve it. I messed up and I take full responsibility.”
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For his tweet, BikiniBodhi is now banned from “all activities of Ubisoft and Siege” until June 18, 2022, as he communicated. He will not receive early access to the new season, which is set to start soon.
Additionally, a specific weapon charm has been temporarily disabled. This is a cosmetic item that was added to the game in his honor. Those who already have the charm can continue using it, but it will not be available until June.
In the game, the test for Season 1 of Year 7 called “Demon Veil” is currently running. This introduces the new operator Azami, a defender from Japan. She can create bulletproof barriers with special kunais, a ninja weapon.
Rainbow Six: Siege has been consistently popular for 7 years now and is still being steadily improved. The title is also still popular in e-sports. MeinMMO has long listed it among the best representatives of the genre:
The final boss in WoW: Shadowlands has been defeated. The last cinematic has been released, sealing the fate of the Jailer.
For a few hours now, the last 3 bosses in the Mausoleum of the First, the current WoW raid, have become accessible. In America, the Jailer has just been defeated for the first time – unlocking the cinematic that plays at the end of the battle.
Spoiler alert: If you do not want to know what happens next with the Jailer, you should not continue reading. You have been warned.
When does the cinematic play? The cinematic plays right after the last battle in the current raid, Mausoleum of the First. The Jailer tried to destroy Azeroth with his magic and reshape the cosmos using the other Zereth devices. The heroes interrupt him, and ultimately succeed in defeating the Jailer.
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What is shown in the cinematic? In the cinematic, we see how the Jailer slowly loses his powers. He has been defeated and his perfection of domination magic is fading. As his armor disintegrates, the other leaders of the covenants speak to him, reprimanding him for his transgressions. Among them is Denathrius, who would have proposed a “different path” for the Jailer, in which both could have worked together.
More and more of the Jailer’s strength is lost until he disintegrates and ultimately is only what he originally was – a lifeless automa, as created by the First.
However, Zovaal still has a few final words. For he believes that a “divided universe cannot prevail against what is to come.” He apparently knows of a new (even greater) threat that approaches and even surpasses the cosmos.
The veil that was torn between Azeroth and the Shadowlands closes again.
Is there more to come? Yes. Even though the raid has now been completed, the story of Shadowlands is not over yet. There are still a few story chapters to come, including one that will likely involve a confrontation between Tyrande and Sylvanas. However, this is currently just speculation, as new models for both have been found in the game data. The secret final chapter has also been teased by the developers.
What do you think of the end of the Jailer? Good that he is finally history? Or a very unsatisfying ending?
Rockstar has officially revealed the prices for the Next-Gen editions of GTA V and GTA Online for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Additionally, there is a little bonus: new players receive a substantial amount of gifts.
What gifts do I get? According to the official blog post from Rockstar, new players or those starting with a new character receive a “Career Builder”. With that, you can choose from one of four careers. Included are:
4,000,000 GTA $
a business property
a vehicle
and a weapon
The paths to choose from are the executive, the arms smuggler, the nightclub owner, or the biker. For each career, there is a “wide selection” of missions, and with the money, you can purchase additional items. However, in GTA Online, you can only take 1 million with you.
How much does the upgrade cost? The upgrade has been listed in the respective stores since March 8. In the PS Store, it costs €9.99 for the first 3 months, after which the price rises to €39.99. So you don’t get a truly free upgrade.
However, GTA Online is free on PS5 for at least the first 3 months. Afterwards, it is expected to cost €19.99.
In the Xbox store, GTA V is currently listed at €19.99, while only GTA Online is at €9.99. Both prices, however, include discounts of 50%. So after the promotion, you pay €39.99 or €19.99, just like with the PS5 version.
The prices are for the digital version. Physical versions are expected to be available from April.
When is it happening? The upgrade is scheduled for release on March 15, 2022. However, the preload starts now, so you can begin preload immediately. The size is expected to be roughly 90 GB.
All information about the upgrade to the Next-Gen consoles can be found in our overview:
Actually, Amazon’s hero shooter Crucible was supposed to take off in 2020, but the experiment ended before it could really get started. Former employee Stephen Dewhurst now provides interesting insights into how the process went from his perspective.
This is the game in question: Crucible was released by Amazon in May 2020, but the game promptly failed on Steam. The launch was accompanied by much criticism and players dwindled, which led Amazon to even revert the game back to beta.
However, Crucible never returned from this status of “un-release.” In autumn 2020, the end of the game was announced. Some of the developers were then transferred to another big Amazon project from that time: New World.
For the Amazon Gaming division, this was a significant setback at the time. One that, according to former employee Stephen Dewhurst, could have been foreseen.
Former Developer Talks About Crucible Development Issues
Stephen Dewhurst explains to the portal NME that he was on board as a developer at Amazon and worked on Crucible. However, the process was difficult at that time: “In hindsight, it’s quite obvious, and frankly it was quite obvious at the time as well, that [Crucible] would fail and Amazon is not a good place to develop games,” said Dewhurst (via NME).
Several problems made development difficult. Among other things, Dewhurst criticizes arrogance among executives, who, in his view, wanted to transfer successes from other areas to the gaming division, which were completely dissimilar.
The hero shooter virtually disappeared again immediately
Additionally, while they hired many top talents, they restricted their personal growth: “I was a lead system designer in a 100-person team, and it was 100 percent forbidden for anyone to work on any other project,” explains Dewhurst: “During my seven years there, I was forbidden to learn anything about art, technology, or production, or to work in a smaller or larger team or in another role. There are all these experiences that make you a better game developer, and Amazon simply says no.” Amazon actually follows a philosophy that you should improve at their company, according to Dewhurst.
“We recruited a number of top people, the Crucible team had a wonderful culture – all of that was great, but the policy of working outside the company is very stifling because most of the people you would consider the best by that standard are people who are constantly trying to grow, constantly trying to get better.”
At the same time, Dewhurst emphasizes that his time there was not wasted. He can’t really be upset about that phase: He learned a lot, met many people, and worked on a product that he believes could have been “amazing”: “Besides, Amazon pays very well – […] it was a good way for me to spend seven years of my life.”
The launch of New World went significantly better
Looking at other, more successful projects like New World, Dewhurst says: “Maybe they’re growing out of it now.”
Dewhurst’s statements also somewhat align with an interview from Amazon’s Christopher Hartmann in September 2021. At that time, the Amazon Games Vice President said that they wanted to learn from the mistakes of Crucible – which includes premature releases, why New World was postponed multiple times.
Additionally, the Amazon Game Studios are currently also busy with another project – Lost Ark, which just released a few weeks ago and for which the company acts as publisher. How the MMORPG is doing around a month after launch, you can find out here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Despite decreasing player numbers, Battlefield 2042 is still being developed and receiving updates. One of them introduced the scoreboard today, a long-requested feature. However, it didn’t appease the fans.
Today, on March 8, a new update finally brought a long-awaited feature to the game.
What’s included in the update? In the official blog post, the developers discuss the contents of the update. It mainly includes bug fixes and control issues, as well as some new bundles.
However, what resonates most with the fans is the scoreboard, a feature that many players believe should have been in the game since its release. Battlefield 2042 initially had only a stripped-down version but now offers a proper display of players’ stats, after the update was delayed several times:
This is what the new scoreboard looks like.
On reddit, the feature is generally welcomed. It’s nice to finally see how well one really is compared to others. But it all comes too late; no one can be brought back now.
The overall mood in the community on both reddit and Twitter leans towards mockery. Fans seem to no longer trust the game and are mostly laughing at the excuses that were previously sought.
Start video
Everything you need to know about the new Battlefield 2042 – in 2 minutes
Not many players left on Steam, but it’s the others’ fault
According to the data site steamcharts, Battlefield 2042 has an average of only about 2,500 players in the last 30 days on Steam. That’s fewer than predecessors Battlefield V and Battlefield 1.
Accordingly, there is mockery that with the new scoreboard, one can only measure how good one is compared to bots. The lobbies are full of them.
The reason for this is primarily a statement that EA made earlier. Many of the unpopular changes in Battlefield 2042 were supposedly made to focus more on multiplayer, as nobody wanted single-player anymore – at least that’s how it was perceived.
For instance, the campaign was removed from the game, and instead of generic classes, there are specialists with special abilities. One of the biggest memes in the general gaming reddit was made after the successful release of Elden Ring, stating that it couldn’t possibly be because people no longer want single-player titles:
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However, EA has particularly made itself unpopular with the search for scapegoats, which eventually landed on elite gamers – just not on their own decisions, which fans view as flawed.
With the scoreboard and further updates, Battlefield 2042 now wants to show once again that they do listen to their community and implement criticism. At least that’s what it says in the blog post. Whether that will be enough now remains to be seen. At least some lessons seem to have been learned from past mistakes:
This week in Destiny 2, everything revolves around power boosts and the new seasonal questline “Operation Elbrus.” Additionally, Caiatl and Lord Saladin are waiting with new tasks for you. We at MeinMMO tell you where to get top loot right now and what else is happening this week.
This is happening this week: This week players can continue “Operation Elbrus.” While Crow is not thrilled about the Vanguard’s barbaric experiments with the Hive, Lord Saladin only sees an advantage in knowing his enemy and potentially “dissecting” him psychologically. This week, players can return to the H.E.L.M. and continue the time-gated seasonal quest.
At the end of the week, the Trials players will also have their hour. The 14th Saint is getting ready and finally brings back the Trials of Osiris. There will be more top loot for all PvP fans. But the new “Vox Obscura” activities will also grant you top loot.
This week, exotic glaives will likely not receive much praise in weapon crafting, as their special abilities have been unconvincing.
In the Glass Chamber, the Guardian Challenge called “Strangers in Time” takes place. Note that you need to defeat the Minotaurs on the various timelines simultaneously with the Wyverns.
As a reward, the Challenge Mode drops the time-lost weapon “Heze-Revenge.” The weapon will then guaranteed come with 2 perks per slot.
The armor focusing in the raid “Glass Chamber” this week: Resilience
Crucible – These are the PvP playlists:
Private Match
Rumble
Control
Elimination
Glory- Survival
Glory – Survival: Freelance
Team Scorched
Trials of Osiris (starting March 11.)
Ascendant Challenge:
Petra Venj offers you this week the 4th Ascendant Challenge. Visit her in the Dreaming City in the area “Rheasilva.” Savathun also curses the city with the third curse level, continuing to demonstrate her influence.
Sources for top loot in Season 16 of Destiny 2
This is the new max level: In the new Season of the Risen, the maximum power level of your gear is 1,560. This is an increase of +230 power levels compared to the previous Season 15 at the start of the DLC. However, all players will also be raised to a base power level of 1,350 at the start, and there are many sources to level up quickly.
This top loot (Pinnacle Gear) will get you over 1,550:
Reach at least 100,000 points in Nightfall: Trial by Fire (+2)
Weekly Witch Queen campaign mission with at least 100,000 points (+2)
Defeat champions in the “PsiOp Battlegrounds Playlist” (+2)
“Source” activity at Grandmaster 1,580 (+2)
Complete the “Preservation” activity in the Pyramid of Darkness (+2)
“Eternity Challenges”: Achieve at least 250,000 points or more (+2)
Complete 3 Gambit matches (+1)
Complete 3 Crucible matches (+1)
Complete 3 Vanguard operations strikes with appropriate focus (+1)
Hawthorne’s clan quest (+1)
Trials of Osiris, available again starting March 11.
Glint Dust highlights in Eververse
Unfortunately, there are no more Glint Dust gifts from Bungie. But maybe you still have some saved up and want to treat yourself to one of these fantastic items.
A “Fantastic shell” for your ghost
This week you can also get this for Glint Dustfrom Tess:
Exotic gesture “Dawn of Invention”
Exotic ghost shell “Fantastic shell”
Exotic ghost shell “Racetrack Shell”
Exotic Sparrow “Sightseer”
Exotic weapon ornament “Braytech-M6” for Pathmaker
Legendary gesture “Total Malhari”
Legendary ghost projection “Memory of Bruce”
Shader “Time-honored”
What are you up to this week in Destiny 2? Are you already at the cap of 1,550 and powering through the endgame, like the raid, or are you still leveling with powerful gear? What do you think of the events at “Operation Elbrus”? Do you agree? Feel free to leave us a comment.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The latest chapter of Dead by Daylight is live. We tell you what’s in “Sadako Rising” and what the “Ringu Killer” can do.
Months ago, the collaboration between Dead by Daylight and the “Ringu” franchise was announced, and now the chapter has finally been released. “Sadako Rising” brings the Onryō as a killer, who will haunt you from television sets and slowly curse you. But the survivors also get a strong ally in Yoichi and a range of new, useful perks.
This is what the Onryō can do – The girl from the well
Sadako combines a whole range of abilities reminiscent of other killers, but they have unique effects. She has a smaller terror radius of 24 meters and can switch between “Manifested” and “Demanifested”. In the demanifested state, she is invisible at a distance of over 24 meters and only briefly visible at shorter distances, during which she cannot attack. Only when she manifests does she regain a terror radius and can strike.
Televisions are scattered all over the map. As long as they are turned on, Sadako can teleport to these TVs and automatically manifest.
Start video
Dead by Daylight: Here is the creepy trailer for the new Ringu chapter
Survivors within a certain radius around the affected television will slowly but surely be cursed. The curse builds up over time. Once it reaches its maximum, Sadako can directly kill that survivor if they are downed.
Survivors can reduce the curse progress by disabling televisions and recording a video tape. They must then bring the tape to a marked television on the map (always the one that is farthest away). If successful, they significantly reduce the curse progress.
By the way, we conducted an interview with the Creative Director, Dave Richard, about the Onryō:
Like all killers, the Onryō also comes with three unique perks. As usual, only this killer can use the perks at the beginning, but they can be unlocked as teachable forms in the Bloodweb and then used by all other killers:
Scourge Hook:Floods of Rage – At the start of the match, 4 hooks turn into scourge hooks, whose aura the killer senses. If a survivor is rescued from such a hook, the killer is shown the aura of all other survivors for 5 / 6 / 7 seconds.
Call of Brine – After a generator is disturbed, this perk activates for 60 seconds. The regression of the generator is 150% / 175% / 200% of normal speed. Each time a survivor successfully completes a skill check on this generator, the killer is alerted by a loud noise.
Merciless Storm – When a generator reaches 90% progress, survivors face relentless skill checks. If they fail a check or leave the generator, it will be blocked by the entity for 16 / 18 / 20 seconds. This effect can only be triggered once per generator.
Sadako is hard to spot – she appears distorted.
These are Yoichi’s perks
As usual, Yoichi also brings three new perks for survivors. At first, he can only use them himself, but later he can teach them to other survivors. His perks are:
Parental Guidance – After stunning the killer, you leave no scratch marks, blood trails, and your pain screams are suppressed for 5 / 6 / 7 seconds.
Empathetic Connection – When another survivor is injured, they can see your aura within a radius of 32 / 64 / 96 meters. You heal other survivors 10% faster.
Boon: Dark Theory – You bless a dull totem or a hex totem. Survivors within a radius of 24 meters receive a 2% speed boost. The effect remains active for 2 / 3 / 4 seconds after leaving the totem’s range.
What is the cost of the DLC? As is usual with licensed content, it is not possible to unlock the killer or Yoichi with in-game currency. The purchase can only be made with real money or premium currency. On Steam, the new chapter costs €6.99.
If you’re only after the perks, you can hope that they will appear in the shrine of secrets sooner or later.
Moreover, it doesn’t matter whether you own the DLC if you want to face the Onryō – you can encounter her as an enemy like all other killers.
What do you think of the new killer? Do you like the Onryō?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Destiny 2 has announced short maintenance works for Tuesday, March 8th again. This also involves downtime on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and Google Stadia. We will tell you when you cannot play today.
This is what you need to know today: Bungie announced via Twitter that server maintenance is coming up again. This is a small maintenance that will not take much time.
So you know exactly when you can play and what changes in the game, MeinMMO will accompany you and continuously update this article with fresh information.
Update 6:00 PM: Slowly you will be placed in queues and have to wait patiently to finally get into the game. If you’re unlucky, you will be kicked out and receive the error message “cat” again.
Maintenance on 08.03. – All times and server downtime
These times are important today:
At 5:30 PM German time, maintenance work will start on all platforms
From 5:45 PM, the servers will go offline. You will be kicked from all activities – the downtime begins
At around 6:00 PM, the servers are supposed to be back online, with the daily reset.
By 6:30 PM, the maintenance work should be fully completed.
It is important: Even if you have downloaded the update, you may experience connection issues until the end of maintenance around 6:30 PM. You may have to expect queues during login.
This is what the hotfix bringstoday: Bungie is currently fine-tuning Witch Queen. The new raid “Oryx’s Vow” has had issues with bugs and errors. Some adjustments may be made to ensure a smoother raid experience.
This is currently on Bungie’s hotfix list:
The purchase limit for ascending alloys for Master Rahool was not updated during the weekly reset.
The reshaping of the Enigma questline can stall for some players at the last step.
The “No Time for Explanations” time portal will continue to shoot at defeated enemies.
If you encounter any issues in-game, it is recommended to report them directly via the official Bungie Help Forum to bring attention to them.
So you don’t get bored during the server downtime:
What is in the patch notes? For today’s update, the patch notes will be published later. Traditionally, the information is released together or shortly after the update itself. As soon as we have them, we will add them here as a link.
No patch notes are currently available for this update.
Bungie is actively collecting feedback on the latest expansion. Via Twitter they regularly inquired about the “well-being” of the Guardians. They rely on players to express their wishes so that the team can respond accordingly.
What do you think about the short maintenance that hardly takes time? Do you find them better than the long downtimes over several hours? Let us know in the comments how you feel about it!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
On February 8th, exactly one month ago, the new MMORPG Lost Ark entered Headstart. Three days later, all fans were able to travel to Arkesia. We at MeinMMO take a look at where Lost Ark stands after a month, what it does well, and what problems it has.
What does Lost Ark do well? Lost Ark offers quite a bit of variety for the otherwise long-established MMORPG genre. Many fans find the new game refreshingly different, which is not least due to the iso perspective that is otherwise not very common in MMOs.
Because Lost Ark was polished to a high gloss for four years before it was released in the West, and it clearly shows in the MMORPG. It has significantly fewer gameplay errors than comparable releases like New World. The overall gaming experience just feels rounder:
It starts with little things like the satisfying sound when you acquire a new item.
The side quests are well-designed, as they never take you too far from your actual goal and can be done on the side.
You can really notice it in the entire world, which is designed with so much love and detail that it manages, despite the iso perspective, to captivate people and to completely immerse them in Arkesia.
Currently, there are 15 different classes in Lost Ark, a huge mountain of endgame content, and plenty to do for people who love to complete things. Even after a month, most users have still not played through all available content.
Start video
Lost Ark delivers intense action with 15 classes – See here in the video what they look like
And what is currently in the game is far from all. More than 7 additional classes are still waiting for you that are already available in Korea. It is similar with even more endgame content that we also do not yet have in the West.
The endgame spiral consists of collecting increasingly powerful armor and weapons to further optimize and strengthen your character, so that you can face even harder bosses. Lost Ark has absolutely optimized this concept and made it very fun.
It can therefore be said that Lost Ark is a good game and a great MMORPG, but even Arkesia is not without problems. More on that later.
Long Waiting Times at Launch
This is how the launch of Lost Ark went: The rush to Lost Ark at release was massive. On launch day, 1,324,761 people played the new MMORPG simultaneously. It breaks records of genre colleagues like New World (via SteamDB).
It even surpasses Dota 2 and CSGO with this massive number of concurrent players and is therefore in second place of Steam games with the most users ever online at the same time. Currently, it is only surpassed by PUBG.
However, having so many people wanting to play the new MMORPG simultaneously overwhelmed the publishers and developers. They were expecting approximately 200,000 concurrent fans at launch. Accordingly, the servers were overloaded and there were long waiting times.
Amazon reacted quickly and promptly launched new servers, but even these could not handle the massive influx of new players. For over a week, Lost Ark continued to record over a million concurrent fans daily, which is reflected in the game’s stability.
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In this podcast, the MeinMMO editorial team discusses how Lost Ark feels after 30, 60, and 120 hours.
So, in the first two weeks of Lost Ark, there were waiting times of more than 5 hours, and even when you finally logged in, the game hardly ran smoothly. The matchmaking, which is necessary for dungeons and raids, barely functioned and often didn’t work at all.
This led to waiting players watching the MMORPG on Twitch, where it also broke records from WoW and New World. Over a million fans watched on Twitch in the Lost Ark category, over 400,000 of them alone with MMORPG icon Asmongold. Thus, Lost Ark became the largest category on Twitch, ahead of LoL and Just Chatting.
Currently, the matchmaking and shop problems are no longer significant, and the waiting times are not noteworthy long anymore, if they still exist at all. On the unofficial German server Asta, our editorial team has not encountered a queue in the last 7 days.
This is the current state: As of March 8th, exactly one month after release, the 24-hour peak still shows 828,854 people online in Lost Ark at the same time. Of these, 617,866 are online at 3:00 PM, which does not match any peak of any region.
This figure of about 800,000 concurrent players per day has remained very stable for two weeks. So, primarily, people have disappeared right after the start. Furthermore, over a million accounts have now been banned by Amazon.
The current numbers of Lost Ark
Currently, Lost Ark is still doing really well. It currently ranks third among games with the most concurrent players on Steam, placing it behind CSGO and Elden Ring but still ahead of Dota 2, GTA 5, or Apex Legends.
Exactly one month after release, Amazon and Smilegate continue to announce that Lost Ark now has 20 million registered accounts worldwide. A number with which the developers only counted on by the end of the year. In December 2021, it was still communicated at an event that 10 million people had registered for Lost Ark in total.
The release in the West caused player numbers worldwide to double in just one month.
What accounts for the current numbers? It is quite normal for a game with such an enormous initial hype to see player numbers fall quickly. But what reasons are there that Lost Ark has lost comparatively few fans after a month?
With over 1.3 million people at release, there were also many people who just wanted to try the free-to-play game and quickly realized that they were not enjoying it. A million banned bots and further users who no longer enjoyed the game have then fallen away, resulting in the current figure of about 800,000 concurrent players.
However, Lost Ark does not have one critical problem that other MMORPGs like Swords of Legends Online and New World faced after a month. Because Lost Ark offers enough endgame content to keep players entertained. Even if you play actively, after a month, you have still not experienced everything Lost Ark has to offer.
Start video
Everything you need to know about Lost Ark’s endgame – in the video
At this point, there are still not even players who have reached the maximum level of 60, let alone have people already seen all the content. This ensures that users who enjoy Lost Ark currently have no reason to leave the MMORPG.
This also explains the still very high player count of Lost Ark, which has decreased but remains above average high for an MMORPG after one month.
But Lost Ark is not perfect
What problems still exist? Due to the fact that Lost Ark has been around for several years already and the major server issues have now been fixed, the game runs relatively smoothly overall. However, one major problem at the moment is the bots that have been mentioned several times.
Especially in the starting areas, Lost Ark is overrun by automated characters. Currently, when you create a new character and level them up slowly, you see more bots than real players in the initial areas.
It gets even worse when you open the chat. There, the bots spam their dubious gold offers. Although Amazon has already reacted, they currently seem not to have control of the situation.
They seemingly catch the majority of bots before they reach endgame, but the experience for new players suffers enormously due to the automated characters. Especially in quests where you have to kill certain monsters, you are practically forced to race against the bots.
Amazon is currently considering a transition concept that envisions new accounts being able to chat only after level 35. While this idea would relieve the chat, the “new player experience” would not be improved by it.
Aside from that, Lost Ark has few technical issues. Weekly, Amazon releases updates in balance and other fixes that usually resolve the smaller issues. So far, there have been no serious bugs.
Another major topic in the Western community is the Lost Ark shop. In addition to the Crystal Aura, tangible bonuses and upgrade materials can be purchased for real money. However, these can also be earned with in-game currency, which means you are never forced to spend money.
Nevertheless, some fans label the shop as pay-to-win, while others believe it is at most pay-to-progress. So, the definition lies more in your personal perception of pay-to-win.
What do the players say about it? The Lost Ark reddit is large and well-frequented. Various topics are discussed that deal with the MMORPG. Many of them are speculations on new content and the wish for new skins.
We have picked out some comments that represent the current state of the Lost Ark community fairly well.
AlexanderLEE27 writes: “I am having such a hard time even getting to level 50. You all say endgame is great, but how am I supposed to get there? I’m currently at level 32 and want to bang my head against the wall. The whole leveling process is just so annoying, and I have to hold myself back from falling asleep.” (via reddit)
Whittaker finds bots annoying: “I tabbed out for a second to look something up. I stood in one of the starting areas, and in just a few minutes I saw at least 200 bots. The fact that they use speed and teleport hacks makes it even more obvious. And that’s just one channel on one server in one region. The number of bots is really crazy.” (via reddit)
Kenna2 is simply thrilled: “Have you seen the cutscenes in Lost Ark? This MMORPG is a masterpiece. I watch every single cutscene, and the feeling is just epic. I am deeply impressed by Lost Ark and its staging.” (via reddit)
Lost Ark – Conclusion after one month
If you are currently in Lost Ark and dealing with the game, a very clear picture of the MMORPG emerges. Even a month later, the success is still great and the content is manifold. Whether Lost Ark can continue to be so successful once the content from Korea no longer comes quickly enough is hard to say at this point.
The preliminary conclusion is as follows:
Pro
Fresh thanks to iso perspective
Good and dynamic combat system
Many options for character development and optimization
Weekly updates and a lot of content that can still come
Player numbers still really strong
Servers now run stably
A lot of endgame content
Free2Play – Just give it a try!
Contra
Many bots in early game
It takes a long time to get into the swing of things
Endgame consists of grinding for better gear
In the endgame, it’s only sparsely suitable for solo players
Daily tasks require a lot of time
Controversial in-game shop
In conclusion, we can say that Lost Ark is still doing very well a month after release. The servers are adequately filled, and you never have to wait for players for content, but there are not so many people that you have to stand in queues. Overall, the player numbers look really strong.
Many of the problems that the game had at launch are now a thing of the past. Amazon has done a great job here and has resolved many of the toughest issues. Nevertheless, there are still problems with cheaters and bots that developers and publishers need to address.
The overall player experience of Lost Ark currently has problems primarily at the beginning. The game takes a while to pick up speed, and the bots that populate the starter areas do not make it better. However, once you reach a certain level, you can have a lot of fun with Lost Ark in the long term.
Lost Ark had a phenomenally good start on Steam and still stands out above average a month later. Amazon must now react and continue delivering content, as well as get the problem with bots under control. Also, a roadmap is still pending, although players are slowly becoming impatient.
This roadmap should, however, come soon; if we keep an eye on Lost Ark’s tweets, we should learn in March how it will move forward in the MMORPG.
For those who are not bothered by the Asian aesthetics and grind, Lost Ark definitely has the potential to become a new favorite game that can accompany you for several thousand hours and provide you with lots of content.
What do you think? Have you played Lost Ark or are you still playing it? What level are you at and what is your favorite activity in endgame? Feel free to let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO.
MeinMMO spoke with the developers of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands about the endgame of the crazy Borderlands shooter with a fantasy setting. And as expected, it gets wild.
Here’s what it’s about:
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a spin-off of the Borderlands series and is set to be released on March 25, 2022
Publisher 2K let us play for a few hours and organized an interview with the developers
In the interview, we talked about the endgame, unicorns, rabbits, and plenty of chaos
Wonderlands tells psychotic fantasy stories of madness
How does the game play? In Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, you experience a wacky fantasy story and are a character on a game board – Dungeon Master Tiny Tina provides the extra kick of insanity.
As the story progresses, you visit several worlds with different sub-settings: There’s a pirate world, an area full of goblins and dragons, or the standard castle setting with knight stuff.
For a deeper insight into the game, check out our video on Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands:
Start video
Everything you need to know about Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – in 3 minutes
But what happens when you visit all the Wonderlands and finish the story? MeinMMO spoke with Wonderlands developers about the endgame and can tell you: Just like in the previous parts of the Borderlands series, there is still plenty to do in Wonderlands.
20 chaos levels increase the difficulty
Myth ranks improve your character’s stats
Build optimization through targeted loot
Chaos chambers generate random dungeons
In the following sections, you will learn what the endgame of the wacky fantasy shooter has to offer. Here you can find our short preview report on the demo:
Who did you speak with? The interview focused entirely on the endgame of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and 2 developers answered our questions:
Matt Cox
Creative Director
Kent Rochefort
Lead Designer – Chaos Chamber
When does the endgame start? The endgame theoretically starts upon completion of the story. However, if you are not yet at max level 40, it is more of an endgame-light.
At that point, you can still play more worlds that you haven’t encountered yet or grind side quests in familiar areas until you reach max level.
Once you reach 40, then the “chaos” is worth it! The developers explained to us that the “Chaos Chamber” and the “Chaos Levels” make up most of the endgame content.
There are many Wonderlands to discover.
How is the endgame structured? Instead of relying on several different activities like Borderlands 3, Wonderlands eliminates many of these features and solely relies on “Chaos Chambers”.
The chambers feel like a mix of the endgame activities from Borderlands 3 – except for the “True Vaulthunter Mode”. New Game+ is not offered in Wonderlands – but you can set a high difficulty from the start (or a low one).
In the “Chaos Chambers”, you play through random dungeons and collect crystals, which you can exchange at the end of a run for the type of loot you are currently hunting for. In the next sections, we will delve deeper into the dungeons and targeted loot.
Also on board are the “Guardian Ranks” from Borderlands 3, with which you can specifically enhance individual character attributes – in Wonderlands this is called “Myth Ranks”.
Additionally, you can increase the difficulty with the “Chaos Levels” even further once you have unlocked the corresponding level through the “Chaos Chambers”.
The “Chaos Chambers” are random dungeons with bosses
How do the Chaos Chambers work? These “chambers” are central to the endgame of Wonderlands. The activity transports you to randomly generated dungeons, each with its own enemies and flow.
Different rooms are chained together and filled with various threats that you may already know from other areas. A normal run takes about 20 to 30 minutes and you have 3 lives to get through.
At the end of each room, you must choose between 2 portals, and your choice affects how things proceed. You can also decide whether to activate curses or boons.
In the Chaos Chambers, you encounter familiar enemies teaming up with other “armies”.
A curse increases the difficulty, but also your reward in the form of crystals. You use these crystals at the end of a run to request specific loot – the more you have, the more loot you get.
During the run, you can also use the crystals to activate boons to secure advantages. This makes the dungeon easier, but you will have fewer crystals for loot.
At the end of a run, you will face boss fights, which are sometimes hidden by puzzles.
For the bosses, the developers focus on more action and expand the mechanics so that you have to move and dodge more while beating down the boss’s health points.
We are embedding a short trailer of the “Chaos Chambers” with gameplay here:
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Lead designer Kent Rochefort stated that the developers aimed to create a kind of “chaotic randomness” to make the dungeons feel different and new each time. Overall, you can choose from 4 versions:
Normal run
Extended run
Featured run
Chaos Trial
The normal run consists of 6 dungeon rooms, a mini-boss room, and a boss room at the end. In the extended run, there are already 12 rooms.
The “featured” run is a community activity: For a week, the featured run is the same for all players and not random. Things like damage, used builds, or completion time can be compared.
With the “Chaos Trials”, you find another random dungeon that can increase your chaos level. This works similarly to Borderlands 3 with the “Mayhem Mode”.
With the chaos levels, the world and chaos chambers become more challenging and rewarding.
If you unlock a chaos level, you can increase the chaos level at any time, which raises the difficulty of enemies in the “Chaos Chamber” dungeons and in the rest of the world and improves the loot you find.
After that, you need to play another “Chaos Trial” to reach the next level.
At launch, you can go up to Chaos Level 20. With later updates, the max level will be increased. Creative Director Matt Cox explained to us that the chaos levels are designed in such a way that they can theoretically be increased infinitely.
Summary of Chaos Chambers
Random dungeons with varying lengths and enemies
At least one mini-boss and one main boss
Collecting crystals throughout a run
Crystals can be exchanged for gear
Curses bring more crystals but make the run harder
Boons cost crystals but make the run easier
Targeted loot through “rabbit totems”
Moon orbs allow modification of found gear
Chaos levels can be unlocked through “Chaos Trials”
Activated chaos levels improve loot – chaos gear
In the interview, we jokingly showed some disappointment that “rabbits” distribute the best loot. We would have preferred the “skag” – a loot-spitting unicorn from the “Borderlands 2” DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep.
However, Creative Director Matt Cox was able to reassure us: “You will see plenty of skags in the game, so don’t worry.” However, we are now more concerned than before – but in a good way.
Fortunately, skag is back and even has its own castle.
That was the big overview of the endgame of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. If you have any questions on the topic, feel free to ask. We are happy to clarify any uncertainties and can also request further details from the developers.
As soon as a new expansion of World of Warcraft launches, everything that came before is quickly forgotten. This is a shame, says MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus, who wants to remind you of some strong NPCs from the past.
Warcraft has produced a number of strong women who have made a name for themselves. The major characters of the fantasy universe are known to everyone. The icy Lord Admiral of Kul Tiras, Jaina Proudmoore, for example, has been with us since the strategy games. We have even provided you with a detailed portrait of Jaina with her entire history.
Even those NPCs who have made a transition to antagonist and back are known even outside of WoW. The journey of Sylvanas Windrunner is something many fans and players are likely to have followed.
But when characters in WoW don’t play a recurring, major role, they often quickly fall into obscurity. Unjustly so, as many of them have a great story that shouldn’t be forgotten.
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Everything you need to know about the MMORPG World of Warcraft – in 3 minutes
Vanessa VanCleef, the daughter of the greatest villain of Azeroth
At least for Alliance players, the name VanCleef should ring a bell. Edwin has been the final boss in the Deadmines since Classic, one of the most famous instances of WoW and traditionally the first dungeon for Alliance members.
Who is Edwin VanCleef and why is he important? Edwin led the stone masons’ guild of Stormwind, which was involved in a larger intrigue. After not receiving payment, there were riots during which Tiffin Wrynn, the mother of the current king Anduin, died. The Defias later caused the kidnapping of the king, and VanCleef, as leader, was soon declared the greatest threat to Stormwind.
After his official demise, his daughter Vanessa took over the mines – along with a complete rework and even a heroic mode of the instance. Unlike her father, she fights more with poisons and less in close combat.
Kearnen is murdered before she can deliver her message. Only her corpse is found and then her mission is finished – but only rogue players notice this. In her afterlife in Shadowlands, you can then report to her that her death was not in vain:
For a character so unknown and seemingly “unimportant,” Kearnen has many appearances in WoW and keeps coming back. Her death, which was probably just as unnoticed, feels unfair, but is probably the fate of a secret agent. Nevertheless, it is something that should not be forgotten.
Which characters from WoW do you think should not be forgotten?
However, there is more behind the new boss of the Deadmines. Vanessa had to watch her father be beheaded and fled. The farm couple Saldean took in the little “Hope” and raised her, not knowing whose daughter she is.
Who would have expected that Hope is the daughter of VanCleef?Vanessa fights with poisons and fear gas – like Scarecrow from the Batman series. Image source: wowhead.
Vanessa continuously worked to become the new leader of the Defias – which she succeeded in. At least until she was defeated again by rogue players in Legion after her faked death.
Here she makes her last appearance for now, as champion of the Uncrowned, an association of rogues that secretly steers the fate of the world. But apart from rogues, unfortunately no one really notices this…
Stirring up the war between Alliance and Horde: Lady Katrana Prestor
That the Horde and Alliance still hate each other after such a long time is largely thanks to Lady Prestor. The supposed noblewoman served as an advisor in Stormwind in the absence of the king.
Katrana Prestor is the alias for Onyxia, the broodmother of the black dragonflight. She is the daughter of Deathwing, who reshaped the entire world during Cataclysm. However, as administrator, she already caused intrigue in Stormwind.
Katrana Prestor also had an appearance in Hearthstone.
She orchestrated that the stone masons (yes, the ones from VanCleef) did not receive payment, resulting in the queen dying and the entire kingdom being destabilized. Consequently, Varian Wrynn, the king of Stormwind, was kidnapped – by the way, one of the most epic questlines of WoW.
This led to further tensions and ultimately to a prolonged war between the Horde and Alliance, as Varian could no longer meet with the Horde leader Thrall for negotiations. Onyxia’s motive: she saw the humans as a huge threat to the dragons.
The dragon mother herself remained active only in the background until she was unmasked. After that, she became the first raid boss in WoW ever, for whom a lengthy preparation quest was required.
Onyxia had another appearance in Cataclysm when she was resurrected as an undead dragon mother and made her last appearance as a skeleton in Legion. Diminished to a crafting material for a sad cloak, she fell into oblivion.
Taretha Foxton – The reason why the Horde even exists
One of the perhaps most important characters in the Warcraft story has only a single, tiny appearance in WoW. Taretha Foxton is a human woman who can be found in the Caverns of Time while Thrall is being freed.
In the game itself, you learn little about her. But Taretha was instrumental in helping Thrall escape the captivity of the evil Lord Blackmoore. Without her, the orc would likely have died, and the Horde would never have come into being in its current form.
Taretha was a mistress of Lord Blackmoore, who, as the daughter of two of his servants, was essentially his property. She was abused from a young age and worse. Her friendship with Thrall helped both her and the orc to endure.
Taretha did not even receive a special model in WoW… Image source: WoWPedia
After Blackmoore could uncover all this, he tried to blackmail Thrall with Taretha. However, Taretha was willing to sacrifice herself and was executed for her friendship with the orc after a short and unhappy life, before she really became an adult.
All the information about her background can only be found in the books about Warcraft and are at best hinted at in the game. However, I always get a lump in my throat when I see Taretha in the Caverns of Time. Unfortunately, only a few can understand why.
Yrel, the fanatical Light believer
The Draenei from Draenor are likely the woman on this list that most people remember. Yrel played a major role during Warlords of Draenor as a young slave who is freed right at the start.
Throughout the expansion, she evolves into a determined fighter and ultimately becomes a defender of the Light, who goes into battle against the warmongers of the Iron Horde.
She helped, among other things, to finally defeat Archimonde, one of the main antagonists in WoW. From the former priestess and then slave, she becomes an Exarch who soon leads the entire Draenei people – at least in the alternate Draenor.
Yrel became quite … radical after WoD.
Here she plays a role for the Horde again, as the Draenei under Yrel become fanatical. They fight alongside some orcs against anyone who does not believe in the Light. This leads to a battle against the remaining Mag’har on Draenor, who then flee and join the Horde on Azeroth.
As Yrel, along with her followers of the Light, is in an alternate timeline, she currently plays no role anymore. It’s a shame considering how important she used to be. But maybe that will change. The announcement of the next addon is coming up and maybe old acquaintances will return there.
The conclusion of the list is a woman whom most have heard little about for good reason. Amber Kearnen was an agent of SI:7, the intelligence service of Stormwind.
As Alliance players, you meet her more often in various areas to complete quests for her or with her. She appears as a tough woman and first-class marksman, who has personally grown very dear to me.
What makes her so special: Her development could be followed since Classic. She got better and better and played important roles time and again. Someone with whom you, as a hero, grow together. She appeared in Classic, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor, Legion, and even the current Shadowlands.
Kearnen’s corpse: a cowardly knife in the back …The reunion in Shadowlands is emotional.
Her tragic, preliminary end comes in Legion. There she has important information regarding the Dreadlords, who undermine Stormwind. Only through her can Stormwind and thereby presumably the Alliance be saved from the Legion’s attack.
Kearnen is murdered before she can deliver her message. Only her corpse is found and then her mission is finished – but only rogue players notice this. In her afterlife in Shadowlands, you can then report to her that her death was not in vain:
For a character so unknown and seemingly “unimportant,” Kearnen has many appearances in WoW and keeps coming back. Her death, which was probably just as unnoticed, feels unfair, but is probably the fate of a secret agent. Nevertheless, it is something that should not be forgotten.
Which characters from WoW do you think should not be forgotten?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
