The press embargo for Elden Ring has been lifted and the first reviews have appeared. Those who checked the interim status on Metacritic might have rubbed their eyes. Critics are overflowing with praise, crowning the game as one of the best of all time.
On Metacritic, the popular review aggregation site, Elden Ring currently has a score of up to 97. This makes FromSoftware’s action RPG one of the best games of all time – it currently sits at number 8 on the Metacritic Hall of Fame.
On the PS4 and PS5, the game has a rating of 97 with currently 37 reviews (via Metacritic)
On the Xbox, the game has a rating of 95 with currently 8 reviews (via Metacritic)
On PC, the game has a rating of 95 with currently 33 reviews (via Metacritic)
Even though these numbers may change over the days and weeks, it is an impressive success for Elden Ring.
Even in the MeinMMO editorial team, the game is received excellently:
These are the scores for Elden Ring: In the following overview, you will find several publications from around the world and their ratings (via Twitter).
Critics express their enthusiasm not just in numbers.
In particular, the open world is highly praised. Most reviews describe it as at least equal to that of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The combat system is also said to be, as expected, excellent. Additionally, the game shines with higher accessibility compared to other FromSoftware games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro.
The colleagues from GameStar give the game the second-best grade they have ever given in their history. You can see their test in the video here:
Michael Obermeier from GameStar writes:
For me, Elden Ring opens not only the once niche genre of Soulsborne games to a whole new audience but also shows the assembled competition what makes a good open world. And that hopefully sets a precedent.
Jason Schreier from Bloomberg also writes, for example:
Elden Ring is one of the best games I’ve ever played. It combines the wonder of Breath of the Wild with the intricate design of Dark Souls. It is more accessible than previous FromSoftware games, but just as thrilling, challenging, and haunting. An enormous achievement.
There is hardly any criticism. Only the PC performance is widely criticized, but the Day 1 patch is expected to bring improvements. Occasionally, poorly explained mechanics are also seen as a negative point.
It’s now common for there to be large marketing campaigns around the release of big games. In the latest one, Elden Ring and publisher Bandai Namco have a special opportunity for 100 players: They can earn a title and a small piece of land in Scotland.
What is this action about? Yes, this is completely serious. 100 players have the chance to win an official title and land in Scotland. At least that’s what the colleagues from VGC.com report.
The background of the contest is the storyline of Elden Ring. You play the role of the Tarnished, who is tasked with reassembling the shattered Elden Ring and ascending to become the Elden Lord or Elden Lady.
Through this action, players can essentially become “real” Elden Lords and Ladies. They don’t even have to do much and they’re helping a good cause.
Start video
Everything you need to know about Elden Ring – in 2 minutes
100 players can become Elden Lords and Ladies – and even do something good in the process
How does it work? The action is a raffle by Bandai Namco in collaboration with Highland Titles.
In this, 100 selected players will ultimately receive the title “Lord” or “Lady” and become “owners” of a small piece of land.
Can anyone in Germany participate? Unfortunately not. Participants must be from the UK or Ireland and provide a reason why they deserve the title and land, simply send it to the appropriate email and hope to be selected: [email protected].
What is Highland Titles? This is a Scottish platform that sells real titles and associated plots of land in the Highlands of Scotland.
Anyone can actually buy a title, regardless of where they live. The website even has a German version. These plots do not serve as residences.
It is much more of a program that protects the landscape from destruction, as it constitutes private property.
The proceeds from purchased titles and mini-plots go into nature conservation.
Here you see the package that winners will receive.
Therefore, one cannot really speak of true ownership here, but rather of a right of use: “You receive a personal right to a plot of land and our permission to use our registered trademarks Laird, Lord, and Lady of Glencoe.”
You can essentially do whatever you want with the land, within normal legal limits,” says Highland Titles. “We also retain rights to prevent the land from being used for hunting and shooting. The land can only be used for conservation purposes.
The use is thus limited to the pure purpose of preserving the nature there. You cannot build a villa on your Scottish plot, but only contribute to the preservation of nature. Additionally, one can visit the respective reserves and inspect their plot there.
The areas are a maximum of 9.2 square meters in size. So there isn’t much building space at all.
What does the title of Lord or Lady bring? The titles may be officially used, but are rather a gimmick and provide no real benefits. But hey, you officially get to call yourself Lord or Lady of Glencoe.
When does the contest start? It starts with the release of Elden Ring on February 25 and runs for 2 weeks, until March 11.
What’s happening in Elden Ring? Since today, January 25, the official release of the action RPG has occurred and there are extensive reviews of the action RPG. On Metacritic, Elden Ring received fantastic ratings at launch and had a score of a whopping 97 around 5 PM.
There is plenty of praise for the game world, but the gameplay and enhanced mechanics have also received great acclaim from critics. However, Steam players are not as enthusiastic. They criticize technical problems and give considerably more mediocre ratings.
Developer FromSoftware and publisher Bandai Namco have already addressed the issues and apologized. Additionally, they spoke about upcoming fixes in the next patch.
The gaming publisher Activision Blizzard has commented on a report by arguably the world’s most renowned gaming insider, Jason Schreier. According to him, there will be no new Call of Duty in 2023. Activision Blizzard has partially contradicted this.
What kind of rumor is this? The probably most renowned gaming journalist worldwide is Jason Schreier. He is known for his major insider reports on the development of games like Anthem, Cyberpunk 2077, or Destiny 2. Whether you like him or not, he is considered to be exceptionally well-informed and connected. Apparently, many dissatisfied game developers at major studios turn to him, as he guarantees them anonymity and reach for their issues.
Yesterday, Schreier cited anonymous sources: According to them, for the first time in more than 17 years, there would be no new Call of Duty in 2023. The shooter originally planned for 2023 by Treyarch has been postponed to 2024. This information was provided to Schreier by his anonymous sources.
Activision Blizzard: “Exciting offer for 2022, 2023, 2024”
This is the statement from Activision Blizzard: Activision Blizzard has now issued the following statement.
We have an exciting offer of premium and free Call of Duty experiences for this, next, and the year after. Reports stating otherwise are false. We look forward to sharing more details with you when the time is right.
Activision Blizzard
“A denial that denies nothing”
What is the problem? The statement from Activision Blizzard does not say that a new Call of Duty game will be released in 2023. They only state that “exciting premium and Free2Play experiences for Call of Duty will come out.”
Reports saying otherwise would be incorrect – but that is not what Schreier said either. It was not stated that “nothing” is coming for Call of Duty, only that no new game is being released.
So it’s not a real denial. If you take the statement from Activision Blizzard at face value, it means that something related to Call of Duty will appear in 2022, 2023, and 2024, but not necessarily a new full-price game every year.
Schreier stands by his statement and gets more specific.
Schreier says: More DLCs for the then new CoD: Modern Warfare will come in 2023
This is what Jason Schreier says: Schreier, the one the statement is actually about, called the statement a “non-denial denial”; a denial that denies nothing. He sees nothing that contradicts his statements.
He is now getting more specific:
Activision Blizzard had several meetings yesterday regarding the news
It sounds as if the plans for 2023 are still nebulous
Even two weeks after the release, Lost Ark is still plagued by technical difficulties. The community is particularly upset about the Crystalline Aura, which is paid for but is constantly missing. We from MeinMMO summarize.
What is the problem with the premium service? The MMORPG Lost Ark is actually and fundamentally Free2Play. You can enjoy the game without having to spend money, and even the Pay2Win items in the shop are manageable.
However, there is an optional premium service in the game, the Crystalline Aura, which provides you with tangible advantages. It costs about 10 Euros per month and can also be earned with in-game currency. Additionally, the aura was part of all pre-order packages.
Furthermore, Amazon offered 3 days of Crystalline Aura as compensation for previous problems. One can therefore assume that a large part of the player base currently has access to the premium service.
But we speak in the subjunctive because the premium service often simply does not work. Already since the soft-launch on February 8 and even worse after the actual launch, the MMORPG has had severe issues with the shop system.
For many players, the Crystalline Aura is often inactive for days or is displayed as active, yet does not provide the promised benefits.
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In this podcast, the MeinMMO team discusses how Lost Ark feels after 30, 60, and 120 hours.
How often does the problem occur? This varies greatly and apparently is not server-dependent. While some users experience everything functioning normally, the aura is missing for other people on the same server at the same time.
This is extremely annoying because teleporting then suddenly costs silver, while it is completely free with an active aura. Even upgrading your own island takes longer without the premium service.
MeinMMO author Mark Sellner has faced the issue nearly every day for over a week. Even when the aura occasionally works, it usually doesn’t last long. Also, when you ask around in the community, it seems the problem occurs very frequently and affects many players, and they’re getting really frustrated.
“Are there no compensations for this?”
How are the players reacting? Initially, the reactions to the missing aura were often characterized by understanding. This was mainly because Amazon consistently communicated that they were aware of the problem and were working on it.
Currently, there have already been several updates that were supposed to solve the problem, but even after the latest patch on February 24, the error persists. Slowly, this is testing the patience of the community, which can also be seen in the comments in the forum and on Twitter.
The fans are annoyed that their paid bonuses continue to expire without them even being there or being able to use them. Apart from the initial 3 extra days of Crystalline Aura, Amazon has not announced any further compensations.
This goes so far that some players extend this issue to the queues. In the forum, sentences like: “I have 10,000 people in the queue every day, and in the 1 to 2 hours that remain to play, the aura is not active. Basically, we are missing numerous whole days of Crystalline Aura”
Amazon has already announced that they are still working on the issue in collaboration with Smilegate. When the next potential fix is due, however, remains unknown at this time.
What do the fans say? The mere announcement of the last patch on Twitter on February 24 managed to gather over 800 comments, many of which are negative and revolve around the issue.
TraXim writes: “Sorry, but how could you ruin this? The aura doesn’t work properly, the matchmaking doesn’t work at all, and the game is unplayable even after the hotfix.”
Slid3rek writes: “The aura is not working again on the EU servers. I just want to remind you that this is a paid service that most of the time doesn’t work. I’ve lost so much silver because of it…”
Even KanJacca is disappointed: “The Crystalline Aura is already out again. I appreciate how much effort you put into improving things. But it’s so annoying to not have access to content that you’ve already paid for and not receive any compensation for it.”
What exactly does the Crystalline Aura bring? The following advantages come with the premium service in detail:
No costs for using Triports
50% discount on the Ocean Liner
A premium title
Daily interactions with NPCs +1
Life skill point regeneration +10%
2 additional Bifrost slots
-50% cooldown on the song of return
Waiting times in the fortress -10%
Fortress energy regeneration +10%
More EXP
What do you think of Amazon’s current efforts? Is the publisher doing enough to get the game back on track, or are you currently just as annoyed by the bugs? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
Ukrainian Oleksandr “s1imple” Kostliev (24) is the best “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” player in the world. He is an AWPer for the team Natus Vincere, the current world champions in CS:GO (Steam), and he was awarded by the leading eSports site for CS:GO as the best player in the world. Last night, s1imple made a desperate plea to Russia: Please, please, stop, I can’t take it anymore, we all need peace. This is not CoD Warzone, this is reality.
Who is s1mple?
The 24-year-old Ukrainian is a stoic type who has long been considered the best or at least the second-best CS:GO player in the world. Over the years, there have always been discussions about whether he is the best or his rival, a Frenchman, but in 2021, s1mple won the world championship title and is currently leading once again.
s1imple streams occasionally on Twitch, he is rarely seen there, but when he does stream, it is an event. In one scene, he was so caught up in professional gaming, that he forgot he was alone in his room. He started giving his professional teammates commands next to him, even though they were not there. He had a brief lapse and thought he was in a match. The Ukrainian has been banned multiple times on Twitch because he used a word in his language that he believes is perfectly fine, but which Twitch sees as a terrible swear word.
However, yesterday there were no jokes and good mood. s1mple reached out to the world public with pleading tweets. His homeland is under attack.
s1imple tweeted yesterday: Actually, s1mple has been in a good mood on Twitter lately: On February 21, he proudly showed off his award as the best CS:GO player in the world from HLTV.org. He shared pictures of himself and teammates, joked around, and was in a good mood.
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The best player in the world, according to experts.
This changed abruptly with the escalation of the Ukraine conflict yesterday, Wednesday afternoon. The first tweet was still: “This news is exhausting me.”
Then he pleaded in Russian: “Please, please, stop, I can’t take it anymore, we all need peace.”
In the afternoon, the tweet came: “They are dropping bombs on my city” – s1mple hails from Kyiv.
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“We cannot pretend that everything is okay – It is not”
This is what his team says: s1mple plays for the world champion in CS:GO, Natus Vincere, a team made up of 3 Russians and 3 Ukrainians. They are also reaching out to their fans and saying: “We cannot possibly pretend that everything is okay. It is not. We are devastated.”
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Here are the reactions: The appeal in Russian to end the war has now received 70,000 likes and over 6,000 retweets.
For many following CS:GO and gaming, Ukraine and Russia feel far away. However, because someone they know, like s1mple, is so directly affected, it becomes evidently more real.
Time and again, catastrophic events in the real world also reach players in MMORPGs:
The tweet about bombs being dropped on Kyiv has even garnered more attention.
Our expertise at MeinMMO pertains to gaming. Anyone wanting to learn more about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is advised to check official sources or news magazines for information:
– Putin attacks Ukraine (via spiegel-online) – War in Ukraine: Russian troops take over Chernobyl, Great Britain decides on extensive sanctions against Russia (via nzz) – Vote in the Russia crisis (via auswaertiges-amt )
Many wish for s1mple and his family to be safe. People are reassuring each other that s1mple is currently in Katowice, Poland, but overall there is a somber atmosphere on social media.
For many following CS:GO and gaming, Ukraine and Russia feel far away. However, because someone they know, like s1mple, is so directly affected, it becomes evidently more real.
Time and again, catastrophic events in the real world also reach players in MMORPGs:
The manufacturer Roccat has introduced its latest gaming mouse. This is the Roccat Kone XP. MeinMMO presents all the details.
The manufacturer Roccat has introduced a new gaming mouse with the Roccat Kone XP. According to Roccat, it is the spiritual successor to the Roccat Kone Aimo Remastered. This is an all-round mouse aimed at a wide group of users.
We still consider Roccat’s Kone Aimo Remastered to be one of the best gaming mice you can currently buy. MeinMMO introduces what the new mouse from Roccat is capable of.
The Kone XP is the successor to the Roccat Kone Aimo Remastered
Roccat describes the Kone XP as a “hybrid mouse” that should be suitable for all areas of use. You should be able to play shooters as easily with the mouse as you can play complex MMOs. Furthermore, the mouse should also work well in a home office.
What does the mouse offer? The mouse offers you 15 buttons, to which you can assign up to 29 different functions. The weight is around 100 grams, making it about 20 grams lighter than the Roccat Kone Aimo Remastered or the Logitech G502 Hero.
The mouse uses a transparent design in contrast to the Aimo Remastered.
Inside, Roccat has again installed its proprietary optical Owl-Eye sensor, which is based on PixArt’s PAW3370.
On the outside, it adopts a transparent design, which Roccat had also used for the Kone Pro and Kone Air. Roccat opts for maximum transparency, which may be quite a change for many users.
What is the price of the mouse? The mouse costs 89.99 Euros and is expected to be available from March 29, 2022. You can already pre-order the mouse.
Roccat could make its best gaming mouse even better
Roccat clearly compares its new Kone XP with the Roccat Kone Aimo Remastered. The manufacturer retains the ergonomics, but has made several changes to the design and especially to the internal components. These include new mouse switches, an improved cable, and especially a new mouse wheel. With these changes, Roccat could especially address the annoying issues of the Aimo Remastered.
Roccat compares the Kone XP with the Kone Aimo Remastered
What did not work with the predecessor? The Roccat Kone Aimo Remastered had a few annoying issues. Anyone who has used the mouse knows the frustrating scrolling problem with the mouse wheel. The cable is also very stiff and did not appeal to us during testing. You can read our test of the Roccat Kone Aimo Remastered here on MeinMMO.
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Two strong alternatives are currently available at a lower price
What alternatives are there? Currently, there are several alternatives if you’re looking for a strong all-round mouse for your games:
The Logitech G502 Hero is one of the most well-known all-rounders and offers good ergonomics, many buttons, and an optional weight system. The mouse is quite heavy at over 100 grams.
The SteelSeries Rival 5 is also an all-rounder. Weighing around 80 grams, the mouse is significantly lighter than the G502 or the new Roccat Kone XP. The ergonomics are primarily aimed at larger hands, making it difficult for smaller hands to reach all the buttons.
How the two alternatives perform in practice can also be read here on MeinMMO. We have extensively tested both the Rival 5 and the G502 Hero and will tell you which mouse we liked the most:
In Destiny 2 Guardians exploring the new Witch Queen location “Savathun’s Throne World” can discover several things. Among them are some hidden secrets, like the golden region chests that are not always easy to find. To help you reach your goal quickly, we have listed all the locations of the total of nine golden chests for you.
What are the region chests for? In Destiny 2, region chests are not just collectibles. Finding them all allows you to complete the Triumph “Rich Spoils” and also get some loot.
Additionally, the golden chests are also somewhat useful in the quests of the new Throne World vendor “Fynch”.
In the quest “Trust Goes Both Ways” you need to actively search for three group chests to progress.
In the quest “The Gift of Appreciation” you are to discover nine region chests. These are specifically the golden chests. If you’ve already discovered these beforehand, this step in the quest is completed by the way. If not, follow this guide.
Where can the region and group chests be found? While you can find regular boxes all over the Throne World, the region chests are a bit more hidden. In each area, Miasma, Mire, and Fluorescent Channel, there are only 3, which can only be opened once and then disappear.
Please note: You can only find the region chests if you have the Destiny 2 expansion “The Witch Queen” installed.
These are the locations of all region chests in Savathun’s Throne World.
Witch Queen Region Chests: All locations in the Mire
How many region chests are there in the Mire? Start in the Mire, the landing point in the new Throne World, where you can also visit the world vendor Fynch. In this swamp, you will find the first three region chests.
The first chest is located in the middle of the swamp area, where the quest “The Ghosts” starts. It is on a small plateau under a rock overhang.
For region chest 2, head to the bridge at the Fluorescent Channel. On the side towards the Mire, you need to jump, right at the bridge. The chest is located on a small, slightly set-back platform in the middle.
Region chest number 3 is located in the bottom right near a white building. You need to jump a bit and get to the hanging black lamp on the left building. From there you can access the roof, and the chest is located behind it.
To make it easier, we will embed a corresponding video that shows you the exact way to the region chests.
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Witch Queen Region Chests: Video about all locations in the Mire
Witch Queen Region Chests: All locations in the Fluorescent Channel
For the first region chest in the Fluorescent Channel, you need to go to the eastern side of the area. There are three tall buildings over a rock ledge. Here, a bit of jumping and climbing skills are required. Jump onto the adjacent building and then climb onto the roof of the middle building. The region chest hides on the back side.
Once you have this one, proceed to region chest number 2. It is just behind the first chest at the opulent waterfall statue. Carefully jump down to the base and collect the chest.
The last region chest in this area is located near the gate. Not hard to find if you just check behind the wall.
You can check out the exact way to all region chests in the Fluorescent Channel in the video by Woocoo.
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Witch Queen Region Chests: Video about all locations in the Fluorescent Channel
Witch Queen Region Chests: All locations in the Miasma
Chest 1 is located pretty much in the center of the area. There are usually a few Cabal enemies hanging around, apparently guarding Cabal technology. Once you arrive, you should also spot a cave entrance. Explore it and you will find the golden region chest.
The second chest leads you to the lower section of the Miasma area. There is a dilapidated Cabal building. The chest is located quite high up, so you need to jump up and around a bit. But at a certain height, you can already see the chest and know where to go.
Almost done. The last and third chest in the Miasma is to be searched again in a cave. On the eastern side, there is a pretty large cave entrance. Hard to miss.
You can check all three locations again in the video if it doesn’t work right away.
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Witch Queen Region Chests: Video about all locations in the Miasma
Have you discovered all the region chests yet? Or are these items something you no longer search for? Write us a comment about how you feel about hidden things and whether you would like to see more of them.
For all Guardians who want to know how to level up quickly and efficiently in Destiny 2, we have put together a short guide that reveals exactly that:
Twitch streamer JasonR is accused of sexism and misogyny. He allegedly mutes and ignores female players in games like Valorant. He is also said to leave games before they start when he discovers women in the game. For this, he is being heavily criticized, but his explanation for his behavior makes everything even more absurd: he isn’t avoiding women; his computer just crashes frequently.
Who is JasonR? Jason “JasonR” Ruchelski is a former CS:GO pro player who was part of OPTIC among others. He is 26 years old and has since become a streamer on Twitch. There, he often plays the team shooter Valorant and currently (as of February 24, 2022) has 894.083 followers on Twitch.
Twitch streamer allegedly leaves matches with women
What is he accused of doing? JasonR is currently again accused of sexism and disrespect towards women. Other streamers and pro gamers, such as ShaZam from the Sentinels, criticize JasonR’s alleged practice of actively muting and ignoring women in Valorant matches.
He is also said to engage in something called “Dodging.” This means that he suddenly leaves the game during character selection. This apparently happened often when he found out that women were present.
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He simply mutes every woman on his team in ranked, or he leaves the game when a woman is on his team. That’s not shit-talking; I’m just saying that’s strange behavior for me, and it’s not okay.
ShaZam about JasonR
In the past, there have been sexist incidents involving JasonR. He and his wife allegedly banned female viewers. In a now-deleted clip, JasonR reportedly made sexist comments (via reddit).
He said back then: “People need to understand that every damn girl on Twitch [is] a little damn whore.” For this, he promptly received a ban.
Twitch streamer JasonR justifies his behavior with respect for his wife
What are JasonR’s justifications? JasonR does not accept the accusations as they are. Instead, he claims the following in a stream:
How can I not respect women? I don’t talk to them. How can I not respect women? Sorry, I didn’t know it was disrespectful not to talk to them. […] Is this some new shit that you damn pussies are crying about?
He claims he ignores women only because it is respectful towards his wife.
He also asserts in another video (via youtube) that he did not intentionally leave the games. Rather, it was because his PC crashes so often. It had nothing to do with the presence of women in the game.
More interesting articles about streamers on MeinMMO:
What happens next? JasonR’s explanations do not seem to convince his critics. Pokimane writes on Twitter that it is clearly sexism and misogyny when women are explicitly excluded. She also brings many voices from the community that say pretty much the same.
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Treating people differently because of their gender is clearly the definition of sexism. Furthermore, it is unthinkable in other areas of the working world, for example, not attending meetings because women would be present and one is married after all.
It will be interesting to see how the situation develops. What do you think about the matter? Let us know in the comments.
There was also a similarly controversial situation surrounding streamer Ninja, who also does not want to play with women because he is married.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny 2 it is mainly difficult for new Guardians to figure out how to best increase their power level. Usually, the path to the power cap is long and arduous, but we will show you effective methods to get better equipment.
What is the power cap? The power cap is the second highest set light level that you can reach by collecting equipment. Each piece of equipment, whether armor or weapon, has a power level. To increase your power level, you need to be equipped with high-value gear.
Why do I need a high power level? A high light level grants you access to various activities. Raids, dungeons, and Nightfall Strikes have specific power level requirements, and some can only be entered if you have the right level. In challenging activities, there is also a chance to acquire the best loot and replenish your resource stocks, such as Ascendant Shards. So it’s worth knowing how to efficiently increase your level.
How to best reach the power cap
We will list five options here that will help you quickly and efficiently raise your power level.
[toc]
Reach the soft cap with blue loot
Before you can fight tough monsters, you should level up.
Before you tackle the pinnacle gear, you should reach the soft cap of Season 16. Here we summarize all important power caps:
Base: 1350 (previously 1100)
Soft Cap: 1500 (previously 1270)
Powerful Cap: 1550 (previously 1320)
Hard Cap: 1560 (previously 1330)
You can only start aiming for powerful items starting from the “Soft Cap”.
Why should I wait? Every player can easily reach the soft cap without powerful loot or pinnacle gear. Bungie has created blue engrams for this purpose. They drop everywhere from various sources and are designed to quickly get you to the soft cap.
So save the activities that provide pinnacle gear for when you aim for the power cap of 1550. The blue engrams won’t help you then.
If you want to learn more about Season 16, you can find out here:
What do the weekly challenges bring me? If you have reached the soft cap, the more challenging part of leveling up comes. You need to earn powerful engrams and pinnacle gear from various activities starting from a power level of 1550.
To do this, you must complete specific tasks and thus receive better loot. However, this loot is limited to a week. So if you have already gotten the loot for your guardian, you will need to wait for the weekly reset to earn it again.
What do I need to do for that? The tasks vary depending on the activity. In the Crucible, you need to play various matches in any playlists, and in the Strike, you need to reach 100,000 points in the Nightfall.
To find out what you need to do, you can access your map. Then select an activity and move your cursor over your selected mode. A description will then be revealed, detailing what you need to do for the better items.
Otherwise, you can also check the Weekly Reset on MeinMMO every week to see which activities still give you progress. We will always list the current pinnacle sources there.
Complete the Legendary Campaign
If you want better loot, become a legend.
Is there a guaranteed way to get good loot? For this, you should try the new campaign mode of Witch Queen. As a newcomer, it can be frustrating to get stuck on a mission for hours. However, upon completing the campaign on legendary, you will receive a complete equipment set of 1520 items and many upgrade modules to quickly update your top gear.
Iron Banner bounties and quest
Lord Saladin – One of the last Iron Lords.
When does the Iron Banner start? For Season 16, no exact roadmap is available, and therefore no specific start time for the PvP mode is known. However, one could assume that the Iron Banner would be held once a month, allowing the Guardians to forge their light.
What does Lord Saladin offer? Experience shows that Saladin not only gives you bounties that provide pinnacle gear but also a quest that rewards you with equipment for each completed step. The Iron Banner is tough, and the tasks are not easy, but they are worth it and provide a significant boost in terms of level.
Raids – Good loot for team players
This was Atheon, the 1st raid boss of Destiny.
What are raids? Raids are among the highlights in Destiny 2. With this 6-player activity, you are thrown into a combat scenario and must figure out with your team how to eliminate a threat to humanity.
The raid “Glass Chamber” takes the Guardians to Venus, where they must eliminate a massive Vex Mind. In doing so, players enter a place outside of space and time and must overcome mechanics like the Oracles; otherwise, they will be erased from the real world forever.
What do raids offer? After each completed encounter, you will be rewarded with weapons and armor. These usually have a higher power level and better stats than ordinary loot. Additionally, raid gear offers special weapons, perks, and armor for you.
If you have never completed a raid, join a clan. Many clans guide newcomers through raids and take the time to explain everything step-by-step.
You can also use these methods to reach the hard cap of 1560, so don’t worry.
What do you think of the tips? Do you find them helpful, or do you have your own tactic for leveling up your guardian? Let us know!
If you would like to vote on how the first hours of Witch Queen went for you, you can do so here:
Many players doubt that Shadowlands was really supposed to have just 2 patches. But the WoW chief firmly states: Yes, that was always the plan.
In World of Warcraft, Patch 9.2, Eternity’s End, has just launched. But this not only ends the Eternity, but also the saga surrounding Shadowlands. This is the final chapter of the expansion. In an interview, the WoW chief explained that this was indeed always intended – even if many players see it quite differently.
What’s going on with WoW? The wait for new content in WoW is over, because the new patch is being released today. But ever since Blizzard announced Patch 9.2, it has been clear to many players: Shadowlands has been trimmed. Actually, at least one more patch was planned, and Blizzard has “condensed” the expansion because it was so unpopular.
But the WoW chief insists: That wasn’t the case.
Ion Hazzikostas, the Game Director of World of Warcraft.
Who is speaking? Ion Hazzikostas, the Game Director of World of Warcraft. He is essentially the “WoW chief” and bears the responsibility for the larger decisions of the game. In an interview with VentureBeat magazine, he spoke about Patch 9.2 – and also about whether everything really went according to plan.
What did Hazzikostas say? The colleagues from VentureBeat asked whether there were ever plans for Patch 9.3 and whether this was a “similar situation as back in Warlords of Draenor,” where it would later be found that much content was cut. Hazzikostas replied:
This was always the plan. I have seen many speculations from content creators and others that Anduin was originally planned as the final boss of Patch 9.2 and that there should be a separate Patch 9.3. But no. It was always a story in three parts. The plan was always to explore the four areas of the Shadowlands, dive into the Maw, discover the power of domination, and then journey to the land of the First, Zereth Mortis.
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Everything you need to know about the MMORPG World of Warcraft – in 3 minutes
He further explains that there would also be hints of this in the game that can easily be recognized.
We planned the [design] of the city of Oribos long before the release of Shadowlands. There is this large gate, this mysterious portal in the Chamber of the Soulkeeper, which we always knew would eventually lead to Zereth Mortis. The pace and structure of the story is something that doesn’t necessarily have a fixed formula.
More news about World of Warcraft can be found here:
Hazzikostas further explains that additional patches sometimes distracted from the main story:
Sometimes in the past we had a mid-tier patch that felt more like a digression. It was like, “Okay, now we fight against Lei Shen and the Mogu in the middle of Pandaria, and then we go back to the Garrosh storyline.” Here in Shadowlands, in the realm of the afterlife, the Jailer was always the focus, and the hunt for the Jailer is the only thing we should really be concentrating on. The story went as intended, and I can’t wait for players to see the resolution of that in a few weeks.
What do you think? Do you believe Hazzikostas’ statements? Or does that just sound like “PR talk” to you?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Action-RPG Elden Ring is gathering extremely good ratings on Metacritic and particularly shines with its difficulty and open world. For MeinMMO author Irina Moritz, however, a small new feature was the highlight.
February 2022 is a nasty month, with a whole series of major releases like Lost Ark, Horizon Forbidden West, and Destiny 2 Witch Queen. But for me, the month is mainly dominated by Elden Ring.
But while he raves about the open world in his report on the game, my attention was more on the dungeons during testing.
Because for me, they decide whether Elden Ring can properly convey the feeling of the SoulsBorne games. The claustrophobic nature of the narrow corridors and dark vaults, the winding and nested level design, crammed with traps, hidden passages, and shortcuts.
It is this clever way of designing levels that I appreciate most about the FromSoftware games. You must keep your eyes open and pay close attention to navigate without a map and discover all the secrets.
Accordingly, I was both excited and worried when an open world was announced for Elden Ring. Would this harm the level design if the developers focused more on the open world? Would the “SoulsBorne” feeling be lost?
Fortunately, that is not the case. And amusingly, it was a small and somewhat inconspicuous feature that became the highlight for me in Elden Ring. It changed my entire perspective on the dungeons in the game.
Jumping is my highlight. Seriously.
I never thought I would say this without laughing, but jumping is a game changer. The gameplay mechanic, which is completely normal and obvious for 99% of other action games, has a major impact on the level design in Elden Ring compared to previous SoulsBorne games.
While there used to be a certain way to “jump” with the dodge button, it was more of a poor attempt. You had to make a run-up and hit the perfect angle and timing. It often just didn’t feel good.
Elden Ring, on the other hand, has given players a proper jump function, which in itself wouldn’t have been extraordinary had the developers not directly woven it into their level design. The areas are now designed for characters to jump properly, even if not very high.
This small pile of stones is just high enough to allow me a jump onto the wall. And it was very easy to overlook.
For me as a player, it meant that I now had to look for new visual signals when I wanted to discover all the secrets and paths in the dungeons. I had to adjust my entire perception of the levels to incorporate the fact that jumping is now an important factor.
In the past, signals for hidden paths, for example, were crumbled battlements on a castle wall. An experienced player would instantly know: “Aha, there’s probably a ledge I can fall onto.”
Now there is the additional question: “Can I jump on that?” Here’s an example: Unless you’ve decided to run straight to the other end of the world or to Narnia right after starting the game and follow the prescribed path, the first major mandatory dungeon is Stormveil Castle.
It is a huge castle through which you must carve your way to the first main boss. However, it’s not just one path, but feels like several dozen. Because thanks to the jumping option and adapted level design, there are multiple different ways leading to the same goal.
Both the courtyard (left) and the room with the miniboss (right) could be accessed from 3 or 4 different directions.
I could jump on the battlements and walk along the outer walls from there
Jump over the wooden beams in collapsed sections
Jump on windowsills to discover hidden paths behind them
Jump from one roof to another to avoid large groups of enemies, and much more.
I literally spent 5 or 6 hours just sneaking around the castle, searching for things I could jump on that might open up a new path.
It took a few attempts (and embarrassing deaths) before I got a feel for how high and far I could jump. After that, however, I was able to climb and explore every narrow ledge. And it was great.
Many jumps were really scary and could easily end fatally. But at the destination, there was always loot waiting for me.
In many cases, these attempts and explorations were rewarded with new hidden paths or loot. Additionally, it gave the cool feeling of being a real ninja. Because thanks to the side paths and hidden corridors, I could often simply bypass large groups of enemies and attack from behind.
The level design of the dungeons geared toward jumping thus offers an additional strategic component that is even more pronounced than in previous SoulsBorne games.
Do I want to attack the enemies head-on, just because I can? Or would I rather jump through the window or hole in the wall onto a narrow pathway and turn the tables?
Of course, I’ve also enjoyed other areas:
The open world conveys a true sense of discovery
The boss battles are tough and challenging
The new crafting system for abilities allows for more build variety
You feel right at home as a Souls fan
But none of the aspects forced me to completely rethink my entire approach and mindset while playing like jumping has done.
I really didn’t expect something so banal to have such a major impact on my perception of the level layout, simply because the developers implemented it cleverly.
And that is by no means the end. Elden Ring is absolutely gigantic in scale, and I say that right after previously playing Horizon Forbidden West.
While you can complete the story in about 30 hours, there are enormous amounts of diverse side content both in the open world and in dungeons.
Whenever you think “Okay, I’m done with the area / the dungeon,” new paths open up or you discover something new. But as much as I’d like to talk about it, everything I could say would be a spoiler.
There are countless other examples of the use of the jump mechanic in the level design of the dungeons, but it’s nicer if you discover them yourself.
If you’re still unsure whether Elden Ring is for you, then check out our checklist:
The island of Shangra appears at several locations in Lost Ark, but is not always present. We at MeinMMO show you how to find it.
What kind of island is this? Shangra is a special island in Lost Ark. It is not always visible, and when it appears, you need to search for it at three different locations.
Prerequisites are the unlocking of sailing, as you logically cannot reach an island without a ship, as well as level 50 and a gear score of 460.
How do you find Shangra? It spawns at three different locations:
North of Anikka, west of the Sea of Death
West of Anikka, southwest of the Creed Ocean
East of the Wall of Procyon between the Glacier region and North Vern
The three possible locations of the island of Shangra
To find out when Shangra appears, you can use Procyon’s Compass, or check the events in the upper left corner. Feel free to sail a few minutes to the first location before it spawns, because already 10 minutes before the island appears, there will be a whirlpool in the water at the corresponding location.
What does the island offer me? You will receive the island mark of Shinra Island, which is important for your Adventure Journal. Additionally, there are two emotes, the Flying Nimbus mount, and the Song of Spring. Also, there are some Mokokos on the island.
What is special is that a new currency applies on Shangra: You collect peaches. You can exchange them with the merchants on the island. You will find the peaches, like the Mokoko Seeds, all over the island. Additionally, you will receive them in almost every quest on Shangra. However, you can only accept these quests once you have reached level 50.
lost ark nimbus mount
5,600 peaches are needed to obtain the mark of Shangra. At an NPC, you first exchange your peaches for the sapling of the thousand-year-old tree. The tree is located in the lower left area of the island. Enter to exchange the item for the mark.
Some areas of the island of Shangra require a specific buff to enter. You must drink a bottle of peach wine, which gives you a buff for 5 minutes. Now Shangra grants you access to rewards like chests and more Mokoko seeds.
The Song of Spring is obtained through a quest from NPC Eunsun. It is essential for obtaining the so-called Shangra Flower Dew. With this, you can purchase the Nimbus mount and other rewards from NPCs.
On Maxroll you can read in detail about which items you can obtain how.
If you are interested in more about Lost Arkyou might also find this interesting:
Shangra has initially caused confusion among many users in Lost Ark. Once you know the locations and a few tricks, it’s not so complicated to find them anymore. Have you already been to the island and are now riding on your cloud mount? Have you already collected the island mark? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
Nvidia makes mining more complicated with its graphics cards. Now, miners say they have found a trick to bypass this restriction. However, instead of a simple solution, they primarily encountered nasty malware.
What is this restriction? Nvidia has implemented a mining restriction on the new graphics cards. This restriction is supposed to lower the performance when mining, causing miners to lose interest in the graphics cards. Nvidia would rather sell its special mining graphics card.
However, it has been known for a while that the mining restriction by Nvidia is ridiculed. Nevertheless, this restriction seems to annoy enough users, so that some are even willing to bypass it with software. And when free software promises a higher yield from the graphics card, who can say “No”?
But this could now become a downfall for some miners. A YouTuber has shown that this software is contaminated with malware.
Software for mining restriction contaminates your PC with malware
What kind of software is this? The software is said to be an alternative driver version of Nvidia’s graphics card driver. This will bypass the mining restriction at the software level, allowing you to theoretically use the maximum hash rate for mining again.
The higher the hash rate, the better the yield when mining. For security reasons, we will not link to the software here.
What exactly is the problem with the software? A YouTuber tested and presented the software in a one-and-a-half-hour video (via youtube.com).
The problem is that the software not only alters the BIOS of the graphics card but also infects the powershell.exe of Windows.
The PowerShell in Windows is similar to a command line. With PowerShell, both simple commands and complex mechanisms can be triggered. So you can imagine what a contaminated PowerShell could be capable of.
This is what PowerShell looks like on Windows 10.
As a small bonus, the installer puts your “C:” partition, where your operating system is installed, on the whitelist of Windows Defender. The Windows Defender no longer checks the system partition and what goes on there. Therefore, the malware can wreak havoc without being monitored.
What can you do about it? Basically, you should always use your common sense when downloading software from the internet. Also, checking dubious software for malware can save your computer and your data. For example, the YouTuber showed that the supposed aid software for miners triggered 17 antivirus programs on the online tool “VirusTotal”.
AMD tries to make graphics cards unattractive for miners with low video memory
Nvidia’s direct competitor had a different idea to make graphics cards unattractive for miners. AMD introduced its RX 6500 XT as a hope for gamers. AMD deliberately limited the video memory of the graphics card to 4 GB. That is so little that it is hardly profitable for miners to collect cryptocurrencies with such a graphics card.
However, the graphics card did not really convince anyone. You can read a detailed report on the situation and the tests here on MeinMMO:
Lost Ark features an interesting PvP system where gear plays no role, but skill is what matters most. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch has now discovered this content for himself. However, one thing regarding the rankings annoys him greatly.
The arena PvP in Lost Ark is really good. For several days now, I have been spending nearly all my playtime in it, as the open world in PvE has not convinced me much so far. What I particularly like is that my gear and level do not matter at all.
This way, I can already enter the arenas at level 26 and have no disadvantages on paper compared to the other players. I can access all skills directly, including the Awakening ability, and the gear is also standardized.
Instead, personal skill plays the biggest role. And that is extremely important to me in PvP. Three different modes are available:
3v3 Team Deathmatch
Deathmatch
3v3 Team Elimination
All are quite self-explanatory and are really fun in the normal version. But when I want to play them in the ranked mode, there comes a small change that I cannot understand at all.
Who is speaking here? Alex is the MMORPG expert at MeinMMO. He has spent thousands of hours in games like Guild Wars 1, Guild Wars 2, ESO, or Black Desert. He has also logged over 400 hours in New World and has recently been very active in Lost Ark. Particularly, he is fascinated by the endgame and the PvP content in the genre.
Please Lost Ark, let me play with friends
While I can play with my friends in a team in the normal mode matches in 3v3, this feature is suddenly disabled for the ranked mode. Yes, in the ranked mode, I can only register alone.
I cannot understand this move. I am a very competitive player. For years, I led a PvP team in Guild Wars 1. I was very active in PvP in Guild Wars 2 and at one point had a regular team. I also regularly play ranked games in LoL, either with a supporter in DuoQ or in 2011 and 2012 even with a fixed 5-player team.
And I do not understand why I am not allowed to do that in Lost Ark. I want to build up a regular team again. I want to rock the rankings together in voice chat and celebrate victories together.
Gear plays no role in PvP. In the Book of Coordination, I can distribute skills and attributes according to my wishes.
I am aware that balance is extremely important, and I would not like it if I were to face a fixed 3-player team with three random players. But that can be remedied, for example with separate queues. LoL demonstrates this, where I have two separate ranked lists for Solo/Duo or Flex for teams of up to five players.
This makes Elimination the best PvP content in the entire genre for me. It’s even more frustrating that I cannot play with friends in ranked mode.
There are even custom games for your own tournaments
What is also important to me in PvP are custom games that I can create for myself, my friends, or for my own tournaments. Lost Ark also offers this feature right from the start.
Although there are also occasional problems here due to server load, the basic foundations are laid to make Lost Ark one of the best MMORPGs for PvP fans.
In Lost Ark, I can create my own PvP matches and even tournament modes. This is super useful for PvP fans.
While I really enjoy the PvP content in normal mode, I view the ranked mode somewhat critically. In my opinion, a lot of potential is being wasted here. PvP is simply much more fun when you are in a fixed group. Moreover, many PvP fans like to identify with teams that they can follow and cheer for.
Here, I just hope that Smilegate reconsiders and perhaps brings separate ranked lists for fixed teams. However, anyone looking for a good PvP MMORPG should definitely check out Lost Ark, especially if you don’t have or are looking for a fixed group.
What do you think about PvP in Lost Ark? Have you spent much time in it? And do you also miss a ranked mode with friends?
By the way, my colleague Mark Sellner loves almost everything about Lost Ark and is currently having a really good time:
I would like to see such a system for Lost Ark as well. Then I would have the incentive to work my way up in the rankings. However, I am currently missing that a bit.
Aside from the odd rule change in ranked matches, the PvP in Lost Ark is brilliant. I particularly enjoy the Elimination mode.
At the start of the match, each team decides who will be the first, second, and third player in the fight. Then the first two players from each team face off against each other while the others can watch.
If a player is defeated, the winner stays “on the plate”, as we used to say in table tennis. However, he continues to fight with the lost health points and the cooldowns on abilities against the next player whom the opponents send into the match.
In the arena, you almost feel like you are in Tekken or Soul Calibur.
Theoretically, player 1 from team A can eliminate the entire team B. However, that has not happened in my 14 matches so far. I would have liked to have played more matches already, but unfortunately, there are many problems with the queue for PvP on Asta.
The Elimination mode offers an incredible amount of action, requires a lot of skill, and there are no annoying side objectives distracting from the actual fight. It reminds me a bit of classic fighting games like Soul Calibur or Tekken, which I used to enjoy playing with friends on the console.
Additionally, there is the brilliant spectator mode, which enhances that feeling of a fighting game. I can watch directly from the perspective of both players or from above the arena. I can also see the abilities used on the side, which allows for an incredible learning process:
This is what the animation of ability X looks like.
This is how much damage ability Y does, wow.
Ah, I should definitely dodge this attack.
I learn almost as much from watching as I do from fighting itself.
This makes Elimination the best PvP content in the entire genre for me. It’s even more frustrating that I cannot play with friends in ranked mode.
There are even custom games for your own tournaments
What is also important to me in PvP are custom games that I can create for myself, my friends, or for my own tournaments. Lost Ark also offers this feature right from the start.
Although there are also occasional problems here due to server load, the basic foundations are laid to make Lost Ark one of the best MMORPGs for PvP fans.
In Lost Ark, I can create my own PvP matches and even tournament modes. This is super useful for PvP fans.
While I really enjoy the PvP content in normal mode, I view the ranked mode somewhat critically. In my opinion, a lot of potential is being wasted here. PvP is simply much more fun when you are in a fixed group. Moreover, many PvP fans like to identify with teams that they can follow and cheer for.
Here, I just hope that Smilegate reconsiders and perhaps brings separate ranked lists for fixed teams. However, anyone looking for a good PvP MMORPG should definitely check out Lost Ark, especially if you don’t have or are looking for a fixed group.
What do you think about PvP in Lost Ark? Have you spent much time in it? And do you also miss a ranked mode with friends?
By the way, my colleague Mark Sellner loves almost everything about Lost Ark and is currently having a really good time:
The new ‘Talent System’ in World of Warcraft has a lot to offer. We will tell you what you should skill with the First Cipher – and what not.
Patch 9.2 Eternity’s End in World of Warcraft has been live for some time. After you have completed the first 3 chapters of the campaign in Zereth Mortis, you gain access to the ‘Cipher Research Console’. There, you can unlock numerous upgrades sequentially to customize and improve your gaming experience and your Pocopoc companion.
However, with over 22 possible ‘Talents’ with multiple tiers, the question quickly arises: What is really important? What should you choose first and what should you neglect?
We want to explain to you in this guide how to best invest your First Ciphers.
How do you get First Ciphers? The Ciphers are mainly required to unlock new tiers at the Cipher Research Console. You obtain the First Ciphers from numerous activities in Zereth Mortis. They can be earned through:
daily quests and/or world quests
the overarching quest “Nested Patterns”
from rare enemies
one-time treasures
repeatable (small) treasures
In principle, there is no limitation on how many Ciphers you can farm per day. However, the amount drastically decreases after completing the quests. Rare enemies and treasures usually only give 2-4 Ciphers, so farming here is only worthwhile if you really want to invest a lot of time. Otherwise, just do the usual ‘daily stuff’, and you will acquire the lion’s share of Ciphers.
The green outlined researches are important. The red outlined ones can be put on hold for now.
This is how the Cipher Research Console works
The research console is divided into 4 different columns, from left to right they are:
Metrundic (Core Systems)
Akkolaric (Console Upgrades)
Dacaparic (Wildlife Mastery)
Violonical (Upgrades for Pocopoc)
Here, you must work from left to right in the research console at the beginning. You cannot unlock “Understanding of the Akkolaric” until you have researched “Understanding of the Metrundic”.
At the same time, you must unlock the first ability in each column (“Understanding of X”) to gain access to the rest of the column.
The majority of researches in the console take only a few seconds and are virtually immediately available once you invest the necessary Ciphers. However, the researches in the first two rows can have long research times, varying from 1 hour to a full 6 days. Unfortunately, these extensive researches are also the ones that grant new abilities, quests, or unlocks.
Cipher Research Console – Recommended Unlock Path
In principle, it can be said in advance: You can’t really go wrong. Sooner or later, you unlock all bonuses and none of them are so important that your progress is massively hindered if you don’t have them. However, for maximum flexibility, a certain order is worth it.
If you want to experience and unlock as much as possible in Zereth Mortis as quickly as possible, then the following order of unlocking is recommended:
Understanding of the Metrundic (Column 1, top ability). This activates Pocopoc and you will inevitably skill it during the quest.
Understanding of the Enigmundic (Column 1, second ability). This allows you to tackle additional puzzle treasure chests and a new world quest.
Understanding of the Akkolaric (Column 2, top ability). Unlocks reinforcement consoles that grant you additional buffs.
Understanding of the Dacaparic (Column 3, top ability). Pocopoc can take control of various creatures and you unlock the synthesis forge for pets.
Understanding of the Violonical (Column 4, top ability). Pocopoc learns new combat abilities and you can choose whether he should be a DPS or a supporter.
Understanding of the Altesic (Column 2, second ability). You can communicate with some of the small Jiro who offer quests and assist you.
Understanding of the Sopranic (Column 3, second ability). You can speak with various automatons that assist you. Additionally, your synthesis forge can now create mounts.
If you carry out the unlocks in this order, you are on the safe side.
Once you have these 7 unlocks, you can freely develop and just skill what you like. It is solely about improvements to core systems, such as Pocopoc generating energy faster, being able to pull more buffs from consoles or interacting with Jiro that reduce your aggro range.
Of course, you may have more First Ciphers than you can currently research at the same time. In that case, you can deviate from the recommendation and take other bonuses.
The bonuses after the core unlocks are all “nice”, but no longer particularly important. Especially since the research for the smaller bonuses takes only 5 seconds, you are not hindering yourself at all by carrying them out.
More news about World of Warcraft can be found here:
A final tip: It will especially happen often in the first days that your research is not limited by the First Ciphers, but by the research time. It can be tempting to unlock other abilities that only have 5 seconds of research time. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with that, but always be sure to keep enough Ciphers to start the next “big” research as soon as it becomes available.
How far have you come with the research console? Have you already unlocked the first big bonuses?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Riot Games has fun with their biggest Twitch streamer, Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp, in League of Legends. He has achieved great things on Twitch and in LoL, reaching the highest rank in all 5 roles. This comes with a personal gift from Riot Games featuring a little jab.
This is the situation:
Tyler1 is a LoL player and entertainer on Twitch who was banned from the game for years due to constant flaming and bad behavior. But because a Riot Games employee wished him cancer, he was allowed back into the game.
Tyler1 is now the largest and most important streamer for LoL. He played over 6000 matches for 2 years just to reach the highest rank in LoL, “Challenger”, in all 5 positions. This is an incredible achievement, especially for a Twitch streamer who is not a professional Esport player but primarily should entertain his viewers.
For this achievement, there is now a personal gift from Riot Games. Tyler1 and Riot celebrated their love-hate relationship a bit.
What was this gift? Riot Games had a chain made with 5 medals for Tyler1. Each of the medals symbolizes a role that Tyler1 became Challenger in.
When Tyler1 realized that he could hang the medals around his neck like gold medals at the Olympics, he did so immediately and then joked: They would surely choke him unconscious.
How does Tyler1 react to the gift? He was genuinely happy but also took the opportunity to poke fun at Riot:
You know what? I like this a bit. It’s something special, it’s unique. You know, I think I’m going to say it: Thank you, Riot! Record this better and save it, because I will never say this again in my life. But I appreciate it, thanks, guys.
Tyler1
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How does Riot annoy him? When Tyler1 examines the package more closely, he notices a letter addressed to him from Riot Games. As he reads the letter, he comes across a passage:
As an account with which you’ve become AD Carry Challenger, we took one that isn’t permabanned, so the date might not be quite right.
This refers to Riot Games’ reference to Tyler1’s past as the “bad boy” who was practically always banned from League of Legends. At that time, Tyler1 mainly played ADC Draven and was successful with it early on before he learned the other roles.
Tyler1 has to smile but immediately corrects Riot: That’s not right. Those special accounts that he became Challenger with years ago as AD Carry weren’t permanently banned.
Another typical example of the quirky relationship that Riot Games maintains with its most important Twitch streamer.
Last night, Lost Ark announced on Twitter that the servers will be taken offline for weekly maintenance. A new patch is also expected to address some minor bugs. Here at MeinMMO, we summarize.
Update 11:56 AM: The servers are back online on time, and you can continue playing. The maintenance seems to have been completed. We wish you good loot!
Update 11:48 AM: Another patch will follow the first one. This time it is only a few MB in size. However, the servers remain offline.
Update 10:50 AM: You can now already download the update for Lost Ark on Steam. It is 4.16 GB in size and is required for you to be able to play again after the update.
How long are the servers offline? After the Lost Ark servers were taken offline today at 9:00 AM, they are expected to remain offline for about 3 hours for the weekly maintenance.
If everything goes as planned, you can log in again starting at 12:00 PM. Whether this means that the MMORPG’s servers will be taken offline for every weekly reset is still unclear. However, the term “weekly maintenance” suggests so.
What does the patch bring? The official patch notes in the Lost Ark forum are rather vague. There are comparatively small changes that you can expect in today’s update. Of the 5 changes, 3 are also bug fixes, which are related to the Crystal Aura.
For instance, a bug has been fixed where royal crystals could not be exchanged for other currencies as intended. Additionally, a bug has been removed that caused you not to receive the bonuses from the Crystal Aura, even though it was displayed as such.
Furthermore, Amazon has addressed some translation errors and has now activated the Tier 2 Abyss Dungeon vendors.
There are also new loading screens that show you tips for the game when loading a new map. For example, how to get gold or silver faster.
The original patch notes in English
Absurd login reward will be changed
Change to the daily login bonus: Anyone who logged in daily since the soft launch on February 8 received a login reward yesterday that they simply could not use. It was a box containing flirt items, which can only be opened if you have a gear score of 1430 or higher.
Since very few players have already exceeded such a high limit, Amazon is backtracking here and replacing the item. From now on, you will receive a flirt box that is “more appropriate to the level.”
Users who have already accepted the box and have it in their inventory will automatically have it exchanged once they log in.
What do you think of the changes in Lost Ark? Do you view weekly downtimes positively? Or do you find it rather annoying that the MMORPG restarts so often? Have you also enjoyed the login reward that you cannot use? Feel free to write it in the comments here on MeinMMO.
In Destiny 2, many players celebrated the launch of Witch Queen. The Guardians had to deal with Void 3.0 as they adjusted their favorite loadout to their playstyle. However, while Titans and Warlocks can shine in combat, Hunters now risk boycotting their class.
What’s wrong with the Hunters? The Hunters did not have as strong a start in Witch Queen as the other two classes. The reason for this is nerfs announced before the big DLC. Bungie removed some of the most important effects from the most popular Nightstalker super.
Now that the patch is out, Hunters are feeling the full brunt of the change. Many Hunter mains are switching to Warlocks or Titans to finally do useful things in combat instead of constantly hiding.
Hunters switch to other classes out of frustration
How dissatisfied the Hunters are was evident on Twitter. Senior Community Manager “dmg04” asked the community, among other things, how they feel about the changes to Void 3.0. There was a wide range of comments from Warlocks and Titans who are excited. Hunters, on the other hand, mostly agreed in their opinion: The changes are not good.
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The Twitter user “auroraesilverEX” is upset about the noticeable changes. He accuses the sandbox team of not understanding what role the Hunter plays in endgame content in Destiny 2. The Hunter needs more ways to support his fellow Guardians instead of being turned into a robot for invisible maneuvers.
What do other Hunters say? On reddit, even a Guardian has ended their existence as a Hunter main. He switched to Warlock because invisibility simply isn’t enough. Warlocks can make a significant impact in combat with their aspects and fragments, but Hunters are now not viable with their invisible abilities. It sometimes feels like they are actually ‘invisible’ and can’t achieve anything significant with their abilities except not being there.
Reddit user “combo164” has even tried to create something decent with various exotics of the Nightstalker, but nothing excited him. As long as Bungie doesn’t give the Hunters something to make them competitive, more and more Guardians will switch to another class.
If nothing changes, there will eventually be an era without Hunters, or what do you think? How do you feel about the changes? Have you tried the Hunter? Do you think the users are exaggerating, or do you agree that Hunters have no chance against the other classes? Let us know!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
After the end of the Closed Beta for Diablo Immortal, Blizzard has published what changes will be made based on the previous feedback for the mobile ARPG. One of these changes is the adjustment to the World Paragon Level, which is likely essential for the interaction between casuals and hardcore gamers.
What changes in Diablo Immortal? The Closed Beta of Diablo Immortal was a huge success with testers. However, quite abruptly, the Beta ended. Nevertheless, the game is still expected to be released in 2022, and Blizzard has likely gained some insights from the Beta. These include:
Especially the last aspect is interesting as it regulates the interaction of vastly different levelled characters.
Start video
Everything you need to know about Diablo Immortal – in 3 minutes
New system with World Paragon Level aims to bring players together
What is the underlying problem? After reaching the endgame in Diablo Immortal, you can level up further and optimize your hero even more. These are known as Paragon levels.
But what happens when some players in a group are playing much more intensively than others? Then the hardcore gamers are eventually ridiculously far ahead in levels while casuals are stuck at lower levels. Effective interaction is no longer possible, as the challenge is either too easy or too hard.
According to Blizzard, they could have implemented some kind of “energy system” that limits activities per week, but the developers explicitly did not want that. A weekly limit on XP that could be earned was once in the Alpha, but that was received very poorly by players, so it was kicked out in the Beta.
But how can it still be ensured that different player types do not drift too far apart?
What is the World Paragon Level? The solution is the so-called World Paragon Level. It increases by 2 levels every day. If your own Paragon Level is roughly in the range of the World Level, you earn XP regularly.
If you are more than 4 levels above the World Level, your XP gain is limited to just 25 percent of the XP you would normally receive.
However, if your Paragon Level is below the World Level, then the situation looks different. Then you receive 200 percent of your XP.
This is how the World Paragon System works
In plain terms: Low-level players receive double XP while high-level players only receive a quarter of the normal XP. This way, players in the Beta could quickly regroup, even if some played a lot and others were rarely online.
The system has also limited the yield from dismantled items, but this had led to players actively avoiding leveling up during the Beta. This was obviously not the developers’ intention, which is why dismantling items is no longer reduced by the World Level.
So much for the introduction of the World Paragon Level. What do you think of this method? Fair, as it keeps players together, or a bothersome brake? Let us know in the comments.
Electronic Arts is toying with the idea of giving up the rights to the FIFA brand. This would mean that a FIFA 22 or FIFA 23 would be the last football game under this name from EA. But for the EA boss, Andrew Wilson, this doesn’t seem to be a nightmare scenario, as reports from an internal meeting say. Because FIFA is just “the 4 letters on the box”.
This is the situation:
The football series “FIFA” is a huge revenue generator for EA year after year. They digitally represent current football, holding rights and licenses to thousands of players and clubs. They make a crazy amount of money with microtransactions.
But now they are in danger of losing the “FIFA” license. The problem seems to be that FIFA wants too much money from them and EA is considering simply leaving FIFA behind and releasing the series under a different name.
Now reports from an internal meeting at EA have surfaced, in which the EA boss, Andrew Wilson, downplays the significance of FIFA for the FIFA series.
Where does the information come from? The gaming site Videogameschronicle states that anonymous sources sent him a report from an internal EA meeting in November 2021.
This is how Wilson downplays FIFA: Wilson is said to have said:
FIFA prohibits EA from expanding the game in modes that go beyond “11vs11”
Moreover, under FIFA, one is not allowed to “expand the digital ecosystem” – by this, he means that EA cannot collaborate with brands like Nike within the FIFA series.
He also says: FIFA gives the game series too little value. In a year without a World Cup, FIFA actually only contributes “4 letters on the front of the packaging”.
FIFA as a video game brand is more important than as an organization
These are Wilson’s quotes: The sources quote Wilson with some striking statements.
“I want to be open [with you], more open than to the public. We had a great run with FIFA for 30 years. We have created billions in value – that’s amazing. We have created one of the largest entertainment properties in the world. But I assert – and this may be a bit biased – that the FIFA brand as a video game brand is more significant than as an administrative organization for football. We do not take that for granted and we don’t want to be arrogant. We have worked hard to make FIFA understand what we need for the future.
What we essentially get from FIFA in years without a World Cup are the 4 letters on the front of the packaging – in a world where most people don’t even see the packaging anymore because they buy the game digitally. In a World Cup year, we get access to the World Cup, but when you think about it more broadly, the World Cup is important, but not the most important competition. We have 300 other licenses, and there we get the content that our players like and with which they engage the most.”
Andrew Wilson
EA allegedly says: FIFA prohibits cooperation with Nike due to adidas
According to Wilson, FIFA is holding the game series back. Because players want more flexibility:
Players want more brands like Nike in the game – but FIFA is connected to adidas, so EA has no leeway here.
Similarly, players would like modes that go beyond the classic 11vs11, but here too FIFA stands in the way.
FIFA also slows everything down – players want more agility and flexibility.
Wilson says that this is what he is actually about: Not just the money, but also about developing the game that the players want while being faster and more agile.
Ultimately, Wilson says that losing the FIFA license might actually be the best thing for the game series.
What happens next? According to VGC, there will still be a FIFA 23, apparently with a Men’s World Cup and one for Women. What happens afterward, however, remains open.
