And yet again, an MMORPG is shutting down in 2022. This time, the mobile MMO Mu Origin is affected, which is already no longer available for download. We at MeinMMO summarize.
When is the game shutting down? Publisher Webzen announced in a brief statement on their website that the mobile MMORPG Mu Origin unfortunately has to close. Just one day after the announcement on January 17, the game disappeared from the app stores on January 18.
You can no longer download Mu Origin or purchase items from the game’s real-money shop. However, if you have the game installed, you can still continue playing it.
The game servers will shut down on March 31, in about two months. From that date, even playing fans will be kicked from the game. Webzen has not yet specified an exact time for this.
Why is Mu Origin shutting down? The publisher Webzen has not yet provided a specific reason for why the over 5-year-old game must close. However, it is conceivable that they want to push the already released successor Mu Origin 2 further.
Shutting down the predecessor would make sense. It is also possible that Mu Origin has lost so many players to the second part that operating the original is no longer profitable. But both are just speculations, as we do not have any player numbers or similar information.
The publisher only writes the following words: “For over 5 years, we have traveled the Mu continent with you. With great sadness, we must now announce that our long journey with Mu Origin must come to an end.
We have tried our best to create a better gaming environment for you, but we have come to realize that we can no longer continue this service in this way. We are very sad, but we had to decide to shut down the servers of Mu Origin.
Furthermore, it should be noted that there will be no refunds.”
Here you can see gameplay from the dying Mu Origin:
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What is the mood like? Mu Origin no longer had a very large community. The players who still actively exchange ideas in the forums and on reddit are not very surprised by the server shutdown.
Many of them have already switched to Mu Origin 2 or have completely turned their backs on the game. A few fans seem to want to run a private server, but even this post could only achieve 7 upvotes on reddit.
What are the players saying? In a reddit thread, there is a discussion about the server shutdown, but actually, no one is really surprised. On the contrary, people are even asking why it is happening only now.
The user ProfessorMeatbag writes: “I can’t say I’m surprised. But this is already somehow shady. After all, they only started a cash grab event a week ago. No matter how much you love or hate a game, a complete shutdown is always bad for the people who invested time and money.”
Imaginos_in_disguise responds: “If anyone ever decided to spend money or time on this game, they are to blame themselves. It was never really good.”
UndisputedTankhard expresses frustration: “I don’t really care, but it sucks that Webzen is shutting down another game. I still wish I could play Archlord again – not just on private servers.”
Mu Origin was the first mobile offshoot of the Mu universe, which has already released several games, including Mu, Mu Legend, Mu Archangel, and Mu Origin 2.
These MMORPGs are all loosely based on the same, rather grindy gameplay from an isometric perspective. In Asia, the games can achieve moderate success, and the outlook for MMORPGs in the West is not particularly bright either.
While Mu Origin 2 in the Google Play Store has a score of 4.2/5 with over 67,000 ratings, Mu Legend only receives mixed reviews on Steam and, according to Steamcharts, peaks at only 47 players in a 24-hour period.
What do you think about yet another MMORPG dying in 2022, even if it is “only” a mobile MMORPG? Have you played any of the Mu games or are you even affected by the server shutdown of Mu Origin? Feel free to let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO.
In the co-op PvE shooter Rainbow Six: Extraction you have 18 operators available. All of these are known from Rainbow Six Siege, but work differently in the new genre. MeinMMO tells you which 3 operators are particularly strong at the beginning.
The playable “classes” in Rainbow Six Extraction are called operators. These are characters who were playable in Rainbow Six: Siege with their unique personalities and abilities. At launch, there are 18 operators in the game, 9 of which are unlocked at the beginning.
Although these characters were transferred from the PvP shooter Siege to the PvE shooter Extraction, their function and utility change significantly due to the genre shift.
Especially 3 operators show how important they can be for a successful mission, particularly at the start. We tell you which operators they are and why at least one of them should be part of every team.
Start video
Everything you need to know about Rainbow Six: Extraction – in 2 minutes
Sledge: The Destroyer
In Extraction, Sledge is particularly strong as an offensive power against the parasite aliens. His shotgun can handle even larger creatures efficiently.
Sledge specializes in a lot of raw violence from close range
In addition, his namesake sledgehammer is capable of stunning the aliens. He can swing it as many times as he likes and at an impressively high frequency.
This allows him to deal with both the exploding sprayers and take larger threats like the tormentors out of the game temporarily and make them vulnerable. But be careful: To hit, you need to be closer to the enemies than you might think.
Additionally, both his shotgun and his hammer are excellent tools for destroying walls. With him, it is a breeze to open up new paths for the team to attack or flee if necessary.
Lion: The Scout
Lion was part of the original “Outbreak” event in Rainbow Six Siege – a limited-time game mode that was expanded and serves as the basis for Rainbow Six Extraction. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that he is an important part of the team in this game.
Lion provides valuable information to the whole team
Although his SMG and his revolver can deal good damage, his device is the real star of the show. The EE-One-D drone marks all moving enemies in an area for a short time. After a cooldown, the drone can be deployed again.
Especially in missions where a target needs to be defended, this ability can significantly contribute to success. Thanks to Lion, you can see from which directions the most and meanest enemies are storming towards you. With this valuable info, you can then react thoughtfully and strategically rather than be caught off guard by surprise.
Doc: The Medic
Especially at higher difficulty levels, it can quickly happen that a team member loses their overview and gets knocked out by the aliens. That’s where Doc comes in.
Doc keeps the team alive effortlessly
With his special reanimation pistol, he shoots health orbs that heal team members by 15 health points or revive downed comrades. Thus, he can make his team fit again from a safe position and distance. Because the aliens will run away from the downed player, those revived are often safe as well.
If the enemies rush Doc in the meantime, he can fend for himself more than adequately in close combat with his strong shotgun.
Sledge, Lion, and Doc thus fulfill 3 very strong and important roles in a team. They work excellently together, but also serve as strong assets to any team in Rainbow Six Extraction.
What other operators are there, and what can they do, you can find out in our article:
After the revelation of the potential acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft and Xbox, Sony has now also commented on the matter. In the official statement, it talked about the games that are distributed by Activision on the PlayStation.
What kind of deal is this? In an announcement that shook the gaming industry, Microsoft announced that they want to buy the publisher Activision Blizzard for a staggering 68.7 billion, which is by far the largest purchase in the history of gaming.
The prospect of the deal also caused strong reactions among fans, many of whom are now concerned about the state of Activision Blizzard games that have previously been available on or are still expected to be released for the PS5. This includes titles such as Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4, as well as Call of Duty.
Now, Sony has commented on the issue and is trying to smooth things over.
Sony believes that ongoing contracts will remain valid
What Sony says in the statement: According to the statement published in the US magazine Bloomberg, Sony does not expect any significant changes in the immediate future.
According to the statement:
We expect Microsoft to adhere to the contractual agreements and continue to ensure that Activision games are cross-platform.
What does this mean? Sony is most likely to have set up contracts with Activision that concern games like Call of Duty or Overwatch.
The statement can be interpreted to mean that all established deals and releases involving Activision will continue as planned.
Additionally, the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the fiscal year 2023. Until that happens, the publisher will continue to operate autonomously.
What does Microsoft say about this? In the announcement of the deal, it was stated: “The games from Activision Blizzard are played on a variety of platforms, and we plan to continue supporting these communities in the future.”
Currently, it’s hard to say how this issue will develop in the coming months.
Many believe that Microsoft will proceed as it did with the acquisition of Bethesda, the developer of Skyrim and Fallout. Existing deals, like with Deathloop, were honored, but all future releases for major franchises will be exclusive to Xbox and PC and will appear in Game Pass.
Are you comforted by Sony’s statement? What do you think the impact of the deal will be? And what do you generally think about it? Take part in our survey:
In Destiny 2, the Witch Queen is not far away, and Guardians are passing the time with the current activities. Some players have now discovered a trick to have fun jet ski races with their friends in the new dungeon “Sog der Habsucht”.
What did Guardians discover? In Destiny 2, there is a new dungeon called “Sog der Habsucht“. This has been available since December 2021, and players have already thoroughly explored every corner due to the long Season 15.
The latest discovery is that players have found a way to bypass the Death Barrier in the lake during the phase with the Fallen shield to race. However, there are some things to keep in mind.
Racing like in Mario Kart
What is needed for this? The most important items are:
Warlock – Top Path of the Dawnblade for more mobility
Titan – Middle Path of the Fist of Havoc (Thundercrash)
Titan Exo – Unyielding Lion
Hunter Exo – St0mp-EE5
The items, as well as the chosen ability tree of the Warlock and Titan, are there to help you climb a certain rock wall. It’s best to deploy a Rally Banner during the phase with the “Fallen Shield”. This will give you enough ammo and a full super bar.
How do I proceed? Once you have started the phase with the shield, equip your Griff der Erlösung. With this, shoot small Stasis ledges against the rock wall behind you that you can use as platforms.
This is the area with the Lake of Death
Climb the rock wall to the hole through which you came earlier. Then pass through the Crystal Cave until you are almost at the Skull. Stand on the crystal that marks the transition to the old area.
This allows you to summon your Sparrow. Once you summon it, float back to the Fallen Shield through the Crystal Cave you previously traversed.
Head to the Rally Banner you set and try to slowly drive onto the lake with your Sparrow.
Note that you must not abruptly land on the water. This could trigger the deadly barrier located at the water. The Sparrow bypasses this mechanic, as it floats above the ground.
Once you have completed the entire procedure, you will have access to a huge closed arena that you can use as a racetrack with your friends. Your Sparrow essentially becomes a jet ski.
What should be noted? Since the deadly barrier is underneath your Sparrow, you should make sure not to dismount from it. Also, avoid performing abrupt stunts. Any actions that involve contact with the water will result in instant death.
What do you think of such ideas to shorten the waiting time until Witch Queen? Have you figured this out already, or do you stick more to the “official” activities of Bungie? Let us know!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The developer Mark Darrah worked at BioWare for many years. When the development of the big MMO shooter Anthem was struggling, he came on board and took over as “Executive Producer.” Today he says: The idea that there is a special magic at BioWare that can turn everything for the better is bullshit.
What is meant by “BioWare Magic?” In a major insider report from Kotaku on the downfall of Anthem, the term “BioWare Magic” is described (via Kotaku).
“In the studio, there is the term ‘BioWare Magic’: It is the belief that no matter how hard the development of a game is, in the last months everything will come together. The game will always merge into something complete. This happened with the Mass Effect trilogy, with Dragon Age: Origins, and with Inquisition. Experienced BioWare developers compare this to a hockey stick, it is flat for a while and then suddenly goes up. Even if a project looks like a complete failure, there is the belief that if you work hard enough – and endure the heavy crunch – in the end everything will come together.”
Kotaku
Did it work for Anthem? As we know today, the development of Anthem was catastrophic. The game was somehow finished at the end, but the studio was completely burned out. Significant issues then arose in the systems and endgame of the shooter, but the continued development of the shooter completely collapsed.
This is what the head of Anthem says now: In a video, former head of the game, Mark Darrah, discusses BioWare Magic and the legendary hockey stick. He says:
Every time someone says “BioWare Magic,” it feels to him like someone is jabbing a needle in his brain
He thought that the term had actually been eradicated for a long time, but during the development of Anthem, at least one person used it
The belief that the development of a game will suddenly accelerate dramatically late in the process through “BioWare Magic” is “terrible” – because you don’t know when that point is reached where everything happens magically
“What is BioWare Magic? BioWare Magic is a shitty way of working. It means slapping a name on something that implies: ‘Don’t worry. Don’t freak out. We know that at a later date everything will happen quickly and it will all work out.
But the truth is: This ‘It will be fine’ – this is how crunch occurs and this is how you end up with games that have to be pushed back.”
Mark Darrah
In the end, Darrah states clearly: “BioWare Magic is bullshit.”
Darrah says it’s not as if he wants to bash BioWare. Many studios work this way, even CD Projekt (Cyberpunk 2077).
People should definitely stop calling this concept ‘BioWare Magic,’ it is not magic, but simply a bad way of working.
With the end of Anthem and the crisis of loot shooters, we recently delved into this at MeinMMO:
For the release of Ubisoft’s new PvE shooter Rainbow Six Extraction, there are first reviews and critiques on Metacritic. The game receives some praise but also fundamental criticism. Overall, the shooter lands in a solid midfield. Find out here what exactly is being criticized and praised.
On January 20, 2022, the co-op shooter Rainbow Six Extraction was released on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Stadia. All info about the release of the shooter can be found here.
Right at the start, there were already some first critiques to be heard on Metacritic:
The ratings are in the 70s range, ranging from 72 (PC) to 73 (PlayStation) to 75 (Xbox).
User reviews were not yet available at the time of this article (January 20, 2022, at 10:00 AM).
In the following paragraphs, we will look at what some of the critiques are saying about Rainbow Six Extraction. To get in the mood, here’s a video that briefly explains the game:
Start video
Everything you need to know about Rainbow Six: Extraction – in 2 minutes
“One of the most intense and exciting co-op experiences currently available”
These are the positive reviews: Several sites rave about the game. They praise especially the solid implementation of the tactical gameplay and gunplay known from Rainbow Six Siege, which has been smoothly transferred into a type of zombie co-op shooter.
Game Heroes (95 points) praises the game highly and even claims it is “one of the most intense and exciting co-op experiences currently available.” It is an innovative addition to the Siege universe and would revitalize the stagnant genre of co-op shooters.
JeuxVideo (80 points) also praises the optimal mixing of the ultra-tactical military shooter gameplay from Siege with fun shooting at zombies. The intertwining of these two seemingly contrasting aspects is brilliant and the greatest strength of the game.
Dexerto (80 points) also mentions how well the gameplay and gunplay of Siege have been transferred to another genre. And even though the objectives in the missions are not always consistent in their difficulty, it is always exciting and thrilling to achieve them. The wild scenes in which one desperately tries to escape with little ammunition and an unconscious comrade on one’s shoulder are a highlight.
“Feels more like an expansion to Siege than a full-fledged game”
These are the mixed reviews: Aside from the generally positive critiques, there are many reviews that point out various shortcomings in the game. For instance, it is criticized that Extraction feels more like an addon for Rainbow Six Siege rather than a real standalone game. Therefore, many critics agree that it is especially relevant for owners of Game Pass or Ubisoft Connect, as the game is included for free there.
VGC (60 points) cannot recommend the game if you want to play it alone, especially not on PlayStation since it is only available at full price there. But if you have Game Pass and have nothing else to play, then Extraction could be a great fun.
IGN Adria (60 points) feels that the game lacks exciting moments. It is just a “glorified zombie mod” that would be better off as a game mode in Siege. In its current form, the game is a strange experiment of mismatched aspects. It is not really satisfying for either veterans of the series or newcomers.
Gaming Age (42 points) goes even further and states that Extraction is not really interesting for anyone. On PC, GTFO is better, in Game Pass, there’s Aliens: Fireteam Elite, and for tactical shooter fans, Rainbow Six Siege is still the pinnacle. There just are no clear advantages that point towards Extraction.
Have you played Rainbow Six Extraction yet? What is your assessment of the new co-op shooter? Do you see it as a suitable addition to Siege or is there something that bothers you about it?
The WoW streamer Asmongold is not interested in streaming raids from WoW: Classic. The amusing reason: Too many know-it-alls are around.
Even though the streamer Asmongold turned his back on World of Warcraft a while ago, he now occasionally checks in on Blizzard’s MMORPG and is also interested in the rumors surrounding the next expansion, such as “The Dragon Isles”.
Some viewers wonder why Asmongold hardly brings any content related to WoW Classic – especially from the raids, since the patch for the Black Temple has just been released in BC Classic. The answer is simple: There are too many know-it-alls.
What did he say? In a stream a few days ago, Asmongold once again addressed the topic of WoW Classic. When asked why he doesn’t stream Classic raids, he gave a rather concrete answer – there are simply too many people who think they know better. He said:
I believe, fundamentally, that streaming the classic WoW raids is not much fun. I believe the community [around the Classic raids], I don’t enjoy creating content for them. Because everyone thinks they know what you should be doing. They always have their opinions about what you should be doing right now. It’s just such a hostile community.
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He elaborates a bit more on this, as it is not necessarily wrong to stream this type of content – but since he has the choice, he decides not to do it:
I understand that if you are a Classic Andy, then you have to stream the game because that’s what you do. But I don’t have to do that. So why should I? Why would I willingly put effort into something that is just annoying and makes me angry? If you have the option not to do it – why would you?
Since he is in a solid position to choose which content he streams and what he engages with, he opts out of something that, due to the community, he knows won’t be fun in advance.
Asmongold also cracks down hard: For some, his statement contradicts his own behavior. He recently stated that he kicks players without a word if they make mistakes in farm raids. Because that’s just another form of “he knows exactly what the other player should be doing right now”.
Farm-runs for the modern WoW are of course a different thing than progression raids in WoW Classic and BC Classic, but some draw a parallel here.
However, the fact that Asmongold does not want to stream certain content because he has no fun with the “know-it-alls” seems quite ironic to some.
Asmongold is also known for having often rather clear opinions on certain topics around World of Warcraft, even if they sometimes seem contradictory to his own behavior at first glance.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Without screenshots, it would be hard to believe. In Pokémon GO, there was supposedly a bug that briefly gave trainers massive advantages. Shortly after, Niantic disabled trading. We show you the crazy story.
What is it about? In Pokémon GO, trading was disabled on the night of January 20. It is currently unclear how long the deactivation will last and when you can trade again. Although Niantic did not provide clear reasons, a wild story from two trainers apparently shows why the developers need to intervene.
On reddit, a trainer shared screenshots showing how he received an insane number of lucky Pokémon.
Here’s what a trainer shows: On reddit, trainer AndKrem wrote on January 20 at 12:20 AM that he recently traded 100 Pokémon with a friend, and all became lucky Pokémon.
He also posted screenshots as proof, showing the lucky Pokémon.
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Normally, Pokémon have a low chance of becoming a lucky Pokémon. However, if you are lucky friends with a friendly trainer, you get a guaranteed lucky trade. But that shouldn’t work for multiple trades in a row, especially not for 100.
In this case, however, the lucky friend status did not expire after one trade but remained active. “The lucky friend status did not disappear, and thus every trade became a lucky trade,” explains AndKrem on reddit.
Niantic had to intervene quickly
Here’s how it went on: The thread on reddit gained traction quickly. Many users commented and upvoted. In no time, it became the top post and received significant attention, apparently also from Niantic.
Around 1:30 AM on January 20, the Niantic support team published a statement on Twitter. “Trainers, trading is currently unavailable while we investigate a bug. We apologize for the inconvenience and will post updates here. Thank you for your patience.”
Now we have to wait and see how quickly Niantic can fix the bug. Trading is disabled for now. How quickly the problem can be resolved is unclear. It likely relates to the new update 0.227.1 that is currently rolling out.
How Niantic will compensate trainers for having to do without trading for so long is also still unclear. However, from the past, we know that Niantic usually releases a “compensation” for these issues.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The German Twitch streamer Marcel “MontanaBlack” Eris promoted an NFT showing a monkey wearing a swastika. When criticism arose, MontanaBlack justified himself: The symbol belongs to history. For these statements, he apologized yesterday in a Twitch stream: That was nonsense he hadn’t thought about.
This sparked criticism on German-speaking Twitter and on international Reddit. The manufacturers of the NFT then deleted the problematic monkey and stated: MontanaBlack was paid to post it. He had nothing to do with the creation of the monkey.
However, MontanaBlack fueled the atmosphere further with relativizing statements. He said he hadn’t deleted the monkey at all. The symbol belongs to history.
This was the quote that sparked the discussion: The exact statement by MontanaBlack that fueled the mood was (via twitter):
I personally probably wouldn’t have deleted it at all. Ultimately, dude, it also belongs to history and just because a swastika is somehow visible somewhere, not everyone immediately “salutes and greets Adolf” – that’s nonsense, dude. This whole Nazi crap unfortunately also belongs to what happened back then.
MontanaBlack
MontanaBlack says: Management made the Twitter post
This is how he reacts now: In a current Twitch stream from January 19, MontanaBlack apologized for this statement and asked for forgiveness. He later posted parts of the stream on Twitter.
MontanaBlack says:
He was overwhelmed by the situation
The giveaway was not posted by him, but by someone from his environment; one could also call it “the management”
However, he failed to check the post again – that was clearly his mistake
“Confused statements without any context, just to say something”
In hindsight, MontanaBlack apparently mainly regrets his own statements about the swastika in the Twitch stream:
And yesterday I tried in the stream to somehow present it a bit argumentatively and made some statements where I had reflected 0 percent on prior.
So I had shelved the whole topic for myself yesterday, deleted the post myself, came home at some point, started the stream, and didn’t say anything, and then at some point I desperately tried to say something that ended up only hurting myself because I made some weird statements – Or let’s say not weird statements, but just confused statements without any context, just to say something.
MontanaBlack
In the course of the approximately 4-minute apology, MontanaBlack emphasizes his own Turkish roots: his mother is Turkish, and he holds citizenship “German/Turkish”.
At the end of the apology, MontanaBlack states that he clearly distances himself from the “whole Nazi crap” and raises his middle finger to the camera.
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However, he also says that he actually doesn’t care about the opinion of people on Twitter or the general public, even though he is “dependent on people celebrating him.” But for him, what really counts is that his friends and family love him. What some “Johannes on Twitter” thinks about him is pretty irrelevant to him.
In May 2020, MontanaBlack had to face accusations of being associated with the far-right. This accusation came from satirist Jan Böhmermann. At that time, MontanaBlack also reacted outraged to this accusation and vehemently denied it:
In PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC, Xbox One), players from China are said to make up a large portion of the cheaters. But why is that? Why is cheating and dishonesty in games so popular in China?
Many players of the battle royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) have already fallen victim to cheaters. They are regularly shot through walls, receive pinpoint headshots, or face opponents who zoom around like Flash or heal instantly.
The former head of PUBG, Brendan Greene, said in 2018 that 99% of cheats come from China. While cheats are widely spread around the world, the acceptance of cheating is somewhat higher in China.
Cheats as a Marketing Strategy! China has a Cheater Infrastructure
In China, the business of cheat software seems to be booming. Of the approximately 560 million players in the Middle Kingdom, over a third regularly resort to cheating software. The cheats are openly advertised on the internet and in the game.
Even through the chat service “WeChat” of the Chinese PUBG publisher Tencent, cheating software is said to have been sold on a large scale. Prices range between approximately 13 and 76 Euros. Payments are conveniently made through “WeChatPay,” which is also provided by Tencent.
If that is too expensive, one can visit a special gaming café. Some of these “i-cafés” are said to unabashedly advertise cheat software as pre-installed. Capturing the spirit of “Come to us to play, here you will definitely win!”
It is clear in any case: the infrastructure for cheating is present in China. Ironically, many of the services through which cheats are distributed belong to Tencent, the company behind PUBG in China.
What’s the deal with cheating and China? Culturally accepted more than in the West
So why do so many cheaters come from China? Is there a connection between Chinese culture and cheating? There are many sources on the internet that have dealt with this. We have gathered some of the explanations here for you.
However, keep in mind that these are subjective impressions from the internet and not a cultural study. As stated in the explanatory models:
In China, many people earn little money. However, those who unlock loot boxes in games like PUBG through success can sell them for real money. This only pays off if you win often, and that’s where cheats come in handy.
In China, there is not much emphasis on intellectual property. That’s why there are so many Chinese clones of well-known games. The moral view that copying or cheating is something “wrong” is simply not widespread.
“Cheating” is widespread in Chinese culture. Even in the Middle Ages, there was cheating and bribery in imperial examinations for the civil service. This has remained the case to this day. Fraud and deception are also a huge problem in schools and universities. In one province, there was even a parents’ revolt because the state suddenly imposed stricter surveillance during a test and many students failed. You can find the article on the website Telegraph.co.uk.
Many young people in China are under great pressure to succeed. The country has been undergoing a radical transformation for years, and one must be successful at all costs. In this regard, only the result counts. Therefore, if one can achieve something with little effort, they have an advantage over those who are not clever enough or cannot afford the best cheats. It is thus valid to say, “Look at me, I’m awesome because I have the best cheating software, you noobs!”
Cheating is a Huge Problem, Government and Publishers Want to Crack Down!
Cheating in games like PUBG and others is by no means a trivial matter anymore. In China, eSports are popular. 57 percent of the viewers of eSports broadcasts are said to come from China. The major sports event “Asian Games” is set to take place in China in 2022, where eSports will also be awarded medals and prizes.
Of course, no one wants to see headlines about massive cheating among the eSports athletes of the host country. To curb the problem, publisher Tencent, among others, is taking action against the cheaters. Together with the government, over 120 cheat providers were already criminally prosecuted in 2018.
In addition, there are consequences for cheating streamers. A known streamer named Lu Benwei aka “Wu Wu Kai” was banned by Tencent in 2018 for “uncivilized behavior” and fined approximately 127,000 Euros. Although he denies it, it is assumed that he also cheated. Things are changing, and cheaters are increasingly facing trouble in China.
Actually, the 2nd joint season of Call of Duty: Vanguard and the Battle Royale Warzone was supposed to start soon. However, the developers announced that the new season will not start until February – they want to fix the shooters first.
This is the situation:
Call of Duty launches a new live season with fresh content and story pieces every 6 to 8 weeks
Actually, the joint season 2 for Vanguard and Warzone was supposed to be due by the end of January
However, the developers postponed season 2 to February 14 – they want to resolve the massive problems in the shooters first
CoD Warzone & Vanguard: Season 2 postponed by several weeks
What is going on? Call of Duty was actually just about to start its first new season this year. The joint season 2 of Warzone and Vanguard was supposed to start on February 1 or 2. However, with a message to the players, CoD postponed the new season to Valentine’s Day:
Warzone & Vanguard Season 2
New start: 02/14/2022
Why is season 2 being postponed? Last week, the developers sent a message to the community, showing that they understand the state of their games and feel the community’s frustration.
However, there was no mention of postponing the new content cycle. Now, the developers have a new message for their players that they shared again on Twitter:
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In the message, the responsible parties explain that they want to take the extra time to improve the quality of the game. They will tackle the following points, among others:
Working on stability issues
Adjusting the gameplay loop
General bug fixes
Comprehensive weapon balancing
The developers want to address not only the two current titles Warzone and Vanguard. They also aim to resolve issues in the outdated CoD MW (2019). The multiplayer of the old title has also been considered very buggy for several weeks.
You can find the complete information about the postponement in the blog on callofduty.com.
Are the problems really that serious? Game crashes in Warzone, missing weapon balance in Vanguard, and ongoing bugs and glitches in both titles. CoD currently has many problems.
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Postponing the new season could help eliminate some of the current disruptions. However, it remains to be seen whether two more weeks will be enough to address the many issues in the game.
Call of Duty postpones season 2 by a few weeks and wants to finally get a handle on the problems in the game. What do you think of the decision? A good choice given the current states? Or do you think that perhaps it’s hardly possible to address the many issues in the game in two weeks.
Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Battlegrounds mode of Hearthstone is being thoroughly revised. We will tell you what the ‘Buddies’ are all about, which are coming soon.
The Battlegrounds mode of Hearthstone has transformed from a small side mode into a real staple since its implementation. The developers clearly want to keep the mode fresh and are introducing a pretty major change that affects every hero in the game. You will soon be able to summon a ‘Buddy’ minion that will turn the game on its head.
What will change? Quite a lot, as every hero essentially gets a new ability, the so-called ‘Buddy.’ This is a minion that interacts with the respective hero ability in most cases. A few of these Buddy minions have already been introduced, giving a rough idea of their strength.
For example, there is King Mukla with his Buddy ‘Crazy Monkey.’ He ensures that when a minion is buffed by a banana, it receives an additional +1 / +1. The golden version of the monkey instead grants +2 / +2.
Flickwerk, on the other hand, gets a Weebomination with an interesting battle cry. It grants another minion +1 health for each missing health point of the hero. Since Flickwerk already has a lot of health and tends to lose some at the start of the game, this could create a really powerful minion. The golden version increases this bonus to +2 health per missing health point of Flickwerk.
A few more Buddy minions are presented by YouTuber and streamer Sunglitters in her reveal video:
https://youtu.be/t9v1KcmppgQ?t=81
How do you get a Buddy? Unlike all other minions in Battlegrounds, you cannot directly buy Buddies from Bob. Instead, you have a ‘Buddy Meter’ that slowly fills up over the course of the match. After the first section, you receive a copy of the Buddy, and after the second section, you get two more copies, allowing you to obtain a golden Buddy (if you haven’t sold the first one).
The ‘Buddy Meter’ fills up with the following actions:
Dealing damage to opponents
Destroying god shields from enemies
Entering combat (passively)
A win or draw in a fight
Gradually, the display fills up until you have your Buddies.
More about Hearthstone and Blizzard can be found here:
Why is “Battlegrounds” so popular? Essentially, Battlegrounds is Hearthstone’s attempt to create its own auto-battler – and it has been extremely well received. The mode is quite popular in the community, and many content creators primarily play this game mode.
This has several reasons. The most important is probably that Battlegrounds is the only mode where even free-to-play players have nearly equal chances. You need no cards and earn everything you need throughout the round.
Additionally, Battlegrounds is not at all tied to the current meta of the game. Here, you don’t necessarily play against the same decks over and over again, as certain minion types are excluded at the beginning of each game. By buying cleverly, you can ruin the necessary combos for other players and add an extra tactical element.
This also contributes to the final plus point, the variety. Almost every game plays differently, and the numerous different heroes all have various tricks and gimmicks to influence the match.
The changes are expected to go live in the coming days.
What do you think of the Buddy cards? A sensible expansion? Or does it distort the mode?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Today, on January 20, 2022, Rainbow Six: Extraction was released. The new co-op shooter from Ubisoft is a standalone spin-off of the PvP shooter Rainbow Six: Siege, but focuses entirely on PvE. The hype around the game is relatively small, but even at release, Extraction is well received.
What kind of game is this? In Rainbow Six: Extraction, you play alone or with a team of up to 3 specialists in co-op to complete various missions, in which you must accomplish different tasks. The goal is always to learn more about an alien parasite that threatens humanity. Extraction is a pure PvE shooter.
With various playable “Operators” with special abilities, you venture into different areas of the world to gather data. Each mission consists of 3 parts, each with a task and the option to either delve deeper into the area or retreat to secure what you have already achieved.
Rainbow Six: Extraction has been playable since January 20, 2022, at 1:00 AM German time on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Google Stadia. You can learn more in our release hub for Extraction. The hype around the game was relatively low beforehand, likely due to the delays. However, Extraction is well received among players now.
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Everything you need to know about Rainbow Six: Extraction – in 2 minutes
“This is how you make a game”
This is what players say: If you look directly after release on reddit, you will find almost exclusively positive threads with much praise. However, the subreddit for Extraction has only 3,600 members, so the discussions are correspondingly small.
Many users, however, express that they are “surprised” by the game. They did not expect Extraction to captivate them so much. It’s less about the content itself. In the currently largest discussion thread, it says: “It feels nice to play a game that feels complete and not rushed like Battlefield 2042 or Halo Infinite” (via reddit).
Another user agrees in his thread and writes: “This is how you make games.” The comparison refers to the difficult launch of Battlefield 2042. The series has many die-hard fans, but the new installment came with unpopular new features and such severe bugs, that reportedly even cheats did not work sometimes.
In general, shooter fans seemed to be quite dissatisfied with their genre in 2021. Battlefield competitor CoD Vanguard and the battle royale Warzone also struggled. The games were even referred to as a “pile of wreckage full of bugs” at the end of 2021.
What is praised about Extraction? In Extraction, however, players find hardly any flaws. They write that the game feels finished. The delay from the originally planned 2021 seems to have helped. Teamplay is particularly noted as a strong feature. Without communication and good coordination, even easy missions are a challenge in co-op.
It is also pleasing that it is not a full-price title. Extraction is available from €40 and is already included in the Xbox Game Pass at release. However, there is also some criticism, especially regarding overly harsh penalties.
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Rainbow Six Extraction: An overview trailer shows what to expect in the game
Minor connection issues with serious consequences
The servers apparently run largely smoothly at release. There are hardly any complaints about connection drops or lags. However, those affected face unusually harsh penalties.
A few players report that they fly out of the mission after a power outage or internet drop. For this, they receive a penalty for leaving a match early, which prevents them from playing for a certain time – not even in training mode.
Additionally, they lose the operator they were currently playing. In Extraction, your operators are encased in foam when their health points drop to 0 and they can no longer just go down. This can happen especially in the tough endgame mode.
As a result, they drop out of the game and must be rescued. If your teammates fail to successfully extract your operator in tow, you will need to go back into the mission and try to free them yourself. The corresponding mission is then guaranteed.
So far, reports of problems and drops are still relatively few, but the large influx of players will likely only come on the evening of January 20 and over the weekend. Then it will show how well the servers hold up. If you’re still unsure whether you should check out the new Rainbow Six, take a look at our brief check:
The developers of New World have released a new video in which they discussed the upcoming updates in January and February. There were new details about the mutators and the design decisions behind them. Additionally, at the end of the livestream, the PvP arenas were announced.
What is the video about? In almost 38 minutes, various developers talk about the upcoming content and the reasons for some decisions. Particularly interesting is the section right at the beginning, which discusses the upcoming mutators for dungeons:
Regarding the mutators, they explained that the feature has been in development for a long time and is now set to release in January. However, Game Director Scot Lane admits that the change may come a bit too early.
There are also mutators planned for the low-level dungeons, but there are still some balancing issues to address.
Furthermore, the developers also spoke about the upcoming February update:
The February update will focus entirely on bug fixes. Planned adjustments include the weapon switch, which occasionally fails, and the wars.
There will also be a strong focus on weapon balancing.
No release date for patch 1.3 yet, but an approximate timeframe
What was said about the upcoming patch 1.3? Much of the video revolves around the significant January update and the contents of the patch. The developers could not specify a fixed release date, but the general plan is to bring updates about 2.5 weeks before the actual release to the PTR.
This statement rules out a release this week. However, since the update is still scheduled for January, the 26th and 27th of January are currently the hottest candidates for release.
Throughout the video, the developers also explained the reasons for the upcoming Shadow Shard system, which will allow equipment to be upgraded to armor value 625. This system is designed to prevent already farmed equipment from becoming worthless at high levels. Therefore, no equipment with such a high value was introduced, but a separate upgrade system.
The Garden of Rebirth is one of the endgame dungeons that will be equipped with mutators.
What about the low-level dungeons? The developers are currently working to bring the mutators to the low-level dungeons as well. However, there have been several issues:
Some dungeons have different numbers of bosses and chests, which needs to be considered when balancing mutators.
Additionally, there have already been some bugs and balancing issues concerning the mutators and the mechanics of bosses from the low-level dungeons. Some of these bosses were said to be “broken.” Fine-tuning is still needed.
February patch focuses on bug fixes, work is ongoing on bots and server transfers
What has been revealed about the February patch? The next major update after the mutators will not bring new features, but hundreds of bug fixes. Planned adjustments include:
Adjustments to perks of weapons and armor
Some adjustments to desync
Fixes for the weapon switch, which should still not be cancelable
Fixes for errors and performance in the wars
Adjustments to quests where NPCs are missing or markers were set incorrectly
How are general problems being addressed? Alongside bugs and performance, work is also being done on other issues. A second token for server transfers is planned so that players will have another opportunity to find a different server.
There was also discussion about the topic of bots. This has high priority and is being addressed by different teams, including adjustments to support to ensure faster bans.
What was said about the arenas? At the end of the livestream, the developers revealed that they are working on PvP arenas for small groups. They are “definitely planned”. It was said that the arenas would initially be released with fewer features, which would then be expanded over time.
It’s still too early to go into details, but Scot Lane himself says he would like to play in a fixed 3v3 or 5v5, or in a “whatever numbers are used” scenario. The term “matchmaking system” was also mentioned in this context.
What do you think about the information from the livestream? Do the announcements appeal to you, or would you have preferred other features for February and beyond?
Just a few days ago, a player was the first to discover a hidden world boss, but received only pity from other players on reddit:
Especially when you are considering whether to start playing Guild Wars 2 in line with End of Dragons, every MMORPG player asks the same question: How long does it actually take to reach the maximum level? We at MeinMMO have the answers.
How long does it take? However, there is no clear answer to this question in Guild Wars 2. There are various ways to reach the maximum level, which is 80. We will present them to you.
Some of these methods take several days, while others only take hours. Two possibilities even require only minutes to get you to level 80.
But Guild Wars 2 is far from over at that point; it actually only really begins. Many veterans like to refer to the journey from level 1 to 80 as the tutorial of Guild Wars 2. Nevertheless, there is no reason to rush.
Why you should take your time the first time: Each character class in Guild Wars 2 has its own, in-depth mechanics. It is absolutely essential in later gameplay that you know how your class works and plays.
Especially since there is virtually no progression through better armor in Guild Wars 2. Everything that sets you apart from your fellow players and makes you better is your skill with your class and the content you are currently playing.
Don’t overlook the waypoints you unlock while exploring the world. They serve as teleport points and allow you to return to places you have been before.
If you rush to level 80, you will miss many of the points you will need later in the game, which can lead to somewhat annoying routes. But how long does it really take to reach level 80?
The “normal” path: If you play the game normally, explore a lot, and engage in your story missions, it will take you about 20 to 30 hours to reach level 80.
You receive experience slowly for each waypoint, each vista, and of course for each quest, gradually uncovering the world. If you focus on story and exploration, you will have completed about 60% of the world exploration by level 80. You will also have seen much of the world and experienced several events.
The “rush” path: If you focus only on world events during the leveling phase, ignoring exploration, story, and the hearts quests, then the path to level 80 will take you about 10 to 15 hours.
However, you should find out beforehand which events are particularly worthwhile and when they take place where. Because if you don’t know when you need to be at which location and miss the events, this path could also take longer than the “normal” path.
You can find the most important events and world bosses in this timer from Guildnew and you can easily copy the corresponding waypoints into the in-game chat. This way, at least at the beginning, you can orient yourself well and find some of the important events.
However, if you have an idea of the events and know where they take place, you can even reach level 80 in less than 10 hours, with the right preparation, EXP boosts, and ideally already having mounts.
The “cheat” path: Okay, it’s not cheating. But: If you buy Guild Wars 2 with one of its expansions, you will receive a boost to level 80 in your inventory. If you click on it, your character is immediately level 80 and moderately equipped, but ready for the big world.
A few waypoints will even be unlocked for you by the item. However, as a beginner, we would advise against this method. It leaves you clueless in the endgame with many questions about the world and mechanics.
You can also use the so-called tomes of knowledge. These books are rewards for various actions and grant your character a level up when used.
So if you collect 80 of them, you can level a new character to level 80 in just a few minutes with only 80 clicks.
Both methods are therefore more suitable for experienced players who need a new character in the endgame than for new players.
The survival MMO Myth of Empires made headlines a few weeks ago when it was removed from the Steam shop due to accusations against the developers of ARK: Survival Evolved. It is now back for sale – just not on Steam.
What happened? After a successful launch on Steam, the survival MMO Myth of Empires quickly disappeared from the shop. The reason is a complaint from ARK developer Wildcard Studios.
The studio and the associated publisher started an investigation, the results of which were presented to Valve in December 2021. Soon after, the decision was made to remove the survival MMO from sale via Steam.
Until the situation is resolved, Myth of Empires remains removed from the store. However, it seems that the creators of the MMO did not want to wait for that and found a way to bring it back.
Here you can see some screenshots from Myth of Empires.
Myth of Empires bypasses Steam ban with its own launcher
This is how the MMO is now available again: If you did not purchase the game before it was removed from the Steam store, you have not been able to buy it since early December.
Angela Game has now circumvented this with a trick. Myth of Empires is now simply available via a dedicated launcher. Since January 17, you can buy the game again through this method (via mythofempires.com).
Are there differences compared to the Steam version? No. The new version does not differ in content or price from the Steam version.
Only the name is different. The new version is called “Myth of Empires – International Vanguard Edition” and should receive all updates in the future as well, just like the Steam version.
However, you need to create a separate account for the launcher to log in to the servers.
This was rejected by the California court due to “significant evidence.”
What are the ARK creators demanding? They want damages and the profits gained from the sale of “Myth of Empires.” Additionally, they want the alleged code thieves to destroy all devices with unauthorized code.
How is it going with the survival MMO? Despite the incident with the ARK creators, Myth of Empires remains popular. On average, there have been around 18,000 players active simultaneously over the last 30 days. (via steamcharts.com)
What exactly is Myth of Empires? It is an open-world game for PC that is heavily reminiscent of games like ARK or Conan Exiles. The combat system, on the other hand, is more akin to hardcore games like Mordhau and Mount & Blade.
You create your own character and explore the game world, which is very reminiscent of ancient China. According to the developers, the setting is supposed to be “realistic and historical,” without many fantasy elements.
Features include PvE and PvP modes, sieges, building settlements and fortresses, as well as crafting and NPC companions.
You start like in many survival games with your character in any area and immediately begin the first tasks.
The first activities introduce you to the mechanics and various systems until you gradually face increasingly challenging tasks. You can read more about it in the preview report by MeinMMO editor and survival expert Benedict Grothaus:
The new TOTW 18 is now available in FIFA 22 and could already reveal details about the TOTY. Here you will learn which players have received fresh Inform cards.
What is the Team of the Week? Every week, a new TOTW is available in FIFA 22. This team consists of 23 players who showcased strong performances on the previous football weekend.
For this, they receive a spot in the Team of the Week as well as enhanced Inform cards, which are available for one week in packs.
How do you get TOTW cards? You can pull TOTW cards from packs, but you’ll need a lot of luck to do so. Otherwise, the Inform cards are available on the transfer market. However, they can cost quite a bit of money. How you can get the necessary coins is shown by our trading tips.
We will take a look at TOTW 18 together and clarify what the new team could reveal about the upcoming TOTY event.
TOTW 18 in FIFA 22 – What about Lewandowski?
This is the TOTW 18: The cards with the highest overall ratings this week are awarded to Ciro Immobile, Bruno Fernandes, and Thomas Müller, each with 89 points. However, the new Inform cards of Robertson (88) and St. Juste (81) also make a strong first impression.
The featured player this week is Meunier from BVB, who receives a substantial upgrade from 77 to 84. However, one player is notably missing from the new TOTW.
Where is Robert Lewandowski? The newly crowned World Footballer Robert Lewandowski is missing from the new TOTW, even though he scored 3 goals in the 4-0 victory against 1. FC Köln. In any normal FUT week, this would be a scandal, but since the Team of the Year (TOTY) is approaching, this could be a clear sign of a spot for the Pole in the Team of the Year.
After all, there can only be one special card of a player live in FUT. This could also indicate that the TOTY might start this Friday, January 21.
These players could be missing from the TOTY: If the Team of the Year indeed appears this Friday, then the new TOTW 18 has revealed that Bruno Fernandes, Ciro Immobile, and Thomas Müller probably did not make the cut. They were among the TOTY nominees and due to the new TOTW, they can no longer appear in the Team of the Year.
Here is the complete TOTW 18:
TOTW 18 starting eleven:
TH: Handanovic (87)
LV: Robertson (88)
IV: Botman (82)
RV: Meunier (84)
ZOM: Müller (89)
ZM: Bruno Fernandes (89)
ZOM: Wirtz (84)
LM: Harrison (82)
ST: Immobile (89)
ST: Ben Yedder (86)
ST: Mitrovic (84)
TOTW 18 bench:
TH: Gulacsi (87)
IV: St. Juste (81)
LV: Biraghi (81)
LM: Bourigeaud (82)
RF: Ito (84)
RF: Barak (82)
LF: Khazri (81)
LAV: Zuck (72)
ZM: Amallah (79)
ZOM: Mhango (78)
ST: Evanilson (79)
ST: Maguire (76)
What do you think of the new TOTW 18? Are you satisfied with the selection? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
If you are still looking for reinforcements for your team, we have some really strong special cards under 100,000 coins for you:
The well-known Twitch streamer shroud has recently been playing the shooter Escape from Tarkov again. However, he encountered some cheaters that surprised even an experienced shooter player like him.
Who is shroud? shroud is one of the largest and most important streamers on Twitch. He has been on the streaming platform since 2012 and has always been successful as a former CS:GO pro. When he made a trip to Mixer, he was paid handsomely for it.
In addition to his passion for MMORPGs like WoW and New World, he mainly plays shooters.
Recently, his latest game was the battle royale-like multiplayer shooter Escape from Tarkov. After being initially besieged by fans, he increasingly encountered cheaters. His conclusion: “Cheaters ruin Escape from Tarkov.”
As always, he was live on Twitch; here is the YouTube video of it:
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shroud is surprised – “In this game there are some crazy cheats.”
This is what the streamer says about cheats in Escape from Tarkov: Initially, he encountered what are known as speed hackers in his rounds. Some of his enemies seemed to move much faster than should be possible, according to shroud.
He also suspects that the hackers specifically focused on him. This is supposed to be possible through a so-called ESP hack, which reveals names and equipment to users: “Maybe they knew who I was because ESP shows the name. Maybe they are familiar with the community and know my name.”
Furthermore, he is sure that some of his opponents used aimbots. His conclusion after his rounds: “In this game, there are some crazy cheats. It’s insane. They can do almost anything.”
Nonetheless, shroud claims to have had a lot of fun in Escape from Tarkov. He is also not the only big streamer who has recently taken notice of the shooter.
summ1tG is also among the big streamers who have recently made a detour to Tarkov.
This is his problem: For Summit1g, the official servers of Escape from Tarkov pose a significant problem. He himself experienced connection issues and subsequently restarted his client.
The reason for the popularity is a wipe on December 12 and new Twitch drops that were introduced on December 28. The shooter already experienced a significant boost in popularity at the start of 2020 and 2021.
However, this popularity also led to problems. Recently, there have frequently been long queues with as many as 50,000 or more players waiting.
Meanwhile, the first tests of the RX 6500 XT from AMD are online. However, the reviewers are disillusioned by the graphics card. Yet, the release of the RX 6500 XT shows what is going wrong in the market right now.
What it’s about: AMD has today, on January 19, 2022, released the RX 6500 XT, the smallest official Radeon graphics card. Furthermore, the first independent reviews of the graphics card are now online.
However, the enthusiasm for the smallest Radeon model is quite limited. What the problems of the graphics card are, and what it means for potential buyers, we explain here.
The RX 6500 XT is supposed to be AMD’s smallest and cheapest graphics card
What kind of graphics card is this anyway? AMD presented the RX 6500 XT at CES 2022 as the cheapest RX 6000 series graphics card. Regarding performance, it stands at the bottom end of the model range.
Our colleagues at GameStar have already reported that AMD wants to protect the RX 6500 XT from extreme prices by equipping the graphics card with only 4 GB of video memory. This makes the graphics card quite unattractive for miners, as the VRAM is too limited.
The performance of the 6500 XT barely holds up against the previous generation
We are used to new hardware like graphics cards or processors meaning more performance. Manufacturers like AMD or Nvidia use better chips or apply other technical tricks to generate more power.
However, something happened with the RX 6500 XT that left many testers bewildered. The RX 6500 XT hardly matches the performance of the RX 5500 XT from 2019 and struggles in many rankings with the GeForce GTX 1650. After all, that’s a 3-year-old graphics card. This is reported by the online magazine HardwareLuxx (via hardwareluxx.de).
Similarly, colleagues from PC Games Hardware see it (via pcgameshardware.de). In the test benchmarks, the RX 6500 XT barely matches the RX 570 in games like Anno 1800 and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – and that’s almost 6 years old.
The online magazine Techspot is also disillusioned (via techspot.com). Here, it states right at the beginning, “a really bad graphics card.” Older accelerators like the RX 470 pose fewer limitations than the RX 6500 XT and still deliver better performance in benchmarks.
What is the problem with the graphics card? In most tests, the RX 6500 XT fails to render modern games at full details. To make the graphics card affordable and above all, well available, AMD has made some compromises.
AMD has deliberately limited the video memory to 4 GB to make the card unattractive for miners.
To save costs, the Radeon RX 6500 XT only offers hardware-based H.264 and H.265 decoding, but no encoding. Therefore, certain AMD features like ShadowPlay and ReLive cannot be used. However, the 6-year-old RX 470/570 offers these features.
The PCIe interface is limited to version 4.0 and ×4 (four so-called lanes), while new cards like the RTX 3080 provide PCIe-4.0 x16, which offers a significantly higher, though not necessarily required, bandwidth. A small memory interface can become problematic, especially with large data volumes.
Such a graphics card would never have existed before the Corona crisis
This is why the situation is so dramatic: In my opinion, such a graphics card would probably never have come to market before the Corona pandemic and the resource shortages. It simply would not have been competitive, and customers would have instead opted for the similarly priced but better-equipped predecessor graphics card or an alternative from the competition.
In the current situation, however, this is not possible, as most users want to be able to get a graphics card at a reasonable price. The current situation ensures that gamers have hardly any chances to buy a graphics card:
The little hardware that is currently available to buy is really expensive. Retailers either demand a high price or so-called scalpers add a hefty premium to the purchase price of a graphics card. After all, they want to make a profit.
A third problem is crypto miners, who are also after graphics cards. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are currently worth a lot. It makes sense for many to invest.
With the possible compromises, AMD makes the graphics cards unattractive for miners. On the other hand, the chip of the smallest graphics card fits on a single wafer (via computerbase.de). Wafers are the discs in semiconductor production on which microchips are manufactured. This step could at least lead to a better supply than with previous models.
Unfortunately, the unattractive starting position is compounded by a catastrophic price-performance ratio. Although AMD’s official recommended price is $199 (209 euros), manufacturers have already announced prices of over 300 euros. The currently high demand for graphics cards is likely to push prices even higher. And 500 euros for a Full HD card that offers as much performance as a graphics card from 5 years ago is simply too much.
Nevertheless, there is still hope for gamers: Other manufacturers want to offer affordable graphics cards starting in 2022, and they might have some surprises in store. Among them is a manufacturer that hardly anyone in Germany may know. Whether this could be a possible hidden gem is explained to you by MeinMMO in the following article:
With Rainbow Six: Extraction, Ubisoft tries its hand at a co-op PvE shooter. It looks far less at other AAA games than one might think. Instead, Extraction cleverly borrows the best mechanics from indie games. MeinMMO author Marko Jevtic is excited about the first impression.
The best co-op shooters on the market excite me with their replayability and adaptability. I love adjusting with my team to new conditions time after time. However, most co-op shooters suffer for me from the same problem: they are a significant time investment.
That’s why I love playing roguelites endlessly. Like the best co-op shooters, they excel in constant replayability and engage with ever-changing gameplay conditions. They are also much easier to enjoy in shorter gameplay sessions.
For a few days now, I have had the chance to play Rainbow Six Extraction before its release. To my great joy, I found that the game combines the best of co-op shooters and indie roguelites, whether you play in a team or alone.
Rainbow Six: Extraction often adapts to your needs
Like the best indie roguelites on the market, Rainbow Six Extraction is engaging, unpredictable, and constantly replayable. Because Extraction is like the parasite aliens you fight: extremely adaptable.
The missions in the game are divided into 3 sections. Each of these takes place in one third of a map and is randomly generated. At the end of each section, you have a choice:
Do you want to continue with more difficult tasks and greater rewards?
Or do you want to retreat to keep what you’ve gathered so far?
This is not only a strategic decision. It’s also one that you can adapt to your moods and scheduling agreements.
If you can or want to play for just a few minutes, you can do only the first section of a mission and then pull back. Depending on the difficulty level, this takes a few minutes, and you will get your reward in every successful case. But even a whole mission on the second difficulty level takes about 15 – 25 minutes.
This is a very pleasant timeframe for short gamers. But long gamers can also flexibly chain several missions together and play as long as they want. This design decision is therefore not a disadvantage or a compromise for any player type.
Start video
Everything you need to know about Rainbow Six: Extraction – in 2 minutes
Hades, my favorite roguelite of recent years, works similarly: A successful run in Hades now takes me about 25 – 30 minutes. That’s short enough to quickly play a run during a lunch break. But no one is stopping me from playing several runs in a row and gaming for hours.
Rainbow Six Extraction works on the same principle – and I’m very happy about it.
Rainbow Six: Extraction cleverly and enjoyably enforces gameplay diversity
The most exciting twist for me is that Rainbow Six Extraction not only offers this flexibility – it also demands it in return. If your character takes too much damage or even “dies” in a mission, they are unavailable for the next mission. Only when you rescue them can they be played again. You will therefore be forced to use one of the other 18 operators.
In games like Left 4 Dead, GTFO, or Deep Rock Galactic, missions are usually very extensive. On top of that, there is the planning effort when it comes to assembling a team. Technical issues and setting adjustments regularly delay the action, as do drinking and toilet breaks.
By the time a larger chunk of content is finally completed, a good hour will have passed. Often even more. While this is a lot of fun in between, it can be done better.
Rainbow Six Extraction does not circumvent all these problems because it cannot control all of them solely through gameplay ideas. But compared to other co-op shooters, I can easily and willingly start a quick solo mission here while waiting for my team, without fearing not finishing in time.
It should be noted that we have only played two of the 4 different difficulty levels in standard mode so far. Later, it could definitely take longer, even with practice. And especially the incredibly tough Maelstrom protocol, the endgame of Extraction, could raise the stakes even more. Luckily, all of this is optional, and it’s possible that this may change at launch or shortly thereafter. However, I do not expect that.
About the author Marko Jevtic: Marko has been working at MeinMMO as a shooter expert since October 2021. Privately, however, he plays significantly more than just shooters. Since his early childhood, he has gamed everything from every genre that looks remotely interesting – and has played many games in both casual and competitive settings across all platforms.
His favorite genres, besides shooters, also include metroidvanias, immersive sims, and roguelites. Therefore, he tries to discover and play through a new indie game at least once a week. Over the years, many games have accumulated that he has absolutely loved – and would probably not have played under normal circumstances.
Just the fact that I have this option makes the game one of the better co-op shooters I have played. Because Rainbow Six Extraction understood what makes roguelites so popular and cleverly processed their best mechanics.
If this article has made you eager for more, we have all the important information about the release of Rainbow Six Extraction:
The fact that you can no longer use your favorite characters not only reminds me of games like XCOM and Fire Emblem but also of roguelite gems like Rogue Legacy or Darkest Dungeon. In Extraction, this mechanic has the same effect as in the mentioned games:
On the one hand, you handle your favorites very carefully, planning strategically and long-term with their availability and the risks of deployment.
On the other hand, you learn to appreciate the strengths and nuances of the other operators, enhancing the mechanical depth of the game and your own flexibility in handling those mechanics.
After a mission that completely failed, I had to do without my previous favorite Sledge. So, I reluctantly took IQ. She is an operator I thought was too weak in theory. In practice, it turned out how strong her weapons are. Her gadget was also much more useful than I thought because she can mark the objectives in certain mission types like Seismic.
That’s why I don’t just have one favorite character, but several. And since each operator is leveled up separately, I will need to broaden my options even more. This is a considerably more varied solution for me than, for example, the classes in Deep Rock Galactic. There, I see no reason to deviate from my beloved and leveled drill dwarf.
Other elements also remind me of indie hits. What in Hades is the heat system or in Curse of the Dead Gods are the curses, in Extraction are the mutations. These randomly change various elements of the mission structure or enemy behavior. So, I had significant problems yesterday with the mutation where sticky mines cling to all enemies. Therefore, I couldn’t handle Sledge’s sledgehammer quite as aggressively as in the mission before.
I love that the game forces me to demonstrate flexibility here. Both the game and the player benefit from this: I am pushed out of my comfort zone and learn more about the game’s gameplay possibilities; in return, the game gains depth and provides me with more motivation to play it long and often.
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Rainbow Six Extraction: An overview trailer shows what to expect in the game
Conclusion – Rainbow Six: Extraction is a flexible gaming experience, and therefore more fun than expected
Whether it’s Left 4 Dead with the AI director, GTFO with the Rundowns, or Deep Rock Galactic with the procedurally generated cave systems – co-op shooters often rely on roguelite tricks. But no game has, in my opinion, achieved this as successfully as Rainbow Six Extraction.
The game combines the liveliness and adaptability of the best roguelites with solid gameplay. It is also unafraid to lure the player out of their comfort zone with intentionally frustrating mechanics. Thus, the game rightly demonstrates that it has great confidence in its own design structures.
In games like Left 4 Dead, GTFO, or Deep Rock Galactic, missions are usually very extensive. On top of that, there is the planning effort when it comes to assembling a team. Technical issues and setting adjustments regularly delay the action, as do drinking and toilet breaks.
By the time a larger chunk of content is finally completed, a good hour will have passed. Often even more. While this is a lot of fun in between, it can be done better.
Rainbow Six Extraction does not circumvent all these problems because it cannot control all of them solely through gameplay ideas. But compared to other co-op shooters, I can easily and willingly start a quick solo mission here while waiting for my team, without fearing not finishing in time.
It should be noted that we have only played two of the 4 different difficulty levels in standard mode so far. Later, it could definitely take longer, even with practice. And especially the incredibly tough Maelstrom protocol, the endgame of Extraction, could raise the stakes even more. Luckily, all of this is optional, and it’s possible that this may change at launch or shortly thereafter. However, I do not expect that.
About the author Marko Jevtic: Marko has been working at MeinMMO as a shooter expert since October 2021. Privately, however, he plays significantly more than just shooters. Since his early childhood, he has gamed everything from every genre that looks remotely interesting – and has played many games in both casual and competitive settings across all platforms.
His favorite genres, besides shooters, also include metroidvanias, immersive sims, and roguelites. Therefore, he tries to discover and play through a new indie game at least once a week. Over the years, many games have accumulated that he has absolutely loved – and would probably not have played under normal circumstances.
Just the fact that I have this option makes the game one of the better co-op shooters I have played. Because Rainbow Six Extraction understood what makes roguelites so popular and cleverly processed their best mechanics.
If this article has made you eager for more, we have all the important information about the release of Rainbow Six Extraction:
