He claims to be really enjoying the game, but is bothered by the tough start after each server wipe. In his opinion, Escape from Tarkov could even take over the gaming world.
Jaryd “Summit1g” Lazar is a long-time shooter player and streamer on Twitch. For the past two weeks, he has been showcasing almost exclusively the game Escape from Tarkov. While he enjoys the hardcore shooter, he has been particularly frustrated with the official servers during a livestream.
What’s happening with Escape from Tarkov right now?
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 during the launches of 2020 and 2021.
However, this popularity has also led to problems. Recently, there have been long queues where 50,000 or more players are often waiting.
What does Summit1g see as a big problem? For Summit1g, the official servers of Escape from Tarkov are a significant issue. He experienced connection problems and subsequently restarted his client. However, the streamer found himself in a queue with 28,000 other players.
Following this, the streamer expressed strong negativity about the official servers.
Streamer misses priority list for players already online
What did Summit1g say about the servers? After restarting the client, the streamer regretted his decision immediately. After a loud sigh, he said: “I shouldn’t have done it. I really shouldn’t have done it. That was a really bad idea.”
Subsequently, Summit1g explained what bothers him:
Yo, do you know what you need to do, Tarkov? I play on a community server that isn’t run by admins but just a few guys who like working on it and programming. And they have something where if you disconnect, you get a bonus when you come back.
He is referencing the roleplay server NoPixel in GTA 5. This server is run by fans of the game and has a similar queue. The server enjoyed great popularity in early 2021 and is still used by many streamers today.
The streamer goes on to say:
How is it that no one over there has thought: “Hey man, it really sucks that when our game disconnects someone, they have to wait in a 20,000-player queue. If they leave the game for about 5 minutes, maybe the account should get a priority queue?” Maybe something like that.
In the end, it took the streamer about 8 minutes to get back online in Escape from Tarkov.
What does the Doc say? Besides Summit1g, the streamer DrDisrespect is also back in the Tarkov fever.
He claims to be really enjoying the game, but is bothered by the tough start after each server wipe. In his opinion, Escape from Tarkov could even take over the gaming world.
The MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV often borrows concepts and characters from other parts of the RPG series. However, for the main NPCs in the new expansion Endwalker, they directly took inspiration from the most popular FF game.
This is Final Fantasy VII: The JRPG classic was originally released on January 31, 1997, for the PlayStation and immediately became a massive hit. As the first 3D title in the series, it shone with groundbreaking graphics at the time and a story that moved countless gamers to tears.
The player takes on the role of Cloud Strife, a super mercenary who once worked for the big corporation Shinra. Now part of the rebel group Avalanche, Cloud sabotages Shinra’s Mako reactors, which consume the planet’s life energy and slowly but surely destroy it.
Since its release, FFVII has sold over 18 million units worldwide according to the Japanese magazine Famitsu. This makes it by far the best-selling FF game and it is also regarded as the most popular one. That’s why the first part of the major remake of the RPG was released in April 2020.
Warning: Heavy spoilers for the stories of FFVII and FFXIV follow. If you haven’t played the story quests in XIV at least until level 88, you will be spoiled in the following text.
The latest expansion Endwalker has also deeply reached into the Easter egg chest. Specifically, the main characters in the story, the Ascians, are based on the Cetra race from FFVII.
This is the Cetra: Also known as “the Ancient People,” the Cetra traveled the world of FFVII 2,000 years ago. Members of this race had the special ability to hear the voice of the planet and communicate with it.
Wise and selfless, they led a nomadic lifestyle, wandering from place to place to make them more fertile. They were also capable of wielding powerful magic and summoning creatures through the planet’s energy.
They lived in harmony with the planet and were its guardians, cultivating and nurturing it. At the end of their journey, they returned to the planet and thus became part of the life stream, which is the life energy of the planet.
Aerith’s mother, Ifalna, was the last “true” Cetra. Aerith inherited her ability to hear the planet’s voice from her.
This is the Ascians: Throughout the Shadowbringers story, players learn that there is also a similar race in FFXIV. Before the split from Hydaelyn, there was only one race on Etheirys that was wholly devoted to serving the planet.
The Ascians used their creation magic to create new useful (and sometimes less useful) creatures and perfect life on the planet until they would create a perfect world.
One of the last true Ascians, Emet-Selch, refers to the race as the “Servants of the Planet.” When the great task assigned to them was fulfilled, they too returned to the planet. They became part of the planet’s life stream again.
Both the Cetra and the Ascians are referred to as “the Ancients” in the English version of their respective games.
The Ancient People in FFXIV also dedicated themselves to the service of the planet.
And Then Everything Went to Hell
The Cetra and Ascians are similar not only in their existence but also in their demise. While the details and story progression after the extinction of both races, of course, differ, the core of the catastrophes that befell them is the same: The causes of their demise came from outer space.
This is how the Cetra died: The extinction of the Cetra began when a meteorite struck the planet, carrying the alien life form Jenova. The impact created a deep crater that was like a severe wound for the planet. It was called “The Calamity from the Sky.”
Jenova spread like a virus and infected the Cetra with its cells. The fight against Jenova claimed countless lives, but in the end, it was defeated and sealed away by the few survivors. The Cetra sacrificed themselves to save the planet, but they could never recover.
The parasitic entity Jenova, responsible for the extinction of the Cetra.
This is how the Ascians died: The downfall of the Ascians began on their planet Etheirys but disappeared into the depths of the universe, heralding the end of days (known as End of Days or simply The Calamity).
Meteion and her sisters, corrupted by hopelessness and despair, built a nest at the edge of the world and sang the song of doom. Gradually, it stagnated the protective ether flow of the planet and destroyed its balance.
The laws of nature lost their effect and reality began to crumble. A meteor shower fell from the sky, earthquakes shook the world, and creation magic spiraled out of control.
Similar to the Cetra, in the end, the Ascians sacrificed themselves to save the planet and their loved ones. They summoned the primal Zodiark to get the stagnant ether moving again.
This also stands out: The Ascians have another notable feature that draws parallels to FFVII: In Endwalker, they all have glowing eyes. People with such bright eye colors also exist in FFVII. It’s said that they have “Mako eyes.” This is a sign that the person’s life energy was injected: Mako.
This happens to members of the special mercenary unit of Shinra: SOLDIER. People who have received a Mako treatment include the legendary Sephiroth, Zack Fair, and also Cloud Strife (though not entirely voluntarily).
The Ascians are the only ones in FFXIV that exhibit such strikingly bright eye colors. They differ from other living beings primarily in that they possess far more ether, or life energy. This abundance of ether could be the reason for their luminous eye colors, which could in turn be an allusion to the Mako eyes from FFVII.
All Ascians encountered have very bright eyes. An allusion to the “Mako eyes” from FFVII?
However, there is one major difference between the two races from FFXIV and VII. The Cetra were a nomadic people. They traveled to the various regions of the planet to make them fertile and livelier.
This was a key part of their culture and, according to Sephiroth, also the reason they could communicate with the planet at all. When the last surviving Cetra settled and built settlements, they lost their abilities and their connection to the planet.
In contrast, the Ascians even built massive cities like Amaurot, which with their skyscrapers and paved streets are not at all inferior to our modern cities. They had a government and various administrations that dealt with the affairs of the world.
What do you think of the parallels between the two races? Do you believe that the Cetra served as inspiration for the Ascians? What other parallels have you noticed? Let us know in the comments.
Sony regularly brings new features to the PS4 and PS5. Now users hope that another feature will come in 2022.
Sony is actively expanding its PS5 with new features and functions. At the end of 2021, Sony enabled the use of an SSD in the PS5. But in 2022, there are likely to be some features that users might enjoy. A PS5 Pro is expected to be announced in the near future.
Now players hope that a long-awaited feature could come to the PS4 and PS5. We’re talking about Discord, a popular communication platform among gamers.
Is Discord finally coming to PS4 and PS5?
What happened now? A user posted a screenshot on reddit showing how he can log into Discord (via reddit.com).
The image shows that he can log into Discord with his PlayStation account (PlayStation Network) and link the two accounts.
However, there are no official statements yet on whether this is actually true and how such an integration of Discord with the PS4 and PS5 would look like. There has not yet been an official announcement. However, Sony partnered with Discord in 2021.
If there is an official announcement from Sony about this, we will update the news for you and add the relevant information.
Sony has partnered with Discord
Sony formed a partnership with Discord in May 2021 (via sie.com). In this context, Sony stated that they want to integrate Discord firmly into PlayStation.
Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony, explained that they want to connect Discord and PlayStation more closely:
Our teams are already working hard to connect Discord with your social network and gaming experience on PlayStation Network. Our goal is to link the Discord and PlayStation experiences on consoles and mobile devices even closer together starting early next year, so friends, groups, and communities can meet, have fun, and communicate more easily while playing games together.
The first screenshots showing that users can link their accounts are therefore not surprising. This indicates that Sony is significantly further along with the integration than has been officially announced. In the end, it is only a matter of time before Sony officially presents the integration of Discord on PS4 and PS5.
More features are expected to come to PS5
Sony itself has stated that it is working on many new features for the PS5. Hideaki Nishino, Vice President of Platform Experience at PlayStation, explained that they want to address a long list of functions and have also received many requests from gamers.
There are several things that gamers want for their PS5, including:
Support for WQHD resolution (1440p)
Custom folders on PlayStation 5 for games, music, and more
Themes for PS5
Which of these will be implemented in the future, he did not say, but in the future, we can expect some exciting features and functions on the PS5:
Paragon was a MOBA from Epic Games that was released in 2016 and had some interesting ideas. However, the game could not establish itself and was discontinued in 2018. The Korean giant Netmarble is bringing the MOBA back in 2022 under the name Overprime. You will even be able to play it through Steam.
What kind of game was Paragon? Paragon was a rather unusual MOBA. It relied on a third-person view like Smite, but with realistic, beautiful graphics and a sci-fi setting. The highlight was the dynamic and action-packed battles, which were essentially reminiscent of a modern shooter.
However, the MOBA was very complex from the beginning and not beginner-friendly. Additionally, the game was rebuilt several times, which led to some confusion.
Paragon had some hardcore fans who were very attached to the game and even launched several petitions to save it. However, it could not reach a large audience. Because of this, and also due to the great success of Fortnite, Epic discontinued the MOBA in April 2018.
In the meantime, the team was hired by the Korean gaming company Netmarble. Together they want to bring Overprime to the global market in 2022. In the West, the game will be released through Steam, where you can already add it to your wishlist (via Steam).
The developers had already uploaded a complete match on YouTube in September 2021:
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What exactly is Overprime? Like Paragon, Overprime will be a MOBA and fundamentally relies on the gameplay of games like Dota and League of Legends:
You start by choosing a hero
With this hero, you enter a battlefield where you fight 5v5 against another team
The goal is to destroy the opposing base
Along the way, there are 3 lanes with towers on them
Like Paragon, it relies on a third-person perspective and shooter gameplay. However, there are some graphic adjustments, new bushes to hide in, and some changes to the heroes. Fans of Paragon should feel at home in Overprime right away.
When will the MOBA be released? In their New Year’s greeting, the developers announced the early access and full release for 2022 for PC (via YouTube).
Additionally, a port for consoles is in the works, as can be seen in a short video clip. However, it is unclear when this version will be released.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx4Pr2UIj2k
Overprime is not the first Paragon clone
What can I play until Overprime is released? Anyone who has been motivated to play Paragon by the content shown here can already try another clone of the game. In the summer of 2020, a game called Fault was released in early access on Steam.
This is a Buy2Play and costs 8.19 Euros. Whether the purchase is worth it is hard to say, as the game currently has only 184 average players. In the last 30 days, there was a peak of 467 players online at the same time. However, the reviews point out that the search for a match often takes 30 minutes or longer.
However, the MOBA is still in development, as the latest patches came on December 19 and January 2. So if you want to start playing right now, you might find an alternative in Fault.
What do you think about Overprime? Does the new MOBA appeal to you? And do you believe in its success or will it fail just like Paragon?
MOBAs generally have a hard time in the market right now, aside from the 3 big games LoL, Dota 2, and Smite. In 2022, even one of the first games will be permanently discontinued:
MeinMMO editor and survival expert Benedict Grothaus had a lot of fun with survival games last year. And that, even though they were completely different from what has been on the market so far. But that’s exactly what is good about it – for players and the genre in general.
2021 brought us several new survival games, including little gems like Tribes of Midgard and big surprise hits like Valheim. Both are survival games, but are completely different from classics like ARK: Survival Evolved or Rust.
But that’s exactly what is special about these games: they dare to try new things while still remaining survival games. Valheim, for instance, even made it directly onto my list of the best survival games ever.
What I saw in 2021 in new games, however, differed enormously from classic survival. There was a small revolution, and nobody noticed it.
Benedict has been playing survival games since 2003, and they are still his favorite genre – despite various other interests.
He invested over 600 hours alone in the then-new releases like Conan Exiles and Fallout 76.
He also loves to try out new titles and indie games in the genre to look for hidden gems and insider tips.
He especially values a beautiful environment where exploration is worthwhile and a sophisticated crafting system. In 2021, Valheim was his great survival love. In 2022, he is particularly looking forward to V Rising and Nightingale.
3 Games Set the New Tone
Out of all the new games from last year, 3 stood out in my memory. The 3 survival games each brought their own unique twist to the genre:
Valheim has survival elements that are not deadly. You need to eat to get stronger, but don’t die from fasting. You will only become very, very weak.
Icarus is played in sessions, similar to The Forest, but shorter. If you want to craft and build more, there is a sort of free mode.
Tribes of Midgard is also session-based and is an action RPG – ideal for anyone who wants to try survival but usually prefers other genres.
Actually, it’s even 4 games. But the fourth, GTFO, is an exception. The new co-op game is just brutally hard and belongs only secondarily to the survival genre, even though it plays excellently.
All three games make getting into the genre easier by being different. Do you have little time? Try Icarus. Coming from another gaming corner? Tribes of Midgard brings you closer to survival. Don’t want it to be too harsh? Valheim forgives you mistakes that other survival games would mercilessly punish.
Tribes of Midgard is a hidden gem, and I have devoted much less attention to the game than it deserves.
New Ideas Are Good for the Genre
Sure, games like ARK and Rust have a huge player base that has been loyal for years. However, this is both a blessing and a curse, as it means that new players are rarely gained. Those who are not already interested in the genre find it difficult to access.
Conan Exiles already showed this at the time. While the game was extremely successful, it also more or less siphoned players off from the pool of survival fans. Despite decent numbers and new innovations like an integrated story, it never became as big as the competition.
If new games now try to expand the genre, suddenly many more players are attracted. Those who usually play Diablo or Path of Exile might find themselves drawn to Tribes of Midgard and then to Valheim.
Science fiction fans who usually hang out in EVE Online might find Icarus intriguing. From there, interest can continue. And suddenly, DayZ or ARK have caught them. And suddenly, there is fresh meat among the survival gamers.
Of course, this won’t happen with all players. But fishing in foreign ponds has always been a reliable way to grow one’s fan base. More games should dare to do that.
Evolution Is Completely Normal, but Extremely Important
It has always been the case in gaming that a genre evolves if it wants to survive. New features bring fresh air into the games or even create entirely new genres. For instance, the popular MOBAs emerged from strategy games, and first-person shooters split into arena and hero shooters as well as battle royale.
Such developments are often a reaction to the needs of the players and cater to a current trend. The art is to recognize this trend early or even set it oneself without overdoing an idea. This is how the now successful games have mostly managed to become so big.
As Valheim alone shows, trying something new can pay off. However, such attempts also carry the risk of flopping hard. The survival game Last Oasis from 2020, for instance, failed with its experimental approach, even though the premise sounded exciting. A reorientation briefly brought improvement, but the game never became really big again.
Last Oasis had players constantly fleeing from an all-consuming catastrophe. Basically, an exciting idea, but the combination with hardcore PvP could not retain enough players.
This shows that it’s important to hit the right dosage and then offer the right mix. In 2022, several games are coming our way that could achieve just that.
Here’s a little glimpse of what 2022 has to offer:
Start video
Check out gameplay of 5 new survival games to look forward to in 2021 and 2022
2022 Has Many New Ideas in Store
2022 will be a really good year for all survival fans and those who want to become one. And not just because the big players will get even bigger, but because a ton of new stuff is coming.
Just 5 new games I would always mention if it comes to convincing someone of the genre with new games:
V Rising turns you into a vampire and plays more like an arena brawler with a good combat system. The closed beta is set to start in 2022.
Nightingale looks particularly exciting – Here is the trailer:
Start video
See the trailer for the new survival MMO Nightingale, reminiscent of Valheim
These games are probably not yet drawing from my insight that 2021 changed the genre. The development certainly started long before the shift in survival games. However, they definitely contribute to the evolution of survival games shifting even further in this direction in the future.
If such ideas are implemented correctly, they can attract a lot of people and even retain them permanently. Even if they are just small indie projects:
Those who have a lot of money in GTA 5 Online simply blow away other players with this cannon. No matter where they are walking around outside. A polarizing fun in the community.
In December, the major “Doomsday Heist” update was released for GTA 5 Online. In addition to a series of new heists, cars and aircraft as well as deadly weapons made their way into the game. One cannon, whose power can often be labeled as “completely OP”, is among them.
And it draws the hatred of the super-rich in many lobbies as their favorite toy.
Orbital Cannon brings joy to the rich
Imagine you’re innocently walking through the streets of Los Santos. Well, as innocently as one can be in GTA 5 Online. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there’s a BOOM and your character explodes. It’s quite possible that you became the target of the orbital cannon in GTA 5. Someone chose you as a target for the cannon and paid a lot of money for you to die.
Or: You’re at a car meet in front of the tuning shop in Los Santos enjoying the time with souped-up cars? It would be such a shame if, without warning, a powerful explosion tears everything apart. 19 dead and a bunch of destroyed cars. How that looks from the outside is shown in the video from JAW Productions.
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A shot from the orbital cannon costs 500,000 GTA$ (with targeting function even 750,000 GTA$). An expensive fun, considering that 500,000 GTA$ costs a hefty €7.49 on Steam.
For players who have several million GTA$ in their account through cheats, glitches, or hard work, this is no problem. They pay for it from the coffee fund and don’t even have to blink. The only silver lining: the cannon has a 48-minute cooldown.
A hit from the cannon can take out multiple players at once. No matter if they’re hiding under bridges, behind buildings, in stores, or in tunnels. The only places where a shot from the orbital cannon can’t hit you are, for example, your bunkers or apartments. So places where you can’t use weapons.
Players are upset that they can do practically nothing against a hit. Without warning, you die from one second to the next.
Especially nasty is it when you want to deliver the earnings of your bunker, cocaine labs, or other production sites to cash in a few hundred thousand dollars. It takes many hours of grinding and hard work to produce that much stuff. If the cannon hits you while you’re delivering the valuable cargo, everything is gone. Poof. Then the hours of hard work were for nothing, just like that.
Shortly after the introduction of the cannon, players were able to exploit glitches to bypass the 48-minute cooldown of the cannon and shoot for free. A Michael Bay movie doesn’t offer half as many explosions as could be seen and felt at that time in Los Santos.
Good against annoying competitors
This weapon offers you a good way to get revenge against annoying players. Competitors who camp you and annoy you in online mode can receive an expensive but nice greeting from the orbital cannon.
Currently, however, the potential of the weapon is mostly utilized by super-rich players, modders, or trolls to annoy others.
How the orbital cannon works in GTA 5 Online
This gimmick has been around since the latest update in GTA 5 Online. Players can buy an underground base there and equip it with the orbital cannon. This gives you a round extra room in the base, with a digital map in the middle. Perfect for circling your targets with your finger.
Once you have this overpowered weapon in your possession (upgrading it in the base costs 900,000 GTA$), you can immediately look for your first victim. During the holidays, Rockstar was generous and gives you one target free of charge.
The target search is manual or automatic; you can choose. Then you select your target, shoot, and you’re done.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
This week, the first new MMORPG 2022 was released, and the release date for another game in January was announced. Additionally, there was new information about upcoming updates in New World and a teaser for ESO. We from MeinMMO summarize all MMORPG news of the week for you.
These were the news of the week from the world of MMORPGs at a glance. What was your personal highlight? Did you experience something exciting this week? Or did we forget something important? Let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO and discuss with us.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The genre of loot shooters has long been very popular among MMO players. Games like Destiny and The Division have provided gamers with hours of fun. However, currently, the genre seems to be in crisis. We discuss this in the MeinMMO Podcast.
In the meantime, there have been some games that managed to achieve success, but they were certainly not mega-hits. Video games like Outriders belong to this category. Sub-genres like battle royale had immense appeal – especially Fortnite was a huge success on Twitch – but that shine is also fading today.
Schuhmann and Leya analyze what has happened to the big loot shooters and why they are flying under the radar today. One thing is certain: the genre has many fans among gamers who still mourn its glory days.
Will there be a new golden age for loot shooters? Find out our assessment in the new podcast episode.
Here you can listen:
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Alternatively, you can also write an email directly to [email protected] and share your thoughts with us. Share your opinion with us in the comments.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In FIFA 22 you can soon choose the TOTY. The candidates for the midfield of the “Team of the Year” have now been announced.
What is the TOTY? The “Team of the Year” is a regular event in Ultimate Team, where some of the best cards come into the game. These cards usually have a total rating significantly above 90 and cost a lot of coins on the transfer market.
You can obtain them from the packs in FIFA 22. However, the chance of getting a TOTY card in packs is very, very low.
How does the TOTY voting work? There are several nominees for each position in the TOTY from which players can choose which cards should receive the coveted upgrade. The voting phase runs from Monday, January 10, 2022 at 5:00 PM, until January 18, 2022 at 8:59 AM.
These players you can choose for the TOTY midfield
In midfield, we also find a selection of the best players in the world. The candidates are spread across various leagues. From the Bundesliga, there are 7 candidates with Dani Olmo, Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Filip Kostić, Thomas Müller, Jude Bellingham, and Florian Wirtz.
Casemiro
Marco Verratti
Kevin De Bruyne
Joshua Kimmich
N’Golo Kanté
Thomas Müller
Bruno Fernandes
Leon Goretzka
Nicolò Barella
Marcos Llorente
Phil Foden
Jorginho
Mason Mount
Filip Kostić
Nabil Fekir
Manuel Locatelli
Declan Rice
Lucas Paquetá
Luis Diaz
Dani Olmo
Fabinho
Jude Bellingham
Florian Wirtz
Pedri
Heung Min Son
Luka Modrić
When looking purely from a FIFA perspective at the selection, there are some cards that should become extremely strong if they make it into the TOTY. This is especially true for Kanté, Son, or Marcos Llorente. The three are already among the most popular meta cards in FIFA 22 and, as high 90 variants, would likely be hard to stop.
But cards like Fernandes, Barella, or Goretzka are already very popular and could receive a substantial upgrade with the TOTY card.
When looking at real football, the arguments for who deserves a card become even more exciting. Should you choose the Champions League winners from Chelsea? Or players from the current European champion Italy? Do you take both by choosing Jorginho? Or do you simply choose your personal favorite players?
One thing is for sure: No matter which players receive the TOTY upgrade – they will likely be very exciting for potential FUT teams.
In addition to the TOTY preliminary phase, the Headliner event is currently still active. Here you can secure a very exciting card from the Bundesliga: The Headliner card from Denis Zakaria is available without coins with just a little effort.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
New World has introduced a new feature: the Umbral Shards. This is a new item system that allows the strongest players to upgrade their equipment from 600 to 625. There are already heated discussions about it on reddit. Some fear that the system could make the “most powerful 0.5%” even more powerful, while the rest fall behind.
The system works so that players can gradually increase the gear score of individual items from 600 up to a cap of 625 using the shards.
For each new level of the item, more shards are required than for the previous one; several thousand shards are needed to upgrade an item to 625, especially at higher levels the costs increase enormously.
This is how you get the shards: There are said to be 3 ways to acquire these shards:
From crafting, when you create an item with gear score 600, provided you also have 600 expertise with that item
When you open a gypsum cast for an equipment slot that is already at 600 expertise
“Forced Grind” that disadvantages 95% of players
This is the criticism of the system: On reddit a frequent player criticizes the new system. He says it only benefits those who are already among the richest and strongest players in New World and who possess 600 gear everywhere.
These would be the “powerful” of a server, who also own a territory through which they earn large amounts of money.
The vast majority on a server, however, would not have such good items and therefore would not benefit from the system.
“This system is absolutely detrimental to 95% of players who are likely already falling behind and who do not own a territory and do not have the best possible equipment.”
A user on reddit
The system is criticized as “another forced grind for the top 0.5%” that will not help bring players back. The system is only made for the benefit of those who already have such a lead over others – plus, it would devalue all items that are not at gear level 600.
Furthermore, the shards are also counter-intuitive, since you have to play PvE to get them – but the items would then bring significant advantages in PvP. There should at least be a way to earn them in PvP as well.
Are there other opinions as well: Yes, one user says: the complaint is just the typical whining of reddit users who are falling behind – as usual.
Others say: this is just the concept for the test server for now, maybe something will change.
What’s behind this: This is indeed an interesting question of design philosophy. In many established MMORPGs, it is common to allow players who are falling behind to catch up by toning down content that yields good gear or by implementing other “catch-up mechanisms” before giving new toys to those at the front.
Cortyn once wrote, that the whole World of Warcraft has become a “catch-up” mechanism. Especially World of Warcraft is known for frequently enabling players to catch up so that frequent players never “run too far ahead.”
In New World, the new maximum level for equipment and further improvements come very quickly. Apparently, New World is reacting to the complaints of frequent players – like Twitch streamer shroud – that there is nothing more to do and quickly brings improvements here by modifying existing content.
However, this can’t be a comprehensive solution in such a short time – that would be completely new content, but is only a temporary workaround that also sparks discussions.
In Call of Duty: Vanguard a new grenade caused fiery infernos that no one could really handle. After almost a month, a solution for the problems is now coming.
What is the problem with the grenade? The item is the incendiary grenade, which came with Season 1 on December 8, 2021, for CoD Vanguard. Players could unlock this through the free part of the Battle Pass by leveling up sufficiently.
But hardly had the first players got their hands on the new toy, the problems revealed themselves:
The incendiary grenade deals a lot of damage to opponents through flames.
The smoke from the grenade significantly obscures visibility and creates more chaos in the game than many deem acceptable.
There is no real counter against the incendiary grenade.
Especially popular small maps like Shipment or the house were so filled with flames and smoke due to incendiary grenade spams that some referred to them as almost unplayable.
The incendiary grenade thus became a potentially too strong addition to the best weapons in CoD Vanguard. Now, Sledgehammer Games has addressed the problem on Twitter. The developers have been working on solutions that are supposed to be coming to the game soon.
Weaker incendiary grenade, better countermeasures
This is how the developers plan to solve the problem: As Sledgehammer Games announced on Twitter, the problem is being tackled from several angles.
Originally, the goal of the incendiary grenade was to allow players to control free spaces on the map. That worked – however, the grenade was not properly balanced for small maps, according to the developers.
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In the first step, the following changes will now be made:
The overall damage of the incendiary grenade will be reduced. It should still hurt to run through the flames in the core modes – but one should be able to recover from it.
The perk “Fortified” will significantly reduce fire damage. This also includes direct damage when hit by a Molotov.
The perk “Dauntless” will grant complete immunity when running through fire. However, it provides no protection against direct fire damage when hit by a corresponding weapon like the flamethrower.
With these steps, they aim to contain the problems. Additionally, at a later date, the area effect of smoke and flames from the incendiary grenade will be reduced to make the item better suited for small maps and indoor areas.
This is what players are saying: In the subreddit for CoD Vanguard, the changes are well received. There, they are happy that the problems may soon be a thing of the past:
“These are some great changes. Hopefully it won’t come with 50+ bugs,” writes user RJE808 (via reddit).
“Dauntless is now an important perk. Resistance to movement effects, immunity to ‘Piercing Vision’ and now also immunity to fire,” notes user JacktheStoryteller (via reddit).
At the same time, some emphasize that they hope for further restrictions. Especially the visibility obstruction from smoke and screen shakes are things some players want to see reduced.
In Battlefield 2042, criticism of the game is getting louder and angrier. A post by developer Andy McNamara has caused the situation to boil over in recent days. The moderators of the subreddit are now considering temporarily shutting down the discussion platform. The atmosphere has become too toxic.
What is the criticism of Battlefield 2042? There are a variety of criticisms aimed at the new Battlefield 2042. The main points are:
Too many “core features” that once defined Battlefield are missing: There is no campaign, too few game modes, too few weapons and maps.
Especially the fact that the “scoreboard” is missing is unforgivable for many Battlefield fans. Additionally, there are technical errors.
In general, Battlefield 2042 is criticized as a major step back in the series – players say, “A Battlefield 4 with a new coat of paint would have been better than what you have sold us.”
Start video
Everything you need to know about the new Battlefield 2042 – in 2 minutes
“I love you guys, but your expectations are brutal”
This is what made the criticism boil over: On January 5, Andy McNamara, a key person at EA, published a somewhat resigned post, apparently after the Christmas break. He wrote:
“Today it’s back to work, I’m checking reddit and Twitter. The Battlefield fans are pissed off that we haven’t provided enough updates during the holiday season. Guys, people need to rest as well. Things are in motion, but we also have to see what’s possible. We will comment on things when we are at 100%.
Let’s come back from the break and get back to work first. I love you guys, but your expectations are brutal. The things you want take time to outline, design, and implement.”
Andy McNamara, Global Director of Integrated Comms for Shooters & Star Wars at Electronic Arts
The tweets were subsequently deleted.
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Subreddit moderators say: The atmosphere is incredibly toxic
What was the basis for the criticism? What apparently made people on reddit finally scream out was the phrase “brutal expectations” – because from their perspective, their expectations are not “brutal” but just realistic. They only want what previous Battlefields delivered.
As a result, the atmosphere on reddit became even more negative. There were memes that mocked the developers.
This is how the moderators react now: A few days ago, a statement from the moderators of the popular subreddit for Battlefield 2042 was released. The statement is meant to be understood as a “warning”.
It states that the subreddit has become “incredibly toxic” – and that is an understatement. It is no longer possible to have a discussion without people insulting each other. This would harm the entire community. The moderators have always held back, but would not tolerate insults or harassment. They are also bound by the rules of reddit.
The moderators then say: If this continues, they will start to lock threads early – in case of doubt, they would temporarily lock the entire subreddit.
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It says: They do not want this, but will do everything to lower the current level of toxic behavior. How things proceed now lies in the hands of the community.
Currently, it seems that Battlefield 2042 is indeed in a deep crisis:
Riot Games hinted at 3 new LoL champs in the opening stream of the 2022 season of League of Legends . These are the champs following the new champion Zeri. They are supposed to be a supporter, a jungler, and a ‘non-traditional botlaner.’
What was known so far about the next champs in LoL?
The other new champ was a supporter focused on “money, technology, and power.” The supporter is said to be a kind of mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Starting from minute 22:16, the segment about the new champions begins in the live stream;
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Supporter will be an unusually malicious enchanter
This is what we know now about the new supporter:
This supporter is now also the first of the 3 new champs that Riot Games has hinted at.
In the stream, he was introduced as a new type of “enchanter.” Enchanters are champions in LoL who should enhance and protect other champions from enemies. They themselves are often relatively fragile. Examples of enchanters in LoL are Janna, Karma, Lulu, Nami, Sona, or Yuumi.
Most of these champions are rather cheerful, colorful characters. In contrast, the new champion will be dark and more malicious. Moreover, he is supposed to feel like a “boss.” The botlaners would always reap all the glory, while the supporter is always pulling the strings. The new LoL champ should reflect that.
This image was a clue about the new supporter in LoL.
New jungler takes possession of poor LoL developer
This is what we know about the 2nd champ: When lead champion producer Ryan Mireles was just about to present the 2nd new champ for 2022, he apparently was possessed and spoke about a purple city and its empress.
The character is apparently supposed to be a jungler – following a kind of “all-consuming empress.”
On reddit, people believe that a new “Void” jungler is coming. Champions belonging to the void in LoL include Cho’Gath, Kai’Sa, Kha’zix, or Kog’Maw. These are the “monsters” of LoL. One reddit user suspects it could be some kind of Kerrigan (StarCraft) wanting to overrun the map with voidling creatures.
This image was revealed by Riot Games for the botlaner.
“New, very mysterious bot laner”
This is what we know about the 3rd new champion: There is almost no information about him. It is said to be a “new, very mysterious, non-traditional bot laner” who is supposed to come to LoL later in 2022.
If all of this feels too far away for you, you can look forward to Zeri – she will be the first new champion in LoL 2022, and we already know a lot about her:
In FIFA 22 you can get the new Headliners card for Denis Zakaria. The player from Gladbach has really strong stats and is a great option for Bundesliga teams – as you can get him without coins.
This is the card: Zakaria is part of the Headliners cards, which are dynamic items. They receive upgrades whenever the player gets a performance-based special card, such as TOTW cards.
Additionally, there is another upgrade when the real-life team of the game wins four consecutive matches in the league. Zakaria’s team Gladbach has just started with a victory against Bayern Munich – so an upgrade might happen in the coming weeks.
But even without potential upgrades, Zakaria’s card is already pretty strong:
Zakaria is extremely strong defensively
Zakaria has very strong pace for a CDM card
His dribbling and passing stats also look good – in case you need a deep-lying playmaker
High physical and defensive stats promise a very solid defense
On top of that, you can enhance Zakaria with Chemistry Styles – and also the prospect of potential upgrades.
Overall, players in the FIFA community are already calling it one of the best “free” cards of all time. Because: You don’t even need luck with packs or large coin reserves for Zakaria. You can get the Swiss player through simple tasks.
How to get Headliners Zakaria
Here’s where you need to play: You need to complete several tasks in the friendly mode “Headliner Challenge”. The requirements for this mode are quite simple:
You play under “Max. Chemistry” rules. This means: All your players get full chemistry and you don’t have to worry about positioning.
You need players from at least 7 leagues.
You can use a maximum of one loan player.
The advantage of friendly matches: You don’t lose contracts, nor do results count toward your stats. So you don’t have to worry at all if you lose a game. Cancelling a game doesn’t incur any penalties either.
These tasks are available: There are four tasks to complete in total. They are as follows:
Top Scorer: Score in the live FUT friendly match “Headliner Challenge” using a CDM (1 time).
Stylish Crosses: Provide 5 goals with crosses in the live FUT friendly match “Headliner Challenge”.
Winning Streak: Win 4 matches in the live FUT friendly match “Headliner Challenge”
Score in 10 separate matches in the live FUT friendly match “Headliner Challenge”.
The CDM task is easier to complete if you convert your forwards to “CDM” using position modifiers. Then they are eligible for completion and you don’t have to use your defensive midfielders.
Many players use a “Golden Goal” rule in friendly matches. This basically states: The first to score wins, and the other player must leave the game. This is of course not mandatory, but many players use it in friendly modes to keep tasks like “Score in 10 separate matches” brief.
To set up goals with crosses, you don’t have to rely only on the “normal” cross. For example, use R1/RB and cross to use a charged, low cross that can function almost like a strong pass to your player’s feet. Corner goals are also an option.
In addition to the Headliners event, the upcoming Team of the Year is also becoming more of a topic. We’ll show you the first nominees for the TOTY event in FIFA 22.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MMORPG Lost Ark has been successful in South Korea for years and is considered to be the best new online role-playing game of the last 5 years. In February 2022, the game will finally be released as Free2Play in Europe. A 5-minute video now gives a crash course in the online role-playing game and excites the fans: it is said to be a fantastic representation of Lost Ark.
Why is Lost Ark so important?
Lost Ark garnered interest in Germany back in 2014, as a first trailer of the demo looked like Lost Ark would become the “new Diablo” and was practically finished. However, in 2014, Smilegate didn’t have much more than that first trailer.
When the game became gradually playable in South Korea around 2018, it was seen as a fully-fledged MMORPG in ISO perspective with action gameplay, deep mechanics, and a lot of grind.
Since its release, the game has continued to evolve and has emerged in South Korea as one of the largest new MMORPGs. After Black Desert (2016), it is considered the “next big MMORPG” – unlike New World, which suffered from content shortages, Lost Ark has years of development already.
Start video
New video about Lost Ark shows what makes the free MMORPG special
This can be seen in the new video: A 5-minute video from January 7th on YouTube has already received nearly 80,000 views and over 4,000 likes in a short time.
The video provides a crash course in the world of Lost Ark:
The video shows character creation, there are 5 base classes that then further break down into advanced classes
In the video, the narrating voice introduces the skill system with customizable skills
Impressive visuals alternate rapidly in a brief overview of the world: Horrific hordes of enemies are presented alongside epic images of adventures and vast landscapes
The expansive sailing system of the game receives its own section – of course, the ship is customizable and the crew can be hired
The video presents a quick overview of several dungeons and raids, emphasizing the “endless waves” that await players – and shows tough raid bosses
If that’s not enough, players are also provided with PvP content
Start video
Everything you need to know about the MMORPG Lost Ark – in 2 minutes
The video says: “We are an MMORPG that offers everything you desire”
What does the video want to tell us? The main message of the video is actually: “Lost Ark is truly a full-featured MMORPG”. It covers all areas that MMORPG players wish for: PvE, PvP, crafting, game progression, builds, exploration, own base.
So it is a “real MMORPG” and not a “hack’n’slash” title that focuses solely on looting and leveling up.
Moreover, the video is a typical hype trailer that knows exactly what the fans want to see: the epic moments of the game are staged in typical “goosebump moments”.
How is the video received? The reception is very positive. The general reaction is: “I can’t wait anymore” and “the game looks fantastic.”
It is especially highlighted that the video shows actual gameplay and is a “true representation of the game” for the MMO community.
A player says: “For new players: Please take your time and enjoy everything about the game while leveling up. You will thank me for the advice later.”
To mix some criticism into the general excitement, there was a compelling post during the closed beta of Lost Ark from an experienced player who already knows the game from South Korea:
16 years and World of Warcraft is still around – but why? Why does WoW survive after all this time?
The world of gaming is often short-lived and the trend from this week can be completely gone by the next week. Real guarantees of long-term stability are rare. League of Legends, Minecraft, or World of Warcraft come to mind.
But why does World of Warcraft manage to remain relevant after 16 years, even though there are so many more modern MMORPGs? The graphics are no longer fresh, the gameplay is outdated in many regards, and the subscription model seems antiquated. For newcomers to gaming, it is often hard to understand why World of Warcraft still exists and why it is still played – we want to mention a few of the reasons.
More content than any other game
Even though World of Warcraft has had to endure a lot of criticism in recent months and years – some of it quite justified – the game has a wealth of content that no other MMORPG on the market offers. No other game world is as vast and filled with quests, collectible items, and achievements as World of Warcraft.
Sure, the content is not perfectly tuned and is completely irrelevant for many endgame activities, but it exists. For those who play World of Warcraft only occasionally, just a few hours on the weekend, there is still something new to discover after 16 years.
It is clear that a revamp is slowly needed, one that would modernize all the old content in some relevant form – but WoW has this content and many players enjoy it.
World of Warcraft is a game that appeals to the masses. And the masses are generally not made up of hardcore gamers, who spend 5 to 6 hours in the game every day and scrutinize every change.
The masses are “casuals” in the friendliest sense of the word. Players who just play a little, leisurely level up, complete quests, and do not care about the best ranking in M+ or the fastest kill in the latest raid.
As a hardcore player, one often loses sight of this, but the player base of World of Warcraft is extremely diverse.
World of Warcraft has a lot of content – it is not always perfectly presented, but the abundance is there.
The business model: Money is guaranteed
World of Warcraft has the rather luxurious position of not only charging monthly fees in the form of a subscription but also selling a new expansion roughly every 2 years, which – depending on the version – brings in another €40 to €90.
Even if it turns out after a few weeks that the expansion is not well received, Blizzard has already cashed in. Millions of sold addons and several completed subscriptions make a WoW expansion a financial success quite quickly – even if players then rapidly lose interest afterwards.
This loss of interest is of course harmful in the long run, the community and reputation suffer as a result. But from a financial standpoint, World of Warcraft is still quite profitable – not to mention the shop items and special character services that some players take advantage of.
There are players who only play WoW
A final point is often forgotten:
There are people who do not play video games. There are people who enjoy playing video games. And then there are people who do not play video games, but play World of Warcraft.
What at first sounds like a contradiction does not have to be one at all. For many WoW fans, World of Warcraft is practically the only game that has ever been truly played extensively. It has often become more than a game, namely a part of daily life, just like for others watching a certain series in the evening or going to the movies on weekends.
This group of people who only play WoW as a game may not be particularly large, but they are relatively loyal. There are many reasons for this, but it probably mainly stems from the fact that they can enjoy different content and have fun just farming for an hour, engaging in pet battles, or completing some old transmog collections.
This group is not particularly bothered when a specific endgame feature – such as PvP battlegrounds, dungeons, or raids – is not optimal. Because the game has so much else to offer that you can enjoy.
And: It has become part of the routine, a fixed part of leisure time.
More news about World of Warcraft can be found here:
It is clear, however, that World of Warcraft has certainly seen better days. When one looks at the developments of recent years, the tone in the communities, such as the WoW subreddit, some forums, or guild chats, is becoming increasingly harsh. Dissatisfaction is growing, and Shadowlands has not delivered what many players had hoped for.
However, the fact that World of Warcraft has survived not only a “bad” expansion (Battle for Azeroth) but also the second unpopular one (Shadowlands) simply shows that World of Warcraft is resilient. On one hand, this is nice because it ensures that the game will be supported for a long time. On the other hand, it is, of course, unfortunate because it makes it obvious that the desired innovations do not have to be brought urgently – because the players are already there anyway.
What do you think about the whole thing?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Pokémon GO you can play the GO Battle Day today, Saturday, January 8, 2022. We will show you what the PvP event brings and which Pokémon are worth it here on MeinMMO.
When does the GO Battle Day run? The GO Battle Day takes place on Saturday, January 8, 2022, from 00:00 to 23:59 local time. So you can use the whole day to battle through the PvP league.
What kind of event is this? The focus of the GO Battle Day is the PvP league of Pokémon GO. Today, you can battle 20 sets, each consisting of 5 matches. Normally, only 5 are possible per day.
In total, you can battle 100 times against other players in the league today. A good opportunity to improve your rank in the league. But even for players who usually do not participate in the league, the battle day can be worthwhile.
4 times more Stardust in Pokémon GO
This bonus is available: You will receive 4 times as much Stardust today as a battle reward. Important: This only applies to individual battle rewards, not the set rewards.
Nevertheless, you can rake in a lot of Stardust if you finish some battles today. Stardust is one of the most important resources in the game: you need it, for example, to level up your Pokémon or unlock new moves for your monsters.
Which leagues are available? Today, you can compete in the Master League or the Master League Classic. The requirements are as follows:
Master League: Unlimited max CP
Master League Classic: Also unlimited CP, but limited Pokémon selection without XL candies
So you need the strongest monsters possible to succeed in the battles. We will show you some monsters that might be worth it here.
Which Pokémon are worth it in the Master League?
Basically, it’s worth using monsters in the Master League that you have leveled up and ideally have two charge moves to cover a wider field.
Master League: In the Master League, you can choose from the best and use monsters that are leveled up as high as possible.
According to the site PvPoke, which creates PvP rankings for Pokémon GO based on simulations, the following 10 monsters are the most useful if you have strong variants of them (via PvPoke):
Melmetal with Thunder Shock, Superpower and Rock Slide
Lugia with Dragon Tail, Sky Attack and Air Slash
Dialga with Fire Spin, Iron Head and Draco Meteor
Ho-Oh with Incinerate, Brave Bird, Earthquake
Yveltal with Sucker Punch, Dark Pulse and Focus Blast
Zekrom with Fire Spin, Crunch and Wild Charge
Mewtwo with Psycho Cut, Psystrike and Focus Blast
Reshiram with Fire Spin, Crunch and Overheat
Togekiss with Charm, Ancient Power and Flamethrower
Mamoswine with Powder Snow, Avalanche and Icicle Crash
The top 10 mainly consist of legendary Pokémon, which are not necessarily easy to level up to be strong in the Master League. Other good options include Dragonite, Articuno, Excadrill, Snorlax, or Metagross.
Master League Classic: In the Master League Classic, only monsters without XL candies can compete. So if you are not yet level 40, this might be an option for you.
Here the ranking shifts slightly according to PvPoke and looks like this:
Groudon with Mud Shot, Earthquake and Fire Punch
Melmetal with Thunder Shock, Superpower and Rock Slide
Ho-Oh with Incinerate, Brave Bird, Earthquake
Lugia with Dragon Tail, Sky Attack and Air Slash
Yveltal with Sucker Punch, Dark Pulse and Focus Blast
Dialga with Fire Spin, Iron Head and Draco Meteor
Garchomp with Mud Shot, Outrage and Earth Power
Mewtwo with Psycho Cut, Psystrike and Focus Blast
Zekrom with Fire Spin, Crunch and Wild Charge
Giratina (Altered Form) with Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball and Ominous Wind
Other strong options include Zarude, Dragonite, Zamazenta, Snorlax (Shadow) or Mamoswine and Togekiss.
Recently, it has become popular on the streaming platform Twitch to watch TV series together with fans. This is considered a new ‘meta’: one of the platform’s most important streamers was banned for this on Saturday, January 8, 2022: 25-year-old Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys. We look at the reasons for the ban and when Pokimane will be back on Twitch.
Who is Pokimane?
Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys has roots in Morocco and Canada. She started with streams of LoL; the success of Fortnite allowed her to professionalize in 2018 and make a living from Twitch streaming. In recent years, however, she has become more of a talker on Twitch – but she also enjoys playing Valorant and is quite good at it.
Pokimane is the ‘female face of Twitch’. While other major female streamers on the platform like Amouranth are not exactly ‘presentable’, Pokimane is one of Twitch’s flagships and received a major exclusive contract in March 2020.
The streamer is also often the target of hostility and accusations. She has been accused of exploiting her lonely male fans. All of them are considered ‘simps’. Pokimane has also set a limit on how much people can donate to her.
New ‘TV Meta’ on Twitch Spells Trouble for Pokimane
What was she banned for? Pokimane watched the approximately 15-year-old Nickelodeon show ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ on her Twitch stream together with her fans and was apparently banned for it.
It appears that she received a ‘copyright strike’ that automatically took her channel down.
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The ban came on the night from Friday to Saturday.
What’s interesting about this: It is considered a ‘new Twitch meta’ to simply start a TV show during the stream and then react to it. Streamers like xQc or HasanAbi watch the popular show ‘MasterChef’ featuring Gordon Ramsay.
For some time now, other streamers like Ludwig have warned that this behavior will lead to cease-and-desist orders flooding in from TV networks – just like it has happened in the music industry. However, streamers have dismissed this as panic and claimed there is nothing wrong with watching these TV series. They argue that they are also somehow promoting the series and contributing to their reach.
But apparently, it has now led to some consequences.
When Will Pokimane Return to Twitch?
How is Pokimane handling the ban? Quite casually. She simply tweeted, ‘The Fire Nation attacked’ – a reference to the TV series.
How long is she banned? Pokimane states that she is banned for 48 hours. On Monday afternoon our time, she is supposed to continue with a 12-hour ‘comeback stream’?
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However, the ban could herald the end of the ‘Twitch TV meta’. Pokimane is seen as Twitch’s darling, but due to copyright complaints, Twitch seems forced to ban.
Maybe players will once again watch games instead of Gordon Ramsay or old cartoon series:
In February 2007, the MMORPG Last Chaos was released. MeinMMO author Mark Sellner was already involved in the beta and now, 15 years later, returns to his very first MMORPG – and regrets it right away.
During the time between the years, most gamers take on a game that has been on their list for a long time and now finally have the time to play it. But since I have nothing to do right now except waiting for the release of Lost Ark, and I have played most MMORPGs on the market, I did something completely crazy: I installed Last Chaos.
I played the MMORPG around 2007 at the release in Asia. Now, after nearly 15 years, I have returned to where it all started. My very first MMORPG. What does it feel like to rediscover the game 15 years later?
Last Chaos is an MMORPG that makes me wonder how it still runs. Currently, Gamigo publishes the game in our region, and Aeria Games is responsible for the USA. However, I had contact with the game long before there was a German or American version of it.
I only vaguely remember, as I must have been 10 or 11 years old when my uncle excitedly came to my father and told him he had found this really cool new game. It was called Last Chaos, and since I didn’t have my own PC back then, I spent hours just watching Dad play.
Back then, the game only ran with a fan patch in English, and the servers were, if I remember correctly, in Malaysia. Accordingly, the connection and ping were pretty bad. Tools like ExitLag were painfully missed back in 2006.
After my dad got so annoyed that I constantly stood behind him while he was gaming and I begged long enough, I finally got my first PC for Christmas. It had Last Chaos Malaysia, including the English language patch pre-installed.
This didn’t help me much since I couldn’t speak English at 11 either. But I was as happy as a clam.
This is roughly how the game looked back then:
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I associated Last Chaos with very positive memories for a long time. My first steps in MMORPGs, the first character slowly leveling up, and playing online with friends for the first time.
I played the game for about three years, always with great enthusiasm for the rather mediocre MMORPG, looking back. When I had already reached the maximum level for a long time in Malaysia, the announcement came that Gamigo would release the game in German.
I played the first beta of the German version and about 20 hours after the official release. At some point between 2009 and 2010, I finally buried my time with Last Chaos and moved on to other MMORPGs. Until today.
The renewed entry into the game was more difficult than expected. I downloaded the client, which was splendidly presented in 800×600 resolution. Well, that probably hasn’t changed since 2007 either. As I was sure that my account would no longer exist, I wanted to create a new one.
I was surprised to find that my account still existed. I reset my password and shortly thereafter received an email from Gamigo. In Polish, in the spam folder. At least it only took a few minutes until I was actually in the game and could get started.
I create a character, a rogue that I loved back then. The classes in the game are genderlocked, but that doesn’t bother me personally in general. I was positively surprised that there are now significantly more classes than back then and even a kind of premium class.
The shadow priest can only be created if you already have a level 90 character on your account. Too bad, because the shadow priest looked the most interesting.
The launcher doesn’t look quite as nice today
After logging in, the game recommends a server to me, which I accepted. Last Chaos also asks me if I want to play a tutorial. That’s new too, so I immediately say yes and get teleported to a beginner area.
It was right there that the disappointment about my return began. After my nostalgic joy that the animations still look just as bad as back then and that nothing had changed in the sounds, it became exciting.
Because the tutorial consisted of a handful of quests that couldn’t be worse. First, I have to kill 10 young foxes, then I have to kill 10 foxes. Once accomplished, I can kill 10 young wolves, then 10 wolves, then 10 old wolves. You get the pattern.
The quests are less challenging in the tutorial
After completing this tutorial, I’m about level 10 and return to the city, which, by the way, is still relatively full. The game still feels much more lively than many new games. However, nobody wants to talk to me, which is a shame.
However, it immediately becomes clear that most characters I meet on my way are at an extremely high level. I searched in vain for other low-level noobs like me. A little later, an experienced player also confirmed to me that most users from back then are still there and new players are in short supply, but more on that later.
What is positive, however, is that there are quests galore in the first few hours. Although they are not particularly diverse, they keep me busy. The entire user interface also looks nicer today, and many mechanics have been added over the years.
Relatively early on, I even stumble into my first solo dungeon, where I can fight against a Balrog at the end alongside a bunch of skeletons. At this point, my character is level 16 and the battles are pleasantly challenging. The game, at least at the beginning, is definitely not too easy.
However, over time, the questing and grinding become so monotonous that I really don’t have much to say about it anymore. I accept the same quests over and over again, collect money, which I then have to spend on healing potions. Apart from monster killing, there is simply nothing to do in the low-level area of the game. I ended my excursion into Last Chaos at level 36 after about four hours. I was relatively calm, perhaps a bit disillusioned. The real disappointment followed afterward.
The first dungeon impressed me back then with its light effects
Coming home – to an ugly apartment
However, I didn’t want to leave my excursion to Last Chaos like that. In Guild Wars 2, I recently reconnected with a buddy I had previously adventured with in Last Chaos years ago. He told me that he still actively plays the MMORPG to this day.
For this article, he was kind enough to lend me one of his accounts for about a five-hour gaming session. So I had an opportunity to peek into the endgame of the old MMORPG. The account has a rogue, an elf, and a shadow priest at the maximum level of 190. They are all equipped as perfectly as possible. According to him, this account has about 1,000 hours of playtime.
Finally playing again on a rogue at max level felt for a moment like coming home. However, I soon realized that the memories of the game were much more beautiful than the game itself.
Between my starting rogue at level 15 and the 190 character, there are also outward worlds
Extensive skill trees, various attribute combinations, and alternative weapons on most characters play absolutely no role in the endgame. The characters he gave me all functioned according to the same pattern: attack speed.
And indeed so much that the animations reached their ridiculous peak. The character made about four attacks in the time of a single attack animation, that just can’t end well. Also, the fact that I could run faster through various buffs than by riding on a mount seems silly.
I thought, okay, perhaps it could be played like that with a rogue. However, the shadow priest, a kind of dark elf magician, would surely throw impressive spells around. Wrong thought. You also play the shadow priest optimally with 1 to 2 control skills and auto-attacks at high speed.
To my great shock, I also had to realize that the PvE endgame of the game has not changed in a whopping 12 years. Not even the location changed. I’m still beating down exactly the same zombies in the exact same pyramid and grinding for better armor. Only now everything is 100 levels higher than before.
Once you’ve assembled the perfect armor, there is simply nothing left to do in PvE. The real endgame is therefore in PvP, which was also confirmed to me by the colleague who lent me the account. However, the PvP of the game only works rudimentarily at best.
There are regular battles for a castle, in which I unfortunately couldn’t participate. These seem to be the highlight of the endgame, according to reports. Otherwise, PvP is limited to open-world player killing and an arena in a city that you can just walk into and then be activated for PvP.
And that’s it. Besides new pets and a handful of new classes, not even new maps or areas have been added. I was not only disillusioned but bitterly disappointed by how little a game can evolve over a decade.
The shadow priest starts in Egeha, which has existed since 2009. After that, only one new area was added.
“Basically, the whole game is somehow broken”
After the session in the endgame, I talked for quite some time with Timo, the buddy who lent me the account. Overall, he has many accounts on several servers and has invested well over 10,000 hours into the MMORPG.
He tells me that the game particularly suffers from the fact that there are few to no new players. Also, Last Chaos, like New World at launch, has massive problems with dupers who clone money and items, thus driving the economy in the game into the ground.
Moreover, just two weeks ago, there was a server merger that couldn’t have gone any worse. Because while one server was already economically in ruins, the other server was still holding up well. This inevitably led to all players from the second server suddenly being broke due to the merger.
This is because Gamigo didn’t adjust or balance anything here. While Timo could afford just about everything with 4 billion gold before the transfer, decent endgame items are now worth over 100 billion gold. The community is understandably angry about this approach.
Also questionable is that the new pets, the elephant and the jaguar, were only introduced to the server through the transfer. They only existed previously on one of the two servers. The overall mood is downcast, and many players have thrown in the towel, according to Timo.
Last Chaos also suffers from massive pay-to-win issues. While I was just able to reach level 36 in my four hours, Timo tells me that with knowledge and enough money, one can easily reach level 120 in under 30 minutes. If he really put in the effort, he could reach the maximum level in about two days.
This makes the entire leveling process of the game somewhat irrelevant, which would be okay if PvP could offer enough, but it doesn’t either. The areas where Last Chaos shines for the time, namely leveling and solo dungeons, are thus completely irrelevant in the later game. What a shame.
The skeletons in the solo dungeon hit you hard early on
The memories were nicer, and now they are destroyed
At this point, it’s really hard for me to draw a conclusion, as I had fun in Last Chaos, but for the wrong reasons. As a new player, I can unfortunately not recommend starting in Last Chaos. There are now too many games that do the same thing better.
Moreover, the economy in the game is so destroyed that as a new player you will simply never be able to afford the really good things. In the first hours of play, all my money went for healing potions from the NPC. I could only dream of new weapons.
As a returnee, you have fun with the nostalgia of the title for as long as you can look behind the facade of the leveling process and see how broken everything is afterwards. It’s okay if you want to see how the game looks nowadays, but for me personally, I would have preferred not to take that look.
Because Last Chaos had a good place in my memory. Many positive memories of a game that one had better in mind than it actually is. It’s been too long to claim that the game was better before. Probably it wasn’t. Nevertheless, it felt better in my mind, and that part is now gone.
I regret the excursion into the world of Last Chaos, because I have replaced good memories with negative ones. Although it was fun to be back for a while. The places where I grinded for many hours many years ago feel strangely familiar.
Nonetheless, I must sadly say that this was probably my last excursion into the MMORPG. I wish all players who still enjoy the game to continue to do so, but for me, that’s it. No matter how good it was back then and that I could only dive into the world of MMORPGs because of you – Farewell, Last Chaos. Until we meet again.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In GTA Online there are currently two easy time trials active that can bring you 203,000 GTA Dollars to your account in a short time. We will show you the races and a few tips to help you win the money quickly.
How do you get the money? On the map of GTA Online, two new time trials have been active since Thursday, January 6th. Each one gives you over 100,000 GTA Dollars and can be completed quickly. In our overview, we will show you what to pay attention to during the races to win them easily.
These races are active:
Lake Vinewood Estates: 101,000 GTA Dollars in 1:26 minutes
Vespucci Beach: 102,000 GTA Dollars in 2:05 minutes
Lake Vinewood Estates Time Trial – Here’s How to Win It
This is the race: You start the race in the Vinewood Hills. Mark the destination on the map and restart the race so you have a reference right at the start.
The beginning of the race follows the GPS normally, but there are important shortcuts that make the race much easier for you. After all, you need to reach the finish on time. In the following graphic, we have marked the route for you. You see the shortcut in green and the normal GPS path in purple.
The green route is the shortcut that saves you time
Just before the end, you rush over the bridge and then take a shortcut on the right side. Drive up the small hill and then directly to the finish.
As a reward, you get 101,000 GTA Dollars if you reach the finish on time
Which vehicles should you choose? For the time trial, we recommend fast motorcycles. The off-road shortcuts make it much easier for you with two-wheelers than with cars. In our tests, we reached the finish on time with the Shotaro. We show you the fastest motorcycles in GTA Online on MeinMMO.
Time Trial for RC-Bandito brings 102,000 GTA Dollars
This is the race: Head to Vespucci Beach. On the map of GTA Online, you will find a purple remote control that indicates the start of the race.
You need a remote-controlled RC-Bandito vehicle for this. After the race starts, you just have to drive through the checkpoints; there are no special shortcuts.
The number of arrows in the yellow markers indicates how hard you need to turn
For turns with three arrows, you need to significantly ease off the throttle, even brake
If you run into pedestrians, it will cost you a lot of time, as they are an obstacle for the small cars
If you follow the tips, you should easily complete the race within the given time. Afterwards, you will receive the 102,000 GTA Dollars directly credited to you.
If you complete both races on time, you will receive a total of 203,000 GTA Dollars.
If you are already in GTA Online, why not pay a visit to the casino? There, you can spin the lucky wheel daily and win a car.
