Allegedly, many more gamers are using Windows 11 than others – How is that?

Benedikt Schlotmann Benedikt Schlotmann Reading time 3 minutes

According to Steam, the number of gamers using Windows 11 is steadily increasing. However, the operating system is hardly represented among other users. This could also be due to the high requirements preventing an upgrade.

Steam regularly publishes surveys, known as hardware surveys. Here, users are asked about the hardware they use and Steam collects all the data. This data is often helpful for observing certain trends.

What do the numbers look like in November?

  • Windows 11 64 bit gained 6.46% and is now at 8.28%.
  • Windows 10 64 bit lost 6.05% and is now at 83.38%.

The current numbers show that the share of Windows 11 among gamers has significantly increased. At first glance, this may not be surprising, as the Windows 11 release was just over a month ago. However, it is said that significantly more gamers use Windows 11 compared to the general public.

New system requirements prevent an upgrade to Windows 11

Why is Windows 11 so unpopular? Microsoft raised the hardware requirements significantly with the announcement of Windows 11. If these requirements are not met, Windows refuses to upgrade to the latest version.

Now, the IT management company “Lansweeper” stated that only about half of all computers in offices likely meet the current requirements of Windows 11 (via techradar.com).

According to Lansweeper, either too little RAM is installed in the computers or most systems do not support TPM 2.0. The lack of support for TPM 2.0 is said to be a reason why many computers do not receive an upgrade.

What is TPM? TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module. This module is often integrated as a small chip on your motherboard and is responsible for various security tasks.

TPM 2.0 cannot be easily retrofitted, unlike more RAM. If you want to retrofit TPM 2.0, you need a newer processor and also a compatible motherboard.

Some motherboards also offer the possibility to retrofit TPM using a TPM header module. However, there must be a corresponding header slot on your motherboard, and each slot looks different, as there is no standardized design.

The lack of hardware is likely also true for many office computers that many people have been using at home for years, as hardware has never been particularly important for office tasks.

For gamers, the situation is somewhat different, as gamers are interested in playing on current hardware to ensure that games look good and the frame rate remains stable.

More on the topic
Windows 11 – Who is the switch worth it for? The short check
von Benedikt Schlotmann

Gamers often have more modern hardware than other users

Among gamers, the hurdles for switching to Windows 11 seem to be significantly lower, as the hardware requirements are likely met in most cases. This is also reflected in the statistics on Steam (via steampowered.com):

  • Most gamers now have 8 GB of RAM or more installed. Almost half of all gamers even have 16 GB.
  • Most users on Steam either have a quad-core or a six-core processor.

Especially the hardware scarcity and high demand for consoles and graphics cards show that many gamers are quite willing to invest money into their hobby. As Windows 11 also offers special features for gamers, many gamers are indeed more willing to switch to the new operating system.

For gamers, the situation is somewhat different, as gamers are interested in playing on current hardware to ensure that games look good and the frame rate remains stable.

More on the topic
Windows 11 – Who is the switch worth it for? The short check
von Benedikt Schlotmann

Gamers often have more modern hardware than other users

Among gamers, the hurdles for switching to Windows 11 seem to be significantly lower, as the hardware requirements are likely met in most cases. This is also reflected in the statistics on Steam (via steampowered.com):

  • Most gamers now have 8 GB of RAM or more installed. Almost half of all gamers even have 16 GB.
  • Most users on Steam either have a quad-core or a six-core processor.

Especially the hardware scarcity and high demand for consoles and graphics cards show that many gamers are quite willing to invest money into their hobby. As Windows 11 also offers special features for gamers, many gamers are indeed more willing to switch to the new operating system.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. pcgamesn.com

New free game immediately attracts 10,000 players on Steam: ‘It’s like a fighter jet game, but with dragons’

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time 2 minutes

Today, on December 2nd, Century: Age of Ashes has been released for PC on Steam. Just a few hours after release, the game was able to attract thousands of fans and receive good reviews. MeinMMO explains what Century is all about.

What kind of game is it? In Century: Age of Ashes, you play as a dragon rider who competes against other dragon riders with their flying companions.

It is a PvP game in the style of War Thunder or the failed World of Warplanes, only with dragons instead of airplanes. The game is played in rounds and teams, ranging from small 3vs3 matches to 6vs6vs6 battles. Century offers different game modes at release:

  • Slaughter: Kill opponents for points. As you do, your bounty increases. Opponents with a higher bounty give more points.
  • War Loot: Steal gold from NPCs and opponents while protecting your own.
  • Survival: A type of team deathmatch with limited respawns and revives for 18 players in 3 teams.
  • Gates of Fire: Acquire a flag and fly through gates in the arena to earn points.

The dragons and riders are classified into classes. You have three classes to choose from, which should differ significantly from one another:

  • Wind Keepers: Something like tanks or protectors
  • Marauders: The equivalent of a fighter plane for pursuit
  • Phantoms: Can camouflage and set traps

You should be able to customize your dragons and rider. Skins available for purchase in the shop change their appearance. Tanks, saddles, and more are available. These are purely cosmetic changes. You can find Century: Age of Ashes here on Steam.

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The launch trailer of Century: Age of Ashes.

“Like a fighter jet game, but with dragons”

How is Century: Age of Ashes received? Just shortly after launch, Century had 9,979 players on Steam, with a downward trend (via SteamDB.com; as of 5:55 PM). It is currently in 2nd place on the trending list. The ratings are “mixed” with 57%, with a total of 217 reviews so far.

The biggest plus according to reviews is the dragons. The gameplay reminds many players of aerial combat games. The game offers fast-paced, action-rich rounds with gripping gameplay.

Even critics praise: “The game is basically like a fighter jet game, but with dragons. Solid graphics and game concept. Good diversity and differences between the classes.” However, performance is still not ideal.

The servers are still unstable, and playing with friends doesn’t always work. Getting into a match takes time, and currently, only Team Deathmatch mode is available.

Another player with over 100 hours in the beta claims the game is worth trying, but he still lacks long-term motivation. According to many reviews, the biggest problem is the faulty servers.

More on the topic at MeinMMO:

When and where can I play it? Since today, December 2nd, Century: Age of Ashes is available for free on Steam for PC. You can easily download it via the client and play.

If Century: Age of Ashes has not convinced you yet, you can also look forward to one or the other release at the end of 2021 – and the upcoming year is just around the corner:

New games 2021: Releases of MMOs and multiplayer games

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

One of the best multiplayer games you can play for free in 2021 – Only for a short time

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

Dead by Daylight can be obtained for free. We will tell you where to get the horror game without spending a dime.

The asymmetrical horror game Dead by Daylight is one of the bigger gaming surprises of the last few years. From a hidden gem, the game has gradually become a real hit and is now regularly found in the top 20 of the Steam charts. Although player numbers fluctuate depending on major patch releases, tens of thousands kill and survive day by day.

From now on, you can get Dead by Daylight for free – at least on PC.

How does it work? To grab Dead by Daylight for PC for free, you need the Epic Games Launcher. There have been free games every week for many months now, but only for a short time. If you add the corresponding games to your library within this time frame, you can keep the games permanently and play them at your convenience.

The horror game is free for a limited time.

When is Dead by Daylight free? You can get Dead by Daylight for free on the Epic Games Store between December 2nd and December 9th. This includes the base game, which would otherwise cost around €20. The last chance for this is on December 9th at 4:59 PM.

While there are still plenty of DLCs for Dead by Daylight featuring new killers and survivors, a large part of it can be earned and unlocked in-game. Only the licensed characters, such as those from Halloween, SAW, or Silent Hill, can be acquired by purchasing DLCs.

More current news about Dead by Daylight can be found here:

Who is this game for? Dead by Daylight is generally worth it for solo players but also for those who enjoy playing in a coordinated group. The killers and survivors differ so dramatically in their gameplay that it’s basically two different experiences. Since you can specifically register as a killer or survivor, you never have to play a role that you have no interest in.

However, you need to have a certain tolerance for frustration for Dead by Daylight, as the horror game has a fairly steep learning curve.

Aside from that, “free” is of course always a good argument to at least add the game to your library – you might want to play it later, even if you have no interest at the moment.

Will you get Dead by Daylight? Or can’t even the free version draw you into the horror realm of the Entity?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Destiny 2 reveals first details about the birthday event – New weapons, armors, and activities

Christos Tsogos Christos Tsogos Reading time 4 minutes

On Twitter and Steam today more screenshots of Destiny 2 were shown regarding the new activities of the 30th Anniversary. They reveal exciting details about the new location, the dungeon, and weapons. We will show you what we have found out and the possible connection to Xur.

What was released? Bungie released 4 new images and information about the upcoming dungeon and the new 6-player activity. Some new scenes were shown, containing a lot of content and clues, what to expect in December. Additionally, the name of the dungeon, titled “Sog der Habsucht” and the 6-player activity “Mutproben der Ewigkeit” was released.

New items and secrets about Xur and the Treasure Chamber

There is a lot to discover in the images as various settings are shown. At first glance, one gets the feeling that the place is overflowing with loot. It reminds one of the old loot caves.

  • The entrance to the loot cave
  • Xur is waiting for you in the treasure chamber
  • A mystical horse – Possible sparrow?
  • A huge treasure chamber with many chests
This is the loot cave and its treasures

The images of the activity point to different areas to be traversed. It seems that Xur is an important part, as he is seen very frequently.

Selectable rewards: In the image of the treasure chamber, many large white chests are visible, which resemble those of the Awoken. These chests have a yellow/golden hologram that displays the reward to be obtained upon opening. Whether one can only open one chest and requires an extra key, which is obtained after completing the activity, is unknown.

However, since Bungie wants to provide content with the dungeon and the new activity for 6 players, it is very unlikely that you will be able to open all the chests at once. You will most likely have to wait weekly until you possess each item from the “Mutproben der Ewigkeit”.

New weapons: In the image with the 6 Guardians, all are wearing the new armor ornaments along with new weapons. Some weapons are already known from Destiny 1, others are completely new.

These have been observed:

  • Empty gaze – Vanguard sniper from Destiny 1
  • Eyasluna – Hand cannon from Destiny 1
  • A claymore – Sword from Myth
  • MA40 Assault Rifle – Automatic rifle from Halo
  • Sturmcarbine – Purple gun from Halo

These are only assumptions. It could also be that these are other weapons that will only reveal themselves after the release.

Mystical horse: In the Trials of the Nine, there once was a very similar mystical horse. This horse also resembles the one from the vision of the Crow, which came from the Traveler. What role this creature plays in the chamber is still unknown. It could provide further insights into hidden story elements. If this does represent the horse from the visions, players would finally see it again after 2 years.

More about Destiny 2 can be found here:

Xur is present: Xur makes a guest appearance in one of the images. He awaits the six Guardians after the 6-player activity to reward them with loot. It is particularly clear, thanks to the description on Steam, that this might be Xur’s treasure chamber and the two activities are linked.

This reads as follows:

Loot the new dungeon for 3 players, reminiscent of the old loot-filled caves of the Cosmodrome. Discover a tale of abundance and decay where you follow an adventurer who traded his humanity for a treasure.

Article description from Steam

It is possible that the backstory of Xur will be resolved and more details will be provided about his condition and possible future actions. So far, not much is known about the tentacle-faced figure, yet he has reliably visited us every Friday for years, supplying Guardians with various rarities from the galaxy.

What do you think about the images? Are you excited about the new weapons or would you prefer to explore every inch of the treasure chamber? Let us know in the comments!

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Steam

Battlefield 2042: Fans disappointed with the new update – biggest problems still in the game

Marko Jevtic Marko Jevtic Reading time 3 minutes

The long-awaited Update 3 is now available for Battlefield 2042. The largest update for the game so far brings over 150 improvements aimed at resolving numerous issues in the game. However, fans feel that the update ignores the most pressing problems. MeinMMO has more details for you. 

Since today, December 2, the latest update for Battlefield 2042 is out. Update 3 was the largest part of the roadmap, which announced over 200 changes by early December. All of these are now in the game.

Over 150 individual adjustments were made solely through today’s update. A huge amount of text was presented in the official patch notes on the website (via ea.com). However, fans are still disappointed: the biggest issues remain present in the game – without a new roadmap promising improvements.

What happened? Since the early access of Battlefield 2042, the game has struggled with several issues. In addition to high-profile personnel changes among the developers, there have been numerous annoying problems in the game that needed fixing. These include:

Many other problems spoil the fun for players in Battlefield 2042. Hence, large hopes were pinned on this largest update so far. Now that Update 3 is out, we know what should be improved.

More on the topic
Disappointed with CoD Vanguard and Battlefield 2042? These 4 shooters we recommend to you!
von Jürgen Horn

What does Update 3 improve? The patch revises certain areas of the game and also brings new features. The over 150 individual changes span the following core aspects (via ea.com) :

  • There are bug fixes and gameplay changes
  • The update offers “Quality of Life” improvements intended to enhance your gaming experience.
  • The UI will be adjusted – including a display indicating whether a medic is nearby.
  • There are health indicators for vehicles and enemies.
  • Rush can be played on the maps of Battlefield 2042 thanks to the Portal mode
  • Weekly missions will appear next week

Update 3 ignores the biggest problems, brings new 

Despite numerous improvements, players are disappointed with the update. Not only because the game is facing massive server issues on patch day (via Twitter). Or because players who can actually play find that their mouse only functions vertically:

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What problems are still present in the game?  Many fundamental problems have plagued the game since day one. These have not been resolved with the latest update. 

These are the biggest issues still present in the game:

There are no concrete statements about when improvements for these problems can be expected – much to the dismay of fans.

More about Battlefield 2042:

What do fans say? In communities like the subreddit for the game, a trend quickly becomes apparent: Although fans are happy about the many improvements, they feel neglected regarding their biggest issues.

  • Ziomike98 writes: “The updates are huge, with so many things, but they continue to ignore our biggest wishes” (via reddit).
  • CBird28 says: “It’s all about what THEY want, not what WE want” (via reddit).
  • berjaaan summarizes: “If you thought the game was trash before, it still is trash” (via reddit).

Fans are largely disappointed and annoyed. What do you think about the update? Do you find it does enough to save the game? Or were you already happy with the game before the patch? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

As if this disappointment about Update 3 wasn’t enough, Christmas costumes that suddenly appeared in the game are making fans very angry:

Battlefield 2042 is bringing new Christmas skins, and players hate them immediately

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. reddit

Final Fantasy XIV: Ride Faster in Endwalker – Here’s How

Irina Moritz Irina Moritz Reading time 3 minutes

The Endwalker addon brings a number of new areas to Final Fantasy XIV, where you will initially move a bit slower. However, you can easily increase your riding speed.

This is FATE progress: In the Shadowbringers addon, a new system was introduced that you can use to increase the riding speed of your noble steeds, Chocobos, cars, or flying chairs.

All you have to do is complete FATEs in the respective area. They work a bit differently in the areas of Shadowbringers and in the new Endwalker addon than in the areas of the base game and the old addons.

This is what FATEs give: There are two things you should keep in mind:

  • In addition to normal EXP rewards, the FATEs in Shadowbringers and now also in Endwalker give two-colored stones.
  • The FATEs function like a kind of reputation system that you collect. Each area in Endwalker has its own “reputation bar” that fills up when you complete FATEs.

You can trade the two-colored stones with the FATE vendors in the respective areas for various items. The vendors are usually found in camps near teleport crystals and have a special quest marker above their heads. It differs slightly from other quests.

final fantasy xiv fate quest marker
This is what the marker of a FATE vendor looks like.

You can collect the stones and reputation even if you have not yet reached the teleport and the vendor in the respective area. This happens automatically when you complete FATEs.

How do I learn to ride faster? To increase your riding speed, you must complete at least 6 FATEs in each area. This will get you to rank 2 of the reputation, which enlarges the inventory of the respective vendors.

One of the new items will be a scroll for the riding paths of the area. That is your goal. Each scroll costs 70 two-colored stones. If you haven’t purchased anything beforehand, you should have enough after 6 FATEs to be able to buy the scroll directly.

final fantasy xiv riding paths scroll
This is what a riding paths scroll looks like.

By the way: The more you build your reputation by completing FATEs, the more new items will be available to you at the vendors. In Shadowbringers, for example, cute companions or useful crafting materials were included.

It can therefore be assumed that Endwalker will also offer some cool things for building reputation.

How can I see my progress with FATEs? To see how much reputation you have collected in the respective new Endwalker areas, you need to go to “Map and Transport” in your in-game menu.

There all the new areas that you have entered will be displayed in a window, and you can check how many FATEs you have completed in each location.

More about FFXIV on MeinMMO can be found here:

When does Endwalker start? Pre-order customers of the addon will likely be able to try out the new content starting December 3 at 10:00 AM.

However, the developers have issued a warning that they expect a high influx and that there may be long queues and possible server issues.

On December 21, the first part of the Endwalker raid will also be released. Here is what to expect:

FFXIV: What is Pandaemonium and why will it be important in Endwalker?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Crimson Desert presents its new engine – Shows how beautiful the next MMOs will look

Alexander Leitsch Alexander Leitsch Reading time 3 minutes

Crimson Desert is the next big project from Pearl Abyss, the developers of Black Desert. At G-Star 2021, a gaming expo in Korea, they showcased the features of their new engine. It is designed to provide appropriate lighting and realistic physics.

What kind of engine is this? Pearl Abyss has created a visually impressive MMORPG with Black Desert. For their new games, they have implemented their own engine, which is said to provide “higher quality games for more players simultaneously.”

This will be utilized in the new games Crimson Desert, DokeV, and Plan 8. All of them will offer multiplayer options, and in Crimson Desert, large PvP battles over fortresses are planned. The new engine is expected to enhance these experiences.

The engine was presented by the developers at G-Star 2021, and they also gave an interview to the Korean website Inven (via Inven.co.kr). This video provides insight into the engine:

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Focus on realistic physics and appropriate lighting

What can be seen in the video? The video showcased the features of the new engine. One of them is the realistic physics regarding snow, wind, and flying leaves.

At the beginning, a character can be seen walking through snow, leaving footprints. Where the foot lands, the snow disappears completely, while around it, it gets slightly compressed. These footprints do not vanish immediately when moving for a while. It behaves similarly with the leaves later on.

From the 30-second mark, wind and weather can be seen. The trees move differently depending on the wind strength, and snow falls, which then remains on the formerly green meadow.

In conclusion, a cloak can be seen waving in the wind.

How is the lighting? As Pearl Abyss mentioned in the interview, they use their own technique called “Raymarched Shadow.” This is said to function similarly to ray tracing, taking into account how the visible objects behave (e.g., whether they reflect light) and what other light sources might exist that could create additional shadows.

Depending on graphics settings, players should be able to experience many details, such as in the cobblestone road in this image.

Crimson Desert Shadow
Crimson Desert offers very detailed graphics when the player’s system can handle it.

Additionally, they have developed a special “Fluid” technique, which allows them to create realistic fog, sandstorms, and similar effects.

3 new titles from Pearl Abyss coming in the next years

Which games are being developed with the engine? Pearl Abyss is currently working on three games. The title that will likely be released first is Crimson Desert. It is a mix of action-adventure and MMORPG:

DokeV is also being developed in the new engine. This open-world game is somewhat reminiscent of Pokémon and aims to appeal to the whole family.

The third title is Plan 8, a loot shooter reminiscent of Destiny 2 or The Division. It is co-developed by Minh Le, the creator of Counter-Strike. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic scenario, and you will be able to run along walls, fly, and use excessive powers with Exsuits.

The shooter is set to be released for PC and next-gen consoles, but not for “a few years.” You can find everything about Plan 8 here:

Everything about Plan 8, the MMO shooter from the “Counter-Strike” creator

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Razer introduces a gaming console, reminiscent of Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch

Benedikt Schlotmann Benedikt Schlotmann Reading time 2 minutes

Razer and Qualcomm have jointly unveiled a new handheld for gaming. What kind of device is it, and can or will it compete with Valve’s Steam Deck?

With the Steam Deck, Valve introduced a handheld console that aims to make PC gaming more mobile than ever before. This showed that Valve is quite ambitious, and many are now waiting for the release of the Steam Deck.

Now another manufacturer has unveiled a mobile gaming device. Qualcomm has now stated at a press conference that it not only wants to bring new processors for mobile computers and smartphones to market, but has also introduced a gaming handheld.

This new mobile device is being developed in collaboration with Razer, a company that many of you probably associate more with mice, keyboards, and headsets.

A Gaming Handheld from Razer and Qualcomm

What kind of device is it? In the images, the new gaming handheld resembles an Xbox controller with a built-in display.

So far, the device presented is a so-called “Gaming Developer Kit.” This is not a fully-fledged console but rather a demo device that developers can use to test things or functions.

Qualcomm and Razer have already revealed several details about the new device:

  • Display: 6.65-inch OLED display with Full HD+ resolution and 10-bit HDR: The OLED display operates at up to 120 Hz.
  • Camera: A 5MP/1080p60 webcam with two microphones, allowing gamers to record themselves while playing and stream their games.
  • Connectivity: 5G mmWave and sub-6, as well as Wi-Fi 6E for low latency, fast uploads and downloads, and a good connection.
  • The battery is said to offer a capacity of 6000mAH, and you can also connect many other devices thanks to the USB-C port.

Qualcomm Sees Massive Potential in the Mobile Gaming Sector

In a further statement, Qualcomm explains in more detail that it sees great potential in the gaming sector (via qualcomm.com).

  • About 2.5 billion people game daily on mobile devices
  • All gamers combined generate 175 billion US dollars in revenue each year, significantly outpacing the film industry (45 billion).

Qualcomm’s statement is also clear, as it aims to blur the lines between desktop, mobile, and console gaming with the new processor. According to Qualcomm, the new “Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform” will allow one to play whatever they feel like on all devices. The new processor is said to provide enough power for this.

How successful could such a device become? So far, there is only a developer kit of the new gaming handheld. Additionally, there are no benchmarks or other reliable materials regarding Qualcomm’s new platform.

On the other hand, one should not forget that Qualcomm can draw on years of experience in the mobile sector, as a Qualcomm processor is built into numerous smartphones. Moreover, Qualcomm is among the five largest semiconductor manufacturers in the world and has the corresponding resources.

Steam Deck: Here are the 4 most exciting alternatives of 2021

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

The 5 largest German Twitch streamers for Minecraft in the ranking

Sayumi (Lena) Sayumi (Lena) Reading time 3 minutes

Minecraft is one of the games that has stood the test of time on Twitch. With 40.8 million followers and several hundred streamers daily, the game ranks among the top categories on the livestreaming platform. MeinMMO lists the 5 biggest Twitch streamers for Minecraft today.

When creating the list, we followed these two criteria:

  • The ranking is determined by the average viewers while Minecraft was being streamed.
  • The timeframe of the last 30 days (as of December 1, 2021)

5th Place: SparkofPhoenixTV

Who is SparkofPhoenixTV? Spark has been on YouTube for 10 years and has specialized in Minecraft since then. He provides various useful tutorials, compilations, or simple Let’s Plays on his channel.

Through his extensive Redstone tutorials in Minecraft, he gradually managed to generate more subscribers and thus gain reach. Since 2018, SparkofPhoenix and Twitch streamer earliboy have been responsible for organizing the large Minecraft project “Craft Attack”.

Spark himself and many other Twitch streamers and YouTubers participate in the project for about 1 year. Together, they create an area with different buildings, farms, and more.

Currently, Season 9 of Craft Attack is running and SparkofPhoenix streams every day from 12 PM to 12 AM, until he breaks his old subscriber record of 11,035. On average, 2,742 viewers watch him.

A funny clip of SparkofPhoenixTV from Minecraft:

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4th Place: rewinside

  • Streamer: Sebastian “rewinside” Meyer
  • Channel: twitch.tv/rewinside
  • Average Viewers: 4,255
  • Active Since: July 2013

Who is rewinside? Rewinside or “Rewi”, as most call him, has been active on YouTube for 8 years. So far, he has generated 3.29 million subscribers on his channel. He became known for his collaborative Minecraft projects with streamer Unge, YouTuber Dner, and others.

Rewinside was also one of the biggest gaming YouTubers in 2021. However, he mainly focuses on VLOGs or other real-life challenges with other influencers on his main YouTube channel now. He created REWI GAMING for his gaming content, which has so far gathered 47,200 subscribers.

He currently uses his Twitch channel mainly for GTA 5, Fortnite, and Minecraft. The 29-year-old founded the Minecraft project Craft Attack in 2014 and has been part of it ever since. With the current streams of the project, he gets an average of 4,255 viewers.

A funny clip of rewinside from Minecraft:

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3rd Place: BastiGHG

  • Streamer: Bastian “BastiGHG”
  • Channel: twitch.tv/BastiHGH
  • Average Viewers: 7,362
  • Active Since: December 2012

Who is BastiGHG? Basti has been streaming daily on the livestreaming platform Twitch since 2015. He mainly focuses on Minecraft but occasionally plays Rocket League, Sims 4, or FIFA.

On his million-subscriber YouTube channel, he regularly posts videos about Minecraft. In these, he tackles tough challenges or shows montages of simple gameplay.

The 24-year-old is also part of the 9th season of Craft Attack and impresses with his streams, attracting around 7,400 viewers on average.

A funny clip of BastiGHG from Minecraft:

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2nd Place: Papaplatte

  • Streamer: Kevin “Papaplatte” Teller
  • Channel: twitch.tv/Papaplatte
  • Average Viewers: 7,939
  • Active Since: November 2013

Who is Papaplatte? Papaplatte debuted on YouTube. There, he had a channel with two colleagues. After they dropped out, he continued alone under the alias “Papaplatte”.

The 24-year-old then created his Twitch channel, on which he is often seen in Just Chatting. When Papaplatte plays, it is often speedruns of Super Mario 64, Pokémon, or Valorant. Together with streamer Trymacs, he has also pulled Pokémon cards worth 40,000, both achieving enormous viewer numbers.

Additionally, he is currently spending a lot of time in Minecraft as he participates in the 9th season of the Minecraft project Craft Attack. On average, 7,939 viewers watch him.

A funny clip of Papaplatte from Minecraft:

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1st Place: Trymacs

  • Streamer: Max “Trymacs” Stemmler
  • Channel: twitch.tv/Trymacs
  • Average Viewers: 13,133
  • Active Since: June 2014

Who is Trymacs? Trymacs started off small with the game Clash Royale on Twitch. Through his channel creation on YouTube and the highlights, openings, and gameplay videos posted there, he gradually gained greater reach on Twitch.

Today, Trymacs is one of the biggest streamers on the platform and has attracted thousands of viewers especially with his Pokémon pack openings or his gaming show.

When Stemmler plays, it’s currently Clash Royale, FIFA 22, or indeed Minecraft. He is also a participant in the Minecraft project Craft Attack. During his Minecraft streams, Trymacs gathers around 13,100 viewers, rightfully placing him in first place of this ranking.

A funny clip of Trymacs from Minecraft:

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What do you think about the streamers on this list? Do you actively follow any of them, or do you rather watch others? Would you have expected other streamers in the ranking? Feel free to let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. SullyGnome

I celebrate the new map of CoD Warzone, but one thing could still ruin it

Maik Schneider Maik Schneider Reading time 5 minutes

MeinMMO author Maik Schneider is excited about the new Pacific map “Caldera” from Call of Duty: Warzone. However, there are still a few important pieces of information missing regarding the introduction of this Pacific gem, and for Maik, there is one thing that could significantly dampen his hype.

As a long-time Warzone fan, I haven’t had a good time in the game in recent months:

  • Teammates have left the Battle Royale in droves
  • Due to the many cheaters, there is always a “but” behind every new announcement
  • New content has been scarce in the first 1.5 years

But the new map “Caldera” gives me hope again. The first trailer and images of the map make me feel quite festive already, and I’m looking forward to spending many holiday hours in the beach-lined vacation paradise.

However, there are still a few important details missing regarding the introduction of the map and the simultaneous switch to the Vanguard graphics of Warzone. It is still uncertain whether the consoles will finally get the long-awaited field of view settings, and if that feature is absent, it would be a serious dampener of my great anticipation.

More about author Maik Schneider: PvP shooters are at the top of my favorite genres, and Battle Royale is the king discipline for me. I’ve tried a lot of BRs and, as a long-time CoD fan, was excited about the release of Warzone.

However, not enough innovations came into the game, and cheaters damaged the mood in the community. With the new map “Caldera”, Warzone now has the chance for a fresh start – if done right.

New Map, Graphics, Anti-Cheat – The hype is real

That’s why I’m celebrating the new map: The map Caldera itself is actually at the top of the list. The island landscape looks very inviting – everything is much more colorful, prettier, and the images seem to indicate that Caldera offers significantly more variety than the gray Verdansk.

Beaches, volcanic landscapes, villages with thatched huts, jungle expeditions – when I imagine a match on the new map, I already think that we will quickly forget Verdansk.

cod warzone new map caldera day at the beach
My desktop background motivates me every day.

But it’s also the complete package. Warzone is not just getting a new map:

  • Almost 40 new weapons from CoD: Vanguard
  • Anti-cheat system “RICOCHET” is gaining momentum
  • Switch to the Vanguard graphics engine
  • Planes as new vehicles in “Vanguard Royale”

With the completely new setting and the overhaul of the graphics, Warzone is reinventing itself to a certain extent. I want to experience how these changes will impact the game as soon as possible, and I’m glad to see long-forgotten teammates reappearing.

Since my squad largely consists of console players, the field of view settings are very important for us. And although I’m somewhat hyped, I remain a bit skeptical because the feature has still not been announced.

More on the topic
CoD Warzone: All info about the Pacific update – New map and gameplay adjustments
von Maik Schneider

FoV Slider immensely important for the gaming experience

What does the FoV slider do? When I turn up the FoV slider, I see more of the game. My visible field of view is larger, allowing me to see enemies at the edges of my screen, which I otherwise wouldn’t be able to see:

cod warzone difference field of view
Same scene, 2 field of views: Top left console (80 FoV) / Top right PC (120 FoV) – Source: Twitter

Why is the FoV slider so important? There are several reasons:

  • PC players have the slider and gain an advantage
  • I see more of the game
  • Shooters feel significantly faster

If PC players didn’t have that setting either, the problem probably wouldn’t be as significant. But actually, that’s not even the main reason I want to configure my field of view on consoles. After all, we have been playing with a smaller field of view for 15 years and had a lot of fun.

It’s more the third point on the list – a shooter feels faster with a larger field of view. I cover a larger visible area in the same time – so I’m not actually moving faster, but with the larger field of view, it feels that way.

My actions feel sharper, the movement smoother. This makes me feel much more engaged in the game, more powerful – perhaps even a bit more “pro-like”.

Since the last two multiplayer titles Cold War and Vanguard have the FoV slider on console and I’ve already experienced Warzone on PC, I know what a difference field of view makes for the gaming experience in Call of Duty. I would really miss something if the FoV slider doesn’t come back to consoles.

More on the topic
CoD Warzone: Crossplay is just annoying – And it’s not due to cheaters
von Maik Schneider

What’s the status of the introduction of field of view settings? Until recently, I was very sure that Warzone would receive field of view settings with the switch to the Vanguard graphics.

From my research for MeinMMO, it looked like Warzone would switch to the Vanguard launcher on December 8 and completely adopt the new technology.

The FoV slider would count among those features, but also a next-gen version for the PS5 and the “Xbox Series” consoles.

However, I now have my doubts. On the one hand, because the developers are so tight-lipped about it just days before the release. On the other hand, because there are early hints of a major update for Warzone in the old Modern Warfare launcher.

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At the moment, it cannot be said whether the coveted feature will actually come to consoles. This unfortunately dampens my hype, and if the FoV slider doesn’t come, many other console players will likely feel the same.

More about Warzone:

Currently, I still hope that the developers want to keep the big announcements about the next-gen version and the FoV slider until the end.

I will certainly clean my shoes carefully for St. Nicholas this year, and I hope for this gift from the developers. Otherwise, my relationship with Warzone will already be heavily strained at the launch of the new map.

I also like to read your comments on the topic. Do you also find the FoV slider so important? Do you think that the setting will come with the “new” Warzone?

If you want to read more about the new map, as well as watch the trailer and view all known images, you can find the relevant information here: Everything about the new Pacific map in CoD Warzone – Release, images & size

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

In Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, even tough men can dress up as delicate maids

Irina Moritz Irina Moritz Reading time 3 minutes

The Endwalker addon is just around the corner in Final Fantasy XIV. In addition to numerous content updates, there is also a small but neat feature that many players will appreciate. The gender lock will be lifted for several clothing items.

Here’s what it’s about: On December 3rd at 10:00 AM, the FFXIV servers will go online, and the early access to the new Endwalker addon will begin. This brings a massive amount of content that players can now read about in the detailed patch notes.

A small change, however, has particularly pleased some players. The notes announce that a whole series of equipment items will lose their gender lock with Endwalker.

A total of 31 items can be worn by both genders starting December 3rd. This includes pretty dresses like the maid outfit for men, as well as stylish blazers like the butler outfit for ladies.

  • ffxiv spring dress
  • ffxiv thavnair dress
  • ffxiv butler outfit
  • ffxiv maid dress
Maid and butler outfits, as well as the spring dress and Thavnair clothing (Source: Lodestone)

The lifting of the gender lock on clothing is an old topic in FFXIV. Time and again, there have been requests in the official forums and on social media addressed to the MMORPG’s development team to remove the lock. With the Endwalker addon, this player wish is fulfilled.

Accordingly, there were also several posts celebrating Endwalker and saying goodbye to Shadowbringers, expressing joy over the abolition of the gender lock.

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What has already changed: The lifting of the gender lock on clothing is a process that was already announced in 2019 by director Yoshida in an interview with Kotaku and began in February 2020.

At that time, restrictions on wedding clothing and the playboy bunny outfit were lifted. This allowed men to wear dresses and bunny ears as well.

When the large 24-man raid for Nier Automata was introduced, there were also no restrictions on the clothing of android 2B. It can be worn freely by all.

More about FFXIV and Endwalker on MeinMMO can be found here:

The male bunnies are coming

What other removals are there in Endwalker? With Endwalker, the old dream of a large part of the FFXIV community is also fulfilled: The previously all-female Viera will also be available in male form starting December 3rd.

This means that players can now create male Viera as playable characters. The benchmark for the Endwalker addon already served as a test for this. In the character creator, one could already try out the bunny boys and create their desired character.

Final Fantasy XIV finally brings male bunnies that many have missed so much

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Battlefield 2042 seems to bring new Christmas skins and the players hate them immediately

Tarek Zehrer Tarek Zehrer Reading time 3 minutes

As of today, December 2, the major update 3 of Battlefield 2042 is available. This accidentally brought new skins into the game. However, some players are really angry about these new cosmetics. Why this is the case, you can find out here at MeinMMO.

What are these skins? The criticism mainly revolves around the “Father Winter” skin for the specialist Boris. With this skin, he wears a Christmas coat, like Santa Claus.

Fans have now humorously dubbed this skin “Santa Boris”, though not very kindly. The skin “Great Outdoors” for Mackay also stands out, as he looks like some sort of cowboy.

The skins were likely only unintentionally in the game, as they were quickly removed again. They probably belong to the pre-season, which officially has no date yet but is mentioned in the skin description. Nevertheless, fans were already able to take screenshots. (via reddit)

Update, December 3: In the meantime, there is a statement from DICE on the matter. You can read all about it here with us.

Especially Santa Boris is receiving a lot of criticism from the fans and is making them quite angry. But why?

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Players feel reminded of Fortnite, skins do not fit Battlefield

What is the problem with these skins? Especially Santa Boris is being torn apart by players. In the subreddit for Battlefield 2042, there are already numerous shocked voices regarding this skin.

Critics claim that these skins do not fit into a Battlefield at all and could rather find their home in other games. One person is already writing about “Fortnite 2042” (via reddit), some even initially mistook Santa Boris for a meme.

For many, the skin is a bad joke and many feel validated in the assumption that the specialists are only in the game to make money with cosmetics.

However, it is still not clear how the pre-season will work and whether you need to buy the battle pass to unlock these skins.

Either way, the new skins are not going down well with numerous players, especially in view of the technical state of the game. Even the major update 3 did not fix all problems and even introduced new ones.

Numerous fans believe that one should first address the bugs and stability of the game, instead of incorporating new skins (via reddit).

More on the topic:

Update 3 is the biggest patch so far, brings weekly missions

This is what to expect with update 3: The patch revises some areas of the game and also brings new features.

  • There are bug fixes and gameplay changes
  • The update offers “Quality of Life” improvements that should make your gaming experience easier.
  • The UI will be adjusted.
  • The portal mode will also be revised, as it has massive problems.

One of the biggest new features is the weekly missions. In the week after the update, these weekly missions will be unlocked. You will then receive 3 of them each week – and each completion will earn you XP. If you complete them all, you will receive a special cosmetic at the end.

These missions may already be part of the leaked pre-season. However, there is still no confirmation on that.

What do you think of these new skins? Do you agree with the critics? Or do you think it’s not such a big deal?

Battlefield 2042: 10,000 fans sign petition, demanding mouse and keyboard on PlayStation & Xbox

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

New trailer for Fortnite Chapter 3 promises a completely different map – But is it real?

Christos Tsogos Christos Tsogos Reading time 2 minutes

A new trailer has been released on social media for Fortnite, showcasing the scale of the live event. A new map is being created. Learn how real the trailer is and whether you can believe it here on MeinMMO.

What kind of trailer is it? This trailer was accidentally discovered by Twitter user cooper17571967 on TikTok. It’s not an official promotional trailer, but an unofficial and unconfirmed one.

Leakers were then approached about it and they mentioned that this trailer might be from an Epic Games account itself. The developers may have released this trailer for future marketing purposes.

Many leakers were also asked not to publish anything about the new chapter until the server was down for Update 19.00.

SPOILER WARNING: If you don’t want to be spoiled and prefer to wait until Saturday, stop reading here.

Chapter 3 Map takes a dramatic turn

What is shown in the trailer? The trailer features the Chapter 2 Season 1 skins as they ascend a mountain. They still admire the untouched nature of the Chapter 2 map, until something suddenly appears in the sky.

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During this, wild snippets of scenes appear, in which Jonesy the main protagonist in Fortnite is shown. It is also seen that a whole fleet of alien ships is depicted in the sky. Meanwhile, Jonesy is in the water watching as the Cube Queen turns the map upside down. Suddenly, it becomes apparent how she and the alien fleet vanish in an instant. All that the queen leaves behind is a new, flipped map and a massive wave that washes Agent Jonesy away.

How real is the trailer? Epic Games has not released anything about the unofficial trailer for Chapter 3, but much suggests its authenticity.

  • Its appearance fits exactly with Epic Games
  • It’s not a cheap trailer
  • Story-wise, everything is present – aliens, the Cube Queen, and the destruction of the second map

But that’s not all, many YouTubers posted videos announcing Chapter 3. Their videos always ended with the same sentence which says “Catch you on the Flipside.” Watching the trailer, one notices that Flipside could refer to the flipped Chapter 2 map.

Find more about Fortnite here:

What do the players say about this? Opinions are divided, some players say the trailer could be fake. Others, however, say they are more excited for the end event than before. This often raises the question:

So the island is really turning around, so no black hole?

Asks Twitter user @ZupherrX

In response to this question, players answered that Fortnite will still be unplayable for three days. The wave will cause a black screen and then the game will be inaccessible.

Moreover, there’s a lot of speculation, as the community believes they saw an old location in the trailer’s new map. This location is from Chapter 1 and is called “Paradise Palms.” It features a desert-like landscape. Users on Twitter suggest that a modified version of the old Chapter 1 map may appear.

However, much remains speculation and we will only gain new insights once the event is over. What do you think of this video? Do you find this video credible? Or do you think it can’t be the “end”? Let us know in the comments!

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. YouTube
  2. Twitter
  3. Twitter

Pokémon GO: The new field research in December 2021 – 5 quests you should not miss

Franzi Korittke Franzi Korittke Reading time 4 minutes

As in every month, the field research in Pokémon GO has changed with the start of the month. We at MeinMMO have taken a look at which quests and rewards you can expect in December 2021. We will also show you which ones are particularly worthwhile.

What kind of tasks are these? In Pokémon GO, you can receive so-called field research tasks at PokéStops. By completing these, you will receive special rewards. Once a new month begins, Niantic changes the quests and adjusts the rewards accordingly.

How to get the field research? By spinning at the PokéStop, you can secure the tasks. If you then click on the telescope, they will be listed under the category “Field”. You can only hold a maximum of 3 quests at a time.

If you want to collect more field research, you must first make space by either completing or deleting one. You do not have to rush in completing them, as there is no time limit for when the tasks must be completed.

All field research in December 2021

As in every month, the tasks are divided into different areas, such as catching, throwing, or battling. With the help of LeekDuck’s overview, we have summarized all the new quests and their rewards for you below (via leekduck.com).

All monsters that you can encounter in their shiny form are marked with a (*).

All field research about catching

The first category is about catching specific Pokémon. As always, these tasks are relatively easy to complete, so the rewards tend to be rather unremarkable. Especially worth it is Dratini, as it can evolve into Dragonite. The monster is one of the best attackers in Pokémon GO.

  • Catch 5 Pokémon
    • Encounter with Yorkleff*
  • Catch 7 Pokémon
    • Encounter with Magikarp*
  • Catch a Dragon-type Pokémon
    • Encounter with Dratini* or Kindwurm*
  • Catch 5 Pokémon with weather boost
    • Encounter with Vulpix*, Quapsel*, Hippopotas* or Shnebedeck*
  • Catch 5 different species of Pokémon
    • Encounter with Picochilla*
  • Use 5 Razz Berries while catching Pokémon
    • Encounter with Tarnpignon

All field research about throwing

In the tasks related to throwing, you must, as the name suggests, prove your throwing skills. You need to hit the monsters particularly well. The encounter with Pandir is recommended, as it has different fur patterns. Anyone looking to complete their Pokédex should not miss the fur number 3 in December.

Additionally, Onix might also be interesting for you this month, as the monster can first be obtained in its Mega form during Mega Raids. The quests are an opportunity for you to snag a strong specimen.

  • Land 5 good throws
    • Encounter with Dummisel*
  • Land 3 great throws
    • Encounter with Snubbull*, Liliep* or Anorith*
  • Land 3 great throws in a row
    • Encounter with Onix*
  • Land 3 great throws in a row
    • Encounter with Enton*
  • Land 5 great curveball throws in a row
    • Encounter with Pandir* (Number 3)
  • Land 3 fabulous throws in a row
    • Encounter with Kaumalat*

All field research about battling

If you enjoy battling in raids or against other trainers and Team Rocket grunts, you will surely find something among these tasks. Once again, Onix is interesting here.

Especially for trainers who are active in the PvP league, Wablu is worth it. It can evolve into Altaria, which is one of the top candidates in the Super League (via pvpoke.com). Additionally, Altaria also has a Mega evolution.

  • Win a battle in the GO Battle League
    • Encounter with Wablu*
  • Defeat 3 Team GO Rocket grunts
    • Encounter with Onix*
  • Win a raid
    • Encounter with Sniebel*
  • Win a level 3 raid or higher
    • Encounter with Amonitas* or Kabuto*
  • Win 5 raids
    • Encounter with Aerodactyl*

All field research about friends and your buddy Pokémon

As in every month, your friends and buddy Pokémon are also included in the quests. You should earn hearts and candies with your buddy or send gifts to friends. This month, Mauzi is interesting, as it belongs to the 22 monsters that give you a special Stardust bonus.

  • Earn 2 candies by walking with your buddy
    • Encounter with Scoppel*
  • Earn 3 candies by walking with your buddy
    • Encounter with Mauzi* or Flunschlik
  • Earn 5 hearts with your buddy
    • Pummeluff*
  • Trade a Pokémon
    • Encounter with Seemon
  • Send 10 gifts to friends
    • Encounter with Botogel*

All other field research

To conclude, there are still a number of tasks that cannot be assigned to any of the previous categories. These include hatching and evolving Pokémon, spinning PokéStops, or photographing specific monsters. You can look forward to the following encounters in December:

  • Hatch an egg
    • Encounter with Mantax
  • Hatch 2 eggs
    • Encounter with Tanhel*
  • Hatch 3 eggs
    • Encounter with Alolan Vulpix*
  • Evolve a Pokémon
    • Encounter with Evoli*
  • Use 3 power-ups on Pokémon
    • Encounter with Bisasam*, Glumanda* or Schiggy*
  • Use 5 power-ups on Pokémon
    • Encounter with Endivie*, Feurigel* or Karnimani*
  • Use 7 power-ups on Pokémon
    • Encounter with Geckarbor*, Flemmli* or Hydropi*
  • Spin 3 PokéStops or gyms
    • Encounter with Mogelbaum*
  • Spin 5 PokéStops or gyms
    • Encounter with Trasla*
  • Take a snapshot of a wild Pokémon
    • Encounter with Hoppspross, Yanma* or Kramurx*
  • Take 2 snapshots of a wild Ice-type Pokémon
    • Encounter with Seemops

Field research breakthrough in December 2021

In addition to the field research tasks, the research breakthrough changes every month as well. You will receive this if you have claimed at least one quest on 7 days. You can see your progress by looking at the stamps in the upper part of the “Field” view.

Pokémon GO Kapuno
Kapuno, Duodino and Trikephalo

In December, you will encounter the Dark and Dragon-type Pokémon Kapuno. This can evolve into Trikephalo through Duodino. Why trainers find the research breakthrough in December “finally good”, we have summarized for you.

More about Pokémon GO:

What do you think of the new field research tasks in December? Which ones should you definitely not miss? Feel free to share your opinion with us here on MeinMMO in the comments and discuss with other trainers about it.

A lot is happening in Pokémon GO in the coming weeks. What events to expect in December and which ones are particularly worthwhile, we have looked at for you.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Blizzard scandal: 6 “State Treasurers” from US states intervene

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

More movement is coming in the scandal at Activision Blizzard. Six “State Treasurers” are getting involved – and demanding changes.

The pressure on Bobby Kotick and Activision Blizzard is increasing. More changes are being demanded – now even from the governments of a total of 6 states in the USA. The “State Treasurers” from California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Delaware, and Nevada want to speak with the Board of Directors of Activision Blizzard later this month. They want drastic changes.

What are “State Treasurers”? The position of a “State Treasurer” in the USA is largely comparable to the duties of a state finance minister in Germany, as many areas of responsibility are similar. However, since some states also invest in companies – such as through stocks – State Treasurers sometimes also count as shareholders and have an interest in the well-being of the companies, as pensions are also funded through them.

What is happening at Activision Blizzard? For months, Activision Blizzard has been embroiled in a major sexism and discrimination scandal. After the company took initial steps to seemingly bring about improvements, a series of further negative headlines followed shortly thereafter.

The head of Blizzard left the company shortly after her appointment because she felt she was treated worse than her male colleague.

Worse still, current CEO Bobby Kotick is said to have not only been aware of the incidents of sexism but also actively participated in them and even threatened an employee with death. Since then, calls for Kotick to resign have become louder and he has come under media scrutiny.

Bobby Kotick resignation title 1280x720

What has happened now? The State Treasurers of 6 US states want to meet with the board of Activision Blizzard by December 20th. They are concerned about the incidents and doubt that the company is currently on the right path to address the problems.

The magazine Axios has asked Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs some questions in an article. It turns out that they are “concerned that the current CEO and board do not possess the necessary skills or willingness to tackle the major changes needed to transform the corporate culture and restore employee and investor trust in their partners.”

Furthermore, Deborah Goldberg, the State Treasurer of Massachusetts, stated that “this particular case is waiting for the board to intervene and initiate an investigation. A proper investigation coming from outside. And, I mean, how was it, two weeks ago they [the board] said they support their CEO?”

The involvement of official government officials in such a high position also adds additional pressure from the public.

More about Blizzard and the scandal can be found here:

Demands for resignation are getting louder: Since an article from the Washington Post, the calls for Bobby Kotick to resign as CEO have increased. Not only part of the Blizzard employees have demanded this, but also prominent figures such as the heads of PlayStation and Xbox have suggested that Kotick resign.

Kotick himself mentioned his resignation as an option if he fails to eliminate the issues with the corporate culture at Activision Blizzard within “a short time”.

The pressure on Kotick is rising, and with the involvement of the State Treasurers, public pressure – especially from the USA – is likely to significantly increase.

As soon as there are new developments regarding the whole Activision Blizzard case and Bobby Kotick, we will of course inform you on MeinMMO.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. axios.com
  2. kotaku.com

Estimation says: New World has sold better in 2 months than GW2 and ESO since release

Alexander Leitsch Alexander Leitsch Reading time 3 minutes

New World celebrated a great success at release with nearly a million simultaneous players. But how many people have purchased New World in total? The website Steamspy provides an approximate estimate.

How well has New World sold? There are currently no official figures from Amazon. However, according to the website Steamspy, about 34 million accounts on Steam own New World. For free users, a range of 20 to 50 million players is reported (via Steamspy).

This would place New World among the games with the highest number of owners on Steam, approximately on par with GTA 5, Rust, and Garry’s Mod.

How accurate are the numbers from Steamspy? Steamspy claims to analyze millions of data points on Steam to predict the figures. However, these data are said to be quite accurate.

  • The website PCGamesN spoke with several developers about these numbers in 2017 and concluded that while they are not completely correct, they typically only deviate by about 10% (via PCGamesN).
  • However, in 2018 there were changes to privacy settings on Steam, which is supposed to make the numbers somewhat less accurate.
  • Steamspy itself states that the statistics should be accurate for 98% of games. 2% of the games are said to have incorrect data. They also warn of distorted results due to “Free Weeks” or other events.

It is somewhat unclear whether the Open Beta of New World is included in the data, as only closed tests are excluded by Steamspy since they do not appear in the web API. However, the Open Beta had only peaked at 50,000 players and had its own game ID, allowing websites like SteamDB and Steamcharts to separate both games.

New World likely has more created accounts than ESO and GW2 since release

What do the numbers mean exactly? If the numbers from Steamspy are correct, New World would overshadow many of the other MMORPGs significantly:

Player numbers New World 2 months
The player counts of New World since release.

Why are the player numbers on Steam so low then? They are not necessarily low. The numbers on SteamDB and similar sites are snapshots of simultaneous players. So, if 931,000 players were online at the same time, it could easily be over a million different players just a few minutes later, as more players log out than log in.

Over 24 hours and even days, many more different players log in than one would initially think.

With 136,887 simultaneous players on December 1, New World still managed to rank among the top 5 on Steam.

More about New World on MeinMMO:

What do other estimates for New World look like? The website VGInsight also analyzes games on Steam. Here, the number of reviews serves as a basis, and this is extrapolated to total sales. Reviews are supposed to be multiplied by about 77, which typically produces correct numbers in about 80% of cases.

However, VGInsight estimates that New World only has between 4 and 12.1 million sales (via VGInsight). With 175,000 reviews, New World has comparatively few ratings. Rust has about 588,000 reviews but peaked at only 245,000 simultaneous players, and recently only at just under 60,000 players.

According to Steamspy, Rust has around 30 million buyers, and according to VGInsight, 18 to 42 million. It seems that the estimate for New World is somewhat low from VGInsight’s perspective.

What do you think of the sales figures for New World? Did you expect them to be that high?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Beloved shooter Titanfall disappears from stores – Have the hackers won?

Tarek Zehrer Tarek Zehrer Reading time 4 minutes

It is official: The shooter Titanfall from 2014 will be removed from sale. The fan favorite has long struggled with hackers, and soon it will no longer be found in stores. Players are mourning now, but they are not surprised.

What is Titanfall? The shooter is the first major title from Respawn Entertainment, which was founded in 2010 by former CoD developers and belongs to the publisher Electronic Arts.

  • Titanfall was very well received by fans at the time, selling over 10 million units (via ign.com) and managed to win a place in the hearts of numerous players.
  • The shooter has a futuristic setting and mixed FPS action with mech battles.
  • Players could fight across the map using grappling hooks and parkour or be on the move in their huge Titans. These are mechs that have various attributes and weapons.

In 2016, Titanfall 2 followed, which was also very well received and laid the groundwork for the 2019-released battle royale Apex Legends, which is set in the Titanfall universe but has no Titans.

However, a few years after release, a difficult time followed for Titanfall 1 and 2, which continues to this day. Hackers invaded and caused frustration. Now the first part is disappearing from sale and all shops.

When is it happening? Until March 1, 2022, Titanfall will still be available. After that, you won’t be able to buy the shooter.

Titanfall will no longer be sold – Are hackers to blame?

What happened? For some time now, Titanfall has been plagued by severe DDoS attacks by hackers. This ruined the game for many players because there is no offline mode in the first Titanfall.

While Titanfall 2 hasn’t been hit as hard by the issue, the situation in Titanfall 1 has been pretty poor for a while now. In 2019, it became known that a hacker was causing havoc in the multiplayer of both shooters.

What does DDoS attack mean? DDoS stands for Distributed Denial of Service. During an attack, servers are bombarded with a massive amount of data trash from millions of bots, causing them to lag or even crash.

The individual or individuals responsible are ruining the fun for the remaining player base and making the online modes nearly unplayable. According to players, this is still the case today.

  • The hacker(s) use exploits and scripts and fill sessions with bots.
  • Thus, it is impossible for many players to find a session in the player search.
  • The hackers even prevent the creation of private sessions.
  • It is currently impossible to start a multiplayer match.

Respawn reported at the time, when the problems became known, that they would address the issue and seek a solution. However, nothing has happened yet. The decision seems to have been made to stop selling Titanfall, at the very least.

Are hackers the reason? Whether that is the case remains open. Officially, the hacker attacks have not been mentioned. We asked EA for a statement and received a response: They will not comment on community speculation.

However, the community still sees a connection. Just last July, Apex Legends was affected, with a direct reference to Titanfall.

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At that time, this video circulated, summarizing the situation around Titanfall.

Hacker attack on Apex Legends, allegedly to save Titanfall

What happened? In July 2021, Apex Legends was plagued by similar and other problems. Hackers attacked the servers and temporarily brought the player search to a standstill. These attacks altered, for example, the descriptions and titles of the in-game playlists of the shooter.

There were also various messages that displayed the hackers’ messages. It stated, among other things: “TF1 is being attacked, so Apex will be too.” The website “SAFETITANFALL” is promoted. The hacker attack is obviously related to Titanfall.

Part of the attack was also a DDoS attack, preventing some players from playing temporarily. The hacker(s) claimed to want to save Titanfall and that they had unsuccessfully tried to draw the developers’ attention to the issue.

Thus, desperate measures were taken to create this attention. There were also rumors at that time that the hackers of Titanfall 1 themselves were behind this attack and only wanted to cause further chaos.

Now, at least, it seems that a reaction has been made in not selling Titanfall anymore. Players mourn the shooter but are not surprised.

More on the topic:

Players find it a pity, “but at least Titanfall 2 remains”

How fans are reacting: Many players react sadly; the respective post on the official Titanfall subreddit has nearly 20,000 upvotes (via reddit.com), but hardly anyone is surprised. After the ongoing issues and the lack of response from the developers, it was only a matter of time for many.

Most can live with it, as Titanfall 2 remains available in stores and is not quite as heavily impacted by the problems. Rather, a general worry is spreading that the chances for Titanfall 3 might not be good.

Because some fans believe: If Respawn does not even care about the older games of Titanfall and only supports Apex Legends, how likely is a new Titanfall?

Ultimately, many are simply saying goodbye and hoping that Titanfall will someday receive the love from Respawn that it deserves in the eyes of the players.

But what do you think about it? Do you find the decision correct? Did you also enjoy Titanfall, or have you never played the shooter?

Even one of the newest shooters, Halo Infinite, uses a popular feature from Titanfall with its grappling hook. A fan has now proven: As a controller player, you have a huge advantage in Halo Infinite

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. via pcgamer.com

Player farms weeks for rare item in Diablo 2 Resurrected – Stolen after 4 days

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time 3 minutes

A player has reportedly farmed for a special weapon in Diablo 2 Resurrected for several weeks. However, after only 4 days with his achievement, the weapon was stolen from him. But the community is helping.

What kind of item is it? It is the weapon “Grief”. Grief is a so-called runeword, which must be composed of several components. It can be either an axe or a sword.

Grief has the special property of ignoring the defense of opponents, increasing attack speed, and can cast the spell “Poison Nova” when attacking. This makes the weapon particularly interesting for barbarians.

Why is it so rare? Since Grief requires 5 runes, it is considered one of the rarer runewords. First, a grey weapon with 5 socketed slots must be found, which is already rare in itself. Such weapons are best found in the cow level.

Furthermore, one of the runes needed for the craft is one of the most coveted. “Lo” is used in many powerful runewords and is among the rarest runes in the game.

To create runewords like Grief, the runes must be inserted into the appropriate item in the correct order. This creates a more powerful item from a grey item if everything is done correctly:

More on the topic
Diablo 2: Player spends hours farming in vain because he misspelled a letter
von Benedict Grothaus

Weapon stolen in public game

How was the item stolen? The player Bryght writes in the unofficial Diablo forum diablo2.io that after many solo runs he attempted to play in a public game with strangers. At that time, he reportedly had only owned his Grief for 4 days.

It was going quite well. Until he helped someone eliminate a few enemies.

A rare item fell to the ground, and he picked it up to put it in his Horadric Cube. In doing so, he accidentally dropped his weapon from the inventory:

I was frozen and felt my heart stop beating. I tried to panic and pick [the weapon] up, but the guy next to me picked it up. You know how a pedestrian, about to be hit by a car, just stands in the middle of the street, rooted in place and unable to move? That’s exactly how I felt.

Bryght says he messaged the other player afterwards about it. However, he supposedly just said, “I didn’t steal anything, I found it on the ground!” Now he wants to quit online gaming and only play offline – if at all.

By the way, the rare item was only a “blue” item – so nothing worth giving up such a rare runeword for.

Community gifts new Grief

This is how the community reacts: In the forum, it is mentioned that it has happened to several players before that they accidentally pulled their items out of the inventory due to a small mistake. However, they were able to pick them up again.

However, some kind players stepped up to reassemble Bryght’s “Grief”. Just a few hours later, he had 2 offers for new swords, specially crafted for him by the community.

Bryght responded the next day that he went straight to bed after the post. He woke up to a “flood of friendship requests”, and can hardly believe that the community actually made new swords for him.

More about Diablo 2 on MeinMMO:

Gratefully, he accepted the gift and immediately requested: “Please, do not give me your items. I cannot handle so much generosity.” Shortly thereafter, however, he made a donation to the corresponding Diablo community.

Stories like this show that there are still nice players in online gaming. A similar story recently occurred in World of Warcraft:

Beautiful story in WoW shows that there are still nice players in MMORPGs

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Team GO Rocket is currently stronger in Pokémon GO than it should be

Franzi Korittke Franzi Korittke Reading time 3 minutes

In Pokémon GO, trainers have the opportunity to battle against Team GO Rocket. Currently, however, the members are harder to defeat than usual. We at MeinMMO will show you what has happened.

What is Team GO Rocket? Those familiar with the original Pokémon series know that the members of Team Rocket made life difficult for Ash and his friends. Jessie and James, who are part of Team Rocket, repeatedly tried to steal Pikachu and other Pokémon, causing a lot of trouble.

In keeping with the series, the members of Team GO Rocket also cause trouble in Pokémon GO. To fend them off, you can fight against them. Similar to a PvP battle, you will set 3 Pokémon for the fight. If you defeat them, you will receive a reward as well as an encounter with a Shadow Pokémon.

However, the members of Team GO Rocket are currently stronger than they should be. We will show you why.

Why is Team GO Rocket so strong at the moment?

With a good team, battling the members of Team GO Rocket is usually no problem. However, the Grunts, the Rocket bosses Sierra, Arlo, and Cliff, as well as their leader Giovanni, are particularly strong right now. The reason for this is a bug in the game.

Missing delay in battle: If you fought against one of the members in the past, you could gain a few seconds by switching Pokémon or triggering a charged attack. During this time, you could continue to attack your opponent as usual, but Team GO Rocket paused for a moment.

As Niantic communicated through their helpdesk, there is currently a bug in the game that does not take this delay into account (via niantic.helpshift.com). Consequently, the Rocket Grunts and bosses now attack immediately after you have switched your Pokémon or performed a charged attack.

Is Team GO Rocket going to stay this strong? No, as Niantic has stated, the bug is expected to be fixed with the next update (0.225.2). When the new update will be available is not yet known.

Rocket bosses Cliff, Sierra, and Arlo

How is the community reacting to the stronger Team GO Rocket?

Problems when fighting Giovanni: Opinions on this bug are divided in the community. Especially in battles against Giovanni, some trainers are facing difficulties.

For instance, mascotsarekool writes on Twitter: “Cool, they have ruined both PVP and Rocket battles. Have fun losing to Giovanni’s Persian scratching machine, again and again” (via twitter.com). This suggests that many players have already had difficulty winning against Snobilikat and Giovanni’s remaining team in the past.

A similar problem is noted by Bradley Rice: “Why Niantic? Their boosts are way too strong. We need the delay to defeat some of the tough (Snorlax) & leaders/bosses. Many people will now no longer be able to defeat them.” (via twitter.com).

And H4TM7N agrees on reddit: “Niantic should be better prepared for complaints when Giovanni comes back next time. I have lost count of the number of posts where people struggled to even beat him with the delay” (via reddit.com).

A special challenge: Other trainers see the bug as a special challenge and want to try to defeat Team Rocket without its attack delay.

User chdudlow asks on reddit: “Is there still a Rocket Grunt with a team consisting of Snorlax, Snorlax, and Dragoran? That will now be a much harder battle; I would love to try it if that’s still around.” (via reddit.com).

And Itsa_Me_Dario is also excited about the new strength of Team GO Rocket: “I never thought I would see the day when Team GO Rocket would stop going easy on us. I can understand that it is difficult for those who do not have the right Pokémon, but a game is meant to challenge you, and I believe anyone can build a winning team.” (via twitter.com).

More about Team GO Rocket:

What do you think about Team GO Rocket being stronger at the moment due to this bug? Do you see it as a special challenge that you want to test? Or do you find it too hard now and hope for a quick update? Feel free to share your opinions and experiences here in the comments on MeinMMO.

By the way: The Season of Origins has begun and brings you various bonuses, research, and other special features. We have taken a look at all the content of the new season and will show it to you.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Nvidia reveals new details about affordable graphics card – release allegedly in a few days

Benedikt Schlotmann Benedikt Schlotmann Reading time 2 minutes

The current hardware shortage has some surprises in store. Nvidia has now indirectly confirmed that they are re-releasing an old graphics card. This refers to the RTX 2060, which is expected to receive an upgrade.

Currently, it is difficult to find a cheap graphics card, as everywhere you are paying a steep premium for computer hardware.

Nvidia had already stated, that prices will remain high in 2022 and currently, there is no prospect for improvement.

There has been speculation for a long time now, that Nvidia wants to provide an upgrade for the RTX 2060. However, until now, all of that was just speculation and there were no solid proofs for such a graphics card. Now, however, Nvidia has provided clear evidence that such a graphics card could be arriving very soon. It is already being discussed for next week.

RTX 2060 to receive more video memory and is expected to be available by early December

Where is the information coming from? The information comes partly from Nvidia itself, as the manufacturer updated both its product page for the 12 GB model and its driver information (via pcgamer.com). On the other hand, sites like Videocardz claim to have additional sources, but do not elaborate further (via videocardz.com)

When will the graphics card be available? The magazine Videocardz reports that Nvidia is planning to release the RTX 2060 12 GB as early as December 7. That would be on the upcoming Tuesday.

However, it is still unknown how much the graphics card will cost and how well it will be available. Currently, you are paying at least 530 euros for a GeForce RTX 2060 (via geizhals.de), but the recommended retail price (RRP) for the RTX 2060 is 299 euros.

RTX 2060 12 GB does not offer all features of an RTX 3060

What will the graphics card offer? Nvidia intends to provide the old RTX 2060 with a memory upgrade. Until now, the RTX 2060 was only available with 6 GB of video memory. Now there is expected to be an RTX 2060 with 12 GB of video memory.

The RTX 3060 offered about 8% more performance compared to the RTX 2060 Super. When looking at the current specifications of the RTX 2060 12 GB, the models are approximately at the same performance level. Compared to the previous RTX 2060 Super, the 12 GB model is expected to consume about 10 watts more (184 watts vs 175 watts TDP).

Basically, one should bear in mind that the RTX 2060 is a graphics card that was released in January 2019 and still relies on Nvidia’s old graphics chip (Turing).

  • The graphics card does not support PCIe 4.0
  • ResizableBAR support is also not included
  • The ray tracing performance is also lower compared to the new RTX generation.

RTX 2060 targets entry-level gaming

Who should buy such a graphics card? With the RTX 2060, the target audience is mainly those who want to game in Full HD or WQHD with reduced details.

Especially for users searching for a graphics card and who are currently either not willing to pay hundreds of euros for a GPU or have been unable to purchase a graphics card, the RTX 2060 could indeed be an alternative.

Interested users may still be unable to purchase an RTX 3000 graphics card, but at least graphics cards for gamers would be available, and users would not have to pay thousands of euros for graphics cards on eBay, as the greed of scalpers is high.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.