The company “Vertagear” produces gaming chairs. Through Twitter, they attempted to reach the gaming audience and posted a humorous tweet suggesting that female Twitch streamers highlight themselves more than the games. After accusations of sexism against the company, the manager of the social media account was dismissed.
Which tweet caused the trouble? The Vertagear Twitter account posted a meme on July 18. It featured 2 Twitch streamers:
In the case of the male streamer, the video game took up 95% of the screen; the streamer himself was only small in a facecam at the bottom left
In the case of the female streamer, she took up about 75% of the screen, with the actual game only visible in the bottom right corner
The tweet implied that female streamers allegedly stage themselves more prominently than their male counterparts. The actual game was to be considered mere background for the female streamer, while it is central for the male streamer.
The tweet is a variation of a meme that has circulated in various forms (via 9gag).
The Twitter account wrote “Is that correct” accompanied by 3 laughing emojis.
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The streamer Lowco called for streamers to boycott the company.
Streamer calls for boycott of gaming chairs
This was the shitstorm: The streamer and Twitch partner Lowco (107,000 Twitch followers) called for a boycott of the company behind the tweet:
“Hey, if any streamer gives free advertising to this sexist company by sitting in one of their chairs, they might want to think about removing the Vertagear logo.”
Lowco
Further tweets were subsequently posted,
mocking the company’s account for a pink gaming chair
announcing that the company’s Twitter account will simulate flying to his ex in the “Microsoft Flight Simulator” to fight her.
Under the tweet of the streamers, some Twitter users did announce they would boycott Vertagear chairs. The accusation against the post was that it generalized: “All female streamers are like this!” – which was deemed sexist.
The tweet from Vertagear was deleted. However, this initially caused even more trouble. Now it was said that the company had not even admitted its mistake.
Vertagear apologizes, but that’s not enough for critics
This is how Vertagear reacted: Later that same day, Vertagear did reach out to the public on Twitter. They said they wanted to be “funny and interesting” on social media, but “prejudice and discrimination” were the opposite of what they aimed to achieve.
They had “hurt many people with the last tweet.” They took responsibility for it and implemented new guidelines. The incident was a “real lesson” for the company, they said.
They thanked for the feedback and said they hoped people would now accept the sincere apology.
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Vertagear fires social media manager, likely hires a woman
This is how it ended: After the first apology was apparently not enough, there was a second apology during the night from yesterday to today: Now Vertagear called the tweet “tasteless” and “unacceptable” (via twitter).
Over the years, a certain language has crept into the social media accounts, which they “definitely are not proud of.” They have now decided, after some contemplation, to dismiss the person responsible for these posts. They now want to pay more attention to “gender diversity,” even in overseeing social media posts.
What is the reaction now? However, for some angry users on Twitter, even this measure is not quite enough. One user says: Now someone is being fired who was apparently just doing their job, without any guidelines. The real problem is the deeply hurting company culture.
Another user says: The “social media guy” is now merely being made a scapegoat.
Others accuse the company of only reacting after the shitstorm. They apparently had no problem with the sexist behavior the whole time. Only when the shitstorm threatened the “profits” did they decide to take action.
Twitter is an important channel for many companies in the gaming sector to reach gaming fans. Finding the right voice there often proves to be difficult:
GTA Online will receive its major update “Los Santos Tuners” on July 20, 2021, for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. Here we show you all the info about the patch, such as the download, new cars, and other content of the DLC.
What’s going on in GTA 5 Online? The release of the big “Los Santos Tuners” update is just around the corner in GTA Online. Only a few hours separate you from the download that will bring the patch to your hard drive. Whether on PC, Xbox, or PlayStation – tuning starts today!
Update from July 20 at 11:17 AM: The download is now also available on PC via the Rockstar Games Launcher. The download size is approximately 4.35 GB.
Update from July 20 at 11:11 AM: I wanted to write this update mainly because of the timing. We PC players are still waiting for the download to start. If it goes similarly to the Cayo Perico update, downloads should start around 11:20 AM on Steam and in the Rockstar Launcher.
Update from July 20 at 11:01 AM: The update for PlayStation and Xbox is available. According to initial reports, the download size is around 3.5 GB. On PS4, it should be about 3.6 GB. PC players are, as usual, waiting for the download to start.
All info about the release of Los Santos Tuners
When will the update come? On July 20, 2021 What is the name of the DLC? Los Santos Tuners What time does the download start? If it goes like the last updates, the update should be available for download around 11:00 AM German time. Does the DLC have a price? No, as always, you can download the update for free. All content can then be gradually unlocked with in-game currency.
What do we know about the timing? The last updates for GTA Online were released around 11:00 AM German time. This was also the case recently with the major Cayo Perico update in December . Initially, downloads were unlocked for console players. Around 11:22 AM, PC users were also allowed to download the winter update.
We at MeinMMO suspect that Rockstar Games will stay true to its tradition and expects the same time for the download of Los Santos Tuners. However, that is not guaranteed.
What cars and content will Los Santos Tuners bring?
What you need to know: The new content from Los Santos Tuners will not be fully available on the release day. Instead, you will get a large part of the content at release, but not all of it. Over the next months, it will continue with a “drip-feed”.
Content such as new cars will be released over a period of weeks or months.
What’s included? If you have already spent a few hours in “Need for Speed Underground [2]”, you will be excited about the update for GTA. The Los Santos Tuners update brings:
Focus on the underground car scene
Tuner missions
Tuner races
Including direct duels, sprints, street races, and pursuit races
A new meeting spot “LS Car Meet”
There you can show off your personal vehicle, participate in races, showcase your tuned cars, or talk to “business partners” for whom you need to win some races
The “Reputation” resource – Increase it by winning races and participating in the Car Meet to unlock new tuning parts, car discounts, racing modes, or access to your private car meets
New cars from the brands Annis, Dinka, Übermacht, and Vapid – The update brings a total of 17 new cars, 10 of which will be available starting July 20
The cars from the update
Pictures of the new cars: Each update for GTA Online includes vehicles or super strong weapons. Starting July 20, you will have access to 10 new cars that you can tune.
You can get a glimpse of the first 10 new vehicles in the following gallery:
Karin Calico GTF
Karin Futo GTX
Annis Euros
Vapid Dominator GTT
Annis ZR350
Dinka RT3000
Vulcar Warrener HKR
Obey Tailgater S
Dinka Jester RR
Annis Remus
LS Car Meet Membership – What’s the Benefit?
What is it? The LS Car Meet allows you to unlock certain advantages through reputation. You can also access a test track to drive, jump, or drift there. All without police interference. There are also test vehicles that you can drive.
To become a member of the LS Car Meet, you must pay a small fee. But this allows you to participate in prize vehicle challenges to win cars. You also gain access to a merch shop, a tattoo studio, and a tuning workshop.
How much does it cost? The membership costs a mere 50,000 GTA Dollars.
This is shown: In the trailer, you get a glimpse of the “LS Car Meet”. It’s a large social space where you can meet other players, tuners, and car enthusiasts. By the way, these car meetings are without weapons. So no worries about some joker arriving on a flying motorcycle and blowing everything up.
Additionally, the video gives you a preview of how in-depth the new tuning in GTA Online will look.
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Are you already looking forward to the new update? Do you think a “Need for Speed Underground” is just right for GTA Online, or would you have preferred something else? Share your first thoughts on the update here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other players.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Fortnite world champion Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf is getting his own skin in Fortnite. It includes his dog and, of course, the winner’s trophy. We show you the skin from the Icon Series and what the tournament is all about.
Now, almost 2 years later, the winner finally gets his own skin in Fortnite. Together with his dog, who hides in the huge trophy on the character’s back.
This is what the Bugha skin looks like in Fortnite
This will be shown: On Monday, July 19, the Fortnite team presented Bugha’s new skin. We embed the YouTube trailer here so you can see for yourself.
In the video, world champion Bugha talks about how important winning the Solo World Championship and having his own skin are for his career. “It looks exactly like me,” Bugha explains in the video, comparing tracksuit, shoes, and hairstyle with himself. “It’s perfect!”.
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One of the charming details of the skin is the pug in the trophy. It is modeled after Bugha’s dog “Zoey”. Occasionally, the four-legged friend stretches its head out of the golden winner’s trophy while you run through your matches in Fortnite.
When will the Bugha skin be available in the shop? The skin and other accessories will be available for you starting Wednesday morning, July 21, at 02:00 AM in the Fortnite shop. The new contents consist of (via epicgames.com):
Outfit “Bugha”
Back accessory “Zoey Trophy”
Pickaxe “Bugha’s Lightning Cut”
Emote “Wobbly Cover”
The Bugha outfit comes in 3 variants – Classic, Bugha Elite Style, and World Champion Bugha Style
Bugha’s Late Game Arena and Tournament
When does it happen? From July 20 to July 28.
What happens there? You play in trios on the island, where the storm has already progressed significantly. Fortnite will provide you with a pre-made inventory. Randomly, each team will receive different equipment.
If you play Bugha’s Late Game Arena, you can earn “Hype” as an exclusive resource. If you collect at least 1,500 Hype by the end of the tournament on July 28, you’ll have the chance to participate in the tournament. Qualified players will compete against each other in their region. A portion of the prize money, which totals $100,000, is available to win.
What do you think of Bugha’s new skin? Do you think the designers captured his look well, and will you be getting the outfit? Or is the skin not for you, and will you pass on using it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments here on MeinMMO and discuss it with other players.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In CoD Warzone the red doors are actually a useful fast travel. But a bizarre glitch makes players invisible under certain circumstances. That’s annoying!
What’s going on with the red doors? In CoD Warzone there have been mysterious red doors since Season 4. When you open them and walk through, you are teleported to another location. A map with all doors can be found here, by the way.
But as useful as the doors may be, there is a function that the developers certainly didn’t plan: under certain circumstances, players become invisible after using the door due to a glitch.
Invisible killers ruin the fun
This is what the glitch is about: The glitch seems to be easily reproducible and has to do with performing certain actions while passing through the door. However, we will not describe the exact process here, as we do not want to encourage anyone to exploit such an exploit.
Being taken out by invisible opponents is no fun for anyone and can also lead to a ban. Meanwhile, reports from annoyed players who have fallen victim to invisible killers are piling up on reddit.
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Interestingly, according to some reddit users, the glitch doesn’t even seem to be noticeable when it happens to you. The invisible killers may not even realize that they are invisible. Rather, they are likely pleased that the opponents seem to have overlooked them.
The developers are aware of the glitch and will likely address it as soon as possible in a hotfix. Until then, you should steer clear of the doors to avoid accidentally becoming invisible or encountering an invisible killer. Better safe than sorry.
The WoW professionals from Echo found a good tactic in the race for the First Kill in World of Warcraft. But Blizzard didn’t like that – and made a quick change.
Original news: In the race for the “World First Kill” of Sylvanas Windrunner on Mythic difficulty, the professional guilds pull out all the stops in World of Warcraft. Sometimes players become so creative that Blizzard has to intervene in the ongoing fight and simply gives creatures new abilities so that certain strategies do not succeed. The European guild Echo had to experience this firsthand.
What did Echo do? The professionals from Echo had only recently failed at the 50% health threshold of Sylvanas – because apparently the fight lasts longer and the Banshee Queen needs to have several million health points beaten out of her. To make that possible, Echo developed a different plan: they play Phase 2 of the fight differently, to take more health points from Sylvanas than actually intended.
This is how Echo’s tactic worked: In Phase 2 of the fight, the raid actually has to split up to defeat two groups of additional enemies (“Adds”). However, since the phase ends with players being teleported to another location, these Adds do not necessarily have to die as long as at least one player on each side can interrupt the deadly spell, the “Hymn of Doom”.
Echo split the group – 19 players went to one side and the Death Knight Naowh alone went to the other side. Through a lot of cooldowns, strong self-healing, and even a Soulstone, Naowh was able to stay alive long enough.
This gave the other 19 players enough time to deal significant damage to Sylvanas and additionally take 3% of her health points before the phase ended. This was a significant advantage that would also shorten the last phase of the fight. Here’s how it went down:
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This is how the devs govern: Blizzard simply curtailed the tactic. With a change to the ongoing game, the fight was altered so that the remaining Adds go into a frenzy shortly after Sylvanas is interrupted. Those Adds then deal a whopping 900% additional damage until their death, attack with 150% increased speed, and dismantle even tanks in most cases with a single blow.
This guarantees the individual player’s death and they can no longer prevent the “Hymn of Doom”, leading the entire raid to follow in death a few seconds later.
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Does Blizzard do this often? Yes. Especially in the race for the “World First Kill”, it happens time and again that the professional guilds develop strategies that Blizzard simply hadn’t considered to make a boss significantly easier. Even with N’Zoth, Jaina, and many other bosses in the past, an enrage mechanic was often added at the last second to close a “gap” in encounter design.
After all, Blizzard usually has a pretty good idea of how players are supposed to experience each phase and how much time they are supposed to spend in the respective phases. Dramatically shortening a phase by exploiting mechanics is probably not in the developers’ intent.
What do you think of this hotfix? Blizzard’s right to allow the fight to proceed correctly? Or a “dirty move” to prevent Echo’s First Kill? Let us know in the comments.
GameStar also presented their impressions of New World in a video titled: “New World surprised us with the latest gameplay.” In the video below from Julius Busch, you can expect insights into character creation, professions, dungeons, story, expeditions, and more. Alongside some positive experiences, one area is still viewed critically: Will the PvE work? But see for yourself how he comes to this conclusion:
If you want to learn more about the latest state of New World: We have also written articles about this event.
What is New World? The new open-world MMO from Amazon takes place during the Age of Discovery, set in the 17th century, on the fictional island “Aeternum”, located in the middle of the Atlantic. On the newly discovered continent by settlers, all sorts of supernatural dangers lurk, originating from mysterious creatures as well as from other players. The release date is August 31, 2021. Currently, a closed beta is running, allowing pre-orderers to participate.
Microsoft is bringing some new features to our computers with Windows 11. However, a feature that was previously exclusive is now also available for Windows 10. MeinMMO explains what it is, what advantages you have, and how you can use it.
Microsoft aims to convince users with new features and improvements in Windows 11. We at MeinMMO have extensively introduced the best features of Windows 11 for gamers.
However, as Microsoft has now explained in a developer blog, a feature that was supposed to be exclusive to Windows 11 is also coming to Windows 10 (via devblogs.microsoft.com).
This feature is called DirectStorage, which is intended to improve the performance of your SSD. MeinMMO explains what DirectStorage actually is and why gamers could particularly benefit from it.
DirectStorage provides better performance in modern games
What is the situation? So far, processors need to send a request to your hard drive for every data processing and then wait for your hard drive to finish copying. After that, your processor sends the next request.
In the case of an HDD, this is not a problem, as it can typically handle a few hundred of these operations. However, an SSD can handle tens of thousands of these operations. The burden on the processor consumes a lot of processing power when these requests have to be handled one after another.
What does DirectStorage do? The adjustment of the DirectX API reduces the burden on the processor by utilizing the NVMe protocol of PCIe SSDs, which allows parallel and bundled requests from the processor to the SSD controller. Your hard drive is connected to this controller.
What is the advantage? The advantage of DirectStorage is significantly better performance if you have (NVMe) SSDs installed in your computer. Specifically, the write and read speeds are expected to increase significantly, as thanks to DirectStorage, games can load data into the graphics card much faster and relieve your processor.
Specifically, this means: Your games load significantly faster – both when starting and during cutscenes and similar, as these can be calculated (rendered) much faster. Additionally, the processor will not be as heavily burdened.
We will also present you with other important changes in Windows 11 in detail on MeinMMO:
You can now use DirectStorage – but your games need to support it
When can I use DirectStorage on Windows 10? There is not much you can do for now. Although Microsoft has integrated DirectStorage into the DirectX API, game developers need to integrate the feature into their own engines. Microsoft writes in the developer post:
As a game developer, you only need to implement DirectStorage once in your engine, and all applicable advantages will be automatically applied and scaled accordingly for players.
Which games benefit from this? Microsoft has explained that the API adjustments apply to DirectX 12. This means that for now, only games that are based on DirectX 12 and have a DX12-compatible graphics card will benefit from the changes.
Older games that still rely on DirectX 11 or other interfaces will not benefit from this.
The Xbox Series X|S already utilizes the Velocity Engine, which also employs DirectStorage. This way, you can also enjoy faster loading times and higher performance on Windows 10.
At an Amazon Games press event, we were given an exclusive look at the endgame of the upcoming MMORPG New World. MeinMMO author Mark Sellner shares his impressions with you and shows what he really liked.
What did I play? During the approximately three-hour event, I had the opportunity to check out three different endgame scenarios. I was accompanied by at least one developer each time and had a blast.
I got to play an alpha build of the game. So it was not yet at the state that the upcoming beta will have. Nevertheless, the game mostly ran smoothly and had only a few bugs.
One thing in advance: I was equipped with a new character before each new game mode, who was fully geared and completely skilled. So I had absolute freedom regarding equipment and weapons, but I can’t yet provide any information on how hard the path to this equipment might be.
Packed with the best weapons and armor in the game, we were able to try out three different endgame scenarios:
The PvP mode Outpost Rush: an exciting adaptation of the “Domination” mode known from Call of Duty. There are three outposts that must be captured and held. The longer you hold them, the more points they give. The team that reaches 1000 points first wins.
The Lazarus Instrumentality – An Expedition. Expeditions can be compared to raids, so this is a PvE element.
Neufreudenfeuer – An Open-World POI. An interesting point in the open world that can be explored later in the game.
How long were we allowed to play? The event lasted about three hours. So I could spend roughly an hour in each of the game modes. A bit less in Outpost Rush, as it finished earlier. Longer in the expedition because we really got knocked around.
The endgame of New World shows: How fun failure can be
The three game modes that I could try out differ greatly from each other. However, I had a lot of fun in all three. They all had in common that even a defeat is not associated with frustration and gnashing of teeth, but still brings a certain enjoyment.
Outpost Rush – PvP with Tactics and Planning
What can Outpost Rush? The demo starts with the PvP mode Outpost Rush. I get to create a character and customize it as I wish. I have all the equipment I need in my inventory. I can also freely distribute my skill points and adjust the character entirely to my preferences.
The video briefly introduces the mode:
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I decide to go for a hybrid melee and ranged fighter with heavy armor, a large two-handed axe, and a rifle for distance. For my skill points, I mostly rely on strength and dexterity – because who needs defense when the opponent falls quickly enough?
While I equip my character, the developers explained to us what it’s all about. There are three outposts on a medium-sized, instanced map. Each outpost gives the team a few points per second once captured. The team that reaches 1000 points first wins.
But it’s not just about PvP. There are also some other ways to be useful to your team. For example, if I don’t feel like fighting, I can just go chop wood. With the wood, I can improve the defense of the captured outpost and even set up cannons.
If I’m not into PvP, I can fight NPC bosses off the main routes. If I win, I can summon them at my outpost to use them for defense, or even for attack. For instance, a huge bear might suddenly jump into the battle with me and crush my enemies. Strong!
The bear on the battlefield positively surprises me
The cool thing about this is that I can also be useful to my team in this way if I don’t want to brawl with other players. It’s an interesting way to achieve certain PvP successes or items just by peacefully chopping wood. For me as a dedicated PvE player, this is more than a welcome change, as I usually come off worse in direct conflict with other players.
If you die in battle, you must respawn at a held outpost. If you currently don’t hold an outpost, you must run back to the fray from the beginning, so you are out of the action for a good while. By the way, we play Outpost Rush in two teams of 20 players each. When my team ultimately wins the fight, it feels really good.
Expeditions – No raids, but still challenging
What can the expedition? Next up is the second endgame scenario, an expedition. This time in much smaller groups. I get to create a new endgame character again. To see more of the different playstyles, I choose to be a mage this time. With ice and fire spells, I want to show the NPCs in the raid who’s stronger – and I haven’t died this often in an instance in a long time!
The expedition in New World is played with five players. Here I was accompanied by two developers, who took on the key roles of tank and healer. Two more editors from other sites joined me to deal damage together. Euphoric from Outpost Rush, I eagerly enter the expedition.
The entrance to the expedition “Lazarus Instrumentality”
At the other end of this bridge, about five skeletons are staggering towards our group. Now, as an engaged MMORPG fan and PvE player, one naturally thinks: “Skeletons? Pah! What weak enemies have been thrown at us!” But I am mistaken. Very.
The said handful of skeletons held our group up for a good 15 minutes. My poor mage died at least 20 times, and before I could see the first boss, I had to ask the developer how to repair my armor.
Major plus point: I was just blind! There’s an “Repair All” button right in the inventory.
After we finally defeated the welcoming committee, we immediately experienced the first puzzle of the expedition. Here we must stand on certain symbols on the ground to open the door to the next path. If you stand on the wrong symbol, more of those devilishly tough skeletons will appear. I probably don’t need to mention our countless deaths again.
After more skeletons and minor puzzles, we come to the first boss, who impresses with some tricky mechanics, but unfortunately, we have to stop after the third attempt because the allotted time is up.
One of the developers assures me that it’s easier if you have played your character up to that point and know what you’re doing. An elegant way to tell me that I apparently do not know – but hey, I tried. So mage is not for me.
Despite the countless deaths, it’s still a lot of fun, and once you master your character better and know what the deal is, I believe you can really get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
At the launch of New World, there will be a total of six such expeditions.
By the way, here is the conclusion of GameStar from this event:
Our sister brand GameStar was also at the event. As the video shows: They are surprised by the MMO.
Beautiful, vast world with (soon) much to discover
What can the open world? Once again I get to create a new character to explore the open-world point of interest in the same group where I was in the expedition. This time I choose damage again, just not as the mage. Fully skilled in dexterity and armed with a bow and spear, I set off for Neufreudenfeuer.
The location resembles a quarry where the curse of the New World story has raged. Skeletons can also be found here, but there are also human workers with glowing red eyes who will also serve as opponents.
Most normal enemies in this open world section are far easier than what we encountered in the expedition. The red light in the eyes of the workers can usually be extinguished with a well-aimed headshot from my bow – but I have to be careful here as well.
If the enemies get too close, my victory is not guaranteed. In general, the rule for the combat system in New World is: block and dodge, otherwise you are quickly dead.
In this open-world area, there is not much to see gameplay-wise. We can kill a few enemies, fish, and chop wood. Besides, I can admire the beautiful environment. The developer assures me that the area in the finished game will be filled with quests and other tasks.
However, in my alpha build, there is still nothing included, so I can’t say how good these quests will feel in the end.
Impressions from the world of New World
My personal conclusion
What have I taken away? I admit, I had previously paid much less attention to New World than I should have. As you can gather from the text, I feel more at home in PvE, and the initial announcement of New World focusing on PvP left me quite cold.
However, after being able to play a bit of New World, I am now really excited about the game. The skill system feels coherent and varied, as does the fantastic combat system. Ironically, I had the most fun with the PvP mode. This definitely means that Amazon Games has done a lot right here.
Who is writing here? MeinMMO author Mark Sellner has been exploring MMORPGs since his early teenage years. He plays everything from Last Chaos to Silkroad and Guild Wars 2 to Mu Legends. However, he mostly feels at home in PvE and appreciates well-crafted open worlds. All together, he has already spent over 5,000 hours in MMORPGs.
I do not wish to give a rating of the individual systems and the technical state of the game just yet. I was able to play an alpha build that is still far from the final version of the game. There were some technical errors and visual elements that bothered me, but these were minor issues that the developers can still fix before the game releases on August 31, 2021.
I had a lot of fun with the demo version and am now very much looking forward to the release. If you want to get a glimpse of the game yourself, you can sign up for the beta starting July 20 (via NewWorld.com). Pre-orders will automatically participate. In the beta, the full extent of the game will be available, and you can explore the island of Aeternum until August 2.
What is New World? New World is an MMORPG developed by Amazon Games Studios, which will be released on September 28, 2021. Originally announced with a focus on PvP, the decision has now been made to offer PvE content and create a truly well-rounded MMORPG.
The game features the following aspects:
Three factions at war with each other
Fortresses that can be attacked and must be defended
A class system where you are what you wear
Player housing, with a sophisticated crafting system
An exciting story centered around the resource Azoth, which can grant immortality
In Pokémon GO took place one of the biggest events of the game last weekend: The GO Fest 2021. Some trainers were disappointed with their Shiny haul. Our MeinMMO author Franzi Korittke also actively caught Pokémon and for her it was a complete success. We show you why.
What is it about? On July 17 and 18, 2021, this year’s GO Fest took place in Pokémon GO. As Niantic had previously announced, there were a few new Shiny monsters available to catch, such as Jiutesto and Karadonis. Additionally, during such events, the Shiny rate is generally somewhat increased.
And who wouldn’t want the Shiny monsters? However, some Shiny hunters were disappointed with their haul at GO Fest. They had hoped for more Shinys than they actually received. Especially on the second event day, the joy would have been great.
A reddit user duskyxlops wrote that he could only catch two shiny specimens during GO Fest, even though he was out all day (via reddit.com). Other trainers, like reddit user KarchaInSD, found GO Fest last year better regarding Shinys. He was particularly disappointed with the Shiny rate on the second day (via reddit.com)
I am also very fond of Shiny monsters and am happy about each new specimen. Contrary to the opinions of the Shiny hunters, GO Fest was a complete success for me. I will explain to you why.
That’s why the GO Fest 2021 was a success for me
For 2 years now, I have been playing Pokémon GO with my family. During this time, I have had several opportunities to catch shiny monsters. However, in recent months, my Shiny rate has become lower and lower.
While I almost only received Shinys during Community Days, my husband got to enjoy shiny specimens more often in between. However, this streak of bad luck finally ended for GO Fest.
On the first event day, I caught 12 different Shinys, four of which were newly introduced to the game during GO Fest. I was able to enjoy the shiny forms of Palimpalim, Ohrdoch, Flurmel, and Jiutesto. Additionally, I caught Tangela, Rettan, Pummeluff, Loturzel, Zirpurze, Larvitar, and Dratini.
My Shiny haul for GO Fest
Even though the Shinys are completely normal Pokémon, I was super happy about them. Since I had not previously had any of these Pokémon in their shiny variant in my Pokédex except for Tangela and Rettan, the joy is all the greater. Yesterday a Shiny Articuno rounded out my GO Fest collection. For me, the event was definitely worthwhile.
Conclusion on GO Fest 2021
The Shinys made GO Fest a very special experience for me. But aside from the Shinys, I found GO Fest 2021 to be a successful event. Unlike past events, the servers held up to the high player traffic and there were no major game crashes.
The selection of spawns on the first day and the legendary raids on the second day invited active gameplay. The bonuses rounded off the fun for me even more. Therefore, from my perspective, buying the ticket was more than worthwhile.
What was your Shiny haul at GO Fest? Were you able to snag any of the new shiny specimens? Feel free to share your experience here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers about GO Fest.
In Destiny 2 is the raid “The Vault of Glass” back, the original raid from 2014. At the end of the raid awaits the final boss Atheon: he is actually intended for 6 players. But one Guardian wanted to kill him solo at all costs. The solo kill cost a lot of time and apparently also quite a bit of mental health.
Why is it actually not possible? The fight against Atheon actually requires two teams, because it is necessary to fight the battle in different phases and rooms:
In the main room, one team must see and report which oracles need to be destroyed
In a side room, a second team must then actually destroy the oracles
A mix of glitch, skill, and a hell of a lot of stamina
How did the player manage that anyway? The player “VoteforShifu” teleported back and forth between the rooms by using one of the many glitches in Destiny. The glitch has been known for years and is related to the animation of a finisher, with which you can finish off injured enemies.
As the YouTuber explains, he used an exotic grenade launcher (Witherhoard) for the return trip to kill the gatekeeper and switch rooms with precise timing. He then switches to the oracles with the exotic – to the hard-hitting hand cannon Eriana’s Vow.
The timing with the method is extremely tricky, so the player needed over 1,600 attempts for the solo kill on Atheon. For his kill, VoteforShif utilized a Titan with highly optimized skills, allowing him to throw grenades with 380,000 damage points to deal 2.6 million damage points per round. At least in theory.
The grenade launcher Witherhoard was key to success.
The player says according to his count: It took him over 100 hours, 6000 shards, 1,000 attempts and “a month of my time”.
The site PCGamer even says, according to DestinyTracker, the player needed 1,600 attempts.
What makes the kill so special? The player uploaded a YouTube video. In the last minute, you can hear the redemption in the voice of VoteforShifu as Atheon dies.
He can hardly believe his luck, his voice breaks, he even seems slightly insane as the boss finally dies.
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The Sylvanas kill in World of Warcraft is within reach. But time is running out for the Europeans. Can they still secure the success?
The Sanctum of Domination seems to be one of the raids that can be cleared quickly. After all, less than a week in, 5 guilds are already facing the current final boss of World of Warcraft on mythic difficulty.
Current progress of the top guilds: The current status (July 19, 2021, 15:45) is as follows (via wowprogress.com):
Rank 1: Echo (EU)
Rank 2: Complexity Limit (US)
Rank 3: BDGG (US)
Rank 4: Method (EU)
Rank 5: Pieces (EU)
These 5 guilds have already reached Sylvanas and are trying to bring the lady below 45% of her health points. Previously, it was thought that the fight would end at 50% of her remaining HP – but this miscalculation quickly turned into frustration.
What has been the most difficult so far? The biggest obstacle in the raid was the 6th boss, the Torturer Raznal. He received some particularly nasty effects on mythic difficulty and even made it necessary to use Warlock portals and immunities to survive the transition phase. Even today, the Torturer is a real tough nut. The current ranks 11 to 28 are still stuck on Raznal and are struggling to overcome him.
Sylvanas is the final boss – and she will soon fall.
Will Sylvanas fall this week? It is possible that one of the guilds will succeed in bringing Sylvanas below the suspected threshold of 45% before the weekly reset. However, guilds like Echo are currently very close to the maximum achievable with the current gear. Much more performance cannot be squeezed out even with perfect play.
It is likely that Sylvanas will be defeated shortly after the weekly reset, which occurs in America on Tuesday evening, and in Europe on Wednesday morning. Then all raiders will receive a piece of shiny new gear and can deliver even more performance.
More news about World of Warcraft can be found here:
Europeans under time pressure: Especially the European guild Echo, which is currently leading, is under massive time pressure. Since the reset in Europe happens many hours later, the Americans once more have a clear time advantage with better gear. If Echo fails to defeat Sylvanas by tomorrow evening, it is very likely that the first kill will once again go to Complexity Limit, who already secured the title of World First Kill in Castle Nathria.
Are you following the race for the World First Kill of Sylvanas Windrunner? Or is this competition completely indifferent to you?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In CoD Warzone a gamer has achieved numerous kills despite a massive handicap. With just one arm, a player took down 24 opponents and received significant acclaim for it. What exactly happened, you can find out here.
Who did what? The streamer maValentinee streamed a round of Warzone and did exceptionally well. He achieved a total of 24 kills with his loadout and secured the final victory by single-handedly taking out an entire 4-man squad in the endgame.
An impressive feat that every Warzone player can be proud of. But in the case of maValentinee, this stunt is even more remarkable because this young man has only one arm.
Therefore, he fixes the gamepad to his shoulder and operates it with his remaining hand and chin. This method may seem odd at first glance, but in maValentinee’s case, it seems to work well. At the time of this news (July 19, 2021), the player has already achieved a total of 7,500 kills and 72 wins in Warzone.
You can see how it looked in the game here.
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A one-armed player captivates viewers with his stunt
This is how the community reacts: In a reddit post, maValentinee’s brother showcased the clip of the last fight against the 4-man squad. The post received over 2,400 upvotes and a multitude of positive comments:
Christiano-Potato: ‘The guy wipes out an entire squad with just one hand while I can barely jump out of a window without crashing into the wall multiple times.’
Bottom_Shelf_Booz: ‘My son also plays with just one hand. That’s impressive!. I tried it myself, and it seemed impossible.’
Brad_Pitt369: ‘I can’t even manage such squad wipes with two hands! Respect to your brother, he’s a beast!’
Time and again players in Warzone and similar games stand out, achieving remarkable feats despite severe disabilities. Just like a pro-gamer, who has an even more extreme handicap due to paralysis than the one mentioned here, maValentinee. The streamer and professional Rocky “RockyNoHandy” Stoutenburgh demonstrates what he can achieve playing with his mouth.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Malaysia, more than 1000 PCs were destroyed. The reason for this is fraudsters who tapped into the state power grid for free. Now the police have destroyed mining hardware worth around 1 million euros.
Are you frustrated with miners, the high power consumption they cause, or the fact that miners are buying hardware away from gamers? In Malaysia, the police have now arrested 8 individuals who were illegally mining Bitcoins with mining hardware (via thestar.com). The problem was not mining itself, but the way these individuals went about it.
What happened? The authorities in Malaysia have made a strike against miners who illegally farmed Bitcoins. The fraudsters unlawfully gained access to the power grid and siphoned off electricity without paying for it. This is reminiscent of the fraudsters who farmed FIFA currency with PS4 consoles. Here too, the wrongdoers were caught due to electricity theft.
The fraudsters in Malaysia are said to have stolen electricity worth 8.4 million Malaysian Ringgit. This amounts to approximately 1.7 million euros.
The confiscated hardware did not survive the day, as the police literally crushed the hardware. The mining hardware likely had the least to do with the situation.
Police destroys mining hardware worth 1 million euros
Here you can watch the action: The video on YouTube is only about 50 seconds long but shows the full extent of the police action: A steamroller is used to crush a total of 1069 PCs. This will especially please those who hold little or no regard for miners.
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The police claims to have destroyed hardware worth 5.4 million Malaysian Ringgit, which is 1.06 million euros (via thestar.com). The action took place between February and April and was a joint operation by the police and the energy company Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB).
For those surprised and wondering why there are no graphics cards like a GeForce RTX 3080 seen being destroyed, you are correct. The computers being destroyed here are not large GPU mining rigs as seen in images and photos.
This is what an ASIC system looks like, for example, from ANT-Miner.
Miners opted for a special mining PC instead of graphics cards
The hardware primarily being destroyed here consists of so-called ASIC miners. ASIC miners are machines made up of a circuit board with a chip and a large fan. Often, these devices are already pre-programmed. You theoretically just need to start the ASIC miner and you can start mining directly.
The advantage is that you do not need a proper desktop PC where you would normally connect the graphics cards. ASIC miners are more user-friendly, provide significantly higher hash rates, and are much more energy-efficient than graphics card rigs.
However, many still rely on GPU mining rigs because the graphics cards can still be sold profitably after mining, unlike ASIC systems. These systems are primarily designed for mining.
In China, many users have started selling their mining hardware because the prices of cryptocurrencies have collapsed due to raids in China. In our article, we explain why you should still be careful before buying very cheap hardware from China:
The start of Season 24 in Diablo 3 is just around the corner. Players are wondering which will be the best class of the season and which they want to play. Vote for your favorite class in this article or consult the Wheel of Fortune.
What’s happening in Diablo 3? On Friday, July 23, Season 24 will start in Diablo 3. Accompanying it is Patch 2.7.1 with balance changes and the new seasonal theme featuring ethereal items. So, the big question in the community is: Which of the seven classes should I play in the new season?
In this article, we want to find out which class you have chosen. If you’re still unsure, you can spin the Wheel of Fortune here in the article to find out which class you “should” play.
What you need to know for the class choice in Season 24
The starter sets: Players often choose their starting class based on which starter sets are available. By completing the seasonal journey, you receive a full set “for free” and do not have to farm it painstakingly. In Season 24, the starter sets are distributed as follows (via diablo3.com):
Balance changes: For the Monk, the mechanic of the Mystic Allies has been changed. The Earth Ally and the Fire Ally now deal significantly more damage. Additionally, adjustments have been made to Inna’s Mantra, Aegis of Courage, and the Mask of the Burning Carnival. You can see the balance changes of Patch 2.7.1 in Diablo 3 here.
Which class are you playing in Season 24?
Vote now: Participate in our survey here on MeinMMO and show us your favorite class for Season 24.
If you’re still undecided, you can spin the Wheel of Fortune, which is embedded below the survey. All seven classes are listed on the wheel. Once spun, it stops randomly on one of the seven classes, which will then be your choice for the new season.
In our survey, each user has one vote. If you want to play multiple classes in Season 24, just vote for the one you are most looking forward to.
Ask Fate for your class for S24
Here you can spin: We are embedding the Wheel of Fortune here for you in the article. However, you have to be cautious with “Fate”, because in the end, it is a programmed random outcome that will ultimately give you a class.
Simply click on the wheel and it will start spinning. The class it stops on will then be your choice for Season 24. After spinning, just vote for this class in the survey.
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If you can’t see the wheel here in the article, you can also find it on the website (via wheeldecide.com).
Which class have you chosen for Season 24, or are you still considering? Feel free to write to us here on MeinMMO in the comments about which class you decided on and why you chose it.
The upcoming Viking game Tribes of Midgard has recently introduced all 8 classes that you can embody in the game. Find out everything known so far about the classes, their skills, and their play styles.
What is it about the classes? In the upcoming survival MMO Tribes of Midgard there will be eight playable classes. Two of them, the Warrior and the Ranger, will be available at the start of the game. For the rest, you will have to prove your worth and unlock them gradually.
Berserker, Warrior, Seer or Archer? These are the 8 classes and their abilities
The following eight classes can be played at the launch of Tribes of Midgard on July 27, 2021, or unlocked later. Each class has unique abilities and a divine patron. Additionally, you can further customize each class with runes to fit your preferred play style.
Warrior – Immortal powerhouse with magic
What is it? Warriors are one of the two classes you can play from the beginning. Warriors are part of Tyr’s retinue, the god of war and justice. They specialize in both melee attacks and magic.
What play styles does it support? Warriors are well-suited for players who like to deal a lot of damage and want to use both magic and melee weapons. Additionally, the Warrior is ideal for solo players, as they can resurrect themselves after death.
What are typical skills? Besides their self-rez, the Warrior has access to strong melee skills and can benefit from positioning. For example, they have a skill that allows every second melee attack to deal double damage.
Ranger – Agile ranged fighter
What is it? Rangers are another starter class in Tribes of Midgard. This class is trained by Ullr, the god of archers and competition. Rangers are a ranged class with high mobility.
What play styles does it support? Rangers are for anyone who enjoys executing fast, consistent ranged attacks from a distance. Additionally, you can run around opponents thanks to high mobility and pepper them with arrows.
What are typical skills? The Ranger can reveal the surroundings with one ability, thereby preventing surprises. Furthermore, you can pierce opponents with your arrows and hit multiple enemies.
Sentinel – Tough tank with a shield
What is it? Sentinels are a clearly defined tank class. They fight with melee weapons and shields, which they use to absorb damage. Their patron is the goddess Syn, who guards Freya’s great hall, Sessrumnir.
What play styles does it support? Sentinels are classic tanks. They are not here to deal a lot of damage; rather, they absorb it. This makes them especially valuable in a team, as they can absorb larger amounts of damage far better than other classes.
What are typical skills? Sentinels can still deal some damage with their shields and stun opponents. Additionally, they can use abilities that make opponents more vulnerable as long as they are focused on the Sentinel.
Seer – Healer and supporter
What is it? The Seer is a support class that provides healing and revival for the team. They can also hinder opponents. The Seer belongs to the goddess Idunn, who guards the magical apples from which the other gods draw their immortality.
What play styles does it support? If you like to support your comrades with healing and revives, then the Seer is your preferred class. Especially in fights for the seedling or against bosses, Seers are well-regarded team members due to their healing.
What are typical skills? Seers can heal their friends, but they can also entangle opponents with the roots of the world tree and stop them. Additionally, Seers cannot be interrupted, and with certain skills, they become immune to cold and heat.
Berserker – Explosive damage dealer
What is it? This class specializes in massive damage in melee combat. Berserkers are trained by Thrudr. This is none other than Thor’s powerful daughter, and her name means “strength”.
What play styles does it support? This class is ideal if you want to deal massive melee damage. Rush into the fray and swing until all opponents are dead or you drop. So make sure you have a tank or healer with you if possible.
What are typical skills? Berserkers can fill a gauge called “Fury” in combat. When it is full, their rage literally explodes and damages everyone around the Berserker. Additionally, they can stun opponents.
Hunter – Cunning tricksters
What is it? Hunters are trickster heroes who confuse opponents and attack unexpectedly. They serve the goddess Skadi, who invented skiing among other things.
What play styles does it support? This class is likely to appeal to fans of rogue classes from other MMOs. So if you enjoy confusing your opponents and attacking unexpectedly, you’re in the right place.
What are typical skills? Hunters can set up a totem that allows them to resurrect on death. Additionally, you can create illusions and distract and mislead your opponents.
Guardian – Offensive tank
What is it? The Guardian is another tank class in Tribes of Midgard. He can taunt and bind opponents to himself, but also possesses offensive skills. Guardians are disciples of the god Forseti, the son of Baldur.
What play styles does it support? Here, it appears to be a tank that binds opponents to itself by taunting and humiliating them. In this way, they draw enemies to themselves and away from vulnerable targets.
What are typical skills? In addition to their taunt skills, Guardians can also block damage and ultimately release a breath of ice that hinders and harms enemies.
Warden – Helpful crafting hero
What is it? The Warden is a hero known for crafting and support. His patron is Hermodr, a god known for long messenger journeys.
What play styles does it support? If you enjoy crafting things and supporting your team, this class will provide a lot of fun. The Warden is especially good at fortifying the base and providing raid teams with much-needed buff items.
What are typical skills? The Warden can craft items with fewer resources. Additionally, he can teleport to and from the village and build special structures anywhere in the game world. Also cool: The Warden has an additional rune slot free, which is ideal for optimizers and tinkerers.
These are the current eight classes from Tribes of Midgard. However, since the game will be a live-service game, more classes may come to the game.
Tribes of Midgard will be released on July 27, 2021. If you want to get started with another Viking survival game beforehand, check out the game Valheim. It offers you, among other things, a huge world to explore.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria has always managed to attract attention in the past. Once again, the online role-playing game is making waves due to recent decisions made by the developers. Now, even the game’s subreddit has had to be closed.
What is Chronicles of Elyria? Chronicles of Elyria is a Kickstarter MMORPG that sparked great hopes but could not fulfill them.
However, some time after the successful Kickstarter campaign of Chronicles of Elyria, all employees of the studio were laid off. They were unable to find a publisher, and the developers ran out of money. Many players wanted their money back and even took legal action.
What happened now? The developers of Chronicles of Elyria changed the non-disclosure agreements (“NDA”) for one of the alpha phases of the game. This change seemed to want to prohibit legal action against the developers.
Such clauses are indeed not uncommon in alpha NDAs (via massivelyop.com), but they could particularly limit the players who are already in an ongoing court case with the developers.
What is an NDA? It stands for Non-Disclosure Agreement, which is a confidentiality agreement. It is common to set up NDAs when you are allowed to see and play things that are not yet intended for the public.
Following criticism from the community, the developer changed the NDA again and now emphasizes that the contract only applies to the alpha test and does not include any other services or projects of the developer.
At the same time, the developer presents a way to compensate dissatisfied players in a unique way: with a crypto exchange. If players have already purchased land, titles, or items in the game, they will now receive certificates for them.
These certificates can be bought, sold, and traded in various cryptocurrencies. The developer believes that this way, disappointed players can get rid of their items, and players who are still looking forward to the release have a chance to obtain those items again.
When Chronicles of Elyria is released, players can exchange their certificate with the developer and receive the promised items. This should eliminate any ambiguity about who owns what. The step is intended to appease the community.
What do the backers say? The supporters of Chronicles of Elyria reacted negatively to the announcements. The mood in the community was not good beforehand. Many believe that the game will never come out anyway.
There is even an entire subreddit that solely deals with whether the game was ever planned or if it was all just a ruse to make a lot of money (via reddit.com).
CoE in the announcement 2016
Screenshot from the alpha 2017
The announcement and the first playable version were worlds apart.
The reactions were so harsh that the official subreddit for the game is currently closed. In addition to countless hate comments, there were also concrete threats of violence and even death threats found there. The moderators felt compelled to completely shut down the subreddit.
However, this does not stop players from expressing their opinions. Some suspect a structural approach to silence the community. The user naturemage writes (via reddit.com): “Have you looked at the official forums? The only posts by players are from mid-2020. Everything afterward was only official announcements, completely without comments. […] They are shutting down every opportunity to talk about the game.”
The user SaeRain agrees and prompts readers to think: “They must have known how this looks and that it triggers terrible PR. It can only be about wanting to protect themselves legally.”
Not the first time problems with Chronicles of Elyria
What has happened so far? A brief recap of what has happened so far:
The developer later stated that the money was only for a playable demo, and they wanted to find a publisher for further funding. However, this plan was not originally communicated.
The release date was said to be December 2017. The Kickstarter thus stated that a huge MMORPG could be made in two years for $900,000.
Relatively early on, it was stated that Chronicles of Elyria would be delayed. A roadmap promised the release for 2019, but the game did not come out then either.
After the Kickstarter campaign, the game continued to be funded through crowdfunding. At this point, players still did not know that the studio was actually trying to win over a publisher. The developer allowed people to continue believing that the entire cost was covered.
The developer then began selling land plots in the game, demanding up to $1,350 for them.
Five days after the first alpha, the developers announced that they had run out of money and were looking for a publisher. The game was far from finished.
In the video above, the YouTuber TheLazyPeon explains the whole mess surrounding the game. If you want to know more details about all the problems of the title, you can watch this video.
What do you think of Chronicles of Elyria? Have you invested money in the game yourself? Let us know in the comments!
The German company Gameforge has made a strong sales start with the new MMORPG Swords of Legends Online, selling 200,000 units in the first week. The publisher is celebrating the success of the game and assures that the online role-playing game will continue to be developed strongly. Initial problems caused by the influx of players have been resolved. On Steam, the player count currently stands at around 10,000.
How did the launch of Swords of Legends Online go?
Normally, new MMORPGs launch terribly: there are long waiting times and server issues. Especially on the first weekends, when particularly many players log in, often nothing works. The MMORPG Swords of Legends Online has largely been spared from such problems: The launch went smoothly in Europe, while there were minor issues in the USA.
On Steam, the MMORPG peaked at 18,701 players – an average of 10,040 people played Swords of Legends Online. The Steam reviews are at 76%, placing it in the upper middle range.
The publisher Gameforge is pleased with 200,000 units sold in the first days after the launch on July 9.
What does Gameforge say: In an interview with the US site MMORPG.com, Gameforge expresses extreme satisfaction with the first days of Swords of Legends Online.
“We are very grateful for the great reception we have received from the media, players, and content creators. We will continue to work hard with all partners like Microsoft to provide players with a great gaming experience.”
Server issues in the USA have been resolved with Microsoft
What’s going on with Microsoft? While the launch in Europe went smoothly, there were some problems on the West Coast of the USA and in Oceania. Players there experienced high ping issues.
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200,000 units sold of the MMORPG Swords of Legends Online
So many games have been sold already: Gameforge says that the success of Swords of Legends Online has remained strong over the weekend. They have now sold 200,000 units of Swords of Legends Online.
Are new servers planned for Swords of Legends Online? Even though the game continues to grow, Gameforge believes that no new servers are needed. The existing ones can handle the load, and new ones would not have solved the weekend’s problems. After all, they ran smoothly in Europe.
Swords of Legends Online 10 times larger on Steam than Astellia
What’s behind this: In relation, the Steam launch of Swords of Legends Online is extremely large for “Gameforge” standards.
These numbers show that there is a high demand for new MMORPGs that offer PVE and have appealing visuals. Even though Swords of Legends Online is still missing the big hype, it seems to have at least moved into a higher category than “totally niche games”.
While SOLO still does not compare to top MMORPGs on Steam like Final Fantasy XIV (31,000 players), Black Desert Online (22,000), or The Elder Scrolls Online (20,000 players), it is at least in the same league.
However, the Steam numbers are not a perfect comparison: the games often have other launchers or even console versions. Swords of Legends Online is available on Steam, Epic Game Store, and its own launcher.
If you’re interested in diving into the new MMORPG Swords of Legends Online, we have an article for you:
Ubisoft has teased a new shooter that is set to be revealed this evening. To warm up, there are some gameplay snippets scattered across the internet. The individual clips show scenes that strongly resemble Call of Duty – only with significant influences from The Division.
This is the situation:
Ubisoft has released a teaser for a new shooter set in a “Tom Clancy” universe (via Twitter.com).
The universe includes well-known series like The Division, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell.
The game will be revealed at 20:00 German time on July 19.
Initial gameplay suggests a PvP shooter in the style of CoD.
What kind of shooter is this? So far, Ubisoft has only revealed that a new “Tom Clancy” title is set to be unveiled this evening at 20:00. It is said to be a “brand new” title.
Although Ubisoft has not said anything further about the game, some content creators and journalists have apparently already received gameplay scenes in advance, which they have now been allowed to publish.
This is the gameplay: The clips all last between 10 and 25 seconds and show various content. In at least two scenes, a player can be seen apparently facing off against other players – so it seems to be a PvP title.
The PvP clips showcase various maps as well as abilities, gadgets, and weapons:
the operators in the clips use shields or make themselves invisible
grenades and proximity mines are also employed
the weapons have various attachments that somewhat resemble Rainbow Six Siege
at the bottom of the screen, there are various icons that apparently stand for abilities – one of them seems to be an ultimate
here you can find a gameplay clip from YouTuber TmarTn (via Twitter.com)
here you can find a gameplay clip from content creator Ryan B. (via Twitter.com)
The clip from IGN has gathered the most clicks with over a million views. There is a close resemblance of the new game to The Division. Both assets like the yellow tarps and sounds will likely be familiar to Division players:
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Even before E3 2021, there was a leak about a new shooter under the name “Battlecat”, where Splinter Cell, Division, and Ghost Recon clash. It is said to be a team-based PvP shooter – potentially, this leak pertains to this very title.
Fans demand a new Splinter Cell
Among many of the clips on Twitter and Ubisoft’s own announcement, comments keep popping up demanding a new Splinter Cell. The stealth shooter featuring agent Sam Fisher has been popular for many years.
The last installment of the series, Blacklist, was released in 2013, which was eight years ago. Fans of the series are yearning for new content. Twitter user Abdo A. for example writes: “I don’t care, announce a new Splinter Cell or spare us the excitement” (via Twitter.com).
However, the first gameplay scenes suggest that this is not about Splinter Cell or at least not necessarily classic gameplay with Sam Fisher. If this series is part of the new game, then presumably more in the form of a joint spin-off with other series.
When exactly the new game is set to be released is also not yet known. Recently, Ubisoft had to postpone some important titles multiple times, causing them to be released several months or even years after the original release date:
In Final Fantasy 14, players currently may not be able to see their characters upon logging in. The message “Character data could not be loaded” is displayed, but there is no need to worry.
What’s happening right now in FF14: In recent weeks, the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV has been inundated with new players. It is recording a new peak of players every week on Steam and even briefly surpassed Destiny 2 on Steam and landed in the top 10.
However, the consequence is that the game’s servers are struggling to cope with the influx. Especially in the evenings, long queues occur and players receive an error message upon logging in: “Character data could not be loaded.”
The error message and empty login window have startled some new players.
Experienced FFXIV veterans will be familiar with this error. It has occurred frequently when, for example, a new expansion was released or after server crashes. New players don’t need to worry if they encounter such a login window. Your character has not disappeared, and you do not need to contact FFXIV support because of this.
What you can do: Due to the high influx, the servers are simply having trouble displaying your character on the login screen. If you receive the error message, just click your character’s name in the upper right corner, and you will enter the queue.
Once it’s your turn, you will enter the game with all your belongings. However, be prepared for longer waiting times.
Server status red – Character creation not possible
Why can’t I create a character? The high influx of players in FFXIV has also meant that new players wanting to start with the MMORPG cannot create characters. Especially during the evening hours, when many players are online, the servers tend to close down.
This is not a permanent condition. If you have chosen a server that is currently closed, you can wait until there are fewer players online. Character creation is usually possible again in the earlier morning hours.
As of July 19, 2021, at 12:21 PM, character creation is not possible on servers Lich, Odin, Spriggan, and Louisoix. However, this situation will not last.
Only when a server is displayed as “full” in the overview can no new characters be created there permanently. Currently, this is not the case on any European server, but it could change at any time due to the high influx of players.
On the official site, you can check the current server status and see which servers are open for character creation.
Why is there so much happening in FFXIV right now? In recent weeks, several major streamers have jumped into the MMORPG from Square Enix and brought their large communities with them into the game. This includes particularly the WoW streamer Asmongold, who is currently raging through FF14’s raids, as well as his colleagues RichWCampbell and AnnieFuchsia. This has led to a flood of newcomers who are now exploring the MMORPG.
At the same time, there have likely also been many players dusting off and reactivating their inactive accounts. Perhaps to prepare for the release of the Endwalker expansion. This comes from an unofficial census conducted by the player LuckyBancho. According to the estimate, about 250,000 active paying players have joined FFXIV since April 2021. Complete newcomers and players on the free trial version were not counted.
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The Japanese player Lucky Bancho (via Lodestone) is known in the FFXIV community for his statistics. Based on the character data from the official Lodestone page, he regularly creates census statistics that record how many players reached certain milestones within the game. For example, how many level 80 characters there are or how many of them have reached the latest patch.
The numbers from LuckyBancho are an estimate and thus neither 100% accurate nor official. However, they can serve as a rough guideline and show a trend.
How about you? Are you one of the players who decided to give FFXIV a chance? Or are you one of the returnees who want to quickly level up and gather gear before Endwalker? Or perhaps none of the above?
Let us know in the comments and tell us what you think of the current FFXIV hype.
Publisher Take-Two has deleted some of the most popular mods for GTA titles like GTA Vice City and San Andreas in recent days – apparently due to copyright issues.
What is going on? There has been unrest in the GTA modding community in recent days. Take-Two forced the creators of popular mods to delete their work.
What’s so special about this? Usually, such actions are only known from newer titles like GTA 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2. But now it seems that Take-Two has also decided to take a closer look at older titles.
This is probably the reason: Currently, there are two theories regarding the possible reasons behind the deletions. One relates to the DMCA law in the USA, the other speculates about possible remakes.
Rule change makes almost all mods “illegal”
This could be behind it: A theory among some players is that Rockstar might be working on remakes of GTA III, San Andreas, and Vice City. However, the other theory is considered more likely.
Modder Ash_735 tried to reach out directly to the publisher to find out the reason for the action. He did not receive a direct response, but a DMCA warning followed.
What does DMCA mean? DMCA or the “Digital Millennium Copyright”, is a copyright law in the USA. If a website or platform shows or offers content that violates copyright, they can be exempted from punishment under DMCA, provided they remove it immediately once the author points this out.
In the meantime, Take-Two almost wanted to completely ban modding of GTA titles, but the outcry from the community was able to prevent this. Subsequently, clear rules for modding in GTA were presented in 2017:
Why are there problems again? In June 2019, however, Rockstar made changes to the rules again without significantly communicating it (via rockstargames.com). For example, it was no longer allowed to incorporate assets from other games, including other Rockstar titles.
Also, new games, stories, missions, or maps are now banned. This made numerous mods, if not nearly all, “illegal” as well. Why Take-Two is only now enforcing this rule, two years later, remains open.
Popular mods for GTA San Andreas and Vice City affected – End of GTA mods?
Which mods have been affected so far? So far, the deletions include 5 mods for San Andreas and Vice City. The oldest affected mod is already 16 years old. It is the “Liberty City Mod”. It has been around since 2005 and brought the city from GTA 4 to the old GTA title Vice City.
Another victim of the action was the mod “Liberty City Stories”, released in 2008, which inserted the namesake PSP game from 2005 as a mod into GTA San Andreas.
Ash_735 has summarized the events and affected mods in a forum post on the official GTA forum. Here are some examples:
How are the players reacting? Take-Two’s action is causing quite a frustration among fans. Some fear that the end of modding for Rockstar games may have begun:
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User Silent fears on Twitter: “Rockstar and Take-Two have decided they no longer need modding and are gradually phasing it out. No one knows how far they will go.”
The community manager of the modding site ModDB is also disappointed: “I just want to say that we can’t do much now but comply with the DMCA, but as a modder of various games who has delivered several mods in his time, this has made me sad as well.” (via Twitter)
The modders are receiving much support from numerous players. Whether this helps remains to be seen. So far, Rockstar or Take-Two have not commented on the matter.
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
