CoD Warzone: Expert shows strong setup of the “Cold War” MP5 that even destroys vehicles

Maik Schneider Maik Schneider Reading time 3 minutes

The special properties of the “Cold War” MP5 in Call of Duty: Warzone allow the submachine gun to have a unique setup that reliably clears enemies and vehicles out of the way. MeinMMO presents the setup and provides information about the weapon.

Update January 3, 2022: We have reviewed the setup option in the article and can still recommend the attachment combination.

The MP5 from Cold War does not shine in Call of Duty: Warzone with range, but stands at the top when it comes to damage of automatic weapons. This makes it particularly interesting for players who are looking for a pure close-range weapon but are reluctant to resort to shotguns.

However, the “Cold War” MP5 can provide you with an additional advantage besides outstanding damage – easy vehicle kills. The YouTuber and CoD expert “TheXclusiveAce” shows a suitable setup for that, and MeinMMO explains why you should definitely give the attachment combination a chance.

CoD Warzone: MP5 from Cold War – Setup with Vehicle Damage

What does the setup look like? As with almost all Warzone setups, you grab one of the strong silencers, a larger magazine, and an underbarrel for better control. The special thing about the setup is the barrel.

cod warzone mp5 aus cold war vehicle damage setup
  • Muzzle (1): Agency Muzzle Brake
  • Muzzle (2): Silencer
  • Barrel: 10.1″ Ulan
  • Laser: SWAT 5mw Laser Sight
  • Underbarrel: Field Agent Grip
  • Ammo: STANAG 50-Round Drum

With the Ulan barrel, you deal significantly more damage to vehicles. A buggy only needs about 25 shots and flies into the air – so you just have to shoot at the unstable vehicle for about 1.6 seconds and it explodes. The larger Rover takes a bit longer, but with the 50-round drum, you can also take out the family car with one magazine. A truck is in the red zone after the 50 shots. The weapon’s range hardly plays a role – you just need to land the hits.

We embed the English video from “TheXclusiveAce”. It starts at the point where Ace demonstrates the damage effect on vehicles (timestamp 6:55 minutes):

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Why does this work so well for the MP5? The MP5 from Cold War is a pure close-range machine and eliminates enemies with chest shots in the first damage range in just 491 milliseconds. This close-combat focus allows for more freedom with the barrel attachments. Normally, we would rather recommend an increase in range or at least bullet speed, but with the MP5 from Cold War, the case is different.

Due to the very low base range of 9 meters, you can hardly increase the range because the bonuses are calculated proportionally. 10% more range is only 90 centimeters. Through the close-combat focus, you can also neglect bullet speed. At the short distances where the MP5 from Cold War excels, the low base value of 350 meters/second is more than sufficient.

Since neither range nor bullet speed bonuses are worth it, you can opt for the vehicle damage barrel without major disadvantages.

What else can I try with the setup? With the silencers, you should decide between the Agency Suppressor and the “Silencer.” The Agency Suppressor gives you some bullet speed and range but slightly hinders your aim down sights time. The “Silencer” improves your mobility but reduces the already low range to just over 7.50 meters.

The laser sight improves your hipfire and is not necessarily needed. Opt for the Tiger Team Spotlight or take a stock attachment if you prefer more mobility for your MP5 from Cold War.

More about Call of Duty:

You should play the vehicle damage MP5 together with a range assault rifle. In close quarters and at very short distances, there is no better submachine gun in Warzone. While there are a few weapons that can keep up with the damage, they come with very small magazines.

With the MP5 from Cold War, you have a pleasant 50 shots and even an effective means against vehicles that is not affected by trophy systems.

As the exact opposite of the MP5 from Cold War, one could call the Milano 821. The Milano has been at the top in Warzone since a buff with Season 4 and is strong at almost all distances.

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

5 Football Stars Who Will No Longer Receive New Cards in FIFA 22

Julian Schröder Julian Schröder Reading time 3 minutes

At some point, it is time to hang up the soccer shoes. We show you well-known soccer players who are ending their careers this year and thus will no longer be in FIFA 22.

Every year, soccer players end their careers and can look back on successful years. FIFA 21 is also slowly coming to an end, and we take a look at the players we probably won’t see in the new FIFA installment.

Lars and Sven Bender

This is Lars Bender: Lars Bender played for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga for 12 years and completed 256 games during this time. Unfortunately, however, the former national player lacks major titles in his collection.

This is Sven Bender: Before ending up at Leverkusen like his brother, Sven Bender spent a long time at Borussia Dortmund, where he was an important part of the championship teams of 2011 and 2012. He also reached the cup final with Dortmund and won the DFB-Pokal in 2012 and 2017.

Now the Bender twins are ending their careers together at Bayer Leverkusen and will thus be missing in the next FIFA installment. As a farewell, they received some really strong cards in FIFA 21.

Sami Khedira

This is Sami Khedira: The German World Champion of 2014 played for half a year at Hertha BSC Berlin before finally ending his career this summer. The midfielder played at VfB Stuttgart, Real Madrid, and Juventus Turin during his career and can boast several titles.

In FIFA 21, Khedira received a strong flashback card with an 86 rating. His gold card could only boast a rating of 81.

Wayne Rooney

This is Wayne Rooney: The English legend played proudly for 13 years at Manchester United before ending up at Derby County in the 2nd English league after a detour via MLS (USA). There, he worked as a player-coach in the last season and still played himself. However, the former top striker has now finally given up professional football. That’s a shame because cards like the 93 special card in FUT 21 will unfortunately no longer exist.

Lukasz Piszczek

This is Lukasz Piszczek: The Polish right-back played for Borussia Dortmund for 11 years and was able to collect several titles and become a club legend during this time. In 2021, Piszczek said goodbye to professional football with the DFB-Pokal victory and moved to LKS Goczałkowice-Zdrój, where he now plays amateur football.

There was also a really strong card for Lukasz Piszczek in FUT 21.

In the long run, it is certainly possible that some of these players will return to FIFA – namely as an icon card. In FIFA 22, there are also some candidates who could receive an icon card. Here are our icon wishes:

7 football legends that must return as icons in FIFA 22

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

After 7 years, Hearthstone finally gets real shadow priests

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 4 minutes

The new expansion “United in Stormwind” brings Hearthstone fans a wish fulfilled. Real Shadow Priests.

Shadow Priests are one of the most iconic specializations from World of Warcraft. Not only have the “face-melters” often been feared, but they also had a very specific reputation: never using Holy spells, even if it would save their own group.

Exactly this concept is now also adopted in Hearthstone with the new expansion “United in Stormwind”.

What kind of expansion is this? The upcoming addon “United in Stormwind” is clearly aimed at Alliance players, after “Forged in the Barrens” was intended to appeal more to Horde fans. At the center of it is the great city of Stormwind, where all the Alliance races meet, plan adventures, spend drinking evenings at the tavern, or hold a little dance on the mailbox – simply because it’s tradition.

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What Shadow Priest will be coming? They can look forward to a very special card. Because Shadow Bishop Benedictus will be a new, legendary Priest card. The minion for 5 Mana with the stats of 5/6 has the additional effect: “Start of Game: Take Shadow Form if all spells in your deck are Shadow spells.”

Hearthstone Stormwind Shadow Bishop Benedictus

Thus, the Priest is already capable of dealing 2 damage with his Hero Power from the very first turn. This, of course, comes at the expense of Holy spells, which can no longer be played in the deck, leading to drastically reduced healing options.

Benedictus is likely to usher in a new, aggressive Priest archetype.

What else is in United in Stormwind?

As usual, a whole lot. After all, there are expected to be 135 new cards, along with a series of new features. The most important ones include:

New keyword “Tradeable”: A new, interesting keyword that can appear on some cards. Cards with this keyword can be shuffled back into your deck from your hand. You pay 1 Mana and exchange the card for another, random card in your deck. This way you can replace a apparently bad hand with a good one without relying on many card draw mechanics.

Quest Lines: Also new are Quest lines. They work basically like regular Quests but consist of a total of 3 steps. Upon completing each step, you receive a reward that gets increasingly powerful. If you manage to complete the 3rd part of a Quest, then a powerful legendary minion awaits you at the end.

First cards from “United in Stormwind”

Along with the announcement, a first wave of cards was also presented. You can check out the first samples here:

When will United in Stormwind be released? The new expansion celebrates its worldwide release on August 3, 2021. So you still have a month until the new cards appear in the game.

What do you think of the new expansion? A cool concept with interesting new mechanics? Or is it just more of the already known and uninspired? Let us know your opinion in the comments!

Hearthstone urgently needs new cards – because currently even professional games end after turn 3, leaving commentators astonished.

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

YouTuber builds silent gaming PC with magnetic cooling, without fans – Works like a lung

Benedikt Schlotmann Benedikt Schlotmann Reading time 3 minutes

A YouTuber has built a gaming PC with an “RTX 3080” graphics card. What’s special about the PC is not its huge size, but the fascinating magnetic cooling that he used inside the PC. Because it is hardly audible. And the YouTuber continues to work on it.

The YouTuber “DIY Perks” regularly showcases crazy products on his YouTube channel that he develops and builds himself. DIY stands for “Do it yourself” and means that you do everything yourself.

What has he built now? “DIY Perks has now built a huge gaming PC with RTX 3080 and Ryzen 9 5950X, which is almost as big as the YouTuber himself.

But the specialty is not in the hardware used, but in the design of the cooling. The YouTuber himself calls his device the “world’s first breathing gaming PC.”

Gaming PC “breathes” thanks to magnetic mechanism

How exactly is the PC built? The gaming PC itself occupies only the upper third of the entire device. Here the YouTuber has installed the gaming hardware with water cooling and radiator at the top.

The remaining two thirds are used by the mechanical cooling, which he presents in detail in the video. You can watch the full video here:

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The official video from DIY Perks on YouTube.com

This is how the mechanism works:

  • In a rectangular box, a glass plate stands vertically. The glass plate is pushed back and forth by magnets from left to right and back again.
  • In this way, the air is pushed out of the lower chamber and directed to the computer hardware. Here, the radiator responsible for water cooling is cooled. At the same time, the warm air is expelled on the other side.

The entire system is whisper-quiet. You cannot hear any noise or hum, but only see how the parts of the ventilation move. However, parts like the power supply are audible.

Here the YouTuber has already explained that he wants to swap more parts for magnets and later perform another noise test.

Does the cooling even work? An important test is whether the cooling not only looks good but also actually does its job of cooling the hardware.

For this, the YouTuber runs the Prime95 program on the computer. Prime95 conducts a computer stress test as a benchmark or calculates Mersenne prime numbers to put strain on the processor.

In the test, the YouTuber finds that the cooling actually works as it should. The processor reaches temperatures of around 60 degrees, and the graphics card hits 62 degrees. For such high-performance components, these are indeed very good values according to the YouTuber.

Good cooling is extremely important for your computer

For most of you, it might not be easy to replicate such a cooling system. Nevertheless, you should not underestimate proper cooling of your computer:

  • At high heat, the CPU reduces its operating speed (clock), which is referred to in technical terms as “Thermal Throttling.” This saves power but also decreases performance.
  • Poorly cooled hardware or hardware exposed to significant temperature fluctuations wears out faster and fails more often.

If you have good cooling, then performance does not decrease, and you can even get a bit more out of your hardware with overclocking programs. Comprehensive tips on how to properly cool your gaming PC can be found here on MeinMMO. In our article, we explain to you, how to properly cool your gaming PC and what to pay attention to

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

Pokémon GO: Field research in July 2021 – Which ones are worth it?

Franzi Korittke Franzi Korittke Reading time 4 minutes

For July 2021, there are changed field research tasks in Pokémon GO. We at MeinMMO have summarized the tasks for you and show you which are worth completing.

What’s new? In connection with the start of the month, Niantic often introduces new field research tasks or changes the rewards for certain tasks. You can receive these field research tasks by spinning the PokéStop.

All Field Research for July 2021

With the help of Leekduck’s overview, we have summarized the tasks for the month of July for you (via Leekduck/reddit). All Pokémon marked with a (*) can also be caught in their shiny variant with a bit of luck.

The field research tasks can be divided into several categories. These range from catching to throwing skills to battling in raids or the battle league. Your buddy and friends will also be involved in some tasks.

So there should be a suitable task for every trainer. For better clarity, we have listed the individual field research tasks in their respective categories.

Field Research Tasks Involving Catching

These tasks focus on catching a certain number or type of Pokémon. For the rewards, you will likely encounter less spectacular Pokémon, such as Jigglypuff. However, Dratini is interesting, as you can evolve it into Dragonite, a strong attacker.

  • Catch 5 Pokémon
    • Encounter with Jigglypuff*
  • Catch 7 Pokémon
    • Encounter with Magikarp*
  • Catch one Dragon-type Pokémon
    • Encounter with Dratini* or Bagon*
  • Catch 5 different species of Pokémon
    • Encounter with Wooper
  • Catch 5 Pokémon with weather boost
    • Encounter with Vulpix*, Swinub*, Hippopotas* or Snorunt*
  • Use 3 Razz Berries while catching Pokémon
    • Encounter with Pidove*

Field Research Tasks Involving Throwing

In the throwing category, you must demonstrate your skill. You need to hit your Pokémon particularly well when catching them to complete the tasks. Sometimes, you also need to achieve several great or excellent throws in a row.

Notably, the rewards in this category include Lileep and Anorith. These are needed for certain special research tasks. Another highlight is Pandir. In this month, it has color number 6. This Pokémon is currently not available outside of field research, so you should take the chance.

Kaumalat is usually considered one of the rare Pokémon in the game. Many trainers caught this Pokémon during the Community Day in June. Those who missed this day or are still looking for a strong Kaumalat have the opportunity to encounter it in field research.

  • Land 5 good throws
    • Encounter with Dunsparce*
  • Land 3 great throws
    • Encounter with Snubbull*, Lileep* or Anorith*
  • Land 3 great throws in a row
    • Encounter with Onix*
  • Land 5 great curveball throws in a row
    • Encounter with Pandir* (Number 6)
  • Land 3 excellent throws in a row
    • Encounter with Kaumalat*

Field Research Tasks Involving Battles

In the battle-related tasks, you must prove your skills in raid battles, the battle league, or against Team GO Rocket. An interesting reward is the Pokémon Machop. This can be evolved into Machamp, one of the strongest fighting Pokémon in the game. However, Amonitas and Kabuto are also worth it, as these Pokémon are quite rare in the wild.

  • Defeat a Team GO Rocket Boss
    • Encounter with Absol*
  • Battle in the GO Battle League
    • Encounter with Machop
  • Win a raid in under 60 seconds
    • Encounter with Alolan Exeggutor*
  • Win a level 3 raid or higher
    • Encounter with Amonitas* or Kabuto*
  • Win 5 raids
    • Encounter with Aerodactyl*

Field Research Tasks Involving Buddy/Friends

In this category, your friends and your buddy Pokémon are involved in task completion. You can encounter these Pokémon as a reward:

  • Earn 5 hearts with your buddy
    • Encounter with Snubbull
  • Earn 2 candies while walking with your buddy
    • Encounter with Swinub*
  • Earn 3 candies while walking with your buddy
    • Encounter with Flareon
  • Earn 5 candies while walking with your buddy
    • Encounter with Skorgla*
  • Send 3 gifts to friends
    • Encounter with Metapod or Kakuna
  • Trade one Pokémon
    • Encounter with Wurmple*

More Field Research Tasks

This category summarizes various tasks, ranging from evolving a Pokémon, hatching eggs, to spinning PokéStops. In the rewards, you will encounter many starter Pokémon.

Especially interesting for you will be Tanhel, whose evolution belongs to the best attackers in Pokémon GO. You will also encounter Eevee. It is also worth catching a strong one of this Pokémon, which you can evolve into one of the many variants. How to evolve Eevee, we have summarized for you.

  • Hatch an egg
    • Encounter with Mantyke
  • Hatch 2 eggs
    • Encounter with Tanhel* or Budew
  • Evolve a Pokémon
    • Encounter with Eevee*
  • Use 3 power-ups on Pokémon
    • Encounter with Bulbasaur*, Charmander* or Squirtle*
  • Use 5 power-ups on Pokémon
    • Encounter with Chikorita*, Cyndaquil* or Totodile*
  • Use 7 power-ups on Pokémon
    • Encounter with Treecko*, Torchic* or Mudkip*
  • Spin 3 PokéStops or gyms
    • Encounter with Chespin*
  • Spin 5 PokéStops or gyms
    • Encounter with Swablu* or Slakoth
  • Take a snapshot of a wild Pokémon
    • Encounter with Bidoof*, Yanma* or Honchkrow*
  • Take 5 snapshots of a wild Normal-type Pokémon
    • Encounter with Bidoof*

Field Research Breakthrough in July 2021

With the start of July, not only did the field research tasks change. There are also new rewards for the field research breakthrough. If you complete a field research task for 7 days, your research breakthrough will be unlocked, and you can collect the reward.

In July, you will encounter the Pokémon Darumaka in the research breakthrough and also receive a remote raid pass. We have summarized everything you need to know about the new research breakthrough for you.

If you are more interested in Pokémon GO you might also find this appealing:

What do you think of the field research tasks for the month of July? Which do you think is the most worthwhile? Feel free to discuss this topic with other trainers in the comments at MeinMMO!

In the coming weeks, more interesting events are awaiting you. We have taken a look at the upcoming July events 2021 and summarized all the important information for you.

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

Fortnite: FaZe suspends 4 YouTube millionaires for peddling a bad crypto coin to fans

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 4 minutes

The huge gaming clan FaZe has fired its member FaZe Kay. Moreover, FaZe Jarvis, known for Fortnite , has been suspended. Two more members of the FaZe clan with millions of followers on YouTube have also been suspended: Nikan and Teeqo. All 4 had advertised the cryptocurrency “Save The Kids”, which quickly lost value. They were accused of promoting a “Pump and Dump” scam.

This is the situation:

  • The FaZe clan is by far the largest esports clan in the world in terms of social media followers. On Twitter alone, FaZe has 5.5 million followers. The clan has repeatedly been involved in dubious dealings: it is alleged that clan leader Banks operated a CS:GO gambling website out of Antigua.
  • 4 members of the FaZe clan promoted the cryptocurrency “Save The Kids” in early June. YouTuber SomeOrdinaryGamer accused them of encouraging their mostly young fans to invest in this crypto coin, even though it was actually a “Pump and Dump” scam. The influencers used their influence to knowingly or unknowingly promote a scam: as a result, people who trusted them lost a lot of money.
  • Now FaZe has responded to the shitstorm. FaZe Kaye has been fired. The other three are suspended indefinitely. FaZe distances itself from the behavior of its members.

“Ambassadors for Cryptocurrency”

This is what happened: In early June, some members of the FaZe clan acted as “ambassadors” for the cryptocurrency “Save The Kids”. They advertised on Twitter and in promo videos for the coin.

They promoted the launch, saying how excited they were for the currency’s launch and encouraging fans to get involved.

The members primarily emphasized what a great cause the coin was. A tiny portion of the revenue from “Save The Kids” was supposed to be used for charitable, child-friendly purposes.

When the coin launched, it briefly gained value but fell drastically after a few days, dropping below the entry value and staying down. Those who followed the advertising from the FaZe members lost a large portion of their money.

This is how the value of “Save The Kids” evolved – At the launch of the coin, the value skyrocketed (Pump); but rapidly fell (Dump) and stayed down. Source: coinmarketcap

Afterwards, allegations arose that the coin was a “Pump and Dump” scam:

  • Insiders bought large amounts of the currency cheaply before the coin launched
  • then advertised for the coin or commissioned advertisements
  • and offloaded their massive amounts for a high price when the coin was at a peak value

This way, the few insiders made a high profit, while unknowing buyers were left at a loss.

More on the topic
E-Sports clan celebrates a grand party despite Corona – This outrages some
von Schuhmann

4 influencers with a total of 14 million subscribers on YouTube

These are the FaZe members in question:

  • FaZe Kaye has been with the clan since 2013. He has over 6 million subscribers on YouTube. His most successful videos are about challengers in Fortnite, where kids play for a lot of money. He also has typical influencer videos on his channel revolving around other YouTube content and amounts of money.
Fortnite-Faze-Kaye
FaZe Kaye also appeared in a video for “Save The Kids”.
  • FaZe Jarvis is Kaye’s younger brother. He has over 4 million subscribers on YouTube. Jarvis became famous as the first major content creator banned permanently by Fortnite. He had used an aim bot.
  • FaZe Teeq has 2.4 million subscribers. His content consists of the typical patterns of “Money, Influencers, Crazy Challenges” such as “I’m Unboxing My New $6000 PC” or “I Baked the Most Expensive Pizza in the World”; he also posts videos about Among Us.
  • FaZe Nikan has 1.4 million subscribers. His videos show him eating large amounts of fast food.
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FaZe Nikan was excited about the launch of the coin. He surely regrets that now.

FaZe distances itself from Crypto actions: “The trust of the fans is the highest good”

This is what FaZe says: FaZe states that they made the decision to fire Kaye. Jarvis, Teeq, and Nikan will be suspended.

They claim: They had no involvement in what the members did in the “cryptospace” and would not endorse that.

The trust and respect of the fans are the highest good.

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What’s noteworthy: Of the 4 members being banned now, only FaZe Kaye commented on “Save The Kids” after the coin flopped. The other members made no statement. Nikan still has the tweets from early June where he promoted the coin.

Kaye apologized to the fans. He stated that there was no malicious intent behind his promotion of the coin. He is still new to the crypto business and makes mistakes.

However, fans accused him of having “sold them out for money”. It is assumed that the influencers were likely paid handsomely for their services as “ambassadors”.

In any case, they likely should have scrutinized more carefully what they were so proud to promote.

Anyone wanting to know more about the case and the exact details of how a “Pump and Dump” works to protect themselves: MeinMMO has reported extensively about the case.

Fortnite stars allegedly sold their fans a lousy cryptocurrency – “We lost $50,000”

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

WoW: BC Classic brings huge change to PvP and the Alliance cries

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

Blizzard is experimenting with changes to the PvP battlegrounds in Burning Crusade Classic. Soon you will be able to beat your own faction.

Even though the launch of WoW: Burning Crusade Classic was a few weeks ago and went mostly smoothly, problems have emerged in hindsight. The imbalance of player distribution among factions has drastically increased on some realms. Long waiting times in PvP battlegrounds are the consequence. Blizzard is testing a solution for this: battles against your own faction.

What is the problem? On many realms, there are significantly more Horde players than Alliance players. This has led to extremely long waiting times in battlegrounds. Especially Horde players can sometimes wait up to an hour before receiving an invitation – not great prospects for those who see PvP as their main activity.

How does Blizzard want to solve this? Currently, the developers are testing a new system. Horde players can compete against other Horde players in PvP battlegrounds, and Alliance players can measure themselves against other Alliance groups. Whether these fights happen cannot be influenced and mainly depends on the other players who sign up.

The Alliance is dissatisfied – will everyone now just play Horde?

The system works like this:

  • First, an attempt is made to create a “normal” battle, that is, Horde against Alliance.
  • If this fails for a certain period of time, the matchmaking will instead find a group of players from the same faction and start a PvP battleground.
  • From a story perspective, this is seen as a “practice fight”, as one side receives masks and tabards from the opposing faction.
  • Honor and reputation gains work in these battles completely normally, as if you were really fighting against the other faction.
  • By the way, the Alterac Valley is excluded from this system; it is not applied there.

Is this permanent? No. For now, this is only a test phase that is supposed to be active for about 5 days, that is, until Wednesday of the current WoW week. Afterwards, Blizzard plans to evaluate the collected data and see how the system has affected waiting times and player behavior. So it’s not yet “set in stone” that this change will be a permanent adjustment.

If you’re interested in more about WoW: BC Classic you might also find this appealing:

Alliance players are dissatisfied: In the official forum and the subreddit, the voices of most Horde members are pleased about the change. They are happy about shorter queues and therefore more PvP.

However, Alliance players see it differently. They are concerned about the identity of the two factions and fear that there will be no reason to play with the Alliance at all. The strong racial bonuses of the Horde have already led to more and more PvP fans switching to the Horde. If there are now fewer Alliance members needed for PvP, there are even fewer reasons to join the Alliance at all.

What do you think of this test? A good idea to reduce waiting times in PvP? Or a much too big change that breaks BC Classic?

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

Destiny 2 presents the Solstice of Heroes 2021 – This is what’s in the summer highlight

Sven Galitzki Sven Galitzki Reading time 5 minutes

In July, Destiny 2 traditionally hosts the summer event “Solstice of Heroes.” Bungie has now officially presented the upcoming festival. What can Guardians expect this time for the summer highlight?

What is the Solstice of Heroes about? It is an annual, seasonal summer event. In 2021, it takes place during the ongoing Season 14. With the Solstice, Destiny 2 traditionally concludes its current year – in this case, Year 4. Bungie and the Guardians reflect together on past achievements and celebrate the heroic deeds.

There is once again a stylish event armor set for each of the 3 Guardian classes, as well as various event-specific cosmetics in the Eververse. These festivities embody the highlight of the summer for many Destiny players.

In the new trailer, you can get a taste of this year’s celebrations:

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When does the event take place? The Solstice of Heroes 2021 starts on July 6 and runs until August 3.

Who can participate? All Guardians can participate in this event – whether you are just playing the Free-to-Play version Destiny 2: New Light or have all the paid expansions.

Completely new players only need to escape from the Cosmodrome to unlock the Tower, as the event starts there.

What to expect at the Solstice 2021

How it starts: After the weekly reset on July 6, simply talk to Eva Levante in the Tower of the Last City. The nice Destiny grandma will once again be waiting by the Statue of Heroes with initial event armor pieces and will be the contact person for the event.

  • Eva Levante
  • The Statue of Heroes in the Tower

Once you have cleared the European Airzone (more on that shortly), you should meditate at the aforementioned Statue of Heroes. This will not only unlock bounties and additional “Solstice of Heroes” rewards with Eva, but also grant you the rest of the first Solstice armor set.

The grandma will also offer special rewards when you complete event-specific triumphs – including a cool exotic ghost shell.

The new exotic ghost shell

This is how the event runs: In 2021, Guardians will again go into the European Airzone. The EAZ is a special area on Earth and also a limited-time player search activity.

  • You can start it directly from the Tower plaza or through the Tower’s map view.
  • The activity as well as the area are only accessible during the Solstice.
  • The overwhelming majority of the event takes place there.

The location consists of numerous floating islands of various sizes and is filled with enemies and mini-bosses that must be defeated under time pressure. If you defeat the bosses, you will receive loot chests full of Solstice packages and Solstice key fragments at the end of the activity. The more bosses you defeat, the more chests you will receive.

  • A fight in the EAZ
  • A picturesque view of the EAZ

You use the key fragments to open Solstice packages. This way you earn armor pieces, weapons, materials, Solstice gear, and additional rolls of the new event weapon.

Additionally, the event mechanic “Elemental Empowerment” returns. Each day, a specific damage element is in focus. You should use focus and weapon damage types that correspond to the daily element to defeat enemies and generate elemental orbs. Collecting these orbs will “empower” you, granting temporary bonuses and effects that are unique to each element (these bonus effects may not be available in all pinnacle activities).

On so-called Prism Days, all elements are in focus, and the elemental empowerment corresponds to the focus you currently have equipped.

Event Rewards

Solstice Armors: The biggest highlight of the event for many will likely be the accompanying Solstice armor.

The new Solstice armors 2021

There is a set for each of the 3 Guardian classes and, as in previous years, three quality levels, which you can upgrade through fulfilling various objectives in different areas of the game. Each level unlocks a new appearance and new effects (armor glows) for your armor.

If you complete objectives for the event armor pieces, you will gain access to armor boosters from Eva. These increase progress for Solstice armor objectives during the event. This allows you to finish sets for additional characters faster. Great for those who play more than one character.

Event Weapon: As part of the Solstice 2021, you can earn an event weapon. There is a new Legendary shotgun – the “Windrose.” Once you have unlocked the weapon, you can earn additional rolls through Solstice packages.

  • the “Windrose”
  • The new event shotgun in action

What the new event shotgun can do, you will read on MeinMMO.

Eververse Rewards: As in the in-game shop, there will traditionally be numerous event-specific items available for purchase during the Solstice – including new universal ornaments for the event armors (for Silver AND Glimmer), new ships, or new sparrows. Here are some examples:

Also interesting:

What do you think about the Solstice of Heroes 2021? Are you actively participating this year, or is there too little variety and new content compared to previous years? Is there any reward you are particularly looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!

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

Gloomy Oldschool MMORPG Broken Ranks starts the beta today, but you have to hurry

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time 2 minutes

The open beta of Broken Ranks starts today, on July 2, 2021. The new old-school MMORPG from Poland impresses with classic gameplay, a stylish look, and a dark atmosphere. However, those who want to test it only have until Monday.

What is Broken Ranks? The new MMORPG comes from the Polish indie studio Whitemoon, which has previously gathered experience in the genre with “Pride of Taern.” Broken Ranks is even based on Pride of Taern.

You play as a survivor from the shattered realm of Taern and must now fight your way through the largely destroyed world. In the hand-drawn world, you move in isometric perspective (“viewed from above”) in real-time, but combat occurs in a turn-based manner.

In one turn, you have ten seconds to plan your actions. Visually, the battles remind a bit of classic J-RPGs like the older parts of Final Fantasy. You can choose from seven classes for your character, including classics like Barbarians and Rangers, but also more exotic classes such as Druids and Voodoo Shamans.

The content is also oriented towards “old-school.” You can play alone or with a group (with no specific size mentioned) and explore cities and ruins, defeat simple and powerful enemies, and get loot. PvP will also be possible.

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The trailer for the open beta of Broken Ranks

How can I play the beta? On Friday, July 2, 2021, at 21:00 German time, the open beta for Windows PCs will start. You can then play until Monday, July 5, also at 21:00.

You can find the download directly on the official website (via BrokenRanks.com). The open beta follows the closed beta from May, in which a few players were already able to get an impression, but is not under an NDA.

So you can both stream yourself and watch your favorite streamers if you don’t want to test Broken Ranks yourself. However, any content and characters you unlock will not carry over to the final game.

More on MMORPGs on MeinMMO:

Low hardware requirements, release still pending

If you are worried about whether your PC can handle the beta, you should be at ease. The requirements are so low that a roughly eight-year-old PC should still be able to run the game:

  • Memory: 4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)
  • Processor: at least an i3 (i5 recommended)
  • Graphics card: integrated Intel HD graphics is sufficient
  • 512 GB VRAM required (1 GB recommended)
  • Size: 5 GB

When exactly Broken Ranks will be released is still open. However, a version for macOS is already planned, and Broken Ranks is also set to come for iOS and Android with crossplay for all versions. Anyone who had an account for Pride of Taern can later transfer this to Broken Ranks.

While you wait for the release, you can find some strong games in the genre. MeinMMO shows you the 15 currently best MMOs and MMORPGs 2021.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. MassivelyOP
  2. MMORPG.org.pl

Brazen cheaters in CoD Warzone crash your game and don’t even have to aim anymore

Maik Schneider Maik Schneider Reading time 3 minutes

Hackers have developed a few new features for Call of Duty: Warzone. With the right tricks, they can crash your game and aiming is now even easier – or completely unnecessary.

The Battle Royale Call of Duty: Warzone is a live service game and continues to evolve. This claim seems to have been taken on by hackers as well. Cheat programs are gaining more unfair functions, and the usual aim bots and wall hacks apparently are no longer enough for some cheaters. After some time, cheaters were already running around with equipment in the game that actually doesn’t exist, more cheats are now in circulation:

  • Cheaters in your lobby can crash your game
  • With “Silent Aim”, cheaters don’t even need to aim anymore

While the lobby crash is probably just an annoying nuisance, especially “Silent Aim” has the potential to help cheaters hide their cheating.

Warzone pro gets Dev Error due to cheater

What kind of cheat is this? Cheaters can now crash your game if you have one in the lobby. Pro player “Tommey” shows a clip of this on Twitter:

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In the short clip, Tommy shows a conversation with a cheater he’s sitting with in the lobby. Previously, Tommy had tweeted that a cheater had triggered a Dev Error for him (via Twitter).

Tommy brought the cheater back into the lobby, and the cheater boldly offered, “OK… do you have any questions about Warzone?” Pro Tommy declined, and the cheater continued: “Not even how I do this here” – and Tommy’s game crashed.

It is unclear whether cheaters can crash your game during an ongoing round or what other possibilities the new cheat feature brings. But the mere ability to crash another player’s game is now “in the game”, and that’s not a good outlook.

Silent Aim is the “future of the aim bot” in Warzone

What kind of cheat is this? This cheating has been causing trouble in Warzone for a while now and is essentially the next level of aim bots. With “Silent Aim”, cheaters no longer need to aim at opponents – the technique ensures that a locked-on opponent is hit. Direction of fire and fairness no longer matter:

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This cheat technique is particularly insidious, and it’s less about incapable cheaters not needing to aim anymore. Rather, really good players can hide their cheats even better with it. Professionals have been caught cheating before and to avoid detection, some refrain from using the aim bot. Because the aim bot is revealing, as during aiming, the crosshair strictly goes to the opponent. These unnatural movements when targeting can often be recognized.

A wall hack is theoretically sufficient – knowing where enemies are provides strong players with enough advantage. However, with “Silent Aim”, the new generation of aim bots is hard to detect. The bot no longer interferes with the controls, and the unnatural movements are absent, yet the hits still land. In short: If the cheater does it “right”, it won’t be noticeable that an aim bot is at work.

Cheaters remain a major problem in Warzone

Warzone is fighting hard against hackers and cheaters of all kinds, yet many fair players continue to encounter nasty cheaters who dominate and ruin their matches. Players repeatedly call for stronger anti-cheat measures and demand, for example, programs that run on PC during the game and monitor potential cheater activity.

Similar is done by the tactical shooter “Valorant”. The program “Vanguard” must be activated as soon as the game starts. Do you support such a program for Warzone?

If you want to know more about the developers’ measures against cheaters, we recommend the following article:

What do you think, how should Warzone tackle the cheaters? Do you know examples from other shooters that solve the problem better, or do you also think an anti-cheat program that runs in the background is necessary? Participate in the survey in the article and discuss with us in the comments on MeinMMO.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Dexerto
  2. PC Gamer

We are giving away 3 stylish premium bundles for ESO: Blackwood – Join in and get them

Irina Moritz Irina Moritz Reading time 3 minutes

Win one of 3 awesome packages with Premium Bundle and the digital Blackwood Collector’s Edition for the new expansion of ESO: Blackwood. Join now!

The new addon of ESO, Blackwood, has been out for a month now, and players have been able to thoroughly enjoy the new content. These include the great Oblivion portals, which lead to the realm of oblivion, where you can fight enemies and bosses. The new companion system was also introduced with Blackwood, and you will now be assisted by NPC companions when questing, if you wish.

To celebrate the addon, we have prepared a cool giveaway for you.

More on the topic
How is ESO: Blackwood one month after release?
von Jürgen Horn

Cool statues, art prints, and more

What will be raffled: In collaboration with Bethesda Europe, we are giving away three Premium Bundles and ESO Collection: Blackwood Collector’s Editions.

A Premium Bundle includes:

  • A Mehrunes Dagon statue (16.5 cm, hand-painted)
  • A Mehrunes Dagon art print (40.6 cm x 22.8 cm)
  • Ambitions symbol in bronze look
  • eso premium bundle dagon
  • TESO-Mehrunes-Dagon-Premium-Bundle2
  • TESO-Mehrunes-Dagon-Premium-Bundle4
  • TESO-ambitions-zeichen
These are the contents of the Premium Bundle

Each Premium Bundle also comes with an ESO Collection: Blackwood Collector’s Edition, which includes the following contents:

  • The base game
  • All previous expansions: Morrowind, Summerset, Elsweyr, and Greymoor
  • The new expansion Blackwood.
  • Additional in-game content from the Collector’s Edition

With the ESO Collection, winners can choose which platform they want the code for. All platforms that ESO is available on are eligible, except Stadia. So even if you don’t play ESO yet, you can start directly with the ESO Collection.

How can I participate? To enter the giveaway, you first need an account with MeinMMO. You need this to be able to leave comments with us.

  • Also, let us know in the comment for which platform you would like the ESO Collection: Blackwood

The prizes will be drawn from all participants who have left a valid comment under the article. Please note that comments that do not comply with our participation rules will not be included in the prize draw.

The winners will be contacted by us via email at the address used to create the MeinMMO account. For the delivery of the prizes, we will forward the full name and address of the winners to Bethesda Europe. The data will only be used for shipping purposes and will be deleted afterwards.

The giveaway ends on July 5.

Terms and Conditions

The organizer is Webedia Gaming GmbH, Ridlerstraße 55, 80339 Munich, represented by Managing Director Marc-Andreas Albert. Participation is free and independent of the purchase of goods or services. By participating in the raffle, the user accepts these terms and conditions.

Employees of Webedia Gaming GmbH, participating companies, and their relatives are excluded from participation. The participant in the raffle is the person to whom the email address specified upon registration for the raffle belongs.

Only one entry is allowed per participant. Webedia Gaming GmbH reserves the right to exclude participants from participation in the raffle without giving any reasons if they intentionally violate the terms and conditions or attempt to influence the raffle in an unfair manner. This applies particularly to disturbances, threats, and harassment of employees or other participants.

The provided data will be processed and used electronically in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) exclusively for the purposes of this giveaway. The notification of the winners will occur promptly after the raffle via email using the information provided upon registration. A cash payment, payment in kind, or exchange of prizes is not possible.

Prize distribution may be subject to age verification. The prizes are not transferable. The winner accepts any necessary changes to the prize. Webedia Gaming GmbH reserves the right to change these terms and conditions without prior notice. Legal recourse is excluded.

All information about Blackwood can be found in our article about it:

ESO: Everything about the new expansion Blackwood and the content in 2021

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

Destiny 2: New Mid-Season Update is Bigger than Ever – The Important Buffs and Nerfs

Philipp Hansen Philipp Hansen Reading time 5 minutes

In Destiny 2 the update 3.2.1 is just around the corner. Midway through Season 14, it stirs up the sandbox. Changes are coming for shotguns, hand cannons, and exotics.

Bungie has announced a major update for Destiny 2. According to the developers, such significant changes in the middle of an ongoing Season 14 are unusual but necessary.

  • Thus, after the big Stasis nerfs, there are fierce changes coming for the Guardians that will shake up the sandbox.
  • We present to you the most important buffs and nerfs from the preview of the patch notes and explain what you should prepare for. Bungie stated they have never released such an update in the middle of the season.

When will the new update arrive? On July 6, update 3.2.1 will hit the Destiny servers. So prepare for plenty of time for downloading and applying the patch on the next weekly reset on Tuesday.

As always, MeinMMO will accompany you through the update and keep an eye on the servers. But let’s now take a look at the highlights from patch 3.2.1 – the so-called mid-season update. We will share the information in handy, thematic bites.

[toc]

An exotic gets stronger, another gets weaker

These two exotics are being revamped

This is what happens to Sleeper Simulant: The old exotic Sleeper Simulant (Sleeper) was supposed to receive a significant buff with the start of Season 14. However, that backfired, and Bungie promised to make up for the strengthening.

  • The exotic will gain 16.5% more damage compared to the previous season.
  • This makes Sleeper the weapon with the highest damage per shot.
  • Keep in mind that Sleeper also deals significantly more damage on body shots than other linear fusion rifles.
  • Additionally, the exotic benefits from the increased reserves that other linear fusion rifles received at the start of Season 14.

Many Guardians have been looking forward to this buff for a long time. We have separately explained what the changes for Sleeper Simulant mean.

Dead Man’s Tale gets a nerf: The exotic scout rifle Dead Man’s Tale is too strong in the Crucible. Thus, a nerf is needed, especially on PC, according to Bungie.

  • When firing from the hip, you will now experience damage drop-off much sooner.
  • When firing from the hip, the aim assist is less generous.

These changes are primarily aimed at PCs and will hardly affect the weapon on controllers, Bungie says. You now have to decide when to aim down sights and when hip fire is appropriate.

What about other exotics?

  • Particularly exotic primary weapons should feel more rewarding and powerful again. Buffs are planned for Season 15 (starting in late August 2021).
  • Exotic catalysts: Bungie has also announced buffs for other rarely used exotics. These weapons will receive a masterwork catalyst that makes them significantly more useful, similar to Deathbringer and Trinity Ghoul. However, these changes will only come in a later season.

Bungie kills the PvP meta

Shotguns dominate the Crucible, both in quickplay and competitive modes such as trials (via Destinytracker.com). Bungie says many Guardians complain that they cannot use many primary weapons in PvP because the entire close-range area is controlled by shotguns. That should change next week.

Aggressive shotguns and 120 hand cannons are indeed meta in PvP

Shotguns receive changes in 3.2.1:

  • The control of aggressive shotguns will be increased from 4.0 to 4.25 degrees. 55 shotguns like Astral Horizon and presumably Felwinter’s will no longer hit as accurately with all projectiles.
  • All shotguns will experience damage drop-off 2 meters sooner.
  • Slug-shotguns – precision shotguns like Chaperone, which fire only one round instead of a volley – are unaffected.

Bungie aims to ensure that the one-shot range of shotguns decreases significantly with these changes. You should have to aim for a second shot much more often. This way, other weapons will have more breathing room – are we heading towards a slug meta as well? A hot candidate is also the new Iron Banner weapon.

Hand cannons are too hot in the Crucible

These revolvers will be nerfed: What rocks a meta Guardian in PvP along with a shotgun? Exactly, a 120 hand cannon. Only the aggressive revolvers are getting hit in the next update:

  • The precision damage will no longer be increased by 1.8 – but after the update by 1.6. This means you will deal less crit damage.
  • This makes kills with 2 shots impossible, should you have Rage active, for example. This change only applies in PvP.
  • Damage drop-off and aim assist drop-off will now set in 1-2 meters earlier. Well rolled 120 hand cannons can easily achieve 35-40 meters before damage starts to drop.

The 120 hand cannons like Igneous Hammer or Spare Rations are almost back to where they were before Beyond Light. Due to the changes, 140 hand cannons like The Palindrome should become significantly more attractive again. However, due to their high damage per shot and still absurd range, the class of 120s is still usable.

More about changes for PvP has been revealed by Bungie during a 3-hour podcast:

More on the topic
Destiny 2 has revealed which weapons will soon receive nerfs and buffs – Here they are
von Philipp Hansen

More changes in update 3.2.1 for Destiny 2

The new patch will also address some bugs that plague Destiny 2 starting on June 6. The erasure missions should run more smoothly, and in the old strike “Twisted Chasm,” the drill section should become slightly less annoying if you die.

Some abilities will also receive bug fixes. Nothing groundbreaking, but Stormcallers will soon be able to teleport while slowed, and the Stasis shurikens will now slow in combination with a fragment as intended.

These perks are changing:

  • Rewind Rounds: the new raid perk is strong and should now also provide all benefits if your last shot in the magazine misses.
  • Fall Magazine: The reload perk can no longer roll on new weapons. In Season 15, the entire perk will be changed from the ground up.
  • Pulse Monitor: Now grants the stated handling bonus.
  • Storage Salvo: The well-known trait of the new quest weapon no longer “pushes” enemies away but makes them explode instantly.

A small change to fusion rifles is also interesting: The damage of the class is reduced in the “Dynamic Control” mode – but only there. Why you should pull fusion rifles out of the dusty vault in Season 14 has been explained by MeinMMO here: Destiny 2 has suddenly made an entire weapon class better – Try them out.

Also interesting:

So, those were the most important changes to expect from June 7 onwards. PvE players can clear enemies with the buffed Sleeper. In the Crucible, things will get really interesting, as we are likely facing a new meta. You can view the complete changes, with every detail, in the patch notes starting with the next weekly reset.

What do you think, which weapons will dominate PvP soon? What do you think of significant changes happening in the middle of an ongoing season? Let us know in the comments.

By the way, along with the update, you can look forward to the next event. The summer festival “Sundown of Heroes” goes live at the same time. More on that shortly on MeinMMO.

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

Pokémon GO brings 22 real live events to the GO Fest – 3 German cities participate

Max Handwerk Max Handwerk Reading time 2 minutes

The GO Fest 2021 in Pokémon GO will take place globally again this year. Additionally, there will be several locations in the ‘real’ world where small live events are supposed to occur.

This was announced: As announced through the official Pokémon GO Twitter channel, there will be multiple live events for GO Fest 2021 that are supposed to take place on-site in 22 cities.

This is reminiscent of past GO Fests before 2020, which traditionally took place at specific locations in the real world. However, in 2021, these live events are more like smaller additional events. In the announcement, Niantic states: “While we can’t gather to the same extent as in previous ‘Pokémon GO Fest’ events, this year’s live events (of course outdoors and with social distancing) are worth visiting if you’re nearby!”

To participate, one must register in advance (this can be done via this link through Nianticlabs).

Where do the events take place? A total of 22 cities have been announced, spread across the world. Events have also been announced for Germany and Austria. The cities are (via pokemongolive):

  • Europe
    • Dresden (Germany)
    • Essen (Germany)
    • Hamburg (Germany)
    • Linz (Austria)
    • Sevilla (Spain)
    • Paris (France)
    • Warsaw (Poland)
    • Bristol (United Kingdom)
    • Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
    • Liverpool (United Kingdom)
    • London (United Kingdom)
  • United States
    • San Francisco (California)
    • Denver (Colorado)
    • Atlanta (Georgia)
    • Chicago (Illinois)
    • Indianapolis (Indiana)
    • New York City (New York)
    • Nashville (Tennessee)
    • Austin (Texas)
    • Seattle (Washington)
    • Washington, D.C.
  • Asia-Pacific
    • Auckland (New Zealand)

You Can Expect at the Small Events for GO Fest 2021

What happens at the live events? The live events are planned exclusively for Saturday, July 17, 2021, and will run between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM. Primarily, according to the announcement, they will be places where players can find and utilize “great photo spots.” Other bonuses are not yet known.

In an interview with “Mercury News,” Michael Steranka, the Product Marketing Director of Niantic, said: “If you’ve been to Chicago, Yokohama, and Dortmund, we’ve done large park takeovers and setups. Due to the pandemic, we wanted to approach it differently. It’s definitely a much simpler approach. The intent is to create places that players can visit” (via Mercury News).

These could be used, for example, to trade Pokémon with other players. At the same time, Niantic emphasizes in the announcement that participants must adhere to the local health authority guidelines. They are working closely with authorities – upcoming events may also change depending on guidelines and restrictions.

What else happens at GO Fest? GO Fest will take place on July 17 and 18 and features special research, legendary raids in various forms, and different spawns. GO Fest is the largest event of the Pokémon GO year.

More about GO Fest on MeinMMO:

Basically, GO Fest 2021 will take place globally as it did in 2020. All bonuses can be utilized worldwide. For the game, it is not necessary to travel to one of the live events. These are rather seen as an addition if you are nearby.

What do you think of the live events? Can you imagine going to one of the events – or would you rather skip it? Let us know in the comments!

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

WoW now has a blue phoenix mount and you might already own it

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

A blue phoenix is available in the store of World of Warcraft and you can get it for free – at least if you maintain a 6-month subscription.

The Patch 9.1 Chains of Domination of World of Warcraft is live and Blizzard is using this as an opportunity to tempt you into a long-term subscription. As is now customary, there is once again a new, stylish mount available when you sign up for a 6-month subscription.

What kind of mount is it? The Sapphire Cloudwing resembles already known phoenix mounts from the game. However, this mount has armor, a blue color, and much more detail thanks to higher resolution. You will receive the Sapphire Cloudwing when you conclude a 6-month subscription.

How much does such a subscription cost? A 6-month subscription currently costs €65.94 (Link to the Battle.net shop). This is a saving of nearly 15% compared to a subscription that renews every month.

WoW Blue Phoenix Mount

Can you buy the mount separately? Yes. The Sapphire Cloudwing is also available for purchase separately at a price of €25 in the shop, in case you really want the mount but do not want to conclude a long-term subscription.

What if you already have a subscription? If you are already maintaining a 6-month subscription, you do not need to do anything further. The mount should simply be unlocked for the account in the next few days. Keep an eye on whether a “gift” notification pops up in the Battle.net app to claim the mount.

WoW Mount deals shop summer sale
Currently, there is a whole range of mounts at discounted prices.

Can you earn the mount in-game? Yes, you can indirectly. If you gather enough gold to purchase WoW Tokens, you can exchange the tokens for Battle.net credit and thus obtain the mount without spending real money. If you have a lot of gold saved up or just enjoy farming, you can earn the phoenix this way.

More news about World of Warcraft can be found here:

Even more mounts and pets on sale: Basically, there is currently a kind of “summer sale” at World of Warcraft, where a lot of mounts and pets are drastically reduced in price. In most cases, the price is significantly lowered by 50%. A mount that would normally cost €25 is currently available for €12.50. Pets that would normally be offered for €10 are currently available for €5.

If you enjoy collecting mounts and pets and are also willing to spend a few euros, you can take advantage of this – or buy such a pet as a gift for a friend.

Can the phoenix tempt you into a 6-month subscription? Or do you find such mounts just annoying and frustrating that they can’t be obtained in the game in a regular way?

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

SWTOR is back, getting a big expansion ‘Legacy of the Sith’

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

Fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic can look forward to new content. The developers have announced a new expansion.

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, there is always the concern that the game is slowly approaching its end. “Was this expansion the last?”, is heard as a worried question from the community. But apparently, that fear is still unfounded. Because SWTOR has just pulled a new expansion out of the hat: Legacy of the Sith, or short: LotS.

What is it about? The story continues the plotline of the rogue Sith Darth Malgus. He is still planning something big, although it is not yet entirely clear what that actually is.

To uncover this, the heroes travel to the water planet Manaan and several other locations. Details are not yet available, but some initial artworks already reveal what kind of flair you can expect on the (partially) new worlds.

SWTOR Manaan
On Manaan, there is plenty of water … and even more rain.

What content will there be? Here, too, not all content is known yet, but the following information has already been revealed:

  • The maximum level increases in the course of the story from 75 to 80.
  • New group missions that are supposed to be harder than all previous ones, including:
    • A new flashpoint on the planet Elom
    • A new operation in the wreck of a research station
  • New “combat styles” feature that combines a class story with abilities from other classes
  • Redesign for a “tighter” class design
  • Improvements for character creation

More information will surely be revealed in the coming days and weeks.

SWTOR Anomaly
Spooky places are also supposed to be part of “Legacy of the Sith”.

Many events planned for 2022: The release of “Legacy of the Sith” is supposed to be just the starting signal for a whole series of different activities.

Throughout 2022, there are plans to celebrate the 10th anniversary of SWTOR and promises of “new content, events, updates, and more” throughout the year. That already sounds like several content patches and probably one or the other cosmetic highlight.

Are you excited about a new expansion for SWTOR?

SWTOR is also among the 10 best-rated MMORPGs on Steam.

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

Company plans commercials in your video games, should have large partners for that

Max Handwerk Max Handwerk Reading time 3 minutes

In F2P mobile games, players are now accustomed to the occasional ad flying across the screen. Now, a company wants to implement the principle for large console and PC games as well.

Update July 5, 2021: EA has now commented on the topic. A spokesperson for the company clarified to “PC Gamer” that there are currently no plans for advertising in console games: “After inaccurate reports suggest that we want to introduce ‘TV-like’ ads in our games, we wanted to clarify that in-game advertising for console games is not something we are currently considering or for which we have signed any agreements,” the statement from EA on the topic stated: “Our primary focus remains on creating the best possible experience for players” (via PC Gamer).

Here is the original report continued.

What is it about? As the news portal Axios reports, the company “Simulmedia” has long been testing a system that could integrate video advertising into console and PC games (via Axios.com). Simulmedia primarily presents itself on its own homepage as a television advertising company but also lists the option for advertising in video games.

According to Axios, the advertising platform “PlayerWON” is set to launch, which aims to show TV-like spots in video games. The idea: players can watch 15- or 30-second ads in the game and receive in-game rewards in exchange.

How is this supposed to work? With the technology, developers should be able to integrate ads into the games and then decide what rewards players can earn for watching them. These could potentially be in-game currency or skins.

According to the report, Simulmedia is said to have already entered into deals with Electronic Arts (EA) and Tencent’s Hi-Rez Studios (EA has since denied planning TV advertising for console games – see Update from July 5 above in the text).

EA offers titles such as FIFA 21, Battlefield 2042, or Apex Legends, while Hi-Rez has released games like Smite and Paladins.

Up to ten clips a day conceivable

Why should advertising be in the games? Dave Madden from Simulmedia said to Axios that especially free-to-play games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, or even CoD: Warzone and Roblox have recently spread significantly on consoles and PCs. There has been a notable increase in both the audience and playtime: “Nevertheless, the vast majority of players, over 90%, never spend money on F2P games,” Madden stated.

Advertisements could therefore become an additional source of income. Simulmedia has reportedly found that players are willing to watch up to 10 ads per day to unlock free benefits in games.

More on the subject of advertising in the gaming world:

Are there already examples? Basically, advertising in games occurs repeatedly. This applies not only to mobile games but also to “larger” games. For example, FIFA already has banners in the stadium advertising various things. In Fortnite, there are also collaborations that could be understood as advertising – for instance, when Fortnite showed an exclusive scene from the then-new Star Wars film “The Rise of Skywalker”.

Actually playing ads is rather rare, though. However, there was a comparable case in autumn 2020 when EA integrated a short clip for the series “The Boys” into the game UFC 4. What it looked like can be seen here:

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The ad in the game caused a huge uproar, leading to it being removed shortly afterward. In a statement (via Eurogamer), EA said: “Your feedback clearly shows that the integration of ads into the replay and overlay experience is not welcome. The ads have been disabled by the team and we apologize for the disruption of gameplay that players may have experienced.”

This should have been communicated to players beforehand and was a mistake. Such advertisements will not appear in UFC 4 replays in the future.

What do you think about the topic of advertising in video games? Would you watch clips for rewards – or are you against it? Tell us in the comments!

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

Employee defrauds Microsoft out of 8.4 million euros – unfolds like in a crime novel

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time 3 minutes

For over two years, a former Microsoft employee embezzled 10 million US dollars (equivalent to about 8.4 million euros). At the end of 2020, he was sentenced to prison – but how he did it could have been a script from a crime show.

Where did the money come from? The former Microsoft employee Volodymyr K. enriched himself according to a ruling of the US court in Washington for two years through a loophole in the Xbox payment system – specifically, with gift cards for the Xbox (via justice.gov).

Gift cards are small cards with a 25-digit code that can be redeemed for corresponding credit in the Microsoft Store. The cards are almost everywhere available in retail stores, such as supermarkets or gas stations.

The employee’s job was actually to simulate digital payments and identify errors. However, a glitch occurred that generated real codes for the gift cards. Instead of reporting the error, K. exploited it for himself. As a result, he was able to generate virtually unlimited codes – free for him, but redeemable by anyone.

Initially, K. is said to have generated smaller amounts between 10 and 100 US dollars, later then in larger quantities.

More on the topic
Fraudster steals CS:GO skin for 1,160 € – Police are now searching for him
von Alexander Leitsch

Servers overseas, custom software, and Bitcoin

This is how well organized he was: The US site Bloomberg revisits the case originally concluded in 2020 and provides insight into the background of the fraud (via Bloomberg.com). The employee apparently planned a (nearly) perfect crime:

  • K. obtained login credentials from his colleagues to work with multiple accounts
  • he routed his traffic through servers in Russia and Japan to avoid detection
  • he automated the “test purchases” with a self-written program
  • thus he could conveniently select the quantity of gift cards and the desired currency via app
  • he resold the gift cards, sometimes for just 55% of the actual price
  • he expanded his offerings with more and more currencies
  • finally, he even exchanged the codes for cryptocurrency – a deal involving 300 codes was said to be completed for 1.98 Bitcoins (equivalent to 14,546 euros at that time).

It continued like this for quite some time. With the money, he bought himself a house on Lake Washington with a dock for around 1.4 million euros and a new Tesla Model S for then 137,440 euros.

What happened to him now? Over time, Microsoft caught onto him and began invalidating the stolen codes – which in turn brought K. complaints from his customers.

He is also said to have used the same Linux computer with an outdated version of Firefox as well as a version of MS Office registered to his startup company. Furthermore, he allegedly had graphics cards purchased with stolen codes delivered to an old address. With these metadata, he was said to have been caught.

Microsoft’s own fraud investigation team (“Fraud Investigation Strike Team,” or FIST) gradually uncovered the scheme. The team received assistance from specialists from Scotland Yard.

K.’s account was ultimately identified as the source of the purchases, and shortly thereafter he was arrested. In February 2020, a jury found him guilty in a US court and sentenced him to a prison term of 9 years, along with a restitution payment of approximately 7 million euros (via justice.gov).

More about the topic on MeinMMO:

During his trial, K. reportedly defended himself by saying that it was not “real money” – which did not resonate with the jury. After his prison sentence, he also faces deportation and expulsion to his home country, Ukraine. K. is not the first online fraudster to end up in jail. However, a case from China is even more bizarre:

Cheat providers bought a fleet of sports cars with the money, and must now go to jail

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Bloomberg
  2. United States Department of Justice
  3. GameSpot

Palia receives over 25 million euros – Here’s the status of the ‘Animal-Crossing-MMO’

Max Handwerk Max Handwerk Reading time 2 minutes

Palia has just been introduced and aims to highlight the cozy aspects of an MMO. The game has now received a significant financial boost.

What is Palia? Palia was presented in early June as a relaxed MMO that focuses more on social interaction than on action. Behind the game is Singularity 6 – a developer studio, made up of veterans from Blizzard, Riot Games, and Zynga.

Gameplay is said to be reminiscent of simulation-oriented games like Animal Crossing and The Sims – and the approach has apparently been well received.

New funding for Palia: In a funding round that should take the game to the next level, the developers raised 30 million dollars (approximately 25.3 million euros) in funding.

This money is intended to advance the development and launch of the game. CEO Anthony Leung explained that they knew they would need a smaller portion of funding to finance the expansion to multiple platforms.

However, it seems that it became quite competitive among the investors – and the funding grew: “It was pushed beyond our expectations. We are definitely using it to make a great game” (via VentureBeat).

However, it is not the first time that Palia has secured a million-dollar investment.

This is what the plan looks like for Palia

How is Palia doing right now? With the new funding, the team behind Palia aims to elevate the game to the next level. The studio has also grown: Where there were still 10 employees in August 2019, Singularity 6 has now grown to 56 employees and is looking for more talent to continue developing the game.

However, one should not expect a release too soon: Currently, Palia is in a pre-alpha testing phase with small groups of players providing feedback to the developers. In this phase, they will likely remain for quite a while longer, according to Leung.

For the pre-alpha, you can currently still sign up on the homepage of Palia (via Palia.com). There is still no release timeframe available.

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Here you can see the trailer for Palia

This is what defines Palia: The game might be something for you if you are looking for a relaxed MMO variant. Palia offers activities like housing, fishing, hunting, farming, and maintaining relationships and friendships with NPCs.

Competitive or combat elements are said to be rare. Palia primarily wants to create a warm, pleasant environment.

Interested in the game? A detailed presentation of Palia can be found here.

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

Chinese miners flood the market with used RTX 3080 graphics cards – They are cheap, but be careful

Benedikt Schlotmann Benedikt Schlotmann Reading time 3 minutes

In China, graphics cards like the RTX 3080 are suddenly being sold near the MSRP. However, you should not buy such GPUs. MeinMMO explains to you what pitfalls are hidden behind these seemingly cheap offers.

According to the Chinese online site HKEPC Hardware, Chinese miners are suddenly selling hundreds of graphics cards:

  • These include high-end cards like the RTX 3090, the RTX 3080, or AMD cards like the RX 6900 XT.
  • Many smaller graphics cards are also making a comeback on the market. These include the Nvidia GTX 1066 and the AMD Radeon RX 478. These are variants of the GTX 1060 and the RX 470.
  • You can get a used RTX 3070 for about 400 US dollars (via HKEPC.com). That’s about 337 euros.

What is so special about this? We had almost gotten used to having to pay double the MSRP for graphics cards.

However, miners in China are selling their graphics cards for MSRP or even lower. For users who have been looking for a powerful graphics card like the RTX 3080 for a long time, the temptation to order a RTX 3080 from China for 700 or 800 euros is great.

Suddenly, hundreds of graphics cards are being sold because China doesn’t like cryptocurrencies

What reasons are there for the sudden sales? China is considered one of the countries where the most cryptocurrency is mined. About 65% of the global cryptomining hash rate for major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether comes from China (via techradar.com).

But China has long wanted to ban cryptocurrencies, as the government has had the currency in its sights for a while:

  • The anonymity of the payment process and the lack of control likely pose a problem for the authorities.
  • Moreover, China is struggling with severe pollution and also sees miners as a problem.

In a major raid against miners, China has now arrested over 1,000 people, imposed trade bans, and significantly complicated the situation for miners (via n-tv.de). Chinese banks are no longer allowed to participate in cryptocurrencies.

This is why many graphics cards are now being sold: In particular, the raids have caused the prices of cryptocurrencies to plummet.

Many miners are now selling their graphics cards and equipment. Some former miners apparently want to try to get back some money from their mining hardware, which many have purchased well beyond the MSRP.

But you should not buy a used RTX 3080 hastily – there are several things to consider.

Don’t rush to buy a used graphics card on eBay or from other sellers

In general, less than 1,000 euros for an RTX 3080 sounds very tempting in times when RTX 3080 graphics cards are being sold expensively on eBay. However, you should be cautious when dealing with seemingly promising offers at first sight.

This is why you should be careful: Generally, graphics cards can withstand quite a bit and can also work under load. Nevertheless, you should be careful, as you cannot be sure what you are ultimately buying.

We do not know how the graphics cards were used in mining. The devices may have stood in a hot warehouse with many other GPU slaves for months, mining cryptocurrencies.

You certainly do not want a graphics card for your gaming PC that has been turned on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and at high temperatures. Because you do not know under what circumstances the graphics card was operated. Therefore, the risk is generally higher that the cards may fail due to a defect. A defect may not be immediately visible on the card from the outside.

No one probably wants to voluntarily buy such a graphics card, yet they are found in the cheap offers you currently see on eBay, StockX, or other trading platforms.

In the best case, you are dealing with professionals: the miner has treated the graphics cards well and ventilated them properly, but you cannot be sure here. If you do not want to take any risks or do not know how to properly maintain a graphics card, you should be cautious with such offers.

If you know how to clean a graphics card or change the thermal paste, then your risk is significantly lower.

In addition, there are fundamental risks that you must consider when buying a used graphics card:

  • You have to rely on the seller’s statement and be willing to pay money. You have no real guarantee that the purchased item actually works.
  • Manufacturer guarantees or warranties are usually no longer available. Especially not if the graphics card was previously in a mining rig.
  • Buyer protection systems from eBay, PayPal, AliExpress, or Amazon do offer protection for sellers and buyers, but conflict resolution may take weeks.

Graphics card manufacturers like Nvidia are currently trying to restrict mining with the new graphics cards. This could also mean that you might soon be able to buy graphics cards at reasonable prices again. However, experts expect the impact of Nvidia’s mining ban to be rather low:

Nvidia is making mining significantly harder so you can buy a graphics card soon

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

Don’t feel like fighting? Swords of Legends Online shows you what else you can do

Mark Sellner Mark Sellner Reading time 3 minutes

The new MMORPG Swords of Legends Online recently introduced three mini-games that you can play when you’re not in the mood for battles or quests. However, one has a small catch. We at MeinMMO present the mini-games to you.

What is Swords of Legends Online? The MMORPG was released in China in 2017 and has been operating successfully. Swords of Legends Online focuses on quests and a fantasy story. It will be released here on July 9, 2021. The European launch will be handled by the publisher Gameforge, who will operate the game. The key details are as follows:

  • PvE with story and quest focus
  • PvP with arena battles and faction fights
  • Professions and bounty hunting
  • 6 different classes
  • Player housing
  • Hundreds of achievements
  • Mini-games and jumping puzzles
  • Nice graphics and a fair equipment system

We at MeinMMO have already played the game for 80 hours, and at least editor Alexander Leitsch believes that “it is much better than you think.

What has been announced? In addition to the typical MMORPG contents such as leveling, questing, PvP, raids, and more, Swords of Legends Online will also feature mini-games to keep you occupied when you’re not interested in the other activities. You will surely recognize some classics from your childhood. One mini-game is an interesting take on the NES hit Bomberman.

In this video, Gameforge briefly introduces the mini-games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFUVepKMSwA

These are the mini-games

What do you do in Explosive Escape? In the mini-game Explosive Escape, you play a variant of Bomberman. As you are used to, you will lay bombs and try to blow your opponents away. The game field has the classic design. You can compete alone or in groups of five, but beware: Monsters also spawn that will make bombing harder in addition to your opponents.

SOLO explosive
The game field of Explosive Escape

What do you do in Return to the Shadow Realm? The second mini-game on the list is an exciting variation of Snake. You run across the game field and collect power-ups and monsters. Each monster you collect follows you and forms a long chain. If you run into your own chain or that of another player, you lose your life and start over without any monsters.

The game field of Return to the Shadow Realm

If you’re interested in more about Swords of Legends Online, you might also find this appealing:

What do you do in Game of Eternity? The last mini-game is the aforementioned catch. Game of Eternity is a card game, which you can only unlock after reaching the maximum level.

You can then play the card game against NPCs and other players. In the card game, you need to complete sets. Each card can be used for multiple sets and is unique. So if you play a card, it is no longer playable for the opponent.

Which of the games appeals to you the most? Are mini-games something for you? If you want to know more, we have here everything, really everything you need to know about SOLO.

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