Hearthstone has introduced the next expansion at BlizzConline. We showcase the cool new cards from “Forged in the Barrens”.
Currently, the digital BlizzConline is underway, where a lot of info about current and upcoming Blizzard games is being released. Hearthstone is also represented there and presents the new expansion “Forged in the Barrens”. We reveal what the new expansion has to offer and present to you the first new cards!
What kind of expansion is this? “Forged in the Barrens” has a very classic reference to World of Warcraft, which has also become a meme over the years. In WoW, the Barrens was not only a very vast and challenging quest area, but the Barrens chat was also infamous. This is exactly what Blizzard is playing on with the latest expansion, essentially saying: Those who survived the Barrens can survive anything. Therefore, the label “Forged in the Barrens” is definitely a mark of recognition.
The first 17 cards from “Forged in the Barrens”
At BlizzConline, the first 16 cards of the new expansion were already presented. You can view them here:
More cards will be introduced over the coming days as usual, so that all cards will be known by the release.
New Features in Forged in the Barrens
Apart from the new cards, there are also several special features in the expansion. These include the following innovations.
New keyword “Bloodthirst”: In line with the creatures of the Barrens, there is the new keyword Bloodthirst on some cards. Bloodthirst causes a one-time effect to trigger when the minion survives damage for the first time. Accordingly, the effects are not triggered if no damage is done to the minion or if the minion is destroyed in one hit. This opens up many new possibilities to avoid these effects or use them strategically.
Spells get Schools: Similar to how minions in Hearthstone can belong to different tribes (Totems, Demons, Elementals, etc.), spell cards will also be classified into different spell schools in the future. These spell schools are:
Arcane
Fire
Frost
Holy
Nature
Shadow
Fel
This classification allows the developers several new interaction possibilities. For example, there are cards that can increase spell damage from only one spell school.
The classification into spell schools also applies retroactively. All spells currently in the game will be classified into the seven spell schools afterwards.
Spells with Ranks: Also new are spells that come in different ranks. These cards will be upgraded multiple times throughout the game, depending on the player’s maximum mana. For example, the spell “Imp Swarm” can summon a 3/2 Imp for 2 mana at the start. However, once the player has over 5 mana, the spell already summons 2 Imps with 3/2. If the player has 10 mana, it even rises to 3 Imps with 3/2. However, the mana cost of the spell does not increase.
What do you think of the new expansion and the fresh cards? Cool and meaningful additions? Or doesn’t it impress you?
The latest cinematic for WoW: Shadowlands is finally here. At BlizzCon 2021, it was shown how Anduin came to his new form.
BlizzConline has started and has begun announcing the updates for games from the Blizzard universe. Although there was already a massive leak about World of Warcraft, many details about the transformation of Anduin Wrynn were still missing. Now the first trailer for Patch 9.1 Chains of Domination has been released and fills this knowledge gap. Watch the cinematic here:
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What can be seen in the video? The cinematic shows Anduin, who has apparently been released. The Kyrians, along with the Archon, discuss the fate of the Shadowlands.
Anduin approaches the Kyrians and asks them for a key – but then the darkness within Anduin emerges. His soul is bound to the Jailor, he calls his Blade of Mourning and attacks the Archon.
The Archon is wounded by the Blade of Mourning, presumably killed. Anduin pulls a “key” from her soul and returns to his new master, Sylvanas and the Jailor.
What else is coming in the patch? Besides the story surrounding Anduin, there is plenty more in Patch 9.1 “Chains of Domination”. So far confirmed are:
New zone “Korthia” – The ruins of the city of knowledge that the Jailor has brought into the Maw
In FIFA 21 starts with Icon Swaps 2 the next exchange round. Additionally, the extremely strong Icon Moments cards are coming into play. MeinMMO shows you the new content.
When do Icon Swaps 2 and Icon Moments start? The first part of Icon Swaps 2 has started today, on February 19 at 7:00 PM. At the same time, the Prime Icon Moments cards are also being introduced.
What is Icon Swaps anyway? In Icon Swaps, you need to complete certain tasks in Ultimate Team to earn Icon Swaps tokens as a reward. These can then be exchanged for strong Icon cards and FIFA packs.
The nice thing is that you can secure the Icon cards through gameplay and no coins are required. As with Icon Swaps 1, the tasks take place in friendly matches and Squad Battles.
This is in Icon Swaps 2
These icons are included: In Icon Swaps 2, there are a total of 6 icons to choose from. These are:
Baggio (94) – for 17 tokens
E. Butragueno (87) – for 15 tokens
Blanc (89) – for 13 tokens
Overmars (91) – for 11 tokens
Cole (89) – for 9 tokens
Deco (91) – for 7 tokens
Additionally, there are these rewards: Besides the Icon cards, you can choose from a range of packs. These include:
2 tokens for the 81+ x25 pack
3 tokens for an 82+ x25 pack
5 tokens for an 83+ x25 pack
8 tokens for the base Icon pack
9 tokens for the Mid Icon pack
10 tokens for the Mid or Prime Icon pack
12 tokens for a Prime Icon pack
14 tokens for a 91+ Prime Icon pack
16 tokens for Prime or Prime Moments Icon pack
These are the new Icon Moments cards
What are Icon Moments cards? Icon Moments celebrate particularly heroic moments in the careers of the Icon players. They are the strongest Icon cards in the game.
These cards are now new in the game: A proud 34 new Icon versions are being introduced. Among them are extremely strong cards from Ronaldo (97), Puskas (95), Cruyff (95), and Eusebio (94).
With Lahm (92) and Ballack (92), two German players have made it into the selection.
Here is the complete list of Prime Icon Moments in FIFA 21:
Ronaldo (97)
Puskas (95)
Cruyff (95)
C. Alberto (94)
Eusebio (94)
Best (94)
Beckham (93)
Bergkamp (93)
Puyol (93)
Del Piero (93)
Stoichkov (93)
Luis Figo (93)
Nesta (93)
Torres (92)
Lahm (92)
Rush (92)
Drogba (92)
Vieira (92)
Kluivert (92)
Laudrup (92)
Hierro (92)
Ballack (92)
Nedved (92)
Scholes (92)
Suker (91)
Vidic (91)
Essien (91)
Veron (91)
Larsson (91)
Inzaghi (91)
Okocha (91)
Crespo (91)
Hernandez (91)
Barnes (90)
If you are looking for cheaper alternatives for your Ultimate Team, then the new POTM card of André Silva might be something for you.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson has one of the biggest YouTube channels in the world. One of his future goals is to have his own professional team in League of Legends. This could be part of the American LCS as early as 2023.
Who is Mr Beast? The YouTube channel MrBeast has over 52 million subscribers, making it the 20th most subscribed channel (via Socialblade).
He began his career 8 years ago with Minecraft videos. At some point, however, he started exploiting the YouTube algorithm and creating videos like “These YouTubers are Millionaires.” This gained him considerable reach.
In the meantime, he focuses on a mix of various challenges:
In some, he attempts challenges like staying underwater for 24 hours or staying in prison.
In others, he offers people money for crazy tasks or lets them shop for whatever they want for a certain amount.
On his second channel MrBeast Gaming, the YouTuber continues to showcase Minecraft, GTA 5, and Among Us.
In a 24-hour livestream at the end of 2020, Donaldson was asked about his LoL team. He responded:
I’m not just thinking about it; it’s going to happen. Definitely not this season and not in the Summer Split. But we will definitely have a Beast Gaming LoL team. One hundred percent.
When can we expect the team? According to his own statement, MrBeast is involved in several projects and cannot currently focus on it. According to a tweet from February 18, 2021, it will likely take another 2 years before the project really kicks off.
Then, however, the team should also start directly with the professionals. Currently, the starting spots are being allocated by Riot to the respective organizations. However, it has happened in the past that other teams have bought spots for money.
The YouTuber is known for pursuing and following through on his goals and projects with dedication. For example, he planted 1,700 trees in a day as part of an initiative with his colleagues. In total, he set a goal of 20 million.
Today, on February 19, there will be a visit from the mysterious Xur in Destiny 2 again. Where the Exotic vendor is hiding this time and which Exotics he brings you, MeinMMO reveals. Read here everything about Xur’s location and inventory this weekend.
What is happening in Destiny 2 right now? Bungie has surprised the Guardians this week with the probably scariest and best mission of the last years, which no Guardian should miss. If you want to know spoiler-free where to start the trip and how to prepare, you’ll find it here:
In this guide, MeinMMO reveals which exotic reward awaits you and gives you tips on puzzles and battles. Which new and reissued weapons you can hunt in Season 13, we show you here.
Furthermore, Bungie announced that they will significantly expand, and that should benefit Destiny 2
But today, Xur’s visit and the Trials of Osiris are the focus. Why is there a season in the Trials where the Guardians can “die through”, you can read here:
All info about Xur on February 19, 2021 – PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Google Stadia
Xur appears: As usual, the mysterious vendor will appear today at 6:00 PM on a planet of his choice. He will remain there until the next Weekly Reset on February 23 and sell the Guardians his Exotic items.
Xur, what are you bringing us today?
What does Xur have on offer? Does the Exotic vendor have equipment parts with high overall values this weekend? Or a coveted Exotic weapon? As always, he brings a random weapon Exotic and one Exotic armor piece each for Hunters, Titans, and Warlocks.
MeinMMO examines his inventory and reveals what he is selling.
Where is Xur? This is his location this weekend
Xur’s position: This weekend, Xur is selling his Exotic items in the EDZ in the area “Twisted Cove”.
Xur’s position in the EDZ
Xur’s inventory from February 19 to February 23 – All Exotics at a glance
Weapon: Scharlach – Hand cannon for 29 Legendary shards
Titan:Ursa Furiosa – Gauntlets for 23 Legendary shards
Mobility: +15
Resilience: +4
Recovery: +13
Discipline: +7
Intellect: +14
Strength: +10
Total: 63
Hunter:St4mp-F3R – Leg armor for 23 Legendary shards
Mobility: +12
Resilience: +18
Recovery: +2
Discipline: +8
Intellect: +9
Strength: +14
Total: 63
Warlock:Chromatic Fire – Chest armor for 23 Legendary shards
The Bundesliga POTM in FIFA 21 is well-known. André Silva from Eintracht Frankfurt has secured the title and the special SBC – despite fierce competition.
This is the POTM: The POTM is the “Player of the Month”, which is determined every month through a vote that players and fans can participate in.
The latest POTM title was awarded retroactively for the month of January. And the Player of the Month for January is: André Silva from Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Voting despite fierce competition: In the voting for the POTM, André Silva prevailed against notable competition. Alongside him, three players from FC Bayern were nominated: Robert Lewandowski, Joshua Kimmich, and Thomas Müller. Additionally, Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and André Silva’s teammate Filip Kostić were also in the running.
Especially Lewandowski, Kimmich or even Sancho could have been considered favorites here. In FIFA 21, the POTM always receives a strong upgrade and the three could have possibly received stronger cards.
However, the choice fell on André Silva, who thus replaces the last POTM Lars Stindl. And not without reason: The Frankfurt player scored 7 goals in 6 matches in January, netting three times twice. Overall, he has already scored 18 goals in this season’s 20 league appearances – quite a strong value. Silva was even nominated for the TOTY.
Easy to complete POTM Silva SBC
How to get the card: To get Silva’s POTM card, you need to complete the POTM SBC in Ultimate Team. This month, it consists of just one team with the following requirements:
At least 1 Bundesliga player
At least 1 TOTW player
At least 83 team rating
And at least 80 team chemistry
For Silva, you only need to exchange one team
Overall, it is easy to solve if you still have a few 83-rated players in your club and only need to buy individual cards. Starting completely from scratch, the SBC solutions are currently estimated at futbin at about 60,000 coins.
Is the card worth it? 60,000 coins may be a bit much for the card compared to other top strikers. But if you have some SBC fodder left, the card can definitely be worth it. Silva might not have much pace, but he has decent dribbling and shooting stats. With a chemistry style that boosts pace, the stats look quite good. At least for fans, the card is definitely an option.
Due to a leak, it is now known that TBC Classic is coming, the first expansion of WoW Classic. The 14-year-old game features not only new races and dungeons but also the best raid of all time – says MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus.
What kind of raid is this? It concerns Karazhan, the Tower of the Guardian. Here resides the wizard Medivh and his apprentice Khadgar – or rather, they used to, until Medivh was possessed by a dark power.
The tower is located in the Deadwind Pass and is a raid for ten players. The story of Karazhan and Medivh has already been explored in books and stories, and the raid itself returned as a mythic dungeon in Legion.
The boss Moroes also appeared in the remake of Karazhan in Legion.
Although Karazhan only made it to 2nd place in the poll for the best raid in WoW, it is still my absolute favorite raid to this day.
TBC Classic – Bosses make Karazhan the best raid of all time
Karazhan was the first raid I really saw – unfortunately, I was a bit too late to join during Classic. I used to raid Karazhan even when I didn’t need anything from it anymore and fell completely in love with the instance.
The raid is not only one of the first in TBC, but also one of the largest overall in WoW. It offers 11 boss encounters, 15 different bosses, and a secret boss. Many of the gameplay mechanics are absolutely unique or have shaped the game:
The opera event and the cellar have a weekly rotation with different encounters.
In the raid itself, you will find an NPC who can repair items for you.
The chess event is not a boss per se but a chess game that your group must win.
A secret boss is only available if a quest chain has been completed beforehand.
Due to its sheer size, one can spend hours in the instance, and it still doesn’t get boring. Even today, Karazhan is still popular among collectors who want to obtain the mount from Attumen, the first boss of the instance.
Blizzard did everything right with Karazhan back then, bringing qualities that I miss in raids today: the instance is large, there’s much to discover aside from the fights, and the boss encounters are still interestingly designed.
Many mechanics, especially in BfA and at the end of Legion, often felt boring. Furthermore, the Tower of the Guardian has an unparalleled background story.
A story like no other
There is a lot of lore behind Karazhan, some of which is detailed in the book “The Last Guardian” by Jeff Grubb. The last owner, Medivh, is ultimately the reason why the Orcs and thus the Horde came to Azeroth in the first place. This can be replayed in the Caverns of Time.
In Karazhan, you can learn more about the demons that possessed Medivh and what happened to his staff and relatives. The loyal servant Moroes, for example, continues to diligently take care of his duties even after his death, and Medivh’s father, Nielas Aran, expresses his inability to stop his son’s corruption.
The entire atmosphere in Karazhan is something that distinguishes the raid. No other dungeon or raid has since managed to convey the feeling of a baroque castle so well – from the visuals to the musical accompaniment. The new raid Castle Nathria from Shadowlands comes closest to this.
Frankly, I don’t care what else TBC brings. Karazhan is the only content I absolutely want to play again. While I will also visit other raids, the Tower of the Guardian will be my absolute highlight. What are you looking forward to most with TBC Classic?
In the survival game Valheim, building houses is a major part of the gameplay. Especially at the beginning, you don’t have many options. With these tips, you can start building large houses early on.
That’s why building houses is complicated: In Valheim, not only the suitable components determine how your house looks. Stability is also an important factor. This makes it difficult to construct large buildings at the start, as better materials like stones or core wood are not available until later.
Regular wood is only stable up to a certain size, and support beams do not necessarily fulfill the function you might expect. What matters more is how far your parts are from the foundations.
However, players are discovering more and more useful tricks to build larger houses early on. MeinMMO shows you some of them and how you can achieve this as well.
Building houses in Valheim is not that easy.
Build large houses early – here’s how
How does it work? To build a stable house, you need to pay attention to certain factors in Valheim. Important are, for example, the distance to the ground, connection to foundations, and horizontal supports.
So that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel for each section of your house, you can simply build one section and reuse the same pattern over and over. Basically, it’s a kind of construction kit.
Use “templates”
The Reddit user unionrodent has presented some examples of what this can look like. These are 20-meter wide longhouse designs that can be easily repeated until you have a large longhouse.
Here’s what the designs look like:
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A central beam with a Y-construction or parallel beams to support the roof on both sides
This involves materials that you can collect easily at the start. Basically, you only need wood for the walls and the roof. No stones, core wood, or metals are required. Additionally, some parts provide a vent so that you don’t suffer from smoke poisoning from fire sources inside the house.
If you use such structures and assemble them, you still need to pay attention to stability. The larger your house gets, the more important this becomes. Inside the longhouse, wooden beams should always be built at a distance of four meters. Pay attention to the color in which the objects are displayed while building.
These are the important colors when building:
Blue: Foundation, directly connected to the ground or a foundation component like stone
Green: Object is on foundation and is stable
Yellow and Orange: becomes unstable but still holds
The foundation doesn’t have to be made of stone or wood
While the foundations shown above are made of stone, which can only be mined with a pickaxe or must be collected awkwardly. Additionally, you need a stonecutter’s workbench to build it, which you only get later. However, you can also simply level the ground with a hoe and build on the earth. The user only used stone because it was easier for demonstration, as he says.
To reach the upper parts, you can simply build a staircase that reaches up to the roof. This doesn’t even need a point to connect to. It is also possible to simply walk up the already placed roof walls.
Alternatively, you can also just temporarily build a second floor to work on the roof. Once you finish the construction work, you can easily remove the scaffold used.
This year, the gates of Oblivion open in the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO). You will face the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon. But who is he actually?
Who is Mehrunes Dagon? The dark Daedric Prince of Destruction is referred to as the enemy of all mortal races of the land of Tamriel. He resides in one of the realms of Oblivion. He continually attempts to conquer the planet Nirn.
The reason assumed is that Dagon believes Tamriel is actually part of the realm of Oblivion and thus his rightful possession.
What is Oblivion? Oblivion, also known as the Realm of Forgetting, is a dimension divided into several realms. Mehrunes Dagon rules here in the so-called Deadlands. The remaining 15 realms belong to other Daedric Princes.
The realms can take on different forms and are subject to their own unique rules and laws. The Deadlands, with their magma lakes and fire-red sky, resemble hell.
What does he look like? Mehrunes Dagon takes the form of a gigantic horned demon with four arms in the realm of mortals. His body is marked by tattoos and scars.
He can also take on other forms, such as that of a regular Dremora, which resemble humans with horns and demonic faces.
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In the trailer for ESO: Blackwood, you will see Mehrunes Dagon.
Where does the Daedric Prince come from? Long ago, Dagon was a ghost king who assisted Lorkhan, the Missing God, in combating the God of Destruction and World-Eater Alduin. Alduin’s task is to devour the so-called Kalpas, so that the cycle of the universe can begin anew. A Kalpa refers to the time it takes for the universe in The Elder Scrolls to form, pass away, and return to its primal state.
However, Lorkhan wanted to hide parts of the Kalpas so that Alduin could later devour them and thus explode. This was meant to prevent any further cycles of ages. Mehrunes Dagon assisted him in this.
Alduin found this out and cursed Dagon, who was to find and destroy the previously hidden pieces of the Kalpa. Thus, he became the Prince of Destruction.
Why is Mehrunes Dagon so well-known? The Daedric Prince is a familiar figure for fans of the RPG series The Elder Scrolls. He was already the villain in the game TES: Battlespire from 1997. He attacked the Academy of Battle Mages, Battlespire, to plan an invasion from there, with which he wanted to conquer Tamriel.
His perhaps most famous appearance takes place in TES 4: Oblivion, where he again attacked the continent. This led to the assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim VII. Through Oblivion gates, Dagon sent the demonic Daedra into the land, and only the sacrifice of Martin Septim, the last descendant of the emperor, could stop the invasion.
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In The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, you confront Mehrunes Dagon.
Mehrunes Dagon continues to appear throughout the history of The Elder Scrolls, including a quest in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.
Why is he so cool? Mehrunes Dagon essentially fulfills every requirement that a villain must possess. He looks dark and demonic, follows an evil plan, and rules over a dimension that resembles hell. His backstory is interesting and quite profound.
Moreover, he keeps appearing in the story of The Elder Scrolls, and his attack on the Imperial City in TES 4: Oblivion as a gigantic, four-armed demon who tramples the inhabitants is unforgettable.
What is his role in ESO? In the new year-long story “Gates of Oblivion” and in the expansion Blackwood, Mehrunes Dagon reappears.
A Longhouse Emperor made a pact with the Daedric Prince to rule over Tamriel for him. However, this pact did not go as intended, and now four powerful weapons are in Tamriel that could cause devastating destruction.
The heroes of the MMORPG must set out to find and defuse these weapons. In doing so, they will confront Mehrunes Dagon. When exactly in the story you will meet the Daedric Prince is still unclear. The Blackwood addon would be suitable as the highlight of the ESO year 2021.
Are you looking forward to Mehrunes Dagon? Or would you have preferred another villain?
Some users are complaining about problems with the PS5 controller. A company has now disassembled the DualSense controller and examined where the issues might be coming from.
Who looked into the errors? The company iFixit took a closer look at the PS5 controller and dismantled it. iFixit is known for disassembling devices and examining repair possibilities.
iFixit identified 4 problems that may be responsible for the issues. It is important to note that this is a company specializing in repairs and that Sony has nothing to do with this investigation. Sony has not yet commented on iFixit’s findings.
These problems of the DualSense controller are mentioned by iFixit
This is the first problem: The motion sensor in the thumbstick is responsible for ensuring that the movements are registered by the console. In technical terms, these parts are called “potentiometers.”
The wear of this component causes irregularities in the material, which in turn alters the values that are transmitted.
According to iFixit, the problem lies with this very component. It is manufactured by the company “Alps Alpine” and is rated for 2 million movements. This is basically a theoretical value, as components can function longer or shorter.
iFixit also calculates what this means in practice. If someone moves the stick 120 times a minute and plays for an average of 2 hours a day, they would reach a lifespan of 4 to 7 months.
This is what a potentiometer of the DualSense controller looks like. Image source: Fixit.com
This is the second problem: A spring mechanism ensures that the joystick always returns to the center of the controller. This means that every time you release the thumbstick, it returns to its starting position, putting stress on the small spring.
The problem is that with each movement you make, this spring is stressed and will eventually wear out. The spring wants to reposition the thumbstick back to the center.
The consequence is that a worn-out spring can no longer properly center the thumbstick. The system still registers this as movement, which you know and hate as “stick drift.” You move even though you actually want to stand still.
What is “stick drift”? “Stick drift” is a problem where the thumbstick of the controller moves on its own – even when you are not touching the controller.
The problem is not an isolated incident, and controllers from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are affected.
This is the third problem: Here, iFixit primarily points to material wear, as the controller consists largely of plastic. Those who play a lot and actively will likely wear out the controller faster. Here, plastic rubs against plastic, which eventually strains the material.
Additionally, self-lubricating plastics are often used here, which also wear out over time. Self-lubricating means that during movements, some plastic is automatically lost to compensate for friction.
The entire joystick is made of plastic and is housed in a metal casing. Image source: Fixit.com
This is the fourth problem: Dirt is also listed by iFixit as a problem. Potentiometers are sensitive to fluctuating temperatures and humidity.
iFixit cleaned the controller with pressurized air and isopropyl alcohol and found that the problems were mitigated as a result.
How to (temporarily) fix stick drift on the PS5 controller
Available solutions: iFixit also suggests several problem solutions. While these cannot repair worn parts, they should at least help:
A recalibration of the stick can help if the spring is worn out and the joystick does not return to its position.
Dead zone calibration can also help. This ignores small movements of the joystick and prevents you from “drifting” around.
In general, you should handle your devices carefully.
The lawsuit is the reason why iFixit looked into the controller
What happened? A law firm had filed a class action lawsuit against Sony in the USA over faulty PS5 controllers. The plaintiff complained about a so-called “stick drift” and suspected that Sony had intentionally used “defective” components that were already present in the DualShock4 of the PS4.
The plaintiff criticizes that repairing a controller is very cumbersome. Anyone wanting to send their controller in as a warranty case would also have to pay shipping costs.
The law firm and the plaintiff are now hoping that more users will join them in taking action against Sony. They have ruled out an out-of-court settlement from the start.
This is what’s inside the DualSense controller
The DualSense controller is Sony’s official PS5 controller for the PlayStation 5.
What functions does the DualSense controller offer? This controller offers several new features supported by new games. These include, among others:
Haptic feedback, which allows the controller to generate vibrations to make the gameplay feel more realistic
Adaptive triggers, which should give different feels to the trigger of weapons
Built-in speakers and microphone, so you no longer necessarily need a headset on the PS5.
That’s why you need the DualSense controller: Sony has already made it clear that you need a DualSense controller for PS5 games. With your PS4 controller, you cannot play PS5 games, but you can navigate through the menus or watch movies.
What do you think about this? Have you experienced similar problems with the PS5 controller or do you think they are normal signs of wear?
We look back at the news from the past week in the MeinMMO News Podcast. Tune in and get up to date.
Here are our topics: The week before the BlizzCon is always exciting and full of rumors and speculations regarding possible reveals. But even outside the BlizzCon, there was a lot happening in the gaming world.
With the current episode of the MeinMMO podcast, we look back at the past week, so tune in and get updated. Here are our topics:
Of course, we also give our own take on the news and events and look at them from expert perspectives. But we also want to know your opinion, let us know in the comments.
Here’s how you can participate: We are of course happy about constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement regarding our new news show! Write your opinion in the comments under the article or in our Discord and let us know what you think of the new format. You can also reach us via email at [email protected].
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A new gameplay trailer for Season 2 of Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Warzone shows some changes to the map Verdansk and reignites rumors of a nuke event. The roadmap also reveals two new modes for the battle royale. MeinMMO shows you the details.
What does Season 2 bring for Warzone? The new Season 2 of Call of Duty brings fresh content to the battle royale Warzone on February 25 and announces further innovations throughout the season. Included are:
MeinMMO shows you what has been announced for the Warzone and explains what it all means. We have embedded the German gameplay trailer for Season 2 here for you:
https://youtu.be/JA0N7CVn0G4
CoD Warzone changes Verdansk map in Season 2
What happens with the map Verdansk? The trailer shows only a few seconds of the new content for the Warzone, but they are quite impactful.
The trailer starts the short Warzone segment at 1:40 minutes and shows the female operator “Maxis” pulling herself up using a winch that apparently leads from a missile silo up to the surface.
The view from the missile silo.
Currently, this POI is not present in Verdansk. A few scenes later, you can see the area near a monument located south of the military base on the mountain.
The two parts of the monument are further apart, and under the foundation of the large sculpture, a missile silo seems to have opened.
The area near the monument over the military base is changing.
Afterwards, battles in the new areas can still be seen. The silos could therefore be new, accessible underground areas in Verdansk.
The permanently mounted winches at the upper “entrance” of the missile silos suggest that the new areas are always open and accessible.
Unlike the bunkers in Warzone, for which you usually need either a code or a keycard to enter.
Fights inside the missile silos are possible.
At the end of the trailer, there is a hint of a small teaser that is already in the game. If you look at the sea to the south during a battle royale match in Verdansk, you can spot a storm and below it a ship.
This ship disappeared near the map “Rebirth Island” during the “Cold War” storyline and has now resurfaced off the coast of Verdansk. What this means remains unclear for now.
Currently, it appears that this ship is related to how the stories of Cold War & Warzone fit together. The villain “Stitch” is, according to the story of Season 2, now in the Verdansk of the “Cold War” era and has sent the operator “Adler” to the Gulag.
This all ties in with the zombie storyline from Cold War. An in-game teaser plays an audio file in Russian in Warzone, which was translated by the Twitter user “@totamyipetrik”:
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MeinMMO colleague Irina Moritz also listened in and helped with the translation since she speaks Russian.
Translation of the audio file: “The Germans can hear me. This is Captain Rosental speaking. Russian ship Vodyanoi. […] We are transporting a contagious biological material. What have we done? There has been an outbreak of infection. I’m afraid we won’t be able to contain it.”
Whether the ship will become a new, accessible area, is related to the outbreak event, or will only remain relevant for the story, will likely only be revealed with the start of the season. It’s possible that all battle royale modes in Verdansk will receive zombie mechanics, thereby adding a PvE element like in the spiritual predecessor “Blackout”.
A mysterious ship approaches Verdansk.
2 new modes coming in Season 2 – Resurrection Extreme & Exfiltration
The roadmap for Season 2 shows two fresh modes for the battle royale Warzone:
Resurrection Extreme – Launching at the start of the season
Exfiltration – Expected to be released during the season
What can the new modes do? With Resurrection Extreme, the small map “Rebirth Island” will receive an intense action mode. The game mode follows the rules of “Revive”, meaning a team is only entirely eliminated when all team members are out of play.
The first 10 minutes, fallen teammates are continually revived. The “Extreme” part comes from the fact that instead of 40 soldiers, now 90 players fight for victory.
“Exfiltration” will be a mode for Verdansk. Essentially, it’s a normal battle royale with an additional victory condition. Throughout the match, you can attempt to capture a “Radio”.
Like in a “Most Wanted” contract, you become marked to all other players on the map while trying to capture it. If you succeed, the match ends, and you fly out of the city victoriously.
The first roadmap of Season 2.
New weapons and operators with Season 2
What weapons are coming with Season 2? All weapons that are new in Black Ops Cold War will also be released in Warzone. The CoD developers have officially announced six new weapons for Season 2.
Two weapons for the battle pass that you can unlock directly:
LC10: SMG at level 31 of the battle pass
This is likely the SMG “Scorpion”, which has appeared in several past CoDs
FARA 83: Assault rifle at level 15 of the battle pass
This rifle is apparently modeled after the Israeli weapon IMI Galil
Four weapons that will arrive during the season:
R1 Shadowhunter – A powerful crossbow
ZRG 20MM – A sniper rifle with high bullet velocity but low rate of fire
E-Tool – A shovel as a melee weapon
Machete – A large knife with lethal properties
What new operator skins are coming? The roadmap announces a total of four new operators, who are also featured in the gameplay trailer. The main focus of the season is the nasty “Naga”.
Additionally, at the start of the season, the female operator from the zombie story “Maxis” is coming, although it is likely she is a premium operator that you can only obtain through premium currency in the shop. However, it is also possible for Maxis to be released via the battle pass.
Throughout the season, the operators “Rivas” and “Wolf” will also be added, who are connected to the Black Ops soldier “Woods”. You will probably only get these two through the premium shop.
Warzone launches an event with Season 2 – Outbreak Challenge Event
What happens during the outbreak event? Cold War brings a new zombie mode at the start of Season 2: Outbreak. The new mode launches alongside an event, which also starts on February 25 – the Outbreak Challenge Event. The event runs alongside Warzone.
Here you can unlock special cosmetic items through challenges. It is not yet officially known how this will unfold in detail, but based on some leaks, one can make some reasonable assumptions:
It’s a zombie event
Cold War & Warzone offer various challenges to unlock items
Upon completing all challenges, there are weapon skins available
Throughout the event, zombie modes will be running in Warzone
Through the connection of the stories of Cold War, Warzone, and the zombie mode, along with the emergence of new nuke silos in Verdansk, the rumors about the so-called “nuke event” in Warzone are again heating up. This rumor has persisted for months.
What is the rumor about? It is about the map Verdansk being destroyed by a nuclear strike and then replaced by a new or altered map.
The obvious opening of new missile silos with supposedly nuclear warheads inside fosters this speculation again.
The zombie component also introduces another reason for the destruction of Verdansk: Through the mysterious ship on the coast, the undead are coming into the city and taking over a large part of the area, leading to a massive “dark aether” outbreak in Verdansk. To regain control, the city must be destroyed.
The trailer also hints at this slightly. Here it says: “Learn from the beginnings of the end.” This could be interpreted as the end of Verdansk.
However, the fact that the zombie storyline could have such a significant impact on events in Warzone seems somewhat far-fetched at the moment – but is becoming increasingly likely.
The fact is that Twitch does not comment on bans, and it is up to the Twitch streamer whether to reveal the reason for the ban and how he presents the ban publicly.
Other streamers, however, receive permanent bans for having a pornographic photo visible in their stream for seconds and apparently completely unintentionally.
These discrepancies are currently leading to a discussion about Twitch’s banning policy. Furthermore, the mood is already heated because many streamers are worried about their channels after Twitch has come into the spotlight of the music industry and distributed warnings and bans for copyright violations that date back years.
How could this be done better? A smart suggestion, on how to improve the banning policy, came at the end of January from Cohh Carnage. He sits on the streamer council of Twitch.
He has the simple idea: Why not talk to the streamer before a ban occurs about what really happened? Carnage suggests having the account managers who look after streamers talk to the affected parties about the ban.
This could clarify many misunderstandings in a short time. That would surely be a step forward to take the toxicity out of the situation.
At least in the case of “misunderstandings” Twitch would no longer look so bad. And streamers would have fewer arguments to portray themselves as “completely innocent victims” and to stir up their fans against Twitch if they would just talk to them beforehand.
The prime example of a strange ban on Twitch: DrDisrespect.
The strange incident surrounding the ban of DrDisrespect is still looming: He was a top streamer on Twitch for years, but was then banned.
To this day, no one knows why DrDisrespect was banned from Twitch. However, there is the idea that Twitch banned DrDisrespect to get out of the highly lucrative contract with him:
These discrepancies are currently leading to a discussion about Twitch’s banning policy. Furthermore, the mood is already heated because many streamers are worried about their channels after Twitch has come into the spotlight of the music industry and distributed warnings and bans for copyright violations that date back years.
How could this be done better? A smart suggestion, on how to improve the banning policy, came at the end of January from Cohh Carnage. He sits on the streamer council of Twitch.
He has the simple idea: Why not talk to the streamer before a ban occurs about what really happened? Carnage suggests having the account managers who look after streamers talk to the affected parties about the ban.
This could clarify many misunderstandings in a short time. That would surely be a step forward to take the toxicity out of the situation.
At least in the case of “misunderstandings” Twitch would no longer look so bad. And streamers would have fewer arguments to portray themselves as “completely innocent victims” and to stir up their fans against Twitch if they would just talk to them beforehand.
The prime example of a strange ban on Twitch: DrDisrespect.
The strange incident surrounding the ban of DrDisrespect is still looming: He was a top streamer on Twitch for years, but was then banned.
To this day, no one knows why DrDisrespect was banned from Twitch. However, there is the idea that Twitch banned DrDisrespect to get out of the highly lucrative contract with him:
The fact is that Twitch does not comment on bans, and it is up to the Twitch streamer whether to reveal the reason for the ban and how he presents the ban publicly.
Other streamers, however, receive permanent bans for having a pornographic photo visible in their stream for seconds and apparently completely unintentionally.
These discrepancies are currently leading to a discussion about Twitch’s banning policy. Furthermore, the mood is already heated because many streamers are worried about their channels after Twitch has come into the spotlight of the music industry and distributed warnings and bans for copyright violations that date back years.
How could this be done better? A smart suggestion, on how to improve the banning policy, came at the end of January from Cohh Carnage. He sits on the streamer council of Twitch.
He has the simple idea: Why not talk to the streamer before a ban occurs about what really happened? Carnage suggests having the account managers who look after streamers talk to the affected parties about the ban.
This could clarify many misunderstandings in a short time. That would surely be a step forward to take the toxicity out of the situation.
At least in the case of “misunderstandings” Twitch would no longer look so bad. And streamers would have fewer arguments to portray themselves as “completely innocent victims” and to stir up their fans against Twitch if they would just talk to them beforehand.
The prime example of a strange ban on Twitch: DrDisrespect.
The strange incident surrounding the ban of DrDisrespect is still looming: He was a top streamer on Twitch for years, but was then banned.
To this day, no one knows why DrDisrespect was banned from Twitch. However, there is the idea that Twitch banned DrDisrespect to get out of the highly lucrative contract with him:
The banning policy of Twitch is increasingly under harsh criticism. The platform has issued permanent bans against major streamers, but had to revoke them. Apparently, the public pressure was too great. The seemingly arbitrary suspensions and the lack of transparency from Twitch are causing ongoing discussions. Our author Schuhmann also sees a significant issue here with Twitch.
The 16-year-old Clix is currently ranked number 30 on Twitch and is one of the rising stars of the platform.
Clix was apparently banned because a pornographic image was briefly visible in his stream: One of his folders in Windows had a thumbnail that did not pass as age-appropriate. This thumbnail was – apparently accidentally – visible for a short time in his Twitch stream.
Neither Clix nor Twitch explicitly stated that the streamer was permanently banned for this, but it is likely that this “oops” mistake was the reason for the permanent ban.
However, the ban of Clix outraged so many of his fans that over 22,000 posts appeared under the hashtag “#FreeClix” on Twitter. The hashtag even trended. The streamer was unbanned by Twitch within just a day and a half.
Twitch regularly buckles under pressure on Twitter
Has this happened before? Yes, almost the same case happened with the streamer Forsen in December 2020. The Swedish streamer also accidentally showed a pornographic image, earned the nickname “Horsen” and was permanently banned from Twitch.
The same happened to a streamer in Brazil: She was permanently banned by Twitch, apparently because her young daughter was seen without a shirt. The streamer raised the alarm, saying she was losing her livelihood. The case gained significant attention on Twitter and Twitch lifted the ban without comment.
The streamer TayHuhu was permanently banned until enough people on Twitter found it totally unfair.
Whoever screams loud enough gets freed
This is the problem with these bans: It creates the impression that a permanent ban on Twitch can be circumvented if one can just find enough people on Twitter who view the ban as unfair and raise enough alarm. Then someone at Twitch notices and lifts the ban.
This makes it seem that small streamers without reach remain banned while bigger streamers manage to get unbanned.
This leads to ongoing discussions about Twitch’s bans. Time and again, Twitch ends up looking really bad.
Permanent bans on Twitch can only be lifted through a successful appeal. They are thus so bitter because they take away the livelihood of streamers. They essentially lose their job.
Because Twitch remains silent, they always look bad
The problem is that we only know the side of the banned streamer, as Twitch does not comment on the bans. Because they remain silent, the responsible individuals at Twitch have only two options for responding:
Either they let the ban stand and say nothing – then they appear as if they don’t care about “injustice”
or they lift the ban and say nothing – then they appear as if they have no backbone, would ban arbitrarily, and later fold
Why is Twitch silent? That’s their policy. Apparently, there could be trouble if they make the reasons for the bans public, perhaps for legal reasons. Generally, it is unusual for platforms like Twitch to interfere in such discussions – they can apparently only lose.
To this day, no one knows why DrDisrespect was banned from Twitch. However, there is the idea that Twitch banned DrDisrespect to get out of the highly lucrative contract with him:
These discrepancies are currently leading to a discussion about Twitch’s banning policy. Furthermore, the mood is already heated because many streamers are worried about their channels after Twitch has come into the spotlight of the music industry and distributed warnings and bans for copyright violations that date back years.
How could this be done better? A smart suggestion, on how to improve the banning policy, came at the end of January from Cohh Carnage. He sits on the streamer council of Twitch.
He has the simple idea: Why not talk to the streamer before a ban occurs about what really happened? Carnage suggests having the account managers who look after streamers talk to the affected parties about the ban.
This could clarify many misunderstandings in a short time. That would surely be a step forward to take the toxicity out of the situation.
At least in the case of “misunderstandings” Twitch would no longer look so bad. And streamers would have fewer arguments to portray themselves as “completely innocent victims” and to stir up their fans against Twitch if they would just talk to them beforehand.
The prime example of a strange ban on Twitch: DrDisrespect.
The strange incident surrounding the ban of DrDisrespect is still looming: He was a top streamer on Twitch for years, but was then banned.
To this day, no one knows why DrDisrespect was banned from Twitch. However, there is the idea that Twitch banned DrDisrespect to get out of the highly lucrative contract with him:
The fact is that Twitch does not comment on bans, and it is up to the Twitch streamer whether to reveal the reason for the ban and how he presents the ban publicly.
Other streamers, however, receive permanent bans for having a pornographic photo visible in their stream for seconds and apparently completely unintentionally.
These discrepancies are currently leading to a discussion about Twitch’s banning policy. Furthermore, the mood is already heated because many streamers are worried about their channels after Twitch has come into the spotlight of the music industry and distributed warnings and bans for copyright violations that date back years.
How could this be done better? A smart suggestion, on how to improve the banning policy, came at the end of January from Cohh Carnage. He sits on the streamer council of Twitch.
He has the simple idea: Why not talk to the streamer before a ban occurs about what really happened? Carnage suggests having the account managers who look after streamers talk to the affected parties about the ban.
This could clarify many misunderstandings in a short time. That would surely be a step forward to take the toxicity out of the situation.
At least in the case of “misunderstandings” Twitch would no longer look so bad. And streamers would have fewer arguments to portray themselves as “completely innocent victims” and to stir up their fans against Twitch if they would just talk to them beforehand.
The prime example of a strange ban on Twitch: DrDisrespect.
The strange incident surrounding the ban of DrDisrespect is still looming: He was a top streamer on Twitch for years, but was then banned.
To this day, no one knows why DrDisrespect was banned from Twitch. However, there is the idea that Twitch banned DrDisrespect to get out of the highly lucrative contract with him:
In the schedule for BlizzCon 2021, you can find the times for streams of Diablo, WoW, Overwatch, and Hearthstone, where the streams are running, and what announcements there are.
Update from February 19: We have updated the article with the information already leaked by Blizzard about WoW and WoW: Classic.
When does it start? BlizzCon 2021 starts on Friday, February 19 at 11:00 PM. It ends on Sunday morning, February 21.
The big opening ceremony kicks off on Friday evening. The program lasts about an hour, and at 00:10 AM on Saturday morning, it will seamlessly transition into the following programs. In the overview below, we show you which streams are planned for WoW, Diablo, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and the strategy section.
How long does BlizzCon last? The first day ends on Saturday morning at 02:50 AM.
On Saturday evening at 9:00 PM the second day of the show starts. BlizzCon 2021 ends on Sunday morning at 01:30 AM.
Do you need to buy tickets? From past BlizzCons, you know the virtual tickets. However, this time everything is free, so you do not need to buy a ticket for BlizzConline in the Blizzard store.
With this schedule for BlizzConline, you know exactly when to tune in for your games. Additionally, we have a live ticker for BlizzCon 2021 on MeinMMO, so you won’t miss anything.
Why “BlizzConline”? Due to the Corona pandemic, the traditional BlizzCon will take place online in 2021. This fitting name combines both aspects. In the Fireside Chat on November 2, 2020, Blizzard President J. Allen Brack revealed that BlizzConline 2021 will be free. The event is the replacement for the BlizzCon 2020 that was canceled due to Covid-19.
[toc]
All streams on February 19 for BlizzConline at a glance
What is on when? In the following graphic, we show you the program points of the main stream. Below this graphic in the article, you will learn more about the individual games and program points of the special streams for WoW, Diablo, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and strategy.
Dates for the main stream from Blizzard on Friday evening. “What happens next” from Diablo and “behind the scenes of OW 2” are repeats. These videos will run prior on the special streams we describe below.
How can I watch? As promised, you can watch the entire BlizzConline 2021 for free. You can find streams on:
Watch the opening with GameStar: If you want, you can also watch the opening ceremony together with the experts from GameStar. Just tune in to the YouTube channel of GameStar or the MAX channel on Twitch:
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A look at the creation process of the Wandering Ancient – the mount chosen by the community
The Voices of the Afterlife (01:20 AM to 02:40 AM)
The voice actors talk about their roles for the WoW characters and share background information
What we already know: Originally, fans hoped for more information about the new patch 9.1 in WoW Shadowlands and an announcement for The Burning Crusade for WoW: Classic. Blizzard leaked this information before the event. So we now know:
The Diablo team discusses new content for Sanctuary
The voice of Deckard Cain (00:50 AM to 01:00 AM)
Michael Gough, the voice of Deckard Cain, talks about the origins of the cult voice and answers some questions from the Diablo universe.
Panel discussion (01:00 AM to 01:40 AM)
The developer team talks about the latest findings
Interview with Brom (01:40 AM to 02:00 AM)
The legendary artist Brom gives an interview and talks about the inspiration for his unforgettable contributions to the Diablo franchise.
Insights (02:00 AM to 02:40 AM)
The developer team discusses interesting facts about Diablo
What is expected? The developers of Diablo 4 have hinted that the content of BlizzConline could also revolve around a new class reveal for Diablo 4. Players hope this will happen and Blizzard will reveal the 4th class.
Diablo Immortal is also a topic. Here, more details about the development status are expected, and perhaps even a release date.
There are also rumors of a remaster or remake of Diablo 2. Will Blizzard fulfill this wish of the veterans?
Here, the best players from StarCraft and StarCraft II face off against each other.
Back to the beginnings of Blizzard (02:20 AM to 02:40 AM)
A look behind the scenes of the first games that led to the founding of Blizzard Entertainment.
What is expected? Players do not expect any big announcements here. The streams mainly revolve around StarCraft and the “old” games that made Blizzard great.
Streams for Saturday, February 20.
What will be shown? On Saturday, the program of the livestreams looks like a lot of entertainment for the community. No major announcements are expected.
It starts again around 11:00 PM.
The main stream features a Diablo adventure with the web series Critical Role.
In the Warcraft stream, Thrall’s development and the sound of WoW will be discussed. After that, the cooking show with dishes whose ingredients are based on those from Azeroth will be aired.
The Hearthstone channel offers a streamer showdown with internet stars and streamers.
In the Diablo stream, you can watch artists as they design a nasty monster for Diablo.
Overwatch initially showcases community members who have achieved a lot in the workshop. Then, Soe Gschwind shows how to mold your own Pachimari out of clay.
In the strategy stream, there will be a discussion on Saturday about CarBot and artists showing how they design key figures from Overwatch and WoW.
Which of the contents are you most looking forward to at BlizzConline 2021? Let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO and discuss with other readers what the highlights might be or what your personal favorites are.
Valheim is full of dangers, but not all of them look as threatening as they really are. Even if you’ve already defeated dragons and slime monsters, you should be cautious not to underestimate tiny mosquitoes.
What kind of enemies are they? We’re talking about Deathskitos. These are blood-sucking, tiny mosquitoes that you can find in the Plains biome. Deathskitos are currently the smallest enemies in Valheim.
The nasty thing about them is that they don’t look nearly as dangerous as they really are. They can easily kill an unprepared Viking with a single strike and will chase you even into the water. Memes about these mosquitoes have been circulating in the Valheim subreddit for some time now, and they are still relevant weeks later:
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Why are these creatures so tough? Deathskitos have some characteristics that make them incredibly dangerous:
they are small and fast, making them hard to hit
the damage they deal is very high, which can instantly kill players with poor food and armor
they can fly, allowing them to reach you even on a ship if you just pass by
when they attack you, your screen shakes more than during a troll attack, quickly disorienting you
Additionally, Deathskitos constantly cover a larger area. Coupled with their high speed, you can quickly find yourself in a fight with them, and if they are guarding the loot you lost upon death, getting it back can be very difficult.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMVP6EqYjN0
This is what a Deathskito attack looks like – they even follow into swamps.
On the other hand, Deathskitos have very little health. Usually, one hit is enough to kill them – if you manage to hit them. This also has a positive side: if you’re fast enough with the ship, you can just squash them at the bow like a fly on a windshield when you “drive over” them. Incredibly satisfying.
That’s why the Plains are dangerous: Deathskitos are not the only threats in the Plains. This biome is also home to Fulings, small (and large) goblins. You shouldn’t underestimate them either, even if they are small. They can also take you out with their small clubs in an instant.
The Plains are currently the hardest of the five land biomes that you can fully explore. Therefore, you should have strong armor from the Mountains with you and always reinforce yourself with the best food you can craft. Sausages, turnip stew and, if possible, serpent meat and its stew are advisable.
MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus says: Even I have encountered this. Although I would consider myself an experienced Viking, I have a great deal of respect for these creatures. After I had already defeated Bone Mass, the third boss in the Swamp, as well as some dragons in the Mountains, I explored the world a bit.
In the Plains, I encountered Deathskitos and underestimated them considerably. Despite having bronze and iron armor, they were able to kill me with a single hit – since then, I have become extremely cautious.
The director of Final Fantasy XIV, Naoki Yoshida, explains in an interview how he approaches the development of his MMORPG and how he managed to make the game so successful.
Among fans and in the gaming industry, FFXIV is considered one of the success stories of how to turn a failed project into one of the most popular MMORPGs in the world.
The reason for the success is mainly the way director Yoshida and his team approach the development of the MMORPG and its updates. The director explained this in an interview (via. Washingtonpost).
Long-term Planning
The team plans the content of the MMORPG generally about 2 years in advance. Especially the 10-year-old storyline of FFXIV, which will be completed with the upcoming expansion Endwalker, must always be written very early.
The 4-member writing team of FFXIV retreats completely for this purpose. According to Yoshida, they isolate themselves in a rented office room “somewhere in Shinjuku,” a district of Tokyo where the headquarters of Square Enix is located.
The story for Endwalker was already written in October 2019, although Square Enix only recently officially announced the expansion. Endwalker is set to be released in fall 2021. Other expansions followed a similar pattern.
Yoshida gives this advice to other developers as well.
Structure your system so that it can support the updates [for your MMO] and build your foundation with your [long-term] plans in mind. […]
For the development of the actual content of FFXIV, Yoshida and his team have set strict timelines.
To create a dungeon, our game design team must establish the actual content of the plan. This takes about 10 workdays, then it is submitted for approval, which costs another 30 days. Then we hand it over to the programmers, and it takes them about two weeks to program the mechanics.
It is very clear how much money and time we need for each part of the package we have for our planners and management.
Naoki Yoshida
These strict timelines were what helped Yoshida and his team save FFXIV from collapse in 2013. The director of the MMORPG emphasizes that the goals and requirements must be realistic and planned far in advance.
Standardized Approach
In order for the developers to deliver content at such regular intervals, Yoshida and his team have also placed a great deal of emphasis on efficiency.
About 60% – 70% of the content in FFXIV is therefore designed to fit into the existing tight schedules of the development team. An update in FFXIV usually consists of content that is precisely outlined and planned, allowing the developers to estimate how long it will take them.
This approach helps the team in content supply to become much more efficient. The precisely defined amount of work leads to the creation of special tools that make the development of new content even easier.
All together, this enabled the team to deliver the regular updates that fans have become accustomed to.
In update 5.5, for example, the new dungeon Paglth’an is included, which is part of the 70% of the “standardized content.”
Innovation Must Not Be Lacking
However, even though the team is efficient and regularly delivers large updates, Yoshida does not want to let them rest on their laurels. In the strict timetable, there should still be room for new ideas and fresh wind.
While it is great that his team can assess the work well, it is less exciting if players can predict the upcoming updates, says Yoshida. Otherwise, problems can arise:
[…] However, there is a great danger of boredom and fatigue. To prevent this, we leave about 30% to 40% [of the content] outside the bundled package, so we can tackle new challenges. We consider what new types of content we can provide.
And sometimes we distribute it over multiple patches to deliver something bigger. So we have a certain stability in the 60% to 70% of the regular content.
Naoki Yoshida
This “other type of content” includes instances like the island Eureka, which is detached from the open world of the MMORPG and has its own rules and mechanics.
Eureka was a completely new type of content in FFXIV that players had not experienced before and had to learn how to navigate in the instance.
Endwalker and Another 5 Years of Content
What’s next for FFXIV? According to reports to investors and Yoshida’s own statements, FFXIV is experiencing steady growth in subscription numbers, so fans need not worry about the MMORPG.
Even if Endwalker completes the story arc around Hydaelyn and Zodiark, it is far from the end of the game. For at least 5 more years, FFXIV is expected to receive new content. If the developers maintain the current pace, we can expect at least 2 more expansions after Endwalker.
Yoshida stated that theoretically FFXIV could run indefinitely as long as people play it. He likes to compare his MMORPG to a TV series that gets more seasons as long as the viewer numbers remain high.
Fans can look forward to new stories and content in FFXIV, even though the team is still very secretive about what they will look like.
However, how catastrophic the release of FFXIV was and why it had to be rebooted, we explain in detail in our article:
There is new information about the MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria (CoE). The development studio announced that it is developing a strategy game aimed at those who prefer the settlement part. Fans are not very enthusiastic.
What is the status of Chronicles of Elyria? The MMORPG raised over $1.3 million via Kickstarter in 2016. Through further actions and sales, such as in-game Advent calendars, the funding amount increased to almost $8 million.
Instead of an MMORPG, now a strategy game is coming first
What did the studio announce now? In a new video update, “Caspian” announced that another game is currently in development. Kingdoms of Elyria (KoE) is a strategy game where you build and manage a settlement.
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Studio founder Jeromy “Caspian” Walsh announces Kingdoms of Elyria in the video.
Why is a strategy game coming now? This building part has always been part of the overall concept of Chronicles of Elyria. Jeromy Walsh explains:
Chronicles of Elyria was designed from the beginning to allow players to have different experiences based on their interests. While everyone who plays begins their life in a settlement, many of you will later establish your own. For those who do, CoE seamlessly merges an MMORPG with a colony or settlement simulation.
Jeromy Walsh, founder of Soulbound Studios
This settlement simulation will now be released as a standalone game, and every backer of the Kickstarter campaign with at least Elyrian-level will receive the game for free. KoE will also be sold, with the revenue then flowing into the development of the MMORPG.
Kingdoms of Elyria will be released in four phases, with the first phase starting around the end of 2021.
What is the future of CoE? According to “Caspian”, work on the MMORPG will continue, and what the team learns during the development of Kingdoms of Elyria will influence the work on CoE.
What do the fans say about this situation? The community is somewhat divided over this announcement. Some fans believe that KoE has always been part of the game and it is not bad to release it now as a standalone product. Others feel that work on the MMORPG should continue.
Brynath writes on reddit: “To summarize: They are still working on the game, but have changed their focus again and are now developing a standalone top-down game that will somehow give them momentum to continue with the MMO.”
ZeekTheRedditor is somewhat upset (via reddit): “Desperate MMO developer advertises Banished ripoff as proof that they are still working on a multi-million-dollar MMO project.”
DeepDashin explains it on reddit: “It’s not a new game per se. KoE has always been planned to test your kingdom and settlement management, but they just pushed it forward to get money, it seems.”
The decision to want to release a strategy game now, after all that has happened around CoE, of course leads to discussions. However, these are still being handled reasonably. The major accusations are still absent, even if disappointment and surprise are palpable.
What do you think about the matter? Do you think it’s okay that the developers of CoE are now developing a strategy game to gain more money?
In the League of Legends, the Korean coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho (30) is considered a genius who can shape LoL teams from scratch and bring them to the top. However, a scandal overshadows his career: He is alleged to have choked a player. Now the final judgments are in.
Why is cvMax considered a genius in LoL? The thirty-year-old is a newcomer to the LoL scene. Most coaches were former professionals. cvMax came out of nowhere but convinced the manager of a second-tier team in 2017 to give him a chance.
In just two years, cvMax led “Team Griffin” from the second Korean league to the top of Korea and even made it to the World Championship. He accomplished this by discovering excellent new players and shaping them into top players in a short time.
Later, accusations surfaced that he had grabbed and choked his own top laner Sword due to dissatisfaction with his performance.
Griffin was also shaken by further scandals: Allegations arose that things went wrong with the young star player “Kavani” regarding contracts and transfers.
This was the turning point: The ban of cvMax outraged Korean fans. They considered cvMax a strict but fair coach – and the alleged choking victim, Sword, someone who seeks blame elsewhere.
With a large wave of signatures, they forced the release of cvMax, who then continued his career: 200,000 people signed the petition for cvMax’s release.
In front of the sports court, players and coaches testified that cvMax became loud during training, even touching the chair on which players sat and shaking it, but no one could really testify to the “choking”.
This is how it turned out: The hearings are now concluded and the judgments are known:
The sports court, the “South Korean Esports Fairness Committee,” has suspended cvMax for 5 months. He is not allowed to coach any team until May 2021, so his job at DRX is currently on hold, with an interim coach taking over for him.
A civil court has fined cvMax one million South Korean won, which is $901 (approximately €746).
It is currently unknown whether cvMax will accept the civil court’s judgment or appeal it. In an interview with Inven, cvMax stated that he would consult with his lawyer.
The case of cvMax has been a focus for us at MeinMMO for 2 years. For more details on the players he helped develop and how the fans campaigned for his release, read here:
That the WoW content of BlizzCon 2021 was known in advance is particularly bitter for one group: the developers. This says Cortyn from MeinMMO.
The most important content for the WoW franchise was leaked before BlizzCon. Not through a chatterbox insider, a mistakenly sent email from a gaming magazine, or data mining – but through a bitter blunder by Blizzard itself. The whole world was able to learn what the broad content of Patch 9.1 would be and, more importantly, what transformation Anduin has to undergo in WoW.
While the subreddit of WoW and various forums are wildly discussing the leaks, I particularly feel sorry for a group of people who suffer from the leaks in a different way: the developers of this content.
For many players, the leak is probably not so bad. Whether they see new images of Anduin on Thursday evening or only see the images during the official presentation on Friday night doesn’t seem to make a big difference at first glance – at least one would think.
The leaked image of Anduin – it reveals so much but also leaves some things open.
However, for the developers who have been working on the new content and story for months, this must have been a disaster. Months of planning ruined and the big moment of revelation spoiled because everything can already be found in the depths of the internet.
Just imagine if something like this had happened at the last BlizzCon, for example, with the big cinematic of Sylvanas and Bolvar. Even though Sylvanas is getting on the nerves of some players, the cinematic with the destruction of the Helm of Domination was quite impressive. The “decisive moments” in which Sylvanas simply holds the helm and it’s unclear whether she is crowning herself as the new Lich Queen or doing something completely different were grand.
If you watch the video footage from that BlizzCon, you can feel the expectant tension of the audience, followed by great astonishment when she simply destroys the historically significant helm, like in this clip:
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And now imagine how this scene would have looked if it had been revealed three days earlier through a leak that the helm was destroyed.
It would have completely ruined the tension and turned this moment into a tired “Meh, I saw that coming” – which is always easy to say in hindsight when important info has been leaked.
From an author’s perspective, this is somehow exciting. To see information through leaks in advance, to speculate and write about it, and to get lost in thought about how all this fits together.
This shouldn’t sound melodramatic, but anyone who has ever created something creative on a larger scale knows the excitement. You work on a project for a long time, trying to make it as perfect as possible. The day of the presentation is known. You visualize exactly how these contents will be presented, at what time and under what conditions. There’s a dramatic arc for the most important revelations, guiding the audience in their perception and leading them to what you want to show.
This meticulous planning by the developers at Blizzard is now ruined.
Whoever listens to game developers – whether at BlizzCon or at another convention – knows how much most of them are passionate about their projects. Even though it is often said that Blizzard is not “the old Blizzard” anymore, you can see, hear, and feel the passion of the developers when they talk about their ideas and plans.
As a WoW fan, I find this quite bitter. At BlizzCon, like most, I prefer to just be a spectator, ready to be swept away and to ride the “hype” wave of the new content for one to two hours before I approach the whole thing again in a more sober and analytical way with the author’s glasses on.
I’m pretty sure that the revelation of this Anduin development was supposed to be the big turning point of the WoW presentation. There’s probably a cinematic or at least a trailer for his transformation, and that would be the big “Woah!” moment where everyone momentarily holds their breath and thoughts race in their heads.
Hopefully, this incident doesn’t overshadow BlizzCon and ensures that WoW players still get to see a great show that might still hold one or two surprises. I wish this not only for us as players but also for the developers, who could really use an exciting surprise among their players.
Or how do you see it?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Gamers and miners want to buy an RTX 3060. But with a trick, Nvidia is now thwarting the miners. Because the new RTX 3060 is not really worthwhile for miners. This is good for gamers looking for new hardware.
Here’s what it’s about: The RTX 3000 graphics cards (GPU) are currently very sought after and everyone wants the new graphics cards. But not only gamers want to buy an RTX 3060, but also people who mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin with graphics cards: the so-called miners.
But Nvidia is now intentionally degrading the GeForce RTX 3060 – at least for miners.
For miners, it should not be worthwhile to buy RTX 3060 graphics cards in the future to mine cryptocurrencies. MeinMMO explains what Nvidia has in mind.
In the title image, you see the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti as a replacement, as there is currently no proper image of the RTX 3060.
Nvidia: “GeForce is made for gaming”
Nvidia explained in an official blog post (via blogs.nvidia.com) that GeForce graphics cards are primarily aimed at gamers. However, NVIDIA graphics cards can be used for many different purposes.
This is what Nvidia does: Nvidia configures the software for the graphics cards in such a way that the software can recognize certain mining algorithms. As soon as the software detects that people want to mine cryptocurrencies, it halves the hash rate. The hash rate is extremely important for mining. In this way, the efficiency is reduced by 50%.
What is a “Hash Rate”? Simply put, the hash rate indicates how quickly the many complex calculations for unlocking a new block are carried out. The higher the hash rate, the faster mining can take place.
Is Nvidia now uninteresting for miners? To appease the now disappointed miners, Nvidia has introduced a graphics processor series with CMP that is aimed at professional miners. CMP stands for “Cryptocurrency Mining Processor.” These processors are tailored to the needs of miners.
These mining processors forgo video outputs and have a lower peak voltage and frequency, and they rely on a better cooling system. This is better for miners than mining with high-clocked gaming graphics cards.
Will availability get worse because of this? No. Nvidia immediately stated that the new series will not affect availability. So it is written in the official blog post:
They (the mining processors) do not meet the specifications required for a GeForce GPU and therefore have no impact on the availability of GeForce GPUs for gamers.
Who is Nvidia’s graphics card aimed at? Nvidia is clearly targeting mid-range gamers with the RTX 3060. This means players who are willing to spend more money on their gaming PC, but on average do not want to spend more than 400 euros on a graphics card.
For many gamers, the RTX 3060 is also likely to be the more exciting product than, for example, the RTX 3080. Because the GeForce RTX 3080 is more expensive and offers 4K performance, which is less interesting for many gamers. In our analysis, we have presented both graphics cards in more detail:
That’s why Nvidia’s decision is right: Nvidia’s step to make the RTX 3060 unattractive for miners is a good decision for many gamers. Because this eliminates another competitor in the currently highly competitive graphics card market.
Currently, there are also hardly any alternatives for gamers looking for a graphics card for Full HD with high FPS or for WQHD (1440p).
Does this affect Germany at all? How strongly Nvidia’s self-sabotage affects the German market is another question. Because in Germany, crypto mining plays a rather minor role. This is mainly due to the high electricity prices.
In the USA or China, however, mining for Ethereum or Bitcoin is more in demand than ever, so in China, some users are buying dozens of gaming laptops because it is currently worthwhile:
How long mining these currencies remains allowed in China is unclear.
Because the largest Asian economy is currently reviewing whether mining in China can be banned. Here, the focus is primarily on high environmental pollution due to high electricity consumption.
Currently, there are hardly any alternatives to the RTX 3060
What Nvidia alternatives are there? Nvidia itself has two more cards on offer, which are however only difficult to obtain. The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is hardly available or only at high prices. Thus, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti was sold out after just a few minutes.
The RTX 2060 Super offers similar performance on paper. However, the same applies here that the graphics card is currently hardly obtainable, also because it is officially no longer produced in large quantities.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
