The head of Conan Exiles reveals 3 things that make the new DLC so special

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time 7 minutes

Today, on September 15, 2020, the new expansion “Isle of Siptah” for Conan Exiles (PC, PS4, Xbox One) has been released in Early Access on Steam. It brings a new map and plenty of innovations. MeinMMO spoke with Executive Producer Scott Junior to ask what makes the island so special.

What is Isle of Siptah? After a suddenly appeared countdown, Isle of Siptah, the second expansion of Conan Exiles, was announced on September 10. After Frozen North expanded the original map, Isle of Siptah brings a completely new map.

However, the map is not the only innovation. It features numerous new mechanics and functions that can significantly change the gameplay of Conan Exiles. We asked the head himself how these innovations work and which of them stand out.

Today, September 15, Isle of Siptah went into Early Access for PC at 2:00 PM. You can find the expansion on Steam. The release is planned for early 2021 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. We have embedded the trailer for you here:

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The factors that make Conan Exiles great: Story

The most obvious and greatest innovation is the new map in Conan Exiles, the island itself. Isle of Siptah is about 80% the size of the Exiled Lands and almost doubles the size of Conan Exiles. Scott Junior revealed to me in the interview what is included:

There are many stories to discover. There are other inhabitants of the island whose background you should learn about. The Vaults tell much about the history of the island and the other peoples that were there.

Then there is the Tower of Siptah in the center of the map, which acts as a focal point. Players cannot enter it yet, but you will learn a lot about Siptah and the Gemini Tower.

The story of the game is one of the reasons why Conan Exiles is considered one of the best survival games. Isle of Siptah tells even more of it, but also offers numerous new features.

Conan Exiles Isle of Siptah Tower
The tower in the center of the map holds many secrets.

The new features in Isle of Siptah

On the island, there are three new features in Early Access, which are roughly developments of popular features from the base game but work in a completely different way: Storms, Surges, and Vaults.

Deadly Storms and Surges of Slaves

The two biggest new features intertwine: Storms and Surges. Both cause strong enemies to appear suddenly and are even the only way to get to the useful and sometimes necessary slaves in Conan Exiles. Scott explained both systems to me in detail:

[The storm] is an event that is active for about half the time depending on server settings. It builds up, attacks every building in the center of the area, and generates ancient creatures when you are in the storm. They come and attack your base. The goal is to kill these creatures and take the rewards from them. Then the event transitions into another new feature: The Surge.

[The surge] is a quite impressive event that takes place after the storm, where the tower in the center of the map gains energy and opens a portal to the Exiled Lands. This summons the inhabitants of the land to the island, whom you can fight and capture.

Unlike in the Exiled Lands, there are [on the island] no camps where you find slaves. These are dynamic events. When they occur, everyone on the server is notified and there is hopefully a race and PvP battle about it. The goal is to limit resources to encourage conflict.

You will get the best slaves through the surge events, which are started by players themselves. However, there are also randomly distributed smaller surges all over the island, where you can acquire additional servants and materials that are otherwise not available on the island.

Storms and surges bring action to the island.

The island is according to Scott “clearly driven by conflict,” but is still easily playable in PvE. Anyone who liked the conflict servers of Conan Exiles and enjoys occasionally brawling with other players will find a fitting new feature here. However, those who prefer to play against the world with friends should be able to manage that too.

Vaults – The new Dungeons

The Vaults (roughly: “treasure chambers”) are according to Scott “the equivalent of dungeons from the Exiled Lands” and are packed with loot that helps you progress. The Vaults are scattered across the map and are not marked on the map, so you have to find them yourself and remember where they are located.

Unlike dungeons, Vaults offer “more puzzles,” Scott explains. So it seems to be about solving trickier tasks than just killing monsters, like the giant snake in probably your first dungeon, The Dregs.

Conan Exiles Isle of Siptah Vault
The Vaults are the new dungeons and full of loot.

Create your own maps

The third special feature is the map editor. It has already been possible to create crazy mods that turned Conan Exiles into a completely new game. However, this was quite tedious.

With a new devkit, it should now be possible to create your own mods and even entirely new maps more easily:

The map is beautiful, we have put a lot of work into it. But the expansion allows modders to create brand new maps. You can then download and use them as a mod. […] Even if you do not buy Isle of Siptah, you can use the mod devkit to create new maps. […] I think it will take modders some time to create new maps, but it is one of the things that interests me the most. To see what the community produces.

“It is not really Conan Exiles 1.5”

For Isle of Siptah, the term “Conan Exiles 1.5” circulated for some time, and indeed many of the changes sound like an appropriate term. However, Scott finds it inappropriate:

It is not really Exiles 1.5. It is a new map that comes in addition to the Exiled Lands. It tells a new story, but it is not a dramatic, new approach to the game. More content, more fun systems to explore.

The island will also not have its own “journey,” which the main game already had to tell the story, but only some new steps that are explicitly designed for the expansion.

Scott also revealed to me that the island will not demand high graphical performance. Older graphics cards should still suffice, and only a new light feature may potentially bring even older systems to their knees.

The island is ideal for new players

If you haven’t started with Conan Exiles yet and are now hesitant to face so many veterans, the expansion is particularly suitable. Since Isle of Siptah launches new servers where only the island is playable, it is an excellent opportunity for new players to get started in the game.

Conan Exiles Isle of Siptah Shipwreck Components
With the new components, you can create an interesting shipwreck look for your first camps.

“Everyone starts at the same level when the expansion map comes out,” as Scott explains. “So you don’t have to worry about level 60 players with tons of stuff slaughtering everything in the newbie areas.”

You can play Isle of Siptah as well as the main game solo, but Conan Exiles is designed to be played with friends. “Everything is better when you play it with friends,” as Scott adds with a laugh. “At least that’s our philosophy.”

Tips for new players

Since I had the head of the game on the line, I wanted to know directly from him how new players can best start with Isle of Siptah. Scott gave me three tips for newbies to consider:

Don’t enter the storm until you are ready. That’s my first tip. Prepare on the beach, build your first camp.

Tip two is: Explore the Vaults as soon as you can. They are not marked on the map, but while you explore the outer areas of the island, you will find them. There are really good rewards and equipment there.

And definitely visit the wild surges that appear. There are level 1 and 2 slaves, and they are free. You don’t have to do much, whereas with the higher surges, you need to invest more preparation.

This is what the future looks like

After Scott had already explained some of the new features to me, I wanted to know how the future looks. After all, Exiles itself also continuously receives new updates, such as a new riding system with mounted combat or pet companions.

Conan Exiles Isle of Siptah Rhino
With Isle of Siptah, there is also a new mount: a Rhino.

Scott replied to me that no further paid content will come at least during Early Access. Instead, there will be “Quality of Life” features, improvements to the combat system and balancing, and implementation of player feedback, such as for new features. More details will be in a roadmap that will appear shortly after the Early Access release.

In the more distant future, it should also be possible to connect the island and the Exiled Lands. However, this is technically difficult, meaning how the game is built. You will never be able to move seamlessly between them, but they are working on a system that allows you to travel back and forth between the maps.

Additionally, Scott hinted that the religion system of Conan Exiles should be further explored. After new gods were implemented into the game with Derketo and Jhebbal Sag, there may possibly be more options coming soon.

One of the last promises that the developers made several years ago is a magic and sorcery system. It is still not implemented and will also not come with Isle of Siptah, as Scott confirms. However, “we will continue to keep an eye on it,” as he says. We are curious to see what else is to come in Conan Exiles in the future.

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

Twitch now automatically shows ads in the middle of streams

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

The streaming platform Twitch has announced that it will automatically run ads in the middle of streams. The big streamers on the platform, like TimTheTatman and Nickmercs, are already asking where they can opt out. Others are expressing concerns: This could cost streamers more money than it brings them. The idea from Twitch reminds one of German private television.

Here is the announcement: Twitch said last night that they want to start automatically running ads during streams. This will initially only apply to selected viewers.

This is called “Mid Roll” advertising: The ongoing program is interrupted for commercials. We know this from German private television. When Batman and the Joker are having an intense dialogue and a commercial for diapers suddenly interrupts.

So far, viewers have seen ads on Twitch when they join a stream (Pre-Roll) or when the streamer deliberately runs ads themselves.

With the new system, the ads would be “automated” and the streamer would have no control over when their viewers see ads.

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Twitch says regarding the details:

  • These ads would directly support the streamers
  • People would not see ads if they had already seen ads before
  • While ads are running, the actual stream will be muted and continue in a small window
  • Subscribers will not have to see ads
  • They are looking forward to feedback
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Twitch makes streamers furious: “Amazon only cares about fresh money”
von Schuhmann

How do I get out of this?

This is how the big streamers see it: Two of the biggest streamers on Twitch are TimTheTatman and Nickmercs. They are currently huge in Call of Duty.

They ask: How can I see if this is happening to my channel, and how can I opt out?

The biggest WoW streamer Asmongold believes this is the worst way to force streamers to run more ads. Because it forces viewers to see ad clips at perhaps the most exciting moments. This could ruin the live experience (via Twitter).

Asmongold says the system could work if a paid subscription applied to all of Twitch and not just to one channel.

The new system would lead to less discovery of new streamers – because with them, you have to see ads all the time.

WoW-Classic-Asmongold-1140x445
Asmongold is against the idea.

The issue that Asmongold first addresses seems to be a general concern that some see: Due to automation, the ads could come at the worst moment, and advertising could ruin the peak of a stream.

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The meme from Fallout is the “against” sign on Twitter.

This is what it is all about: Twitch seems to think that streamers do not run enough ads when they are in control and wants to intervene. Streamers rely more on direct sponsorships from partners, donations, and subscriptions, and are not necessarily dependent on ad revenue that disrupts their program. Therefore, it seems Twitch wants to enforce this now.

The biggest streamer on Twitch, Tfue, once gave a taste of what it would be like to run ads during the peak of a stream: During a big event in Fortnite, when tens of thousands were eagerly watching what was happening in the game, he pressed the ad button and instead of enjoying the climax of the event, his fans suddenly saw ads.

This did not go over well. The chat was furious with Tfue. The feedback for Twitch’s idea is currently similarly negative as the reaction from Tfue’s viewers back then. We’ll see if this idea takes hold. The first reactions to the tweet are disastrous.

Twitch InvaderVie Title
The evil wears little socks and smiles really nicely: InvaderVie.

Twitch wants to make money and the streamers want that too. But recently there have been conflicts about how exactly to make money. There are always controversies about Twitch and money.

In April of this year, there was an economic crisis in the USA due to Corona, many lost their jobs. Nevertheless, a streamer said she expects her viewers to subscribe to her channel:

Twitch streamer boldly demands subs: ‘Being broke is not an excuse’

Twitch wants to make money and the streamers want that too. But recently there have been conflicts about how exactly to make money. There are always controversies about Twitch and money.

In April of this year, there was an economic crisis in the USA due to Corona, many lost their jobs. Nevertheless, a streamer said she expects her viewers to subscribe to her channel:

Twitch streamer boldly demands subs: ‘Being broke is not an excuse’

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

5-Star Skillers in FIFA 21 – These players master all tricks best

Maik Schneider Maik Schneider Reading time 3 minutes

If you want to show off your ball skills in FIFA 21, a player who not only has high dribbling stats but also brings 5 stars in skill moves will help. MeinMMO shows you all the 5-star skilled players introduced so far in the table.

What are 5-star skilled players? This refers to players who are particularly good at skill moves. Skill moves like flicks, spins, or feints are performed better and faster with these ball artists.

The skill rating ranges from 1 to 5 stars, and the more stars a player has, the better they can pull off impressive tricks.

What do players with 5 stars bring me? There is a new feature in FIFA 21: Basically, all players can perform any skill move with the right stick. However, with 5-star professionals, it works much better: Depending on the skill move rating and attributes, lower-rated players will perform error-prone and slower versions of some tricks.

This means: With 5-star skilled players, you have a higher chance of concluding with a cool trick instead of losing the ball to the opponent. In general, FIFA 21 is a good game for tricksters.

To let you know which players had 5 stars in skill moves at the launch of FIFA 21, here is an overview.

All players with 5-star rating for skill moves

Overview of tricksters in the table: You can sort the table as you like by clicking on “League” or “Nation”. On mobile devices, the table can be scrolled horizontally. It consists of 3 pages.

Oops, unfortunately this table is no longer available.

These are all the players that FIFA 21 has introduced with 5 stars so far. It is highly likely that there will be more Icon players added, who are currently not listed on the official EA website.

Who are the best 5-star skilled players? Overall, there are 3 players who break the 90 overall rating and also offer 5 stars in skill moves:

  • Cristiano Ronaldo – 92
  • Neymar Jr. – 91
  • Mbappé – 90

What about Messi? The Argentine star player is also missing this year from the pool of super tricksters, even though he is the strongest player in FIFA 21 based on overall rating. He only has 4 stars available.

5-star skilled players of the Bundesliga

Here you will find the best tricksters in the Bundesliga in a quick overview. A total of 4 players from the top German league have a 5-star rating for skill moves:

  • Sancho:
fifa 21 5 star skiller sancho

The strongest Bundesliga trickster this year is Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. The English rising star impresses in the league with his unpredictable pace dribbling and brings this ability to FIFA 21. Sancho is also among the best talents in FIFA 21.

  • Thiago:
fifa 21 5 star skiller thiago

The Spanish midfield maestro of Bayern convinces with good dribbling stats and is among the top tricksters again this year. Although he lost a few points compared to last year, which is difficult to understand considering the CL title win, he didn’t lose his 5-star skill rating.

  • Harit:
fifa 21 5 star skiller harit

Harit is also among this year’s 5-star skilled players in the Bundesliga. He only has a 77 rating, but if you are building a Bundesliga team at the beginning of FUT, he can perform nice tricks for you at a presumably affordable price.

  • Wamangituka:
fifa 21 5 star skiller wamangituka

The newcomers from VfB Stuttgart bring another skilled trickster to the Bundesliga. Wamangituka has only a strength of 70, but he has a high speed rating and could help you in special challenges if you can only use silver players.

With each year, developer EA adjusts certain features to provide players with a better gaming experience. This year, you don’t need 5-star skilled players anymore to perform the hardest tricks, but it will be easier with them. Also, many changes have been made in the big “Ultimate Team” mode – here you can find all FUT innovations at a glance.

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

WoW Classic: Player reaches max level 60 – naked and without dying

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

A warlock has achieved the incredible in WoW Classic by reaching level 60 – naked, without buffs and without accepting help.

World of Warcraft Classic is fundamentally not a difficult game. However, this changes when players impose special rules and restrictions on themselves to play the game, such as killing only pigs all day. One of these prerequisites is the “Iron Man” challenge, where characters have only a single life. But even that is not hard enough for some. The warlock Voivid has made this task even more extreme – and has now mastered it.

What did Voivid do? Voivid reached level 60 as a warlock. However, he did not choose the classic playstyle but imposed special restrictions on himself, which made the task significantly more difficult.

WoW Gnome Warlock Casting a Bolt title 1280x720
Leveling as a warlock is still relatively easy

Iron Man “Hardcore” is even harder

These were the rules: The rules of the “Hardcore Iron Man” challenge are, as mentioned, a bit stricter. Voivid had to adhere to the following restrictions:

  • He has only one life – if he dies, the character must be deleted.
  • He is not allowed to wear equipment above common quality (white) (he did it naked).
  • He cannot play in groups.
  • He cannot trade with other players.
  • The auction house cannot be used.
  • Elixirs and potions cannot be used.
  • Buffs from other players cannot be used.
  • Dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds cannot be used.

You can see the exact moment when he reaches level 60 in this video (link to the clip on Streamable).

Another player is currently reaching rank 14 – and is not even level 60!

How did he do it? Although this task is quite challenging for all classes and requires a lot of time and planning, Voivid has had it relatively easy. This is because he played a warlock. They can rely on voidwalkers that act as tanks. Thus, Voivid always has a thick cushion of hit points that keeps enemies away from him. If things get tough, he can simply flee and leave his voidwalker to die.

In the end, that was enough, and he reached level 60 while questing in Winterspring.

An impressive feat that puts many other “Iron Man” challenges to shame.

Would you also like to achieve something like this in WoW? Or does that look like pure time gold to you?

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

Monster Hunter World: With this explosive build you can defeat Rajang solo

Gastbeitrag Gastbeitrag Reading time 3 minutes

In Monster Hunter World (MHW), everything revolves around builds, equipment, and monsters. In this guide, we want to suggest an explosive build that can allow you to defeat Rajang even solo. This was submitted to us by Cure-Maxi, one of our community members at MeinMMO.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is now already a year old. Soon, the final update of the MMO will arrive and the community is still busy hunting monsters and trying out builds.

What kind of build is this? One of the nastiest creatures is Rajang or its variation, the enraged Rajang. A truly unpleasant fellow, capable of dealing significant damage. This build goes after him with a light bowgun.

The build is focused on detonation and aims to stun the monster with explosions as much as possible while dealing substantial damage. This increases your chances of survival and Rajang will eventually meet his demise.

Furios Rajang Zorniger Rajang MHW
The enraged Rajang is somewhat like a Super Saiyan

A build with nasty explosions

Who is this build suitable for? This build is generally suitable for everyone since the equipment is relatively easy to obtain. The only sticking point is the weapon that you get from Safi’Jiiva. The monster only appears during its event.

However, you should not shy away from ranged weapons. The entire build is based on the light bowgun. If you can’t handle ranged combat and prefer close combat weapons, you should refrain from this build.

Additionally, the ammunition with the nasty explosions only detonates after a short while. Those who need immediate damage numbers for their soul will also be out of place here.

What weapon do you need? The weapon is usually at the center of your equipment. In this case, you need the Safi Water Shot, which you get from Safi’Jiiva. You still need to modify this weapon:

  • Equip the awakened abilities Diablos’ Ambition and Attack on the weapon.
  • Choose Health Regeneration or a bonus slot for the augmentation.
  • The modification should include 2x Recoil Suppressor and 2x Evade Reload.
Monster Hunter World Safi-Wasserschuss Rajang Build
The Safi Water Shot with its modifications and bonuses

What equipment do you need? For the armor, you will need to farm various monsters. A list of the creatures with loot can be found in our list of base game monsters or in the list of Iceborne monsters. However, all the monsters required for this build are relatively easy to access.

  • Zorah Helm β +
  • Zorah Leather α +
  • Diablos Nero Armguards β +
  • Diablos Nero Waist β +
  • Zohra Spores β +
  • Razor Sharp Charm
  • Impact Mantle +
  • Life Saver Mantle +

What decorations should you add? You can also vary the decorations in your equipment. However, you should aim for the necessary skills. The build suggests the following jewels:

  • 2x Release/Maintenance Jewel 4
  • 1x Release Jewel 3
  • 2x Knock-out Jewel 2
  • 3x Artillery Jewel 1
  • 3x Earplugs/Lifeforce Jewel 4
  • 1x Earplugs Jewel 3

The interplay of skills

What do your skills look like now? In terms of skills, you are relatively inflexible, as the build requires many of them to function well. However, which jewels you ultimately use to achieve this is up to you. The most important traits are:

  • Earplugs Level 5
  • Stun Resistance Level 5
  • Artillery Level 5
  • Health Boost Level 3
  • Super Weapon Level 3
  • Shock Resistance Level 2
  • Tool Specialist Level 2 (with an additional slot on your weapon Level 3)
  • Sharpening/Extra Shot Level 1
Monster Hunter World Rajang Build Fähigkeiten
The equipment and the corresponding jewels as well as skills

What does all this bring? With the light bowgun, you are very mobile. This helps you against fast opponents like Rajang. Additionally, you can dodge many of his attacks more easily at range.

Thanks to the maximum level of your earplugs, you will no longer be affected by the monster’s roar and can continue playing normally. This gives you added mobility.

Stun Resistance, Artillery, and Super Weapon work well together in this build. With your detonation ammunition, you can stun the opponent. The skill Stun Resistance enhances this effect.

Additionally, Artillery gives you more explosive power and Super Weapon provides more ammunition. This is important, as your detonation ammunition is very limited. Furthermore, the Extra Shot saves you quite a bit of ammunition even while shooting.

If you regularly evade and use your mantles for survival and additional stuns, almost nothing can go wrong.

Many thanks to Cure-Maxi for submitting your build!

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

New option in Fortnite should beautify the game – removed after 4 days

Patrick Freese Patrick Freese Reading time 2 minutes

Epic pulls a feature from Fortnite that was supposed to improve graphics. The problem was that it unintentionally made the graphics worse.

What is it about? Epic Games has now disabled a graphics option that was introduced with the latest update. The option allowed players to turn high-resolution textures (Hi-rez textures) on or off.

The new option was introduced in the Update 14.10 on September 10. This was to give players the choice to either make their gameplay look nicer or achieve better performance with the option turned off.

This caused confusion: After the release, the option could be toggled on or off on every platform. Fans were confused because some saw no change at all. Fortnite quickly clarified this on Twitter:

  • Hi-rez textures were initially available on all platforms, BUT
  • the textures only worked on PS4 and Android mobile devices
  • On other platforms, it had no effect

Hi-rez textures cause issues and will be removed for now

Textures suddenly look worse: After the initial confusion, the “Fortnite Status” Twitter account stated on September 10 that there was a problem on the PS4. When the texture option is turned off, some textures look worse than intended. They want to address the issue.

Feature is being removed completely: About four days after the release of the update with the new feature, “Fortnite Status” commented on the issue again on Twitter. They write:

“We have disabled this option, which was supposed to appear only for Android (and not yet at that time), in the Android settings. We are now working on optimizations. It will return for Android in a future patch. This option will also be disabled on all other platforms.

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Why is it useful? On smartphones or tablets equipped with weaker hardware, being able to disable high-resolution textures can be beneficial. This could yield more FPS from the game if you can compromise on visuals. So if you’re currently experiencing performance issues with Fortnite Mobile, you should look forward to the future release of the feature.

Elsewhere, Fortnite wants to enhance the graphics even further. Fortnite will soon get better graphics, but only on one platform.

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

Pokémon GO: Spotlight Hour today with Tentacool – Brings extreme spawns

Noah Struthoff Noah Struthoff Reading time 2 minutes

In Pokémon GO there is a new Spotlight Hour today, September 15th. This time it’s all about Tentacool and a spawn adjustment that is likely to please many trainers.

What is a Spotlight Hour? This event takes place every Tuesday in Pokémon GO and highlights a special Pokémon. It appears everywhere and a suitable bonus rounds off the event.

This time it centers around the Water and Poison Pokémon Tentacool. It is one of the 5 monsters that are highlighted this September.

Spotlight Hour with Tentacool – All Info

When does it start? The event starts as usual at 6:00 PM local time. The Spotlight Hour lasts for one hour and ends at 7:00 PM local time.

What are the bonuses? Tentacool will appear everywhere in the wild and generally more spawns will appear. As an additional bonus, there will be double candies for sending Pokémon.

You can send your hard-earned legendary Pokémon or other monsters that are rather rare. This way, you will get 2 candies instead of just one.

This seems to be new: This week trainers are reporting extreme spawns. It seems that almost every Pokémon during the Spotlight Hour will be a Tentacool. There were already reports of this during the Spotlight Hour with Houndoom last week.

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It seems that Niantic has generally increased the event spawns. So far, mainly the Pokémon from the Spotlight Hour have been available, but there have also been other monsters in the wild from time to time. These monsters now seem to have been reduced to a minimum.

Are there Shiny Tentacool? Yes, you can catch the event monster in its shiny version as well. The chance is about 1 in 450. With the increased spawns, you have good chances to find a Shiny, although you still need some luck for that.

Is the event worth it? Definitely, because Tentacool is one of the rarer Shinies in Pokémon GO. However, in terms of usability, Tentacool is useless. There are significantly better attackers than its evolution Tentacruel.

So if you already have 2 Shinies, you should rather take advantage of the double candies for sending. Use the hour to tidy up and declutter your Pokémon box. Focus on sorting out weak specimens of rare Pokémon that belong to the best attackers in Pokémon GO.

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

Hardcore PvP MMORPG celebrates record player numbers – What makes the game so good?

Alexander Leitsch Alexander Leitsch Reading time 4 minutes

Albion Online is currently celebrating record numbers of players. But why is the MMORPG, which was released in 2017, successful right now? And what can other PvP games learn from Albion?

How many players does Albion have? According to a new graphic released by the developers from Sandbox Interactive, Albion Online currently has around 125,000 daily players. That is a significant number that is also steadily growing.

Just at the beginning of July, it was only just over 90,000; in March 2019, the game had only a fraction of these numbers, namely around 10,000 players.

Albion Online player numbers September 2020
The development of daily active accounts from July to September.

In recent years, Albion Online has changed a lot and made many decisions that have benefited the MMORPG. Although it primarily focuses on PvP and even includes full loot, the numbers are continuously rising.

We at MeinMMO will tell you how the game has changed, why it is successful now, and what the future holds.

Switch to Free2Play and good updates brought new momentum

How did the turnaround come about? Originally, Albion Online was released as a Buy2Play title. In the beginning, it generated a lot of attention and struggled to handle the influx of players. However, the Buy2Play entry barrier and many design decisions in favor of PvE players initially caused a decline in player numbers.

Even the Steam release in May 2018 did not result in a significant increase in player numbers.

In April 2019, however, the MMORPG switched to Free2Play and immediately gained a large number of newcomers. These were retained and even significantly increased because previous updates and those directly after the switch brought important content for both PvE and PvP fans.

The success of Albion Online is based on good gameplay, a free entry, and good updates for PvE and PvP fans.

Updates for all player groups create a positive atmosphere

What did these updates look like? In November 2018, the “Nimue” patch was released and brought new guild content, including a 5v5 GvG mode. The update generated a lot of positive feedback and strengthened the PvP community.

Together with the switch to Free2Play, the Oberon update brought randomized dungeons. These appear randomly in the game world and are randomly generated. They are easier in safe areas, while in high PvP zones they count as harder content and become more challenging. Additionally, with Oberon, the entry point and tutorial were improved.

We at MeinMMO also tried out this new entry experience:

More on the topic
So spielt sich das MMORPG Albion Online, wenn ihr keinen Cent dafür ausgebt
von Alexander Leitsch

In July 2019, new content was added to the game, mainly targeting PvE fans and solo players. Thus, solo dungeons and new fashion and styling content were introduced.

With the Queen update at the beginning of 2020, the entire endgame was overhauled:

  • The Outlands (endgame zones) were completely redesigned
  • Guild hideouts were introduced
  • Zergs were somewhat weakened
  • 5v5 battles were improved

This satisfied both guild and PvP fans.

The latest update “Rise of Avalon” brought a new zone and cursed dungeons where players can also attack and ambush each other. Additionally, the game was localized into Korean and Chinese to reach new markets.

Albion Online PvP
PvP is one of the most important contents in Albion, here in the 5v5 Crystal League.

How is Albion currently rated? In the last 30 days, Albion Online received 1,989 reviews on Steam. 80% of them are positive. The praised aspects include:

  • The small client size
  • The good performance, even on weak PCs
  • Diverse content in the form of dungeons, crafting, and PvP
  • The game embraces “Easy to learn, hard to master”
  • It is easy for newcomers to catch up with veterans because there is a maximum gear and due to full loot, it can also be lost
  • There is a large number of players and guilds to play with.

Negative aspects, on the other hand, are:

  • Much grind
  • Ganking by large guilds, which is frustrating
  • Scamming by isolated guilds taking advantage of newcomers

Therefore, anyone who really wants to have fun with Albion Online needs a penchant for PvP and frustration tolerance, as well as the ability to cope with the graphics and gameplay. In any case, Albion is one of the most successful MMORPGs of the last 5 years:

More on the topic
The 5 best MMORPGs released in the last 5 years
von Alexander Leitsch

Mobile release and area expansions planned

What does the future hold for Albion Online? As the developers revealed in the blog post, the Royal continent is set to be expanded. Due to the growth in players, the old zones are currently overcrowded, and the developers want to alleviate this while also improving the player experience.

Additionally, the release of the mobile versions is planned. Although they were intended to be released since launch, and Android users can already download a version outside of the Play Store, it was now emphasized again that the release for the Apple and Google Stores is imminent.

It is quite possible that Albion will continue to grow with the mobile release.

Albion Online thief
Intrigue and theft are not uncommon in Albion.

But Albion Online is by no means a peaceful MMORPG. It can also get quite dirty, as this player shows, who worked his way up to an officer in a guild, only to then coldly rob them.

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

Analyst explains why the Xbox Series X stands no chance against the PS5

Benedikt Schlotmann Benedikt Schlotmann Reading time 2 minutes

The release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X is approaching, but according to an analyst, the Xbox stands no chance against the PS5. With a loyal user base and strong exclusives, Sony has two compelling arguments in favor of the PS5.

Who is speaking? Piers Harding-Rolls is the head of the research institute Ampere. Ampere Analytics is a company that specializes in media and communication. This also includes a gaming division.

According to the head of Ampere Analytics, nothing has changed with the official announcement of the smaller model of the Xbox, the Xbox Series X. The PS5 has the better arguments.

Therefore, according to the analyst, the PS5 is in a better position than the Xbox Series X

Ampere Analytics cites two reasons why the PlayStation 5 is likely to succeed:

  • On one hand, a whole series of strong exclusive games for the PlayStation 5 have been announced for the new generation. Microsoft’s head considers this exclusivity to be incorrect and is pursuing other paths.
  • On the other hand, a factor called “global brand loyalty” plays a role. Sony has tied millions of users to its brand since the PS4 release in 2013, and these users have no reason to buy an Xbox.

In both cases, the PlayStation 5 is better positioned. While Microsoft allows its games to run on both the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X and therefore provides no reason to upgrade, you definitely need the new console for PS5 games.

Is there still hope for the Xbox Series X? Here, the company mentions one possibility, which is the price: While the official price of the Xbox Series X is known, we are still waiting for an official statement from Sony regarding the PlayStation. And this could be Microsoft’s advantage.

If the price is significantly above the buyers’ expectations, Microsoft could indeed attract buyers for its next-gen console. The price will likely be important for many in the end.

A user saved money and wants to buy PS5 consoles as a gift for himself and two friends. But this works only if the price is not too high.

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

What fascinates me about MMORPGs after over 20 years

Andreas Bertits Andreas Bertits Reading time 5 minutes

Since 1997, MeinMMO author Andreas Bertits has been playing MMORPGs. After 23 years, he still hasn’t had enough of the genre. He reveals what fascinates him about online role-playing games.

My first experiences with MMORPGs went like this: I played my first MMORPG almost exactly 23 years ago. Ultima Online was released on September 24, 1997, and I was there at launch. As a fan of the single-player Ultima series, I hoped to share a similar gaming experience with friends. While that expectation wasn’t really met, I was introduced to something quite different that fascinated me at least as much as the solo games in the Ultima universe before.

Instead of experiencing a story like in the other Ultima games, I found myself in a sandbox world. There were no quests, and at the beginning, I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do. Only gradually did this fascinating online world open up to me, where I had all the freedom I could wish for.

I met fellow players – some of them became friends, while others taught me to “hate” PvP. Together, we experienced many adventures, fought dragons in dungeons, hunted orcs out of their forts in the forests, or searched for valuable resources so that the blacksmith in the group could craft us better equipment. For a while, I supplied other players with fresh fish that I, of course, had caught myself.

world of warcraft heroes of the storm garrosh hellscream
World of Warcraft opened up the MMORPG genre to a broader audience.

With World of Warcraft, I was introduced in 2004 to a completely different type of online role-playing game. Quests and stories were at the forefront.

With friends, I experienced exciting stories, learned more about the background of the world of Azeroth, and together we became powerful heroes facing ever-greater challenges.

Today things are different, but one thing remains the same

Through my work as a game editor and my experiences in the MMORPG genre, I was assigned to it by my then employer. I essentially got access to almost every online role-playing game that was released between 2004 and 2009. Accordingly, I was able to try out a lot of MMORPGs.

Not every one of them appealed to me.

Due to my negative experiences with player killing in the MMORPG Ultima Online, I couldn’t really get into PvP later on. Therefore, I spent less time in online role-playing games that placed a high value on PvP.

Today, 23 years after my first steps in the genre, I still spend my time with MMORPGs.

I primarily play The Elder Scrolls Online – continuously, with larger and smaller interruptions – as well as occasionally Neverwinter. I watch new games in the genre that I would like to give a chance. Additionally, I am fascinated to see how MMOs change and evolve over time.

Due to my full-time job and family, I don’t have as much time for gaming as I used to. When I can manage to carve out a few hours on a weekend or during vacation, I often plan to treat myself to quicker achievements in a single-player game, but still often end up in an MMO. Thus, I have remained loyal to the MMORPG genre despite all circumstances until today.

MMORPGs and the time I spend with games have changed. What has remained, however, is my fascination and passion for the genre.

The Elder Scrolls Online is a very versatile MMORPG.

What fascinates me about MMORPGs

MMORPGs are extremely versatile games that allow me to do whatever I feel like doing.

  • If I want to experience a small story, I do a quest line
  • If I want to improve my character, I fight some enemies
  • If I’m looking for better gear, I gather resources and craft something nice
  • If I just want to hang out with friends online, that’s possible too
  • If I have time for a raid, I still enjoy that very much – even though it rarely happens…
  • I can simply learn more about lore or explore the world
  • I can improve my character and feel like I can achieve more in the game world

I no longer have a guild, but I still play with friends

The social aspect of MMORPGs is still important to me in 2020, but the way I experience it has changed with my life.

I am no longer in a guild. This is simply not possible due to time constraints. I could never commit to a schedule for a raid or a guild meeting or take on any administrative tasks. But that’s not a problem for me. Because I still meet my friends online. Usually by coincidence, because they are online at the same time, or we arrange a meeting. That’s often postponed several times, but it eventually works out.

And that’s another reason why I still play MMORPGs after all these years: the social aspects.

Even if I don’t run into friends, there’s always someone online. Maybe that person has time and wants to embark on a little adventure together or just have a quick chat. Particularly during the times of Corona, social interactions in the real world have become scarce.

I’m very grateful to be able to meet someone online.

Who’s writing this?

Andreas Bertits has been a game editor since 2003 and is currently a freelance author for MeinMMO. Besides computer games, he spends his free time mainly with his wife and three children. Apart from MMORPGs, he enjoys playing single-player RPGs. His preferred gaming platform is the PC.

Andreas Bertits

Andreas Bertits
Freelance author for Mein-MMO

In MMORPGs, I am part of another world

In an MMORPG, I feel as though I belong to this other world. When I turn off the PC, it continues to turn. Events happen without me, just like in the real world. However, I can participate if I want to.

Sometimes I escape the daily grind this way when real life annoys me. I become a hero involved in sieges, helping my friends out of tough situations or saving a village from a monster. This clears my head and allows me to see things in the real world in a different light. I’m no longer annoyed and approach everything with fresh motivation.

So even after more than 20 years, MMORPGs still hold that fascination for me that I felt back in 1997 with Ultima Online. And I hope that will remain for a very long time.

Do you want to know what the first MMORPG actually was? The answer is not as simple as you might think.

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

YouTuber harshly attacks Twitch streamer – is now banned everywhere

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

In recent months, there has been trouble between the YouTuber LeafyIsHere and the Twitch streamer Pokimane. Leafy accused the streamer of exploiting viewers financially because they were in love with her. Now Leafy has been banned on Twitch and YouTube: His provocative style apparently led to his downfall.

What was the conflict about? The 24-year-old Imane “Pokimane” Anys is the largest streamer in the world and the only woman who has reached the top ranks on the streaming platform Twitch.

Recently, however, other male content creators have taken issue with her:

  • In May, a YouTuber released a video stating that fans would go into debt because they were infatuated with Pokimane and followed her. Pokimane was exploiting these desperate men. He referred to their fans as “simps,” who were enchanted by her
  • Pokimane then made derogatory comments about the sponsor of the video during a Twitch stream. This is actually a taboo.
  • This provoked the YouTuber “LeafyIsHere” to release a nasty video about Pokimane and attack her directly. He also started a hashtag campaign claiming that Pokimane was deceiving everyone and actually had a boyfriend whom she was hiding to appear more accessible to her fans than she really is.
  • Pokimane then took a break from Twitch – although officially not because of these attacks, there is a strong suspicion that the break was related to the harassment.
Twitch-Pokimane-Title
Pokimane has been heavily criticized in recent months.

Banned first on YouTube – then on Twitch

This is the ban now: The YouTuber LeafyIsHere was banned from YouTube on August 24. He then switched to Twitch. But even there, his channel has now been banned.

According to an insider, the ban is supposed to be permanent. In a statement, Twitch says:

The safety of the community is our top priority. Twitch reserves the right to suspend any account that violates the rules or behaves in a manner that we consider inappropriate, hurtful, or “dangerous to the community.”

Statement from Twitch
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Alongside Pokimane, Leafy was involved in a dispute with the YouTuber Ethan “h3h3” Klein. He shared a video on Twitter: In the clip, Leafy said he went to a protest with a concealed weapon looking for someone to shoot.

Later, Leafy explained: He was just making a joke.

This video reached 2.2 million views on Twitter.

The video was widely discussed. Some openly questioned whether Twitch really wants someone like that on their platform.

Apparently, the answer was: No.

https://twitter.com/h3h3productions/status/1298816352782704640
This video clip, spread by a rival, could have contributed to the ban.

After the Twitch ban Leafy complained on Twitter about Amazon boss Jeff Bezos: Just when he started to have fun, here comes the ban.

He now wants to appeal against the ban. It would be his first offense.

https://twitter.com/Leafy/status/1304553294853963782

Twitch and YouTube clean up in recent months

This is what’s behind it: After the recent developments in the USA regarding “Black Lives Matter,” some platforms have decided to take a stand and ban controversial channels that had been tolerated for years. Twitch, for example, banned the channel of US President Donald Trump to make a statement.

For a few weeks now, there has been a stricter oversight over certain things that were previously overlooked because they polarized and generated attention.

Leafy is considered a streamer whose content consists of ranting about other content creators and intentionally provoking them. Apparently, he has crossed the line here.

It is not clear exactly what he was banned for, but he seems to be a complete package that neither YouTube nor Twitch want anything to do with, even if he is successful with it.

Twitch Pokimane Title.v1
Many male content creators have grievances against Pokimane.

Pokimane is the only woman at the top of Twitch. This makes her an exotic figure who comes under criticism from people who say: She is exploiting her feminine charms to succeed.

The criticism is personal and harsh:

The biggest streamer on Twitch is accused of exploiting lonely men for money

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Kotaku (Auch Titelbild-Quelle)

FIFA 21 Ultimate Team: All Innovations in FUT Overview

Julian Schröder Julian Schröder Reading time 4 minutes

We present to you all the updates and changes to FIFA 21 Ultimate Team in an overview. Find out here which new features FUT 21 will offer

These are the updates of FUT 21 at a glance: Over the past few weeks, EA Sports has presented various new features that await you in the FUT 21 season of FIFA 21. These include the following major updates:

  • Online co-op for FUT
  • Customizable stadiums for FUT players
  • No more management cards
  • Improvements in Weekend League and Division Rivals
  • Shorter animations to reduce frustration

[toc]

Ultimate Team now with Online Co-op

This is what you can expect: The biggest innovation in FUT 21 will be the new online co-op mode. You can now play FUT matches in FIFA 21 with a friend and earn rewards and collect progress together.

In previous FUT versions, you could only play FUT together offline on one console. However, the second player received no rewards or experience points.

In FUT 21, these modes can be played together:

  • Division Rivals
  • Squad Battles
  • Friendly matches

However, you cannot compete together in Weekend League. Here’s how it works:

This is how the co-op lobby in FUT 21 looks

Individual stadiums for FUT players

This is what you can expect: FUT 21 is increasingly moving towards fantasy mode and offers players even more opportunities for customization in the latest installment. You now get your own stadium that you can design and decorate as you like.

There are 2 different upgrade levels that you must earn first. The following elements can then be customized:

  • The audience
  • The structure of the stadium
  • Choreographies in the stands
  • Fan chants
  • The main color of the stadium
  • The seat colors
  • Pyrotechnics behind the goal
  • The color of the goal
  • The structure of the pitch
  • The field banners
  • Presentation of won trophies

All about the new FUT stadium in FIFA 21.

This is how an individual stadium in FUT 21 can look

The annoying fitness cards are a thing of the past

This is what you can expect: For many years, FUT players had to deal with the annoying fitness cards. But soon, this unpleasant topic will finally be over. There will be no more fitness items and training items in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team.

How does fitness work now? After the removal of the fitness cards, player fitness will only matter during a match. Otherwise, every player starts with full fitness in a match.

Alongside the fitness cards, training items will also be removed. In the official explanation, it is stated that this mechanic was hardly used by anyone.

fitness fifa 20
The fitness cards will soon be a thing of the past

Changes in the FUT modes

This is what you can expect: The Division Rivals mode will be slightly adjusted in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team. Instead of having unlimited matches to rise and fall between divisions, only the first 30 Division Rivals matches will count in FUT 21. No points are awarded for additional matches.

In contrast, there is hardly any change to FUT Champions; here, only the Top 100 will be expanded to a new Top 200.

Shorter animations to avoid frustration

This is what you can expect: You concede a goal in the last minute and then the opposing goal scorer runs to the camera and does the “Shush” celebration? That can be quite annoying. Therefore, EA has decided to reduce the frustration in heated online matches in FIFA 21.

On the one hand, the animations during goal celebrations and set pieces will be significantly shortened. On the other hand, the developer has removed two celebrations. These two celebrations are:

  • The “Shush” celebration, where the goal scorer puts a finger to his lips to signal that they should be quiet.
  • The “A-Ok” celebration, which is based on a celebration by Dele Alli.
fifa 20 demo jubel
You will no longer see this celebration

For the waiting times before set pieces, which previously lasted all 30 seconds, the changes are as follows:

  • Before kick-off, the wait time now lasts a maximum of 10 seconds
  • Throw-ins last 12 seconds
  • Goal kicks take 15 seconds
  • Corners also take 15 seconds
  • Penalties take 15 seconds as well
  • Free kicks take 20 seconds

Additionally, animations, such as when a player retrieves the ball for a throw-in from the side, will also be removed from online matches.

The additional features and changes in Ultimate Team

What will be new: In addition to the major updates in FIFA 21, a few smaller things will also change in FUT. We already know the new card design:

This is what FUT 21 cards look like

And we also know what the new pack animations will look like.

What do you think of the updates in Ultimate Team? Would you have liked more new features? What new features in FIFA 21 are particularly exciting, we have summarized here for you.

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

A brilliant troll cleans up in CS:GO – Makes sure that cheaters have to jump off the map

Noah Struthoff Noah Struthoff Reading time 2 minutes

In the shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) cheaters are not uncommon. A clever player outsmarts the cheaters and takes control over them.

This is the situation: The YouTuber and CS:GO player ScriptKid takes action against cheaters in Counter-Strike. He offers a cheat software that looks completely normal on the outside, but actually hits the cheaters with their own weapons.

Those who download this software start to do very crazy things. Players with this software suddenly jump off rooftops or simply throw away their weapons. ScriptKid’s videos then show the extent of it.

Clever player defeats cheaters with their own weapons

This is what the YouTuber shows: We already reported on ScriptKid in July. There he showed a first video of how cheaters eliminated themselves. Now he has further developed his software and lets the cheaters eliminate themselves in even more ways.

We embed here the latest video from ScriptKid:

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This is what the software does to the cheaters: When the cheaters have downloaded the supposed cheat software, everything still appears normal at the start of the round. But when it starts, very different things can happen:

  • The character simply jumps off the skyscraper and eliminates itself
  • The cheater uses a weapon that makes noise but does not fire any bullets – it looks like every shot hits, but then no one is hit
  • The affected player simply throws their weapon out of the window or off the skyscraper and can no longer use it
  • Another cheater walks through a field and this changes their movements – instead of walking forward, they walk backward or look to the side

Why does ScriptKid do this? Cheaters are a daily problem in CS:GO. Cheating is even done freely in tournaments and everyone who regularly plays CS:GO has probably encountered a cheater.

The YouTuber wants to counter this, as developer Valve does not seem to handle the cheater problem very well. In addition, ScriptKid provides funny videos that probably bring a smile to the faces of fair players.

Despite the problems, Valve is trying hard to combat cheaters and the toxic community. A.I. examines the chat histories of players and ruthlessly bans players who become particularly abusive. Over 20,000 players were banned due to this A.I. in 2019.

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

Fall Guys banishes cheaters to their own island where they cheat each other

Jürgen Horn Jürgen Horn Reading time 3 minutes

In Fall Guys the developers secretly created a place where they let all cheaters play against each other. This worked well for a while and there are shocking videos of it. But since the cheaters are too clever, Fall Guys is now getting help from Epic.

What is the deal with the cheater place? The colorful battle royale Fall Guys has a cheating problem. Time and again, it happens that cheaters zoom through the map incredibly quickly or even fly over obstacles. To prevent cheaters from ruining the fun for everyone, the developers secretly collected data and banned all players who exceeded a certain threshold of evidence to a server called “Cheater Island” without their knowledge.

Cheater Island – The Hell on Earth!

This is how Cheater Island works: Cheaters who landed on Cheater Island were initially complaining because the server population was too low to facilitate matches. Since the character was stuck in a loop falling down on the loading screen for a round, many players complained that they would “fall forever”. This was not a bug, the developers say now. Those were all cheaters who couldn’t find a match due to the low server population on Cheater Island.

This is what the rounds looked like: Later, there were apparently enough players on Cheater Island and the rounds were all a nightmare. There is a video in which EVERYONE is using a speed hack and the round ends in a crazy tangle of tangled Fall Guys right before the finish line.

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In another round, it seems that a single player is not cheating and not even a second after the countdown to the round start is the game over, because everyone else was as fast as The Flash.

The developers state that the two videos cannot be proven to come from Cheater Island, but it is to be assumed.

By the way, how cheaters are prevented from the regular lobby, you can find out here.

More on the topic
Brave players in Fall Guys lose voluntarily, so cheaters do not win
von Jürgen Horn

That’s why Cheater Island is gone again

Why did it ultimately not work? In a post by the developers, it is further explained how things went with Cheater Island. Because even though it was a lot of fun to let the cheaters compete only against each other, the cleverness and persistence of the cheaters were underestimated.

The cheaters exchanged ideas in cheating forums and soon they circumvented the ban on Cheater Island. Among other things, by playing together with compliant people who were not cheaters. This way, they could get back into the regular playlist. Others used Steam Family Sharing to create new accounts for free and continue cheating there.

fall guys level exploit title 01
Playing with cheaters is no fun in Fall Guys.

Developers bring in Epic for help: The developers realized that the cheaters did not learn their lesson when confronted. Instead, they were eager to leave Cheater Island to be the only cheater in the match again. No remorse or improvement was in sight.

Therefore, the developers have had enough. To win the arms race against the cheaters, they have now enlisted Epic Games for help. The Fortnite developers already have experience with anti-cheat, and thus the new update for Fall Guys will also be called “Big Yeetus and Anti-Cheatus”.

Epic has at least achieved some success against cheaters in Fortnite, but the fight against cheaters is an eternal arms race. Therefore, a game will probably never be completely free of cheaters. However, Fall Guys might soon have entirely different problems. According to top streamer shroud, something urgently needs to change so that Fall Guys does not die.

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

The Division 2: Maintenance, server down on 15.09. – Patch notes and all information

Sven Galitzki Sven Galitzki Reading time 2 minutes

The Division 2 is conducting maintenance today, September 15th, across all platforms, including PS4, Xbox One, Stadia, and PC. The servers will be offline for several hours. Here you can read how the maintenance will proceed, when the downtime will occur, and what the patch notes reveal.

Update 11:01 AM: The maintenance was completed this time already 90 minutes before the planned end. The servers should now be back online on all platforms. Have fun and good luck, Agents!

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What is the maintenance about? Anyone wanting to play The Division 2 this morning has to take a forced break. Although the big Title Update 11 will be released next week (on September 22nd), which will bring new content as well as various changes and fixes, the game is being worked on again today – albeit on a smaller scale.

By the way, TU11 brings among others

with it.

And here Massive is already hinting at the release of The Summit and a new event: The Division 2 reveals the release date for Summit, teases a mysterious event

Maintenance schedule on September 15

Note the following times: As usual, Massive communicated the key times regarding the maintenance process the day before. Here’s the plan for today:

  • The maintenance begins today at 9:30 AM German time 
  • The downtime starts simultaneously, the servers are offline from now on
  • The forced break is expected to last 3 hours, this is how long the maintenance is supposed to take
  • If everything goes smoothly, the Division 2 servers should be back online by 12:30 PM German time at the latest
  • With the end of the downtime, today’s maintenance will also be completed

Keep in mind that these times are not set in stone. Especially the end of the maintenance is often rescheduled – forward and backward. If there are any changes to today’s schedule, we will update it here in the article.

Patch Notes – What changes today

What do the patch notes say? The change log is again very concise today. Apparently, there is only one fix planned during the 3-hour downtime:

  • A problem was fixed that caused the weekly SHD project not to reset if you were online during the reset

No further changes or bug fixes have been communicated by Massive for today. But next week, with TU11, much more should come: Finally, we know how The Division 2 will continue – Roadmap 2020

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

Pokémon GO brings Mega Pidgeot – Will immediately be the best flying attacker

Noah Struthoff Noah Struthoff Reading time 2 minutes

In Pokémon GO there are finally details about the release of Mega-Pidgeot. The evolution is coming this week and will be incredibly strong.

When will Mega-Pidgeot be released? The special evolution was unlocked through the first Mega event in early August. It will now be released on September 18 at 10:00 PM German time.

It is the first new Mega evolution coming to the game after 4 Mega evolutions were released simultaneously in August.

Mega-Pidgeot will be really strong – All info

These are the stats: First, let’s take a look at the stats of Mega-Pidgeot so that you can get a rough overview:

  • Attack value: 280
  • Defense value: 175
  • HP value: 195
  • Maximum CP: 3680

Is Mega-Pidgeot worth it? With this Mega evolution, we get a new top Flying attacker! Generally, the selection of Flying attackers is quite modest, and Mega-Pidgeot has an easy path to land in first place.

It is the combination that makes Mega-Pidgeot so good. The attack value of 280 is not the best among all Flying attackers, but still among the top 5. Additionally, it has the perfect Flying attacks. Other Flying attackers usually have only one Flying attack or weaker moves of this type.

As a counter against the legendary Pokémon Virizion, Mega-Pidgeot ranks first. It inflicts the most damage by far and should ideally be used for a duo.

Virizion
Against Virizion, Mega-Pidgeot is now the best counter.

How can you get Mega-Pidgeot? This Mega evolution will be obtainable through raids. It works exactly like with Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. You battle in Mega-Pidgeot raids and collect Mega energies. With these energies, you can then Mega evolve a Pidgeot.

How much energy Mega-Pidgeot needs is still unclear at the moment. However, it could very well be that it will be less than with the 3 starters.

Should you secure Mega-Pidgeot? Opinions differ on this. Of course, Mega-Pidgeot is incredibly strong and will be the best Flying attacker. However, the evolution only lasts for 4 hours, and you need to invest several raid passes to obtain the evolution.

We therefore recommend that you collect the Mega energy and only use it when you can effectively utilize Mega-Pidgeot. This would be sensible against Virizion, for example. If the legendary Pokémon returns to raids, you could then conduct several evolutions with the collected Mega energies.

Currently, there is a bug with Mega evolutions that makes them up to 145% stronger. If this also affects Mega-Pidgeot, you will have an even stronger monster in your inventory.

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

FIFA 21: The 25 Best Talents – 6 Come from the Bundesliga

Max Handwerk Max Handwerk Reading time 5 minutes

The best talents with the highest rating at the launch of FIFA 21 are known. Here you will find the strongest U21 players for the career overview – including some Bundesliga players. 

These are the talents: After the strongest player ratings in FIFA 21 were already released, EA Sports has now also shown the best players under 21 years old. They fall into the category “talents” and have plenty of time to improve during the career mode – even if they already have a high initial rating. 

Here you will find the 25 best talents sorted by position in the overview. We will also take a look at the best talents from the Bundesliga! All info about FIFA 21 can be found in the release overview.

FIFA 21: The best talents in attack 

Mbappe FIFA 21
The strongest talent in FIFA 21: Mbappé

Striker talents at ST, MS, LF, and RF: Among the offensive players, there are already many strong talents. This includes cover star Mbappé, who is among the best players in the game but still has a lot of potential. Behind him are strikers like Haaland, who also already have strong values, but also developable strikers like Napoli’s new signing Osimhen. Here is the overview: 

  • Kylian Mbappé (Overall 90 / 21 years / ST) 
  • Erling Haaland (Overall 84 / 20 years / ST) 
  • Joao Felix (Overall 81 / 20 years / MS) 
  • Christian Pulisic (Overall 81 / 21 years / LF) 
  • Vinicius Junior (Overall 80 / 20 years / LF) 
  • Rodrygo (Overall 79 / 19 years / RF) 
  • Osimhen (Overall 79 / 21 years / ST) 
  • Alexander Isak (Overall 79 / 20 years / ST) 

FIFA 21: The best talents in midfield 

Havertz FIFA 21
Havertz is the second-best midfield talent

Midfield talents at ZOM, RM, LM, ZDM, and ZM: The midfield is led by Jadon Sancho, followed by strong players like Kai Havertz or Martin Ødegaard. But there are also players with an overall rating below 80, like Phil Foden.

  • Jadon Sancho (Overall 87 / 20 years / RM) 
  • Kai Havertz (Overall 85 / 21 years / ZOM) 
  • Martin Ødegaard (Overall 83 / 21 years / ZOM) 
  • Achraf Hakimi (Overall 83 / 21 years / RM) 
  • Moussa Diaby (Overall 81 / 21 years / LM) 
  • Ferran Torres (Overall 81 / 20 years / RM) 
  • Mason Mount (Overall 80 / 21 years / ZOM) 
  • Phil Foden (Overall 79 / 20 years / ZOM) 
  • Boubacar Kamara (Overall 79 / 20 years / ZDM) 
  • Declan Rice (Overall 79 / 21 years / ZDM) 

FIFA 21: The best talents in defense & goal 

Alexander Arnold FIFA 21
Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold leads the defense

Defensive talents at CB, RB, LB, and GK: These players are designed to keep things tight at the back. At the top is Trent Alexander-Arnold with a rating of 87. And with Gianluigi Donnarumma, a goalkeeper has also made it to the list. The overview: 

  • Trent Alexander-Arnold (Overall 87 / 21 years / RB) 
  • Matthijs de Ligt (Overall 85 / 21 years / CB) 
  • Gianluigi Donnarumma (Overall 85 / 21 years / GK) 
  • Alphonso Davies (Overall 81 / 19 years / LB) 
  • Dayot Upamecano (Overall 79 / 21 years / CB) 
  • Jules Kundé (Overall 79 / 21 years / CB) 
  • Dan-Axel Zagadou (Overall 79 / 21 years / CB) 

The 6 strongest talents from the Bundesliga for the career

These are the Bundesliga talents: In FIFA 21, 6 Bundesliga players belong to the talents with the highest starting rating. These are:

Jadon Sancho 

Sancho in FIFA 21
Sancho in FIFA 21

The Dortmund forward player had to endure a surprising pace downgrade, but still impresses with his offensive values. He has an overall rating of 87 at just 20 years old and is the best player from Borussia Dortmund. 

Erling Haaland 

Haaland in FIFA 21
Haaland in FIFA 21

Sancho’s teammate Haaland is among the players who have made a huge jump in ratings. He comes with a base rating of 84 and, at just 20 years old, still has a lot of potential. 

Alphonso Davies 

Davies FIFA 21
Alphonso Davies in FIFA 21

Some players would have liked to see the Bayern left-back rated even higher – as would some other Bayern players. After all, he was among the strongest defenders last season. Still, with his overall rating of 81 and a pace of 96, he is definitely a strong option for left back. And Davies is only 19 years old. 

Moussa Diaby 

Diaby
Diaby in FIFA 21

The Leverkusen forward man also makes a strong jump in the ratings – just as expected after last season. He stands out with extremely high pace and, at 21 years old, still has a lot of time for development. 

Dayot Upamecano 

FIFA 21 Upamecano
Upamecano in FIFA 21

Upamecano plays for RB Leipzig and could become a very good option for your center-back position in the career. He offers good values in pace, defense, and physicality. And with his 21 years, those values are likely to improve further. 

Dan-Axel Zagadou 

Zagadou FIFA 21
Zagadou in FIFA 21

The Dortmund center-back is a real presence in the penalty area at 1.96 meters tall. He is unlikely to be outjumped during headers. At 21 years old, he still has plenty of opportunities to improve. His defensive and physical ratings are already very good at the start.

Thus, the strongest talents in FIFA 21 are known. It remains to be seen which young players will join these top talents once all ratings are revealed. Do you agree with the talents’ ratings? Or have you missed some other players on the list? Here you will find 5 players who deserve stronger ratings. 

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

Microsoft allegedly wants to buy Destiny 2 along with the studio – This is what Bungie says now

Philipp Hansen Philipp Hansen Reading time 3 minutes

Rumor has it that Microsoft wants to acquire Bungie along with Destiny 2, but that would have become too expensive. Bungie’s CEO has now commented on this. We take a look at the relationships the Destiny developer and the software giant have had in the past and will have in the future.

This made headlines:

  • On the evening of September 14, some magazines headlined that Microsoft planned to acquire Bungie, including Destiny 2, and that several talks had taken place between the companies.
  • However, the developer studio was said to be too expensive – thus, no agreement was reached between the software giant and the Destiny developer.

These rumors first emerged from the GamesBeat podcast (via YouTube starting from 1:17:30) by Jeff Grubb. Shortly after, Eurogamer also reported on the potential acquisition, citing its own separate sources. In both instances, no sums are mentioned.

This is Bungie’s reaction: Bungie’s CEO Pete Parsons commented quite briefly on the matter: “That’s not true.”

This statement was made in response to a tweet from Twitter user Nibel, who spread the rumor of the acquisition and its repeated failure due to Bungie’s high price.

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Parsons does not elaborate on what exactly is incorrect or untrue. It could be considered, among other things, that there were indeed talks, or that it fell through due to money.

Vanessa Vanasin, global communications manager at Bungie, commented more extensively on the rumors, but chose a different tone according to her position:

All the info and speculations are not true. We are happy to have such good relationships with our many friends over there [at Microsoft] who play Destiny. And Halo will always have a special place in our hearts.

Vanessa Vanasin via Twitter

David Dague, head of Bungie’s communication team better known as “Deej”, also responded to Nibel dryly via Twitter: “If you spread gossip about our company, please use our current logo.”

Xbox Project Scarlett Destiny 2
So no marching orders towards Xbox?

Do Bungie and Microsoft have an endless on/off relationship?

The rumor about the acquisition probably remains just that – a rumor. But why the topic might be quite conceivable is shown by the past and, in particular, the future connecting Destiny and Microsoft.

This is what the shared past looked like:

  • In 2000, Microsoft acquired the independent developer Bungie
  • With the Halo series, Bungie and Microsoft celebrated great successes together (Halo was considered a system seller and the most important title for the Xbox at that time)
  • At the end of 2007, Bungie and Microsoft parted ways – since then, Bungie has been an independently run company, while the rights to Halo remained with Microsoft
  • In summer 2020, Destiny 2 played an essential role in the Xbox Games Showcase

In 2010, Bungie made an amazing deal with Activision, which brought us Destiny 1 and 2. In 2019, the two companies parted ways, but this time Bungie retained all rights to the game franchise. It is said that the corks were popped when they became the sole masters of Destiny’s future.

More on the topic
Destiny 2: Bungie legend tells horror story about deal with Activision Blizzard
von Schuhmann

What does the future of Bungie and Microsoft look like? In the near future, there are indeed strong touchpoints between the two:

  • The major expansion Destiny 2: Beyond Light was postponed by about 2 months. The release date is now set for November 10, 2020. Recently, it was announced that on that very date, Microsoft’s next-gen console, the Xbox Series X, will be released.
  • De facto, Destiny is thus a launch title for the new console and a Halo replacement. The original release of Halo: Infinite has been postponed to 2021 (as our colleagues at GameStar report).
  • Additionally, it is known that Destiny 2 will be fully available in the Xbox Game Pass
Beyond Light takes you to the ice moon Europa and brings Stasis, the first new element in 6 years

With all these factors, it’s easy to assume that exploratory talks took place between Microsoft and Bungie. But according to the Destiny makers, there is nothing to it.

All the Guardians out there on PlayStation, Stadia, or Steam can now surely breathe a sigh of relief. Because fortunately, no exclusive deals are planned, and Destiny 2 has already shown its ideas for the coming years: Destiny 2 will continue for years as an MMO – beyond Light and plans until 2022

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Eurogamer
  2. Forbes
  3. PCGamer
  4. Dualshockers

The godfather is upset about what has become of MMOs: “Reduced to kill quests”

Andreas Bertits Andreas Bertits Reading time 3 minutes

Is gameplay in modern MMOs only about kill and fetch quests? Raph Koster, the godfather of the genre, has his own opinion on this.

Who is Raph Koster? Koster began his career with the MMORPG classic Ultima Online, where he served as lead designer for the expansion The Second Age. Later, he worked as Creative Director on Star Wars Galaxies. He is considered one of the founding fathers of the MMORPG genre.

Koster frequently discusses his experiences and the state of MMORPGs. For instance, he explained that even today subscription games could compete against free-to-play games if the model is implemented correctly.

He also clarified what he understands by the term “MMO.” Namely, a label for online games that are continuously evolving.

tera battle
Is MMORPG gameplay, like in TERA, only about killing monsters and collecting items?

What has happened to MMORPGs?

What does he say about MMOs now? At the release of the role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, the designer spoke out. He expressed surprise at an article comparing the gameplay of the role-playing game with Destiny 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and The Division 2. Specifically, in the form that while the player always has something to do, they receive very little in terms of story or narration in return.

The article states:

As I played the first hours of Re-Reckoning while often listening to podcasts, it dawned on me that I was essentially playing Destiny 2. I played Call of Duty Modern Warfare and completed my daily tasks. I played The Division 2 and helped civilians who seemed to need something every few hours.

I carried out endurance tasks that spread thinly but constantly before me and seemed to stretch into eternity. I played something that drew my attention and energy while only feeding me the most general plot details, with very little of it extending into a wide narrative.

Cameron Kunzelmann, Vice

According to Raph Koster, this experience of the article’s author shows that MMOs are increasingly reducing their gameplay to kill and fetch quests – or at least some players perceive it that way. It’s primarily about fighting enemies or collecting something.

For me, the most fascinating aspect of this article is how the ‘MMO-ness’ has been reduced to a series of kill-and-fetch quests. It doesn’t have to be that way, and it won’t be if I can help it. Alternative worlds are a bigger dream than that.

Raph Koster
Star Wars Galaxies Housing
In Raph Koster’s MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies, players were offered a virtual world where it was not just about battles or collecting items.

Do MMOs really consist only of such standard quests? Raph Koster believes it doesn’t have to be that way. For him, MMOs consist of much more. He wants to ensure that online games, especially MMORPGs, showcase what they truly have to offer. And this goes beyond kill and fetch quests.

As he explained earlier, baking and planting flowers are among the important elements of an online role-playing game.

How does Koster intend to change this development? The designer is currently working on his own MMORPG. With his development studio Playable Worlds, he is creating a game that is intended to be about more than just going through the familiar list of tasks in an MMO.

When this MMORPG will be released is currently still unknown.

Do you agree that MMOs are increasingly developing in a direction where it’s all about fetch and kill quests? Or is there much more to this genre?

Are you currently looking for a new MMORPG that has been released this year? We present four candidates that you might like.

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

Call of Duty: Next major cheat provider gives up – Activision too powerful

Sven Galitzki Sven Galitzki Reading time 3 minutes

Activision continues to take a hard line against cheat providers for CoD titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or Warzone. Following a threat from the publisher, the next big seller is now backing down.

Next success in the fight against cheat providers: Even in the ongoing Season 5 of CoD MW and Warzone, cheaters and hackers are a pesky problem – especially on PC.

However, publisher Activision and the developers continue to work hard to get this problem under control as best as possible. This is also demonstrated by the recent case of a major cheat provider site. After a threat from Activision and the visit of a private detective, this site has now ceased the sale of cheats for “Call of Duty” games.

Already a few weeks ago, another major cheat seller shut down operations after being sued by Activision: Activision sues major cheat provider for CoD – Apologizes

This is the cheat seller in question: The website GatorCheats offers cheating software and hacks for various online games such as GTA Online, Valorant, or until recently, also Modern Warfare and Warzone. GatorCheats was one of the larger providers, especially for the CoD games.

cod modern warfare warzone update cheater melden knopf titel
Cheaters are a big problem in CoD Warzone.

“I can’t afford legal proceedings with this company”

In a post on its own Discord server, GatorCheats has now publicly addressed the matter and explained how the confrontation with Activision unfolded. Interestingly: Apparently, a clearly formulated warning was enough – there was no court proceeding at all.

This is what happened at GatorCheats: Back in May 2020, GatorCheats received a warning from the lawyers of Activision Blizzard. The site was instructed to cease any manufacture and distribution of cheats and hacks for “Call of Duty” products. Initially, GatorCheats did not fully comply with this demand, and so in September 2020, there was another warning.

This time, Activision apparently enforced its demand more emphatically and delivered the second warning through a private detective. This person showed up at the residence of the website owner, delivered the letter, and made it clear that they knew pretty much everything about the owner and their activities – even the names of their family members.

After that, communication with Activision continued and the publisher once again threatened with legal proceedings should GatorCheats not permanently cease all sales and any support for all products of Activision Blizzard.

Here is the full statement (Source: CharlieIntel)

This is what GatorCheats says about the matter: The warnings with the threat of legal action seem to have convinced the owner. They published a statement on their Discord server and publicly announced that they would never again design, test, or update a cheat for a game from Activision Blizzard. The sales have already been completely halted.

And as much as he loves his customers, he loves his family more, said the owner of GatorCheats. He cannot afford to take this company to court and has a responsibility to his family.

What is the status of the cheat provider now? GatorCheats does not want to give up entirely yet. Although Call of Duty is over now, in the near future, they apparently want to switch to other options, according to the statement. The site itself is still operational and continues to offer cheats for other games.

What do you think of Activision’s hard line? Would you have wished for this much earlier? Or is this approach still not harsh enough in your opinion? By the way, if you’re wondering how CoD Modern Warfare and Warzone will continue after Season 5: CoD MW, Warzone Season 6: Is there even going to be a new season? What we know so far

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