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When Epic Games launched its store, many called “Don’t need it, I have Steam.” However, the company shows with current user numbers that it is closely following Steam. Free titles like GTA 5 help with this.
What’s new? Epic Games has now spoken about the user numbers of the Epic Games Store. And they have recently skyrocketed due to promotions with free games. So high, in fact, that it now shows: although hardly anyone wanted the store at first, it is now closely behind the market leader Steam.
These are the new user numbers: A campaign with free games that started in May was apparently a great success. As Epic explained in a press release on June 23, this raised the number of most simultaneous users to 13 million.
Currently, there are more than 61 million users monthly in the Epic Games Store.
What was the campaign like? When Epic gave away GTA 5 for free in the Epic Games Store in May, it caused the entire service to crash. So many people wanted to enter the shop simultaneously that the server hardware couldn’t keep up, and games and the shop were poorly accessible to not accessible for hours.
Many wanted to get the game for free. GTA 5 Online is still worth it in 2020 and is provided with many free updates. Many simply didn’t want to miss such a blockbuster. GTA 5 was free at Epic – then even Fortnite went down.
After GTA 5, other hits followed that were free in the Epic Games Store:
No wonder many new and existing users registered in the store and simultaneously tried to redeem the offers. This leads to records for simultaneous users and also for monthly active users in the Epic Games Store.
This is what Epic Games says: “Since we launched the Epic Games Store, we have always wanted to create a huge event around our successful weekly ‘Free Games’ program to provide our players worldwide with something great, and we decided to go big.”
How is it looking at Steam? The numbers from Epic are already close to those from Steam.
The record for most simultaneous users on Steam is 24.5 million.
As PCGamer reports, Steam had nearly 95 million active users per month in 2019.
Although Epic Games is still a bit away from Steam. But not as far as one might have expected given the initial loud sentiment against the EGS.
This is how the mood was at first: At the launch of the Epic Games Store, some PC players were displeased. Many criticized that another store next to Steam was superfluous. This was also echoed in the comments here on MeinMMO:
With its actions and exclusive titles, Epic Games can apparently convince some players with the latest numbers that another store can definitely find a place in the market. So the mood among some PC gamers seems to have changed over the past months.
But it doesn’t always go that well. Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 was released on PC after its console release. For a month, the Western adventure was available for purchase and play in the Epic Games Store and the Rockstar Launcher. The title only arrived on Steam a month later.
However, Steam fans presumably went through with the Epic boycott for Red Dead Redemption 2.
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The end of the streaming service Mixer is perceived very differently by the streamers. While the big stars of the platform like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Michael “shroud” Grzesiek apparently earn millions, smaller streamers are at their wit’s end. There, consolation donations hardly help.
This is the end of Mixer: On the evening of June 22 in German time, Microsoft surprisingly announced that they will close their streaming platform Mixer in just one month.
Microsoft admits that it was unable to reach enough viewers and plans to work with Facebook Gaming in the future.
This happens to the “big streamers”: According to insider reports, the two top streamers of the platform are the big winners of this deal.
The former Twitch stars Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Michael “shroud” Grzesiek had signed exclusive deals with Mixer in 2019.
They were allegedly offered by Facebook to switch from Mixer to Facebook Gaming for even more money. But they allegedly had their contracts cashed out by Mixer, according to insiders.
They allegedly made millions of US dollars in one fell swoop, are now free agents, and can negotiate the next big payday through the powerful agency Loaded , perhaps with Twitch.
What about the small streamers? Many “normal” streamers with only a few hundred viewers were caught completely off guard and hit hard by the news of Mixer’s end. There apparently was no internal communication. The Mixer streamers learned about the end of Mixer while they were live on air.
For some streamers, this was a passion into which they invested a lot of time and energy. The emotions then went live on air.
A tweet shows three pictures of distraught female streamers who can’t believe that their time on Mixer is over in an instant.
Certainly, Mixer streamers can switch to Facebook, but they have to hope that their fans will follow them and that they will find their way on the new platform. That’s a risk.
In the past, Facebook has been criticized for, among other things, having a real name requirement. The German streamer MontanaBlack called Facebook Gaming “trash”, as is his way.
This is a small consolation: In the wake of the news, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins donated money to a streamer while he was live on air. He gave streamer VinnyB $500 and later another $1000 when he expressed his gratitude to Ninja.
Ninja’s wife and manager also donated money to other streamers on Mixer. According to Jessica Blevins, they want to continue with the donations now (via dotesports).
The streamer soapys tearfully thanked Jessica Blevins and her husband. It was an “emotional rollercoaster.” First, she had lost everything, then people came and were so incredibly nice to her.
Is there hope for the Mixer streamers? There is at least a rumor that Facebook is allegedly offering a bonus of $2500 to every Mixer partner who switches to them, as long as they stay for at least 90 days and meet certain conditions, probably streaming a certain amount of hours.
This bonus payment would only affect the “partners”, meaning somewhat established Mixer streamers and not everyone.
Since Facebook as a platform is so large, some see the switch from Mixer to Facebook Gaming as a great potential.
Twitch and YouTube content creators are also offering their help, suggesting that Mixer streamers could switch to these platforms as well.
At the moment, only a few are aware that Facebook is so involved in live streaming games. But the platform has a high potential reach.
A Twitch star switched to Facebook in 2019 and raves about the platform with a real name requirement:
Streamer tells everyone on Twitch how great his exclusive deal with Facebook is
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A new glitch is causing havoc at the gunsmith of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare & Warzone. Although it doesn’t give you any advantages, you can create the craziest weapons.
What can I do with the glitch? The newly discovered bug allows you to build stylish, but also really ridiculous weapons in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare & Warzone.
You can transfer blueprints attachments that usually only work on specific weapons to others and create some really crazy guns.
The current system that allows you to mix blueprint attachments is already called “Frankensteining”. However, the patchwork weapons that this glitch makes possible are on another level.
Update July 1st: According to the patch notes of the “Season 4 Reloaded” update, this glitch has been fixed.
The glitch was likely discovered by the YouTube channel “GlitchHunterz”. The channel creators regularly upload glitches and bugs in shooters like CoD or Valorant, and sometimes also gameplay of their own sessions. Here’s the video about the glitch:
Will this give me any advantages? Apart from a really unique look for your weapon, you cannot gain any advantage against other players in public matches.
As soon as you want to equip an attachment to craft a weapon that normally isn’t available for your modified weapon, the game will remove the attachment from the weapon when you start a match.
So attaching a 60-round drum from the MP AUG to the assault rifle M4A1 does not work. But if you want to mount a stock or recoil compensating underbarrel and your target weapon also has a corresponding attachment, you can show off with your custom style even in public matches.
How does it work? You need a buddy, a mouse, and a few special attachments that you definitely want to see on your favorite weapon. Go to the loadout with your target weapon and remove all the attachments from the gun.
Make your buddy the party leader and go into the private lobby. Here, choose a blueprint attachment and then right-click on the type of attachment. So if you want to put a “Ranger Foregrip” on your target weapon, you have to right-click on “Ranger Foregrip” and not on the attachment you want.
A small menu will appear. If your buddy then reactivates the normal lobby, this menu remains and that’s the glitch. If you select “Gunsmith Customs” in the menu, you enter your target loadout and can screw on attachments that you don’t actually own.
If you want to change more than one attachment, you need to mount an extra attachment on your target weapon, like “Dexterity”. You then replace that with the crazy glitch attachments.
Can I build exactly the weapon I want? Not quite. In the video above, you can see how the player tries to attach a special MP5 stock to the M4A1. Although the correct names of the MP5 attachments are displayed, since this attachment does not exist for the M4, the game apparently suggests a few compatible attachments that fit. In the example, suddenly a squeaky pink attachment is available.
This is a funny glitch that hasn’t hurt anyone so far. While you can theoretically use the really crazy devices in private matches, the attachments usually don’t become more useful that way. There are glitches of a whole different caliber, like the snake glitch in Warzone, that allows players to crawl across the ground at record speed while still maintaining their normal field of view.
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Amazon’s new open-world MMORPG New World offers you a complex crafting system in which crafters play an important role on the server. Those who wish can invest a lot of time in the system and become the best blacksmith on the server.
How does crafting work in New World? In Amazon’s upcoming MMORPG New World crafting is an important element of the gameplay. According to the developers, you should even be able to endlessly level your crafting skills and eventually become the very best master blacksmith on the server.
What makes it so special? This ability to become the best blacksmith in the world sets New World apart significantly from other MMORPGs. For example, when you reach the end of progression in WoW or ESO, you are at the same level as all other end-level crafters. You just make the endgame stuff and are nothing special anymore.
In New World, however, as a dedicated hardcore crafter, with enough effort and commitment, you can actually become the very best if you are more diligent than the other crafters. Then, numerous players will likely show up to buy your masterpieces – the ones only you do so well.
How does progression work? To level up, you just need to continuously craft more items, which increases your crafting skill. The same system applies to other aspects of the game, there are no classes, everyone can learn everything.
You start as a complete beginner, who can only craft one boot (armor smithing) or a simple sword made of iron (weapon smithing). Later at level 40, you can craft steel weapons, and those who reach level 100 should, according to the developers, be able to use exotic alloys like star metal. We have embedded the video about crafting in New World here for you:
What crafting skills are there? Currently, there are 7 crafting skills in New World:
By the way, here are all the details about the launch of the upcoming beta of New World:
What else can you do? In addition to always better base models of weapons and armor, you can also further customize the items with increasing experience in your craft. Among other things, you can:
By the way, you can adjust your equipment to your playstyle through traits. This makes it possible to reduce the weight and thus the disadvantages of heavy armor.
Where do the resources for crafting come from? If you want to be a master craftsman in New World, you need the finest and rarest resources. To make them available, it takes fearless and hardworking players who search for and find the materials in the game world.
Even these gatherers have skills and abilities that allow them to find better and rarer resources for you. So if you want to become the best blacksmith on the server, you need a good network of diligent players who can get you the best materials for your crafting. Unless you also become a master gatherer, but for that, you will likely need to invest even more time.
What else is there to know about New World? Do you want to know more about New World and how it has developed since the alpha and up to the launch of the beta? Our MeinMMO author Leya Jankowski has conducted an exclusive interview with the developers about the PvE content and learned many interesting details about the lore and storytelling in New World.
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Because his wife wrote nasty tweets, the Hearthstone professional Savjz was excluded from events.
When it comes to Hearthstone, Blizzard has often made a rather poor showing in communication in recent months. Many still think back to the Blitzchung scandal. Now, due to another issue, the professional player Savjz (Janne Mikkonen) has also been affected. He was excluded from future tournaments and events – because his wife wrote nasty things on Twitter.
What happened? When Blizzard cut 800 jobs last year, Savjz’s wife, Christina Mikkonen (known as “ZerinaX” on Twitter), was among those laid off.
In July, Chris Attalus, one of Hearthstone’s community managers, wrote that one should try to apply for a job at Blizzard.
ZerinaX responded to this offer with quite harsh words: “Do you really mean that, Chris?” and later explained that the pay in that job was “shit.” The entire “Commercial department is currently a disaster.”
Chris Attalus and Savjz apparently had a conversation afterwards. The professional player was told that he was “a burden” for such events due to his wife. At least, this is how Savjz explained it in a tweet.
This is how Blizzard has responded: In a more recent tweet, Savjz explained that Blizzard has lifted this ban. He received an apology from the community lead – he could also continue to participate in future events or attend them as a guest.
He thanks everyone who stood by him.
Savjz further states that the reason for his exclusion was not his wife’s tweets, but that he was not willing to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Savjz explicitly states here that this had never been a topic before, and a NDA had never been mentioned.
In another tweet, he explained that “Christina’s ban was never a matter for the company, and the employee who said that had neither the authority nor the power to enforce [the ban].”
Finally, Savjz states that he still has the impression that he and his wife were treated unfairly. Ultimately, however, he wants to “leave it behind.”
Which side is telling the whole truth here, and whether a NDA was really the reason for the (very short) ban, is probably not so easy to determine.
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If you play the online shooter Stalker Online, known locally as Stay Out, you might be affected by a hacking attack. Over a million account data has been stolen and offered for sale.
What has happened? Due to a hacking attack on the online shooter Stalker Online (Stay Out), more than 1.2 million account data has been stolen. The hacker also possesses 136,000 user data from the forum.
The data includes usernames, passwords, email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, and residential addresses of the affected players.
Subsequently, the hacker published a threat in the official forum of the online shooter with survival elements. If the developers do not contact within 24 hours, the data would be made publicly available.
Then the hacker offered the data for several hundred Euros in Bitcoin for sale via the dark web.
Were the data sold? Cybernews monitors the dark web and regularly checks corresponding markets. This way, they aim to quickly report sales of user data from hacking attacks to initiate appropriate countermeasures promptly.
Cybernews purchased the offered datasets to verify them. After tests, it was confirmed that they indeed contained user data from the online shooter Stalker Online.
Following that, Cybernews contacted the developers and demanded the platform that offered the stolen datasets take them offline. The sale was thus halted. At least on this market. It is unclear whether the hacker might still offer the data somewhere else.
It is also not known whether anyone else besides Cybernews has purchased the data.
What can buyers do with the data? According to Cybernews, buyers can do a few things:
What should players do now? Cybernews advises everyone who plays Stalker Online to change their password immediately. And if this password is still used for other games or websites, it must be changed there as well.
Are you generally interested in multiplayer shooters? Then check out the MeinMMO article “The 11 best multiplayer online shooters 2020 for PS4, Xbox One, PC” and perhaps find your next game.
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Destiny 2 introduced 5 new weapon perks with Season of Arrival. MeinMMO looks at what the perks have to offer and on which weapons you can find them.
These are the new perks: With the start of Season 11, Destiny 2 received five new weapon traits. The abilities do not rely solely on sheer damage but bring interesting new possibilities.
In this article, we take a look at the functions of the new perks, which weapons you can find the traits on, and provide a brief conclusion.
These new perks have enriched the sandbox since Season 11:
Currently, the fresh traits are only rolling on a handful of legendary guns, but in the future, we will see the perks on significantly more weapons. This was also the case with the perks that Season 9 introduced.
This is what the perk can do: The official description of Unrelenting states:
However, the perk understates its effect; it not only starts the recovery, but you also receive a significant amount of health as soon as the perk activates – similar to how Hunters experienced it with the exotic Wormhusk Crown before its nerf.
For the perk to activate and heal you, you need to fill an invisible meter. You need a total of 3 “points” to trigger the perk. Each enemy gives you the following points:
Unrelenting can be found on these weapons:
Conclusion on the new perk: Unrelenting offers very strong advantages in PvE. All guardians can now enjoy the healing power of the Voidwalker or the exotic effect of Crimson on their legendary weapons.
In PvP, you essentially need 2 kills, as one guardian grants “only” 2 points. Bold players can emerge from team fights strengthened and immediately attack the third victim.
This is what the perk can do: In-game, Killing Wind is described as follows:
The effect lasts for about 5 seconds. If you continuously secure kills, you can even extend the bonuses – if you defeat enough enemies, theoretically indefinitely.
Killing Wind can be found on these weapons:
Conclusion on the new perk: With Killing Wind, you have a real feel-good perk on your weapon. The gun is quicker to the hand, you are faster on your feet, and benefit from increased range.
The range increases depending on the weapon by several meters. However, with the range increase comes better aim assist and reduced bloom. So, you suffer less from the notorious ghost bullets. The effect can be compared to a slightly trimmed version of “First Shot”.
Once you get used to the noticeable bonuses, you’ll want to quickly secure the next kill to avoid trudging through Destiny again.
This is what the perk can do: Destiny 2 itself displays this perk ability for Sympathetic Arsenal in-game:
The perk works exactly as described. If you reload after a kill, your two stowed weapons also reload completely. A Hunter dodge after a kill, for example, benefits the entire arsenal.
Sympathetic Arsenal can be found on these weapons:
This is what the perk can do: Destiny 2 has recently received 2 major reload nerfs. First, the famous auto-reload was addressed and in Season 11, the effectiveness of many reload perks took a hit. Sympathetic Arsenal can thus shine.
Particularly strong is the perk on the new bow from the Umbral Engrams. Here, reloading counts as soon as a new arrow is in your hand. A bow hit on a smaller enemy thus quickly reloads your power and special weapon. This way, you can hack at major bosses almost without interruption.
This is what the perk can do: Currently, no weapon with Iron Gaze is playable, but according to the description, this will be the ability:
The perk passively gives you a +20 boost to aim assist. With this comes the “stickiness” of the reticle and bullet magnetism. You can even feel this with the mouse on PC, albeit not as intensely as with a controller.
The significantly improved aim assist is, however, paid for with -40 range.
Iron Gaze can be found on these weapons: The new perk will find its way into the game with the Iron Banner of Season 11. However, in the databases and the collection in-game, it is already evident that two weapons can roll with Iron Gaze:
Forecast for the perk: Practical tests will still have to show how rewarding Iron Gaze will be. Considering that a weapon can receive a maximum of 100 range, the -40 seems to be quite a steep price. But who knows, perhaps melee monsters can be created this way. We are curious.
This is what the perk can do: Currently, you still cannot try out Iron Grip yourself, but you can already see the perk details:
The perk provides a +20 stability boost. In exchange, the reload speed is reduced by -40.
Iron Grip can be found on these weapons: With the start of the first Iron Banner event of Season 11, you have a chance to get the new perk on:
Forecast for the perk: The drawback here may not weigh as heavily as with the perk relative. While it remains a game of chance, the large boost in stability could allow guardians to create precise killing tools.
What do you think about the new perks from the Season of Arrival? Have any of them already earned a permanent place? Do you think the traits will only reach their full potential when they become available on a wider range of weapons? Let us know in the comments.
If you’re itching for a new, unique gun, we recommend taking a look here: Fallen Avatar in Destiny 2 – How and when will the new weapon Exotic be available?
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In recent days, accusations against Twitch streamers have emerged. The CEO of the streaming platform, Emmet Shear, has taken a stance on this. However, he is now also under fire. Streamer Devin Nash even calls for the resignation of the Twitch CEO. In case of doubt, Amazon should fire him.
What has been happening on Twitch since June 20: We reported on MeinMMO that since June 20, women have been coming forward and speaking about their experiences with “powerful men” in the gaming industry. Some men have allegedly used their positions in the gaming industry over the past few years to make inappropriate sexual advances in a professional environment.
Many of the accusations concern men who are active on Twitch, such as the Destiny 2 streamer “SayNoToRage” or managers in the Twitch environment, such as Omeed Dariani, the head of a streaming agency.
This is how Twitch reacted: The platform Twitch issued a statement on June 21. It states that they take these accusations very seriously and are reviewing them.
They express gratitude to the women who were brave enough to come forward.
The CEO of Twitch, Emmet Shear, published an email on Twitter on June 23 that he had sent within the company.
In the email, Shear explains that he wishes for Twitch to be the safest place on the internet to create content. This is something the company needs to work on.
This is the criticism of Twitch: Following Emmet Shear’s statement, some have come forward saying that they had already raised issues on Twitch in the past, but their statements were dismissed.
The music streamer Starling says she addressed the issue at a partner meeting: men are sexually harassing women on Twitch.
In response, Shear allegedly only laughed and said: “Wow, the things happening on our platform, I can’t really comment on.”
This is the call for resignation: Streamer Devin Nash even demands Shear’s resignation. Nash read the CEO’s email during a stream. He describes his statements as “PR bullshit without real action plan.”
Furthermore, Nash makes a clear demand:
Emmet Shear should resign. I’m tired of him just standing by during these events. It’s obvious that he can’t lead the company as it is right now. Amazon needs to step in and fire him if he doesn’t resign.
Devin Nash
Devin Nash mentions Justin Wong, a key former employee of Twitch. He had also stated that there are serious issues in Twitch’s management circle. In the past, such allegations were handled too leniently.
Twitch continued to invite men accused of sexual misconduct to events and did not address the issue.
For Nash, these are clear signs that there are serious problems at Twitch under Shear.
According to him, Shear has now demonstrated that he is unable to address the platform’s issues.
A Twitch clip showing Nash’s statements has already received over 160,000 views.
Who is Devin Nash? Streamer Devin Nash is known for commenting on such meta-topics about Twitch and streaming. He has around 100,000 followers on Twitch and is an established figure within the Twitch community as a marketing expert and former head of the e-sports organization Counter Logic Gaming.
Until a few days ago, the hottest topic at Twitch was who gets banned and who doesn’t. There were fierce discussions about why one female streamer was banned for just a few seconds of something that shouldn’t have been seen, while other women seemingly got away with everything. Emmet Shear issued a statement on this:
Twitch CEO explains: Why some are banned and others are not – The controversial topic
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The MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria is not coming, at least not as it was originally planned. Therefore, the development studio Soulbound Studios has been sued. The situation is slowly escalating now as there are issues with refunds.
What kind of MMORPG is it about? It is about Chronicles of Elyria, a sandbox MMORPG where your hero was supposed to age and die. With descendants, you should be able to continue playing and, for example, establish a trade empire or further expand the rule over an entire kingdom.
What has happened with Chronicles of Elyria? On March 25, the CEO of Soulbound Studios had to explain that all employees were laid off. The company has run out of money. Nevertheless, the development was to continue on a voluntary basis to create a playable product.
However, the disappointment of the Kickstarter backers and supporters of the MMORPG was significant. Some demanded their money back. A class-action lawsuit was even sought.
What has happened now? Currently, there are increasing reports from players on Discord, talking about issues with refunds. Those who used the Xsolla service for payment seem to be hitting a wall when inquiring about refunds.
Specifically, it concerns purchases made in the three months prior to the announcement of the cancellation of Chronicles of Elyria. The question arises whether Xsolla already knew during that time that things were going downhill with Soulbound Studios and should not have accepted any payments.
Xsolla refers to the terms and conditions (via xsolla). Since refunds can only be made if nothing has been delivered at all. This is not really the case with Chronicles of Elyria. A pre-alpha demo of the parkour gameplay has been released. Also, maybe a game could still emerge. Xsolla seems to be operating in a legal gray area here.
Refunds for crowdfunding games are generally somewhat problematic. There is basically no guarantee that a project will come to fruition. However, there is a workaround if the payment service provider offers refunds. This is the case with Xsolla – with limitations.
What does the situation look like? In the Discord discussion about the refunds, the following can be read:
Despite the CONSTANT and CONSISTENT communication with Xsolla over the last 3-4 months, they have constantly made excuses and hidden behind the worst customer service I have ever seen a company fall back on. You just have to look at the countless screenshots being shared over the #RefundStatus channel to see the stone wall Xsolla has continually fallen back on, in direct disregard to both their own rules and regulations and the law itself.
Whether the money is now gone or whether a refund will occur cannot currently be said. We have followed up with Xsolla and will update the article accordingly when we receive a response.
Besides Chronicles of Elyria, there are other MMORPGs that could be very interesting. If you want to know which MMORPGs we believe are the most promising in 2020, then read the MeinMMO article These are the 8 most promising titles for 2020, in our opinion.
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Season 2 of The Division 2 has now started. We take a look at what the new season brings and whether it is worth checking in (again).
Season 2 is here: Since the “Warlords of New York” expansion, The Division 2 has been relying on seasons to regularly provide the game with fresh content.
With the maintenance on June 23, the 2nd season went live and offers various new content for agents over the next 12 weeks. But what exactly?
The roadmap for Season 2: There is a compact overview of the new Season 2 in this roadmap:
Below are more detailed details about the respective contents.
New Manhunt – The story continues: There will also be a new seasonal manhunt in Season 2, advancing the story of The Division 2 after the events of the Warlords expansion.
The new season is called Keener‘s Legacy and that’s exactly what it’s about. You need to hunt down and eliminate a new cell of 5 rogue agents. They are some of Keener’s most loyal followers and want to complete his plan around the Eclipse Virus that we thwarted.
As in Season 1, there are now 4 targets that will unlock every 3 weeks. Once you have found and eliminated Termite, Luna, Huntsman, and Titan through a series of tasks, the leader Hornet will be unlocked – the ultimate goal of the Season 2 Manhunt. You will receive a special reward from him.
New Season Pass: There is a new Season 2 Pass that comes with 100 seasonal levels. You level the pass with XP and earn new rewards, such as new gear, cosmetics, gear sets, or exotics, level by level.
There is a free rewards branch available for all players, but also a paid premium branch. The Season 2 Pass itself is free, but accessing the premium branch costs €10. The premium branch offers more rewards, but all gameplay-relevant content is also available through the free branch.
New Leagues: As part of Season 2, there will be 4 new leagues that allow you to put your skills to the test and compete with others in various activities.
Climb the leaderboards, rise in league ranks and earn special rewards like exo-boxes with strong rolls on the gear. Each league lasts for 2 weeks.
New Global Events: There will also be global events in Season 2 again. These last for one week each, change gameplay with various modifiers, and aim to provide more variety with their unique effects.
They can optionally be turned on or off – they are not mandatory. In these activities, you can also earn special rewards. There is a brand new event called Hollywood, along with the already known events Polarity Switch, Revived, and Guardian.
New Apparel Event: In the so-called apparel event, you can traditionally earn or buy various new cosmetics with a specific theme over the course of 3 weeks through XP.
The new apparel event of Season 2 is called Phoenix Down and takes place from July 14 to August 4. Every few SHD levels, there will be a key that allows you to open an event apparel container. From this, you will get unique new weapon skins or clothing items in the respective event look.
New Rewards: The new season also brings several new prizes. These include:
Season 2 in the trailer:
Bonus – New Raid: On June 30, the 2nd raid of The Division 2 will launch – Operation: Iron Horse.
This is officially not part of Season 2 content, as it is essentially a Year 1 content added later, but since it is starting during Season 2, we have included it here.
In this 8-man PvE peak activity, the True Sons have taken over a metal foundry to manufacture new weapons. They threaten to destroy everything the agents have worked so hard for, and that is what you are supposed to prevent there.
As a reward, there are two more new exotics and two new gear sets.
For more about the new raid, you can find it here: The Division 2 introduces the new raid “Operation: Iron Horse” – Everything about the start
Whether it is worth checking in with The Division 2 with the new Season 2 depends entirely on how you have played The Division 2 so far and what expectations you have for the new season.
For new players: If you are just starting with The Division 2 or have not been playing for long, the new season is definitely worth it. You can earn additional seasonal rewards through playing the regular content and even get some variety in the form of new events.
In short: As a new agent, you really can’t go wrong with the Season 2 Pass – not even with the premium branch access for €10. It is a good complement to the regular content of the game.
For returnees and veterans: For returnees and veterans, it heavily depends on what expectations you have for the new season.
If the regular content of The Division 2 can still keep you entertained and you enjoyed the seasonal model in Season 1, you will have fun in the current Season 2 – especially considering the many meaningful changes from Title Update 10, which make the game noticeably better in some areas. Basically, you get the same system as in Season 1 with some new content presented to you.
However, if you are tired of the regular content of The Division 2, then Season 2 may not make you very happy. Because it essentially builds on the previous content and only serves as a supplement. You will search in vain for substantial new content here. And if the other content does not convince you, the many changes from TU10 will have relatively little impact on your enjoyment of the game.
What could entice players to check in might be the new raid, which does not actually belong to Season 2 – even if it falls within its timeframe.
In short: If you still enjoy the content of The Division 2 and liked Season 1, feel free to check into Season 2. With TU10, The Division is now noticeably better in parts. If you are tired of the previous content, it is worth it at most for the new raid. But even then, you should already go hunting for bandits in New York and Washington beforehand. Your old builds may have lost some of their accustomed strength due to the TU10 adjustments.
By the way, The Division 2 is already working on a new PvE mode and more story
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Pokémon GO has reactivated its Battle League. However, there have been some changes in the PvP battles. We will show you what’s new.
What’s new? Niantic announced on the evening of June 23 that the GO Battle League is back. This is the PvP mode of Pokémon GO, where trainers compete directly with three Pokémon each.
For over a week, this battle league was deactivated. It went offline on June 13, because players were cheating to get to rank 1.
This has changed: For Season 2, which is currently running in the PvP League of Pokémon GO, the developers have implemented a few changes.
In addition, the ranking of the GO Battle League is now deactivated and will remain so. The developers are keeping an eye on the league. After the recent exploit issues, they likely do not want to reactivate the ranking too early.
This is changing as well: Besides the in-game changes in PvP, the dates have also been adjusted.
When does Season 3 start? Right after the last league event, Season 3 will start. On July 27 at 10:00 PM, the new season begins for you.
This week, the next event in Pokémon GO will start. 3 things you shouldn’t miss during the Bug Catching event.
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In Dead by Daylight you can now earn halos. They don’t help with hiding, but they look very stylish.
Dead by Daylight is currently officially celebrating its fourth birthday. The 4vs1 horror game has made a huge development in recent years and brought numerous innovations. These include not only new killers, maps, and survivors, but also meaningful features like the endgame collapse or a kind of battle pass.
Now, for the birthday, there are plenty of rewards to grab.
How to get the golden crown: On every map, you can find a gift pillar during the event. A player can interact with this pillar and earn a golden shimmer. As a killer, you just need to finish the match while the shimmer is active. Survivors must escape with this shimmer.
As a reward, you unlock a golden crown (which resembles a halo). This is available for all original characters from Dead by Daylight – that is, all except the licensed ones (like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, or Ash).
Crown fits “Pay 2 Lose”: As usual, the reward is a cosmetic item that is not particularly helpful. Instead of making the character darker and thus harder to notice, the crown adds a glowing effect. It’s certainly no help to hide from the killer skillfully – but those who still manage it can be proud of themselves. Dead by Daylight generally leans towards “Pay 2 Lose”. Skins that can be purchased for real money are usually lighter or brighter, making them a disadvantage. This way, no one is forced to buy skins from the shop.
What else can you get for the 4th birthday? There are a whole range of rewards that you can earn during the event. A large part of them you get simply by logging in. The following rewards are available:
Good time to get started: By the way, the birthday is also a perfect time to get into Dead by Daylight. Because in the next two weeks, there are particularly many offerings that increase the gain of blood points by 104%. This effect is stackable and can lead to you receiving up to 520% more blood points from individual matches – allowing you to quickly level up all desired characters to level 50 and gear them well.
An optimal time to get started and stock up on blood points. Newcomers can also find their perfect killer here.
Have you already claimed the rewards from the event?
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This week’s playlist update for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare & Warzone is out and brought back some missing fan favorites. MeinMMO provides an overview of the currently active modes and what they offer.
What does the playlist look like this week? This week’s highlight is a brand new mode for the multiplayer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019 – All or Nothing.
Additionally, there were a few favorite modes that had disappeared from the rotation for a while. For players of the Battle Royale Warzone, there is the BR-4 mode, which was replaced by a realism version. In multiplayer, finally the “Boots on the Ground” mode is back on the list, a “Ground War” variant without tanks.
Here is the announcement from Infinity Ward on Twitter:
What are these modes? Especially in multiplayer, the modes differ significantly from last week’s. Additionally, one mode is premiering in the current CoD. So here is a brief overview of what you can play this week:
What’s going on with CoD? Currently, a controller adapter is plaguing fair players. The device is originally designed to make devices compatible with each other. Now, clever cheaters are using it to reduce their recoil. With stable weapons like the Grau 5.56, the aim point hardly moves.
However, players are also finding cool tricks. Under the right conditions, you can organize a recon drone until the match ends in Warzone. Depending on how much cash you collect, you can rely on the help of a UAV for up to 10 minutes or more.
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The Weekly Reset brings players fresh weekly activities today, June 23, in Destiny 2 , new Nightfall Strikes, and a new Flashpoint. What else do the Guardians have to do?
What’s happening in Destiny 2? The new Destiny week starts with Update 2.9.0.2 and the mandatory maintenance which should be completed by 11 PM.
The new patch is supposed to resolve controller issues and allow Guardians to sprint and jump properly again.
Additionally, clever Guardians have found a hidden boss waiting for players.
There is also news about the Season 11 Exotic “Withered Image”, which should be available soon.
But what else does the new week have to offer?
These Nightfall Strikes are available: In the regular Nightfall (Power Level 820), you can choose from these Nightfalls:
In Nightfall: The Crucible the strike is
ready.
In Strikes and Story Missions the following modifiers are active:
Note that the modifiers change every day. Only the Singe modifier remains the same for the entire week.
Crucible: These playlists and modes are available in PvP:
Nightfall: The Drifter sends you into the Nightfall with the following modifiers:
Escalation Protocol: In the current version with additional perks and mod slots, you can find the weapons of the Escalation Protocol at the Contact Event and the Prophecy Dungeon. The armor is still only available through the activity on Mars, but for some time now also in the “Armor 2.0” variant.
The current Flashpoint can be found on Mercury.
Petra Venj can currently be found (Curse Week 1) at the Pavilion in the area “The Shore”. Additionally, you can undertake the 5th Ascendant Challenge .
This is how Powerful Loot is structured in Destiny 2: Powerful Loot comes in several tiers, granting you various power boosts. Accordingly, higher tiers also grant you larger power boosts.
For your information: Power levels gained additionally through the new Artifact “Seed of the Silver Wings” are not considered for the calculation of the power levels of your drops. Here, the average of gear and weapons is crucial.
Sources for Powerful Loot in Season 11:
Tier 1:
Tier 2:
Tier 3:
Peak Gear:
Since Update 2.8.1 former powerful rewards have been promoted to Peak Gear. These include:
Have you found any other changes to the Peak Gear or Powerful Loot in Season 11? Then help us complete the list in the comments.
These are the Glimmer highlights of this week:
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Amazon’s MMO New World follows a path where typical classes are not in the foreground. The developers have now explained in more detail what options you have to develop in the game.
Update July 23, 2021: In the meantime, the beta for New World has started, and we have created a guide with the best builds for PvE players.
This is what makes New World different: In New World, your character does not have a class in the strict sense. Instead, your class is determined by the equipment and skills with which you operate.
Players can specialize – for example, by mastering certain weapons, as the developers explained in the MeinMMO interview – but basically, you should have all the freedom to create your own play style.
In an interview with GameSpot, the developers explained that it is precisely the classless progression system that sets New World apart from other games: “One of our goals was to give players more choices and freedoms,” said developer Dave Verfaillie: “In New World, it’s about allowing players to develop their own gameplay, and that’s possible thanks to our classless system.”
In New World, it is for example not a problem to switch from melee to ranged fighters or mages. Since there are no classes, players can now focus on other ways to develop themselves.
This is how you level up in New World: To advance your character in New World, the game offers you five central types of progress that function completely independently of any classes.
On the one hand, there is progress through classic leveling. Here you can use skill points to improve various stats of your characters. Just that you are not tied to a certain class.
The second path concerns weapon mastery. This involves mastering certain skills and bonuses with the weapons of your choice by using them consistently. Each weapon has two skill trees that you can develop.
The third path concerns the “Trade Skills,” which also include options such as crafting or gathering resources. Here you can also improve and specialize. You start as a novice with each item you craft, but you will get better over time. For example, you could become the best armor smith on the server if you invest a lot of time in crafting.
Additionally, there is territorial progress: you can increase your reputation in various zones of the map and thus unlock bonuses in those locations. This already works by simply playing there a lot. So, it might be worth building a house in your favorite spots.
The fifth path consists of faction progress. In New World there are three factions: the Marauders, the Syndicate, and the Covenant. Depending on whose missions you complete, you can earn special rewards and exclusive items. The more you work for a faction, the better your reputation with them will be.
New World seems to consistently pursue the path of giving you as many freedoms as possible. If you want to try it all out, you can join the preview event starting August 25.
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In Destiny 2, maintenance work is expected tonight on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia – including server downtime and a new hotfix – Update 2.9.0.2. Here’s everything you need to know about today’s schedule and the patch notes.
New hotfix coming today: The Season 11 is in full swing, and Bungie aims to address some annoying issues in Destiny 2 with a new hotfix. Therefore, you will need to take a brief enforced break tonight. Update 2.9.0.2 brings maintenance and a short downtime. Here’s the most important information about today’s schedule and patch.
The update is now available and can be downloaded. On PS4, it has the version number 1.54 and is about 187 MB in size.
Although the maintenance will take several hours today, if everything goes as planned, there should only be a brief server downtime.
These are the important times:
Keep in mind: Until Bungie is completely finished with maintenance (around 11:00 PM), there may be queues and login issues in Destiny 2.
What we already know: Prior to today’s patch, Bungie has already partially presented some of the changes from Update 2.9.0.2. The update addresses further annoying issues, such as with the new controller configuration or the too low power level of many rewards.
Here’s what you can expect in the new hotfix:
Note that this is not the complete list of planned changes. A full listing can be found in the patch notes.
What do the patch notes say? The official German patch notes for the new Update 2.9.0.2 / 1.54 for Destiny 2 have not yet been released. They are expected to be published later this evening.
Until then, we have linked the original English change log for you here:
What else to expect in Season 11: If you want to know what highlights Season 11 has to offer for Guardians, take a look at Bungie’s official roadmap: Destiny 2 presents roadmap for Season 11 – Here’s what to expect until Year 4
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Many players are waiting for new information about the upcoming MMORPG Crowfall, especially regarding the launch of the new game. The Creative Director, J. Todd Coleman, introduced a new feature to MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus and editor Leya Jankowski, revealing that the beta might be closer than they think.
Crowfall is among the most promising MMOs and MMORPGs for 2020 and 2021, and many players are eagerly waiting for more information – and more importantly, for a beta and a release.
In May, the developers officially announced the alpha and called for quick registration, as the beta will start soon. It looks like that’s really the case. More precisely: it has essentially already begun.
In the realm of MMORPGs, there hasn’t been anything new for several years now. The newest MMORPG is from 2016, Black Desert from Korea. In the West, it’s even longer ago: The Elder Scrolls Online from 2014. It’s now been 6 years since the last major MMORPG – with the exception of Albion Online from 2017, which follows a more traditional isometric sandbox approach. Crowfall is a light in the darkness.
As part of “Find Your Next Game“, the Creative Director of Crowfall, J. Todd Coleman, presented a new feature to MeinMMO: The Dregs campaign, something like the “king class” in Crowfall. This is where the competitive part of the MMO unfolds properly. I had the opportunity, together with MeinMMO editor Leya Jankowski, to ask some questions about the new feature and the future of Crowfall.
MeinMMO: Can you roughly tell us when the beta and release are planned?
J. Todd Coleman: “We are still trying for a release at the end of the year [2020]. The beta is not really about a collection of features. Although… technically speaking, we have already reached it. We wanted [for the beta] this version that was on the test server and goes live today. That is the version with which players will join and which we call beta. We are still making fixes. Once we reach a point where we feel comfortable enough, we’ll start inviting players who are not backers. All backers can already play, but right now we are not letting in players who did not support us. Between now and the Kickstarter, we have received over 400,000 beta registrations.
Now it’s no longer about a specific release, we’ve already reached that. It’s about reaching a certain level of quality. I don’t have an exact date for the beta, but that’s really coming soon. […] And when we are at the point where we have checked off all the items on the list, it will be time for the launch.”
MeinMMO: What about support for the game after release?
J. Todd Coleman: “There are so many things we want to do that we had to postpone until after launch. I’m not worried that we won’t come up with new cool features. We’ve built a really solid foundation with what we have, and it’s unique. Our architecture supports millions of players, like an MMO. We have procedurally generated worlds like Minecraft with monster camps, ruins, mines… We have passive training like EVE Online, which will last for years. We have 12 races and 11 classes, and I’m sure we will increase that to 12 because I love symmetry. And we have a discipline mechanic that allows people to play multiple classes.
So many interesting directions in which we can continue to grow. I don’t think we will have issues coming up with new cool things – for years to come.”
Regarding multi-classing, you can learn more in our overview:
MeinMMO: In what way will that happen? DLCs or large expansions like WoW? Free updates with cosmetic shops?
J. Todd Coleman: “I have ideas about that, but nothing I can talk about yet. We only have a few questions left to answer, and the pricing of what’s in the VIP and such things are among the last items. I want the game design to settle a bit before we tackle that and say something about it. The basic model, however, has not changed. Buy it once and play it forever. There is an optional VIP membership and a microtransaction shop that primarily offers cosmetics and housing items. Nothing that gives any power.
At the moment, you can buy land for your kingdom or houses, a manor, a mansion, but you can also create all of that in the game. There are also skins for mounts, but mounts are not yet in the game, so that won’t be purchased much. There will be microtransactions, but every item that is there will also be obtainable in the game through crafting.
Back to your question: Will we sell DLCs? We have not discussed that yet. I don’t know what we will do after release. First, we will release the game and make our backers happy. After that, we will see what our community looks like and what the right way is to come up with a fair model. We want people to keep paying so we can continue to develop and improve the game. And to have jobs, that’s nice too. At the same time, we don’t want to be whale hunters.”
MeinMMO: One more thing: Gordon Walton said in our podcast, that WoW killers nearly killed the MMO genre. Would you say that Crowfall can save it?
J. Todd Coleman: “I don’t think Crowfall will save the MMO genre. I don’t even think the genre is dying. Gordon talked about how innovation and experimentation in the MMO genre have been killed. And WoW didn’t hit that. What happened after that is that people who funded games asked how to replicate WoW in making money. And when you wanted to stray from the path and experiment, they said: ‘No, no, don’t do that. Make it more like them, because we want to rake in billions too.’
And while the MMO genre has slowly homogenized around WoW, parts of the genre have snuck into other things. Look at Destiny, for example. If you put a checklist between that and the MMO genre, you see that a lot of the same DNA is involved. Then look at social media. Suddenly, you see MMO features everywhere: friend lists, chats, groups… The elements of MMOs have not disappeared; they have just wandered off. The term ‘MMO’ has become something specific, like FPS, Battle Royale, or MOBA.
One challenge for us is the question: Are we an MMO? Well, we have a lot of that DNA. But are we a guided experience like WoW? No, not at all. To that extent, we are in our own realm. Will we revive the genre and make billions? No, but that was never the intention. Our intention was to create something new, unique, and fresh, and find a specific kind of player who is genuinely interested in that. We want to find those guys and gals and make them incredibly happy and keep them forever. If that’s a smaller game, that’s perfectly fine.”
At the beginning of the interview, J. Todd Coleman gave me a detailed explanation about Crowfall and the new feature, the Dregs campaign. For your overview, we have highlighted the key points for you.
To understand this, one must know that campaigns are a crucial part of Crowfall’s concept. These are worlds that are accessible for a certain time, changing through the seasons, starting in spring and ending in winter.
The Dregs are the ultimate campaigns. Here, guilds compete against each other in procedurally generated worlds with the aim of gaining the most points in various areas: glory, wealth, and power.
For that, there are maps with tasks that you should complete in a certain area to gather points and stand at the top of the leaderboard at the end. The guilds dominate the areas of the world, ally with other guilds, build cities, and gather resources by, for instance, sending caravans through the world to collect materials. With that, you decide whether to craft weapons or prefer to build certain buildings.
The dark background is that the Earth Mother, the source of all life, has died. Now you try to win the favor of the 11 remaining gods with your actions. Coleman therefore speaks of three pillars that constitute the Dregs:
What is the interview about? A large part of the interview deals with the new feature of the Dregs, a new campaign aimed at endgame players, the hardest content in the game. You will get a good insight into where the journey in Crowfall is headed. The Dregs campaigns will be the activities with the highest risk and highest reward.
If you haven’t dealt with Crowfall yet or need a bit of a refresher, you can find more information here:
MeinMMO: Campaigns are consumed by the “Hunger” during their duration. Does that happen in the Dregs as well, or are they more like the Eternal Kingdoms?
J. Todd Coleman: “The Eternal Kingdoms and God’s Reach are the only worlds that are not consumed by the Hunger. That means they are more in the traditional ‘WoW style’ and are more or less safe. All other worlds have an expiration date.
The Hunger is this corruptive power that appears randomly in the world. Where the Hunger is, the resource harvest is disabled and all monsters that would appear there appear as gruesome crystallized undead creatures. Every monster in the game has its own ‘hunger-fied’ version.
Over the duration of a campaign, that is, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, more Hunger appears. The world becomes darker and more desolate towards the end of a campaign. This also means that hoarding resources at the beginning comes with certain rewards, as it becomes harder and harder to obtain those resources as the campaign gets closer to winter.”
MeinMMO: Should I rather gather early and stockpile or time it so that I mine something when there is still something left at the end?
J. Todd Coleman: “That’s an excellent question, which different players will answer differently. Ultimately, there are other ways to get supplies when you need them. Certain campaigns have a certain number of imports and exports. When you join them with your character, you can sometimes bring only 20 items, sometimes 50. You can decide whether to take a magical sword from another campaign or stones to build your barracks faster.
In some campaigns, there are no imports at all, you start practically naked. Many of our players enjoy these campaigns because everyone starts with the same conditions. Everyone starts with a max-level character that you can achieve in 2 hours or so. […]
MeinMMO: What scale are we talking about here? How many players are simultaneously in a Dregs campaign?
J. Todd Coleman: “At the moment, we are aiming for 10,000 players in a Dregs campaign, which corresponds to about 2,000-2,500 players simultaneously at peak times. I say this now by comparing the numbers with other games, but those may not be a good benchmark. When Shadowbane went online, we saw: When a new world goes online, we have monstrous spikes. 25-30% of the players who wanted to play there logged in on the first weekend. That’s why I’ve set it a bit higher now.
If it turns out that I’ve underestimated it and we need more, we can pack more zones into one world for more space, more resources, fortresses, monsters… more of everything. And because we have a procedural world generator, we can do that very easily. If we need three more worlds, we’ll just make them.”
MeinMMO: The Dregs are therefore available at the same time as other worlds?
J. Todd Coleman: “Yes, they run simultaneously. Since they are time-limited, it makes a difference when they come online and when they disappear again. […]
From a business perspective, the big problem with that is that we don’t know how many players we will end up having. We are trying to prepare ourselves so that we have a sort of factory with which we can simply create new campaigns and release them when we need them.”
MeinMMO: How long does a Dregs campaign last in real-time?
J. Todd Coleman: “I suspect something around a few months. Right now, we are testing in weeks, between one and four. One month seems to be a pretty good point for us. It’s enough time for players to stay engaged without getting bored. I would like to try longer campaigns, but that’s the question: How long can I hold the interest of the players? There is a tendency for players to stop when they feel they cannot win. If the game goes on too long, that can become a problem.
We will be experimenting a lot now. At the moment, many one-week campaigns are running, or four days, but a week will probably be the new standard. […]”
Almost half of MeinMMO readers prefer to play MMOs solo. One of the more important questions for me was whether the Dregs and Crowfall in general also work alone or in smaller groups.
MeinMMO: What if I don’t belong to a guild?
J. Todd Coleman: “That’s a challenge and we want to be honest. If you just want to dive into the Dregs and gather materials, you can do that; it will just be harder. There is also a free, protected city where you can sell your goods to participating fighters, but you still have to travel through dangerous lands.
We have purposely introduced three factions in the Dregs for players who do not belong to a guild so they can join and be part of a standard faction. You can play like that, but although you will be many players – everyone without a guild joins a faction – you won’t have organized power. We have observed that a small organized team can beat a large group that doesn’t have organized players.
I always say this with a warning: I have done everything I can as a designer to try to make it a functional experience. Nevertheless, you are in the hardest part of the game and facing very strong organized guilds. And they mean business. So be careful. And I would advise you to seek out guilds that are currently recruiting. Honestly, the game is much more fun when you are in a guild. […]”
MeinMMO: What about player groups that fall somewhere between solo players and large guilds? Ten or maybe 20 players acting as mercenary units or groups of traders offering to fight or gather resources for them? Is that an option?
J. Todd Coleman: “Yes, of course. These maps I mentioned earlier: there are some that will give you a task and the points are then divided by the number of participating players. So there are some maps designed to benefit smaller guilds. So it’s not just about getting as many players as possible into the guild. That can be a strategy, but it doesn’t have to be.”
MeinMMO: What is the goal at the end of the campaign, besides the right to brag about the victory?
J. Todd Coleman: “There are rewards. However, the reward system is not yet implemented; it’s coming between now and the launch.
In this system of divine favor, there is glory, wealth, and power as the three types of cards. After each season, each guild receives points in these three categories, and you can add them up to see how much favor you have reached with the gods. When the reward system comes, there will be rewards for the overall victory, but also individual prizes like statues for a certain amount of wealth points that I can place in my kingdom and that help me with crafting.”
MeinMMO: To win a Dregs campaign, do I have to collect points through the cards or are there standard points for killing opponents, conquering, or something like that?
J. Todd Coleman: “There are two tiers of points. The campaign cards exist throughout the campaign in each season. These are general challenges, for example: whoever has the most points by holding certain places gets X power points. The points are scaled. In the top 20%, I get something from the top 20% of points. These are available for each of the three types:
In the campaign, there is then a generic card for sacrificing, one for building, and one for taking and owning the most stuff. Among those, there are random cards for each season. In summer, you might have to build a specific building to get bonus points.”
MeinMMO: What about griefers? It sounds like there could be groups of players actively trying to prevent others from achieving their goals.
J. Todd Coleman: “That is part of the game; I wouldn’t necessarily call it griefing when you’re playing a competitive game and everyone knows that this is exactly what it’s about. Griefing is when you force people to do something they never agreed to. Forcing people into PvP who are just logging in.
Stuff like that is then protected. The worlds where players start are completely safe. The Dregs and the deeper level areas are the competitive experience that people want who venture there.
What we’ve seen so far are small groups showing up during a siege. Their goal is not to take the castle, but just to annoy the participating groups to influence the outcome. They’re probably doing it for their own reasons. They know that one of the teams has built the same number of statues as they have, which they need for the wealth victory. They don’t care who wins the siege; they just want to destroy the statues.”
MeinMMO: Do I have to fight other guilds, or can I choose to trade instead?
J. Todd Coleman: “That is entirely your choice. Some objectives will require fights. Technically, you could conquer unoccupied areas for the power card, but realistically, that’s unlikely to happen. People aren’t just wandering around leaving areas unoccupied. For power, you will definitely have to fight.
Other things, such as wealth, can be achieved that way. You might have to defend yourself, but with the right allies, you might be able to get other people to do that for you. Glory will be what you are most likely to achieve without conflict. But even those are designed to generate conflict.
If the glory card appears that you should sacrifice the most spider eyes, you know that they can appear in three places. You’ve scouted those beforehand and know where they are. You have to go there. When the spider queen appears, providing the best eyes for the most points, a message will pop up that notifies everyone in the area. Could you then go there, grab everything, and disappear without a fight? Sure. But will that definitely work? Absolutely not.”
MeinMMO: Is there a danger that a single guild will lead the leaderboard for years?
J. Todd Coleman: “That is certainly a danger. We have seen many guilds that have done really well in all campaigns so far. But ultimately, the reason these guilds play is to dominate. […] However, it’s unlikely they will win all campaigns because there are so many campaigns happening simultaneously. It will be difficult to spare that many characters for it. But I expect some guilds to be highly competitive.”
A few days ago, I talked to Florian Hofreither from Last Oasis. The survival MMO boasted about its PvP, but even there, they now want to focus more on PvE.
However, Crowfall remains optimistic as Leya asks how they view the matter regarding PvP and competitive play.
MeinMMO: Crowfall is quite centered around competition and PvP. We have seen in recent years that many MMOs that went in that direction did not perform well. The upcoming New World from Amazon, for example, has completely flipped from hardcore PvP to open-world PvE.
J. Todd Coleman: “One lesson that these people have learned is that if you want to reach the mass market, that’s the right direction. But it also means that’s one way to go. Because they leave the area where we are alone. Here it’s empty. If you are a big company, it’s hard to ignore the mass market. It’s challenging to say: ‘Hey, we are making a niche game.’ You have so much mass that you have to decide to gather millions of players. While that would be nice, and I certainly wouldn’t tell those players to leave, I also will not change the vision of what we created to chase these players.
I’ve tried to design Crowfall to be customizable enough to appeal to a wider range of players without sacrificing that. That’s why there’s God’s Reach, a fully protected area or crafting for items that can be taken into the hardest areas. I’ve tried to create really dangerous areas and make them important by placing the best resources there. I created the Eternal Kingdoms so that guilds have a real server they own. It’s not just a player’s house, but the homes of all players with a castle.
In the end, you are right, it’s a competitive game. We will definitely attract such players and want to make them happy.”
MeinMMO: Thank you very much for the interview!
Assessment from the author: I’m really looking forward to it!
Crowfall is one of the most promising new MMOs and MMORPGs from the West. I’m incredibly excited about the game, and the new info from J. Todd Coleman makes me even more impatient.
Previously, I saw great potential in Crowfall after initial tests. The idea with gods and favor looks great to me as a story; the classes play differently and fluidly, and the cooperation of fighters, crafters, and explorers is a great approach I’d love to check out all three sides.
The Dregs as “the endgame feature” sound like the right feature for competitive players like me. I can imagine I will be fully immersed in the struggle for the top – provided I find a guild. If not, I already see myself diligently expanding and decorating my own kingdom.
However, if enough players dare to tackle Crowfall and discover their way of playing there, I see a strong future for the MMORPG.
Benedict Grothaus
Freelance author at MeinMMO
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Under certain conditions, you can get an infinite reconnaissance drone in Call of Duty: Warzone. Find out here the details of this small but genius trick.
How does it work? The trick is actually quite simple. You just need to buy as many drones as your cash allows, and you will have a strong reconnaissance drone (UAV) in the sky for a long time.
The trick is little known because it was previously almost impossible to call many UAVs at once. However, it turns out that the time of the drones can be stacked. When you call multiple drones, they also last longer, and there is no fixed timer that ends the drone 30 seconds after activation.
Now, insane in-match events have been happening in Call of Duty: Warzone for some time, with which you can push this mechanic to the limit. During a “shot sale,” the killstreak only costs $800. If you catch a round with lots of cash and a late event, you can organize reconnaissance until the match ends with this trick.
The trick is also strong when you only have the drone in the sky for a few minutes. In Warzone, if you activate 3 UAVs simultaneously, you get a kind of enhanced reconnaissance drone, which shows all enemies on the map. The YouTuber “JGOD” shows in one of his English videos how it all works:
He is playing with his duo partner and runs a drone for 4 minutes this way. And they only collected together. If a whole team, packed with cash, goes on a shopping spree, there’s a lot more to gain.
How can I get an infinite drone? The in-match events have a certain chance to occur during each round of Warzone BR, approximately between the 8th and 20th minute of play. If the shooting sale starts around the 14th minute, you could theoretically buy enough drones to keep them running until the end of the match:
If you are in a squad of 4, each of you would need to chip in $20,000, which is quite realistic if you are killing and looting a lot.
Since other important items at the buy station are also greatly reduced – self-revive is even free – you hardly lose anything with this method. You rarely see a better bargain in Warzone.
How does the Ghost perk work? “JGOD” also observed the behavior of the “Ghost” perk, one of the strongest perks in Warzone.
This actually protects against detection by drones, but seems to work somewhat differently in conjunction with the special Warzone UAV. Because enemies with “Ghost” that are further away can now be seen on the map. As you get closer to the enemy soldiers, they disappear from your radar.
In Warzone, there are thus two situations where the “Ghost” perk is not helpful:
How can I best use the trick? If you are well-equipped, save your money as much as possible.
The mid-game in Warzone can sometimes take a long time, but it also allows time for looting. Pick up the free supply crates and don’t spend all your cash at once. Only get what you need and save a big pile in your account.
When the event starts, you need a reasonably safe buy station and can start your drone shopping spree. If no event occurs, blow the saved money at the next buy station. One of the most successful players in Warzone employs a strategy that has earned him over 1,000 wins, which promises a lot of cash and a higher chance of winning with the UAVs.
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Riot Games has finally released update 1.02, bringing the long-awaited Ranked Mode to Valorant. What’s in the patch notes?
Update with Ranked Mode and more: The update 1.02 is currently being rolled out and is expected to go live everywhere throughout the day.
Even before the release of the current update, it was announced that the new Ranked Mode would differ from the version in the beta. Among other things:
Update: Unfortunately, a serious bug shortly after update 1.02 caused players to suddenly appear in the enemy spawn zone and be killed immediately. This led the developers to take the Ranked Mode offline again.
What comes in addition to the Ranked Mode: With update 1.02, a feature is introduced that allows you to forfeit essentially lost matches. This allows hopeless matches, which in the worst case can take quite a long time, to be ended prematurely.
To forfeit, players need to simply type “/ff”, “forfeit”, “concede”, or “surrender”. For the request to go through, all team members must agree to throw in the towel. This option for early forfeiting is already known from Riot’s MOBA League of Legends.
In addition to these two options, several updates were made to various agent abilities, and they have been rebalanced. For example, Viper’s ability Toxin Screen is now stronger and can also be dangerous through walls.
Additionally, updates were made to maps, and UI & menus were revamped. A lot of bug fixes are also part of the patch, aiming to prevent many crashes. You can find the complete overview in the patch notes for the new update (via Play Valorant).
With the new update, Riot is likely to have fulfilled an important player wish. Recently, there was also discussion about the current Battle Pass. The developers explained why the pass does not include Valorant Points.
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