Long-time BioWare veteran Mark Darrah discusses the development of Anthem in detail once again. This time, the focus is on the period when he served as the creative lead for the project.
What does Mark Darrah reveal this time? In the first part of his video series “What Happened on Anthem”, which covered the years 2011 to 2017, part 2 focuses on the years 2017 to 2019. This is precisely the time leading up to the release on February 22, 2019, when Mark Darrah actually held the creative leadership for Anthem.
The lead developer can now report in much more detail from first-hand experience. Accordingly, the new video is almost 2 hours long, despite only covering a comparatively short time frame of 3 years.
Who is Mark Darrah? The experienced developer worked at BioWare for almost 24 years and was lead developer on Baldur’s Gate II and Jade Empire, as well as Project Director for the entire Dragon Age series and Anthem.
The biggest advantage of Anthem is also its biggest weakness
What does Darrah refer to as the worst feature? When thinking about the biggest strengths of Anthem, flying and the related dynamics of exploring the world and fighting certainly come to mind quickly. It was just cool to clear whole hordes of enemies in Iron-Man style or to take in the beautiful world from the air.
However, for Mark Darrah, flying is a prime example of what went wrong with Anthem. Furthermore, the many problems that flying brought with it make it, in his view, the worst feature of the entire game.
Start video
8 Jahre später erklärt ehemaliger Chef-Entwickler, warum Anthem wirklich floppte: Ein Team gefangen „in der Welt der Geheimnisse“
What does Darrah mean by that? In the first part of his video series, Darrah already explained that there were significant communication problems within the Anthem team for many years. These were further exacerbated starting in 2014, as there was no one to take over leadership and make decisions following Casey Hudson’s departure.
Rather than pursuing a clear direction and defined milestones, the teams constantly tried the same things in different ways. For flying, this meant: sometimes you could fly, sometimes you could only glide, sometimes not at all.
This is downright absurd when considering how much influence this feature has on large parts of the rest of the game – such as how the world must be built, whether cover is necessary or irrelevant, what the mission requirements are, how enemies behave…
You can watch the second part of the video series yourself here:
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Additionally, there are technical challenges such as memory management or asset streaming… when a character can quickly move from A to B while flying, the objects in the game world naturally need to be rendered quickly and smoothly.
In short, according to Mark Darrah, many elements of Anthem were planned, developed, and tested without flying enabled. When flying was added back in, it felt foreign in many ways.
This not only affects the functionality of other things but also means that other aspects do not get undermined – that they have no own consequences and are not consciously integrated into the overall structure of the gameplay as a whole.
I believe flying is the best feature of Anthem, but one could also argue that in many ways it is the worst feature of Anthem – because the consequences of flying were not adequately considered.
What else does Mark Darrah share? The lead developer also admits to many more mistakes made during the development in the video. For example, he acknowledges that he spent too much time in the offices in Edmonton instead of being on-site with the team in Austin to ensure clear communication and structure in a timely manner.
Similarly, he criticizes the release plan at that time sharply, with going live with numerous different versions and dates instead of focusing. The pressure from publisher EA would have been so great that there were hardly any opportunities to influence it.
How and when will it continue? The third part of the video series will discuss the time after the release in 2019 and what mistakes were made in the following months and years. When exactly the video will go live is currently still unknown.
A new movie starring Denzel Washington is currently dominating the streaming charts. It is a remake of a true classic from Japan.
What kind of movie is it? Highest 2 Lowest is the latest film by American director Spike Lee. Denzel Washington stars in this film, making it their fifth collaboration.
The film premiered at this year’s Cannes Festival, ran in American theaters for a while, and has been available on Apple TV+ since early September.
Currently, Spike Lee’s work is experiencing great success. According to the website flixpatrol.com, Highest 2 Lowest was the most-watched film in 100 countries worldwide. This is not surprising, as Denzel Washington is a popular actor and Spike Lee is a renowned director known for films like Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X.
And the story also entices with an intriguing premise, which is based on a much older film.
Start video
Denzel Washington in the new thriller by Spike Lee: The trailer for Highest 2 Lowest
A critical situation
What is the film about? Denzel Washington plays the music mogul David King, who lives in a chic New York apartment with his wife and son Trey. One day, Trey is kidnapped, and David receives a ransom demand.
At least, it seems so at first. It quickly becomes clear that it is not Trey who has been kidnapped, but that does not change the gangsters’ demands. David must now decide whether to pay the sum of over 17 million US dollars – otherwise, something could happen to the other boy.
This premise sets the stage for an exciting thriller, which likely attracts many viewers at present. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes rate it at 87%, similar to the audience with 85%. The film is praised mainly as a successful reinterpretation of an old story. Because: Highest 2 Lowest is not original material, but a loose remake of an old Japanese classic.
What is the film based on? It is a remake of the film High and Low by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa. The original is from 1963 and was shot in black and white. By the way, the English title is High and Low – this is what the remake refers to. To this day, the original is considered a masterpiece of Japanese cinema and has lost none of its haunting effect.
Spike Lee has changed some things for his remake. For one, the story does not take place in Yokohama, Japan in 1963, but in New York in 2025. There are also some content deviations, which is normal for a remake after such a long time.
Anyone who enjoyed Highest 2 Lowest should definitely give the old film by Akira Kurosawa a chance. The director is now mainly known for his samurai films like The Seven Samurai or The Hidden Fortress” and this excursion into 1960s Japan is equally fascinating.
The developers of Aion 2 continue to host regular livestreams to share information about the successor to the popular NCsoft MMORPG from 2008/2009. MeinMMO summarizes the latest findings for you.
The Korean launch is planned for November 19, 2025.
Before that, there will be periods for character creation and pre-downloads. We can certainly expect similar time windows during the global launch as well.
The global launch is expected to follow in the first half of 2026. There is still no specific date for this.
The latest trailer for Aion 2 at the start of the pre-registration in Korea:
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Aion 2: New trailer prepares for the Korean launch of the MMORPG
No Gacha, but definitely with Pay2Win
What is known about the payment model? NCsoft is opting for a Free2Play model with an optional subscription and Battle Pass. In addition, there will be an in-game shop where players can purchase cosmetic items, consumables, or offers such as additional character slots, name changes, or keys for treasure chests in the open world.
The auction house apparently will not be linked to the real-money currency of the MMORPG. Trading between players will likely only occur via the earnable in-game currency. Additionally, there should be the option to exchange earnable currency for real-money currency (and vice versa). Aion 2 will therefore definitely have a Pay2Win component, which the developers have already announced.
The developers emphasize once again that Aion 2 will not have a Gacha system. Additionally, you should be able to extract items to obtain their respective appearance for your collection as a cosmetic skin.
You can watch the NCsoft stream on YouTube or below:
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What else does the stream reveal? The developers admit that the current interface still looks very mobile-oriented. The reason for this: With this stripped-down UI, it is easier to work on the game. However, before the launch, the interface for the PC version will receive a complete overhaul to ensure that there is an optimized interface for both mobile and PC.
In both versions of the game, there will be no auto-functions like auto-hunting or auto-fighting. Anyone who plays Aion 2 on a mobile device inattentively will meet their demise, according to the developers’ promise. However, there will be smaller aids for questing in the mobile version.
How does the community react to the stream? Mixed. While some western players are looking forward to Aion 2 and respond positively to the developers’ statements, others remain skeptical.
LH_Lunar commented on the stream on Reddit as follows: “That sounds too good to be true. Please don’t mess this up.”
Icy_Razzmatazz_1594 writes on Reddit: “It’s good that the auction house only works with in-game currency. Also, auto-play has been removed and the focus is now on a PC-exclusive user interface. That sounds like good news for me, I will keep an eye on this.”
Jomsviking_ compares on Reddit: “They will use the same auction house mechanics as in Blade and Soul Neo & Throne & Liberty. Don’t get your hopes up for P2W if this mechanic exists.”
Nikkuru1994 criticizes on Reddit the gameplay shown so far: “This sequel to Aion offers nothing new or interesting. The game visually does not look like Aion at all, but gives the impression of an ordinary, bland UE5 game.”
Whether the global release will stay next year certainly depends on the upcoming test phases and the success of the Asia launch. Aion 2 must not be a failure for NCsoft. The aging MMORPG lineup of the publisher is struggling with declining numbers. Throne and Liberty was not the hoped-for success. More than 300 developers are now working on the project. You can find more information about it here: Big MMORPG company is in crisis because 10 games are making too little money overall
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The legal battle between Palworld and Nintendo has recently reached a new peak. Two registered patents were approved and are causing a stir in the video game world. A lawyer now provides his assessment and comes to a clear conclusion.
Particularly, patent No. 12.403.397 is causing a stir. It relates to a central gameplay mechanic, namely summoning a character that fights for the player. In other words: A mechanic that occurs in Palworld but also in numerous other titles.
It remains uncertain whether Nintendo will also take other developers to court in the future. A US patent attorney has looked into the case and explains why he finds the decision of the patent authorities questionable.
Ein Crossover beflügelt Palworld, plötzlich spielen wieder über 100.000
“An embarrassing failure of the US patent system”
What does the lawyer say? Kirk Sigmon is a patent attorney and has been dealing with the legal dispute between Palworld and Nintendo for quite some time.
He follows the outraged reactions that the recent ruling has provoked – for example, among users on Reddit. Sigmon agrees with the outcry and calls the decision in an interview with PC Gamer “an embarrassing failure of the US patent system.”
Notably to the lawyer is that the two submitted patents were approved almost without resistance.
“This is a very unusual event. Most claims are rejected at least once. This seems to be a situation where the USPTO (US Patent Office, note from the editor) basically gave up and just allowed the case, assuming the claims were close enough or specific enough to be new without examining them too closely.”
Kirk Sigmon
According to the lawyer, it has not been explained why the patents were approved at all. This is “highly unusual” and raises “numerous warning signals.” None of the patents should have been granted. Sigmon sees a significant mistake on the part of the patent office and fears that many developers will now have to deal with uncertainties.
The lawyer draws his conclusion: “This approval should not have happened. Period.”
What do the players think? On Reddit, the topic is heatedly discussed. After all, it’s not just the developers who are affected by the mentioned gameplay mechanics. Players would also suffer if certain fundamental systems could no longer be used by all developers.
Miserable_Speed5474 wants to get involved in this case and writes: “These patents are a significant failure of US patent law and should be challenged immediately. I am currently looking into how I can contact a group, a representative, and a delegate to hopefully enforce some form of action.”
“There are clearly other examples of other games that have already done exactly the same, and Nintendo/TPC literally had 30 years to do this and are only doing it now? Have they gone totally crazy?” wonders B19F00T.
“They throw everything that comes to mind against the wall, see what sticks, and then use that against Palworld,” suspects the user k3lz0.
“There are a lot of patents that go through even though they shouldn’t. That’s not as unusual as you portray it,” says the user CombatMuffin.
Cristiano Ronaldo shares the top spot in EA FC 26 in the Saudi Pro League. However, he receives one of his weakest ratings ever – only over 20 years ago was he rated worse.
This is Ronaldo’s new rating in EA FC 26: EA released the top 100 ratings in FC 26 at the beginning of the week on Wednesday evening (September 10, 2025), and also published the top 26 ratings of the Roshn Saudi Pro League. Ronaldo has been playing in Saudi Arabia for over 2 1/2 years and with an 85 rating for FC 26 is among the top 4 players in his league:
Cristiano Ronaldo (85)
Karim Benzema (85)
N’Golo Kanté (85)
Iñigo Martínez (85)
Although Ronaldo is one of the strongest players in his league, fans of the Portuguese must still come to terms with another downgrade of the aging superstar. From a rating of 86 in FC 26, it drops to an 85 rating in FC 25.
Ronaldo goes down by 1 point in shooting, passing, and physicality.
Looking at his statistics from the 24/25 season, the downgrade becomes apparent at first glance.
What season did Ronaldo play? Looking at the bare numbers on the statistics page Sofascore, Ronaldo delivered another strong season. In the league and in the Asian Champions League, the striker scored 33 goals in 37 matches and assisted 3 more goals for his teammates. He also scored 8 goals in 8 matches for the Portuguese national team on the way to winning the UEFA Nations League.
That makes 44 goal involvements in 45 matches. A striker can’t perform much better, and yet Ronaldo gets the next downgrade. This continues the negative streak in EA FC/FIFA.
Start video
Deep Dive trailer on gameplay shows 2 different gameplays and numerous adjustments
Another downgrade: Ronaldo was only rated worse in FIFA 04
What does the downgrade mean? With the downgrade to an 85 rating, Ronaldo is getting closer to his lowest value since records began in EA FC (formerly FIFA). When Ronaldo transferred to Manchester United as a mega-talent in 2003, his virtual counterpart received a strong rating of 80 in FIFA 04.
Since then, he has not been rated lower. On the contrary: since FIFA 04, with very few exceptions, his ratings have only improved. Over 3 years (FIFA 17, 18, and 19), he even reached a very strong 94 rating.
However, since FIFA 19, the ratings have been steadily declining. With the transition from FIFA to EA FC, there was the first major drop of 4 rating points:
FIFA-/EA-FC-Section
RatingRonaldo
FIFA 19
94
FIFA 20
93
FIFA 21
92
FIFA 22
91
FIFA 23
90
EA FC 24
86
EA FC 25
86
EA FC 26
85
What could be behind the downgrades? That a player can’t maintain the level of a 94 card forever is not surprising.
When the first EA FC was released, Ronaldo managed only 19 goals and 3 assists in 40 matches after his return to Manchester United. During this time, he also experienced the first significant downgrade from 90 to 86.
Since his move to Al-Nassr (January 1, 2023) in the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo has once again been consistently delivering many goals. Nevertheless, the Portuguese initially stagnated in rating from FC 24 to FC 25 and now even has to deal with a downgrade in FC 26 despite strong 44 goal involvements in 45 matches.
This could have various reasons:
The level of players in the Roshn Saudi Pro League cannot keep up with the qualitative breadth of the European level. According to Transfermarkt.de, the Saudi Pro League has an average market value of only €65.17 million, while the Bundesliga, for example, offers an average value of €240.55 million: This is why EA likely weights the goals and assists in this league differently.
Ronaldo has adjusted his playing style so that even at the age of 40 he can shine without much effort: He participates little in the game and positions himself cleverly to get into good situations without much effort.
EA probably cannot overlook Ronaldo’s age and the weaker league. In general, there is a trend in EA FC that older players lose pace, dribbling and/or physicality. Fellow strikers from international top leagues and clubs also have to settle for minor reductions in pace and dribbling. Examples include Kane (FC Bayern) and Lewandowski (FC Barcelona).
What does the downgrade mean for EA FC 26? As an 85 card, Ronaldo is no longer among the top tier in FC 26, but even with an 86 in FC 25, he wasn’t. Should the gameplay revert to focus more on pace, speed, and agility as announced, Ronaldo could be a casualty.
However, he could still deliver the following added value for your game:
strong finishing with both right and left foot
outstanding heading ability and jumping power
With the new downgrade, Ronaldo unfortunately loses his status as a Walkout in Ultimate Team during the pack animations. So if you receive Ronaldo from a pack, he will not get a special presentation anymore.
In conclusion, we ask you: What do you think of the downgrade? Do you find it justified? Feel free to write it to us in the comments. More and more ratings will be released gradually. We have made predictions on MeinMMO about which star could benefit the most: EA FC 26 Ratings Prediction: Who could receive the biggest upgrades in Ultimate Team?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Borderlands 4 you can exploit elements to deal more damage. In the Elemental Chart we will show you what is effective and to what extent.
What elements are there in Borderlands 4? At the release of Borderlands 4, you will find a total of 5 elements in the game that you can use:
Fire
Cryo
Corrosion
Shock
Radiation
Additionally, there are also the damage classes “Kinetic”, which is the normal bullet damage, and “Explosion”, which represents explosive damage – such as from rockets.
The elements can randomly appear on various weapons, be triggered by your action skills, or be activated, enhanced, or weakened by other equipment.
They all have different strengths and weaknesses, somewhat like Pokémon effectiveness. We will show you here how you should use them.
Start video
Die neuen Moves in Borderlands 4 machen richtig Bock
Elemental Chart – How effective are the elements in Borderlands 4
The elements face three different types of “defense” or “targets” that they can hit. They are essentially different types of health bars that you want to reduce to 0.
Flesh – this is the normal state of most enemies in the game
Shields
Armor
In the table below, you can see which elements are effective against these different types of defenses.
Borderlands 4: Overview of Elements
Kinetic damage: Has the same effectiveness against all three types of defense
Fire: Very effective against flesh, weak against shields and armor. Can ignite enemies and cause damage over time.
Shock: Weak against flesh, very effective against shields, weak against armor.
Corrosion: Weak against flesh and shields, very effective against armor.
Cryo: Normal damage against flesh, weak against shields, effective against armor. Important: Can freeze your enemies.
Radiation: Normal damage against flesh. Effective against shields, weak against armor.
What about explosive damage? Explosions are similar to kinetic damage, equally effective against all forms of defense. Their advantage is mainly the AoE damage: You can hit multiple enemies at once when something explodes, instead of shooting at single targets.
Elements will also be important for your builds. You can develop all of your Vault Hunters in different directions and it is possible that you will particularly incorporate elements. Want a little overview of the characters? Then check out the article about all classes in Borderlands 4.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Borderlands 4 there will be much shooting and looting again, but if you don’t play a good build, you won’t have an easy time in the endgame. That’s why there’s a handy tool to plan your build in a relaxed manner.
Which tool is being referred to? This is a build planner. Such planners allow you to create a build for each class in Borderlands 4 even before the release, so you know how to level up your vault hunter.
At first, leveling up your character without a plan is also possible, but soon you will encounter problems towards the endgame that could have been avoided with careful planning.
These problems range from too little damage to poor survival chances. So, to avoid that, you can already start building your builds and see which playstyle you like.
Start video
Der Trailer zur Launch-Woche von Borderlands 4
Build planners make life easier for you as a vault hunter
Which build planner should I use? Any build planner is suitable if it allows you to equip your character with all available skills to see how your choices affect your stats. To save you some time, we recommend two build planners with clear interfaces:
What can I set in the build planner? In the build planners, you can browse through all the skill trees of the vault hunters. You will have all of the following to choose from:
Action Skills
Passive Points
Augments
Capstones
You have a total of 49 skill points that you can distribute freely, indicating the limit and level cap in the actual game.
Weapons and other gear are not considered and cannot be selected. The focus is solely on your skill build. Nevertheless, build planners provide you with a good foundation to avoid heading towards the endgame aimlessly.
That was all the information about the build planners. Please note that these are currently only available in English and may change to include German before the release. So you’ll have to deal with it for now. You can find more about the release of Borderlands 4 here: Borderlands 4 Release: Everything about start time, preload, and early access
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Pokémon fans are disappointed game after game by the lack of attention to detail that makes the main games from Game Freak appear lifeless at times. However, the latest releases regarding Pokémon Legends: Z-A are generating excitement in the community, particularly praising a specific team.
What kind of trailer is this? On September 10, 2025, the official YouTube account of Pokémon released a trailer for the mega-evolution of the Pokémon Calamanero, which is styled like a news report from the world of the new Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
The video reports on strange events in Illumina City, where trainers suddenly change their entire personality and talk obsessively about “their friend Calamanero” (“My Friend Malamar”). This phrase and an image of Calamanero also adorn the official icon and banner of the YouTube account.
At the end of the trailer, the mega-evolution of Calamanero is finally revealed, and the video cuts off as if the Pokémon interrupts the news transmission.
Here you can see the mentioned video of the report on Calamanero in full length:
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The promotional material for Pokémon is highly praised
How is the community reacting to the trailer? The comments clearly show the fans’ hype, which has become a rather rare mood in the community. After many disappointments with the looks of the new games from Game Freak, they want to praise the team behind the latest promos for the mega-evolutions: “Whether you like the design or not, the marketing is great. Congratulations!” (@arjanosky08 under the video on YouTube).
Even the trailer for another mega-evolution triggered a huge wave of positive feedback from fans. While it was similarly atmospheric, it was definitely more horror-oriented. Fans express their opinions under the YouTube video for Mega-Calamanero in the comments and on Reddit, praising the team behind the promotional material, which has once again proven its skills:
“The marketing for this game is simply brilliant,” says @EzRida04 (on YouTube).
“I like the direction in which the reveals of the mega-evolutions are going, as each has its own ‘genre,’ like horror (Sarzenia), entertainment (Resladero), and now a news broadcast for Calamanero,” writes @LoFiAsteroux (on YouTube).
“You can like the new megas or not, but you can’t deny that the trailers have reached a whole new level this time,” comments SanjiDJ (on Reddit).
“I have the utmost respect for them. This is a successful advertisement for Pokémon,” writes TLKv3 (on Reddit).
Here you see the trailer for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, in which you can meet “your friend Calamanero”:
Start video
Pokémon Legends: Z-A presents a new story trailer for Switch
Feedback has been quite positive, with virtually no criticism to be found either on Reddit or YouTube. Even fans who are not so fond of Mega-Calamanero admit that they find Pokémon’s marketing superb.
Why is the reaction so peculiar? The latest Pokémon games “Legends: Arceus”, “Scarlet & Violet”, as well as the first glimpses of “Legends: Z-A” faced criticism from many fans primarily due to their graphics. This became evident when Game Freak proved with a completely new project that they can indeed create a beautiful game. The comparison to Game Freak’s environments in Pokémon could not be overlooked.
Thanks to the promotional material, which even appeals to a fanbase that is not shy about expressing criticism, the hype for the new game is rising. Additionally, it will introduce new mechanics through its new battle system that could provide a completely different gaming experience.
Even MeinMMO editor and Pokémon fan Jasmin was initially less interested in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, as she found the Legends predecessor “Arceus” rather monotonous and had little interest in the appearance and detail level of the game. However, at Gamescom, she was able to test 20 minutes of the game, which even fulfilled a childhood dream of hers: Pokémon Legends Z-A fulfills my childhood dream, but costs me extra nerves
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Borderlands 4 will finally be officially released tomorrow. First critics have already formed an opinion on the new loot shooter. MeinMMO summarizes what the reviews on Metacritic say about the game.
Since when are there reviews? Borderlands 4 will officially be released on September 12, 2025 and since September 11 at 2:00 PM the review embargo for tests and reviews has been lifted. On Metacritic, the game currently holds a solid average score of 84 out of 100 points based on 51 reviews (as of September 11, 2025, 2:30 PM).
In addition to our review by MeinMMO editor Dariusz Müller, there are also reviews from GameStar and GamePro that you can find here and which also give a good rating:
You can watch the launch trailer for Borderlands 4 here:
Start video
Der Trailer zur Launch-Woche von Borderlands 4
Predominantly positive feedback, but not everything hits the mark
How have the critics rated on Metacritic? On Metacritic Borderlands 4 has a score of 84/100. It currently has around 92% positive feedback (47 reviews), 8% mixed opinions (4 reviews), and no completely negative reviews for the new loot shooter. Currently, all published reviews for the PC version have been released.
What do players like about Borderlands 4? Many reviews especially praise the innovations that part 4 brings to the series and describe it as a successful continuation that builds on and maximizes old potentials.
Particularly positively noted are the iconic and recognizable humor and the co-op fun that Borderlands 4 offers. The possibilities for character customization and the new skill trees are also praised, as well as the new weapon variations.
The endgame, the gameplay loop, and the loot progression are also positively highlighted and successfully complement the familiar Borderlands formula without changing the DNA too much.
What criticisms are there currently? The biggest criticism currently focuses primarily on performance. This tends to struggle in more chaotic battles, particularly at higher settings on good PCs.
Many found the open world unsuitable for Borderlands and too sprawling. Although there is a lot to do there, it feels more repetitive than in previous titles. Some critics also found the gameplay loop too clunky and boring, and some critics felt that the humor had diminished.
If you want to dive into Borderlands 4 yourself, PC players can do so from today at 6:00 PM CEST. Players on PS5 and Xbox can start on September 12 at 12:00 AM CEST. Those wanting to play on Nintendo Switch will have to wait until October 3. In the meantime, you can prepare optimally with our tips: 15 tips you should know before starting Borderlands 4
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
MeinMMO editor Dariusz Müller has already spent around 60 hours in Borderlands 4. To ensure you are optimally prepared for the launch of the loot shooter, he offers these 15 tips.
If you have misallocated your skills, you can respec
You will gain access to a respec machine very early in the game. If you do not like your current skill tree or you have accidentally invested in the wrong skill, you can revert your distribution here.
The cost for respec increases throughout the game.
Use your Robo buddy’s built-in navigation
Echo-4, the little robot that handles tasks like hacks for you, can show you the way to map markers and missions. On PC, for example, you can press the “X” key and simply follow the displayed line.
Bonus Tip: Echo-4’s scanner also shows ladders and similar items if you cannot see where to go next in a mission.
Start video
Die neuen Moves in Borderlands 4 machen richtig Bock
Some chests also have Eridium
While playing through the main story, I occasionally found small amounts of Eridium in smaller chests that were just sitting around. It can be worth checking out these seemingly insignificant chests.
Don’t fight every battle
On your journey through the open world, you will repeatedly encounter enemies and cross their bases. Do yourself a favor and ignore some of them. They will respawn shortly anyway. Instead, just drive through some enemy camps and ignore the fire from your adversaries. If you do not want to actively level up or farm, it’s often just a waste of your precious time to engage in every fight.
You have powerful abilities, use them
Borderlands is a shooter, but your Vault Hunter also has powerful abilities. You will make your fights significantly more successful if you do not neglect these abilities. Different skills are suitable for dealing massive damage to single opponents or are great for controlling many enemies, for example when you slow them down or freeze them with cryo skills.
Amon’s Double Blade in Borderlands 4
Start expanding your backpack early
You can increase your backpack size in the SDU menu. You receive SDU points when you discover Borderlands logos in the open world. At the beginning of the game, I constantly struggled with the size of my backpack because I did not want to leave loot behind, but the available item slots are very limited. Eventually, I expanded the backpack by several levels at once, which immediately brought a noticeable relief – even if I can never have enough loot space.
Maximize your backpack size
As you already know, you can sell weapons and equipment you do not need at vending machines as junk. This brings in a lot of money, which you can then spend on various things like respecs. Since Borderlands throws loot at you, it’s not hard to fill your backpack – so make use of that space. I am a definite loot goblin, but I never complete a mission with an empty backpack slot. This way, I was able to save a lot of money during the story.
Bonus Tip: You can sort your backpack by value and then see what brings the least money. This way, you can extract a few extra bucks when your backpack is full, but you have still found good loot.
Use the Lost Loot Machine and empty it regularly
There is a machine in Borderlands that salvages your dropped loot. You can find this in various outposts. After a long mission, be sure to check the machine and see if you might have overlooked some good loot. Alternatively, there may be junk left behind that you can also scoop up and sell right away.
You should definitely empty the machine regularly – preferably after each mission. It has a very low capacity, and when it is full, no more loot will be collected. You will simply be giving away money that you earned.
The Lost Loot Machine in Borderlands 4
Elemental damage is important
This is well-known to experienced Vault Hunters, but all newcomers should pay attention: The element of your weapon influences the damage dealt.
If your enemy has a blue health bar, they are using a shield. Shock weapons are particularly effective against shields.
If your enemy has a yellow health bar, they are using armor or are a robot. Corrosive weapons are particularly effective against these foes.
If your opponent is using neither shields nor armor, your projectiles hit flesh. Fire weapons are particularly effective there.
The right elemental choice plays a significant role and should be considered when selecting your weapon. This will be reiterated in the next tip.
The wrong element is bad
An element can also be “ineffective” against flesh, shields, or armor in Borderlands. If you shoot an enemy with the wrong element, you will deal reduced damage compared to what the weapon’s base damage would normally indicate.
Fire is weak against armor and shields
Shock is weak against flesh and armor
Corrosive is weak against flesh and shields
Cryo is weak against shields
Radiation is weak against armor
To help you visualize the effectiveness of different elements at a glance, I have created a cheat sheet for you:
Borderlands 4 Element Chart
Side quests are worth it
In Borderlands 4, the story campaign and endgame are particularly appealing, but you should not neglect side quests. These not only offer good loot, XP, and money, but they also unlock new skins. Some customization options are tied to certain side quests in Borderlands 4.
You lose money upon death, and it increases over time
I experienced my first death while testing various weapons. I didn’t even try to kill all the enemies; it was just a test in the open world – and then I was frustrated that I lost over 60,000 at that point. In later deaths, it eventually reached nearly 180,000. I was not aware that respawn costs increase with the amount of wealth because I never saved my money in the previous games; I just spent it right away. Keep that in mind.
Keep 1-2 weak enemies alive
In Borderlands, you are not immediately dead when your health bar is completely empty. For a short time, you can revive yourself by downing an enemy. In battles with many foes or against powerful bosses, it can be smart to leave a small, weak enemy alive to save yourself in case of your demise.
In Borderlands 4, you can only equip and actively use 4 weapons in combat, but you can change the 4 equipped weapons at any time. If you notice during a boss fight that they are using a shield, but you currently do not have a shock weapon equipped, you can change that easily.
This tip may seem a bit absurd and obvious, but it can be a real help in challenging fights.
Swapping weapons is especially easy in single-player since the game pauses when you open the inventory. In co-op, that’s not the case. Just wait for the right moment and let your friends cover you.
Play through the story with one Vault Hunter first
You do not have to take each Vault Hunter through the story individually; instead, you can create new characters directly at level 30 after completing the story. So if you don’t want to play through the story multiple times but still want to experience all the Vault Hunters, you can save a lot of time.
MeinMMO editor Dariusz Müller has Borderlands 4 tested before its release and collected detailed impressions of the loot shooter. Some of the innovations stood out to him particularly positively. They remind him of Destiny 2 and seem like a meaningful addition to the Borderlands formula.
Borderlands 4 has big plans. It comes with a huge open world including world events and capturable outposts, a new villain, countless weapons, and various innovations that meaningfully complement the latest installment of the popular shooter series.
I have gathered around 60 hours of playtime in Borderlands 4 before the official release. During this time, I completed the story, finished a few side missions, completed world events, explored the map, and found a hidden dungeon, including a boss fight. In addition, I did a lot of nonsense while wandering aimlessly. During my story run, I picked Amon as the chosen vault hunter and threw around his elemental axes.
In all these activities, some of the advertised innovations of Borderlands 4 reminded me of Destiny 2 – and that is something positive. I’m not the most active Destiny player, but I still keep coming back to the shooter for years and have fun with the game. These are good signs for Borderlands 4.
Riding through the Badlands on a digital bike
In Borderlands 4, the well-known Catch-a-Ride has received a big upgrade. While in the predecessors I had to walk to the digital car rental to race through Pandora with my four-wheeled steel beast, I can now access the system almost everywhere – the only exception being certain areas within missions.
Moreover, the vehicle control in Borderlands 4 is much more pleasant. You now have a kind of high-tech hoverbike, the so-called Digirunner, which is very easy to maneuver. This hoverbike is not only thinner than the old Catch-a-Ride vehicles but also much more agile. Overall, the Digirunner reminds me of the Sparrow from Destiny.
I don’t want to question the quality of Borderlands 1-3, but if there’s one thing that always bothered me about the predecessors, it was traveling to new mission objectives. I often found that boring. In Borderlands 4, it doesn’t bother me. Although some routes are a bit long due to the vast open world – perhaps too long – the drive itself is really pleasant. This works out significantly better than in Borderlands 2, possibly the best part of the series. The Digirunner is a great improvement for the loot shooter.
The Digirunner in Borderlands 4
Jumping like a Guardian
One of the other major changes that Gearbox Entertainment has introduced for Borderlands 4 is the new movement system. The movement has been enhanced with some modern techniques. I can now elegantly slide behind cover with my Vault Hunter or reach the next higher level with a double jump. Once I’m in the air, I can even hover over my enemies for a few seconds and shot those nasty Rippers and Order Guardians from above – similar to how it’s possible in Destiny 2.
Additionally, the vault hunter can now execute a small dash to evade enemy attacks. This works both in the air while hovering and on the ground and is especially helpful in boss fights. But even in battles against countless smaller enemies, the new movement is a meaningful addition, as it also supports aggressive play styles.
At the beginning of my journey, I relied heavily on long-range weapons, but later I played primarily with SMGs at close range and ruthlessly threw my axes around. The movement allowed me to always stay close to my enemies and pick up my thrown axes again, which reduced their cooldown by 50%.
Overall, the new movement fits perfectly into the gameplay loop. Exploring the map is also more enjoyable for me when I’m not just running but have variety in my movements. Again, I felt a bit reminded of Destiny while playing. There, I can also slide, perform double jumps, and hover.
This is, of course, not gameplay that belongs solely to Destiny, but it hasn’t been possible in the Borderlands series until now. And I firmly believe that it was the right decision to adjust the movement system in Borderlands 4 accordingly.
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Bosskampf gegen Idolator Sol in Borderlands 4
Borderlands 4 finally has the game world that the predecessors always wanted but couldn’t achieve
In the world of Borderlands 4, I can travel comfortably without loading times from A to B. And if I don’t feel like driving myself, or the route is too long, I use fast travel. To unlock more fast travel stations, I can capture outposts.
This is a meaningful step compared to the predecessors, possibly thanks to the modern technology. In the previous games, I always felt like the world was intended to be an open world, but it technically couldn’t – at least not without ruining the performance completely. That’s why you often stood at transitions between different instances and had to load the new map. This, however, hurt the flow of the game and led to unwanted breaks.
Especially the combination with the old Catch-a-Ride system I found tedious, as I couldn’t take the vehicle into the new instance with me. I’m really not a fan of open worlds and therefore have been avoiding games like the latest Far Cry or Assassin’s Creed, but in Borderlands 4, the open world didn’t really bother me.
The main realization for me was that the inevitable loading times between the biomes are gone. If I had a loading screen, it was because I chose to fast travel.
Lootapalooza or hopeless junk collector
I’m uncertain what to make of the loot and the amount of loot. It is sometimes just too much. Sure, you also find cool new weapons and most weapons also differ from each other in some way, but most is marked as junk and sold. Destroying is not an option. You can either throw the junk away or carry it to the next machine to make a profit.
I’m stingy and greedy and want to leave nothing behind. Unfortunately, that means I spend way too much time tidying up and sorting my inventory. That annoys my teammates in all games of this type because they all wait for me to have enough space in my backpack – which is again heavily limited and fills up fast in Borderlands 4.
My eyes shine every time countless weapons jump out of a strong enemy or a box, but in some ways I also hate it. I would be fine if I just got a really cool weapon instead. But that’s a misery I experience not just in Borderlands. At least I’m not being overwhelmed with legendary weapons.
Skills that are really fun and strong
I had a lot of fun with the skills of the different vault hunters in Borderlands 4 – perhaps a bit too much. I actually wanted to briefly test each class before completing the story, but then the first vault hunter already brought me so much joy that I stayed with them and caught up on the tests of the other heroes later.
I played Amon with the axes of ice and fire – which conveniently are the elements I have the most fun with in many games. With ice, I can temporarily immobilize my enemies, and with fire, I can deal damage over time through burning. Plus, fire just looks cool. I love fire.
I play Amon exactly this way and easily went through the story.
The bigger problem was rather deciding which vault hunter to play first. There are several skills that I really like. Should I play Vex as a kind of flying vampire and heal myself by dealing damage, or Harlowe with her mini-nuke? Or do I go for Rafa and his blades? The Mantis Blades were a lot of fun for me in Cyberpunk 2077. But the skill tree of Rafa’s shoulder-mounted cannon also looks cool.
And Amon? At some point, I also want to try his shield and the accompanying whip in detail. So far, I’ve only been able to get a brief taste of the various skills of the vault hunters, but I’m sure that each one of them has at least one skill tree that I enjoy. That wasn’t always the case in the past. I even restarted Borderlands 1 from the beginning because I didn’t like my first choice.
Fortunately, in Borderlands 4, we can create a new character directly at level 30 as soon as we complete the story.
The developers have already announced that it is a known issue and the Day-1 patch is supposed to help, but:
The performance of Borderlands 4 in the review version is simply not good.
I meet the minimum requirements and theoretically also have good FPS (about 60 FPS in WQHD on medium settings), but when entering a new area, I experience brief but severe FPS drops, causing the game to noticeably stutter.
Occasionally, these FPS drops also occur in fights where a lot happens. Everything ran smoothly in boss fights, but the more enemies on the screen, the more likely the drops are.
Some other testers I spoke with confirmed similar experiences.
This was quite frustrating at times and couldn’t be reliably fixed. The best way to completely avoid the drops was to set everything to the lowest settings, play in FHD, and cap the FPS at 40 (!). This way, I had enough power to never drop below 40 FPS – no matter what I do. The crucial part was the capping, as I would have gotten around 90-100 FPS with those settings. But if the FPS then dropped to 40-50, the game stuttered again.
I really hope that the performance improves by the release, because otherwise I had a lot of fun with Borderlands 4.
If you are new to Borderlands or have difficulties in your first hours in Borderlands 4, I have gathered a few tips that hopefully help you and ease your entry into the loot shooter: 15 tips you should know before starting Borderlands 4
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Path of Exile 2 the developers announced a promise months ago. Now they provide an update on whether they can keep it.
What is this promise? The developers of Path of Exile 2 announced with the launch of their second game that they would aim to release new updates and seasons alternately. While this initially didn’t work well and players had to wait almost a year for a new update in part 1, they recently reiterated their desire for alternating seasons.
The ultimate goal is to have a new league start every 4 months in a game. This would result in an average of 3 seasons in Path of Exile 2 and 3 seasons in Path of Exile per year. Players could then switch every 2 months and regularly look forward to new updates.
For many players, this idea has been a long-held wish, as they would prefer a new expansion to start every month in an ARPG. They would like Diablo 4 and Last Epoch to adapt accordingly, providing a constantly new league that captivates with new content.
Here you can watch the trailer for the latest season of Path of Exile 2:
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Path of Exile 2 shows Season 2 in the new trailer, brings Act 4 and 3 interludes into play
Developers provide an update on the promise
What’s the status of the plan? In a new update post on PathofExile.com, the developers spoke about the current state of affairs for the first part of PoE. They explained in their announcement that they are currently right on course.
At the end of October, when the 4-month cycle would be back on target, a new season would be announced. As always, fans can look forward to a teaser, a trailer, and a livestream that will present the new features of the expansion.
Version 3.27 is expected to start in October, according to the developers, thus keeping the promise and rhythm as planned. The developers also reminded players of their plan, proving that it still holds validity.
How are fans reacting to the announcement? Fans are excited that the developers still feel bound by their promise and that the new season is set to start within the planned timeframe. They write on Reddit:
beerye432: “It’s actually happening.”
robodrew: “That we’re getting 3.27 soon AND 0.3 is a blockbuster update for PoE2 means we are in the damn golden age, folks.”
BulletproofChespin: “I had a health check today, everything was great, I just came from a meeting about a promotion I applied for, and then comes the announcement of the announcement of the announcement of a new Poe league. What a great Wednesday.”
xlCalamity: “If the new trading system is in 3.27, it will be such a good league. PoE2 is much more fun with it, but the endgame is still not there for me. I can only imagine how much better PoE1 will feel with better trading.”
The Twitch streamer Maximilian “HandOfBlood” Knabe shared his opinion on X about the recognition of eSports clubs as non-profit organizations. He didn’t seem enthusiastic about the original draft, but then changed his mind.
What is this change about? The federal government has fulfilled a promise from the coalition agreement: eSports clubs are to be recognized as non-profit in the future, thus being on the same level as other conventional sports clubs.
Specifically, this means among other things that eSports clubs will receive tax benefits and therefore will not have to pay taxes on revenues as long as it serves a non-profit purpose. Additionally, donations can be tax-deductible, and they can more easily access funding. Until now, eSports clubs in Germany could not benefit from such advantages, which also contributed to the eSports winter.
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HandOfBlood: The most important thing about the YouTuber and Twitch streamer in under a minute
“This is such nonsense that you are doing”
What does HandOfBlood say about it? Under a post on X from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, which reported on the recognition of eSports clubs, HandOfBlood initially wrote the following:
The statement from the Twitch streamer refers to an initial draft law on the subject; this would have been too restrictive. The requirements there were too strict, such that many common eSports disciplines would have had to be excluded.
Thus, games that depict violence and killing would have had to be excluded. In this way, shooters, such as Counter-Strike or Valorant, would have been completely excluded, which affects a significant part of the eSports world.
Shortly thereafter, the Twitch streamer HandOfBlood corrected his statement in a post below, when he became aware that there was supposedly a new draft. This is said to have fewer restrictions, so that shooters and their respective clubs can also be recognized as sports clubs.
HandOfBlood writes on X: “Was a bit hasty, there was an update! This draft actually looks much better compared to the previous one. Great that the feedback from the eSports world was listened to. A great development if now some details are optimized and the law really comes!”
The final boss in Baldur’s Gate 3 is quite something and frustrates many players. One of these players no longer wants to fight fair and resorts to other means – a strategy that you can replicate with the right locations for these means.
What is the player reporting? The player and Reddit user Earth2-Zied writes in a Reddit post in the BG3 subreddit that after several attempts to defeat the final boss of the game, he no longer wants to keep failing. Therefore, he shows with a picture what his new plan is: an inventory full of explosives, including the gnomes’ rune powder bombs from Wulbren, smoke powder grenades, and whole barrels of smoke powder.
This plan is often referred to in the community as “Barrelmancy,” where you place enough explosives on an opponent and blow everything up with a fire arrow that even Shadowheart cannot miss at that quantity. This can significantly ease a tedious and difficult battle against all bosses.
However, to do so, you first need enough material, which can be found scattered throughout the game, but a hint on the locations can be beneficial. And we don’t want to withhold these locations from you.
Here you can see the animated short film for Patch 8 of Baldur’s Gate 3:
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Der animierte Kurzfilm zu Patch 8, dem letzten Update für Baldur’s Gate 3
All locations where you can find explosives in Baldur’s Gate 3
Where are the barrels with explosives located? To find enough explosives not only to blow away the final boss of the game but also to survive other situations (like the goblin camp, the towers of the Rising Moon, or Raphael’s House of Hope), you need to keep your eyes open in the following locations:
Act 1: Goblin camp in the temple, behind the locked door of the Zhentarim traders
Act 1: Goblin camp in the temple, when you take the stairs behind Dror Ragzlin
Act 1: The hideout of the Zhentarim, whose access you find through the barn near the burning tavern
Act 1: In the basement of the smith in the destroyed village
Act 1: In the forge with the escaped gnome Philomena. If you trade, you get a small vial of rune powder, if you steal from her, even a large barrel.
Act 2: In the basement of the Last Light inn
Act 2: In the brewery behind Thisobald Thorm
Act 3: In the basement of the fireworks store
Act 3: In the hidden workshop of Wulbren’s gnomes, where Barcus and Wulbren also work (There you can also receive a powerful rune powder bomb from Wulbren, with which you are supposed to destroy the factory of the Steel Guards. However, you can also keep it for other purposes.)
Act 3: At the dock of Baldur’s Gate, where some Bhaalists want to blow up Volo. If you not only save him but also pour water over the barrels, you can take all 8 barrels and use them for your own purpose another time.
What does the community say about the player’s plans? Although “Barrelmancy” is seen as “too easy” by many players, the community praises the player’s rigorous approach:
“Spoken like a true Ironhand gnome. Good luck, you angry bastard,” comments GlassSpider21 (on Reddit).
“If you can’t summon the flames directly from hell, purchased ones are okay too,” posts Baranix with a meme (on Reddit).
“That’s just the normal way to defeat the brain [the final boss],” notes Low-Development-5211 (on Reddit).
The user smiledontcry (on Reddit) points out, however, that in the hardest mode of the game, the Honour mode, you have to deal as much damage in one go as possible if you want to defeat the Elder Brain with this strategy. The final boss has the ability “Aegis of the Absolute,” allowing it to become immune to all damage forms it has taken in one round of combat.
After an attack with smoke and rune powder, it will then become immune to this strategy. Therefore, the saying goes: Put everything on one card, place all the explosives you have to defeat the opponent.
Another player also used Barrelmancy to blow up the goblins and bosses of the goblin camp. However, he did not place the barrels in one spot, but created a sort of chain reaction that wiped out the entire camp. Players agree when they say that the evidence is simply beautiful: Baldur’s Gate 3: Player collects explosive barrels for 8 hours for 1 minute of fireworks
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Around gamescom 2025, the developers of The Elder Scrolls Online hinted that after all these years, they finally want to implement crossplay for PC as well as consoles. In a recent “Ask my Anything” session, there was the first update on this.
What is known about crossplay for ESO? Even 10 years after the release of the console version, Elder Scrolls Online does not support crossplay. The versions for PC/Mac and consoles are clearly separated.
PC players with Windows/Mac can play with other PC players on Windows and Mac
Xbox players can only play with other Xbox players
PlayStation players can also only play with other PlayStation players
How big is The Elder Scrolls Online? According to the developers, more than 26 million players have been welcomed to Tamriel so far. This is enough for 9th place among the MMORPGs with the most players, according to the officially confirmed numbers from the developers.
The developers have emphasized in the past that ESO is the largest MMORPG for consoles. However, with Final Fantasy XIV and Black Desert, there are at least 2 other online RPGs that boast a larger overall number of players across all platforms and have also been released for PC as well as consoles.
Crossplay is in development, bringing all players of a region together
What new information has emerged? Now, another update followed during an “Ask my Anything” session on Reddit (short: AMA). In this, Executive Producer Susan Kath explained:
We are currently actively working on the development of crossplay. There are more profound details, but broadly speaking, it is planned to be regional (EU/EU and NA/NA), and the game can be played on all platforms. However, this will take some time – the game was originally not designed with this in mind, and a lot of design work is necessary to ensure it remains balanced for everyone when we bring everyone together.
It is now clear that the developers indeed want to bring all players of a region – whether Xbox, PlayStation, or PC – together with the crossplay feature, and that development on the feature is already underway.
What else does the AMA reveal? With 8 participating developers and countless questions from the community, pretty much every area of ESO was discussed. The devs explained, for example, that they want to find better ways in the future to keep older systems or content relevant or sensibly expand them.
Furthermore, the developers stated that there are often technical hurdles that make the implementation of seemingly simple improvements very difficult. As an example, they mentioned housing, which they would like to expand further and make more vibrant. The team is currently working on some initiatives to find workable solutions for this.
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The Elder Scrolls Online: Seasons of the Worm Cult – Part 1 – Release Trailer
Another topic was that the developers are increasingly giving events and content a timeline – for example, that the current seasons of the Worm Cult build on the main game’s campaign. They want to expand this kind of storytelling in the future, as it allows them to tell significant stories that actually affect the world and its inhabitants.
By the way, specific details about the future of the MMORPG will apparently be shared tonight (September 11, starting at 8 PM) on the official Twitch channel of Bethesda. The developers will talk about Update 48, the upcoming world event surrounding the wall (plus other events from the 4th quarter), and a preview of the final part of the current season.
Games Workshop has released a new series for Warhammer and is enticing viewers with the trailer for the first episode. However, what you might be accustomed to from the animations is missing this time: Instead of luring with spaceships and Space Marines, Sigmar’s Toll focuses on Skaven and demigods.
The first episode of Sigmar’s Toll has been exclusively available on Warhammer TV since September 10, if you have subscribed to Warhammer+. More episodes will follow in the coming weeks.
This is what Sigmar’s Toll is about: After the Old World has been destroyed and some of its inhabitants have managed to flee into the realms of mortals, war has also broken out in the new universe.
Powers of Order are fighting against the forces of Chaos, Death, and Destruction. Sigmar’s Toll specifically takes place in the city of Embergard, which is currently being besieged by the vile Skaven, ratmen with vile warp technology.
As the last human bastion in an otherwise devastated land, the defenders must now hold against the Skaven – until godlike “Stormforged Eternals” come to aid. Or perhaps not: in the trailer for the first episode, Sigmar’s angels do not appear to be friendly.
You don’t need any prior knowledge for Sigmar’s Toll, by the way. The official website summarizes the important details as: “Ratmen want to take the city, great silver knights want to keep it.”
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Der Trailer zur 1. Episode von Age of Sigmar, der Warhammer-Serie mit fiesen Rattenmenschen
Wacky Fantasy instead of Dark Science Fiction
Normally, Games Workshop places strong emphasis on Warhammer 40,000 as its big flagship. The dark future entices with many different contents, especially the beefed-up Space Marines. This is evident not only in video games like Space Marine 2 but also in other media:
Sigmar’s Toll is only the second complete series that foregoes Warhammer 40,000 as a setting. Previously, Blacktalon was released in 2023, which revolves around Naeve Blacktalon and her unit of elite hunters.
The community is particularly excited that the Skaven have a significant role in Sigmar’s Toll. The ratmen already play an important role as antagonists in Age of Sigmar and are currently being built up as villains. They even have a fifth Chaos God in Age of Sigmar.
Apple has unveiled its new iPhone 17. Samsung’s X account mocks the lack of innovation. However, the community does not find this funny at all and complains that such an action is really embarrassing.
What has Apple unveiled? At its last keynote on September 9, 2025, Apple introduced its next generation of iPhones. In addition to the iPhone 17, they also unveiled an ultra-thin Air model. However, especially the color selection for the iPhone 17 has previously confused fans.
Now the X account of Samsung has also taken the iPhone 17 to task. But fans in the community do not find this very funny.
Start video
In Germany, there are over 400 USB sticks protruding from walls – What is the ‘Dead Drops’ project?
Samsung account complains about lack of innovation and the weak camera
This is what Samsung did: The US X account of Samsung made several posts directly referencing the iPhone 17. For example, they said:
“Let us know when it can be folded.” – With this, the account is likely referencing that Apple has not yet introduced a foldable model, unlike Samsung with its Fold series.
“48 MP x 3 are not 200 MP.” – The Galaxy S25 Ultra, in comparison, features a camera with 200 megapixels (MP).
Samsung’s X.com account about the iPhone 17.
The fans are not thrilled: The reactions from the community are lukewarm. The majority on Reddit finds this behavior “embarrassing” or “pathetic” and inappropriate for such a large company as Samsung.
As someone explained on Reddit: Samsung had previously mocked Apple, only to later benefit from Apple’s “innovations.” As an example, he cites the removal of the headphone jack:
Do you remember when headphone jacks were common and Samsung mocked Apple for removing them – only to do the same shortly afterwards?
The high price and weight of these models also often speak against a foldable smartphone. Many therefore do not understand why Samsung emphasizes the advantage of this so much and mocks Apple for having refrained from this useless feature so far.
And others add that Samsung did the same with the charger: Shortly after Apple removed the charger from its iPhone’s packaging, Samsung also removed it from the packaging of its Galaxy models.
The sense of foldable phones, which Samsung emphasizes here, is also debated. According to NSysgroup.com, foldable phones are subject to more wear due to their construction, “which can lead to more frequent failures and, consequently, higher repair or replacement costs for consumers.”
The high price and weight of these models also often speak against a foldable smartphone. Many therefore do not understand why Samsung emphasizes the advantage of this so much and mocks Apple for having refrained from this useless feature so far.
League of Legends is for every gender. A professional expressed derogatory comments about women during a stream, and his team benched him for it. The prize money is to be donated to an organization that supports women in gaming.
Which professional is it about? The Belgian top laner, Bwipo, has been in the Esports scene of League of Legends since December 2015. Since November 2023, he plays for the American team FlyQuest and competes in the LTA (League of Legends Championship of The Americas). Recently, Bwipo was able to win the third split of the LTA in 2025 with FlyQuest (lol.fandom.com).
What did Bwipo say? In a stream on his Twitch channel on September 9, 2025, Bwipo commented on women in League of Legends. According to him, women should not play competitive games during menstruation. A X user published the clip of his remarks.
His team, FlyQuest, shortly thereafter released a statement regarding Bwipo and clarified the actions against the player.
In the video, you see the trailer for Season 3 in 2025 of League of Legends:
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The new trailer for Season 3 in 2025 of League of Legends shows a dark vision of the champion Xin Zhao
FlyQuest suspends their top laner and donates his prize money
What actions is Bwipo facing? FlyQuest released a statement regarding their top laner on X. Bwipo will miss the next series of the LTA playoffs, and his prize money will be donated to an organization that supports women in gaming. FlyQuest did not specify which organization that would be. FlyQuest clarifies that they do not tolerate such behavior from their players and states the following in the statement:
Comments that could discourage even a young woman from pursuing her dream of being a professional harm the future of esports, and we take this very seriously. While our first impulse is to educate when such obviously ignorant comments are made, taking responsibility is also a core value of our organization.
What does Bwipo himself say? On his X account, Bwipo posted a small apology and writes that he wants to take the first steps to reflect and do better:
Hello everyone, I know I messed up. My comments were ignorant and disrespectful towards women, including those close to me. I apologize to those I hurt. I regret using my platform to fuel hate and sexism instead of providing support, and I will take steps to reflect, listen, and do better.
In 2025, the American esports scene of League of Legends already bid farewell to the well-known LoL journalist, Travis Gafford, who wants to take a break. Furthermore, the professional Jensen has retired, leaving behind the record for the most consecutive Worlds appearances: LoL pro retires and leaves a record that even Faker could only break in 4 years
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With the new update “The Depths of Night,” Nightreign brings several adjustments to the game. However, players have now discovered just how these changes really affect the typical gameplay flow and realize how merciless the second night truly is – and that literally.
What changed with the update? With the update “The Depths of Night,” Nightreign not only provided balancing updates for characters, leave penalties, and bug fixes. Players have actually felt what has changed in the game since its release.
The player and Reddit user volmat shows in a clip on Reddit how the deadly night has transformed from “manageable with enough planning” to absolutely merciless. And that can be taken literally.
Aside from the increased damage from the rain, there are no more saving grace spots after defeating the boss of the second night. They may still be in the same locations as during the day, but they no longer restore your health points or healing potions.
This ruins a fairly established tactic of the second night, disappointing many players while also making just as many others quite happy.
Here you can see the trailer for Elden Ring: Nightreign:
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Elden Ring Nightreign: Trailer introduces new 2-player mode
The night is now as dangerous as it always should have been
Which tactic is being referred to? Previously, the grace spots outside the safe zone remained active even after defeating the boss of the second night, and the rain only slowly shrank the health bar, making it a common tactic to run around the map again before facing the final Nightlord to collect lost runes or farm additional enemies.
You just had to find a grace spot occasionally to restore your life and get new healing potions.
Motivated teams could scrape together the remaining runes for another level, but for some players, this additional farming, which sometimes dragged on, became quite tiresome.
How navigating in the deadly rain looks without the grace spots after the new update can be seen in volmat’s clip on Reddit:
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How does the community react? The community must acknowledge that the formerly less threatening night in Nightreign is now genuinely intimidating, where one should think twice about additional farming in the danger zone:
“My God, the new storm damage is truly brutal,” notes haodbwisnd (on Reddit).
“The problem was that people always made the others wait because they were so eager to go in,” replies vivir66 (on Reddit).
“I’ve always hated the day-2 farming, which is why I welcome this change,” comments MikeyKoala (on Reddit).
“Now the rain is lore-accurate,” writes Skillo_Squirrel (on Reddit).
How does the community react? The community must acknowledge that the formerly less threatening night in Nightreign is now genuinely intimidating, where one should think twice about additional farming in the danger zone:
“My God, the new storm damage is truly brutal,” notes haodbwisnd (on Reddit).
“The problem was that people always made the others wait because they were so eager to go in,” replies vivir66 (on Reddit).
“I’ve always hated the day-2 farming, which is why I welcome this change,” comments MikeyKoala (on Reddit).
“Now the rain is lore-accurate,” writes Skillo_Squirrel (on Reddit).
A Warzone from Call of Duty in Battlefield 6? You read that right, such a mode is set to arrive in the new shooter, promising to impress fans with its intense Battle Royale gameplay. How you can test it out and what to expect is detailed here.
In a recent blog post on x.com, DICE has shared details about the Battle Royale, discussing what you can expect and how the mode is set to differ from well-known competitors such as Fortnite and Warzone (Call of Duty).
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Battlefield 6: Trailer for the PC version’s graphics
Battlefield 6 is charting its own course
What can you expect in Battle Royale? It is important for DICE to remain true to the core DNA of Battlefield. The mode is designed to stay realistic and tough, immersing players in the combat. A total of 25 squads with four players each will be dropped onto the map.
Vehicles will be available, allowing you to gain a tactical advantage and maneuver faster through the map. The familiar classes will also be there, each bringing their own perks based on selection – a balanced team can be the difference between victory and defeat.
The more you play the mode, the more XP you earn to level up your classes and gain better perks. Missions on the map will also provide a bonus in XP, making leveling up easier.
Revives will be possible as well, since it can quickly happen that you bite the dust on the map. To apply pressure, like in Fortnite and Warzone, there will be a ring that constantly shrinks the map, but it has a fine difference – it kills you instantly on contact.
In the competition, players had the chance to withstand the storm or gas cloud, only taking some damage to their health bar in return. Battlefield, however, does not want to compromise and aims to provide a tough experience. Those who own Battle Labs will soon be able to test the mode and experience its style for themselves.
What do fans say about the Battle Royale? Opinions were initially lukewarm at the announcement, as a post on Reddit reveals. Many long-time veterans are not keen on the idea of Battlefield now having such a mode. They wish DICE would focus more on the multiplayer mode.
However, now that new information about the mode is available, opinions have changed. Here’s what can be heard in the initially linked X post:
“Battlefield veterans don’t want a BR… Blah blah blah blah blah. As a longtime fan of Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Warzone (when it was still good), I can’t wait to see how this turns out. Firestorm was okay, but it was missing something. If this incorporates all the key elements from BF6, it will be awesome!” – @bealeiam
“I can’t wait! I hope we have a good alternative to Warzone.” – @by_mosa
“This sounds incredible! The first game in a long time that I’ve pre-ordered well before the release. I can’t wait for the campaign, not to mention MP, Labs, and BR!!!” – @followingcs2
“Thank goodness there are no gear items, only weapons that you get in the right way through looting, etc., just as a BR should be! I’m also glad the fire [the ring] kills immediately.” – @THEBIGPEANUT257
What do you think about the concept of Battle Royale in Battlefield 6? Are you excited to see how the studio has built the mode, or would you prefer if the developers focused solely on the multiplayer mode? You can find out more about the release of Battlefield 6 here: Battlefield 6: All important info on release, beta, and crossplay
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.