The new MMORPG ArcheAge Unchained can be played by selected players on test servers. Already in the first days, there were long queues.
Who can test Unchained? ArcheAge Unchained opened its test servers on October 1. Since then, all pre-order customers and selected representatives of the press have been allowed to test content such as:
Why is the interest so high? Some players describe ArcheAge as one of the best MMORPGs on the market. From their perspective, Pay2Win has destroyed much of the game’s potential.
However, Unchained does not have a subscription model or other advantages that players can buy for real money. Instead, there are:
a free Battle Pass that contains old Pay2Win content.
a paid pass that only brings cosmetic updates.
When will Unchained be released? The new version of ArcheAge was originally scheduled to be released on September 30. However, to fix all bugs and remove all Pay2Win items, the release was postponed.
With the next major Title Update 6, The Division 2 will receive many new “Named Items.” These special versions of existing gear items are intended to enrich the loot experience. What it’s all about, you can find out here.
What are “Named Items”? In The Division 2, there are many different gear items to be found. Some selected weapons and armor pieces are particularly modified.
These special items are either “Exotic Items” or “Named Items.” While Exotics bring special gameplay and effects, the “Named Items” are more like a cooler version, with a story and possibly a different skin.
“Named Items” make sense
With the next Title Update 6, which will be released in mid-October, the “Named Items” will receive a complete overhaul and will therefore be highlighted more.
What does Title Update 6 do to these items? The “Named Items” have so far lived a niche existence and were of little interest to any agent. With the new update, these items will be completely overhauled and contribute to a better looting experience in The Division 2.
Here are the details
Here’s what we know now about the Named Items:
More than 35 new “Named Items” will come with TU6
Many will come with a unique appearance
Unique talents are also included
The so-called “Perfect Talents” offer a better version of normal “High-End Talents”
The “Perfect Talent” is fixed, other attributes will be rolled randomly
With the “Named Items,” the developers aim to enhance the specialization options of player builds. A completed build can become even better with a named version of a gear piece.
Since equipping these items, unlike Exotics, is not restricted, multiple “Perfect Talents” can also find their way into a build.
And how can I find the named parts now? In the “State of the Game” from October 2, Massive spoke not only about the finally functioning expeditions, but also about the planned sources for “Named Items.”
Here are the “Perfect Talents”
These are the sources for Named Items:
“Named Items” can be obtained as drops and rewards in the Invasions missions
The last Invasion mission “Tidal Basin” guarantees a “Named Item” during the first playthrough
The other Invasion missions guarantee a “Named Item” during the first playthrough on “Heroic”
Bosses at the “Heroic” difficulty level now have a higher chance of dropping a bonus item.
This item can now be a “Named Item” or an Exo that you already own
Normal enemies also have a low chance of dropping “Named Items”
The chance increases with difficulty level (e.g., control points at higher levels)
Certain “Named Items” will only be available in specified activities (e.g., only in the Dark Zone)
This means the change for players: Allowing even small enemies to drop such coveted items should make some Division outings significantly more enjoyable in the future.
In addition, the Invasions missions will have a higher replay value and provide significant chances at the highest difficulty level “Heroic” to find one of these special pieces, alongside the guaranteed named rewards at the end.
TU6 and “Episode 2” come in mid-October
What else does TU6 have to offer? Until October 1, the test phase (PTS) for the next major Title Update 6 was running, and agents were allowed to test many changes and innovations of this re-build update. If you are interested in the known balance details so far, take a look here:
The Title Update 6 brings many balance changes but also new talents. The update is set to be released simultaneously with the content DLC “Episode 2” and is described by the developers as the biggest expansion since the launch in March.
Thanks to a very simple method, veterans can immediately increase their Power level to 900 in no time at the start of Destiny 2. We present to you who benefits from this approach and what exactly needs to be done.
What is the Power level? Your Power level essentially determines how strong your Guardian is. The Power level results from the overall value of your equipment. This means that both your 3 weapons and all 5 armor pieces with their values contribute to it. To effectively fight against powerful enemies or to undertake certain activities, you should have a correspondingly high level.
This is how the Power level behaves in the current season:
750 has been the universal starting Power level for all Guardians since Shadowkeep.
900 is the so-called Softcap. Up to this point, you level up in every activity and through almost every found piece of equipment.
950 is the Powerful-Cap. To reach this value, only Powerful Items and Exotics help.
960 is then ultimately the Hard or Pinnacle Cap. You can only reach this level through the hardest tasks like raids and pinnacle activities.
The seasonal artifact plays a special role for the Power level. With it, you can essentially increase your Power level far beyond the Hard cap – but only within the framework of a season.
Total Power: The gear value + artifact bonus
Who is this approach suitable for? This method is primarily aimed at veterans and returnees who have caused havoc in Destiny 2 before Shadowkeep. Because for quick leveling, you need a lot of Crucible and/or Vanguard tokens.
New or relatively fresh players won’t really benefit from it. But not all veterans like such methods and prefer to level up regularly. However, if you want to shorten the grind a bit, you can use this approach.
This is how the method works: You go to the Tower – either to Lord Shaxx or to Commander Zavala. With both, you can rank up in exchange for 20 Crucible or Vanguard tokens each and receive rewards with equipment.
This equipment increasingly rises in Power level and thus provides you with continuous progress up to Power level 900. The grind to the Soft cap is quickly done without stress, but depending on your previous status, it may cost you several thousand tokens.
Lord Shaxx has plenty of gear for you
Keep in mind:
Make sure you have enough space in your inventory and regularly delete over-leveled equipment.
If you use this method, you can completely avoid Powerful rewards until you reach Power level 900 and only claim them after reaching Power level 900. Then it will go faster towards the Power Cap, and you will not waste valuable resources for Power upgrades.
Is your Power level raid-ready? If you haven’t really leveled up yet, but want to join the new raid on October 5th? Then you can use this method to quickly catch up to Power level 900 if you have enough tokens.
Then at least you’ll be prepared for the first raid encounter. Because there you have no advantages already from Power level 890. In the final encounter, this threshold is at 920. However, you would still need to regularly level up with the Powerful items.
The Twitch streamer Mongraal appeared visibly frustrated during the stream when the RNG in Fortnite was not in his favor again.
Who is it about? Streamer and Fortnite prodigy Kyle “Mongraal” Jackson played solo games for the Cash Cup in Fortnite on October 3 and streamed the event on TwitchTV. However, he had bad luck with the RNG, which constantly interrupted his plans.
This created a bad atmosphere that the streamer demonstrated to his viewers. At least Mongraal tried to do so.
What exactly made him so angry? When, in the endgame of a match, the safe zone moved far from his position and the match flow disrupted his plans, he excitedly asked, “Are you kidding me? I never hit the damn zone. NEVER!”
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His anger took a wrong turn: Just as he wanted to get really upset, it became funny for the viewers on Twitch. The camera, which usually films the movements of his mouse hand and the input on the keyboard, moved away from its usual position and got twisted. It must have fallen from its place after Mongraal, guided by frustration, hit his desk.
He originally wanted to complain further about the game during the stream, but just then the audio playback of his stream cut out.
It took a few seconds for him to realize the camera was back in its original position and the sound returned. With his outbursts, he sabotages his own stream.
Then, he continued to complain that he couldn’t rotate and apparently had no luck with the zone spawns.
What happened next for the streamer? As Dexerto reports, the zones were hardly on the streamer’s side. Thus, he had to move from his protected positions across the map to reach the zones.
At one point, he even correctly predicted that if he rotated now, he would soon be in focus. As he flew over the map with his glider, the other players immediately noticed it, and shortly thereafter, Mongraal was eliminated.
That his outbursts also become so unintentionally funny, the Fortnite pro has shown in other streams as well. There, he smashed his keyboard and accidentally sat in his plate full of noodles:
The numerous talents from World of Warcraft Classic are credited to one man. He shares more anecdotes about lost mounts …
The original development of World of Warcraft was quite chaotic. After all, there were only a few developers compared to today who had to take care of the content and the basic game. Blizzard occasionally gives small insights and even revealed recently: For all the talents at the launch of WoW, only one person was responsible: Tom Chilton. Additionally, we finally learn why Night Elves do not have orange sabers.
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How did it go back then? Tom Chilton, who was the Senior Game Designer at the time, played a class for “a few hours”. So he played as a Warrior, Mage, or Rogue for a few hours. After that, he reportedly withdrew for “almost a week” to come up with the talents for each class.
The talents have actually been modified multiple times during Vanilla. Many “nonsensical” talents are no longer present in the “Classic” version, which plays at the state of Patch 1.12.
What else did Chilton reveal? Another detail during development concerns Night Elves and their mounts. Chris Metzen, who was in charge of the story at the time, had seen a Night Elf sitting on an orange saber in a promotional image. He then “flipped out” and stated that Night Elves should only ride on sabers of certain colors – primarily dark colors like black, gray, or purple. But never on an orange saber.
This
is likely the reason why some riding sabers have existed in the game files since
Classic:
Reins of the Bengal Tiger
Reins of the Golden Saber Cat
Reins of the Yellow-Brown Saber Cat
These
three mounts exist in the game data, although players cannot obtain them. However, fans have always hoped that these mounts would one day become available in the game.
That Fallout 76 curiously brings people together repeatedly is likely known to many players by now. One player used the game to create a dream marriage proposal for his future bride in Fallout style together with Bethesda.
This is how beautiful the proposal was: The player and reddit user gibbersganfa proposed to his girlfriend Deana on September 28, 2019. For this, he hid various clues in the town where he lives with his girlfriend.
Diverse Vault-Boy bobblehead dolls and perk cards from Fallout 76 inspired puzzle cards were scattered throughout the town for the future bride to find. In a scavenger hunt, she had to find one clue after another.
Some bobblehead figures were scattered around the town.
Her twin sister helped her to find everything on time. She was informed beforehand. In the end, her (now) fiancé was standing there where they had their first date.
He got down on one knee and made the proposal. The ring features the colors of VaultTec: blue and yellow (sapphire and citrine). She said yes:
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Here is the couple: gibbersganfa and Deana, according to his statements, have known each other for seven years now. Although his soon-to-be wife has hardly played video games since the Super Nintendo, he was able to convince her to play Fallout 4.
This quickly became her favorite game, and when Fallout 76 was finally released, they could finally play together. A wedding in Appalachia, as another couple celebrated in the Mothman church, is still to come.
Couple wants to
get married – Bethesda helps, community celebrates
This is how the developers helped: To make his proposal come true, gibbersganfa reached out to Bethesda itself for help. He did not expect to receive a response, but the community manager Lady Devann was immediately thrilled.
A real wasteland wedding? Maybe it will come too.
Bethesda ultimately took over the perk cards and printed them for the aspiring groom.
Congratulations again! Thank you for letting us be a part of this epic moment in your life!
This is how the proposal is received: On reddit, players shower the couple with congratulations and make stereotypical allusions with unlocked achievements. The involvement of Bethesda is also admired.
Heartwarming stories are well received in the Fallout 76 community anyway:
With the new area on the Moon in the Shadowkeep expansion of Destiny 2, there are also new dead ghosts that you can collect. We will show you how to find them.
What are dead ghosts? In Destiny 1, dead ghosts were collectibles through which players could unlock lore entries and learn more about the game world.
They return in Destiny 2 with the Shadowkeep expansion, but they work a bit differently now. They are no longer just scattered around the area. You need a quest to find them.
How do I start the quest for the dead ghosts? If you are wandering on the Moon, doing various activities and opening chests, you will eventually randomly receive an item called “Lost Ghost” trail.
Bring it to Eris Morn and she will give you the quest for one of a total of 9 ghosts that can be found in a specific area. You can choose the order in which you complete the quests freely. It is also possible to have multiple of these quests active at the same time.
Will I also get rewards for this? For finding the dead ghosts, there is a little something from Eris Morn. Per ghost, you will receive:
The dead ghosts are scattered across the different areas on the Moon. There is one ghost that you can find per area.
The ghost in the Anchor of Light
In the area Anchor of Light, go into the large round building that is half toppled over. There in the dark room in the corner on the right side lies the ghost.
The ghost at the Hellmouth
This ghost is very easy to find, but also easy to overlook. Go to the Hellmouth and take the entrance on the right side that leads to the Gatehouse, but do not go all the way in. The ghost is located directly at the entrance behind the “barrier” where enemies often hide.
The ghost in the Gatehouse
Go to the Hellmouth and enter the entrance that leads to the Gatehouse. Follow the path deep inside until you reach the round room shown at the bottom of the image. The ghost lies on the right side next to two tilted pillars by the wrought iron fence.
The ghost in the Bone Circle
Go down into the Bone Circle to the large chasm at the end. The ghost is located on the ground in the room before the chasm, where there are 4 broken cylinders with red cracks. It lies behind one of the cylinders next to a pillar.
The ghost in the Summoning Pits
For this ghost, you will need to venture back into the depths of the Moon, this time past the Bone Circle. On the left side of the chasm is the path to the Summoning Pits. Go inside and you will find the ghost directly on the ledge on the right side.
The ghost in the World Grave
This is also a ghost for which you need to venture a bit deeper into the Moon. Enter through any gateway of your choice to reach the World Grave. The ghost lies directly on the ground to the left next to a fallen cylinder, if you enter through the door on the left side of the image.
The ghost in the Moon Battlegrounds
Ride your Sparrow to the Moon Battlegrounds and cross the red bridge. Keep right and pass by the two buildings. The ghost is next to a rocket engine that is peeking out from the ground near a broken pipe.
The ghost in the Sniper Line
For this ghost, you must ride from the Sanctuary to the Sniper Line. When you reach the fissure in the ground with green light, keep left of it. You will find the ghost on a small ledge inside the crack, next to old crates.
The ghost in the Shrine of Oryx
To find this ghost, you first need to go down into the Hall of Wisdom and past it to the Shrine of Oryx. Go through the round tunnel leading to the shrine and directly to the construct in the middle of the last room. The ghost is located down inside there.
If you are looking for more tips and guides on Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, then check out our articles on it:
At ArenaNet, the developers of Guild Wars 2, 8 developers, including longtime head Mike O’Brien, are leaving. According to sources from Kotaku, they were recently working on something that could have been a Guild Wars 3.
This is the official news: We reported about this last night: The president of ArenaNet, Mike O’Brien, leaves the company after 19 years, which he co-founded. He will be opening a new studio with friends.
It is already known that some former employees of ArenaNet will accompany him.
Guild Wars 2 will now be taken over by Mike Zadorojny. This is a handover of the baton that has been planned for a long time.
Mike O’Brien and ArenaNet part ways amicably with many good words for each other.
Supposedly, the team was working on a new “Guild Wars” project
This is what a source says now: As reported by the US site Kotaku, they heard about a week ago that 8 developers were planning to leave ArenaNet.
The small team would have internally been the “early development team” for a new Guild Wars project, perhaps even for Guild Wars 3. This was reportedly leaked to Kotaku by a source.
Another source said that there is still no green light for Guild Wars 3 – but O’Brien’s project and his team could have developed in that direction.
Kotaku continues by saying that as far as they understand, the team had indeed been working on a new “Guild Wars” project. However, they would not take this work with them to their new studio.
ArenaNet – a studio under pressure
What is the situation at ArenaNet? The situation has been tense in recent years. ArenaNet is not independent but belongs to the Korean software giant NCSoft. This is the company that pulled the plug on Carbine and WildStar. While NCSoft is now considered patient, their patience is not limitless.
In FIFA 20, Title Update 3 is available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Patch 1.04 addresses some issues, but many players expected other changes.
This is what Patch 1.04 brings: The new patch, referred to as Title Update 3 in the changelog, deals with two issues:
The problems for players using the same EA account across multiple platforms have now been resolved. Errors occurred in Ultimate Team and VOLTA – these should no longer appear.
Additionally, the patch is expected to improve stability when starting a game.
However, EA apparently did not meet expectations.
Players had hoped for a different update
This is how FIFA 20 players are reacting: The update has been communicated by EA much more reservedly compared to the very extensive Title Update 2. However, the changes are also less significant. Players have been hoping for some improvements for a while.
These mainly affect the career mode. It is currently still quite buggy and makes it difficult for many players to enjoy the game. Among other things, the career mode suffers from:
The career mode is one of the biggest points of criticism from the community for the game. EA announced last week that they would work on it – but that the fixes would take time. The current patch does not offer any solutions for these problems. Accordingly, some players express their dissatisfaction on reddit.
“Well, this is a disappointment,” says user “LiveBuyer”. User “Itaney” thinks: “This update is useless. There are so many bugs, the game is basically broken.” Overall, fans mention several bugs across different modes – the update does not address any of these.
This missing fix is celebrated by fans: At least one issue is currently bringing joy to players. The “Fitness Bug” ensures that normally exhausted players in Ultimate Team appear completely fit in Squad Battles or Rivals matches. Fitness cards are therefore not needed at the moment.
Players exhausted? No problem, they can continue without fitness!
And indeed: The current patch does not fix the fitness issue. User “fifanoob” says: “I can’t believe they didn’t fix the fitness. Normally EA fixes everything that gives players an advantage. EA is changing!”
Also, FIFA 20 is currently making headlines outside of the actual game. A data leak regarding the Global Series has caused problems:
The new skill-based matchmaking is active in Fortnite. Players complain about mixed platforms. Epic Games is going ahead with the plan anyway.
What is the issue with matchmaking? Epic Games introduced the skill-based matchmaking with update 10.40. So far, the new feature is only available for the solo mode. However, they did not mention that the matchmaking mixes all platforms.
Players see mixed platforms as a major problem because it is not fair. Especially console players feel disadvantaged as they now have to play against PC players who often have an advantage. The stronger console players become, the stronger opponents (PC players) they face.
The FPS for PC players is often higher than for other platforms. As a Reddit user describes: “A Switch player with a maximum of 30 FPS, which are also unstable, will still have a disadvantage against a PC player who plays with more than 60 FPS. It does not depend on the skill level of the game.”
Epic Games Releases a Statement on the Issue
What does Epic say about matchmaking? Epic has acknowledged the players’ problems and issued a statement about it. This is what they say about matchmaking:
“So far, we have implemented the new player search system in selected regions for solo mode. The duo mode is expected to follow later this week. (…) However, the new player search system captures different skill levels across different platforms. (…)”
With the new player search system, Epic aims to create fairer matches for all players, while also considering each platform individually. To ensure everyone gets fair matches, Epic wants to keep an eye on match analyses and player feedback.
Additionally, Epic Games has noticed an issue with smurf accounts and wants to look into it further. They say: “Creating smurf accounts is a bannable offense.” To prevent such smurf accounts from forming, Epic will ban players who exploit this system.
What does this mean for players? Epic Games will implement this new system despite the complaints from the community. Players still have hope that it will improve through match analyses and feedback. Those who have been playing Fortnite for a while know that Epic can make changes that then stay for a while.
Epic Games is known for adding new things to the game and then stubbornly keeping them in, even if the entire community complains about it. There have already been several such situations in the past:
The quest for the masterpiece catalyst of the new exotic hand cannon Eriana’s Vow is currently raising many question marks among the Guardians in Destiny 2. Because progress is hard to achieve there. We will tell you how to progress faster in the quest.
This is what the quest is about: With the start of Year 3, Destiny 2 introduced a season pass. One of the rewards from it is the exotic hand cannon Eriana’s Vow.
After you have received the weapon, shortly thereafter you will receive the quest “The Oath” from the gunsmith Banshee-44 in the Tower for the corresponding masterpiece catalyst.
A masterpiece catalyst upgrades the respective weapon to masterpiece status, improving certain stats of the firearm or even granting the weapon additional perks.
What is the problem with the quest? As part of the quest, you are supposed to make progress with the weapon by completing Gambit, Gambit Prime, the Crucible, the Vex Offensive, or strike activities with it.
The problem is: Many Guardians complete masses of these tasks, but progress is hardly made. After completing 5 strikes and 2 Crucible matches, you get about 1% progress. Many players wondered if the catalyst might be bugged. Because progress is otherwise hardly so sluggish in a corresponding quest.
This is how you can achieve progress faster: Players have now figured out how to progress faster in Eriana’s Vow’s catalyst quest. Apparently, progress is not bugged, but tied to certain items from the season pass.
This way you can receive catalyst quest boosts at premium levels 11 and 22 of the season pass.
With the Alpha Boost at level 11, your progress in the catalyst quest is doubled.
With the Omega Boost at level 22, your progress in the catalyst quest is tripled.
This should significantly speed up the achievement of progress. Therefore, it is recommended to tackle the catalyst quest properly only after reaching level 22 within the season pass. Before level 11, it is still possible to make progress, but only very inefficiently.
What about players without a season pass? Players without the season pass also receive Eriana’s Vow – but only at rank 35 of the free rewards track. However, they unfortunately find no boosts in the further course of the season pass. They will therefore have to take the long, tedious path, like it or not.
Did you know about the boosts? Or did you also wonder why there is hardly any progress for the catalyst?
Blizzard would like to see its Overwatch characters in Smash Bros. Will we soon play Genji and Tracer in Nintendo’s fighting game?
When it comes to fighting games on Nintendo’s Switch, there is hardly a way around Super Smash Bros. The colorful fighting game series has been combining characters from various franchises for over two decades and lets them battle against each other. Link from Zelda might punch a Pokémon Trainer or Samus Aran from Metroid might blast Princess Peach out of her castle.
However, characters from a completely different universe might also be introduced in Smash Bros. – the heroes from Overwatch.
What was said? In an interview with IGN, Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan spoke about the possibility of bringing Overwatch characters to Smash Bros. Apparently, Kaplan himself is a fan of Smash Bros., as he says:
To the “Smash Bros.” team, no matter which character you want, we love them all. They are our babies and you can have every single one of them. We have 31 to choose from.
This character Kaplan wants in the game: However, Kaplan has a clear favorite for which character he would like to see there:
Tracer is our girl, Tracer is our mascot. She would be my first choice.
However, Kaplan could also imagine that Doomfist would fit particularly well in the fighting game. After all, his play style in Overwatch already resembles a fighting game with combos.
Wes Yanagi, the Principal Game Designer for the Switch version of Overwatch, has his own wishes, though. He would like to see Winston in Smash Bros. Would that make for a funny combination with Donkey Kong?
On October 3rd, the registration for the FIFA 20 Global Series went live. However, there was a big mistake: Personal data of several players was accidentally published.
On Thursday, EA Sports launched the “Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup.” This means: From now on, players could register for the EA Sports FIFA 20 Global Series, through which they can qualify for the eWorld Cup. There, players can follow in the footsteps of world champion MoAuba, who recently faced Jürgen Klopp.
However, the registration, which is supposed to run until October 31st, brought along issues. The new registration website, where players could sign up with their data, was not always empty. Some players saw not empty fields in the input mask, but the saved login data of other participants who had already registered. A serious data leak! Accordingly, some affected players, such as pro player “Kurt”, expressed their anger:
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This is how EA responds: While some players expressed disbelief about the data leak on Twitter or Reddit, EA pulled the emergency brake. In an initial post, EA mentioned a “potential issue” affecting the registration and temporarily disabled the registration.
On Friday morning, EA provided further insights into the extent of the problems. EA emphasized that the website was only accessible for half an hour in total. After the issues arose, it was immediately taken offline.
Meanwhile, they were able to determine the source of the problem and implement a fix that should ensure the security of player data.
Currently, you cannot find the registration on the website
What happens next: A total of about 1600 players may have been affected by the issue. EA now wants to contact these participants. Ultimately, EA emphasized that it places great importance on the safety of players’ private data and apologized for the incident. The registration will be reopened in the coming days.
In the comments to the post, some players are demanding compensation, while others see the apology as a positive sign at least. However, the majority is concerned with other issues.
In Pokémon GO, the update 0.157.0 is being gradually rolled out. This update brings some features that will make it easier for you to play.
When will the update be released? It is currently being rolled out and Android users can already download the APK file. Presumably, all users will receive the update over the weekend.
The update 0.157.0 does not bring huge new features, but there are some small things that will make it easier for you to play. There are also more interesting discoveries.
This 5 Highlights of Update 0.157.0
New search commands: Although it comes a bit late, you can now search for distance in kilometers in Pokémon GO to find monsters from Australia or the USA. This is important for certain quests, such as those from the World Tourism Day.
In English, you enter “distance100-” to find all Pokémon that have been caught 100 kilometers or more away. The German command is not yet known, but it is likely something like “entfernung100-“.
You can now also enter “@Special” (in German probably @Spezial), so you can see all special event moves. This includes the attacks from Community Day, but also attacks that a Pokémon can no longer learn, such as Gengar with Shadow Claw. You will then see at a glance if your Pokémon is special.
In return, the search commands “released” and “Crypto” have been removed. You won’t find Pokémon here anymore.
New types of boxes: The update also found 2 new boxes. These seem to be for beginners in the game. There is the “New Trainer Box” and the “Beginner Box”. Thus, there could be useful items for beginners here.
This way, you might find things like Lucky Eggs more frequently, because as a beginner, you have to rely more on XP than a player at level 40.
New Crypto-Pokémon: The update also found 14 new Crypto-Pokémon. They are not yet in the game, but could now be quickly added thanks to these files. The monsters include:
Onix and Steelix
Shuppet and Banette
Gligar and Gliscor
Sableye
Snorunt and Froslass
Swablu and Altaria
Botogel
Dahirplex
Music manager in Pokémon GO: This feature is especially important for developers. They can change the music in the game without a new update.
New moves: Three new moves have been added in the update. They are:
Horn Drill
Geo Control
Sanctum Blade
Horn Drill is a Normal-type move and is therefore not really interesting for the meta of Pokémon GO. Normal moves are not effective against any type and are therefore more or less useless.
Geo Control is a Ground-type move. Pokémon like Groudon or Excadrill could learn this move in console games. If the move gets strong, it would definitely be interesting.
Sanctum Blade is a Fighting-type move. It is the special move of the “Knights of Integrity”, which consists of the 4 Pokémon Cobalion, Virizion, Terrakion and Keldeo. Thus, the move could be an exclusive attack for these legendary and mysterious Pokémon.
What is your highlight from the new update? What are you most looking forward to?
The MMORPG expert Raph Koster has founded a new company. Together with some veterans from MMORPGs like Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, Koster wants to give it another go. He is building a new MMO.
Who is Raph Koster? Raph Koster (48 years old) was the lead designer of Ultima Online (released in 1997) and the creative director of Star Wars Galaxies (2003).
The two games, together with Everquest (1999), form what can be considered the “Holy Trinity of MMORPGs.” They are among the major pioneers of the genre.
The sandbox MMORPGs, Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, were characterized by granting players more freedom than “theme park MMORPGs” like WoW (2004) or Final Fantasy XIV (2010) later did.
Star Wars Galaxies is still cultishly revered today for offering so many possibilities.
Koster has distinguished himself in recent years by acting as a kind of pioneer and theorist in MMORPGs. He explained the principles behind online role-playing games and sees parallels between new “games as a service” titles like Destiny and the MMOs.
In his view, today’s popular games like PUBG, Fortnite, GTA Online, Destiny, Red Dead Online, or Fallout 76 are essentially MMOs at their core.
Koster frequently appears at conferences and is someone whose words carry weight.
New MMORPG has $2.7 million in investment
This is what Koster is doing now: He has founded the new company “Playable Worlds.” They have already raised $2.7 million in investments to create a new game.
Koster’s team consists, according to Venturebeat, of veterans who collectively have many decades of experience at companies such as Disney, Marvel, or Sony Online Entertainment.
These are people who have developed games like Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies.
The $2.7 million is the founding money, it is not the full budget of the new game.
Koster was heavily involved in Ultima Online.
This is what Koster says:
We have a team in place. These are veterans, many of whom I have worked with before. As you might guess, we will create a massive multiplayer world where all players come together and find ways to play.
No matter if they like to explore, go on adventures, team up with others, or play PvP. It is a sandbox world, it supports many ways to play.
Now, as the trend is so heavily leaning towards “MMO-like games,” Koster felt it was time to return. He wants to complete the circle. After all, he initiated some of the trends that are popular today many years ago.
Borderlands 3 offers you four playable classes. One character seems to be falling behind – the Agent Zane. He is said to be too weak, especially regarding the endgame. A fan has tested his skills and identified bugs as the cause.
What’s wrong with Zane: The Agent Zane sparks discussions in the Borderlands 3 community. He is incredibly fun but is too weak for the endgame. The Zane fan u/Inforgreen3 took the time to test every single skill of the class.
His alarming results have been posted on Reddit. Zane is full of bugs, and his skills work poorly or not at all. It’s no wonder he can’t keep up with the other three classes, the Beastmaster FL4K, the Siren Amara, and the Gunner Moze. His list is long, but we’ve compiled some highlights for you here.
A Bag Full of Bugs
These skills are, according to u/Inforgreen3, affected by bugs:
Double Time should give you and your clone 20% more weapon damage, but it only affects your clone.
Praemunitus only increases your magazine, not that of your clone.
Schadenfreude should grant you shields for damage to your clone, but apparently has no effect.
Bang and Better does not give your clone a higher health.
Barrier – free for all does not work with other shield effects.
Digital Distribution gives you fewer health points if your clone’s health is low. Furthermore, for some reason, it damages your clone through the shield.
Sovereign and Skilled only increases your gun damage to 10% instead of 20%.
Hold On and Scrap Weapon Belt have problems with reducing elemental damage.
Brutal Momentum does not increase your damage while moving as much as it should.
Sleeping Pills should actually scale. However, your drone’s radiation is always stuck at 2 damage points.
The first players in WoW Classic are craving for “new content”. But it is on the way and faster than expected. World bosses and the PvP system will arrive this year.
In World of Warcraft Classic, things are gradually becoming a bit calmer. Although there are still queues, the layering is slowly being removed. Now even the Game Director of World of Warcraft has revealed: Phase 2 of WoW Classic will start this year. This means “fresh” content in the coming months.
What exactly was said? In an interview with PCGamer, Hazzikostas talked about layering and when it should be completely abolished:
I think that is a matter of “later this year”, I believe we can definitely say that. [The exact point] Within this timeframe? It depends on several factors.
What factors are there? The most important point is the layering, which is still active on many realms. This technique basically creates multiple versions of a realm. As a result, not all players are bundled on one world and have more space for questing and farming resources. Gradually, these layers have been dismantled until realms have only “one layer” – they then become a normal server, as known from classic WoW (albeit with a higher capacity for players).
Why does the layering have to go? Layering needs to disappear so that all players are truly in “one world”. This is necessary for certain content, such as the world bosses. These should only exist once per server. The fight for the world bosses was an important part of Classic, especially on PvP servers. Often, players would battle for the world bosses here. If there were two layers, players could simply split up, avoid conflict, or even kill the boss multiple times.
What is included in “Phase 2” of WoW Classic? The second phase of WoW Classic brings some “new” content, such as world bosses, dungeons, and finally organized PvP. This includes:
World boss Azuregos in Azshara
World boss Lord Kazzak in the Blasted Lands
The dungeon Dire Maul with its 3 wings
Mages can learn to conjure water (Rank 7) there
Warriors and paladins can complete the quest for the epic sword Quel’Serrar
Warlocks and paladins can get their epic mount there
The PvP honor system in the open world
Keyring to save inventory space
Please note that Phase 2 does not bring any battlegrounds. These will only come in Phase 3 of WoW Classic.
Are you excited for Phase 2 in WoW Classic? Are you looking forward to Dire Maul and PvP with a ranking system?
The “Forbes 400” list shows the 400 richest people in America. This year, the head of Epic, Tim Sweeney, makes an appearance. The success of Fortnite and the Epic Game Store has pushed him ahead of Gabe Newell, the head of Valve and thus Steam, at least in the eyes of the journalists.
What kind of list is this? The Forbes 400 is the list of the “richest Americans.” This list is based on research by the US magazine Forbes. They say that to compile this list, they review thousands of files, court documents, and news articles.
Nevertheless, the list is ultimately based on estimates. It is a kind of high score list of US billionaires.
Sweeney makes a huge leap in 2019
How much money does Tim Sweeney have? The Epic boss Tim Sweeney is said to be worth 4.5 billion US dollars. This places him at number 150 on the list.
This nice gentleman in the gray Paragon sweater is said to be worth 4.5 billion US dollars.
Epic is a company that is not publicly traded. The immense value of the company mainly comes from the success of the free-to-play shooter Fortnite.
Epic also operates the “Unreal Engine 4” and the Epic Games Store, a platform for PC games.
Fortnite makes money through skins and the sale of the Battle Pass.
Sweeney is on the list of the richest Americans for the first time this year. A year ago, Forbes estimated his wealth at 1.8 billion US dollars. At that time, it was assumed that he held about 16% in Epic Games (via forbes).
How much money is Gabe Newell worth? The head of Valve and thus Steam, Gabe Newell, is said to be worth 3.5 billion US dollars. This places him at number 239.
Forbes estimates that Newell holds about 25% in Valve. Newell co-founded the company. They had initial successes with hit games like Half-Life and Portal.
But the real money comes with Steam. Forbes describes it as a kind of “iTunes of video games.”
A well-known meme about Gabe Newell: The king grants discounts.
According to Forbes’ assessment, Newell has lost quite a bit of value in recent years:
In 2017, Newell was estimated at 5.5 billion US dollars
In 2018 at 3.9 billion
Now in 2019 at 3.5 billion
Forbes does not assess people on “cash,” but rather includes the company’s value in their net worth.
Borderlands 3 is only available on PC through Epic.
Who else is on the list? In the area of video games, no one else is on the list. However, some Americans have become rich through casinos and betting.
At the top are the tech giants:
Number 1 is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with 114 billion US dollars
Number 2 is Microsoft boss Bill Gates with 106 billion US dollars
In third place is investor Warren Buffet
In the top spots follow Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Larry Ellison (Oracle), and the Google duo of Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
They are operating on other dimensions compared to the people who have become billionaires through video games.
Epic vs. Steam is the battle of recent months
Why is this spicy: The two men are competitors. Tim Sweeney is targeting Steam with the Epic Games Store. With exclusive titles, he aims to compete with the market leader and capture market share. Recently, for example, with Borderlands 3.
Sweeney acknowledges the feature inferiority of the Epic Game Store compared to Steam but claims that the Epic Store will improve over time.
Exclusive titles are the only means to topple Steam’s quasi-monopoly, Sweeney believes. He accuses Steam of taking too high a share of revenues with 30% and thus squeezing and hindering studios.
In Pokémon GO there are new offer boxes in the shop. We show you whether the purchase is worth it and how many coins you really save.
These are the boxes: The Stardust Event has started in Pokémon GO and has also brought new boxes. Each box contains star pieces, but also many other useful items.
How much you really save with the boxes in October 2019
This is how we calculated: In our calculation, we compared the prices of an item from an 8-pack bundle with the prices from the boxes. If there are no such bundles, we took the unit price from the shop.
Name of the Box
Contents
Price/Savings
Special Box
1x Raid Pass, 3x Super Incubator, 2x Star Piece
480/320 (40%)
Hyper Box
15x Raid Pass, 5x Super Incubator, 4x Star Piece, 4x Lure Module
1480/1720 (54%)
Adventure Box
12x Super Incubator, 2x Incubator, 4x Star Piece, 4x Lure Module
1480/1820 (55%)
How good the boxes really are
Special Box: This box was definitely worse before. Just the incubators alone cost 600 coins separately, and here you get more items on top of that. If you don’t have many coins and don’t want to save them, you can invest here.
Hyper Box: With this box you currently save a lot of coins. It is significantly better than the last Hyper Box, so it’s worth getting this one. The Raid Hour with Mewtwo is coming up, and Giratina is still available until October 17. The passes are therefore a good investment.
Adventure Box: The Adventure Box is not a real highlight this time, as there have been significantly better ones. Currently, it is also not very worthwhile to hatch eggs, unless you want to receive double Stardust for hatching. So if you really need incubators, you won’t go wrong here. However, there will definitely be better offers again.
Which box is the most worthwhile? With the current events, the Hyper Box is the most useful. Especially the upcoming Raid Hour with Mewtwo is likely to consume several passes.
In Destiny 2, you can now secure a Powerful Engram for free. We will show you what you need to do for it and explain why it might be worth waiting to claim it.
What is the free item about? Whether you are playing in Shadowkeep or the Free-to-Play version Destiny 2: New Light – through Bungie’s own rewards program, you now have the opportunity to secure a Powerful Engram. You will receive a Powerful Item in the game as a result.
Powerful Items provide you with the biggest boost in Destiny 2 on your way to the maximum level and are therefore highly sought after.
How do you get the free Powerful Engram? You don’t have to do much for it, and there are no hidden costs waiting for you.
If you want to claim this welcome gift for yourself, you need to register at Bungie’s “Bungie Rewards” program. You can do this through the official website. There, you just have to request the Engram.
Press the button, and the reward will be sent. But waiting can be worthwhile.
To participate in the Bungie Rewards program, you need to have a verified email registered on your Bungie.net profile. Additionally, you must agree to receive newsletters and other marketing emails from Bungie.
Who should wait to claim? If you are currently below the soft cap, meaning under power level 900, you should be patient. Otherwise, the Engram would basically be wasted.
Because the Powerful Engram helps you the most when you have already surpassed this threshold and your power level is above 900. Below 900, almost every item you find represents a power upgrade. At 900, only Powerful Items and Exotics help you on the way to the level cap. And the sources for these are limited. Here, the Powerful Engram can then show its full benefit.
And especially when leveling for the upcoming Shadowkeep Raid, every additional Powerful Item is valuable for many Guardians right now.
Will you get the free Engram or have you already done so? Or will you pass on this gift?
