In Pokémon GO there are finally new quests in May. Niantic confirms this in their newsletter. Players are excited about this innovation.
This is what Niantic wrote: Niantic regularly sends their newsletter to players. This time they spoke of new field research and new Pokémon from eggs – still in May.
The eggs have already changed; you can find different Pokémon there now. The quests, however, will only change at the beginning of the month.
This is why new field research is important to players
This problem currently exists with quests: The field research is quite good right now, but many players wish for some variety. The quests have been around since January, so for 4 months now.
Previously, field research was changed monthly. There were always new quests and a lot of variety.
This newsletter was sent out by Niantic.
When will the change occur? This will probably coincide with the new research breakthroughs. These will be active from May 1st at 10 PM. After that, there will certainly be new quests.
This is what players say about it: The news about new quests is well received by players. “danbywinby” said on Reddit: “Finally. I am very glad to hear this now. I hope they also release new Pokémon!”
Also, Pokémon like Ghastly or Sandshrew are very popular in field research.
These are 4 of the current rewards
These Pokémon players wish to see return: Some Pokémon that are currently not in the research are being wished back. This includes, for example, Scyther and Feebas.
There will certainly be an update here: After the same Pandir form has been catchable for 2 consecutive months, there will surely be a new form here. A few weeks ago, new forms of Pandir were added. It would make sense.
Not only are the quests currently interesting. There are also legendary Pokémon in the wild:
Dr Disrespect is not usually known for his Fortnite gameplay on Twitch. But now he is making a bet of $500 with fellow streamer TimTheTatman: Who can score more points in the qualifiers for the Fortnite World Cup?
What are the streamers betting on? On Twitter, Dr Disrespect asks his streaming colleague if they want to make a bet during the Fortnite qualifiers this weekend.
The one who scores more points in the qualifiers gets $500. The qualification is taking place for the third time this weekend.
TimTheTatman promptly agreed, but he wants his $500 in the form of Twitch subscriptions.
What’s behind Dr Disrespect’s bet
How good are the two players in Fortnite? The Doctor is indeed a strong shooter player, but he has never really warmed up to Fortnite.
TimTheTatman is one of the most successful Fortnite streamers and plays Fortnite at a high level: In Season 8, he has already achieved 213 victories and a KDA of 5.26 according to Fortnitetracker. But he is not an eSports pro.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Twitch that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
TimTheTatman is often found hanging out with Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and frequently has to endure friendly criticism: Ninja regularly yells at him, especially since TimTheTatman enjoys teasing Ninja when he dies in a silly way.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Twitter that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
TimTheTatman is actually a strong favorite. However, Dr Disrespect seems to believe he can defeat the Fortnite streamer. Because he lacks the nerves and experience for Fortnite’s endgame.
The streamers are participating in the World Cup qualifiers
What makes the bet funny: Their fans are celebrating the action, as Dr Disrespect has set very specific conditions for how he wants to receive his money:
“Since we are discussing the details of the payment, I want my money personally handed to me while I’m naked swimming in my infinity pool.”
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Twitter that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
Why is Dr Disrespect betting in Fortnite? Since Fortnite is not really Dr Disrespect’s game, the question arises as to why he is even betting there. It seems that the streamer is uncertain about which game he should be playing right now.
He has already stated that Apex Legends feels like a demo right now and apparently other games like PUBG, Battlefield 5 Firestorm, or Call of Duty Black Ops 4 are not giving him the thrill he desires.
Recently, Dr Disrespect posted on Twitter: “It’s a $150 billion industry. Where are the high-quality, competitive shooter games? […] I know you passionate gamers must be thinking the same thing. I can’t be the only one.”
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Twitter that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
Update 30.4.: How did the bet turn out? There was no duel between the two:
Dr Disrespect did not qualify for the Fortnite World Cup qualifiers
TimTheTatman managed to qualify at least
thereby the “automatic win” and $500 go to TimTheTatman, as agreed by both on Twitter
The Doctor replied with a somewhat contrite message, saying for him, TimTheTatman’s win is like an “instant win,” as if TimTheTatman had competed against Ninja in a belly flop competition.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Twitter that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
Today, there are maintenance works on Anthem. These will take a bit longer and extend into the evening. Everything you need to know about the server downtime has been summarized for you.
Update 6:45 PM: The maintenance work is complete. Have fun in Anthem, Freelancer!
When is the maintenance?As EA announced on Twitter, planned maintenance for Anthem is taking place today, Tuesday. The work will start in the afternoon and extend into the evening.
Here are the maintenance details for April 30:
The maintenance is scheduled to begin around 2:00 PM German time
The work should be completed by around 7:00 PM
As always, this is an approximate schedule. If the maintenance is extended or the servers become accessible earlier, we will inform you here.
Let’s hope the servers are back as quickly as this Interceptor!
Why maintenance? The community manager of Anthem, Jesse Anderson, stated that there is no update accompanying the maintenance. So there will be no direct changes to the game or new content uploaded.
According to EA Support, they will be looking at the servers and fixing some issues. For example, they want to address the error causing the freeplay servers to crash. Further backend work will also be completed.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Twitter that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
What else is happening in Anthem? To help you get through the long maintenance this afternoon, we have summarized some news about Anthem from the last few days:
BioWare has presented a concrete plan on how Anthem will be improved in the coming weeks and months. They want to refrain from discussing planned things too early, and also bug fixes and a test server will follow.
Currently, many fans are looking forward to Title Update 3 and the 8-player raid in The Division 2. Here is all the currently known and leaked information.
Before the release of The Division 2, a raid was confirmed. This is called Operation: Dark Hours and is part of Title Update 3.
Where does the raid take place? From the material shown so far, it can be inferred that the raid will take place at Washington National Airport.
When is the raid supposed to come? Originally, the update was supposed to be released on April 25. However, Massive decided to let players test the update beforehand via PTS (Player Test Server).
What exactly awaits us in the raid is still unknown. However, there is a lot of leaked material that we will summarize here.
Information and Leaks about the Raid
In the lead-up to the release of The Division 2, the developers revealed only a few details about the raid. Massive is confident that the raid will challenge players.
The mechanics are said to require coordination and team play. This includes classic puzzles and riddles. In some respects, it sounds like a classic MMORPG raid.
Note on the leaks and spoiler warning: This information has not been officially confirmed. All information derived from this leak should be viewed with caution.
Anyone who does not want to know anything about the raid should not continue reading. The leaks may contain spoilers.
This is what the first leak showed: Shortly after the release, the first leak about the raid came from user kevindavid40. The leak contained information about the trophies and tasks that supposedly belong to the raid.
In total, there are said to be 11 task steps throughout the raid.
These are the leaked tasks (order unknown):
Survive the attack on the bridge
Find the stolen GPS coordinates
Protect the named player in your team
Confirm the kill of the second lieutenant
Meet with your team
Survive the blackout attack
Find the activation code
Extract your team to a safe point
Split the teams and flank the target
Stop the convoy before it leaves the runway
Take out the bombers from an elevated position
These are the leaked trophies:
Relentless (Gold) – Clear your way across the bridge within an hour
Extreme Measures (Gold) – Finish most of your kills with individual weapons
Reminder of Me (Gold) – Kill one of the hunters who has previously killed you
Gone Baby Gone (Silver) – Escape from interceptors in less than 2 minutes
Additionally, the leak suggests that there is another mission once you successfully complete the raid for the first time.
Second leak shows powerplay items and procedure with 4 phases
The second leak again came from kevindavid40. He revealed a few more alleged details about the raid. This includes new powerplay items and the possible procedure of the raid.
These are powerplay items: This is basically standard raid loot. If you find power items, they help you complete the raid. They can only be used to a limited extent and must be unlocked in specific ways.
What is the procedure of the raid? The leak mentions 4 phases that you need to complete:
Phase 1 – The Bridge: The 8-player team must cross the Arlington Bridge
Phase 2 – Bazaar: Here, the team must split up
Phase 3 – Parking Area: The team meets up again and fights their way inside
Phase 4: The Runway: Here, the raid team is divided into two squads again and sent to the runway. This is where the last section of the raid begins.
Occasionally, there have been so-called bonus weeks in the MMORPG Guild Wars 2, but now these are set to become a permanent part of the game. Thus, ArenaNet is tapping into a popular system from Guild Wars 1.
What are bonus weeks? During bonus weeks, a specific content from Guild Wars 2 is highlighted for 7 days. This happens by providing additional or even completely new rewards for this content:
Such weeks have occasionally appeared in PvP and World vs. World.
There was also the Boss Blitz Week for PvE, where players could play for additional rewards within a limited timeframe.
These bonus weeks are now set to become a more consistent part of Guild Wars 2, as the developers announced in the forum. Not only will there be additional rewards, but also rule changes.
Götterfels, here the Boss Blitz Week took place
What is planned for the future of bonus weeks? The bonus weeks are intended to fill the gap between new episodes of the Living World. This aims to invigorate existing content and encourage player participation.
There should not only be additional rewards. In World vs. World, specific rule changes have already been implemented, and in PvP, special tournaments are planned.
For PvE, changes such as the removal of daily restrictions on meta-events (the full reward is only given for the first completion) are planned. There will also be additional collections, achievements, and titles for these bonus weeks.
There is still no fixed plan for every week to become a bonus week. However, they are supposed to come regularly from now on.
Bonus weeks are very popular in WvW
Which bonus week is currently running? From April 26 to May 3, each day at 8:00 PM our time, the bonus week in World vs. World is running. During this week, you will benefit from:
25% more progress on reward paths
50% more world experience
50% more Magical Sensitivity
Additionally, there is a small rule adjustment where there is no downstate. Players will be immediately killed if their hit points drop to 0.
What bonus weeks are coming next? The next event is planned for the upcoming week. This time, the world bosses in PvE will be the focus. From May 6 to May 13, there will be an additional chest for each defeated world boss.
These chests contain additional rewards and have a rare chance of containing infusions or invisible shoes.
A few weeks later, the meta-events will be the focus.
The bonus weeks are a long-awaited innovation
How are players reacting to bonus weeks? Many players on Reddit are excited about the innovation. In Guild Wars 1, there were special bonuses for certain game content every weekend. Players often structured their gameplay around these weekends.
Reddit user _stee also immediately recalls the predecessor:
The weekly events were one of my favorite contents in Guild Wars 1. I am very excited that something similar is coming to Guild Wars 2. It will always make me curious about what will come next week or on the upcoming weekends.
It’s great to see that the bonus weeks are finally being introduced. Thanks ANet <3
Is there an upswing to be seen? Since the layoffs of over 100 employees, the developers of Guild Wars 2 have announced many innovations that players have long awaited.
In the roadmap for the future, there are build templates that have been on the wish list since release. And in other areas, such as the loot system, ArenaNet is accommodating the players.
With so many innovations, there’s really no need for Guild Wars 3, right?
Soon, the new Operation “Spectre Rising” will start in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Some fans concluded from a teaser that the Blackout world could be flooded. And this will indeed happen.
Which teaser is it about? A few days ago, Black Ops 4 already teased a new specialist. In the new season, the character Spectre, an old fan-favorite from the third part of the Black Ops series, will make his return.
Although he had only a brief appearance, there is no doubt in the eyes of the fans. They have also been on the lookout for more details. And now some fans think that not only a new character is coming but that the game world of Blackout could also change. But why?
What will be blown up in the teaser? In the short clip, you can see how Spectre stirs up a whole squad of soldiers in a kind of gang or tunnel, and then attaches numerous explosives to a wall. An explosion is not visible, but the tweet says, “The clock is ticking.” Where exactly this scene takes place is unclear.
Spectre
However, some fans are convinced that this corridor is located in the Hydro Dam, that is, in the dam of the Blackout map. They speculate that an explosion inside the dam would create a hole in the structure, potentially leading to massive flooding of the game world.
Is the teaser scene happening inside this dam?
As a result, areas like Rivertown or the train station area could completely or partially disappear underwater. This way, Treyarch could bring fresh air into the Blackout map, which has only been changed with the yacht from Hijacked and the Ghost Town area since its release.
Update April 30 – The dam will indeed break: Fans apparently had their theory right. As Treyarch revealed during the announcement of the new operation, the dam will actually break and the world of Blackout will be flooded in many places. You can find out more here: The new Operation Spectre Rising for Black Ops 4 starts today – Here’s what’s included
When does the new operation start? As officially announced, the new season begins on April 30 – at least on PS4. PC and Xbox One fans will have to wait a week longer.
In Fortnite, a clip of a professional player is currently attracting attention. In it, you can see him eliminate 2 opponents, but it seems like they are intentionally letting themselves be shot.
This is what the clip is about: The professional player “XXiF” is playing a qualification round for the World Cup. There, he gathers some kills, but another clever pro notices something.
The opponents are eliminated with surprisingly little resistance and only shoot back a bit. For the pro “HighSky”, this is too easy. He now accuses XXiF of collaborating with his opponents. They let themselves be eliminated intentionally, so he could qualify for the World Cup, so the accusation goes.
See the clip here – Did the pro cheat?
This is the video: HighSky shares a video of his pro colleague’s gameplay on Twitter. There, he repeatedly switches the view of the players. You can see not only XXiF playing, but also his opponents, who seemingly let themselves be easily defeated.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Twitter that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
This is what the video shows: You can see 3 players landing by a small building, where there is already little loot.
This is what happens to the first opponent: Instead of grabbing a weapon, the player “Bad and Wuji” calmly gathers materials and is then, of course, easily eliminated by XXiF.
This is how it continues with the second player: The second opponent has the same fate. The player “gestyy” glides with his glider through the air for a long time and seems to be just waiting for the first player to be eliminated. Then he lands comfortably on the platform and searches a chest first, even though a weapon lies right next to it.
After being shot at by XXiF, he grabs the weapon, but fires most of his shots into the stone wall in front of the opponent. You can even see him deliberately shooting at the stones.
At the World Cup, it is about 30 million dollars
Does the video prove cheating? So far, there are only indications of cheating. It is unusual for professional players to let themselves be eliminated so easily and to almost wait for the opponent.
If there was cheating here, then the players at least tried to hide it.
This is particularly brazen: The pro XXiF has even qualified for the World Cup. He ranks 2nd in the list of players on the East Coast of North America, directly behind Tfue.
Here you can see XXiF directly behind Tfue during the qualification
What does the community say about it? There is great solidarity here. The community is sure that the 3 players have colluded here. Many pros like Vivid, Svennoss, or Nickmercs have agreed with the video. There must have been cheating.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from Twitter that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
How does Epic react? So far, there has been no statement from Epic. If they also believe that there was cheating, they would have to disqualify the players for the World Cup. However, this is now a matter of interpretation for Epic.
Pandemic Express is a new zombie game with survival aspects. The twist in the game is that the zombies are players themselves. When you die, you switch sides – and become significantly stronger.
What is Pandemic Express? Pandemic Express – Zombie Escape is a new zombie game from the indie developers TALLBOYS and tinyBuild. The game involves escaping in a large world using a train or infecting all humans.
In a round, 30 players start, one of whom is randomly infected and thus becomes a zombie. Their task is to infect all other players. Anyone who dies by a zombie becomes a zombie themselves and helps the infected team.
The humans must reach a train that will take them out of the world. If they reach the train and survive there long enough, they win. Along the way, they find weapons, equipment, and ammunition to defend themselves.
As more players become zombies, Pandemic Express is reminiscent of the children’s game “Black Man,” where two groups run towards each other to switch sides, and anyone caught by the “Black Men” switches to their side.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
These are the features: Pandemic Express offers some features that are typical or more common in zombie survival games, such as:
Airdrops to help the humans
various weapons such as shotguns, SMGs, and pistols
However, Pandemic Express also does many things differently. In particular, zombie players get a wide range of features designed to make the gameplay more interesting:
Zombie players have various abilities to hunt humans
Zombies can throw other zombies to reach remote locations
if a zombie is killed by a human, they simply respawn
the more frequently a zombie respawns, the higher their chance of gaining an “Ultra Ability”
Especially the last point sets Pandemic Express apart from many other zombie games. The “Ultra Abilities” are things like explosions upon death or stealth. This is somewhat akin to special zombies in other games like Left4Dead or the recently released World War Z. However, players also get these abilities to infect humans.
The respawn mechanic is also intended to make the game more interesting. Once the humans reach the train, zombies reappear on the path. This allows them to stop the humans on the moving train again before they escape.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.
I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms.
Read more about our privacy policy.
When will Pandemic Express be released? Pandemic Express is set to enter Early Access on Steam starting May 2, 2019. A price is not yet known. You can also find more info about the game on the official website.
The community outcry from Dead by Daylight helped. Some planned nerfs to the killer “The Pig” were rolled back.
When the developers of Dead by Daylight introduced the “Endgame Collapse” a few days ago, they also announced some adjustments to the killer “The Pig” (also known as Amanda Young). These were so unpopular with the community, that there was a huge outcry on social media. This apparently had success, as the developers are now backtracking.
What was supposed to change: Behaviour wanted to change the reversed bear traps (RBTs). When they are inactive, they no longer prevent a survivor from leaving the map – previously, this would result in immediate death. Additionally, the timer was not supposed to expire as long as the survivor is within the killer’s terror radius. Those would have been two significant nerfs for The Pig.
How the nerf is being softened: The last change will be reversed. This means that the timer of the RBTs will also expire when the survivor is within the killer’s terror radius. However, nothing changes in the chase – here the timer continues to pause, so that no survivor can be driven directly to death by the trap.
The hashtag “PrayForAmanda” was successful: On Reddit, especially the hashtag “#PrayForAmanda” helped, under which many fans had published their artworks of the killer. The community was particularly “loud” this time, and the success seems to confirm their efforts. Complaints and the many posts in the Dead by Daylight subreddit apparently helped the developers reconsider the nerfs.
Possible buffs for Amanda in the future: Additionally, the developers want to keep an eye on The Pig after the patch is released. If her performance significantly declines due to the endgame collapse, some buffs may follow. But they want to wait and see first.
Do you think it’s good that part of the nerfs is being rolled back? Or is “The Pig” too strong and deserved these adjustments more than ever?
What’s going on with The Division 1 lately, more than a month after the release of The Division 2? Here are the numbers from the last months.
What has been happening in The Division 1? Since its release over 3 years ago, The Division 1 has gone through some really good and some rather mediocre phases.
However, the game has managed to establish a predominantly stable player base. On February 4th, the peak player count on Steam temporarily reached 21,055 players. Not bad for a 3-year-old game.
The numbers of The Division 1 after the release of part 2
How does the release of The Division 2 affect it? Around March, the peak numbers fluctuated between 4000 and 7000+ players. Even the release of The Division 2 did not immediately lead to a drop in numbers.
It wasn’t until March 24th (the maximum player count was around 6000 players) that the tide turned.
A possible reason could be that many Division 1 players wanted to wait for feedback before switching. Once that feedback turned positive, more and more players might have made the switch.
On April 22nd, the peak count finally fell to 2365 players. On April 29th, the numbers were only 1886 players, a low point since the release on March 7, 2016.
What about the other platforms? Unfortunately, there is no data available for Uplay, Xbox One, and PS4. Therefore, one has to infer the activity on the other platforms from the Steam numbers.
Since there are more console players, one can expect higher player numbers here. Nevertheless, the general activity is likely to have declined.
The graph of player numbers from release until today. Source: Steam Database
If The Division 1 doesn’t receive new content out of the blue, it is unlikely that the numbers will rise again. Rather, they are likely to continue to decline.
However, there is a possibility that some loyal players will stick around or even play both Division installments in parallel. In the meantime, some new agents will probably still wander into snowy New York.
More numbers regarding The Division 1:
In March 2018, Ubisoft announced on the 2nd anniversary of The Division 1 that the game has around 20 million players.
The Ground Event in Pokémon GO is in full swing and brings new raid bosses with it. There you have the chance to catch many rare ground-type shinies.
What rare shinies are there? Especially in 1-star raids, you have the chance to find many shinies. Pokémon like Sandshrew or Geodude are among the rarest shinies in the game.
In addition to these shinies, there are also other interesting raid bosses, such as Flunkifer, Absol, or Alolan Marowak. Additionally, Groudon returns as a legendary raid boss in the arenas.
These are the raid bosses for the Ground Event
Tyranitar and Exeggutor are among the current raid bosses
These are the bosses: In keeping with the Ground Event, there are mainly ground Pokémon. Most of these Pokémon have already been available in raids. There is no real surprise here.
Shiny Sandshrew can currently be obtained from raids
The positive aspect of these raid bosses is the high number of possible shinies. You can obtain the following Pokémon in their shiny form:
Sandshrew
Geodude
Whismur
Trubbish
Shinx
Flunkifer
Drifloon
Alolan Raichu
Alolan Marowak
Absol
This is what you should pay attention to: You should particularly pay attention to the 1-star raids if you want shinies. Among them, Geodude, which is very rare in its shiny form. In the wild, the Pokémon is mostly found in its Alolan form, which cannot be shiny.
Shiny Geodude can be found not only in the wild but also in raids.
How long will the raid bosses stay? These bosses are exclusively for the Ground Event. The event ends on May 2nd, so the bosses will also disappear then. If you want to raid, you should do it in the next few days.
What is your favorite? Are you excited about the numerous possible shinies?
3 legendary Pokémon cannot be found in raids but can be caught in the wild:
The MMO New World by Amazon is still under strict NDA. However, there has been a new leak on YouTube. This mainly shows the heavily revised start of the game.
What is new in New World? At our press event in Berlin, the player experience started directly with a pre-made character in the game world. However, the latest leak from Scandinavian YouTuber J Serano shows an intro sequence and a company and character creation.
In addition, the MMO now has a tutorial mode that explains the main features of the game. Players had expressed the desire for an easier start multiple times, as we were told by the developers in Berlin.
https://youtu.be/lAUnXohqDgk
Three Steps to Create Your Character
What type is your character? At the beginning of character creation, you see a video sequence. During this, you are on a ship on your journey to the New World.
There you also start with creating a backstory. Four different character types are available:
The Fighter
The Sharpshooter
The Crafter
The Explorer
New World is a sandbox MMO, and you determine your playstyle by equipping the appropriate gear. In this menu, you don’t choose a class.
Therefore, we do not know whether and what advantages and disadvantages a certain choice of character type has. As can be seen from the screenshot, everything is still in an early development phase.
The four character types in New World from the Alpha (Image from the video)
The Company Selection: In the second step of character creation, you choose your company. You can create your own individual logo.
Under this banner, you have embarked on your journey to the New World.
Character creation in New World (Image from the video)
A Smoother Start to the Game
The new tutorial in New World explains the most important steps into the game. This includes movements, as well as fighting, gathering items, or eating and drinking.
Although not eating does not lead to death in New World, there are benefits when you take care of your character. This way, you regenerate health and stamina faster when your belly is well filled.
The tutorial of New World (Image from the video)
New Alpha Invitations
New players are regularly invited to the Alpha of New World. A new large wave was sent out on April 26. If you haven’t signed up for the Alpha yet, we tell you everything important about it here.
In addition, we have already spent a few hours with New World. Here are our most important findings:
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is an MMORPG that was officially shut down in 2013. Today, 6 years later, thousands of players are still playing, sometimes simultaneously. It is larger than some other MMORPGs that are still operational.
What is Warhammer Online? Warhammer Online was – or is – an MMORPG set in the popular Warhammer universe, specifically in the franchise’s fantasy setting. It is somewhat of Warhammer’s answer to World of Warcraft.
In Warhammer Online, the factions Order and Destruction fight against each other. The focus of the game is on the so-called “Realm vs Realm”, meaning large PvP battles and common objectives, known from still-played classics like Dark Age of Camelot.
The playable classes follow a “Career” system. These are specific roles such as Tank, Healer, Melee and Ranged DPS. The actual “Classes” are only open to the respective Race as an option and may be familiar to some players as classes from Vermintide 2.
Slayers are present in both Vermintide 2 and Warhammer Online
“Return of Reckoning” is currently operated by a team of 24 members who take care of both community management and ongoing development and patches. Even a German support helps in some areas.
How big is Warhammer Online: Although this project is a fan-operated private project that is unofficial, several thousand players are playing “Return of Reckoning.”
As the Polish site mmorpg.org.pl reports, at one time 1379 players were simultaneously playing “Return of Reckoning,” causing the server capacity to be increased to 1500.
“Return of Reckoning” is thus larger than some still running MMORPGs like Bless, which according to current status according to steamcharts can muster just 633 players at the same time. (As of April 30 at 12:45 PM)
Not only projects like Warhammer Online sometimes have to shut down, but also large MMORPGs:
A small patch is nerfing the last boss in World of Warcraft in the Crucible of Storms. Will there be a World First Kill soon?
Actually, the Crucible of Storms is just a small interim raid that shouldn’t hold players back for long. However, the “Mythic First Kill” of the end boss Uu’nat is still pending. Since the fight in its current form seems to be too hard, Blizzard has now made some adjustments.
How Uu’nat was changed: The following adjustments were made to the raid boss Uu’nat:
On Mythic difficulty, Uu’nat no longer casts Rupture of Forgetting immediately after casting Unstable Resonance.
On Mythic difficulty, N’zoth’s Eyes are now cast further away in time from Unstable Resonance.
The duration of Unstable Resonance has been increased from 12 to 15 seconds.
Uu’nat with the three relics.
What the changes mean: In summary, the adjustments give players a little more time to react to different mechanics and make necessary preparations.
However, there is also a downside. Due to the shift in casting times, N’zoth’s Eyes are now more dangerous and particularly pose a greater problem in the final phase of the fight. There, raids have to endure more damage.
In summary, the changes are therefore both a nerf and a buff – which one prevails remains to be seen.
Uu’nat is deadlier than Jaina: It is also interesting to note that Uu’nat is already a deadlier boss than Jaina Proudmoore in the previous raid “Battle of Dazar’alor”. There, Jaina fell after 346 attempts by the guild Method. For comparison: Uu’nat has now been attempted roughly 500 times by Method. The best attempt was at 24.5%. So about three-quarters of the fight is mastered.
Some guilds are not participating “properly”: Some professional guilds, such as Limit or Method, are not going all out in the Crucible of Storms. For them, this “interim raid” is not really a race. They are already focusing on the next raid, Azshara’s Eternal Palace. Some of the boss fights are already being tested on the PTR of Patch 8.2 Azshara’s Rise.
Some players are also participating in the Dungeon Tournament (MDI) and therefore can only raid to a limited extent or not at all.
So far, Uu’nat has proven to be significantly more stubborn than players or Blizzard expected. Whether further nerfs will be necessary or if the adjustments are now sufficient for a First Kill will be shown in the coming days.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The joint project of Marvel and Square Enix, Avengers Project, is still shrouded in silence. However, developer Eidos Montreal is bringing more and more new employees on board.
What is happening at Eidos? In the Canadian headquarters of Square Enix and Eidos in Montreal, there are major expansions going on in 2019. The office in Canada, with over 700 employees, is already considered the largest subsidiary of Square outside of Japan, but it is set to expand even further:
Over 100 new jobs for Square Enix Montreal and Eidos Montreal in 2019
Expansion of office space by almost 1,000 m² (currently about 5,000 m²). It would be almost as large as the White House
New studio for motion capture and image measurement
New studio for mixing and voice recording
New department for market and user research
These are all upgrades that the MMO Avengers Project could benefit from. The expansion is scheduled to take place sometime in 2019.
What is the status of Avengers Project? The collaboration between Square Enix and Marvel was announced back in early 2017. It is expected to be a huge project that encompasses multiple games.
At the beginning of 2018, the developers Eidos and Crystal Dynamics posted various new job listings online, mainly for leading positions in development and management areas.
So far, all information regarding what exactly fans can expect from Avengers Project has been kept under wraps. Based on the job postings for Avengers Project, it is suspected that it is an MMO, but exact information is still lacking.
When could new information arrive? Recently, Square Enix confirmed its presence at E3 2019.
However, unlike publishers such as Bethesda or Microsoft, they have not yet said a word about which Square Enix games we can expect at E3.
It is possible that fans will finally receive more information about the Avengers Project after a two-year wait.
In The Division 2 there are many active and passive talents for your weapons and gear. This is our overview.
The Division 2 is a complex loot game that also involves building characters. All weapons and most gear pieces have talents with different advantages.
Here we list all active and passive talents for you. The list also includes recent changes from the test servers, where the new Title Update 3 is currently being tested.
[toc]
The Attribute Categories
This is how talents work: In your gear there are active and general talents. Active talents usually need to be unlocked and require a specific composition of your gear.
These are the attribute categories: This is determined by attribute categories into which the stats and mods are divided:
Attack (Red)
Defense (Blue)
Additional (Yellow)
Values with attack attributes include, for example, all offensive stats like crit damage or weapon damage. Which talents are activated depends on your attribute distribution.
Active talents often have requirements that you must meet. Be it the attribute requirements or specific weapons that must be used.
All active talents
Calculated (Calculated)
Description: Kills from cover reduce the active cooldown of skills by 20%.
Requirements: 7 or more additional attributes
Equipment Part: Knee pads
Berserk (Berserk)
Description: +10% weapon damage for every 10% of maximum armor destroyed
Requirement: Equipped with a shotgun, SMG, or assault rifle
Equipment Part: Vest
PTS Change – Minimum value of destroyed armor increases from 10% to 20%.
Requires at least 7 attack attributes
Bloodlust (Bloodlust)
Description: A weapon switch within 3 seconds after a kill increases weapon damage by +25% for 10 seconds.
Requirement: 4 or more defense attributes
Equipment Part: Holster
PTS Change –PvE: Weapon damage increased by 35%. Effect now lasts only 5 seconds.
PvP: Weapon damage is only increased by 20%. Again, the effect is reduced to a 5-second duration
Requires 9 attack attributes
Bloodsucker(Bloodsucker)
Description: Destroying armor grants a stackable armor bonus of +20% for 20 seconds. The maximum stack size is 5.
Requirement: 7 or more defense attributes
Equipment Part: Vest
Mad Bomber (Mad Bomber)
Description: Grenades have a 150% increased blast radius and are refunded if you kill an enemy with them.
Requirement: 4 or more additional attributes
Equipment Part: Vest
Efficient (Efficient)
Description: Using a repair kit has a 50% chance not to be consumed.
Requirement: No other talents active that affect the repair kits
Equipment Part: Backpack
Dialed In (Dialed In)
Description: While aiming, weapon stability increases by 25% of your weapon precision.
Requirement: –
Equipment Part: Mask
Fill’er Up (Fill’er Up)
Description: Reloading an empty magazine reloads all weapons.
Requirement: –
Equipment Part: Holster
Spotter (Spotter)
Description: +10% weapon damage to enemies marked by the pulse
Requirement: –
Equipment Part: Mask
PTS Change – Damage increased from +10% to +20%. Requires 5 additional attributes
Braced (Braced)
Description: +25% better weapon handling when in cover.
Requirement: –
Equipment Part: Knee pads
Patience (Patience)
Description: After staying in cover for 3 seconds, your armor repairs itself by 5% every second
Requirement: 7 or more defense attributes
Equipment Part: Knee pads
PTS Change – You must now stay in cover for at least 5 seconds. Requires 6 or more defense attributes
Clutch (Clutch)
Description: Crit hits heal 15% health points and repair 2% armor
Requirement: Can only be activated with SMG, assault rifle, or LMG
Equipment Part: Gloves
PTS Change – Healing of health points increased to 20%, armor repair reduced to 1% )
To Order (To Order)
Description: Grenade throwing can be delayed by holding down the throw button. But be careful, it can explode in your hands.
Requirement: –
Equipment Part: Gloves
On the Ropes (On the Ropes)
Description: Weapon damage increases by 25% when all skills are on cooldown or used up.
Requirement: 7 or more additional attributes
Equipment Part: Backpack
Knee Cap (Knee Cap)
Description: Shots to the legs have a 10% chance to inflict the status effect “Bleeding Wound”.
Requirement: 4 or fewer additional attributes
Equipment Part: Gloves
PTS Change – Chance for bleeding wounds increased to 15%
Compensated(Compensated)
Description: Weapon damage is increased by a low chance of critical hits.
Requirement: 3 or fewer attack attributes
Equipment Part: Gloves
Centered (Centered)
Description: Headshot kills grant a status effect immunity for 10 seconds.
Requirement: 4 or more defense attributes
Equipment Part: Mask
Reassigned (Reassigned)
Description: When killing an enemy affected by a status effect, you receive 3 rounds of random special ammunition for your handgun. Can occur every 45 seconds.
Requirement: –
Equipment Part: Holster
Wicked (Wicked)
Description: +10% weapon damage against enemies affected by status effects. 4 or more attack attributes
Requirement: –
Equipment Part: Gloves
Opportunistic (Opportunistic)
Description: Destroying an enemy’s weak point or armor increases damage taken by +10% from all sources for 20 seconds.
Requirement: Shotgun or sniper rifle must be equipped
Equipment Part: Gloves
Gunslinger (Gunslinger)
Description: Switching to the handgun within 3 seconds after a kill fills its magazine with bullets and grants +20% weapon damage for the entire magazine.
Requirement: 5 or fewer additional attributes
Equipment Part: Holster
Creeping Death (Creeping Death)
Description: Status effects spread to the next enemy within 10 m. Can occur once every 15 seconds.
Requirement: 4 or fewer attack attributes
Equipment Part: Mask
Blacksmith(Blacksmith)
Description: Killing an enemy with the handgun repairs 25% of your armor. Can occur every 10 seconds)
Requirement: 5 or more defense attributes
Equipment Part: Holster
PTS Changes – Repair is increased to 50%. Can occur every 15 seconds.
7 or more defense attributes
Trauma (Trauma)
Description: Headshot kills with semi-automatic weapons have a 15% chance to dazzle enemies.
Requirement: Rifle or sniper rifle equipped
Equipment Part: Mask
Safeguard (Safeguard)
Description: Eliminating an enemy grants a 150% bonus to repair and healing effects for 20 seconds.
Requirement: 4 or fewer attack attributes
Equipment Part: Backpack
PTS Changes – Duration reduced to 5 seconds. Can only occur every 20 seconds (This was already the case, now displayed in the description)
Skilled (Skilled)
Description: On kills with skills, there is a 25% chance to reset ongoing cooldowns of skills.
Requirement: 6 or more additional attributes
Equipment Part: Backpack
Tech Support (Tech Support)
Description: Kills by active skills grant +25% skill damage for 10 seconds.
Requirement: 6 or more additional attributes
Equipment Part: Backpack
Terminate (Terminate)
Description: Ruining an enemy’s armor grants +35% skill damage for 15 seconds.
Requirement: 5 or more additional attributes
Equipment Part: Gloves
Unstoppable Force (Unstoppable Force)
Description: Killing an enemy grants 2% weapon damage per 10,000 points of maximum armor)
Requirement: –
Equipment Part: Vest
PTS Changes – PvE: Killing a target grants +2% weapon damage per 25,000 armor.
PvP: Killing a target grants +1% weapon damage per 25,000 armor for 7 or more defense attributes
Unbreakable (Unbreakable)
Description: When your armor is destroyed, 25% of max armor is repaired and using a repair kit in the next 5 seconds does not consume the repair kit)
Requirement: Only active when no other talents are active that affect the repair kits
Equipment Part: Vest
PTS Changes – PvE: Instead of 25%, 70% of max armor is repaired. Repair kits are not consumed for 7 seconds.
PvP: Repair increased from 15% to 25% of max armor. Repair kits are not consumed for 7 seconds.
Cloaked (Cloaked)
Description: When your armor is destroyed, the skills of nearby enemies are disrupted for 10 seconds. Can occur every 30 seconds.
Requirement: 5 or more additional attributes
Equipment Part: Knee pads
Obliterate (Obliterate)
Description: Destroying an enemy’s armor increases critical hit damage by +25% for 5 seconds.
Requirement: 4 or more attack attributes
Equipment Part: Gloves
Entrench (Entrench)
Description: Headshot hits from cover repair 5% of your armor)
Requirement: Rifle or sniper rifle equipped
Equipment Part: Knee pads
PTS Changes – Repair increased to 10%
Payload (Payload)
Description: Destroying an enemy’s skill helper grants +50% explosion damage for 15 seconds. 4 or fewer defense attributes
What are gear sets? Currently, there are 3 gear sets in the game. Each has several set bonuses. The more pieces you equip, the more of the bonuses will be activated.
These are the 3 gear sets:
Activated Directive
True Patriot
Hard Wired
These are the bonuses of the “Activated Directive” set:
2 parts: +20% weapon handling
3 parts: 25% incendiary damage
4 parts: 25% bleeding damage
5 parts – Talent “Emergency Requisition”: Every 30 seconds, combat resources (repair kits, ammunition, grenades) are automatically collected in a 40-meter radius around the player.
6 parts – Talent “The Right Tool…”: Kills with a weapon add special ammunition to one of your other weapons (fire, explosion, or shock). (Shock does not apply in normalized PvP!)
These are the bonuses of the “True Patriot” set:
2 parts: +10% armor damage
3 parts: +10% protection against elite enemies
4 parts: +10% total armor
5 parts – Talent “Red, White, and Blue”: When you shoot an enemy, they receive a debuff. The debuffs are applied in the order red/white/blue, switching every 4 seconds. Red reduces the damage the target can inflict. White refills the armor of the allied shooter with each bullet that hits the target. Blue grants allies a cooldown reduction after a hit.
6 parts – Talent “The Full Flag”: When an enemy is hit while debuffs in all three colors are active, other nearby enemies with at least one debuff also suffer 25% damage.
These are the bonuses of the “Hard Wired” set:
2 parts:20% skill health
3 parts: +20% increased duration of “Shock”
4 parts: +20% skill power
5 parts – Talent “Sabotaged”: Electrify your deployed skills (drone stock, turret, pulse generator) to shock enemies that come too close. Can occur every 10 seconds. (Shock does not apply in normalized PvP!)
6 parts – Talent “Feedback”: Kills through skills reset the cooldown of your other skill. Repairing the armor of a allied agent that is at zero resets all of your skill cooldowns. Can occur every 15 seconds. When a skill has completed its cooldown (or is fully charged), a damage and repair bonus for all skills occurs for 15 seconds.
Before the launch of Anthem, BioWare made a major promise: players should never have to tackle activities in the action RPG alone through matchmaking. However, reports are currently increasing that freelancers often find themselves without a full group.
This was intended to give them an edge over the competition: While Destiny and Destiny 2 also have matchmaking, it only covers activities like PvP or strikes. For endgame content like raids, players must find teammates in other ways.
Anthem wanted to circumvent this situation and introduced matchmaking for all activities, whether they are story missions, contracts, or strongholds.
Do players increasingly have to face opponents alone?
Why is this a problem? Currently, reports are piling up from players who, even through matchmaking, cannot find teammates or only manage to get partial groups.
Some freelancers write that it especially affects the higher difficulty levels GM2 and GM3. Other players report that it becomes particularly difficult to find players during off-hours.
What happens if no players are found? When you sign up for an activity in Anthem, suitable players are searched for. After a while, you enter the desired mission – regardless of whether enough teammates are available or not.
As a result, it can happen that you start a mission completely alone. However, other players can still join a few minutes after the activity has started.
Players are reportedly preferring to repeat a stronghold rather than play other activities.
What do the players say? Some players have participated in the discussion and provided various answers as to why there are problems with matchmaking:
Some freelancers indicate that they have always received too few teammates through matchmaking. This issue is reportedly present from the very beginning on PC.
Others say they currently are not playing and are waiting for the situation in Anthem to improve. They are waiting for changes to loot and bug fixes.
Some other players believe that there is actually no problem with player numbers. Players would only focus on the activities where they could farm loot efficiently. This would include the stronghold “Heart of Rage” on the GM1 difficulty. All other activities would not yield enough loot or take too long, making them uninteresting for players.
Finally, a new stronghold was added to Anthem. Here’s how players are receiving it:
Hearthstone wants to become more attractive for fans again – especially in eSports and on Twitch. Therefore, they are trying out a new format in eSports that forces players to use specialized decks.
The eSports of Hearthstone is struggling a bit. This is not only said by the view counts on Twitch, but also by Sam Braithwaite, the Esports Franchise Lead of Hearthstone.
This is why they want to experiment and try out a new format. The hope is that players will become more interested in eSports again and be able to identify more with the game situations.
This is how it has been so far: So far, the “Conquest” format was used. Players had to bring three decks with different heroes and win at least one match with each deck. Whoever won with a hero had to switch to one of their other decks afterward. The loser could stay with their deck.
This is how the new format works: In the “Specialist” format, each player can only compete with one class – they must specialize. Overall, they bring three decks of their chosen class to each tournament.
The primary deck has no restrictions. It can be built freely from all currently valid Standard cards.
The secondary and tertiary decks may differ from the primary deck. However, each may only differ by 5 cards. In other words: The secondary and tertiary decks must each contain 25 cards from the primary deck.
Do you think the new format is good? Is it a good idea that each player must focus on a type of deck? Or does this harm eSports instead?
This is how a match proceeds: In a duel, both players must compete with their primary deck in the first round. After that, they can freely choose from their three decks – either switch to the secondary or tertiary deck or stay with the primary deck. The opponent does not know in advance which deck was chosen.
The games then repeat until a winner is determined (usually a “Best of 3” or “Best of 5”)
Spectators should find easier access: For spectators, eSports in Hearthstone is different than in games like MOBAs, shooters, or real-time strategies, as explained by the eSports head of Hearthstone. It is much easier to empathize with the professionals’ situations and they try to learn from the professionals’ decisions.
After all, as a player, you encounter the same situations. Moreover, it feels good when you anticipate the move the professional will make – you feel validated and good for having recognized that step beforehand.
This educational aspect is an especially important detail and a reason why many viewers tune into Hearthstone streams at all: they want to learn from the professionals.
The format should also help eSports newcomers: At the same time, the “Specialist” format makes it easier for new players to take the step into eSports. For many, it has been a hurdle to come up with four or even five completely different decks to compete with multiple classes. Many players just want to play one deck or one class that they enjoy playing in their free time.
Even the professionals have often criticized that the preparation is significantly greater when so many decks are required – especially when a tournament takes place immediately after the release of a new expansion.
This is how fans react to the new format: However, the Specialist format has already had to face a lot of criticism beforehand. In the comments under the presentation of the format, fans are concerned that there will only be one archetype per tournament.
That would mean a large part of the matches would be decided before the game even begins. Whether this will really be the case remains to be seen.
However, the new “Specialist” format is only an experiment for now. If it turns out in a few months that the format is boring and does not have the desired effect, they want to explore other options – according to Braithwaite, they still have several alternatives in store.
Do you think the new format is good? Is it a good idea that each player must focus on a type of deck? Or does this harm eSports instead?
Standing Stone Games, the developers of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, have big plans for 2019. That’s why there is no anniversary mount. Fans are excited to see what is coming.
What have the developers announced? In a live stream, it was mentioned that the developers of LotRO have very big plans for this year. Some details were specified:
A raid for Minas Morgul is planned.
In this raid, the players will likely not encounter the giant spider Kankra. The developers seem to reserve this for another story content.
The wizard Radagast is supposed to play a role.
The valley of Anduin will be accessible through Lothlórien, the Misty Mountains, and the woodland portal of Mirkwood. This will create a long-desired connection between the zones.
The housing in Rohan is in the works.
The 64-bit client is well advanced and should soon be deployed to the test server.
Plans for content after the upcoming update 24 are already in place.
Disappointment over missing anniversary mount
How are the fans reacting to this? Basically, the players of The Lord of the Rings Online are satisfied with this announcement and are very curious to find out what this year will still bring. Housing is something that is being talked about a lot. Some fans are looking forward to it.
However, there is also disappointment. To implement the big plans for 2019, this year’s anniversary mount had to be canceled. This decision is not well received by everyone.
ZoneTripper stated in the official forum: “Mounts as rewards for events and anniversaries are a long-standing tradition in LotRO. If you had explained it better, it would have been a different matter. But now it seems as though the developers are just doing less than usual. “
Players are at least wishing for some form of mount reward for the anniversary. Vouchers or discounts, for example.
A summary of the story would be nice
What else do the players wish for? A wish from the community is the possibility of summarizing the previous story in some form.
The story has become so extensive that it is hard to remember everything. One suggestion is to introduce an NPC who discusses the heroes’ past deeds with them.
There is also a wish to receive an even higher level cap. After level 120, some boredom sets in. Players want new goals to continue playing and improving their heroes.
Players who work their way up the rankings in Overwatch with a rating of over 4000 land in the Grandmaster tier. Blizzard is planning a major change for these players starting from Season 16.
This is what will change: Starting from Season 16, Grandmaster players will only be able to team up in groups of a maximum of two players, meaning they will play “Duo” matches.
This change applies to all players whose Season Rating (SR) is over 4000 in the current season. It affects only a small percentage of players.
The change will take effect between today, April 30, and the next day after Season 15 ends and Season 16 begins.
What is the purpose of the change? The Principal Designer of Overwatch, Scott Mercer, has written a post on the official Overwatch forum discussing the reasons for the change:
in the Grandmaster tier, there are often too few players for equally sized groups
this makes it more difficult to ensure fair games in this tier
the change is intended to help in this regard
Some fans have also found another, more pragmatic reason. This change makes “boosting” more difficult or even impossible.
Through “boosting,” weaker players, often for payment, can be “pulled up” by Grandmasters in their group to win games and receive an SR that does not correspond to their skill level.
A different type of “boosting” would be to have a professional directly play on an account. Such practices are penalized with prison sentences in countries like Korea. But the change by Blizzard helps here as well since the matches will generally be fairer, and Grandmasters cannot simply overwhelm opponents on unfamiliar accounts in the higher tier.
Boosting will now be more difficult.
How do Grandmasters react? Most players are welcoming the change, even those affected. Professional player Jake “JAKE” Lyon from the Overwatch League is pleased about it:
When asked why this is good, Jake replied that teams of three or more players in the already small player pool of Grandmasters leads to imbalances in game balance. They would therefore often be one-sided.
What do you think about the change?
Another new feature is the Workshop in Overwatch, which has already produced many crazy game modes:
