Cryptic Studios have released a new trailer for the MMORPG Neverwinter and the community is speculating what it means. Will the gigantic cult dungeon Undermountain be introduced?
A Mysterious Teaser Raises Curiosity
What happened? Cryptic Studios released the trailer “Yawning Portal Teaser”. It shows a scene in the tavern “The YawningPortal”, which is located in the great city of Waterdeep in the Forgotten Realms. The innkeeper informs an adventuring party that the darkness is very dangerous for a group of heroes who want to become legends. But at the “Yawning Portal”, there is always a table waiting for them.
In addition to the tavern, there is a huge well that leads downwards.
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What does this mean? The “Yawning Portal” is a famous place in the Forgotten Realms. Because here is the entrance to one of the largest and most dangerous dungeons in the fantasy world: Undermountain.
The dungeon has already been the setting for many adventures of the “Pen & Paper” role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. For many players, it represents a kind of cult dungeon, as it is so gigantic and dangerous monsters roam there, guarding powerful loot. Additionally, the cult role-playing game Eye of the Beholder from 1990 took place in Undermountain.
It seems that Undermountain will be introduced in a future expansion to the MMORPG Neverwinter.
How are players reacting? The community on Reddit shares the same suspicion and is already excited.
“It’s probably the introduction of the dungeon of the mad mage,” says ChrisTheDog.
The “Dungeon of the Mad Mage” is an adventure for D&D that introduces players to Undermountain. Adventurers must battle through a dangerous labyrinth full of traps and monsters to find the mad mage Halaster Blackcloak. This is just the start of the adventures set in the vast dungeon. More adventures build on this, creating an epic story around Undermountain.
Here is why players are excited: If Undermountain is introduced, then Neverwinter players can expect not only a gigantic dungeon but also a return to more serious themes. The last addon “The Heart of Fire” was lighthearted, which didn’t sit well with everyone.
Moreover, a true mega-dungeon might be waiting for players here.
When will there be more information? Currently, it is unclear when Cryptic Studios will reveal more about this mysterious project. It is also currently unknown whether further changes to the game will be made with a new expansion, as was the case with crafting.
What are fans wishing for? Even though the overall content with Undermountain is well-received (if it is indeed Undermountain), players also desire new classes and generally something new in terms of gameplay. However, the developers are keeping quiet on this, focusing more on story content.
After Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was released without a single-player campaign, it looks like single-player fans can look forward to this year once again.
What happened? Recently, Activision Blizzard held its earnings call. This quarterly report for investors traditionally publishes figures and discusses important events and the future of numerous brands and projects.
What is known about the new Call of Duty? During the earnings call, Activision CEO Rob Kostich said a few words about the upcoming Call of Duty.
Alongside a massive and expandable multiplayer world and fun co-op gameplay, there will also be a completely new campaign.
The CFO of Activision Blizzard, Dennis Durkin, additionally noted that the new franchise installment would appeal to both new players and existing fans. While the game would represent a significant step forward for the franchise, its roots would still lie in one of Call of Duty’s most important stories.
At the same time, he tempered expectations a bit. Because even though Call of Duty will be the most important pillar for 2019, it could very well happen that it does not match Black Ops 4 in terms of figures.
In this regard, Durkin said verbatim: “We have high expectations for the game. But calculatively, we remain conservative and expect lower unit sales in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to Black Ops 4.”
Therefore, single-player fans can look forward again: With the current franchise installment Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, a spin-off without a single-player campaign was published for the first time in Call of Duty’s history. This led to significant criticism for the title.
Since the series clearly focuses on multiplayer, the single-player campaign also has numerous followers who were disappointed with Black Ops 4 and in some cases even refrained from purchasing it for this reason. Particularly, the story from the “Modern Warfare” titles is regarded as very popular among fans.
Infinity Ward is now responsible for the new Call of Duty, having developed the entire “Modern Warfare” series. Not only could a new single-player campaign await fans, but also one of the most exciting storylines of the franchise could finally continue.
However, there were also less happy news during the earnings call:
From February 15th to 17th, the Dreamhack will take place in Leipzig. MeinMMO will be on-site together with MAX with an exciting program and will stream daily for you on the Twitch channel MAX.
What is the Dreamhack? The Dreamhack is a gaming festival and the largest LAN party in Germany. Every year, gamers can come together in Leipzig to play games, follow exciting eSports tournaments, and experience their favorite pro gamers live.
In the cosplay contest, creative minds from the community can show what they can do and win great prizes. And in the DreamExpo area, tech enthusiasts can find the latest hardware and software for their PCs.
We will be streaming in Leipzig together with GameStar and MAX. Our focus is clearly on multiplayer topics. That’s a big reason why you are also on MeinMMO.
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What does the complete program look like? Together with GameStar, we will be streaming live from Leipzig on the Twitch channel MAX throughout the entire Dreamhack. There will be both talk sessions about gaming and cosplay, as well as demonstrations of PC modding and coaching by real eSport players. Be sure to check it out!
The program has been updated, status: February 13, 2019, 11:29.
MeinMMO Highlights at the Dreamhack
What’s coming on Thursday, February 14th: Already on Thursday during the pre-show, Nexxoss Gaming together with our editor-in-chief Gerd Schuhmann will have a talk about Destiny 2.
For our Schuhmann, this is a premiere and he will be heard live for the first time via VOIP. So tune in at 9:00 PM on the Twitch channel of MAX:
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What’s coming on Friday, February 15th: On the first day of the Dreamhack, MeinMMO will be streaming vigorously on MAX:
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Dawid talks with Mary, the community manager of GameStar, in a talk about the multiplayer hits of 2019. We will also compare our communities with each other. Michi will be the host.
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Our editors on-site, Irie and Sven, along with Utz Stauder and ThisEGuy, will tell you about the ups and downs of working in the gaming industry and give you tips on how you could get started too. They were also community members before they joined MeinMMO.
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Then it continues directly with Dawid, who as the host will talk about FIFA in eSports with Cihan, one of the best FIFA players and former German champion.
From 8:30 PM: The evening program will then be filled with Anthem. Watch Sven, Dawid, and host Michi as they play the new game from Bioware.
What’s coming on Saturday, February 16th:
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Sven will explain which player type the two major multiplayer games Anthem and The Division 2 are best suited for. Dawid will be the host.
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM: In “Pitch your Game: Elder Scrolls 6”, Dawid, Micha, and Michi will present their game ideas, and you will decide which TES6 you want.
This year, we have entered into a media partnership with the Dreamhack. What this is and how it works, you can learn here:
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On PC, Apex Legends has a limit of 144 FPS for many players. With a trick, you can remove this limit. And it’s not about disabling V-Sync.
The FPS issue: Apex Legends is available for PC and consoles. Often, PCs have more powerful hardware and can theoretically achieve high FPS values. These are the frames displayed per second.
However, many players report, “More than 144 FPS is not possible. No matter how much I reduce the graphics settings.” At times, around 150 FPS is achieved. But the game always stabilizes around 144 FPS. These complaints come from players who can theoretically achieve much more FPS with their systems.
In training – A quiet corner without action – 146 FPS.
Why is the FPS limited? It is still unclear whether the developers at Respawn intentionally implemented this FPS cap.
How many FPS do PS4 and Xbox One achieve? The consoles run at a maximum of 60 FPS. There’s no simple trick to change that.
How to achieve maximum FPS in Apex Legends on PC (unlimited)
In the graphics settings of Apex Legends, you will find the slider for V-Sync. That is, the vertical synchronization. Players report that setting it to “Adaptive” or “Adaptive (1/2 Rate)” has already increased their FPS. However, this may bring increased input lag.
Curiously, disabling V-Sync should actually increase FPS – but that is not the case here.
On Reddit, players report another way to boost FPS. And they lift the 144 FPS limit.
Removing the FPS limitation
Start Origin
Once you have started Apex Legends, you must close it
Select “My Game Library” in Origin
Left-click on Apex Legends
Click on Settings (the gear icon under “Play”)
Select “Game Properties”
Click on the tab “Advanced Launch Options”
In Command Line Arguments, type “+fps_max unlimited” (without the quotes)
Click Save and now start Apex Legends
At this point, enter the FPS command.
The result of the setting: After the setting, the FPS values in our test scenario look much better. Only the command line with +fps_max unlimited was changed.
Instead of 146 FPS, we now achieve over 200 FPS in the same corner.
With your boosted FPS, you can jump back into the fray. In the tier list, you will learn which legends you should play with:
The layoffs at Blizzard do not spare popular individuals. The Community Manager “Ythisens” of World of Warcraft has to go.
Yesterday, Activision Blizzard held its quarterly report, revealing that 8% of the workforce will be laid off in almost all areas not directly related to game development. For fans of World of Warcraft, this is particularly difficult to understand, as Blizzard has laid off Community Manager Ythisens.
Who is Ythisens? Anyone who frequently visits the forums of World of Warcraft will know Ythisens. He was one of the Community Managers who was active and regularly interacted with players. He was very popular because he understood many of the players’ criticisms and could sometimes “fire back” sharply when someone overstepped in the forum.
On Twitter, he responded daily to players’ questions and problems and always showed interest in what was happening within the WoW community.
Emotional tweet farewell: Ythisens himself shows on Twitter that he is emotional and clearly sad in his farewell tweet. He writes:
“As of today, I am no longer employed at Blizzard. This was not my decision. I wanted to stay here until retirement. I was just laid off from my dream job.
It is probably not the best thing for me to write a tweet about this right now, but it was an honor to be your Community Manager for Warcraft. I love you all.”
Community is outraged: In the World of Warcraft subreddit, “all hell is breaking loose”. Players are baffled and cannot understand why Ythisens had to leave. He was a true voice for them and a contact to Blizzard that they had always wished for. Most players wish Ythisens much strength and hope that he will find a new position that makes him happy.
At the same time, a lot of hate is directed at Blizzard, with sarcastic or simply hostile comments pouring in. It is often noted that it is absurd to preach about “getting more in touch with players” and simultaneously lay off Ythisens, who did exactly that.
The publisher Activision Blizzard has parted ways with the brand Destiny and transferred it to Bungie. They have now explained to investors the three reasons for this decision. One of them sounds like a content drought for Destiny 2 in 2019.
Here are the three reasons for the split from Bungie:
Activision does not own the brand “Destiny.” That is the only major proprietary brand that they do not own. When you own a brand, you can create “new experiences” and thus generate new revenue streams. Additionally, you earn more financially from a brand when you own it.
On the other hand, while Destiny 2 received excellent reviews, it did not meet financial expectations. When they looked at how Activision Blizzard was financially positioned for 2019 at the end of 2018, they found indications that Destiny would not significantly contribute to revenue in 2019.
Moreover, they had used many internal resources to support Bungie’s work. This had tied up the scarcest resource, developer time. This time is now free to be used elsewhere. This likely refers to the studios of Activision, High Moon, and Vicarious Visions. They were supposed to help Bungie complete content for Destiny.
Was the separation contentious? According to Johnson, it was a “mutual” separation between Activision and Bungie. They learned in November 2018 that Bungie was willing to acquire the rights to the brand “Destiny” and began discussions that were concluded in December.
Destiny 3 is unlikely to come out in 2019 – And nothing else?
This is interesting for Destiny fans: The second reason is noteworthy for Destiny fans: Activision did not foresee large revenues for Destiny in 2019.
The delay of Destiny 3 would not be a problem in itself. Many would welcome it if Bungie took more time with Destiny 3.
However, Activision’s low revenue expectations for Destiny could mean that no major expansion will be released in 2019 – at least none that is expected to generate significant revenue. This could be an indication of a content drought.
Already in 2016, no Destiny 2 was released as initially planned, but the expansion Rise of Iron. The restructuring of the studio and a reboot of Destiny 2 led to the content plan for Destiny collapsing: Between September 2015 and September 2017, only a little content was released for Destiny.
Analysts believe that the separation from Destiny will result in an annual revenue loss of $400 million for Activision Blizzard. Layoffs were announced at the investor conference.
The Elder Scrolls Online is an enormously extensive MMORPG with huge amounts of quests. Each DLC and add-on brings additional tasks and stories with it. It’s easy to feel a bit lost. The zone guide is intended to provide better orientation.
A welcome help
What is the Zone Guide? The Zone Guide, or area guide, offers you great assistance when you are unsure what to do next in the game. The Zone Guide shows you the following:
What is the purpose of the guide? There are players who want to achieve everything in a game area. Every quest should be completed, every book found, and every dungeon explored, as well as every achievement reached.
However, since ESO has now reached such a large scope, it’s not easy to keep track of everything. If you want to return after a break and don’t know where to go next, just click on the “Start narrative” button in the zone guide under activity search. It will show you where to go next to continue the story. This is very important as part of the new ongoing narrative structure introduced with the “Season of the Dragon”.
Additionally, the zone guide displays all locations and activities from the aforementioned list through buttons. However, as can be seen – only from already visited and activated places and things. This means you must have found dungeons or sky shards first. But if you want to revisit them, you should not feel lost in the world of Tamriel anymore. You see how many things are still undiscovered, but not where they are located.
When will the Zone Guide be introduced? The guide will be implemented with the new DLC Wrathstone, which will be released in the first quarter of 2019. This marks the beginning of a new story that will continue in the Elsweyr add-on and further DLCs this year.
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To whom is the guide directed? According to Bethesda, it is meant to help all players. Both newcomers and veterans who may feel a bit lost.
How is the Zone Guide received by players? Players are already looking forward to the guide as it simplifies many things. Moreover, it is optional to use. Those who prefer to play without it can continue to do so. But generally, the community is very curious about how this feature works and how much easier it will become to follow the story and find visited places again, as well as see what still needs to be discovered.
The financial report from Blizzard brings disappointment in many areas. Gamers should not expect any special surprises from 2019.
Last night (February 12 to 13), it was time for the quarterly report from Activision Blizzard. This caused unrest within the company, because nearly 8% of all employees were laid off due to restructuring, while development teams were simultaneously expanded. However, there was also bad news for gamers: 2019 will be a rather weak Blizzard year.
The thin year 2019: According to the financial report, it was stated that they expect a “financially lower performance [from Blizzard] in 2019.” In 2018, they benefited greatly from the release of WoW: Battle for Azeroth. However, in the current year, they have no “major release planned.”
Games coming from Blizzard in 2019: However, there are still a few smaller Blizzard titles expected to be released in 2019. However, these are not major blockbuster titles. Already confirmed for 2019 are:
This should at least comfort some fans through the relatively quiet months. Apart from that, there will of course be new content patches for World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and expansions for Hearthstone. Only “big, new games” are missing.
From 2020, there will probably be a lot of games: They expect significantly more from the following years, namely 2020 and everything that comes after. Because then Blizzard’s “pipeline on PC, console, and mobile will be more diverse than ever before and they expect a significant acceleration of development through additional resources.”
Are you looking forward to the years 2020 and beyond? Or does 2019 with its many negative news weigh too heavily right now?
The online shooter Fortnite will change quite a bit in the next patch. The update will significantly nerf rocket launchers, hand cannons, and airplanes. Fans are reacting almost euphorically to the announcement. However, the update is taking its time.
This is what Fortnite is changing in update 7.40: Epic Games has already announced 7 balance changes (via reddit) that will come with the new update:
Players will interact differently with ziplines, they must be used intentionally with a single click – using such a zipline will grant immunity to fall damage
The Hand Cannon (Desert Eagle) will only deal 100 damage (previously 150 damage) to structures
Turbo building will be faster – Epic is reducing the delay from 0.15 seconds to 0.05 seconds
A legendary rocket launcher in Fortnite
Additionally, players will now be able to edit buildings while crouching
The rocket launcher will have a slower reload time – it will now take 3.24 seconds (currently 2.54 seconds)
Furthermore, rocket launchers will no longer be found in loot chests – but still in supply drops (even with increased probability) and in vending machines
This is how players are reacting: The first reactions are mostly positive.
Most people are excited that they will soon be able to edit buildings while crouching.
The nerfs for the airplane, Desert Eagle, and the rocket launcher are also mostly well received.
Even the “button” to use a zipline is being praised
Some are thanking the new competitor APEX Legends for forcing Fortnite to make such changes. One even asks if he is only dreaming about the announcement of the change.
Update 7.40 is delayed
When will the patch come? The patch is expected tomorrow, on Tuesday. Downtime may begin around 10:00 AM. However, it may also be that the patch appears later – on Wednesday or even Thursday.
Update 12.2.: Today on Tuesday, the patch will not come. It is now confirmed that the patch will appear on Wednesday, February 13.
Update 13.2.: Surprisingly, Epic announced that the update has been delayed again. A “last-minute problem” has arisen. They will report back as soon as they know when the update will come.
It is uncertain whether this will happen today, February 13.
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The second wing of the current raid in World of Warcraft is here. We reveal how you can defeat the three new bosses.
With today’s maintenance (02/13/2018), a new wing of the latest raid “Battle of Dazar’alor” in World of Warcraft is opening. In the second wing, there are three fresh bosses and also the actual story highlight of the raid, namely the fight against the troll king Rastakhan. We will tell you how to easily clear the bosses in LFR and master this chapter of World of Warcraft.
Mini-Guide
for Opulence, Conclave of the Chosen and King Rastakhan
The second part of the raid deals with the attack on the pyramid of the troll city and thus the battle against the elite of the Zandalari and ultimately even King Rastakhan and his Loa Bwonsamdi. Horde players will be transformed into members of the Alliance for this section – sthey experience the whole thing as a kind of flashback.
Opulence: Divide the raid into two equally strong groups and enter the two halls. Fight your way from chamber to chamber while avoiding the active traps and killing the currently active guardian.
At the end, both raid groups come together again and fight the boss Opulence. Eliminate the adds promptly before there are too many. If a player is targeted by “Coin Shower”, stand next to them, as the damage taken will be evenly distributed among all players in the vicinity.
Conclave of the Chosen: In the Conclave of the Chosen, you fight against four different bosses, of which two are always active at the same time. As soon as one dies, the other active boss is fully healed and a new boss enters the battlefield.
So focus the damage always on one of the active bosses and do not spread it. Adds must be killed quickly and players with “Akunda’s Wrath” should keep their distance from others. When the boss casts “Paku’s Wrath”, all players must quickly get close to the boss to avoid lethal damage.
King Rastakhan: The fight against King Rastakhan has several phases. Adds must be killed quickly, then Rastakhan and Bwonsamdi have to be separated. As soon as Rastakhan drops to 60% of his health, Bwonsamdi abducts half of the raid into the realm of the dead, where they must fight against Bwonsamdi. Once Bwonsamdi reaches 50% health, all players come back together and fight against Rastakhan until his death.
If a player is taken over, kill the connected voodoo doll, but not the affected player.
You can find our tips for the first LFR wing here:
Wing 3 is coming in 2 weeks: The final part of the Battle of Dazar’alor, “Might of the Alliance,” follows in exactly 2 weeks, on February 27, 2019. Then the complete raid Battle of Dazar’alor will also be available for LFR fans.
Recently, Activision Blizzard has experienced layoffs that have been speculated about for months. Despite strong numbers, nearly 800 employees have to go. The executives say they did not reach their potential in 2018.
This is how many employees were laid off: As Activision Blizzard announces, they have laid off 8% of the staff. This corresponds to about 770 employees.
Why are people being laid off? According to CEO Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard achieved “the best results in the company’s history” in 2018 but did not reach its full potential, thus failing to meet its financial expectations.
To achieve this potential, they plan a restructuring. They want to invest “20% more” in the development of core franchises in 2019. In brands like:
Call of Duty
Candy Crush
Overwatch
Warcraft
Hearthstone
Diablo
To be able to invest more money here, Activision Blizzard will now “de-prioritize” other areas. They want to be able to “reach the full potential that the industry currently offers.”
In which areas are people being laid off? The US site Kotaku has learned that it primarily affects employees in the publishing staff of Activision, Blizzard, and King. Additionally, employees at the High Moon studio are rumored to be laid off. They previously worked on Destiny.
According to Kotaku, the head of Blizzard, J. Allen Brack, wrote to employees: In recent years, non-development teams had grown. But this increased level does not correspond to what Blizzard currently releases, therefore they need to reduce positions.
Kotaku further reports that Blizzard has primarily affected the areas “Publishing” and “eSports.” Allegedly, employees cried and embraced each other in the parking lot as they arrived at work today. Although employees suspected there would be layoffs, they did not know if they would be affected.
This is how much money Activision Blizzard made in Q4 2018:
Revenue in Q4 2018 was $2.38 billion
In the entire year of 2018, the company made $7.5 billion, (in 2017 it was $7.02 billion)
Here’s what it’s about: The news of the layoffs has been on the horizon for some time. Activision Blizzard apparently is adopting a cost-cutting approach and is reducing in areas that are not directly related to game development.
In Apex Legends you have a big advantage if you land quickly from the dropship. With this trick, it’s the fastest way to do it.
This is why landing quickly is important: As in all battle royale games, you are relatively defenseless at the beginning of a round. Therefore, you need to quickly find a suitable weapon and equipment if you want a chance at victory.
But if the enemy heroes land first, they get the loot and are already waiting with loaded weapons and full shields for you. Therefore, it is extremely important that you land first.
Fortunately, there are helpful tips that will help you land faster.
Land Faster with the “Stair Technique”
What is the Stair Technique? Many players jump out and dash directly in a straight line to the chosen landing point. However, this is not the fastest method.
Instead, you should alternate between diving and gliding when you jump. It looks a bit like you are forming a staircase.
In a team with the Jumpmaster, you head to the landing point together.
This is how the Wave Technique works: Go into a dive immediately after jumping and keep an eye on the speed indicator on the left side of the screen. Stay in the dive until you reach approximately 145 speed units.
Then transition into a slightly angled glide. Do this until your speed drops to around 130.
Then go back into a dive until your speed is back at 145. Then glide again.
You repeat this process until you arrive at your desired landing spot. The diagram embedded here by Reddit user TheBigSmoke illustrates how to do it succinctly.
When should I jump? Jump approximately when the ship has covered half the distance from the start to the landing location. If the landing location is far off course from the ship, wait until the ship is about to turn at a 90-degree angle to the landing location, then jump.
This exception exists: If you want to jump right at the first landing location the ship reaches, then of course you immediately go into a dive. This is still the fastest method if you do not need to cover horizontal distance.
More Tips and Tricks for Jumping
In addition to the jumping technique described above, there are a few more useful tips regarding jumping:
Clarify with pings where you want to go: If someone on the team marks a good jump point on the map, ping their marker. This signals your agreement.
Stay with the Jumpmaster: If you have agreed on a landing place, stay with your Jumpmaster and rely on him to guide you to your target.
Delegate responsibility: If you are the Jumpmaster but feel overwhelmed, delegate this role to a teammate with the press of a button.
Watch the enemy contrails: Each team has a differently colored trail that it leaves behind in the air. This helps you recognize how many enemy teams have also chosen your landing spot.
Separate before landing: A mistake many beginners make is to land as a team until the very end. This leads to the possibility that you all loot the same building together and compete for the loot. Instead, you should start breaking away from the team at about 200 meters and choose a nearby building to loot. But don’t stray too far away, otherwise you will become easy prey.
If you have any more tricks and ideas for jumping and landing, let us know in the comments.
By the way, if you are looking for the ideal landing spots, you will find them here:
So it is! The Division 2 will indeed have an Open Beta as suspected. Ubisoft has confirmed that it will start in March.
When does the beta start? The developers of The Division 2 plan to host an open beta. What the Live Content Manager Yannick Banchereau recently accidentally spoiled has now been officially confirmed.
How can you participate? Unlike the previous Private Beta, the Open Beta of The Division 2 will be available to all players. So anyone interested can join.
What are the contents of the Open Beta? The content is expected to match that of the Private Beta. Then you can utilize the following features:
Are there any special goodies? Yes, every participant in the Open Beta will receive a DC Patriot weapon skin: Those who complete the endgame mission will get a patch from Capitol Hill.
The Division 2 will offer more useful features than Part 1.
Conqueror’s Blade can be played for free this weekend without a beta key. There is a public test phase where you can try out the medieval MMO.
What is Conqueror’s Blade? Conqueror’s Blade is a mix of an action MMO and a strategy game. You play as a medieval commander and conquer new territories and castles with your troops.
In doing so, you will encounter PvE opponents and other players. On a large world map, you move your troops, and in the action battles, you get right into the action.
That sounds awesome, how can I play it?Conqueror’s Blade is currently in closed beta. However, starting February 15th, the game will be available for a limited time to all registered users on My.com for an open beta test.
https://youtu.be/6yQMBAKQF08
The European and North American servers will be online 24/7 until February 18th, offering all participating players the following features:
Detailed tutorial on the complex gameplay features
Open world to conquer
Trade and crafting
Targeted attacks on other players’ territories at specific times
If you want to participate in the regular beta, take part in our giveaway for beta keys for Conqueror’s Blade.
In the MMORPG Black Desert bosses will soon attack you while you grind. In a new content update, dark fissures appear that summon these monsters.
What is new? In a new content update, Pearl Abyss brings some innovations for their MMORPG Black Desert. The most important are mysterious bosses that can attack you at any time, even while you are farming.
Additionally, since Friday, Bartali’s Adventure Diary is available, promising you numerous new quests. We will tell you what Black Desert fans can expect.
What the new bosses can do
The developers say: In a press release, the developers provide insights into the new content. With the update, dark fissures will appear somewhere on the map of Black Desert, from which powerful bosses will emerge.
These bosses can attack you at any time and disturb you while farming. You will have no peace from the monsters.
This is how the battle unfolds: The special feature of this boss fight is the intimacy, as you will carry out this fight completely alone. You will not receive support from other players.
What do I get from the battle? You will, of course, be rewarded when you defeat the monsters. What exactly your reward will be is not yet known. You will probably have to start the fight first.
What if I don’t find any bosses? You don’t have to worry if you are not randomly attacked by one of the bosses. If you want to fight, you can find the monsters using the location feature on the map.
What makes these battles special? It doesn’t matter what level you have, you can be attacked anywhere and anytime. The special thing about the new bosses is that you are not safe anywhere. Even if you are not currently looking for fights and would rather go grind instead, these monsters could attack you.
When do the new monsters come? The update will take place on Wednesday, the 13th of February. Then you can immediately start with the new content and challenge the powerful beasts.
This is also new: As many have certainly already noticed, Bartali’s Adventure Diary has been available in the world of Black Desert since Friday.
This book provides you with numerous quests, which hold important bonuses for your characters when solved. However, to use the adventure log, you must be at least level 51 and have completed the main quest in the Calpheon region.
On February 14th, the final open beta of Black Desert starts. We have all the info for you:
In February, Red Dead Online receives updates. The team is now showing what it entails. Bounties will be adjusted and griefers will be curtailed. Additionally, there will be insights into daily quests.
When is the February update coming? On February 26, a series of updates and features aimed at improving the beta of Red Dead Online will be released.
What is included in the updates? It involves changes to lawmen and bounties, player markings on the mini-map, weapon balance, and daily quests.
Features against griefers: Infamy, Visibility, and Bounties
What was the problem? Griefers are making life difficult for players in Red Dead Online. The rogues can recognize you far across the map and face little consequence for continually killing others.
What changes with the update: The visibility of players on the map will only be shown to other players when you are within a radius of 150 meters together. If you are more than 150 meters away and fire a shot, you will also be revealed. You will not see players in other towns or regions.
Beware, soon there will be hefty bounties
Infamy and Feuds change
This is how the new infamy system works: This new feature is intended to act against particularly aggressive players. As infamy increases, the map position of the player and their posse will increasingly be colored from blue to dark red.
Infamy is increased through vile deeds such as killing or attacking other players or their horses. This only counts outside of events and game modes.
The shorter the time between actions, the faster infamy increases. If you behave well again, the bad reputation will gradually diminish.
Negotiate or fight?
Negotiation changes: The “Negotiate” option will appear soon after the first kill. This applies to the entire posse of the attacker. If you prefer to fight, you can soon declare a feud after the first kill as well.
Bounties and the Law
If there is a high bounty on a player and they fall into infamy, bounty hunters will soon be lurking for them.
How does the bounty increase? Your crimes drive your bounty up. The severity of the crime is taken into account. Killing other players greatly raises the bounty. Violence against villagers or animals results in smaller increases in bounty. Looting or theft only reduces your honor.
The higher the bounty, the harder it is to escape from the bounty hunters.
In the towns, you have to be careful with a high bounty.
These are the daily challenges
More variety will soon be provided by the Daily Quests. With these challenges, you earn XP and Gold Nuggets.
What kind of tasks are these? As an example, Rockstar Games mentions:
Collecting herbs
Selling items to the fence
Hunting and skinning animals
Clearing gang hideouts
Winning feuds
The selection of these tasks is to be regularly expanded, according to Rockstar. There will also be rewards for regularly completing challenges.
Changes to weapon balance and bonus weeks
The weapons in Red Dead Online will also be adjusted. The Varmint Rifle is to become as accurate as other repeating rifles.
More details about the weapon changes have not yet been provided.
Bonus Weeks: Until February 26, you will earn more XP when you play as a posse in Free-Roam missions or events. For the activities, there are double posse XP. Next week, you will earn 20% more XP in all activities in Red Dead Online.
Exact details about this update will be presented next week. What do you think of the changes?
Are you diligently playing Gun Rush? We have tips for you:
Vaevictis is a Russian eSports organization that is active in League of Legends, Overwatch, and Dota 2, among others. Now they have formed a new team consisting solely of female players.
What happened? There has been a lot going on at Vaevictis Esports in recent weeks. After Riot Games decided to discontinue the CIS Challenger Leagues, the Russian eSports organization disbanded its entire LoL roster.
Instead, Vaevictis has now filled their roster with 5 girls in preparation for the new LoL Continental League, which will serve as a replacement for the CIS CL in the future.
Who is now on the team? The new team consists entirely of rookie players who have never competed in professional tournaments before.
On the statistics page op.gg, you can view the current rankings of three of the five team members:
Jungler Aida “Merao” Kazaryan is Diamond 3
Mid laner Elena “VioletFairy” Koval is Diamond 4
Support Nataliya “Ankote” Zayko is Platinum
The girls will already face Gambit Esports and Dragon Army in their first matches in a week.
Community speculates on Reddit: The dissolution of the old roster of Vaevictis came as a surprise to many and sparked speculation within the community on Reddit.
The user RaibnowBunnyDK, who claims to be a coach in LCL, said:
They [Vaevictis] were originally supposed to keep some of their players and only bring in one or two new guys. But one day they suddenly dissolved all contracts with their players […] and assumed they could sell their slot in the league.
They couldn’t sell it and filled the roster with female players from Moscow.[…]
How trustworthy RaindboBunnyDK’s statements are is hard to assess, however, the account has been active for a long time and participates actively in discussions about LoL.
Meanwhile, Riot Games is also working on a new game:
In Destiny 2 today, on 12.02., is the Weekly Reset. The Valentine’s Day event is now live. Additionally, there are new activities available this week, such as the Flashpoint, Nightfall Strikes, or challenges.
After a one-week delay, it’s finally here: The Valentine’s Day event “Crimson Days” has begun. Guardians can secure new bounties from Lord Shaxx in the festively decorated Tower and earn various event-exclusive loot with their best friends.
Nightfall Strikes starting 12.02. on PS4, Xbox One, and PC
In the current Destiny week, you can choose from these three Nightfall Strikes:
The Pyramidion
Tree of Probabilities
Will of the Thousands
For the Nightfalls, you should have at least a power level of 540, but with a good team they can also be done below that. If you want, you can also customize the Nightfalls with a challenge card that you get from Xur. Additionally, you should plan your loadout in advance, as it will be locked for the duration of the Nightfall.
This is how you get powerful rewards from Nightfall Strikes:
Complete one Nightfall
Complete the Nightfall with at least 100,000 points
Strikes and Story Missions
In the heroic story missions the following modifiers are active:
Solar Singe
Glass: Health and shields are reduced by half, but recovery is twice as fast
Brawler: Melee abilities deal more damage and charge much faster
In the Strike playlist you will find the same modifiers. The singe element will not change until the next weekly reset. However, the other two parameters will change every day.
This is how you get powerful rewards from the Strike and the heroic missions:
Complete 3 heroic story missions
Complete 3 heroic Strikes with a focus of the same light element as a member of your fireteam
Crucible Activities and Gambit
This week you can participate in the following activities in PvP:
Control
Competitive
Rumble
Crimson Doubles
Private Match
This is how you get powerful rewards in PvP and Gambit:
Complete 5 Crucible matches
Complete 3 Gambit matches
Escalation Protocol
At the boss of the Escalation Protocol, you can earn the following weapon until the next reset:
If you’re looking for the Flashpoint, you will find it this week in the Tangled Shore. For the corresponding heroic adventure, you will be rewarded with powerful gear there.
Do you want powerful loot from Ikora Rey? Then you need to complete 20 random bounties.
For 5,000 Clan XP, you can also obtain powerful gear from Hawthorne. If you complete the weekly raid challenges “Endless Battle” and “To Each Their Own” as a member of a clan, you can earn two additional powerful rewards.
With the Vagabond, you will receive powerful loot when you master the weekly bounty “The Traveler’s Might”.
Lord Shaxx is the contact person for Crimson Days. There you will receive the event-specific bounties and an event emblem.
From Ada-1, you will receive these powerful weapon formats:
Pulse rifle
Sword
Auto rifle
Petra Venj can be found directly at the landing zone of the Dreaming City. For a mission as well as for the active Ascendant Challenge and the 8 daily bounties, you can earn a total of three more powerful rewards.
At Spider, you can obtain the large weekly bounty “Bloodsplatter“. This way you can earn another powerful reward.
This week, your loadout for the prestige raid sectors is:
In FIFA 19 the ratings refresh is coming. Many players will receive better standard cards. When do these winter upgrades come – what is the release date in FUT 19?
EA announces winter refresh – Update: On February 12th, EA Sports revealed the winter refresh. This event will include the Prime ICON Moments as well as the winter Ones-to-Watch. Additionally, many players will receive winter upgrade cards.
This is why there are winter upgrades in FUT 19: Unlike other game modes in FIFA 19, the FUT cards are not constantly adjusted to the real performances of the respective professional players. The standard cards are inflexible in this regard.
Some players do receive “in form” cards (IF-Cards) during the season, however, the stats of the standard cards remain unchanged. Only special card types, such as the OTW cards, adapt dynamically.
The winter upgrades only affect the “non-special cards” – and introduce some updated standard cards into the Ultimate Team mode.
[toc]
Release date of the winter upgrades in FUT 19
Confirmed start: The first winter upgrades will come with the start of the winter refresh event on February 15th. That’s a Friday.
How does the release of the new cards work? In recent years, not all new standard cards have been revealed at once. Instead, EA Sports released “batches” of updated cards sorted by leagues gradually. These are the release times this time:
Winter Upgrades Premier League: February 15.
Winter Upgrades Bundesliga: February 17.
Winter Upgrades Serie A: February 19.
Winter Upgrades Ligue 1: February 21.
Winter Upgrades La Liga: February 22.
Winter Upgrades Rest of the World: February 24.
What are the winter upgrades / ratings refresh in Ultimate Team?
Twice a year, the standard player cards in FUT are updated:
When a new FIFA installment is released (in autumn)
and after the winter transfers, that is, in February.
These adjustments are meant to reflect the real performances of the players, which they showed consistently on the pitch in the previous months.
The term ratings refresh: Until FIFA 16, there were only “winter upgrades”. Player cards could only be upgraded, receiving only better values. I
In FIFA 17, there was then a change: winter upgrades were renamed to “ratings refresh”, which also introduced downgrades.
In FUT 18, the ratings refresh came again, but only with upgrades. Downgrades were dropped. The official term “ratings refresh” remained for the winter upgrades.
The ratings refresh only affects the standard cards (bronze, silver, gold):
Usually, the gold cards are upgraded by 1-2 points in rating. Silver and bronze players receive upgrades of about 4 points. In rare cases, improvements for bronze players can reach a whopping 15 points.
This is how you get an upgrade card with a higher overall rating
New cards replace old ones in the packs: Once the winter upgrade cards are released, they can be drawn from the sets. The only requirement is that the set can contain players. The “old” cards of the respective players are no longer available in the sets from that moment on.
Reus will probably leave his 85 on the standard card behind
What happens to my old card? If you already own a card of a player who is getting upgraded, this remains unchanged. It will not be automatically updated. If you want the card of the player with improved attributes, you must draw it from a set.
It is also possible to acquire the winter upgrade cards from other players on the transfer market.
In other words: After the ratings refresh, two versions of standard cards of the respective player coexist in FUT.
How do the IF cards – the Informs – behave with the winter upgrades?
The “in form” cards, like the “Team of the Week” cards, are a bit complicated with the winter upgrades.
In short: If the new winter upgrade card of the player has a better or equal rating than the existing IF card(s), the IF cards will be automatically upgraded. These are to remain better than the standard cards.
However: If a player switches quality during the winter upgrade (e.g., from silver to gold) and the previous IF card was a silver card, it will remain unchanged.
An example of the IF cards of Aguero from the past (no current cards from FIFA 19):
The standard card at launch had a rating of 87. After the winter upgrade, Aguero received a standard card with 88. Since one of his IF cards already had 88, this will be increased to 89. His TOTW card, which was 89 – two points better than 87, will be to 90, to be again 2 points better than the new standard card.
By the way: IF cards are not only TOTW cards but also heroes and other special cards. The Scream cards are not affected.
What do the new player cards look like? Like the previous standard cards (gold, silver, bronze). Players can change quality.
What is the difference between the previous standard cards and the new cards? The overall rating and the stats. Only in rare cases does the position change if the player has predominantly played in a new position in recent months.
What happens to the old standard cards? These remain unchanged. However, they are replaced in the packs by the new cards. That means, the old cards can no longer be drawn from the sets.
What happens to the existing IFs? These also receive an upgrade if the new standard card exceeds or matches the existing IF card in rating.
How long are the “ratings refresh” cards in the sets? Likely until the end of FIFA 19.
Can a winter transfer player receive an upgrade? Yes.
Are the winter upgrades the winter transfers? No, winter transfers occur before the winter upgrades. In the upgrades, neither club nor league changes.
The first ratings refresh cards
The first three winter upgrade cards are now known:
The raid “Last Wish” in Destiny 2 has a room that fulfills wishes. You receive a badge, quickly reach raid encounters, or unlock additional content.
A secret in Destiny 2 Forsaken: In the raid “Last Wish”, there is a hidden raid room with a so-called “Wall of Wishes” where you can activate various raid symbols. With the right combination of symbols, certain wishes will come true.
Many players still have one or the other wish open – whether as a veteran or a newcomer. We have therefore updated the article and compiled all known wishes for you in an overview.
This is how you enter the Room of Wishes: Start the raid “Last Wish” in the Dreaming City. A gate will now open before you, which you pass through. On your left side, there is a small rift in the wall through which you reach the first raid encounter. However, you do not go directly to the first boss, but instead crawl into the secret room, which is quite well hidden.
The way to the room is shown to you by Andy Edition (0:44):
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Shoot one of the circles to make a symbol appear. Shoot again, and another symbol will appear.
Now you must enter a kind of symbol code into this wall. When the correct symbols are displayed on all circles, something happens.
Entering the correct symbols can take a few minutes – because if you accidentally skip the symbol, you must go through all the symbols again until it appears again in the rotation.
How do I find the symbol codes? A code that makes an emblem jump was apparently found in a cutscene. The remaining codes are said to be hidden throughout the Destiny 2 world – one was found on Nessus and the rest discovered in the raid. Currently, 12 codes have been compiled on reddit, according to data mining there should be 14.
All known wishes so far
List of wishes with images:
Wish 1 – Grants an Ethereal Key (for after the final boss):
Wish 2 – Spawns a chest between the raid boss Morgeth and the chamber. You need a Glittering Key for the chest, which you receive when completing the raid:
Wish 3 – You receive an emblem:
Wish 4 – You teleport to Shuro Chi (raid boss 2) – and can loot the raid chest at the bridge without having to defeat a boss first. Andy Edition also shows you the way in the above video:
Wish 5 – You teleport to Morgeth (raid boss 3):
Wish 6 – You teleport to the chamber (raid encounter 4):
Wish 11 – Headshots in the raid cause a “Grunt Birthday Party” style effect in the raid:
“Grunt Birthday Party” should be familiar to Halo players. In the games, skulls can be found that trigger different effects. With “Grunt Birthday Party,” a headshot on Grunt enemies made their heads explode and confetti rained down. How this effect looks in Destiny 2 can be seen in this video:
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Wish 12 – Adds effects around your head (Traveler Sphere, butterflies, etc.):
Wish 13 – Activates Petras Run. This is a ruthless version of the raid, where every death of any fireteam member is harshly punished. The entire raid team will be sent back to orbit and the raid must be restarted.
Wish 14 – Spawns possessed “eggs” in the raid that can be destroyed with the Wisher:
Whether there is a 15th wish is currently unknown.
If you entered the correct symbols, you must stand on the circle in the center of the room. Then the wish will come true. This is also indicated in the game on the left side of the screen.
You can, by the way, enter the room solo. You do not need a fireteam to enter the wishes. However, if your wish teleports you to a raid encounter, you will find yourself as a lonely Guardian in front of a big enemy.
If you have already fulfilled all wishes and want to tackle the new raid of the Black Armory instead, you will find a detailed two-part guide here:
