In Battlefield 5, there is a trick to lower the graphics settings so much that hardly any details are visible, giving players a significant advantage over regular players. Therefore, players who exploit this downgrade are now being banned.
What happened? Most players actually try to get the most out of their PCs to make a game look as good as possible while still running smoothly.
However, there are currently numerous players in Battlefield 5 who make the latest series installment look as bad as possible. As a result, they are now being banned. What is behind this?
What is the graphics downgrade about? Some players have manipulated Nvidia graphics drivers and caused a graphics downgrade with these LoD settings. This allows the settings to be lowered below the officially specified minimum.
What exactly does the downgrade do? With the edited config settings, Battlefield 5 looks like a cell-shaded comic with blocky graphics. Vegetation is only represented in rudimentary forms, grass and leaves are hardly displayed or only very coarsely, particle effects and many other details are completely missing.
You can see the effect in this video from YouTuber jackrags:
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Therefore, these settings are problematic: While it is not a true cheat or hack, the resulting optics give the user significant advantages over their opponents.
Enemy soldiers and military equipment can be seen from great distances and even with the slightest movement. Where one could easily overlook enemies with regular graphics, as they would hide in bushes, grass, or behind other objects, opponents are now clearly visible.
This allows for a series of kills that would otherwise not have been possible or only possible with luck.
This is how DICE is taking action against users: Even though this certainly provides a significant advantage, one should avoid using this option. Not only because it is unfair to others, but also because DICE is apparently cracking down hard on users of these settings.
As has now become known, players caught using this graphics downgrade through anti-cheat measures will receive a ban.
Video games can now be found everywhere in life. Gamers report on social media how universities regularly present tasks related to games like League of Legends (LoL) or PUBG. Here you will find some examples of assignments where professors use situations from video games.
Although gaming has only become a really big industry in the entertainment business in recent years, many of us have been nurturing the gaming hobby for more than a decade.
Those who started gaming as children or teenagers in the 80s and 90s are now adults and responsible members of our society (ideally).
When such an adult responsible gamer takes it upon themselves to educate the younger generation in school or at university, funny exam questions arise.
Especially physics professors seem to have fun with the gaming tasks. Here are some exam questions with a gaming background.
When science meets gaming
What does a gaming exam question for physics look like? A fun assignment went as follows:
“In the popular video game League of Legends, the siren champion Nami has the ultimate ability to summon a tsunami wave. She does this by swinging her staff of length L with great force, creating turmoil in the water around her.
The wave propagation speed V and the pressure P that the wave exerts upon collision both depend on the following factors:
Gravity g
Depth of the water beneath the wave h
And the density and surface tension of the water
Will the sprinter Usain Bolt be able to escape the wave unharmed?
Multiple world record holder in sprinting Usain Bolt
Or another example:
During a PUBG match, you noticed that an opponent dove into the water under the bridge to the military base Sosnovka in the south of Pochinki. With which weapon can you eliminate the opponent the fastest with a pressure of 105 bars? An AKM or an M16A4?
The task also includes the pressure values of both weapons, their rate of fire, and other necessary information.
Gaming also represented in psychology: But even among psychology professors, there seems to be one or other passionate gamer. A thread on Reddit appeared a few days ago that depicted the task of a psychology project.
The students’ task was to focus on one of the predefined video games such as World of Warcraft, Smite, or Call of Duty over the course of the semester and interact with others in chat.
The students were to investigate player behavior psychologically and look behind the “just for fun” facade.
With a weighting of 25%, this task was relevant to the final grade of the students.
What do other gamers say about it? The reactions of gamers on Reddit and social media to these posts were almost universally positive. People found it cool that teachers and professors came up with such funny tasks. Many wished they had such professors with whom they could discuss gaming.
An American student even managed to get his teachers to write a chemistry test about Fortnite:
The online game RaiderZ is apparently not dead after all. After more than four years, it is set to be released as a reboot. Better than before.
What is RaiderZ? RaiderZ is an action MMORPG that features a similar combat system to TERA. You must use a crosshair to deploy skills on opponents and dodge skillfully. The game has not been playable on official servers since 2015.
Why did it “die”? The reasons for the failure were primarily a vague control scheme, a very invasive cash shop, and players having to pay real money for reskills. This only appealed to a few players, which is why operating RaiderZ was no longer worthwhile for the publisher.
RaiderZ has always been the free clone of the more successful MMORPG TERA. When TERA went free-to-play, it became the higher quality alternative for many players.
A new publisher wants to reboot RaiderZ
In 2017, the publisher Masangsoft decided to give RaiderZ a second chance and to reboot it. RaiderZ should be adapted to current market needs.
The focus is on the following aspects:
Character development occurs independently of classes. This gives you more freedom to develop your own build.
The endgame content should be repeatable and offer a wider variety of different items.
The combat system should feel better through various adjustments. Masangsoft wants to adjust hit detection and dodging, among other things.
The UI should be adapted so that controller control is also possible.
Character creation will be adjusted, and players will start in a new location.
Video shows gameplay: Since the announcement in November 2017, short snippets of information about the reboot have been released at regular intervals to keep fans updated. In November 2018, Masangsoft even released a video that allowed players to get a first look at the revamped skill and combat system.
The developers at Masangsoft are using the alpha version of the game for the reboot. According to the publisher, this version was the only one they had received.
Since the video, however, there has been no new information from Masangsoft. Fans have been waiting for just over two months for a sign of life. It is normal to have longer breaks between updates.
Some players still doubt the project. A user on Facebook writes that he is slowly beginning to think that the project is not real. Masangsoft responded with a picture of a developer working on the reboot. So progress is being made.
Furthermore, the publisher announced that a forum would be opened in a few months, allowing former and new players to provide feedback on the game’s development. Changes are also being made to the game. Weapons will receive new effects, and the texture resolution will be increased.
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In Fortnite there is now the new Honor View 20 Skin, but you can’t simply get it in the shop. We’ll show you how to get this special outfit.
What makes this skin special? At first glance, the new clothes in Fortnite don’t look very spectacular. The skin resembles a motorcyclist. Nonetheless, this skin will be one of the rarest in Fortnite. You can only get it in connection with a phone.
What makes the Honor View 20 Skin so special
How to get the skin: The skin was created through a collaboration between Epic Games and the phone manufacturer Honor. To get the outfit, you need to buy Honor’s latest phone: the View 20.
With the purchase, you’ll also receive the special skin as an additional bonus.
Can I get the skin another way? The purchase of the phone will be the only way to get the rare outfit. The smartphone and the accompanying Fortnite skin will cost around 550 Euros. It will thus be a very expensive skin for the players.
Why does Epic cooperate with Honor? According to the manufacturer, the View 20 is supposed to be the first Android device that lets Fortnite run at 60 FPS. Epic supports the whole initiative and provides a skin.
How do I get the phone? If you really want to buy the phone, you can already do so on Honor’s website. From January 29, you can also find the phone in classic stores like Saturn or Media Markt in Germany.
There has been such a cooperation before: Fortnite fans will remember: with the Galaxy Skin there was already a similar promotion from Epic. You only received this Galaxy Skin if you purchased the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 or the S4 Tablet.
What do you think about that? Would you buy a new phone just for a skin?
There has already been an outcry about a 20-Euro skin, with players wanting their money back:
In FIFA 19 today on January 23, 2019, the TOTW 19 (Team of the Week) comes to Ultimate Team. You can find out which players receive new Inform cards this week here in the overview.
The release time for TOTW 19: The Team of the Week appears on January 23 at 7 PM in FIFA 19’s Ultimate Team mode. Then the special cards of the TOTW players will be available in packs from 7 PM.
The players in Team of the Week 19: Here you can see all the new Inform cards:
However, the chance of this is relatively low, you will need quite a bit of luck.
Additionally, it is possible to buy TOTW cards on the transfer market. However, the prices are often extremely high, especially for good players.
When can you get the new TOTW players? The TOTW players are available in the sets for one week – from Wednesday 7 PM to the following Wednesday 7 PM. You can get the TOTW 20 in packs from January 30 at 7 PM until February 6 at 7 PM.
Investing with TOTW Predictions
Many football and FIFA experts make their predictions on which players could land in the upcoming TOTW. You can read the predictions for TOTW 19 here.
Trading and investments with TOTW cards: If you take a certain risk, you can earn a lot of coins with TOTW cards and the predictions. You must be aware that these predictions never match the “real” TOTW 100%. There is therefore no guarantee that your investment will pay off.
The eSports athlete Enzo Bonito has beaten the racer Lucas di Grassi in a real race. A big victory for the sim racer and an even bigger win for eSports, which is making waves.
At the ROC Nations Cup in Mexico, a showdown between two sports legends took place. The well-known sim racer Enzo Bonito and the racer Lucas di Grassi raced against each other in a time trial. The result: Bonito was over half a second faster than the “real” pro, with a time of 52.3885 seconds.
Di Grassi is a former Formula 1 driver and is currently active in Formula E (for electric cars). Hardly anyone expected a victory from Bonito.
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Commentators speechless, community delighted: The commentators of the event are speechless in the video excerpt. Apparently, they did not expect this outcome.
Right after Bonito crosses the finish line, there is a long pause, until a commentator just notes: “Di Grassi loses …”
The reactions from the community are correspondingly positive. Under the tweet many discuss that nobody expected Bonito’s victory, and that even the camera focuses on di Grassi. The result, however, gives many fans hope that eSports will receive more respect now.
The German sim racer Marcel Kiefer writes: “Well done, Enzo! You represent us F1 eSports drivers at such a high level.”
What is sim racing? Bonito is a sim racer. Sim racing is the virtual simulation of real races under realistic conditions and has little to do with a video game anymore. Drivers have setups like wheels, pedals, and even actual racing seats that simulate the seat in a race car.
The tracks that the athletes drive on are mostly real-life tracks. Their simulated cars behave as realistically as possible physically. This way, drivers experience the racetracks in a realistic manner.
The state of eSport and eRacing: eSports still has a tough standing in Germany, and also in Europe and around the world. Sports figures like Uli Hoeneß vehemently oppose the recognition of digital sports and games as sports.
Politician Peter Beuth (CDU) also speaks out against eSports and even wants to “eradicate” the term. Lately, the Olympics has also opposed the recognition of eSports, even though the arguments for it are rather weak.
With Bonito’s victory over di Grassi, the debate about eSports could enter a new round. Fans are pleased that a driver who “only does eSports” was able to beat a “real athlete.”
It seems that Sea of Thieves couldn’t have wished for a better start to 2019. The audience on Twitch is suddenly huge. What is behind this?
What is it about? Sea of Thieves is the pirate adventure developed by Rare, which was released back in March 2018. Since then, many free additional content have been released. Thanks to the biggest faces on Twitch, Sea of Thieves is now being presented to a huge audience.
After Summit1g, DrDisrespect and Ninja followed to Sea of Thieves
These big names are streaming Sea of Thieves: Recently, Sea of Thieves has been repeatedly seen among the most popular games on twitch.tv. In terms of viewer numbers, the pirate game regularly lands in the top 3 of the streaming platform alongside heavyweights like League of Legends or Fortnite.
A few weeks ago, former CS:GO pro Summit1g plunged into the seas of Sea of Thieves and has been regularly streaming his sessions in front of thousands of viewers since then.
Now DrDisrespect is also involved, who is primarily known for battle royale games like PUBG or Fortnite. With his 3 million followers, he brings a large audience with him.
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He is clearly having fun with the game and crafting funny graphics with his stream overlay.
But Fortnite star Ninja is also now making his rounds on the waters of Sea of Thieves. He has over 13 million followers on Twitch, providing the game with a huge platform.
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What does this mean for Sea of Thieves? The game has utilized the months after release to refine the aspects that players criticized. Now there are many new contents and more to see. The fact that these big Twitch streamers are presenting Sea of Thieves in its current form is fantastic for the game.
With this massive reach, Sea of Thieves can attract potential new players who can get a taste of the game for free in streams.
Why is Sea of Thieves making a breakthrough right now?
With the expansions, Sea of Thieves is now much more exciting than at release
There are currently no major hits blocking Sea of Thieves
Aside from Anthem in February, which will likely secure one of the top spots on Twitch
Streamers recognize that others are succeeding with the game and retaining viewers, and they are now trying to do the same
For streamers and viewers, the upcoming update with the Arena is probably interesting again:
This is how Sea of Thieves has developed: Through the last expansion “Shrouded Spoils”, Sea of Thieves received a lot of attention. PvE events with krakens, megalodons, and skeleton ships are now appearing more frequently around the world. This has also piqued the curiosity of many streamers. And there are still more big plans for this year:
The first Fortnite player has reached 100,000 kills! It is not Ninja, but the American player HighDistortion. His journey to this milestone is enormous, as he played almost continuously. Even his competitor Ninja said: “This is too hard for me. I’m out.”
What happened? A few days ago, a competition began between the streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevons and HighDistortion. It was about who would be the first player to reach 100,000 kills in Fortnite.
When Ninja reached over 97,000 kills, his competitor was still behind him, but then HighDistortion really picked up the pace.
HighDistortion played at an incredible pace and spent hours and days in the world of Fortnite. Ninja gave up even before the competition ended and let his rival take the victory.
How Ninja could be defeated
Those who regularly follow Ninja on Twitch see that the pro plays Fortnite almost non-stop. He streams for up to 12 hours a day and more – he has been doing this for months. According to his own statements, Ninja played 4,000 hours of Fortnite in 2018 alone – that is almost every 2nd hour of the year.
It is therefore hard to imagine that another player plays more Fortnite and thereby generates more kills on players. But that is exactly what happened.
Ninja competitor HighDistortion
This is how HighDistortion could win: After the media became aware of the duel between the two pro gamers, HighDistortion wanted to know.
He held several 30-hour streams and slowly overtook Ninja in terms of kills. He recorded more kills per day than his competitor.
This is how much the two have played: According to the site Fortnite-Tracker, both players have played an enormous amount of matches.
Ninja has played 14,269 matches and currently has 98,547 kills. He played evenly in Solo, Duo, and Team. (via Fortnitetracker)
HighDistortion has played 18,110 matches and achieved 100,091 kills there. HighDistortion hardly played Solo (only 443 matches) – he primarily plays in Squads. (via Fortnitetracker)
HighDistortion did not win through a better K/D, but by completing significantly more matches than Ninja.
Ninja: “The kid is a monster”
This is what Ninja said: When it became clear that HighDistortion would win the competition if he continued at this pace, Ninja admitted defeat. Via Twitter, the streaming star shared that he will take a break from the race and leave the victory to HighDistortion.
The guy is doing 30-hour streams – he is simply a monster.
This is how the competition came to an end: HighDistortion indeed maintained his high pace and then became the first player to reach 100,000 kills. Now the American is taking a break and letting the rivals catch up.
Ninja is currently standing at about 98,500 kills and is expected to be the next player to reach this milestone. But he must be careful, as the Xbox player Shipings716 has only 2,000 kills less and could pose a threat to Ninja.
Ninja has great competition not only in kills. In some matches, he has a very tough opponent in Tfue:
In Destiny 2, the content plan is set until Fall 2019. But especially after the separation from Bungie and Activision, many are asking: What comes next?
Therefore, numerous fans are now wondering more than ever what the future of Destiny 2 will look like. Bungie has already confirmed that the planned annual pass contents will be maintained. However, regarding the plans beyond that, fans are still in the dark.
This is what the future of Destiny 2 could look like
With the annual pass for Forsaken, fans will be supported until August 2019. Season 7 ends then, marking the conclusion of the last planned content for Destiny 2. We present some possibilities for what could happen in Fall 2019.
The next major expansion
The case for it: Initially, a major expansion like Forsaken would be a logical step. This would keep Bungie true to its previous “tradition”. The historical release pattern within the Destiny franchise supports this idea. Destiny was released in 2014, followed by major expansions in 2015 and 2016.
Destiny 2 was launched in 2017 and also received a major expansion in Fall 2018 – Forsaken. If Bungie adheres to this release pattern, a second major expansion is quite likely.
This is also in line with predictions from analysts and some experts who forecast a Destiny 3 for the year 2020 – despite the separation from Activision. This would also align with the previous release pattern.
Moreover, the internal plans for Fall would likely have been in place before the separation. Due to the divorce, these plans might not necessarily be discarded if work had already commenced on this content.
It is unknown to what extent Bungie and Activision reached a contractual agreement regarding their “divorce”. It is quite conceivable that they committed to completing ongoing projects before going their separate ways. Such agreements are common in the business world.
Prominent leaker AnonTheNine has also mentioned that a Destiny 3 is already in development, which aligns with the analysts’ views. The Redditor is highly regarded and trusted within the community. All his previous leaks about Destiny 2 have proven to be accurate thus far. However, this statement was made before the separation from Activision.
What speaks against it: One of the biggest factors against this scenario is the loss of key resources – specifically the two Activision studios, Vicarious Visions and High Moon Studios. Bungie was no longer solely responsible for content supply and development work.
If both development studios were planned for future content, it would likely be quite difficult for Bungie to compensate for that loss. An expansion might still be conceivable, but whether the Fall timeline could still be adhered to remains questionable.
Additionally, the pressure and obligation to the publisher are gone, so Bungie would no longer be forced to adhere to the previous release pattern.
More content with the Annual Pass model
The case for it: After the separation, losing important manpower, more content with the Annual Pass would probably be the simplest solution for Bungie. They could easily connect with a fourth season to the previous content or continue the entire third year of Destiny 2 with the Annual Pass.
This is not so unlikely. The leaker AnonTheNine, who is rumored to have an insider at Bungie, has already stated that the third year will also get an Annual Pass. While this does not rule out an expansion or a DLC at the start of the third year, Bungie may need to settle with this if they lack the necessary resources.
What speaks against it: Even now, many fans argue that the Annual Pass does not provide sufficient content to keep the Guardians engaged over such a long period. If Bungie were to extend the model for another year, more players could turn away from Destiny 2.
The assumption that Bungie could deliver more content with an Annual Pass for year 3 seems rather unlikely due to the trimmed resources. This step would likely only occur if Bungie sees no other options to supply Destiny 2 with fresh content.
A classic DLC
The case for it: A further plausible solution could be a classic DLC like Kriegsgeist. This way, Bungie wouldn’t have to conjure up a major expansion, yet would still be able to delight fans with a new content package when the third year starts. Many fans would likely be satisfied with a DLC the size of Kriegsgeist.
Especially in conjunction with a season pass for year 3, such a step could be possible, as long as Bungie has the necessary resources, which would not suffice for a full-fledged expansion.
What speaks against it: Actually, Bungie has already moved away from this model. The studio has repeatedly emphasized that the Annual Pass is now the new way to deliver content.
However, whether the separation from Activision and the resulting situation will cause the studio to rethink remains to be seen. In Bungie’s current position, it could indeed be a plausible option.
No new content
The case for it: Even though this may indeed be the least likely option – it is not unthinkable.
The pressure from the publisher and the contractual obligation to deliver at specific times is now gone. Bungie could thus fully focus on realizing its own unrestricted vision of Destiny without compromises, possibly even in a new Destiny title.
Destiny 2 would then only be supported with some seasonal events like Anbruch or Festival der Verlorenen and would otherwise be kept at a minimum. Meanwhile, the studio could focus entirely on creating new content for Destiny 2 or even the next Destiny title without any pressure, and then deliver high quality.
It may happen that Destiny 2 is therefore “sacrificed” or at least neglected, yet fans have often stated that Bungie should not rush, but rather deliver good content. If the studio communicates this properly, many fans would forgive them for a longer dry spell, provided that in the end, they are compensated with great content.
What speaks against it: However, this could also pose the risk that Destiny 2 loses a lot of players during this time who do not know how to occupy themselves any longer.
Whether they could ever win these players back remains questionable. Because even content that is celebrated by critics and fans finds it difficult to retain and attract sufficient players, as proven by the Forsaken expansion.
The likelihood that Bungie might choose this path is rather low, unless they have not yet given up on Destiny 2 and see no other way out.
A new update for Dead by Daylight has been released. Especially killers are excited because survivors receive less information.
The “Mid-Season” patch of Dead by Daylight was released a few hours ago. Update 2.5.0 brings a handful of balancing changes and bug fixes. These were badly needed, as the last patch had updated the developers’ engine, leading to numerous issues.
A small change, however, makes killers rejoice because it makes communication among survivors more difficult.
The killers’ loadout remains hidden: From now on, survivors can no longer see which perks and addons killers have brought into a match. Previously, this was possible if a survivor died. They were then returned to the lobby and could see what the killer had brought. This allowed them to inform their teammates (e.g. via voice chat) about which perks they needed to consider.
This was particularly annoying in the case of perks that only activated in the last minutes of a match, such as “No One Escapes Death” or “Blood Warden.” Those who already knew in advance that these perks would be used could disable or avoid them early on.
Now this has been changed. All killers’ equipment and perks will only be visible once the match is completed, meaning when all survivors have escaped or been killed.
New totem placements: It is also noteworthy that totems can now appear in new positions and are generally intended to be better hidden. The developers will continue to improve the system in upcoming updates. Some totems should now be significantly harder to find, making perks like “Small Game” useful again.
More rare loot: Another change concerns the blood web of all characters. After the winter event with its gift boxes received a lot of positive feedback, the developers have now integrated parts of the event into the regular game. The “Mystery Boxes” that can appear in the blood web now contain rare addons or offerings much more frequently – so it’s worth keeping an eye on the boxes, as it might pay off.
What do you think about this change? Is it good that the killers’ loadout remains “secret”? Or is this an unfair buff for the killer?
In the Dark Zones of The Division 2 there is a new system called “Theft & Greed”. This is intended to reward particularly greedy agents in new ways. Here’s how it works.
Going rogue should pay off in The Division 2. Thanks to the new “Theft & Greed” system, dedicated rogue agents can even be rewarded without killing other players. A new rogue status has been introduced for this.
Here’s how the rogue status works in The Division 1: When entering the Dark Zone, players can choose between “Peaceful” and “Rogue” in The Division 1.
Rogue: When activating rogue status, players are automatically marked as targets for others. This is indicated by a red skull symbol displayed above the player. By killing other players, one can level up this rogue status until the manhunt is activated.
Manhunt: The red rogue symbol turns yellow. At certain terminals distributed throughout the Dark Zone, players can deactivate this and reap rewards. But first, they must reach that point. When the manhunt is active, one is visible to every other player in the Dark Zone and is thus fair game. Additionally, every player can see where the terminals are located.
The mechanics are largely similar in The Division 2, but in addition to rogue and manhunt, there is a “non-lethal” rogue status. This is marked by a gray skull symbol.
Theft and Greed as a New Factor
What does the new rogue status bring? When going rogue in the Dark Zone, you start in this “passive” rogue mode. You are not yet displayed as a threat to other players, but you can still commit “evil” deeds. The “Theft & Greed” system introduces another way to engage in “rogue” actions.
Only when you kill players will you be classified as dangerous and become a target for others. This corresponds to the classic rogue status from The Division 1. If you kill enough players, you will reach the manhunt status.
Here’s how the “Theft & Greed” system works: Agents can hack special SHD terminals of the Division throughout the Dark Zone
hack special SHD terminals of the Division
break into large loot boxes that would otherwise require a key
steal loot from supply drops
and take collected loot from fallen agents.
In the final game, there are apparently even more options available.
Through such PvE actions, a countdown can be increased. When this countdown reaches its maximum, you can enter the “Thieves’ Den”, the hideout for thieves. A total of three of these hideouts spawn on the map. However, you must choose one, as they disappear after entering.
The hideouts spawn in different locations in the Dark Zone each time to avoid spawn camping.
Hideout for Rogues in Thieves’ Den
What is the purpose of the Thieves’ Den? It serves as a kind of safe house and hideout for rogue agents. In one of the three possible Thieves’ Dens, there is an NPC vendor who carries special goods.
To see the vendor’s offerings, you must first give him three special “MRE” items that can be found in the Dark Zone.
If there is no vendor in the Den you chose, you must retry and reset the countdown to 100%. If you leave a Thieves’ Den, you are no longer rogue.
The new rogue status is meant to give agents new opportunities to go rogue without immediately getting involved in fights with other players. But be careful: other players can still be a danger to you.
Is the manhunt worth it again? If you’re in manhunt mode, you still need to deactivate a terminal in The Division 2 to end the manhunt. However, other players can no longer see where these are located on the map. This should make the manhunt significantly more attractive and has been long requested by fans.
The probably best mage player from Hearthstone has been banned from a tournament. The reason is so silly that he is really annoyed.
If you are interested in the best playstyles of mage decks in Hearthstone, you have surely come across the streamer Jacob “Apxvoid” Coen. He is considered one of the best mage players in the world. He was disqualified in the current HCT tournament with the reasoning: He cheated.
What happened? The eSports team of Hearthstone did not provide any specific details, it was only mentioned that he was disqualified for a rule violation (cheating). However, Apxvoid reports in a post what actually happened.
Apxvoid explains that he was sitting next to another player during the tournament. Both were preparing for their matches and waiting for their opponents to be assigned. Because Apxvoid was quite nervous, he typed in the chat window “Should I play ‘Hard Fatigue’ in the warrior match?” and did not send this message. He just wanted his neighbor to read this message and hoped for a “nod of agreement” or something from him. However, the other player did not notice it.
It should be noted that this question was not meant to be serious and Apxvoid just wanted some distraction and agreement to lose the tension. The answer to this question was obvious, it was a purely suggestive question.
Wrong chat message leads to ban: A few minutes later, after Apxvoid had played his match, he was supposed to message one of the admins to tell him which deck he would use next. He hit “Enter” to open the chat and accidentally sent the previous message – to the admin. This raised immediate alarm and the admin suspected collusion and strategy talks during the matches. As a result, Apxvoid was disqualified.
A conversation would have been fine: The most absurd part of the situation is that Apxvoid would not have been disqualified if he had simply asked his seat neighbor out loud. Because at that time both were not in a game and a conversation – even about possible tactics – would not have been a violation of the rules. However, Apxvoid only typed to avoid disturbing the other players with conversations. That clearly backfired.
In the meantime, Apxvoid has calmed down and decided to continue his Hearthstone career anyway. The community shows compassion and finds the ban from the tournament “unusually harsh, but a rule is a rule”. This mistake is unlikely to happen to Apxvoid a second time.
How would you have decided in this matter? Is this a clear rule violation and is the disqualification justified? Or should they have been lenient here?
In Anthem, there are Shards and Coin. We will show you what can be purchased with the in-game and premium currency.
This is new: There are now new details regarding how Anthem handles microtransactions. It is clear that Shards will serve as a premium currency alongside the in-game currency Coin.
What can you buy with Shards? The premium currency “Shards” is intended to be used in Anthem only for purchasing cosmetic items. Shards exist alongside the standard currency Coin. These cosmetic items include armors in specific styles, emotes, or stickers. So it sounds like there are no gameplay advantages when spending Shards.
Can cosmetic items only be purchased with Shards? According to IGN, a large portion of the cosmetics can be bought with either Shards or Coin. So, there’s no need to resort to the premium currency necessarily. However, this has not been finalized and may change by the time of release.
New Javelin suits may cost money: The Javelin suits in Anthem are not really “only cosmetic”. The new suits may potentially cost money in the future. While there are currently no concrete plans regarding this, should BioWare release additional Javelin suits in the future, it is possible that these will only be unlockable using the premium currency.
However, this is more about a change in playstyle. These suits will not impact the rest of the game.
On the topic of loot boxes, there is also a clear stance:
In this regard, BioWare is adamant: They do not want to split the community into two camps through purchasable content. There are big plans for what will happen with Anthem post-release and which content will be released. But none of this content will be behind a paywall.
What’s free? New story and content expansions as well as missions and daily, weekly, and monthly content drops will be available to you for free if you purchased Anthem.
Do not miss any news: More articles about Anthem and its features can be found on our site MeinMMO. Follow our Facebook page for Anthem to stay updated.
Anthem is set to release on February 22 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Now the General Manager speaks to the players with great promises:
The Chinese New Year brings two new skins for Overwatch. Fans of Reaper, Hanzo, Reinhardt, and Torbjörn should mark the event on their calendars!
Even in 2019, Overwatch will maintain its usual event density and release plenty of new skins and other cosmetic items. As the Ana event slowly comes to an end, the next event is already upon us. The “Lunar New Year” or “Chinese New Year” starts on January 24 and offers new skins. Some of them have already been presented.
Update from January 23: We have added the Zenyatta skin and the Brigitte skin. Additionally, we have included a video featuring skins of Tracer and Orisa. Update from January 22: We have added the new Torbjörn skin. Update from January 21: We have added the new Reinhardt skin.
Orisa and Tracer in the video: A developer video appeared on Overwatch’s Korean YouTube channel, showcasing two more skins: Orisa and Tracer. Tracer wears white clothing with a black vest and red ornaments, while Orisa gets a completely new appearance as a white dragon.
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Brigitte as General: The Korean Twitter account of Overwatch has already shown a new skin for Brigitte in advance. In this, the knight wears red-black armor with white fur decorations and a helmet. The weapon and her shield have also been reworked, although it is hardly visible in the video.
Zenyatta as Politician and Strategist: The healer Zenyatta receives an outfit with the “Zhuge” skin in plain white with golden embellishments and light green accents. Additionally, the omnic gets black bushy eyebrows, a pointed beard, and long strands. His appearance is inspired by the Chinese politician and strategist Zhuge Liang.
Experience festivity.
Embrace the Year of the Pig as ZHUGE LIANG ZENYATTA!
Reinhardt as Famous General: The proud knight Reinhardt also receives a new skin for the Year of the Pig. He gets the “Guan Yu” skin, which gives him a black goatee and golden armor with green ornaments. Guan Yu was one of the most famous generals in Chinese history.
Respect your elders!
Share your wisdom on Capture the Flag traditions as GUAN YU REINHARDT.
Hanzo as Ancient General: The second skin is for the archer Hanzo. He dons the traditional Chinese warrior clothing of a general and carries the title “Huang Zhong Hanzo”. You can see what it looks like in this tweet here:
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Reaper as Ruthless Warrior: Lü Bu was considered a highly skilled warrior in Chinese history, unmatched by most. However, he also had very brutal and cruel traits and often switched masters, leading warlords to distance themselves from him due to his lack of loyalty. This fits perfectly with Reaper, who is equally dubious and is both a hero and a villain. In action, the skin looks like this:
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Torbjörn as Just General: Torbjörn also receives a new skin in the Chinese style. The “Zhan Fei Torbjörn” not only gives Torbjörn back his mane but also comes with special weapons designed in decorated dragon form.
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When can you earn the skins? The “Lunar New Year” begins on January 24 and is available for about 3 weeks. Until February 18, you have the opportunity to earn the special event loot boxes and thereby the new skins. Alternatively, the skins can be purchased with credits or loot boxes for real money.
The latest update 1.11 for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has some cool new features. We have gathered the most important ones for you.
On January 22, Black Ops 4 received a new update. The patch includes fixes and improvements, as well as a new stream for the Black Market, a new weapon, fresh playlists for multiplayer, and some new features for Zombies and Blackout. Here are the main contents:
Barbarians Event and new weapon in the Black Ops 4 Black Market
This is included in the new event: On PS4, the new free special event Barbarians started, which will also arrive on Xbox One and PC next week.
This event includes a new stream for the Black Market with 25 new loot tiers. Currently, players will receive double loot for every level-up. Players can unlock new items such as outfits, emotes, or calling cards in this framework.
This is the highlight of the loot: The highlight of the new stream is a new weapon that awaits players as a reward for reaching the last event stream tier – the fully automatic pistol KAP 45. This is the successor to the KAP 40 from Black Ops 2.
According to initial reports, the new pistol is said to perform really well. You can check out gameplay of the weapon here:
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Zombies fans on PC and Xbox One can look forward to a new gauntlet and elixirs for their favorite mode. This feature is already live on PS4.
This is the new gauntlet: Gauntlets are essentially special challenges in the Zombie mode, consisting of 30 rounds, replayable endlessly, and offering unique rules for each round. The new gauntlet is called “Unsinkable” and takes place in Voyage of Despair. Many Zombies fans have been looking forward to this feature.
These are the new elixirs:
Perk Up (Epic): Gain 4 additional perks that are not in your loadout
Refresh Mint (Epic): Resets the cooldowns for equipment, perks, and special weapons for your entire team
Conflagration Liquidation (Epic): Spawns a Bonfire Sale Power-Up
New Mode and Improvements in Blackout
New mode for Blackout: Starting today, players on Xbox One and PC can finally try out the new limited-time mode “Down but not out” in Blackout. This feature is already live on PS4.
This is an additional playlist that will be available to all players until the end of the month. Teams of 4 players will compete against each other, just like in Quads. However, for the first time, player respawns are possible in Blackout. You can find out exactly how it works here: Is Blackout with “Down but not out” still Battle Royale?
Tweaking the loot interface: The recently improved loot interface of Blackout has been adjusted again after evaluating fan feedback. Thus, switching tabs and navigating the interface with the D-Pad should work smoothly.
The window issue has not yet been resolved, by the way.
The data miner Chrales found the entire Eevee family with flower adornments on their heads in the code of Pokémon GO.
What happened? The well-known Pokémon GO data miner Chrales has once again searched the game’s code. There, he discovered the entire Eevee family wearing flower adornments on their heads. This flower adornment can be compared to a hat from a Pikachu.
Now there is discussion on Reddit about what this flower adornment could mean. Many players believe in a spring event that should start together with this headwear.
What's behind the flower adornment of the Eevee family
Now all Eevee evolutions have also been found with flowers. This includes Leafeon and Glaceon, the evolutions from Generation 4. Although they are not released yet, they have already been found in the code.
Can we expect the flower adornments soon? The Pokémon with the adornments have only been found in the code so far. This means that Niantic can release the flower adornment Pokémon at any time, but it also does not have to do so. There is no exact release date available.
What could be behind this? On Reddit, players are currently speculating about these discoveries. Some players suspect that the flower adornments are related to a spring event that should be coming soon.
As “cecaelias” writes on Reddit: “I believe in some sort of spring event together with Pikachu and Eevee with this flower adornment. Maybe also new Pokémon like Kikugi or Kinoso that will be released.”
Will we then see the new Eevee evolutions? Since the flower adornments have also been found for Leafeon and Glaceon, many trainers believe in a release of the new Eevee evolutions.
On Reddit, “McLovin1019” writes: “Just give us Glaceon and Leafeon already! Whether with flowers on their heads or not. I don't care, I just want them already!”
After Niantic announced another evolution of Generation 4, Mamoswine, it is possible that the Eevee evolutions will follow. However, this is currently just speculation.
Are you also affected? Niantic has locked players out of the game for weeks without reason:
The race for the First Kills in World of Warcraft is costing players a lot. The guild “Limit” pays $1,500 to get an item advantage. We shed light on the backgrounds.
Soon the race for the First Kills in the Battle of Dazar’Alor, the new raid of World of Warcraft, will take place.
The professional guilds are preparing for this race and pulling out all the stops to gain the decisive advantage over their competitors. The guild Limit goes particularly far to grab even the last small bonus.
Update 01/24/2019: It has now been revealed that Limit did not transfer all its characters, but only a small part. Therefore, the costs have turned out to be significantly lower than initially assumed by us and our sources. The figures in the article have been updated accordingly.
Faction Change for Advantage: The entire guild Limit has performed a faction change from Horde to Alliance.
Faction changes are possible for real money, but can alternatively be paid for with gold by buying WoW Tokens from other players (which in turn were purchased with real money).
The faction change of the entire guild Limit with all raid-ready characters cost nearly 12,000,000 gold – equivalent to more than $1,500 in WoW tokens.
Why the Change? Through the faction change, Limit wants to benefit from two small bonuses:
On one hand, the Alliance currently has a 30% bonus on artifact power gained in war mode, allowing them to upgrade their Heart of Azeroth faster.
More significantly, the Alliance can newly accept the quest for the warfront, meaning every player gets a guaranteed item of at least item level 400. This could secure the decisive advantage in the race for the First Kills.
Limit was still very much in the race at the Night Fortress.
Why aren’t other guilds following suit? Other professional guilds, such as Exorsus or Method, have not performed a faction change. This is because Limit plays on a US server while most other professionals play on European servers.
Here “with us”, the quest for the warfront was already triggered before the start of Season 2 – for them, only an item with item level 385 is available. This is unlikely to be much of an incentive for the professionals in Europe.
Is this already Pay2Win? On Reddit, this incident sparked the discussion on whether World of Warcraft is becoming a small part “Pay2Win” with this.
Some users, however, note that such small advantages are hardly avoidable if one wants to give the factions different identities and not make them completely equal. Accordingly, differences, such as racial bonuses that can change with a patch, have always been “Pay2Win” when considering a faction change.
What do you think of this practice to gain an advantage? Has a good situation been recognized and acted upon accordingly? Or does it just clearly show how “broken” the race for First Kills is?
How to stay informed: If you don’t want to miss any news about World of Warcraft, feel free to give a like on our WoW Facebook page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Recently, rumors circulated that Bethesda’s online game Fallout 76 might shift to a free-to-play model.
Now the studio has denied this. There is no truth to this rumor.
Fallout 76 and the Free-to-Play Rumor
What happened? Allegedly, the Australian retailer EB Games removed the physical standard versions of Fallout 76 from its inventory. There also appeared to be a shortage at Amazon. This led players to wonder whether there might possibly be a shift of the online game to the free-to-play model. Naturally, this rumor then spread like wildfire.
What does Bethesda say about this? After a buyer of the game complained on Twitter and demanded a refund, stating that Fallout 76 should go free-to-play, the development studio briefly responded on Twitter. Bethesda explained that this rumor is not true. EB Games has also since spoken up. The claim that Fallout 76 is being removed from the inventory is not correct. They continue to support the game, and it remains an active product in their lineup.
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How are the players reacting? As is apparently standard in discussions surrounding Fallout 76, there are both positive and negative voices. Especially those who have purchased the game are relieved. Others, however, take the opportunity to criticize and lash out against the game.
Andreas says: The shift to a “free” model is always a double-edged sword. For this step is often associated with the assumption that developers are dissatisfied with sales figures, and the switch is a last attempt to save the title. And especially with Fallout 76, surrounded by all the negativity, the shift to free-to-play would have been fodder for critics. Disappointed players would likely have already commented, “That was to be expected.”
A transition to free-to-play doesn’t always work, either. Wildstar, for example, could not be saved by this. Other games like SWTOR, on the other hand, benefited from it. Thus, it is not easy to switch a game from a pay model, as one must take into account the negative voices from the community and the possibility of failure.
How likely is a transition to free-to-play sometime in the future? It is always possible that an online game transitions from a buy-to-play to a free-to-play model. This has been seen many times before, such as with Star Wars: The Old Republic or Shroud of the Avatar. Therefore, it is quite conceivable that Bethesda will take this step at some point.
However, it is currently clearly established that Fallout 76 will remain available for purchase. This proves that Bethesda believes in the product and will continue to support it in the foreseeable future. More updates are already planned.
https://youtu.be/M9FGaan35s0
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The recent outrage in the MMORPG ArcheAge revolves around the “normalization” of the speed of new mounts. Players felt cheated.
The new operator of the MMORPG, gamigo, has now spoken out on this matter and clarified the situation.
Players are Angry
What happened? In ArcheAge, some mounts were offered in the game’s “lockboxes” for money. Especially the high speed of the mounts led players to want them. The increased speed was also advertised.
However, with the update 5.1 to the version “Relics of Hiram”, a so-called “normalization” occurred.
This meant that the speed of the mounts was “nerfed” to align with the other mounts in the game. They no longer gave a speed advantage.
This, in turn, led to fierce criticism. Players felt cheated and referred to it as a bait-and-switch. A backlash ensued.
This is how gamigo is responding now: Gamigo, the new operator of ArcheAge, attempted to explain the situation.
Mounts in the Korean version of the MMORPG have a higher speed than the mounts here.
The Korean values of the animals were adopted, which was an oversight. The mounts should never have been offered with high speed. Hence the “normalization” occurred.
It was stated that Gamigo is working with the developer studio XL Games on a solution to satisfy the players who felt betrayed.
Players Would Prefer Compensation
What does the solution look like? Back in 2017, there was already such a situation with the mount “Stormwraith”. At that time, players received compensation. However, this time that is not the case.
Instead, the “normalization” will be reversed.
With a patch that will be released soon, the mounts will regain the original speed with which they were offered. Currently, this patch for ArcheAge is still in a testing phase. Gamigo will soon announce when it will be released.
How do players see the situation? There is intense discussion in the official ArcheAge forum.
Interestingly, there is now criticism that the mounts retain the high speed. Because according to some, this forces players to “buy” the fast mounts. This smells to many like a Pay2Win mechanic.
A compensation would likely have been better received by the players.
In Fortnite there was heavy criticism of the event “Ice Storm.” Players have to destroy ice shards, ice fiends, ice monstrosities, and golden ice monstrosities. But the spawn of the zombies was not properly balanced. Fortnite changed that last night.
This is the situation: The “Ice Storm” event has been running in Fortnite since Saturday evening. Numerous challenges went live that ultimately revolve around one thing: Kill the Ice Legion. These are ice zombies (well, technically not zombies) that come in various sizes and colors and spawn around ice shards in Fortnite.
Players are supposed to kill them with a variety of weapons and in large quantities.
This was the problem: The ice fiends are killed in regular Battle Royale matches. At the start, the playable area of the map is very large. However, only a few ice zombies and ice shards spawned at the start of a match.
As the map shrank, there were proportionally many monsters, and they interfered with the gameplay.
Additionally, the “golden ice monstrosities” were simply too rare. Players had to kill them for a challenge. This frustrated many when they needed to eliminate 20 golden ice monstrosities but didn’t see any in a regular match.
Players want to complete the Ice Storm challenges; after all, there are bonus XP and a cool glider.
This is the solution now: Epic reversed the spawn rates with a hotfix last night. V
Previously, the spawn rates of the ice legion were low and increased as the match progressed: When the eye of the storm tightened and less area of the map was being played, more zombies appeared.
Now, there are many zombies at the beginning of a match – and the spawn rate then decreases continuously.
This is how the players are reacting: The feedback on reddit has been overwhelmingly positive. Especially that players can now reliably find and kill “golden ice monstrosities” makes many happy. Players are shouting “thank goodness” and are generally in a good mood.
Who would have thought that more zombies would be such a good thing.
Everything about the event and what rewards are available can be read here:
