Since 2016, the action RPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem has been in early access, but a release is still not in sight. Are there problems?
What is Wolcen? Wolcen is a hack ‘n’ slash that places great importance on telling an epic story. Just like in Diablo, you explore a large fantasy world where many quests await you. Along the way, you fight hordes of monsters and bosses in the wild and in dungeons to obtain better loot.
How has the development gone so far? Wolcen was announced in 2015 under the title Umbra as part of a Kickstarter campaign and was successfully funded with over $406,000. At that time, the hack ‘n’ slash was supposed to be released by the end of 2016.
In early 2016, it was renamed to Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem, and the release date was postponed to late 2017. At the same time the name change occurred, the early access version of the game was released on March 24, 2016 via Steam. After that, it became relatively quiet about the title.
Is the development making progress? The small indie team is constantly working on the game. However, mainly smaller updates and patches are released, although these are very regular. Over the years, the action RPG has improved slowly but steadily.
In June 2017, the world map and quests system were integrated.
In January 2018, there was a restructuring. The team stated they were now working on the final content of the game.
In September 2018, the beta was announced, with the first phase starting in October.
Since then, patches have been released based on the testers’ feedback.
What happens next? The second beta phase is currently ongoing. It is not yet clear when this will end. A release is expected afterwards, but that also has no date yet.
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What makes Wolcen special? The action RPG uses the CryEngine. The beautiful landscapes invite exploration, and the dungeons create a creepy atmosphere. Graphically, the title can even compete with the highly anticipated Project TL.
Furthermore, the developers aim to create an RPG that is supported by an exciting story and interesting quests, without neglecting the “hack ‘n’ slash” combat and loot gathering.
Wolcen currently does not have a multiplayer mode. However, this is expected to be integrated and tested during the beta.
How you can join: If you want to check out Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem now, you can purchase the early access version for 19.99 Euros via Steam. The reviews of this early version are “mostly positive” with 73%, and the ratings from the last 30 days on Steam are even “very positive”.
Fans of action RPGs should definitely keep an eye on Wolcen. However, patience is simply required when it comes to the development and release of the game.
In the patch for Fallout 76 on January 10, 2019, numerous bugs were fixed and changes were made to the game quality. Our author Benedict finds six of them particularly noteworthy.
In the comprehensive patch notes of the latest patch of Fallout 76, some good changes may easily go unnoticed. However, I find 6 of them particularly good.
The Best Changes from the Patch
With the patch from January 10, Bethesda fixed 150 bugs in Fallout 76. Among them are some changes in the patch notes that I find very good.
Hardened Mass is no longer destroyed
The probably most important point for me in the whole patch. Hardened mass is dropped by enemies in impact zones of atomic bombs. It is needed to stabilize flux.
Flux is important in the endgame. However, the hardened mass was counted as a junk item that could be scrapped and was directly destroyed with the “Scrap All” option.
So I occasionally scrapped the valuable “Hardened Mass” out of reflex when I was standing at the workbench and didn’t think about it.
With the new change, it will be more pleasant to stabilize flux and improve higher-tier equipment.
Bobby Pins weigh less
The change of the weight of bobby pins from 0.1 to 0.001, I find directly the best.
Anyone who has played Fallout 76 for a while undoubtedly has well over 100 bobby pins.
I always find it difficult to discard them as they are useful. However, with such a quantity, you easily get a weight of 10, which blocks quite a bit of inventory space. That is no longer a problem.
This bug made the early times of Fallout 76 particularly difficult for me. In some workshops, enemies spawned in the ground where they could not be reached.
The event to clear the workshop of enemies to claim it no longer worked this way. However, you only found this out after several minutes of fighting when the last enemies didn’t appear. Good change.
Stored C.A.M.P. items can be scrapped
A change that became increasingly important during the course of the game. There was a bug that caused items to appear multiple times in the “Stored” tab of the C.A.M.P. even though they were not manufactured.
These inadvertently duplicated items could neither be placed nor scrapped but blocked the budget. With the bug fix, these items can finally be destroyed and make room in the budget.
Robots spawn less frequently in Whitespring
A bug fix that will contribute well to the stability of Fallout 76. Due to a bug, hordes of robots could spawn in Whitespring, greeting (or attacking if you were mean to them).
While this led to funny scenes, it also affected the game performance. This was a bigger problem for the server and some low-performance computers.
No more twisted limbs
When exiting a Power Armor, characters were sometimes distorted. While this looked funny, it could lead to characters being unable to interact.
I personally haven’t experienced this, but I have seen it and teammates were affected. This bug was one of the most annoying in the whole game.
In Fortnite: Battle Royale, the team of professional streamer Ninja was thoroughly outplayed by a supposed hacker. However, it was actually the best player in the world, the crack Tfue!
What happened?Ninja was, among others, on a squad with streamers Justin “FearItSelf” Kats and Jacob “Hysteria” Reiser when he encountered a solo opponent. But this adversary was no easy prey and eliminated all of Ninja’s teammates.
Ninja himself managed to escape, and the unknown killer committed suicide by using balloons to soar into the air and intentionally crashed down.
Must be a hacker!
This is why Ninja thought it was a hacker: Since the lone opponent shot with extreme precision and methodically took out Ninja’s friends, Ninja was sure it was a hacker with an aimbot.
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Such hackers have been plaguing Fortnite more frequently these days.
Ninja wanted to check the replay to expose and report the suspected cheater. “I’m going to go into the replay and report you, dude!” were Ninja’s words.
Best Fortnite player instead of hacker
What was behind Ninja’s opponent: Since both Ninja and his opponent were playing in streamer mode, they had hidden names to protect against stream snipers.
But soon it was revealed who was behind Ninja’s opponent. It was none other than Turner “Tfue” Tenney.
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Behind this name is the world’s best Fortnite player and a member of the pro clan FaZe. Tfue’s latest achievement was winning the Fall Skirmish tournament.
How Ninja reacted to the revelation: When Ninja found out who had outplayed him, it quickly became clear to him that his opponent was by no means a hacker. Because Tfue actually shoots as well as other players only can with an aimbot.
In the end, Ninja has to acknowledge this as well and can ultimately laugh about it: “We all thought he was a hacker. The guy was flying around with balloons and took everyone out as if he was using laser beams. […] Freak!”
This year could see the next game announcement from Rockstar. An analyst says that a game for 2020 will be revealed in 2019. Two candidates are speculated: a new Bully or GTA 6.
What’s next for Rockstar Games? Pachter suspects that Rockstar Games will announce a new game in 2019, which will then be released in 2020.
The analyst did not specify what kind of game it would be. However, there are a few possibilities that the community speculates about.
Bully 2: Alleged concept art for Bully 2 appeared about 2 years ago. Shortly after, anonymous sources linked to Rockstar leaked that Bully 2 was the next game from Rockstar after Red Dead Redemption 2 was released.
There were also rumors about a casting for possible roles in Bully 2 circulating. So that would be one possibility.
GTA 6: The community has been speculating about the successor to GTA 5 for a long time. With GTA Online Rockstar makes a lot of money, so a next title in this series has to come eventually.
Other possibilities: It is just as possible that Rockstar Games is working on a new IP. A title that has not existed before.
Can we trust the analyst? Perhaps the analyst is wrong, and Rockstar will not announce any game for 2020 this year. Last year, Pachter correctly predicted that Call of Duty would get a battle royale mode and that Rockstar would not make any big game announcements.
However, he incorrectly predicted that a Mobile World of Warcraft would be announced.
This fits with a new announcement: On the careers page of Rockstar Games, they are already actively looking for employees for future titles with new technology.
For GTA Online, Rockstar has now introduced a type of weapon that fans are not satisfied with.
If you want to win in Project Winter, you have to be a people reader. Because lies and intrigue are part of the game and necessary to win.
Playing together is a nice thing. But eventually, everyone gets fed up with the harmony and friendliness and feels like causing a little mischief. For those who are good liars and have always wanted to betray their friends (at least in the game), taking a look at the game “Project Winter” might be worthwhile.
What is Project Winter about? In Project Winter, you start together with 7 other players in a frosty environment and must fight for your survival. You need to find food, search camps, and gather resources to survive in this inhospitable landscape.
The goal is to survive long enough and complete the necessary steps to call a rescue team that will then save you.
However, not all players are kind-hearted people. By chance, some players are chosen as “traitors” at the beginning of the round and have a different goal: to kill all non-traitors or prevent them from escaping. After all, there is a time limit before everyone freezes to death.
The traitors know each other, so they can act strategically. They start the match weak but gain strength through resources. After all, it’s easier to murder with a pickaxe than with bare hands…
Communication is key: However, players must also be good people readers to succeed. After all, those who want to gain the trust of their group as a traitor must be able to convincingly lie in voice or text chat to avoid drawing attention to themselves.
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When will Project Winter be released? Project Winter will be released after several alpha and beta tests on February 7, 2019, and costs around €20 on Steam (link to shop page).
Who is Project Winter suitable for? If you have always enjoyed a few rounds of “Werewolf” by the campfire or already played “Deceit” on Steam, you will likely appreciate the gameplay of Project Winter.
Will you check out Project Winter after its release? Or do you not like such an intriguing gameplay concept?
After the separation of Bungie and Activision was announced, a major analysis firm expects Destiny 3 to be released in 2020. The company also provides its own assessments regarding the “divorce” and the performance of Destiny 2.
But what comes next? The market research and analysis company Cowen & Company is already providing investors with an initial assessment.
What the company says about the future of Destiny: Shortly after the separation became known, Cowen & Company wrote a report for investors. It states, among other things, that Bungie will release a third part of Destiny – specifically in 2020 and despite the separation.
Rasputin in his original form
How realistic is this assessment? This assessment sounds plausible and aligns with the assumptions and theories held by many fans.
A Redditor, AnonTheNine, claimed that Bungie is already working on Destiny 3 and even revealed some alleged details. It is said that Destiny 3 is intended to cater more to hardcore fans.
After the separation, Bungie could implement this idea more easily without pressure from Activision and realize its own vision of the franchise in a new game.
The leaker is considered trustworthy in the community and is highly regarded. He is responsible for numerous leaks about Destiny 2, all of which have proven accurate so far.
What also speaks for a Destiny 3 in 2020 is the previous release schedule. Destiny 1 was released in 2014, followed by major expansions in 2015 and 2016. Destiny 2 came out in 2017 and also received a major expansion in 2018 with Forsaken.
What comes in the fall of 2019 is still unknown, but a second major expansion is likely. In this context, Destiny 3 in 2020 also sounds quite logical and understandable.
What Cowen & Company says about the separation: The analysis company also provided additional assessments regarding the “divorce” of Bungie and Activision.
Originally, a new Destiny game was supposed to be released every 2 years. This plan could not be adhered to and was changed to a new game every 3 years. This may have contributed to the ever-growing differences regarding the franchise’s direction. However, other factors also played a role.
Even if Destiny 2 may have been economically successful in terms of individual unit sales, it has not brought in the revenues that Activision had hoped for in the long term. In an earnings call, Bungie was even reprimanded by Activision for this.
Bungie’s attempts to appeal to a broader player base with a casual-oriented franchise have failed. Forsaken received positive reviews, but it apparently wasn’t good enough to bring back a sufficient number of lapsed players.
Cowen & Company believes that Activision is now distancing itself from Bungie to strengthen its own franchises like Call of Duty, even if it will lead to financial losses in the short term.
The loss of Destiny will ultimately hurt the publisher. Activision Blizzard is expected to lower its profit expectations.
The focus on its own franchises is ultimately more worthwhile than continuing to pour resources into a struggling brand like Destiny.
In conclusion, Cowen & Company stated that this separation is the best thing for the Destiny franchise. Having two chefs in one kitchen has negatively impacted development and been responsible for some low points.
Destiny was a worthwhile attempt by Activision to build another franchise pillar that, however, did not go as planned. This underscores how difficult it is to develop and operate a successful live service.
For a short time, the future of some online games was at stake, as the developers of the SpatialOS technology stated that the Unity engine would no longer allow such third-party software. For MMORPGs like Worlds Adrift, the outlook looked really bleak in the short term.
What happened? Improbable, the developers of the “Wonders” technology SpatialOS, were excluded from the Unity program and lost the license to use the engine.
The reason for this is that their technology apparently violates the terms of use of the Unity engine. These new terms of use came into effect on December 5th.
However, some of the most interesting MMORPGs are being developed with SpatialOS and the Unity engine. These could fall victim to a dispute between Unity and Improbable.
Where is the problem? It’s about the fact that no parts of the Unity engine may be executed or simulated in a cloud or via streaming, thus essentially representing an own platform.
But SpatialOS operates over the cloud.
This is why Improbable is going on the offensive: The company states that this change in the terms of use poses a threat to many online games that use Unity and SpatialOS. This includes the MMORPG Worlds Adrift from Bossa Studios.
According to Improbable, the development studios that create MMOs with the Unity engine and SpatialOS may also be violating the license agreement with Unity, placing themselves in a legal gray area.
The MMORPG Worlds Adrift then tweeted that a “situation” is looming.
This is Unity’s take: Unity has now commented on the situation. According to company co-founder Joachim Ante, there is no danger for Unity games that already use SpatialOS or are developed with this technology.
He expressed disappointment that Improbable has overdramatized the situation and misrepresented it.
According to Joachim Ante, Unity has been in talks with Improbable for about a year. So the whole situation did not come as a surprise to the developer of SpatialOS.
So what is the problem now? Unity continues to allow game companies to use SpatialOS for existing and in-development projects.
Worlds Adrift will not be shut down.
However, Improbable uses the Unity engine in its own software development kit in a cloud, which, according to Unity’s terms of use, constitutes a separate platform.
This is only allowed if it concerns recognized Unity platform partners. And Improbable is not one of them.
According to Unity, they were in negotiations to include the company in the partner program. However, this did not happen, which is why Improbable has now lost its license.
Improbable wants to lure developers to Unreal Engine
How does Improbable respond? The company Improbable states that it is a “commercial misunderstanding” that now affects developer studios. They are still in talks with Unity to find a solution together.
In the meantime, Improbable has entered into a partnership with Epic Games and surprised with the announcement of a $25 million fund that developers can use to transfer their projects to the Unreal Engine.
Studios are essentially being persuaded to no longer use the Unity engine but to switch to the Unreal Engine.
It remains questionable whether this step will help the negotiations between Improbable and Unity bear fruit.
A former employee of Blizzard makes serious allegations. His boss in the Hearthstone team discriminated against him because he is Mexican. This almost led to his suicide. Now, the outing of an Overwatch hero fuels his anger to come forward.
It’s about him: It concerns Julian Murillo-Cuellar:
He worked as a GameMaster and in Customer Support at Blizzard in November 2013.
In February 2016, he switched to the eSports team at Hearthstone. Initially, he was only there temporarily, but then he started full-time.
In February 2018, he submitted his resignation at Blizzard.
The critical phase was his time with the Hearthstone team.
These were the difficulties: Murillo-Cuellar is Mexican. According to his description, he was often teased by his colleague Gemma that Mexicans are sexists and macho due to their culture. Gemma had been an exchange student in Mexico and formed this assumption.
Murillo-Cuellar did not feel like a sexist at all. He only switched to Blizzard and moved because his partner found her dream job there. A macho would never do that.
What was apparently meant as a joke turned into bullying over the years. When he was directly accused by Gemma and she became his boss, it all went downhill.
Murillo-Cuellar felt like he became the scapegoat in the team, only receiving menial tasks and being systematically undermined. He worked many hours, feeling high pressure and stress.
Attempts to complain to superiors only caused more trouble.
This led to health problems, including suicidal thoughts. He apparently wanted to deliberately crash his car on the way home from Blizzard by ramming a heavy garbage truck.
In a compelling post on Twitlonger, the former employee describes the story of years of torment that nearly killed him.
Why is this coming out only now: Murillo-Cuellar explains that he is only now going public after Blizzard spread the message with the outing of Soldier:76: “Every voice counts.”
This “triggered” him.
This is what Blizzard says: Blizzard does not comment specifically on the allegations but emphasizes how important an inclusive and respectful work environment is to the company. They have rules against harassment and discrimination and take reports very seriously.
Similar allegations to those currently against Blizzard were made against Riot Games, the makers of LoL:
Overwatch director and “Papa” Jeff Kaplan commented on the status of the Overwatch meta during a livestream with streamer FRAN. His conclusion: You are all not playing GOATS and eventually hate the meta anyway.
What is the situation? Recently, there have been more and more complaints about the state of Overwatch and the current meta of the game. Former pro player and streamer Seagull even named Tracer specifically as the cause during his stream.
The meta generally describes the currently most popular or successful combination of heroes that is favored in the pro scene and by skilled players. Currently, the “GOATS” meta predominates in Overwatch, which is particularly tank and support-heavy.
Kaplan addresses player issues
This is what Kaplan says: Jeff Kaplan himself discusses in the livestream with streamer FRAN the exact issues that the community currently has with the game. However, he also talks about things that players rarely see themselves.
Kaplan does not say that GOATS itself is the problem, but he doesn’t deny it either. He says:
South of, let’s say, Diamond, nobody plays GOATS. Even if they play Reinhardt, Zarya, Brigitte, and all the other heroes of GOATS, they are not really playing GOATS.
The meta will always be unpopular: Kaplan mentioned something about the Overwatch community itself in another scene. Whether the meta changes or not, players would not like it:
At some point I think to myself: What the hell do you actually want? Just play “surprise heroes.” If you want to play random heroes in every match, you have the mode available in the Arcade. You are all great, and there is no meta there.
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He continues and says the same about the dive meta that existed before GOATS. Just because someone played D.Va and Winston, doesn’t mean they were also playing dive.
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What does Kaplan mean by that? Jeff Kaplan further explains that a meta involves more than just playing the heroes that everyone is supposedly playing according to the “Competitive Overwatch Subreddit.”
It also depends on the tactics. Dive meant that D.Va and Winston would target a goal that was previously called out and marked by Zenyatta with a Discord Orb. This way, targets could be eliminated quickly and reliably.
In “gold and plat,” however, there would never be such coordination. The heroes would jump in opposite directions, and orbs wouldn’t even come into play. A meta is also defined by the style of play.
The meta will always be unpopular: Kaplan mentioned something about the Overwatch community itself in another scene. Whether the meta changes or not, players would not like it:
At some point I think to myself: What the hell do you actually want? Just play “surprise heroes.” If you want to play random heroes in every match, you have the mode available in the Arcade. You are all great, and there is no meta there.
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In Pokémon GO you will soon have the chance to catch Shiny Barschwa and Milotic. The first limited researches will start soon.
What’s new: Pokémon GO announces the limited field researches. This is meant to be a new event series starting later this month. In January, the focus is on the water Pokémon Barschwa.
This is how the limited researches with Shiny Barschwa work
What are the limited researches? It is comparable to the Community Day. However, the limited researches focus on field researches. During a certain period, specific quests will appear at PokéStops, giving you the chance to encounter the event Pokémon. In January, it’s about Barschwa.
When do the researches start in January? The event starts on January 19 at 11 AM and runs for three hours, just like a Community Day.
What’s there in January? The first limited researches will give you the following bonuses:
Receive limited research tasks by spinning PokéStops.
Complete the limited research tasks to encounter Barschwa.
Chance to catch Shiny Barschwa
How common is Shiny Barschwa? That is unclear. Players in the community hope the chance for a Shiny Barschwa is similar to the Shinys with sunglasses during the Community Day. Each shiny Shiggy from a quest was the same for every player. So as soon as a player got a Shiny Shiggy from the quest, every other player from that same PokéStop could also get a shiny Shiggy.
However, Niantic has not yet said anything about the chances of getting a Shiny Barschwa during the event.
Will this event happen monthly? It is not known if it will take place monthly. It is possible that such an event will also occur irregularly, like a Raid Day. However, one can assume that such an event will be held again.
How to prepare for the event: Since you should spin as many PokéStops as possible, it is advisable to play in areas with many stops. A village with three PokéStops will not have the same chance of getting a Shiny Barschwa as a big city with numerous PokéStops.
This weekend, another event is already around the corner – the Community Day. In our guide, we summarize the most important information:
Bungie has announced that it will end its partnership with the publisher Activision and will continue to develop Destiny 2 on its own. What implications does this “divorce” have for the immediate future of the game? The studio has now commented on this.
What happened? On January 10, 2019, Bungie unexpectedly announced that it would part ways with its longtime partner Activision after eight years of cooperation. The creators of Destiny 2 will take over full rights to the franchise and continue the Destiny brand on their own.
This is how fans are reacting: The vast majority of fans have received the news with great joy. Social media, forums, and discussion platforms like Reddit are full of congratulations and celebrating fans. However, this development also leaves many question marks.
Many are wondering how Destiny will continue – in 2019 and beyond. After all, Bungie had already concrete plans for Destiny 2 through September 2019 and had presented them in detail based on a roadmap at the end of 2018. What impact will the separation from the publisher have on these plans? Will they potentially be discarded?
This is what Bungie says about its plans for 2019: Now Bungie has spoken on this matter. Community Lead DeeJ has reassured fans on Twitter and announced that the proposed roadmap will remain in place.
He posted a picture of the roadmap and said literally: “Today is a big news day for Bungie. Our plans for Destiny remain unchanged. All these updates are still on the schedule.”
The existing plans will therefore be adhered to. However, how Destiny 2 will continue beyond this roadmap is unknown.
Whether there will be another major expansion, another year with the new Season Pass model, or perhaps the next Destiny title remains to be seen. The studio has not commented on this yet.
A new hotfix for World of Warcraft is intended to improve PvP balance. Three specializations will be nerfed.
Balance in World of Warcraft is always changing – perfection is virtually unattainable. To at least address minor issues, the developers occasionally release some hotfixes that only take effect in PvP, leaving PvE untouched.
Which classes are being changed? The changes affect Mistweaver Monks, Elemental Shamans, and Balance Druids. All adjustments are nerfs – that is, downward corrections that make the corresponding specializations weaker.
Mistweaver Monk
The PvP talent “Falling Mist” now costs 3.8% of base mana (previously 2%) and heals for 20% less.
The PvP talent “Way of the Crane” increases damage dealt by 25% (previously 35%) and now heals for 150% of the damage dealt (previously 200%).
Elemental Shaman
The damage of Earth Shock has been reduced by 10% when you are in combat with other players.
Stormbringer increases the damage of Lightning Bolt by 115% (previously 125%), when you are in combat with other players.
Force of Nature can now trigger up to two additional Lightning Bolt overloads on enemy players (previously 3 additional overloads).
Balance Druid
Celestial Alignment increases your spell damage by 10% (previously 15%) when you are in combat with other players.
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune increases your spell damage by 18% (previously 25%) when you are in combat with other players.
Starfall now generates 2 Astral Power (previously 4 Astral Power) when you are in combat with other players.
The LoL players are dissatisfied with the new Prestige Skins. Many players believe that the Prestige Skins do not differ enough from the normal Skins.
What happened? The LoL developer Riot regularly provides the player base with new Prestige Skins. These are meant to be special and stand out from the normal Skins. Recently, the developers released the two Prestige Skins “Blood Moon Aatrox” and “Firecracker Vayne”.
However, many players now believe that Riot is releasing too many Prestige Skins and that they differ too little from the normal Skins. They demand that a Prestige Skin should once again be something special.
Skins are coming too frequently, lacking flair
This is the general problem: The player base no longer perceives the Prestige Skins as special. Earlier Skins like the K/DA Skins were presented with a song and a music video showing that a lot of time was invested in the cosmetics.
The new Skins seem to the players to be designed without much love.
This is what players criticize: The player “GeneralSecura” posted a thread on Reddit addressing the new Prestige Skins. “Blood Moon Aatrox” has no special features and its visual effects are the same as those of a normal Skin. It has simply been colored differently.
The Prestige Skin “Firecracker Vayne” is more on the right track regarding the effects, but still hardly differs from normal Skins.
In another Reddit post, players are already calling on Riot to limit the frequency of Prestige Skins releases to maintain their special status:
If the Prestige Skins are apparently being released every month, how is that “collector’s value” supposed to be maintained when they appear to become a norm?
Both posts received a lot of support from the community, with many players sharing the opinions of the authors.
This is how players want to solve it: In his post, “GeneralSecura” provides a suggestion on how Riot could have handled this situation better. He writes:
What Riot should have done is first complete the K/DA set. Release Prestige versions of Ahri and Evelynn. And then ONLY release Prestige versions of Skins that are really something special.
Under the post, some players discuss further solutions.
What do you think about the frequency of Prestige Skins?
The world champions of LoL also receive their Skins:
At Destiny 2, Bungie has announced the end of their partnership with publisher Activision Blizzard. They are currently in the process of taking over the rights to the “Destiny” brand from Activision.
This is the announcement: Bungie thanks Activision Blizzard for 8 years of collaboration. However, in the future they will independently continue the “Destiny” brand.
The transition process is now underway, but still in its early stages. Both Bungie and Activision are willing to make this handover as smooth as possible.
Bungie will now publish Destiny independently, while Activision will focus more on their own brands in the future.
This is how Bungie justifies it: Bungie reveals very little in the statement. They only say that in 2010, at the beginning of the partnership, the gaming landscape was different.
At that time, they wanted to have a partner they could trust as an “independent studio” bringing a new experience. They had a vision for Destiny that they believed in, but to launch such a big game, they needed the support of an established partner.
With Activision, they built something remarkable. But now they seem ready to move on independently.
This is how it will continue: Bungie says they learned and listened with Forsaken and have started to understand what players expect from a “great Destiny experience”.
Bungie assures players: More is on the way. They believe in the limitless possibilities and potential of Destiny. New adventures and new worlds filled with mysteries, adventures, and hope lie ahead of them.
What rumors say about the separation: According to the site Kotaku, the decision was reportedly announced at a “team meeting” at Bungie. The meeting took place almost concurrently with the announcement of the news.
There were reportedly “champagne corks” popping and employees cheered. Kotaku cites an anonymous person who was said to be at the meeting.
It is said that there had been long-standing tensions between Activision and Bungie. Activision insisted on an annual release of new content: Either a new Destiny game or a full expansion should be released every autumn.
One of the game directors of Destiny, Luke Smith, then stated that Bungie is very proud of Forsaken and not disappointed. Smith emphasized the focus on “core gamers.” At the launch of Destiny 2, the game was criticized for being too catered to “casual players.”
Furthermore, in June 2018 it became known that Bungie had entered into a partnership with the Chinese company NetEase. They are presumably developing a new “non-Destiny” game together.
In week 6 of Season 7 in Fortnite: Battle Royale, a secret banner awaits you. This time there is no star. We will show you the location of the banner.
What is it about? Regularly, new challenges start in Fortnite: Battle Royale. Today marks the start of the sixth week in Season 7 and brings another hidden banner for you. A hint in the loading screen will show players the location. We will tell you where that is.
The requirement: You cannot simply start searching for the banner. You must first complete all tasks from week 6 and the previous weeks. Otherwise, you cannot loot the banner at the location.
What do you see in the picture? You recognize a scene mainly focused on food. Especially burgers and fries seem to be in the foreground. Not too far away, you will find the hint.
The hint is hidden on the small sign that stands on the left edge of the picture. In the following image, you can see the hint enlarged.
Where you should search: You probably recognized right away where you should search from the hint. For you, it’s after Paradise Palms. There on the large hill in the south, you will find the formation that is shown on the chalkboard. On the map, it is at the coordinates H10.
Video description: To ensure that you find the banner and know behind which junk car you should look, we embed a YouTube video for you here. It shows the exact location.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTwzaIRT4-k
Beware of campers: Players often gather near the star and banner locations to surprise other players. So pay attention to your surroundings when you land there.
With this Matrix emote, you can dodge shots in Fortnite:
On Saturday, January 12th, the Community Day with KarniMana starts in Pokémon GO. We provide you with all the info about start time, shinies, and bonuses so you can make the most of the event.
What are Community Days? Community Days take place once a month in Pokémon GO. For three hours, an event Pokémon spawns more frequently, focusing on that Community Day. In addition to the increased spawns, there are also bonuses that are active for the three hours. Each Community Day also features the shiny form of the Pokémon.
In January 2019, it is all about the Water Starter KarniMana. We will tell you what bonuses are available and how you can best prepare for the event.
Community Day in January – GMT+0: Exact Times and Bonuses
What: The Pokémon GO Community Day in January 2019
When: On Saturday, January 12th from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM German time (GMT+1)
Pokémon of the Day: KarniMana
Exclusive Attack: Aqua Jet (Only for Impergator)
Bonus: The distance to hatch eggs is reduced to a quarter
Bonus: 3-hour lure modules
Additional Bonus: To learn the exclusive attack Aqua Jet, you can evolve your Tyracroc until 3 PM
This means GMT+0: The in-game notification states that the Community Day starts at 10 AM. However, this refers to the GMT+0 timezone. In Germany, we have the GMT+1 timezone, which is why it starts at 11 AM as usual.
Shiny KarniMana, Tyracroc, and Impergator
Is KarniMana also available as Shiny? In every previous Community Day, the event Pokémon was also available in its shiny form. Niantic has not yet confirmed the appearance of Shiny KarniMana, but since it has always been handled this way, one can assume the same this time.
This is the likelihood of getting a Shiny: During Community Days, the Shiny rate has always been elevated. It was 1 in 25. It can be assumed that this rate will be just as high this time. However, this only applies to the event Pokémon and not to other shinies.
How strong is Impergator with Aqua Jet?
How can I get the attack? For your Impergator to master Aqua Jet, you must evolve a Tyracroc into Impergator during the event period. You can only receive the attack between 11 AM and 3 PM. After that, the attack will no longer be available. Impergator cannot learn event attacks through TMs.
Interesting for PvP: Impergator is also a good candidate for PvP alongside the attack. Especially in the Super and Hyper leagues, it can become a powerful weapon. Aqua Jet also deals good neutral damage, making it a solid all-rounder.
This is how KarniMana gets a weather boost: Since KarniMana is a Water type, it will be boosted by the weather in the rain.
How strong is KarniMana in the wild? Without the weather bonus, KarniMana can have a maximum of 970 CP in the wild. This would be a 100% IV KarniMana at level 30. With the weather bonus, it can even reach 1051 CP.
You can copy the following list and paste it into your search bar in the game. The list shows the CP that a 100% IV KarniMana could have. A KarniMana with a higher level might also have the same CP. So evaluate your KarniMana once again afterward:
The incubators are the most important item on this Community Day. You can make the most of the shortened egg distance with numerous incubators. For a 10 KM egg, you only need to walk 2.5 km. If you even use Super Incubators, you only have to walk 1.67 kilometers for a 10 KM egg to hatch.
Important: Only put your eggs in the incubators after the event starts at 11 AM. Eggs already in an incubator before the start of the Community Day will not receive the bonus for the reduced distance.
To catch as many Pokémon as possible, lure modules are worthwhile. They provide you with an even greater chance of encountering shiny KarniMana. Additionally, lure modules are ideal for a little break since you can also linger at lure modules.
Incense – 6 pieces
Ideally, you should use incense. Incense attracts even more Pokémon, and players in the village have a chance for more Pokémon. Incense lasts for 30 minutes, so you should have six pieces to last through the three hours.
Star Pieces – 6 pieces
In addition to the Community Day, there is also the Egg Event. You will receive double candies and stardust from eggs. Since you will hatch numerous eggs during the three hours, the star pieces are also worthwhile. Your stardust will be increased by 1.5x.
Balls – 200 pieces or more
To withstand the onslaught of KarniMana, you should stock up on balls. The catch rate of KarniMana is low, so you should also have some Ultra and Hyper Balls on hand because only a few KarniMana will stay in normal Poké Balls.
GO Plus
The GO Plus helps you catch Pokémon. It catches wild Pokémon for you at the push of a button.
Stay up to date: To ensure you don’t miss any news about Pokémon GO, we warmly invite you to our group on Facebook. You can also stay updated on our Facebook page.
Are you a PvP fan? Then participate in the first global PvP tournament:
TOTY cards via packs and transfer market: Once the TOTY players are available, you can draw them from the packs for a limited time, provided you have a lot of luck. There will be special pack offers during this period. Afterwards, it will only be possible to purchase the TOTY players on the transfer market, where they will fetch high prices.
What you need to know about TOTY cards:
Once the TOTY cards are in the packs, the standard cards of the respective players cannot be drawn from the packs anymore.
A set must contain rare gold players to have a chance of a TOTY player.
If you own a standard card of a TOTY player, nothing happens to that card. If you want a TOTY player, you must draw them from sets with luck or buy them on the transfer market.
The chances of drawing a TOTY player are exactly the same as the chances of drawing the standard card of the respective player at another time.
The beta of Red Dead Online shows no signs of ending. Rockstar states that the online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2 remains in testing, but also announced new content.
What’s new? When Rockstar Games announced that Red Dead Online would initially start in beta, fans were relieved. This way, they could first eliminate errors and prepare the mode for its full release. However, the developers did not specify how long Red Dead Online would remain in beta.
In an announcement regarding the new “Gun Rush” update, Rockstar Games explained that the beta is far from over.
How long will the beta of Red Dead Online last?
This is what Rockstar says: The team writes on the homepage of Rockstar Games:
We thank all players who participated in the Red Dead Online beta over the holidays, especially those who gave us their valuable feedback. Please keep it up – Red Dead Online will continue as a beta for a few more months as we want to add many more gameplay features and improve, stabilize, and refine the player experience through further changes.
The beta will therefore remain active for a few more months. There is currently no date for the full release of Red Dead Online.
Contents planned for Red Dead Online
Players have complained in recent weeks that there is too little content for the online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2. Apparently, the team heard these complaints and is planning new content.
This is planned: More updates should come “soon” that will fill the online mode with game modes and content.
Daily challenges
With these challenges, Rockstar aims to encourage players to log in daily. The challenges are intended to appeal to different playstyles. Sometimes you will need to practice marksmanship, and on other days, escape from lawmen. The rewards have not been explained yet.
Negotiation
The negotiation feature can be activated if aggressive players have killed you four times. In the future, you should be able to activate this even faster to avoid aggressive players. If the negotiation feature is active, the affected players cannot attack each other for 10 minutes.
Red Dead Online defends against griefers
You will no longer see every player everywhere: You will soon no longer be able to see player markings on the map from a long distance. This will only be possible at close range. Players will likely appreciate this change, as aggressive players could previously track your location from a distance and ride to you.
Players who grief and randomly kill other players will be better recognized. They will receive a marking that gradually becomes darker and larger. Every player in the online mode will be able to recognize the griefers more easily and spot their positions early.
Improving player markings is important. As early as November 2018, the always-visible players were among the 10 most annoying things in the multiplayer of RDR 2.
How to further weaken the griefersstill? The team at Rockstar wants to improve the functioning of lawmen and bounties. Griefers should be less motivated to kill other players. For crimes, players should receive a bounty. There will be an incentive to pay this within a certain time. If this is not done, bounty hunters from all states will pursue the players. This will force griefers to pay or flee.
Rockstar announced weeks ago that they intend to take action against griefers in the online mode. Now they finally show how that will work.
The above-mentioned changes will be enhanced with new features and content. However, there is still no outlook on when the content will be released. A lot of new content for RDO is expected this year. Among them:
New missions: In the online mode, you will soon continue your story in “A Land of Opportunities” with new story missions. Familiar faces like Horley and Jessica LeClerk will be involved. But new characters will also join in.
Events in Red Dead Online: More events will take place across the game world. These will be dynamic events that can change.
New game modes: More game modes where you compete in races are planned. Additional content for showdown modes is also planned.
Weapons and clothing: New firearms for the cowboys in multiplayer will be available soon. Which ones they are is still unclear. There will also be new clothing.
What new content would you like to see for Red Dead Online?
The first step was already taken by Rockstar with this new game mode:
In Destiny 2, the fourth weapon exotic from the Black Armory has been discovered: the fusion rifle Jötunn. And the weapon is already causing significant disruption in the Crucible. Here’s how to get the new exotic fusion rifle.
Where can you find the new weapon exotic? The weapon was discovered by the first Guardians after the fourth forge of the Black Armory, Bergusia, opened its doors.
This new exotic weapon apparently drops just like the bow Le Monarque when you complete a powerful weapon frame from Ada-1 in the forge.
However, while Le Monarque can drop from any forge upon completing a powerful weapon frame, all confirmed drops of the Jötunn have occurred in the Bergusia forge.
You should complete your powerful weapon frames in the new Bergusia forge to have a chance at the Jötunn. That seems to be the only source at the moment.
If the weapon does drop in other forges, we will update this accordingly.
How the Jötunn is currently shaking up PvP
What is the Jötunn anyway? It is an exotic fusion rifle with solar damage. The Jötunn is used in the energy weapon slot.
This is what makes the Jötunn unique: The intrinsic perk of the Jötunn is Charged Shot. Holding down the trigger charges an arrow shot that explodes and ignites on impact.
The “Armblaster” Jötunn
Thanks to the perk “volatile launch”, the explosion radius of a normal shot increases significantly – at a cost of handling speed and projectile speed.
The fireball projectiles of the Jötunn also track their targets.
What can the Jötunn do in practice? Currently, not much is known about its PvE qualities. But in the Crucible, this new weapon is currently causing a lot of chaos.
Even though it is an energy weapon and not a heavy weapon, the arrow shot of the Jötunn kills with a direct hit – no matter where you hit the opponent.
The distance to the enemy apparently also does not matter. Even an arrow shot across the entire map is fatal.
Thanks to the tracking, almost every shot hits. Once you fire the weapon, you can basically turn away and already focus on the next target – unless the target notices the shot in time and tries to dodge the fireball projectile. But even that rarely works.
If several opponents are close enough together, you can take out entire groups with a single shot from the Jötunn.
This is what it looks like when you are in PvP with the Jötunn: How (overly) powerful the weapon is in the Crucible is demonstrated by exceptional player Gigz in a video on Twitter.
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The battle royale shooter Fear the Wolves has changed matchmaking with the new update “Unified.” From now on, 2-player teams are the new rule.
What has changed in Fear the Wolves with the update? Fear the Wolves has made the “Duos” game mode the new standard with the Unified update. Most players will likely be looking for a duo partner or playing with a random teammate from now on. This has not been seen in any other battle royale game before.
Can I no longer play alone? Yes, but you’ll be at a disadvantage. Most other players will be found in two-player teams. So, playing alone puts you at a numerical disadvantage. There is no longer the option for all players to compete individually against each other.
What about larger squads? They are no longer available. 3-player and 4-player teams are not possible with the update from now on.
Why did the developers do this? According to the devs, these steps are part of a program to improve player experience.
This is expected to speed up matchmaking and player searches. Furthermore, Fear the Wolves, according to the developers, will provide a unique battle royale experience.
More features of the update
What’s included in the Unified update: Other features of the update include:
Vaulting, meaning leaping over obstacles
A new game lobby
Voice chat features
Improved waiting times in matchmaking
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