With Magic: The Gathering Arena, Wizards of the Coast is working on an adaptation of the popular card game that aims to stay as true as possible to the original. The open beta is starting soon. But is the game only suitable for hardcore fans?
Fans of the card game Magic: The Gathering are already excited, as the open beta of the digital version “Arena” will start shortly. This version is expected to be closer to the original than ever before.
The perfect Magic adaptation?
What is Magic: The Gathering? The collectible card game was launched in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast and is the pioneer of this genre of card games. Magic established a genre that is now extremely popular even in digital form: e.g., through Blizzard’s Hearthstone or Gwent from CD Project Red.
All these games are derived from Magic but offer their own rules, modifications, and game modes.
Beta starts on September 27 – Here’s how you can participate
When does it start? With Magic: The Gathering Arena, a new variant for PC is in the works, which will enter open beta on September 27.
On the official website, you can register for the beta. The online game uses the free-to-play model, where you can purchase new card decks or earn them by using rare wildcards.
Why are fans excited about “Arena”? While there were earlier digital versions of Magic, they always had some variations of the rules. However, Magic fans want an online game that sticks as closely as possible to the original. And that is exactly what “Arena” aims to provide.
Therefore, it is not an external team developing the game but rather its publisher Wizards of the Coast. Fans have high hopes for the title, which could finally be exactly the game they have long wished for.
Closed Beta was well received: So far, selected fans have been able to participate in a Closed Beta of Magic: The Gathering Arena. Interestingly, it even attracted players who typically have no interest in online games at all. For instance, in the Reddit group, people are asking what a wipe is. Generally, there is a lot of discussion about individual cards, their strengths, and which game variants should be introduced.
The fans are already very pleased with the beta. While there are still areas that need work – such as the deck-building tool, social features, and the UI – the game is generally well-received.
With the open beta on September 27, it will be seen how the card game is received when a broader audience gets to try it. This includes players who love Hearthstone, for example. Because Magic: The Gathering Arena certainly does not want to appeal only to Magic fans, but aims to establish itself in the online card game market in general.
Our author Leya has discovered six pets and mounts in MMOs that all have cool stories. Read here about dead ghost girls, legendary lucky pigs, and space herpes.
Maybe you are, just like me, excited about animal companions in games. The crazier the pets and mounts are, the better! Often they are just quirky beings, but sometimes there are also exciting stories behind them.
Here come six cool animal stories that I would like to share with you.
[toc]
A dead child as a pet
In the World of Warcraft you can actually have a dead girl as a pet. The little Uuna disappeared without a trace after the great battle for Argus, like many children, and presumably died here.
Uuna’s soul is frightened and finds no peace.
Uuna’s soul is stuck in a dog made from corpses: Now the soul of the Draenei girl cannot find peace, as she is doomed to lead her lifeless existence in a deformed dog creature named Ur’zul. The Ur’zul are demons made from the bodies and souls of tortured Draenei.
Apparently, it was not macabre enough to make a pet out of a dead child. It also had to be stuffed into a dog made of corrupted and fused corpses.
The Ur’zul consists of the remains of tortured Draenei, including the little Uuna who was integrated into such a demon. This meatball is also available as a mount.
Uuna’s soul can be freed: Behind the dead girl is a puzzle and those who solve it free the little soul from her fear and torment.
As a reward, players then receive a grateful and happy ghost girl. From now on, the liberators of her soul will be able to hug Uuna. A hauntingly beautiful story.
EX-Raid invitations in Pokémon GO have frequently drawn criticism. With this change, Niantic aims to make the feature more attractive.
Share invitations to EX-Raids now: In the future, those who receive invitations to EX-Raids in Pokémon GO can bring a friend along. With your help, they can now participate in the raid without their own invitation.
A system that fans are already praising before they can test it. In the past, EX-Raids often caused frustration.
These problems were seen in past EX-Raids
What is an EX-Raid? These are special raids where players could previously battle Mewtwo. Mewtwo was not available in regular raids, the wild, or eggs. Trainers could only battle and catch it in EX-Raids – a special incentive. However, one must be invited by Pokémon GO to participate in these EX-Raids.
How do you get invited? Those who successfully complete a raid at an EX-Raid arena have a chance of being invited to an EX-Raid. Not every trainer who successfully conducts a raid at the arena will be invited.
Luck and the element of chance play a significant role in the invitation process.
The problem is: Many trainers reported in the past that they participated in raids together with friends but not everyone was invited to an EX-Raid. In a group of friends, being the only participant without an EX-Raid invitation quickly gave the feeling of being excluded.
Often, players in rural areas had the problem of being invited to an EX-Raid only to fail due to a lack of players during the battle.
If only one person from a duo of players was invited, the motivation of both players declined. One person was disappointed not to have been invited, while the other was unhappy because they had to battle without their raid partner.
Sharing helps trainers: Now friends who play Pokémon GO together can help each other out. If you are out as a duo and only one receives an invitation, simply share it with the partner. When people are invited in larger raid groups, they can share it with other players.
It is a great addition to a rather flawed system. The ability to invite your partner, family members, or raid buddies resolves many of the worst scenarios we know from EX-Raids.
New potential through EX-Raid invitations
By sharing invitations for EX-Raids, these battles could become much more popular.
This is how sharing strengthens the community: Often, you meet other Pokémon players at raids who are there alone or with another group. By sharing EX-Raid passes, they are all potential players who could invite you to EX-Raids. Conversely, you could invite them if you have an invitation left. This way, friendships and communities can form among players with common interests.
Therefore, one should ideally make friends with the trainers you often see at raids. As Great or Best Friends, you can be of great help to each other.
The streamer Ninja is one of the best players in Fortnite: Battle Royale. But how did the skinny boy with colorful hair become so good? The answer is not particularly glamorous.
Who is this Ninja, anyway? Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is the most successful streamer in the world. The lanky young man with colorful hair has over 11 million followers on Twitch and earns several thousand dollars each month through their donations and subscription fees . On social media, he is regarded as the most influential athlete ahead of footballers Neymar and Ronaldo.
Moreover, Ninja is simply a damn good Fortnite player.
That actually sounds like a chill life: Gaming all day and becoming filthy rich doing it. But the truth is less glamorous, as Ninja explains in conversation with the sports magazine ESPN.
Maximal Combat Spirit
Ninja is an extreme competitor: To understand Ninja’s gameplay, one must first take a closer look at the person Tyler Blevins. The pale boy with dyed hair may outwardly appear as a laid-back jokester, but at his core, he is a tough, tenacious winner.
He approaches every game he plays with maximum commitment, according to his brother, this has been the case since childhood.
Unbeatable even as a child: Tyler would always win back then, no matter what was played. Even when his brother frustratedly punched him in the arm to make Tyler drop the controller, the young Ninja would still achieve victory.
Ninja simply does not want to lose. When he plays, he follows through relentlessly. Be it in Halo, where he made his mark as an eSports player, or now in Fortnite.
Ninja’s way of playing Fortnite has nothing to do with fun anymore
Talent is good, but it’s not enough: Ninja’s success definitely indicates that he has a talent for games. That might be an initial advantage, but if you want to reach the top, you have to train hard. And much harder than most of us can imagine.
At least one victory every day: To stay this good, Ninja must constantly practice and rethink his strategy. He plays about 50 matches a day. Out of those, he has to win at least one. Usually, it’s around 15 victories; once, it was even 29.
Every loss is a failure: Whenever Ninja does not win, it’s a big deal for him. It really frustrates him because at his level of professionalism, there are no excuses for “failure”. As a consequence, he rethinks his strategy and analyzes the past game to learn from his mistakes.
This is no longer fun: Ninja is therefore incredibly driven and competitive when playing Fortnite. This has little to do with what most players understand by “fun”.
This stands in stark contrast to Ninja’s public image, where he always presents himself in a good mood and witty to his fans.
But essentially, Ninja is not about “fun”; he’s about business. If he streams less or performs poorly, his record earnings would quickly vanish.
Training is good, but it depends on how you train: Moreover, it is not enough just to practice. If you want to be as good as Ninja, you must use your training effectively and not let up even when you are at the top.
When you reach the “goal,” the work only just begins: Especially when you are at the top, Ninja says, you must work even harder to stay there. Many players would slack off at this critical moment and then fall back down. The fact that Ninja has held the top spot on Twitch for months is a testament to his ambition and commitment.
Vacation or Streaming?
Vacations and events cost thousands of dollars: Therefore, Ninja has hardly any leisure time that he can spend quietly with his wife and dogs. If he wants to continue existing as a top streamer, he must basically always be online and cannot ease up.
When he finally had a two-day break, it cost him around 100,000 dollars. Even appearances at eSports events, such as the Pro-Am Tournament at E3 2018, cost Ninja money as he could not stream during that time.
He must weigh whether the increased publicity from such events and appearance fees offset the concrete value loss of his Twitch channel.
Honeymoon still happens: Therefore, his honeymoon was also his only vacation in 8 years. Ninja had already played Pro-Gamer Halo and other games before Fortnite and was similarly engaged in it.
For his vacation, he at least produced various videos in advance and released them at staggered times during his absence. Otherwise, the loss of viewers would have been too extreme.
And even if he takes time off and leaves his house in a walled neighborhood, he is besieged by hordes of fans and has hardly any peace.
The price of success: So if you want to become as good as Ninja, you probably have to invest massive time and energy in endless practice and sustain this for a long time. And very few can manage that without burning out first.
Wife manages everything else: Ninja likely achieves this only through his iron will and the support of his wife, who bears it all and even acts as his manager.
She also ensures that her husband gets enough food and drinks during his stressful streaming routine.
What comes after Fortnite? Currently, Ninja is maximally associated with Fortnite, and his fans love him for it. But Ninja says of himself that he could master virtually any competitive online game in a short time.
So if Fortnite ever goes downhill, Ninja would likely get involved elsewhere after a brief adjustment and would soon be back at the top.
How long will this continue? Currently, Ninja does not want to stop and rest on his earned millions. He plans to keep going until he can provide a comfortable life for his family and grandchildren. Then it would be time to slow down.
Fun fact: Ninja once quit his job at a noodle company when he could comfortably live off his Halo streaming. By that, he meant an annual income between $80,000 and $90,000!
Ninja’s hard work has now brought him to the cover of a recognized US sports magazine. This could also bring gaming itself closer to the mainstream:
The legendary weapon Rand-Transit drops so incredibly frequently that it has become a running gag in the community of Destiny 2. However, behind the funny meme lies actual dissatisfaction.
What is Rand-Transit? Rand-Transit is one of the five legendary grenade launchers that were implemented with the Forsaken DLC in Destiny 2. Just a few days after the launch of the DLC, many guardians noticed that Rand-Transit has a very high drop rate and is significantly more common than other weapons in the power slot.
Especially rocket launchers seem to be very rare according to reports since Forsaken, and since the nerf of the drop rate of exotic engrams it can be quite hard to get various heavy weapons.
The community reacts with humor: After several large threads on Reddit were opened on the topic, players started to make jokes about the drop rate. The Kotaku author Jason Schreier lists in his top 5 best weapons in Destiny 2 exclusively Rand-Transits.
But on Reddit and in the Bungie forums, some funny gameplay suggestions for Rand-Transit have also come together:
To create an emote where the guardian pulls one Rand-Transit after another out of their pocket and throws them in a pile
A special “Rand-Transit-Launcher” weapon that has Rand-Transit grenade launchers as ammunition
New unlockable Rand-Transit subclass for the guardians, for which you need Seed of Light
Proposal that you have to defeat the final boss of the new raid using only Rand-Transits to unlock the ultimate secret of Forsaken
Various petitions for sparrows and spaceships shaped like Rand-Transit.
Change the reload animation of Rand-Transit: After the magazine is empty, the guardian should simply throw the weapon away and pull a new one out of their pocket, like Reaper in Overwatch
The players are taking the exaggeratedly high drop rate with humor, anyway.
Problem behind the funny meme
Does Forsaken have too few new weapons and armor? However, behind the funny situation lies a more serious problem of Destiny 2: Forsaken. The amount of weapons and armor that has been added with the last DLC is relatively low upon closer inspection. This issue is balanced out well by the random perk rolls, but in cases like Rand-Transit, it still seeps through.
One of the reasons for this is the fact that a large part of the gear from the first year of Destiny 2 is practically useless because it does not have the random perks from Forsaken. This topic has also been thoroughly discussed in the official forums and on Reddit.
And until the guardians are delivered more new gear in the future, we will all still see a lot of Rand-Transits.
Do you want to see which exotic armors are available in Destiny 2? Then here:
Quietly and secretly, World of Warcraft has fixed a bug with achievements and wanted to help players. However, many are now really angry.
What happened? With a hotfix, Blizzard apparently wanted to help players and made the achievements for island expeditions account-wide. So if multiple characters collect pets, they now count together toward the achievement.
This is how Blizzard actually wanted to help players complete the achievements, especially when leveling twinks through island expeditions.
An achievement is reset: What is annoying, however, is that the achievement “Azeritadmiral” (Azerite Admiral) has been completely reset! For this achievement, players had to collect a total of one million Azerite, which corresponds to well over 100 island expeditions.
Many players were already far along with this achievement and are now furious that all their hard work was for nothing.
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Island expeditions divide the player base. While some players are having a lot of fun with the island expeditions and the various rewards that can be obtained, not everyone sees it that way. The drop chance for rewards has been drastically increased!
The other half of the players find island expeditions boring and are already annoyed by the weekly cap, for which they have to complete around 5 expeditions (approximately on heroic).
So it’s not surprising that these players are quite angry that they have to start over again for the “Azeritadmiral”.
Meta achievement for title: The Azeritadmiral is, by the way, part of the meta achievement “Expeditionsleiter”, which grants the corresponding title. Those who want to call themselves expedition leaders should prepare for a lot of work.
There has not been a statement from Blizzard about this so far. Whether the progress of the achievement can be restored is questionable.
What is your opinion on this bug? Are you affected as well? Or does it not make any difference to you because you will be doing well over 100 expeditions anyway?
After the Web App comes the Companion App: Yesterday, on September 19th, the Web App went live just before 11 PM, which thousands of fans were waiting for. With it, FIFA veterans can create their Ultimate Team in FUT 19 before the official FIFA 19 release, claim daily gifts, and browse the transfer market.
Today, on September 20th, the Companion App is expected to follow. While the Web App functions without download and is primarily intended for desktop use, you can download and install the Companion App on your iOS or Android smartphones or tablets.
When does the Companion App launch? In previous years, the Companion App has usually been available for download one day after the Web App. According to information from the EA Help page, it has been officially confirmed that the Companion App for FUT 19 will launch on September 20th.
Update 8 PM: The app is now live. Here is the official EA page, where you can find the download links for the FUT app for iOS and Android below. Currently (8 PM), it still says “FUT 18,” but the new FUT-19 apps are already waiting in the stores.
Requirements to Start the EA Sports Companion App Today
These are the requirements for early access:
You must have established a FUT club in FIFA 18 before August 1st.
This FUT-18 club must be valid until the launch of the FUT 19 Companion App.
Your account must also have a “good reputation.” This means if you have been banned or otherwise have a negative history, you may not receive early access.
When will players without early access start? If you are not a FUT-18 veteran, you will only gain access to the Companion App once you log in to FIFA 19, create your club in FUT 19, and answer a security question there. You will have to wait until the release of FIFA 19 on September 28th, or on September 25th with early access.
The early access lasts until October 10th. By then, you must purchase FIFA 19 and log in to your platform in FUT 19 to continue using the Companion App in full.
Download the Companion App
The size of the app for iOS and Android is unknown. Expected to be around 40MB. Other requirements and download prerequisites will be revealed soon.
As soon as the app is live, you will find all download information on this EA page.
More Information:
The Companion App is free
You need an EA account to log in, including email address, password, and security question
The MMORPG Bless Online did not succeed in Korea, which is why the servers will now be shut down. The development studio now wants to focus on the Western version.
The MMORPG Bless Online has failed in Korea. The servers are being shut down. Fans are now wondering what this means for the version in Europe and the USA.
A Failed MMORPG Closes Its Gates
What happened? After the MMORPG Bless Online was plagued by problems for a long time and simply could not reach enough players in Korea, the development studio Neowiz will shut down the servers on November 19. Last year, the Russian version was also taken offline. Even in this country, the MMORPG is struggling with criticism and poor reviews.
How are the players reacting? The shutdown of the Korean version naturally raises questions. Neowiz is a Korean development studio that primarily took care of the Korean version. Therefore, players are now wondering what will happen to Bless in Europe and the USA. The MMORPG has also not been well received here.
This is what the developers say: Neowiz states in a statement that the shutdown of the servers in Korea will not affect the development of the Western version of the MMO. Neowiz will now focus on this version and continues to work on getting the online game out of early access by the end of the year. The Steam version of Bless Online is now the studio’s top priority.
Doubtful Future of Bless Online
What are the future prospects? According to Steamcharts, about 840 players are currently playing Bless Online concurrently. The reviews on Steam are currently at 46% and thus barely at “mixed”. However, the reviews from the last 30 days are “extremely negative”. This does not paint a rosy picture for a bright future for Bless Online.
The controversial Twitch streamer DrDisrespect rose to fame with battle royale games like PUBG. But he doesn’t like that anymore. He also criticizes Fortnite. His new favorite is Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.
Who is that? Behind the nickname “DrDisrespect” is Guy Beahm, a former developer and community manager for Call of Duty.
2017 was his year on Twitch. With the rise of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on Steam, the star of “DrDisrespect” also rose on Twitch. The Doctor is a character with a wig, sunglasses, and a gigantic ego.
What does he have against Fortnite? The Doctor has never really warmed up to Fortnite. In a new clip, he calls Fortnite “cheesy” and the biggest “sellout game” in the history of video games.
DrDisrespect says he has never liked Fortnite. He can’t stand it.
He tried it and put on his “good mood” face, but in reality, he grew up playing much better video games and has played them all his life.
What does he mean by “sellout”? This probably refers to a “commercialized game that one would only like to make money from.”
PUBG – feels artificial and wrong
What does he suddenly have against PUBG? That the Doctor has a problem with Fortnite is nothing new. But he also has harsh words for the game that made him famous, PUBG.
In a new clip, he says that in PUBG it feels like a “sudden blow” when you die. It’s a weird feeling to die in PUBG. It feels “not real.” In the new Call of Duty, he never minded dying because there it felt like a battle that one has lost.
In PUBG, however, it’s “indirect” and “artificial” when the opponent kills you. Apparently, Call of Duty has spoiled him a bit for PUBG.
Much love for Blackout from Call of Duty
Love for Call of Duty discovered: The Doctor has little good to say about Fortnite, and he probably doesn’t like PUBG as much as he used to, since he has participated in the beta phase of Call of Duty Black Ops 4. Apparently, he was quite taken by the “Blackout” mode there.
In the first clips of the game, he says he can’t believe that such a thing even exists. He seems extremely satisfied with the new game.
Zenimax, the developer of The Elder Scrolls Online (PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One) is said to have a problem with sexual harassment. At least that was claimed by a sensational tweet from the community manager. However, all of this seemed to be the work of a hacker.
What is the sex scandal at Zenimax about? Last night at 1:40 AM, a tweet caused an uproar among ESO fans. It came from Gina Bruno, the popular community manager of The Elder Scrolls Online. Bruno has been known among fans for years as she regularly appears in dev streams.
In the tweet, however, she announced her departure from Zenimax. The reason: She claimed to have been massively sexually harassed. And by someone from “the very top”. She did not want to name names, but it would have legal consequences.
The truth behind the allegations
What happened next? The story about the alleged sex scandal at Zenimax spread like wildfire and was circulated in forums and on the MMORPG.com site, among others. But soon it was revealed that it was all a huge hoax.
Hacker takes over account and spreads lies: Rather, a hacker had taken over Gina Bruno’s Twitter account and spread these rumors in her name. As a little extra, the hacker also posted racist and sexist comments under Bruno’s name.
Community manager will be back soon: Gina Bruno herself soon announced via a colleague on Twitter that she had been hacked and is actively working on restoring her account. Until then, she asked everyone to please ignore anything she posts on Twitter.
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The power of rumor: The case of Gina Bruno’s account hack was quickly clarified, but the initial reactions on Twitter and in the ESO forum show that many people immediately fell for the lie and believed it without verification.
The Siege of Zuldazar will be different from all other raids in World of Warcraft, as it varies depending on the faction. We will reveal how it works.
The Game Director of World of Warcraft, Ion Hazzikostas, has revealed many details about the upcoming Patch 8.1 Tides of Vengeance in recent days. One of the highlights will be the new raid “Siege of Zuldazar”. We want to explain what makes the raid so special and how it works.
What is the Siege of Zuldazar about? The Alliance uses its newly gained military strength to launch a direct strike against the Empire of the Zandalari trolls. They attack Dazar’Alor and attempt to fight their way from the harbor to the top of the pyramid to defeat King Rastakhan himself.
Meanwhile, players of the Horde learn about the attack and try to rush to defend the city. They need to take a different route and also carve their way to the top of the pyramid.
Whether the raid ends with the same result for both sides is still unknown. However, it is to be expected for the sake of a unified canon.
How many bosses are there? There are supposed to be nine bosses in the new raid. Three of them are from the Horde’s perspective, and three from the Alliance’s perspective. This suggests that the other three bosses are “neutral” and possibly beneficiaries of the chaos. Potentially, they could be foes of the blood trolls or a Loa that has gone out of control. However, this has not been confirmed yet.
No side misses anything: So that no side misses anything and all players have full access to the nine bosses, players can later be told by spies what the other faction experienced. This way, even as a Horde player, you can “replay” the attack and fight against the three bosses that are actually meant for the Alliance. The same goes for the Alliance with the three bosses from the Horde’s perspective.
When will the raid be released? There is no release date for the Siege of Zuldazar or Patch 8.1 yet. However, it is likely that the raid will not come directly at the launch of the update, but rather be delayed, allowing players the opportunity to follow the new war campaign (which has been disappointing so far). Additionally, many guilds are still busy with the first raid, Uldir.
What do you think about Blizzard’s idea of designing a raid from two perspectives? Is it a cool move to make content more specific? Or will it be devalued again because you can see everything anyway?
That’s why we can afford new authors: Once again, we have good news: Many of you support our site by not using an ad blocker, allowing us to pay the authors who write for us. As a result, we were able to further strengthen our team.
These authors are new or now permanently employed: Freelance author Irina Moritz has recently become our permanently employed Community Manager. Irina has been our expert for Final Fantasy XIV since January 2018. In this role, she has convinced us so much that we are now glad to welcome her permanently to the team.
Irina will continue to write about Final Fantasy XIV but will also manage our social media, keep an eye on your comments and emails, and help the authors better understand what moves and drives the players out there.
We have big plans at MeinMMO for how we want to stay even more in touch with the community and interact with you. Irina will help implement these plans. An example of how close Irina is to the community is her Facebook page Eorzea-24/7 – over 2100 players of Final Fantasy XIV follow everything that happens in the world of the MMORPG.
New on board since last week is Alexander “Sputti” Leitsch. He will support us as a freelance author for the MMORPGs Guild Wars 2, Ashes of Creation, and New World. Alexander is 25 and has been playing MMORPGs for 12 years. He is a well-known figure in the MMORPG scene in Germany. Sputti established the largest German-language fan site for Guild Wars 2 . We are very happy to welcome him to the team.
In the next few weeks, you will also find new authors for FIFA 19 and Pokémon GO on our site. We are currently integrating them into our team – you will surely get to know them in the coming weeks.
The highlights of recent months
125% more readers: We had a strong increase in readers in the past months, especially since the beginning of August. August 2018 was the strongest month in the history of our site. And September is likely to be even stronger.
We currently have about 3.8 million unique users per month. By comparison: In August 2017, we had about 1.5 million. And that was already a lot for us back then.
Especially two games and one event were the focus of our editorial team in recent months.
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
How we defeated GameStar: On August 14, the new WoW expansion Battle for Azeroth was released in Europe. We had a great contest running with Blizzard. During this time, we dueled with the Alliance members of GameStar in the name of the Horde.
Our lore-obsessed house demon Cortyn, along with our man for raids and numbers, Benedict Grothaus, decided this battle for us. With numerous guides, news, player reports, and great columns, we accompanied the launch of Battle for Azeroth.
The old band comes together: The next big thing for our site was of course Destiny 2 Forsaken. Many new authors who have joined our site in recent years know us from the glorious Destiny 1 days.
So we were able to assemble a large team for this project:
Sven Galitzki, our main author for Destiny 2
Tom Rothstein, the veteran returned for the launch of Destiny 2
Micha Deckert contributed lore articles and stories from the community
from left: Dawid Hallmann, Marco Risch, Sven Galitzki
We were all very glad that Forsaken turned out to be as good as we all hoped. Finally, there is a lot to write about Destiny again, about guides, secrets, items, Xur, and raids. We hope it stays that way.
Gamescom 2018
Interviews and hands-on reports: In addition to these two big releases, there was also Gamescom, where we could deliver interviews and gameplay reports in large quantities and high quality.
Especially Ashes of Creation captivated our boss Dawid. He and our “Away” team Leya, Jürgen, Irina, and Tarek shone at Gamescom and conducted investigative interviews.
Steven Shariff in conversation with Dawid Hallmann from Mein-MMO.de
Service games require a lot of service: In addition, we have invested a lot in daily work on titles like Pokémon Go and Fortnite, as anyone who has looked at our homepage in the past months should have noticed.
We closely follow these “games as a service” and strive every day to bring news, guides, and curious stories from the world of gaming to keep our readers updated, informed, and entertained.
Faster page
Move to France: The technical team from Webedia has also completed a move of our servers. MeinMMO is now running on French and modern servers. This has already led to the page running even faster.
The server relocation is an investment in the future. The new setup is more stable, easier to check, maintain, and upgrade. Thus, we are well prepared for the hot release months and the coming years.
For you, nothing will change with the server move. You will still find us at mein-mmo.de.
EGX 2018 and MAX
Meet and see the MeinMMO team:
From September 28 to 30, Dawid, Jürgen, Leya, and Irie will be at EGX 2018. This is a gaming fair that is coming to Germany and Berlin for the first time. Here’s how you can win a trip to EGX 2018 and meet the Mein-MMO team there.
Also, our editors, staff, and even experts from our community are now increasingly seen on MAX. MAX stands for Monsters and Explosions and is a joint Twitch channel of GameStar, GamePro, Mein-MMO, and IGN.
The next few months
What’s coming next: September, October, and November 2018 will bring some game highlights for us and you:
And with Fallout 76, the gaming year will end for us before it heats up again with Anthem and The Division 2 in February 2019.
And maybe something crazy will happen. After all, new MMORPGs have been announced in recent times. So signs and wonders are still happening.
With new servers, fresh and proven authors, and the support of you, our readers, the next months on MeinMMO should also be eventful, exciting, and informative.
On Fortnite, the big finale of Season 5 took place on Wednesday evening, or at least the kickoff for it. The Space Cube has tipped into Loot Lake after days of wandering and has turned the lake purple.
What’s happening? For days, a cosmic cube has been wandering across the Fortnite map. After the Space Cube destroyed a boutique in Tilted Towers earlier today, which the loyal NPC citizens had built on behalf of Epic for months, the cube has now fallen into Loot Lake in the middle of the map.
Fortnite researchers had calculated this location long ago and repeatedly prophesied the arrival of the cube at the lake in the center of the Fortnite map.
This is what happened with the cube: According to eyewitnesses, the Space Cube has fallen into the lake and is now completely submerged.
This has cosmic effects on Loot Lake.
This is what happened to the lake: Loot Lake now has a vibrant color, namely purple.
Moreover, the water has strange properties: Players can now bounce on the lake like on a purple trampoline.
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What this means for players: Right now, this mainly means that you can cross Loot Lake much faster. The lake used to be somewhat of a “dead zone” because it was cumbersome to navigate here. Players usually only came here when the storm left them no choice.
The Space Cube has likely made the location “Loot Lake” in Fortnite significantly more attractive and interesting, but above all, purple.
What’s this all about? By now, it has become a tradition for Fortnite to end its season with a “real-time event” during which the map changes:
In Season 3, a comet approached the world in Fortnite: Battle Royale
In Season 4, a countdown counted down the hours and minutes until a rocket launched
and in Season 5, a cosmic cube is tipping around the map until it disappears in a lake
A completely normal Wednesday evening in Fortnite. We will keep you updated on what else the cube is up to. It is said to bring evil twins of the “lovely skins”. Maybe in Season 6.
Today marks the beginning of the FUT 19 season: A few days ago, EA Sports announced the official release date of the web app for FUT 19. The app launches on September 19, 2018 – about a week before the official launch date of FIFA 19.
The time of the web app: EA Sports did not specify exactly when the web app will be available in Germany. In recent years, the app often launched around 7 PM, which is why we strongly assumed that EA Sports would stick to this schedule again this year. However:
Update 7 PM: It is not live by 7 PM.
Update 10:45 PM: The web app is now live! However, there are immediate server problems for many users. Logging in is still not working for most. They receive error messages and error texts. However, there are also user reports that they are already in.
Requirements to start the web app from EA Sports today
These are the requirements for early access on 19.9.:
You must have created a FUT club in FIFA 18 before August 1.
This FUT 18 club must be valid until the launch of the FUT 19 web app.
Additionally, your account must have a “good reputation”. This means that if you have been banned before or have otherwise been negatively noted, you may not receive early access.
When does it start for players without early access? If you are not FUT 18 veterans, you will only gain access to the web app once you log in to FIFA 19, create your club in FUT 19, and answer a security question there. So, you have to wait until the release of FIFA 19 on 28.9. or 25.9. with early access.
Visit the transfer market to buy and sell players and items,
View the TOTW (Team of the Week),
Inspect all cards, rankings, and other stats,
Buy sets in the FUT store
and complete objectives.
New features for FUT 19 include:
Updated compatibility
Accept weekly rewards from squad battles, FUT champions, and Division Rivals
Improved filter functions
There will also likely be daily gifts again in the first days of the web app, so it’s worth logging in every day – even today. Veterans can also look forward to “Welcome back” sets.
Now it’s official: The next EX Raid boss in Pokémon GO will be Deoxys. You can share the invitations for it with some trainers.
First leak, now official: Today, on September 19th, announcements for Deoxys in Pokémon GO circulated in the morning. However, these were initially only as push notifications for smartphones. Niantic only shared the official news now in a blog post on the evening of September 19th.
Deoxys as a Raid boss in EX Raids in Pokémon GO
When will Deoxys come? The monster will appear from the next cycle of EX Raid invitations. When exactly the first raids will take place is still unclear.
What forms does Deoxys have? Actually, there are 4 forms of Deoxys: Normal, Attack, Defense, and Speed. In EX Raids, you can only challenge Deoxys in its normal form. Niantic did not explain whether this will change later.
Invite your friends to EX Raids
Alongside the new gym boss, Niantic also announced the feature to share EX Raid passes.
How does sharing passes work? If you receive an EX Raid pass from now on, you can invite a friend to join you in this raid.
How do you get EX Raid invitations? To qualify for such an invitation, you must complete a raid at a gym eligible for EX Raids.
This is how EX Raid gyms should be marked. Thanks @Chrales
How do you recognize these gyms? Soon you will find markings in Pokémon GO at gyms where EX Raids take place. You can find the marking in the gym details. Update from September 21: The markings are now active.
G’huun, the final boss of the first raid in WoW: Battle for Azeroth, has fallen on Mythic. The “World of Warcraft” guild Method has achieved the World First Kill.
Method claims World First on G’huun: Just a few minutes ago, around 20:25 on September 19, 2018, the first raid end boss in Battle for Azeroth, G’huun in Uldir, was killed on Mythic difficulty. The World First Kill goes to the top guild Method.
It took 7 days: The Mythic difficulty for Uldir was released on September 12, 2018. Since that day, many guilds worldwide have fought their way forward and taken down boss after boss.
Until today, 8 guilds faced G’huun. The first guild to reach him was Limit, who obtained the World First Kill on the penultimate boss of Uldir, Mythrax. Method and the well-known Russian guild Exorsus followed.
For the European guilds like Method, Uldir itself was only available later. Nevertheless, Method extinguished G’huun in Mythic mode after just over 7 days. Over 150,000 viewers watched the guild live on Twitch.
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That’s why raid guilds usually don’t stream: Method decided to stream their raid progress live. Normally, this was taboo: One does not want to give competitors insights into raid secrets to maintain an advantage.
How could Method take down the boss G’huun? Method did not extend the ID for Uldir this week. This allowed raid members to acquire new equipment and approach G’huun with stronger gear than groups that extended the ID.
For the kill itself, Method relied on “Class Stacking,” using many characters of the same class. Rogues found no place in the raid. The group for the kill consisted of:
1x Death Knight
1x Demon Hunter
1x Druid
3x Hunter
1x Mage
5x Monk (including 2 tanks and 2 healers)
2x Paladin (both healers)
1x Priest (healer)
4x Warlock
and 1x Warrior
How good are the Germans? The best German guild Aversion is currently ranked 16th in the world according to wowprogress (as of September 19, 2018, 20:50). They have defeated 6 out of 8 bosses and are currently facing Mythrax.
Blizzard has introduced a new mount in World of Warcraft, which you get along with six months of game time. In line with the new mount, the pirate ship, there is also a new pet in the shop, a parrot.
New mount and pet: Blizzard has introduced a new bundle in the official shop where you can purchase six months of game time and receive a pirate ship. Additionally, there is a parrot available as a pet in the in-game shop.
“The Dreadwake” and Captain Crackers
Flying pirate ship as mount: If you already know that you will be playing WoW for the next six months anyway, you can secure a free mount with 180 days of game time. This mount is the “Dreadwake”, a spooky flying pirate ship with wings.
Description of the ship: A ship like no other, held in the air by the gift of an unknown, kraken-faced god of the depths.
Image source: wowhead
A pirate parrot as pet: The new pet is a pirate parrot with a knife belt and pirate hat. You can also purchase this cute companion in the Blizzard shop or the in-game shop.
In the description of the pet, it states that you should not say anything to Captain Crackers that you do not want to hear for the next 20 years.
Image source: wowhead
In keeping with BfA: Thematically, the ship and the parrot fit the maritime design of Battle for Azeroth. It is also reminiscent of the two ships from BlizzCon 2017. In 2017, there were faction-specific mounts that represent a miniature version of the faction airships.
The god mentioned in the description of the “Dreadwake” could well be N’zoth. He has already been seen in the Warbringer video of Azshara.
You will receive the “Dreadwake” in a package from the official Blizzard shop. The package costs €65.94 and includes 180 days of game time and the mount. According to the shop description, this offer is only valid until October 21, 2018.
The game time will be credited to your current game time. If you have already purchased 180 days of game time in the last 30 days, or if you are subscribed for 6 months, you will automatically receive the “Dreadwake”.
You can also acquire Captain Crackers in the official Blizzard shop or in the in-game shop of World of Warcraft. Captain Crackers is available for €10 directly in the game.
That the “Dreadwake” and Captain Crackers are released today is no coincidence: It is Pirate Day in World of Warcraft! Visit Booty Bay and celebrate Pirate Day with Captain DeMeza by getting a pirate costume and drinking grog.
In a live stream, the developers at Standing Stone Games announced a new, yet secret class for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. However, this raises some questions in the community.
New races or new classes bring fresh air into an MMORPG. However, fans of The Lord of the Rings Online are skeptical about the announcement of a new class.
A new class is coming! (or maybe not)
This was announced: During the live stream, it was only said that a new class for the MMO is currently being worked on. It is not known which class it is, what role it is supposed to play, or when it will be released.
Update September 20: Meanwhile, the community manager has denied the news (via Lotro forum). While it is possible that a new class may come to The Lord of the Rings Online at some point, it has only been discussed so far. At the moment, there is nothing to announce.
Original announcement:
Fans actually want something different
How are the fans reacting? The excitement over a new class among the fans of LotRO has been limited. There are several reasons for this, which the players discuss in the official forum.
A new class brings a lot of balancing work for the entire game. The class must fit well and must not disturb the balance
The new class must fit into the lore of LotRO. Here, fans react particularly sensitively if something is integrated that does not fit 100 percent into the background story
Some believe that the developers should first address the problems that The Lord of the Rings Online is currently suffering from. In addition, players demand more content before a new class is introduced
The last new class, Beorninger, was not very well received by the players. It had to be revised for a long time until the balancing was correct and all bugs were fixed
What would the players wish for? But if a new class does come, players would like something that perfectly fits The Lord of the Rings and not just some random fantasy class like those found in other MMOs.
They would love to see a type of ranger who can attack from a distance and can camouflage
Similarly, players could imagine a kind of Elf Shaman who masters new spells
The developers of The Lord of the Rings Online will have a tough time meeting the expectations and ideas of the fans.
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First only as a beta: Red Dead Online is scheduled to launch in November 2018. But initially as a public beta. There will soon be more information from the developers about it. It is expected that there will be issues in the early stages due to the size of the project.
How can you participate in the beta? Every player who owns a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS4 or Xbox One will gain free access to Red Dead Online.
That sounds like GTA Online
Features like in GTA Online: The regular updates are also available in the online world of GTA 5 for free. New content and game modes are continually added to the game. GTA Online is also designed for single players and group players. They can work together to solve missions and events or shoot each other.
The advantages of GTA Online: The game is still relevant and lively in 2018 despite its advanced age. With RPG communities , GTA players have made the online mode their own and maintain a vibrant community.
New ways to earn money online are regularly emerging. One can now run their own drug business or manage a nightclub. Rockstar continues to succeed in refreshing the multiplayer experience with free DLCs after years.
The online mode in GTA also receives criticism: While GTA players appreciate the regular updates for GTA Online, they express criticism as well. It is often mentioned that Rockstar does not provide new content for the single-player mode (offline). Only the online mode is being supplied and expanded.
Fortnite: Battle Royale has been setting new records on Twitch for a long time. But that seems to be over for now, as Activision is gaining ground with WoW and Destiny 2. As a result, Fortnite saw a significant drop in players on the streaming platform Twitch in August for the first time.
Fortnite loses on Twitch: Fortnite likely reached its peak on Twitch in July 2018. The number of minutes that viewers spent watching Fortnite has since decreased by 13 percent.
In concrete numbers, this means that the colorful battle royale game could only gather 7.7 billion minutes of viewer time. That’s just 128 million hours. Enough time to watch about 2.5 million episodes of the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black.”
The peak in July was 8.88 billion minutes. During that time, one could have watched 2.9 million episodes of “Orange is the New Black.”
Activision gains ground on Twitch
World of Warcraft and Destiny 2 flourish: Where Fortnite had to take a hit, other games have made significant gains.
Both Activision-Blizzard titles, World of Warcraft and Destiny 2, saw an increase of 48 percent in Twitch minutes. WoW had a whopping 3.3 billion viewer minutes on Twitch in August.
The reason for this is the two successful expansions Battle for Azeroth (WoW) and Forsaken (Destiny 2). Activision’s rise is also reflected in their stock price, which is currently on the rise – especially because the beta of Call of Duty Black Ops 4 is going so well.
Fortnite still number 1, but Black Ops 4 is coming…
Nevertheless, Fortnite, with its 7.7 billion viewer minutes, remains the king on Twitch. The number 2, League of Legends, only reaches 4.82 billion minutes. LoL increased in August, raising its minute count by 10%.
Black Ops 4 could change everything: However, in October, Fortnite’s viewer numbers could be severely shaken. This is because the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is approaching. Its battle royale mode Blackout has already excited fans in the beta.
At least many beta players of Black Ops 4 don’t want to touch the battle royale game PUBG anymore. But Fortnite could also lose some players and Twitch viewers to Activision’s new battle royale heavyweight.
Season 6 needs to be big: Unless Epic steps up in the upcoming Season 6 of Fortnite and brings something spectacular that keeps players engaged. It will remain exciting.
