What are 5-star skillers? These are players who are able to perform more complex moves than players with lower skill ratings on the virtual pitch. The skill rating ranges from 1 to 5 stars. 5-star skillers can perform all – and the most beautiful – tricks.
Who needs 5-star skillers? Players can not only perform nice flicks that are pleasing to the eye – simple tricks like the ball roll also come easier with 5-star skilled players. So anyone who likes to pull off tricks should take a closer look at the following list of all 5-star skillers in FIFA 19.
All 5-star skillers from the Bundesliga in FIFA 19
There are also some tricksters in the Bundesliga. These players from the German top division have a 5-star skill rating:
Alexandru Maxim:
As in previous years, the number ten from Mainz 05 again received five stars this year. Anyone looking for an affordable 5-star skiller for their FUT Bundesliga team will find Alexandru Maxim.
Thiago:
Thiago, the Spanish technician from FC Bayern, will likely be a lot more expensive: He is again one of the best dribblers in FIFA 19.
Franck Ribery:
Thiago’s teammate Franck Ribery received five stars again despite his advanced age and decreased overall rating, making him a good option to outsmart the opposing defense.
Kingsley Coman:
The third Bayern player is World Champion Kingsley Coman: The lightning-fast winger not only brings a lot of speed but also a 5-star skill rating to the pitch.
Jadon Sancho:
New among the 5-star skillers of the Bundesliga is Jadon Sancho: The young winger from Borussia Dortmund has a total rating of only 72, but he masters all the special moves of the game.
Three-time champion Faker and his team SK Telecom T1 failed to qualify for the Worlds in League of Legends (LoL) 2018. Internal problems and strong competition from young players are making it hard for the champs.
Who is Faker?Faker is like the Lionel Messi of eSports. Only he is a 22-year-old South Korean and not a bearded Argentine. He is generally regarded as the “best LoL player” there has ever been. But even Faker, like Messi, can no longer lead a team to victory alone.
Faker plays the “Mid-Lane” position in League of Legends, the central spot. There, he can have a significant impact on the game. For years, fans around the world have admired his insane stunts and crazy kills.
His team has been SK Telecom T1 since 2014. He has never played for another organization. This is a rarity in League of Legends, where players usually swap teams quickly.
A popular champion for Faker: Akali
Here’s how it went in recent years: The most important tournament in League of Legends is the World Championships at the end of each year, the “Worlds.” Teams must qualify from their regions.
SK Telecom T1 has won the Worlds three times in the last 5 years:
In 2013, the team was actually just the “B” team for SK Telecom, but won the World Championship for the first time and started an incredible run.
In 2014, they did not qualify.
In 2015 and 2016, the team won the Worlds again – then people thought it would become a dynasty.
This is what happened: SK Telecom T1 failed to secure one of the three spots Korea has for the Worlds in 2018.
In the decisive series, they lost again to the finalists from 2017 with 3:2. The rivals are now called Gen G., after Samsung withdrew. However, top players like Ruler and Ambition still play for Gen G.
Weakness Jungle: In the decisive game 5, they neutralized Faker through concerted play.
After ADC Bang had so many problems at the Worlds 2017, this time the jungler Blank proved to be the weak link. He was caught and killed for the second time at 2:30 minutes, and throughout the match, Gen.G frequently claimed his scalp:
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What was the reason? Apparently, SK Telecom T1 has several problems, as observers note (via vEsports):
While newcomers shine in other teams, SKT 1 also has top rookies but does not trust them – they benched the young jungler talent Blossom after making mistakes.
The veterans appear to have weaknesses for years now, and the departure of old top players cannot be compensated.
Then the head coach changed.
And the harmony and synergy are not there.
Other teams in South Korea are just getting stronger – this year some great rookies joined the league. Teams like KT Rolster or Afreeca Freecs are now simply stronger than SK Telecom T1.
Who will represent Korea at the World Championship? The defending champions Gen G. have snatched the last spot. They will compete for South Korea along with Afreeca Freecs and KT Rolster. Faker and his team will have to watch the Worlds 2018 from home.
Even Faker Can No Longer Win Alone
What’s behind it: Never has South Korea been stronger than this year, as observers believe. Apparently too strong for SK Telecom T1.
It is now also no longer possible for the LoL God Faker to carry a team to victory virtually alone. The same phenomenon could be observed with Lionel Messi during the World Cup. Even the best player in the world cannot consistently make a difference with such a high level of competition.
A team led by YouTuber Datto completed the raid “Last Wish” in Destiny 2 after 24 hours of continuous play. However, they were 2 minutes short of the coveted reward.
Every team that completes it in 24 hours receives special emblems
And anyone who finishes the raid before the reset can purchase a jacket from Bungie
This is the exclusive emblem.
Who raided? The perhaps most well-known YouTuber from Destiny is Datto. He is playing with his clan “Math Class”.
It’s a small, self-ironic joke. Since Datto came from WoW and compared to other YouTubers is more academic, he has the reputation of approaching the game scientifically in long guides. He is considered somewhat of a nerd and explainer of Destiny.
That’s why his clan is called “Math Class”.
The YouTuber Stefan “Datto” Jonke
The team was surely eager to complete the raid “Last Wish” within the 24 hours and snag the emblem. Therefore, they didn’t take long breaks, but kept pushing through the night.
Only 2 raid teams get the emblem
The tragedy then: They did complete the raid in 24 hours but were exactly 2 minutes over the time limit. So no emblem for the Math Club.
Only 2 groups received the emblem: The world-first killers Redeem and a second group around Gigz. Even star player SlayerAge and his team only succeeded after about 30 hours.
Raid report shows: Only 3 teams completed it in 24 hours – Datto’s was 2 minutes over.
The moment must be immortalized
Fans want a reference: The fans on Reddit now demand an item from Bungie to honor this attempt for all eternity.
Their suggestion is a weapon called “Two Minutes Too Late.” The lore text could read: “But I was only 2 minutes late to math class.”
Such an honor would be better than any emblem.
Loser takes it with grace: Datto himself comments on Twitter with a mix of pride and melancholy. “Two minutes missing for the emblem. That feels bad. But third place in the raid race isn’t bad.”
Besides, Datto goes pro: 67,000 viewers at peak – that’s by far the highest concurrent viewer count he’s ever had.
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Many players criticize the number of bugs in the current addon of World of Warcraft. The Game Director is trying to relativize this. He refers to the many bugs in Legion.
Even though the launch of Battle for Azeroth went nearly perfectly, the current addon of World of Warcraft is far from it.
Especially in the forums and on Reddit, complaints about issues are piling up, whether small or large. While Blizzard is relatively quick at fixing the bugs, many players believe it should never have come to this point.
Ion Hazzikostas, the Game Director of WoW, has now commented on this.
What did Hazzikostas say? In the AMA (“Ask me Anything”) on Reddit, Hazzikostas answered several questions. Regarding the state of the many bugs, he made a comparison with Legion:
“More than 30,000 bugs were found during the alpha, beta, and release of Battle for Azeroth. 95% of these bugs have been fixed and most of the current problems are those that have been reported recently. These bugs will be fixed either right now or with the next major patch. By the way, Legion had similar numbers as a comparison.”
Low reproducibility of the bugs: A major problem is also bugs that developers simply cannot reproduce, Hazzikostas explains further. If, for instance, an NPC gets stuck during a quest and only data from two or three players is available (for example, in the beta), then the problem cannot always be traced back. Such bugs are initially marked as “Not reproducible” while developers work on other bugs.
Later, in the live version, not just a few players are affected, but several thousand. This results in more data, and such bugs can be fixed more easily when there is more information available.
Why is the outcry so large this time?
If the bugs were already so numerous earlier, the question arises as to why there is such a large outcry from the community this time. Several reasons could contribute to this.
Bugs are more noticeable: The biggest difference this time may lie in the visibility of the bugs. While in Legion, mostly small bugs only affected a minority of players, this time, larger masses are affected, and the impact is significantly felt.
Especially on the US realms, which are often confronted with bugs first, issues – like the undeserved super loot – cause anger and frustration.
Dissatisfaction as a catalyst: Additionally, there is the fact that many players are dissatisfied with the mechanics in Battle for Azeroth. Farming reputation, grinding artifact power, and the features of the Azerite armor are met with little favor. This increases players’ irritability and thus the perception of game bugs.
It is clear that a completely bug-free game of the size of World of Warcraft will probably never exist. However, the question is whether the state at launch was acceptable, or whether they should have taken another 1-2 months for testing.
A new hotfix will be provided for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on September 18th for Xbox One X. This is intended to temporarily reduce the graphics to cope with the performance issues on the console.
The battle royale shooter PUBG is currently only available on consoles for Xbox One. However, players on the Xbox One X still suffer from performance issues: Notably, the unstable frame rate is under criticism. A new hotfix is expected to provide at least temporary relief next week.
Stability through graphical downgrade
How will the hotfix help? On September 18th, a hotfix for PUBG will be released on Xbox One that aims to address the frame rate issues on Xbox One X. This will involve disabling some graphic options or reducing the intensity of certain features. This is expected to temporarily lead to performance improvements.
The following changes will be introduced with the hotfix:
Shadow quality (both dynamic and static) will be reduced
Post-processing
Motion blur will be disabled
Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) quality will be reduced
Depth of field will be disabled
Lens flare will be disabled
Eye adaptation quality will be reduced
This option affects the time needed for eyes to adjust to darkness when moving from a bright to a dark place
Effects
Screen reflection (SSR) will be disabled
This affects the reflection from windows and similar surfaces
Refraction will be switched off
This affects light refraction
Subsurface Scattering (SSS) will be disabled
This refers to light fields in objects that make objects appear more lifelike
Particle lighting will be disabled
This affects the dynamic lighting of various effects, such as explosions
The number of generated particles will be reduced
The resolution and textures, on the other hand, are expected to remain unchanged.
A long-term solution is being sought: The developers apologized in the blog post, as they know some players experience no issues at all.
The hotfix will affect all players, albeit only temporarily.
In the meantime, work will continue on a long-term solution. The developers anticipate offering two paths for different target groups in the future: one path for players who prefer better graphics and one for gamers who prefer better performance.
In Fortnite, a 10 million dollar tournament is starting soon. It’s not just about intense eSport fights, but also about mini-games like golf or golf cart racing.
What kind of tournament is this? Epic plans to start the series “Fall Skirmish” on the weekend of September 21/22. The tournament will have a prize pool of 10 million US dollars (around 8.6 million euros).
The lucrative tournament is set to run for 6 weeks and will conclude on October 26/27 at TwitchCon.
This is the second official tournament that Epic is planning for Fortnite. It is shorter and has a larger prize pool than the first one, the Summer Skirmish. Overall, Epic has a budget of 100 million US dollars in prize money for Fortnite planned for the 2018/2019 season.
eSport with casual mini-games
The special feature: The tournament will not only focus on battle royale in the traditional sense. Epic has now revealed that they have a new approach. Epic wants to mix “competitive elements” with “entertaining elements”.
There will be a special challenge every week. For example:
Golf cart racing like in an amusement park
Masterful golf matches
and other mini-games
Additionally, there will be “competitive tournaments” every weekend.
How do these tournaments factor into the victory? It is said that players compete in teams under a certain theme and then accumulate points in both formats: in the traditional and in the entertaining.
How exactly this is weighted is still not known. So, it could be that a tournament is decided not in the battle royale mode, but on the golf course.
Anyone can qualify: Epic has also announced that “Showdown Royale” will return to Fortnite at the beginning of October. This is a ranked mode that anyone can participate in through the normal client.
Those who perform well here can soon play with the professionals for 10 million US dollars.
In the Summer Skirmish, Epic directly invited about half of the players – mostly streamers and eSports pros.
The other half of the player base was recruited from the best in Showdown Royale.
How are the fans reacting? The mini-games are not yet widely known, and therefore it’s not a big topic yet, as this was just the preliminary news. More information is expected in the coming weeks.
On reddit, players have only sporadically discussed how eSport and such mini-games fit together. Some find a golf cart race for 10,000 dollars absurd. But it could also be fun.
Players think: When it comes to such large sums of money, everyone will take the party games seriously. However, it could be that eSport purists now see Fortnite even more critically as “too casual”.
What’s behind this: In everyday Fortnite, there are the “weekly challenges” to spice up the game. Players must play Fortnite golf or zoom around with golf carts.
Apparently, Epic is planning this for eSport too. A tournament could also have a bit of that “big Saturday night show” feel. Even in German television, shows work where contestants perform silly party games for huge sums (e.g., Schlag den Raab).
This fits with the idea that Fortnite is an eSport for everyone:
The preparation for the warfront in World of Warcraft is underway for the Alliance. Those who participate will speed up the process.
Almost two weeks have already passed since the warfronts in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth were opened. However, so far the Alliance has had to look on, as only players of the Horde could participate in the actual battle. Now the Alliance’s preparations have begun, at the end of which players of the Alliance can finally join the war for Stromgarde. For this, however, you need to gather a lot of resources.
How can one help with gathering? In the harbor of Boralus, right next to the ship where you also start your mission tables, there are numerous NPCs with repeatable quests. These grant artifact power and reputation with the 7th Legion (which is needed for the unlocking of the Dark Iron Dwarves) upon completion, while simultaneously advancing the progress for the preparation of the warfront.
What do you need to do for the quests? The requirements for the repeatable quests change every day. There are different requirements for all crafting or gathering professions that rotate each day. These include cloth, ores, herbs, but also crafted items like enchantments on scrolls. If you want to complete all quests, you’ll need to stock up on resources at the auction house or from friends.
How long does the preparation take? This depends on the preparation quests that players complete. If many players participate and complete the quests every day, then the preparation is finished in about 3 days. Otherwise, it can take, in the worst case, about 5 days if only a few players join in on the gathering.
Why have the Alliance not been able to play yet? Warfronts in World of Warcraft are only accessible to one faction at a time. While the Horde planned and executed the attack on Arathi, the Alliance still holds the area. As “compensation,” they could defeat rare enemies and an extra world boss.
Increased requirements: Please note that you can only enter the warfront after unlocking it if you already have an average item level of 320 or higher. This requirement was recently added.
An interview provides more insight into Crowfall, its development, and what the game wants to be for its players.
Interview about the specifics of Crowfall: The developers of Crowfall discuss in an interview with mmorpg.com what Crowfall is supposed to be and how it differs from other games.
What does Crowfall want to become?
mmorpg.com spoke with Creative Director J. Todd Coleman, Executive Producer Gordon Walton, and Vice President of Marketing DebySue Wolfclaw about Crowfall. There were also comparisons made to Game of Thrones.
Campaigns constantly change everything: In Crowfall, there are campaigns that behave almost like standalone games within the game. Campaigns often have their own rules, are subject to the seasons, and can be “won.” To expand your kingdom, you need to gather resources from campaigns with up to 1,000 players.
Coleman: “Every new campaign that starts with a new map and new rules is a new opportunity for us to gather completely different experiences. As a designer, that excites me the most personally.”
In this area, Crowfall differs significantly from other games. Coleman continued: “Normally, I only get a start with an MMO. I know that may seem financially correct for Crowfall. But from a design standpoint, I’m usually constrained by the rules we established at launch that I can’t change without it being a bigger problem for the community. Unless it’s clearly a change for the better.”
The rules constantly change in the game itself. When asked if this seasonal setup doesn’t exactly allow for saying that everything will change next season, Walton added: “Exactly, that was one of the core pieces of the puzzle. We don’t want to get stuck on one path. Because then there come nerfs and [things like] ‘You’re changing my player experience!’ No, we even promise that we’ll change your player experience.”
Crowfall feels episodic: Through the campaigns, a dynamic comes into play that the developers compared to other games. It is difficult to market the game correctly when it combines so many things.
“It’s a bit like WoW. But actually more like EVE. But it’s completely dynamic. It’s actually stories driven by the players, not by us. You won’t be led on rails,” Coleman said.
Coleman even adds a comparison with well-known series: “The maps are completely procedurally generated. Players can chop down trees. You can win a campaign. It feels more like you’re playing a season of Game of Thrones. I mean, that’s a lot, right?”
The hunger brings a dynamic to the game: Even within the individual sections, there is a dynamic in Crowfall. The “Hunger”, the seasons, and even day and night have a constant impact on the world.
Coleman: “As we have the day-night cycles set up at the moment, every night there’s a chance that the infection will take over part of the game. It randomly appears and then spreads. When the Hunger takes over an area, it essentially transforms the world around it into winter. Harvestable resources in that area are no longer available. You go there, and they are frozen.”
Coleman continued: “If you want to gather in an area, you have to destroy the Hunger first. The Hunger gets worse over the course of the campaign – it spreads. The idea is to make the world appear more and more desolate and resources become scarcer as winter approaches.”
Whether Crowfall will succeed with its completely different approach to the MMORPG genre will be revealed at the latest with the delayed release in 2019.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Ion Hazzikostas took the time to explain why the Alliance has to wait so long for their warfront in World of Warcraft.
On Friday evening (14.09.2018), the Game Director of World of Warcraft, Ion Hazzikostas, answered pressing questions from players on Reddit during an “Ask me anything” (AMA). He took several hours to respond to many topics that were on the players’ minds. One topic in particular caused an uproar: The warfronts.
What was the problem? When it was announced that the warfronts would soon begin, all players were excited. But there was quickly a damper. While the Horde was able to participate in the warfront after a short wait, Alliance players still have to wait. Only one side can attack at a time; the other can kill a world boss and rare mobs in the Arathi Highlands. However, they can only do this once, after which the front must change hands.
Poor communication as the reason: Hazzikostas admits that they did a very poor job in communication. For testing purposes, the durations of the individual phases during the beta were much shorter. Then the front changed hands roughly every three days. Now, a cycle takes about 25 days – depending on the activity of the players, a bit more or a bit less.
Limitation of rewards: Another reason for the long duration of the cycle is that they want to offer players a particularly strong reward (like 370 gear from the quest) without that reward being too often available and thereby devaluing other content. If you only get these big rewards every three to four weeks, the impact on other content is minimal.
More warfronts solve the problem: Hazzikostas also mentions that more warfronts will come in the future. The various timers and wait times will then intertwine, so there will be more to do more frequently. While the Horde fights over Arathi, Alliance players could already conquer another front.
The CEO of publisher Take Two, Strauss Zelnick, is behind games like GTA 5 Online and Red Dead Redemption 2. Take-Two also makes money in China, but there are issues.
Who is speaking? It is the CEO of one of the largest western gaming publishers, Strauss Zelnick, speaking in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz about the Chinese gaming market for western game companies.
Take-Two includes franchises such as:
Borderlands
Civilization
Grand Theft Auto
Red Dead Redemption
and XCom
What is Zelnick’s problem? When US companies or other foreign gaming publishers want to distribute their games in China, they need a license from the Chinese government.
It is an open secret that it is necessary to make deals with Chinese companies. For example, Blizzard is linked with NetEase.
Even larger than NetEase is the Chinese IT company “Tencent”, which long has been considered one of the 7 largest companies in the world. Tencent is the partner for many western publishers looking to make money in China. Also for Take-Two.
Take-Two plans to distribute their games NBA 2K Online and Kerbal Space Program through “WeGame”, Tencent’s platform, in China.
This is what Zelnick says about the future in China: At a conference, Goldman Sachs Communacopia, Strauss Zelnick spoke about the current block for the approval of new games in China. He sees it optimistically. His company itself is not affected, they have held the licenses for a long time.
He hopes that in the long term, the barriers will fall, and China will open up to western products. Zelnick believes that the Chinese government will eventually realize that western products are good for the Chinese population. The Chinese customers already want the entertainment products from the USA. They love what Take-Two can offer them.
But while Zelnick sees the future in China as bright, he criticizes the past and present harshly.
Zelnick accuses China of extortion in principle
Unfair market conditions: Zelnick finds the market conditions in China simply unfair as an American:
„We have a totally skewed situation. Chinese companies come to the USA and buy our companies – that’s no problem for them at all. And if they don’t do that, then they can bring their games here and distribute them in the market, all no problem.
But if we want to go to China, then half of our business needs to belong to a Chinese company. The good news is that we get their expertise. We have a good relationship with companies like Tencent. We are happy to do business with them. But to be clear: We have no other choice either.”
Zelnick then continues that one needs the approval of the Chinese government. That is a political decision. One does not understand why the USA thinks it is okay that the second largest export commodity of the USA, after aerospace technology, is treated this way. Global trade relations have changed, and that needs to be reflected in political conditions as well.
Bad Penguin: The mascot of Tencent
Zelnick complemented his speech with:
„Oh yes, by the way, the other background is that China has been stealing our intellectual property for a really long time. These things need to change.”
The topic that hardly anyone talks about
This is what lies behind it: Zelnick is essentially calling for:
a trade war. The USA would have to impose the same obstacles on the Chinese as the Chinese do in return to create equal conditions
or the abolition of all barriers in China for US companies
The unfair competitive conditions with China are a topic that has long occupied the western industry – not just in gaming. Even in Germany, these “forced joint ventures” are likely a major internal problem for companies, as reported by economic magazines (via Handelsblatt).
In everyday life, Chinese influence plays a role: Chinese corporations now hold shares or control major western gaming companies like Epic Games (Fortnite) or Riot Games (League of Legends).
Interestingly, this topic is almost never addressed in gaming, even though some news suggests that such practices have a significant influence on everyday life:
or one finds a curious language regulation: it is said that they are forming a partnership because they need the “local expertise” to address the “particularities of the Chinese market” as in Diablo 3.
Clearly, western publishers simply have no choice if they want to make money in China – and they do want to.
The players of Fortnite: Battle Royale were quite surprised when the “Rogue Agent” outfit suddenly appeared in the shop. The skin had previously only been available for a short time as part of a starter pack. Now the “Halo Skin” costs three times the price!
What is the Rogue Agent Skin? The “Rogue Agent” skin is an outfit that many players referred to as the “Halo Skin“. This is because it looks a bit like an “Orbital Drop Shock Trooper” from Bungie’s shooter hit.
What was special about the skin? The outfit was released at the end of March 2018 and was not regularly available in the shop. Instead, it was only available as part of a starter pack. This included the skin, a backpack, and 600 V-Bucks.
All of this cost only 5 Euros – the 600 V-Bucks in the package were worth 6 Euros “if” bought with real money.
“Halo Skin” was perceived as exclusive: Many players bought the skin at the time, in part because they thought the “Rogue Agent” would be a unique, exclusive offer that would never return.
Super rare skins that hardly anyone has and that will never be available again are highly sought after by many fans in Fortnite. Accounts with skins like the Skull Trooper or the Black Knight are worth a fortune on eBay and so on.
Is it soon the end for rare skins?
Old skin at three times the price: After the Rogue Agent was unavailable for a while, it has now reappeared. It is part of the shop offer from September 15 and has a proud price of 1,500 V-Bucks!
That is three times the price it cost in the starter pack back then. Of course, there are no free V-Bucks this time.
Fans are not happy: Besides the high price, many players are currently upset because they thought the skin was an exclusive offer that would never return. So anyone who bought the “Halo Skin” back then often assumed they had acquired a super rare outfit along with a bargain.
Will other “exclusive” skins return soon? The Rogue Agent is definitely a precedent for the return of an outfit that no one expected anymore. Therefore, many players now fear that Epic will open the floodgates and soon bring other extremely rare skins, such as the coveted Skull Trooper or the Black Knight, to the shop.
Community divided:
If rare skins were to return, the special aspect of these skins would disappear for many owners, as they would no longer be rare.
Others are hoping exactly for their return because they missed the skins back then but have always wanted them.
There was a similar outcry recently with the no less rare outfit Power Chord:
For many Overwatch fans, this is bad news: Smurfing in Overwatch is allowed and does not lead to any penalties.
In Overwatch, many players complain about accounts from other players that have a low level but play like a pro. Often, these are second accounts from professionals. Is this “smurfing” actually a form of cheating? Jeff Kaplan from the Overwatch team has clarified: No, it is not.
What is smurfing? A “smurf” refers to the second or third account of a very good player.
With a fresh account, he does not yet have the high skill rating of his main account and will often face players who are significantly inferior to him.
What did Kaplan say? In the official forum, Jeff Kaplan, the game director of Overwatch, stated: “Starting a new account does not violate the rules. Boosting or throwing, however, does.”
Boosting refers to “pulling” other players to raise their skill rating.
Throwing, on the other hand, is deliberately giving up by not participating or trolling your own team.
Kaplan further explained: “If you start a new account and play normally, the matchmaker will quickly categorize your skill and let you compete against similar players.”
This makes it official: Smurfing is completely legal in Overwatch.
Cortyn says: Smurfing is one of those annoying problems for which there is simply no real solution. I have some friends who tried Overwatch during the “Free Weekend” and quickly lost interest because they were shot by Widowmaker from 200 meters as soon as they left the spawn room.
This is a real deterrent for newcomers, hindering rather than promoting the fun of the game.
What is your opinion on smurfing? Should Blizzard reconsider and change their stance on this? Or is there no reason to do so?
Warframe is currently incorporating more and more other genres as mini-games. After the Streetfighter mode “Framefighter”, there will be a hoverboard mini-game in the upcoming Fortuna update, similar to Tony Hawk.
Hoverboards in Warframe? In the announced Fortuna update for Warframe, we will head to the planet Venus, where there will be a large open world again. One particularly cool new feature: hoverboard racing tracks!
You can ride on 20 tracks in the icy wasteland full of enemies and dangers with a so-called “K-Drive”.
All about the hoverboards and the new faction in Fortuna
Where can I find the hoverboards? To get a K-Drive, you need to befriend a new mini-faction: the Vent Kids.
The “Vent Kids” are cool teens who hang out in the eponymous ventilation shafts (English “Vent”), listen to funky space beats, and spray impressive graffiti with socio-critical content on the tunnel walls.
The kids also hack into Corpus technology to obtain the tech for their boards.
How do the races work? Once you have a K-Drive, you can start a hoverboard race at specific locations. Holographic rings will appear everywhere that you must pass through.
Your time counts, but also that you perform cool moves along the way. So backflips, grinds on railings, and other skateboard stunts that you would expect more in a Tony Hawk game than in a grim space shooter.
What rewards are there? If you perform well and complete moves like “Floppy Grandmother”, you earn reputation points with the Vent Kids. For that, you can get goodies like the aforementioned graffiti for your board as decoration.
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When can I finally ride a hoverboard? Unfortunately, there is still no more precise release date for Fortuna. It is supposed to come this fall. A video of the hoverboard races can be found in the current dev stream that we have embedded here.
More information about the features of Fortuna can be found here:
If it were up to our readers, farming reputation in World of Warcraft would be easier. Because on the account, all characters would have the same reputation.
A few days ago, we asked you if reputation in World of Warcraft should be account-wide or if it should, as before, count per character. You were able to vote and clearly decided: Reputation in World of Warcraft should apply to the entire account!
A proud 78% of voters believe that reputation in World of Warcraft should apply equally to all characters. So if the main character is exalted with a faction, secondary and third characters should also be able to benefit from the rewards.
Only 22% believe that reputation should continue to function as it has in the past. Each character must earn their reputation individually in order to access corresponding rewards.
Opinions from the Community
Most seem to wish for a system like that from the “Mists of Pandaria” expansion. Here, players could buy badges after reaching a certain reputation level. These increased reputation gains with the corresponding faction by 100%. This is also reflected in the comments, here are some examples:
Thomas Roßkamp: “I would like to see it done again like in Pandaria. There, you could also buy the ‘Great Insignia of Praise’ for later twinks, for example. This allowed all twinks to receive 100% more reputation gain account-wide.”
Bodicore: “I think twinks should be actively played. Therefore, I prefer that you get 200 reputation instead of 75 for each World Quest.”
Jabba: “I would be against it, there would be no reason for me to play twinks if reputation is automatically gained and you equip your character with reputation rewards. The incentive to twink would be gone […]”
Cortyn says: Honestly, I was a little surprised by the result. I thought it would end up being around a tie. That so many are in favor of account-wide reputation surprises me. Personally, I don’t care much. I basically only have one main character, where I unlock most things. It would be a nice bonus, but not absolutely necessary.
Does the result match your expectations? Or are you surprised by the clear opinion of our readers?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny 2, the Last Wish raid has been completed! The world-first fireteam unlocks new content for all Guardians in the Dreaming City.
It is done: After 18 hours and 48 minutes, the first fireteam successfully completed the new Forsaken raid “Last Wish”. Around 2 PM our time, this feat was accomplished by Clan Redeem, who now holds the newest world-first title.
Clan Redeem has been officially confirmed as the winners by Bungie. In this tweet from Bungie, you can see the successful raid completion – here’s a major spoiler warning!
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The world-first victory is significant not only for these six Guardians but for all Guardians. New activities in the Dreaming City of Destiny 2 are now live.
When you log in for the first time, you will receive a message that a curse has been unleashed. It is explained that a team of six Guardians entered the heart of the Dreaming City and defeated Riven, the One Thousand Voices. They had no idea, according to the in-game text, that this was exactly what Riven wanted.
New Cutscene: When you fly to the Dreaming City, a cutscene greets you, explaining that the greatest secret of the Dreaming City is a Ahamkara named Riven. She is a powerful and cunning creature that the Guardians should defeat as she was possessed.
However, through death, a curse was unleashed that now plagues the Dreaming City.
First go to Petra: Petra is now desperate, as she was the one who brought you to the Dreaming City and had you kill the Ahamkara. She did not expect the curse. She says that there are many secrets in the city, one of which must be a help.
New Story, New Strike
New Story: She gives you a new story quest called “Broken Courier,” where you must evacuate one of her people. You can find the quest in Petra’s weekly loot pursuits.
New Strike: Additionally, at the top of the map of the Dreaming City, the strike “The Corrupted” is available. Recommended Power is 500. You must find one of Mara’s closest advisors and free her from the control of the Taken. You need to complete this strike for the loot pursuit “Cleansing Ritual.”
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The Dreaming City now offers new tasks for all Guardians. This is probably one of the changes that are set to occur over the course of the fourth season in this endgame area.
Have you discovered any other innovations?
According to our reader DevilRon1989, there is also a new Gambit map called Cathedral of Scars.
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Amazon has released new screenshots of the sandbox MMORPG New World. These demonstrate the dark atmosphere we can expect – particularly in the Damned Capital!
In the MMORPG New World, you will also encounter supernatural creatures. How exactly these fit into the game is still unclear, as New World is set in colonial America. What is certain is that it will be quite dark.
New Screenshots Hype Up the MMO
This is how dark the MMO will be: The new screenshots of New World show interesting landscapes as well as the mysterious city “Damned Capital”. What exactly is going on here will be revealed in the game. Also interesting is that in one of the pictures you can see a floating rock. Magic seems to play a huge role as well. We will present the screenshots in a gallery.
What is New World About? In the MMORPG New World, you reach America during the colonial period to settle here. You join other settlers to build a fort and explore the area. You gather resources to craft better equipment and continuously expand your fort.
However, open PvP is also part of the game. Other players can attack you at any time, and there are frequent sieges of the forts. In addition, you will fight wild animals and even supernatural beings. Even though New World is a sandbox, WoW fans might also have their fun.
In Destiny 2, the final boss in the new Forsaken raid “Last Wish” was defeated for the first time after 17 hours. But the suffering continues for the fireteam.
The World-First title is still not awarded: Bungie wants to reward the fireteam that completes the raid “Last Wish” first with glory, honor, and an array of exclusive rewards.
But this is taking significantly longer than some Guardians would have thought. While previous raids were completed in one go, the new raid is dragging on.
The most successful Guardians have pulled an all-nighter, but that’s not the end yet.
Yesterday, on September 14th at 7 PM, the new Forsaken raid “Last Wish” started. Numerous fireteams dove straight into this adventure to tackle the biggest PvE group activity in Destiny 2.
With Kalli, most hit a wall: However, the raid quickly proved to be a tough challenge. The recommended power level is 550, but the enemies already have a power level of 560 in the first raid encounter. This encounter takes place against Kalli, the Corrupted, where most directly failed.
How to defeat Kalli, the Corrupted? Our detailed raid guide will probably come tomorrow, once the mechanics are known in detail. You can find out how to defeat Kalli here.
What comes after Kalli? After Kalli, several bosses await the Guardians:
One must defeat Shuro Chi
Then take down Morgeth, the Pillar Guardian
Then infiltrate a chamber
And then Riven, the Thousand Voices, awaits the exhausted Guardians. This is a corrupted Ahamkara. At the beginning of the raid, players are instructed to kill Riven and grab her heart.
Between the phases, various jumping passages must be mastered.
The final encounter after Riven
But that’s not all
Today around noon our time (so in the middle of the night in the USA), the first fireteam managed to defeat Riven. The recommended power level for this encounter is 580. However, to everyone’s surprise, the raid is still not over.
Andrew Hopps, the raid team art lead at Bungie, directly communicated this on Twitter and confirmed: After Riven, there is still one more encounter!
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The fireteam that is now in the truly final encounter belongs to the Redeem Clan. Redeem is known for numerous speedruns and World-First titles.
The streamer xGladd is still live-streaming and trying to complete the raid entirely. The final encounter involves Riven’s heart. We embed the Twitch stream here:
https://www.twitch.tv/xgladd
Currently, over 40,000 people are watching to see when the raid will finally be cracked.
The streamer has already made statements such as:
Bungie is trolling us hard!
Bungie, why do we have to keep suffering?
Community Manager dmg04 advised a few hours ago that the streamers should drink enough and eat healthy:
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This is how fans are reacting: The first user reviews are overwhelmingly positive. People are glad to finally have a long and difficult raid that poses a great challenge even for the best. The design and atmosphere of the raid are impressive.
However, the biggest difficulty in the raid at present is that the Guardians are extremely underleveled. The best raid groups went in yesterday and today with Guardians whose power level was around 550. But the last raid encounters are set to 580.
Most Guardians will still have several weeks to level up their characters before they can complete the raid.
The new patch “Our Guiding Star” will be released on Tuesday for Guild Wars 2. The community is particularly excited about the new legendary weapon. The scepter “Xiuquatl” comes with a special companion.
Animal companion is an integral part of the weapon: What we had already suspected in our post about the trailer has been confirmed by ArenaNet in a tweet. The little flying dragon is part of Xiuquatl. So those who carry the weapon will no longer be alone.
In addition to the animal companion, the scepter also gives you a special effect with the footprints and a nice aura around you.
The community is thrilled: In the forums and on Reddit, there is a lot of praise for the legendary weapon, even if not all players are satisfied with the look of the scepter. Many find the scepter a bit too large and bulky. Some also criticize that it resembles a classic scepter very little.
Still, some of these critics are considering crafting the weapon. The small dragon is what has charmed many.
Other legendary weapons were not received as well: With each episode of the Living World, a new legendary weapon currently comes to Guild Wars 2. However, some of them have not been well received by the community in the past.
Specifically, the torch, the rifle, the shield, and most recently the war horn were more mocked than welcomed with thunderous applause. The soon-to-be-released scepter, on the other hand, generates excitement.
New raid for Guild Wars 2
In addition to the legendary weapon, the new raid “Mythwright Gambit” is eagerly awaited by the community. The theme is the interior of the Mystic Forge, where players have already lost a lot of gold crafting items.
A teaser has also been released by ArenaNet for this content. It shows us the first raid boss and some images from the forge. We will be accompanied by the voice of the djinn Zommoros, who is likely to be the final boss of the instance.
This new content has also been eagerly awaited by players after almost nine months without a new raid.
How to access the new content? The episodes of the Living World are free for players of Guild Wars 2. You just need to log in before the next episode is released to unlock it.
Alternatively, episodes can later be purchased for in-game currency or real money. However, you need the expansion Path of Fire to experience the content. The legendary weapon still belongs to the earlier expansion Heart of Thorns.
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The next patch of World of Warcraft is coming soon to the PTR. In a few days, it will be revealed what the first content patch will be about.
Many players have already completed the current content of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth. While there are still tougher challenges with the Mythic raid or “Mythic+” dungeons, most of the content is already finished in its basic form. The hunger for new content is growing again – and Blizzard already has an answer.
The next patch is coming soon: Last night (September 14, 2018), Game Director Ion Hazzikostas hosted an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit and answered some questions from the community. He announced that the next patch is already on the starting blocks.
When will there be new information? On September 18 (6 PM our time), World of Warcraft will hold a livestream on Twitch and discuss the content that will be included in the upcoming update. It is likely that this will be Patch 8.1.
PTR follows soon: A short time after the stream, the PTR for the next patch is expected to be deployed to the test servers. With an average testing period of 4-6 weeks, players may be able to play the first major content update for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth as early as the beginning of November.
So far, everything is unknown: Regarding the content of Patch 8.1, the player community is still completely in the dark. While there are some speculations that the plot around the Naga is picking up speed and Azshara (had her own cinematic here) will show more presence, this is not yet confirmed. In Legion, it was already known what the first patch would contain because the Night Fortress, the second major raid, was playable during the beta.
Are you looking forward to new information and Patch 8.1? Or are you still busy with the starting content of the expansion and don’t need any additional updates for now?
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Even though the “Battle Royale” mode of Fortnite is only a year old, there is a constant ebb and flow of weapons and equipment. Here is a selection of all the items that Epic has removed from the game, some of which are sorely missed.
People often tend to curse Epic for constantly adding new items, weapons, and other aids to Fortnite. After all, you only have five inventory slots available, which makes the choice relatively difficult.
It is often forgotten that there was a colorful mix of items that are no longer in the game, some of which are sorely missed.
Epic calls this “Vaulting”; an item is removed from Fortnite to be thoroughly revised, so it can make a glorious comeback. In the meantime, the item rests in the “Vault.”
We take a look back at all the toys that Epic gave us only to painfully snatch them away again.
The Zapotron – Buried on September 29, 2017
What exactly is the Zapotron? Most of you probably don’t know, but the Zapotron was actually in the game at the launch of Fortnite: Battle Royale, but was removed quite quickly.
Here’s what the Zapotron could do: Anyone taking a closer look at the features of the energy rifle might get an idea of why this weapon is no longer in the game. The Zapotron could be fired normally like an assault rifle or charge up to fire a massive energy ball that could even penetrate several enemies at once.
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Here’s why the Zapotron disappeared: Unsurprisingly, Epic removed the Zapotron for “balance reasons.” Since then, there have been recurring rumors in the community about whether the weapon might make a triumphant comeback someday.
Is the Zapotron missed? Too few players got to enjoy the weapon. Most probably won’t even remember it.
The Submachine Gun – Buried on February 12, 2018
Here’s what the Submachine Gun could do: The standard SMG could fire quickly but was only effective at short distances, as the damage drop-off was quite noticeable. Additionally, the weapon dealt less damage compared to other SMGs.
Here’s why the Submachine Gun disappeared: At one time, three different variants of the submachine gun were bustling around in Fortnite: Battle Royale:
The Standard Submachine Gun
The Silenced Variant
The Tactical SMG
The Tactical Submachine Gun was considered a valid close-range option despite the popular double pump tactic. While the silenced SMG at least still offered the advantage of being quiet when firing, nobody knew what to do with the Standard SMG.
The new, old Submachine Gun
The weapon was so unpopular that players often turned away in disgust and opted for the nearby white pistol instead.
Now the Submachine Gun is a beast: It returned in an altered form. With a new look and significantly more damage, the currently available variant shares only its name with the one from back then.
The weapon is now so good that it has taken away the spotlight from another contender. More on that later.
The Smoke Grenade – Buried on April 11, 2018
Here’s what the Smoke Grenade could do: The smoke grenade created a thick smoke through which players could not be seen. This circumstance could be used to escape a fight or to flank opponents. At least in theory.
Here’s why the Smoke Grenade disappeared: Although the smoke grenade was once regarded as THE means to elegantly avoid a fight, that expectation did not last long. If there was ever an item in Fortnite that was considered “okay,” it would be the smoke grenade.
The problem: There are simply too many better options for the limited inventory slots than the smoke grenade. Why escape a fight when you can just mow down the opponent?
Is the Smoke Grenade missed? Even though the grenade may have been helpful in certain situations, probably only very few players will miss it.
The Crossbow – Buried on May 01, 2018
Here’s what the Crossbow could do: The crossbow was introduced as a ranged weapon that looked particularly good on paper:
The scope could be used to zoom
The weapon shot nearly silently
Crossbow ammunition was infinitely available
Here’s why the Crossbow disappeared: Although the crossbow is still an extremely cool concept weapon, players wanted more: A critical hit did not automatically lead to the enemy’s demise, for that, a bolt-action sniper rifle was needed.
With the hunting rifle, the semi-automatic sniper rifle, and the bolt-action sniper rifle being tough competitors for supremacy among the best long-range weapons, the crossbow ultimately had to give way. However, it is not out of the question that it will return.
Is the Crossbow missed? Even though there aren’t many, the weapon has its fans. If you are out there, I feel for you!
The Tactical Submachine Gun – Buried on June 27, 2018
Here’s what the Tactical Submachine Gun could do: While the first Submachine Gun was removed from the game, the Tactical Submachine Gun experienced its first heyday. A large magazine and high damage made the weapon one of the most popular options for close combat.
However, the weapon only became really exciting when Epic curtailed the double pump tactic. Because then a valid option disappeared. People had to resort to the Tactical SMG.
Here’s why the Tactical Submachine Gun disappeared: This brief period of fame can’t be taken away from the Tactical SMG, but it then encountered a problem: The Standard Submachine Gun was reworked and brought back into the game, while the silenced variant was buffed.
Suddenly, nobody wanted to play with the Tactical Submachine Gun anymore; it gathered dust in the basements of Tilted Towers. Epic removed the weapon in June – comeback uncertain.
Is the Tactical Submachine Gun missed? No, it has received a very solid alternative with the Standard SMG.
The Revolver – Buried on September 06, 2018
Here’s what the Revolver could do: If you got a revolver in your hands right after landing and were a good shot, you could clear out quite a few opponents. Critical hits could send unshielded enemies back to the lobby with a single shot.
Here’s why the Revolver disappeared: From the second minute of the game, you’d just be annoyed by the revolvers. Epic wanted to replace them with the rarer hand cannon, but that also worked only to a limited extent. In September 2018, the revolver was removed from the game. Its future is uncertain. The rarer hand cannons remain in the game.
Is the Revolver missed? No, just no.
The Drum Gun – Buried on September 11, 2018
Here’s what the Drum Gun could do: Aside from the nerf of the double pump, probably no weapon change was discussed as controversially as the removal of the Drum Gun. The weapon was extremely popular for many reasons:
It could be used at both medium and close distances
It had a huge magazine of 50 rounds
It could be easily found
and it could deal significant damage
Here’s why the Drum Gun disappeared: The reason for its removal is probably similar to the Zapotron in terms of balance. The Tommy Gun was too much of an all-round weapon, not a specific weapon for certain situations.
Is the Drum Gun missed? Epic only removed the weapon on September 11, and many players are already missing it. This is evidenced by the many sometimes heated discussions in the community. The fate of the “Tommy Gun” is uncertain.
However, it is not out of the question that Epic might bring the fan-favorite back in a changed form.
Here’s what the Electric Traps could do: The electric traps will probably only be familiar to veterans. With these, you could set a nasty trap for the enemy on walls or ceilings, depending on the trap type.
Here’s why the Electric Traps disappeared: Due to a significant disadvantage: They were very audible and therefore could only lure in a few victims. Epic removed the traps shortly after the release of the Battle Royale mode. Since then, it has been quiet.
Are the Electric Traps missed? Those who remember the noise these traps made will probably not shed a tear for them. However, the game could benefit from a bit more variety in traps.
One thing is for sure: Epic will continue to mix up the available items and weapons in the game in the future. Who knows who will be the next?
Which of the weapons presented here do you miss the most?
