YouTuber hat neue Overwatch-Karte Busan erstellt – schon vor Blizzard

Many fans are celebrating the new Overwatch map Busan. However, a well-known fan created Busan earlier – did Blizzard shamelessly copy it?

A fan created Busan before Blizzard: The Overwatch fan, YouTuber, and map designer Joshua Llorente showcased his own version of the Overwatch map Busan, announced in August, already back in June using Unreal Engine 4.

Other fans and Overwatch players are now wondering if he had anything to do with the design of the official map, or if Blizzard could simply have stolen it.

Overwatch Busan TItel

Commotion over the new map Busan

Busan is a city in Korea. The new Overwatch map takes place in a futuristic South Korea, a country that Llorente has expressed great interest in (via Kotaku).

Overwatch Busan Downtown Restaurant

Who is Joshua Llorente? The Filipino Joshua “Shua” Llorente has previously made headlines. Back in August 2017 Llorente showcased the map “Favela”. Shortly after, a second map of his, “Cairo”, followed.

Llorente built the maps from scratch. He took 2 months for Cairo back then. Overwatch head Jeff Kaplan even took notice of his work, rewarding him with an “Amazing work! We’ll be in touch”.

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Did Blizzard copy Busan? What many fans of Llorente’s work and Overwatch are keen to find out now is whether Llorente was involved in the official Busan map, or if Blizzard copied it.

Llorente himself stated that Blizzard hadn’t reached out to him. He wrote to Kotaku in an email: “I don’t believe Blizzard was inspired by my map, as I am the one inspired by their environments, and I am the one using their maps as a guide for creating my own maps.”

An official response from Blizzard on this matter is still pending.

For comparison: The Busan map by Joshua Llorente.

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And the Busan map from Overwatch.

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Llorente is excited about Busan: Although the maps are very similar, Llorente is not disappointed that his work was not taken over by Blizzard. He is primarily happy that a Busan map exists.

“I really like the Overwatch Busan map, as I love Korean culture. I think their [Blizzard’s] environment team captured the feel and look of a traditional and futuristic Busan well.” said Llorente.

Overwatch Busan MEKA Base

He also has no visual complaints about the design of the map. Llorente added: “Visually, the Busan map is already perfect, and I don’t think any changes are necessary.”

The Overwatch map Busan was announced at Gamescom 2018 and is now playable on the PTR.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Kotaku

Destiny 2 – The PS4-exclusive content of Forsaken is known

In Destiny 2, the PS4-exclusive content for Forsaken has been revealed. These items and activities have a time exclusivity for PlayStation Guardians.

Time-exclusive additional content: Since Bungie has a partnership with Sony, PS4 Guardians have received time-exclusive bonus content with every major Destiny release for years. This is also the case with the Forsaken expansion starting from September 4, 2018.

These contents remain PS4-exclusive for at least one year.

A PlayStation-exclusive Exotic, a Strike, Armor, and a Ship

Destiny 2 Forsaken offers these PS4-exclusive contents:

  • Wavesplitter – Exotic Fusion Rifle:
    waffe
    This weapon comes from the creators of Coldheart. It fires deadly laser beams. Wavesplitter has three different “power levels” that alternate while firing, differentiating in sound effects and the thickness of the laser beam. When you pick up a Sphere of Light, the weapon temporarily reaches maximum power, allowing it to mercilessly destroy enemies.
    43636211094_021d301120_k-755×425
  • Broodhold – Exclusive Strike:
    strike
    This strike takes you into the depths of the Shattered Thicket – a new area in Forsaken. There you will face the Hive – at the end waits a witch, a “Brood Queen”. She uses a physical form and a shadow form, employing various abilities against you.
  • New Armor Pieces – Titan (Mimetic Saviour):
    titan2
  • New Armor Pieces – Hunter (Red Moon Phantom):
    jäger2
  • New Armor Pieces – Warlock (Thorium Holt):
    warlock2
  • Exclusive Ship – Great Beyond:
    schiff
    This ship comes from an unknown country, from which no one has returned – until now, according to PlayStation’s description.

How long is this exclusive? The PlayStation Blog does not indicate how long only PS4 Guardians will have access to this content. Presumably one year, until the fall of 2019 – that is our assumption. However, this is not confirmed.

What about the previous PS4-exclusive content?

At the launch of Destiny 2, there were PS4-exclusive contents, such as the Lake of Shadows Strike or the Borealis.

At that time, Bungie’s Luke Smith stated that these contents would be available for the other platforms (Xbox, PC) in the fall of 2018. Although it was officially stated “at least fall 2018”, he committed to 2018.

Presumably, the PS4-exclusive contents from 2017 will be available for all Guardians with Forsaken.

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. playstation-blog

Ashes of Creation says: PvE players will also have fun

Many MMORPG fans are hoping for a new, PvE-focused online role-playing game and fear that the new MMORPG Ashes of Creation might be too PvP-heavy. Therefore, we spoke with Intrepid Studios.

During gamescom, in our conversation with Steven Sharif and lead designer Jeffrey Bard from Intrepid Studios, the topic of PvE came up. Both encourage players who wish to experience exciting adventures in Ashes of Creation without PvP.

Ashes of Creation Swamp Screenshot

PvP is built on PvE

For PvP to be fun, the game must cater to PvE players: According to Intrepid Studios, it is essential for an MMO that also offers PvP to have a large population. This is achieved primarily by catering to PvE fans.

There must be an exciting lore, and challenging fights against monsters and bosses.

“PvE creates our world, PvP changes it,” was a statement during the interview.

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No one is forced into PvP: If a player does not want to participate in PvP, they can choose one of the other paths to progress. You can specialize in crafting, housing, trade, or focus on making a career in the Thieves Guild or the Academy of Knowledge and try to influence the world and its development through politics.

It is possible to conduct raids, explore dungeons, continuously improve your gear, or engage with the religion system.

Character progression should not be boring: Ashes of Creation does not want to offer progression like that seen in “old-school” MMORPGs, where you do the same things over and over to finally get better.

Those who do not want to engage in adventures do not have to do so. You can try to become a master crafter and level up in that field.

Ashes of Creation aims to provide many ways to develop your character as you wish, without having to follow predetermined paths.

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ashes-of-creation-caravan

“Ganking” has no place in Ashes of Creation

This is how “ganking” is to be curbed: Since PvP still plays a role and it is possible to attack other players, many fear that Ashes of Creation will turn into a “gankfest”. A game where some people take pleasure in constantly attacking others.

This is where “corruption” comes into play. If you are attacked by another player, you have the option to “flag” yourself for this PvP fight. You can then respond to the fight. If not, and the other player continues to attack you and kills you, they will earn corruption points.

Those with corruption points can lose all their gear upon death, depending on the number of points. This is meant to curb ganking and griefing and encourage PvP players to choose PvP scenarios instead.

This includes sieges or caravans. There, PvP is possible in a fair setting without flagging. The team does not want ganking to have a place in the game. And for those who are not at all interested in PvP, there are many other opportunities to have fun in PvE.

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The Division 2: DLCs are free, but those who pay play earlier

It has now been revealed that the free DLCs for The Division 2 have a catch. While they remain free, there is indeed an incentive to pay for them.

This was the big topic at E3 for The Division 2: “Our DLCs are free this time.” Around Gamescom, the catch comes to light. Those who pay get a week of early access.

It was like this with The Division 1: The three DLCs for The Division 1 cost something. Additionally, PS4 players had to wait a month for them. Nobody was happy about that:

  • The community split into those who had DLCs and those who did not.
  • Moreover, the DLCs were niche. They did not expand the story but only opened new side modes. Overall, the DLCs for The Division 1 are considered a flop.
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How was it supposed to be with The Division 2? At E3, developer Massive announced that all DLCs would be free this time.

The Division 2 artwork

They learned from The Division 1 and wanted to keep the community together. Therefore, everyone can play the DLCs for free.

Year One Pass gives 7 days of early access to all Year 1 episodes

What has changed now? Last week, Ubisoft announced what editions they are offering for The Division 2. This ranges from a basic standard edition for €60 to the “The Phoenix Shield Edition” for €250.

division-2-seasonpass

Fans noticed what is stated in the fine print: Ubisoft is also selling a “Year One Pass” in addition to The Division 2, which grants early access to the DLCs or parts of them. This is not quite clear yet. Access is supposed to be seven days earlier.

the division header

What bothers players about this? This “early access” annoys players now because they say: People have an advantage if they can play new content a week earlier. They gain access to items earlier and are therefore stronger than us for a week. This says Massive: The US site Kotaku quotes the Division 2 community member Yannick saying, “We don’t see early access as an opportunity to strengthen the character earlier.”

According to him, early access is more about the story part rather than strengthening the character for PvP. They will “carefully look at what there is in early access.”

the division-wallpapers

This could mean that Massive still does not know exactly what players will get from earlier access with the Year-One Pass. More annoyance: A second issue is the inventory. The special editions add valuable space for a lot of money. Fans do not like that either. Especially for core gamers, space was a long-standing problem in The Division 1.

The additional space is hidden in the “The Elite Agent Pack”. Players need to purchase at least the “Ultimate Edition” for €110 to have the largest inventory. What is behind this? It is not unusual for AAA titles to trick with such editions and sell seemingly small advantages for a lot of money.

The Division 2 Release and Info

What annoys fans here is that The Division 2 is now revealing these catches in the fine print, while it seemed at E3 two months ago that they had learned from all the mistakes of The Division 1.

If the big message at E3 is: “All DLCs are free,” then they should have announced: “But those who pay play a week earlier,” and not have to wait two months to tell this.

More on the topic:

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Destiny 2: Data miners have apparently discovered what the darkness is

In Destiny 2, dataminers have discovered new clues that seem to refer to the Darkness. Warning: Spoilers!

The Darkness as a great mystery: Although the Destiny series has been around for four years, there are still many mysteries and secrets in the Guardian universe. Among these is the Darkness.

The Darkness is the great, unknown threat that waits somewhere out there and is described as an ancient enemy of the Traveler. The Traveler gifted the Guardians the Light, through which they gained their powers. And the Darkness hunted the Traveler across the universe, until the Traveler sacrificed itself and fell into a slumber.

What the Darkness actually is, remains unknown so far. Is it an ominous force, a creature with immense power, or is there an alien race hidden behind the Darkness that has not been featured in Destiny until now?

Dataminers have now extracted clues from the latest update 2.0.0 that seem to refer to the Darkness.

Warning: Heavy spoilers ahead, continue at your own risk.

D2_Forsaken_Gambit_Vendor

The lore about the Drifter tells of mysterious creatures

Dataminers have extracted lore tabs for the Drifter: The Drifter is a new character in Destiny 2 who will be responsible for the Gambit mode. You can see the Drifter in the image above.

What have the dataminers discovered? According to the entries found, the Drifter likely discovered remnants of the Darkness on an ice planet. There, a creature was trapped in a monolith that had a “slimy, featureless form without a head.” Additionally, it was said to suppress the Light by producing “anti-Light fields.”

These anti-Light fields sound very much like Darkness. You can find the complete datamining text on reddit, we will translate some of the most interesting lines into English:

  • “During our long stay on this planet, we found many of these monoliths, each with its own trapped creature in it.”
  • “There was a creature trapped inside. In a kind of cage made of ice.”
  • “In any case, this thing, this creature, looked as if it shared the common bioenergetics with the Hive, but there are no records of it – I have seen nothing that indicates humanity ever had an encounter with them. And the creature had a property that the Hive does not have. It produced a field that suppressed Light – like a Darkness zone, but it belonged to a slimy, featureless form without a head.”
  • “The anti-Light fields that we could detect from orbit and that stretch across the entire planet? Those were these things. The ship scanners detected thousands of them from the planet.”
  • “Furthermore, the text states that Guardians died from the cold on the planet and that the ghosts could not revive them as they were too close to one of these creatures, which drew the Light from them. The Drifter was the only one who survived. And he recounts that a creature was inside a monolith, watching them die.
    destiny-2-dunkelheit

What else is known about the Darkness?

The Drifter does not explicitly say that the creatures are the Darkness. But he at least references the term “Darkness” along with the “Darkness zone” and the anti-Light fields are clues that can currently only be associated with the Darkness.

destiny-2-dunkelheit

In 2013, Bungie’s Director Chris Barrett presented concept art depicting five enemy alien races. However, Destiny launched with only four enemy races. The fifth race, shown here far right, is presented with smoke, strange beings, and triangles: We speculated nearly a year ago that this could be the Darkness. Because in Destiny 2, a cutscene shows a large triangle that casts a shadow over the Earth as Darkness is discussed.

Additionally, pyramid-shaped ships are shown in the final story cutscene of Destiny 2, awakening when they reach the Light of the Traveler – who is no longer sleeping:

https://youtu.be/v1sTIoz1FF

The theory is becoming increasingly concrete that the triangles and the amorphous beings are indeed the Darkness awakening. Presumably, these spaceships contain the strange creatures described by the Drifter, which may be similarly driven by the Darkness as the Guardians are by the Light.

But officially, this is not all – it is merely the composite image that previous clues and datamining results provide.

When will we encounter the Darkness?

In Forsaken, we will likely not encounter the Darkness. This expansion focuses on the Reef and the Dreaming City, not on a planet full of light-draining beings.

In Spring 2019, however, the Darkness may become a bit more present. Because then a season update focused on the Drifter will be released, to which Bungie says we will learn about his past and his “greater purpose” in the Destiny universe.

Furthermore, the Drifter brings a huge rock that he has attached to his ship (visible in the latest ViDoc):

destiny-2-rock

Bungie states that we will discover what is inside this “crazy rock” in Spring. Could this be a monolith block in which a creature is trapped? Will this be the first encounter with the Darkness?

The future will tell.

Until then, you can study the roadmap for year 2 here, which outlines the most important milestones in the coming months:

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
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Pirate MMO Skull and Bones played – A privateer journey with a lot of action

At Gamescom 2018, we were able to play the pirate MMO Skull & Bones from Ubisoft. You can find out what the naval battles feel like in Jürgen’s preview report from the fair.

Before the demo session at Gamescom, I had to choose a ship. There were three different vessels to choose from:

  • Black Horn: This ship is a melee fighter. It wants to get close to the enemy, bombard them at close range with heavy shrapnel loads, and smash them with its nasty ram at the end. The ideal ship for aggressive pirates
  • Jaeger: This light ship is the complete opposite of the Black Horn. The Jaeger is a ship full of long-range guns that deal damage from a distance. The Jaeger doesn’t like melee combat at all.
  • Royale Fortune: The tank among the demo ships. This vessel is much bulkier and larger than the other two ships. Therefore, it can withstand a lot and has an impressive battery of guns on each broadside. However, the Royal Fortune is slow and sluggish.
Skull and Bones2

Ships like RPG heroes: The ships roughly resemble the classes in an MMORPG. However, there doesn’t seem to be a support class at the moment.

Each ship also has a special skill. For example, the Royal Fortune can cover an area of sea with continuous fire, forcing any enemy to vacate the area immediately. A tactical advantage!

Since I have no interest in fragile ships or ramming, I chose the thick Royal Fortune.

A Compromise of Realism and Action

How does Skull and Bones control? If you’ve played Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, you’ll quickly get the hang of the pirate ship in Skull and Bones. Just like in the Assassin epic, you look over your captain’s shoulder as he or she steers the ship through the waves.

Skull-and-Bones-Gamescom-01
At Gamescom, I was able to play the pirate MMO live.

The controls are so intuitive that I quickly got the hang of them, even though I had to play with a gamepad I was not used to. I steer the ship towards a group of other ships, apparently Portuguese. But never mind, loot is loot and the playtime is limited!

Thanks to the catchy controls, I quickly immerse myself in the game. However, I need to be careful not to sail against the wind and to consider the ocean current. Such realism is necessary.

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Grandiose Pirate Atmosphere

As I steer towards my first victim, the grand naval and pirate atmosphere of Skull and Bones unfolds. It starts with each input on the gamepad triggering a spoken command from my captain.

Skull-and-Bones-Ausguck

However, since the captain (each ship in the demo had a pre-made captain) speaks softly and the whole crew can never catch everything, the boatswain standing next to her shouts the commands across the deck every time, slightly delayed – and seasoned with a few hearty curses. Then sailors spring into action, and the ship comes alive.

Sailor songs are included: If nothing much happens for a while, the crew starts singing lively sea shanties, which further enhances the already grand atmosphere.

You really can’t get more pirate flair than this!

Wild Naval Battles and Rich Loot

How do the battles go? As soon as I reached my first victim, I sailed alongside it and switched to the cannon view. You then see over the shoulder of the gun crews. The shoulder buttons are used to fire the cannons in succession.

Skull-and-Bones-Steuermann

This continues until all cannons are empty and you have to pause to reload. Clever pirates don’t fire everything at once but give the crew enough time to reload. Furthermore, you first have to get used to shooting; the first shots usually go overboard.

However, once you get the hang of it, you can easily blow apart light ships. Especially when I use the Royal Fortune’s special ability and create a real massacre with cannon fire (without reload time) for a short period.

Even more pirate flair! Even in the battles, Skull and Bones maintains the pirate atmosphere. Cannons roar, sailors shout, wood splinters, and projectiles whizz past the mast. I could hardly take my eyes off the spectacle and missed a good shot opportunity more than once.

Here’s how you loot

Sinking isn’t a problem: The naval battles should pay off, but how do I loot? Is it bad when the heavily laden merchant ship sinks into the waves, full of holes?

Skulls-and-bones-02

Not at all, because fortunately a sunken ship always leaves a few drifting chests that I can pick up with a simple button press while passing by. This isn’t realistic, but it’s practical. After all, I don’t want to laboriously pick up loot with the dinghy.

Boarding is key: However, if you want to reap big rewards, you should take the trouble to board a ship. This yields more loot, but is much harder. Anyone can shoot a ship until it sinks!

But being skilled enough to shoot down a rival’s sails and then get close enough to board – that’s something only real pro pirates can do!

Skull and Bones Titel

No-risk boarding: The boarding combat occurs surprisingly unremarkably. I had expected some kind of minigame where I storm the enemy deck with my captain and engage in wild sword fights with enemy pirates like in Sid Meier’s Pirates.

Instead, the boarding fights happen automatically, and my crew easily defeats the other crew in a cutscene. Ubisoft might later add more action to this.

Jürgen’s Conclusion – Too Bad the Demo Was Over So Fast!

Skull and Bones fully convinced me in the demo. The controls were intuitive, the naval battles were a blast, and the atmosphere was even better than in Black Flag. Unfortunately, the demo session – which lasted about half an hour – was over far too quickly.

I wanted to sink and loot so many more ships! And I didn’t even notice the infamous fort or the allegedly roaming NPC pirates. The atmosphere of Skull and Bones captured me that much.

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Hopefully, there will be plenty of content: However, I can imagine that the always-same hunt for loot will eventually become boring. Therefore, Ubisoft must absolutely deliver a tight roadmap of content updates so that the pirate spectacle remains exciting and fresh not only at launch.

The game certainly has the stuff for a good start. It remains to be seen whether it stays exciting for a long time. The sad fate of the also-promising Sea of Thieves is still too fresh in my memory. By the way, you can read in the following article how Skull and Bones plans to avoid this:

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Fortnite: Locations of the Rift and how to complete the task

In Week 8 of Season 5 of Fortnite: Battle Royale, you need to use rifts at various rift spawn points. How to do this and where to find the rifts is explained here!

How to use the rifts: Rifts are nothing new in Season 5. The blue glowing anomalies spawn at certain locations. To use them for the challenge in Week 8 of Season 5, you just need to touch them. They will then beam you up to the sky, and you can glide back down.

What about fall damage? Unlike usual in the game, you don’t take fall damage when coming from the rifts. The parachute does not automatically deploy; you need to activate it manually if you want to glide.

Where are the various rifts and spawn points?

How to find the rifts: Rifts usually appear in greater numbers at their spawn points. You can find these locations on the pictured map.

More info on the rifts in Week 8 of Season 5

Do the rifts always appear? Unfortunately no, sometimes there are no rifts available, or they appear later or disappear again.

Where can I find the most rifts? You have the best chance of completing the challenge if you glide to the southeastern desert area of Paradise Palms. There, you can find about half of the currently known 22 rift spawns.

How to get many rifts in a row: If you want to complete the challenge as quickly as possible, land at one of the edges of Paradise Palms at a rift location. Take it, and then glide to the next location from the air. Keep doing this until you can no longer find rifts or someone takes you out.

Fortnite-Rift-new

It must be 10 different locations: Also, keep in mind that you can’t just mindlessly farm any rifts over and over. Each rift location can only be used once for the challenge. Even if multiple rifts appear at one location, only one counts.

Do I have to visit all the rifts in the same match? Fortunately not. You can complete the 10 rifts in as many matches as you like.

Watch out for tryhards: As always, there are a few unpleasant individuals who want to secure kills and will ruthlessly take you out when you want to complete this challenge. So be careful to be alone, or take out all the players in the area first.

That’s all about our rift spawn points. Have you found any other locations?

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. GameRevolution

Only players who have played Guild Wars 2 since release will get this new armor

Guild Wars 2 has turned 6 years old. And to celebrate this day, there is a special armor set. However, only a selected group of players is eligible for it.

In Guild Wars 2, your characters receive a gift every time they age one year. For example, if you created a character on 05.09.2017, it has its birthday on this day and receives its first gift on 05.09.2018.

In previous years, there were exclusive backpacks and weapon skins for players celebrating their birthday. This year, Guild Wars 2 rewards its players with a great armor.

Guild Wars 2 MMO

Guild Wars 2 rewards its most loyal players

A birthday gift: To be eligible for the new armor, your character must have been created 6 years ago. The gift is intended for all players who have been playing Guild Wars 2 since its release. However, the armor set won’t disappear. If your character only turned 5 years old this year, you will simply receive the armor set next year.

Part of the birthday gift includes the following rewards:

  • An experience point booster
  • A level 60 boost
  • 5 teleports to a friend

Exclusive Skin

The Radiant Armor: The star of the 6th birthday gift is a very special armor set: the Radiant Armor. It is a skin that you can easily apply over your current armor.

The individual pieces of the armor set can be freely combined. If you only like the helmet, then just wear the helmet. Players can experiment with the pieces as they wish.

You can take a look at the armor sets in our image gallery.

Important: Players with multiple characters do not have an advantage. You can only receive one armor set per year. So don’t make the mistake of taking the heavy armor set for your Elementalist if they can’t wear it. The other two armor sets can then be collected in the next and the following year.

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Buffed

After 17 hours in Rend, I am still at the beginning

Rend (PC) is a new survival MMO currently in early access. We let our survival veteran Benedict take a look. Here are his impressions of Rend.

Rend is a project developed by former developers from gaming giants like World of Warcraft and League of Legends. My expectations for Rend were accordingly high, even though it is an early access title.

Originally, Rend was planned as a cross between survival, MOBA, and MMORPG. However, the first impression leaves the feeling that the RPG aspect makes up a large part of the game. A class system and three factions, from which one must be chosen, are a refreshingly different approach to the survival genre.

Currently, Rend is in the early access phase, in which the whole game is available. Due to the short duration of the test and the constant changes, this is only a first impression of the game.

[toc]

Rend Vista View

Rend is different from other survival games

I have now played Rend for 17 hours and feel as if the tutorial isn’t even over yet. I’ve seen many of the features, most of which I have only superficially understood.

Rend is incredibly extensive. As someone who has spent 200 hours alone in Conan Exiles and has played many survival games before, I consider myself a player who understands survival games.

But Rend is different. In Rend, I am not thrown into a world and left to fend for myself. Even while creating my character, I choose a faction that I belong to and with which I can survive and progress together. And yet I am helpless for a long time.

Rend Screenshot Fraktionen
Faction selection during character creation.

A colorful, breathtaking world

What stands out at first login is the beautiful world. Rend is colorful, the plants luminesce, the sky is picturesque, even my tattoos and tools glow in the colors of my clan.

In the middle of the map stands a huge, golden glowing tree that represents the world ash Yggdrasil. For Rend takes place in a scenario inspired by Norse mythology.

The soundtrack highlights all of this even more. Almost shamanistic chants remind me of skalds from longhouses and enhance the immersion. It is simply fun to log in and play.

Rend Screenshot Yggdrasil

The idea of Rend is grand

Rend is not just a survival game but also an MMORPG. There are three factions, Order, Revenant, and Conclave, that fight in the world to “ascend” and become gods.

The factions are like guilds in MMORPGs, and members gather reputation through their actions to rank up and gain access to faction resources. They gather resources and build at the bases together, research, and fight together.

In Rend, I do not play alone. As part of the faction, I always have bases I can return to, which offer protection. But this also comes with a responsibility: if an attack occurs, you should defend the bases together. After all, they are shared.

Rend Screenshot base
A shared base.

Reckoning – PvE meets PvP

This defense and the system of ascension is played out through the “Reckoning”. On our server, the “Reckoning” occurs three days a week.

Usually, bases and strongholds are surrounded by shields that repel an attack. However, during the Reckoning, these shields drop, and waves of NPC opponents attack, tearing down the forts.

Once these are repelled, PvP begins. The shields are still down, and players now have the opportunity to raid and loot the strongholds of other factions. The winners receive “Ascension” points, which give them advantages for the next Reckoning.

Rend Screenshot Reckoning blutiger Himmel
During the Reckoning, the sky turns blood red and the spirits attack.

A class system in a survival game?

Rend also brings a pronounced role-playing aspect. I can choose two of four archetypes in which I can invest points and thus learn abilities:

  • Pathfinder: Survival specialists who excel in the wilderness and have abilities that make survival easier for them
  • Assassin: Assassins who can sneak and attack from ambush to eliminate opponents quickly and effectively
  • Warlord: Leaders who overwhelm their enemies with raw power and serve as role models for their allies
  • Shaman: Mystical mages who use the world of the living and the spirits to harm enemies and support allies

Instead of investing my points in recipes after leveling up like in other survival games, I invest them in class abilities. This makes exploration, combat, and survival easier and adds depth to the game.

Rend Screenshot Schamane und Warlord
The talent tree of a Shaman.

Crafting is very complicated

Partly due to this distribution of points into skills instead of recipes, crafting in Rend is much more complicated than in other survival games. Recipes are not directly learned but researched and then mastered.

By gathering resources and crafting items, I collect “Sparks”. These can be used in the base to advance community research for new recipes.

The recipes are then available to the entire faction. However, to craft them myself, I must meet all requirements. This means mastering all prior recipes. For the next better bow, many lesser bows must be crafted until the ability has increased sufficiently.

Rend Screenshot Forschung
Research in Rend – everyone can help.

Survival is challenging, but a secondary matter

Amid all these features that can overwhelm even a survival veteran, the main feature of every survival game remains: survival. I must always ensure that I have enough water and food and also consume them.

The particularly difficult part is that food spoils quickly, and water leaks from the water bags, making me constantly search for new sources.

However, hunger and thirst are simply “there.” Water and simple food like fruits are often found and easy to obtain, so that even in the wilderness, dying of thirst or hunger is more due to carelessness than lack.

rend screenshot Melonen wasser und essen
The indicators for hunger and thirst are on the bottom left. Watermelons are often found; they satisfy both.

No real solo game

Due to the factions, Rend cannot really be played alone. While you can certainly just run away and build your own base somewhere, if something attacks, you will not last long against it alone.

Playing together also makes Rend more fun. Even when I played with Lucas, who started after me, everything was easier and simply more enjoyable. We were able to explore caves that we would have failed at alone.

Rend is definitely a group game. However, that doesn’t mean you have to bring friends. The factions provide enough players to explore the world together and who are willing to help. After all, you can only win together.

Rend Players Take On Glutt in Myrkfen

Veteran’s conclusion: A great game that I wish I had more time for

Benedict

Benedict says: Rend is a time sink, even more so than most other survival games I know. Since I am still at the beginning after over 17 hours, I can only estimate that with over 100 hours I might be approaching “endgame”.

So far, I have not seen much more than the starting area, although I have received much help from my faction. I am eager to see what awaits me deeper inland and in the swampy areas.

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Rend: Survival game is getting bigger than expected – more of a survival MMORPG
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Rend also offers two worlds in one. Through portals, potions, or abilities, one can switch to the “Spirit Realm” where mythical beings like Draugr and the souls of defeated creatures roam. However, this realm is harmful to humans.

The Reckoning particularly excited me because这里 Draugr come into the real world and attack. It’s a thrill to collectively fend off the attack, survive, and then go looting.

Rend Screenshot Reckoning Draugr
Draugr are attacking our base.

What I like most is the class system: It is delightful to play a survival game in which I can also embody an MMORPG class. This is something I have missed in many other games of the genre.

I wish for improvements in the overview: The crafting system is complex and that is good, but it is opaque. It is not immediately clear what skills I need to create better armor and weapons.

Rend Screenshot Rezepte
The rather unclear recipe tree – for alchemy only.

Beginner’s conclusion: Rend overwhelms me, but presents itself well

Alongside Benedict, survival newcomer Lucas also tried out the new Rend.

Lucas

Lucas says: My first experiences with survival games were not very positive. I tried both ARK and Conan Exiles. The poor performance of the games at release did not allow for smooth gameplay, and constantly babysitting my character annoyed me.

Rend has what I missed in Conan Exiles and Ark: The game looks beautiful. The world is breathtaking, and the game runs very smoothly for an early access title. The animations are still a bit jerky, but overall, Rend does not feel like the typical “early access” games I am used to.

Rend Screenshot Umgebung
The beautiful world of Rend.

At first, I was overwhelmed by the extensive crafting tree: I didn’t know what to do, and my first character quickly became the victim of a wolf pack. In my second attempt, I focused on the class system of the game and learned which resources I could find at which points on the map.

Overall, I had more fun in Rend than in all the other survival games I’ve played over the years. The Nordic setting, the atmospheric music, and the pretty comic look have simply captivated me.

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However, there remain parts of survival games that annoy me even in Rend: Hunger and thirst. Fortunately, there are servers that change these systems through different settings and modifications.

The tutorial in the game was helpful, but it must definitely be expanded, as many game systems cannot be understood at first glance.


More about Rend:

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Rend: The Alpha is now inviting to the survival battle
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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Guardians demand: Bungo please, let the matchmaking of Destiny 2 be broken

Bungie has apparently changed the matchmaking in PvP again by accident with the latest patch for Destiny 2. Players are now reporting longer wait times and lags in quick play.

After the release of Patch 2.0.0 for Destiny 2, players are reporting longer loading times and lags in PvP. Apparently, the broken matchmaking in quick play has been fixed again, which, however, does not please all players.

Destiny 2 forsaken 3 guardians

The Return of Skill-Based Matchmaking Makes Guardians Sad

Matchmaking changed again? The last patch 2.0.0 for Destiny 2 brought some changes. As Guardians report on social media and Reddit, it seems the pre-patch of Forsaken has also once again messed up the matchmaking in PvP.

Players are reporting, among other things:

  • Longer wait times for quick play
  • Longer respawn times
  • More lags
  • Overall slower gameplay: matches would more often end due to time rather than points scored

Is Skill-Based Matchmaking back? Players see these changes as a sign that the matchmaking based on individual skills is back, the so-called Skill-Based Matchmaking.

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Players will be sorted into PvP matches according to their abilities, which usually leads to longer loading times. In the Destiny subreddit, Guardians also report that in addition to longer wait times for a match, they are confronted with lags and other problems.

A Guardian reports, for example, that he had to wait over 15 minutes for a quick play match only to face a 6-man team as the only player.

Bungie has not intentionally changed anything: As the community manager dmg04 stated on Twitter, the developers did not make any intentional changes to matchmaking with patch 2.0.0. Any targeted changes to matchmaking and the Crucible would always be communicated with the players.

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The Guardians now assume that the return of Skill-Based Matchmaking was an accident.

Developers are playing with matchmaking: We already reported a month ago that Bungie accidentally changed the Skill-Based Matchmaking in PvP. Players viewed it with mixed feelings at the time, although many Guardians had fun and asked not to fix the broken matchmaking.

Even now, players and well-known streamers report that the Crucible is more enjoyable for them without Skill-Based Matchmaking. Guardians write on Reddit about having to face the same people multiple times and that quick play is now “sweatier” or, despite the changed Time-to-Kill, now boring.

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Have you also noticed a change in matchmaking in PvP? Do you prefer quick play with or without Skill-Based Matchmaking?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. PC Gamer
  2. Reddit

Fortnite: Search between 3 oversized chairs – Treasure Week 8

The treasure hunt from week 8 in season 5 of Fortnite is now active. You should search between 3 oversized seats. You don’t need a treasure map, we will show you the location.

This week you can expect another treasure hunt if you want to complete the Battle Pass tasks. In week 8, you should search between three oversized seats. We will show you where they are and where the secret star is hidden in this guide.

Three oversized seats treasure map – location for treasure

If you often roam the map of Fortnite: Battle Royale, you have probably encountered the three giant seating options before. You will find a wooden seat, a type of armchair made from containers, and a large toilet.

By the time you find the toilet, it should be clear that these 3 oversized seating options are located near Flush Factory. You will find the toilet directly in the location, and the other two seats in the areas to the right and above Flush Factory. Exactly in the middle is a hill where the star is hidden.

Fortnite giant seats
Fortnite Week 8 location

The sought hill is located in grid field D9. From this hill, you can see all the giant seats that we have shown you in the image above.

Search between the trees: In the middle of the hill, the sought star will spawn, which you need to find for your treasure hunt.

Video guide: To help you find the sought star quickly and not waste much time there, we are embedding a video guide here that shows you the exact location.

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Warning, many players: At the start of a new week in Fortnite, there are always many players who want to solve the treasure hunt quickly. So it’s quite possible that you will encounter many other players during your search. It’s best to be prepared with weapons, or glide directly to this hill at the beginning of a round.

All tasks of week 8 in Fortnite’s season 5 are shown here

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Battlefield 5: Release postponed – Away from Red Dead Redemption 2

The release of Battlefield V has been postponed. The game will now be released on November 20 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

What was it like? The release of the next big shooter from Electronic Arts was originally planned for October 19. This was a challenging situation as it was sandwiched between two major releases.

What is it now? Now the release of Battlefield V has been postponed to November 20, a month after Red Dead Redemption 2.

Cross-BattlefieldV

DICE says: Developer Dice states that they need the extra time to make final changes to the core gameplay. These changes are supposedly based on player feedback that has already been received. Additionally, they expect further feedback from the open beta.

DICE does not want this to be seen as a sign of weakness. They believe that they have developed one of the best Battlefield games of all time. However, DICE thinks they need more time to provide players with “just the right” experience.

The statement from DICE can be found here – as soon as the servers can handle the influx (set the page to English).

Battlefield 5 Teaser Title

Titanfall 2 fate threatened

This could be behind it: There have been reports that the pre-sale of Battlefield V has been disappointing. However, it is also said that the sales of Call of Duty are weaker than in previous years.

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Fans blamed the difficult presentation of Battlefield V. The announcement trailer caused some problems.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Arthur portrait

Analysts, however, assumed that “Red Dead Redemption 2” from Rockstar is so big that the game affects the release of all other games in the release window.

The cowboy epic is said to emit a sort of “gravitational field” from which other games cannot escape.

Emergency plan or reaction?

Many rumors surrounding Battlefield V: In recent days, the rumor mill around Battlefield V has been consistently churning out new things.

There have already been emergency plans circulating about what Battlefield V will do to avoid a flop. It was said from “well-informed circles” that DICE had prepared content to be deployed should things not go as desired.

Battlefield-V-5-MAIN

Postponement creates space: With the new date of November 20, Battlefield V creates a significant buffer between itself, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. However, Battlefield V also takes the important “Black Friday” in the USA with it. Traditionally, huge sales are made in the gaming market on this day. This year it falls on November 23.

We reported on the difficult situation of Battlefield 5 here:

More on the topic
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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Kotaku

How to prepare for the new raid Uldir and Mythic+ in WoW

Raids offer the greatest challenge for many PvE players in World of Warcraft. Proper preparation is important for success and makes it easier to get started. With our overview you are ideally equipped.

The first raid in Battle for Azeroth will be Uldir, an ancient Titan facility where the Old God G’huun awaits you. Uldir opens its doors on September 5 for normal and heroic modes, and on September 12 for mythic.

WoW Ghuun Blood God title
G’huun will be the final boss in Uldir.

Proper Raid Preparation: Equipment

To defeat Uldir, you should equip yourself in advance with the right gear for the upcoming battles. We have explained in detail how to properly gear up in this guide. To make the best use of your gear, you should equip all available pieces with enchantments and sockets.

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The Enchantments of Battle for Azeroth

Ring Enchantments: With Battle for Azeroth you can enchant rings and weapons. Ring enchantments always grant you a small bonus to a secondary stat and are available in 2 variants.

  • Pacts increase the corresponding secondary stat by 37.
  • Seals increase the corresponding secondary stat by 27.
WoW Screenshot Professions in Boralus Enchanter

Weapon Enchantments are back: Weapon enchantments give you a chance to trigger a certain effect or increase some stats and effects directly when attacking or casting.

  • Drain: Life Steal +100
  • Coast Wave: Chance to apply a healing-over-time spell (HoT) to a friendly target with beneficial spells
  • Flow of Elements: Chance to increase elemental spell damage by 10%.
  • Stormstrike: Chance to increase attack speed by 15% for 15 seconds on melee and ranged attacks.
Your equipment will also be strengthened by the Heart of Azeroth. Here’s how to use the Heart and its talents.

In Battle for Azeroth, you can also enchant weapons with “Navigations.” Navigations give you a chance to gain a stack of a buff that increases a secondary stat by 50. At 5 stacks, the buff is consumed and you receive +600 to the corresponding secondary stat for 10 seconds.

  • Mastery: Master Navigation
  • Haste: Quick Navigation
  • Critical Strike: Deadly Navigation
  • Versatility: Versatile Navigation
  • Armor: Unyielding Navigation
    WoW_BattleForAzeroth_Underrot Title DPS Nelf and Orc

Weapon Enchantments for Ranged DPS: For ranged DPS, there are alternatives that can be crafted by engineers. The weapon enchantments are attachments for ranged weapons and provide four different effects:

  • Fire Ammo: Chance to deal additional fire damage on attacks.
  • Frost-infused Ammunition: Chance to deal minor frost damage on attacks and slow the enemy by 20% for 3 seconds.
  • Sniper Scope of the Lookout: Chance to increase critical strike rating by 650 for 12 seconds on attacks.
  • Monelite Sniper Scope of Fury: Chance to increase haste by 650 for 12 seconds on attacks.
WoW Legion hunter marksman

Gems for Equipment

Gems for Secondary Stats: In Battle for Azeroth, most pieces of equipment have the chance to be additionally socketed with a socket for gems. You can insert various gems into these sockets that increase your stats.

  • Mastery: Masterful Kubilin (+30) or Masterful Tides Amethyst (+40)
  • Haste: Reflective Golden Beryl (+30) or Reflective Owl’s Eye (+40)
  • Critical Strike: Deadly Solstone (+30) or Deadly Amber Flame (+40)
  • Versatility: Versatile Kyanite (+30) or Versatile King’s Quartz (+40)
WoW Screenshot Professions in Boralus Jeweler 2

Unique Gems for Primary Stats: There are also Kraken Eyes, epic gems that increase your strength, intellect, or agility. However, only one Kraken Eye can be present in your equipment at any given time.

  • Kraken Eye of Agility: Agility +40
  • Kraken Eye of Intellect: Intellect +40
  • Kraken Eye of Strength: Strength +40
    WoW Screenshot Professions in Boralus Jewels

Proper Raid Preparation: Consumables

If you want to prepare properly for Uldir and get the most out of your characters, you also need to stock up on consumables. This includes potions, elixirs, and buff food.

Alchemy: The Potions in Battle for Azeroth

Potions for Primary Stats: Potions allow you to significantly boost your combat power for 25 seconds. You should use them when you have a phase in the boss fight where you need to deliver especially high performance. Combat potions increase the respective stat by 900 (stamina by 1100).

  • Combat Potion of Agility
  • Combat Potion of Intellect
  • Combat Potion of Strength
  • Combat Potion of Stamina

Potions for special effects: In Battle for Azeroth, you also have a selection of potions that produce other effects in addition to combat potions. Which are the best for your class can vary.

  • Steel Skin Potion – increases armor by 900
  • Blood Eruption Potion – adds a chance to deal additional physical damage on melee attacks to all nearby targets, splitting the damage among all affected targets.
  • Refreshing Potion – restores up to 25,000 mana over 10 seconds, but leaves you defenseless and can be interrupted.
  • Impending Death Potion – adds a chance to deal shadow damage on ranged attacks that increases with greater distance to the target.

For potions, the same applies: Rank 2 reduces the costs, Rank 3 grants the chance for multiple potions per craft.

WoW Screenshot Professions in Boralus Alchemy 2

Cooking: Buff Food in Battle for Azeroth

Buffing dishes are a simple and often cost-effective way for raiders to strengthen themselves for a fight. Buff food grants a one-hour buff that increases a certain primary or secondary stat.

Do you want to approach the raid with a different character? This is how you quickly level from 110 to 120.

Food for Secondary Stats: There are three types of buff food in Battle for Azeroth: simple (desserts), improved (large meals), and feast meals. Desserts usually require fewer ingredients and provide a weaker buff, while feast meals can feed an entire raid group.

These are the values you can increase with buff food:

  • Mastery: Loa Cake (+41) or Sailor’s Pie (+55)
  • Versatility: Mon’Dazi (+41) or Spicy Snapper (+55)
  • Haste: Ravenberry Cake (+41) or Swamp Fish with Fries (+55)
  • Critical Strike Rating: Kul Tiramisu (+41) or Honey-Glazed Leg (+55)
WoW Screenshot Professions in Boralus Sausage

Note: The numbers refer to the values indicated by the tooltips of the dishes. The buff received shows values of 52 or 70, and the values in the character window may differ again. Once the error is corrected, we will adjust the numbers accordingly.

Feast Meals for the Entire Raid: Feast meals are usually provided for the entire raid and require more and harder to obtain materials, such as rare fish. However, they also increase the primary stat.

  • Primary Stat +75: Galley Banquet
  • Primary Stat +100: Lavish Captain’s Feast
WoW Screenshot Professions in Boralus Cooking 1

Higher ranks yield more units of the dishes per craft when producing desserts and large meals. For feast meals, the amount of required resources is reduced.

Runes – for Maximum Increase

If you want to be even more effective with a full equipment, gems in all sockets, and the best buff food, there are runes that work in addition to all other effects.

  • Battle-marked Enhancement Rune – Increases agility, intellect, and strength by 60 for one hour. This effect is lost upon death. Enhancement runes are randomly available through world quests, missions, or in the raid browser.
  • Vantus Rune: Uldir – Increases versatility against the targeted boss in Uldir by 463 until the raid ID resets. Only one rune can be used per week. The recipe for scribes is dropped by the second boss of Uldir, MOTHER.

Acquiring consumables, enchantments, and gems can be particularly expensive in the early days and weeks of the raid. In larger guilds, it is advisable to gather resources together and provide the entire group with the necessary items.


All done? Then try Uldir with the new races!

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Fortnite: All Challenges of Week 8 (S 5) and how to solve them

In Fortnite: Battle Royale, the challenges for week 8 in Season 5 are set. We will show you how to solve them.

The new challenges of Fortnite are now active in the game. You have until the end of Season 5 to complete these tasks for the Battle and be rewarded with experience points and stars.

Free and paid: As known from the past weeks, 3 of these tasks are available for all players free of charge. We will show you those in the first table. For the four challenges in the second table, you need the paid Battle Pass. However, you can still buy it with confidence; your previous progress will be recorded there.

All Challenges from Week 8 in Season 5 of Fortnite

Oops, unfortunately this table is no longer available.
Tomato-Temple-Fortnite

Paid:

  • Deal damage to opponents with pickaxes – 250 damage – 5 stars, 500 XP
  • Use a rift at various rift spawn points – 10 – 5 stars, 500 XP
  • Search between three oversized chairs (hard) – 1 – 10 stars, 1,000 XP
  • Phase 1: Eliminate opponents at Greasy Grove – 1 – 3 stars, 300 XP

Challenge 1: Place traps

Runs in the background: Placing traps should not pose a great challenge. Whenever you find a trap, place it in a good spot, ideally on the ceiling behind a closed door. This way, you should complete this challenge quickly. Maybe you will get lucky and catch something with the traps as well.

Challenge 2: Search chests at Wailing Woods

Multiple matches: You can spread the search for the 7 chests over multiple matches. There will probably be more activity in Wailing Woods than usual, so watch out for enemies and ideally complete the task in the 50vs50 mode when Wailing Woods is on your side of the battlefield.

Challenge 3: Eliminate opponents with the shotgun (hard)

Close combat: To use shotguns effectively, you must engage in close combat. At short range, the spread of the bullets does not miss the enemy but hits completely and deals devastating damage. Collect 4 kills with it, and the reward is yours.

Challenge 4: Deal damage to opponents with pickaxes

2 common methods: You can choose whether to take the chaotic or the boring route. The chaotic method would be to land with as many opponents as possible in a popular area at the very start of a match and smash their heads with pickaxes. The less exciting way is to finish off downed opponents in team modes with the pickaxe. You need to deal 250 damage, which is about 2.5 dead enemies on average.

Fortnite-Viking

Challenge 5: Use a rift at various rift spawn points

Using rifts: The task is clear; you need to use the rifts in Fortnite at different spawns. But where are they located? We have created a guide that shows you the rift spawns.

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Challenge 6: Search between three oversized chairs

Treasure hunt: In this task, you participate in the weekly treasure hunt. The challenge is easy to accomplish. Just follow our guide to the location where the star is located. Once you collect it, the task is completed. You can see our guide to it here:

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Challenge 7: Phase 1: Eliminate opponents at Greasy Grove

Multiple stages: This task is divided into multiple stages. You start at Greasy Grove, where you need to eliminate an opponent. Then you move on to the next location, where you must take out another opponent. You repeat this until the challenge is completed.

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

League of Legends with budget cuts – fans concerned: Is LoL in crisis?

Riot Games needs to pay more attention to money now. Therefore, they’re cutting back on esports. The community of League of Legends sees this critically, especially since Riot Games is currently under fire.

Fans of League of Legends are excitedly discussing how Riot Games is handling the budget for LoL.

It was first reported that the shoutcasters would be moderating the World Championships from Los Angeles instead of on-site in Korea. Then it became clear that Riot needs to save money on productions over the next few years. This makes fans skeptical. Will the quality of LoL have to suffer?

Casters moderating from L.A. for now

Casters not on-site: The shoutcaster of EU-LCS, Andrew “Vedius” Day, explained in a stream that a large part of the NA broadcast team will not be on-site in Korea for the World Championships from the beginning. They will only come to Korea for the finals. Moderation from Play-In to Semi-Finals will happen from the studio in Los Angeles.

The exceptions are Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere and Ovilee “Ovilee” May, who will conduct interviews with players in Korea throughout the event.

Why are the casters only coming for the finals? “It’s cheaper,” explains Vedius in his stream. The Play-Ins have always been moderated from Los Angeles. What’s new now is that the group stages, quarter-finals, and semi-finals will be broadcast from America.

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Less budget already noticed

Riot has to save: This news worries fans, as even the MSI (Mid Season Invitational) was held unusually small in the studios. The Spring Finals of the NA LCS also took place in a small location that could barely accommodate 1000 people.

Here fans had already suspected that Riot is scaling back the budget for LoL esports. And they were not wrong.

Riot says it needs to pay more attention to money now

This is what Riot says: Addressing the fans’ concerns, Riot’s Head of Global Esports, Derrick “FearGorm” Asiedu, stated on Reddit that Riot does not want to simply reduce esports spending. They just want to be more disciplined about financial limits now.

Riot is still spending a lot of money:  In his Reddit post, FearGorm states that Riot spends over 100 million dollars annually on esports. However, they are no longer a small startup and have to responsibly ensure that costs align more with revenues.

LoL EU LCS Title

So is the budget being cut now? That now entirely depends on how the next 3 years develop. If they generate enough revenue, everything could stay the same. Should the earnings not meet their target, they will have to cut the budget.

This year they have already cut: This year, Riot Games has saved in some areas and listened to fan feedback. Yet, the 2018 World Championships still had the second-highest expenditures. The most expensive Worlds were in 2017.

More revenues needed

On Reddit, FearGorm also explains that they now want to do more to generate more revenue. This should also happen through “Digital Experiences” and traditional sponsors.

They do not want to spoil the player experience. However, they must first try things out. How these experiments will look in detail is still unclear.

LoL Ryze Cinematic Title

What is going on at Riot right now?

What’s behind this? The news that Riot has to save comes at a time when League of Legends and Riot are already under fire.

There are three major areas that may worry LoL fans:

  1. There are sharp allegations against Riot, with claims of a culture of sexism – these allegations are escalating. After an article from Kotaku, other victims are also speaking up (via Barry Hawkins)
  2. The current “Battle Royale” hype and the previous “Hero Shooter” hype could be hitting LoL. Fortnite and Overwatch are both pushing into esports – this is younger competition for LoL for attracting new players
  3. The own publisher Tencent seems to be focusing on mobile. After Riot refused to build a mobile LoL, Tencent simply created one themselves (Honor of Kings). This is said to have led to tensions between Riot and Tencent.

This is what Riot says about declining player numbers (via dotesports):

“The numbers for League of Legends are lower than at their peak, but it is still one of the most played games on the planet and we are very happy with the numbers. We think some of the content we are bringing soon will help us with player numbers. Essentially: League of Legends is doing incredibly well by every measure of the numbers, except when compared to our own records.

More on the topic:

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LoL was supposed to become Mobile, refused – Now Mobile Clone is a hit
von Schuhmann
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Quelle Titelbild

Destiny 2 reveals a big Year 2 roadmap – with annual pass content

In Destiny 2, the roadmap for the time after the Forsaken launch is known. What to expect in Year 2 with and without the annual pass can be found here.

The future of Destiny 2: On September 4th, new adventures for the Guardians will begin with the Forsaken expansion. However, once you defeat the Barons, complete the campaign, and master some endgame activities, the Guardian journey continues “post-launch.” Bungie is planning all kinds of events and activities in the coming weeks and months.

Infographic for Year 2: Bungie has now released a comprehensive roadmap for Year 2, which provides a preview of the content after the Forsaken launch. According to Bungie, this is not meant to be a spoiler, but a rough overview of what the Guardians can expect. Many surprises are still planned that are not included in the graphic.

Note: However, there are a few spoilers included:

What can we expect after the launch of Forsaken?

4 Seasons: In total, there will be four seasons in Year 2, each lasting three months. Each season offers free seasonal updates for all Destiny 2 players (including those without Forsaken) as well as annual pass content. The annual pass is paid and tied to Forsaken.

Season of the Outlaws

When does the season start? The Season of Outlaws begins on September 4th with the Forsaken launch.

What happens in the season?

  • On September 14th, the raid “Last Wish” starts (Forsaken is required)
  • On September 18th, the Iron Banner returns with the new map “The Convergence”
  • On September 25th, a new Crucible mode “Breakthrough” comes with new PvP maps
  • In October, the Festival of the Lost (the Halloween event) returns with a twist
  • Some surprises, the evolution of the Dreaming City (Forsaken required), weekly playlist updates
schmiede

The items in the Season of Outlaws are free for all Destiny 2 players. However, there are also exclusive annual pass bonus items.

Season of the Forge

When does the season start? The Season of the Forge starts in December 2018.

What are the free contents?

What are the annual pass contents?

  • You receive access to the Black Armory
  • New “Forging the Chain” activity
  • New raid wing
  • New exotics
  • New legendary items
  • New triumphs and collections
  • Bonus rewards
jokers

More information about these annual pass features will come in the future.

Season of the Wanderers

When does the season start? The Season of the Wanderers begins in Spring 2019.

What are the free contents?

  • New weapons
  • New Crucible content
  • Iron Banner
  • Gameplay updates
  • Season ranks
  • An event that will be announced

What are the annual pass contents?

  • New activity experience
  • Gambit evolution
  • New exotics
  • New legendary items
  • New triumphs and collections
  • Bonus rewards
penumbra

More information will come later.

4th Season with Unknown Name

When does the season start? In Summer 2019.

What are the free contents?

  • New weapons
  • New Crucible content
  • Iron Banner
  • Gameplay updates
  • Season ranks
  • An unknown event

What are the annual pass contents?

  • New activity experience
  • New raid wing
  • New exotics
  • New legendary items
  • New triumphs and collections
  • Bonus rewards

Further information about these contents will follow in the future.

What are the main pieces of information?

The roadmap mentions many aspects but does not go into detail about what lies behind the terms.

What’s important:

  • Bungie is planning several events throughout the year, such as the Festival of the Lost
  • Heavy machine guns are returning in December
  • Throughout Year 2, there will be improvements to the Crucible
  • The raid wings will start in December 2018 and Summer 2019
  • Those who want to acquire new exotics and play the raid wings after the 1st season will need the annual pass. The annual pass includes endgame activities, new modes, new challenges, and prestigious rewards, according to Bungie.

While Destiny 2: Forsaken costs €39.99 alone, you will have to pay €69.99 for Forsaken plus annual pass.

Bungie also released a video about the roadmap in which the developers say that Destiny 2 should become a hobby again. There will be “a lot of stuff” to do throughout the year. There should never be content droughts:

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What do you think of the upcoming contents?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Bungie

One of the rarest skins in Fortnite will soon be available for “only” $60

In Fortnite: Battle Royale (PC, PS4, iOS, Android, Switch & Xbox One), the Royale Bomber skin was previously only available if you purchased a new PS4 Slim within a certain Fortnite bundle for a lot of money. Now, the store GameStop seems to be offering a somewhat “cheaper” deal for the skin.

Which skin are we talking about? The skin in question is the Royale Bomber. It is among the rarest outfits in the game, alongside the punk rocker Power Chord and the Halloween skins.

Why is the Royale Bomber so rare? The skin was previously only available through a limited promotion with Sony. You had to purchase a complete PlayStation 4 Slim in a special Fortnite bundle. Then you received 500 V-Bucks along with the “Royale Bomber” skin. There were no other ways to obtain the outfit until now.

Fortnite-Royale-Bomber
Royale-Bomber

Royale Bomber in the PS4 Controller Deal

The new deal for the Royale Bomber: The PS4 deal was not well received by many Fortnite fans, as many wanted the skin, but not many players were willing to buy a new PlayStation console just for that.

However, as Forbes reports, GameStop in the USA will soon offer a deal where you can get the skin for “only” 60 US dollars.

Skin and controller for 60 US dollars: The new deal from GameStop costs 60 dollars and includes the following items:

  • A DualShock controller for the PlayStation 4
  • The “Royale Bomber” skin
  • 500 V-Bucks (approx. 5 euros)

Is the deal worth it? So if you don’t have a controller yet or want another gamepad, as a Fortnite fan, you can definitely go for it. However, if it’s only about the skin, you might want to reconsider the purchase because paying 60 dollars for a skin is quite a lot of money.

Fortnite-Score

Will the deal also come to Germany? So far, we haven’t seen anything about the deal at GameStop in Germany. However, we have inquired with the company and will provide you with information once we receive a response.

When will the offer be available? The promotion starts in the USA on September 7, 2018.

More on the topic
List of all skins and outfits for Fortnite 2023 – Here’s how to get them
von Jürgen Horn
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Forbes

The Extreme Behemoth is a love-hate relationship in Monster Hunter World

The community of Monster Hunter World hates him and loves him at the same time: The extreme Behemoth. This version of the Behemoth is significantly more difficult and requires hunters to communicate with their team.

No matter which community of Monster Hunter World you are currently in, the extreme Behemoth is THE topic. Hunters actively seek groups to take down the beast and exchange tips and tricks. This is no surprise, as this monster is challenging to defeat and poses a real challenge.

Behemoth is different: Even the normal Behemoth breaks the rules of Monster Hunter. The fight with Behemoth is like in an MMORPG and the monster was developed together with the creators of Final Fantasy XIV. It originated in this franchise.

The Behemoth now brings the new mechanics of Magic and Aggro to Monster Hunter World, which hunters had to adjust to.

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Why is the extreme Behemoth so hard?

He is the hardened Behemoth: Extreme is just another name for a hardened monster. Special rules apply to the Extreme Behemoth, such as Lightning Capsules only functioning up to twice. The capsules cannot be used on the Extreme Behemoth to repeatedly negate his spells like the Tornado (Carypdis).

MMORPG rules must be observed this time: When facing the normal Behemoth, hunters can get away with ignoring the aggro and not having a tank. However, for the Extreme Behemoth, having a tank is mandatory. This is also due to the fact that the spells cannot be constantly negated by Lightning Capsules.

The tank must maintain the red line to the head of the Behemoth, binding and distracting it while the damage dealers attack. The healer is still not strictly necessary.

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Almost impossible to achieve solo: There are always exceptions, but for the average player, it is practically impossible to take down the Extreme Behemoth alone. Without a tank keeping an eye on the aggro, this monster simply cannot be defeated. The rest of the team has to deal with the damage.

Monster-Hunter-World-Behemoth-Rot

Communication is mandatory: Those who are shy to use their headset will face problems with the Extreme Behemoth. Teamwork and especially good communication are essential. The fight with the Extreme Behemoth is incredibly action-packed due to the constant spells, and it must be possible to call out quickly.

Community is frustrated with the fight and that’s what makes it so fun

The cursing is quite large: Most hunters really need many attempts to kill the Extreme Behemoth. Even our MeinMMO Facebook group for Monster Hunter World has been filled with cries for help from hunters looking for players to finally defeat the beast for days.

Feeling of a “true” Monster Hunter: Monster Hunter World has the reputation among veterans of being way too easy. This is a discussion as old as games themselves that release sequels. But the Extreme Behemoth is also a popular adversary among veterans, and it is often said that a Monster Hunter should be like this.

You need the group and a strategy to take down the Extreme Behemoth. Its patterns must be learned and internalized well.

Community comes together: The Extreme Behemoth forces players to come together and actively communicate. It is also noticeable in the community that there is a lot of talk about this fight. Players actively offer their help and are also happy to receive assistance. This is also what makes multiplayer online gaming fun and benefits the game.

A similar effect was already seen when Kulve Taroth came with her special siege quest.

Defeating the Extreme Behemoth feels damn good: Alongside frustration, pride and joy also arise. Hunters love to report when they finally defeat the monster and collect the reward: A decoration armor of the Dragoon set. The greater the challenge, the greater the pride when it finally succeeds.

Dragoon-bunt
Here Reddit user ohsoedwin proudly presents his group, with whom he killed the Extreme Behemoth. Now they all have the Dragoon decoration armor and pose as Power Rangers.

How long will the Extreme Behemoth remain? The monster is currently part of event quests on PS4 and Xbox One and will remain until September 6. When it and other DLCs will come to PC is still unknown.

Those who dare to face the Extreme Behemoth should first master the normal one. For that, we have a guide: Defeating Behemoth – Here are its weaknesses and tips for the fight

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

FIFA 19 Trophies – The complete list of all achievements in the Trophy Guide

In FIFA 19, all trophies are known. We list the trophies for PS4 and the achievements for Xbox and provide the requirements on how to obtain them.

Update: If you are looking for the trophies in FIFA 20, you can find them here.

List of all trophies in FIFA 19: As futhead reports, the achievement list was briefly visible on Xbox Live. These Xbox achievements are identical to the trophies on PS4 – the PS4 simply has an additional platinum trophy for earning all other trophies.

What quality the trophies have is still unknown. We only know the Xbox score of each achievement. Normally, 15 points are assigned for “Bronze,” 30 points for “Silver,” and anything above that for “Gold.”

How to obtain the trophies and achievements in FIFA 19

These are the trophies and achievements with the respective requirements and Xbox points:

The HistorianScore with a left-footed volley against Coventry City in The Journey15
   
Hoop DreamScore a basket in Venice in The Journey15
   
Anything You Can DoSuccessfully complete a mentor challenge in The Journey15
   
There Can Be Only OneWin the UEFA Champions League in The Journey90
   
Game ChangerWin the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in The Journey30
   
DeceiverScore a goal by tricking the goalkeeper with a feigned shot15
   
Skill Games FrenzyComplete all multiplayer skill games30
   
PerfectionistWin a penalty shootout without a miss15
   
Quick LearnerComplete 3 recommended skill games15
   
What a Shot!Score a long-range goal with a defender during a match (min. 22.8m)15
   
Timed to PerfectionScore a goal with perfect timing using the new shooting system15
   
You Can’t Break Me DownWin a match using every defensive style30
   
Tactics MasterWin a match using every offensive style30
   
Skill Games ChampionComplete all HUB skill games30
   
Skill Games LegendReceive an A rating in all skill games80
   
Football MindedScore 3 header goals in a “Headers & Volleys” match in Kick-Off15
   
So It BeginsWin a match in Squad Battles in FUT 1915
   
EnthusiastPlay 20 matches in any modes in FUT 1915
   
From Rags to RichesComplete a weekly task in FUT 1915
   
Climbing the LadderReach Division 4 in Division Rivals in FUT 1980
   
First of ManyComplete a daily task in FUT 1915
   
Getting the Hang of ItAchieve Gold Rank 3 in Squad Battles in FUT 1915
   
Astute TacticianCreate your own tactic in FUT 1915
   
Making a Name For YourselfQualify for the Weekend League of FUT Champions30
   
TeambuildingComplete 10 Squad Building Challenges in FUT 1915
   
Easy PeasyComplete your first selection game in Division Rivals in FUT 1915
   
Just Getting StartedComplete all selection games in Division Rivals in FUT 1915
   
Remember the NameAchieve Rank 3 (or better) in Division Rivals in FUT 1915
   
ChampionWin in a Cup Final15
   
Survival of the FittestWin a match in Survival mode15
   
No Holding Me BackWin a “No Rules” match15
   
LoyaltyPlay a knockout match with your supported club15
   
Decision MakerUnlock all attributes on a skill tree path15
   
RookieComplete and win your first Seasons match in Pro Clubs15
   
Cultivating SkillsSpend a skill point in Pro Clubs15
   
Aim for the StarsQualify for the last 16 in the Champions League15
   
Playing in the Big LeagueWin a Champions League group match15
   
The ChampionsWin the Champions League final90
   
Made the HeadlinesWin the Europa League final30
   
Playing the GamePlay a women’s football match15
   
Show of SkillScore a goal with a flair shot in a women’s football match15

Note: The requirements were translated by us into German.

In general, there are many trophies related to FUT 19 and the Champions League. If you want to achieve platinum, you will mainly have to hang around in the Ultimate Team mode.

Trophies for Pro Clubs are few, and specifically for the career mode, there are none on this list. The CL achievements may be achievable in career mode. You may also try out the new kick-off modes to earn trophies.

If anything changes with the official reveal of the trophies, we will update this article.

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. futhead

Overwatch: This is why fans are furious about the D.Va skin patch

A patch from Blizzard has disappointed the competitive community of Overwatch The timing for the update was simply poorly chosen.

Yesterday we reported that players of Overwatch can now earn a new skin and several other cosmetic items. The new cosmetics featuring “D.Va and the Nano Cola” were spontaneously introduced into the game with a patch.

But this very patch has made competitive players angry.

What happened? The last season of Overwatch was only five hours away from ending, so many players tried to achieve a higher rating in the final moments.

At that time, the promotion for “D.Va Nano Cola” was launched. This skin caused many players around the world to want to jump back into Overwatch. The servers became overloaded, and as a result, numerous players were kicked out of their ongoing matches.

Overwatch Comp 6v6 ranks

What is the consequence? Many players who were in ranked matches at the time of the patch received a loss. After all, a “disconnect” also counts as a loss, even if Blizzard’s servers are to blame.

This means a loss of 50 skill rating, which is particularly frustrating at higher ranks. The work of several matches can easily be lost here.

What the players demand: For the next update, Blizzard should choose a better timing and at least not spontaneously launch a new event in the last hours of a ranked season. Many players in competitive mode are now upset and wish that their rating could be corrected afterwards.

Overwatch DVa Cinematic title 4

The developer remains silent. Blizzard has not yet commented on the issue. Since the Reddit post has received nearly 21,000 upvotes, the developers are likely aware of the anger. In the next patch, the developers may adjust the timing better.

Were you affected by this as well? Or were you among the players who rushed to the servers immediately to earn the new skin?

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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.