The story of the Forsaken expansion of Destiny 2 will have a non-linear mission structure. The game allows you to choose which villain name you check off your revenge list first.
During the reveal stream and E3 2018, several details about the story of the Forsaken expansion have already been revealed. It is now known that: Cayde-6 will be murdered during the course of the storyline. The Guardians will then hunt for the murderer Prince Uldren and his accomplices – the eight Barons.
How you organize your revenge campaign before confronting Uldren is up to you. The campaign of the upcoming Fall expansion unfolds differently than it has been in Destiny 2 so far. This was revealed by Forsaken Project Lead Scott Taylor and Bungie’s Game Director Steve Cotton in an interview.
The Forsaken story offers a non-linear mission structure
According to Cotton, players in Forsaken will go on a hunt. Who they hunt and in what order they choose their targets is left to the Guardians themselves.
Cayde’s murderer did not act alone: Although Uldren Sov pulled the trigger and is thus directly responsible for Cayde-6’s death, other villains, the Barons, actively supported him on the way to this event. Once the expansion comes out, players will learn just how involved the Barons were. Scott Taylor explains that players will “hate them just as much as Uldren himself – if not more.”
Each participant must face justice: And you will have to hunt and take down each one of them to get to Uldren. At a certain point in the story, there will be a kind of list that you check off name by name. While you work towards the ultimate goal of confronting Cayde’s murderer, how you do it is left up to each player.
Does the order matter? Apparently not from a story perspective. Only the power level or difficulty may be decisive in who among the culprits is fought first.
Taylor himself is convinced that fans will have an “optimal” order shortly after the release of Forsaken, in which the missions can be completed the fastest, are the most fun, or offer the greatest challenge.
Enlisted is an exciting new MMO shooter that aims to distinguish itself from other representatives of the genre. The game takes place during World War II and is set to be released for Xbox One and PC. Enlisted is being developed in collaboration with Gaijin, the creators of War Thunder.
War is not a sport
Enlisted aims to do this differently: The developers explain that while many online shooters provide fun and thrilling gameplay experiences, they portray virtual war as a kind of sporting contest. Fairness plays no role in real war. There is hardly any overview. It is about surviving, surrounded by pure chaos. And this is precisely where Enlisted intends to make its mark. The game wants to show you a different side of war. A side that hasn’t been seen like this in an online shooter before.
War in Enlisted is chaos: In a charge against enemy positions, many soldiers die within a few minutes. They are shot down. And you will experience this in Enlisted as well. You charge forward. But during this charge, your teammates around you are gunned down. Gunfire, explosions, and bullets rain down on you. The chaos disorients you.
Enlisted is supposed to play consciously differently in battles compared to Battlefield V. Hundreds of players are supposed to make it even harder to distinguish between friend and foe during the chaotic battles, to maintain a strategy, and to achieve the goal. This is meant to provide an extremely intense gaming experience.
Realism not without accessibility: Enlisted aims to offer you a representation of World War II that is as realistic as possible. Every bullet can be deadly. However, this does not mean that the online shooter is only aimed at experienced players. Enlisted is meant to be particularly accessible. For example, you can jump directly into the game and start playing. You do not need several minutes to prepare. You start the game and participate.
Then, however, you experience a realistic scenario, in which every hit can be your end. The overall atmosphere of the game is meant to feel more intense, without being too difficult to play.
You are not alone
Teamplay is essential: Since Enlisted focuses on realism, it is important that you find yourself in a team and develop strategies together. However, since it can get so chaotic, you will need to find corresponding tactics. They must be enforced despite the chaos. The tactics must be adapted continuously. This also means that communication among each other is essential.
Command troops in the battles: Enlisted differs from other online shooters in that in some game modes you not only control your character but also command a unit of AI soldiers. You give these soldiers orders, which they then execute.
You need to approach this strategically. These troops are meant to ensure that the battles feel “fuller” and that there is more action. Additionally, when you die, you jump into one of your AI soldiers and continue playing this way until your squad is decimated.
The Second World War, more intense than ever: The developers’ goal is to provide you with a virtual war experience that portrays World War II as intensely as never before. Due to the scenario, three parties stand against each other, between which you can choose:
Germany
Soviet Union
USA
You will experience famous battles from the war and travel to strategically important locations. There you will then fight battles together as a team to achieve victory.
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Multiple game modes. Depending on your preferred gaming experience, Enlisted offers several modes to choose from:
Campaigns – Famous battles of World War II will be playable in campaigns. The developers strive to recreate the locations and conditions as realistically as possible in creating these scenarios. Therefore, the campaigns will be released gradually. One of the first campaigns focuses on the battle for Moscow. Campaigns must be purchased separately.
Invasion – In these battles, you have to solve various tasks. You are supposed to capture and hold an area. The other team must either prevent this or drive you out. In doing so, each player controls not only their character but also AI soldiers.
Offensive – You build fortifications and fight using vehicles and heavy artillery. The maps are larger than those in Invasion.
Urban combat – Here, you fight in various cities that offer plenty of cover. Tactics play an important role.
Battle Royale – Enlisted also features a typical team battle royale mode. Each team represents one of the nations that fought in World War II. In this mode, you can even drive heavy vehicles, such as tanks.
There’s still a lot of work ahead for the developers of Enlisted
These questions about Enlisted are still open:
Free2Play – The team has shifted the focus to a free-to-play game based on surveys. This brings a lot of adjustments to the actual plans and the design of the game. Consequently, many questions cannot currently be answered because much can still change in the game.
First or Third Person? Currently, Enlisted supports both perspectives. However, the team tends to prefer the first-person view. But presumably, the option will remain in the game to also play from a third-person perspective.
What’s up with PlayStation 4? Enlisted has already been announced for PC and Xbox One. However, it is still unclear whether the online shooter will also be released for PS4. The developers state that this depends both on revenue and on Sony.
Historically accurate? The developers state that realism is an important feature, but fun comes first. Enlisted is not meant to be a war simulation. Therefore, a balance must be found between fun and historical accuracy. How this will look remains to be seen.
Enlisted: When is it coming out?
Enlisted on PC– The PC alpha of Enlisted is scheduled to start later this year. On the official website, it is possible to sign up for the alpha.
Enlisted on Xbox One: In the Xbox One Game Preview Program, Enlisted is also set to appear later this year. This leads to the assumption that the release of the game may not be expected until 2019.
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Data miners have already revealed the challenges for Week 9 of Fortnite. Read here what challenges you will likely have to complete according to the leaks from the data miners.
News from the data mines: Once again, fearless data miners have delved into the depths of the Fortnite code to mine usable information for the Week 9 challenges of Fortnite. However, the work of data miners is currently not easy.
Epic seems to want to systematically suppress leaks of new content. Therefore, it is quite curious that for this week all information seems to be available.
If the current leak regarding the Week 9 challenges is true, then you need to complete the following tasks in Week 9:
Deal damage to opponents with explosive weapons (500): A rather tough challenge, as usable explosive weapons are not exactly common. Aside from rocket launchers and the like, it is also quite difficult to hit opponents with a remote bomb or grenade.
Search chests in Moisty Mire (7): There are quite a few chests scattered around here, especially at the film set and by a large tree.
Use a shopping cart (1): A strange challenge, as there are currently no shopping carts in the game. Will they return by Thursday? Or is it just a placeholder?
Visit taco shops in the same match (3): This challenge was also present in Season 3. It may be a placeholder.
Each of these week tasks is worth five shining stars in the Season 4 Battle Pass, bringing you closer to the final skin Omega.
These are the hard challenges in Week 9 of Fortnite
These three tasks give – provided the data miners are correct – each ten Battle Pass stars. This means: instantly level up in the Battle Pass!
Search between film titles (1): A very cryptic task. So far, one should always search between three landmarks. Are film references meant that are already on the map or that are yet to come? Or is it just a placeholder?
Eliminate opponents with shotguns (4): This task should be very easy to accomplish. Shotguns are among the most powerful weapons.
Eliminate opponents at Anarchy Acres (3): Nothing special here. Just the usual kill challenge.
Are half of the challenges just placeholders?
Something is not right… Indeed, a lot seems strange about the current challenges. Many of the tasks feel like placeholders. Have the developers added some nonsense just to troll the data miners?
The following challenges seem somewhat “fishy”:
The shopping cart challenge: So far, Epic has not managed to have the shopping carts function without exploits and glitches. It would be rather reckless to create a challenge for that.
The film titles: Perhaps this is a really creative challenge where you have to interpret film titles in landmarks. And perhaps references to movies will be added via a patch. However, it may also just be a placeholder for something entirely different!
Guides will come on Thursday: We will definitely keep an eye on this. By Thursday at the latest, we will know more and will provide you with the latest challenges for Week 9 as quickly as possible.
Pearl Abyss, the developers of Black Desert Online, have finally released information about their new title. The game is tentatively named “Project K” and will likely be an MMO shooter.
What is Project K? Until now, not much was known about Pearl Abyss’s new projects. Earlier this year, it was only mentioned in the financial report that they are working on two games that are supposed to be presented in the second half of this year.
One of the games is supposed to be a mobile MMO. The other project, on the other hand, is a shooter. It is supposed to have MMO or possibly even MOBA elements. Meanwhile, a bit more is known about it.
MMO Shooter from the Inventor of Counterstrike
What is now known? The game, which is still only called “Project K”, is supposed to be an MMO shooter. In a presentation by the new developer Minh “Gooseman” Le (the creator of Counterstrike), a few images of the game were shown.
Robots are likely included. Are they possibly Minions, like in a MOBA?
It depicts a rather dark, futuristic world. However, Le does not want to reveal more. He is already looking forward to being able to show more of the game “soon”. Then we will hopefully also find out whether the new game contains MOBA elements and if so, to what extent.
Such MOBA shooters have had little success so far, as the sad fate of Battleborn shows.
One of the biggest new features for The Division 2 will be the first 8-player raid. So far, there is little concrete information about this. In a podcast, Massive spoke about the new endgame activity.
For a long time, Division Agents have hoped that The Division 2 would finally make this wish come true: A raid! This is part of the endgame focus that Massive has set for the sequel and is designed for eight players.
There is still not much known about this, in a podcast with gamingbolt Julian Gerighty, Creative Director at Massive, gives us a glimpse of what these raids will actually be like.
What are “raids” generally understood to be?
Exploration and Discovery:Raids are activities that can feature both PvE and PvP elements and are usually designed for eight or more players. Players must work together to tackle a raid, which typically consists of a larger mission with one or more boss fights.
Coordination and good equipment are usually essential to complete a raid. In an interview with Skill Up, Game Director Mathias Karlson hinted that exploration and discovery will be important for progress in the TD2 raid.
First raid to appear shortly after the release of The Division 2
No raid at launch: Gerighty makes it clear that the raid will not be available immediately at launch, but will appear in the weeks shortly after. The reasons for this can only be speculated; Massive may want to use the player data from the first weeks to make some adjustments to the game balance.
Raid as the ultimate challenge: Another reason could be the design of the raid. According to Gerighty, this represents by far the toughest form of endgame content and can only be tackled by well-equipped agents who have reached the highest level. It would, therefore, be of little sense to unlock this directly at release.
Rewards are meant to showcase successful completion of the raid
Raid with big rewards: Massive is still keeping concrete details under wraps, as the release is still a good way off. However, Julian hints that the rewards for completing the raid are expected to be generous.
Players who succeed in this challenge should be able to make this clearly visible to the other agents. Does this mean that in addition to equipment, there will be other rewards waiting for us?
There might be cosmetic items as rewards that showcase the successful completion of the raid. Suitable for this would be
Outfits
Weapon and armor skins
Patches
and trophies
as rewards. We are excited.
Several raids planned
As Gerighty emphasizes, there will not be just one raid. Definitely more will follow in the first year. How many exactly and how extensive they will be remains to be seen.
However, one can speculate that these will be part of the DLCs planned for the first year. These DLCs are intended to
New feature for overwhelmed agents – The “Progression Tracker”
One of the interviewers spoke about The Division 1. He returned after a long break with the release of 1.8 and describes his overwhelm. Which activity should he play? The selection of content is vast, and he wished he had been guided by the game.
The “Progression Tracker” is meant to support players: The new tracker will suggest activities that correspond to your current progress and will likely be found in the main menu.
If you are close to a milestone, this tracker will show you what the most effective way is to complete it. This Progression Tracker will not be the only element to support players, but Gerighty does not reveal more.
With the Forsaken expansion for Destiny 2, significant changes are coming to the weapon slots. Apparently, along with these changes, the ammunition supply will also be adjusted. Bungie wants to change the hated Juggler mechanic.
Many open questions about the new weapon slots: One of the most anticipated features of the upcoming Forsaken expansion for Destiny 2 is the changes to the weapon slots. While Bungie has already revealed some details about the slot adjustments, this has led to even more confusion. Numerous questions, such as the distribution of ammunition, remain unanswered. However, it seems that there is work being done on the ammunition supply.
Ammunition shortage with the new weapon slots?
Fans are speculating about ammunition distribution: One of the most discussed questions within the community right now is: “How will the ammunition supply look with the changes to the weapon slots?” Many fans are worried that the upcoming adjustments to the slots could lead to an acute ammunition shortage with certain weapon choices.
Ammunition shortage due to hidden mechanics? Because if one plays with two shotguns in the two quick slots, both weapons would require special ammunition according to Bungie’s statements. In Destiny 2, however, there is a hidden mechanic, the Juggler, which could actually cause problems with such a weapon setup.
Here’s how the Juggler works: Currently, the Juggler mechanic does the following: For example, if one actively plays with a kinetic weapon, defeated enemies drop less kinetic ammunition, but more of the other two ammunition types. The same applies to energy and power ammunition. With some weapon combinations, Juggler could quickly lead to ammunition shortages within the revised weapon slots.
With Forsaken come changes to the Juggler mechanic
Bungie is aware of the problem: In an interview with FPS News, Forsaken Project Lead Scott Taylor was specifically asked about this issue. He first confirmed that there is a Juggler mechanic. Bungie has never really commented on this before.
He also explained that this mechanic will be changed in September with the launch of Forsaken. While he cannot yet talk about the changes in detail, further information is expected in the summer.
The ammunition problem seems to have not gone unnoticed by Bungie, and work is already being done on it. It will be exciting to see how the ammunition supply will look with special setups, such as three shotguns, and whether such a weapon choice will be effective in the Guardian’s everyday life.
What might a sensible adjustment of the Juggler system look like? Or should Juggler disappear completely with the upcoming changes to the weapon slots?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Fortnite, Epic is suing a tester who broke the NDA. Everything he revealed has already come true in Season 4. However, a promised map change is still pending: This info could tell us where the rocket will strike and how the Fortnite map will change before Season 5.
Leaker internetadam was right about everything: Before the launch of the current Season 4, a post appeared on reddit. The user “internetadam” predicted three things:
The meteor will strike Dusty Depot
The map will change over time
And the theme of Season 4 will be superheroes
Information comes from secret meeting 3 months ago
The information was real: Today we know that the information came from a tester who was able to try out later versions for Epic early. The secret information comes from an Epic meeting on March 16. Epic already knew what would happen in Season 4 back then.
One prophecy is still missing: There is one thing the user wrote back then that could become important now. Internetadam revealed: By the end of Season 4, Moisty Mire should be gone.
What is Moisty Mire? Moisty Mire is a remote swamp area in the southeast of the Fortnite: Battle Royale map. It is relatively quiet here, even though Season 4 brought a film set here.
Will the rocket hit Moisty Mire and destroy the swamp?
How will Moisty Mire disappear? Even though we now know that Moisty Mire will disappear, two questions remain open:
How will the area disappear?
And what will replace Moisty Mire?
Rocket possible candidate: The most likely trigger for the map change is the gigantic rocket in the supervillain hideout of Fortnite. Here, the players’ attention is already focused. Even though countdowns have been appearing and disappearing for a week, nothing has really happened here.
In Conan Exiles you can besiege your enemies and destroy their buildings with explosives. However, exploding jars are very expensive to create. Tar balls are significantly cheaper to produce – and more effective. This makes it easier for you to siege!
Tip for Tar Balls: If you play on a PvP server, you can hardly avoid war with your neighbors. It is useful if you can effectively tear down their buildings. Explosive jars and siege equipment are expensive and impractical.
With a combination of tar balls and demon fire balls, you can siege more effectively! The balls also have the side effect that you can mine star metal with them. We show you how to craft and use the balls correctly.
You can tear down buildings more easily with the right “tool”.
Crafting Tar Balls and Demon Fire Balls
To craft tar balls (Grease Orbs), you need to go through a lengthy production process. You will need basic materials that you will frequently find and use throughout the game.
Crafting Tar Balls: To craft a tar ball, you first need an alchemist and a fire bowl cauldron. The level and race of the alchemist do not matter – even a level 1 alchemist brings the recipe for the tar balls.
For the balls themselves, you need tar, which you can easily obtain by pressing coal in the liquid press. You also need water balls, which you can produce in the fire bowl cauldron using a glass ball filled with water and wound secretions.
Tar Ball:
1 Water Ball
5 Tar
The amount of tar required decreases when you assign better alchemists to the cauldron.
Crafting Demon Fire Balls: The recipe for demon fire balls is already provided by a level 1 alchemist. However, crafting these is a bit more involved, as you will need explosive glands. You can find these best with salamanders in the jungle or with exploding degenerates.
Demon Fire Ball:
1 Water Ball
5 Explosive Glands
You can also find demon fire balls more rarely with NPCs, especially by the volcano and at the black galleon. It might be worthwhile to farm them directly instead of crafting them. However, if you have a large clan, it can be beneficial to do both simultaneously.
Properly Sieging with Tar Balls and Mining Star Metal
To attack effectively with the balls, you need to combine the effects correctly. Take about 15 tar balls per demon fire ball.
Teardown buildings with tar balls: Select a part of a building and throw about 15 balls with a special attack (right mouse button/RT/R2). A normal attack would bounce the ball off.
After 15 layers of tar have been applied to the building part, ignite them with a demon fire ball. The tar will now burn, and you can watch as the building part takes damage. If you throw another tar ball, the fire will burn longer accordingly.
A tar ball hits a building.
Importance of order: The layers of tar add to their damage. After 30 seconds, the first layer disappears – that’s why 15 layers are the maximum when stacked alone. If you renew the fire, the layers will no longer add. The fire will continue to burn at maximum strength.
With 15 layers of tar, you can deal about 20,000 damage to a building if it burns only once. For comparison: An explosive jar causes about 10,000 damage points.
This is what it looks like when the building is on fire.
Mining star metal with tar balls: The damage from the balls is siege damage. You can also use the combination to explode the meteorites with star metal.
Cover the protective stone layer around the rare metal with tar and ignite it. This way, you save expensive explosive jars and can access the star metal more easily.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The survival game “SOS” has thrown its concept overboard and is now called SOS Battle Royale. Now the game is Free2Play and has little to do with the original game. The fans are not in agreement and express their dissatisfaction through Steam reviews.
This is how SOS was originally: The idea of SOS was to throw 16 players onto a map. There they had 30 minutes to find a relic and reach a helicopter that would take them off the island. However, there were only three seats in the helicopter. The game had some survival elements. For instance, players could build traps and weapons.
Tailored for streamers and Twitch
Special twist “Live audience”: The joke of SOS was that it wanted to be a “reality TV show” in front of a live audience. The game was extremely tailored to streamers and their communities. The audience could intervene in the game. Many thought, SOS favored streamers too much. Nevertheless, it was at least an interesting concept.
Known through Snoop Dogg: The game received a brief moment in the spotlight when rapper “Snoop Dogg” promoted it in a stream in January. Especially because Snoop made little effort, it was quirky. People clearly saw: “He’s not even playing himself, but letting someone else play for him.”
Change in direction F2P: In May, the creators of SOS decided to remove all elements of the reality TV show and thus all survival elements. These things moved to the “Classic Mode,” while the new game was supposed to be a typical “battle royale” game. Now 1-32 players land on the island “La Cuna” and the one who stands at the end wins. This was then called “SOS Battle Royale” and became completely Free2Play with the latest patch.
Classic Mode is being abolished: The current announcement to completely abolish the “Classic Mode” has now created angry Steam reviews. People are demanding their money back. The current Steam reviews are balanced, while the recent ones are “extremely negative.” SOS is still a game in early access.
Fans of the promising MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria are eagerly waiting for the release of the Pre-Alpha. But it will still take a while.
Pre-Alpha? We don’t want it yet!
When is the Pre-Alpha coming? According to the developers, Chronicles of Elyria is in a state with the current version 0.3.0 where a Pre-Alpha could actually be released. Nevertheless, this is not happening. It is currently also not known when the test version is supposed to start.
We could, but we don’t want to. Over Discord, “Caspian” from the development team announced that they could actually release the Pre-Alpha now, but the team does not want to. It is simply not in the best interest of the game.
The team lacks the capacity. Caspian explains that even a limited test phase would involve a significant effort. Support requests would be made that someone would have to answer. The servers would need to be paid for and maintained… all of this costs time and money. The team currently has no support staff who could work on the live servers. They would have to be hired first.
Because these capacities simply are currently lacking, the studio has decided to continue working on the Pre-Alpha and integrate new features, rather than rushing to launch it now.
Everyone who is waiting for the MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria will have to wait longer for the release of the Pre-Alpha. It is also currently still unclear when this test phase will start.
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Shortly after the first DLC, The Imperial East Pack, was released for Conan Exiles, the content of the next additional content is already known. A bug has already leaked the content of the next DLC.
Bug in the Xbox patch leaks DLC: Recently, a hotfix for the Xbox One version of Conan Exiles was released. In this, players were able to see new items in the talents that had not yet been announced.
Aquilonia DLC Leak – Similar content to the Khitan DLC
According to the screenshots that players from the Xbox version of Conan Exiles were able to take, the next DLC will bring similar content to the current Khitan DLC.
Aquilonian armors and weapons: The images from the DLC show recipes for weapons and armors of the Aquilonians. As in the current Khitan DLC, it seems that there will be a light, medium, and heavy armor set. The armors also resemble the looks of Roman legionaries.
All types of weapons in Aquilonian style are also visible again. The sets and weapons will likely again appear in an iron variant and one made from epic materials for level 60, so they will have a different appearance but otherwise identical properties.
Aquilonian buildings and items: Recipes for Aquilonian building parts and placeable items like chairs and statues have also surfaced. Their appearance is difficult to determine, but they also seem to be influenced by Roman styles.
The current Khitan building parts are Tier 3 buildings that require the best building materials. It is likely that this will also be the case for Aquilonian parts, but more detailed information is not yet available.
Aquilonians – the (later) people of Conan: Like most peoples, the Aquilonians are oriented towards real historical templates. Aquilonians correspond to the Romans in the Conan universe – accordingly, their armors and weapons are also designed.
Conan later becomes king of Aquilonia after overthrowing the old king. With an Aquilonian DLC, you can play as direct subjects of Conan!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
As announced in-game, the new game mode “Creative” is about to be released in Fortnite: Battle Royale. Players have been waiting for such a mode since the launch of the game. What is behind it?
Epic regularly brings new modes to Fortnite Battle Royale. Whether different team sizes, a defined weapon pool, or faster matches – the spectrum is broad.
However, one mode has been missing so far: A custom mode that shifts the principle of Battle Royale. A mode where players can just mess around and try things out. Such a mode is already coming this week from June 25 to June 30!
With Creative, dreams become reality: In this mode, you will respawn after dying, meaning you do not return to the lobby. You can build freely and try out tactics – even with and against your friends! Have you always wanted to determine who the better player is? Now you finally get the opportunity.
You can do the following in this mode: The Creative mode lets you experiment with a lot. You can work on your weapon skills or refine your building skills:
Practice a specific building style (e.g., stair with wall and floor)
You can race to build with your friends (who is faster)
You can come up with your own loot routes and test them
Face off against your friends with specific weapons to improve skills
Unfortunately, the Creative mode has one major drawback – it is not permanent.
Creative Mode Temporarily Available Only
The mode is explicitly declared as LTM (Limited Time Mode). This is somewhat surprising, as practice modes should actually be permanently available. However, there is a good chance that Epic will quickly and permanently bring the mode back, should there be no technical restrictions.
The success of the Creative mode is considered certain: Players have been wanting a custom mode since the launch of the game in September 2017. It is quite possible that Epic will expand the mode and actually offer “Custom” games – with various customization options like zone size, lives, hit points, etc.
Until then, you should make the most of the Creative mode – especially if you continue to approach the building mode with great skepticism.
Blizzard has revealed some secrets and facts about the skill rating and matchmaking in Overwatch. This aims to bring clarity among the players.
If things aren’t going well in the ranked mode of Overwatch, players often blame the matchmaking. They think it leads to unfair matches and “you always play solo against full groups” and similar thoughts cross one’s mind. Scott Mercer from the Overwatch team took the time to explain many details about the matchmaking in depth.
Group size has no impact on SR. One of the biggest misconceptions in the community is the assumption that group size in ranked mode would affect the gain or loss of the skill rating. This is simply not the case. Whether you sign up alone or with a group of six people, the potential gain (and loss) of SR is identical.
What affects the gain/loss of skill rating?
The win probability calculated by the system. Above 50%, you earn less on victory, below 50%, you gain more skill rating.
Consistency. New accounts or those that haven’t played for a long time see greater fluctuations. This stabilizes with more games.
If your skill rating was above 3000 and then “expired” due to inactivity? Then you will receive more skill rating upon return until you are back near your old level.
(only Platinum and lower): If you played exceptionally well or poorly and therefore deviate from the average of players in your rank, the skill rating rises or falls more sharply.
If the skill rating is already very high, you gain less on a win, as you approach the cap of 5000 SR.
Group sizes and their matches
Who plays against whom? Some internal statistics from Blizzard might also be interesting. Mercer revealed how often group compositions faced other setups. Here are some exciting key data:
Only 16% of all games consist of complete solo players.
28% of all matches come from player groups of 2-1-1-1-1 against 2-1-1-1-1.
If you are in a team of solo players, then in 73% of all cases, you are also fighting against complete solo players. 24% of the games contain a 2-player team and only 3% of the games feature larger teams.
Teams of six players play in 92% of matches against other teams of six players.
Win rates of different group sizes
The win rates are also interesting – that is, how often certain group compositions win.
If you combine the win probabilities of all possible matchups of complete solo teams (i.e., 1-1-1-1-1-1), these teams have a win probability of 49.5%.
2-1-1-1-1 teams win in 50.03% of all games.
2-2-1-1 teams win slightly less, namely 49.46% of all games.
All numbers and matchups combined yield an average win rate of 49.94% for an individual solo player.
Overall, all these numbers are very close to the intended 50%, which speaks for good matchmaking.
The “Looking for Group” feature aims to help
Despite all these quite positive numbers, the gaming experience for solo players is often lacking, as the negative moments are remembered more strongly than the positive ones. The “Looking for Group” tool is meant to help players find like-minded individuals beforehand. Because a pre-set group of players has many advantages:
More positive communication among each other
Better conflict resolution (who plays which role?)
Stronger cohesion. Devastating losses do not weigh as heavily because you have fun together
Lastly, Mercer gave a general tip that is not only suitable for Overwatch: “Be kind to each other. Life is too short.”
Defiance will make its second attempt with the name addition 2050 on the current generation consoles as well as on PC. The online shooter came before Destiny and The Division but could never keep up with the huge competition. We wondered why that is.
What is Defiance?
What is the story of Defiance? The TV series Defiance takes place in a post-apocalyptic future on a radically transformed Earth. The alien collective of the Votans, consisting of several different races, arrived on Earth in 2013 after their star system was destroyed in a stellar collision. Humans met them with hostility and suspicion, leading years later to a catastrophic global conflict.
After years of war between humans and Votans, the Ark fleet of the aliens exploded mysteriously in orbit, triggering the “Arkfall” and thus the terraforming technology of the Votans. A large part of the planet became an uninhabitable wasteland.
While the Votans wanted to use their terraforming technology in a carefully planned manner, the Arkfall unleashed chaotic and radical changes in the biosphere and geology of Earth indiscriminately. Flora and fauna, and even some humans, were altered.
Years after the conflicts, humans and aliens strive to rebuild the world. The series is set in the independent city-state of Defiance, built over the ruins of St. Louis, Missouri. The coexistence of different alien races and humans is a major part of the plot.
TV series and video games should strengthen each other
What was supposed to make Defiance so special? Parallel to the TV series, the MMO shooter of the same name was released. The plotlines of the series and the game were supposed to complement and influence each other. For example, players encounter Nolan and Irisa, the protagonists from the TV series, from the very beginning.
In special missions and events, the storylines of the TV show and the game were woven together repeatedly. Players received quests whose outcomes were mentioned in subsequent episodes of the series.
Why was the TV series Defiance never a big hit? Defiance was produced for the Syfy channel, which is a pay-TV channel in the USA and Germany. While Syfy aired the series in Germany as early as April 2013, Defiance was not aired on free-to-air TV until October 2014 on Tele 5. After only four episodes, the series was canceled due to poor ratings, and the broadcast was only resumed in August 2015.
After 3 seasons, the TV series came to an end, and no further parts were produced.
The synergy didn’t work even before: The game based on the series was released worldwide in April 2013, but the tie-in feature with the series failed in many markets. The game was heavily advertised with a focus on its connection to the series.
Bad luck with the console release
Defiance was simply too late: The video game Defiance was first released in April 2013. It was released for PC and for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, even though the successor consoles were already on the horizon.
Remake starts straight Free2Play: This payment hurdle is bypassed immediately with Defiance 2050. The remake of Defiance will be released on July 10, 2018 on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 as a free-to-play title.
However, it may be that Trion Worlds is again too late with Defiance 2050 in 2018. There is already speculation about the successors to Xbox One and PlayStation 4, although the producer of Defiance 2050, Matt Pettit, hopes for a longer console cycle.
What do players think of Defiance? Over the years, Defiance has built a small but loyal community. The shooter is particularly popular among players who also followed the series.
Despite the fan love, the technical foundation of Defiance has been criticized repeatedly. While every game is plagued by bugs and glitches now and then, Defiance additionally faced criticism for its graphics and server stability.
No major graphical changes: The technical limitations are also the crux in the remake Defiance 2050. There is no fall damage, the AI is dumb and obediently lines up for the next headshot, while vehicles can be steered like a wet sponge.
If you can’t recognize it: The image on the left shows Defiance 2050, while the right side shows the original from 2013.
Despite the promise to want to utilize the graphical capabilities of an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, players see no major changes.
Defiance 2050 is just too similar to Defiance – looks like it’s from 2007
The environment is jagged, the textures are sometimes muddy, and instead of a large draw distance, there’s a fog that obscures large parts of the landscape. In the Defiance subreddit, a fan states that Defiance 2050 is mostly the same game as the original that was released with the series. And although Defiance was released in 2013, it already looked like a game from 2007 back then.
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However, the game has a solid foundation in the form of the interesting universe. Defiance 2050 also has its moments where the shooter can nearly convince.
The good sides of Defiance 2050
Fun as a needle in a haystack: While the quests are generally bland, the tasks taken on with random players are much more enjoyable. After completing a quest, a window pops up with a message showing which player was able to collect the most points. This way, a friendly competition arises for the next task they tackle together.
Additionally, there are in-game events that have their charm. In raids, players must defend themselves against sudden invasions, while sieges are a horde mode where objectives must be defended against increasingly stronger enemies.
Archenfalls take on a larger significance, which are marked with a red symbol in the game world. While small archenfalls are suitable for a smaller group of players, large archenfalls are designed for larger groups. There, an enormous boss awaits, which, however, is hardly more than a giant bullet sponge.
Exciting scenario – but a second spring seems unlikely
Micha says: Defiance has an interesting backstory where our own planet is an inhospitable world suddenly inhabited by visitors from another planet. How this theme will perform without the accompanying series is still uncertain.
Whether Defiance can achieve its second spring with 2050 largely depends on how many players the shooter can attract. With generic quests alone, players are unlikely to stay engaged, while at public events they are heavily reliant on more allies.
With “Long Live the Lich”, the new episode of Guild Wars 2, a new mount will be introduced to the game: the Roll Bug! Players are excited and hope for a revival of the Roll Bug races from the first Guild Wars.
Perhaps the most popular minigame in Guild Wars 1. Roll Bugs are not only the first new mount introduced since the inclusion of mounts in the Path of Fire expansion. The rolling critters were a huge hit back then, in the first Guild Wars. Every year, the Dragon Festival took place in the Asian-inspired continent of Cantha.
The highlight was always the Roll Bug races. It was a minigame where each player was transformed into a Roll Bug. You had to roll around and reach the finish line before the competition.
Roll Bugs are back – Will the race return?
Players demand races. Since the Roll Bug was shown as the 6th mount in the trailer for the new episode “Long Live the Lich”, players have been going wild on Reddit and Twitter! The bug looks great, rolls around at breakneck speed, and even seems to break through massive stone walls.
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Therefore, players want even more! They want the Roll Bug races back. NCSoft should therefore quickly patch a corresponding mode into the game.
Fans are already planning race tracks: As long as there is still no official racing mode with the bugs, players want to help themselves. Therefore, some fans are already out and thinking of suitable race tracks in the game world to test the new mounts in competition.
Then also bring Cantha into the game!
Why not a new continent? If the developers are already at it, some fans say they should also patch the continent Cantha into the game at last. After all, the Roll Bug races took place there during the Dragon Festival. And the Asian continent was extremely popular in Guild Wars 1.
From 1:06 minutes, you can see the new Roll Bug mounts in action in the following video. They look absolutely iconic!
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In Guild Wars 2, however, hardly anything is known about Cantha. The land itself cannot be reached. Therefore, many players want access again. However, it is currently rather unlikely that a new continent will come into the game just because of the Roll Bugs.
But regardless of whether there are races or not: Are you looking forward to the new Roll Bugs?
In a new trailer, the developers of Conan Exiles reveal what you can create with the new Khitan DLC. Let yourselves be inspired by the Middle Kingdom!
Wear Asian armor and build your Chinese castle: In the trailer, developer Funcom showcases the new items awaiting you in the new Khitan DLC for Conan Exiles. Gather your materials and build your own castle inspired by Chinese architecture!
By the way: To wear the armors and use the building components, you do not need the DLC. Just ask a friend who has purchased “The Imperial East Pack” to craft the items for you – and then start building!
Neverwinter is an MMORPG in the D&D universe. However, one of the most important classes has been missing until now: the Druid. Now a teaser has emerged that could possibly announce the Druid as a new class.
Clerics are one of the standard classes in D&D: Nearly every setting of Dungeons & Dragons features these robust nature mages. Their specialties are nature magic, summoning various pets, and then transforming into really big monsters. This makes Druids an extremely versatile and therefore very popular D&D class.
However, in the D&D MMORPG Neverwinter, you will search in vain for the Druids. The class is simply nonexistent. But that could soon change.
Tarot card featuring Druid appeared
Is the Druid coming? Recently, a kind of tarot card was seen on the Neverwinter Facebook page. The motif was “Druid”. It shows a typical robe-wearer with a beard. Above is a kind of tree monster, which is a typical form that Druids can take in battle.
Some players are hoping for the Druid as a new class in the upcoming update Ravenloft or a successor. After all, it’s been a while since a new class was introduced to the game.
Is the Druid just a monster?
Or is it just a card for the new monster system? Other players think more about the newly announced monster hunting system from the upcoming Ravenloft update. There, you are supposed to track down certain monsters with the help of tarot cards. Some players therefore suspect that the Druid is one of these horror creatures and not a new class.
What do you think? Do you also want to play a Druid in Neverwinter or does it smell first with classes?
In Destiny 2 the expansion “Forsaken” is approaching. What about the size of the world and the length of the campaign? Bungie’s answers sound optimistic. They are not afraid to compare it to “The Taken King.”
Largest expansion Bungie has ever made for Destiny: According to Scott Taylor, head of “Forsaken“, Forsaken will indeed be the largest expansion for Destiny so far. Especially in relation to “The Taken King”, players should understand what this statement means and how big Forsaken is. “The Taken King” or “TTK” is considered the pinnacle of Destiny so far, with the Dreadnaught.
Forsaken brings more than just a campaign: Taylor further states that it is difficult to directly compare the length of the campaign with that of “The Taken King”, because Forsaken also brings a range of activities that are technically not part of the campaign. They have particularly focused on ensuring that players can progress. They have changed a lot regarding progression.
New endgame zone similar to the Dreadnaught: Players should definitely draw a comparison. The new endgame zone, “The Dreaming City”, resembles the Dreadnaught from “The Taken King.” It is an area that can be explored for days or even weeks to discover new secrets. As with the Dreadnaught back then, Bungie wants to hide secrets in “The Dreaming City” that players can discover.
Two zones full of stuff: From what has emerged from the statements of Bungie employees, there seem to be two large new zones with Forsaken:
The Tangled Shore: This appears to be where the campaign takes place, where you hunt the eight barons – the campaign is said to be at least partly “non-linear”.
And the “Dreaming City” – the endgame area. This is the home of the Awoken. This will be the zone where Destiny 2 takes place after the campaign. They have never done something like this before.
What is different about Forsaken compared to The Taken King?
This could be Bungie’s plan: It sounds like they are currently dividing tasks in Destiny 2, and this is also reflected in the game.
In the past, in Destiny 1, everything was under Bungie’s control. The developers mixed up “quest zone” with the “endgame zone” in the Dreadnaught.
In Destiny 2, it could now be the case that they leave the story arena, the Tangled Shore, to the team at High Moon Studios, while Bungie’s core team takes care of the endgame zone, the Dreaming City.
The actual question: One may wonder whether Forsaken meets the high expectations of the Guardians and whether the “largest” expansion for Destiny 2 will also be the best. After all, fans love “The Taken King.”
Are you thinking about buying The Crew 2? Get to know everything important about the game in our comprehensive overview, from the vehicles and missions to the online mechanics and the story! Is it worth buying the arcade racer for you?
Ivory Tower’s latest game The Crew 2 is about to launch. Before the release, you could enjoy two separate beta phases (open and closed). The Crew 2 will be released on June 29, 2018, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
For the consoles PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, improvements have also been announced. What these will look like is currently still unknown. These could manifest in a higher resolution or frame rate. HDR could also be possible.
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What kind of game is The Crew 2? The Crew 2 is an arcade racing game with online features. You can rely on different vehicles and even pilot airplanes. In the online modes, you can compete against your friends or even race in co-op.
To progress in the story, you need to collect followers in The Crew 2, with whose help you level up and gain access to new events. You collect followers through victories, but also through cool actions in the open world (e.g., drifts and speed traps).
Who is The Crew 2 not suitable for? If you expect a racing simulation like Gran Turismo, you should stay away from The Crew 2. It is an arcade racing game, not a simulation. You can also only have a slight influence on your vehicle parameters in The Crew 2.
If you enjoy spending time fine-tuning downforce, brakes, and gear ratios, you won’t be happy with The Crew 2.
Numerous Improvements
Many criticisms of the predecessor are said to have been eliminated: According to the developers themselves, many player criticisms have been addressed or at least reduced in The Crew 2:
The connection quality is said to have improved significantly
The dumb AI from the predecessor has been fundamentally revised
The physics characteristics of the vehicles are said to have been improved, and
they have raised the graphical quality a notch.
In terms of graphics quality, The Crew 2 has indeed made a decent leap forward. Particularly the water animations and lighting effects look fantastic.
However, what I could not observe during the beta was an improvement in driving physics. Sudden speed losses at smaller obstacles and the somewhat vague control were noticeable in the beta.
Clichés and stereotypes in the story of The Crew 2: What I saw of the story during the beta phase didn’t knock me off my feet. The dialogues were flat. It remains to be seen whether the story in the main game will be more interesting than the preview in the beta.
At its core, it’s about the conflict potential between illegal street racing and legal racing – with its pros and cons. I’m curious whether Ivory Tower will manage to create more depth in the story as it unfolds.
The game world stretches across the entire USA: As in the predecessor, the United States of America have been recreated – albeit in miniature format. Many landmarks like the Hoover Dam or the Las Vegas Strip are included. You can also explore the swamps of Maine with your boat.
Your headquarters is located in Miami – there you can customize your vehicles. According to the manufacturer, it takes you 40-60 minutes to drive from coast to coast with your vehicle.
Online Requirement is Mandatory
A persistent world, or: always online: Ivory Tower promises a vibrant game world where you can encounter other drivers and which regularly features events. However, this also means that you must be online at all times to play The Crew 2.
The vehicles offer a lot of variety: Unlike the predecessor, The Crew 2 does not limit itself to street racing; you will also be racing on water and in the air.
Over 200 different vehicles are waiting to be tried out. The following types of vehicles are available to you:
Sports cars,
Monster trucks,
Buggies,
Motorcycles
and even Formula 1 cars
from all kinds of brands to choose from. Whether Ferrari or Harley Davidson, every fan will find something for themselves here.
The selection of just over a dozen aircraft and boats with which you can discover new perspectives and locations in The Crew 2 is not quite as extensive.
Various racing modes to collect followers: The racing modes are linked to the vehicle and offer different challenges. You won’t always win the events just by being the fastest. The following modes are available at launch for The Crew 2:
Free Mode
Aerobatics
Drift
Jetsprint
Motocross
Powerboat
Rally Raid
Street Race
Touring Car
Online Modes – PvP and Co-Op
The online features – together or against each other? In The Crew 2, you can choose whether to play the story alone – or in co-op with friends. Up to four players can participate together in a race in a “Crew”. In addition, The Crew 2 offers competition in various disciplines:
Top speeds from speed traps
Set best times in races
Score points in freestyle events
However, those who want to experience “real” PvP in The Crew 2 will have to wait until December 2018 and the second live update.
What is there to do after “beating” the game? Ubisoft and Ivory Tower promise to support the game even after launch. This will be achieved with a mix of free and paid content. The vehicle roster is expected to be expanded by two additional vehicles every month.
Players who purchase the Season Pass will get earlier access to these vehicles. The first live update – Gator Rush – will be released in September, adding hovercrafts and new racing modes.
You can find out how it works in the following video:
The Open Beta of Dauntless is very popular, and the developers are now presenting a highly interesting gameplay system: the rotating islands.
Rotating Islands with Different Enemies
Why do islands rotate? Dauntless takes place in a shattered world. Fragments of this world float around a maelstrom. You travel in the game from island to island to hunt the Behemoths. However, as the maelstrom rotates, some of the islands rotate with it.
The playable areas change regularly. Every two weeks, the rotation of the maelstrom and thus the islands causes them to become unreachable and new islands to appear. This means you must regularly explore new locations where other Behemoths await you. However, not all islands rotate. Dyadic Drift, for example, is a fixed island where you fight the monsters Shroud and Rezakiri. Only the so-called rogue islands rotate and appear from time to time. The rotation lasts about two weeks.
A plan shows which islands are available. In the game, you can see exactly where each island is located and how long it is still accessible. This allows you to create plans for your hunts, taking into account the times when the islands are still available.
Fight against new Behemoths. Each island offers not only different landscapes but also different Behemoths. You can view details for each appearing island on the map. These indicate which monsters are native to that area and what rewards you can expect.
