That’s why Bungie finds it so hard to apologize for Destiny 2

Schuhmann 28. April 2018 Reading time 6 minutes

Why can’t Bungie just apologize for Destiny 2? Recently, Bungie seems to be significantly more humble, but fans will probably wait in vain for an apology, according to our author Schuhmann.

Destiny 2 before the release: At the beginning, when Bungie announced Destiny 2, the developers and the community were still quite on the same wavelength:

Bungie talked and presented Destiny 2
The Guardians listened and wanted to know more about Destiny 2

It quickly became clear that Destiny 2 would not meet the high expectations.

The 3 major PR fails of Destiny 2 regarding the hard reset

Why is there Destiny 2 again? In the PR for Destiny 2, Bungie made some serious mistakes. It was stated that “in the logic of the game” a Destiny 2 was necessary for a fresh start for all players because

Guardians lose their light – they get it back within an hour
The Tower, the home of the Guardians, is destroyed – Destiny 2 provides them with a new Tower at the end of the campaign
and the Guardians lose all their possessions – they will receive them back during Destiny 2 because Bungie constantly recycles items from Destiny 1

In addition, there were several other difficulties that we have reported on frequently: PvP was trimmed to be eSport, the grind was removed, the weapon slot system was changed.

As the months went by, a gap widened:

On one side frustrated fans wanting an explanation
On the other side a developer and publisher for whom everything continued to go “awesome”.

Bungie missed early opportunities to admit problems

September, November 2017 – everything is going according to plan: At Bungie’s first opportunity to express themselves about the difficulties after the launch, fans rubbed their eyes. Instead of making any concessions, “Yes, that didn’t go so well, we’re sorry” – Bungie’s PR team went through their program at Twitchcon and presented the seasons, which mainly consisted of cosmetics for the cash shop.

It became clear: Nothing will happen until the PC port is out.

This further intensified the conflict with the fans. The situation escalated when Bungie wanted to present the first DLC in three live streams. Everything continued to go according to plan for Bungie while fans took to the barricades.

In November, they almost said “Sorry”

November, December 2017: At Bungie, the great “Almost, but not quite” apology tour began.

The tactic was to admit 2 mistakes now:

Yes, we read a lot of criticism and we agree that we could communicate better – Translated: So we are doing the right thing, we just aren’t telling you
We agree that Destiny 2 should be more of a hobby – Translated: Actually, we have a great game, just not right now for those who are complaining here

The two statements continued through the next months of communication. Actually, everything from November to April boiled down to one of the two statements. Over the months, it was also added:

We need more hero moments in PvP. Destiny is better when things are out of control
And “Exotic weapons should feel exotic again”

From publisher Activision there were similar signals. Generally crazy success messages with the catch: “There is a lot of feedback coming in, but we are working on it.”

Fans want an apology

Where is the apology? What fans have missed over all these months is a clear acknowledgment: “That was nothing.”

Because such a thing is lacking, the mood was tense for months. Especially Game Director Luke Smith felt the repercussions. As he was the frontman of the Destiny 2 PR campaign, fans expect an apology from him.

When Smith then ended a tweet about Destiny 2 feedback with “Don’t be jerks”, he felt the wrath of the people.

One of the nicer responses from a fan: “You killed Destiny. Why do you still have a job? Go flip burgers.”

https://twitter.com/mrblonde220/status/960733569764220928

“Just say it’s dumb”

Bungie, do it like The Division: Players repeatedly demand a “The Division” moment. In August 2016, the team of Ubisoft’s shooter admitted: “Our game isn’t fun.”

After that, The Division tried a realignment, which apparently went quite well.

Bungie is also trying a similar restructuring, but from the fans’ perspective, they still seem to be avoiding an apology. However, a visible change is taking place.

Bungie now more humble

April 2018 – you can feel the change: If you followed the Destiny stream for the new DLC Warmind, Bungie seems significantly more humble than before. Instead of three elongated streams for the new DLC, there was only one stream – but it was packed with information.

They now refrain from superlatives. In November, Community Manager DeeJ had ridiculed himself in front of the Destiny veterans by promising outrageous rewards – the best of all time. What came was probably recorded in the history books. Instead of a chest, there were actually two chests containing “two tokens and a blue”. This became the hashtag on Twitter. The stream at that time marked the low point for Destiny.

Today, they keep it low-key. They emphasize repeatedly: “We listened to player feedback.”

Now they are also seeking proximity to the community, having invited streamers to a summit – much like the struggling games The Division and The Elder Scrolls Online did.

So it appears that a change is indeed taking place at Bungie. However, it is unlikely that there will be an apology.

“No one is to blame”

Who is supposed to apologize? When it comes to the background of Destiny 2’s development, the conclusion is drawn that apparently no one feels guilty for what they have presented to the players:

When a fan spoke with Bungie employees, he reported that many of the developers were also dissatisfied with the game, but repeatedly the justification heard was “There was too little time, we just weren’t able to finish.”

The head of the game, Luke Smith, whom fans would like to see crawling to Canossa, was probably only appointed to his position late after a reboot. Smith could no longer enforce his visions. Furthermore, Smith has again withdrawn from the public eye as scheduled – but not out of cowardice. He did the same after The Taken King when fans still loved him.

Why is there no apology? When looking for culprits, at Bungie, one finds no one except two empty exec chairs. There are two departures of key figures that became known:

One is the head of the studio, Harold Ryan, who stepped down in early 2016
Also, the story chief CJ Cowan left in April 2016. He presumably held the position before Smith in Destiny 2’s leadership.

There are no insights into why the two left Bungie. No statements are expected from them either.

Bungie’s studio discipline is well-known: Very little gets out. The last “leaks” regarding studio internals are years old.

If one seeks the actual guilty party, they will probably end up with the exaggerated schedule for the Destiny franchise that Activision and Bungie established in 2010: Every odd year two DLCs and a major expansion. Every even year two DLCs and a new game. And this continuously over a period of 10 years.

If Bungie wants to cite this master plan as an excuse, the fingers will likely inevitably point to their own executives and the bosses at Activision.

Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be an apology in the future, but hopefully a change.

Destiny 2 and Activision’s megalomaniac master plan

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FIFA 19: The Fans’ Wishes – but how realistic are they?

Philipp Junge 28. April 2018 Reading time 8 minutes

FIFA 18 is approaching its final stages, and thus the speculation for FIFA 19 begins. But how likely is it that EA fulfills the fans’ wishes?

Every FIFA year, the community loses interest in the current installment of the series at the latest after the “Team of the Season”. The next FIFA installment comes into focus!

As no FIFA game is perfect, every year requests for changes and innovations arise. What does the community want most for FIFA 19 and how likely is the implementation of these wishes? We provide an overview.

1) Licenses: The Champions League and new leagues

Current situation: Devoted PES fans must now brace themselves, as Konami and UEFA are parting ways for the next season. “Pro Evolution Soccer” is losing the license for the Champions League.

For FIFA fans, this can only mean good news. If EA has the chance to snag the rights for the premier league from their competitor, one can assume they will try to do so.

According to the financial report from February, EA is already on the search for new licenses. Regardless of whether they snatch the Champions League, there will definitely be new leagues again.

This is what fans want: The leagues from the east are the most in demand. This is also confirmed by the fan survey on fifplay.com.

Leading the pack are the UAE League (Arab League) and the Chinese Super League, followed by the Turkish TFF 1. Lig (Second Turkish League). The Champions League would of course be the absolute highlight.

Our assessment: We will definitely see new leagues. It can be strongly assumed that EA will secure the Champions League for FIFA 19. Career fans can therefore rejoice!

Update:

More on the topic

FIFA 19: All leagues and teams in the overview – with team strengths

von Tom Rothstein

2) Dynamic Weather

The current situation: Currently, there are no weather changes during the game in FIFA. If it rains at the beginning of the match, it will rain continuously.

For some time now, there have been rumors that dynamic weather might be featured in FIFA 19 with the Frostbite engine. This means: One moment the sun is shining, the next it’s pouring rain, and players are slipping.

This is what fans want: While this is a cool change for more realism in career mode, it can lead to frustration and broken controllers in FUT. The community is therefore divided on this request.

Our assessment: The arrival of dynamic weather is not so unlikely. There are relatively many sites that regularly speculate about a supposedly developing weather system.

3) FUT: The “Pack Fillers”: Fitness and Contracts

The problem: For years, EA has insisted on fitness cards and player contracts in Ultimate Team. This has long been outdated and is usually more annoying than challenging.

Player contracts and fitness cards are pure “pack fillers”. The game mode would function just as well without fitness and expired contracts. FUT players are anyway showered with contracts, and fitness unnecessarily consumes coins. So for players on a tight budget, the use of a “fitness team” remains the only option.

This is what fans want: To abolish the pack fillers! Instead, more players should be included in sets, or the drop rate for expensive consumable items like Hunter or Shadow chemistry styles should be increased.

fifa-18-packfiller — **This is what a large portion of FUT Clubs looks like due to the pack flood.**

Our assessment: Even if hardly any player would miss the two consumable items, for EA, they are a cheap way to fill their packs with relatively worthless cards and remove coins from the game. Therefore, it is rather unlikely that player fitness and contracts will disappear in FIFA 19.

More on the topic

FIFA 19 – The Journey 3: The Previous Story of Alex Hunter at a Glance

von Tom Rothstein

4) FUT: The Chemistry System

The problem: Even though player cards are fortunately no longer tied to formations, player and team chemistry still exist and cause discontent among many fans. Chemistry is supposed to ensure that players cannot build a completely mixed team and pay attention to the correct positions of the players. However, there are some errors in the system:

For example, one can easily convert an Edin Dzeko (ST) to a CDM with position cards and play him at full chemistry. Meanwhile, the gold card of Marko Reus (LM) hardly gets any chemistry if one wants to integrate him as a CAM in their team, even though he often fills this position at Dortmund.

This is what fans want: Many FUT players currently trick the system: They convert player positions and start with a formation that allows them to get all players on full chemistry. Just before kick-off, they then go into the pause menu and change the formation. This way, they play with their favorite formation and players without suffering chemistry losses.

fifa-18-chemie-team — **Rui Costa as a CDM, Leon Goretzka as a striker – wrong positions are often seen before the start of the match.**

It would be easier, however, to revise the system so that such trickery is no longer necessary. Let’s actually build our own ultimate team in the “Ultimate Team” mode!

Our assessment: A change to the chemistry system is a significant step and requires much consideration. Moreover, many players enjoy tinkering with formations and finding the optimal chemistry. We do not believe that EA will change the existing system significantly in FIFA 19.

5) We want statistics!

The problem: Both FUT and the career mode are affected: There are almost no statistics available.

In FUT, one only sees the goals, assists, and cards of their player cards. In manager mode, there may be more statistics, but everything resets to zero across seasons.

This is what fans want: Football is a sport where statistics play a significant role. How many minutes does Salah need for a goal involvement? When did Lionel Messi score his 500th goal?

In Ultimate Team, fans want much more data about their player cards: pass success rate, goals per body part, minutes played, duels won: This and more would provide the owner insight into their players’ strengths.

In career mode, fans additionally wish for more statistics, especially cross-season data. After all, one wants to see what a youth player, whom they raised at 16, has achieved by the end of their career.

Our assessment: It doesn’t sound particularly complex to store and make accessible the data that EA collects during the games for a long time. However, there has been hardly any change to the statistics in recent years. We see this change as unlikely in FIFA 19.

6) More focus on career and Pro Clubs!

The problem: EA’s focus is now only on Ultimate Team. Of course, this mode is a cash cow and is the most popular among players. But new features for the career mode and “Pro Clubs” are no longer coming, and if they do, they are only cosmetic or do not change much about the dynamics of the mode.

This is what fans want: Comprehensive innovations in career and Pro Clubs, as seen in FUT! Especially in the still widely played career mode, there is tremendous potential. Many players wish for an online or at least a co-op career mode. Youth leagues or smarter AI concerning transfers are also highly sought after.

Our assessment: Although there are still many loyal fans of the “classic” FIFA modes, Ultimate Team makes EA the most money through microtransactions by far. We do not believe that we will see major innovations – at most, small features like the negotiation sequences from last year.

More on the topic

FIFA 19: Pro Clubs – Diese 7 Neuerungen braucht der Modus, den Fans so lieben!

von Tom Rothstein

7) Indoor mode and FIFA Street

Current situation: While the last FIFA Street installment was released in 2012, the indoor mode was only present in FIFA 97 and 98. Since then, there has been no way for soccer fans to play fast-paced football with an arcade focus.

This is what fans want: Every year the indoor game or a street mode tops the wish list of FIFA fans. But why is that?

In the faster modes, which are played in smaller teams and have walls, different things come into play. Less build-up play and more dribbling, tricks, and quick passes are required. For FIFA veterans, this is a welcome change to the gameplay, which can become monotonous over time.

Our assessment: After “The Journey” two years ago, it’s time for another innovation – why not an indoor or street mode in FIFA 19? EA was already asked about this last year. The response to Dream Team was: Yes, we are aware that many want this, but it is not an easy undertaking. However, we are considering reintegrating such a mode in the future.

More on the topic

Is FIFA 19 really Battle Royale? Here is the truth behind the rumors

von Tom Rothstein

8) The Gameplay

The problem: The gameplay in FIFA 18 is not bad, especially in comparison to earlier installments. There have always been mechanics that were overpowered: High through passes (FIFA 13), crosses (FIFA 14), or the L2-R2 dribbling (FIFA 17).

Nevertheless, fans are criticizing many aspects this year as well. Pace is (as always) too important, tight formations are too strong, the driven shot is too precise, the list goes on.

This is what fans want: Many players found the first version of FIFA 18 the best; afterwards, the patches just made everything worse. Back then, defending was significantly more challenging because passive closing down with a second player was less effective.

Many fans would likely be satisfied if the game mechanics were balanced, and the gameplay overall felt less “scripted”. Who doesn’t know the situations where no pass reaches its target, and one concedes the equalizer in injury time due to a deflection. The belief in momentum in the FIFA series persists.

Our assessment: EA needs to take action for FIFA 19. Too many eSports players have expressed their dissatisfaction with the gameplay, stating it is too sluggish and uncontrollable. We believe that we will see some changes in gameplay. Whether they will be effective remains to be seen.

More on the topic

We played FIFA 19 – This is our first impression!

von Tom Rothstein

9) FUT: Different System in the Weekend League

The problem: The Weekend League is a good concept, but the implementation could be significantly better. 40 games (25 on PC) in one weekend take a lot of time and even more nerves. Added to that are opaque matchmaking and plenty of server issues.

This is what fans want: A very important wish is to not limit the Weekend League to weekends. Additionally, there should not be a fixed number of games so that game strength, not just stamina in front of the console, is rewarded.

A ladder system similar to League of Legends could be conceivable. The FIFA-ESL qualification works this way as well. If one wins against a well-ranked player, they earn more points than with a win against a weaker player.

Our assessment: An overhaul of the Weekend League is quite possible in its third year. Probably not directly with a different system, but there could be a reduction in the number of games or an extension of the timeframe. The latter would also relieve the servers on weekends.

What do you wish for the most?

Every player has different wishes; some want licenses, atmosphere and realism, others want more and especially more thought-out game modes.

Which of the mentioned innovations do you wish for the most? If we forgot anything, let us know in the comments!

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

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Fortnite: Season 4 – Leak promises superheroes, constant map changes

Schuhmann 28. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

In Fortnite, a player has predicted the superhero theme for Season 4. They are now speaking out with a leak, explaining how the map of Fortnite: Battle Royale is supposed to change: Allegedly, something will happen on the map every week.

Leaks and speculations about Fortnite frequently appear on the internet platform Reddit. Often, they are fan concepts or simply speculations about what Epic should change, which users add credibility to by saying: This is really true.

On April 23, there was once again such a post. The user internetadam made some statements claiming that Season 4 had the theme “Superheroes.”

Many thought that was nonsense at the time. Players speculated for a long time that aliens or dinosaurs were the theme of Season 4.

But by now, Epic itself has brought up the theme “Superheroes” for Season 4 in Fortnite. The leak from April 23 has become significantly more interesting because of this.

Fortnite Leak: Meteor hits Dusty Depot, the map changes every week

Now, the user with suddenly increased credibility speaks out again and predicts the following things for Season 4 in Fortnite:

The Meteor will hit Dusty Depot – and not Tilted Towers. Epic believes this area of the map has needed an update for a long time.
The map of Fortnite: Battle Royale will constantly change. Epic will update it every week of Season 4. Epic thinks it would be a waste to blow up Tilted Towers all at once. They would rather demolish it step by step – with bulldozers one week and cranes the next. Building by building, Tilted Towers will be torn down.
By the end of Season 4, Mosty Moire will be gone.
The theme of the Battle Pass for Season 4 in Fortnite is Superheroes. There will be at least 2 superhero and 2 supervillain skins. They will neither come from Marvel nor DC. Epic will simply use their own characters.

Even though the user was right about superheroes 5 days ago, these are still unconfirmed rumors that may not be true. The user does not indicate where he got this information from.

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The Division: Dealer Reset on April 28 – The Best Offers

Tarek Zehrer 28. April 2018 Reading time 3 minutes

In The Division today, on April 28th, is the big vendor reset. These items are particularly worthwhile.

With some delta issues in The Division, on April 23rd, the 5th global event “Blackout” started. The event has since been extended and runs now until May 7th. Blackout allows you to knock out your enemies in the style of Thor: You attack your enemies with shocking ammunition.

During your excursions through Manhattan, you can take a look at the vendors’ offers, which change every week overnight from Friday to Saturday. These are our recommendations for the vendor reset on April 28th in The Division.

Recommended Weapons since April 28th

Special Equipment Vendor: Liberator with Capable, Destructive, and Receptive. Has a high Gear Score (276) and good talents. Depending on your needs, you should replace Capable with Destructive for PvE or Vengeful for PvP.
Special Equipment Vendor: Pakhan with Gifted and Destructive. Strong weapon in PvE and has a high Gear Score of 280. Replace Gifted with talents like Precision and Destructive.
Camp Clinton: Liberator with Talented, Receptive, and Vengeful. Again a Liberator, with a high GS of 283. It also comes with strong talents that are particularly useful for PvP action. You could replace Talented with more Aggressive talents like Deadly or Malevolent.
Camp Clinton: MP5 N – Navy version with Deadly, Brutal, and Malevolent. Strong submachine gun with good talents. Malevolent in the third talent slot is very valuable, thus it is particularly recommended for PvE activities. Instead of Brutal, you should focus on talents like Receptive or Destructive. It comes with a GS of 280, rounding it off nicely.
Wolves Den: M4 – Light version with Gifted, Prepared, and Destructive. The M4 is already a strong weapon by itself, and these talents are suitable for PvP builds focusing on critical hits. The Predator benefits particularly from the Prepared/Destructive combination. Gifted should give way to talents like Receptive or Deadly. With the high GS of 281, you save a lot of Div-Tech.

The Mods after the Vendor Reset

Vendors in the Dark Zone:

E 61st St: Large Suppressor with Crit Damage (18%), Precision, Crit Chance (2.5%), and reduced threat
E 40th St: Weapon Mod (256) with exotic damage mitigation
E 31st St: Stamina Mod (257) with exotic damage mitigation
W 31 St: Electronics Mod (258) with Skill Haste
W 31 St: Handstop-Olive Green with Reload Speed (29%), Optimal Range, and Crit Damage (4%)
W 39th St: Stamina Mod (260) with Skill Power (3310)

Vendors in the PvE Zone:

Special Equipment Vendor: Ti-RANT Suppressor with Crit Chance (7.5%), Crit Damage (4%), Headshot Damage (5%), and reduced threat
Equipment Vendor, Terminal: Performance Mod with Seeker Mine Damage
Equipment Vendor, Terminal: Purple Electronics Mod (202) with Damage to Elites (4%)
Camp Clinton: Stamina Mod (257) with Crit Chance
Autumn’s Hope: Weapon Mod (267) with Skill Haste
Dante’s Run: Purple Stamina Mod (197) with Damage to Elites (3%)
The Firewall: Purple Weapon Mod (184) with Damage to Elites (3%)

The Offer of the Special Blueprint Vendors

The vendor at the terminal brings blueprints of these items:

MP7 – Submachine Gun
Model 700 – Sniper Rifle
Weapon Knee Pads
552-Holo Sight – with Crit Chance
Ti-RANT Suppressor – with reduced threat and Crit Chance
Performance Equipment Mod

The blueprints in Camp Clinton:

Super 90 – Shotgun
Electronics Knee Pads
Electronics Vest
Enhanced Magazine
Heavy Magazine Spring – with Fire Rate
Performance Equipment Mod

Unfortunately, once again no G36 blueprint included.

You can find an overview of the complete offerings here at Rubenalamina.

Is there anything for you? Do you have any further recommendations?

The Division: Casual players want more loot, pros want less

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Sogar das Anime-MMO MapleStory 2 macht einen auf Battle-Royale

Andreas Bertits 28. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

Now PUBG and Fortnite can pack their bags. Because Nexon is adding a Battle Royale mode to the cute MMORPG MapleStory 2!

The new mode of Maple Story 2 is not called Battle Royale, but it goes by the catchy name “Mush King Championship.” This was announced by the developers during a live stream, where the first gameplay scenes were also shown.

Battle Royale in a cute style

The mode operates essentially just like Battle Royale:

50 players are in a game area
Everyone fights everyone
In the end, the last survivor wins
All of this happens in the fun and colorful anime style of the MMO

Currently, it is unclear whether this game mode will also make it into the version of MapleStory 2 for Europe and North America. Or will the Mush King Championship be introduced first in the Korean version and then made available here later with an update? The publisher still needs to comment on this.

Sign up for the Beta

If you are interested in MapleStory, you can register on the official website for the Closed Beta, which starts on May 9. First invitations have already been sent out. With a bit of luck, you can then play right at the beginning of the testing phase and see for yourself how the anime MMO plays.

After nearly three years, MapleStory 2 is now also finding its way to us.

https://youtu.be/l8yibjwxYiU

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

Source(s):

MassivelyOP

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FIFA 18 Team of the Season: Fan voting determines Bundesliga TOTS

Philipp Junge 27. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

In FIFA 18 Ultimate Team, the “Team of the Season” for the Bundesliga is determined by fan voting. Who is nominated for the BL-TOTS and how you can vote is explained here.

Update, May 18: The Bundesliga-TOTS is here!

Original article:

With the start of the “Team of the Season” event in FUT, EA brought a bunch of new features and information.

We now know more about the Bundesliga-TDS; the “Team of the Season” for the German 1. League will be determined by a community vote.

How to vote for the Bundesliga-TOTS

If you want to vote for the BL-TDS, you can do so on the official TOTS page of the Bundesliga.

You have the choice of three players for all 11 positions. This includes one goalkeeper, one right-back, two center-backs, one right midfielder, one left midfielder, two central midfielders, and two strikers.

The voting is now open and ends on Sunday, May 13.

The shortlist for the voting for the Bundesliga-TOTS

The following 33 players have been nominated for the “Team of the Season” of the Bundesliga; from this list, you can select your 11 favorites.

Goalkeepers:

Jiri Pavlenka
Lukas Hradecky
Philipp Tschauner

Full-backs:

Philipp Max
Wendell
Marvin Plattenhardt
Joshua Kimmich
Lukasz Piszczek
Benjamin Henrichs

Center-backs:

Naldo
Dayot Upamecano
Benjamin Pavard
Mats Hummels
Carlos Salcedo
Jerome Boateng

Wingers:

Leon Bailey
Thorgan Hazard
Marco Reus
Daniel Caligiuri
Thomas Müller
Christian Pulisic

Central midfielders:

Naby Keita
Leon Goretzka
Shinji Kagawa
Kevin-Prince Boateng
James Rodriguez
Michael Gregoritsch

Strikers:

Robert Lewandowski
Timo Werner
Alfred Finnbogason
Michy Batshuayi
Nils Petersen
Sebastian Haller

What is the “Team of the Season” exactly?

The “Team of the Season” (TDS) – better known as the “Team of the Season” (TOTS) – is for most FIFA gamers the biggest event in Ultimate Team. Many players receive a highly upgraded, blue special card during this time.

Over 200 player cards are likely to receive a TOTS version in FUT 18. The reason is that many teams are released, each containing 23 players – while in the “Team of the Year” (TOTY), there is only one 11-man selection.

The ratings of the players usually increase by 5 to 9 points – for the top stars of the major leagues, it can lead to ratings in the high 90s. The basis for the selection is performance during the 2017/2018 season – while for the TOTY, the entire calendar year 2017 was taken into account for evaluation.

Otherwise, the TOTS cards behave like informs: If you don’t want to wait until you draw a card from packs, you can purchase them on the transfer market. The normal gold versions of the players are not available for drawing during this time.

Everything about the Team of the Season can be found in our large TOTS overview.

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

Source(s):

Bundesliga

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Overwatch: Ranked Season 9 ending, Season 10 start approaching

Benedict Grothaus 27. April 2018 Reading time 3 minutes

Season 9 of the competitive games of Overwatch is ending, and Season 10 already has a start date. If you haven’t dared to try Overwatch in this season, now is the last chance for the rewards of Season 9.

In just a few hours, Season 9 of the ranked matches in Overwatch will come to an end. Season 10 is already on the starting blocks. You can expect many changes in the ranked matches in the upcoming season that could shake up the meta significantly.

Even if you usually have no interest in competitive play, it’s worth playing at least the placement matches of the current season. In the end, there are rewards waiting for you, some of which you will never be able to obtain again later.

End and Rewards of Season 9

Season 9 of Overwatch ends at exactly 2:00 AM on Saturday, April 28. So you only have a few hours left to play the 10 placement matches. Even if the thrill of the rankings doesn’t excite you, they are worth it for the rewards.

You will receive an exclusive spray and a player icon just for the placement. The sprays and icons traditionally show the season in which they were acquired and cannot be obtained afterwards.

If you reach a spot in the top 500 of your region and platform, you will also receive an animated version of the spray and another player icon.

The current Overwatch PTR patch with changes for Hanzo, Genji, Tracer, and Junkrat

Overwatch Season 9 Spray — You can already view the spray and player icons in the game.

Additionally, you will receive ranked points depending on your ranked game level (Skill Rating, SR). With every 3000 of these points, you can purchase golden versions of weapons for a character. How many points you will receive can be found in the following list.

SR 1-1499 (Bronze): 65 ranked points
SR 1500-1999 (Silver): 125 ranked points
SR 2000-2499 (Gold): 250 ranked points
SR 2500-2999 (Platinum): 500 ranked points
SR 3000-3499 (Diamond): 750 ranked points
SR 3500-3999 (Master): 1200 ranked points
SR 4000-5000 (Grandmaster): 1750 ranked points

Start and Changes of Season 10

Season 10 of Overwatch will start only 3 days after the end of Season 9, on Tuesday, May 1 at 2:00 AM Central European Summer Time. With Season 10, some changes will enter the competitive game of Overwatch, which could even affect the meta.

The most important change happens right at the beginning: Brigitte will be playable in ranked matches. The tank/support hybrid Swede could create some movement in the meta according to the professional players of the Overwatch League.

Overwatch Brigitte Highlight Intro Beschützerin

Furthermore, adjustments to Hanzo, Symmetra, Torbjörn and other heroes are currently being made, which are likely to take effect during the course of the season. Whether the dive meta will then be completely gone will be revealed starting May 1.

Torbjörn is also getting a rework

For more information about Overwatch, you can find in our Overwatch group on Facebook!

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FIFA 18: Team of the Season starts with the Community and EFL TOTS

Philipp Junge 27. April 2018 Reading time 3 minutes

In FIFA 18, the first TOTS are known. The “Team of the Season” event starts with the Community and EFL TDS.

On Friday, April 27 at 7 PM, the “Team of the Season” phase begins and will last until June 4. During this time, many players will receive significantly upgraded TDS cards.

The first two TOTS are the fan-voted Community (or Most Consistent) TOTS and the second English league (EFL). From now on, you can draw the 46 blue special cards from packs for one week.

FUT 18 Team of the Season: Community TOTS

The “Community Team of the Season” was voted by the fans themselves. This is the 23-player selection that won the voting.

Additionally, you have the chance to win the 24th player – Jose Callejon (RF, 89, SSC Napoli) – starting Monday in the Daily Knockout Tournament.

Starting XI:

GK: Jan Oblak 93 – Atlético Madrid
CB: Giorgio Chiellini 94 – Juventus
CB: Niklas Süle 91 – FC Bayern
CB: Piqué 93 – FC Barcelona
CM: Marek Hamšík 93 – Napoli
CDM: Fabinho 91 – AS Monaco
CM: Adrien Rabiot 90 – Paris Saint-Germain
LM: Thomas Lemar 91 – AS Monaco
CDM: Javi Martinez 92 – FC Bayern
ST: Jamie Vardy 89 – Leicester City
CF: Sebastian Giovinco 90 – Toronto FC

Substitutes:

GK: Alisson 88 – AS Roma
LB: Andrew Robertson 87 – Liverpool
LB: Gayà 88 – Valencia CF
CDM: Sergio Busquets 92 – FC Barcelona
CDM: Abdoulaye Doucouré 87 – Watford
RW: Malcom 89 – FC Girondins de Bordeaux
CF: Alejandro Gómez 91 – Atalanta

Reserves:

GK: Thibaut Courtois 94 – Chelsea
CDM: Lars Bender 89 – Bayer 04 Leverkusen
CM: Marco van Ginkel 87 – PSV
CDM: Fernando 87 – Spartak Moscow
CM: Kevin-Prince Boateng 87 – Eintracht Frankfurt

FUT 18 Team of the Season: EFL TOTS

These 23 players showed the best performances in the second English league, the Football League (EFL), over the 2017/2018 season:

Starting XI:

Lee Burge, GK, Coventry City
Souleymane Bamba, CB, Cardiff City
Barry Douglas, LWB, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Charlie Mulgrew, CB, Blackburn Rovers
Rúben Neves, CDM, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Tom Cairney, CM, Fulham
James Maddison, CAM, Norwich City
Bradley Dack, CAM, Blackburn Rovers
Ryan Sessegon, LW, Fulham
Billy Kee, ST, Accrington Stanley
Jack Marriott, ST, Peterborough United

Substitutes:

Dean Henderson, GK, Shrewsbury Town
Alan Sheehan, CB, Luton Town
Robert Snodgrass, RM, Aston Villa
Matēj Vydra, CAM, Derby County
Nick Powell, CAM, Wigan Athletic
Diogo Jota, LW, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Brett Pitman, ST, Portsmouth

Reserves:

Joe Bryan, LB, Bristol City
Graham Carey, LM, Plymouth Argyle
Bobby Reid, ST, Bristol City
Adebayo Akinfenwa, ST, Wycombe Wanderers
Mohamed Lisa, ST, Cheltenham Town

Daily Knockout Player:

Junior Hoilett, LW, Cardiff City

He will only be available through the Daily Knockout Tournament (DKT) on May 2 and 3.

What is the “Team of the Season” exactly?

The “Team of the Season” (TDS) – better known as the “Team of the Season” (TOTS) – is the biggest event in Ultimate Team for most FIFA gamers. During this time, many players receive a significantly improved blue special card.

Over 200 player cards will likely receive a TOTS version in FUT 18. The reason for this is that many teams are released, all containing 23 players – in contrast to the “Team of the Year” (TOTY), which consists of just one 11-man selection.

The ratings of the players usually increase by 5 to 9 points – for the top stars of the big leagues, ratings in the high 90s can be expected. The basis for selection is the performance in the 2017/2018 season – whereas for the TOTY, the entire calendar year 2017 was considered for assessment.

Otherwise, TOTS cards behave like informs: If you don’t want to wait until you draw a card from packs, you can purchase them on the transfer market. The normal gold versions of the players are not available for drawing during this time.

You can learn these tricks from the pros of the “FIFA 18 virtual Bundesliga”.

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Luxury AH in Black Desert – How the imperial auction house works

Lucas Kaczynski 27. April 2018 Reading time 3 minutes

In Black Desert, the imperial auction house opens. Here, ultra-wealthy players compete against each other for exclusive items: We explain how to use the luxury auction house and what items are available there.

Who is the imperial auction house intended for? The imperial auction house offers players the opportunity to invest their hard-earned silver in extravagant items.

Wealthy players in Black Desert have a lot of silver and can now compete with other wealthy players to see who has accumulated more silver by bidding on extremely valuable items. The imperial auction house is open.

Somewhere the silver has to go

Why does the luxury auction house exist? Online games have a significant problem with inflation. Players receive in-game currency from various sources, which is essentially generated out of thin air. The circulating currency increases, and its value decreases.

That’s why players can acquire items from NPCs, thus removing the in-game currency from circulation. These items are usually very expensive and serve to stabilize the in-game currency. This process, by which the in-game currency is taken out of the game, is called a “Gold Sink.”

The Richest Wins – How to Access the Imperial Auction House in Black Desert

How does bidding work? In Black Desert, you can meet 6 managers of the imperial auction house. They are spread all over the world of Black Desert Online and give you the opportunity to bid against other players. There is always only one item available at the imperial auction house.

Location	Manager of the Imperial Auction House
Velia	Garcia
Heidel	Charlotte Penwood
Calpheon	Leopold Rousseau
Altinova	Den Shamyr
Valencia City	Ahina
Grána	Ernia

As soon as an auction begins, all players are shown a system message that kindly informs them that the managers of the imperial auction house are accepting bids. Players can always view the current highest bid during the auction and outbid it. However, it does not display who the highest bidder is. Auctions are cross-server, and all players bid on the same item.

The auctions always last for 10 days. If the current highest bid is outbid before the end of the auction, the auction is extended by one minute. If the highest bid is outbid again, the auction is extended once more by one minute. This continues until a highest bid is not outbid for one minute.

If a player is the highest bidder at the end of the auction, they receive their item by collecting it from “My Bids List.” All other bidders will receive their silver back under “My Bids List.” Players can also withdraw their bid during the auction as long as they are not the highest bidder.

And one more thing: The imperial auction house is accessible from all servers, and players can bid with all managers of the imperial auction house. So if 40 players aren’t crowding around the manager of the imperial auction house, that doesn’t mean players aren’t doing so on another server.

Exotic Items That No One Else Has

What kind of items end up in the Imperial Auction House? In the Korean version of Black Desert Online, the auction house has been available since August. Some items have already gone under the hammer there. Among them:

A combat/skill EXP ticket, allowing you to exchange the experience points of two characters. This way, you can turn your twink into your main. The starting bid was 2 billion silver.
A particularly rare mount, which was auctioned for 21 billion silver in Korea. The black Pegasus.
A lifeskill EXP ticket, allowing you to re-skill your gathering abilities.

We have covered the luxury auction house in Korea in this article: Luxury at its finest – The auction house of the ultra-wealthy in Black Desert

Players are bidding on useful items that provide fortunate buyers with certain advantages, but do not disrupt the game balance.

Black Desert says: We have become boring, we need to change that

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Destiny 2: Xur today – location and offer on 27.04.

Sven Galitzki 27. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

As every Friday in Destiny 2, Xur is here again today. Where is the Agent of the Nine and what items does he have on offer? Here are the location and inventory on April 27.

This week was all about the upcoming Warmind expansion, which will be released on May 8, 2018, for Destiny 2. During a reveal stream and the weekly This Week at Bungie blog, the studio introduced the second DLC and shared a lot of new details about it.

We have summarized all the important information in a comprehensive overview for you: These new contents and features are brought by the Warmind DLC.

Right at the beginning of next week, PvP fans can enjoy 6v6 in the crucible once again. This new old format was received so well by the Guardians that Bungie quickly adjusted the rotation of the weekly PvP playlist and is bringing back the 6v6 Iron Banner on May 1 before Season 2 ends and the new expansion comes out.

This gives Guardians an unexpected last chance to complete their hunt for the Season 2 Iron Banner ornaments or to snag a missing Iron Banner weapon.

But today, on April 27, the mysterious Agent of the Nine returns to the Destiny universe. Let’s welcome Xur together.

All info about Xur in Destiny 2 on April 27 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC

When does Xur come?

Xur visits us every Friday at 7 PM. He chooses a quiet place on a planet or moon of his choice, from where he can deliver his goods to the Guardians undisturbed. You have until the next Weekly Reset on Tuesday to browse his inventory – then he disappears without a trace again.

Where is Xur? You can find him at this location today

Xur has specific locations where he likes to settle down for the weekend. This time he sets up his shop in the EDZ on Earth .

Offer and inventory of Xur

Weapon: Telesto – Fusion rifle for 29 Legendary Shards
Hunter: Ahamkara’s Spine – Gauntlets for 23 Legendary Shards
Titan: Mask of the Quiet One – Helmet for 23 Legendary Shards
Warlock: Wings of Sacred Dawn – Chest piece for 23 Legendary Shards
Fate Engram: 97 Legendary Shards
Three of Coins: 31 Legendary Shards

Trials of the Nine on April 27

The weekly PvP event Trials of the Nine starts on Friday evening at 7 PM. The Trials end with the Weekly Reset the following Tuesday evening at 7 PM.

Map: The Last Exit
Mode: Survival

Do you enjoy playing PvP? Then this might be interesting for you:

This pulse rifle will be the new grand prize in PvP

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Xbox One: Sales are up since refocusing on gaming

Micha Deckert 27. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

Microsoft has announced the financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2018. A bright spot: the Xbox One. Gaming revenue is said to have increased by 18 percent. This is primarily due to strong Xbox software and the Xbox service. Therefore, particular attention should be paid to Xbox Live and other services.

As Microsoft announced in the financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2018, gaming revenue increased by 18 percent in the third business quarter. This is attributed to a growth in Xbox software and Xbox services, which grew by 24 percent. Here, the company particularly points to the strong performance of third-party games.

The monthly active users of Xbox Live increased by 13 percent year-over-year to 59 million players, while the number remained essentially unchanged compared to the last quarter.

Xbox One the console with the “highest engagement”

Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella stated at the presentation of the financial results that Microsoft has a strategy for the gaming segment that aims to clarify growth opportunities and investments across various business areas.

It plays to the company’s advantage that the Xbox One is the “console with the highest engagement on the market.” With Xbox Live, Game Pass, and Mixer, the company has additional opportunities to benefit gamers while playing or watching games.

You can find the Games with Gold for May here

Departure from the original strategy?

It sounds as if Microsoft has completely abandoned the original plan for the console.

The Xbox One was initially planned as an entertainment device. The console was supposed to shine mainly with its multimedia capabilities and social components. Gaming was almost pushed to the background.

However, after significant criticism and poor reviews, a rethinking took place, such as the plans for the used game lock, possible user monitoring via Kinect, and a proposed online requirement within a 24-hour interval. Especially the jabs from competitors likely bothered Microsoft at that time.

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6 failed MMOs and MMORPGs – Something went wrong with these games

Patrick Freese 27. April 2018 Reading time 10 minutes

Too few players, canceled projects, and questionable MMO releases. The world of MMORPGs can be sad and depressing. In addition to success stories, there are always failures. We will take a look at them today.

The development of each MMO tells its own story over the course of its “life.” Many of them unfold positively, the games evolve, and gamers are satisfied. Leading the pack is Ultima Online, which launched in 1997 and paved the way for an entire genre. Other MMOs were at least for a time the most popular games on the planet. This includes World of Warcraft, which at one point was THE game.

Then we have our selection of these six titles, whose stories range from “Oh my God, how could this happen?” to “This was bound to happen.”

Tabula Rasa, a developer flies into space

The story of Tabula Rasa is one that can literally be called “spaced out.” The game had all the ingredients to become successful: a publisher with plenty of money, a developer with an impressive portfolio, and an original idea. Loyal fans were also on board. So how could it all go wrong, and why did the developer fly into space?

By around 2000, developer Richard Garriott already knew that MMOs had a firm place in the future of gaming. With a good idea and lots of capital, one paves the way for a potential video game hit. Garriott gained experience as the developer of Ultima Online, the great MMO pioneer.

After Garriott sold his company Origin Systems to EA, where hardly anyone believed in MMOs, it was time for him to move on. He founded a new company and took on the highly successful publisher NCSoft. They had already launched an incredibly successful MMORPG in South Korea with Lineage. NCSoft was pleased to work with Garriott to penetrate the US market even further. Together, they worked on the MMO Tabula Rasa.

No one could have guessed that a story would unfold that would stretch out like chewing gum for seven years.

Tabula Rasa was a sci-fi MMO with a futuristic setting on two planets. The good (Allied Free Sentients) fought against the evil (Bane). At first glance, an interesting concept. The lore was deep, there were dynamic missions, intricate skill trees, clan wars, and a challenging PvP system. The developers tried to incorporate all of that into a single game, and that took time – a lot of time.

When World of Warcraft was released in 2004, WoW and MMORPGs were on everyone’s lips. Almost everyone was talking about the MMO from Blizzard, and nearly everyone was playing it. This gave the team still working on Tabula Rasa a new focus. Finally, ideas had to be implemented.

The release of Tabula Rasa didn’t happen until November 2007. Late for the community, which was already served by other MMORPGs, and far too early for the game. Because in fact, 2007 Tabula Rasa was, according to the developers, not even ready for beta testing.

As a result, the developers worked hard in the coming weeks to implement the promised features into the game. In 2008, when many MMOs crashed, Tabula Rasa truly appeared to be a good, original MMO, but by then it was already too late.

On November 21, 2008, NCSoft announced that Tabula Rasa would be shut down on February 28, 2009: The reason? Too few players. After seven years, NCSoft had enough of the game and ended the conflict between good and evil with a massive in-game battle. But that’s still not quite the end of the story.

The enthusiasm for space and an open letter

While working on Tabula Rasa, Richard Garriott developed a passion for space. It went so far that he bought the first space tourist ticket. Personal problems led him to sell the ticket in 2001. It wasn’t until 2008 – Then Garriott himself flew to the International Space Station as the sixth space tourist.

When he was back on Earth after his space visit, everything became strange. An open letter, purportedly from Garriott, informed the community on Tabula Rasa’s homepage that he had left the company because his space visit inspired him to “pursue other interests.” However, Garriott denied being the author of the post.

Shortly after, NCSoft announced that Tabula Rasa was being terminated.

Garriott then sued NCSoft for $24 million. Allegedly, NCSoft used the announcement of his departure to force him to sell his NCSoft shares at a great loss. The court awarded Garriott $28 million, and NCSoft agreed – case closed.

Perhaps NCSoft was simply quite annoyed by the fact that he used his money from Tabula Rasa to fly into space. But the irony of the situation is striking: Garriott earned enough money to fly into space, then actually flew into space and finally even got back about the money from NCSoft that he invested in the ticket.

On the next page, we will talk about a mix of MMO and shooter that hung between life and death.

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Fortnite: New teaser for Season 4 shows … Wonder Woman?

Jürgen Horn 27. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

Fortnite (PC, PS4, Xbox One, iOS) will likely have superheroes as the theme for Season 4 of the Battle Pass. A new teaser clearly shows a heroine who looks very similar to Wonder Woman.

What is happening right now? Fans of Fortnite: Battle Royale have long speculated about what the upcoming Season 4 of the Battle Pass will focus on. Season 3 was about space and professional killers, while Cyberpunks, dinosaurs, and aliens were discussed for Season 4.

Recently, Epic sparked new discussions by tweeting an image of a kind of superhero in a teaser. Now more hints about superheroes are emerging.

A superhero theme for Season 4 is more than likely

What just happened? A day after the first superhero teaser, the developers at Epic Games tweeted another image for Season 4. It is essentially the same image that shows the ominous comet. In the comet’s trail, the first masked hero can still be seen. However, now another part of the trail shows a face.

Will DC heroes from the Justice League come as new outfits?

Which heroes might be coming? Unlike the first heroic visage, players this time agree that it must be Wonder Woman. In this case, the other hero could indeed be a version of The Flash, who wore a similar mask in the DC film “Justice League.”

Consequently, one could soon expect more heroes from this superhero team, as there is still enough space on the comet’s trail. Perhaps there will be Fortnite versions of Aquaman, Superman, and Batman. And maybe there will be superhero capes and a lasso as new back bling, as speculated on Twitter and Reddit.

Hopefully as many hero outfits as possible

And hopefully, Epic won’t limit itself to just DC and will also give us Marvel heroes like Spider-Man, Thor, or Black Panther! After all, the brand-new action blockbuster “Avengers: Infinity War” is currently in theaters. And the colorful look of the Marvel heroes fits wonderfully with Fortnite.

Who would your favorite heroes be if Season 4 is indeed dominated by cool superheroes?

The Fortnite world is currently falling apart and likely desperately needs rescuing heroes!
Meteorites are currently striking everywhere in Fortnite!

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Sea of Thieves fans develop rules that you should better adhere to

Patrick Freese 27. April 2018 Reading time 4 minutes

Whoever says “Parley” or raises their cannons to the sky sends clear signals to the pirates in Sea of Thieves. But what are they? The community is developing its own code of conduct for the online pirate adventure. Those who do not adhere to it must face harsh consequences.

In March, the pirate adventure Sea of Thieves launched on PC and Xbox One, and the launch was quite successful. At its core, it’s about many players taking on the role of pirates in a session and going on treasure hunts. Along the way, you will often encounter other pirates, and as is common in a PvP game, they are not always friendly.

To recognize from a distance whether the opposing pirate is friendly towards you, the community has already developed rules. Because in Sea of Thieves, you cannot simply disable PvP and sail invisibly over the sea:

How do you show opponents that you are willing to help each other peacefully?
And how do you negotiate deals with stronger opponents?

Parley! You have the right to talk

Not every encounter has to end with explosive battles at sea. If you notice that an opponent is closing in on you and apparently has bad intentions, you call “Parley!” This is the rule that emerged in the Sea of Thieves community. It is meant to ensure that any pirate who calls Parley is temporarily protected and brought to the captain to negotiate. Until the Parley is concluded, the player may not be attacked.

This proposal was spread at the launch of Sea of Thieves on Reddit and found great resonance. In the first days after the launch, hardly anyone followed this community rule. Now, however, more pirates adhere to this rule, leading to negotiations.

What do the negotiations bring? Instead of immediately sinking the opposing ship, pirates can strike a deal. For example: You give us 6 of your 10 chests, and we let you sail away.

Parley also helps with skeleton fort raids. For a single crew, it is very difficult to defeat the waves of skeletons there, secure the loot, and simultaneously eliminate an opposing crew. If you call Parley and team up with another crew, the game becomes significantly easier. You can negotiate beforehand on how much loot each should receive and then get back to your own game.

New opponents? Parley can help. With the update in May, Sea of Thieves brings the first content update that introduces new PvE threats. It will likely be advantageous for multiple crews to work together.

Cannons in the air or flickering with the light?

The galleons in Sea of Thieves are powerful ships with three sails and eight strong cannons. It makes quite an impression when such a ship approaches on the horizon while you’re sailing in your one-man dinghy. But not every crew on a galleon is hostile. Some are also looking for teammates.

If the cannons are aimed at the sky, that is the white flag. This rule applies in a large part of the community for all ships. Aim your cannons towards the sky and keep them aimed like that while you sail across the sea. Other crews can easily recognize this with a spyglass. In the community, it symbolizes: They do not want to fight. Keep in mind that this white flag can also be exploited by malicious pirates – so it’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

If you encounter crews that follow these rules and your cannons are not aimed at the sky, you immediately appear as “aggressive”. Anyone who does not adhere to the rules can quickly become a victim.

A dark ship wants nothing to do with others. On your ships, there are lamps that you can turn on and off. A ship that has all its lights turned off usually wants nothing to do with other players. If a ship approaches you and turns the lights on and off wildly, the player is usually seeking communication with you.

The authors take the rules seriously – Be warned

Disregarding these rules does not lead to any problems with the developers and does not cause a ban. After all, they come from the community and are not official terms and conditions.

Players who adhere to the rules expect the same from others. So, if your cannons do not point to the sky, it may indicate to some pirates that you are seeking a fight.

If you sail with glowing lamps through the night, you might be wishing for company. And if you call Parley loudly during skeleton raids, you may have the chance to negotiate with another crew instead of finding a new enemy in them right away.

The more players participate in these rules, the easier communication becomes in Sea of Thieves. Why not give it a try and share your experiences with us.

Have you been on an achievement hunt in Sea of Thieves? Hardly anyone has unlocked these achievements so far

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Global cooldown causes frustration in WoW, but Blizzard backtracks

Cortyn 27. April 2018 Reading time 3 minutes

Blizzard is planning further changes to the global cooldown for some abilities in World of Warcraft. We reveal what this means.

The non-word of the month is currently “Global Cooldown” (GCD) on Reddit and various forums related to World of Warcraft. This refers to the 1.0 – 1.5 seconds (depending on the class) during which no further ability can be used after activating one.

In the current version of WoW, many abilities are not affected by the global cooldown. Short-term buffs, movement abilities, crowd control, and more are often cast within a second.

With the upcoming expansion “Battle for Azeroth,” Blizzard wants to make radical changes and reinstate a global cooldown for many abilities. This would mean that after activating each ability, the global cooldown would trigger – that is, 1.5 seconds during which no further ability can be activated. Stacking several effects would therefore be more difficult. These changes can already be tested in the beta, if one has access.

According to the Game Director Ion Hazzikostas, however, this change is not an attempt to make the game “slower.” It is merely about giving individual abilities more significance again. He explained this in the live-stream Q&A yesterday, on April 26, 2018.

World_of_Warcraft_Battle_for_Azeroth_Ion_Hazzikostas

Cooldowns force decisions

World of Warcraft is a rather fast game, but not an arcade game where you need 10 keystrokes per second. Instead, in WoW, it’s more about making the right decision. In intervals, you have to think about what to do with the next 1-2 seconds to achieve the best possible performance.

As an example, Hazzikostas mentioned a combat situation from the perspective of a healing druid standing in a fire area with low health, while the tank is also low on health fighting the boss.

He must now make one of many possible decisions:

Does he cast a defensive spell on himself and run out of the fire?
Does he endure the fire and heal the tank?
Does he cast a weaker instant heal on the tank while running out of the fire?

Without the global cooldown, the decision is easy – because there is none. The druid activates his defensive ability and starts casting a healing spell for the tank in the same second.

A good player is recognized by the fact that he makes the correct decisions within these intervals and acts accordingly.

If that were not the case, then latency would also play a much larger role and determine success or failure.

Cooldowns should have significance

Another example is the chaining of many buffs that are triggered simultaneously. Currently, many players just press one key to activate three or four buffs at the same time. Several buffs at once mean a massive damage boost for a few seconds.

The flip side of the coin is that then all abilities are on cooldown, and you feel much weaker for a while.

By imposing the global cooldown on these abilities, individual buffs gain more significance, and they will probably be used separately. Because: Who deals 20% more damage for 10 seconds is unlikely to use 3-5 seconds of that time to activate additional effects first.

Thus, it will likely become a habit to better manage different cooldowns, and thus achieve better performance over the entire duration of a fight.

A few abilities remain without GCD

However, the developers realize that they have gone a bit overboard. A few abilities will be released from the global cooldown. These include the Heroic Leap from the warrior and Infernal Strike from the demon hunter. These abilities are often used as an “opener” to start a fight and are frequently dependent on follow-up attacks to maintain threat.

What do you think of the developers’ thoughts on the global cooldown? Do you think it’s good if individual abilities gain more significance again? Or have you already gotten used to your super macros that activate many buffs simultaneously?

Another annoyance is currently the class balance in Battle for Azeroth – Blizzard is almost finished, but the community sees it differently.

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In PvP, alone against teams? That’s unfair! Here’s how Destiny 2 plans to change it

Sven Galitzki 27. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

Simultaneously with the Warmind DLC, on May 8, 2018, Update milestone 1.2.0 arrives in Destiny 2. With this update, Bungie aims to improve matchmaking in the Crucible. We show what changes are planned for finding teammates in PvP.

With the launch of the Warmind expansion, Bungie finally responds to an important demand from the PvP community. As part of the matchmaking, the Update 1.2.0 will provide more support to solo players when they face pre-made fireteams.

Fireteam Matchmaking – It will be easier for solo players

What is the problem? Solo players struggle when they encounter well-coordinated enemy teams in the Crucible of Destiny 2. Fixed fireteams have a clear advantage, especially since the average skill level as a team significantly increases. Currently, even the best solo players win less than 50 percent of their matches in the Crucible.

How does Bungie plan to solve it? Bungie is now adjusting some matchmaking mechanics behind the scenes that should make life a bit easier for individual players. The system behind it is called Fireteam Matchmaking. This way, solo players should have more balanced chances, even when they have to go into battle against fixed fireteams.

Instead of using the normal skill values of the Guardians as before, starting on May 8, a modified value will be used for all players who are in a fixed team, which takes into account the fireteam size. The larger the fireteam, the higher the modifier.

What does that mean? In plain terms, this means that not only skill but also team size will be crucial for the choice of opponents. Previously, solo players faced roughly equally skilled teammates who had grouped together before the match, but in the future, they will face teams of individually weaker players.

Due to the size of the fixed group and the resulting modifier, they will be rated as a group higher in skill and thus sent against correspondingly stronger individual players.

Initially, the modifiers will be kept rather conservative and will be adjusted as needed based on player feedback. These settings can be made server-side and without an update. Accordingly, Bungie could quickly make adjustments if necessary.

Are you often playing solo in the Crucible? What do you think of this change?

You might also be interested in:

Destiny 2: After three and a half years, Destiny gets a Ranked PvP

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Wild West Online will be released soon, well before Red Dead Redemption 2

Andreas Bertits 27. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

The Western MMO Wild West Online will soon leave Early Access. The official launch will take place in just a few days, on May 10. This keeps it well ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2.

What does this have to do with Wild West Online and Red Dead Redemption 2? Wild West Online seems determined to hit the launch date before the triple-A game “Red Dead Redemption 2”. From the very beginning, Wild West Online has cozied up to the highly anticipated game from Rockstar. They even released a screenshot in such a way that people mistook it for a “leak” from Red Dead Redemption 2.

WWO sought the slipstream of Red Dead Redemption 2 right from the announcement. Confidently, they called themselves a “Multiplayer Red Dead.”

This also plays into the disappointment of PC gamers, as Red Dead Redemption 2 will likely not be released for PC for the time being. And when Wild West Online was announced, it was not yet known that RDR2 would focus so heavily on multiplayer as it currently appears.

The proximity to Red Dead Redemption 2 brought a lot of attention to Wild West Online from the start, but it also raised the suspicion that Wild West Online might be a “scam” chasing quick money. These suspicions intensified after the first players got to try Wild West Online and were disappointed by what they saw.

That’s why the release was postponed for a while, but it is approaching nonetheless.

Launch brings several innovations

What will happen now before the release? The developers are currently implementing feedback from testers to prepare for the game’s launch. This includes new content, such as a global conflict waged between factions in the game world.

Innovations include :

More PvE quests and missions you receive from NPCs
Resource extraction in mines, on farms, and during hunts
You can cook, brew alcohol, and then sell it
Random PvP events will take place in the game world. Participants can win rare items
The conflict between rival factions will occur throughout the game world

Those who enter early will be rewarded

It is possible to purchase the Western MMO now. You will not only gain access to the final version via Steam starting May 10, but you can also participate in the Early Access phase right away. Additionally, you will receive the following bonuses:

10 bags with cosmetic items that change your hero’s appearance
10 bags with skins for your weapons
Earlier access to the launch version of Wild West Online – You can start 48 hours earlier

When is the release? The release version must show from May 10 that Wild West Online has developed significantly compared to the testing phases. In these phases, it was especially criticized for having too little content.

Actually, the Western MMO Wild West Online was supposed to launch at the end of last year, but the developers postponed the release based on tester feedback.

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FIFA 18: Everything about TOTS – SBCs, Predictions, and League Releases

Philipp Junge 27. April 2018 Reading time 5 minutes

The “Team of the Season” (TOTS) event in FIFA 18 Ultimate Team has started. Here you can find all the information about the “Team of the Season”, SBCs, and TOTS predictions.

After the “Team of the Year” (TDJ), the “Team of the Season” (TDS) is the largest FUT event. Every year, FIFA players prepare for it by hoarding their coins to assemble their final ultimate team.

The release of the “Team of the Season” is on April 27th at 7 PM. During the TDS promo, another major event starts with the World Cup mode.

The end of the “Team of the Season” event will likely be on June 8th.

The following TOTS have already been released:

New in FUT 18: 50 “Rest of the World” Players and Guaranteed TOTS SBCs

The “Rest of the World” (RDW) TOTS looks a bit different this year. It includes 50 players, with 10 released each week.

Additionally, there is an official SBC schedule. In these SBCs, players receive guaranteed TDS players from the respective league. In addition to the “Rest of the World” SBCs on Wednesday, guaranteed league SBCs will be available every Sunday and Tuesday.

As last year, you can earn TOTS cards through the Daily Knockout Tournament. Each week, there is a card to earn from the league that was released the previous Friday.

More on the topic

FIFA 18 RDW-TOTS: All 51 Rest of the World Players with Matthijs de Ligt

von Philipp Junge

Release Dates for All League TOTS

This year, the TDS distribution looks a bit different. Instead of many smaller League TOTS, there is now the large RDW TOTS, only the top leagues, as well as the EPL, get their own “Team of the Season”.

TOTS Release Dates:

April 27 to May 4: Community TOTS and Football League TOTS (England 2)
May 4 to May 11: Premier League TOTS
May 11 to May 18: LaLiga TOTS
May 18 to May 25: Bundesliga TOTS (Determined by fan voting)
May 25 to June 1: Ligue 1 TOTS and Serie A TOTS
June 1 to June 8: EA Sports/Ultimate TOTS

Additionally, every week 10 of the 50 “Rest of the World” TOTS players will be released. As we explained in the previous section, that’s how you get these cards.

TOTS Predictions: Here Are the Predictions for Each League

Wherever there are special cards in FUT, predictions for the teams also appear. Predictions are forecasts of which players might receive an upgraded card. They should always be taken with caution, as no one knows for sure who EA will give a – in this case – TOTS card.

Here you will find an overview of the “Team of the Season” predictions for the major leagues. As soon as a new “Team of the Season” prediction is online, we will link it below.

The prediction for Most Consistent TOTS: Which players from the 100-man shortlist will win the community vote?
The predictions for Premier League TOTS: Salah, Kane, or Agüero – the PL TDS could be spectacular!
The predictions for Bundesliga TOTS: Lewandowski, Vidal, and other Bayern stars dominate the BL TDS.
The predictions for LaLiga TOTS: Messi, Ronaldo, and Suarez – familiar faces in the LaLiga TDS prediction.
The predictions for Serie A TOTS: We could see many fan favorites like Perisic, Dybala, Alex Sandro, and Nainggolan!
The predictions for Ligue 1 TOTS: Neymar, Mbappe, and others – who will we see in the TDS of Ligue 1?

More on the topic

FIFA 18 World Cup Mode: Update of the World Cup squads – Reus is in, Wagner is out

von Philipp Junge

This is How You Voted for the “FIFA 18 Community TOTS”

The voting ran until April 20th. The winners were announced on April 27th.

For the “Community TOTS”, a list of 100 players was available, from which 23 made it into the “Team of the Season”.

It is somewhat similar to the “Most Consistent TOTS” of previous years: All players in the selection have in common that they have not received a special card in FUT 18, even though they (mostly) delivered consistently good performances.

EA has included the well-known FUT databases Futhead and Futwiz in their voting this year. To cast your votes, simply follow the links and submit your 23 favorites. At Futwiz, this is possible without registration, while at Futhead you must log in first.

The shortlist for the “Community Team of the Season” voting

The list of potential candidates for a “Team of the Season” card consists of 36 forwards, 35 midfielders, 20 defenders, and 9 goalkeepers.

fifa-tots-gold — This was the “Most Consistent TOTS – Gold” team in FIFA 17

From the Bundesliga, the following players made it:

Kevin Prince-Boateng (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Guido Burgstaller (FC Schalke 04)
Lars Bender (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Marcel Sabitzer (RB Leipzig)
Ante Rebic (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Marius Wolf (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Javi Martinez (Bayern Munich)
Niklas Süle (Bayern Munich)
Philipp Max (FC Augsburg)
Peter Gulacsi (RB Leipzig)
Jiri Pavlenka (Werder Bremen)

Several international stars from Europe’s top leagues are also included:

Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Marek Hamsik (SSC Napoli)
Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus Turin)
Pique (FC Barcelona)
Thibaut Courtois (FC Chelsea)
Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)

Also, the strongest player in FIFA, Adebayo Akinfenwa, as well as “Lord Bendtner” are involved and could get a TOTS card through voting.

What is the “Team of the Season” actually?

The “Team of the Season” (TDS) – better known as the “Team of the Season” (TOTS) – is the biggest event in Ultimate Team for most FIFA gamers. A lot of players receive a highly upgraded blue special card during this time.

Over 200 player cards will likely receive a TOTS version in FUT 18. The reason is that many teams are released, each containing 23 players – while the “Team of the Year” (TOTY), on the other hand, only has one single 11-player selection.

The rating of players usually rises by 5 to 9 points – for the top stars of the major leagues, this can lead to ratings in the high 90s. The basis for the selection is performance during the 2017/2018 season – while for the TOTY, the entire calendar year of 2017 was considered for evaluation.

Otherwise, the TOTS cards behave like Informs: If you don’t want to wait until you pull a card from packs, you can acquire them on the transfer market. The normal gold versions of players will not be available to draw during this time.

FIFA 19: These are the wishes of the fans – how likely is the implementation of the desired innovations?

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The AI of Overwatch plays dumb so that you feel good

Cortyn 27. April 2018 Reading time 2 minutes

To make players feel like heroes, the AI of Overwatch intentionally makes dumb mistakes in the “Retribution” game mode.

Until April 30, Overwatch fans can play the “Retribution” game mode and experience a PvE mission from the perspective of the Blackwatch characters. Along with some cool story sequences, there are also special enemy types, such as the Talon assassin.

However, to ensure an enjoyable gaming experience, Blizzard has made sure of a few things: The AI intentionally plays dumb so that players feel more heroic.

In an interview with Variety, the lead designer of the Retribution map, Adrian Finol, talked about the little tricks and techniques Blizzard employed to make players feel like real heroes on the map.

AI intentionally shoots at reflecting Genji

For instance, the AI is programmed to act intentionally “dumb” in certain situations. When a McCree activates his “Deadlock,” the enemies do not dodge to the side but instead run around somewhat panicked. When a Talon sniper aims at a Genji and he begins reflecting, she will still fire her shot, likely killing herself in the process.

“Smart” NPCs wouldn’t react this way. There’s no reason to shoot at an opponent who is making himself invulnerable with his Phantom form, and especially no reason to shoot at a reflecting Genji when your life is at stake.

The reason for this is that players should feel like real heroes during the Retribution mission – that’s why Talon soldiers are mowed down by the hundreds while players work through the map as a group of four.

At the same time, there’s significantly more action when enemies continue shooting at a Reaper in Phantom form. This means it doesn’t feel like the enemies are truly human opponents, as in Overwatch’s PvP, but rather just “humans in the Overwatch universe” – namely, Talon soldiers.

What do you think about the AI of Overwatch behaving “dumb” on purpose to create cool scenes? Is this a good thing, or would you have liked it to be harder?

Have you seen the player who even managed to play as Talon characters in Ranked?

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Source(s):

variety.com

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Top Games March: Fortnite Huge – What About Far Cry 5, Sea of Thieves?

Schuhmann 27. April 2018 Reading time 3 minutes

There is new data on the top games in the global digital gaming market March 2018. Fortnite is now the largest free-to-play game of all time on PS4 and Xbox One. But how did Far Cry 5 and Sea of Thieves perform? And how could someone defeat LoL?

What is it about? Every month, the analysis firm Superdata releases three top 10 lists. They describe which games generated the most revenue worldwide digitally on PC, consoles, and mobile.

Typically, there is relatively little change because the games earn their digital revenue through microtransactions. Therefore, games-as-a-service tend to dominate. Many of them are not current games, but perennial favorites like Grand Theft Auto V or sports games like FIFA 18.

However, this month, in March 2018, there was indeed some movement. This is due to strong March releases like Far Cry 5 and Sea of Thieves, but also due to the unstoppable rise of Fortnite.

PC: Hey, how could someone defeat LoL?

What’s happening on PC? In fact, for the first time in ages, a game other than “League of Legends” is in the number 1 spot for PC games. It is “Dungeon Fighter Online”, a game from the Asian region. It celebrated its 3rd birthday and introduced events. Players were to level up their champions with special items. This seems to have significantly increased revenues.

Fortnite: Battle Royale is in 5th place on PC, ahead of PUBG and World of Warcraft. Overall, across all platforms, Fortnite earned $223 million. This is 73% more than in February, Superdata reports.

Far Cry 5 has made a solid entry at an impressive 9th place.

PS4 and Xbox One: Far Cry 5 strong, Sea of Thieves too

What’s happening with PS4 and Xbox One: On consoles, Fortnite dominates in March. It has surpassed PUBG on all platforms.

Far Cry 5 has made a strong appearance and debuted at 2nd place on consoles. Here, digital sales were 5 times higher than Far Cry Primal two years ago. However, this is not only due to Far Cry being so strong, but also because significantly more is purchased digitally on consoles in 2018 than in 2016.

Sea of Thieves had a decent start at 7th place, but there is a catch. Although the Xbox One title has 1.7 million active players on Xbox One and 283,000 on PC, Superdata notes that more than half are just sampling Sea of Thieves for free through Xbox Game Pass. The long-term success of Sea of Thieves seems questionable here.

Overwatch is also not found in the top 10 this time. It was out in February.

Racing game accelerates on mobile

What’s happening on mobile? On mobile, a “kart racing game” QQ Speed by Tencent is making a big rise. It has generated $100 million for the 3rd month in a row.

Honor of Kings, which half of China is addicted to, cannot compare. Here in Germany, the unofficial mobile variant of LoL is called “Arena of Valor”.

With Fortnite, mobile on iOS really kicked off in April. The revenues here are not yet accounted for. This should change in April 2018. Fortnite is also supposed to come to Android.

In April 2018, the dominance of Fortnite in the numbers from Superdata could become even greater than it already is.

More about the turbulent gaming market:

4 year old game beats Destiny 2 in digital revenue on PS4, Xbox One

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