The Overwatch League is facing increasing allegations. Recently, it was accused of having racist tendencies. It involves controversial internet memes. What is the truth behind these allegations?
It started with the Pepe meme, which is unfortunately often associated with ideologies on the extreme right. Viewers displayed a banner featuring the well-known meme during a Dallas Fuel game.
The Pepe banner was confiscated, and the whole issue could have been peacefully buried. But that was just the beginning.
The “Ugandan Knuckles” Case
However, a whisper went through the OWL-affiliated internet when the first shirts and banners featuring the Ugandan Knuckles meme were spotted in the audience. Additionally, three teams used the meme in tweets: Dallas Fuel, San Francisco Shock, and the Los Angeles Valiant. These tweets have since been deleted.
It seems there was little awareness of the negative associations of both memes. Players from San Francisco Shock referenced the meme while the entire audience could witness it live.
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By nature, Ugandan Knuckles does not appear racist at all. Created as a parody of the Sonic character Knuckles, it appeared well in Gregzilla’s video .
However, when connected and placed in the wrong context, it can take on a different side. When an African accent, and thus a specific ethnicity, is deliberately associated with harassment towards women, inappropriate behavior, and jokes about Ebola, then the otherwise harmless meme takes on an unpleasant nature. In particular, it gained popularity in this form within the game “VR Chat”, spilling over into other communities.
And those who condemn it and cannot respect any team that associates with it.
The fact is, the teams listen to the criticism. The tweets have since been deleted.
Dallas Fuel also expressed itself upon request to Kotaku: “We will no longer use the meme on our social media channels and will no longer engage with it.”
This once again shows the problem that the OWL is still young and that there seems to be a lack of awareness regarding the impact and reach in public. Some topics are very sensitive to handle on the internet, whether one stands behind the criticism or not.
Guddy states: “I believe many players and viewers do not realize what the use of the meme can express – even if one is against racism. It’s difficult to look into others’ heads and know what they associate with any meme. Therefore, I consider condemning individual teams at this point to be rather premature.”
14 hours of maintenance work on Fortnite were not well received by fans or developers. A database error caused gray hairs and angry curses. The good news is: Fortnite is back online. The bad news: There are still bugs.
From midday hours in our time until late at night, the servers of Fortnite were offline yesterday, on January 25th. What was initially planned as a routine maintenance to deploy a rather unspectacular patch turned into a maintenance marathon.
Routine maintenance turns into a nightmare
Praiseworthy: Epic Games tried to show transparency during the maintenance period. They tweeted updates and engaged with fans. Unfortunately, the big explanation post “What went wrong?” was published in their own forum – which quickly crashed. Therefore, the team turned to reddit to describe their issues.
Apparently, they had decided to address a database error during the maintenance, which led to catastrophe. Then they wanted to restore the database, which did not work. And thus a routine operation turned into a maintenance day for Fortnite.
These bugs plague update 2.30 / 1.38:
Since about midnight our time, the servers are back online, but they have already issued a list of bugs that still plague patch 2.30 / 1.38:
Some players get stuck in the crosshair when aiming with a weapon using iron sights
There are visual issues with the interface when trying to build
And there are problems when reloading
Epic says: They are aware of these bugs, they are addressing them and working on a fix. Hopefully, it will run smoother than the last patch.
Additionally, Epic has offered compensation. Details are not available at the moment.
For those wondering: What is actually in the patch we have been waiting for so long? Here is the answer:
On February 15, the Age of Wolves begins. Season 5 of the multiplayer action game For Honor focuses mainly on hero balancing, matchmaking, and performance.
One of the biggest points of criticism for For Honor has always been the quality of the network connection. This will change with Season 5, starting on February 15.
The infrastructure for dedicated servers was already tested in December and will soon provide you with a better gaming experience. However, the new servers will likely not be ready at the start of Season 5 but will be implemented during the season. A detailed schedule will be announced later.
Season 5 brings a lot of new features
Ubisoft explains the upcoming changes:
Dedicated Servers: The test in December was successful and enough data for the infrastructure of the dedicated servers was collected. The servers prevent re-synchronizations, session migrations, and NAT requirements and stabilize the connection on all platforms.
Hero Updates: The heroes Kensei, Conqueror, Highlander, Berserker, and Nobushi will receive updates to ensure better balancing. There will be new movesets, gear, and animations for Kensei and the Conqueror. Highlander, Berserker, and Nobushi will also be improved in balancing. The other classes will follow after Season 5.
New Training Features: New training modes will ensure that new players learn the basics of the game in the Initiate Trials and Warrior Trials modes as well as advanced techniques.
Arena Mode: Advanced heroes will face specific heroes to train moves and prepare for all possible combat situations.
This is also included
In addition, Season 5 brings an item that increases experience points in exchange for materials. Moreover, the 4v4 ranked mode will switch from “Dominion” to “Tribute.” A new reputation level cap will be introduced, and new gear advancements will be enabled.
In Destiny 2 you can now take part in PvP and win “legendary prizes”, such as a motorcycle: Rockstar has launched a Crucible challenge with a leaderboard.
At the launch of Destiny 2, there was a promo campaign between Activision and “Rockstar Energy Drink”. You could buy Rockstar cans, each containing a code that could be redeemed for in-game rewards as well as, with a bit of luck, some physical prizes like limited Destiny 2 editions or even motorcycles.
A new promotional campaign from Rockstar related to Destiny 2 is now running: The “Rockstar Energy Crucible Challenge”.
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You play Crucible matches in Destiny 2 to earn points
The more points you have, the higher you rank on the leaderboard on the Rockstar page.
The 10 Guardians with the most points will receive prizes once the challenge is over
How do I earn points?
Once you are registered for the challenge, you will earn points after each Crucible match in Destiny 2:
+25 points for completing a competitive game
+25 points for completing a quick game
+1 point for each opponent you defeat (kill/assist)
Important: You must complete the PvP matches to earn points.
What prizes are there?
Only the top 10 Guardians on the leaderboard will receive rewards.
1st Place: The winner receives the best prize – a motorcycle in Destiny 2 and Rockstar style. It is a custom build of a Husqvarna 701 Enduro: The Top 3 receive PC hardware: each bundle includes an Aurora tower, a 25” gaming monitor, a Pro keyboard, and an elite mouse:The Top 10 will receive a collector’s edition of Destiny 2 with all its contents:
What else do I need to know about the Rockstar Challenge?
The challenge has been running since January 25.
The challenge ends on March 12 at 6 AM (our time). There is a countdown on the Rockstar page.
The challenge is also valid in Germany!
Top ten prizes are only available for Guardians from the USA, Canada, the UK, and Germany.
You must be 18 years or older.
Registration is through a valid Bungie.net account.
Registration, the leaderboard, and all other information and official rules can be found on the Rockstar page.
The start of the closed beta of Sea of Thieves did not go as planned. Now the developers are extending the test phase due to significant issues.
On January 24, the pirate adventure Sea of Thieves launched into closed beta. However, only for a portion of the players. Errors caused participants to be excluded right from the start, and some still are. This particularly affects the pre-orderers of the game.
The team apologizes for the errors and is postponing the end of the beta to a later date.
Beta end postponed, solution on the way
On the Sea of Thieves website, the developers comment on the current status of the beta. Many players receive a “Too early” message that prevents them from testing the closed beta. The solution is already in rollout. This means it will be gradually unlocked for different regions and affected accounts. However, according to the developers, this will take longer than planned.
To make up for the lost days when affected players could not play due to the “Too early” error, the closed beta will be extended by two days. This means the test phase will end on Wednesday, January 31, at 09:00.
The goal of the developers is that every player with access to the closed beta can participate.
The bonuses of the Collector’s Edition for the next expansion of World of Warcraft have been extracted from the game data. We reveal what awaits you.
The current update of World of Warcraft, Patch 7.3.5, has been live for several weeks now, yet data miners are still finding new hints and information in the depths of the game data. Three new achievements have been discovered that each distinguish the character as the owner of the Collector’s Edition of Battle for Azeroth.
Since Battle for Azeroth has a strong focus on the difference between Horde and Alliance, there are two different mounts.
Alliance players receive the Seabraid Stallion, evidently a horse with special adornments.
Horde players will have the Gilded Ravasaur, a mount raptor, presumably with the adornments of the Zandalari trolls.
Both factions also receive a small pet, Tottle – a Tortollan, a new turtle species.
Currently, in addition to the achievements, there are only the icons of these rewards.
Further rewards for pre-orderers?
It is not yet known if there will be more rewards, for example for pre-ordering. However, fans speculate that pre-orderers may already create a new character of the Allied Races ahead of time. They would then have enough time to level the corresponding character so that it is ready for the launch of Battle for Azeroth to move to Zandalar and Kul Tiras.
Blizzard recently launched the Alpha of Battle for Azeroth. It is only a matter of time before pre-orders for the next WoW expansion will be possible. Typically, the corresponding bonuses will be immediately available in the game.
So far, none of these rewards have fitting models in the game; they may either be encrypted or simply not yet included in the game.
The ranking system of Hearthstone is being fundamentally changed. We will tell you how ranked matches will proceed in the future.
When the developers of Hearthstone implemented the ladder a few years ago, it quickly received criticism. After players had to grind hard for their ranks over the course of a month, they fell back down significantly at the start of a new month. Those who previously had the rank “Legend” found themselves back at rank 16.
This meant little fun for both sides. The “Legend” had little fun pulling inexperienced newcomers, and the newcomer did not enjoy his crushing defeat.
In March 2018, the ladder system of Hearthstone will finally undergo a more comprehensive revision.
From now on, players will need five stars to advance for each rank in Hearthstone. Previously, depending on the rank, only two, three, or four stars were needed to progress. Therefore, the progress is equal across all ranks, and the promotion experience is more uniform.
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Those who are now concerned that they will have to grind even more each month are mistaken. Because a second change should benefit all players: At the end of the season, you will only be demoted by four ranks. For example:
Players at rank 12 will land at rank 16
Players at rank 19 will land at rank 23
Players with the rank “Legend” will land at rank 4
This is intended to ensure that even at the start of a season, the professionals are already positioned high up, and the loss of rank is smaller.
With the change, the requirement to reach at least rank 20 to receive the monthly card back is also eliminated. Instead, you now need to win 5 games in ranked mode per month.
What do you think about the changes to the ranking system of Hearthstone? Has the ladder needed this overhaul for a long time? Or is this a clear case of “too little, too late”?
In Destiny 2 the Iron Banner returns! This will be the first Iron Banner in Season 2, where there will be a few changes and new loot.
Lord Saladin, the leader of the Iron Banner, has not been in the Tower of Destiny 2 for months. The reason: At the beginning of December, Season 2 started, which changed some accessibility requirements for activities like the Iron Banner. To ensure that all Guardians – including those without the “Curse of Osiris” DLC – can participate in the Iron Banner again and earn its loot, Bungie had to deploy several updates first.
Now, at the end of January 2018, nothing stands in the way of Lord Saladin’s return. Here are all the details about the upcoming Iron Banner.
The first Iron Banner in 2018 – Game mode, start, end, loot
Start of the Iron Banner: January 30 (Tuesday), expected around 9 PM (after maintenance)
End of the Iron Banner: February 6 (Tuesday) at 6 PM
Game mode: Control
In Season 2 you can earn the old weapons from Season 1 as well as additional new weapons, ornaments, and cosmetics.
Lord Saladin still has Iron Banner Engrams for you. In the first Iron Banner of Season 2, these three new weapons are available through the engrams:
Hand Cannon:
Scout Rifle:
Shotgun:
Additionally, these new items are available – a Sparrow, a Ghost Shell, and a badge: Furthermore, there will be an Iron Banner ship. Bungie has not revealed this yet; you will have to discover it in the game itself.
The Iron Banner items from Season 1 are also earned as random loot by opening the engrams at Lord Saladin.
By mastering the Iron Banner milestone, you will receive a badge that counts all your rank-ups in the Iron Banner.
If you are looking for a specific item from the Iron Banner, you can browse Lord Saladin’s inventory. In Season 2, he offers the 5 armor pieces as well as three weapons for direct purchase:
You can see in the picture that Lord Saladin also has armor ornaments available. You unlock these by completing specific challenges. Each Iron Banner armor piece has an ornament. Here they are: There is no limit to how many engrams you can open or how many tokens you can earn.
Things are moving forward in World of Warcraft! The alpha test of the new expansion Battle for Azeroth has begun.
Blizzard has fulfilled its promise from BlizzCon 2017 and has already launched the alpha of Battle for Azeroth early in 2018. Since last night (26.01.2018), the beta servers of World of Warcraft are live with version 8.0.1.
Currently, the alpha already includes many of the major contents of Battle for Azeroth, such as the new continents Zandalar and Kul Tiras, as well as plenty of new mounts, achievements, and new models for creatures, along with some updates to older models.
Anduin has quickly become a man.
Currently, dataminers are still sifting through the massive data piles of Battle for Azeroth. We have included some excerpts of the results from wowhead in this post. As soon as there are exciting discoveries, we will of course report on them.
Who can play Battle for Azeroth?
Logging into the beta servers is currently likely only possible for a few people. Normally, Blizzard holds a “Family&Friends Alpha,” where only developers and their closest relatives or friends have access to the game. In this state, the playable content is usually very limited and only one or two zones are already available.
Queen Azshara has not much in common with an elf anymore.
It will likely be some time before other chosen individuals, such as journalists, are allowed onto the servers. Also, registered players for the beta will, judging by previous expansions, have to wait several weeks for Blizzard to send out the first waves of invitations.
How to register for the Beta of Battle for Azeroth
The action RPG Monster Hunter World (PS4, Xbox One, PC) had its worldwide release on January 26, 2018, on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This review report delves into the pillars and gameplay experience of Monster Hunter World.
Monster Hunter is one of the most successful game series of all time in Japan. A total of 40 million copies have been sold worldwide, with nearly 80% of sales occurring in Japan.
At its core, it’s a loot grinder – you hunt monsters and loot their corpses.
It has a deep crafting system – from the corpses of the monsters, you create equipment to take down the next, more dangerous monster.
Strategic battles against these monsters – the monsters do not go down without a fight; they present challenging battles that always require new strategies.
A dynamic ecosystem – the fights do not take place in a vacuum; the environment and other monsters need to be taken into account during battles.
You’ll often strive to achieve something better. Whether it’s improving your skills, such as weapon handling, or simply acquiring new gear.
In Monster Hunter World, it’s all about reaching the next objective and the next big milestone. You’ve mastered the first tough opponent and can now craft great armor from it? Great! Just wait until you encounter the next Elder Dragon and get knocked down again. A new challenge, a new goal, a new hunting frenzy!
In Monster Hunter World, it’s all about the hunt. The hunt for monsters, the hunt for loot, and the hunt for better gear. That is simply the core of the game.
You take one quest after another, where you must hunt or capture monsters. If you want to get better gear, you often have to farm the same monster repeatedly. The creatures contain valuable loot derived from their body parts. Claws, teeth, or fur are transformed into weapons and gear.
Monster Hunter World excels at making this grind pure ecstasy. The quests come with a time limit of 50 minutes, and within this limit, the monsters must be located and defeated.
Similar games: You might also enjoy Monster Hunter World if …
– You enjoyed the adrenaline-pumping boss fights in hard mode in TERA and the crafting involved in weapons. – You liked the mysterious atmosphere of Horizon Zero Dawn, with its interactive ecosystem and the hunt for colossal foes. – You appreciated the mercilessness and combat system of Dark Souls.
The Nergigante is a highly dangerous dragon!
The monsters in Monster Hunter World are powerful and can knock hunters unconscious with a single attack. How robust your character is depends on the equipment you wear. Dodging the fierce monster attacks is paramount for every hunter. However, to evade skillfully, you must first learn the movement and attack patterns of the monsters. Each monster behaves differently and has its own strengths and weaknesses. This can also be compared to boss fights in MMORPGs.
It’s a dance of life and death that ends in a loot frenzy
It’s like a dangerous dance with colossal beasts: dodging repeatedly, waiting for the right moment, and striking mercilessly!
The adrenaline rush triggered by this dance of life and death is indescribable. The frustration when the creature still gets you, and the quest is considered failed can make you slam the controller with force against the wall. When the monster finally lies down, there’s often a feeling of pure euphoria, especially when you’ve failed against that monster multiple times already.
This makes grind and farming never feel monotonous or tedious. It’s this euphoria that leads you to seek out stronger monsters and new loot.
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In this gameplay video, hunter versus Anjanath: Quite epic.
The intelligent nature gives Monster Hunter World this “sense of authenticity”
In Monster Hunter World, there’s also an intelligent ecosystem into which the monsters are perfectly integrated. This ecosystem makes the hunts dynamic.
When monsters start fighting one another, it never feels out of place. It can even occur that nature lends you a hand in your hunt. Cave systems sometimes collapse and rain down a massive load of stones on the monsters. This causes tremendous damage and can be a relief for you.
However, the ecosystem can also get in your way. If you step on a debilitating Frogsquawker, you may find yourself unable to move for a while and quickly become a snack for monsters.
The environment in Monster Hunter World is breathtaking. The graphics may not look as good as those in a Horizon: Zero Dawn, but there’s so much love for detail in nature and ecological interaction that it feels real and coherent, even though Monster Hunter World takes place in a fantasy universe.
The Paolumu lives in the Coral Highlands. This monster glides on the warm winds of its surroundings and feeds on the floating eggs.
The dreamy Coral Highlands is an absolute highlight
A special highlight is the Coral Highlands, which looks like a dreamy underwater world. The coral reef is located outdoors and offers some curiosities. Warm winds ascend from below and carry the eggs of coral plants away, facilitating the plant’s reproduction.
The new maps in Monster Hunter World are much more open than those in its predecessor.
The Coral Highlands draw their vital essence from the Ancient Forest, the first map of Monster Hunter World. Several monsters have adapted to the winds and many verticalities, so you will encounter many flying foes here.
In each individual map, the monsters are adapted to their surroundings. In the “Valley of Decay,” bones lie everywhere, carcasses, and toxic gas flows throughout. The monsters have long since adapted to the toxins, while you will slowly be poisoned and die just from inhaling the haze.
The nature and monsters have such a harmonious and logical interplay that it’s entirely conceivable that the world of Monster Hunter World could exist somewhere. These nuances contribute to the certain “sense of authenticity” and help you immerse yourself in the game.
In the Valley of Decay, a toxic mist swirls around. The creatures have adapted to it. Hunters who inhale the haze slowly die from suffocation.
The learning curve is steep, but mastering it feels great
The deep crafting system, the complex monster battles, and the dynamic environment create a steep learning curve.
To be able to take down certain monsters, you must consider what equipment is best suited for the task. For you only have your armor, your weapon, and your own skill to face the creatures:
For this, you need to understand what your equipment is capable of and how to handle it properly.
The weaknesses and strengths of the monsters are NOT presented to you on a silver platter. You actually need to study the creatures to learn how they attack and defend. Studying works through the use of scout flies and observing the monsters.
The 14 weapon classes each have different properties with an upgrade tree to improve them. The combinations and handling of the cumbersome weapons must also be mastered. Monster Hunter World offers a training room where you can practice with the weapons.
Items can be crafted by yourself. The intelligent use of items and the crafting of these is also an important component of success.
The character does not collect XP or unlock skills. You need to adapt and improve your gameplay to be successful.
It’s a wonderful feeling when you’ve finally understood a certain monster mechanic and know exactly when to dodge and strike. You will notice over the course of the game that you become more skilled with your weapons as well. The learning curve may be steep, but the reward is all the greater when you get that “I did it because I persevered!” feeling.
In Monster Hunter World, it’s part of the game to fall often. The art lies in getting back up and taking up the fight with renewed courage.
The story cleverly wraps around the gameplay
In Monster Hunter World, for the first time in the series, there is a clear line in the story campaign. However, as in previous installments, the story takes a backseat.
Without giving too much away: At the core of the story is the migration of the Elder Dragons to the New World. This disrupts the balance of nature, and nobody knows what this phenomenon is all about. As hunters, you help to explore the event and mitigate the dangers that arise.
Here, the Anjanath shows its truly furious side! Its nostrils are flared and fins are raised.
Capcom has managed to tell a story in Monster Hunter World that arouses curiosity and elicits some “wow!” effects through its presentation. However, the story should be understood more as a clever wrapping.
The story guides you through the core portion of the game and gradually familiarizes you with the mechanics. With each new chapter of the story, a new major monster is introduced. New gameplay mechanics are also usually associated with a new chapter of the story.
The intelligently integrated story makes you hardly realize that you are engaged with a tutorial for quite a while. Once you’ve completed the story, you should have understood most of the mechanics and gameplay.
Even though Monster Hunter World tells a nice story, it is relatively thin compared to other RPGs. In Monster Hunter World, action and gameplay are clearly in the foreground.
Film scenes are often used to introduce the new monsters and environments.
Monster Hunter World unfolds its full potential as a group
Monster Hunter World can be played in singleplayer or multiplayer. All quests can be completed alone or in a group of up to 4 players. Hunting in a group is especially fun and opens up new strategic opportunities:
One player can distract the monster while another sets up a trap.
The group can split into close and ranged combat or have someone who provides healing for the team.
In Monster Hunter World, you can jump on the monsters. This distracts them and makes them vulnerable! While one player rides the beast, the others have a clear shot to shoot and slice.
The dynamics that develop in a group in Monster Hunter World are indescribable. Everyone tries to warn each other. The internal shame can be huge when you deplete the group’s last life due to a silly mistake.
That makes the collective celebration even sweeter when the beast finally goes down, and everyone joyfully loots.
Monster Hunter World is at its best in a group, and the MMO feeling really comes alive in the tough boss fights.
Long-term motivation: How long does Monster Hunter World captivate?
The playing time in Monster Hunter World heavily depends on each player’s motivation.
How many hours of fun are offered?
Monster Hunter World is the first game in the franchise to provide a clear and straightforward story quest line. The main story can be completed in under 100 hours, if you strictly follow it. However, there’s also the opportunity to complete side quests in between. These are usually practical for farming a few more materials and expanding your equipment. Side quests typically involve slaying or capturing monsters or gathering resources.
How long the main story takes ultimately depends on how quickly you manage to take down the individual boss monsters. Each main quest has a timer of 50 minutes. So if you repeatedly fail against a monster, it can take several hours as you have to restart the quest from the beginning each time.
It may also happen that you have to return to a smaller boss monster to loot and forge a stronger armor from it.
What is there to do after the story?
After the main story, it may and will likely continue for many players. Long-term motivations in Monster Hunter World may include:
Collecting all armor sets and weapons and upgrading them accordingly.
Ranking up as a hunter to unlock new challenges.
Seeking new challenges for yourself.
Completing all side quests.
There are players who have spent more than 1000 hours on these mentioned activities in the earlier “Monster Hunter” titles. Others are satisfied after completing the main quests.
Capcom will also release free expansions that will include new monsters. These could be moments when the group comes together again and says, “Hey, there’s a new monster coming this weekend. Shall we go hunting again?”
However, Monster Hunter World will only deliver new content for a limited time! This action RPG is not a service game like The Elder Scrolls Online. Eventually, Capcom will stop providing Monster Hunter World with new content and will work on a new main installment instead.
The Anjanath always lurks for the next prey. It wants to be the ruler of the Ancient Forest.
How much variety does Monster Hunter World offer?
In Monster Hunter World, you will take on one quest after another and hunt monsters – that’s the fundamental principle of the game.
The variety lies in the dynamic ecosystem. The monsters are intelligently designed and will behave a little differently in each fight. Sometimes, other monsters unexpectedly come into play that also want a piece of your loot. In such cases, you often need to actively and cleverly seek out a new strategy.
Palicos are the unsung stars of Monster Hunter: World. They are adorable companions and capable of much!
The various monster species differ significantly from one another. No fight is the same when you have a new species in front of you.
Just like with long-term motivation, the variety lies within the player themselves. Because you always have the opportunity to try new things and approach the fights differently.
Monster Hunter World can offer a lot of variety. Trying out new weapons to slay monsters can be an incentive here.
Is Monster Hunter World a game for me?
Monster Hunter World is suitable for players seeking challenges and willing to delve into cumbersome systems.
These advantages of Monster Hunter World:
Epic and action-packed fights with intelligent monsters
The special effects and animations of the monsters are impressive
A realistic ecosystem that helps immerse you in the game
Diverse fights with over 20 large boss monsters
The maps are picturesque, well-composed musically, and designed with great attention to detail
You can interact with the entire environment
A deep and extensive crafting system
A strong variety in equipment and weapons, with ranged and melee combat
A well-executed story with many beautiful cutscenes
The Palico is an optional companion that can be left at the base
An integrated and well-crafted tutorial within the story
Free expansions with new monsters after release
Co-op with up to 4 players on quests
Guilds with up to 50 members to form squads
These disadvantages of Monster Hunter World:
Despite “Quality of Life” improvements compared to previous titles, the menu and item management is still cumbersome and not immediately intuitive
The small text of the tutorials is sometimes difficult to read on the TV
For an RPG, the story is relatively thin
Forming a group is cumbersome and not very intuitive
The feedback from hits could be better: The impact of your attacks is mostly felt only through damage numbers. Severed limbs and visible injuries on monsters make up for it somewhat.
The mysterious Coral Highlands is a real highlight.
Monster Hunter World is worth it for you if …
you enjoy looting and grinding
have no problem getting used to a cumbersome menu navigation and controls
find joy in an extensive crafting system
enjoy challenging and action-packed fights that can be lengthy
After testing Monster Hunter World, I, Leya Jankowski, have drawn a conclusion. Robert Albrecht also played the action RPG as a newcomer to the series. He was also asked to provide a conclusion from the perspective of a beginner.
“Monster Hunter World is not a quick brawl for between”
Robert has never played a Monster Hunter title before World. He has also written a conclusion as a newcomer.
Robert Albrecht says: If someone is looking for a quick brawl for between, they won’t find happiness with Monster Hunter World. The attacks of the monsters are unique and must be observed again and again. The right choice of tactics and equipment requires perseverance and creativity. Those who like to plan their fights and want to experiment with the many tools that the game provides will spend many enjoyable hours.
Just the weapon system offers dozens of different playstyles. Each weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages, combos, and moves. Mastering these grants the battles an aesthetic that I have seen in few other games. The game world looks fantastic as well, being colorful and versatile. I was negatively surprised by the item management, which is complicated and assigned to various button commands. The loading times were sometimes too lengthy for my liking.
If this doesn’t deter you, especially if you want to hunt with friends, you can look forward to dozens of hours of fun. Because let’s be honest, monster slaying in a group is the most fun!
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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Fortnite: Battle Royale (PC, PS4 & Xbox One) should have received an update long ago today. However, maintenance is still ongoing. The Fortnite servers are offline.
Patch V.2.3.0 for Fortnite: Battle Royale was scheduled for today, January 25, 2018. The update was supposed to mainly improve gameplay comfort. Therefore, the servers went offline this morning to conduct maintenance. Hours later at 4:00 PM, the servers are still not back online.
Developers apologize on Twitter for downtime
Apparently, the developers at Epic Games underestimated the duration of some update procedures. Earlier today, the devs warned on Twitter that it might take a bit longer. Later, they explained that they would be making changes to the backend system and this would take longer.
Hi all, it is looking like we are going to be down for at least a few more hours as we scale our backend systems. We’re very sorry and we’re working on it. pic.twitter.com/7TqXzTnGje
Meanwhile, around 3 and 4 PM, the latest reports came via Twitter. It seems it will take even longer to scale the backend. The talk is of “several hours.” The developers sincerely apologize for this.
Update: Around 6:00 PM, it was announced by Epic that it would still take them a few more hours. No exact time frame was given.
It seems that even tonight, there will be no Battle Royale fun in Fortnite.
I don’t, it could be a few more hours. We’re sorry.
Statement from Fortnite regarding the long server maintenance on January 25: Compensation is likely
Update 8:30 PM: There is a statement from Fortnite. They wanted to solve problems in the database while rolling out 2.3. This caused the database to go into a bad state.
Then they wanted to load the backup, but that did not work. They are currently attempting a second try.
Still no known time for when Fortnite will be back online
While they still cannot provide a time for when the servers will be back online, they promise to make it up to the players for the time they have lost. This sounds like players can look forward to compensation.
The battle royale shooter PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) breaks the next player barrier on Xbox One. The player count reaches 4 million. To celebrate this, PUBG is throwing around many thousands of BattlePoints.
Now the PUBG servers on Xbox are slowly filling up. As the Xbox team announced, the popular shooter has surpassed the 4 million player mark on the console. And the developers want to celebrate this milestone with you properly by generously distributing in-game currency.
30,000 BattlePoints for every PUBG player on Xbox
As a token of gratitude for the player masses who regularly play PUBG, the officials are distributing 30,000 BattlePoints to you. You can use these to buy crates with cosmetic items like shirts or pants in the game.
Every player who created a character in the Xbox version of PUBG before January 31, 2018, qualifies for the BattlePoints gift. This means you can still get PUBG for Xbox One in the next few days and receive the 30,000 BP as a gift.
Starting February 1, 2018, the in-game gifts will be distributed and should appear in your account.
Just about two weeks ago, PUBG proudly announced that it has now reached 3 million players on Xbox. The shooter is performing very well on the console as well.
The Games with Gold for February 2018 include crazy taxi rides and side-scrolling adventures. These free games are available for Xbox One and Xbox 360.
In February, users of the “Games with Gold” service have four free games to choose from. This time, the collection ranges from side-scrollers to wild racing games to hack and slash. As usual, two of the four games are available for Xbox One and two for Xbox 360. Thanks to backward compatibility, the 360 games can also be played on the Xbox One console.
Games with Gold February 2018 – Free Games for Xbox One and Xbox 360
The following two games are available for you in February 2018 on Xbox One:
Shadow Warrior – From February 1 to February 28: With weapons or katana swords, you fight ancient gods in Shadow Warrior. Your weapons have upgrade options to build things like guided missile launchers. If you don’t like ordinary weapons, you use mystical powers to clear your path.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles India – From February 16 to March 15: In this installment of the “Assassin’s Creed Chronicles” series, you are fighting in the year 1841. The tensions between the Sikh Empire and the private armies of the British East India Company are palpable. Be invisible and cunning to solve the tricky tasks of this adventure. The goal is to bring back a mysterious artifact stolen by a master templar.
On Xbox 360 (and Xbox One), the following two games are available in February 2018:
Split/Second – From February 1 to February 15: This action racing game takes place in the setting of a reality TV show – The streets are prepared to make races even more exciting. It’s not just about racing from A to B and seeing who is faster. Bumping opponents is part of the experience, as well as triggering devastating events that explosively change the dynamic of the game.
Crazy Taxi – From February 16 to February 28: The crazy “racing game” Crazy Taxi demands your driving skills and flexibility with traffic rules. To quickly bring passengers to their destinations, it’s sometimes necessary to run over the occasional pedestrian or bump other road users out of the way since time is, as we know, money. The crazier you drive as a taxi driver, the better the overall result.
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Today, on January 25th, two issues in The Division have been fixed. Additionally, Massive spoke about the secret Gear-Sets.
The State of the Game just aired on January 25. This is the weekly livestream where the developers discuss the current state of The Division and sometimes make announcements.
This week, the new information is quite limited.
Massive fixes two issues
During the maintenance work this morning, two issues were fixed:
The commendation that counts your Manhunt progress has been causing issues since Rogue 2.0 and was not counting properly.
Additionally, there was a glitch where enemies could respawn infinitely in the Resistance mode. This glitch has now been fixed.
After that, the developers talked about the secret Gear-Sets. Since the Ambush Global Event, which started this week, all secret Gear-Sets are now in the game. Massive announced in the last few weeks that they would only make balance adjustments once all “Classified Gear” is available – which is now the case.
Currently, however, the developers have no plans to deploy buffs or nerfs. An emergency patch is also not necessary. They will observe the situation for a while, watch which meta develops, analyze the data, and then respond if necessary.
Additionally, there is internal discussion about whether the drop rates of the secret Gear-Sets should be adjusted in the future. However, there are no concrete plans for this yet.
In other words: The Division is currently quite stable. Massive does not need to make emergency changes to the balance.
More info from the State of the Game:
They are still working on the Xbox One X patch. However, there is still no specific release date.
They have heard the community’s desire for more loadout slots now that there are so many secret Gear-Sets. There are also no plans for this yet.
“Stats with Yannick”
During the rest of the stream, the developers showcased works from the community. Community developer Yannick Banchereau also shared some stats:
The military MMO Armored Warfare is coming soon to PlayStation 4. Starting in early February, you can jump into the game via Founder Packs in Early Access before the release date and have fun with modern tanks.
In Armored Warfare, you drive around in tanks like in the competing game World of Tanks, shooting together with your teammates to take out an enemy team. However, the tanks here range from the Cold War era to the present day. You will fire tanks like the Leopard 2 or the Abrams using smoothbore guns and guided missiles.
Additionally, Armored Warfare offers a fun coop PvE mode where you can take out enemy mercenaries as a small team.
Those who want to play all of this on PlayStation 4 won’t have to wait much longer.
PlayStation 4 version available in early February as part of the Founder Pack
The official release of Armored Warfare on PlayStation 4 is on February 20, 2018.
But those who buy a Founder Pack can start on February 6. The contents and prices of the packs will also be revealed on February 6.
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Monster Hunter World (PS4 and Xbox One, later: PC) was already shipped by some retailers days before release. Therefore, you might be able to play it today. And the Day-One-Patch 1.02 for the multiplayer mode is already online!
The release of Monster Hunter World was originally scheduled for January 26, 2018. However, some retailers seem to have ignored that and sold the physical version of the game already yesterday and today, on January 24 and 25.
This leads to confusion:
The lucky ones who already have Monster Hunter World in their drive can play it now.
However, pre-order customers of the digital version have to wait until the official release.
Now the confusion is complete and the Day-One-Patch is already live. This makes players with the physical version happy while digital pre-order customers are left out in the cold.
Day-One-Patches 1.01 and 1.02 are already online
According to the developers at Capcom, you need the Day-One-Patch 1.01 for multiplayer features in Monster Hunter World. It was originally supposed to be released on Friday. But it seems that it is already online now.
Screenshots from the update history show the version number of the currently active Monster Hunter players, which is 1.02. So there has already been a second release patch. Therefore, among other things, the following features are now included in the game:
Multiplayer mode
Event quests
Online systems like the chat function
Lucky pig Poogie
Gallery for cutscenes
Additional languages (Brazilian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, and Arabic)
The PS4 Pro 1 TB is available at Saturn in a bundle with Monster Hunter World and a €10 voucher. Offers from “Start was Wochen” by Saturn.
Saturn’s “Start was Wochen” offers you some interesting deals until January 29. Among them are gaming laptops, televisions, and consoles. Each offer comes with a voucher from Saturn. You will receive it via email starting February 21. Also, please note that you can redeem the voucher only once for a minimum purchase amount of the coupon value + €0.01.
Yesterday, we already presented you the offer for the SNES Classic Mini. Currently, you can get the retro console for €99.99 and receive a €10 voucher for Saturn.
For fans of Monster Hunter, there is now the PS4 Pro with Monster Hunter World for €399 and a €10 voucher for Saturn included. With the most powerful PlayStation, you can enjoy Monster Hunter World in all its glory.
For all collectors among you, there is currently also a special edition of the PS4 Pro. Here you can get a PS4 Pro in the Monster Hunter World Limited Edition. The console features a special “Monster Hunter World” design. The controller is also styled with a unique look. The bundle also includes codes for the Origin Set Armor and the Fifth Talisman.
The offers presented here are equipped with so-called affiliate links. With a purchase via one of these links, we receive a small commission from the respective provider. This does not affect the price.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Funcom announced some time ago new servers for the MMORPG Age of Conan, where you will be able to play temporarily. With “Saga of Zarth”, the first of these servers starts now.
In an MMORPG, you usually want to spend a lot of time, maybe even make it a kind of second home, where you lead your cherished hero through many adventures and continuously improve them.
Since January 24, Funcom offers a somewhat different approach with “Saga of Zarth”: A time-limited server, where you have to hurry before it closes its gates again.
Fulfill your destiny – but quickly!
Saga of Zarth is a kind of speed server, where you don’t have much time to complete the Saga Quest. The server offers the following:
You will wash ashore on the coast of the island of Tortage as usual.
You will receive a “Saga Quest” immediately, through which you need to achieve various milestones.
As quickly as possible, you should aim to reach level 20, then level 50, and finally level 80.
It is your task to fulfill your destiny.
Complete a raid through the “Raid Finder”.
There is a classic raid progression.
Defeat the boss Ethram-Fal in the Palace of Cetriss.
Each section rewards you with cosmetic items and exclusive titles, as well as special loot. This includes a Tier 4 cloak and a Tier 6 weapon with necklace for your class.
Whoever manages to complete the Saga Quest will have their name “immortalized” on the game’s website.
You can keep your heroes
If you are interested in playing the time-limited “Saga of Zarth” server of the MMORPG Age of Conan, you can now dive into the adventure. The server will close its gates on May 15. Afterwards, your character with its belongings will be transferred to the Crom server.
Capcom, the developers of Monster Hunter World (PS4, PC, and Xbox One), have made a deal with Sony. Therefore, you can obtain the armor and weapons of hunter Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn for your monster hunters.
The games Monster Hunter World and Horizon: Zero Dawn have one thing in common: In both games, you fight against giant monsters. In Horizon, these are robotic dinosaurs, while in Monster Hunter you face big creatures like Nergigante or the Kirin.
Due to a partnership, the equipment of Horizon’s main character Aloy is also available in Monster Hunter World on PS4.
Aloy’s weapon and armor from Horizon Zero Dawn and a Palico robot skin
With the Aloy equipment set, you can turn your hunter in Monster Hunter into a likeness of the red-haired heroine from Horizon Zero Dawn. This even works with male characters!
Additionally, there’s a special skin for your Palico companion. The cute cat will then become a robotic version with a Horizon Watcher appearance.
Skin and armor at the same time
The Aloy skin is also an armor with its own skills and stats. You cannot combine it with other armors. It is still unknown how the stats compare to the existing armors in the game.
But how do you get these skins and items?
Complete special cooperation event quests and unlock Aloy skins
In order for Aloy’s armor set to be available, you must complete a special “Horizon Collaboration Quest Series”. The first of these quests has been available since the release of Monster Hunter World and rewards you with a Palico skin from Horizon.
Once you are done, you will gain access to “special materials” from which you can forge items at the smithy. Currently, only the Palico skin quest is available. The items for Aloy’s equipment will come at a later date.
How to get the Watcher Palico skin
Capcom has now released more information about the robot skin for your Palico companion. You will receive the skin when you complete an event quest at level 5 called “Lessons of the Wilderness.” However, you must have at least Hunter Rank 6. During the quest, you will have to deal with 8 Barnos in the arena.
As a reward, you will receive special materials for the “Watcher” skin of the Palico and a “F Watcher Shaver” as a weapon. The quest for the skin will only be available from January 26 to February 8 at 11:59 PM!
Aloy skin will be available at the end of February
It is still unknown how you will obtain the skin for Aloy. However, the date has now been announced. Between February 28 and March 16, 2018, you can accept the quest where you can earn Aloy’s clothes and bow.
Guilds are an essential part of an MMORPG – and therefore crucial for Albion Online.
Even though the developers recently laid off almost half of the staff, work on the MMORPG continues. The next major update is currently in planning, which is set to be released soon. A specific date will be announced later. The update aims to address guilds, which is why the UI will be revamped.
Better UI Makes Life Easier for Guilds
UI designer Lino Claudius discusses in a new developer video the optimizations and improvements being made. These mainly aim to enhance the interface, making it more logical and intuitive. Players should spend less time managing guild resources through the user interface and instead focus more on the actual game.
Improvements to the guild UI include among other things:
Individual rights allocation
Better tracking
More efficient resource distribution
Easier resource allocation
Freely configurable guild roles
Container protocol for the guild chests
The introduction of shared guild vaults
Guilds Should Focus on the Game
In general, the developers aim to create an intuitive, customizable system for guilds that makes meaningful distribution and usage of resources more feasible. The guild members should focus less on organization and have more fun in the actual game.
