In The Division, you can now get three free weapon skins in just about 20 minutes. All you have to do is watch Twitch.
A few hours ago, Massive announced: The Twitch Drops are back!
The Twitch Drops were already available at the beginning of December 2017 with the launch of Update 1.8. You had to link your Twitch account with your Ubisoft Club account, then watch a 24-hour live stream from the developers for 20 minutes, and as a reward, you received weapon skins in The Division.
In celebration of the fourth Global Event, which started on January 23rd, this Twitch Drop event is repeating.
What do I need to know about the Twitch Drops?
This time, the Twitch Drops will run for a whole week. From now until January 29th, you have time to watch the developers on Twitch and secure the rewards. However, Massive will not be streaming around the clock, but only from time to time. A good time to tune in is expected on January 25th at 5 PM – that’s when the State of the Game should take place. But there are also streams running on other weekdays where the developers play their game. We embed the Twitch channel here:
https://www.twitch.tv/thedivisiongame
Note: Today, January 24th, starting at 3 PM, there is also a stream.
What rewards are there?
The “Twitch Drops” are the same as those from the 24-hour stream in early December. They consist of three different faction weapon skins:
Here’s how to get the weapon skins for free:
You need a Twitch account and a Ubisoft Club account
Link the accounts with each other via drops-register.ubi.com – You must log into both accounts and then authorize the process
Then watch a stream on the Division Twitch channel for 20 minutes during this week. You should receive a notification once you have reached the 20 minutes.
Then visit the reward vendor in the Operations Base and grab the skins. You will find the reward vendor in the entrance area of the base. Enter through the main entrance and go left. There he is next to the weapon and equipment vendor.
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By the way, there is another way to get the faction weapon skins. However, this one is not “free”. Sign up for the Ubisoft Club and purchase them for 100 Uplay Points.
Players from World of Warcraft did not have to wait long. Soon they will be able to get insulted by NPCs again. The Poke Lines are back, which are phrases from NPCs that can be coaxed out by clicking on them repeatedly.
Just yesterday we reported that World of Warcraft accidentally patched the fun out of the game. The reason was that the “Poke Lines” that NPCs give when clicked persistently had disappeared with patch 7.3.5. This was obviously a mistake that Blizzard will fix in the next hotfix. In America, the update is already live, and it is expected to go live on our servers tonight (January 24, 2018).
Apart from the Poke Lines, the patch also brings some bug fixes for the quest “Lost Mail” as well as minor adjustments to various classes and other quests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVpUrnCnaO0
This is what the hotfix on January 24 brings to WoW
Below you will find the complete patch notes for the hotfix from January 24:
Achievements
The achievement “Speedy Delivery” and the “Postmaster” title are now account-wide.
Non-Draenei characters can now complete the achievement “Quests on the Blood Myth Islands.”
The achievement “Icecrown: The Final Destination” now verifies the correct version of the quest “The Most Evil Cannot Rest in Peace…”
Characters
NPCs should now make sounds again when clicked (this includes the “Poke Lines”).
The sounds of your character should now be more audible than other players’ effects, especially in dungeons and raids.
Classes
Priest
Powerful Soul is no longer triggered by Power Word: Barrier.
Rogue
Poisoned Daggers now boosts the Dagger Fan as intended.
Class Halls
A bug that sometimes drastically increased the necessary order resources for a mission has been fixed.
Dungeons and Raids
Several bugs have been fixed where area effects were executing incorrectly.
Quests
“Lost Mail” now correctly appears at a random mailbox in Dalaran (not just at one).
“Korok the Colossus” can now be turned in at Deathwatch Prodrig when Outpost Commander Charge has already died.
“Good News… and Bad News” can now be accepted from Matookla after being abandoned.
Players level 91 and higher can now accept the quest that unlocks Jade Forest.
Boss enemies for “The Air Is Still” now have fewer hit points and the assisting NPCs deal more damage.
The missing Sleepbloom have returned.
Especially the NPCs can now breathe again – quite literally – and properly insult the players. At least, as soon as the update goes live with us tomorrow.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC, Xbox One) received an update on the test server, aiming to make the game both faster and better in performance. Behind this is a remarkably simple trick.
The Battle Royale shooter PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is played worldwide by millions of players. But often, a lack of performance gets in the way of the shooting fun. Therefore, the developers are diligently testing new updates on the test server (PTS) to improve the performance and stability of the client.
The latest update on the PTS is supposed to significantly improve performance with an astonishingly simple trick.
Player hordes were responsible for poor performance!
One of the main causes of poor performance in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has always been overloaded servers. And one reason for such overloads is precisely the starting zones. Because before each match, all 100 players of a match spawn in a small area.
There, they immediately start fighting or shooting each other with the weapons lying around everywhere. Of course, all of this doesn’t matter because one is invulnerable before the match starts.
The cheerful bouncing and shooting may be fun, but the servers are regularly strained by the many simultaneous player interactions.
The jumping and shooting orgy before the game starts stresses the servers!
Therefore, the developers in the current test server patch simply split the players into different areas before the match and removed the weapons. This relieved the servers and provided a significant performance boost. Furthermore, the performance improved even more because they changed the visibility distance of the players during parachute drop.
New cheat protection in the works, may lead to client crashes
More details about the test server update will be provided later by the developers. Additionally, the devs are enticing with another update that many players are eagerly anticipating. It is supposed to have better cheat protection, which is currently being tested.
This, by the way, may lead to client crashes. Should such a crash occur, the affected players are supposed to send a screenshot of the error message to the developers via the provided link.
New monsters, Shinys, and special Pokémon from Generation 3 can now be found in Pokémon GO. We show you which ones.
The past hours have been particularly exciting for Pokémon GO players. On the evening of January 23, 2018, the developers announced that 23 new Pokémon would appear in the game on the same day. Starting around 10:00 PM German time, trainers discovered the new monsters in the game.
We will show you which new Pokémon are currently in the game and which of them have their Shiny forms available.
New Gen 3 Pokémon from January 23
Diligent trainers caught many monsters in the past hours and presented their results in large communities like TheSilphRoad. From these results, we can now give you an overview of the new monsters that have been active in Pokémon GO since January 23.
The new wave of 23 Gen 3 monsters also includes a few that appear in their shiny form.
Source: Reddit user KLO00 & Wrekitra1ph
So far, trainers have presented their Stollunior and its developments in shiny form. Whether there are more Shinys in the game will likely be revealed in the next few days – after all, they are rarely encountered and it is possible that some are still hiding.
Have you caught a shiny Stollunior in the wild yet?
He assumes that Bungie still has the opportunity to fix the game’s issues this year and increase player motivation again, but he does not believe they have the ability to completely turn the tide. Currently, Destiny faces more serious competition from an empowered The Division and Warframe than it did three years ago.
All the trouble surrounding Destiny 2 will harm Activision and the Destiny franchise, an analyst predicts.
Currently, things are not going well for Destiny 2. One negative headline chases another, the forums are still full of salt, complaints about the poor endgame, the annoying dominance of the Eververse, and the poor communication from the developers abound.
All of this will not pass without a trace on Bungie, Activision, and the Destiny franchise, as a Wall Street analyst from Cowen and Company notes.
Destiny 2 is currently not in a good position
According to analyst Doug Creutz, the revenues from add-ons and in-game sales for Activision will suffer due to the significant loss of interest in Destiny 2 at this time.
While Call of Duty: WWII had a great Christmas business and is expected to generate strong revenues through live services in 2018, Creutz states that Destiny 2 is struggling with player motivation and seems to be on a downward spiral.
He anticipates that the live-service revenues of Destiny 2 in 2018 will be “possibly disappointing” and will fall short of expectations. Because: “Destiny is not in a good place.”
This is likely to particularly upset Tess Everis …
Creutz also provides reasons for his assessment:
Several prominent Destiny streamers have announced that they will reduce their content for Destiny 2.
The Twitch audience has reached a new low for Destiny. On Friday afternoons, there were an average of 4,000-7,000 viewers for Destiny 2, while Destiny 1 had 14,000 to 17,000 viewers a year ago.
Creutz sees four main reasons why Destiny 2 is currently faltering:
Design decisions have been made, making Destiny 2 less motivating and less “distinctive” than Destiny 1. Some key aspects of the endgame in D2 feel castrated compared to D1.
The microtransactions, although not as problematic as in Star Wars Battlefront 2, are still a source of player dissatisfaction.
Bungie needs to urgently respond to player feedback. So far, the reactions have been disappointing.
Until recently, Bungie has performed extremely poorly in presenting a roadmap for the future – especially when compared to other live-service games that are significantly more transparent.
The analyst’s conclusion: He is not optimistic that Activision will turn things around with the Destiny franchise.
He assumes that Bungie still has the opportunity to fix the game’s issues this year and increase player motivation again, but he does not believe they have the ability to completely turn the tide. Currently, Destiny faces more serious competition from an empowered The Division and Warframe than it did three years ago.
The Pig is the new killer in Dead by Daylight and comes from the SAW movies. She is the first killer who possesses “instant kills” as a standard ability.
A new DLC for the horror game Dead by Daylight has now been released.
As previously suspected, the new killer is a well-known character from the SAW universe. It is not the puppet that will be playable, but Amanda, the apprentice of the first Jigsaw. She is a survivor from part 1 and was “converted” by Jigsaw after her test to seek out unworthy people in his place and subject them to cruel trials to enjoy life again. She appears in her “Kidnapper” outfit, that is, the red robe along with a pig’s head.
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The Pig has “reverse bear traps” that kill instantly
The abilities of The Pig are literally frightening and should be familiar to fans of the SAW movies. Her abilities are combined under the name “Jigsaw’s Baptism“.
The Pig can switch to a stealth mode. In this mode, she has no terror radius (heartbeat) and can perform a long-range charge attack.
Once a survivor is dying, that is, knocked down, a reverse bear trap will be placed on the survivor’s head.
If the timer of a reverse bear trap runs out, the survivor is automatically sacrificed, no matter where they are.
The timers for the bear traps start ticking as soon as a generator is fully repaired.
Survivors can free themselves from the reverse bear traps. To do this, they need to search for the corresponding key in Jigsaw boxes on the map. Opening a Jigsaw box costs time and can fail. Not every Jigsaw box contains the correct key.
As long as the survivor is in a chase, the timer of the reverse bear trap is paused.
Especially terrifying: If a survivor wants to leave the map through the exit and has not disarmed their trap beforehand, they will also be spontaneously sacrificed, as this scene illustrates beautifully.
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Of course, Amanda, aka The Pig, also comes with three new perks that will turn the game upside down.
Hangman’s Trick: Hooks that have been destroyed through sabotage or sacrifice will be recreated after 30/20/10 seconds. You will be notified when someone begins to sabotage a hook.
Surveillance: Aura ability. The last 1/2/3 regressing (= kicked by the killer) generators will be shown to you as a white aura for 16 seconds.
Make Your Choice: If a survivor rescues another from the hook and you are at least 48/40/32 meters away, Make Your Choice activates and marks the rescuer with “Exposed” for 60 seconds. (Exposed causes survivors to go down with a single hit.) This ability has a cooldown of 60 seconds.
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David Tapp is the new survivor and also comes with three new perks.
Tenacity: In the “dying” state, you crawl 30%/40%/50% faster and can regenerate during this time.
Detective’s Hunch: Aura ability. When a generator is fully repaired, you see all generators, chests, and totems within 32 meters for 5 seconds. If you carry a map, these objects are added to the map.
Stake Out: For every 15 seconds you are within the killer’s terror radius and are not being chased, you gain 1 token, up to a maximum of 2/3/4 tokens. As long as you have at least 1 token, “good” skill checks are counted as “perfect” skill checks and consume 1 token.
New Map “The Game”
Also included in the DLC is the new map “The Game – Gideon Meat Plant”, an old warehouse that was largely the setting for SAW III and SAW IV. Here, there are plenty of gruesome machines, dead pigs hanging from the ceilings, and overall, one could describe the atmosphere as “quite uncomfortable”.
The latest chapter “SAW” has been available since yesterday evening, January 23, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. On Steam, the new chapter costs €6.99.
What do you think of The Pig, David Tapp, and the new map? A cool expansion or not worth the money?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A Redditor posted an idea for a location – the Haunted Hills – about two months ago. Since the last map update, the location is actually in Fortnite: Battle Royale! Is this a tribute to a Redditor or just a coincidence?
The Redditor blorfie posted an idea for a location on the map of Fortnite: Battle Royale – including a castle and estate. Epic liked the name and integrated it with the last map update in Fortnite: Battle Royale. A tribute to a creative player or just coincidence?
Haunted Hills or Epic’s Preference for Alliteration
Blorfie presented a refined concept featuring a castle and an estate connected by a bridge. This location was to be called Haunted Hills and was designed to provide ample space for intense battles.
A forest around the castle should provide cover for approaching players, a small village and a ruin were to complete the location.
Even at the presentation of the concept, an employee from Epic praised the name of the location. After all, Epic has a preference for alliteration – all locations consist of two words, and each word starts with the same letter (Loot Lake, Dusty Depot, etc.).
Haunted Hills – Tribute to a Redditor or Just Coincidence?
The site PCGamesN contacted Epic to learn the true background of the location. According to Epic, the choice of name is more a coincidence than a tribute. The developers saw the name and liked it, but did not think further about it.
The name of the location rather shows that both developers and community can come up with great names. The fact that Epic designed the location differently than Blorfie’s concept also speaks for coincidence.
The Community Continues to Create Interesting Locations
Although the integration of the Haunted Hills may be based on a coincidence – the community continues to create intriguing concepts. A few days ago, a concept circulated on Reddit with the telling name “Slippery Slopes.” Specifically, it is about a ski resort including a town at the foot of the mountain and an après-ski hut.
Who knows, maybe sooner or later a concept will actually make it into the game. The fact that Epic pays attention to these ideas is shown by the example of Haunted Hills.
Do you have exciting ideas for locations on the map of Fortnite: Battle Royale? Let us know in the comments!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Blizzard responds to criticism regarding the changes to “Recruit a Friend” in WoW. The reasoning seems strange to many players.
When Blizzard weakened the “Recruit a Friend” system of World of Warcraft two days ago, the criticism was immediate. No wonder, instead of 200% additional experience points, there are now only meager 50% bonus. Additionally, the bonus can no longer be combined with heirlooms, which only increased dissatisfaction.
The Community Manager Lore has now released a statement regarding the criticism and explained why these changes were made.
New players would like to experience the old areas together with their friends and “get to know” the game. With a bonus of 200% additional experience points, this was difficult, as areas could never be fully played through. So players were deprived of the chance to “relax” while playing together, as the leveling process was unnecessarily accelerated.
Back then, it was desirable for players to quickly reach the endgame with their friends, but that is no longer necessary today. Because anyone who buys the current expansion gets a free level boost anyway.
However, another issue also played into the decision to modify the “Recruit a Friend” program.
WoW players create second accounts to siphon bonuses
Apparently, there were a lot of players who did not use the “Recruit a Friend” program to actually recruit friends, but rather to benefit themselves. They sent themselves a code and registered a second WoW account. They then played “with themselves” by running two WoW versions in parallel, allowing them to quickly level two characters to max level. After the job was done, the character from the second account was transferred to the first account. If needed, this process was repeated.
According to Community Manager Lore, this practice is best described as “chaotic” and was never intended.
However, they take the feedback to heart and recognize the problem that players would like to progress faster when leveling Twinks. This will be considered in the “future development of the game”.
The developers prefer to solve this problem directly in the game and do not want to implement a bizarre, provisional solution in the form of the “Recruit a Friend” program.
Reactions to Blizzard’s statement are mixed. Some players share the view that “Recruit a Friend” should encourage players to experience the beautiful old areas of WoW together with a friend.
Other players find it a farce that Blizzard reacted this way. They should have thought about the consequences beforehand and offered an alternative for faster leveling before simply weakening the system overnight.
What do you think about the changes to “Recruit a Friend” and Blizzard’s statement? Was the change good and sensible? Or is this just a method to sell more level boosters?
With Sunkern and Lunatone, more special monsters from Generation 3 have arrived in Pokémon GO. Their traits make them unique.
On January 23, 2018, Niantic added 23 more Generation 3 monsters to their mobile hit “Pokémon GO”. These are monsters that first appeared in Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire. Among these monsters are two very special Pokémon that you can never find at the same time in the same place.
Sunkern and Lunatone – Day and Night? Wandering Regionals?
The developers did not explain which new Generation 3 Pokémon have now been added to the game in the announcement. Instead, trainers are encouraged to go out and find out which monsters are now catchable in the wild.
However, there was another hint from official sources. On the Pokémon website, it is explained that many new Rock and Ground Pokémon are now in the game. It states that Lunatone and Sunkern are particularly noteworthy.
These two exotic monsters can be found everywhere in the world, “… but never in the same region at the same time.” These words are now causing heated discussions in the Pokémon GO community. Do the developers mean that the two are wandering regional Pokémon, switching places like Farfetch’d and Sengo?
Another speculation is that the two might be day and night active. This would explain why they would never be found simultaneously in the same region. So Lunatone would be night-exclusive and Sunkern only found during the day. If this speculation is true, it would be a cool addition that many trainers would welcome.
We are curious how Niantic will make the two monsters “special” in the game. This will likely become clear in the next few hours when trainers have hunted for the two and shared their findings with the community.
We also warmly invite you to join our Pokémon GO group on Facebook to share your latest experiences with other trainers. To not miss any news about Generation 3, you should also subscribe to our Pokémon GO Facebook page.
The latest update for Overwatch is now live. Patch 1.19.13 improves the old loot boxes and brings plenty of new skins.
As promised, Blizzard today, on January 23, 2018, deployed the latest patch for Overwatch to the live servers. Update 1.20 can now be downloaded and installed on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
The highlight for most players is probably the new map “Blizzard World”. In this map, which is a mix of attack and escort, you play in a fictional amusement park of the future. The entire park is filled with the various universes of Blizzard, so you can also find StarCraft, Warcraft, Diablo, and Hearthstone.
New Skins and Cosmetic Items
If the new map doesn’t interest you, you’re surely excited about the numerous innovations in the loot boxes. Blizzard has updated the “standard” loot boxes and implemented over 100 new cosmetic items. This includes not only spray logos and icons but also plenty of cool skins. For example, D.Va gets a cute “Black Cat” appearance and becomes a true catgirl. Zarya becomes a barbarian and Reinhardt becomes the mighty crusader.
Balance changes are not included in the patch. Although larger adjustments for Mercy and Junkrat are forthcoming, they will be released at a later date.
New Patch in Overwatch: Queue Times Included
Please keep in mind that in the first hours after deploying the patch, there may be wait times of several minutes when trying to log into Overwatch. This issue will likely resolve itself within the next few hours, as usual.
How do you like the new patch? Do you think the new map is good? Or are you already on the hunt for the new skins?
For many players from the West, Monster Hunter World (PS4, Xbox, PC) may be the first installment of the franchise. We have created a list that shows what you can expect from the action RPG before you purchase Monster Hunter World.
Capcom aims to conquer the West for the first time with Monster Hunter World. The franchise is popular in Japan, while the Monster Hunter titles have remained rather niche here. This is partly because Monster Hunter has mostly only appeared on handheld consoles, which are less common in the West, making it inaccessible for many.
So many still do not know what to expect from Monster Hunter World. We have selected 4 things that you should know before you get this action RPG.
1. Monster Hunter World will be a pure loot grinder
Monster Hunter World falls under the genre of role-playing games. You take on the role of a monster hunter who slays and captures dangerous creatures. The developers told us in an interview that the story campaign of Monster Hunter World will take about 40-50 hours.
The story in Monster Hunter World takes a back seat and is only there for support! The core of the game is the grind for ever better and new equipment. You can craft new weapons and gear from parts of the slain monsters. Each monster can be seen as a wandering loot box.
You will often find yourself busy slaying the same monster over and over. For your equipment, you need specific body parts from the monsters. When you kill or capture them, you get the parts when you carve your prey. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to get the specific hide or horn you still need for the new weapon.
The story quest is more about guiding you through the game and introducing the various monsters and their surroundings. If you want to get Monster Hunter World, make sure you are up for a hard grind.
However, every battle with the monsters is unique, as they behave intelligently, and new situations can arise at any time.
2. Monster Hunter World will offer content for a limited time
In an interview with Metro, it turned out that producer Ryozo Tsujimoto does not even know what “Games as a Service” means. In Japan, the concept of developing and maintaining games over years is still quite unfamiliar.
Monster Hunter World will offer many free expansions after release. These usually consist of bringing a new monster to hunt. However, do not expect that with Monster Hunter World you have a title that you will play for years. It will not be a service game like Destiny or The Elder Scrolls Online.
The average player typically “binges” Monster Hunter World for a few weeks to months. Most are satisfied if they have defeated all boss monsters at least once.
However, there will also be players who will immerse themselves into Monster Hunter World for several hundred hours. Anyone who wants to have all the armors and weapons will have plenty to do. Additionally, there will be trophies you can collect. In total, there will be 50 achievements in Monster Hunter World: 1 Platinum, 2 Gold, 11 Silver, and 36 Bronze trophies.
Instead of continuously developing Monster Hunter World, Capcom will then work on a new major “Monster Hunter” installment.
3. A shift in thinking is required: There are no XP, no health bars, and no “strongest” weapon
The gameplay of Monster Hunter World will represent a new experience for many. The learning curve is steep, and little is explained in the game.
New players may be confused to find that monsters do not have health bars. In Monster Hunter World, you must pay attention to other things to figure out how wounded your opponent is. Monsters start to pant, they look battered, and flee when they are not well. You need to observe the animals closely.
In many RPGs, characters gain a level-up or new skills by collecting XP. In Monster Hunter World, you are what you wear. This means that only your equipment determines how strong your character is. The weapons and armor can be further upgraded and improved. Additionally, it is crucial how well you know your opponents and their weaknesses to be successful.
For the weapons, a “tier list for weapons” won’t help you. While some weapons have higher base damage than others, ultimately you can defeat all monsters with any weapon. This is partly due to how you upgrade the weapon and partly how you can personally handle it. Some are top hunters with bow and arrow, while others slaughter monsters with a katana like angry young gods.
Players can also join some missions late via a “drop-in” feature, allowing for flexible group dynamics as not everyone needs to arrive on time. If too much time passes, latecomers will not receive a reward for the quest, and it will not count as completed. You will still keep the monster loot and items even if you were late.
The strength of the monsters scales with the number of party members on a quest. If you are alone, the monsters have somewhat less health than if you are with 2-4 players.
The death of a developer at CCP Games shocked not only his colleagues but also the players of the MMORPG EVE Online. Therefore, they have now started a fundraising campaign for the survivors.
CCP Blaze, one of the software developers at CCP Games, unexpectedly passed away last November at the young age of 35. This was a shock – not only for his colleagues at the development studio but also for the community of the MMORPG EVE Online when they heard about it. Blaze leaves behind his fiancée and a 1-year-old daughter.
Blaze Skin in honor of the deceased employee
In his honor, the “Blaze” Squadron Skin Set has been developed for the game. The proceeds from its sale will be forwarded to the fiancée and daughter of “CCP Blaze”.
And these skins have been eagerly purchased by the EVE community.
Plex fundraising campaign is a great success – 3.7 million Plex
In just one week in December, from the 12th to the 19th, more than 3.7 million Plex were collected, which amounts to $119,828.50. With the PLEX, one could have obtained 620 years of gameplay in EVE Online.
This is the second highest amount ever raised by a fundraising campaign in EVE Online. This money now goes to the survivors.
CCP Games appears visibly moved by the campaign and can hardly find words to express the gratitude and feelings they experience. The EVE community has once again proven that they stand for good. The players can really be proud of that!
MapleStory M is the mobile version of the classic MMORPG from Korea. Now you can play the open beta of the mobile game on Android smartphones.
Do you remember the Korean online role-playing game MapleStory? It is an MMORPG that was released in 2003 in Korea and 2007 in Europe. It features adorable anime graphics that you experience in 2D side-scroller style.
In Korea, there has been a mobile version called MapleStory M for smartphones since 2016. The game was successful and popular there. It reached over 2 million downloads in the first two weeks and was number 1 in the Google Play Store and the App Store.
Now MapleStory M is also available in Europe and the USA as a free open beta!
Open beta until the end of January, but only for Android
The beta of MapleStory M will be available until January 30, 2018. You can download and play the game via Google Play on your Android devices. An iOS version is planned for release later in the year.
The beta version of MapleStory M includes among other things:
Return to Maple World: Fans of original MapleStory meet many characters and locations from the original.
5 original characters: With the classes Dark Knight, Bowmaster, Night Lord, Bishop, and Corsair, you get 5 well-known hero types from MapleStory.
Daily dungeons: You can clear dungeons daily and earn jewels for character upgrades.
Mini-dungeons: Here you can loot special quest items.
Mu Lung Dojo: A challenge where you clear layer by layer of monsters until you reach the final boss, Mu Gong.
Nett’s deadly pyramid: Here you will face mummies and treasures.
Raids: You can form teams with up to ten friends to challenge the raid boss Zakum and earn exclusive rewards.
In Destiny 2, today, on January 23rd, is the Weekly Reset. There is a new Nightfall strike and the winner of the Faction Rally has also been determined.
The first team contest in Season 2 has just ended. The winner is the New Monarchy, which is now offering you the legendary auto rifle “Loquitor IV” in the Tower Bazaar. The weapon is available for purchase until the next Weekly Reset. Faction members pay 1000 Glimmer, while everyone else has to put down 50,000 Glimmer.
After the turbulence surrounding the Faction Rally, we are now entering a fairly quiet week in Destiny 2. The following week, starting January 30th, will be more eventful: the first Iron Banner of Season 2 will begin, and Bungie will be deploying an update, which will introduce these 5 new features and fixes.
But first, let’s see what this week brings. The Weekly Reset was at 6 PM today.
Nightfall strike from January 23rd on PS4, Xbox One, and PC
This week is The Corrupted Pillar of the Nightfall.
The modifiers:
Friction: Health and shield regeneration are slower. Create Light sources by defeating enemies. These regenerate health and charge your Super.
Timewarp: Until the Next Event: Defeat enemies to extend the mission timer.
The challenges:
Complete the Nightfall with at least 5 minutes remaining.
Complete the Nightfall with fewer than 3 deaths.
As a fireteam, do not let Protheon’s flaming ground attack hit you before defeating him.
In the Eververse, you can get the Shoulder Dance emote and the Winner’s Taunt emote for Glimmer. As Exotics, you can buy a weapon ornament for Workhorse, an ornament for Colony, and an ornament for the Titan chest piece, Sacred Fireheart.
Ikora Rey has meditations for Tidal Wave, Hope, and A Garden World.
There are issues with the PSN today, January 23rd. The PlayStation Network is experiencing problems, with error codes CE-34861-2 and WS-37503-8 becoming more frequent.
Update January 26th.: The PSN is experiencing a disruption again. Players are reporting that they cannot log in. The message indicates that the PSN is undergoing maintenance. According to the PlayStation Status, there are issues with all services.
Original message from January 23rd, when the PSN also had issues.
Anyone looking to play online on their PS4 this evening is facing a problem: The PSN, the PlayStation Network, is experiencing a disruption.
Since around 5:30 PM, complaints are increasing that players cannot log into online games. Currently, at 8 PM, there is still no improvement in sight.
The PSN is not completely down; some online services are still functioning. However, the friends list takes forever to load, and logging into online games takes significantly longer than usual. In some games or specific online modes, players cannot log in at all.
If the friends list takes too long to load, the error code CE-34861-2 is displayed. This means that the PlayStation Network may be overloaded. Update: The error code is now WS-37503-8. This indicates that the PSN is undergoing maintenance.
In the meantime, there is an official statement from Sony via Twitter: They are aware that users are experiencing problems with some features in the PSN. They thank you for your patience while the developers investigate the issue.
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According to the PSN status, all services are functioning – except for “Gaming and social networks.” Here is the official notice:
Affected services: You may have difficulties starting games, applications, or online features. Our developers are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we appreciate your patience.
The affected platforms are PS3 and PS4. The PlayStation Store is functioning flawlessly.
In summary: It is not your internet connection that is causing problems with the PSN at the moment, but rather Sony. How long the disruptions will last remains uncertain.
A new wave of Gen-3 Pokémon is on its way to Pokémon GO. Which monsters could they be?
Starting today, January 23rd, you will find additional monsters from the Hoenn region in Pokémon GO. This is the next wave of Gen-3 Pokémon that trainers have been waiting for. However, Niantic did not provide details on which Pokémon are now in the game.
New Monsters of Generation 3 in Pokémon GO
In a blog post, the developers explained that starting today you will encounter 23 additional Pokémon in Pokémon GO, which originate from the video games Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire.
However, the developers did not provide detailed information about the new monsters. Apparently, they want to send trainers on a journey of discovery where they are supposed to find new Pokémon themselves.
The accompanying title image features Groudon, which has already made its way to Pokémon GO. Also visible:
With the content patch 4.2 of Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix aims to tackle the crisis concerning housing in their flagship MMORPG. This has now led to a surge in the housing market. Some real estate sharks may have panicked.
Strict rules on buying and clearing properties are set to prevent the scarce houses in Final Fantasy XIV from being resold at inflated prices in the future. When a new housing area is implemented, real estate professionals buy properties and resell them at a significant markup.
This will soon no longer be possible.
However, there were some ambiguities in the regulations that sparked heated discussions in the community and a sudden increase in house sales.
Will players be punished retrospectively?
Primarily, players have been wondering what will happen to accounts that own more than just one private or guild house, thus violating the new regulations.
SE’s silence had an interesting side effect. The subreddit /ffxihousingmarket has seen a threefold increase in sales listings per day over the past four days.
This is likely due to two reasons:
On one hand, patch 4.2 prevents the “flipping” of houses. Therefore, agents need to offload their inventory before 4.2 launches. Otherwise, they will be left with dead capital.
On the other hand, this wave could be a panic sell-off. Players with many properties fear losing their excess houses with the launch of patch 4.2. They fear expropriation.
However, as it is not allowed in FFXIV to advertise the sale of properties through the group search in-game, the selling frenzy has been moved to an external platform.
Community representative clarifies the situation
To put an end to the debates in the official forums and on Reddit, community representative Clément “Kaposhipi” Ruggeri clarified the situation in his post:
Thank you for your feedback regarding the changes to the private housing system. I have an update for you regarding your question about what will happen to the housing of players who own more than one private house! It was verbally mentioned in the producer’s letter, but players who own more than one private home will NOT lose their homes after patch 4.2!
I hope this information helps you!
Opinions in the community are divided
On one hand, many believe it is unfair to punish players for violating a rule that did not exist “at the time of the offense.”.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC, Xbox One) still has a lot of cheaters despite a large ban wave. They have now started to heal and resurrect themselves immediately.
For some players, there seems to be nothing better in online games than to throw in a few cheats and then win with unfair advantages. Such cheaters naturally annoy the rest of the community, and the developers regularly retaliate with ban waves. This happened in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, where over 100,000 cheaters were banned in one go.
But the war against the cheaters is like the proverbial fight against windmills, because hardly a few cheaters are gone, they come back in large numbers and continue to cheat.
Cheaters heal and resurrect themselves immediately
To the dismay of honest players, there are still plenty of cheaters around. They are now cheating not only with the well-known aimbots, wallhacks, and speed hacks, which allow them to see through walls, hit extremely accurately, or zip around at high speeds.
They also have cheats that allow them to resurrect their fellow cheaters immediately and heal themselves just as quickly.
Such actions normally take several seconds in the game, during which you are defenseless. Thanks to the cheat, the cheaters are immediately up and running again, giving all honest players a long nose.
Cheaters in the proof video
One such cheat victim is Reddit user and PUBG fan MagicIsBull. He uploaded the kill cam footage on Reddit. You can see exactly how the cheaters pull themselves up immediately and carry on.
https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/ThickHarshEyra
Such cheats have been common for a while according to comments on Reddit. But that less than a short time after the large ban wave cheating is already happening again happily is simply frustrating and sad for many players.
Players demand China ban
A large number of cheaters are said to come from China. Therefore, many players still demand a region lock that excludes Chinese players from all non-China servers. However, this does not align with the ideas of PUBG head Brendan Greene.
Instead, they want to work closely with Tencent, the China publisher of PUBG, to combat cheaters more effectively. Recently, around 120 cheat programmers from China have even been arrested!
A vulnerability in Blizzard software could lead to major problems for players in WoW, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Diablo 3, or the PC version of Destiny 2. The software from Blizzard can be hacked via JavaScript.
This must be quite embarrassing for Blizzard. Google’s Project Zero security researchers were able to uncover a significant issue with the Battle.net app. Apparently, the software that installs all Blizzard games on PC has a huge security problem.
Blizzard Update Agent is likely to have a vulnerability
Part of the Battle.net app is the Blizzard Update Agent, which runs in the background and usually ensures that games (World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Diablo 3, Destiny 2) are kept up to date. Patches and updates are downloaded and installed through it.
Through a hacking method known as DNS Rebinding, hackers could exploit this software – simply through JavaScript commands.
Simply visiting an infected website is enough to gain access to the user’s computer. Due to the extensive permissions of the Update Agent, hackers could easily carry out uninstallations and other commands that should actually be reserved for admins.
It has even been proven that through this vulnerability hackers would be able to cause the software to change the paths of downloads and subsequently download malicious files independently.
Blizzard is already working on a solution
Blizzard has been aware of this issue since December. Since then, Blizzard has been working on a solution, which will be implemented with one of the upcoming patches for the Battle.net software.
A temporary hotfix for damage limitation is already in place. Blizzard has now activated a blacklist for such requests, which is intended to temporarily intercept harmful requests.
Until the issue is resolved, you should perhaps avoid unusual sites that others recommend. Although… just don’t visit any unusual sites.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
When referring a new player to World of Warcraft, the accounts of the referrer and the new player have previously been linked for 90 days. When both players played a new character together, they received a whopping 200% additional experience points. This bonus could even be further increased with heirlooms to get nearly 250% additional experience points.
On January 22, 2018, Blizzard radically reduced this bonus to 50% and it can no longer be stacked with heirlooms.
It didn’t take long for some players to express outrage over these changes in the forums. It is obvious that Blizzard is trying to sell even more character boosts by dragging out the leveling process. After all, the required XP for a level-up has also increased with the scaling of the entire game world.
Players demand cheaper character boosts to level 100
The players’ demand is clear: as a sign of “goodwill” and to show that they are not simply looking to sell more character boosts, Blizzard should reduce the costs of the character boost by the same proportion as the reduction in experience points received – a proud 75%. Instead of €60, a character boost to level 100 would then only cost €15.
Alternatively, the costs of a character boost should be dynamic, calculated based on the remaining levels. If a character is boosted from level 50 to 100, there should be a 50% discount.
Blizzard has not yet commented on these demands.
Are Blizzard just greedy, wanting to sell even more level boosts? Some players suspect so.
Cortyn says: Honestly, I find the “demands” of these players quite audacious. Sure, there are a few people who simply don’t enjoy leveling. However, one cannot ignore that leveling in World of Warcraft has always been an essential part of the game.
With the latest patch, leveling is finally back to being in a pleasantly playable form, allowing Blizzard to adjust the experience point bonuses. Honestly, I see this as a “good thing” because new players should also be able to enjoy the old zones. They are still faster than without a friend.
