In Warframe (PC, PS4, Xbox One) there is the horror quest “Chains of Harrow” – This is said to resemble a terrible nightmare in which one is chased by something unknown. Our author Leya plays “Chains of Harrow” live in a stream and invites you to join her on this horror trip. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
This quest makes even the strongest space ninjas shiver, and the words “Rap, Tap, Tap” trigger post-traumatic states in some players.
I have not played the quest yet and only know that “Chains of Harrow” is said to resemble a creepy chase where one becomes the victim. I warmly invite you to join me on this horror trip!
If you do not know the quest yet and do not want spoilers, you should not watch the stream. Below, the stream will be embedded, so from now on there will be spoilers.
Date and time of the stream:
When? The stream will take place today, on December 3rd
What time?The stream will last 3 hours from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM in the evening. – If I have not finished Chains of Harrow by 8 PM, I will still complete the quest.
More and more development studios and publishers want to jump on the “Destiny train” and offer “Game as a Service” games that are structured similarly to Bungie’s successful shooters Destiny and Destiny 2. But does this not lead to market saturation? Is another bubble looming?
If we look back about 13 years, Blizzard’s MMORPG World of Warcraft created a wave of online role-playing games. Development studios and publishers believed they had found the new Holy Grail of the gaming industry, one that could delight millions of gamers and rake in even more millions of dollars.
Too much competition is not good either
More and more MMORPGs were developed, which ultimately led to the entire market being flooded. This has somewhat stabilized now, but even today new MMOs are regularly released. In a market that is actually saturated.
An MMORPG thrives on many players, but in a saturated market, the customer base gets spread across many products. This causes weaker games to be filtered out. As can be seen, many MMORPGs have not managed to hold their ground in the market – simply because the competition is so fierce.
Are we facing the same situation with the upcoming Destiny-like games?
A lucrative game model – and everyone wants to join in
Destiny is a successful game and has a gameplay structure that is gratifying for developers. It combines online elements with single-player content. Missions can be completed either solo or in groups, and in the hub, players meet each other. Microtransactions can also be integrated well. It seems to be an excellent model that connects many players.
And yet, do we want to see a wave of similar titles in the future? Where is the variety then? Do we not want to experience completely different things when trying out new games? New game systems? New worlds? New mechanics? Something we do not already know inside out?
“Another game like Destiny?”
Game companies are primarily businesses and are therefore focused on profit. When a lucrative business model comes up, it usually has to be imitated. We can only hope that it does not “get out of hand” like it did with MMORPGs: For a long time, the nth WoW clone only elicited yawns from players, and developers invested a lot of time and money in games that hardly anyone wanted to play.
Wouldn’t it be a shame if one day we thought, “A game like Destiny? Again?”
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With the update 1.8, the new Rogue system “Rogue 2.0” comes to The Division – despite criticism.
Since the launch of The Division, the Dark Zone has followed the same pattern: Some players run through a designated area, defeat NPCs, and collect loot. When encountering other players, you can team up with them, ignore them – or shoot them down and steal their loot.
This is intended to make the Dark Zone the most exciting place in the game, where everyone represents a potential, unpredictable danger.
Over the last year and a half, little has changed in this PvE-PvP area. There was a feature added that allowed cutting the helicopter rope, and at the beginning of 2017, the DZ was expanded to the north – but the Rogue mechanics have not changed so far.
This “Rogue / Non-Rogue” system is the basis for Rogue 2.0 with the update 1.8.
What is Rogue 2.0 actually?
The probably most important change of Rogue 2.0: There is no more friendly fire. You can no longer accidentally become rogue.
So far it was the case: Whoever fired first became rogue. Since it is rewarded when you eliminate rogues, many players intentionally ran into the line of fire of other players so that they would unintentionally become rogue and could be eliminated.
Rogue 2.0 abolishes this sneaky method. From now on, you must show your intention to become rogue in advance.Then the other agents have a short time to prepare for the upcoming fight. Because with the previous rogue system, you only realized another agent was going rogue when they had already shot at you. This meant you could only react to the attack after you had already lost many health points. And this usually led to inevitable defeat.
Your ISAC system will inform you about rogue intentions. It is important: If a player from your squad becomes rogue, you can decide whether you want to become rogue as well. You will not automatically be “pulled in”.
Moreover, the manhunt status will be revised with Rogue 2.0. If you want to get rid of the “manhunt”, you must run to a random location in the Dark Zone that is displayed on the map. There you can deactivate your status. Then you will receive rewards. This objective is intended to bring more action to the manhunts.
The maximum manhunt rank is 5. Depending on the rank, there are reward crates that can contain exotics and “secret gear sets”.
Overall, it should be more rewarding to become rogue, but also to hunt rogues.
Rogue 2.0 has already been tested on the PTS, where it was controversially discussed:
Some praised this new system, especially the abolition of friendly fire, which prevents anyone from intentionally throwing themselves in front of bullets to gain advantages.
However, some criticized it, as it takes away the tension and unpredictability from the Dark Zone. “Hey you, please be careful, I’m going to attack you soon.”
Massive has now commented on Rogue 2.0. It is intended to ensure better balance in the Dark Zone. The goal is to have a 50/50 distribution between PvE and PvP activities in the DZ. Currently, we are far from that.
Over 75% of all kills occur in PvP, and most of them come from rogues who eliminate “peaceful agents”. Additionally, this graphic was released: It shows the deaths in the Dark Zone over the past months and how the percentages changed with the updates:
The red area indicates how many players died from rogues,
the green area indicates how many rogues died from non-rogues,
and the orange area indicates how many agents die from NPCs.
Rogue 2.0 is intended to balance this. Non-rogue players should have better chances to defend themselves. This should make PvP in the Dark Zone fairer.
Massive emphasizes that The Division is a live game. This includes changes. Regarding the Rogue 2.0 critics from the PTS, the developers directly say: Agents play on the live servers with different intentions than on the PTS. This is a new situation. They will keep a close eye on Rogue 2.0 once it is released with update 1.8 and may make further adjustments.
Lineage 2 Revolution (iOS and Android) is the perfect game for a quick break while still igniting the competitive spirit, says our author Jürgen. Learn here why Jürgen logs in daily and spends at least an hour in Netmarble’s mobile MMO.
Lineage 2 Revolution plays almost by itself. You can watch your hero grind. It may sound boring, but it’s more enjoyable than one would admit. A good hour of Lineage 2 Revolution has now simply become part of a successful day for me.
But what makes the game’s fascination?
A Dream for Micro-Managers and Optimizers
Every morning I start the same routine. Right after waking up, I check Lineage 2 Revolution to see if there are any special events happening. Then I begin my daily and weekly quests, which my hero accomplishes automatically thanks to autopilot. I just have to assign him a new task every now and then. In between, I take a shower, brush my teeth, and make coffee.
While my character happily grinds monsters, I occasionally organize his inventory, claim rewards and achievements, and optimize the combat value. The combat value is the eternal carrot on a stick that keeps me engaged in the game. The combat value is the sum of all the advantages my hero has.
The higher the combat value, the tougher challenges I can take on and get even better loot. And with this loot, I further improve my combat value to tackle even tougher challenges! An eternal cycle of grinding and optimizing that is addictive!
Players Take Charge! It Works Without Autopilot
Then again, there are situations where the combat value isn’t optimal yet to confidently let the autopilot take over. But the loot is especially tempting.
This is the point where you can prove your skill as a player and still enter the dungeon. With a little skill, you can defeat strong opponents after a tough battle with a combat value that is actually too low.
The cool thing is: The game remembers this achievement, and almost all instances can later be completed automatically at the currently best level with auto-completion items. It is worth the effort to tackle a tougher challenge manually once.
I have cleared the “Tower of Insult”, a kind of eternal dungeon where you fend off increasingly stronger waves of enemies, with much effort several levels above my own.
The bonuses earned this way kept me going for a long time, and for a while I had a better combat value than other players at my level. A wonderful feeling of achievement!
Great Anticipation for PvP
I spend a good hour every day on Lineage 2 Revolution. Besides the action in the morning, I quickly check in during lunch break, and I finish the rest comfortably in the evening alongside household chores or while on the bus to the pub (if the connection is good).
There’s something meditative about watching my dark elf slice through enemies. Often, I do nothing and just enjoy how he unleashes fury. It’s almost like wellness!
But until then, I still have to properly optimize my combat value so that I don’t appear as a noob in front of my guild colleagues from the Mein-MMO guild! So let’s get grinding!
With patch 7.3.5, a lot changes in World of Warcraft. There is a new hub for the Horde – Suramar will become a small Horde city!
Currently, the update 7.3.5 is being tested on the test servers of World of Warcraft. This brings a lot of changes to the game world, such as the messages of the Horde and Alliance, as well as the first gameplay data for the upcoming expansion Battle for Azeroth. Dataminers and players are finding new details in the game, and one thing is sure to please all “Hordish” fans of the Nightborne.
As we have known since BlizzCon 2017, the Nightborne are joining the Horde as a new “allied race“. However, even in patch 7.3.5, there are the first signs of this because the great city of Suramar is changing.
The displayed images are from wowhead (see sources).
The re-conquest of the city is largely completed, the Nighthold has been taken by Lady Thalyssra and her rebels. Anyone who wants to see this only needs to fly to the Nighthold, in the non-instanced area – meaning the Nighthold in the Suramar area, not within the raid.
Many old acquaintances in Suramar
In addition to Thalyssra, Ly’leth, Oculeth, and Valtrois, you will also find Theryn, the withered, who was essential for the research on training the withered army. He has now found his peace and is strolling (still without sense) leisurely through the park and is accompanied by a caregiver.
Since there is no longer a need for arc wine, as the Arc’andor has healed the Nightborne, the vintners now only produce regular wine.
For Horde players, there are even new portals here – to Shal’Aran, Dalaran, and Orgrimmar.
On the PTR of patch 7.3.5, however, the residents of the area are friendly to both Horde and Alliance. This will likely change only with the release of Battle for Azeroth.
The “old” Suramar remains old
The basic quest area will remain unchanged. For fresh characters at level 110, nothing changes. They can still complete the entire Suramar campaign and miss nothing. The “old” areas of the city also remain largely unchanged. World quests can still be completed.
It will be strange when a Nightborne quests in Suramar – whether there will be slight variations in the existing quests remains to be seen. Otherwise, it could get very, very strange.
Are you looking forward to the changes in Suramar? Or will you not be hanging around there anyway?
An official image from Bungie has surfaced, showing the true scale of the Traveler from Destiny 2. This was necessary – because the game does not always provide the right perspective to make estimates.
The Traveler is one of the central “Figures” in Destiny 2. He is omnipresent. The massive sphere has been hovering above the last refuge of humanity since the Collapse. It was already known that the Traveler has gigantic dimensions – but the exact measurements were not known, at least until now!
14 kilometers of pure light
For an image has emerged that shows the Traveler in relation to enemy spaceships. This and other concept art comes from Bungie’s concept artist Dorje Bellbrok, which he published on his blog! According to this, the diameter of the Traveler is 14,000 meters:
This makes the Traveler outshine all other formations on our planet, even Mount Everest, which is only a measly 8,849 meters high. For comparison: The Earth has a diameter of about 12,700 kilometers.
Also interesting: Even next to the Destiny 2 location Nessus, the Traveler need not hide; the planetoid measures only 60 km in diameter.
That’s why the Traveler could have wiped out the dinos
Scientific calculations revealed that the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs millions of years ago was between 10 and 15 kilometers in size. The Traveler fits perfectly into this scheme.
The meteor that allegedly has the dinosaurs on its conscience
One can count themselves lucky that the Traveler was friendly towards humans; a slight shove, and the few insects that would have survived the catastrophe could have enjoyed a golden age.
The Traveler and the right perspective
The Traveler does not always appear so gigantic. Even though the sphere is visible from space, the Traveler does not seem that impressive upon close inspection. These perspective flaws can be found in several places within the game.
The following image shows the Traveler as seen from space:
The Traveler clearly stands out from the earth’s surface. The following image comes from the second story mission of Destiny 2 and provides an impressive, albeit perspectively questionable, panorama:
The Traveler appears much smaller than when viewed from space. These irregularities clearly serve for presentation, but make accurate estimates more challenging. Such inconsistencies were also apparent in the predecessor.
Oryx’s Dreadnaught also offered more show than substance
With the Taken King, Oryx parked his Dreadnaught in the rings of Saturn. In relation to the rings, estimates suggest that the Dreadnaught must be between 1,000 and 2,500 km long.
Doesn’t seem so gigantic in this view: The Dreadnaught
For comparison: The Death Star from Star Wars measures only 900 km in diameter. In the story sequences and when approaching the Dreadnaught, however, it appears much smaller.
Even though the dimensions are not always easily ascertainable, large objects are impressive and must also be easily recognizable from close up for presentation purposes. For this reason, the Traveler does not always appear to be the same size.
What do you think? Would you have considered the Traveler to be larger or smaller?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Warframe, there is the “TennoGen” project, in which fans design skins for frames and weapons. The community votes on which skins will actually come to the online shooter. The creators share in the profits of the skins.
The developers at Digital Extremes place great importance on being close to the community. Therefore, there are ongoing projects that involve the fans of Warframe in game design. TennoGen is one of these projects where fans can express their creativity and artistry.
With TennoGen, fans submit their content for Warframe through the Steam Workshop. Then, there is a vote on which fan-created content should actually appear in the online shooter. Anyone can vote and discuss the submitted content.
Digital Extremes has the final say on which community skins are implemented in Warframe. Each selected skin will then be available for sale in Warframe’s in-game market.The profits from the sales are shared between Digital Extremes and the creators of the respective skin/s.
Largest bundle to date: TennoGen 11 brings 34 new community skins to Warframe
Round 11 of TennoGen has just concluded, bringing a total of 34 new skins for characters, weapons, and syandanas. According to Digital Extremes, this is the largest bundle of fan content that has come to Warframe so far.
Digital Extremes plans to distribute the 34 community skins in 3 waves over a month on PC, as there are so many this time. It is still unknown when exactly this will happen. The developers hope to release the skins on consoles in the future as well. Some of the older TennoGen skins have already made it to PS4 and Xbox One.
Anyone who wants to buy one of the fan skins must link their Steam account with Warframe. The skins cannot be purchased with the in-game currency Platinum, only through common Steam currency.
The TennoGen rounds take place at irregular intervals. However, new content ideas can always be submitted through the Steam Workshop.
These fan cosmetics will be seen in Warframe soon
Here we show an excerpt of the 34 community skins from TennoGen 11.
Diva Octavia, by lukinu_u (This skin was also used in the title image)
Dracun Nezha, by Novabjorn
Mirage-Mithra, by lukinu_u
Oberon Taurus Helmet, by Master Noob
Phorcys – PolearmOrthos Model Swap, by Stenchfury
If you want to see more than this excerpt, you can findall 34 new community skins in the official Warframe forum.
The developers of Fortnite want to further expand the PvP mode Battle Royale. In the future, it should become easier to find friends, the inventory should improve, and player killers should be penalized more effectively.
Fortnite: Battle Royale, the PvP mode of Fortnite, will soon be bigger and more efficient. The developers are diligently working on a whole range of changes, some of which should be coming soon.
Find your friends more easily & punish team killers
The developers want you to find your friends in the game more easily in the future. Therefore, there should be options to find and invite people via social media. Additionally, there should be duo playlists for regions like Oceania that have not had such options before.
Another issue is team killers. To prevent such villains from ruining your fun, work is being done on a better system to report team killers. It should also become clearer whether and how a response to a player killer report is handled. Ultimately, there should be a model to filter out the worst offenders and only allow “nice” players to play together.
In addition, the developers want to improve shooting behavior. The random shot deviation while aiming should be fixed. According to the developers, the new system already looks promising, but further testing is required.
Better inventory, statistics, and much more
For the future, the developers have even more cool innovations planned for Battle Royale. Among other things, you can look forward to the following innovations:
There will be a new UI for the inventory that is cleaner and more organized
A detailed statistics page after the match
The map will be expanded with more points of interest
Some items like pickaxes, gliders, and characters will be completely overhauled
The footsteps of your teammates will be quieter. Depending on the terrain, footsteps will sound different. An audio bug that makes sounds follow players permanently will be fixed soon
Game modes with time limits are coming in December
Server performance will be improved
There will be better leaderboards
There will be more weapons and items
Custom games with your own parameters are planned
Constant 30 FPS is the goal for consoles. Performance takes precedence over graphics
There will be special badges and medals for cool actions in the game
Soon, players of WoW will have to say “bye bye” to their artifact weapons. We reveal how the farewell from the weapons takes place.
The major feature of the current expansion of World of Warcraft, Legion, is the artifact weapons. These powerful items are not only the strongest that Azeroth has to offer in the context of the story, but they have accompanied heroes for over a year. Some of them, like Xal’atath (Shadow Priest) or Aluneth (Arcane Mage), even have their own personalities. All of them are much more than just lifeless instruments of murder.
But soon it will be time to say goodbye to the artifact weapons in WoW. The weapons are not a feature of the next WoW expansion Battle for Azeroth, because there, “ordinary” weapons will drop from the bosses in the game again.
Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to know why we are losing our artifact weapons, you can avoid this now.
Magni calls the heroes to him
But how exactly does this tough break happen? How do players lose their artifact weapon?
The PTR of Patch 7.3.5 gives initial answers. Data miners have read out a new quest line within the game that takes place in Silithus.
As a brief reminder: In Silithus lies Sargeras’ blade, which has drilled deep into the crust of Azeroth.
At the behest of Magni Bronzebeard, players rush to this sword and are asked to take up the corruption of Sargeras’ sword with their own artifact weapons.
According to Magni, the sword has begun to poison Azeroth’s lifeblood and only the shared use of the artifact weapons of all the great heroes (i.e., all character classes) can absorb this corruption. However, this will also corrupt the artifact weapons themselves, making them ultimately useless.
At the end of this quest line, there is an in-game sequence titled “7.3.5 [AWR] Artifact Weapon Retirement.” In English: Artifact Weapons Retirement.
It is to be expected that players will still keep their artifact weapon as an item, and the quest line will merely provide the story explanation for why these weapons are no longer available.
However, it is still unknown when exactly this quest line will be activated. Most players suspect that this will not occur with Patch 7.3.5, but rather at the earliest with the big Pre-Patch 8.0, even if the data has already been found now.
Do you think it’s good that the artifact weapons are disappearing? Are you glad when these things are finally gone? Or would you rather keep them?
The history of Massive Multiplayer Online Games – or short MMOs – is longer than some might think! It extends its roots back to the 60s. The history of MMOs has taken a rocky path full of misunderstandings. We give you an overview of the milestones of MMOs!
Today, it’s hard to imagine the video game landscape without MMOs! Whether big or small titles, whether Sci-Fi or fantasy, whether for young or old – there is the right game for everyone. However, one couldn’t always draw from the full. The history of MMOs began small. The structure can be compared to a tree:
The roots: The origins of MMOs run deep but are not necessarily visible to everyone.
The trunk: In the 90s, the genre took shape, structured itself straightforwardly, and formed the basis.
The crown: In the early 2000s, the market grew lavishly. Numerous games sprouted from this boom.
The roots of MMOs lie in the details
In the 60s, the teaching and learning system “PLATO” was introduced at the University of Illinois, bringing with it a first hint of MMO. To pass the tedious time, some particularly motivated students worked on their own programs. PLATO served as a tool for communication. Over the network, one could group up with other students and fight together or against each other.
Later networks like ARPANET built on this, a US network for universities and research institutions. Many game-loving (or rather: procrastinating) students developed the first multiplayer games. These initially gained only local fame, as most networks were locally limited.
First steps with Mazewar
Over ARPANET, “Mazewar” ran from 1974. It formed the first graphical, virtual world and is thus one of the milestones on the way to today’s MMOs. For the first time, players could act together from separate computers! From a first-person perspective, one could turn around their axis in 90° increments and move back and forth. What seems commonplace to us today must have been incredibly exciting for players back then!
The MUD
Mazewar is part of the MUDs, the Multi User Dungeons. This term goes back to the first text-based “MMO” MUD 1 from 1978. Developed by students Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle, players could navigate through the highly simplified world using text commands. What seems ridiculous today was phenomenal back then: a total of 36 players could play simultaneously! It wasn’t even about defeating dangerous monsters or hoarding treasures, but simply about social interaction.
The 70s were the time of virtual mazes, and games were still free to play. But that changed in the 80s.
Who hasn’t missed multiple shots with their hand cannon, even though they aimed correctly? The blame lies with a mechanism in Destiny 2 called Bloom. But what does this mechanism do? And why do hand cannons perform so much better on PC?
A Redditor analyzed the current usage stats of weapons in Destiny 2’s Crucible. Specifically, hand cannons are significantly more popular on PC. What is the reason for this? And what role do “Aim Assist” and “Bloom” play in this? To find out, we embark on a small time travel.
Hawkmoon, Thorn, The Last Word – The Overweapons
There were times in Destiny 1 when the Crucible was predominantly populated by hand cannons. Guardians primarily played with
the Hawkmoon, which could eliminate opposing players from a great distance with a single shot,
the Thorn, whose poison damage led to an exit with just two headshots, and
the Last Word – the hand cannon with the fastest TTK of all primary weapons (approximately 0.3 seconds).
Was a powerful weapon at the start of Destiny: Hawkmoon
In combination with the standard Aim Assist on consoles, these weapons were overpowering.
To break the dominance of hand cannons, Bungie introduced a system for this weapon category called Bloom.
Bloom – also known as Ghost Bullets
The mechanism was first introduced by Bungie in Halo: Reach. The system already caused great discontent among players back then, as Bloom added a random element to fights that nobody requested.
Generally, the bullet should hit where you aim. However, with Bloom, that’s not always the case.
What does Bloom actually do? Let’s imagine a line from the barrel of the weapon to the opposing target. Without Bloom, the projectile follows that line exactly and hits where the shooter aimed.
When the Bloom mechanism comes into play, this line becomes a funnel. Visually speaking, you attach a cone to the barrel of the weapon that widens towards the target. Now, the bullet no longer hits on a line but somewhere within this funnel. Where the bullet hits exactly is left to chance.
Source: Moment.com
For this reason, hand cannons feel inconsistent. Even though you aim at the critical area of an opponent, the bullet may go astray or only hit the body. This phenomenon is also referred to as Ghost Bullets – bullets that disappear into nowhere.
To describe the manifestation of Bloom – and thus the size of the cone – we need to consider initial and final precision:
Initial precision – Describes the manifestation of Bloom upon firing the first shot. Typically, the funnel is very small with the first shot, therefore critical hits while carefully aiming are very likely. In other words, the first shot lands where you aim.
Final precision – Describes the size of the funnel after firing several shots in quick succession. The funnel becomes larger, and thus the probability of missing the target increases.
This spread was very low in Halo: Reach, in Destiny, the funnel is significantly larger, not only regarding final precision but also when firing the first shot.
The effects of this principle were vividly demonstrated by Redditor Opnomonous in a short video:
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Exotic hand cannons were too strong in Destiny 1 due to their perks and the Aim Assist on consoles, that’s why Bungie introduced the Bloom mechanism
Thanks to Bloom, projectiles no longer fly in a straight line, but in a funnel
Where the bullets hit within the funnel is determined by chance
The size of the funnel depends on initial and final precision
That’s why hand cannons perform worse in Destiny 2 than in its predecessor
Players were less than thrilled with the introduction of the Bloom mechanism. Consequently, chance now determined victory or defeat, no longer the player themselves. Why some few representatives of the category continued to be used (Eyasluna / Palindrome) was partly due to the handling of the weapons and partly due to Aim Assist.
However, the main reason were the available perks that could be rolled on the weapons. The effects of Bloom could be reduced through precision and range perks. Because range positively influences Aim Assist and the size of the funnel, shots hit their mark more often.
One of the few strong hand cannons in Destiny 2: Better Devils
This perk selection no longer exists in Destiny 2 – Guardians have to make do with what’s available. The lack of perk selection negatively affects weapon behavior. Bloom is significantly more pronounced without appropriate stability or range perks.
Consequently, hand cannons particularly suffer from the removal of random weapon rolls. Does this circumstance also reflect in the usage behavior of the Guardians? The results are surprisingly striking at first glance.
Usage behavior of weapons in the Crucible – Console / PC
This is the usage of the various weapon categories according to the external site Guardian.gg. On consoles, it looks like this (game mode Iron Banner):
Weapon usage on consoles – Source: guardian.gg
Not surprisingly, automatic rifles dominate. They are easy to handle and their range is outstanding. In second place, with a large gap, are scout rifles (or should we rather say: The scout rifle?). All other weapon types are used below average.
The picture looks quite different on PC:
Weapon usage on PC – Source: guardian.gg
Also on PC, automatic rifles are the most popular weapon category. Following closely are hand cannons. In third place are scout rifles.
Why are hand cannons so popular on PC? The answer lies in the Bloom mechanism. Because it does not exist on PC.
No Aim Assist = No Bloom
Since PC players can aim significantly more precisely with a mouse and keyboard, Aim Assist does not exist on PC. Only when a controller is connected to the PC does Aim Assist become noticeable.
With no Aim Assist, the Bloom mechanism also becomes obsolete. Thus, aimed targets are guaranteed to be hit, the element of chance is non-existent. How unpopular the Bloom mechanism is, is clearly shown by the graphic above.
It was revered in Destiny 1: Thorn
Players have been wishing for a long time for a reduction of Aim Assist, not rarely targets move through the screen, causing the aim to be thrown off. If Aim Assist were reduced, Bungie wouldn’t need to rely on the Bloom mechanism anymore, the skill of the individual player would come to the forefront again.
How Bungie will continue to handle this issue is unknown, there are no official statements. Bungie, however, is undoubtedly aware of weapon usage, it is therefore likely that hand cannons will be revised in some form. Perhaps already in one of the two major updates in December (December 5 and December 12)?
Have you noticed this mechanism before? What do you think of it?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Just a few weeks ago, they became world champions in LoL, and now they have a new employer. The League of Legends champs from Samsung Galaxy have a new owner and will soon carry a new name.
A month ago, we reported on the monumental battle between the two LoL teams Samsung Galaxy and SK Telecom T1 for the world championship in LoL. Samsung Galaxy took the trophy from the hands of LoL god Faker with a triumphant 3:0 victory, claiming the title of the world’s best LoL team for at least a year.
After that, the team extended the contracts of Ambition, Ruler, Crown, and the others.
As now known, the eSports company KSV has acquired the Samsung Galaxy team. This means KSV now has four major eSports teams under contract.
Teams of the company now compete in League of Legends, Overwatch, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and Heroes of the Storm. All these teams are based in Seoul, South Korea, the center of eSports. The PUBG and HotS teams are among the best in the world. The LoL team is now as well.
Made rich from mobile gaming, now KSV the 4th top eSports team
Behind KSV eSports is Kevin Chou, who is co-founder of the mobile gaming company “Kabam.” The company made a fortune with apps, Facebook games, and other mobile games. According to Gamesbeat, Kabam was sold in parts for more than $800 million to Netmarble and Fox. This happened in February 2017. So there’s a lot of capital that has flowed into the new company “KSV.”
KSV is an eSports company that is making waves in South Korea. The company refers to itself as a “collaboration of Silicon Valley and South Korea.“
According to Kevin Chou, the idea was considered from the start to enter LoL and saw the perfect opportunity now that Overwatch is running. Although they initially thought they had little chance of poaching Samsung’s popular LoL team, the discussions began, and everything went quite quickly.
Now with an Overwatch team (Seoul Dynasty) and a LoL team, KSV sees itself in the ideal position to become a global player in eSports.
New name for the best LoL team in the world is not yet known
According to Chou, KSV’s plan is to become the dominant force in eSports from South Korea and to aim for worldwide success, improve the players, and bring them to a global stage. They see eSports as a global growth market. Apparently, KSV is looking more towards China than North America after Korea.
The LoL team Samsung Galaxy will compete in the new LoL season under a new name. This name is not yet known.
Those who want to stay “in the game” with Hearthstone must sacrifice a lot of time or a lot of money. Is it time for Blizzard to make a change?
Players of Hearthstone who want to delve deeper into the game face a dilemma. To remain competitive, a large number of card packs is necessary. These can either be earned through hard work, requiring daily play and completing quests, or alternatively, one can throw 50€ – 200€ at the problem when a new expansion launches and have enough for another 4 months.
Finding a middle ground has become difficult. Those who only play a few matches every few weeks can forget about having more than a solid deck.
This means Hearthstone is now facing a real problem. Originally, the game was designed so that one could play a round “in between times.” Those who still want to stay in the game now must invest many hours or a lot of hard-earned euros. This scares off fans and repeatedly causes conflicts in the forums.
In an interview with PCGamesN, Art Director Ben Thompson talked about the costs of Hearthstone.
According to him, they have been considering since day one what kind of “value” players of Hearthstone receive, which applies to all aspects of the game: the experiences players have in-game, opening card packs, or opening reward chests in the Arena.
The value of Hearthstone for players is continually weighed
To address some of the criticism, Hearthstone at least offers game elements that can be played successfully completely for free – the single-player dungeon runs. Here, the player does not need any of their own cards, as everything is earned during a visit to the dungeon. With 48 different, randomly combined bosses, there is a high replay value that can still be enjoyable for newcomers even in 2 years.
The community is not satisfied with this and has numerous demands that they frequently voice in the forums:
The arcane dust cost for cards should be drastically reduced.
Legendary cards should be easier to obtain.
There should be more ways to earn current card packs more easily.
Card packs should completely disappear.
Blizzard wants, according to Thompson, to “continuously” rethink the value of things in Hearthstone. However, whether this means a price reduction in the future is hard to predict.
Cortyn asserts: Probably none of these wishes will be fulfilled anytime soon, as card packs are essentially a license to print money for Blizzard. However, it is possible that slowly but surely government regulations might put a stop to this. Because in more and more countries, the “loot box problem,” which also includes card packs, is becoming a topic that politics wants to address.
Are you actively playing Hearthstone and can live with the costs? Or have you thrown in the towel long ago because you can no longer keep up or do not want to?
After the French already got a bunch of cool airplanes in War Thunder, you will soon be able to take the notorious tanks of the French army into the field. So look forward to agile tanks with rapid-firing drum magazines and weighing towers.
In the last Update 1.73 “Vive la France” at the beginning of November, the aircraft of France entered the game in War Thunder. But the French army also doesn’t have to hide. After all, there were some interesting tank models during World War II that stood out due to their strong armor. Additionally, there are the extremely powerful post-war models that offer greater firepower and speed.
French Tanks – From Heavyweights to Agile Speedsters
During World War II, the tanks of France were heavy tanks that posed a challenge for the weaker tanks of the Wehrmacht with strong armor and powerful guns. However, hefty vehicles like the heavy tanks Char B1bis and Char B1ter were slow and cumbersome. They can therefore be easily outmaneuvered or bombed from the air.
After the war, France adopted a different tactic. The French medium tanks in War Thunder have extremely practical drum magazines. Like with a giant revolver, you can fire several grenades in quick succession and play extremely offensively. However, keep in mind that it takes quite a while to reload the entire drum magazine. So look for a quiet place to do it.
Weighing Towers – They Look Weird, But They Are Effective!
Also cool: Later French tanks have oddly crumpled-looking turrets. These “weighing towers” are designed so that the upper section takes over the aiming of the gun while the lower section performs the rotation of the entire turret. This design makes the turret overall much smaller and presents a smaller target.
Tanks such as the AMX-13 SS.11 and the M4A1 FL10 (actually a modified Sherman from the USA) both use these new technologies in War Thunder.
The tanks of France from tiers I to VI will be added to the game in the next update.
Amazon and Activision are teaming up to allow Guardians in Destiny 2 to communicate with their Ghost in the living room. This is done through Alexa and some predefined commands.
Since Star Trek, we know: In the distant future, we can ask a computer questions, give commands, and expect results using our voice. The computer knows everything, makes us Earl Grey tea, and controls the turbolift.
Even in Destiny and Destiny 2, the Guardian has a constant companion in the Ghost. The Ghost is even more active than in Star Trek. Because the Guardian mostly remains silent, the Ghost takes over the talking. Moreover, it constantly hacks into somewhere, opens doors, and warns us that we have awakened the Hive again. We would have never noticed otherwise, thank you, little light.
Star Trek and Destiny are visions of the future that our present is quickly catching up to.
With “Alexa,” an invention by Amazon, the computer voice has made its way into homes and apartments since 2015. It is an audio device that can be combined with various devices and then functions as a voice-controlled virtual personal assistant. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are already great inventions.
Alexa, tell Ghost to equip my raid gear
The publisher of Destiny 2, Activision, recently had the idea to collaborate with Amazon to initiate a partnership.
Guardians can now activate all sorts of “Ghost functions” with their voice thanks to Alexa. With sentences like “Alexa, ask the Ghost to equip my raid gear” or “Alexa, ask the Ghost to tell me who the Cabal is,” the Ghost becomes active. It provides information or executes commands.
There are three major topics for the Ghost:
Information about the game and what activities are currently available to the Guardian
the social component, how many friends are online and can they please help me with my stuff
and gear management – a permanent problem that most Guardians solve through third-party apps
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Ghost then responds in the original voice of Nolan North. The scope is said to encompass about 1000 sentences.
This Alexa Ghost works with a regular Alexa device, however… would Destiny not be Destiny if there wasn’t also a super-duper version of it for a decent price.
The boundaries between reality and gaming blur
There will be an “Alexa speaker in the shape of a Ghost” for about $90, which is supposed to complete the experience. However, that’s just a speaker and needs its own Alexa device. The speaker is expected to be available from December 19.
Additionally, Activision’s Eric Hirshberg uses some superlatives in describing the service. He talks about how awesome everything is, how groundbreaking it is, and that the Destiny 2 fans are the best community ever.
According to Hirshberg, the Ghost Skill for Alexa is the first of its kind in gaming and the most innovative and immersive gaming experience ever with Alexa. The boundaries between gaming and reality have never been so blurred as they are now.
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Availability of Alexa for Destiny 2 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland remains unclear
It is currently unclear whether this device and service will also be offered in Germany. So far, only versions for the USA and Great Britain are known.
If you need help but don’t have Alexa at home, check out our guide collection:
Dataminers have already discovered the mounts of the allied races from World of Warcraft. We will show you what the new mounts will look like!
With the next addon Battle for Azeroth, World of Warcraft will get a total of 6 new playable species. Although these allied races resemble existing races in the game, they are fundamentally independent.
On the PTR of Patch 7.3.5, more and more game data is being found that already belongs to the new addon. This includes information about the race-specific mounts.
The colleagues from mmo-champion have already extracted these mounts through datamining from the game data, allowing us to show you the mounts of the allied races here.
The Mounts of the Allied Races in Battle for Azeroth
Lightforged Draenei have, like their un-forged tentacle friends, a special bond with the Elekks that originate from Draenor. Steel for the fight against the Burning Legion, they bring their own Lightforged Elekks, the Lightforged Felcrusher.
The Void Elves were a part of the Horde and the Blood Elves until their banishment. Consequently, they also use mounts that actually belong to the Blood Elves: Hawkscreamers. Evidently, the Void Elves have also imbued their mounts with the dark teachings of the Void, as the Starcursed Voidstrider seems to be literally “not of this world”! For some, it’s simply the darkest Chocobo outside of Final Fantasy…
The Highmountain Tauren rely on their moose, which they have used as mounts for ages. The Highmountain Thunderhoof will surely carry the new Tauren race through the new areas.
Nightborne used to be part of the Night Elves, and as such, they have an intense bond with the great wildcats that roam Azeroth. Like the elves themselves, the Nightsabers have developed an affinity for mana and magic – which over the centuries has created the Nightborne Manasaber.
The mounts of the Zandalari Trolls and Dark Iron Dwarves are not known yet. Following the above trend, they will probably be raptors and rams.
Since May, fans have been wondering what kind of class this is and what it might do.
It took half a year until we learned more. After the Striker, the Mystique was introduced as another class, the female version of the Striker. But the new class “Ran” was only just introduced by Black Desert at a Black Desert event in South Korea.
Check out Ran, the new class in Black Desert
The new class is a female, oriental-looking warrior known as “Ran”.
Ran wields a short sword in one hand and holds a small sickle tied to a rope in the other. The weapon seems to be called “Crescent Pendulum” and is exclusively reserved for the new class.
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Ran is red hot, just revealed today in South Korea. Character generation has already started there, but information about Ran is still scarce. An Awakening for the class is not yet known. It is also unclear when it will come to Europe and North America.
Update: It is now known what the Awakening of the new class will entail. She will receive two swords connected by a chain:
Here in the West, we will probably have to wait longer for Ran, but a new class will also be coming to us soon. The Mystique is the female version of the Striker:
In the Free2Play shooter Paladins (PC, PS4, Xbox One), a new card system has been announced that suspiciously resembles that of Star Wars Battlefront 2. Players are angry and are now accusing Hi-Rez of wanting to introduce Pay2Win mechanics.
The timing could not have been worse for Paladins to introduce the new system “Cards Unbound“.
Anyone who has followed gaming news in recent weeks has surely come across the major loot box controversy in Star Wars Battlefront 2.
In Battlefront 2, there are Star Cards that improve characters like Darth Vader or Yoda in the game. Players could buy loot boxes for real money to enhance these Star Cards with a level-up. Which cards popped out of the boxes and whether they led to a level-up of the desired card was random. Additionally, Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a full-price title, which is why EA was accused of being greedy.
The gaming community expressed massive outrage over this system, causing the microtransactions to temporarily disappear from Star Wars Battlefront 2.
Studio Hi-Rez is now planning a similar system for its hero shooter Paladins. In a presentation of the upcoming patch OB64, the developers introduced the system “Cards Unbound“.
In Paladins, players use a deck of five cards to customize the stats and skills of their champs individually. This leads to increased mobility or higher damage, for example.
At present, players acquire cards by crafting them with the currency “Essence” or pulling them from chests. The chests can be purchased with the premium currency “Crystals” or the in-game currency “Gold”.
This is set to change with the new system “Cards Unbound”:
The currency Essence will be removed from the game and credited to players as Gold.
Cards now have a level of 1-5and can level up by collecting duplicates. The number of duplicates players need for a level-up depends on the rarity of each card.
Cards will still be drawn from Radiant chests, which can be purchased with “real money”. However, special champion chests will also be introduced, which can be obtained through in-game rewards. These will also contain cards.
All cards are automatically unlocked for every player at level 1, including special legendary cards.
In ranked matches, all cards will be set to level 3. It doesn’t matter whether a player only has a certain card at level 1 or already has one at level 5. The cards will be adjusted to level 3. This is intended to ensure fairness in the ranked mode.
In casual matches, however, players may encounter opponents with differently strong card sets.
Planned system triggers outrage in the community
Right now, as players are heatedly discussing microtransactions in games, the Cards Unbound system has caused significant backlash in the community. The system reminded players too much of the Star Card system in Battlefront 2.
Even though players in ranked matches play with cards of equal strength, most feel that the new system is a disadvantage:
On one hand, there are players who only want to play a few casual matches. They also desire fair play for that.
Then there are players who see casual matches as an opportunity to practice for ranked matches. They have the need for the starting situation to be the same as in a ranked game.
Complaints and satirical posts are now appearing on Reddit, claiming that Paladins with Cards Unbound is heading down the Pay2Win path.
“How to design games and win fans! From EA”. Image source Reddit
The new system is currently on Paladins’ test server. This testing phase is intended to last longer than usual. Studio Hi-Rez wants to closely analyze what happens with the new system and how players perceive it. What planned changes will ultimately make it to Paladins remains to be seen.
In Destiny 2 you will see many new Exotics that will introduce Curse of Osiris. From robotic spiders to the next Red Death, there is a lot to see.
Actually, a livestream for Curse of Osiris was supposed to take place a few days ago, where the developers wanted to hold a fashion show and present new gear from the expansion. However, this stream was cancelled as Bungie decided to rather focus on the upcoming system changes in the endgame.
They have now released the teaser video that was supposed to tune into the third livestream afterward. It shows new weapons and armor pieces – and exotic emotes!
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The first seconds show clips from an already known cinematic. It gets interesting from 0:14. For about a second, a Warlock is visible: He wears red armor, which is likely to represent the “New Monarchy” armor and how it will look with ornaments. These ornaments will be introduced in season 2 on December 5.
However, the weapon that the Guardian is holding is particularly exciting: It is undoubtedly a new pulse rifle. It is seen from multiple perspectives in the trailer: Until now, there has only been one pulse rifle in Destiny 2: The exotic weapon Coldheart. Since this new weapon, which is likely to be another Exotic, fires a red laser beam, it is already called “Warmheart.” The official name and perks are still unknown.
After the grenade launcher, three dancing Guardians appear, showcasing their armor pieces: The Titan helmet is particularly striking, which will undoubtedly be exotic: Here is an interesting picture: These gloves are filled with blue spikes. These spikes are also visible on other armor pieces in the trailer. It may be an ornament that gives it this spiky look.
Finally, two exotic emotes are shown. They are exotic because they use neon-colored holograms.
An “Mic Drop” emote:
An “Sweeper Bot” emote, where the Guardian takes up a broom themselves:
These are the most exciting items from the trailer. However, Bungie also released an image that shows a lot:
A “Red Death” hand cannon
In the middle is the exotic robot spider grenade launcher. Next to it is the new pulse rifle, which is likely to be exotic as well. And on the right side is a hand cannon in the “Red Death” style, which is also certainly exotic.
The weapon had a unique look. It was blood-stained and had a knife on the front. And both distinguish the hand cannon in the above image: What this “Red Death” hand cannon will be called and what perks it will have remains to be seen in the future.
Shadow Priests may have caused quite a mess in Antorus. Perhaps they corrupted the most powerful beings from World of Warcraft…
The community of World of Warcraft loves wild theories about the future of the story of Azeroth. With the conclusion of the current raid, Antorus, the Burning Throne, there were many answers about the fate of Azeroth and also some new questions.
While for most players the concluding cinematic is a clear thing, Shadow Priests see the whole thing a bit differently.
When Shadow Priests enter the final room with their artifact weapon Xal’atath, the blade is beside itself with joy. Obviously, it has just been helped quite a bit, as it whispers:
“For a long time, we longed for entry into this world! Hard to believe that we now owe it to a mortal that we can take root. We will remember your service!”
Shadow Priests as Messengers of the Old Gods
Story-wise, this would fit wonderfully. The Old Gods have always tried to gain control over a Titan and corrupt it. But why should they concern themselves with still-sleeping world souls when they could find direct access to the weakened bodies and souls of all Titans? Xal’atath is, after all, a descendant of the Old Gods and has reveled in the souls of the Shadow Priest and consumed them to gain more power.
It is possible that Shadow Priests have brought a darkness into the prison of the Titans, the effects of which will not be seen until much later. I just fear that a small “oops…” won’t be enough if this thing were to come out.
Cortyn says: An exciting theory. I felt the imprisonment of Sargeras and the revival of the Titans also went “too smoothly” for me to believe that we have heard the last of them. However, it would be quite ironic – and a really good plot twist – if Sargeras or the world soul of Argus were now corrupted by the Old Gods.
But that will probably be a topic at the earliest in two or three expansions. Until then, it holds: No knaifu, no laifu.
What do you think of this theory? Should Sargeras and/or Illidan make a comeback? Or is it time to let them go?
