Today, on September 18th, the servers for Destiny 2 are down. Bungie is planning maintenance. While the servers are offline and not available, a new update is being deployed. This is patch 1.04.
This afternoon and evening, your Guardians will have a multi-hour break. Bungie is conducting maintenance, which includes server downtime. During this time, you cannot log in or play.
Here are the important times:
On September 18th at 4 PM, preparations for maintenance will begin. You will not be able to log in.
An hour later, at 5 PM, all players will be removed from their activities. The servers for Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 will go completely offline.
Around 8 PM, the maintenance should be completed. Then you can play again.
Keep in mind that Bungie is often vague with these times, and the server status may vary. There have been instances where servers went online hours earlier or later. The latter happened last week: the scheduled maintenance was extended by hours twice.
What changes today in Destiny 2? – Update 1.0.1.3 / Update 1.04
According to Bungie, after this maintenance, you will need to download and install the Update 1.0.1.3 before you can play Destiny 2 again. This update carries the version number 1.04 and is about 50 MB in size. The complete patch notes and download size have now been released.
Two things were announced by Bungie in advance regarding this update:
It will fix several known issues
It will remove the hate symbol from the gloves
Last week, several tweets from Bungie caused a stir, in which they announced that a hate symbol was discovered in the game, which they want to remove as soon as possible. They apologized profusely and emphasized that they distance themselves from it.
In the first few minutes, no one knew what was meant, but later, green gloves were found with two “K” on the sleeve. This is apparently the symbol of an ultra-right internet group, of which even the team at Bungie was unaware, and which is responsible for preventing such errors. With today’s update, this symbol is to be completely removed from the game.
Mishaps and mishaps at the Hearthstone tournament HCT Americas. The community perceives the event as a “slap in the face”.
Numerous tournaments take place throughout the year in Hearthstone, where large prize pools are sometimes at stake. However, despite Hearthstone having a relatively large eSports community, there are always problems at the tournaments. This was also the case at HCT Americas.
Particularly frustrating was the match between Luker and Nalguidan. The score was 1-2, but Luker had good chances with his Warlock to stand against the Pirate Warrior. He was clearly in the lead – when the mishap occurred. The provided computer crashed. After the computer was functional again, the match was repeated. This time, his opponent drew an almost perfect mana curve and thus secured victory.
You can see the corresponding match in this video. The disconnect occurs around minute 42.
https://youtu.be/wg9EL6PfvCU?t=41m49s
After the disconnect and the start of the rematch, you can clearly see the anger on Luker’s face; the emotions have boiled over.
Although Luker loses his composure in the stream after this incident and lets his emotions (quite heavily) run free, he remains calm in hindsight. He is not mad at anyone – neither Blizzard, nor his opponent, or the tournament organizers. However, he hopes that Blizzard learns from these mishaps and that Hearthstone will finally receive the changes it needs by 2018 at the latest, such as a tournament mode.
Everyone dissatisfied with the HCT tournament
The tournament is receiving a lot of criticism from all sides. It is said to be absolutely irresponsible and simply unprofessional to rely on a Wi-Fi connection for tournaments. With many clients in close quarters, there will always be errors and problems. Furthermore, it would also be much too easy to cause a disconnect oneself to simply replay a poorly running match.
On Reddit, the tournament is for many “once again no proof that Blizzard wants to keep a pseudo-eSports scene alive with minimal effort”.
A statement from Blizzard on this is still pending. However, it is questionable whether there will be any further comments on this.
The martial arts MMORPG Blade & Soul is popular in Korea. Therefore, you can soon get cute mini-figures of the characters from the game in the Far East. Would the little figures also be interesting for you?
In Korea, NCSoft’s martial arts MMORPG Blade & Soul has been well received so far. Elaborate live-action trailers for new classes have already been developed. The main villain Jinsoyun even got her own musical. And that’s not all, as NCSoft plans to release its own figures for Blade & Soul.
Blade & Soul – Jinsoyun and Master Hong as miniatures
The figures for Blade & Soul will, due to their popularity, include a specimen of the villain Jinsoyun. Additional important NPCs from the world of Blade & Soul will also be included, such as the wise Master Hong, Jinsoyun’s henchwoman Yua, or the powerful martial arts master Mushin, the Fist of Heaven!
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A video featuring all the figures planned so far in chibi style is embedded here. When the cute miniatures of the heroes and villains from Blade & Soul will be released in Korea and what they will cost is not yet known. Would you buy such a figure if they were to be released here? And which hero or villain would you wish for?
All tips, tricks, and information articles about Destiny 2 can be found here in the overview in English. This is our guide collection for Destiny 2 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC!
On September 6, 2017, a new adventure began for countless players: The MMO shooter Destiny 2 was released on PS4 and Xbox One.
Since then, the Guardians have been bustling in the Destiny 2 universe. The Guardians are now discovering piles of secrets, examining weapons, armor pieces, and exotics closely, and creating tips and guides for players who need help at certain points in the game.
In this guide collection, you will find all the tips and information articles that we at Mein-MMO have already written about Destiny 2 – and will continue to write. To help you quickly find the information you are looking for, we have divided this overview into several sections:
General tips for Destiny 2 – Information for beginners and veterans in 2017
What do I need to know if I am starting completely new with Destiny 2? What do veterans need to know who are continuing their Guardian journey in Destiny 2?
The PvE in Destiny 2 – What activities are there in the endgame?
For many Guardians, PvE is the most important aspect of Destiny. This refers to the fight “Guardians against aliens”. Because what could be better than chatting with friends while shooting nasty aliens in the face? Here are the most important information:
Destiny 2: Master the Nightfall strike – The Nightfall strike is one of the toughest endgame activities that you can tackle solo or in a strike team of up to three players.
With Prime Arena, the developer studio Nival aims to create a game that combines the gameplay of the battle royale shooter PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds with the play style of MOBAs like Heroes of the Storm or League of Legends. Furthermore, Prime Arena is supposed to solve the alleged main problem of MOBAs: the toxic community!
MOBA games like Dota 2, League of Legends, and Heroes of the Storm remain incredibly popular. Only the battle royale shooter PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds recently surpassed Dota 2 in simultaneous players on Steam.
So why not combine both genres, MOBA and battle royale? This idea has been brought to life by developer Nival with Prime Arena.
Prime Arena – Battle Royale MOBA
In Prime Arena, you select one of 20 heroes and start playing. You smash other players and NPC creatures as in a MOBA. However, similar to PUBG, the arena continuously shrinks.
Thus, the action becomes more concentrated towards the end of the round, resulting in massive action. As is typical for MOBAs, the view is from an isometric perspective. In the end, only one player can remain; team play does not seem to be intended.
Moreover, developer Nival claims to have found the sole reason for the bad reputation of MOBAs: toxic teammates, flamers, and trolls. However, where there is no “forced socialization,” there can be no flamer spreading their indecency.
Therefore, Prime Arena completely dispenses with any form of team play. You are always on your own and do not have to worry about the bothersome activities like teamwork. Just shoot and slaughter away.
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Prime Arena will be released in Fall 2017 on Steam for PC. First screenshots and a trailer are already available. However, the title still looks quite modest, and especially the animations in the video seem quite stiff. So it remains to be seen whether Prime Arena will succeed with its approach to MOBA and battle royale.
Three incorrect letters can already lead to problems and almost to disqualification in a tournament in WoW.
In World of Warcraft currently the Mythic Dungeon Invitational is taking place – a tournament where the best teams in the world try to complete the hardest mythic dungeons in the shortest possible time. A lot is at stake, as there is a prize pool of $100,000 – a considerable sum “for a few instances”.
According to Buffed, the race for the grand prize for one team was almost ended prematurely. The team “Carly’s Angels” was close to disqualification by Blizzard, as the name contained prohibited terms – the small word Sex. The rogue “Quinsex” was then contacted by a Game Master, who deemed the name unacceptable and stated that a new character must be created for the event.
No mercy for Sex in the name
Quinsex did try to defend himself, explaining that he would have to reset all his addons (since the settings are tied to the name). Neither this nor the mention that he did have that name on the live server could sway the heart of the Game Master. For that is “no excuse to have Sex in the name”.
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For the sake of fairness, it must be said that Blizzard has officially always had quite strict naming guidelines regarding character naming – allusions to sexual acts (and even just the word Sex) are therefore not allowed.
Normally these guidelines are not enforced very strictly unless a player is reported by others. In an official tournament that is streamed, Blizzard presumably wanted to enforce these rules a bit more strictly.
The end of the story was that Quinsex then created a new rogue and named him Quinrex. However, this ultimately didn’t matter much, as his team did not get far in the tournament anyway.
Lineage 2 Revolution is probably coming to the West soon. You can already register now and grab rewards. Additionally, name and server reservation is possible.
Lineage 2 Revolution is a massive success in South Korea with millions of players and record revenues. Recently, the popular mobile MMO was released in 11 more countries in Asia. Now that this step is done, the developers at Netmarble are likely planning the global launch next.
Lineage 2 Revolution – Register for free and grab loot
Although there is still no release date for Lineage 2 Revolution in the West, you can already sign up for the mobile MMORPG on the official Western website of the game. Options include Apple’s AppStore and the Google Play Store for Android. Pre-registration is free.
If you register now, you will be informed immediately upon the release of Lineage 2 Revolution in the West on your specified Android or Apple device, and then you can install Lineage 2 Revolution. Additionally, by registering in advance, you will receive a hero package with equipment and 200 units of the currency “Red Diamonds” for free.
Lineage 2 Revolution – Release still in November?
Also cool: You can already reserve your character name and choose a server to play on. Both name reservation and registration for Lineage 2 Revolution are done through the official game website:
Black Desert Online has been teasing the upcoming new map Kamasilve for months. However, so far, the dark Dark Elf forest has been denied to you. Now the new area finally has a release date: Kamasilve will come to the servers of Black Desert Online by the end of September 2017! At least partially.
Players of the Pearl Abyss sandbox MMORPG Black Desert Online have been wondering for months when the long-awaited first part of the new region Kamasilve will be released. Kamasilve is a new map and the home of the Dark Elves. The playable representative of this beautiful yet dark race is the Dark Blade, which has been available since early 2017 in our Black Desert.
Now the associated Dark Elf forest finally has a release date!
Black Desert Online – Beautiful Elf Forest has Release Date in Europe
Already in last week’s major Black Desert patch, four new servers with “Kamasylvia” (the English name for Kamasilve) in their names were integrated into the game. It was further stated that the new region would likely come “very soon.” This “soon” has now turned into a concrete announcement: Kamasilve will launch on September 27, 2017!
The major Kamasilve update will be the first part of the new region. Part 2 of Kamasilve will – like all content in Black Desert Online – first appear in South Korea and later make its way to the West.
Black Desert Online – Kamasilve – New Map, New Content
Kamasilve I will include the following content:
Background information and lore about the Dark Blade and the Dark Elves from the Kamasilve forest
A little kindness and harmony make Overwatch a completely different game. Some fans report their experiences.
When the Game Director of Overwatch, Jeff Kaplan, released a new “Developer Update” video a few days ago, there was some criticism. In “Play nice, play fair,” Kaplan mainly explained that players should be kinder to each other while Blizzard refines the reporting system and increases penalties.
Many Overwatch players only saw the raised finger and concluded, “Thanks, I didn’t need that tip.” Yet a few players seem to have taken the words to heart and share their experiences.
What happens when Overwatch players are nice to each other?
Try it with comfort
On Reddit, user DigitallyBorn reports that he simply jumped over his shadow. He tried to be really nice. Not sarcastically friendly, but quite friendly.
He praised players on both sides for great plays, but also encouraged them after a failed ultimate. It didn’t take long before other players joined in on the kindness and reacted positively as well. This led to almost all players staying at the end of the match to play more games together – an absolute rarity, as usually 80% of players are already gone while “Play of the Game” is still running.
The post has since received much support and already over 7,000 upvotes – clearly hitting a nerve in the community. Many players report similar experiences and conclude that Kaplan actually touched on something “very general” with his video that many on the internet have simply forgotten.
Overwatch – From friends for friends?
Another Redditor believes that Overwatch was developed by a group of friends. The developers at Blizzard are very harmonious with each other and therefore the game is really only fun when everyone respects and appreciates each other. Those who behave like a bull in a china shop not only reduce the enjoyment of the game for everyone involved – but above all their own.
And what can we learn from this? Those who are kind to others often receive kindness in return. An old saying that can certainly be mentioned again in today’s internet times.
Have you had similar experiences in Overwatch and tried it with a lot of kindness? Or do you think that those who can’t handle a few insults have no place in the game?
In FIFA 18 FUT, the fastest players are known. A player from the Bundesliga tops the leaderboard. We show you the “Ultimate Team” cards with the ratings and pace values.
Many fans focus on just one value when building their FUT team: The pace, which is often referred to as “Pace” here.
This value shows the average of the attributes “Acceleration” and “Sprint Speed”. In other words, the higher the pace, the faster the player is on the field.
Fast players can decide entire matches on their own, which is why many fans look for cheap, fast players for their team. In the community, the focus on pace is often labeled as a “Noob tactic”, however, every fan gets frustrated with slow players who can’t get moving.
Therefore, the interesting question is: Which players are the fastest in FIFA 18 FUT? Here is the list of the top 20.
The fastest players for your team – FUT 18
This ranking primarily includes wingers. Center-backs or central midfielders are not included.
Rank 20: Iñaki Williams
Rank 19: Bruma
Rank 18: Gerard Deulofeu
Rank 17: Raheem Sterling
Rank 16: Mohamed Salah
Rank 15: Lucas
Rank 14: Jordi Alba
Rank 13: Sadio Mané
Rank 12: Gelson Martins
Rank 11: Jonás Aguirre
Rank 10: Kekuta Manneh
Rank 9: David Accam
Rank 8: Leroy Sané
Rank 7: Gareth Bale
Rank 6: Jürgen Damm
Rank 5: Ernest Asante
Rank 4: Mathis Bolly
Rank 3: Héctor Bellerín
Rank 2: Jonathan Biabiany
Rank 1: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
In FIFA 17, Aubameyang was the fastest player in the game with a pace of 96. At that time, only Bolly was equally fast. In FIFA 18, Biabiany has the same pace.
And since I was recently at Gamescom, I wanted to show myself beforehand in case someone else is there and wants to take a photo or simply wants to shake hands. Which indeed happened. There were some who wanted an autograph or a photo together at Gamescom.
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When I watch your streams, I notice that you try to stay calm and coherent, even when people ask the same questions or when things aren’t going well in the game. Is that easy for you, or do you have to pull yourself together?
That people ask the same questions is clear. New people constantly come into the stream with “new” questions. YouTube comes into play a bit here. I’ve linked the guides there in a way that I can always refer to them. Plus, I understand it; you come into the stream, want to ask something, don’t know what people have asked before, and I have absolute understanding for that.
I believe I am rather a calm person. That makes it easier to stay “calm and coherent”.
Of course, there are also situations where one has to grit their teeth, especially when playing Osiris or the raid and it just won’t work. Some angry or strict words do sometimes slip out of my mouth, but that’s part of it; no one is perfect.
Tips for Quick and Easy Leveling in Destiny 2? No, it takes time
I saw that you had a power level beyond 280 a week ago. Do you have any tips for our readers on what they should pay attention to in Destiny 2 to advance quickly?
Ah, you should never compare yourself to the leveling speed of a YouTuber or streamer; that’s my job after all.
But I made a great guide on how to reach “quickly and easily” power level 300. Just a little joke on the side. The guide really exists; there I explain how to progress step by step.
I have 3 characters; I leveled up each one and then transferred the weapons to the next one, so I started the second one with a high power level. But it didn’t happen “quickly” – because playing and completing the story & missions with 3 characters takes time.
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I find Destiny 2 very, very good so far. It has the charm of Destiny 1, with many improvements. They did a lot of things right in the game, but also forgot some things that I would have liked to see. But I don’t want to overstep the bounds of this interview.
My conclusion is: It plays really well!
Thank you very much for the conversation, Nexxoss Gaming.
An interview with a colleague of Nexxoss, with Venero TV, can be found here:
We conducted an interview with Nexxoss Gaming about Destiny 2 and his career as a professional YouTuber and streamer.
Nexxoss Gaming is one of the most well-known and largest German-speaking YouTubers for Destiny and Destiny 2. The first video on his channel was released in October 2014 – currently, Nexxoss has about 46,000 followers on YouTube.
The videos, often guides and info clips, have been viewed more than 10 million times. On Twitch, Nexxoss is regularly the largest German-speaking streamer for Destiny 2.
For the Destiny 2 launch – and because we learned that Nexxoss has made his hobby his profession – we conducted an interview with him.
Note: Nexxoss is a friend of our site, and we have been working with him for several years.
Hello Nexxoss, you completed training as a businessman and worked in that profession. Why does one then say: Okay, I want to create videos and streams about a video game every day in the future? How did that come about?
Actually by chance, I became unemployed rather unexpectedly and was then looking for another job as a businessman. Since one has a lot of free time as a job seeker, I tried out YouTube and co. I believe everyone who watches YouTube videos has at some point thought: “I want to try that too.” Well, I just tried it since I had the time for it beside job searching.
And then one thing led to another. When I reached a certain size on YouTube, I told myself: “I’ll give it a shot. If it goes wrong, I can always go back to my old job.“
So, that’s how it all began.
Emigrating for YouTube?
Is it particularly difficult to make ends meet in Switzerland with the money from YouTube and Twitch? The cost of living is much higher in Switzerland than in Germany, but the income is not.
That’s correct; Switzerland is actually an unsuitable country for a YouTuber. I have long been thinking about moving to another country where the cost of living is much lower.
YouTube Stress – Twitch More Relaxed
When you hear “Destiny 2 has a launch” now, do you first think: “Oh, I want to play that,” think “Man, that’s going to be a lot of work?” or is the first thought “There’s a chance for me to really push my channel forward?”
Actually a bit of everything. I also have to admit that I created a small gap for myself. If I were only doing YouTube, it would surely be “A lot of work and the channel grows for that.” But since I’m still a streamer on Twitch, it’s a bit easier.
On Twitch, I can livestream without pressure, can simply enjoy the release of Destiny 2. What I discover and the tips I collect there, I can put into guides and review videos on YouTube.
Thus, I was able to really enjoy the release, and the channel also received the attention that one hopes for from a release.
FAST and EASY – the most important words on YouTube, but they are rarely true
Are YouTube or Twitch currently your focus, and how do you decide that?
I really enjoy creating guides for people on YouTube. When I read the comments that they were able to master it easily with the guide, it’s always very nice because I was able to help someone. On the downside, however, there is also the attention. To get that, one often has to choose the title “exaggerated”.
When I create a guide on how to increase your power level, I would actually HAVE to write in the title: “Fast Power Level Guide” and put “FAST” in big, bold letters in the thumbnail. However, I find that a bit dishonest towards the viewers because it’s just a guide on how to do it correctly. That’s why I don’t choose such titles.
In Destiny 2, you can’t do anything “quickly” or “super easily”. So such titles and thumbnails simply don’t work for me.
However, by doing this, you lose a lot of competitiveness. People like to click on videos that say “Quick / Easy.” I understand why one chooses such titles, but I just don’t find it honest toward the viewers. It’s very exhausting in the long run because not all YouTubers think like that, but it’s probably just how it is in the world. The one who shouts the loudest gets the most attention.
I find Twitch much more pleasant in comparison; you are online, streaming, and people are happy, you converse with each other, and it’s straightforward and enjoyable.
That’s why I really enjoy streaming on Twitch at the moment and creating guides for people who need a guide. I am often asked in the comments on Twitch: “Nexxoss, how do you do this? How do you do that?” And for those people, I then have the guides on YouTube.
So I’ve tried to bring both into a good balance and not let myself be too pressured by this “exaggerated marketing” on YouTube.
Nexxoss Gives the Channel a Face
You recently decided to stream with a face cam and show yourself. What is behind this “face outing?”
Using a face cam is much less spectacular than most think. At first, I didn’t want to give Nexxoss Gaming a face because I didn’t know where the journey with the channel would go; maybe it would hinder me someday in my job search. That’s just how it is in the digital age.
Once the channel was doing well and I theoretically could show myself, so many people wanted to know what I look like that I found it funny to make jokes about it, so to speak, to tease people.
And since I was recently at Gamescom, I wanted to show myself beforehand in case someone else is there and wants to take a photo or simply wants to shake hands. Which indeed happened. There were some who wanted an autograph or a photo together at Gamescom.
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When I watch your streams, I notice that you try to stay calm and coherent, even when people ask the same questions or when things aren’t going well in the game. Is that easy for you, or do you have to pull yourself together?
That people ask the same questions is clear. New people constantly come into the stream with “new” questions. YouTube comes into play a bit here. I’ve linked the guides there in a way that I can always refer to them. Plus, I understand it; you come into the stream, want to ask something, don’t know what people have asked before, and I have absolute understanding for that.
I believe I am rather a calm person. That makes it easier to stay “calm and coherent”.
Of course, there are also situations where one has to grit their teeth, especially when playing Osiris or the raid and it just won’t work. Some angry or strict words do sometimes slip out of my mouth, but that’s part of it; no one is perfect.
Tips for Quick and Easy Leveling in Destiny 2? No, it takes time
I saw that you had a power level beyond 280 a week ago. Do you have any tips for our readers on what they should pay attention to in Destiny 2 to advance quickly?
Ah, you should never compare yourself to the leveling speed of a YouTuber or streamer; that’s my job after all.
But I made a great guide on how to reach “quickly and easily” power level 300. Just a little joke on the side. The guide really exists; there I explain how to progress step by step.
I have 3 characters; I leveled up each one and then transferred the weapons to the next one, so I started the second one with a high power level. But it didn’t happen “quickly” – because playing and completing the story & missions with 3 characters takes time.
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At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.
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I find Destiny 2 very, very good so far. It has the charm of Destiny 1, with many improvements. They did a lot of things right in the game, but also forgot some things that I would have liked to see. But I don’t want to overstep the bounds of this interview.
My conclusion is: It plays really well!
Thank you very much for the conversation, Nexxoss Gaming.
An interview with a colleague of Nexxoss, with Venero TV, can be found here:
With a mini-update for Pokémon GO, the developers are fixing a bug that affected raid countdowns in the game. The times were obscured by an icon.
The patch 0.75.0 is still not running as “smoothly” as it should for many players. There are still problems with invisible or oddly appearing avatars and hidden icons.
With a mini-update, the developers address a current issue and fix the bug that caused poorly visible raid countdowns. No download is required.
A disturbing bug was optical in nature and obscured the time display during raids. On the map of Pokémon GO, you usually see specific raid eggs over the arenas, which are marked with a countdown. The countdown indicates when the egg hatches and reveals the raid boss waiting inside for the trainers. The raid eggs have sparked many discussions in the community.
Due to a bug, the nearby icon was positioned in such a way that the time of the raid was obscured, making it difficult for trainers to read the time. They first had to tap the arena for the clear countdown.
On Reddit, user TheBlackTalon showed how the problem looked in Pokémon GO:
Niantic reads along and fixes bugs
Apparently, Niantic has read the complaints and built a solution into the game. With a mini-update, the countdown problem will be fixed. The icon for nearby raids will now be displayed above the selected raid and will no longer obscure the running time.
After the announcement of the major bug-fix update, many of you wrote that you still have bugs in the game. Screenshots with disguised or even invisible avatars are being shared in our Pokémon GO group.
We hope that Niantic is also aware of these issues and will fix them in the coming days. Additionally, many iOS users are still waiting for the update 0.75.0 for the iPhone, while Android users can already test it actively.
This Friday, Guild Wars 2 enters a new era with the “Path of Fire” expansion, but not much indicates that.
Next Friday, “Path of Fire,” the new expansion for Guild Wars 2, will launch. Actually, this is supposed to be the last highlight in the MMORPG year 2017 before Blizzcon. But somehow, the GW2 expansion is hardly making waves in the gaming press and public. Is Guild Wars 2 no longer a title for the mainstream?
New expansions are the stage for MMORPGs
A new expansion for an MMORPG – this is usually the time to drum up attention and make a splash. This is the time in the spotlight for an MMORPG. Time to attract new players and bring back old ones.
In 2017, before the release of Stormblood and before Morrowind, the MMORPGs The Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy XIV were topics that were pushed on mainstream gaming sites. There were events, news, trailers, and campaigns – the drum was being banged vigorously.
Of course, The Elder Scrolls Online and Final Fantasy have the advantage of being part of large single-player franchises, which also interests non-MMORPG fans. Still, it is suspiciously quiet for Guild Wars 2 right now. Not even on MMO specialist sites does one read much about the once favorite of critics.
Guild Wars 2: Disappeared from the public since October 2015
At the beginning of August, Arenanet presented the relevant features of the expansion, since then there have been playtest events, but otherwise it remains quiet around “Path of Fire.” The biggest news about GW2 in recent days was that there are “new forums.” Wow.
Otherwise, ArenaNet seems to rely on internal engagement to keep existing fans in the game. A major campaign to attract new players and draw attention to the expansion does not seem to be underway.
This fits a trend that can be watched with concern in Guild Wars 2. The MMORPG seems to be withdrawing more and more from the public stage over the past years. This is indicated by the numbers from Google Trends, which document global search interest in the title.
After the release of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns in October 2015, global interest in Guild Wars 2 has fallen and stagnated at a significantly lower level than before Heart of Thorns. The “Living World” with episodes and seasons like a TV series makes it difficult to follow the title.
An alarming development: individual updates and patches have no impact on Google interest. While competitor games like WoW have “full patches” like 7.1, 7.2, or 7.3 that repeatedly make the media rounds and generate attention, this is missing for Guild Wars 2.
The expansion announcement in early August was the “only relevant” thing that has happened in Guild Wars 2 for the last 2 years and has given the game at least some boost.
But interest seems to be fading again since then.
Guild Wars 2: What is going on?
It seems that Guild Wars 2 is the loser among MMORPGs in the last 2 years:
With The Elder Scrolls Online and Black Desert, two games have matured that are apparently competitors – GW2 is no longer the alternative to WoW but a participant in an increasingly competitive market with 5 top MMORPGs (WoW, FF14, ESO, Black Desert, Guild Wars 2)
One can be curious whether ArenaNet will pick up the pace in the final sprint and can introduce Path of Fire to more people. Currently, it seems Guild Wars 2 is disappearing from the public radar.
If you want to know more about Path of Fire, here is all the information:
For The Division, there is detailed information about the Resistance mode. This will be introduced with update 1.8 – and it is endless!
Update 1.8, which is expected to be released this fall, introduces not only a PvP mode and a map expansion to the West Side Pier but also a standalone, new PvE mode. This is called Resistance (in German: Widerstand) and will be free for all agents.
In a detailed blog post, the developers introduce this mode. We summarize the information.
What Resistance is About
Resistance is a 4-player PvE activity played in an endless horde mode. This means you will face endless waves of enemies. The mode only ends when you die. There is no “final goal.”
Instead, you fight your way from wave to wave, with a boss wave coming after every 5 waves. These boss waves can be seen as milestones, so you have a point of reference, such as: “Last time we defeated 3 bosses, let’s try to reach at least the fourth boss wave this time.”
It is important to note: The difficulty increases with your progress. The first waves are at “Hard” difficulty, later waves become “Challenging” and “Legendary.” If you last longer, you enter the “Endless” difficulty level. From here, the difficulty is supposed to increase exponentially.
The individual waves (wave 1, wave 2, etc.) have a certain consistency. They maintain a degree of uniformity. If you play the mode again, you will know what to expect in each wave. However, they are not completely identical, as Resistance uses a “dynamic wave spawner.” This means that enemies can appear at random locations and surprisingly. No run will be like the previous one.
About the setting: In Resistance, enemy factions have allied. Together, they want to defeat the Division agents. So, you must face mixed waves of enemies consisting of Rioters, Rikers, Cleaners, and LMB soldiers.
Arenas and Features of Resistance in The Division 1.8
In Resistance, there are three arenas:
In the first arena, there are cargo containers, barges, and building materials.
In the second arena, you must venture deep into the sewers and narrow tunnels.
In the third arena, there is supposed to be an intense battle aboard a large aircraft carrier – the USS Intrepid.
Each arena requires a different playstyle according to Massive. Once you have discovered these locations at the West Side Pier, you can fast travel to them on the map.
More information about Resistance:
You fight not only against countless enemies, but you also have to pay attention to certain modifiers. In some waves, “critical objectives” appear that you must complete quickly. If you fail to do this within the given time, it counts as a defeat and you must start over.
SHD-Tech: In Resistance, there are similar fortifications as in “Last Stand.” You collect SHD-Tech from defeated enemies that you can use to build, upgrade, or repair turrets, healing stations, and pulse stations. You can also use SHD-Tech to replenish your ammunition, first aid kits, and grenades.
There are no checkpoints. If your squad dies, you must start over.
Every 10 waves, there are better rewards. You receive crates that continuously have better loot pools.
Those who were hoping for an open beta of the online role-playing game Dauntless this year will be disappointed. The developers have postponed the testing phase to next year.
The closed beta of Dauntless has revealed a lot of feedback from the testers. Feedback that showed the developers that there is still much work ahead of them before they can tackle an open beta. Therefore, the decision was made to postpone the open testing phase until next year. Especially regarding the network stability of the game and balancing, much still needs to be done.
Closed Beta gets more testers
The postponement of the open beta does not mean thatmore players will not get the chance to enjoy the RPG. New invitations will continually be sent out to allow more players to play Dauntless in advance and provide feedback. You can still register on the official website and, with a bit of luck, receive an invitation.
Roadmap shows what is being worked on
The developers explained what they will be focusing on in the near future. This includes a revision of the combat system and the ability to further customize the heroes. New behemoths that you can hunt will also find their way into the game. On the so-called roadmap you can read exactly what is planned for the near future. This includes a transmutation system and the localization of the game into other languages.
The postponement of the open beta of Dauntless actually brings a bigger disadvantage. Next year, Monster Hunter World will be released, which will likely become a direct competitor to Dauntless.
The MMORPG Black Desert has opened an auction house for the super-rich in South Korea. This serves as a luxurious gold sink and sells items that break rules.
What is a gold sink? And why is it necessary
A “gold sink” refers to mechanisms in MMORPGs that remove in-game currency gold from the game. The problem in MMORPGs is that gold is constantly generated “out of nowhere”: players defeat a monster and it has gold. However, the monster does not take the gold from the economy’s gold circulation; it is magically created anew each time.
Thus, the amount of money in an MMORPG keeps increasing. Gold is worth nothing anymore – and inflation occurs. Players no longer think about gold, as they have a fortune they can never spend.
Some mechanism must fully remove gold from the game; it must flow out again, which is why gold sinks are necessary: In most MMORPGs, traders or other NPCs want gold for their services and goods, which thus disappears from circulation. But in most MMORPGs, that’s not enough: More and more gold is generated.
Black Desert introduces luxury auction house
In the South Korean version of Black Desert, a “Luxury Auction House” has been available in the southwest of Calpheon since August 17th.
The normal auction house in Black Desert is a strictly regulated player-to-player marketplace with prices that only vary within a set range.
The luxury auction house always has one item for sale, which goes to the highest bidder. The super-rich of Black Desert bid against each other. The auction lasts 10 days, with each bid extending this time by 1 minute.
Billionaires will soon bid on black Pegasus
The first item in the auction house was a “Combat/Skill EXP Transfer Ticket” – with which the auction winner could essentially make a “twink” into a new “main”. The larger character exchanges experience points and levels with the smaller character. The item started with a minimum bid of 2 billion silver.
Currently, the billionaires of Black Desert are awaiting September 29th. Then a black edition of the Pegasus will be available. The mount “Nightmare of Arduanatt” starts at 5 billion silver.
The “Luxury Auction House” was part of the content plan for Black Desert, which we presented at the beginning of August. It is likely to come to the West as well.
Here we presented further plans from Black Desert:
The unfortunate hero shooter Battleborn is facing the end. Studio Gearbox has decided not to further develop the title after the next update. Instead, the Battleborn team is now reportedly working on a new Gearbox title. Is it Borderlands 3?
It’s so sad, as it was to be expected: The colorful and complex hero shooter Battleborn will no longer be developed. After even the partial free-to-play transition and fan-organized Battleborn Day events have not helped, developer Gearbox is now pulling the emergency brake and letting the Battleborn team work on another project of the studio.
Battleborn – The fall update will be the last – Battleborn will continue to run
Therefore, there is only the upcoming update for fall in terms of new content. After that, support will end and Gearbox is expected to release no further content for Battleborn. Should there be any news about Battleborn, it will be published through social media.
However, according to Creative Director Randy Varnell, the servers will continue to run for the foreseeable future. You can still happily play Battleborn. The game will not be shut down. Whether you will have much fun on the servers – according to Steam, an average of 100 players are online – is another question.
Is the Battleborn team now working on Borderlands 3?
The end of Battleborn support also has its positives: The team of the unfortunate hero shooter is now reportedly working on another, yet-to-be-announced Gearbox project, according to Randy Varnell.
And even though no names were mentioned, it is strongly suspected that the new game starts with “Border” and ends with “Lands 3.” Especially considering that the new skins and themes from the final Battleborn update have a strong Borderlands touch.
In Destiny 2, Xur does not want to go home yet. He likes being with the Guardians better than in Destiny 1. That is probably also the reason he reveals to them where he is located.
Xur is a mysterious, tentacle-faced Exotic dealer in Destiny. He comes to the Guardians every Friday to offer them his goods. However, his motives are not his own. He bends to distant masters, the Nine.
Especially in the first weeks and months after a launch, Xur is interesting for many Guardians: For perhaps he brings that Exotic that one still needs, which simply does not want to drop randomly. Once the Guardians are stocked up with Exotics, which usually happens with increasing playtime, Xur loses excitement.
In Destiny 2, this could happen particularly quickly, as several English gaming sites write. Xur has lost his allure, now one doesn’t need to google for him anymore. Why is that?
Xur in Destiny 1
Xur is no longer as mysterious as he once was
In Destiny 1, the special thing about Xur was: He randomly appeared in the social hubs. The Guardians ran wildly through the Tower (and to the Reef) to discover Xur’s location. It was a major event in Destiny week after week, followed by many Guardians. Once he was found, this was proudly announced in the reddit forum with bold exclamation points.
In Destiny 2, this search is no longer necessary. Xur may randomly appear in all four worlds – which many thought in advance would make Xur extremely difficult to find – however, he is marked on the map. That is, you only need to open the navigator to see Xur’s location. Mark his symbol, and you will be directly led to the noodle baker:
We summarize the reasons why Xur loses his allure in Destiny 2:
Everyone can quickly find him without having to google for him.
He is there longer than usual. Xur now leaves for home not on Sunday, but only on Tuesday. He is no longer a rare visitor, but almost a regular guest.
He sells only Exotics. He has neither Three of Coins nor other items on offer that might attract Guardians. As one quickly gets Exotics in Destiny 2, Xur could quickly become uninteresting. Already in the first Xur week, many Guardians wrote that they were disappointed with his inventory.
Xur no longer has his own currency (Strange Coins), now he requires Legendary Shards. You can quickly get these by dismantling Legendary Items, for example.
Now one can argue: These are all player-friendly changes. He is there longer, easier to find, and it’s easier to get his items. However, the major event “Xur” no longer seems quite so grand.
For us at Mein-MMO.de, not much changes: We will continue to report on Xur’s arrival every Friday. Now, while it’s not as exciting where he is located, the question of what he has with him becomes more interesting. Because his inventory is no longer displayed on Bungie.net. Those who want to know what Xur has at 11 AM on Fridays must either check in the game itself… or google it afterwards.
Some tactics in Hearthstone require a bit more planning. But a victory only after 90 turns? Well, that is now a thing.
Hearthstone actually has quite clear rules. Whoever sinks to 0 health points first loses. Whoever can no longer draw cards suffers increasing damage each round. But after how many rounds does a Hearthstone match necessarily end?
This question wasn’t relevant before, as most matches are finished after a maximum of 40 to 45 turns – and even that is already an absolute exception.
However, with Knights of the Frozen Throne, players have gained many opportunities to increase their decks afterward, thus avoiding “Fatigue”.
One of these cards comes from the Warrior and is the Dead Man’s Hand – this shuffles a copy of all the Warrior’s hand cards into the deck. Should he have another Dead Man’s Hand in hand, then he can continue the game indefinitely.
Endless? No, not quite. After 90 rounds, Hearthstone decides that the fun must come to an end and the match is resolved as a draw.
Hearthstone always ends after 90 rounds
Nevertheless, matches can drag on for a long time. Many of these fatigue warriors rely on continually destroying the opponent’s minions while building armor. In general, the opponent eventually runs out of steam and dies from fatigue damage. The Fatigue Warrior does not have real “breakthrough” – but plenty of cards to eliminate the opponent’s minions, such as Brawl.
But what if both players are playing such a Warrior deck and can no longer defeat each other? In that case, the match ends after nearly 2 hours with the 90th turn and likely has effectively stolen everyone’s time.
For the upcoming HCT Americas Summer Playoffs, organizers have already established new rules. If a match ends after 90 turns, the player with the greater combined total of health points and armor will be declared the winner.
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However, it is expected that tournament operators will have to come up with another solution in the coming weeks. Because when matches extend over up to 2 hours, it disrupts the entire tournament planning.
What do you think about players being able to “infinitely” increase their decks? Should this be excluded? Or is it good that even such ultra-long-term strategies have a place?
The Western MMO Wild West Online has started its closed alpha phase. I am visiting the game and going on a quest for gold and bandits. The most important question: What kind of game is this? A Western epic like Red Dead Redemption? Or a survival game like ARK Survival Evolved.
I haven’t had much to do with the Wild West for a long time. Sure, I watched a few episodes of “Lucky Luke” as a kid, but that was about it.
Then in around 2010, the open-world game “Red Dead Redemption” came out and man, that trip to the Wild West kept me glued to the console! Now, developer 612 Games wants to set new standards with its new project Wild West Online. This Friday, the game entered its first alpha, and I checked it out.
Wild West Online is still in an early stage (Technical Alpha), and all impressions are provisional and relate to the current version.
The game promises an open world where you can decide for yourself how to earn your bread. Will you be a sheriff and protect the towns, or will you become a bandit, start bank robberies, and rob innocent players?
My first minutes as a real cowboy
Before it even starts, you create a character. Here you notice that the game is in an alpha phase because there are no real options for customization. Quickly enter the name, and then nothing stands in the way of playing. Once you are done with the meager editor, you start randomly on the map, in my case, right in the middle of nowhere. Equipped with a revolver and a pickaxe, I first head to the graphics settings. Meanwhile, another player has the glorious idea to kill me. Here I realize that PvP and survival will play a big role. I die… so back to square one.
And what do I have to do now?
After respawning, I wondered what I was actually supposed to do. According to the listed features of Wild West Online, you can do whatever you want. I take the path of collecting gold with my pickaxe and plan to exchange the gold for some coins in town. With the “H” key, we can call our horse so that we don’t have to walk the entire way. What bothers me a bit: I miss the mini-map. Although you can call up the large map at any time, you remain immobile during that time. With a small map somewhere in the corner of the screen, I could find my way around much more easily.
After a wild ride with my horse, I then find one of the so-called “Safehouses”. Here I can essentially save, so to secure the inventory in a loot chamber. For much more, I still lack the gold.
On the way to gold
So back on the horse and finally find a suitable mine for gold mining. To make the search a little easier, there are special maps that show you available materials, such as gold ore. Along the way, there are some villages that you can examine. There is also the possibility to steal items from houses. However, this lowers your reputation and you might easily become a bandit. In addition, there are various camps where you can pick up items without harming your reputation.
After a thorough stroll, I finally find gold that I can work with my pickaxe. Now I have gold in my pockets and want to go sell it, but I have to be wary of hostile players.
As they say, speak of the devil: A player is looking for trouble and wants to get to me. Now we stand opposite each other, equipped with our revolvers.
As in a Western, I am quite tense and the occasional bead of sweat runs down my face. Then the first shot comes, and I can finally take out the enemy. Now I ride triumphantly into town and sell my gold to the trader.
How does Wild West Online play?
The Western MMO runs fairly stably for an alpha. I only struggled with a few stutters, and in general, the game ran quite smoothly.
In terms of gameplay, Wild West Online can be classified with other survival titles like ARK: Survival Evolved. At the beginning, you struggle with meager equipment and try to survive. Aside from a few outposts and in town, PvP is present, and you constantly keep a wary eye on players to see if they are hostile or not. What bothered me a bit was my horse. As soon as I move too far away from it, it disappears, and I have to call it again. So far, no problem. However, the horse spawns up to 200 meters away in the wilderness. The developers need to rethink and make some fine adjustments, but the Western MMO is still far from finished.
Conclusion: Does Wild West Online live up to its hype?
I must first say, that you could already do a lot in the alpha. People were shooting each other, collecting gold, or riding around the desert for hours. According to a note from the developer, one should focus on gathering resources in this alpha, and that has worked wonderfully.
As you may have gathered from my last sentences, I also successfully defended myself against bandits and safely transported the gold to the trader. What I missed a bit was being guided. There was a tutorial on the official site, but one in-game would have been preferable for me.
At the beginning, you really don’t know what exactly you are supposed to do. The game is a sandbox title, you can do whatever you want. For me, the game feels like another survival title. Sure, the setting in the Wild West sounds refreshing, but here too, it’s about pure survival, just like in other genre representatives. You can collect, craft, and shoot each other.
I would have liked to conduct the advertised heists, but it seems that they were not available in the alpha yet. Overall, for my taste, there is simply too little PvE content. Sure, the focus is on PvP, but sometimes the world feels a bit too deserted. Maybe I played at the wrong time.
Little resemblance to Red Dead Redemption – more of a survival MMO
The question remains whether the Western shooter is a good alternative to Red Dead Redemption? Currently, the game reminds me more of a survival title like ARK: Survival Evolved, just with horses and cowboys. A good story with quests needs to follow to really connect with RDR.
For an alpha, Wild West Online was decent, but some features were still not fully available. Maybe more will be revealed in the upcoming alpha/beta phases.
At the presentation, Wild West Online likely sought proximity to Red Dead Redemption 2 with a targeted leak; in the meantime, doubts about the game have arisen:
