Maintenance is taking place for The Elder Scrolls Online. After that, it will start with Morrowind. We will tell you what time you can expect the launch of ESO Morrowind.
On Tuesday, June 6th, the new expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind will be launched. Before that, maintenance work will take place, so the server status for ESO is “down”.
ESO down – Maintenance on June 6th before TESO: Morrowind
The maintenance work will proceed as follows:
On PC, it took place on Monday starting at 10:00 AM, so that is already done.
On Xbox One, the European and North American mega servers will be down on Tuesday starting at 3:00 AM.
On PS4, the mega servers will also be down on Tuesday starting at 3:00 AM.
The ESO Store and account system are scheduled for maintenance on Tuesday starting at 9:00 AM.
When does Morrowind launch? What time does it start in Germany?
After the maintenance, it should then start.
The plan is for all players to be able to play Morrowind on PS4, PC, and Xbox One at 11:00 AM our time (CET).
The game should be available in stores when they open on June 6th in the morning. However, you can also pre-order the game via Amazon.
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We will update the article if there are any changes to the schedule. In the coming days, we will extensively cover the launch of ESO: Morrowind. We will try to answer all pressing questions about the game on our thematic page for The Elder Scrolls Online – where there is only ESO.
Finally, it’s here – Zenimax has set only more hours of maintenance before the island of Morrowind. The expansion brings about 30 hours of fun on the island of Vvardenfell, which players visited 15 years ago in TES III: Morrowind. Also in the expansion: the new class Warden, structured PvP for the first time in ESO’s history in the form of battlegrounds, and a new raid.
A new machinima is causing a stir. The WoW film “Light’s Champions” has a first trailer that leaves you wanting more!
In World of Warcraft, there are numerous quest lines that have stayed in the players’ memories. Many of them would make for a standalone film that could easily compete with the current blockbuster movies. One of these particularly memorable quests is about Crusader Bridenbrad – a member of the Argent Crusade.
During the battles in Icecrown, he was severely wounded and was considered missing. Because he was very popular and a true “Champion of Light”, the player was sent to rescue him.
The YouTuber Cstyle12 has been working on a film that tells the story of Crusader Bridenbrad since 2015. In the first trailer, he shows impressions from the completed film.
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The complete film will actually have an impressive runtime of 110 minutes – nearly 2 hours! This work comes close to great works like “Tales from the Past”, which have thrilled hundreds of thousands of fans in the past.
Either next Friday (09.06.2017) or the following Friday (16.06.2017), the film will be released on Cstyle12’s YouTube channel. After that, it will also be presented by the well-known WoW streamer Nixxiom, who is promoting the whole event a bit.
By the way: The quest line about Crusader Bridenbrad is a tribute to Brad Bridenbecker, the brother of WoW developer Rob Bridenbecker. Despite several attempts to conquer the illness, he passed away from cancer. The trajectory resembles, in many ways, the course of the quest line – with a sad but beautiful ending.
Cortyn says: For a “one-man show”, since Cstyle12 created the video all by himself, the trailer is quite impressive. Only the voice actors seem a bit out of place at times. Hopefully, the nearly 2 ½ years were worth it and he is satisfied with the finished work. Personally, I find the chosen story cool – that would be really great material for a “real” Warcraft film.
Many Ubisoft titles like The Division and For Honor are currently experiencing issues as of June 5th. The servers are down, the online service is unavailable. Server status.
Since the afternoon, there have been disruptions with the Ubisoft servers today, June 5th. Players are reporting that they cannot connect, that they are being kicked, and that the servers are unreachable.
Several hours ago, Ubisoft announced that they are performing maintenance on several titles. There may be connection interruptions for console games, companion apps, and Uplay.
However, there seems to be a disruption. The last status update was today around 6:30 PM. Some online services from Ubisoft have experienced an outage. They are investigating the issue and apologize for the inconvenience. Titles like For Honor and The Division are currently offline.
When you can play again this Whit Monday is not known. It seems to be a larger problem.
In the meantime, you can find interesting articles here:
In Destiny, a Guardian shows how he takes revenge on the Cabal. When they chase up the Tower, he chases their Harvester into the air! – Videos of the week.
Whit Monday is coming to an end. So it’s time to lean back once more and enjoy the Destiny videos of the week – before reality catches up with you again tomorrow.
This week, the MOTW winning video is a chuckle: Guardian Perffection writes that the Cabal will chase up the Tower in Destiny 2. He doesn’t just take it lying down but rather chases something of the Cabal up in return: Specifically, their Psion Harvester.
This week, the Dust Palace is the Nightfall strike, where in the end you face the Psion Harvesters. Apparently, the Guardian wanted to defeat the Harvesters in a different way, which is why he gathered some bombs and placed them at a Harvester’s spawn point. All you can do is wish the Harvester “Safe travels”:
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If you want to see your videos here, you need to send them to us first. The best way to do this is through Facebook. You can find us under “Mein-MMO.de”. Send us a nice private message there with the link to the video. We will definitely check it out. However, we can’t guarantee more than that.
To FIFA 18, the reveal trailer has been released. There is also a release date for PS4, Xbox One, and PC – an answer to the question: “When is FIFA 18 coming out?” The cover star is also known!
FIFA 18 will introduce the second season for the story mode “The Journey” and bring some innovations – especially in Ultimate Team. These are all the information available about the 25th installment of the football simulation from EA Sports.
Until now. Because today, on June 5, 2017, the reveal trailer for FIFA 18 was released. A specific release date has also been revealed:
FIFA 18 will be released on September 29, 2017. That’s a Friday.
Here is the first official footage that the FIFA community will see for FIFA 18:
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It is “Game Engine Footage”. The focus is on Cristiano Ronaldo. He will be the new cover star of FIFA 18:
In the fine print at the end of the trailer, it states that the Frostbite engine and the “The Journey: Hunter Returns” mode (this is the next season of the story mode) will only be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Not all features will be available on all platforms.
Important: At the end of the short trailer, the logo for PlayStation 4 Pro appears. This means that there is now a marketing deal between EA and Sony. In recent years there was such a deal between EA and Microsoft with the Xbox. This confirms the leak from a few days ago.
This marketing deal has provided Xbox players with legend cards in recent years. In FIFA 18, legends are expected to be replaced: They are now called “Icons.” Icons will be available on Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4.
A legend (Icon) is already known: Ronaldo (that is, the Brazilian Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima). This comes from a special edition of FIFA 18:
FIFA 18 – Editions for PS4, Xbox One, PC
There will be various editions available for pre-order:
A Standard Edition: Includes up to 5 Jumbo Premium Gold FUT packs, a Cristiano Ronaldo loan player, and 8 special FUT jerseys if pre-ordered.
A Ronaldo Edition: Pre-order gives you 3 days early access, up to 20 Jumbo Premium Gold FUT packs, a Cristiano Ronaldo loan player, and 8 special FUT jerseys.
And an “Icon Edition”: Pre-order gives you 3 days early access, up to 40 Jumbo Premium Gold FUT packs, a Ronaldo loan player, a Cristiano Ronaldo loan player, a TOTW loan player pack, and 8 special FUT jerseys. Here is an overview of all the contents of the Icon Edition:
The loan players are available for 5 matches each.
These editions are only available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. There is a Legacy Edition for PS3 and Xbox 360.
The release of Absolver on PS4 and PC is imminent. How are the battles conducted in this online melee game?
A year ago, Absolver was the surprise hit at E3 2016. It is developed by the indie studio Slocap and represents an online melee game where you play as a masked fighter.
In an open world, you must prove yourself worthy of becoming an “Absolver” – a member of an elite unit. On your journey, you will encounter other players and various NPCs that you can challenge to become stronger. You can also team up with them to travel together through the ruins of the fallen “Adal Empires”.
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In Absolver, combat is an art. More specifically, it is “action martial arts”. You do not just wildly attack your opponents; instead, the mechanics are complex and strategic. The battles take place in real-time and are designed to be dynamic and fluid. Duels and even 3v3 skirmishes are possible.
How does martial arts work in Absolver?
At the beginning of your journey, you choose between three basic combat styles:
Forsaken: The fighter is balanced and powerful. Special ability: Parry – this can stun opponents for a short time.
Khalt Method: The fighter is strong and resilient. Special ability: Absorb – attacks cannot stun or push him back. Upon a successful counter-attack, he regenerates health.
Windfall: The fighter is more agile. Special ability: Dodge – evades an enemy attack allowing for a powerful counter-attack.
Each combat style enhances certain character attributes and comes with its own special ability.
In the world of Absolver, there are more combat styles that you can discover.
What attacks a character can use in combat depends on their combat deck. This is the overview of all their available attacks. These attacks are divided into four stances, represented by the diamond:
Similar to For Honor, where there are three stances, you will find four combat stances in Absolver. These determine how you face your opponent and which attacks you can perform.
Create your own play style
The combat deck is fully customizable. In each stance, you can create an attack sequence. For this, choose three attacks in any order (marked with a square) and alternative attacks (marked with a triangle) to create unique and unpredictable attack choreographies. All attacks can be executed fluidly in succession.
Attack sequences for all stances
At the beginning, you have little choice for your personal play style. Thus, the martial arts should be simple and intuitive to learn in the first hours, but become increasingly complex over time.
You learn new attacks by fighting against other players. Additionally, you learn new combat styles by finding a mentor and staying loyal to them for a while. Through this loyalty, you learn new skills faster.
More information:
In Absolver, you not only attack, but you must also defend. Here, you can block, parry, or dodge attacks.
There is the option for a feint.
Furthermore, you fight not only with your fists but also with various weapons as temporary bonuses. You can activate these when the “fragments” floating next to your character glow. But beware: During a fight, your opponent can disarm you and use the weapon against you.
When it comes to armor parts, you must decide how you want to skill: For heavy armor offers better protection, but makes you immobile.
There are PvE and PvP fights.
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Other MMORPGs like Tera or Black Desert are making their way to PS4 and Xbox One, but it seems that the developers are not making demands for crossplay, but rather keeping it separate from the PC.
The title image comes from the Australian site “Finder” – it is also where the interview we refer to comes from.
More about the future of Final Fantasy XIV can be found here:
Square Enix would like to port its MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV to the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch consoles, but many discussions are still needed.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for PC, PS3, and PS4. However, support for the PlayStation 3 is now being phased out with Stormblood. It is known that the game’s head, Naoki Yoshida, would like to port his MMORPG to the Xbox One. Now there is more information on the “Final Fantasy XIV wants to come to more platforms” story.
Apparently, there are also talks with Nintendo about a port of Final Fantasy XIV to the hybrid console Nintendo Switch.
Discussions definitely continue
At an event in Hamburg, Yoshida was asked whether the Nintendo Switch would also be a suitable platform for Final Fantasy XIV.
According to Yoshida, Square Enix’s core policy is to constantly explore the possibility of bringing the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV to more platforms.
Discussions with Nintendo (for the Switch) and Microsoft (for the Xbox One) are definitely still ongoing.
Many difficulties stand in the way of a port of Final Fantasy XIV to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch
However, there are a number of conditions:
Both companies must ensure they are aware of the requirements Square Enix has for quality testing and the online component.
Additionally, it must be guaranteed that Final Fantasy XIV can be regularly patched. There must not be any delays.
Furthermore, the partners must be willing to share responsibility with Square Enix and support the communities together.
Yoshida with an Xbox controller during a live stream – seen as a sign that he aims for the port.
All of this is part of the discussions. Yoshida does not expect these discussions to end anytime soon.
CrossPlay is probably the elephant in the room that no one is talking about
Mein-MMO believes: The topic that Yoshida left out is “Cross-Play” – PC and PlayStation players can currently play together in Final Fantasy XIV – a rarity. The question is whether crossplay would still be possible if Nintendo and Microsoft were to join in.
In the past, it was said that a Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox One repeatedly failed due to the lack of crossplay and that Yoshida would be willing to accommodate Microsoft here.
It is clear that Yoshida is really passionate about his game and would love to make it accessible to even more people. The question is how much Nintendo and Microsoft desire Final Fantasy XIV for their platforms.
Other MMORPGs like Tera or Black Desert are making their way to PS4 and Xbox One, but it seems that the developers are not making demands for crossplay, but rather keeping it separate from the PC.
The title image comes from the Australian site “Finder” – it is also where the interview we refer to comes from.
More about the future of Final Fantasy XIV can be found here:
At some point, an Aion 2 from NCSoft will probably come, but the release date is still far off.
As reported by 2p, the Chinese publisher of the MMORPG Aion has released some information about the possible sequel Aion 2. This Aion 2 is not yet in development – the team at NCSoft is still working on new game content for Aion.
However, it seems that NCSoft has already considered an Aion 2 – for the moment, the game remains in the “concept phase.”
Now we know: An Aion 2 could actually come someday, but that’s still far off.
Aion is a Free2Play Asian MMO – for many, it is known as “the game with wings.” A few years ago, at the EU release in late 2009, it was considered a potential “WoW killer” and was quite successful in Europe and North America for a time.
Aion is a complicated story. It is distributed by different companies in different countries. For Europe, the Karlsruhe company Gameforge is responsible, which also distributes Tera. Currently, Aion is running with update 5.4.
In the USA, Aion is distributed directly by NCSoft – they are on version 5.3
In China, “Shanda Games” is responsible for Aion, and they are before the update 5.6: This patch revises the starting zones for the two races “Elyos” and “Asmodian.” Additionally, the “Tower of Eternity” is already visible before the starting zone.
The last “major patch” to Aion was 5.0 – we reported extensively about it in May 2016:
In Paladins, the latest patch OB 51 has adjusted the Champion Mastery level system. There are new rewards such as special skins and poses. However, the community is not happy and finds the new system too expensive.
Players receive rewards in Paladins for reaching mastery levels with a Champion. To do this, they need to gather enough experience points and level up the character. With the new patch OB 51, the Champion Mastery levels and rewards have been adjusted.
The community expresses skepticism and believes that it has become more difficult to earn gold. Gold is the in-game currency in Paladins, which can be used to unlock champions and cosmetic items. Additionally, players do not receive the new Mastery rewards for free but must pay for them with gold or crystals. Crystals are the premium currency in Paladins.
This is what the highest Master Skin “Kosmo” looks like, which can be unlocked at Mastery level 15. Here is the example of the tank Makoa. Cost to unlock: 25,000 gold.
Paladins Champion Mastery Levels OB 51 – Here’s how the new system works
The new system gives players special rewards when they reach certain Champion Mastery levels. Now there are Master Skins, special emotes, and sprays to showcase their best champions. So far, these rewards are available for: Drogoz, Lex, Maeve, Makoa, Tyra, and Viktor. The remaining champions will be added gradually.
Whoever reaches a certain level with their champion receives rewards. Radiant chests, gold, and the Champion title are given for free. The remaining rewards must be unlocked with gold or crystals.
In this video from Studio Hi-Rez, community manager Alyssa showcases the new rewards and changes.
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Level 10: Obsidian Master Skin available for purchase
Level 12: Master Spray available for purchase
Level 15: Kosmo Master Skin available for purchase
Level 20: Champion Title
The community finds the new system too expensive – Especially for beginners
Since patch OB 51 went live, there has been unrest in the community. In Paladins’ official forum and on Reddit, complaints about the new system have surfaced. Fans are generally excited about the rewards for Champion Mastery levels but find them too expensive in this form.
Now you only receive 2 x 500 gold for levels three and four. Previously, there was more additional gold for reaching mastery levels. Also, unlocking the special rewards is quite costly. For instance, the Obsidian Master Skin costs 20,000 gold and the Kosmo Master Skin costs 25,000 gold.
This is Maeve’s Obsidian Master Skin and her Master level emote.
In summary, this means
Players now have fewer opportunities to earn gold but more options to spend gold or money. And here the community sees the problem. Especially newcomers will find it harder to scrape together enough gold for their best champs.
Hi-Rez justifies the changes by arguing that mastery levels were never intended to earn a lot of gold. This gold should rather be a small bonus. Players still have the opportunity to earn gold through:
3 x Daily Win for 300 Gold
3 x Weekly Quests for 750 Gold
Winning matches for up to 90 – 300 Gold
“Daily Log-In” bonus for up to 1,350 Gold per week
There has been unrest in Paladins before, when in OB 44 the third currency “Essence” was introduced. Fans also had the impression that the “Free-To-Play” shooter was becoming a grind. Back then, Hi-Rez listened to its community and adjusted the prices. It remains to be seen what Hi-Rez will make of the feedback this time.
Aside from the obvious class mount, there are many other secret rewards for the classes in WoW. We have prepared a list for you.
A long-awaited feature of Patch 7.2 will soon be accessible. Starting tomorrow (06.06.2017), in World of Warcraft the specific class mounts will be available, which players can finally earn. However, some classes will also enjoy some special additional rewards! They will receive additional mounts (in several color variations), special toys, or exclusive pets that are only available for that particular class.
In addition to the mounts, there are more rewards!
To obtain the special rewards, a number of conditions must be met that are the same for all classes.
The class mount must have already been earned (including the “Assault on the Tomb” achievement)
The achievement “Exhausted Potential” must be achieved – so all traits of a specific artifact weapon must be unlocked. Important: If there are multiple rewards for different specializations of a class, each artifact weapon must also be fully upgraded! Example: for a “Frost” reward, the Frost artifact weapon must be completed
Each of the following rewards costs 1,000 Order Resources at the respective vendor in the Order Hall.
Death Knight
Death Knights have access to three special pets. Depending on the specialization, there is a different undead dragon.
Blood: Bloodbrood Whelpling
Frost: Frostbrood Whelpling
Unholy: Vilebrood Whelpling
Demon Hunter
Demon Hunters have a fearsome companion that makes itself comfortable on the player’s head. They receive A tiny War Glaive set, with which they can place Demon Hunter Pepe on their head!
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Hunters will be able to catch a completely new category of wild animals. Soon they will be able to catch all “Feathermanes,” which includes hippogriffs, gryphons, owl cats, wolf hawks, and wyverns. Additionally, there are new colorations for the class mount.
Beast Mastery: The Tome of the Wild Hybrid
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Mages are waiting for a small toy. Because a world-class mage naturally lets their battle pets stylishly float around – on a hovering platform that resembles the mage mount! For this, they simply buy the Magical Saucer.
Unfortunately, there are no pictures available yet.
Monk
The friends of alcohol and peculiar fighting styles get an exclusive companion by their side. They are greeted by Ban-Fu, Pup of Ban-Lu.
Paladins
Since not all paladins look alike and a human’s horse is indeed color-inappropriate for a Draenei, they receive additional colors tied to the specific artifact weapons.
Holy: Heraldic Reins of the Brave Steed
Retribution: Reins of the Vengeful Steed
Protection: Stoic Reins of the Watchful Steed
Rogue
Rogues will receive three different additional variants of their raven. Additionally, all “Pirates” (especially Outlaw Rogues) can look forward to a small parrot – as it should be. However, this one is obtained through a small quest chain that starts in the Order Hall.
Subtlety: Infested Reins of the Dark Harbinger
Outlaw: Bloody Reins of the Dark Harbinger
Assassination: Nightblack Reins of the Dark Harbinger
Warlock
Warlocks have an additional coloration for their mount. Those who do not like the spooky purple and prefer a “classic fiery horse” can simply buy the Felfire Reins of the Quarrelsome Steed from Calydus.
If your class is not listed, then there is no special feature for it – or it was not revealed beforehand on the PTR.
Blizzard has already announced that in the future (in the next expansion) pets and toys will be easier to obtain. They do not want anyone to be forced to grind for several classes in the next expansion when the content is no longer current.
In The Division, we present a build centered around the Striker set. With this, you’ll clean up nicely in New York!
For almost two weeks now, loadouts have been in the game. Now you can create, save, and quickly switch between up to six builds.
If you’re looking for a new build idea, Agent Lt Buzz Litebeer has a suggestion for you. He presents his “Solo Striker” build, which turns his character into a PvE killing machine. What can this build do?
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A Striker Build for Solo Agents – The Division 1.6.1
This character setup does not rely on high electronics stats or skills like the seeker mine, but is focused on DPS and raw firepower. The agent is convinced that it is the best build to fight through elite enemies in PvE.
These are the armor pieces:
Chest piece: Striker – with bonuses to enemy armor damage, health points, and ammo capacity (mods for firearms and health points)
Mask: Striker – with bonuses to health points on kill and “Blind and Deaf” resistance (mod for firearms and health points)
Knee pads: Striker – with bonuses to health points, damage to elite, and “On Fire” resistance (mod with firearms and health points as well as first aid self-healing)
Holster: Striker – with bonuses to reload speed (mod with first aid self-healing)
Backpack: Nomad – with bonuses to stability and “On Fire” resistance (mod with firearms, health points, and first aid self-healing)
Gloves: Nomad – with bonuses to assault rifle damage, crit damage, and health points on kill
With the Striker’s combat gear, you gain +20% stability, +10% enemy armor damage, and the bonus that each successive hit deals +1% more damage. The bonus can reach up to 100%. Misses decrease it by 2%. The bonus decreases by 1% per second.
The 2-piece bonus from the Nomad grants +15% health points on kill. This bonus is important for this build, as you deal a lot of damage but must be careful how you stay alive. This bonus increases your chances of survival.
The weapon of the build
The primary weapon is the assault rifle M4 Lightweight. It has an enemy armor damage of 23% (very high) as well as the talents Brutal (+12% headshot damage), Vulnerable (+10% damage when within 10 meters of the enemy), and Vindictive (damage increases based on missing health). For the mods, a larger magazine, headshot damage, and crits are focused on.
The skills:
First Aid with the Overdose mod
Medical Station with the Savior mod
The character talents:
Adrenaline: The “First Aid Kit” heals for 10 seconds and does not stop healing when taking damage
Emergency Medicine: A first aid kit at low health increases damage resistance by 20% for 10 seconds
On the Move: Killing an enemy while in motion reduces damage taken by 15% for 10 seconds
One is None: A headshot gives a 50% chance to not consume the bullet
In Destiny 2 a long-held player wish is fulfilled: automatic matchmaking for the really tough challenges, a raid finder. But this only works on Bungie’s terms. Is Bungie’s solution better than WoW’s weakened LFR raids?
We previously reported that Destiny 2 fulfills some of the players’ major wishes, but not in the way they envisioned.
The wish to “finally fix the balancing” results in Destiny 2, for example, in no percentage changes, but a new “weapon system.”
In a similar way, Bungie fulfills another old player wish: matchmaking – even for raids.
Like WoW a few years ago, Destiny also wants to get as many players as possible to raid but is taking different approaches than WoW.
The Wish
In Destiny 1, automatic matchmaking works for almost everything except really difficult things like the 3-man Nightfall strike (PvE/Nightfall), the 3-man Trials of Osiris (PvP), or the 6-man raid (PvE).
The players also wish for automatic matchmaking for these tough activities.
In Destiny 1, players helped each other
Players solved the issue of missing matchmaking for these activities in Destiny 1 by themselves:
Players organized themselves into fixed groups through the friends function of their console networks
Streamers offered to take fans along for the Trials of Osiris and help them achieve a flawless ticket – thereby gaining views and fans
Matchmaking was outsourced from Destiny 1 to other websites or services.
Only 50% of players have seen the raid – hurdle for social contact too high
However: It hasn’t really worked “super” – especially in PvE.
As Bungie announced, only 50% of all players in Destiny 1 have seen a raid. And Bungie is so proud of the raids. So a solution is needed, more people should at least try the raids and the endgame of Destiny.
The problem is: the hurdle is too high to reach out to other people through Facebook groups and approach strangers. Time and again, players express they don’t want to do that. They expect to find a group within Destiny – not outside of it.
This is what players wanted
The players’ demand was : automatic matchmaking for everything – I want to press a button and then be in a group and start.
However, Bungie was against this demand, stating: If six completely strangers join a raid and don’t communicate, they often die, are frustrated, and have a bad gaming experience. We definitely don’t want that.
According to Bungie, these “hard activities” are designed for groups where the guardians communicate with each other – meaning they use voice chat and are so closely connected that setbacks don’t lead to the group breaking up immediately.
This is how Bungie is solving it in Destiny 2 – Guided Games
Bungie’s solution: existing groups can take on “individual players” through a matchmaking system. The idea is, that the existing group does most of the work and the individual players learn to adapt and cope with them. The motto is: four people know what they are doing – the other two just do what everyone else does, and it’ll be fine.
Bungie’s intention is clear: they want to encourage individual players to join groups. From “mixed team of 4+2” fixed teams should emerge.
It’s an interesting concept – gently guiding players to where they want them to be. The idea is: once lone wolves have overcome the hurdle of playing with others in raids, they will see how great and easy it is – the hurdle lowers and the matter is settled.
Interesting social experiment, but hopefully the raids won’t be too easy now
However: Problems and questions are already emerging with the new system:
The question is whether Bungie will also adjust the difficulty of the raid. Even in Destiny 1, a lot of players wished for the Nightfall and the raids to be more challenging. Especially the “hard modes” of the raid should have been more challenging. If the raids are now designed to be cleared by “4+2”, raids could be made easier.
Another danger is also clear: If a raid goes wrong, the “others” are to blame: the so-called “randoms”, the randomly taken players, are too weak and become the scapegoats – this could also lead to difficulties in the Trials of Osiris.
Will enough fixed groups take on new players to keep the waiting time manageable?
Will it be possible to specifically search for German groups?
These are the risks and still open questions of the new Guided Games system.
LFR variant with “kindergarten raids” like in WoW would have been an option
In the MMORPG WoW, they had the same problem as Destiny 1 : too few people saw the raids. Many developer hours and important story steps are hidden in the raids. It’s frustrating when players keep hearing about a villain in quests but never see him because he’s the final boss in a raid they will never enter.
In WoW, Blizzard created a “kindergarten edition” of the raid at the end of 2011, which could also be completed by a group without any communication or coordination: the LFR raids. These were introduced at the end of the 3rd WoW expansion “Cataclysm.”
Players were allowed to enter these “LFR raids” through an automated matchmaking system. This led to every WoW player being able to see the raids without any problems.
However: the loot in this version of the raid was significantly weaker than the loot in the “real raid.”
This would also have been a possible solution for Destiny 2. But: In WoW, they had only mediocre experiences with the “LFR raids.” Some WoW players believe that this solution devalued the entire raiding experience in WoW, trivializing the raids. The appeal of the “real raiding” has disappeared, it’s no longer special.
The “Guided Games” groups, with the 4+2 composition, will be in the same raids as the 6-man groups.
It’s definitely an interesting experiment. It will be exciting to see if Bungie’s solution works. If it does, it could become a widely used answer to a common MMORPG problem: too few players seeing the end content.
With Destiny 2, developers from other online games with strong PvE elements will surely scrutinize Destiny 2 and its Guided Games closely. Perhaps Bungie has come up with an innovative solution.
What do you think? Would you join a raid group as an individual player? Or would you complement your raid as part of an existing group?
The MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online was intended to reach a mass audience, but only attracted hardcore MMO players. This needed to change.
The site Glixel conducted an interview with the head of ESO, Matt Firor. This sheds light on some new facts.
Skyrim changed the development
Producer Matt Firor.
Without Skyrim, ESO would have looked different than we know it today.
The first systems for ESO emerged between 2008 and 2010 – back then, players had different ideas about what a “The Elder Scrolls” should be, then came 2011 and Skyrim. This changed player perception. Suddenly, levels in Elder Scrolls were no longer important.
Even then, there were considerations at ESO to do away with player levels, but it was ultimately decided against this, as the step would have been too drastic to redesign an existing massive, level-based world.
Ultimately, this step was taken with “One Tamriel” – levels now played a significantly smaller role than at launch. Most game content was now level-independent and accessible to everyone.
The Skyrim-ification of The Elder Scrolls Online began during development
Even though this point was implemented a few years late: Skyrim had a significant influence on ESO during development:
Due to Skyrim
ESO switched to first-person perspective
ESO adopted a smaller hotbar
ESO moved combat to the mouse buttons
Zenimax overall did much to make the game feel less like an MMO and more like an RPG.
Success eluded at launch
At launch in 2014, The Elder Scrolls Online still fell short of high expectations. According to Firor, it was not a flop in that sense, but it could not reach the “mass market” that the Elder Scrolls single-player games had.
Zenimax had expected to reach the “mass of users”, the fans of Elder Scrolls, with ESO, but instead received “hardcore MMO gamers.” They logged in every day and played.
Zenimax oriented itself around them when reshaping the game. Firor says: We simply did more of what the players wanted and less of what they didn’t want. For this, data collected and personal experience were utilized.
For the Justice system, for example, players wanted to go out and steal something – so they were given the ability to do it in a sandbox form without quests.
If you have something to build on, you can also be successful
Firor was already of the opinion in 2014 that ESO was fundamentally something good. You just had to loosen the systems and free the players from constraints, then success would follow, Firor believed.
You had players who played every day and thus something to build on. And when you have something to build on, you can make it more successful, thinks Firor.
Through the Champion system, players should now be able to customize their heroes as they wish, without having to grind veteran levels.
The mood in the studio after the release was never really down despite the issues; the sentiment was: “Okay, we did this so far. That didn’t work. We didn’t see that coming, but we can handle it.”
Head angry that there are no underwater contents in ESO
Meanwhile, success has arrived. However, Firor is still a bit bothered by one thing. He is a big fan of “underwater content.”
But … the Elder Scrolls series is not known for excelling here. Plans for underwater content were scrapped one day because there wasn’t enough time. Firor says: “I was pretty pissed about that, but it was probably just me.” Firor seems to have made peace with it now.
We are now really successful
They are now “really successful”, a lot of people play the game, they are now in Japan and are doing a lot of different things. At the moment, they are effectively rebranding the game as “Morrowind,” bringing new players to ESO and have created a new tutorial.
Anyone who has never played the old ESO can now simply jump in with Morrowind. They are really doing a lot of cool things and that is only possible because they were successful enough to play a bit with the formula.
On Tuesday, the next chapter in the history of The Elder Scrolls Online, the Morrowind expansion, begins. We were able to test it already:
Finally, the time has come – players can earn their special class mounts in World of Warcraft. What you need to do can be found here.
At the last BlizzCon, it was one of the major topics – the contents of World of Warcraft Patch 7.2. One of the most desired features was the class-specific mounts, which were presented more than half a year ago. When Patch 7.2 went live more than two months ago, disappointment was great – the mounts are only available at the end of a weeks-long quest chain. But now the time has finally come! Starting tomorrow morning (Tuesday, 06.06.2017), the different Class Mounts can be unlocked.
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If you are just now starting the quest chain on the Broken Shore, you have a lot of work ahead of you. In the past two months, a new quest has been unlocked every week. Only at the very end of all these quest lines of the Legion judges is the achievement “Assault on the Tomb” and thus access to the class mount.
If you plan to complete it “in one go”, you should allow a little more time. Because among other things, 10 world quests on the Broken Shore must be completed, a Legion invasion must be fended off, and a specific order mission must be completed. The entire achievement will therefore take several days even in the fastest case.
However, those who have stayed “on the ball” so far should already be able to complete the last step starting tomorrow, which will once again begin on the Broken Shore.
The class-specific mounts are a great way to gain a bit more individuality in World of Warcraft. Almost all mounts receive a special coloring for their respective specialization. Thus, even within the same class, there is variety.
Roadhog’s Hook is finally fixed? Not at all! Our Plays of the Game from Overwatch show what funny things are now possible.
Every week, absurd, thrilling, or simply funny moments happen in Overwatch , often captured in a “Play of the Game”. We searched social media and picked out three special highlights for you. Enjoy our 3 “Plays of the Game” moments of the week in Overwatch!
Whoever is the coolest kid on the playground in Overwatch spices up their “Play of the Game” with a fitting spray logo or emote. The really stylish moves happen when you spray the logo just before the actual moment. This happened to Brizzle as Reaper on the map Eichenwalde. After he killed some enemies and then resurrected Mercy, he knew that his time had come. It’s only barely visible in the recording, but the “Sarcastic Shrug” spray couldn’t be set more perfectly!
https://gfycat.com/GiantWellwornGrassspider
Roadhog’s Hook has a long history full of bugs and strange behaviors. Even in its current version, it’s not perfect yet. Pros like ScrapDraft have already perfected it and exploit a new quirk. If you break your line of sight to the hook’s victim at just the right moment, the hook won’t break but instead hurls the target towards Roadhog – and beyond! This video shows how that looks in action, including an unbelieving WHAT from the opponent.
https://gfycat.com/AccomplishedFarDaddylonglegs
The Reinhardt Express often leads to complete kill streaks. Often, 2 or 3 opponents fly off the map at the same time. But when everything aligns, you can take a few more enemies along over the river Jordan! Indjim shows what a flawless charge looks like – this should certainly secure the control point for his team.
https://gfycat.com/WickedSoupyAiredale
Did you also experience a particularly cool game scene that you captured on video? Then just send us a link to the video and maybe you’ll find your clip in this post next week!
ARK: Survival Evolved receives a new update on PS4 and Xbox One. Patch 1.24 brings new dinos and a functioning toilet to consoles. Additionally, there are a few optimizations. The patch is expected to be released next week.
PS4 and Xbox One will soon receive a new patch in Ark Survival Evolved. The update brings the consoles to the PC version v258. This means 5 new dinos for the survivors. With the new creatures, there will be a total of 100 dinos in the game, and no further ones are known.
Survivors will soon be able to do their business on functioning toilets and will receive a bonus for it.
Ark Survival Evolved: Patch 1.24 – ETA June 8 for PS4, Xbox One
In a tweet, community manager Jen announced that the console patch is expected on Thursday, June 8. The date is an estimate. If the certification process by Microsoft and Sony does not go smoothly, the update may be delayed.
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Update 9.6: There have been delays with the patch. Currently, it is still in certification with Sony and Microsoft. The community manager says he believes something might still happen today, Friday (or during the night into Saturday our time).
Ark PS4, Xbox One: New Dinos, Optimizations, Toilets – What’s Included in the Patch
The patch brings new content for console players. PS4 and Xbox One will be updated to the PC version v258.
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A leak suggests that a manager simulator is planned for League of Legends, where you can become the boss of an eSports team.
There are already successful simulators for various game genres, where you can become managers or bosses of football clubs or transport companies. A manager simulation for League of Legends could be just right for fans who are frustrated with managing their favorite LoL team and think they could do it better themselves.
A leak shows images of such a mobile game that Tencent is allegedly working on.
LoL Simulator “Code Season 7”
According to a leak from the Chinese forum site “NGA”, Tencent is currently working on a mobile game called Code Season Seven. In this game, you can lead your own League of Legends team and make important decisions.
Based on the leaked screenshots, it is suspected that Code Season 7 has all the important licenses to use team logos. For example, you can see the logos of RNG, Echo Fox, and KT Rolster there.
In the following tweet, you can see the leaked images from the forum:
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In one screenshot, you can also see that the player “Rookie” has killed his opponent “Faker”. It is therefore suspected that the game even has the rights to use the real player names from the professional scene of League of Legends.
Manager simulators are popular among players, as can be seen from the large number of football managers available online. It is quite possible that such a simulation will also be implemented for the eSports sector. A game that focuses on the Korean StarCraft 2 scene is SC2VN. However, it looks more like a novel in which players can participate.
There is still no official statement from Tencent regarding Code Season 7. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether the game will be released worldwide.
The encounter designer of World of Warcraft reveals how to develop new raids and what the developers pay particular attention to.
The streamer Slootbag recently conducted an interview with Morgan Day, a developer from World of Warcraft. Day is the “Lead Encounter Designer” – the main person responsible for the boss fights in dungeons and raids. We have outlined and translated the most exciting points from the interview. If you want to see the full interview, you can watch the Twitch recording here. The interview starts at 1:02:25.
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When designing new raids, there is one exception for each expansion: the first raid is always easier than all the following ones. The reason for this is the high chance that the first raid instance will be the first raid for many players.
Here, newcomers can still have a bit of fun and achieve successes more quickly. In the patches that follow, less consideration is taken, which is why the Trial of Valor, the Night Hold, and the Tomb of Sargeras are each harder than the Emerald Nightmare.
The development of boss fights often takes strange turns. It frequently happens that developers create a fight designed for the “normal” difficulty. During the first testing, they then notice that the fight has so many mechanics that it is actually already a “mythic” encounter. Then, numbers are often adjusted (damage, cooldowns, etc.) and abilities for the easier difficulty levels are removed or otherwise adjusted.
Not every raid needs a mythic bonus phase
With end bosses, there is often a “hidden” boss on mythic or a special phase that only exists in the mythic difficulty. However, contrary to what fans expect, this is not set in stone.
The developers simply look to see if something presents itself – like the additional “The Demon Within” phase in the Gul’dan fight. However, there is no fixed concept that every raid must have an “extra phase” on mythic.
By the way, in the Tomb of Sargeras, we can expect that the environment of a fight will be much more incorporated into the fight. This is likely to include destructible platforms and “Line of Sight” pillars.
We have a personality test for you! With the test, you can find out which champion in Paladins suits you best. And that for every role.
In Paladins champions are colorful. There are tough guys, lively girls, and even trees and turtles. It is not easy to find a character that fits you. We have prepared a personality test for you. With the test, you can find out which champions suit you.
Find out who you are for each role in Paladins
Paladins is a team shooter with different roles: Flank, Frontline, Support, and Damage. So you can fill your team in every role with your champ, we have created the test for each individual role!
Which Flanker suits you best?
Flankers need to pick individual targets and eliminate them quickly in Paladins. The flanker should primarily focus on targets that have low health. Good targets are healers like Ying, who keep their team alive. There are particularly fast flankers with high mobility and flankers who use special tricks… Who are you?
The fantasy MMORPG Ashes of Creation has come into conflict with the gaming press. It concerns the controversial referral model.
Ashes of Creation: Crowdfunding continues in June
Ashes of Creation is a fantasy MMORPG that has made headlines in recent weeks with a successful Kickstarter campaign. The highly ambitious project has raised $3,271,809. The Kickstarter campaign has now ended, but it will still accept money through crowdfunding.
Ashes of Creation says: We will continue crowdfunding in June via our own website to accommodate everyone who prefers to pay via PayPal, which Kickstarter does not support.
Referral issues and communication difficulties
While the Kickstarter campaign was still running, one of the largest gaming sites in the world, PC Gamer, critically examined the model behind “Ashes of Creation”.
One author introduced the game and noted some “problems”, such as the Ashes of Creation team lacking references and experience. Therefore, it is questionable whether they can truly achieve their lofty goals.
The main point of criticism is the company’s “referral system”: People receive money (15%) for getting others to sign up for the game through their referral links and ultimately spending money in Ashes of Creation. This primarily motivates YouTubers with large audiences to promote the game.
Interestingly, these referral rewards can also be cashed out.
The problem: Such a referral system actually contradicts the rules of Kickstarter. Anyone participating in a project through Kickstarter cannot financially benefit from it.
Then the issue gets a bit complicated:
In the PC Gamer article, it was mentioned that they had inquired with Kickstarter what they thought of the referral system. It would be against the rules of Kickstarter. Following this, Kickstarter contacted Ashes of Creation, and they removed the referral: Kickstarter donations no longer counted towards this referral program.
“That’s a flat-out lie” – Misunderstanding was likely Kickstarter’s fault
However, that was not true. The studio did not implement these changes.
The head of Ashes of Creation feels that he and his game have been treated unfairly by the article. He accuses PC Gamer of lying: “That’s a flat-out lie.” Kickstarter did not require the change.
The problem is likely: Kickstarter thought that they had demanded changes from Ashes of Creation – but they formulated so vaguely what exactly they should change that they now want to let the matter rest. In the future, they intend to communicate such matters more clearly.
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According to information from MassivelyOp, the “Ashes of Creation” head, Steven Sharif, reacted quite strongly to the PC Gamer article. The author wants to ride the hype wave with “clickbait” titles. He is looking for a fight and has an agenda.
It had already become evident that the head of Ashes of Creation, Steven Sharif, has a critical view of the media. Sharif seems to believe that media only report on a game when it simultaneously launches a large advertisement campaign. That was one of his motivations to implement a referral system.
A release of Ashes of Creation for PC is planned for late 2018.
Crowdfunding needs success stories
Mein-MMO thinks: I have the feeling that we will be dealing with conflicts around Ashes of Creation more often. The studio seems to feel comfortable in a “us against everyone” role and is currently treading new paths with the referral system. That is perfectly fine. The critical stance against established media is understandable in the role of the underdog, who is vying for attention against marketing giants like Ubisoft or Activision.
Well, one could have spared the stress and communicated privately, but that’s beside the point.
However: Doubts about whether Ashes of Creation will achieve its truly lofty goals will remain. Just as doubts persist regarding comparable indie MMORPGs.
We can only keep our fingers crossed that Ashes of Creation succeeds. The “crowdfunding” concept needs success stories, and not just “we were successfully funded,” but also in the second part “and then we went on and developed a really great game.”
Sharif has a background in controversial “multi-level marketing”; we have dealt with the topic here:
