The Plant Event in Pokémon GO was a competition between Team Red, Yellow, and Blue. Which team caught the most Plant Pokémon?
Until Tuesday, the Plant Event in Pokémon GO was running, promising an increase in Plant-type monsters. Trainers could fill their collections with monsters like Bulbasaur, Chikorita, or Tangela. To attract even more wild monsters, the duration of Lures was increased from 30 minutes to six hours.
What many trainers did not know: Niantic closely monitored which team caught how many Plant Pokémon and turned it into a competition. The winning team caught about 116 million Plant Monsters. The losers “only” 72 million. Can you already guess which team won?
And the winner is:
Trainers from the three different teams have long argued about which team is the better one.
Team Red – “Bravery” with leader Candela
Team Yellow – “Intuition” with leader Spark
Team Blue – “Wisdom” with leader Blanche
The result of the Plant Event could at least determine a winner among the three teams in this area. It was measured which group could catch the most Plant Pokémon during the event weekend.
In third place is Team Yellow, with 72 million Plant Monsters caught.
Second place goes to Team Red, which caught 102 million Plant Pokémon during the event.
Team Blue caught the most Plant Pokémon. The trainers of this team achieved 116 million Plant Monster catches.
Unfair result?
Many players criticize this “competition” on social media and wish for more detailed numbers regarding this event. The reason is that Team Blue has the most players and thus has a clear advantage in catching Pokémon.
Therefore, trainers suggest that Niantic should publish more accurate figures for future events. Values like “Pokémon catches per trainer from a team” could clarify which team made more of an “effort”.
Overall, the idea of comparing teams has been well received by the community so far. This increases the competitive spirit among trainers.
With an outdated set, keywords like “Inspiration” disappear. Does Blizzard want to keep Hearthstone “simple”?
In Hearthstone, the game is divided into specific years. After the Year of the Kraken, we are now in the Year of the Mammoth. In plain text, this means that only certain card sets can be used in the “Standard” game mode – specifically, all sets from the current and previous year.
Hearthstone: The keyword Spare Part no longer appears on new cards
Ultimately, this not only reduces the number of available cards but also the keywords. For instance, the “Inspire” mechanic from “The Grand Tournament” has completely disappeared along with the card set. New cards no longer carry the old keyword. The keyword “Spare Part” has also vanished.
Not all fans like this, which is why there were inquiries in the official forum about why Blizzard removed, for example, “Inspiration”.
According to developer Max McCall from Blizzard, there are several reasons for this:
Each set is someone’s first. New players would be overwhelmed with too many keywords.
Fewer “active” keywords allow developers to better support the individual words, ultimately leading to a better gameplay experience per expansion.
Each expansion would become slightly less “exciting” than the previous one. If all keywords had to be considered, a large portion of the new cards would only feature “old” mechanics.
Besides that, all cards can still be used in the “Wild” game mode – there, all cards with all keywords are allowed.
What do you think about this? Do you wish for the old keywords to come back? Or do you think it’s good that some of them are disappearing from the Standard game over time?
A particularly disgusting example from an Overwatch match shows the sexism that women still face in online games.
The anonymity of the internet often brings out the worst in people. Especially in online games, some individuals take the opportunity to “let loose” and show no regard for others. When a person identifies themselves as female in voice chat, sexism is all but guaranteed.
Why many women still do not feel comfortable online when they reveal their identity is excellently illustrated by the following example. The player Glisa recorded a match that demonstrates how she faced sexist remarks for nearly 20 minutes.
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A few translated examples of the many, many attacks:
“Mercy, heal me. I won’t call you ugly anymore! Just a joke, you’re probably ugly.”
“I like that Mercy heals me because she wants me.”
“That’s not sexual harassment, it’s equality.”
“You’re a woman, do you even have the right to have an opinion?”
Even after she points out that their remarks are sexist, it doesn’t get better – quite the opposite. The laughter of the young men only increases, and comments like “Yeah, we basically raped you, haha” come out.
Even when asked to coordinate as a team and use voice chat, Glisa responds briefly and is then interrupted: “Did anyone mute Mercy? I had to mute her!”
This behavior continues throughout the match. Comments like “I find it strange that women always play healers, probably because they can’t play well” and “And then they just pick the most attractive heroine, as if they need to compensate for something.”
And if someone thinks it’s not any less nice to expose these gentlemen: Yes, they were informed that this would be posted online and seemed to enjoy it.
Cortyn says: “Fortunately,” in this case, it only hit someone who doesn’t take these attacks too personally and instead brings attention to the topic. Cases like this are probably not uncommon and serve as a prime example of why many women avoid voice chat in online games. Many women won’t easily brush off such experiences and will quickly wonder: Why should I put myself through this in my free time?
One can only hope that these gentlemen develop some sense during their puberty. And maybe they’ll have a voice change then too.
In Destiny it’s a new way of thinking. Destiny 2 is set to bring DLCs. This reveals the plans for “Live Content” in Destiny 1 as empty marketing promises.
The supposed improvement in the content flow is slowly turning out to be what it really was: marketing talk. Bungie wanted to sell Destiny players a workaround as an “improvement”. That didn’t work.
The absence of DLCs in Year 2 was marketed to Destiny players as something “good”
Destiny transitioned to free content updates and events. Never again would players have to wait 4 months for new content and then pay for it. From now on, the “Live Team” would handle events and content updates.
In 2015, it still sounded like a good idea. The two Year 1 DLCs “The Darkness Beckons” and “House of Wolves” were rather subpar. While they brought new things like the raid “Crota’s End,” the “Prison of Elders,” or “The Trials of Osiris” – especially the story content disappointed the Guardians. Often, it was just familiar missions that had to be played in reverse.
A change in plans was initially well received. Especially since it would be free. The price tag of 15€ for new content had annoyed budget-conscious Guardians in Year 1.
“No Season Pass” – “No Content”
In practice, however, the whole situation looked much bleaker. Where Year 1 at least brought “game content” with the DLCs, it was bleak in Year 2 and Year 3. The “Live Team” could basically only recycle game content, bring balance changes, or develop some cosmetics – real boss challenges or story developments were no longer present.
The events often turned out to be attempts to keep players engaged with minimal effort. They offered emotes and all sorts of cosmetics through a cash shop.
Masks instead of new content?
Destiny 2 is set to receive DLCs again – and players apparently love it
The fact that all this “We’re focusing on events now, it’s going to be great” was just empty phrases is now evident with the plans for Destiny 2. Here, a “Season Pass” is already being sold before release, which is supposed to guarantee two DLCs. They are reverting to the old model.
Were events in Destiny 1 just a workaround due to poor dev tools?
Behind the scenes, there have been rumors for a long time that Bungie switched to “event content” solely because they couldn’t find the time to develop proper DLCs alongside working on Destiny 2 and the major expansions “The Taken King” and “Rise of Iron”.
Bungie couldn’t manage it in time. In Year 1, they were able to do it only because the DLCs were developed before release, when they had more time and didn’t have to maintain a “live game”.
With this knowledge, it seems the “Live Team” content was planned from the start as a workaround, sold to players as an “improvement”. They didn’t dare to say: “Guys, we can’t deliver DLCs. We’re currently working on Destiny 2 and that’s our focus.”
Now, ahead of Destiny 2, unconfirmed sources are leaking that the content weakness in Destiny 1 was due to a difficult engine and cumbersome developer tools. These problems are supposedly resolved with Destiny. Perhaps Destiny 2 can now continue with reasonable content.
Other games also struggle with “content supply” and are moving away from the season pass and DLC model; The Division scrapped its season pass for Year 2, since then there has been boredom there. Electronic Arts has already expressed doubts about the season pass model for Star Wars Battlefront 2.
For more information about Destiny and what could happen content-wise, read here:
Leya tested Paladins‘ new champ Willow and played a few rounds with the combat chopper. Here are her impressions.
Willo is one of the most unusual shooter characters I’ve ever seen. She is an elf reminiscent of a mix between an insect and a flower. Her weapon is not even close to a weapon. The elf doesn’t use a pistol, sword, or bow – Willo’s weapon is a delicate little flower that shoots pollen.
However, this delicate little elf can deal devastating damage with this flower.
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Willo – Block Healing and Trigger Powerful Explosions with Seeds
Willo’s flower – the Staff of Overgrowth – has quite an impact. With it, the elf can create a death zone that suppresses healing. An incredibly strong skill. With her ability “Seedling”, Willo hurls a seed that deals area damage. The seed explodes and directly after the explosion, produces more seeds, which also explode and deal damage.
How excited I was to bombard my opponents and take them out! The opposite happened. I died a lot and didn’t really get any kills.
Willow’s Gameplay – As Flittery and Fun as Her Personality
I took a closer look at Willo, studied her cards, and played around with her figurine. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks – I had forgotten to flutter and overlooked Willo’s personality.
This may sound strange now. Nonetheless, I found the decisive turning point for me in Willo’s gameplay. The elf is a real daredevil, brimming with energy and hardly able to stand still.
I dove into the next match and embraced Willo’s character. I began to play more boldly and used her movement ability “Flutter” much more consciously to chase down opponents and cleverly evade them so I could strike at the right moment.
Delicate Elf? Not at all! Willo is a nimble Combat Chopper
Willo flies with her ultimate ability “Elf Flight” for 10 seconds in the air and can use all her skills during that time. This makes her an excellent scout and combat chopper.
It’s especially cool to bombard opponents from high above with the exploding seeds. Willo is extremely hard to hit in the air – I found that out when I played against other Willos.
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Willo Needs Tactical Adjustments – Just as It Should Be in Paladins
The elf has strong characteristics, with great area damage, flying, and blocked healing. Still, she seems to be in good balance. The cooldowns on her skills are quite high, which means that good timing must be exhibited.
Her ultimate cards define a clear strategy. They can deal significantly more damage to Willo or enhance her “Death Zone”. If you opt for the “Death Zone”, not only is healing blocked, but shields are also weakened. This is strong against the “2 Healers, 2 Tanks” meta. But Willo’s damage potential is drastically reduced as a result.
These very tactical decisions make Paladins stand out among shooters. Willo reflects that perfectly.
Willo Has a Strong Skill Set That Still Seems Balanced
Willo’s design is really strong overall. I like that she is not the classic, sweet fairy that could have possibly become a healer. I much prefer the flittery combat chopper in bright colors. And I still find Willo cute – in her own way.
Her kit is suitable for experimenting and playing around. Depending on deck building, you can enhance her different strengths while sacrificing a little in other areas. I could imagine that the damage of her exploding seeds might be reduced a bit. All in all, the elf seems to be in a good balance and I don’t expect any drastic adjustments.
Even if the elf might not fit into a classic shooter, she is perfectly placed in the colorful fantasy hero MOBA shooter mix – Paladins.
Have you played Willo yet? How do you like the summer elf?
Console players are still getting the patch with Willo. On PS4 and Xbox One, the latest champ Seris, the Oracle of the Abyss
Rent a private healer in Overwatch for $5? The offer is booming at the moment.
Fiverr is an American platform where you can offer just about any legal service. For mostly $5, $10, or $15, artists sell single images as a “sample” in the hope of being hired for longer-term projects. Other people promise “For $5, I’ll dance your name” and others offer tutoring in a school subject. In short, on Fiverr, there is basically everything.
A few ladies who are also passionate Overwatch players have found a business idea for themselves in this. They offer to be your private healer (“pocket healer”) or coach in Overwatch for $5 for 5 matches. Or for $10 for 10 matches – and so on.
The “Girls usually play healers” cliché – here it holds true
At Kotaku, they used these services and referred to a truly entertaining time. But besides the gaming success it brought, the healer also served another purpose: She gave the player recognition. She praised him when he did something well, warned him about enemy ultimates, and laughed at his jokes.
The player KawaiiDesu explained that she actually does not hold with the cliché of always being a healer. “I play what the team needs, usually a tank or healer. I hate being the cliché that plays healer, but that’s exactly what I do. But it’s not a choice I make. No one wants to do that.”
Whispering seductively in the ear? That doesn’t work
However, there have been some negative experiences so far – from the perspective of the providers. Two of the ladies reported being contacted by a man who wished for them to “whisper seductively in his ear while playing” – everyone found that pretty disgusting.
What do you think of this? Would you rent a “pocket healer” or a coach on Fiverr yourself? Or is that completely out of the question for you?
Cortyn says: Basically, I think it’s a cool idea to earn a little extra while having fun at the same time. And the customer gets exactly what everyone wishes for in Overwatch – a private healer or game tutoring, depending on the offer. Such training offers also existed back in the times of Warcraft 3. Now that the topic has gained such attention, it is only a matter of time before it turns negative. But… oh well. That’s just how the internet is.
If the PokéDex in Pokémon GO were to be revised, we would appreciate information such as strengths, weaknesses, or movesets.
The release of Pokémon GO was in summer 2016 and it’s now nearly a year ago. In the meantime, features in the game have been revised or entirely new features like the Buddy System have been activated in the game.
We believe that the PokéDex is not yet utilizing its full potential and see several ways in which this small feature could play a bigger role in Pokémon GO.
These are our suggestions on how the PokéDex in Pokémon GO could work better.
More Pokémon = More Information
On Reddit , user gmbridge suggests that Trainers should have the option to unlock more information about Pokémon. The more often a Pokémon is caught or seen, the more information the PokéDex should show about it.
Because one can learn a lot about monsters and this knowledge can be useful in battles.
Advanced information could include:
Which Pokémon is mine effective against, and which is it not?
Which moves can it learn?
Strengths and Weaknesses – The PokéDex as a Trainer Aid
You can easily access the PokéDex in Pokémon GO through the menu. There you will see a collection of the monsters you have seen and caught since the beginning of your Pokémon GO adventure.
For example, if you select a Squirtle there, you will see the weight, height, and type of this monster. Additionally, there are a few general information about the Pokémon. For Squirtle, it states that it has a strong shell and the grooves on the surface of the shell allow it to swim faster. However, these are not really helpful information for a Trainer in the game.
We think: Niantic could improve here.
Not every Trainer knows exactly where the strengths and weaknesses of each Pokémon lie. Therefore, it would be helpful if players are reminded in the PokéDex that, for example, Electric or Grass monsters have an advantage against Squirtle. However, with Water attacks, Squirtle has an advantage against Fire types.
While these informations are obvious for some Trainers, with so many Pokémon from the first and second generation, it’s easy to lose track. A small reminder shouldn’t hurt.
What abilities can my Pokémon learn?
For many Trainers, it would be interesting to know which moves a monster or its evolution can learn. There could also be further information about the moves themselves that may be unlocked through battle experience. How much DPS does an attack do compared to another? Having such a comparison option could provide Trainers with better insights into the combat condition of their monsters.
That way, it might be easier to decide which Pokémon should attack a Gym or which monster performs well against a specific defender.
What features would you like to see to improve the PokéDex in Pokémon GO?
In The Division today, on May 13th, is the big vendor reset. What items are on sale this week?
It will take at least a week and a half until the Update 1.6.1 will come to the platforms PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Next week is still too early, as was recently communicated by Massive. That means you have to wait a little longer until the new loadouts feature, inventory expansion, and numerous bug fixes will be implemented.
Until then, you have time to spend your in-game currencies at the vendors. Today they have new offers for you. Which weapons, armor pieces, and mods are particularly worthwhile?
The weapons for the vendor reset on May 13th.
At the special equipment vendor, there is a Pakhan with Malevolent and Malicious.
Advanced weapon seller: SASG-12 K Tactical with Bitter, Malevolent, and Vulnerable
DZ West 31st: RPK-74 Black Market Version with Prepared, Deadly, and Resentful
The Meat Locker Safehouse: SASG-12 S Black Market Version with Bitter, Vulnerable, and Deadly
DZ East 34th St: M1A First Wave with Competent, Dominant, and Prepared
These are the armor pieces
At the special equipment vendor in the terminal, you can find a DeadEYE Mask with good stats for PvE. Also a “Call of the Watch” backpack.
Camp Hudson: Ruthless Body Armor
Equipment vendor in the base: Unyielding Backpack
Southpaw Safehouse: Decisive Gloves
DZ West 46th: Specialized Backpack
DE East 46th: Hasty Body Armor
DZ08: Specialized Backpack
The mods for the vendor reset
At the special equipment vendor, there is a Stamina Mod with skill strength
DZ East 42nd St: Electronics Mod with Skill Haste
DZ East 46th: Stamina Mod with health points
The Ward Safehouse: Electronics Mod with health points
Weapon Vendor in the base: Small Laser Pointer with Precision, Crit-Damage, Optimal Range
DZ West 42nd: Loud Muzzle Brake with Headshot Damage, Crit-Damage, Precision, and Increased Threat
The offer of the Special Blueprint Vendor
This vendor awaits you in the terminal. He has blueprints for the following items:
PF45 – First Wave (Pistol)
Surplus SVD (Sniper Rifle)
Guns Kneepads
Guns Vest
Rifle Suppressor Omega with bonuses for Decreased Threat, Headshot Damage, and two additional bonuses
553 Holosight with Critical Hit Chance and two additional bonuses
With Patch 7.2.5, usable heirlooms return to World of Warcraft. At least if you can pay the price.
Players have complained for long enough that leveling in Legion is so tedious and that especially second characters take a lot of time. While all zones in World of Warcraft: Legion scale, it is almost essential to complete all zones if one does not level through dungeons and PvP. With Patch 7.2.5, that has come to an end, as heirlooms make their comeback.
Heirlooms are equipment items that scale with the player’s level. You can wear them at level 1 and carry them up to the maximum level without having to worry about better gear along the way. As a special bonus, heirlooms also grant a passive bonus to experience gained. Between 5% and 10% per item is available, which drastically reduces the number of quests needed for leveling up.
Heirloom upgrade costs 5,000 Gold
So far, the heirlooms could only be used up to level 100, after which they did not scale further. With the upcoming Patch 7.2.5, there is once again the opportunity to use the heirlooms up to the maximum level – that is, 110.
As usual, the new items for upgrading are available in Ironforge and Undercity. Upgrading an item costs 5,000 Gold and is only possible if the heirloom has already been upgraded to level 100. Anyone wanting to have a complete “set” of heirlooms should expect to pay between 50,000 and 100,000 Gold. By the way, weapons can also be upgraded, in case one – for whatever reason – does not want to play directly with the artifact weapon.
Please note that the prices currently apply to the PTR and could rise before the patch is released.
In FIFA 17 FUT, the first TOTS (Team of the Season) are known. Today is the release date for the “Most Consistent” TOTS in Ultimate Team. These are the players, cards, overall ratings of the community TOTS.
Today, on May 12, the TOTS phase in FUT 17 begins! EA Sports will release several teams of the season within approximately six weeks. These teams consist of players who consistently performed excellently in their leagues this season. Now they will receive special cards with upgraded attributes and ratings, which are highly coveted by fans.
The TOTS are sorted by leagues. Today, however, the so-called “Most Consistent” teams, chosen by the community, will be first. These teams include players who played solidly but never received an Inform card in FUT 17. There is a Gold, a Silver, and a Bronze team.
These community teams are now known.
FIFA 17 TOTS – Most Consistent Gold, Silver, and Bronze – New Player Cards in Ultimate Team
These are the players from the “Most Consistent” Gold team:
Starting XI:
GK: Oliver Baumann – TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (Germany) – Germany
RB: Carvajal – Real Madrid (Spain) – Spain
CB: Jan Vertonghen – Tottenham Hotspur (England) – Belgium
CB: Federico Fazio – Roma (Italy) – Argentina
CDM: Danilo Pereira – FC Porto (Portugal) – Portugal
CM: Jonathan Viera – Las Palmas (Spain) – Spain
CDM: Morgan Sanson – Olympique de Marseille (France) – France
CM: Karim El Ahmadi – Feyenoord (Holland) – Morocco
LM: Bruma – Galatasaray SK (Turkey) – Portugal
RM: Gelson Martins – Sporting CP (Portugal) – Portugal
ST: Sebastian Driussi – River Plate (Argentina) – Argentina
Substitutes:
GK: Martin Campana – Independiente (Argentina) – Argentina
CB: Pontus Jansson – Leeds United (England) – Sweden
CB: Mathias Jorgensen – FC Kobenhavn (Denmark) – Denmark
CDM: Denis Glushakov – Spartak Moscow (Russia) – Russia
RF: Chadrac Akolo – FC Sion (Switzerland) – DR Congo
RM: David Wheeler – Exeter City (England) – England
ST: John Akinde – Barnet (England) – England
ST: Rafael da Silva – Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) – Brazil
ST: Charlie Wyke – Bradford City (England) – England
ST: Amath Diedhiou – CD Tenerife (Spain) – Senegal
In addition to the new player cards that you can find in packs and on the transfer market from this evening, various SBCs with delicious rewards and tournaments await you during the TOTS phase, where you can win the 24th TOTS player. Additionally, there are special set offers. The MC TOTS are available in packs from today, 7 PM until May 19.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, the trials of Osiris commence today, on May 12th. On which map will the Trials be played?
Since Tuesday, the monthly PvP event in Destiny, the May Iron Banner, has been running. This time it features a “mayhem” game mode for the first time, splitting the community: some find it great and are having a blast hurling their light around, while others cannot relate to it at all. They prefer to play more cautiously and tactically in PvP – the opposite of “Mayhem”.
For those who find the Super Spectacle in the Iron Banner overwhelming, you can once again check out the trials of Osiris starting today. This weekly PvP event begins at 7 PM and lasts until the next weekly reset on May 16th at 11 AM. It will be played on the map Pantheon.
What are the Trials of Osiris?
In the Trials, you engage in PvP battles in the “Elimination” mode. You compete in teams of three against each other and try to fill your scorecard with victories. When the opposing team is completely defeated, you win a round. Fallen team members can be revived during this time. This not only requires strong equipment but also good communication among the Guardians. Having a thorough knowledge of the map is advantageous.
At 5 and 7 victories, you receive random rewards from Osiris’ inventory. Additionally, you should keep an eye on Brother Vance’s bounties for extra rewards. If you’re in top form, you can get to Mercury with a “Flawless” ticket and loot the chest with the fine gear there.
A new Diablo 3-version on the test servers brings changes to the skills of the Necromancer and introduces the exclusive legendaries of the Necromancer.
If you want to test the Necromancer in Diablo 3, you need an invitation from Blizzard. With this, you can already try out the new class on the test servers. The developers take the feedback from the testers seriously and have now made further adjustments to the Necromancer. In addition, they are introducing the legendary items with their bonuses in the new patch, which significantly change and improve the abilities of the Necromancer.
Legendary Items for the Necromancer – Patch 2.6.0 v.2.6.0.45499
With special legendaries, you will be able to change the playstyle of your Necro character in the future. In the new patch, Blizzard is introducing the items. To know which skills are influenced by the items, it is recommended to open the skill overview of the Necromancer in Diablo 3. The new items include:
Funerary Pick: The “Blood Suck” ability now drains blood from two additional targets.
Trag’oul’s Corroded Fang: The “Cursed Scythe” rune of “Death Scythe” now has a 100% chance to curse hit enemies.
Scythe of the Cycle: Your secondary skills deal 250%-300% additional damage while “Bone Armor” is active. However, they reduce the remaining duration of “Bone Armor” by 3 seconds.
Bloodtide Blade: “Death Nova” deals 125%-150% increased damage for each enemy within 10 meters.
Steuart’s Greaves: You gain 2 seconds of 40%-50% increased movement speed after you use “Bloody Paths”.
Krysbin’s Sentence: “Bone Spear,” “Bone Spike,” and “Bone Spirit” deal 125%-150% increased damage against enemies that are stunned, frozen, blinded, or enchanted.
You can find all other legendary items in the linked English patch notes at the end of this article.
Changes to the Skills of the Necromancer
There are changes to the skills of the Necromancer. Skills received name changes, while others were redesigned. For instance, the “Grim Harvest” rune of “Bone Armor” no longer deals physical damage but instead deals cold damage.
The passive skill “Blood is Power” originally granted 1% cooldown reduction for 5% lost life. This skill has been redesigned and now grants 20% cooldown reduction after you have lost a total of 100% of your maximum life. This effect cannot reduce the cooldown of a skill more than once.
The balance in Overwatch is a difficult topic. The community often has very different opinions than the statistics.
The ultimate challenge for developers in most MMOs is to establish a proper balance. Which character is good against which? Which hero wins too often? Whose abilities are too weak? In a perfect (and quite utopian) world, every player would win 50% of the time with every hero in Overwatch. Then the balance would be complete.
In an interview with colleagues from Eurogamer, Jeff Kaplan discussed how difficult it is to properly balance the game and explained the concept of the “balance triangle”.
According to him, there are 3 different points that developers consider when balancing heroes:
the pure statistics
the community perception
the perception and intuition of the developers
Occasionally, the triangle swings equally in all three areas – for example, when an ability is too strong, something both developers and players recognize and is backed up by statistics. However, this is not always the case, and often the statistics do not align with the perception of the players or developers.
He also mentioned a special example. Originally, Symmetra was a hero who won far too often – according to the statistics, she was therefore too strong. However, this did not match the community’s perception, as most saw a Symmetra pick as an “instant loss”. Here, the development team knew it wouldn’t be enough to just tweak the numbers. Because according to the statistics, she would need to be nerfed, which would further diminish her standing in the eyes of players.
The solution here was a rework with a fundamental overhaul of many of her abilities.
In general, balance can never be “perfect” – that is simply not possible.
Are you satisfied with the balancing of Overwatch and the work of the developers?
In The Division 1.6, the DeadEYE set and the seeker mine with the airburst mod create a lethal combination. The only question is – how much longer?
The seeker mine has been a topic for extensive discussions in the agency for months – and there is no end in sight. Some believe it is just right, while others think it is completely overpowered, and Massive is implementing a nerf in Update 1.6.1 in May. Whether this nerf will end the discussions remains to be seen.
With the seeker mine, you can easily achieve kills, as you just have to throw it on the ground, and it finds its target on its own. The agent does not need aiming skills. Since the air detonation mod can cause devastating damage, it is particularly common in PvP.
In the same vein of “You don’t need any aiming skills for this!” is the DeadEYE gear set, which agents also love to discuss. Just recently, a renewed exchange of opinions started on reddit: A user stated that DeadEYE is actually “fair”, especially for solo players. Because with that, a solo agent has a chance against four rogues in the Dark Zone. Others argue that this proves that DeadEYE needs to be revised. Because if something is “fair” in 1v4 situations, then it is overpowered.
But what happens when you combine the airburst seeker mine with DeadEYE? Right, “Deadburst”, or “Aireye”.
The Deadburst Build
This build has already been presented on reddit and in the Ubi forum and caused a stir.
You need these armor pieces:
Energetic Chest Piece: Allows all healing skills to overheal
Specialized Backpack: 200% from firearms and stamina are added to skill power
The rest is four pieces from the DeadEYE set. This gives you +40% initial stability, +20% precision rifle crit damage, and the talent thatloses the headshot bonus on precision rifles in zoom but has a 100% crit chance. This means you don’t have to painstakingly aim for heads but have the whole enemy as a hit area to deal significant damage. However, this only works with “zoomed scopes”.
Check the armor pieces and mods to increase health and skill haste as well as firearms and electronics. Pay attention to crit damage and precision rifle damage on the gloves. Overall, you should aim for values of around 6000 firearms, 3000 stamina, and 6000 electronics.
Weapon, Talents, and Skills
The weapon is the SVD Precision Rifle with the talents Deadly (increases crit damage by 15%), Competent (increases weapon damage by 10% for 15 seconds after using a skill), and Prepared (damage is increased by 15% at a distance of over 30 meters from the target).
The skills are the Air Detonation Seeker Mine and First Aid with Stim Shot.
For character talents, you choose Chain Reaction, Rescue Medical, On the Move and Death by Helpers or Triage if you play in a group.
You play this build like a “normal” DeadEYE build. This means you always snipe heavily at the enemy. Headshots are not necessary. And if an enemy hides behind cover, you hunt him down with a seeker mine. According to reactions in the forums, this is an excellent build that can be played very successfully. The seeker mine can be used to scare the enemies – and then you take them out with the sniper.
Changes with 1.6.1
Update 1.6.1 was supposed to bring extensive changes to the airburst mod. However, Massive decided not to make the nerf too severe as part of the PTS. The damage will now remain unchanged; only the stagger will be removed. Additionally, the fire effect will become a real fire status effect that can be cleared with medkits.
During a livestream, Massive stated that 1.6.1 will not bring any changes to DeadEYE. First, they want to observe how the airburst changes will affect the metagame.
How long “Deadburst” will remain powerful is something the future will show. However, changes to the seeker mine are on the horizon.
Many players of ARK: Survival Evolved are frustrated with the game’s performance. Especially on the PS4 and Xbox One, there are often lags, crashes, and bugs. Studio Wildcard is releasing more content at a rapid pace, which leads to more problems. Players wish that the performance issues were thoroughly resolved.
The mood seems to be divided regarding Ark Survival Evolved. The survival MMO offers interesting gameplay, a lovingly designed world, and a large, active community. The Dino MMO does not get boring quickly. Studio Wildcard continuously provides events and new content.
Recently, there was a huge update, which brought a lot of new content into the game. This includes new dinos, a massive overhaul of the center, and new Tek technologies.
New Content in Ark Comes at the Cost of Performance
This seems to be a problem that frustrates many players. With every new update, new problems arise. Older bugs have not yet been resolved, and new ones are already piling on.
Especially PS4 and Xbox players complain about crashes, full servers, and find Ark unplayable. Console players are used to their games running flawlessly. Therefore, Ark’s poor performance stands out particularly.
Players Want No More Content, But Fixes
Players are currently especially wishing for fixes and stability. For example, it can take hours in Ark to tame a single dino. When you lose it due to repeated crashes, it is not a pleasant gaming experience.
At times, the game stutters so badly that it is not even possible to interact with the game world. Many players only wish for a content break. The developers should focus on the existing performance issues and thoroughly resolve them first,instead of establishing an endgame.
Constant Hype and Content Creation is Part of Studio Wildcard’s Strategies
Players are fed with trailers, videos, detailed dino descriptions, and an exciting world. This leads to animated discussions and joy in the community. Players should not only play Ark Survival Evolved but also experience and feel it.
This joy, however, increasingly turns into frustration. Because even though players are excited about Ark and love the game’s content, they are not getting much out of it at the moment.
Apparently, the studio wants to further fuel this hype. They shy away from a quiet phase in which no new content is released, and only the existing game content is optimized and polished. During such a phase, the “hype” might diminish.
Ark is officially still in “Early Access” and plans to go into “Full Release” soon. A precise date is not yet known. It remains to be seen whether the performance issues will be resolved by then.
What experiences have you had? How do you see the issue of fixes vs. content?
We show our games for the weekend and ask you, which games from May 12th to May 14th are on your plan.
This weekend, rain is forecasted in many parts of Germany. But that doesn’t have to have negative effects, because rain is known to be “the sunshine of the gamer.” So the weather gives you a reason to dive into your game library and spend hours in front of the screen. Which games accompany you throughout the weekend?
Weekend – Time for F2P and classics
Many of you will be able to relax in the coming days and, aside from Mother’s Day, will have plenty of time to spend with games. You might use this free time to try out new games that are temporarily free-to-play. For example, there are special promotions on consoles like Games with Goldfor Xbox or PS Plus for PlayStation, where you can try games for free. Many gamers take advantage of this offer to try out new genres or classic games.
Classics often get a lot of attention from their fans on weekends. Finally, there is enough time to grind mobs for hours to get a specific item or finally level up the twink to the max.
In our editorial team, we will dedicate the coming days to various online games in the fields of MOBA, Survival, and Action.
What the editorial team plays on the weekend
From witch doctors from the Blizzard universe to Rockstar gangsters robbing banks, to insane doctors roasting players’ brains: the roles we will take on in the coming days are diverse.
Ttime takes advantage ofthe mentioned PS Plus offer and plays Tales from the Borderlands over the weekend. But Ttime wouldn’t be Ttime if he didn’t invest a few hours in Destiny.
In Conan Exiles, you can now bring your enemies to their demise through cunning and malice. A new update brings more placeable objects, traps, and better mods.
Strong barbarians charge towards their enemies, roaring like berserkers and clashing with axes and swords. Cunning barbarians set lethal traps for their rude counterparts, into which they then charge, roaring loudly, only to explode spectacularly or succumb to poison gas.
With the latest update for Funcom’s survival game Conan Exiles, you can now place traps and other objects.
Conan Exiles – Traps – He who digs a pit for others …
With update 26, Funcom brings a wave of new objects into the game, including two traps: an explosion trap and a poison gas trap. The explosion trap triggers a deadly explosion, while the poison gas trap releases gas that continuously deals damage. Both traps can be placed anywhere on the ground, and if someone steps on them and then walks away, the trap is triggered.
If someone notices the trap after having stepped on it, they can still defuse it as long as they do not move from their spot. Therefore, it’s best to place your traps in grass or other hard-to-see spots. Also cool: You can lay out multiple traps side by side, triggering a chain reaction when one trap goes off.
Poison gas traps, on the other hand, are optimal for buildings and long corridors, where the gas can spread effectively. After all, you wouldn’t want to blow up the entire building with an explosion trap in your house!
Conan Exiles – Stygian love nest and dead baby turtles as decoration
If you prefer to decorate your home with beautiful things rather than deadly traps, update 26 has around 50 new objects that you can build and place. This includes opulent designs such as the Stygian bed, snake-shaped candle holders in honor of Set, or a dead baby turtle as decoration.
If you prefer to create your own items, as a modder, it’s now easier too. Update 26 allows the creation of custom “item tables”. Previously, all mod items were bound to the internal item table of the game, forcing modders to update their mods every time the item table was changed in the game. With the new system, you have much less work since your custom table syncs and complements the internal one.
Is the Overwatch League already failing in its setup? Many teams are hesitant about the high costs that Blizzard imposes.
At BlizzCon 2016, the developers of Overwatch introduced the “Overwatch League” project. This was meant to be a league for eSports players who want to dedicate their lives to Overwatch, similar to the ESL. Players would be contracted, have a fixed income, and receive compensation for participating in tournaments and winning prizes for their team. In a preview video, Blizzard explained the concept in more detail.
It was originally supposed to start this autumn, but that now seems to be in jeopardy. According to reports from ESPN and Kotaku, several large eSports teams have already decided against joining the league and have disbanded their teams. These include teams like compLexity, Team SoloMid, Red Reserve, Denial Esports, and Reunited.
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As a reason, it is stated that the entry costs to the league are unexpectedly high. Depending on the location, it is said that the price lies between 15 million and 25 million US dollars. For comparison: In League of Legends, a well-established eSports title, the costs are “only” around 1.8 million US dollars.
Additionally, there are “unexpectedly poor contract conditions”, as partners would not be entitled to profit until at least 2021, and only if certain conditions are met.
In general, there are also major concerns about whether Overwatch is even suitable for a large audience. Especially the inadequate viewer options are still seen as a bad joke by many. Until Blizzard shows that they can offer a solid spectator mode, many do not want to think more about the topic.
Blizzard responded to an inquiry from Kotaku:
“First, we want to clarify that our primary goal is to create an exciting eSports ecosystem for Overwatch, with the Overwatch League being the tip of the iceberg. It should be accessible to a wide audience and be sustainable and rewarding for all involved.”
They are countering a few rumors, even though Blizzard does not name names:
“We would like to dispel some rumors that we do not take the existing systems into account. Anyone who knows Blizzard knows how much we care about our communities.
The league is built on the best elements of existing eSports systems and traditional sports, and we are in discussions with many teams and owners from both sides, as it takes many people to carry out a project of this size. These conversations are going well, and there is a lot of enthusiasm around our ambitious plan.”
How much truth is on both sides has yet to be determined. Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether the Overwatch League can really start in autumn.
It could be that gaming fans will soon spend more time in the Wild West.
An MMORPG in the Wild West is a bold yet interesting decision. The developers could hit a nerve with the players, as Red Dead Redemption 2 is already highly anticipated and supposedly Ubisoft is working on a new Far Cry game, which is also set in the Wild West.
Something new in the West
The newly founded developer studio 612 Games wants to give you a lot of freedom with the upcoming sandbox MMORPG Wild West Online. You can work as a gangster in the huge open game world and rob other players or banks, or you will become the sheriff and defend the towns.
However, Wild West Online is supposed to be more than just a kind of “cowboys and indians” game, where it’s only good versus evil. If you want to make a living as someone who searches for resources in the wilderness, you can also take this path.
For example, it is possible to look for a mine and mine gold that you sell in town. But the mine will eventually attract bandits, so it is advisable to pay players to protect you with the money. This is how a player-driven economy in the game world is supposed to emerge, as crafting will also play an important role, which works through recipes.
PvP is the focus
Wild West Online will also allow gangs to organize, take hideouts and plan their next robberies from there. Wars can break out between the different gangs. Bounty hunters and sheriffs will then try to take down these gangs. By the way, there will only be fights between players. NPCs will not come to collect the bounty for a player. Player interaction is supposed to be at the center. Currently, there are also no quests planned, but this could still change.
To bring a bit more excitement to the game and to protect it from overpopulation, the servers are limited to about 100 players.
Currently, some game elements have not yet been fully worked out, such as how to improve the character and what consequences the death of a hero has. A Kickstarter campaign for the game is planned for the end of the month, through which at least 250,000 US dollars are to be raised.
Some stretch goals are already set. At 400,000 dollars, female characters will be introduced, and at 1.75 million dollars, train robberies will find their way into the game, which will be a kind of raid.
Release as a competitor to Red Dead Redemption 2
The base game is definitely scheduled to be released, regardless of whether the Kickstarter campaign is successful or not. This is only meant to secure additional financial resources with which more features can be implemented.
The release of the base game Wild West Online is even planned for the end of this year. Then it will also be decided whether players prefer to play the online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2 or Wild West Online.
Andreas says: Wild West Online looks excellent and could have a good chance of exciting many players. The setting is new and fresh, and many of the ideas sound good. I am still a bit skeptical for two reasons:
The focus on PvP and few PvE contents may only appeal to a small portion of MMORPG fans.
The game will have a hard time competing with Red Dead Redemption 2, whose online mode will likely follow a similar approach.
We will see how Wild West Online and RDR 2 differ from each other. There is definitely room for two western online games in the market.
Online role-playing games exist for many popular fictional universes and franchises. However, not all of your favorite worlds have an MMO set in them. Therefore, we want to know: From which universe would you like to see an MMO?
Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and Conan have one thing in common: There is an online role-playing game based on each of those universes that allowed you to dive into your favorite world online. However, many franchises and narrative worlds are still untouched by online games.
MMOs for Dark Fantasy – Game of Thrones or The Witcher
Many narrative universes would be the perfect stage for online games. For example, the world of the TV series Game of Thrones (or the book series “A Song of Ice and Fire”). This dark fantasy world would be ideal for building a sandbox MMO. There would be foundations for PvP by joining one of the many factions in the throne war. You could undertake raids against the White Walkers in the North beyond the Wall. And for those who want to explore an unknown world, they travel East to explore the Dothraki plains, the Slaver’s Bay, or even the smoking remains of Valyria.
It would also be cool to have an MMO in the world of witcher Geralt from the “The Witcher” saga. This world is well explained in the underlying books and games and still has enough blank spaces that could be filled with content in an MMO. And unlike Game of Thrones, there are many fantasy races, monsters, and magic in the Witcher world, so not everyone has to play boring humans without special powers.
SciFi-MMOs – Mass Effect Andromeda and Borderlands Online?
As a single-player game, Mass Effect Andromeda fell short of expectations for many players. That’s why the once highly successful series is currently on ice. But how cool would it be if there were an MMO offshoot of Andromeda? The setting is perfect because when MMOs do one thing well, it’s creating a large game world that can be explored. And the theme of venturing into a foreign galaxy suits it perfectly.
For people who prefer a less serious approach but still enjoy SciFi, a Borderlands MMO would be top. The game would strongly resemble WildStar but if done right, a good MMO could surely emerge from the setting. And the eternal hunt for better loot – an important part of Borderlands gameplay mechanics – fits perfectly with an MMO. The Vaults scattered everywhere would also make for cool raid instances. Fun fact: A Borderlands Online was once supposed to be created in China as a free-to-play shooter, but was canceled in 2015.
This list could go on much longer, as numerous franchises would provide good MMO worlds. But what do you think? Is there a narrative world you would like to see as an MMO? Or do you have a completely different opinion and do NOT want an MMO that distorts your favorite story? Let us know in the comments!
