Are the new ancient items in Diablo 3 Patch 2.5.0 too much RNG? This is what the creator of Diablo says about it.
A few days ago, Blizzard introduced the new patch for Diablo 3. In the patch notes of update 2.5.0 there were not only changes to items but also new features currently being tested on the PTR servers. As a new feature, the ancient items were introduced, which are even rarer than primal items and offer even better stats. In the community, these items are the cause of many discussions. For some, the luck factor is too pronounced, while for others, they are the right reward for grinding.
The creator of Diablo David Brevik is still not convinced of the ancient items.
Is the luck factor too high?
The YouTuber and streamer Rhykker interviewed David Brevik and asked him about his opinion on the ancient items.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft85XKRtbvY&
He is not convinced by the system because it feels like players have no influence on the loot. When he kills a specific boss in World of Warcraft once a week to get a rare mount, then the chance is high that after a few weeks he will obtain this loot. As a player, you have more direct influence because you are repeatedly killing the same target, and the rare loot is either there – or not.
With ancient items, one has to hope that at some point exactly the right item with the right stats randomly drops for the character. Players farming these items might get frustrated if the chances of obtaining the items are so extremely low and the “search” for them feels hopeless.
Source: PTR forums
At the end of the video, Rhykker emphasizes that David Brevik gave his personal, spontaneous opinion on the topic in the video and could not delve deeply into the subject beforehand. Before this interview, Brevik was not aware that there are primal or ancient items in Diablo 3.
To resolve the randomness of the Primal Ancients, Rhykker suggests a proposal for a enhancement mechanic. With this mechanic, one could guarantee upgrading an ancient item to an ancient item. However, the costs would need to be significantly higher .
In Destiny, it is possible to obtain old vendor items from “The Taken King” and “House of Wolves”. How?
Currently, there is a “glitch” circulating on YouTube that can reverse time: This allows vendors in the Tower to offer items from TTK or HoW times again. If you have only been involved since “Rise of Iron” or want to browse the old vendor offerings again, this trick should allow you to purchase items like the Iron Sledge directly from the Crucible Quartermaster.
The prerequisite is that you own the original Destiny disc. It does not work with the digital version or a newer disc. Furthermore, the glitch has only been confirmed on Xbox, and there is no guide for PS4.
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On Xbox, close the game, select Destiny, and then press “Manage Game”. You will see the DLCs displayed there. Now delete “Rise of Iron” to see the TTK inventory. Also delete the TTK DLC to see the “House of Wolves” inventory.
Now start Destiny as usual, run to the vendors, and buy the desired items for Legendary Marks. When you reinstall the deleted DLCs, the purchased items should still be in your inventory.
By the way: Not only the vendor inventory is reversed in this way. The items you receive from faction packages or from engrams are also “old” items.
Whether you want to reverse time is entirely up to you. It only works with the original Xbox Destiny disc. There is no way to delete the DLCs individually on PS4.
In the shooter Overwatch , the story and the world behind the shooting will be highlighted more closely.
The last time players got a glimpse of the world behind Overwatch was at Christmas. A comic was released. It provided insights into the characters and how they spend their time outside the matches. But above all, the revelation that Tracer is gay dominated the headlines.
Overwatch: Too Many Questions, Too Few Answers
The comic did not contribute much to shedding light on the mysterious world of Overwatch and making connections that many long for. So far, there are many hints from Blizzard about the world in which Overwatch takes place, but no cohesive story yet.
There are many narrative threads left open. Numerous questions arise from the hints, but answers are lacking. This bothers the story-interested fans of the shooter.
As this has been lacking lately, a user in the Blizzard forum asked: Is the lore dead? We have only scratched the surface of the story. The Christmas comic told us nothing at all.
Why is Symmetra there? What is the story of Roadhog, Junkrat, and the others? Too many questions, too few answers. As it is now, it feels empty.
Blizzard’s lead writer Michael Chu then spoke up. Blizzard is excited to explore the world of Overwatch and is working hard to create new story content for 2017. It is set to start “very soon”.
A hint as to why there is a lack of lore in Overwatch can be found in an earlier statement from November 2016. A graphic novel titled “First Strike” was actually supposed to be released for Overwatch.
There, Blizzard wanted to shed light on the early days of Overwatch, the Omnic Crisis, and the founding of the organization. However, the project was scrapped because the story had changed too much over time. Since the concept of “First Strike” was created, too much had changed, Chu said at that time. Including the perspective on how the early days of Overwatch unfolded.
Apparently, Blizzard is still in the process of redesigning the background of Overwatch.
What can the exotic submachine gun Midas do in The Division? It is currently being tested on the PTS for 1.6 and Last Stand.
There is an interesting piece of information about Midas: This named high-end submachine gun was the first overpowered weapon in The Division. On March 8, 2016, the shooter was launched, and many agents rushed into endgame and immediately discovered the advantages of Midas. This made it possible to activate individual skills in no time.
With Update 1.6, the Midas becomes a exotic weapon with a unique talent. When the PTS went live a few weeks ago, this talent was still unknown. So: What can the submachine gun do now?
The Midas comes in 1.6 with an interesting property that is always active:
Talent – Midas: Every bullet that hits an enemy reduces your own damage by 1% and the enemy’s damage by 1% as well. The maximum is 20%. The effect decreases by 5% every second.
In other words: With the Midas, you weaken both yourself and the opponent. The effect is displayed as a number below the grenades:
An enemy who deals less damage due to the Midas is marked as follows:
What benefit does this Midas talent have?
This talent probably won’t make the Midas the new overpowered weapon that every agent must have. Rather, it offers interesting possibilities for your game, especially in the strike team.
Combine the Midas, for example, with the D3-FNC set. This set allows you to carry a submachine gun along with the ballistic shield. Thus, you can advance with the Midas, weaken the enemies, and your teammates shoot down the weakened enemy from a distance. Can be useful in PvE as well as in PvP.
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However, the Midas will have to prove its usefulness in live play. At the moment, submachine guns are not a sought-after weapon class anyway. Whether the Midas can hold its own against assault rifles and other exotic weapons will remain to be seen.
Last year, the developers of the PvP MMORPG Crowfall announced their intention to speed up development.
Now, plans for the upcoming period have been announced, and it seems that the team is really going to step up the pace.
On one hand, a revision of the inventory is on the agenda. It seems that all bugs have been found, so the new inventory can be introduced with the upcoming update. Furthermore, the Knight class will receive a balancing overhaul. The Knight was not as attractive to many players due to the new classes, which is why its role is being redefined. It will receive new skills and will be able to act more effectively in battles.
Recently, many sandbox titles have been announced. Crowfall is considered one of the biggest MMORPG hopes.
A Virtual Show Home Settlement
In addition, the developers are working with the Templar on a new archetype. This will be available in both a male and a female version. More about its powers will be shared at a later time.
After the first player houses were shown in a livestream, they now want to present these more closely on the Sanctuary server. There, players can inspect the houses directly. The sale of the houses will last until February 27.
Build Your Own Eternal Kingdom
The biggest update will concern the Eternal Kingdoms. Players will be provided with a tool that allows them to assemble plots and then upload that area as their personal kingdom on the server. The realm will then be accessible.
Since this is such a large, new system, it will initially be tested in multiple phases. Backers will be allowed to participate in these tests to give feedback to the developers.
Later this month, the team plans to announce further details about the updates, especially regarding the Eternal Kingdoms. As you can see, the developers have their hands full working to make Crowfall a polished game that will hopefully be released this year.
The MOBA Paragon (PC, PS4) gives an outlook on 2017 and announces a variety of new heroes.
The F2P-MOBA Paragon is quite satisfied with itself. In a letter to fans, they summarize:
We have 5.7 million registered players
In 2016, 25 new heroes were added
And we have deployed 132 patches since March
As a turning point, Epic highlights the Monolith update in November. Since it came, they have greatly increased the number of active players. In November before Monolith, there were only 182,000, but in January, there were 832,000 active players.
A new hero every three weeks in Paragon
In 2017, this pace is expected to continue. Every three weeks, a new hero will be released – except for around Christmas or when significant patches are pending. This should amount to about 15 new heroes in Paragon.
Recently, however, they have had too many melee fighters, so they now want to introduce more ranged characters.
Co-op mode and ranked play are coming
Further planned for 2017:
New game modes – two are already in development, a PvP mode that focuses on fast matches, and a co-op mode against the computer
Matchmaking will be completely renewed
Balancing and older heroes will be revised
With skins and loot boxes, Paragon should become more diverse
There will also be ranked games
More about the turning point “Monolith” in Paragon can be found in this article for you:
In Destiny there is a lack of vertical progression. 400 Light is reached too quickly, and then there is nothing more to do.
One of the most popular YouTubers and streamers for Destiny is Datto. He demands in a new video: “Bungie, give us more grind!” Many players stopped because there is simply too little progress after reaching Light Level 400. 400 is reached quickly and isn’t even necessary. In the game, everything can be accomplished with Light Level 390.
Light Level 400 has lost all meaning
The vertical progression, meaning actual strength gain, is too short in Destiny. This is the phase that is often described as “grind”. In other games, such as World of Warcraft, you can always log in and make your character a bit better – by collecting points for your artifact weapons.
In Diablo 3, your character also continuously levels up through the Paragon levels, which marginally improve the character’s base stats. A similar system exists in The Elder Scrolls Online. Champion points guarantee a steady vertical progression.
Full vault – large selection. But this is all just horizontal progression – guardians grow wider.
In Destiny, however, “growing up” ends quickly. Then you can only grow “horizontally” to the side, acquiring a larger selection of items. These do not truly make the character stronger, but only more versatile, giving him more options to react to situations.
No Forever 31, but guaranteed upward progress
Datto therefore urges Bungie to bring more grind into the game. And also activities where you can really grow. 400+ raids or instances where guardians can test their newly gained power.
Datto does not want a progression like in Vanilla Destiny times, no Forever 31. Progression should not be too reliant on chance: Am I getting that one item that I am still missing to reach maximum level, or am I not? Instead, there should be a steady progress possible.
New challenges for Bungie in boss design
Mein MMO thinks: The difficult part is that Destiny has a different skill ceiling than games like WoW or Diablo 3. In Destiny, it is much more about the player’s personal skills, and it is not about overpowering your equipment. Even if many believe otherwise, who just got acquainted with the Matador .
Ultimately, it would be necessary to play excellently in such “400+” activities. Always hitting the final boss and not getting caught by his abilities to defeat him. This is the core of Destiny.
Perhaps one would then need to play perfectly at Light Level 400. At Light Level 410, there would be a small margin for error. At 420, an even larger one.
Incorporating a vertical progression here would present new challenges for game design:
How can boss encounters in a shooter be designed in such a way that these gear aspects and the margin for error come into play in the right amount?
How should vertical progression affect the gameplay experience?
Difficult, but necessary
Even though it’s difficult: It is necessary that Bungie thinks about this.
It can only go upward now, there is no more space horizontally
So far, it has always been the solution in Destiny to allow players to grow horizontally. To always offer them new variants of exotic weapons and armor. But that can’t last forever.
Already now, many guardians are wondering what weapons and armors could possibly still come. The current selection seems to cover everything.
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Of the last 7 exotic armor pieces that came, hardly any item has been able to establish itself. This significantly reduces the fascination of Destiny and puts a damper on the mood.
For Destiny, progression can actually only go up, and not widen.
Different times were still prevalent in Year 1. Here are the 11 most important weapons from that era, which many consider the golden age of Destiny:
Last week there was a big reveal of Morrowind, the first real addon for the The Elder Scrolls MMORPG TESO. The addon is set to be released on June 6 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It takes place in Vvardenfell, with 30 hours of new adventures waiting for players. A new trial, PvP battlegrounds, and a new class, the Warden, are set to come to the MMORPG.
The TV advertisement shows the most action-packed snippets from the trailer in a juicy 30-second bite.
How The Elder Scrolls Online has evolved is what we look at in this article:
The cute MOBA game Gigantic has just received its first update, and the next expansion is already on the way. This time, you will get a new heroine with a spear and purple skin.
Gigantic is a colorful MOBA game where archery goats, wild oxen, croaking frogs, and cuddly brutal bears polish each other’s cute faces. But it still gets even more colorful! After the huge cuddly bear Pakko as well as snow and ice were introduced in the last update, the new update is already on its way.
The Purple Snob
The new update is called “Eternal Dawn” and this time you will get a new character: The spear wielder Zandora. Zandora is a being from the Eternal race and hails from the Star City. However, she has left it to wander among mortals and to impale them with her spear.
Zandora’s skills make her a hybrid of a melee damage dealer and a supporter. Further details about the update and Zandora will be released by publisher Perfect World in the coming weeks. Eternal Dawn is set to be released on February 23, so the new information will come quickly.
You can watch the entire beta of Ghost Recon Wildlands here in the video and get an impression of it.
Yesterday, the closed beta phase of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands started. This tactical shooter is set a few years in the future in Bolivia. There, the Santa Blanca drug cartel has gained significant power and must now be fought against. As a Ghost, you can play the various missions in Wildlands with up to three other players in cooperative mode. If you did not receive a beta invite, you can see the contents of the test phase in the video.
Character Customization, Missions, Gameplay
Ghost Recon Wildlands allows you to make some changes in the game. This includes the CharacterSmith, which lets you customize your Ghost’s appearance. You can save up to six different outfits there to prepare for various regions like jungles or mountains.
For weapon customization, Ghost Recon Wildlands provides you with the GunSmith, with which you can modify assault rifles, submachine guns, or other weapons to your liking.
If you did not receive a beta invite yourself or want to see the test phase from a different perspective, you can watch the contents of the closed beta in the video by Skill Up.
https://youtu.be/7CJgUq9ro-o
0:29:00 Character Creation
0:33:00 starts the game’s intro
1:12:00 – Mission completed – Weapon reward
1:14:47 – New mission started
1:35:00 – Adventure with the plane
1:40:00 – Gameplay at night
2:06:00 – Short “flight” with another helicopter model
2:44:00 – Attack on a camp – Sniper rifle and bullet drop in action
What is your impression of the Ghost Recon Wildlands beta?
Funcom accidentally removed the Denuvo copy protection from Conan Exiles, opening up treasure chests for pirates.
As reported by Eurogamer, the Denuvo Anti-Tamper copy protection was supposed to ensure that Conan Exiles could not be easily cracked and pirated.
However, due to an error in the build process, the copy protection was temporarily removed. Thus, “pirates” had an easy time grabbing the unprotected version of Conan Exiles and spreading a DRM-free torrent.
Funcom is quite disheartened. While barbarians are no issue, pirates are not well-received. Even though they quickly reactivated Denuvo in a later patch, the damage has already been done.
Funcom reluctantly states: Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done if people download and play an unauthorized copy. They hope that it will lead them to the official version, which continues to receive updates, patches, and improvements.
Funcom’s hope seems to be: A cracked version cannot be updated. But patches are essential for an early access title. Ironically, the “raw state” of Conan Exiles could be a good thing for Funcom. If the pirates get a taste for Conan through the pirated version, but quickly lose interest in the raw version and crave an improved version instead.
More news from Funcom came yesterday when they shut down the official servers:
In World of Warcraft (WoW) the Night Fortress is cleared on Mythic difficulty. Gul’dan is dead. The World First kill goes to Russia.
Exorsus is the first guild to reach 10/10. All 10 bosses of the latest WoW raid Night Fortress have been defeated on the highest difficulty Mythic. The guild announced this via the social media platform Twitter. WoW-Progress also confirms it. Exorsus is a Russian guild.
10/10 GUL’DAN DEAD World First. It’s been a long road. Screenshot and everything else later. Epic video inc too, but will take a lot of time
Gul’Dan has fallen in the second ID. The race for World First began on January 18. From then on, the raid was open on Mythic.
Exorsus has now claimed two of the last three World Firsts – for the second they were disqualified
The other two favorites in the race for World First, “Method” and “Serenity”, are still at 9/10 as of Saturday afternoon, February 4. The French guild From Scratch is also at the same stage.
One raid earlier, in the Emerald Nightmare, Exorsus was also at the forefront and defeated Xavius as the world’s first guild.
The Mythic difficulty has been adjusted by Blizzard for 20 players to ensure a “comparable race” and a clear winner. In earlier expansions, 10-man and 25-man raids were equal, and it was unclear which of the kills was harder and more important – this changed from boss to boss. Since “Mythic” was introduced, there has been a clear king class in WoW. And now it has a crowned king with Exorsus.
This time in Night Fortress, there was an unfortunate incident between the two guilds Method and Serenity when a member of Method was able to disrupt the raid progress of Serenity:
In The Division, a rabbit outfit was found in the game files for the agents. What’s the story behind it?
Now to a curious story: Just a few days ago, the Redditor and data miner iamunkn0wn discovered several cosmetic items in the game files of the PTS for 1.6.
Among them were these two rabbit outfits: one in white and – yes – one in pink:
The data miner suspected that these would be introduced into the live game with update 1.6.
Given these silly costumes, the community’s reaction was not surprising: they threw their hands over their heads and wondered what this was all about.
After all, the post-apocalyptic atmosphere is an important part of The Division. A ridiculous rabbit agent outfit just does not fit into the concept at all. The agents wrote incredulously in the comments that they would definitely not fight against pink rabbits in Last Stand. The end of The Division had already been declared.
Massive: Calm Down
Some players did not want to believe these found files at all. Maybe the data miner was just joking?
In the last livestream, Massive made a statement: Yes, the images are real. However, it has never been a topic to actually bring this outfit into the game. The agents can calm down; there will be no rabbit costume in The Division. They laughed briefly about it and changed the subject.
Now iamunkn0wn spoke up again: He noted that with the PTS Phase 3, the rabbit costume has been removed. It is no longer in the game files. In PTS Phase 2, it was still there.
Some agents now suspect that Massive actually wanted to bring the rabbit costume – possibly as a premium item for real money. However, after they saw the intense discussion about it on Reddit, they decided to remove it. However, the reasons why this outfit was first introduced into the files and then removed can only be speculated upon.
The cinematic trailer for the Morrowind expansion of The Elder Scrolls Online showcases the Warden, the island of Vvardenfell, and intense battles. But what is it actually about?
The exciting trailer for the recently revealed ESO expansion Morrowind undeniably looks fantastic. But what exactly is happening here? Who are all the characters and creatures? Why are they fighting? And what is that giant construct at the end? ZenMax itself has revealed some details.
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At the beginning of the trailer, you hear Naryu Virian, the Morag Tong assassin, addressing the living god Vivec. She seeks permission to kill the Grandmaster of her own order. This is granted to her. Then you see the Grandmaster and his Argonian escort. However, this does not help him, as in the face of a Morag Tong assassin, the lizards flee and leave the two Dark Elves to themselves.
In his flight from Naryu, the Grandmaster runs into the ruins of the ancient Dwemer. The Dwemer are a long-forgotten race that left behind magical steampunk constructs as their only legacy. Due to the Grandmaster and his clumsy escape, the guardians of the ruins are activated, and crawling mechanical spiders, as well as rolling Dwemer spheres, descend upon Naryu.
Beard-tastic!
Fortunately, Naryu is not alone. An unknown Redguard is aiding her by first unleashing his bear on the mechano-monsters. Mr. Unknown is a Warden, the new ESO class from the Morrowind expansion. In addition to his bear tricks, he can also use ice magic. Using the skill “Hailstorm,” he incapacitates the constructs at the end of the battle.
But the next danger does not take long to appear. With a great roar, a Dwemer Colossus, a gigantic clockwork battle machine, emerges. This obliterates the unfortunate Grandmaster and would turn the heroes to ash as well, if the Warden hadn’t created a handy ice shield.
Come all to Morrowind!
We unfortunately do not see how the battle against the colossus ends, but at the end of the trailer, we again hear Vivec asking Naryu to bring more heroes to Vvardenfell. They seem to be in demand.
And since Naryu should know your hero from the base game, it’s clear who she will ask first. You can read about the exact background of Naryu’s actions and her assassination attempt on the Grandmaster in the accompanying diary in the Collector’s Edition of Morrowind.
Are mouse and keyboard unfair in the console version of Overwatch on PS4 and Xbox One? Blizzard aims for clarity.
A significant difference between PC and console players is the input devices. While players typically use a gamepad on PS4 and Xbox One, most computer players use a mouse and keyboard. However, some console players also utilize a mouse and keyboard, gaining an advantage over those using a gamepad. Blizzard has noticed this issue and is set to address it.
Either All or None
Overwatch’s game director Jeff Kaplan commented in the game’s forum on the matter of mouse and keyboard players on PS4 and Xbox One. He stated that the team has already reached out to console manufacturers to express their concerns. Their goal is that console manufacturers either:
prohibit mouse, keyboard, and input converters, or
offer open and easy support for mouse and keyboard for ALL players.
In his post, Jeff Kaplan did not specify exact reasons. It has been shown in the past that aiming with a mouse and keyboard can be easier than with an analog stick. This gives console players who use these input devices an advantage over “regular” players who play Overwatch on the console with a gamepad.
Now one might ask: Why don’t the Overwatch players who feel disadvantaged switch to keyboard and mouse? Many input converters are not simply set up and connected; they require a certain technical understanding. Those who lack this understanding encounter problems when connecting and configuring. Additionally, mouse and keyboard input devices for consoles are not particularly affordable.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Mouse and keyboard in console games – For or against?
In the MMO shooter Destiny, many Guardians look at the Elo rating – especially in connection with the Trials of Osiris. What is Elo and what does it mean?
“Show me your Elo rating first, and I’ll tell you if you can play.”
In social networks and Destiny groups, one often reads about an ominous Elo number that inexperienced Guardians may not understand. In-game, there is no trace of “Elo,” and even on the Bungie website, one can search long for an official Elo number. So what is it all about?
Elo as a Rating System
The Elo number is actually a score that represents the skill level of chess and Go players. Over time, it has been transferred to other sports (such as soccer) and other competitive games, including Destiny.
The Elo number in Destiny is supposed to describe the skill level of the Guardians. Especially in the Trials of Osiris, the probably most challenging PvP mode, players like to look at the Elo number of the opponents and their own team members to identify strengths and weaknesses in advance. Elo serves as a rating system.
Elo in Destiny – The Basics
Since the Elo number is not an official statistic from Bungie, most Guardians know about the Elo rating from another source, the “Destiny Trials Report.” This site sources the data from “guardian.gg” where the Elo numbers are tracked.
On guardian.gg, you can see that you not only have an Elo number for the Trials, but also individual ratings for many other PvP modes. The Elo numbers apply account-wide. The K/D you see in the Trials Report is indicated per character.
All Guardians start in each PvP mode with 1200 Elo. Depending on your performance, the Elo rating increases or decreases.
How is the Elo Rating Calculated?
How many Elo points do I get after a match? This does not determine your personal Elo number, but the average Elo number of both teams at the end of a match.
Example:
Your team consists of three players with 1200, 1500, and 1600, then you enter the match with an Elo rating of 1433.
If during the game the player with 1200 disconnects, the average of the remaining two Guardians counts. Your Elo rating increases from 1433 to 1550.
This is how Elo is calculated:
In each match, 16 Elo points are at stake. When two teams with similar average Elo ratings face each other, each team puts in 8 points. This means, if Team A wins, Team A gains eight Elo points, and Team B loses eight Elo points.
The further apart the Elo numbers of the teams, the fewer points the team with the higher Elo can gain. Conversely, if the team with significantly lower Elo wins, it receives more points as a victory reward.
In other words: If you win against a team with significantly higher Elo, you receive more points than if you win against a team with equal or lower Elo. However: It is always about 16 points per match.
The Redditor JBH613 has taken a closer look at this Elo point distribution and published this table (Note: No official data):
On the left, you see how far the average points of the teams are apart. In the next column, how many points you win with a victory. The column on the right shows how many points you lose with a defeat (which the opponent then gains).
An example:
Team A consists of players with 2050, 1800, and 1600. The average is 1817.
Team B consists of players with 1440, 1560, and 1370. The average is 1457.
The teams differ by 360 points. This means according to the table:
Team A wins 1 point with a victory, loses 15 points with a defeat.
Team B gains 15 points with a victory, loses 1 point with a defeat.
However, due to the enormous Elo differences, it is likely that Team A will win.
Therefore, outstanding players with high Elo values like to take players with low Elo values onto their team to lower the Elo average and earn more points to boost their Elo.
By the way: The best players have Elo values in the Trials beyond 3000.
Elo is not entirely uncontroversial in the community. Many consider the K/D as a better and more reliable indicator of how strong the opponent really is.
Perfect World, the publisher behind MMORPGs like Star Trek Online and Neverwinter, has laid off employees. A similar message comes from Trion Worlds, the western publisher of ArcheAge.
Yesterday, rumors increased that Perfect World had layoffs. Now there is a statement: Perfect World has experienced “reducing the workforce by under 30 employees” this week.
They employ thousands of employees around the world, such decisions are always difficult. They are incredibly grateful to the individuals for their contributions and wish them all the best during the transition.
This reduction in the workforce will not affect the games that Perfect World publishes.
Among the laid-off employees is the popular community manager of Star Trek Online, Laughing Trendy.
Need a senior CM with experience and a loud-mouth to boot? Hit me up. I’m in the market for a job
After ArcheAge 3.0, not everyone could be retained
There were also layoffs at Trion Worlds. They have eliminated a handful of positions after the largest launch in the company’s history to focus more on game development and publishing, it is stated. They always strive to keep everyone employed even after launches. In recent years, this has been successful. This time, not for everyone.
There are currently issues with the PSN (PlayStation Network) today, on February 4th. Login is not functioning. This is the network status:
Anyone wanting to play PS4 this Saturday around noon is facing a problem. Numerous players are reporting that they cannot log in, and that the PSN login is not working.
Instead, after a long loading time, the message appears: “The PlayStation Network is currently under maintenance.”
The official PSN status confirms these user reports: All services are officially offline. Account management, gaming, social networks, and the PlayStation Store are down.
According to Sony, the developers are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. They appreciate your patience.
When you can play again remains to be seen.
Update 12:05: It seems to be working again. The situation is improving. Armageddon has just been cancelled once again. The question is: For how long?
In the meantime, here are some interesting reading materials:
Now, information is emerging about ARK Survival Evolved that casts a strange light on the studio behind the survival MMO. This also raises questions about the Chinese MMO Dark and Light.
In the summer of 2015, the survival MMO ARK came out of nowhere and had a dream start. Sales on Steam skyrocketed. The studio communicated openly with fans, developed their dino game at a breathtaking pace, and everything was going great.
But then a legal shadow fell on the creation. In March 2016, investor Insight accused developer Jeremy Stieglitz of violating a clause in his contract. Stieglitz had worked for the software studio Trendy. Insight then took over Trendy, and Stieglitz separated from the company.
Lead Designer concealed his involvement in ARK
Insight alleged that Stieglitz was significantly involved in the development of ARK with knowledge and contacts he acquired at Trendy. Due to a “Non-Compete” clause he had signed years earlier at Trendy, he should not have been allowed to do that.
Stieglitz later wanted to shorten this clause. However, the investor Insight only agreed to this because Stieglitz promised him a share of everything he would create in the next five years.
Insight accused him: Stieglitz had then developed a project and concealed his involvement in it. Thus, he had violated the agreement and deprived Insight of their rightful share. This project was ARK.
From “casual advisor” to “Lead Designer and Co-Founder” in 3 months
Stieglitz does not appear in the paperwork of Studio Wildcard. However, his wife was involved in Studio Wildcard as a co-founder under her maiden name, even though she has nothing to do with software and runs a bakery. Stieglitz, on the other hand, who allegedly only had a loose connection to the studio, is a college friend of Jesse Rapczak, the figurehead of ARK.
At the time, the US site Kotaku suspected that Jeremy Stieglitz was the Lead Designer behind ARK. They had heard this from various sources. However, the studio denied any significant involvement of Stieglitz in ARK.
It is alleged that Stieglitz and his wife sold their shares in the company or parts of it to the Chinese publisher Snail Games. Insight wanted its share of this amount back then – based on the previous agreement.
The information that Snail Games has bought Studio Wildcard or at least parts of it creates a completely new context:
Snail Games has announced three games with the ARK license this year:
Moreover, their new game “Dark and Light” now looks like an ARK clone with a fantasy skin when viewed in this light. Statements like “Yes, it is not a real MMORPG, only 100 people fit on the servers”, we make PvP with full loot” or “You can tame and ride dragons” take on a whole new meaning. Until now, Dark and Light was seen as a reboot of a dead MMORPG. As an ARK with a fantasy skin, it creates a completely new context.
Dark and Light was announced in summer 2016, after the supposed purchase of Studio Wildcard. Since they were reviving an “old IP”, parallels to ARK were not suggested at that time. Dark and Light was an MMORPG that ran from 2006 to 2008.
Looks like ARK? From the trailer for Dark and Light.
If Snail Games has indeed owned shares in Studio Wildcard since December 2015, as the investor has claimed, then it also explains why Studio Wildcard allegedly could pay 40 million US dollars in the out-of-court settlement. They had received a massive financial boost earlier.
A tangled web. The information that Snail Games owns parts of the studio behind ARK answers many open questions from recent times. Even if some of these were only raised now.
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My MMO says: The exciting part here is not the legal wrangling, but that the information “Snail Games has purchased Wildcard” makes many disconnected and strange news stories from the last few months make sense.
We now know:
why a Chinese publisher is obsessively focused on dinosaurs
why a Chinese studio is reviving a relatively insignificant, dead MMORPG that has hardly anything in common with the original
why a F2P studio can create a AAA product out of nothing
why Studio Wildcard was able to pay 40 million without going bankrupt
why an experienced lead designer is behind ARK, who has desperately tried to remain anonymous for years, although he is probably incredibly proud of his work
why a bakery owner is a co-founder of a software studio
It will be interesting to see whether this story makes waves and forces Studio Wildcard to make a statement.
ARK will finally full-release this summer and then be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Paladins has revealed the new champion Maeve during a live stream. She is a flanker and resembles a cat.
Hi-Rez introduced the new patch OB43 during a stream on Twitch, which includes the new champion Maeve. The cat is out of the bag: Maeve is not a cat, as fans had long speculated, but she has a cat-like character. Maeve is playful, fast, and if you don’t watch out, she will slice you open from behind with her daggers.
Paladins: Maeve’s abilities in English
Maeve is a flanker and comes with abilities that give her a lot of speed. She wields half-moon daggers that she throws at a distance.
Maeve’s Abilities
LMT: Daggers – Throw two daggers every second, dealing 450 damage.
RMT: Pounce – Sprint forward. Hit an enemy to execute a melee strike that deals 600 damage.
Q: Nine Lives – You are healed for 500 HP and the cooldowns of Pounce and Prowl are reset.
E: Midnight – Enemies’ visibility within 300 units is reduced to 30 feet for 4s.
F: Prowl – Movement speed is increased by 80% for 4s and you jump higher. Using your weapon or an ability cancels Prowl.
Maeve’s Cards – The cards of the new flanker
Each champion in Paladins comes with their personal card set. These make the playstyle individually customizable and give you the ability to change your abilities based on the situation. These cards are available to you with Maeve.
Cut and Run: Kills and eliminations grant 10/20/30/40% movement speed for 4s.
Street Cred: Increases maximum health by 50/100/150/200.
Persistence: You cannot be slowed more than 60/50/40/30%.
Predation: Increases movement speed by 10/20/30/40% outside of combat.
Savagery: Pounce heals 70/140/210/280 health on hit.
Sixth Sense: Grants 5/10/15/20% damage reduction after Pounce is used.
Shred: Reduces the cooldown of Pounce by 0.5/1/1.5/2s.
Scamper: Gain 10/20/30/40% movement speed for 2s after Pounce ends.
On Edge: Reduces the cooldown of Nine Lives by 1/2/3/4s.
Fight or Flight: Gain 10/20/30/40% movement speed for 2s when activating Nine Lives.
Patch Up: Increases the healing from Nine Lives by 50/100/150/200.
Scar Tissue: Gain 5/10/15/20% damage reduction for 2s after using Nine Lives.
Walk it off: Heals 25/50/75/100 health every second while Prowl is active.
Streetrunner: Increases the duration of Prowl by 0.5/1/1.5/2s.
Chase: Increases the speed bonus of Prowl by 8/16/24/32%.
Featherlite: Reduces fall speed of Prowl by 10/20/30/40%.
Maeve’s Backstory
During the stream, it was revealed that Maeve grew up on the streets and had to develop a certain cunning to survive. This could also explain her cat-like abilities, with which she stalks in the dark and seeks out prey.
Her weapons also resemble cat claws that she sinks into her opponents’ flesh. It was also mentioned that she is very young compared to the other champions. Her striking blue eyes are notable, featuring slit-like pupils.
This video shows Maeve’s gameplay.
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