The Battlefield 1 CTE offers the opportunity to try out patches before their release. Here you can register.
Battlefield 1 players will soon be able to test new content before it arrives on the live servers via a patch. CTE stands for Community Test Environment and should already be familiar to veterans of the series. This test environment is now also being activated for the latest installment of the series, but is currently only available for PC players.
Battlefield 1 Test Server
The CTE in Battlefield 1 is a test environment where new features, improved content, changes, and experiments are tested. The content is tested there before being released to players on the “normal” servers.
The developers use the CTE to receive feedback from the community for developments. Direct feedback on changes helps developers improve and adjust these new contents.
What is being tested there?
First of all, the developers want to test the new Battlefield 1 update to check its stability. Later on, additional content will be added. You might also be able to test content from the They Shall Not Pass DLC there. Maps, vehicles, and the new elite class from They Shall Not Pass
CTE Registration
The codes for access to the CTE are first distributed to selected members of the community, allowing veterans of the series to gain access. You can then redeem the codes on PC via Origin to activate access. The public registration for the test environment is done through the Battlefield Companion app.
Currently, only PC players have access to the CTE. However, PS4 and Xbox One players should soon be able to take advantage of this testing opportunity. A Battlefield 1 Premium Pass for the respective platform is also required for registration. If you meet the requirements, you need to click on “Home” in the Companion app and select CTE there.
Currently, there is no official release date for the Battlefield 1 CTE.
MOBA belongs on smartphones. This is the best platform for it, say the creators of Vainglory. Although they are still laughed at by many for this. However, success proves them right.
When we talk about eSports these days, next to the strong first-person shooters, there is mainly the genre of MOBAs, the Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas. The big money can especially be won in the PC titles League of Legends and Dota 2. The development studio Super Evil Megacorp, known for the mobile MOBA Vainglory, is convinced, however, that the genre belongs on smartphones.
Although almost everyone with a penchant for technology owns a smartphone nowadays, gaming on small screens has so far been limited to casual games. These are played in between while on the bus or train. Still, the eSports of the ‘Pocket PCs’ is a niche. It’s often laughed at even. If you ask players, you will get almost exclusively negative forecasts for the future.
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The American development studio Super Evil Megacorp fiercely defends against this opinion. The still young team is primarily responsible for the currently best mobile MOBA “Vainglory” and regularly organizes live finals in the regions of North America and Europe. These attract high interest via Twitch. Even now, they have managed to ensure that professional eSports organizations like SK Gaming, Team Secret, or Team SoloMid entered the game. Including numerous fans, their own merchandise, and considerable prize money.
What is Vainglory?
Vainglory came to life just over two years ago, initially exclusively for iOS, later also playable via Android.
With a clear focus on eSports, Vainglory quickly developed into a significant presence on Twitch and built its community with numerous rapid updates and a previously unknown playability for smartphones. The development studio consistently relies on close cooperation with the community, still hardly advertises the game, and prefers to use the funds to increase the prize pool within the tournaments.
Professional players from the organizations also have a significant voice when it comes to implementing innovations. Top priority is quality, followed by the balancing between the demands of eSports and acquiring new players.
At its core, Vainglory is a classic MOBA: Two teams compete against each other on a single available map. Players choose a hero for the match at the beginning, level him up as quickly as possible, and try together to destroy the opposing core, the main base.
Difference to PC
Although Vainglory sees itself as a fully-fledged MOBA, platform-related adjustments must be made. For the smaller screen, for instance, only one lane was chosen on the map instead of three like in its bigger brother. A team consists of only three heroes, and matches usually last no longer than 20 minutes – longer duels would contradict the mobile aspect.
A particular highlight in the game is provided by the so-called Kraken. This is by far the strongest monster on the entire map, located in the vast jungle of the map, and definitely requires all three team members to be defeated.
The team that can eliminate the Kraken wins the monster for themselves – as long as the Kraken is not killed again, it automatically attacks the opposing turrets. The tricky part: Who gains control of the monster is determined by who executes the Last Hit, or the killing blow. This has already turned numerous matches: Pure fighting power is not enough here; only a well-thought-out tactic promises success.
“Smartphones are the best platform for MOBAs”
At a tournament in Berlin, we had the opportunity to talk with one of the lead developers about Vainglory. Q Wang, nicknamed Q, told us that Vainglory was developed to leverage the seemingly unlimited potential of smartphones. There are far more people with smartphones than with PCs, so the market is definitely there and just needs to be tapped. While they know that this will take time, Super Evil Megacorp likes to see itself as a pioneer in this regard and does not want to rest on its laurels.
If the argument arises that smartphones are not meant for gaming, Q counters that the computer was not originally invented for play either. Society is slowly ripe for engaging in serious eSports on small screens – thanks to virtually unlimited Wi-Fi connections, the device can be used anywhere for a quick game, so the future picture suggests that this is already beginning. Once the infrastructure is at a higher global standard, with new generations of gaming finally reaching the core of society and smartphones generating another technical advance, the mobile market will be able to make a huge leap again.
More important than the availability of smartphones, in the developer’s view, is the fact that MOBAs are much better playable on smartphones. It is significantly easier to control the heroes on the mobile device, one can use the fingers for control more precisely, and ideally, one sits directly across from their teammates, which improves communication.
To every skeptic who is either a supporter of PC-MOBA or has generally refrained from the genre, Q recommends to simply give Vainglory a try. As is common in the genre, the game can be downloaded for free – only skins or heroes outside the free rotation need to be purchased.
Bold theses – success justifies it
As mentioned: mobile eSports are laughed at. The acceptance is relatively low; statements like those from Q are quickly dismissed as nonsense – and yet hard facts prove the development studio right and reward it for its courage. Last year, a multi-million dollar deal with Twitch was concluded. The game streaming platform sees great potential in the MOBA, which was among the fastest-growing titles on the website in 2016. In the live finals, where the eight best teams of a region compete for the season crown, thousands of fans watch – with a clearly rising tendency.
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In December of last year, the first world championship in Vainglory took place in Hollywood and generated significant attention. From now on, it will be held every year and thus generate additional promotion in the Asian countries.
2017 an important year
Despite all the positive aspects of the MOBA, not everything that glitters is gold: Professional players repeatedly express concern that Super Evil Megacorp must take another step and cannot stagnate; otherwise, the momentum of the early days will be lost. Important decisions must be made now; a clear direction for the coming years is still lacking. If the team achieves its goal, one can continue to expect a fresh, mobile breeze in the eSports scene.
Our opinion on Vainglory
As a MOBA fan, I really enjoy the game. Especially on the larger tablet, Vainglory becomes a fun alternative when I’m not in the mood for League of Legends and/or Dota 2. I admit that I am one of the few supporters of mobile eSports and almost hope that the genre will grow larger in the coming years.
However, whether the smartphone is truly the best platform for it is a really bold statement. It is still the case that the PC is significantly more accepted, and only computer MOBAs are considered “fully-fledged”. The future will show whether the developers’ vision can hold up.
Survival-MMO ARK Survival Evolved is bringing Patch 254 online for PC tonight. We have patch notes and information.
Studio WildCard has announced and is presenting Patch 254 for PC. It is set to be rolled out tonight, in the night from Monday to Tuesday, at 2:00 AM if everything goes smoothly.
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254 is a major content patch and brings “Tek Tier” and numerous other features into the game.
TEK Tier is an endgame technology in the crafting system. With 254 comes the first wave of this technology. Additional elements are to follow. Players earn TEK Tier by defeating bosses and collecting their elements. It is also possible to equip TEK saddles on the most popular dinos. Even on a T-Rex.
Furthermore, the ability to change hairstyles in ARK Survival Evolved will be available today. You can dye your hair, grow hair and a beard. This hairy matter is also set to be expanded over time.
The sheep, Ovis Aries, is also coming to ARK. This was created as part of a Steam challenge. Players will be able to shear sheep. You can also ride on the sheep. That’s suitable for mountainous terrain.
What the new dinosaurs can do – Purlovia, Blasilosaurus and Baryonyx
Three additional dinosaurs are coming with the Basilosaurus, Baryonyx, and Purlovia.
The Basilosaurus Solatiumfect is a marine creature. As a powerful swimmer, it thrives in shallow waters. It possesses remarkable self-healing abilities. Other predators typically follow the Basilosaurus since it leaves behind usable remains after digestion. Survivors harvest the Basilosaurus for oil.
Purlovia Maxima is a carnivore that relies on the element of surprise. As a patient hunter, it is employed by tribes to prepare ambushes or protect a village. A pack of tamed Purlovia can serve as a sort of minefield of claws and fangs.
Baryonyx Aquafugur is one of the smaller large predators. It is a fast swimmer, quick enough to pose a threat on land as well. For survivors seeking to travel both in water and on land, it serves as the ideal mount for anyone preferring speed and agility over sheer strength. After consuming fresh fish, the Baryonyx can regenerate remarkably quickly.
Along with the other dinos, the Dino-Jousting makes its way to Ark. The lance serves as a new item.
When is the patch coming to PS4 and Xbox One? And what’s next?
On February 20, the next patch for PC ARK is set to appear. V255 will bring new gameplay content to ARK Survival Evolved. This includes TEK technology and these dinos:
In Destiny, we look at the videos of the week. Bungie provides three videos, which we complement with works from our community.
In the videos of the week, Bungie usually delivers a colorful selection of Crucible montages, funny PvE scenes, music videos, or other creative masterpieces. This week, there’s something different: two impressive PvE videos!
The first video is 53 minutes long. Therefore, we now know: In 53 minutes, one can defeat all four raid bosses consecutively – solo and without a wipe! This was achieved by YouTuber Sean Gallagher. He started with Oryx, then challenged Aksis, defeated Atheon, and finally made short work of Crota. The entire video is a “One Take.” If he had died once, he would have had to start over with Oryx:
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Finally, there’s a video in the category “How did you come up with this idea – and why execute it?” B-rabbit54 shows you how to defeat Valus Ta’aurc with his own minions:
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That concludes the videos chosen by Bungie. Now let’s see what our community has to offer. And it’s quite a bit! You sent us enough videos this week for an entire month! Unfortunately, we can’t show them all.
We start with a strong video from Lorenlyr, which tells several stories. According to the description, it took over 167 hours to create this work.
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Next Monday, you will have another chance to land in our article and be seen by numerous Guardians. Send us your videos via contact form or via Facebook as a private message. We will definitely take a look at them. We don’t promise more.
The work on the MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria is progressing, and the team plans to showcase a playable demo at PAX East in just a few weeks.
As the development team grows, having recently hired programmer Steve Hoelle from SWTOR, Vanguard, and Warhammer Online, the work on the promising MMORPG is advancing rapidly. PAX East will take place in Boston from March 10 to 12. The studio Soulbound will be present at this gaming convention and plans to showcase a playable demo of the MMO there.
Demo shows the base game
The demo will include some of the features planned for the offline prologue, the web-based game Kingdoms of Elyria, and the ElyriaMUD. However, the team emphasizes that Chronicles of Elyria is an online game despite the offline prologue.
However, the prologue is well-suited to demonstrate some of the features and basic mechanics of the game. The game is also making progress in terms of graphics, as shown by new screenshots released by the team.
Digging for treasures
It is also explained that a feature originally planned as a stretch goal for the Kickstarter campaign will now be implemented, even though that stretch goal was not achieved. This involves the ability to find treasure maps and subsequently dig up the treasures.
As can be seen, the development of the MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria is making significant progress. Especially exciting is the playable demo that will be shown during PAX East. A new video showcasing the progress through motion pictures is also expected to be released soon.
In The Division, we will take a look at the items that you can purchase with premium credits.
Update 1.6 introduces microtransactions and its own currency for this: Premium Credits. With these, you can buy exclusive vanity items – if you are willing to invest real money.
Once you have transferred the premium credits to your account, head to the terminal, where in the back corner the premium vendor stands. There you can spend the new currency.
Currently, these microtransactions can be tested on the public test servers (PTS). All premium items are available for free purchase here – how much these will cost at the launch of 1.6 is still unknown. But what items does the vendor actually offer? Is it worth spending real money?
The Offer of the Premium Vendor
All items offered by the premium vendor are new and exclusive. The cosmetic items that are already available in the game can still be earned. You will only be charged for the new vanity items. The offer includes weapon skins, backpack skins, clothing (cosmetic items), gestures (emotes), and bundles. You cannot buy advantages in combat.
YouTuber Disturbed Gaming has taken a look at all the objects on the PTS and presents them in the video. Below the video, you will find some highlights:
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For the backpack skins, a new category will be introduced in the inventory. These are on offer:
If you want to equip a skin, select the backpack and press Triangle (PS4), Y (Xbox), or G (PC) to choose a skin. These might look like this:
We have some screenshots of the new weapon skins for you:
The exclusive clothing items are not too spectacular. Here is the operator set:
Additionally, three gestures can be purchased: a silly chicken dance, a referee emote, and clenched fists:
All emotes can be found in the upper video starting at minute 4:30 with moving images.
What do you think of these premium items? Keep in mind that the inventory of the premium vendor is regularly updated. Some objects will be removed, new ones will be added.
In the Free2Play MMORPG Rift , patch 4.1 is coming. It brings the new hot stuff in MMORPGs – levelable weapons.
“Forged in Flame” is coming on March 1 to the F2Play MMORPG Rift. This is patch 4.1 – the first after the somewhat unsuccessful expansion Starfall Prophecy. The patch includes a raid with seven bosses for 10 players. It’s called Tartaric Depths. You can try out Rift’s new LFR tool right away.
Additionally, Rift is getting a type of weapon that has been around in MMORPGs for a while, but became popular with WoW’s artifact weapons: superweapons that players can keep and develop further. They are called “Eternal Weapons” in Rift. These are unique weapons that can be earned and then upgraded. Players receive them through a “Level 70” quest line. They will be the “Best in Slot” weapons. So the best you can get.
Rogues will receive two one-handed weapons, while the other four archetype classes will receive a two-handed weapon.
To develop the weapons, players will have to overcome rifts, solve jumping puzzles, and smash dangerous monsters, it is said. In addition to the weapons, there will be Eternal armor pieces and additional weapons that players can also enhance through an upgrade system. The patch 4.1 also brings improvements to the dye system. Fashion-conscious players will be pleased.
4.1 will be available to all who have purchased Starfall Prophecy.
A new Hearthstone deck is shaking up the meta. The “One-Turn-Kill” Priest is on the rise!
Anyone who thinks that the current meta of Hearthstone is stagnant and essentially consists only of pirate warriors and jade shamans will be in for a surprise. Out of all the chaos from Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, a deck has emerged that no one expected: the “One Turn Kill” Priest deck from player rage_HS.
The Priest deck combines several new cards like Shrink Ray and Potion of Madness with old favorites like Divine Will and Inner Fire. The real kicker, however, is the Djinn of Zephyrs from the Explorer’s League, which benefits from a unique utilization of a mechanic.
The OTK Confuse Priest
When an opposing minion is taken over by Potion of Madness, this card gives that minion Charge as well. This is not mentioned in the description, but it makes sense, because otherwise, you couldn’t attack with the stolen minion. The trick is: If the Djinn is on the field when the potion is cast, it also gets Charge!
Now you buff the stolen minion with Divine Will and Inner Fire, creating two powerful Charge minions that can easily deal 30-50 damage, depending on the game situation.
The deck is relatively easy to play, but requires good planning in your head (and therefore also entails mathematics). However, it is necessary to keep many cards in hand and speculate that the opponent plays a minion you can take over – if necessary, you can first use the Shrink Ray to help out. Some gameplay scenes are shown to you by YouTuber and streamer Disguised Toast in his video:
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Snail Games has big plans for the upcoming MMORPG Dark and Light and wants to. The developers want the game to stand out from other representatives of the genre.
This starts with allowing around 100 players per server. Survival elements play a major role, and survival only makes sense if players cannot constantly encounter others who help them survive. However, the developers want to place great emphasis on interaction between players. This also applies to PvP.
PvP takes place on special PvP servers and will be quite harsh. Because, in principle, it will be possible to attack other players anywhere.
Open PvP with Full Loot
If a player is killed, others can search their corpse and take all the items they had with them. A respawn beacon should indicate to the player where exactly their corpse is located, so they can quickly go there to salvage some items. This sounds quite harsh, yet the developers want newcomers to feel comfortable in the game world and not be immediately deterred.
Therefore, discussions are currently underway on how to best introduce players to the game. So far, Dark and Light is a pure sandbox game. There is a backstory concerning the escape of the inhabitants of the planet Gaia to the new world Alpha, but there are no real quests yet. The developers want to give players as much freedom as possible and not restrict how they can experience their adventures in the world. However, a story with quests as a tutorial could be a good way to introduce players to the MMO.
A huge sandbox with only a few players
However, the focus is to be on the sandbox and survival elements. The world will be massive at 40,000 square kilometers, which means that encountering another player with 100 players per server will be a special event.
There is no skill cap; you can continuously develop your skills further and further. And you enjoy plenty of freedoms. Do you want to tame wild animals? Then do it. Do you want to build bases or cities? Then that’s possible too. Do you want to fight other players? Go ahead.
Dark and Light is set to be released later this year.
With the next beta of the online space game Elite Dangerous, you can customize your heroes and hire other players for your crew.
Players want to stand out in online games. Therefore, having options is important to customize the hero with many details. With the upcoming Beta 2.3, this will also be possible in Elite Dangerous. The Commander Creator allows you to give your pilot a unique appearance. This way, you can also show your face to the players you shoot down.
Control large ships together with other players
The introduction of this capability has another reason. With Beta 2.3, multicrew ships will find their way into the online game. This allows you to search for other players to form a crew with. In this way, you can jointly control the larger ships in the game.
Of course, it’s easier to distinguish crew members if they also look different. This option to control large ships as a team should open up many cooperative opportunities in Elite Dangerous.
How sick will you feel in VR?
It becomes interesting when you play in VR. Elite Dangerous has been fully playable with virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive for some time and is even among the VR games that can be played without (or with little) motion sickness. But will that change if someone else is controlling your ship and you’re just sitting as a passenger next to them?
We will find out at the end of February when the beta update 2.3 “The Commanders” for Elite Dangerous is released.
Players should be able to get into World of Warcraft faster for PvP. With Patch 7.2, there are therefore some improvements.
Anyone who wants to jump into PvP in World of Warcraft fresh – or with a second character – needs to prepare for a few tough hours. The powerful honor talents are only available after a few honor levels have been accumulated. Together with upgrading the artifact weapon, this leads to two obstacles that could discourage newcomers.
In the official forum, there are several posts urging Blizzard to further simplify access to PvP, so that at least a rough level of fairness is established right from the start.
The Game DesignerDesvin addressed part of the demands for improvements and explained that with Patch 7.2, players will find it easier to unlock their PvP honor talents.
“To address one of the issues you mentioned: In 7.2, we are reducing the honor needed to progress from honor level 1 to 50 before the first prestige rank is increased (so basically ‘Prestige 0’). You will only need just under half the honor compared to what is currently required on live servers. The prestige ranks 1 and above remain unchanged. Hopefully, this helps everyone to unlock their honor talents faster.”
Especially for twinks and newcomers, this is good news. Because the first rounds of PvP completely without honor talents often feel like a slaughterfest – and not the fun kind. Some players have even only done PvP world quests to gather the necessary honor so that at least the first column of talents is available.
Are you already excited about the survival RPG Conan Exiles? Then we have some information for you regarding the launch. For example: When does Conan Exiles start?
The release of Conan Exiles occurs on January 31 at 6 AM (German time). Then the Early Access release will be available.
Also, right from the start, you will have all the tools available to run your own servers. Alternatively, you can also play Conan Exiles alone – even in an offline mode.
Create your own server with your rules
If you start your own server, you can make a lot of settings. For example, whether there should be a wipe or not, whether PvP is allowed, what the player count should be, and whether the sandstorms in the game can be deadly. In this way, you create the game world as you like it. You can either host the server on your own PC or rent one through Pingperfect.
Your adventure in the game begins as you hang on the cross for your crimes. By selecting the crimes you have committed, you create your character. You also determine his appearance and gender.
Then Conan, the barbarian, cuts you down from the cross, saves you from dark monsters, and sends you to the land of the exiled, where you are to begin a new life. There, you must gather resources to craft weapons and armor. Additionally, you will also need a shelter to protect yourself from the deadly storms. Food and water are, of course, also vital for survival.
Build a new life for yourself
Over time, you will find increasingly valuable resources that you can process into more effective weapons and armor. You will upgrade your shelter into a fortress, which you will also continue to improve. By not killing NPCs from wild tribes, but rather capturing them and chaining them to your Wheel of Pain, you break their will and take them as slaves. They will defend your fortress and help you produce new items.
By worshipping one of the gods and offering sacrifices or performing good deeds, you will increase your influence with him. Eventually, you will summon his avatar and stomp down the fortresses of your enemies with him.
Conan Exiles will be available to you in Early Access for PC starting January 31 at 6 AM. The Standard Edition will cost $29.99 and the Barbarian Edition will cost $59.99.
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But only a few succeed: Usually, the reason is that the card is not filled with enough victories. The opposing teams are simply too strong. But it can also happen that the game is suddenly against you – and kicks you out.
This happened to Redditor Bakengangsta during these Trials: He writes that he was only one second away from the Lighthouse when a disconnect occurred. He captured this annoyance in the video:
https://youtu.be/xw4IYnSXJB8
Not a good time for a connection drop
Just before the fifth victory was recorded, a disconnect happened. Throughout the entire match, an ominous message was displayed at the bottom of the screen stating that the Destiny servers were being contacted.
A user writes in the comments that he would have destroyed his controller if that had happened to him at that moment. In most other comments, Guardians express their sympathy. However, some accuse the Redditor of faking the video – since the screen with the error message is missing. Nevertheless, other users report that they also experienced disconnects in the Trials without an error message.
One thing is for sure: Currently, connection drops in the Trials are particularly annoying. The Trials of Osiris are no longer as well-attended as they were months ago. Now mostly “sweats” are hanging around there, against whom the average Guardian has scarcely a chance. When a disconnect then denies you the journey to the Lighthouse, flying controllers are understandable.
In which situations have you had annoying disconnects?
In The Division, we provide a guide to the PvP mode “Last Stand”. This is how the mechanics work.
The “Last Stand” DLC brings the namesake mode “Last Stand”. Many PC agents are currently checking out this mode on the public test servers and providing hints on how to proceed best.
“Last Stand” is not a PvP mode like you know from other shooters: You do not just shoot down opposing players, but must consider several mechanics to successfully complete a session.
This is what “Last Stand” is about
Last Stand is a conquest mode with PvE and PvP elements. It is played in 8v8, but many NPC enemies also roam the map. There are zones A, B, and C, with A and C being near the spawn points of the respective teams. You will also find two landmarks where you will encounter many NPC enemies – including named elite foes. Furthermore, there are two “Tactical Boosts” on the map.
In each zone (A, B, C) there are three objectives: Only when all three objectives have been activated do you own the zone. The more zones you control, the faster you earn points. Each zone also contains fortifications (turrets) that you activate with SHD Tech, a new currency. You earn SHD Tech by killing NPCs or opening crates.
Tip: To neutralize enemy turret fortifications, you can disable them with EMP grenades. This makes it easier to capture enemy zones.
This is how a match plays out
Your first objective should be to eliminate some NPCs at the beginning to earn SHD Tech. This allows you to claim and fortify your first zone, making it better protected against enemies. Use this zone as your base.
After that, you should head to a landmark or zone B. You must definitely collect SHD Tech. Theoretically, you can divide your group and advance to both objectives.
At the 7-minute mark, the “Tactical Boosts” go online: These give your team various bonuses, such as more points when you eliminate enemies. However, you first need to activate them with 2000 SHD Tech.
A “Tactical Boost” station can only be activated by one team. After a certain amount of time, it becomes neutral again, and the enemy can take it over. Therefore, make sure you always have enough SHD Tech to use this boost. SHD Tech is a currency that is collected across strike teams.
If you have, for example, the boost that gives you more points for kills, you should do just that: eliminate enemies as many as possible to maximize the benefits from the boost. Gain an advantage over the enemy team.
Now, the goal is to earn more points than the enemy. Hold your base zone, grab the boosts, collect SHD Tech, and fight the enemy for zone B. The first group to earn 15,000 points or have the most points when time runs out wins.
Conclusion: In this standalone PvP mode, it is much less about PvP than one might expect. You must familiarize yourself with the mechanics and objectives and, above all, collect SHD Tech to win. The opposing agents are pesky foes. “Last Stand” is tactically driven: Who collects SHD Tech, who deals with the enemy, what about zone B and the boosts? Communication is key.
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The YouTuber Arekkz Gaming has checked out “Last Stand” on the PTS and considers it to be a fun mode that brings variety. He criticizes that the maps for “Last Stand” are somewhat too large – most of the time consists of running from one point to another.
Have you played the mode yet? What do you think of it?
When D.Va breaks a heart, more than just feelings are broken. These are our Overwatch “Play of the Game” moments of the week.
Each week, absurd, exciting, or simply funny moments happen in Overwatch that are often captured in a “Play of the Game”. We searched social media and picked out three special highlights for you. Enjoy our 3 “Play of the Game” moments of the week in Overwatch!
Timing the self-destruct for the mech with D.Va is quite an art. But then timing the “Heartbreaker” emote to perfectly coincide with the explosion that “breaks” the heart – that’s on a whole different level. So this week, the winner of the most coolness points goes to Pangy, who makes short work of the entire team on King’s Row.
https://gfycat.com/IndelibleThirstyFlyinglemur
Not every “Play of the Game” can be timed exactly. Sometimes it even happens completely unexpectedly when you just wanted to cross a cliff. This also happened to the player Bradipo, who wanted to jump to the second control point as Winston in Hanamura. However, as soon as he lands, he hears the desperate screams of his enemies – as Mei and Torbjörn plummet into the abyss. Can you spot the two before they fall?
https://gfycat.com/NauticalGraveAlligator
Our last clip is again not a “Play of the Game” in the strict sense, but a particularly funny scene. As so often, Hanzo and Widowmaker engage in a fierce sniper battle in the Temple of Anubis. Just as Hanzo, in the form of NerdyBoyFernie, is about to take the final shot, something unexpected happens. It’s no wonder that the post on Reddit was titled “Take Cover, Ms. President!”. You should really see it for yourself.
https://gfycat.com/WideMelodicFlicker
Did you also experience a particularly cool gaming moment that you captured on video? Then just send us a link to the video and maybe you will find your clip in this post next week!
The AI of the upcoming space MMO Star Citizen is very important for the gaming experience, as the developers explain in a new Around-the-Verse video about the game.
Last year, a demo of the Star Citizen single-player part Squadron 42 was supposed to be shown. But that didn’t happen because the AI wasn’t ready at that time.
As explained in a new Around-the-Verse video, the AI is important for the gaming experience and even affects the animations. If an NPC looks in the wrong direction during an AI reaction, it would not only look strange but also convey a poor impression of the game that would be hard to undo.
Base AI is nearly finished
Therefore, the AI must be right when it is shown. According to Tony Zurovec (Director of Persistent Universe) and Francesco Roccucci (Lead AI Programmer), they are now almost finished with programming the base AI. This is necessary for many areas of the game, including quest creation. The quest designers have many opportunities to integrate the missions into the game easily thanks to the implemented AI.
The AI also affects the repeatable missions. For example, the reason why an NPC gets stranded in space can vary, which adds variety and reduces the feeling that you are constantly doing the same thing. The AI, which is now close to completion, is basically just the foundation. The team wants to constantly build on this and the system has been designed accordingly modular. This allows for quick expansions to be added.
NPCs react to their environment
Star Citizen
However, already now the AI ensures that the animations are correct and that NPCs can act in coordination and react to their environment. This is important to effectively use cover.
The AI is also used for crew members. It is important to note that not every NPC is suitable for every position on a ship and better crew members need to be paid more. Of course, instead of NPCs, you can also look for other players for the crew.
Equally important is to pay attention to your reputation. NPCs will react to your actions. If you and your guild are known for quick transports of goods but let that slide, it will get around, your reputation will suffer, and you will get fewer contracts. You can watch the entire video about the AI of Star Citizen here:
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In the next update of World of Warcraft (WoW), legendary items can be crafted – if the data miners are to be believed.
On the official test server of World of Warcraft, there is currently an early version of patch 7.2 “The Tomb of Sargeras”. In addition to new dungeons, quests, and a raid, there will also be some changes to the reward systems in the game.
Many players criticize that the distribution of legendary items in the game is subject to too much randomness. Especially professional guilds are frustrated that they rarely get the “best” legendary for their character and therefore have to forgo certain players because they cannot meet the optimal requirements. This leads to frustration among players and guild leaders.
While Blizzard has already made improvements in the past – such as increasing drop chances for legendaries – this has still not been enough for many players.
Apparently, patch 7.2 will introduce a new way to obtain legendary items: crafting.
The data miners from mmo-champion and wowhead have already extracted some files that indicate new legendary items for tailors, leatherworkers, and blacksmiths. These are associated with new quest lines that require multiple steps from the crafters. As it stands, bosses from dungeons must be defeated, and a lot of crafting materials need to be gathered.
The legendary items themselves are still not “complete”; they are missing the typical effects. Apparently, Blizzard is still fine-tuning the exact bonuses.
However, all information should be taken with caution – the current PTR version is still far from a “final” status.
Cortyn states: Craftable legendary items seem to be a good way to address player complaints – provided the new legendaries are indeed “good.” It remains to be seen whether other professions will receive legendary gear as well or if this will only be the case for the 3 “specialists.” In any case, the system offers not only potential for many improvements in the game but also for numerous complaints about why “profession XYZ” is not getting anything.
In the action brawler “For Honor“, spectacular stunts are possible. But imitating them is dangerous.
Over the weekend, the closed beta of “For Honor”, a medieval action brawler set to release in two weeks, ran. A wonderful scene has now appeared on reddit that we would like to show you.
The red player is being pressured by two opponents and escapes with a daring jump over the railing. In attempting to follow him, the two pursuers jump to their deaths.
The video was posted on reddit with the title “Aim for the bushes.” This is a reference to the film “The Other Guys.” In it, two super cops, played by Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, jump to their deaths. Despite being so super, they should really survive something like that.
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How can the red player survive the jump while the blues cannot? The red had much less health.
The fans’ theory is that the red landed on an NPC soldier while jumping and took him out. With this special jump technique, a player in For Honor does not lose health points. These spectacular aerial kills are among the highlights of the game. So the red player really “aimed for the bushes.” Unlike the super cops and his pursuers, he hit it.
Captain Glubbschauge aka “Patches” has undergone many transformations in Hearthstone .
Anyone who has played a few rounds of Hearthstone in the past weeks will have had some unpleasant encounters with Captain Glubbschauge. He is usually part of a pirate deck and even more frequently encountered with the feared and hated Pirate Warrior.
However, it was a long journey before “Patches”, as he is called in the original, came into the game in his current form.
In an interview with Polygon, Ben Brode explained that Patches was originally planned for the Blackrock Mountain expansion. There, he would have been a 1/1 dragon that rushes onto the field whenever another dragon is played – you could even have had him twice in the deck. However, that didn’t feel right and led to problems – so they postponed him.
A second attempt was made with The Grand Tournament. Here he was supposed to enter the game in the form of “Sky Captain Kragg”, with the same effect. However, that was scrapped and instead developed into Kragg as we know him today (4/6 with Rush and discount per pirate).
The true reason for postponing Patches from The Grand Tournament was a too powerful interaction with the rogue card “One-Eyed Rogue”. This is a 4/1 pirate that gains Stealth every time another pirate is played. With Patches in the deck, he immediately gained Stealth. This very effect can currently be utilized in the “wild” game mode, where no problems are seen. “There are stronger combinations than this” insists Ben Brode.
The third attempt was made by the developers in Whispers of the Old Gods, where “Patches” was supposed to come into the game in the form of N’Zoth’s First Mate, but was late in development scrapped – leading to the mate as he currently exists in the game (1/1 pirate with 1/3 weapon).
With The Streets of Gadgetzan, they saw the perfect opportunity to finally bring Patches into the game. Gadgetzan is a crazy city that has been right by the sea since the Cataclysm – a stronghold for pirates and shady businesses. The hour of Patches had finally come.
Blizzard’s card game Hearthstone and digital trading card games have impressive numbers. Card players are excellent customers – also for streamers on Twitch.
The data analysts at Superdata have created a report on digital trading card games. Among digital card games, Blizzard’s Hearthstone leads the way. The game is said to have earned 394.6 million USD in 2016. That’s four times more than the runner-up Shadowverse.
What’s interesting about the genre is that players spend real money on the card games. In the USA, 9.6% of all players on PC and Mac who engage in digital card games also spend money on them. On average, players willing to spend money pay $40.08 (37.46€) per month.
For a MOBA like League of Legends, only 7.3% spend an average of $22.50 (21€) per month. In the mobile US market, only games under the brand “Clash of Clans” exceed expenditures compared to card games. However, the conversion rate is lower there – that is, the number of those who actually pay anything.
Source: Superdata
Both genres traditionally rely on a free-to-play model – they spend money on additional digital services. Therefore, players are used to reaching into their pockets for these services – this is the traditional business model, a core part of the package, as Superdata believes.
Cashcow Hearthstone
Fans of digital card games are thus “better customers” than players of other mid-core or hardcore video games, as Superdata concludes.
Blizzard is said to earn $25 million a month with Hearthstone. In some months even $40 million.
Also interesting: 86% of digital card game players watch others play these games. This includes both well-known players on YouTube and Twitch as well as eSports tournaments. Many viewers want to learn new strategies through watching and improve their own gameplay.
This could explain why Hearthstone is so incredibly popular on Twitch.
