In a few days, Diablo will turn 20 years old. This event will be celebrated with events and bonuses in WoW, Overwatch, Hearthstone, HotS, and StarCraft 2.
In just a few days, there will be special events in the various titles from Blizzard. The reason for this is Diablo’s 20th birthday, which will be celebrated on December 31. For this special occasion, Blizzard will spread the birthday celebration across Diablo 3, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, Overwatch, StarCraft 2, and World of Warcraft. We’ll show you what events and items await you in the various games. Don’t miss out, as they are only available for a short time.
This is how you celebrate in Diablo 3
In Diablo 3, you will experience the memorial event “Darkness in Tristram.” There, you will be transported back to the original Diablo and find yourself in a replica of the famous cathedral. Some items you find there may look familiar to you.
Heroes of the Storm gets a new map
Alongside a new Diablo-style portrait, players in HotS will receive another bonus. A new, wild map for the Hero Chaos awaits you.
Hearthstone with special Brawl
In Blizzard’s card game, you meet a hooded stranger who plays a merciless deck. Can you uncover the secrets of the Dark Wanderer?
Overwatch gets sprays and icons
In Overwatch, although you won’t get the Diablo heroes as playable characters, you will receive sprays of your favorite classes from Diablo 3. Additionally, there will be new player icons based on the Lord of Terror.
StarCraft 2 – New worker style
Your workers will undergo a visual transformation. During the birthday, the worker portraits will take on Diablo style.
World of Warcraft with mysterious message
How to celebrate Diablo’s birthday in WoW is still not entirely clear. In the Battle.net blog, the developers wrote: “Strange things are casting their shadows in the world of Azeroth as the inhabitants of Sanctuary enter a world unfamiliar to them.” Will there even be an in-game event? We shall see.
MMO-Shooter Destiny is looking for new employees for the story – including for small releases.
Bungie has posted new jobs on their career page. In the forum “Neogaf”, they investigated this closely and found an exciting detail.
Bungie Job Offers Indicate a Direction Change for Destiny
These are jobs for “Narrative Director” – people responsible for the story of Destiny, for the “narration.”
Here are three open positions:
Head of Narrative Development
Narrative Director
Live Narrative Director
The “Head” is the top boss overseeing this whole complex. The Narrative Director is supposed to take care of “Major Releases”, meaning big releases. This likely refers to “expansions” and sequels. Destiny 2 is on the horizon. It’s also quite possible that DLCs on the scale of Rise of Iron or Darkness would continue.
Looking for Narrators for “small-scale Releases”
The exciting part: The Live Narrative Director is supposed to manage “regular small-scale Releases”, likely meaning “normal, small” patches – similar to the last one in December.
And that would be a change in the plan. Because until now, there were essentially no “small-scale Releases” in Destiny related to the story. Rather, smaller releases only brought events. Aside from the “DLCs”, the story was not further developed – so there would be no need for a “Live Narrative Director.”
The idea that Destiny could evolve in patches and the story could be told progressively seems to align with statements from Activision and Bungie, where they promised “a steady stream of content throughout the year.” This is currently not the case. This would also be hard to achieve with “two DLCs per year”, as it was in Year 1.
So far, the “Live Team” was rather a small group that mainly dealt with events, keeping the game alive. If they start to scale up narratively and in terms of personnel, it would be a significant directional change that would help keep Destiny interesting throughout the year.
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There is a drawback: The fact that these jobs are only being sought now indicates that such changes will likely take effect only after the release of Destiny 2. Such changes take a long time to implement.
In The Division, we will look at the known issues. Which ones still need to be fixed?
Today, there are no maintenance operations taking place in Ubisoft’s shared-world shooter. Normally, developers work on server stability on Thursdays, deploying bug fixes and taking online services down for several hours. This is not happening today. If you want to roam around in post-apocalyptic New York, you don’t have to constantly watch the clock.
However, the absence of server maintenance does not mean that all in-game issues have been resolved. Some bugs are just waiting to be deployed with an upcoming client patch.
Known Issues on December 29th
In recent weeks, annoyances introduced by update 1.5 have been addressed, such as a new “Bullet King” glitch or issues with the Rikers leader Larae Barrett.
Currently, only one bug is being investigated:
The “Extended Magazine” mod at level 34 comes with a lower primary attribute than intended.
A solution has already been found for the remaining known issues. They are waiting for a client patch/maintenance to be deployed:
Uncomplicated with AlphaBridge: The bonus damage of the FAMAS talent “Uncomplicated” does not display properly with the AlphaBridge set.
Ballistic Shield: This skill has been extremely buggy in the past. It has been tweaked multiple times. Currently, there is an issue where the shield no longer works when interacting with objects.
Shooting: Additionally, it may occur that you cannot shoot anymore after a skill has been used.
There are also issues with the audio in the “Russian Consulate” mission, with the Vigorous talent in combination with the outpost, with quick navigation in the base, and with the Scavenger Crate in the operations base. Furthermore, the individual skill “Recovery Link” is not always reliable when playing solo.
When these issues will be resolved is still unclear. At the latest with update 1.6. However, this will take some time.
The most famous guild of World of Warcraft is disbanding. At least, Nihilum is no longer participating in the race for first kills.
Those who are familiar with the raid scene of World of Warcraft know that the names of the major Mythic guilds have decreased significantly in recent years. Now, another major representative has been affected, as the raid guild Nihilum will no longer participate in the mythical race for first kills.
As reported by buffed, Treckie has taken over the guild leadership and wrote a long post on Twitlonger (see sources) explaining the end of Nihilum. The reasons given include the declining interest of players, lack of success, and the disappearance of truly skilled players. Thus, in recent years, Nihilum has fallen from being one of the top guilds, to being ranked 25th in the heroic mode of the Emerald Nightmare.
Nihilum existed back in Classic and TBC – they are “old hands” among the raiders.
Meanwhile, the raid morale has dropped so much that they’ve only practiced on Helya for 4 hours on mythical difficulty – even though they’ve been facing her for 4 weeks. Treckie adds at the end:
“In the future, I will temporarily hold the guild leadership, but I honestly don’t know what I will do with it or if I will look for a new guild for the Night Hold. I’m not a big fan of being an officer or raid leader and I would prefer to be in a guild where I only have to take care of myself and can stream. I will definitely continue to stream, so let’s see what we will do.”
Cortyn says: Nihilum was a big name for a long time, and many players associate the successes of first kills with the guild, which makes it seem like the raid scene is “dying”. Although there are still other representatives, especially with Exorsus and many others, a long-time contender is now out of the race. However, I strongly believe that many players from Nihilum will simply join a new group to continue competing for the top and the first kill in the Night Hold.
In Black Desert there is new content: young wizards and big dragons.
The “Awakening” in Black Desert is complete. The awakening of Wizard and Witch was used to respond to fans’ desire to play a “fresh young” wizard. There is now a preset that makes the Wizard look significantly younger. He no longer looks like Gandalf. This already happened with the patch last week, which came just before Christmas..
Introduced alongside the Wizard Awakening was a new ‘young’ preset. Have you made a new wizard or recustomised your existing wizard? pic.twitter.com/7Q1YUHYYFP
Today a new patch for Black Desert was implemented: it brings the World Boss “Nouver”, a dragon. We have a video of how he was defeated in the Korean version of Black Desert.
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On the specialist pages, there has already been speculation about which version of Nouver we will receive in Europe: the “old” version or a revised new one. They differ in terms of different spawn points. The “new” version apparently appears east of “Sand Grain Bazar”. The old version had, according to Dulfy, three different spawn points in the area.
These were rather “interim patches” for Black Desert. Players are still waiting for the next major expansion, which revolves around the ocean content “Margoria”, which could begin in 2017. Margoria was already presented at Gamescom some time ago.
Players tried to declare a ceasefire during the Christmas days in Battlefield 1. But this shot back fired.
The developers of Battlefield 1 organized a Christmas event for the players, which includes a special medal. This medal is associated by the players with the Christmas truce of 1914, during which there was a spontaneous ceasefire between German and British soldiers over Christmas.
Players suspected that the Battlefield 1 developers would plan a special event for this occasion. After there was no information about an official planning, but the medal was simply “given away” for logging in, players wanted to organize a ceasefire on their own.
Negative reactions to the temporary peace
The planning went so far that players designed plans for what times on which days a ceasefire should happen. Instead of the usual battles, there should be air shows with planes or horse races. The following draft was uploaded by Imgur user SaracsticShark13.
While a few players from the Battlefield 1 community liked this idea, other players were not convinced at all by the planned ceasefire. Reddit user burks21 wrote that he bought a WAR game to kill people.
Presumably, it would have been difficult for the developers to convince the community of a ceasefire given these reactions. Thus, the medal was gifted to every player who logged into Battlefield 1 during the Christmas event. At least it reminded of the Christmas truce of 1914. Even though this peace was not implemented in the game, it was at least remembered.
In ArcheAge an exploit has caused a stir. It could have ruined the balance on the Fresh Start server.
In ArcheAge, the relationship between players and the EU/NA publisher Trion Worlds is “complicated.” Recently, reports circulated in various forums that an “APEX exploit” from October 2014 is once again functioning on the new Fresh Start servers, permanently damaging balance there. The “Fresh Start” servers were intended to allow a restart without anyone having significant advantages.
Some allegedly “dupicated” Apex and earned an insane amount of Credits, thereby gaining unfair advantages for years, as seen in the forums. Players are said to have used APEX, received Credits, but the Apex did not disappear, it is reported.
The balance is completely thrown off: Players have an insane number of Credits and have crafted high-end items. The goods created this way have all already been shifted and are no longer traceable – it’s a complete mess. The exploit works, as mentioned in forum posts, because the new Fresh Start servers are based on “old server architecture” – XLGames, the Korean partners, set them up that way. No one knows why. Trion Worlds is also angry about it.
It is further claimed that Trion Worlds is trying to sweep the “exploit” under the rug. Kicking and banning anyone who brings up the issue in official forums.
This forum post describing the bug was reportedly deleted by Trion Worlds.
So far, these are reports from users and discussions outside the official forums. It is difficult to assess the accusations or verify their truthfulness. Therefore, no one should grab torches and pitchforks just yet.
Trion Worlds says: Problems are under control
Officially, there is now at least one hint that there might be something to the issue. In the ArcheAge forum, someone asked over Christmas: Is it safe to buy APEX in the AH?
The community manager Celestrata stated: Yes, it is safe. The exploit that allowed players to generate a lot of Credits has been fixed. Players who used it have been banned. And the items purchased with the Credits have been taken from them.
At least this detail aligns with the accusations of players circulating in the forums.
My-MMO had the opportunity to talk with Producer Hyun Joo Kim about the MMORPG Maple Story, which has been popular worldwide for over 13 years.
My-MMO: Maple Story is unique due to its 2D side-scrolling perspective. It is also one of the most successful games in the western market. How important is this western market for you?
Hyun Joo Kim: In one word: very. The game was a success in Asia, but the western market was just a big question mark for us when we launched the international service in 2005.
In the 11 years since then, many games have come and gone, but Maple Story stands strong and is still very popular. The majority of our players come from the USA and also from Europe, as we merged both services this year. We made this decision to provide new content faster for all western players simultaneously. We want to continuously improve the Maple Story experience for western players.
Maple Story. Many adjustments needed for western market
My-MMO: Was there anything that you had to adjust in the game to ensure success in the western market?
Hyun Joo Kim: Many things had to be adjusted, and we still make adjustments with each patch. This includes, for example, the drop rates of items to balance the item shop. We have invested a lot of time studying player behavior. Their wishes do not exactly match those of Asian players.
Therefore, the updates that we implement in western countries also cater to the needs of the players there. Additionally, we place a high value on good localization of texts. We do not simply translate the original texts; we localize them to ensure they fit into western culture.
This is not always easy, as some texts contain Korean jokes that do not translate well. But this is exactly where our localization team excels, ensuring that all our texts make sense and carry the necessary humor.
My-MMO: Tell us a bit about the history of the game. When and where was the design developed, and how has it changed over the years?
Hyun Joo Kim: The game started in 2003, first in Korea. We didn’t expect the success at all, but it led to the international service. The service in Korea still determines the main content and design of Maple Story, but each region has its own service that ensures the game is special and unique for the respective players.
Maple Story receives an update almost every month, and you can imagine how big the game has become over the years. It will be hard to have nothing to do in the game.
Why are there not more games like Maple Story?
My-MMO: How do fans react to changes in the game? Is it difficult to satisfy everyone?
Hyun Joo Kim: It is impossible to satisfy everyone. Everyone simply has a different opinion. Therefore, we want to deliver what the masses want, as long as it doesn’t harm game balance, economy, and longevity. Our biggest updates, like V or Big Bang from 2010, included changes that players wanted.
My-MMO: Although Maple Story is very successful, there are hardly any games that offer this gameplay. Why is that?
Hyun Joo Kim: There is only one Maple Story. No copy is as good as the original.
2017 will see one of the hardest bosses in Maple Story’s history
My-MMO: What can you tell us about the future of Maple Story? Are there any plans you can share with our readers?
Hyun Joo Kim: As part of the big V update, we will introduce the long-awaited boss enemy Lucid – Master of Nightmares in January, which will be one of the hardest bosses in Maple Story’s history. In addition, we have much more to announce for 2017!
My-MMO: Thank you very much for the interview!
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The Free Games for PS4 – PlayStation Plus in January
First up is Day of the Tentacle Remastered for PS4. In this adventure game, you must prevent a mutated “Monster Tentacle” from taking over the world. A somewhat “crazy” game in comic style.
This War of Mine: The Little Ones is darker, however. Your task is to keep a group of civilian survivors alive amidst a devastating war.
PS4 players will receive more games thanks to several Cross-Buy titles.
Here is the complete game lineup:
Day of the Tentacle Remastered (PS4, PS Vita)
This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)
Blazerush (PS3)
The Swindle (PS3, PS4, PS Vita)
Azkend 2
Titan Souls (PS Vita, PS4)
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These games can be downloaded and installed starting January 3rd. Until then, the “PS Plus” games from December are available.
What are the free games for PlayStation Plus?
Once a month, “PS Plus” members receive a delivery of free games that they can add to their library. This game lineup is included in the subscription of the online service. PlayStation Plus costs around 50 euros a year.
Every month, online gamers on PS4, PS3, and PS Vita eagerly await which games they will receive from Sony this time. The games are often highly controversial within the community as they can never meet the tastes of all players.
Are you satisfied with the “PS Plus” games for January 2017?
Trading in Pokémon GO. Could trading through public transport systems work?
Through a patent by Niantic, there might be a trading feature in Pokémon GO using public transport systems.
Players have been wishing for a trading feature in Pokémon GO since its release in July. This would allow them to trade Pokémon with friends or other trainers to complete their collection.
Some Pokémon are region-dependent and cannot be caught in certain countries. A player even planned a world trip to complete their Pokédex. A current rumor shows how the trading feature could work with the local transport system. Instead of going on a world trip, you might just need to go to the nearest bus stop.
Pokémon Go: Trading … and Mewtwo steps out of the airplane
The rumor refers to a patent that Niantic filed back in 2012. It concerns the transport of virtual objects in a virtual world that is linked to a game. Niantic may have registered this patent for the game “Ingress”, but has not used it to this day.
The YouTube channel PatentYogi has taken a closer look at this patent and shows how the trading feature could work with public transport. It utilizes schedules and routes of buses, trains, or airplanes to send Pokémon on a trading journey.
You could bring your Pikachu that you want to trade to the bus station and wait for a later bus to receive your new Mewtwo. PatentYogi explained the potential feature in an entertaining video.
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The idea, therefore, is to use bus stops, train stations, or airports to connect these with the trading feature. However, these plans would not be easy to implement. All schedules and routes would need to be integrated into the Pokémon GO system. That there will be a trading feature in Pokémon GO was confirmed by Niantic’s CEO John Hanke already half a year ago.
How would you feel about such trading in Pokémon Go?
In FIFA 17, TDW 15 is known. Which players can be drawn in packs with IF cards at the turn of the year?
This Team of the Week has three players with an overall rating above 90! Thiago Silva and Pogba each have 90, while Hazard stands out with 91. Thiago with 86 is also strong. Lacazette even performed the Dab on his card (86).
The ratings and player stats of the “Team of the Week” players – Week 15
Starting XI:
GK: Nahuel Guzman – Tigres U.A.N.L. (Mexico) – Argentina
CB: Thiago Silva – Paris Saint-Germain (France) – Brazil
CB: Winston Reid – West Ham United (England) – New Zealand
CB: André Pinto – Braga (Portugal) – Portugal
CM: Paul Pogba – Manchester United (England) – France
CAM: Thiago – Bayern München (Germany) – Spain
CAM: Wesley Sneider – Galatasaray (Turkey) – Holland
These players are available in the sets from Wednesday at 7 PM until the following Wednesday, January 4th, at 7 PM. After that, you can only acquire these special cards on the transfer market.
What is TOTW anyway?
Every Wednesday, EA Sports reveals the Team of the Week in the “Ultimate Team” mode of their annual soccer simulation. This is also the case in FIFA 17. Players who have shown outstanding performances in real football over the past week are rewarded with special cards that have improved attributes.
You can draw TOTW cards within a week from those sets that may contain Rare (Gold) players. However, the chance is considered low. Additionally, you can buy them on the transfer market if they are offered by other players. However, the prices are usually extremely high.
After the death of Carrie Fisher, players in SWTOR pay tribute to the actress in their own unique way.
The year 2016 just won’t stop bringing bad news. Yesterday, the news came that Carrie Fisher, the actress of Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars films, had passed away after a heart attack.
For many fans, this is a huge shock, as she was a standout feature of the Star Wars saga. To honor Carrie Fisher, players held memorial events in a virtual manner. In Star Wars: The Old Republic, numerous players gathered on the planet Alderaan and sought out the Organa Palace – although Leia would not be home there for many centuries, it seemed the perfect place for a memorial given its status as the Organa family seat.
On imgur, the user Bericurra has posted numerous screenshots from the event.
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Overwatch made big headlines in 2016, but what were they again? Check out a little recap here.
Let’s turn back time a bit and remember what happened in Overwatch in 2016. Overwatch took the market by storm and sold over 20 million copies in the first 5 months after its release. Already in the beta, Overwatch had over 8 million active players who were very excited about Blizzard’s new action shooter.
But let’s start with this news overview of 2016 from the beginning.
A new Blizzard title is here: Overwatch was released in 2016
On May 24, 2016, Overwatch was released at 1:00 AM. That’s right, for just half a year, Overwatch has been shaking things up and has generated quite a few headlines since then. Blizzard started releasing animated shorts even before Overwatch was on the market and generated a lot of hype with them.
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Cortyn was live for you to report on the Overwatch release. At the start, there were a few minor server issues that Blizzard quickly handled. Overall, the release went smoothly, and the servers held up well against the influx of players.
Tracer’s Butt: What was that again about the sexy victory pose?
Overwatch had already caused a lot of excitement on the internet before its release, and the culprit was Tracer’s butt! Well, it was more about a victory pose that overly emphasized her butt for some fans.
In the official Overwatch forum, fans complained in March 2016 that this pose was too sexual. Tracer’s butt was too prominently featured, making her a sex object. The result:Blizzard removed the sexy butt pose from the game.
This pose caused a lot of excitement before Overwatch was on the market.
After that, the discussion continued about whether Blizzard should listen to a few angry fans and adjust their game according to their wishes. You just can’t please everyone.
World Cup 2016: Overwatch had its first eSports event
At BlizzCon in November 2016, Overwatch held its first eSports World Championships. I followed the qualifying matches with great excitement, in which Germany performed very well, by the way. The finale between South Korea and Russia was rather boring, and South Korea won the World Cup 2016 with ease.
South Korea won the Overwatch World Cup 2016.
At BlizzCon, the Overwatch League was announced: an eSports system that aims to offer players fixed contracts with a salary and more benefits.
The Hunt for Sombra: When will she finally come to the game?
At BlizzCon, not only did Overwatch’s first World Championship take place, but Sombra finally made it into the game. Blizzard held a huge scavenger hunt around the hacker and fed fans with bits of new information about Sombra here and there.
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On December 2, the Game Awards 2016 took place, and Overwatch won the “Game of the Year 2016” award. In addition to this honor, Overwatch also received awards for Best Multiplayer and eSports Game and Best Game Direction.
Jeff Kaplan accepts the “Game of the Year” award.
Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan emphasized during his acceptance speech that Overwatch aims to convey a message about diversity and a bright, positive future.
Diverse Characters: Everyone should find themselves in Overwatch
At BlizzCon 2016, Blizzard announced during an open Q&A session that there is also a gay hero in Overwatch. This led to a lot of speculation among fans for weeks.
There was wild speculation online about who it could be. With this, Blizzard is further pursuing its goal of creating a diverse universe in which everyone can find themselves. On December 20, 2016, it was revealed through a Christmas comic that the first gay heroine is Tracer.
Tracer and Emily cosplays didn’t take long to appear. Source: Kotaku; Cosplayers: Fenix Fatalist and Lei Radnar
In the comic, many Overwatch heroes were shown celebrating Christmas and Tracer’s girlfriend Emily was introduced. Through comics and movies, the backstories and personalities of the heroes should be further highlighted.
In a short time, Overwatch has managed to become one of the most popular games in 2016 and sparked many discussions. I am already excited to see what 2017 will bring and whether Blizzard can maintain the high standards. I particularly look forward to more background stories of the heroes and the Overwatch League.
We will show you more interesting news from 2016 here:
The Elder Scrolls Online has been revamped with the latest update One Tamriel and now includes more of Skyrim than ever before. Is that enough to keep ZeniMax’s Elder Scrolls MMO attractive in 2017?
Until the release of One Tamriel, ESO was more of a “Star Wars: The Old Republic in Tamriel” rather than a “Skyrim Online”.
The game had the typical Elder Scrolls interface and the regions and races familiar from Skyrim, Morrowind, and Oblivion. However, the gameplay never felt like a “real Elder Scrolls game”. This was due to strict level limits and the distribution of races across three factions.
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With One Tamriel, these criticisms have been radically abolished. Everyone can now do everything. Nothing and no one prevents a Khajiit from the Aldmeri Dominion from exploring the vastness of Black Marsh. Previously, this was only possible in the endgame, but now you are allowed to travel anywhere immediately.
Okay, that theoretically was also possible back then (within your alliance), but you would quickly be gobbled up by the first beast in the new area if you didn’t have the right level.
The Elder Scrolls Online 2017 Review: How well does One Tamriel work as a group?
With One Tamriel, the game automatically scales your heroes and gear to the maximum level. As a result, all creatures in The Elder Scrolls Online are a suitable challenge for every hero.
No matter whether we stumble in as a level 4 newbie fresh from the tutorial or are already level 50 with lots of Champion levels under our belt: There is always something to do.
Even with One Tamriel, you shouldn’t venture everywhere alone.
To try this out for myself, I took a level 19 Khajiit Nightblade with me. And not just anywhere, but to the then endgame region Kargstein. Previously, raid groups were appropriately challenged here, but today I can also go in alone. However, my excursion was only partially successful. While I could slay individual enemies and small groups, the many group quests were too tough.
Time for another question: How does One Tamriel work as a group with newbies and veterans? Can I team up with friends who have never played ESO?
So, I called for reinforcements, consisting of two high-level players and MyMMO colleague Leya, who had never been in ESO before. Leya created an Argonian healer – basically just hatched from the egg.
As soon as Leya was out of the Coldharbour tutorial, she teleported to our group in Kargstein and we set out to explore the group instances.
One Tamriel as a group: Beginner-friendly and still challenging
We had already seen that One Tamriel at least works in principle, but we didn’t think that Leya with her poorly equipped lizard would succeed in the dark depths of Kargstein.
Since Leya was our healer, we expected serious wipes, failures, and frustration. But none of that happened. We had surprisingly much success and even though we occasionally got wrecked, our wildly mixed group ultimately succeeded.
Our diverse hero group.
After defeating a disgusting tentacle beast in Kargstein, everyone received their own loot tailored to the level of the respective hero. So for me level 19, for Leya level 4, and for the big guys thick endgame gear.
It is still worth having as high a level as possible and, starting from level 50, as many Champion points as possible. This allows you to gain additional points and attributes and optimally develop your hero. Because even if a small lizard at level 4 is scaled up to the values of a level 50 dinosaur, it still only has the skill and attribute selection of a level 4 little buddy.
With a bit of skill, we managed to take down this creepy creature as well.
Therefore, one should not throw themselves into the toughest regions as a newbie despite One Tamriel. “Trials” (raids) and veteran dungeons are still reserved for the big guys and girls.
More MMO than ever!
With One Tamriel, The Elder Scrolls Online gets a hefty dose of Skyrim, but the immense freedom makes all areas of the game livelier. You always receive loot suitable for your level, and the craftable resources found are also adjusted to your crafting level.
There is now no reason to farm only the endgame areas. If you like the magnificent Elven Island Auridon – formerly the starting area of the Dominion – with its cherry trees, just go there and experience your adventures. The loot is just as rich as in Kargstein!
The same goes for dungeons. You can freely complete these at your discretion and no longer just farm those that had the highest level back then. The sets of the respective instances remain the same, of course. So if someone wants the set from the Crypt of Hearts, they won’t find it in the Mushroom Cave. But if you just want cool stuff, you can basically do any dungeon; something useful can always be found.
As a result, all players move around more freely and unconstrained. This distributes the player base across the entire game area. Since One Tamriel, you encounter more players in all areas and can thus enjoy Tamriel as an MMO despite the Skyrim solo focus. A win-win situation for both camps!
A feast for role-players
With the many players now constantly roaming the regions of Tamriel, the game world feels even more alive. After all, players are not that easy to distinguish from NPCs, and all your hero’s actions, from reading log logs to rummaging through your inventory, are represented by entertaining animations. Added to this are atmospheric emotes and the new personalities. This refers to completely new animation sets that you can unlock or buy in the cash shop.
The new emotes and personalities are especially interesting for role-players.
If you choose “Assassin” as your personality, your hero stands ominously and eats an apple in such a threatening manner that it makes one anxious. Gags, on the other hand, wear the personality “Cheerful” and bounce through Tamriel as a permanently grinning joker. Especially cool: With the personality “Drunk”, your hero is constantly intoxicated, slurs, and spills beer from their mug while staggering around.
So, does One Tamriel make ESO perfect? Not necessarily, as the scaling heroes and rewards are certainly not to everyone’s taste. Especially advocates of classic MMO virtues may be troubled by the high accessibility of One Tamriel, where even completely new characters can immediately mingle everywhere in the world.
Anyone who believes that progress in the game must be hard-won and that not everything should be “handed out” may turn away from the new Tamriel in horror. The Elder Scrolls Online is therefore definitely a different kind of MMO than, for example, classics like Everquest or the original World of Warcraft.
Soon there will also be houses for my little cat!
But The Elder Scrolls Online does not want and should not be that. Rather than a new WoW classic, it is a typical Elder Scrolls game that you play online with other series fans. With the One Tamriel update, this concept has been consistently implemented, creating a niche for ESO where it should thrive well even in 2017. Especially with the upcoming updates that according to lead developer Matt Firor should make The Elder Scrolls Online even better in 2017.
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In Destiny fate cards cause speculation. Could messages hint at Destiny 2?
Yesterday, players in Destiny received a “fate card” in the “Box of Fortune” in the Tower. While most contained rather trivialities, usually vague future predictions, others interpret significantly more into their cards. Some even see what was on their card as secret hints from Bungie. Hints about what might await them in Destiny 2.
After all, among the more than 50 sayings, there are also sentences that suggest something like that. Sentences like:
The speaker will dream of beautiful and terrible things.
Great changes await you on the horizon.
Nothing sleeps forever, not even the Traveler.
You will hear old history and learn secrets.
You will travel to new places and make new friends.
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Especially the part about the awakening of the Traveler and the “new places” makes some hopeful: These could be predictions for Destiny 2. Currently, the only thing known about the sequel to Destiny is that it is supposed to be released in 2017. Maybe the awakening of the Traveler could finally become a topic. Until now, it has only been motionless above the Last City.
That players will explore “new places” and changes await on the horizon, however, is vague. Those are quite obvious and uninformative predictions. Hopefully, there will be some new places or changes in Destiny 2.
Hopefully not every prophecy in Destiny comes true
Other Guardians take their fate cards less seriously. One Guardian claims to have found this message on his fate card:
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In the (clear montage), the message awaits: You will never find the Icebreaker in Year 3! Well, hopefully that won’t happen for you. And you have better luck, no matter what is on this card.
With “The Far Edge of Fate”, Part 1, Square Enix aims to usher in the MMORPG year 2017. The first part of the patch will be released on January 17. The second part is scheduled for March and will set the stage for “Stormblood”, the new expansion, which will be released on June 20.
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There is also the “normal content” that comes with every patch: Dungeons and Quests.
By the way, on December 31 at 4 PM our time, “Heavensward”, the New Year’s event, starts. It will run until January 16 at 3:59 PM, just before Patch 3.5 kicks off.
In The Division there is no Christmas event – although the entire game world is decorated for Christmas.
Snow, Christmas trees, fairy lights, and a cheerful standing Santa Claus waving at you every few meters – that’s how one can imagine New York during the Advent season. And this is also how one can envision the setting of The Division, which is set shortly after Black Friday (that is, in the pre-Christmas period) in New York.
However, there is an annoying circumstance in The Division that dampens the Christmas spirit: The apocalypse has broken out. In this lovingly decorated Christmas setting, a picture of death, destruction, and chaos is drawn – a stark contrast to the festival of love. A contrast that can be seen at every corner in Ubisoft’s MMO shooter.
The live-action trailer for The Division also picks up the Christmas theme, with its own version of “Silent Night, Holy Night”:
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It may surprise some: Now that we have this Christmas season in which The Division takes place, nothing is happening at all. Numerous online games take this holiday as an opportunity to deliver new content, introduce new cosmetic items, and celebrate an extensive “Christmas event”.
Even games like FIFA 17, which at first glance appear to have nothing to do with Christmas, hold in-game events. Why are Massive and Ubisoft skipping this?
Full focus on title updates
Even during Halloween (which is also celebrated in numerous online games), Massive was asked if something was planned for The Division. At that time, the community developer Hamish Bode replied: No, there was no time for a Halloween event. The team had focused on update 1.4.
He also assumed that the community would understand: Better to focus on enhancing the player experience than to hold a short-term event.
The developers likely treated Christmas in a similar manner: Update 1.5 had a higher priority, and afterward, the eyes were directly on update 1.6. It has been known for just a few weeks that this will bring changes and new features for PvP.
But what do you think? Are you disappointed that The Division is skipping a Christmas event – even though the setting is already in place? Or are you glad that Massive is focusing on the “important” things and leaving short-term events behind?
One last time complaining in 2016. One should look back at the year and criticize comprehensively.
The year 2016 is approaching its end, and thus the complaining for a year is done. What could be more fitting than a look back at the year and the biggest annoyances I have experienced?
Parting with my favorite Evolve was particularly difficult for me. To me, it was one of the “big ones” in recent years with a fresh, exciting gameplay concept, which ultimately bled out due to poor marketing and a trivialization of mechanics with the switch to Free2Play. Rest in peace, Evolve. I also didn’t like the news about WildStar – that Dominion and Exiles are now going into dungeons together is, for me as a lore fan, absolute poison – but well, the game is hardly ever unpacked anyway.
But also beyond games, there are things that bother me. The tone on the internet is becoming increasingly unpleasant, and interesting discussions are often quashed in their infancy. If you like a game, you’re automatically a fanboy. If you criticize things, you are fundamentally a hater. There are no shades of gray anymore. I could expand further on this topic, but since I’m a bit lazy right now and the GameStar has already made a very nice video about it, I will simply hand over the floor:
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Lastly, I must also simply state (even if a certain editor is now shouting “This doesn’t fit on our site!”), that 2016 was also simply a terrible year socially. Hate, prejudices, and the wonderfully descriptive term “post-factual.” But once again, I will pass the word to someone who can deliver speeches much better than I can. Oliver Kalkofe wrote a wonderful speech for Christmas, the content of which I generally agree with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL0WwhVxJXw
What really annoyed you in 2016? What bothered you about the past year and should not continue into 2017? Let us know in the comments!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is set to release in Fall 2017. DICE will also look at what worked well in Battlefield.
The desire of the fans is clear. They would prefer if Battlefront 2 offered the “Conquest Mode” from Battlefield 1. This was revealed in a small, improvised fan poll on Twitter.
However, that will not happen, as Associate Director Dennis Brännvall stated on Twitter: They do not want to reach that far into the “other franchise”. But they will learn from other things.
@nbyrne00 I don’t think we’ll go that far into our other franchise but there’s certainly things to learn from both
The Conquest Mode in Battlefield is a kind of “XXL” mode where 32 players face off against another 32 players in a large battlefield for supremacy on the map.
The response on Twitter implies that DICE wants to differentiate its two major shooter franchises. While Star Wars Battlefront is soon moving into the next round, Battlefield will take a break for a while. Star Wars Battlefront 2 will likely have a campaign – something fans sorely missed in the first part.
In Destiny, the weapon day is celebrated today, December 28th. Banshee-44 has your orders from last week.
Since the “The Dawning” event, the Gunsmith has experienced an update: If you have dismantled the weapons obtained through the “Rank 2” quests from him, you can now reclaim them for 125 Legendary Shards. These weapons are Stillpiercer, Immobius, and Susanoo. They come at Light Level 350. At certain reputation ranks, you can also receive exotic quests from the Gunsmith.
Moreover, the Gunsmith is a good source to replenish your supply of Synths, Telemetries, Weapon Parts, and Armor Materials. Upon rank advancement, you will receive a reward package.
The field test weapons this week
To increase your reputation, you need to use the test weapons in practice. This week, these are:
Take an auto rifle from Suros into the Crucible.
A hand cannon from Häkke also wants to be taken into the Crucible by you.
Get double kills with another Häkke hand cannon.
You should land precision shots with an Omolon hand cannon.
A sniper rifle from Häkke craves for double kills.
These 5 weapons can be ordered
For 2500 Glimmer, these forge orders are available:
Starting with the scout rifle SUROS DIS-43. Impact 48.
Next is the Omolon scout rifle Cocytus SR4. Impact 61.
The hand cannon Kumakatok HC4 is delivered by Omolon. Impact 68.
From Häkke comes the shotgun Strongbow-D. Impact 52.
From Häkke comes the sniper rifle Aoife Rua-D. Impact 22.
These weapons have these rolls this week
The sniper rifle Eirene RR4 comes with Fireball and Mulligan.
The scout rifle Suros DIS-43 has Perfect Balance and Tracker.
The rocket launcher SUROS JLB-47 provides you with Tracking and Spear.
The sniper rifle Aoife Rua-D has Spray and Play.
The scout rifle Tuonela SR4 comes with Triple and Extended Mag.
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