In Oblivion Remastered, there is an Easter egg that existed in the original 19 years ago. You can find a room with an NPC whose voice may sound familiar to Bethesda fans.
Which NPC is it? Whether in the original Oblivion or in the recently released Remastered version, there are quite a few quirky NPCs in the game. Just think of the Adoring Fan, who is also in Starfield. Less known is a man named Alban Corinis.
You will find him in a secret room in the game and can interact with him. You will witness different emotions of the NPC. The special thing: The character is voiced in the English version by none other than Todd Howard, head of Bethesda and lead developer of Oblivion.
If you select the right options in his dialogue, you will hear some funny lines and may even get insulted. However, you must first find the secret room.
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The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered – Official Trailer for the Role-Playing Game
How to find the Easter egg and annoy the NPC
Where is the room located? The room with the NPC is secret mainly because it cannot be found in the actual game. Instead, you have to open the console on the PC by pressing ~. Here, you can enter one of the many cheats from Oblivion or activate the room in question.
Enter the following command: coc toddtest
Even the command gives a hint that you are about to deal with Todd Howard. After confirming it with Enter, you will land in a small house where you will find the NPC Alban Corinis.
Talk to him and select one of several emotions from the menu, such as Neutral, Happy, Sad, or Angry. You will then hear Todd Howard’s voice say one or more sentences in the respective emotion.
In the following video by the YouTuber KnightRaven, you will get a sense of Todd Howard’s talents as a voice actor:
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If you repeat an emotion, the NPC’s attitude towards you changes. If you select the Angry option, he initially says: “What? That really annoys me!”
If you repeat this often, your popularity will decrease. Then, if you switch to the Neutral option, the NPC insults you with “You’re really a bastard.” It seems that Alban Corinis does not like it when you play carelessly with his emotions.
The tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump are causing huge waves. It has now come to light that Amazon wanted to clearly display the impact of the tariffs on consumer prices at Amazon Haul. The US government referred to this as a hostile act. Donald Trump intervened personally and called Jeff Bezos, as recent reports show.
This was the situation: As reported by the BBC, Amazon considered specifically showing how US tariffs affect product prices on a page with affordable products, Amazon Haul. This was revealed on Tuesday through a report by Punchbowl News.
However, Amazon has since reversed its position and stated that it had halted these plans and never intended to display the impact of the tariffs on prices on Amazon’s main page.
The White House publicly reprimanded Amazon for such plans, labeling it a hostile act.
Start video
Why do tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg keep wearing the same clothes?
Government calls Amazon’s plan political and hostile
This was the action from the White House: When discussing the first 100 days of the Trump presidency, the press secretary said she discussed the reports about Amazon’s plan to show the impact of tariffs on prices with Donald Trump.
It was a “hostile and political action by Amazon”.
The press secretary asked why Amazon hadn’t done this when inflation hit its highest level in 40 years under President Biden.
The US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, condemned Amazon’s plan and said it was nonsense. A 10% tariff would have virtually no impact on prices. Amazon wanted to make it seem as if tariffs were responsible for price changes.
Amazon claims that the decision not to portray the impact of tariffs on prices had nothing to do with the comments from the White House.
An angry Trump reportedly resolved the issue with Bezos personally
What reportedly happened next? According to a report from CNN, Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos directly to complain that Amazon intended to display the impact of US tariffs on some prices. This was confirmed to CNN by two senior officials.
This call “resolved the issues.”
Trump is quoted as saying:
Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was great. He resolved the issue very quickly. He did the right thing. He is a good man.
According to anonymous reports, Trump was “pissed off” when he was informed about Amazon’s plan.
The new shooter Borderlands 4 (PC; PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch) showed 20 minutes of new gameplay yesterday, on April 30th, in a deep dive for the PS5, making an important promise. Gearbox has taken the feedback on Borderlands 3 to heart and has revised the loot. A release of the loot shooter is planned for September 12, 2025.
This is what Gearbox says: The presentation in the deep dive lasted more than 20 minutes. The crucial scene came about a quarter of an hour in (via YouTube):
We have taken your feedback to heart and revised the drop rates and loot throughout the game. We have worked hard to ensure that the equipment feels better than ever. At the same time, rarity plays a larger role again. This will provide the most satisfying loot hunting experience of all time.
Apparently, Gearbox has learned from the problems of the third installment.
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In Borderlands 4 könnt ihr überall hinreisen, was ihr im Spiel sehen könnt – sogar zum Mond?
Borderlands 4 aims to offer the best loot hunting experience of all time
Why is this so important? Gameplay is essential in loot shooters. It must be fun to move and shoot, but the main motivation comes from the “loot” that equips and improves your character.
This fantasy of power, of finding better and better items that change gameplay and feel powerful, is the central drive of loot games. This is how players can shape and customize their character.
In Borderlands 3, Gearbox overdid the loot and distributed even high-quality gear so generously that the loot no longer felt fulfilling and rewarding.
Now Gearbox clearly signals: We have understood your criticism. We know exactly what you want, and we will deliver it to you.
Gearbox wants to make legendary items rarer again and bring back the magic
How do they plan to achieve this? Gearbox states: The legendary items, which have abilities that lie outside the normal rules, are central. However, in Borderlands 3 there were too many of them. This devalued all items.
Path of Exile 2 has faced many problems since the release of version 0.2.0 and has received a lot of negative criticism. Builds have been nerfed, and the loot drops have been terrible. The latter should now be fixed with version 0.2.0g.
What is the problem with the loot drops? They are bad, so bad that fans have to farm for hours to get trading currencies. This frustrates the community and causes fans to prefer switching to competitors like Last Epoch – at least there, there is a commendable crafting system, and the invested time is rewarded with better loot.
Path of Exile 2 presents gameplay trailer with the new Hunter class
More loot and everywhere!
What will change? Before the release of the patch notes, especially the wasps from the new league mechanics and bosses from the campaign were supposed to drop more loot. Fans expressed their concerns, as this would not address the underlying problem with loot in the endgame. Now, on May 1, the patch notes tell a different story. You can expect the following changes:
Normal items should no longer drop from unique bosses (except occasionally at the beginning of the campaign).
The chance to obtain rare gold drops has been reduced. This is intended to increase the drop rate of rare items such as equipment and currencies.
Gold, magical and upgrade materials, flasks, talismans, and runes have a reduced drop chance.
These three changes should ensure that you have a 20-30% increased chance to obtain rare currencies (Exalt, Alch, Regal, etc.).
Rare items from tier 2 now have a 4 times increased drop chance. Items from tiers 3 – 5 have a 30% increased drop rate.
Magical items from tier 2 have a 5 times increased drop chance.
Except for some bosses at the beginning of act 1, all unique bosses should drop at least one rare item.
Rare monsters affected by the wasps always drop a rare item.
Chests should now finally drop at least one magical or rare item depending on their rarity.
More about the patch notes for patch 0.2.0g can be found on the official page of pathofexile.com.
Anyone who believes that the studios of Valve, the company behind Steam, are strictly secret is mistaken. Just a while ago, you could easily book a tour there – as long as you knew where to ask.
Were visits to Valve possible? It may sound unrealistic, but yes: there was a way to visit the studios of Valve. You didn’t have to be a developer or a celebrity; it was enough to show interest and write a simple email.
This way, over the years, many fans were able to get a glimpse behind the scenes. Unfortunately, that came to an end some time ago. COVID-19 was to blame.
Valve was also responsible for the zombie classic Left 4 Dead 2 – here you can see the trailer:
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The official trailer for Left 4 Dead 2 by Valve
Visiting a legendary studio
How did one gain access to Valve? It was an open secret that you simply had to send an email to [email protected] expressing your interest in a visit.
In this way, some fans were able to enter the studio and look around. One user, MasterOfThePoems, provides a report on Imgur. He not only shares his impressions but also posts photos with the community.
The photos show the hallways of the studio, as well as cabinets full of weapon replicas and a turret. However, it was forbidden to take pictures of computer screens.
Is that still possible? Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has no longer been possible to visit the studio. At the beginning of the pandemic, the reasons were clear: they wanted to protect employees from a COVID infection.
Now that the pandemic has come to an end, many are wondering whether visits will resume. In response to a user’s inquiry on Reddit, the company replied that they have not yet started allowing visits again.
A guest at Valve today is a true celebrity in gaming: Geoff Keighley, known as the organizer of gaming events like the Game Awards, visited Valve as a fan when he was still a student. This was at a time when Half-Life 1 was just being completed. In a video on YouTube, he raves about his impressions.
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He was able to spend a lot of time with Gabe Newell and was even invited by the Valve boss to dinner. They had sushi, which posed challenges for Geoff Keighley because he was not good at eating with chopsticks.
Whether Valve will allow studio visits again in the near future is unknown. However, it is said on Reddit that you can still try to send an email. Maybe someone will get lucky after all. Fans of Valve and Steam may have already wondered about Gabe Newell’s gaming preferences: What does the most important man at Steam play?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Season 8, new uniques will be introduced for the six classes in Diablo 4. You can find out what they are and what the unique items can do here on MeinMMO.
Three more bosses are coming into play: Belial, Urivar, and the Herald of Hatred. Belial is the new “Pinnacle Boss” and thus one of the toughest opponents in the game alongside Lilith.
Additionally, the system for summoning bosses has been revised. You no longer need mats for this – but you can use them to open chests to collect more loot after the boss fight.
Moreover, new uniques are being added to the game. The items mentioned in the patch notes for Season 8 are listed below along with their effects. There are 6 new uniques mentioned – one for each class. Apparently, new mythics are not being added.
Update, May 1, 2025: We have updated and adjusted the article.
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Diablo 4: Der Gameplay-Trailer zu Season 8 mit Belial
All Uniques from Season 8 at a glance
What new uniques are being added? Below you will find the new uniques that are being introduced for the individual classes in Season 8. Additionally, we will discuss their affixes and aspects. As soon as their exact locations are known, you will find them in the list of all bosses and their drops in Diablo 4.
Barbarian: Curse of Ahjad-Den (Gloves)
+4-6 ranks for Mighty Throw
+114-150 % critical strike damage
+7-10 rage per second
+8-12.5 % cooldown reduction
Aspect: Every 12 seconds, the pulses of your next Mighty Throw explode instantly as fire damage, dealing 400-600 % increased damage.
Druid: Gathlen’s Birthright (Helm)
Standard: Forest’s Anima grants 15 % attack speed
+10.5-15 % willpower
+224-296 armor
+2-3 ranks for Humanity
+17.5-23 % movement speed in human form
Aspect: If you critically hit 400-200 opponents with nature magic in human form, you will receive Forest’s Anima for 10 seconds. As long as you are filled with Forest’s Anima, you will gain the central passive skills Perfect Storm and Earthly Power.
Necromancer: Sanguivor, Zirs Blade (2H Sword)
Standard: +60 % damage from skeletal mages and golems
+32-50 % chance for Army of the Dead to deal double damage
+160-188 intelligence
+1,060-1,142 maximum life
+ 2 ranks for Skeleton Warrior Mastery, Skeletal Mage Mastery, and Golem Mastery
Aspect: The damage dealt by your summons curses opponents with Vampiric Curse. Consuming a corpse also grants a soul for Vampiric Curse, which can now stack up to 20 souls. Army of the Dead can now unleash the souls of Vampiric Curse, causing both Army of the Dead and the souls to deal 5-10 % increased damage for each unleashed soul.
Rogue: Band of the Ichorous Rose (Gloves)
Standard: +4 maximum poison traps
+10.5-15 % attack speed
+3-5 % maximum poison resistance
+41.5-55 % poison resistance
18.5-27.5 % chance for poison trap to trigger twice
Aspect: Poison trap always deals full damage over 3 seconds and benefits from all upgrades, which are increased by 50-100 % [x]. Also applies to poison trap:
Benefits from combo points
Has no cooldown during Inner Eye
Cooldown is reduced by Preparation
Sorceress: Greet of Verglas (Helm)
Standard 1: 7.5 % maximum cold resistance
Standard 2: 50 % cold resistance
+10.5-15 % intelligence
+13-17.5 % maximum life
+10.5-15 % attack speed
+4-6 ranks for Ice Shards
Aspect: Ice Shards now spread with 2 additional shards. You deal increased damage of 1-1.5 % [x] every time Ice Shards deal damage to an enemy for 5 seconds, up to 50-75 % [x].
Spiritborn: Gorget of the Sunbird (Amulet)
Standard: +30 % resistance to all elements
+16-25 % movement speed
+2-3 ranks for Mighty
+2-3 ranks for Forge
+2-3 ranks for Acceleration
Aspect: Picking up a Storm Feather creates a firestorm around you for 8 seconds, dealing 150-300 % fire damage every 0.5 seconds. Every 5th additional Storm Feather you pick up strengthens the firestorm and increases its damage by 100 % [x], but the duration is not renewed. The firestorm is treated as an Eagle, Jaguar, and Storm Feather skill.
These were all the unique items that will be added in Season 8 for the six classes. Uniques can have a huge impact on builds and change the way you play. Which classes and which strong builds will be at the top in the new season will be revealed in the coming weeks. You can find the currently strongest builds here: Diablo 4 Season 8 Tier List: The best builds in the endgame
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the highest-rated games of all time. However, for some, the excitement takes on strange forms.
Which character is it about? The sword fighter Maelle is one of the characters in the current role-playing hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Scrolling through social media, one finds numerous fan arts or cosplays of her and other characters – but this sometimes takes on strange forms.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – JRPG with French Flair has Release Date
“Stay normal. Don’t be creepy.”
What is the problem? Maelle is only 16 years old in the game, making her significantly younger than the other expedition members. But only players who have checked the official website or done the math know this.
Although Maelle’s age is directly mentioned in the game, some users seem to have missed that. Elsewhere, a character remarks that the young woman has only 9 years left to live. Anyone deriving that Maelle is 24 years old because people in Clair Obscur die at 33 overlooks the fact that the number the painter paints gets lower every year.
A simple thinking error can thus lead to some players unknowingly idolizing a 16-year-old.
This takes on a particularly unpleasant connotation because Maelle is specifically used by some players to highlight the successful character design of the role-playing game and to contrast it with the supposedly unattractive characters of other current productions.
This post was seen by more than 3.5 million people on X
A post on X, in which Maelle is compared to Kay Vass, the protagonist from Star Wars Outlaws, was viewed by more than 3.5 million people and hotly debated. Many understand the post to suggest that the smaller studio has created a more attractive heroine and thus a better game.
They mean that a comparison could simply have used one of the other – adult – female characters like Lune. The fact that a minor character was chosen is considered inappropriate.
In another post, a user writes: “Friendly reminder: Maelle is 16. Don’t come at me with the old ‘but she looks mature’ excuse […]. Stay normal. Don’t be creepy.” (via X)
Hard times have struck the gaming industry, even with hit games like Apex Legends. The author Heather Woodward worked for over a year on a new character for Apex Legends and introduced the character with enthusiasm. One day later, she was fired and received an email from Electronic Arts, which rated her as objectively funny.
What the developer says: Developer Heather Woodward worked as a writer at Respawn on Apex Legends since April 2022. On Bluesky, she says that she worked on her “baby”, the new heroine Sparrow, a prodigy, for much longer than a year.
On April 29, it finally happened. Sparrow saw the light of the world, or at least the light of the internet:
My firstborn is finally here. I worked for well over a year on this sweet ragazzо. Writing a music video-style trailer was a challenging but rewarding task, and I can hardly believe I get to see my work animated by the incredible team at Sun Creature.
The trailer was well received, getting 561,000 views and almost 17,000 likes. There was just a bit of joking in the comments that the trailer was already known due to a leak:
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Apex Legends – Trailer for the new character Sparrow
That was her first reaction: One could tell that the tension lifted off the author. She exuberantly commented on the first reactions on Bluesky with a flock of emojis, thrilled about fan art.
It was evidently a great day in Heather Woodward’s life.
Author gets fired by EA after her first baby was released
This is how she felt the next day: Just one day later, Heather Woodward realized that she was among the 300 people at Respawn who were fired by Electronic Arts after it was suddenly decided at the end of the month that the company would focus on Apex Legends and new projects would be canceled. This made several hundred employees redundant.
Woodward writes that it is quite strange that she got fired just the next day after she had showcased her heroine. But well, such things happen, and her time at Apex Legends was great.
Author receives advertisement email for her own character as she is freshly fired
This topped it all off: The whole thing had an ugly aftermath.
EA sent Heather Woodward an advertisement message: Her character, which she designed for Apex Legends, is now live in the game.
The author says: It is objectively funny to receive an email for her character on the day she got fired. And Woodward must know what she is talking about. Before her time at Apex Legends, she was a comedy writer for Netflix Is A Joke and NBC.
Rockstar has long followed a specific approach regarding the release of its games: consoles like PS5 and Xbox first. PC gamers usually go empty-handed at release and have to wait months, if not years. A former developer of the studio now thinks that could change for GTA 6.
Which developer is speaking here? This is the former developer at Rockstar North, Obbe Vermeij. He took on the role of Technical Director for GTA 3 and was mainly responsible for level design and the programming of the weather.
For the 17th anniversary of GTA 4, he gave a small retrospective of that time on X. Obbe Vermeij talked about his experiences back then during the development, made some speculations regarding GTA 6, and also explained a frustrating approach by Rockstar: the delayed release of the PC version compared to PS5 and Xbox.
However, according to the developer, this delay in release could change in the future.
Start video
Selbst die größten Publisher fürchten den Release von GTA 6: „Ein riesiger Meteor“
PC gamers are no longer a minority
What could change? The user “@hard8_times” asked Obbe Vermeij on x.com whether he knows why the PC is always the last platform when it comes to releases at Rockstar.
According to the developer, this has to do with the fact that GTA is a console game and that GTA has the most players on consoles.
However, Obbe believes that this may have changed:
“In the past, much more money went into the console versions. Now that this has changed, the PC version will hopefully be closer to release.”
When asked further if he can confirm that it has changed, Obbe says: “I think you are right. PC gaming has increased significantly, but for GTA 6, the majority of sales will probably still occur on consoles.”
It is clear that PC gaming has increased significantly in recent years, and although console platforms still have a dominant presence, PC gamers are no longer a minority that can be ignored. It remains to be seen when GTA 6 will be released, as the developers are still keeping quiet. More about GTA 6 can be found here: GTA 6 is so ambitious that Rockstar reportedly built an entire building just for the game.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Reddit is a massive internet platform where people discuss various topics. The University of Zurich has now used Reddit for a study to find out whether an AI can change people’s opinions.
What was the study about? Reddit consists of different subreddits: these are smaller groups where people meet to discuss a wide range of topics. One of these groups was r/ChangeMyView. In this subreddit, users can share their views, even if those views are controversial, to discuss with other users and possibly understand different perspectives.
According to the moderators of the subreddit and the news site NewScientist, the University of Zurich utilized this and secretly set up an online lab. The actors of the study generated over 1,700 comments using AI and spread these AI-generated comments without users’ knowledge to see how people would react. The study ran from November 2024 to March 2025.
These comments included some that impersonated rape victims or posed as trauma counselors specializing in abuse. The outcome could now be alarming, as the AIs were convincing.
Start video
In Germany, there are over 400 USB sticks protruding from walls – What is the ‘Dead Drops’ project?
AI is more convincing than humans and is not recognized as AI
What conclusion did the study reach? NewScientist reports on a preliminary version of the study’s results. It shows that the AI comments were “three to six times more convincing in changing people’s views than human users, measured by the portion of comments marked as opinion change by other users.”
Furthermore, the report states: “During our intervention, users in r/ChangeMyView never expressed concerns that the comments posted from our accounts might have been generated by an AI. This indicates the potential effectiveness of AI-driven botnets that could seamlessly integrate into online communities.”
Reddit moderators respond angrily
Were there any consequences for the study? After the study was published, the moderators of the subreddit complained to the University of Zurich. They questioned how such an experiment could be approved by the ethics committee.
The actors exploited the users’ ignorance, collected data without the consent of those involved, and tried to determine how convincing an AI could be.
This reckless behavior is sharply criticized by other universities. There were no consequences.
In response to the moderators’ inquiry (via reddit.com) that the University of Zurich does not publish the study’s results because it was conducted without the consent of the subjects, the university stated: “This project provides important insights, and the risks (e.g., trauma, etc.) are minimal. This means that suppressing publication is not proportional to the significance of the insights that the study provides.”
A new fantasy MMO on Steam lets you become gods in months-long wars. However, the path there will not always be fair, say the developers.
Which game is being talked about? It is We Will Be Gods – a free-to-play MMO from the developer Cult of the North. It mixes the base building of an RTS, the battles of a MOBA, and the resource management of a 4X game into matches that are expected to last for months.
On May 17, 2025, the developers will launch a free alpha test. Registration for this can be done on their website wewillbegods.com.
You can see a trailer for the game here:
Start video
We Will Be Gods: Gameplay trailer for the pre-alpha of the new MMO on Steam
What is the game about? We Will Be Gods throws you into the fantasy world of Hamarvast. You are a mortal champion and have set out to become a god. But before that can happen, there is a war to win.
We Will Be Gods is part of a new wave of MMOs, along with Warborne Above Ashes and Havenhold, that strike a similar chord as Foxhole. They offer:
a combination of grand strategy and real-time battles, in which each fighter is a player
large multiplayer battles with up to hundreds of players
matches that can last for weeks – if not months
We Will Be Gods does not want to be fair to you
How does the game plan to stand out? Perhaps by specifically disregarding one thing: fairness. The game, according to the developers, is explicitly not designed to be fair. But what does that mean? “[We Will Be Gods] puts something in front of you, and you work with it,” said Marcus Jacobs – one of the two studio founders alongside Adam Schaub – in a phone call with PC Gamer.
Therefore, there are no matches, no instances, no fairness. There can be 140 people on one side and 70 on the other, and that’s just how it is.
The plan is to play campaigns lasting weeks to months, in which players build 10 or more kingdoms, forge alliances, and tear down their enemies’ bases. Each kingdom is supposed to consist of up to 100 players.
A match only ends when the players of a kingdom have achieved god status. What that means – for instance, whether you start the next cycle with any bonuses – has not been clearly stated by the developers. What is certain is that you start over again afterward.
The head of WoW has announced that Blizzard will effectively ban various add-ons for the MMORPG. The MMORPG will be designed in such a way that popular add-ons will simply no longer function. They will not be able to read combat events or auras. This has caused an uproar in the community, as add-ons are part of the daily life of players in the MMORPG. Especially one announcement is explosive: the “one-button” control.
This is the current situation: Those who play WoW at a higher level join organized groups and engage in content that is challenging and requires players to fulfill specific mechanics. Players need to reach certain points at a given time, move out of zones, or perform actions.
Normally, players would need to recognize through effects in the MMORPG itself what they need to do and “learn” the challenges. If they fail, their raid group fails as well, leading to a wipe and requiring the fight to be restarted.
However, for years there have been add-ons made by others that signal to the player with extremely clear messages in the game what they need to do. One add-on literally yells at the player: “You have the bomb! Run!”
Famous add-ons that take over this function are “WeakAuras” or “Northern Sky”.
To outsiders like the LoL player Tyler1, this seemed absurd: From their perspective, a game played this way requires no skill because you no longer have to think independently. Players become externally controlled sheep, and that’s actually ridiculous. Blizzard seems to see it similarly now.
Start video
WoW Patch 11.1: Gallywix’s Control over the Cartels
Blizzard wants to end the arms race with add-ons in WoW
This is what Blizzard says now: The head of WoW, Ion Hazzikostas, stated in a presentation on April 30 (via youtube.com):
Because the developers know that players use these add-ons, the game developers have to make the fights increasingly complex so that the battles remain challenging.
This leads to an arms race between Blizzard and the developers of the add-ons.
This arms race, in turn, leads to players using more and more mods and battles being unnecessarily bloated with mechanics.
The various mechanics in fights are listed in the dungeon diaries. Players can read them there. But Hazzikostas says:
If you look at the dungeon diary, you scroll and scroll and scroll, and maybe half of it is not even important because the add-ons take care of that for you. That’s not a good place for things.
Blizzard wants to give players the necessary information themselves
This is Blizzard’s goal: The declared goal of Blizzard now is to provide players with the information they need themselves.
Blizzard itself will offer damage meters and various UI enhancements.
Once that is achieved, they want to deprive add-ons of the possibility to continue functioning by removing their access to combat logs and events.
When will this happen? Blizzard has not yet specified a date for this. But initial UI improvements will come with the current patches.
When mods will be banned is still unclear.
Hazzikostas says:
We need to take it slow. The team will implement the new features, listen to the players, and when the developers are confident that what remains largely consists of unwanted automation or the functionalities they want to return to players – problem solving, combat, communication – then they will turn off access to the combat log/aura for everything else.
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WoW will be playable with just one button, but you will be worse
Which add-ons does Blizzard want to provide itself? There have been a number of information on that. Blizzard will provide tools that take over tasks like:
A damage meter and also a heal meter
There will be a kind of cooldown manager
A function that helps players with their rotation by always highlighting the optimal next skill
Blizzard also wants to allow mods to continue functioning that do not affect fights, such as quest helpers, roleplay tools, and others.
The rotation helper is supposed to make it clear: Press button 3 now.
This is the most controversial change: As part of the help with the rotation, Blizzard wants to introduce a “one-button rotation”.
When you press this button, it will always trigger the most meaningful next ability:
Currently, you need 4 or more keys for a rotation to trigger different abilities that harmonize with each other. It then involves maintaining certain effects on a target or having one ability enhance another: You press something like 3-2-1-4-2-1-3-2-1-3.
If you then only pressed one button, it would trigger a different ability depending on the situation: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.
However, it is said that this function carries a “small penalty” and does not utilize the global cooldown perfectly. It is not meant to lead to raid leaders telling people: Stop pressing manually and use the one-button feature.
The “single-button” assistant is there for players who want to try a new class and are not interested in mastering their abilities, but simply want to experience the story.
When is this coming? The rotation helper and the “one-button” feature are expected to come with patch 11.1.7 for WoW. The patch is expected in June 2025.
How will this affect battles? Hazzikostas hints that if add-ons no longer function, Blizzard would streamline some fights and perhaps remove some mechanics.
They do not want to make the fights easier, but less complex.
How is this being discussed? The information is very fresh. It came out last night. In discussions, players appear skeptical. The “one-button rotation” is especially seen as a new April Fool’s joke.
Path of Exile 2 is currently going through a dry spell in terms of loot and especially fun gameplay. GGG wants to change that and promised a new patch, but it has now been postponed; fans are hoping for more effective changes.
Update, May 1, 09:53 AM: Update 0.2.0g was rolled out last night but has been rolled back due to a bug. The developers are aware of the source of the bug and will release the update again later today.
The update now brings much larger changes to loot than expected. You can read more about it in the official patch notes at: store.steampowered.com.
Where is Patch 2.0.2g? This is a question some players have been asking on Reddit. According to the developers of Path of Exile 2, the new patch 0.2.0g was supposed to be released at the beginning of the week of April 28, but so far there is no sign of the patch.
To address the uncertainty, GGG has now spoken out on X regarding Patch 0.2.0g. According to them, the developers are still working on the update. Fans can expect a release by the end of the current week, so either on May 1 or 2. They did not specify an exact date.
Due to the holidays (Easter and a national holiday in New Zealand), plans may have been pushed back, and although GGG has already communicated upcoming changes, fans are hoping for further adjustments, especially regarding a specific topic.
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Path of Exile 2 presents gameplay trailer with the new Hunter class
Now that the developers have taken more time, players hope for additional changes that have not yet been communicated. The following can be heard on Reddit:
“I hope it is more than what they reported about the bosses before.” – BeastMode09-00
“It has to be. The game is so dry at the moment. I am so tired of running rituals 300x a day and postponing omen for 10 maps from 17k-4k” – stamvegas15
But that’s not all. Players like Lichtenthal (via reddit.com) wish for adjustments to the Atlas Tree, as it does not offer any significant buffs that create major changes in endgame grinding.
Another player hopes for general adjustments for builds (via reddit.com), to make the gameplay feel fun again. There are many talents that are far too weak, especially in the endgame. This greatly limits the options for builds.
A player had a gaming system assembled by a friend in 2020. However, due to the RGB lighting being bothersome, he made a mistake and did not insert a RAM stick carefully. The mistake only became apparent to the player when he checked his specifications.
A player had a gaming PC built by a friend, and the new PC was fully equipped with RGB lighting. But that was too much for the player. He explained on Reddit that he found the lighting very distracting over time and wanted to get rid of it. To do this, he opened his gaming PC to get to the bottom of the lighting:
At some point I became impatient and opened the case to see if there was an obvious way to unplug the lights, as I didn’t know exactly how they were set up and was too ignorant to guess. I pulled out a stick with RGB RAM and looked at it. Of course, the LED was integrated, of course I would probably just have to manage it via software. Well then. A manageable annoyance. I carefully reinstalled it.
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In Germany, there are over 400 USB sticks protruding from walls – What is the ‘Dead Drops’ project?
RAM was not seated properly in the slot on the motherboard
What was the problem? He explained himself that currently, 5 years later, he is planning an upgrade for his old gaming PC. And he noticed that he only has 8 GB of RAM installed. When he finally opens his computer, he discovers that he made a mistake:
It turned out that one of the RAM clips was not properly locked in place. Possibly for five years.
The player may have actually gotten lucky. Because a computer where the RAM is not properly seated cannot start at all. Computers are very sensitive to damaged or improperly seated RAM. If the RAM is damaged or broken, your PC may not start at all. However, if your SSD or your graphics card is damaged, your computer usually still starts.
In principle, you will notice quite quickly when your RAM is damaged:
If it is a software problem, for example, with an XMP profile, resetting the motherboard via the CMOS battery is usually sufficient. In the case of a technical defect, however, you will need to replace the RAM, as otherwise it can also cause damage to the motherboard.
A trainer from Pokémon GO reports how he unintentionally annoyed other players. The blame lies with a small mechanic that does not exist in the game.
In a game as large as Pokémon GO, it is not unusual for players to share their experiences and come across interesting or curious stories.
A player on Reddit reports how he inadvertently disturbed other players in the game. A small mechanic that does not exist in Pokémon GO to this day could have easily prevented the entire situation.
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Pokémon GO: What’s in the new Season Powerful and Masterful
No private group = Joinable for everyone
What did the trainer do? As the trainer writes in his post on Reddit, he does not have anyone in his circle of friends who plays Pokémon GO. Therefore, he likes to join lobbies for raids that he sees around him in order to obtain the Pokémon. He recently did this during a Dynamax raid.
He saw a lobby with players for Dynamax Entei and successfully joined them. The Dyna-Raid was completed, and the trainer managed to get a Dynamax Entei. According to his own statement, he neither met the group directly nor exchanged a word with them.
In another lobby, the trainer saw the group again and joined the raid. But this time the raid was not started – instead, the group members left the raid.
When the lobby started again, the trainer joined the lobby once more, only to see that all the other players left the raid again. This process repeated itself until the trainer decided to leave the place.
What was the problem? A Dynamax group in Pokémon GO can consist of a maximum of 4 players. Currently, there is no way to start a private group for a Dynamax battle, where only certain trainers can join. If a trainer is nearby, he can join any lobby that is not yet fully filled.
This is what allowed the trainer from the Reddit post to join the lobby without any problems. However, this seemingly made it impossible for one player from the actual group to join, thus missing the Dynamax raid.
Why the group still started the first raid is unknown. However, this will likely be the reason why every further raid lobby was left.
The trainer makes it clear in his post that he was unaware of this mechanic and also apologizes. Perhaps the post will even reach the affected group.
In addition to Dynamax raids, there are many other activities and events in Pokémon GO that regularly await you. May is also packed with fresh content for you. What exactly these are, you can find out in our overview of all events in May 2025 in Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The shooter is one of the oldest genres in video games. Therefore, there are countless games that deserve a place on a top list. Our colleagues from GameStar are now giving 150 shooters this chance.
GameStar ranks the 150 best shooters of all time – yes, you heard that right! So that you don’t get served this chunk all at once, our colleagues from GameStar are cutting it into bite-sized pieces for you.
Where is the ranking taking place? You can find it on the GameStar website. This list is updated daily, so you won’t have to look for new entries every time.
From when to when is this ranking taking place? GameStar started on April 29, 2025, with the lower rankings. The grand finale will be on May 12, showcasing the number 1 of the 150 best shooters.
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TOP 10 Shooters in 2024 – for Veterans and Newcomers
GameStar crowns the 150 best shooters in an epic ranking
The games will be presented to you by our GameStar colleagues. Among them, of course, shooter experts like Dimitry Halley and Phil Elsner, but also many other colleagues. Along with personal stories, there will also be a few exciting trivia facts about each title.
When establishing the rankings, two points were important to the colleagues:
How important was a shooter for the shooter genre?
How well does it play today? Ideally, you might discover a new gem there – or rekindle your desire to return to a shooter from your past.
Disclaimer: GameStar and MeinMMO are independent editorial teams, but both belong to Webedia Gaming.
A developer from Riot Games has shared special information about the development of Teamfight Tactics in streams and videos, but that is ending now.
Who is it about? Stephen “Mortdog” Mortimer is a developer at Riot Games. He is responsible as a Gameplay Director for the “League of Legends” spin-off “Teamfight Tactics,” which was released for mobile devices in 2019. Previously, he worked at Nintendo for over 11 years, overseeing the design of games like Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars.
Outside his role as Gameplay Director of TFT, Mortdog was also known as a kind of content creator for the game. In livestreams and videos, the developer spoke about various aspects of the game and provided deep insights into the decisions made by the development team – especially regarding balancing changes.
Within much of the TFT community, Mortdog is highly regarded for his transparent communication, his openness, and the information he has shared. However, some TFT players behaved so poorly on social media that the developer is now temporarily stepping back from streaming.
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TFT: Dragonlands is now live – Shows cute penguins and dragons in the new trailer
The haters have won
Why is Mortdog stepping back? On April 28, Mortdog released an hour-long video on YouTube, where he talked about the balancing of Teamfight Tactics. At the end of the video, the developer stated that streams and other bonus insights he had provided to the community would now come to a halt.
Mortdog says:
“I’m stepping back from the extra stuff for a while. The last weeks and months have been really tough, as I’ve been in the spotlight and the target of a lot of frustrations surrounding TFT. You only have to click one of my recent Twitter posts and read the responses… I’ve taken a lot recently, to the point where I’m pretty burned out.”
The developer further explains that the constant complaints and hatred from many players have really affected him lately. This has negatively impacted his communication because he has become more susceptible to responding to snarky comments in a snarky way himself.
Now he wants to take a break from the additional content he has created and offered voluntarily, without any obligation from Riot Games. He summarizes:
I don’t know how to put it other than to say ‘the haters win.’ They have really affected me, which I reluctantly admit after six years. But I will take a break because I can’t handle it much longer. It affects me a lot. So no more X posts from me for a while […], no more patch rundowns. They were always an optional thing, they weren’t something sponsored by Riot, I don’t have to do them, so I won’t for a while. I probably won’t stream at all for a while.
However, he did not specify how long Mortdog would refrain from offering this additional content. It certainly sounds like it’s initially “just” a break and could return in the future. Nevertheless, fans must now say goodbye to the special insights of the developer for the time being.
After Mortdog’s announcement to take a break from creating additional content, there was again a lot of criticism – but this time for the community that pushed him to this step. Many players emphasize that TFT with Mortdog and his transparent communication really has something special, and anyone who vented their frustration on him should feel bad. This has harmed the entire community.
On April 28, 2025, Maciej “Shushei” Ratuszniak passed away. He was a member of the first world championship team in League of Legends.
Who is it about? The former “League of Legends” pro Maciej Ratuszniak, better known as Shushei, passed away on April 28, 2025, at the age of 36 due to cancer. This was announced by the deceased’s sister in a post on Facebook.
Shushei was one of the players who won the first League of Legends world championship in 2011, the Riot Season 1 Championship. He led the Fnatic team to victory in the finals with 2:1 against the also European team “against All authority” and was additionally named the MVP (most valuable player) of the tournament.
Already in 2023, Shushei ended his career as an active esports athlete but achieved first places at the Intel Extreme Masters Season V in Hannover and the Intel Extreme Masters Season VI in New York until then.
Ex-Team and Fans Pay Respect
On social media, fans and Shushei’s former successful team express their sorrow over the loss of the esports player. Fnatic writes on X:
Yesterday we lost a legend in Shushei. Shushei was part of the incredible Fnatic team that won the very first ‘League of Legends’ world championship in 2011, which established the Fnatic LoL community for many of our fans. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.
On Reddit, some fans also share their favorite memories of Shushei. One user recounts:
“My favorite memory of Shushei is one of his S3 or S4 streams after he had taken a long break, during which his placements put him somewhere in the Gold range, and he asked for Mid in champ select, to which his mid laner asked him: ‘What rank are you?’, and Shushei simply replied: World Champion.”
Another user reports: “Oh no, I remember watching his streams […] and his Gragas gameplay and the S1 finals when I had just started playing League… I was literally 14, and I remember thinking: ‘I want to be like him!!!'”
The community is definitely united: Shushei is a legend and died far too young at the age of 36.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The games for PS Plus Essential in May 2025 for the PS5 and PS4 have been officially announced. We will briefly introduce the games and show when they are available.
Which PS Plus games are there in May 2025? Even in May 2025, there are again three games that you can get with the PS Plus Essential subscription.
ARK: Survival Ascended (PS5)
Balatro (PS5 | PS4)
Warhammer 40.000: Boltgun (PS5 | PS4)
When will the games be available? The games will always be available from the first Tuesday of a month:
PS Plus games available from: May 6, 2025, around 12:00 PM
Everything important about the free games from PS Plus Essential in May 2025
ARK: Survival Ascended (PS5)
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In ARK Survival Ascended, Mickey and Minnie Mouse are now available
What kind of game is this? The game from the ARK creators is a type of remaster of ARK: Survival Evolved. You play on the popular maps with the same (and partly new) dinos and other creatures, but in the mantle of Unreal Engine 5. This means that fans of the predecessor ARK: Survival Evolved can especially expect better and more detailed graphics.
Another big difference from Evolved is the mod support for consoles. Fans can now also use various content such as maps, structures, and creatures created by the community on PS5 and Xbox. This is only possible in ARK: Survival Evolved on PC.
Balatro (PS5 | PS4)
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Trailer for the roguelike poker game Balatro by LocalThunk
What kind of game is this? Balatro is a poker roguelike. You use various cards and jokers to compete against increasingly powerful opponents. You defeat these opponents by making different poker hands and thereby scoring points.
The most exciting part is the countless combos you can create with various effect and joker cards. Thus, with the right jokers, a simple pair can score more points than a royal flush.
Balatro is celebrated by players for its high replay value, and the good thing is that constantly new cards join through various collaborations that you can collect.
Warhammer 40.000: Boltgun (PS5 | PS4)
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Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Trailer
What kind of game is this? In Warhammer 40.000: Boltgun, it’s mainly about shooting, and in the graphic style of the old Dooms. Throughout the game, you have various weapons from the Warhammer universe available to make your opponents bleed.
If the pixel graphics don’t bother you, you should go for it, especially if you’re in the mood to just blow off steam and take down monsters.
What else do you need to consider? If you haven’t grabbed the games from last month for PS Plus yet, you should hurry. As soon as the new games are available, the old ones will be turned off again. If you want to grab the games, you will definitely need the paid PS Plus subscription for your PS4 or PS5.
The studio Paradox Interactive has been the best address for strategy games for 20 years. Currently, the Swedes have 5 outstanding strategy games in the top lists on Steam: Hearts of Iron IV, Crusader Kings 3, Europa Universalis V, Stellaris, and Victoria 3. But as a credible insider report shows, the company is now facing problems. With the removal of a generous remote work policy, employee morale is declining.
What games is Paradox known for? Paradox is known for historical games in the sub-genre “Grand Strategy.” In Paradox’s games, one can build vast empires and relive history:
Their currently most successful game is Hearts of Iron IV, a paradise for modders, which still achieves 62,000 concurrent players at peak on Steam, even 9 years after its release.
Crusader Kings III shows its new DLC: Khans of the Steppe
Paradox abolishes remote work, refuses to engage in discussions
What problems does the studio have? As a report on GameDeveloper shows, the studio is currently struggling with employee satisfaction.
The magazine reports, citing anonymous sources at Paradox, that the studio in Stockholm shifted to a restrictive remote work policy during the Corona pandemic:
Developers could work 3 days a week in the studio and 2 days from home
But from February 2025, they should be back in the office 4 days a week
From September 2025, remote work will be completely over, and they should be in the office 5 days a week
Employees react with discontent to office requirement
This is how it was received: According to the report, the management’s decision was poorly received, and in the call where the decision was communicated, there was a strong negative emoji reaction.
Many employees have come to appreciate flexible working in remote work in recent years and have adjusted their lives accordingly. During the Zoom call, there was a flood of negative emotions when the manager spoke. In contrast, those who raised doubts about the policy or asked questions were supported in the chat with positive emojis.
But the company would not engage in any discussion and ordered employees back to the office, stating that they needed more productivity and contact with each other.
The reference to studies showing that remote work increases productivity was dismissed. What applies to other companies does not necessarily have to apply to Paradox.
This is what the company says: In a statement to GameDeveloper, Deputy CEO Mattias Lija said that working in the office is expected to be the norm, and they expect employees to generally adhere to this.
However, those hired outside of Stockholm can remain where they are. The office requirement does not apply to them.
At least, the company offers some flexibility and says that individual rules can be found for certain employees depending on circumstances and is willing to renegotiate if Paradox feels negative consequences.
One in five is reportedly looking for a new job
This is the result: According to the report, the decision of the company’s management has had an extremely negative impact on the morale of employees.
The union conducted a survey among employees and received about 300 responses from staff across the various sub-studios. According to the survey:
34% of respondents say the new policy makes it more likely that they will look for a new job
20% of respondents are already looking for a new job
According to Game Developer, all employees they spoke with appeared frustrated, particularly regarding Paradox’s argument that the office requirement increases productivity.
From their perspective, the new office requirement does not result in improved productivity. There is now a complete lack of motivation to improve:
If the results improve now, that would mean management was right
If performance worsens, that means management was wrong, but in the worst case, one could then lose their job, which is bad in the current job market
Moreover, there are rumors that Paradox has offered to exempt key employees from the office requirement, but this was denied by management.
What impact does this have for players? It will depend on how Paradox handles the situation. We have seen in some major studios that a group of dissatisfied employees has gathered around a charismatic leader and left the studio to establish a new studio that operates in a more family-like way, often in the same city.
Especially during the Corona pandemic, this has happened more frequently, although not much has come from these studios yet, as most are still in development. So we don’t know whether this will ultimately be a good development for players or not:
Ghostcrawler left Riot Games to develop his own MMORPG
Mike Morhaime left Blizzard to develop games on a smaller scale
Ben Brode left Blizzard and created a hit with Marvel Snap
Harold Ryan left Bungie and founded “Probably Monsters” directly in Seattle, but only the massive flop Concord has come out so far
A mass exodus of experienced employees would certainly be the worst-case scenario for Paradox, as it would mean losing their top talents to competitors and competing with them for talent and attention in the future.
