After Aurelion Sol, there are already the first images of the new champion at League of Legends.
With a huge story that spans several pages, Riot Games announces the new champion “Taliyah”. Almost like a book, the story of the new heroine reads and reveals one or two secrets. This will certainly not be the last teaser about this champion, as there were also several teasers before Jhin to fully tap into the hype.
It is still officially unknown whether “Taliyah” will be the next champ. However… the assumption is extremely close.
Connection to the LoL hero Yasuo
In the story, you will not only learn a lot about Taliyah’s personal history but also something about her connection to Yasuo. Furthermore, she has abilities with which she can control stones – whether that will make her Malphite’s arch-nemesis remains unclear. Abilities are unfortunately not known at the moment – however, the champion designer DanielZKlein, who was also responsible for Azir.
Now some of you will light up because Azir has indeed become a nice champion who is only moderately annoying. However, Azir is not the only champion for whom DanielZKlein is responsible. Thanks to him, we also have our good friend Tahm Kench in the game.
After the first 3 months of 2016 brought us new releases like Blade and Soul, Black Desert, and The Division for our “MMO of the Month”, we chose a hidden gem for April with Marvel Heroes 2016.
The Free2Play comic spectacle with distinct Diablo parallels is still under the radar for most here. This is certainly due to a botched launch. The hack’n’slash fell short of expectations back then. As a Marvel fan, I immediately installed it, but after just a few hours, I uninstalled it: it felt less like a real MMORPG and more like a hastily cobbled together browser game.
But I then, also because I heard so much good about the game, dived into the Marvel world every now and then, and I liked it better with each visit. Because Marvel Heroes shows the great advantage that MMORPGs have: they evolve continuously.
Today, Marvel Heroes is a great game for a quick session or for longer play, which we want to recommend to you in April.
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For these 5 reasons, Marvel Heroes is our MMO of the Month in April
It is thoroughly Marvel – The action MMORPG is not a soulless licensed product, but it breathes Marvel. The heroes and villains exchange banter, there are insider jokes and references everywhere, and you dive into the superhero world. Whether you hit the Kingpin as Daredevil or fight Red Skull as Captain America – you feel that real comic fans were at work here. There are now more than 50 heroes. And whenever the next Marvel movie is in theaters or the next series is on Netflix, there’s definitely something planned in the Marvel Heroes universe.
It is surprisingly deep – Marvel Heroes is a fully-fledged MMORPG. With a long campaign, prestige systems, various progress options. There are even challenging group activities. Players ponder over “optimal builds” for heroes. It’s much more sophisticated than it seems at first glance – with numerous talents, an account-wide synergy system, or alternative progression options. Loot and achievements are fully rewarded.
It is also something for quick sessions – Logging in, checking the daily missions, and then diving into combat can be done quickly despite all the complexity, inviting you to play in between. Unnecessarily complex systems like the crafting system have been significantly simplified over time.
It is Free2Play – I’ve played Marvel Heroes for quite some time when you add up the hours. I have 4 characters at the maximum level of 60 and have never invested a cent into the game. And except for inventory space, I miss nothing. It has a fair payment system where you can unlock a lot with in-game currencies. Additionally, there are regular events and special promotions where you progress particularly fast.
It really keeps evolving – Almost every month a new hero is released. Big, free updates come regularly. New features and clever improvements are in the works. If you take a break for a quarter of a year, you can be sure: Marvel Heroes has gotten even better.
In FIFA 16 Ultimate Team, the first TOTS, the Teams of the Season, have been introduced. Featuring: Marcel Schmelzer and Mitchell Weiser!
Here we go! The first Teams of the Season are known, several hours earlier than expected. For the TOTS, EA Sports creates teams of players who they believe stood out this season.
Today, the TOTS weeks in FIFA 16 will initially kick off with teams chosen by the community. These include Bronze, Silver, and Gold players who consistently showed good performances throughout the season, yet never made it into the Team of the Week. These players will now be celebrated retrospectively with TOTS cards.
This is the TOTS of the Community Gold Players in FIFA 16
Among the Gold Players chosen by the community, Marcel Schmelzer from Borussia Dortmund made it into the Team of the Season. He receives an overall rating of 85! No other German players, nor any other players from the Bundesliga, made it into this TOTS:
This is the TOTS of the Community Silver Players in FIFA 16
In the Community Silver TOTS, you can find among others the Bundesliga stars Mitchell Weiser from Hertha BSC Berlin (now overall 74) and Vincenzo Grifo (also 74) from Freiburg:
The release of the two classes Ninja and Kunoichi is postponed in Black Desert, but Valencia is still scheduled for June.
Ninja/Kunoichi with balance issues, Valencia remains a trilogy
Our colleagues from Dualshockers had the opportunity to conduct a fairly long interview with Daniel Loehr, the German project manager of Black Desert at Daum, to talk about the current state of Black Desert and especially the future of the game. We have summarized and translated the most interesting points for you.
The most important insight from the interview is the fact that Ninja and Kunoichi, two new classes, no longer have May as their release date. The reason for this is that the developers are not satisfied with the balance of these two classes in Korea and want to update them there first to bring them in line with the other classes. Only after that does Daum intend to handle an implementation: It is better to release something new later, but in a much “smoother” state, rather than rushing it out and alienating fans.
June is still “more or less” the intended date for the Valencia update. However, this is so extensive that it will, just like in Korea, be released in three parts.
Awakening weapons in one go, 3-4 months behind Korea
Some words were also lost about the Awakening weapons. The goal is to introduce all Awakening weapons at the same time. In Korea, these were released “piece by piece”, but here, we want to bring all the weapons simultaneously – at least all that have been released by the time of the patch.
The “goal” is, by the way, to always lag about 3-4 months behind the original version of the game. This is inevitable anyway, to localize the content in three languages, but it also has a nice side effect. The developers thus had enough time to fix any bugs, so we always receive a (relatively) bug-free version of the game in the West.
If you are interested in the entire interview lasting nearly 40 minutes:
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In the upcoming shooter Doom , gameplay material has been released, providing insights into the single-player campaign.
During a Twitch stream, Creative Director Hugo Martin and Executive Producer Marty Stratton showcased gameplay footage from the single-player campaign of Doom for a good hour. A recording of this can now be viewed on YouTube, which you can watch below:
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In addition to numerous gameplay scenes from the campaign, you will see monsters, demons, and various weapons in action. Of course, bloody chainsaw kills cannot be missed. In the background, the developers discuss the showcased material and explain the design decisions that were made.
Here are some details the developers revealed:
There is no reload function. As in the first Doom, weapons can hold an irrational amount of ammunition. You can keep shooting until you run out of ammo.
There will be a weapon wheel in the single-player campaign, which allows you to switch between your guns at any time. When you activate the weapon wheel, the environment slows down. However, you shouldn’t take too much time with your choice, as the action is not completely paused. By the way, there is no weapon wheel in multiplayer; you have to pre-select specific weapons.
Each weapon has various mods that you can toggle on and off with the press of a button.
Additionally, we get a look at the brutal “finishing moves”, which grant you invulnerability during the animation. As a reward, you gain health and ammunition.
The campaign will feature various optional challenges, such as having to eliminate one enemy with an exploding foe.
Furthermore, there will be a lot of lore that you can experience through audio files.
Doom will be released on May 13 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
The digital revenue of The Division is enormous: Ubisoft’s MMO shooter clearly knocks Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 off its throne in March.
According to a recent analysis by the market research company SuperData, The Division generated over 109 million US dollars in digital revenue in March 2016. Thus, Ubisoft’s post-apocalyptic shooter leads the console rankings clearly ahead of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and FIFA 16. CoD brought in “only” 48 million dollars in comparison.
Also at the top of the ranking of PC DLCs, The Division outperformed Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Starcraft 2.
Overall, digital revenue from games increased by 5% compared to March 2015, particularly the console market experienced growth of 23%. Below we list the data collected by SuperData:
Digital revenue March 2016, consoles
The Division
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
FIFA 16
Grand Theft Auto 5
Fallout 4
Digital revenue March 2016, PC DLCs
The Division
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Starcraft 2
Fallout 4
Minecraft
More data from SuperData:
Free-to-Play MMO Games in February 2016 by revenue (SuperData broadly defines the MMO term):
League of Legends
Crossfire
Dungeon Fighter Online
World of Tanks
Dota 2
Pay-to-Play MMO Games in March 2016 by revenue (SuperData also includes games with an optional subscription)
The new season in Diablo 3 starts today – to kick things off, you receive a gift set for your character!
Today at 5:00 PM (excluding server issues) the new season begins. To progress effectively in the game, you should unlock set bonuses with your character quickly. To ensure you don’t have to wait long, you will receive a complete set with one of your characters.
4 Steps to the Gift Set in Diablo 3
It is best to choose a higher difficulty than “Normal” right during the leveling phase, so you can reach the maximum level with your character faster. Solo rifts on “Hard” are quite suitable for gathering experience points. If you wear Leoric’s Crown in these rifts and socket it with a level of a Ruby, you can significantly accelerate your leveling progress. Once you reach level 70, it won’t take long to get your first set together.
You will receive the first 2 set pieces as soon as you reach level 70.
If you already have good items, you should increase the difficulty to Torment 2 and kill Izual to get pieces 3 & 4 of the set.
Start a solo rift on Torment 4 difficulty to unlock Greater Rifts at level 20 – if you’re lucky in the solo rift, you will receive a key for a Greater Rift as a reward.
Use this key to complete a Greater Rift at level 20, as this will give you pieces 5 & 6 (and the 7th piece for some sets).
Once you have your complete set, you should be ready to play on higher difficulties (Torment 5 and above). If you haven’t activated Kanai’s Cube yet, you should do that right away!
Today we at Mein-MMO are asking the question of all questions. Which game are you playing on your console: Bungie’s Destiny or Ubisoft’s The Division?
Before you gather in the twilight at the village square and brandish pitchforks and torches over this foolish question to drive this foolish Ttime into the woods, I would like to narrow down the question a bit:
Which “April Update” – both MMO shooters were supplied with fresh content on April 12th – currently convinces you more?
Are you stuck in the post-apocalyptic New York or in the Destiny universe? Or do you simply play both equally?
Are you currently playing more Destiny?
The MMO shooter Destiny has been around for several months, the last big content chunk was indeed already 7, in words: seven, months ago with the “King’s Fall” expansion. Only the most loyal and dutiful Guardians have probably forced the Darkness to its knees daily during this time. Various events, such as the SRL in Destiny or the Crimson Days in Destiny, only brought short-term variety – and certainly not to the extent that many players would have hoped for.
Now the live team released the April update half a month ago, and numerous Guardians are flooding back into the world of Destiny. Eager and full of energy, they grab their jump ship, activate their old clan, and face the emerging dangers that must be defeated with brave hearts.
In addition to the centerpiece of the update, a revamped Prison of Elders, which is supposed to provide endgame entertainment for several weeks, there is an additional Taken Strike and some new features, such as Chromatin, which allows you to make your Guardians shine. Additionally, some Year 1 weapons have been upgraded to Year 2 level, giving Guardians more choices for their weapons.
The Darkness is far from defeated. Are you keeping Malok and Co. in check these days? Or are you allowing the Darkness to persist because you have other tasks to attend to?
Are you currently playing more The Division?
In The Division, New York is still not safe. Sinister factions are vying for control of this city. With the “Incursions” update, LMB is making dangerous plans that you must thwart in the first incursion “Falcon Lost”.
Moreover, new features have been added, such as the trading system, gear score, equipment sets, and daily and weekly orders. The Dark Zone has also been made a bit more lucrative.
The Division is still fresh and currently experiencing a number of teething problems. As the community developer Yannick Banchereau mentioned in a livestream, the development team is currently in a learning process. The Division, after it was launched in March, still has to find its direction and endure the storm until it reaches safer waters. Given the current climate, one can only hope that this ambitious game doesn’t capsize prematurely.
Do you still fulfill your duties as a Division agent, even though the many glitches, exploits, and issues dampen the fun of the game? After all, you also need to increase your gear score to be prepared for future tasks.
Ttime says: I have really been playing both games equally lately. Right on April 12th, I started with The Division, not only because the Destiny update came a few hours later, but also because I was interested in the incursion – how does this mode work, what makes this mode special?
With Destiny, you already had an idea in your head beforehand of how the Prison of Elders and the strikes in general would play out – nothing groundbreaking revolutionary was to be expected.
As it looks right now, I will still be satisfied with both MMO shooters for a while, as I have not yet reached the maximum light level with all three Guardians nor exhausted the gear score with my agent. If I didn’t have to report on a new glitch, exploit, or cheat in The Division every other week – which, by the way, as a player and also as a Mein-MMO author, really gets on my nerves – I would probably be further along by now.
The question of which game will land in my console in the coming weeks and months, I can’t answer yet. The next big thing for Destiny is only coming in the fall, while The Division is already following up with the “Conflict” update next month. How the motivation of the agents will look in the future, however, remains to be seen.
But back to you, let’s focus again on the here and now:
Destiny or The Division – which game will you play this weekend?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The former head of World of Warcraft speaks out again about Classic servers, and pretty harshly and directly.
Former WoW Head Criticizes Blizzard’s Stance on Nostalrius
The story surrounding Nostalrius, the closed Classic server of World of Warcraft, and the fundamental idea of such servers never ends. After Mark Kern, the former head behind World of Warcraft, pledged his support for such projects and the petition, he has now released his own video where he directly addresses Blizzard.
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The stack of papers is quite impressive. More than 10,000 pages full of signatures and comments on the issue.
Additionally, Kern sees Blizzard as responsible for preserving World of Warcraft in its original state for eternity, because:
“Games are now considered art. We preserve movies, books, and TV series for eternity, but with games, we are doing a poor job. Blizzard has a great responsibility as the guardian and rights holder for the massive game World of Warcraft. They are the only ones who can preserve this important piece of gaming history.”
Generally, Kern plays quite a bit with the numbers in his video. The petition has gathered more than 230,000 signatures. He also has a list of big Twitch streamers who have agreed to play World of Warcraft on stream if “Legacy” servers are created – the combined reach of these streamers is over 14,000,000 viewers. Just with a fraction of that, WoW would land directly at number 1 in the list of streamed games. But Kern stretches his numbers a bit further: If Nostalrius, an “illegal” server, had 800,000 registered users, how many would come back if Blizzard officially hosted such servers? “One to two million” is Kern’s estimate.
He gets very direct about Brack’s statement regarding the licensing issues that such fan-based Legacy servers would bring. Accordingly, J. Allen Brack from Blizzard simply has no clue about the legal matters surrounding licensing agreements:
“I myself contributed to the terms of use and licensing agreements for World of Warcraft, so I know a bit about the stuff. (…) [Brack] is simply wrong about this. I don’t know who he is being advised by, but legally he is just wrong. Let’s say: “He thinks he knows licensing agreements, but he doesn’t.”
In the official statement from Blizzard, it was said that it is difficult to support multiple versions of the game simultaneously. Kern sees little more than a lazy excuse here, because other “Legacy” games like Diablo 2, Warcraft 3, and StarCraft are also long supported again.
“Yes, it is difficult. Yes, it is work. But the money is there and it would make for a very profitable deal. It’s actually a ‘no-brainer.'”
In the MMO shooter Destiny today Xur arrives on 29.4. in the Tower on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. We present his offer and his position.
Yesterday, Bungie shed light on a current mystery. Shortly after the April patch, a user appeared on reddit and had already deciphered the position of the new ghost. How could they have done that so quickly? “Was that a Bungie employee? But why would he tell us such things?” wondered the Destiny players.
Even more mysterious: The user then left a message in Latin that spoke of the twentieth day of the ninth month. A likely release date for the autumn expansion, it seemed. Then the user disappeared. However, they did not vanish into thin air or fade into an ion cloud; their account was simply deleted.
Yesterday, Bungie sent out the message: No idea what that was. But it was somehow funny. They certainly don’t belong to us. Have fun speculating.
Hmm, but Bungie likes to distance itself from mysterious figures. Apparently, they also want nothing to do with Xur!
Everything about Xur on 29.4. in Destiny
When does Xur come to the Tower and when does he leave again?
Xur arrives on Friday, 29.4., at 11:00 AM in the Tower. He leaves on Sunday, May 1, at 11:00 AM.
Where is Xur located?
Xur is located at the Crucible Quartermasters.
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There have been increasing reports that agents die when they get too close to ladders in The Division. Massive has already taken a stance on this.
During yesterday’s maintenance, the developers made some exploit and bug fixes. One fixed exploit was that some agents could glitch through walls while using the jumping jack emote on a ladder.
Since the servers have come back online, agents have reported that Massive has successfully fixed this problem – by turning the ladders into “Ladders of Death.”
Agents die when they get too close to ladders
Apparently, the fix now causes some ladders to simply kill the agents if they stand too long next to them. However, not all ladders would cause the agents’ death, nor would the “Ladders of Death” always lead to death 100% of the time. Nevertheless, numerous videos and posts from users confirm the reproducibility of this bug.
The following video is supposed to show a “Death Ladder”:
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The community is mercilessly addressing the new ladder problem to criticize Massive: As soon as one problem is fixed, it seems that it directly causes numerous new ones. But what does Massive itself say about this?
“Death by Ladder” will be fixed soon
One must give Massive credit, though: They quickly address many issues that agents discover. Ubisoft’s Community Manager Natchai Stappers responded directly in the Ubi Forum to the newly emerged bug, stating that the team would conduct investigations.
Just two hours later, he communicated to the community that the team had found a possible bug: It could be that this bug causes an “out-of-bounds” status that kills players.
Again, two hours later, the bug was identified: As Natchai stated, the problem was found, and the team would perform a fix “soon.”
It seems that the “Ladders of Death” is not a severe bug. Let’s hope this is also taken care of quickly.
A bug currently makes the “wild” game mode of Hearthstone a playground for Druids. They now have Taunt and permanent attack.
Malfurion with Taunt and 5 Attack Power – permanently
While most of the action in Hearthstone is currently happening in the “Standard” format of the game, all the crazies are gathering in the “wild” game mode. There, all cards are allowed, and at the same time, some bugs have crept in. Who hasn’t dreamed of simply granting their own hero Taunt to protect particularly important minions? That is still possible right now.
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The YouTuber Disguised Toast has released a video demonstrating how this works and what devastating effects it can have. A combination of Fandral Staghelm and the old card Dark Whisper is needed for this – which ensures that not a minion with 5/5 and Taunt is blessed, but the hero himself. The result is that Malfurion has Taunt for the rest of the game and also permanently has 5 attack power – which basically makes him invincible.
The half the price of the bug: Fandral Staghelm.
It can be assumed that Blizzard will quickly fix this bug. Whether there will be a sanction for exploiting this bug is questionable, however. In any case, the bug is a real “game breaker” that basically already decides the game. Especially because the card is stackable multiple times. Yes, Malfurion gains 5 additional attack points and 5 health points each time. This is surely the secret revenge for removing his Treant combo from the game.
The code to grant heroes Taunt likely exists in the game because a future card chaos could aim precisely at that. However, this was not supposed to be possible so far.
For more news and articles about Blizzard’s card game and the new expansion “Whispers of the Old Gods”, you can find them on our Hearthstone game page.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, a hotfix is coming next week. They are addressing melee combat.
In “This week at Bungie”, this week there was talk of a hotfix that is set to arrive next week.
“In Your Face” – but not yet with the hotfix
The hotfix will “eventually” change melee combat. The goal is to modify the network code so that melee attacks actually hit when the animation connects, not when they miss. The problem with such “melee bugs” is that the other machines in the game think you are somewhere else than you are on your console.
The update itself is called 2.2.0.4 and will arrive on Tuesday, May 3, at 7:00 PM.
For now, nothing will really change, they are closely monitoring the game’s stability.
On Tuesday, May 10, at 7:00 PM, the new “melee code” will become active.
And they will closely observe that as well.
If anything goes terribly wrong, they will be able to revert the changes.
The high score in the Prison of Elders last week has risen even higher. It now stands at 112,595.
Bungie addresses the “Ghost incident” that might have revealed the release date
To conclude, Bungie spoke about the mysterious incident with Rezyl Azzir. A mysterious user on Reddit found a dead ghost shortly after the April update went live. Then he left a mysterious message in Latin, which some recognized as a prophecy of when the next update might arrive.
DeeJ commented: “Oh, and hey. Rezyl Azzir is not one of us. We cannot confirm or decipher his puzzles. It is as much a mystery to us as it is to you. But definitely some fun stuff. If you don’t know what we are talking about, don’t worry. If you do know what we are talking about, have fun speculating.”
The new update for the MMORPG Skyforge finally brings controller support.
“Revenge” brings, among other things, controller support to the game. So if you prefer to play with a controller rather than a mouse and keyboard, you can now do so. Especially newcomers who may be used to a controller from consoles should find it easier to get into the MMO. Both Xbox and Playstation gamepads are supported. However, there is no change to the game’s interface, which is still optimized for mouse and keyboard.
Many new challenges in the update Reaper’s Revenge
Also newly introduced are the D-Series distortions. Some pantheons have already successfully completed the third series (C-Series) of distortions. Therefore, new threats are now being introduced. In the D-Series, you will face the greatest dangers yet and must give your all to master these challenges!
Also introduced with the update will be the distortions. With these you can not only obtain some of the best weapons, but also unlock vectors of the invasion atlas. This allows you to choose and specifically improve various attributes.
A major update
In addition, there are plenty of other improvements and changes. When you defeat end bosses, you now receive either a main or an additional weapon of epic quality. Your favorite mounts can be improved to move faster, for example.
There are also many changes to the classes, the PvP system and more. Additionally, a lot of bug fixes have made their way into the MMO. The extremely extensive patch note list with all the changes that the Revenge update has brought to the MMORPG Skyforge can be viewed on the official website.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In a developer blog, the Senior Producer of ArcheAge reveals what players can expect in the coming weeks.
At the end of May, Update 2.9 of ArcheAge will be released
Merv Lee Kwai, better known to many as “Khrolan”, is the Senior Producer of ArcheAge and has written a rather lengthy letter to the community to keep them updated on developments regarding the game.
The highlight is patch 2.9 “Chosen”, which is expected to be released for us in just under a month, on May 31, 2016. At that point, we would only be about one patch behind the Korean version, essentially catching up.
Castles, Nations
One of the most sought-after features is the ability to finally create and upgrade your own castles. The Aurorian lords can, together with their guild, build and improve various buildings to further develop crafting and politics and to obtain different bonuses.
The new nation system will allow players to form independent factions. Through a diplomacy system, players will be able to ally with various NPCs from opposing factions – however, players will still be able to give the “evil” players a hard time.
Separate times for different regions
A thorn in the side of many players was the timing of various events in the game. Depending on the type of event, these take place in a time window of about 10 hours – but do not align with local time, but rather American time. This was particularly frustrating for Europeans. That will soon be a thing of the past: Event times for Europe and America will be separated, allowing us to participate in various activities between noon and evening.
… and the usual “little things”
Aside from that, there will be what every major MMORPG patch includes: further enhancements to equipment, minor adjustments to game balance, and plenty of bug fixes and error corrections. There will be additional information on other things, such as new bosses in the Misty Summit or a completely new world boss.
You can find the complete developer letter, in all its (very, very) lengthy glory, in our sources.
For more news and articles about the MMORPG, you can visit our ArcheAge game page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Albion Online, the Heretics are the focus, and a small video about the lore has been made available. Check it out here.
The Heretics in Albion – Remnants of Adventurers
Albion Online has expanded the game with its latest update to include the Heretics faction. While they existed before, they have gained a considerable number of new members in recent weeks. To inform the player base about who these Heretics actually are, the creators have prepared a video that you can watch here in English.
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The Heretics are the first adventurers who set out for Albion some time ago. However, time in this land has not been kind to them – as the environment itself has turned against them. This has slowly driven these first adventurers to madness, but they are trying to secure their own survival. They resort to cunning, trickery, and a willingness to follow through on dubious paths.
For more articles and news about the game, you can find them on our Albion Online news site.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Bleep bleep bleep, I am a robot? This is how my adventure in Otherland begins. A world made of bits and bytes. Let’s go with my first impression.
First, it must be noted that the MMORPG Otherland is currently still in Early Access; this means that the game will change further before it is “truly” released. It was originally developed in 2008 by RealU, but this process had to be interrupted due to financial difficulties. While fans thought Otherland would never appear, Drago Entertainment took over the further development of the online game at the end of 2014.
Otherland starts with a login window that logs me in and out almost every minute due to technical issues that the new developers still have to tackle. Frustrating because the graphics increase the anticipation for the game.
And now create your character…
But enough of that, because after a few attempts I can finally create a robot-like woman.
The character customization is still improvable
In customization mode, I set the gender, the height, the bust size (heh heh), and the weight. However, I can already see that there are also human designs available, which I apparently need to unlock first. Accessories or the like are not available, but I can decorate the robot with colored energy beams or change the color of the “skin” (for the robots, rather the material they are made of).
Afterwards, I get to face the tutorial and talk to a nicely-looking holographic man named Mr. Sallas. He explains to me the basic principles of the game (with the basic keys WASD I can move my character, I need to aim at enemies with the mouse). Finally, he introduces me to the four class systems.
Warrior, Marksman, Healer… Try everything!
Now, I walk through the first portal proudly and transform into a Warrior, next into an Assassin, Marksman, and finally, I take a look at the so-called Energizer (Healer). In the portals, I try out my specific skills on the monsters.
The Warrior is the tank and specializes in melee combat with higher stamina.
The Energizer, on the other hand, has low stamina and damage output but can heal.
Those who prefer to deal high damage while keeping the enemy away from allies can choose the Assassin. However, the Assassin cannot take as much damage compared to the Warrior.
The Marksman class is a wonderful option for anyone who enjoys fighting from a distance while maintaining control over enemy crowds from the background. Here, shotguns, bows, and crossbows come into play.
Action-based combat system – Tactics are required
I aim at the enemies with my mouse and click to attack. With the skills on keys 2, 3, and so on, I can deal more damage with special skills, heal myself, or boost my defense. However, I cannot actively dodge the enemy.
The enemies in the tutorial are even somewhat challenging. For each class tutorial, there is a “boss.” This boss is not defeated through mindless “button mashing” or clicking, but the player must also think tactically: Which skill should I use to destroy the “orbs” he sends? Only then will the boss become vulnerable again. Thus, the combat system can be described as an action-oriented fighting style that also requires tactical sense.
Tactics and Action!
My health bar is only shown to me relatively late, and it is not explained what the skills do or how I can assign them to the individual keys. Moreover, there are also special attacks that need to be charged with Q and E beforehand. However, this does not always work, which is probably due to the Early Access version, which still has some technical problems.
That I have reached level 4 by now, I didn’t really notice, as the level up is not displayed to me. If I have had enough of the introduction to the class systems, I go through the portal again and am once again a blank slate. I quite like this idea. After the tutorial, one lands some years later – as the screen tells me – in Limbo, a place where all faulty parts of Otherland are stored. Thank you, am I faulty?
A small compass guides me past the first quest giver to a giant who shakes the ground beneath me. The stuttering is a bit annoying when I try to read my quest, but the graphics of the giant and the atmosphere it creates make up for that.
Impressive Worlds
The graphics can be considered really successful. In the training area, you can see “frozen” combat scenes. War events that have taken place in Otherland in the past (or future?) or will still take place. The graphics are based on the Unreal 3 Engine.
My little robot-like woman explores the world of Otherland while I sit in front of the screen and occasionally look up at the sky, eliciting some “Ohhh” sounds. Furthermore, the scenery does not only take place in a futuristic city or a highly modernized area, but also in grasslands and medieval-like regions.
Many of these different worlds exist in the game, including one where insects are larger than the character. The atmosphere reminds me of the movie “Tron” or the game “Portal”.
Crafting features are also present. It is possible to extract eDNA from the enemies and use it for recipes and items (or even for the creation of NPCs). You can also change your own appearance through it.
Cinema-goers will feel reminded of Tron.
In the future, homeowners seem to have become uncool, as in Otherland you call a virtual apartment your own. This is called Uspace and can be decorated and customized according to individual style. Those who team up with other players also get the opportunity to form clans and participate in clan wars.
About the Background Story
The idea of the game comes from the titular book published by the American author Tad Williams in 1996. Three more titles from Otherland were released in subsequent years. The book, like the game, revolves around characters that exist in an advanced Internet (a virtual world) in which they can design their entire life: leisure activities, business activities, and social interactions.
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Real life fades into the background and merges with the virtual world. Here I learn that Mr. Sellars (the hologram from the tutorial) is a victim of military experiments and has made it his life’s mission to defeat the founders of Otherland. The so-called Grail Brotherhood. They are power-hungry and have created the virtual world for one reason only: to achieve eternal life (da dam daaaam).
From unsuccessful interactions and initially monotonous quests
Some problems still exist in the Early Access version. The game often hangs, and during these times I can neither interact with people nor objects. The sounds in the background are not very refined for my taste and sound rather monotonous.
My first quests are not particularly imaginative: I have to collect energy and shadow essences; but after the successful collection actions, the tasks become more varied: “Distract the guard”, “eavesdrop on the conversation.” There are also currencies in the game: so-called bits (gold). These can be acquired by successfully completing quests and credits which are supposed to be available optionally.
What I find positive is that the functions are introduced gradually. In addition, the story takes a surprising turn right at the beginning when entering the city named Lambda for the first time. What that surprise is, however, I will not describe here (otherwise I take away the surprise!).
Conclusion: Impressions of “Otherland”
At first, I had, let’s say, a somewhat bumpy start, as the game is still in development and it didn’t really “warm up” with my computer.
But due to the graphics, the twists in the story, and the concept of the game itself, I was constantly motivated to explore the world of Otherland and progress with my robot-like lady. The class systems and the tutorial are well done, and in principle, I have not played an RPG in a futuristic style like this before. I just hope that the game is improved in some areas (the unsuccessful interactions, the constant logouts…).
We are taking a look at the latest patch notes of the MOBA Paragon and what the developers at Epic Games have to say about the overall balance. And if you are participating in Early Access, you will have the chance to surprise one of your friends with a free game code.
Free Early Access Keys
From today until Sunday, the gates will open for the first time for 500,000 players in the third-person MOBA Paragon, who have previously only registered for the Open Beta.
If you are one of the enthusiasts and have found enjoyment in Agora and its heroes after the stress test weekend, and perhaps you have a friend who is already in Early Access, you should keep this warm.
The free access – The light at the end of the tunnel for interested parties
All players who reach level 20 will receive a key for free access to the Early Access phase, which they can pass on to a friend. This is the developers’ way of thanking all current players and giving interested parties another opportunity to check out the title themselves.
You will receive the code within a few days after reaching level 20. This can be redeemed at paragon.com/redeem by one of your friends (or those who might want to be).
Jungle Changes and Murdock Nerf
If you are an old-school Paragon player wondering where the easily irritated folks from the red and blue camps are after the game starts, you need to adjust your inner timer. The spawn time for both buffs has been moved from 1:30 minute to 2:30 minutes to reduce early chaos in the jungle caused by the respective teams and to have more action on the lanes.
Furthermore, the deck builder that was introduced in the last patch has been further improved, and 10 new cards have been added, which can be obtained in the card packs.
One of the most important changes, however, is the nerf of the character Murdock. In the later stages of a game, he was able to send opponents to the afterlife with 3-4 direct hits from his standard attack if he could build enough damage and critical chance (the author can attest to that…).
This has now been toned down a bit by setting the scaling of his standard attack from a maximum of 1.5 to 1.2, thus reducing the maximum damage from 74 to 59. However, to keep him relevant, the corresponding attack speed has been reduced from 1.5 to 1.2 seconds.
The Problem with Balance
Surely some players will welcome the changes as they do with every balance change, or curse them, depending on the perspective. Therefore, Epic Games’ Lead Systems Designer Joe Harrington offers insight into how difficult it is to find a certain balance.
He compares video games and sports, as in both, one’s own skill should be the decisive factor for victory. In both cases, the skills of the participants can usually be analyzed closely, and one can learn from it.
Balance changes – a reason for annoyance for many
However, creating a fair relationship between all players proves to be significantly more challenging. Because no matter how statistically and mathematically one can find an absolute balance; if it feels wrong and unfair, it usually is, according to Harrington.
Therefore, these fundamental statistical values make up only about 80% of the whole. The fine-tuning is done over time through the gained experience of how a hero is played and how he scales compared to others throughout the game.
The perfect balance – boring in the long run
However, to keep a game as interesting as possible, changes are part of everyday life. If a functioning system were to exist forever, monotony sets in quickly, which can be the downfall of it all. Just think of Destiny in year 1. With Thorn and such, one had a clear advantage in the Crucible.
Thus, you also have an explanation for why the weapon and hero balance is frequently adjusted in all games. And as for balance changes in Paragon, you can look forward to the upcoming adjustments for Support and Tank, which will be presented soon.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In The Division, a user has discovered hints about Dark Zone missions in the game files. These could be activated with the “Conflict” update.
So far, not much is known about the next update called “Conflict,” which is supposed to be released for free in May. We only know the official information that the trailer for The Division’s Year One content has revealed.
According to this, the upcoming update will include a fresh raid, additional missions in Challenge Mode, and new features in the Dark Zone, “and much more.” A reddit user claims to have found clues in the game data regarding what new activities could be in the Dark Zone.
Will these Dark Zone missions come with The Division’s May update?
The user TigeroftheWind presents his findings to the community, which he discovered after sifting through the game code. Overall, the user found 40 deactivated missions that are marked for the Dark Zone. Accordingly, there could be the following missions in the Dark Zone in the future:
Locate and kill a leader (likely a named) from each faction
Burn contaminated supplies at five different locations
Secure areas
Decrypt signals and secure LMB intel
Identify and eliminate a rogue agent (Are these NPCs or human players?)
Eliminate named bosses
Collect virus data, as in tasks outside the DZ
Kill a number of enemies from a faction
Secure building rooftops
Several other missions where one must go to specific locations and eliminate enemies.
Note: This information is not official.
When the developers will provide more detailed information about the Conflict update is still unclear. So far, the statement from Massive was that they want to resolve all current issues in The Division before discussing new content.
However, there isn’t much time left for the responsible parties, as May is approaching. And they certainly want to discuss extensively what the agents can expect in the upcoming update.
During the development of Overwatch, Blizzard received support from “Call of Duty” developers to refine the gunplay.
Overwatch is not only Blizzard’s first first-person shooter, but it is also one of the first games that the PC-centric studio aims to release simultaneously on consoles.
To ensure a good gaming experience on consoles as well, the developers sought help from outside, as Assistant Game Director Aaren Keller reveals in an interview with GamesRadar. If handling the weapons in the game feels pleasant and familiar, it is because “Call of Duty” developers provided support.
CoD developers worked on the “shooting” of Overwatch
According to Keller, the team was in contact with some people from Treyarch, the developers of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, to work on the aim assist (controller). As Keller stated, the support was very helpful, making the gunplay feel “really good” now.
As the Assistant Game Director mentioned, they would collaborate with many Activision studios. Allegedly, the Destiny team once approached them to discuss content creation with the WoW team. Such collaborations seem to be commonplace.
Furthermore, Keller stated that Blizzard is working to release game updates on all platforms as simultaneously as possible. Players should not worry about the PC version getting cool new stuff while consoles would have to wait weeks or months. There should be equality as much as possible. However, for smaller bug fixes, Keller mentioned that it might be a bit different due to the different “code bases” of the platforms.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
