The work on the space MMO Star Citizen and the single-player offshoot Squadron 42 is progressing.
The story of Squadron 42 is told with computer-animated characters played by real actors. It is already known that, for example, Mark Hamill – known as Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars films – and Gillian Anderson – known as Agent Scully from The X-Files – have taken on roles. Now Andy Serkis has also revealed that he plays a role in Squadron 42. He takes on the role of the Vanduul Thul’Óqquray.
The Vanduul are an alien race that continuously causes trouble for humanity. In the game, players will learn more about this species and what exactly their intentions are. A video shows how Andy Serkis – who portrayed Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films – records his scenes using motion capture and how these are transferred in real-time to the character in the game.
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In addition, the developer studio Cloud Imperium provides a preview of the upcoming update 2.3.0 for the MMO Star Citizen. With the update, which is currently still on the test server, two new ships will be introduced. One of them is the Khartu-al ship, which is a scout of the peaceful alien race Xi’an. The light combat ship has been adapted for use by humans as an export item.
Moreover, you can sit in the cockpit of the transport and refueling ship Starfarer Base. However, the ship not only transports fuel but can also refuel other spacecraft. The Starfarer can also convert resources in space directly into fuel.
Also new are the two weapons Arrowhead sniper rifle and the Devastator-12 shotgun, which you can find in the Yela asteroid field and whose use is useful if you have the “Wanted” status, as new security forces are now present around Port Olisar looking for criminals. Additionally, there is an improvement to the component system, character animations have been revised, and numerous fixes have been implemented in the MMO Star Citizen. Update 2.3.0 is set to be rolled out to the regular servers soon.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The composer of Destiny and Halo Marty O’Donnell spoke in an interview about the separation from Bungie, the time that followed, and a conversation with Paul McCartney about what it’s like to lose your band.
Marty O’Donnell was actually inseparably linked to Bungie, responsible for the music of the games. Then he left Bungie in a publicized dispute, he was fired, there was a lawsuit, all quite unusual for a business where separations are almost always amicable.
We will get back to you
In the interview with IGN, O’Donnell now spoke about the details. The separation had been looming but was still a surprise to him. He was led out of the building at that time, handed over his badge, and was told: We’ll get back to you over the weekend. O’Donnell thought at that time they would go through this, finding a narrative like: “We regret to announce that he is leaving. He wants to focus more on his family.” That’s what one usually writes in such cases.
However, the call did not come, and after 5 days, his own lawyers contacted him: “You are still listed as an employee of Bungie on Facebook and everywhere. This could be legally problematic.”
The tweet, in which O’Donnell announced his departure in dispute, was sent by his wife.
I’m saddened to say that Bungie’s board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014.
His contract was terminated without stating reasons. After that, it was clear that there would be conflicts. O’Donnell then talks about a time with lawyers, more lawyers, even more lawyers, dealing with contracts and rights. Overall, a tough phase for him. Why it all had to unfold like this, why Activision and Bungie decided to handle the matter this way, O’Donnell still does not quite understand.
It’s like a band breaking up
For O’Donnell, it was also hard because he felt so connected to the studio, had so many friends there. Later, during a car ride, Paul McCartney, with whom he worked on the Destiny soundtrack, called him, and they exchanged thoughts. McCartney said in a light tone: “That must be tough for you, those are your friends.” O’Donnell replied: “Yes, it’s like the band is breaking up.”
Before he realized that he was speaking with a member of possibly the most famous band of all time, one of the Beatles.
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Meanwhile, O’Donnell seems to have left it all behind, working in a small studio on new titles and is critical of the development in the gaming industry towards large companies and anonymous teams:
What’s the deal with reports of framerate issues in the space MMO No Man’s Sky and how will the multiplayer part play?
Allegedly, the upcoming space MMO No Man’s Sky is experiencing framerate problems. However, the developers have now announced that this is not true. Developer Sean Murray states that the game is on a very good path. However, he also admits that the game is so huge that it is impossible to test everything. In other games, every level would be thoroughly examined before release. Given the size of No Man’s Sky, this is simply impossible.
The games that Murray was previously involved in have all had good framerates, so he is optimistic because this is something his studio has always done well. Plus, we still have a few months to work on optimizations before the MMO launches on June 22.
MMO with rare encounters between players
No Man’s Sky is an MMO, but due to the vastness of the galaxy, players will rarely encounter each other. Therefore, the developers compare the multiplayer part more to Dark Souls or the game Journey. You will rather discover traces of other players when visiting planets, knowing that someone has been there. These can be animals that other players have named or objects they have left behind.
For this reason, it is currently still completely open whether there will be interactions with other players in No Man’s Sky and if so, how these will take place. Whether there will be crossplay between PC and Playstation 4 is still undecided.
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In Tom Clancy’s The Division, “Bullet King” is widely regarded as an efficient farming spot. Ubisoft Massive aims to respond.
In The Division, the farming spot around the named enemy Bullet King has spread like wildfire within the community. With this Bullet King method, agents can obtain numerous high-level items and Phoenix Credits in a short amount of time. After doing this “fun” for a while, at the end of the day, they have many Phoenix Credits, superior items, and with some luck, also high-end items.
This mindless farming is currently considered the most efficient way to farm the coveted items and Phoenix Credits in The Division.
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Although this farming spot isn’t exactly varied or fun, many agents utilize it. However, caution is advised: if you kill the entire enemy team—not just the Bullet King—you ruin this trick for yourself, as the “Named Enemy” will no longer spawn. Agents who have faced this fate are organizing on social networks to join other agents where this method still works.
The Bullet King farming spot is currently the most efficient method to obtain high-level items and Phoenix Credits that are of great importance in endgame. Reddit user valmian wanted to find out through personal experimentation how many of the coveted items he could farm within an hour. He came to the following conclusion:
over 170 Phoenix Credits
over 170 superior items
some specialized items
few high-end weapons.
However, he got bored with this method very quickly, he reports.
He then went into the Dark Zone to compare these results with the potential loot in the PvP area. In just over an hour (after three pickups), he came to the following numbers:
22 Phoenix Credits
24 superior items
After that, he completed the Challenge Mode in Lexington Event Center. He managed this with his group in about 20 minutes and received the following:
30 Phoenix Credits
1 high-end item
5 superior drops
Even though he received significantly fewer high-level items and Phoenix Credits here, at least this way was fun for him. But fun does not always mean efficiency.
Ubisoft Massive aims to respond to this farming spot
On Twitter, Ubisoft’s Community Manager Natchai Stappers responded to questions from the community regarding Bullet King. He tweeted that the team is already aware and is working on a solution.
In response to a user’s query about whether one should fear penalties for farming, the Community Manager stated that there would be no penalties, as it is the developers’ fault that this “problem” arises.
A conflict is igniting over the “Loot Cave”, much like it did with Destiny. While the other methods of obtaining gear may be more fun and are clearly “intended” by the developers, they are too inefficient compared to Bullet King. In Destiny, they had closed the loot caves back then but later realized that the actual problem was not the farming spots but the “stingy” loot distribution in the rest of the game. However, the deeper changes to the loot system in Destiny took a long time.
In the present-time context of The Division, it seems that we might expect a fix for the problem hopefully this week, perhaps even tomorrow. It is currently Ubisoft’s “top priority”.
The community’s preferred solution, as evident from discussions on our website, would be: Make the other methods more lucrative. At the moment, it seems that they are going to put a stop to Bullet King for the time being.
As known in a forum post, developer RiotGames is working to implement its mastery points system into other game modes of LoL.
The mastery points system allows players of League of Legends to show which champions they know particularly well or like to play – often there are differences *cough*. Unfortunately, this system currently only exists for Summoner’s Rift, putting players who prefer ARAM games in the Howling Abyss at a disadvantage. Now, however, this system is set to be included in other game modes.
Harmony with Hextech Crafting in LoL
Mastery points in LoL
With the new Hextech Crafting system, you have the opportunity to obtain skins, champions, and other items in League of Legends. Every time you earn an “S” rating with a champion in a game or reach a champion mastery milestone, you receive a chest containing these rewards. This way, you can also “level” your champions and achieve milestones by playing in the Howling Abyss. To find out when Hextech Crafting comes to the EU servers, you can read here.
Riot on ARAM Mastery Points in LoL
In response to the question of why there are still no mastery points in ARAM games in LoL, RiotL4T3NCY replied:
“The ARAM mode was not intentionally ignored – the work on the system for Summoner’s Rift simply had priority (the same goes for Twisted Treeline (3 vs 3). Currently, adjustments are being made to the Champion Mastery Points algorithm for the new game mode rotation. At the same time, attention is also being given to ARAM and 3 vs 3 games.
The reason the system is not yet available in the ARAM mode in LoL is that there is no dedicated ARAM balance team that solely focuses on this. A positive side effect is that ARAM accounts (that is, accounts that only unlock specific champions that are “good” in ARAM) will unlock new champions through the Hextech Crafting system, slightly unbalancing these accounts.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
For a quarter of a year, we have known that the Thieves Guild would be coming, for about two months Zenimax has been talking about it more intensively, and for two weeks the first DLC of 2016 has been playable on PC and this week it goes to the consoles.
The Thieves Guild is a typical quarterly DLC for The Elder Scrolls Online. It brings a new area, a fresh trial, numerous features in the “group search” sector. New items are introduced, assistants are implemented, and much more. We have introduced this in the past weeks and months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8QIm6SzP-M
Server down for The Elder Scrolls Online? Thieves Guild arriving with maintenance on March 22 and 23
This week, both Playstation 4 and Xbox One are ready. This will presumably come with longer maintenance work.
Starting with the Xbox One on March 22. At 11:00 AM, maintenance will begin here.
On Wednesday, March 23, it will be the turn of Playstation 4. From 11:00 AM, the European and the North American megaserver of ESO will be down. The DLC will be applied.
What changes with the Thieves Guild in ESO?
If you want to delve deeper into the Thieves Guild and what changes in Tamriel, we recommend the following articles:
The latest “In Development” video from Heroes of the Storm features Dehaka and numerous new skins. Check it out here.
Dehaka Skins and Li Li from the Shadowpaw
Blizzard has released a new trailer to get the players of Heroes of the Storm a bit excited about new skins. Among the featured cosmetic updates is the upcoming StarCraft 2 hero “Dehaka”, who is expected to hit the Nexus later this month.
Like all heroes (and all premium skins), Dehaka comes in three different color variations that can be gradually unlocked through the leveling system. Typically, it only takes a few evenings to do so. Check out the latest “Currently in Development” video to see what new cosmetics will soon be available in the shop.
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The Mecha Dehaka could turn out to be particularly sought after, swapping the familiar Zerg tissue for a lot of technical gimmicks.
Shadowpaw Li Li also joins the fight, showing everyone that she’s tired of constantly shouting “Look over there, a flower!” Just released from the monastery in Pandaria, she shows all foes that she can throw perfect shuriken with just four fingers on each hand and wield a pretty wild sword.
Artanis, on the other hand, seems to have a burning interest in ancient China, as he fights as Shogun Artanis, trading his psi blades for hard steel… and lanterns. They seem to be important for achieving victory in the Nexus.
This skin already caused quite a stir last week:
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In Tree of Savior, the founder packs have been adjusted at the request of the community. Equal access for everyone, but shorter.
30 Days Early Access, for €9 – €46
After the Tree of Savior community complained about the long early access period of 3 months, the developers backtracked and proposed several alternatives that players could choose from through voting. This voting has now ended and the new plan is set: There will be 30 days of early access, no matter which of the 3 packs you choose to purchase.
The content of the packs differs only in additional goodies, such as more in-game currency or special accessories. You can find this in the graphic (Click to enlarge):
In Germany, the prices for the founder packs are as follows:
€10 for the smallest
€28 for the medium
€46 for the largest
The packs can be purchased immediately in the Steam shop, but early access doesn’t start until March 29.
With these changes, the official release date will also be moved forward significantly. Thus, all players who do not want to spend money on the game can storm the servers as of April 28, and do not have to wait until summer.
The new shooter The Division has overtaken Call of Duty as the most popular game on the Xbox One console.
As VG247 reports in amazement, The Division has now surpassed Call of Duty in the popularity ranking on Xbox Live. This seems to be such a big deal because Call of Duty usually reserves the sunny spot for itself. While they are not there all year round every year, VG247 writes, they are there almost all the time.
No one could have expected that the shooter would win this award.
The Game Director of The Division, Ryan Barnard, is leaving Ubisoft Massive to join the Hitman developer IO Interactive.
The Danish developer IO Interactive, a subsidiary of Square Enix, is getting reinforcement: The Game Director of The Division, Ryan Barnard, has left Ubisoft Massive and is now working for the developer of the Hitman series.
According to MCV, Barnard is set to take on the newly created role of Gameplay Director there. According to the publisher Square Enix, he will be the head of three core teams at IO Interactive responsible for Gameplay, Online, and World.
A statement from the publisher states that Barnard is the ideal person to tackle the upcoming tasks. This is evidenced by his contributions to game design in recent years.
We are happy to welcome this talent to the pool of great people working at IO.
As noted on Barnard’s LinkedIn page, he started his work at the new company in March. He began his career as an Associate Game Designer at Sony Online Entertainment in November 2003. After stints at EA Mythic and Crytek, he landed at Ubisoft Massive in September 2011, where he quickly rose from Associate Creative Director to Game Director. In this position, he significantly stamped his mark on The Division.
BioWare has announced the release date for Chapter 12 of SWTOR’s current expansion KotFE. We have the details.
“Visions in the Dark” starts in April
Every month, BioWare releases a new chapter for Star Wars: The Old Republic to gradually conclude the story of the “Knights of the Fallen Empire” expansion. The 12th chapter will be titled “Visions in the Dark” and is scheduled to be released on April 7. A teaser trailer has also been nicely released, which aims to capture the mood of the chapter. Check it out here:
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As the video shows, players will have to confront Valkorion himself on the planet Odessen in battle. During the fight, some dramatic revelations are expected to come to light, revealing more about the mysterious connection between the player character and the fallen Emperor. At the same time, the story will continue elsewhere. While the Outsider engages in his duel, the Alliance attempts to deliver a devastating blow against the Eternal Empire to significantly weaken Arcann’s troops.
All players who subscribe early will also enjoy a reward this time. If you have an active subscription by April 2 at the latest, you will receive an HK-55 inspired weapon set as a bonus, with which you can aesthetically enhance your character. Who wouldn’t want to look a bit more like the best meatbag disposal machine in the galaxy?
Our YouTuber Refaser draws an initial conclusion about Black Desert. Check out what he has to say here.
Black Desert has been playable in Germany for a few weeks now and is prompting many people to give their first ratings for the game. The YouTuber Refaser also takes 7 minutes for you to reveal what he likes about the game and what seems to be less successful.
Positively, he appreciates that the RPG elements are at the forefront. Friendships with NPCs need to be developed, and numerous game contents ensure that there is always something to do. There is something to discover at every corner of the world, and those who enjoy venturing into an open world will be able to immerse themselves in the game world for a long time. He also finds the community particularly commendable, describing it as helpful and friendly.
On the negative side, he emphasizes that the game is not for those who have little time or prefer to be led “by the hand” from quest to quest. A bit of curiosity and especially patience are necessary to truly enjoy Black Desert.
The online action RPG The Division has reached the heart of our author Schuhmann, but somehow in an unusual way.
It’s a bit like going to a pizzeria wanting pizza, but then you end up liking the bread more. That’s how I feel about The Division: the filler content is excellent.
Huge parallels between The Division and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
I played another Ubisoft title in my life, which was “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.” I didn’t buy it; instead, I got it a few months ago with the graphics card I ironically bought to play something like “The Division.”
And if you only know these two Ubisoft games, you see huge parallels. The world is divided into small portions, and there’s basically the same to do in each one.
There are “small missions” that follow the same patterns repeatedly, then there are medium missions that follow other but still similar patterns, and there are story missions: Those are varied, you can tell they put some thought into them.
And then in these open-world games following the Ubisoft formula, there are “collectibles,” which are little scraps you can pick up. Usually, they are a bit hidden and aim to reward the player for really exploring the “open worlds.”
Okay, the game follows a formula… but so does basically everything
These things have a pretty bad reputation: They are just “fillers” to make the world feel full, people say.
Just like on a CD that contains other songs alongside the hits, and how potatoes are a side dish to a steak, the game contains a lot of small stuff to keep players busy alongside the “exciting main missions.” In the end, no one should say: “20 missions? I was done in 4 hours? That’s not worth my money!”
This entire “Ubisoft” formula is viewed quite critically. The same mission is repeated 8 times; in every district, you have to search a building for viruses, collect a bounty in the same format, and so on. Everyone realizes while playing that this formula aims to stretch a rather short game (the main missions) into a long game (if you collect everything, complete everything, and aim for 100% all around).
As an MMO player, I don’t have much of an issue with this because – let’s be honest – this system was invented by RPGs and later MMORPGs. Before you can advance to the next part of the main story, you first have to kill 300 creatures to become strong enough to continue.
One could say harshly: Most MMORPGs consist only of these fillers. The mechanics repeat across games. Whether I’m killing 15 creatures for a quest NPC and then returning to him or have to fend off exactly 4 waves of enemies at 3 different points in an area, when looked at closely, it’s pretty much the same. I’m quite immune to this “filler material.”
But this collecting of every little thing, every scrap I chase after, to jump from the exact “wire” at the right moment to hit the secret point from below – that annoyed me in Assassin’s Creed. That’s not really my drive to fill bars to the edge.
The collectibles, the filler material, are really well told
In “The Division,” that’s really well done. Because the collectibles are wonderfully tied to the story. Especially the phone call recordings are truly great. You can think of it as a collection of short stories, fully voiced, in which one can catch tiny glimpses of people during the catastrophe.
Here are all phone calls in The Division:
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Some of these stories stand on their own, some are interlinked. They often provide heartbreaking narratives. A woman calls her mother, has accepted her fate, and tearfully confesses that she is a lesbian. She wants to get this off her chest before her imminent end. A father calls his daughter and explains how she should take care of his bees. You can tell: That was the center of his life for the last few years. Is everything about to change now? Two hockey fans are utterly astonished that due to this pesky pandemic, the hockey game is now canceled.
It’s like a surprise egg; you never know what kind of story you’re getting now, but they are wonderfully made and taste great every time. They don’t exaggerate; they respect the situation, and they ask, “How would people really deal with something like this?” And that helps – much more than the missions themselves – to give the game depth and dignity. By the way: This applies to the English voices. The German dubbing, from what I’ve heard, cannot compete with the acting aspect – but that’s another topic.
The German translation can’t really keep up:
http://youtu.be/WOruDO7wH7E
The actual story with punchy lines and “cynically tough” characters also has its highlights: When the cranky ultraliberal explains that “The Division” is an absolutely terrible idea, which idiot could create such an elite unit outside the “checks and balances” power structure, it cleverly questions the actually absurd power fantasy behind the game. But too often, this power fantasy is fully realized, and the subtle cracks you sometimes feel just aren’t enough.
In fact, it’s the usually dull “collectibles” that give the world of The Division warmth and tension. And that is truly worth a lot.
A major wipe is coming for Landmark, after which a patch will follow.
24 to 48 hours are planned for the wipe, maintenance, and applying the patch at Landmark. It is supposed to be the penultimate one. The final wipe, where almost everything in the world will be reset, is expected to occur just before the launch.
In Destiny, the lead UI designer David Candland spoke about the development of the menu of Bungie’s MMO shooter.
At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Bungie’s lead UI designer David Candland gave a lecture on design and the interface of Destiny.
The menu cursor of Destiny was worked on for a long time
While in many console games, you switch from one selected item to another with a button press or a stick movement, in Destiny you have a freely movable cursor available ‒ similar to a mouse on a PC.
According to Candland, it took a lot of time to achieve the cursor’s movement behavior as we know it today. When you hover over the icon of an item, the cursor slows down a bit and the graphic stands out slightly. This slowing down was carefully worked on until the cursor behavior felt right.
These are early models of the user interface of Destiny
Candland also showed early models of the UI during his presentation, which illustrate how the layout evolved over time. While Candland presented these images, he emphasized that many items and also the text in these models originated from the art team and had no relation to the content that actually made it into the game. Therefore, it is advisable not to read too much into what you will see next.
The order of these images shows (presumably) the evolution of the user interface of Destiny, which ended in the final version, as we know it today:
“Gus, the filthy” has not made it into the Destiny universe so far. This design of a Cabal trader gives us an image of how the Cabal would look without a helmet.
In the upper right corner, you can see “Grimo…”. Was it originally planned to display the Grimoire cards in-game?
“Evil Otto”. Aha!
This interface looks interesting!
Osiris as an in-game trader? It turned out differently in the end.
Except for “relic iron”, the resources apparently had different names initially.
This interface is already much closer to the final version.
This is not the final version yet, but it is not far off.
Candland mentioned that a lot of time was also invested in designing the symbols for all equipment pieces. During the presentation, he showed some of these weapon and armor symbols from the final game and bet that many people in the audience would recognize the items just by the symbols. According to Kotaku, he won that bet.
Ttime says: From this talk by Candland, one can take home that it takes a lot of work and time to develop and design a unique user interface for video games that satisfies the customer.
In The Division, there are numerous talents for your high-end gear that improve the equipment. We list all of them.
In The Division, you can craft gear pieces in addition to weapons and mods. The high-end items are assigned “talents” that grant bonuses to your equipment. You can refer to the following list to see what possible talents exist for the high-end gear, so you can decide if you have already crafted a ‘top’ item or if you want to visit the workbench again.
Talents for Masks in The Division
Enduring: When you are in the last segment of your health, health regenerates continuously to fill this segment.
Refreshed: When your health is in the last segment, healing increases by 30%.
Rejuvenated: When you use a medkit, all negative status effects are removed.
Tenacious: When you use a medkit, your damage increases by 9.5% for x seconds.
Rehabilitated: When you are affected by a status effect, you heal 2% every second.
Talents for Vests in The Division
Reckless: You deal 12.5% more damage but also take 10% more damage. According to reports on reddit, this roll can also be 13/10 or 13/11.
Robust: While you are in cover, you have 45% more armor.
Rapid: The cooldown of your healing skills is reduced by 13%.
Vigorous: All your healing skills allow for an “overheal”.
Forceful: While an active individual skill is active, armor value is increased by x%.
Talents for Backpacks in The Division
Technical: While an active individual skill is active, your skill power is increased by 13%.
Inventive: With full health, your skill power is increased by 13%.
Relentless: 3% of the damage you deal with your skills is returned to you as healing.
Resourceful: All healing you experience is also experienced by your skill object.
Specialized: 13% of your firearms and stamina are added to the skill power.
Talents for Gloves in The Division
Savage: Your chance of critical hits is increased by 13% when enemies are out of cover.
Reckless: You deal x% more damage but also take y% more damage.
Cunning: After reloading, your next shot has a 9.5% higher chance of being a critical hit.
Decisive: Headshots with your sidearm deal x% more damage.
Astute: The first three bullets in your magazine have a 9.5% higher chance to land critical hits.
Talents for Holsters in The Division
Recovered: The damage you take during a cover-to-cover move is regenerated in the next five seconds when you reach your target.
Nimble: During a cover-to-cover move in combat, you heal 2% for every x meters.
Steadfast: While you are in cover, the speed of health regeneration is doubled.
Sturdy: Your armor increases by 12.5% if you remain in the same cover for longer than x seconds.
Talents for Kneepads in The Division
Accomplished: The rewards for accolades are tripled.
Prosperous: Critical headshots grant you credits (reports on reddit mention 120 credits).
Perceptive: Your “item find” and “gold find” bonuses are increased by 25%.
In ARK: Survival Evolved, all creatures eventually need to relieve themselves. However, it offers more than just oil and fertilizer …
A truly disgusting death
It’s no secret that some games take their realism a bit too far at times. But alongside hunger, thirst, and other parameters, ARK: Survival Evolved features another “feature”. As nature dictates, every creature that has ever consumed food must also eliminate it in some way.
In Ark, the unpleasant resource “feces” is integrated into the gameplay. For instance, the oversized dung beetles can extract oil from the dung, and it can also be used as fertilizer for fields.
But the excrement serves another purpose. It provides a last resort for players who have locked themselves (or others) in a room or are stuck somewhere. Those who are unarmed and lack equipment have no opportunity to escape in such cases. Well, except for one. An effective way to poison one’s character and thus to achieve a quick demise. Bon appétit, or something.
But how does one come up with the idea of integrating digestive excretions into the game?
The mechanic was conceived as an alternative to not introducing a “suicide key,” as studio co-founder Susan Strieglitz explained at GDC. That would have felt “cheap.” Once dung was included in the game, it was also utilized in the production cycle of the game.
The online card game Spellweaver has been continuously worked on since its release. Now the first tournament is taking place, where it is not just about mere in-game items, but about real money. $5000 will be distributed as prize money, divided according to the number of wins.
The participants are already determined. They are players from Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering. Among them are: Ek0p, DTwo, PVDDR, Dart, Hotform, P4wnyhof, MrScottyMac, StanCifka, and Vlps. The moderator for this event is Noxious, who is also known from Blizzard’s spinoff.
The tournament will be broadcasted today at 7 PM on Twitch. Perfect for those who want not only our already published test but also moving pictures. The games can be followed both on Noxious‘ channel and the official Spellweaver channel.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In ArcheAge , not only are cheaters banned, but honest players are now rewarded. We have the details.
Fair play in ArcheAge brings rewards
Typically, one hears in MMORPGs at most that another wave of cheaters and gold sellers have been banned, or users of various bots have received a temporary ban. In ArcheAge, they are trying a different approach now and are giving a reward to all players who have never committed any wrongdoing. In the official message from community manager Celestrata, it says:
“Today we just want to give a small sign of our appreciation in thanks to everyone who contributes positively to our community. We are glad to have you with us!”
Players who play fair will now be rewarded.
What kind of reward is there? What conditions exist?
If you want to secure 3 reward coins that can be exchanged for various lock boxes (which can contain rare mounts), you must have a flawless account. In detail, this means:
No disciplinary action may have ever been taken against the account. This also includes inappropriate behavior in chat.
Within the last 30 days, you must have logged into the account at least once.
The account must already have existed since January 15, 2016 (or longer).
Star Wars The Old Republic (SWTOR) – how does the Free2Play MMORPG play in 2016? Is it still worth it? Our author Cortyn takes another look into the galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars: The Old Republic has received new content with “Knights of the Fallen Empire” aimed primarily at solo players. The story is clearly the focus here, everything else fades into the background. I’ve already vented about decisions without tangible consequences in a Mecker Wednesday, but this time I want to provide some concrete examples and also mention what works wonderfully.
For this purpose, I need to discuss the story of KotFE – so those who do not want to be spoiled should scroll to the headline “It falters a bit” (and miss half the article, but I’ve already got your click, ha!).
Wonderful Freedom …
It quickly becomes clear in the plot of KotFE that the thought-to-be-dead Emperor Valkorion has simply nested himself in our character’s body. He repeatedly whispers to us that we need to cooperate with him and surrender to his power. In particularly dramatic sequences, the “good man” simply stops time. There is a scene where Lana Beniko is overwhelmed by an attack and the fatal blow rushes towards her. We can only watch, or… or can we? The Emperor freezes time and promises: “Accept my power and we can save her. Let it be and she dies.”
These scenes occur frequently and are incredibly cool. Because it is more than a blunt “Good/Evil” decision. There are shades of gray that one usually misses. Every time you give in to the power, the message “This action will have consequences” appears on the screen, indicating that you made some kind of mistake. Since I stayed true to my line and only used Valkorion’s power when I saw my character’s love in danger (Yes, Lana Beniko. Such a great character). In other cases, I declined… and that had consequences.
… and yet no decisions
I played alongside a friend, and we would always tell each other about our decisions and how things turned out after a chapter (and during combat phases). One moment from Chapter 8 especially stuck with me. Our hero stands opposite the villain Arcann, and we are hopelessly outmatched… once again time freezes and we get the choice: Do we accept Valkorion’s power and beat up Arcann? Or do we try it alone?
And that’s where it got really interesting: Because we both chose the same answer, but different things happened. I confronted the enemy alone and was promptly skewered by Arcann’s lightsaber and severely wounded. Lana Beniko came to my aid (along with a dramatically romantic farewell kiss) and helped me, with my last strength, to escape to the ship. Again and again, my Cortyn breaks down, groaning in pain, and – if it weren’t an MMO – one could really think she was dying. That was awesome. It felt great. It was unique. I thought.
Valkorion’s spirit offers us his power… those who give in too often slowly lose control.
My colleague also refused Valkorion’s power, but something different happened. He received the message “Valkorion doesn’t care what you want. You’ve given him too much power”. The spirit took over his body, and with a lot of power lightning everything was turned to rubble. The sobering truth afterward: His character also “limps” toward the ship, close to death. The power storm consumed so much energy that he also nearly died.
This is just one example where it seems you have a choice, events change, and the end result remains the same. The character is severely wounded and the evil adversary has disappeared.
But I can bear it. Because I had a kiss with Lana. Ha!
The cutie with the tender lightning.
It falters a bit
But unfortunately, one must also say that “Knights of the Fallen Empire” has been faltering since its release. Especially the two latest story chapters are – although of high quality like the rest – so incredibly short that one begins to wonder whether BioWare is simply not up to the time pressure of monthly updates. While some chapters provided an hour or more of playtime, the new ones often conclude after only 20 minutes.
Moreover, there are hardly any contents for groups that are engaging for long periods. SWTOR currently honors the RPG more than the MMO in its genre designation, and that doesn’t seem to change anytime soon.
Group players currently only come together during specific in-game events.
Although we made SWTOR our Free2Play MMO number 1, the term “Free2Play” only applies limitedly to KotFE, as to experience the content one must have an active subscription – that is unfortunately no longer really the definition of “Free2Play”. Savvy shoppers will best just wait a few months until the number of chapters has increased or is completed, to then absorb the story of the expansion for 13 euros (so one month of gameplay).
Because – hand on the pure Sith heart – SWTOR is currently an experience for solo players and that takes no more than three or four evenings.
![The Elder Scrolls Online: Offline – Maintenance on March 23 brings DLC for PS4 [Update]](https://images.mein-mmo.de/medien/2016/03/Diebesgilde.png)
