The next update for RIFT will include fresh souls for all callings, bringing a breath of fresh air to the possible builds.
One soul at register 3, please.
With its next major update, Patch 3.6, some new souls will be added to the world of Rift. Each calling will receive a new soul, which must be purchased in the shop. As is usual with Rift, the new souls can be purchased either with in-game credits or with real money currency.
The souls allow for new builds in Rift, enabling further customization and personalization of your character.
Unlike before, there will likely not be a Collector’s Edition available that already includes the souls. A fixed price for the package has also not yet been determined; this will all be announced in the coming weeks.
Players are still expecting the package with the 4 remaining souls for the Primalist. This will, however, be released “sometime later”.
For more news and information about the game, you can find it on our RIFT theme page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the upcoming survival game Conan Exiles, players will start crucified.
Funcom is working on a new survival game for PC, PS4, and Xbox One called “Conan Exiles”. A developer video revealed new information.
The player will start in a rather uncomfortable position: nailed to a cross. Conan the Barbarian will then come to the rescue, knock him off the cross, hand him the axe, and say “Now it’s your turn.”
At its core, the player must survive in a hostile world, gather resources, hunt for food, and build a shelter, with the possibility of founding a kingdom, as the developers say.
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Currently, there isn’t much information about the gameplay of the game or how everything will look. However, the Funcom developers are saying all the right things, like how important combat is and the diversity it should offer.
Players can choose between first-person and third-person perspectives. If they become too powerful, neighboring countries (i.e., NPCs) will initiate a “Purge,” sending a punitive expedition to eliminate them. If the player is able – perhaps with the help of allies – to stop this Purge, they will become even more powerful.
Whether this will all come to pass, we will likely find out by summer at the latest, when Conan Exiles is set to enter Early Access on PC.
More information about the title can be found in these articles:
Chronicles of Elyria is one of the more interesting indie MMORPGs, as it plans to offer many things that MMO fans desire. An offline demo is set to be released in spring.
A first small glimpse into the MMO will be available this spring. The developers plan to release an offline demo then. This demo has already been shown during the PAX East event and will allow you to explore a part of the game world and interact with the existing game systems. You will not encounter other players, as there will be no server connection.
That feels somewhat strange for a game that is actually an MMORPG. However, an online demo would only work with an elaborate server infrastructure and stable netcode. Currently, neither of these is available – at least not to the extent that would allow many players on the servers.
You determine your fate in the game
Whether this is an indication that Chronicles of Elyria might even be playable offline, like Shroud of the Avatar, cannot be said at this moment. The fact is, Chronicles of Elyria is set to become an MMORPG. And it will be one where you live in a sandbox world, influencing the destinies of the lands. Not just as a heroic warrior, but also as a craftsman or merchant who builds a large trading empire.
Adventurers are also warmly welcomed in the game and face many challenges in mysterious forests and ancient ruins. For there, gruesome monsters may lurk and great treasures await those who dare to face the dangers.
Death will cost you dearly!
In Chronicles of Elyria, you must always proceed with caution, as your character has only a limited lifespan, which decreases with their “death” from combat or time spent in prison. At some point, your hero will die, then you can create a new one by purchasing gameplay time. Certain skills of the deceased will then be passed on to their heirs. A beta version of the MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria is planned for this year.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Now, the version 2.5 “Before the Fall” is set to be launched in South Korea and the publisher there is taking this as an opportunity to reduce the number of servers. From an initial 10 servers, they will go down to 6. A sure sign that the release hype has subsided and player numbers are declining.
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In South Korea, there has been a noticeable restructuring of the MMO market in recent months. Numerous PC MMOs from the second tier have been shut down or are without a publisher in their home market, while companies are focusing more on mobile titles. Some industry sites are already talking about the big studio die-off in South Korea and say harsh times are ahead.
Here in the West, Final Fantasy XIV will continue soon with patch 3.2.
In FIFA 16: Ultimate Team, the event “FUT United” is back. And it brings numerous gifts and prizes. We summarize everything you need to know about it.
The FIFA 16 Ultimate Team mode is the most popular mode in the game, at least according to EA Sports. It is regularly supplied with fresh content and events. Events in the real football world are also continuously updated in the football simulation. For example, the winter transfers can be mentioned. Now the FUT United event is running and brings gifts and enticing prizes.
What is FUT United?
FUT United is an event organized by EA Sports for FIFA 16 Ultimate Team players. The first edition took place from November 13-16. Now the event is happening again.
Until when does this event run?
FUT United has been running since Tuesday and ends on February 23, also a Tuesday, at 1 a.m. our time. So you still have all of Monday to participate.
What can I win?
One winner gets a trip to Spain and two tickets for El Clásico. The match FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid takes place on April 4, 2016.
Additionally, ten players can look forward to the second prize: 1 million FUT 16 coins. For each.
3000 players in third place will each receive a 15k Jumbo Premium Gold Set.
How can I participate?
You just need to win any match in FIFA 16 Ultimate Team mode during this event. It doesn’t matter whether it’s season, tournament, or challenge games – both offline and online are possible. However, FUT Draft is excluded!
Are these prizes available for all platforms?
Yes, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC are supported.
By the way: This event is only available in Bulgaria, Chile, Germany, France, Canada (except Quebec), New Zealand, Norway, Austria, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK, and the USA (except Florida and New York).
Is there a special tournament?
Yes, during the entire event, the FUT United Cup is running.
Requirement: You must play with players from Real Madrid, PSG, Chelsea, and Wolfsburg.
EA Sports proceeds such that new pack offers are unlocked after a certain number of completed games. On Wednesday, EA announced that over 10 million games have been played. Thus, a new set has been unlocked that you can purchase.
Update: On Thursday evening, EA Sports announced via Twitter that 20 million matches have been played already.
These packs are expected to be:
25k Packs after 10 million matches
35k Packs after 20 million matches
50k Packs after 30 million matches
100k Packs after 40 million matches
Will there be gifts?
The packs that are unlocked here will unfortunately not be given for free. They must be purchased with coins or FIFA Points. However, you can grab daily gifts via the web app. These are available until February 22. They come in the form of coins or usually smaller packs.
During the Open Beta of The Division, there will be daily events. Complete them to earn unique rewards.
Ubisoft has revealed today, just in time for the launch of the Open Beta on Xbox, that each day there will be an event, a special mission, available. Agents are expected to be rewarded adequately for their efforts during this mission. The agent who performs best in the mission will receive a unique reward.
The goal of today’s event is to go out on the streets and help as many civilians as possible. If you help a citizen, not only will they thank you with a unique token of appreciation, but you will also receive a gift from Ubisoft for your combined community efforts. One of your agents who stands out and helps the most civilians will earn a special prize. What all these rewards will look like is not yet known.
At the end of this message, Ubisoft wishes you a lot of fun and reminds you that they will be monitoring all your gaming experiences:
We will be watching you!
The release date of the final version of The Division, March 8th, is approaching. Ubisoft emphasizes that your involvement is very important now, so nothing stands in the way of a successful launch. They also ask that agents leave their individual feedback in the forums. So play the Open Beta until your fingers glow. This should be a real stress test for the servers.
The “Play of the Game” in Overwatch is supposed to highlight and reward players for particularly good plays. However, the system is far from perfect.
Heroic Plays – Even in Death
Anyone who has played a few rounds of Overwatch themselves or at least watched some streamers knows the principle of the “Play of the Game”. The game remembers particularly good plays and presents them at the end of the match for all players. It’s a special honor for the most successful moment of a game. Usually, it involves a particularly stylish multi-kill, but occasionally… well, not.
For example, in the case of this Hanzo, whose Play of the Game consists of highly skilled hopping:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yT612GtaUI
For players of the dwarf Torbjörn, a scene like this is not entirely unusual, but it is somehow amusing to have the “best play” with one’s own death – long live the power of the turret.
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In conclusion, it should be said that most “Play of the Game” sequences are well chosen by the game. However, such outliers as mentioned above are particularly interesting and should ideally belong to the past with the release.
For more information about the game and our first impressions, you can visit the Overwatch topic page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The latest MOBA Master X Master is now entering a global test, but in this case, “global” means “Asian.”
NCSoft has announced a first “global test” for Master X Master. Great news – but there’s a catch. By “global,” they mean Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, while excluding the West.
The MOBA not only offers PvP but will also deliver PvE content. Players can choose characters from well-known NCSoft games like WildStar, Guild Wars 2 or Blade and Soul.
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On the League of Legends (LoL) test servers, the values of champions are currently being adjusted to make them “less OP”.
Anyone who has played LoL recently will have noticed some champions that are particularly strong in the current patch. This includes champions like Xin Zhao, Udyr, or Kog’Maw. Some of these heroes will be slightly nerfed/adjusted to fit better into the game.
However, note that these are changes on the PBE servers. These changes are not 100% final and can still be modified. For this reason, I will not mention any numbers yet.
Changes to these champions in LoL are currently being tested
Caitlyn: Yordle Trap (W) – The damage to enemies triggering a trap is increased.
Since Caitlyn is currently more of a “weaker” pick on the bot lane, a little extra damage will benefit her.
Jhin: Base armor value is reduced.
Despite his lack of escape abilities, Jhin is quite a strong champion. By reducing his armor, players will be punished more for mistakes.
Kog’Maw: Attack speed is reduced.
Kog’Maw is doing quite well in the current patch, as everything revolves around attack speed – this is now being adjusted slightly.
Lucian: Culling (R) – Range is reduced.
With Lucian, players could quickly take down champions who made positioning mistakes in LoL. To punish these mistakes in the future, players will need to get closer to their targets.
Rumble: Electro Harpoon (E) – Now reloads faster.
Additionally, a bug was fixed with Rumble where the Electro Harpoon could not be used while overheated. Minor adjustments to the current game.
Udyr: Turtle Stance (W) – Shield value is reduced.
Phoenix Stance (R) – Proc damage is reduced.
One of the most popular champions in the jungle role right now is Udyr. With movement speed items in LoL, he can quickly become a nuisance on all lanes. His strength from abilities is now being adjusted.
Of course, these are not all changes to champions currently on the PBE, as that would be too extensive. Once the official patch notes for patch 6.4 are available, you can read them in full there.
New skins for Kennen and Yasuo in LoL
What would a PBE patch be without new skins? Exactly: Only half-finished. Currently, Kennen and Yasuo are getting new looks. As you have probably already recognized in the picture, this skin theme has appeared before in League of Legends. These are Bloodmoon skins, which were also showcased for Thresh and Elise in LoL.
Bloodmoon Kennen – 975 RP
Kennen has not had a skin in a long time. The last skin this little Yordle received was in 2011, named “Snowstorm Kennen”.
Bloodmoon Yasuo – 975 RP
Yasuo is now getting his 4th skin. “Project: Yasuo” was the last skin this champion received, and that was in 2014.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, Senior Multiplayer Designer Leif Johansen talks about various topics in a podcast, including the Crimson Doubles, Private Matches, and how the community influences new content.
PlanetDestiny recently had the chance to ask Leif Johansen a few questions during a podcast. We summarize interesting info from the over 2.5-hour interview.
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On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, a 2vs2 event was chosen. Guardians had to team up with their “partner” before the mode could start. Johansen admits he loves Doubles; 2vs2 modes should be highlighted more. The idea of the buff “Broken Heart,” which gives the living partner superhero-like abilities while the other is down, fits the theme. After all, love does give superhuman strength.
According to Johansen, there was consideration as to whether Elimination, Clash, or something entirely new should be the mode for couples. In the end, they decided on Elimination: after each round, the starting positions are taken again. This is also fairer regarding special ammo. In Clash, the team that spawns anew is at a significantly worse position. Elimination simply fits this event better.
How does Bungie perceive the wishes of the community?
In the video, Leif Johansen also talked about the wishes of the community and how Bungie perceives them. Especially regarding Private Matches, the interviewers pressed him with their questions.
What about Private Matches?
One interviewer pointed out that there is a growing demand in the community for Private Matches and Custom Matches. Currently, matchmaking focuses more on connection quality and less on skill. With Custom Matches, high-skilled Guardians could compete against each other and friends could simply fight against one another for fun. Moreover, this would enable exciting tournaments.
Johansen replied that he also loves the idea of Custom and Private Matches and the idea that Guardians could set their own challenges. However, it is quite difficult to integrate this into the game. He points out that the aspect of Guardians having to organize themselves can be seen as a hindrance. After all, you cannot play PMs without previously organizing a fireteam.
The Senior Multiplayer Designer emphasizes the convenience of the current matchmaking system. Even Guardians who are currently shouting the loudest for PMs are spoiled by matchmaking. He admits that Destiny has a unique community and fanbase. And the Crimson Doubles are the latest proof that Guardians can also organize among themselves in PvP. By the way, he does not comment on the fact that Osiris confirms this every week. However, he does not rule out that Private Matches will eventually arrive.
But the interviewers keep pushing and press Johansen on the fact that Guardians want to play against their buddies in the forums, not just against randomly assigned opponents.
Johansen emphasizes that as a designer, it is also important to eliminate many inconveniences. He compares this situation to apps on smartphones: when you want to open an app, it should happen very quickly. That is what the user expects. Nobody wants to deal with annoying preparations before getting started.
Guardians want to come home from work, start right away, and enjoy a few minutes “of awesome.” With minimal effort, they should be able to jump straight into the Crucible. This is also the task of a designer. And Private Matches are the complete opposite of this notion.
The interviewers do not give up. One says he completely understands that this statement applies to many Guardians. But still, the demand for PMs cannot be overlooked. Guardians are well aware that they have to form a fireteam themselves and therefore the whole fun comes with more effort. The interviewer emphasizes that Custom Matches would enhance the entire Crucible experience, PvP would be even more fun. Great Destiny tournaments could be held.
Leif Johansen completely agrees, but he also points to all the efforts involved. There is a long list of what needs to be implemented in the game at the moment. It’s just not that easy.
This is the influence the community has on future content
When asked whether and how the influences of the community can be recognized in the game, Johansen stated that he visits the Destiny forum on reddit about twice a day. There he regularly looks at the posts with the highest ratings. Other designers do the same. Thus, Bungie takes the suggestions from the community very seriously.
However, he points out that Bungie also wants to deliver unexpected content, Destiny should surprise the Guardian. They find it great how the community cares and creates ideas. However, implementation is not always so easy or can be done overnight. Guardians also need to understand the scope of this work: even if designing can go quickly, the engineering effort is enormous.
On the occasion of the Open Beta of The Division, which goes live for Xbox today, the developers of the MMO shooter have a few tips for you.
Ubisoft Massive has released a series of videos that provide you with some starter tips so that you won’t perish hopelessly in the apocalypse. We present these videos and summarize the pro tips concisely.
Customize the User Interface as Desired
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Well, this tip probably doesn’t fall under the category of “Pro Tip”. However, it could be quite useful if the many numbers on the screen confuse you. In the settings, you can customize your User Interface and for example turn off the numbers that indicate the damage to your opponents.
Matchmaking with the Mega Map
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You can use the Mega Map for matchmaking to form a strike team with other players. However, you first need to unlock Madison Square. Once a match is available, you can choose “accept” and be teleported directly into the group. And here’s the pro tip: If you’re currently in a fight or otherwise don’t have time, you can ignore the fun and just go somewhere else. Incredible! Really groundbreaking what Ubisoft is bringing out for pro tips. Let’s take a look at the next one.
Use the Consumable Wheel
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This video gives you the tip to use the Consumable Wheel in fiercely contested battles, which is the wheel that allows you to select items like explosives or water. This one:
How to Handle Dark Zone Currency
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When you go from “outside the Dark Zone” to “inside the Dark Zone”, you will encounter a vendor in this transition zone where you can purchase stylish equipment and weapons with Dark Zone currency. And the pro tip here: kill NPCs in the Dark Zone; this is said to be an easier and quicker way to acquire DZ currency than challenging other agents.
Well, these pro tips that Ubisoft Massive talks about are rather disappointing. Many users also comment on the videos with irony and mockery. They may be useful to some agents at the beginning of their journey, but most of it can be figured out during the first few minutes of gameplay anyway.
If you are interested in the online game Escape from Tarkov, you can now sign up for the soon starting Closed Beta.
The upcoming shooter MMORPG Escape from Tarkov is highly interesting for many gamers. The degree of realism, the scenario, the many possibilities, the connection between shooter and role-playing game, as well as hardcore elements like the hero bleeding out, present a great appeal.
Pure realism
Many compare the online game with Ubisoft’s The Division, as both games are played online and connect shooter and RPG elements. The scenario is also similar. Both games are set in a sealed-off city. However, Escape from Tarkov places much more emphasis on realism than The Division. This starts with the animations, which are transferred to the game using motion capturing and are overseen by a military expert.
Every little animation will be visible, even how to flip a light switch. How exactly this looks and how much “immersion” this brings to the game can be seen in the linked video below, in which a character “loots” items and stores them in an well-organized inventory.
Additionally, the trajectory and impact of bullets will be calculated physically. Moreover, injuries play an important role. If you are hit by a bullet, you can get an infection or even bleed out.
Sign up for the beta
All of this sounds exciting, but how it will play is still unclear at the moment. While initial videos show that everything looks highly interesting, actually getting hands-on is still the best method to find out if you really like a game. A Closed Beta for Escape from Tarkov is set to start soon, a specific date will be announced – but it is supposed to be in the first quarter of this year.
With the upgrade to World of Warcraft: Legion, the demands on gamers’ PCs are significantly raised. Check here to see if your computer needs an upgrade!
The Legion likes it a bit nicer – System requirements for WoW
Before the expansion World of Warcraft: Legion launches in the summer of this year, fans of the game should consider whether they want to spend their computer some upgrades. Anyone who has struggled with “Warlords of Draenor” will probably experience their red FPS miracle with the arrival of the Legion. Blizzard has published the system requirements for the next addon and they have noticeably skyrocketed. It’s best to take a look at the freshly published requirements yourself:
If you have a relatively current computer, you probably don’t need to worry. However, if the device is already five years or older, you might face unpleasant surprises. In case of doubt: Start saving early and treat yourself to some upgrades for the hardware to match Legion.
The open beta for The Division has started on Xbox One. You can join the developers in a livestream on Twitch and watch them at work.
Since 10:00 AM, the first players are playing the new shooter The Division in the open beta on Xbox One. Players on PC and PlayStation 4 have to wait until tomorrow. Then they can join in and enjoy the new mission that was added compared to the closed beta.
Meanwhile, you can get your dose of “The Division” in the developers’ livestream. They are playing, joking with each other, and answering community questions. Occasionally, there’s new information that everyone rushes to, like piranhas to a drop of blood in a Bond film. The big hope: Maybe someone will slip up this time when it comes to raids.
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After almost two weeks, the price of the sorceress Li-Ming from Heroes of the Storm has been reduced.
The sorceress is now easier to obtain
It has been almost two weeks since the newest hero from Heroes of the Storm, Li-Ming, entered the Nexus. The sorceress from Diablo 3 had a grand start and was well received by the fans, although some voices have raised concerns that Li-Ming is too powerful and needs a nerf soon – more on that later.
The price of Li-Ming was reduced on Wednesday, February 17, 2016,from 15,000 gold coins to 10,000 gold coins. The price in real money, however, remains at €10, as is the case with all “new” heroes so far.
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Anyone who has hesitated until now should seize the opportunity and add Li-Ming to their collection. She is one of the few characters where significantly different playstyles have proven effective.
Among her most popular, albeit risky, playstyles is the Teleport Build, where Li-Ming is always in the middle of the battle and even deals significant damage through her teleportation. This also provides her with good escape options, which could lead one to mistake her for a melee character.
If you prefer a safer approach, you can choose the “Backline Blowup build” and focus on the power of the Arcane Orb, which works best when fired from well behind your own lines. Alternatively, being in the cover of a bush is also suitable. It is important not to be in the middle of the battle. Li-Ming feels most comfortable with this talent choice far away from the fight, as only there do her abilities reach their full potential.
Now both games are being showcased in two trailers. There, one can also see the different target audiences that H1Z1 aims to attract; “Just Survive,” the zombie MMO part, clearly appeals to fans of “The Walking Dead” in its aesthetic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_HOyyJSMTM
Meanwhile, the trailer for the arena shooter “King of the Kill” has more of those psychopath movie vibes. Last Man Standing, after all.
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While “King of the Kill” is set to be released soon on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, aiming for summer, Just Survive will remain in Early Access on PC for a while longer. Long-term, the MMO part is also planned to come to consoles and be released eventually.
Those who already own H1Z1 have access to both. New players can purchase the part they want separately. For now, both games will continue to be available in Early Access on Steam.
The separation of the two games into their own titles was completed about an hour ago. It went relatively smoothly, as much longer maintenance was anticipated.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Since the release of Destiny, Guardians have been complaining about lag in the Crucible. Now it’s also affecting the Control mode. Additionally, an update is coming today, February 18.
The Community Manager DeeJ had good news yesterday evening: adjustments are still being made to combat the lag. This should make life easier for the Guardians.
DeeJ emphasizes that Bungie truly appreciates that Guardians fight each other in the Crucible and then discuss it in the forums. All these reactions are collected and forwarded to the team. And now this team has good news to announce.
Control Becomes a Low-Lag Zone
Bungie is now continuing on the path of focusing more on connection quality and less on skill ratings in matchmaking. This will continuously reduce lag. However, this also means that your opponents will become more random. As a result, there is a significantly higher chance that you may receive a massive “kick” – or be the one delivering that kick.
Additionally, the “Damage Referee” has more tasks. In addition to Control, it will now also oversee the Clash, Rumble, and Freelance 3vs3 modes. With the Damage Referee, Bungie essentially aims to create a better Crucible experience when internet issues occur outside your control.
With a good connection, your Crucible experience should feel excellent, and you will quickly notice a positive difference. If your connection is bad, you should urgently find ways to improve it; otherwise, you will have to expect to lose fights more often – even if you feel like you shot first. Things will only get better once you fix your connection quality.
DeeJ concludes by saying that your reactions matter more than all the math. Therefore, he urges the Guardians to report how the new matchmaking in Control feels.
Via the Twitter account Bungie_Help, a patch has been announced for this evening at 7 PM. Players should expect to download a patch when heading into orbit. Since no major update has been announced currently, this will likely be a hotfix. Speculations suggest that perhaps the Icebreaker/Mockery issue will be resolved, which ruins the “no special ammunition” situation in the Crucible. But… these are just speculations.
At 10AM PST on Thursday February 18th, Destiny players will be asked to login again upon returning to orbit to download a patch.
Blizzard invited important streamers to a secret gathering to discuss the future plans for Hearthstone . The results of the meetings have now been released.
Hearthstone is not just Blizzard’s
As reported by Polygon, there was already a meeting in September 2015 with developers like Mike Morhaime and Ben Brode and some important streamers from the Hearthstone community, including Strifecro, Trump, and Reynad. Blizzard has clearly realized that Hearthstone is more than just a game that belongs to the developers. It equally belongs to the community. After all, the community played a decisive role in the game’s great success. And the community often understands the problems with the current gameplay just as well – if not better – than the developers themselves.
A look into the future
Generally, Blizzard only releases information when development is already at an advanced stage. This is almost an unwritten rule. The game studio usually only lets the public and testers in when they could actually launch the game. However, they broke this dogma last year.
In general, the developers and streamers agreed on one point: Everything that brings change to Hearthstone is good. Comparisons were made to the collectible card game Magic The Gathering, which is still very popular even after 20 years. The reason is that, like Magic, a “format” was introduced in which only a certain number of card sets are allowed in tournaments. The same goal is pursued with the “Standard” game mode: Only the basic sets and all expansions from the last year are allowed.
Trump, however, wished for a bit more change than will be the case with the introduction of the new format. “In my perfect world, less than a third – a maximum of 10 cards – would be from the perennial sets (i.e., classic and basic).”
Ben Brode shares this opinion: “That would be fantastic. I don’t know if we can achieve that in the first year of the new format, but I think it’s something we should strive for. Another year with Handlock on top, for example, would probably be quite bad for Hearthstone.”
Brode summarizes the fundamental problem as follows: “Hearthstone must always be able to reach new players. If we can’t attract new players, then the game dies.”
Avoiding “Exit Points”
It is especially important for Blizzard to avoid so-called “Exit Points” in their games. An “Exit Point” occurs whenever something prompts a player to stop playing and never return – essentially a “lost customer” for the company. Typical exit points include asking for personal data to create an account or an opaque game system.
Will the “Standard” format divide the community? At least a little, that is already certain.
The introduction of the “Standard” format will be a significant exit point, that is already certain. Many players will no longer be able to play their beloved decks – unless they participate in the “Wild” game mode, which continues to allow all cards. To keep this new exit point as small as possible, they also do not want to part with the standard and basic cards, so that players who took a 1 or 2 year break will still have something to work with.
Fewer expansions per year
Finally, they even hinted that they want to work on the release strategy. Currently, 4 expansions are released per year, 2 of which are card expansions that simply bring a variety of new cards to the game, and the other 2 are adventures that focus on an exciting solo experience and include few but significant cards.
Now they are considering whether that might be too many expansions per year and are thinking about a new rhythm: 2 card expansions, one at the beginning and one at the end of the year, and then an adventure in the summer. This is not yet finalized and is just one of many considerations to make Hearthstone more exciting and accessible.
In the future, Blizzard also wants to continue this kind of dialogue with important representatives of the community. In conclusion, Brode stated:
“These guys go home and play Hearthstone, and we go home and play Hearthstone. At the end of the day, however, we all want Hearthstone to be great.”
In the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online , Zenimax has contacted the winner of the 1 million dollar prize.
Prize draws are a delicate matter. The winner is not publicly announced, so that the entire neighborhood and relatives do not suddenly show up at the door with their life wishes.
In TESO, a large raffle was announced. It was about 1,000,000 $. The winner has not yet been announced, but it was stated: We have drawn him, we have contacted him, and he has accepted the prize.
So if no one has contacted you in the last few days, it’s looking bad for the million. Now you have to resort to Plan B to still get the million. Hopefully you have something other than “scratch cards”, “helping the Nigerian general in exile” or “trading virtual items on eBay” – because those plans clearly belong to us.
Soon, Zenimax wants to officially introduce the winner and announce who has won the other prizes as well. There will be 1000 times 3000 crowns.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, the demand for Private Matches is high. Will they remain just a dream?
What do all Crucible matches in Destiny have in common ‒ whether 6vs6, 3vs3, 2vs2, or every-man-for-himself? That right, none of them are private. All PvP modes of the MMO shooter are public. You can team up in the elimination mode with a three-person group and face off against three other guardians. However, these are random and must always be searched for. Private Matches are not available in any mode.
This makes it just as impossible to organize tournaments intentionally as it does to arrange a duel between clans or within a gaming clique. The path to an eSport is completely blocked.
The absence of Private Matches is met with disbelief
The community is very upset that private PvP games are still not possible. After all, this wish was expressed early after the release. Three DLCs and numerous smaller updates later, there is still no sign of it. In some comments from users, this wish rather turns into a demand. They see Bungie as responsible for addressing their concerns. Smaller PvP events, like the Crimson Days, are occasionally just dismissed or heavily criticized.
Private Matches could certainly bring fresh air into Bungie’s dusty online shooter. Guardians complain about boredom and see private PvP games as an opportunity to bring the game out of the closet.
Bungie, this is what Private Matches could look like
The guardians’ love for their game is also shown in that they like to help Bungie and suggest ideas on how their wishes could be implemented. On reddit, a user already presented an idea for how to introduce PMs with minimal effort for Bungie.
The user sees the Rumble and 3vs3 Game-Modes for Private Matches as attractive. He suggests that in these modes, an additional option for PMs opens up when you have teamed up with 6 people in the orbit. The respective match then consists only of players from that team.
He recommends that all statistics and milestones be turned off during this private party. Of course, specially tailored bounties could also be integrated into the game. There should also be no experience points awarded, to squash any attempts to gain an advantage in these modes right from the start. The user believes that all other guardians would understand this because the demand for PMs is greater than for XPs.
The user is fine with all efforts on Bungie’s part, as long as he can only show up in Rumble mode with his friends and shoot each other. He misses this fun in Destiny. And many other guardians feel the same way. He thinks that no new modes need to be introduced; all that needs to be done is to tweak the existing ones so that they can also be started privately.
Is there hope for Private Matches?
In short: Yes! Especially since hope never dies. Destiny is supposed to be continuously updated and supplied with fresh content for several years, so it would have to be something catastrophic if the desire for Private Matches was not fulfilled at some point. I think the question is not if, but when they will come.
Already at the end of last year, Jon Weisnewski, a Lead Sandbox Designer at Bungie, stated that he would also like to see Private Matches in the future. However, he cannot say anything concrete about it yet. But at least this shows that the desire has reached Bungie and lies on their desk. Whether, when, and how this community dream will come true will be shown in the future.
![Destiny: What the patch does on 18.2., last night changes were made to the PvP [Update]](https://images.mein-mmo.de/medien/2014/10/Destiny-PvP-Mars.jpg)
