In the Korean MMORPG Black Desert, a new desert zone called Valencia has gone live, which also presents players with climatic challenges.
Asia-MMO specialist Steparus’s love for Black Desert has noticeably cooled, but he has taken on the new region of Valencia in some videos. There is an interesting weather phenomenon here: In the heat of the scorching sun, players must consume filtered water to avoid heatstroke. At night, they need a special tea to prevent frostbite. Both liquids can be crafted if players have gathered resources.
While Steparu praises the beautiful landscape in the new zone, the patch has offered little to keep him entertained. Steparu, the main source of information in the West for what is happening in distant South Korea, has been complaining for months about a lack of group content in Black Desert.
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In the MOBA League of Legends, the champ Gangplank is indeed alive, albeit not entirely whole.
That was at least a mild shock last week when a short story was published by Riot, in which Gangplank kissed the planks of eternity, so to speak, lowering his sails. Miss Fortune had taken care of him.
Now an epilogue to the story has been released on the Riot homepage and it turns out [Spoiler]: Gangplank barely survived, but only with one arm. This means: He is coming back, but with a new standard look. Those who complete a matchmaking game with Gangplank by August 10 at 11:00 AM German time will also receive a free skin Captain Gangplank. This is meant to be remembered in League of Legends as a reminder of simpler, carefree times in Gangplank’s life.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
On Wednesday, a new SMITE patch will be released. There will be a crawling god and plenty of new skins, as well as some balancing changes.
Khepri the Dawnbringer
The Battleground of the Gods is expanding: Khepri the Dawnbringer will make his gaming debut starting August 5 with the patch “Rising Dawn”. In Egyptian mythology, he is an important part of daily life, as he is the one who guides the sun god Ra across the sky. Just as scarabs shape perfect balls from dung and earth to cradle their young, Khepri is also a god of rebirth: With the dawn of morning, he rolls Ra across the sky and through the underworld at night – until the sun rises again the next day.
In SMITE, Khepri is a guardian, but he differs greatly from his colleagues. Instead of fighting on the front lines, he maintains some distance with these abilities:
Through Fortitude (Passive), Khepri grants all allies around him a shield equal to 3% of their maximum health. The shield regenerates every 5 seconds (every 10 seconds in combat) and stacks up to a maximum of 15%.
With Abduct, the beetle god charges forward – if he touches an enemy god during this time, he slowly drags them back to his starting position, while the target is considered crippled for the duration of the pull.
Rising Dawn allows him to hurl a projectile in a straight line forward. Hit enemies take low damage for 3 seconds and lose a portion of their physical protection for the duration. Hit allies take 30-50% less damage for 3 seconds, depending on the skill level.
Solar Flare is a circular area spell that can be cast at long range. Hit enemies take damage and are briefly rooted.
His ultimate ability Scarab’s Blessing blesses an allied god. It removes all control effects, makes him immune to slow effects for a short time, increases his movement speed, and grants him additional power. If the allied god dies during the blessing period, he will instead be reborn at Khepri’s position with a portion of his health points.
The mechanic of rebirth definitely sounds exciting and offers new possibilities for how to play a guardian. Whether the concept works, everyone should try for themselves.
New Premium Skins: Cyber-Awilix and Musketeer-Freya
The Mayan goddess Awilix is receiving her first premium skin. Fans of the lively (and somewhat naive) goddess will soon be able to hop around the arena on a cyber panther. The look of Renegade Awilix seems to be inspired by worlds like Shadowrun.
With All For One!-Freya, the Nordic melee mage gets a somewhat medieval look in the style of the Three Musketeers. The crown of the Valkyries’ queen is replaced with a stylish feather hat and the icy blade is swapped for a rapier.
Cabrakan has probably stayed too close to a nuclear reactor, as his Gamma Slam skin makes him look more like Hulk rather than a mighty mountain. At most, a mountain of flesh.
All three of the above-mentioned skins come with their own voice pack, which will likely raise their price a bit.
Anubis will soon shine in the grandeur of his first Tier 2 skin, especially his headpiece has been upgraded with Afterlife Anubis. Khepri will receive his first recolor Imperator at launch and Medusa finally has the Gold/Legend/Diamond Skins completed.
Buffs and Nerfs: Ravana is happy; Bellona, Ratatoskr, and Ah Puch are not
This time, the balance screws are being adjusted again to achieve a more balanced gameplay experience.
The big winner of these adjustments is Ravana: His Overhead Kick has a 2-second shorter cooldown at all ranks and deals 15 base damage more than before. The 10-Hand-Shadow-Fist now grants 5 more healing at each rank and has increased base damage by nearly 10%.
Ah Puch will once again feel the nerf hammer: His Ultimate Empty the Crypts will be further weakened. Hit enemies will no longer be slowed.
The Roman war goddess Bellona also has to swallow hard: The cooldown of Eagle’s Rally will be raised to 75 seconds at all ranks and the slow from Shield Bash will be significantly reduced at the lower ranks.
The squirrel of discord Ratatoskr has lost some of his mobility: Dart can now only be triggered a maximum of 3 times in a row and Through the Cosmos has a delay of 1.5 seconds (instead of the previous 1.0).
In addition to the discussed changes to the gods, there are also some item adjustments and minor bug fixes scattered throughout the game.
In the MMO shooter Destiny , new enemies will await the Guardians with the expansion. One of them has now been introduced by Bungie: the Strike boss Dark Blade.
There isn’t much yet known about the new expansion for the MMO shooter Destiny “Taken King“, but a new Strike boss was revealed a few days ago: Dark Blade, known as Dunkelblade.
In a previous life, the Dark Blade was once a creature of the Hive, now he belongs to the Taken, those who were captured by Oryx and endowed with new powers. Dark Blade will be a boss in a Strike, which will be set in the new zone “Dreadnought”. The Dreadnought, Oryx’s fortress among the rings of Saturn, will be the primary setting for the new expansion.
Bungie promises new gameplay mechanics, plenty to explore, and puzzles.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The survival MMO H1Z1 has big plans for the future, while currently still busy with the house cleaning.
Just two days ago we reported: H1Z1 is hitting the brakes, intending to slow down the release of new game content to ensure that everything works properly. However, this doesn’t mean that nothing is happening; they are still pursuing their plans. After all, the game is expected to eventually grow out of Early Access.
In a conversation with a US MMO site, they outlined their next plans. Here’s what’s coming next in the zombie MMO H1Z1:
The next major feature will be guilds introduced into the game
and once they have that, they will again focus on base building, both are closely related: Through the guild system, guild members will be able to build here even when others are not online
Approximately in August, a large new multi-story building called the “hospital” will be added as a prominent location in the game, where players can also find aids such as advanced Medi-packs
Female zombies are expected to arrive around the same time as the hospital
The zombie ladies will also enable other types of zombies such as screamers, crawlers, or exploding zombies
Additionally, they plan to bring other skin colors to H1Z1, allowing both zombies and survivors to showcase different ethnicities
And the “professions” have been postponed, but not forgotten
To showcase the legendary skin of Tassadar from Heroes of the Storm a little better, Blizzard has now provided him with a small trailer.
Apocalypse: Canceled
Currently, the Mecha-Tassadar skin is available at a reduced price in Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm. To promote the rather unusual appearance of the Starcraft hero a bit, they have quickly put together a small introduction trailer. The video showcases not only the basic appearance of the alternative skin but also parts of his voice and, of course, the abilities in action, most of which have also been massively reworked. Additionally, there is even a unique mount, as Tassadar suddenly transforms into a fighter jet form. By the way, Mecha-Tassadar saves the world from the threat posed by Kaiju-Diablo – bringing back some childhood memories of the Power Rangers or cheesy mecha anime. You should definitely take a look at the metallic Protoss yourself:
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The pirate multiplayer game shown at E3 “Sea of Thieves” is said to be the best thing the cult studio Rare has ever made, at least if Microsoft is to be believed.
The development studio Rare had a partnership with Nintendo in the 90s. This period is where the studio gained its excellent reputation. Especially 007 Golden Eye on the Nintendo64 is considered a true masterpiece of the era. The first-person shooter has shaped the genre until today.
But those times are long gone, in 2002 Microsoft bought the Brits from Rare and has since then let them develop mainly for the Xbox and its successors. There have not been any real hits since then. That is supposed to change with the pirate multiplayer adventure “Sea of Thieves”.
A representative from Microsoft, Kuno Tsunoada, the mind behind Kinect, has expressed confidence that Sea of Thieves will be the best game Rare has ever made. The game should thrive on the emotions players develop during the story. That is precisely the strength of the development studio. In this direction, they want to continue to apply their efforts. And Sea of Thieves will be the best game Rare has ever developed.
There is still very little known about “Sea of Thieves” at this point, this trailer was shown at E3:
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Three tanks in different variations are set to find their way into the game. The heavy infantry support tank named after Winston Churchill, Churchill Mk. III, is supposed to excel particularly due to its superior armor.
The medium cruiser tank A34 “Comet” will have to make compromises in terms of armor, but in return, it is more maneuverable and has excellent firepower with a 17-pounder anti-tank gun for its weight of only 33 tons.
The medium tank Centurion was only completed at the end of World War II and could no longer intervene in the events, but proved itself in later conflicts. The extremely powerful QF-20-pounder main gun of the Centurions fires projectile shells. We have used the image of the Centurion as the title image.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The superhero MMO Marvel Heroes 2015 will probably rename itself every year to attract new tests and attention from gaming magazines.
When Marvel Heroes was released, it received a thrashing. The game just wasn’t very good. Reviewers took a look at it, found a lot to criticize, wrote their reviews: 58 points on the review aggregator Meta-Critic as a result. This is roughly equivalent to a 4 or 5+.
At Gazillion, they rolled up their sleeves, worked hard for success, and released new patches week after week. A fan base formed around the superhero brawler with Diablo in its DNA and a Marvel license in its back. The game improved significantly, but hardly anyone outside the fan base noticed. The 58 on Meta-Critic remained an indelible mark.
Gaming press has not yet adapted to new models
The problem behind this, explained David Brevik in an interview with gamesauce, is the gaming press. They looked at a game upon release and then not again, no matter how much the developers worked on it.
Normally, gaming magazines would come back for a new expansion to test, but since Marvel Heroes received weekly patches and everything was offered for free in the game, there was no thought of such a thing. They simply had no expansion to promote.
The gaming magazines had not yet adjusted to the new model of a “live service,” according to Brevik.
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With the new name, the testers returned to Marvel Heroes
Now even more lovable!
Therefore, they opted for a “rebranding”, transforming Marvel Heroes into Marvel Heroes 2015 last year; the gaming magazines came back, conducted a test – and the Meta-Critic rating shot up from 58 to 81.
This “rebranding” is now planned annually, similar to how sports games also release with a new number every year. But whether it will be called “Marvel Heroes 2016” is still uncertain. They are likely to rename the game again at the end of the year, again to “rebrand”, and it will coincide with a major patch.
Brevik now knows what they did wrong back then: They absolutely should have launched it as “beta”, then players and press would have tolerated much more.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Infusion: Restores health each time you pick up a Light Sphere
Scholar’s Touch: Restores Super Energy when an opponent is defeated with melee
Strength of the Ram: Enhanced armor. Each melee hit with the Voidwalker triggers “Lifesteal.”
Here, especially “Strength of the Ram” is decisive.
This is what the Ram does in Destiny’s PvE
In PvE, the “Lifesteal” effect allows Voidwalker Warlocks to significantly regenerate their health with a melee attack every 3 seconds. To trigger the Lifesteal effect, you do not have to kill enemies.
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In May, when many obtained the helmet for the first time, this aspect was considered the helmet’s decisive perk, making it a “Melee” PvE helmet for the Warlock.
However, these early discussions have become outdated, as the crucial trait becomes significant, especially in PvP.
This is what the Ram does in Destiny’s Crucible
The Ram’s helmet actually makes the Warlock not only a lifeforce-vampire but especially a cockroach: It survives many known “kill combinations” that it wouldn’t survive without the helmet, such as two body shots from sniper rifles with moderate firepower, some typical grenades, and two headshots with the Thorn. Although it survives these by a narrow margin, it does survive.
As a Sunsinger with the helmet, it even survives more classic kill conditions, such as the wave of the Blade Dancer or two body shots from a sniper rifle like Praedyth’s Revenge. This is thanks to the increased armor value – otherwise a relatively useless stat, because it is so difficult to raise to relevant heights, “The Ram” ensures that it has noticeable effects.
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Conclusion:The helmet is currently probably one of the strongest items in the game and gives Warlocks a significant tactical advantage in PvP due to the “Wasn’t he supposed to be dead?” surprise effect. In PvE, it is a strong item when playing solo, but in crucial moments during important PvE encounters, you would probably prefer another item, unless it is Brawler mode. With most enemies that matter, you do not want to engage up close.
Also considered strong: Handcuffs of Nothing.
In a comparison of all new exotics in “House of Wolves,” “The Ram” along with “Handcuffs of Nothing,” also a Warlock item, ranked at the top. Only “Heavenly Night Falcon” could reach similar heights. The Hunter helmet is strictly suitable for PvE. Apparently, the Warlock is the big “Exotic” winner of this DLC – also thanks to the Ram.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
At Evolve, the new Hunt Mode 2.0 is coming soon. The developers have addressed the community and provided answers to the most important questions.
Free for All Players
The first and most important question about the upcoming Hunt 2.0 update from Evolve should put many players at ease, who were already suspecting a cost trap: Like all game modes, Hunt 2.0 will be free.
In team play, an average is calculated to find a suitable monster.
Many players were worried about how their performance would be evaluated. Here, they have answered extensively and were mostly able to provide reassurance: Your rating as a Hunter is independent of your rating as a Monster. So if you are a very good Hunter but have never played Monster before, now is the perfect time to try the other side of Evolve – the opponents will be just as inexperienced as you are. The same applies, of course, if you have only played Monster so far and now want to try out the Hunter roles.
Furthermore, the current level you have achieved (between 1 and 40) will no longer be an indicator of what kind of opponents you will encounter. For the new opponent assignment, only your previous performance and league placement will be used.
Playing Together with Friends
The buffs of wildlife are still being revised.
Groups can still register together – with a maximum of 4 Hunters. With 5 players, no ranked game can be started, as the risk of cheating would be too high. But what happens if one player is in a higher league and another is in a lower one? In such a case, the system calculates the average value of the team and searches for a skilled Monster that approximately matches that average. Particularly pleasing (and long demanded) is the fact that a player who leaves the game shortly before a loss will now also be assigned a loss. This makes manipulation of the leaderboard more difficult.
The new Hunt 2.0 mode will completely replace the old one. However, the general game principle will not change. There will still be a revision of the wildlife buffs (some are too strong and others too weak), but otherwise, nothing will change in the general game mechanics.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the multiplayer shooter Star Wars Battlefront, the developers at DICE feel the pressure that comes with the name “Star Wars”. The publishers at Electronic Arts are excited about extremely strong pre-orders.
At Electronic Arts, there is a good mood: Star Wars Battlefront is being well received, it was said during the announcement of the quarterly figures. After the presentation of Star Wars Battlefront at E3, pre-orders exploded. The numbers are “extremely strong.” Electronic Arts seems to have already planned Battlefront as a hit.
Now similar results are expected from Gamescom. They look forward to Gamescom, consider the public fair an important moment, and anticipate overwhelming reactions.
Meanwhile, the developers at DICE remain humble in every interview: It is not about making a DICE game with Star Wars Battlefront, but rather it has to be a Star Wars game with the qualities of a DICE game, said General Manager Patrick Bach to GameIndustry.
A lot is at stake for the Swedish developer studio, it is clear. With success, they could soar, no longer regarded as just a Battlefield studio, but as a Star Wars studio. However, Bach dismisses this notion, stating that at DICE they do not try to plan too far ahead, as that could lead to a loss of passion. When you plan big and then have to change those plans, it can cost creativity.
It is probably better to be prepared for everything and then to respond spontaneously to events.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Anyone who has ever been on an RP server in World of Warcraft knows that these people often do not understand fun. But why is that?
Atmosphere leeches harm roleplaying
If you start on the wrong server, you not only diminish your own enjoyment but also that of all others, even if unintentionally.
For most players of World of Warcraft, roleplaying is a book with seven seals. RPers are a strange fringe phenomenon that simply behaves oddly and sometimes surprisingly hostile.
But why are roleplayers on their own servers often so terribly dismissive towards those who do not share their passion and love for embodying their avatars? This can basically be explained quite easily: It is a simple protective mechanism.
Roleplaying thrives on a vibrant world where as many other RPers as possible wander about. This “beautiful, perfect world” is gradually destroyed when more and more players join a roleplaying server who have nothing to do with roleplaying, but are only “here because of the nice atmosphere”. On the one hand, that is of course understandable: RP realms usually have a somewhat elevated linguistic style because roleplayers generally place a high value on spelling and are somewhat allergic to abbreviations. A “Let’s take off to deal with the witch” sounds much better than “lfm pvp-m8s, warlocks ganken“.
When all else fails, we become mean…
Quick action against non-roleplayers: All purely self-defense.
Most of the time, attempts are made to convert lost souls: Because anyone who is not a roleplayer can still become one. Some “Xhúntêrkìllôr” turned out to be a perfectly acceptable teammate weeks later.
The problem is those who come to an RP server and have nothing to do with RP. Over the years, it has unfortunately been shown that politely pointing out the wrong server choice does not lead to success. Only one thing has worked relatively long: Ruthless rejection, at least towards the worst troublemakers. Even today, the forum of the realm “Die Aldor” is regarded as a den of nastiness. Only a few still know the origins of this. Anyone who finds this harsh and unjustified I always like to give the following comparison:
Imagine a tennis team wanting to play on the tennis court. However, the court can only be used to a limited extent because unfortunately, a boxing club has decided to train on the tennis court today.
Roleplayers meeting in Stormwind – luckily without troublemakers.
Exactly like this, RPers feel when everyone else comes with the argument “But I also pay my 13 euros a month!” – Hey, why don’t you play on a server that does not explicitly say “roleplaying”?
… and yet are actually quite nice.
Basically, RPers are also just normal players who prefer a different way of playing. Just like raiders would likely freak out if PvPers could suddenly attack an instance, it bothers us when someone in sparkling armor spams spells and hops through the RP tavern while spamming “olololol”.
Nevertheless, RPers are not so far from the others as one might think. While in PvE people complain about hunters, bad tanks, and AFK healers, roleplayers also suffer from their little problems. The video “Aldor-RP – Chapter 1” from the German Youtuber M.N. Machinimas parodies exactly such issues. From strange character concepts to the eternal “I do better RP than you!” discussion to the creepy figures from Goldshire, the video amusingly shows what roleplayers have to deal with.
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I hope this post could help you empathize a little with the “elite, unfriendly, and aggressive” RPers – because behind them are almost always just ordinary, nice people who want to protect what makes them happy. And unlike other groups, they can only do this themselves, as game developers rarely care.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the Free2Play MMO Skyforge , additional classes must be unlocked. How does that work?
Normally, MMORPGs start with character creation. Here, one of many classes can be chosen, and that is what you stick with for your hero’s journey. In the new Free2Play MMO Skyforge, it’s different. The hero can switch between the available classes at any time. It works similarly to a MOBA. However, not every hero is immediately selectable in Skyforge.
But how can you unlock additional classes in Skyforge?
First, you must choose one of the three base classes. Everyone starts with these: the Tank Paladin, the Support Lichthüter , and the Range-DPS Cryomancer.
Players who have purchased a founder’s package or a Collector’s Edition have access to a larger selection. They can use this to acquire up to four classes in Skyforge. However, fundamentally, the following remains unchanged. Even players who purchase packages and thus gain access to classes must unlock the following.
The Cryomancer – one of the three base classes in Skyforge.
As one of these three classes in Skyforge, you will initially collect the “colored” sparks in green, red, or yellow. This can be done both in the “open quest areas” when completing quests there for the first time and through adventures. You receive the development sparks after completing the instance.
By choosing exactly the adventure that promises the right sparks, you can somewhat control your progress.
First unlock the basic function of the base class in Skyforge
Pressing “K” takes you to the skill tree of the respective class. Here, you must first unlock the basic abilities of Cryomancer, Lichthüter, or Paladin with “colored sparks”. These are essentially the base functions. Progress is relatively quick until you reach a junction that unlocks “the second level of the Atlas and class sparks”.
This point needs to be reached.
Now, you will regularly receive sparks for exactly the class you are playing during normal adventures. These are not colored but presented in white. You loot these class sparks from regular enemies, mid-bosses, or instance bosses.
Then search for the way in the second level of the Atlas of Progress
Important for “unlocking” new classes is the second level of the Atlas of Progress, which you also reach by pressing the “K” key; you can switch tabs at the top left. Here, you need the colored sparks to unlock additional junctions.
Now, you must choose the class you want to unlock. To decide which class is right for you, players can run a trial for all in the research center or check this article.
Once you have decided on a class, you now need to locate the junction where the “new class” you want to play is connected. Then you mark this junction with a right-click and select “Find Path,” and Skyforge’s interface will then continuously inform you which sparks you need to collect to ultimately step into the role of your desired class.
… and finally become the class you want
As you collect these colored sparks, you also receive class sparks, allowing you to chase your desired class in the second level while improving your current class in the first level.
Be careful: While medium classes like the Kinetiker, archer, shadow master, or necromancer are relatively quick to achieve, advanced classes like the monk, knight, warlock, gunner, berserker, or alchemist require significantly more effort.
It is important to note that not every junction in Skyforge costs the same; points far from the base classes can cost up to 600 sparks.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MMO shooter Destiny takes a lot of time that not everyone has. But even after-work Guardians love the game – some days much more than others.
Life is beautiful. No, not with Jade. Although as an after-work Guardian, in the morning after a Destiny session and a maximum of three hours of sleep, the cosmetics would really come in handy to at least somewhat cover the dark rings under my eyes.
Exceptionally, I am currently in a good mood about our beloved game. Because it has actually happened: After the second Nightfall of the week (Taniks), I only hear in the party “Tschallahorn. There is the Tschallahorn!” and I am already close to my next outburst of anger because of this damn game and that again everyone else is getting the good loot, until I eventually realize that the thing has actually dropped for me.
My voice gets so squeaky with joy that my clan mate mistakenly confuses me with the ten-year-old son of our fellow Guardian. But I don’t care. Today I forgive him everything.
“There it is!” Just like Oliver Kahn (@Junghüter: that is basically the dad of Manuel Neuer), I would love to grab the trophy now and hold it up to all the cameras in the world. It fits somehow, he’s also a “Titan” – better said: “THE Titan!”
Actually, I thought I would either never get the thing or very precisely one day before the G-Horn nerf. But now it has happened much earlier, and I can finally call the Chuck Norris among rocket launchers (with “Wolfpack Roundhouse Kick”) my own. Now I just have to level it up. And I started that yesterday as well. Well, I tried. But apparently I was just too tired around three in the morning. Quickly before going to bed, go to the moon, complete two loot missions, and turn them in.
Of course, it’s very important before turning in to switch the weapons and armor. But you can quickly lose track of that and forget the ONE weapon that you actually wanted to level. But even that doesn’t drive me up the wall this evening. Life is beautiful. I am tired.
This guest post comes from after-work Guardian Bernd Mutschler. To his first column, where he describes life between wife, child, full-time job, and Destiny, click here:
Since yesterday, players can experience the second part of the nightmare saga from the current RIFT patch Wandering Nightmares and face the new story missions.
The Origin of Lord Arak
The story quests of the current Rift patch 3.3 “Wandering Nightmares” were not all available at launch. Since yesterday, players can play the second of a total of three acts. In this part of the story, you travel back in time and experience crucial moments that shaped Telara into the world it is today. Alongside the events of the Mathosian Civil War and the fall of Sprosshafen, players seek to uncover the origin of Lord Arak.
Who is Lord Arak really? Where does he come from?
Those who face time travel can expect some rewards, such as a personal NPC that opens portals to all sorts of (random) places. Since some of these rewards are tradable, they also make great additional income or gifts for fellow players.
The third act is expected to follow in August and conclude the nightmare saga – a big final battle is likely ahead.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The community of the MMORPG Shroud of the Avatar has been discussing random encounters in the game for some time. Do they make sense in an MMORPG?
Random encounters are perhaps known from Japanese role-playing games like the Final Fantasy series. The hero wanders through the landscape, and suddenly a battle occurs out of the blue. This should have provided excitement in the past, but it also always brought frustration. Especially when trying to quickly reach the next town with only a few hit points left, enemies would suddenly appear out of nowhere and finish you off. These random battles were already present in The Bard’s Tale games from the 1980s – so they have a tradition in the RPG genre.
Random battles in MMORPGs?
In the upcoming online game Shroud of the Avatar, which is already being tested in Pre-Alpha, such random encounters also play a role. You wander alone or in a group across the world map, and suddenly you are pulled into a scene where you have to face some bandits or skeletons. This leads to ongoing discussions in the community, as it raises the question of whether random battles can even work in an MMORPG.
Everyone is prepared…and then random opponents appear just before the fight and throw all planning out the window. How would that be? (Image from Final Fantasy)
A nice surprise!
Random encounters always bring an element of surprise and a certain tension. You can never be sure if you are being lured into an ambush. However, it also throws all planning out the window. You are well-equipped in the group, have prepared everything for the next boss fight, and suddenly you are confronted by some skeletons. All that planning is then in vain. Generally, a well-thought-out tactic is important for many MMORPG fans.
You want to be well-prepared, as many are not satisfied with just defeating the boss. They want to do it as effectively and quickly as possible. The strategy must succeed.
You get into the perfect position for a selfie and suddenly opponents ambush you… Annoying or exciting?
If you are then distracted by random encounters, it is annoying – in addition, you cannot prepare for them and must act spontaneously. Quickly coordinate the group and ensure that you are effective despite all the surprises. This can lead to frustration on one hand, but on the other, it can also offer a new challenge.
Random encounters in an MMORPG can thus work and bring tension to the game. However, not all gamers will like this feature, especially those who prefer to plan every battle well.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
For the free-to-play MMO shooter Warframe , a new update titled “Echoes of the Sentients” is released. This brings the new Warframe Equinox and introduces a kind of parkour system.
Warframe is growing and thriving, with fresh gameplay content coming with the new update. The three main changes are:
Players can embark on a quest to unlock the new versatile Warframe Equinox.
A movement system brings real momentum to the game, similar to a parkour system with climbing, jumping, grappling, and gliding.
With Archwing, players can now also explore underwater; a dive mode allows the waters beneath Uranus to be explored.
Additionally, there is a new boss, new weapons, and plenty to discover.
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Every day, new information about the upcoming Hearthstone expansion “The Grand Tournament” is being published. In addition to 4 new cards, there is also a new card back that you can earn in August.
Class Cards for Mages and Warlocks
A new class card for the Mage has been revealed, the Spellslinger. For 3 mana, its stats of 3/4 are relatively solid. However, as is common with Mages, the card also has a high element of randomness: Both players receive a random spell card. The usefulness of the Spellslinger can range from “Saved my game” to “Led to my downfall.”
Demon Fuse is the new card of the Warlock. For 2 mana, a demon on the board is buffed by +3/+3, but the opponent gains a mana crystal in return. Warlock rush decks could become even stronger, especially demons with additional effects, like The Mistress of Pain, should benefit greatly from this.
Two Neutral Minions from the Crusade
The Argent Horserider is a neutral minion with terrible stats of 2/1 for 3 mana. However, it has charge and divine shield and can deal the finishing blow to many stronger minions without leaving the board itself.
The last new card for today is the neutral Argent Watchman. For only 2 mana, it has impressive stats of 2/4. Its major drawback: It normally cannot attack and has “Inspiration: Can attack normally this turn.” In order to participate in the battle with this minion, 2 additional mana must be invested each round. Deck builders will surely find a use for it, but so far it seems to be the weakest card of the new expansion.
New Card Back in the Name of the Tournament
Regardless of the new expansion, you can also earn a new card back in August. As usual, you just need to reach rank 20 in ranked play to receive the new card back at the end of the month. Since you cannot lose rating until that rank, it’s relatively easy to earn the card back.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Germany, the sale of a white limited edition Playstation for the Destiny expansion “The Taken King” has begun.
The white beauty, the Playstation bundle with the special look, that we introduced to you a month ago, is now available for pre-order. While it can be ordered through retailers like Amazon in other countries, according to the Playstation blog, it is only available at Media Markt in Germany.
There, the exclusive bundle costs 429 euros. It consists of a white 500 GB Playstation in the Destiny design and the legendary edition of “The Taken King.” The version includes the expansion “The Taken King,” the base game, and the first two DLCs “The Dark Below” and “House of Wolves.” In addition, the version includes an upgrade to the digital collector’s edition which comes with three exotic class items with EXP bonus, three emotes, three shaders, and an early access weapon pack.
The bundle is now available for pre-order, it can only be picked up with the release of “The Taken King” on September 15. It can also be shipped, with shipping costs of 4.99€ applied.
Disclaimer: We do not receive anything from Media Markt for this article. This is purely informational, as some readers have inquired about the edition.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
