With the upcoming expansion “The Grand Tournament“, Blizzard is making some changes to the HearthStone game modes Arena and Brawl. We will discuss the details.
More Random Elements, Even in Card Packs
In Arena, packs from all expansions could soon be obtainable.
The Arena mode is definitely the funnest way to earn new card packs in HearthStone. Although the entry fee is a bit higher than buying packs directly from the shop, you get to enjoy some exciting matches and quite unique decks.
With the increasing number of cards and expansions, however, a problem arises: So far, the Arena always rewards with card packs from the latest expansion – but what if you still want to collect cards from the “old” addons?
For this reason, the Arena rewards will soon be randomized. This means that a round can contain a classic, Goblins vs. Gnomes, or The Grand Tournament pack. The overall value of Arena rewards will not change. Whether players will receive the new packs more frequently at least at the start of “The Grand Tournament” remains to be seen.
Even More Surprises in Brawl
The most popular game modes will return once again.
Currently, there is the Brawl mode that introduces new rules every Wednesday. This will also change in the future, as particularly popular or creative modes will return (Who wouldn’t want to see Ragnaros vs. Nefarian again?) and the dates of the releases could also be adjusted.
How long there are still card packs to win for the first victory of the week remains open, as well as the question of whether Brawl might even cost an entry fee at some point, like Arena.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The SF-MMO EVE Online was very successful with a trailer that featured gameplay footage from the game along with actual player comments from voice chat. A fan has now done the same, but with somewhat “harder” communication.
The “This is EVE” trailer gave chills in November 2014, whether you know the game or not. Players strategize and communicate with each other while their massive ships head into battle. And no matter how stressful all of this is, the players remain respectful and civilized towards one another.
Anyone who is at home in online worlds knows: Well, that’s not always the case. Someone has put a friendly filter over the events. This was also thought by YouTuber John Dress, who took the scenes and overlayed them with significantly harsher vocabulary: Delicate souls should not subject themselves to this. Everyone else might want to turn down the volume beforehand and make sure no one is listening… There are a few F-bombs on the way.
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Perfect World releases the mobile version of the MMORPG Forsaken World today. Now, adventures in the dark fantasy world can also be experienced on the go.
If you are often on the go and enjoy MMOs, you are probably always looking for representatives of the genre that are worth playing. Now, with Forsaken World, such a game is on the starting blocks.
From today, the mobile version is available through the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Visually, the version has been slightly pared down and adjusted to the capabilities of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. The controls have also been adapted so that the MMORPG can now be played well with touch inputs.
Forsaken World goes mobile
Perfect World hasn’t changed much about the content. You are still exploring a dark fantasy world, where you can even become a vampire. The story revolves around a sinister threat that can only be contained if the heroes find and assemble the seven pieces of a magical talisman.
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You create your character based on five classes and then set off from a third-person perspective to explore the vast world, complete quests, talk to NPCs, and fight against monsters.
The class and talent system has been simplified somewhat compared to the PC version. Instead, there is the Dreamscape, where every player can obtain special artifacts. These artifacts improve the hero in various ways. The PvP also offers a unique feature: during player-versus-player battles, you collect soul fragments from opponents, which grant special bonuses during battles.
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If you want to play a Mobile MMORPG on the go, you can check out Forsaken World for iOS or Android, as it is actually one of the better genre representatives for mobile devices.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny , the Trials of Osiris are a PvP event for the elite. The head of it has now given an interview. It revolved around the question of whether it is okay to pay for a trip to Mercury.
The Playboy is known for its high-quality articles about online shooters. One of the magazine’s journalists, who can only be read for the articles, is apparently a Destiny fan and recently had himself taken to Mercury for money (tch!).
The Playboy hired paid Destiny mercenaries for research purposes, paying between $30 (to a streamer who does it for donations) and $100 (for a semi-professional group with a website) per run. Even though these players are all afraid of Bungie’s revenge, they take the risk. For some, this is reportedly a lucrative business. The group with the $100 price tag aims to make up to $6,000 per week, which divided by 6 people (that’s how many are involved) is still a considerable sum.
Now the Playboy asked Derek Carroll, the head of this mode, what he thinks about it.
At Bungie there is no “official statement” on this. At least none that Carroll knows of. When asked again, he responded: “We avoid the topic and will continue to do so. I really have nothing to say about it.”
He himself thinks it’s great when players carry their friends if one is strong enough to lead one or two others to success. However, when money comes into play, he finds it somehow “creepy.”
More info on the Trials of Osiris in Destiny
Otherwise, there were these additional infos in the interview regarding the Trials of Osiris:
Maps like “Rusted Lands” were to be avoided; many are already familiar with them, instead, the focus was on “House of Wolves.”
Fans increasingly demand that the Burning Shrine should ALWAYS come up.
That you need 9 wins is no coincidence; it was determined based on investigations and mathematical considerations.
They wanted everyone to try the Trials of Osiris, but knew that casual players would drop out.
Trials of Osiris are becoming more “hardcore” from week to week; they lose players in the activity week by week, which they were already aware of; online games are like that unless you change the rewards.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The head of the MMO studio Daybreak Game Company (H1Z1, Everquest Next, Planetside 2) John Smedley is stepping down from his position as CEO and President. A dispute against a group of cybercriminals preceded his resignation.
John Smedley is an industry veteran and one of the figures who has significantly shaped the MMO genre over the years. He held a leading position in genre milestones like Everquest and Star Wars Galaxies. Currently, his studio Daybreak Game Company, which he led away from Sony, is handling several high-profile titles in the MMO market with H1Z1, Planetside 2, and DC Universe Online; additionally, Everquest Next is being developed as one of the most promising MMORPG titles of the next few years.
As DGC told the business site VentureBeat, Smedley has stepped down as President and CEO but will not leave DGC; instead, he will take a break and then rejoin in a different position. The current Chief Operating Officer Russel Shanks will take over as President.
Smedley’s decision comes after a public drama in several acts involving cybercriminals. Smedley and his family were victims of a group of cybercriminals last year who played cruel tricks on them. A probation ruling against one of the participants led to a strong reaction from Smedley on Twitter, where he announced his intention to take legal action against the cybercriminal’s parents. Consequently, the games produced by Daybreak Game Company suffered from DDoS attacks. Fans criticized Smedley, claiming he brought this upon them.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The little pests will appear in the sewers and will run around crazily, darting through enemy mob groups. They must be killed quickly if the heroes want to get to their treasures. If they take too long, they will escape with their loot through a portal to another dimension. This means: players will need to exert themselves and take risks to defeat the pests.
There will be two types of skamps appearing in the sewers:
Greedy skamps will leave behind gold and crafting materials
HearthStone is getting its next expansion. As previously suspected, it is a variation of the Argent Tournament: “The Grand Tournament” is expected next month!
Just as expected, but much crazier
No one really doubted anymore that the new HearthStone expansion would be about the Argent Tournament. And yet Eric Dodds was able to reveal a lot of secrets. But let’s not beat around the bush: What can you expect with the expansion “The Grand Tournament?”
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The new board – so much to discover and the crowd even cheers along!
The Grand Tournament is a card expansion – so “just” new packs with a lot of new cards. There will be 130 new cards that can either be purchased in the shop or earned in the arena once the expansion goes live. In addition to the new cards, there will also be a new game board that holds many secrets and will likely come into play when the opponent takes a full 90 seconds for their turn.
New keyword and mechanics
There will be a new keyword (Taunt, Battlecry, etc.) on some cards: Inspiration. Cards with this term trigger an effect as soon as the hero power of the player’s character is used. A few examples:
The Lowly Squire gets +1 Attack each time the hero power is used.
Nexus-Champion Saraad gives the player a random spell each time the hero power is used.
The Kodorider summons a 3/5 Kodo each time the hero power is used.
Besides that, there are also some cards that change hero powers. The Maiden of the Lake reduces the mana cost of the hero power to 1, and the Coldarra Drake allows players to use their ability unlimited times per turn (as long as they can pay the mana cost).
Hero powers become noticeably more useful with these cards.
Pre-sale for card packs
Blizzard will provide an option to pre-order card packs this time. So far, we only know that the packs will cost the same as the previous ones. Anyone who decides to pre-order 50 card packs of “The Grand Tournament” starting next week will not only receive a discount but also an exclusive card back that will only be available during the pre-order phase.
New cards – A little preview
In conclusion, we show you the other cards that have been revealed so far. The collection is certainly not complete, and Blizzard will showcase all newcomers in the coming days, but these examples already give a good impression of the fun madness that awaits us.
What do you think of these new cards?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fantasy MMORPG Guild Wars 2 is making some waves about Heart of Thorns. With the “Tempest,” the storm mage, the new specialization of the elementalist is introduced.
“Prestige classes” or “Elite specializations,” you might call what Guild Wars 2 is planning with the well-known classes in the Heart of Thorns expansion:
The specialization of the elementalist has now been exclusively introduced to the US site TenTonHammer, so there are no German terms for the individual abilities yet.
Elementalist goes overboard in Heart of Thorns
The basic idea behind the Tempest is that it, when it stays in certain elemental directions long enough, can “overload” them, to invoke particularly spectacular effects.
It will take between 2.75 and 5 seconds to complete such an overload. While the storm mage charges it, one effect occurs, and at the end another. The “thick end” comes, so to speak, at the end – like a crash of thunder.
This is what happens during the overloads:
With Fire, an infernal firestorm builds up that deals damage over time to enemies and empowers allies. At the end of the effect, this firestorm remains for a time.
With Water, a large water bubble forms that cleanses and regenerates players. When it bursts, allies receive a large healing spell.
If the Tempest unleashes the powers of Air, a thundercloud forms above it that hits enemies multiple times. When the ability is successfully completed, it leaves a lightning field that also damages enemies.
With the Earth overload, the storm mage will protect allies and slow down enemies. It seemingly merges with the earth. When it reappears, a debilitating eruption occurs.
It also gets a war horn
As a new weapon, the storm mage will be able to use a war horn. ArenaNet envisions “Dagger/Warlord” builds. The storm mage is intended as a fighter for close and mid-range, who supports his companions and exerts constant pressure on the enemies.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the Free2Play MMO Aion , the European publisher Gameforge aims to prevent summer fatigue.
The summer slump in MMORPGs is not exactly a huge problem for humanity, but it is undeniable. Much fresh content usually does not come over the summer: vacations are taken, and things are generally a bit quieter everywhere. At Aion, they want to combat this with four events.
Starting today, July 22, it begins:
The legendary symphony runs until August 5.
Then there’s Trillionerks Gold Storage until August 26.
From then on, two events will run in parallel: Scale Collector and Healing Sanctuary will be active until September 9.
In the legendary symphony, sheet music can be exchanged for rewards.
And they are adding some boosts to sweeten the players’ summer:
As is customary on Wednesdays, a new “Card Chaos” variant has just been released in HearthStone. This time you can unpack your strongest minions …
10 Mana. Every Round. Kael’thas would drool.
The latest card battle is called “Heart of the Sunwell”. Those who know a bit about the lore are aware that the well is a source of eternal magic – a virtually endless supply of mana. And that is what is coming into play now! For in the first turn, both players have a proud 10 mana crystals – those who want, can thus fill their board directly with powerful minions like giants or dragons. The played decks can be freely constructed, but are otherwise subject to the same rules as usual. Since the cards from your collection are used, you can only include those in your deck that you own.
This week promises to be very fun again, as there are many extreme situations that can quickly turn into their opposite – at least everyone should treat themselves to a few matches.
Thanks to Ice Block – The party is about to end.
As usual, this week also offers a classic card pack for the first victory. Since it is very easy to earn, you should not miss it!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Second Life by developer Linden Lab showed at release in 2003 that an MMO focused on social aspects can be very successful. But what could the next generation of such a social MMO look like?
Second Life is a phenomenon that still holds some relevance today. While you don’t hear much about the game anymore, according to the developers, between 30,000 and 60,000 users are still logged in simultaneously. In Second Life, you don’t go on adventures in foreign worlds, you aren’t a powerful wizard, and you don’t defeat dark dragons. As the name suggests, you live a second life. You run your own disco, manage your own virtual company, and even have another family. Many are drawn to this escape from everyday life to simply live a different life.
It’s true: #ProjectSansar is the codename/project name of our new virtual experience platform. Final name to be revealed in the future. #VR
Linden Lab has now talked about how the player experience could be expanded. However, it is not actually a discussion about an expansion of Second Life, even though the game is still doing very well. Virtual reality isn’t where the developers are really focusing either – even though they already support Oculus Rift and want to expand this support further.
Image from Second Life
Rather, they are working on the next virtual world, called Sansar. However, Sansar will not simply be a prettier Second Life. Communication with the community is at the center. Through a very simple interface, which the developers compare to Instagram or WordPress, anyone can share their ideas with the developers, who can implement them easily using very powerful tools.
[intense_blockquote color=”#ebebeb” width=”50%” rightalign=”1″]Second Life, social MMO and children – why this could become problematic, read here: Crime in Online Games.[/intense_blockquote]
Some of these tools will also be made directly accessible to players. Sansar aims to highlight creativity. Additionally, the new game wants to be more accessible, which means that on one hand, the age limit will be lowered to 13 years, and parents will have more options to restrict content for their children.
Virtual classrooms and music concerts
Additionally, players should be able to find each other more easily and quickly, for example, through virtual classrooms or music concerts. The developers want to monetize Sansar like Second Life through the sale of land. However, the prices are expected to be significantly cheaper than in Second Life. In general, they want to offer players a larger version of Second Life with Sansar, in which they have even more opportunities, can be even more creative, and can interact with other players even more.
Sansar is not intended to replace Second Life, but to become something independent. Virtual reality will also play a role, but the developers believe that the technology is not yet mature enough, and they will grow with it. The better VR works, the more the technology will be utilized in Sansar.
When “Sansar” will be released is currently still not clear.
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In the Wuxia MMORPG Blade and Soul, fans in the West can vote on which of 10 costumes should make it into the final game. In Korea, however, they will merge servers.
Blade and Soul is currently in the “We are building a community” phase here in the West. By the end of the year, the game, which has been out in Korea for so long, is set to enter an open beta phase. Likely to increase community engagement and promote their social media, players have been asked to design costume concepts.
From the submissions, 10 have been filtered out: 5 for North America and 5 for Europe. Players can now vote on Facebook for which costumes they want to see in the game. The voting will run until July 27 at 8:59 our time. Each player has two votes: one for a costume from NA and one for one from good ole Europe.
However, news from Korea is not so good. According to 2p, the 30 servers there are soon to become 9. This will be the second major server merge since May 2013, they say.
In the MMO shooter Destiny a builder has now recreated the hand cannon Dorn – and this one actually shoots – although not with poisonous ammunition.
The weapons in Destiny are probably the centerpiece of the game, especially around the exotic weapons a small cult has formed. This invites hobby builders to bring these pixel guns into our world by all possible means. The most popular method is 3D printing.
The weapon is designed to correspond 1:1 to the original (if it existed). So this thing is quite a piece with a length of half a meter: Here is an early version of the do-it-yourself Dorn in action – it only lacks the turning of the white wall green.
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The latest trailer for Heroes of the Storm shows why you should better avoid the undead lord Leoric. He has a very skillful hand in choosing his allies …
“I only choose allies who will never betray me!”
Since today, the latest character from Heroes of the Storm, the Skeleton King Leoric, is available in the game. Driven slowly mad by the corruption, he saw only hate and betrayal around him, which ultimately led to his death. But Leoric will not fall victim to such a trick a second time!
As is customary for Blizzard, the more or less good sir is also presented with his own trailer. It is now also the norm (and the expectation of players) that trailers have a serious story component and then a humorous punchline – but what am I telling you? You’d best see for yourselves:
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The former monarch of Tristram can be purchased for a proud 15,000 gold in the first weeks. Those who have no idea what to expect from Leoric should also take a quick look at his abilities to avoid unpleasant surprises.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A YouTuber has once again demonstrated how beautiful World of Warcraft could look with HD graphics in the Unreal Engine. The result is a revamped Westfall.
Rogues, Dust Devils, and Beautiful Visuals
Westfall is not only the home of the Defias Brotherhood, but also a refuge for many homeless people who can no longer be supported by Stormwind. All in all, a pretty rundown area that is also plagued by gnolls, insane harvesters, and murlocs.
To spice up the zone a bit, YouTuber Daniel L has now created Westfall using the Unreal 4 Engine – thus catapulting the human area into a new graphical dimension. Take a look at an early version that will raise the question for some: “What if WoW looked like this?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPc-YE29jv8
Daniel L has previously done a redesign of the Elwynn Forest and will likely recreate more zones throughout the project.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Free2Play MMO World of Tanks is coming to Xbox One. Players can now start downloading the game. Anyone who does so by July 27 will receive a tank.
It has been clear for a long time, when the tank war will start on Xbox One: on July 28. Now the pre-download has begun. For reasons that are certainly not entirely altruistic, Wargaming wants to make sure that as many people as possible take advantage of it and to avoid stress on release day, so they are incentivizing prospective tank commanders to pre-download World of Tanks: Anyone who downloads the Xbox One version of the Free2Play hit by July 27 will receive a T1E6-X1 tank.
Players will find the tank in their garage upon release and can also use it on Xbox 360.
But now we have a video for you that will even elicit a small “Oookay, that’s not bad” from the most hardened players. A Warrior has the board and the Mage’s HP completely under control, but Jaina has set a little trap…
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A new Wednesday, but an old topic. The last few weeks have kept a World of Warcraft fan from sleeping peacefully. Whether it’s about the content drought, the sudden end of the addon, or supposed leaks about the future – everything causes stomach pain.
Fears of the Future (in a different way) …
Freedom on Draenor. Hmja. Almost.
I don’t know how you all have been feeling in recent days, but I’m worried about the development of World of Warcraft. Not in the sense of “WoW is dead and the end of all days is coming” (because that will never happen quickly – and that’s a good thing), but in the sense of “Who is actually making such strange things?”. I am greatly disturbed by the latest developments in one of my favorite games. First, the Tanaan Jungle, which was supposed to be playable with the launch of WoD, was suddenly declared the middle, peak, and endpoint, and then it disappoints across the board. The area is boring and monotonous. On top of that come the lore blunders, like the peace-happiness-egg-cake Yrel, who slowly jumps over a flower field with her declared nemesis Grommash Hellscream.
Sylvanas is exciting – unfortunately only currently in Heroes of the Storm.
If one wants to believe the latest leaks – to be honest, I don’t, but let’s assume for a moment – then this trend continues. Storylines are being dropped, the really exciting stories are not progressing (Sylvanas! You want it too!) and conflict potentials in the world are being resolved (Sunwell cleaned, warlocks accepted by humans).
… and wishes for the past.
It’s a bit like that cool fantasy world you invented during boring Latin class in seventh grade. Back then, you loved it, and even today, a brief skim of the text overwhelms you with nostalgia. However, the more you delve into it, the clearer it becomes: It no longer convinces me. And yet it doesn’t let go of you, and the question arises: “What if…?”
Must-have in any lore collection: The Pen&Paper rulebooks.
Warcraft has been and is for me the “one” great universe that has filled a large part of my youth with great ideas, interesting worlds, and exciting plots. And I’m not just talking about the video games. I also love the accompanying Pen&Paper system, the numerous novels, the comics/mangas, and all the fan creations like the audio play Allimania.
I will probably only realize how great World of Warcraft still is when the servers are shut down and the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia cover this time as well. Nevertheless, I am extremely excited about the Warcraft movie. Until it appears, I will probably just log in to escape every night into the beautiful world of role-playing (and before Schuhmann) – but I will tell you about that another time.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The mech spectacle Mechwarrior Online is getting European servers in Strasbourg. This should reduce the pings.
Battlemechs or simply Mechs are giant combat machines controlled by humans. Long before “Pacific Rim,” there was the board game Battletech in the 80s. This led to a franchise, indeed a whole cosmos, with novels, video game adaptations, and much more. The series became quite popular in Germany under the auspices of Funcom.
Since September 2013, there has also been an MMO spin-off of the franchise: Mechwarrior Online. However, European pilots previously suffered from ping disadvantages compared to their American competitors.
That is about to change: Since this week, servers in Strasbourg are active. The developers at Piranha Games proudly showcase the nice low pings.
In Europe, the mechs are well received: 38% of all players are from Europe, according to the developers’ statistics. Germany is leading in this regard. The love affair between Germany and its mechs continues.
In Destiny, some players are still searching for the secret sixth chest in the raid “The Vault of Glass.” Now they have achieved what some thought had to be done: all Gorgons were dead at the same time. What happened?
The raid “The Vault of Glass,” which came to Destiny in September 2014, still fascinates some hardcore players. There is a search for a secret, a sixth chest. Although Bungie has never said that this chest exists, they have made it clear that they would never comment on something like that, neither positively nor negatively, yet a real cult has formed around this “sixth chest.”
In a dedicated subreddit on reddit they discuss what conditions must be met to find the sixth chest. In the eyes of the “Seekers,” there is a lot of evidence suggesting that there must be a sixth chest:
In earlier Bungie games, complicated special rewards were hidden, some of which were only found after years when the most absurd conditions were met.
And the complex structure of the raid “The Vault of Glass” with various mechanisms indicates to the “Secret Seekers” that there must be something hidden somewhere.
One of the prevailing “6th chest” theories stated, all eight “Gorgons” must be defeated at the same time, then they would no longer respawn, something would change in the raid, and ultimately a new chest would be found. But implementing this proved to be difficult.
After about 10 months, it has now been successful to put this theory into practice:
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In response to the rather disappointing comment: “Well, I guess that’s it for the sixth chest. The air is out. There’s nothing,” came a prompt reply from the community. “Yes, but that was only on normal. Maybe it has to be done on hard!”
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
