Skyforge: The first big patch – Crucible of the Gods comes in 2 weeks

The fantasy/SF MMORPG is currently somewhat incomplete. That will change on August 11, when the endgame will be added.

As Team Allods announces, Skyforge will receive its first major patch Crucible of the Gods on August 11, which will focus primarily on the endgame. The following will be introduced:

  • the divine form
  • Distortions – a group activity for 10 players, it goes into a kind of arena
  • Invasions – a kind of multi-stage world event
  • Anomalies – 5 players rush through an open-world zone
  • and raids – an encounter with two really nasty opponents.
  • Bug fixes and feature improvements
Skyforge-Demon

More about all the things that are to come, you can find on our Skyforge theme page. Previously, Team Allods had already discussed all the upcoming features in detail.

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Magic Duels: Hearthstones “Papa” now Free2Play on Steam

The popular Magic: The Gathering now has a Free2Play variant as an online computer game on Steam: Magic Duels.

It has been out on mobile for a while, and now PC players can also venture into the card game. The Magic franchise itself hardly needs an introduction, but that is now a meaningless phrase, and we will do it anyway: Magic has been considered the epitome of collecting passion, creative deck building, and nerve-wracking duels in the niche of strategic collectible card games – and also as a true nerd hobby.

Magic is essentially the game from which Blizzard developed the well-known “We are going mainstream” tactic Hearthstone (well okay, through the detour of their own trading card game). And now the Wizards of the Coast are basically taking the reverse path, drawing inspiration from Hearthstone. For example, in Magic: Duels, players can earn gold and procure cards similar to Hearthstone through boosters.

As MMO Bomb reports, Magic Duels offers a story mode, an interactive deck builder, a selection of hundreds of cards, and of course the ability to compete with other players.

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Source(s):
  1. Steam
  2. MMO Bomb

Guild Wars 2: Data miners find out what is known about the specializations of Warrior and Engineer

In Guild Wars 2, “Heart of Thorns” will introduce new elite specializations. Now, data miners have discovered hints about those for Warrior and Engineer.

There are eight classes, a ninth will come with Heart of Thorns. Five specializations, essentially the deluxe version of the classes, are already known: The ones for Ranger (Druid), Guardian (Dragonhunter), Mesmer (Chronomancer), Necromancer (Reaper) and most recently Elementalist (Tempest).

Now, data miners on Reddit have gotten information about the specializations for “Warrior” and “Engineer,” but there isn’t much. Just a name and an image. Previously, there were only “placeholders” for these images, now there are these images with names.

The Warrior could receive the specialization “Berserker.”

Berserker-Guild-Wars-2

And this image of the Engineer is titled “Forge.”

Forge-Guild-Wars-2

As always, this comes from data miners, so it may change.

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Source(s):
  1. reddit
  2. MO

Black Desert: Daum opens a branch in Amsterdam, West Port moves closer

The Korean MMORPG Black Desert is considered one of the hopes for the ailing MMORPG genre. The Western release is now a step closer.

It has indeed been delayed by half a year. In 2014, it was stated, that the first tests were supposed to start in Europe at the beginning of 2015.

Later it was revealed that the Western port had no priority; Asian countries and Russia were first in line.

Now there has been a first sign of life for a Western port to Europe and North America: Publisher Daum has opened a branch in Amsterdam, Daum is also overseeing the project in Korea and wants to manage the Western port themselves. Maybe this is the starting signal and soon we will hear more about the plans for the West.

Through the career portal LinkedIn, they are looking for a web designer for the Amsterdam branch. A release in the West is scheduled for early 2016.

The video caused a hype around Black Desert in 2014:

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World of Warcraft: The 4 most popular ideas for the next add-on – Which one will it be?

The next addon for World of Warcraft will be revealed on August 6 at GamesCom. So far, there are many theories about what players can expect – but which ones sound promising?

The Emerald Dream

Ysera has become mortal. Does this provide material for an addon? Image source
Ysera has become mortal. Does this provide material for an addon? Image source

Repeatedly wished for by fans and brought up every year: the Emerald Dream. But what exactly is it all about?

The Night Elf druids are the current guardians of the dream. Image source
The Night Elf druids are the current guardians of the dream. Image source

The Emerald Dream is a dimension of Azeroth where the world exists as if the mortal races had never made an impact. It has also long been the domain of the green dragonflight under the leadership of Ysera, which is why she is also called “The Dreamer.” Night Elf druids often sleep for several centuries to study the Emerald Dream and learn more about the balance of the world. In simple terms: in the dream, everything is very green, full of life, and quite wild – because that’s just how nature is. A corruption of this world is the Nightmare, which is slowly spreading and corrupting the world. An addon on this theme could contain a completely new Azeroth that has little to do with our familiar version.

What speaks against it: Blizzard has previously denied giving the dream its own addon. If at all, parts of the dream can be seen in an instance or a raid (like in Firelands). In addition, the dream is currently not a very exciting area since the ruler of the nightmare, Xavius, has already been defeated. Blizzard would have to create a new adversary, create a completely new world, and break an old promise – which is summarizing a very unlikely scenario.

Read on the next pages which theories are still circulating.

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Shroud of the Avatar: Pre-Alpha R20 starts today, a new beginning

If you are interested in the (MMO)RPG Shroud of the Avatar, you can check out the new version R20 today.

R20 comes with a complete wipe. All characters and their possessions in the game will be deleted, and you have to start from scratch. This is due to the abundance of changes that the developers are packing into the new version. These include revised random encounters on the overland map. There, you will no longer just be ambushed but also discover a mysterious ruin or a place where rare resources can be found. You might also be surprised by a wandering merchant. However, the wandering creatures on the map had to be shifted.

R20 brings many innovations

SotA_Bear Taming

Also new is the ability to tame animals. A dedicated skill tree has been implemented, through which you can first tame bears and wolves and take them as pets. These pets even support you in battles, and you can give them commands via hotkeys. To tame pets, you also need a collar, and you have to call them with a whistle when you need their support. This is the first step towards the party system, where NPCs will follow and assist you in offline mode.

It is also new that players can now use NPCs as vendors. If you own land, you may set up an NPC as a vendor there and sell crafted items through it. Some of the areas in the game have been revised, and the Crags Foothills have been introduced as a new area. NPCs in the city of Ardoris are now more talkative, as the community equipped them with texts. In the areas, you can now also encounter the troll as a new monster. This is the first very large creature for which special tactics are needed to defeat.

SotA_Player Vendor

The developers of the (MMO)RPG Shroud of the Avatar explain once again that they are currently focusing on finishing the simulation aspect of the game. Afterwards, they will address the story. A first taste of how the story unfolds and what kind of quests you can expect is offered by the Tower of the Shuttered Eye. This tower has been completely revised and expanded with a quest line that revolves around the rulers of Ardoris. The pre-alpha R20 of Shroud of the Avatar starts today at around 5:30 PM.

More on the topic: Shroud of the Avatar – More than just an MMORPG.

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HearthStone: The Val’kyr Sisters Stand for Magic – 5 New Hearthstone Cards

Once again, 5 new HearthStone cards from the upcoming expansion “The Grand Tournament” have been revealed. We take a look at the legendary Val’kyr sisters …

The two sisters want only one thing: Your Mana

Every few hours, Blizzard reveals some new cards that will be waiting for HearthStone players next month with the expansion “The Grand Tournament”. The most spectacular newcomers of the current wave are the two legendary Val’kyr sisters, as they have developed quite a fetish for spells.

Fjola Lightbane has solid stats of 3/4 for 3 Mana. Whenever the controlling player targets her with a spell, she gains a Divine Shield. So she could stay on the board for a long time in buff decks, such as Paladin, Druid, or Priest, and take out plenty of enemies.

Her sister, Eydis Darkbane, has the same stats (3/4 for 3 Mana) and a similar, albeit much stronger effect: Whenever the controlling player targets her with a spell, she deals 3 damage to a random enemy! Powerful combinations with spells like “Light of the Naaru” or “Power Word: Shield” can also be created here, allowing for a cheap way to deal a lot of damage.

Another new addition is the Silent Knight. For 3 Mana and 2/2, his stats are low, but he has both Divine Shield and Stealth – a combination that has not yet existed in the game. Especially in combination with the Blood Knight, exciting possibilities could arise, as enemies have few ways to remove a Divine Shield while in Stealth.

The Savage Combatant is a new Druid card and is already very powerful with stats of 5/4 for only 4 Mana. Additionally, he has “Inspiration: Grants your Hero +2 Attack this turn“, which allows the Druid to easily remove many annoying 3 health cards from the board.

HearthStone Clockwork Knight

The last new announcement for today is the Clockwork Knight, who continues to hoist the banner of Mechs. 5/5 for 5 Mana is solid, his Battlecry gives another friendly Mech +1/+1, making him effectively a 6/6 for 5 Mana. Another addition for Mech decks, which could really use a boost and will surely benefit from this strange knight.

The two Val’kyr will likely take a relatively fixed place in many spell-heavy decks. What do you think about the new cards?

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Source(s):
  1. hearthpwn.com

Heroes of the Storm: Zeratul temporarily banned due to bug!

After an exploit was discovered, Blizzard temporarily banned the character Zeratul from all Heroes of the Storm tournaments.

Clever Exploit Led to the Ban

Zeratul, one of the two assassins with stealth ability from Heroes of the Storm, was temporarily banned from all official eSports tournaments yesterday. The reason was an exploit that allowed players to use the “Shadow Strike” ability differently than intended by the developers.

Normally, the ability allows the hero to teleport a short distance to the enemy and attack them. However, if a nearby enemy was targeted, the ability was activated, and the target was changed at the last moment, it could bridge very large distances. The ability could thus be utilized in a way that was completely unintended – outside any kind of balancing. What that looked like in gameplay can be seen here:

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In the meantime, Blizzard has fixed this issue with a hotfix and has made Zeratul available again for all tournaments.

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Destiny: Bungie bans these people that really annoy you in the Crucible

In the MMO shooter Destiny , Bungie has now hinted at another wave of bans.

Last night at 3:00 AM our time, Bungie tweeted that they are issuing or have just issued bans for “network manipulation” in the Crucible. Details will be revealed in the Weekly Update.

If we lean a bit out the window, it likely means that people are being caught who specifically “lag” to make it impossible for their opponents to deal damage to them. There are some videos that leave you speechless at how blatant some players are, as it looks very intentional:

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Right now, the lag issue is relevant again: The PvP event Iron Banner is running. The tricky part of the problem: Since it is known that some players are deliberately manipulating, it results in “innocent” players constantly facing these accusations. This poisons the atmosphere in Destiny sustainably.

Not only us, but many others consider the server issues and lag in PvP to be the current number one problem in Destiny.

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League of Legends: You have killed Gangplank, removed from the game

In League of Legends, the pirate Gangplank has been eliminated and removed from the game.

In League of Legends, it is currently Pirate Weeks and, as Kotaku reports, there was another chapter in the lore of League of Legends last night. Here you can read Act 3 of the story.

Usually, such lore excursions end with new costumes, skins, champions, and maps making their way into the game. This time it turned out differently. Warning, spoiler: Miss Fortune took out Gangplank. And he has been disabled in League of Legends.

Is Gangplank really dead?
LoL-Miss-Fortune

No one really believes he is supposed to stay dead. After all, he is a purchasable champion and he just received a rework.

In the coming days, there should already be some clarification. They are making it a bit mysterious, as hinted in the forum: The death of a champion is something very special. We will take this very seriously. Currently, we will not refund any purchased skins, so please stay calm, we will take care of the situation in the coming days.

Well, until this is clarified, we just have to say: Goodbye Gangplank, we never liked you!

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Source(s):
  1. Kotaku

Star Wars Battlefront will present a new mode today – Some kind of shootout?

The multiplayer shooter Star Wars Battlefront will present a new mode today, July 30.

The Battlefront Twitter account posted an image last night, which we have above as the title image, and announced that a new mode would be revealed today for Star Wars Battlefront. The reveal “will be a blast,” a play on words meaning “It will be great, it will blow you away,” but “Blast” also references laser fire or explosions. It might be some kind of shootout mode, little movement, a lot of shooting.

Whether it will still be a German “Today” is always the question with something like this. It could well happen during the night from Thursday to Friday our time.

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World of Warcraft: Archimonde Mythic – World First Kill video by Method

The final boss of World of Warcraft, Archimonde, was killed by the raid guild Method a few days ago, but now there is finally a video about it.

Once Nether and Back

Yesterday, the hardcore raiders from Method uploaded their kill video, showing how they defeat the current final boss of World of Warcraft, Archimonde, in mythic mode. In a nearly 12-minute fight, they show the commander of the burning Legion what they think of his conquest plans for Draenor. Just before the kill, it even gets really close, as several boss abilities hit at the same time. But see for yourself:

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The video and the TeamSpeak recording show how much discipline and preparation is necessary to achieve such a performance – and that there is occasionally still time for a silly remark to keep the mood up and maintain the fun of the whole group.

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Source(s):
  1. mmo-champion.com

Destiny in the summer slump: German site honors reddit thread as “Insider” info

At Destiny, not much is happening right now, so a post on reddit can quickly become a “supposed leak.”

It’s the summer slump time, even for journalists. In the MMO shooter Destiny, for example, there is really only new information on Thursday evenings when the developers’ Weekly Update is released.

Bungie has plugged the leaks

It wasn’t always like this. After every change in the database, “leaks” from dataminers appeared immediately, allowing predictions about what would happen on specific days and dates weeks in advance. Xur’s inventory was known, the Nightfalls too, and even what the Exotics in House of Wolves would be, was already known at the beginning of January. Players even discovered areas in the game that were not yet accessible. Actually, unofficial information was everywhere that later turned out to be accurate and correct. This is why the community still thinks today that one can actually find everything if one just looks for it.

But that is no longer the case: Bungie has sealed the leaks watertight, dataminers bring up nothing, there hasn’t been anything directly from Bungie since last October – there was a big leak. The only thing one still receives today as a leak are photos of Red Bull cans with the Destiny logo on them. Apparently, there was a significant leak at Red Bull or a beverage store – not at Bungie.

Red Bull cans
Last big leak.

This, however, does not prevent two of the biggest German gaming sites from reporting on a “supposed insider” who reveals information about Destiny 2.0 on “reddit.” Please gasp in shock here.

This is one of the “typical fan leaks,” a mix of plausible information, spectacular nonsense, and reasonable thoughts. The author of the leak supposedly heard all these details through two or three connections while playing with someone who knows someone who works at Bungie. But of course, he cannot prove it and cannot name any names – you know how it goes.

Such things happen to you all the time when you are washing glasses at the bar, and two developers come in and loudly talk about the latest secrets. Because every developer knows: What could possibly happen? It’s in every contract: If I share details with outsiders, that’s okay as long as it happens by accident. During a chat. That’s just human.

Destiny Ready

The 3 components of a good leak: Known, plausible, crazy

But back to the three components of a good leak: something known, something plausible, and a touch of craziness.

Examples of the generally accepted, the known: There is supposed to be a Destiny 2 (yep), it is supposed to be called “Shattered Suns” (why not? It needs a name), come out in September 2016 (that has been assumed for a long time), and something is on a new planet, here it’s supposed to be Mercury (yep, oh well).

Now for the “well, somewhat plausible”: The NPC Osiris is supposed to become the main quest giver of the new expansion, a new voice for the Ghost has been hired, and maybe Ahamkara will be made into new enemies. (This is somehow the idea: to stuff everything that has been swirling around as a name into one expansion).

But it also says (example of craziness), Destiny wants to release DLCs for free. Readers say: That’s nonsense, at most when pigs fly, quickly adds the author: Yes, maybe they’ll make it a subscription game …  (Yeah, no, probably not.)

Destiny Shitstorm

Only Germany officially knows about it

Internationally, the Reddit rumor has not been successful, even on reddit, people prefer to amuse themselves over the dreaded “hover bonus damage.” In any case, this whole rumor is about the expansion “The Taken King” coming out in September and not about Destiny 2. But that’s the better hook.

In any case, no one reported on the supposedly hot news until this morning at 10:00 AM when a German gaming site started. The competition followed six hours later, as you don’t want to miss anything. Of course, they then add in the text: It is a rumor. The headline speaks of an “insider,” while in the text he shrinks down to a “supposed insider.” And in the end, it is

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Source(s):
  1. reddit
  2. PC Games

World of Warcraft: New expansion revealed

The next expansion for World of Warcraft will be revealed next week at Gamescom.

30 minutes ago we were still wondering what on earth Blizzard wants to show at Gamescom in Cologne. Now we know: The new World of Warcraft expansion.

On August 6, it will be the time. This is not a rumor, no fake or anything. This came through the official Twitter channel of World of Warcraft. On August 6, at 6:00 PM German time, the new WoW expansion will be presented at Gamescom in Cologne. A live stream will accompany it. The day before, a press conference is planned. We were still guessing what would be announced there, perhaps journalists will already be briefed with embargoed pre-info, but the actual reveal will probably take place in a different setting.

Surely it will take a few more months after the live stream until a new chapter of World of Warcraft is written. But in broad strokes, we will learn next week how World of Warcraft wants to strike back.

Usual suspects as the star of an expansion: Azshara
Usual suspects as the star of an expansion: Azshara

Just a few weeks ago, it was announced, that Warlords of Draenor will end with Patch 6.2 and the Hellfire Citadel, at least no more raid will come. As a reason, it was stated that they want to bring expansions faster, thus there will be less time spent in one world.

In recent weeks, there were some “leaks” that quickly turned out to be false: The usual suspects like a South Sea expansion around Azshara and the trolls circulated. However, our WoW expert Cortyn thinks that the new Blizzard expansion will revolve around demons.

In line with the addon theme: World of Warcraft: The 4 most popular ideas for the next addon – Which one will it be?

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Blizzard: Press conference at GamesCom – What will be revealed?

Blizzard has announced that it will hold a press conference at this year’s GamesCom. But what could they announce? A new WoW expansion? The Overwatch beta?

At least one announcement

HearthStone card chaos
Blizzard will be represented with all titles at GamesCom.

Traditionally, Blizzard always reserves the biggest revelations for its own event, BlizzCon, but they must also show presence at GamesCom in Cologne. At numerous stations, Diablo 3, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, HearthStone and Overwatch can be tested.

But even more awaits fans: Blizzard has announced that it will hold a press conference on August 5 – and why would they do that if they have nothing to announce? And that is exactly the question: What kind of announcement can we expect?

The summer of fakes

World of Warcraft - Azshara
“Eye of Azshara” has been secured as a name by Blizzard – allegedly.

As always, when a WoW expansion comes to an end, the “alleged leaks” pop up all over the internet. The idea of “Eye of Azshara” had a brief revival, and a mysterious 4chan user named “Secret” mentioned something about “The Dark Prophet”. Another rumor claimed that Blizzard secured the name “Council of Glades”, but that also turned out to be a fake by a user. In any case, such ideas can generate high attention for a brief moment. But upon closer inspection, they turn out to be fakes: The popular image “Blizzard secured the name!” has already seen several photo-shopped “proofs” of the authenticity of leaks.

So now we know: There is nothing to Eye of Azshara, nor The Dark Prophet, nor other things. Those are at best plausibly sounding fan ideas.

What can we really expect?

Overwatch Reaper Screenshot
The Overwatch beta could be an option.

If we go through the possibilities, there are only relatively few options left. For World of Warcraft, they could announce the next expansion. This would especially calm those who are now afraid of playing the current WoD patch for over a year – which many have already completely played through. For Overwatch, they could announce the closed beta. This would also work together with the competition that was held in the weeks leading up to GamesCom – as you could win access to the upcoming beta there.

A Diablo 3 expansion would also be conceivable, because Reaper of Souls has been on the market for a while, and the last major updates are also somewhat stale. A few desperate fans are still hoping for the announcement of Warcraft 4, as a continuation of the RTS series has been demanded for a long time.

What do you suspect? What big revelation awaits at GamesCom?

Update: Barely asked, already answered: This is what the press conference of Blizzard will be about.

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HearthStone card chaos: Blizzard recycles (Update: accidentally, a new card chaos is coming)

In the card chaos of HearthStone, there is a familiar match this time: Ragnaros and Nefarian step into the ring once again!

Replay of the first chaos

This week’s card chaos features some familiar faces: Ragnaros and Nefarian grace us once more and showcase on the card table who is the stronger and thus the ruler of Blackrock. Players are randomly assigned one of the two decks and assume the role of the two bosses. Nefarian is a rush deck, with quite strong minions (and 5 Mana from the start), while Ragnaros is more control-oriented and must work through his hammer to access a better hero power.

HearthStone card chaos
Ragnaros and Nefarian want to know once again who the winner is.

Although it is a replay, this time too a classic card pack is at stake for the first win of the week. Since it is very easy to earn, one should not miss out on it!

Update: Blizzard has launched the wrong card chaos live. It was supposed to be “Too many portals”. It will probably go that you can choose a class and then receive a bunch of “unstable portals”. Blizzard will soon replace the card chaos.

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Diablo 3: The most important new feature – Kanai’s Cube

In Diablo 3 the Kanai Cube will be reintroduced in the next patch and offer numerous features. It is dedicated to a deceased employee.

The new cube, which will find its way to Diablo 3 in the next patch 2.3.0. is already raising expectations among fans, as it is heavily inspired by the iconic Horadric Cube from Diablo 2 (Wirt’s Leg + Tomes of Town Portal = Cow Level Portal).

In the lore of Diablo, the current Kanai Cube is the predecessor of the Horadric Cube and even more powerful than it.

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New feature will shake up meta

Kanai Cube

With it, you will be able to completely reforge legendary items as if they were new. There is even a chance to get them ancient, but be careful: Ancient items that you reforge can also come out “normal”.

Moreover, you can extract properties from items that you can supposedly collect and then use three of them even if there are no slots available.

The cube will thoroughly shake up the way items are viewed in Diablo 3, that much is already clear.

Dedicated to a deceased employee

Kanai-Diablo
Will appear in the game as an orange glowing barbarian.

The cube is accompanied by a tragic story; it has long been known that it would be brought to the game, but that it would be called the “Kanai Cube” is due to recent circumstances.

The longtime Blizzard employee Kevin “Kanai” Griffith, a major part of the Diablo family, succumbed to a long, rare cancer in October 2014.

The Kanai Cube is dedicated to him.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Blizzard

GIGANTIC: New Free-to-Play MOBA Shooter for Windows 10 and XBox One

In line with the launch of Windows 10 today, we would like to introduce you to the new MOBA shooter GIGANTIC. At release, Gigantic will be exclusively playable on Windows 10 and Xbox One.

GIGANTIC from Motiga is currently still in Alpha. With its stylish toon look, the MOBA shooter aims to shake up the genre on console and PC with new gameplay mechanics. Instead of towers and inhibitors that need to be destroyed, everything revolves around the so-called “Guards”. At the start of each match, teams composed of 5 players each choose a Guardian. Currently, the Griffin and the Naga are available for selection. You can think of them as a mobile inhibitor. The goal of each match is to protect your Guard and defeat the opponent’s.

No jungle, instead there is “Clash” in Gigantic

Instead of Tarzan action in the jungle, there is a marathon run around the so-called summoning circles. These are magical places that provide your Guardian with power and grant your team a buff. At these points, you also summon creatures that fight alongside you.

Gigantic Screenshot-Naga

The final phase of each game is called “Clash” by the developers. This is the moment when the team’s Guardians are supplied with enough energy from the summoning circles and kills of opponents, and rise for the final blow. The Guardians make their way to the center of the battlefield, where they are supported by their team and the creatures from the summoning circles. Targeted attacks on the Guardian’s heart lead to a quick end and a well-deserved victory.

Toon-World Graphics and Third-Person

Gigantic comes with flashy toon graphics. This special look is also known as cel shading. It is a technique for “non-photorealistic rendering of 3D computer graphics“. The game is played from a third-person perspective, similar to the MOBA Smite. Also, the number of abilities for the heroes is typically limited for the genre. Nevertheless, additional abilities are unlocked over the course of a match as your team levels up.

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Microsoft on board as publisher

Gigantic is developed by the independent studio Motiga. This development studio was founded in 2010 in Bellevue by Chris Chung, former CEO of NCsoft West and Chief Strategy Officer at Trion Worlds. Further prominent members at Motiga include Creative Director James Phinney, Lead Designer for Starcraft, Guild Wars, and State of Decay. The 46-member team around Chris Chung also consists of capable individuals who have worked on games like StarCraft II, Guild Wars 2, Wildstar, Borderlands, and Mass Effect. Despite the star-studded lineup, the American studio Microsoft has come on board as publisher. Motiga comments on the decision as follows:

… als we developed the game, it quickly became clear to us that it would be great to have Gigantic playable on both PC and console. If you want to develop a great game for PC and console, a partnership with Microsoft is simply the logical consequence 

Taste Gigantic! Taste it for free

Gigantic Screenshot-Combat

So first of all, Gigantic is set to be released as a free-to-play title. Information regarding microtransactions has so far been withheld. Whether the business model will follow titles like League of Legends and Dota 2, offering skins and various cosmetics for sale, remains unclear. Content updates at regular intervals are also planned. However, whether these will be chargeable and how much they would cost in that case is still unknown. In any case, it should be possible to enjoy Gigantic without having to pay anything.

Gigantic is expected to be released in fall 2015. For a closed beta test in August, you can sign up here on the website gogigantic.com.

Marcel says: GIGANTIC leaves me with a really solid first impression. A colorful mix of shooter and MOBA elements makes Gigantic a notable title that could bring fresh wind to the MOBA genre this year. The altered winning conditions with the Guards give the game a far more dynamic character than static Nexus brawling. Moreover, I’m really into this comic graphics style, which is not like WoW. But speaking of Blizzard: When I first saw Gigantic, I immediately thought of Overwatch. Not Smite. Of Overwatch!

While your Windows 10 is downloading (I know, for some it takes a little longer until the download starts), feel free to share your impressions of the game with me.

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Complaint Wednesday: Are the new cards too strong?

This Wednesday, I dedicate again to a Blizzard title. Today, I express some concerns about the upcoming HearthStone addon, following the motto: “Only a Sith knows nothing but extremes!”

Goblins vs. Gnomes – A Lot of Junk, Some Gems

HearthStone DrBoom
Often referred to as “Dr. Balanced”.

With “Goblins vs. Gnomes“, a card expansion for HearthStone was already developed and released to the public. Although the expansion was generally well received, the cards fell short of expectations – only a few of them truly impacted the meta. The strongest representative is probably “Dr. Boom“, who is played in almost every deck. Other cards, like the “Unstable Portal” or the “Tinker’s Sharpening Stone” are also popular. New deck variations like the “Mech Mage” briefly flared up but quickly disappeared from the meta and are probably already on the red list. Overall, out of nearly 100 cards, only about 10 have had a significant impact – many others were never played again and only appear in strange fun decks.

The Grand Tournament – Only Strong Cards?

The Justicar seems to be one of the most important cards overall - and almost essential for every class.
The Justicar seems to be one of the most important cards overall – and almost essential for every class.

Blizzard clearly doesn’t want to make this “mistake” a second time. After “Some cards are usable”, now comes “Every card is absolutely insane!” Although not all cards have been revealed yet, every single one of them has made us stare in awe at the values and texts. On one hand, it is absolutely understandable that they want to design exciting cards – after all, they must give players incentives to buy the new packs and make money. This time, however, it seems they are not just shooting the bird, but the whole flock. I suspect that with the next 10-15 reveals of new cards, it will be possible to build strong decks based solely on “The Grand Tournament” and the basic cards.

A Thin Line Between “Good” and “Overwhelming”

The dream of every mage.
The dream of every mage. – These two cards in combination.

Of course, it would be possible that Blizzard draws a bit from the MOBA-release mentality and designs cards to be strong at the start, only to nerf them later. However, that would not fit with the design concept they have repeatedly emphasized: Cards are only changed when it is absolutely necessary. It seems clear already that without many of the new cards, players will soon have absolutely no chance in ranked mode – and that is extremely unfortunate. I am sure that each of us loves powerful cards with cool effects, but if absolutely every card is overwhelming, one quickly falls behind.

HearthStone is successful precisely because even free-to-play players can stay engaged without spending €50 on packs. Whether this will still be possible with “The Grand Tournament” is something I strongly doubt. In any case, one should start saving gold now – or set aside one euro every day. Otherwise, the fun could quickly turn into frustration, and HearthStone could follow the dreadful path of many free-to-play games: No money, no fun.

And no one wants that, right?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

HearthStone: Inspiring! 3 new cards of the addon revealed

Recently, new cards for HearthStone have been revealed, which will be released with the upcoming expansion “The Grand Tournament”.

Manager, Flame Juggler, and a Tournament Medic

The three new cards all look very promising and will likely secure their place in the meta after release. But let’s first take a look at the three newcomers.

HearthStone Coliseum Manager

The Coliseum Manager has strong stats of 2/5 for 3 Mana and “Inspiration: Return this minion to your hand“. Whether the inspiration is an advantage or disadvantage is probably up to the discretion of the respective player and deck, because if you want to keep the manager on the field, the hero ability is initially taboo.

The Tournament Medic costs 4 Mana and has stats of 1/8 with “Inspiration: Restore 2 health to your hero“. This way, warlocks could draw cards without losing any health, priests could heal themselves for double, and so on. Especially as a counter against rush decks, this card could establish itself as it can take out several small minions.

Lastly, we have the Flame Juggler, basically a more controlled and sturdier variant of the crazy Bomber. 2 Mana for 2/3 is already above average, his battle cry also deals 1 damage to a random enemy. This still makes him quite unpredictable, but provides strong counter power at the start of a game.

What do you think of the three newcomers?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. hearthpwn.com