From the hype. A few weeks ago, TERA was released on Steam and has since become very popular, now even counting as the most played MMORPG on the platform. Now Gameforge, the publisher of TERA in Europe, has put a stop to that.
Gameforge has a problem with TERA Steam
The publisher of TERA on Steam is the US publisher “En Masse” – and because Steam is quite popular internationally, many players use this service. However, in Europe, TERA is distributed by “Gameforge”, and there they see the “Steam-Tera” as a strong competition to their own offering. What exactly has happened between Gameforge, the Russian publisher Destiny Development, and En Masse can only be speculated.
In the official announcement from En Masse, they speak of “external pressure from publishers in this region.” This pressure has led to the decision to no longer offer TERA on Steam for certain regions.
Those who downloaded TERA on Steam before June 11 will still be able to use the game in its entirety. However, new players will no longer join via Steam but must manually download the game from GameForge or En Masse, thus taking a small detour. This applies to players from Europe. Americans are not affected by this.
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Dave Wilson, an employee of Blizzard, recently posted a lot of screenshots from the early days of “World of Warcraft” on his Twitter account. Many images have never been seen before and show the game in several very early stages. An exciting journey through time that could bring a nostalgic tear to many!
It started as a mod for Warcraft III
It’s not surprising that after the great success of “Warcraft III”, the first plans for the MMO using the RTS classic’s engine were made. However, the result is quite amusing and very far from today’s Azeroth.
One can clearly see the parallels to Warcraft III units.
Other secrets have also been revealed: For a long time, the internet has been buzzing with the rumor that female trolls were originally supposed to be just a “chubbier” version of the males – this now seems less far-fetched when looking at the first models of the female axe throwers.
Not quite as sexy as today, but certainly recognizable.
In the fantasy MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, patch 16.1 was released last week, fixing numerous bugs and making balance changes – including to the instruments.
One has to give credit to The Lord of the Rings Online: Surely, no other game’s patch notes would include a section about the “balancing” of musical instruments. One tone is lowered in volume, while another should sound less metallic. The acoustic range is increased overall by double to 30 meters, the lute is nerfed, and the flute is buffed.
But this is not all, may the gods drum for it. Extensive changes are taking place with patch 16.1. The perspective from the “third person” is now smoother, multiple call items can now be used at once, there are numerous fixes to the instances, and adjustments are made to the balancing screws regarding class abilities.
The fantasy MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV relies on a payment model in the Free2Play wonderland Korea and still generates interest.
Korea is the last of the major markets that Square Enix wants to tap into. In South Korea, Actoz Games will distribute the game. Korea is known as a Free2Play stronghold, and the Japanese Final Fantasy XIV is one of the last staunch advocates of the Pay2Play, subscription model. Does that fit together? After the initial interest, one could say: Yes.
For a closed beta phase, 25,000 spots are available. 150,000 Koreans have already applied for these spots. So the interest is there. It will be exciting to see how it looks at release when it costs something.
The closed beta starts tomorrow and will last throughout the week.
For more about the fantasy MMORPG with the Moogle, check out our FF-14 topic page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny , a strange bug has occurred, causing curious scenes in the Crucible.
A wondrous scene took place in a completely normal Crucible match. The game was still relatively early on. Then a Blade Dancer defeated an opponent, and the kill was credited to him multiple times. The score counter ticked up, and the game was over.
The match exists both from the perspective of the victim:
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Extremely strange. Bungie has probably already used the game for “error analysis” to see exactly what happened. The match has since gone viral, causing a stir on both reddit and YouTube.
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Just a few days ago, Blizzard announced that there will always be “theme months” for Heroes of the Storm. The first one will be June, dedicated entirely to the Diablo universe. And the first hints about who the next hero will be have already surfaced!
King Leoric – Lord of the Undead
At a glance, one thing immediately stands out in the image: an undead hero who looks nothing like Arthas or Sylvanas. But since a game can never have enough rulers of zombie armies, it seems that “King Leoric” from Diablo will also make his way into Blizzard’s MOBA! While there are no concrete hints about his abilities yet, what would the “Black King” be without a few rattling bones at his side?
Who needs a sniper when you can have a crossbow?
In addition to Leoric, there will also be a few new skins that will likely be coming to Heroes of the Storm soon: an angel skin for Diablo (because… what else?), a skin for Nova, in which she has traded her sniper rifle for a solid crossbow, and of course a matching mount from the Diablo universe.
When exactly the new content will be released is not yet known.
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The beta of SMITE has been fully underway on Xbox One for a few months now. If you want to secure access, you can do so by purchasing the “Founder’s Pack” in the online store – or you can win a beta key right here and now! According to the latest information from HiRez, there will be no more “wipes” of player data, so you can carry over all earned achievements to the regular version once it is released.
And here’s how it works!
The process is simple. First come, first served, and you can start right away beating up your friends or strangers with the gods. All you have to do is provide a valid email address (and owning an Xbox One would be an advantage), then the fun can begin. Only the first 300 participants will receive a key, so hurry up and inform your friends you want to play with – have fun!
Update: All keys are gone!
We conduct the giveaway using the raffle tool godankey. Your data will be anonymized, not stored, and only used for sending the codes. Participation is free and the legal process is excluded.
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If you want to learn more about the free-to-play action game that is among the top 5 MOBAs in the world, we recommend taking a look at our SMITE review. The unique feature: You play in a third-person perspective and control well-known gods from mythology. P.S.: Players who link their PC account with Xbox One can carry over all achievements just once and receive an exclusive skin on both platforms.
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Hello everyone. It’s Wednesday again, and that means it’s time for a little outrage. Today, however, I would prefer to discuss a thought process that I stumbled upon at kotaku. And as the title suggests: Yes, it’s once again about Steam, specifically about the remarkably customer-friendly refund policy.
Steam Refunds – A great thing!
Basically, the idea of a refund policy for games that are not liked is wonderful for the customer. You have a maximum of two hours to test the product and then return it if you don’t want it or if your PC doesn’t meet the requirements.
Incidentally, it also has the pleasant side effect that developers can no longer easily lure customers with lies, as after two hours you often already know whether a game truly delivers what it promises. One can therefore assume that granting customers this much power positively influences quality development. A wonderful thing for blockbuster titles like Witcher 3 or Evolve!
… or maybe not?
Especially “Visual Novels” will suffer massively under the refund system.
However, this also has a downside that I had not considered before: What about all those brilliant games that only have a few hours of playtime? “Analogue: A Hate Story” or “Without Within” can be relatively easily completed within the refund period and then returned. I know, the sincere gamers who love a game would not do something like that – but not everyone is like that. Since money, at least in this world, does not grow on trees, it is quite tempting to simply demand a refund.
A clear signal is sent to the developers of these games: You are not welcome here. Produce games with a long playtime. I consider this to be a rather unfortunate development, as it is precisely through Steam’s “Greenlight” program that many wonderful games have become accessible to the public or have found their way to the European and American markets.
“Steam Refunds” is, in my (current) opinion, a double-edged sword that still needs a lot of maturation time. Certain games with short playtimes should be excluded from this regulation, without opening a backdoor for the black sheep of the gaming industry.
What do you think about this? Have you already made use of the new feature? What is your stance on games that have a short playtime, and what would be your suggestion? Or do you seize the opportunity and play every game you can get your hands on?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
This week, we also received a video from a reader who said he killed Crota “Worldfirst” in a very special way. What we got to see was indeed something we had not seen before:
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Here’s a short clip to say goodbye. Someone figured out how to dodge an Axion Grenade in the best possible way and what else can be done afterward. The best blink ever?
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The MMORPG Wander has just launched on PC and PlayStation 4. However, even though it is a relaxing online game without violence, some gamers currently want to go crazy.
Because the launch of the MMO went anything but smoothly. Many players who bought Wander for the PlayStation 4 report that there are numerous problems. There are frequent crashes, and clipping issues spoil the fun of the game. One player explains that his character exhibits strange behavior. If Wander were not crashing, the character would be running into invisible walls, performing a moonwalk, floating, or walking through walls. There would be a series of extremely bizarre behaviors. It is the game with the biggest launch issues on the PlayStation 4 so far.
Not everyone has problems
However, there are also players who claim the exact opposite. For these players, Wander runs excellently. There are no crashes and also no strange behavior of the character. It may be a problem related to the PlayStation 4, or the internet connection is to blame. Perhaps the tolerance threshold for console players is also lower regarding bugs at the launch of an online game.
At the moment, it is still unclear what causes these problems and why they occur for some and not for others. The developers, in any case, are already busy releasing updates and patches and addressing every reported issue. So if the developers manage to find out the reason for the strange behavior of the game on the PlayStation 4, one can certainly expect a patch soon.
Wander transports you to a mysterious island where you can take on the form of various creatures, each possessing different abilities. Only by frequently changing forms will you be able to uncover the mysteries of the island.
Are you also playing the non-violent MMORPG Wander? If so, are you also facing issues? What do you think of the game? Let us know in the comments.
The launch of The Elder Scrolls Online on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was overshadowed by problems, but at least there is a new launch trailer and the staff are putting in overtime.
It really reminds one of spring 2014, back then we had headlines like “Problems overshadow launch” and this time not everything went according to plan at Zenimax either. Players have been waiting 14 months for the console release, took time off, wanted to play the first hours properly, and then there were indeed some issues with the login servers when the Americans could log in.
The European PlayStation 4 mega server was taken down today for maintenance. There are two-minute wait times at certain shrines, the achievements of PC players are not being transferred correctly, there are slight issues with the PS Vita and Remote Play, a gold cap briefly scared transferring players, things are shaky here and there.
Even the long months of refinement and improvement could not completely prevent this. But perhaps they prevent the tumultuous further difficulties that plagued TESO following the PC release back then. Players uncovered numerous holes or small weaknesses in the game’s design concepts. All of those should be patched and eliminated by now.
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As a representative for the launch day: A clever user on reddit opened a post “Everyone go to sleep, it will surely run fine in the morning,” only to add in a whisper shortly after: Hopefully enough are away now so I can play! The rush on launch day – The Elder Scrolls Online is not the first MMO to stumble over this temporary obstacle.
But communication has clearly improved, keeping fans updated, giving them the feeling “We are with you, we are working on the problems, we are on it.” Everywhere, people are working overtime, putting in effort, they know how important these days are for the long-term future of The Elder Scrolls Online. The reactions are positive as well. On Twitch, the game is causing a stir, and the first attention-grabbing successes are being achieved. The media are back. It is the hoped-for second chance.
And there is an official console trailer at launch: The Path of a Hero. Slowly but surely, one is really getting used to the melody, right?
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In the MMO shooter Destiny a new Crucible mode called Elimination started at 7:00 PM on June 9th.
It had been announced for some time that the “Trials of Osiris” mode Elimination would also come outside of the event. Bungie just announced that it is now active starting tonight at 7:00 PM. It will likely be treated like the Inferno events, brought back from time to time.
Like in the Trials of Osiris it is a 3v3 deathmatch with special rules and a best-of-9 series, but with some differences:
There is matchmaking, Bungie finds you friends
The maps rotate – so it is not just one
Level advantages do not matter, as in the normal Crucible
You match opponents based on skill, not as in Trials of Osiris based on connection
The new Elimination playlist is active until June 16th, exactly one week. The perfect opportunity to practice Elimination without the heavy pressure like usual, Bungie states.
And since the news lacks a bit of color, here is a video of the new exotic shotgun Lord of the Wolves:
http://youtu.be/EEchpSFwOWY
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The twist with “The Valley”: The world starts over again. When it threatens to become boring and stagnant, a new round begins. Crowfall, which is seen as a “kindred spirit”, is planning something similar.
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The Kickstarter phase is slowly coming to an end. This is being taken as an opportunity to start a 24-hour “Open for All” phase. The alpha client can be downloaded here with the password “free4all”. This way, everyone can familiarize themselves with “The Valley” completely free of charge. The “free entry” phase is valid until Wednesday, June 10th, at 3:00 PM.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In The Elder Scrolls Online, a fan has now transformed the basement into an Elder Scrolls fantasy. For the cost, he could have bought a sports car or a swimming pool, instead he now plays in the finest medieval setting.
It is the ultimate eye-catcher. For 50,000 US dollars, 32-year-old comic artist Tyler Kirkham (“Green Lantern” for DC) built the perfect “Man-Cave”. This is a space that would have once been somewhat uncool in Germany called the “hobby room” or the men’s den. Today, these are “retreats” for men who need a place to unwind or simply want to hang out with friends in an uncivilized manner. A part of the house that is completely different from the functional rest.
While the basement or garage in the TV show “King of Queens” had a large flat-screen TV, a couch, and posters of the favorite sports team on the wall, there are also very different man-caves – one of the most extraordinary belongs to Tyler Kirkham.
A Piece of Tamriel in the Basement
The twist: The basement is another world. It looks completely like “The Elder Scrolls Online”. There are crossbows, a sword rack, even a training dummy to hit. In the bathroom, there is a waterfall covered with ivy. A secret door opens when you press the right book. And, and, and …
Along with a 20,000 US dollar home theater system to properly game. His wife points out that with that money they could have had a swimming pool in the backyard, but on the other hand, she loves the extravagant, which elicits a reaction from everyone who enters the “Man-Cave”: “Who wouldn’t want something like this? It’s amazing!”
The only one who was initially skeptical about the project was the father-in-law, a craftsman. But during the collaborative work on the project, the father-in-law also fell a bit in love with the opulent basement and is now eager to show it to acquaintances.
But with the man-cave, enough is enough. Tyler wouldn’t want to live in the real world of Tamriel. If anything, only as a mage: “Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving,” he says.
In Aion, there is reason to rejoice: In the near future, 2 new zones will be released where the Daevas can roam. One of them is Cygnea, which will be released with patch 4.8. Although it will still take a while in Europe, it is already worth taking a look.
Cygnea: Raised from the Waves
The new area was submerged in the depths of the ocean until recently, and you can tell at every corner! Huge shells, colorful coral reefs, and plenty of algae cover the landscape. In addition, there are ruins from long-forgotten times and new adversaries, such as the axe-wielding sharkmen. However, nature has already begun to reclaim the land, and the first plants and even some trees are sprouting, giving the zone a friendlier impression. However, the gigantic statues of the dragons tell a different story and hint at the threats that still lurk here…
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In the MMO shooter Destiny , two new bounties were added on June 9. For the Queen’s event, it’s against Pirsis, the Pallas Curse. The Wanted bounties involve Wolf Executor. We will show you where the targets are located.
In each week since House of Wolves, more new bounties have been added, starting with Petra Venj. She’s the lady with the limited peripheral vision.
The community manager has now released further information. There is likely still a closed beta event planned. Depending on how that is received and how Western players respond, it will move into open beta either quickly or a bit slower afterward. No dates have been provided. But if you look at the calendar, it could very well be by July if everything goes well.
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For those who want to experience exciting D&D adventures cooperatively with good friends, this September offers the opportunity to do so.
MMORPGs only partially deliver a player experience like the good old pen-and-paper role-playing games. There are simply too many players in the world for that. This is just how it should be for an experience expected from an MMO. However, if you want to experience adventures in a small group, it becomes difficult to create the corresponding atmosphere. This is where Sword Coast Legends comes into play, a cooperative RPG currently being developed by some former Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age developers. The game is set to be released on September 8.
Pen & Paper without Pen and Paper
In the role-playing game, each of the four players creates an individual hero according to the current Dungeons & Dragons rules of the fifth edition. The setting is the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms, where role-playing games like the MMORPG Neverwinter or the classic Baldur’s Gate are already located. In addition to the four regular players, there is also a Dungeon Master. This person creates the adventure and the quests and can intervene in the game at any time. Essentially, one could say that Sword Coast Legends plays like a pen-and-paper role-playing game, just on the PC without pen and paper.
Each player controls their hero from an isometric view from above through the 3D landscape. You interact with NPCs, trade, and fight monsters in real-time, which the Dungeon Master sends to the group. The Dungeon Master has the ability to place new monsters or traps, distribute treasures, and even take on the role of a creature to control them actively. However, they must earn points by placing particularly nasty traps or tricking the player group. This creates always new adventures and entire campaigns that the group experiences together.
Sword Coast Legends will be released on September 8 for PC. The game also includes an option to play the included adventure campaign alone. In that case, the other heroes are taken over by NPC companions. Update: After the game was postponed, it ultimately released on October 20, 2015. We have examined it: Sword Coast Legends in our first impression.
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It is very rare to hear about a successful game months in advance. Often, there is a steadily growing fanbase and a certain hype builds up after the announcement of a game – not so with ARK: Survival Evolved.
Rank 4 on Steam
Today, still a stable rank 7.
While ARK was recently at rank 4 of the most played games on Steam, today it is still at a solid rank 7, with over 32,000 players online at the same time – even though the “Early Access” phase just started a week ago. At first glance, the game does not differ from its many competitors: it is an open-world survival game where players must withstand the unfriendly environment. Numerous resources can be used to craft weapons and buildings, or simply to satisfy the vital needs like hunger and thirst.
Unlike in “DayZ” or “H1Z1“, the threats are not zombies, but dinosaurs! Depending on the species, these beasts can not only be enemies but also tamed and used as mounts or pack animals. Those who want to get a small impression of the Jurassic Park of survival games should read our preview of ARK and take a look at the trailer:
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In the MMO shooter Destiny the week begins on Tuesday, June 9th, with the weekly reset. What is the new weekly Nightfall strike? What’s happening in the Prison of Elders? What do the vendors have?
Last week, Destiny was fully focused on PvP: Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris were active. They will end today at 11:00 AM. Instead, a new PvE rotation begins with a fresh Nightfall strike, a heroic strike, and a new configuration in the Prison of Elders. The vendors have also restocked with new items. Here you can read what to expect in PvE in Destiny this week. And we will provide some initial tips and tricks.
The weekly Nightfall strike on June 9th leads into the new DLC strike
Grounded – Players take increased damage when in the air.
The weekly heroic strike on June 9th
The weekly heroic strike features Phogoth in the Summoning Pits. The “Small Arms” modifier is active, which causes primary weapons to deal double damage.
1. Cabal/Specialist – Special weapon damage is doubled 2. Fallen/Switch – Enemies deal increased melee damage 3. Fallen/Airborne – Players deal more damage while in the air 4. Fallen/Morbid – Guardian shields are increased but do not regenerate 5. Fallen/Grounded – Players take more damage when in the air
The 34-version of the Prison leads you against the Hive
In the 34-version of the Prison, the Hive is now up. This is a new version featuring Gulrot the Unclean. Should be a giant ogre.
Vex/Airborne – Guardians deal increased damage while in the air
Hive/Grounded – Guardians take increased damage when in the air
Vex – Void Burn
Hive/Angry – Enemies can’t be stopped by damage
Hive/Morbid – Guardian shields are strengthened but do not regenerate
The 35-version of the Prison features Skolas, but with which Burn
Skolas is back in the 35-version of the Prison of Elders: Only the last wave, he himself, changes. There is a new modifier. Here one must be careful: The information from the last weeks was not correct at the start. The Guardians only realized that he had Void Burn once they stood before him.
Variks is selling this week a machine gun “Chain of Orbiks-Fel” and legs with strength again.
Tips, tricks, and video guides for the current challenges
Throughout the day, we will show you videos of how Guardians master the challenges that await you this week. They can serve as inspiration, provide tips on the gearing, or simply entertain.
Nexxos and his crew are tackling Taniks and his crew in the first video. It’s going into the Nightfall. Nexxos has been busy and has already gathered numerous legendary primary weapons from Skolas and Trials. He relies on Wolf’s Claw II from Skolas with Solar damage and Icebreaker. It’s a fast, hard raid with the modifiers: Much can kill you, but you can also do it significantly faster. Especially the beginning is tricky with the Hive. It’s another calm, pleasant video that step by step introduces the individual sections of Taniks. And remember: Don’t jump.
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And here’s a little sneak peek at Gulrot, the new ogre boss. The YouTuber gives the tip: Black Spindle, shotgun Bonebreaker from the raid, Titan with Bubble and … this strange weapon we keep hearing about.
http://youtu.be/cysjRrYw9rc
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
