Heroes of the Storm: Sacrilege! Blizzard takes the Space Marine’s cigar

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

As hardcore Starcraft fans will notice, Tychus becomes a non-smoker in Blizzard’s MOBA “Heroes of the Storm”. Blizzard cuts off his cigar.

It is one of the iconic images from Starcraft: The visor of a Space Marine lifts and a cloud of cigar smoke wafts out. The distinctive cigar gave “Tychus Findlay”, an avid cigar smoker, a personality, as some fans believe.

In the MOBA “Heroes of the Storm”, Blizzard reuses all heroes. Here, Tychus, a Gatling gunner, is depicted as a non-smoker. This was seen in a new skin “Prisoner Tychus”, which was briefly visible in a trailer. Ironically, the act of smoking a cigar was prominently featured in the now 8-year-old teaser trailer for Starcraft 2, clearly used as a stylistic element and identifying feature. Something that cool tough guys do. But times change.

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The idea that one could do without a cigar must have only recently occurred to Blizzard. Apparently, a cigar was initially planned for Tychus in this skin. It was later removed. At Kotaku, an expert in such pop culturally significant questions, they believe it might be because Blizzard does not want a “tobacco reference” in the ESRB rating and therefore opted out.

In a thematically closely related news, the absurdly large nipple rings of Azmodan stand out: They have clearly been enlarged compared to D3.

  • Tychus-Vorher-HotS
  • Tychus-Nachher-HotS

All of this sounds amusing, but for some it is indeed a reason for excitement. The related thread on reddit has been quite active. There is even an official statement from Blizzard. It states that showing this cigar would be banned in some “countries”. So, they would have to make “two versions” of Tychus to make everything fit. They didn’t want that. Therefore, they removed it. The “multi-nationality” of the game has thus led to the need to pay attention to the different regulations here.

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

How Elins saved TERA in swimsuits

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

That TERA has seen a great influx since its release on Steam has already been mentioned. However, an interesting side story illustrates how essential individual items in the cash shops of free-to-play games often are. And how could it be different in a game with a lot of bare skin? Of course, it’s about swimsuits.

Japan’s Influence in the Ingame Shop

The former producer of Bluehole Studios, Kim Nak Heong, has revealed a bit about TERA’s past. Originally, the intention was to present the Castanic as a “beautiful” race to appeal to a broad audience in many countries. For this reason, the horned women are also in the spotlight of most trailers. The developers were relatively surprised that the Elin prevailed as the most popular race, which is also reflected in the sales of swimsuits in the ingame shop: The revenue from Elin swimsuits is greater than that of all other races combined. Curiously: Only a few months before release the Elin were not even planned as a separate race.

In fact, Elins weren’t supposed to be its own separate race. It was just a female Popori. We only changed it two months before the release of the game. When we received feedback from those in North America, they were asking “How do these guys reproduce?” They didn’t really understand how animal-like Popori and human-like Elins could mate. We didn’t really think this through either. So ultimately, we decided to separate Elins from Poporis in the race selection screen. Even the name “Elin” was decided during that time. They were just going to be female Poporis.

Other outfits, whose design motivations often came from Japan, are said to be responsible for TERA’s persistence. In particular, the typical maid outfits have been a big bestseller and have ensured that TERA could easily transition from a subscription model to a free-to-play model.

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Who would have thought that a race originally designed as a filler race would one day save an entire game? So that is the story behind why the action MMO is in such good shape today, regularly receiving large content updates, and ranks among the most successful MMORPGs worldwide. By the way, the game is doing particularly well in the West. So well, in fact, that it is performing better in NA/EU than in Asia.

If we didn’t bother with Elin school swimsuits because Tera was unpopular in Japan back then, Tera right now would be in a completely different state.

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

ArenaNet introduces changes to the WvW of Guild Wars 2

Andreas Bertits Andreas Bertits Reading time 2 minutes

Changes and improvements keep an MMORPG alive and ensure that it remains interesting. Therefore, developers periodically introduce major updates, altering some features.

The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 will introduce some changes to the WvW system with the upcoming expansion Heart of Thorns. These changes include:

  • No supplies are required for upgrades anymore.
  • The storage capacity for supplies and the size of supply deliveries will be reduced.
  • Upgrading no longer costs any gold.
  • Individual upgrade options are now grouped into ranks.
  • Upgrading to the next rank occurs automatically after a certain period of time.
  • There are two ranks for storage and three for all other objectives.
  • The higher the rank to which one wishes to upgrade, the longer the upgrade will take.
  • With each delivery from a Dolyak caravan, the remaining time will be reduced by a certain amount.
  • The time required for a complete upgrade of an objective remains approximately the same.

Additionally, there are these improvements to the WvW upgrade system:

  • The number of trait ranks for “Brawler” and “Defense Against Guards” has been reduced from 10 to 5.
  • “Applied Valor” and “Applied Strength” have been removed from the trait lines “Defense Against Guards” and “Brawler”.
  • Trait lines with a bonus of 1% to 5% now receive a bonus of 2% to 10%.
  • The total cost of siege weapon trait lines has been reduced from 75 points to 60 points.
  • The total cost of the trait line “Supply Carrying Capacity” has been reduced from 300 points to 145 points.
  • “Supply Master” and “Terror of Mercenaries” remain unchanged at 15 points.
  • All progress paths for traits with five ranks have been unified and now include 35 points.
  • All progress paths for traits with four ranks have been unified and now include 15 points.

So, anyone who enjoys playing in the WvW of the MMORPG Guild Wars 2 and wishes for a little more flair can look forward to the release of the add-on Heart of Thorns, which is set to be released later this year. According to Amazon, this could be the case by the end of June.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. guildwars2.com

My MMO asks: Do you play alone or in fixed groups?

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

As every Friday (if we don’t forget *cough*), we want to ask you a question again today and are curious about your opinions! The question is quite simple, but the answer might not be: Do you play MMOs solo or in fixed groups?

The more, the better

World of Warcraft: Nostalgia
Little break by the campfire after questing together? That evokes nostalgia.

In the early days of the MMO genre, many things were unwritten laws: Anyone who wanted to have fun with World of Warcraft or the first Guild Wars had to act in groups. Social interaction made MMOs truly appealing, because if we are honest for a moment: Almost every single-player RPG would have entertained us better than a vacant online world ten years ago. Story was minimal in the quests, exciting boss fights were a rarity during the leveling phase, and the environments were often so expansive that after many minutes of walking, one would frequently wonder if they couldn’t better spend their time.

And yet, MMOs captivated for many hours, if not even months or years, because you could experience them with others. Raids for 40 people or a player-driven economy created incentives to interact with other characters. When there were no game contents, people just created their own (like PvP in Hillsbrad – Tarren Mill vs Southshore).

Many games in one

Nowadays, MMORPGs are often many games in one. There are extensive solo quest lines with cutscenes and decision options, often numerous mini-games (Triple Triad, Pet Battles, etc.) and plenty of content that can be tackled alone. The latest MMOs are also increasingly showcasing so-called dynamic events, where groups are formed automatically. However, the heroes mostly complete tasks “anonymously”, without saying a word to a fellow player.

Many MMOs have now become solid single-player titles, and to have fun, you often don’t need other players at all. The needs of players have changed significantly in recent years. And so, I now come to our question through long detours: How do you consume MMOs; in groups or alone?

WildStar
“Can we play together?” – “???”

Cortyn says: In the past, there was little I could do alone in WoW, except perhaps raise my reputation with Darnassus. Nowadays, there are many contents specifically tailored for solo players, such as the personal progress bar in WildStar. Essentially, this is a good expansion and allows many MMOs to reach a larger audience, although they are drifting further away from their original justification for existence: social contacts. WildStar, TESO, WoW, GW2 or TERA can now be played alone without problems, and one can have fun for many hours. However, these games can’t really keep me engaged for long if I can’t gather players around me. Still, I keep encountering people who only occasionally visit the auction house, but otherwise want their peace.

How do you play MMOs? Do you have fixed groups and can’t have fun without them? Or do you often enjoy such games alone and find the other players disturbing? And above all: Why? Let us know in the comments!

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

Neverwinter: Free2Play MMO gets Guild Fortresses in a PvP module

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the action MMO “Neverwinter”, guilds will soon have the opportunity to claim a stronghold. This means guild PvP and lord tower.

In Neverwinter, players will soon fulfill their childhood dream of being a knight residing in a stronghold. With the announced seventh expansion “Strongholds”, guilds will be able to seize their own stronghold and defend it.

Neverwinter-Strongholds-Banner

However, they will not just move into a ready-made nest and find everything superb, but they will have to get the castle in shape first. They will need to “pacify” the surrounding area (meaning defeat monsters), then reinforce the castle and finally defend it against attacking monsters or other players.

The Executive Producer describes the expansion as a step towards players being able to write and develop “their own stories”. It involves them liberating a land overrun by orcs with their guild, and then defending their little patch of earth against all invaders.

This sounds like a really exciting addition to the game. The expansion is expected to arrive this summer. Also announced for this year is the module “Underdark”, which is likely to appeal more to PvE fans.

Neverwinter Strongholds
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Destiny: Xur, Agent of the Nine, offer and location on 22nd May.

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny on Friday, May 22nd, Xur, the Agent of the Nine, will make his first appearance in the Tower or the Reef after the DLC. Does he already have new exotic weapons and armor? Where is he located? What does he have to offer?

Little is known about Xur so far. Whether he will appear in the new Reef is uncertain, but it is considered possible. What he will have to offer cannot be predicted at this point. However, much should become clear soon: His arrival is imminent.

Could Xur have the new exotic weapons and armor for sale?

It seems that the 5 new exotic weapons found in the database are likely out of his reach. He probably won’t sell any of them, not just this Friday, but never. The three “Fallen weapons”: the pistol Dreg’s Promise, the shotgun Lord of the Wolves, and the fusion rifle Queenbreakers’ Bow are Raid weapons, that much is known. Xur typically does not sell those.

Nothing has been heard about the “Fate of All Fools” yet. If it is in the game, it is likely somehow tied to the “Trials of Osiris“. This would likely exclude it from Xur’s offerings. Perhaps we will know more by tomorrow around this time, when the first guardians have achieved the “Nine Wins” in the Trials of Osiris.

Destiny-Ram

Also, no one has randomly found the last new exotic weapon, the “347 Vesta Dynasty” in the game. It is even assumed that it never truly made it to Destiny, but was an early version of the hand cannon “Vestian Dynasty” and was left behind as data residue.

However, there are increasing reports of guardians randomly finding exotic armor pieces. This means: These 9 new exotic armor pieces could be gradually sold by Xur.

Destiny-Xur

All about Xur, the Agent of the Nine, on May 22nd, 23rd, and 24th in Destiny

When does Xur come and when does he leave again?

Xur arrives on May 22nd at 11:00 AM; he leaves again on Sunday, May 24th at 11:00 AM CEST.

Where is Xur located?

Xur is somewhat hidden in a doorway in the Reef. Our friends from ProNDC will show you exactly where he is hiding.

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What’s up with the numbers in parentheses?

These are the values that the armor piece reaches in this edition. We do not yet know new parameters for the values in Strength, Intellect, and Discipline.

What does Xur have for sale this week?

Xur has the exotic hand cannon “The Last Word” for sale this week. It can be acquired for 23 strange coins. It certainly comes just in time for the Trials of Osiris, which start this evening.

Destiny-Das-Letzte-Wort-225

For Titans, he sells the gloves “No Plan B” (106/111). The armor pieces cost 13 strange coins each.

Destiny-Kein-Plan-B-225

For Hunters, he has the boots “Radiant Dance Machines” (136/144).

Destiny-Strahlende-Tanzmaschienen-225

For Warlocks, the chest armor “Starfire Protocol” (166/175).

Destiny-Sternenfeuerprotokoll-225

This is likely to be quite disappointing, as there are no new DLC items on offer.

The helm engram might be really attractive to players. Anyone wanting to try their luck here might receive one of the 3 new helms. However, the likelihood of getting the exact right one seems to decrease further. As a new “exchange option,” Xur offers to exchange 2 strange coins for a light particle.

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

Final Fantasy XIV: The Dungeons of Heavensward in the Video

Dawid Hallmann Dawid Hallmann Reading time < 1 minutes

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward will be released in a few weeks. Starting June 19, players can storm the new content through an Early Access, of which there will be more than enough. Everyone else will have to wait until June 23.

To shorten the waiting time, Square Enix has released a video overview showcasing the magnificent settings of the new dungeons. In total, the residents of Eorzea can expect 8 substantial, entirely new instances. In addition to the classic dungeons, two new primal battles with Ravena and Bismarck, along with a raid featuring Alexander, will be introduced.

Final Fantasy XIV Dungeons Heavensward

Recently, an emotional video featuring the title song “Dragonsong” – the main theme of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward – was also released. You can find more information about the expansion on our FFXIV topic page.

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

Overwatch: McCree brings justice!

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time < 1 minutes

In the latest gameplay video from Blizzard, the developer studio behind Overwatch, all hungry fans get a pretty impressive impression of the future cowboy McCree.

As befits a true western hero, McCree primarily delivers devastating headshots with his revolver. His combat role provides tactical depth, allowing him to move in any direction while reloading his magazine. To avoid being hopelessly outmatched in heated battles, the good man also has a flashbang that temporarily blinds enemies. If that’s not enough, he can still activate his “Deadeye shot”, targeting all foes within range to empty his entire magazine on them in the blink of an eye.

In the shown match, it’s again about escorting a “Payload” cart, and this round is among the most exciting that have been released so far. The player controlling McCree demonstrates quite impressively how to “casually” pull off a 10-kill streak.

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FFXIV Heavensward: Captivating title song with new trailer released

Dawid Hallmann Dawid Hallmann Reading time < 1 minutes

It won’t be long until the very extensive expansion for Final Fantasy XIV: Online for PC, PS4, and PS3 is released. With a video, the creators from Square Enix musically prepare for “Heavensward”, accompanied by conflict-laden scenes that evoke emotions.

The title song “Dragonsong”, composed by the star musician Nobuo Uematsu and heard in the background, is fully in line with the main scenario.

The main quest “The Dragonsong War” is set to include more than 50 hours of gameplay, which seems quite impressive for a story quest series. The expansion “Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward” will be officially released on June 23 and brings a large number of new quests, 3 new jobs, numerous zones, airships, the Au Ra race, tons of dungeons, flying mounts, and much more.

By the way, we from Mein-MMO have been in France over the last few days and were able to take a look at the expansion. In the coming days, you can expect a flood of information.

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

Destiny: Bungie is excited about record attendance for House of Wolves, announces Trials of Osiris

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny , the developers at Bungie are pleased with the influx caused by the DLC “House of Wolves.” They also announce the “Trials of Osiris.”

In the Weekly Update, Bungie speaks to the community. This time, they have only good news to announce. The influx for House of Wolves was impressive. Not even the arrival of the many “Kinderguardians” (Christmas newcomers) could compete with it, which happened on May 19. So many wanted to hear the “Howl of the Wolves.” They do not specify concrete numbers but mention “millions.”

Impressive Numbers: 900,000 Story completions, 9,000 Endgame activities finished in House of Wolves

Destiny-Skolas
Skolas

They then have concrete numbers for other activities:

Only a few hours left until “House of Wolves” starts for PvP players with the Trials of Osiris

And even though the Guardians have been so eagerly enjoying the PvE activities of “House of Wolves,” not all battles have been fought yet, and some have not even started. For Friday, May 22, they announce at 7:00 PM our time the first round in the “Trials of Osiris”. As an event, they accompany four major streamers on Twitch, each entering the field for a charitable cause.

Destiny-Trials-of-Osiris

There seems to be a supposed problem with the Speaker: Some complain that he does not exchange materials, as promised to 1.2.0.1. Bungie explains: You really need to have the materials.

As for the “Video of the Week”, it is no surprise that the dance performance on Venus was awarded.

Even before the Trials of Osiris open, Xur will appear – either in the Tower or in the Reef. We will welcome him at 11:00 AM and report on his inventory. Who knows, maybe there will be some new exotic armor pieces.

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

Destiny: Skolas has sunburn, drops new elemental primary weapons

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny , the final boss of the current DLC “Skolas” has a critical weakness this week: He is susceptible to Solar damage.

Every week, the modifiers in the different difficulty levels of “Prison of Elders” are supposed to change. This week, a Solar Flare is active on the final boss of the 35-level variant, “Skolas”.

Oh, if only there were an exotic weapon that deals insane damage and does Solar damage… Wait?

Yes, exactly. Like the two previous bosses Atheon and Crota, Skolas was done in by the weapon whose name shall not be spoken. In just 40 seconds, three Guardians boosted to level 34 defeated the Kell of Kells on Tuesday using everyone’s favorite rocket launcher.

http://youtu.be/-rNe2jbD6BQ

Of course, not every run goes as perfectly as this one. Skolas has his quirks and tricks: The new Prison proves to be adaptable and is currently leaving Guardians puzzled. It involves taking out Servitors, passing on debuffs, and defusing mines. The fight takes its time.

Destiny-Wolves-Leash

Surely we will revisit Skolas in the coming days and shed more light on the fight.

And the special reward is… Raid primary weapons

However, there is already a secret that has been revealed. It concerns the “four new primary weapons that deal elemental damage.” Such rewards were also present in the two previous raids: Weapons like the Fatebringer or the Soul’s Release were quite popular. Where the elemental primary weapons should come from this time was not entirely clear beforehand. However, data miners had already found some.

They are primary weapons that Variks also offers in exchange for weapon cores. However, these do not contain “elemental damage” in the basic version. With Skolas, the weapons can drop with a “Roman II” in the name.

Guardians are already reporting that they have received several “elemental versions” of a single weapon from him. The scout rifle “Wolves’ Leash II”, for instance, drops as a Void weapon as shown above; images of an Arc version also exist. However, the likelihood of a drop of the II weapons is said to be relatively low.

These could thus become the new “catch them all” elements in Destiny. This is also clearly referenced in the flavor text of the “Wolves’ Leash II”. The tricky part: Right now it looks like there are different random elements with the primary weapons: It could lead to particularly strong or weak variants of the weapon, and the “Prison of Elders” weapons cannot be reforged.  It seems like the new carrot is hidden here, which Bungie is dangling in front of the Guardians. Once more of these rare weapons are found, a more accurate pattern can surely be discerned.

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

H1Z1 Column: Those who get virtually lynched get a second chance

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

In the survival MMO H1Z1 , studio president John Smedley is making headlines again: Banned hackers must publicly apologize if they want to play again.

The studio “Daybreak Gaming Company”, formerly SOE, doesn’t need advertising or a marketing department. The boss takes care of the press, hype, and excitement himself. With bold words, Everquest co-creator and current studio president John Smedley declared war on the hackers and cheaters plaguing the shooter H1Z1: They wanted to take nuclear action against these scumbags, it was said at the beginning. Since then he has regularly announced his successes with pleasure to reassure fans and show: We care. This is necessary as H1Z1 is considered infested with cheaters.

In the announcements, Smedley has sometimes gone a bit too far in the past, as he mentioned a hacker site in one post. He suggested players check out how much they complained about the harsh measures of H1Z1. The hacker forum was pleased with such attention: all this new clientele. Smedley later deleted that part from his post to fans. This time, Smedley seems to stretch the bow a little further.

If you want to play, you must be humiliated

After the last, particularly large ban wave against wall hackers, many reached out to him, apologized, begged, and pleaded for forgiveness. They wanted to be allowed to play again; they would never do it again. Smedley’s idea: “The minimum for us to consider this is that a public apology comes via YouTube.”

A few took up the offer: they recorded apology videos with their face cam, trying to justify their actions with “everyone does it.” Smedley prominently linked the apologies on his Twitter channel. When it became known that the first would be pardoned, the community reacted: “This is not acceptable. We don’t want cheaters anymore. They should stay away.”

Smedley’s response: “We have unbanned 3 out of 20,000. And with one, we will probably revert it because they set their video to private.”

The virtual pillory

Why did he do that? Because it probably doesn’t please everyone to be confronted with the hate and frustration of H1Z1 players under the video. They are not gentle at all. Jokes about the character of the cheater, personal insults, or anything else are common. Alongside some scattered comments that it takes guts to apologize this way, players are sometimes wished cancer or a violent death. The cheater must show their face, while the insulting crowd remains anonymous. One of the videos has already garnered 47,000 clicks. The creator has since disabled the comments. For good reason: they were less about his actions and more about his appearance.

http://youtu.be/gtYxFKDfN48

Five players emerged and were pardoned. That’s it. The offer has now expired. According to Smedley, the controversial action was mainly about bringing more attention to “the cheating issue.”

Furthermore, Smedley states in a post on Reddit that the war against cheaters has been going on for so long and is quite hopeless. Banned players create a new Steam account, use hacks to bypass the hardware ban and just continue. That is the ugly reality, but it is reality. It was time to try something new.

Mein MMO says: Now one could say Smedley is just providing the pillory. He forces no one to stand before it. And he doesn’t give rotten fruits to the angry crowd. But at least Smedley has booked the marketplace, set up the pillory, and summoned the angry mob. That the H1Z1 community would react to such apology videos harshly, mercilessly, and more than a bit hurtfully was predictable.

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

Tera says: We are the #1 MMORPG on Steam

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The action MMORPG Tera seems to feel right at home on Steam. It claims the first place for itself, wanting to be the most played MMORPG, and that after just two weeks.

Since Tera launched on Steam on May 5, the action MMO has exploded. This is shared by the US publisher En Masse Entertainment. The game now has 4.5 million registered accounts in North America and 20 million worldwide.

And they are quite active, as shown in an infographic. Every day, 6 million of the famous “BAMs”, the “Big Ass Monsters” are killed. And if one received a dollar for every gold piece looted since the Steam launch, they would be worth 10 Gabe Newells. Tera claims the title of “most played MMORPG” for itself because it ranks very high in the Steam charts for “concurrent numbers”, the number of players logged in simultaneously.

It seems that TERA has found fertile ground in Steam with its action-oriented approach.

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

MMO Trends: April is not a good month for MMORPGs – WoW, GW2, FF 14 lose playtime

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In April, the gaming trends from Raptr show a rather sobering picture for the classic MMORPGs World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and Final Fantasy: the big three are losing playtime.

Every month, Raptr analyzes its data and reveals how much playtime PC gamers using their program have spent in each game. These are of course not official figures, as there are none, but merely a trend indicator. The best way to read the numbers is in relation to the previous months, as one can see how the “core audience” of Raptr users behaves and reacts to the developments in the games.

The blockbuster GTA V made a big splash this month. The game came to PC and it was significant. For the “classic” MMORPGs and for the online long-runners that usually dominate the list, it went downhill instead.

Quartet of MMORPGs takes a significant hit

World of Warcraft lost 30% of playtime in the content-poor April. Guild Wars 2 lost 34%, Final Fantasy XIV 24%. The sandpark MMORPG ArcheAge also lost 10% playtime, but managed to gain positions, as it lost overall less than its competitors. For the MMORPG classic SWTOR it is also going downhill in terms of Raptr hours. It is one of the games that lost more than 20% of its hours in April.

We make a little prediction: WoW will likely continue to lose in May, as nothing new has come yet, perhaps it will recover in June with the 6.2 patch.

For Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2 expansions are coming this year, so it should soon go up. For FF14 likely from June, for GW2 in the second half of the year. Probably there will be events and actions in advance of the expansion to create buzz and increase playtime.

Further content patches are also planned for ArcheAge in the near future. Yesterday in Korea, patch 2.0 was released, which is supposed to give the game a second wind. We’ll see how that impacts in the distant future.

Final-Fantasy-XIV-Heavensward

Things are going mediocre at Blizzard

Other games that we cover at mein MMO are doing fairly mediocre. Hearthstone and Diablo 3 are doing well. Hearthstone benefits from the new adventure “Blackrock Depths” in April and increases by 7.4%; Diablo 3 can even increase by 11% thanks to the new season.

Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm however lost some steam in April, shrinking by 5%. World of Tanks saw playtime increase by 6%.

It seems that overall, April was rather a month of stagnation for MMOs, and little will change in May. There were no major upheavals recorded here. On the contrary: the blockbuster The Witcher 3 could play the role in May that GTA V took in April.

The larger patches, expansions, and upheavals that should bind PC players back to their online favorites will not come until June.

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

Guild Wars 2 brings about the world peace bug

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the fantasy MMORPG Guild Wars 2, a bug has caused peace to reign among ostensibly hostile players.

“We are currently investigating an issue with world peace in WvWvW,” it was stated on the Guild Wars 2 Facebook page yesterday. “Yes, you read that right, players from rival realms are being friendly to each other. The team is calling the bug W<3W.”

However, the friendship between the 3 servers Gunnar’s Hold, Riverside, and Elona Reach didn’t last long. The bug was quickly brought under control. The Eternal Battleground lived up to its name again.

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We can already see the next headline in the feuilleton of German weekly magazines: Warmongering company does not grant players pacifist peace – Is this still funny?

We think: In this case, it absolutely is.

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

Destiny Guide: How to Handle the Wanted Loot Activities by Petra Venj [Update]

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny there are new bounties. We are showing you video guides for the 3 Wanted Bounties.

In the MMO shooter Destiny the DLC “House of Wolves” aims to give players the feeling of being on a “bounty hunt”. This makes patrols more important again. Already in the last week before the launch, players got a taste of bounties that led to public events and treasure hunts. Now Petra Venj has two types of bounties on offer, the ones that work like last week and also grant an Ether key. And the “new” type that directs players to clear objectives.

PetraVenjBounties

But all bounties from Petra Venj lead hunters, Titans, or Warlocks out into the already familiar world to find and eliminate key enemies. It’s not always that easy to find the sought locations in Destiny, and video guides can help with the annoying question: “And where is that now?”

Here are the objectives for the Wanted Bounties

Our friend Nexxos Gaming has accompanied the Wanted Bounties with video guides:

The howling raider

The “Howling Raiders” can be found on Venus, in the “Chamber of Whispers”.

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The queen’s breakers of the Vandals

The “Queen’s Breakers of the Vandals” can also be found on Venus, in the Slag.

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The Wolf looters

The “Wolf Looters” are on the Moon and here in the Halls of Wisdom.

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Queen Breaker Captain

The bounty “Queen Breaker Captain” first appeared on May 26 in Destiny, located on Earth in the Cosmodrome, in Dock 13.

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Ether Runner

The second new Wanted bounty from Petra Venj, which was added on May 26, revolves around the Ether Runner on Venus in the area Endless Steps.

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Wolves’ Guardian

The third new Wanted bounty was added on June 2. Here you hunt the Wolves’ Guardian on Venus, in Campus 9.

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Mecher Orbiks 11

In this bounty “Mecher Orbiks”, it is like those from last week during the event “The Great Wolf Hunt”: You have to go to the point shown in the video and then wait for the event to start. This will be initiated by the message “A wolf pack is on a bounty hunt”. After that, it’s back to “treasure hunting” with the Ether key to Ether chests. If you are looking for information with specific objectives, maps, and hints on the map, we recommend our guide to the event “The Great Wolf Hunt”: The bounties Drevis, Kaliks-12, Peekis, Peltrik, Saviks, and Weksis are covered.

In the bounty “Mecher Orbiks-11” you go to the Ishtar Cliffs on Venus.

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The developers of the dinosaur MMO ARK are taking care of fans of The Stomping Land

Andreas Bertits Andreas Bertits Reading time 2 minutes

The dino MMORPG The Stomping Land (TSL) looked very promising. However, after the project manager disappeared and there was no further information about the game, the disappointment and anger of the customers were great. Now the developers of the MMORPG ARK: Survival Evolved want to take care of the fans of TSL.

Stomping Land
…and suddenly the dino game “The Stomping Land” became history. Silently.

You can say it openly: It is a mess what happened with The Stomping Land. The game was added to the download platform via Steam Greenlight and many were looking forward to the promising MMO about dinosaurs. But suddenly there was silence, the project manager disappeared, and the game was removed from Steam’s program.

The disappointment and anger of the fans were great – especially from those who had already spent money on the game. But now the developers of ARK: Survival Evolved want to step in. They are offering the fans of TSL to switch to ARK. On June 2nd, early access on Steam begins, and a first – albeit still very early – version can then be played.

A little gift for scammed The Stomping Land customers

If you, as a buyer of TSL, decide to participate in ARK, you will be pleased with the “Stomped Land Bling Shades” package. This includes a cosmetic outfit (which does not provide any gameplay advantages), allowing you to ride stylishly on your Tyrannosaurus Rex in ARK: Survival Evolved through the vast game world. This is a nice move by the ARK developers.

Of course, all others can dive into the MMO starting June 2nd and engage in the prehistoric world with dinos and other players. You can read a more detailed report on ARK: Survival Evolved here.

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Source(s):
  1. mmorpg.com
  2. steampowered.com

Destiny: The Cryptarch’s Big Day – so many Engrams were decrypted

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny the Cryptarch Rahool had his big day on Wednesday evening. He and his new colleagues decrypted like mad.

There was an engram backlog in Destiny: Some of the engrams dropped last week could not be decrypted at all. Many Guardians saved the legendary engrams before to decrypt them only after “House of Wolves” to gain new packages through reputation increase, where also “new engrams” would be contained, which would bring new rewards. So the plan. For the uninitiated: Engrams are basically the loot surprise eggs of Destiny.

In practice, the engram backlog and its resolution caused the Cryptarch in the Tower, the most hated person in Destiny Master Rahool, and his somewhat younger colleague in the Reef, Master Ives, to have their big appearance.

Destiny-Master-Ives

100 million engrams are not enough for Master Rahool

Activision has now revealed to IGN how many engrams were decrypted during the HdW launch on May 19 and how much glimmer the Cryptarch pair produced. The numbers are impressive:

  • 105 million blue and purple engrams were decrypted
  • 11.2 billion glimmer were produced by the Cryptarchs.

A Bungie employee commented tersely: Still not enough for Master Rahool.

Destiny-Event-Wolfsjagd

There are also some numbers available in the Destiny subreddit:

On launch day, the number of page views skyrocketed to unprecedented heights. There were 2.8 million page views on Wednesday from nearly 250,000 “unique” users.

Admittedly, for most people, the numbers mean little without reference points. It’s hard to compare users and clicks with football fields. Therefore: It is just insanely much. About as if all citizens of Braunschweig had visited the site that day and spent some time there reading a lot.

Okay, that doesn’t sound so impressive now. As I said … comparisons are difficult here.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. ign
  2. reddit Clicks

Guild Wars 2: The expansion Heart of Thorns has an estimated release date by Amazon

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the fantasy MMORPG Guild Wars 2 , the expansion “Heart of Thorns” is approaching. Amazon has now ventured a guess on the release date.

US sites are reporting hot off the press about the hottest of all information sources, the German Amazon. They have roughly dated the expansion “Heart of Thorns” to June 30. This is also the end of the second quarter, so estimates Amazon in Germany and retailers worldwide. At The Division one knows “approximately Q1/2015” thus Gamestop assumed February 28. This was also worth a brief excitement for our English-speaking friends, at least on reddit. Only unfortunate that February 28, 2016 is a Sunday.

GW2-Release-Date

US MMO sites turned Amazon’s estimate into “release rumors” – perhaps they know more in the land where dumplings and sauerkraut bloom. Well. June 30 seems a bit too optimistic when considering the current planning, but probably not too far off. At Guild Wars 2 they point out that no release date has been announced. When retailers provide such dates, they are based on speculation.

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

Overwatch: The smartest gorilla ever – The Winston Analysis

Gastbeitrag Gastbeitrag Reading time < 1 minutes

The beta for Blizzard’s upcoming shooter Overwatch is set to begin this fall. To shorten the wait a bit, I’ve already taken a closer look at some of the characters and analyzed them as far as is currently possible.

Overwatch is indeed a first-person shooter, but the individual heroes share clear similarities with those from MOBAs. They not only have a personal backstory but also their own set of abilities that goes far beyond the standard shooting with a weapon.

The first one is the hyper-intelligent gorilla Winston, who previously belonged to Overwatch as a scientist. Now he has taken up his armored high-tech suit and a Tesla cannon to charge into battle.

– Darion

Overwatch Winston Screenshot
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