In the MOBA League of Legends , the new champion Ekko is already making waves on the test server. There has already been an initial nerf.
Last week, a new champion for League of Legends was introduced: Ekko, a slender boy who uses his skills and wits to survive on the tough streets of Zaun. Ekko’s playstyle is said to reflect his quirkiness and intelligence. He is intended to achieve victories not through brute force, but through surprise attacks, securing them with a clever, magic-based retreat. He is described as an AP assassin. You can check out his abilities here. But how to use them effectively?
Gameplay of Ekko from the Test Server
On the test server, players immediately noticed the ability to use the ultimate to “quick shop” back to the base and reappear fresh on the lane within seconds.
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However, he caused quite a stir in practice games due to the enormous damage potential he can unleash in the endgame. Like almost all new champs, Ekko is considered by many to be totally “overpowered” at this stage.
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The street boy has also caught the attention of the powerful at Riot, and they have already lowered the thumbs: “Too much ‘snowball’, they concluded. He can become too strong too quickly, unleashing enormous damage potential with his abilities early on and becoming a tyrant for opponents. Additionally, his tower tanking was considered too strong. Therefore, there have already been minor nerfs to Ekko. If this continues, more may follow.
And the first nerf
Changelist
Putting in a few nerfs for Ekko that should be out sometime tomorrow. After watching a number of PBE games we feel that Ekko tends to get pretty trainy (runs you down and beats you to do death with basics) especially when ahead. Additionally, his tower taking is pretty crazy. To combat this we're reducing the bases and scaling on his basic attack and hitting the AP ratio on the W passive. Hopefully this should make it a bit harder for Ekko to snowball and make him a bit less oppressive when doing so.
Stats
Reduced base attack speed to .644 from .658
Reduced AS/lvl to 3% from 3.5%
Reduced AD/lvl to 3 from 3.5
W
On-hit AP ratio reduced to 1% missing health per 45 AP from 1% per 35
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the fantasy MMORPG World of Warcraft, the current Apexis gear will soon be available for purchase with gold.
Apexis Crystals are not working
Previously, players had to earn Valor Points through daily dungeon visits in World of Warcraft to buy decent gear from a vendor. This was considered an outdated concept by Blizzard after Mists of Pandaria. They removed Valor Points and introduced Apexis Crystals with Warlords of Draenor. Players were meant to earn these through daily quests, and with them, they could gradually buy Apexis items from vendors, which could later be transformed into a better version for even more Apexis Crystals.
The catch was: it was too labor-intensive for players to obtain low-quality gear for relatively little effort, which could then only become “okay” gear with even more effort and “pretty good” gear with much more effort. The offer was hardly used, and the Apexis vendors became abandoned. Additionally, the dungeons were no longer utilized. Solutions have already been presented for the dungeons, while Apexis vendors are now being addressed.
Apexis gear will soon be available for gold
Because at Blizzard, they have decided, with the next patch 6.2, the “Apexis Gear” will no longer be sold for Apexis Crystals but simply for gold. The highest tier then costs 20,000 gold – a total of 6 pieces of armor will be sold: gloves, bracers, cloaks, helmets, pants, and belts.
This decision by Blizzard is being heavily discussed on social networks. While it seems there is agreement that the current Apexis vendors were quite useless, as hardly anyone sought them out.
Some are asking: “Does Blizzard need money so badly?
However, introducing such a “gold sink” and thereby providing an incentive to spend gold is being met with criticism, as Blizzard currently earns directly from players’ “gold needs” through the WoW Token. However, Blizzard has previously been accused of having too few “gold sinks” in the game, causing the value of gold to diminish.
Players are now calculating how many euros or dollars they would need to spend to obtain enough gold to gear up a fresh character with these 6 items.
The prices of 20,000 gold for a 675 item are not yet fixed, but are on the PTR. They may still change.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Keyword: Exotic items, catch them all, grimoire points, overflowing vault, new weapons coming, just no space, cryptarch refuses to decrypt engrams, mailbox already occupied, panic times three, scream convulsion. You know this from those dreams where you wake up in a sweat. Back to the topic.
On Friday, the patch 1.2.0. went live with a delay, and it brought, besides the new event and the Heavy Pike, also a new ghost in the Cosmodrome. Our friends from Pro NDC show you how to access it.
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By the way, it is rumored in well-informed circles that the “old” tutorial area has been unlocked and stocked with mines to prepare players for what awaits them in the prison of elders.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the superhero MMO DC Universe Online, the next content patch “Halls of Power II” is set to be released on Tuesday, May 19. However, the upcoming upheaval is even more significant.
In the Halls of Power II, players will confront the “New Gods”, and in “Happiness Home”, a kind of crazy orphanage, they can fight with various well-known enemies. The setting is bizarre and holds a lot of potential. Notable figures include Darkseid, who appears in the comics, and the Weather Wizard (known from the TV series Flash). The planet of the narrative, Akopolis, might be familiar to fans of DC TV series, as it played a role in Smallville.
Additionally, the next DLC will introduce the “Loot Picker” feature, allowing players to always choose from at least two options when they have earned loot from enemies.
Instead of 4 stories, there will soon be 12 each year
This “more flexible” approach is expected to allow developers to respond to current events in the DC universe and craft individual episodes around trending developments. The comic writers want to provide tips beforehand.
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Crossover with current DC actions: Bombshells in August
A promotion involving the DC Bombshells is planned for August. Bombshells are a type of statue, a collectible that depicts a superheroine in a retro pin-up pose. Last year, there was an attempt with a “Bombshell” themed month in the comics, which was somewhat successful, showcasing the superheroes in a 50’s style.
In DC Universe Online, there will be a crossover featuring “Bombshells Legends” characters. It may involve figures from a retro comic series DC Comics Bombshells planned for June. They plan to transplant Wonder Woman, Batwoman, and Supergirl into an alternate reality and ask: What would have happened if they had fought on the front lines during World War II? We will see; the signs are certainly pointing towards retro and change.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Star Trek Online , players have been slightly tricked, as there was a loophole in the system on how to obtain “Summer Event” ships.
In Star Trek Online, there was a wonder: Participation in the summer events, where ships could be won, decreased. However, just as many ships were earned as in previous years.
What happened? There was a mechanism in place that allowed players’ second characters, whose main characters already had the ship, to acquire the event currency much faster. Therefore, clever players hoarded tokens with their twinks to simply get the new ship next year without playing the event.
Star Trek Online has found a solution: No more twink bonuses. Each year a new currency for the ship, and it now counts account-wide.
The next summer event, the Lohlunat Festival, is scheduled to start in early June. To prevent players with heaps of old currency from looking as sad as a Ferengi at a botched deal, there is a special “exchange” program for the old currency, the Risan Lohlunat Pearl. For more details on what you can get for pearls, refer to this entry.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A few days ago, a new patch was released for SMITE. Most of the changes were visual, such as the appearance of the Egyptian god “Anubis” being completely revamped to align its graphical splendor with the newer gods. But Ah Muzen Cab and Chaac also received new appearances, and that can only mean one thing: It’s time to bring a lot of skins to the people!
Anubis – an old dog in new clothes
More polygons, smoother animations, and significantly more details in the abilities turn the rather outdated undead dog of Egypt into a real eye-catcher. Especially the new spell effects of “Death Gaze” are well received by players and are now far more impressive than the floating green bar that resembled a graphic glitch. The same treatment was, of course, given to the recolor “Nightwalker,” which is included in its win code.
Anubis, Chaac and Ah Muzen Cab
Boom-Chaac-a-Laka! – More lightning, more tanks!
The Mayan god with a penchant for rain and storms is getting his first Tier 2 skin, available for 250 gems. In addition to a significantly more impressive weapon, there is also glowing armor, providing a much more imposing presence on the battlefield. Did the good Chaac really need this?
Killer-Bee Ah Muzen Cab – The big buzzer
Finally, there is a Tier 2 skin for the bee god to offer fans of the popular hunter an alternative to the “Dark Whisperer.” A stylish helmet, sharp arm and leg armor further enhance the eager colleague and certainly elevate him to the rank of the busiest little bee of the month.
You want to win one of the 3 new skins, including the gods? Then let us know in the comments whether you want to win the Anubis Nightwalker, Killer-Bee Ah Muzen Cab, or Boom-Chaac-a-Laka! For each of the aforementioned skins, we have three codes. Please note that the codes are compatible only with the PC version of SMITE but unlock the respective base version of the god! Multiple entries are of course forbidden and will result in exclusion from the giveaway. The deadline for entries is May 20, 2015, at 6 PM. Good luck!
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In the god MMO Skyforge , a new part of the endgame has been introduced with the anomalies. This leads to monster hunts.
Skyforge follows the endgame philosophy of “having multiple irons in the fire”. With the anomalies, a kind of 5-gods endgame is presented. Players can team up in groups of five and then compete in the “anomalies.” At any rate, this can be gleaned from the very lore-heavy press text. Of course, it is presented in a much more bombastic way than we can describe with dry words.
In the anomalies, players must drive selected groups of monsters to “resonators” and defeat them in their vicinity. Special quests will lead through the anomalies. If you are successful in driving and questing, the rewards and resource gains become increasingly larger. All in all, it reminds somewhat of the “heroic instances” of competing games.
At this gathering point, you can traditionally look for allies
Other endgame activities are to be “distortions“, relatively simple 10-man activities, while with the “invasions“, significantly more comprehensive event chains will find their way into the game..
How the anomalies feel in practice, we hopefully will be able to experience soon ourselves. Another beta phase is planned, but does not yet have a date. It is assumed that the next phase will be very close to the open beta currently running in Russia.
In the MMO shooter Destiny , the merchant Xur plays a key role. Bungie now explains some details and also addresses conspiracy theories that Xur is not random.
At 2:00 AM every Friday, Pacific Time, the number of visitors to Destiny increases significantly. There is a traffic spike. It’s Xur time. As John Hopson, a player research specialist at Destiny, tells the website Eurogamer , many Destiny players in the USA set their alarms specifically for this time. Because at 2:00 AM, Xur is in the Tower.
For us in Europe, it’s 11:00 AM. Not an alarm-setting time, but also a crucial time in the weekly routine of local Destiny players. Many quickly check from work, school, university, or on the go what Xur would have.
Xur brings players back to Destiny
“We wanted exactly this rhythm”, says Hopson. On Friday, Xur day, even players who wouldn’t have played Destiny all week log in.
Xur gives the impetus for players to maybe return to the game, perhaps to be out with friends again. And that has always been the plan at Bungie.
And what about the conspiracy theories? Is Xur random?
And what about all the conspiracy theories surrounding Xur? How is his inventory determined? Is it really “random,” as the community manager once said? And if it is random, why has Xur suddenly appeared so kindly lately? Why did he bring all the items that were missing at the end of February, whether “Hard Light”, “The Heart of the Praxian Fire” or “Thunderlord?”
Isn’t that too much of a pattern to be pure coincidence?
Like with Onyxia in the past
In response to this question about randomness, Hopson says he is fascinated by how players handle “randomness.” In the past, he raided against the dragon mother Onyxia in World of Warcraft . She used the ability “Dragon Breath” and killed a lot of players. But when did she use this “Dragon Breath”? The players saw patterns ahead, speculated what could be the reason, what mechanism determined when Onyxia would activate this kill ability. The developers at Blizzard, however, said: “That is random.”
The players didn’t believe the developers. Hopson himself didn’t believe them back then, he reveals. He died so often to Dragon Breath that he was convinced there was intention behind it. His gut feeling told him: That can’t be random.
“That’s how randomness works“, explains the Onyxia-affected player years later. “We don’t believe in it. We are not biologically constructed to believe in coincidences.”
Xur is Xur
Eurogamer then asks : “So is Xur random?“ To this, Hopson is silent and smiles.
At Eurogamer, they have the theory that Bungie wants it this way. They want conspiracy theories, want discussions about Xur, want the mystery. They do not want to reveal what happens behind the scenes, they do not want to demystify Xur.
And that also seems to fit in with Hopson’s last statement: “Xur is Xur. I have no control over him.“
Which again raises the question of whether someone else has control over him.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
This week, there was a blog post with a to-do list outlining what has been planned and what can be implemented right away. The focus is primarily on player abilities, the “Heroic Encounters”, and some “Quests” that have been identified as buggy. They also want to change and ease the combat in the “Temple of Tiamat”; however, they will also raise the requirements for participation. Because the battle is considered to be so difficult and unfair, especially for the weakest players.
In the fantasy MMORPG World of Warcraft , users of the bot “Honorbuddy” were banned for 6 months. The bot originates from Germany. The operator believes that Blizzard’s “attack” is related to a court ruling that favored his company.
“We never thought we were unbeatable, that was you. We are sorry.”
The operator of Bossland addresses his customers in a post, giving a statement. He says: It seems that Honorbuddy has been discovered. Some of the banned accounts are 10 years old. They regret that, but it was always said: Don’t use your “valuable” accounts, you do so at your own risk.
Previously, between 2006 and 2008, two bots were discovered each year. That was practically an everyday occurrence. They never thought with Honorbuddy that they were unbeatable, even though some fans believed so.
With Honorbuddy you thought that we are unbeatable, we never thought that, we’ve succeeded since 2010 – Honorbuddy had not a single software detection. It seems there is one now.
Blizzard finds this bot okay.
The bot manufacturer thinks the ban was revenge from Blizzard
The operator speculates in his statement to the fans that Blizzard was “really pissed” about the fact that Bossland had a first success at the Hamburg district court in an appeal process. But that could also be a coincidence. That is not certain.
It also seems that Blizzard was really pissed at our first win at the court of appeals in Hamburg. It might have been coincidental. Nothing is for sure.
Bossland GmbH has been involved in a complicated legal dispute with Blizzard for several years. In a press release from Bossland in early May, they summarize it this way:
Bossland GmbH fights in various proceedings against Blizzard Entertainment S.A.S. and Blizzard Entertainment Inc., with one proceeding in the stage of revision before the Federal Court of Justice, and in another, a non-admission complaint has been filed before the Federal Court of Justice. The goal of these proceedings is to clarify various legal situations. This includes questions regarding the incorporation of terms and conditions of software when purchasing in physical stores or online retailers, the legal assessment of virtual items, and questions regarding competition law of service providers that have established themselves in the online gaming environment and wish to offer various additional services, services or products that do not originate directly from the online game providers.
Do the 180-day bans expire in time for the add-on?
The bot manufacturer further suspects that the 180-day ban duration has something to do with the release date of the next WoW add-on. Otherwise, so the theory goes, they would have likely banned the players forever. It is hard to reconcile that Blizzard announces “death to all bots” and then only issues temporary bans.
For the time being, they have halted the “Honorbuddy” authentication. They will inform the “customers” when it resumes. Some international gaming sites then reported that Honorbuddy was giving up. However, that seems to have been a bit premature.
David against Goliath with swapped roles
Mein MMO thinks: If you put yourself in the bot manufacturer’s shoes, the situation has a somewhat tragic-heroic aspect. David achieves hard-fought recognition successes against the overpowering Goliath in court, only for Goliath to turn around and bring out the big guns on another battlefield.
However, it is questionable whether most WoW players will have much understanding or even sympathy for this side of the story. Because from the perspective of the “honest players”, Goliath is, for a change, the good guy here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The ambitious mech MMO “Project HON” will never see the light of day. Development has been discontinued.
Giant robots smashing and shooting each other do not seem to align with the current zeitgeist in South Korea. This was the conclusion reached by the MMO specialist NCSoft, leading to the discontinuation of “Project HON,” which had been in development since 2011. It was based on the Unreal Engine 4 and appeared in trailers to provide a potential alternative for the local mech fanbase to the few current mech games.
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In Destiny since Friday evening, an event has suddenly gone live. “Wolf Hunt” is supposed to get players excited for the next DLC “House of Wolves.”
What is the “Wolf Hunt” event?
Bungie has pulled off a coup: they have actually kept the “Wolf Hunt” event, which became active with 1.2.0, hidden from data miners and leakers, no word leaked out. While we also thought Bungie was planning a surprise: A week before the launch of “Darkness Awaits” in December, Crota’s blades appeared for the first time and announced the next DLC. However, we are also surprised by the scale of this teaser, and in a positive way.
This is how you should envision this event: It is a “teaser”, a “taste” of what begins next Tuesday evening. It is referred to as the “Queens’ event” but is officially called “The Great Wolf Hunt”.
These rewards are available in the Wolf Hunt and what they bring
Since yesterday, we have received a lot of questions over Facebook about what individual items do exactly. Some DLC items are included that players currently can’t use in Destiny. Therefore, we present the items related to the event.
As rewards for participating in “The Great Wolf Hunt,” there are currently:
Reputation for “Queen’s Wrath“, with which you can currently only buy shaders and emblems – probably more later. Since “Queen’s Wrath” is a reputation faction returning with “House of Wolves,” players can basically gain a “small head start” now. At rank 3, Petra Venj will then be able to sell a spaceship. However, it seems that rank 3 will likely not be reachable yet. Petra Venj is basically the new Eris Morn.
Legendary and rare engrams are inside the chests – but currently they cannot be decrypted by the Cryptarch, players should save them until next Tuesday, Bungie advises. This is driving some Destiny collectors insane because they simply have no more space.
Then there are also “normal” rewards: Planet materials, Glimmer – nothing wild.
“Treasure Key” (they are called Vaultkeys oddly in German) – players are advised by Bungie to store these in the vault and keep them, as they can only carry 5 of them. They are likely related to the “Prison of Elders” and could become quite valuable.
Also new in the game since Friday:
Passage Coin – these are items related to the PvP event “Trials of Osiris”, where you can buy special buffs starting next week. One shouldn’t expect too much here.
In this video, our friends from ProNDC show you the basics of the event “The Great Wolf Hunt”, how events generally run, how to handle the Scorch Cannon, and general tips on finding chests and behaving socially.
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Well, Petra Venj is at the Tower, she is the queen’s right hand. She is currently distributing, on Saturday evening, May 16th, five bounties. It was surely intended for her to spawn on the last Tuesday, May 12th, and then to release one bounty every day. Due to the delay of patch 1.2.0, she only started Friday evening with three bounties, probably received the fourth at 7:00 PM, and today, Saturday, at 7:00 PM our time, the fifth was unlocked. The sixth bounty will likely be available on Sunday at 7:00 PM.
These bounties can be completed only once. The twist is: Once the bounty is completed, players receive an Ether Key and a “chest” spawns in the area that can be opened for one minute and thirty seconds. This chest is marked by a “gold shine” and is quite visible, especially from above. Other players should be called to help snag this chest. There are “4 or 6 possible” spawn points for each of the areas where the chests can appear.
Video Guides for the various bounties from Petra Venj
Many of you may be wondering: Where are the individual mission enemies? Where exactly do these bounties take place? They appear as events, so you may have to wait a bit until they spawn. The message “A wolf pack is on a bounty” announces their arrival.
If you do this in a team, which is recommended, you should make sure to revive teammates before you kill the “named” boss of the mission, or else they won’t receive an Ether Key. Arc weapons, especially Arc shotguns, are recommended for most bounties. If you find the relic weapon, the Scorch Cannon: Have fun with it.
In the video guides from NexxosGaming, you can see where the individual bounties from Petra Venj take place.
Drevis, the Wolf Baron (Forgotten Coast in the Cosmodrome – translated a bit differently than The Forgotten Shores)
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These are the locations where Ether Chests spawn in the different areas during the Queen event in Destiny
On reddit players have come together and already identified possible spawn positions for the chests that you can then open. It is probably possible to loot a chest multiple times if you go into another zone during the 1:30 and then quickly return.
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In the multiplayer shooter Star Wars Battlefront, X-Wings, Tie Fighters, and other spaceships will appear in various modes and engage in exciting battles.
Initially, players were disappointed by the news that there would be no “space battles” in Battlefront. Star Wars without Star Warsso to speak: This did not sit well with some. But the spaceships will, it seems, play a crucial role within the atmosphere.
Now it becomes clear: In certain modes, aerial combat will take center stage. These modes will be tailored to the needs of the pilots and their spaceships. For instance, the newly mentioned mode “Fighter Squadron”. Here, players will be able to engage in “epic aerial battles over vast canyons”. A small glimpse was already seen in the trailer. Apart from these large battles, pilots will also demonstrate their skills in missions.
The X-Wings and Tie Fighters are not limited to their “own” missions, but also called “dogfights” can rage over the rolling ground battles that other players engage in multiplayer modes.
One of the main themes at DICE is to assure players that Star Wars Battlefront offers a vast variety to cater to different play styles. Meanwhile, they focus on maximum authenticity: The weapons are designed to feel, sound, and impact just like those from the great predecessor, the original Star Wars trilogy.
What the PC needs to handle to graphically present all this is still unknown. This will only be revealed in later beta tests, they say. The next major announcement has been promised for E3 in mid-June. There, new, previously unseen gameplay material is also expected to be shown.
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In the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, you will have to adhere to the customs of the platform: You will not need a code to play. Only the CD.
Regarding the question: What do you need to play TESO, there has been some back and forth: Do you need a one-time code? Can you essentially do without the CD afterwards? According to the “the code decides” principle, most MMOs operate today. The most important part of the retail package has long been the code, not the CD. This is different for console titles.
This also has other implications: MMOs are worth nothing on the “used market” as the code is usually missing. While CDs without such a “one-time code” are actively traded.
So which path would TESO choose?
TESO opts for the console approach regarding “one-time code”
This has now been surprisingly clarified openly and in clear terms: they are also opting for the console approach on consoles.
In the official forum, a TESO employee states: They will not need a one-time code for “physical editions” of The Elder Scrolls Online. Only the game CD is necessary as “verification”. This means: you can share the game with a friend or buy a copy that has already had a previous owner, and this can be done without any problems.
A unique game key will not be required for physical editions of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. As with any other physical copy on these platforms, only the game disc will be needed for verification. This means that you are able to share the game disc with a friend, or purchase a pre-owned copy of the game without any issues.
They explain this in more detail later: When you lend the CD to a friend, they can play with it as long as the CD is in the console. However, you yourself cannot continue playing without the CD.
Mein MMO states: The forum members at TESO are relatively surprised by this decision. And so are we. TESO is obviously behaving not like an MMORPG, but like a classic console game. And this is already quite generous, likely due to the transition to a Buy2Play MMO model. This model typically does not focus so much on one-time purchase revenue but aims to reach as large a player base as possible that then purchases in the cash shop.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny , players have been using a new device since last night, a “Heavy Pike” and it is armed.
In a conversation with the Guardian a few weeks ago, it already came up: With “House of Wolves” a new heavy “Pike” would come to Destiny. A kind of heavily armed Sparrow. As the Creative Director said, it will have a cannon and a few other features that players will notice while using it.
It seems to be available among other places in the “Ember Cave” on Venus or one can acquire it in the “Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction” manner from a dead person. According to initial reports, the new Pike can take quite a beating, has some daring stunts, and is well armed: The main cannon reportedly fires explosive projectiles, while the sides have “jump grenades that seek their own targets.”
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“Pikes” are a type of land vehicle in Destiny, which Guardians can occasionally jump onto when it is convenient. They are associated with the “Fallen”, the alien faction that is primarily focused on in the upcoming DLC “House of Wolves.” Since last night, all players are getting a taste of the DLC “House of Wolves.” Some changes are already active now that are not mentioned in the patch notes.
Other sites have reported this as being “bugs” or something being activated “too early”. However, from the tweets and also the hints from Bungie beforehand, it is quite clear that everything is as it should be, they just wanted to surprise the players.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
For those who want a glimpse of the game: The Asia specialist Steparu has uploaded this video showing a massive battle with 100 players on each side, this is the Korean version:
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The Buy2Play MMO The Secret World is said to finally get mounts after several years, or at least something similar.
At the end of a live stream, where they fought through the Orochi Tower, the guys from Funcom presented a new feature for “The Secret World” or at least outlined it roughly: And it looks like mounts.
To what extent the TSW “mounts”, in this case “ride machines”, correspond to mounts from other games is still unknown. “Don’t give away too much, don’t give away too much,” it was repeatedly stated. In the short presentation, however, it sounded more like the motorcycles were more closely tied to the “sprint function” in the game and were rather a way for players to customize their “sprint” individually.
But maybe something will change with the sprint mechanics in The Secret World.
Two motorcycles were shown. The developers spoke of a “large, important” feature with many details. They are already looking forward to presenting it later.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
After Blizzard recently started releasing gameplay footage of “Overwatch“, there is fresh content this week for all fans. You can watch the healer “Mercy” as she defends the Temple of Anubis with her team in the desert region.
Her focus is, as the name suggests, on restoring teammates’ health points. Of course, the good lady can not only heal but also grab her pistol in tight situations to pressure the enemies or to score the odd kill, driving her team to madness.
At first glance, Mercy seems to play a bit more monotonous than Zenyatta, as she appears to act often from the background and charges at the enemy in significantly fewer situations. But see for yourself.
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In the fantasy MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW), 3 million paying players have been lost in just a few months. Lead designer Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas also admits to mistakes in the analysis.
The 5-man instances: We found it silly in MoP, now we have overdone it
Internally, the “dungeons” have also been identified as a cause. This is probably the aspect of the expansion “Warlords of Draenor” that Blizzard is most dissatisfied with. “We created a handful of dungeons, but did not give players a reason to continue playing them after the first few weeks”, Hazzikostas said.
“In Mists of Pandaria, players repeatedly did the 5-man instances for valor points. Even after a year. We found it a bit silly to tackle the same content with increasingly stronger gear and receive the same rewards every time. So, we removed the valor points from the game. I think we overdid it there.”
The Garrison: The 5-minute WoW has no competition with the rest
While the garrison has been heavily criticized by fans, Hazzikostas doesn’t see it as negatively. These garrisons encouraged players to log in only briefly, in sprints. Instead of perhaps not playing WoW at all that day. It’s not uncommon to log into WoW for 5 minutes before work, complete the follower missions, restart and then log out.
He doesn’t believe this player experience comes at the expense of larger activities like raids.
Warlocks were formerly two-button characters, WoW has not been dumbed down
In raids, one can see more of a development where the “veterans” of WoW are still hardcore at their core, but now have jobs and families. The hours-long raiding from college or school days has been replaced by “45 minutes after the kids are in bed”.
Blizzard is trying to address this with higher accessibility. The interviewer notes that today some guilds only raid two evenings or 6 hours a week and still do so at the highest mythic difficulty.
This trend towards guilds with fewer raid days can be observed, and the lead designer agrees. He also contradicts the thesis that WoW was much more challenging in the past. The destruction warlock, for example, only needed two buttons during BC: one debuff kept up and then very quickly hit the shadow bolt button hard. Compared to back then, the game has certainly not been “dumbed down”; rather, they have merely focused on keeping WoW “clear and concentrated”. World of Warcraft has a high skill cap.
The reasons for the lost players: Players don’t want just one game in their life anymore
The main reason for the lost players, however, is seen by Hazzikostas elsewhere, not with the garrison or the 5-man instances: It would be cyclical behavior.
Today, World of Warcraft is no longer a “year-round lifestyle”, but something that players love, but something they come to, see what’s going on, play the patch, and then leave again, perhaps to play another great game that has since been released.
Part of this cycle is when at a certain point there is very high interest, there is also a strong drop-off of players afterwards.
Hazzikostas refers to the next patch 6.2., which should give players a reason to log in again. The introduction of the WoW token has not had a “dramatic” impact on player numbers, as he reveals.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
HotS is admittedly still in an early stage regarding its potential in e-sports. However, the game developer seems to be planning something big for its MOBA. At BlizzCon, taking place in November, 1.2 million US dollars will be paid out just to the HotS teams. Besides the MOBA, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Starcraft will also be featured in competitive competition.
“The higher the prize money, the more successful the game in e-sports” – this statement is, of course, a fallacy. However, in order to establish itself in the competitive MOBA scene, Blizzard must entice players from Dota 2 or LoL. And this is likely best achieved with high prize money. That HotS is “Easy to play”, but “Hard to master”, anyone can verify from the open beta on May 20th or at the latest upon release on June 2nd. The learning curve is not as steep as in the competitor LoL, but to utilize all strategies on the various maps, it requires not only individual skills but a well-developed team play strong. Toxic gameplay elements like last-hit distributions are largely absent in comparison to the competitor, and a very fair matchmaking is supposed to convince players.
We will see. Although according to an analyst, the MOBA cake is already divided – in favor of League of Legends. The BlizzCon tournament offers a perfect stage for a furious entry into the e-sports scene. Eight of the world’s best teams will participate. However, the teams must battle through several tournaments. In the end, 2 teams from America, 2 from China, 2 from Europe, and 1 each from Taiwan and Korea will face off.
It’s still a few months until BlizzCon, but the qualification tournaments will already show whether there will be enough interest in HotS as an e-sport category… after all, it was already once seen on ESPN2.
What do you think, how do you assess the e-sports potential of Heroes of the Storm? For more information about the new MOBA, you can find it on our HotS topic page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
