Just before the start of the third season, Blizzard is deploying Patch 2.2.0 to the servers of Diablo 3. In addition to new Treasure Goblins, there are also many changes to the class sets. You have two more days to think about which set your season hero should wear.
What is changing?
There are not many major changes with the new patch. However, the world of Diablo 3 will become a bit more bearable. The blood shard cap will be increased by 10 shards for each Greater Rift level. If you successfully complete Greater Rift level 10, you’ll have space for 100 additional blood shards. Additionally, there are two new legendary potions and gems. While searching for legendaries, you’ll also certainly notice the new Treasure Goblins: Annoying Rascal, Count of Jelly, and Golden Baron. You can only encounter the new enemies in adventure mode.
Changes to Class Sets
To bring some momentum into the upper leaderboards, some class sets will be changed. Perhaps we will see more than just Barbarians and Demon Hunters at the top. You can find all changes to the armor sets in the German patch notes on battle.net. By the way, in addition to potions and gems, there is also something else you absolutely must collect: Legendaries that are only available in Season 3. You will need to wait 2 more days to find these, but then the treasure hunt can begin.
Season 2 has ended and the third season is on the horizon – how are you spending the time between seasons?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
EVE Online has a stable player base due to its very steep learning curve and eternal niche existence. CCP managed to increase the player count to around 500,000, and players have remained remarkably loyal to EVE Online after more than 10 years. However, a disturbingly low number of possible subscriptions has now emerged.
Only 140,000 Completed Subscriptions
The co-host of the Legacy of A Capsuleer podcast, ShadowandLight, claims to have heard from a little birdie that EVE only has 140,000 subscribers left. Whether this information is verified remains uncertain, as CCP has not published official player counts for EVE Online since 2012. The fear that many could abandon the sinking ship might be a reason for this.
Mathematically Impossible
The blog “The Nosy Gamer” has conducted some calculations. They looked at the annually held elections for the Council of Stellar Management (CSM), where every player can cast a vote and elect individuals to the CSM. This method allowed them to derive at least clear numbers until 2012 by comparing the number of votes cast to the player counts. If we extrapolate the votes from 2014, we arrive at 320,000 – 350,000 active accounts.
As mentioned in a report from the American magazine Massively, discussions with CCP in early 2013 suggested there were nearly 500,000 – which would imply a loss of about 150,000 subscribers over the past two years.
Could such mass battles soon become a thing of the past?
One Server, One Player Count
Another way to estimate the player numbers of EVE Online is the number of players currently online on the giant server Tranquility, displayed in the EVE Online launcher. Here, you can also compare the number of online players with those who have a subscription. An average of over 30,000 players is online. That would be an extremely high number if only 140,000 subscriptions existed.
It is clear that CCP has lost player numbers compared to 2010 – 2012, but it is by no means only 140,000 active subscriptions. However, an interesting consideration is that many EVE players own more than one account due to the game mechanics. Thus, it could be the case that while there are over 300,000 subscriptions, there are only 140,000 real people using them. This would mean about 2.3 accounts per player – a realistic number, even if non-EVE players shake their heads in disbelief.
Blizzard has not only recently struggled with the accusation of regularly engaging in “content recycling” in “World of Warcraft“. Especially during Cataclysm, many existing areas were only slightly modified, so at least the graphic designers saved a lot of work. When it was said at the time that the new expansion would lead to Draenor, the outcry was again great: Did players expect only a freshly painted version of the shattered world?
Fortunately, that did not turn out to be the case. The two worlds are still inseparably connected. The Imgur user “Gamerlen” has now created a rather nice gallery where you can clearly see the differences and similarities between the two worlds. How much love for detail Blizzard has once again put into the world is sometimes evident even just from reading the quest texts, which already gave small hints in the shattered world about what you can now see in Draenor.
The gallery is definitely worth a look – do you also know some places that you find particularly impressive within World of Warcraft?
In the MMO shooter Destiny , the mysterious vendor Xur appears every Friday. This also applies to April 10th. In the past, leakers and dataminers were able to accurately predict his inventory. Is there a prediction this time?
It was thought that Bungie had put a stop to predictions with a database patch and a manual change of Xur’s. But the “manual change” was probably only valid for one Xur, and even after the ban, people still knew which items Xur would bring. At least for the most part. On some Fridays, it seemed as if Bungie took the “original prediction” and made it even more attractive.
However, apart from a date, there are currently no further predictions or images about Xur’s inventory. Therefore, there is also no prediction for April 10th.
Xur is exciting again for the first time in months. The only things still in the air are rumors or things that were once said. For example, the Japanese leaker Megaman claimed to have seen all of Xur’s inventories until mid-May. And there are still weapons like The Last Word, Suros Regime, and Thunderlord. Whether these weapons will actually come is currently unclear.
With the upcoming expansion to Guild Wars 2, Heart of Thorns, one race is particularly in the spotlight: the Sylvari. But who are these plant-like beings? And where do they come from?
With the expansion, the dragon Mordremoth attempts to corrupt the Sylvari and turn them to his side. How exactly this unfolds and how it affects the game is currently not clear or publicly available.
It will definitely be interesting to see how ArenaNet handles the Sylvari in the future. The game seems to hint that one should no longer trust the Sylvari. Will the other races turn against them? And what does that mean for players with a Sylvari character? Will they receive “secret” missions to infiltrate the other races?
Hello everyone, I hope you all had a nice Wednesday and that you managed to visit your grandparents to earn some pocket money; had a nice celebration and didn’t take my April Fools’ joke too seriously.
Fortunately, opinions can also be changed, so today I’d like to revisit an older topic: Randoms. Until now, I have rather defended them (“Randoms” – A too quick judgment?). After all, they are just people who want to have a bit of fun. From now on, however, I take it all back and claim the opposite!
No plan about anything, but at least got this right
Without a doubt, my newly emerging anger comes from last week, in which I increased my playtime of “Heroes of the Storm” and consequently had to deal a bit more intensely with several randoms.
Currently, many different player types meet in HotS.
There are randoms that one barely remembers. They are silent, play rather solidly, and more or less, everyone gets what they want.
Then there are the truly friendly, good players who give you tips, and with whom you just plow through the battlefield.
And lastly, there are the spawn of all seven hells and the nether, who have already hammered the first “Noob” into the chat after the first blood or delivered a nearly friendly “OMG SUPPORT ME FAGGOT!”.
What I enjoy the most are people who bring their knowledge from other games and feel the need to apply it at all costs. They often get upset over a “Kill Steal”, even though all group members share the same experience. My personal favorite wanted to “report” me because I was “AFK standing around” as Abathur in the base. For anyone who doesn’t know Abathur: He always stands around in the base and supports other players with a very far-reaching spell without having to go to the front.
Are MOBA players aggressive or do MOBAs make you aggressive?
I really very rarely feel the urge to massively insult someone. You have to behave very badly or persistently try to ruin the game for others. This urge is actually only very strong in MOBAs. So where does that come from?
[intense_blockquote color=”#ffffff” border_color=”#fa2f2f” width=”40%” rightalign=”1″]Does a Moba awaken the dark side in you?[/intense_blockquote]
Why do I find randoms in MOBAs so much worse than, say, in WoW, Evolve, or similar games? Could it be that it’s not the Moba community that is “generally” aggressive and insulting, but rather the nature of a MOBA itself promotes or awakens such behavior?
What do you think? Has a “random” ever really driven you to fury? Or do you remain calm and composed even in the face of the most absurd accusations? What was the strangest experience you had with randoms? Let me know in the comments!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Blizzard’s World of Warcraft , players will soon be able to pay for their game time with in-game gold. This allows players to enjoy WoW without spending real money. In a video, Blizzard shows how this works.
In the MMORPG giant World of Warcraft, players can soon play for free and legally buy gold for euros thanks to the same mechanics. The new WoW token can be purchased directly from Blizzard’s in-game shop for 20 euros and can then be listed on a special tab in the auction house.
There are still some questions about the new token in World of Warcraft. Although all information is already available, it is easier to understand when watching a video and looking at the various steps:
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Here you can see that buyers and sellers do NOT have the ability to set a price for the token; it is predetermined by the system, and you can only choose to accept it or not. Once the token is listed, this cannot be undone.
You can buy 10 tokens per month, and once a token is bought from the auction house, it cannot be listed again. Therefore, it is not suitable for speculation.
In the MMO shooter Destiny , new tricks are always emerging. Now a Titan has managed to defeat the final boss of the raid “The Glass Chamber” alone.
“As legitimate as possible,” writes the Titan, who is probably the first of his class in the world to defeat Atheon. And as legitimate as possible is anything but “legit.”
The final boss of “The Glass Chamber” Atheon is actually not defeat-able alone, as he regularly triggers a time shift. Solo players are sucked in, cannot free themselves from the time shift alone, and die. Therefore, it was long thought that at least 3 players were needed for the stunt; later, with some tricks, 2 players also managed to defeat him. For a long time, this was considered the end of the line.
The Titan positions himself, as seen in a video, in a corner that is far from Atheon but still seems to belong to the combat area. The time shift would catch the Titan here. But there is a trick to get a little further out of the range so that the deadly mechanic does not work: The Titan simply jumps. Every 51 seconds the portal appears, and the Titan can repeatedly jump over the deadly hurdle.
In the meantime, he chips away at the giant’s health using the Icebreaker sniper rifle, as it has no ammo issues. He could not use the Black Spindle because he couldn’t consistently achieve the three precision hits.
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The sandbox MMO ArcheAge will receive some fresh features with the next patch: including a success system and a comparable gear score.
The sandbox MMO ArcheAge will introduce some new features with the next patch 1.7a, moving into the realm of “I am more successful than you”. The patch is expected at the end of April or early May.
Many other games feature “achievements” for certain accomplishments. This will now also be present in ArcheAge. They plan to start with 200, and right from the beginning, achievements will also be counted and credited retroactively. Achievements include building a larger house, defeating challenging opponents, or simple exploration.
There are rewards as well: such as costumes or special gliders.
Gear score is now also coming to ArcheAge
There are no rewards for those at the top of the “gear score”. The value serves, as in other games, primarily for one’s own ego and better comparability. You can see the value of other players, but not how it is composed exactly. The value is calculated based on the quality of the gear worn. There are no additional rewards tied to achieving a high gear score. However, there will be a leaderboard.
You can read about what else is changing with patch 1.7a in ArcheAge in these articles:
In WildStar , they plan to introduce the popular children’s and bros’ fun “Laser Tag” in the USA with the next patch.
For this nonsense, you are never too old, as one knows from the series “How I Met Your Mother”: Laser Tag. The eternal Peter Pan of the group, Barney Stinson, is crazy about this game for tough men, because nowhere does one feel as alive and as a man like on a laser tag range when defeating 8-year-olds.
Laser Tag is a kind of Gotcha, without getting dirty, and is mainly played indoors. One shoots with an infrared gun at opponents without wasting ammunition, and when hitting, one notices it via the sensors that the opponent wears.
http://youtu.be/U9-5MwEGocc
In WildStar, Laser Tag will be a mini-game. Pressing the “toy” starts it. You need 10 points to win. This mini-game will come with Content Drop 5, which also brings pets, quests, and all kinds of shenanigans to Nexus.
This will surely be “Let’s wait for the patch before we pass judgment”. Legendary.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the shared-world shooter Destiny , experienced players will embark on the weekly Nightfall strike on Mars starting April 7th. The Cabal need to be put in their place.
We have had enough laughs about April Fool’s Day, and Easter is over: It’s time to get back to the grind in Destiny. It starts on Tuesday at 11:00 AM sharp. The weekly Nightfall strike takes the Guardians into the Cerberus Vae III instance on Mars. They will face Valus Ta’aurc and his angry hordes.
The Nightfall strike grants a 24.5% bonus on all earned EXP and reputation points this week upon successful completion, and there is a chance for exotic loot. However, it is also one of the most challenging activities in Destiny. Even though many Guardians are currently scaling back their activity while waiting for the next DLC House of Wolves, the Nightfall is still being diligently completed: When is House of Wolves coming? Release date is approaching.
This week, the strike has no additional modifiers: Neither the enemies deal increased damage with certain elements nor do the Guardians of Destiny.
The modifiers for the Nightfall strike on April 7th in Destiny
Nightfall – Due to the prevailing Nightfall, reviving is only limited, and if all Guardians lose their light, it’s back to orbit.
Epic – the strike is significantly harder than a heroic strike of the same level.
Juggler – For the weapon type (primary, special, or heavy weapons) with which an enemy was defeated, they do not drop any ammunition.
Angry – Enemies cannot be stopped even by heavy damage.
What weapons are recommended for the Cerberus Vae III strike?
The strike is a typical “sniper” strike, like many Nightfall strikes. Therefore, strong sniper rifles like Icebreaker or Black Hammer in the special slot are recommended.
For the primary slot, a Void weapon like Atheon’s Epilogue or Crota’s Word can be very useful.
At the beginning, one of the rare solo completions through a Nightfall. A relatively long video, played cautiously of course. It is recorded without commentary and is a complete walkthrough. Especially impressive: how powerful the raid sniper rifle Black Hammer can be in this strike when played so precisely. As a Titan, the player does not use Void weapons, but the Fatebringer, taking down Psions with Void grenades. The finale against Valus Ta’aurc himself is contested from a supposed safe spot, which does drag on a bit. However, it seems quite safe.
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In World of Warcraft, the Coin Age begins tomorrow, April 7th, at least in the USA. Starting tomorrow evening, the coin will be in circulation in America.
It will cost 20 US Dollars to purchase such a coin from Blizzard. It can then be sold at the auction house for gold. Those who buy the coin there for gold can redeem it for 30 days of playtime. They have announced that the price will be aligned with those set by gold sellers. And they have indeed done so.
In the USA, the coin will start at 30,000 gold. A price that we find extremely low. It will later be regulated based on supply and demand. It remains to be seen whether the price will stay this low.
The fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online is now one year old; to celebrate, parts of the English-speaking community have sent heartfelt greetings in a video.
The good news about a game often gets overshadowed by the negatives in the media: “The Elder Scrolls Online still has a great atmosphere and fantastic attention to detail” is less newsworthy than “After the patch, it lags in Cyrodiil.”
Despite the many criticisms, the TESO community has been strong and present from the beginning, and after a year, some names and faces have emerged that support the game and feel connected to it. There are several YouTube channels, fan sites like Tamriel Foundry, streamers, and simply very happy fans who have formed around the game and found a second home in Tamriel. Parts of this community have now charmingly congratulated Zenimax Online on the first birthday of their MMO in a video and look forward to many more years.
http://youtu.be/z5AIYyohV7Y
We at mein MMO would also like to join in the good wishes. From our perspective, the work of community manager Kai Schober is especially commendable. He ensures that The Elder Scrolls Online is one of the few international MMOs today where the German-speaking community is informed and receives information just as quickly as the English-speaking community and has a contact person to ensure that their wishes are heard. This has become an exception today when considering the market. Here, Zenimax is truly exemplary.
In recent months, there has been a bit of silence around the PvP MMO Camelot Unchained, until it entered the hot alpha phase in March after some launch difficulties. Now TenTonHammer has also talked to Mark Jacobs and managed to extract some details. In addition, video material from the early alpha appeared a few days ago, showing actual gameplay scenes for the first time.
First Gameplay in New Video
You will be able to build your own houses and castles.
The video, which has been uploaded to YouTube for a few days now, shows the first scenes from the early alpha of Camelot Unchained. In addition to character creation and some PvP bloodbaths with sieges, the building system of the MMO, called C.U.B.E., can also be seen. In the interview, Jacobs states that the building system will differ from similar projects like Landmark. In Minecraft style, you can build your own castles or other buildings and then inhabit them. It also comes with an extensive crafting system that is unparalleled.
Unlike Dark Age of Camelot or WAR, we promise that players of Camelot Unchained will receive a building system. C.U.B.E. is the first step in this direction.
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When asked if Camelot Unchained will be more for hardcore players, Jacobs gives a clear answer: Due to horizontal progression in the endgame, both hardcore and casual gamers are intended to be addressed. However, the advantages for hardcore players should be limited. Similar to what is known from Guild Wars 2. Furthermore, the absence of a cash shop should influence the gaming experience for both groups.
Many know that horizontal progression is ‘friendlier’ than a far-reaching advantage for players who invest over 100 hours of gameplay more than others to then one-shot weaker ones.
Zerging like in GW2?
TenTonHammer also questioned Jacobs about the PvP system. The head of the developer City State Entertainment did not give a clear answer. However, they want to move away from the typical zerging, as is common in TESO and GW2.
Zerging, as the dominant play style in the game, is avoidable.
Whether the players will engage in this remains to be seen. In contrast, the question regarding a stealth mode was answered confidently by Jacobs, who stated that classes with stealth will not receive a “win” button, but will only be able to be invisible to a limited extent. He also expressed that the engine could already handle massive battles – with strong FPS – even on lower-end computers. The complete interview can be found here: www.tentonhammer.com.
The release of Camelot Unchained is planned for 2016, and Jacobs promises that they will not unnecessarily hype the MMO. The RvR game is currently in closed alpha, aiming to provide a home for Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online veterans and has so far raised over 3.3 million dollars with its crowdfunding campaign.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny players have now discovered items in the database that hint at a return of the PvE event “Queen’s Wrath” and an initial appearance of “Trials of Osiris.” We show you the 8 weapons that should be available at the PvP event Trials of Osiris.
“Database update brings 150 items to it,” wrote an excited user in the internet forum reddit shortly before the holidays. Among the supposed find were also numerous items that were associated with the planned PvP event “Trials of Osiris,” such as hand cannons with 90 impact power and the “Luck in the Chamber” trait, which would give one of the three bullets additional impact power.
150 new items in the database would be a small sensation for the so inquisitive Destiny audience. Upon closer inspection, however, disillusionment set in. The items were already known: It was a wild mix of the suspected items for the DLC “House of Wolves” with 9 exotic armor pieces, 2 exotic weapons, and numerous legendary items (we have already presented them in this hidden picture), then there were also items on the list that were truly already in the game, and also weapons for the events “Queen’s Wrath” and “Trials of Osiris.”
Here are the weapons for the Trials of Osiris event in Destiny
These weapons can be found in the database and are clearly associated with the PvP event Trials of Osiris, but it is not clear whether these items will also make it into the game or are just placeholders:
An auto rifle is not known yet, but the exotic Scout Rifle “Fate of all Fools” could also be on the list. Additionally, there are also other variants of the known weapons that do not carry a Roman numeral.
Players long for the Trials of Osiris event or simply to have something to do
Especially the weapons sparked the strongest excitement. Because the Trials of Osiris weapons have certainly interesting traits and values, especially for PvP. And no one knows what Destiny has in mind for both events. So many hope that Bungie simply flips a switch and the events could already start in April, giving the parched players something to do.
However, it turns out that the “150 new items” were not really new in the database, but they had been hidden in the meantime and were now made accessible again to the eyes of the data miners. Whether through a decision by Bungie or through a correction by the data miner site destinytracker is unclear.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the upcoming MMO shooter Tom Clancy’s The Division, the sound will adapt to the players’ situational needs so that they can even recognize the melody associated with the enemy faction they are about to face.
For the upcoming MMO shooter The Division (XboxOne, PC, Playstation 4, Release in 2015), a podcast has been released that discusses the topic of “Sound and Music in The Division.” Two experts for soundtrack and sound design were present.
During the podcast, it was especially noted that the sound of The Division should adapt to the player’s experience. From a variety of factors, The Division will select the appropriate soundtrack for the situation, whether music is played in that situation and, if so, which one. It is not only important which zone the player is currently in, but also what activity he is engaged in, whether he is outdoors or in a tunnel, whether enemies are nearby and, if so, what type of enemies.
The “Cleaners,” the gentlemen with the flamethrower, are accompanied by a Blade Runner-like sound. When entering the “Dark Zones,” the harsh PvP zones in the game, this will also be noticeable in the intensity of the music. However, it is still uncertain about the “warning music” regarding the enemy factions. It is known that the path also carries risks, and the music should not take away the surprise.
Additionally, there will be sources for music in the game, such as radios or actual musicians in the operations bases.
Silence will also be important in The Division
It will be emphasized that the musical accompaniment does not become so dominant that players feel annoyed by it, after all, it is important to remain in the world for hours. A cinematic atmosphere is intended in crucial scenes. Furthermore, those who have never engaged with sound and music in a video game will also be given the option to disable it.
To properly capture the ambient sounds, a trip was made to New York. This is intended to be as authentic as possible; of course, it will also adapt to the situation in the game. 90% of the sound will consist of ambient noises. And they are also aware of the importance of silence.
The sound of the game is expected to be recorded completely digitally and not with an orchestra. In the actual music, synthesizer sounds and percussion should be dominant.
Here is the podcast about the music and sound of The Division in its entirety; from the 14th minute onwards, the preliminary talks are over, and it turns to the game, including small sound snippets:
The durable Free2Play MMORPG Lord of the Rings Online is receiving a revamped system for legendary weapons, 3 new instances, 3 new regions, and a continuation of the main story with update 16.
The legendary weapons in Lord of the Rings Online are a science in themselves and are certainly among the “hallmarks” of Lord of the Rings Online. With update 16, the long-announced overhaul of the system is finally coming. The weapons will now be able to be “imbued.” They will grow stronger along with the player. There is a new interface for this on the test server and extensive changes in the details. A player from the community has summarized the most important change in update 16 for you.
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This overhaul was actually supposed to happen last year, but they couldn’t make the time. Even now, it’s said that the system on the test server is not finished yet, but they wanted to show it to players now to get feedback.
Otherwise, update 16 in Lord of the Rings Online advances the main story and brings the ring a little closer to Mount Doom: In eastern Gondor, 3 new regions are opening up, 3 instances are being freshly introduced (2 for 3, 1 for 6 players) and the main quest continues. Aragorn distributes “Voices of the Past.”
Furthermore, numerous balance changes are coming to Lord of the Rings Online, which are already being heavily discussed by fans. Here are the preliminary patch notes on the test server Bullroar. We have embedded two more videos about update 16 that deal with the new regions in LOTRO:
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The next patch for the sandpark MMO ArcheAge will revamp the island Freedich, in German Freienich, and clear it out.
Further details of the major patch 1.7a have come to light, which is expected to arrive in late April or early May for the sandpark MMO ArcheAge. Among other things, the island “Freedich” will be redesigned.
The island was one of the key points on the individual servers from the very beginning. Early starter guilds could build houses here early on, giving them a strategically advantageous position and an edge that was hard to take away. With the next patch 1.7a, these houses will disappear from the island. Players will receive compensation. No new houses can be built there.
Furthermore, there will be no possibility to teleport directly to the island. It will be redesigned into a kind of “event” venue. A new valuable gold trader will spawn on the island at certain times, who is expected to be particularly lucrative and will be announced with a server-wide message.
In addition, there will be a resource trader who sells rare ship parts, and with “Ocean Trader” a buyer for selected special packs.
They want to develop new events for the island. Freedich is to become even more contested in ArcheAge than before.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MMO shooter Destiny conducted behavioral studies and focus tests to reach target audiences and find out what would engage them in the game.
“Man, Destiny is so boring. Why is anyone still playing it?” we regularly read on our Facebook page. Well, not everyone has installed Destiny since the release and put more than a thousand hours into it, but there are quite a few. How exactly did Bungie manage to capture so many players beyond the point where it would normally be expected? How did they know the formula for success? It wasn’t magic; they didn’t rely on gut feeling or instinct, but rather worked hard to gather this data.
At a design conference, the head of user research, John Hopson, presented how Bungie collected the necessary data to design Destiny in a way that many can’t put down the controller.
They started focus tests years in advance
Three years before the release, they began with “target audience” testing. They found that there were 5 player types that would appear in Destiny, including some who focused solely on a very specific mode of the game. Bungie wanted to focus primarily on the “omnivores,” the players who like to try all game modes that a game offers.
Using scientific methods like surveys about gaming habits, they selected testers to obtain a representative sample of the players who would eventually play Destiny. They then took them in a bus to a game lab – and there was also a free buffet.
Press X if you like it
The tests later had players go through a map and let them indicate how they felt using their controller: The X button on the Dualshock stood for “great,” while the circle represented frustration. To ensure that not every shot was counted as a signal, they also had to activate the left side of the touchpad.
In addition, they followed their eye movements with special glasses and recorded their reactions on video to study and evaluate them later.
All these results were then used to design Destiny in a way that would engage as many players as possible, and the numbers prove that they were quite successful with it. Of course, there were significant security measures in place at the time to ensure that game testers wouldn’t leak details about the game years before its release.
In my latest masterpiece, I would like to take you a bit into my past gaming days and let you sniff a little nostalgia. How do I intend to do this? Well, with the column trilogy “Campfire Stories”. There, I address prehistoric topics that have lost significance in the 21st century, starting with the good old LAN parties.
The good old LAN parties
I would almost say that everyone has been to a LAN party at some point. For those who missed the experience, Wikipedia has the following definition: “A LAN party (or simply LAN) is a gathering of personal computers connected through a local area network (Local Area Network, LAN). Participants compete in computer games.” A formal description, considering what actually happens at a LAN. It is much more of a boozy calorie orgy mixed with plenty of fun and action in front of the PC.
In my opinion, LAN parties are rather lacking nowadays. In times of broadband internet and a pervasive online mode, LANs hardly receive any attention anymore. Especially we as MMO fans practically have a small LAN every day, just without the players in the same room. It’s a shame, really. I can remember exactly 100% of every session today.
But let’s first move on to a little anecdote about how our LAN parties always went…
Fundamental question: Public or private?
First, one should be clear about whether to hold a public or a private LAN. I have been to both public and private ones. The familiar four walls of some buddy’s place had much more charm for me than the community center and 200 geeks. Besides, the organizers of a public LAN have a certain degree of responsibility. And with the responsibility come the rules. These, in turn, are just annoying. That’s why we mostly held private LANs back then.
The planning
I was young. We were young. We really didn’t plan much back then or even now. We needed only a location. And that’s where Peter always came into play. His parents had their honeymoon every other weekend. Additionally, he lived in a large house and had no annoying little sister. Thus, Peter’s home was the perfect location for a LAN. Of course, one should clarify in advance how long the LAN should last. A weekend is best, from Friday to Sunday, since by day 3 the smell gets strong.
The hurdles
At every LAN, there are exactly two hurdles to overcome:
No. 1: The network. At least that was the case in the past. There was no internet and no YouTube tutorials explaining step by step how to set up a gaming network. No! You needed a bit of luck and at least one friend who had some knowledge of the subject. Moreover, the old operating systems were far from user-friendly.
No. 2: The power outlets. There are generally too few of them. Therefore, everyone should bring enough power strips to ensure the power doesn’t run out.
The selection of games
The selection of games was left to everyone. The main thing was there had to be a multiplayer mode and a LAN version so that everyone could play the game. Over the years, classics have obviously crystallized that not only offered great gameplay but were also suitable for a LAN. Here are my LAN party game favorites:
Counter-Strike
Warcraft 3 + Fun Maps
Serious Sam
Call of Duty
Quake
Age of Empires (all imaginable parts)
Anno XXXX
Command & Conquer
Battlefield
Mount & Blade
Stronghold
Our rules
Yes, I initially spoke out against rules, but there are at least important principles that should be followed.
No cheating – At least not before day 3.
No women – Back then, there were hardly any female gamers, so it would be distracting, and they shouldn’t get a bad impression of us.
No sleeping – After all, we arranged a gaming marathon, not for cuddling.
You don’t say a word about the LAN club.
In addition to the principles and rules, there are also virtues that contribute to a “good” atmosphere. Avoiding social media and annoying smartphones is part of good manners. They should not see the light of the world too often.
The big feast
The catering during the LAN could be described as one-sided and unbalanced. There’s no time to cook, and thus the phone line of the local pizza service is melting. You can, of course, order other foods, but our favorite was always the classic pizza. The advantage is clear: you can still enjoy it cold. We always ordered pizza in family format – that’s where the price-performance ratio is right.
The liquid nourishment consisted solely of beer or energy drinks. The caffeine in the drinks helps against sleep deprivation, and beer promotes togetherness or even competition. The best is a combination of both. I am still convinced that manufacturers invented energy beer especially for LAN parties. Otherwise, that brew has no justification for existence.
The low point
At some point during the LAN, we encountered what we called the “low point”. The reason was either that Klaus was the best in every game or that the first side effects of sleep deprivation were setting in. The usual remedy for us was to change games or get some fresh air.
Everything has an end
No matter how much fun a LAN is, marathon gaming is exhausting and remains so. We usually broke down our tents Sunday morning, so we could catch up on sleep for the rest of the day. Still, it brought nothing, as only half of the crew sat in class the following day.
Enough about me. What I want to get to…
Why exactly have LAN parties fallen by the wayside today?
Unfortunately, lacking statistics and studies, I can only speculate, especially concerning private LANs. In what capacity these are still held remains for everyone to answer for themselves. However, it has noticeably grown quiet around the major LANs. In the past, even magazines like Gamestar & Co advertised the big events. Nowadays they seem to have vanished from the face of the earth.
There are many factors contributing to their extinction. On the one hand, the “new” generation of gamers meets on the web instead of in gyms. Broadband internet is widely available, and DSL lines with 100K and above are inexpensive to acquire. So why move away from home when I can just bring my friends into my home via the internet?
The Dreamhack: One of the few larger LAN events that are still running successfully (Photo: Gabriel Kulig, Flickr)
On the other hand, game manufacturers also contribute significantly to the misfortune. Which of the games released in recent years still has a LAN mode and for what purpose? Everything runs over the internet. This has its reasons, of course, but is it so hard to implement a small LAN mode? Or do we not want it at all? Sure, The Dreamhack is still a thing. But especially with classics like Battlefield and Call of Duty, nothing runs offline in the new editions. I still remember how well the LAN parties were attended after the release of Battlefield 2. Insane.
Now I ask myself: Is it the industry’s fault or our own? After all, what gets produced is what we wish for.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
