Complaining Wednesday: No Change in Hearthstone

Greetings to the weekly outrage of the week. Even today, when it comes to Hearthstone, it will again be irrational, completely unfounded, and of course super subjective. You have been warned, and by reading, you give up every right to complain about the artificial outrage in the comments (because only one demon is getting upset here, and that is me).

HearthStone – The Long Way of Gold Farming

Since the next adventure “Blackrockmountain” for Blizzard’s card game HearthStone will be released in the relatively near future, I have pulled the addictive substance from its virtual drawer and have been intensively collecting gold for the last few days. After all, you need a whopping 3,500 gold coins if you want to buy the entire adventure without spending real money, and unfortunately, they don’t accumulate as quickly as I would like.

Hearthstone Gold

Depending on the daily quest available, I can earn between 140 to 200 gold coins per day – thus, I need about 4 weeks to earn the addon. And now, after a long preface, let’s get to my outrage.

The Meta: Back to Beta!

The meta of the current season feels very close to the meta from exactly one year ago. Popular decks still include Rush Warlocks (“Zoolocks”), Rush Hunters (“Face Hunters”), and Control Warriors. Even the decks have hardly changed, with a few exceptions!

Hearthstone Cards Goblins against Gnomes

Basically, both addons did not create exciting counterplay opportunities, instead, the existing decks have become even stronger. The Warrior can dig in even deeper, the Hunter can disfigure the face much more quickly, and the Warlock has even more small, nasty minions that have demonstrated their sheer superiority after at most 4 turns.

Short Glimmers That Quickly Disappear

Of course, there are occasionally brief flashes of new deck variants, such as the Mech Mage or Silver Hand Paladin. Especially in the lower rank levels, you occasionally see really new and fresh creations. However, the higher you climb the rankings, the more these decks vanish into oblivion. In today’s 25 matches, which all took place between ranks 3 and 7, there was only one deck that I had not noticed before or very similar.

Hearthstone Mechs

This is a relatively exciting and at the same time sobering development. Although the variety of cards is steadily increasing, the number of fundamentally different decks is decreasing or remains at the same level. A rare paradox where “more content” leads to “less content”. Don’t you think?

To pick up all readers where they mentally exited: Dr. Boom is still not being nerfed. Terrible, isn’t it?

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

The Elder Scrolls Online experiences a second spring, actually offered at full price

The fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online has actually raised the prices for the basic box back to the level of a new release.

It is a late revenge on the bargain hunters. For a year now, some have been lurking around The Elder Scrolls Online, stirring up trouble, bringing bad vibes and waiting for this online Skyrim to finally be free to play. Not a cent, they swore, would they want to spend on a game that is, after all, totally disappointing! But… they want to play it for free immediately – and why the hell is it taking so long, everyone knows what a flop it is!

Bargain hunters are currently left out at The Elder Scrolls Online

Elder Scrolls Online - Tamriel Unlimited

As of today, TESO is at least playable without a subscription, but there’s a catch: The base game must have been bought at some point. And bargain hunters who have hesitated until now can actually kick themselves.

Because the price of the base game has officially returned to 55 euros a year after the release, and the TESO website even wants 75 euros for the digital collector’s edition. On Amazon, the digital standard edition is currently around 50 euros.

The game was almost forgotten, now everyone is interested again

Over Christmas or last year, when no one was talking about the game anymore, it had sunk to 20 euros. And anyone who had jumped in back then could be playing now.

TESO-Nachmahrrenner

In any case, the commotion is great: Gaming sites that seemed to have forgotten in recent months that there was this thing called “The Elder Scrolls Online” are rediscovering their love for the game, now announcing big specials, claiming to have always loved it.

But it doesn’t always work out. The TESO reddit community showed cold shoulders to a dormant site with a commercial background. This site had now activated and updated the outdated talent builder just in time for the Buy2Play switch and with the console launch on the horizon. The reddit community wanted nothing to do with it: “When nothing was happening,” was the sentiment, “they left us hanging, and now they want clicks again. Not with us.”

The Elder Scrolls Online Legal System 2
Katsch-Ing!

Will Tamriel Unlimited ever get cheaper again?

The Elder Scrolls Online

The announcement by Zenimax that they would offer “Tamriel Unlimited,” the new Buy2Play version, at the standard retail price was indeed taken seriously and was executed. In recent months, since the announcement, the price has gradually increased a bit. Anyone who is still without a ticket and wants to join must either bite the bullet and pay full price or has to look for a remaining “old” version somewhere or wait until the game becomes cheaper again.

This is actually common for Buy2Play games: They want to keep the entry price as low as possible to attract a wide audience to the cash shop. Games with a comparable model like The Secret World or Guild Wars 2 are sometimes available for 10 or even only 5 euros. However, both games do not have such a relaunch behind them. TESO’s bargain hunters will have to be patient.

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

MMOs Star Trek Online and Neverwinter affected by layoffs

The MMOs Star Trek Online and Neverwinter are affected by layoffs from publisher Perfect World. Both free-to-play MMOs are developed by Cryptic Studios.

Yesterday, it was already making its rounds on social media. A former employee of Star Trek Online tweeted a greeting to the old colleagues at Cryptic, who would now have been laid off. Other than that, nothing was heard. Then fans kept an eagle eye out for signs: A community manager at Star Trek Online lost their “Dev” designation in the forum, and others seemed to no longer be working at Cryptic.

Neverwinter Module 4

Every seventh had to leave at Neverwinter and Star Trek Online, says anonymous source

Now a Cryptic employee, who wishes to remain anonymous but whose identity is verified, has reached out to MassivelyOp. He informed the US MMO site that a total of 18 employees had to leave the Cryptic Games studio. That is about 14% of the entire studio. The lead designer of the ill-fated City of Heroes, Matt Miller, is also among those laid off, as MassivelyOp notes.

The teams working on Neverwinter and Star Trek Online are equally affected, the source reports. They did not cut “Champions Online,” the third game, which is still running and requires “barely anything to keep it alive.” Some still-secret further projects are, however, being developed by Cryptic at full speed. This is where the studio’s focus lies.

More impacted than Cryptic is the publisher Perfect World’s branch in Redwood Shores.

Layoffs were on the horizon, despite outwardly positive signals

In November 2014, there was a statement from Perfect World. The Chinese MMO specialists had already announced back then that the “US operations” were falling short of expectations. They also viewed the future prospects for the existing US games critically, but held high hopes for the “upcoming games.” These now seem to be the consequences of that. The information from the anonymous source confirms the statement from November.

In the MMO scene, some fans accuse Perfect World games of having a strong tendency towards pay-to-win, which especially applies to the games developed in Asia. Just recently, Star Trek Online managed to escape this stigma. They proudly reported, how well it was performing and that STO was even gaining players. Neverwinter also has momentum with the release of the next expansion Elemental Evil and the launch on Xbox One.

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

ArcheAge focuses on open world and player friendliness, less on instances

The sand park MMO ArcheAge focuses more on events, the open world, and the relationships between players.

The site PCGamesN was able to conduct an interview with two senior employees of XLGames, the Korean developers of ArcheAge. According to their statements, the development of ArcheAge will focus on “the community and friendship among players.”

ArcheAge

The game should move away from “instanced gameplay content” and develop towards the open world. It should not be about players becoming stronger, but about them connecting with each other, forming friendships and communities.

This does not exclude further instances. They contribute to the diversity. However, the focus will lie elsewhere in the future.

ArcheAge Crafting

My MMO thinks: This is certainly the right way. The strengths of ArcheAge surely lie elsewhere than in dungeon grinding. The systems of ArcheAge are not designed for such power creep through instances.

Every praise of ArcheAge mentions the possibilities that guilds have here and the creative ideas for community projects. Whether guilds build a village together or launch the Black Pearl: These are the great moments in ArcheAge and not some boss kill in a new instance, as would be the case in other MMOs.

The statement is therefore logical, but also actually obvious. A bit like when a 120-kilo athlete says he sees his future more in shot put than in pole vaulting.

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

Elder Scrolls Online: 25 Tips for New Players and Returnees – TESO-Cast

The Elder Scrolls Online has switched its model to Buy-to-Play and is now called Tamriel Unlimited. Many players will probably take this as an opportunity to check it out for the first time, but some former players will surely give the game another chance.

Therefore, I would like to give you some tips and tricks in this video to make the beginning or comeback a bit easier. These include tips on equipment, mounts, skills, professions, and much more. Because the game throws you into the cold water more or less, and I as a returning player had to reorient myself.

I want to spare you that. When you come to Tamriel (or return), you should at least be a little better prepared than I was. If you want to learn more about the transition, I recommend watching my previous cast about the Buy2Play version of TESO.

– Darion

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

Destiny: Iron Banner glitch causes unusual spectacle

In Destiny, an exploit in the Iron Banner caused a spontaneous appearance of Guardians.

Destiny-Solo-Silver

The glitch for the current Iron Banner allowed players to circle in orbit until the reset, and then dive down into the Tower 3 minutes after the reset to indulge in Lord Saladin’s item offerings. And this was done without actually playing this version of the Iron Banner. To pull that off, Guardians in Destiny had to hit a specific time window for when they appeared in the Tower. Apparently, a relatively large number of players got wind of this method and chose the exact same moment for the action.

This results in an unusual video showcasing a sudden appearance of numerous Guardians.

It is worth noting: At the time of the video, it was 4:00 AM in the central USA. It was still the middle of the night when the weekly timer hit, and a crowd of Guardians tried to perfectly sync with Lord Saladin and his goods while still holding the old Iron Banner rank. Here in Germany, it was already significantly more humane around 10:03 …

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

WoW can be wonderfully complicated: Theorycrafting in World of Warcraft

In World of Warcraft, WoW, theorycrafting sometimes takes on absurd forms. How can one determine who benefits the most from the increase in items from the Blackrock Foundry? Who deals the most damage? And what is the wipe probability of under-equipped raiders against Gruul … on a Tuesday when the sun is again in the sign of the turtle?

“Theorycrafting” is the rocket science for WoW players. Players theoretically calculate what their pixel avatars need to accomplish in the raid.

Theorycrafting in WoW: A long time ago, just a little while ago, and today

Back then, the calculations in WoW (Warning, cliché) were taken over by Korean math students from US elite units in their abundant free time. They tackled the secrets of Blizzard with a calculator. They then posted their findings in elite forums like “Elitist Jerks.” As a mere mortal, one simply had to believe their lengthy explanations about minimal DPS increases – because if you asked, you could get banned.

World of Warcraft: Four Horsemen
Those were the days!

Later, there were spreadsheets to fill out yourself with the charm of a tasty tax return. During this time, “Third Party Websites” emerged, which chewed through how to optimize your character to reach the best outcomes.

Today, WoW has shed some of its theoretical quirks. Theorycrafting has long entered the mainstream, even though no one calculates by themselves anymore. It’s similar to mobile phones. People use them much more than before, and much less than they used to but at least roughly know how they work. The offerings are commercialized and tailored to the player. There are easy-to-use websites. Theorycrafting now has an interface that players can actually work with. Everywhere there are little graphics and bars. One almost feels like one is in Azeroth.

Who benefits the most from the increase in Blackrock items?

The challenges theorycrafters face, however, haven’t changed. To name a current issue that theorycrafters in World of Warcraft must deal with: how do you calculate who benefits the most when Blizzard suddenly decides: We are raising the gear from the Blackrock Foundry by 5 item levels?

At the currently trendiest site “Ask Mr. Robot,” they turned it into a spreadsheet and set some assumptions as given. Now you can see who benefits the most from an item increase from 470 to 472 percentage-wise.

WoW Dancing
#StillWinning

The answer: For DPS, the BM Hunter, for tanks, the monk with two one-handers, and for healers, the Disc Priest. The spreadsheet can be found here.

Who deals the most DPS in 6.1? Depends on whom you ask

Of course, there’s a catch that fans passionately discuss: The underlying mechanics in WoW are not solely mathematics, but often also a matter of faith. And the mathematical formulas that are supposed to represent performance in raids differ among the various purveyors of truth in World of Warcraft as much as the respective secret recipes of Coke and Pepsi.

Depending on whether you value the Crit rating for a class with factor X or Y, completely different results arise. And is what happens on paper really the same under real conditions? Should one not consider latency, personal performance, class complexity, different encounters, synergy effects? Yes, of course. But how? How can all the variables be taken into account?

This eternal question has been disputed by fans in World of Warcraft since theorycrafting began. Who is the strongest DPS now? If you go to this site, it says this, on another site it’s a different class. Sneaky!

WoW Selfie 3
I’ll figure it out, but … let me take a selfie first!

Ask Mr. Robot is currently the most user-friendly site for theorycrafting in WoW

On the website of Ask Mr. Robot, you can now find the most user-friendly interface available and also the widest range of offerings. There are precise tables here where you just have to set your gear level and it then graphically shows who is ahead in damage at that level.

You can have the logs of your own character analyzed. And of course, you can also spy on your teammates. This has been the custom in WoW since a few years ago when the “He still needs to pop a flask!” whistleblower add-ons came out. This way, one can observe how your own raid functions, who is struggling in which boss fight, and who is excelling. Even the wipe probability of the entire group at a certain item level can now be calculated and displayed.

WoW - Blackrock Foundry
Ha! You have a maximum of a 0.23% chance to defeat me. What? You have infinite attempts?! Unfair!

And do the numbers behind it all add up correctly? Who knows? Somehow the numbers are always buggy when they don’t reflect your own raid. And if that damn rogue, who shouldn’t hit at all, ends up ahead of you again, even though you did everything as the nice gentlemen and ladies with calculators said, then … well then – the site is simply bad!


In this article, we deal with another important element in WoW: The race for the World Firsts in World of Warcraft.

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

Landmark: Back to Start – a wipe is coming in April, still no open beta

The sandbox MMO Landmark will undergo a character and claim wipe in April. This is likely to be the only one during the beta, even though players will have to say goodbye to their possessions later on.

Landmark-Dagger

Wipes are the nightmare of MMO players in an existing world. It means that they lose everything they have worked for until then and must start over. A fate that is often inevitable in Alphas and Betas.

In April, DGC has now announced a wipe for their builder MMO Landmark. The game is still in closed beta. Some have been hoping for over half a year that it would switch to open beta. However, the April wipe will not herald the transition to open beta.

Characters and their claims will be deleted, but not the accounts and items purchased in the marketplace.

The current wipe is intended to be the only one that affects both characters and claims. Later, when transitioning to open beta, there will be another “claim” wipe, but the characters will remain untouched by that.


Landmark is the sister project to Everquest Next. The EQ franchise and the studio behind it, DGC, have faced a crisis or at least a transformation in recent months: EverQuest Next loses lead developer – what happens next?

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

In Team Fortress 2, players will soon be able to create insults and earn money from them

Team Fortress 2 allows its players to create and sell their own “taunts”, personal insults.

Valve’s team shooter “Team Fortress 2” has a creative and active community and the developers want to support that and also make some money. Next, players will be allowed to create their own “taunts”. For individualists who don’t know what to do with regular “teabagging”, a strong jump over the corpse, or other conventional shooter habits, this is certainly a good idea.

The team will regularly select some of the created animations to offer for sale in the general shop. The actual creators will of course receive money for that.

Valve has provided hobby animators with a FAQ and also briefly shows in this video what they have in mind along with three of their own taunts. In this, the Sniper pulls out the saxophone in a killer solo to celebrate his triumph or marks someone from an astonishingly packed “Most Wanted” list.

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

DC Universe Online: Neues Power-Set würde dem Punisher oder Cabal gefallen

The superhero and supervillain MMO DC Universe Online now introduces the new power set “Ammunition,” providing the possibility to equip superheroes with machine guns or other conventional weapons.

The power sets in DC Universe Online allow players to create their own superheroes or villains while copying a specific “style”: Those who resort to an experimental serum are treading the path of Batman’s nemesis “Bane.” But there are also much “superhero-like” powers in DCUO, enabling one to shoot fire from their hands or to possess telepathic abilities.

The new set of powers would appeal to characters like Punisher, Nick Fury, or Cabal (though they belong to DC’s competitor, Marvel): Here, the power comes from a big gun. In the world of DC, this set is inspired by Sgt. Rock. The new power set “Ammunition” is all about firepower; you can check it out in a one-minute video.

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

Destiny: The weekly Nightfall strike on 17th March is Omnigul

In Destiny, the weekly Nightfall strike on March 17 leads to Crota’s Will. It’s the Yoko Ono of Destiny, against Crota’s friend Omnigul.

Destiny-Eris-Morn-Voice

Did you know that Omnigul was voiced by the same actress as Eris Morn? And that this actress also provided the screams for the Hive witches and even the sounds made by Hive weapons?

Anyway, the Nightfall in Destiny leads to Crota’s Will for the fifth time, resulting in the Strike appearing approximately twice as frequently in the rotation as other strikes. There are four variants with different modifiers. The other strikes only appear in two variants. This week, from now until Tuesday, March 24 at 10:00 AM, the Arc variant of Crota’s Will is the weekly Nightfall strike in Destiny.

Destiny-Nightfall-173

The modifiers for the Nightfall strike in Destiny on March 17.

  • Nightfall – If the entire fireteam falls, it’s back to orbit and the strike must be restarted from the beginning.
  • Epic – ensures that the enemies in the Nightfall strike hit harder and can withstand more damage than their counterparts in other strikes.
  • Lightswitch – the enemies deal significantly increased melee damage.
  • Angry – the enemies are not deterred from their mission to wipe out the Guardians (that’s you) by heavy hits.
  • Arc Burn – everything that deals Arc damage (like electro stuff) is significantly more effective, also applies to the enemy.

The heroic weekly strike in Destiny also has Arc Burn active.

Destiny-Song-of-Ir-Yût

Which weapons are recommended for the Nightfall in Destiny?

For the primary weapon, the scout rifle Ir Yût’s Fang is definitely worth a look. The classic choice is the Thorn, and the pulse rifle Exotic of the Overmind could also yield good results. And for those who consider the witches and Omnigul herself are worth a special weapon: Abyss Remainer will get them to twitch.

Special weapon: How about “Patience and Time,” the exotic sniper rifle? Or maybe the Sniper LDR 5001 or the Arc shotgun Secret Handshake?

Heavy weapons: The machine gun Thunderlord is definitely the first choice. But other Arc machine guns like Ir Yût’s Song can also clear the field.

Destiny-LDR-5001

Are there guides, tips, or cheese spots for Omnigul and Crota’s Will?

You should all know the Crota’s Will strike by now as well as the back of your hand. It is a relatively tough strike, as certain passages, like the “enemy waves” towards the end, seem never-ending – Omnigul herself is not a particularly popular boss encounter, but rather tough. As always, the fewer players you go into the Nightfall in Destiny, the more cautiously you have to play.

We will post videos of successful runs throughout the day that you can watch for inspiration.

Destiny-Omnigul

If you don’t want to wait that long: The Arc Omnigul was the first Nightfall strike with the then-new DLC “Darkness Lurks,” and we reported on it back then. And in that article, you’ll find tips and videos on how the Guardians succeeded back then.

The first video we present is a German run with three players. The perspective holder uses a range of Arc weapons including Thorn, Whisper, Thunderlord, and Existence of the Overmind. The tactics are well explained, with retreating to the first rooms, the dangerous melee fighters, and the patience game with Omnigul later on. She is then dealt with quite unusually at the end with a suicide safe spot, but oh well.

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content

Here is an unusual way to deal with Omnigul as a Titan. An Arc shotgun is used and makes quick work of the little songbird of Destiny.

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content

How the Iron Banner can be worth it for hardcore players is shown in this video. One has created a perfect Radegast Wrath Arc rocket launcher, and with it, one can also solo through Crota’s Will. However, even in fast forward, you can see what a tough endeavor that is and how extremely cautiously you must play and through how many small openings you must fire with Patience and Time to clear the Nightfall in Destiny solo.

http://youtu.be/AcNdcx5dXLU

Today marks the start of the Iron Banner in March with the ID change. Those looking for company for the Nightfall, will surely find it in our Raid Finder article.

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

The Elder Scrolls Online is Buy2Play – a few hours earlier than expected

The fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online has switched to the Buy2Play model “Tamriel Unlimited” overnight from Monday to Tuesday. Players can now log in without an active subscription.

Last night, the first players in North America were surprisingly able to log into The Elder Scrolls Online without an active account. It has now added the name “Tamriel Unlimited” and switched to a Buy2Play model. Normally, this was supposed to happen in the USA a few hours later – at that time it was still Monday afternoon there, the changeover was actually announced for Tuesday.

In Germany, the patch 2.0.1., which made this possible in the USA, is scheduled to be rolled out at 3:00 AM. The maintenance work is expected to take a few hours. Then players here will likely be able to log in without a subscription on Tuesday morning as well. They only need to have purchased the game. It has not become Free2Play, as many hoped: players must at least have purchased and activated the base game once.

These are not exactly ceremonial moments for a payment model change. There are no fanfares, confetti, or dancing Khajiits, but so what? Better to get started a few hours earlier, and whether it’s 7:00 AM or 5:00 PM, those few hours don’t matter much anymore.

TESO PvP Siege

There seems to be a small error as well: If you do not see your Champion Points after the patch, you should log out and log back in.

In this trailer, you can see all the changes that TESO has gone through since launch. Here are the latest changes and the patch notes for 2.0.1.

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content

And if you still have questions about the transition of TESO to Buy2Play, here is one of the popular TESO-Casts from our YouTube partner Darion, which should answer the questions you still have about the transition to Buy2Play:

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content
Oops, unfortunately this affiliate widget is no longer available.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. massivelyop

Destiny: Has Bungie fixed the Iron Banner exploit?

In Destiny it was last possible to purchase the rewards in the Iron Banner, even if you didn’t play it. Is it possible again this time?

On Tuesday, March 17th, at 10:00 AM, the next Iron Banner begins and there is speculation again. Last time, during the February Iron Banner, players were able to purchase rewards as long as they had achieved a high rank in the January Iron Banner, without having to play the Iron Banner again.

It was a trick from last February that hardly anyone thought would work: And then it did. With a relatively simple method, players could exploit Destiny’s “sticky ID switch,” which had cost some players their loot in the Nightfall Strike, to their advantage and stock up on items that they technically weren’t entitled to.

Iron Banner-Jolder Hammer

To do this, they had to be in orbit just before the ID switch at 10:00 AM and go to the Tower two or three minutes after the ID switch. Players received a message stating that they did not meet the requirements. However, this seemed to be just a patchy attempt by Bungie to address the issue. By swapping armor pieces, Guardians were still able to enter the Tower. Here, they could purchase heavily from Lord Saladin with the old reputation rank. This allowed Guardians to bypass playing the Iron Banner in Destiny and still purchase the coveted rewards.

Destiny-Dead Orbit Ship

An even better and safer method was said to be joining a friend’s instance.

At the moment, Guardians are puzzling on reddit whether this will be possible again this time or if Bungie has fixed this exploit since it became popular in February.

Update 10:10: According to initial reports, the exploit has worked again and players were able to obtain the two current Iron Banner weapons, Silimar’s Wrath and Jolder’s Hammer, without participating in the Iron Banner.


Here we are dealing with the likely rewards in the Iron Banner on March 17.; and in this article just before the last Iron Banner, we report about the reputation-“exploit”: In the comments, you can see how our readers reacted back then.

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

Why I play: Valkyria Chronicles

It is time to bring an old format of my column back to life to introduce you to some real gems that, in my opinion, have not received enough attention so far. Here I present every conceivable type of games, regardless of whether they are playable offline or online – in some cases, they are even difficult to classify as “games”, such as “Juniper’s Knot“.

I start anew with “Valkyria Chronicles”, which is available for both the good old PS3 and recently for PC via Steam.

Plot Overview

Valkyria takes place in a semi-fictional world around the year 1935. Currently, the “Second European War” is underway, with the two superpowers, the “Imperial Alliance” and the “Atlantic Federation”, fighting for dominance and the rare resource “Ragnite”. Right between these factions lies the small principality of Gallia, which unfortunately possesses quite large Ragnite reserves. The Empire does not waste any time and attacks the small state.

The player takes on the role of “Welkin Gunther”, a student who returns to his hometown of Bruhl after completing his studies – just in time to witness the destruction of the village by the war. As a result of these atrocities, he and the other survivors join the militia. From this point on, you will get to know new members of “Squad 7”, who will find a place in your heart sooner or later.

Genre Mix: A Dramatic, Turn-Based Strategy Shooter

Valkyria Chronicles Shooter

“Valkyria Chronicles” blends several genres in an intelligent and well-executed way. The narrative is told in chapters – so you always have 5-10 minutes of story sequences before the next military operation takes place. The battles are turn-based, which means: The player commands the units in turn. Each movement of a unit costs 1 command point. Once you control a unit, the game switches from bird’s-eye view to third-person view, so you must manually control the individual soldiers.

The various unit classes have different abilities: Scouts can run especially far per turn, shock troopers can inflict heavy damage, lancers can dismantle entire tanks. Once all command points are used up, it is the enemy’s turn.

Permadeath: No Second Chance

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content

During the game, you can expand your squad with numerous new recruits if you wish. Aside from a few significant characters, all soldiers can die in battle – and that permanently. If one of your comrades falls, you have 3 turns afterward to reach him with another friendly unit to call a medic.

If you do not succeed, or an enemy touches the fallen first, the character dies – with a brief display of their last words, and then the screen fades to white. Every turn must be well thought out – recklessness can quickly lead to the death of beloved characters.

Every Soldier is a Unique Character

Valkyria Chronicles Characters

“Squad 7” is a militia unit, and you can tell that by the behavior of its members. Each character has individual strengths and weaknesses, which can come into play in combat. Some women have the disadvantage “Talkative”, which lowers their accuracy if favored friends are nearby. Other characters perform better when loved ones are close – some even sacrifice themselves to save others from death.

Even if not all squad members contribute significantly to the plot, they all have detailed personalities with strengths and weaknesses that come to light in battle!

Many Gruesome Themes, Well Presented

Valkyria Chronicles Scene

Valkyria Chronicles may have colorful anime characters, but this does not mean that it is always cheerful. In “Squad 7”, there are minors, as the militia from Gallia recruits anyone they can find. This also poses difficult questions to the player: Do I really want to have “child soldiers” in my squad? The fact that characters can die permanently makes this decision even harder.

Elsewhere, you will find labor camps where “inferior” people work themselves to death. This is reminiscent more than a little of the Nazi concentration camps – and that is intentional. The themes are close to reality, but in a fictional context. And they are never trivialized. It is an interesting tightrope walk that succeeds!

In summary, “Valkyria Chronicles” is incredibly well staged. The comic-style graphics may be a bit dated, but they still look good and fit the game perfectly. Dramatic and funny moments balance each other out, as everyday life in the barracks is often addressed. The more horrific are the moments when fate strikes with full force. If you are looking for an exciting, captivating, and challenging game, you might want to consider twenty euros – they are well invested in “Valkyria Chronicles”.

Link to the Game: Valkyria Chronicles on Steam.

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Heroes of the Storm Gold Guide: How to effectively earn gold in HotS as a beginner?

You are new to the world of Heroes of the Storm and have no idea how to afford a 10,000-gold hero? Then pay attention: I have summarized the most effective methods to become a HotS self-made millionaire.

Account Rewards in Heroes of the Storm

As a newcomer in Heroes of the Storm, your starting capital is exactly 0 gold. However, this is not dramatic for the beginning, as you can earn money relatively quickly through the first ten levels.

  • Level 2: 1,000 Gold
  • Level 4: 1,000 Gold
  • Level 6: Daily Quest (here you get bonus gold depending on the quest task)
  • Level 8: 2,000 Gold
  • Level 10: 2,000 Gold

You can either invest your first gold in three 2,000 gold heroes or save it for one of the 10,000 gold heroes. There is no right or wrong.

Daily Quest

Hots Daily Quests

Starting from Account Level 6, you unlock daily quests for which you will be rewarded with gold. The quest log can store a maximum of 3 quests. However, these can be kept for an unlimited time. Currently, there are nine different quests:

  • Complete 2 games with a Diablo hero: 200 gold.
  • Complete 2 games with a Warcraft hero: 200 gold.
  • Complete 2 games with a Starcraft hero: 200 gold.
  • Complete 2 games with an assassin: 300 gold.
  • Complete 2 games with a specialist: 300 gold.
  • Complete 2 games with a supporter: 300 gold.
  • Complete 2 games with a warrior: 300 gold.
  • Win 3 games: 600 gold.
  • Complete 8 games: 800 gold.

Which quest you receive is random. However, since most quests are in the 200-300 gold range, the probability of receiving such a quest is higher. The “accumulation tactic” is particularly effective when “questing”.

A small example: Suppose in Daily 1 you need to complete eight games, in Daily 2 three games with a warrior, and in Daily 3 three games with a Diablo hero, then we need a total of 14 games if we complete one quest each day. However, if we accumulate the quests, we can complete all three quests in eight games on day 3, provided we play a Diablo hero who is a warrior.

Hero Rewards

HotS Screenshots 7

The currently most effective method to earn gold besides daily quests is leveling heroes to level 5. This gives you a hefty bonus of 500 gold in a very short time. It goes even faster if you play in a team with at least one friend. This grants bonus XP, and the hero reaches level 5 after just a few games. With currently 37 different heroes, that results in a total yield of 18,500 gold.

As a nice side effect, you also unlock hero specializations. Therefore, you should play all heroes to level 5 first during each hero rotation before they change again. Of course, the farming method comes to a sudden end once you have leveled all heroes to level 5.

Match Rewards in Heroes of the Storm

Hots Gold

As a reward for completing a match in Heroes of the Storm, you receive both experience points and gold. However, the amount is limited:

  • Coop Match Loss: 0 Gold
  • Coop Match Win: 10 Gold
  • Quick Match/Hero League Loss: 20 Gold
  • Quick Match/Hero League Win: 30 Gold

The only thing that compensates for the amount of rewards received is the fact that an average match lasts around 20 minutes.

Stimpacks

“Only those who sow will also reap.” So or something like that is how it works with the stimpacks available in the shop. For real money, the boosters can be purchased for a duration of 7 or 30 days. Subsequently, the amount of experience points earned per game is increased by 100%, as well as the gold earned by 150%. If you activate a stimpack and earned 100,000 XP and 30 gold for your last match in Heroes, you will additionally receive 100,000 experience points and 45 gold with the stimpack, making a total of 200,000 XP and 75 gold for that game. The 7-day stimpack is already available for €3.99.

Additional Tips for Heroes of the Storm

Hots Bonus

There are a few additional rules and strategies to make the most out of the opportunities when farming for gold:

  • The coop mode is not very lucrative in terms of gold. Even a win in this mode is worth less gold than a loss in a quick match against real opponents.
  • If you play with a buddy who is on your Battle.Net friends list, you receive 50% bonus XP per match. Additionally, as a premade, you can have a greater influence on the game’s events and increase your chances of winning.
  • If you receive a daily quest with a quest reward of 200 gold, keep it until you have a total of two of that kind in your quest log. This then increases the likelihood of receiving a quest with a reward of 300, 600, or 800 gold. This way, you can earn more gold through daily quests over a longer period.

If you have more tips on how to rake in cash, feel free to share them with us. By the way, here we present the perfect beginner classes for HotS.


If you want to learn more about the upcoming MOBA from Blizzard and hear an opinion about it, I recommend my preview: Heroes of the Storm: Blizzard’s Leftover or an All-Star Team?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. heroes.2p.com

Destiny: Vex Mythoclast – first it was divine, then buggy, now it is made of Lego

In Destiny, the Vex Mythoclast holds special significance. The exotic fusion rifle was notorious in the beginning, constantly plagued by bugs later on, and now a YouTuber has recreated it using Lego bricks.

The early days of the Mythoclast: Divine

It must have been a great feeling back then when the first Guardian received this quirky weapon “Vex Mythoclast” from Raid Boss Atheon in Hard Mode. It is a fusion rifle, actually a special weapon, that still functioned in the primary slot. What were they thinking? Back then, there were no wikis or showcase videos, the only way to learn about the weapon was through self-testing.

When the Guardian wanted to try out the weapon in the Crucible, the big surprise came: The thing just obliterated everything. Bungie had made the “Vex Mythoclast”, the only exotic weapon that could drop directly in a raid, way too strong and didn’t consider how much a Guardian would go on a rampage with it in the Crucible.

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content

A story full of misunderstandings that is unparalleled in Destiny

Destiny-Vex-Mythoclast

The story of the Vex is then one full of misunderstandings and problems. It was nerfed, then buffed a bit again, now it is the only weapon that Xur cannot bring to the new max value of 331, and the last patch made it buggy again.

For a while now, it has not been the queen of the Crucible, but still plays quite solidly in the upper ranks, that is: until the next patch does something wrong with it again.

By the way, a bit of trivia: Mythoclast is Greek and stands for “The destruction of myths”, and you only receive the Mythoclast if you defeat Atheon. And he wields god-like powers.

And now made from 1500 Lego pieces

The YouTuber ZaziNombies has now recreated the Vex Mythoclast using Lego bricks. He does this quite often. He used 1500 bricks and even managed to get the iconic “red scope” just right. The most interesting part of the video is certainly when he takes the individual pieces off, and you can see how accurately he managed to recreate the look of the famous weapon in Destiny using improvised Lego parts that a layman would never have thought of. He used many tires this time. Impressive.

Recommended editorial content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content

ZaziNombies has recreated other weapons, such as: The Last Word, Thunderlord, Icebreaker and the Gjallarhorn.

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

Guild Wars 2: Today’s patch brings streaming client, better camera, all the beautiful things

The delayed patch for Guild Wars 2 goes live today on March 16 and brings some improvements, especially regarding comfort.

This afternoon, the patch notes for the patch from March 16 were released for Guild Wars 2. It was supposed to be released last week but was delayed.

Everything is changing with the patch:

The complete patch notes in German can be found here.

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

A Korean investment firm sees dark prospects for WildStar, believes in Guild Wars 2

WildStar Story

A Korean investment firm has analyzed NCSoft and its MMO titles like WildStar and Guild Wars 2.

Daewoo Securities is a Korean investment firm. The last time we heard from them was when they correctly predicted that Guild Wars 2 would get an expansion in 2015. This is significantly less impressive considering they had predicted that in previous years as well, but oh well.

Daewoo Securities sees extremely dark prospects for WildStar when analyzing NCSoft’s portfolio. With only $585,000 left, they see the SF MMO’s monthly revenue. They probably aren’t leaning too far out of the window with that: The last results from the fourth quarter of 2014 were disastrous for WildStar. However, they believe in a rosy future for Guild Wars 2: The release of Heart of Thorns is expected in the third quarter of 2015. They expect the revenue GW2 generates to sextuple compared to the second quarter of 2015.

The future of NCSoft relies on Guild Wars 2, Lineage Eternal, and Mobile Games

Let’s hope not.
Let’s hope not.

Daewoo Securities also comments on the dispute between NCSoft and Nexon. Nexon, as a larger shareholder, plans to take control of NCSoft. According to Daewoo, this has not yet affected the stock price. Overall, the investment firm believes that NCSoft’s situation should significantly improve in the second half of 2015 compared to the first. Major moments are planned here: Besides the Guild Wars 2 expansion, they expect several mobile games to be strong, and they are banking on Lineage Eternal, which is expected to go into beta in the second half of 2015. The Lineage franchise is still NCSoft’s biggest draw despite its old age.

The “Then it went well” number for sold GW2 expansions is set at 3 million, while anything above 2 million sold units is considered “still okay”. Anything below or a delay into 2016 is seen as a bad scenario. In that case, if both the mobile games and Lineage Eternal disappoint, Nexon might gain the support of other shareholders and increase control over NCSoft. In an ideal situation (mobile games do well, Lineage Eternal beta is great; GW2 sells like hotcakes), Nexon could exit instead.

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

First impression of Skyforge: Tasty fast food

The free-to-play MMO Skyforge is currently in closed beta. The Russian project is seen as a hopeful candidate for the coming years. Our author Schuhmann reports from the closed beta. What is his first impression? What is his opinion.

For about a year, I have been writing about Skyforge, watching many videos, and reading even more about it. Accordingly, I was very excited about the closed beta. Since Wednesday, I finally had the opportunity to really play Skyforge, and I want to provide you with a first impression. This should all be taken with caution. Such first impressions are always personally colored.

I have not played all 6 classes equally or engaged with every aspect equally. But no game can ultimately do that. And of course, Skyforge is still in early closed beta, so everything can still change. Therefore: This is not a review, it is not indisputable, this is not the “truth,” this is an impression. And if you have a different one, we look forward to reading it in the comments.

Be glad that I start the article this way. The alternative was: “Throw yourselves in the dust, mortals, your new god is here”, but since I was recently confused with Cortyn, I decided to refrain from that.

So: To Skyforge.

Skyforge-Marcus

Skyforge is a lobby MMO, not an MMORPG, as veterans would wish

The first thing everyone should understand: With every new MMORPG come players who long for the freedom and possibilities that earlier games like Ultima Online provided. They can stop reading right away. Skyforge is nothing for them. It probably isn’t a game for MMORPG fans who insist on the “RPG” aspect.

Skyforge is a lobby MMO and has much more in common with Diablo 3 than with “classic role-playing games.” Everything that “purists” have complained about in World of Warcraft in recent years is pushed to the extreme by Skyforge. There is no exploration, no crafting, hardly any classic quest zones, and few social elements (those are supposed to come with the guilds).

Skyforge is the definition of a lobby MMO, where you teleport from a lobby straight into the “relevant instances” without any path in between. It’s a bit like only staying in the city in World of Warcraft and leveling up to 90 through the “group finder.” A nightmare for some, a brief distraction for others.

Skyforge-Pantheon2

The gameplay of Skyforge

Partially instances, partially Guild Wars 2 maps

Most of the time, you spend in

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

Star Citizen: Fantastischer Trailer zeigt, wie Space-MMO mal werden soll, wenn alle Module fertig sind

In a trailer, Star Citizen looks into its own future and shows how the space MMO is supposed to be more than the sum of its already enormous parts.

At SXSW, a trade fair in Texas, there was a code, that lets you play Star Citizen for free for a week. But that wasn’t all: There was also a mega trailer for the Kickstarter sensation (it is assumed that the 100 million dollar mark will be surpassed. This much success raises critics: For months they have shown skepticism towards the title, questioning whether the developers will really achieve their visions and whether the extremely ambitious plans already reveal megalomania and overconfidence.

This is also not conclusively answerable according to the trailer. However: If all modules, the space combat, the shooter, and also the social module, eventually work together like shown in the trailer, then… no idea. We could probably all be damn glad.

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