Blizzard has once again triumphed against a bold World of Warcraft clone. In court, the American company sued “Everyone WarCraft: War of Draenor” and achieved an outstanding success: The distribution of the game must be stopped immediately.
Even a layman will notice a clear parallel just from the naming of the game. The game in question closely resembled the design of the popular “Heroes Charge”, while making direct reference to Warcraft.
Especially well-known title heroes like Jaina, Arthas, and Sylvanas could join the player’s group. But the design of the environments also closely resembles the look of the WoW locations without any modifications. Here are a few screenshots, so you can get a picture of this game, which will likely rest forever.
In Destiny, Xur, the Agent of the Nine, appears on March 13th in the Tower and offers exotic weapons and armor. But not always the ones players want.
Oh man, last week could well be titled “Xur Wars 2: The Empire Strikes Back”. After data miners were able to predict exactly what Xur would offer every Friday for the past three weeks, it seems Bungie has put a stop to that. And this with the mini hotfix for Destiny from this week, which no one considered significant.
When data miners look into the future now, they only see “No Land Beyond” everywhere, even with the armor. Allegedly, Bungie has changed something in the code so that curious snoopers can only see the weaponized middle finger. This has not yet been confirmed. Only a handful of people worldwide have the ability to actually access Xur’s IP. One of them reported this with “No Land Beyond”.
So it could very well be that the prediction for this time is wrong. And that we will be surprised again on Fridays in the future. Many are surely hoping that the prediction is wrong. This time it was pretty poor. Typical, after all it is Friday the 13th.
All about Xur, Agent of the Nine, on March 13th, 14th, 15th.
When does the black market dealer come to the Tower of Destiny, when does he leave again?
Xur arrives on Friday, March 13th, at 10:00 AM in the Tower and leaves on Sunday, March 15th, also at 10:00 AM.
Where is Xur? What is his position?
Xur is located in the Hall of Guardians.
http://youtu.be/bhh7rmKR-PQ
What’s up with the numbers in parentheses with the armor?
Blizzard has set the date for the company convention Blizzcon. But what delights await there?
On November 6 and 7, the Blizzcon will take place in the Convention Hall in Anaheim. Anaheim is known mainly for Blizzcon and for the hockey team with the Ducks. It is a California city just 40 kilometers from LA. Well, and something called “Disneyland” is supposed to be there as well…
The tickets ($199 + taxes/fees) for the Blizzcon are always in high demand. They are set to go on presale on April 16 and 18. Unfortunately for us: The first ticket presale starts on April 16 at 4:00 AM. The one on April 18 at 7:00 PM. There will also be the option to purchase a virtual ticket again.
At Blizzcon, there is usually also a big announcement along with a series of smaller ones, revolving around the now considerable number of live games that Blizzard maintains.
Early favorites for a mention at the opening event, where everyone in the audience will make that “Oh God, I’m simultaneously surprised, stunned, incredulous, and euphoric” sound, are:
Quests – a system where you can complete a mission in a short time, granting progress toward better equipment. There are these quests in 3 stages, these are the “short contents”, which WildStar has been talking about for a while – they are similar in principle to the dailies in Guild Wars 2 and are meant to motivate players to log in daily.
Pets are coming to the game! I guess no MMORPG player needs to be told what they do: just look cute and otherwise be useless. Here you see the coolest creature on all of Nexus, a pink Rowsdower. Man, the others are going to be so jealous of it!
Changing outfits, aka the costume stuff, should now go without the Protostar helper in the cities. “Appearance designer” is what the green guy with the droplet over the fight is supposedly called in WildStar.
And with initialization core Y-83, a fresh 20-man raid is appearing. Here a virus, Techphage, was created. And that turns every AI on Nexus into a rabid techno-zombie. So this is roughly what we thought would happen at New Year’s 1999! In the raid, you will help the Free-bots escape a fate as a rabid robo-zombie.
PvP is also against your own faction.
The StarKom station in the Levian Bay, actually a Dominion zone, will likely become a new high-level zone for both factions.
For the shared-world shooter Destiny, the next patch 1.1.2 is likely to bring a larger vault and fix the annoying bugs in the raids.
The weekly update was released late on Thursday night. Previously, Bungie won the Game of the Year award at the British BAFTA Awards.
In these “weekly updates,” Bungie’s developers usually announce changes that they plan to implement in Destiny and take a look at the current situation.
This is what patch 1.1.2 will change in Destiny
This time, patch 1.1.2 was clearly the focus of the weekly update in Destiny. It is expected to arrive before the next expansion House of Wolves. Even though the patch is still weeks away, it gives a first glimpse of what it is supposed to bring. However, this is not yet guaranteed and is currently more of a preliminary statement of intent.
This is what patch 1.1.2 will change in Destiny:
The vault is supposed to become larger. Especially since even more gear is on the way, many players are demanding a larger storage capacity to collect and house all their treasures. Bungie is aware of this and promises relief.
Additionally, they want to fix the bugs with Atheon and Crota (likely also referring to the associated raids The Vault of Glass and Crota’s End). Especially Crota has been driving players crazy for quite some time; the boss fights against him are hardly predictable, sometimes he gets up too early, sometimes the sword simply disappears, and sometimes he goes completely berserk.
They also want to introduce new settings that allow players to adjust both graphics and audio more precisely.
In the Crucible, the way players receive heavy and special ammunition will be changed, affecting the pace of matches in Destiny.
Lastly, they want to take another look at the strikes, especially the less popular ones, where players tend to quit rather than finish.
Especially the increase in vault size will please the guardians the most. They’ve been hoping and waiting for that for months.
The Iron Banner is expected to offer two 36-piece armor sets again and is therefore a good opportunity for players to reach the maximum level of 32. The February Iron Banner was the most lucrative so far. It’s possible that the March Iron Banner will be just as rewarding.
The developers would also like to deliver new content faster
That’s it for the weekly update. Well, there was one more thing: The developers at Bungie admitted that they would like to deliver fresh content much faster, but… there are problems. The game is so complex that everything takes longer than one might think. However, they are getting better and better.
At the end of the day, we want to continue to make the experience of playing Destiny better and deliver content to keep things fresh (and boy, do we wish we were faster). It’s been a huge learning process for us, and we are committed to improving.
Is Bungie trolling the Xur prediction with Destiny’s worst exotic rifle?
Meanwhile, the last proper “update,” the patch 1.1.1.1, is causing a stir. While it “officially” brought nothing new, many are speculating that it shut down the “prophecy” regarding Xur.
Supposedly, attempts to find out what Xur will bring now only result in: “No Land Beyond,” both as a weapon and as an armor piece for Warlock, Hunter, and Titan. It is therefore impossible to conclude from these results what he will have.
If this is true, it has put an end to the data miners and prophets while also teasing them a little: The “No Land Beyond” is considered one of the worst weapons Xur can bring. It shows a certain dark humor, which would fit Bungie. If true, Xur will be exciting again starting tomorrow. The last three Fridays, his inventory was correctly predicted. This hasn’t pleased every player. It was often compared to knowing beforehand what you would get for Christmas.
I have been deeply involved with Heroes of the Storm in the last few weeks and have already spent a lot of hours in the game. Since I want to convey my impressions from the closed beta of HotS unfiltered, I took notes while playing. I didn’t want to create a total work of art that smooths out edges in any way.
The many impressions that crashed down on me during this time are purely subjective. Moreover, I draw parallels in many places to other MOBAs with which I am familiar. Have fun.
Where do I start? Introduction to a casual MOBA?
I could start classically with the tutorial and report on the game introduction, but let’s be honest: Who cares? Tutorials are often more unnecessary than the GEZ and less creative.
I did go through the Heroes of the Storm tutorial because I thought it would provide a nice introduction for my article later, but that was a silly idea. Anyone who has played any MOBA before can save the 10 minutes. The usual blah and “run here and there.” However, this is not a criticism of the game: Since Heroes of the Storm intends to conquer the casual and newcomer market of MOBAs, the tutorial is of course indispensable. But I don’t need it.
I’m pro! Still, a round against bots first
Now I have criticized a paragraph about tutorials because I have so much experience with MOBAs, and then I am doing a bot game first. What irony. Still, I can claim I have tried almost all MOBAs available on the market. Whether Dota 2, Heroes of Newerth, Smite, etc. In the end, I always returned to my familiar League of Legends, which I have been playing for many years. This is partly because almost all my friends are in this game, and secondly, I have preferred Riot’s interpretation of a MOBA so far.
Alright. Despite my MOBA experiences, and exactly because of them, I wanted to tackle a bot game first. Since I was not yet familiar with the game and champion mechanics, I didn’t want to ruin a game for others right away. Even though the bot game was a co-op with real players, fighting against bots is like vanilla ice cream: You can’t go wrong.
The first impression: Blizzard’s “The Avenger”
[pullquote]My favorite heroes united on the battlefield. Unique.[/pullquote]
You surely know Marvel’s The Avengers or the action composition The Expendables? This was my first impression after the game started, which has been confirmed repeatedly. Arthas, Illidan, Uther, Raynor, and Thrall on one team. Who would have thought that Blizzard’s “best of” would find its way to the battle together? It doesn’t matter if good or evil. As a fan of Warcraft and of Blizzard itself, the atmosphere was of course amazing. My favorite heroes united on the battlefield. Unique. Also, I still find the elaborately designed maps super and discover a new detail in every game. Working peons or pruning human gardeners contribute to a coherent overall work.
So why the Expendables? The reason is straightforward: In Heroes of the Storm, action is at an all-time high. Here, everything is chopped up, given the cooldowns. Whether capturing shrines or mercenary camps or gathering coins and skulls—there is war among the opposing teams everywhere. Since there is not really a laning phase, due to team experience, the fights are distributed across the whole map and take place sporadically.
Team? What are you doing? Where is he going?
[pullquote]Here, teamwork is more important than ever.
After one or two rounds of Heroes of the Storm, it quickly became clear to me: Here, teamwork is more important than ever. Due to the different tasks of the maps, I am always rotating with my hero. Either I capture a shrine, fight mercenaries in the jungle, control a walking compost heap, or apply pressure on individual lanes. No one has a really fixed position here, nor established tasks. To coordinate the whole thing, I would wish for an integrated voice tool, similar to Evolve. Short and concise calls using such a tool could improve the game’s organization significantly.
What I would additionally wish for is a firmware update for the heroes’ navigation systems. If you send your hero over larger distances, they take the most adventurous routes and paths. There is still room for improvement.
“Sh4doVV F1ght3r98 wrote Top first”
There is nothing better in League of Legends than when heated discussions in the chat arise after a few seconds in the match lobby about who gets to play in which position. The system in LoL and many other MOBAs is such that before the game starts, all five teammates of a team come together in a lobby to choose champions. It has become custom in LoL for the first one to write their preferred position in the chat to get approval. It’s just unfortunate if you don’t have a high-tech PC or a DSL connection and join the lobby late. Then you inevitably play what’s left – the support. And at this point, Heroes of the Storm has done everything right for me. We can play the champion of our choice on our own accord – and completely without “hate”.
Once we have decided on a hero, we simply click “Find Game” and get four more teammates assigned to us with their hero selection. Of course, in a composition that covers all four playable hero roles. However, this does not work perfectly in the closed beta yet. It often happens that I get assigned 3 additional assassins as an assassin, and we then go into battle with only one other role. But I gladly accept this for not having to deal with the stress of hero selection. Moreover, this system cannot perfectly function since there are hero roles that are played much more frequently by the players.
It’s a real good feeling
[pullquote] Here, even the DMG dealers stay alive longer.
All MOBAs I played before felt quite similar. The game feeling was uniform, and real differences were only in the details besides the graphics. During my first round of Heroes of the Storm, I quickly drew parallels – but not to other MOBAs. The mechanics of the individual heroes, the movement, the skills, and the flow of battles reminded me much more of Warcraft III and a bit of the arena battles from World of Warcraft. Especially the hit feedback feels smoother. The team fights last longer and are more intense. In other games of the genre, individual heroes can wipe entire teams in seconds. Here, even the DMG dealers stay alive longer.
The skills of the individual heroes are very close to the originals. For example, Thrall shoots around with a chain lightning or hits enemies with “Wind Fury” – just as you would expect from a shaman and the retired chief of OG.
Also, the fact that skills can be used against buildings and towers pleases me very much. Why shouldn’t that be possible? Overall, I find the combat system much more dynamic and modern. Not as static as with the other MOBA colleagues, except for Smite.
Items? No thanks
In all the games I have won and lost so far, I have not missed any items for a second. The shopping stress during Christmas time is more than enough for me. With increasing levels, various talents can be selected for our hero. That is enough specialization and individuality for a MOBA.
I can’t fathom why many claim that the lack of items leads to a lack of depth in the game. I can only imagine that the game system was not understood, or that they simply do not like the game system. Everything else exceeds my horizon. Furthermore, real individualization in LoL or Dota 2 never comes to fruition. The reason for that is the meta. There are just builds that utilize the full potential of a champion through usage. Crafting something else helps only conditionally and is again very situational, and you immediately get flamed.
There’s a fresh wind blowing in terms of map mechanics
The game principle hasn’t reinvented the wheel. Like in all other MOBAs, the goal is to destroy the opposing base, or specifically the opposing crystal-thingy. However, thanks to the six different maps that currently rotate, the goal can be achieved in many more ways. Each of the maps hosts various tasks and mechanics. Sometimes there are two or three lanes, other times there is an extra map on the map, and sometimes we turn into a compost heap or dragon knight. Blizzard has really come up with something and not just imported a standard 08/15 map in Warcraft optics. And exactly this variety of maps with the different mechanics, chosen randomly, not only provides depth of play but also creates a little tension before every round begins.
In addition to the various tasks of a map, the mercenary camps in the “jungle” play an essential role. If you give the mercenaries a good beating, they provide support on the individual lanes. This creates additional possibilities to decide a game beyond the map tasks.
[pullquote]…it’s by no means just a casual MOBA and intended for newbies.
HotS is advertised as a casual MOBA and beginner-friendly. True. But it is by no means just a casual MOBA and intended for newbies. It offers a huge variety of gameplay options. Of course, at the beginning, you don’t have to do a degree for the various items, as is the case in Dota 2; however, it is difficult to master. Blizzard has brought a lot of fresh wind into the genre with Heroes of the Storm, paired with intuitive ideas that I really like in implementation. I hope that HotS makes the leap into the eSports scene and becomes a serious competitor to other MOBA colleagues.
Few bugs. Many pesticides
I haven’t noticed any major bugs or inconsistencies in the closed beta so far. Of course, some heroes feel stronger than others, and some are almost useless. This is a question of hero balance. But due to the unique gameplay, where the hero isn’t the central focus, this is tolerable. Team play is crucial here. No one can win a game alone, unlike in other MOBAs.
There isn’t much to say about the ingame shop and the payment model. Upon release, Heroes of the Storm will be a free-to-play title that finances itself through money-hungry “I need that skin” players. We can purchase new heroes in the shop with gold and real money. We earn 30 gold for each game won. That’s not really much, considering that most champions cost 10,000 gold. However, there is a daily quest. This can yield between 200 and 800 gold, depending on the task. Sometimes we have to complete three games with a warrior, other times two games with a Starcraft hero.
A small tip on the side: Whenever we level a hero to level 5, we receive 500 gold. This is only possible to a limited extent since eventually, we will have all heroes at least at level 5, but it’s a good way to quickly earn gold at the beginning. You can directly purchase a 10k gold hero for €9.99. What I particularly find fantastic about the shop is the ability to test the various heroes. This is a function that many other games should implement. That way, you don’t always buy a pig in a poke. In Heroes of the Storm, you can test the hero for free against a bot in a small arena. Nothing wild, but immensely helpful.
Conclusion from the Beta
Evaluating a game that is currently in closed beta is of course difficult. After all, everything can still change. Do I like it? Unfortunately, I am one of the players plagued by network spikes. A round of Heroes of the Storm for me looks like a Warcraft slideshow. Even though I can take a hit, under these circumstances I would bail on any game. I am still playing Heroes of the Storm.
Now I am, of course, interested in your first impression of the game: How is it going for you in the closed beta? What do you think of Blizzard’s interpretation of a MOBA?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
This morning, the latest hotfix for World of Warcraft went live and addresses some issues and player complaints.
PvP Changes
All damage caused in PvP is being reduced by 10% across the board. This is quite a straightforward buff for all healers, who now have significantly more reaction time to keep their allies alive. The nerf was necessary because more damage was dealt in general due to the content and changes to the talents system in patch 6.1, which they are now trying to compensate for.
Hunters are also getting hit. Their pets dealt 50% additional damage through the “Cornered” skill while in a low health state, which has now been weakened to 20% to discourage hunters from keeping their companions at a permanently low HP level.
…now deals less damage 🙁
More Legendary Items for Twinks
If you have already completed some steps of the legendary questline on your main character, you can rejoice: alternate characters on the same account will receive the required collectible items from Highmaul and Blackrock Foundry much faster. The “old” quest steps can therefore be completed in just a few weeks.
The Monster Hunt Evolve will receive two new maps at the end of the month. Xbox players will be favored again. Only they can access the two new areas by the end of March, while PC and PlayStation players will have to wait a month longer.
On March 31, Xbox players will gain access to two new maps in Evolve. PC and PlayStation players can start only on April 30. Evolve announced this in a press release.
The new maps include the “Broken Hill Foundry”, this is the map that has been showcased before. The map is not set in the wilderness, but is an industrial complex spread over three levels. Therefore, there are no wild animals. The monsters feed from barrels of Bohrium. Opening these makes quite a noise. The second map leads into a Bohrium mine. Here there is a labyrinth of tunnels. Monsters can create “shortcuts” into certain rock formations to advance faster or mislead the hunters.
This sounds like an exciting addition to Evolve. The maps will be free. Everything is fine if it weren’t for the significant favoritism towards Xbox players.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the shared-world shooter Destiny, the latest patch has ensured that pulse rifles are on the rise. One of the four primary weapons from the hard mode of Crota’s End benefits from this: the Oversoul Edict. Instead of just being a raid specialty weapon suitable against knights, it now has a broader field of application.
Many of you have wished that we would take a look at the four primary weapons that came into the game with the hard mode of the Crota’s End raid. We have already presented to you the “Abyss Defier”, the Warlock killer. Today we look at the “blue laser”, the fully automatic pulse rifle “Oversoul Edict”.
Pulse Rifle: From the Ugly Duckling to the Ugly Surprise for the Opponent
Pulse rifles were long considered the ugly duckling among Destiny’s primary weapons. At the launch of the hard raid, the hand cannon “Crota’s Word” and the scout rifle “Ir Yût’s Fang” received most of the attention. However, since the latest patch, Oversoul Edict is also on the rise – just like other pulse rifles.
The weapon is ideally suited for any situation where you have to deal with the Hive knights: These include the summoning pits, the strike against Omnigul, or of course, the Crota’s End raid. The knights are usually formidable due to their special abilities that provide extra protection, making them difficult to clear out, but with the “Oversoul Edict”, that’s no longer a problem. It shoots through the shield. And for a long time, that was the only thing the Arc Pulse Rifle was good for.
Thanks to 9.7% more damage, from Knight-Slayer to Everything-Slayer in Destiny
However, with the 9.7% increase in damage that pulse rifles now deal, the weapon is no longer purely a specialist in Destiny. You can also achieve success in PvP with it now. However, here, the Hive-specific perks do not help, and it’s therefore not quite among the best pulse rifles in PvP.
The “decisive factor” for this primary weapon is certainly the fully automatic mode, which works well with a pulse rifle that relies on multiple bursts. The “Oversoul Edict” can be found after the lamp forest in the “Crota’s End” raid (hard mode).
The question remains whether one would rather go into battle with field scout and 42 charges or prefer increased stability. Our friends from ProNDC present to you the Oversoul Edict in detail and in the video:
http://youtu.be/ynU4nYWvb-0
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The disappointment in the SMITE stream was great yesterday: The new goddess Medusa is still at least one patch away. However, to bridge the time until her appearance, a whole lot of skins will be added to the game and many bugs in the new UI will be fixed.
The highlights of the patch “Another COG in the Machine” are summarized here for you (and you don’t want to know how many inappropriate jokes the title of the patch caused).
New Skins: Madame Blade Serqet, COG Scylla, and minor variations
The most striking skin this time belongs to the queen of poisons, Serqet. She gets a steam-punk look with a lot of metallic applications and of course a corresponding voice pack.
Second in line is Scylla, she gets her “COG” skin as an additional honor for the winners of the Smite World Championship. Particularly cool is the fact that her wolf heads all have collars with the names of the players who secured the final victory.
Otherwise, Freya and Bakasura each receive slight variations of their original skins that come very close to the base model. Lastly, Hou Yi finally upgrades and receives three elite skins (Gold, Legendary, Diamond).
Balance changes: Bellona down, Awilix, Bacchus, and Anhur up
Once again, the nerf hammer strikes mercilessly.
Bellona has to forfeit a lot of her survivability: Her passive ability will be weakened and now grants less protection as well as reduced movement speed, lasting only 4 seconds instead of the previous 5 seconds.
Awilix died too quickly for the developers, which is why she receives a slight increase in her hit points and her “Moonlight Charge” deals slightly more damage.
The changes for Anhur from the last patch are reversed, causing his “Impale” to now deal full damage to all subsequent targets instead of being weakened.
Bacchus can no longer be thrown up during his “Belch of the Gods” and his “Chug” fills the Drunk-O-Meter much faster at low levels, but slightly slower at the highest level.
Also, Nox is happy about a small buff; her “Nightfall Raven” silences enemies for 2 seconds at every level now, and her ultimate makes her immune to control effects for the duration of the spell.
A lot of bug fixes
The list of bug fixes is very long this time again. Most errors occur in connection with the new interface that was introduced in the last patch. High latency issues, missing UI elements, and a terrible chat were the result. Most errors should be a thing of the past with the upcoming patch.
The patch will be tested over the coming weekend and should then hit the live servers on Wednesday. A complete list of all changes can be found at the source below the post.
And finally, here is a video with the latest edition of the five top matches of the week:
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.
Recently, there has been discussion about the future of Dragon’s Prophet, and at least a rough timeline has been presented regarding what awaits the brave Osira throughout the year.
In April: Easter and a new raid
As in the last year, this time the Easter festival will also be celebrated in Auratia. Besides the popular “Whac-a-rat” game, there will again be some special Easter dragons to obtain. However, the traditional egg hunt will of course also play a role. Additionally, the community team has come up with a special event that will be revealed in the coming days.
If that doesn’t appeal to you, you can look forward to a new raid: The Deyarkarge prison will open its doors for all players who have completed the access quest in the first third of the year.
Spring raises the level cap and brings UI upgrades
A little later in the year, the level cap will be raised to 105, which will of course coincide with the opening of a brand-new area. Although it is still unknown what exactly will lurk in the new areas, it is certain that there will be three new adventure dungeons. Furthermore, there are plans for a comprehensive redesign of the user interface, removing unnecessary elements and generally providing more clarity.
Content is already in development for the end of the year, but details are still kept under wraps – however, hints are given about the opening of additional areas.
You have never checked out Dragon’s Prophet? Then take part here in our DP giveaway and secure the advantages of the starter pack, so you can get started in Auratia right away!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The sales figures for the cooperative shooter Evolve delight Take-Two President Karl Slatoff. However, analysts are skeptical: Evolve is too niche.
There is a significant divergence in the assessments. Karl Slatoff, the President of Take-Two, speaks of an “incredibly successful launch month” for the monster hunt Evolve. Especially the rate at which players purchased both the base game and the season pass is fantastic. The game is selling insane numbers digitally, the DLC plan is fully on track, and the reactions from critics have also been positive. Slatoff did not disclose specific numbers.
Slatoff feels confirmed that when they acquired Evolve (then still Metamorphosis) from THQ’s bankruptcy assets for 10.9 million US dollars, they already had the feeling of holding something very special.
Too niche, too complicated DLC plan
Analyst Doug Creutz is noticeably more skeptical. According to his firm’s assessment, Evolve has sold only 300,000 copies in physical format, and even assuming a favorable “Physical/Digital” split, one might reach about 1.5 million units in the first year. The game is “too niche,” and the confusing and over-complicated DLC sales plan certainly hasn’t helped the game’s sales.
Meanwhile, the Steam numbers for Evolve indicate that the initial hype quickly faded. While the game initially achieved significant figures, the player counts are rapidly declining. This aligns with the sales figures in the UK reported by Games Industry: there, it peaked at 1, but then quickly fell down the ranks and is now barely holding on to the top 10 in physical sales.
The trend could also stem from the fact that developers take some time to develop patches to address significant issues.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny , there are some scams going around on eBay. Codes for shaders, emblems, and grimoire cards are being sold for real money, which are available for free.
At the launch, some tried to make money off of it, and now they’re back taking advantage of the Christmas freshlings .
As the saying goes among scammers: “A fool wakes up every day, you just have to find him.” So you don’t belong to that group: Some clever folks on eBay are selling “codes” that promise super things for Destiny: grimoire cards, shaders, and even emblems. They claim these are “pre-order codes” or “DLC codes” or something like that.
The codes work too. In that sense, it’s not a scam; it’s just that: the codes are free and accessible to everyone. They were available everywhere as a promotional offer at launch, and they still work now. Simply enter them on this page and you’re good to go. Buying these things on eBay is like paying for the right to breathe the air around you. There’s probably only one Destiny code that came with Advanced Warfare and a special shader that actually has some value.
So instead of fishing for bargains on eBay, just enter these codes and grab the goodies like this:
The survival MMO H1Z1 has mainly addressed the popular battle royale mode in a new patch and introduced a provisional measure to make it easier for players to dismantle a home base.
The battle royale mode in H1Z1 continues to enjoy great popularity. The latest patch mainly focused on making it smoother and clearer. This resolves some issues with matchmaking. The queues should also work now.
Developers are still greatly troubled by the building and refining of player bases. Here they introduce a new craftable item, a “Demolition Hammer,” a “Sledgehammer.” It only works on self-built structures. It efficiently destroys them. However, it does not deal damage to other buildings. For that, players might want to resort to a crowbar.
The patch also changes several aspects of weapon balance and the crafting recipes in H1Z1, resulting in a more frequent return of an empty water bottle when crafting something.
The new and improved battle royale mode is to be celebrated over the weekend from Friday night to Sunday night. Anyone participating in a battle royale during this time will receive a special item afterwards.
The Sandpark MMO ArcheAge is planning an event in Korea to invite new or returning players back into the world. Is such an event coming to Europe soon?
With a fantastic video celebrating the advantages of the unconventional MMO, a “I miss my friend” event is currently starting in Korea. Here, players can invite another player to ArcheAge. The invited player will receive gifts, special quests, and boxes at “round stages”. The inviting player themselves receives a hefty bonus when the “newbie” or “returnee” reaches levels 40 and 55.
In Hearthstone a new, desirable, golden, and sparkling card back has been introduced.
There is a new card back in Blizzard’s online card game Hearthstone, which looks a bit like Smaug. It is golden, sparkles, and you will never get your hands on it. Because the golden card back has been made exclusively for the participants of a 128-player tournament in China. This is the Gold Open Tournament. It takes place in 8 cities and has a prize pool of 16,000 US dollars. The winners of the tournament will also qualify for the next WoW Championship. Kind of mean from Blizzard, don’t you think?
The dark fantasy MMORPG The Secret World has implemented long-held plans to become easier and more accessible. The patch went smoothly without major issues.
The Buy2Play MMO The Secret World is now indeed easier, more logical, and the rewards are better as well. Everything that was intended, to improve the experience for “newcomers”, has been implemented in the game since yesterday with Game Update 1.11. In principle, they have:
weakened all enemies except those in Tokyo, as they now deal less damage and can take less damage
introduced fast travel
reconsidered the rewards, making them feel stronger and better
revised the starter decks
nerfed AE damage so that single-target abilities are also worthwhile
rethought the elite abilities (players can only carry one active and one passive)
revised the starting quests and introduced more tutorials
revised and clarified the map with more information and generally more MMO-like map characteristics
introduced a kind of item score so that players can see at a glance which item is better
better separated group content from solo player areas
and also turned a lot of other things around. The question that was always at the forefront was: How can we reduce player frustration?
In an interview with mmorpg.com, the lead designer of The Secret World, Romain Amiel, said he had been calling for these changes for 3 years. And no one wanted to hear it anymore. With each patch, the list of necessary changes grew longer. Now it was time. According to Amiel, everything went smoothly with the patch. Next, they will focus on release #11.
Oops, unfortunately this affiliate widget is no longer available.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Analyst Michael Pachter comments on the MMO shooter Destiny and shares his assessment of the situation, touching on questions such as when the next DLC House of Wolves will be released, what to expect from the major expansion Comet, how frequently new content will arrive, and what Activision’s master plan looks like.
Michael Pachter is a well-known gaming analyst, specializing in explaining to readers what goes on “behind the scenes” and what developers might be thinking economically when making decisions. Pachter is somewhat controversial, as his accuracy rate is too low, yet he is often consulted for advice and his assessment.
The website gamingbolt recently interviewed him about Destiny. Pachter has also spoken with Activision and weaves in “insider” information into his opinion and assessment of the situation.
Pachter believes:
The larger expansion this year (Comet) will be as expansive as a WoW expansion, meaning more of a $40 affair with a 10-level cap higher than the current $20 DLCs offering 2 new levels.
New DLC content should come every 4 months, which would mean three expansions a year, two of those for $20, one large for $40.
Activision has learned from WoW how not to do it: if you only release a new expansion every two years, you lose players. Thus, they want to offer Destiny players something more frequently to keep them engaged.
A good schedule for releasing DLCs, according to Pachter, would be April, August, November; a release had already occurred in December this year. Thus, it might come down to December, May, November. Activision’s goal is to always give players something to do in Destiny.
Activision intends to generate approximately $60 each year from expansions for Destiny. This is roughly akin to players buying a new Call of Duty every year. It seems to lead towards introducing a “quasi-subscription model.” All major franchises are currently striving to convert the MMO subscription model into a “pay-to-go” model while not giving up the revenue from the initial box sale. Electronic Arts has been following this policy for a long time, for example, with FIFA Ultimate Team.
Activision wants to gradually increase the player base; they had 3.5 million in November and later reached 5 million daily. By the end of the year, they aim for perhaps 7 million active players per day, by the end of 2016, 9 million, by the end of 2017, 11 million, and then Destiny 2 will be released and sell 20 million units. This is, according to Pachter, Activision’s master plan.
Mein MMO says: Pachter’s assessments align with what we know or at least what the leaks have indicated. It indeed appears that “Comet” will be some sort of Destiny 1.5 with 10 new levels, new weapon types, and plenty of new gameplay content. It is intriguing that Pachter sees a release for Destiny 2 only in 2018. Given the current pace, a September 2016 release seemed imminent, but with 10 years, that hardly fits. There are also indications that House of Wolves may indeed release in May, especially given that there currently seems to be little to do in Destiny.
If Comet were really to come out in November 2015 and “House of Wolves” were only a relatively small content expansion, it seems extremely questionable whether Destiny can actually meet its ambitious plans. Four months between DLC – perhaps with part of the content arriving 6 weeks later, as it is now, seems like a reasonable idea. Had they stuck to that, “House of Wolves” would be due at the beginning of April, and the situation would be much more relaxed.
It’s unfortunate that Pachter does not comment on a possible PC port of Destiny. This does not seem to have been a topic at Activision at all in recent months.
What Pachter says about how major publishers are looking for means to continuously monetize their MMO games aligns completely with our assessment.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MMO shooter The Division introduces an exceptional group of enemies called the “Cleaners”.
Every MMO needs its foes, its villains, the minions you fight against. In fantasy and science-fiction scenarios, it’s easy to pull these bad guys from a whole host of archetypal and established enemies. Their motivation usually boils down to “I’m just evil!” or even simpler “Look at me, I didn’t get these fangs because I’m a vegetarian, but because I love human flesh!” But where do villains come from in a scenario that is so focused on realism and authenticity as Tom Clancy’s The Division?
In The Division, you are given a glimpse behind the scenes and see what was considered when designing the “Cleaners”. They serve as one of many factions that represent population and interest groups in a New York after a bio-attack. And at a time when the crisis is still ongoing.
In The Division, factions must:
be plausible
be fun or cool
support a range of gameplay mechanics
pose a threat to The Division and the players’ goals
fit the overall look and style of the game
The Cleaners check all these boxes. They are a group clad in protective suits with flamethrowers. They are out to burn everything that looks like it has been contaminated by the virus. And even just a quiet suspicion is enough.
As they burn both innocent civilians and valuable resources, players quickly find themselves in conflict with them.
The team at Ubisoft explains that in “The Division”, of course, you need enemies, but you cannot rely on long-established foes. You can’t just give the factions in The Division helmets with horns or shoulder pads. Everything needs to make sense and fit the realistic setting.
The “Cleaners” have a clear goal: to contain the virus and prevent its spread. They have a well-defined look. And they control certain zones but also patrol others, with their motivation clearly conflicting with that of the players.
It seems like The Division has found the perfect realistic orcs. Even if one would never phrase it that way.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A patch has been released for the team shooter Evolve that fixes issues on PC. The balance patch will take longer to arrive.
Evolve wants to address the “technical issues” first before tackling the balance issues. Although the solutions and ideas, which have been announced for a long time, Turtle Rock Studios prioritizes polishing the technical aspects of the PC version.
The balance patch is already in the internal testing phase. It is known how much players are demanding it, and they are working to deliver it as quickly as possible. Besides the balance changes, fans are currently requesting a different matchmaking system, which seems to have considerable conflict potential.
The PC patch 1.1 is already live (since around 7 PM on Tuesday, March 11th) and brings these changes:
Added FOV slider to the options menu
Improved 21:9 monitor support
Improved support for shared memory GPUs
Various progression/mastery balance changes
Improved DirectX stability
Fixed a windows timer issue that may have caused FPS problems on some systems
Fix for a shadow rendering bug
Fixed five Hunter bug
Fix for disappearing/persisting mouse cursor
The “balance changes” for progression and mastery are not the originally announced balance changes and are therefore unrelated. Prior to the PC patch, an Xbox patch already addressed serious issues on the console.
