Destiny: The Fist Down

In Destiny, the Titan ability “Fist of Havoc” creates spectacular situations in the Crucible, in the raid Crota’s End, and also in regular Strikes. The Super of the Striker subclass even provides for some creative cheesing.

Every class in Destiny has its quirks. The Hunter handles the knife excellently and uses the Golden Gun devastatingly, the Warlock is a Bomber who can rise from the dead. The Titan is a coveted bubble maker on one side, while on the other side, as a Striker, he already has some offensive potential with the “Fist of Havoc”. You can see in these videos how to creatively use this ability that has earned the Titan the nickname “Superman” more than once.

Ten Bounties at Once

Here, a particularly diligent Titan has selected 10 bounties and arranged them in such a way that he completes them all with a single Fist of Havoc. The moment is truly impressive. A lot of planning and time went into timing everything and saving the bounties. It could have been done differently – but it works with the Fist of Havoc.

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Superman in Crota’s End – Bridge Cheese

The Fist of Havoc is also used for a spectacular cheese or exploit in the raid Crota’s End. The stunt as “Superman” has entered the annals of Destiny’s history. It was discovered about two weeks ago. The “cheese” is so spectacular and creative that some are already asking Bungie to keep it in the game. Why is it called Superman? See for yourself …

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The Right Way to Kill a Boss

In Strikes, the Fist of Havoc is also used, as guardians use it for a particularly satisfying way to clear the hated strike boss out of the way. Here, Sekrion gets acquainted with the Fist of Havoc.

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… and Always a Welcome Sight in PvP

And of course, the Fist of Havoc also plays a role in the Crucible. Just this week, there is a top 5 list of spectacular plays that revolve exclusively around the Super ability of the Striker Titan in Destiny. He has the ability to really clean up with the Super.

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H1Z1 releases virtual T-shirts for survivors of player wipes

In the survival MMO H1Z1, there are T-shirts, not real ones, but virtual ones.

“I survived Player Wipe 1” is printed on the front of the new T-shirt, and the back has three bullet holes. With this new cosmetic T-shirt, DGC aims to reward the most loyal players who have been playing since before the wipe.

The T-shirt was released today with the patch. The announced server wipe from a few days ago reset the game. Players had to adapt to new worlds afterward. Additionally, in H1Z1, each player can now only create one character per server.

What else was in the patch on February 10th is revealed in this video by ProNDC about H1Z1.

http://youtu.be/eG17h3nymAg
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Evolve: Launch trailer is monstrous

To Turtle Rock’s asymmetrical MOBA, the 4vs1 online team shooter, Evolve a launch trailer has been released.

Evolve Markov Guide

Today, Evolve is officially out. “Officially” better said, the first people have been playing for a few days now.

As it happens in the first hours: People are orienting themselves, there are already the first reviews and it is also being analyzed which resolution is on the Playstation 4 and which on the Xbox One, where it looks better. It actually seems at the moment that the PS4 is ahead, but there will surely be more on that in the coming days.

For now, Turtle Rock is delighting us with the launch trailer for Evolve. Our favorite part is always the blurbs: When you take two or three words from a lengthy review and quote them. Someone must have stayed up all night to decide whether to lead with “Intense!” or “4.5 of 5!”.

If you want to know more about the game and see some initial guides, we recommend our Evolve theme page.

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ArcheAge: Straw dummies rejoice! Trion Worlds removes the AFK timer

ArcheAge removes the AFK timer, players can now stay logged in for hours without tricks.

At the release of ArcheAge it was a major topic: The AFK timer! Players simply stayed logged in and tricked it, hitting straw dummies for hours or remaining in the character selection, blocking valuable space on the server. Others got stuck in queues and complained. Now the AFK timer is being removed.

ArcheAge_afk

At the release, the “Stay logged in” was crucial because it took an eternity to log in – with all the full queues. That is no longer a problem. Still, it is advantageous to stay logged in, after all, you get energy much faster or (for free-to-play players) only that way.

Speaking of energy: This is a sensitive topic. Users are already discussing on reddit how this will drive up the electricity bill.

In Germany, the AFK timer is supposed to be removed during maintenance work on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, around 3:00 AM.

My MMO says: The “If you are logged in, you get” system that ArcheAge uses is actually an idea from the Asian region, where players play through internet cafes and pay by the hour. Publishers share in the revenues.

Here in Europe, where everyone has a computer at home, it always felt like a foreign body. Trion Worlds will definitely not win an award for environmental awareness by removing the AFK timer.

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Source(s):
  1. ArcheAge
  2. reddit

Destiny: No shooting – Raid team tackles the “Glass Chamber”

In Destiny , the raid “The Glass Chamber” has now been defeated almost without violence. At least no shots were fired. The so-called “No Gun” run is receiving a lot of praise.

Just under a week ago, a command group of Titans accomplished something quite insane: They completely defeated the raid “Crota’s End” without firing a shot. Well … someone did drop a few shotgun shells, but it wasn’t that bad.

The video of their run is delighting Destiny fans around the world. There was a carefree atmosphere in the video. Lots of laughter. Players often wondered, just as fans at home did, how these unconventional “Punch in the Face” tactics in the raid really worked. Titans are already the favorites of many with their attitude “The bigger it is, the more fun it is to punch it”.

Now, some saw the performance of the six players and said, “Well, Crota’s End, the new raid, is also poorly designed.” There was a challenge posed on whether the players would manage to push through in the old raid, “The Glass Chamber”?

Destiny-Heart-of-Praxic-Fire
A heart for Exotics: Synergy effects are key.

Challenge accepted – Destiny Titan team takes on Atheon and his boys

In a new three-part video series, the heroes are now taking on the Glass Chamber. The raid is praised afterwards for its design and for the unusual strategies required from players.

This video series is also receiving a lot of enthusiasm from the Destiny community: “This is even better than the first time!”, is what one reads there. However, this time not only Titans are involved, but a Warlock is also being dragged along. Synergy effects are indeed key.

According to the players, “The Glass Chamber” wasn’t so hard without weapons. Only Atheon posed a problem, as he always ran out of grenades.

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War against the Demon Metacritic – Eurogamer abolishes numerical ratings

The numerical rating system and thus the rating aggregator Metacritic is under threat. The large European site Gaming-eurogamer.net wants to break away from “rating by numbers”.

Ratings are a sensitive topic in the gaming industry. Readers and the industry are attracted to these small or large numbers that condense massive articles into something that can be grasped at a glance.

Through this number, the success or failure of a product can supposedly be evaluated objectively. Just recently, the CEO of Take-Two stated before the release of Evolve, how important numbers are in the industry. This is not like movies, where a film is loved by critics but rejected by audiences. In games, critic opinions correlate with buying behavior.

In short: A rating above 90 brings in serious money. This is then also passed on to the developers: Allegedly, there were bonuses for Bungie connected to a high rating for Destiny, which were then not achieved.

Many readers skip the tedious reading of a review and jump straight to the end. Or they skip watching individual reviews altogether and go directly to metacritic, where ratings from large international magazines are mixed into an opinion mix that is supposed to provide an objective picture. A single review, so the logic goes, can be mistaken. If you put 50 in a pot and mix vigorously, the right thing will emerge.

Destiny-Polygon-Shirt
The US site Polygon gave Destiny a 6/10, the creators of the hit game proudly wore that on their chest.

Today, Eurogamer.net is one of the first “major” general gaming sites to break away from the rating system. Local editions are also pulling out. They only want to make recommendations in the future.

By doing so, they consciously give up their place in the Metacritic machinery. According to Eurogamer, they rejected an offer from Metacritic that practically wanted to “convert” their ratings. They apparently no longer find it acceptable that their differentiated opinion is reduced to a number that then has the influence that the review is supposed to have.

For many game creators, far too much is riding on a Metascore – good or bad – for us to allow it to be influenced by a rating that we don’t think represents us fairly, or that we don’t have full control over.

Over the years, we’ve come to believe that the influence of Metacritic on the games industry is not a healthy one (and we’re not alone in this opinion in the industry, either). This is not the fault of Metacritic itself or the people who made it, who just set out to create a useful resource for readers.

Evolve Goliath Trick
Large numbers are important for Evolve.

Only rough recommendations from now on

In the future, they want to give 4 “rough assessments”: they want to warn against bad players, say nothing about the average ones, recommend the better ones, and award the very best. However, Eurogamer-net would still like to keep the “Google stars”.

According to their own statements, Eurogamer is separating from the rating system because it no longer meets today’s demands. It does not do justice to the games, the readers, or the testers. Is it really fair for a brilliantly balanced multiplayer game to be penalized for a lack of story, they ask?

Additionally, Eurogamer states that ratings are inflating today. Even a 7/10 or 8/10 is portrayed as a disappointment.

About a month ago, the US site Joystiq also announced that it would forgo numerical ratings. The site has since been shut down.

Destiny-Dual-Banjos
Destiny allegedly lost a bonus because it scored too few points at Meta-Critic.

This is how we see it. How do you see it?

My MMO says: With all the good arguments: It is certainly also a strategic decision of the gaming site.

Who ends up as one of 80 numbers on Metacritic, from which the average is calculated, might feel somewhat flattered (especially as a German site), that they belong to this exclusive circle, but it doesn’t really bring clicks or prestige. It makes sense that Eurogamer retains the “Google stars” since they stand out and bring clicks. Of course, the review is also condensed to a much rougher “rating” here.

That clear numerical ratings are losing importance in today’s time seems clear to us as well. Our Cortyn has dealt with the topic in a Criticism Wednesday.

How do you see it? How would you like a rating system from us at mein-mmo.de?

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Source(s):
  1. eurogamer

World of Warcraft: After selfies now Mario Kart? First look at new Darkmoon race

In World of Warcraft, the new race at the Darkmoon Faire is drawing comparisons to Mario Kart.

For some, the SELFIEs were absolutely the last thing that should be in a fantastical and dark world like World of Warcraft. However, they will probably enjoy the new Darkmoon racing better: With some absurd mini-games, WoW players have already gained a lot of experience, and the Darkmoon Faire exists somewhat outside the normal storyline, in a kind of meta-area.

The site Kotaku draws comparisons of the new race to the classic Mario Kart. On a set track, players would have to reach three markers as quickly as possible. Along the way, there are speed boosts, jump gear, and other gags. If other players are in the race, it is said that amusing chaos may occur, like in the game classic Mario Kart.

There is an initial video from the PTR for you, the event is supposed to become a part of patch 6.1, which is still to come:

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  1. kotaku

Destiny Nightfall: Weekly Nightfall Strike starting from 10.2. goes into the Nexus

In Destiny, the weekly Nightfall strike leads to the Nexus during the week of 2/10, facing Sekrion.

After all the craziness of the past two weeks with “Taste the rainbow” and Triple-Burn, this week we are back to basics: It’s time to go to the Nexus, facing Sekrion. The Nightfall in Destiny is a very important topic for many guardians because a successful completion not only offers the chance for great loot (exotics and such), but also provides a 24.5% bonus on all earned experience and reputation. And a cool graphical effect.

Destiny-Word-of-Crota

The modifiers in the Nexus during the week of 2/10 in the Nightfall

The five modifiers from 2/10 to 2/17 at 10:00 AM are:

  • Nightfall – If the fireteam dies, they return to orbit. The Nexus must be conquered from the beginning.
  • Epic – Makes it harder, otherwise it would just be heroic
  • Angry – Enemies are unaffected by heavy damage
  • Juggler – for the weapon you are holding when an enemy dies, you do not receive ammunition – and yes, this invites to tricks with the rocket launcher
  • Void-Burn, Void-Burn – Void damage is significantly increased, applies to guardians as well as monsters

The heroic weekly strike this time has no burn active, only Juggler.

Destiny-Wahrheit1212

Which weapons are recommended for the Nightfall this week in Destiny?

It’s about time to pull out the new weapons. Many guardians already have toys from Crota’s End, so the arsenal should slowly change. This week, Void weapons are in.

Primary: For a long time, the “Atheon’s Epilogue“, an auto rifle, was the front-runner. Now the preferred Void weapon should be the “Crota’s Word“, a Void hand cannon. If you have it, you have it.

Secondary: Efrideet’s Spear, the Iron Banner sniper rifle, in the Void version is definitely a great choice. If you own it and have re-rolled it accordingly. For those who prefer a riskier option: Swordbreaker, a Raid shotgun, some consider a good idea. The classic Praedyth’s Revenge is of course also an option.

Heavy weapons: The rocket launcher “Truth” should provide strong services. There are also cool Void machine guns.

And for Warlocks, we have an idea, that revolves around the Obsidian Will helmet.

Of course, there are other solutions for each weapon type as well. Generally, Void damage is favored and anything with range should be preferred.

Destiny-Efrideets-Speer
The thing with Void damage.

Tips, guides, safe spots for the Nexus?

For the Nightfall: The more players you go in with, the more aggressively you can play. Those going solo into the dusk should be extremely cautious. Otherwise, it can lead to frustration.

We will look for videos of successful, creative, or otherwise notable runs throughout the day and present them to you, also in German. You can learn something from that.

If you can’t wait: Here are the tips from the last time Sekrion was active with the combo, they are still valid – that was the Christmas Nightfall in Destiny.

As the first video, we present to you the passage of a German-speaking trio team. The Warlock has Obsidian Will on, along with Crota’s Word, the sniper rifle Sovereignty (from the Queen’s Wrath event). And the rocket launcher Truth. There is a safe spot with Sekrion, where a three-person team works with backups. It is a tricky strike, where one can easily go down. Caution is advised.
http://youtu.be/SLHQviwoO3Y
With English commentary, it goes solo through in a fast run, lasting only 6 minutes the video. The “important” parts are explained: Play passively at the beginning, stay in the retreat area. And here, the YouTuber already presents small tricks for the Servitor and safe spots. Then, he also gives tips on how to sneak through the middle part with minimal enemy contact, and has some extremely good advice for Sekrion as well.
http://youtu.be/jO7l0DMy0sE


And for those looking for help for the Nightfall, we recommend our article on how to find German-speaking players in Destiny.

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SWTOR: Bioware brings the “real” Star Wars back

Better late than never: On the official website, the plans for the current year of the Free2Play MMO “Star Wars: The Old Republic” have now been revealed. While there are no major revelations from Bioware, all the already known goals are once again neatly listed.

Since this was probably too little to justify a separate developer post, they also talked a bit more about the general direction in which SWTOR is supposed to develop.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is an MMO, but also a Bioware game

SWTOR World Rishi

“Combat, exploration, progression, and story” are according to the lead producer Bruce Maclean the four core elements of a good MMO. While in recent years they mainly focused on combat and progression, they wanted to emphasize the “BioWare” aspect a bit more with “Shadow of Revan” and bring the story to the forefront. This will also be the case in the upcoming expansions. The personal character story will be woven into the narrative (at least partially) and new decisions are intended to carry more weight in future content.

I don’t want to give away too much, as we are still in the middle of development, but I can assure you that our plans for our game will bring the true Star Wars™ experience back to the forefront. – Bruce Maclean, Lead Producer.

2 Addons and a lot of “small stuff”

In total, they plan to release at least two major expansions this year – the first in summer and the second at the end of the year. In between, they want to keep the players entertained in other ways.

  • As previously reported, Patch 3.1 will bring the hard difficulty level for the latest flashpoints on February 12 and the 4th PvP season will begin.
  • Several weeks later, they will implement the outfit designer into the game and advance the storyline on Ziost a bit to clarify open questions from the “Shadow of Revan” expansions.
  • In an even more distant future, there will be a new stronghold and of course the Togruta as a playable race.
    SWTOR Rishi Conflict FP

As soon as there are further information, we will of course keep you updated. You can read the entire developer post on swtor.com.

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Shadow Realms: Electronic Arts cancels 4vs1 experiment; Bioware is to focus on SWTOR

Electronic Arts announces the end of the title “Shadow Realms”, it will not be further developed. The team from Bioware is supposed to focus more on Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Six months ago, there was an elaborate trailer campaign for this, and now it has come to an end. The title “Shadow Realms” will not be further developed. The team from Bioware worked on the game.

Shadow Realms was envisioned as a 4vs1 online game, where 4 “adventurers” faced a kind of dungeon. The opposing player was to throw dangers and difficulties in their way, ultimately aiming to triumph over them in a final confrontation or not.

Even at Gamescom in Cologne, Shadow Realms was promoted and presented as one of the upcoming major projects. Already in November, Electronic Arts had buried a MOBA project called “Dawngate”.

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As a reason for the end of Shadow Realms, EA states that it is more important for Bioware to dedicate itself to other projects. Thus, Bioware is supposed to focus primarily on the long-standing MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, for which they have big plans in 2015 in light of the new trilogy.

But the biggest focus for our team in BioWare Austin will be on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. As every Star Wars™ fan knows, this is a massive year in the Star Wars universe. We have some great plans for expanding this epic game this year, and look forward to sharing the news about those plans with our players in the coming weeks.

Ironically, the announcement of the end of Shadow Realms comes on the same day as Evolve an asymmetrical 4vs1 experiment just takes off. A push from the major U.S. gaming print magazine Game Informer likely made such a statement necessary. They had caught wind of it, inquired, and pressed for answers.

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Source(s):
  1. Game Informer

The Elder Scrolls Online: Armors for Orcs and Redguards will be more stylish with Update 6

In the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, the new armors for the Orc and Redguard races are proudly presented. Here, attention has been paid to details.

Armors are important in The Elder Scrolls Online. There are always discussions about balance regarding armors; the light cloth armor, traditionally favored by magic users, is the strongest. Recently, there was a kill screen from the first Sanctum with 1.6 on the PTR, and as soon as only clothies stood around, everyone was once again throwing their hands over their heads.

But it’s also about aesthetics. The design department at Zenimax has once again reflected and what they came up with can now be seen.

They have improved and redesigned the light, medium, and heavy armor of the Orcs and Redguards and now present the changes in detail.

There is no date known yet for when the Update 6 is supposed to go live. This week, copies of the characters for the test server are to be made again, so one can probably assume that it won’t happen this week. At the latest by mid-next month, when they switch to Buy2Play, they want to be ready.

Ork-leicht
Ork-mittel
Ork-schwer
rothwardone-leicht
rothwardone-mittel
rothwardone-schwer
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Source(s):
  1. ESO

Destiny: Master Thrower on the Go

In Destiny a player has perfected the mastery of throwing a deadly knife as a Hunter.

Destiny-Bladedancer-Dunkelheit-lauert

In just five or six matches in the Crucible, YouTuber Mike Dash wants to gather enough material for this video. It shows him with the Falkenmond and a knife (or rather with a knife set) in the Crucible of Destiny. The tactic is simple yet effective: first somehow hit with the Falkenmond and then the thing takes off.

Many kills in the video are sequenced and show a corresponding dynamism; otherwise, the experts would surely say again: So what? Anyone can do that.

The “knife throwing” in Destiny is considered one of the most beautiful game mechanics, even among critics. There is simply something satisfying about running around in a world of pulse rifles and fusion grenades like a carnival performer from a bygone millennium, albeit as a somewhat bloodthirsty one.

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Source(s):
  1. reddit

Evolve: Release times are here – When does Evolve start in Germany? On PC, Xbox One and PS 4

The asymmetrical MOBA Evolve is starting in a few hours in Germany.

The release times are now known. They have been published on the community page of Steam.

When does Evolve launch in Germany on PC, XBox One, and Playstation 4?

In Germany, it looks like this:

  • On XBox One, Evolve starts at 23:01 on Monday, February 9th – so today
  • On PC, it is set to begin at 0:01.
  • The exact start time for Playstation 4 is not yet known and will be added later. It seems like it will be a release around midnight.
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Hearthstone: Swarm intelligence finds highly complex 16-mana lethal

Hearthstone-Gallywix

In Hearthstone there was an unusual lethal in an extremely tricky board situation. The player didn’t see it, but his fans did.

Hearthstone, as you know, is designed to provide a “story” after each match. And the more new cards with extraordinary abilities come into play, the more opportunities there are to tell a story.

The situation looks so bare and stark: The druid player has no cards on the board, the opponent is heavily equipped, his legendary shredder has spat out a trade prince Gallywix. The streamer Savjz is lounging a bit in his gaming chair and is deep in thought.

But while the player is still mulling over the situation, the stream chat is already going wild: “Lethal,” they write, yes spam. A combination that leads directly to the opponent’s death and thus to victory.

Pause the video after 40 seconds. Would you have seen the situation as well?

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Source(s):
  1. reddit

World of Warcraft: World record in the Fire Trial – 198 rounds completed

WoW Dancing

In World of Warcraft, there is a new world record in the Trial of Fire for tanks. One player endured for 198 rounds.

For many, gold is still far away, as it shakes in the Endless mode quite vigorously. A player has now completed 198 of the endless waves. One has to be quite Zen to maintain that level of concentration (3 hours, 18 minutes) for so long. It was – as many can imagine – a tank monk, a Brewmaster, who made it so far in the Trial of Fire Tank.

The Trials of Fire in World of Warcraft are actually designed to demonstrate the players’ capability to at least show a fundamental understanding of roles (DD, tank, healer) in heroic instances. In Endless mode with increasingly difficult waves, it then becomes a kind of high score chase.

Here is the Battle.Net link for the Draenei Brewmaster.

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Source(s):
  1. reddit

No World of Warcraft and LoL on the Crimea – Obama is to blame

At the moment, there is no legal way to play World of Warcraft on the Crimean Peninsula.

It may seem like a trifle to many compared to the misery currently unfolding and brewing in this part of the world, but: According to a presidential decree from Barack Obama, Blizzard cannot offer services for the online MMORPG World of Warcraft on the Crimea, which was annexed by Russia, and players cannot even be compensated for it.

Blizzard-Ban-WoW

The decree from the US government imposes a sanction that prohibits the import of American “Tech Products and Services” to the Crimean Peninsula. As Blizzard’s Customer Support indicates, this embargo must be adhered to.

The banning of World of Warcraft on the Crimea was discussed in the WoW subreddit, where an employee from Riot (League of Legends) stated: Yes, it is due to this presidential directive. It is also binding for us.

If this embargo expires, Blizzard intends to resume support.

We previously reported on a similar incident where war affects a “War” game last August: regarding the MMO “War Thunder,” which is so popular in Ukraine.

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Source(s):
  1. Vocativ
  2. reddit

MMO Culture: Dispute between Nexon (MapleStory) and NCSoft (Guild Wars 2, WildStar)

A conflict is brewing in South Korea between rivals Nexon (Maple Story, Atlantica Online) and NCSoft (Guild Wars 2, WildStar).

In South Korea, there is trouble, as mmoculture reports. It has a bit of a Greek drama feel to it. The two heads of the software giants Nexon and NCSoft were formerly friends until their careers drove them in different directions.

In 2012, Nexon became a shareholder in NCSoft, acquiring 15% of the company, also to counter the pressure that companies like Riot Games (League of Legends) and Blizzard (StarCraft) suddenly exerted in Korea. Nexon remained quiet for three years and did not exert influence on NCSoft. That has now changed. Nexon wants to have a say in the management of NCSoft, apparently disappointed with the direction NCSoft is heading. The results are considered too weak.

NCSoft rejects this, stating that they have a different philosophy and such unilateral interference would lead to being less competitive in the market. As mmoculture reports, the Korean antitrust office (or its equivalent) is also watching Nexon closely.

Meanwhile, Nexon has made public what the “interference” is supposed to look like, as there is an open letter outlining the demands. NCSoft should collaborate more with other companies (including Nexon), involve shareholders and investors more, liquidate concrete assets, and disclose the compensations of certain managers when they exceed 500 million Korean Won (about 400,000 Euros).

Nexon-vs-NCsoft-proposal1

This is probably what one would call a “power play” in such circles. It will be interesting to see how things develop.

Nexon has relatively few well-known “big MMOs” in the West; the more recognized are: Maple Story, Atlantica Online, Vindictus, and Dragon Nest.

NCSoft includes Guild Wars 2, WildStar, Lineage 1 and 2, or Blade and Soul.

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Destiny: It is official, a major expansion is coming this fall

A major expansion for Destiny has now also been officially confirmed by Activision for the fall.

With Destiny, there are now so many leaks that it’s hard to distinguish what is officially confirmed and what seems so logical that everyone assumes it’s already official. Bungie hasn’t said anything about it yet.

We all experienced this with House of Wolves: It seemed logical to expect it to come in March. But no such luck: At the earliest in April.

What is suspected and what is known: The future of Destiny

The same goes for the “larger expansion” that doesn’t have an official name yet. It seems that one knows when it will come, what it will be called, and what it will include. However, officially and confirmed, nearly nothing is known yet.

So far, there have only been confirmed statements before the release that Destiny is designed for 10 years and that several installments are planned (Destiny 2, etc.). Additionally, there are plans to release a larger expansion for each of these installments, alongside smaller DLCs.

Destiny Leak Schedule
Unofficial and probably outdated. This is allegedly a screenshot from a Bungie presentation.

So far, it wasn’t known when this “large expansion” is supposed to come. There was only a “leak” in early January, that named September as the date for this expansion. The leak also mentioned that the expansion “Comet” would raise the base level to 30, would appear as a “standalone” box, and would bring much more content than the previous DLCs. However, the leak also dated the 2nd DLC House of Wolves to mid-March – which has since turned out to be incorrect.

This is not particularly surprising: The “leak” comes, if it is indeed authentic, from October 2014. Timelines tend to get mixed up.

Destiny House of Wolves
Start screen House of Wolves: Somewhere hidden in the depths of the Destiny CD, it has been lurking since its release, during which quite a lot may have changed.

A large expansion is supposed to come in the fall

Now, Activision CEO Erik Hirshberg has actually confirmed “something on the scale” of Comet. He stated that a second expansion for Destiny is on the way (by which he means House of Wolves), and for the fall, they are planning “a major release of additional game content.”

With this content update, it’s likely to refer to “Comet,” or an expansion of this magnitude. Hirshberg did not mention any further details of any kind.

For the time thereafter, Hirshberg speaks of a “robust pipeline,” stating that there is still much planned for Destiny. These comments came late last week when Activision presented the impressive numbers for Destiny.

By the way: The fall officially begins on September 23 and ends on December 21. A release “early in September” doesn’t seem very likely.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. vg247.com

Evolve Press Review: Test and Review – what are the first critiques?

The asymmetric team shooter Evolve is released today. A review embargo expired at 6:00 AM German time. We summarize the tests and reviews from various magazines for you.

Evolve is one of the first  shakes in the gaming market in 2015. A good sign so far: The press had access to the servers beforehand, and at 6:00 AM this morning
an embargo expired and major US sites published their tests and reviews. We have tracked them down for you and summarized them. These are often just “provisional judgments” or “first impressions” from the press servers after 20-30 hours, but they paint an initial picture.

Polygon: Yes, but …

Polygon (8/10): The Polygon tester spent 25 hours with the pre-release version and repeatedly calls Evolve “ambitious.” A game with big goals. But like all “big endeavors,” it needs refinement. When entering new territory, one encounters new challenges.

Classic “Hunt” matches are often one-sided and it is clear from the start who will win. The balance is also not yet harmonious; some hunter abilities and the monster “Wraith” are too strong (Note from mein-mmo.de: This should be fixed in a Day One Patch ). The tester also struggles with unlocking and upgrading the monsters and hunters. It feels sluggish and presents an artificial hurdle.

On the plus side, Evolve is a hell of a lot of fun, especially in a team. It has a kind of “party” factor, and the additional modes provide variety. In particular, the Defense mode has captured the tester’s interest; these are longer matches that develop more slowly and allow for mistakes.

Evolve-Caira

The Escapist: Co-Op Fun with minor flaws

The Escapist (9/10) enjoys the co-op shooter and the team play it offers. Evolve is a game that presents players with challenges, a variety of them. Teamwork is especially important. When everything comes together and you have a strong team, it becomes an incredibly “satisfying game.”

The Escapist points out the complicated DLC plan and the frustration that arises when you end up on the wrong side of a one-sided match.

Evolve

Gamespot: Intense

Gamespot (8/10) highlights the atmosphere in its critique. It is exciting and intense. Sometimes Evolve is the Blair Witch Project among shooters: you wander aimlessly, there are eerie sounds, a sense of an imminent threat, and you wait for something exciting to happen. And when it does, when it comes to battle, the clashes between hunters and monsters are intense.

For Gamespot, the game is best when playing with friends.

Evolve Goliath Trick

And what else is there?

Several more reviews have been published. The consensus is quite clear: Evolve shines in co-op mode; solo it is difficult to not fun at all. Most have played around 20-30 hours and are curious about what the community will make of the game. Criticism arises regarding the test servers, where some “bad matches” were found with one-sided outcomes; especially the “typical” Hunt mode can quickly become one-sided.

Much positive feedback is given regarding the sound, the atmosphere, and the varied missions. It looks very positive at first glance, as one would expect.


More about Evolve from us can be found here. If you want to prepare for the launch, we recommend Cortyn’s guides: For hunters and for Goliath.

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

Destiny Crucible: Super success thanks to “infinite super” tactic: Exploit or clever?

In Destiny guardians have now found a way to dominate the Crucible. Through a class synergy with Titans, incredible stats are achieved.

Currently, a video from the Crucible is circulating in Destiny, promising incredible stats and values.

Guide to being IMBA in Destiny’s Crucible

The tactic goes, according to the video creator:

  1. Form a team of 4 Titans and fill the remaining spots with Warlocks or Hunters.
  2. The four Titans ideally wear the exotic chest piece “Mark of Alpha Lupi,” then they generate 3 Orbs of Light per bubble instead of 2. With four Titans, that means 12 Orbs of Light per bubble round if the others collect them, leading to a Super.
  3. Now enter the Crucible and wait for everyone to have their Super ready.
  4. Find a spot and let the Titans start bubbling.
  5. Warlocks and Hunters begin to annihilate everything in the area with infinite Supers.
  6. Done
Destiny-Alpha-Lupi

The tactic works quite similarly to the system with the “one-sword” Crota kill. It was developed by the group around the guy who set the speedrun at Crota.

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Exploit or Super Trick?

In the forums, there is discussion about whether this tactic is “legitimate” or just completely unfair.

On one hand, these “infinite Supers” are certainly a killer. On the other hand, a bit of skill is required to achieve these kills. Since Destiny is not a “eSport” and coordinated groups are rarely found in the Crucible, the issue doesn’t seem too urgent. After all, it requires coordinated action and a special group composition.

As the community manager said in a stream: “Most who see opponents with the same emblems or clan tags in the Crucible leave the match immediately anyway.”

Let’s see if countermeasures can be found for this “tactic.” Otherwise, it’s a matter of waiting.

There is already a Crucible planned with the Inferno mode, in which Supers will not play a role. When and if it comes, however, is still open. Some expect a release during House of Wolves.

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