On February 24, the US version of Tera will introduce: Guild housing in the air, the Skycastles, is coming.
On February 24, TERA continues with new content. Then the Sky-Castles, the floating castles or sky fortresses, will be introduced. Tera guilds will compete for them, as everyone wants to move in there. However, it will probably be a privilege reserved only for the top guilds. In two 4-week periods, once for PvE and once for PvP, the competition will decide who will soon reside in the highest layer above the world of Arborea. To determine the new tenants, the earned points from dungeons, PvP, and guild battles will be counted and compared.
In addition, on February 24, a new instance, the Sky Cruiser Endeavor, and the Hard Mode for the “Fate of Arun” Underwater Dungeon Bathysmal Rise will also be released. A new 5-vs-5 battlefield version of the Hero’s Sky Ring will also be added.
TERA Player Count Impressive: 17 Million Registered Accounts Worldwide
TERA has accumulated 17 million registered accounts worldwide since its launch, it is announced. With the Skycastles, there is now likely the feature that many guilds have been looking forward to the most. US publisher En Masse Entertainment rejoices, stating that there has never been a better time to join a guild.
As for how it looks in the West with floating castles and other dungeons, we have taken a look at in this article. It can probably be assumed that the EU version will come around the same time, so it is also expected at the end of February.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, a lot can go wrong in the final battle against the raid boss Crota. But not always is the fight lost.
Today, we want to introduce you to a video that doesn’t need many words.
You probably know the fight against Crota by now and also the helplessness you feel when the sword bearer collapses at the last moment. Then you know: “Just a few seconds more and it would hit me. And I can’t do anything, absolutely nothing against it.”
“Not with me!”, thought one of the fire team members in this raid and improvised spectacularly when things started to go wrong with Crota (Hard) after the sword bearer fell.
For 30 seconds be a real hero – or as they like to say in Destiny: “Become Legend.” Or to put it a bit more simply: Quick thinking, Plan B actually worked.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, the legendary and exotic weapons often have absurd and obscure names. Where do they come from?
TFWPKY, ANITC, Gjallarhorn, Badger CCL, Doctor Nope, LDR 5001, the Trolley Problem … Where did Bungie get all these names from? And what in Eris’ crazy breath do they mean?
If you’ve ever wondered about this, you should treat yourself to this article. Wonderful useless trivia knowledge that you’ll remember for a lifetime while forgetting what the second binomial formula is after five minutes. Isn’t the human brain amazing?
Another NITC – The scout rifle of the Vanguard is probably called “Another Nail in the Coffin”. This is an English idiom describing a step that brings one closer to the grave. Sometimes, cigarettes are referred to as such.
Badger CCL – The other scout rifle of the Vanguard. It is believed that Bungie refers to “Badger couldn’t care less” and hints at a quite popular (72 million views) YouTube video about a honey badger, a creature that is so fearless that it doesn’t care about anything. Seems fitting for Destiny.
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Doctor Nope – the automatic rifle is a clear reference to the Bond villain Doctor No. Suited for Destiny, it has a slightly more casual vibe.
Found Verdict (Schuldig befunden) – the shotgun probably alludes to Judge Dredd’s standard saying before he starts. There is also a character in the fantasy cycle of a Canadian author (The Game of the Gods) to which this saying would also apply. Many references are ambiguous and could refer to various sources.
Gjallarhorn – this is the horn of Heimdall from Norse mythology, which he blows to warn the gods of the impending apocalypse (Ragnarok). Most today probably know the bridge guardian Heimdall from the Thor movies, where he is impressively played by Idris Elba.
LDR 5001 – the sniper rifle LDR plays on “Long Distance Relationship.” 5001 feet would be about 1.5 kilometers … a distance within which a sniper rifle can still deliver a deadly shot. A macabre allusion to the fact that shooter and victim are in a kind of long-distance relationship.
No Land Beyond (Kein Land Ausserhalb) – we have already written something about this. This is a direct quote from a well-known Russian sniper in World War II. The film “Duell – Enemy at the gates” tells his story. It is perhaps the most obvious reference in Destiny. It also has multiple layers; just as the sniper had to defend Stalingrad against overwhelming odds, the Guardians must defend the “last city” against an overwhelming darkness and “reclaim their land.” One of the dominant themes in Destiny.
One Way Ticket 000 – 000 is the Australian emergency phone code, a “One Way Ticket,” a simple fare will take you to the morgue.
Patience and Time (Geduld und Zeit) – comes from Tolstoy’s century novel War and Peace – the strongest warriors are said to be patience and time.
Plan C – this is the plan when even Plan B goes wrong. An “emergency plan” when all else fails.
Red Death (Roter Tod) – probably refers to Edgar Allan Poe’s tale “The Masque of the Red Death.” There, the wealthy of a city celebrate Carnival in isolation while the population dies from the plague. But the “red death” appears at their masked ball and brings ruin.
TFWPKY 1969 – The Fall will probably kill you – is a quite legendary quote from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” – a film from 1969. Two outlaws consider escaping a hopeless situation by jumping into a deep river. One steadfastly refuses because he can’t swim. The other says: “Are you crazy? Probably the fall will kill you anyway.”
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The 4th Horseman (der 4. Reiter) – the Revelation of John in the Bible, the Apocalypse, describes the end of all days and knows four apocalyptic riders, the 4th is “Death.”
The Comedian – could be a reference to Watchmen, where the “Comedian” is a rather insane, melancholic, violent hitman and superhero.
The Devil you know, The Devil you don’t – a reference to a US proverb: The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t, because you know what to expect from him. In Destiny, the devil you know (the weapon) is considered much better compared to the “The Devil you don’t” – the devil you don’t know.
Trolley Problem – this is a relatively well-known thought experiment in which people are asked if they would switch the tracks of a trolley to save five people, even if it would condemn one other to death. A “Trolley” is the English word for tram. The flavor text of the weapon explains: “Pull the switch, it’s the right decision.”
Unfriendly Giant (Unsanfter Riese) – perhaps the most obscure reference: The text for the weapon “Unfriendly might be a bit too harsh. He’s actually quite shy” refers to a yogurt shop near Bungie’s headquarters, called “Shy Giant Frozen Yogurt.” The weapon name in Destiny itself is likely derived from a children’s book by Roald Dahl.
Two to the Morgue – this is probably a reference to “The Untouchables,” a film with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery, where it underscores the importance of repaying violence not with equal violence, but with greater violence – “They send one of us to the hospital, we send two of them to the morgue.”
This was just a selection of the many weapon references that Bungie has hidden in Destiny. And it’s not just weapons that are teeming with them. In shaders, ships, armor, and many other things in the game, there are more such winking or clever details to discover.
What are your favorite names in Destiny?
P.S.: We have a bonus. If you ever wondered what “Mythoclast” means: The word describes the destruction of myths.
Just like back then for the “Big Alpha”, Turtle Rock Studios has now released a new infographic after the beta weekend for Evolve, showcasing some quite interesting statistics.
The developers are particularly proud of the successful balancing: 51.5% of all games were won by the hunters, leaving the remaining 48.5% to the monster players. A difference of only 3% is something that many other multiplayer games can only dream of. They want to tweak the Wraith a bit more, as it has managed to win just over 70% of all games.
But TurtleRock is confident that they have brought her close to the 50% mark by slightly nerfing her abilities and not allowing her to warp while cloaked anymore. This also creates exciting new gameplay, as the monster player must first break line of sight with the hunters before they can warp to safety if they do not want to be chased.
Matchmaking solid, average gameplay duration 10 minutes
They are also satisfied with the new matchmaking system; the opponent assignment was noticeably better than in the Alpha, with “veterans” at level 20+ no longer having to occasionally fight against level 1 fresh meat. This likely saved both sides a lot of boredom.
However, there were still small errors with lobby creation, as the game often tried to group together more than 5 players, resulting in disconnections for frustrated friends. They want to have fixed these issues now.
I also find the average gameplay duration quite interesting: A match lasts on average just under ten minutes. Therefore, hardly anyone will be able to complain about “too long quiet phases” at the start of a match when the game is released in two weeks, on February 10th.
Square Enix rewards buyers of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. Players who have already purchased the game and whose subscription is currently inactive can try out the new features of the MMO for free this weekend.
Convert Renegades
By new features, we mean the features that were integrated into the game with the Update 2.5 “Before the Fall”. There are new dungeons and the continuation of the Hildibrand saga. Square Enix has also provided crafting recipes. This coming Friday (30.01.2015) from 09:00, until the following Monday (02.02.2015) at 09:00, former heroes can plunge back into the adventure.
This can almost be considered a tradition, as after each major update, former players have the opportunity to experience the quality of the new content.
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Are you taking the opportunity to immerse yourself in the Final Fantasy world again?
If you have never played Final Fantasy XIV and would like to try the successful MMORPG, you can use the free Trial version. This is available for PC, PS3, and PS4. Furthermore, we recommend reading the user comment “Is FFXIV worth it?” by Zeeko (below the post).
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
For the 4th time this year, the week is nearing its peak, and I’m slowly running out of topics. Fortunately, a strained (or extremely dreamy) glance at my own desk is all it takes to find something to get wonderfully worked up about.
You would think that in the digital age, the old-fashioned college pads would have slowly become obsolete – but of course, we didn’t account for the pitfalls of the internet, did we?
Three Websites That Determine My Entire Life
[pullquote]You are the tabloid of online magazines.[/pullquote]
Yes, I know. The headline is a bit grandiose. But how did a reader put it in the comments? “You are the tabloid of online magazines.” Then, of course, we have to deliver from time to time, or someone will be disappointed. But back to the main topic.
Next to my keyboard lies an old pad, and although it probably has a good 10 years on it, I take better care of it than many seminar folders. What could be so important that I would prefer to never lose sight of it, but also not want to store it digitally?
Of course, we’re talking about access credentials. Over the years, so much has accumulated: 27 different accounts for games, plus the “mandatory three”: Steam, BattleNet, and Origin. 6 more entries pertain to my various email addresses that I have created over the years – you know how it is. One for work, one for personal use, one for spam, one for the boss, which you only check once a week… and so on. The last five columns are the access data for social media: Facebook, Twitter, and co.
I can claim without exaggeration that a person who had access to these papers could turn my entire private and work life upside down.
I Need Microsoft Outlook – But for My Games
Since my lovely old World of Warcraft account was hacked about 4 years ago, I really use a different password for every program and service (and for our smarties in advance: No, I wasn’t on any gold seller sites and wasn’t completely naive when entering my data).
[pullquote]Something like Outlook or Thunderbird, just for all sorts of game accounts[/pullquote]
One would think that over the years, you’d remember the passwords, but as often as I change them or switch my current favorite game, I can’t keep up with memorizing them. What I would need is a program that unifies all the login services. Something like Outlook or Thunderbird, just for all sorts of game accounts.
At the same time, that would of course bring about a security issue, as this “master program” would also need to be protected by a password – and whoever had that, I could probably just leave my pad to them. Why can’t everything just run through Steam?
How do you handle all of this? Are you also so “paranoid” and have different passwords for everything? How many different accounts have accumulated for you over the last decade? Is anyone still reading this? Hello?
… See you next week!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The survival horror game Dying Light mocks the “legendary” loot cave in the MMO shooter Destiny.
In the new zombie shooter “Dying Light,” there is a loot cave, and that is no coincidence, but a jab at Bungie’s successful shooter Destiny.
Hidden in the farthest corner of the world of Dying Light, a cave awaits the player. There it reads, “Your destiny is to build your legend (and get loot)” – a clear reference to “Destiny,” the infamous loot cave, Bungie’s “Become Legend” marketing, and the ominous fascination of the Guardians for their beloved loot.
According to a player on reddit, after entering the cave an unholy number of zombies spawn, and when they are finally defeated, it says: “Enough! Patch 1.0.2 has been released! Do more quests!” – “Enough, the Patch 1.02 is out, do more quests now.”
It was somewhat similar, if we remember correctly, also in Destiny, right?
The treasure cave in Destiny was a spot where players quickly surrounded spawning enemy hordes to get their engrams, which Master Rahool then conveniently turned into rubbish. This is what Destiny looked like back in September and October. Long ago, and it was often mocked. Not least also by Bungie itself. Now they have, of course, other problems.
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For those wondering what Guardians do today instead of the “old” treasure cave when they feel like such stationary shooting: Either farm Glimmer on Mars or farm engrams on Venus.
Otherwise, as Bungie desired, player activity has shifted more to strikes, the nightfall, or the current raid. The treasure cave probably lives on only in memories for most or recently as an Easter egg in Dying Light.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A player in Destiny reached Rank 100 with the reputation faction “Dead Orbit.” But at the end of the rainbow, there was no pot of gold waiting.
The Bitter Steel shader on a diligent Guardian.
The endless ranks with factions or the Cryptarch in Destiny create the idea that there must be something more to gain. That Bungie has hidden some special gimmick at Ranks 25, 50, 100 in these dizzying heights, just waiting to be discovered by an explorer.
And to be that first explorer, Guardians in Destiny take on quite a lot. They go where no Guardian has gone before, such as reaching Rank 100 with one of the Crucible reputation factions.
On reddit, a Guardian shared (and can prove) that he reached reputation Rank 100 with the faction “Dead Orbit.” However, the reward was not something special, but the same as all reputation rank-ups from Rank 3 onwards:
A legendary Dead Orbit package
Here the Guardian opened 18 Dead Orbit packages one after the other.
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What rewards are available from reputation factions like Dead Orbit, New Monarchy, or Future War Cult?
There is a chance for legendary faction gear, also for certain faction shaders, emblems, and even a special spaceship alongside the Crucible title and the materials.
But there is no “special” reward waiting for players at certain round ranks.
The diligent player then thought and proposed that Bungie could provide fixed rewards at “round” ranks: perhaps a legendary spaceship at Rank 50, a special ghost shell at Rank 75, and at Rank 100 a very special exotic.
This is the legendary reputation spaceship from Dead Orbit: The Fermi Solution.
Is there a maximum rank in the factions?
But this is probably not going to happen anytime soon. Bungie seems not to have anticipated such high “reputation tiers” and likely doesn’t want to promote such extreme farming. There is no official statement at any rate.
The Guardian with 1200 hours in Dead Orbit is, by the way, satisfied and happy with Destiny, even if he thinks that Bungie could still do a bit more.
And somehow frightening: After Rank 100, it just keeps going. He is already at Rank 104 now. Trend: Rising.
The patch notes for Update 6 of The Elder Scrolls Online encompass nearly 94 standard pages, making it longer than some novellas. This massive update brings important new game systems to Tamriel and turns the previous balance upside down.
The patch notes for Update 6 contain 24,235 words, which amounts to 94 standard pages of 1800 characters each. We’re not quite at “novel length” yet, but we’re not far off. Novels typically start at around 150 pages. So two-thirds of it is already completed.
No wonder Update 6 didn’t arrive as originally planned within the “Every 6 weeks something new” rhythm in December; it took until the end of January to be weighed onto the test server. It will take a few more weeks to thoroughly test all the features and changes. However, it must be finished by mid-March, as the switch to Buy2Play is on the way.
We at mein-mmo.de have already covered most of the major system changes coming to the test server of ESO:
When Update 6 goes live is still unknown at the moment. Interested players can now take a look at the update on the test server.
This article, by the way, only has a measly standard page. When looking at the performance of the Zenimax employees, we develop standard page envy and hope that they have good ergonomic keyboards in Maryland.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Anyone in need of a quick fix for Evolve should know: One of the developers is currently playing it in a live stream.
Fans will have to wait until February 10th on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC until the highly anticipated team shooter/asymmetrical MOBA Evolve starts.
In the meantime, there are few opportunities to take a look at the game, as the last beta has also ended.
In a live stream, fans can now watch one of the developers, character artist Brandon “ManiacSquirrel” Yanez, as he plays games of Evolve with some friends. Apparently in the latest version.
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Anyone who thinks that there is nothing happening in WildStar is mistaken. After 7 months, the guild Enigma has defeated the final boss of the data zone for the first time worldwide. Thus, the current raid has been completely cleared before the upcoming content drops. This was confirmed on the official website by the WildStar team .
The world first goes to North America
The 40-man raid in WildStar is considered extremely difficult. Not only because the bosses have challenging mechanics, but also due to bugs and errors that sometimes made them unbeatable. Carbine took a long time to fix these issues, and yesterday the first guild succeeded in killing the final boss Avatus. Enigma has thus won the progress race. By a narrow margin.
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With Content Drop #4, the raid size will be reduced from 40 to 20 players. Carbine ultimately realized that only a few players and guilds want to commit to a 40-man raid like in the good old WoW days. However, it will be a while before the ladies and gentlemen can dive into a new raid. A new raid is planned only with Content Drop #5.
The heroes of Enigma are now unsettling the Nexus with the titles “Super User” and “Super Useress” and they also received the Avatus mount “Data-Drifter” as a bonus:
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The bodyguards are undoubtedly one of the best innovations that have entered World of Warcraft with “Warlords of Draenor“. A handful of your followers can indeed be wonderfully abused as punching bags.
The different characters heal, tank, or even deal a lot of damage depending on who you call to your side using your barracks.
Faithful companions stand in your way
In addition to unlockable abilities, amusing quotes, and extraordinary mounts, the computer-controlled helpers have one particular characteristic: they can perfectly get in the way. No matter if you want to mine some ore, pick a flower, or loot a quest item: the faithful companions manage with near-perfect precision to position themselves in such a way that you can click on nothing except the companion itself. This problem will be a thing of the past with the next patch!
Honey, I Shrunk the Bodyguards
Thanks to the “Bodyguard Miniaturization Device”, which can be purchased for a mere 250 garrison resources, you will be able to shrink the companions for one hour each. From the dear Blood Elf, a handy Barbie doll will emerge, and from the big Saberon, a kitten for the handbag. While not the most elegant solution, it is definitely a funny one. The item will be available with the next major content patch 6.1, which will probably take a few more weeks to arrive.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Darion presents to you the fundamental pillars of MMO design, on which the entire concept of a game often rests. He identifies these in combat, progression, exploration, and story.
In the combat system, the goal is to establish the best possible balance. A popular way to achieve this is the Holy Trinity, which divides roles into tank, damage dealer, and healer. Essentially, MMO battles always focus on damage – the damage you deal and the damage you take.
Progression begins to diverge more here. There is leveling, which represents progress in character levels; a vertical progression. There is also horizontal progression, where it could involve expanding skills or a changed appearance of armor.
Exploration is pretty self-explanatory. You always offer the player new things to see and discover. Sandbox games particularly rely heavily on this factor to keep players engaged. And finally, there is the story. This encompasses all the narratives told in the game, whether through quest text, cutscenes, or player-driven stories.
But if every MMO is programmed according to this scheme, is innovation even possible?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Blizzard’s online card game Hearthstone , the reign of the Undertaker, the grave keeper, is over. He is being nerfed.
The Undertaker (the grave keeper) was a nasty 1/2 card for only 1 mana that grew by +1/+1 whenever its owner played a minion with Deathrattle. Why do we say “was”? Because the grave keeper is getting nerfed. He now only grows by one damage point; his health no longer increases.
The Undertaker was considered too strong because he could grow rapidly in corresponding Deathrattle decks in the early game and overwhelm the opponent. He was particularly popular among Hunters, Priests, and Warlocks. For his cost of 1 mana, he was simply too powerful. Now, while he is still expected to excel in a Deathrattle deck, he won’t be such a dominant little guy anymore.
Blizzard explains the nerf by stating that it has often been frustrating to play against the grave keeper. The golden version of the Undertaker can be disenchanted for its full dust cost for a limited time.
Undertaker was frustrating to play against. It often gained both Attack and Health stats significantly above those of other inexpensive minions very early in the game. With this change, we expect Undertaker will still be better than other 1-Mana minions when played in a deck with a Deathrattle theme, but more likely to die in combat against other minions.
The golden version of Undertaker can be disenchanted for its full cost for a limited time once this balance change goes live.
This nerf is set to take effect soon, likely to be active in Hearthstone by the time you read this.
The eSports site Daily Dot asked some of the leading Hearthstone players for their opinions. The general reaction is – cautiously speaking – rather positive. The article is titled “F**k Yeah”.
Serious concerns have arisen in the USA that AOL may be closing its gaming site Joystiq. Many leaders in the gaming industry are voicing their support for Joystiq.
The site Re/code reports that AOL intends to shut down its gaming site Joystiq as part of a “cleanup” effort, where they are distancing themselves from sites that fall short of expectations. Joystiq is associated with the MMO site massively, the WoW fansite “WoW Insider“, as well as the general gaming site Joystiq. It is still unclear how a closure of Joystiq would affect massively and WoW Insider. It seems quite likely that they would be shut down along with the “mother site”.
Joystiq published an article about the rumor. It is hard to say whether irony or resignation is present when a “source from within” reports that the employees are aware of the closure but have not been officially informed yet.
Meanwhile, a hashtag campaign is taking place on Twitter under #SaveJoystiq, featuring people like SOE President John Smedley (H1Z1, Everquest), YouTuber TotalBiscuit, or Trion Worlds CEO (ArcheAge, Rift) Scott Hartsman.
Competition or not, they do good work and enrich the industry with their presence and that’s far more important. #SaveJoystiq
The MMO shooter Destiny actually turned out to be the hoped-for system seller for the PlayStation 4 in 2014. In the release month of September, sales figures skyrocketed.
“System seller” – that’s something like Super Mario back then for the first Nintendo or the good Sonic for the Sega Mega Drive. Because despite all the technical innovations, it is the big icons and exclusive titles that ensure that gamers reach for new consoles.
Destiny was not an exclusive title for the PlayStation 4, but was released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Sony’s marketing strategy, however, aimed to claim the game for itself and boost PS4 sales. So they offered attractive bundles at bargain prices.
And Bungie cooperated with Sony: There are Strikes, PvP maps, and exotic items that will be exclusive to PlayStation players for at least a year. PlayStation 3 players were also offered the opportunity to upgrade their Destiny to a PS4 version for free while keeping their Guardian. Of course, this also applied to Xbox 360 to Xbox One.
In the run-up to the release in September, analysts were concerned with the potential of Destiny to boost next-gen console sales. And the statistics say: Yup, it worked.
It wasn’t solely responsible, but it was largely thanks to the release of Destiny on September 9 that there was a threefold increase in PS4 console sales compared to the previous month, August. PS4 sales rose to 1.75 million units in September.
In October, there was again a dip before sales surged toward the end of the year, as expected. Additional hits like Call of Duty and GTA V hit the market. And thanks to tradition, for some, there was a new console under the Christmas tree. It’s a pity there were problems then – and no, we don’t mean the delayed Christmas presents …
Also exclusive … but not as coveted: The 4th Horseman.
According to vgChartz statistics, Destiny has sold 4.55 million copies on PlayStation 4. This makes it the fourth best-selling title of the year. We’ll surely learn about sales on Xbox One soon as well. Because even if Sony likes to see Destiny as an exclusive title, it should have contributed significantly to Xbox One sales as well.
To the article with the nice graphs and statistics go here.
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This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online will have a cash shop where players can purchase costumes, mounts, and pets for the premium currency Crowns. There will also be things like EXP bonuses.
The transition to a Buy2Play system for The Elder Scrolls Online will result in a cash shop being set up where players can buy items. During a large Q&A session on reddit, the question arose about what exactly will be included.
The Crown store will contain “Cosmetic and Convenience” items, as Creative Director Paul Sage stated in a response. What lies behind this? And what does the future hold for The Elder Scrolls Online, which will soon be called Tamriel Unlimited.
Cosmetic items and those that save time
Cosmetic items, as we have seen in nice screens from ESO Live, are armor, mounts, and pets that do not directly affect the player’s strength.
Convenience items refer to something else. They include items that significantly ease leveling or gathering certain points. According to Sage, these will likely be available in TESO. This removes “barriers,” which is something players want. It is by no means the case that players will receive the best items or become “stronger” than others through this store.
It will not allow people to get the best items or become more powerful in the game than another player could achieve. I will say openly that some people feel ‘time-saving’ items are buy-to-win such as being able to gain experience faster. But our perspective is that removing time barriers is something players want, without providing an unfair advantage in power.
An additional significant part of the cash shop will consist of game content such as new zones with new quests, items, and style books.
Further details about the cash shop and the plans for TESO
Moreover, there was a flood of additional insights from the large Q&A session on reddit that provide important information about the direction in which The Elder Scrolls Online should develop.
In summary:
The Dark Brotherhood or the Thieves Guild can be expected as DLC.
Prices for DLC will be oriented towards standard prices.
Items available in the cash shop will not become rarer in the “normal world” due to this.
The same applies to EXP, which should not be artificially reduced so that the EXP bonus for premium players is stronger.
The planned DLC, Orsinium, will primarily cater to solo players.
The planned battlefields (ESO style) are still in an early phase.
The new DLC should not be typically “level-bound”. Players should “scale up” to it. This will allow lower-level players to play together with higher-level players. The times when levels determined who could experience game content are over, according to Paul Sage.
Among the costumes in the DLC store, there should be the skins of some of the most popular armors in the game that can then be used as costumes without actually owning the armor.
New zones with their quests, items, and style books are typical content for paid DLCs; system changes, new talents, or balance changes are rather content for free updates. But it is actually still too early for such statements.
The digital Imperial Edition should also be available for purchase in the Crown store. Players who don’t need anything else can then spend the crowns they receive monthly through ESO Plus.
The three most important questions regarding DLC and the cash shop, and thus the future of The Elder Scrolls Online
How “strong” will these so-called convenience items be?
Convenience Items: This is a term that every developer loves to use. The same argument that Paul Sage used here was also brought up by Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman regarding the cash shop of ArcheAge: Then friends can play together, even if one has more time than the other. In practice, it looked a bit different. However, this does not mean that this will be the case in TESO.
Under Paul Sage’s wording could fall not only EXP potions, but also “good starter items” or “decent endgame items,” all of which already exist in the cash shops of other MMORPGs that fall under convenience.
How will this work with content without level restrictions?
This is an interesting concept about which we currently know nothing, but it will surely have a huge influence on the development of The Elder Scrolls Online. “Scaling,” “mentor” – some games experiment with this. Are there also dangers that progress may become meaningless, whether you really feel the many hours in the Champion system… There are also positive sides; some consider a level system to be outdated and atavistic. But one should only sniff around the soup when it is on the table.
What is DLC, what is an update?
And this is the third major question: Will the Imperial City in Cyrodiil be paid or free? Is the spellweaving something for everyone or only for paying players? How do the priorities or the fans’ relationship with the game shift here? Some see Buy2Play very positively: They have to put in effort and deliver to earn money. There are negative voices and dangers with such a transition: “Well, they’ve already got the main part of my money, of course they’re not going to do as much anymore” or: “As a free-to-play player, you have the short end of the stick.”
Mein MMO says: It was a gigantic Q&A session on reddit with numerous answers. We have already created three articles from it.
The conclusion is likely: Even with so many answers, many questions remain open. Things will once again change in TESO. At the Guild Summit a quarter ago, there was already such a huge influx of information. Now, at the end of January with “Tamriel Unlimied,” the second one has come to us. It will be seen how everything will work in practice. There are many plans and ideas – just like last time – but little concrete information, not many data.
In contrast to other developers, Zenimax plays with an open hand and often talks about things that will come in months, maybe even years (they have even hinted at housing), which creates a strange phenomenon: There is always a TESO that you would rather play than the current one: the TESO of tomorrow.
Whereas this might not apply to everyone with the switch to a Buy2Play model.
To our report on the intricacies of the console port click here; with the future of The Elder Scrolls Online and the potential content drought until the release for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in June, we discuss in this article.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Guild Wars 2, the developers continue to discuss Heart of Thorns. This time, it’s about the PvE content in the endgame.
After the announcement in Texas on a big stage, smaller discussion rounds with the developers from ArenaNet followed. At Polygon, they chatted about the schedule, discussing massively about the masteries, and at the MMO specialists from mmorpg.com, the topic is now the PvE endgame.
And – if we didn’t know better – one could think that ArenaNet co-founder Mike O’Brien and game director Colin Johanson were talking about raids or at least the GW2 version of it.
But at ArenaNet, they do not use the R-word. At least they repeatedly talk about “challenging content for groups.“
With Heart of Thorns, PvE is supposed to become more challenging
Challenging content for groups has been something that has painfully been lacking in Guild Wars 2, according to Mike O’Brien. So far, ArenaNet has primarily had to develop content that players could solve immediately and without prerequisites. This was also due to the fact that they could not assume a proper development of the characters. The mechanics were missing. It was “everyone equal,” so to speak.
We release content all the time, but honestly, most of it is not very, very difficult challenges for groups. And when you think about it, I think you’ll realize that’s because it’s hard for us to be able to release content that’s so difficult that most players can’t solve it right away.
However, they know that Guild Wars 2 must become more difficult and much more challenging for groups. And in the end, there must be an “ultimate challenge” that motivates groups to reach it.
Heart of Thorns was developed with the idea of eliminating the equality of characters and making these more difficult challenges possible. The masteries are intended to differentiate characters from one another.
Guild Wars 2 Receives Endgame Progression with Heart of Thorns
Now they will be able to develop content for which players must first complete the “masteries,” Mike O’Brien continued: “Anyone who has not mastered the jungle and has not developed their character will not be able to complete this content.”
That’s actually a lot of the genesis of Heart of Thorns: being able to put in these endgame character progression systems so that we can release content in the jungle that requires you to have played all of the jungle to build up the abilities you need to solve that content. If you haven’t played the jungle and you haven’t built up your character, you’re not going to beat that content.
Through Heart of Thorns, they will be able to further develop the world and bring increasingly difficult challenges up to “ultimate challenges.” They want to give Guild Wars 2 an “endgame progression.”
Not only heroes, but guild halls should also be able to grow in GW2
The idea of this “progression,” this constant advancement, should also be reflected in the guild hall. Guilds will be able to continuously expand their halls, just as players will do with their heroes through the masteries.
We’re looking at fundamental progression throughout the game, and that includes guild progression. Your guild hall is your home for your guild progression. You will not just own a guild hall, you will build and progress your guild hall and your guild.
Pre-Cursors and the new sub-classes
There was also more information about crafting and the pre-cursors. These are the exotic weapons from which legendary weapons can be crafted. The pre-cursors will be awarded as a type of reward with Heart of Thorns. Players will have to embark on a quest journey through the world to complete collections, it is said.
These quest journeys will need to be unlocked through mastery points. The collections are account-wide. For each of the pre-cursors, players can start such a “journey” on their account. They will not only lead them into the new zones but also into the old world. Regarding the new “sub-classes”, the specializations, there was also new information. Anyone who is a druid can continue to play as a ranger. This would essentially mean changing some talents again. So every druid can continue to play as a ranger, but not every ranger can play as a druid; for that, they first need the appropriate masteries.
It seems that the masteries are the key to important changes in Guild Wars 2. At the moment, it still sounds a bit abstract; more information on the individual features is expected in the coming weeks.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
There is news about the Necrochasm in Destiny, the ultra-rare exotic auto rifle from Crota. It is supposed to be extremely rare, but has nothing to do with any shaders or tricks.
The “Krux of Crota,” which is needed to craft the exotic “Necrochasm” from the legendary auto rifle “Eidolon Ally” is incredibly rare. At least until now. Only one confirmed drop is known.
That’s why there’s an immense amount of attention and numerous mysteries surrounding it. Many doubted the first video and the drop of the Necrochasm because such a rare drop doesn’t fit the previous patterns of Destiny. Leading up to it, there were numerous theories that one had to do something very “special” with Crota, kill all adds repeatedly or defeat him with certain weapons. Some even said it was not a drop at all, but that you had to dismantle something for the Krux of Crota.
Even in our first report, we thought: There must be something behind this. Did he get it on his second kill with a character in the ID – out of the ordinary? Some even suspected he deleted a character and then killed Crota with a new Guardian to get 4 times the chance for loot. But there’s nothing to that.
Just damn rare
Now the YouTubers from ProNDC have sat down again and talked to the only (at least the only known) owner of the Necrochasm to clarify:
The Krux of Crota was a perfectly normal drop. It was even first noticed in the inventory because many other small items were dropping.
The Guardian got the Krux of Crota at the same time as the shader Glüü-Hüü. So it doesn’t have to be equipped or anything.
It was his third kill of Crota that week on the account. But his first with this character. So it was not a “drop out of the ordinary.”
The specialty of the weapon: It does not need to be leveled up first. The Eidolon Ally simply becomes exotic.
The only really strange thing about it at the moment is that it is so damn rare.
Today the second ID of Crota’s End is open and we’ll see if there’s any change in the drop rate. Whether there’s any hidden trigger for “With each kill the chance increases by x percent”. Many wish for such a trigger, as they consider Destiny’s loot system too arbitrary and indifferent, and would be pleased if performance and effort, not just luck, were in the foreground.
Update 14:30: That seems to be the case. Reports are now increasing, 4 hours after the start of the new ID, that players have received the Crux of Crota and thus the Necrochasm.
Update 20:00: Here is now a clear video showing exactly how this happens. The “creation” of the Necrochasm, so to speak. In this video, a player upgrades his Eidolon Ally to the Necrochasm on camera and then runs around a bit:
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In the MMO shooter Destiny, there is a very special Nightfall strike during the week of January 27: The Nightfall goes against Omnigul, with all three burns active. But not everyone will be pleased.
The weekly Nightfall strike leads this week into the “Will of Crota.” Only players with the DLC “Darkness Awaits” can partake or be tormented by it.
This week, the extremely rare “Triple-Burn” is active. This means that every elemental weapon, whether Arc, Solar, or Void, deals significantly increased damage. This also applies to enemies.
In the first week after release, the “Will of Crota” was already a Nightfall strike in Destiny. This immediately caused frustration because players without the DLC couldn’t participate in either the Nightfall or the Weekly Heroic that week. By now, the strike has come around for a third time in two months.
The modifiers for the Nightfall this week of January 27.
The modifiers for the Nightfall in Destiny are:
Nightfall – After a wipe, it goes back to orbit and the strike starts over. This is likely to happen more often this week.
Epic – This modifier makes enemies tougher, nastier, and meaner. They basically took some evening courses in the “How to Kill Guardians?” school.
Solar Burn – Solar damage significantly increased. This applies to both Guardians and enemies.
Arc Burn – Arc damage significantly increased.
Void Burn – Void damage significantly increased. Yup, this is a so-called Triple-Burn.
The heroic Weekly in Destiny has the modifiers Heroic and Solar Burn active.
The recommended arsenal
The “Triple-Burn” has only appeared once so far. That was in the week starting October 7. This is the exact opposite of the tough “No-Burn” weeks that have happened twice so far.
Loadout tips are difficult this week. Any weapon in Destiny that deals elemental damage is a killer. It is certainly recommended to have an Icebreaker – in the Nightfall, anything with range is already good, although in the special slot, there are many competitors with the LDR 5001, Black Spindle or a well-rolled Efrideet’s Spear.
An elemental machine gun? Thunderlord perhaps, Ir Yût’s Song? Some brutal gear combo. Many will certainly try one of the new elemental primary weapons from Crota for the first time, how about the new auto rifle Abyss Defiant? Or would you rather go for the Fatebringer?
We will see what the Guardians come up with in the videos we post later. We may be even more excited than usual. A triple burn invites creativity; one should definitely be prepared to deal with the respective shields of the enemies.
It is an exceptional situation.
Tips and tricks for the weekly Nightfall strike “Will of Crota”
The Will of Crota is already an unusual, still relatively young strike, where Guardians are refining their tactics. Now with Triple Burn, players will need to be careful as every elemental damage hits really hard.
The general tip that always applies is: Play very cautiously. This week it is probably only possible in a team. The Will of Crota is relatively long, and a mistake at the end could be extremely frustrating.
In any case, no one can complain this week that they are dealing too little damage in Destiny. For some, this will also be a really fun week; it’s at least something different.
Throughout the day, we will search for and post videos with guides, walkthroughs, or just particularly beautiful runs of Guardians in the Nightfall. These can serve as a guide or inspiration for you.
If you’ve developed real hatred towards Omnigul and her screams, you will enjoy this video. It shows how many shots from the Gjallarhorn she can endure when Solar Burn is active. Fun fact: Omnigul’s screams do not come from Yoko Ono (as some joke), but from the same professional voice actress who also lent her voice to the insane Eris Morn.
http://youtu.be/LqMgAF0CI4I
A duo takes on Omnigul in this video. A German-speaking YouTuber explains slowly through the entire strike, step by step, with a “safe spot” for Omnigul … well, more like a suicide spot, but at least it makes it foolproof. The prerequisite for this, however, is that there are at least two players. The loadout is quite solar-heavy with Black Spindle and Gjallarhorn.
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And those who really want to go solo will find a guide here with notes on the key scenes (although even the YouTuber calls for backup halfway through). Solo, the Will of Crota, the Nightfall in Destiny, is simply really tricky this week.
http://youtu.be/yHF9LzcBZ5Q
And for those who want to really take it on solo, here is a guide with notes on the key scenes (though the YouTuber calls for backup halfway through). Solo, the Will of Crota, the Nightfall in Destiny, is simply really tricky this week.
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