The story of the fantasy MMO Guild Wars 2 continues on November 18 with the episode “Twisted Paths”.
The second half of the second season of the Living World started a week ago with “Echoes of the Past”. Next Tuesday, it continues with “Twisted Paths”. ArenaNet is once again releasing a trailer to get fans excited.
Anyone who logs in within two weeks after the episode starts at Guild Wars 2 unlocks the episode for all their characters on the account. As seen in the trailer, it involves a dragon egg that has been discovered, and each of the factions in Tyria would like to have it – including Mordremoth. And if he gets it …
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Recently, a highly dubious rumor has surfaced regarding the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online: The port to the consoles Playstation 4 and Xbox One has supposedly been cancelled because Bethesda does not want to ruin the reputation of the franchise.
Currently, there is a rumor from the site “levelsave”, which all gaming magazines around the world are likely jumping on. According to “Levelsave”, a hacker who heard it from an anonymous source told them: The Elder Scrolls Online is not coming to Playstation 4 and Xbox One. The game would be in a “playable” state, but Bethesda is dissatisfied with it and does not want a TESO on consoles to collide with a potential The Elder Scrolls 6. They are concerned about the good reputation of the franchise.
Rumors are a sign of how much scorn The Elder Scrolls Online still faces
Mein MMO believes: There are not enough quotation marks in the world to wrap around the word “rumor”. Unfortunately, even the big gaming sites in Germany report on it gratefully, even though the source situation here is extremely uncertain. It is no coincidence that such theses repeatedly emerge around The Elder Scrolls Online. Such a resounding slap in the face for the game would be water on the mills of those who already held nothing of The Elder Scrolls Online in April and now feel confirmed by such “Bethesda finds it dumb” things. Few games face as much scorn in forums, social networks, or on gaming sites as TESO. Many fans of Skyrim or veterans of the series clearly wished for a sixth Elder Scrolls part and not an MMO, especially not one only on PC.
In the past, various gaming magazines have reported “rumors” that TESO would soon be Free2Play. However, these were simply speculations from fans, but that just sounds too unspectacular.
The Elder Scrolls Online has been actively developed and improved on PC in recent months at full speed. Therefore, such a dramatic turn of events for the worse seems highly unlikely. Zenimax is not a contractual partner of Bethesda, as they are under one roof.
Update 22:15: What a crazy surprise. The rumor was baseless. Wow, who would have seen this twist coming?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the fantasy MMO Guild Wars 2, there’s a new lumberjack axe in the Gem Store – and ArenaNet has come up with something special.
Normally, we don’t report on cosmetic items in MMO stores (“Oh! There’s the twenty-fourth costume this year!” “Oh, the exclusive pet that only buyers of a Collector’s Edition should have received is now available in another color for everyone!”). But for special things, we gladly make an exception.
In Guild Wars 2, generous arborists can now purchase the Woodchop-R-Tron for the considerable sum of 1000 gems. Gameplay-wise, it’s simply an axe that you never have to replace. But that would be somewhat cruel considering the animations and the show that the woodchopping bot puts on. A brave new world: We never have to chop down a tree ourselves again.
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Not only the animation makes one smile, but also the lines are something. Whether one is willing to put down the considerable sum of 1000 gems is another question.
Also new in the cash shop, a costume (there it is again): The Glaring Glint Mask. And a pet in the form of an airship. The two cosmetic items are available for 500 gems each. And for more serious news about Guild Wars 2, here’s our article on GemGate.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Blizzard’s free online card game Hearthstone has no plans to come to consoles. They also rejected the idea of a physical edition.
A few weeks ago, images from Asia circulated: someone had turned “Hearthstone” into a physical, tangible edition with cardboard cards and numerous plugs and buttons. After Blizzard took legal action against a digital copy from Asia, it is expected that the Chinese cardboard Hearthstone will soon face a similar fate.
The risk of explosion would simply be too great
Nevertheless, it’s an interesting idea. Could Blizzard themselves be interested in putting something like this together? “No,” said Hearthstone Software Engineer Rachelle Davis in an interview with Shacknews. The game is digitally designed. A tangible version of the game would have trouble replicating the individual effects. “Sure, one could make a card explode – but would that still be child-safe?” she asked with a smile.
There are currently no plans for a console port either. With the Android tablets, set to get Hearthstone in December, and the smartphone port next year, they apparently have enough to do. However, in the future, further cross-promotional actions with other Blizzard games can be imagined, such as the Hearthsteed mount with World of Warcraft. Because “Blizzard loves Blizzard” and they enjoy collaborating with the other franchises under the corporate roof. http://youtu.be/vgMGgKDKctk
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny the weekly Nightfall strike is this time on Venus against the Archon Priest in the strike “Winter’s Run”.
In the week from November 11 to November 18, the mood is electrified. It’s buzzing again. An Arc Burn is activated, which means electro weapons deal significantly more damage.
Meanwhile, the week for Guardians in Germany starts at 10 AM on Tuesday morning. In summer it was 11 AM, but somehow the post-apocalypse seems to have abolished daylight savings time – and so Bungie’s shooter Destiny ignores our earthly time change. The ideal week start for Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans who are already further advanced is the weekly Nightfall strike, the Nightfall. It goes somewhere else every week.
It’s worth it because a successful completion grants a one-week bonus that increases all collected experience and reputation by 24.5%. This is ideal for leveling weapons or further increasing reputation – and the drops in the Nightfall strike shouldn’t be too shabby – if karma is on your side. Additionally, the Nightfall is a challenge every week, and some Guardians have made it their goal to complete it solo.
The modifiers for the weekly Nightfall strike on November 11.
The Nightfall has its own rules. It features 5 modifiers, of which two are always the same; the other three change. This week there are the following modifiers:
Epic – This makes the Archon Priest and his minions a bit more disgusting than in the heroic versions of the strike
Nightfall – Go back to start; if the entire team of Guardians wipes, it goes back to orbit, and the strike must be completely restarted
Juggler – With this modifier, no ammo drops for the weapon used to defeat an enemy. Therefore, you should switch through your weapon arsenal, practically juggling
Lightswitch – Enemies bring the big spoon, causing significantly increased melee damage
Arc Burn – Arc damage, so everything that buzzes or shocks – is significantly increased for both enemies and Guardians
And what weapons should you take this week in Destiny?
Generally, sniper rifles are always in demand for the Nightfall, especially if you want to complete it solo like many in Destiny. This week, a weapon with Arc damage is recommended. A sniper rifle with Arc damage? Is there something? Sure, Patience and Time, an exotic sniper rifle, is the ideal choice for this round. Good thing that colleague Xur recently had it on offer during Halloween. Those who seized that opportunity can now smile.
If you have it, you can fully utilize the machine gun Thunderlord. As a primary weapon, the legendary hand-cannon Fatebringer is suitable. Or you can reach one tier lower on the shelf and take out a legendary sniper rifle with Arc damage, perhaps one of the weapons available from the Vanguard Quartermasters for 150 tokens, if you have reached reputation rank 3. Thunderlord is pretty rare, as it’s never been on offer from Xur.
What should be considered during the Nightfall strike?
Not dying. Sounds trivial, but usually the focus during the Nightfall strike is to fire from cover, take a maximum of one or two hits, and then go down to regenerate until you’re full. Particularly the strike on Venus, where it’s headed this time, has a so-called cheese spot during the boss fight against the Priest. You can fire from there but will be hard to hit.
We will post the first videos in the coming hours about especially successful or noteworthy runs for the Nightfall strike in Destiny. These can then serve as inspiration or template. If you managed it, let us know whether you went solo, with a buddy, or in a group of three. And maybe which weapons you used. Good hunting!
In the first video, a German Guardian team from the YouTube channel ProNDC is on with three members. The comment nicely introduces the strike and explains it in broad strokes: http://youtu.be/IBaB28Nvd9k?t=55s
Here, a level 28 Titan shows you the “cheese spot” for Askor, the Archon Priest and boss of the Nightfall strike. And in some torturous 7 minutes or so he brings him down (Spoiler! Spoiler!). http://youtu.be/s755AGvXm7s
And if you’re into the lone wolf thing, here’s one with nearly perfect gear: Patience and Time and Thunderlord. 20 minutes solo run, impressively composed, decisively successful, and with a bit of hide-and-seek at the end. That’s how you succeed in Destiny. http://youtu.be/Ck0g0AE2G0Q
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The BlizzCon 2014 in Anaheim is over. It focused among other things on World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and the new franchise Overwatch – the first new IP from Blizzard in 17 years. Undoubtedly, a significant era comes to an end for the fans of game developer Blizzard. Our author Cortyn summarizes her impressions.
The BlizzCon is now three days behind us, and I had enough time to let it sink in so I can calmly summarize the highlights again. I tried to keep it somewhat neutral the first time – I failed, so you’ll just have to live with the fact that I added my own opinion quite clearly every time.
HearthStone – 120 new cards in December
The virtual card game “Hearthstone” is getting its next major expansion called “Goblins VS Gnomes”. Let’s be honest: Everyone expected an announcement. What no one expected, however, is that this addon will go live next month and include a whopping 120 new cards! Thematically, everything will revolve around the titular races and their inventions, which will likely completely shake up the current meta. Many cards will have new mechanics, such as randomly distributing a buff to all allies. A new minion type, the “Mechs,” will also be introduced – and they interact with each other in many interesting ways, so it is safe to assume that there will be many, many new decks.
What I personally like the most is the assurance that the new cards will be just as easy to obtain as the old ones – through the Arena for 100 gold each. If you still have a lot of arcane dust saved up (like I do!), you can even craft them.
Heroes of the Storm – New heroes and Closed Beta
I must admit, the fact that seemingly everyone else now has an alpha key for “Heroes of the Storm” except me has already put a slight damper on my excitement for this game. That being said, I still believe that there is a pretty good game coming our way, even though it plays significantly slower than other MOBAs like “Smite.” Especially the many Blizzard characters will give the game its unique charm, but that’s also sorely needed to find a suitable gap in the oversaturated market. The new heroes like Jaina and Sylvanas look fantastic and promise a lot of fun – I especially liked the announcement of the “Lost Vikings” as playable characters – a tribute to Blizzard’s past. This game developer just loves all their creations, and that’s evident in the little things that show they generate a lot of income.
World of Warcraft – Nothing big, but many questions
The major announcements for “WoW” were naturally a bit lacking – but what did you expect? The addon is coming in a few days, all details about it are largely known. Of course, some people secretly hoped for some major bombshell from the Warcraft universe, especially since the name “Eye of Azshara” was secured shortly before. Fans were reassured with a very interesting documentary and several engaging events, where, for example, the making of the cinematics was showcased.
However, there were a few bright spots in the general Q&A session for the future: They are currently working on a new concept to store all the old armor sets in “collections” so they no longer overcrowd the empty bank – of course, there was no release date for these plans yet, but it still pleased the fans. Many questions were unfortunately answered with trivialities this time – especially the lore questions, which naturally frustrates me double, but I can also understand that you can’t always pull answers out of thin air.
Overwatch – New game, new genre, new hype
Ah, how hyped I am again. They have coldly announced a new game in a genre that Blizzard has not touched at all (except for the canceled “StarCraft: Ghost”). “Overwatch” is the latest creation and is a team shooter in comic graphics. What I particularly like is the concept that even people without shooter experience should fit well into the game – because the heroes’ abilities are far more important than just aiming accurately with the crosshair. The people I spoke to who had the luck to test the game at BlizzCon were all enthusiastic – even absolute shooter opponents fell in love with “Overwatch” and are already looking forward to an alpha or beta test.
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The only criticism that really stands out to me is the lack of background story conveyed within the game world – which is practically non-existent. Any background knowledge is conveyed through “external” sources, such as websites or possible books and short films, and I find that disappointing. If Blizzard mastered anything almost perfectly in my opinion, it was the storytelling within their games. To exclude this from the start in more or less complete form makes me a little sad. So sad that this will be the topic on Wednesday.
The “Warcraft” movie
The film with the appropriate title “Warcraft” has now been in planning for almost eight years, but it’s nearing the finish line: Filming is complete, and from now on, only special effects will be added. “Only” is, of course, relative since the film won’t hit worldwide theaters until March 2016. This becomes understandable when you hear that the special effects will be a mix of “Avatar” and “The Lord of the Rings” – in theory, exactly what fans have wished for years. Some of the actors emphasized at the fair, “We are fans of Warcraft, body and soul. I have over 500 days of playtime – I love this world. I don’t want to be the person who will be said to have ‘ruined Warcraft!’.”
Video game adaptations have always been a controversial topic; hardly any director has succeeded in meeting fans’ expectations or creating more than a mindless action film with exploding heads. Attendees on-site saw a very short trailer of the film, and the opinions are clear: It will be amazing. I have faith in these people. The film will offer the opportunity to show all video game newcomers what a wonderful world Blizzard has created. They simply cannot mess it up. They must not.
… and the “small” Warcraft movie
Many were looking forward to the nearly one-hour documentary “WoW: Looking for Group“, and it was by no means a wasted energy. The video makes you really sentimental (in the best way possible) and wonderfully showcases the journey of World of Warcraft, the developers, and its players. It shows what kind of impact this game had on many of us and what a significant aspect of our lives it represented – and still does for many today. It is more than “just a game”; it is a social component, and many of my friends would probably not exist today if Blizzard had not developed this game. I was particularly touched by a player’s phrase, which roughly says: “Acquaintances from WoW are more than just strangers… over many years, they have become friends – no, actually even family.” If I had been able to show this video to my parents ten years ago… much would have been a lot simpler!
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The publisher Perfect World Entertainment released a new gameplay trailer about a week before the launch of Neverwinter “Rise of Tiamat”.
With the fifth module, the devs from Cryptic Studios continue the Season of Dragons. The five-headed dragon queen Tiamat has been summoned from the nine hells and is ready for the big finale. Tiamat is the namesake of the expansion and now threatens the world of Faerûn.
In addition to exclusive gameplay footage, we see in the new trailer for the first time the new zone Dragon’s Well, some new equipment items, and the exemplar path Soulbinder for the warlock, with which we can summon support from hell.
Now it’s a wait until November 18 and enjoy the official trailer. Anyone who would like to test the Free2Play-MMO Neverwinter in advance can register here on the official page, download the client, and play for free.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online increases the experience points gained for veterans. There were issues with the last update. Players were leveling up too slowly, and adjustments are being made now.
With the Update 5, players got the first taste of the transition from the current veteran system to the upcoming Champion system. It casts its shadows ahead.
Therefore, the previous “veteran points” have vanished from the game and have been replaced by experience points. According to a post from the official forum, this was done to prepare for the transition: It is important for the further course that it does not matter whether a low-level character completes a quest or a veteran does. Numerous adjustments from veteran points to experience points had to be made now: actually a technical matter that players ideally should not notice at all.
Problems with the transition from veteran points to experience points in TESO
However, the transition did not go perfectly. Players in the veteran rank complained that they were leveling up too slowly and as a result were too weak to progress into new veteran areas in The Elder Scrolls Online and were getting defeated there. Some even asked whether it was worth continuing to play their veteran now or if they should just wait for the introduction of the champion system.
The developers of The Elder Scrolls Online are now responding to these calls: According to Zenimax, the lower experience gain is indeed a problem, and therefore they want to increase EXP for veterans. Before Update 5, it was planned that players would reach a new veteran rank approximately every 20 hours, with Update 5 targeting 15 hours—though of course, some may progress a bit faster, and others a bit slower.
Veterans of The Elder Scrolls Online should level up faster
To achieve this value, some changes are being made. This is relatively dry material: it’s about the maximum number of experience points you can obtain from a quest – and that was not balanced correctly. And it’s about how much percentage of the total experience points a slightly weaker opponent gives, and so on. Here is an excerpt from the patch notes:
NPCs
In preparation for the Champion system, we have increased the experience granted for killing weaker NPCs:
You receive full experience when the enemy NPC is 1 to 3 ranks below you.
You receive 75% of the experience when the NPC is 4 ranks below you.
You receive 30% of the experience when the NPC is 5 or more ranks below you.
Note: This change does not affect levels 1 to 50.
With the next interim patch, these changes should become active. It is hoped that players can smoothly navigate through the veteran areas in TESO again and are capable of meeting the challenges that await them there.
The 1.5.3. patch in The Elder Scrolls Online, which aims to achieve this, will be released on Tuesday, November 11, most likely early in the morning and thus before 11:11 AM. You can read the patch notes here.
Update: November 11 10:20 PM: The patch was only partially deployed on the servers; complications arose. The rest of the patch is expected to go live on Thursday (US) or Friday (for us).
More about The Elder Scrolls Online can be found on our TESO topic page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the sandpark MMO ArcheAge , a player could seemingly crash the servers at will. Another chapter in the chronicle of problems plaguing Trion Worlds and their game ArcheAge.
As reported by the US magazine massively, a player was able to crash the US game servers Kyrios and Naima accidentally at first and later reproducibly. He made this known in a post on the public forum to alert Trion Worlds. Normally, one would say: What nonsense, that can’t possibly happen, someone just wants to make themselves important. In this case, however, the situation seems to be unfortunately a bit different.
To prove that he is not a fool, he announced the server crashes, as massively reports, twice in advance – and indeed the servers were really down then.
He does not comment on the method he used to avoid instructing imitators. According to him, the first crashes happened accidentally, then he realized what caused it and planned to repeat it.
According to his statements, he anonymously opened a forum thread and did not write a bug report ticket because he wanted to ensure that this “bug” received maximum attention and that the report would not end up in the crowded inbox of Trion support.
The method, as he suspects, has also been discovered by other players who brought down other servers. Trion Worlds has stated that they are investigating this. The relevant thread in the official forum has since been closed after reaching 323 pages, so at least the community showed a little “interest”.
Chronicle of Trion Worlds’ Technical Problems with ArcheAge
For parts of the community active in forums about the game, this action shows once again the large problems Trion Worlds has with the Korean import ArcheAge. In the past, there have been repeated issues with the Free2Play MMO that Trion Worlds only publishes in the West but does not develop.
At the beginning, there were several reports that the service was under DDOS attacks. Difficulties with the “pay” system resulted from difficult technical problems integrating the Korean system into their own launcher “Gylph”: Therefore, players struggled for a long time to receive the bonuses in the game they had paid for.
Shortly before the launch of ArcheAge, the game disappeared from Steam after the founder packages sold like hotcakes. They cited technical problems with the integration as the reason. Trion Worlds did not say more about it, except that they would address it and reach an agreement with Valve. This was about two months ago.
At the launch, there was the well-documented situation with “too few servers for the influx“: Extremely long queues were the result. After the launch, it became clear how susceptible the game was to various hacks, cheats, and bots, as the Korean hack shield apparently functioned poorly. According to Trion Worlds, this had to be used, although they were not really satisfied with it, as ArcheAge only functioned with it.
On top of everything, the technical problems are not the only difficulty ArcheAge is currently facing. A significant change to the cash shop stirred the emotions of fans over the weekend.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Next month, Hearthstone will see the next expansion “Goblins vs. Gnomes.” Blizzard revealed some details over the weekend.
The cards introduced at Blizzcon provide just a small glimpse of what is to come in “Goblins vs. Gnomes” for Hearthstone. During a panel, they presented two class cards and answered numerous fan questions on Twitter. It’s time for a closer look.
Yes, new class cards are coming: Priest and Warrior already known
Let’s start with the two already known class cards.
The class card for Warrior is quite wild. It is a 3-mana spell that hops randomly across the board and deals 1 damage to a minion until one dies.
The Priest receives a 5-mana creature with 5/5 stats, which as a Battlecry grants 5 health to a “Mech”.
Speaking of Mechs: This is a new category, similar to the beasts or pirates. Some cards already in the game will become Mechs with this expansion, including the popular Harvest Golem.
Speaking of randomness – it shouldn’t be that bad
“Random” was the keyword that appeared in almost all the cards seen so far. However, Ben Brode, Senior Game Designer at Hearthstone, reassures players who believe that strategy will disappear from the game. Although he himself is a fan of randomness: It does the game a lot of good.
@thethirk randomness does a lot of good for the game! That said there are tons of cards that are not random yet to be announced. Good mix.
However, “Goblins vs. Gnomes” will not be that random. Not all cards have been revealed yet. Many others will launch without randomness. Additionally, many tactical plays can often eliminate random elements. As an example, he mentioned the popular 5-mana creature “Panicked Kodo”. It randomly selects a target. However, it is usually played in a way that it only has 1 target to choose from. Thus, randomness will disappear from Hearthstone as a result of strategy.
New game mechanics come to Hearthstone with Gnomes vs Goblins
Some of the now-known cards have sparked speculation. Especially “Sneed’s Old Shredder,” a 5/7 creature for 8 mana that summons a random legendary minion upon deathrattle. Brode says when Kel’Thuzad is called, the old shredder is also brought back to life, and the game continues from there. The shredder can only summon “collectible” legendaries, from Nat Pagle to Ragnaros.
The fact that they are reacting to trends in the current meta, proves Blizzard once again. With the “Clockwork Giant,” a sort of inverted mountain giant, they aim to make things a bit harder for Handlocks and other “hand variants.” The 8/8 card becomes cheaper the more cards the opponent holds in hand.
Also, with minions like Blingtron 3000 (summons a weapon for both players) gives an interesting opportunity for counter-play. Four other trends in game mechanics that can be recognized are:
Two-in-one cards: where a Mech summons a random creature upon death.
Stackable buff effects like Mukla’s Bananas, which might make the tiny difference.
Explosive minions like the ticking sheep or Boombots – it seems the designers liked the two exploding tanks from Naxxramas.
And numerous cards that benefit when a Mech is on the board. According to Brode, they do not want to encourage a “swarm” effect with Mechs like with Murlocs. Usually, only one Mech is enough to boost another card.
What card packs are available in the Arena? Is Hearthstone free-to-play?
For all skeptics who thought Blizzard wanted to turn the new card packs into a Pay2Win scenario and cash in: They can rest easy. The new packs still cost 100 gold – but you can also get them with real money.
In the Arena, the new “Goblins vs. Gnomes” card packs will replace the current packs as rewards. The “old” classic packs will no longer be available through the Arena starting in December, although individual cards from them may still be obtained as random Arena rewards.
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In the MMO shooter Destiny , the best and also the most popular exotic weapons have now been selected on reddit. In PvE, the Icebreaker has proven itself, while in PvP, Guardians prefer the Gjallarhorn rocket launcher. What are the other preferred weapons of the community and how widespread are the items? It turns out that the vendor Xur has a huge influence on the availability of weapons. And that PlayStation players are at an advantage compared to Xbox players.
Exotic Weapons in Destiny: Collectibles and Special Tools with Cult Factor
The 20 exotic weapons in Destiny are supposed to look as if they could destroy the balance of the game, but they don’t really do that. That is at least Bungie’s intention. There shouldn’t be one “ultimate” item that is the best choice in every situation, but Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans should have a proper arsenal of exotic weapons to choose from depending on what they plan, what modifiers are currently available in the Nightfall strike, and what challenges the raid presents. In this process, Guardians face the dilemma of choice: carrying multiple at once is not possible. Only one exotic weapon can be equipped at a time.
With the various damage types and weapon types, upgrade possibilities and “unique” perks, special bonus abilities, there should be the right tool for every situation. Additionally, the exotic weapons are incredibly cool designed, have extraordinary names, and always feature a saying. But which one is the best?
Over 7000 Guardians voted for who should sit on the throne of the Vex Mythoclast
The Vex Mythoclast was the measure of all things in its pre-nerf state. The fusion rifle, which is still considered a primary weapon, can only be obtained from the final boss in PvE content, but it rocked the PvP mode in Destiny. The Vex Mythoclast has since been nerfed to mediocrity, but is supposed to become stronger in PvE soon. Who can take their throne in the meantime?
A voting about the exotic weapons took place in the Destiny subreddit. 7445 Guardians cast their electronic votes, most of them owning one or more exotic weapons – these are not “typical Destiny” players, but gamers who inform themselves in a forum, discuss about it and rather belong to the power gamer category.
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Xur has a strong influence on how many of which weapons players have
The first question was about who owns which weapon. Which exotic weapon is therefore the most common and perhaps also the most popular? Here, the sniper rifle Icebreaker prevailed over the auto rifle Suros Regime and the shotgun Incentive. More than 70% of the Guardians have these weapons in their arsenal. For Icebreaker and Suros Regime, this is certainly because they are among the absolute trend weapons, also score top ratings, and were available from the vendor Xur.
Advantage for PlayStation players: The Hawkmoon performs excellently
At the other end of the scale are the two PlayStation exclusive weapons Hawkmoon (21.2%) and Monte Carlo (16.8%). Hardly anyone has them in their repertoire – they are the rarest exotic weapons in Destiny.
The Vex Mythoclast, which only drops from the raid boss Atheon in hard mode, is owned by 34% of the survey participants, or one in three. Below them are the five rarest non-exclusive weapons in Destiny: Plan C, Universal Remote, MIDA Multi-Tool, Thunderlord, and Hard Light. These are the exotic weapons that have not yet been available from Xur and that cannot be obtained through a bounty either.
The survey results show how much influence Xur has on the arsenal that players carry around. If Xur had Thunderlord available next week, the statistics would surely look different.
The best PvE weapons: Icebreaker and Hawkmoon shine
The community then voted on which weapon they consider the strongest in PvE – in the fight against monsters. To do this, the weapons were divided into different quality classes. Here, the sniper rifle Icebreaker prevailed. With solar damage, high range, and penetration power, the rifle convinces especially in the Nightfall strike and in the raid. In addition to Icebreaker, the rocket launcher Gjallarhorn, which can cause devastating damage especially to Atheon, and the PS exclusive Exotic Hawkmoon, a hand cannon, also made it to the highest tier.
The best PvP weapons: Gjallarhorn rocket launcher and Truth are in high demand
In the Crucible, different laws apply and therefore different tools are required. Among the PvP weapons in Destiny, Guardians prefer the Gjallarhorn rocket launcher. The other rocket launcher “Truth” also makes it to the top tier. The auto rifle, represented by the Suros Regime, which dominated in the first months, performs excellently despite the nerfs. Other top PvP weapons according to the survey: The Last Word, again Hawkmoon, and Plan C.
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Also at the bottom edge of the negotiating basis in PvP: Bad Juju.
Bounty weapons score below average, random exotics rank the best
Conclusion: It is astonishing how much influence Xur has on the survey results. Also noteworthy is how strongly the Hawkmoon, as a PlayStation exclusive weapon, ranks. One might have expected Bungie to place it in mediocrity. The hand cannon, together with Gjallarhorn and Icebreaker, is the winner of the survey for the best exotic weapons in Destiny.
Weapons that Guardians can acquire through bounties, except for the shotgun Incentive, are probably not really popular or in demand. The exotic weapons that drop randomly and are also in Xur’s arsenal seem to be winning the race.
Oh by the way: According to current surveys, the rarest exotic weapon in Destiny is the Monte Carlo, a second weapon that only players on PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 can enjoy. But technically, that is not entirely correct. There is now an even rarer weapon.
How do you get hold of these exotic weapons? Maybe these articles can help you:
In the MMO shooter Destiny , 458 players have made it into the Destiny Platinum Club on PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4. For many others, it fails at “Flawless Raider”, which requires completing the raid “The Vault of Glass” without anyone dying.
Only a small circle has achieved Platinum in Destiny so far
458 Guardians have made it into the Platinum Club in Destiny, achieving every available trophy in the MMO shooter. That sounds like a considerable number. After all, it’s like a gym full or something. But when you realize how many must have tried, 458 is a minuscule number. This trophy is likely to be one of the more rare and coveted awards. Trophies are achievements for PlayStation players, or “Achievements” as MMO players know them from other games or Steam users from Steam.
For most players, the “I have done everything” award hinges on the partial success of “Flawless Raider”. Players must complete the 6-Guardian raid “The Vault of Glass” with the same group without anyone dying or going to orbit in between. So far, only 675 players have managed to secure this trophy. Tricky: Here, you are not only relying on doing everything right for often hours, but also the other members of the fireteam must have a good day, as there are millions of ways to die in the raid. Trickier: “The Vault of Glass” is, on top of that, still quite glitchy in some places, so it’s not designed without flaws. Even with perfect play, something can still go wrong. Bungie fixed one glitch, but unfortunately, it’s one that players exploit to their advantage. And with the changes to the Atheon port mechanic, the raid and thus the AV has certainly not become easier. But at least there is no “Flawless Raider” in hard mode.
What can go wrong can be seen in this Destiny video: https://youtu.be/3kTUqgEuB1Y
Achievements divide the MMO community, but reach the industry
Achievements are also sought after in MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. In WoW, for instance, there are coveted titles like “The Immortal,” which are based on a “No Deaths Allowed” achievement. In WoW, those were no longer obtainable after some time, as players outpaced the content, making it no longer a challenge to clear the raid with significantly better gear flawlessly.
The topic of “achievements” has long been a bone of contention among MMO fans. While some see it as a waste of time, after all, it’s just a kind of high score, the character doesn’t get stronger, and there is no loot for it; it is a motivating game mechanic for completionists: they get a kick out of seeing 100% displayed somewhere. And the thrill that comes with this additional challenge is invigorating.
The debate over whether achievements are worthwhile or not has essentially been decided by the industry: it’s a way to give players something to do without requiring actual development resources. So it’s naturally done. By now, the idea can be found in numerous games across all genres. Yes, even outside of games, companies are considering applying this motivational strategy. It’s called “gamification”. http://youtu.be/MbALcImrUVU
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Blizzcon in Anaheim was rather unspectacular for fans of World of Warcraft. But the new WoW documentary “Looking for Group” is really damn good.
Some veterans might have been a bit disappointed. Celebrating 10 years of WoW and then not much was said about World of Warcraft at BlizzCon. There were a few panels, the little brother Hearthstone is getting an expansion, but the focus was more on the new game Overwatch. Warlords of Draenor is coming on Thursday, what else was supposed to happen?
There were rumors that Blizzard would do something totally crazy, announce Warcraft 4 or even the next WoW expansion “Eye of Azshara“, but nothing came of it. And the presentation of the WoW movie was also rather disappointing. Only the people who were in Anaheim really got to see something.
Blizzard reveals some secrets in World of Warcraft documentary
But actually, there’s a WoW highlight from the weekend. The hour-long documentary “Looking for Group” is really well done by Blizzard. With the typical mix of cheeky humor, sentimentality, nostalgia, and a sense of the epic moment, it navigates through the ten years of WoW in one hour.
The documentary reveals that Illidan’s iconic blindfold actually belonged to Uther. It gives a glimpse into the holy of holies of World of Warcraft, the server rooms; reflects on impactful events of the past and tiny moments that were supposed to have significance later. The documentary repeatedly allows insight into the mindset and various personalities of Blizzard employees. Especially Chris Metzen, as a sort of center of the film, has great moments as “Talking Head”.
And – what might be even nicer – Blizzard does not just celebrate itself and the world it created, but also the player community. A lot of space is used in the documentary to let the fans speak, so they can tell their stories. Although, as noted in the credits, they seem to have developed a perplexing fondness for unicorns. And Blizzard also shows that they can laugh at themselves. There are repeated clips from the South Park episode “Make Love, not Warcraft”, which in retrospect was a kind of pop-cultural knightly accolade for WoW.
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In World of Warcraft, the new dungeons are expected to be harder than the previous ones in Warlords of Draenor, but easier than those in Cataclysm.
With Warlords of Draenor, Blizzard plans to hit the “sweet spot” for the difficulty of the dungeons. In an interview with mmorpg.com, the Game Lead Designer Corty Stockton explains that with the 5-man dungeons in WoD, they aim for a middle ground between Mists of Pandaria and Cataclysm. He also emphasizes how important the LFR mode of the raids is for the development of WoW.
New 5-man dungeons are to be harder than in MoP, easier than in Cataclysm
In the last expansion, Mists of Pandaria, the dungeons were a bit too easy. In the previous expansion, Cataclysm, they tried to recapture the difficulty of “The Burning Crusade” at launch. The community was not prepared for that kind of difficulty anymore, as it hadn’t been seen for a long time.
Those who long for the past and seek a slightly harder challenge in World of Warcraft with Warlords of Draenor should prepare for the heroic dungeons or enter the LFR mode of the raids.
Stockton also emphasized how important the LFR mode is for the WoW team. After all, a whole team of content designers works on the raids – it would be pointless if only the core raiders, one or two percent of the player base, benefited from it.
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In Blizzard’s next shooter Overwatch , they don’t want to overdo it with the proportions of the women. It should be a game for everyone: The female characters should not be overly sexualized.
It had already been on the horizon. A few months ago, there were two discussions about sexism that at least involved Blizzard. In both topics, they showed dedication and concern. First, the “No women at Hearthstone tournaments” issue, and then the accusation from the community that the female characters at Blizzard are not exactly prominent, narratively rather dull, and mainly stand out due to their revealing clothing. Back then, they assured that they wanted to depict female characters more strongly in the future and removed a small jab at feminism in Hearthstone.
No doubt, Blizzard has matured, many are married, have children by now, and have developed a sense for the role they play. And the times have changed: games are no longer an exclusive thing for teenage boys. Even in Overwatch, the new shooter, they want to ensure that every player feels represented. No matter if man, woman, robot, or gorilla.
Dad, why are they all wearing swimsuits ?
Chris Metzen, the franchise coordinator from Blizzard, recounted at a press conference at Blizzcon how he watched an old World of Warcraft cinematic with his daughter until she asked: “Daddy, why are they all wearing swimsuits?” “Uh, sweetie,” Metzen replied, “I don’t know either.”
Today, we have arrived at a time when gaming is a phenomenon for everyone. Everyone, whether boy, girl, man, or woman, wants to find themselves in the games. And Blizzard wants to make games for everyone; that should become part of the Blizzard brand, the DNA of the company. There is still much room for improvement, but especially in Overwatch, they have ensured that female characters are not overly sexualized. They now treat the topic very carefully, according to Metzen.
Blizzard wants the female characters in Overwatch to be tough and kick-ass. That’s what they want from every character.
By the way … we discovered another image from the new shooter:
The SF MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, SW:TOR, reported lower revenue in the third quarter of 2014 compared to 2013. This is indicated in the quarterly report by Electronic Arts.
Electronic Arts recently announced the figures for the third quarter of 2014. Overall, they reported an increase in revenue of 295 million US dollars. This increase is largely due to the FIFA and Battlefield franchises, as well as Titanfall.
However, not every game at Electronic Arts generated more revenue than in the third quarter of 2013: The franchises Sim City, Crysis, and Dead Space earned less than the previous year. And also the Free2Play MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.
The additional earnings of the “Plus” franchises amounted to 476 million US dollars. The decreased earnings of the “Minus” franchises were 181 million US dollars. Thus, they still reached a significant increase of 295 million US dollars. Overall, they remain just under one billion US dollars in the third quarter of 2014. They generated 990 million.
Should SWTOR be worried now?
According to recent information from Bioware, Star Wars: The Old Republic has nothing to fear, as they are looking optimistically to the future. The studio is looking forward to the coming months and years, having a expansion on the way with “Shadow of Revan”, the Star Wars license is also secured, and Bioware hopes for a boost from the next Star Wars film trilogy for the Free2Play MMO.
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The God MMO Skyforge seems to be making progress. For the upcoming weekend, they are inviting a technical beta, but only for a few chosen ones.
The God MMO Skyforge, a free-to-play game with strong arcade influences, is ready to showcase itself beyond trade shows. Until now, there have been only a few opportunities to take a look at the game. Leaked alpha footage with Russian commentary seems strangely to not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Skyforge: Many feel called, but few are chosen
Now at least a “Technical Beta Weekend” for Skyforge is starting from November 13th to November 16th. It falls exactly during the launch hype of Warlords of Draenor, the World of Warcraft expansion. The technical beta of Skyforge is anyway a quite closed affair. A few websites are offering codes as giveaways. Occasionally, Skyforge has called for competitions in the past and promised codes as rewards. Players who signed up for the Skyforge beta on my.com can start nervously checking their email inbox. However, the chances of getting in don’t seem to be very high.
My.com wants to test the servers with the technical beta first to see how they handle a relatively manageable number of players. Later, they plan to significantly expand the scope of testing and thus the number of invited guests.
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In the Free2Play MMO Neverwinter , there’s now a taste of the next module “Rise of Tiamat”: The community faces off against the titular five-headed dragon goddess in a video. What does the fight look like?
Players from all over the world, along with some devs from Cryptic Studios, gathered in a livestream a few days ago to take on Tiamat, the five-headed dragon goddess. In the stream, the enemy designer of Neverwinter talks about his creation. Just being near Tiamat is harmful. Taunts don’t work on the goddess: “She is Tiamat. She doesn’t care what you say about her.”
You can find the hour-long video below; we have already skipped to the appearance of the star of the next expansion of Neverwinter “Rise of Tiamat”. The module is set to be released on November 18.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the Sandpark MMO ArcheAge the 10% bonus, which has been much discussed, is now implemented, but it is not quite as announced. Nevertheless, players were able to enjoy a credit credit in the past few days.
The 10% bonus in ArcheAge is a somewhat complicated topic. Before the release, founder packages were advertised with the promise that players would receive a 10% discount on all purchases in the marketplace, the cash shop of ArcheAge. Items would cost founders 10% less. This was stated in the description as “after Launch” – after the launch.
Some players assumed that this meant: “The bonus is active immediately after the launch.” However, Trion Worlds said that they would implement it “sometime after launch.”
Where is actually the founder bonus in ArcheAge?
When ArcheAge was released, players asked, “Where is actually the founder bonus?” Trion Worlds responded that they didn’t even know how to grant it. To achieve that, they needed the help of the Korean developers of ArcheAge at XLGames. They understand the misunderstanding, apologize for it, and will definitely follow up on it.
A month then passed until it became clear that they could not grant the bonus as planned. That would have been too complex. During this time, XLGames preferred to work on new game content. However, they promised a “compensation,” a substitute. This has now been issued.
Instead of 10% more items, 10% more credits – but that’s not the same
Players receive 10% more credits for every credit purchase on the ArcheAge website. This applies retroactively from the head start on September 12. The only condition for this is that the players were “Patrons” at the time of purchase. Thanks to this regulation, some players received an email over the weekend and a credit of 10% of their purchased credits. This bonus will now continually be granted to all “Patrons.” Founders (those with the starter packages) do not benefit exclusively from this.
The catch: Originally (with the 10% discount), founders could have bought 10% more items with their credits included in the founder packages. That is no longer possible. Only more credits are flowing to players who purchased credits for real money directly from Trion Worlds. While all other credits are now essentially worth 110%, the originally special founder credits still remain worth 100%, even though these should actually be worth 110% (and all further purchases made by founders). One can imagine that founders are not exactly thrilled about not having received such an exclusive benefit. Already at head start, it became clear that the founder package did not function smoothly due to some bugs and issues. And that exclusive benefits were not exactly prevalent.
A little spicy is the fact that changes have been made to the cash shop over the weekend, which indirectly affect the attractive resource “Thunderstruck Tree.” The bonus credits that some players are now swimming in can easily flow away again.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
It took a cosplayer two years to create the perfect costume for World of Warcraft. At BlizzCon in Anaheim, she wanted to shine with it. She won the award for best cosplay, but no one saw the costume.
As “Grand Empress Shek’zeer,” the cosplayer “Py” wanted to shine at BlizzCon in Anaheim. Shek’zeer is the final boss from the Mists of Pandaria raid “Heart of Fear.” She worked on the costume for two years. To say it was elaborate is probably an understatement. She and her husband worked with heavy equipment on the Mantid costume. In the end, it was beautiful, but also incredibly heavy and uncomfortable. Beforehand, Py asked the fans on her Facebook for understanding if she needed to take breaks: “Please remember that Shek is a physically extremely demanding costume. I might need to give my feet or back a break in between.”
The costume was assessed and judged by jurors before the presentation. When she wanted to leave the room, the empress got a toe caught in the carpet, fell, and there was damage to the costume. It could be repaired with a lot of dedication.
When she wanted to enter the BlizzCon stage to present the costume she had worked on for years to the audience, Py fell again, this time on a steep ramp. She severely injured her ankle. She was carried away in tears. Both she and her husband were inconsolable. She won the award for best cosplay anyway, although it’s a shame that fans couldn’t see her World of Warcraft costume live.
In the cosplay scene, there has been a request to share and publish pictures of her costume. We are happy to comply with this.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
