Star Citizen vs. EVE Online: Comparison of Space Simulations

Nico Saborowski Nico Saborowski Reading time 5 minutes

EVE Online is an unmatched space MMO. At least for now. With Star Citizen, another sci-fi role-playing game enters the ring. Funded by fans and developed by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, Star Citizen is a serious contender to the sandbox game EVE Online. We have compared the two games for you.

First- vs. Third-Person

Into the cockpit, take the joystick in hand and with laser weapons and other pew pew, it’s off against the enemies. At least that’s how Star Citizen is supposed to work in the future. In first-person view, one can speak of an actual simulation. If you fly too fast into the curves, your avatar will pass out and the journey will end abruptly. With intuitive dogfights, just like in Wing Commander, a completely different feeling is already created in Star Citizen. If you get tired of the first-person view, you can also switch to third-person. This way, you can change your perspective according to the situation, thus altering your gaming experience.

Star Citizen
Star Citizen

In EVE Online, the controls look quite different. Rather than using a joystick, you navigate through New Eden with a point-and-click system. Battles may take place in the galaxy, but they could also be fought exclusively within the various menus of EVE. What offers more action is subjective. More exciting for spectators is probably the first-person view in Star Citizen. For fans of strategic battles where the distance to the opponent plays a crucial role, EVE Online is the better solution.

EVE Online
EVE Online

In EVE Online, Time is Required

EVE Online - Skills

In first-person view, one thing is clear: personal skills determine victory or defeat. In Star Citizen, everyone is their own lucky charm. While advantages may come from a faster ship, the individual flying skills are crucial for shooting down an opponent.

It’s different in EVE Online. While you also need experience in piloting a spaceship here, your skill points play an even more important role. In EVE, you put a skill into the queue, and after completion, you can fly a new ship or deal a few percentage more damage. The longer you play the game, or pay for the account, the more your character can achieve, as they have already learned countless skills. In combat, it’s still about your flying skills, but the invested skill points are the decisive factor in EVE Online.

Spaceships: From Small to Gigantic

Star Citizen
Star Citizen

In a sci-fi adventure, the type of ship you fly is also crucial. With around 50 ships, Star Citizen is still underrepresented compared to EVE Online. However, the vehicles in Chris Roberts’s game look breathtaking. The textures are sharper, and there are many more details than on an EVE Online ship. However, the spaceships aren’t that large. In EVE Online, the Star Citizen ships would only belong to the smallest ship category, the frigates. But in EVE, there are much larger aircraft. Thus, Titans are not only the largest but also the strongest ships in the EVE universe. A corporation must invest a huge effort before a Titan rolls off the production line. The value of gigantic spaceships can always be guessed from reports,that calculate the value of a destroyed fleet in real money.

EVE Online - War of the Demigods
EVE Online

In both games, you can customize your ship to your own abilities and preferences. In Star Citizen, you can add extra mods to your little ship. For example, friends can get in and control the guns. In EVE, on the other hand, you equip your ship according to the situation: PvE, PvP, wormhole, or massive battle. Here, the target determines the equipment.

Single or Multiplayer?

EVE Online is a pure multiplayer. Even if you think you are safe from others during a mission, opposing players can scan, find, and shoot you down. This is the allure of this sandbox: you are never alone, and the destruction of your expensive ship can happen at any time. Since May 2013, the developer CCP has integrated the game Dust 514 into EVE. Dust 514 is a free shooter for PlayStation that takes place on the planets of the EVE universe. The shooter is also dependent on the sovereignty status of the respective system. Thus, CCP successfully connects two games of entirely different genres for the first time. In Star Citizen, there is a distinction between single and multiplayer. The single-player campaign is called Squadron 42 and is designed to remind players of the old Wing Commander campaigns. Here, players go through single missions without coming into contact with real, human opponents. However, teammates can be invited for co-op action. In multiplayer, on the other hand, the player must build their own status relative to other players. The world is open and persistent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gGLE3USB2U

The Economic System

According to Chris Roberts, there will be no item drops in Star Citizen. Players will only find recyclable wrecks of enemy ships. From these, they extract crafting materials that need to be processed. This creates a complex economy that is supposed to resemble a simulation, as every item is ultimately produced by a player. Here, Star Citizen and EVE Online have great similarities.

For even in CCP’s game, there is a completely player-driven economy. Almost everything found on the market can be produced by players. There are player communities that focus solely on the production of massive ships or individual modules. This type of economic system is, of course, very vulnerable to small changes that may be added via patches. Player behavior affects prices: In the last few months in EVE Online, there hasn’t been a significant war, which has led to prices for modules and ships plummeting. Tough times for industrialists.

Price development EVE Online

Star Citizen vs. EVE Online – Which is Better?

Star Citizen Character

For pilots who simply want pure action, Star Citizen is probably better suited. Exciting dogfights with agile ships in an atmospheric environment. With the single-player campaign, you can also enjoy a round of co-op with friends at a leisurely pace. Chris Roberts has done a fantastic job here, and we are already looking forward to the final release. Fans of a quieter experience should download EVE Online. Although “quiet” might be too mild a term: EVE is for those who enjoy sitting at their PC, sweating, because 20 enemy ships just jumped into their system, and they still have to fly their expensive ship to the station. Additionally, business students can apply their knowledge in the economic system. The game is worth it, even if it looks complicated at first. Besides huge ships, players can expect a helpful community and a great developer.

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

Destiny: Pumpkin Head, Bats and Phantom Sparrows

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Even the MMO shooter Destiny celebrates Halloween. How does the bat swarm work and where are the Sparrows?

We illuminate how the bat swarm works as a respawn animation and clarify the question of the four Sparrows that supposedly came with Halloween.

Pumpkin head announces Halloween in Destiny

After the last update on Tuesday players logged in and found a pumpkin head in the post that they could put on. With this traditionally Irish Jack-O’Lantern on their heads, the Guardians could celebrate their very own spooky Halloween: Atmospheric screams in the background provided the necessary ambiance.


The “Jackolyte”, that’s what the item is called in the game, was fun, even though it didn’t work with every helmet and caused display errors. Three items arrived with the post, the head can stack up to 5, and further drops are made by enemies from the “swarm”. The item can still be obtained.

That was the part of the Halloween update, that everyone could see. Dataminers, however, rummaged through the database and found more items. What’s going on with those?

Destiny

Where are the Sparrows?

Along with the update, four new Sparrows appeared in the Destiny database. That’s what the hover bikes are called, the preferred means of transportation for Guardians on land.

The four Sparrows were referred to as “Halloween” Sparrows by the dataminers. It was even suspected that they had some kind of “horror motifs”. The Guardians in Destiny scoured everything in the last few days to get their hands on these Sparrows. Wild theories were circulating. The most absurd attempts were made. It was a mystery that needed to be solved. And even though someone in some forum shouted “Here, here, I’ve got it”, it turned out to be nonsense. No one has found these Sparrows in Destiny.

Now there was a confirmation in the official forum of what many already assumed. “There are no Halloween Sparrows,” was the official and curt statement from Bungie.

Apparently, only four models were introduced into the game, to be used later, perhaps for the next DLC “The Dark Below”. But the models have nothing to do with Halloween.

How does the bat animation work?

“Flight of Shadows”, another Halloween item is actually in the game, unlike the Sparrows. The item alters the respawn animation, that is, what happens when a Guardian dies and comes back to life. To get it, one must pilgrimage to the vendor Xur with the pumpkin head on (he’s only there until Sunday at 10 AM near the Crucible vendor). Once the head is on, he sells the item “Flight of Shadows” for a strange coin.

The bat animation is relatively short and only active when one is wearing the pumpkin head and then dies.

https://youtu.be/32sCblNIg6Ehttps://youtu.be/WSR9gsvcXeU
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Bungie.net No Sparrows
  2. reddit

Star Wars: The Old Republic – As strong at 60 as it is now at 55

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

During the livestream, the developers of Star Wars: The Old Republic, abbreviated as SWTOR, shared some insights and spoke in detail about the changes regarding the combat system with the major Patch 3.0. We have summarized the most important changes for you at a glance.

Less damage for everyone

Star Wars The Old Republic - Combat with the group

The developers consider the damage dealt by players in some cases to be too high, which is why it will be significantly reduced here.

The goal is for players at level 60 with 3.0 to deal as much damage as they currently do at level 55. Since all characters will be weaker with the upcoming patch, the HP pools of the enemies on the level planets will also be adjusted, so the foes will die more quickly.

Every class receives a special buff

SWTOR - Shadow of Revan

They want to encourage players to bring as diverse a combination of classes into operations as possible, and not just those that currently have a slight advantage. To enable this, each class will receive a special group buff, some are temporary, others are permanent. For example, a higher healing rate for the entire operation group or armor debuffs for the enemies that can stack could be considered.

Damage over time – In PvP now significantly stronger, due to less cleansing

SWTOR PvP

Especially the DOT-intensive classes can look forward to the update, as their spells can no longer be removed by healers. However, they are still not unstoppable, as players with self-cleaning or immunity abilities (such as the Force Barrier from the Sorcerer/Sage) can still free themselves from all harmful effects.

At the same time, the cooldown of all cleansing abilities will be increased to 12 seconds. To ensure these abilities still have utility in PvP, most control effects can now be cleansed – this is intended to encourage more team play in PvP.

Speed – Faster, faster, and even faster!

SWTOR - Tython Flashpoint

The value “Speed” will be significantly improved, ultimately it should fulfill a whole lot of things at once: Reduce spell activation time, decrease global cooldown, accelerate regeneration of the class-specific resource, create more ticks of the DOTs, and reduce internal cooldowns. If everything goes as the developers wish, players with 20% speed should be able to activate all their keys 20% faster and more often than players without this value.

Following that, some questions were asked, but the answers did not bring to light any new information. Anyone who wants to take a look at all the discussed changes in detail can do so at Dulfy.

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

Cheating in Hearthstone: Blizzard bans Win-Traders; also affected are prominent eSport pros

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the free online card game Hearthstone , some Win-Traders have now been caught after several botters. Their accounts have been banned. Forever, as Blizzard communicates.

Blizzard has no sense of humor when it comes to win trading, as seen from the current action. By logging in simultaneously at relatively high ranks, players were apparently able to play against each other with some degree of probability. This was exploited. Blizzard has been aware of these problems from the Arena mode in World of Warcraft and is taking a hard stance against such corruption of the eSports idea.

Blizzard responds by banning all affected accounts that took advantage of this. A few weeks ago, a longer ban until 2015 was only issued for the bots.

As PCGamer reports, “win trading” may have also influenced the composition of some tournaments. Invitations to these are sometimes based on ranking. Those who gained access to a tournament through such methods will be disqualified.

Reportedly, some more well-known names (like Specialist) are also affected by the bans. Among them is Gabe Walls, a player who made the win trading method public about a year ago to draw Blizzard’s attention to this flaw in Hearthstone to have it fixed.

While Gabe Walls protests against the ban, Specialist, as reported by liquidhearth, agrees with the ban. He openly admits that he was engaged in win trading because he finds it ridiculous that the participant field at BlizzCon is composed of such an easily manipulable system. Specialist finds something good in the ban. Now he has time to focus on his studies.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. PC Gamer
  2. liquidhearth

ArcheAge: 10% founder bonus is not available, but compensation will be provided

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the sand park MMO ArcheAge , founders are now being promised to be compensated with a 10% bonus on all purchases in the cash shop in another way.

Before the release, it was promised to founders that they would receive a 10% discount on all future purchases in ArcheAge’s cash shop. Unfortunately, the wording was somewhat confused. Trion Worlds mentioned that this would happen after the launch, meaning: “Sometime after the launch.” However, customers understood it as a “from the launch” during the purchase decision. Since then, some founders have been upset that the 10% bonus is missing, especially since some time has already passed. We have highlighted the exact circumstances of the controversy in this article.

ArcheAge_Esel


Trion Worlds has stated that the promised bonus is something that cannot be granted alone. They had to consult with XLGames, the Korean developers of the game, which has now happened. The result is: A solution with XLGames would be too complex and would divert resources from the development of the actual gameplay content in ArcheAge.

Trion Worlds plans to present a solution in the coming days on how they can manage this “alone.” In other words, provide a replacement that will also work retroactively.

Mein MMO believes: It is a bit strange that it took a month to figure out that they have to do it alone. After all, such discounts involve real money. Perhaps some shoppers would have spent a smaller amount or avoided an additional purchase with 10% more credits per purchase.

It is a sensitive issue, as even a delayed replacement will not provide as much benefit as a timely implementation: A player may have lost interest in ArcheAge in the meantime. What good is in-game currency in a game that one no longer plays?

One can only hope that Trion Worlds will present an attractive replacement for the founders in the coming days. When Auroria, the northern continent of ArcheAge, opens on November 4, some players who acquired founder status back then will surely reach for their wallets again and visit the marketplace.

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

H1Z1 gives professional makeup tips for the perfect zombie Halloween costume

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The survival MMO H1Z1 now gives professional makeup tips for Halloween to achieve the perfect zombie.

Tonight is Halloween. Even in Germany, people dress up and go out on the streets. Although some might argue that this was simply established by the costume industry through strong lobbying efforts to create a second market beside Carnival (where it is well known that the Treehouse-of-Horror episodes of The Simpsons are actually behind it). Anyway, SOE has taken this as an opportunity to release some professional makeup tips for their games.

And what could be better for Halloween than a zombie costume? Especially with the Walking Dead marathon on RTL II keeping everyone awake for weeks. Transforming into a zombie is quite stressful both in fiction and real life. Particularly if you want to get it right professionally – as you can see in the video. And the poor guy in the chair has to endure quite a bit of sitting while the two makeup artists work on him as if he were meat with eyes. But the result is impressive.

Recommended editorial content

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

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

For those not interested in makeup videos and who prefer facts about the game: The developer videos should soon be moving to the next round. On reddit, fans are being asked for questions for the upcoming devs. So if you are plagued by urgent curiosity, you can ask your questions in English here.

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

Star Trek Online tempts players with a lifetime subscription – lowers prices, adds Talaxians on top

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In Star Trek Online, players who purchase or have already purchased a lifetime subscription now receive the Talaxians as a playable race. Additionally, the cost of the lifetime subscription is being lowered.

Two weeks ago, the expansion “Delta Rising” was released for Star Trek Online. Now Perfect World is taking the opportunity to remind players of the offer to purchase a “Lifetime Subscription.” As a bonus, the Talaxians, including Neelix, the ship’s cook and morale officer of the Voyager, are added.

STO-Talaxianer

For a lifetime subscription to Star Trek Online, you now pay a one-time fee of €143.83. This is approximately equal to the cost of an annual subscription. In return, you receive not only the Talaxians, but also a lifetime gold status as a subscriber (which comes with x benefits), veteran bonuses, special ships, character slots, and more. You can read all the benefits here.

However, as is common with lifetime subscriptions in MMOs, Perfect World does not guarantee that the game will be offered as long as the customer lives.

Back then, among the fans at the introduction, there was also anger, as veterans who paid month to month did not receive the veteran bonuses that the “Lifetimers” enjoyed from the very first day of their subscription.

What do you think of these lifetime commitments? Is it an offer that you can’t refuse, because otherwise you’ll regret paying for 12 months this way? Or are you more skeptical?

Recommended editorial content

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

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Arc Games Abo
  2. mmorpg
  3. Arc Talaxianer

Elder Scrolls Online: Update 5 is coming this Tuesday – the biggest patch for TESO so far

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online is expected to receive its largest update yet in the short history of the MMO next week.

As community manager Kai Schober writes in the official forum of The Elder Scrolls Online, it is assumed that Update 5 should arrive early next week. This would likely be early Tuesday morning for us Europeans. They do not want to make a definitive commitment, as later clarified by Gina Bruno, another community manager, this is the intention and goal. No guarantees are being made.

The Elder Scrolls Online Werewolf

With Update 5, the transformation begins at The Elder Scrolls Online

Update 5 is likely the most extensive and profound update in the history of The Elder Scrolls Online. While previous updates mostly focused on introducing new gameplay content for the most advanced players, this current update gets to the heart of the matter, bringing new daily quests into the game, new item sets, and changing group searching. Additionally, there will be better facial animations for TESO, optional speech bubbles will be implemented, and they are working on class balancing, primarily aiming to strengthen stamina users and werewolves.

With a veteran edition of “City of Ash”, there will also be new gameplay content available right away.

The Elder Scrolls Online

TESO has received much praise for its new beginning in recent weeks

Update 5 ushers in a kind of restructuring, for which The Elder Scrolls Online has received much praise in recent weeks. Specialty sites like mmorpg.com highlighted TESO as a good example of how an MMO can recover from a somewhat rocky start. The proactive handling of problems, the constant improvement of the game, and the calm demeanor maintained are all highlighted as commendable.

Many fans are now asking at the end of the year what the announced console version of the game looks like. As of now, there are still no news on this. It is highly unlikely that Zenimax will meet the targeted date for the end of 2014. Soon, they aim to inform fans about the state of the port.

Update 2.11 15:30: It is now official, that Update 5 is definitely coming on Tuesday morning, November 3rd, to the European mega-server. Already on Monday evening our time, the Americans will have it.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. TESO Forum
  2. mmorpg.com - How to rebound

Destiny: Xur has Patience and Time available for Halloween

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 4 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny Xur, Agent of the Nine and weekend dealer, is back in the Tower at 10 AM, selling exotic weapons and armor. What does he have for the Halloween weekend?

Xur is a vendor who can be found in Destiny for only 48 hours a week. He predominantly accepts “strange coins” as currency. The main source for this currency is mainly the weekly heroic strikes.

Destiny weapon trade

Xursday falls on Halloween in Destiny – Does it have consequences?

Xur appears today for the first time at 10 AM in Germany in the Tower. The reason is the time change last weekend. But that is not the only reason why the black market dealer in Destiny is receiving special attention today: Some players are wondering, if he has different items than usual due to Halloween. Four new Sparrows have come into the Destiny databases that no one has tracked so far.

The question is: Does Xur have them for sale? Does the black market dealer serve as a kind of “mobile” element in Destiny? Timing would fit, Halloween actually occurs at night from Friday to Saturday.

Destiny

What can Xur sell?

A bit, Xur has lost his aura of mystery over the past week. Players have deciphered his entire arsenal through a time change trick on Playstation. He has 9 exotic helmets, 6 chest armors, and 3 gloves for sale, thus covering every known exotic armor piece in Destiny. Exotic armor pieces in Destiny can reach a light level of 30; otherwise, only legendary armor pieces from the raid can achieve that. The light value is crucial for the calculation of the light level. All the essential information about this can be found here.

With the weapons, it’s a bit complicated; he lacks the exotic weapons for which one must complete a bounty, the Playstation-exclusive duo of Hawkmoon and Monte Carlo, as well as the Vex Mythoclast. Otherwise, everything is available, from Gjallahorn to Suros Regime, the MIDA Multi-Tool, or the Universal Remote.

As always, his offer remains unknown until he appears.

Everything about Xur, the Agent of the Nine, on the weekend from 10/31 to 10/2

When is Xur in the Tower and how long does he stay?

Xur comes an hour earlier (and leaves an hour earlier) compared to the weeks before. He will be in the Tower from Friday, 10/31 at 10 AM and will stay until 10 AM on Sunday.
Where is Xur this time?

Xur’s location this time is right next to the Crucible Quartermaster.

Recommended editorial content

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

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


What does Xur have?

For Titans, he has the chest piece Armamentarium for the third time in a row. He wants 13 strange coins for it.

Destiny-Thearmamentarium

For Warlocks, there’s also the chest piece: Voidfang Vestments, also for 13 strange coins. This was already available last week and three weeks ago.

Destiny-Voidfang

For Hunters, there’s once again a chest armor; this week it’s the Lucky Raspberry. It was last seen three weeks ago, and there has been a chest piece every week for the past two weeks. Xur wants 13 strange coins for it.

Destiny-Lucky-Raspberry

This time, as a weapon and highlight: The exotic sniper rifle Patience and Time. Xur has never had this before, and many are likely excited about it. Xur is parting with the sniper rifle for 17 Strange Coins.

Patience and Time, the sniper rifle, is considered a very solid choice, especially for players who did not receive the sniper rifle Icebreaker. Due to its arc damage, it is an outstanding choice for weeks with the Arc Burn modifier in Nightfall. Most players prefer a weapon with a long range for solo runs through the weekly Nightfall strike in Destiny. And in this respect, Patience and Time is top-notch.

Destiny-Patience_and_Time

And there’s also an exotic helmet engram, which he wants 23 Motes of Light for. Which of the 9 helmets will drop is unknown – as is usual with engrams.

And is there something Halloween-themed?

In a video, it was already shown that he offers “Flight of Shadows” for one strange coin. This is the item that changes the respawn animation. He only offers it if you are wearing the Halloween mask; otherwise, he does not.

What else do we have about the MMO shooter (tip: that’s a lot), you can find on our Destiny theme page.

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

Destiny: How to see your ship land and 9 other things you might have missed

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Every day, millions of players log into the MMO shooter Destiny, follow their daily routine, may have become stuck in a rut, and perhaps forget to take a look around amidst the whole hunt for the next exotic item, the next engram, the next objective. Just one glance at the ground can reveal amazing things. A recent video shows ten secrets in Destiny that you might have overlooked.

Let your gaze drift in Destiny – it might be worth it

Ten secrets and curiosities in Destiny that you might have already seen or perhaps not, have been found and compiled by a YouTuber. It involves the hidden head of Master Chief from Halo, an Easter egg that has already gone around the world multiple times. But did you know that the Wizards are not guys at all, but clearly female? Did you notice the inscription on the floor of the tower where you have probably walked over countless times?

Destiny Venus Story


Perhaps the most remarkable is the ability to see your own Jumpship in the game. If you are quick enough and take the right shortcuts in the tower, you can just see it being stored in the hangar: a great sight. Oh, and Ghost can open many more doors than just the mission doors that you have to protect him at. He also gets a few others open. Whether more secrets in Destiny are hidden behind them remains to be seen.

Furthermore: Did you know that Bungie hid the Destiny logo in the trailer and at what point? Could Atheon not be so bad after all, and have you been shoving the wrong one off the balcony for weeks? Have you ever noticed what happens when you take out one of the Fallen with a headshot in Destiny? And what the hell does all this have to do with Dark Souls?

Recommended editorial content

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

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

For more on the MMO shooter, visit our Destiny theme page.

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

EVE Online: Phoebe comes on November 4

Nico Saborowski Nico Saborowski Reading time 2 minutes

The developer of EVE Online, CCP, is now focusing on monthly updates instead of biannual ones. So far, Kronos (June), Crius (July), Hyperion (August), and Oceanus (September) have been released. The October update Phoebe is arriving a bit late and is set to be released on November 4. We have looked at the changes.

It Smells Like War

That stagnation is slowly becoming a problem for EVE Online should be known to every player. To counteract this, CCP is releasing a three-part change to the 0.0 and sovereignty rights. In Phoebe, the way of traveling will be changed. Long distances are no longer so easy to handle. CCP hopes that an alliance can only fight one front, but has less chance in a two-front war than before.

About Time…

EVE Online - Skill Queue

A very good piece of news for those who like to train an alt: The skill queue now has no 24-hour limit with Phoebe. So, weeks, months, or even years can be spent training without needing to log in with a character.

What will also make life easier for many is the multisell. By marking multiple items, several sales orders will be created. Mission runners will be grateful to CCP, as items can now be sold faster and more easily.

And even more changes

CCP is also slightly changing the invention system along with the interface. The reverse engineering is now possible directly in the interface. Explorers are also getting something new: Better career agents are now waiting for the adventurers, just like higher quality escalation areas and environmental hazards. To find everything better, CCP is also providing a few interface improvements. A clear list of the major changes can be found here.

Recommended editorial content

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

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

MMO Trends: High Percentage of Women and We Are Getting Older!

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

Some days ago we already reported on some insights from the report by “SuperData Research”, now a few more interesting figures have emerged.

Women love RPGs, men love MMOs and shooters

First, what probably doesn’t surprise anyone: There are significantly more men in MMOs and shooters, while women play RPGs and mobile games more often.

SuperDataResearch: Gender distribution in MMOs

And now the more surprising news: The numbers are much closer together than one might think! 34% of all players in MMOs and shooters are female – in the truest sense, one in three. While this still reflects a significant difference, it does not at all reflect the “perceived” male dominance in these genres. Particularly astonishing is the fact that in RPGs, women have even surpassed men – 53.6% are here female, which may also explain the boom of strong female protagonists in this genre – perhaps it is also an eternal search for cause and effect or for the chicken or the egg.

Overall, 60% of all players are male and 40% are female – the gender gap is closing.

MMO players are getting older

The Elder Scrolls Online

Also, not surprising is the fact that MMO players are getting older. With almost 50% of all players, the age group from 18-30 is the largest for the MMO market. The study further states that most players in this group started playing at a young age and they still carry this passion with them – and presumably will continue to do so for a long time. Especially men who played shooters in their youth tend to switch to MMOs or similar games as they get older (and thus as their reaction times decrease).

So the next time someone claims in the trade channel, “This game is full of kiddies”, they are most likely mistaken.

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

Destiny: Are these the two best Destiny players? Raid in pairs on hard

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny, two players have accomplished perhaps the toughest feat currently possible: They completed the “Vault of Glass” raid as a duo on the “hard” difficulty.

The two best players in Destiny?

About a week ago, we reported that a fireteam of three players managed to conquer the “Vault of Glass” raid on “hard”. The raid is actually designed for six players and is already quite challenging for some. After the players initially competed to finish the raid as quickly as possible, a trend has emerged recently to complete the raid with as few Guardians as possible.

Those who thought that “three Guardians” was already the limit are mistaken. It can be done with one less. While it won’t be enough for a game of skat, it’s still enough for the raid in Destiny. “Insane,” they have dubbed this individual difficulty level that is significantly tougher than “hard”.

However, two seem to be the minimum since one cannot solo Atheon, no matter how skilled. Even with two players, this is only possible through a trick; one of the players temporarily sacrifices himself (i.e., he dies and then stands back up) to bring his partner from the other phases.

Destiny Warlock

Players constantly seek new ways to prove themselves

By the way, the two players are armed to the teeth: one has three level 30 characters on his account, while the other is lagging a bit behind with only two level 30s. Both are active in the clan “The Legend himself” on the Xbox 360. In this formation, they have already set numerous other records in the raid. Earlier this month, they were the first to conquer the “Vault of Glass” in Destiny with only two players—albeit still on the “normal” difficulty.

It is, of course, always challenging to identify the “best” in a game that millions play worldwide for several hours each day, especially when considering the different modes. One thing is clear: The players’ performance is remarkable and receives much recognition.

A compiled video of the raid can be found below.
https://youtu.be/GXi-zBDJK5s

Oh, and for the speedrun fans: The current record for a fast run through the “Vault of Glass” on “hard” difficulty is reportedly just under half an hour. We also have a video for you.

Recommended editorial content

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

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the YouTube content
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. reddit 2 Spieler-Raid auf "Hard"
  2. reddit Speedrun

Elder Scrolls Online: New Sets Grant Monster Abilities

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, new artwork of the Undaunted helmets has now been revealed. They are not only a feast for the eyes, but they are also intended to liven up the initially somewhat dull loot system.

On Twitter, Zenimax recently posted concept art of several new helmets (You can admire them in the featured image). The helmets look fantastic on their own. But they are not just a sight to behold, they also show a new way that The Elder Scrolls Online wants to take in item design.

A few weeks ago, Zenimax presented the plans behind these helmets. There will be 2-piece sets consisting of helmets and shoulders from the Undaunted, which will grant the wearer a representation of the abilities that a boss in a veteran dungeon also uses.

These are supposed to be passive abilities that proc (trigger randomly during player activities). But before anyone starts to have delusions of omnipotence: The abilities will remain “balanced”, no all-destroying dragon breath or anything like that. The helmets are expected to be unleashed in Update 5 on Tamriel.

At the launch of the game, one of the biggest criticisms of The Elder Scrolls Online was that the reward and loot system was a bit too unspectacular; with such ideas, they are probably trying to address that.

More about the new helmets in The Elder Scrolls Online

As can be seen in the featured image, they are indeed choosing appropriate bosses as templates for the helmets. The helmet on the far left, from the Nightflame set, corresponds to this colleague here:

Recommended editorial content

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

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


The helmet in the middle is modeled after Blood Spawn, a boss in the veteran version of Spindle Clutch:

Recommended editorial content

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

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.
Link to the external content
TESO-Undaunted-Helm1


And from the helmet on the far right, we also found the stats for you in a player post on the official forum:

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

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor – The Calm Before the Storm?

MeinMMO MeinMMO Reading time 2 minutes

The pre-patch for World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor is live and there is nothing to do until the addon launches? Far from it!

Those who thought there would be two more comfortable green weeks in Pandaria before the Iron Horde invades Azeroth should hurry to the Blasted Lands or the depths of Orgrimmar!

Questline “Invasion of the Iron Horde”

[intense_blockquote color=”#dbdbdb” author=”Thrall”]”A cruel enemy has invaded Azeroth, seeking to seize world domination. We must act quickly to put an end to the chaos.” [/intense_blockquote]

WoW - Orc Endboss

The dark portal has turned red and a vanguard of the Iron Horde has invaded the Blasted Lands. This world event offers players the chance to prove themselves against the onslaught of the Iron Horde.

The Iron Invasion Title - WoW

Siege machines must be sabotaged, scouts killed, executions stopped, and Nethergarde Keep cleansed. Some players will also be pleased to finally kill dreadfang ogres instead of sha monstrosities and face a battle-hardened orc in Fort Okril’lon as the final boss.

Those who overcome all challenges will be rewarded with the pet “Iron Star”, an achievement, and the title “of the Iron Vanguard”.

Account-bound Weapons of Garrosh Hellscream

WoW - Höllschreis Enthaupter

For those who have not yet defeated Garrosh Hellscream in the Siege of Orgrimmar, there is now a special incentive for the next two weeks.

For defeating the Warchief for the first time, players are guaranteed to receive one of the 11 coveted account-bound weapons, which will increase in power until level 100 and will no longer be obtainable after the addon is released.

The weapons can be obtained on all three difficulty levels, except in the raid browser. However, their item level is capped at 620 up to level 100.

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

World of Warcraft: Warrior Nerf, Moonkin and Ele-Shammy Buff (English Hotfix Notes)

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The next round of balance changes has been announced for the fantasy MMO World of Warcraft. This time, the nerf bat hits the Frost Mage and the Warrior. The Moonkin, Elemental Shaman, and Unholy Death Knight can be glad about the hotfix.

World of Warcraft continues to work diligently on balance. Blizz states that the changes primarily focus on the game at level 100, but of course, the changes also affect the current game. The small buff for Frost Mages, which came with one of the last hotfixes, has been reverted, Frostbolts now deal 20% less damage.

The Beast Master Hunter can enjoy 20% more damage for the barrel, the Death Knight’s Death Strike even increases by 50%, the Moonkin, that is the Balance Druid, is buffed across the board, and the Elemental Shaman can also appreciate some love from Blizzard. However, the Warrior is hit hard, Whirlwind loses 30%, and Slam is reduced by that much as well.

You can read the complete balance plans for the hotfix in World of Warcraft, which could go live soon, here:

We would like to draw your attention to a few changes to class balance that may come into effect today. Many of these changes will likely not yet be reflected in the tooltips.

These changes primarily target class balance at level 100, but should also have a positive effect on the time leading up to that. Please keep your comments constructive, as we have further fine-tuning planned for the future.

Death Knight

  • The damage of ‘Death Strike’ has been increased by 50%.
  • The damage of ‘Necrosis’ has been increased by 67%.
  • ‘Unholy Power’ now increases the strength of the Death Knight by 5% (previously 10%).

Druid

  • The damage of ‘Starfall’ has been increased by 75%.
  • The damage of ‘Starsurge’ has been increased by 25%.
  • The damage of ‘Starburst’ has been increased by 25%.
  • The damage of ‘Wrath’ has been increased by 25%.

Hunter

  • ‘Adaptation’ now increases the damage boost from ‘Battle Experience’ to 70% (previously 85%).
  • The damage of ‘Chimera Shot’ has been reduced by 13%.
  • ‘Channeled Shot’ now has a cast time of 2.5 seconds (previously 3 seconds) and the damage has been increased by 25%.
  • The damage of ‘Kill Command’ has been increased by 20%.

Mage

  • The damage of ‘Frostbolt’ has been reduced by 20%.

Priest

  • ‘Mental Agony’ now increases the damage dealt by 3.125% per point (previously 2.5%).

Shaman

  • The damage of ‘Elemental Strike’ has been increased by 20%.
  • ‘Shamanism’ increases the damage of ‘Lightning Strike’ by 70% (previously 36%).

Warrior

  • The damage of ‘Devastate’ has been reduced by 25%.
  • The damage of ‘Crumble’ has been reduced by 30%.
  • The damage of ‘Whirlwind’ has been reduced by 30%.

Update 31.10 12 PM: We have now updated the German hotfix notes.

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

Destiny: Why Xbox and PlayStation players are playing separately

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny, Bungie’s president has now explained why players on Xbox and PlayStation cannot play Destiny together.

In an interview with eurogamer.net, Bungie president Harold Ryan addressed the question of why someone with a PlayStation 4 cannot play with a friend on Xbox One. Ryan replied: “That’s a question for Sony and Microsoft.”

When asked by the interviewer if Microsoft and Sony weren’t getting along, Ryan responded: “It seems that they have some competitive difficulties with each other.”

From Bungie’s perspective, there are no difficulties preventing Xbox and PlayStation players from playing together in Destiny. They are connected in the same backend anyway.

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

Whining Wednesday: Steam has a Bird

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

After long days of WildStar and WoW, I pull myself away to see what the good old Steam has in store. The good old Steam that has accompanied me for so long, always keeping my game library tidy, and never showing me intrusive ads for games I never wanted. The same good old Steam that I found so much better than all the other services like EA’s “Origin”.

But at some point in the last months, a small, sneaky developer must have thought, “Let’s really annoy Cortyn today.” A new journey, a new crazy ride!

My Gaming Preferences: Dating Simulations with Birds

It’s a rascal who thinks something evil at the headline now. I’m sure everyone knows a similar situation: Some “good friend” links an article from Amazon that he or she finds really funny, and you were naive enough to click the link. From then on, you keep getting strange offers and are informed that you apparently are interested in the “Carp Calendar 2015” or the “Hildegard Orgon Accumulator”. It’s also unclear to this website that you wouldn’t even buy these things if they were free.

Hatoful Boyfriend

I now have exactly the same feeling with Steam. Because I received a game as a gift, like “Long live the Queen”, Valve now apparently thinks I am burning with interest for “Hatoful Boyfriend”. A Japanese dating simulation where, however, you do not flirt with humans, that would still be somewhat amusing and have its charm. Instead, you flirt – you guessed it – with birds. I must admit that I haven’t delved deeper into this game, so I might be doing it an injustice, but honestly: I would never find it interesting in a million years.

Always Forward into the Past

On one hand, progress is always something to be welcomed, but here they are clearly working in the wrong place. I cannot disable this new Steam design, and it’s extremely cumbersome to find the general updates that used to be neatly sorted on the homepage. Instead, I am now informed that I absolutely want “Papers, please!”, a game whose content apparently consists of checking the papers of immigrants.

Steam Shop

What I find much more frightening is that some comfort features are still missing, especially a chat log for conversations with friends is still nowhere to be found – after a restart, at most the last three sentences are visible. Since you are primarily playing on Steam and can’t just click every funny link right away, because the boss fight with the 9-headed Hydra and its fire breath takes away a bit of my multitasking ability, I don’t understand how, after so many years, they still do without a chat log.

As for the Steam shop, I find it a bit hard not to just say: “Everything was better back in the day.” But thankfully, I can rely on Jochen Malmsheimer again: “Nothing was better back then, but many things were good. And it would still be today if we had left it alone.”.

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

World of Warcraft: Anti-Grinding Mechanic Steals 90% of EXP

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the past few days, there has been some trouble regarding a hidden anti-grinding mechanic in World of Warcraft. Blizzard has finally responded: An attempt to prevent exploits had proven too strict and also affected the gameplay of honest WoW players.

Only 10% exp from everything – even from pet food

For several days, reports from angry players have appeared in Blizzard’s official US forum: Blizzard has, without announcement, ruined their play style in World of Warcraft. Players who regularly kill the same mobs now receive only one-tenth of the experience from the 15th onwards. But players who quickly quest and deal with many mobs, for example in Icecrown, have also suddenly reported immense EXP losses.

For days, players conducted various tests, experimenting with how long a break between kills should last, and pondering the question. They increasingly demanded an answer from Blizzard. Could this be an “anti-bot” mechanic that has now also caught honest players in World of Warcraft?

WoW Schattengarde1

“Oops,” says Blizzard – that wasn’t the intention

Finally, a “Blue Post” has arrived, which is what the developers’ responses are called. Game Designer Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas addressed the fans’ concerns. And indeed, it was not just a figment of imagination; they had actually adjusted the mechanic in World of Warcraft. However, they did not intend to introduce an “anti-grinding” mechanic, but rather to implement an anti-bot or anti-exploit mechanic.

wow_hogger

They wanted to punish players who exploit certain circumstances in order to provide more generous rewards for “honest” players. Again and again, they had to reduce the EXP for quickly respawning bosses or certain other mobs in World of Warcraft (such as those with low HP that are entangled in fights with other NPCs). They did this out of fear that players would exploit such spots to farm, for example, the same mob that yields more EXP or to farm low-HP mobs.

This EXP penalty has always been strange, as it also punishes “normal” players who are simply passing through to complete quests. And they were not the target at all.

They wanted to find a way that normal players wouldn’t notice, but that made it unattractive to simply be at a spot and farm the same mobs. Apparently, this was not achieved with the currently implemented mechanic. It was far too strict. Therefore, they decided to deactivate it for now. Ideally, this mechanic should never have been noticeable to “normal” players.

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

Destiny: 1st DLC brings exclusive Strike for PlayStation 3 and 4

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny , confirmed information about the first DLC “The Dark Below”, “Darkness Lurks”, has emerged. The DLC will be released on December 9, raises the light level to 32, and brings three new PvP maps. Additionally, players on Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 will receive an exclusive strike and an exotic item, thanks to an exclusive deal between Activision and Sony, which will be withheld from Xbox players.

The leaks were accurate, summarizing what Bungie has now officially confirmed in a phone interview with eurogamer.net and via a blog post. The first expansion for Bungie’s Destiny will be released on December 9 and will include more of everything. The cost is set at €19.99 or €34.99 if purchased as a package with the second expansion, which will be released sometime in 2015.

Destiny Monster Action

New armors raise level cap in Destiny to 32

  • New legendary and exotic armors and weapons are expected to find their way into the game.
  • In this context, the maximum achievable light level will also increase from 30 to 32. This means, if the current formula is followed, the best armor pieces in the game will reach a value of 33 light points instead of a value of 30.

New stories, new PvP maps, more of everything

  • New story missions will begin. A merchant named Eris will appear in the Tower, setting this process in motion. She aims to prevent the alien race Hive, the Swarm, and their leader Crota from seizing power in the universe of Destiny. There are expected to be three new story missions, all initiated by Eris. The storytelling is set to change, making it more “loot”-based, similar to the current exotic bounty from “Thorn”. Action will be more in the foreground.
  • Three new PvP maps will be introduced in the game. In “The Pantheon“, players will enter a Vex temple inside the Black Garden. “The Cauldron“, the Cauldron, is a smaller map set in an abandoned Hive ritual site. And “Skyshock” will be a map where vehicles will be deployed again. However, there will be no new vehicles.

Destiny Artwork

A new exclusive strike and an exotic item for Playstation Destiny players

  • A new strike for everyone is coming with “The Will of Crota”. Playstation players can also look forward to a second exclusive strike: “The Undying Mind” is only for them. They will also receive an additional exotic item. These things are expected to remain inaccessible to Xbox players until autumn 2015.
  • The new raid “Crota’s End” will be open to all players. It is located in Hellmouth on the Moon, designed for six players, and will likely not launch immediately at the start but will take a bit of time before becoming available. Insights into this strike were recently revealed in a leak.
  • Additionally, the number of active bounties will be increased from 5 to 10.

As Harold Ryan, the president of Bungie, confirmed in an interview with eurogamer.net, there will be no new planet with “The Dark Below”. However, he is aware of how much players desire this. Whether new planets will come to Destiny with the next DLC, Ryan didn’t want to disclose yet.

Regarding other content that data miners have already found, such as shader improvements, Ryan was evasive: they have already included some content from Destiny on the disc to spare players from downloading later. This is not an indication of when something will actually come to the game.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. eurogamer
  2. Activision Blog