Camelot Unchained, the spiritual successor of Dark Age of Camelot, has just completed its first pre-alpha event, and it went, reportedly, super well.
The actual alpha was pushed back a while ago due to a lack of technical staff to meet the schedule. However, recently there was good news from the Kickstarter project Camelot Unchained. An initial pre-alpha event with 500 people online at the same time on the servers received really good feedback. Fans liked the in-game physics, character creation, and how smoothly everything ran. This was also what the developers found most appealing. According to Mark Jacobs, there were no major issues; the server was only down once to increase capacity, and they received valuable feedback from the players.
Only a small part of the game, that is being conceptualized, was really playable at the event. But the mini-map apparently appealed to fans and backers, Jacobs noted in a letter to the fans.
Some complaints about a rather slower gameplay and missing cast bars are merely due to the pre-alpha status and are not final design decisions.
Camelot Unchained is not a large AAA project like the Asian imports that are coming next year, but it aims to convince a player base that has become a bit lost after the end of Warhammer Online with fresh ideas and a focus on PvP. We will continue to follow the project.
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The action MMO TERA brings back the old-school dungeon “Kaprima” to the dream world of Arborea this Halloween. But that’s not all, another event instance and free items are meant to lure players to the spooky festival.
Hardcore TERA players from the beginning will know the 5-man dungeon on the Mistmoor Isle all too well. Who doesn’t like to reminisce about the challenges surrounding the giant killer crab Agarta and the endboss terror Kaprima? The former endgame dungeon unfortunately fell victim to restructuring at the time and was temporarily removed from the game. But now it is back and with better rewards than ever! Not only nostalgia lovers but also new players are likely to enjoy… or, indeed, fear the dark dungeon.
“Weak creatures – I will kill you all!“
“In comparison to my power, you are nothing but flies!”
This is what the endboss Kaprima says when he swings his scythe for a deadly attack. At this moment, you should better dodge the attack of the reaper monster. But you will learn that soon enough. First, you have to visit the instance: for a teleport to the temple, you best use the instance search.
“Trick or Treat”
Next to Kaprima, you can expect another Halloween dungeon, where you must fend off waves of monsters with cannons. If you succeed, you fill your bags with delicious sweets. Of course, it doesn’t stop there, and you can exchange the treats for attractive rewards. The festival hall can be entered five times a day from October 16 to November 4, 2014.
Attention: From today, you can grab free items for the next 2 days. You just have to log in. You might receive a skeletal horse, the devil’s wings of terror as a back decoration, as well as a superhero or succubus costume in your mailbox.
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TERA is a free-to-play MMORPG that impresses not only with its high-quality graphics but also with its innovative action combat system. The creators call the mix of shooter and MMORPG controls “True Action Combat”. The combat system harmonizes very well with the mechanics of the boss monsters, which is rather unusual for controls of this kind but creates special moments here. Anyone wanting to convince themselves can register via the button and play for free. The free-to-play model is one of the fairest in the genre.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
There’s been a sign of life for the long-awaited and postponed console port of the MMO The Elder Scrolls Online on the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One.
At the beginning of The Elder Scrolls Online, players looked forward every month to the Producer Matt Firor’s “The Road Ahead” letter, as it provided information on where the game was headed. Back then, it was the primary source of information for the future of the highly regarded game.
Matt Firor, Producer of TESO, author of the “The Road Ahead” letters.
That has somewhat settled and changed over time. Last month, there was no letter, and this time it seems pretty thin. The information comes from events like the Guild Summit, where 20 representatives from guilds and communities were gathered (including some Germans) and two days of a cornucopia of information were shared, about what will change in TESO in the coming months.
Most has now been said about The Elder Scrolls Online. The update on the test server, the plans for the future are also set. It’s no wonder then that the letter seemed to hold little surprises.
However, a small fragment in this month’s letter from Firor is still surprising: “We are also continuing to work hard on the console version of the game and can’t wait to give you more information.”
This doesn’t exactly sound like, “we will still make the December deadline,” but after months of silence, it’s at least a sign of life. Soon, more will be known about how Zenimax envisions the future of the game for consoles, which holds a lot of promise. After all, Skyrim has been a real hit on the Xbox and has turned The Elder Scrolls into a console franchise.
The only piece of news from TESO that we haven’t had in recent days is a little thing. The reward for three months of loyalty to The Elder Scrolls Online is known. It’s this little guy here (on the right):
In the MMO shooter Destiny, the mysterious black market dealer Xur, the Agent of the Nine, has reappeared. We will tell you where he is, how long he stays, and what exotic armors and exotic weapons he has this time.
In Germany, it is 11 a.m. on a Friday morning when Xur makes another appearance in the Tower. He has a super-minor union, which has negotiated perfect working conditions for him: He works only from Friday 11 a.m. to Sunday 11 a.m. These are at least his working hours in Germany; in the USA, it is just 2 a.m. But Xur is a global player and appears everywhere simultaneously, worldwide, on PS3, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.
Xur is particularly interesting because he offers different items in his shop each week. He offers “exotic” items (those are the golden ones). Getting them otherwise is quite difficult – it can only be done through special bounties or with extreme luck.
Xur has been generous with weapons lately, distributing the Suros Regime, a hammer assault rifle, and even in the last week, the Icebreaker, a sniper rifle, which everyone who has it is happy with. The appearance of Xur actually affects several million people, as his weapons disrupt the balancing. Oh, and Xur is popular. Those who google “Xur Destiny” get as a completion suggestion “Destiny Xur is only garbage.” Well, a man of the people.
Everything about Xur, the dealer of exotic items in Destiny, from 17.10 to 19.10
When does Xur come, when is he gone again? Xur comes on Friday at 11 a.m. and disappears again on Sunday at 11.
Where is Xur?
Run towards the hangar and then turn right.
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For Hunters, the helmet Achlyophage Symbiote, also for 13 strange coins.
For Warlocks, a helmet, Light Beyond Nemesis, costs 13 strange coins.
The rocket launcher Truth for 17 strange coins (only primary weapons cost the full 23 Strange Coins).
And an exotic chest engram costs 23 Motes of Light. But warning: While an exotic chest is guaranteed, it may not be for the same class.
The Titan chest piece is making its debut at Xur, the Hunter helmet was offered two weeks ago. The Warlock helmet is also making its premiere, and the rocket launcher is available for the first time. So all in all, a very generous week for Xur.
Destiny is the best-selling game in the US in September, ahead of Madden 2015 and FIFA 2015. Sony is particularly proud of this success, but Microsoft also benefits from the success of the game with the Xbox.
On the night from Thursday to Friday, some confusing news came from the US. About an hour before the numbers were officially announced, around midnight our time, some sites already opened with a press statement from Sony, claiming credit for the success of “Destiny” for their Playstation 4. Destiny was responsible for the most successful month in the Playstation Store. The game was a big hit digitally. On PS4 alone, players spent 125 million hours playing it, and 450,000 of those were uploaded live via the Share function.
Destiny is played five times more often on PS4 than the second-best title. Which one that is was not disclosed. Furthermore, the number of Playstation Plus subscribers has increased by 115% compared to the pre-Destiny time. Great numbers indeed.
Shortly afterwards, the US sites published the official values from the market research institute NPD. Here, Destiny actually ranked number 1 ahead of Madden 2015 and FIFA 2015; however, they indicated Microsoft’s “Xbox One” as the system on which Destiny sold the most.
The US site IGN suspects this is because the bundles were not included in the table. Also, the digital versions of the games did not count for the table. They want to hold back on further speculation until a statement from Microsoft is available.
As vg247 concludes, this discrepancy could be due to the fact that Xbox One players do not opt for digital purchases as often as players on the Playstation 4.
The sales chart in North America for September for “traditional retail versions” looks like this (the systems on which each title sold best are listed to the left).
On November 4th, the previously locked Northern continent Auroria will open its gates in the sandbox MMO ArcheAge.
In ArcheAge, the third continent has been a no-go zone until now. Here, the three competing factions will meet, which have so far been primarily moving on their home West and East continents or at sea in between – in the case of the pirates. With Auroria, PvP really begins, castles can be built, guild wars come into play; in short, ArcheAge is only really getting started.
Trion Worlds deliberately waited to open Auroria until stable server structures were in place and multiple guilds had formed and developed, so that no “early starter” guild can leverage an advantage at the start too heavily in ArcheAge.
Auroria – Land of Taxes and Guild Wars
The continent Auroria provides 30% more of the coveted housing space. Guild fortresses can be built after a guild leader has “cleared” an area and claimed it for themselves. Once the fortress is built, the guild leader becomes the “Lord” and can impose taxes on anyone who settles in the area.
Regularly, a license will then appear in the auction house to challenge the Lord of an area and to besiege the “Lodestone”. If the usurper is successful, they become the new Lord of that area, and the taxes go to them. However, these are not usually “one-on-one” duels or anything like that, but full-blown guild wars.
Therefore, guilds can start rubbing their hands together, as on November 4th, the real game begins for them.
Submarines, Dungeons and Monsters – Coming Soon to ArcheAge
In addition to Auroria, a new 10-player dungeon will be released, designed for the “endgame”. Only the strongest and bravest adventurers are encouraged to try their luck in Serpentis.
In fact, it seems that the underworld and monsters in ArcheAge are about to stir in November. It has been announced that more monsters are daring to venture out of their caves.
Additionally, there is a new transport medium for all traders with the “Cart Wagon”. And a submarine is also coming into play. Quite a lot is happening.
After Auroria, another update will follow later that unlocks content for high-level players. Community Manager Scapes speaks of a patch that will raise the level cap and bring further features.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Blizzard stays true to itself, albeit in a negative way. In the major World of Warcraft Patch 6.0.2, a plethora of bugs crept in, causing particularly low-level characters to perish quickly.
Particularly hit hard were the Blood Elves. Anyone creating a new character here was quickly beaten to the grave by the first “Level 1 Manawyrm”. A staggering 500 damage was dealt by the standard attack, unfortunately exceeding the health pool of a new character by a multiple.
This was especially demotivating for new players who wanted to dive into Blizzard’s MMO with the big patch. But not only Blood Elves struggled with an “extremely high” difficulty level in World of Warcraft; many dungeons in the leveling phase suddenly reminded players of Classic times, leading to countless wipes. In the official forums, at least hell broke loose.
Blood Elf mass deaths and PvP chaos ended
Shortly after a day, however, improvements were made, and many numbers were adjusted downwards via hotfix. The little Manawyrms now deal significantly more bearable 3-4 damage, and the Blood Elf starting area is no longer overrun by player skeletons.
But PvP players also suffered under the big patch; due to value adjustments, balance was thoroughly disrupted, and player-versus-player skirmishes were often decided within 2-3 seconds. To counter this, damage in PvP areas was generally reduced by 25%.
Buff spells in the Battle for Orgrimmar
Apart from that, there is also good news: Anyone who joins a raid group and blows out Garrosh’s life lights can look forward to a guaranteed heirloom weapon – this scales up to level 100 and can thus be carried through the entire leveling process of the upcoming expansion. However, this guaranteed chance does not apply to the Raid Finder, so you will need to manually assemble a group and tackle one of the other difficulty levels – the effort is definitely worth it.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the sandbox MMO ArcheAge, issues with cheaters have become so significant that it qualifies for a top-ten list of the biggest problem programs. The list is currently circulating on reddit.
That ArcheAge has problems with illegal methods is something everyone likely knows by now. Even the biggest fan must admit that the game is plagued by hacks and cheats. We reported about this almost two weeks ago, that most of the problems originate from Russian forums where the hacks have been developed for their version for some time and are now to be translated into English, as the hackers are expecting to profit from this. It seems that good progress has been made in this regard. Even though Trion Worlds has since adopted a more stringent anti-hack policy, there are still countless incidents every day where “honest” players are frustrated with incidents in the game.
Cheating as a Business Model
In fact, ArcheAge, where “Gold” has such a high value, is particularly susceptible to cheats and hacks. And the wrongdoers do not do this – as in shooter games – for “trolling” or as a “pastime”, but deceive their opponents and ultimately rob themselves of honest success; behind many of them lies a commercial intention. Cheating in ArcheAge is not a childish prank, but a business model.
Of course, cheating has a significantly negative impact on other players, even when pursued for commercial intentions and not just to annoy others. Because when it is so easy to generate gold thanks to teleport trading runs, the “honestly earned” gold of others becomes less valuable. Moreover, the problems associated with placing buildings on properties that are currently being demolished are documented and annoy many. Even though Trion Worlds has announced they want to find solutions, the game is still in the hype phase of its beginning and risks stumbling over this advantage.
Also annoying: Anyone who succeeds in the game immediately faces accusations that they only achieve this through constant cheating. In some ways, ArcheAge currently resembles cycling in recent years.
How severe the hacker plague in ArcheAge is and how many ways there are to cheat is demonstrated by an article that became popular on reddit. Here the author has compiled a top-10 list of hacks, ranging from teleport and speed hacks to radar, bots, or the land-grab hack. Always with videos that show these hacks in the wild.
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In the MMO shooter Destiny, a group of Guardians has managed to defeat the final boss Atheon in Hard Mode in 17 seconds, getting very close to the best gear in the game. The loot is also impressive.
Gone in 17 seconds – Damage record set in Destiny
This afternoon, we showed you a 17-minute video, where a single Guardian faces the Templar. Who has that much time? However, the video for this news is only about 30 seconds long.
A group of six Guardians from the clan “Legendary Crew” with gear close to the “Best-in-Slot” in the game is here obliterating Atheon in Hard Mode. The one recording the video also gets some amazing loot. Do you still get the “normal loot” for a Hard Mode kill if you haven’t defeated the normal version of the instance in this ID yet?
Five 30s and four Gjallahorns in the mix
“How do people deal so much damage?” one wonders. It is a team of three Warlocks in the Sunsinger subclass and three Hunters with the Gunslinger class. Five of them have reached the maximum Light level of 30 – they wear full raid armor and an exotic item, all maxed out. Four of them use the exotic rocket launcher Gjallarhorn and there’s a Raid buff running that gives them extra damage. The kill took place on Xbox One.
As the video itself states, a “world record” has been set here. Previous kills took much longer than 17 seconds, often around the 4-minute mark, as reported by Polygon. Both in the Destiny subreddit and on YouTube, people are discussing the kill video.
It’s impressive in any case, even if the mechanics with the buff turn the boss into a sort of damage dummy. Looking at the images, the power gamers seem to hardly be able to wait for the arrival of new content. Because what is there left for them to do?
New content is expected in December, although there may be some movement in Destiny earlier with an event like the “Trials of Osiris”.
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In Hearthstone, a player has achieved a highly unusual victory. A central component of the tactic features King Mukla, a rather rarely played card.
Every week, hundreds of thousands of games are played in Hearthstone, and there are multiple weekly recaps summarizing the most spectacular games. This week, there is a game round that is so crazy and creatively wild that we can’t keep it from you.
The situation is this: The opponent has no cards in hand and two minions on the board. The player is a rogue and also has two minions on the board. And King Mukla gives the opponent two bananas in Hearthstone every time he is played, which can only be used to buff minions on the field. This is actually designed as a disadvantage for Mukla to balance out his pretty good stats. Well, do you already have an idea of how the bananas can become an advantage?
Unexplained, the video only made it to third place in the compilation. For us, this is perhaps the hottest idea of the year.
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In the MMO shooter Destiny, a video is making waves. A single Guardian takes on the Templar in the raid “The Vault of Glass” and defeats him. All this after the fix.
Most instances in Destiny are designed for three players, and the raid “The Vault of Glass” is even for six. Most players struggle to complete it on normal, let alone in hard mode. One of the bosses in “The Vault of Glass,” the Templar, has been made significantly easier with an exploit known as a “cheese spot.” Players could shoot at him from a somewhat safe position, which took much of the challenge out of the fight. That is no longer possible since the hotfix.
Soloing the current raid boss would be impossible in World of Warcraft
All the more impressive is the achievement of a single Guardian taking on the Templar in hard mode alone. The video has even caused quite a stir among the hardened types on reddit, who usually aren’t easily impressed.
Soloing raid bosses in the current content is something that would be unthinkable in MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. In Destiny, it is rather possible, since here the players’ health regenerates after a while on its own, and it seems that the boss’s HP adapts at least partially to the group size. This also makes the reports less spectacular that players have defeated the raid with half the group size, meaning with three people, or even just two.
Destiny video attracts imitators
Nonetheless, the achievement of soloing the Templar on hard mode is certainly an accomplishment. The video shows how difficult it can be at certain points and that the method requires a lot of skill. Many who have seen the video have spontaneously decided to give it a try and take on the Templar.
How about you? Inspired?
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A few days ago, an interview was conducted with the developers of WildStar, this time our colleagues from “Massively” questioned Product Director Mike Donatelli and Creative Director Chad Moore.
The most exciting statement from the interview is that WildStar still has “several hundred thousand players”. In the worst case, that means at least 200,000, and in the best case, obviously much more; they did not want to commit to an exact number.
They emphasized that they would of course like to have more players but are also convinced that the upcoming content drop will bring both old and new faces back to Nexus. With the mega servers that started yesterday, and whose activation went smoothly, the first step on this path has been taken.
Large Number of Solo Players
Another interesting statistic is that nearly 70% of Nexians primarily play solo content and have completed the leveling phase without any group content. This percentage was previously estimated to be much lower, which is why new content will be brought for solo players in the upcoming patches; the announced “OMNIkern” is just the first of many story-based instances that can be tackled alone.
Otherwise, the interview unfortunately did not contain any major revelations, the countless changes of the upcoming content drop were preached again, and the positive attitude of the team was highlighted. On the other hand, one cannot expect to have a new revelation every day – at some point, one unfortunately has to repeat oneself.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, a group of YouTubers investigates popular myths and rumors.
The guys from DefendTheHouse are back with the second episode of a “Mythbusters”-like series, where they put popular or at least entertaining myths in Destiny to the test. In the first episode, they dealt with some Sparrow stunts and duck ideas. This time, they are trying to find out if you can really evade a “Stuck Grenade,” a sticky grenade, by teleporting? And can you really get a double kill on a single player?
The entertaining video investigates this myth and three others in Destiny, delivering astonishing results.
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World of Warcraft has been causing low-level players some difficulties since the pre-patch – especially in dungeons. It has become too hard. Is the item squish to blame, or are the players just not handling it well?
Yesterday, Wednesday, the pre-patch 6.02 was also introduced here in Europe, and players logging in now are experiencing a sort of culture shock. Although it was known that the stats would be lower; a gem that only gives 10 strength still looks strange at first. The item squish is as hard as expected.
World of Warcraft with 6.02 suddenly harder than before
Sure, acclimatization difficulties were to be expected, but complaints arose that World of Warcraft has now become much harder. Players are wiping through 70 dungeons, having no chance to get through. While questing, players are dropping like flies, somehow lacking the firepower. Is it just a placebo effect? No, it is not.
Somewhere in the complicated balance of the game, mistakes have crept in that make World of Warcraft significantly harder, especially at low levels. Where two casts were enough for an enemy the day before yesterday, now it takes significantly more. “It’s great,” some say, “finally you need skill again! Blizzard must have thought this through!” No, they didn’t.
Especially low-level dungeons become death traps in World of Warcraft
Late on Wednesday night, a hotfix was announced in the official forum. Shortly thereafter, the lead designer of the expansion, Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas, also explained the problems. It is not only the item squish that is to blame for the difficulties. With 6.02, three changes were implemented:
The aforementioned item squish from level 60 into the Mists of Pandaria dungeons has flattened the item curve.
The doubling of player HP to compensate for the removal of resilience from the game.
Changes in base spell damage to improve scaling in the future.
In combination, these three effects are causing balancing difficulties that were not planned.
Players who found difficulties in the leveling area, especially in dungeons, are therefore not suffering from any kind of illusion or acute noobism, but from a bug. At the moment, Blizzard is already working on a hotfix that is expected to be deployed within a day and will require a server restart.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, the loot caves, the most popular farming spots for engrams, glimmer, and EXP, have now been closed twice. But another treasure cave has appeared in the Shattered Coast on Venus.
Skywatch, the first loot cave in Destiny, has been closed for a while, along with some other spots. They have gained some fame in the already short stories of Destiny. The original treasure cave, the root of all evil, has even been memorialized. The treasure caves were ultimately just spawn points where easily defeatable enemies emerged in large numbers and at high speed from their holes to be taken down as quickly as possible and to relieve them of their loot. It is important to pay attention to certain things; it is crucial not to block the spawn point, so one must not stand too close, and every wave must be completely defeated if the next one is to spawn.
Bungie is – as we know – not a big fan of this farming method and wants players to participate in dynamic events instead, hence the closure of the previous farming spots.
After the closure of the first round, trigger-happy but lazy players primarily farmed spots on the Rocketyard. Here it has been busy since Tuesday. Should all treasure caves, all farming spots, all loot caves really be closed? No, not really.
Even now, a video has surfaced showing the latest treasure cave. It resembles the original loot cave, so you should position yourselves with several players as far from the entrance as possible and then shoot away with weapons that have the greatest range. The spot works best with two or three guardians, otherwise, there is a risk that the Dregs will run behind one of the pillars and interrupt the spawn.
Whether the loot caves are still worthwhile today or if it is a bit silly is up to each individual to decide. People seem to be crazy about these spots. But players who are drawn to Venus to pay tribute to the loot gods should hurry. This spot won’t last long either.
Here is a summary of the spot: https://youtu.be/ggzH08nuknI
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
You know, I have a really divided opinion on DLCs. I see the positive sides, but also the negatives. And do you know which side is the worst of all? Pre-order DLCs. The latest candidates, like “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel”, are literally driving me up the wall again. Why? I don’t want to keep that from you…
DLC: My Definition
Over the years, the definition of “DLC” has changed significantly. In the past, I naively assumed that DLCs would always remain free, like new maps in shooters or new areas in MMOs.
At some point, someone came up with the idea (and my feeling tells me it must have been EA) to charge money for these expansions. That was quite a harsh step, as I had always seen DLCs as nice extras, as concessions to the fans, as bait to encourage them to buy later versions of the product (like the 40th Call of Duty installment). Well, unfortunately, in our world, most things still revolve around money, so it’s only logical to eventually say: If you want more, you have to pay more. The cow has to be milked until only the skeleton lies in the grass.
Once again, please don’t misunderstand me completely. I fundamentally consider DLCs to be nothing bad, as they are merely “smaller addons” for me. There are some titles I like to think of when it comes to these bonus contents and found that they were worth the money. “Shadowbroker” from Mass Effect 2 is one of those cases, just like “Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon’s Keep” in Borderlands 2, where I was truly happy and satisfied in the end and didn’t regret investing a few more euros.
Mass Effect 2: Shadowbroker. A DLC that was worth every cent.
Once paid, double scammed
In recent years, a new evil has crystallized: “Pre-order DLCs”. Not only do pre-order customers actually pay a “trust advance” to the developers since they haven’t seen any final reviews of the game, they are also lured with content that others either don’t get or only receive for an additional charge. Particularly absurd are such titles where different “bonuses” are advertised depending on where you buy the game.
But what does that actually mean? Simply put: You cut the finished game, call the cut part “DLC”, and sell it as a super great additional content. Another brilliant example was Mass Effect 3, which had a “Day 1 DLC”. The justification for this was that a “different development team” was responsible for the DLC and “just happened” to be finished in time. Sure. Or in German: I can fool myself, but thanks for wanting to help. Just give me a complete game.
I look back sadly into the past when games came with many side quests. Some games still do that today, but increasingly, more and more are moving towards packing everything that doesn’t relate directly to the main plot into DLCs and asking players to pay again. A few particularly brazen developers even deliberately exclude certain target groups, such as the game series “Heileen”. A core point of the series has always been the different romances in which the game could end – in the latest installment of the series, this is again the case, but you can only flirt with the male characters. If you want to smile at a lovely woman, you need to buy a DLC that unlocks that.
What is your opinion on DLCs? Where does the scamming start, and where might it still be justified?
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Turbine lays off employees. The US development studio is behind the fantasy MMO Lord of the Rings Online.
According to the US magazine massively, there are layoffs at Turbine, the creators behind the somewhat outdated Free2Play MMO Lord of the Rings Online. The layoffs came to attention through a tweet from former community manager Nick Heaton. He mentioned that he is thinking of his friends at Turbine and Lord of the Rings Online.
Thinking of my friends at #Turbine and #LOTRO and elsewhere today. I’m easy to find if you need me.
Massively asked Warner Bros. for a statement on this. They confirmed the layoffs and issued a statement.
As part of their usual business processes, they regularly review the strategic direction of the company. To invest in growth areas at Turbine, they concluded that some positions had to be eliminated. These are always difficult decisions that are not made lightly, but are necessary for Turbine to be positioned to meet existing and upcoming market challenges.
To what extent Lord of the Rings Online is affected by the layoffs is not known.
In April 2010, Turbine was acquired by Time Warner and has since been part of the US corporation Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
ArcheAge has found a new problem. Now some players have been banned. They are screaming that this is completely unjust. But is that really the case? No, says Trion Worlds. A clear case of bad acting.
Trion Worlds, the western publisher of ArcheAge, is facing a new problem. As announced, they are now cracking down harder on hackers and botters who threatened to overwhelm the game and are banning accounts left and right. Every second of them runs to the forum, assures their innocence and demands Trion Worlds to immediately rectify this appalling injustice. They claim they have done nothing.
Teleported 100 times and nothing happened … and then it zoomed
There are postings in the official forum where someone is shouting that he has invested so much money into the game and now such an injustice is being done to him, until community manager Scapes closes the post with a simple “You have been caught using the teleport hack over 100 times.”
Wild West mentality in ArcheAge is now paying off
The policy of banning hackers at the first offense is currently running contrary to the Wild West conditions that prevailed in ArcheAge for a while. Many thought it was like doping. To keep up, you just have to cheat; the others are getting away with it, so nothing will happen. If the banhammer hits you, the outcry is great.
In fact, banned players not only lose the time they have invested but also a considerable amount of real money. A plea for clemency is quickly written, paper (even electronic) is patient, and words cost nothing. A banned person has little to lose. And among those who unjustly cry out, the voice of someone who really had bad luck and suffered injustice may be drowned out. There doesn’t seem to be much trust in the community that Trion Worlds always gets the right ones.
A case of bad acting
At mmorpg.com, Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman comments on the complaint flood in the forum and says they have recently dealt a lot with bad acting. They want to make it clear that they take complaints from unjustly banned players seriously and will lift their bans as quickly as possible. For “innocent” players, it is indeed the case that their accounts were hacked, and once the problem is resolved, they need to make sure to lift the ban again. However, most bans are completely lawful and will remain in place.
“It may surprise some,” Hartsman says, “but the real hackers who use teleport hacks and have their own gold trading accounts are the ones who write the best pleas for clemency.” One day he took on 500 cases, and only one was so close that they could decide in favor of the user and reverse the ban.
The hotfix from yesterday is supposed to be just a taste of the changes that are still to come for the shooter MMO Destiny. Some issues in the raid will be fixed, and they will also address exotic weapons. There are some that could be stronger than they are now.
Templar nerf in “The Glassed Chamber” was just the beginning – Cheese Spots in danger
Yesterday, with the hotfix, one of the most well-known tricks in the raid “The Glassed Chamber” was rendered useless: The Templar could be easily defeated from a special spot.
In the language of Destiny, the term “Cheese Spot” has become established for such a place where you can hit, but cannot be hit. These spots – somewhere between “clever” and “clear exploit” – are also the key to some solo nightfall strategies.
Anyone who thought that with this fix “The Glassed Chamber” was finished for now is mistaken. Raid designer Josh Smith from Destiny already tweeted shortly after the fix that the changes to the Templar were just the beginning of larger renovations and repairs.
Today’s Templar fixes aren’t the end of the fixes and changes coming to VOG. http://t.co/N7Iu6pZkaV
A “legal” solution to the Templar problem on Hard has already appeared on YouTube. A raid group uploaded a video showing how the Templar still gracefully lies down even after the current changes. The fix seems to release some completely new capabilities, so a video has emerged showing how a single Guardian takes on the Templar. https://youtu.be/UNxe1Ewj9z8
Dorn and Bad Karma are still set to be strengthened
A similar message that yesterday was just the beginning was also given by the developers regarding changes to class and weapon balance. While, as announced, the automatic rifles and shotguns were nerfed and the nerf of the Vex Mythoclast was probably anticipated, the promised enhancements to other exotic weapons did not materialize. What exact exotic weapons are meant is still unknown, only for two weapons is it known. They had promised that both Dorn (Thorn) and Bad Karma (Bad Juju) would be strengthened. This is supposed to happen in a larger update where they plan to enhance “under-performing” exotic weapons and continue addressing the balance of Warlocks, Hunters, and Titans.
“We’re still working on a larger update which will address under-performing Exotics and overall class balance.” -Destiny Dev Team — Bungie (@Bungie) October 13, 2014
Nerf of the currently best weapons in Destiny is harsher than expected
Meanwhile, the nerf of the Vex Mythoclast is causing a lot of complaints on Reddit. In the English-speaking forum, it is vigorously discussed that the announced 34% nerf to base damage in the game is much worse than expected. It is calculated before all multipliers and severely downgrades the weapon, which has been so hard to obtain. The Vex Mythoclast drops only in the Hard Mode of the raid “The Glassed Chamber” from the final boss Atheon and has caused headaches for opponents, especially in the Crucible.
Some are actually speculating that “Icebreaker” could be next on the list of threatened weapons in Destiny. Since it was available for purchase from Xur last Friday, many have been raving about the exotic sniper rifle “Icebreaker”.
The “Delta Rising” expansion has been released for the SF MMO Star Trek Online. Retired captains are lured back into the MMO with the prospect of a Delta Flyer.
We have already reported extensively on the “Delta Rising” expansion over the past few weeks. It is all about “Voyager”. Some of the series actors have been engaged, having intensively watched the series and developed stories that recount the tumultuous history of the quadrant based on the TV series.
In addition, all MMO typical features of an expansion are brought along: level cap increases, new ships, new skill trees, new captain specializations , a new highest rank, the full program.
Star Trek Online also lures retired captains back into the world of Star Trek Online with a promo campaign. Those who log in at least 10 days within the next 13 days (until October 28) will receive a Delta Flyer, 66 Lobi crystals, and three keys. If you manage to log in only 6 or 3 times in the 14 days, you will also get something, but less.
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Mein MMO thinks: Both the expansion and the base game are free. Frankly speaking, Star Trek Online has a very player-friendly payment model. So if you’re interested in checking out ST:O for free, you could certainly find worse times than right now.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
