In Lord of the Rings Online, players can now unleash the Beorn, at least on the test server where Update 15 goes live and introduces the new Beorning class. The redesign of legendary items, however, is pushed back by six months.
Update 15 will be the last major update for Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) this year. The new Beorning class is playable for the first time starting now. Beornings are descended from Beorn, a shapeshifter who also appeared in the movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
This is how the Beornings will be in Lord of the Rings Online
The Beornings have three skill lines, which also correspond to different play styles:
With the The-Roar line, they are meant to have access to the ancient knowledge of their people.
With the The-Claw line, they descend upon their enemies.
With The Hide, they protect their friends.
When enough wrath, the class resource, has been generated, Beornings can transform into a massive bear. Newly created Beornings begin their journey in the fresh starter zone, the Vales of Anduin.
Redesign of Legendary Items is Pushed Back by Six Months
Additionally, “Central Gondor” as a new zone collection and the Battle for Pelagrir will bring a new form of epic confrontation to the Free2Play MMO.
The redesign of the legendary items, originally intended for this current update, did not make it in time. It is now pushed to Update 16, which is expected in April 2015.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, the Black Market dealer Xur appeared in the Tower on Friday at 11 AM. He also has exotic items this time that he only exchanges for Strange Coins.
In Germany, it is 11 AM when Xur, the Agent of the Nine, appears. He is considered the “safe” alternative for players looking for exotic items. He has at least four every week: an exotic weapon and exotic armor pieces for the three classes in Destiny: Warlock, Hunter, and Titan.
However, a kind of love-hate relationship has developed with the Warlocks, as he has only given them the Sunbreakers in consecutive weeks. Therefore, he is considered reliable, because although his selection is random every week, the exotic items can be obtained safely. No one has to rely on their drop luck.
Especially the question of which weapon he offers is always exciting. All classes in Destiny use the same weapons. When he offered the auto rifle “Suros Regime” for 23 Strange Coins two weeks ago, it heavily disrupted the balance in Destiny, especially in the Crucible.
Xur is paid with Strange Coins. This is an endgame currency that can be obtained, for example, by completing weekly missions and is highly sought after because of Xur. Additionally, he carries an exotic engram every week that he exchanges for Motes of Light. Here players can try their luck if they dare: The item received can also be for other classes. Armor pieces are class-bound in Destiny.
As in previous weeks, we will answer the key questions about Xur for you at mein-mmo again this time.
All about Xur’s visit from October 10 to October 12 in Destiny
When does Xur appear and how long does he stay? Xur, the Agent of the Nine, spawns at exactly 11 AM German time and remains until Sunday at 11 AM.
Where is Xur this week?
Xur is right next to the Speaker in the northern part of the Tower. You can see it excellently in this video:
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In recent days, Blizzard has been publishing more about the garrisons that will await you in the upcoming expansion of World of Warcraft, “Warlords of Draenor.” In the current developer blog, various followers have been discussed, and they’ve shared a bit about what these can do. We have summarized the most exciting announcements for you.
My little private army wants to be leveled up first
At the beginning, you will only have very few followers in your garrison; a barracks is essential to even encounter them. Your followers have different traits and abilities and can – just like yourself – reach level 100, but they need to complete missions for that. Depending on the abilities your underlings possess, they are suited for different tasks: Some are, for example, better blacksmiths, while others you prefer to send on combat missions.
In total, you will be able to have 20 (or 25 with a Level 3 barracks) active followers, but you can also collect more and freely exchange the inactive ones for the hardworking colleagues. Similar to pets and items, followers have a rarity level ranging from uncommon to epic (“green” to “purple”), and this also determines the number of their abilities. But don’t worry, even a “green” Leeroy Jenkins can become epic, as once he reaches level 100, excess experience will be invested in improving his rarity level.
Bodyguards – “Pets” for everyone?
A small number of followers have the trait “bodyguard,” which means, simplified, that this companion will also follow you into quest and leveling areas and fight by your side – similar to the pets of warlocks and hunters. Whether these specific followers can be given direct commands or whether they will act completely automatically is still not conclusively determined – but they are likely to act independently and utilize their characteristic abilities (Millhouse Manastorm will probably drink – a lot).
But that’s not all: Your bodyguard has its own reputation bar and gets to know you better over time as it helps its hero secure or unsettle the expanses of Draenor. At certain reputation levels, it gains new, useful abilities that you can access: it can summon other players to your position, serve as a mailbox, act as a repair station, or even open a portal to your garrison.
New followers – where do they come from?
The majority of followers can simply be found in the game world – they will join you after certain missions, can be “hired” for a gold amount (I prefer the term “recruited,” but who am I to say?) or become available through certain achievements, like Nat Pagle, whom you will undoubtedly bind to you once again through persistent fishing skills.
However, if you are looking for an NPC with very specific traits, you should acquire an inn or tavern (level 2) as soon as possible, where you can send out an agent once a week who will then present you with three suitable candidates, one of whom you may choose.
In just a few hours, the mysterious black market vendor Xur will appear again in the Tower in Destiny. He has drawn the ire of the Warlocks in recent weeks.
At 11 AM it will be time again. Then Xur, the Agent of the Nine, will appear in the Tower of Destiny (Yes, we will report on it again). A highlight of the week, as he sells exotic items, and there are often treasures among them. Titans and Hunters love this nice guy. And his appearance affects millions of gamers: When he sold the auto rifle Suros Regime two weeks ago, he changed the balance in the current PvP event
“The Iron Banner”, as the Suros Regime is considered the best auto rifle in the game and the auto rifles are currently seen as
overpowered.
However, Xur has drawn the ire of a group of players in Destiny: the Warlocks. He has only brought the exotic gloves “Sunbreakers” for them the whole time. While he occasionally has a chest piece for Titans and a helmet for Hunters. Last week, when the Sunbreakers appeared again, the Warlocks on reddit called for a way to get rid of him. Let’s kill Xur!, echoed through the halls of the internet forums. The rather spoiled Titans and Hunters grouped protectively around him and started their own forum call: Protect Xur!
Today, ahead of his next appearance, a screen has surfaced on reddit showing the “likely” loot table of Warlock loot for Xur. A “leak” *wink, wink*. But of course: it’s all just satire, before anyone gets upset. Someone was active with Photoshop. You can admire the result in the cover image of this article.
What do you think, dear Warlocks, do you think he will have your favorite item with him again this week?
In the Dark Fantasy/Horror MMO The Secret World, a golden bonus weekend runs until October 13th.
At Secret World, there are many perks for players during the weekend with the “Golden Weekend”, so for every power point a player earns until October 13th, they get one additional. Those who purchase Funcom points will receive a 20% bonus on every subsequent purchase of those points for the next 6 months. The cosmetic outfit “Heavy Metal” is available with a 90% discount in the in-game shop.
And recruiting new players becomes more rewarding, as there’s a bonus free month as a “Premium” player. To qualify, you just need to send out the invitation over the weekend; the invited player must then decide within 30 days to give TSW a chance.
But it’s not just “out there” that things are happening, but also directly in the Secret World. In the event “Golden Wrath”, groups of players can hunt a “monstrous golem”, as it is said, before which even Tokyo is not safe. Here, special rewards can be earned.
This is what happened a year ago during the Golden Weekend in The Secret World:
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In the fantasy MMO World of Warcraft, the date for the so-called pre-patch is now set. 6.02 will be released on October 14. It will prepare for the expansion Warlords of Draenor.
The Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands has turned blood red and a true flood of strangely looking orcs has poured out. The invasion of the Iron Horde has begun, says a post that is currently only available in English.
It was already suspected, but a definitive date was missing until now. Now it’s here: On October 14, “Iron Tide”, the pre-patch for Warlords of Draenor, will be released. The patch serves as a kind of bridge between the current World of Warcraft and the WoW that the MMO will become with the Warlords of Draenor expansion.
These pre-patches have historically served to help players become familiar with their heroes again. Often players return to the world of Azeroth after a longer break as the expansion approaches, and they need some time to acclimatize again.
Upper Blackrock Spire as a 5-man instance for level 90 players in World of Warcraft
The World of Warcraft Patch 6.02 has been playable on the test server for a while. With it, the revised skills will be introduced, talent trees will change, and some further changes will give players a taste of Warlords of Draenor: the so-called item squish is also expected.
In addition, Blizzard is adding an event dungeon. Starting October 14, players will once again venture into Upper Blackrock Spire (UBRS), where a vanguard of the Iron Horde has settled. The 5-man instance is designed for players at level 90 and will only be playable for a limited time.
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Character stats have been reduced to smaller and easier-to-grasp numbers. It is important to mention that this is not a nerf, as the values of opponents have also been decreased.
New talents for level 100 and new Draenor bonuses for levels 91 to 99 have been added.
The Garrison is a new feature in Draenor that allows you to build bases and recruit followers to send on missions.
We have synchronized the functions of agility, strength, and intelligence.
Hit rating and weapon skill have been removed since they are no longer needed to reliably land hits!
We have adjusted the rhythm of healing to allow for more tactical decisions in terms of effectiveness and throughput for single-target and group heals. Additionally, the effect of passive and automatically applied healing has been reduced to highlight player choices and strategies.
The racial abilities have been adjusted so that all races perform similarly well in combat.
Some abilities have been removed from all classes, mainly redundant and rarely used abilities. The goal is to limit the proliferation of abilities and key bindings.
The amount of crowd control in the game (especially in PvP) has been drastically reduced. We have removed many crowd control abilities and consolidated different categories of diminishing returns.
Several common buffs and debuffs have been combined or removed if redundant.
All characters now automatically learn some important major glyphs upon level-up. We have reduced the amount of instant healing in the game by giving various instant healing spells cast times.
Vengeance has been redesigned and renamed “Resolve”. Resolve no longer increases damage dealt but instead increases self-healing and absorption shields triggered by the tank based on incoming damage.
The requirements for character alignment on some key abilities have been relaxed or removed.
The mana costs of resurrection spells have been reduced to facilitate recovery after a defeat.
Professions are no longer tied to abilities that positively impact combat. There are a variety of class-specific changes as well as new masteries. You can read details about those in the class-specific sections below.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, a new farming spot for legendary engrams, glimmer, and similar items has been discovered. This time, it goes high up in the Rocketyard.
Farming Spots – the worst kept secrets in Destiny
The Rocketyard is already home to two new farming spots, both the so-called Lootcave 2.0 and the “Red Loot Box” spot (Man, they are creative with the naming) are located here. Now, another farming spot has been discovered. We would love to say something like: Swedish researchers from the Björn Borg University in Stockholm have found that … – but that would be a lie. It was a guy on YouTube who then shared it on reddit. By the way, he calls the spot “The Perch”, we would rather suggest “Loot Crane”, but okay: The finder owns the loot and the naming rights.
He found the old “new” spots somehow all too lame and wished for the speed of the blessed treasure cave times to return, so he sought an elevated position at the Rocketyard, on a crane, and was able to loot two of the extremely fast spawn points right away.
Farming spot best suited for two to three people
It’s best to do this with one or two colleagues so that the stress isn’t too great. However, this method requires weapons with decent range. If you prefer close distance, you should rather stay in the stairwell.
It is important at this spot, like at the others, to make sure that you hit a wave completely so that no individual survivors are left behind. As you can see, it is always a bit tricky to catch the last knight. This method is therefore recommended for teams.
The yield, writes the finder, is also quite outstanding and as good as in the original treasure cave, if not even slightly better.
And what’s particularly nice is: Here you don’t have to fear events, but can enjoy them. When the spot goes up in flames, there’s just more loot to grab than usual. The automatic rifle he uses in the video is, by the way, the Atheon’s Epilog, which drops from the final boss in the raid “The Glass Minotaur” (also on “normal”). We’ve embedded a pic of it above, because our researchers found out that you like purple.
And now have fun with the video about the latest farming spot in Destiny:
https://youtu.be/yAzzLYJHgNI
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fantasy MMO Final Fantasy XIV brings a new base class with the next patch 2.4, the Rogue, and its prestige version, the Ninja. A preview now introduces the two hero classes.
Every week, we now expect the patch 2.4 for Final Fantasy XIV. One of the most important changes: A new class, the Rogue, is being introduced. The homepage has now explained the background and history of the class. They are said to have evolved from the thieves of Limsa Lominsa, who cultivated their peculiar two-handed fencing style with boarding axes. Rogues prefer fighting with short blades, such as daggers and knives. Their class quests can be found on the Final Fantasy homepage, ranging from level 1 to 30.
Players who bring the Rogue to level 30 and a certain other class, which is still unknown, at least to level 15, can take the path of the Ninjas. The Final Fantasy version of the Ninjas emphasizes the spiritual background. They harnessed the energy of “Ki” to unleash cunning combat techniques. As a job, a sort of prestige class, their guild quests range from level 35 to 50.
We have gathered some videos so you can get an impression of the repertoire and skill set that the two new classes will bring.
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The date for the first expansion of the Free2Play MMO Swordsman Online is set. On October 23, the journey to the Gobi Desert and the Mongolian Steppe begins with the “Gilded Wasteland”.
The free-to-play martial arts MMO Swordsman Online will receive its first expansion in two weeks. This will introduce, among other things, an increase of the level cap to 94, three new zones, three fresh instances, and several new features.
Now, battles will also be able to take place across servers; karate novices will be able to catch up with the veterans more quickly by lowering the level curve; additionally, many new pets, weapons, cosmetic items, and armor will find their way into the game. The companions are also being worked on significantly.
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The Free2Play MMO World of Tanks is releasing a special version of the M4 Sherman tank to coincide with the launch of “Fury”, a new tank movie starring Brad Pitt.
“Fury” is a new film that is set to be released in mid-October pretty much everywhere except Germany and South America. It will debut here at the beginning of 2015, on New Year’s Day even. In the film, a ragtag unit of tank operators attempts to lead a decisive strike against the enemies behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany. As a promotional partner for this film, Sony Online Pictures has appropriately chosen Wargaming, the creators of World of Tanks.
Wargaming plans to release a specially marked M4 Sherman in a bundle across all versions, including Xbox 360, PC, and iOS. The bundle is already available on PC and iOS. Xbox 360 fans will have to wait another week. In a press release, both companies praise each other enthusiastically. Wargaming refers to the tank film as “the most realistic portrayal of tank combat in cinema to date.” Sony Pictures looks forward to reaching as many tank enthusiasts as possible and sees World of Tanks as the ideal digital extension of the film.
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At MMORPG.com, there was an opportunity to talk with Mike Donatelli and Chad Moore about WildStar in general, the current studio climate, and future visions in particular – we filtered out and translated the most interesting statements for you.
Free2Play: Currently no option
Currently, there are no plans to introduce this model. According to the Product Director of Carbine, Mike Donatelli, they are closely monitoring the demand for a Free2Play model and also understand the calls for it.
They have this topic on their radar and will continue to look at what players want.
The studio climate is strained, but the vision remains
In response to the rather spicy question about the current motivation of the employees, given that there have been quite a few negative reports, it was said that there were indeed some internal problems. Most developers had never experienced the launch of a large game and were consequently not prepared for the changing demands that the launch brought. However, they are all united by their vision for WildStar. This will continue to be pursued in the coming months. And especially the next patch will reflect much of it. They are looking forward to the future with renewed optimism.
Too “hardcore” for most?
They never intended to make WildStar difficult as a whole; rather, it should provide something for every type of player. Whether players are interested in PvE, PvP, crafting, housing, or the lore of the world.
In the future, the entry barriers for all variants of PvE and PvP will be lowered further, but not the difficulty of the individual content – they just want to lead players in a much easier way, so they are not thrown into the proverbial “cold water.” Especially concerning solo content in the endgame, much is yet to come for players, as particularly these player types currently feel a bit neglected.
More on this topic: We recently had the opportunity for an interview with the Product Director of Carbine. Here, the accessibility of the content was also a major topic. To the Mein MMO WildStar interview.
The future: More story, development of the game world
Most players have found great pleasure in the game world, which is dripping with background knowledge and uniqueness – and that is precisely what they want to continue. The game world should be expanded, and especially the universe itself – this refers more to an even richer backstory and more elaborated details.
To ensure this, they are also undertaking current efforts like the “Loremageddon” (translated: “Knowledge Twilight”), where players could submit their questions about the game world. The answers will then become part of the history of Nexus.
In the near future, players will especially be able to encounter the beloved characters from the game’s trailers in the world – because this humorous aspect is somewhat missed in the dark endgame story.
You can read the full interview, unfortunately only in English, here: mmorpg.com.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
There are problems with hackers in ArcheAge: New difficulties are becoming known, and now it is affecting the auction house. Worker wage potions have appeared in large quantities there. Even Trion Worlds believes that something is wrong here.
ArcheAge has problems. Even in beta, tens of thousands of players were banned for accessing the early phase of the game with fake credit cards. Lately, hacks have been circulating, and now a new problem has emerged that affects the game’s economy.
The “worker wage” potions have always cost around 8 gold in the auction house. As players report in the official forum, huge amounts of these potions have now appeared on some servers for only 4 gold. And we are talking about hundreds of these potions, which are so important for crafting, appearing at once. It is hard to believe that this happens through a logical “in-game mechanism.” Because someone who spends that much “real money” to get in-game currency would certainly diversify their assets to gain more gold from it and not ruin their own market.
A possible reason for the flood of potions seems to be that players want to quickly convert illegitimately acquired credits (for example, through hacked founder accounts or fake credit cards) into gold. They want to turn the gold back into euros or rubles or whatever via eBay or gold sellers. Some kind of “money laundering.” This seems to be time-sensitive: speed is more important than achieving the maximum gold gain Y from premium currency X.
It’s like with all these topics in ArcheAge by now. The discussion gets started. Players come in and say: the thread opener shouldn’t take it so seriously. It’s definitely possible. After all, it’s a sandbox, where everyone can do what they want, and one shouldn’t attribute the strength of others to hacks and ruin ArcheAge by talking about it. Then the situation escalates further, and the signs that there is a problem become clearer and clearer.
In this case, however, the evidence seems to be clear and suggests that something is wrong with the sudden appearance of these potions. Trion Worlds has also commented on this: they find the situation suspicious as well and are looking into it.
It is to be hoped that Trion Worlds will get the turbulence around the player under control as soon as possible. According to their own statements, the problems are known, and they are working hard to investigate property preemption rights or to eliminate the teleport hack.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The World War MMO War Thunder is significantly upgraded with patch 1.43. With a destructible environment, numerous new tanks, anti-aircraft guns, aircraft, analysis tools, the hangar, and a kill cam, they aim to take the game to the next level.
Gaijin Software has released a trailer for the extensive changes coming with patch 1.43. That’s really a lot. In a “quieter” part, players are now given the opportunity to engage with their own tanks and those of the opponents before things get heated. And in the action part, it goes boom, kaboom, and crash.
This allows players to accurately analyze where the weaknesses of their own tank lie and where those of the opponent can be found. In battle, there’s a kind of kill cam where you can see where a tank was hit and how it reacted (not so well, otherwise it would hardly be called kill cam). In the hangar, you can also save different configurations for your aircraft with 1.43 to react to anti-aircraft fire, for example.
With 1.43, a whole lot of new models are also coming into play. In addition, tanks can now also treat the environment as they should, with their tracks. The patch is set to appear first for PC, with the PS4 version coming a bit later.
Anyone who has never heard of War Thunder -> The game has made it to number 2 in our Free2Play ranking. In a direct comparison with World of Tanks, it also performs well. It targets a different audience and emphasizes different aspects. Just check out the trailer for 1.43, as it gives you a good insight into what War Thunder wants to be and how it plans to achieve that.
It’s worth watching the trailer just to hear how the English narrator says “Kugelblitz”, “Wirbelwind”, or “Ostwind”.
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In the MMO shooter Destiny , players must reach reputation level 2 in the Iron Banner in order to see drops in the new mode. The Iron Banner event is currently receiving heavy criticism from some players: It invites desertion and is not working as advertised.
The active event this week “Iron Banner” is functioning differently than previously thought. Players are reporting that they started receiving rewards such as a legendary weapon only after reaching reputation level 2 at the end of a match. Before that, it looked bleak.
The Reputation Levels in the Iron Banner in Destiny
It is now clear how many reputation points are needed for each reputation level:
Reputation level 1 can be reached with just 100 points. Here, a shader and an emblem can be purchased from the vendor Lord Saladin, which each grant an additional 10% reputation points. Instead of 25 points per victory, with them you receive 30 points. A loss does not grant any reputation points.
Reputation level 2 requires 1200 points. From here, players report an increased chance of rewards after match completion, and a class item can be purchased from the vendor that grants an additional 10% bonus.
Reputation level 3 needs 3000 points. From here, legendary items can be purchased from Lord Saladin, including armor pieces and weapons.
Update: The first players have now reached rank 3. The weapons cannot be broken down into energy or shards. There are also no reports of new items that are only available at this level, like in the Queen’s Wrath event.
Problems with the Iron Banner: Mode Attracts Deserters
In the English-speaking Forum reddit, there is much criticism of the Iron Banner mode. Because losers do not receive reputation points and no other rewards, it has established that players in a hopeless situation (whatever they understand by that) simply leave the 6vs6 match. This leaves the remaining players outnumbered and frustrated. Sometimes it only takes a slight disadvantage that players throw in the towel: This takes the tension out of the mode and is generally seen as a design flaw in the concept.
Furthermore, the fact that the Iron Banner is only played in 6-man teams on large maps does not please some.
Does the Iron Banner in Destiny Work as Intended?
As players have envisioned and as it was announced at the beginning, the Iron Banner event does not seem to function quite as intended. In theory, high-level Guardians should have a clear advantage in the PvP mode, as their gear and the stats on it fully count. In practice, while the difference is there, it is hardly noticeable. In a YouTube video, a Guardian with level 4 and a level-1 auto rifle plays a strong role in an Iron Banner match.
Players are hoping for answers from Bungie regarding whether the mode works as planned.
Update:Community Manager DeeJ has asked for player feedback and has already announced that the Iron Banner and its functionality will be the topic of the next Weekly Update.
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Hello and welcome to a new edition of my column, today I am venting my frustration about another one of my favorite topics: freedom of choice in RPGs – or rather the “illusory freedom,” where you actually can’t choose anything at all.
To begin with, this is not about decisions that affect character development, such as talent trees, skill selection, class choice, and so on. I could probably rant about that for pages, but that’s a topic for another day…
“Life or Death?”
If you think back to the early games, especially in the RPG genre, there was almost no freedom from a storytelling perspective. Usually, the plot was strictly predetermined, and you could hardly influence it at all – it just played out like a movie, interrupted by combat, quest, and exploration missions where the characters gain strength. Honestly, I liked that. I could experience the story exactly the way the developers intended, and even though some events deeply shook me (Final Fantasy VII: Aeris. Does it ring a bell?) it was always the story that was pre-defined and unchangeable.
Newer games are trying more and more to incorporate freedom of action; some successful examples are Dragon Age or Mass Effect, where you can make many decisions that have noticeable effects on the storyline. You make decisions over several installments about which crew members survive, how they react to you, and what relationships you build with them. It’s fun, and you really have the impression of shaping the world a bit according to your ideas and decisions, characters reference past actions, and the game world adapts.
Half-heartedness is heartless!
A whole lot of game developers, however, seem to be desperately trying to incorporate some decisions, no matter how trivial or absurd they are. “Is my character going to eat the cheesecake or the chocolate truffles?” “Am I taking the red leash or the blue one to walk my dog?” And although you do feel a certain degree of freedom with these choices, they severely disrupt the flow of the game because the sequence is interrupted, and the “movie” is essentially paused. What annoys me even more are any mechanisms that make your decisions moot anyway. “Do you want to save person A or person B?” – “Oh, it doesn’t matter; they’re both going to die anyway, regardless of what you do.”
I found it particularly egregious in the game “The Walking Dead – Season 1” (Warning, Spoiler!): In the last 30 minutes of gameplay, they decided to get rid of all the side characters entirely, no matter how much effort it took to get them through the game. There is a series of events that results in all survivors dying one after the other, unfortunately in a very crude manner. It feels half-hearted and leaves me with a very bitter aftertaste for an otherwise great game.
Of course, sometimes demonstrating the powerlessness of the player character is appropriate – it can be an incredibly intense experience that no matter what you do, you cannot prevent the inevitable – but then you should do it more skillfully!
[quote_right]Not every game needs freedom of choice.[/quote_right]
So, my dear developers out there, keep this in mind (or your horns… or wings…): Not every game needs freedom of choice, and before you hinder the flow of the game or make all decisions irrelevant in the end, it’s better to leave them out altogether from the beginning. I prefer to be free from choices in a good game than choice-free in a bad one (and yes, I had to read that multiple times to ensure it makes sense).
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The public opinion on the shooter MMO Destiny seems to be changing. After the huge hype at release, meager reviews came in, seeing the 500 million project with ratings around 75%. Yet even some of the supposedly harshest critics are still playing it and can’t stop writing about it. Even after a month, gaming sites are still full of reports about Destiny. Non-players are slowly getting annoyed by this.
A few weeks ago we reported on the criticism of the MMO shooter Destiny. After the huge hype at release, some critics sharpened their knives: Destiny is at best an average game. The hype once again a trick. Bungie miscalculated, the game lacks too much story, soul, it feels incomplete.
Addiction factor is here: The Destiny virus
Now, however, a different mood is slowly building: because despite the weaknesses of the game, which are still being identified, even the critics can’t stop playing it. For instance, Paul Tassi reports on Forbes that despite its flaws, the game is remarkably playable and especially replayable: “About a week after launch, many of the 6/10 or 7/10 reviews were probably justified, as we entered a dead phase where the mechanics became boring. But now? I actually know many of the critics who judged so harshly, and I know they are still playing Destiny today. They have contracted Destiny like a virus.” Furthermore, Destiny is already significantly better after the first patches than it was at launch.
According to Tassi, the fascination of the game lies in its incredible accessibility, gradually introducing players to the numerous activities. In the end, there are so many possibilities to engage that one doesn’t even know what to do first.
Reporting on Destiny annoys some non-players
Ben Kuchera is dealing with another problem for the US magazine Polygon. In the article “We can’t stop writing about Destiny, but you can’t stop reading about it either” he addresses the enormous media attention that Destiny still receives a month after release. Many readers of the site, who are not Destiny fans, are slowly fed up and want to read more about other games. No Facebook post, no article goes by without someone complaining about giving free attention to the 500 million colossus.
But Kuchera defends Destiny: The interest in it is simply enormous. And there is so much to write about. Yes, Destiny is a mess. But it is an incredibly interesting mess!
At Polygon, they compare Destiny to the first Assassin’s Creed. That also drove fans to despair, but the potential of what a great game it could become was always visible. And with Assassin’s Creed 2 at the latest, that hope was fulfilled.
Other voices online compare Destiny more to Diablo 3. That also took some time to really find its form, but still kept players engaged despite its flaws. Something seems to be going right with Destiny.
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In Guild Wars 2, the fastest method to acquire gold involves a sophisticated system of leveling a twink to level 10 to earn a valuable key.
MMOs are becoming increasingly complex. The mechanics being introduced are more refined. And the methods to trick and exploit them are keeping pace with the developers’ efforts. In Guild Wars 2, a YouTube video now showcases a whole arsenal of tricks, tips, and know-how to earn gold as quickly as possible.
Key Farming in Guild Wars 2
Interestingly: The action does not require a high-level, well-equipped hero but rather a newly created character.
The goal: The “key” to the success of this method in Guild Wars 2 is that there is a special key for fresh characters who complete their first personal story quests, which can unlock valuable loot boxes (which are mostly available in the cash shop). These keys can be sent to the main character since they are “account bound,” providing significant benefits. When you break down this method to the last penny, it is still very attractive, even after the September nerf, but also completely “counter-intuitive.”
The catch: To obtain this key, the new character must complete the first package of quests in their “personal story,” which now can only be done from level 10 since the September patch.
The solution: The YouTuber WoodenPotatoes has now demonstrated various tricks and tips in a 25-minute video to quickly rush a fresh character through the story and obtain this key. It resembles assembly line work.
Among the tricks is to create a warrior, as they are the strongest. Then, you can skip the first 10 levels with scrolls and rewards, but that is a limited resource. Alternatively, you can explore all cities or simply craft to level 10 using the cooking system (in GW2, crafting also gives experience).
The video describes countless nuances about which event items a level 1 player can use to deal significant damage, which gems to socket for their “key farm equipment,” and which gimmicks save crucial time of 30 seconds and so on. It is an impressive video that covers every single aspect and trick.
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If you watch the video about GW2, you might think that the developers are slowly engaging in an arms race with the players. The developers introduce innovative methods to broaden the game and deviate from the linear path. In conventional game design, it is actually inconceivable that a “low-level” character can send something of value to a higher-level one.
However, this seems to be establishing itself as a trend. Also during the rush in ArcheAge, it was initially common for low-level characters to be rushed through the story quickly to gather Gilda Stars, which could then be used to purchase building plans or send a scarecrow.
In Destiny, power gamers create twinks of the same class to increase their chances of loot.
And even back then in World of Warcraft, some of the methods described here were visible: Many veterans cared diligently for their level 19 twink, not to benefit the main character but because there were “loopholes” that made them vastly superior to equally leveled players in PvP.
Two-Class Society in MMOs
My MMO thinks: As much as these tricks may excite the “fans” because they require thinking outside the box and give true pros advantages over “casual” players, these methods also appear problematic and complicated, resembling exploits to some extent. MMOs thereby foster a sort of two-class society: players who know and exploit these tricks; and players who play the game “the way the developers want.” A challenging field for MMO designers.
What do you think? Are these flaws in the design of the games or do such methods make the appeal of MMOs for you?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In a video, the leading minds behind Blizzard’s free card game Hearthstone discuss the meta-game.
Rock, Paper, Scissors with a few thousand variables
“Meta” is one of the most commonly used terms when following discussions about Hearthstone. However, it is not so easy to understand what the experts actually mean.
By “Meta,” Hearthstone refers to “the decks that are currently most played.” So what’s currently “in.”
The best decks are played, the cards that promise the greatest success. It’s logical. But ultimately, in functioning games, there are no really “best” cards, otherwise the game would be boring and quickly “solved.” Rather, cards are only as strong as the opposing cards allow them to be. This creates an eternal cycle, as the deck that is currently “in” gets replaced by the deck that is particularly effective against that deck.
Example: If scissors dominate the current meta-game in “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, then the next current meta-game is rock and the one after that is paper.
It’s similar, but much more complicated in Blizzard’s card game Hearthstone, where players not only have three options, but myriads of card combinations. Therefore, it’s much harder to figure out what the next meta-game will be than in Rock-Paper-Scissors. Even Blizzard is often surprised by what ultimately prevails.
The History of the Meta-Game in Hearthstone
In a video, Ben Brode, Eric Dodds, and Mike Donais delve into the history of the meta in Hearthstone. They learned a lot as developers, including which game mechanics were so frustrating for opponents that they wanted them removed from the game:
The Early Beta Rogue had a different hero power than today. It permanently increased the attack of a weapon by one point if he already had a weapon. Additionally, “Poison” did not just give +3 attack points to the weapon as it does today, but doubled the damage of the weapon. An absolutely unfair game mechanic – the meta had to change urgently.
The Early Freeze Mage, on the other hand, had so many options to remove the opponent’s minions from the game that it was simply annoying to play against him. That had to change too. From that phase, there remains a reluctance toward too many abilities that disable minions.
The “Release the Hounds” nerf then hit the Hunter. Here even Blizzard was probably surprised by what Hunter could really do with this card, which was changed multiple times – and recently was again the target of at least an indirect nerf.
With Naxxramas, one could now observe how the entire existing meta dissolves and reforms. There are so many crazy deck ideas. This was also an exciting time for them at Blizzard.
Who will find the next Mad-Range Hunter, the Miracle Rogue, or the Zoo?
At Blizzard, they are often just as surprised by developments as the players are. Therefore, Blizzard does not believe that the meta-game in Hearthstone truly belongs to them or that they have influence over it. It belongs to the players and changes completely without any influence from the Hearthstone creators: “Who knows who will find the next Mad-Range Hunter, the next zoo deck, or the Miracle Rogue? It could be you!” they say at the end of the entertaining video.
Update: The video unfortunately no longer exists.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, a new farming spot for legendary engrams, Glimmer, and experience points has been discovered. In the Cosmodrome, a staircase proves to be the new El Dorado. The community has affectionately named it “Loot Stairs.”
Many paths lead to the goal in Destiny
While some players struggle with the new Nightfall Strike or the Iron Banner event, others want nothing to do with such content and prefer to stay in a place where they can farm low-level mobs to gain experience points and level up their weapons. Furthermore, it is currently trendy to bring Twinks to level 20 – it might make sense to level up more Guardians of the same class. Or players are looking for engrams and trying their luck with the newly coded decoder, the Cryptarch. This is called loot cave farming.
The first batch of these treasure caves was locked soon after they emerged. Grinding them became a trendy activity before the nerf. Much to Bungie’s dismay. But that didn’t stop players from looking for new spots. And they found one. Now again!
The magical staircase in the Cosmodrome
Gold seekers – or rather engram seekers in Destiny – have once again spent hours searching for the best farming spot in Destiny – and they have found it. The new spot is located in the Cosmodrome, relatively close to the spawn point and has an outstanding yield. The special thing here is: The mobs come quickly, spawn at close range, drop like flies and drop like a loot piñata.
The only downside: Every seven to ten minutes, the Guardians must leave their cozy spot in the staircase, and one has to show up, go upstairs, and check on things. A ship lands – it announces itself with a lot of noise – and enemies jump out. They must be eliminated, otherwise the spawn gets interrupted.
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In the shooter MMO Destiny, the Nightfall mission, level 28 Nightfall Strike is intense this week. All three burns are active. We tell you how to manage it anyway.
What is a Nightfall Strike? A Nightfall Strike is a mission for three Guardians that can be completed once a week. It is essentially the “secret” final stage of the weekly heroic strikes, pushed to the limit by the “Epic” modifier. The weekly Nightfall Strike is designed for level 28 and the rewards are extraordinary: In addition to the chance for exotic items, there’s a 20% bonus on reputation and experience for everything you do this week. Unfortunately, this does not apply to reputation gains at the Iron Banner, that would be too easy.
What is special about Nightfall Strikes? Nightfall Strikes have so-called modifiers. This always includes the modifier “Nightfall” – which means: If the entire strike team is dead, the strike is considered failed and the players end up in orbit, having to start over.
In addition, Nightfall Strikes also have some other modifiers like “Juggler” – meaning no ammunition drops for the weapon being fired – or “Lightswitch”, where enemies are strong in close combat.
Okay, where are we going this week and what can they do there? This week’s Nightfall Strike in Destiny is “Defeat the Archon-Priest.” This leads you into the strike “Winter’s Run” on Venus. The modifiers, alongside the two always active modifiers Nightfall (if all Guardians die, you go to orbit) and Epic (ensuring it gets quite tricky), this time are Solar Burn, Arc Burn, and Void Burn. Each of the three elemental damage types deals triple damage in the strike. This applies to both enemies and Guardians. Last week, for example only “Arc Burn” was active in a strike that had very few enemies with electric damage, which was ideal. This week, it’s going to be intense in Destiny.
And how do I still complete the strike? At most spots, it is advantageous to seek a higher position and snipe the enemies from a distance or let them eliminate each other at first. There are even some glitches or semi-exploits at the final boss, safe spots under structures allowing you to shoot at the boss without getting hit yourself. Therefore, the strike is quite manageable and also food for those players who need to prove themselves by completing a three-person meal alone.
We have selected two videos for you, where you can see the Nightfall Strike well this week.
This is a short version with commentary from the US site IGN:
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