ArcheAge: 10 Things You Should Know About the Headstart

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 5 minutes

The sandbox MMO ArcheAge is about to launch its Head Start for founders. We have summarized the ten most important things everyone should know when logging in.

1. Never delete a character

Everyone participating in the Head Start is a founder. The founder’s package grants specific bonuses and items depending on its cost. The special items, like the chest, are only available for the first character created. Bonuses apply to the first six. So if someone creates a character, plays for three minutes, and then realizes that they don’t like the walk or that their hair doesn’t look great, or that they are allergic to cats, they should really avoid deleting the character.

2. When does the Head Start for ArcheAge start, when can the rest join the servers?

It starts at 7 PM tomorrow evening, on Friday. Free2Play players will start four days later, on Tuesday, also at 7 PM.

3. Who is eligible to participate in the Head Start and can I still join?

Everyone who has purchased a founder’s package from Trion Worlds is eligible. Anyone wanting to join the Head Start should act quickly. As the nice lady from buffed correctly said in a podcast recently: Experience shows that the publisher’s site crashes at release. Then it will be too late. Theoretically, one could still buy a package a few hours before the release and participate in the Head Start.

If someone buys a founder’s package not for the Head Start but for the other benefits: The packages will later be available as “Starter Packages”. They might be cheaper then, but that’s still uncertain.

ArcheAge Headstart

4. Choosing a server

ArcheAge is launching with four European servers. They are all the same, there is no “PvE” server or anything else.

There is also no German server, neither officially nor unofficially. An official one was planned, but it seems that did not happen. Unofficially, there were a lot of polls. As the fan site ArcheAge-Online.de reports, nothing came of it. At least there are two unofficial roleplay servers, with the international one being Dahuta and the German one possibly being Eanna.

Perhaps Trion Worlds will launch additional servers at release if the influx is huge and if the waiting times become too long. These “fresh” servers would be a good choice for players without Head Start advantages.

5. Character creation in ArcheAge: Classes and races

ArcheAge features two factions: The ones on the map to the west, Nuia, are more “western” oriented (our medieval/baroque), while the ones in the east, Haranya, are more “far eastern”. The racial advantages are explained via tooltips, but they should balance each other out. You can choose based on personal preferences (no furry gags!).

Otherwise, during character creation, even if it’s hard, take your time and pay special attention to the appearance (if you don’t already have a skin saved from the beta). ArcheAge, as typical for Asian MMOs, has some features we don’t usually see here. For example, you can change the size and position of scars or tattoos. That’s quite nice.

ArcheAge

We will try to bring an article about class selection tomorrow during the day. It’s quite complicated: In ArcheAge, there are no “typical” base classes, but everyone can initially choose three from six skill lines, later ten, and thus become one of 120 classes. The initial selection can also be changed relatively easily in the game (however, new skill lines then need to be leveled). Tomorrow we will likely present some of the most popular combinations.

6. What happens to the alpha and beta characters at the Head Start?

Beta characters are deleted, they are gone. Alpha characters are also not playable, but they will likely be saved and might be resurrected on a test server later. The characters that are created now at the Head Start will remain with the players when it also starts for the rest on Tuesday. Otherwise, it would be nonsense.

7. When do I get my stuff from the founder’s package?

It’s planned for the Head Start. Keep an eye on your mailbox.

8. And does the Head Start really start from the beginning?

Yes and no, basically yes, but for a considerable time the northern continent “Auroria” will remain locked. There, guild endgame PvP takes place. They can conquer fortresses there. At Trion Worlds, they say they want to wait until stable structures are in place, until several guilds are ready. In other countries, it took about six weeks for the action to really begin with the PvP continent “Auroria”. This could also happen in Europe.

ArcheAge Pirates - Photo by HadesR

9. How many characters can I create?

Two. Additional slots can be purchased for 1000 credits. A total of six can be created per region (that is, all of Europe). As I said: Don’t delete any character.

10. Any tips for starting ArcheAge?

Sure: Trust no one, look for a guild as soon as possible, and if the Head Start goes totally wrong, hope that new servers will open at release and start anew with the experience advantage of four days (and hopefully with fewer ganker guilds in the neighborhood). Otherwise, it’s probably a good idea, to familiarize yourself with property acquisition and trading mechanisms.

ArcheAge
On your marks, get set, go!

ArcheAge has been playable somewhere in the world for more than two years now (first in Korea, later in Russia). Many gamers here have also been in the alpha for months, learning the game, devising plans for the launch, and forming alliances. Keeping up as a newcomer will likely be almost impossible.

ArcheAge is a complex game, there’s a ton of information on it, with dirty tricks and guides (the tricks are dirty, the guides probably not).

In ArcheAge, knowledge is indeed power. The best thing would probably be, if you are after “power” or “success”, whatever that means, to join a guild with experienced players and slowly grow into the game. Of course, it should primarily be fun.

Anyone generally planning to do their own thing – should perhaps reconsider. In ArcheAge, forming and maintaining social contacts is even more important than in typical theme park MMORPGs.

If you have any questions or tips, please write them in the comments. More about the sandbox MMO can be found on our ArcheAge theme page.

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Destiny: Gamescom sensation Evolve will take on the pursuit

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The success of the MMO shooter Destiny is now receiving congratulations from what is likely the next big franchise – and a challenge.

Activision proudly announced yesterday that it has launched the most successful new franchise in video game history with Destiny. Games worth 500 million US dollars would have already gone on sale on the first day. With Destiny, they are confident that they have launched another billion-dollar franchise and will benefit from it for years to come.

At Gamescom in Cologne, the game “Evolve,” an asymmetrical shooter, made waves. A team of 4 hunters takes on a constantly evolving monster. Many experts attributed immense potential to the game there. And so they are now considering chances to become the next “big thing” in the concert of top games.

And so Evolve proves confidence and humor by making its claims known. With a pic on Twitter and Facebook, they congratulated Bungie on their success and stated that they would definitely take on the role of the hunter. In this case, “hunter” refers both to one of the potential classes in Destiny and, of course, to the role of a pursuer. With Evolve, they want to challenge Destiny for the record of the best launch of a new franchise.

Evolve is developed by Turtle Rock Studios, the team behind Left 4 Dead, and is set to be released in February 2015 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

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Source(s):
  1. www.reddit.com

World of Warcraft: No Rush to 100! Raids and Arenas remain closed for 3 weeks

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In World of Warcraft, you won’t immediately jump into raids or arenas at launch. They will only be available starting December 2nd. This seems to be Blizzard’s way of preventing the stressful race to the new maximum level 100.

World of Warcraft - Mists of Pandaria
This might appeal to him: Try to relax.

Oops, it seems there is a change of heart at Blizzard. The rated battlegrounds and arenas will only start on December 2nd, three weeks after Warlords of Draenor is released. The raids will also kick off on December 2nd. This is to ensure all players have the opportunity to reach the new maximum level of 100 at their own pace.
Unrated PvP battlegrounds, skirmishes, and other PvP activities are reportedly immediately available, according to Blizzard. However, the rated season in World of Warcraft will only begin on December 2nd.

On this day, the normal and heroic difficulty levels for the first new raid Highmaul will also open. Players will have to wait longer for the raid finder and mythic difficulty. These will only be released in the following weeks.

World of Warcraft tries to relax

Mein MMO says: Wow, so … we didn’t see this coming. Since most “casual” guilds take quite a while for everyone to recover and decide to play World of Warcraft and raid again, this might not hit them so hard.

What progress guilds have to say is a whole different story. For them, the first weeks of a new expansion are usually the time they really play World of Warcraft. If this is now “stretched out,” it might lose some of its appeal.

For die-hard PvP players, who see leveling to 100 more as a chore than a joy, this change shouldn’t be too terrible.

More about the cult MMO can be found on our World of Warcraft topic page.

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Source(s):
  1. Blizzard

World of Warcraft: Birthday Celebration only after WoD launch

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In World of Warcraft, you actually celebrate your tenth anniversary when it is due, and not when it would fit into the concept.

It was announced a few weeks ago how World of Warcraft would celebrate its tenth anniversary: In a bombastic and retro style. It will head into the Molten Core, for a 40-man retro raid. With a special battleground, they want to revive the charm of the PvP battles for Hillsbrad Foothills. Additionally, there will be a Lava-Corgi as a pet.

Fans have speculated when these events would begin. Wouldn’t it be best to have them before the release of the AddOn Warlords of Draenor? Then players returning to prepare for the new WoW with the pre-patch would have plenty to do. And the most loyal souls, who are enduring a content drought, were certainly craving something new.

Secretly, some had presumably hoped that Blizzard would move the birthday celebration forward. But that is not the case.

Only after the launch of Warlords of Draenor, when there will be plenty to do anyway, will they celebrate the birthday of World of Warcraft with the announced events. The celebrations will take place from November 21 to January 6, 2015.

At the moment, the preparation patch for Warlords of Draenor (the so-called pre-patch) is on the public test server. It is generally expected to go live in early to mid-October. From then on, players will have plenty to do with the new abilities, new skins, and the event, the invasion of the Iron Horde.

More about WoW can be found on our theme page.

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Source(s):
  1. Blizzard

Elder Scrolls Online: Much praise for story and background

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, the story team from TESO visited reddit. There, they received an abundance of praise.

In the English-speaking forum reddit, AMAs or Q&As are very popular. In these “Ask Me/Us Anything” forum sessions, which last a few hours, stars or experts take the time to answer questions from fans or interested parties. Last night our time, it was the story team’s turn from Zenimax, and – quite unusual for developers – they were almost overwhelmed with praise on reddit.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Sheogorath Quest
Sheogorath: This flamboyant NPC is also credited to the TESO writing team.

The fans joked with the developers, almost every question started with a compliment. The writers and designers of Tamriel’s background story seemed open and took a lot of time to answer the fans’ questions. Whether it was the quirky messages of the apprentices or the lengthy in-game books – the fans took the opportunity to thank the authors for all of this. In return, the authors reciprocated to the reddit users: Posts in this particular subforum often made the rounds in their offices and sparked some discussions.

Mein MMO says: No matter how much criticism TESO had to face in the technical area or with gameplay, almost everyone praised the dialogues and storylines; they complimented the world of Tamriel, the attention to detail in the “written” word, and the ear for details. Especially the often tongue-in-cheek approach to side characters and how much there is to discover was highlighted by many.

Especially among active players, the number of lore fans is likely to be significantly higher than the average MMO gamer. Here, The Elder Scrolls Online could occupy a niche and excite people who enjoy reading, discovering details, and following stories in an MMO.

More about the MMO can be found on our topic page for The Elder Scrolls Online.

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Source(s):
  1. Reddit AUA TESO Writing Team

Destiny in the Console War: Xbox One Bundle for 399 Euros

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Microsoft has fallen behind in the console war with Sony. The system seller Destiny is now expected to reduce the lead of the Playstation 4 over the XBox One.

System Seller: Titanfall was nothing, now it should be Destiny

Approximately 5 million units of the XBox One have been sold, reports nasdaq.com. In contrast, the Playstation 4 has sold 10 million times. The problems of the XBox One, writes nasdaq, are partly due to the fact that “Titanfall” was not the breakthrough success it was designed to be in March. The shooter for the XBox One sold only 2.1 million copies, too few to become the next Halo.

Destiny

Destiny, perhaps the biggest launch of the year, is not an exclusive title for either of the two systems, but Sony treats it like one. However, Microsoft does not want to leave the field to its competitor and goes on the offensive with an offer that is impressive. With a $399 bundle of the XBox One and a game, they aim to sell consoles in the US market, even if they do so below manufacturing costs.

Microsoft incurs loss with current bundle

Nasdaq.com cites the results of the company IHS. They estimate that the manufacturing cost for an XBox One without Kinect is $396. With the games that Microsoft includes for free in the bundles and for which they must pay fees to the manufacturers, they are willing to sell the console below the manufacturing price. Microsoft pursues this strategy to expand the customer base, which then buys third-party games on the XBox One (allowing Microsoft to collect licensing fees) or acquires an XBox Gold Pass.

According to Nasdaq, this strategy pays off to some extent, as XBox One owners have purchased an average of 3.3 games for the new console while Playstation 4 owners have bought only 2.6.

As Nasdaq suggests, in the war between the two console giants, the gamers are the real winners, as both Sony and Microsoft compete fiercely for their favor with strong offers and discounts.

Players in Europe also benefit from the price war of the giants

Destiny Amazon Xbox Bundle
Amazon.de currently offers the Xbox One bundle with Destiny for 399 Euros. You can find the promotion, which ends on September 23rd,  here.

In the US market, the price war is particularly fierce. But even here in Europe, Microsoft is using Destiny to sell consoles. The current MMO shooter Destiny is currently available in a bundle with the XBox One at Amazon for 399 Euros. The promotion runs until September 23rd or while supplies last.

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Source(s):
  1. www.nasdaq.com

Destiny: Free Ammo Out of Nowhere

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In Destiny, a curious trick is making the rounds: If you have emptied your weapon and do absolutely nothing, you receive bonus ammunition in the magazine.

“That wizard came from the moon” has become a catchphrase from the beta, now you could say: “This ammunition was conjured by the fairy!”

As kotaku.uk reports, a trick from the beta still works. There’s little to do, you just have to completely empty the weapon and then stand still for a few seconds until the ammunition fairy flies in and refills the magazine. (Of course, the fairy is invisible.)

Kotaku advises using this trick when you are running low on bullets and then picking up scattered ammunition packs. If you don’t believe in the wondrous ammunition multiplication: In a video, you can see the ammunition fairy at work. Or not … it’s invisible after all.

So, do you think they will keep this in the game?

More about Destiny can be found on our topic page.

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WildStar: Raid access no longer a waste of time and PvP issues are being addressed

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

Starting today, access to the two WildStar raid instances has been slightly simplified, though that might be an exaggeration. At least it’s faster, the biggest time wasters have been somewhat contained.

For one step of the questline, you previously had to kill all world bosses – but only after accepting the quest. If you had already sent the big opponents to the afterlife during the leveling phase, this was not counted; from now on, the game will retroactively count those kills.

Dungeons in WildStar
Silver medals are no longer required for raid access.

The required amount of primal patterns per player is also reduced, namely to a third – where previously you had to collect 300, now only 100 per person is sufficient. As mentioned earlier, the dungeon step in WildStar has also been simplified, with a bronze medal per instance being sufficient to complete this stage. But even complete latecomers can rejoice, as “Ohmna”, the boss of the Genarchive, will soon drop an item that allows you to skip the entire prequest, and this item is tradeable!

Those who have overcome the torments of the access quest in its old state will be rewarded with an achievement in the next major patch, as a reminder and honor for the work done.

Looking Ahead and Many Changes

WildStar Warplot
Warbases are currently unfortunately not utilized. That should change soon.

The developers have also looked into the future plans of WildStar, such as making the PvP sign-up a bit more attractive, as many players completely ignore this part of the game. The second area of concern, the warbases (also PvP), is also scheduled to undergo some changes soon to attract more players to the cheerful skirmish; however, more details will be revealed soon.

Future content patches will no longer focus on the theme of war between Dominion and Exiles, instead, they want to advance the other stories in the game (like Drusera and the entity).

Additionally, questing in a group will receive some improvements, as currently, some tasks have to be done multiple times depending on how many group members you have – thus, playing with friends is currently often a frustrating time sink instead of an enjoyable enhancement.

Regarding other points, unfortunately, no binding statements were made; the developers are aware of the issues with 40-man raids (currently there are 7 raid groups in the data zone worldwide, around 150 in the smaller Genarchive), but they still want to continue providing content for this number of players in the future. We will keep you updated as soon as there are new developments.

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Source(s):
  1. forums.wildstar-online.com: UPDATE NOTES - 09/11/2014

Swordsman Online receives an expansion, increases level cap

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The free-to-play martial arts MMO Swordsman Online is getting its first expansion.

In a interview a few weeks ago it hinted: Swordsman Online will receive its first expansion “Gilded Wastelands” this fall. The level cap will increase to 94 and new zones will be added to the world of the Wuxia spectacle. Since these regions mainly consist of deserts, some “It’s about to get wild” word plays come to mind, which we would like to spare you.

In addition to the new zones, the publisher Perfect World promises in a press release that new instances and items will also make their way into the game. They want to revise the companion system in Swordsman Online and the leveling experience should also become more enjoyable.

If you are interested in the game, you can find out more about Swordsman Online on our topic page.

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Source(s):
  1. Arc Games Swordsman
  2. Massively

Magic Expert: Hearthstone tournaments should become more natural

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The Magic: The Gathering expert Brian Kibler suggested in an interview that Hearthstone tournaments at the highest level should resemble the game played by gamers at home more closely.

Brian Kibler is truly no stranger in the trading card scene. He made a name for himself in Magic: The Gathering, later designing their trading card game for Blizzard, and he has also dealt intensively with Hearthstone. In an interview with gosugamers, he provides a fresh outside perspective on the game.

He particularly reflected on the current tournament format of Hearthstone. Here, players can often agree in advance to ban a certain class. This leads to unusual circumstances that have little to do with the normal game that the viewers know. For instance, in tournaments, decks like Handlock can be incredibly strong because their natural enemy, the Hunter, is banned. Players see these tournaments, decide to try out Handlock, and experience a rude awakening in ladder play when they encounter the first Hunters.

Hearthstone Hunter

Additionally, the current tournament rules often require a player to bring three decks. This can also be problematic for Hearthstone players starting out in tournaments. He himself had to sit down before his first tournament and level a third class to level 10 just to receive the necessary card for his last deck.

Kibler can transfer many of his experiences from Magic: The Gathering days to Hearthstone. Thus, it is easy for him to make some calculations in his head when he sees the board to decide on the right move. However, matches that are not decided on the board but rather in the opponent’s hand are more difficult for him. He lacks the specific Hearthstone experience against decks like Miracle Rogue or Handlock to predict the opponent’s moves.

Hearthstone Duel

In contrast to Magic, Hearthstone is significantly simpler. This brings both advantages and disadvantages. It is much more difficult for beginners to get into Magic than into Hearthstone, which greatly benefits from being developed for the digital medium from the start. However, Hearthstone cannot keep up with Magic in complexity, and the arena mode can become somewhat boring over time.

Kibler particularly likes the new Naxxramas cards, especially the Deathrattle for his Priest. He appreciates cards that allow certain classes to be played “against the grain” and discover new synergies.

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

Destiny: What is it with the Crucible marks?

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The PvP mode, the Crucible, in the new MMO Destiny presents some players with puzzles. Why are there no marks, when are there marks and what can they be used for? These are currently some of the most frequently asked questions about Destiny.

From the search queries on our site, it is clear: Many fans still don’t quite know what to do with the rewards for the Crucible, the PvP mode in Destiny.

The marks that exist there and can be exchanged for items with the faction vendors, are only available starting from level 18. However, you can start collecting reputation earlier.

Starting from level 18, you will finally receive, instead of just two and one as in the beta, three marks for a win and two marks for a loss. These changes, which is why they are so confusing, were introduced only with the Day-One patch. You can collect a maximum of 100 Crucible marks. That is the cap.

We hope that this little message could help you. Learn more about the MMO on our dedicated page for Destiny.

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Source(s):
  1. Game Faq

Nominated for Online Game of the Year: TESO, WildStar, Hearthstone and FF XIV

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The Elder Scrolls Online, WildStar, Hearthstone, Final Fantasy XIV and 5 other games are nominated for the Online category at the Golden Joystick.

The video game magazine “Computerandvideogames” has been awarding the Golden Joystick in various categories since 1983. According to its own statements, it’s a kind of Oscar of the gaming industry, but naturally many awards are competing for this title. It is at least the oldest award given in the industry and has quite a reputation.

Classic MMORPGs in the minority – MMOs dominate

This year, the new Pay2Play MMORPGs The Elder Scrolls Online and WildStar are nominated in the “Online Games” category. Additionally, there is a classic MMORPG with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn among the participants. The trio faces competition from more action-oriented online games like Grand Theft Auto Online and DayZ.

Moreover, the nomination clearly reflects the influence of another current trend: Wargaming is nominated with World of Warplanes and the Xbox 360 edition of World of Tanks. Gaijin is sending War Thunder, Wargaming’s major competitor, into the race.

The likely favorite is the online card game Hearthstone, the surprise hit from Blizzard that was perhaps not so surprising after all. It is also the only title among the nine online contenders that has been nominated for the “Best Game” category.

Previous winners in the “Online Game” or “MMO of the Year” category: World of Tanks (2013/2012), World of Warcraft (2011), League of Legends (2010), Left4Dead (2009).

Who is your favorite among the selected games or is your MMO of the year not included?

Gaming Joystick Award

The voting takes place until October 20. Here is the link to vote in the online category on computerandvideogames.com.

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Source(s):
  1. computerandvideogames.com

Destiny sales figures: Activision rejoices; achievable at Call of Duty level

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The MMO Destiny has sold games worth 500 million dollars to shops and partners. It is set to surpass the highest expectations that Activision Blizzard has set for the new billion-dollar franchise.

As eurogamer reports, games worth 500 million US dollars were shipped worldwide on the first day. How many games were actually sold and what the profit looks like is hard to ascertain from this figure. By “sold”, Activision means “delivered to partners and shops”, not to the end consumer. It currently looks like many fans purchased the game through the Xbox Store or the Playstation Store. However, the over 11,000 worldwide midnight sales likely sold some units as well.

The head of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, speaks of “extraordinary demand from fans”.

Furthermore, they now claim the title of the largest launch of a new franchise in video game history. The title was previously held by Ubisoft with Watch Dogs and reportedly 4 million units sold in the first week.

Destiny as the next billion-dollar brand and simply as a “great game”

Eric Hirshberg from Activision added: “From the very beginning, we were confident that our belief and commitment to Destiny would pay off. But few would have expected it to do so on the very first day.” The reported development costs for the MMO Destiny also amounted to 500 million dollars.

More than ever before, Hirshberg continued, they are convinced that Destiny could become the next billion-dollar franchise in their stable and has what it takes to rise to one of the most important series of the generation. But even more importantly, Bungie has created a great game with Destiny that you can’t keep your hands off.

Analyst: Destiny could sell 20 million units, reach “Call of Duty” level

Other media are meanwhile reporting on the sales success of Destiny. Gamespot has spoken with an analyst who is giving investors a “thumbs up” signal. According to analyst Arvind Bhatia, his firm now has even more confidence than before that Destiny could achieve sales of 15 million units. Now it is even considered possible that Destiny could achieve “20 million units sold” when everything is said and done. This would correspond to a level normally reached only by titles like “Call of Duty”. Bhatia came to this assessment after consulting with Activision and various retailers.

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Source(s):
  1. Eurogamer
  2. Gamespot (Analyst)

SWTOR: New Flashpoint live and Patch 3.0 soon revealed

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time < 1 minutes

The new Flashpoint “Rakata Prime” has been released today and can be accessed on the live servers of Star Wars: The Old Republic, leading the “forged alliances” storyline to its finale.

On the mysterious jungle planet, which was also the main world of the legendary Rakata, it will be your task to uncover the truth behind the legendary “Starmap” – it siphons energy from a nearby star and transforms it into something – what exactly that is, you will have to find out for yourself! As with previous updates, you will again be accompanied by the Wookiee smuggler Jakarro and his translator droid to assist you with advice and actions (and a bit of cheekiness) during the assault on the temple site.

Galactic Strongholds coming soon for preferred players

Starting next Tuesday, September 16, all players with preferred status in Star Wars: The Old Republic will also gain access to the game’s housing feature, the “Galactic Strongholds”. Free2Play players will have to wait another month – they will be able to take possession of their homes only on October 14.

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Patch 3.0 is noticeably approaching

Lastly, it has been revealed in the official forum of Star Wars: The Old Republic that the first teasers for the major Patch 3.0 will appear within the next week and a complete announcement with all the new features is expected by the end of the month – we will keep you updated as soon as new information is available.

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Source(s):
  1. swtor.com: Neuer Flashpoint 'Rakata Prime' jetzt live!
  2. swtor.com: Producer Maclean über 3.0

Destiny: Bundle boosts Playstation 4 sales – Over 1 million in Great Britain

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The MMO shooter Destiny affects the sales of the next-gen consoles. In the UK, one million units of the PlayStation 4 have now been sold.

In an interview with digitalspy, Fergal Gara, the Sony boss in the United Kingdom, discusses the impact that the shooter Destiny has on PlayStation 4 sales: In recent weeks, it has slowed them down a bit, but now it has led to an explosion.

In the past two weeks, the sales of the console had noticeably cooled down, according to Gara, as many were waiting for the release of Destiny, especially the attractive bundle: Many fans likely did not want to miss out on the new “white PlayStation 4” with Destiny included and were willing to wait until the last moment for the release of the package.

Now, with the delivery of the white PlayStation 4 bundle and the numerous orders coming in on Tuesday morning, the milestone of one million has been reached.

Amazon in Germany also offers attractive bundles that will surely stimulate purchases as well. Destiny is offered in a bundle either with an Xbox One or a PlayStation 4 for 399 Euros. The white bundle is currently available exclusively from one retailer, but it is expected to be available in regular retail later.

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Source(s):
  1. Digital Spy

Complaining Wednesday: Smite – Why play when you can just give up?

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

Smite, Smite, and more Smite…

Do you know what I can’t stand besides flamers, haters, and trolls? Quitters who can’t finish a game properly just because they’re on the supposedly weaker team. In the extreme cases, some players throw in the towel after just three minutes, and all it takes is for the “First Blood” to be claimed by the opposing team.

The slain player often receives sarcastic and humiliating emotes like “Super!” and “You are the best” thrown at them. As soon as possible (thankfully this can only happen after a few minutes), there will be a query with F6 asking if one wants to give up the round.

Honestly: Giving up after the first player death feels to me like a football team quitting because they didn’t get the kick-off in the coin toss. Where does this enormous demotivation come from?

Friends are mightier than F6!

Smite Gameplay
Fight the F6s: With friends by your side, you can “enjoy” matches all the way to the end.

This is another reason why you should always go into the battlegrounds of SMITE with at least two acquaintances: Because then a request to give up cannot succeed, as more than half of the players must agree. And to be honest, I have learned much more from defeats than from easy victories. When you get truly “overrun,” you often see some god combinations and attack strategies that you wouldn’t have thought of, and you are a bit better prepared. Those who only finish matches in which they achieve an easy or undeserved victory (for example, because an opponent left the game) will not improve either.

[quote_right]Not with me, weaklings![/quote_right]

Of course, defeats can be demotivating, but personally, they push me towards new heights. And when the first “weaklings” hit “F6” after five minutes to agree to a forfeit, it really ignites my will to turn things around and enthusiastically hammer on my now quite worn “F7” key to continue the game.

Only an honest defeat is a good defeat

Smite Phoenix

Another point is that I would feel bad if I gave up. It always makes me a bit sad when the opposing team aborts the game before the real end – a victory through enemy capitulation just doesn’t feel “right”. For me, it’s part of the game to smash the Phoenix and then the enemy Titan and to win properly – especially because, in these final battles in the enemy base, one can often relinquish control again, as the enemies are clearly at an advantage here. At the same time, I want to allow the opposing team that beautiful, euphoric feeling of storming our base so that they can “seal the deal,” as they say.

[quote_right]Those who can’t lose shouldn’t play either.[/quote_right]

Often enough, I hear comments like “Don’t waste my time” or “OMG, please forfeit, you can’t do anything,” but that only motivates me further.

So here’s a call to all my dear quitters out there: If you don’t want to finish a match, no matter how poorly it goes – then don’t even start the game. Those who can’t lose shouldn’t play either.

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

Guild Wars 2: Cuddly Devs are Looking for a Home

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In Guild Wars 2, a new program is being launched for the Autumn Tournament: Killer PvP guilds can provide a home for a developer and adopt them for the duration of the event.

At ArenaNet, it is said in a forum post that there was a lengthy conversation, and it was decided to step out of their own shell, out of the comfort zone, to leave their own guilds and worlds for a time, and to experience the game as other players do.

Therefore, guilds that actively participate in World vs. World are asked to contact ArenaNet to “adopt” a Guild Wars 2 developer. They will then fight alongside them in the Autumn Tournament and are expected to gain firsthand insights into World versus World.

Guild Wars 2 Player
Take good care of our developers, ArenaNet asks.

However, the developers are subject to similarly complicated rules as Gremlins. The GW2 players should treat them with care; always remember that they are spending their free time here; should not be used as a sounding board for all sorts of complaints, and they should also remain more in the background: No one should expect them to lead the team into battle right away.

A dampener for European players: At the moment, this action seems to only extend to the US servers of Guild Wars 2. Perhaps that will change. The initial reaction seems positive, with many guilds reportedly having already made an offer.

Myriads of other articles, especially regarding the September patch, which has been live since yesterday, can be found on our theme page for Guild Wars 2.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Guild Wars 2
  2. Massively

ArcheAge: changes to the shop partially reverted

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

In the sandbox MMO ArcheAge, the labor point potions are apparently being reverted to their previous state before the change.

One of the most controversially discussed topics of the past week was: The last-minute change in the ArcheAge cash shop. In a live stream and postings on the website, Trion Worlds elaborated on this decision. It was an important attempt, the insights had proven useful, but now some of the changes are being rolled back.

ArcheAge

They are already working on reverting the “labor point potions” to their previous value. They will then have a 12-hour cooldown and cost 300 credits. This has already been suggested to XLGames. Currently, both Trion Worlds and XLGames are working at full speed. However, there can be no guarantee that the potions will be reverted in time for the launch. (The labor points in ArcheAge – like a kind of “energy” in browser games – regulate a player’s participation in crafting and trading activities; the labor points essentially have a cap; fans were concerned that too many labor point potions would jeopardize long-term balance).

As for the Archeum chests in the shop, the second hotly debated change, there is currently no news. However, they will be in contact with XLGames to increase the drop chances of Archeum. The drop rate was too low for players in the beta. Initially, they only wanted to introduce the new chests in connection with an increase in drop rates in the open world. However, XLGames wants to wait, as they say, until more data is available to make such an important intervention.

The APEX items will cost $10 each in the shop and grant 1250 credits. This Apex can then be traded in-game for the gold of other players. For a 30-day patron status, 2250 credits are required, which means you need 2 APEX items and will then receive the 30-day status and still have 250 credits left. $20 translates to about 15 or 16 Euros, depending on how Trion Worlds calculates, which corresponds to the costs in other games like WildStar, where C.R.E.D.D. is slightly above the price of a regular subscription.

Moreover, free-to-play players in ArcheAge will have the option to purchase full access to the auction house with a special item. They will then also be able to list items in the auction house themselves.

An auction house in Europe serves two servers, while in North America even three.

ArcheAge Ships

No German Servers for ArcheAge, No Special Servers

From the plans that Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman once mentioned, to recommend or mark servers for specific languages, nothing seems to remain. There will be no language-specific servers.

Additionally, they do not intend to set up “special servers” in ArcheAge or any that are only for founders. For the head start, they will not launch fresh servers; the existing ones from the open beta will have to suffice. However, they reserve the right to open further servers (for example, at release) if the success of the game is so great that they become necessary.

Two Characters per Account, More Available for Purchase

Players – even those with patron status – will be able to create only two characters per region (i.e., EU or North America). However, character slots can be purchased for 1000 credits. Up to six characters per region can be created at maximum.

By the way, patron status begins when a player logs in for the first time. No hours are deducted before this.

They are continuing to work on bringing the founder packs back on Steam, until then players can purchase them on the Trion Worlds homepage. After launch, they will remove the “founder packs” from the market and replace them with new “starter packs”.

The sandbox MMO ArcheAge will enter the head start on Friday, September 12, for owners of a founder pack. The actual release of the free-to-play title will take place on September 16.

Find out more about ArcheAge on our topic page.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Forum ArcheAge
  2. Transkript Livestream reddit

Destiny: Searching for Opinions on Destiny – Test, Metacritic and Reddit

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

The MMO Destiny is playable for some for more than 30 hours, the first test and the excitement about it have also been around and there is a console war raging on Metacritic. What do the hardcore fans think of Destiny so far?

French “Test” Topic of the First Day

Just a few hours after the game was released, a test by a French magazine appeared with a mediocre rating. By the way, it appeared on many pages right next to a news about Bungie’s warning that early tests should not be taken seriously.

Destiny Story

Globally, other magazines eagerly jumped on this test, pointing to it, calling it a “Clickbait,” and irresponsibly writing a test so early, claiming it was only fabricated to generate clicks. Nevertheless, they were happy to report on it. This is probably called having your cake and eating it too.

The Console War Rages on Metacritic

Destiny Wallpaper Warlock

Meanwhile, on Metacritic, as noted by Gamezone in a venomous article, fans of Xbox, PlayStation, and PC are fighting. They rate Destiny down on the “enemy” console, up on their own, complain about PSN or that the game doesn’t match Borderlands enough or that it’s going downhill with Bungie and that the absence of a PC version is the worst – or whatever. Right now, neither the fans on Metacritic nor the early “reviews” from colleagues are very informative.

Many large sites have formed streaming teams, writing articles about the first hours of gameplay and conducting a sort of “perpetual test” with regular impressions.

What Do Hardcore Fans Say About Destiny?

In search of opinions, we ventured into the English forum Reddit and into the cave of fans, the Destinygame subreddit.
“Was the hype justified?” is the question. And the answer is a resounding “Sort of.”

Many enjoy the shooter part of the game, even though a certain “grind-heavy” nature could already be observed in early levels. The processes and tasks repeat quickly. The RPG elements are rather shallow, while the controls and shooter elements are viewed positively.

One criticism at the moment is the lack of “social components” in the game; there Bungie probably still has to catch up, fans agree. And even though max-level characters have already been spotted, the endgame is still a long way off for hardcore fans. There is so much to do, one fan happily remarks.

Destiny Venus Screenshot

Especially, in early experiences, teamwork is praised. Completing the “strikes” with lousy gear and after some struggle gives fans a kick and fills them with satisfaction.

But “Is the hype justified?” – a fan has an answer to that too, and it is quite unsentimental: “No, no game can ultimately match the immense hype.” Destiny, so perhaps the consensus, is good, as good as players could expect from the beta, but not “the greatest game of all time.”

Perhaps with the announced DLCs, it will get there, after all, Bungie plans to support the game for over 10 years. There’s still plenty of time for judgment.

More about the shared-world shooter/MMO (depending on who you ask) can be found on our topic page on Destiny.

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

Elder Scrolls Online: Update 4 is coming next week

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, TESO, the update number four seems to announce a lot of group content for next week.

This week, community manager Kai Schober announced in the forum that there will be no maintenance work. They are so close to releasing the fourth update that they prefer to invest all their energy and time into this rather than deploy another interim patch.

Some fans would have liked to see a restart of the EU server, as they are complaining about performance issues and lag.

Generally, it is now assumed, for example on reddit, that the next update will be deployed in the USA on Monday next week and in Europe on Tuesday morning. This has not been officially confirmed. Update four for The Elder Scrolls Online will especially please fans of group PvE: Here, they are tweaking the phasing, animations, and bringing a whole lot of endgame content back into the game.

What the 1.4, update 4, brings for TESO has been summarized here.

Update Wednesday 4 PM: It is now officially confirmed that one can expect update 4 next week. It was officially confirmed in a forum post (source 2). They plan to reset the servers on Thursday or Friday, then these complaints should also be resolved.

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