A talented fan has created two atmospheric trailers for the fantasy MMO Guild Wars 2. In his opinion, GW2 has a potential to engage the masses that is not tapped into by the official marketing.
Guild Wars 2 places great importance on storytelling, atmosphere, and compelling narratives. Gee Kim, a fan of the game and, as it turns out, an extremely talented video artist, found that ArenaNet’s marketing did not do justice to the game. Additionally, he wanted to try his hand at video creation.
Therefore, he sat down and created an “epic trailer” for the first season of the Living World, which received enthusiastic reactions from fans. After the site “Kotaku” took notice and reported on it, Kim released a second trailer.
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A gag that was winking at feminism has now been removed from Hearthstone. It has been replaced with a more neutral joke.
The sexism issue somehow does not let Blizzard go.
Just a few weeks ago, they received fan criticism for not valuing prominent female characters enough and giving them too little to do in the storylines. Blizzard responded with an open letter, vowed to improve, and promised to pay more attention to these themes in the future.
Furthermore, the discussion around Hearthstone tournaments that exclude female players caused negative PR. Even though Blizzard immediately countered, they probably want to play it safe now. The creators of Hearthstone seem to have noticed that a small joke about the card “Baron Rivendare” could come across as unfortunate in light of recent events. Although the card is not yet in the game, it will be released next week. The card text has already been read by data miners and has now been changed.
Originally, the card description of the Baron was supposed to read: “Lady Blaumeux is a little hurt that they don’t call themselves The Four Horsepeople.” Translated roughly: Lady Blaumeux is a little upset that they do not call themselves the four riders.
The “Four Riders” in Naxxramas, which Baron Rivendare leads, are a reference to the four apocalyptic riders from the Bible. In English, they are called “Four Horsemen” – and the “men” is what upset Lady Blaumeux, as she does not see herself represented grammatically in that.
The new card text for Baron Rivendare removes any reference to this theme and replaces the jest with an internal World of Warcraft reference regarding the death mines, which are said to be a more interesting workplace for the riders because there are better perks.
Mein MMO says: A harmless jest against the “genderization” of the language, one might think. Whether anyone would really have gotten upset about it is anyone’s guess. The fans are discussing not the flavor text of the Baron Rivendare card but rather the effects of his special effect (double deathrattle of each of your minions) on the meta-game.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The zombie survival MMO “H1Z1” is set to launch with four different types of zombies. This is revealed in a new developer blog that focuses on the design of zombies. Additionally, new playable characters and high-end gear are discussed.
H1Z1 is still awaiting its Early Access launch. A series of developer blogs continuously reveal more details about the game. While recent blogs have focused on weather effects, spawn points, or building design, Matt Broome is tackling the core of the game, the zombies. He is a professional graphic artist and has worked for Marvel, DC, and renowned film studios before moving into the gaming industry and joining Sony Online Entertainment.
Brawler and Creeper – different zombies with strengths and weaknesses
In the blog, he reveals that he is currently working on the hairstyle of the zombie species “Bob”, the second type of zombie in H1Z1, following the normal, relatively slow zombies that can be seen all over the streams and videos. The name “Bob” was actually given by fans. After “Bob”, a “Brawler” is next, which is a particularly large and strong zombie that takes care of everything in its way – like a zombified wrestler, so to speak. By the way, this one doesn’t have a name yet. Broome is asking for suggestions via Twitter.
After the slow primordial zombie, Bob, and the Brawler, there will also be “traditional” zombies introduced to the game, in advanced stages of decay. At launch, the plan is to have four different races in the game that will differ in their appearance and movements. Thus, the normal, slow zombies are intended to be the foundation of H1Z1, but there will also be faster zombie types, stronger ones, and the so-called “Creepers”, which can only crawl along the ground because they lack legs.
Loot alert in H1Z1: Shotgun, sniper rifle, and special ops gear
Broome also provides insight into the arsenal that will be available to players. He enjoys designing equipment used by special forces, like SWAT teams: night vision devices, bullet-proof vests, he is a fan of all that.
By the way: A day prior, Broome’s colleague, game designer and weapon fan Jimmy Whisenhunt, leaked a shotgun and a sniper rifle on Twitter. So there will be more than just a bow and arrow in H1Z1.
Not only in zombies is there choice, but also in characters
Broome also gives a small insight into the selection of playable characters. So far, only the male type is known, which the team affectionately named “Ivan”. They plan to introduce new variants soon. Female models are at the very top of the design list and enjoy top priority.
In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, TESO, players will enjoy the next content patch early Tuesday morning. 1.3.3. is known internally as the “Guild” patch, but it also brings the new campaigns.
The patch 1.3. has been on the test server for a while and is scheduled to go live Tuesday morning with the regular maintenance. It is the third major update for TESO. In addition to numerous fixes and minor balance improvements, the following major changes are coming to Tamriel:
Armor dyeing is new to the game. The individual colors will be tied to in-game achievements. For example, if someone has been a vampire once, they can dye their armor in a specific shade of black. We have extensively presented the new color system in an article.
New campaigns are coming to Cyrodiil and the old ones are closing. Instead of the previous 10 campaigns, of which 9 run for 90 days, there will now be 5 campaigns with a duration of 5 to 30 days. The two shortest campaigns will also be differentiated between veteran and non-veteran players. Detailed information about the changed campaigns can be found here.
The weapon swapping should occur faster from now on. Changes have been made to the animation and the cache. From the public test server, it is known that these changes are significant: weapon swapping happens noticeably faster, and the flow of combat is no longer slowed down.
And that’s why 1.3. is also referred to internally as “Guild-a-palooza”
Managing a guild should become easier. This introduces 10 guild ranks, with which a guild leader can fine-tune the hierarchy within their guild. Specific rights can be assigned to individual ranks.
Guild heraldry and tabards are coming. Once a guild has at least 10 members, the guild leader can decide on the symbols that players will wear on their also newly introduced tabards. There are over 250 colors, 63 backgrounds, and 136 actual symbols. This enables guilds to present themselves as a unit externally.
Guild auctioneer expands trading opportunities. Guilds also gain the ability to bid on an auctioneer, who will then offer the goods from the guild shop to non-guild members as well.
The patch will carry the version number 1.3.3. and is expected to be between 5.5 and 6.5 gigabytes in size.
In the sandbox MMO ArcheAge, there are communication issues. Are German servers coming or not?
Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman confirmed in an interview with our magazine a few weeks ago how important the German market is for his company. Therefore, alongside a nearby data center, there will also be a dedicated localization and dedicated servers for Germany. Contrary to this statement, however, streams and the official forum have excluded language-specific servers.
Just a few days ago, a community manager confirmed again that they are not planning “language-specific servers”. The forum post has since been deleted, but the confusion remains: one says this, and others say that. What should we make of this?
We have once again inquired at Trion Worlds and asked for clarification on this question. We received the following response:
We confirmed German as a language, and that we will have servers in the EU. People can set the language to whatever they choose. We expect that we’ll note which servers will be recommended so people can find each other by language, once we get a way to do that.
This translates to mean that there will be German as a language option, and there will also be servers located in Europe. Players will be free to choose their language. Currently, Trion Worlds expects to recommend servers for specific languages once they find a way to do so.
My MMO thinks: For us, this means that German servers are coming, even though the commitment now sounds much looser than in the interview with us. Regarding formalities: Other MMOs don’t do it differently either.
You can also play on an English server in WoW with a German client and only speak German. The only thing that really makes the English server “English” is that it has an [EN] label behind it. If the German servers are marked in some form with [DE] or [GER], they are German servers in our view. What else should they do? Portraits of Merkel on every tree? Craftable bratwurst?
The now looser wording: “once they have found a way to do so” – sounds strange, and the communication issues are irritating. There is a difference between recommending a server “somewhere” or doing so officially in the client selection. Perhaps ArcheAge wants to wait and see how the response of the German players is in the beta to decide how exactly to make the recommendation.
Update: After the announcement of the servers, everything now indicates that there will be no servers labeled by languages at launch. Therefore, this matter is settled for now.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Blizzard’s free card game Hearthstone, the fifth season has started. As a reward for reaching rank 20, players receive an Ice Crown card back. However, players are currently facing other concerns: double bookings and authentication issues are blocking progress in Naxxramas.
Ice Crown card back for Season 5 sparks speculation about the next expansion
Players who reach at least rank 20 in the current season, which runs until the end of the month, can look forward to this stylish card back. It has received much applause from players, who also speculated about a possible next expansion by the end of the year. After Naxxramas, it could be time for the Ice Crown Citadel. That would make sense.
Blizzard stated that with Naxxramas they laid the foundation for an adventure mode in Hearthstone and did a lot of groundwork. Thus, a next expansion could come to the game much faster and more smoothly.
Problems with the Plague Wing in Naxxramas persist, Blizzard works through the weekend
Of course, this announcement from Blizzard is currently overshadowed by the problems that have arisen with the Plague Wing in Hearthstone: Transactions have been anything but smooth. Players purchased access to the new wing with euros or gold but did not receive it. They now have to initiate chargebacks. There have been hotfixes, double bookings, and long waits for authentication.
Even four days later, the problems are not fully resolved. Blizzard is still working on the “Naxxramas” issues.
iPad users should contact Apple directly
As of Saturday afternoon, Blizzard seems to be on the trail of the causes of the problems and does not intend to rest over the weekend until the issues are clarified. The schedule indicates that the next wing is set to open in the middle of next week, so Blizzard is under time pressure. The problem is complicated by the numerous ways Hearthstone can be played and how payment for the expansion can be made. Therefore, iPad users are advised to contact Apple directly.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
After what feels like an eternity, I turn to you again in a column. The last push for this came from this Hearthstone news from Schuhmann, because I am a bit tired of getting upset about this topic again and again: So I will self-therapy a bit and let all my frustration flow into this article here to finally come to a conclusion (and on a second reading, I even notice that it rhymes)!
Topic 1: Exclusion from the game based on gender
We do not need to argue that a separation of men and women in the physical real sports area makes sense, but that is why we will leave that one out.
Blizzard rewrites e-sport rules: Women cannot be excluded from tournaments.
Since this was the drop that overflowed the bucket, I will start with that right away. First of all, I believe that it was a good decision by Blizzard to take a clear position: Anyone who organizes tournaments with their games should not exclude anyone, especially not because of their gender.
But if we are honest for a brief moment: What choice did they actually have?
If they had not made a clear statement, no two days later, headlines would have emerged that corresponded to the tenor of “Blizzard supports sexist competitions” or “Blizzard is against equality”. That everyone is aware that you cannot take such a risk is clear.
However, I find it puzzling how the anti-sexism front counts this as a great victory while simultaneously saying that there will still be tournaments where only women are allowed to participate. I don’t say this lightly, but sexism works both ways. If they had spoken a little more clearly and said that gender segregation is generally absurd and should not occur, that would have been far more effective.
[quote_right]It creates the impression that women cannot perform to the same level as men.[/quote_right]From my perspective, they have now cut into their own flesh because what impression is conveyed? Women are now allowed to participate in one of the big (men’s) tournaments (which is good!), but they also still have their tournaments in which no men are allowed to participate (which is utterly ridiculous).
The message that is conveyed is relatively clear: Women still need their own tournaments to celebrate their successes, which apparently cannot be done if men participate. Through such half-hearted approaches, the impression is created that women cannot deliver the same performance in a game – and that is precisely the sexism that was supposed to be prevented.
Topic 2: Big breasts and bulging muscles
TERA: The Castanic radiate with sex appeal, and this eroticism is even part of their backstory.
The second point that has endlessly annoyed me for years is the complaint about the portrayal of characters in MMOs, and here the criticism primarily comes from the female side. Sometimes the breasts are too big and wobble too much when walking, sometimes the hips are too wide, and then the clothing items are too provocative. Some games even deliberately exaggerate these characteristics; I will only mention “Scarlet Blade” and “TERA” as two examples.
But before I go into that, I will turn the tables coldly. Has anyone among the complainers ever looked at the male character models? They can just as easily be reduced to just two stereotypes: Either they are strong, muscular warriors who look like they could still do push-ups while sleeping and eat steroids instead of muesli, or they are androgynous scrawny figures that look like they jumped straight out of a Japanese Yaoi manga (and those who do not know what that is should urgently google it with the image search – at their own risk).
Amazingly, the outcry regarding male models is rather low, although one could just as well start a debate if one wanted to.
But back to the women: I admit, I still do not understand how the Aurin with the largest possible breasts can walk upright or why the human women wobble so much with their hips while walking that they dislocate their joints with every step.
The male elf in TERA
But you know what? I don’t care! I find it absolutely fine because this exaggeration fits perfectly with the world of WildStar, where everything is taken less seriously. The same applies to other games, like TERA: The Castanic radiate with sex appeal, and this eroticism is even part of their backstory – of both genders. Also among the elves of this game, stereotypes can be observed again: They all look somewhat noble, yet they conform rather strongly to a beauty ideal that is very hard to find in reality. Before someone screams: The male representatives of the race are, by the way, again the Yaoi/Hentai variant.
Topic 3: Reducing women to appearance
Often you also hear that women in video games are only portrayed as the “desirable doll” that needs saving and is, of course, overloaded with visual appeals that a strong hero can rescue. But have people with such accusations looked at games in the last ten years? Only a very few games still operate under the Super Mario principle: “I hero, you princess, I save you, you are grateful.”
Female characters are no longer inferior to male characters in a variety of MMOs; they are mostly interesting and well-thought-out personalities who make independent decisions and do not let themselves be pushed around. Some examples would be Jaina Proudmoore (WoW) and Myala Everstar (WildStar) – the latter even has her own ‘harem’ of followers. Just imagine the uproar if that had been a male character…
It is completely unquestionable that in most MMOs there is clothing that showcases characters in specific ways. Whether it is a “Robe of Insight” in WoW or the “Slave outfit” from SWTOR, there isn’t a big difference. Do I have a problem with that? Absolutely not; why should I?
Final Opinion
I cannot understand how people are consistently upset about large breasts, deep necklines, and plate bikinis, because seriously: You don’t have to play such a character if you don’t want to.
The variety of characters in most games is increasing, and even when it is less, like in TERA – where everything just looks hot or cute, you can inform yourself about the game in advance. The fact is simply that such stereotypes are well-received, even by me. I like beautiful women who can wear interesting dresses, and I am also attracted to muscular warriors who could lift three Aurin at the same time on each arm. Are women restricted to their appearance because of this? No.
Men generally just enjoy looking at good-looking women and women just enjoy looking at attractive men – at least in bulk. Can’t we just stay grounded in reality and accept that these worlds are games that should be fun for us? Where is the huge problem if characters are exaggerated? Games are a leisure activity, and we are talking about virtual people.
And even if I am going to receive backlash: A fantasy world becomes truly exciting because of a touch of sexism sometimes and makes a world seem tougher and more unfair – since it’s just a game, I have my fun with it. Do you see it differently?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MMO Shooter Defiance is closely linked with the eponymous TV series. Both take place in a shared universe and cooperate. But what would happen if the show were suddenly canceled? Would that also mean the end for the MMO?
Though the TV series Defiance is doing well, with solid reviews and ratings, according to Polygon, the broadcasting channel Syfy is not particularly known for its long-running series. So what would happen with Defiance, the video game, if there were suddenly no season 3?
The reaction from Trick Dempsey, the lead designer of the game, is pragmatic. After all, they had to survive for 9 months after the first season ended without the show, and it went very well. So there are no worries here. However, Dempsey does not want to miss the collaboration with NBC.
Defiance, the MMO, is responsible for the heavy lifting
In the TV series, one can focus more on dialogue and character development, while in the MMO Defiance, they deal with gunfire, violence, and falling things from the sky. Action is much cheaper to implement in the game than in a TV series.
Dempsey seems to have taken a liking to the collaboration with the TV show and wants to intensify the partnership for the future. However, should there be no third season, they are already making preparations: The end of the second season is to be left open, to give the Defiance universe more room to grow and breathe.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Up to level twenty, Final Fantasy XIV can now be played for free. That sounds little, but given the rather slow pace and the many activities in the game, that’s surprisingly a lot of content. Of course, there are also certain restrictions here, as with other games. The whole thing is meant to be a trial offer and entice purchases.
If the “friend” you invite takes out a 30-day subscription, both players receive a friendship bracelet that increases experience by 25%. Additionally, the inviter can teleport to the friend.
If the friend takes out a 90-day subscription, the player who recruited them receives a tandem Chocobo with space for two.
Apparently, Final Fantasy XIV wants to be seen and played by more people
My MMO says: Since Final Fantasy XIV was available for around 5 Euros on Steam and other providers in recent weeks, the trial program is now consistent and another sign from Square Enix that they are ready to show the game to as many people as possible and expand the player base. With the last Patch 2.3. came further new features to the game, such as the monster hunting, although it may still need some fine-tuning and has already drawn some criticism. But in general, Final Fantasy XIV has really been a “feel-good” story in the MMO sector over the past few months, whose stories often end so disappointingly.
Perhaps the game will achieve something that many dreamed of with Star Wars: The Old Republic or still dream of with The Elder Scrolls Online: after a problematic start, turn things around and still become the game that the fans of the franchise and the name deserve. For FF XIV, it seems to be on a good path. This is also evident from the fact that in recent months, almost all MMO magazines have suddenly featured articles and specials about the game. Hardly anyone would have thought that possible after the launch and the first months back then.
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The new animations of the races of World of Warcraft are progressing well. Only the Blood Elves probably won’t make it by the launch of the expansion “Warlords of Draenor.”
So, the Blood Elves will catch the brunt: they will wake up at the launch of Warlords of Draenor still with the old face, while the world, enemies, and friends around them will look different. The remodelling process is proving to be incredibly labor-intensive for Blizzard. In numerous Artcraft blog posts, it is pointed out how much effort it costs, how many hours it requires, and how much more challenging it is now to bring the faces to life.
As if one had to recreate all races anew
If one had relied on some tricks ten years ago and basically just painted facial expressions, because there was no better way to do it, today everything must look organic and be made “legit.” The new models will no longer forgive tricks like glued teeth or a forced smile; the face has to move. The result can be appealing, but it also involves a hell of a lot of effort.
From a design perspective, it’s as if one is working on an expansion and already designing a lot of new “art,” thus heavily burdening the design department, and in addition, instead of creating only two new races as in the past, one now has to redo all of them. Originally, the plan was to start the expansion with just a few “refurbished” races and gradually update more via patches. However, they actually deviated from that because it would have been “not ideal.” It is still mentioned in a blog post from July 30, which gives the impression that everyone will make the beauty treatment by the time of the expansion.
However, a day later, it was already stated on Twitter that it was becoming clearer that the Blood Elves would not meet Blizzard’s standards by the launch of the expansion.
Industry press shows understanding
The industry press expresses understanding for Blizzard’s decision. WoW Insider comments: Although the Blood Elves are one of the most popular player races and therefore many players are waiting for the new models, the Blood Elves are also one of those races that have always looked relatively aesthetic, and if cuts must be made somewhere, it makes sense to delay them.
The announcement also means that the trolls will soon become the focus of the next Artcraft. Their remodelling is still pending.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the SF-MMO WildStar, some players were horrified to find that their progress in a strenuous quest was deleted. Carbine is now sparing them this quest step.
To be able to raid in WildStar, an elaborate access quest is required, reminiscent of the tasks of Hercules. One of the most tedious steps in it: defeating 12 world bosses. A quest that requires other players and demands quite a bit of effort, though it is not impossible to complete. Because low-level world bosses also count towards its completion. However, it certainly requires a lot of time, and especially on smaller servers, it is tricky.
After yesterday’s patch, some players logged in and found that their progress in this quest had been reset to 0%, even though they had already defeated some of the 12 required bosses. The game simply forgot that. The outcry in the forums was huge.
Carbine responded by removing the quest step from the players entirely. During the next downtime, every player currently stuck on this quest step will have that task completed and will be directed to the next one. Otherwise, it would not be possible to resolve the issue “fairly”. This was announced by CRB_Cougar during the live stream “WildStar Weekly”.
German Community Manager loses duel against Head Designer
In the stream, the German community manager Jan Sterl faced off against the head designer Stephan Frost in a best-of-three duel. It went suboptimally for the German. In the first duel, he forgot to equip his weapon with the unfamiliar PTR character, he won the second duel, and lost the third narrowly. Sterl, also known as CRB_Bronn, played Esper, while Frost played the Stalker.
Seemingly unfazed by the defeat, Sterl announced that they want to hold arena matches between devs and arena players at Gamescom in Cologne. He could probably say this with a grin and fearlessly because he will also take a seat in the commentators’ chair.
Content Update #3 brings back PvE and another zone
Furthermore, it was heard at WildStar Weekly that Content Patch #3 will bring another zone in which the story of Drusera will continue. Currently, players are mistakenly being sent into the zone with a quest. However, that currently leads nowhere. Content Patch #3 is supposed to focus again on PvE. The second patch released yesterday mainly revolves around PvP.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Korean MMO Black Desert has found a publisher for the West in Daum, who is now recruiting veterans from the gaming industry.
In an interview with mmoculture, Brian Oh, the Director of Oversea Business of Pearl Abyss, the developer of Black Desert, talked about the unusual publisher choice. After all, Daum is a Korean publisher that has little experience in the West. Among the fans, there are doubts about whether Daum will be able to find its way in the Western market and do justice to the game.
When asked about the gaming scene being somewhat in shock that the choice fell on Daum, Oh replied that they did not make this decision lightly. After a long evaluation phase, they chose Daum, also because their support after the agreement in Korea was so valuable.
According to Oh, Daum is working to establish itself in the West. They are currently recruiting veterans from the gaming industry with Western experience. Additionally, they have just merged with “Kakao,” the largest publisher for mobile gaming platforms in Korea.
Oh sees no difficulties in that a publisher inexperienced in the West may be responsible for delays. The previous collaboration has shown that Daum works reliably and quickly.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Blizzard’s free card game Hearthstone, a flaw in the artificial intelligence of the opponents in Naxxramas leads to cheap victories. A 2-mana combination from the Priest takes down the bosses.
Yesterday, a video surfaced on YouTube showing how to trick the A.I. of the heroic bosses in Naxxramas with a cheap trick. The bosses appear so confused that they don’t play any cards and ultimately die from the fatigue penalty. This penalty is incurred by players and A.I. opponents when they have to draw cards but have none left in their deck. The player can avoid the drawbacks of fatigue by healing in the meantime with the Priest’s hero power and certain cards to offset the HP advantage of some heroic bosses, who start with 45 instead of 30 health points.
The simple trick works with a Priest deck. You only need the 2-mana card “Doomsayer”, which is then silenced by the 0-mana spell “Silence”. The “Doomsayer” would normally destroy all minions at the start of each turn. However, this ability is negated by the silence. For some reason, several bosses in Naxxramas cannot handle this.
The video is already hotly debated on Reddit, and people are trying to draw conclusions about the “artificial intelligence” of the bosses in Naxxramas. However, it is assumed that Blizzard will soon adjust this to put a stop to the “cheap tricks” in Hearthstone.
So much for “No cheap tricks allowed”
On the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the Plague Wing, the second section of the Naxxramas expansion, opened. At launch, it was ironically revealed that the previously “cheapest trick”, the card Alexstrasza, would not work against the crucial third boss Loatheb. The Dread Lord Kel’Thuzad was allowed to announce: “This is the heroic mode. No cheap tricks allowed.” Apparently, Kel’Thuzad is still unaware of the Silence-Doomsayer combo.
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In the zombie survival MMO H1Z1, the virus of the same name has been raging on Earth for 15 years, leaving its mark: Not just on humans, but also on buildings.
We now know how the zombie apocalypse affects people. They become at least as biting as a striker from Uruguay. But what actually happens to our world? What happens to open-plan offices, intersections, supermarkets, gas stations, and our cars when they’ve been rotting away for 15 years? And how can a whole, growing, sprawling world be efficiently recreated and constructed?
A team of graphic designers at H1Z1 is addressing these questions. They have now illustrated through a series of images how the design of such a rapidly spreading world works.
From scratch and over weeks, they designed the main street of a small settlement and documented their successes. Here you can see how individual buildings slowly become a street and thus a world. For the look of the street, they started with a small shopping mall, single-story buildings, and a gas station. Then they added office spaces – with the typical “Cubicles,” the tiny, partitioned workspaces that can make you feel like a zombie even without the virus.
The differences can be clearly seen in the pictures. While the main street appears deserted in one of the early working phases, it does not look “good” in the zombie sense, but rather in the bad sense of “something is still missing for me to believe that”:
the street looks much more believable and “lively” with a few additions:
With an abandoned police station, a few different fundamental buildings, and other facades, a diverse and vibrant picture emerges. In doing so, the urban landscape is given the morbid look of an area where no one has found the time to maintain anything for 15 years through a “wear and tear” program.
These “building block cities” are particularly important for the survival MMO H1Z1 because after the release, they want to constantly expand the map and bring new variations of villages and towns into the game. The fans’ reaction to these pictures has already been positive. Fans are especially impressed by how the quality of the design increases significantly with just a few additional models and elements.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Final Fantasy franchise thrives on its recognizability, its focus on aesthetics, and a distinctive style. Many fans drawn to the MMO now have played the earlier installments of Final Fantasy in their childhood. The game and the franchise are so immensely popular in Japan that it was not such an outlandish thought to try it with a “theme” café. The Eorzea Café opened yesterday on July 31 in Tokyo and impresses with its attention to detail. While the Hard Rock Café showcases memorabilia from rockers or stars on the walls, here you find Moogles, swords, shields, and other artifacts.
The dishes also come with a nice Final Fantasy touch. And for those who can only think about gaming while eating: Of course, there are PCs with internet access in the Eorzea Café. Installed is – of course – Final Fantasy XIV.
You can find more pictures in the sources.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fans of the MMO shooter Defiance are still waiting for the promised transition to the free-to-play mode for the consoles Playstation 3 and XBox 360.
Originally, the switch to a free model for the consoles was planned for July 15, but it was postponed at short notice to an indefinite time. According to Trion Worlds, new elements were introduced into the game in conjunction with the television series, which made the MMO shooter unstable. And they did not want to burden the expected newcomers with such a gaming experience.
Clearly, the work is taking longer. Even more than two weeks after the missed deadline, a date for the switch to F2P on Playstation 3 and XBox 360 is still not known. A community representative from Trion Worlds recently mentioned that they at least want to provide a new date for the transition soon. We will keep you updated on the developments.
Mein MMO thinks: This is definitely not the polite way to announce a date for a transition, cancel it at short notice, and then leave the fans in the lurch. It especially leaves a sour taste that players were drawn to a game by advertising it as “free.” Tempted by the offer, some may have acquired Defiance somewhere cheaply because they did not want to wait any longer for the F2P transition.
Others may have lost interest in the game if the date could not be held for so long. In any case, it is an unfortunate situation. Hopefully, it will be resolved in the coming days.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
You log in unsuspectingly, and it’s already that time again: Just under 4 weeks after the last update, the latest WildStar patch, aptly named “Sabotage,” is ready for download.
This content update is fully dedicated to PvP, as it introduces the new map “Dolchsteinpass“, where 15 players from each faction can beat each other up. In addition to three capturable control points, you will also be able to blow up enemies and their bases with large bombs – due to the increased battlefield size, you can also use your mounts and hoverboards this time.
Additionally, the healer-friendly change to PvP values (PvP Power now increases healing done) has been made, with the main focus on class balance: Espers can look forward to increased damage and higher mobility, while Assassin tanks have had to sacrifice some of their survivability, and Spell Slinger will have to settle for smaller telegraphs.
Moreover, there are some new housing items that can now be found in PvP reward boxes. Lastly, there has been an effort to fix as many bugs as possible, especially the erroneous path missions should now be manageable without problems. You can see a complete list of all changes in the patch notes.
So far, the developers have been delivering a big update every 4-6 weeks as promised – let’s hope this frequency will be maintained!
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Before the release of The Elder Scrolls Online, it became known that the capital city, the Imperial City, would keep its gates shut upon launch. The reason given was that the city had been conquered and occupied by the hordes of Molag Bal. It is now up to you to drive them out of the city and gain control over it, but that is not so simple.
First of all, you must manage to get into the city at all. To do this, your alliance must control most of the 18 strongholds in Cyrodiil. Then, and only then, can you enter the Imperial City through an entrance in the sewers. There are 3 separate entrances, one for each alliance, but only one will be open at a time. Which one that is can change quickly.
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In Wargaming’s World of Tanks, the patch 9.2 is coming to the servers today. It beautifies the tanks, makes the maps slightly harder, and brings a cozy feeling to the otherwise steely tank game with its own fortresses.
“Fiery Ground” is the name of the new map that is coming with 9.2. According to Wargaming, it is a revamped version of the map “Prokhorovka”. Additionally, changes have been made to eight other maps based on player suggestions.
Furthermore, the tank mechanics at Wargaming have done a great job. Players can now experience four of the tanks in high-resolution textures: specifically the Soviet IS and SU-100, the German StuG III, and the British Churchill I.
However, the actual new feature is the “Fortresses,” which have been announced for a while and were extensively tested in recent weeks. The fortresses are the pride and joy of every clan, provide bonuses, and give the commanders plenty to do. Wargaming’s management is promising that the mode will bring more gameplay depth at the meta level, variety, and new tactical elements.
Twitch is expanding
In World of Tanks, there is not only something happening in the game but also around it. A real cult is slowly forming around World of Tanks, and the eSports factor is being expanded further. Just this weekend in Minsk, a $90,000 tournament took place as a closing event of the Wargaming.net League, and there are regularly clips on social media featuring the most absurd or coolest tank kills.
Wargaming has recognized the signs of the times and understands that there is no better advertising than having players that you can watch while they are having a great time playing. Thus, they are doing everything to make it easy for players to stream their gameplay. With just a push of a button, as they advertise, you now land on Twitch.
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The Free2Play MMORPG Neverwinter will be available on Xbox One in the first half of 2015.
As Perfect World Entertainment announces in a press release, a port to Xbox is practically a necessity; a quality game like this must be accessible to console players. PWE believes that the action-oriented combat system of the game will be well suited to the console and its peculiarities. Therefore, a port is a logical choice. For Perfect World Entertainment, it is a significant milestone, as they are stepping out of the PC market for the first time. A dream is coming true.
Controls and Payment Model of the Xbox One Version; no information yet on Playstation 4 port
For the Xbox One, no compromises are to be made. There will be the same races, the same classes, and all areas as in the PC version. With “some minor” exceptions, the game will therefore be identical. Xbox One players will get their own server; cross-play like in Final Fantasy XIV is not planned. At the moment, they are keeping silent about whether they plan to expand to other platforms. The Playstation 4 would be a logical choice.
The biggest challenge will be, as they told the US site ign.com, to adapt the mouse and keyboard controls to the controller. They plan to display abilities at the bottom of the screen that can then be activated with the buttons on the controller. A classic console model. Selection should be swappable with a press of LB. Then, less frequently used skills will be available.
Currently, the payment model looks like Neverwinter will only be available to users who have activated an Xbox Gold membership.
In China, the Xbox One version will be available this year, while the rest of the world will have to wait until the first half of 2015.
On PC, the reign of dragons will begin soon
The next major update for the PC version of Neverwinter is coming in two weeks. On August 14, the fourth module “The Tyranny of Dragons” begins. A new class and a new race have already been announced for this.
The new race “Dragonborn” has recently caused a stir as it will come at a substantial price and will be associated with some advantages.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
