George R.R. Martin has created one of the greatest fantasy epics, which has led to a very popular series. Therefore, it is not surprising that he is compared to the most important writer in the genre. However, Martin sees a significant difference.
“A Song of Ice and Fire” is the most well-known book series by George R.R. Martin, and since the release of the TV series, the title of the first volume, “A Game of Thrones”, has become widely established.
Today, Game of Thrones can undoubtedly be called a significant and influential fantasy story. Countless fans are waiting for the continuation of the books. George R.R. Martin himself has often been compared to another author who had an even greater influence on the genre: J.R.R. Tolkien.
The creator of Middle-earth has greatly influenced fantasy literature. However, George R.R. Martin has explained the extent to which Tolkien influenced him.
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In the trailer for season 5 of Game of Thrones, Daenerys wants to break the wheel
A Rougher Kind of Fantasy
Who is George R.R. Martin telling stories to? In an interview with Adria’s News, the writer was asked about Tolkien. Not only do they operate in the same genre, but they have also created works that enjoy great popularity.
However, Martin does not dispute that Tolkien is a significant influence today and even criticizes him. But he has appreciated “The Lord of the Rings” since he read the books at the age of 12. At that time, they impressed him so much that he even considered writing Tolkien a fan letter. However, that never happened.
As a writer, however, Martin has been influenced by much older works:
Tolkien had no direct influence on me when I decided to write “A Song of Ice and Fire”, although my books belong to the fantasy canon that Tolkien improved. I mean, fantasy is very old. We can find it in the “Iliad” or in the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, but Tolkien made it a modern genre, and “A Song of Ice and Fire” shares some of those patterns, but not all.
Martin looks to authors like Homer for inspiration. He also says that a significant difference is that he writes “dirty fantasy”. It is much rougher than that of Tolkien.
This is indeed evident when comparing the two works side by side. In Martin’s stories, characters are often ambivalent. Classical heroes who only do good, like Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings”, are rare.
However, Martin has still drawn some conclusions from “The Lord of the Rings”. He praises the treatment of magic in Tolkien’s work (via ign.com). It is not used excessively and is not overpowering. Gandalf draws his sword when he faces an orc and does not just make him disappear.
The YouTuber and streamer Entenburg, who specializes in MMORPGs, analyzes in his new video why the first season of New World Aeternum is a “disaster that was predictable”.
Who is Entenburg? The German YouTuber (75,200 subscribers on the main channel) and streamer (33,748 followers on Twitch) has made a name for himself in recent years with his MMORPG expertise.
Entenburg has been following New World since its turbulent development. His hope all these years was that Amazon Games could better highlight the unique and partially great aspects that New World offers in some areas. Unfortunately, this was not accomplished with New World Aeternum for the time being, according to his analysis from December 2024.
The gameplay trailer for New World Aeternum:
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New World Aeternum: Well-Staged Gameplay Trailer for Launch
“Disaster that was predictable”
What does Entenburg say now about the Season of Conquerors? But what does it look like now with the Season of Conquerors that started on January 21, 2025? This is exactly what Entenburg focused on in his most recent video, which was released a few hours ago on the second channel Entenburch (via YouTube).
Although the season brought some adjustments and additions for the normal servers, it was far too little to entice dissatisfied players to log in with their old characters.
The heavy focus on PvP in the first season and the concept of the seasons themselves were so uninteresting or even off-putting for many players of New World that the launch of the new server had almost no impact on player counts (via steamdb.info). Before the season, there were about 14,500 players live simultaneously on Steam, while after the season start, there were a little over 17,150.
Like many others, Entenburg thinks it was a big mistake to fully rely on PvP in the first season. PvP fans would have preferred frequently requested content like practice wars or fresh PvP modes. At least those that are still there. According to Entenburg, many PvP enthusiasts from his circle turned their backs on New World a while ago.
On the other hand, Amazon Games managed to attract many new players with the increasing theme park orientation and PvE content in Aeternum. To keep them engaged, further PvE content would have been absolutely necessary.
Fundamental problems with the season server are responsible for this: On the one hand, there is no karma system that protects low-level characters. On the other hand, there are no areas in the game world where players can level up characters with less risk, as is the case in other MMORPGs with open-world PvP.
Here is Entenburg’s video in all its glory:
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It remains problematic that the most efficient way to level on the season server is by chopping wood (through the conversion of wood into ethereal dust or life spirit orbs that grant experience, among other things).
So instead of doing quests and repeatedly stumbling into brawls with other players, most characters are simply clearing the forests of Aeternum.
The cherry on top was a recent update that removed all designations of the New World servers. Suddenly, it was no longer marked which server the season was on, which worlds had joined Aeternum, and which realms existed even before Aeternum.
An unintended side effect of this: Suddenly, transfers between all servers became possible – which can have a huge impact on the economy, the power dynamics, and more of a world. A saving hotfix came only after many hours. Additionally, players who exploited this were banned. Nevertheless, a lot of brought items and gold are likely still circulating on the PvP servers.
In Pokémon GO, you should focus on the best attackers and their strongest movesets to quickly defeat raid bosses. We at MeinMMO show you which monsters you should have in your team depending on their type.
Why is this important? To be successful in raids and gym battles, you need to assemble the right teams. It is important to take advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses and use appropriate counters. We have summarized the best attackers of each type and their strongest attack combinations below.
What does the ranking show? In the following overview, we have listed the 10 best attackers and their movesets for each type. Note that we only considered “normal” Pokémon.
Although Shadow and Mega Pokémon are often significantly better in battles and have various advantages, they are relatively difficult to obtain in the game. Therefore, we show you a selection of the best Mega Evolutions and Shadow Pokémon under the top 10 attackers for each type.
All attacks marked with an * are exclusive moves. You can obtain them only during specific events or by using Elite TMs.
On the following pages, you will find the best attackers of the following types:
Palkia (Origin Form) with Dragon Tail and Spatial Rend*
Dialga (Origin Form) with Fire Breath and Roar of Time*
Rayquaza with Dragon Tail and Hyper Beam*
White Kyurem with Fire Breath and Dragon Pulse
Maxax with Dragon Tail and Hyper Beam*
Palkia with Dragon Tail and Draco Meteor
Catapult Dragon with Dragon Tail and Hyper Beam
Brutalanda with Dragon Tail and Outrage*
Knakrack with Dragon Tail and Outrage
These are the best Dragon type attackers
The best Mega and Shadow Dragon type attackers: If you want to include a suitable Mega Evolution or a Shadow Pokémon in your team, consider the following monsters:
Mega-Rayquaza with Dragon Tail and Hyper Beam*
Mega-Knackrack with Dragon Tail and Outrage
Mega-Brutalanda with Dragon Tail and Draco Meteor
Mega-Latios with Fire Breath and Dragon Claw
Shadow Palkia with Dragon Tail and Draco Meteor
Shadow Knackrack with Dragon Tail and Outrage
Shadow Brutalanda with Dragon Tail and Outrage*
Shadow Dragoran with Dragon Tail and Outrage
Strength of Dragon Type: Dragon Pokémon are particularly effective in battles against other Dragons.
A selection of the top attackers in Pokémon GO that should not be missing from your team is shown in the following video:
Start video
Pokémon GO: The strongest attackers of all types in the video
Best Ice-Type Attackers
White Kyurem with Ice Fang and Frost Breath
Black Kyurem with Dragon Tail and Frost volt
Espinodon with Ice Fang and Avalanche
Galar Flampivian with Ice Fang and Avalanche
Mamutel with Powder Snow and Avalanche
Kyurem with Fire Breath and Ice Age*
Glaziola with Ice Breath and Avalanche
Snibunna with Ice Shard and Avalanche
Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Ice Beam
Kolowal with Powder Snow and Avalanche
These are the best Ice-Type Attackers
By the way: You can also rely on the all-rounder Mewtwo with a moveset of Psycho Cut and Ice Beam. The Psychic attacker benefits not only from its high attack value but also deals significant damage with Ice Beam.
The best Mega and Shadow Ice-Type Attackers: If a suitable Mega Evolution or Shadow Pokémon should not be missing in your team, rely on the following monsters:
Mega-Firnontor with Ice Breath and Avalanche
Mega-Rexblisar with Powder Snow and Meteorologist
Shadow Mamutel with Powder Snow and Avalanche
Shadow Snibunna with Ice Shard and Triple Axel
Shadow Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Ice Beam
Shadow Pantifrost with Ice Shard and Triple Axel
Shadow Articuno with Ice Shard and Ice Beam
Strength of Ice Type: Especially rely on the best Ice-Type Attackers in battles against Grass, Flying, Ground, and Dragon Pokémon.
In Path of Exile 2, the best player of all was momentarily inattentive and had to pay dearly for it.
Who is it about? In Path of Exile 2, besides the normal difficulty, there are also special game modes for gamers who prefer a greater challenge. The hardest of these game modes forbids players from trading, playing in a group, and dying.
While the first two rules cannot be broken, the game ends for the character upon death. However, they are not deleted; instead, they are moved to the normal game mode.
As an Invoker, he focused on Ice Strike and Energy Shield as means to success. But the joy over the record didn’t last long.
Have you met this NPC from Path of Exile 2 yet?
Start video
This NPC in Path of Exile 2 identifies your items
A single misstep is enough
How did the player lose everything? Just three days after reaching the maximum level 100, the player made a fateful mistake. During the fight against the toughest boss in the game, the Arbiter of Ash, the gamer wasn’t paying close enough attention. The boss is notorious in the community for the difficulty of the battle. The developers have since nerfed him.
The Arbiter of Ash is one of the few bosses in the game that can defeat any character with a single hit. This occurs in a sequence where you must always move your character to a safe spot in the boss arena.
Because the player couldn’t find the safe point in the arena quickly enough, he was hit by the boss’s powerful attack and was instantly eliminated. You can see the whole scene here:
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What did he lose with that? Even though “HDB_oOps” will forever hold the record as the first player to master the hardest mode in the game, the death of his character also means the end for him.
He can no longer continue playing in hardcore mode with this character, so he cannot further enjoy his success. For the other players still competing for second place, however, this event may not be of great relevance. They are still fighting for millions of experience points to also reach the maximum level. What could help them would be this rare bow: A player from Path of Exile 2 crafts a bow that rivals Robin Hood
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Hayao Miyazaki is the director and screenwriter of the Ghibli film “Spirited Away.” A scene in the anime highlights that there are significant gaps between generations.
Which scene is it? Chihiro administers a healing dumpling to Haku in his dragon form, causing him to expel a black worm. Chihiro chases after the creature and crushes it with her shoe. Kamaji, the man with six arms, shouts at Chihiro during this scene to cut the string.
She holds her index fingers and thumbs together. Kamaji then brings his flat hand through Chihiro’s fingers.
In an interview with Hayao Miyazaki and Rumi Hiiragi, it becomes clear that even the 37-year-old Japanese woman does not understand what this gesture means. Miyazaki then explains to her what this scene is about. You can watch the interview and the scene in the YouTube video by yurikuki.
You can find the trailer for Spirited Away here:
Start video
Spirited Away Trailer (English)
Old Japanese Tradition That the Youth No Longer Understands
What does it mean? The act of cutting the string refers to a traditional Japanese gesture. It is essentially a good luck charm performed when one is affected by impurities. Miyazaki mentioned in the interview that it could be, for example, a dog poop that one has stepped in.
The person affected by misfortune holds two index fingers together. Another person then makes a cutting gesture through the joined index fingers and pretends to “cut the string.” This is meant to make the impurity fall away.
Why is it only understood when one is that old? The young voice actress was astonished and remarked that she had never heard of this tradition. Miyazaki replied that this custom is actually well known throughout Japan.
However, a sound engineer added that “young people today no longer know what that would be.” After all, Hayao Miyazaki is 84 years old, which is a 47-year age difference. In the past, Miyazaki has expressed his worries about younger generations, presumably also because they forget such traditions.
Over the years, the custom may have increasingly fallen into oblivion. It’s especially wonderful that Miyazaki is reviving it through Spirited Away.
If the viewers are to be believed, Spirited Away is the best film from the Ghibli animation studio. However, the studio has released several other classics over the years. How the other films rank can be found in the following article on MeinMMO: All Ghibli Films Ranked By IMDb
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The popular space MMORPG EVE Online continues to deliver new content even 22 years after its release. The developers have now presented the roadmap for 2025.
What kind of game is this? EVE Online is a sandbox MMORPG for PC, released in June 2003 and now operating on a free-to-play model. The focus is on exploring space with your own spaceship.
At the start, you receive a basic ship, but your goal is to acquire a better and larger spaceship. You can either craft new ships yourself or buy them from other players.
As a true sandbox, almost all the spaceships and items in the game have been created by the community itself. The community plays a significant role in EVE Online, as the game is built around joining other players and fighting in large wars for control of the universe.
In 2023, an interesting expansion came to EVE Online:
Start video
EVE Online lets you finally be truly evil – Trailer for the new expansion Havoc
Roadmap shows two expansions for 2025
What is planned for 2025? In a presentation on YouTube, the developers of EVE Online spoke about their plans for the space MMORPG. In 2025, two expansions are set to be released.
A summer expansion is planned for the second quarter of the year, from April 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025. A winter expansion will then come in the fourth quarter at the end of the year, between October 1 and December 31, 2025.
A mid-November release is a possibility here. This is when the developers also chose to release the last expansion, Revenant.
In addition to the expansions, EVE Fanfest will also return. This annual event takes place in Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, and is a mix of community gathering and gaming convention focused on EVE Online. However, the event was canceled last year.
Roadmap of EVE Online for 2025
What content will be the focus in 2025? This year, EVE Online wants to highlight a new system. The so-called freelance projects will allow players to create their own missions, which can then be completed by others for rewards.
For example, players can create their own bounty missions or collaborate with strangers on projects. The fresh system is intended to make the sandbox more vibrant and allow players to create new stories.
A small supermarket in Costa Rica has won in court against Nintendo. The reason for the lawsuit was the name of the store, which is named after its founder.
What kind of supermarket is this? The supermarket proudly bears the name “Súper Mario”, named after its founder Don José Mario Alfaro González. Don Mario opened the store under this name 52 years ago (via PC Gamer) – 12 years before the first Super Mario Bros. was released in 1985.
At that time, however, they neglected to register the name as a trademark. This only happened when Mario’s son Carlos “Charlito” Alfaro returned from university in 2013 and the supermarket applied for the renewal of its trademark.
As Carlos “Charlito” Alfaro outlined in a post on Facebook, Nintendo became aware of the supermarket through social media and claimed that the name Super Mario belonged to them worldwide. This was followed by a lawsuit from the corporation.
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Nintendo showcases the Switch 2 for the first time in a trailer
The family was about to give up – but ultimately wins
How did it go in court? The prospect of going to court against such a large international corporation caused fear for Alfaro and his family. They were close to just giving up and changing the name to avoid an expensive lawsuit.
For a moment, we thought about throwing in the towel; how would we defeat such a commercial monster? Even more so because of the number of legal documents they submitted to secure victory.
Ultimately, however, they decided not to back down. The decision of the National Registry of Costa Rica came – completely unexpectedly – in favor of the supermarket. The reason: While Nintendo had trademark rights in a variety of categories like video games, clothing, collectibles, toys, and more, they did not have rights for the sale of food.
In a short video that Carlos “Charlito” Alfaro later also published on Facebook, he proudly points to his father Don Mario in the background and says: “He is Don Mario, he is my father, he has been here for 52 years, and he is the founder of Super Mario.”
Riot Games might soon bring a change to League of Legends that alters how often you can attack per second.
What kind of information is this?
In the League of Legends subreddit, a user posted a series of changes they found through data mining on the PBE (Public Beta Environment).
The PBE is a kind of testing environment where upcoming patches can be tested before they are released in the actual game.
Data mining refers to searching the game files for clues about upcoming updates that are not yet visible in the game.
The changes shared were discovered in the files of the PBE and could appear in League of Legends in the future.
Start video
Welcome to Noxus – Opening Video for the First LoL Season 2025
Riot raises attack speed limit
What kind of change is this? Among the changes shared by the data miner on Reddit, there is also an increase in the attack speed cap. The attack speed cap is being raised from 2.5 to 3.003 attacks per second. You will then be able to attack up to 3 times per second.
An employee of Riot Games has since confirmed the change on Reddit and revealed that 3.0 will be the new upper limit for all modes that do not have a separate cap.
This means that if you manage to fully utilize the limit with a champion, you can attack faster than ever before.
How the new limit looks in practice is shown by the YouTuber Remus in comparison:
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What does the community say about the change? The community is currently divided on whether the change could actually affect the current meta.
Some League players believe that the increased limit will not be very noticeable. One user commented on YouTube: “I don’t feel like this will be as big of a change as people interpret it. Most crit ADCs will not reach that [limit] […] For super on-hit champions like Vayne, I can see it slightly changing things, but even then I believe this will only affect very few situations.”
Other players think that primarily champions like Jinx will benefit from the change, who can stack attack speed over the course of a match. How heavily this change will affect gameplay and which champions will benefit the most from it will ultimately become clear over time.
When will the change take place? According to the online magazine PCGamesN, the change to the attack speed cap is set to go live with patch 25.S1.3 on February 5th. Then you will be able to test the increased limit in a normal game for the first time.
The current season in League of Legends just started on January 9, 2025, which included patch 25.S1.1 with the new mode Swift Play. What else this season has in store for you can be read on MeinMMO: LoL: The new season has started – What changes are there?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
25-year-old Elias “Upset” Lipp was the focal point of Fnatic, the popular e-sport team in Europe for LoL, for two years. During that time, the ADC was considered the best German player in League of Legends. However, the roster fell apart after the LoL Worlds 2021, and German Upset was replaced by Swedish superstar Rekkles. This led to two tough years for Upset and the Fnatic team. But that has now come to an end.
This is how Upset’s career went: Even at 15, Upset was a successful player in LoL and switched to Schalke. In hindsight, he would have preferred to skip that and join the perennial champion G2, as he says today in an interview with Tolkin (via YouTube), but back then he didn’t know better.
After stints with Origen and Astralis, he landed at Fnatic in November 2020 as a “great German talent.” They had just lost their star player Rekkles to G2 and needed a replacement. At Fnatic, Upset finally matured into an elite player and made Fnatic “his team.”
Many consider a German to be the best SoloQ player in LoL – How does Agurin play?
After Upset had to leave the Worlds, things went wrong
This was the turning point: But in 2021, there was a crash in the team: Upset had to leave the Worlds in Iceland for personal reasons. To this day, it remains unclear what exactly happened; only “family reasons” are mentioned.
This was a huge disappointment for Fnatic at the time, as the players had worked the whole year to earn a place at the Worlds. But they could not make use of that place. Without their focal player, Fnatic was eliminated without a chance.
After those Worlds, there was ongoing turmoil at Fnatic. A young teammate accused Upset of leaving the Worlds simply because his partner missed him. Upset defended himself against such accusations. But by then, the rumor was already out: Upset’s wife even received death threats.
The team’s morale took a dive, as Upset says today.
Two really tough years begin for Fnatic and Upset
This is how it went for Fnatic without Upset: Ultimately, Fnatic disbanded the roster in 2022 and replaced Upset with the “big name,” Rekkles, who returned to the team after not doing well at G2.
But Rekkles was no longer the franchise player he once was. He later even switched to support. At Fnatic, he could never really establish himself.
There followed two years in which Fnatic constantly rotated the roster but found no real success anymore.
After Upset, 8 more players left Fnatic within 2 years, particularly the support player changed constantly. On the bot lane, the Korean Noah played after Rekkles’ quick departure.
This is how it went for Upset: Upset also struggled without Fnatic in 2023 and 2024. First, he joined Perkz in his “super-team” Vitality. However, that turned out to be super unsuccessful. Perkz mentioned after the season that it didn’t feel real but more like a nightmare.
After that, Upset transferred to Karmine Corp. – and nothing worked there either. He ended the Spring Split 2024 in last place 10.
At Karmine Corp., however, there was no longer any place for the German in 2025: Now the wonder kid Caliste plays there as ADC.
In a rather silly video, Fnatic shows how jungler Razork time travels to bring the former Fnatic players Mikyx and Upset back to Fnatic:
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Upset is ready to take on responsibility and spread good vibes at 25
This is how Upset is doing now: Upset returned to Fnatic in 2025 and forms a strong bot lane here with Mikyx, perhaps the best-known support in Europe.
In an interview with Tolkin, Upset says he feels like “the prodigal son” who has returned to Fnatic. The last time the team had many issues and tensions. But he has now resolved to be sensible at 25, emit only positive vibes, and make the calls.
In the past, at 15, he says he was terribly toxic. Tolkin adds: Upset constantly pressured people to play a lot of SoloQ. Only when everyone was a Challenger was Upset satisfied.
The 25-year-old smiles: Even today, it is still important to him that everyone plays a lot. But Upset seems to have found ways to communicate his goals without being as toxic as before. Especially with Mikyx as a partner, whom he praises repeatedly, he seems to feel comfortable now.
For Mikyx, things didn’t go so well in the past few years, but in 2025 he seems to be exceptionally strong.
Upset is once again a statistics monster
This is how it is going for Upset at Fnatic: Apparently, Upset has ended both his own weak phase and that of Fnatic in the two weeks he has been playing at Fnatic: The newly formed Fnatic recently wiped out G2 – Upset played 4-1-9 on Ezrael.
With 5-1, Fnatic, Karmine Corp., and Movistar KOI are currently in 1st place in the LEC.
A new role-playing game on Steam aims to simulate life in a Roman city and leave you as many paths as possible to navigate it – whether you commit the crime of your life or prefer to engage in politics.
Which game is being referred to? We are talking about Streets of Fortuna, a new sandbox RPG from Kitfox Games. They are also the publishers of the settlement simulation Dwarf Fortress, which has received very positive ratings on Steam. The developers also provided advisory support for Streets of Fortuna.
Streets of Fortuna simulates life in a Roman city around the year 500 A.D. It is inspired by the then-capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople. The game simulates the daily routines of 1,000 residents, with whom you can interact to earn your bread in the city of Fortuna.
You can watch a trailer for the game here:
Start video
Streets of Fortuna: The Announcement Trailer for the New Sandbox RPG on Steam
Live like in ancient Constantinople
What does the trailer show? Visually, the game opts for a stylized look, but the world is meant to be very interactive. Everything that is not bolted down in the world can be taken – whether that stuff already belongs to someone else doesn’t matter, as long as you are not caught.
In Fortuna, however, you can earn your livelihood not only through theft. You could also seek an honest trade, such as becoming a cook, merchant, or priest. According to the developers’ statements on Steam, the focus at release will primarily be on making the gameplay as fun as possible for thieves.
The NPCs are said to be, unlike in many other role-playing games, not just a backdrop: Talk to whoever you want, ask them for directions, or follow them home to find out what kind of people they are. You can use this knowledge to charm someone – or gain political advantages if you want to compete against the lord of the city in an unpleasant manner.
In an MMO on Steam, players fought for 70 days in an unrelenting war that ultimately ended with a single attack
What kind of game is this? Foxhole is a sandbox MMO set in World War II that celebrated its full release on Steam in September 2022 after being available in Early Access for almost 5 years. The MMO is played from an isometric perspective, meaning you look at your character from a high angle.
In Foxhole, you join one of two armies and fight in an ongoing war that can last for several days or weeks. A war is only over when one side has gathered enough points by controlling map areas.
During battles, every player is part of the massive machinery, and not every player fights on the front lines. Some are engaged in producing ammunition while others prepare newcomers for the war. The right strategy is an important aspect of success.
There are controllable war machines like tanks and ships as well as infantry battles in a persistent, ever-existing world. Consequently, the events of the battle can have effects days or weeks later.
Start video
Foxhole 1.0 Inferno – Launch Trailer
Developers have to intervene because a battle just won’t end
What kind of battle was this? On the Charlie server of Foxhole, a war lasted over 2 months. It was only after 71 days and 9 million fallen characters that a victor emerged from the relentless battle.
On January 27, 2025, the developers announced on the official Foxhole Discord server that they would take measures to bring the war on Charlie to an early end. To this end, they intended to lower the minimum points required for victory on January 31.
However, before the developers’ measure could be implemented, players gathered for a final assault and one side achieved the hard-fought victory. On Reddit, a player summarizes:
“The war ended because the developers brought everyone to the same side. They essentially took care of the planning and brought everyone together for an operation at the same time. People discarded their supplies and made a massive push that they should have made earlier, but they lacked confidence/manpower. […] When everyone returned for one last hurrah, the war was over. The impending end of the war brought back the MANY burned-out players, and the war was over.“
Why did the developers want to intervene? On the Foxhole Discord server, the developers explained that their concern was about the player experience of new players who joined the Charlie server in the past month.
New players should experience the game as it was intended – from the early phase and initial preparations through the mid-game to the end. However, since the war had already lasted over 2 months and showed no sign of ending, that was not possible. Those new to the server could only experience a battle that had been ongoing for weeks and months.
The streamer Erobb221 set himself an almost impossible task on Twitch: he wanted to solve a 1,000-piece puzzle live on Twitch. Especially tricky: the puzzle was completely black, with no visual clues on how the pieces fit together. After 12 days of live streaming, the project came to an end, not because the puzzle was complete, but because Twitch banned the streamer.
What an action was that? The streamer Erobb221 had announced he would put together a 1,000-piece puzzle in the stream. All pieces of the puzzle were black.
As Sports Illustrated reports, after the first 2 hours, he had only put together 3 pieces.
After 288 hours live on Twitch, Erobb was said to have been at the end of his strength. It’s said that after almost 2 weeks he was “extremely tired, hungry, and frustrated” – then came the relieving ban from Twitch.
Erobb is the brother and long-time rival of Tyler1:
Start video
How the Worst Troll from Twitch Became the Face of League of Legends
Erobb has to wipe the puzzle off the table because he gets caught cheating
How did the puzzling go? Not well at all. Erobb painstakingly built the border and then realized he would need about 1 hour per piece, with 860 pieces still to go.
As he got a good ways through, about 33 hours into the stream, viewers exposed him for cheating, and Erobb decided to wipe the puzzle off the table and restart. By then, he was already pretty worn out.
The chat had realized that the streamer had apparently numbered the puzzle pieces to make solving it easier. An observant viewer caught him doing this and repeatedly posted it in the chat (via reddit).
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Why was Erobb banned? It is believed that X received a “DMCA strike” because he watched an episode of “South Park” live on stream.
This is the assumption: An experienced streamer like Erobb knows that this is a clear violation of copyright guidelines and will result in a ban.
Therefore, many now assume that he might have provoked the ban from Twitch to escape from his own challenge with the puzzle.
Many suspect: He intentionally got himself banned to escape the puzzle hell
Even his own brother and long-time rival Tyler1 seems to believe this. When asked about the ban, he says: “Erobb? Why was he banned? […] Well, hopefully it’s permanent! He watched South Park on stream? Did he intentionally get himself banned so he wouldn’t have to finish the puzzle?”
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In the comments, it seems that people aren’t going to let Erobb off so easily: the run is clearly incomplete and must be repeated – and from the beginning, savage Reddit users say.
Did anyone watch it? It’s like many of these events: In the first hours, the event went excellently, and Erobb had an average of 111,000 viewers, but then the numbers dropped rapidly. He was constantly streaming and alternating between puzzling and sleeping, but after the initial hype, he had only “relatively normal viewer numbers” of around 3,000. Recently, we’ve checked out some streamers where the cash is rolling: We calculated how much 8 German-speaking streamers earn per hour on Twitch
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With Dune: Awakening, a new survival game is set to be released in 2025, aiming to redefine the genre – and I believe it can. At least that’s what MeinMMO editor and survival expert Benedict Grothaus says. Funcom, the creators of the Dune game, invited him to a preview event and completely impressed him with what they showed.
Even though I often rave about other genres here, survival games are my passion. I’ve spent more than 1,000 hours across Conan Exiles, Valheim, the new Enshrouded, even the hardcore Rust, and many other titles combined.
In this year, 2025, a game I’ve been eagerly waiting for is coming out: Dune: Awakening. Already at gamescom last year, Funcom’s new game could excite me immensely. Dune: Awakening is exactly what I want after Conan Exiles.
Already at the end of 2022, during the first look at Dune: Awakening, it was clear to us at MeinMMO: The game will feel more like an MMORPG and could redefine the genre. Now I have had the opportunity to play an early version for 6 hours, and I’m sure that this is the case.
A small disclaimer: The version we played is an earlier state of development, with some bugs and missing content that are supposed to come later. There were some technical hardware difficulties, but none of these affected the overall enjoyment of the game.
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Dune Trailer Shows Gameplay – From Survivor to Spice Hunter
MMO or Survival? Both!
What is Dune: Awakening actually? At its core, it is still a survival game. That is the foundation upon which everything else is built. I play a character in a hot desert full of giant worms and bandits, and I have to survive in some way.
What sets Dune: Awakening apart are the familiar setting in the Dune world and the MMO aspects. Because the game is not a sandbox where I have to set and pursue my own goals.
The survival game has a clear endgame and is full of NPCs that I can interact with, who give me quests and even teach me new skills. The different factions of Arrakis, the planet where we play, and the war over the coveted spice are at the heart of the story.
That Awakening is different from any survival game I have played so far is already evident in character creation – which intentionally does not come with the notorious penis slider. Instead of just building a cool dude with numerous options, I create a real character with a story and background.
A Survival MMO with Classes, Skills, and RPG
I choose how I look, which planet I come from, and what my background is. My homeland determines what traits I bring with me. My past status before the events indicates whether I belong to nobility or the commoners.
The selection is not purely cosmetic. The various options provide unique dialogue options when speaking with NPCs as an RPG factor in the game. Additionally, I can choose from one of four classes:
Mentat, a kind of agent and sniper with tech understanding
Swordmaster, who … is a master of swords
Bene Gesserit, basically the magicians of Dune
or Trooper, the standard soldier with firearms, grenades, and more.
The classes all have their own skills, both passive and active. Later in the game, all other classes can be unlocked, but that takes time. But those who want to become the Kwisatz Haderach must work for it.
How much Dune is in Awakening? The whole game is built on the lore of the books and movies. You will encounter many familiar names and creatures. Only the world is different from the movies because Paul Atreides was never born here.
In general, the developers are guiding themselves by what is possible, logical, and given in Dune. Shields, for example, don’t just weaken but completely stop attacks – unless they are penetrated with special projectiles or slow blades. The developer philosophy is: “Do not adapt Dune to your ideas, but adapt your ideas to Dune.”
Even the famous Spice is applied and grants you special abilities. The only true survival resource is water, but you need spice for combat and trade. And those who are not careful will become addicted.
Character creation is awesome.The skill tree of the Mentat.Harko is … rough.Controls? Well, if it must be …Ornithopters must naturally not be missing!Team play in a dungeon.How could a worm be faster than this?!Niuuuuu!Well, maybe nothing can really outrun a Shai Hulud…
We could only play for 6 hours, but everyone wanted more
Funcom gave us roughly 6 hours to play, during which we played together on assigned devices in a large room. It was basically a big LAN party with dozens of journalists – and a lot of nerds.
In that time, I was able to achieve quite a bit on my own:
My base is established and somewhat expanded. I even managed to form a guild with other German players, and we completed several dungeons and quests together.
I have several armors in my inventory, including one for combat and a “stillsuit,” which helps me stay hydrated in the desert.
The first vehicle is also ready, a sandbike that I could race through the desert.
Overall, I reached level 15 and was dramatically eaten by a sandworm at the end (which, by the way, irretrievably deletes the inventory).
The excitement around Dune: Awakening grabbed me and most of my companions: On the second day, there was a tour through Funcom’s studio, and pretty much everyone in the group asked if we could play for a few more hours instead.
The tour was still worthwhile. We learned a lot about Awakening, its state, and the future – and perhaps you might even hear my voice somewhere in the game. Possibly.
The only big question mark left after playing is the game’s end. None of us got that far; it is supposed to take several dozen or hundreds of hours.
However, at our request, we received an ornithopter to at least have a look at the endgame content. However, there wasn’t much to discover yet because that area was still unfinished. In general, the endgame is supposed to go like this:
Players interested in PvP and risk go into the “Deep Desert” and farm spice there to strengthen their guild’s power. Spice can also be found in PvE areas in smaller amounts.
Those who are not interested in direct PvP can work as a cartographer or sell their skills in the free market – thus earning spice.
With spice, you then influence the Landsraad, the politicians and factions of the game. This is where the intrigues and the actual endgame with power plays take place. Also, the NPCs want taxes from you …
Swedish Maya “Caltys” Henckel (22) plays professionally League of Legends for the team G2 Hel and is also a content creator. She has now created a tier list for LoL. However, it’s not about the champions’ gameplay strength, but how attractive or “dateable” they are based on their main champion in LoL:
Calyts has earned $8,400 in prize money with LoL. $4,000 was awarded for the 1st place at the “GIRLGAMER Esports Festival 2019” tournament.
Caltys is a content creator and is active on Twitch and YouTube. With her Twitter post about a tier list, she has now achieved a viral hit.
Start video
A 67-year-old grandfather becomes a legend in LoL and a nightmare for Riot Games
If you want a girlfriend, you should play Bard or Malphite
This is her tier list: Caltys posted on Twitter the “ONLY” accurate tier list on how dateable men are based on their main character in LoL.
Who wins the list? The most attractive and directly in the “Marry!” category are players who play Bard or Malphite.
There seems to be a strong focus on “nice” supporters who play team-friendly: Thus, heroes like Braum, Soraka, or even Yuumi can also be found in the “Hot” category, as well as agile heroes like Ezrael, Lux, or the blind monk Lee Sin.
Who loses the list? In the “Call the police” category, notably selfish ADCs like Twitch or Kog’Maw end up.
Even Jyxn, MissFortune, or poor Amumu only get an “Eww”.
How does she justify her choice? In the comments on X, people are already wondering why exactly Bard and Malphite are so high up.
But Caltys is confident in her choice. Bard always comes back, and Malphite is a “Giga-Chad” – there’s nothing more to say.
Before the launch of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, the developers revealed details about the release phase and released a humorous CGI trailer. Fans especially celebrate one scene and bring Conan the Barbarian into the medieval Europe of the 15th century.
Update from January 30, 2025: On the YouTube channel of PlatigeImage (experts in CG, 3D animation, and digital effects), a behind-the-scenes feature has gone live, showing how the humorous CGI trailer for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 was created.
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What kind of new trailer is this? In just 40 seconds, the high-quality CGI scenes show the turbulent, unpredictable life of Heinrich in 15th-century Bohemia. There is celebration, dancing, giving, taking, laughing, and swearing.
Fists, swords, axes, and hand cannons are used. If you missed the trailer, you can watch the video below:
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Kingdom Come Deliverance 2: CGI trailer shows the turbulent life of Heinrich
Conan from Bohemia
How does the community rate the trailer? On the official YouTube channel of Warhorse Studios, the trailer has so far achieved over 202,000 views and more than 20,150 thumbs up. Many comments under the video are very positive:
ryanvogel9610 writes: “This is what the hardcore Henry movie should have been.”
stormtastic7083 praises the editing: “The transitions are insane.”
jason198146 recognizes the style: “Guy Ritchie’s Kingdom Come.”
rpgPalette explains: “Calm down, Warhorse, with these trailers every week, I’ve already bought the game.”
Editorial note: Guy Ritchie is a well-known British director, screenwriter, and producer, famous for stylish gangster films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and The Gentlemen.
A particularly amusing reaction to the trailer was found on Reddit. Snoo_63003 used a famous scene from the classic film Conan the Barbarian from 1982, which has previously been used for memes (keyword: Titanic, via YouTube), to catapult Arnold Schwarzenegger into 15th-century Bohemia. But see for yourself:
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Conan the Barbarian is based on the universe of Robert E. Howard and made the taciturn yet impressively physical Arnold Schwarzenegger an overnight superstar in Hollywood. The cast also included, among others, James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom and Max von Sydow as King Osric.
What else have the developers revealed? That Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 will be playable on all platforms from 5 PM on the release day (February 4, 2025). While you can already start the preload on Xbox, you will have to wait a bit on PlayStation and Steam:
With the complete card list for “Collision of Space and Time” (Space-Time Smackdown), collectors can see which cards are available and which ones they still need in Pokémon TCG Pocket. All cards that are currently known can be found here on MeinMMO.
Update on January 30, 2025 at 2:50 PM: The cards have been divided into Palkia and Dialga packs.
What is included in the booster? The two new boosters from Space-Time Smackdown focus on the 4th generation of Pokémon, that is, the two editions Diamond and Pearl. The legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia will grace the two booster packs.
Included are many Pokémon from the Sinnoh region, including the three starters Chimchar, Turtwig, and Piplup. In addition, there are some new artworks for cards already available in the game, some with new attacks. In total, there are 207 new cards, not counting the promo cards. Some of them are needed to complete the secret missions.
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You can watch the trailer for the expansion featuring some new cards here:
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Pokémon TCG Pocket: Trailer for the Collision of Space and Time Expansion
The complete card list for Collision of Space and Time (Space-Time Smackdown)
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT), recently issued an alarming warning: The rapid advances in artificial intelligence could fundamentally threaten our society without new rules.
That’s why Altman considers AI a threat: The US President Donald Trump announced an investment of 500 billion dollars in AI infrastructure. At the same time, the founding of Stargate, a new company from a collaboration between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, was presented as a significant driving force in the sector. Following these announcements, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated that the progress of AI could pose a threat to society without future regulations.
In a video at the forum “AI For Good”, Altman spoke about the necessity to reshape the “social contract” to regulate the impact of AI on the job market, power dynamics, and social structures. A social contract describes rules and norms that organize coexistence in a society and aim to make it fair for all.
This is the problem behind the advances: Sam Altman’s statement has caused a stir because it questions the fundamental structures of our society and economy. His warning has been echoed not only by him but also by many other experts and users who see the control over this technology as problematic.
People like Anthony Zenkus, a professor of social work and TEDx speaker, expressed their concerns on X (formerly Twitter) that a small group of billionaires could take control of powerful technologies without involving the wider population in the decision-making processes.
The head of ChatGPT emphasized that the social contract should not be determined by an elite but should be based on a determination by the entire society.
Start video
Students spy on passersby with hidden cameras and AI, find name and address in seconds
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence
The development of artificial intelligence brings us many opportunities, but also significant challenges. Sam Altman believes, according to his blog, that AI will massively increase our productivity. This would enable people to focus on more creative and demanding tasks.
However, while many recognize the potential of AI, there are also concerns. Critics warn that this technology could exacerbate existing inequalities (via righttowarn.ai). It could also lead to increased control and surveillance, destabilizing the social fabric, especially through changes in the job market. The challenge is to shape this technology so that it is used in line with the needs of society.
On reddit, a bargain hunter shares a find that many cannot believe. In a store where technology is sold more by weight than by actual value, he pulled an expensive graphics card out of a bargain bin. Experts advised him: Sell the thing for parts, but he installed the card in his PC.
What a bargain did he find?The reddit user BlackTo0thGrin says he plans to build his first gaming PC and was looking for cheap components. So he strolled through a store that sells returned goods from Amazon. The store in the US state of Tennessee is called “Gimme a 5 $”.
The store has large shelves that buyers rummage through for special items. Normally, you can find cables or phone cases there.
The user says he found a “monster of a graphics card” that looks 100% new. He grabbed it, paid $4 (3.84 €) plus tax, and hoped it works.
Besides the graphics card, he bought a USB channel for his phone, LED lights for the garage, and something for the dog.
Start video
Battlemage: Check out Intel’s new graphics cards in the video
Lucky guy pulls high-quality graphics card from the bargain bin
What kind of card is it? As it turned out later, the user had bought an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. This is a graphics card about 2 years old that sells new for 900 €.
At GameStar, the tech experts say about the graphics card:
The card offers a lot of raster performance for 4k resolution and is relatively cheap
Anyone looking to spend as little money as possible for high demands is well advised with this card
DIY enthusiasts say: Use it for parts
This was the reaction: On reddit, some said: He definitely found a bargain there. Even if the card is surely broken, it can still be used as a donor for parts. There are definitely 60 or 70 € to be made from it.
The buyer didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of dismantling and exploiting the card, apparently – he had little experience with building a PC, so he didn’t want to take apart a graphics card right away.
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Does the card work? In fact, the DIY enthusiast kept the card until the end while building his first PC and first bought a CPU, a motherboard, and RAM from Walmart, then watched YouTube videos and educated himself on how to assemble such a PC.
He installed the graphics card last, surely holding his breath, and indeed: The PC started and everything worked. The BIOS of the motherboard recognizes the graphics card. The software and the drivers from AMD look fine, even the temperature is okay. He’s now installing Windows, he says relieved.
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On reddit, many congratulate and envy him. It is said there that he got the “bargain of the century”.
Why is this so special? The lucky guy has to answer many questions about whether he found paradise in that magical shop. But that apparently is not the case.
The store chain “Give me a Five $” only exists in 7 cities in Tennessee, it has been renamed “Keevado”, but people still know it by the old name. It is not a paradise for PC builders: that is the first graphics card he has ever found there, says the reddit user. There aren’t many parts for PCs available there.
In Pokémon GO there is currently an event that, as often, brings you some Pokémon. One of them, however, should be caught more intensively with an eye on the future.
What kind of event is this? The Lunar New Year event started on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at 10:00 AM and will be active until Sunday, February 2, 2025, at 8:00 PM. It is in the spirit of the Chinese Lunar New Year.
In keeping with the new moon year, the Year of the (Wood) Snake, there are several snake Pokémon available to catch in the event. And you should pay special attention to one of them to have a better chance for a rare evolution later on.
Start video
Pokémon GO reveals the new season Dual Destiny in the trailer
Collect now, evolve later
Which Pokémon is it? You should focus on Dunsparce, as a keen user points out on Reddit. This normal-type Pokémon originates from Generation 2 and received an evolution, Dudunsparce, in Generation 9.
There are 2 forms of evolution, both of which have not yet been released in Pokémon GO: the two-segment form and the three-segment form.
In the main series games, you only have a 1% chance to get the three-segment form of Dudunsparce when evolving Dunsparce. This is also the case for the evolution of Zwiewps to Famieps, which are both already found in Pokémon GO.
Why should I catch this Pokémon now? It is assumed that, like with Zwiewps, there will be a lower chance of the rarer evolution for Dunsparce in Pokémon GO in the future, so you should take advantage of the event and catch many Dunsparce.
Ideally, you should use Nanab Berries to get even more candies. This way, you can already collect many candies now and keep a few specimens of Dunsparce to be optimally prepared as soon as the evolution is unlocked.
When will Dudunsparce be unlocked? It is not yet known exactly when and in what form the evolution of Dunsparce will be possible in Pokémon GO. However, it can’t hurt to prepare for that day in advance.
Sony distributes 3 free games every month for the PS4 and PS5 with PS Plus. However, this could change in the future. Sony has announced that there will be changes. Because starting in 2026, there will no longer be free PS4 games as part of the service. Sony wants to focus on the PS5. This is not necessarily surprising.
PS Plus is essential for all players on PlayStation if they want to play online. As a nice bonus, there have been 3 free games included with the subscription every month for many years. Among the three games, there is always the option to play one or two titles on the PS4 as well. But that will soon change.
Start video
Sony releases the official reveal trailer for the PS5 Pro
Sony will no longer offer PS4 games with PS Plus
What is changing? Starting in 2026, the offer of PS4 games will no longer be one of the main benefits of the service. Instead, Sony will focus on providing PS5 titles and will eliminate free games for the PS4. This was recently stated by Adam Michel, Director, Game Services – Content at Sony Interactive Entertainment (via videogamechronicle.com):
As many of our players are currently playing on PS5 and have transitioned to redeeming and accessing PS5 titles through the monthly games and game catalog benefit, PlayStation Plus is evolving with this trend and will focus on offering PS5 titles through the monthly games and game catalog benefit starting in January 2026.
PS Plus has been officially around since 2010 and dates back to the PS3 era. The PS4 was released 3 years later in 2013. After 15 years of PS Plus and 12 years of PS4, this is likely to represent a significant change for many PS4 owners.
Players suspected at the release of the PS5 that Sony would eventually stop offering PS4 games. A similar significant change was the introduction of the new “PS Plus” model.
How many players are affected? According to Reddit.com, PlayStation had around 100 million active users in the USA in the summer of 2024, of which half (49 million) were on the PlayStation 4. What the official numbers look like in Germany is unknown, but there are likely still some who use their PS4 for gaming here as well.
