LocalThunk, developer of the Game of the Year-nominated game Balatro on Steam, ironically counters the PEGI rating, which makes their game accessible only from the age of 18. Its “evil playing cards” are evidently rated more strictly than other potential candidates.
How did the developer respond to the rating? LocalThunk shared his reaction to the rating in a statement on X:
Since PEGI has given us a rating of 18+ because we have evil playing cards, maybe I should add microtransactions/loot boxes/real gambling so that the rating, like EA Sports FC, can be lowered to 3+.
The double standards that LocalThunk addresses in his comment is the fact that games like EA Sports FC are rated less strictly and deemed suitable for children according to PEGI, despite having microtransactions in the form of “random content” through card packs or loot boxes.
Here you can see the trailer of the game:
Start video
Trailer for the roguelike poker game Balatro by LocalThunk
No real money, but real poker hands
How does PEGI justify the 18+ rating? The high age rating for Balatro is justified by the fact that it teaches players theoretical poker knowledge through game mechanics and processes. Balatro rewards players with chips, explains the structure of real poker hands, and generally has a striking poker aesthetic.
However, unlike real poker, no real money is used. Real money that can be quickly spent on microtransactions in other video games with lower PEGI ratings. And that is LocalThunk’s weakness.
“Just to clarify,” the developer adds in a subsequent post on X, “I am much more annoyed about the 3+ for these games with real gambling mechanisms for children than the 18+ rating for Balatro. If the other games were rated correctly, I would gladly accept the ridiculous 18+ rating.”
The developer seems to want to lighten the situation with a bit of humor: “The red logo looks kind of cool.”
Gambling in Gaming – A problem?
What connects microtransactions with gambling? As early as 2019, a researcher from York St. John University, Dr. David Zendle, linked loot boxes to “problematic gambling.” He explains that the more people spend on loot boxes, the more serious the suspicion of gambling becomes. This is not only his own research but an effect that has been observed by several independent labs worldwide.
Zendle emphasizes that it is a concerning problem that the gaming industry does not address. The gaming companies are the ones benefiting from consumer spending. Dr. Zendle’s assessments were also reported by PC Gamer in 2019.
What is LocalThunk’s stance on gambling? Balatro is an indie game without microtransactions or paid content. Despite the obvious poker aesthetic and PEGI’s rating, the developer has no interest in promoting problematic gambling. LocalThunk explicitly wants to ensure this, which he even wrote down in black and white in his will.
According to the developer’s statement, the Balatro IP must never be sold or licensed to a gambling company or casino.
Whether one shares LocalThunk’s opinion or understands PEGI’s rating more, is up to each individual. However, if you want to know more about Balatro, which was also nominated for Game of the Year this year, you can read a more detailed overview of the game on MeinMMO: Steam: The new indie hit is like poker, but much better – Costs only 14 €
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Pokémon GO, the Holiday Event is running, part 1. This brings a limited-time research where you can choose a path. What are the differences?
Here is a path choice: You will find the path choice in the current limited-time research. It is named exactly like the current event “Holiday Part 1.”
You will find the research if you first click on the binoculars icon in the bottom right and then scroll all the way to the left. However, the limited-time research is only available during the event – so you should hurry.
In total, the research consists of three steps. The path choice occurs when you have completed the first step. Then you can decide whether your research should revolve around Spark or Sierra.
Depending on your choice, the tasks and rewards differ. We summarize all of them for you here.
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Pokémon GO reveals the new season Dual Destiny in the trailer
Holiday, Part 1 – Step 1/3 of the limited-time research
This step of the limited-time research applies to all players and leads you to the path choice. Complete the following tasks.
Task
Reward
Catch 10 fire or ice Pokémon
10 Ultra Balls
Spin at 5 gyms or PokéStops
Arctip
Walk 2 km
Sankabuh
Stage reward: Upon completing the stage, you will receive 1,000 Stardust and 1,000 XP. Additionally, the path choice between Spark and Sierra will now occur.
We will now show you the rewards with Spark first, then with Sierra.
Holiday, Part 1 with Spark – Step 2/3 of the limited-time research
Task
Reward
Catch 10 ice Pokémon
10 Nanab Berries
Take 5 snapshots of various wild Pokémon
20 Poké Balls
Complete 5 field research tasks
500 Stardust
Stage reward: Encounter with Alola Vulpix and 2,000 XP.
Holiday, Part 1 with Spark – Step 3/3 of the limited-time research
Task
Reward
Catch 25 ice Pokémon
10 Hyper Balls
Make 10 upgrades on ice Pokémon
1 Golden Razz Berry
Collect Dyna particles from 3 power sources
100 Dyna particles
Stage reward: You will receive an encounter with Sankabuh, 3,000 XP and 2,000 Stardust. Also, for the final completion of the research, you will receive an additional 2,500 XP and 2,500 Stardust on top.
If you choose Sierra instead, here’s how step 2 of the research continues.
Holiday, Part 1 with Sierra – Step 2/3 of the limited-time research
Task
Reward
Catch 10 fire Pokémon
10 Nanab Berries
Take 5 snapshots of various wild Pokémon
20 Poké Balls
Complete 5 field research tasks
500 Stardust
Stage reward: Encounter with Shadow Vulpix and 2,000 XP.
Holiday, Part 1 with Sierra – Step 3/3 of the limited-time research
Task
Reward
Catch 25 fire Pokémon
10 Hyper Balls
Make 10 upgrades on fire Pokémon
1 Golden Razz Berry
Collect Dyna particles from 3 power sources
100 Dyna particles
Stage reward: Here, too, you will receive an encounter with Sankabuh, 3,000 XP and 2,000 Stardust. The finale also brings 2,500 XP and 2,500 Stardust.
With that, you have completed the research and you can return to the normal Pokémon routine – or wait for the next big event. After all, there are quite a few dates coming up this month. You can find an overview of them here: All Events in December 2024 for Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The shooter series “Borderlands” is known for a certain kind of humor that is sometimes rough and alludes to current trends on the internet. However, nowadays such references can quickly become outdated, as time is becoming ever more fast-paced. This emphasis might change with Borderlands 4. A question from a gaming journalist made Borderlands 4’s director, Sam Winkler, reflect.
What was the question? The gaming journalist Paul Tassi (Forbes) asked if Borderlands 4 would feature a weapon called “Hawk 2A.” This is a reference to the so-called “Hawk Tuah” girl, a TikTok phenomenon (via Spiegel).
An employee from Gearbox apparently took the question seriously and forwarded it. Sam Winkler explains this on X.
I don’t want to say there are no toilets, but if the word “skibidi” appears in the game under my watch, I will cry real tears. Paul Tassi joked that we will have a weapon called Hawk 2A, and a colleague asked me if that was real, and I wanted to stick my hand in the garbage disposal.
Skibidi refers to an internet trend from February 2023. At that time, short clips of toilets with singing heads were a huge trend on YouTube. The trend is seen as something that older people do not understand and shake their heads at, while members of a younger generation find it amusing.
Start video
Looter-Shooter Borderlands 4 showcases its action-packed gameplay in the trailer
Less short-lived references than before in Borderlands
What does that mean? Borderlands has always been known for its humor, which was exuberant and engaged with current developments.
Apparently, they want to move away from that and save references to fleeting trends or crude “toilet” humor. The trailer already suggests that Borderlands 4 is to have a more serious direction than earlier installments in the series.
Regarding the question about the “Hawk 2A” weapon, which really sounds like the unfortunate “Hawk Tuah” girl who is currently embroiled in a scandal, Sam Winkler seems to draw a line. This time, they want to choose a different path that is not quite as silly as earlier parts of the series.
Why is this happening? The 2019 game “Borderlands 3” was criticized for being superficially vulgar enough to no longer be considered as “edgy” as earlier parts of the series.
PC Gamer wrote that the game feels like it came from the late 2000s: back then, memes on the internet were relevant for months. But today, they are often only relevant for days. Earlier, such humorous references were still new – but now they feel exhausting.
The new booster “Mysterious Island” is now available in Pokémon TCG Pocket. But which cards in the set are particularly strong?
What’s in the new booster: The “Mysterious Island” brings 80 new cards. The cover prominently features Mew as the new star of the set – and of course, this special Pokémon is among the best you can pull from the set.
But which cards are also worth it? Which ones should you consider adding to your deck?
In this list, we’ll take a look at some of the best cards in the new set of Pokémon TCG Pocket. The key factor wasn’t rarity, but the utility in battles against other trainers or the computer.
But of course: Some of the rarest cards are among the best you can play. Just see for yourself.
Start video
Pokémon TCG Pocket: Watch the booster ‘Mythical Island’ in the official trailer
Celebi ex
Celebi ex is already becoming the star of the new set, even though Mew is technically featured on the booster. Celebi comes with an extremely strong attack: For each energy attached to Celebi, you flip a coin. On heads, “Powerful Bloom” deals 50 damage. In extreme cases, you can inflict several hundreds of damage in one hit.
And Celebi ex is particularly good in conjunction with…
Serpiroyal
Serpiroyal has the ability “Jungle Domination.” This means that each grass energy attached to grass Pokémon counts as double. This allows you to quickly ramp up the energy amount for Celebi (or other Pokémon). And in Celebi’s case, depending on the coin flip, this directly translates into extra damage.
Aquana’s new card has the ability “Washing Away.” With it, you can move water energies between your water Pokémon. An extremely useful ability in water decks that rely on Misty, for example. Cards like Gyarados, Lapras ex, or similar can quickly gain energies you previously used for your weaker monsters.
Tauboss ex
Tauboss ex becomes stronger the more Pokémon your opponent has on the bench. With its ability, its attack deals 20 extra damage for each of your opponent’s bench Pokémon. In the best case, Tauboss ex can deal 140 damage with “Angry Cyclone.” Additionally, it has 170 HP, so it can take a beating.
Leaf
The new trainer card will be important if you want to perform many Pokémon switches. It reduces the retreat cost of a monster by 2 points for one turn. Especially with stronger cards, the retreat costs can be quite high. This way, you can save energy when using Leaf. And: It can even be combined with X-Initiative if you want to save even more energy.
Shardrago
Shardrago should not be underestimated, as this dragon Pokémon not only has a lot of HP but also deals 20 damage each time the opponent attacks it in the active position. This could prove to be quite a good block at the start of the game when opponents can hardly afford to attack Shardrago with weaker Pokémon.
Marshadow
The basic Pokémon Marshadow brings the attack “Revenge,” which costs only 2 energies. It normally deducts 40 points but receives an additional 60 damage if one of your Pokémon was knocked out in the last turn. This way, you can counter relatively quickly and effectively.
This interesting card brings one of the opponent’s basic Pokémon back to the bench. That sounds counterproductive at first, but it could be useful for disrupting the opponent’s strategies. For example, you can block a bench slot with resurrected, weak basic Pokémon.
Blue
Blue is somewhat like the anti-Giovanni in the new set. He ensures that you receive 10 damage in battle during the next turn. This can be quite decisive depending on the course of the battle.
It remains to be seen how the coming days will develop and which cards will stand out in strong combinations. Therefore, we will continuously update this article as soon as more strong cards are known. So make sure to check back often! And until then, you can find the list of the best decks in Pokémon TCG Pocket here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
One of the best role-playing trilogies of all time is currently available on Steam for the price of a kebab – and a rather cheap one at that.
Which games are we talking about? Mass Effect is for many RPG fans one of the best game series of all time. The games were developed by BioWare and tell a large, coherent story full of friends and foes, romances and betrayals.
With the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the original trilogy has received a remaster. This improves the graphics, among other things, with high-resolution textures. Additionally, there are some quality-of-life improvements. The first two parts benefit the most from the remake.
You can see the enhanced graphics particularly well in this trailer:
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Mass Effect Legendary Edition: Graphics Comparison to the Original Trilogy
Memorable sci-fi adventure with complex characters
What is the series about? You take on the role of Commander Shepard, who is sent on a secret mission. An ancient artifact has been discovered at a human colony on another planet, which you are to retrieve. But no one could have guessed what events this mission would set in motion.
In combat, Mass Effect is a classic third-person shooter: you take cover, shoot down enemies, and occasionally throw a grenade at their feet. If you play as a biotic, you also have access to some spell-like powers. Additionally, you take two companions on each mission who support you and share their opinions on the current events.
The greatest strength of the Mass Effect trilogy is the characters and world-building. Your companions are a colorful bunch of humans and aliens with their own complex personalities. Whether you hate them or love them – you will not easily forget your comrades.
All inhabitants of the Milky Way have their own, often very dark past filled with conflicts, mistakes, and prejudices. This makes the world feel alive and significantly larger than it actually is. This past will also influence how your companions behave and what they value or cannot stand about you.
Above all, there looms a danger of cosmic proportions, whose origin and motivation remain unknown for a long time. Your task is to get to the bottom of it. Your path will be paved with difficult decisions that could cost your people their lives.
How long will I be occupied with the series? If you focus only on the main story, according to howlongtobeat.com, you will spend about 60 hours. However, you can easily spend over 100 hours in the world without getting bored. This is also recommended, as many good stories are hidden in the side missions.
You can currently get all this on Steam for a price of 4.79 €. The entire trilogy is thus cheaper than most kebabs that you can find nowadays in Germany, which usually start from around 5 € (via accofashion.de). Moreover, you will get significantly more time out of the games.
After Mass Effect: Andromeda was not the successful return of the series that many fans hoped for, all hope now rests on Mass Effect 5. According to reports, BioWare’s full focus is now on the game, which you can read more about in this article: After Dragon Age, BioWare is finally working hard on Mass Effect 5
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
An inconspicuous item in Baldur’s Gate 3 can not only solve visible hygiene problems for your party but can also be useful in gameplay. Players are celebrating that Larian has made this item usable and report how they have already been able to apply it.
Which item is being referred to? Many players have probably already noticed the various item categories in Baldur’s Gate 3. In addition to gear and materials, there are also items that are grouped as “Miscellaneous.” These usually consist of clothing, valuables, and books, but also include … “Other.”
The mentioned item is located next to other seemingly useless items like rotten food, rags, and ropes in this category. These are often sold for little gold to the next merchant after accidentally picking them up, but now players have discovered that a certain item turns out to be useful: It is a sponge bowl, or rather the sponge itself.
Start video
Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to PS5 – Trailer prepares for console release
For clean faces and backgrounds
What can you use the sponge bowl for? A player discovered the sponge bowl in their inventory and happened to read in the description that the item includes an action: When used, it removes dirt, blood, face paint, and conditions that involve odors. Also, it is not a single-use product, but can be used indefinitely.
So far, many players have suspected that a long rest is the only way to reset the mentioned conditions, but this can be accomplished much faster.
How relevant this is for individual players varies quite a bit. However, several fans of the game express that it can break immersion when, in an important, dramatic scene, a character delivers an emotional monologue with a clown face or covered in blood.
In what case is a clean appearance relevant? During an interaction in Act 3, you will be checked for special odors at the entrance of a circus to test if you are dangerous. As no traces of blood can be smelled on a washed character, you can pass the check as a (seemingly) harmless visitor without an ability check and explore the circus and its contents.
A single exception in this situation is the “Dark Urge,” which is always sniffed out during this situation. To wash it off, more than soap or a sponge is needed.
What are the reactions of the players? They are celebrating the sponge bowl in a discussion on Reddit:
Lopsided_Blacksmith5 says: “Over 1,100 game hours and I’m only learning this now.”
Citrusssx comments: “Larian really made more out of a sponge bowl than other AAA games can make out of entire quests.”
Gen1Swirlix notes: “The fact that sponges are more useful in a DND-inspired game than ropes hurts me for some reason.”
Wiggijiggijet admits: “I’ve always carried soap with me since Gale called me musty.”
However, some players highlight that there are already other ways that can trigger the same effect as the sponge bowl. Other cleaning items like bars of soap, but also throwing water or the spell “Create Water” can wash the player and other characters. Therefore, the soap bowl is merely an addition, but at the same time a nice surprise and an example of Larian’s attention to detail.
In Path of Exile 2, there are many systems and mechanics that even experienced gamers can overlook. In this example, one of the largest MMORPG YouTubers has encountered this.
Who is it about? Content creator Craig “TheLazyPeon” Mayor brings together over 750,000 people on YouTube and almost 80,000 on Twitch. The content on his channels mainly revolves around MMORPGs. For his video series “Is It Worth Playing?” he repeatedly examines new MMOs and shares his assessment of the game.
The content creator has now also looked at Path of Exile 2 for his video series on YouTube. Below his video about the game, there is a comment that made TheLazyPeon view the game differently.
A NPC in Path of Exile 2 is particularly useful:
Start video
This NPC in Path of Exile 2 identifies your items
Some skills need to be activated
What was the comment? Below the YouTube video from TheLazyPeon, there is a comment from @don_holiday, stating:
“If you keep playing, little tip: right-click on your buff spells from the Spirit Gems in your skill window (G), your Ice Herald will give your build an amazing feel regarding damage and clearspeed once you have it activated :)”
And indeed, the content creator played the entire game without activating Spirit Gems. You not only need to equip them but also activate them. TheLazyPeon apparently did not know this and played Path of Exile 2 incorrectly until the endgame, as he explains on X.com:
“I spent about 60 hours in POE2, got to the maps, and just now realized that you have to right-click to activate the passive abilities. I played the entire game with 0 Will and only noticed it because people mentioned it in my YouTube comments. My build feels amazing now!”
How did the mistake happen? The problem with the Spirit Gems is that you cannot just place them to activate them, like the other abilities. Each Spirit Gem requires Will, a resource that is displayed as a bar around the mana display.
To truly activate a Spirit Gem, you need to click on it in the skill window (G). Then you’ll also see how the Will bar decreases. The more Will your character has, the more Spirit Gems you can activate.
In the case of the content creator, the comment led to the realization that he has been playing Path of Exile 2 incorrectly until now. Another system where many mistakes can happen is the passive skill tree. How to navigate it, we have explained here: Path of Exile 2: Skill Tree explained – This is how the complex system works
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
During the winter season, Diablo 4 brings an event where you should slay a bunch of treasure goblins to secure fat rewards. But don’t worry – you don’t have to do it aloneto finish them off.
What kind of event is this? In the “Sleigh Ride to Hell” event, numerous treasure goblins spawn in Sanctuary. If you slay enough of them, you can expect all sorts of rewards – including cosmetics and finally a “Magnificent Spark”, with which you craft Mythic Uniques.
When is the event taking place? The winter event “Sleigh Ride to Hell” takes place from December 17, 2024 at 7:00 PM to January 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM. During this time, you fight the treasure goblins together as a community and unlock individual milestones. With each milestone achieved, loot awaits you.
Blizzard explains the Spiritborn, the new class in Diablo 4 and its spirits
Winter Event: All Milestones
What rewards are there? In total, there are 5 milestones you can reach in the “Sleigh Ride to Hell”. You fight the treasure goblins together as a community and thereby unlock reward levels:
Milestone 1: Goblin Bag – 5 million treasure goblins slain in Sanctuary
Legendary Weapon Chest (contains 3 bequeathed legendary items with a guaranteed large affix)
1 legendary rune and 2 random runes
Random tribute for the Under City of Kurast
Milestone 2: Goblin Bag – 10 million treasure goblins slain in Sanctuary
Unique and Legendary Weapon Chest (contains 3 bequeathed legendary items and 1 bequeathed unique with a guaranteed large affix)
1 legendary rune and 3 random runes
Random tribute for the Under City of Kurast
Milestone 3: Large Goblin Bag – 15 million treasure goblins slain in Sanctuary
Unique Weapon Chest (contains 3 bequeathed legendary items and 2 bequeathed uniques with a guaranteed large affix)
2 legendary runes and 3 random runes
5 tributes of glow for the Under City of Kurast
Mount trophy “Fruits of the Harvest”
Milestone 4: Large Goblin Bag – 25 million treasure goblins slain in Sanctuary
3 bequeathed uniques (all with a guaranteed large affix)
6 runes (3 legendary, 2 rare, 1 random)
Citadel coins
Mount trophy “Totem of the Harvest Mare”
Milestone 5: Mythical Goblin Bag – 40 million treasure goblins slain in Sanctuary
3 bequeathed uniques, 8 bequeathed legendaries (all with a guaranteed large affix)
8 runes (5 legendary, 2 rare, 1 random)
3 tributes of ascent, 5 tributes of glow
20,000 Citadel coins
Mount armor “Horse Armor of the Harvest Mare”
1 Magnificent Spark
Where do I collect the rewards? You can collect the rewards after each milestone at the Goblin Square in Kyovashad. The rewards that are part of the “Vessel of Hatred” expansion (i.e., runes, tributes, and citadel coins) will be received by those who own an edition of the DLC in the form of an additional reward chest. You can retrieve the cosmetics in the shop.
The cosmetics you receive during the winter event. Source: Blizzard
“Hopefully a trial run for more community events”
How is it being received? Many players seem to be excited about the announcement of the winter event. In a post on Reddit, YellowFew6603 mentions that he is particularly drawn to the Magnificent Spark as a reward. For K_U, it’s the tributes that have caught his attention. He notes that if you use them and do rotations, you have a good chance at mythics.
KnowMatter hopes that the event is “a trial run for more community events in the future.” And welshy1986 thinks: “Cosmetics, shared progress for everyone, and bonus XP – that’s a solid event.” xiaopewpew writes: “Christmas is saved.”
In another Reddit post, Flat_Wallaby_8725 writes: “Imagine if the Hell Tide Worm spits out goblins. How cool would that be?!” And mvrspycho finds the idea cool and adds: “What if Snorzer occasionally spits some out?” Snorzer is one of the world bosses in Diablo 4.
Others hope that the event will help them achieve the achievement “Arch-Nemesis of All Treasure Goblins” and secure the player title. However, for this challenge, they must slay over 6 million treasure goblins. Some players even speculated about a possible goblin level when they noticed the extraordinary challenge. You can read more about it here: Blizzard wants you to kill treasure goblins in Diablo 4 for 48 years – But how is that supposed to work?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
It will get easier for tanks and healers in World of Warcraft – at least a little. The strongest abilities of the enemies will be weakened.
Tanks and healers are becoming increasingly rare in World of Warcraft. The group search takes longer and in various forums, posts are piling up, that healers and tanks are throwing in the towel. More and more responsibility, more and more stress, and the feeling that it just isn’t enough. Some feel no longer powerful enough, while others have the impression that they have to achieve much more than other roles.
Blizzard seems to partly agree, as some of the particularly painful abilities in dungeons are being adjusted so that tanks and healers can breathe a little easier.
Start video
WoW celebrates 20 years of the highlights of Azeroth
What are the changes? The adjustments mainly target tanks and healers. They reduce some particularly painful points in the various dungeons. Affected by the weakenings are primarily debuffs that cause damage over time and so-called “tank busters” that deal particularly high damage to tanks.
Even if this does not fully address the underlying problem, it should make all dungeons a bit more pleasant.
These are the changes in detail: Here you will find all adjustments to the dungeons pending for “Mythic+”:
Ara-Kara, City of Echoes
Ki’katal the Harvester
The periodic damage from Cultivated Poisons is reduced by 10%.
City of Threads
Orator Krix’vizk
Subjugate deals 20% less shadow damage.
Royal Venomous Armor
The periodic damage from Poison Beam is reduced by 25%.
Grim Batol
Twilight Flamebreaker
The initial damage from Shadow Flame Slash is reduced by 25%.
Molten Giant
Lava Fist deals 21% less damage.
The cooldown of Lava Fist has been increased.
Fog of Tirna Scithe
Fog Shroud Guardian
Protector of the Fog now only increases damage by 2% per stack (previously 3%).
Siege of Boralus
Curse Blade of the Iron Tide Thief
Cursed Cut now only increases damage susceptibility by 10% (previously 15%).
The Stone Vault
Voidbound Plunderer
The cast time of Shadow Claw has been increased to 2.5 seconds (previously 1.0 seconds).
The cooldown of Shadow Claw has been increased.
Cursed Intruder
The periodic damage from Void Infection is reduced by 25%.
When do the changes go live? The changes go live with patch 11.0.7, on December 18, 2024. Thus, the patch brings not only a new, powerful ring and the island of the sirens but also a significant relief for tanks and healers.
In Pokémon TCG Pocket since December 17, 2024, there is a new booster pack Mystical Island, which brings some new strong cards. One card has already proven to be a standout, but it’s not Mew as players initially suspected.
What did the players expect? When the new booster pack was announced, most players were looking forward to Mew’s ex-card. Mew-ex can be included in any deck because its strongest attack requires three colorless energies.
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Moreover, it can counter strong ex-cards with that very attack, as it can use the opponent’s attacks as its own.
Here you can watch the trailer for the new booster pack “Mystical Island”:
Start video
Pokémon TCG Pocket: Watch the booster ‘Mythical Island’ in the official trailer
Celebi-ex is the new star in Pokémon TCG Pocket
What kind of card is this? It is the ex-card Celebi. It has come with the new booster pack Mystical Island and has proven to be one of the strongest cards.
This is what the Celebi ex-card looks like in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
What makes the card so special? Celebi-ex does not need to evolve and only requires two energies to attack. This is relatively low compared to other ex-cards. For example, a Charizard-ex requires three energies to attack and four to use its stronger attack.
However, the greatest strength is Celebi’s attack itself: With two energies, the attack does a base damage of 50 points.
For each additional energy, a coin can be tossed. Each coin that lands on heads adds an additional 50 damage points. Celebi can therefore be quick and strong and becomes stronger with each round, with each additional energy.
How are players reacting to Celebi-ex? Players recognize the new card as strong in the subreddit r/PTCGP:
GKz_Mk3 says (via reddit): “Celebi-ex with Serpiroyal will clearly be a top-tier deck.”
NoSleepGoblin has already encountered Celebi in battle (via reddit): “I have already faced one of these decks and… my only regret is that I probably won’t be able to build it myself, lol.”
Player DarkAplex refers to the Celebi-ex card as the “new Misty card” (via reddit).
The new game from Naughty Dog “Intergalactic” sparks a discussion on Twitch, as the main character of the game is bald. This brings two streamers into the fray, who stand on different ends of the political spectrum on Twitch.
Who are the 2 streamers?Asmongold is a trained MMORPG nerd who has realized since the trial regarding Johnny Depp that his fans also like to hear him discuss political issues. He sees himself as the “voice of reason” while the world around him has gone mad. Critics accuse him of perpetuating sexist stereotypes while denying being sexist. A few weeks ago, he went through a phase of regret after a ban on Twitch and admitted that he had turned into a terrible version of himself. But that was almost 2 months ago, so it doesn’t count anymore.
HasanAbi is a left-wing commentator on Twitch who comments on the global situation and stands out with controversial views that are often critical of the US. In our context, he would politically be a mix of Gregor Gysi and Oskar Lafontaine – in the USA, he is seen by some hardliners as an unpatriotic terrorist and traitor. Critics accuse him of preaching water while drinking wine. He is labeled a champagne communist who rants against capitalism, while living in an expensive villa and enjoying life.
What are they discussing? Naughty Dog has released a trailer for their new sci-fi game “Intergalactic”. The provocative topic is the protagonist, an Asian woman without hair, with harsh facial features.
Trailer for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the new game from the studio behind Uncharted & The Last of Us
“Whoever develops away from the target audience will not succeed”
This is what Asmongold says: Asmongold expresses in a tweet from December 13:
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the market for masculine, non-conventionally attractive female protagonists in games is not as large as the video game industry thinks.
He further elaborates in a video related to the tweet (via YouTube): Five years ago, when Intergalactic was created, the situation might have been different, but the mood has changed. Intergalactic clearly directs its presentation and orientation towards a predominantly male target audience, so the game needs a protagonist that appeals to that audience. The game looks great, but the protagonist will not fit the male audience:
If you create a character that does not appeal to the main target audience, the game will not work well.
Asmongold.
One can be frustrated with players and call them racist and misogynistic. But one has to accept reality. Ultimately, you cannot force players to accept such a character and buy the game.
Asmongold sees confirmation in Naughty Dog publishing the trailer for Intergalactic with comments turned off. You don’t do that if you expect good reactions.
HasanAbi: Then you cannot live in a civilized society
This is what HasanAbi says: The streamer comments on Intergalactic:
The standard for female characters should not be whether one can jerk off to them.
Anyone who takes this stance unironically is a pervert and cannot live in a “civilized society.”
People should be ashamed to say things like: “Oh, the gaming industry does not cater to my masturbation fantasies at all.”
Some games do that – others simply do not. That must simply be accepted.
This is HasanAbi.
HasanAbi states: He himself is just too normal. When he sees a new video game, his first thought is not whether he can jerk off to the protagonist. He finds it strange to think this way – this mindset needs to be erased.
For him, it is disappointing that the reaction to a new game from a great studio like Naughty Dog is: “They have a bald Asian woman – so I hate it.”
He emphasizes that he finds the game interesting simply because the fantastic Trent Reznor (“Nine Inch Nails”) is working as a composer on the game (via vice).
HasanAbi appoints a friend of Asmongold, the streamer Tectone, as the target of his criticism, who complained on Twitter about how unattractive female heroes are compared to the heroines from Asian games like Stellar Blade. That guy needs to hear what HasanAbi has to say.
What’s behind it: This is the rehash of a discussion that has been ongoing in the politically divided USA for years. The thrust within gaming is approximately:
Western companies no longer understand what we gamers really want and bombard us with their political agenda by making women ugly. They want to educate us so that we do not sexualize women.
Asian companies give us gamers exactly what we want by providing us with beautiful women and leaving us alone with their political agenda.
Today marks the start of the first part of the Holiday Event in Pokémon GO. We have summarized what content to expect.
What kind of event is this? The “Holidays” is a two-part event in Pokémon GO. The first part starts on Tuesday, December 17, 2024 at 10:00 AM and ends on Sunday, December 22, 2024 at 09:59 AM. Immediately following this, the second part of the Holidays in Pokémon GO will begin.
During the event, you can expect many Pokémon that you can encounter in the wild, in raids, or in eggs. Some of them will even come in holiday clothing. And there is even a brand new Shiny available for you.
Pokémon GO reveals the new season Dual Destiny in the trailer
Holidays Part 1 – All Content
What debuts are there? Sankabuh, the Pokémon from the 7th generation with the types Ghost and Ground, will be available as a Shiny for the first time during this event. If you evolve a Shiny Sankabuh, you can obtain Colossand in its Shiny variant.
You can find and challenge Sankabuh in the wild and in level 1 raids.
Additionally, Dedenne in holiday clothing will be making its debut in the game. This Pokémon can also appear as a Shiny. You can find it in level 1 raid battles.
Which Pokémon can you find in the wild? During the event, you can find the following Pokémon in the wild:
Alolan Sandan*
Alolan Digda*
Quiekel*
Botogel with Holiday Ribbon*
Camaub*
Shnebedeck*
Flampion*
Leufeo*
Arktip*
Sankabuh*
All Pokémon in the wild can also appear as Shiny.
Which Pokémon can you find in raids? During the event, you can find, challenge, and catch the following Pokémon in raids:
1-Star Raids:
Pikachu with Winter Carnival Outfit*
Enton with Holiday Clothing*
Dedenne with Holiday Clothing*
Sankabuh*
3-Star Raids:
Damhirplex with Holiday Outfit*
Glaziola with Underwater Holiday Outfit*
Frigometri*
Mega Raids:
Mega Latias*
Mega Latios*
All Pokémon marked with a * can also be found as Shiny.
Which Pokémon can be found in eggs during the event? The Pokémon that can hatch from 7 km eggs have been adjusted for the event. You can hatch the following monsters:
Hisui-Fukano*
Pichu in Summer Look*
Seemops with Holiday Scarf*
Petznief with Holiday Ribbon*
Amarino*
Knarbon
Pokémon marked with a * can also be hatched as Shiny with some luck.
What bonuses are there during the event? There are 2 bonuses active during the event. First, you will receive double the amount of experience points when you catch Pokémon, and second, you only need half the distance to hatch eggs.
This bonus only applies to eggs that you place in incubators during the event.
Field Research: There will again be field research tasks during this event that reward you with event Pokémon.
Collector Challenges: If you complete the tasks for the collector challenges, you can earn Stardust, Poké Balls, and Ultra Balls. To do this, you need to participate in raid battles and catch Pokémon.
PokéStop Showcases: At some PokéStops, you can participate in showcases again. You need event-related Pokémon to participate.
Paid Limited Research: For $2 (approximately €2), you can also purchase a limited-time research task for the event. If you successfully complete it, you will receive 2 premium battle passes, an incubator, 1,500 Stardust, and encounters with event Pokémon.
In the Pokémon GO Webstore, there are also 2 boxes available for purchase. The first one costs $4.99 (approximately €5) and gives you an upgrade for your Pokémon box and item bag, plus 17 special candies.
The second box costs $6.99 (approximately €7) and includes tickets for both parts of the event as well as a premium battle pass.
Of course, there are also several more events waiting for you in the game until the end of the year. You can find out which events they are, when they take place, and what content to expect in our overview of all events in December 2024 in Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Square Enix has successfully invested enormous amounts of energy, time, and money over the past 14 years to turn the mixed launch version of Final Fantasy XIV into one of the best MMORPGs on the market. Now, for the first time, there is sustainable backlash from the community.
Why did Square Enix have to struggle? When Final Fantasy XIV was released in its original version on September 30, 2010, fans of the iconic role-playing franchise were met with a mixed, unfinished MMORPG that had numerous issues and shortcomings.
The people responsible at Square Enix were obviously afraid that the harsh criticism could permanently damage the Final Fantasy brand due to the dire state of the online role-playing game. So they decided on unprecedented measures:
The MMORPG was taken offline to receive a complete overhaul under the new leadership of Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida – including a new engine, optimized server structures, and an adjusted storyline.
In August 2013, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was launched, which still had its quirks but represented a significant improvement across the board compared to the first version.
With enormous amounts of energy and effort, the team around Yoshida built on this new foundation over the following years, with content updates and expansions that were so packed with content that at times even the big competitor WoW looked outdated.
The enormous risk that Square Enix took with the restart paid off. While most other online role-playing games complained about declining player numbers or had to endure poor expansions, Final Fantasy XIV became better and more popular with each addon.
This way, it was able to establish itself among the best representatives of the genre and relied on a payment model with mandatory subscriptions all these years. Moreover, the writers managed to conclude a story arc that was built over ten years in a way that was appreciated by a large part of the community with Shadowlands and Endwalker. For many fans, that was “Peak Final Fantasy XIV.”
With Dawntrail, a new chapter begins for Final Fantasy XIV:
Start video
Final Fantasy XIV: Launch trailer for Dawntrail prepares for the adventure in Tural
A slip-up or the beginning of a downward trend?
What is happening with Dawntrail? With the current expansion, the launch marked the beginning of a completely new story chapter, and the first steps were already rocky. There was criticism of the story, of a main character, of the rather passive role of the player characters, and of the design of certain quests.
On the product page of the expansion on Steam, the MMORPG from Square Enix has received a “Mostly Negative” rating for the first time. Only 32 percent of the reviews from the past 30 days were positive. For the entire duration, Dawntrail stands at “Mixed,” with 54 percent positive reviews. For comparison:
Shadowbringers is rated “Very Positive,” with 86 percent positive reviews (via Steam).
Endwalker is rated “Very Positive,” with 82 percent positive reviews (via Steam).
Criticism in the negative reviews of Dawntrail continues to focus mainly on the story, but also the slow pace of updates, the lack of endgame content, the excessive simplification of classes, and the lack of activities that feel fresh and new.
Raise your hand if you had the most fun in Final Fantasy XIV with Shadowbringers or Endwalker!
What does the community say about it? It’s clear that this critical examination of Dawntrail is also being discussed on community platforms.
Furia_BD writes on Reddit: “As much as I respect Yoshi P, and no one can deny that he saved the game, he is obviously too afraid to change the game formula, even after 10 years, so maybe it’s time for someone else to take the helm.”
Xerlot11 is not surprised by the criticism (via Reddit): “The game really needs something big to shake things up. I think most people are feeling burnout. Especially since most have caught up on the major backlog of content, which was a common defense for the last expansion Endwalker being content-less.”
Slim_Neb_27 writes on Reddit: “I’ve been playing since 4.0 and quit the game once I finished the content from the Dawntrail launch. So much potential is being held back by the terrible net code and engine limitations, and every bit of progress at this point feels like a damp band-aid.”
Rogalicus admits on Reddit: “I’m not sure if I feel justified because I’ve been complaining about it since Shadowbringers while people acted like it was the best MMO of all time. Literally nothing has changed since then, other than two minutes of meta, a bad X.0 story, and slower patches.”
How does MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz evaluate this? Final Fantasy XIV has been an MMORPG that has captivated players primarily with its story and world since the A Realm Reborn restart, along with a multitude of different content. However, there has always been room for improvement, especially in quest design or the old-school combat experience.
As long as the strengths are really strong, people tend to nod at and tolerate the weaknesses. However, with Dawntrail, Final Fantasy XIV has now lost some of these strengths, making the longstanding weaknesses more pronounced.
In my view, Naoki Yoshida’s focus is no longer solely on Final Fantasy XIV. Initially, he was basically overseeing the team for Final Fantasy XVI on the side, and now the MMORPG is also getting a mobile spin-off. Such additional projects naturally divert the focus that Square Enix had maintained for many years after A Realm Reborn. Speaking of mobile: The spin-off of Final Fantasy XIV shows its first job trailer, hinting at further gameplay
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Pokémon GO, a new event has been announced. This event focuses on hatching eggs.
What kind of event is this? The event “Sparkling Hatching Day” will take place on Sunday, December 29, 2024, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
As the name suggests, this short event revolves around hatching eggs. During this time, you will benefit from an increased shiny chance and some interesting bonuses.
Start video
Pokémon GO reveals the new season Dual Destiny in the trailer
Sparkling Hatching Day – All Contents
Which Pokémon have an increased shiny chance? In the event, you can find the two baby Pokémon Elekid and Magby in 2 km eggs. They hatch not only more frequently but also have an increased shiny chance.
What bonuses are available in the event? In addition to the increased chance of shiny variants of Elekid and Magby, the following bonuses await you during the event:
double the amount of candy when hatching eggs
increased chance to receive 2 km eggs at PokéStops
halved hatching distance for eggs (active from December 27, 2024, at 10:00 AM)
Field Research: There will also be appropriate field research during the event. If you complete them, you can look forward to rewards of stardust and experience points.
Free, limited research: Additionally, you will receive a free, limited research during the event. If you complete it within the event, you will earn a super incubator and experience points.
Event Box: For 925 PokéCoins, you can also get an event box. Inside, you will find 5 incubators, 5 super incubators, and 2 lucky eggs.
Paid, limited research: For $1 (approximately 1€), you can purchase a ticket. This will give you double the amount of stardust when hatching eggs, as well as limited research.
If you complete the tasks of the research, you will receive a star piece, a super incubator, and 2,500 experience points.
Hyper Hatching Box: Furthermore, you can purchase a Hyper Hatching Box for $19.99 (approximately 20€) in the Pokémon GO webstore. This includes 15 super incubators, 10 incubators, and 5 Knursp.
In addition to Hatching Day, many more events and highlights await you in the last weeks of the year in the game. If you want to overview them, feel free to take a look at our overview with all events in December 2024 in Pokémon GO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the world of Harry Potter, there are many different magical creatures. Some of them are extremely dangerous. Others are simply adorable. We will look at the 10 cutest creatures that have completely enchanted us.
What are magical creatures? The Ministry of Magic, or more precisely the “Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures”, roughly categorizes magical beings into three categories:
Magical beings: intelligent creatures that can understand the laws of the magical community (e.g., Dementors, house-elves, goblins, or vampires)
Creatures: do not possess enough intelligence to understand laws
Spirits: incorporeal soul of a deceased wizard
We want to focus on the creatures in this ranking. Which ones are considered particularly cute is of course very subjective. Feel free to let us know in the comments which magical creature is your personal favorite!
Start video
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Trailer for the Harry Potter Spin-off
[toc]
Place 10: Norbert
In 10th place is Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback. If you asked Hagrid, the little baby dragon would surely be in 1st place. After all, one of Hagrid’s greatest dreams is to raise his own dragon.
Admittedly, dragons are not really cute. On the contrary – they are among the most dangerous creatures in the wizarding world. But somehow little Norbert is still quite adorable, as he sneezes his first flames and thinks Hagrid is his mother.
Therefore, we make a small exception here and specifically award the place to baby Norbert instead of a whole species.
Place 9: Fwuuper
Fwuuper are colorful, fluffy-looking birds that originally come from Africa. They can appear in the brightest colors – from orange to pink to lime green. Their magnificent feathers are often used as quills.
As cute as the magical birds can look, they are not entirely safe. Their song can drive listeners insane. If you want to keep a Fwuuper, you should place a silencing charm on it.
Place 8: Golden Snidget
Golden Snidgets are small, extremely agile birds. They are completely round, with a long, thin beak and golden-yellow feathers. Therefore, they look like little, cute, flying balls.
As such, they were used for a long time in Quidditch. However, since the Snidgets were threatened with extinction, they were eventually replaced by the now well-known Golden Snitch.
The Diricawl is another bird on this list (and also the last, I promise). It comes from East Africa, is rather plump, cannot fly, but has a very fluffy plumage.
Despite its inability to fly, it possesses remarkable abilities to get out of danger. It can teleport.
Diricawls are even known among Muggles. However, we know them as Dodos, which have been considered extinct since the 17th century. However, since the supposed extinction had a positive effect on the environmental awareness of Muggles, the Ministry of Magic never felt it necessary to enlighten about the teleportation ability of Diricawls.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The German Twitch streamer Elena “Thunny” S. had the evening of her life on Sunday in League of Legends. This was not planned: She had to step in for her ill partner Broeki. Thunny appeared alongside the German Twitch streamers from NNO at a major event in Paris. She played against the world champions in LoL, T1 with superstar Faker, and triumphed.
This was the event in LoL: On the evening of December 15, 2024, an event by Red Bull called “League of its Own” took place in Paris. The world champion in LoL, T1, competed in League of Legends against 6 different teams, each in a single match. These were show matches with some special conditions to make them more exciting.
The event was a massive deal in Paris: About 18,000 spectators were in the hall.
Agurin is considered the best player of NNO and demonstrated this in the match:
Start video
Many consider a German to be the best SoloQ player in LoL – How does Agurin play?
Streamer steps in for her boyfriend, who fell ill just before the event
What was the streamer doing there? The streamer team NNO from Germany, which includes the biggest German Twitch streamers, competed. Thunny is actually not part of the active team and usually serves as the manager of NNO.
However, her partner Daniel “Broeki” Broekmann, whom she almost pressured into a proposal, plays there as ADC. Broeki fell ill at short notice (via X) and Thunny quickly stepped in for him.
So it was against T1 and Faker, who almost fielded their best lineup. Only the supporter Keria was missing; Untara (27) played for him, who actually works as a content creator for T1 and is a trained top-laner.
However, Faker switched from mid to top lane and played against Tolkin, who must grin every time he talks about Faker. Tolkin repeatedly emphasizes the outstanding importance that Faker has for his own life and how much he reveres the South Korean.
Additionally, there was a “Nemesis Draft”. NoWay selected the champions for T1, while Faker chose the champions for NNO. A wild mix was played:
Thunny ended up on Seraphine, a champion she apparently felt comfortable with.
Faker had to cope with Riven and struggled against Tolkin’s Camille on the top lane.
NoWay dominated with Heimerdinger in the mid lane against a quickly frustrated Gumayusi.
A wild match swings back and forth
How did the match go? The match was wild, but from the beginning, NNO appeared to be on equal footing and fought back vigorously. Especially the jungler Agurin took the match into his hands repeatedly and was able to secure important kills for NNO.
NoWay surpassed himself with Heimerdinger in the game and became a damage machine. Tolkin managed several great plays on Camille, including solo kills on Faker.
While the laning phase offered slight advantages for NNO, it seemed during the teamfight phase like T1 could barely win the game through superior teamplay and escape with a black eye: The South Koreans had pulled ahead by 5,000 gold.
But NNO managed to turn the game around in a fantastic final spurt:
Here is the brilliant trap:
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NNO sets a trap and the world champions fall for it
This was the decisive scene: The decisive scene was a trap that NNO set for the world champions on the top lane. Tolkin baited the T1 players scattered as a “decoy”, while the rest of the team jumped out of the bush and ambushed the Koreans, who had been baited: The lonely Faker could no longer defend the base against the attacking German streamers, and the game was indeed won for NNO.
German streamer in the spotlight of the international e-sports scene
What was Thunny’s reaction? Thunny immediately announced her retirement as a professional player on Twitter.
On Reddit, people are excitedly discussing: Thunny is indeed “Seraphine” herself and can now claim to be the only woman who has ever defeated T1 – and that with a 100% win rate.
There is also gossip in other threads: A team of streamers defeats T1, and they even had a woman on their side!
Even her boyfriend graciously congratulates. He writes that it is better for him that Thunny, as the only woman, is in the spotlight than if he himself had stood there.
Even before Christmas, the developers of Path of Exile 2 are gifting you a major update, with numerous improvements. MeinMMO has the German patch notes for you.
What is supposed to change? The developers of Path of Exile 2 are releasing the last patch of the year before the holidays. The focus of this massive update is on several aspects that have recently been heavily criticized within the community.
The PoE2 community has recently complained, for example, about the nerfs that prompted some players to change their builds. They demanded compensation from the developers, such as a free reset of all skill points or at least a discount on it. Here, the developers are now conceding.
With the new update, respecializing for players in the endgame is supposed to become 40 to 50 percent cheaper. Additionally, the so-called death effects will be adjusted. They are a common cause of death and are supposed to deal significantly less damage after the patch.
Also, during the Trial of the Sekhemas, the damage to your honor from damage-over-time effects has been significantly reduced. The normal damage to your honor now scales with the distance to your opponent, making it easier for melee characters.
In addition to many new balance changes, two new gems are being introduced. The “Tremors Support Gem” gives your abilities more aftershocks but comes with reduced damage. The “Bidding Support Gem” buffs the damage of your minions’ command skills.
The developers also announced that they will take a break over the holidays to rest. They will not resume work on Path of Exile 2 until the new year.
[toc]
An NPC in Path of Exile 2 is particularly helpful:
Start video
This NPC in Path of Exile 2 identifies your items
Path of Exile 2 Patch Notes in German
The following changes will soon be introduced in the game with the massive update. However, there is currently no exact date for the patch. Here are the official patch notes in German:
Gameplay Features
As we mentioned last week, we will add the ability to travel quickly between checkpoints within an area, and also add many more checkpoints in areas, basically at all entrances and exits to areas. This means that if you find them first, you can immediately travel to them to continue your exploration.
We will also lower the costs for resetting passive points, especially at higher levels. The cost curve has increased relatively aggressively with character level; we have flattened this curve so that it no longer rises as exponentially. This should generally lead to around 40-50 % lower gold costs for resetting points between the beginning and the midpoint of endgame progression.
Trial of the Sekhemas
Players found Trial of the Sekhemas particularly frustrating in close range, so we have adjusted how honor damage scales in close range and also fixed a major bug that caused players to suffer far too much honor damage from damage-over-time.
Honor damage now scales down based on distance to enemies. In close range, you take 35 % less honor damage, and the effect decreases the further you are from monsters.
A bug was fixed where damage-over-time dealt three times as much damage to honor as intended, and another bug was fixed where honor resistance was only applied to two-thirds of that damage. (This was also confusing for us)
Skitter Golems no longer use normal attacks and only explode instead.
The Burrow and Ambush Attack of the Serpent Clans now has an improved visual announcement and can no longer be used from such a great distance.
The volcanoes created by Rattlecage’s Fissure Slam now last only half as long.
Endgame and Monster Balance
Overall, the balance in endgame maps has been tougher than intended. Therefore, we have reduced damage in various ways and disabled a specific on-death effect where the visual announcement was not as clear as it should have been.
Maps now have no more additional elemental resistance penalties that were automatically applied from Tier 6 and Tier 11 or higher. This is now consistent throughout the endgame.
Chaos damage now scales less aggressively in the endgame.
Critical hits from monsters now deal 40 % less bonus damage.
The base monster density in Breach encounters has been reduced, mainly through a reduction in the frequency of elite monsters appearing.
The Volatile Crystals Modifier has been disabled. We will revisit this in the future once the visual announcement has been improved.
The purple explosions caused by the Volatile Plants Modifier on rare monsters now deal significantly less damage.
The Siphons Flask Charges Modifier on monsters now drains ten times fewer flask charges per second. (This effect unintentionally drained too many charges)
These changes should lead to a significantly more survivable endgame overall. We will continue to address problematic cases as they arise.
Character and Item Balance
We have made charm modifiers on belts significantly more common; they now appear at much lower levels. The “of Symbolism” modifier now appears from level 23, and the “of Inscription” modifier appears from level 64.
Electrocute is now 25 % harder to build. (However, the damage penalty has been removed from the support gem.)
A new cluster for lightning damage and Electrocute has been added to the passive skill tree, between the areas of the Rangers and Monks.
It is now more difficult to freeze enemies continuously as the amount of frost buildup after an already applied freeze has been reduced.
The Hunter’s Talisman Notable now grants +1 charm slot. The small passive skills leading to it now grant the stat it used to provide. The charm tooltip has been updated to indicate that you cannot unlock more than three charm slots, allowing us to add more sources for this in the future.
Skill and Support Gem Balance
Since launch, we have unfortunately had to nerf some skills that were far too overpowered. What do we define as overpowered? Basically, these are situations where a certain skill is so strong that players feel like no other playstyle is viable.
In general, we try to do this in such a way that a build does not become unplayable (but we also make mistakes sometimes!). Ideally, truly meta-changing adjustments are only made alongside a content patch and a new league.
However, this does not mean that we have not also addressed weaker skills and support gems. We have a number of adjustments planned that should improve some of these skills. The full list of changes will be in the patch notes, but here is an example of what to expect:
Improvements to Rolling Slam and all shield skills in the mace area.
Improvements to various bows skills, especially for generating frenzy charges.
Improvements to bone spells and chaos damage-over-time spells in the occult area.
Improvements to various crossbow skills, particularly those at higher levels.
Improvements to some weaker quarterstaff skills.
In addition to these improvements to skill gems, we have also revised the support gems. We have added two new support gems and removed or reduced penalties on many others, especially for support gems for fire, lightning, and cold exposure.
Tremors Support Gem added: Allows adding multiple additional aftershocks to abilities, but with a damage penalty.
Bidding Support Gem added: Grants more damage to the command skills of supported minions.
The Fire Exposure, Lightning Exposure and Cold Exposure Support Gems no longer penalize the damage of supported skills. They now have a mana cost multiplier of 120 %.
There are also some notable nerfs for a few of the remaining overly strong skills:
The spirit costs of the Skeletal Arsonists now match those of the other two skeleton mages. This should lead to a slight reduction in the number of Arsonists at higher levels.
A nerf to the damage-over-time component at very high levels of Tornado and Vine Arrow. These skills were never intended to deal damage themselves but were meant to serve as a method to spread the damage of other skills.
Magnetic Salvo can now only use your own set lightning arrows and no longer those created by your group members.
As we slowly move towards the Christmas season, we want to thank you all for our most successful launch so far. We couldn’t have done it without your support. A large part of our team will be taking a well-deserved break in the coming weeks, but we look forward to returning refreshed in the new year and ushering in an exciting 2025 full of new developments.
A known bug that kicks players out of Path of Exile 2 when they perform their actions too quickly will probably not be fixed this year. This may still appear in the full patch notes, detailing every change. Recently, Elon Musk was also affected by the problem: Path of Exile 2 kicks out Elon Musk, but he denies all cheat accusations
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In World of Warcraft, it is well known that one can spend wonderful years chasing a rare mount drop. Or you can do it like a father and his two sons.
Which mount are we talking about? Since a certain Baron Aurius Ravencrest from Stratholme drops his death knight steed, heroes from Azeroth have been chasing this rare drop. In the oldest post on wowhead.com from December 2006, it says:
“It is a great mount if you are lucky enough to see it drop. It is definitely something to admire. And it definitely has one of the lowest drop rates in the game at the moment. UD-Strath run number 141. Still no mount!”
In tribute to their father, a WoW player moved the community to tears:
Start video
WoW Player Moves to Tears with Tribute to Her Father
Who had the big drop luck now? On Reddit, Fat_Cat_Rudy writes that a family reunion of a rather different kind took place recently. After a few years break, his brother and father returned to WoW to explore Azeroth together again.
Clearly, they also paid one or two visits to Stratholme (via timewalking). Just two weeks after the return of the two relatives, the trio was able to take a screenshot of themselves each riding their own death knight steed from Ravencrest. But see for yourself:
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How does the community react to this? On one hand, with more than 1,350 upvotes so far. On the other hand, of course, with many comments. Among them, there are also some speculations about the drop rates of the mount in certain situations.
Androza23 wonders on Reddit: “I wonder if there’s a built-in increase in drop chances for returning after a long break. When I returned at the beginning of TWW, I got 4 rare mounts in a row and a bunch of cards for the deep things while my friends still hadn’t found a single card.”
tdy96 celebrates the family on Reddit: “This is really totally sweet. Please adopt me into your WoW family.”
knightsandsounds noticed a detail (via Reddit): “Please tell me your dad is the Brewmaster Brewmiester.” Spoiler: Yes, he is!
No-Lion54 remembers on Reddit: “A shout out to the druid who traded me the reins a few days ago (he already had them)! I’m glad I was able to reciprocate with a toy that dropped in the timewalking run immediately after. WoW can truly be a feel-good place.”
Infamous_Koala6468 is still farming (via Reddit): “I’m jealous! I farmed the area and only saw the reins drop once. It was right the first time I started repeating Stratholme runs. I didn’t get it, but was glad to see it drop for someone.”
Currently, there are more than 1,220 mounts in World of Warcraft. A passionate collector from Azeroth was able to achieve the milestone of 1,000 riding and flying animals in September 2024, which was celebrated extensively by the community. MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz, on the other hand, has … a lot less. More on that: 408 attempts for grave stalkers, but that’s just one mount of 1,000 that a player has after 20 years of WoW
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In The Walking Dead it is mainly about survival. Characters you hate or love are confronted with difficult situations within a zombie apocalypse in the series and also in the comics. But who is actually the strongest character? The creator of The Walking Dead has answered that.
What is The Walking Dead? In 2010, The Walking Dead started a successful zombie series that has now had several spin-offs that are still running today. These include:
Fear the Walking Dead (8 seasons)
The Walking Dead: World Beyond (2 seasons)
Tales of the Walking Dead (1 season)
The Walking Dead: Dead City (currently still running)
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (currently still running)
The Walking Dead: The One Who Live (1 season)
The original series is actually based on the comics by Robert Kirkman. In a special edition of his comic, he even explained who the strongest character in the series is: Carl Grimes, one of the least popular characters in the series.
Start video
Trailer for Season 1 of The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
Comic Carl is different from in the series
What does Robert Kirkman say? Between 2003 and 2019, the comic series The Walking Dead ran. While the series is based on the comics, many events and characters are different. There is also a significant difference between series and comic Carl.
For Kirkman, he is the strongest character in the series and one of the few survivors at the end. In the special edition The Walking Dead Deluxe #101, he explains this, as Sensacine reports:
Carl is probably the strongest character in the series… he handles these things better than anyone else… which should be alarming. He still has a lot of life in him… I believe.
Robert Kirkman about Carl Grimes
Carl is a markedly different character in the comics. In the series, he is one of the least popular characters among many fans, especially because he often acts quite irrationally and puts the group in danger. Just like a child.
At the end of the comics, Carl is also one of the last survivors of the group. At the end, he lives a life with his own family. In the series, Carl, played by Chandler Riggs, died in Episode 9 of Season 8.
What about Daryl? For many series fans, Daryl would probably be the strongest character in the series. He has shown his survival skills from the beginning and is still living in his own spin-off. In fact, Daryl is a character exclusive to the series. He never appeared in the comics. In his own series, you can even find an anime Easter egg: In The Walking Dead, there is a scene where a character from One Piece appears
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Science fiction movies are not always created by experienced, visionary directors. In the case of a true classic, the creative mind behind it was even just 16 years old.
Which movie is being talked about? The Fifth Element is a film by the French director Luc Besson. It belongs to the genre of science fiction and has developed into a modern classic since its release in 1998.
In it, Bruce Willis plays a taxi driver in the distant future who encounters the mysterious woman Leeloo, portrayed by Milla Jovovich. Together, they must save the world and all its living beings from destruction by evil.
The film is among the best works of Bruce Willis, even though the actor and his director did not get along particularly well. Luc Besson ended up bringing the film even more fame than he already had. Before The Fifth Element, Besson directed films such as Léon: The Professional or Nikita.
The idea for his science fiction epic is older than all his films. It actually comes from his youth.
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The Fifth Element – Trailer for the Cult Sci-Fi Film by Luc Besson
A lot of time to think
When did Luc Besson get the idea for the film? In an interview with Nerdist, the director talked about the development of the film. According to him, he got the idea already at the age of 16.
At that time, he formed a concept of the world and its inhabitants and wrote the first drafts of the story.
When I started writing at 16, it was more like a novel. In my mind, it wasn’t a film. I never thought about turning it into a movie. So it was a novel for a long time, and at some point, ten years later, I said: “I would like to make a film out of it. But I started changing a lot of things because a novel is really different.”
And that’s certainly not a disadvantage. Because on one hand, the long consideration of such a complex idea can certainly not hurt, on the other hand, Besson was able to refine the ideas he had at 16 with increasing life experience and maturity.
How did the film perform? Only at the age of 38 was Besson able to bring his long-term project to theaters. The Fifth Element received mostly positive reviews and currently has a score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The visionary images, quirky characters, and eccentric style are particularly praised. After all, the film stands out significantly from other science fiction classics like Star Wars. Although George Lucas’s franchise remains very popular, MeinMMO editor Niko Hernes has something to criticize: Star Wars currently has a big problem, and that problem happens to be the Jedi.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
