What time does the event take place? The research day will take place on September 22 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. It is the next Pokémon GO event in September 2024.
Today, the next research day is taking place in Pokémon GO. What should you pay attention to?
The focus is on completing various tasks and catching the two Pokémon Quartermak and Kommandutan – here you actually have a good shiny chance.
We summarize the most important points for you.
Start video
Pokémon GO shows the new season ‘Dyna-Maximum’ in the trailer
How does the research day with Kommandutan and Quartermak work in Pokémon GO?
This is how you get the most out of it: Your focus should be on spinning as many PokéStops as possible, as from them you will receive field research during the event period, behind which the two event Pokémon are hiding.
These are Kommandutan and Quartermak. For both, you will have an increased shiny chance during the event. Quartermak will even appear for the first time ever as shiny.
To increase your chances, you should try to play in an area that has many PokéStops that you can work through consecutively. Then try to prioritize the simple field researches and complete them quickly so that you have space for new researches.
Be careful that your field research collection during the event does not fill up with tasks that are difficult to complete “on the side”.
Which Pokémon will also appear? In the wild, you will encounter:
Menki* Griffel* Bummelz* Panflam* Chimpep
The Pokémon marked with an asterisk can also be encountered as shiny, but the chance is not increased.
However, these monsters are not particularly exciting, as they are neither really useful in raids nor in the PvP league. Therefore: Focus on getting the shinies from the researches.
Is there a research opportunity? You can also purchase a limited research in the shop, which will also run during the event. It costs 2 US dollars (the price in Euros is expected to be similar) and will give you additional encounters with Quartermak and Kommandutan.
The two monsters from the limited research will also have an increased chance of being shiny.
Whether it’s worth it for you is something you should decide for yourself. The research is definitely not necessary if you have enough PokéStops and field researches nearby. Then you should already have a good chance for the shinies.
However, please note: There is no guarantee for shinies, neither one way nor the other.
Additional bonuses: Otherwise, the currently ongoing events in Pokémon GO continue. This also applies to the Psycho-Spektakel, which runs until September 22 at 8:00 PM. You can also utilize its bonuses during this period, such as double catch stardust, extra candies when catching with nice, great, or excellent throws, and an increased chance for XL candies with these throws. Furthermore, the Dyna-Tanhel is still on the move, which you should grab.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In a five-minute trailer, the developers of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen reveal more about the early access launch of the fantasy MMORPG. It includes information about the new payment model and the content available at launch.
What kind of game is Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen? It is an MMORPG set in a high-fantasy universe. The game is inspired by classics like Everquest and is set to enter early access in December 2024, although a specific date has not yet been announced.
In a new trailer, Creative Director Chris Perkins provides a detailed overview of what to expect at the beginning of early access. We will provide you with a summary of what was said.
Here you can watch the trailer:
Start video
The trailer for Pantheon: Rise of The Fallen reveals what the MMORPG will offer in Early Access
What will be playable in early access? Out of nine planned races, six will be available to choose from at launch: Humans, Ogres, Elves, Dark Myr, Dwarves, and Halflings. Your chosen race will also influence which of the six zones your adventure begins in.
A classic MMORPG without additional costs
There will be twelve different classes, including the Paladin, Rogue, Wizard, and Ranger. However, two more classes are expected to be introduced before the game is completed. You will initially only be able to level your character up to level 40, and there will also be crafting professions and weather adjustments for your character.
A fact sheet with all the contents of the early access version can be found on the game’s website at pantheonmmo.com.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen aims to revive the feel of classic MMORPGs and is designed to be less “casual” than the games you might be used to, says Chris Perkins. Solo players will find it difficult, whereas teamwork will be rewarded.
How much will the game cost? Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is taking a new approach to monetization. The previous pledge packs are expected to be replaced by a simple buy-to-play model.
The developers have not announced a price yet but have noted that there will be no additional subscription at the launch of early access. All content in this version is intended to be accessible to everyone without extra costs.
Generation Z is the first age group ever to grow up with social media. Yet, despite using it for hours every day, they have a divided relationship with it.
Which applications are meant? In a scientific survey of 1,006 representatively selected young people aged between 18 and 27 (Gen Z) conducted by social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt in collaboration with the portal The Harris Poll, interesting findings emerged.
For even though they have been using the apps for a long time (more on that below), nearly half of them would have preferred never to have come across some of them:
50 percent X, formerly Twitter
47 percent TikTok
43 percent Snapchat
21 percent would even be happy if smartphones had never been invented.
Start video
In Germany, there are over 400 USB sticks protruding from walls – What is the ‘Dead Drops’ project?
Divided relationship: Gen Z and social media
How long does Gen Z use smartphones? According to their responses, the surveyed young people predominantly consider themselves heavy users of social media.
3 hours or less: 38 percent
4 to 6 hours: 39 percent
7 or more hours: 23 percent
The authors of the study also include applications like YouTube here, where interaction is only secondary for some and the pure consumption of videos plays the main role.
What relationship do young people have with social media? The researchers also ask about terms that are emotionally associated with social media:
94 percent name entertainment as well as connection/exchange
57 percent also feel “isolation” and boredom
82 percent also think of “dependency” when it comes to social media
In general, more women mention negative words than men. 8 out of 10 have already taken steps to reduce their own use of social media. This includes, for example, turning off notifications.
Meanwhile, Generation Z also has a special relationship with the office, which fundamentally differs from that of previous age groups. Many of them started their professional lives during the pandemic or just before and thus did not get to know the normal work routine. Now they are celebrating it: Generation Z now finds a new reason to move from the home office to the office
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The shooter Concord was supposed to be a huge success for Sony, but it was discontinued on Steam and PS5 after just a few days. A podcaster now claims that Sony lost much more money on this than previously thought.
Where does this number come from? Former IGN editor Colin Moriarty shared the alleged production costs of 400 million US dollars on September 20, 2024, in his PlayStation podcast Sacred Symbols (via X).
Moriarty claims that a person involved in the development of Concord reached out to him. He verified the source and is totally confident about it.
Sony had high hopes for Concord, wanting it to become a franchise like Star Wars. They intended to revisit the universe repeatedly over the years and had numerous plans for crossover projects. The Amazon series Secret Level was just the beginning.
Based on these high expectations, they invested 400 million US dollars in development. The costs for acquiring the Concord developer Firewalk were not even included yet.
Internally, Concord was surrounded by a “culture of toxic positivity”: no one was allowed to criticize or doubt the game. Concerns, such as about the controversial character design, were thereby ignored.
The high sum, according to Moriarty, is due to the fact that Sony had already been working with the makers of Concord before acquiring Firewalk. When the shooter reached alpha phase in the first quarter of 2023, they had already invested 200 million dollars – although it is unclear how much of that money actually came from Sony.
At that point, however, Concord was in a “ridiculous state.” Sony had to invest another 200 million dollars to even be able to release it. A large portion of the development was outsourced to other studios.
Concord had big plans for upcoming content, but never managed to get beyond Season 0.
Start video
Concord: ‘The Stars Are Ours’ Cinematic Vignette Season 0: Episode 0
Concord would have cost more than previous Sony hits
Is that realistic? The amount circulated by Moriarty seems almost absurdly high and should be viewed at least with a healthy dose of skepticism. To put the number into perspective:
With a budget of 400 million dollars, Concord would be one of the most expensive games of all time and would have cost nearly as much as Cyberpunk 2077 including DLC and more than GTA 5.
For Sony, the title would have been the biggest investment to date: more expensive than Spider-Man 2 and 3, The Last of Us Part II, and Horizon Forbidden West.
Spending so much money on a completely new IP would be … bold. The number also exceeds previous estimates by a factor: until now, even critical voices had estimated 250 million dollars, while conservative estimates were more around 100 million.
The estimates are based on the fact that a large number of well-paid people worked on Concord for 6 years. Screenshots from Firewalk employees show, however, that the shooter was still a vague idea in 2018, and in 2019, they were working on it with less than a dozen developers (via X).
While significantly more people were eventually involved in Concord, they were not paid throughout the entire development period. One can thus wonder where all the money went.
Into marketing – which often costs even more than development itself – presumably not, as relatively little had been heard about Concord beforehand. Here on MeinMMO, readers indicated that they only learned about the shooter’s failure through reports.
In the comments on X as well as a thread in the PS5 subreddit, hardly anyone can imagine that this amount is actually true.
Sony insiders doubt the numbers
Among the skeptics is Dev Walker, who has worked for Rocksteady, Respawn, and Sony’s Naughty Dog studio and is a representative of the BAFTA Games Awards. He writes on X that he does not trust the amount – not even if Sony outsourced large parts of the development.
Walker says he listened to the entire podcast and is personally familiar with the outsourcing costs at PlayStation. The numbers don’t make sense. The fact that the acquisition of Firewalk has not yet been factored in is for him the main reason not to believe the claims (via X).
What is certain is that it is not known how much Sony spent on the acquisition of Firewalk or invested in Concord. All amounts, whether estimates or supposed insider reports, are unverified and should not be considered facts.
Beware of nasty scammers in the auction house of World of Warcraft. Their trick is simple – but very effective and can cost you a lot of gold.
Anyone using the auction house in World of Warcraft needs to be careful. Because right now there is a nasty trick with which you can lose a lot of gold and resources if you’re not careful. We will reveal what the scammers do – and how you can protect yourself against it.
Start video
WoW: The War Within – Forces Within
What do the scammers do? Scammers manipulate prices with small amounts of resources to entice other players to sell their goods for far below their value – and then resell them for maximum profit.
An example: The ore Bismuth (“Bismuth” in English) currently has a market value of 39 gold per unit. This means that Bismuth ore costs about 39 gold in the auction house. Some are offered for 40 gold, some for 38 gold – but everything is in that range.
If you want to sell Bismuth, the auction house will suggest the currently cheapest selling price – so 38 gold. This ensures that your Bismuth ores are sold first.
However, some people exploit this trick. They repeatedly post Bismuth in small quantities for significantly less gold – like only for 13 gold pieces. What seems like a foolish act at first glance often pays off.
A seller offers small amounts of Bismuth for 13 gold, while the rest costs 38.50 gold – a clear scam attempt.
Because if at that very moment another character wants to get rid of their Bismuth in the auction house, they will immediately be offered the selling price of 13 gold – a single click will then post the ore at that price.
Since many don’t check when selling if the lowest price is an exception – and often also want to sell many dozens of items – they quickly click through and accept any price.
However, this is exactly what the scammers are waiting for. They hope that you offer your resources far below market value so they can buy them at their “scammed” price. They then take your resources and sell them at the normal price.
The profit margin on these scams often ranges from 50% to 300%, depending on the scale of the deception.
By the way, the trick works so well because hundreds of transactions take place every second in the auction house. After all, the auction houses of the servers are (partially) connected in a region.
Cheating is legal, only caution helps
Is this forbidden? Basically, it is probably not, no. After all, you are responsible for the price at which you post your items in the auction house. If you thoughtlessly accept the first price shown, you will have to live with the consequences.
The only effective way to protect yourself against this is to briefly check all positions in the auction house before each sale and see if one or two traders are offering an extremely low price to exploit others.
If you want to sell your resources in the auction house after a long farming session, pay close attention to what price you demand and that it is appropriate. Because with so many buyers, it often only takes a few seconds before the goods from hours of farming work pass over the counter. Farming can be an easy way to earn gold like never before.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The new season in EA FC 25 has already begun for pre-orderers of the Ultimate Edition, and everyone is looking for strong players for their starting team. Fortunately, there is a feature in Ultimate Team called Evolutions (EVOs) that allows you to create better cards for yourself. We present the new Evolution and show you 5 suitable strikers.
What are Evolutions? Evolutions, or EVOs for short, were introduced as a new feature in FC 24. They can be described as a kind of upgrade system. With this, EA aims for every player to develop their own special cards, allowing for more diversity in teams.
Even though EA wants to loosen the requirements for Evolutions in FC 25, you still need to pay attention to ensure that your selected players meet the EVO requirements. These requirements may concern the following aspects:
maximum overall rating
allowed positions
maximum playstyles (+)
What is the Ultimate Edition Evolution?Pre-orderers of the Ultimate Edition not only have early access, but also exclusive access to one of the first EVOs in FC 25. The free Ultimate Edition Evolution is intended for professionals in the ST (Striker) position who meet the following requirements:
maximum rating: 82
Position: ST
max. playstyles: 7
max. playstyles+: 0
Start video
EA FC 25 trailer shows new features for Ultimate Team
5 Strikers and their Upgrades after the Ultimate Edition Evolution
Based on the applicable professional requirements, we show you 5 players who are strong options for the new Striker Evolution. Additionally, you will see how the upgrades affect the values of the professionals after their respective EVOs.
1. Gabriel Jesus (82→84) – FC Arsenal (Premier League)
Values after the Evo:
Speed: 87 (+4)
Shooting: 84 (+4)
Passing: 78 (+3)
Dribbling: 88 (+0)
Defending: 41 (+2)
Physical: 80 (+3)
2. Ademola Lookman (82→84) – Bergamo Calcio (Serie A)
Values after the Evo:
Speed: 87 (+4)
Shooting: 85 (+4)
Passing: 74 (+3)
Dribbling: 86 (+0)
Defending: 32 (+1)
Physical: 69 (+3)
3. Randal Kolo Muani (82→84) – Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1)
Values after the Evo:
Speed: 90 (+0)
Shooting: 84 (+4)
Passing: 74 (+3)
Dribbling: 84 (+3)
Defending: 39 (+1)
Physical: 70 (+3)
4. Iñaki Williams (82→84) – Athletic Bilbao (LaLiga)
What other new Evolutions are available? There are 2 more EVOs that you can complete:
Club Member Bonus (only for FC Club members)
Prima Lila
However, only the Club Member Evolution is really relevant, because the Prima Lila Evolution is only intended for cosmetics. For 35,000 coins, you can give your card a purple shimmer. We advise you to save your money for cosmetics at the beginning and rather invest in your starting team. MeinMMO has a recommendation for you: EA FC 25: Strong starting team under 15,000 coins for Ultimate Team
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The popular role-playing series from SEGA, Yakuza, is getting a new offshoot for PS5 and Steam. This was announced on September 20, 2024 – but some people already knew long before.
What kind of game is this? Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will be the next entry in the Yakuza series and is set to release on February 28, 2025, for console and PC. The action-adventure follows the gangster Goro Majima, who finds himself stranded on an island and apparently rises to become a pirate captain.
The game was announced on September 20, 2024, during a livestream at the RGG Summit 2024, but at least one person knew beforehand – it’s just that no one believed him.
You can get an initial impression of the game here:
Start video
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii shows wild pirate action
“Madlantis” sounded too crazy to be true
What kind of leak was that? An anonymous user had already spilled details about the game on the forum 4chan on May 14, 2024. He knew that Majima would be the protagonist of the next installment and would become embroiled in a pirate feud after suffering memory loss.
The predictions about the combat system also align with the announcement: Players will be able to switch between two fighting styles, one in the familiar Yakuza style and a new pirate style with two boarding knives.
The user also announced that the game would be revealed later this year.
At the time, however, the leak received hardly any attention: The code name “Madlantis” and the idea of a mafia-pirate adventure in Hawaii seemed just too absurd. Now, the predictions are attracting much more attention as they turn out to be true.
Screenshots of the post are currently circulating on Reddit and X, where they are being actively discussed. We will not show the post here, however, as it contains details that have not yet been officially disclosed.
Users on Reddit say, for example: A few months ago, they wouldn’t have believed it either, but now the project looks really good.
Mythical items are the rarest items in Diablo 4. A player was lucky and got one from a vendor – the community is sure: The chance must be very low.
With Season 5, the developers revamped the affixes of many Uber Uniques and changed the name to “mythical uniques” (Mythics). Mythic Uniques are even rarer than “normal” Uniques. Here you can find an overview of all Mythics.
The best chance of getting a Mythic is from the bosses Duriel and Andariel, but they can also drop outside of that. A player showcased his strong drop on Reddit, which he got from a rather unusual source: the chest piece “Tyrael’s Might.”
Where did he get the Mythic? He received the Mythic from the vendor of curiosities. At the vendor, you can “gamble” various items with your collected Oboluses. You then receive the selected item category with a random rarity. This specifically means: You choose a category, like boots, and then receive magical, rare, and/or legendary boots.
In the reputation system in Season 5 of Diablo 4, you can also snag loot – even if you have already completed the maximum level there:
Start video
Diablo 4: Secret change brings more loot for everyone who likes to grind
Mythical Drop from the “Gambler”
In the comments of the Reddit post, users discuss the truthfulness of the story. Some believe it must be “fake” because the creator claims he gambled for boots and received a chest piece.
The user checkoutthishat emphasizes that he cannot explain how this was possible. He explains that the Mythic is in the first slot in his inventory because he sorted it after gambling.
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What the community says about it: In the comments, detestableduck13 writes: “This must either be complete nonsense or a 0.0001% chance…” But hotprints explains that something like this can indeed happen:
In the campfire chat before the season started, the developers said it would work this way. There is a (very, very small) chance to roll a Mythic. If the slot you are trying to get contains a Mythic, it will be that Mythic. If not, then it will be a random Mythic. There are no Mythic boots, so it gave him a random Mythic.
The user yxalitis states: “I think you’re probably one of the few this season who actually got something decent from the Gambler.” And Whythen agrees with him. He writes that he spent about 8-10k Oboluses at the Gambler this season and maybe got 6 Legendaries. The rest was rare and magical.
Can this really happen? In the patch notes for Season 5, the developers write that Uniques and Mythic Uniques can also be found in whisper chests, at vendors of curiosities, and in tormented gifts in the hell tide. The chance to obtain mythical Uniques from non-boss sources has also been increased.
A class can break in even better than rogues in Baldur’s Gate 3 – at least at very specific doors. The Druid.
Baldur’s Gate 3 gives you a lot of freedom to achieve your goals in the game – or at least gloriously fail at them. Many paths in the game are locked and require either the skills of a rogue, social abilities, or puzzle skills to clear one blockage or another.
However, one of the least popular classes has a trick that allows it to easily bypass many locked paths: the Druid.
Start video
Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to PS5 – Trailer prepares for console release
Which ability is it about? We’re talking about the Burrow ability of the Druid. This ability is available when the Druid transforms into a badger. The YouTuber Toyhouze demonstrates this in a short clip on TikTok:
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As a badger, you can use Burrow to dig into places you can see. Therefore, it’s perfect for bypassing grates where you would otherwise need a key or a skilled rogue.
In which locations does this work? Basically, you can use this trick on all grates. It’s important that you have a line of sight to the room you want to enter – which is generally the case with grates.
If you cannot see into the room, you cannot select it as a target area and therefore, Burrow cannot be used correctly.
Of course, there are almost always other ways to get into a room – Baldur’s Gate 3 gives players a lot of freedom in this regard. Sometimes you can open the door with a hidden switch, and sometimes you can simply kick the door down with brute force. Breaking in as a badger rarely attracts attention, and you can disappear just as unnoticed as you came.
Before you really start playing in EA FC 25 , you should make a few adjustments for your camera view. This could give you an advantage in Ultimate Teamand enhance your gaming experience.
Where can you find the camera settings? To change the perspective, you have several options to choose from:
You can change the camera settings in the main menu after you have started FC 25. You can access the game settings by selecting the gear icon in the upper left corner.
You can change the camera settings right before a match or after starting a game when you pause the game. Then select under Settings → Game Settings → Camera → Single Player Camera.
We recommend adjusting the camera in an offline game, preferably in kick-off mode, as you won’t have a time limit for your pause here. Additionally, you can try out the settings you have made directly in the game and see if you like them.
Start video
EA SPORTS FC 25 | Official Deep Dive into Gameplay
Co-op and Broadcast Tele: The Best Cameras Compared
Which camera settings are the best? Among the professionals, two camera perspectives have emerged as favorites:
How to optimize the camera settings: Regardless of whether you choose Co-op or Broadcast Tele, you can refine both perspectives further. You need to adjust the “Height” and “Zoom”. Both categories can be found at the bottom of the screen when you access the camera settings.
Set the height to 20 and the zoom to 0 to make better use of both perspectives. You will need to try out which camera perspective is really better for you. On MeinMMO, you can also learn how to listen to the new German commentators: EA FC 25: Setting up German commentators – Here’s how
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Many guild banks in World of Warcraft were suddenly empty and items are missing. Now Blizzard speaks up – and the news is not good.
In World of Warcraft, almost everything revolves around items in one way or another. They are needed as equipment, as materials for complicated crafting professions, or as buff food. Losing items due to a bug can be bitter and ruin many hours of gameplay. This fate befell many guilds at the launch of the expansion The War Within.
Now Blizzard comes with a clear message: Some of the items are gone. And they will not come back.
Start video
WoW: The War Within – Shadows Beneath the Surface
What happened to the guilds? When the pre-patch 11.0 heralded the era of The War Within, there were a lot of new features. One of them was the introduction of guilds that operate across server boundaries. But as soon as the feature was activated, some guilds noticed: Somehow, something is missing from the guild bank.
At first, many thought that a guild member had run away with the loot, but it quickly turned out: This is a bug; the items have simply disappeared.
What does Blizzard say now? Blizzard remained silent on the issue for quite some time and analyzed how this error could occur. Now the developers have responded in the official WoW forum with a rather sobering message:
An unexpected bug caused one of our maintenance processes to make some items disappear. Many of these items were related to professions from older expansions, but it was also possible that players lost other items from their guild banks.
In the past few weeks, we have compiled the items that were lost and we could identify, and we will soon send them to the guild leaders of the affected guilds.
Due to the way some of this data was lost, we have now reached a point where the result will only be an incomplete restoration for some guilds and we have no means to restore the lost items for them.
We apologize for the incident and the long wait time. We appreciate your patience as we worked through this issue.
What does this mean? Plainly: Not all items will be rescued. Some will end up forever in data nirvana, and restoration is out of the question. Since Blizzard has made this quite clear, it is also pointless to open additional tickets or disturb Game Masters about it. It is apparently no longer traceable which items have been lost.
The underlying problem has since been fixed. This means you can use your guild bank again without fear.
For some guilds, this is certainly bitter, but one should probably wait to see which items will arrive with the guild leaders in the coming days. Perhaps there is more there than feared. And in case of doubt, one can always see the best in the situation: Now there is more space in the guild bank for all the new materials from The War Within – because making gold has never been easier.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The new trailer for Arcane on Netflix hits like a bomb – and reveals when all episodes of Season 2 will be released. It’s going to be a feast.
Arcane is considered the showcase example of not just a successful but outstanding video game adaptation that excites even those who have nothing to do with League of Legends. Now Netflix has released the next trailer with the release date – and just the trailer is once again a fireworks display of action and emotions. But see for yourself what problems Vi has to deal with; both metaphorically and literally.
Start video
Arcane Season 2 Trailer – Nothing to Lose
What can be seen in the trailer? The trailer primarily follows Vi, who apparently continues to spiral downward after the events of Season 1. She returns to what she does best: violence. As a fighter in shady clubs, she fights her way to the top, only to continue to fall from grace.
Her appearance becomes darker, along with her mental health. Time and again, she sees Caitlyn and clearly regrets having pushed her away. Vi also visually starts to resemble Jinx more and more.
The trailer ends with the release dates.
When does Arcane 2 come out? With the trailer, Arcane also announced the release date for all episodes. As with the first season, the second season will also be divided into 3 acts, each of which will be released with a week’s break in between. The dates are:
Act 1: November 9
Act 2: November 16
Act 3: November 23
Be aware that the dates for the European release may vary slightly.
How the community reacts: Whether in the comments on YouTube or in the Subreddit for Arcane, the opinion is unanimous: The trailer is fantastic. This can also be strongly evaluated by the ratio of likes to dislikes. At the time of this article (September 21, 2024, 11:00 AM), the trailer has over 100,000 thumbs up – and just over 350 thumbs down. That’s 99.6% positive. Almost all comments are also positive or expectant:
“How the hell did Fortiche manage to raise the bar even higher for their animations?” – Infinity-has
“I believe one could write an entire essay on how Vi keeps hallucinating Caitlyn, each time accurately and flawlessly in her Enforcer uniform. Season 2 will definitely be another banger, LET’S GO!” – HelluvaFicus
“Fortiche has outdone themselves again! This is undoubtedly the pinnacle of animation art, the number of effects and details per scene is unreal.” – n4thannstewart
“Jeez, that was packed into 2 minutes. It will be fun to look at the details in slow motion, but I hope there is a bit more breathing room in the series because that was A LOT.” – rygorous
With Arcane 2, it seems that a real highlight is set to hit Netflix, which should be interesting not only for fans of League of Legends. Because even the first season managed to delight millions who had never laid a hand on the video game before. However, there was trouble with Arcane 2 – as a full 5 episodes have already been leaked.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Reactions have been extremely popular on Twitch for several years. For streamers, they are a convenient way to earn money, but on YouTube, this content causes problems. A content creator demands that the system changes.
What is the situation on Twitch? There have been two developments on the streaming platform in recent years:
Reactions dominate the “meta” – these are streams where content creators watch a video together with their audience and contribute their comments.
Some Twitch streamers even have dedicated reaction channels on YouTube, which they run alongside channels for gaming content. Viewers can conveniently consume the original video through the reaction on YouTube, while the original creator goes empty-handed.
Asmongold went viral in 2022 with his reactions to the trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
Start video
Twitch streamer Asmongold says: “Stop watching streams at 3 AM if you don’t have money!”
Reaction gets 1 million views, YouTuber ends up empty-handed
The specific case: YouTuber Zackary Smigel published a video on September 11, 2024, about rising fast food prices. The video quickly gathered 300,000 views, but then the clicks stagnated. What happened?
Twitch streamer Asmongold reacted to the video in a stream and then uploaded the reaction to YouTube, where it received almost 1 million views. Smigel summarized this in a post on X:
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The YouTuber emphasizes: He has nothing against other creators reacting to his content. His problem is not with the “player,” but with the “game” – in this case, with YouTube’s system, which does not provide for participation for the original creators of the videos.
What does the solution look like? For Zackary Smigel, the solution is obvious: YouTube should introduce a kickback system to involve content creators in the revenue generated by their videos through reactions. He believes the necessary technology already exists.
In the meantime, the YouTuber asks other content creators to wait at least 10 days before uploading their reactions to YouTube. Live reactions on Twitch are not a problem. However, he and other YouTubers have found that reaction videos on YouTube would siphon views from the original – especially when they had the same title.
In an update post on X, he further explained that he had privately exchanged views with Asmongold. His editor had initially set the reaction to private. The Twitch streamer’s reaction can still be seen on Twitch, while the original can be found on YouTube.
Who builds the better gaming PC for around 1,300 euros? The YouTuber JayzTwoCents is betting his career on victory against the AI. Who will win?
Who is competing against what exactly? One of the biggest tech YouTubers, namely JayzTwoCents, is competing against the Microsoft AI Copilot. Also participating is the well-known YouTuber Austin Evans. Together, they have nearly 10 million subscribers. In one of his latest videos, Jayz bets his career that he can build a better gaming PC than the AI.
Start video
In Germany, there are over 400 USB sticks protruding from walls – What is the ‘Dead Drops’ project?
Human versus Machine
How did the competition proceed? JayzTwoCents and Austin Evans meet in a Microcenter and each have about 1,300 euros available to assemble their own gaming PCs. The Copilot AI had previously made a selection, and market employees built the computer. The YouTubers do not yet know what is inside.
What PCs were produced and who won? You can see the three PC configurations in the following graphic:
The gaming PCs competing in the contest, image source: YouTube, JayzTwoCents
Two Intel systems compete against an AMD computer. At first glance, they look similar, but the differences are significant, as you will see shortly: In the final test with the current 3DMark, the results are clear. The number in the graphic above below each price indicates the points achieved per dollar:
JayzTwoCents: 8.60
Austin Evans: 6.76
AI: 4.42
This means the PC from JayzTwoCents wins, and his career continues – if we want to believe that he took the bet seriously. Although the AI managed with the smallest amount, it clearly failed due to the low benchmark score.
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You can experience Austin Evans’ perspective in his concurrently created YouTube video.
Why does the AI PC perform so poorly? The AI system’s graphics score is significantly lower. Here, it only achieves half the score of JayzTwoCents. The graphics card, a 4060TI, is a bottleneck for the otherwise relatively more powerful components. JayzTwoCents also illustrates this with a graph at this point in the YouTube video.
Furthermore, the AI chose significantly slower DDR4 memory. The YouTubers use the current 5 standard.
How did the AI select the hardware? The two YouTubers cannot provide a precise answer, but they agree on one speculation: It sorted each category, such as RAM, CPU, GPU, etc., according to buyer ratings. This unavoidably led to good but also relatively expensive components being included in the system.
The graphics card was likely added to the cart relatively late. The budget only allowed for a GPU costing around 400 euros in German prices (via Amazon). Austin Evans and JayzTwoCents spent more on their 7900XT models: about 700 euros (via Amazon).
For those who want to dive deeper into the world of YouTubers, interesting content can be found in the linked articles above. Or you can read how JayzTwoCents snags a PC bargain on the secondhand market and astonishingly accelerates it with two simple settings. Perhaps the options used here are also still buried in your UEFI.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The next round of balancing changes in World of Warcraft is coming up. 4 classes are looking forward to buffs – but one has to endure a small nerf.
The first season of The War Within started a few days ago and the race for the World First Kill at the Palace of Nerub’ar is in full swing. It is becoming increasingly clear that some classes are not performing as well as others. Therefore, Blizzard wants to make adjustments and will release a series of hotfixes aimed at increasing fairness.
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WoW: The War Within – Forces Within
Which classes will be improved? Blizzard has some buffs for Druids, Hunters, Mages, and Priests. Only Death Knights have to deal with a small nerf, which, however, does not affect their damage but only introduces a slow – so it should be manageable.
What do the changes look like? The planned class changes were announced in the official WoW forum and are as follows:
Death Knights
Riders of the Apocalypse: Trollbane’s Fury slows targets by 40% (previously 70%).
Druid
Ferocity
Rampaging Fury now hits enemies within 8 meters of the Druid when Wild Bite is used and no longer hits enemies in the area of 8 meters around the target.
Restoration
All healing done is increased by 4%. Does not apply in PvP.
Hunter
Beast Mastery
The damage of Predator Strikes is increased to 90% (previously 80%).
The damage of Kill Command is increased to 90% (previously 80%).
Mage
Fire
Flame Strike deals 15% more damage.
Phoenix Flames deal 20% more damage.
Living Bomb deals 10% more damage.
Frost
Glacial Spike deals 20% more damage. Does not apply in PvP.
When will the changes come? The planned changes will go live with the next scheduled maintenance work, which is next Wednesday (September 25, 2024). Adjustments to classes typically occur at the start of a new WoW week, ensuring that there are no significant fluctuations in rated gameplay content within a week. A completely different problem exists in WoW right now with crafting – it’s just too complicated.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The protagonist in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 starts as a member of the Deathwatch – and that impresses almost everyone who hears about it. Why is that? MeinMMO explains what makes the order so special.
You play as Demetrian Titus in Space Marine 2, a former and now lieutenant of the Ultramarines – an already important order. At the beginning of the game, however, you belong to a completely different order: the Deathwatch.
These tough guys in black armor not only look cool, they are only called when there are really big problems. And when they show up, everyone knows right away: Here, mere mortals can do very little.
The Deathwatch is formally part of the Inquisition, the people no one wants to be monitored by. More precisely, they are the Divisio Militaris of the Ordo Xenos, meaning: They are the military arm of the department dealing with alien issues.
The Inquisition itself only acts in severe problem cases and the Deathwatch only deploys when they see no other way – except perhaps the complete destruction of the planet (“Exterminatus”).
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New trailer shows nearly 8 minutes of multiplayer gameplay from the bloody carnage in Space Marine 2
Not a normal order of the Space Marines
What makes the Deathwatch so special is its structure. The order does not consist of fighters with the same “gene-seed”, that is, the same characteristics and values, but draws Space Marines from all orders together.
A Space Marine in the Deathwatch paints his armor almost completely black and leaves only the right shoulder pad free to display his old order. They stay there as long as their mission requires – which can take several years.
Due to their composition, the Deathwatch is not subject to the Codex Astartes like other orders, meaning they do not have to strictly adhere to the “rules”. Nevertheless, they serve faithfully the Emperor of Mankind, but in their own way.
Since they are part of the Ordo Xenos, the Deathwatch does not only use equipment that you know from Space Marines, such as bolters, chainswords, and the like. The arsenal of the Deathwatch includes, among other things, Xenos weapons, for which only the possession would result in execution for others elsewhere due to heresy.
Spoiler Warning: The following text involves a small detail that Titus reveals only quite late in the campaign. Those who do not know the backstory will not know anything about it at this point.
Lieutenant Titus now has a special status even within the Deathwatch. As he tells his sergeant, he was a Black Shield – the translation in German: Schwarzschild. Black Shields are even tougher in the already extreme Deathwatch.
A Black Shield completely severs ties with his old order, something that is actually completely unthinkable for Space Marines. They exchange their entire armor and even cover the order symbol. This only happens in absolute exceptional cases, for example:
if the Space Marine’s order has fallen to Chaos and he has no brothers left,
if the Space Marine thinks he is no longer worthy of his order – as in Titus’ case,
or if the order has simply been destroyed and the Black Shield is the only survivor.
Titus has painted over his right shoulder pad and additionally covered it in black.
Allegedly, there are even heretics among the Black Shields who want to atone. No one asks about the background and it is never revealed, because such a Space Marine dedicates his entire life to the service of the Imperium.
The Black Shields are so fanatical that they take no regard for their own lives and have only one goal: the fulfillment of their mission. Although they are correspondingly ruthless, the protection of their battle brothers is also one of their ideals. Black Shields do not seek glory, but simply want to serve the Emperor “as a last act of devotion”.
It’s time for our MeinMMO format “MMORPG News in Two Minutes.” We summarize the most important news around the best genre in the world. Look forward toa lot of WoW, the confirmed Early Access of Pantheon, and many (info) updates.
The highlights of the week:
In the official forum (via forums.lotro.com), a developer discussed the current state of new content and features for Lord of the Rings Online. The redesign of kinships is taking longer than planned. Improvements such as 4K resolution, a new launcher, character transfer for legacy servers, and the crafting overhaul are still in the works. However, do not expect a release this year.
In a video on YouTube, the developers of Black Desert introduced some of the boss encounters of the newly released expansion Land of the Morning Light: Seoul.
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Robin Henkys, the Game Director of Albion Online, responded to YouTube on many comments and questions from the community.
In the new letter from the Executive Producer, there was new information about SWTOR (via swtor.com). In mid-October, Update 7.6 will be introduced for the first time, and a native launcher for the Mac version of the MMORPG is also planned.
On September 16, 2024, the update concerning the Ode to the Destroyer was released for RuneScape. You can find all the information and patch notes on runescape.com.
Mortal Online 2 is preparing for an engine upgrade, a revision of pet experience, and more. The test server is expected to be available starting September 25, 2024 (via mortalonline2.com).
For the Steam MMORPG Grimrain, the playtest has recently started – you can request access simply if you’re interested (via Steam).
With Echoes of Eternity, a new mobile MMORPG has launched, promising you stunning graphics, an open world, high drop rates, and more (via play.google.com and apps.apple.com).
This is what happened with the MMORPGs in development:
There has been a sign of life from Ashfall! The post-apocalyptic MMORPG is expected to be released on Steam by the end of September 2024. However, this will likely not happen. The launch date for China has now been set for November 24, 2024.
The developers of Corepunk have postponed the planned wipe of alpha progress to September 23, 2024 (via corepunk.com). The reason: important improvements have not yet been finalized.
On playpaxdei.com, the developers of Pax Dei explained that they now want to focus on combat and character movement in the Early Access version of the MMORPG.
The developers of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen have released an Early Access trailer on YouTube, confirming that the EA phase is set to start in December. They also announced changes for monetization.
Nintendo is known for taking a hard stance against violations of property rights, particularly with fan projects. Many anticipated this lawsuit. It is rather surprising that it is only coming now. Palworld launched into a very successful Early Access on Xbox and Steam on January 19, 2024.
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Nintendo files lawsuit against Palworld creators!
How fans are reacting: Many online, especially on X, are siding with Pocket Pair, which is successful and popular compared to many other games that leverage the Pokémon formula. Some users even go so far as to say “The world is hoping you lose”.
This is what the lawyers say: In response to an inquiry from MeinMMO, Vanessa and Chan-Jo from the law firm Jun discussed what this lawsuit means now and how successful it could be.
It could be that they consciously chose not to invoke copyright but patent law because they may not see a copyright claim, as the different assets might not be that similar after all.
Chan-Jo
Whether the monsters in Palworld look too similar to Pokémon has been the subject of many discussions in recent months. Several months ago, Reddit users made meticulous comparisons.
Chan-Jo continues:
What is not protected is the idea of hunting monsters. […] I am certainly allowed to release a game based on the idea of Pokémon, as long as I do not infringe copyright or patent rights.
That you try to become the very best (like no one ever was) in both Pokémon and Palworld or encounter monsters does not infringe any rights. So where exactly does Nintendo see its rights being violated?
The question is, for what things and functions has Nintendo acquired a patent. The list available on the internet is long.
The lawyers Chan-Jo and Vanessa say that something can only be patented if it has a technicality and a novelty.
What is present in every game cannot be protected as a patent.
This means: That monsters fight each other cannot be patented. What Nintendo has patented is the way Pokémon battles take place and how they look, for example, regarding status changes in battle.
Whether the battles in Palworld, where monsters also experience status changes, are a possible point of attack cannot be conclusively evaluated by the two.
However, it is important to mention that a patent infringement can also be pursued even if the developers were unaware of the patent.
Nintendo has also applied for an injunction in Japan, where they filed the lawsuit. This means that “an urgent judicial decision is quickly brought about if it is sufficiently likely that there is a legal infringement and the urgency is present,” says Chan-Jo.
In Germany, if this has been known for a year, one would say, “Hey, if this is so urgent, you should have filed the application eleven months ago.” In other countries, the urgency is interpreted somewhat differently.
What happens next? “Basically, patent law always seems territorial – that is, only in that country. However, if [Nintendo] were to win in Japan, they would file the same lawsuit elsewhere or reach a quick settlement,” explains Chan-Jo.
This means that wherever Nintendo has registered the patents and where Palworld is available, they could sue for patent infringement. Additionally, a significant amount of damages would accumulate should Nintendo be successful with their lawsuit.
It is also quite possible that Nintendo and Pocket Pair could agree on a payment before Nintendo pursues multiple lawsuits in different countries against Pocket Pair.
Worldwide, pre-order customers got a glimpse of the new EA FC 25. For MeinMMO author Thomas Dummer, the first 30 games went very well. He hopes for a coaching position at a big club to showcase his new tactical skills. Deep down, he knows, however, that it is less about his abilities and much more about a new technology that provides more game intelligence than ever before.
At a press presentation in July, Thomas Caleffi, one of the main producers of EA Sports, spoke about a new technology that should be nothing less than the “most significant change in over a decade.” A new artificial intelligence, called “FC IQ,” was born.
The biggest, because visibly apparent, change was something EA had actually accomplished a year earlier when they separated in 2023 from their long-standing co-publisher and ultimately also the name giver, the football world association “FIFA.
In one thing, however, EA remains true. The next new era is supposed to also consist of 4 letters (FC IQ). “The last remnants of the ex-partner,” would be what some might say.
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EA SPORTS FC 25 | Official Deep Dive into Gameplay
Here’s how my first game with FC IQ in FC 25 went: Without much thought, I jumped right into the kickoff mode and into my first game in FC 25. Real Madrid now has this incredible offense with Mbappé, Bellingham, and Vini Junior. “This can only turn out well,” I thought to myself.
And how well it works. I drive the ball through the midfield with Bellingham, and as I approach the opponent’s penalty area, Mbappé makes himself available for a short pass. And then it happens.
Out of nowhere, the French center forward offers me a run path between two defenders. I just need to pass the ball through the gap; the rest is a formality. Just like you would expect from a world star on the soccer field.
Everything seems the same as always, right? Wait a minute. Mbappé first presents me with a passing option and then independently chooses the perfect run for a deadly pass, without me having to give him a command. Upon closer reflection, I realize that this does feel somewhat new for EA FC.
So I hit pause for a moment to see why this could work so well. Then I remember: With the new FC IQ technology, there are also new player roles. I might want to take a closer look at those.
With FC IQ, the stars make me feel like a master coach
Here’s how the roles affect FC 25: I look into the team tactics and see next to Mbappé two times the green plus next to his role as a strike professional.
The explanation states: A versatile attacking professional who usually stays close to the opponent’s defensive line. The professional also offers a passing option in build-up play and makes runs behind the defense to create scoring chances.
This actually sounds exactly like what I just saw with my own eyes. That’s already a good start. And on we go.
Kickoff. And already my opponent sets me up. I win the ball and drive it forward on the left. My opponent crowds me on the left side with many players. On the right side, my right-back Carvajal recognizes the space on his flank and starts a push.
Once again, a player recognizes the potential of a run path. It can’t be…. Yes. Daniel Carvajal also has a player role with the two green plus signs.
After the match, I don’t want to play anymore. And it has nothing to do with the gameplay; rather, I now have a completely different mission. I’m studying the best players and their player roles.
My first conclusion: The new player roles seem to keep the promise EA made. The artificial intelligence makes clever decisions and gives players a certain degree of autonomy. This results in a varied gameplay while also providing a better understanding of what my teammates are planning next.
It was clear what FC IQ meant, right?
FC IQ first sounds like a catchy word construct that I could get excited about right away. I’ve been playing FC (short for EA FC), especially considering FIFA, for 20 years anyway. And I never had any objections to a bit more IQ (short for intelligence quotient) in gameplay for my players either.
So what is this FC IQ actually? Behind the catchy term lies a lot of content. Without wanting to go into detail, FC IQ encompasses the movements of players off the ball.
For this, EA Sports closely examined the movement patterns of real football professionals. EA’s analysis tool “Opta” has collected up to 4,000 minutes of data material on individual players.
The result is the player roles that come as a new feature in FC 25. They are supposed to indicate how well a player can execute certain positions under specific conditions. This not only sounds good in theory but also seems to work well in practice at first glance.
And, to be honest, that was also necessary when we look back at the gameplay, especially the tactical approach in FC 24.
Hopefully, the new player roles will end the tyranny of the meta-tactics
From a tactical standpoint, after what felt like a week with FC 24 – let’s say a month, way too early anyway – players settled on a single formation, the name of which will not be mentioned here, which everyone played. Or had to play because it was simply the meta tactic that could not be countered and which all pros also played.
In the end, everyone knew how their next and the following opponents would play.
In the common forums, players yearned for a change and consistently demanded it throughout the year. And here we come back to the beginning and the appearance of EA producer Thomas Caleffi in July. He responded to the inquiries and demands with a clear: “FC IQ”
The launch of EA FC 25 was promising. The initially 31 different player roles could also just mark the beginning of a new feature that might be expanded with more roles over time, even perhaps still in FC 25.
The good and very good players in FC 25 distinguish themselves from the rest not only by better ratings and playstyles but also differ from the worse ones in their game intelligence. Even in FC 24, I would have never thought about choosing the formation according to my players’ strengths, as I always imposed my system on them. Now my players and their roles, however, have a significant say.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In EA FC 25, the new German commentators need to be set up first. You can find out how to do that here on MeinMMO.
If you have already started in Early Access and kicked off your first match, you must have been quite surprised when English commentators started talking at the beginning of the game.
A strange change, since in previous years, German players were always greeted by Frank Buschmann and Wolff Fuss as soon as they started their first game.
Who are the successors of Frank Buschmann and Wolff Fuss? The two new commentators are Florian Schmidt-Sommerfeld (Schmiso) and Jan Platte.
While Schmiso is mainly active in the Bundesliga matchday conferences and for the English Premier League on Sky, Jan Platte is involved with DAZN on major Champions League nights and for the Spanish LaLiga.
Both already have 7 and 8 years of professional experience as commentators at their respective employers.
What do you think of the new commentators? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
