The Infernal Hordes are a new endgame activity that came with Season 5 in Diablo 4. They have become quite popular now, although that was different before.
What mode is it about? It is about the Infernal Hordes, which were introduced as a new endgame activity with Season 5 in Diablo 4. They are available at World Tiers 3 and 4. In the Infernal Hordes, you fight against waves of monsters and finally against three members of the “Cruel Council.” If you complete the run, you can choose from various rewards at the end: items, mats, and gold.
On the PTR (public test realm), players were able to test the new mode before the season started. According to Diablo expert Raxxanterax, the Hordes were simply not fun during the test. Blizzard adjusted the activity after the PTR, and now many players seem to be satisfied.
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Diablo 4: Developers offer insight into the Season of the Infernal Hordes
Good monster density, rewarding drops
What is now good about the mode? Players are currently discussing the Infernal Hordes and praising various aspects of the new endgame activity:
The monster density is “a dream” and the choices between the waves are well implemented, writes “gorays21” on Reddit. He finds that the Infernal Hordes are the best thing that could happen to Diablo 4.
In the same post, content creator “MacroBioBoi” comments that the Infernal Hordes are the “cooler older brother of the Legion events.”
The Infernal Hordes are “fun, fantastic, and very rewarding,” writes “Lurkin17” on Reddit. He adds that you can collect a lot of low iron in the activity, “without losing your mind from boredom while speed-farming […]” and you get loot and gold.
“OlFilthy35912” thinks on Reddit: “The new game mode has completely made the Pit and farming Whisper chests in the endgame obsolete.” He claims that the Infernal Hordes are “sweatier” but also more entertaining. You can also get “tons of gold.”
From the comments, it is clear that players wish for more activities in this direction. For example, “gorays21” writes: “Diablo 4 needs more endgame activities like this.” Various players also note that the Infernal Hordes represent a promising way to farm mats. Therefore, the “Pit” is now essentially useless.
Blizzard has extensively revamped the Infernal Hordes before the launch of Season 5. Previously, players had to farm the compass that starts the activity. They received it, for example, from chests in the Hell Floods – but not guaranteed. The drop rate of the compasses was far too low.
MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz had the opportunity to play with the developers of ArenaNet in Janthir Wilds. The new expansion of Guild Wars 2 has its strengths and weaknesses, often exciting but also leaving some potential untapped.
We also challenged a world boss, solved quests and events, and learned more about the new rewards. The new 10-player raid, which can also be approached as a 50-player convergence, was, however, not on the agenda.
Who is writing here? Karsten Scholz is the MMORPG expert from MeinMMO. He has been dealing with the best genre in the world almost daily for 15 years. The first private encounter took place in 2005.
Since then, he has accumulated several years of play time in various online role-playing games and has played almost every relevant genre representative of the last nearly two decades at least for a while. This also includes Guild Wars 2, which he has been playing from time to time since the early launch on August 25, 2012.
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Here is the announcement trailer for Guild Wars 2 – Janthir Wilds:
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Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds – Announcement trailer introduces you to new expansion
Leisurely Start into the Wilderness
The new expansion first takes all Tyrian heroes to the Janthir Islands. Your objective: Find new allies for the Tyrian Alliance to be prepared for future threats. The journey during the hands-on event begins at the so-called Moon Camp of the Astral Watch, which is dedicated to protecting the Janthir Islands.
There, an old acquaintance welcomes the adventurers: Vanak – you fought against the Kryptis with him in Amnytas. The next half hour makes it clear: The upcoming adventure starts leisurely. Through conversations, you get to know the land and its people. Familiarize yourself with the nearby wilderness. Reach the settlement of the Lowland Kodan, where you unlock the Warclaw mount.
What about the Spear? My Thief relies on combo attacks and condition damage with the spear in hand. When a combo of the two standard attacks is successfully completed, other spear skills receive additional bonuses.
This also includes a useful stealth attack, which can also be enhanced through combos. All of this was smoothly animated, effectively staged, and felt just as good as my currently preferred staff.
The Clear Highlight: the Warclaw
In the test characters, the Warclaw, many will surely know it from the World-versus-World area, was already unlocked from the start for the new expansion. For the launch, it applies: If you already own the PvP mount, you still need to obtain the extended version for use in the open world from the Lowland Kodan.
For me, it is already clear that the new Warclaw will immediately rise to be one of my favorite mounts in Guild Wars 2. It is extremely mobile with its multiple jumps in the air (only stamina is the limit), the character does not take fall damage on it, and it can track treasures.
There are also several skills to attack enemies and pull them in or throw them to the ground. The high flexibility and mobility of the cat come into play not only when exploring the world but also during some events or the new convergence content.
The secret stars of the new expansion: the Warclaw cats.
First Cozy, Then Deadly
After arriving in the settlement of the Lowland Kodan and many dialogues, the developers explain that they consciously want to create a feel-good atmosphere at the beginning of Janthir Wilds. This is reflected in the events of the settlement: You catch cute mini Warclaws that have run away, or participate in a dance party of the Kodan.
In this first region, the focus is entirely on leisurely exploration and getting to know the Kodan culture. Therefore, there is no overarching meta and no dangerous world boss that could destroy the “cozy vibes”. Instead, you can now complete the heart tasks multiple times to earn new rewards.
Nevertheless, fighting does take place in the first area, in an arena for example, where you can challenge bosses and master exercises. With strong actions, you can excite the audience and gain a power boost through the cheers. If you don’t want to fight, you can even join the spectators and thus make progress on the corresponding tasks.
You will face this world boss in Janthir Syntri.
Off to Janthir Syntri
It gets really dangerous in the second new region, Janthir Syntri. There, powerful Titans are said to roam, and indeed we get a first impression of the dangerous giants and their jumping attacks and area attacks during a world boss event.
A particularly dangerous attack does not stop until the raid breaks the boss’s stance. However, this can only happen when a) all the small creatures are defeated and b) afterwards enough damage is dealt to the beast.
If it is possible to break the stance of the world boss and stop the attack, the boss is momentarily weakened. Now players can mount their Warclaw, throw a spear with a rope into the flank of the opponent, ride around it and then bring it down like an AT-AT from Star Wars. Cool!
The housing of Guild Wars 2 is aimed at decorators and collectors.
The Housing of Guild Wars 2
At the end of the hands-on event, a visit to the new home instance was on the agenda. Similar to the Warclaw mount, you also automatically unlock access to your own home through the story of Janthir Wilds. You and your group can access the property from anywhere in the world through a summonable magical door.
When you enter the home instance for the first time, you will already find some standard buildings on the spacious property that can be expanded through home instance masteries. Additionally, you can unlock improvements for sawmills, mines, and farms. However, you cannot build completely new buildings or destroy or alter the existing ones.
However, countless size-adjustable decorations are available to outfit the main house or get creative in other ways. The operation is quite smooth after a short familiarization period. If needed, you can transform into a flying bee to get a better overview of your building project or to position objects in the air.
In Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds, you can finally use the spear on land for the first time.
The new home instances fit well within Guild Wars 2, as they allow all collectors to showcase their mounts, characters, but also special armor and weapon skins. Additionally, you will find all your resource nodes here, which can also be harvested, of course.
All of this is nice, but I personally miss one or two content features that are directly linked to the housing feature. For instance, WildStar had the so-called housing expeditions back then, which could be completed alone or with friends to earn exclusive decorations.
With Janthir Wilds, Guild Wars 2 seems to be on course for a solid expansion that initially brings more of what fans of the MMORPG have appreciated for many years. It is almost a little sad that the feature that excited me the most during the play was already known from the WvW area (even if not in exactly this form).
The leisurely introduction to the new adventure might annoy some. I found it quite fitting to first learn more about the Janthir Islands and their inhabitants and to take it easy with dance performances and cat cuddles.
Capcom has been showcasing a weapon type from Monster Hunter Wilds every day for a few days, giving a small insight into how the weapon might be played. The Light Bowgun has also been shown, and fans are happy. Agility and a special move are the stars of the video.
What is it about? For over a week, Capcom has been showing a new weapon type from Monster Hunter Wilds every day. The normal animations, interaction with the new Focus Mode, and special moves are showcased.
After presenting the Hammer with its blunt strikes, Capcom is now showcasing the Light Bowgun. Along with the Heavy Bowgun and the Bow, the Light Bowgun is one of the ranged options, if you don’t want to be right in the monster’s face like with the Hammer. However, as the video shows, you can also perform cool close-range moves with this ranged weapon.
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Capcom shows the light bow gun from Monster Hunter Wilds
Fast Ranged Combat with Explosions
Like the Heavy Bowgun, the Light Bowgun has various ammunition options depending on the weapon, which can provide elements or damage types like Cut. The Light Bowgun is particularly designed for agile shooting and solid dodging.
With the Rapid Fire Energy, you can shoot in quick succession. To do this, you have a bar that you can activate, which charges with successful hits and after a certain time outside of Rapid Fire.
The video also shows the classic mine that can explode multiple times. For that, the monster has to trigger the trap or you shoot at the mine. You can see how the new Focus Mode displays the monster’s weak points. The monster gets hit by explosive ammunition and takes enormous damage.
However, the coolest move of the presentation is the finisher on the back. The hunter is on the monster’s back and seems to perform the mount finisher, which the weapons also had in World. He fires a volley, jumps off the monster, and shoots one final shot from the air. Similar moves could also be made with the claw from Iceborne.
How does the community react? The community under the YouTube video is thrilled and can’t wait to try the weapon in combat. Particularly, the movement and the final move have captured the players’ attention.
@primalchaotix3715: Shooting and jumping from behind is the best, and it looks like the jumps the bow makes when it’s in rapid fire.
@breakkid144: I am so happy about what they have done with the Light Bowgun in this game that I could cry.
@BrookD.Artist: “THE FACT THAT YOU CAN FINISH IT AFTER THE JUMP FOR THE MOUNT FINISHER IS DAMN COOL.”
In the e-sport of Counter-Strike 2, there are many strong teams. Now, a major German streamer is bringing his own team with big goals into the competition.
Who is this streamer? This is Mark “ohnePixel”, who is well-established in the international Counter-Strike 2 scene. He regularly streams CS2 content on Twitch and is therefore knowledgeable about the game.
His content mainly revolves around opening loot boxes and trading the skins obtained from them. For example, in July 2023, he opened cases worth €118,000 in a stream, only to draw skins worth €4,000.
The team of HandofBlood proves that success is possible in e-sports:
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HandOfBlood wanted to change e-sports with his LoL team, now he is finally the German champion
ohnePixel creates multicultural CS2 team
Who are the players? On August 12, 2024, ohnePixel registered as the new coach for a new CS2 team. The team consists of the following players:
Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletniuk (Ukraine)
Ali “hAdji” Haïnouss (France/Morocco)
Tal “meztal” Hahiashvili (Israel)
Meytar “AMSALEM” Amsalem (Ukraine)
Vladyslav “Kvem” Korol (Israel)
The name of the team will be announced later. The in-game team captain is player Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletniuk, who was previously the captain of Team Monte. The players have initially been contracted for a specific period, and it remains to be seen if this group will become a long-standing team.
What are the team’s goals? ohnePixel already has a clear goal in mind for his e-sport team: qualification for the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024. This is a large tournament for which a total of 24 teams from around the world will qualify. The winner receives a prize pool of $500,000.
Initially, it will be important for ohnePixel’s team to establish themselves at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Middle Eastern. This will be followed by the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Asia-Pacific RMR. In the latter tournament, the spots for the main tournament will be awarded.
The team of the streamer still has a long way to go and must first survive the qualification before they can reach the main tournament.
“What is he going to teach them? What stickers should they put on their weapons?”
How the internet reacts to the announcement: Since ohnePixel frequently opens loot boxes in Counter-Strike during his streams and is mainly known for trading skins in the scene, the news is received rather mixed. On Reddit, the Twitch streamer receives a lot of mockery. One user writes: “What is he going to teach them? What stickers should they put on their weapons?”
Whether ohnePixel will not only be the team owner but also the actual coach is still undecided. There will likely be more announcements about the new team in the future.
Arnold Schwarzenegger became known as a major action star in the 80s. The film that solidified his breakthrough was probably Conan the Barbarian. However, the filming of the movie did not always go smoothly. Schwarzenegger was injured on the very first day.
Conan the Barbarian was a breakthrough for Schwarzenegger: After his debut film Hercules in New York in 1970, there was a period of silence until 1982 when Conan the Barbarian was released, starring Schwarzenegger.
At the time, the film was a huge hit. According to CBR, the film grossed over 70 million dollars (approximately 64 million euros) against a budget of 20 million dollars (about 18 million euros). For Arnold Schwarzenegger, this film marked his first breakthrough that established him as a tough action star. However, an accident on the first day of filming could have ended the movie right away.
A first trailer for Conan the Barbarian can be found here:
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Trailer for the Schwarzenegger movie “Conan the Barbarian”
The dogs were not well trained
What happened during the filming? On the very first shooting day in Spain, a spectacular accident occurred during the filming of Conan the Barbarian. In one of the first scenes in the film, Conan flees from wild dogs. These dogs, however, do not seem to have been well trained.
In his autobiography Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, the actor spoke about the terrible accident during the filming of the movie. It is said that raw meat was attached to his costume to lure the dogs. However, they were released too early. One of them got Schwarzenegger.
They bit my pants and dragged me off the rock, and I fell ten feet down on my back.
Arnold Schwarzenegger on the dog accident on the set of Conan (Source: Essentiallysports.com)
During the attack, he fell into a thorn bush and was injured. Schwarzenegger screamed in pain until the dog trainer intervened. Schwarzenegger was reportedly stitched up with 12 stitches. You can see this in an outtake on YouTube:
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An accident like this on the first shooting day was not a good sign, but Schwarzenegger and the other participants continued to work on the film, which proved financially rewarding for the studio and for Schwarzenegger’s career. In 1984, the sequel Conan the Destroyer was released.
It was not the only incident on the film set. There were several reports of stuntmen getting injured, and there was criticism regarding animal welfare in the film. Schwarzenegger reportedly bit into a real, dead vulture because there were no other options. CGI was not an option, and other possibilities did not look good. To this day, Conan remains one of his iconic roles. Soon you will even be able to beat your friends with him: Mortal Kombat 1 introduces new characters – Soon you can fight as Arnold Schwarzenegger again
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Apex Legends, some players have lost their entire progress in ranked mode. As a result, EA has disabled the mode.
How did EA delete the progress? On August 12, more and more players reported that they lost their progress when logging in or after a ranked match, returning to Bronze 4 with zero points. This is the lowest rank in Apex Legends.
The complete progress that players had earned in the ranked mode of Apex Legends was therefore gone.
The loss of ranked points came just a week after the start of the new season, making it clear that this was not a planned reset. Furthermore, the loss occurred shortly after the weeks-long debate about the Battle Pass. This was supposed to become significantly more expensive, but the community rebelled and made EA reconsider.
If you’re not familiar with Apex Legends yet, here’s a gameplay trailer for you.
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Apex Legends Gameplay Trailer
What actions has Respawn taken? Respawn announced via X (formerly Twitter) that it is a bug and they are working to fix it. They are attempting to restore the lost points and have taken the ranked mode offline due to the error.
How are the players reacting? A ranked reset shortly after the start of a new season is quite unusual. Therefore, players are asking if others have the same problem and if there is a solution.
“I just got through Bronze and ranked up to Silver. In the next game, I was back in Bronze 4 with zero RP [ranked points]. Has this happened to anyone else?” (via reddit)
“Who knows. As far as I’ve seen, there is no update from Respawn that goes beyond the typical ‘We’re working on it’ post.” (via reddit)
“This has happened to a lot of people, including me. […]” (via reddit)
When can you play ranked again? Currently, it looks like you can only wait for the developers’ patch. However, it is still unknown when this will come. There is also no information yet on when affected players will get their lost points back.
Game Science, the developers behind Black Myth: Wukong, have released a free benchmark tool for the upcoming action RPG on Steam. Players are already diving into it.
What game is this about? Black Myth: Wukong is a new action RPG from the Chinese indie developer Game Science. The game is set to be released on August 20, 2024, for PC and PS5 and is currently the most wished-for game on Steam.
The story of the game is based on the novel “Journey to the West,” which is now over 500 years old. We play as the “Chosen One” – a new character inspired by the Monkey King Sun Wukong.
The final trailer showcases the graphical splendor of Black Myth – Wukong:
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Black Myth: Wukong: The final trailer for the action RPG from China
Already over 60,000 “players”
According to figures from SteamDB, a peak of 63,389 players simultaneously used the benchmark. The reviews are “extremely positive” at 94 percent (as of 13.08. 2024, 12:50 PM)
The tool is only about 7 GB in size and assesses the performance of your hardware by rendering a game sequence in real-time. You do not need to preorder the game to access it.
What are the system requirements of the game? The graphical splendor of Black Myth: Wukong also reflects in the required hardware:
With DLSS, FSR, or XeSS enabled, the developers recommend an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, AMD Radeon RX 5700XT or INTEL Arc A750 graphics card, and for the processor an Intel Core i7-9700 or AMD Ryzen 5 5500.
Players can level different skills in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, such as Enchantment and Archery. With speechcraft, it is possible to persuade other characters more easily. However, something has gone terribly wrong for one player, making it impossible for him to complete certain quests.
What happened to the player? On Reddit, user NoAdministration1070 shares his misery. He managed to level his speechcraft to a value of 999.975 – but it’s in the negative. The number is highlighted in bright red in the skills overview menu:
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This high negative value affects how well the protagonist can intimidate, blackmail, persuade, and bribe. With such a low speechcraft, it is impossible for the player to complete a quest. Because persuading requires an amount of 20 million gold (via Reddit).
However, speechcraft would not affect merchants. Thus, the player can still sell his items for a lot of money. But at the moment, it is probably very difficult for him to bribe anyone easily.
There is also an MMORPG for The Elder Scrolls:
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The Elder Scrolls Online – Gold Road in the announcement trailer
Big mystery about what caused the negative value in Skyrim
How did this happen? According to GamesRadar+, there are several possibilities for how the player could have ended up with such a high negative value:
A mod could have been responsible. However, the player insists that he did not use any special mod.
Another possibility is that another skill was trained through exploits to such a degree that, in compensation, speechcraft dropped drastically.
Alternatively, an exploit with enchantments could be to blame. It is possible to obtain equipment with absurdly high values through glitches, which could cause such a negative value when removed.
However, the player can no longer pinpoint the exact cause. He only noticed the problem after 46 hours of gameplay. His last save with normal values is so far back that he would rather try to get out of the negative area in a normal way.
Nearly 1.9 million players were transformed into a piece of cheese, while 3.5 million players found a secret dinosaur level.
There was also talk about the kissing behavior with the companions.
It was revealed that the vampire Astarion received a whopping 15 million kisses, while the drow Minthara finished in last place with only 169,937 kisses.
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Baldur’s Gate 3 is 1 year old and to celebrate the creators share your dirty secrets
At the top, however, is Shadowheart: The follower of Shar was kissed 27 million times, and 48.8 percent of players also experienced her final romance scene.
So she seems to be the favorite in the community. Her actress also humorously responded to this.
Shadowheart’s voice responds with the perfect clip
After the numbers from Larian were published on the platform X.com, voice actress Jennifer English also reacted to the huge number of kisses – quite appropriately:
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The voice actress shared a clip where she can be seen at work. In a motion capture suit, which records movements, she is apparently recording lines for the game.
In the video, she says: “Congratulations. I think I’ve sprained my tongue” – basically “Congratulations. I think I’ve sprained my tongue.” That can happen with 27 million kisses.
In Baldur’s Gate 3, there are indeed incredibly many possibilities to shape the gameplay and direct it in new directions. You have the freedom to choose between heroic or villainous, friendly or evil behavior. This can create quite adventurous scenarios, surprising the player time and again. Just recently, players discussed whether it might sometimes even be the better solution to take the evil path in the game – read more about it here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the new endgame activity in Diablo 4, you may randomly encounter the toughest enemy in the game, the “Burning Butcher.” A player was also surprised by the Butcher – but he didn’t come alone.
Diablo 4: The gameplay trailer for Season 5, the season of the hell hordes
How was the player surprised?On Reddit, “Fearish” shared a screenshot of his encounter in the Hell Hordes at level 7 on August 11. There are several small enemies visible, and in the middle are two “Burning Butchers” at level 180.
In his post, he writes: “What is better than one Butcher? I guess two Butchers?” However, he survived the encounter:
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What would other players have done? In the comments under the Reddit post, various users discuss the “visit” from the Butchers in pairs. Especially hardcore players would have fled in the place of “Fearish.”
As “RedRocketRock” writes: “That’s fantastic, but I would have probably used the Scroll of Escape immediately in hardcore as soon as I saw the two together, lol.” “popokins” also notes: “As a hardcore sorceress, that’s my worst nightmare…” In hardcore mode, a character death is permanent.
And “Serene_FireFly” writes: “That the Butcher appears in the middle of wave 6 at all (after many runs, not knowing that this can even happen), while I had chosen a lot of Hellborne buffs beforehand… I almost wet myself. I didn’t die. But a lot of swear words came out.”
How is this possible? “Fearish” does not comment on how he encountered the surprise visit. However, it is possible that he summoned a “Burning Butcher” himself. Between waves, players choose “Curses and Blessings.” One of them is called “The Pursuing Devil” and has the description: “A hellish demon has picked up your scent”:
After each wave, you choose a “Hellish Gift.”
Selecting the effect spawns a “Burning Butcher” once in the next wave. Simultaneously, the Butcher can also appear randomly in the Hell Hordes. Thus, “Fearish” could have encountered the duo.
The Hell Hordes not only provide you with surprising visits from one of the deadliest enemies in Diablo 4. They are also well-suited for farming items, gold, and materials. At the same time, you gather XP and “Gifts of the Mother” for the new reputation system. There are also a total of eight levels of Hell Hordes, each with an increasing monster level. You can find out more about it here: Diablo 4: Hell Hordes – Everything about quests, compasses, and loot in the new endgame activity
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Hunt: Showdown receives a comprehensive update five years after its release on Steam, aimed at improving the game on many levels. However, players will initially not be able to play for two days.
What kind of update is this? Hunt: Showdown is facing a major update with 1896, resembling a relaunch. The game will receive a new map and a new enemy as a hunting target, along with new weapons, new packages, and a next-gen update for the engine the shooter runs on.
The developers promise not only exciting in-game content for players but also benefits such as better loading times and lighting. However, the hardware requirements will increase as a trade-off. Unfortunately, the update also means that players will have to take a break for a while.
Here you can see the new map of Hunt: Showdown:
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Hunt: Showdown shows the new map ‘Mammon’s Gulch’ in the trailer
Maintenance work and two consoles can no longer participate
When will the maintenance work start? The maintenance work on Crytek’s shooter is scheduled to start on August 13, 2024, at 7:00 PM and will last for 48 hours. The game will be unplayable on all platforms (Steam, PS4, PS5, XBOX One, and XBOX Series X|S).
After the maintenance work, the engine update will be completed. This will not only result in better performance but also mean that the shooter will no longer be playable on PS4 and XBOX One. These consoles no longer provide enough performance for the new update.
What does the new map look like? The highlight of the update is the new map. With Mammon’s Gulch, players will receive a new map for the first time in three years. Players can also expect some variety. Mammon’s Gulch does not take place in the swamps of the US state of Louisiana, but in the vast hills and mountains of Colorado.
Instead of swamps and mud, you can now expect dark and winding mines that have one or two surprises in store. Mammon’s Gulch consists of 16 locations.
Rachael Lillis was the original actress of the English dub of Misty and Jessie in the Pokémon-anime. She passed away at the age of 55 after losing her battle with breast cancer. Many fans are now paying tribute to the voice actress online.
What happened? Veronica Taylor, a colleague of Rachael Lillis, posted the sad news on X.com. She writes that Rachael Lillis had already passed away on August 10 and thanks all the fans on behalf of the family.
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The voice actress reportedly received her diagnosis in May 2024. Subsequently, a campaign was launched on GoFundMe, which has so far raised around 92,000 euros.
What was Rachael Lillis known for? The voice actress voiced Misty and Jessie in the first eight seasons of the English version of the Pokémon anime. After the transition from 4Kids to The Pokémon Company, she could still be heard as Jigglypuff in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and in the Detective Pikachu movie.
Additionally, Rachael Lillis had roles in a total of 10 movies related to the Detective Pikachu film. Besides Jigglypuff, she voiced other Pokémon such as Vulpix, Bluzuk, and Goldeen. Rachael Lillis might also be familiar to you from the English versions of animes like Your Lie in April and Hunter x Hunter.
In the following YouTube video, the voice actress can be heard in two of her roles and is essentially having a conversation with herself:
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How is the community reacting? Many fans are horrified that one of their childhood idols has passed away so early. In a Reddit thread, many Pokémon fans gather to mourn her death.
For user jeremy-irons-cereal, she was one of the most iconic voices in the English dub of animes. Therefore, the day is exceptionally sad for him. Many users like ShadowReij also feel that 46 is far too young an age.
However: Rachael Lillis passed away at 55, not 46. The New York Times conducted an interview with the voice actor of James and states that she was 55 years old. Additionally, her sister clarified that she was 55 years old (via Irish Independent).
Meowth is also an iconic Pokémon from the anime:
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Why can Mauzi actually speak in the Pokémon series?
User lordsmish shares a particularly emotional story: The Pokémon fan is currently watching all Pokémon episodes with his two-year-old child. The two even dressed up as Professor Oak and Pikachu at Comic Con. The death of the voice actress hits him even harder, especially since his mother also died of cancer.
Additionally, the sad news is making rounds on X.com. For X user KajiTang, Rachael Lillis was responsible for a good Saturday morning in his childhood. Even the official X account of Pokémon commented on the death:
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FC 25 is not even out yet, and still, a new feature is already causing a lot of excitement. Creative minds have hinted at what is possible thanks to an innovation in the sequel.
What is this feature? EA had already announced at a press presentation that they will use a new facial recognition feature in FC 25. With “Cranium,” generic player faces will belong to the past, allowing for more realistic game faces, even for lower league players.
Initial images from the Clubs mode in FC 25 suggest that the new feature will also come into play in Clubs.
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EA SPORTS FC 25 | Official Deep Dive into Gameplay
Since early August, select players have been allowed to try out various modes of FC 25 in a closed beta. This includes the Clubs mode.
In Clubs, you can create your own pro and establish a club alone or with your friends. Anyone who has followed the mode in recent years knows that players love to express their creativity when creating their pros.
Huge players with pink dreadlocks, green full beards, and oversized noses. The list of quirky appearances that one could see in Clubs could go on infinitely. Your creativity was practically limitless in the past.
Pros in Clubs: More options thanks to new technology?
In addition to colorful beards and hairstyles, FC 25 will offer even more options to attract attention with your pro visually. The following photos under a Reddit post suggest this:
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How are fans utilizing the feature? The photos show distorted faces with huge scars and colorful glasses. These and other screenshots likely come from the new Clubs editor in FC 25.
The over 1000 upvotes on the post suggest that fans welcome the new possibilities in creating their pros.
Additionally, comments under the post confirm the positive response. User srgabbyo7 writes: “The last guy looks like a villain from Marvel. I love the Cranium faces.” (via reddit.com)
With Cranium, he refers to the new feature in FC 25 that could be responsible for the new possibilities in game faces.
Currently, the new feature seems primarily used to create as many deformed game faces as possible. This brings great amusement on Reddit. Some fans even say that the newfound creativity has convinced them to buy the new FC 25 (via reddit.com).
Other parts of the community wish that the new feature could be used to upload personal photos to transfer their face onto the pro. This option was available in a similar form in FIFA 11. However, for unknown reasons, this possibility was discarded in subsequent editions. The most important information about the new EA FC can be found on MeinMMO: EA FC 25: All information on release, price, and innovations
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The first trailer for GTA 6 is only 90 seconds long, but the community has already discovered an incredible number of violations of U.S. law in this short time span.
What is Grand Theft Auto about? The GTA franchise has never been a child of sadness. The name “Grand Theft Auto” (literally translated as “Grand Auto Theft”) makes it clear that you take on the role of criminals who don’t take the laws too seriously.
Anyone who has played the previous installments of Rockstar and Take-Two’s successful series extensively has likely not only stolen cars but also destroyed, robbed, murdered, and tortured. That similar experiences await you in GTA VI starting in fall 2025 is already emphasized by the first trailer.
Here you can watch the 90 seconds trailer for GTA 6 again:
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Rockstar Games shows GTA 6 for the first time in the trailer
Continuous Violations of Law
What has the GTA community discovered? That the fans of the franchise have scrutinized the first trailer for GTA 6 particularly closely was already made clear by this news: Trailer shows 35 cars that you could already play in GTA V.
In a new post on reddit, all the legal violations in the spotlight of the internet police that occur within the 90 seconds are now highlighted. Thread creator Humblebrag232 claims to have discovered almost 25 crimes, with an average of one crime every 3.6 seconds. Here is a selection:
How is the community reacting? Under the original post, the commentators are looking forward to their upcoming trip to the “Sunshine State”:
PSPatricko writes (via reddit): “So a typical day in Florida?”
JackCastle reminds (via reddit): “Well, the game is not called Nice day driving 6.”
youngreeper9 speaks the minds of many fans (via reddit): “2025 is almost here, people!”
Eggith has already been on site (via reddit): “I was in Tampa, Florida, two weeks ago, and saw about 75 percent of these crimes in action during my three-day stay.”
Valve is currently developing a new PvP shooter that has not been officially announced yet. Nevertheless, thousands of players are already playing it on Steam.
What kind of shooter is this? Valve is already working on a new game called Deadlock. A few months ago, there were first leaks about Deadlock on social media – even gameplay videos were shared.
Valve itself has not announced Deadlock yet. There is no release date, trailer, screenshots, or official gameplay videos. Nonetheless, Deadlock already has 16,900 simultaneous players on Steam (via SteamDB).
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This is Deadlock – The new MOBA shooter from Valve
Why does Deadlock have so many players? Screenshots circulating on X.com suggest a test of the shooter. These screenshots give the impression that some Steam users have received an invitation to test Deadlock.
On this test build, nearly 17,000 players were online simultaneously on the evening of August 11th.
Hero Shooter Meets MOBA
What kind of shooter will Deadlock be? According to the leaks, Deadlock will be a hero shooter played from a third-person perspective. Each team will compete with 5 players against each other. Each player controls a hero with their own weapon and four different abilities. This somewhat resembles Overwatch.
The leaked gameplay also suggests that Deadlock might have similarities with a MOBA like DOTA 2 or League of Legends. It seems there are lanes where heroes move, along with a “Tower Defense” part.
On social media, some players are already dubbing Deadlock as a “MOBA shooter”.
Deadlock could definitely develop a competitive scene including e-sports events. Valve has gained a lot of experience with DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike 2. The structure of the shooter definitely gives the impression that it is designed for e-sports.
The second Spotlight Hour in August of Pokémon GO is coming up. It features Liliep.
What kind of event is this? The Spotlight Hour takes place every Tuesday. For one hour, a specific Pokémon appears almost everywhere.
Additionally, there is a bonus during this 60 minutes.
Which Pokémon on August 13? Liliepis the featured Pokémon for this Spotlight Hour. It belongs to Generation 3 and is of the Rock and Grass types. It can evolve into Wielie.
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Heavenly teamwork in Pokémon GO – a new season begins
Spotlight Hour on August 13, 2024 – Start and Bonuses
When does the Spotlight Hour start? The event starts on 08/13/2024 at 6:00 PM. It ends at 7:00 PM, and the usual spawns will return.
Which bonus is active? You will receive double candies for all monsters you catch during this time. This also applies to raid bosses, for example.
Is there a Shiny Liliep? Yes, you can catch it. However, the chance is not increased, so you’ll need a lot of luck.
Is the Spotlight Hour worth it? Not really. Liliep is not one of the best attackers in Pokémon GO. The same goes for its evolution Wielie. Neither is useful as a raid attacker.
There are many better alternatives in the PvP League. The evolution Wielie ranks 99th in the PvPoke rankings (via pvpoke.com).
Ultimately, the event is most worthwhile if you take advantage of the candy bonus for other monsters. Such as the current raid bosses in the gyms, Rocket rewards, or for monsters from saved field research. Liliep and Wielie are only worthwhile if you like to collect – if you still need the Pokédex entry or wish to catch the shiny variant. Overall, there are more exciting dates this month: All events in Pokémon GO in August 2024.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The hobbyist Jake Laser is a well-known YouTuber who recreates technical devices from movies, series, and animes. The tinkerer has even managed to build a fully functional 3D maneuvering gear. With it, he can pull himself up walls and even take down fake titans.
What does the 3D maneuvering gear look like in real life? In a YouTube video, Jake Laser shows how he built the gear. He used a launch tube, a rope, two dart-shaped hooks, and a strong motor for this. Over time, he managed to create a stable system that can even pull him up walls.
The two launch tubes are placed on both sides of the hips, just like in the anime. They were secured with a belt in a way that ensures a stable trajectory for the darts.
Even the swords used by the scout team in the anime were built by the tinkerer. He created two handles that can drop the blunt blades at the push of a button. In his gear, he has fresh blades hidden that can easily be reattached to the handles.
You can see the fully functional gear and the journey to get there here:
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Does it work? Towards the end of the video, Jake Laser is seen pulling himself up walls. He tests his gear on a barn wall and climbs up it. For safety, he wears a motorcycle helmet.
Even the swords he crafted are fully functional. He tests the weapons on a fake titan that is simply a balloon. Jake Laser attacks the titan from behind, just like in the anime, grabbing him by the neck. Special effects create steam escaping from the colossal titan.
What is the 3D maneuvering gear? The 3D maneuvering apparatus allows the scout team to quickly move between tall buildings and through forests. This keeps them agile and gives them an advantage over the usually slower titans.
The biggest disadvantage of the apparatus is that it is powered by gas. In the anime, it often happens that the gas canisters run out at critical moments, leaving the fighters defenseless.
In the anime, it takes several years for the students to learn how to handle the equipment. It is even more impressive that Jake Laser manages to do it much faster. However, we must admit that he does not swing around with the gear as elegantly and nimbly as the titan hunters from Attack on Titan.
Here you can see the trailer for the first season of the anime:
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The trailer for the first season of Attack on Titan
What do fans say about it? In the comments under the YouTube video, there are numerous admirers. They believe that Jake Laser would show what insane talent he has with this equipment. However, one user notes that there is a difference from the anime: In the anime, both sides can be fired separately, but in the real equipment, this is not the case.
Rextroy is back! After a long break, the well-known player from World of Warcraft has returned with a new video, in which he does what he does best: defeating raid bosses in spectacular fashion while uncovering potential exploits and bugs.
Who is Rextroy? Over the past years in World of Warcraft, there has been no other player who could exploit the systems, rules, and mechanics of the MMORPG as efficiently with the available means, thereby pushing the limits of what is possible in Azeroth.
More than once, he drew the attention of Blizzard developers to unwanted exploit opportunities through his remarkable kills of raid bosses and PvP experiments, which were subsequently fixed. In our MeinMMO special on 12 of the most famous players from World of Warcraft, we dedicated a section to Rextroy for good reason.
Rextroy has certainly seen the recent trailer for WoW – The War Within:
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WoW: The War Within – Shadows Beneath the Surface
Strong comeback just before The War Within
At the time of the special, Rextroy’s last video was just over eleven months old. It was rumored in the community that the player would focus on his studies for some time. Now, Rextroy made a furious comeback in WoW as well as on YouTube!
What did Rextroy do? In the new video, the player explains that after his long break, he first went into research to catch up on what he had missed during the year. In doing so, he came across an exciting report from wowhead.com from May 2024.
Here you can watch Rextroy’s new video:
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The article was about a bug that allowed spells with damage transfer to be exploited to oneshot strong enemies through attacks on weak “Critter” creatures (like wandering rabbits or sheep). This was possible because these “Critters” take high bonus damage.
Although the developers had subsequently rolled out a hotfix, Rextroy noticed during tests that this bug could still (or again) be exploited. Through the spell Glacial Spike of his mage and the 2-piece set bonus that deals 15 percent of Glacial Spike damage to nearby enemies, it was already possible in initial tests to deal more than 200 million damage.
In the next step, Rextroy grabbed his paladin and a friendly mage to venture into Amirdrassil with a “Critter” creature and oneshot raid bosses there. This works flawlessly. Knorrenroot and Igira, the Cruel, each take significantly more than 300 million damage. After that, world boss Aurostor and some Horde players also had to face the consequences.
How did Rextroy bring the Critter to the boss? This was the biggest challenge of the experiment. The little creatures reset their combat status as soon as they move too far away from their original position. Additionally, they can’t withstand much damage.
The solution: By combining the death grip of a death knight twink and the transformation of the mage, the duo was able to navigate the Critter through the raid instance. After the successful tests, Rextroy reported the bug, and according to the developers, it has supposedly been fixed again. Also a cool action: Youtuber kills a group of Horde players in less than a second – With a toad
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Twitch streamer HandOfBlood is currently having fun on Twitter. He is indulging in the favorite pastime of every reasonable role player: He has given characters in a new game on Steam, Norland, the names of Twitch streamers and colleagues and is engaging in all sorts of antics with them.
This is how HandOfBlood irritates his fans: Since August 8, Twitter followers of HandOfBlood have been reading wild stories:
It is said that he knocked up his colleague and girlfriend Tamina. Additionally, Kutcher and Kalle now hate Zarbex
Zarbex he wants to throw to the wolves anyway, no one likes the bastard
The next day he reveals: Apored, the stable rabbit, wanted to rob someone, was beaten up by farmers, now wears a forced mask and will probably succumb to his injuries soon
He is just having fun:
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HandOfBlood: The most important thing about the YouTuber and Twitch streamer in under a minute
HandOfBlood is the world’s leading streamer in a new strategy game on Steam
What is HandOfBlood currently doing on Twitch? HandOfBlood has fallen in love with Norland, a new strategy game on Steam. In this medieval epic, he named his characters, the lords, after colleagues from Twitch and allows himself a gag on Twitter.
In recent days he has played Norland for 10 hours and reached an average of 7,400 viewers. This makes him the world’s leading streamer in Norland on Twitch in the last week. Strategy games are not that popular there.
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This is how it is commented on: Fans partly comment on it in irritation and need a moment to understand what is going on.
Some people jump in right away and shoot back: If you’re going to tell an adventure story about Apored, then please one that wouldn’t also happen to him in real life.
The clip about Apored is dead:
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What kind of game is Norland? Norland is a new strategic role-playing game that mixes RimWorld and Crusader Kings 3. It was released on July 18 and currently has quite decent reviews with 77% positive reviews on Steam.
The general consensus seems to be that one should wait a little longer until Norland has overcome the worst growing pains in early access.
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Norland remembers the Steam hit Rimworld – but plays in the merciless Middle Ages
The idea of making role-playing games or simulations more relatable by naming the characters after people from one’s personal circle is a well-known hobby of gamers that many indulge in. The community manager of GameStar created her own cult in Cult of the Lamb: Cult of the Lamb: How I created a GameStar cult and ruled for 10 days
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In about a week, Mists of Pandaria Remix will end in World of Warcraft. Timewalkers who participated in the nostalgic event will then land in the original timeline with adjusted gear pieces. Level 70 heroes will be pleased to find more powerful armor and weapons than expected.
Update from August 13, 2024: The Blizzard developers have now officially revealed what will happen to your characters when WoW Mists of Pandaria Remix ends.
All items, currencies (except gold), and quests will be removed from the Timewalkers and their banks during the transition process. So be sure to spend your bronze!
The character conversion process may take a few minutes after you log in with your character.
To complete the conversion, you must log in with each individual Timewalker.
Characters will retain their level.
Characters will receive gear up to item level 467 for level 70 characters that matches their current specialization. Characters of lower levels will receive gear appropriate for their level.
Characters will receive four bags with 30 slots, along with a reagent bag containing 26 slots.
Forgotten collectibles like ensembles will be sent to the character’s mailbox.
Horde characters will be placed in Orgrimmar and Alliance characters in Stormwind.
Characters will keep the gold they earned in Mists of Pandaria and receive a farewell package from the Timewalker containing a small amount of gold, scaled to character level, to help them get started in The War Within.
What happens at the end of Mists of Pandaria Remix? When the nostalgic event ends on August 19, 2024, participating Timewalkers will land at the respective portals in Stormwind or Orgrimmar. The special gear pieces from MoP Remix will be replaced by new armor and weapons.
Originally, characters who reached level 70 during the event received gear pieces with an item level of 415. However, the Blizzard developers have made additional adjustments in the meantime.
The new trailer for WoW: The War Within:
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WoW: The War Within – Shadows Beneath the Surface
Pandaria makes you stronger
How good is the gear now for MoP Remix characters? Neryssa from Wowhead reports that the MoP Remix event on the PTR of patch 11.0.2 has already ended, and Timewalkers there have received a gear composition with an item level of 467.
For comparison: In the currently running pre-event for The War Within, you can easily earn gear with an item level of 480 – which can also be upgraded with flight stones and crests from Dragonflight.
This is how MeinMMO rates the adjustment: In the original version, the quality difference between the equipment obtained from the two preparatory events was quite significant: item level 415 vs 480+. With the recent change, the gap has significantly closed, allowing both factions to slice through the regions of The War Within with vigor.
Characters with gear at item level 467 will receive their first items representing upgrades at levels 74 or 75.
