Today, on Thursday, June 20th, it happened: The controversial game “Banana” surpassed Counter-Strike 2 and is the most played game on the PC platform Steam. The man behind the game insists: It is not a scam. However, there was a fraudster on the team, from whom they have now – allegedly amicably – parted ways.
What kind of game is this?
The essential gimmick of “Banana” is that every 3 to 18 hours you play the game, you receive a banana: This is an image that can be traded on the Steam marketplace.
The most bananas are offered for the minimum amount of 3 cents, but some rare bananas go up to $500.
The game is apparently mostly kept alive by bots. Some users are said to use thousands of bots simultaneously, as a team member admitted in an article by Polygon. That’s so many bots that Banana is currently statistically the largest game on Steam. It has surpassed Counter-Strike 2 in terms of concurrent players.
Many are reminded of NFTs by “Banana”:
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Ubisoft showed NFTs in a trailer in 2021 that were supposed to appear in Ghost Recon
Developer Promotes Legal “Infinite Money Glitch”
What is the appeal of the game? One of the developers said, as Polygon reports: The game is a legal “Infinite Money” glitch. Players would make money with a free game while selling virtual items.
The whole system resembles the NFT model: The actual images have no value but are pure speculation objects. So it could be that prices suddenly crash and buyers are left with huge losses if they have “invested in rare bananas.”
The situation is opaque: Some suspect that the developers are generating the expensive bananas themselves to manipulate supply and cash out: A classic “Pump and Dump” scam.
You can’t even do anything with the bananas, as the option to at least use the banana as a skin in the game has not yet been developed.
The “Infinite Money Glitch” has a catch: Because someone has to buy the worthless bananas.
Banana had a disgraced fraudster on the team – but didn’t know about it
This is the new development: The developer now emphasizes in a statement that they are not a scam.
To prove this, they explain that they have amicably parted ways with a disgraced fraudster on the team, Theselions. Because the developer was, as a YouTuber points out, actually involved in a scam just as they are being accused of with Banana.
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A previous game by Theselions was “allegedly accidentally” a Bitcoin Pump-and-Dump fraud before Valve removed it from the Steam store.
In a “Pump and Dump”, the value of a virtual item is artificially inflated, for example, through social media articles. But when the item has reached a high value, the person behind the item dumps a massive quantity of the item that is supposedly so valuable and rare. They make a profit, but the value of the item falls drastically because there is much more supply than demand, causing everyone to lose their invested money – except the person behind the scam.
In any case, they have parted ways with this developer. They are also not upset with Theselions or separated in a dispute but say they did nothing to warrant being banned.
In any case, his “inventory has been cleared of all valuable bananas.”
This is what the man behind Banana says: The developer behind Banana writes that they can’t wait to transform the game into something “bigger and better” than just a clicker game.
Soon they will be bringing “a large amount of updates” to improve the game and let people do much more with the bananas.
What exactly can be done with an image of a banana remains open by the developer.
What’s behind this: The mere statement that Theselions’ inventory has been cleared of all valuable bananas should be a huge red flag for anyone seriously planning to invest money in the game.
Because if the developers’ inventories are full of valuable bananas that they can throw on the market at any time, then that is the template for a “Pump and Dump” scam:
Even if one engages with the logic of such a “virtual currency”, one must understand that the value of “rarer bananas” depends on them actually being rare.
But if it only seems that they are rare, and the developers behind the game are secretly holding a massive number of rare bananas, then the “rare bananas” are no longer rare, but worthless.
Thus they are even less valuable than the common bananas, with which one also cannot do anything.
Ultimately, you are paying money here for a few pixels and very vague promises.
A trailer now showcases the new boss enemies once again, aiming to excite players for the new content.
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Elden Ring introduces the boss enemies of the DLC
What does the trailer show? The trailer focuses on some of the boss enemies that you will encounter in Shadow of the Erdtree. You will witness, in the typically dark atmosphere of Elden Ring, among other things, a giant creature with vine-like limbs and an undead rider ascending on his horse made of black slime. Another enemy will confront you with his powerful flaming sword.
What are the reactions? The reactions under the trailer (via YouTube) clearly show that most players are looking forward to the DLC. “Time to disappear into my cave and stay there for a month to play Elden Ring,” writes the user goodboy-lr2tq in their comment. Many users reply that they feel similarly.
Goodboy-lr2tq also writes that it’s time to tell all acquaintances that they are busy with a very important project.
While numerous users express their excitement on YouTube, many others also voice their concerns about whether they are even ready for the new boss enemies. “You’re all not ready for this,” believes user indeimaus in their comment. “We are ready to die,” is one reply they receive. Another user agrees: “I am ready to cry.”
Other players express confidence that they will be able to defeat the enemies, but most believe it will indeed be quite a challenge. One user writes: “The moment you realize that the DLC brings back the most unforgettable and toughest bosses from the previous game.”
Will you play the DLC tomorrow? Which boss enemy are you already looking forward to, and do you feel ready for the new battles? Feel free to discuss in the comments. Shadow of the Erdtree launches tonight at midnight and everything you need to know about the preload and the times can be found here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Is no one interested in World of Warcraft anymore? The numbers paint a grim picture – but it’s complete nonsense, explains MeinMMO demon Cortyn.
The player numbers for World of Warcraft are in free fall. People are no longer interested in WoW. Once again, the game is dying.
Such and similar statements can be increasingly found on various news sites. While this would generally be an exciting topic if we had reliable numbers to support it, it is often misrepresented. The underlying statistics are massively distorted by many factors and must be seen in the context of what both WoW: Dragonflight and the other WoW versions are currently doing.
The statistic referred to is the number of completed “Mythic+” dungeons in the respective week. A trend can be observed here – it continues to decline every week. However, in the current season 4 of Dragonflight, this decline is particularly noticeable, following an already low start.
But first, take a look at the graph yourself:
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The orange line for the current season looks really eerie, doesn’t it? It has the lowest entry of all seasons in Dragonflight and has now also reached an absolute low point.
If one were to only look at this statistic, one might think: Oh dear, WoW must be doing really, really badly.
However, several factors are completely overlooked.
The many factors affecting Mythic+ in WoW
First, the probably biggest change that some still haven’t grasped:
World of Warcraft has drastically restructured the system of mythic dungeons with season 4. The difficulty of all “M+” dungeons has been massively increased.
A mythic dungeon (“M+0”) is now at the level of a previous “Mythic+10”.
A dungeon of level “Mythic+2” would have corresponded to a “Mythic+11” in the previous season.
This means that essentially all dungeon visits that would have previously fallen into the range of M+2 to M+10 do not appear in this statistic anymore. Because these are now the visits taking place in heroic and M+0 dungeons. This massive number of dungeon visits is missing in the statistics because they are not recorded and no longer belong to “Mythic+” due to a change in the system.
Many are currently playing WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria. There are extremely many rewards.
The second factor is WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria. Many WoW fans are currently only playing in this mode to unlock numerous transmogs and mounts. Many guilds have temporarily canceled their “M+” dates to instead raid together in Mists of Pandaria, thus securing a lot of bronze. This obviously affects the numbers of “M+” visits – but the players are not gone. They are just in Pandaria.
The third point is WoW Classic. “Cataclysm” started there a few weeks ago. While fans of the “old world” are skeptical about this expansion, it has always been praised for exciting raids and tough dungeons. One reason why many veterans are currently playing Cataclysm again and reliving the old times. Since nothing new is coming to Dragonflight until patch 11.0, it’s easy to switch to Cataclysm for a few weeks and leave M+ behind.
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WoW: Trailer for the release date of The War Within
The last point is the start of the beta for The War Within. Unlike previous WoW expansions, you can “buy into the beta” by pre-ordering the more expensive Epic Edition of The War Within. Some have done this and are now on the beta realms to check out the new story or the class talents – often with several friends together.
Poor numbers because people are playing a “different” WoW
I do not want to deny that the “the expansion is over” sentiment also contributes to some players taking breaks or quitting. This happens with every expansion. The last season is always a reason to take a break from WoW, devote oneself to other games, or simply do something else before continuing with the new expansion.
But it’s not as dire as some portray it. The circumstances simply do not allow for that.
Yes, the absolute numbers of “M+” visits have dropped sharply in recent weeks. But this has many reasons – especially because World of Warcraft is currently providing numerous incentives to do something other than Mythic+.
Ultimately, it can be said: I do not know the official player numbers. Only Blizzard knows that. But taking the metric of visited “Mythic+” dungeons and deriving supposed player numbers from it, when there are so many factors currently tugging at the numbers of M+ visits within the WoW cosmos – that’s just nonsense and, from my perspective, a deliberate misinterpretation. Xal’atath would surely take great pleasure in such things.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Elden Ring is getting a DLC titled Shadow of the Erdtree. The expansion will be released on June 21, 2024. But Elden Ring is not just a video game: there is even a manga based on the Soulslike. However, it is now going on a break, as mangaka Nikiichi Tobita announced.
Why is the manga going on a break? Tobita revealed on X that he is pausing the manga titled Elden Ring – The Path to the Erdtree for a while. Thus, he is skipping the issue that was supposed to be released on July 19, 2024.
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Instead, the mangaka would rather play the new expansion Shadow of the Erdtree. With the release of the expansion upcoming, the recently released 45th chapter of the manga will be the last for now.
Along with his announcement of the break, he drew a picture of himself lying in bed dreaming of Elden Ring. In the thought bubble, there is a glowing worm that will appear as a new enemy in the DLC.
You can watch the trailer for Shadow of the Erdtree below:
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Elden Ring shows the DLC ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ in the story trailer
Elden Ring has its own manga
What kind of manga is this? Elden Ring – The Path to the Erdtree takes place in the same world as the video game. The Elden Ring was shattered, leading to a war over the fragments of the ring. The demigods have seized the pieces and are not willing to give them up anytime soon.
Readers follow the experiences of an unknown Tarnished who is supposed to subjugate the demigods. He is meant to secure the title of Elden Lord. However, the protagonist doubts whether he is up to the task and if he even wants to accept the title.
The manga is a good supplement to the video game, as the lore is only told through item descriptions and hidden clues. If you are interested in the story, MeinMMO has the right summary available.
That the mangaka is now taking a break to play could mean that the contents from Shadow of the Erdtree will appear in the manga. So we should keep an eye out for whether the story and characters from the DLC will show up in the upcoming chapters.
The Butcher is considered the deadliest enemy in Diablo 4. Some players remember the time when they feared him. Now, however, some of them can only laugh wearily at him.
Who is the Butcher? The Butcher is a boss who can unexpectedly surprise you in any dungeon. You will notice this at the latest when you hear his pounding footsteps as he runs towards you. He greets you with the words “Ah, fresh meat!” The Butcher originates from Diablo 1, which was released in 1996.
However, players on Reddit are currently noting: Once you reach higher levels, the Butcher no longer scares you. On the contrary.
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Diablo 4 Season 4 “Loot Reborn” in the gameplay trailer
The Butcher needs a buff
Why do players laugh at the Butcher?On Reddit, the user “yxalitis” asked the community on June 19 if they still remembered the time when the Butcher was feared. He notes that if there’s a clear sign of the “increase in power” that Season 4 has brought, then it is the Butcher.
Earlier, he had “instilled fear and terror in the adventurers,” and his “Ah, fresh meat!” made the pulse race. “Now he is just another thing one hops past thoughtlessly,” he remarks. In his opinion, the monsters need a buff.
In the comments, users discuss the topic. “LordFenix_theTree” states that the Butcher is still a problem when leveling. “Erohling93” responds that he has never been an issue if you had good gear, aside from leveling.
“TupperwareNinja” writes: “Tormented version, when?” This would give the Butcher level 200, like the other “Tormented” versions of the bosses. You summon them with Stygian stones from the pit.
And “Zyphica” notes: “The son of Malphas in the dungeons of the last season was much more frightening, especially in Hardcore.” In Season 3, the son of Malphas surprised you in the dungeons. And he could even appear in a team with the Butcher.
What is the reason for this? “alQamar” writes that he plays a Necromancer and has heard the Butcher but never seen him. And “WicktheStick” notes that he plays a “somewhat well-equipped” Thorns Barbarian. He was not wearing headphones, so he hardly noticed the Butcher.
“Specialist-Dust2935” mentions that he briefly heard the Butcher in a nightmare dungeon. Due to the strong Heartseeker build of his hunter, the Butcher did not even get a chance to finish his “Ah, fresh meat!” exclamation.
Several players note here: At early stages, the Butcher can still become a problem in many cases. However, if players are at a high level and/or using strong builds, he dies “within seconds.”
For Season 4, some skills and items of the classes have been adjusted and buffed. This resulted in extremely strong builds right at the beginning of the season – such as the Shadow Minion build of the Necromancer. The Thorns build, Shadow Minion build, and also the Heartseeker build are among the strongest builds in the endgame of Diablo 4 in Season 4.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A video is going viral on TikTok where a Twitch streamer is friendly to his only viewer. Now he has thousands of followers.
What kind of streamer is he? chetter72 is not among the superstars on Twitch who broadcast to tens of thousands of viewers daily. He only streams occasionally, to a few viewers, mostly Fortnite or the casual game Party Animals. However, that has suddenly changed.
Because chetter72 is the star of a viral video on TikTok. The user “pudgykindness” shows how he stumbled upon chetter72 while scrolling through streamers without viewers on Twitch.
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During the conversation between the two, chetter72 reports that he worked for Disney for 15 years. In Disneyland, he was the voice of the turtle Crush from Finding Nemo in the interactive show “Turtle Talk with Crush.”
However, due to health reasons, he could no longer pursue his profession, as he reports. chetter72 sees himself as an entertainer through and through and missed performing in front of people, which is why he tried it on Twitch.
The streamer won the hearts of the community when he sang a modified version of “Happy Birthday” for his one viewer. The viewer then surprised him with a donation of over $450 and called on TikTok to change the life of the friendly streamer – and thousands followed the request.
A similar action has happened before:
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Twitch streamer with only 1 viewer becomes famous through a nice gesture – This is her story
The streamer’s story shows positive sides of the internet
How did this impact him? The video from pudgykindness has been viewed over 50 million times and received 8.7 million likes. Numerous viewers then headed to the Twitch channel of chetter72 to follow him.
In the comments on TikTok, users share updates about the streamer’s growing follower numbers or simply express their happiness for him:
twitch4me: “Dude, 113k followers, I’m so happy for him.”
nordic_chaos: “I was just about to cry, no worries.”
Eunique Little: “Amazing, I love the internet for this.”
Nimorius: “Makes the right people famous … what a likeable man.”
When chetter72 went live on Twitch on June 15, 2024, he could hardly believe how many viewers gathered in his chat. “I’m totally speechless,” he explained. In the first moments of the stream, he could even hardly be understood due to the flood of notifications for subscriptions, cheers, and donations.
chetter72 reports that he learned about his sudden fame the night before, after a friend stumbled upon the video. Since then, he has watched the numbers soar. He thanks the viewers and says they have changed his life in a way he cannot even put into words.
Then he does exactly what he is on Twitch for: spreading positive vibes and kindness.
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How successful is the streamer now: Due to the viral TikTok video, chetter72 currently has the fastest-growing channel on Twitch. He gained nearly 240,000 followers in the past seven days: more than the top streamers KaiCenat, caseoh_, and Jynxzi combined during this period (via SullyGnome).
However, the famous 15 minutes of fame can notoriously end just as quickly as they arrive. So it remains to be seen whether chetter72 can now turn the viral attention into a loyal community in the long run.
However, the current numbers look quite good: In his first stream after his sudden success, a peak of 2,719 viewers tuned in on June 15. The most recent stream on June 18 still reached a peak of 1,325, with several hundred people still watching on average.
Marvel fans have every reason to be happy, as the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine will take place on July 24, 2024. Iconic actors Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are involved, reprising their roles as the two superheroes. One of them has now revealed which comic book adaptation he considers the best – and it’s not his own movie.
Which movie is said to be the best comic adaptation? Ryan Reynolds revealed in the latest edition of Total Film magazine (via gamesradar.com) that both Deadpool (2016) and Logan – The Wolverine (2017) are two excellent films featuring the actors. They were released at a time when the superhero genre evolved from one blockbuster to the next.
However, one of the two is said to stand out further – and it is not Reynolds’ own film. He was convinced that “Deadpool was different, and shortly after, Logan came out, the potentially best comic adaptation of all time.”
Although Reynolds seems convinced about his own film series, he has only praise for his fellow actor.
You can see the joint appearance of the two actors in the following trailer:
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Wolverine is back: Official Trailer of Deadpool & Wolverine
The Best Comic Adaptations of All Time
Is Reynolds right? According to the ratings on IMDb, neither Deadpool nor Logan – The Wolverine is in the lead. The best comic adaptation does not come from the Marvel universe, but from the DC universe.
The Dark Knight is the best Batman film of all time, achieving a record-high rating of 9.0 out of 10 stars on IMDb. The other two parts of the trilogy also have good ratings (The Dark Knight Rises: 8.4; Batman Begins: 8.2)
Another successful film series is the Avengers. Endgame has a rating of 8.4 stars, as does Infinity War.
Only after Joker, Spider-Man, and V for Vendetta do Deadpool and Logan: The Wolverine follow. Logan receives a rating of 8.1, while Deadpool lands at 8.0.
Thus, Logan is subjectively in first place for Reynolds, but among the general audience, it still ranks behind other superheroes and villains.
What is Deadpool & Wolverine? The film is considered the 3rd part of the Deadpool series. For the preparations, the production team has assembled the “army of the nerdiest nerds” to incorporate as much attention to detail as possible.
The film will likely be just as rough as its two predecessors. The Deadpool series stands out for its “special” humor. Fans of toilet humor will enjoy this film.
Soon, players of Call of Duty Modern Warfare III and Warzone will be bouncing across the map in outfits from Fallout. However, this idea does not seem to please the fans of both games.
What kind of crossover is this? On June 20, 2024, the new collaboration between Call of Duty and Fallout will be released. Players of MW3 or Warzone will receive blue outfits and two blueprints in a Fallout style.
In addition to the operator skins and blueprints, there are various other small additions like loading screens and charms. However, fans of both games do not find the collaboration very successful.
Here you can see the trailer for the crossover:
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Call of Duty and Fallout are releasing a skin bundle together, here’s what it looks like
Fans are not happy about the collaboration
What bothers the CoD fans? Players of Call of Duty are not excited about the Fallout skins. While most do not hate the new bundle, the community seems unhappy about the blue skins.
On Reddit, user X_Zephyr shared an image of the new bundle. He titled his post: “Greed. Greed never changes”. Various opinions about the new bundle are gathered under his post.
Most prominently, the opinion of Reza_Evol on Reddit stands out, stating: “I wish COD had Fallout skins. No one has ever said that in the history of humankind.”
coppercrackers contradicts him on Reddit: “I don’t know, man, having some energy weapons from Fallout would be pretty cool. […]”
Angel_of_Mischief has mixed feelings about the skins on Reddit: “[…] What Call of Duty did by becoming diet Fortnite with crossovers undermines the serious tone of the setting. […]”
What do the Fallout fans say? The Fallout fans are not benefiting from the collaboration. TheGuardianInTheBall points out on Reddit that Fallout modders have been trying to turn the game into Call of Duty for years.
PossibleRude7195 finds on Reddit: “Wow, they did the bare minimum.”
In a Reddit post in the Fallout forum, the fans of the series expressed disappointment with the collaboration. User Drakula_dont_suck writes on Reddit: “Of all the possibilities I could imagine for a Fallout crossover, vault suits and blue/yellow skins are the most uninspired option.”
The four operator skins and the two weapons in blue-yellow design are indeed quite simple. Moreover, the blue is quite bright, which some may view as Pay2Lose, as they could be spotted faster.
Harry Potter has enchanted an entire generation with his seven books and eight film adaptations. MeinMMO presents you 5 animes that you might like if you enjoyed the adventures in the school of magic.
What are these animes? The selection of animes was made by the MeinMMO editorial team. We also made sure that none of the animes has a rating below 60% on IMDb.
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King – Official Trailer for the Anime Movie
This is what it’s about: Black Clover takes place in a world ruled by magic. Asta and Yuno are two orphans who were abandoned at the same church. The two grew up with the same goal: they both wanted to become the next Wizard King. However, the basic conditions are different for both.
Yuno is a well-groomed boy, very responsible and shows advanced maturity for his age. He also possesses incredible magical talents. Asta, on the other hand, is small, poor, and was born without any mana. But that doesn’t stop him from giving his best.
You should watch Black Clover if you like the following about Harry Potter:
Action-packed duels
An exciting story
Different spells
Voldemort as a nasty antagonist
What IMDb ratings say: The anime has a rating of 8.2 out of 10 stars on IMDb from 35,396 user ratings.
Fun Fact: The manga artist, Yuki Tabata, can most identify with protagonist Asta. His editor agreed, as Tabata is “always super positive and can never be quiet” (via Imgur).
Little Witch Academia
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This is what it’s about: In Little Witch Academia, most people believe that magic and witchcraft are outdated. The young protagonist Atsuko “Akko” Kagari resists this belief and enrolls at Luna Nova Magical Academy. This is one of the most prestigious schools where young girls are trained to become witches.
However, Akko struggles to prove herself at school. She comes from a non-magical background and therefore finds it difficult to keep up with the others. But her situation changes when she finds a magical relic one day.
You should watch Little Witch Academia if you like the following about Harry Potter:
Classic depiction of wizards
The school lessons
Rides on broomsticks
The character constellation, like the protagonists’ trio
What IMDb ratings say: The anime has a rating of 7.8 out of 10 stars on IMDb from 4,106 user ratings.
Fun Fact: The production team wanted to combine the feel of a Japanese magical girl anime with the classic portrayal of witches and wizards. As an example, they mentioned Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings and Merlin from the King Arthur legend (via Static Wikia Nocookie).
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Raids in World of Warcraft are repeatedly nerfed – much to the dismay of some fans. However, the director explains why this is necessary.
Nerfs are part of everyday life in MMORPGs – whether it’s player classes or nasty raid bosses. Especially with new raids, you can almost set your watch to when strong nerfs will occur. However, this is not necessarily because the developers have made the raid too hard – but rather because the nerfs are planned in advance.
The latest trailer for The War Within:
Start video
WoW: Trailer for the release date of The War Within
Where does the information come from? The colleagues from wowhead conducted an interview with the game director of World of Warcraft, Ion Hazzikostas. It discussed raid mechanics, boss design, and the nerfs that occur repeatedly, making a raid significantly easier after release.
What was said? Amirdrassil was considered one of the hardest raids in the history of World of Warcraft – particularly the jump from the 7th boss to the 8th boss (Tindral) was a hurdle for many raids, across all difficulties. However, other bosses were also nerfed repeatedly. Ion Hazzikostas stated:
The reality is, it’s no secret that there is a broad range within the mythical player base. From World-First raiders to guilds that “only” want to make it into the Hall of Fame, to those who want to secure the “top spot” in the middle of the season, and those who just want to barely achieve this at the end of the season.
There is an incredible range of coordination and skill, and we want to provide all these groups with a fulfilling progression. A series of nerfs are necessary to achieve this, and that’s what our team has been doing since WoW started. […]
Or to put it more briefly: For all player groups to have fun and be able to complete the raid eventually, nerfs are simply necessary. The difficulty that the “World First Raiders” choose is simply not what a majority of the “more normal” mythic guilds can achieve. Therefore, nerfs are an integral part of the planning.
What do you think about the permanent nerfs to raids? A good thing, so that everyone can have fun? Or does it bother you when tough bosses, which you barely managed to beat, later become “given” to everyone? If you’re not happy with that – there are also other factors that could cause frustration in The War Within.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The community of Elden Ring continues to find new ways to battle through the game. A Twitch streamer has made life particularly difficult for himself by turning Elden Ring into a drinking game.
What did the drinking game look like? Players who are already well-versed in Elden Ring tend to take on additional challenges. If the game isn’t difficult enough, one can help others in a solo run against the toughest boss – or turn it into a drinking game.
This was the plan of the Twitch streamer YourBudTevin. He played Elden Ring and decided to take a sip of alcohol in the following situations:
When his character dies
When he summons NPCs or real players for help
Anyone familiar with Elden Ring knows: This sounds like a bad idea. Deaths occur frequently in this game, unless one is a really good player who can breeze through the Lands Between. The streamer made it to the final boss – but not without treating himself to a few drinks along the way.
Elden Ring shows the DLC ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ in the story trailer
The final boss was too much to handle
How did the run go? The streamer died several times during his playthrough. When he reached the final boss, he had accumulated 50 sips due to deaths and summons. Fifty deaths or fewer is actually not bad, but if you take a sip for each one, that can become a problem.
So, the streamer faced the final boss, which consists of two different phases, well “prepared.” The first phase, where one battles Radagon, proved to be a significant challenge.
YourBudTevin died to him twenty more times. At the 70th sip, the streamer decided to stop for now. As seen in the clip, he freaked out and… well, the images show what he does with the greenscreen.
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Was that the end? Despite his outburst, the streamer did not want to give up. He continued and suffered another 10 deaths, bringing his total to 80 sips.
He was ultimately unable to defeat Radagon. The boss caused the streamer to quit, also for health reasons. It’s understandable and reasonable; the fact that he made it to the final boss is all the more impressive given the circumstances.
Perhaps the streamer has had enough of this. Or he might try the self-imposed challenge in the upcoming DLC of Elden Ring, which is set to release on June 21, 2024. Chief developer Hidetaka Miyazaki has big plans for future games from the studio after the expansion – what exactly, you can read about on MeinMMO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Because many players in Elden Ring had problems with the boss enemy Malenia, a YouTuber helped thousands of times in the fight, earning a very good reputation within the community. But that’s over now. What happened to the humble hero?
Who is the YouTuber? The name of the content creator speaks volumes: Let me solo her. This sums up his mission concerning Malenia quite well. He previously allowed desperate players to summon him and took down the boss solo.
While many players resort to various methods to defeat Malenia, such as throwing jars at her, Let me solo her made quick work of it.
Almost naked and wearing a cauldron on his head, he charged at Malenia and didn’t get hit a single time in the subsequent fight. The YouTuber had perfected the duel against the feared opponent.
However, a few months ago, he announced that he was slowly losing interest in Malenia. He had enough of it, he said.
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Elden Ring shows the DLC ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ in the story trailer
Malenia leaves, Messmer comes?
What is the YouTuber doing now? The countless duels against Malenia are history. According to the YouTuber, he has defeated the boss between 6,000 and 7,000 times. It’s understandable that he wants to focus on other things now.
Other things, in this case, primarily mean more Elden Ring. He plays the game from the beginning on his YouTube channel in livestreams. With this, he wants to prepare for the upcoming DLC Shadow of the Erdtree.
This is also supposed to be the next big thing on the channel. At the “Final Malenia soloing stream” on June 15, 2024, on YouTube, he announced at the end that he would be ready with new content in time for the release of the DLC. However, he did not reveal whether in the form of guides, playthroughs or other assistance.
Let me solo her remains in the community of Elden Ring. Future players will have to face Malenia without him, but considering that the DLC raises the difficulty level, it is quite possible that Let me solo her will once again battle for the community.
Because it was already noticeable when trying out the expansion: The bosses are tough again and overshadow those from the main game in terms of difficulty. Whether with Malenia’s brother Messmer, who prominently appeared in the DLC trailers, or with another of the many new bosses, remains to be seen.
On June 18, Destiny: The Final Shape was supposed to be even better. The expansion is well received anyway, and on Tuesday evening, the traditional patch day, players were looking forward to the “Grandmaster version” of the 12-player activity. After 10 years, it was meant to provide a worthy conclusion to the saga. It turned out differently.
That was the plan: Actually, everything was supposed to run smoothly:
The harder version of the 12-player mission “Excision” was supposed to go live.
At 15:45 German time, the servers were supposed to be taken down.
By around 19:00, just in time for the end of the workday, players were to be allowed to play again at the latest. With 3 hours and 15 minutes, the downtime was already generous. It should work out.
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Destiny 2: The Final Shape „Edge of Salvation“ Raid Trailer
Downtime delayed by 3 hours on Tuesday evening
What really happened: Nothing happened. The German players are already always upset that maintenance occurs right during their prime time, stealing valuable hours of gaming time in the evening. But anyone expecting to log in precisely at 19:00 was disappointed.
At 19:44, the message came: “We are currently investigating issues after the update was released. More information will be available when it is ready.”
At 20:17, the message came: The already lengthy downtime was extended by 2 hours.
Only around 21:50, which was already bedtime for most German players, did it start up again.
“One more thing like this and I will delete this crap”
How was it commented? With a lot of patience and understanding. Just kidding. The Guardians were once again beside themselves. We compile the best comments from MeinMMO here.
“If we had bought more in the Eververse, we would probably all be back in the game by now” (Pat, MeinMMO)
“Guys, please, I’ve been on that ONE MOMENT PLEASE screen since 20:00. What’s going on?” (Simon90, MeinMMO)
“I’m really starting to get a headache here […] I’m spending good money here and they can’t manage to get back online after 4 hours of server downtime. One more thing like this next week and I’ll delete this crap.” (MachiiNRW81, MeinMMO)
“What Bungie is delivering here is simply sad” (Schattenlord 85)
“So, Bungie. My moment has lasted almost 90 minutes now. How can 340 MB cause a game to collapse like this?” (Enrico Willams, Facebook)
“Maybe just don’t do maintenance in the middle of the day during peak hours to avoid problems. I don’t know – just a thought.” (CoreBri, Twitter)
It’s also kind of nice that some things never change. For anyone who wants to read more, one of the articles with the most comments on MeinMMO is about a downtime in Destiny 2 from 2017. Players had to wait even longer then: Destiny 2: Server down today – Maintenance work, Update 1.03 [Update]
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Elden Ring is considered one of the best games of all time. Nevertheless, the chief developer Hidetaka Miyazaki is not entirely satisfied with the final product. For the next game, he wants to take inspiration from another game by FromSoftware.
How does Elden Ring stand? The large open-world game by FromSoftware was released in 2022 and has won numerous awards. It is regarded by fans as a milestone and a preliminary highlight in the studio’s catalog. On Metacritic, Elden Ring has a score of 96 in the critics’ rating and a user score of 8.0.
However, chief developer Hidetaka Miyazaki believes there is still room for improvement. He thinks Elden Ring is not perfect and there is space for enhancements.
What exactly he wants to change, he explained in an interview with Game Informer. A previous game from the studio is supposed to serve as a model for any new titles, at least regarding the combat system.
Elden Ring shows the DLC ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ in the story trailer
“Sekiro was a turning point”
What does Hidetaka Miyazaki say? In the history of the Soulsborne games, one title stands out for the Japanese developer: Sekiro.
The game deviates somewhat from the norm and is different in some respects compared to Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Elden Ring. Especially the combat system resembles more of a rhythm game than actual fighting.
For this reason, Sekiro is especially challenging at first; only when it “clicks” in the player’s mind do fluid duels with the tricky opponents occur. Miyazaki today describes Sekiro as a “turning point” in FromSoftware’s development history.
After the slow fights in Dark Souls and the somewhat faster ones in Bloodborne, he wished for an even smoother and more active system. In Sekiro, Miyazaki came quite close to his vision. But he also says:
“I personally think there’s another level on which we can make the whole thing sharper and refine the mechanics even more.”
What does this mean for new games? In future titles, the design philosophy from Sekiro is to be continued. Battles could become even faster and thus smoother. So even faster than in Elden Ring, which had somewhat slowed down in terms of pace, appearing more like a mix of the previous games.
The mistakes that Miyazaki believes he made in Elden Ring are to be corrected in a new game. He says he has not yet completed the “ideal fantasy role-playing game.”
Some aspects that were not perfect in Elden Ring could still be refined. Whether these high expectations will be realized in a potential Elden Ring 2 or a completely new title remains unclear.
The role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3 is considered a masterpiece today. But it could have gone wrong. Because on Steam, they chose a path to release that has caused many games to fail and has often frustrated gamers: Baldur’s Gate 3 was released in Early Access – and that already 3 years before the official release.
What is so dangerous about Early Access? Many promising games have died during the Early Access phase on Steam. The sequence of events is roughly as follows:
A game is released with potential, but it is still unfinished: players buy the game, jump in, provide feedback, but then stop playing and hope to return to a better version later.
The developers have made money for the first time and can breathe easy; they start improving the game and implementing player feedback, but progress is slow. The first updates they release are only minimal improvements, and neither old players return nor can they attract new ones.
The team runs out of money and stamina. Player numbers stagnate or decline. It seems as if the market rejects the game, as if there is no interest in it. The game is discontinued while still in Early Access. The team is down and out. The players, who had started with so much hope, are bitterly disappointed, angrily demanding their money back.
We have seen this sequence of events time and again in the past. Early Access games are now critically scrutinized and have a bad reputation. One sad example among many is Scavengers.
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Baldur’s Gate 3 was played for approximately 1,225 years in the first release weekend – Exciting facts and figures
“You sold someone the game – you have to improve it now”
The boss says about Early Access: The Early Access model worked well for Baldur’s Gate 3. 9 major updates were released between 2020 and August 2023.
The head of the studio Larian, Swen Vincke, is a fan of the Early Access model, but only under certain conditions: “For us, it was really good, but you have to take it seriously when you go in there. You have to work with players to improve your game; otherwise, you shouldn’t do it.”
However, Vincke does not recommend an Early Access period lasting 3 years: it tires out the fans and the team. One must persevere and certainly not include broken features in an Early Access game.
The narrative director of Baldur’s Gate 3 agrees: players have paid for a game, after all. So they teach them to improve it. You cannot neglect Early Access. It’s a lot of work and really difficult.
That’s the most important thing, says the boss. Vincke says that Early Access must be taken extremely seriously:
“You should absolutely not approach it with the attitude of, oh, it’s just Early Access. People are playing this who take it seriously, and you have to treat them with respect.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 had weak months in Early Access, but strong backers
Here’s what it’s all about: Yes, the developers of Baldur’s Gate 3 have been on a victory tour for several months, explaining how they managed to make such a hit during dark times. However, this should be viewed critically. Because Larian is not, as it sometimes seems, a small underdog studio that somehow managed, but has Tencent as a powerful business father behind them.
Baldur’s Gate 3 also had some droughts in Early Access in 2022 on Steam: months where they had only 1,070 average players, where interest in the role-playing game seemed to dwindle.
Perhaps other teams would have faltered here, or the backers would have lost faith in the team, but Larian could afford these downturns – an additional factor played into Baldur’s Gate 3.
Many games find it extremely difficult to generate any hype for release after 3 years in Early Access, as people feel the game is “old” and already “over”.
On June 21, the new MMORPG Tarisland will launch. MeinMMO was able to play the game on the server in China and has brought you 5 tips and tricks to succeed in your start.
When the lights turn on in Tarisland worldwide on June 21, 2024, the game has already been out in China for a long time. We were able to get a first impression on the server there and have brought you 5 tips and tricks for your start.
Dungeons, Friend Tokens, and Daily Quests
In Tarisland, there are five different tasks to complete every day. For one of the tasks that occurs regularly, you must complete a dungeon, sometimes on the Elite difficulty, with friends or guild members.
If you can’t find anyone who is interested, there’s no need to be frustrated. It is enough to add the players you are in a dungeon with as friends during your run. As long as they accept before the instance is completed, you will complete the quest.
For successfully completing quests with friends, you will also earn Friend Tokens that you can exchange in the “Friendship Store” for various items, a mount, and silver.
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Tarisland shows ‘Rage of the Dragon’ in the new trailer
Don’t Lose Your Gold When Trading
Buying and selling items in the auction house is part of Tarisland, as in many other MMORPGs. However, one thing is not possible in Tarisland, and that is arbitrage. Arbitrage simply means you buy an item cheaply and sell it at a higher price. All purchased items in Tarisland are bound to you. This means you cannot directly trade them.
If you buy materials and craft something, the final product can be traded again. This way, you can also take advantage of low market prices.
Auction house in Tarisland.
Pay Attention to the Values You Need from the Start
Every beginning is hard, but to avoid being at the bottom of the DPS meter, you can choose the right items from the start.
To find out what values you need, simply open your character window and look at the values you need at the top right, under your current specialization.
So just choose the items that are higher up in the priority list. The values will later unlock levels for your passive abilities, so it is worth focusing on a particular value.
The values sorted from important to unimportant.
After the Story, There’s Exploration
While in other MMORPGs collecting and exploring usually play a subordinate role, this is not the case in Tarisland. Exploring the map and collecting items contributes to your reputation rank. This unlocks new items in the reputation store, which also includes items that affect your character.
Specifically, it mainly concerns the Inscribed Stone Energy. You collect this to spend on passive values and bonuses in a skill tree. The values in this tree contribute significantly to character development.
So if you ever feel bored, take the opportunity to increase your reputation by collecting and exploring the map.
In Tarisland, you are limited in farming and crafting. Every time you do something related to professions, you consume Elation. The Elation refills over time, but when it reaches the limit, excess Elation is lost.
Even if you usually skip professions in other games, you should spend your Elation from the start in Tarisland, even if it’s just to mine stones and sell them.
However, those who act wisely and take advantage of the market can earn a lot of gold with their Elation without spending a single cent. MeinMMO author Cedric did this while playing in China and even earned the monthly pass in just a few days: Tarisland is neither a WoW clone nor a mobile game, it is the next big MMORPG
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
On Friday, June 21, 2024, the first DLC for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, will be released. Many fans are eagerly awaiting the expansion, but can the new content meet the high expectations of the players? We summarize the reviews from the first testers so you know what to expect.
Shadow of the Erdtree Metacritic – Summary
Metacritic score of 93.67 across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
Lower ratings than the main game, but currently the highest-rated game of 2024.
Positive points: scope, map, atmosphere, bosses, weapons, and spells.
Negative points: navigation, recycled enemies.
Shadow of the Erdtree Metacritic – Here’s how the DLC ratings look
How does the expansion perform on Metacritic? The first reviews of Shadow of the Erdtree are extremely positive. Across all three platforms – PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X – the DLC has an average score of 93.67. (As of June 18, 2024, 6:35 PM).
PS5: 95 (48 ratings)
Xbox Series X: 94 (7 ratings)
PC: 92 (39 ratings)
With these scores, Shadow of the Erdtree does not quite reach the high Metacritic scores of Elden Ring’s main game, but it is still the highest-rated game of the year 2024 so far. The remaining four spots in the top five consist of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (92), Destiny 2: The Final Shape (92), Animal Well (91), and Balatro (90).
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Elden Ring shows the DLC ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ in the story trailer
Shadow of the Erdtree Metacritic – Here’s how the testers rate it
How did various media outlets rate it? Our colleagues at GameStar and GamePro have tested Shadow of the Erdtree on various platforms.
Shadow of the Erdtree Metacritic – Here’s what the reviews say
What is well-received? Perhaps the biggest argument for Shadow of the Erdtree is the scope of the DLC. The various reviews make it clear that the expansion can hold its own against full-fledged games. This is evident not only in the new story but also in the size of the map and the number of bosses.
These remain a challenge with interesting attack mechanics – especially the final boss. The presentation of the bosses is also successful and contributes to the generally cohesive atmosphere.
You will experience this atmosphere mainly while exploring the game world. If you enjoyed this in the main game, you should have fun in the expansion as well, based on the reviews.
However, enjoyment does not only come from well-staged bosses or an atmospheric game world. The new weapons and spells are also praised, as they meaningfully expand the gameplay and offer new opportunities.
What is not well-received? The biggest criticism is the navigation. If you tend to get lost quickly or have trouble finding certain paths, Shadow of the Erdtree might pose some problems for you.
This also applies to the difficulty of the bosses. Here it is clear: it does not get easier. If the main game was too difficult for you, you will not suddenly become a pro-gamer in the DLC. For some, the high difficulty is definitely a plus, but for some of you, it could also mean frustration.
Some testers noted somewhat frustratingly that some enemies were recycled. That means you may encounter opponents whose fighting styles you already know.
In the interview, Christian Linke, the showrunner of Arcane, talks about what we can expect from Season 2 of the series about League of Legends. Among other things, the dark tone of the series is addressed and why there were internal discussions about it.
Christian Linke has been working for Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, since 2010. He has served as the Creative Director in various roles. For five years, he took on the role of composer for the MOBA and also led a team of composers.
MeinMMO: We have recently learned that Arcane will end with the second season, and a major shock went through the fan community. The biggest question for many is: Why is it ending with the second season?
Christian Linke: From the beginning, we had a specific story that we wanted to tell. This also includes a specific ending that has always existed.
We are also just people who don’t like it when series don’t know when to stop. We all know those series.
Another reason is that we now have over 160 different characters in our game, and we have only addressed 11 of them in Arcane with the story. We would love to tell more stories. From a creative standpoint, it was time for us to take the next step and tackle more characters.
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ARCANE: Trailer shows what Season 2 is about
We were surprised at how many fans there are of Silco
MeinMMO: I’m very pleased to hear that because I also find it terrible when series just don’t know when to stop. What I would still be interested in is. That the ending is already so far planned, I understand that. But have things changed internally after the broadcast that were planned differently?
Christian Linke: No, actually not. The scripts for the second season were mostly already finished before the first season aired. We simply had to do it that way because we had too little time for other things. Normally, with something like this, you also have the opportunity to respond to fan feedback. We were able to slightly improve the animation style or the music and learn from it. I am very proud of what we are doing with the music in the second season. It will be much bigger.
Otherwise, we are simply following the path we set out on from the beginning. There were some surprises. We were surprised that so many people are fans of Silco. Silco, who kills or has people killed in both parts of the city.
We just thought: Okay? We didn’t imagine that when we wrote it.
Who conducted the interview? Leya is the editor-in-chief of MeinMMO and has been obsessed with League of Legends during her studies. So much so that she once flooded her ex-boyfriend’s apartment. She has consumed Arcane accordingly and is quite excited about the series. For two years she has been trying to get the interview with Christian Linke and is happy that it has finally worked out.
MeinMMO: I can fully understand that. One must not underestimate how much people love a good villain. Why are characters like Handsome Jack from Borderlands or the Joker so popular? Villainous characters are often interesting, and I think Silco is written well. I also believe it has to do with the loving moments between him and Jinx.
Christian Linke: Our main characters are champions from the game and ultimately all are fighters who fight through the story with fists and weapons.
We thought it would be cool if one of our characters was not a fighter in the traditional sense at all. His weapon is his words. Silco is dangerous because he is extremely intelligent and perceptive. I think that also gave the series a good different nuance.
Silco is one of the most popular characters in Arcane
MeinMMO: Does it bother you a bit that you killed one of the most popular characters from the first season?
Christian Linke: Good question! From a creative standpoint, no.
After all, we told Silco’s story. Silco was special because at the beginning he had nothing to lose. Vander had a family and at some point decided that his family was more important than political ideals. Silco always saw that as a weakness. He told himself that it didn’t matter whether he or one of his people died as long as he achieved his goals. Until one day he realized that Jinx was important to him. She became a person he no longer wanted to sacrifice. Especially not when he eventually got the chance from Jayce and suddenly had something to lose.
This change, realizing that and also learning about oneself happened in the end. That is Silco’s story.
If we had kept him in the story, the story for him would still have been over. Of course, we could have begun a new one for him. But that was the story we wanted for Silco, and that we found very beautiful. And that’s how it should remain.
Jinx has always asked herself whether she is a monster
MeinMMO: Family is always a big theme in Arcane. A strong motive is the sisterly relationship between Vi and Jinx. On the teaser posters, I noticed that we have a mirror here. In the poster for the first season, you can see Vi protectively placing her arm over Jinx. For the second season, you decided that Jinx is looking over Vi and embracing her. How should that be understood?
Christian Linke: On the first poster, the idea was that Vi was trying to protect her little sister from this very dangerous and ugly world. But Powder [before she got the name Jinx] did not turn away, but looked at everything and observed. She always had a fearful but also rebellious look. One always had the feeling that she had to look at it and form her own opinion.
In the second season, Jinx has grown into a very large person. She now also controls more of what happens in the story. I can’t really say more without revealing something you probably don’t want to hear. But internally, we always said that we want to turn everything upside down in the second season. Who the characters are and what they believe in.
In the first season, Jinx always asked herself whether she is a bad person. With the decision at the end of the first season, she more or less says that she is the monster. That is also always in the text of Sting’s song “I’m the Monster you created.” At the end of the first season, Jinx simply accepts that.
The second season then starts with this question and whether that remains the case, as the political ambitions of other characters will also lead to significant events.
MeinMMO: You just mentioned the music and how important it is for the story and the development of the characters. You said that you thought again about how you can get more out of the music for the second season. Can you explain a bit more how you use the music to underscore the story?
Christian Linke: Sure! From the very beginning, it was just interesting for us to have these mini-music videos in the episodes because our relationship with our animation studio Fortiche began many years ago with music videos. That’s why we always wanted to find a moment in each episode where the music takes center stage.
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League of Legends opens the 2024 season with an emotional trailer
The first season was quite difficult because we were also a new studio. We had never done anything like this before.
The second season has become musically much bigger. We could now dream bigger in the second season and have found many great artists to work with who also want to go further to extremes. We will have many different genres, even more than in the first season.
MeinMMO: It’s exciting that you set something completely new in motion with the first season and had to learn a lot in the process. What were the challenges for you in the second season?
Christian Linke: Many challenges in the second season really came from the story. The characters have simply changed a lot.
That was a huge challenge for our voices. We see many other colors of the characters and fundamental changes that are not always easy to capture. That was difficult. We had to push our speakers into different directions from how they voiced the characters in the first season.
Overall, it was simply difficult to visually capture the creative ideas of the story. That might not be a satisfying answer, but you will understand it when you see it.
MeinMMO: I noticed that the teaser that was recently released has a very dark atmosphere. I found the first season surprisingly dark. For example, you see the body of a child, there is the Yordle mother. Was it ever a topic for you that the tone is so adult and dark?
Christian Linke: From the very beginning, this was something where we received quite a bit of internal pushback. Our game has a specific rating that varies in some countries. There are countries where League of Legends is rated for ages 12 and up. And we were already told that we cannot mess with the rating. Otherwise, some people may not be able to play our game.
Paying attention to the rating and making the series we believed our fans wanted are two very different things. We wanted real drama in the series and stories that have consequences. Our characters should have to make difficult decisions.
It was never the plan for there to be murder and mayhem everywhere. But ultimately, stories without consequences are not real. We also went with our gut, and as hardcore League players, we told ourselves this is the series we want to watch.
Now we just have to make sure that we don’t mess with the ratings in Season 2.
All characters have dark moments
MeinMMO: Can we expect an even darker series with Season 2 if you are still concerned about the ratings?
Christian Linke: I would say the tone remains similar. Visually, we are exploring different directions even more. We are leaning a bit more into the abstract, the dark, but also the comical. One can say that characters that one has known positively only so far, like Caitlyn, are now discovering sides of themselves that explore other emotions. All our characters have dark moments.
Caitlyn will also discover a dark side in Season 2.
MeinMMO: Behind a creative work like Arcane, there is often a message or even several. Is there a message that you have placed special emphasis on in Season 2?
Christian Linke: There are probably many messages. But I always think it’s better when we ask questions. I find it very interesting how Jinx is perceived. What has always been central for us here is the question of whether one can ever forgive a monster. Especially when it is one’s own sister.
Especially as a German who has now lived in the USA for a while. It’s very easy to write someone off. When someone goes to prison, it is often said here that life is over. I hope that in Europe, people try to reintegrate these individuals into society. Politically, everything in the world is currently very explosive and dangerous.
We also have many sides in our story that do not get along. The ones that cannot communicate with each other. And then there are figures that sit somewhat in between. I believe the story is also a reflection of our lives, that of the people working on Arcane. Our various perspectives as a very international team are reflected in that.
MeinMMO: Finally, a personal question. Do you have a favorite character in Arcane and if so, who?
Christian Linke: In League of Legends, my favorite champ is Heimerdinger. There’s no better feeling than defeating someone with Heimerdinger.
Heimerdinger will also have some special moments in the second season. There’s only that because I’m the guy who always plays Heimerdinger, and my team always rolls their eyes. Heimer gets special treatment in Arcane.
MeinMMO: Thank you for the conversation Christian, hopefully again at the start of Season 2!
Criticism of the European League LEC in League of Legends is increasing. Fans are pointing out disadvantages and negative developments that could present issues similar to those faced by the notoriously poor US league LCS. Yet, it looked so promising in 2019.
Those were the golden times of the LEC: According to fans, there are 3 things that were true about the LEC 5 years ago but are now missing. In 2019, there were:
Big rivalries in the LEC, especially between the top teams Fnatic and G2, who were in a fierce battle for dominance. Fnatic had dominated the EU LCS in 2013 and 2014. But between 2015 and 2019, Fnatic became champions 4 times, and G2 won the championship 4 times – a real rivalry developed.
Then there were major stars that fans looked up to and had come to know and appreciate over the years, such as Perkz, Caps, and Rekkles. Popular casters in the English-speaking show like Caedrel and Quickshot also shaped E-Sports.
The LEC actually had international success, managing to keep up with teams from Asia: in 2019 G2, with Perkz and Caps teaming up, made it to the finals of the LoL Worlds, only to lose to super-carry Doinb and FunPlus Phoenix.
Seen as an example of the decline of LoL, the increasing commercialization:
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LoL: Whoever wants the new skin of Faker has to pay 450 €
The LEC has significantly declined since 2019
What is the problem? All these advantages are gone today:
G2 completely dominates the league. Since 2019, G2 has been crowned champions 10 times, giving away only 4 titles, and not to Fnatic, but to Rogue and MAD Lions. This started in 2019 when Perkz swallowed his ego, switched to the bot lane, and brought rival Caps (Fnatic) to G2, leaving him the mid lane.
Almost all of the big stars are gone, or they play a minor role like Perkz does now. Only Caps is still around. No real star has emerged since.
Internationally, the golden times of 2019 are long gone. Now, it is already a major success if G2 defeats a single team from Asia, but something like the finals seems unattainable, as the teams from Asia are too advanced.
Too many splits and commercialization, too few stars and successes
This continues to be criticized: In a thread on reddit, Riot is also accused of turning the commercialization knob too hard. The “Hall of Legends” and the excessively priced Faker skin are seen as pure profiteering.
Furthermore, the introduction of the third split has diminished the value of each split.
Another user adds that they have lost Bwipo, Rekkles, and Perkz – there is no connection to the new players. Additionally, G2’s dominance and the lack of a real rivalry are significant points.
A third user adds: If Caps or Jankos were to retire now, it would be hard to remain interested in the league at all.
Many base their criticism on the English casting of the games:
Many fans miss the caster Quickshot (36). He started his career as a caster at Riot on January 10, 2013, and ended his career at Rito on March 24, 2024.
Caedrel worked for Riot Games from January 2021 to September 2023 and is currently the dominant co-streamer for LoL.
Rekkles, the star of Fnatic, is now playing in the South Korean junior league.
E-Sport is now shaped by Twitch streamers
What’s behind this: This could be dismissed as whining from people getting nostalgic and longing for a time that cannot be regained.
But it is something more profound: What we are witnessing is that E-Sport globally is shrinking, and companies like Riot Games are no longer investing as much money into their own shows with accompanying organization and storytelling, but instead, Twitch streamers are broadcasting the games as “co-casters,” leaving the staging of their league to them.
Here in Germany, rights were taken away from the long-time partner Summoner’s Inn and given to a single Twitch streamer. This is similar internationally.
The games and leagues are no longer predominantly organized by Riot, who would also take care of the presentation, but the most important channels in each country are well-known LoL casters, who moderate these games alone or in teams. 6 people are allowed to co-stream the LEC:
The LCS has 9 official co-streamers, mainly consisting of stars from the last generation such as Doublelift, Meteos, or Sneaky.
Those were the days: Super-carry Doinb (left) became world champion in 2019. Caps (right) defeated Faker in the semifinals.
This focus on co-casting rather than a grand show makes it harder for viewers to follow the “sport-entertainment” storylines similar to wrestling.
Additionally, it must be said harshly that the LEC has lost touch with China and South Korea. It is hard to cheer for G2 all year and then see that the team is 2 or 3 steps behind the stars from China.
With Skyrim and Fallout 4, Bethesda landed two major gaming hits in the 2010s. Todd Howard has now discussed in an interview that he is annoyed they did not support both games like service games on a permanent basis.
What kind of interview was that? The interview was conducted by YouTuber MrMattyPlays. He currently has over 320,000 subscribers on YouTube. You can also find him on Twitch, where he currently has 31,484 followers.
The interview with Todd Howard was published by MrMattyPlays on June 16, 2024, on his YouTube channel. In just over an hour, they discussed Fallout, Starfield, and Elder Scrolls 6 among other topics.
Fallout 76 is also a topic in the interview. New content for it has already been announced:
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The new trailer for Fallout 76: Skyline Valley teases exciting innovations for 2025
Starfield gets a 10-year plan – Because Skyrim didn’t have one
What exactly did Todd Howard say? In the conversation, Todd Howard explained that he regrets not having supported Skyrim and Fallout 4 more significantly over the long term. Both games still receive (smaller) bug fixes and have been expanded with several DLCs or add-ons. However, for Starfield, they already have a 10-year horizon.
The expectation that we will update [Elder Scrolls 6] over many years exists, says Howard, When we look at Skyrim, which we are still updating to a limited extent, and all the creations and mods, [then it is] still a very popular game.
Specifically, he mentions Fallout 4: [We treated] Fallout 4 the same way, but we wish we had supported [the games] longer.
The first game they explicitly wanted to support long-term was Fallout 76 – a live-service game. Todd Howard says about this:
With [Fallout] 76, we knew: “Hey, this is a game that we will support for as long as possible. With Starfield, we approach it with the same understanding. And when we tackle Elder Scrolls 6, we need to start thinking about a 10-year horizon now.
Todd Howard in interview with MrMattyPlays, June 16, 2024
Why would Bethesda have wanted to support Skyrim and Fallout 4 longer? Skyrim and Fallout 4 are two of the best-selling games worldwide: Fallout 4 currently has around 25 million copies sold, while Skyrim has an impressive over 60 million since launch.
Skyrim is also now (almost) 13 years old. With such high sales figures and still high player counts (about 18,700 players of the Special Edition on average monthly according to Steamcharts), one can assume that additional DLCs and add-ons would have also sold well.
Fallout 4 is similar. Here too, a longer provision for the player base would likely have paid off for both sides.
At the same time, it is also the case that there is regularly new content for both games – just not from Bethesda. Especially the modding community of Skyrim has released over 60,000 mods for the game over the years alone on Nexusmods. Fallout 4 can at least boast over 48,000 mods.
