In Honor Mode of Baldur’s Gate 3, you will face significantly more challenges than usual. One class helps to survive even tough fights. This is true even when playing “normally”.
What class is this?
Thieves are one of the subclasses that Rogues can choose at level 3.
Although Thieves receive fewer special actions and abilities compared to Arcane Tricksters and Assassins, they are the best choice in combat and tricky situations.
This is why Thieves are so strong: Compared to other classes, Thieves have a decent damage output. While they cannot oneshot enemies like Assassins can, they are powerful attackers with two hand crossbows.
What sets Thieves apart from all other classes, making them so valuable, is their unique feature “Fast Hands”. At level 3, Thieves get a second bonus action that they can use for various things, such as:
refined actions, special bonus actions only for Rogues
And here comes the strength of the Thief: A Refined Action is the Sprint. With it, you double your movement speed. Thieves can therefore sprint a total of 3 times: once through their normal action and then twice with a bonus action. This is enough in most cases to escape a battle:
The base movement rate for most characters is 9 meters.
Sprinting 3 times increases this to 4*9, which is 36 meters.
To flee from a fight, you need to be 27 meters away from the nearest enemy.
Thus, Thieves can almost always escape, even from scattered enemies, and revive the party should they be wiped out. Additionally, at level 9, Thieves gain the ability to become invisible – making them even better suited for escape. This is especially important in Honour Runs, because here the death of the party means the end of the game.
Want to try it yourself? Here’s how to build:
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Baldur’s Gate 3: Reset Character and Choose New Class
“Nice idea, but a bar brawler monk is better”
Many in the community agree that Thieves are one of the best classes for Honour Runs (via Reddit). Especially if you have never played in Honor Mode before, the class is ideal. However, some disagree and share their more advanced techniques.
User FarTooYoungForReddit explains his trick. Crossbows would be better suited for Rangers or Bards, as they can deal more damage. A monk would then be better for damage and escape instead of a Rogue:
You can use your Wind Step to sprint or escape. After doing that, you just spam jumps with far more than your movement speed without using your action at all. It feels like you can just escape the Sword Coast in one and a half rounds, and you can jump over enemies to avoid opportunity attacks.
Wind Step removes the action cost for jumps, allowing you to move by hopping. With appropriate strength and/or the “Jump” spell, you can easily cover 10–15 meters per jump.
The only problem is that neither works in areas where you cannot go to camp. Even if you escape the fight, you cannot simply revive your companions. But Honor Mode is supposed to be tough.
With the Thief, you make such a run slightly easier, and it is advisable to take every advantage available. The bosses have more abilities in Honour Mode and can sometimes turn a fight that seems won in one round. However, such runs often end simply due to stupidity: Player masters Honour Mode for 90 hours, messes everything up with a fling.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With a PS Plus subscription, you can download FC 24 at no additional cost in May. EA also provides you with plenty of opportunities, even 8 months after the official release, to quickly find a connection in Ultimate Team.
What is Ultimate Team? Ultimate Team is the most popular mode in FC 24. It allows you to build a strong team according to your individual preferences. You receive players as cards, which are divided into bronze, silver, and gold based on their strength.
This year, the mode is more rewarding than ever. This means that even if you are just starting now, you can build a strong team in a short time and without much effort.
To do this, you just need to keep a few things in mind. We have compiled the most important tips for your start in Ultimate Team.
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EA Sports FC 24: Update teaser for the UEFA Euro 2024
5 Tips for the Perfect Start in Ultimate Team
What are the first steps in Ultimate Team? Start Ultimate Team from the main menu and create a new club or log in with your existing club’s credentials. You will then be prompted to choose a nation from which your first players will come.
Select your preferred country. Your choice has no far-reaching consequences because there’s good news: EA rewards you for nearly everything you do at the start. This means your team will change rapidly.
Especially if you keep the following tips in mind.
1. Tip: Earn Packs and Players through Goals
In the main menu, you can view all tasks that you can complete under the category “Goals.” These tasks either promise you immediate packs or grant you experience points to level up the new season pass.
This promises you special cards or club items like choreographies or crests. Most importantly, you can collect upgrade packs by reaching certain levels, which guarantee you better players.
Especially for newcomers who are just entering Ultimate Team, EA has included special starter bonuses in the tasks. This allows you to unlock a solid base of very good cards:
In the goals, all newcomers can get to know the reward principle for “Ultimate Team.”
Once you have earned and opened the first better packs, you can upgrade your squad with the first stronger gold cards, perhaps even with one or two special cards.
2. Tip: Familiarize Yourself with Game Mechanics in Squad Battles.
To complete goals that require you to play matches, we recommend starting with Squad Battles. In this offline mode, you compete against the AI. You can select the difficulty level you want to compete against for each game.
Here, you will easily score your first goals in FC 24. You can also take your time to test the new game mechanics and, of course, familiarize yourself with the strengths of your team.
Speaking of game mechanics: The new playstyles or the OP-R1 dribbling are likely the biggest innovations in FC 24, as you will quickly notice.
With each match played in Squad Battles, you rise in the rankings and can look forward to better rewards. Every Sunday, you can claim your rewards:
In Squad Battles, you rise in the rankings and earn better rewards.
3. Tip: Exchange Your Excess Players in Squad Building Challenges
The Squad Building Challenges (SBCs) offer the best way to profitably get rid of your excess cards from packs and rewards. The SBCs are like the goals, a separate category in the main menu of Ultimate Team.
In addition to daily repeatable SBCs that can provide you with upgrade packs, you will also find one-time player SBCs here. You can find the respective requirements in the descriptions.
If you like an upgrade or a player from the SBCs, you can assemble and exchange the required team from your club’s player material:
In the upgrade SBCs, you have several options to acquire stronger players.
However, caution is advised: The cards you exchange are irretrievably gone from your club. So it’s best to only use players that you have no use for.
4. Tip: Maximize Team Chemistry
Basically, you can equip your team with the cards you prefer to play with. However, if you want to get the maximum out of your team, you should ensure that the players reach full or at least high team chemistry.
Each player can collect up to three chemistry points. The chemistry of a card is influenced by the following factors:
Nationality
League
Club
High team chemistry pays off: When your players harmonize with each other, they get an extra boost to their stats.
If you have formed a powerful squad with the added players from the goals and Squad Battles and have internalized the game mechanics to some extent, you can compete against other players to receive even better rewards.
5. Tip: Play Rivals and Champions for Even Better Rewards
Division Rivals
The best rewards await you in the truly competitive modes. In the Division Rivals, you face real opponents who are at the same level as you. Since you are now taking on real players, it wouldn’t hurt to have a promising strategy:
The Rivals will certainly challenge you more than the Squad Battles. But don’t let setbacks discourage you. Over time, you will notice which style of play helps you score more goals or achieve fewer goals against you in FC 24.
With growing success in the Rivals, you also qualify for the Play-offs of the Weekend League.
Champions Weekend League
The Weekend League is the pinnacle of gameplay in Ultimate Team. During the week, you can qualify for the finals in the play-offs. To do this, you need to win 4 out of 10 matches. Additionally, there are more rewards at stake here.
If you qualify, you have 20 matches to secure as many wins as possible:
Similar to Squad Battles, you climb up the ranks in the Weekend League with each match.
No matter how you perform, participating in the Weekend League will definitely pay off, as the best packs and the most coins await you here.
If you follow all the tips, you will see that your team quickly becomes stronger. Before long, you will truly have an “Ultimate Team.” For those looking to take a break from the challenges of Ultimate Team, the career mode in FC 24 offers a welcome change. As a little starting aid, you can find the best talents for wing positions here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Demon Souls, the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring share an important essence, and that is the boss fights. Unfortunately, the latest installment from From Software, Elden Ring, suffers from some of the less good boss fights.
This article is a guest contribution written by our reader Wieland Wüller.
From Software has amazed me with its Dark Souls games. The latest installment Elden Ring has made me, someone who normally does not like open-world games, play through Elden Ring for the fourth time.
I believe Elden Ring is a masterpiece in many respects. As a fan of the Dark Souls series, I was very pleased with how many good ideas and concepts from the previous games made it into Elden Ring in an optimized form.
However, one thing that disappointed me quite a bit were the boss fights.
Even though I think that the boss fights in Elden Ring are good, in my opinion, From Software has created the worst bosses of their Souls-like installments with Elden Ring.
You can see the trailer for the upcoming DLC Shadow of the Erdtree here:
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Elden Ring shows first trailer for the new DLC ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’
The pacing creates effort and sorrow
To start:The term Pacing describes the stretching of a certain action or goal. Thus, there is a path between the starting point and the endpoint.
The pacing could be the area or a path that lies before the boss, or it could be the time or opportunity for an attack.
Astel, Spawn of the Abyss is an optional boss that stands in our way when we want to complete the quest involving Ranni, the Witch.
The problem with Astel is not that he is incredibly large and looks creepy, but rather that he forces you to keep your distance regularly with his abilities. His area abilities deal a lot of damage that we should absolutely avoid.
That would not be a problem in itself if the boss fight did not build on seeking distance in a certain way. Because some of his other abilities make Astel disappear for a moment and then spawn at the other end of the large boss room. So running is required, and as we can’t deal much damage due to his area abilities, the fight becomes a test of patience.
The much bigger problem is that there is often no real reason for Astel to want to keep us at a distance. Many of his abilities are close-combat abilities, and the few ranged abilities that Astel has at his disposal are not used because we are too close to the boss.
Another example: Lich Dragon Fortissaxis an epic dragon that we can only defeat if we complete Fia’s quest. In itself, Fortissax is one of the most impressive boss fights that Elden Ring has to offer, but here too, the pacing strikes us down.
Dragons are a somewhat troublesome topic in Elden Ring. Due to their size, it can often be the case that the camera gets a bit wonky.
To really deal damage to a dragon, one should focus more on the dragon’s head. Because our strikes and abilities against its legs or wings do not achieve much.
That in itself is not tragic, however, unfortunately, Fortissax gives us few opportunities to attack its head. It moves too much, or its head is often out of striking range.
So we have to take care of the legs of the mighty dragon. Well, Fortissax will make that a bit more difficult for us.
As soon as we launch an attack under the dragon, we will be hit by a red lightning bolt that strikes us after a few seconds.
This means that we can execute one or at most two attacks under the dragon and then have to wait for the lightning strike. Because before we can execute another strike, the lightning will have hit us. In the meantime, Fortissax, understandably, has already moved away from us. So we have to run up again, and the game starts over. Unless the mighty dragon breathes fire, then we have to wait even longer.
Unfortunately, it gets even better. Because when you die, to get to the boss, you have to interact with Fia, who wants to cuddle with you first. Since Fia apparently enjoys your presence, she takes her sweet time with it.
This situation frustrated me so much that at one point I stopped the timer to see how long it took me from death to the next fight with the boss. Including the running time to the boss within the boss chamber, I took 45 seconds – even though the boss is right in front of my nose when Fia isn’t there.
Another example: The adult falling star beast is also a boss fight that puts us to the test of patience and that we should best defeat with our trusty companion Stormwind. When we face the falling star beast, it first greets us with a charge, which it performs three times and takes its time for each. And this happens every time you face the falling star beast again.
A thrilling battle is also absent here again, as its ability set is so overloaded that we can mostly deal only a few attacks. In fact, some of its abilities are structured so that we have to run away from them and just wait.
The other problem is that its thick armor is generally hardly susceptible to damage. Its weak point on the head is supposed to help, but here again is the problem that we often cannot reach the head, or we must expect to take a lot of damage from abilities that are hard to avoid.
Another curious story from Elden Ring:
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A half-naked player in Elden Ring became a community legend – This is his story
An undignified end to a grand game
So far, I have only spoken about optional bosses. It is a shame that these bosses – and unfortunately also some others – do not work so well in my opinion. However, the aforementioned bosses are optional at the end of the day.
A boss fight that is unfortunately not optional and is discussed very controversially in the Elden Ring community is the final boss fight. We are talking about the Elden Beast.
The Elden Beast is, in my opinion, the worst boss fight in Elden Ring and unfortunately also in the history of From Software. This boss fight is not challenging but drives up the pacing.
The core problem with this boss is that it does not want to fight you. Because if the Elden Beast gets too fed up (and it does very quickly), it teleports to the other end of the room.
So it’s running again. Or sometimes jumping and then running, should the Elden Beast send its rings at you, which you must first dodge.
Often I had the problem that the Elden Beast moves away from me, uses a ranged ability, and soon after retreats again.
The immense size of the boss and the related camera issues give the whole thing a finishing blow. Because it is very hard to see which ability is being used and when I need to dodge. The damage you take from the Elden Beast is unfortunately often not entirely comprehensible.
Radagon, who is to be fought as the first phase before the Elden Beast, suffers greatly from this circumstance. Because the fight against Radagon is actually very good, but becomes increasingly more frustrating when you die more often against the Elden Beast.
Malenia could have been the star in the sky, but one ability ruins everything
This circumstance with Malenia pains me a lot because calling Melania a potential star in the sky feels almost like an understatement.
Malenia is an optional boss in the Haligtree and is often labeled by the community as the hardest boss.
Malenia fights quickly with a longsword and heals with every attack. The advantage we have, however, is that Malenia’s main attacks can be interrupted by our strikes.
Malenia looks impressive – the fight is unfortunately only for negative reasons.
If Malenia has had enough – usually after 2-3 attacks – she receives what is known as “hyper armor,” meaning she can perform an action that cannot be interrupted by our attacks.
This does not happen randomly, but is indicated by animations and effects, so we can prepare for it accordingly.
All of this is absolutely not a problem. Malenia does not become too easy because of this, but also not too difficult. The uniqueness of this fight lies in the fact that our aggression can be rewarded but also punished if we venture too far ahead. Thus, the boss fight against Malenia feels like a dance with her. Sometimes we lead, and sometimes we must relinquish this lead.
This concept is wonderful and extremely fun, and exactly that could make Malenia not only one of the best bosses in Elden Ring but also one of the best bosses from From Software – if it weren’t for her ability Waterflow Dance.
The Waterflow Dance ruins a lot – it is hard to read and has strange counters.
Waterflow Dance is an ability of Malenia, where she starts to float upward. A short time later, she twirls her sword and repeats this three times in a row, of course with a short pause in between. She starts using this ability once she has less than 70% HP.
This ability is such a huge problem because Malenia leaves almost no room to dodge in the first whirlwind and also deals an extreme amount of damage. Anyone who does not find the perfect timing to dodge will take a lot of damage in the first whirlwind.
This problem has gone so far that several discussions have erupted in the Elden Ring community about how it is possible to dodge the first of the three whirlwinds.
Only a few manage to consistently dodge the first whirlwind from Malenia or at least mitigate some of the damage.
The result was that the community searched for ways and means to completely avoid the first whirlwind:
One option would be, once Malenia floats up, to hit her with a Gletschertopf (in English Freezing Pot). This ensures that she breaks her ability.
Another option is to observe Malenia’s behavior. If Malenia plays passively and moves away, this indicates that she is preparing for the Waterflow Dance. With a ranged attack, you can trigger her ability, and if you have enough distance, you can completely avoid the Waterflow Dance in all its iterations.
Additionally, there is the option to circle around Malenia while she is floating and preparing for the first whirlwind. Then you can initiate the dodge roll in such a way that you roll sideways away from her. The purpose of this tactic is to roll out of the attack range of the first whirlwind at the decisive moment, as soon as Malenia establishes the player’s position.
The last known option is to run away while she is floating, and just before she executes the whirlwind at your position, jump and roll twice.
Waterflow Dance is unfair
Even if the above-mentioned dodge methods sound relatively reasonable and possible, none of it is really intuitive, and it is hard to imagine that From Software anticipated these options against Waterflow Dance.
Freezing Pots are items that need to be collected or crafted. At some point, these will run out, and the game starts over again – collect, collect, collect.
Circling around floating Malenia does not feel right or good and requires a lot of work to perfect. This method feels so unnatural because it is really quite clunky and especially has to be done almost frame-perfect.
Observing Malenia’s passive behavior does not work either, at least a lot of luck is required. Because if you are unlucky, it could be that Malenia executes the Waterflow Dance directly above you, causing this dodging option to fall away.
Jumping also feels very weird because, unlike other bosses, there are no clear indicators of whether damage can be avoided with a jump. This does not exist for Malenia, and therefore I would also say that jumping is anything but intuitive.
It gets even worse because Malenia uses several attacks in her second phase that are executed from her floating position. The initial animation for this, and also how she holds her sword, is the same as with the Waterflow Dance. The fine difference is that Malenia, after finishing the first animation for the Waterflow Dance, spins around one more time before executing the first whirlwind.
Because it is incredibly difficult to dodge the ability, every single millisecond counts. Ultimately, there is so little time to read the animations that it presents a disadvantage.
A significantly more disappointing problem with Malenia’s ability Waterflow Dance is that this ability undermines the concept of Malenia.
While we have learned that we can dance with Malenia, constantly balancing between passive and aggressive, the Waterflow Dance ultimately only creates fear of Malenia – or rather fear of the Waterflow Dance, than of Melania herself. Thus, even this boss, which actually has a perfect foundation, turns into a test of patience.
Light at the end of the tunnel – Shadow of The Erdtree
Initially, I mentioned that I find some of the boss fights in Elden Ring not good. A light at the end of the tunnel could be the upcoming expansion to Elden Ring “Shadow of The Erdtree”. The expansions from From Software, like those from the Dark Souls series, were known for having very difficult bosses, but also being very fair. In fact, expansions have always upped the ante in a positive sense. I hope it can change my mind! Why Elden Ring is still the best Open World, I have already revealed in this article.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A strategy game set in World War II will be released on Steam next week. After 15 years, the sequel to the popular title Men of War is finally here.
What game are we talking about? Men of War II is the sequel to a popular strategy game from 2009. The first game is a true classic, especially for fans of the genre, and has received 89% positive reviews on Steam to this day.
Now, on May 15, 2024, after 15 years, the sequel will be released on Steam, sending you back into the battles of World War II:
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Men of War II is the sequel to a popular strategy game from 2009
What can you expect? Just like in the first part, players in Men of War II will be sent into World War II and, according to the official Steam page, promise a variety of units to command, each with different specializations.
Men of War II is also expected to be historically accurate and provide more advanced enemy AI. The graphics have also changed from its predecessor and have been modernized for the entire game. Nonetheless, fans of the first game can expect a similar gaming experience as they did 15 years ago.
In single-player mode, you can experience real events from World War II in the story campaigns, which promise to stay very true to the actual situations. In total, there will be three story campaigns.
Decide the course of real operations that actually took place
Two additional campaigns will also deal with real operations, but here you will have more freedom in your decisions and can individually influence the course of the operation.
In addition to these solo modes, Men of War II also offers various multiplayer modes. In battles ranging from 1v1 to 5v5, you can compete against other players. In cooperative mode, you can work together as teammates. In custom lobbies, you can customize a variety of options and experience all single-player content with up to 4 other players. If you’re looking for more multiplayer strategy games, check this out: 5 great strategy games that you can play against your friends in multiplayer
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
One of the largest MMORPG companies in the world is Pearl Abyss. They operate two of the most well-known and relevant current MMORPGs, Black Desert and EVE Online. Their new game “Crimson Desert” visually resembles Game of Thrones. They now announce: The game is in the final stages of development and will offer a demo at Gamescom in August 2024.
This is the news: During the investor conference, Pearl Abyss announced (via mmorpg.com):
The role-playing game Crimson Desert is in the “final stages” of development.
In 2024, marketing is set to ramp up to boost pre-sales and registrations.
They plan to showcase Crimson Desert in a demo at Gamescom 2024, which will take place from August 21 to 25.
Since Gamescom 2023, there has been little news about Crimson Desert:
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Crimson Desert used to be an MMORPG, is now a “totally own genre”: Shows a gameplay trailer at gamescom 2023
Role-playing game heavily reminiscent of Game of Thrones
Black Desert is running extremely stable, with the current quarter being the best in a year. They refer to an event in France, the Heidelball, where more information about the expansion “Land of the Morning Light” will be available. Additionally, Black Desert is set to be released for the next-gen consoles PS5 and Xbox Series X and will get its own build.
For EVE Online, the Havoc expansion performed well in Q4 2023, whereas the numbers in Q1 2024 have slightly declined.
One of the great joys of Helldivers 2 is crushing dozens of bugs and robots with a powerful weapon. Since the release of the co-op shooter, different firearms have stood out as particularly fun for players, but eventually, almost all have met the same fate: nerfing. Now the head of the development studio has spoken out.
What’s up with the nerfs? Helldivers 2 has already received several balancing updates since the release of the shooter. Some enemies have become stronger or weaker, some previously ignored weapons have been improved a bit, and the strong weapons have received nerfs.
The community of Helldivers 2 has reacted particularly sensitively to these nerfs, and many players felt that the developers were nerfing everything that is fun. Ultimately, one of these players contacted the head of Arrowhead Games, the developers behind the co-op shooter, on X.com and said that Helldivers 2 had become unenjoyable for him due to the recent balancing changes.
The weapons of the new warbond have not received any nerfs yet. In the trailer, you can see what the update offers:
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Helldivers 2 shows its latest Warbond ‘Polar Patriots’ in the icy trailer
Head of Helldivers 2 believes they are removing the fun
What did the head of Helldivers 2 say? On X.com, Johan Pilestedt, the CEO of Arrowhead and Creative Director of Helldivers 2, admitted that the development team had gone too far with the nerfs. He also announced that he would discuss the approach to balancing with the team.
I think we have gone too far in some areas. I will talk to the team about the approach to balance. It feels like every time someone finds something fun, the fun is taken away.
Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Arrowhead, on the nerfs (via X.com)
At the end of April, there was another major patch that made changes to 24 weapons. Again, popular weapons and stratagems were nerfed. This time, among others, the LAS-16-Sickle, the Quasar Cannon, and the R-36-Burster were affected.
Warner Bros. delivers the first corporate numbers for this year. It became clear how much the anti-hero game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was also a financial disaster.
It becomes clear: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was not only poorly received by many players and was criticized for its monotonous gameplay with similar missions or a banal storyline (via GameStar). Financially, the DC game also caused significant drops in revenue.
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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Official Coop Gameplay
How hard did Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League flop? Quite hard. For instance, David M. Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. stated in the earnings call that especially compared to the massive success of Hogwarts Legacy in 2023, Suicide Squad had a catastrophic release:
“Unfortunately, the studio’s Q1 financial results were overshadowed by the tough competition in games after Hogwarts Legacy performed brilliantly last year and Suicide Squad disappointed in Q1 in our Gaming Group.” (via finance.yahoo.com)
As CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels explained, the game contributed to yielding a full 200 million dollars less EBITDA in the first quarter compared to the previous year:
The decline of over 400 million US dollars in the first quarter compared to the previous year is primarily due to the very challenging competitive situation we faced in games, unlike the success of Hogwarts Legacy last year, combined with the disappointing launch of Suicide Squad last quarter, which we were impacted by, resulting in a 200 million dollar effect on EBITDA in the first quarter.
EBITDA is an acronym that stands for “Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation”. This translates to: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of intangible assets. So EBITDA does not yet refer to profit. (via tagesschau.de)
Thus, according to the report, the adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter amounted to a total of 2.102 million US dollars. This represents a decline of 20% (excluding exchange rates) compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Despite the negative opinions from players about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, MeinMMO author Niko Hernes also sees positive aspects in the game. You can read here in his opinion article why the shooter can still be fun despite all the criticisms: I played through the new DC game: Not a new Batman, but a fun loot shooter
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A player has been trying for ages to catch Microsoft’s gaming chief, Phil Spencer, in Fallout 76. Now he has finally succeeded and is receiving huge praise from the community because Microsoft isn’t particularly popular at the moment.
However, a player recently hit Phil Spencer’s house, the head of Xbox, with such a bomb – on purpose. The internet is cheering (via X).
That’s why the timing is perfect: Xbox and Microsoft recently closed 4 studios, including Arkane Austin. Arkane Austin was responsible for Dishonored and, most recently, the not-so-successful Redfall.
The reason for the closure, according to an email, is a reorientation. They want to focus on “impressive” titles and place more value on Bethesda’s blockbusters.
The sheer number of employees who lost their jobs as a result is causing quite a bit of dissatisfaction and anger in the gaming community. The fact that Phil Spencer has now taken an atomic bomb adds to the – admittedly somewhat decayed – joy.
The player responsible for this claims, however, that he did not act out of malice. He has been trying to match up with Spencer for weeks. It just happened to occur right now.
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Fallout 76: The German trailer for the update ‘America’s Playground’
“I have no beef with Phil”
In an interview with Kotaku, the player real1090jake, who claims responsibility for the bombing, explains the background of his attack. He says: “Defeating him has been a personal goal of mine since I finished the main quest […]. To me, he was the final boss.”
He just enjoys being the bad guy in a role-playing game and has been trying to catch Spencer for weeks. Whenever he saw him in the game, he wanted to duel him, but it never happened.
Spencer is always surrounded by people wanting to do something with him; he is never alone. Whenever he saw him, the chief was diligently handing out hearts and other emotes.
Now real1090jake has succeeded in hitting the Xbox chief’s camp with an atomic bomb. Not by chance, but targeted: The camp is right in the center of the detonation. In a short clip on X, you can see the irradiated land and the destroyed house.
real1090jake says: “I made jokes about how he hurt our feelings, but that has been my mission for weeks […] this was not a planned attack, lol, I have no beef with Phil. Phil is cool, Fallout 76 is cool.”
Although the player did not act out of anger, the community is now demanding more such actions. Some say they want to keep going until morale improves. It’s something personal. Others think that if this continues, Spencer will next close the studio behind Fallout 76. Spencer, who is generally considered a popular gamer and chief, is currently struggling with his image as many positions were already cut back in January: Microsoft lays off 1,900 employees in the gaming sector: “Painful decision”
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Shortly before the release of Season 4, Blizzard released a video about the new itemization in Diablo 4 and the endgame. In it, the developers explain the new crafting systems again and show how many materials you will really need to grind.
On the PTR, there was a chance that an upgrade attempt would fail. Blizzard changed that: Every Masterworking works guaranteed, which was very well received.
However, you need crafting materials and a lot of gold for crafting. After the change, even significantly more than on the PTR.
How expensive is crafting now? In the latest video, the developers briefly show the steps of Masterworking. However, only 4 of the total 12 steps are visible. Each step shows higher costs. At level 12, you previously needed:
30 Neathiron
2 legendary crafting materials
12 Shrouded Crystals
1 Forgotten Soul
525,000 gold
The new costs are:
250 Neathiron
20 legendary crafting materials
50 Shrouded Crystals
10 Forgotten Souls
10 million gold
The costs have almost increased twentyfold. Other steps look similar. You can find the detailed list with the colleagues from wowhead. Keep in mind that these are provisional numbers and may still change before the release.
10 million gold sounds enormous, but previously you only had a 20% chance for crafting to succeed at all. Now each step is 100% guaranteed. Players say: This is definitely better.
Diablo 4: The developers explain the new item system and the new endgame dungeon
“Better higher costs than unhappy fails”
Although the costs are now significantly higher and seem extremely expensive, the change does not seem to bother anyone. The community has said so far that they would rather pay more materials but not waste any materials due to failures (via Reddit).
Casual players might still complain, but that is their problem – the system is now good as it is. In any case, you should consider carefully what you want to master:
I think many people who complain about the costs overlook that you should really only master gear that is already perfect to give it the final touch. If you master everything you wear just to find a better item, you are doing it wrong. This is an endgame system.
A new update for Helldivers 2 can be downloaded on PC and PS5 and fixes two of the most annoying bugs in the game. You can find everything about the patch notes for update 01.000.302 here.
What were the most annoying bugs? For several days and weeks, the Helldivers have been struggling with two bugs that make fighting for democracy more difficult:
Both bugs caused frustrating situations in the game. Players who used the napalm strike or flamethrower dealt no fire damage; it only benefited the host of a mission. For all other Helldivers, the “damage over time” effect did not work as intended.
The bug with the shield generator also resulted in dead Helldivers, as your plasma punisher projectiles would explode in the shield and kill you. A faulty combination, but with patch 01.000.302, both bugs have been fixed. We will show you all the patch notes in a summary.
The new war bond “Polar Patriots” starts this week. Here are the items you can expect:
Start video
Helldivers 2 shows its latest Warbond ‘Polar Patriots’ in the icy trailer
Patch notes for update 01.000.302 for Steam and PS5
What has changed? In addition to the two bug fixes (via discord.com), a weapon has also been adjusted and game crashes have been resolved. Here are the patch notes in English:
Overview
Some weapon and enemy balancing
Crash fixes
Social menu issues
DoT damage fix
Misaligned scopes fix
General fixes and improvements
Balancing
R-9 Eruptor
Increased explosion damage by 40 and removed shrapnel from the explosion
This is to avoid cases in which players would randomly one-shot themselves or their teammates in a huge radius around the explosion
Enemies
Increased Shrieker sight and hearing range slightly.
Increased Gunship hearing range slightly.
Fixes
Gameplay
We have fixed issues with the way damage-over-time effects were applied. This should fix issues where only the network session owner could apply them, and other cases where they would be applied inconsistently.
Firing the Punisher Plasma while wearing a shield backpack no longer damages the Helldiver
Fixed issues with some weapon scopes not being aligned in first-person view.
The sound when stimming no longer plays while being interrupted
Major orders with the “Kill task” now track score correctly. Previously it counted the entire squad’s kills once for each player, meaning it would multiply the score by the number of people on the mission; this is now amended.
Helldivers can no longer land on tall rocks in the “Horde Defend Missions”
Helldivers can no longer land on top of bug pillars in Deactivate Terminid Control System missions
Fix for the reinforce stratagem not being present if a Helldiver leaves the session before readying up and then hot joining the active session
Crashes
Fixed a crash that could occur when all players were dead on the “Deactivate Terminid Control System” mission
Fixed a crash that could occur on game shutdown
Fixed a crash that could occur when leaving the mission and rejoining
Fixed a crash that could occur at the end of cutscenes
Fixed a crash that could occur when diving into missions
Fixed a tutorial crash that could occur on PC when ALT+Tabbing
Fixed a rare crash that could occur when using beam weapons
Fixed a rare crash that could occur for players on startup when using VPN
Fixed a soft lock that could occur if the player would open the text chat while having the stratagem menu open
Other general crash fixes
Social Menu Fixes
PC players adding friends through friend codes can no longer show up as “Unknown”
Fixed overlapping footers inside menus
Steam friends should now be visible in the social menu, even though friends list is not set to public in Steam privacy settings
Recent players list will now include hot-joining players
Players are now able to unblock players that were not in their friends list beforehand
Fixed issue with empty friend names in social menu
Lobby privacy mode text updates immediately when changed
Player names longer than 26 characters should now update properly in the social menu
Fixed issue where non-host players could kick others indiscriminately including the host
Others
Total purchased counter on the right side of the Robotics Workshop section no longer displays 7 / 8 despite all stratagems being purchased
Resolved some edge cases related to Steam AppId related errors on login
These were all the changes you can expect in patch 01.000.302. What do you think of the fixes? Are you excited to try out the fiery weapons, gear, and grenades or are you sticking with your current loadout? We have compiled the best loadout for you in case you are still looking for one: Helldivers 2: Best Loadout – The strongest setup to survive even as a solo player
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In role-playing games, experience points are usually abbreviated as “XP.” But why not “EP”? The reason is provided by one of the main authors of Dungeons & Dragons.
What is the deal with experience points? Every role-player relies on them: experience points. They are earned through actions in the game and ensure that we gradually level up.
If one had to abbreviate the long word, it seems logical to say “EP.” Nevertheless, “XP” is considered the standard in the role-playing world. Why is that?
The main author of Dungeons & Dragons, the quintessential role-playing series, is responsible for that. In a recent interview, he revealed what “XP” is all about.
You are playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and want to level your character properly? Here are 5 tips for that:
Start video
5 Tips to Level Up Your Characters Properly in Baldur’s Gate 3
A decision made in 20 minutes
How did “XP” come about? Lawrence Schick is a true veteran in the D&D world. Recently, he was involved as the lead author in Baldur’s Gate 3. However, many years prior, he worked alongside one of the creators of D&D, Gary Gygax, on early versions of the role-playing game.
Schick today recounts how he edited the first manuscript for the “Dungeon Master’s Guide.” He realized that the game needed an abbreviation for the cumbersome phrase “Experience Points,” translated to German as “Erfahrungspunkte.”
“EP” was obvious, but that abbreviation was already taken. Shortly before, Gary Gygax had added a currency called “Electrum Pieces.” Although only a few players used them, “EP” was already claimed.
Schick continues: “And so I faced the problem of finding an abbreviation for experience points, and I came up with XP and used it, and it stuck.”
On a random afternoon, Schick made up his mind about the new abbreviation in about 20 minutes. This would have repercussions.
What happened next? Soon, the new abbreviation was also adopted by other tabletop publishers. Most games where characters can level up drew from D&D. Thus, “XP” quickly became the new standard, also used in other media, such as video games. D&D itself became very popular, with several movies and campaigns running for over 40 years.
Lawrence Schick is still not finished with his work. On the contrary: he is still busy developing and reinventing role-playing games.
“We have not yet found the limits, if there are any. We are still pushing outwards. That is what drives me to do these things, years after most of my colleagues have retired or passed away.”
An almost unbelievable record has been set in Minecraft. All the achievements of the game in such a short time that the record holder believes: This is practically unbeatable.
When it comes to video game records, world records are frequently broken. Often, there are multiple professionals in one category who continuously snatch the record from each other, motivating one another. However, in one Minecraft category, a record has now been set that might not be broken anytime soon. Even the record holder Feinberg, who has already achieved this record 18 times, now says: “This is practically unbeatable” and is taking a break for now.
You can find out the story of the founder behind Minecraft here:
Start video
The Story of Notch – The Man Who Invented Minecraft
What is the record about? The category is called “Minecraft 1.16 AA RSG,” which stands for “Minecraft 1.6 All Advancements Random Seed Generated.”
Or to put it a bit more clearly:
You have to gather all achievements in Minecraft 1.16 in the shortest time possible and choose a randomly generated world. Choosing a known, opportune “seed” where you already know the world is prohibited.
How long does it take? The first world records from 2020 still took a time of 34 hours. It wasn’t until 2021 that the times significantly decreased as everyone acted more efficiently and coordinated. Back then, Feinberg set the record at 4 hours and 38 minutes. That was already considered nearly perfect.
What is the final record? The last record of Feinberg – and the 18th time in a row he’s claimed this record – is a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 19 seconds. This is a time that most of the community thought would never be realistically achievable. You can watch the video of the final record here:
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Just starting the round must be quite curious for ordinary players. After collecting some sticks in the desert, Feinberg dives directly into a pyramid and activates a TNT block while collecting the others. This way, the TNT destroys many other blocks and gives him some good starting resources, while he is also protected from most of the explosion.
Most normal players probably wouldn’t achieve that many achievements until the end of many days, if not weeks.
What is Feinberg doing now? Those who think Feinberg is taking a bit of a break and setting Minecraft aside are mistaken. On his Twitch channel, he regularly streams and is now trying speedruns in Minecraft version 1.20.6 to further improve his skills. It seems that there won’t be a break for Feinberg anytime soon. Whether he will tackle his “practically unbeatable” record again remains to be seen – but perhaps it will also take a competitor who could truly pose a threat to him. Some find Minecraft a bit too scary, though.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The CEO of Riot Games (League of Legends), Nicolo Laurent, had a brilliant career behind him, which took a turn in 2021. A fired assistant accused him of sexual harassment. She claimed she was wrongfully terminated in 2020. The assistant sued the LoL company Riot Games. Laurent stepped down in May 2023 to focus on his family. Now an arbitration court has ruled: The allegations against Nicolo Laurent are unfounded.
These were the allegations: In January 2021, the former executive assistant, Sharon O’Donnell, made accusations against Riot Games:
She was wrongfully terminated
She had to work many unpaid overtime hours
The CEO Nicolo Laurent allegedly made sexual advances towards her, made sexist remarks, and made inappropriate offers for private travel
Start video
7 Facts about LoL that only true veterans know
The lawsuit came at a time when Riot Games was heavily criticized
The CEO invited her over when his wife was away, allegedly using the term “cum”
He allegedly told her that his wife was jealous of beautiful women
He allegedly told her to be more “feminine”
He allegedly advised female employees to have a child to cope better with the stress of the Covid pandemic
On her social media channels, O’Donnell shares many articles about women in leadership positions and sexual harassment.
What did the assistant demand? O’Donnell sued Riot Games for lost wages, medical expenses, and damages. She alleged that she was fired after she complained to the HR department.
Riot Games struggled with a culture of sexism
Why was the situation so difficult for Riot at the time? In August 2018, a report from Kotaku was published, accusing Riot Games of fostering a sexist culture. It was described as operating like a fraternity (via kotaku).
The report apparently found fertile ground: there were open letters, strikes, further lawsuits, and investigations.
How did Riot Games behave? Riot Games stated in an initial statement: O’Donnell’s termination was 7 months ago. Several people had complained about her. All claims that it was otherwise are simply false (via dotesports).
Riot Games shared the findings of a committee in March 2021 that had investigated the allegations against the CEO. Riot had commissioned an external law firm to conduct the investigation.
The committee concluded that there was no evidence that Laurent had done anything wrong and that nothing should be taken against him.
However, even though the internal investigation was completed in March 2021, it would take years for the official external investigation to conclude.
CEO steps down to focus on family
What was the consequence for the CEO? In May 2023, Nicolo Laurent stepped down as CEO to focus on his family.
He stated that the decision came because he wanted to spend more time with his 4 children and move back to France.
Being the head of such a large company was weighing heavily on him.
At the time, it seemed that the decision had nothing to do with the lawsuit against him, but in a new statement, Riot Games hinted at how much the lawsuit had affected the CEO and his family.
This is the current status: Riot Games now states (via riot) that an arbitration court has ruled in the case of Sharon O’Donnell against Riot Games. All accusations against Riot Games and Nicolo Laurent are unfounded.
Riot Games emphasizes that their company has no place for harassment and discrimination. They support employees who speak out if they have experienced or witnessed misconduct.
However, they will not tolerate malicious allegations against the company or its employees, but will assertively pursue them – even if it means years of litigation.
The legal dispute has harmed Riot Games and its teams, and it has also caused much pain for Nicolo’s family. Nicolo is now considering his next steps, possibly including legal actions. Riot Games will support him in this.
Riot Games states: They are deeply grateful that the facts have ultimately prevailed.
What’s behind this: This is a complex story that shows how important differentiation is and that each individual case must be examined closely. While there has undoubtedly been misconduct at Riot Games on a systemic level and it was urgently necessary for a cultural change to occur there.
The video game company Electronic Arts is currently considering placing advertisements in their games in the future. This could help the company grow even further, the CEO of EA stated at a conference.
What does EA plan? Electronic Arts is one of the largest companies in the video game sector. The company is responsible for major franchises like Battlefield, Mass Effect, and especially multiple sports games like UFC or of course FC24.
However, EA is focused on continuing to grow. This could be achieved by placing advertisements in the games. It is a controversial consideration that has previously caused dissatisfaction among players. For this reason, the CEO of EA is currently being cautious about specific details.
Here you can see the trailer for one of EA’s flagship titles – FC24:
Start video
EA Sports FC 24: The successor to FIFA shows itself for the first time in the new announcement trailer
Using Advertising “Thoughtfully”
What does the CEO say? Andrew Wilson is the head of EA and spoke in a company conference call on May 7, 2024, about various topics. Among other things, about the next Battlefield, but also about ad placements.
When asked if there would be advertisements in EA games in the future, Wilson replied:
I think it’s still early on this front. And throughout our history, we have always been careful to deploy advertising very thoughtfully in the context of our player experiences.
Nevertheless, there is a very large number of players who invest countless hours into the games. If advertising were part of the player experience, it could become a “significant growth engine.”
Internal teams at EA are already working on the feasibility of the idea. The question arises as to how exactly advertisements can be implemented in games. And how the community can be involved. After all, players are expected to react positively to the advertising.
Can this work? How exactly advertising will find its way into the games is still unclear. Attempts from the past show, however, that the community reacts very poorly when the player experience is disrupted by advertising.
EA itself had already experimented with advertisements in 2020. In UFC 4, advertisements for the series “The Boys” appeared during fights. After negative feedback, EA removed this advertisement.
Presumably, they want to come up with a more elegant and thoughtful way to incorporate advertising into games in the future.
The community manager of Helldivers 2 has apparently been fired after all. Now the community is once again rallying to bring him back to his position.
Players of Helldivers 2 are diving into a new battle after they have already won as a community against Sony’s PSN mandate, as Sony has now backtracked. There will indeed be no PSN mandate.
This time, however, it is about the developer studio of Helldivers 2, Arrowhead. Apparently, the community manager of the successful shooter has now indeed been fired.
What exactly happened? Helldivers 2 experienced a high on Steam that lasted for several weeks. The game was an absolute hit and the number one topic of conversation – until the shitstorm came.
After the announced PSN mandate, players flooded Helldivers 2 with negative reviews. Sony’s policy required a mandatory linking of PlayStation Network (PSN) and Steam accounts – which is technically unfeasible in many countries.
After learning this important detail, he encouraged the players to speak out against Sony. The community manager Spitz advised the angry players to continue writing negative reviews and also to request refunds.
The reason: Although the negative feedback is painful, it is good, as it allows them to engage with Sony and bring it into the discussion. However, this engagement seems to have cost him his job.
“In general, it’s not a good idea to tell people as a community manager to refund the game and leave negative reviews,” Spitz emphasized on Discord (via VideoGamer). He stressed that he stood by his actions and explained that his job was to represent the community and that he did that.
How are the players responding? The Helldivers community apparently wants Spitz back as community manager at all costs – a petition has even been started on Change.org. This aims to reverse Spitz’s dismissal. Under the title: Rehire the legendary community manager General Spitz, the petition has already collected over 6,000 signatures.
In the petition, they implore Arrowhead to urgently reinstate community manager (CM) Spitz in recognition of his bold community management strategy, which not only worked but also restored the trust of a large part of its community back to his former position as CM.
It remains to be seen whether the community’s commitment and the petition will have any effect. It is also unclear whether community manager Spitz even wants the job back. The dedicated bond of Helldivers 2 to the community has been evident from the very beginning, as reflected in the handling of Joel: Helldivers 2: Who is Joel? – The man who shapes the fate of the Over-Earth.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
After two films, it’s over for the Wonder Woman franchise. One of the main actors from the last two films, Chris Pine, has now reacted with bewilderment to the studio’s decision.
What about Wonder Woman 3? In 2017, the solo film featuring Wonder Woman, with Gal Gadot in the title role, was released, who prior to this success almost quit acting. Three years later, it was time for a sequel. Wonder Woman 1984 placed the superhero in the specified decade.
Both films were directed by American director Patty Jenkins, who was also responsible for Monster . She will not be directing a third installment of Wonder Woman . The film has been canceled by DC and Warner and no further plans will be pursued.
Chris Pine, who starred in both films, has reacted to the cancellation and has expressed his concern.
Start video
German trailer for the DC movie Wonder Woman featuring Gal Gadot
“Wonder Woman is an incredible character”
What does Chris Pine say? In the films, the actor, whom some may also know as Kirk from the Star Trek reboot by JJ Abrams, appeared as Steve Trevor. Regarding the decision to cancel Wonder Woman 3, he says the following:
I was shocked that they said no to a billion-dollar franchise and chose to go elsewhere. I don’t know what the reasoning behind this decision was, it’s above my pay grade, but Wonder Woman is an incredible character and Patty Jenkins is a very attentive director.
Attention, there are spoilers for the Wonder Woman films ahead. You have been warned.
Would Chris Pine have been in Wonder Woman 3? Although the actor is sad that there will be no third installment, he also makes it clear that he would not have been part of it anyway.
His character would be dead, and it would be “ridiculous” to bring him back. Nevertheless, he would have liked to see the film. The series has grown dear to him, even though he was initially skeptical.
Only when director Patty Jenkins explained to him that the film would be based on a classic like Casablanca and would be anything but a typical superhero film did Pine agree to the role.
The Twitch streamer AnniTheDuck has been under criticism for a few days, mainly due to the allegations made by her ex-girlfriend Reved. In a statement, she addresses the allegations and explains why she sometimes feels disgusted by her fans. Allegedly, she referred to them as “fat, sweaty shit fans.”
How did the statement come about? The Twitch streamer AnniTheDuck posted a statement video on her YouTube channel on May 9th at 12 PM.
One issue that caused discontent among fans of the streamer Anni The Duck was Reved’s statement that Anni doesn’t want to deal with her disgusting, sweaty, shit fans. In her video, Anni elaborates on this accusation and the other topics being discussed against her.
What experiences the streamer Reved had in her relationship can be seen here:
Start video
Reved explains on Twitch how much she suffered in the relationship with Anni The Duck
Groped by fans in cosplay
Why AnniTheDuck sometimes feels disgusted by her fans: In her statement, she confirms that the quote from Reved was likely expressed just as she described it.
Furthermore, Anni The Duck attempts to explain that her career started in cosplay and that she had many bad experiences with fans during that time. She describes that there were many such situations during meet & greets. Anni The Duck said she would warmly hug her fans, not just pretending, but offering a genuine hug.
During which:
she was groped on the butt
people thanked her for feeling their sweaty breasts during the hug
additionally, she received autograph cards after a meet & greet, which someone had masturbated on
She also admits that even after the pandemic, she was reluctant to do meet & greets as she suffers from social phobia. She also admits to feeling disgusted by sweat, although she naturally sweats herself, and that it is normal.
Still, it was important for her to do the meet & greets, as she knows how important a brief exchange with their idol is for fans. For this reason, she also made sure to hug her fans particularly tightly.
However, these moments were often overshadowed by negative experiences.
What does she say about the remaining allegations? AnniTheDuck has also addressed the remaining allegations in her statement. She is sorry that she made her ex-girlfriend feel bad about her body, but she only ever meant well. As an example, she claims that she never found her former partner unattractive, pointing to the nickname she had for Reved, pretty sexy hot.
She also comments on the accusations of animal cruelty and admits that she should never have gotten a third cat and that she acted incorrectly in her previous videos. Many situations arose due to a long illness phase of a cat. Additionally, the stress she had in her toxic relationship with Reved also affected the cats.
Today, everything looks different, and the issues that were said to have existed back then are no longer current.
What accusations were made against her regarding animal cruelty can be read here:
AnniTheDuck also commented on her former girlfriend. The main problem, she states, is that Mowky was allegedly unable to say no. This led to problems within the friendship.
The break ultimately occurred when Mowky insisted on a conversation. Anni The Duck avoided this talk because she assumed that Mowky wanted to end the friendship permanently, and Anni The Duck did not want to put herself through this conversation while she was still struggling with the breakup from Reved.
It makes her sad that Mowky experienced parts of the friendship as abusive, but she does not dismiss her feelings.
Her former best friend has already commented on the statement on X and expresses disappointment.
Furthermore, Anni The Duck addresses the fact that she called Gnu when she was doing a photoshoot in cosplay with the photographer she recommended. Her reason for this was her own insecurity, and she admits that it was not right, but from her perspective, it was also not meant to be so malicious.
Finally, she comments on the issue of poor working conditions that she allegedly provided to employees. She states that there were many very stressful situations in the past, but she has since coordinated these better and that such occurrences are no longer happening, according to her statement.
Influencer seeks understanding but also portrays others negatively
How can the statement be summarized? In summary, it can be said that Anni The Duck only admits to genuine wrongdoing towards Gnu. However, she justifies this by stating that cosplay is indeed her world and that she has done the groundwork from which others benefit.
She explains the problems with others primarily by stating that they themselves have issues with unresolved conflicts. Anni The Duck may not have always behaved perfectly in these situations, but she appealed to the viewers’ understanding for the many difficult moments involving a sick cat, a partner insecure about her appearance and weight, and a best friend who apparently had great issues with boundaries.
The first comments show that the statement is not being received very kindly on the internet.
One of the most legendary images from the The Lord of the Rings trilogy was created by an extra. MeinMMO reveals what’s behind it.
The epic battles of Middle-earth, as brought to life in Peter Jackson’s cinematic interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece The Lord of the Rings, are known for their stunning visual representations and emotional moments.
Among these moments, one stands out in particular, created not by elaborate makeup or effects but by the unique presence of an actor – Wayne Phillips.
Start video
German trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Real eye injury in the battle for Helm’s Deep
Who is Wayne Phillips? Wayne Phillips, a New Zealand actor, may not be immediately known to the general public. In “The Two Towers,” he played the captain of the archers while in “The Return of the King,” he portrayed a soldier from Rohan.
Wayne Phillips in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers / Source: Reddit
In which part does the image appear? In the second part of the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), the plot reaches a climax in the epic battle for Helm’s Deep. This fortress in Rohan is defended by King Théoden and his allies, including warriors from Rohan and an alliance of Elves, against the dark forces of Saruman.
In the battle, Phillips played an extra as a Rohan soldier who had only one eye. This authentic detail was not makeup or effect but a real feature of Phillips. On set, he otherwise wore an eye patch to cover his missing eye (via 3djuegos).
Director Peter Jackson asked him, when he first entered the set, what was hidden under the patch. He then offered him to play the role without the eye patch. Initially, Phillips hesitated and was unsure but then agreed. It helped him feel more comfortable.
V Rising has been a major hit in the survival community since its early access release in 2022. Now, the game has finally left early access, leading to a significant influx of players on Steam.
What is V Rising?
The game mixes classic survival mechanics with RPG elements.
You play as a vampire looking to build your kingdom.
In addition to classic weapons, there are many vampire abilities that you can use for combat and movement.
The combat, viewed from an overhead perspective, is reminiscent of games like Diablo.
The early access of V Rising began on May 17, 2022, and was already a huge success at that time. According to SteamDB, the game reached an all-time peak of 150,645 players back then. On May 8, 2024, version 1.0 was released on Steam, leading to another large surge of players.
You can watch the launch trailer for the game here:
Start video
V Rising: The launch trailer for the survival game with vampires on Steam and PS5
Solo players are thrilled as well
Before the release, player numbers in the last week ranged from 1,900 to 5,500. Since May 8, 2024, the release of 1.0, player numbers have exploded again. Although the all-time peak from the early access release has not yet been reached, the peak in the last 24 hours was 78,164 players.
The latest player boom is also being celebrated on Reddit. Many players praise the solo experience in the comments as well as some of the new features of the 1.0 release.
smuttyjeff: It is well suited for a solo playthrough. If you treat it like a pure RPG, you’ll have spent about as much time on it as during a first playthrough of an ARPG.
tits_mcgee_92: I usually don’t like survival/crafting games, but the combat in this game is really good, and vampires are cool.
SwimmingPathology: I always played it alone, and I loved it. I had at least 50 hours of fun with it.
As many of the players report, V Rising seems to be worth it for solo players as well. The game also stands well in the Steam reviews, currently sitting at 88% positive reviews. If you want to get the game, you can enjoy a 10% discount until May 22.
In addition to the 1.0 release, V Rising is also set to be released for PS5 this year. However, there is still no exact date for that; it is only confirmed that it will happen in 2024. If you’re looking for more survival games on current consoles and PC, you’ll find them in our list: The 25 best survival games 2024 for PS5, Steam, and Xbox.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Until May 15, there is a special offer on Steam: The game with the best reviews on the entire PC platform is available at a 72% discount for €2.73. So you have the choice: Will you get the PC classic Portal 2 or will you lick an ice cream in 5 minutes?
How well is the highest-rated game on Steam rated?
Portal 2 has 97.72% positive reviews on Steam. This ranks it number 1 on the list of all Steam games (via steamdb).
A bit lower are People Playground (97.5%), Stardew Valley (97.43%), Vampire Survivors (97.37%), and Hades (97.27%).
The first Portal is ranked 6th, and the extremely successful Terraria, which was the first game on Steam to receive more than a million positive reviews, is in 8th place.
Start video
Portal 2 Coop Trailer
The Portal Gun as an Innovative Game Element
What is Portal 2 about? Portal 2 was released in April 2011. It is a puzzle-platformer with the special gag that you can create two portals with a device, through which a player or objects can pass.
The “Portal Gun” finally entered pop culture through the series Rick & Morty.
The game features some prominent people in the cast: Actor and comedian Stephen Merchant voices the role of Wheatley, who accompanies the player through the game.
The producer is none other than His Majesty Gabe Newell himself.
Portal 2 was enthusiastically received by the gaming press and players at release and has captivated thousands of players on Steam over the last 13 years, as can be seen from the reviews, with very few disappointed.
And it costs as much as 2 scoops of ice cream? Yes, a recent statistic shows (via chip.de) that the average price for a scoop of ice cream in Germany in 2024 is €1.72.
The cheapest ice cream is in Bochum, where you can get 2 scoops for €2.80 – that would still be more expensive than Portal 2 on Steam, which costs €2.73 for about another week (via steam).
The most expensive ice cream is in Munich, where you pay on average €2.12 for a scoop. And this is in a place where you can hardly rent a doghouse as an average earner.
If you’re looking for more excellent games on Steam during the 4-day weekend that many have due to the bridge day, we recommend our list of the 7 best Steam games: The 7 best games on Steam
The title image is a symbolic image. It is from Tumisu from Pixabay.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
