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Fortnite Adds Battle Royale Cosmetics, Haunted Castle & More In Halloween Update

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Epic Game’s Fortnite isn’t one to be left out on the Holiday festivities. With just 5 days to go until All Hollow’s Eve, this large & spooky update is ready to scare up some fun for both Battle Royale players and those of us who prefer to Save The World. 

New additions to Battle Royale include a brand new baseline item called the “Slurp Juice” which is a 25-second heal over time which will heal 1 health and 1 shield per second and then go on cooldown. Cosmetic items have also been added to BR mode, with two character skins – Skull Tropper & Ghoul Trooper available for purchase with real-world money. Console players on Xbox One & PS4 can look forward to the addition of voice chat on each of those platforms as well. 

Save The World players can venture into a special time-limited zone to explore the horrors of Vlad’s Castle. Explore the crypts of a large castle and reinforce placeable sensors along with other familiar objectives to earn special event candies for a brand-new orange & black Llama. Even the Husks have got into the Holiday festivities with Pumpkin Head Husks and Vampire Takers. 

Check out these screenshots of the two Event Weapons: The Pumpkin Launcher & Husk Slayer Assualt Rifle: 

 

Eight different Halloween Heroes are available featuring some awesome unlockable like Ghoul Ramirez, Black Cat Ears Constructor Penny and the mummy themed Sarah Hotep. Personally I am hoping that I can unlock either the event only Sarah or Penny.. They both look absolutely purrrrfect. 

Players can earn 12 loads of 50 candies towards an event Llama (each of which cost 500 candies or 100 V-Bucks for real-world money) by completing Halloween Quests. Some limited time missions (denoted by a small clock next to them) can also give out a small amount of candies.  Realistically this means that players can earn 8 event Llamas without putting in any cash over the course of the event if they complete their daily Halloween quests. Daily Quest llamas for regular Fortnite dailies will also drop 100 candies as well. 

I played one round of Vlad’s Castle this afternoon and found it enjoyable – both to have a different aesthetic for once and I was also pleasantly surprised by the short length of the missions. Last month’s Horde Bash was criticized by the community for the length of its 10 rounds: sometimes taking up to 90 minutes to complete and only rewarding 50 tickets. This meant that players had to grind upwards of 10 hours to get a single Horde Bash Llama. Vlad’s castle is much more generous – rewarding a Llama after about 4 hours of game time. 

Full patch notes are on the next page.

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EVE Online’s Lifeblood Expansion Is Now Live

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Just a small reminder that the latest expansion to CCP Games’ Eve Online, Lifeblood was released yesterday. With this latest expansion Capsuleers living in high-security space receive two brand new forms of PVE content with the release of Resource Wars and Forward Operating Bases. Alongside the release of these new modes, CCP has also made a balance pass to the post of the ships Free To Play Alpha Clones can fly, with most ships except the Vexor receiving a damage buff.

Previously I covered all of the big announcements made at the EVE VEGAS convention a few weeks ago. The primary focus of that event was to promote and announce the then-upcoming changes from Lifeblood. It was also announced that in December free to play players will receive a bump in the number of skill points that they can use, provided that they subscribe for at least a month to train them. This means that players who subscribe for only 30 days can fly up to Battleships for free – unlike the current Alpha Clone restrictions that limit them to Cruisers or below.

Users on Steam can create an Alpha Clone account for free, the EVE client is only about 4. 5GB and will run on most modern computers with no problems, given that the game is 14 years old.

Here is how CCP summarizes the brand new Resource Wars co-operative gameplay mode:

“Tensions are escalating in New Eden, and the battle for resources opens up new gameplay options! The Resource Wars offer tiered, short session co-op gameplay, as well as multiple player roles and strategy.

Find the Mining Expedition sites and fill your Empire’s haulers with as much mined ore as possible in the time allowed, while staving off any hostile attacks. Certain rare asteroids can increase the rewards available for these sites.

Join the Resource Wars and fuel your Empire’s ambition!”

 


A shot of my Venture mining frigate before entering Resource Wars.


A shot of my Venture mining frigate being shot at during a Resource Wars match.

Here is how CCP describes the brand new pirate faction Forward Operating Bases that are hidden throughout high-security Space:

Blood Raider and Guristas pirate bases have been spotted in High-Sec Empire space! Assemble formidable fleets with other players and go in for the kill. Be wary though, as the pirates will launch their own fleets in defense of their structures.

Rewards include ISK shared out among victorious attacking forces, as well as blueprints for faction structure modules.

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Pokemon Go Has Been Dropping Less Items For Some Players For A While Now

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Walking through downtown Calgary tonight I decided to login to Pokemon Go for the first time in several months and catch some spooky monsters from the Halloween event. My usual walking route contains approximately 20 or so PokeStops including a few Gyms, so when walking it forward & back, filling my item bag is usually par for the course. Except for tonight I noticed something odd – every Stop/Gym was only giving me two items. What the hell… 

After some sleuthing (e.g. Using Google) it turns out the Niantic has been messing with the drop rates of both PokeStops & Gyms for at least the past two weeks. Back on October 11th Reddit user, vtmcouver reported that they had begun to see Stops/Gyms drop only two items. Over the course of that evenings one particular user collected 250 spins from across the Reddit community (that’s a lot of walking) and came to some interesting conclusions: 

  • Gyms will only drop 2 to 3 items (not including bonuses for your team controlling the Gym or daily streaks). 
  • The differing drop rates may be tied to individual trainer accounts rather than be based on other criteria – say trainer location. 
  • If your account is affected there is only a %10 – %12 chance that you’ll receive a bonus third item per spin. 
  • Some players report never receiving a bonus item at all. 

These numbers aren’t exact, and I don’t expect that Niantic will comment on the item drop rate. It is a bit of a bummer – as a casual Pokemon Go player I kind of relied on regular PokeStop drops to provide me with enough Pokeballs to play. If these changes are indeed account wide, I guess all I can do is a shrug and I’ll be less inclined to play Pokemon Go as we head into the Winter months. 

Are you experience fewer item drops from Gyms & Pokestops? Let me know in the comments. 

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Nintendo Switch OS V4.0 Adds Video Capture For Select Titles

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The latest firmware update for Nintendo Switch is here, bringing our home menus to version 4.0 but also adding a feature that has been missing since launch: the ability to capture video clips. Switch now supports 30-second video clip capture via the capture button on the right JoyCon for select titles, unfortunately not all games are supported right now.  

Here is Nintendo’s official description of the new video capture feature: 

“To capture video in compatible games, hold down the capture button during gameplay. This will create a video clip of the last 30 seconds. You can then view the saved videos in your album, trim the beginning and end of each clip, and post videos to your Facebook page and Twitter feed. 

Currently, you can use this feature in the following games: 

  • The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild (version 1.3.0 and later) 
  • Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe (version 1.3.0 and later) 
  • ARMS™ (version 3.1.0 and later) 
  • Splatoon™ 2 (version 1.1.1 and later)” 

Preloading select games from the Nintendo E-Shop is also supported with Nintendo Switch OS V4.0. Owners with a preference for digital titles might look forward to a speedy unlock of Super Mario Odyssey when that releases later this month. Speaking of Odyssey, Nintendo added new Player Portrait options based on both Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey with this latest update.  

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The Elder Scrolls Online: Clockwork City Expansion Now Has A Release Date & Price

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Adventurers should be prepared to enter the world of mechanical gears and golden wonders as Bethesda & Zenimax Online Studios have announced that the Clockwork City DLC for The Elder Scrolls Online will be available on PC & Mac on October 23rd.  Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players will receive the add-on two weeks later, on November 7th. 

Players looking to experience the brand new single player content that ESO: Clockwork City has to offer will have a few different options to access the content. Clockwork City can be purchased as a standalone add-on pack through the Crown Store for 2000 crowns (closest IAP 3000 crowns for $39.99 CDN) – this adds the new zone to a players game forever without subscription. Those looking for a more premium package can opt for the Clockwork City Collector’s Bundle which includes the base DLC as well as “Clockwork Skeevaton pet, the Kagouti Fabricant mount, and Five Crown Experience Scrolls” additional items (closest IAP in the Crown Store being 5500 crowns for $49.99 CDN). Clockwork City will also be included as part of an Elder Scrolls Online Plus subscription which retails for $14.99 per month, although subscribers lose access to any unpurchased DLC should they end their subscription. 

A prologue quest leading up to the beginning of Clockwork City – titled “of knives and long shadows” can now be accessed at your local Mage’s Guild.

Here is the official description on how to begin that quest:

“Prominent diviners, scholars, and planar archaeologists are being killed by their own shadows, and it’s up to you to investigate these deadly assaults. To get started, travel to any local Mages Guild headquarters in Tamriel and find the note on a nearby table titled “Order of the Eye Dispatch”. Read the note to receive the quest “Of Knives and Long Shadows” and begin your new adventure.” 

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Nexon Closing Ghost In The Shell: First Assault On December 6th

Posted on September 29, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Nexon has announced that it will be shutter (“sunsetting”) the F2P first-person shooter Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex First Assault in four regions in early December. Players who purchased in-game currency will receive a refund of 100% if it was purchased before Feb of 2017, all other in-game purchases will be refunded at a rate of 50% but this does not apply to the initial purchase of the game client if bought through one of the several Early Access bundles sold before the F2p launch. 

I enjoyed the 4 or so hours I spent with the early access version of Ghost In The Shell back in 2015. Gameplay wise First Assault always felt somewhat lacking but the overall aesthetic, voicework and presentation certainly nailed the GITS aesthetic.  

In their official statement, which was emailed to registered players, the Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean regions are not mentioned as being slated for closure. This could mean that these three regions may still receive First Assault game support, but it simply went unstated. 

Below is Nexon’s message to players: 

“We’re sorry to inform you that we will be sunsetting Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex First Assault Online in North and South America, Europe, and the Oceania region, with final closure scheduled for December 6. 

This was a very tough decision to make. The game has been in development for a long time, supported by the developer, publisher, and community effort. Ultimately, we decided that continued development wasn’t going to help the game become what we all hoped it could become. We will be supporting the game for the next several months during the sunset period, allowing both the development and publishing teams and the community to say goodbye and enjoy the game. 

As a courtesy to our fantastic community, we will provide players with NX for items purchased.” 

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Heroes of the Storm Volskyia Foundry Event Now Live

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Heroes of the Nexus shall assemble within the foundries of Volskyia Industries with the latest in-game event for Blizzard’s MOBA. Bringing a brand new Overwatch themed Map (Volskyia Foundry), the elder sniper Anna from OW, a brand new A.I system and an in-game Pachimari limited time quest this event is a substantial amount of content for a game that has such a frequent release cycle. 

New Hero – Ana 

Seasoned sniper Ana enters the nexus with her trust biotic rifle and grenades on hand to lend support to her team. Her basic abilities allow players to shoot syringes full of healing serum at friendly targets or inflict poisonousness wounds that deal damage over time to enemy units. Biotic Grenade can either heal friendly units for a large amount or stop enemy heroes from receiving healing for a limited time. Her passive trait is pretty interesting, it is almost like Lunara’s poison, in that it applies DOT (damage over time) to those hit. Unlike Lunara’s basic attack trait, Ana’s can stack up to five times on a single target.  

Here is a breakdown of all of her basic moves, trait and ultimate abilities: 

Healing Dart – First dart to hit a friendly hero heals for 250. 
Biotic Grenade – Heal Heroes in range for 175 + they gain an additional 25% healing for next 4 seconds. Enemies hit with Biotic Grenade cannot receive healing for 2 seconds and take 60 DMG.
Sleep Dart – Put an enemy hero to sleep for 3 seconds, Attacking the same hero with a basic attack from any source causes them to wake up.
Nano Boost (Ultimate)  – Ana recovers 200 mana, friendly hero affected by Nano Boost 30% spell power and their basic ability cooldowns have a refresh % of 150%.
Eye of Horus (Ultimate) – Fire up to 8 specialized rounds. Enemies hit with rounds from Eye of Horus take 175 DMG, friendlies hit by Eye of Horus take additional 300 points healing. Ana is not able to move while using this ultimate.  

New Map – Volskyia Foundry 

Travel to the futuristic tundra of a Russian foundry in this brand new Overwatch map for Heroes of the Storm.  Unlike the currently pulled from rotation Hanamura map, Foundry has only one objective active at a time. With a small King of the Hill style objective point – each team must strategize effectively to control the objective or risk losing it to their opponents. Just like in Overwatch a contested point can go into a nail-biting overtime. Your team’s reward for holding the control point? The ability for two players at once to control a giant mech and march it straight to the enemy base. 

Pachimari Collection Quest 

For the next little while, a personal favorite of mine – Overwatch’s little Pachimari plush – will be collectible in Heroes of the Storm. At the start of a match, dozens of loot boxes will spawn on the field and the team that collects the highest number of Pachimari during those opening seconds are rewarded with progress towards the event quest. Not only do these event boxes contain “legendary” gold Pachimari but a “Pachimari MVP” is crowned before the gates come down to begin the match! 

 

What do you think of this HOTS event? Let me know in the comments section!

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Overwatch’s Junkertown Map Now Live Along With D.VA & Mercy Changes

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Today is a big day for Overwatch fans as the mid-September patch bringing additional damage to the Starcraft playing D.VA, a major rework for the German doctor Mercy and our first playable glimpse of post-apocalyptic Australia with the Junkertown map. 

Junkertown 

We previously covered this brand-new escort map which introduced us to one of the fandom’s favorite new (off-screen) characters – the Queen of Junkertown. Junkrat’s former home also played host to the last Overwatch animated short ‘the plan’ which hilariously featured Junkrat and Roadhog scheming to gain re-entry into this locked down settlement, only to fail spectacularly. You too can now escort an adorable Pachimari with a golden crown to the goal. 

Here is Blizzard’s official description of the map:

Junkertown is located in the harsh and unforgiving Australian Outback. Constructed from the remains of a destroyed omnium, it’s now the home to a band of lawless scavengers known as the Junkers, led by their cutthroat Queen. When they aren’t pillaging the omnium’s skeleton for anything of value, the Junkers blow off steam in the Scrapyard—a massive gladiatorial arena whose combatants fight for glory, riches… and to survive. 

D.VA Changes

Our favorite pro gamer has her damage mitigation nerfed in favor of additional DPS thanks to the addition of a brand new ‘micro missile’ ability. This new ability fires a volley of missiles in a straight line towards the center of D.VA’s vision. According to the patch notes Blizzard’s developers felt that Defense Matrix was too strong and reducing its up time without compensating would make D.VA too weak. This rectified with the addition of micro missiles and the fact that D.VA can now continue to fire her canons while using her boosters. 

D.va is ready to get her enemies in her sights. – Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment

Micro Missiles (New Ability) 

  • D.Va fires a barrage of small rockets that detonate on impact, dealing damage in a limited radius around each explosion. These can be fired while D.Va is using any other ability or firing her Fusion Cannons 
  • Defense Matrix 
  • Defense Matrix’s resource meter will now deplete twice as quickly 
  • Energy regeneration per second has been increased to 12.5% (formerly 10%) 
  • Boosters 
  • Fusion Cannons can now be fired while flying 

Mercy Changes

Probably the most striking in change in this update is the rework to Mercy – instead of her ultimate resurrecting an entire team she has a new ultimate called “Valkyrie”, she does, however, retain the ability to resurrect players with that ability becoming a single person rez every 30 seconds.  While in Valkyrie mode Mercy can fly in 3 dimensions for the duration of the Ulti, she does additional damage with her blaster pistol and both her damage boost beam and healing beam chain from one teammate to another if they are within proximity. Will her new ulti be enough to clinch a last-minute overtime victory? Time will tell.  

  • Resurrect (Formerly Mercy’s Ultimate ability)
    • Ability now targets a single player, instead of every player within a radius
    • Radius reduced to 5 meters
    • Ability cooldown is 30 seconds
    • Mercy is no longer granted invulnerability while Resurrect is active
  • Valkyrie (New Ultimate Ability)
    • Valkyrie unleashes the full power of Mercy’s Valkyrie suit, enhancing her weapons and abilities for 20 seconds
      • Caduceus Staff: Mercy’s healing and damage boost beams now affect all allies near the targeted teammate, and the staff’s effective range has been extended
      • Caduceus Blaster: Now has infinite ammo and increased projectile speed
      • Guardian Angel: Increased range and movement speed
      • Resurrect: Cooldown is instantly reset when Valkyrie is activated and reduced to 10s after the initial cast
      • Hover: Mercy gains the ability to fly freely, at increased movement speed
      • Regeneration (Passive): No longer interrupted when Mercy takes damage

Wrapping Things Up 

It is going to take some time for these major changes to two of Overwatch’s mainstays to work its way into the meta and for the community to adjust to them. While I’ve played a few games as both the damage dealing D.VA and reworked Mercy but I’m going to leave my impressions unwritten for a few days while I let the changes sink in.  

Let me know your thoughts on this latest Overwatch patch in the comments section below. 

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Battleborn Reaches The End of Its Life

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Gearbox Software’s FPS / MOBA mash-up Battleborn will see its final update released later this fall and while the servers will remain online “for the foreseeable future” the game will not receive any new content or patches.  Pretty sad for a game that went Free to Play less than three months ago – but remember in Gearbox’s own words, Battleborn was never F2P but simply an “unlimited demo”. 

You might remember the short-lived Overwatch Vs. Battleborn “rivalry” that sprung up in May 2016 after both games were slotted for release that same month. Both games had a few similarities – a roster of hero characters with unique abilities, FPS gameplay with different objective types and while both games focused on co-operative teamplay, Battleborn took a lot more from the MOBA playbook when compared with Overwatch – with A.I minions and defensive structures that could be bolstered by players. 

Battleborn got absolutely trounced by Blizzard’s behemoth of a game – eventually ceding so much market share to other titles that the game had only a couple of hundred players online at any given time before the “unlimited” trial was released this past June.  Gearbox’s changes would bring in a strong population boost with an all-time peak of 12,000 players – sadly today this is down to less than 120 players according to Steam Chars. 

For the few that hung around for the long haul Gearbox will release a final patch with brand new skins before closing this chapter of their history to work on an “unannounced title”. 

Here is, in part, a statement from the game’s Creative Director:

“As of this week, there will be no more Battleplans and there is currently no planned content after the Fall Update. Details of any future changes or news will be made on our forums or through social media, so keep your radars on.

Never fear! Battleborn is here to stay. Nothing is changing with Battleborn, and the servers will be up and active for the foreseeable future. We announced the Fall Update for the game at PAX including some new skins, themed around some of your favorite Borderlands characters! That update will also include some updated title art (more full bar titles!) for the more significant challenges in the game, as well as some additional Finisher Boosts and Taunts. Also, there are minor balance changes in that patch.

If you’ve been paying attention to recent news from the Gearbox Panel at PAX West, you’ll have heard that many folks at Gearbox are working on a highly anticipated project. Although I’m sad my time on Battlebornis coming to a close, I’m happy to announce that I will play a significant role on this highly anticipated but unannounced game, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing some from me again in the future regarding Gearbox games.”

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Quake Champions Developers Discuss Network Improvements & Future Content

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Every week developers from id Software take to Twitch.TV to discuss upcoming content, balance passes and other changes coming to Quake Champions. They also dedicate a good amount of time to answering questions from the community – whether these questions have been gathered from the Bethesda forums, official GC discord or social media. 

Last week’s stream, held on September 8th, featured a number of questions surrounding the possibility of new content – specifically themed seasonal events akin to those done for Overwatch and purchasable shaders. Other questions of interest included what the devs are working on to combat “rubber banding” (other player avatars moving erratically or not playing the correct animations) and Rockets which seem to still be registering 0 DMG randomly. 

 

In regards to Shaders it doesn’t sound like the devs will be making them purchasable with Shards anytime soon. Looks like they will be staying as challenge rewards and lootbox drops: 

  1. Willcolour-shadersbe purchaseable with favour?
    No, probably not. The reason is that we think that the lootbox makes a good case for us. We talked about it in a previous written AMA in the form of “premium shaders” (purchasable premium shaders), but the “standard shaders” we have now is a good way to ensure there are things to earn. If you could buy them individually, there’d just be a lot of content you wouldn’t want anyway. 

New announcers may be added in the future in the form of “Announcer Packs” after Early Access has concluded:

8. New Announcers
We’d like to introduce Announcer Packs, but Early Access is not the time for it. From our experience, it’s very easy to find you need to add new announcer lines for new modes, for example, and if we record them now, we have to go back and re-record those sets, which is costly and difficulty.
Once more things are settled, we’ll get to work on them, however. 

New music is on the roadmap for future updates – with one developer even floating the idea of unlockable “music packs”. To be fair it sounds like a lot of this stuff is preliminary: 

  1. More ambient tracks, more music.
    Yes, a great idea. We have it planned, and definitely, a feature coming online soon. Music drops in packs, or something?

Network related issues with Quake Champions have been widely reported among the community. At one point during the Closed Beta Test it wasn’t uncommon to see your foes “stutter” up stairs and other elevated objects with no animations. Since then the devs at id & Sabre have worked to move QC from a client side damage model to a server simulation model. 

Here is a bit about that change and how internal testing works for QC: 

Road ahead:
When we design QC and architected the network code, we designed and programmed it for every system we possibly could, but for a game as complex as QC we have servers across the world, different ISPs, and millions of PC configurations, so we do run into issues we had no idea we would run into. So, we try to identify and crush those. This is why we started in Beta and moved into Early Access – but we’re still working on all these aspects. 

“If you, at any point, feel you are rubber-banding, your ping fluctuates, etc., then we are actively trying to identify those issues and their solutions, trying to fix it — we’re actively working on it; we know we need to fix the net-code! 

Some improvements will be small, some will be large, but there isn’t one big fix-all. 
We have to find the issue, solve it, and test and hope it works in the real world. 

We’re for example about to do an internal tests in regards to compression methodolgy, and we hope that it will give a huge boost in performance, but it’s a slow process. 

A lot of the comments online are about net-code, which tend to become a big bucket. But there are these isolated events and issues that get lumped together – we’re trying to break them down and test them, so we have some topics we want to cover: 

Previously the game worked – in regards to hit-detection – by being able to shoot the actual model, while the server would calculate all those animations you saw. The server was trying to synchronize the exact shape on both ends, but it is too CPU intensive, and a bit less forgiving, as just a minute discrepancy is enough to desync the client and server. So we’re moving towards static hit-meshes. In essence, giving the models a static mesh that could be hit – imagine putting a sheet over the character, it encompasses everything they “take up in space”, but without gaps (e.g. armpits, etc.).

As time goes by, we’ll include more animation states (more sheets).

Special thanks to Santiak of the Quake Champions community for providing the above-paraphrased quotes from the official live stream. QC entered Early Access at the end of August and it sounds like the devs have a lot more planned in terms of content but also network and hit box registration in the coming patches. 

I’ll continue to monitor developments with Quake Champions and report any major developments in upcoming blog posts. 

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100 Person Elimination Added To Fornite In Upcoming Battle Royale Update

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The battle royale formula should be pretty familiar to anyone who has watched/played popular games like Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, H1Z1 or even the most recent Grand Theft Auto V online expansion. 100 players parachute down onto a small section of the map and must scavenge for supplies and be the last person standing before a toxic cloud or plague wipes them from the face of this earth. It is a successful formula and can lead to moments of tensions almost unrivaled from other action sub-genres. 

Epic Game’s currently buy-to-play survival/tower defense hybrid Fortnite joins in on battle royale fun with an upcoming addition – ‘Battle Royale PVP’.  Hoping to stand out from the rest of the pack with its unique building mechanics – surviving in Fortnite’s best of 100 player matches might just come down to building the right structures along with a little bit of luck and picking the right supplies. 

Anyone who owns Fortnite can try out the Battle Royale PVP mode for themselves thanks to the Public Test which runs from today until the mode officially drops on September 26th. In addition to the Public Test, both the Standard and Founders package is 25% off. That means that the Standard package is $29.99 USD, Rare Starter Pack (with 8 heroes) is $44.99 USD and the Legendary Edition is $149.99 USD. 

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‘The Architect’ Update For Osiris: New Dawn Released With 33% Off Sale

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Multiplayer space survival title Osiris: New Dawn received the substantial ‘Architect’ update today alongside a 33% discount on Steam for the next week. To celebrate the release developer Fenix Fire released a brand-new trailer, a list of major features for this update and a screenshot gallery. 

In the new ‘Creative Mode’ players are not constrained by the need for building materials, the bodily needs for survival or filling out tech trees. Gameplay sliders allow the host of a game session to adjust individual values like Structure Decay, Fall Duration, and many others. The introduction of Stackable Habitable Spaces provides fledgling architects with new dwellings to add to their favorite base designs. 

Here is a full feature list provided by Fenix Fire’s PR representatives: 

  • Creative Mode – Players can now enjoy a near-limitless sandbox game mode to build all sorts of amazing structures. Huge highways, large walled buildings, and massive landmarks are just some of the custom structures that can be made. 
  • New Base Defenses and Utilities – Gamers can make use of different wall materials to reinforce their base of operations and take advantage of new electric fences, sling turrets, and electro-dome defenses. 
  • Stackable Habitat Structures – Increase the colony’s livable space with stackable habitat structures connected with automated elevators. 
  • Better Starting Equipment – A new beginning point as well as better starting equipment will ease new space adventurers into the harsh alien environment. 
  • New Weapon: Bolt Rifle – The update introduces the powerful Bolt Rifle, a higher-powered, single shot weapon with tremendous range. 
  • Batch Crafting and Auto Mining – Automate multiple crafting needs with Batch Crafting and never worry about searching for excavated minerals with the new Auto Mining option. 
  • Rebalanced Skill Trees – Skill trees for every class have been rebalanced for better overall player progression. 
  • New Gameplay Sliders – Customize the game with a huge assortment of slider options including Structure Decay Speed, Hover Duration, Fall Damage and much more. 

If you’d like to check out the trailer here it is:

Osiris New Dawn launched in Steam Early Access almost a year ago in September 2016. It holds an overall “Mostly Positive” rating according to Steam User Reviews and received the “Best New Survival” award at the 2016 Penny Arcade Expo West. Until September 18th it is available for the discounted price of $18.75 CDN. 

New Screenshots:

 

This post contains images and copy-text that were provided by either this game’s developer or PR agency, editorial comments by our staff are not the viewers of the game’s developers and vice versa. 

 

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First Major Update For Halo Online In Years– ElDewrito 0.60 – Due Out For Halo 3’s 10th Anniversary

Posted on August 26, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Microsoft may have no public plans to mark the upcoming 10th anniversary of Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 but that hasn’t stopped a group of dedicated fans from working on a project that Microsoft themselves abandoned. For the first time in several years, the first major update to Halo Online will be made available before the end of September 2017. 

Halo Online was short lived free to play adaptation of Halo 3’s multiplayer component ported to modern x64 Windows operating systems and updated with original content and Sabre Interactive’s own proprietary online technology. The game was never publicly available and Microsoft only ever tested the game in a limited alpha state and beta tests in Russia between Spring 2015 and August 2016. 

Fans got their hands on a leaked build of the Halo Online game client shortly after one of the initial Alpha tests in Spring 2015and quickly built the Eldewrito client/server that provided Halo 3 veterans a chance to relive the iconic multiplayer from 2007 on a brand new platform. While development slowed down and eventually splintered into two separate teams: Eldewrito and Project Anvil, things seem to have culminated behind the scenes in the first major update to the game just in time to commemorate a decade since Master Chief’s initial jump to the Xbox 360. 

Eldewrito 0.60 can be expected to have three major pillars of new content and adjustments with this new patch. Dual Wielding was missing from the leaked alpha build that Eldewrito was based upon but it looks like the development team has added their own take on this Halo 3 mainstay. Another addition new to the Halo franchise that debuted in Halo 3 but has been missing from Halo Online is deployable equipment and now that alongside brand-new server settings, server browser adjustments and customization options are coming. The other two major categories for version 0.6.0 are Forge Additions and Quality of Life updates. 

It would be disingenuous to write about Halo Online without acknowledging that Microsoft eventually ported Halo 5’s Forge and Multiplayer mode to Windows 10 and even eventually added a Custom Games Browser allowing players to the latest multiplayer suite and create new maps with Forge for free on PC. Despite the official backing of Microsoft and the marketing muscle that is implied – Halo Online has at least six games that are public and near full during the writing of this post. Halo 5: Forge returned just five open game sessions during the same period. 

Halo Online has quite a bit of staying power, especially considering that the whole thing is community run and developed by a group of volunteers. Check out some dedicated highlights of Eldewrito 0.6 features taken from a recent Reddit post. You can also check out a preview of 0.6’s updated menu in the embedded video below. Sabre Interactive wouldn’t be shy away from the F2P online shooter genre – as they’re currently working alongside id Software on the recently launched Quake Champions. 

 

Feature/Content Additions  

  • Dual Wielding 
  • Equipment Yes, we’ve completely fixed equipment (Bubble Shield, Trip Mine, ect.) and even have a couple new ones that were not in Halo 3. 
  • Multi-Team 
  • Automated Dedicated Servers 
  • Configurable Voting Systems 
  • Halo 3 Veto style 
  • Halo Reach style 
  • UI Improvements/Additions 
  • Player Customization 
  • Game/Server Settings 
  • In-Game Server Browsers – ScooterPSU – Halostats 
  • Lots of HUD fixups – Voice Chat indicator – Binoculars – Dual Wielding hud 

Massive Forge Improvements 

  •  New Forge Pieces – Another Creation 
  • Increased Object Limit 
  • Object Grouping and Cloning/Duplication 
  • Quick Search 
  • Magnets (snap objects by refined points/magnets) 
  • Rotation Snap 
  • WIP forge improvements (materials, phase toggle) – subject to change 

Quality Of Life Improvements & Major Bug Fixes 

  •  Completely Removed Scaleform (Saber’s UI)  This results in about a 5 fps increase from 0.5.1.1 
  • Audio lag/delay has been fixed. 
  • Broken spawn system has been fixed. 
  • Physics have been Fixed. (You no longer drop like a rock off of ledges) 
  • Micro stutters have been fixed. 
  • Global memory expansion. Allows Forging on Edge 
  • Password-protected Rcon 

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Junkertown Animated Short & Trailer Showcases Overwatch’s Latest Map

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The Australian crime duo of Roadhog and Junkrat star in a hilarious animated short designed to promote the upcoming map, Junkertown. A mix between the stylish post-apocalyptic aesthetic of Mad max and the comedic  tomfoolery of a character like Junkrat, these two pieces of media provide our first in-game glimpse of the Australia wasteland that has been teased since the game’s release.

I think my favorite part of the whole trailer has to be Junkrat’s continually revised plan and of course the gold crown on Pachimari – because if any Overwatch character deserves some swag it is Pachimari.

Here is a bit about the founding of Junkertown curotesy of the Overwatch Wikia:

“After the Omnic Crisis, the Australian government hoped to restore peace with the omnics by granting them a large area of land surrounding the Australian omnium. In doing so, many residents of the outback were displaced, and some of them, including Roadhog, formed a group of rebels they called the Australian Liberation Front. The ALF eventually managed to sabotage the omnium’s fusion core, which blew up the omnium, irradiated the area, and scattered scrap metal across the outback.

Survivors would go on to build Junkertown in the ruins of the destroyed omnium. The town’s residents, called Junkers, make a living scavenging parts from the omnium’s skeleton. In the center of town is a gladiatorial arena called the Scrapyard where the Queen of Junkertown oversees mech battles.”

It is unknown if both the upcoming free for all and team death match modes and Junkertown will launch on the live servers simotanously as one update or if they’ll be spread across two updates over the course of September. FFA and TDM are already available on PTR.

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Elder Scrolls Online: Horns of Reach DLC Add-On Released Alongside New Update

Posted on August 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Two brand new dungeons for The Elder Scrolls Online – Bloodroot Forge and Falkreath Hold are now available through the Crown Shop on PC & Mac and will be coming to both PlayStation 4 & Xbox One on August 29th. These two optional challenging dungeons have been released alongside a brand new battleground for owners of The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind as well as a free update that provides a number of bug fixes for all players. 

Here is the description of Bloodroot Forge from the official announcement: 

“Burning with hatred and thirsty for vengeance, the Reachmen have discovered the location of a dreadful secret: the Bloodroot Forge. This altar to all things primal and untamed grants a terrible power to those who would wield it. Venture into the Bloodroot Forge to stop the Reachmen and their Minotaur allies – before it’s too late.” 

If you’re wondering, yes Falkreath also has a summary: 

“Falkreath’s defenses are breached. The Minotaur and their Reachmen allies are relentless, pouring through the hold’s broken walls. Soon, Falkreath Hold will fall. Gather your most trusted companions and set forth. You are the last line of defense.” 

Players can get a pair of brand new instances for 1500 Crowns (aprox $20 CDN) or access the two trials as part of an Elder Scrolls Online subscription. 

Adventurers in the world of Tamriel looking for a new mount can purchase the Horns of Reach Dungeon unlock combined with the Okami-esque Karthwolf Charger mount and Karthwolf Shepherd pet for 3,500 crowns. To be honest I am really digging the Karthwolf Charger Mount and might pick it up when my next month’s Crown allotment comes in. 

New options for Giuildmasters, adjustments to combat, the addition of colorblind ability procs a Writ Merchant Inventory and a Champion Points boost from 330 to 360 round out the improvements available to all players in Update 15. 

Here is a summary from the official site: 

  • Various fixes and updates to combat, gameplay, Alliance War, crafting, dungeons, balance, questing, and more 
  • Improvement to Guild functionality including Guild Invite History and a new “View Guild Bank Gold” rank permission 
  • Improvements to Crafting functionality including research cancelling and more 
  • Customizable Combat Cues from the Settings menu 
  • Improvements to itemization, including Guild Store furniture previews 
  • Updates to the master Writ Merchant’s inventory 
  • New Furnishings and a new home Hakkvild’s High Hall. 
  • Champion Point increase from 630 – 660 
  • Three new Crafting Motifs: Hlaalu, Redoran, and Telvanni (ESO: Morrowind owners only) 
  • And more! 

Zenimax Online was kind enough to provide me access to The Horns of Reach for editorial coverage. Look forward to video capture from both Bloodroot Forge and Falkreath, as well as written impressions in the coming days. 

[Source]

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