Category: News

December’s Free Game Roundup (Powered by Red Bull)


Today’s post isn’t sponsored by Red Bull, but I’ve drank more than a healthy amount over the last week so theoretically this post is powered by it.

Xbox Live:

  1. Castlevania: Lord of Shadow – Mirror of Fate HD (Dec 16 – 31)
  2. The Final Station (Nov 16 – Dec 15)
  3. Insane Robots (Dec 1 – 31)
  4. Toy Story 3 (Dec 1 – 15)
  5. Jurassic World Evolution (Dec 16 – Jan 15)

Games Pass:

  1. The Witcher III – Console
  2. Darksiders III – Console & PC
  3. Halo Reach – Console & PC
  4. My Friend Pedro – Console & PC
  5. Life is Strange 2 – Console
  6. The Red Strings Club – PC

Playstation Plus:

  1. Titanfall 2
  2. Monster Energy Supercross

Stadia:

  1. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
  2. Farming Simulator 19

Ghost Recon Breakpoint Players Demand AI Partners


Ghost Recon Breakpoint was such a disappointment that its release sales and subsequent response from the community resulted in Ubisoft taking a big financial hit and also fundamentally overhauling the way that they approve and release games. Since the game’s launch and commercial disappointment, Ubisoft has been taking strides in figuring out just what the community wants out of the game. Since they missed the mark so clearly the first time around.

Cue in a big community survey, and the results are in. In terms of content changes, more than half of players requested the AI partners that were present in Ghost Recon Wildlands be added into the game. More than a third of players requested the removal of gear score and tiered loot, as well as enemy AI improvements, and the ability to sell all equipment at once. Finally, nearly one third of players asked for the online-only nature of the game to be removed.

But you already knew that if you read the header image.

If you head over to the Breakpoint Reddit post, Ubisoft has laid out a massive list of changes coming to Breakpoint over the next year as well as when players can expect them to be implemented.

Steam Releases: Stay Out


Want a new MMORPG loosely based on the Stalker games? You’re in luck. Last week saw the launch of a new survival MMO on Steam. Stay Out is the latest in Stalker-inspired games developed by Mobile Technologies LLC. The title was previously called Stalker Online and may have changed its name to avoid copyright problems with the guys that created the actual S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.

And it is free to play.

“Discover a world full of dangers and incredible events, which has its own laws and principles.
Become one of the “Stalkers” – people living the romance of the unknown, able to overcome any trials in search of artifacts on the territory of the Alienation Zone.
Take a look beyond the edge of the unknown, where the secrets of nature and deadly dangers await the daredevils at every turn.
Survive in harsh conditions, when you count every sip of water and every match.
Secret laboratories, life forms of unknown origin, mysterious anomalies, and strange artifacts that challenge our knowledge of the laws of nature – all this is a huge world of “Stay Out”.”

Reviews for the game are presently mixed, with players noting a pay-to-win cash shop as well as horrible translations into English and a tutorial that is boring and doesn’t really do much to teach you about the game. There are also complaints about people griefing as well as the pvp system that allows players to camp outside of towns and kill newer players to steal their inventory.

Play at your own risk.

Source: Steam

Kritika: Reboot Announces Server Bans, Trade Restrictions, New Class


Kritika: Reboot has been quite busy these last few days. To start off the news, publisher ALLM Co. has announced several waves of bans due to illegal trading of in-game currency. The ban list of names can be found on the Steam news page. Secondly, in order to combat fraudulent trading of items, the company has sent out warnings by in-game mail to those who purchased in-game goods illegally. In addition to the warnings, Kritika has implemented trade restrictions on all characters under level 20.

And now some good news. Kritika players will be happy to know that it is now possible to reserve a character slot for the upcoming release of Kritika’s next character class. The HongRyoung is an archer class that uses bows and arrows and according to Kritika’s charts ranks at very high combat power with mid-tier difficulty and survivability ratings. Players can create a character and reserve a level that will present them with a celebration box for achieving. The class is not yet available to play.

Stadia Offering Refunds For Early Buyers Of Freebies


This week Google announced that December will bring with it two new Stadia games: Farming Simulator 19 and Tomb Raider. The news is great if you’re one of those people who bought a Stadia and wanted some more free games. If you’re one of the people who bought those games only to see them be handed out for free barely two weeks after the device launched, you’re probably not too happy.

While Tomb Raider purchasers would normally just be out $10, Farming Simulator 19 costs $40. That’s a steep price for two weeks early access to a game that technically released over a year ago. Thankfully even Google is smart enough to know when to fold them, and announced that both games will be refunded to those who ask for it, even if it is outside of the normal policy.

“We know that some users have recently purchased these two games for their collection. Because of the proximity between the launch of the platform, and the announcement of these titles in Stadia Pro, we’re happy to assist you if you’d like to request a refund if you have purchased either or both of these titles, even if it’s outside of our normal policy.”

You’ll need to manually request a refund, however.

Source: Stadia

Gamigo Disables Ayanad Library On ArcheAge Unchained


Gamigo today announced that the Ayanad Library has been disabled on ArcheAge Unchained pending removal.

Howdy everyone,

The Ayanad Library has been disabled. It was planned to be retired in an upcoming update, but because of the performance issues it is causing, we have disabled it on ArcheAge: Unchained. Players that were in progress on Ayanad Library related quests, like the Ayanad Earring, will have those quests refreshed in an upcoming update. Affected players will be able to continue making progress after the update is released, which is anticipated for some time this December.

Thanks for your understanding and feedback!

~The ArcheAge Team

The Ayanad Library is an instance in ArcheAge that many players use to level up their characters. It also appears to be the source for major server lag due to the number of players opening instances.

Source: ArcheAge

Best MMORPG Sales, Courtesy of Massively Overpowered


I’m not going to say that MMO Fallout doesn’t run massive sales roundups because I don’t get paid to do this, but the last time I checked I haven’t written myself a single check that hasn’t bounced. Thankfully while I might be both a cheap boss and a layabout worker (have you seen this website recently?), there is one crew that prides itself on their work.

If you’re looking for a roundup of the best sales this week has to offer, check out Bree’s post over at Massively Overpowered. She details not just sales on games but sales within games if you’re looking for that latest piece of Lord of the Rings Online DLC or World of Warcraft expansion.

Check it out. It’ll save you a buck.

PSA: Want The Steam Controller? It’s On Sale (And Discontinued)


The Steam Controller is on sale for 90% off as part of Steam’s Autumn Sale. If you were looking to pick one up but for some reason still haven’t done so, you’ll want to take advantage of this sale. The Steam Controller is going away.

Presently priced at $5 plus shipping (your mileage may vary), Valve has confirmed that this batch of controllers will be the last. After that? You’ll need to go to the second hand market. The store page also notes that due to high demand, shipping may be delayed. The controller should ship and arrive within 4-8 days once the order is processed.

Source: Steam

ArcheAge Dealing With DDOS Attacks As Servers Strain


If you’re having trouble logging into ArcheAge today, you aren’t alone. Gamigo has stated via the official ArcheAge Twitter account that servers are dealing with several distributed denial of service attacks that the company is working on mitigating.

Players may have trouble logging in during this period.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Jagex Grinds Out 120 Farming/Herblore This Week


Jagex this week gave its players a new reason to grind out those levels and farm those farms with the expansion of two skills and introduction of new content to RuneScape.

Foremost on the list of additions this week is the expansion of the Farming and Herblore skills, increasing the skill caps to 120 and enabling an array of new content to make that level grind a little bit more worth the time. On the farming side, players now have access to the Ranch Out Of Time (Blue Cheese Out Of Time for players in Buffalo) where players can farm and breed dinosaurs in a new set of farming paddocks located on Anachronia. In addition to dinosaurs, players will also be able to grow a set of new plants and access new farming plots.

On the herblore side, leveling past 99 will give access to potion bombs.

“As players work towards 120 Farming, they’ll unlock new content at every single level: new mushrooms, new cactus patches, and the elusive Money Tree await. They’ll be able to use all these new ingredients to make potent potions that provide short-but-powerful benefits on a whole range of attributes, and the new herblore skills will allow players to concoct something even more explosive: bombs!  Sticky bombs, poison bombs, vulnerability bombs and more – the higher your Herblore level, the more efficient you will become at crafting bombs. Have fun on our rather ferocious farm!”

This week also marks the launch of the Yak Track, RuneScape’s answer to the titular battle pass. \

Source: RuneScape