The unveiling of Omega prestige for Marvel Heroes Omega wasn’t entirely positive, with many players taking umbrage with the newly introduced seventy Omega prestige levels. As each prestige level offers more power, in order to fully kit out your character, that means reaching Omega prestige and then going through the increasingly arduous leveling process seventy times, going back to level one each time, losing your powers, and having to re-gear.
As a result, Gazillion has laid out plans for omega prestige going forward, including adding the benefits of Omega up front rather than requiring players to level up over and over again to become more powerful:
Instead of removing power entirely, we are instead frontloading some of the bonuses onto Omega Prestige 1 (final values still being determined). This means that the Omega Traits will have much more potency as soon as they are acquired, and will not require any further leveling to get more powerful. All of the power gained from Omega Prestige will be given immediately, up-front.
To make omega prestige levels attractive, Gazillion will begin rewarding currency for each prestige level gained that can be redeemed for prestigious loot boxes containing boosts and other rewards. Characters who prestige will also receive scaling gear that should mitigate the grind to re-roll gear. The prestige gear will grow with the player and inevitably be replaced by higher tier gear closer to end-game.
Today’s RuneScape update marks the introduction of Dimensions of the Damned, a 10 day competitive mode where players race to survive in a world overrun by zombies. As a purely player vs monster mode, Dimensions kits players out with capped stats and throws them into a post apocalyptic Gielinor, complete with the walking dead.
The goal here is to complete sessions which gave an hour to rack up points by killing zombies. Cosmetic rewards can be won by completing tasks (killing more zombies) but the ultimate goal is placement on the leaderboards. At the end of the event, the top 1,000 players will gain access to the finale, a last man standing mode with real world prizes (lifetime membership, collectibles, etc)
“We’ve played with the idea of survival modes in RuneScape in the past, most notably with our DarkScape experiment a couple of years ago, and they’ve proved popular. However, as a purely PvE survival game mode, Dimension of the Damned is quite unlike anything we’ve released before,” said Matt Casey, Senior Product Manager, RuneScape. “We’re really looking forward to seeing how tactics develop over the coming days as players try to reach the finale and compete to win an incredible set of prizes, but with only 1,000 places available in the endgame expect the competition to be stiff and full of rigor (mortis).”
Check out more on Dimensions of the Damned at the link below.
Humble Bundle has been owned by gaming website IGN, by which we mean that IGN is now the owner of Humble Bundle. It will take helm of one of the top gaming charities, whose bundles have not just supplied gamers with endless piles of cheap fun, but have also supplied charities to the tune of over $100 million.
“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” said Galbraith, who explained that IGN started looking to make a deal like this nearly a year ago. “The idea is just to feed them with the resources they need to keep doing what they’re doing.”
The news has no doubt called into question the ethics of having a company that reviews games be directly connected to a store that could sell those games, but IGN has stated that the two entities will remain entirely independent.
(Our thoughts: To the dismay of Humble Bundle’s finance department, IGN pushed the contribution slider 100% toward giving the money to charity. This news also comes alongside the announcement that IGN has once again not acquired MMO Fallout)
I’m not entirely happy with the press coverage of Epic Games’ lawsuit. If you’ve been reading the news this week, you may be under the impression that Epic Games was so angry about two particular players cheating in Fortnite that the game developer decided to take these two individuals to court. This isn’t exactly the case.
Epic Games has filed complaints against Charles Vraspir and Brandon Boom in separate cases in North Carolina district court. Unsurprisingly, Epic has chosen to go with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for their main point of attack, alleging that the cheats involve illegally modifying the game code. By going for copyright infringement, Epic is looking to slap both defendants with some potentially hefty fines (up to $150,000 each) plus damages and any additional profits that the defendants made from the sale of said cheats. In the interim, Epic is seeking an injunction preventing the defendants from continuing to use and advertise said cheat programs.
One interesting note in this lawsuit that may help their case is intent. The lawsuit docket makes several notes of both Vraspir and Boom stating that their goal is to ruin the business viability of Fortnite by making the game as unbearable to play as possible.
In an effort to adversely impact as many people as possible while playing and cheating at Fortnite, Defendant specifically targets streamers. He has declared that it is his objective to prevent streamers from winning the game and has boasted in online cheating discussion channels that his goal is to “stream snipe,” i.e., kill streamers as they stream. Defendant has said that making streamers hate Fortnite is Defendant “in a nutshell.”
Epic also alleges that Vraspir’s conduct may be related to the fact that he was banned from Fortnite PvE for cheating:
Defendant’s unlawful conduct may be the result of a misplaced antipathy towards Epic because he was banned from Epic for cheating.
This is known in court as the famous “u mad” strategy.
Now those of you who read In Plain English know that the legality of cheating has come up in the past. The court ruled that the use of bot software in World of Warcraft did not constitute copyright infringement because the software itself was found to not violate Blizzard’s copyright. If the software is found to be violating Epic’s copyright by making illegal modifications or by violating DMCA rules in circumventing protections, it could spell trouble.
This is a copyright infringement and breach of contract case in which the Defendant is infringing Epic’s copyrights by injecting unauthorized computer code into the copyright protected code of Epic’s popular Fortnite® video game. In so doing, Defendant is creating unauthorized derivative works of Fortnite by modifying the game code and, thus, materially altering the game that the code creates and the experience of those who play it.
The Fortnite cheat in question has been discontinued on the cheat maker’s website, along with a Paragon cheat that was similarly discontinued over legal disputes from Epic.
How would you like to earn money while playing a game where shooting streamers is legal?
Daybreak Game Company today announced that its Battle Royale shooter H1Z1: King of the Kill will be getting the pro gaming treatment. Already host to professional tournaments, Daybreak has partnered with Twin Galaxies to create a “sustainable, first of its kind, professional esports league for the “one versus all” battle royale genre.”
The partnership has already produced a gamer’s bill of rights, guaranteeing the right to a “fair and livable wage,” as well as a governance committee and “best-in-class principles.” The league conference will be held on October 20, with the application window on the 23, team announcements in Q1 2018, and league play beginning in Q2 2018.
The league will consist of 15 teams of 5 players. There will be no fees or buy in costs for teams to participate.
Funcom today released the latest update to Secret World Legends, introducing the Orochi Tower and bringing the Tokyo story to a close. Players have been keeping an eye on the so far inaccessible tower since Tokyo became available earlier this year.
Now that the area is accessible, players will finally be able to bring the story arc to an end.
“This final chapter of the Tokyo saga features hours of new story and gameplay content,” says Executive Producer Scott Junior. “Players get to explore over 20 sections of the massive tower, fighting their way to the top to uncover dark secrets behind the Orochi Corporation’s experiments. This concludes the Tokyo storyline and brings Secret World Legends up to date with the content of The Secret World. From here on out it will be unexplored territory for everyone and we are very excited about the future.”
More details on the update can be found on the official website.
Square Eninx today released patch 4.1 for Final Fantasy XIV, bringing players back to Ivalice. The update includes more main scenario quests, a new 24-player raid series, a new high level dungeon, solo dungeons, housing areas and more. Solo dungeons are an interesting concept, it appears that players are able to hire squadrons which can be leveled up and commanded to aid you in your dungeon raiding, however they are only available for certain dungeons.
The highly anticipated new story arc and alliance raid will send players to the ruins of the Royal City of Rabanastre as they learn more about the Majestic Imperial Theater Company and unravel the mysteries of the legend of Ivalice.
Star Wars: Battlefront II just recently launched its open beta, and it is getting panned by critics and users alike over pay to win elements present in the game.
With the latest title in the Battlefront franchise, EA/Dice decided to go down the route of loot boxes as the main source of secondary income, tying abilities and crafting materials to random chance. Users have been pointing out how powerful the abilities are, such as an ability for Bobba Fett which allows him to take 100% less damage (effectively invulnerable) while flying with his jetpack, and how the expense/rarity of obtaining or crafting said abilities is encouraging players to spend a ton of money on crates in order to not be at a disadvantage. Another example includes up to 40% health increases on bombers.
Have you played the Battlefront II beta? If so, do you agree with the critics below?
So if I spend $200 on crates, open or craft all the best cards I can, then face an equally skilled opponent at the same level as me who didn’t spend money, I will likely win because I have better tools available.
–IGN
To make matters worse, awarded currency comes in at a flat rate for the team regardless of performance, making it even harder to strategically earn to earn everything the game has to offer.
–Kitguru
What’s even worse is that for some reason, the developers have decided that it’s okay for progression to be completely random. Unlike the previous game, regardless of which classes or even mode you’re playing, the loot box system completely dictates the overall progression.
–WCCFTech
Cards are not rewarded based on the class you play, so if you’re unlucky you could end up with a bunch of garbage for a class you never touch. It also has made leveling meaningless—unlike Overwatch, there’s no crate reward for gaining a level, which is utterly bizarre.
–PCWorld
Put simply, this is an exploitative and greedy system I’m surprised has made it this far. Question is, will EA let it go the whole way, or will it use a saving throw and alter the system for full release?
–Eurogamer
What can I do to side-step this bad luck? Well, EA could ask me to spend real money of course. Buying as many loot crates as I need to get the abilities I want, either using crafting parts or waiting until the RNG falls on my side. People who would buy the most loot crates on day one will have a significant advantage over those players that don’t, which is depressing because the underlying game seems supremely amazing.
–Windows Central
And if these loot boxes are purchasable from the get-go, yes, I can imagine that players who buy say, 50 boxes on launch day will be at an advantage over someone who is going to grind out 50 boxes over the course of the next month, even if the “opportunity” is there for them to get the same amount of crates when one pays and one doesn’t.
–Forbes
There is something about the timing of Battlefront 2’s release that coincides with the ongoing debate in the gaming community regarding loot boxes. But of the games listed as “offenders” so far, Battlefront 2 is the game critics are singling out as having a particularly hostile loot system.
–US Gamer
While Star Wars Battlefront 2 has yet to be released, unless the ability to purchase loot crates with cash is removed from the game, it’s difficult to see how EA could change the current system without it being pay-to-win.
–Game Revolution
The effects of Fortnite Battle Royale on Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds appears to be nil, at least in the sense that the former has seen a great deal of success and yet the latter continues to rise in popularity. Launched as a free addition to Fortnite, Epic’s Battle Royale clocked in an impressive 525,000 peak concurrent user count with 3.7 million daily active users. If Battle Royale was a Steam title, that would put it somewhere in fourth place below PUBG, Dota 2, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Meanwhile, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds continues to shatter records on Steam, setting a new peak of 1.98 million players on Saturday October 9.
Both titles are currently dealing with a swarm of cheaters, an inevitable outcome given the overall active user base. Fortnite announced that it has banned thousands of cheaters and will continue working on features that reward legitimate players while punishing people who cycle through throwaway accounts. In spite of these efforts, Epic also announced that Fortnite is experiencing an issue with false positive bans.
Bluehole meanwhile continues to work against cheating with some success. Despite their efforts, blatant cheaters are dominating the PUBG leaderboards. According to multiple sources, you can identify what are effectively advertising accounts for cheat creators situated in China, as the number strings are QQ (think Chinese Skype) contact details to buy said cheats. How Bluehole plans on taking down cheaters effectively using their platform to advertise their business has not been detailed.
Regardless, it looks like there is plenty of room on the internet for both games to thrive, and continue growing.
Player vs player combat is coming to Ghost Recon Wildlands, so what better time than the present to play host to a free week?
Gamers on PC, PS4, and Xbox One will be able to jump in to Ghost Recon from October 12 to the 15, with PC players able to preload starting today, October 9. The PvP update hits servers tomorrow, October 10, as a free update to all who already own the game.
Ghost War is a 4-versus-4 team deathmatch experience that builds on the tactical squad play from the main game, where strategy is equally as important as skill. Using one of the 12 distinct classes, each with their own varied characteristics, weapons, perks and customisation options, players will engage with enemies across eight unique maps. Ghost War also integrates new PvP mechanics, including suppressing fire and sound markers, to create a strategic and intense team-based multiplayer mode.
Further along the road, Ubisoft will expand player vs player by adding in new maps, new modes, and new classes, all of which will be free for all players (new classes will be unlocked with prestige points). Wildlands season pass owners will have one week early access to new classes.
