[NM] Despite Loot Box Controversy, Shadow of War Gets Good Reviews


Yesterday marked the launch of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and not everyone is happy with Monolith’s monetization scheme. Reviews are pretty positive, however a number of critical outlets have mentioned that late game progress is heavily tied to loot boxes and grind. But enough about the critics, how do players feel?

Over on Steam, Shadow of War is being received quite positively. Out of 1,000 reviews, 84% are positive. There are, at the moment of this publication, over 42 thousand playing the PC version with an early peak of 52,658.

One player figured out that you can turn off online components by not agreeing to that part of the terms of service. The video below has some baseless claims, including that WB is selling user data to third parties. You can see the part about shutting off microtransactions at the start.

Final Fantasy XIV 4.1 Update Takes Players to Ivalice


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.

(Source: Final Fantasy XIV)

Battlefront II Getting Panned Over Pay To Win Elements


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

PUBG Is Dominating PC, But Fortnite Is Gaining Speed


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.

Ghost Recon Wildlands: Ubisoft Adds PvP, Free Weekend Coming


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.

(Source: Ubisoft press release)

Black Bolt Silently Lands On Marvel Heroes Omega


Marvel Heroes Omega has a new hero on Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Starting today, you’ll be able to get your hands on Black Bolt. Right now you can only get hold of Black Bolt via a store purchase. The pack costs $20 and includes a bonus costume, 2 loot boxes, and 2 experience boosts. Those not willing to plonk down hard cash can wait until November 2 when Black Bolt will be available for eternity splinters.

Strike from the shadows with Elektra! The master combatant launches on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 today! The king of Attilan may not have as much to say as the other 42 playable Marvel Heroes Omega characters but, thanks to his ability to channel and manipulate electrons and particles, a mere whisper from the King of the Inhumans can destroy an entire civilization His actions don’t speak louder than his words— his words are his actions.

Black Bolt was released on PC in February this year.

(Source: Marvel Heroes)

[NM] Telltale Batman Game Shows Very Real Dead Russian Ambassador [Warning]


(Update: Telltale has stated that the image has been removed and that they are looking into how it ended up in the game to begin with)

(Editor’s Note: In probably the first and hopefully last time on this website, this article contains a photograph of the aftermath of a shooting. There is no blood/gore present in the photo, but this warning will stand nonetheless)

In 2016, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was gunned down at an Ankara art gallery by Mevlüt Mert Alt?nta?, an off-duty Turkish police officer. News of the assassination spread like wildfire, and because it occurred during a public speech, there were plenty of cameras present to catch the assassination in action. Photographs taken and posted online have become famous, enough so that one Telltale employee decided to import the image of Andrei Karlov’s body directly into the game. The two versions are copies below, along with a stream (skip to about 24 minutes into the video), you can see that the body was directly copied into the game, rather than a character having been modeled in-engine that simply looks similar.

Another body is pictured in the photo, we cannot ascertain his identity as of press time. It should be noted for the squeamish that Andrei Karlov died later at the hospital, the photo below does not technically depict a dead man at the time it was taken. The image appears in Telltale’s Batman Season 2, Episode 2.

The photo comparison is below.

Crowdfunding Fraudsters Update: Retro Computers Ltd Sanctions Doxxing, Slandering Competition


(Update: MMO Fallout incorrectly stated that George Cropper and James Ball Duncan were involved in Retro Games Ltd. This has been corrected by Paul Andrews and is not the case.)

In the previous Crowdfunding Fraudsters, I talked about how Retro Computers Ltd had broken out the B-Team. As opposed to the likes of managing director Suzanne Martin who has gone completely silent, this group of people were allegedly not employed by RCL, but appeared on the Facebook page and social media to stoke the flames, acting more like unpaid thugs or bullies, riling up the diminishing list of remaining loyal followers and making unsubstantiated, unqualified remarks on the progress of the system, only to tell people to “get over it” when those claims didn’t come true. Their job also consists of blaming bad vibes from “haters” as what is causing the ZX Spectrum to go from a possible early launch to now 13 months past the original shipping date. As I joked, Retro Computers Ltd is the only company whose machinery is gummed up by Twitter trolls.

We’ve already gone over Lee Fogarty, a man who claims that he is not paid by RCL despite his company Creative Spectrum being hired to maintain their website, not to mention his name still being plastered as the author of every single news article that goes up on the website. Creative Spectrum, for those of you who follow the link above, is in the process of being striked as a company as its accounts due May 31, 2017 have still not been filed according to Companies House. There is an objection filed against this striking filed at this time.

But we’re here today to talk about the third wheel, Jan Saggiori. Saggiori, a hacker whose role in Murdoch’s Pirates is well worth a read, joins Lee Fogarty in slandering RCL’s competition in a way that is both sanctioned by Retro Computers Ltd in that it is allowed to propagate on their highly-curated and allegedly anti-negativity “Democracy” Facebook group, while also allowing the company to distance itself should any of the subjects decide to sue. Fogarty and Saggiori, through my time observing the channel, have made consistent remarks regarding former RCL directors Paul Andrews and Chris Smith, referring to both as scam artists and criminals, making predictions that the two would be in prison, and of course making prison rape jokes at their expense.

The slanderous comments have extended to Retro Games Ltd (Not to be confused with Retro Computers Ltd,) a company headed by Paul Andrews and involving George Cropper and James Ball Duncan (Update: It’s been clarified that neither of the two individuals are involved in Retro Games Ltd). Saggiori used the Democracy Facebook page to essentially dox several members of the group, posting their personal phone numbers and addresses, calling them scammers, and encouraging people to contact them demanding refunds. Saggiori also posted a link to a fake website for the Commodore 64 mini (an RGL product), which similarly reveals personal contact information for Andrews, Cropper, and Ball, while simultaneously slandering the company.

The website happens to be registered to Jan Saggiori. Viewers should be aware that the website’s registered information was not verified by Nominet (website registration service) with any third party and the possibility exists that it was fabricated by whoever registered the website. We can, confirm, however, that Saggiori himself was sharing links to the website so even if he isn’t its creator, he is supporting and disseminating personal details.

And while, again, neither Saggiori nor Fogarty are directly employed by Retro Computers Ltd, the company has not made any visible efforts to stop either party from using their social media pages to slander the company’s competition.

Tamara Thomas, who we pointed out made an odd comparison between releasing information on the Vega and someone dying for a kidney transplant, has been silent and, according to her husband, has not been present in the group for months and has nothing to do with this week’s unprofessional, and potentially illegal, display. For his own part, Preston has released a statement that posting the details was “disgusting” and condemned it. Thomas is no longer an admin of the Democracy page.

In addition, when I pointed out on Twitter that a new Crowdfunding Fraudsters was coming out, my access to the Facebook page was revoked.

Now for updates on the system itself. Back on August 9, RCL posted this promise to backers that the units would ship within the next 8 weeks.

We can also confirm we have secured rights to some of the biggest games in the Spectrum scene, and the final games list will exceed all expectations. We aim to begin shipping the Vega+ to backers within the next 8 weeks, and to follow this immediately with our first shipments to retail.

Incidentally today marks the 8 week point since this announcement was made, making yet another false release date in a growing list of unfulfilled promises tossed out by an increasingly silent company. The following photo was posted on Indiegogo on September 1:

In the month since this post, promising “regular updates” and “new images,” not a single new image or update has been posted to the Indiegogo page. RCL is now more than five months late on their roll of honor, thirteen months late on the system itself, and four weeks late on their promise for “regular updates” and “new images.” The Indiegogo page is still, despite RCL’s claim to have never refused a refund request, plastered with users complaining that their repeated refund requests have gone ignored for months on end.

The most up to date release schedule places the Vega+ launching “mid-October.” MMO Fallout has been made aware of some relevant past incidences revolving around certain RCL staff. That information will be expanded upon once we are able to more fully investigate its veracity.

Retailer Matchup: Redbox Vs Gamestop


Redbox kiosks have become the new Blockbuster in the United States, with kiosks going up all over the place and the company’s strategic planning to stick this brand wherever you might shop, be it your local grocery store, pharmacy, or mall. While similar to Blockbuster in its habit of not having the Blu-Ray copy of the movie you really want to watch in stock, many might not be aware that you can buy copies of games directly from RedBox.

And get a pretty good deal, too. I’ve noticed that Redbox’s prices are consistently below what Gamestop usually charges, and every so often when Redbox decides to retire a game from the library, you can find it clearanced at a pretty low rate. I picked up Homefront for $2, although that didn’t make it less of a bad game. Now, obviously, this issue is much broader than price, so giving a flat price comparison with no context is pretty misleading if not downright slanderous to Gamestop. Buying from Gamestop compared to Redbox comes with a 7 day, no questions asked refund policy with 30 days to swap out in case the disk is damaged. Redbox doesn’t offer any of this. Gamestop also has regular buy 2 get one free deals, Redbox does not.

And of course you should generally expect Gamestop’s prices to be higher as the costs of doing business as a standard store front (store rent, actual employees, utilities, transport, etc) far outweigh those of an unattended rental kiosk. I’m also willing to bet that game sales aren’t a huge part of their revenue stream, which is probably why they’re willing to let go with Agents of Mayhem (a 2 month old title) for a paltry $20. The goal of this project wasn’t to claim that Gamestop is ripping off customers with prices, just to bring attention to the fact that Redbox sells games (which not a single person that I’ve spoken to prior to writing this knew) and to see exactly how wide the prices differ.

The prices below are pre-owned prices for Redbox (left) and Gamestop (right). Gamestop prices don’t factor in the 10% discount for pro members, and given the return policy, in places where the price is the same, I’m going to give the point to Gamestop. Redbox also naturally has a much smaller library of games than you’ll find at Gamestop, this list covers every game that is currently for sale. All prices were pulled today and will absolutely not be accurate if you’re reading this six months from now.

PlayStation 4:

  • Agents of Mayhem: $19.99 vs $49.99 (Redbox)
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn: $44.99 vs $44.99 (Gamestop)
  • Resident Evil 7: $34.99 vs $37.99 (Redbox)
  • Micro Machines World Series: $9.99 vs $19.99 (Redbox)
  • LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens: $14.99 vs $19.99 (Redbox)
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider: $24.99 vs $37.99 (Redbox)
  • Rocket League: $19.99 vs $27.99 (Redbox)
  • Mass Effect Andromeda: $19.99 vs $24.99 (Redbox)
  • For Honor: $29.99 vs $39.99 (Redbox)
  • Dishonored 2: $24.99 vs $29.99 (Redbox)
  • Skyrim: $29.99 vs $37.99 (Redbox)
  • WWE 2k17: $9.99 vs $24.99 (Redbox)
  • Final Fantasy XV: $19.99 vs $29.99 (Redbox)
  • Titanfall 2: $19.99 vs $29.99 (Redbox)
  • Battlefield 1: $19.99 vs $39.99 (Redbox)
  • Mafia III: $19.99 vs $27.99 (Redbox)
  • Hitman Season 1: $24.99 vs $44.99 (Redbox)

For Playstation, Redbox prices averaged out at about 32% cheaper than Gamestop.

Xbox One:

  • Agents of Mayhem: $19.99 vs $49.99 (Redbox)
  • Resident Evil 7: $34.99 vs $37.99 (Redbox)
  • Micro Machines: $9.99 vs $19.99 (Redbox)
  • LEGO Star Wars: $14.99 vs $27.99 (Redbox)
  • Fallout New Vegas: $9.99 vs $9.99 (Gamestop)
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider: $14.99 vs $17.99 (Redbox)
  • Rocket League: $19.99 vs $27.99 (Redbox)
  • Mass Effect Andromeda: $19.99 vs $24.99 (Redbox)
  • For Honor: $29.99 vs $34.99 (Redbox)
  • Dishonored 2: $24.99 vs $29.99 (Redbox)
  • Skyrim: $29.99 vs $37.99 (Redbox)
  • RBI Baseball 17: $4.99 vs $18.99 (Redbox)
  • Mafia III: $19.99 vs $27.99 (Redbox)
  • Final Fantasy XV: $19.99 vs $29.99 (Redbox)
  • Titanfall 2: $19.99 vs $29.99 (Redbox)
  • Battlefield 1: $19.99 vs $29.99 (Redbox)
  • Hitman Season 1: $24.99 vs $44.99 (Redbox)
  • WWE 2k17: $9.99 vs $24.99 (Redbox)

Xbox games ran slightly cheaper than Playstation by comparison (33% instead of 32% under Gamestop).

One thing I did notice is that Gamestop is either well aware of Redbox’s prices, or there is an extreme coincidence in pricing. A fair number of the games listed were on sale by Gamestop in their pre-owned format, and those prices just happened to be exactly how much Redbox was selling for. I also noticed that in cases where Gamestop and Redbox’s prices have major differences, that Gamestop’s trade in price is always just a few dollars below what Redbox is selling for. So I don’t think that the two are ignorant of each other’s existence.

This article is not brought to you by Agents of Mayhem, which you can find at a ridiculously cheap price at Redbox (also not sponsored).

The Exiled Experiments With Not Letting People Play, It Doesn’t Work


The Exiled is a game that MMO Fallout has covered to some extent over the past year, it’s a quirky little MMO that seems to suffer mostly from poor marketing and low population, the latter likely influenced by the former. Oh and the developer Fairytale Distillery has made some arguably boneheaded experimental moves over the past few months.

One of The Exiled’s draws is that the game runs on seasons, allowing the team to experiment with new modes and ideas, see what works and what doesn’t. Back in August, with the launch of season 6, the team decided to take the living world and make it not so living by reducing the availability of servers to just three hours per day. Odds are if you attempted to give the game a look during the last two months, you logged in during one of the 21 daily hours where the servers were off.

It was a well-meaning idea, limit the server availability so players would be logging in during the same hours, but in practice it just meant that nobody was playing. Literally. With the next season set to start on October 6, servers will once again be available 24 hours each day. Fairytale Distillery will also be refraining from making any big content changes until they have more of a concrete plan for the game’s future.

 We will go back to the drawing board with our plans to re-set the game. Expect smaller bug fixes from us in the coming seasons but no major changes. We are still supporting the game, keeping the servers running and answering your support tickets but as long as we have no convincing plan for the future of the game we will not make any further major changes to it.

(Source: Steam)