Tag: PC

Beta Perspective: Defiance 2050 Is Hot Garbage, But Shows Promise


I meant to play and then discuss the latest episode of the Guild Wars 2 Living Story tonight, but since the game is a bit broken at the moment, I’ll talk about Defiance instead.

I’ve spent a good few hours playing the Defiance 2050 open beta this weekend, and the thought that keeps going through my mind is simple: A relaunch of a five year old game should not be breaking even worse than the original launch, even as a beta. But over the span of several hours, I’ve had my game crash, sat and watched as it became virtually unplayable due to rubberbanding and screen freezing. I’ve seen creatures just randomly despawn, watched as my vehicle refused to show up or in some cases refused to perform basic tasks like turning. Even major functions like the entire tutorial and medic ability had to be disabled during the final beta before head start because they were either broken or were causing server crashes.

But then the weekend ended and the servers became kind of stable. The turning speed of the quad is still absolute garbage and makes driving a major pain, but that’s another story.

I suppose I should get two things out of the way: First, Defiance 2050 is a remaster for the current console generations and PC players are essentially along for the ride. Second, as a gamer I effectively left Defiance for dead around the time that Alcatraz released and Trion Worlds started experimenting with those expeditions that were initially lauded as money-grubbing. It’s around this point that I wrote it off as a dead title, its game code feeling like it was held together with chewing gum and string every time I would go back and find it feeling more and more broken.

I put well over 400 hours into Defiance and had no real motivation to go back, so I’m treating Defiance 2050 as a new world in and of itself.

If you played through the original Defiance beta weekends as I did all those years ago, well Defiance 2050’s beta won’t surprise you since it’s actually the same content but five years down the road. The big mechanical changes to get used to are the inclusion of classes, and subsequent movement of the massive EGO grid into a linear list of class-specific skills. Otherwise, this game still has a mass of activities to sink your face into, be it story missions, side missions, pursuits, major arkfalls, minor arkfalls, emergencies, sieges, incursions, contracts, pvp, coop dungeons, leveling your power, leveling your class, leveling your character, leveling your weapon proficiency, leveling your vehicle proficiency, and of course the age-old tradition of trolling chat.

I’d previously committed myself to playing Defiance 2050 solely on the Xbox, since the whole thing seems redundant to play on PC with the existing version still available on the platform, however this last beta weekend was PC only so I made due with what I had. Outside of the poor server performance, it’s hard to say much about this game that I didn’t say five years ago. After a while of shooting creatures and watching the screen stutter for five to ten seconds only to come back with my character dead on the ground, Defiance 2050 felt less like a happy reintroduction to the world and more of a grim reminder of why I quit in the first place.

That said, I haven’t completely given up on Defiance and am still waiting to see if Trion can turn things around post-launch. Do I have enough faith to buy into the founder’s program? Absolutely not, but I am willing to clock in on day one and give the game a real spin.

[Video] Remedy Entertainment Unveils Control


Remedy Entertainment and publishing partner 505 Games have announced Control, set for PC and consoles in 2019. Players take on the role of Jesse Faden, director of a secretive agency in New York when the world is invaded by aliens. Players will have to master a variety of powers, loadouts, and reactive environments.

“Control represents a new exciting chapter for us, it redefines what a Remedy game is. It shows off our unique ability to build compelling worlds while providing a new player-driven way to experience them,” said Mikael Kasurinen,game director of Control. “A key focus for Remedy has been to provide more agency through gameplay and allow our audience to experience the story of the world at their own pace”

Remedy Entertainment is known for their work on Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Quantum Break.

[Column] EA Origin Premier Is A Value Proposition


Back when Origin/EA Access debuted on PC and Xbox, I said that it was one of the most gutsy things that Electronic Arts has done in their history next to the Origin Guarantee (refund policy) and my reasoning was pretty simple: By showing off their games in 10 hour trials before launch, EA is taking two major risks that players could A.) burn out of the game within that ten hour window and B.) If the game isn’t good, it can tank day one sales.

And you don’t have to look far for evidence of this, because Battlefront II is a prime example of a game that most assuredly lost a lot of day one sales because of the reception to the early access demo. Yes, the service costs money and for many the $30 per year is worth it to cover the included vault games as well as the ability to personally preview new releases and see if they are worth it. Even if you are not an Origin subscriber, you still see a benefit in that other people are playing the games early and able to report on their quality.

This weekend, EA announced a new tier of membership to Origin: Origin Access Premier. This is no doubt a response to Microsoft’s Game Pass on the Xbox One and functions very similarly. For $14.99 per month or $100 per year, you get full access to new games without the ten hour time limited demo version that standard Origin Access members receive. This seems to include all of EA’s first party lineup as well as potentially some third party titles, since the promo page teases Anthem, Battlefield V, A Way Out, and EA’s 2019 sports games. Incidentally, this is also marks the first Madden game on PC in a decade.

I’ve seen some varied response to this service and, as I said with Origin Access when that first launched, this is a value proposition that is entirely subjective to your wants and needs as a customer. If you are hardline militant on owning your games or refuse to go digital except when necessary and don’t care about the five day head start, well this service doesn’t offer much to you. If you’re the kind of person who burns through several Electronic Arts games per year from day one, then dumps the games like a bad habit, there might be a value proposition in $100 versus whatever you’re currently spending. If you’re the casual player who only buys games once they are extensively marked down, it might not be a bad value to subscribe for one or two months out of the year to check out the current library without restrictions.

Ultimately I still stand by my belief that Origin Access and Premier are a net positive for gamers, even if you only consider it to be the canary in the mine for EA publishing low quality releases. If Anthem is bad on launch, trust me when I say the internet will let you know with plenty of time to cancel that pre-order.

Lost City of Omu Update Hits Neverwinter In February


Perfect World Entertainment has announced that the next Neverwinter expansion will drop on February 27 on PC. Lost City of Omu continues the story where Tomb of Annihilation left off, pitting adventurers against the evil lich Acererak (are there any other kind of liches?)

The expansion introduces new adventure zones, an endgame trial, expands the Tomb of Annihilation campaign, and even features a giant undead T-Rex. Players of all stripes will be happy to hear that the leveling curve from 60 to 70 has been smoothed out for a more fluid progression, with more information on additional tweaks coming in the next few weeks.

Lost City of Omu hits PC on February 27 with Xbox and Playstation coming at a later date.

(Source: Perfect World Press Release)

*URGENT PSA* Recording/Overlay Software Is Causing Permanent Destiny 2 Bans


(Update: Bungie’s PC Project Lead has called this “Internet BS.”)

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It looks like certain recording software is triggering permanent bans in Destiny 2 on PC.

Head on over to the Bungie forums and you’ll find tons of posts from players reporting that they’ve been banned within hours, some within minutes of booting up Destiny 2 for the first time, some before even making it into the game. According to an FAQ on the official website, software with “overlay” features is incompatible with Destiny 2 due to security features programmed into the game to stop how certain cheats are injected into the game code. While the website uses the term “incompatible,” it doesn’t actually state that using said software regardless might be a bannable offense.

Well it is. Permanently.

The list of “incompatible” programs includes the Nvidia Geforce Experience, Fraps, Discord, Mumble, Afterburner, and more. Virtually any program with some sort of overlay feature is incompatible to some extent with the game. And to top it off, according to numerous users affected by these bans for game overlays, Bungie support is doing absolutely nothing to help. According to Bungie’s support, they will not review bans under any circumstance:

There are NO options to dispute or overturn account restrictions or bans. Permanent account bans are only implemented with rigorous checking to ensure that the innocent are not punished alongside the guilty. Bungie does not comment on or discuss individual account restriction or bans.

If players are getting immediately banned for overlay software, that makes Bungie’s claim of “rigorous checking” a complete lie. Bungie might want to check their policy at the door in this case, because they are looking at a PR disaster and very likely some litigation if the issue is as widespread as it appears.

As of yet, none of Bungie’s social media accounts have acknowledged the bans, nor have any staff posted on the forums. MMO Fallout is attempting to get in touch with Bungie/Activision for contact and will follow up once we have more information. Please note that this is technically unconfirmed on our end, but the sheer number of people claiming bans for the same issue has led us to issue this warning.

Marvel Heroes Deploys Red Venom (AKA Carnage) on PC


The latest hero* has joined the ranks in Marvel Heroes. Carnage, or Red Venom as the community has taken to calling him, is a hero. Sort of. He’s working with the good guys, at least. You can check out Carnage, as with any hero, by testing him out up to level 10. If you want to go for the purchase, he can be bought for 900 Gs ($9) or for free with 400 eternity splinters.

Check out the trailer below.

Neverwinter Hits 15 Million Players Across 3 Systems


Neverwinter has plenty of reasons to celebrate today as the MMO announces that it has reached 15 million customers across PC, Xbox, and Playstation. Perfect World Entertainment has released a video thanking the community, embedded below.

Since its original launch in June 2013, Neverwinter has continued to receive expansions, bringing exciting and diverse content from the Forgotten Realms and Dungeons & Dragons lore. From defeating the elven lich Valindra Shadowmantle to facing off against monstrous demon lords in the Underdark and going toe-to-toe with frost giants in Icewind Dale, adventurers continue to experience the Forgotten Realms with players around the world. The Cloaked Ascendancy, now available on all platforms, marks the 11th major content expansion to the action MMO.

Elder Scrolls Online Is Cheaper Than Cheesecake This Weekend


Haven’t yet given in to the temptation to buy The Elder Scrolls Online? Now is the time, frugal PC gamer, as the game is available at a steep discount on the Humble Bundle Store. There are three packages up for sale, starting out at less than $10 for the basic package with the gold edition running $29.99. The gold edition comes with the game and four DLC packs.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Edition comes bundled with 4 DLC Game Packs. Imperial City: Join a PvP-focused battle for the ancient seat of power at the heart of the Empire. Orsinium: Aid the Orcs as they rebuild their great capital city in the snow-capped mountains of Wrothgar. Thieves Guild: Become the newest recruit in the infamous guild of pickpockets, burglars, robbers, and thieves in a dangerous port city of Abah’s Landing in Hew’s Bane. Dark Brotherhood: Join the merciless guild of assassins, the Dark Brotherhood of the Gold Coast, and carve a bloody swath across Tamriel.

The sale won’t last forever! Check it out at the link below.

(Source: Humble Bundle)

Star Trek Escalation: Season 13 Hits PC


Star Trek Online has released Season 13, continuing the story related to the Tzenkethi that began earlier this year. The update continues the Tzenkethi storyline, introduces new class-specific gear, and makes improvements to the matchmaking system. Escalation also introduces War Games, where two teams of five players compete against each other for rewards.

The Alliance needs to continue to explore the space surrounding the Tzenkethi advance to try and determine a pattern to their attacks.  With our new featured episode “Mirrors and Smoke,” captains will work with the Lukari as they explore a mysterious nebula and discover the secrets within.  The mystery of the Tzenkethi continues in Season 13 while new mysteries of the Lukari are discovered!

The full details of the update can be found here. Patch notes are here. Completing the feature episode this week will reward players with some extra gear. Escalation hits Xbox and Playstation at a later date.

Future Of Conan Exiles Coming To GDC And PAX East


Conan Exiles launched on PC Early Access last week, selling 320,000 copies and recouping all of its investments. Rather than pack up and call the day a success, Funcom is pushing forward with continued content development. Budding content creators have access to the developer kit, allowing for the creation and distribution of mods, quality of life improvements, and total conversions on Steam Workshop.

“We are deeply humbled and very grateful for the initial success of Conan Exiles,” says Funcom CEO Rui Casais. “Funcom has gone through some challenging times in recent years and seeing the game we have poured so much time and effort into gain this amount of traction so quickly is very invigorating for everyone who works here. This is just the start of the Early Access adventure and we will do whatever it takes to make sure Conan Exiles turns into a fully-fledged game that has something to offer new and old fans of both Conan and survival games.”

Funcom will be present at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco to show off future content coming to Conan Exiles, and the studio will have presence at PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts.

(Source: Funcom)