Red Thomas takes advantage of his Premier Origin Access to check out Anthem, the latest result of Bioware and EA tag-teaming efforts. Red gives his impressions of the game and makes a few predictions on its sustainability.
Red?s Read on Anthem
Prepare for Tomorrow’s Open Beta by Downloading The Division 2 Client Today
Tomorrow is the start of the weekend open beta for The Division 2. Open beta is available for PC through Ubisoft’s UPlay game launcher. The 44.5GB download is ready to roll so you can start your open beta adventure as soon as servers go live on March 1st. The event will run through March 4th. PS4 and XB1 players can find the OBT client on each one’s respective store.
Player-Made Dungeons to Debut in Shroud of the Avatar Release 63
When Release 63 goes live in Shroud of the Avatar later today, player-made dungeons will make their official debut, “including a system to level up these dungeon encounter rooms”. Portalarium is adding a single encounter type for this update but “it’ll be added to multiple different rooms” as a proof of concept. All progress made by players in leveling up the room will be saved going forward.
MapleStory 2 Devs to Remove ‘Fairfight’ System in Response to Player Feedback
Last month, Nexon developers introduced MapleStory 2 players to “Project New Leaf”, its initiative to respond to player feedback about the game. After gathering data from the community, developers will be releasing a new patch today that removes the “Fairfight” system, “a balancing system that normalizes high-level players with lower level ones”. The removal of Fairfight was the most-requested system update by the player community and provides endgame players with more exploration opportunities.
Inscription & Loot Updates Detailed by Anthem Devs
The Anthem Reddit has a new post from BioWare’s Lead Producer Ben Irving. In it, Irving lays out some significant changes coming to the loot system, much of it based on community feedback. Most notably, BioWare is targeting Inscriptions and making them more useful to the items to which they are attached.
Fortnite Season 8 Gets All Piratey & Adds Volcanoes, Lava & Tons More
Fortnite Battle Royale has been updated to Season 8 that brings the new Battle Pass on board. Players can earn over a hundred new rewards including the wicked Blackheart pirate skin (YARR!). Season 8 comes along with some big changes to the map including “a monstrous volcano” where “pirates, ninjas and a ship load of new fighters will tussle over treasure, battle with Pirate Cannons and uncover legendary loot”.
Digital Extremes Launches Warframe: Nightwave Series 1 on All Platforms
Warframe players have lots of new content to explore after today’s launch of Nightwave Series 1. The update is available on PlayStation 4, XBox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Nightwave is “a new ongoing radio broadcast built on fresh, immediate story-infused gameplay”. Players will need to tune in to discover new challenges that yield rewards, gear, cosmetics and more.
Aura Kingdom Celebrates Its 50th Update with New Content & More
Aura Kingdom has been updated fifty times and gamigo is pulling out all the stops in celebration. Players will find new Masteries to check out, new levels in Vault of Eternia and the new Gaia Chronicle mini-game. This is all in addition to the patch released earlier this month with a trifecta of new dungeons.
Veterans’ Group to Host Charity APEX Legends Tournament This Weekend
The Military & Veteran Gamers group, the largest veteran-affiliated gamer community in the US, will be hosting a charity APEX Legends tournament on Sunday, March 3rd beginning at 2:00 pm Pacific / 5:00 PM Eastern. The event is collecting funds to “send some care packages down range that are full of video game goodies”. Teams can play via XBox One, PC or PlayStation 4 and register for $5. Four teams will take home a share of the $425 prize pool. Viewers will be able to score some door prizes too.
Blue Microphones Ember Streaming Microphone Review
Just like having the right components to handle the digital heavy lifting of modern video games, a clean and clear sounding microphone is worth every penny for anyone who is live streaming or creating content with voiceovers. What if you didn’t have to shell out as much copper for that sound? Blue Design thinks that you shouldn’t have to.