The latest This Week at Bungie has been published. In what feels like the umpteenth time for Bungie, they have admitted to causing a furor in the Destiny 2 community. This time the issue involved the addition of Season 2 weapons to Faction Engrams. “It was not made clear beforehand that the new season 2 weapons would be added throughout the events of the Season rather than all at once at the beginning. This was on us. No excuses.”
World of Warcraft – The Revival of Leveling in Patch 7.3.5
Middle of the road patches in World of Warcraft are rarely so impressive. But 7.3.5 has almost entirely reinvigorated the leveling process of the game. By activating leveling scaling across the entire game, with some caveats, the act of raising a new character is not only inviting, but it’s far more enjoyable because you can finally do it however you want. 13 years into Azeroth’s MMO existence, and leveling is now the best it’s ever been.
DarkFall: New Dawn – Free Trial Period Begins & Will Run Through January 24th
From now through January 24th, you can check out all that’s new in Darkfall: New Dawn. There are no limitations on the experience, though there are some things that will not carry over, or that will carry over in limited form, once the game officially launches on January 26th. In addition, you can still get in on several packages that will remain available through the 24th as well.
– Stash is Prepping Players Throughout January for Tier 4’s Content
Stash will be upgrading to Tier 4 soon. It brings with it a wealth of new content including new zones, dungeons, bosses, class abilities, loot, increased player levels and more. To get players prepped for the content drop, the balance of January is filled with Bonus XP events every weekend as well as significant rewards to be handed out for reaching leveling milestones.
Crowfall – Get a Good Look at the Assassin’s Powers and Effects
Crowfall’s Thomas Blair has sent out a new video to show off the powers and effects of the Assassin class. As expected, Assassin’s are magicians with positional combat and feature variation during battle depending whether they’re in front of or behind the enemy.
Rift – Producer’s Letter Introduces Rift Prime, a Subscription Based Progression Server
The latest producer’s letter has been published on the Rift site to take a look back at the accomplishments in 2017 as well as to introduce a new server type called “Rift Prime”. These servers will see players start fresh and will feature both a subscription revenue model and progression advancement through the game’s expansions and content. There will be no lockboxes, a “significantly reduced store” and more current store items available through game play.
Destiny 2 – Faction Rallies Kick Off, Set to Run Through January 23rd
The latest round of Faction Rallies has kicked off in Destiny 2, this time running through January 23rd. Players will be able to pledge loyalty to the faction of choice to earn some pretty sweet looking armor ornaments from the Future War Cult, New Monarchy, or Dead Orbit. Players can also see the winning faction able to purchase a weapon for a price based on the pledge made.
Albion Online – Sandbox Interactive Confirms Staff Reduction to Pre-Beta Levels
Sandbox Interactive has confirmed that a number of employees have been released now that Albion Online is a fully released game. According to a statement from the team, this brings the numbers of active developers to pre-beta levels, generally a typical move for companies after the release of a game. Prior to the layoffs, staff numbers approximately 50. After the reduction, developer count is 31.
World of Warcraft – Public Service Announcement: Realms Going Down for Extended Maintenance Tomorrow in NA
North American and European World of Warcraft will be going down this weekend for extended maintenance. While no official word on the update has been announced, it is assumed this will be to deploy a hotfix reducing raid boss health in Warlords of Draenor and Mists of Pandaria. A PTR update went live earlier today reflecting that change. NA realms will go down tomorrow at 7:00 am Pacific / 10:00 am Eastern and are expected to be back up at 3:00 pm Pacific / 6:00 pm Eastern.
EVE Online – Upwell 2.0 to be Released on February 13th
The EVE Online site has been updated with a detailed post to reveal big changes in store when the Upwell 2.0 update hits live servers on February 13th. Players can look forward to a number of significant updates to Upwell structures with four distinct features in mind: Full / Low power modes; new vulnerability & reinforcement system; major structure combat overhaul; and moon mining in Wormhole space and some Highsec systems. Each pillar of the design philosophy is detailed in the blog.