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Battlefield V: DICE Apologizes for Being Radio Silent About Time to Kill Community Concern, New “Core” Version to All Playlists Being Rolled Out Next Week

With DICE rolling out changes to Battlefield V’s time-to-kill (TTK) to help other players ease into the game, this move hasn’t been accepted warmly by the community. Not only are Battlefield YouTubers harping on about it, but even a lot of people in the Battlefield V subreddit are constantly complaining.

While DICE is now testing the time-to-death, the studio has now found a workaround for the changes while they sort things out internally. In a new post, Global Community Manager Dan Mitre posted a letter apologizing to the community for the studio’s lack of communications regarding the TTK issue, as well as promising that the “Core” playlists will be available for all modes starting next week!

Hi Battlefield Community,

On behalf of the Battlefield team, I’d like to apologize for the silence over the past couple of days on the TTK topic. We’ve seen it’s been a big talking point and causing a divide in the community, which was never our intention. We have been listening closely to what you’ve all been saying.

Changes to the game carrying this kind of weight needs clearer, earlier communication before getting rolled out. We will improve how we roll out updates in the future and respond more quickly when you have questions or concerns.

So, why change TTK now? The intent came from us observing that new players are having a very hard time with the game compared to our core players, and we wanted to see if we could improve this over the holidays so more players can have a great time.

As many of our veteran players know, Battlefield games constantly evolve and change over time in our collaboration with the community. Battlefield V is no exception. We heard your feedback that many of you prefer the old TTK values, with one playlist featuring only Conquest using the “Core” settings clearly not being enough. To fix that, we will be adding a “Core” version of all playlists in the game next week, giving you a clearer choice between new and old settings. We’ll update you early next week on when the new playlist will be added.

We want to hear from you about the changes we’re making. We’d also like to thank all of you for the constructive discussions and feedback we’re seeing. Thank you.

~ The Battlefield Team

Will this be enough for the Battlefield V community that wants the old TTK back? For those playing now, which TTK do you prefer, the original one or the current one out now?

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Jungle Map Missing From All Modes, Treyarch Silent About It (Update)

Update:

Treyarch has finally addressed it and mentioned that Jungle will be back after the studio fixes a few issues with how ladders work in the map.

Per Treyarch: “We’ve temporarily pulled Jungle from rotation to address a gameplay issue with ladders, and will return it to its rightful place in our next update.”

Original Story:

While Treyarch rolled out game fixes, balance tweaks and more in its latest major update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. it seems something bad happened along the way too. For some unknown reason, the Black Ops 4 Jungle map has gone missing after the update, and no one knows why.

Over on Reddit, the community are all scratching their heads and wondering why the Black Ops 4 Jungle map missing from rotation bug exists, and what’s the cause of it. Treyarch has not acknowledged the issue or gave a statement as to why this is the case. In case you don’t believe me, go boot up Black Ops 4 now and check any game mode. You’ll see that for modes like Team Deathmatch where all maps are available, the list has Jungle absent. Here’s a screenshot of the most recent game mode menu.

In the “Maps” section, you can see all maps listed, which even includes Firing Range Night and Seaside Sunset, but no Jungle. Weird, right?

We’ve contacted Activision about this and if and when we get a response, we’ll update the post. Did you notice any other stuff missing from Black Ops 4? Why do you think the map was pulled? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

More Black Ops 4 Reading:

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Red Dead Online Microtransactions Now Live, “Special” One-Time Offer & Gold Bar Prices Listed

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, right? Rockstar Games has now flipped the switch, and Red Dead Redemption 2 now has microtransactions! Wait, scratch that, it’s more of Red Dead Online microtransactions, but you get the idea.

For sale right now are Gold Bars, and there’s even a “special” one-time offer where you can get 25 Gold Bars for just $4.99! Listed below are the prices and how many Gold Bars you can get for each bundle!

Red Dead Online Gold Bars Prices:

  • 25 Gold Bars – $9.99
  • 55 Gold Bars = $19.99
  • 150 Gold Bars  – $49.99
  • 245 Gold Bars – $74.99
  • 350 Gold Bars – $99.99

Of course, you can choose not to buy any at all, and with Rockstar’s in-game economy changes, that might be the best option for most.

Rockstar Games has also rolled out two patches in the last few days, and you can read about the major patch here, and yesterday’s bug fixes here.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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PlayStation Plus Discounted Flash Sale Will Give You Extra Months for Free. Here Are the Links to Avail of the Promo

It’s not just games that get the flash deals treatment as Sony’s online service also has one too! There’s a PlayStation Plus discounted flash sale going on right now for North America!

Spotted by Reddit user kokokko146, buying a full year (12 months) worth of PS Plus will give you 15 months (three months free), while buying three months will grant you an extra month (four months total). Check out the links for both below along with the promo details.

15 Month PlayStation Plus Membership ($59.99)

Description

Offer valid 12/13/2018 – 12/17/2018

You will receive this membership for a total of 15 months. After 15 months, your membership subscription will renew automatically to a standard 12 month membership subscription and $59.99 + applicable tax will be deducted from your wallet every 12 months until you cancel. If your wallet has insufficient funds, your account’s default payment method will be charged. To cancel, go to [Settings]>[Account Management]>[Account Info]>[PlayStation Subscriptions] on PS4 or see “How to Cancel” below. Enrolling in service turns on your wallet’s automatic funding setting. Price may change. No refunds.

4 Month PlayStation Plus Membership ( ($24/99)

Description

Offer valid 12/13/2018 – 12/17/2018

You will receive this membership for a total of 4 months. After 4 months, your membership subscription will renew automatically to a standard 3 month membership subscription and $24.99 + applicable tax will be deducted from your wallet every 3 months until you cancel. If your wallet has insufficient funds, your account’s default payment method will be charged. To cancel, go to [Settings]>[Account Management]>[Account Info]>[PlayStation Subscriptions] on PS4 or see “How to Cancel” below. Enrolling in service turns on your wallet’s automatic funding setting. Price may change. No refunds.

Not a bad deal especially if you’re looking to extend your existing membership, no?

In other PlayStation news, we rounded up all the free PS4 avatars in one place! Check out the 20-page list! You should also check out this week’s PlayStation Store sale which has literally hundreds of games discounted.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Here’s the Complete 20-Page List of Free PS4 Avatars and How to Get Them All

Do you want to further customize your PlayStation profile? Tired of seeing the same old PS4 avatar but you don’t want to spend a cent? We have just the thing! Listed below are all the free PS4 avatars available — and yes, I mean ALL — available in the NA PlayStation Store!

Shown and listed below are 20 pages of free PS4 avatars! Yes, that means you can download each and every one of these without spending a cent! Quick disclaimer though some of these are exclusive to PS Plus members, but they’re still free! Thanks to Reddit user MapleStoryPSN for pointing it out, you can download every free PS4 avatar made right here.

Curious what these free PS4 avatars look like? Here you go!

I told you there’s a lot! Feel free to click “Add to Cart” on each and every one, and then just change them whenever you feel like it.

Which PS4 avatar is the best one so far? Share your best picks in the comments below.

More PlayStation Reading:

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Battlefield V: DICE Testing Time to Death, Admits Higher Time to Kill Is “Not Balanced”

With DICE rolling out changes when it comes to Battlefield V’s time-to-kill (TTK), it seems this has divided the community somewhat, with most people on the Battlefield V subreddit clamoring for it to revert to its original state. Of course, given DICE has all of the data, we can’t say for sure whether players are liking it, or hating it based on just the subreddit alone.

Having said that, some of the people within the studio, more specifically Core Gameplay Designer Florian Le Bihan,  thinks the higher TTK is unbalanced, and adds that fine tuning how it works will take some time.

Le Bihan also confirmed that the studio tested the time-to-death (TTD), and did it with YouTubers and fans.

It’s uncertain now how this will change the TTK and TTD in Battlefield V moving forward, though it’s comforting to know that DICE is listening to the community, and even letting them help out to iron out the game’s gunplay, and to find a perfect balance.

Related Reading: Battlefield V Update 1.06 Rolls Out, Fixes Fortifications Issue and More

Do you think the TTK is fine as it is now? Or do you want it reverted back to what it was at launch? If you want to know the changes DICE made, check out the TTK changelog here.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Game Settings Update Today Kicks Off Holiday Events, Double XP for All Modes Starts Tomorrow

Treyarch has rolled out the Christmas cheer! Rolled out via a server-side hotfix is a new Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 game settings update today, which adds winter-related stuff to Blackout, multiplayer, and Zombies!

Expect new Winter Calling Cards, a new Winter Event Stream in the Black Market, and more! Double XP for all modes is set to start tomorrow as well!

Check out the comprehensive hotfix notes which include the PC patch that rolled out today below (via Treyarch):

SUMMARY

  • Blackout Holiday Event: Snowballs, festive lighting/decorations, and holiday-themed Supply Stashes (PS4)
  • Winter Event Stream in Black Market for MP and Blackout (PS4)
  • Winter Calling in Zombies (PS4)
  • PC 1.09 title update
  • Zombies stability/exploit fixes for Dead of the Night
  • MP stability improvements for Zero’s Ice Pick
  • Fixed stuck flare issue in Blackout

PS4

We’ve made the following updates today on PS4:

General

  • Event
    • Limited-time Winter Event stream now live in the Black Market with new items to unlock for use in Multiplayer and Blackout.

Blackout

  • Event
    • Holiday Event now live in Blackout, first on PS4.
    • Added Snowballs, holiday lighting & decorations, and holiday-themed Supply Stashes.
  • Character Missions
    • Addressed an issue with the Character Mission for the IX version of Shaw that prevented one of the mission requirements from registering.

Zombies

  • Event
    • Limited-time Winter Calling event stream now live with new items to unlock in the Zombies Barracks.
  • Dead of the Night
    • Stability
      • Fixed some crashes that could occur during the Pack-a-Punch Quest.
    • Miscellaneous
      • Closed an exploit where players could reach a safe area in the East Stairway.
      • Closed an exploit where players could reach a safe area in the Forest.
      • Close some exploits where players could get into safe areas using Nowhere But There.

Multiplayer

  • Stability
    • Fixed multiple crashes that could occur related to Zero’s Ice Pick.
  • Gameplay
    • Addressed an issue where targeting reticles would still be visible when controlling a Mantis that had been hit by an EMP Disruptor.
    • Addressed an issue where controlling a Mantis that was hit with an EMP Disruptor, exiting the Mantis, then re-entering the Mantis could cause it to lose functionality.

ALL PLATFORMS

Multiplayer

  • Challenges
    • Added a scrollbar and numbers to the Dark Ops Challenges screen to point out additional challenges off-screen.
    • Fixed a missing image for the Handling Master Challenge in the After Action Report.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Addressed an issue that prevented some Reactive Camos from progressing if attachments were equipped.

Blackout

  • Armor
    • Repairs done on Armor will no longer disappear if that Armor had been previously worn by another player, then dropped after being repaired.
  • Stability
    • Fixed a potential crash that could occur while downed.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Addressed an issue that would cause a red flare and smoke to stay on players after they landed.
  • General
    • Personalization
      • Some previously-acquired Warpaints now properly display in the updated Character Customization menus (remaining Warpaints to come in an upcoming fix).
  • Paintshop
    • Addressed an issue that would cause UI Errors to appear when scrolling to Melee weapons in Paintshop.

PC

In addition to the changes in the “All Platforms” section above, we’ve made the following updates in the 1.09 PC title update:

Multiplayer

  • Featured Playlists
    • Mercenary Capture Moshpit added as Featured Playlist.
      • Game Modes: Domination, Control, Hardpoint
    • Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit added to Featured.
      • Game Modes: Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed.
      • 6v6, no parties allowed.
    • Deathmatch Moshpit added to Featured.
      • Game Modes: Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed.
    • Hardcore Free-For-All added to Featured.
    • Domination added to Featured.
  • Weapons
    • Melee
      • Increased melee detection range for melee weapons, including the Bayonet and Stiletto Knife Operator Mods.
    • Titan
      • Reduced ADS flinch mitigation (also applies in Blackout and Zombies).
  • Specialists
    • Prophet
      • Reduced Tempest ammo count from 14 to 10.
      • Tempest now requires more accuracy to hit its target.
    • Firebreak
      • Purifier now more reliably connects with enemies.
    • Seraph
      • Increased Annihilator earn rate.
  • Gameplay
    • EKIA credit can now carry over after respawning when a player damages an enemy and dies before their teammate finishes that enemy off.
    • EKIA credit will now clear after 5 seconds from last damage dealt.
  • Custom Games
    • Added Nuketown to the Custom Games map list.
    • Added Gun Game to the Custom Games mode list.
    • Added Safeguard to the Custom Games mode list.
    • Addressed an issue in Search & Destroy Custom Games with higher round limits ending after the 4th round.
  • Scorestreaks
    • RC-XD
      • Addressed an issue that prevented activating a second RC-XD after one was already used.
    • Drone Squadron
      • Start-of-round restriction timer is now applied to the Drone Squadron.
    • Gunship
      • Resolved an issue where some Gunship shots could impact the Gunship aircraft.
  • Challenges
    • Not Outgunned
      • Not Outgunned Challenge now properly tracks progress in Heist and Control.
    • Ninja
      • Ninja Challenge now properly tracks progress in Heist.
    • Surf’s Up
      • Surf’s Up Challenge now properly tracks progress in Domination around contested points.
    • Threat Neutralized
      • Threat Neutralized Challenge now properly tracks Lightning Strike kills in Domination.
      • Threat Neutralized Challenge now properly tracks progress in Control.
  • Weapon Camos
    • Modified requirements for Diamond and Dark Matter active visual stages to transition every 5 kills (not only kills without dying) and not reset on death.
    • Modified Killathon Reactive Camo to activate visual stages every 5 kills (not only kills without dying) and not reset on death.
  • Stability – Fixed crashes that could occur:
    • When launching Custom Games with Custom Classes or Specialist Draft disabled.
    • When a player disconnected while escorting the Robot in Safeguard.
    • When attempting to attribute score to players that disconnected.
    • When a disconnected enemy caused damage to a player’s equipment in certain circumstances.
    • When the player’s Attack Helicopter was destroyed.
    • When attempting to destroy a vehicle when out of bounds.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Addressed an issue where players with Diamond Camo equipped could face a different direction in third person.
    • Addressed an issue where attempting to fire an empty weapon could leave the shot count at 1, preventing the use of the Mesh Mine.
    • Addressed an issue where the NVIR Optic could cause the Engineer Perk to malfunction if the player switched between classes.
    • Secondary weapons now show in the Specialist Draft if no primary weapon is equipped.

Blackout

  • Audio
    • Occlusion
      • Reduced situations that could make footsteps nearly inaudible.
      • Specific materials and buildings should now affect sound more realistically.
      • Terrain should now properly affect sounds.
      • Garage doors now affect properly when opening and closing them.
    • Distances
      • Rebalanced the distances at which players can hear first hear someone approaching.
      • Unified distances related to certain movement types – for example, sliding should now be heard about the same distance as other player movement sounds.
    • Gameplay Modifiers
      • Adjusted Awareness and Dead Silence Perks accordingly to reflect new distance settings for footstep audio.
    • Directionality
      • Lowered reverb on third-person footsteps, which helps with the player’s understanding of the overall location those footsteps are coming from. This is especially true when wearing headphones/playing in stereo and not in 5.1.
    • First and Third Person
      • Further lowered the first-person footstep volume that players hear themselves make.
      • Further lowered volume of teammates’ footsteps.
      • Decreased first-person weapon audio slightly to balance with third-person weapons heard by others.
      • Jumping into water no longer sounds louder than it should.
    • Environment
      • Lowered volume on the main ambient audio track (the overall sound made by the environment that players always hear), allowing subtler gameplay cues to be more audible more often, including footsteps.
      • Reduced volume and distance that garage doors can be heard from.
      • Modified volume and distances that opening Stashes can be heard from.
  • Armor
    • Armor Plates
      • Added Armor Plates to repair damaged Armor, which are applied from your Inventory.
      • It takes approximately two seconds to use an Armor Plate to repair a segment of damaged Armor.
      • One Armor Plate will repair a single Armor pip, regardless of Armor level.
      • PC players can assign the Armor Repair action in the Game Mode Specific section. New players or those who choose to reset keybinds will have Repair Armor bound to Q.
      • Armor Plates are located in enemy Death Stashes after destroying the Armor of an opponent, in Equipment Stashes, and more rarely, on the ground as a lootable item.
    • Durability
      • Armor durability has been increased, allowing Armor to last longer through an engagement.
      • Armor durability indicators have been updated to display individual pips of Armor.
    • Damage Mitigation
      • The percentage of damage that Armor mitigates has not been changed. As we monitor how these changes to Armor affect gameplay in Blackout, we will continue to evaluate damage mitigation values.
  • Map Changes
    • Overall
      • Added seasonal changes to foliage and softer winter lighting across the entire map.
    • Hydro Dam
      • Added elevators to allow players to get up and down in alternative ways.
      • Provided additional cover on the rooftops of both major buildings.
      • Opened additional rooms between the generator buildings.
    • Factory
      • Opened previously sealed buildings to offer additional looting opportunities.
      • Added new pipes to allow players to navigate between structures in alternative ways.
      • Some previously closed train cars are now accessible.
      • Several new containers are now accessible.
    • Nuketown Island
      • Opened up some previously closed garages throughout Nuketown Island.
    • Map Boundaries
      • Expanded and improved upon boundaries on all sides of the map to be more consistent with the physical indicator of those boundaries seen inside the map, including the fence along the northern boundary of the map, power lines along the eastern side of the map, and pipeline along the southern border of the map.
      • The mini-map now reflects the location of these boundaries.
  • Weapon Balance
    • SDM
      • Reduced damage.
      • Increased ADS time in and out.
      • Increased recoil.
    • Spitfire
      • Reduced damage.
      • Increased recoil.
  • Gameplay
    • Addressed an issue where the weapon scope would shake on Very High Anti-Aliasing.
  • General
    • Smoke Trails
      • Added Smoke Trails to wingsuits during initial infiltration to give players a better sense of how many people are dropping near their location.
    • Zombies in Blackout
      • Zombies will now have a chance to drop ammo when killed.

Zombies

  • Features
    • Daily Callings
      • Daily Callings added to the Barracks in Zombies.
      • Players can complete new Daily Callings challenges for bonus Zombies XP and Nebulium Plasma each day.
    • Black Ops Authenticity Stamp
      • Black Ops Authenticity Stamp feature added to the After Action Report after each match.
      • Players can enter their unique 4-word code generated in the After Action Report at http://callofduty.com/boas to share their accomplishments with the world.
    • Daily Tier Skip
      • Added Daily Tier Skip credit for completing 15 rounds in a game of Classic Zombies each day.
  • Stability
    • High Rounds
      • Fixes for multiple memory leaks and other issues that could lead to crashes at high rounds in all maps.
    • General – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • During respawn after the Join The Party Elixir or Charm of Impatience Talisman was used.
      • When every player disconnected before the match started.
      • When the player disconnected while certain audio played.
      • When sharing a Mystery Box weapon.
      • In rare cases when using the Scepter of Ra.
      • In rare cases when enemies transformed into Catalysts or Blightfathers.
      • In rare cases when taking damage to Armor.
      • In rare cases when a player disconnected after using a trap.
    • Voyage of Despair – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • During steps 4 or 7 of the Main Quest.
      • When the player disconnected while using the Kraken.
      • When shocking a zombie with Kill-O-Watt while it was transforming into a Catalyst.
      • When a player disconnected while reviving another player.
      • In rare cases when using the Sentry or Ragnarok DG-5.
    • IX – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • In rare cases while Perk statues randomly cycled.
      • In rare cases while using the Hammer of Valhalla.
      • In rare cases during special rounds in IX.
      • In rare cases when using Serpent’s Kiss on large group of Zombies.
    • Blood of the Dead – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • When killing the Warden during the Michigan Avenue ghost escort due to a memory leak that could occur.
      • In certain cases during step 3 of Main Quest.
      • In rare cases when throwing the Hell’s Retriever at the bird during step 2 of the Main Quest.
      • In rare cases when using the Acid Trap in the Cafeteria.
      • In rare cases during the prison breakout step in the Main Quest.
      • In rare sound-related cases tied to the Spectral Shield.
      • In Theater Mode while spectating Richtofen when initiating the Magmagat quest.
    • Classified – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • When entering codes during the Classified Wonder Weapon quest.
      • In rare cases when using teleporters.
  • Achievements
    • Prestigious Award
      • Now properly tracks progress for attaining max level or Prestige with 25 different weapons in Zombies.

General

  • Character Customization
    • Warpaints can now be equipped with outfits across different Themes on the same Specialist without having to own a corresponding outfit.
    • Character Personalization menu updated to separate Outfits from Warpaints, with larger display of items.
  • Weapon Camos
    • Camos (Multiplayer & Zombies) and Reactive Camos (Multiplayer) obtained through the Black Market can now be equipped in the Weapon Personalization menu via the Black Market tab.
  • Weapon Reticles
    • Reticles obtained through the Black Market can now be equipped in the Reticle Personalization menu via the Black Market tab.
  • Options (Global)
    • Added gamepad ADS Sensitivity Options for both high zoom optics and regular weapons.
  • Specialist HQ
    • Improved stability with Ajax’s Combat Training mission.

Enjoy the winter content, and once double XP is live, we’ll let people know with a new post.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Red Dead Redemption 2 Update 1.05 Is Out, and It’s All About Fixes

While Rockstar Games just pushed out a Red Dead Redemption 2 update a few days ago, the studio has shot out Red Dead 2 update 1.05 already and it’s out now.

Clocking in at just 800MB on PS4, the latest Red Dead 2 update doesn’t add any new info, but is rather for stability fixes, save data issues and more. Here’s the super short notes via the official Rockstar Games support website.

Red Dead Online Beta General / Miscellaneous – PS4, Xbox One

  • General improvements to fix game stability, save data and to address exploits.

Yep, and that’s it! With Rockstar already balancing the in-game economy of Red Dead Online, these updates should be more for game balancing and bug fixes more than anything else. Of course, some of these might be for the single-player portion as well, which does have its fair share of bugs.

If you notice anything out of the ordinary which you think came from the patch, share your thoughts in the comments below.

More Red Dead Redemption 2 Reading:

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Alex Co

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DayZ 1.0 Update Now Live, Free Weekend Incoming

Remember last week when we reported that DayZ is finally leaving Early Access after years in development? Well, that time is now! DayZ update 1.0 is now live on Steam, which means that technically — and officially — the game is out of beta!

To help mark the occasion, a new launch trailer has been released which showcases the survival gameplay, and bleak atmosphere of DayZ!

In addition to that, Bohemia has announced that a DayZ free weekend is on right now! Set to end on December 17 (19:00 CET) 1 p.m. ET, this free weekend will also be the last chance for players to snag DayZ at 15 percent off before its price is hiked back up.

More announcements are planned soon which talks about the future of DayZ and what’s to come. MP1st will report on the details once we know of them.

Source: DayZ

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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PlanetSide Arena Announced for Release in January 2019, Features Class-Based Gameplay & Supports 1,000 Players a Match (Update)

Update:

Our first gameplay look at PlanetSide Arena is here! Check it out below.

Original Story:

Daybreak Games has announced a new entry in the PlanetSide universe titled “PlanetSide Arena.” According to Daybreak, the game is a new “massive scale multiplayer sci-fi shooter” which features a class system, dynamic in-match and seasonal progression, and can support up to 1,000 players per match!

Set to launch in January 29, 2019 on Steam, PlanetSide Arena will launch with three major game modes: Massive Clash (an epic 500-player group vs group experience), Solo, and Team Battle Royale. In each new season, players can expect new game modes like Capture the Flag (CTF), Team Deathmatch (TDM), Search and Destroy, and more.

As for the classes, there’s going to be three initial ones: Assault, Engineer, and Medic.

Of course, it can’t be a multiplayer game without having a beta first, right? Here’s how to gain access straight from the press release.

PlanetSide Arena is now available for pre-order on Steam.  The Sanctuary Assault Edition (SRP $19.99) includes the Season 1 Battle Pass and the Assault Armor set.  The Legendary Edition (SRP $39.99) is packed with Season 1 Battle Pass, three Class Armor sets (Engineer, Assault and Medic), and the M-20 Tempest (hoverbike) Pack.  Each pre-order grants players Closed Beta access.  In addition, Daybreak will also be offering Closed Beta access to the game to some of their most loyal and active PlanetSide 2 players.

Once we have gameplay footage, we’ll be sure to alert our readers ASAP.

Are you liking the direction of PlanetSide Arena so far? At least it’s not trying to be another battle royale game (even if that mode is offered), right?

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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SoulCalibur VI 2B Release Date Set for Next Week

In a press release, Bandai Namco has announced the SoulCalibur VI 2B release date! In case you didn’t know, 2B, the protagonist from NieR: Automata, will be joining the roster of SoulCalibur VI! Bandai Namco has announced the SoulCalibur VI 2B release date for December 18, 2019 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC!

If you’re not familiar with 2B or NieR: Automata, the action-RPG is made by the fine folks over at PlatinumGames (Bayonetta), and is published by Square Enix.

Here’s the official description from Bandai Namco regarding this new fighter:

A new guest character will be joining the stage of history! Meet YoRHa No. 2 Type B from Square Enix’s NieR: Automata. 2B and her dual blades, Virtuous Contract & Virtuous Treaty, are designed for combat against machine lifeforms, employing acrobatic leaps and mid-air slashes, lightning-fast evasions and perfectly coordinated strikes! She will be making her way to the #SOULCALIBURVI along with her own stage and background music.

You can watch 2B’s SoulCalibur VI reveal trailer right here.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Battlefield V Update 1.06 Rolls Out, Fixes Fortifications Issue and More

While we just got a pretty big Battlefield V patch the other day, DICE has once again rolled out Battlefield 5 update version 1.06 today! Clocking in at just 217MB on the PS4, this update is for issues and bug fixes more than anything else.

On the official Battlefield forums, North America Community Manager Jeff Braddock outlined the changes.

Change List

  • Fixed an issue where Fortification building would not complete correctly. This affected all Fortifications including defensive Fortifications (sandbags etc.), stationary weapons, resupply stations, and Snögubbe!

We will also be pushing a Live Service Update to address the following:

  • Fixed issue with Tides of War Chapter Header showing incorrect days/hours remaining.
  • Changed the default settings when creating Squads and/or inviting Friends to PUBLIC instead of FRIENDS ONLY.

Don’t forget that the time-to-kill has been adjusted already (via server-side hotfix), and you can read about all the changes to that right here.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Anthem: BioWare Not Targeting “Whales,” Not Relying on Them for Game to Succeed

With BioWare confirming that Anthem won’t have loot boxes of any kind, that doesn’t mean that Anthem microtransactions won’t be a thing. While BioWare hasn’t mentioned anything about that just yet, the logical step would be for purchasable javelin cosmetic personalization.

Regardless of what route BioWare takes in terms of Anthem microtransactions, would-be players will be glad to know that the studio isn’t targeting “whales” — a term used for people who spend a ton of money on in-game content.

Speaking to Gamasutra, Lead Producer Mike Gamble was asked if BioWare needed these so-called whales for the game to succeed, and Gamble gave a curt, “I don’t think so.” Gamble states that the studio is aiming to attract as many people as possible, so that these people will be the ones who will support the game.

“[BioWare] is hoping to attract as many people as possible, make the pool as wide as possible, to support the game as long as possible. So even if we don’t have lots of people spending lots of money, we’re hoping the economy is such that we have a number of people [who can support the game.]”

Not a bad plan, right? Definitely better than having randomized loot boxes. If there’s an in-game item shop that sells javelin cosmetics for real world cash, then that might be the perfect compromise for both the publisher, and the player. Factor in that BioWare has also confirmed that all story-driven DLC will be free, well, that should make a lot of fans happy.

What sort of microtransaction model would you be OK with in Anthem? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Don’t forget that an Anthem livestream is happening tomorrow which will feature loot, progression and more.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Hitman 2 Roadmap for Free Content Revealed, New “How to Hitman” Shows Us How to Hide in Plain Sight

If you’ve been playing Hitman 2 and liking it so far, there’s now more reasons for you to keep on killing! In a press release, IO Interactive has announced the Hitman 2 roadmap for the upcoming free content which includes Contracts, a new Elusive Target, and lots more!

  • New Featured Contracts: Occupational Hazards (Available Now) – All Featured Contracts are created by members of the community and then added to the game for all players to enjoy. For HITMAN 2, Featured Contracts will be chosen based on themes – and the first is ‘Occupational Hazards,’ as all contracts are focused on jobs, occupations and professions.

  • New Escalation Contract: The Aelwin Augment (Dec. 13) – Escalation Contracts focus on how players can adapt their skills and playstyles to the various complications that can be thrown Agent 47’s way. This new Escalation Contract takes place on the mysterious Isle of Sgàil and it is sure to be a memorable visit.

  • Holiday Surprise! (Dec. 18) – Stay tuned for a time-limited, holiday-themed surprise coming later this month.

  • New Elusive Target: The Revolutionary (Dec. 21) – A new Elusive Target will arrive in Santa Fortuna for 10 days, and you’ll be able to unlock the Casual Tourist with gloves suit if you manage to complete it. More details on this contract will be available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out the Elusive Target Rewards blog post for a full overview of the ET rewards.

  • New Escalation: The Turms Infatuation (Dec. 27) – The month will be wrapped up (pun intended) with an Escalation Contract in Santa Fortuna.

Not enough to scratch your Hitman 2 itch, IO Interactive also released a new video in its “How to Hitman” video series, and this one shows us how to hide in plain sight!

Whether it’s to evade armed guards or avoid the attention of suspicious civilians, remaining incognito will be Agent 47’s best bet to successfully accomplishing a mission in HITMAN 2. Large crowds, tall vegetation and a well put together outfit will prove to be key factors to pull off the deadliest of deeds.

If you want to see some sweet Hitman 2 assassinations, click here.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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World War Z Classes Video Showcases Abilities and What Each Class Can Do

In case you didn’t know, the video game adaptation of the hit movie World War Z (also titled World War Z), will have classes! While some might assume that these are your run of the mill medic class and the like, it’s centered more on killing and dismemberment of the undead.

Saber Interactive has released the World War Z classes video where we not only see new gameplay, but we get to see each class in action!

There’s the Slasher class who has a big sword/machete and takes out enemies using stealth with her suppressed pistol; while the Hellraiser class seems to be your ‘nade character that focuses on heavy damage and things that go boom. We next see the Exterminator class that deploys traps, and then there’s the Gunslinger who seems to focus on bullet damage. Check out the rest of the vid to see what the Medic and Fixer classes can do!

World War Z is set for release in 2019 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Fallout 76 Upcoming Patch Planned to Be the Last One for 2018, Here’s the Patch Notes for the Newest Update

In case you didn’t know, Bethesda rolled out a new Fallout 76 update for both consoles and PC, which is said to fix some of the bugs in the game. Clocking in at 5GB on consoles and 3GB on PC, the Fallout 76 patch notes can be seen below.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Here are a few of the major changes coming with today’s patch. Additional details further below.

  • C.A.M.P. Construction Improvements: Small obstructions will now be automatically removed when you place objects on top of them, allowing you to more easily build where you want.
  • C.A.M.P. Placement Improvements: You will now be notified when you log into a world and your current C.A.M.P. location is occupied by another player. If you stay in that world, you can place your C.A.M.P. back down for free somewhere else. If you decide not to place your C.A.M.P. and join a new world where your space is unoccupied, it will be automatically placed in its original spot.
  • SPECIAL Re-speccing: Upon reaching level 51, and every level thereafter, you’ll be able to choose whether you want to unlock a new Perk Card or reallocate one SPECIAL point.
  • Push-to-Talk: We’ve implemented a push-to-talk hotkey for Voice Chat on PC so that you can decide when to speak up and when to remain silent.
  • New PC Settings: We’ve added Field of View and Depth of Field sliders so that you can further customize your view in-game.
  • 21:9 Resolution Support: On PC, you can catch an even wider view from those gorgeous Appalachian vistas, because Fallout 76 now supports monitors that use 21:9 aspect ratios.

GENERAL

  • Performance: Several improvements have been made to in-game performance.
  • Stability: The Fallout 76 game client and servers have received additional stability improvements.

ART

  • Lighting: Exposure values have been adjusted for exterior environments, allowing them to appear brighter in dark conditions.

BALANCE

  • Loot: .308 Ammo dropped by creatures has been reduced. Players will now receive .308 Ammo in stacks of 1 – 5, rather than up to 12 for a single kill.
  • Loot: Super Mutants will now drop Gunpowder half as often, and the chance for additional loot has been reduced. Caps are guaranteed loot on Super Mutants until level 16.
  • Scorchbeast Queen: Will now land on the ground more often.
  • Workshops: Players no longer gain XP when crafting at a public Workshop.

C.A.M.P., CRAFTING, AND WORKSHOPS

  • Rocks, small trees, and other small objects no longer prevent players from building items in those locations.
  • These obstructions are now automatically removed upon constructing objects and structures in C.A.M.P., such as Foundations.
  • Placing an object to remove an obstruction and then removing that object, will cause that obstruction to reappear after some time or upon logging back in.

NEW – C.A.M.P. placement improvements:

  • A notification will now be displayed to players upon logging into a world if their current C.A.M.P. location is occupied by someone else.
  • If they to choose remain in that world, they will be able to place their C.A.M.P. in a new location for free.
  • Alternatively, if the player decides not to place their C.A.M.P. in a new location, and instead joins a new world, their C.A.M.P. will be automatically placed back in its original location—provdided that spot is unoccupied.

Additional C.A.M.P., Crafting, and Workshop updates:

  • C.A.M.P.: The percentage of a C.A.M.P.’s Budget that is being taken up by stored items and Blueprints will now appear in the Budget bar.
  • C.A.M.P.: While in build mode, players can now toggle the left joystick on controllers, or press “Q” on PC, to switch view between objects that can be built and those that cannot.
  • Windmill: The power produced by the Windmill has been increased from 3 to 12.
  • Workshops: Players can now purchase Atomic Shop items directly from the Workshop menu.

PROGRESSION

NEW – SPECIAL Re-speccing:

  • Every time a player levels-up after level 50, they can now choose whether to unlock a new Perk Card or transfer one previously allocated SPECIAL point from one category to another.
    • This change is not retroactive for characters that have already progressed beyond level 50 but will apply to every level-up they achieve going forward.
    • If a player chooses to reallocate a SPECIAL point on leveling-up, they will be unable to select a new Perk Card for that level, and vice-versa.
    • Re-speccing details have also been added to the “Perks” section of the in-game Help menu.

QUESTS

  • Event Quests: A 15-minute cooldown timer has been added at the end of each Enclave Event Quest.
  • Event Quests: XP reward amounts have been reduced for the following Event Quests:
    • Fertile Soil, Collision Course, Tea Time, Guided Meditation, Distinguished Guests, Battle Bots, Line in the Sand, Protest March, Grafton Day, Patrol Duty, Jailbreak, Back on the Beat, and Feed the People.
    • Additionally, the cooldown timer that begins after starting each of these Events has been increased from 48 minutes to 1 hour and 12 minutes.

USER INTERFACE

NEW – Push-to-Talk Setting (PC):

  • A Push-to-Talk setting has been added for Voice Chat, and is set to the Caps Lock key by default.
    • The “Toggle Always Run” hotkey, which used to be set on Caps Lock, has been moved to the “/” key by default.
    • Both the Caps Lock and “/” hotkeys can be rebound in the Controls Menu.

NEW – Depth of Field Setting (PC):

  • A Depth of Field slider has been added and can be adjusted in the game’s display settings menu.

NEW – Field of View Setting (PC):

  • A Field of View slider has been added and can be adjusted in the game’s display settings menu.
  • The Field of View slider can be adjusted in increments of 5, to a maximum of 120, and a minimum of 70.
  • Note: Field of View will be automatically set to 70 while modifying a character’s appearance but can otherwise be set between the values mentioned above.

NEW – 21:9 Resolution Support (PC):

  • The game client will now automatically detect and apply the correct display resolution for monitors that use 21:9 resolutions.
  • Additionally, various 21:9 resolutions can be selected in the game’s display settings menu.

Additional User Interface Updates:

  • AFK Timer: The timer that disconnects players after a period of inactivity in-game has been increased from 10 to 30 minutes, and the warning prompt will now display 3 minutes, rather than 1 minute, prior to being disconnected.
  • Atomic Shop: Items that have recently been added to the Atomic Shop now display a “New” icon, and new items will now sort to the front of their associated subsections.
  • Atomic Shop: Item subtitles in the Atomic Shop have been moved to the top of item images.
  • Compass: Maximums have been implemented for each type of marker that can appear in the compass, and up to 60 markers in total can be visible at once:
    • Up to 10 markers each for quests, locations, hostile players, and enemies.
    • Up to 8 markers each for neutral players and targeted enemies.
    • Up to 4 markers for teammates.
    • Players can still use their Pip-Boys to toggle tracking off for individual quests if they’d prefer to reduce them amount of quest markers in the compass, and on-screen.

BUG FIXES

STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE
  • Performance: Fixed an issue that could cause the player to encounter an infinite loading screen when Fast Traveling.
  • Performance: Addressed hitching that could occur during combat in Nuke Silos.
  • Performance: Addressed an issue that could cause reduced performance and displayed a red-text error when viewing the Map, Map Menu, Perk Screen, or a Note.
  • Performance: Addressed an issue that could cause hitching on the Perk Menu when sharing a Perk Card or unequipping a shared Perk Card.
  • Performance: Addressed a performance issue on Xbox that could occur while traveling in The Mire.
  • Performance: Addressed an issue that could cause reduced performance after a Wendigo screams.
  • Stability: Addressed a crash that could occur when accessing the transfer menu after picking up a Power Armor Chassis.
  • Stability: Addressed a crash that could occur if a Team Invite was automatically declined after not being accepted or rejected.
GENERAL
  • Achievements: Winning the Monster Mash event by collecting the most candy now correctly awards the associated Achievement/Trophy for console players.
  • Achievements: Killing the Scorchbeast Queen during the Scorched Earth event now correctly awards the associated Achievement/Trophy for console players.
  • Achievements: Completing the Breach and Clear event now correctly awards the associated Achievement/Trophy for console players.
ART AND GRAPHICS
  • Animations: Ghouls in the Vault-Tec Agricultural Research Center’s basement no longer hitch while playing their movement animations.
  • Animations: Super Mutants inside the Eastern Regional Penitentiary no longer hitch or stall while playing their movement animations.
  • Animations: Fixed several issues causing Vertibots and other cargo bots to exhibit odd movement behavior when landing.
  • C.A.M.P.: On consoles, objects built by the player will no longer temporarily appear completely black upon joining a world.
  • Character Models: Other players’ character models will no longer display visual issues when a loading screen completes after exiting a building.
  • Graphics: Fixed a visual issue that could cause wooden objects and structures to display blurry graphic effects.
  • Graphics: On PS4, flames and fire effects now render correctly, and no longer only display smoke and embers.
  • Graphics: Fixed an issue on PS4 that could cause objects within building interiors to appear very dark.
  • Graphics: Fixed an issue that could cause shadows and lighting to flicker in some environments and inside certain buildings.
  • Graphics: Flamethrower Traps no longer display dark hexagonal objects while firing.
  • Graphics: Corrected a visual issue affecting smoke produced by the Cooling Towers at the Thunder Mountain Power Plant.
  • Paints: Modding Combat Armor after applying Paint no longer prevents the Paint from appearing.
  • Power Armor: On Xbox One, visual artifacts will no longer appear in the upper corners of the screen while wearing Power Armor in the rain.
  • Weather: Objects in the world will no longer appear to flicker while it is raining.
  • Weapons: The Minigun’s barrel no longer appears partially transparent while previewing it in the Inspect menu.
  • Weapons: Being attacked while using a Chainsaw no longer causes a “tunnel vision”-like graphic effect to appear on-screen.
  • Weapons: The Pitchfork Flamer mod no longer displays a blocky green texture when previewing it at a Weapons Workbench.
  • Weapons: An extra bolt no longer appears when previewing Crossbows in the Inspect, Trade, or Transfer Menus.
  • Weapons: Fire, Heated, and Electric visual effects now appear correctly when previewing weapons in the Modify and Inspect menus.
C.A.M.P., WORKSHOPS, AND CRAFTING
  • Blueprints: Fixed an issue that could prevent a Blueprint from being placed and cause a “Cannot place item: Selected item is floating.” error to display, even if the placement preview showed the intended location was valid.
  • Blueprints: Fixed an issue that could prevent a Blueprint from being placed without displaying an error message, even if the placement preview showed the intended location as valid.
  • Blueprints: The placement preview for a Blueprint that contains floating objects will no longer occasionally display a green outline despite being unplaceable.
  • Blueprints: Attempting to place a Blueprint by snapping it to an existing structure will no longer appear acceptable, or allow placement, if it would cause objects to overlap.
  • Blueprints: Fixed an issue that could allow creation of a Blueprint that exceeded the Blueprint Budget.
  • Containers: Fixed an exploit that could enable unlimited item storage.
  • Doorways: Can now be correctly snapped to floors that are attached to Stairs.
  • Recent: The Recent tab in the Build Menu will now correctly display objects that have recently been built.
  • Scrapping: Fixed an issue that could allow a player to unintentionally scrap their Pip-Boy.
  • Stairs: Can no longer be placed in a way that causes them to clip through Roof objects.
  • Stored: Addressed an exploit that could cause items in the Stored tab to become duplicated.
  • Stored: Storing a variant of an object that the player has not yet learned how to build will now cause that item to be converted to a variant the player can build. If no variants have been learned, the stored item will be converted to its base version.
  • Wind Chimes: Can now correctly be attached to Walls in C.A.M.P.s.
  • Workbenches: The list of available crafting materials at the Power Armor Station now updates correctly upon modifying a suit of Power Armor.
  • Workshops: After Powering up a Power Plant, Power Boxes at the plant now correctly produce 400 Power, and Power Boxes at surrounding Workshops produce 100 Power.
  • Workshops: Car models no longer reappear after being removed by building an object on top of them.
ENEMIES
  • General: Fixed an issue that could cause enemies to remain stationary while they were out of combat.
  • Bee Swarms: Are no longer invisible.
  • Honeybeast: No longer drop more Adhesive than intended, and now instead drop a stack of 1 – 2 Adhesive on death.
  • Mirelurk Queen: The Mirelurk Queen’s acid attack no longer deals more damage than intended.
  • Scorchbeast: The Scorchbeast in the Glassed Cavern can no longer fly through walls.
ITEMS
  • Aid: Fixed an issue causing Bobbleheads and Magazines to spawn at a lower rate than intended. These items should now appear 16% more often.
  • Apparel: Buying Apparel from a Vendor will now correctly add that item to the player’s Inventory.
  • Armor: Fixed an exploit affecting certain armor types that could allow players to gain unlimited carry capacity during that play session.
  • Caps: Addressed several exploits that could allow players to gain Caps more quickly than intended.
  • Power Armor: Fixed an issue that could allow two players to simultaneously activate the same suit of unowned Power Armor.
  • Power Armor: It is no longer possible to transfer more than one Fusion Core into a suit of Power Armor.
  • Serums: Now correctly apply Mutations when consumed, and Mutations applied in this way now correctly appear in the Pip-Boy’s Effects tab.
  • Vendors: Items that do not have a Cap value can no longer be sold to Vendors.
  • Weapons: Applying a Precise Stock mod to the Pipe Bolt-Action Pistol no longer increases its rate of fire.
  • Weapons: Attacking another player with a Cryolator no longer drains their Action Points outside of mutual PVP.
  • Weapons: Fixed an issue that could prevent Plasma Pistols from dealing damage.
  • Weapons: Projectile weapons no longer fire at the player’s feet when aiming at a downward angle.
QUESTS
  • Personal Matters: Fixed several issues that could prevent Evan from spawning correctly.
  • An Ounce of Prevention: The T-Type Fuse quest marker now correctly appears above the container that contains the fuse. Additionally, an optional new objective has ben added to help players find a way into Greg’s Mine Supply.
  • Chow Line: This Daily Quest can no longer be repeated multiple times per day.
  • Dropped Connection: Loot that is left behind by other players after completing this event is now correctly cleared when the event restarts.
  • Events: Players can now correctly join Event Quests after Fast Traveling to a nearby location and walking into an active Event area.
  • Feed the People: Fixed an issue in which completing the Feed the People Event Quest granted Canned Meat Stew to all players on the server, rather than only the quest’s participants.
  • The Missing Link: Collecting the Uplink now correctly clears the Retrieve the Uplink quest step.
  • Line in the Sand: Waves of Scorched no longer walk into the walls of Fort Defiance when attempting to reach the Sonic Generator.
  • Scorched Earth: Fixed an issue that could cause this event to be completed immediately after it began.
  • Scorched Earth: Players who damage the Scorchbeast Queen will now correctly receive 2 Military Commendations when she is killed, even if they did not land the killing blow.
PERKS
  • Critical Savvy: No longer allows the player to use a Critical Strike if the Critical Meter is not completely filled.
  • Fix it Good: Bonus durability added to armor is no longer suddenly lost after being hit a few times.
  • Green Thumb: The double harvest benefit of this Perk no longer incorrectly applies to Mothman Eggs.
  • Heavy Gunner: No longer incorrectly benefits the Auto Grenade Launcher.
  • Shotgun Perks: No longer incorrectly benefit the M79 Grenade Launcher.
  • Strange in Numbers: Now correctly increases positive Mutation effects by 25%, rather than 50%, when on a team with a player who has Mutations that grant bonuses to SPECIAL stats.
  • Weapon Artisan: Bonus durability added to a weapon is no longer suddenly lost after using the weapon a few times.
PVP
  • Weapon Damage: Addressed an issue that could prevent high-level weapons from dealing damage during PVP.
  • Team PVP: When attacked by a player who is on a team, the target will now correctly enter mutual PVP with the entire team upon returning fire to any of the aggressor’s teammates. If the target was also on a team, returning fire will begin mutual PVP between both teams.
  • Turrets: Will no longer fire on another player who is attacked by the owner of those Turrets outside of mutual PVP combat.
SOCIAL
  • Friends: Friends who have been Blocked now remain visible in the Friends List. This should help players unblock a friend who they may have blocked accidentally.
  • Friends: Friends who have been Blocked or Ignored will now display a “(Blocked)” or “(Ignored)” tag next to their account name in Friends List.
  • Friends: Friend status in the Social Menu will now correctly update to Online, Offline, or Main Menu.
  • Social Menu: Players in the Social Menu are now correctly sorted first by those who are Online in the same world, Online in another world, at the Main Menu, Offline, Ignored, Blocked, and finally, by alphabetical order.
  • Social Menu: Players on PC who use controllers can now correctly access the search field found at the bottom of the Social Menu.
  • Social Menu: Players in the Recent Players list no longer display an Online, Offline, or Main Menu status.
  • Teams: Players will no longer be placed into a team alone if the player they previously invited disconnects from the game.
  • Teams: Attempting to accept a team invite after the team’s leader has left the team will no longer cause an error message to display.
  • Teams: Team members who exit the game will be removed from the team after logging back in. If the team leader disconnected in this way, another team member will become the leader.
  • Teams: Fixed an issue that could prevent Team Invites from being displayed to the player.
SOUND
  • Game Volume: On Xbox, the game’s audio volume will no longer fluctuate when looking through a weapon’s scope.
  • Holotapes: Choosing “Play” upon finding a Holotape in the world while using the “Quick-Boy” version of the Pip-Boy no longer prevents its voiceover from playing.
  • Sound Effects: On PS4, wind sound effects at high altitudes now fade out rather than ending abruptly.
  • Radio: Playing a Holotape while listening to Appalachia Radio no longer causes a delay when the radio transitions to the next song.
USER INTERFACE
  • Atomic Shop: On PC, clicking the “Back” button while viewing an item’s detailed description no longer causes that item’s details overlay to persist on-screen.
  • Atomic Shop: The clickable area on item buttons in the leftmost column in the Atomic Shop now correctly matches the size of the buttons.
  • Atomic Shop: Addressed an issue that could prevent items in the Atomic Shop from loading correctly for players on console.
  • Atomic Shop: Fixed an issue that could prevent fanfare from playing, or cause it to end early, after making a purchase.
  • Atomic Shop: Clicks will no longer fail to register along the bottom edge of the screen when attempting to purchase Atoms while running the game on PC with a 16:10 monitor resolution.
  • Challenges: The “Level Up” Daily Challenge no longer remains completed when Challenges reset on a new day.
  • Containers: Weight values no longer shift slightly to the left when viewing a container’s inventory.
  • Graphic Settings: Addressed an issue that could cause Graphic Settings to automatically default to Low for some graphics cards, despite being able to support higher settings.
  • Hotkeys: Rebinding Jump to a mouse button now correctly causes the “Search” and “Modify/Repair” prompts to display the updated hotkey.
  • Keypads: Attempting to access a keypad being used by another player will now correctly display an error message stating that the keypad is in use.
  • Localization: Carry weight and current Cap totals no longer appear truncated in the bottom-right corner of the Map in the Chinese game client.
  • Localization: Password characters are no longer missing from the note in the storage room in Camp Venture in the Polish version of the game client.
  • Localization: Fixed an issue that could cause text to disappear or appear misaligned in hackable Terminals in the Korean version of the game client.
  • Localization: Wall and Floor Décor section titles in the C.A.M.P.’s Build Menu no longer appear truncated in the Traditional Chinese game client.
  • Power Armor: Fast Traveling with Power Armor that was purchased in the Atomic Shop no longer removes the Atomic Shop logo.
  • Power Armor: While wearing Power Armor and playing in 21:9 aspect ratios on PC, raindrops and other visual effects now correctly extend to the edges of the screen.
  • Quest Tracker: Fixed an issue that could cause placeholder text to display to teammates in the quest tracker as the team leader progressed through a quest.
  • Respawn: Choosing to respawn at the nearest Map Marker no longer occasionally causes the player to encounter an infinite loading screen, a black screen, or an error message.
  • Settings: Fixed an issue on PC that could allow the game client’s visible area to extend beyond the bounds of the monitor.
  • VATS: Melee attacks will now correctly increase the Critical Meter.
  • Workshops: The notification that appears when a player is prompted to retake a previously owned Workshop no longer displays placeholder text.
As for the Fallout 76 upcoming patch, Bethesda has mentioned that the studio is aiming one more for 2018, and if it gets released next week on December 18, it’ll be the last one for the year as the studio focuses on updates planned for 2019.

DECEMBER 18
We’re still hoping to provide one more patch in mid-December. As mentioned previously, this patch will continue our focus on stability and other concerns raised by the community. If we do move forward with this patch, it will be the last one this year as we shift our focus toward updates we have planned for early 2019, which will include new game content, many additional bug fixes, and more changes based on your feedback. We’re still determining the status of this update and will keep you posted as this date approaches.

Once we know more details about this upcoming patch, we’ll post it on the site.

Source: Bethesda

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Anthem Story and “The Dominion” Military Society Info by Revealed BioWare

While we already know that Anthem’s main villain is called The Monitor, BioWare has now shared more details regarding Anthem story details, and even what you’re going up against.

In a new blog post by the studio, BioWare talks about The Dominion, which seems to be the faction the freelancers will be going up against. Here’s the important info revealed today.

Today, our struggle against the Anthem’s world-changing power continues. And now, a new threat is growing: the Dominion, a ferocious militaristic society in the mountainous North. The Monitor, a ruthless Dominion commander, claims to have discovered a way to control the power of the Anthem. If he succeeds, no one will be able to stand in his way.

A small band of Freelancers is all that can stop him. A battle for the future of our world is about to begin: a battle to stop the Dominion from harnessing the Anthem’s power.

Don’t forget, an Anthem livestream will be happening tomorrow which will focus on loot, progression, loadouts and more! We’ll get the livestream up on the site once it’s near the start time. Don’t forget. there are two Anthem demos coming next year, and here’s how to join ’em.

Are you happy with Anthem’s story so far or is it too vanilla for you?

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Monster Hunter World Free Trial Live Now, Kulve Taroth Quest Returning Next Week

In case you’re on the fence whether to get Monster Hunter World, now’s the perfect time to get your feet wet as Capcom is offering a Monster Hunter World free trial for the PS4 and Xbox One! In the press release sent by Capcom, it mentions that the free trial will go live on December 11 at 4 p.m. PST and will last until December 17, 3:59 p.m. PST.

The Monster Hunter World free trial version will allow players to experience quests of up to three-star levels, and, online multiplayer will be available as well. And before you ask, yes, PS Plus and/or XBL Gold is required to enjoy the benefits of online multiplayer in the free trial. Any saved progress during this free trial will carry over to the main game to entice newbies to buy it after they try.

Also of note, Capcom has also announced that the Kulve Taroth Siege special event quest, which allows up to 16 players in groups of four each to team up towards one common goal, is set to return this December 20! However, this time, a tougher “Arch Tempered” version of the monster will be facing gamers. Don’t worry though as more powerful rewards will be given out too.

Lastly, Capcom has also announced The Appreciation Fest which will happen in the anniversary of the game’s release. Come January 2019, players can expect a newly decorated Gathering Hub, special equipment that can be obtained in brand new quests and other event-themed quests!

You can check out our review of Monster Hunter World right here, just in case you want to read up on what we thought of it. The game will also be getting a major expansion next year called “Iceborne,” and also another content drop showcasing Geralt from The Witcher franchise.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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PS4 Update 6.20 Released by Sony

Restart your PS4, ladies and gentlemen! Sony has rolled out PS4 update 6.20, and unfortunately, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table except the fine taste of stability fixes.

At just 400MB, this PS4 update has this as the main feature:

  • This system software update improves system performance.

Yep, that’s it. Of course, if it prevents our consoles from crashing less, it’s a welcome patch. Users can download the file right here if they wish to install it via USB.

While the PS4 patch, which is most likely our last one for the year, is a bit underwhelming, this week’s PlayStation Store sale isn’t! Check out literally hundreds of games on sale on Sony’s digital storefront right now. You can also download this month’s free PS Plus games, and we have the download links here for US and EU!

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Battlefield V TTK Change List Outlined by DICE, Here’s How Damage Has Been Modified

Just yesterday, we posted that DICE is planning on tweaking Battlefield V’s time-to-kill (TTK), which will affect the overall gunfights in the game.

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long to find out how exactly things will change, as Global Community Manager Dan Mitre has now shared the Battlefield 5 TTK change list! Below, you’ll see the exact differences between now and with the upcoming Battlefield V TTK changes!

BATTLEFIELD V TTK CHANGE LIST

With the TTK changes, we are changing how much damage certain weapons deal to body parts. However, the damage of all weapons to the head remains unchanged and some weapons will not be affected by those changes or very little to limit balance inconsistencies.

In the table below, you can get an overview of what the body parts vs weapon damage multipliers will be when the TTK changes are active.

The value in (red, bold parenthesis) represents what this value was with the original TTK values.

https://i.redd.it/j28g7xel9s321.png

HOW MANY BULLETS WILL I NEED TO KILL SOMEONE NOW?

In practice, the maximum damage is now lower for most weapons. This means that it will take on average one more bullet to kill with the weapons that are affected.

The distances at which you will need more bullets to kill will also be affected. Like the table above, here is how it changes now with the original TTK equivalent in (bold parenthesis).

  • Semi Auto Rifles:
    • Gewehr 43, Selbstlader 1916: Drop to 4 Bullets To Kill around 39 m (never).
    • Turner SMLE: Drops to 4 BTK around 28 m (50 m), 5 BTK around 68 m (never).
    • Gewehr 1-5: Drops to 4 BTK around 13 m (30 m), 5 BTK around 44 m (50 m), 6 BTK around 63 m (never).
    • M1 Carbine: Drops to 5 BTK around 39 m (50 m), 6 BTK around 63 m (never).
  • Assault Rifles:
    • Can no longer 4 hit kill with body shots only.
    • Drop to 6 BTK around 21 m (50 m), 7 BTK around 53 m (never).
  • LMGs, MMGs:
    • Can no longer 4 hit kill with body shots only.
    • Drop to 6 BTK around 21 m (50 m), 7 BTK around 57 m (never).
  • SMGs:
    • Can no longer 4 hit kill with body shots only.
    • Drop to 6 BTK around 15 m (25 m), 7 BTK around 32 m (50 m), 8 BTK around 49 m (75 m), 9 BTK around 70 m (never).
    • MP34 does not drop to 9 BTK at range.
  • Self-Loading Rifles:
    • Will now require one extra shot when hitting the lower body, arms or legs unless the other shot is a headshot.
  • Buckshot Shotguns
    • Unchanged: Same damage.
  • Slug Shotguns:
    • Slightly adjusted: Will deal less damage when hitting lower body, arms or legs.

Don’t forget, there’s going to be a “Conquest Core” playlist with the old values for TTK, which means, if you like the present TTK now, go play that mode. DICE has mentioned that it is changing things as their data? Here’s what Mitre had to say about it.

It’s widely accepted within the community that the current TTK values feel ‘dialed in’ or is ‘perfect as is’, and that the elements that need to change are those that impact TTD (Time to Death), such as netcode, health models, etc. It’s important to note that both TTK and TTD are closely intertwined. Making one change to TTK directly impacts TTD, and vice versa. “But, why futz around with TTK when it’s ideal at its current state?” Although not extremely vocal within our deeply engaged community, we see from our game data that the wider player base is dying too fast leading to faster churn – meaning players may be getting frustrated with dying too fast that they choose not to log back in and learn how to become more proficient at Battlefield V. Changing TTK values in addition to improving TTD elements will help these particular instances and hopefully result in better gameplay experiences for players of all skill levels.

My controversial take? I agree with DICE’s changes. It sometimes feels like I’m playing Call of Duty (who, ironically, increased player health overall in Black Ops 4), instead of Battlefield.

Will the community embrace these changes? Once the new update is out, we’ll let our readers know so you can try for yourself.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.