Weekly Recap #381 October 11th- RuneScape, Destiny 2, #Boycottblizzard, TERA & More!

RuneFest News/Editorial: 0:27

Runefest was this past week and with the major event came a ton of huge announcements! First, Runescape is getting a new skill called Archaeology! This skill will lead players to all new biomes and offer fantastic rewards including new familiars to help you in combat. Last summer’s “The Land Out of Time” content is going to be getting some love in as well. In “The Ranch Out of Time” you can raise and nurture powerful primal beasts to yield “Primal Extract”. This new feature will serve as an expansion to both the Farming and Herblore skills. A Farming Guild was also teased as was the Remote Farming Machine. The “Desperate Times” quest will receive a follow-up with the “Desperate Measures” quest, of course, and a new Elder God Wars dungeon will arrive in 2020. For the full breakdown, check out Jason’s coverage of the event over on MMOHuts.com where there’s tons to talk about.

War Selection Enters Early Access on Steam: 1:18

Glyph Worlds began the Early Access program for their free-to-play RTS War Selection this past week! The game will launch as a free-to-play game with an optional subscription to unlock subscriber-only matches, which feature additional technologies in each era. They will also be able to make private matches and participate in votes to determine features coming to the game. Players will start off in the Stone Age in each game, and choose a path to victory by advancing through eras and modifying your culture according to their playstyle. For example, advancing through the Iron Age as Asia confers different bonuses than going through as a European empire. These options let players customize the way they play and choose the strategy that suits them. Single and multiplayer modes add variety to the gameplay, especially the Armageddon mode. A massive 62 players will be supported in this mode, with the smallest empires getting bombarded with meteors as time progresses in the Armageddon mode, forcing constant conflict as the pressure to expand continues to build. Why you gotta pick on the little guys, man even RTS games are getting a Battle Royale style mode these days.

Vigor Releases Update 1.1: Bridges Today: 2:22

Bohemia Interactive is proud to celebrate 2.5 million Vigor players, and with that they’ve released update 1.1: Bridges. This update adds a new map called Brodalen Bridges, and a new in-game event, Buried Ache. New weapons, stamina additives, team-killer detection and more also arrived in this update. A full list of these additions can be found at the link in the description below. Not a very big update but an update never the less.

Astellia Online Adds Class Evolutions in Today’s Update: 2:50

The recently launched Astellia Online received a major update this past week which brought a brand new feature to the game: Class Evolution. When a player hits level 50, they can evolve into one of three specializations, which extends the amount of experience a character can earn. This EXP is converted towards Star Ranks in their chosen evolution class. When they reach the first Star Rank, they will be granted one of two exclusive abilities. At Rank Three, the second is unlocked. In between these ranks, additional growth will be available in specific character stats, depending on the evolution chosen. Ultimately, once a character has reached their fifth-star rank they will be granted a permanent awakening to one of their core abilities. The types of exclusive skills, stats, and awakened ability can be seen by opening the character window and then clicking the ‘Evolution Info’ button. These exclusive abilities and stats will be retained so long as you stay in this evolution, and have the star rank to have them unlocked. But players are not limited to a single evolutionary path. Earned 5-star Awakened Skills will be retained even after switching paths. Exclusive Skills, earned EXP, and stats, however, will not. Definitely a big feature update.

Eternal Now on Nintendo Switch: 3:58

The Nintendo Switch finally receives its first fully-featured card game in Eternal, from Dire Wolf Digital! The Switch version of the game also features cross-platform play with Steam, iOS, Android, and Xbox One editions of the game. Dire Wolf also announced a new cross-platform expansion for Eternal entitled “The Flame of Xulta”. This seventh set for Eternal adds over 200 new cards. There are new mechanics and gameplay features to utilize and is set on an ancient world, beneath a dying sun. Gem-clad paladins channel their power to vanquish their foes, and gladiators work towards a grand legacy in a grand arena. That’s only a taste of the story in “The Flame of Xulta”, which is available now.

Hearthstone Player Ban Sparks Controversy over Hong Kong Protests: 4:40

The Hearthstone community has been roiling this past week over the banning of a Hong Kong-based pro player Blitzchung for one year following his show of solidarity with protestors in Hong Kong. If you’re not up to date on the situation you can find tons of discussions over the matter on youtube and social media. Apparently Blizzard also dismissed the two Taiwanese commentators who were a part of the segment, even though they were unaware of blitzchung’s plan to make such a declaration. The outrage over the banning has even spawned the hashtag #boycottblizzard, with much of the gaming community, and even a pair of US government officials condemning the company’s actions. Yikes, Blizzard… wasn’t expecting that.

TERA’s Skywatch: Aerial Island Update Teases New Card Collection System: 5:23

TERA has a massive update coming to PC on October 15th, with Skywatch: Aerial Island, which includes a Card Collection System. The upcoming content release closes out the ‘Skywatch’ series of updates for the game and brings a new landmass for players to explore plus new systems that enable players to enhance and customize their characters. The major part of the update is the Card Collection System. This will give players a new way to customize their stats to fit their role or playstyle. An introductory quest will open up for level 11 or higher characters, but of course players of all character levels will be able to benefit from this system. Players can earn card fragments while engaging in their usual activities including completing dungeons, killing Big-Ass Monsters (BAMs), and playing PvP modes, combining 20 card fragments together to unlock a full card for their collection. Each individual card will grant passive stat boosts for the character, with certain card combinations unlocking more powerful buffs.

Atlas Launches on Xbox One with Full Crossplay: 6:24

It’s time to get ready for the ultimate pirate experience on the Xbox One, as Atlas is now live on the console! It’s time to build your ship, recruit a crew, and sail the high seas! The biggest part of the game is that it features full cross-platform support so that Xbox and PC players can do battle in a shared world. The Xbox One edition of the game even has mouse and keyboard support so both sides are on equal footing. Hopefully by this time the game has worked out its kinks, it took several years before Ark was somewhat optimized and felt polished, maybe it’s the same thing for Atlas.

Paladins Unveils Raum, Rage of the Abyss: 6:57

Paladins showed off a teaser trailer for their newest character, Raum, Rage of the Abyss. Raum will arrive in the game with the Damned Frontier update. Raum is a front-liner or tank who collects soul shards from his enemies to power his personal shields… its pretty brutal. He can cover large distances with his abilities and disrupt enemies with a powerful stun. It’s also worth noting that he only gains shields through combat; hesitating or avoiding conflict leaves him vulnerable! Alongside Raum, Paladins will launch a brand new Wild West battle pass in The Damned Frontier update. 100 levels of Wild West styled content awaits anyone playing while it’s active – including Hustler Strix, Bounty Hunter Lex, Safecracker Khan, and Gunslinger Tyra, alongside avatars, sprays, emotes and more.

KurtzPel Releases ‘Sacred Guardian’ Update: 7:44

KurtzPel has a ton of new content coming, and Volume 3 of the KurtzPel Intelligence Briefing is here to give you the scoop. This update adds the first heavy-hitting, heal and support Karma Weapon, the ‘Sacred Guardian’. Provided by Lime, this new NPC is here and offers the first Support weapon. This weapon can be purchased on Steam, or for free through an in-game method. Players will collect CP and AP to purchase it. The ‘Sacred Guardian Starter Pack’ unlocks the three missions related to Lime in the mission map. After completing the missions, players can play to receive additional rewards, such as costumes, Karma Crystals, and more depending on their affinity with the NPC, Lime. This update will also include a Massive Balance update; comprised of feedback provided directly by KurtzPel’s dedicated players, and in tandem with the Dev Team via the Eltheca Proving Ground, a closed test server where players and developers provide feedback on everything from game balance to features, interface layout, and game concepts. Additional features being added in the update include three epically immersive Lime-themed PvE Missions, a Field-of-Vision Slider that tailors the game experience better for players, and an additional Accessory drop for all existing PvE Bosses. Pretty decent sized update actually.

Destiny 2 is now free to play on Steam with new Shadowkeep DLC: 9:00

Destiny 2 launched recently on Steam as a free to play game! If you’ve never played it, or have been on the fence about trying it, or better yet, haven’t purchased Borderlands 3 because you don’t want anything to do with it being an epic games store exclusive, cause you might have something against the launcher or something,  there’s never been a better time! With the free portion of the game players receive all the game’s content through its first year, so that doesn’t include the newly launched Shadowkeep update which is receiving a lot of great reception so far. Good news for existing Destiny 2 players, you can migrate your account over to steam so you don’t lose that grind time on your account. Now that the game is available for free you’ll have plenty of time to get through the existing content before deciding to take the plunge into Shadowkeep and the new Garden of Salvation raid. I just really wish they planned to go free to play just a few months sooner, my gaming time is tied up in Borderlands 3 at the moment, so much so that I’m even sad to say that I’m actually ok with the unexpected new 2020 launch date for Doom Eternal. Just sayin’.