MMO Weekly Recap #440 Jan 29th – Magic Legends Open Beta, TESO Blackwood, SMITE Season 8 & More!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of January 29, 2021! Transcript follows.

Elder Scrolls Online revealed its latest expansion which should hype up Oblivion fans, Magic Legends is gearing up for PC open beta, Black Desert is giving players some nice goodies to transfer their accounts, and Echo of Soul pushes a massive 3.0 update that pretty much overhauls everything in the game.

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of January 29th 2021 and starting out the news this week

If you’ve been waiting for that Magic: The Gathering ARPG announced at the end of 2019, good news – Perfect World’s announced that Magic: Legends will enter its PC open beta on March 23rd. The game has been in closed alpha and the team is working to tune the game to deliver an experience that offers combat that’s both powerful and true to MTG. On its launch, Magic: Legends says it will have over 175 mana-based spells, 165 pieces of equipment, 50 artifacts, four planes, and five regions, plus a new equipment system.

My.Games and Allods Team have revealed new details for the upcoming launch of Skyforge on Switch. The free to play MMO arrives on February 4th, and won’t require a Switch Online subscription to play. But those who want to can get a two day headstart by pre-ordering the game with one of three Founder bundles, which include legendary weapons, premium subscription time, game currency, a player title, and more, you’ve got that as an option. They’ve also released this new trailer that showcases the Grovewalker class.

Meanwhile, The Elder Scrolls Online has revealed its newest expansion, Blackwood, set for release on June 1st for PC and June 8th for console. The new expansion is part of the year-long Gates of Oblivion story arc, which will also include the Flames of Ambition DLC landing at the start of March. This storyline will let players uncover some of the history that led to the events of Elder Scrolls IV, Oblivion. The expansion itself will include a new zone, a new companions system, new world events, dungeons, and more. Pre-orders are also available now that will give extra bonuses and a new mount and pet. Pretty awesome stuff especially if you were a fan of Oblivion.

Next up in the news, Star Trek Online is celebrating its 11th anniversary this week, alongside the launch of the House Reborn update on PC. The update introduces two new Episodes, “Knowledge is Power” and “Leap of Faith,” a new Klingon Recruitment system, and a full remaster for all Klingon Captain exclusive missions. STO has also added Cross Faction flying, allowing Federation Captains to command Klingon ships and vice versa, so long as the player has a level 65 Klingon character. On top of this new content, players can claim a free Discovery uniform and take part in the ongoing Anniversary Event themed around the Klingon Civil War and earn a new Alliance Klingon Bird of Prey. As usual with STO, console players will get all of this on a later date.

You might remember that at the beginning of this month, Hi Rez showcased a preview of its Season 8 content for SMITE – and if you’ve been waiting for it to drop, well good news, it’s now live! Season 8 kicks off with a brand new Conquest map, now with a Babylonian theme and featuring new Jungle camps and a new layout to master. 50 new items are also available when playing on Conquest, and players new to Conquest will find some helpful tips and waypoints to help them learn the mode. Meanwhile there’s also three new free skins to earn, a new battle pass and season pass, and more. Here’s to another exciting season of SMITE, whether you’re ranked or casual.

In other news, World of Tanks is rolling out its Update 1.11.1 – that’s a lot of ones – which introduces a new branch of Italian heavy tanks, featuring modified autoreloading mechanics, improved survivability, and the option to choose a gun that suits you best. Alongside this is the new Platoon 2.0 system which makes it easier to find teammates with an improved filter for different criteria including vehicle tier and voice chat. And to top it off there are some interface improvements in battle and in the garage to make your gameplay a little smoother.

Speaking of tanks, Armored Warfare has just rolled out a new patch with some major PvE changes this week. The developers have been working on improving the enemy AI, and with this patch, they’re adding in new wheeled and tracked vehicles to the enemy AI list, making a significant change to the enemies players may face in PvE. Players will also now know instantly if they’ve been spotted by an AI opponent, and they’ve worked it out so that way it reduces the “snap shot” issues with AI reacting too quickly after they’ve spotted you. Hopefully these changes will work out well for players.

Next up in the news, Pearl Abyss has officially announced its plans to take over the publishing of Black Desert Online in North America and Europe, starting on February 25th. Players can start the account transfer process now, and those who do before February 24th will get bonus rewards including a special title, EXP scrolls, cron stones, and exchange coupons. Once the new service goes live, the game will offer special login rewards and the chance to get a limited edition Tier 4 pet. So if you have played Black Desert before, it’s a good idea to visit the link in the description below and get your account transferred before it’s a little too late… don’t want to miss out on those rewards.

Also turning over a new leaf this year is Echo of Soul, which has just released its massive 3.0 update called The Blue. This update not only raises the level cap to 99, it introduces new dungeons and the Hidden Challenge tower. The God Stone enhancement system makes its debut to let players improve their gear with new bonus stats, useful especially on the new epic equipment. And on top of that, gamigo has overhauled the pet system, mission system, currency system, UI, and general game balance. Whew! Here’s to a new year for Echo of Soul, maybe worth checking out again.

And let’s wrap up with the Epic Games Store free game this week, which is Dandara Trials of Fear. This is a really great looking 2D Metroidvania with a female protagonist and a mix of fantasy and technology. It’s also been really highly rated, getting on average a 9/10, so it’s obviously worth the download!

Also I wanted to give you guys a heads up, we won’t have a recap next week as its my son’s 4th birthday, can’t believe that already, and we’ll be traveling a bit, safely of course, to visit his grand parents. He hasn’t seen them in about a year and a half, since, you know before all the Covid stuff. He’s super excited and deserves to be spoiled on his birthday.

But with that said, that’s about it for all the major news and announcements for this week. Be sure to stay safe, and keep your families healthy! Like always you can find more information on the news topics, linked in the description below, feel free to discuss the news or even more news in the comments below and don’t forget to like, subscribe, wash your hands a bunch, hit that little bell icon to get notifications and of course share this video! But until next time guys that’s going to be it for me… I’m JamesBl0nde… see ya out there gamers!