Dota 2's Patch 7.34c has arrived to fix some of the recent balance mishaps
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[Update #2]: Dota 2's Patch 7.34d has now arrived with some last-minute balance changes before The International.
[Update]: Dota 2's International 2023 update has added a cosmetics-free Battle Pass alongside a Profile rework.
With the massive The International 2023 tournament fast approaching, Valve has recently started releasing more and more updates for Dota 2 in order to get as many heroes competitively viable as possible. While they've done a pretty good job with most of them, the updates have unsurprisingly created a couple of monsters as well.
So in order to sort out these issues, as well as squeeze in a few more buffs, Valve has now unleashed Patch 7.34c. As you might expect, the highlights include some major nerfs to both Gyrocopter and Nature's Prophet - two heroes that feel like they've been either picked or banned in just about every game over the past few weeks.
Bethesda's space exploration game Starfield has now arrived alongside a massive amount of praise
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After a brief early access period that saw the game's hype levels go through the stratosphere, Bethesda's space exploration RPG Starfield has now finally been released in full. As you might expect from that description alone, Starfield is all about wandering from planet to planet collecting resources, annoying NPCs with endless questions, fine-tuning your ship and crew, and naturally, blowing apart anything not vaguely friend-shaped!
What all of this looks like in action, that you can check out through one of the gameplay trailers below. Have a gander, it's quite a pretty one:
World of Warcraft's Patch 10.1.7 has launched with new story quests, Heritage Armor and a Ping system
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[Update]: Dragonflight's Patch 10.2: Guardians of the Dream is coming on November 7th.
It's only been a short while since the Fractures in Time update added rifts and the excellent new Dawn of the Infinite megadungeon, and already Patch 10.1.7 - Fury Incarnate has arrived with a bunch of new stuff to mess around with. Expect to see new storylines to explore, Heritage Armor for Night Elves and Forsaken, as well as a plethora of new customization options for both races.
Fury Incarnate has also brought with it a new set of public events called Dreamsurges. These will pop up in one of the four original Dragon Isles zones and task players with fighting off challenging enemies in order to collect gear, pets, mounts, and various other cosmetic knick-knacks. Much like the recent rifts, the Dreamsurges are bite-sized pieces of content aimed at offering a bit of variety, so don't worry about being forced to grind them each week if you're not particularly interested.
MTG Arena's Wilds of Eldraine expansion has arrived with plenty of food, adventures and enchantments
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[Update #2]: MTG Arena's mini-expansion Alchemy: Eldraine is launching on October 10 with 30 brand new cards.
[Update]: MTG Arena devs have shared the Format Popularity Stats and their Plans for the Future.
After a lengthy round of teasers, MTG Arena's Wilds of Eldraine expansion has now finally been unleashed. It brings with it a wide assortment of new cards to mess around with, many of which are focused around food, adventures and enchantments, as well as an additional Mystical Archives styled bonus sheet filled with all sorts of classic enchantments from Magic's history.
Much like how it worked in the previous sets, each pack will have a single common card replaced with one of the aforementioned 'Enchanting Tale' cards. So whether you're planning to draft the set to completion or just crack packs, chances are you'll be able to collect a good chunk of the bonus cards without too much effort. A good thing too because the Enchanting Tale set contains some real bangers like Blood Moon or Necropotence!
Total War: Warhammer 3's Shadows of Change DLC has arrived alongside a nearly doubled price tag
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[Update]: Bad news, I'm afraid. Creative Assembly's multiplayer extraction shooter Hyenas has been canceled alongside a few more projects.
Despite numerous updates and tweaks, Total War: Warhammer 3 is still a bit of a mess. There are a variety of long-standing issues plaguing the game, things like the AI still being incapable of handling the more complex city maps, while the quality and quantity of the updates themselves has only regressed since the golden days of Total War: Warhammer 2.
I'd love to tell you that all of that has changed now that the latest Shadows of Change DLC has landed onto Steam, but I'm afraid we're all out of luck. Not only is the DLC somewhat light on content despite featuring three Legendary Lords, but its price tag has been nearly doubled to 25€. Worst of all, the accompanying 'faction reworks' and free additions are almost completely inconsequential.
Dota 2's final Summer update has enhanced the visuals and massively improved the report system
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[Update #2]: Dota 2's International 2023 update has added a cosmetics-free Battle Pass alongside a Profile rework.
[Update]: Dota 2's Patch 7.34c has arrived to fix some of the recent balance mishaps.
A little while back Valve said that they have big plans for Dota 2, and they certainly weren't kidding! Despite already releasing a couple of sizable patches, Valve has just launched what is likely the most important update of them all - a comprehensive rework of the report and player behavior system.
Commends and dislikes now allow you to slightly affect who will and won't appear in your future matches, the new report system collects a wide range of supporting data and is already looking far more accurate than before, and best of all, the punishments are sometimes almost instantaneous! There's a lot of details I'm leaving out here as trying to summarize everything would be needlessly confusing, but the important thing to note is that not only is Valve now finally taking toxicity and griefing seriously, but that the system is already having a massive positive impact despite only just launching!
World of Warcraft: Classic has now finally launched Hardcore servers, and they're quite fun!
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[Update #2]: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will be getting the Classic treatment and many new improvements in 2024.
[Update]: Wrath of the Lich King Classic will be getting new dungeons and the legendary Icecrown Citadel raid on October 10.
If you're in the mood for a bit of a challenge, or if you just want to replicate the atmosphere of the original World of Warcraft, you should definitely give the freshly launched Hardcore servers a try. The basic gist of it is that in the Hardcore realms you only have a single life to work with. Reincarnations, resurrections, soulstones or even the classic bubble + hearthstone combo will not save you!
Despite being the same game, the increased stakes make it a much, much more compelling experience, especially when it comes to social interactions as there is both safety and danger in numbers! Everything you do matters, and every risk comes with a chance to erase dozens of hours of gameplay. It's not for the feint of heart, but I'd definitely recommend giving it a try if you want to see World of Warcraft in a completely different light.