World of Warcraft is introducing cross-server auctions for consumables and crafting materials
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[Update]: World of Warcraft Classic is giving players a fancy new dragon mount for simply playing Death Knights.
While playing on lower population servers is generally fine due to the Looking For Group system and zones that always try to keep things populated, there is one very annoying problem you'll always have to contend with - a lack of resources. Without a vast array of players to constantly feed crafting materials into the Auction House, making potions and other consumables tends to be a remarkably expensive affair, even at the best of times.
In order to sort this problem out, as well as improve the Auction House experience for everyone, the next update will make it so commodities (gems, herbs, flasks, consumables, etc.) are shared across all Auction Houses in your region. Items that don't belong in that category, like raid-dropped armor and weapons, will continue to be realm-specific.
MTG Arena has now unveiled the entirety of July's Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate set
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[Update #2]: The Baldur's Gate set has now arrived alongside a variety of rebalances.
[Update]: After years of dominance, MTG Arena is nerfing two of the best decks in the Historic format.
In an effort to spice up the struggling Alchemy format, as well as to give to Historic Brawl players a whole bunch of new toys, the MTG Arena team will be releasing the Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate set this July 7th. It'll bring with it a whole assortment of cards from the Commander Legends: Battle at Baldur's Gate set, a bunch of the Commander focused Baldur's Gate cards rebalanced with 1v1 play in mind, as well as a variety of new-to-Magic cards that heavily utilize the digital design space.
Speaking of which, Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate will bring with it three new keyword mechanics: Specialize, Double Team and Boon. Here's a brief rundown of what each of these does:
Guild Wars 2's big and fairly controversial class balance update has now arrived
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[Update #2]: Guild Wars 2 will be greatly improving the colossal world bosses with the July 19th update.
[Update]: The Guild Wars 2 team is working on addressing the rather poorly received balance changes.
In order to sort out some of the balance problems that have appeared alongside the End of Dragons expansion, as well as to reshuffle which classes have access to some of the all-powerful stat buffs, Guild Wars 2 has now unleashed a sizable balance update. Unfortunately, as is often tradition with Guild Wars 2, the changes are all over the place.
Some classes like the Engineer and Guardian have gotten through the update with barely a scratch, despite being some of the most popular and powerful in end-game scenarios. On the other hand, Warriors and Elementalists have received some sizable nerfs that will likely mandate a follow-up patch in order to get the two classes back into shape.
It took a decade, but Dragon's Dogma 2 is now finally in development
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[Update]: Dragon's Dogma 2 will be launching on March 22nd, 2024, nearly twelve years after the original!
While most people might know Dragon's Dogma as "that game where you get to climb all over the monsters", the reason I consider it one of the finest RPGs around has very little to do with the actual combat. Instead, it's the process of exploring the world that truly captivated me. Every trip is a lengthy and risky affair that requires careful planning and preparation, yet the world is so rife with danger that your plans will frequently fall apart, thus forcing you to roll with the punches and overcome near impossible odds. It can be brutally challenging, sometimes even a bit unfair, but all of that is irrelevant compared to the sheer satisfaction you'll feel once you succeed!
With all of that in mind, I hope you can understand just how excited I am to say that Dragon's Dogma 2 is currently in development! The exact details are still few and far between, but it looks like Dragon's Dogma 2 will be developed using Capcom's RE Engine (Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise, Resident Evil 7 and remakes), so the world should be quite lovely to look at as you run away from a giant manticore.
The second Overwatch 2 beta has now arrived alongside the new tank Junker Queen
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[Update #2]: Blizzard will be adding cross-platform progression with Overwatch 2.
[Update]: Overwatch's final event, and likely final update as well, has now arrived alongside some fancy reskins.
In a bit of a divergence from the original plan, Overwatch 2's competitive PvP mode will be releasing for PC and consoles on October 4th, 2022. As for the story focused campaign, and co-op based PvE missions in general, those will be released in pieces throughout 2023 (and most likely beyond).
If you don't feel like waiting until October to give Overwatch 2 a try, you'll be pleased to hear that Blizzard has now launched the second Closed Beta. The highlight, as you might imagine from the title, is the brand new tank hero - the super aggressive Junker Queen. Here's a brief trailer showing what she's all about:
Total War: Warhammer 3 devs have unveiled the truly massive Immortal Empires campaign map
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[Update #2]: The latest preview has finally offered a close-up look at the Immortal Empires campaign map and some of the new Legendary Lord positions.
[Update]: Total War: Warhammer 3's first post-launch DLC will add four new Chaos factions.
Once it arrives this August, Total War: Warhammer 3's Immortal Empires campaign map will combine all of the major gameplay elements and factions from all three games into one gigantic package. You can expect to see 86 playable Legendary Lord, dedicated factions for a bunch of mostly forgotten characters like Grombrindal and Volkmar the Grim, new starting locations for 29 of the older Legendary Lords, as well as improved faction mechanics for a fair few of them.
Best of all, Creative Assembly has now revealed that the Immortal Empires combined campaign map will be nearly twice as large as the Mortal Empires map first introduced in 2017. Not only that, but there's a whole bunch of empty space on the new map that's obviously going to be expanded upon in the future, so the final version of Immortal Empires should be remarkably massive.
World of Warcraft's hopefully down-to-earth Dragonflight expansion will be launching in 2022
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[Update #2]: The heavily exploration focused Dragonflight expansion has now arrived, and so far it's looking quite good!
[Update]: World of Warcraft is introducing cross-server auctions for consumables and crafting materials.
After spending a fair bit of time messing around with the very concept of an afterlife, World of Warcraft's next Dragonflight expansion will hopefully be taking things in a more down-to-earth direction. In terms of actual content, Dragonflight will bring with it a new draconic class/race combination, the Dracthyr Evoker, the return of oldschool talent trees, seemingly Guild Wars 2 inspired flying mounts, and naturally, a whole bunch of new areas to explore.
If all of that sounds like something you'd love to mess around with, you'll be happy to hear that Blizzard has now revealed that Dragonflight will be launching in 2022! No exact release date has been given just yet, but I'd imagine it'll be swooping in during the winter holiday season, for obvious reasons.