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[Update #2]: The Rise of Azshara patch has now finally arrived!
[Update]: Blizzard has now released a short comic detailing what Mechagon and the Mechagnomes are all about!
World of Warcraft's long awaited Rise of Azshara update has been pinned for June 25th, just in time to offer some friendly competition to Final Fantasy XIV's Shadowbringers expansion. In terms of content, the biggest thing coming in with the Rise of Azshara update are definitely the two new zones riddled with quests and mounts: Nazjatar and Mechagon.
You can also expect to see a rather significant overhaul of the Heart of Azeroth system in order to make it a bit more engaging to mess around with, Heritage Armor for Tauren and Gnomes, a whole bunch of new profession items to create, and naturally, an assortment of balance changes. There will also be a brand new raid set in Azshara’s Eternal Palace, though that one will only open on July 9th.
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[Update]: Dota Underlords has now been officially released from Steam Early Access alongside the Season 1 patch.
Unlike most things Valve works on, the development on Dota Underlords has been surprisingly quick. We went from a small leak to a full announcement in about a week, after which it only took a month for the full game to appear in Closed Beta!
And if that just isn't fast enough for you, Valve has now also released an Open Beta version of Dota Underlords! So if you're even remotely curious about what Valve's spin on the popular Dota Auto Chess formula has to offer, you might want to give Dota Underlords a try on either Steam, iOS or Android.
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[Update]: Six years after its big reveal, Psychonauts 2 has now finally been unleashed onto PC and consoles!
During E3 2019 Double Fine announced that they will be joining the rapidly expanding Microsoft family. Before you get too worried about that given the recent Shenmue 3 nonsense, it's worth mentioning that Psychonauts 2 will still be coming to all of the promised platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, and naturally, Xbox One.
Besides that little announcement, Double Fine also revealed something a bit more interesting - Psychonauts 2's very first gameplay trailer. As expected, it's certainly a bizarre one, though still quite charming as well! Have a look:
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As you might imagine from a game of its size, World of Warcraft has been localized in quite a few languages. In order to keep everything running smoothly, as well as to ensure the players can actually understand each other, Blizzard implemented language-based servers all the way back in Vanilla and has maintained them ever since. However, according to the latest announcement, it would appear the same will not be happening with World of Warcraft: Classic.
"For Classic, we’re planning on not splitting up realms by language. This has its advantages and disadvantages, but overall, we think that it’s the best starting point for WoW Classic," reads the developer update. "An exception will be made for the Russian language, which will have separate realms due to its reliance on the Cyrillic Alphabet. For technical reasons this will also mean Russian is going to have its own separate game client, similar to what happened in The Burning Crusade."
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[Update #3]: The Rise of Azshara patch has now finally arrived!
[Update #2]: Blizzard has now released a short comic detailing what Mechagon and the Mechagnomes are all about!
[Update]: Blizzard has now released the full patch notes for Update 8.2 - Rise of Azshara.
After spending a considerable amount of time on the test servers, World of Warcraft's long-awaited Patch 8.2 has now finally received a release date. So if you're looking forward to exploring two new zones, Nazjatar and Mechagon, you might want to free up some time on June 25th!
Besides the two new zones to muck around in, the Rise of Azshara update will also bring with it an overhaul of the Heart of Azeroth system, Heritage Armor for Tauren and Gnomes, a variety of new and more powerful profession items, and the list goes on. There will also be a brand new raid where you will have to face off against Queen Azshara herself, though you will need to wait a little while longer for that one as Azshara’s Eternal Palace will only open on July 9th.
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If you've been playing Blizzard games for a while, then chances are you're well aware of CarBot Animations and their series on StarCraft, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft and so forth. If not, just imagine a whole bunch of inside-jokes loosely tied together with goofy animations and you'll be pretty close!
While CarBot Animations had quite a few bits of artwork featured in both Starcraft and Heroes of the Storm, their latest collaboration with Blizzard is just a little bit larger in scope. Instead of a couple of icons or even models, CarBot Animations will soon be releasing a complete graphics pack for Starcraft: Remastered!
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[Update #2]: Apex Legends' Season 2 update has now arrived, and so far it's pretty good!
[Update]: Respawn has now released a video preview showing off all of the major Season 2 features!
If you've been playing Apex Legends for a while now, chances are you're well aware that not all weapons are born equal. Guns like the R301 and R99 are incredibly accurate while spitting out insane damage, while guns like the Mozambique, P2020 or Flatline are so pathetic compared to their competition that you're going to chuck them away the very first moment you can. Not exactly ideal!
Thankfully, it would appear that Respawn has finally given up on the whole "weapon tiers" idea as they have announced they will be doing a weapon rebalance for Season 2. In other words, not only will the lowly Alternators and RE-45's of the world be viable past the initial drop, they might even become end-game weapons thanks to the new hop-ups!
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Out of all the RPGs Obsidian worked on, the one I am the most disappointed with is Alpha Protocol. Not because it's bad, mind you, but rather because it was so close to becoming a game that would've defined the genre for years to come. However, while Alpha Protocol never managed to reach that lofty goal, it was still a thoroughly unique and interesting RPG, and one that I would highly recommend to anyone that's a fan of the genre.
Unfortunately, this is where we start running into a bit of a problem. At the request of the publisher (SEGA), Obsidian's Alpha Protocol is now no longer available for sale on Steam. The reason behind Alpha Protocol being pulled from the storefront, as is sadly quite common these days, is a music licensing issue.
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[Update]: Overwatch has now finally added the ability to share replays, and it's about as simple as it gets!
After spending a fair bit of time on test servers, Overwatch has now finally introduced the very first version of the replay system! Right now you're limited to only watching your own or Overwatch League replays, but even so it is an incredibly useful yet still fairly simple tool. So if you're interested in getting better, do make sure to give the newly introduced replays a try as they'll tell you exactly where you messed up!
Besides replays, this update has also added the recently announced Baptiste challenge. All you need to do is win nine matches in any game mode and you'll get a couple of sprays, as well as the new Combat Medic Skin that was teased during Batpsite's short story. And if you want even more doodles to plaster all over the in-game maps, you might also want to check out some of the partnered streams. You can find out more over at the official website.
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If you're in the mood for a bit of a nostalgia trip, you might be interested to hear that Blizzard has announced yet another stress test for World of Warcraft: Classic. The stress test will run from June 19-21 and will be available to anyone in the Americas & Oceania region with a currently active subscription. No other requirements or experience will be necessary to hop in.
In terms of stuff to do, the stress test will give you access to all of the content up to level 15. This will include all classes, the initial talents, the Warsong Gulch battleground, as well as dungeons like Ragefire Chasm or Deadmines. A pretty nice selection of content for a three-day test, I just wish they would open it up to other continents as well!