Experience warfare like never before! Men of War II, the anticipated sequel to the acclaimed RTS franchise is here with all-new units, locations, campaigns and game modes, combined with the series’ trademark historical accuracy and action-filled gameplay on Eastern and Western Fronts of WWII.
Monthly Archives: November 2021
Streamer Loses $15,000 worth of RuneScape Gold in one Session
By Jason Fogerty (JFogerty)
Many people in the world devote hours of their day spending loads of money on in-game currency. Whether it’s a popular mobile game or an MMO, players all over the globe enjoy grinding for items in their favorite role-playing games. However, one streamer compels gamers to answer a simple question: what would it be like to lose $15,000 worth of in-game currency all in one session? It’s a hard sell for anyone to consider. Luckily for us, we don’t have to find that out for ourselves. Unfortunately, Twitch streamer VoldemartLive found out the hard way.
Streamer Loses $15,000 worth of RuneScape Gold in One Session
Many people in the world spend hours of their day spending loads of money on in-game currency. Whether it’s a popular mobile game or an MMO, players all over the globe enjoy grinding for items in their favorite role-playing games. However, a streamer compels gamers to answer one simple question: what would it be like to lose $15,000 worth of in-game currency all in one session? It’s a hard sell for anyone to consider. Luckily for us, we don’t have to find that out for ourselves. Unfortunately for Twitch streamer VoldemartLive, he found out the hard way.
What is RuneScape?
If you are a gamer, you should have at least heard about Runescape, an MMO that offers player-vs-player combat in several different modes. You earn rewards by killing opponents and looting their goods.
There are other ways to make in-game currency, as well. For players like VoldemartLive, playing the game as expected is not enough to satisfy their needs, and they are always looking for ways to take it up a notch for themselves and their fans.
Twitch Streamer VoldemartLive loses $15,000 worth of Old School RuneScape Gold
As reported by Game Rant, “On August 26, Twitch streamer VoldemartLive was playing Old School RuneScape and entered the Duel Arena while carrying 30 billion gold, the equivalent of approximately $15,000 in real-world money.”
It’s reported that not even 15 seconds after entering the arena, he was on stream screaming and calling for help regarding his dangerously low health pool. His wife and child were nearby, and they witnessed VoldemartLive’s reaction to being killed by another player, which caused him to lose all his gold at once.
Did VoldemartLive stage losing 30 billion RuneScape gold?
As terrible as it would be to lose $15,000 worth of Old School RuneScape gold – which is about 30 billion gold – it seems there are some fans who believe the Old School RuneScape streamer may have staged this unfortunate incident.
Those who believe
Of course, fans argue in favor of the streamer, claiming “that his young child was sitting in close proximity and could have been startled by the yelling or hurt when the streamer began smashing his controller.”
Another argument in favor of the authenticity of VoldemartLive’s massive loss hones in the fact that the person who killed him in the game is known to camp the Dual Arena spawn area to hunt and kill players who are carrying tons of gold.
Those who oppose
Contrary to the ideas supporting VoldemartLive’s misfortune being true, naysayers claim the whole thing was staged. One reason is the absolute absurdity that anyone in their right mind would enter the Duel Arena with that much in-game gold.
It’s too much of a risk, and unless a player explicitly did it for some questionably risky stunt, there is no reason someone would enter the play area with that much in-game value on their person. The risk is simply too high. VoldemartLive has been streaming for a very long time, and he has much experience in Old School RuneScape. He is aware of best practices of not just that game but gaming strategies as a whole.
Also, his wife pops in from time to time on streams. It’s suggested that she may be aware of how much value is in his gaming ventures. However, her reaction to her husband losing what amounted to $15,000 didn’t match the displayed distress of the situation. Indeed, she would have some relative grief about what was going on, but it’s argued that she showed none, which gives many skeptics more ammo to believe the Twitch streamer completely staged this whole thing.
There is still a lesson from VoldemartLive’s misfortune
If you’ve made it this far in the post, you are most likely a player of one of these MMO games. If so, you’ve had something like this happen to you at some point in your life. The jury is still out on whether or not VoldemartLive’s $15,000 RuneScape loss on stream was a total sham or legit.
Regardless, there is something we all can learn from this. Be careful the way you handle your in-game currency and valuable items while you are playing games. There was a time where everything you earned in a game was stuck on your save file. Now, there’s genuine risk and money involved – so be careful.
Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster Review
by Andrew Skelton (Outfoxed)
I have a confession to make. My favorite character in the Final Fantasy franchise comes from Final Fantasy V. That’s not the confession, however; it’s that I’ve never really gotten terribly deep into the game. Final Fantasy V was initially released in Japan and all plans were made to bring it to North America, even going so far as appearing in Squaresoft’s newsletter, the Ogopogo Examiner, in 1993 as being translated and coming soon. Alas, we never actually got that version in the West. The first time Final Fantasy V would show up was on the Playstation, which many people argue is the worst version of the game. Various fan translations and official versions have come and gone over the years, and so I stand now on a precipice. Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster has just been released, but can I actually manage to get past whatever was holding me back from experiencing the game in full all those years ago?
The game is a remaster of a Super Famicon/Nintendo game of nearly 30 years, but the pixel graphics and backgrounds have been recreated using modern technologies. This creates a much more vibrant world where water isn’t constrained to a single tile in the set, and objects that glow, like the series staple elemental crystals, shine with a gorgeous hue. Colors feel much more natural and warm than before, likely due to the lack of CRT filtering necessary for games of that era. Spells and summons have also received a similar treatment, feeling much more vibrant and magical.
Like other Final Fantasy pixel remasters, FFV also received an updated soundtrack to go with the graphical improvements. Gone are the limitations of the SFC/SNES sound chip, providing people with a much more crisp, modern feel. I did notice this made some songs, like the boss music, a bit less intense, as bass notes don’t seem to hit quite the same as they did when the SNES was current. Still, the remastered soundtrack is a welcome addition — one you can also experience whenever you wish through a main menu option, too!
If you’re unfamiliar with the story of Final Fantasy V, allow me to sum up succinctly. The King of Tycoon senses something wrong with the Wind Crystal, and heads off to the shrine nearby to check on it. His daughter, the princess Lenna, also senses something amiss and takes off after him, only to be thwarted by a meteor that crash lands nearby. This gets the attention of adventurer Bartz who goes to investigate the meteor crash site with his trusty chocobo Boco. Bartz rescues Lenna from goblins and the two meet Galuf, who’s apparently lost his memories. They end up traveling together as Bartz once more rescues Lenna from goblins. They travel through a cave only to find its occupied by pirates led by their captain, Faris. Thus the party sets forth to save the crystals and the world itself, through many trials and tribulations.
Yes, it’s quite cliche, but the character moments between the party range from heartwarming and touching to hilarious. Despite being 16 bit pixels, the characters have a wide range of expressions that lend a ton of feeling to each scene. Never underestimate the power of a simple lowered head to convey major emotion (because that’s all they really had back in the day as far as emotive animation went).
Now that we’ve dealt with the story, let’s talk combat! Final Fantasy V uses an active time battle system, ATB for short. Once a character’s ATB bar is full, they can select from one of several actions, from the basic attack command to using items, magic, and skills, or defending or swapping lines from front to back and vice versa. Enemies are also acting during this time, causing you to need to react appropriately so your party doesn’t fall.
This system starts simply enough, but quickly becomes a lot more complicated when job classes are introduced. Your characters start as a default freelancer class, but when you get crystal shards you unlock different job classes such as knight, monk, white mage, black mage, and many more. Mixing and matching these jobs is crucial for success across the game. The more a character uses a job in battle, the more powerful it becomes as you accumulate ability points (APB) from winning fights. Each job has different abilities and skills to unlock, which you can choose one of to use on a different job when you change job classes. For example, you can have a white mage that knows black magic should you want them to have a little more combat oomph.
One welcome feature I found was the inclusion of maps for every town and dungeon in the game. They’re detailed enough to find your way, but not so much that any and all secret passages are spoiled either. There’s also a feature to see how many chests and hidden items you’ve found in each area, very useful for completionists like myself.
Environments are also varied from typical RPGs, especially of the time. Aside from typical towns, castles, caves, and dungeons, you’ll also traverse the inner workings of a steam ship, lost ruins of a technologically advanced civilization, a haunting ship graveyard, and much, much more. That was always one of the strengths of the SFC/SNES Final Fantasy games to me: you were always looking forward to seeing where you’d explore next.
Final Fantasy V is an enduring title. To this day there’s a yearly event for charity that challenges players to complete the game with only four job classes out of the 21 available. The characters, stories, and especially the villains, are super memorable, unique, and entertaining. Having a version of the game done in a retro style with modern improvements is certainly a welcome addition to any Final Fantasy fan. However, be aware this is a remaster of the original version, and no content from the Gameboy Advance remake is available, should that influence your decision to purchase. There are also a small handful of bugs and oversights the team plans on correcting in the near future, but overall the game is a solid, retro experience enjoyable from start to finish with a difficulty that still feels just right even today.
Note: A copy of the game was provided for review.
Undungeon Launch Trailer
Undungeon is a story-driven sci-fi Action RPG set in a distant future. You are a Herald created by your dimension and sent to an ancient city of Archaban with a task of utmost importance: collect six seals that belong to other worlds. As you are traveling through space and time, the Multiverse gets rocked by a devastating cataclysm of unknown nature, leaving you stranded in a barren alien land.
Nerf Legends Launch Trailer
NERF Legends thrusts you into a futuristic, sci-fi world where you’ll come face-to-face with legions of robot enemies and ultimate boss masters. Armed with a wide array of NERF blasters based on their iconic, real-world counterparts, you’ll thwart formidable enemies while being challenged to pull off the most impressive high-flying trick shots across a series of unique and immersive environments. Are your NERF skills up to the challenge to become the ultimate NERF Legend?
MultiVersus Reveal Trailer
Worlds will collide like you’ve never seen before! Here’s your first look at the free-to-play platform fighter, MultiVersus!
MultiVersus is a new platform fighter that lets you team up with or against your friends as some of the world’s most iconic characters including Batman, Shaggy, Superman, Bugs Bunny, and more. Use unique co-op abilities, find your favorite fighter combos, and save the Multiverse!
Cross-platform and cross-progression, MultiVersus will be coming in 2022 to the Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Thymesia Announcement Trailer
Punishing action RPG Thymesia will be launching on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S alongside PC in 2022.
A kingdom once thriving on the power of alchemy enters an age of calamity. After discovering the price behind alchemy, an attempt to stop the use of it backfired. Within a few days, the kingdom was in chaos and the streets infested with monsters.
The key to understanding all of this is in Corvus’ hands, but he has lost his memory. The truth can only be found within his memories, but every time he dives back in, he only finds more secrets.
Delivery INC Announcement Trailer
From the creators of 911 Operator and Transport INC comes Delivery INC – run your own business in this mix strategy and simulation that has just been announced for PC!
Myth of Empires Early Access Launch Trailer
Brave the elements, found the guild, conquer the enemies, and build your own empire!
Myth of Empires has entered Early Access on Steam!
FINAL FANTASY VII THE FIRST SOLDIER – Launch Trailer
FINAL FANTASY VII THE FIRST SOLDIER, the battle royale action mobile game set in the world of FINAL FANTASY VII, is now available on iOS and Android devices, kicking off with the first season of the game, “Rise of Shinra.” Set in Midgar prior to the events of FINAL FANTASY VII, players will embark on an intense battle royale experience where they must fight to be the last SOLDIER standing.