Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Tuesday news, part two:

League of Legends' most iconic map is getting a huge makeover, ridable monsters, and an infestation of gross alien insects
https://www.pcgamer.com/league-of-legends-summoners-rift-season-14-changes/
Summoner's Rift, the core map in League of Legends, is one of the most iconic maps in all of gaming, existing in largely the same form for years. But nothing stays the same forever, and Riot has decided that for Season 14, it deserves a major shake-up.

Popular Diablo 4 streamer reckons 'you're not really supposed to finish the last tier' of the upcoming Abbatoir of Zir event
https://www.pcgamer.com/popular-diablo-4-streamer-reckons-youre-not-really-supposed-to-finish-the-last-tier-of-the-upcoming-abbatoir-of-zir-event/
At this year's BlizzCon event, Blizzard revealed a formidable new endgame event coming to Diablo 4 called the Abbatoir of Zir. Set to go live on December 5 as part of patch 1.2.3, this event sees players tackling a set of dungeons designed to push your character to the limit, offering "permanent and evergreen endgame challenges."
The challenging nature of Abbatoir of Zir was reiterated by popular Diablo 4 streamer Wudijo, who visited Blizzard to check out the endgame event. According to Wudijo, Abbatoir of Zir is difficult to the point that "you're not really supposed to finish the last tier".

WoW's telegraphs are so cluttered that even the best guild in the world is using darkening potions during raids so they can fight more effectively
https://www.pcgamer.com/wows-telegraphs-are-so-cluttered-that-even-the-best-guild-in-the-world-is-using-darkening-potions-during-raids-so-they-can-fight-more-effectively/
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has its fans and detractors, but on one point a huge number of players agree: the game's telegraphs, the visual and audio cues that show what a given character is about to do, have become harder than ever to see. Some abilities have similar colours to the environment, while with others the hitbox behind the visual pizazz isn't clear at all. Conveniently enough, however, Dragonflight arrived with a new kind of consumable that the world's best players are using to see through the fog.

Two years after FF14's botched distribution of an 'eat pizza' emote that sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars (yes, really), you can finally buy it for $7
https://www.pcgamer.com/two-years-after-ff14s-botched-distribution-of-an-eat-pizza-emote-that-sold-on-ebay-for-hundreds-of-dollars-yes-really-you-can-finally-buy-it-for-dollar7/
A couple of years back, Final Fantasy 14 had a major drama involving a pizza emote, GrubHub, and a promotional campaign some unlucky souls spent over $30 dollars on. Yes, this really was a big deal. Let me explain why.

Co-op horror game Lethal Company costs $10 and is outselling Call of Duty on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/co-op-horror-game-lethal-company-costs-dollar10-and-is-outselling-call-of-duty-on-steam/
One of my favourite things about modern PC gaming is when the bubbling microbial soup of Steam unexpectedly spits out a preposterously successful game. It happened this summer with BattleBit Remastered. It happened with Phasmophobia a couple of years back. It arguably happened with Baldur's Gate 3, although that one has a fair amount more pedigree behind it.
Lethal Company is the most recent contender to leap up the Steam sales charts like a cross between a gazelle and a mountain goat. Released last month into Steam Early Access, it currently sits in third place on Steam's global top sellers list, with over 20,000 "overwhelmingly positive" Steam reviews, and almost 30,000 people playing it right now. It's beating out Baldur's Gate 3, PUBG, and even Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to claim that position on the top sellers list (which is sorted by total revenue), and the only products higher than it are the Steam Deck and Counter-Strike 2.
>> I'll save you the hassle, it was 4th in last week's Steam top 10.

Epic admits Fortnite's new age ratings 'didn't hit the mark,' says a new system is coming soon as part of a 'big in-game event'
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-admits-fortnites-new-age-ratings-didnt-hit-the-mark-says-a-new-system-is-coming-soon-as-part-of-a-big-in-game-event/
Epic Games has admitted that the new island-based age rating system in Fortnite "didn't hit the mark," and now it's working on something new that will hopefully make things a little more equitable for everyone.

This upcoming indie game about mining asteroids and fighting aliens might be the new Homeworld-style experience I've been waiting for
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-upcoming-indie-game-about-mining-asteroids-and-fighting-aliens-might-be-the-new-homeworld-style-experience-ive-been-waiting-for/
I'm not really a strategy guy, but I'll put up with it if the vibes are right: That's why, for instance, I loved Homeworld even though RTS games are normally a quick "no" from me. Starminer, a sort-of-new game announced today by persuasively-named Slovenian studio CoolAndGoodGames, might just fit into that specific niche: For a game about working a blue collar job, it looks very slick.

'Segregating high skill players from the population at large, forcing long wait times on them, is a form of discrimination': former Halo multiplayer lead on the 'failure' of SBMM in modern games
https://www.pcgamer.com/segregating-high-skill-players-from-the-population-at-large-forcing-long-wait-times-on-them-is-a-form-of-discrimination-former-halo-multiplayer-lead-on-the-failure-of-sbmm-in-modern-games/
If you ever want to toss a discourse grenade into a room and watch the sparks fly, bring up skill-based matchmaking. How much or little developers should factor player skill into who you're permitted to play against in multiplayer games is an evergreen debate of our hobby, but it's not everyday that an expert on the topic chimes in.

Players discover the Dark Urge of Baldur's Gate 3 has one crucial weakness: capitalism
https://www.pcgamer.com/players-discover-the-dark-urge-of-baldurs-gate-3-has-one-crucial-weakness-capitalism/
Baldur's Gate 3 is flooded with little secrets and hidden dialogue. Despite the fact the game's been out for months, I'm still seeing players discover hidden exchanges, tucked behind weird progression orders and specific origin stories. Spoilers for the true identity of the Dark Urge lie below.

Modern Warfare 3's loathed 'Groot' skin is getting yanked and nerfed following widespread player backlash
https://www.pcgamer.com/modern-warfare-3s-loathed-groot-skin-is-getting-yanked-and-nerfed-following-widespread-player-backlash/
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's not-so-happy tree friend is set for a nerf. Players have been in an uproar about the Gaia skin—which turns MW3's Nova into a kind of arboreal sleep paralysis demon that some people liken to Groot—ever since it was introduced as part of the game's season 6 battle pass. But now Sledgehammer says not to worry: The studio is going to temporarily disable the skin soon while it works on a nerf.

Devs from The Simpsons Hit & Run say the game could've had four sequels, but the publisher said nah: 'The stars [were] aligned … and then it was just: huh, I guess we're not [making them]'
https://www.pcgamer.com/devs-from-the-simpsons-hit-and-run-say-the-game-couldve-had-four-sequels-but-the-publisher-said-nah-the-stars-were-aligned-and-then-it-was-just-huh-i-guess-were-not-making-them/
The Simpsons Hit & Run—a GTA-style send-up that somehow managed to be actually pretty dang good—came out in 2003 to some stirring commercial success. I have some fond memories of romping around Springfield as an accident-prone Homer, and while I'm certainly not alone, the game never had a sequel. Turns out, it very nearly had four.