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

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You really thought that was it? Fool! Here’s a bunch of Bethesda/Todd Howard and Blizzard related articles that appeared the last couple of days:

Todd Howard wants to preserve the 'Americana naivete' by keeping Fallout mostly based in the USA: 'keep the mysterious lands mysterious'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/todd-howard-wants-to-preserve-the-americana-naivete-by-keeping-fallout-mostly-based-in-the-usa-keep-the-mysterious-lands-mysterious/
The Fallout franchise is beloved for a lot of good reasons—it's got a timeless aesthetic, nukes are cool to look at when they aren't melting your flesh off, and the blend of post-apocalyptic Americana with radiation that's borderline indistinguishable from magic is pretty appealing.
It's also never really moved outside of its country of origin, with its games located almost entirely in the United States. And while some fan projects like Fallout: London are attempting to broaden the scope beyond lore mentions of other world superpowers, Todd Howard says he's keen to keep things red, white and blue for the foreseeable future.

Fallout 76's latest update nerfs one of its most powerful weapons, but don't worry, it buffs it too
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/fallout-76s-latest-update-nerfs-one-of-its-most-powerful-weapons-but-dont-worry-it-buffs-it-too/
Hot on the heels of a major uptick in players driven by the hit Fallout series on Amazon, Fallout 76 has been given a beefy new update that makes a number of bug fixes and quality of life changes that, among other things, will make life easier when making big trades with merchants. There's also a significant overhaul of the Cremator heavy weapon that manages to nerf and buff it at the same time.

'New Vegas is a very, very important game to us,' says mildly exasperated Todd Howard, who will never stop getting grilled about New Vegas
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/fallout/todd-howard-new-vegas-obsidian-show/
If we keep bugging Todd Howard about Fallout: New Vegas, I wonder if he'll get so irritated that he eventually turns against the game for real? For now, at least, the Bethesda Game Studios director has reiterated that he likes New Vegas, the 2010 Fallout spin-off developed by Obsidian, and also likes Obsidian, and also respects New Vegas' lore, and also isn't trying to erase it from history.

Todd Howard reckons he knows why Starfield was so divisive: It was too 'different than you've seen from us in past'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/todd-howard-reckons-he-knows-why-starfield-was-so-divisive-it-was-too-different-than-youve-seen-from-us-in-past/
Starfield came out seven months ago and many of us are yet to heal from the discourse. Bethesda's "dream game" was a polarising thing, earning plaudits from some quarters and a more ambivalent response from others (including, ah, us). But seven months is a lot of time for reflection, and Bethesda boss Todd Howard reckons he knows why the spacey RPG was so divisive: It just wasn't traditionally Bethesda enough for some people.
>> And maybe the game wasn’t good enough? Maybe?

Starfield's latest update lets you decorate your ship just like an outpost
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/starfields-latest-update-lets-you-decorate-your-ship-just-like-an-outpost/
Todd Howard said a lot of stuff during a recent Kinda Funny interview, including—crammed in amidst all the talk about Fallout—that a new Starfield update was being revealed this week. Today it arrived, in Steam beta as is the tradition, with an array of fixes, tweaks, and as promised, some new options for your space-buggy.

Todd Howard says Bethesda's trying to 'increase our output' with Elder Scrolls and Fallout 'because we don't want to wait that long either'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/todd-howard-says-bethesdas-trying-to-increase-our-output-with-elder-scrolls-and-fallout-because-we-dont-want-to-wait-that-long-either/
It's been a decade since Fallout 4, and 13 years since The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Since then Bethesda hasn't been sitting on its hands, with Fallout 76 releasing in 2018 and of course the studio's main focus for several years being Starfield. (…)
Todd Howard recently gave an interview to Kinda Funny Games discussing all sorts around Bethesda's games, with the focus understandably more on the Fallout side after the Amazon show, and offered players some succour in this regard: he thinks the studio needs to speed things up, too. 

And now the Blizzard stuff:

'The rule of cool' is Blizzard's solution to Diablo 4's barbarian problem and it's going to 'juice up the other classes' to compensate
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4-season-4-barbarian-class-balance-rule-of-cool/
It doesn't take a Diablo 4 expert to look at all the weapons barbarians carry around and wonder what the other classes are doing only using one or two. Barbarians are Diablo 4's strongest class by far and it mostly comes down to the fact that, in a game about powerful items, they get to have four of the strongest ones at all times.
Despite what some players think, Blizzard is very aware of barbarians' inherent advantage and is going to try to lift every other class up to their level, starting in season 4.

Blizzard plans to make Diablo 4 boss farming better for solo players
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4-boss-farming-solo-changes/
The most powerful items in Diablo 4 drop off of its endgame bosses. But ever since those bosses were introduced in season 2, solo players have had to put in way more effort than those playing in a group to access them. That's going to change soon, associate game director Joe Piepiora told PC Gamer in an interview last week.

Diablo 4 season 4 'Loot Reborn' will change almost everything you know about the action RPG
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4-season-4-loot-reborn-announcement-interview/
I'm not exaggerating when I say that almost everything you know about Diablo 4 is about to change. I played with most of what's coming alongside season 4 last month on a playtest server and, like many others, am now counting down the days until the real thing goes live on May 14.

Blizzard 'learned a lot of lessons' from having to emergency fix Diablo 4 season 3's vault dungeons, but says they'd need more work before bringing them back permanently
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/blizzard-diablo-4-season-3-lessons-learned-feedback-vaults/
In January, Blizzard had to drop a late-night emergency patch to turn Diablo 4 season 3 around. Within a day of launch, players decided the robot spider companion was useless and that dodging traps in the new vault dungeons wasn't worth the headache. Blizzard quickly boosted the strength of the pet and streamlined vaults, making them so abundant with loot that now players are sad they'll be leaving when season 4 launches on May 14.
Blizzard has repeatedly said it wants to be very careful with how it brings seasonal features back so it won't clutter up the non-seasonal mode of the game. (...)
The newly reworked Helltide open world events coming permanently to the game alongside season 4 are the first sign of how Blizzard might intend to bring back fan-favorite systems.

The way World of Warcraft: The War Within quest rewards work is game-changing for transmog enthusiasts
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/the-way-world-of-warcraft-the-war-within-quest-rewards-work-is-game-changing-for-transmog-enthusiasts/
At the moment, when you complete a quest in World of Warcraft and get rewarded with some gear, only the items your character can use get added to your cosmetic wardrobe, where all your transmog options are stored. This means if you're a leather user, your plate-wearing alts won't get any goodies, aside from maybe a cloak. This tyrannical system is coming to an end in The War Within. 

WoW's released a short cinematic ahead of the War Within's pre-patch—and I'm just happy these characters are talking like actual people, now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wows-released-a-short-cinematic-ahead-of-the-war-withins-pre-patchand-im-just-happy-these-characters-are-talking-like-actual-people-now/
World of Warcraft's next three expansions are a bold gambit from Blizzard. They'll be a story told in three parts, and—judging by the trailer for The War Within—they'll focus on character development and emotional storytelling over big dudes in armour calling you a pitiful mortal while revealing the next step of their master plan. It's also about to receive, arguably, its first actual in-game story cinematics, and Blizzard's given us a preview in advance.