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

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Monday news, the long part two:

'The repeated targeting of individual team members needs to stop': OldSchool Runescape devs firmly ask players to cool it over Tormented Demon loot tables
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-repeated-targeting-of-individual-team-members-needs-to-stop-oldschool-runescape-devs-firmly-ask-players-to-cool-it-over-tormented-demon-loot-tables/
I have a lot of sympathy for the perils of game development. Chief among them is the terror of having to not only get feedback, but filter it: Getting into spats over balance tweaks, the difficulties of community management, and sometimes dealing with actual threats that need police intervention. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
While keeping in touch with a community is part of the job, it's not an enviable one even if said community's full of good eggs—even Baldur's Gate 3's had its woes. Which is why I'm not surprised to see that, after re-releasing beloved RuneScape quest chain While Guthix Sleeps, the devs at Jagex have had to put their foot down.

Manor Lords publisher doubles down on protecting devs as CEO says 'developer sustainability' is more important than 'any perpetual growth'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/manor-lords-publisher-doubles-down-on-protecting-devs-as-ceo-says-developer-sustainability-is-more-important-than-any-perpetual-growth/
The publisher of Manor Lords, Hooded Horse, has been at the center of a recent discussion concerning indie developers and the difficulties of early access. Earlier in the week, Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender got into a debate with Hinterland CEO Raphael van Lierop, who called Manor Lords a "pretty interesting case study in the pitfalls of early access." While that argument has since been settled, Bender has continued to stress both his and Hooded Horse's support for the devs on their roster. 
"Sustainability is something we think about a lot," Bender says in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun. "But usually, we think about it in relation to developers." In fact, as Hooded Horse is predominantly owned by individuals, with the majority of shares sitting with Bender and his wife, the publisher can be more relaxed when it comes to demanding "endless growth" or relentless updates on profits. 

Indika publisher, Frostpunk dev to donate $50,000 to 'support Ukrainian kids' in wake of Russian missile strike on the country's biggest children's hospital
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/indika-publisher-frostpunk-dev-to-donate-dollar50000-to-support-ukrainian-kids-in-wake-of-russian-missile-strike-on-the-countrys-biggest-childrens-hospital/
Indika publisher 11 bit studios has announced that it is donating $50,000 of revenue generated by the game to support Ukrainian children, in the wake of a Russian missile attack which struck Kyiv's Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital earlier this week. 

New Helldivers 2 major order offers the chance to divide Automaton forces—fighting a war on two fronts being a famously winning tactic
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/new-helldivers-2-major-order-offers-players-the-chance-to-divide-the-automaton-forces-fighting-a-war-on-two-fronts-being-a-famously-winning-tactic/
The Helldivers crushed through their most recent major orders, with large-scale destruction of the Automatons on X-45 unlocking both a fancy new quad rocket launcher and the mysterious promise of an "interplanetary battle station." Players have to wait to discover what functionality the latter will offer (current speculation is some sort of clan system), but the galactic war waits for no citizen, and the new major order is for pretty much the first time encouraging some actual strategy beyond "blow them all up." Even if that's still what we'll be doing.
(… several paragraphs later…)
"Now, Super Earth High Command directs the Helldivers back to the western front, as a strategic opportunity of galactic proportions has revealed itself," reads the new MO. "The Automatons have opened up the opportunity to split their forces down the middle, which would throw their cut-off forces into disarray and weaken their defenses for a short time on the cut-off planets. The Helldivers are ordered to cut a line through the Andromeda Sector, joining our X-45 forces and dividing the Automatons' in two."

Larian CEO Swen Vincke says there were only two other RPG series he was interested in working on if he couldn't get Baldur's Gate: Fallout and Ultima
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/larian-ceo-swen-vincke-says-there-were-only-two-other-rpg-series-he-was-interested-in-working-on-if-he-couldnt-get-baldurs-gate-fallout-and-ultima/
It's hard to overstate how big Baldur's Gate 3 is. It's a massive sales hit, it claimed all the awards, and it turned Larian, already a well-respected studio thanks to its outstanding Divinity: Original Sin games, into RPG royalty. I think it's fair to say that nobody could have predicted this, but in the latest issue of Edge (via GamesRadar), Larian CEO Swen Vincke said he had big ambitions for the studio, and that there were only three games he felt could make it happen.
>> In that same interview he says how all those awards shows affected development (article here) and also how they had to relocate the devs they had on their St. Petersburg studio (article here).

Concord's persistent deployables have players building makeshift forts out of healing pads, shields, and walls
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/concords-persistent-deployables-have-players-building-makeshift-forts-out-of-healing-pads-shields-and-walls/
An unusual feature of Sony's new hero shooter, Concord, is that deployable items—healing pads, shields, walls, that kind of thing—are persistent between rounds and respawns. If the other team doesn't destroy your stuff, it stays where it is across an entire match.
>> This comes from the first beta of the game, that took place during the weekend.

Former Bungie lead counsel explains how the studio nailed one of Destiny 2's most infamous leakers
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/former-bungie-lead-counsel-explains-how-the-studio-nailed-one-of-destiny-2s-most-infamous-leakers/
If you've ever wondered how videogame studios determine who's leaking their big secrets, a new Bloomberg interview with former Bungie general counsel Don McGowan offers some very interesting insights into how it's done.

Star Citizen is free this week, if you'd like to try it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/star-citizen-is-free-this-week-if-youd-like-to-try-it/
The monumentally crowdfunded, mega-budgeted Star Citizen is once again having a free fly event, letting people try out the space sim for the grand price of nothing for one week. Until July 19 you can do all the free flyin you'd like, trying out one of 10 different spaceships in developer Cloud Imperium's sandbox.

Black Desert Online is introducing a mammoth-size 'War of the Roses' PvP mode for duking it out with 599 of your closest friends
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/black-desert-online-is-introducing-a-mammoth-size-war-of-the-roses-pvp-mode-for-duking-it-out-with-599-of-your-closest-friends/
Reading about Black Desert's new game mode, War of the Roses, it feels like the next evolution of World of Warcraft's legendary Alterac Valley, a massive battle, 40 players to a side. Despite some issues with faction balance and toxic turtling, it remains a beloved fixture of early WoW PvP. With War of the Roses, it seems as if developer Pearl Abyss has asked themselves "what if we did Alterac Valley, but made it even bigger"?

My favorite weapon from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is even more powerful than I thought, letting you completely juke legendary boss Malenia's Waterfowl Dance
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/my-favorite-weapon-from-elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-is-even-more-powerful-than-i-thought-letting-you-completely-juke-legendary-boss-malenias-waterfowl-dance/
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's backhand blades were already a new favorite weapon for me, but the underhand assassin curved swords have an incredible depth of movement tech I wasn't even aware of, like being able to completely no-sell the most devastating boss attack FromSoftware's ever created.

Looks like Journey to the Savage Planet is getting a sequel
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/looks-like-journey-to-the-savage-planet-is-getting-a-sequel/
It looks like, despite the technical closure of the studio that first made it,  comedic action-adventure game Journey to the Savage Planet is going to get a sequel after all, with job listings and an intellectual property filing pointing towards a sequel called "Revenge of the Savage Planet." Dissolved original studio Typhoon reformed as Raccoon Logic, and has since been working on an unconfirmed sequel codenamed Lodestar.

Double Dragon Revive promises a refresh of the venerable beat 'em up in 2025
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/double-dragon-revive-promises-a-refresh-of-the-venerable-beat-em-up-in-2025/
A new game in the Double Dragon series of beat 'em ups is coming next year. Arc System Works has announced Double Dragon Revive, which promises to revisit some of the locales and enemies from the earliest entries in the series. Revive, however, has a decidedly modern look to it with 3D models rather than simpler sprites. The name Revive is in line with what the developers say they want it to be: "the same simple and intuitive gameplay, with controls and balance refined for the modern era."

Get ready to cook and explore at the same time in wholesome metroidvania Magical Delicacy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/get-ready-to-cook-and-explore-at-the-same-time-in-wholesome-metroidvania-magical-delicacy/
Platforming adventure Magical Delicacy will have you doing some witchy cooking and exploration in a sprawling town of hungry people this week, as the cute little pixel-art platformer releases on July 16. Notable for its combination of metroidvania-style platformer exploration with the cozy characters and crafting of a life-sim-esque cooking game, Magical Delicacy has a enough going on that something about it is going to appeal to a lot of people.