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

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Friday news, the second part:

If 1 million people sign a petition, a ban on rendering multiplayer games unplayable has a chance to become law in Europe
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/if-1-million-people-sign-a-petition-a-ban-on-rendering-multiplayer-games-unplayable-has-a-chance-to-become-law-in-europe/
One of the most common reasons a game becomes unplayable is because it can only be played online and its servers have been shut down by publishers. In 2023 alone we saw nearly a dozen games like Battlefield, Call of Duty: Warzone, Knockout City, Spellbreak, Gundam Evolution, and more meet the same grim fate as the lights went off for good.  (...)
But there are people trying to get laws passed to protect both the games and the people who buy them. (...)
One way to combat the killing of games is to propose a new law, an effort that is currently underway in the European Union. The process is called the "European Citizens Initiative," and if it's signed by 1 million citizens in the EU it has a chance to become an actual law. If passed, the law would require "publishers that sell or license videogames to consumers in the European Union (or related features and assets sold for videogames they operate) to leave said videogames in a functional (playable) state," even in the event that the servers are shut down or the studio closes. 

Baldur's Gate 3's Harpers just can't catch a break—sleuth discovers Jaheira's redshirts have a block in their code that nerfs their damage in half
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/baldur-s-gate-3-s-harpers-just-can-t-catch-a-break-sleuth-discovers-jaheira-s-redshirts-have-a-block-in-their-code-that-nerfs-their-damage-in-half/
A few things are certain in Baldur's Gate 3—you'll always roll a natural 1 at the worst possible time, your druid will spend most of their playtime casting longstrider on their minions, and the Harpers are wimps.
Not Jaheira—she's fine—but when it comes to the Absolute cult they're up against, they're pretty outmatched. Anyone who's done the siege on Moonrise Towers will tell you that those smite-happy paladins will chew through your NPC mates like holy knives through redshirt butter.
Well, user NCBlizzard on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit has had enough, diving deep into the code of the game and coming away with a harrowing revelation: they've all been fighting with one hand tied behind their back this whole time (via GamesRadar).

Star Wars Outlaws devs were stunned by the internet's response to its sexy, sexy droid: 'There's nothing sexy about sitting in the skintight suit'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/star-wars-outlaws-devs-were-stunned-by-the-internets-response-to-its-sexy-sexy-droid-theres-nothing-sexy-about-sitting-in-the-skintight-suit/
Star Wars Outlaws has been a pleasant surprise so far, not only did it manage to win over our staff writer Morgan Park in a lengthy hands-on demo, but it even seems like players already have a favourite character, and the game isn't even out yet. 
ND-5 is a BX-series droid commando built by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and a current associate of Kay Vess, Outlaws' scoundrel protagonist, but most fans will probably just know him by his nickname, hot droid. ND-5 always seems to make some pretty spectacular waves every time he appears in anything new for Star Wars Outlaws, but apparently, that wasn't at all intentional and came as a bit of a surprise to the devs. 

Fellowship recreates the thrill of MMO dungeons without the MMO and I'm scared of what it will do to my free time
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/fellowship-recreates-the-thrill-of-mmo-dungeons-without-the-mmo-and-im-scared-of-what-it-will-do-to-my-free-time/
Fellowship fits like a glove on me, a former 16-year-old World of Warcraft raider who mistakenly thought Blizzard would be the only one who could scratch that itch again. Stockholm-based studio Chief Rebel proved me wrong while we cleared out two MMO-style dungeons in a hands-on preview I had with the game last month.

Spectre Divide is Counter-Strike for the aim-down-sights generation, and it's so fun I can't stop thinking about it: 'We hope our game becomes your next 10,000-hour obsession'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/spectre-divide-is-counter-strike-for-the-aim-down-sights-generation-and-it-s-so-fun-i-can-t-stop-thinking-about-it-we-hope-our-game-becomes-your-next-10-000-hour-obsession/
Do you ever wonder why there aren't many tactical shooters like Counter-Strike? Valve's round-based, economy-driven competitive FPS stood largely unchallenged in a subgenre it created for 20 years before Valorant arrived on the scene, painting over CS:GO's grounded arsenal with a roster of Riot-style heroes and playmaking ultimate moves. Valorant was exciting proof that there's more to be done with the CS formula, and more than enough player interest to support two tac shooter giants.
Spectre Divide wants to be the third. After playing a few matches, I think it has a decent shot.

Do you also have strong '90s memories of Tomba from a PS1 demo disc? You can relive the magic in its unlikely remaster now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/do-you-also-have-strong-90s-memories-of-tomba-from-a-ps1-demo-disc-you-can-relive-the-magic-in-its-unlikely-remaster-now/
Remember Tomba(!)? No? It was a profoundly odd '90s platformer from Tokuro Fujiwara where you play as small, feral cave-boy with pink hair on a quest to rescue his granddad's bracelet from a cabal of evil pigs. Pigs that he defeats by excited leaping. 
(...)
It came out today: Tomba! Special Edition is live on Steam right now after an announcement last year. It was created by Limited Run Games in collaboration with Fujiwara and runs on LRG's Carbon Engine. It's faring mostly well in the few reviews it's picked up so far, with some of them even calling out other aged millennials with PS1 demo-disc memories, though some superfans do lament the lack of certain settings from the PS1 game, as well as what you might call era-appropriate load times.

Hearthstone content creator tells Blizzard to give away a Golden Legendary in order win back fans. Blizzard replies: 'OK'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/hearthstone-content-creator-tells-blizzard-to-give-away-a-golden-legendary-in-order-win-back-fans-blizzard-replies-ok/
If there's a more reliable way to win back gamers, I can't think of a better one than free stuff. Last month, following a meltdown about the lack of a new board to accompany the latest Hearthstone expansion, Blizzard felt compelled to issue a statement to the effect of: "No, we're not winding down the game down." The same post also teased that pets are in development, which is probably the second best method of player appeasement.
That brings us to today and the free stuff. Upon logging in to Hearthstone you will receive a notification that a golden Harth Stonebrew card is available for free from the shop. According to an accompanying post by Blizzard, it will be available until August 28, and over the rest of the month we'll also be able to snag one golden and two normal Perils in Paradise card packs for free. As my colleague Andy Chalk often says about this kind of offer: You can't say fairer than free.

Promise Mascot Agency is a game where you can entice a big, sobbing tofu guy with employee benefits, and I think that's beautiful
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/promise-mascot-agency-is-a-game-where-you-can-entice-a-big-sobbing-tofu-guy-with-employee-benefits-and-i-think-thats-beautiful/
Yesterday, Paradise Killer developer Kaizen Game Works released a nine-minute gameplay deep dive video for its next game, Promise Mascot Agency. It's a gameplay overview that gets both more inscrutable and more compelling with each passing minute, and for a surreal management game following in the footsteps of Paradise Killer's metaphysical murder mystery, I'd hope for nothing less.

It's so funny that Valve's new shooter that it won't admit exists has a public subreddit
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/it-s-so-funny-that-valve-s-new-shooter-that-it-won-t-admit-exists-has-a-public-subreddit/
There's a new Valve game out there called Deadlock: it's a third-person shooter with heroes, abilities, and what looks like a Dota 2-style map. A lot of people are playing it every day, but Valve hasn't acknowledged that such a game exists. And now we're noticing that Deadlock even has a public subreddit.

We'll see what makes Civilization 7 different on August 20 when Firaxis shows off the first gameplay of its 'revolutionary new chapter' in the grand strategy series
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/well-see-what-makes-civilization-7-different-on-august-20-when-firaxis-shows-off-the-first-gameplay-of-its-revolutionary-new-chapter-for-the-grand-strategy-series/
I love a Civilization reveal. The grand strategy series has been going for 33 years, and Firaxis always finds something to change with each new one, always controversially. Civilization 6 unraveled cities into districts that span multiple hexes, for example. Will Civilization 7 stuff them back onto one tile? Or revamp something else entirely, like combat or the victory conditions? Will they make another stab at a battle royale mode? (Probably not.)
We'll have answers later this month. First, we'll see Civilization 7's debut gameplay trailer at Opening Night Live, the Geoff Keighley showcase that precedes the Gamescom convention in Germany. That'll be on August 20 at 11 am PT, viewable on the Gamescom Twitch channel.
Immediately after that, Firaxis will stream a 20 minute showcase with "insights and deep dives across new features and innovations" in Civilization 7. That'll be on Firaxis' Twitch channel.