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

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Monday news, the second part:

After 10 years of reinventing The Elder Scrolls Online, its devs say they'd have only done one thing differently: 'Pick the game you want to make'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/after-10-years-of-reinventing-the-elder-scrolls-online-its-devs-say-theyd-have-only-done-one-thing-differently-pick-the-game-you-want-to-make/
At Gamescom last week, PC Gamer's Harvey Randall sat down with the devs of The Elder Scrolls Online to talk about where the game's headed in its 10th year and how it's changed along the way. For Matt Firor, studio director of ESO developer Zenimax Online Studios, those ten years have been a testament to Zenimax's willingness to reshape the game for the better.
>> They also revealed that they talked with Todd Howard to make sure they stayed in cannon. How long were those talks? Well, about three months.

Dustborn devs call out the 'tidal wave of hate and abuse' that's engulfed the game: 'Those who engage in such behavior will be removed from our community'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/dustborn-devs-call-out-the-tidal-wave-of-hate-and-abuse-thats-engulfed-the-game-those-who-engage-in-such-behavior-will-be-removed-from-our-community/#comment-jump
Dustborn developer Red Thread Games has released a statement decrying the "tidal wave of hate and abuse" that has surrounded the studio and game since its release last week.
(...)
Ten days after Dustborn's launch, Red Thread has had enough of it. "We expected Dustborn to spark conversation and debate, and looked forward to engaging with our players in a positive and constructive fashion," the studio said in a message posted to social media. "Unfortunately, that conversation has been drowned out by a tidal wave of hate and abuse.
"We welcome thoughtful feedback and respectful criticism. We embrace discussion and debate. But we have zero tolerance for hate speech, harassment, and threats of any kind. Those who engage in such behavior will be removed from our community."
>> Not to be rude or anything, but given how SteamDB lists an all-time peak of 83 players, what community is he talking about?

Runescape is increasing its membership subscription costs, and players aren't happy: 'Inflation my a**'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/runescape-is-increasing-its-membership-subscription-costs-and-players-arent-happy-inflation-my-a/
Earlier this week, Runescape developer Jagex announced upcoming pricing increases for Runescape membership costs. On September 27, 2024, the price of a membership subscription will increase from $12.49 USD per month to $13.99 USD per month. A premier 12 month subscription, which includes additional in-game bonuses for subscribing for an entire year at once, will increase in price from $79.99 USD annually to $99.48 USD annually.
Players currently subscribed on monthly or 6-month intervals will be able to continue paying their current "Grandfather Rate" for as long as they maintain their subscription. The Grandfather Rate is unavailable for players with annual premium memberships.

Black Ops 6 will let players talk directly to their meat shield hostages, and people are already bracing for heretofore unseen levels of toxicity and abuse
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/black-ops-6-will-let-players-talk-directly-to-their-meat-shield-hostages-fans-are-already-bracing-for-heretofore-unseen-levels-of-toxicity-and-abuse/
This is the best worst idea in videogames I've seen in a very long time: Treyarch says Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will give players the ability to talk directly to the people they're holding hostage and using as meat shields.
>> What could go wrong?

This week's Deadlock patch offered a brief peek at 3 unreleased heroes before a hotfix shoved them back behind the curtain
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/this-weeks-deadlock-patch-offered-a-brief-peek-at-3-unreleased-heroes-before-a-hotfix-shoved-them-back-behind-the-curtain/
It's only been a week since Valve officially acknowledged Deadlock's existence, and gaming's least-closed beta test is already changing quite a bit. Yesterday, Deadlock got a hefty patch that added wall-jumping and more than a hundred hero balance tweaks, because the third person MOBA shooter wasn't already complicated enough without elaborate parkour. Also included in the patch is a new profile screen, showing statistics from a player's playtime with different heroes, which—as some eagle-eyed Deadlock enthusiasts noticed—included three heroes that we can't yet select in-game: Holliday, Mirage, and Wrecker.

Blizzard's next massive Diablo 4 update will let everyone enjoy its endgame in half the time and let blasters crank the difficulty up higher than ever before
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/blizzard-s-next-massive-diablo-4-update-will-let-everyone-enjoy-its-endgame-in-half-the-time-and-let-blasters-crank-the-difficulty-up-higher-than-ever-before/
Blizzard isn't quite done transforming Diablo 4 into an entirely different action RPG than it was when it launched. The current leveling process from 1 to 100 is going straight into the trash with its next update and will be replaced by an entirely new framework for how you progress your character.

Gearbox says Borderlands 4's humor will be grounded in its world: 'We want to make sure that it's situational, that it emerges naturally'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/gearbox-says-borderlands-4s-humor-will-be-grounded-in-its-world-we-want-to-make-sure-that-its-situational-that-it-emerges-naturally/
Last week's Borderlands 4 teaser didn't tell us much about Gearbox's next big co-op looter shooter, but at PAX West today, the creative leads lined up on stage to give us a little more insight—just a little—into what what we can expect from the next billions-of-guns looter shooter.
There weren't many specific Borderlands 4 details in the panel—big news: it takes place on a new planet with new vault hunters—but one takeaway is that Gearbox seems to be self-conscious about the perception of Borderlands' sense of humor as untethered, omg-so-random pop culture chaff. For Borderlands 4, the studio says it's emphasizing character-driven comedy that "emerges naturally."

This upcoming survival game promises an unusual twist: You're an alien botanist who's crash-landed on Earth 300,000 years ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/this-upcoming-survival-game-promises-an-unusual-twist-youre-an-alien-botanist-whos-crash-landed-on-earth-300000-years-ago/
In most survival games, you're cast naked and alone in a fantastical world with nothing but a rock and a stick to help you stay alive. The upcoming Astrobotanica promises to be a little different: Instead of playing as a human trying desperately to survive in an alien environment, you're an alien facing the same challenge on Earth in the very distant past.

Andrew C. Greenberg, co-creator of the influential Wizardry series of RPGs, has died
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/andrew-greenberg-co-creator-of-the-influential-wizardry-series-of-rpgs-has-died/
Andrew C. Greenberg, co-creator of the foundational Wizardry series of RPGs, has died at the age of 67. The news was shared to Facebook by his collaborator on Wizardry, Robert Woodhead, and also to Twitter by developer and game design professor David Mullich.
It's hard to overstate Greenberg and Woodhead's influence on RPGs and PC gaming. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was one of the first recognizable RPGs you could play on a home computer, a translation of tabletop RPGs and the games developed for the mighty PLATO mainframes present on college campuses at the time to the humble Apple II.

Goblin pachinko roguelike Peglin is finished, complete with some clutch reworks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/goblin-pachinko-roguelike-peglin-is-finished-complete-with-some-clutch-reworks/
A couple years back some developers asked a question: What if you had the block-bustin, ball-bouncing, pachinko action of Peggle, but it was a weird roguelike deckbuild-esque thing where you toss magic balls and are a goblin? The result was Peglin, and here in 2024 Peglin has finally hit its 1.0 release.