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

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The second part of the gaming news:

Wardogs boss talks balance, XP, and why 'the endgame is sh*t' right now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/wardogs-boss-talks-balance-xp-and-why-the-endgame-is-sh-t-right-now/
A few notable quotes from Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer's latest Wardogs discussion video on X, in which he reacts to a video from YouTuber JbowenDaMan.
Wardogs continues to be one of my favorite games of the year, but almost three weeks into early access, I understand why developer Bulkhead was anticipating agita as players got deeper into its progression. The 100-player FPS has a serious XP grind, and some say they were having a better time before the most dedicated players started unlocking the highest tiers of vehicles, armor, and weapons.
Brammer's insights on player feedback and the studio's philosophy on balance are a useful lens into how Bulkhead sees its game—first and foremost a sandbox shooter where no two matches are the same, and not a competitive FPS that requires perfect balance.

Ace Combat 8 Steam reviewers are steaming mad about its pre-order bonus not being a standalone app
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/ace-combat-8-steam-reviewers-are-steaming-mad-about-its-pre-order-bonus-not-being-a-standalone-app/
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is technically out on Thursday, but as is commonplace now folks who pre-order the $90 deluxe edition get to hop into the cockpit a few days early. Anyone who pre-orders the $70 standard edition, meanwhile, gets a pretty sweet bonus: Ace Combat Zero, a 2006 entry in the series that has never been on PC before now. But how Bandai Namco has packaged Zero is now threatening to drag the new game's Steam review average down into Mixed territory.
>> In summary, Ace Combat Zero was supposed to be a stand-alone game, but B-N have changed it, and now you need to have AC8 installed to play AC Zero.

Diablo 5 director promises Diablo 2-style combat where 'the right build' matters more than Diablo 4's action-heavy approach
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-5-director-promises-diablo-2-style-combat-where-the-right-build-matters-more-than-diablo-4s-action-heavy-approach/
Even though I play a lot of action RPGs, I hadn't heard anyone describe their combat in terms of stats, like dexterity and intelligence, before watching former Path of Exile game director Chris Wilson's recent video about Diablo 5.
By this metric, Diablo 4 is more a dexterity-based game where quick reflexes and lots of dodge-rolling out of attacks can be the key to victory regardless of your build. Diablo 2, however, is an action RPG that favors the intelligence and strength-based approach where your success is mostly based on how well you've prepared your character for a fight rather than your actions in the moment.
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Joe Shely doesn't acknowledge Wilson's video directly, but it seems to me like he's directly responding to the part where Wilson theorizes that Diablo 5 will continue where Diablo 4 left off. His response suggests a bigger shift than I expected, especially given how Blizzard abandoned its goal to recreate Diablo 2 shortly after Diablo 4 was released by speeding everything up to Diablo 3's pace.

Garry Newman adds necks to his neckless characters because the lack of necks 'comes up consistently in our many many many negative reviews'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/garry-newman-adds-necks-to-his-neckless-characters-because-the-lack-of-necks-comes-up-consistently-in-our-many-many-many-negative-reviews/
Hi, folks, Chris Livingston here, reporting on some important neck-related news coming out of Europe today. The default characters in game creation platform s&box now have necks.
I repeat: they now have necks.
They used to not have necks, but now they do. They have necks now. Here's a quick rundown of the facts as I understand them.

One of my all-time favorite games just announced an expansion, yet all I feel is fear
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/one-of-my-all-time-favorite-games-just-announced-an-expansion-yet-all-i-feel-is-fear/
"Core Values is the first paid DLC for Satisfactory and a major expansion," developer Coffee Stain studios announced on Tuesday, with the trailer above revealing that the construction sim is taking building deep underground for the first time, introducing "new resources, flora, fauna and more."