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

[JEMC]

Thursday gaming news, part two:

Don't get hit with the BIOS update hammer for COD MW4 like my colleagues—here's how to ensure you can play multiplayer and DMZ
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/dont-get-hit-with-the-bios-update-hammer-for-cod-mw4-like-my-colleagues-heres-how-to-ensure-you-can-play-multiplayer-and-dmz/
If you're itching to get your pupils up against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on PC at launch on Friday, you should probably double-check your system is up to date. We've already had a couple of colleagues here flung against the wall of requirements with the new COD, requiring a BIOS update to play online.
That's because Activision explains that both TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are required to play any online game mode (multiplayer or DMZ). More specifically, though, you must have a new enough version of PTT (Platform Trust Technology) for Intel systems, and fTPM (Firmware Trusted Platform Module) for AMD ones.
>> By the way, players declare that DMZ is “broken”, because of a perk of an operator (link).

With BioWare dead, EA lays out its 'next chapter,' and it's pretty much as predicted: Guns and football are fine, and everything else is under the microscope
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/with-bioware-dead-ea-lays-out-its-next-chapter-and-its-pretty-much-as-predicted-guns-and-football-are-fine-and-everything-else-is-under-the-microscope/
Following the shocking closure of legendary RPG studio BioWare, Electronic Arts has posted a lengthy missive laying out its plans for "EA's next chapter," which sounds very much like cuts almost across the board.
I'll spare you the corporate gobbledygook about challenging assumptions, confronting assumptions, and imagining new possibilities, and cut straight to the chase: The plan is to do fewer things with fewer people focusing on its biggest franchises.

Everyone gets a free ticket to World of Warcraft: Forever today as Blizzard stress tests the servers ahead of launch day
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/everyone-gets-a-free-ticket-to-world-of-warcraft-forever-today-as-blizzard-stress-tests-the-servers-ahead-of-launch-day/
In anticipation of the full launch of World of Warcraft: Forever next month, Blizzard is throwing the gates wide open on the throwback MMO to stress test the servers.
Anyone with a World of Warcraft account will be able to play the 'WoW: Forever - Stress Test" client in the Battle.net launcher later today. You don't need an active subscription, nor do you need to have purchased any of the WoW: Forever special editions. All you need is some patience for what could be a bumpy few hours as people pile in.
>> The article is from yesterday, so, the stress test may be underway.

Over '30 million rounds of PvE were played' over the last week in Arc Raiders but Embark still needs 'a bit of time to understand what the data is telling us'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/over-30-million-rounds-of-pve-were-played-over-the-last-week-in-arc-raiders-but-embark-still-needs-a-bit-of-time-to-understand-what-the-data-is-telling-us/
Good things rarely last forever, as is the case with the iconic UK biscuit Happy Faces and now Arc Raiders' PvE test. We knew it wasn't going to last long as Embark announced that it would only stick around for a week, but it disappearing from the game still sucks.
I loved the PvE test, it was a lot of fun and a very nice alternative to what can be a quite intense PvP experience. I played both over the last week, and while I got better loot in PvP, it was nice jumping into PvE every now and then just to have a chill experience killing arc and running around a pretty map.
So what's next? Well, now PvE is over Embark needs to figure out whether the whole ordeal was worth it or not and whether the team should bring it back. "More than 30 million rounds of PvE were played over the testing period," Embark says in an official blog post. "This gives us a huge amount of information to analyse. As such, we're going to need a short period of time to dive into the numbers and draw out the insights."

And I'll spare all of us from a third post by sharing here the short ones:

CD Projekt boss pays tribute to BioWare for helping bring The Witcher to life 20 years ago: 'BioWare has been a massive part of CDPR history'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/cd-projekt-boss-pays-tribute-to-bioware-for-helping-bring-the-witcher-to-life-20-years-ago-bioware-has-been-a-massive-part-of-cdpr-history/

Machinarium AI tribute cops a flogging from studio: 'This looks disgusting and has nothing to do with us or our craft'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/machinarium-ai-tribute-cops-a-flogging-from-studio-this-looks-disgusting-and-has-nothing-to-do-with-us-or-our-craft/

The next Mass Effect would have had 'a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match', according to BioWare veteran
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mass-effect/the-next-mass-effect-would-have-had-a-level-of-autonomy-and-choice-that-no-other-game-has-been-able-to-match-according-to-bioware-veteran/

As Final Fantasy 14's doors remain closed, surviving players are stepping in to keep everyone's crops alive
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/as-final-fantasy-14s-doors-remain-closed-surviving-players-are-stepping-in-to-keep-everyones-crops-alive/
>> SE has disabled logging in while it fixed the PHP problems.