Part two of the Tuesday news:
Omni-Man's Mortal Kombat 1 trailer is a splatter-filled gauntlet of Invincible's most harrowing scenes
https://www.pcgamer.com/omni-mans-mortal-kombat-1-trailer-is-a-splatter-filled-gauntlet-of-invincibles-most-harrowing-scenes/
I knew Omni-Man's inclusion in Mortal Kombat 1 was gonna bring back memories—you grab any popular character and throw them into a fighting game, and their moveset's going to be reference-heavy. But NetherRealm really went all out with this one. First, due diligence—if you've not watched it yet, I'm going to run through some major spoilers for Invincible's first season.
Pete Hines, Bethesda's number-one PR guy for nearly 25 years, is leaving the company
https://www.pcgamer.com/pete-hines-bethesdas-number-one-pr-guy-for-nearly-25-years-is-leaving-the-company/
After nearly a quarter century of helping lead Bethesda Softworks, Pete Hines, the company's head of publishing and one of its most recognizable faces, has announced that he is leaving the company and retiring from the videogame industry.
Payday 3's long-awaited first patch is delayed again: 'Please bear with us'
https://www.pcgamer.com/payday-3s-long-awaited-first-patch-is-delayed-again-please-bear-with-us/
Almost a month after Payday 3's disastrous launch, its highly-anticipated first patch, which is said to include over 200 quality of life improvements, has been delayed a second time with no estimated release date.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s next update adds an ancient realm players have wanted to explore for years
https://www.pcgamer.com/world-of-warcraft-dragonflights-next-update-adds-an-ancient-realm-players-have-wanted-to-explore-for-years/
Guardians of the Dream, the next major content update for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, will go live on November 7, one week ahead of the launch of Dragonflight season 3.
Also known as patch 10.2, Guardians of the Dream will add a new zone called The Emerald Dream—an ancient dimension of Azeroth that has been in the lore for decades—with new quests, creatures, objectives, and other content, and a new public event called The Superbloom, a multi-tiered adventure with new rewards that will have players assisting the ancient Sprucecrown as he tends to the Emerald Dream's world tree. Players will be able to unlock new activities and earn reputation rewards along the new Dream Wardens renown track, and dragonriders will have access to new race courses, glyphs, abilities, customization options, and a brand-new ride: The Faerie Dragon.
Starfield lead quest designer leaves Bethesda to work on the open-world RPG Wyrdsong
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-lead-quest-designer-leaves-bethesda-to-work-on-the-open-world-rpg-wyrdsong/
After a long career at Bethesda, Starfield lead quest designer Will Shen has left the studio and joined Something Wicked Games, where he'll serve as lead content designer on its first game, the open-world RPG Wyrdsong.
Cities: Skylines 2 won't use Steam Workshop for mod sharing
https://www.pcgamer.com/cities-skylines-2-wont-use-steam-workshop-for-mod-sharing/
Cities: Skylines was the antidote to 2013's bungled always-online SimCity reboot. It was a regular old offline, singleplayer game with mod support: hallelujah. From the sounds of it, Cities: Skylines 2 will be just as moddable as the original, but there will be one notable change: You won't be getting your Cities: Skylines 2 mods on Steam Workshop.
In a post on its forums today, Paradox said that the official mod distribution channel for Cities: Skylines will be Paradox Mods, its custom cross-platform mod library. In a related FAQ, it said that Steam Workshop won't be supported.
>> Ironically, this may hurt the game sales more than the botched game release.
Whoops: Blizzard leaked the name of the next Hearthstone expansion on a t-shirt
https://www.pcgamer.com/whoops-blizzard-leaked-the-name-of-the-next-hearthstone-expansion-through-its-own-online-store/
It's not cool when a retailer leak blows a big game announcement. Just ask Bethesda, which saw its surprise Rage 2 announcement spoiled by an errant Walmart Canada listing. (I bet Pete Hines is still steamed about that.) But you know what might be even more frustrating? When your own gear store does it.
That seems to be what's happened with the next Hearthstone expansion: As noticed and captured by Hearthpwn, a t-shirt for something called Hearthstone: Showdown in the Badlands appeared on the official Blizzard store recently.
GTA Online's Halloween event makes a fan rumour real and gives one of its protagonists a last goodbye
https://www.pcgamer.com/gta-onlines-halloween-event-makes-a-fan-rumour-real-and-gives-one-of-its-protagonists-a-last-goodbye/
(...)
An early twist in GTA 5 upset the apple cart: One of that game's three protagonists, the psychopathic Trevor, finds a drug-addled Johnny and beats him to death. This has always been an unpopular twist, which perhaps indicates narratively it was a good one (boo!), because as well as the character's death the state he's found in suggests things all went wrong for Johnny after The Lost and the Damned's ending. Players didn't like the fact he was killed, but they especially didn't like the fact he was such a shell of the character we knew.
(...)
Until now. GTA Online's Halloween update, just to rub it in for the Red Dead fans, is a four week blowout of new and returning content, including themed events and modes like Alien Survival (last Halloween saw a UFO invasion). One of the major new additions is the organisation Ghosts Exposed, which tasks players with a ghost hunt across Los Santos. There are ten in total that appear at night, and capturing a photograph of each nets you a cash and RP reward.
Arcane is officially canon, and from now on League of Legends lore is going to stop contradicting itself all over the place, says Riot
https://www.pcgamer.com/arcane-is-officially-canon-and-from-now-on-league-of-legends-lore-is-going-to-stop-contradicting-itself-all-over-the-place-say-riot/
Riot's approach to League of Legends lore has always been a bit… flexible. Champion backstories have been repeatedly retconned, and the entire premise of the game has changed a couple of times since launch (remember when it was a literal sport?). More recently, as the Runeterra universe has expanded with books, spin-off games, and the TV show Arcane, inconsistencies have flourished, and it's been increasingly difficult for fans to point to an actual canon.
Well, that's about to change. In a new video, Riot's head of IP creative Laura De Young explains that, going forward, the goal will be to ensure all future League of Legends-related content is canon and fits together, and to resolve inconsistencies wherever possible.
How one gun company partnered with Call of Duty to attract 'young potential shooters'
https://www.pcgamer.com/how-one-gun-company-partnered-with-call-of-duty-to-attract-young-potential-shooters/
It is common knowledge that arms manufacturers and the videogames industry have partnerships and sponsorship deals, with series like Call of Duty sometimes even including gunmakers like Colt in their credits. But we almost never get a glimpse at what these deals involve, both in terms of the finances and the thinking behind marketing real weapons in virtual worlds.
(...)
The documents are from the late 2000s and early 2010s, and this tranche relate specifically to 2009's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. They include the Freedom Group's "Gaming Strategy" memo (undated), which says that "with increasing urbanization and access to shooting/hunting areas in decline, a primary means for young potential shooters to come into contact with firearms and ammunition is through virtual gaming scenarios".
>> "Young potential shooters" is such a f*cked up statement.
Final Fantasy 14 players interviewed over 80 of their fellow adventurers to craft a heartwarming first-timer's guide to roleplaying with anxiety
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14-players-interviewed-over-80-of-their-fellow-adventurers-to-craft-a-heartwarming-first-timers-guide-to-roleplaying-with-anxiety/
The roleplay community in Final Fantasy 14 is, simply put, an ocean. It's absolutely massive, comprising several servers, hundreds of night clubs, bars, fight pits, free companies, and homegrown drama. It's big enough that last year, someone thought buying four billboards in California and Texas to advertise their virtual nightclub was a good idea (it wasn't). (...)
As a big ol' nerd and long-time roleplayer myself, getting started can be intimidating for the less socially-inclined adventurers out there. No-one's gonna invite you to anything, you just need to kinda huck yourself into other people's sessions of make-believe and hope you aren't annoying people.
(...)
Thankfully, some thoughtful players made a fansite called The Kweh to solve those exact problems: "'I want to learn how to RP but I don’t know where to start.' was a phrase I heard over and over again, and on March 8, 2023, the Beginner’s Guide to RP was released."
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