Madden NFL 19 Release Date, Pre-Order Bonuses, Origin Access Premier Early Access
Posted:
01.15.2019 23:00:11
The next season of Madden NFL 19 is almost upon us, and as gamers everywhere are preparing to kick off, EA Sports has revealed an impressive line-up of pre-order bonuses ahead of the game's full release date. Players who want the best on offer will be looking for one of the two versions above the standard edition, as these both include a bevy of fantasy packs and hall of fame legends.
Madden NFL 19 Pre-Order Bonuses
Madden NFL 19 is set to release on Friday, August 10th for all players, but those who pick up the Deluxe or Origin Access Premier Edition will be able to play it several days earlier. Keep in mind that the Origin Access Premier is only available on PC – that’s right, Madden is finally returning to PC after a decade of being AWOL. Head over to the EA Madden NFL 19 pre-order page to select the copy that best suits your playstyle.
Madden NFL 19 Standard Edition – $60
Play August 10th
Choice of 1 of 32 elite players from your favorite NFL team (NAT)
5 Gold team fantasy packs
Madden NFL 19 Hall of Fame Deluxe Edition – $80
Play August 7th – 3 Day Early Access
Choice of 1 of 32 elite players from your favorite NFL team (NAT)
5 Gold team fantasy packs
7 Gold team fantasy packs
Choice of 1 of 5 elite hall of fame legends (NAT)
1 Elite cover athlete player (NAT)
2 Signature uniforms (NAT)
1 Training pack (NAT)
Madden NFL 19 Origin Access Premier – $14.99/Month or $99/Year
Play August 1st – 9 Day Early Access
Choice of 1 of 32 elite players from your favorite NFL team (NAT)
5 Gold team fantasy packs
7 Gold team fantasy packs
Choice of 1 of 5 elite hall of fame legends (NAT)
1 Elite cover athlete player (NAT)
2 Signature uniforms (NAT)
1 Training pack (NAT)
The Origin Access Premier edition of Madden NFL 19 also comes with a host of other benefits:
50,000 MUT coins
The 1st to get full access to EA’s newest releases, with content included in each game
Full access to the vault, an ever-growing library of more than 100 PC games
A 10% discount on all Origin digital purchases
Whether you’re an avid Madden fan or a casual football consumer, there’s an edition for you. Those who have been awaiting Madden NFL’s return to PC will no doubt want to subscribe to EA’s Origin Access Premier, a subscription service EA only recently launched.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout Free Trial Starts Tomorrow
Posted:
01.15.2019 21:00:10
If you’ve been an outsider looking in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and you’re curious how the game’s battle royale mode — called Blackout — plays, you’re in luck! Activision has announced the Black Ops 4 Blackout free trial for all platforms (PS4, Xbox One, PC).
The Black Ops 4 Blackout free trial starts tomorrow, January 17! Check out the trailer putting the spotlight on the mode.
The Blackout Free Trial will feature all the intense action from the game mode that brings together characters, locations, weapons and gear from across the series with Black Ops signature gameplay fans know and love.
Over on Reddit, DICE Community Manager Jeff Braddock has listed down the new weapons included in the new patch, as well as the Battlefield 5 time to death update (otherwise known as TTD) and death experience fixes the studio has made.
Update Highlights
Squad Conquest
A tighter and more intense version of Conquest, in Squad Conquest two squads per team battle it out over smaller, more tactical layouts of three existing maps: Arras, Hamada, and Rotterdam. These maps all feature 16 players on two teams, three flags, spawning restricted to HQs, and limited access to vehicles. Clear lanes and conservative combat areas allow players to predict where enemies are coming from, where they need to defend, and how to subvert enemy movement. Learn more about Squad Conquest.
New Weapons
These are some of the weapons that will be obtainable through the Weekly Challenges in January and February:
Zk-383 SMG (Medic class)
Modele 1944 semi-automatic rifle (Assault class)
M1922 MMG (Support class)
Time to Death and Death Experience Fixes
We’ve made a number of changes in these areas:
The name of the enemy that has killed a player is now shown in the game world when the player has died. This highlights the killer and helps players understand who killed them and from where, especially in crowded situations.
The death experience has improved with the addition of a camera that now follows and zooms towards the killer. This will allow players to understand what killed them and the position of the killer.
The accuracy of the visual representation of incoming bullets for other players has been improved. Tracers should now properly appear to consistently appear from the shooter and should be clearer when the victim is looking directly at the shooter.
An issue was fixed with the UI directional damage indicator that delayed the indication of damage to the victim.
Tweaks were made to the UI directional damage indicator to more accurately point towards the enemy damaging the player.
DICE has also made a few notable changes that weren’t included in the patch notes, and one of them is a change to how prone terrain detection works.
Did you notice any changes to Battlefield V’s TTD? Let us know what your experience is below.
Elder Scrolls Online Reveals Season Of The Dragon, New Annual Event Showcasing Elsweyr
Posted:
01.15.2019 21:00:10
Celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, The Elder Scrolls Online has steadily grown into an experience that many fans of Bethesda's RPG franchise wanted back when it debuted back in 2014. As an open world MMO, players can freely explore the many regions of Tamriel embarking quests, exploring dungeons, and acquiring rare loot. With the releases of previous expansions set in familiar areas, including Morrowind and Summerset, the scale and content of the online world has steadily seen improvement. During a livestream hosted by Twitch, the developers of ESO revealed the next major expansion set in the land of Elsweyr, along with an ambitious set of DLCs and updates releasing this year.
Set for launch on June 4, the Elsweyr expansion takes place in the homeland of the Khajit. Not only will new quests and events open up for veteran players in the region, but it will also be a new starting point for newcomers. As a part of their annual event for the Season of the Dragon, the developers plan to launch four unique DLCs throughout 2019. In the reveal trailer for Elsweyr, dragons have once again found their way to Tamriel, prompting the many adventurers in the land to face off against the new threat. In addition to being tied into the all new story quests, these dragons will also be a part of major world events.
Prior to the reveal, GameSpot spoke with ESO creative director Rich Lambert about their plans for the game in 2019, and how the community has expanded in big way in recent years.
"Elsweyr been one of the most requested places from our fans; it’s the homeland of the Khajit," said the creative director. "There's bits and pieces of the land in other DLCs, such as Reaper's March and Khenarthi's Roost, but those are really on the outer edges of the province. So we're really going into the heartland, showing what Khajit culture is, and how they've evolved over the ages."
With the Season of the Dragon annual event, the developers plan to update many of the core pillars of the MMO with four key updates. Beginning in Q1 with Wrathstone, the first DLC will add in new dungeon content for experienced players. In the second DLC--releasing on June 4--the region of Elsweyr will open up for all players, focusing on new quests and storylines within the desert land of the Khajit. The final two DLCs releasing in the back half of 2019 will also place a heavy emphasis on on additional story and dungeon content as well.
The highlight of Season of the Dragon will no doubt be Elsweyr, which adds in a massive new zone to explore. However, there will also be numerous other updates and quality-of-life additions that will switch things up. The year-long event will also see a new class thrown into the mix, which is the Necromancer. Using their dark magic, they'll be able to summon spirits and manipulate the dead to fight in battle. However, their dark arts will arouse all kinds of attention from NPCs throughout the land. Using the Necromancer's abilities in towns will prompt citizens and guards to confront the player--similarly to when players used shouts in the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. These interactions also tied into the game's Justice system, which judges your character based on in-game choices.
Furthermore, there will also be new world events. In addition to in-world battles against the massive dragons, some regions will also catch the attention of Daedric deities, who've become bored of the state of the world. In order to spice things up, they'll introduce a little chaos by spawning powerful artifacts in the world. Those who can find them can wield the ancient weapons, transforming them into a demi-god. With drastically amplified stats and unique spells and skills, you'll need to unleash carnage on other players, or else succumb to the artifact's insatiable hunger for chaos.
The Elder Scrolls Online is in for a big year, and the new forms of content look to bring some interesting opportunities for players to explore more of the world. In the years since ESO's debut, the developers spent a lot of time listening to what the fans wanted, which they they credit the game's current success.
"We spent a lot of time reflecting on what the fans wanted, in trying to bring that Elder Scrolls feel into the game," said Lambert. "That's where One Tamriel came from, Thieves Guild, the Dark Brotherhood, and that's where the Justice System came out as well. It really changed the feel of ESO, and players have enjoyed it since. The game has never been stronger, which is awesome."
For more info on Elder Scrolls Online, including what's to come with Elsweyr and the Season of the Dragon, be sure to check back with GameSpot.
With Ubisoft’s The Division 2 set to assault players soon, the publisher has now seen it fit to start hyping up the game’s story, as we’re getting a The Division 2 story trailer tomorrow!
This was revealed by the official Twitter account, which had a snippet of the White House in disarray, and a ton of what looks to be abandoned tents in its front yard.
The Division 2 story trailer will be aired at 9 a.m. PST/12 noon EST. We’ll of course have it up once it’s out.
In other The Division 2 news, Ubisoft has sided with Epic Games, and will have the game exclusively available in the Epic Games Store instead of Steam! Will this affect the game’s sale come its March 15, 2019 release date? Your guess is as good as mine at this point.
Posted:
01.15.2019 18:00:11 Take a look at this teaser for the Elder Scrolls Online's latest expansion, which releases on June 4. It's the second major part of the Season of the Dragon.
Battlefield V Prone Terrain Detection Fixed and Improved, Though Not in the Patch Notes
Posted:
01.15.2019 16:00:11
While DICE just released a hefty Battlefield V patch earlier today that has a lot of gameplay balancing changes in it, it seems there are still a few things the studio failed to include in the patch notes.
Over on Twitter, Core Gameplay Engineer Niels Stoelinga announced one of the improvements not documented in the patch notes, and that’s better terrain detection!
One important improvement that didn't make it into the #BattlefieldV January patch notes: Better terrain detection on the prone push mechanic. Now you won't be constantly pushed around anymore when on a slope or close to small rocks.
One important improvement that didn’t make it into the #BattlefieldV January patch notes: Better terrain detection on the prone push mechanic. Now you won’t be constantly pushed around anymore when on a slope or close to small rocks.
Are there more undocumented Battlefield V changes and fixes? If there is, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.
Xbox One Game Deals This Week Includes Far Cry Franchise Sale
Posted:
01.15.2019 15:00:10
Lots of games are on sale this week on the Xbox Store, but one franchise in particular has taken center-stage across all of it. The store is hosting a Far Cry sale, with deep discounts on essentially the entire series--at least, as it has existed since Far Cry 3 set the new template in 2012.
That means the sale includes Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, Far Cry 5, and the prehistoric spin-off Far Cry Primal, along with several bundles and add-ons. Primal is actually one of the newest of the set, but it's the lowest priced at just $10. Far Cry 5, which sets the stage for the upcoming Far Cry New Dawn, is between $20 and $30 depending on whether you want the Standard or Gold edition. The Gold version includes all three DLC packs.
You can see select sale prices below, or you can check out Major Nelson's blog for the full listing. All of these are valid through January 21. Plus be sure to grab this month's Games With Gold, which includes the indie platformer Celeste.
Battlefield 5 Update Out Now, Here Are The Patch Notes
Posted:
01.15.2019 15:00:10
Battlefield V's second free DLC expansion is now available. Developer DICE has rolled out the first wave of Chapter 2: Lightning Strikes content on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, bringing a new mode, weapons, and gameplay fixes to the World War II shooter, with even more content on the way over the next few weeks.
Headlining this week's additions is Squad Conquest, a new mode described as "a tighter and more intense version of Conquest." Here, 16 players divided up into two teams of eight must battle it out on smaller versions of the Arras, Rotterdam, and Hamada maps, each of which features "more tactical layouts." As DICE explains, "A core belief behind Squad Conquest is a restricted number of variables to allow strategy to be able to exist--you have to be able to predict player behavior and patterns, which is reflected in all three map layouts."
Additionally, the developer has added several new weapons to the game: the Zk-383 SMG (Medic class), Modele 1944 semi-automatic rifle (Assault class), and M1922 MMG (Support class). These can be unlocked by completing the Weekly Challenges in January and February. A new vehicle, the Tank Hunter, is also on the way as part of Chapter 2.
Finally, DICE has implemented a long list of gameplay tweaks and bug fixes, including improvements to Time to Death and Death Experience. You can find the full patch notes for this week's update--courtesy of the Battlefield website--below.
There's a lot more content on the way as Chapter 2 rolls on. Next month, DICE will introduce the cooperative Combined Arms mode, as well as a new Grand Operation, Battle of Hannut. March, meanwhile, will see the return of Rush mode for a limited time. Battlefield V's battle royale mode, Firestorm, is also slated to arrive in March as part of Chapter 3.
Battlefield V Chapter 2: Lightning Strikes Patch Notes
Squad Conquest is a tighter and more intense version of Conquest, where two squads per team battle it out over smaller, more tactical layouts of three existing maps: Arras, Hamada, and Rotterdam. These maps all feature 16 players on two teams, three flags, spawning restricted to HQs, and limited access to vehicles. A core belief behind Squad Conquest is a restricted number of variables to allow strategy to be able to exist--you have to be able to predict player behavior and patterns, which is reflected in all three map layouts. Clear lanes and conservative combat areas allow players to predict where enemies are coming from, where they need to defend, and how to subvert enemy movement.
New Weapons
These are some of the weapons that will be obtainable through the Weekly Challenges in January and February:
ZK-383 (SMG)
Modele 1944 (SA)
M1922 (MMG)
Time to Death and Death Experience Fixes
The name of the enemy that has killed a player is now shown in the game world when the player has died. This highlights the killer and helps players understand who killed them and from where, especially in crowded situations.
Improved the death experience with the addition of a camera that now follows and zooms towards the killer. This will allow players to understand what killed them and the position of the killer.
Improved accuracy of the visual representation of incoming bullets for other players. Tracers should now properly appear to consistently appear from the shooter, and should be clearer when the victim is looking directly at the shooter.
Fixed an issue with the UI directional damage indicator that delayed the indication of damage to the victim.
Made tweaks to the UI directional damage indicator to more accurately point towards the enemy damaging the player.
Soldier Fixes and Tweaks
Vault
Improved vaulting so that it no longer incorrectly triggers against steep hills and slopes.
Improved vaulting detection when trying to vault through a window that’s already broken. This will make vaulting in those cases less sensitive to tight attack angles.
Fixed an issue where players could receive fall damage from vaulting over a wall.
Revive
Fixed an issue where players would pick up a weapon while reviving on console.
Fixed an issue where the camera would clip through the soldier while in the man down state when the player had set a very high FOV.
Improved the camera behavior when a player revives a downed player very quickly.
Animation
Improved soldier ragdoll behaviors and made them more granular when killed in different poses (stand, crouch, prone) and based on the impulse of explosions.
Soldiers killed by explosions will now blend nicely into full ragdoll when they land rather than snapping to a specific ragdoll position when landing.
Players will no longer get a strange arm pose when melee hitting an enemy three times in a row and then switching to the Fortification tool.
Fixed an issue where the ammo self-supply animation could get stuck and play indefinitely.
Miscellaneous
The Heavy Weapons trait is no longer as powerful on AA guns which previously would result in them having almost no overheat while firing.
Improved sliding activation consistency from double-tap by reducing the impact of turning while sprinting.
General improvements to the detection of auto-peek over and auto-lean.
Prone
Increased the horizontal free aiming angle when prone by 40°.
Vehicles
Gameplay
Halftracks now take more and more consistent damage, making them easier to destroy.
Fixed an issue where the Stuka quick repair did not resupply when flying through a resupply point.
Increased the damage of the Stuka BK37 cannons against all targets, while also reducing the splash range. Accurate shots versus vehicles and infantry will be greatly rewarded, but inaccurate fire will still suffer significantly reduced damage. These are intended as precision-strafing weapons, and should be powerful on single targets but weak on area targets.
The damage caused by the Mine Clearing Line Charge Specialization will register in the kill log and in the kill cam as well. Also, friendly players are no longer affected by the damage of the Mine Clearing Line Charge.
Fixed so that all tank cannons one-hit kill all types of airplanes, even those equipped with Specializations that reduce damage from Flak.
Increased the ammo capacity of all airplane cannons from 150 rounds to 200 rounds. The previous reduction caused players to return to reload more frequently than intended.
Standardized an unintended imbalance between the coaxial and port firing vehicle machine guns. Overall this is a big buff to German machine guns, and a small buff to British ones. Some British machine guns were doing too much damage over all, and some German machine guns were doing too little. The close range damage of the German guns has been increased to match the British guns, and the long range damage of the British guns has been reduced to match the German guns. As a balancing factor, the range of all of these machine guns has been increased, so players should not see a reduced effectiveness in the British machine guns, and should experience an increased effectiveness of the German machine guns.
Reduced the damage reduction of explosions on players in prone. Players were previously resisting up to 25% of an explosion when prone, which was only intended in a few edge cases. This was fundamentally breaking the intended damage of tank shells, as players could absorb too much damage. The damage of explosions is otherwise is unchanged.
Reduced reload time of rockets to 15 seconds (was previously 30 seconds).
Reduced reload time of bombs to 20 seconds (was previously 30 seconds).
Visual & Audio
Resupply Station locations for vehicles are now pinned to the edge of the screen when ammo resupply is available, in order to help players find these resources. These icons scale in size and transparency the further a player is from the resources to prevent icon clutter.
Fixed a bug which would make vehicle paint jobs look less detailed compared to how they look in the customization menu.
The Stuka siren has been made louder.
Improved audio mix on planes to have more noticable propeller sound and less engine sound.
Improved the graphics on the wheel compartment of the Blenheim MkI.
When spawning into a top gunner seat, players are now holding the machine gun properly.
Fixed the third-person animation when entering the Churchill Mk VII Tank so it aligns better.
Third-person animations should now play properly when using the backseat in the Kettenkrad.
Fixes
Fixed an issue where players using higher sensitivity options could be counted as being out of bounds while in a top gunner seat while actually being within bounds.
Players should no longer fall under the map when spawning into a vehicle that managed to get destroyed right before the spawn.
Weapons, Gadgets, and Specializations
Gameplay
Removed the Extended Magazine Specialization for the M1907 SF and made the extended magazine equipped by default. Recoil Buffer has been added as a replacement. This weapon's Specializations will be reset and the means for unlocking them will be refunded. The M1907 SF was not useful enough without the extended magazine upgrade, making the hipfire upgrades a bad choice.
Decreased the effectiveness of the Ported Barrel Specialization on the M1928A1 to better balance the weapon in the SMG class. The upgrade was a bit too strong, leading to a slightly too controllable weapon.
Reduced the base deploy time of the StG 44 to 0.80 seconds from 0.85 seconds to better align with the animation. This was not in line with other assault rifles. You can shoot a bit sooner after switching to this weapon now.
Enabled semi-automatic fire for the M1928A1 which was previously missing.
Increased Suomi Kp/-31 reload speed when not using extended magazines. Reload times are now 2.3 seconds (previously 2.5 seconds) tactical and 3.45 seconds (previously 3.75 seconds) empty. The base reload was a bit too slow for the small magazine, making the extended magazine upgrade too important.
Fixed an issue where some weapons were inaccurate for too long when going from sprinting to firing when aiming down the sights (ADS). Some weapons did not reach full accuracy when fully zoomed in when transitioning from sprinting to ADS, leading to unexpectedly high recoil when firing. This was most noticeable on SMGs.
Fixed an issue where SMGs and weapons with the Enhanced Grips and Slings and Swivels Specializations remained inaccurate when going from sprinting to firing in hipfire. SMGs and weapons with these upgrades did not recover accuracy quickly enough when going from sprinting to firing in hipfire, reducing the intended mobility advantage they should have.
Made tweaks to SMG weapon positions in hip fire when firing and strafing to prevent the weapon from covering the crosshair.
The Panzerfaust no longer has a long delay before being able to fire after switching to the weapon.
Fixed so that the Panzerfaust one-hit kills all types of airplanes, even when equipped with Specializations that reduce damage from Flak.
Reduced the damage of the Panzerfaust. The Panzerfaust is very easy to use, and widely equipped. As a fast fire-and-forget weapon, its damage payoff was still too good against all types of armor. The damage is still high enough, even against a heavy tank, that a smart player can utilize a dedicated anti-tank loadout to defeat the enemy using skill and tactics.
Increased Throwing Knives max damage range to 10m from 6.5m.
Reduced the delay between two consecutive Throwing Knives throws by 40%.
Adjusted parameters for explosive damage when behind cover so that players behind cover properly receive reduced damage when cover is destroyed.
Adjusted damage multipliers for grenades and Panzerfaust versus various barricades so that multiple grenades are required to tear down a sandbag Fortification.
The RSC now reloads with the correct amount of bullets even if there’s already a bullet in the chamber.
If the player revives a friendly while reloading, the reload will now properly get interrupted instead of completing it during the revive animation.
Visual
Fixed the sling swivel so it no longer floats below the MP28.
Fixed clipping weapon when firing the M1928A1 with some iron sights.
Enemies firing no longer have their heads moved backwards while firing, which could cause unpredictable head movements when players tried to land headshots.
Improved the trajectory of supply pouches when thrown towards players.
Aligned the optics for the Lattey sights while in ADS using the M1897.
Fixed an issue where the hand pose would break when switching the primary weapon and the Ruby pistol.
Scope Glint
Adjusted the size and intensity of the glints for medium powered scope and high powered scopes. Medium powered scope glints are now smaller and less intense than high powered ones.
Pushed the visible distance for scope glints a bit further. They will now start being visible from longer distances (both Medium and High).
Scope Glint for medium scope visibility falls off over longer distances.
Fixes
The interaction prompt now properly appears when looking at a Spawn Beacon if it can be picked up.
Fixed a bug where players were unable to switch to their secondary weapon when having the M30 Drilling Equipped while using rifle mode.
Damage
Reduced the minimum damage of the Gewehr 43 and Selbstlader 1916 to 33.5 from 35.
Increased the damage for the Mk VI Revolver. Two-hit kill range is now 12 m (previously 7 m), three-hit kill range is 30 m (previously 12 m), four-hit kill range is 50 m (previously 30 m). Minimum damage is now 22 instead of 15. Damage dropped too steeply for the rate of fire and magazine capacity of this weapon.
Handling
Buffs to SMGs in this update are aimed at improving the mid-range combat ability of the Medic class. Reductions in recoil and increases to accuracy will allow the SMG user to maintain damage on target and increase their effectiveness over all.
Improved SMG sustained fire when hip firing.
Reduced SMG base dispersion to 0.15 from 0.2. This makes SMGs feel a bit more controllable and enables the low rate of fire SMGs to be reasonably effective at medium range without having to get accuracy upgrades.
Reduced Suomi Kp/-31 vertical recoil to 0.76 from 0.8.
Reduced Suomi Kp/-31 horizontal recoil to 0.93 from 0.95. The Suomi was a bit too hard to control compared to the M1928A1.
Reduced EMP recoil pattern strength to make firing single shots less awkward. Single shots were heavily biased to go sideways, making them awkward to use compared to other weapons.
Increased M1A1 vertical recoil to 0.6 from 0.55. This weapon was outperforming other weapons at intended ranges and will now be more difficult to land multiple shots on target at longer range.
Increased M1907 SF vertical recoil to 0.82 from 0.68. This weapon was outperforming other weapons at intended ranges and will now be more difficult to land multiple shots on target at longer range.
Reduced the vertical recoil reduction when crouching to 25% from 30% and when prone to 40% (previously 50%).
The vertical recoil reduction when crouching or prone no longer stacks with the reduction from using a bipod. This was inadvertently making bipods inconsistent, making fire patterns with bipods difficult to learn since they were different in each stance. Stance changes reduced recoil too much, especially when combined with a bipod, which virtually removed all handling difference when prone. This affects MMGs when prone most noticeably.
Maps & Modes
Final Stand: players are no longer able to skip revive in this mode.
Breakthrough on Rotterdam: removed an out of bounds spawn for the defenders near the A flag.
Panzerstorm: fixed an issue where there would be lamps floating in the air after the building they were in was destroyed.
Final Stand: fixed the black deploy screen.
Airplanes no longer take damage when taking off from the landing strip on the Practice Range.
Fixed an issue where the gamepad vibrations would not work on Grand Operations.
On Aerodrome, the Fortification sandbags will no longer block the view of the stationary weapon near the airplane hangar.
Fixed the floating Flak 39 on Panzerstorm.
Fixed a piece of barbed wire that was seemingly invisible on Devastation near Flag A while playing Conquest.
Improved the railing on Rotterdam near the canals so they are easier to vault over.
Fires on levels no longer cause unintentional lens flare effects.
Decreased the intensity of the white environmental smoke on Devastation.
UI/HUD/Options
The Distinguished Defender’s Cross ribbon is no longer awarded multiple times upon completion.
Players are now able to scroll through the map list from the server info screen ingame.
Added the missing M24 grenade icon on the statistics screen.
Fixed an issue where the “enter vehicle” prompt could be visible while in parrot camera view.
Fixed a bug where squad orders were delayed for top gunners in tanks.
Added the missing image for Panzerstorm in the Advanced Search menu.
Rarity of vehicle skins is now shown in the Vehicle Customization screen.
Special Assignment icons should now always be visible on all challenges.
Fixed an issue which could result in the bleed out functionality not always working.
Added a Zoom Transition Sensitivity Smoothing option (this is off by default). When enabled, this option allows players to smooth out the sensitivity transition when aiming down sight instead of instantly transitioning to the zoomed sensitivity. This option only affects legacy aiming users as it’s already automatically enabled when using Uniform Soldier Aiming.
Fixed an issue where the killcard would not be visible if the player gets revived too quickly after getting killed.
Made various text fixes.
Audio
Voiceovers are now played when notifying players in the man down state that you are coming to revive them.
Footstep audio has been improved making walking and sprinting louder for a better gameplay experience, while crouching and crawling generates less sound to enable sneaking and stealth gameplay.
Fixed an issue where the disabled sound for planes would keep playing after repairing.
Improved footstep sounds based upon what type of physics material the player is stepping on, on both Arras and Twisted Steel.
Fixed an issue which could result in the "kill confirmed" audio confirmation to not play at the correct moment.
Stability
Made multiple crash fixes and general stability improvements.
PC Specific Improvements
Increased the density of the fields on Arras when playing on lower settings, to not give a visual advantage to those playing on low-spec PCs.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Update Today Now Out, Brings Zombies 115 Day Celebration, and More
Posted:
01.15.2019 14:00:10
As expected, Treyarch has rolled out the planned Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 update today! Black Ops 4 update 1.11 brings a new playlist update for multiplayer, and the Zombie Mode’s 115 Day Celebration!
For those who are big fans of Treyarch’s Zombies mode, 115 Day Celebration event begins today, and runs from January 15 to January 18! Players can expect Zombies 2XP, Zombies 2x Weapon XP, and 2x Nebulium Plasma!
In addition to the event, there’s a new looting interface in Blackout for consoles!
Check out the full patch notes below (via Treyarch):
Multiplayer
Chaos Control added as MP Featured Playlist.
TDM 100, Team Tactical Moshpit, Mercenary Hardcore Moshpit, and Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit added to MP Featured category.
Elevation and Madagascar added to normal map rotation for Black Ops Pass holders.
Updates to various game modes, Specialists, Perks, Scorestreaks, Gear, and Challenges.
Fix for Killathon Reactive Camo requirements.
Various gameplay and stability improvements.
Zombies
115 Day Celebration Event: Zombies 2XP, Zombies 2X Weapon XP, and 2X Nebulium Plasma live 10AM PT Jan. 15-18.
“Unsinkable” Gauntlet in Voyage of Despair (PS4).
Three new Epic Elixirs (PS4).
Balance updates for six existing Elixirs.
Adjustments to PhD Slider Perk.
Reduced Crimson Nosferatu damage and spawn rates in Dead of the Night.
Various gameplay and stability improvements.
Blackout
Stash interface updated to grid layout for faster looting on consoles.
Reduced Concussion grenade stack count to 1.
The following updates are going live today on PS4, Xbox One, and PC:
Multiplayer
Featured Playlists
Chaos Control added as Featured Playlist.
Teams have unlimited lives.
Capture time increased to 2 minutes per zone.
Round time limit increased to 3.5 minutes.
TDM 100, Team Tactical Moshpit, Mercenary Hardcore Moshpit, and Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit added to Featured category.
Zombies
115 Day Celebration Event
Zombies 2XP, Zombies 2X Weapon XP, and 2X Nebulium Plasma live 10AM PT Jan. 15-18.
The following updates are going live today first on PS4:
Zombies
Gauntlets
“Unsinkable” Gauntlet live in Voyage of Despair.
30 rounds of challenges with unique rules for each round.
Players earn medals and tiered rewards for completing rounds 10, 20, and 30, as well as an additional reward for completing round 30 without failing a round.
Players are issued a Strike by failing a round, with the game ending after three Strikes.
All matches are timed for competitive speed-run support.
New Elixirs
Perk Up (Epic): Gain 4 additional random Perks that are not in your loadout.
Refresh Mint (Epic): Refreshes the cooldowns for Equipment, Perks, and Special Weapons for your entire team.
Conflagration Liquidation (Epic): Spawn a Bonfire Sale power-up.
The following updates are going live today on consoles, with PC to follow later this week with additional PC-specific updates:
Multiplayer
Maps
Elevation and Madagascar added to normal map rotation (Core and Hardcore) for all Black Ops Pass holders.
Game Modes
Heist
Added SWAT RFT assault rifle, Daemon 3XB SMG, Combat Axe, and EMP Disruptor to Heist.
Resolved an issue where the player would not be granted proper Tier progression in some cases.
If the last living player disconnects, all downed friendlies will now bleed out, ending the round.
Hardpoint
Added an overtime win condition for Hardpoint. In the event of a tie at the end of the time limit, the team to score the next point will win the match.
This setting has been enabled for CWL Hardpoint in Custom Games.
Search & Destroy
Resolved an issue that allowed the defenders to defuse and win the game after the bomb detonated.
Free For All
Assault Pack can now be interacted with after it was hacked in Free For All.
Specialists
Zero
Hacking an enemy no longer prevents Specialist Weapon or Equipment usage.
A hacked Assault Pack will now no longer be destroyed if the original owner leaves the match.
A hacked Barricade will now no longer be destroyed if the original owner leaves the match.
Ruin
Resolved an issue that allowed Ruin’s Grav Slam to kill players through walls and floors.
Firebreak
Resolved an issue that prevented Firebreak’s Purifier from damaging friendly players in game modes with friendly fire enabled.
Crash
TAK-5 will no longer remove the hacked status from players.
Perks
Improved Cold Blooded’s enemy Scorestreak targeting delay from 5 to 7 seconds.
Improved Team Link’s circular vision radius by 9%.
Updated Tactical Mask description to include increased resistance against EMP Disruptor.
Tracker’s detection icon will now clear correctly if the player switches to a class without the Tracker perk.
Scorestreaks
Care Package should now properly kill a player when landing on top of them.
Added a notification for when a player calls in a Thresher.
Resolved an issue where a Care Package or Mantis smoke marker’s FX would show for all players.
Resolved an issue where the sound of the Care Package hitting the ground was delayed.
Resolved an issue where the Dart would not be usable again if it failed to be deployed the first time.
Resolved an issue where the player’s view angles would change while controlling a vehicle.
Resolved an issue with the hacked vehicle effect remaining on a player’s screen if dying to a hacked vehicle.
Gear
Resolved an issue where the Acoustic Sensor would stop functioning when switching classes during the grace period at the start of a round.
Challenges
Clean Sweep
Now correctly tracks Hardcore game modes.
Conquest
Now correctly tracks Hardcore game modes.
Weapon Customization
Killathon Reactive Camo
Killathon Reactive Camo now properly unwraps if it was unwrapped before the requirements changed in a recent update.
Updated the unwrap requirement text to correctly reference the new requirements of getting 50 kills, instead of 5 kills without dying.
Added support for camo and reticle customization in offline Custom Games.
Custom Games
Resolved an issue where CODCaster spectating would disable a player’s Perks and second Equipment charge.
Resolved an issue where the second Equipment charge bar would not show in Custom Games.
Bots playing as Zero will now use the Ice Pick in Custom Games with bots.
Stability – Fixed crashes that could occur:
When a player owning a Mesh Mine disconnected from the match.
When deploying a Strike Team marker.
When hacking a Barricade that expired or was destroyed.
Black Market
“Friendly Fire” reticle owners now have access to green and blue versions of the reticle to match the version displayed in the Black Market.
Miscellaneous
Added a notification in the Death Cam for friendly players when a Tac-Deploy is available.
Resolved an issue where player names would no longer show in Multiplayer game modes after playing Heist or Blackout.
Resolved an issue that caused on-fire effects to remain on a player’s screen for the duration of the wound.
Resolved an issue that prevented some alternative voiceover lines from playing to the player.
Zombies
Gameplay
Elixir Updates
Join The Party: Now revives downed players in addition to respawning dead party members, but will not restore lost Perks.
Sword Flay: Melee attacks now instantly kill Basic and Vermin enemies for the duration, and deal 5X damage to all other enemies.
CTRL-Z: Increased the duration of turned zombies from 15 seconds to 30 seconds.
Cache Back: Reduced rarity from Epic to Legendary to increase the chance of concocting Cache Back more frequently.
Phantom Reload: Doubled the previous percentage chance to get free ammo.
Blood Debt: Duration reduced from 3 minutes to 1 minute, and Blood Debt now simply ends when points are reduced to zero, rather than killing the player.
Perks
PhD Slider now fully prevents self-inflicted explosive damage.
PhD Slider damage reduction for enemy explosive attacks has been changed from 80% to 50%.
Dead of the Night
Reduced the damage dealt by the Crimson Nosferatu bite attack.
Reduced the maximum number of Nosferatu and Crimson Nosferatu that spawn during normal round progression.
Power-ups
Power-ups are now more evenly distributed to appear throughout each round, as opposed to near the start of the round.
Stability
Global – Fixed crashes that could occur:
After waiting for a long period of time in the lobby after exiting a match.
In certain cases when using Deadshot Dealer.
In rare cases when joining a Custom Game in progress.
In rare cases when a player spectated a Zombies match.
In rare cases when the alternate ammo type from a Pack-a-Punched weapon affected an enemy.
Blood of the Dead
Fixed a crash that could occur during the ending cinematic.
Fixed a rare crash that could occur while using the Hellfire in Eagle Plaza outside of the Warden’s House on Round 73.
Voyage of Despair
Fixed a crash that could occur after finishing the portals for the Catalysts in the Main Quest.
Challenges
Charmed
Now properly requires players to use 50 Talismans.
Miscellaneous
Global
Best Time now properly displays when selecting maps at the Zombies mode screen.
Resolved an issue where players were still damaged by zombies during the Nuke whiteout screen and shortly afterward.
Resolved an issue where players could go past Prestige Master rank 1000 through natural play.
Resolved an issue where FX may sometimes disappear, including on Wonder Weapons, Perks, Pack-a-Punched weapons, and Silver Bullets.
Resolved an issue where a host went missing after 30 seconds while waiting in the lobby with 3 players in a private match.
Resolved an issue where the Cartoon mode effect could still persist for the player if a second player in a splitscreen party turned on Cartoon mode, and the first player left the match and went into a solo match afterward.
Resolved a visual issue where the level 3 Chakram Whirlwind FX could be seen spinning around the player along with low-resolution dust FX.
Resolved an issue where the Maddox with Dual Zoom attachment could carry far more ammo than usual when Pack-a-Punched.
Resolved an issue where the After Action Report tabs could overlap each other.
Resolved an issue where players with a Minor or Major Virtuoso’s Charm Talisman still had a chance of the Mystery Box moving to another location on their next box opening.
Resolved issues where the Welling Clan Tag was misaligned on the Welling and clipping into the player’s hand, and where the Kill Counter did not appear at all.
Resolved an issue on Xbox One when a guest profile attempting to access the Laboratory could encounter multiple issues, including a UI error and lost cursor functionality.
Closed an exploit where players could enter a live game with custom rules.
Dead of the Night
Implemented visual improvements for the Pack-a-Punch camo on multiple weapon attachments.
Resolved an issue related to Nosferatu Bile pickups slowly accumulating if it was not collected by the player.
Resolved a bug that caused the player’s weapon to switch to the Welling for the duration of a Crimson Nosferatu bite attack.
Resolved an issue that could cause Nosferatu to spawn under the map when summoned by the Crimson Nosferatu.
Resolved an issue that allowed enemies killed by the Wonder Weapon to sometimes spawn power-ups outside of the playable space.
Resolved an issue that caused inconsistent visibility during the Wonder Weapon quest while in splitscreen.
Resolved a timing-specific issue that could lead to the incorrect player being sacrificed during the Main Quest.
Resolved an issue where Silver Bullet weapons canceled the Deadshot Dealer Perk modifier headshot streak.
Resolved a collision issue that allowed the Theater camera from leaving the playable space in the Gardens.
Resolved an issue that caused poor visualization of the trees in the Gardens area.
Resolved an issue that caused a prompt on the clock for the Pack-a-Punch to remain indefinitely after the sequence completed.
Resolved a rare progression issue related to enemies spawning in a non-playable location.
IX
Addressed a rare progression break that occurred when a special round started as players teleported to the Chaos Tower.
Addressed a rare case where players could become immune to fire traps.
Blood of the Dead
Resolved an issue where no fog would appear during Hellhound rounds.
Closed an exploitable area that players could reach in the Citadel Tunnels using the Path of Sorrows.
Closed an exploitable area on the catwalk that players could reach using the Ragnarok DG-5.
Classified
Resolved an issue where the blur effect from killing Nova 6 Crawlers persisted for spectating players.
Resolved an issue where a player using Nowhere but There would teleport to the War Room instead of the Laboratories when another player was downed in the elevator while it was on the Laboratories floor.
Blackout
Looting Interface
Looting interface on consoles is now a grid layout with multiple pages for all Stash types.
Identical items will now stack inside a Stash instead of being displayed individually.
Remaining Armor is now displayed on Armor items in a Stash.
Gameplay
Reduced Concussion grenade stack count to 1.
Don’t forget, League Play for multiplayer will start end of January, and this patch “sets the stage” for what’s to come. Once we know the full patch notes, or if anything got changed, we’ll update the post.
(TKC) BF3 - Fly Maps, fast vehicle spawn.. Noob Friendly!:25200
(TKC) RS2V - NFO Fast Server - Noobs Welcome!:7777
You can easily find any of our servers by using the "Server Status" tab. You can also find our servers at the bottom of our forums at: http://www.clan-tkc.com/phpBB or at GameTracker: http://www.gametracker.com/clan/thekillingcommitteeclan/. If you need any help finding our servers in-game, just come to our forums, post a topic and we'll try to help you out.
TKC servers are well run and every attempt is made to ensure a fun gaming environment. No racist or rude behavior is tolerated on any of our servers. TKC tries to have round the clock administration for it's servers but obviously sometimes a server will have no admin playing so if you witness any abuse for any game please attempt to report the offending players nickname, and if possible GUID here: "Server Vistors Complaint". Just give as many details as you can remember such as what the player was doing/saying. In addition cheating is not tolerated on our servers. We are protected by any of a number of different cheat tools at any given time including; VAC, steambans.com, pbbans.com, ggc-stream.com, metabans, pbscreens.com and punkbuster, depending on the game. If caught cheating your information will be submitted to the appropriate cheat tracker and you will be added to their database which will ban your Steam ID, PB GUID or EA GUID depending on the game and website.
When available we also offer ways for players, in-game, to contact admins to report bad behavior. These come in the form of game server plugins. Players will, if the server has the option available, have the option to report a player using, @report [player] [reason] or @admin [reason] to call an admin to the server. If an admin doesn't respond in a timely manner, please use the @report option so we can follow up on it later or use "Server Vistors Complaint" as mentioned above. If an admin is not available, we also try to give the players the opportunity to use @votekick [player] or @voteban [player] [reason]. This allows the guests to our server the ability to kick or temporarily ban a player who is breaking rules.
Profanity - Many of the games we play have very bad language, some don't, that should make a difference in how we enforce our rules. For that reason we are going to implement a new rule, which will seem strange at first, but there is reason behind it. Bad language will only be tolerated on Teamspeak channels for games where there is bad language in the game. In other words, since there is bad language in Bad Company 2, bad language will be acceptable in the Bad Company 2 Teamspeak channel and on the Bad Company 2 servers. On our Half-Life 2 DM Teamspeak channel and game server, bad language will not be allowed. Future games will also be handled in this manner. The reason, we do not want to exclude members with different beliefs. If I buy a game and one of the selling points for me was the fact that it did not have bad language, that should be respected. I do not want a father or grandfather having to explain bad language to their children or grandchildren because they heard profanity on a TKC Teamspeak channel they thought was free of such things.
How to deal with with Mic/Text spammers - No one wants to listen to a lot of unrelated chatter either on the game server, or Teamspeak. No one wants to see a lot of text spamming either. It's distracting to some, and in the case of Bad Company 2, causes lag problems when the text log gets too long. If someone is talking or typing too much, respectfully ask them to stop. If they continue, you may have to mute or kick them, and if they continue after that, a ban might be in order. When on Teamspeak, a certain amount of "visiting" is fine, but the gamers who want to communicate tactical information to others playing shouldn't have to constantly interrupt talk about the latest CPU, or talk of what's going on at school. If someone is talking too much and you don't feel like you want to address it, PM a clan leader and we can handle the situation.
Team Switching - In some games this is a big no-no and if you are admin for one of those games, ask the player to go back, if they don't and you have the ability, move them back manually. If you continue to have problems, kick/ban them. In other games, like Bad Company 2, team switching usually isn't as big a deal. Sometimes friends or clan members might want to play together, in that case, try to facilitate them and swap some people around. This will show you to be respectful of community and they will probably be very appreciative of your efforts. If there is a mass exodus of people from a bad team to a good team, you can mention in-game that people need to stop. If someone is ignoring you and continues to unbalance the teams, just kick them off the server. For a game like Half-Life 2, teams change after each round, so trying to put clan members together is just a waste of time, that is why team switching is considered bad.
Hacking/Cheating - This is the most overused excuse for kicking someone off of a server. Players are unjustly booted off servers all the time simply because they were too good. That is not fair. Do not base a decision on cheating on a single round, if it isn't really ridiculous score-wise, sometimes people just have great rounds. But if they continue to have an unbelievable K/D ratio, then you might need to ban them. Sometimes it might be necessary to ban someone just because they are killing the server. For me, this is the thing I hate to do the most. That person might be doing nothing wrong, other than being really good at a game. Try to put yourself in their shoes and only ban guys who are really obvious. I don't want to see anyone being banned for an aimbot because they went 29-0. I and many others have had a better score than that, it DOES happen. You have to consider how the person is playing the game. Are they playing as recon? Are they in the heli with a really good pilot? Sometimes, if you are unsure, it might be best to ask the opinion of a clan leader. Remember, visitors to our servers have the ability and a forum to complain about unjust behavior from our server admins. If someone complains about you, you want to know that you did everything by the book.
Soldier Names/Nicknames - We will not allow names that are offensive to anyone. I think we can all use our best judgement here, but if you are unsure, ask another admin what they think of the name and come to a consensus before taking action. Players using racist names should be perm banned immediately. It does no good talking to someone like that because they're only goal is to cause trouble.
Banter and Trash Talking - Now its okay to joke around, but if several players are going at it constantly on the mic or in chat just nicely ask them to stop. If it continues warn them again that if they don't stop they will be kicked, if for no other reason that mic/text spamming. If they ignore this warning then go ahead and kick them. A certain amount of this is fine as long as it's good natured, however sometimes this can lead to hard feelings so you have to use your best judgement of when something is going too far or things are starting to get out of hand.
Racist/intolerant behavior - This is a subject that we will show no mercy on. If someone is being a racist, and that means they are hating on blacks, whites, browns, yellows, whatever the case may be, they get perm banned. No warnings, no kicks, just ban them. We don't need that kind of intolerant behavior on our servers. I don't care if the person is joking, I don't care what his real intent was, if he's spewing hate speech, he's gone. This also applies to someone who is spewing hate speech against a group of people, like Muslims, Christians, agnostics, atheists whoever. We are a gaming clan. This is our hobby and it's supposed to be fun. Everyone who comes to a TKC server should be respected and able to play the game hassle free. Not everyone believes the same, and if someone can't get over it and comes to our server with an agenda that includes racist or intolerant speech, I expect you guys to bring the hammer down swiftly.
Metabans - We will use Metabans only for cheaters and will verify each ban using Cheat-O-Meter. This will ensure that we are not forcing our Metabans followers into banning players we have banned for breaking rules other than cheating. If we deem you are cheating and Cheat-O-Meter doesn't really indicate cheating and we can not find information about you or your clan tag, meaning there is no website or previous information on you as a player or clan that we can cross reference, we will ban you on our servers, but not Metabans. Clans must have a website that we can find and access to be considered legit, otherwise we will view your tags as hogwash and your suspect behavior will be deemed as cheating. Again, we will not add a ban that is not supported by Cheat-O-Meter to Metabans.
We want everyone to have the best time possible so do your best to maintain a good gaming atmosphere, then everyone can have a good time.
To join TKC you only have to read our "Code of Conduct" and then apply for membership by filling out an online application. After submitting your application you will become a "member candidate". You will be allowed to wear our tags but only as (tkc), all letters in lowercase. As you progress, as seen by our members, you will be advanced to (Tkc), then (TKc) and then finally (TKC). You will receive emails at each step with detailed instructions on what you need to do. To obtain your full membership and the right to wear the (TKC) tags, you will have to pass a vote by the TKC members. Only those members who have gotten to know you will vote. An 80% yes vote will be required for full admission. Please keep in mind that full membership takes 8 weeks.
For you to be accepted you will need to display good manners, sportsmanship, and the ability to follow our rules. This applies to all game server activitiy and forum participation. If you do not feel you can meet our requirements we respectfully ask that you not apply as we have many who want to join and we can not waste time on gamers who are not serious about membership.
So now you're a member of TKC congrats! It is important for you to note that membership in TKC is not a lifetime privilege. Only the clan founders Big Flem and Squidward have lifetime membership and can not be removed. Clan leaders expect it's members to participate in clan activites when they can, and to be an ACTIVE member in the clan. We consider active members to be members who regularly post on the forums, participate in clan activities when possible, and communicates and develops friendships inside the clan. We do NOT consider a member to be active if they only ever play on our servers and nothing more. The leaders of this clan work hard to organize events and if you can't support these activities, can't check and post on the forums at least once or twice a week, then you are not TKC material and eventually you will be kicked from the clan. If you do not think you can meet these requirements as a member of TKC, then please don't attempt to gain entry into the clan as you will only waste your time, and ours.
Beyond administration positions such as "Clan Leader", "Division Leader", etc, the answer is no. However we do have achievable military style ribbons and medals that can be won for various acts. You may see each members ribbon and medal "Display Case" by going to the "Members" tab and under each members profile clicking the "Awards" icon. Below is each award and how you obtain that award. Note that medals also have an associative ribbon:
Ribbons(Hover over information icon for description)
In the past TKC had too many admins on our servers and things got a little out of hand. We are not looking for any new admins, however if we feel you will make a good addition to that team we will ask you. Being a server admin is not fun and games. It requires you to WORK, and follow server administrator rules which are well defined once you become an admin. Our admins are forced to stop playing whatever game they might be playing, and work to secure and maintain server tranquility reguarly. If you are an admin that does not mean you will get to run willy nilly and ban, kick, and torture at will. Admins who do not follow our rules will be stripped of admin duties and power. In addition there are more requirements of admins such as, reguarly checking our server admins forum. Once you become an admin you will be given access to this forum and you must check and read it quite often. It is a way for admins to help one another by posting their thoughts on what is going on, who to watch closely, etc. Do not ask us constantly to be an admin, that is the surest way I know to never become an admin. Our leaders will identify the best candidates for admin duties if we think it necessary.
No. In order to have an official TKC server it must meet certain standards. In addition, we might not want a server for a particular game, and if you aren't an admin, then you shouldn't have admin authority on any server. Official TKC servers have to be setup as close to identical as possible. This means that the clan leaders must have all access to any of it's servers including the ability to restart that server, gain access via FTP and game panel. It means that the clan leaders can setup the server with it's normal settings and add the usual addons. In short, if you want to have your own server then that is fine, but don't try to name it "Boom Boom Room" or tie it in any way to TKC.
Clan TKC maintains several servers that are open to it's clan members and the public. In addition TKC has other expenses that require money. To pay the bills TKC relies on it's members and visitors to donate. Without these donations, TKC will cease to exist. Please consider donating money when you can. We do our best to use the money wisely, to invest in TKC, to invest in PC gaming.
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Medal of Honor
