Apex Legends: Server Down – PC Players Are Stuck In The Loading Screen

Players look for server status at Apex Legends on February 21st. Many PC players are currently stuck in the Loading Screen and wondering how long the servers are down.

What is going on? Players try to log into Apex Legends, but they do not get far. They get stuck in the loading screen and do not even get into the game’s menu.

Is Apex Legends down? Yes, the game is currently unavailable to a large proportion of players. EA also announced on Twitter that they are working on the bug.

How long are the servers down? At first, players assumed that they were only minor issues that would soon be resolved. However, complaints about the inaccessibility of the servers have been piling up since about 1:30 pm.

So it seems to be a bigger problem that EA just has to get under control.

We will update this article for you as soon as there is news about the server issues in Apex Legends.

Update – 19:46 clock: The Twitter account of Apex Legends announces that the values of PC players recover. They are still researching and thanking for patients.

What happened last at Apex Legends? A few days ago, the new February update for Apex Legends appeared. That fixed above all a few annoying crashes and bugs.

Then, a few hours ago, the first new weapon appeared for Apex Legends. That’s the Havoc. This is an energy assault rifle with different fire modes. For the players, the part is really good.

Another weapon has been particularly appealing to players, even though it is not that strong. Players celebrate the worst weapon in Apex Legends.

And then there’s the Twitch partnership, which rewards players with in-game looting. There is a trick right now that does not work without a server.

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Why March Will Decide On The Future Of Anthem

In March this big thing is supposed to happen in Anthem, which according to BioWare can change the whole world: a Cataclysm. This is where the future of Anthem is defined, thinks our author Leya.

In the current live stream, BioWare talked about the future of Anthem. My ears came to a head when the developers emphasized how Anthem was technically built. Their game is designed to make it easy for developers to change components in the world.

BioWare has been hinting for months that after the release, Anthem really gets going, as far as the development of the world and its history is concerned.

Anthem is said to work on story events like a Netflix series, where players keep coming back to see how things are going. I am quite curious what exactly this means for Anthem.

Roadmap for March shows Cataclysm

What is a cataclysm? These are huge forces of nature that arise through the anthem of creation. Often they are preceded by a mighty storm, which is evident in the sky. Cataclysms create new forms of life, are able to burst the ground or let rivers flow backward.

Anthems roadmap for March has already been published. It is divided into several sections, culminating in the Cataclysm. The roadmap states, “The ongoing history of Anthem begins.”

When is the Cataclysm coming? The exact time is not clear from the roadmap. The big highlight could, therefore, come after March. From March we can count on events preparing for the Cataclysm.

How such a Cataclysm looks in detail, we do not know so far. BioWare wraps itself in silence, which means a Cataclysm and the story events for the game. It always just means that it becomes something huge.

We only know that the various acts serve to prepare the cataclysm. Players are to discover clues and puzzle about what’s going on with the changes in the world. The Cataclysm is something like the big bang that dissolves everything.

A judgment on Anthem is too early now

Before I saw the events in March, I shy away from assessing Anthem’s longevity.

The story is about to begin: BioWare has consistently emphasized that Anthem is designed to be nibbled to prevent content drought.

The story of Anthem is criticized in part now already hard, it starts according to the developers actually only now. The story has already been prepared for years. Anthem can be added to new missions, world events or storylines at any time.

The first Cataclysm is leading the way: Since BioWare is all the time talking about “something big” coming up, I’m going to wait patiently and watch March.

I’m wondering if the developers here are overpowering or they manage to actually bring into story events that create curiosity and excitement.

This is supposed to be a central core of Anthem: a world that is constantly expanding, changing and bringing something new.

Fortnite as an example: With Fortnite: Battle Royale, this kind of storytelling works really well. Recently, the map of Fortnite has changed again and everywhere cracks appeared. That’s what the players follow live, the media report on the crazy events, it creates a hype.

I can imagine such a thing in the world of Anthem, which is already full of mystical grottoes and secrets.

Division 2 has Released In March

Players are doubtful between The Division 2 and Anthem: March will also be significant for Anthem as Division 2 has its release here.

Both games have strong elements of a loot shooter and are therefore compared. Some players wonder which of the two games they want to play longer.

That’s why it’s even more important that Anthem scores points in March with its event approach. Here BioWare would have a chance with Anthem to be relevant to the release of Division 2 in the media and to attract a bit of attention.

What happens in the ideal case for Anthem?

This is the ideal case: BioWare will keep what they have been promising for months. Anthem has a long, exciting history, with great events. The media report on the latest events such as the Klauninchen detective Hoppel or the new machinations of the Dominion.

The players enjoy the content snacks and are happy about new strongholds, missions, and stories. The players are there for the first time over technical problems.

This is the worst case: BioWare cannot live up to expectations. The events bring little new into the game and are boring for players. The titan shown in the demo did not fare that well.

Where BioWare noted here that this was just a teaser. The added content creates nasty bugs that have to be fixed and frustrated again and again. Anthem goes under and has provided only for entertaining fun.

That’s the middle thing: the events are not of outstanding nature but keep in good spirits. It forms a hard core of players that accompanies and supports Anthem for years.

From here, BioWare can build and make Anthem, in the nature of a live service game, better and better at the back.

What do you say? Is March as significant to Anthem as I feel it?

Our author Schuhmann describes why he is currently enjoying Anthem. He is also curious if Anthem will give him long-term joy in playing:

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Is A Lot Of Fun Because It’s Not A Shooter For Me

The new action RPG Anthem is already playable in a headstart. Our author Schuhmann says: This is much better than I thought. It’s like playing a modern MMORPG where I run only instances.

That’s my thesis: Unlike many testers who see Anthem as a “shoot shooter” and compare it to games like Destiny, The Division and Warframe, I think Anthem is a kind of “MMORPG light”. As an MMORPG, always press the “Search for group” button.

Anthem is for me as if BioWare had considered in 2012 what MMORPGs 2020 might look like and then they landed at Anthem.

They have left out a lot of what we associate with MMORPGs today, especially the “massively” is gone and there are no side activities either. But this is the central Coop experience, with 4 men to run a mission, in the foreground.

anthem-storm-view
The Storm is the Flying Elemental Magician of Anthem – and the Javelin of my choice.
That’s what I’ve done so far in Anthem: According to Origin, I spent 11 hours in Anthem. In the meantime, I made it to Lvl 18, completed dozens of missions and side missions, and defeated the first fortress.

I’m stuck in the main story but the Grind Quest, which I do not agree with my thesis at the moment. Since I have to find 14 treasure chests – and had so far no desire to rumzurinden so. Everything else until then, but I’ve grazed: There are in addition to the main quest still 3 quest lines of the factions.

So I arrived about two thirds through and at the end of the midgame. I can not say anything about the endgame and the loot systems yet. I just take the highest-level items – as I would in an MMORPG as well, playing a char upstairs.

Unlike professional testers and streamers who need to work Anthem, I played about 2 hours each day after work: so I have a much more relaxed game experience.

anthem-storm-ultima
Skills are a big source of damage while you level up.
That’s how I played Anthem: I went solo with the Storm, a kind of “magician-javelin.” About 4 days later, I also read a guide to the Storm and learned that I should have been floating all the time because then I get a bonus sign and am generally cooler. Ups.

The interesting thing is that “playing solo” in Anthem is like playing an MMORPG and running only instances with a “Looking for Group” tool. Because before each mission you get 3 team members, who are traveling with one.

So as I solo quest in “normal” MMORPGs to work my way up, I run in Anthem 4er missions, which are basically “instances,” but built differently. You are a bit freer.

Anthem Haluk angry
NPCs like Haluk (left) or Faye are pretty broken but charming.
So I’ve turned on the difficulty: I’ve played the first-day Anthem on “Normal” – in the setting are the missions to four but ridiculously easy and you rush through, without really noticing what to do there.

So later I switched the missions to “hard”, then the opponents do about 50% more damage and keep 50% more out – the game is much better then.

In free play, where you’re more likely to be sold, and in the fortress, I switch back to “normal” – but I’m not that hard.

Anthem titanium
That’s what makes Anthem so good: in my mind, I do not play anthem as a “shoot shooter”, but as MMORPG light by constantly pressing the “sign up for instance” button.

Compared to the MMORPGs that I know, Anthem has some advantages:

The gameplay is really cool – the pure combat loop with skills, shooting, jumping and flying has much more action than in a typical MMORPG. Matchmaking is instant – there are hardly any waiting times in the game when it starts. From the long loading screens, I am spared thanks to SSD. But as soon as a mission starts, there is actually 15 minutes of action.

Anthem Ranger Flying

An important element of Anthem: Flying from point to point makes you laugh.
it’s fun to fly to the next point – usually in MMORPGs the time between two fights is boring, you just barge there. At Anthem, I fly like Iron Man to the next pointless. Hose-like fighting – in MMORPGs instances are hose-like. You know exactly who the next opponent pack is and have breakfast. Fights are shattered at Anthem, people do their thing. But that can be different in the endgame.

The presentation is strong – the characters are set to German, the graphics are really good. Characters like Brin (she simply hates Skar) or Owen (a bit broken, but in a good mood) I find the really successful
anthem-ranger colossus.

I released Colossus and Ranger at level 18 but have not played yet.
This is how my approach worked in practice: The first 11 hours I have had with the attitude of mind, “Anthem is an MMORPG, where I always press on looking for groups” had really good experiences.

I’m curious how it is in the endgame. But the first week and the first 11 hours have kept me entertained so far.

I have not even tried the other javelin – from the demo, but I know that play completely different than my Storm.

The 15 €, which I paid for the access, are with me in the conversation already loose in it again. How the game is after 30 hours, you will see. Anyway, I’m looking forward to it and go look for treasure chests tonight.

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Layoffs At ArenaNet – What’

ArenaNet, the developer of Guild Wars 2, has staff layoffs. The reason for this seems to be the decline in revenues and the delay of new projects.

How many employees will be dismissed? Officially, there are currently no figures on how many employees should be dismissed. However, according to Kotaku, it should be a larger number.

Why are employees dismissed? As a reason for the layoffs Songyee Yoon, the CEO of the Korean publisher NCSoft, not only called the decline in revenue from last year.

Most of all, NCSoft seems dissatisfied with new ArenaNet projects. In addition to Guild Wars 2, at least one mobile game was working in the background. There were apparently delays.

In addition, NCSoft calls higher costs in the West as a reason to restructure the NCWest area. In addition to Guild Wars Blade & Soul, Aion: Legions of War and Lineage II are sold there for the Western market. Previously, Wildstar was already discontinued last year.

Is Guild Wars 2 affected by the layoffs?

Which developers are dismissed exactly is not clear so far. However, ArenaNet volunteered to speak in its own forum.

ArenaNet retains the planned course, where they confirmed the work on the Living World Season 4 and the following season 5. Also, further major updates for the game are planned.

In a statement to Gamesindustry, ArenaNet also said that the layoffs have no impact on Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 services.

NCSoft is getting more involved, but it’s clear that NCSoft will resume publishing Guild Wars 2 and bring companies closer together again. ArenaNet is a subsidiary of NCSoft but has had a lot of freedom in its decisions lately.

Is Guild Wars 2 already on a low profile? On Twitter also reported the ex-employee Jessica Price to speak. This was dismissed on Twitter last year following a sexism debate and was not so good after talking to her old employer.

For them, the news about the layoffs comes as no surprise. She talks about two new projects besides Guild Wars, which already cost a lot of developer time.

So gradually, Guild Wars 2 staff members are said to have been withdrawn, while others should appear to the outside world to continue as usual.

In reality, the teams were already very small.

Are the redundancies surprising? Particularly tragic about the situation is that ArenaNet had responded to the dismissals at Blizzard. So you offered these jobs in your own team.

Probably no one knew at this time that soon even jobs at ArenaNet will be canceled.

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