Recommended Posts

Patch notes for last night:

https://forum-en.gui...ember-18th-2012

It's interesting that they are making it even harder to get money from dungeons. That is not going to go over well with a lot of people considering the current idea is that most dungeons are massive gold sinks that aren't worth the gold investment to begin with.

Forums are reporting that you get 10k exp and 2s as a reward now. That pretty much makes dungeons completely useless to run. I'm glad I got 30g+ from running CoF the last week before this.

Edit: That might just be for CM and CoF. This is going to enrage people. Massive backlash incoming..

Edit2: Massive bitching on officiall forums already started. Waiting to see how Anet responds.

I knew CoF was gonna be hit. Anet always has been highly against any kind of farming.

I knew it was going to happen to. But the way they did it? Wow. Just insane. And at the same time as nerfing rewards you get for actually completing it. There were so many ways they could have increased the difficulty (I felt it was just fine as was, pretty difficult already) of that particular path and kept the fun factor in tact but they chose the one spot where it was already completely overtuned in the most stupid way. The one spot in the path where you were almost always guaranteed a death. And they made it harder.

"Discovery crafting may now use items directly from a player?s bank."

Kudos to the devs for this! Allowing crafting from the bank was great, this is pure gravy awesomeness. Makes life a bit easier.

They mentioned back when they opened up crafting from the bank that the ultimate fix was to allow discovery from the bank as well, but didn't want to force people to wait for that fix to allow people to craft known recipes from the bank.

That being said, still a welcome change.....now if only I could settle on a class/trait setup. Warrior has nice survivability and damage but I hate the playstyle. Using GS all you do is spam 100b (for the most part) as axe or mace or sword MH your primary damage is just auto-attacking with your other skills being situational/utility. Thief feels really squishy, but I've also read that once you get lvl 80 and geared and use it right, it doesn't feel as squishy cause you don't get hit as often. But my fear is the times you do get hit (or affected by ground-based AoE), your health disappears very quickly.

They mentioned back when they opened up crafting from the bank that the ultimate fix was to allow discovery from the bank as well, but didn't want to force people to wait for that fix to allow people to craft known recipes from the bank.

That being said, still a welcome change.....now if only I could settle on a class/trait setup. Warrior has nice survivability and damage but I hate the playstyle. Using GS all you do is spam 100b (for the most part) as axe or mace or sword MH your primary damage is just auto-attacking with your other skills being situational/utility. Thief feels really squishy, but I've also read that once you get lvl 80 and geared and use it right, it doesn't feel as squishy cause you don't get hit as often. But my fear is the times you do get hit (or affected by ground-based AoE), your health disappears very quickly.

Try sword main hand with axe off hand as a set up. It has decent mobility and pretty decent damage. It's my alternative set up to great sword and it works pretty good for me. It has a slow, it has a good chaser, and it has a good damage skill with axe in your off hand and frenzy. Another good set up is mace main hand sword off hand. You'll have 2 parries and an interrupt.

Hit 30 last night. Got my Elite skills, had actually saved up 10 points (didn't see any skills worth buying) and got a skill right away. Running a Sword/Pistol Main and Dagger/Dagger Secondary weapon set and I have very few problems with mobs. Doing my best to farm mats for crafting, though I find that things I need to level up would take hours to mob-grind to farm, but.. I am leveling fast enough without crafting that I can just use what I get.

Almost done the second Human Zone, will go back and finish the Asura starting, and maybe look at doing the Asura second area. I figure I can do basically two zones in parallel to try and get as much of the world completion as I can, plus provides lots of mats for the crafting as I level up.

For those of you interested, but haven't been able to play due to platform (unlikely to be anyone posting in here other than me haha) GW2 for Mac Beta has begun, all current players can go ahead and download a mac client if they wish to try there too.

Source (also in BPN)

I knew it was going to happen to. But the way they did it? Wow. Just insane. And at the same time as nerfing rewards you get for actually completing it. There were so many ways they could have increased the difficulty (I felt it was just fine as was, pretty difficult already) of that particular path and kept the fun factor in tact but they chose the one spot where it was already completely overtuned in the most stupid way. The one spot in the path where you were almost always guaranteed a death. And they made it harder.

https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/dungeons/Dungeon-Updates/first#post153050

At this time, dungeons should one of the most efficient ways to level and get gold, and it is not our intention to make them feel like a grind.

/whem we safe!

just made 4 items in the mysitc forge from farming with magic find gear, 2 days, made a pistol (4x rares), warhorn (4x rares), dagger (4x rares), and another dagger (4x exotics), so all of them on the trading post for 10g. On top of alllll the other mats I got from breaking down greens and blues, i probably made a decent amount of gold. Also net 20k karma

Try sword main hand with axe off hand as a set up. It has decent mobility and pretty decent damage. It's my alternative set up to great sword and it works pretty good for me. It has a slow, it has a good chaser, and it has a good damage skill with axe in your off hand and frenzy. Another good set up is mace main hand sword off hand. You'll have 2 parries and an interrupt.

My problem with sword is they are bleed focused.....at level 80 and in dungeons, too many times there are already 25 bleeds on the big targets, I don't want to feel useless in groups because I went with sword mainhand. Plus I want to be a bit tanky and there is no good gear with precision/condition damage/toughness or vit.....so I'm limited to defensive stats via traits.

That's the worst thing about GW2 IMHO, how all your primary attack skills are chosen for you based on the weapons you are using, you are forced to use a preset playstyle based on the weapon.....which isn't really bad in a sense that it makes balancing easier for Anet, but it makes finding armor that fits your weapons very difficult.

I can always mix and match though....take precision/condition damage/power and power/precision/toughness.....it wouldn't give me as high bleed damage as someone who stacked condition damage, or as much toughness as I have currently (knights armor), but it would give me similar power and precision as the two with more toughness than a pure condition stacked warrior.

Adding up the numbers I can mix Rampager's armor with either Knights, or Carrion.

With full knights (current armor) I have 184 Power, 184 Precision, 255 Toughness.

Rampager's/Knights would give me - 184 Power, 216 Precision, 86 Condition Damage and 137 Toughness (power stays the same, precision increases, condition damage increases, toughness drops in half).

Rampager's/Carrion would give me - 184 Power, 216 Precision, 223 Condition Damage and 98 Vitality (power stays the same, precision drops, condition damage increases, vitality increases, toughness drops).

I'm thinking rampager's/knights because I still get some defense, and everything but toughness increases (or at least, doesn't decrease). I'll get more crit which = more bleeds, and condition damage, but it's a matter of losing some toughness, or losing all toughness and gaining a bit of health for more condition damage.

From calculations I saw the other day.....you get 5% of your condition damage added to your bleeds. In my case, that means with rampagers/carrion's, my bleeds will tick for 11.15 more damage, with rampagers/knights, they tick for 4.3 more damage. Obviously a large difference, but I think absorbing more damage will be more useful.

im pretty much done with dungeons and soon the game ( just like GW1 )

im not going to waste time in a dungeon and come out with LESS then what i went in with, let alone have to do the same crap hundreds of times just to get an item set. i wasnt high enough level to do CoF that i hear everybody made a killing off of money wise. have less then 2G atm.

ill eventually get bored of the Far From Dynamic Events that repeat the same way every 30 min or less.

Sadly SWTOR is looking better and better to go back to

Yeah... I quit a few weeks ago. Regretful purchase. I liked Aion a lot more. Too bad all of the players left. Guess I'll find something else.

AION is F2P now from what i heard, as well as i know Lineage2 is. and last i was in Lineage 2 there was a Crap load of people in Giran, but thats normal with all the Player Shops that were set up AROUND THE BLOODY TELEPORTER

I find myself playing less and less too. Don't know what it is. Some parts of the game are really, really great. But some are just really, really bad. Not sure if the bad outweighs the good, but the portion of the game I like doing, making money, is not there. In WoW, I was one of those people who always had 100k+ gold in BC (at one point 200k in WotLK) because I loved the economy portion of the game.

I think I have finally figured out why all these other MMO's have failed for me. Economy. Every MMO after EQ and WoW (Not counting SW:G) have had bad economies, and poor trading/auctions houses. (I miss my bazaar!). I love finding a couple of niche markets, 5 or 6, capitalizing on them, and making sure to buy low/sell high and monopolize certain items keeping them off the auction house. That was fun for me. But all these other MMOs just don't have that portion of the game intact. This one being the worse by far, due to a global trading post. I would much prefer a server based system as it is easier to maintain, and helps to keep the profits for everyone at a decent margin, not just economist like me. As it is now, everything sells at vendor price. I don't mind everything else being global, but the trading post should not be.

Ah well, there is no subscription fee, so I can play whenever I get bored, so essentially I don't have to "quit." I can just not play, and whenever I get the MMO itch, just load it up.

Yeah... I quit a few weeks ago. Regretful purchase. I liked Aion a lot more. Too bad all of the players left. Guess I'll find something else.

The game has only been out a few weeks..so you essentially gave up on it before really playing it?

AION is F2P now from what i heard, as well as i know Lineage2 is. and last i was in Lineage 2 there was a Crap load of people in Giran, but thats normal with all the Player Shops that were set up AROUND THE BLOODY TELEPORTER

And you guys complain about the grind in GW2 when the grind in Aion for just one piece of gear, not an entire set, dwarfs anything in GW2. The one exception might be legendary weapons. And then the pvp in Aion is the most unbalanced game I've ever seen.

The game has only been out a few weeks..so you essentially gave up on it before really playing it?

And you guys complain about the grind in GW2 when the grind in Aion for just one piece of gear, not an entire set, dwarfs anything in GW2. The one exception might be legendary weapons. And then the pvp in Aion is the most unbalanced game I've ever seen.

I started playing GW2 on the 25th and probably stopped around september 7-10. It was enough time for me to decide that I didn't really like it. Aion is a grind fest, and really repetitive... But to me, it was also fun because of the players and pvp. I loved rifting into enemy worlds and just wiping out other players. Had lots of fun playing with real life friends, wasting whole summers. Haha. I just didn't enjoy or connect with GW2. Not my favorite style, I guess.

And you guys complain about the grind in GW2 when the grind in Aion for just one piece of gear, not an entire set, dwarfs anything in GW2. The one exception might be legendary weapons. And then the pvp in Aion is the most unbalanced game I've ever seen.

not complaining about the grind, i have got no problem with Grind. i have a problem of game saying there is no grind when their very very much is. my complaint is as of now Dungeons are pretty much pointless for Gear, XP, Coin, Anything.

Gear Drops are almost nothing, people are getting WHITE level gear out of boss Chest drops, 2s from Completion when it takes at LEAST that much to repair 1 piece of armor in the instance, and Trash in some cases that are more difficult then the boss's, and an increase of trash groups, not where they are sprinkled so much as the number of them in a group

I find myself playing less and less too. Don't know what it is. Some parts of the game are really, really great. But some are just really, really bad. Not sure if the bad outweighs the good, but the portion of the game I like doing, making money, is not there. In WoW, I was one of those people who always had 100k+ gold in BC (at one point 200k in WotLK) because I loved the economy portion of the game.

I think I have finally figured out why all these other MMO's have failed for me. Economy. Every MMO after EQ and WoW (Not counting SW:G) have had bad economies, and poor trading/auctions houses. (I miss my bazaar!). I love finding a couple of niche markets, 5 or 6, capitalizing on them, and making sure to buy low/sell high and monopolize certain items keeping them off the auction house. That was fun for me. But all these other MMOs just don't have that portion of the game intact. This one being the worse by far, due to a global trading post. I would much prefer a server based system as it is easier to maintain, and helps to keep the profits for everyone at a decent margin, not just economist like me. As it is now, everything sells at vendor price. I don't mind everything else being global, but the trading post should not be.

Ah well, there is no subscription fee, so I can play whenever I get bored, so essentially I don't have to "quit." I can just not play, and whenever I get the MMO itch, just load it up.

im suprised you not in Eve Online. if you want an economy in a game, THAT is the game

not complaining about the grind, i have got no problem with Grind. i have a problem of game saying there is no grind when their very very much is. my complaint is as of now Dungeons are pretty much pointless for Gear, XP, Coin, Anything.

Gear Drops are almost nothing, people are getting WHITE level gear out of boss Chest drops, 2s from Completion when it takes at LEAST that much to repair 1 piece of armor in the instance, and Trash in some cases that are more difficult then the boss's, and an increase of trash groups, not where they are sprinkled so much as the number of them in a group

A lot of people misinterpreted what they meant when they said there would be no grind. I'm not sure whose fault that is but the fact of the matter is the dungeon armor sets are there purely for the aesthetic looks. If you are desperate for good or max level gear you are looking in the wrong place.

That being said I do agree that removing the rewards from dungeons was stupid. The general consensus from most of the population was that dungeons already weren't rewarding enough. The patch last night just takes the cake and throws it on the floor. I have my full CoF set but I like the change just as much as most other people do. Which is to say not at all.

I felt the CoF path #2 actually gave the appropriate reward for time invested and difficulty. The problem with dungeons is that the other paths were just not worth the time investment and money investment for rewards given. Anet is very much failing to see that right now. I may be a huge fan boy of GW2 but even I can step back and see some big giant huge flaws in the game that need to be addressed sooner than later.

The game is still young though, just entering it's 3rd week. In 3 or 6 months the game will be balanced completely different and be more finely tuned. It's just growing pains that Anet can fix if they act quickly.

I felt the CoF path #2 actually gave the appropriate reward for time invested and difficulty. The problem with dungeons is that the other paths were just not worth the time investment and money investment for rewards given.

agreed, i was one of the people farming CM.

AC and even the Plant dungeon ( TA i think it was ) was just not worth it, and i actually despised TA before even completing it once. i really wanted the Flame gear for my Ranger, but after experiencing AC Explore and not able to complete that because of Bugged events, i realized that im just not going to be able to get the gear, which started my road to hating GW2 due to craptastic costs of the gear itself

The beauty of GW2 is you grow tired of it, walk away, then come back and realize you like it again... All the while you never actually 'quit' it because it doesn't have a sub. I think of it more like a game I can fire up and play whenever I want. I think too many people just treat it like THE game they must play.

Personally I'm gonna take a break and play TL2 for a while and then come back to GW2. No harm since it's always there waiting for me.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Five things you might have missed during Apple's WWDC 2026 by Aditya Tiwari Image: Apple Apple's annual developer event, WWDC 2026, happened from June 8 through June 12. We have already covered several new features and updates that the iPhone maker unveiled during the official keynote. Apple took Google's help and finally announced the upgraded Siri AI personal assistant, which now comes with an app. Moreover, a truckload of Apple Intelligence features took the center stage. That said, this year's WWDC is a bit different, and you might have noticed or missed the following stuff: Apple's ongoing unification of platforms Image: Apple One thing Apple is widely known for is its seamless hardware-software ecosystem. The company added a new chapter in 2020, when it began the Apple Silicon transition and launched macOS 11 Big Sur with native ARM support. Some major changes happened last year as well, when Apple renamed all of its operating systems to version 26 and introduced the Liquid Glass design language. Until WWDC 2025, Apple keynotes had dedicated segments for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and other operating systems, in which the company discussed each in detail. The WWDC 2026 keynote was different, and Apple allotted most of the screen time to Apple Intelligence and Siri. It didn't even publish separate press releases on its website for different operating systems. While it might seem surprising at first, it shows how Apple plans to move forward with its software ecosystem. Be it the Liquid Glass changes, child safety updates, or other features, they are mostly rolling out across multiple platforms. In other words, Apple is slowly blurring the line between its operating systems and achieving feature parity wherever possible. It's easy to rule out that someone in Apple's marketing team forgot to press the publish button. Everything is a calculated move when it comes to a company like Apple. Putting Apple Intelligence left, right, and center hints that the OS itself is no longer the product anymore. It's Siri, not Pepsi Time and again, various Apple products have been compared to unrelated things and turned into meme material. You might have heard about the "cheese grater" Mac Pro or the "trash can" Mac Pro, to name a few. It's Siri's turn this time. The upgraded AI assistant got a fresh logo, and people have started comparing it with Pepsi. There are other contenders, such as the Sony Ericsson logo and the Yin and Yang symbol. Shot on iPhone. Edited on Mac Image: Apple Apple has been putting the iPhone's camera muscles to the test on various occasions. Even NASA astronauts took it to Space earlier this year and captured some out-of-this-world photos. Recently, Apple TV streamed the first major live sporting event shot entirely on iPhone 17 Pro: an MLS match featuring the LA Galaxy vs. the Houston Dynamo FC. The 'Pro' iPhone has also been used to shoot Apple events in recent years. It's "Scary Fast" Mac event in 2023 was among the earliest attempts, and the tradition trickled down to the WWDC 2026 keynote, which ended with the tag line "Shot on iPhone. Edited on Mac." It's unsurprising to see Apple flexing the camera capabilities of its Pro models, especially when it has been baking professional-grade features, including ProRes RAW and Genlock. Hints for the foldable Apple has been sitting on the foldable iPhone for so long. There is still confusion over when the company will make it official. A recent report said that the iPhone Fold might get delayed as Apple is struggling to perfect its hinge mechanism. But Apple has been dropping hints here and there. A developer dug into the iOS 27 beta code and found internal references about device folding states. As verified by Macworld, the code includes references to "foldState" and "angleDegrees" internal status values, which are apparently designed to tell apps if a device is folded and at what angle. As of now, no other Apple device uses these states. The publication also found internal code suggesting Apple has been testing a device with both Touch ID and Dynamic Island, a combo that doesn't exist today. Last event as Apple CEO Image: Apple Tim Cook's bond with Apple is now almost three decades old, having started in 1998 as the SVP of Worldwide Operations. Back in August 2011, Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple CEO months before his passing, and Cook took charge. Now, the baton has been passed to the hardware chief, John Ternus, who will take over the role on September 1. WWDC 2026 is the last major Apple Event for Tim Cook as CEO. We have seen so much during Cook's tenure over the years, much of which defines Apple as we know it today. From new hardware product lines like Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, and Apple Silicon, to boosting Apple's services business with Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Pay, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple Care One, and more. That said, the first developer betas for Apple's latest operating systems are now available. You can check if your device is supported on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, watchOS 27, and other platforms. What's your favorite feature that Apple announced this year at WWDC 2026? Tell us in the comments.
    • Trailer park trash “sport “, fits the current White House
    • KataLib 5.3.0.0 by Razvan Serea KataLib is more than just a music player — it's a complete audio suite designed for music lovers and creators alike. It combines a powerful audio player, a flexible metadata editor, a capable audio converter, and a music library manager into one streamlined application. Core Features: Audio Player Enjoy seamless playback of virtually any audio format or even streaming video files. DJ Mode lets you mix tracks with manual or automatic crossfades. You can also load and save WinAmp-style playlists for quick access to your favorite sets. Audio Converter Convert between a wide range of audio formats effortlessly. Trim or normalize your output automatically, and even extract audio from streaming video sources. Ideal for preparing files for different devices or platforms. Metadata Editor View and edit ID3v2 tags and other metadata. Batch edit multiple files at once, and fetch missing information directly from the MusicBrainz database. You can also apply or update album art with ease. Music Library Manager Organize your entire audio collection, search across tracks instantly, and download cover images from the internet — or use your own custom artwork. KataLib makes it easy to keep your library tidy and enriched with useful info. Supported Formats: KataLib supports a wide range of both lossy and lossless audio formats: Input: OPUS, AAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3, MP4, MPC, APE, AIF, MKV, AVI, MOV, FLV, WEBM, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, WAVPack, WMA, AC3, OGA, MP2, MPGA, MPEG, DTS, M4B, DSD (DFS) Output: OPUS, FLAC, M4A, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WAV Under the hood, KataLib uses the trusted FFmpeg engine for audio conversion and media playback, ensuring compatibility with virtually all mainstream media formats. KataLib 5.3.0.0 changelog: Added Option to select the Zoom level of the Oscilloscope visualizer. The taskbar button of the app now displays the progress of its processing tasks. The metadata text of the Visualization Video can now be aligned by the user. We can now reorder the order of the Visualizers and Metadata, in the Visualization Video Setup dialog, by removing any item and adding it again. It will be added at the end. Changed The font size of the Visualization Video can now be more than 30 points. Updated yt-dlp library to version 2026... Fixed Opening the Visualization Video Setup dialog could fail if the settings were wrong. Sometimes there were false duplicates in the Rename Tracks dialog. Tracks without metadata appeared without title in the Recent menu. Download: KataLib 5.3.0.0 | 90.0 MB (Open Source) Links: KataLib Home Page | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • EA Sports UFC 6 review: Brutal, satisfying, and surprisingly accessible to newcomers by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe EA’s UFC series of fighting games has been putting out games for over 10 years now, but it’s a series I have never spent any time with. As a PC guy, the series being console-exclusive is the primary reason for that. The latest entry to the series, EA Sports UFC 6, is still not coming to PC, but I have an Xbox now. When EA reached out to see if I could have a crack at the game and give my opinion about it, I finally got the chance to see what this franchise is about. I have spent about a week playing UFC 6 on the Xbox Series X. Despite my lackluster skill with fighting games, I still have fun with entries like Street Fighter and Tekken. I quickly came to realize this is a different kind of fighting game, not the arcade titles I am usually dabbling with. Most of the week that I spent playing UFC 6 was in the career mode, trying not to get knocked out while slowly improving my combos and reactions. The review below will be from the perspective of a newcomer to the series and an amateur fighting game fan, so please forgive any mistyped lingo or series-staple mechanics I am not comprehending. In the Ring Getting a solid hit in UFC 6 is satisfying. It’s probably the most satisfying impact reaction I have seen in a fighting game. The ripples in the muscles, the spray of sweat (and blood), the meaty sound, and the subsequent stumble all carry a lot of weight. If I miss a heavy swing like that, though, I already know that I'm in for a world of hurt from the incoming counters. The fighting is a real treat. The actions aren’t as snappy as arcade titles, so a miss feels like a much bigger mistake here. This slowness did take some getting used to, but I felt the improvement in my abilities even after a few drills with basic punch and kick combos. If I’m not deliberate with my actions in the ring, whether it be a hasty retreat or a flying punch, the possibility of getting instantly knocked out is always there. The head, chest, and legs all come with their own health bars, so guarding just one area is just asking for trouble. A few hits to the head, and it's game over. Meanwhile, you won’t even be able to stay on your feet if they get damaged enough, drastically lowering the total amount of stamina available for the rest of the match. I was also encountering a large range of fighting styles to customize my own fighter with. There are a huge number of real-life superstars here from multiple eras. It’s not as exaggerated as Street Fighter or Tekken, but the way they move, evade, throw punches, or even take steps is based on their real-life counterparts. I can see this being a big draw for any mixed martial arts fan. One feature I was surprised to see here was the 'Flow State' ability. As rounds progress, a power-up meter can give a temporary boost to the unique fighting style of the selected fighter, essentially boosting what they are good at. There is an entire visual effect that kicks in when activating this, too. The surprising part was seeing something like this in a game that feels like it’s aiming to be more of a simulator than an arcade fighter. My skill level is too low to use this exactly how the game wants me to, so I ended up triggering it whenever the opponent did it as well. Streamlined vs Authentic When I first started it up, UFC 6 asked me about my experience with the series. Being genuinely new, I took its advice and opted for a lowered difficulty level and 'Streamlined' controls. Quickly, I realized that this wasn’t for me. My chosen fighters were throwing random attacks, no matter what combination the game was trying to teach me. Win streaks were happening, and I was already getting bored out of my mind just a few matches in. Turning off this mode and switching to 'Authentic' controls fixed everything right up. I was now able to control my fighter with more precision than I expected. I could control each arm and leg, which body part my attacks would aim at, and the fully customizable controls for setting up unorthodox moves were a cherry on top. None of these made me an expert at the game, but at least I was being beaten up fairly. This is not a point against UFC 6, though. Giving the option for anyone to enjoy the game is always a good thing in my eyes. There is a lot of customizability in the difficulty, with everything from slow-motion reactions to specific assists being offered as toggles. If I had a friend coming over and wanted to try a quick 1v1, the streamlined controls option is one I’d consider to make it a light and fun fight. The one part of the fighting that did not click with me was the grappling. Being taken to the ground brings in an entirely new control mechanism involving mounts and submissions that feel more like quick-time events than the heavy, tactical fighting I had seen so far while standing. The game wants me to hold sticks in certain directions to change the position or pull off submissions, trying to do the opposite actions of the opponent. Even though I tried to get used to this gameplay, it just felt like a momentum killer, and I eventually just wanted to get back on my feet to get back into the action. Legacy and Career It was UFC 6’s career mode that I wanted to play the most when I started it up. I grew up with EA Sports games, and taking my team from the ground to the top has always been my favorite task. UFC 6 has that same option but also offers a more cinematic entrance to the career experience than I expected with ‘The Legacy’ mode. This mini-campaign follows an up-and-coming fighter, Chris Carter, who is attempting to reach the heights his father had reached in the sport. Starting with a small-time gym and coach, the story follows both his growth in the space as well as the growing rivalry with a friend and fighter, Danny Lopez. The fights in this mode are very good at introducing a newcomer like me to the sport and its varying techniques. Cinematics land between the major fights, showing the growing tension between the two fighters as the years go by, feeling the pressure to not miss out on the hard-earned chances. The dialogue can be a little corny at times, especially when the bar fights kick off, but I largely enjoyed the storyline. At the end of it, I was pretty much familiar with all the mechanics of the career mode, unlocking new skills and moves, and how I needed to approach fights, both outside and inside the ring. This story mode isn’t a very lengthy one, so don’t expect an hour-long campaign. Once the conclusion is reached, Carter’s journey continues as if it’s a normal career playthrough, though I decided to start over from scratch now that I have some know-how about the basics. The career mode is very streamlined, which is to be expected considering there isn’t a team to manage like in other EA Sports games. It’s the journey of one fighter. When a fight comes up in the calendar, I could choose how many weeks I dedicate to preparing for it at the gym. A longer prep time gives the opportunity to get my fighter’s fitness up (giving a bonus during fights), earn more money and points for unlocking new skills, and gain more fans to fast-track the rise to stardom. While that sounds like a lot of things to manage, it’s more like a few clicks. There is a social media menu that sometimes pops up with canned replies I can send to fans, and the sponsors are once again a single click away from being assigned as finished. It’s the training aspect that adds a gameplay angle. Using the money from winnings and sponsorships, I was hiring different types of trainers and learning fancier moves to use in the ring. One small thing I appreciated was that it was possible to injure each other during these training sessions. If a trainer goes down in a bad way while sparring, they won’t be available for the remainder of training. If my fighter is injured, it takes valuable time and resources to heal and recuperate. Just like in real life, it makes sense not to go so hard during training sessions and save that energy for the main event. Every training or sponsorship activity I took part in used up the days and weeks I had before the next fight, bringing a balancing element to the whole ordeal. There were times I simulated most of these to just get to the next fight, but the grind for gaining even the slightest bit of advantage while trying not to overdo it is an enjoyable one. Outside of quick fights and career modes, UFC 6 also introduces an almost museum-like mode to explore a trio of fighters considered to be legends of the sport: Max Holloway, Alex Pereira, and Zhang Weili. The aptly named Hall of Legends mode is unlike everything else seen in the game. Each of these fighters has entire levels dedicated to them that I could walk around in and explore their journey into the UFC. This includes footage from real-life fights and interviews about their original inspirations and training methods. Each of these spaces is almost like an interactive documentary. Once the highlights are done, the mode offers the opportunity to take over a deciding fight from the superstars. It’s an impressive transition. Going from the real-life televised event with crowds and commentary to immediately taking over in the game has some real hype behind it. Performance and visuals It’s clear to see that UFC 6 is going for a photo-realism look with its visuals compared to any other fighting game. The fighters don’t look great in selection screens. But inside the arenas, under the flood lights, surrounded by crowds, and facing an opponent, the visuals are more than impressive. As ghastly as it is to witness, things like blood spraying into the mat and muscles reddening as they get pummeled keep improving the immersion. The fluid animations help sell the illusion even further. A missed kick carries the momentum to require a corrective step. Hard punches that glance off blocks give off the air of a hit that still took some wind off the opponent’s guard. The special moves with flips and spins look mega awkward when missing, just as they do in real life. Suffice to say, the Frostbite Engine powering this game is one of the biggest strengths of EA development studios. Playing on the Xbox Series X, the 60 FPS gameplay did not miss the mark or cause any slowdowns that I could detect. I still wish this series were on PC to see just how far the developer can push the engine. One area I continue to have issues with, surprisingly enough, is the menus. The game has fast loading screens, but almost every menu I click through has a large amount of noticeable lag before it registers. This is immensely painful in the career mode, since I have to go through multiple menus between fights to train and do sponsorships, and having a 3-second pause when selecting a simple move between pages is the only time that made me quit the game. Thanks to Xbox’s quick resume, though, I was able to instantly jump back in the next day to the same point (and wade through more laggy menus). Conclusion My primary mission going into this EA Sports UFC 6 review as a newcomer to the series was to find out if this is a good jumping-in point for someone like me. Suffice it to say, the game passed that test with flying colors. Despite the high skill ceiling, the legacy mode introduction campaign, multiple types of accessible controls, and streamlined career had me picking up the basics and fighting styles much faster than I expected. I wish I had gotten to try out competitive multiplayer during my time with the game, too, but the lack of players in the pre-release version prevented this. The impressive visuals and animations, coupled with the impact physics that let me feel every punch and kick easily, made this the most immersive fighting game I have played. The only part that gave me pause was the grappling gameplay, which killed the momentum in most fights. The Flow State amplifying system didn’t hamper the experience, but I also felt like it made more sense for an arcade fighter, not this. Easily the most annoying thing about UFC 6 was its laggy menus, which I hope get some sort of fix later. Returning series veterans might have a completely different experience from me. But for a new fan like me looking to climb ranks and see fighters get floored in spectacular ways, UFC 6 doesn’t miss a step. EA Sports UFC 6 is releasing on June 19 across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 for $69.99. Ultimate Edition owners can already jump in via advanced access. This review was conducted on the Xbox Series X version of the game provided by EA.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      ssd21345 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Contributor
      MarkHughes4096 went up a rank
      Contributor
    • Dedicated
      jordanspringer earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Rookie
      Rimplesnort went up a rank
      Rookie
    • One Year In
      Markus94287 earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      486
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      173
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      138
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      94
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      79
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!