General News

EA FC 26 ultimately delivered a contradictory performance: a media score of 84 and a player approval rating of just 45.5%, yet sales surpassed 10 million units in the first two weeks. These figures seem to tell us that while EA FC series remains the top choice for digital soccer games, player patience is gradually wearing thin. Now, EA FC 27 is arriving with a host of new changes; whether it restores the series' reputation or simply coasts on past success is something players will judge for themselves.

Will players stick with FC 27 this year?

For long-time fans of FC series, the second half of the year often brings a dilemma: should they keep playing the new version?

A few years ago, the answer would have been a resounding yes, following the new release every year was a given, requiring no second thought. But by the time we reach FC 27 generation, things aren't quite so simple.

While its predecessor, FC 26, sold well, it left players with a complicated impression, and complaints were constant.

A quick browse online reveals no shortage of criticism, mockery, and videos showcasing bugs in FC 26. Yet, strangely enough, despite the complaints, many players still quietly booted up the game; the title's reputation and its sales figures seemed completely out of sync.

So, as FC 27 approaches, have players finally had enough, or will they keep grumbling while still unlocking the game? It is a question to which even the development team likely has no clear answer.

What exactly did FC 26 do to upset players?

If a digital soccer game fails to satisfy players regarding movement mechanics and squad composition, it is bound to face criticism.

Players might eagerly start a match, only to find themselves forced into a passive defensive role, while player positioning and reactions occasionally make them want to smash their controllers. The development team claimed their intention was to slow down the pace, place greater emphasis on tactics, and make the matches feel more like real-world soccer.

But the players are the ones actually experiencing the game; while the realism is undeniable, so is the fact that it has become less fun to play. On the technical front, FC 26 also frequently dropped the ball. PC players, in particular, faced a headache: frame drops, stuttering, and crashes plagued the launch period, making the experience feel worse than the free beta.

However, what really alienated players was the aggressive monetization in Ultimate Team mode. Luck plays an increasingly large role in pack openings, making it significantly harder for free-to-play players to assemble a competitive squad compared to previous years.

This accumulation of grievances quickly resulted in a mere 45.5% positive rating on Steam.

Interestingly, despite this poor reception, FC 26's sales figures remained impressive. This suggests that players haven't lost interest; rather, they are giving the game a chance despite their disappointment - though their patience is inevitably wearing thin.

The Promises of FC 27

Perhaps in response to the backlash, a slew of leaks regarding EA Sports FC 27 has surfaced, suggesting the developers might finally be getting serious.

In Ultimate Team, Evolution system is becoming more flexible; players can choose different upgrade paths for the same player card, resulting in vastly different final attributes.

This allows for more unique team identities, moving away from the cookie-cutter meta squads recommended online that everyone tends to use.

Additionally, SBC tasks have been streamlined, eliminating tedious menu navigation and making the process much more user-friendly.

One of the most talked-about new features is FC The Grounds. In short, it allows players to freely roam a virtual space with their avatars, play small-sided matches, engage in mini-games, and interact with other players.

This is a fresh direction that pushes the soccer game toward a social experience, though we won't know if it's actually fun until we get our hands on it.

However, no matter how much these systems are optimized, building a powerful squad still requires coins. You can check out FC 27 Store at IGGM, which offers safe and convenient resource trading, allowing you to enjoy the fun of FC 27's new mechanics even sooner.

All in all, the vision presented for FC 27 is certainly more ambitious and appealing than in previous years. The problem, however, is that the development team promises major changes every year, to where players have grown weary of hearing the same old pitch.

Player Perspectives

Reactions to the leaked information about FC 27 have been quite polarized.

Some players remain cautiously optimistic; after all, FC 26 had plenty of flaws, and if the development team has any sense, they should be making a genuine effort to rectify those issues in FC 27. While Open World mode might not feel like a traditional soccer game, looking on the bright side, it shows the developers are at least trying something new. This gives players a reason to consider giving FC 27 a chance.

However, another segment of the player base remains adamant: if the launch version of FC 27 is riddled with bugs, continues to pressure players into spending all their coins on card packs, and shows no improvement in gameplay feel, they are truly done with the franchise.

It is also worth noting the attitude of content creators covering FC series; there is a palpable decline in their enthusiasm, which inevitably influences casual players. If streamers start abandoning FC 27, fans will naturally adopt a wait-and-see approach.

FC 27 Sales Forecast

Despite the skepticism and criticism, we predict that FC 27's launch sales will likely be solid, perhaps even impressive.

The reasons are simple: the brand's established reputation and the persistent demand for soccer games remain strong. Furthermore, with the 2026 World Cup generating high interest in the sport, many players will probably jump into FC 27 to experience the new version and its content.

If the launch version manages to avoid major technical issues and bugs, and the gameplay receives a positive reception from the majority of players, the game's reputation could gradually recover.

But if the launch turns into a disaster, FC 27 risks squandering the loyalty of its remaining long-time fans.

While EA FC 27's sales figures likely won't be disappointing, winning over the players' hearts is a different matter entirely.

With Monopoly GO Radioactive Racers now over and Springfield Partners yet to begin, the gap is once again filled by Simpsons Drop.

Many players might overlook this unassuming special event and choose to save their dice for Springfield Partners. If so, they will miss out on two dice skins, a Shield skin, and some emojis from Monopoly GO x The Simpsons album.

Date

The third Simpsons Drop tied to Monopoly GO x The Simpsons album lasts two days in total:

• Start: 4 PM, June 28, 2026
• End: 1 PM, June 30, 2026

Simpsons Drop Rewards

In terms of rewards, this is once again Deluxe Drop version, because the milestone rewards for Simpsons Drop still do not include Monopoly GO stickers or dice.

It may be that the developers have designed too many cosmetic items for The Simpsons album, so they have to schedule additional events to distribute those rewards.

If you missed the cosmetic items from the second Simpsons Drop, unfortunately they probably will not be re-released; this time offers brand-new items.

Simpsons Drop Page 1 Milestones: 

Simpsons Drop Page 2 Milestones: 

Simpsons Drop Strategy

Even though the milestones on the second page look much easier, you have to complete all the rewards on the first page first, which requires 22,000 points.

Simpsons Drop Rules

There are three ways to score in Simpsons Drop:

• Score based on where the token lands.
• Score based on the cash reward from the landing spot.
• Score by hitting Bumpers (50 points).

The first two methods can be treated as one. In Simpsons Drop, the cash rewards at the two ends of the machine are very small, while the center gives the most cash.

If you are lucky enough to hit the big jackpot in the very middle, you can get over 200 points and a large amount of cash in a single drop. Moreover, if you have set a multiplier in advance, both the points and the cash will be multiplied by that multiplier.

Bumpers follow a different rule. As long as your token hits a Bumper, you earn 50 points in addition to the reward shown on it, which may include cash, dice, Peg-E tokens, and so on. Those rewards are also multiplied by your set multiplier.

How to Get Peg-E Tokens?

If your luck is good, you may need only about 300 to 600 Peg-E tokens. Players with average luck will need around 1,000 tokens.

During Simpsons Drop event, there are two tournaments and one banner event, whose milestone rewards together total about 16,000 tokens, but you do not actually need to collect all of them.

Besides these two major sources, there are also scattered ways to get Peg-E tokens, such as Free Gift, Quick Wins, and tokens on the board.

However, these methods give very few tokens. Another way is that Peg-E sometimes appears as a Bumper reward while you are playing Simpsons Drop. If you feel you need more tokens, you can also try to make your tokens land on Bumpers.

How to Use Peg-E Tokens?

Since the next special event is Springfield Partners, which awards a good number of sticker packs, dice, and a cosmetic item (likely a shield skin), it is well worth participating in.

On the other hand, because Radioactive Racers has just ended, some players have used up all their dice and are now in the phase of rebuilding their stock, so they cannot commit many dice to this Simpsons Drop.

Therefore, depending on whether you want to save dice or go for the emojis and dice skins in Simpsons Drop, you have different strategies.

If you don't want to miss out on both Simpsons Drop and Springfield Partners and want to pick up the burden, you can directly buy Monopoly Go stickers from IGGM to help complete The Simpsons album sets faster. And Then You can save your dice for when it matters most.

Saving Dice

If you plan to save dice, that does not mean you should completely give up Simpsons Drop. Free events and daily tasks can still let you accumulate some Peg-E tokens for free.

You can use these Peg-E tokens to play Simpsons Drop; if you encounter Bumpers that offer dice, take a gamble and see whether you can hit them. If you win the gamble, you can get hundreds of dice and even unlock an emoji, and if you do not win, you lose nothing.

Going for Cosmetics

Going for cosmetic items is recommended only when you have plenty of dice. Do not drop tokens as soon as you get them. Instead, it is better to save up a few hundred tokens first by completing tasks, claiming free gifts, and so on, and then play Simpsons Drop.

Each time, you can set a multiplier of x10 or even higher. If you are lucky enough to hit a high-scoring area at a high multiplier, you can gain a large number of points with very few tokens.

Since hitting the center jackpot is very luck-dependent, your focus should still be on Bumpers. Prioritize the bumper positions that offer Peg-E tokens, followed by those offering dice.

With one great Monopoly GO event after another, managing your dice stock is a challenge. If you are not a whale player, you will have to make some trade-offs.

To keep things fresh in the well-explored 3.28 version before 3.29 league begins, Path of Exile has launched a limited-time event, Return of the Ancestors, which innovatively combines the classic Trial of the Ancestors event with Legacy of Phrecia.

However, just like in a standard league, if you want to efficiently earn event rewards after mastering RoTA/ToTA mechanics, you need to choose the right powerful build. Here, we introduce Wild Speaker ZDPS build!

Why choose Wild Speaker ZDPS build?

First, it is important to understand that Trial of the Ancestors is essentially a Capture the Flag style game mode. If you die, you respawn after a timer expires; similarly, when you kill enemies, they respawn at their totems after a timer.

Therefore, the winning strategy isn't about killing enemies, in fact, doing so can actually hinder your victory. The true objective is to destroy the enemy's totems.

Killing enemies actually puts you at a disadvantage because they respawn at their totems, allowing them to attack you and prevent you from capturing the objective.

Consequently, the ideal build for ToTA is one that prioritizes survivability, speed, and crowd control, ideally featuring stealth mechanics, while operating as a ZDPS build (one that doesn't focus on dealing damage itself). Wild Speaker ZDPS build fits this description perfectly.

The combination of ToTA and LoP means you can utilize the 19 unique Ascendancy classes introduced in the latter within the gameplay of the former; Wild Speaker is one of these classes.

RoTA offers a new way to earn currency, but maximizing your gains requires consuming currency to boost your character or build's power. So why not join IGGM PoE 1 & 2 currency giveaways on Discord right now for a chance to win free Divine Orbs?

How to craft this build?

To craft this build, you first need to unlock Void Sphere skill available to Wild Speaker. It manifests as a sphere you can throw onto the ground; it pulls enemies toward its center while dealing minimal damage.

Its key function relies on linking it with Enhance Support to gain cooldown recovery speed; additionally, you should prioritize increasing its duration and skill AoE.

To avoid excessive mana consumption, you can pair your setup with Inspiration Support or other cooldown recovery-related supports, such as Exceptional support gems introduced in 3.28 league.

Additionally, you can incorporate Pacifism jewels to utilize their chance-to-flee effect on enemies, though this may not be effective against every enemy type in Trial of the Ancestors.

If that proves ineffective, switching to Knockback Support is a viable alternative. When combined with GMP, Greater Fork, or Mirage Archer Support, a high enough firing rate allows you to maintain this knockback effect consistently.

You should also utilize Haste, Grace, and Enduring Cry to gain buffs, Endurance Charges, and health regeneration. Furthermore, Phase Run provides invisibility, with the duration scaling based on the number of Frenzy Charges consumed.

Next, consider adding Frost Wall as an optional skill and combining Enfeeble with Blasphemy Support or Temporal Chains.

Theoretically, you could also achieve Temporal Chains effect by using a ring socketed with Mark on Hit Support or by equipping Mark of Submission.

However, with just a small amount of mana reservation efficiency on your gear, you can easily combine these effects and run both Haste and Grace simultaneously.

It is important to note that the core objective of this build is not raw damage output, but rather crowd control, damage mitigation, and maintaining extremely high movement speed. With all buffs active, your movement speed can reach approximately 400%.

Greatwolf's Call allows you to share all Endurance, Frenzy, and Power Charges with allies; it also grants Tailwind to you and nearby allies while enhancing the potency of your own Tailwind buff.

This is why using Enduring Cry is recommended, it generates Endurance Charges that can be shared with allies.

Even if sharing is prevented by other mechanics, you can unlock Charge Mastery on the passive skill tree to extend Endurance Charge duration to 20 seconds, thereby boosting survivability.

Finally, allocate points into Primal Instinct to achieve a 100% chance to suppress spell damage and significantly reduce the damage taken from suppressed spells.

This setup can push your suppression chance well beyond 150%. When combined with Acrobatics passive, you can further gain a 75% chance to dodge spells.

Allocating Flash of the Teeth grants Cat's Stealth, making you harder to detect, thereby allowing you to re-enter a stealth state and providing additional damage avoidance.

You can also acquire Avatar of the Hunt passive skill via anointing to boost evasion and movement speed; both stats are crucial for Path of Exile ToTA builds.

Regarding gear, you can mix Evasion and Energy Shield bases rather than relying solely on pure Evasion gear. While pure Evasion works, a hybrid setup synergizes better with Ghost Dance passive skill.

For the amulet, Replica Karui Ward is recommended, as it offers bonuses to both movement speed and AoE. It is also worth joining IGGM PoE Facebook Group; we may host giveaways related to RoTA in the future, helping you unlock more currency or gear!

As for jewels, defensive options featuring stats like Life, Resistances, and Reduced Curse Effect are excellent choices. Finally, don't overlook Queen of the Forest body armor.

This chest piece grants a 1% movement speed bonus for every 600 points of Evasion Rating (capped at 75%) while reducing base movement speed by 25%.

This means you need to reach 45,000 Evasion Rating to consistently hit the maximum speed bonus. To ensure this remains effective, you need to maintain that cap even when your flasks are not active.

What are the advantages of this build?

Based on previous experiences with Legacy of Phrecia, Daughter of Oshabi is a popular class choice for crafting top-tier builds, as it provides access to excellent shrine buffs and gear.

However, achieving the best results with this strategy requires a significant investment of currency and high-end gear. Additionally, Wild Speaker playstyle offers buffs to allies, benefits that Daughter of Oshabi cannot provide.

Return of the Ancestors runs only until mid-July, so if you want to try out more builds and earn more rewards, be sure to act fast!

Players, in the blink of an eye, Diablo 4 Season 14 is just one day away from its official launch. Have you finalized your class and character plans for the upcoming season? Given the various nerfs and buffs introduced in recent patches, it is best to decide quickly which class and build you will use to kick off this extraordinary Season 14.

Although Druid hasn't undergone massive changes for Season 14, the adjustments - buffs to some mechanics and nerfs to others - have significantly affected the class's mainstream playstyles.

Let's break down the tier list for the various Druid builds in Season 14:

• S Tier: Shred Druid, Lightning Storm Druid
• A Tier: Wind Shear Druid, Boulder Druid, Cataclysm Druid, Earth Spike Druid, Stormclaw Druid
• B Tier: Wolf Companion Druid, Lacerate Druid, Pulverize Druid

S Tier

Shred Druid

In terms of raw damage output, Shred Druid is arguably closer to A Tier levels; however, its overall playability and fluid handling elevate it to S Tier status. It boasts high mobility and solid damage, offering an exceptionally smooth and responsive gameplay experience.

Thanks to stat buffs for Waxing Gibbous Unique Axe and the new mechanic allowing it to be upgraded to Mythic quality, Shred Druid build has gained even more room for optimization in Season 14.

Lightning Storm Druid

While Lightning Storm might not always be the top recommendation on its own, the series of buffs applied to Druid Storm skills in Season 14 justifies placing Lightning Storm Druid in the S Tier.

This is a well-established, mainstream Druid build. When paired with Storm Strike skill and Shard of Verathiel Unique Sword, Lightning Storm Druid becomes a formidable choice for Season 14.

A Tier

Wind Shear Druid

Wind Shear Druid falls slightly short of S Tier builds regarding AoE capability and overall utility, making A Tier a more accurate reflection of its comprehensive strength. In Season 14, if you want to get the most out of Wind Shear Druid, teaming up with a reliable partner who has strong AoE capabilities can help you achieve maximum damage output.

Early in the season, Wind Shear Druid is an excellent choice for players who are just starting out and want to level up quickly.

Boulder Druid

Equipping Dolmen Stone Unique Amulet boosts the damage and other aspects of Druid's Boulder skill. Since Dolmen Stone has received further buffs in Season 14, Boulder Druid is now firmly an A Tier build.

This is particularly notable given that many Diablo 4 items were nerfed in Season 14; Boulder Druid offers a refreshing experience in the new season.

Cataclysm Druid

Compared to Wind Shear Druid, Cataclysm Druid boasts significantly superior AoE capabilities. Even though Cataclysm cannot be activated simultaneously with Grizzly Rage, meaning it misses out on the latter's 200% damage bonus, the build remains strong enough to rank in A Tier.

Earth Spike Druid

Earth Spike Druid's damage output falls somewhere between S Tier and A Tier. However, compared to Shred Druid, it lacks mobility; this is the primary reason it fails to break into S Tier.

If you want to speed-farm in Season 14, Shred Druid is certainly the better choice. However, if you want to excel in boss fights or other encounters that don't rely heavily on area-of-effect damage, Earth Spike Druid is a solid option.

Stormclaw Druid

While Stormclaw Druid's damage output technically sits between A Tier and B Tier, it ultimately earns an A Tier ranking thanks to mobility that rivals the high-speed movement of Shred Druid.

Furthermore, its exceptional mobility and rapid skill execution allow it to rank in the upper echelon of A Tier builds. 

B Tier

Wolf Companion Druid

While Wolf Companion Druid's actual damage output could potentially reach A Tier or even S Tier levels, the gameplay feels noticeably clunky and suffers from stuttering issues. Continuous nerfs to critical hit rates have made skill resets increasingly difficult, relegating Wolf Companion Druid to B Tier for Season 14.

Of course, if damage output is your primary concern, it wouldn't be unreasonable to view Wolf Companion Druid as an A Tier build.

Lacerate Druid

Lacerate is an Ultimate skill that functions independently of Grizzly Rage system and boasts the ability to be cast infinitely; in Diablo 4 Season 13, this build was capable of clearing Torment 12.

Although its overall damage output falls short of Wolf Companion Druid, it offers a much smoother gameplay experience, earning it a B Tier rating.

Pulverize Druid

In Season 13, Pulverize Druid could have been ranked between A Tier and S Tier. Unfortunately, Season 14 brought nerfs to Aspect of the Ursine Horror, meaning Druid Overpower effects no longer receive the same level of buffs or the free Earth tag. This caused Pulverize Druid's overall strength to decline, dropping it to B Tier.

Additionally, builds such as Poison Creeper Druid, Hurricane Druid, and Petrify Druid all have distinct drawbacks, generally placing them around the B Tier level as well.

It is worth noting that Grizzly Rage provides a 200% damage bonus and serves as a core supporting skill for the vast majority of builds, even though it does not exist as a standalone archetype itself.

In summary, the S Tier and A Tier builds mentioned above represent strong choices for Druids in Diablo 4 Season 14; players can confidently adopt them as their primary playstyles.

Meanwhile, the B Tier Druid builds also possess the potential to clear high Torment levels in Season 14, so players should feel free to choose based on their personal gameplay preferences.

The variety of Druid builds in Diablo 4 Season 14 is truly impressive, see which one appeals to you most!

The brand-new MMORPG RF Online Next, based on RF Online series, immerses players in a world of large-scale warfare, strategic competition, and futuristic combat. It ignites players' fighting spirit with its massive battles, epic bio-armor, and stunning visuals powered by Unreal Engine.

As a recently released game, most players are still beginners. Today, I'll provide a complete beginner's guide, covering everything from class selection and leveling paths to equipment enhancement, helping you quickly adapt to the game's pace and become a resource-farming expert.

System Settings

First, in the graphics settings, be sure to enable V-Sync. Since the game has no frame rate cap, enabling V-Sync effectively prevents your graphics card from overheating.

Next, the game settings. Before AFK (away from keyboard), always check that your auto use PvP threshold is off. Otherwise, players can attack you, causing your health injectors to be consumed indefinitely. Next, remember to disable navigation controls with ground clicks and deselect target when clicking ground, otherwise they may cause auto-combat to stop and targets to be lost. Also, turn off sleep mode threshold, which dims your screen and mutes you periodically, requiring you to press any button to restore it.

Finally, in the exploration settings, set number of times to resume hunting upon auto maintenance or character death to 0 or a very low value. Otherwise, your character will repeatedly return to high-level danger zones and die. Enable resume hunting after HP recovery to ensure your character is at full health before returning to combat.

Initial Class Selection

New players should avoid melee classes like Phantom and Tank, as they develop relatively slowly in the early game and are weak in PvP. The best choice for beginners should be classes that can deal ranged damage, such as Technician, Demolisher, and Psypher.

Leveling Guide and Daily Activities

First, you should know that in RF Online Next, your character will automatically navigate, fight, and submit most quests. Only some tutorial steps require manual clicking. However, it's important to complete any blue or green quests that appear immediately. There are currently 9 chapters, each containing numerous side quests and faction quests. Completing these quests will naturally level you up.

Levels 1~24 - Early Game

Players can easily reach level 24 by simply following the main questline. Since the second skill unlocks at level 24, grinding is less efficient before then. It's recommended to purchase Return Scrolls and Teleport Scrolls from the shop.

When the game enters Enhance quests, requiring you to upgrade equipment, use trash white items. Do not use your main equipment for adventures, as it may be damaged during this process.

Also, there are treasure chests. Treasure chests will appear throughout the game, but low-level chests in the early game aren't worth specifically farming for. However, you can save them for later to collect the rewards.

In the early stages of RF Online Next, the Instanced Zones are your primary area for leveling up and character progression. However, if you enter through a cutscene portal, the monsters there don't provide experience or loot, so avoid grinding there.

Level 30 - Zone Dungeon

Zone Dungeon is open for one hour each day. Gaining experience here is very easy - simply find an empty room and let your character AFK. If you have any EXP boost potions earned from daily login events, be sure to use them here; this will give you a significant amount of extra experience.

However, remember to keep your FP Regeneration Rate higher than your Consuming Rate. Otherwise, your character will run out of mana in auto-battle and default to using normal attacks.

Levels 35~40 - Key Unlock

Upon reaching level 35, you will unlock an important piece of content in RF Online Next - World Boss. Currently, there are four World Bosses in the game. You need to spend an entry ticket to fight them, and you'll receive generous rewards upon victory. However, you can only claim one entry ticket per day, and it has an expiration date. You cannot accumulate them over multiple days and use them all in one game, so please be sure to use your entry ticket daily.

Level 40 will unlock the crucial Nation War. Players must fight alongside their faction to seize resource points and acquire Nation Coins, which can be spent in the faction shops.

Equipment Enhancement and Material Acquisition

Enhancement Strategy

After obtaining new rare equipment, use the enhancement mode to try enhancing it to +8, then compare its combat power with your current equipment. If the new equipment is stronger, equip it first, and then try to further enhance the old equipment.

Attempting to enhance to +9 or +10 has a high failure rate, and your equipment may be destroyed. Although you can obtain protection scrolls in-game through RF Online Next diamonds for sale in IGGM.com to protect your equipment from damage during upgrades, it's wiser not to use them on low-level equipment; save them for ultimate equipment.

Material Acquisition Methods

As for the materials needed for equipment upgrades, we can obtain them through the following methods:

• Salvage - Disassembling white/green drops obtained from monster kills yields basic alloys.
• Faction Contribution Shop - Gain rare metals here weekly using Nation Coins.
• Daily/Weekly/Monthly Quests - A stable source of upgrade materials.
• Faction Switching - First, accumulate contribution points in one faction, then switch factions, repeating this process to purchase more items.

PvP & Wanted Level

In RF Online Next, Wanted Level is a penalty system tied to PvP. Attacking others in a specific area will turn your marker purple, allowing other players to retaliate.

When you kill multiple players, your Wanted Level increases, and the marker turns red. At this point, everyone can attack you without penalty and can earn rewards by hunting you down. To lower your Wanted Level, you need to kill monsters of a similar level to yourself.

After mastering these techniques, you can easily get through the initial stages and focus on increasing your combat power and accumulating resources to prepare for large-scale faction battles later on. The war has just begun. Gather your equipment, assemble your allies, and prepare for the endless war of RF Online Next!

The new game SAND: Raiders of Sophie launched in Early Access on June 22nd. This is a large-scale PvPvE extraction game set on the desert planet Sophie. Today, I'll guide you through the entire game from scratch: from mode selection and pre-battle preparation, to landing and loading, looting and fighting, and finally, extraction, reminding you of things to pay attention to at each stage.

Mode Selection

The game currently offers two modes: Voyage and Storm Dive, both supporting solo or team play. Voyage is the perfect choice for beginners. This mode has no time limit, and all extraction points are open from the start, allowing you to freely explore the map, familiarize yourself with the controls, and slowly scavenge resources. The only downside is that it's a continuous space - players who entered an hour earlier than you might already be fully equipped and wandering the desert, so always be vigilant.

Storm Dive is a battle royale mode with a constantly shrinking safe zone on the map; extraction points only appear midway through. This mode offers higher rewards but also greater challenges; however, it's recommended to try it only after you're familiar with the game mechanics.

Pre-Battle Preparation

Before each battle, you need to do two things: choose a blueprint and pack your equipment.

Blueprint Selection: For beginners, Grumpy Walker preset is highly recommended. It has balanced stats, and most importantly, it's cheap to build - even if it gets destroyed in the desert, you won't need to spend too much on rebuilding in SAND: Raiders of Sophie crowns.

Personal Equipment: keep it simple - one set of armor, two guns, and the corresponding ammunition.

The recommended gun combination is a revolver and a rifle: the revolver for close to medium range engagements, and the rifle for long-range sniping. Also, bring canned food and fuel rods.

One crucial point: Each gun can only use its corresponding ammunition; make sure you're carrying the correct ammunition before you go out.

Landing Preparation

This is the most easily overlooked mechanic in SAND: Raiders of Sophie for beginners - the instant you land, everything you're carrying is unloaded. Guns aren't loaded, cannons aren't ambushed, and everything is neatly stacked in crates on shelves. Your first task isn't to start the engine and rush out, but to load all your equipment.

Beginners often make mistakes when loading, usually just loading one round at a time. The correct way is to pick up the cannon kit, or stand next to a storage crate, hold down the Tab key to load the entire set of ammunition directly, and then hold down the F key to drag the loaded cannon to the turret slot on the trampler. The same applies to personal weapons.

Another thing you should do upon landing is put some canned food in the refrigerator so you can respawn quickly after death.

Scavenging Rules

Because backpack space is very limited in SAND: Raiders of Sophie, you can't directly put loot into your inventory. The correct procedure is: take an empty green crate from the refrigerator and carry it to the loot box. The loot will automatically pour into your green crate as you approach.

Then put the full green crate back on the trampler's shelf. Only loot placed on the shelf is effective. Anything dropped on the floor will disappear during extraction.

As for quickly finding loot, look for brown, green, or red crates, which usually have markings of gears, weapons, or shells.

Survival Tips

When the trampler is running, it emits a thick column of black smoke from its chimney, visible to other players from a great distance. The engine also continues to consume fuel even when the vehicle is stopped. Therefore, always turn off the engine when looting - this will both conceal your location and save fuel.

When moving, get into the habit of constantly scanning the horizon with your binoculars. In SAND: Raiders of Sophie, the binoculars are your most important reconnaissance tool - seeing distant plumes of smoke in advance means you can react before the enemy spots you.

There are also some situations very similar to real life. If your Trampler is damaged, you'll need to use your character's multi-tool to repair broken pipes, armor plates, and circuit boxes. If you are killed, you'll respawn in the captain's cabin. Respawning is quick if you have food in the refrigerator; otherwise, it takes about a minute.

Escape Tips

Escape is the final step of the game and also the part where beginners are most likely to fail. First, you need to call for an evacuation - pilot your trampler into the evacuation zone marked on the map, climb the tower, and hold down the F key to operate the radio - the ship that brought you there will come back to pick you up. Note that only one trampler can use an evacuation point at a time; check with your binoculars before approaching to see if there are any other players.

After calling for an evacuation, the trampler will release a green smoke signal and begin a 90-second countdown. During this time, you are in an extremely dangerous situation; it's best to stay on top of the tower and observe your surroundings with your binoculars. If other players interfere with the radio or attack your trampler during this time, the evacuation will be interrupted.

However, the most crucial step is not explicitly indicated in the game: your trampler and you evacuate separately. The ship will first hoist your trampler, along with all the loot on the racks, but you must get off the trampler yourself and grab the rope lowered by the ship to evacuate.

If you don't know this rule beforehand, you will helplessly watch your loot being taken away by the ship while you are still standing on the deck, bewildered.

Furthermore, if your trampler is destroyed in combat, don't despair. You can still walk to the evacuation point, climb the tower, and call for evacuation; your character can still leave safely.

This concludes the entire process of a game of SAND: Raiders of Sophie and the points to note. You might think it sounds easy. However, the real battlefield is unpredictable, and people often forget these precautions under extreme tension. Wait until you are truly familiar with this process before attempting to collect higher-difficulty loot!

Korea has been cooking up some impressive titles lately, from Crimson Desert to the upcoming Stellar Blade, and while those games are certainly commendable, they still lack a certain representative quality.

What truly feels like a classic Korean game - or rather, a classic Korean MMO - is SOL: Enchant, which launched this June. This latest online title comes from the same development team behind the original Lineage M, and it features sharper visuals while retaining the familiar gameplay style that veterans know well.

The early progression phase is often the most enjoyable part of these MMOs, and a few handy tips can help new players ease into SOL: Enchant with fewer hiccups.

Supplies

If you completed pre-registration, your in-game mailbox may contain some rewards after you log in, including an Unlimited HP Potion and an Unlimited Teleport Scroll.

Unlimited HP Potion proves especially useful because your character's health depletes rather quickly in combat. You can drag it to your quick slot and set an automatic health threshold percentage for its use.

Not every player receives this reward, though. If you didn't get it, you can always exchange regular HP potions, food, and teleport scrolls directly from NPC shops in the main city - these basic supplies are plentiful.

Auto-Battle Mechanics

SOL Enchant features a highly robust auto-battle system that covers nearly the entire gameplay loop - from accepting quests, moving to targets, fighting monsters, looting drops, and even turning in completed tasks. This automation accounts for roughly 90% of the experience. However, a few special quests still require manual intervention, so keep an eye on the quest text for any instructions when they appear.

Even though the game handles most of the grind on its own, you should still check on your character periodically. If your gear or level isn't up to par for the monsters you're facing, you might die while idling. Upon death, there is a chance that equipped items will drop. So, even with auto-battle active, it's wise to glance at the screen from time to time to confirm that your character is farming safely.

Equipment Durability and Repairs

At launch, the game offers only three base classes: tank, healer, and ranger. If you play a melee class, your weapon will degrade after some time spent farming and questing in the open world during the early stages.

A damaged piece of equipment will show a crack icon and its name will appear dimmed in your inventory. You can still use it, but its damage output will be significantly reduced. At that point, you'll need to repair it to restore its original attack power.

To do so, return to the main city and find the blacksmith. In that NPC's shop, scroll all the way down and get a Repair Hammer. Then open your bag, double-click the hammer, and double-click the item you wish to repair. One hammer is consumed per repair action.

Skill System

Skills in the game are learned through Skill Books. Your starting character comes with two basic skill books by default. You can purchase additional skill books tailored to your class from specific NPC shops in the main city, with each costing around 17,000 Nine.

Gear Enhancement System

Gear enhancement is one of the core systems, and it works slightly differently for normal versus rare equipment.

Normal gear can be upgraded using Enhancement Scrolls. From +4 to +5, the success rate drops to only 30%. If the enhancement fails, the equipment will break entirely.

Orange-background Rare Gear requires its corresponding Orange Enhancement Scroll. Even for a +1 upgrade, the success rate is merely 60%, and failure also results in breakage.

You can exchange daily limited enhancement scrolls from the shop page for 19,000 Nine, and after reaching level 30, more items become available there. However, enhancement carries inherent risks, especially for high-value gear, so proceed with caution.

Spirit Entity (영체)

Spirit Entities grant substantial stat bonuses, including Attack Speed, Damage, Critical, and more, making them a vital path for strengthening your character. Different rarities of Spirit Entities offer vastly different attributes, and you can combine identical-rarity entities to obtain higher-tier ones.

There is also a collection system tied to Spirit Entities, which provides considerable stat boosts as well. You need to place a specific set of Spirit Entities into the collection slots, and some collections even require certain rarities. Once activated, they grant permanent bonuses like Attack Power.

In the early stages, the collection system often proves more reliable than enhancement, since high-level enhancements risk breaking your gear, whereas collections never expire once unlocked.

Diamonds

In the later stages of the game, Diamonds become one of the primary currencies for player-to-player trading. They can be used for summoning and obtaining rare items. Equipment trades between players also mainly transact in Diamonds.

So if you're looking to earn SOL Enchant Diamonds, a common approach is to craft highly enhanced gear and then offer it for sale - though that method will also consume a large amount of Nine.

SOL: Enchant remains a game that heavily leans on automated grinding, and its enhancement, transformation, collection, and trading systems all come with their own rules and risks. It boasts beautiful visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5, yet in terms of gameplay and systems, it stays true to the classic Korean MMO formula.

As a survival game, LifeAfter shares similar core mechanics with other titles in the genre; however, due to its unique setting and world-building, mastering specific techniques is essential for getting up to speed quickly.

While LifeAfter depicts a harsh, post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, it also incorporates inventive, casual features, mastering these is just as important as honing your combat skills.

This guide will help you survive safely in Lifeafter. Even as a beginner, you can use these tips to gather materials and high-tier resources, gradually building your own personal shelter in this apocalyptic world.

Explore and gather raw materials

Despite the apocalyptic setting, natural resources and remnants of human civilization still exist. This means you can gather various raw materials, such as minerals, plants, and unique food items, by exploring the map.

Food items can be consumed directly to replenish your health and stamina. Later on, once you have collected enough basic ingredients, you can use specific recipes to craft advanced meals that offer beneficial effects, such as increased gathering speed or boosted damage against zombies.

As for natural resources, they are essential for crafting necessities, like using flax to make healing bandages, and are vital for building and upgrading your base. We will cover base building in more detail below.

Building and upgrading your base

In a perilous post-apocalyptic world, the essentials of life, food, clothing, and shelter, become even more critical. Your shelter is not just a home; it is your primary defense against roaming zombies.

To build a base in LifeAfter, you must first gather wood and stone to craft a bow, then travel to Development Zone to eliminate a zombie.

Next, explore the surrounding area to find more of the items and materials needed for construction. Some furniture items, such as beds or chairs, can be found fully assembled and ready to pick up.

Notably, a bed is more than just furniture; resting on it provides a health-recovery bonus.

Once you have gathered all the necessary items, navigate through your backpack and gear menus to place them within the designated blue zone in Development Zone and begin building your base.

As you progress through the game and participate in special events, you can unlock advanced materials to upgrade your base into a luxurious manor, transitioning from mere survival to a more lavish post-apocalyptic lifestyle.

However, sources for certain premium manor decoration materials are quite limited. If you want to unlock them quickly, you can choose to buy LifeAfter credits on IGGM and exchanging them directly!

Additionally, while focusing on the aesthetics of your base or manor, don't neglect security; you need to prevent zombies from invading your territory. Reliable strategies often include reinforcing walls with multiple layers and constructing high-ground sniper perches.

Building a repair bench

Once your basic needs for food and shelter are met, you'll need to craft tools to improve your quality of life and increase your chances of success in combat against zombies. To do this, you should first build a repair bench.

After gathering enough wood and iron ore, travel to Town Hall and locate the furniture shop. Inside, find the crafting machine, interact with it, and select repair bench from the crafting menu; the materials in your inventory will be consumed to craft it.

The crafting process has a cooldown of approximately 10 minutes, after which the item is sent to your in-game mailbox. Once you've claimed it, return to your base and navigate the menu, selecting Build, Furniture, and Repair Bench, to place and use this device.

The repair bench allows you to repair gear and restore its durability. You can also dismantle or empower gear: dismantling yields other materials, while empowering consumes enhancement points, points obtained by extracting value from duplicate items at the repair bench.

Keep an eye on the weather

LifeAfter features a dynamic weather system that mirrors the real world; beyond sunny days, other weather conditions can bring negative effects.

For example, rain and snow can cause you to catch a cold and hinder your outdoor adventures, while nighttime brings lower temperatures and reduced visibility, increasing the risk of frostbite and zombie encounters.

Of course, this doesn't mean you must return to base whenever the weather turns bad; instead, carry preventative items whenever you venture out to minimize unnecessary loss of health.

Mastering fast travel

As your character's abilities improve, you will require more advanced supplies, which in turn expands your exploration range. To make your travels more efficient, Lifeafter has introduced a fast-travel feature, allowing you to move easily between distant locations.

To use this feature, tap the mini-map in the top-right corner of the screen and look for the red icon indicating a helicopter extraction point. Once you arrive, tap the helicopter to view and select from the areas you have unlocked.

To unlock new areas, you must first hone your skills in relatively safe zones, defeating zombies and strengthening your character, to ensure you are prepared to face the tougher threats awaiting you in more dangerous territories.

Participate in special modes and events

Once you have mastered the basics of survival in Lifeafter, try your hand at specific game modes such as daily and weekly missions, 12v12 event, and various limited-time activities held during special celebrations.

Completing these activities rewards you with high-value items, such as blueprints, credits, or versatile currencies, that can further enhance your gameplay experience.

That covers everything for now. We hope these tips help you survive to the very end in LifeAfter!

Guys, EA FC 26 hasn't been getting much positive feedback lately. But that's probably expected, since FC 26 development team is the one who actually did it; nobody is framing them.

For example, FC 26 recently decided to launch EA Advertising to better promote ads within the game. But the problem is, FC 26 is something players paid for.

Imagine you finally decide to unlock this long-awaited game, excitedly opening it to enjoy the football experience, only to find it's filled with constantly updated brand ads? How would you feel?

But for the past week, EA FC 26 players have been experiencing just that. EA Advertising launched on June 15th, boldly embedding dynamic ads into FC 26, and players are furious.

It's not like we've never seen ads before; the key issue is that we paid full price for the game, so why should we be sold to advertisers as traffic again? This has severely damaged the most basic trust players have in FC 26 development team.

What exactly is EA Advertising?

Actually, the advertising system in FIFA 26 is much more sophisticated than we imagined. It doesn't just pop up a video window for you to watch before you can continue, nor does it offer more FC 26 coins for watching an ad. Instead, it integrates ads seamlessly into the game environment.

For example, advertising boards near the stadium, next to the scoreboard, and even broadcast footage may contain brand information, appearing quite integrated.

And that's not all. Some ads even become in-game tasks. If a brand sponsors a challenge, FC 26 might release a dedicated Ultimate Team mission, rewarding you with completion. In short, it packages advertising as part of the game's content.

For this system, EA brought in a host of well-known brands like Visa and Red Bull as initial partners. Reportedly, the starting price for advertising is $100,000, with some reaching millions. After all, EA has over 120 million monthly active players - that's a huge revenue stream.

The Real Concerns

Why are these ads, which don't hinder gameplay and appear relatively smooth, causing so much anger among players? Actually, players' concerns go beyond simply seeing an ad.

First, these dynamically updated billboards on the field are jarringly out of place in the game's virtual world. Imagine you're immersed in a tense match, and then suddenly an ad pops up for Red Bull, then for some streaming platform - the immersion is shattered.

Furthermore, some veteran players are immediately reminded of the 2020 backlash. Back then, the development team placed full-screen ads in EA Sports UFC 4 promoting the sitcom The Boys, resulting in widespread criticism and a forced apology and removal.

Now, they claim these ads enhance the experience - who believes that?

The biggest fear is that this is a test: today it's just billboards on the field, tomorrow will it become mandatory pop-ups? The day after, will they release a monthly ad-free subscription service?

This means your wallet contributes to unlocking FUT 26, and then you have to contribute to removing ads - isn't that just being exploited at every turn? That's what everyone's most anxious about.

Official Response

Of course, EA Sports FC 26 has been facing criticism for a long time. While the development team's explanations haven't been accepted by players, their underlying business logic isn't entirely untenable.

The official statement is that the development costs of AAA games are ridiculously high these days. Graphics are getting better and better, and content is piling up, but game prices have been stuck around $60 for years. They need to find other ways to fill this gap.

Ad revenue can support the long-term updates and maintenance of FC 26. Otherwise, relying solely on game sales, where would they get the money to continuously release new player cards and new modes?

Furthermore, the development team believes that real-world football matches are full of billboards and sponsors, so replicating this in a football game would make it more realistic and closer to real-world broadcasts.

So no matter how players and outsiders question it, they all say that introducing EA Advertising enhances the gaming experience for FC 26.

By the way, if you're short on resources in FC 26 lately, you can participate in FC 26 Glory Hunters coins giveaways on IGGM Discord for a chance to share 10M coins!

A Deeper Background

In fact, FC 26's in-game ads are not an isolated case. Almost the entire gaming industry is moving towards in-game advertising, and many major companies have already begun deploying similar technologies.

To put it bluntly, in the future, all major titles may gradually adopt this form of in-game advertising. FC 26 simply launched it first, making it the target of public criticism.

Ultimately, players' anger isn't just about those few billboards in EA FC 26, but rather the fear that once this advertising door is opened, it can never be closed again. Even if the development team says it enhances the experience, given the precedent of 2020, players are already immune to this rhetoric.

Where this advertising controversy will ultimately lead is still uncertain, but one thing is certain: if FC 26 truly treats players as mere traffic rather than users, the lost trust will probably not be something the development team can recover with a few explanations.

However, if they want to continue operating this football game for a long time, it will probably be very difficult.

The progress bar for Monopoly Go The Simpsons album is nearing the halfway mark, which means Golden Blitz events will start appearing more frequently.

In fact, the first round of voting for this album's Golden Blitz concluded on June 25, resulting in the selection of Blinky and Sad Schmuck!

Since Golden Blitz events are time-limited and rely on trading with others, it is best to prepare in advance to avoid wasting time or missing opportunities. Below, we provide a guide on how to participate in the upcoming Golden Blitz.

When will this round of Golden Blitz start?

Monopoly Go has not yet announced the official start time for this Golden Blitz. However, given that voting ended on Thursday, June 25, we tentatively predict the event will begin on June 28 and run for 24 hours, concluding on the 29th.

We base this prediction on the fact that the current Radioactive Racers event ends on the 28th, while the next partner event begins on the 30th and runs until July 5.

Scheduling Golden Blitz in the gap between these two major events ensures players have time to participate.

Of course, Monopoly Go might take a different approach, so we must wait for an official announcement to confirm the final timing.

How to participate in this Golden Blitz?

Unlike other flash events that offer reward bonuses, Golden Blitz provides the only way to trade gold stickers in Monopoly Go. In standard gameplay, you can only trade standard stickers of any star rating with other players.

Before each Golden Blitz, Monopoly Go selects 5–6 candidate Gold Stickers based on player feedback and opens a vote on Discord. The two stickers receiving the most votes become the tradeable items for that event.

In the one-day vote that began on June 24, the winners were Monopoly Go Set 13 Blinky and Set 14 Sad Schmuck, securing 38% and 27% of the vote respectively, far outpacing the other options.

This means that during this Golden Blitz, you can use your own Gold Stickers or high-star standard stickers to trade for Blinky or Sad Schmuck within the limited trading window.

Alternatively, if you already have duplicates of these specific stickers, you can use them to trade for other rare stickers you are missing.

It is worth noting that during Golden Blitz event, you are limited to a total of five exchanges, whether trading with others or simply gifting stickers away.

However, if you have a strong network of friends willing to send you stickers without asking for anything in return, there is no limit to the number of stickers you can receive.

How to find trading partners?

Generally, it is best to start by asking active players on your Monopoly Go friends list; they are familiar and reliable contacts, and their active status suggests a higher likelihood of possessing rare cards.

If you aren't very social within the game, don't worry, there are always people actively looking for trading or collaboration partners in Monopoly Go communities across major social media platforms. You can reply to their posts or create your own to find partners.

However, when trading with strangers, be sure to verify the authenticity and activity level of their game account to avoid being scammed. After all, collecting Monopoly Go stickers is a lot of hard work, and you wouldn't want your efforts to go to waste!

Additionally, since several collaborative events are taking place in quick succession over these two weeks, you might want to ask your racer teammates if they are interested in trading, or even see if they want to team up again for the Springfield Partners event next week.

The unspoken prerequisite for Golden Blitz

Theoretically, all Monopoly Go players can participate in Golden Blitz during the scheduled time; however, if you don't possess any gold stickers or high-star stickers, it is unlikely anyone will want to trade with you.

Therefore, to make the most of this event, you should strive to earn high-tier sticker packs immediately after a new album season begins, especially during the first month.

Since there are hardly any Golden Blitz events during that initial period, you can devote your energy to participating in other Monopoly Go events.

High-tier sticker packs generally refer to Blue and Purple packs, as well as the special Swap Pack and Wild Sticker. These usually appear as top-tier rewards only in special events lasting longer than two days.

Blue and Purple packs offer a higher probability of dropping high-star or gold cards. Wild Sticker allows you to choose any missing sticker you want, even the rarest five-star gold sticker!

The mechanism for Swap Pack is slightly more complex. It provides 3 to 5 stickers (all 3-star rarity or higher) at once. If none of them are what you want, the pack offers a limited number of swap opportunities, allowing you to cycle through options until you settle on your final choice.

However, Swap Pack doesn't guarantee a 5-star or brand-new sticker. To avoid the awkward situation where the final batch of stickers turns out to be worthless, it's best to quit while you're ahead rather than keep swapping.

Finally, if you don't have any high-level stickers, don't just give up on Golden Blitz. You can find other free-to-play players in the same boat and help each other out by trading your duplicate low-star stickers within the limited number of trades allowed.

After all, The Simpsons album is only halfway complete, not everyone has collected all the low-star stickers yet, and there are daily limits on standard sticker trades.

I hope this guide helps with your Monopoly Go experience. Good luck with Golden Blitz and the upcoming events next week!