Last month, DICE launched Battlefield 4's platoon feature, but restricted the creation of new platoons to Premium members of at least level 10. This is at least somewhat true to the real military, who have realised that letting anybody create their own command structure would be a very inefficient way to organise troops. Luckily, Battlefield 4 is not the real military, and so their variant of the clan model is now available for all.

Platoons let up to 100 people collect in a custom-created group name and tag, offering a rank and stats to let you know how you're performing against that clan's competitors. If this all sounds familiar, it's because it was a feature that was available in Battlefield 3. You can create or join one by heading to the Platoon page on Battlelog.

As a newly deployed feature, DICE are collecting feedback in this forum thread, and have offered a place for platoons to recruit new members on a specific Platoons sub-forum.

Thanks, Joystiq.

The prophets had warned us. They'd seen visions of planets aligning, of oceans running red with blood, of cats acting slightly crankier than usual. We ignored their cries, dismissing them as the deranged ramblings of fringe lunatics. And yet, it has come to pass: Blizzard have put a game on sale. It's a rare event for the developer, who tend to limit their discounts to the Black Friday Thanksgiving sales. But, with the impending release of Diablo 3's first expansion, the base game is getting a temporary reduction.

Until March 24th - the day before Reaper of Souls' release - Diablo 3 will be available at a 45% discount, for 16.99 / $19.99. It should lighten the financial strain if you don't own the game and, for some reason, want to dive straight into the pricey expansion. Reaper of Souls will launch for 32.99 / $39.99.

Luckily, it sounds as if you'll have plenty of fun with the base game alone. The recent 2.0.1 patch has completely changed the game - removing the restrictions imposed by the auction house, and ensuring more tailored loot for your character's class. You can read Tom's impression of this new Diablo, or head here for Kat's preview of the upcoming expansion.

Are you ready for some Doter? That's just one of the questions posed by Rucks, the narrator from Bastion. He's an old-timey sort of fella, and ain't got no truck with these kids' short-As. If you'd like your wizard killing narrated by his smooth, folksy tones, you can now grab the recently released Bastion Announcer Pack for Doter Dota 2.

As with other announcement packs, it replaces the voice of both the announcer and the mega-kill announcer with the Bastion's elderly guardian. You can see (and hear) the full round-up of his proclamations over at the Dota 2 wiki. He's got some pretty sharp words for anybody caught cussing.

The pack is currently available at 3.24 for the next 20 hours. After that, it'll default to the regular price of 6.49. It follows a series of other external game announcement packs, including Half-Life 2's Dr. Kleiner, Portal's GLaDOS, and - oddly enough - the extremely British AI from Defense Grid. In the future, a Stanley Parable narrator pack is also planned.

In addition to commentating on Dota's forests of fantasy, Rucks' voice actor Logan Cunningham is also working on Transistor, the next game from Bastion developers Supergiant Games. You can read Cass's preview of that game here.

In other news, look at my laptop. Earth! Share the secret of your "iPad."

There's irony in the fact that 4X games like Horizon are about forging forward into the future, but are always at least spiritually caught back in 1996, in the shadow of Master of Orion II. Horizon more than most is in that game's shadow. Its being polite here retro graphics, clunky UI, and general lack of polish set a poor first impression that never blossoms into something that lives up to either Master of Orion II, or other attempts, like the mighty GalCiv 2.

It's not a game without ideas though, especially early on. For the most part, it's the standard space conquest drill, about humans venturing out into a galaxy that's already been ticking along just fine without them, and a race to scoop up the best planets, invent new toys, and forge alliances capable of withstanding threats from both inside and outside, at least long enough to get the upper hand. It's a slightly more involved galaxy than usual. Its quests give the various alien races a chance to show some personality (though they can be switched off if you prefer), and there's a clever tech system where inventing or being given a new toy is just the start and research is needed to perfect it over multiple quality tiers. This is nowhere near as exciting as getting something new to play with, but it does offer interesting tactical options and the chance to focus your empire's skills.

On paper, combat is clever. In reality, it's always best skipped.

The problem is that while all this works well, the bulk of Horizon soon becomes a chore. Simply getting started is a problem, thanks to a very basic tutorial that does a mediocre job at best of explaining the core systems and then just vanishes, leaving you to stumble through the rest on your own. It's a micromanagement-heavy game too, becoming more so with each colony founded or task force assembled. That isn't necessarily a crime, but here it's coupled with very little reward. The quest system sets a character bar that the regular diplomacy doesn't come close to, with the aliens suddenly becoming terse to the point of rejecting deals by declaring "Not!" like a bad '90s comedian.

By far the worst part is the combat, which comes from a universe where Sins of a Solar Empire clearly never existed. The turn-based scrapping is so dull and long-winded that even handing it to the computer to handle is somehow annoying, while actually playing it out is a shortcut to cranky old age.



This is a shame, as the basics of Horizon work and the new things it does bring to the table are well executed. What the genre's greats manage, however, is a spark that elevates the core systems into a genuinely satisfying sense of galactic conquest. Horizon does occasionally manage a quick flicker of one, but it's far too quickly snuffed out to ignite any passion.

Update: we have 500 more unique keys to give away. Come and get 'em!

Hail, adventurer! Will you take up your sword in the name of Tamriel and join the grand struggle to AHEM sorry, I was momentarily possessed by the spirit of a passing fantasy RPG NPC there. An occasional occurrence in PCG towers. I meant to say "would you like to play The Elder Scrolls Online this weekend?" If then . There you will find instructions for grabbing one of the thousand keys we have to giveaway for this weekend's beta test. First come, first served!

Just fill out the form below with your contact information to receive a key for The Elder Scrolls Online beta. The beta key will be available and usable Friday, March 14, 2014 at 12pm ET through Sunday, March 16, 11:59pm ET. Limited time offer. While supplies last.

Key redemption instructions:

Use this unique key to register your beta account.
Create your account by visiting https://account.elderscrollsonline.com/register/account-information. Please make sure you don t leave extra spaces in front of the unique code number if copying/pasting.
Once you ve finished creating and verifying your account, click Redeem Key button on the main My Account Page to register your beta key.
When the process is complete, you should be able to download the game client from your Account Page.
Use the username and password you registered to login and play the game.



Zenimax and not Future Publishing Limited or Future US, Inc are responsible for the beta code and unique access keys relating to Elder Scrolls Online. Contact Zenimax directly through Elder Scrolls beta support with any questions or concerns about registering your beta account or downloading, accessing or using the game client.

A "very special" Humble Bundle popped up on Wednesday, this time in support of Independent Games Festival chairman Brandon Boyer. A Bundle of Love for Brandon includes 32 games and soundtracks packaged together to support Boyer, who was diagnosed with cancer late last year.

Boyer is a mainstay of the indie games scene, and numerous game designers have spoken up over the last couple of weeks to thank him for giving their games a platform before anyone else would give them the time of day. Like many game designers and freelance game writers, Brandon is self-employed. Even so, he managed to pay for his own health insurance a few months before his diagnosis. After his diagnosis, hospitalization, and treatment, Boyer was denied coverage by that insurance. You can read the extremely upsetting saga at at his fundraising page, which launched last week.

That fundraising effort has since been successful, but it s probable that Boyer will need more help. Offering up $25 for a big pile of indie games is a great way to do just that.

The full list of included games and soundtracks is below. The promotion will end next Friday at midnight.

Actual Sunlight
AirMech
Auralux
Bagfull of Wrong
BitTrip Beat Soundtrack
BitTrip Fate Soundtrack
BitTrip Runner Soundtrack
Blocks That Matter + Soundtrack
Castles in the Sky + Soundtrack
Dynamite Jack
Ensnare Soundtrack
Ethan: Meteor Hunter
Fancy Skulls
God of Blades + Soundtrack
Goscurry + Soundtrack
Mazing
McPixel + Soundtrack
Paragon
POP: Methodology Experiment One + Soundtrack
Proteus
QbQbQb
Quixotica Soundtrack
Sepulchre Special Edition with eBook + Soundtrack
Shipwreck
Sokobond
Stacking + Soundtrack
Thomas Was Alone + Soundtrack
VVVVVV + Soundtrack
Waking Mars + Soundtrack
Warp Juggler
Wizorb + Soundtrack
World of Goo + Soundtrack

While Chris finalizes his Titanfall review, the rest of the staff has also been enjoying the acrobatic war for extraterrestrial concrete (or whatever space drama it is that necessitates stomping on people with mechs). Today, Tyler will bravely livestream what will either be a series of glorious victories, or the embarrassing tale of a Call of Duty dropout with dulling reflexes trying to make it on the new frontier.

Watch all our streams live and archived by following our Twitch channel.

Once an MMO, now a class-based, multiplayer tactical action game, Transformers Universe has seen a lot of radical changes.
As Chief Creative Officer at Jagex, the developer working on Transformers Universe, Alex Horton is the perfect person to tell us what led the company to make those changes, what it s like working with one of Hasbro s most treasured brands, and what we can expects from the game when it finally comes out.
PC Gamer: So you ve created two Transformers just for the game in Conduit and Front-Line. What can they give the game that doesn t already exist in Transformers mythology?
Alex Horton: We ve created a ton of transformers for our game! Some are brand new, others pulled from the rich lore and history of the Transformers brand. We ve been really fortunate to have the opportunity to build on that legacy with our own characters. What this gives us is the flexibility to create characters that are custom-built for our game, whether that s healers like Conduit or former vigilantes like Front-Line. As we reveal more characters and more details on the game you ll see how these characters fit the gameplay of Transformers Universe. Ultimately, it gives us the chance to build a selection of characters with complimentary and contrasting abilities.
What s the process like of creating brand new characters in the Transformers Universe? Is there a difficult approval process with Hasbro on that sort of stuff?
Hasbro have been fantastic partners to work with on Transformers Universe. Collaborating with the team there we ve bought our collective experiences together, combining artists, game designers and the deepest knowledge on the world of Transformers to create a great selection of Autobots and Decepticons for you to command in battle. We ve even surprised the Hasbro guys by bringing back some seriously obscure transformers from the depths of Cybertronian time.

Can you talk about how the game has changed since its original announcement, and what led to Transformers Universe being the type of game it is now?
Our objective for Transformers Universe has been to carve out our own space in this well-established universe and, more importantly, build a game that is reflective of today s gaming landscape, as well as working for the brand.
Transformers are about war. They re about action. So whilst staying true to what Jagex is best at pushing forward the free-to-play, browser-based gaming arena we moved away from delivering RuneScape: The Cybertron Edition and focused on upping the emphasis on action and the different skills of a collection of Transformers Warriors. We ve created a collaborative and competitive combat experience with deep MMO heritage. A game for today.
The Transformers are the center of the game, rather than the original notion of building your own Transformers warrior that is your avatar. That s probably the most profound change. This idea of building out your collection of transformers something central to toys and games. Pair that with the shorter-session, competitive experience driving the gaming zeitgeist at the moment and we really have the foundations for something special.
As a commander of this collection of Transformers warriors that you ve recruited, you take them into battle against fellow players from around the world, playing your part in one of the oldest battles in gaming Autobots vs. Decepticons.
You ve said you re targeting core gamers, casual gamers and Transformers enthusiasts is it difficult to balance the game so there s both mainstream appeal and complexity for gamers who might be familiar with similar titles to Transformers Universe?
In a word yes. But there s more to it than the single axis of casual to core. What we re striving for is a game that you grow into, so as you learn more you can go deeper into the weapon systems we ve devised and we ll match you against tougher and tougher enemies. We understand that challenge and want to deliver an experience that is true to the brand and that s perhaps the strongest driver we have. We have a very experienced team made up of all kinds of gamers that understand the challenges from both sides of the process. It s as much of a labor of love as anything else, and the team are genuinely putting heart and soul into this game, because it s something that they believe in and have very, very fond memories of.

Obviously the game had a bit of radio silence in 2013. Were you waiting for the new Transformers movie to help you capture a bit more of that potential casual crowd?
2013 was a big year for the game. We made some major decisions during that time to ensure that we could bring the best possible product to market. We chose to maintain a silence as we knuckled down and focused on engineering a game for the long term. With a desire to bring more fluidity to play whilst maintaining our ultra-secure platform and client-server technology we opted to integrate third-party middleware with multi-platform capabilities into the way we make games at Jagex. We re building a game service to run for the next decade, and whilst we love the movies it's not something to base the launch of our game around.
You ve discussed that more familiar Transformers characters will appear in some capacity. Can you talk a bit about how that will work?
Unfortunately, not at this point! But I can confirm that they ll be there, and we ll be revealing more on them soon. We understand it s something that players want to see and know more about so we will be giving players all the information on these Transformers legends in the coming months.

The town of Dolothia was established when five families were unceremoniously banished from a nearby nation. The exact circumstances of this banishment were never explained to me, and I didn t press the issue.

After The PCG Herald heard about the town s struggle to survive in the wilderness, I was dispatched as a field reporter to document its early years. What I found was a harsh reality where 10-year-olds work fields in driving rain and snow, a bad harvest kills families, and a single misstep leaves the town frozen during winter. In the end I was embedded in Dolothia for 25 years, chronicling its struggles and triumphs in photos and timelapse gifographs. This is the life of a Banished town.



In this high overhead view, the town expands in fits and starts over the course of 25 years, slowly expanding beyond its humble beginnings. Click here to view at 720p.

Dolothia's five founding families set to building permanent shelter. Whether they like it or not, this place is now home.



Town leaders had hoped to plant crops before the first winter, but an early snow ends those plans. The town s only crop field sits vacant.



The first year of the town saw rapid expansion, food shortages, and an early, brutal winter.

After a long winter, Galantice, a 22-year-old farmer, gets an early start on planting the town s first wheat crop.

The first snowfall of winter finds 8-year-old Jadence playing while her mother carries the day s catch to storage.



Everyone s sick of wheat, and some of the children are getting scurvy. The town builds a new trading post to attract merchants traveling downriver and, hopefully, purchase new seeds, exotic food, and livestock.

Set away from the town, the forester s hut is a lonely place to work. It supplies logs crucial for firewood and construction.



A huge surplus of plums, and a serious lack of fun things to do at the end of the day, spurs the establishment of the town s first public house. Plum ale isn t anybody s idea of a good time, but it gets you drunk. That s what matters.



After three years of good crops, the plum orchard is cut down to relocate to the outskirts of town. A new market will be built in this space.



Though it is a blight on the landscape, town planners hope that this mine will provide coal and iron for the next hundred years.



The town decides the time has come for a permanent church. The building is the most expensive erected by the villagers so far.



Wealthy, well-established families have been saving the land between the schoolhouse and the town s first houses for a city hall. With its construction, new census data and records will be available to town planners.

A dry summer results in a pathetic pumpkin harvest this year. Four people died in the resulting food shortage.

Three harsh winters in a row kill off many of the town s older citizens, filling the new graveyard to capacity. The only priest, 24-year-old Ferricky, is always busy.



The brainchild of a now-disgraced town planner, this riverside housing development was more costly than anticipated. The resulting firewood shortage caused the deaths of three farmers during the next winter. Their absence caused a food shortage that killed four more people. Click here to view at 720p.

After years of waiting, a livestock merchant arrives in town. The supply barn is emptied to purchase a mating pair of cows to start a herd.

Harvest time is a busy season for the town market.



Nestled into the side of a nearby hill, this camera captured the development of the town center over the course of 25 years. Click here to view at 720p.

When I finally left Dolothia, it seemed to be on the cusp of thriving. After rough winters and poor decisions, the population was booming and crops growing strong. Even on the best of days, though, Dolothia remains one or two bad harvests away from disaster. Reporter Ian Birnbaum, summer 25 A.B.

Image credit: Steam Database
It seems like Steam will soon allow you to report a product on its store page. According to a picture of a new feature posted by Steam Database, you ll be able to report products for legal violation (using your content without permission), pornography, malware, and other reasons.
This looks like yet another step Valve is taking in the process of turning Steam into a self-publishing platform. Gabe Newell hinted at this during Steam Dev Days when he announced that Steam Greenlight is going away, and confirmed it during his recent Reddit Ask Me Anything.
Steam reviews, the recently implemented Steam Tags, and giving developers more control in how to participate in Steam sales all allow developers and users to manage and surface content on Steam with minimal involvement from Valve.
This latest feature also falls into this category, allowing the community to quickly flag problematic content on Steam. It doesn t happen often, but as games like The War Z and Ashes Cricket 2013 prove, it happens.
In addition to the reasons listed above, the feature will also allow you to report products for content that is patently offensive or intended to shock or disgust viewers, hate speech, libelous or defamatory statements, and fraud.