J4MES OX4D

Really not sure how he expected to get away with that one. Destroyed his entire life for when he gets out. It's insane what some of these ex-footballers do after leaving the game. Just goes to show how some of them need to save the outlandish money they earn and think early what they want to do before they retire from the sport. He was probably making £30-40k a week at one point in his life and I bet he pissed that up the wall in East London clubs with the likes of Kieron Dyer every weekend.

DMZ is still in beta but everything has been fairly quiet since launch. The tragedy with this mode is that it is probably more successful than they envisioned (player counts) which means they may not have a decent strategy or vision in place to see it continually develop. They likely saw the utterly miserable reception Battlefield Hazard Zone got and took their foot of the gas with this concept which is why it launched incomplete and lacking in many ways. They weren't very enthusiastic about it during its reveal event either which really rubbed off even on the content creators showcasing it. Hopefully they'll start making strides but I fear Acitvision wont want it heavily focused unless they can monetise aspects of it - I've always said that mode-exclusive bundles will probably happen for this at some stage if it maintains interest and that's what will keep Activision happy. It's a decent sandbox and more relaxed alternative to the highly criticised and corrupt Warzone 2. The real tragedy about brands like this and FIFA now is that even if you pay £60 for the game and put in 1000 hours, you aren't worth shit. Yet some dipshit paying £20 on microtransactions a month is way for valuable to these companies.

They had over 3000 developers working on this game and whilst they are allocated to many portions of it and its vastly varied internal departments, I do believe they have more than enough to provide decent post-launch support. I just think Activision withhold content in a tactical fashion to get the best financial return. The MW2 Campaign Remastered was apparently sitting in limbo finished for two years before they finally released it because of the sudden groundbreaking success of Warzone and they didn't want that interrupted in any way with echoes of a fully-fledged remaster. I have a feeling the same thing is happening here because when Warzone is thriving, they don't want people moving away especially into the far less lucrative MP. That being said, I am personally disappointed with IW's relationship with the community and their overall performance regardless of any input Activision have. Treyarch have also gone the same way in recent years with an over-reliance on recycled content and general laziness from a user standpoint. Compare this approach to what Epic do and it's just a night and day difference in keeping the community engaged and happy. This is something Activison need to learn from. No Call of Duty has actually grown post-launch since probably Black Ops 2 and too many titles in the last decade have been on life support come January. The way Activision have moved staff around and allocated work in recent years hasn't helped either. Development on games has been muddled as hell even after they moved to a 3 studio format. It's absolutely nuts that Raven do Warzone, Treyarch run the DMZ and SHG will handle the MW2 Premium Expansion.

Warzone makes up about 90% of their post-release revenue from weighing up a few articles. In the original Warzone, they used to make in two months on cosmetics what they'd receive in unit sales total; of the entire standalone COD game. I think they deliberately starve or withhold content for the MP portion so they don't detract users away from Warzone especially in the early days. Player counts mean nothing now - it's all about the average user spend and that is inflated significantly in the BR mode. Once Warzone peaks and settles then it's a careful balancing act on content with the MP mode so they keep both happy without either losing players altogether or driving people away from Warzone. Treyarch really came out of the woodwork last year because people were not only abandoning Caldera but also Cold War so they continued supporting that along with Rebirth Island. The player counts are hidden and have been for a long time and the Steam API data is merged so it's hard to determine who plays what but based on the daily player counts previously announced for Warzone spanning tens of millions per day, the MP aspect is definitely nowhere close and probably less than what it was a decade ago.

There is a reasonable amount of content as a whole but not really for core MP and that’s what a lot of people play. Vanguard launched with 20 original maps whereas MW2 launched with about 8 and both ‘new’ maps are just rehashes. It just isn’t enough for many people if you’re only looking to play the core multiplayer portion. If you dislike a few maps then you may end up hating about 30% of them which further diminishes the enjoyment. As this content is free, they aren’t going to give much away or dedicate a huge amount of time on it because it doesn’t provide a determined return so just like MW2019, they will drip feed a few maps here and there and then we’ll see the premium £60 DLC next year which will probably have another 8 maps or so. If it was paid map packs like before, it would be a different story though as there would be an incentive in place. The big problem is the consistency and communication from the devs - it’s absolutely shite from IW and I don’t think they have a clear forwarding strategy on what to do next. Fortnite developers put this lot to absolute shame as no matter how dead that game comes, they can still grow it out of nowhere with beautifully constructed updates that have been planned very carefully. IW just wing it and they only have the MP to worry about - Raven and Treyarch handle everything else right now and then Sledgehammer are making the expansion for next year. I’m currently playing Plutonium and that has about 60 maps so I can’t see myself going back to MW2 anytime soon. A COD game needs and deserves about 16 original maps at launch and this should be the expectation. 7, 9 and 10 just isn’t enough and one new map every 6 weeks is a dismal return especially if it’s recycled content.

Skull and Bones delayed for a SIXTH time. Just cancel this POS Ubisoft and stick to making the same old AC/Far Cry safe shite as it's clear they can't handle anything else. 3 other titles cancelled too which must take the total close to 10 in the last few years alone. Company is an absolute joke! Ubisoft Cancels Three Unannounced Games, Delays Skull and Bones for the Sixth Time - IGN WWW.IGN.COM Ubisoft has announced that it has, for the sixth time, delayed Skull & Bones, as well as canceled three more unannounced games amid "major challenges" in the industry, the underperformance of Mario +...

They are basically the same game aside from the terrain. 4 for the UK experience and 5 for Mexico - depends what you prefer but 4 is way more fleshed out.

In that case then I'd grab an S. It is a digital-only console so he'll be able to play any digitally purchased titles previous plus any active Xbox Game Pass titles when signed into an existing account. The console may experience some significant limitations in a couple of years and some games may not even get supported by it, plus the trade in value by then will be incredibly low (less than £80) if he wanted to upgrade. If possible, I would also consider getting the £166 on a voucher and just keeping the Xbox One S for the rest of the year. Then trade that in come Christmas and if there is a Series X price drop then it may only be an extra £80-100 with the £166 on record and any £50-odd+ for the Xbox. You could pick up a Series S in the bargain bins for £180 last year too. If he just wants a new console right now that will do a turn for a couple of years then go for it but once again Microsoft have given customers a console which seemed appealing in price but it's more of a tactic to get paid off twice at the very least.

This game looks very promising and a huge step up even from the highly successful original

Best advice is don't get an Xbox Series S because it's literally a sideways step compared to the Xbox One. If he has any extra money available, I'd trade the two in and then pay the difference to get a Series X. The S is pretty weak and developers are already raising major concerns about its limitations even in the short term. Just like the first generation of Xbox 360's, people will end up having no choice but to buy the newer model else suffer an significantly inferior experience plus also potentially miss out on newer titles even just a couple of years away.

Oxford 0-3 Arsenal We kept Arsenal’s first team comfortably at bay for 63 minutes but fell apart defensively after such a strong first half display where they didn’t even have a shot on target. We barely have any forward options so goals were always gonna be hard to get but we just didn’t create enough. Should’ve tightened up at the back too on the hour mark really. I honestly couldn’t believe how many times their players went down like a sack of shit every 5 minutes feigning injury though - even Saka was at it which was disappointing to see and he had a shocker all game. These Prem players are a joke and the ref bought everything. I’ll be surprised if Arsenal win anything this season though - thought Forest Green were more impressive😎

Really enjoyed watching Bale over the years - saw him go from a babyfaced left back at Spurs into a world class footballer. Went to see Spurs v Inter when he ended the career of Maicon who was regarded as the best right back in the world at the time. Pity he grew fed up of football in the last few years and was really demotivated but he won so much and now is probably the best time to duck out of the game because even if his heart is still in it, his legs aren’t now.

Almost fixed - just the strategy section needs a bit of reducing🙂

Also the 'game' has supposedly been moved to Unreal 5 yet the new 'gameplay' footage looks like The Division from Wish and about 8 years out of date. Also having to add in muzzle flash as a bought asset into your flagship trailer is one of the most desperately embarrassing things I've seen in a long time. We've had 1 screenshot, a questionable trailer and about 20 seconds of supposed gameplay in a year and the way this game is being developed and the devs own track record just stinks really.

Kerbal Space Program FREE on Epic until the 12th https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/kerbal-space-program Shadow Tactics AIko's Choice also FREE on Epic https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/shadow-tactics-aikos-choice-5678c1

Looks decent - a mix of Wargame and Generals with some nice attention to detail with the effects

Just keeps getting worse and worse

Jesus christ look at this shit materalise in Birmingham Councils bitching about a lack of funding yet this is where it is spent. They didn't even fix or resurface the pavement before they did this shit-show either.

Not sure if this is a deliberate change but the spacing in the forum categories has increased on a few because the game subforums now show in list form rather than next each other. This means I have to scroll up and down longer and it hurts my middle finger which I need to swear at neighbours and cyclists with on a daily basis with.

Ronaldo is washed up and needs to accept it. He's had a fantastic career and been very successful but his bevhaiour and desperation in recent months has really tainted his image. Turned into a very bad role model for younger players with his on and off-pitch antics plus his critical comments about playing in fringe leagues has really turned into huge hypocrisy now. If he cut his wages then he could've played in the CL guaranteed or remained in a high-profile league but not wanting to earn less than £600,000-odd a week as a basic wage limited his options and he's not up to the standard required for the CL as it is. Messi winning the world cup has also been a hammer blow to his reputation and a part of me thinks the move is just to lay low but as a lot of media sources are pointing out, it's very unsettling for his family.

I watched No Time To Die Last Night for the first time. Satisfactory conclusion to the Daniel Craig James Bond story arc in what has become a very messed up timeline. The film itself was very wayward in tone - the opening 10 minutes resembled some sort of Twin Peaks drama and then it delved into a very lighthearted style similar to Mission Impossible before its Die Another Day-style outrageous finale before its tragic ending. The film just shifted tonally too much for my liking and it all became a bit of a mess. The main villain was quite OTT and very under-used and I can't decide if the scientist was a terrible actor or just a poorly written character. Ana De Armas's was fantastic but she only got about 10 minutes and the villain with quite possibly the worst fade haircut ever didn't really convince as an actor or character either. I did think some of the action scenes were good but the film tried too hard to be part-successor to On Her Majesty's Secret Service and at the same time go out with a bang. It was just all a bit too weird and I think a completely fresh perspective is needed for the future of James Bond and now would be a good time to do a full character wipe of the existing actors and start afresh.

I still play IW4X/Plutonium clients and the difference between that and what we have now is crazy! It's exactly how COD used to be in its golden age. Nowadays you can feel the underlying manipulation in operation but now it's become dynamic which is adds to the frustration. I didn't mind as much with it during Cold War or even MW2019 because if you were in a BS-laden match, you knew right from the get-go but here you can see your performance nosedive through these artificial factors as the game wears on and that's why I don't believe it's anything server-related because a) your connection wouldn't decline this way and b) Activision have literally patented the concept to fuck you on the fly. I really miss the host advantage P2P days because although one would likely thrive, at least 12 players weren't playing at a disadvantage unbeknownst to them. SBMM is one thing but adding rigging on top will never give a fair, smooth or satisfactory experience.

Yeah it’s definitely not latency or lag comp related. I don’t think we’ve had bad servers in COD since Black Ops 4 and this is definitely not a core netcode issue either. I saw another video on TikTok that I will try and recover where a couple of guys actually tested the same weapon in a live environment between two different players - it was an online public game and they roped the whole lobby into not playing so they could test it. With exactly the same gun, one player needed 3 bullets to kill and the other required 5 clear as day. Same weapon, class, body location and target player yet two very different outcomes. So many other videos where people are really putting scenarios to the test and evidence of bullshit is coming to light. I can also see why all these reverse-boosting streamers die to freak one hit kills in Warzone now and why they are now inching into fire free bot-lobbies in desperation😂

Here's a snippet of just one of the vile patents that have corrupted this franchise. I will try and collate the rest when I have the time, plus to break it down and exclude all the nauseating waffle and key points. Basically to cut a long story short, the better you are at the game(s), the less base-health you have, the more accurate you have to be and the more challenging lobbies you will experience. The chances of ever getting better at the game are virtually non-existent. Lower-skilled players have a lower threshold for accuracy and more underlying health. Weapon damage output is also scaled so things like statistics which Drift0r used to break down are totally worthless. If you've ever experienced matches turning on their heads or a sudden nosedive in personal performance during a game, then the game is deliberately scaling you down dynamically rather than you doing anything wrong. If you died 6 times in a row after being 12-1 up then it's not on you or the opponents momentum - it's the game. Also all these comebacks and games that end closer than they should are all dictated by these elements in play. These are also damning factors for the likes of Warzone - you run into a much weaker player and they may have significantly more health and you are vulnerable by virtue of ability. The video in my OP literally shows perfectly landed bullets not even counting and from the enemy's perspective, the bullets didn't even hit allowing them to melt the opponent without even being flinched. It's all pretty disgusting really "[0080] Once an assessment is made, the computer program that executes the gaming environment modifies elements of the session and/or gameplay parameters as the session is being created based on the aggregate skill level. In embodiments, session modifications may include, but are not limited to: adjusting the number of enemies, adjusting the complexity of puzzles; and player adjustments, which may include the player's health, damage, speed, available abilities, and difficulty level. In one embodiment, a player's health is scaled based on the player's skill level by. At 306, data corresponding to acquired skill level of each player is generated and presented to a player via a game console, resulting in each player within a team experiencing a different degree of difficulty or challenge while still experiencing the same content in the same gameplay session.[0081] FIG. 3B illustrates a table providing an exemplary list of parameters of a gameplay session that are modified based on a player's skill level and the corresponding experience for players of different skill levels. For example, in a first-shooter gaming environment, when a first player aims his weapon at a target, a parameter defining the tolerance for how accurate the player's aim must be to hit the target is modified based on the acquired skill level of the player. The computer assigns the tolerance for how accurate the player's aim must be to hit the target differently based on the skill level of the first player. A player having a higher skill level will be assigned a lower tolerance parameter and therefore, will have to be more accurate in aiming in order to hit the target. A player having a lower skill level be assigned a higher tolerance parameter and, therefore, could be less accurate in aiming in order to hit the target. As shown, column 310 of Table 1 lists modifiable parameters such as `degree of accuracy required to hit a target`, column 312 lists the experience of a player having a `high` skill level, which may be `high degree of accuracy required`, column 314 lists the experience of a player having a `medium` skill level, which may be `medium degree of accuracy required`, and column 316 lists the experience of a player having a `low` skill level, which may be `low degree of accuracy required`. Similarly, the table lists other modifiable parameters, such as `likelihood of being targeted by enemy`, where the experience of a player having a `high` skill level may be `high degree of likelihood`, the experience of a player having a `medium` skill level may be `medium degree of likelihood`, and the experience of a player having a `low` skill level may be `low degree of likelihood`. Another example parameter is `difficulty of an in-game puzzle`, where the experience of a player having a `high` skill level may be `high degree of difficulty`, the experience of a player having a `medium` skill level may be `medium degree of difficulty`, and the experience of a player having a `low` skill level may be `low degree of difficulty`. Another example parameter is `bonus chance of finding powerful treasure`, where the experience of a player having a `high` skill level may be `medium degree of chance`, the experience of a player having a `medium` skill level may be `high degree of chance`, and the experience of a player having a `low` skill level may be `very high degree of chance`. Yet another example parameter is `number of challenging enemies in a single encounter`, where the experience of a player having a `high` skill level may be a high number, for example 10-20, the experience of a player having a `medium` skill level may be a medium number, for example 5-10, and the experience of a player having a `low` skill level may be a low number, for example 1-5. Still another example parameter is `gold earned multiplier`, where the earning of a player having a `high` skill level may be `high`, for example 1.5.times., the earning of a player having a `medium` skill level may be `medium`, for example 1.25.times., and the earning of a player having a `low` skill level may be `low`, for example 1.times.. One more example parameter is `friendly-fire damage amount to team-mates`, where the experience of a player having a `high` skill level may be `high degree of damage`, for example 100% of damage, the experience of a player having a `medium` skill level may be `medium degree of damage`, for example 50% of damage, and the experience of a player having a `low` skill level may be `low degree of damage`, for example 0% of damage."