Oct 27
When it comes to debating Star Wars, the prevailing thought is that all opinions are equal. Where that changes ever so slightly is if you’re 7 foot 4 inches tall and were just drafted number one overall in the NBA.
Oct 27
Respawn Entertainment is adding a long-awaited feature to Apex Legends: cross-platform progression. When the new season goes live on October 31, players will see an in-game message that explains how this works. EA plans to phase everyone in gradually to avoid overwhelming its systems.
The profile with the highest account level will be designated as your primary account. You’ll maintain that level, and (with some exceptions) all of the cosmetics, achievements and badges from other profiles that are linked to the same EA ID will be merged into the master account. An EA ID is required to play Apex on any platform.
Account merging for cross-progression is mandatory, Respawn said, but it means that those who play the battle royale across multiple platforms will, for the most part, have access to their cosmetic items and currencies no matter where they happen to be playing at a given time. You’ll also make progress on the same battle pass whether you’re playing on PC, PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo Switch. Respawn noted that nothing will change for folks who only play on one platform with a single profile. However, you’ll only retain your stats from your primary account.
Cross-progression has been a long time coming. Respawn has been chipping away at the feature since at least 2020, the same year the studio enabled cross-platform play. However, work on cross-progression was delayed by hacks that impacted Apex and both Titanfall games.
Account merging is arriving alongside an intriguing new playable character. Her name is Conduit and she’s a support who is focused on shields. With her tactical ability, Radiant Transfer, she can supply nearby teammates with extra temporary shields. If her chums are out of range of her tactical, she can get a burst of speed as she races toward them, thanks to her passive ability. Conduit’s ultimate is called Energy Barricade. She’ll deploy a row of seven shield jammers that will slow and damage enemies.
Conduit is said to be a superfan of the Apex Games — for one of her finishers, she takes a selfie of her and her enemy before delivering a fatal punch. The support has ties to the Titanfall games as well. She carries a battery from a titan on her back, and this powers her combat rig.
Elsewhere, Respawn has revamped the Storm Point map with six new points of interest. Respawn tweaked around 40 percent of the map to make it smaller. The aim is to push players to engage with each other more often and to deliver faster-paced action.
Meanwhile, there’s more good news for some players thanks to big changes to Ranked play. There will no longer be any restrictions on grouping up as a trio, so Bronze and Silver players will be able to play the competitive mode with buddies who are at higher ranks and vice versa.
It seems that Respawn has a plan to mitigate account boosting, whereby more skilled individuals help carry low-ranked players up the ladder. The studio is introducing a skill check system, called promotional (or promo) trials. Those who are on the verge of reaching the next rank will first have to complete a challenge to prove that they’re good enough. For instance, they may have five attempts to win a match in order to rank up. Otherwise, they can place in the top 10 three times and get three kills or assists three times within those five matches.
If a player fails this time-limited skill check, they’ll have to work their way back to the promo trial. They’ll gradually get more trial matches (up to 10) to complete their objective. If they perform exceptionally poorly and reach the limit of trial games, they might be pushed far down the Ranked ladder and have to put in even more legwork to have a chance of reaching the next skill tier.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apex-legends-will-finally-support-cross-platform-progression-150059645.html?src=rss
Oct 27
Al Jazeera Journalist Still Reporting After Israel Kills His Family In Gaza: ‘It Was My Duty’
Posted in: Today's ChiliGaza Bureau Chief Wael Dahdouh said it was his “duty” to return to work and cover the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, despite his massive loss.
Oct 27
When it comes to debating Star Wars, the prevailing thought is that all opinions are equal. Where that changes ever so slightly is if you’re 7 foot 4 inches tall and were just drafted number one overall in the NBA.
Oct 27
Threads finally has built-in options for posting GIFs and polls. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the updates on Thursday, replying with his own GIFs and polls to a string of users who’d questioned when these features would come to the platform. Both have begun rolling out for the Threads app and on the web, though polls seems to be taking a bit longer to make its way to the latter.
While users could previously post GIFs using workarounds like third-party keyboards or by copy/pasting them from elsewhere, with mixed results, there was no native button in the app itself. Now, users will see a GIF button in the post creation window next to the image gallery button, which will pull up a searchable GIPHY library to choose from.
For polls, users will be able to add up to four choices for others to vote on, and control who can and can’t respond. Polls will stay open for 24 hours after they’re posted, and only people who responded to the poll will be able to see the results as they come in. The poll button will appear in the post creation toolbar as three horizontal lines.
GIFs and polls have become staple features on Twitter, where they’ve been available for years, and users who have turned to Threads as an alternative have been asking for them since the beginning. Instagram got GIF replies this past spring and polls only last week, so their arrival on Threads was perhaps an obvious next step. Slowly but surely, Threads has been adding more and more to the experience as it finds its footing, and it seems to be working. Just yesterday, Zuckerberg said the platform now has almost 100 million monthly active users.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-now-has-polls-and-an-easy-way-to-post-gifs-184330729.html?src=rss
Oct 27
Senate candidate Tim Sheehy has repeatedly decried what he views as wasteful spending by the Biden administration — but it turns out his company benefited from it.
Oct 27
When it comes to debating Star Wars, the prevailing thought is that all opinions are equal. Where that changes ever so slightly is if you’re 7 foot 4 inches tall and were just drafted number one overall in the NBA.
Oct 27
Daimler has finally started producing its flagship medium-duty electric truck, the Freightliner eM2, in its manufacturing plant in Portland, Oregon. The company didn’t say when its first production units will be available but once they are complete, the vehicles will be delivered to select commercial leasing companies in the US and Canada.
The eM2 is powered by a battery-electric Detroit ePowertrain and is designed with 2-speed transmissions that minimize energy cost per mile. The truck’s driving range will depend on the battery capacity per model. The class 6 single-motor version that has a 194 kWh battery can drive up to 180 miles on a single charge. Alternatively, the class 7 dual-motor which is equipped with a 291 kWh battery can drive up to 250 miles on a single charge.
The Freightliner eM2 electric delivery truck, which has been in the works since 2019, was able to be recharged to 200 miles in 60 minutes during testing with Penske. But that test was four years ago, and the company didn’t say anything about recharge times in today’s news. Access to charging stations, like the ones being developed by Penske, will be essential for Daimler’s rollout of the eM2. In a similar regard, Volvo, which contends against Daimler in the EV long-haul trucking space, has been focused on improving the battery ranges of vehicles in its truck fleet. The Volvo FE electric truck, which competes against the eM2, has a range of up to 170 miles and is expected to be out for deliveries in autumn of this year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/daimler-begins-manufacturing-freightliner-em2-electric-trucks-185447791.html?src=rss
Oct 26
Great American Family CEO Has Disappointing Response To Candace Cameron Bure Backlash
Posted in: Today's ChiliBill Abbott said the “Full House” actor’s views on LGBTQ+ films “are not necessarily those of the company,” but stopped short of a complete rebuttal.
Oct 26
Robert Kirkman, the prolific comic writer behind The Walking Dead and Invincible, is gearing up for the second season of his superhero satire. But when he’s writing out the seasons of the Prime Video show, he has the benefit of hindsight; the original Invincible comic book series was first published in 2010, from…
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