So I've been reflecting on Stadia as a service while trying to sell my premiere kit on Kijiji(planning to get back on Stadia after CCwGTV support). I offered to explain a couple potential buyers how it works and how they can test for free with a pro trial before making the purchase. They were actually pretty impressed how it ran on their laptop pretty smoothly and with their own PS4 controllers.
Which brings me to this post. Do people not understand that this is legit the best thing to happen to gaming since online play? Sometimes I think we forget how far we've come as a society in terms of technology because we're living in it. If you told me 10-15 years ago that I had the flexibility of being able to play streamed next gen games on any potato laptop/phone with no input lag for a small monthly fee, I'd join in a heartbeat.
Yes the library sucks for now but its getting better everyday and always available as a neutral option even if you own next gen consoles. With services like Xbox Gamepass, its clear flexible cloud gaming is the future so why people are choosing to have an expensive middle man is something I don't understand. The only reason I can think of is for exclusives which is fair and will probably be a reason I buy one of these consoles eventually when theyre cheaper. But as a patient and casual gamer, I'm completely fine with Stadia for now and hope it sticks around.
The only criticism I have for Stadia is that there should be an option to download the game for life for offline play. It should be your responsibility as the owner of the game to ensure you have the hardware to run it if you want to play offline. If I pay $80 for a game like steampunk and theres a month I dont feel is worth paying Stadia for, I feel I should atleast have access to it offline. With that being said, this is a minor inconvenience I'm willing to put up with for fact that we live in an age where we can freakin stream next gen games on minimal hardware.
EDIT: So TIL that you don't actually need a Stadia Pro membership to actually play games you purchased before:

What happens to the games that I purchased if my Stadia Pro subscription or trial subscription ends?You'll still be able to access and play the games that you purchased when you no longer have an active Stadia Pro subscription. Note that non-subscribers can stream games only up to 1080p resolution and 60 FPS.

​

Source: https://www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/49925
What’s better: One gift, or a bunch of gifts?
Yeah. We thought so too.
Today we’re releasing a few exciting things to enhance everyone’s Destiny 2 experience. Whether you’re a seasoned Guardian or a New Light, this is a great time to explore the world of Destiny.
Kicking off the free updates are the next-gen optimizations originally announced during the launch of Beyond Light. These start with cross-play functionality that enables Xbox One owners to play with Xbox Series X|S owners and PlayStation 4 owners to play with PlayStation 5 owners. Guardians are immediately able to journey to Europa with everyone upgrading to next gen.
Additionally, the new consoles tap into their cutting-edge hardware to vastly improve load times throughout Destiny 2. Everything from launching the game to opening menu screens and navigating through inventory became snappier and more responsive.
The optimizations arriving today bring even more to the next-gen table (it’s a floating holographic table).
Stunning 4K 60 FPS is now available on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Not only that, but on supported displays, there’s even an optional 120Hz Crucible Mode that cranks things up to 120 FPS during Crucible PvP matches.
Another first for Destiny console players is also landing today: Custom field of view settings. Now, the power to fine tune a Guardians field of view from narrow and focused to wide and perceptive is available on console.
Upgrade from the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of Destiny 2 today absolutely free.
Next up is the new Destiny 2 Companion App. This time-saving app allows players to swap gear loadouts, retrieve lost items from the Postmaster, manage clans, track progress, discover when events go live in game, find fireteams, and much more.
Today’s update adds the ability to acquire bounties prior to an activity while they’re hanging out in the Tower, floating in orbit, or even completely offline. Want to launch Destiny 2 and get straight to the action? Grab those bounties in orbit, at the Tower, or before logging in.
Download the app on iOS and Android today.
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4K 60 FPS activated, Companion App installed, field of view locked in? It’s time to go get Hawkmoon. We called our shot on the Season of the Hunt page and now the quest is live. The fan-favorite Exotic from the original Destiny returns – time to hunt the Hand Cannon that makes every bullet count... some more than others.
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Last but not least, the Prophecy dungeon is back! The stylish dungeon originally released in Season of Arrivals returns and is available to all players. Whether you were too busy trying to save entire planets from the Pyramid ships or you’re new to the Destiny community (welcome, btw), everyone who missed out when it was first launched can now take a ride down the rainbow road.
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Thanks for reading and thanks for playing. Enjoy the holidays!

Source: https://www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/49918
This week at Bungie, we prepare for next gen.
It’s been a while since we last spoke. I mean, it hasn’t been too long. We took a quick week off for holiday, but we’re back to the grind. There’s a bit to catch up on. Since the last TWAB, new Exotics have been discovered throughout Europa. Banshee has found new memories. The Deep Stone Crypt has been infiltrated. A dinosaur was sent into space.
Quite a few of you have been asking about raid statistics. It’s always fun seeing how many players took on the challenge for a completion during the first week. We dug through our databases and found some fun stats to share, and we’re happily surprised by how many of you completed your first ever Jacket Quest.
Day 1 Stats (Unique Raid Activity Clears)

Last Wish	Garden of Salvation	Deep Stone Crypt
4	551	29,814

Launch +10 Days Stats

Statistic	Last Wish	Garden of Salvation	Deep Stone Crypt
Unique Raid Activity Clears	3,555	33,152	258,049
Total Player Hours	2,185,983	2,807,504	7,156,651
Total Kills	338,667,495	446,461,881	1,100,488,566
Total Deaths	32,734,027	42,676,699	85,008,596

A final fun fact: Over 979,680 Guardians unlocked The Lament since the quest went live. That’s a LOT of sword damage.
Now that we’ve covered the time that’s passed, let’s get back to business.

Light Keepers – Charity Update!

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Earlier this week we kicked off our Game2Give Light Keepers charity initiative and, to no one’s surprise, the Destiny community has shown up in force. At the time of writing this TWAB, you’ve already raised above $450k, and we’re still in the first week! Our overall goal is to raise $2 Million, and we're well on our way.
We also announced our charity milestone rewards, one of which you’ve already unlocked. In case you missed it, say hello to the concept art of our upcoming Dawning 2020 Titan universal Ornament.
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If you’d like to chip in a few dollars for charity, head over this way to help out and donate. We have more Dawning concept art to share, and some lore readings from special guests once you break the $1 million donation mark!

• $250k – Dawning 2020 Titan universal ornament concept art
  
  • (You've already smashed this milestone)
• $500k – Dawning 2020 Warlock universal ornament concept art
  
• $750k – Dawning 2020 Hunter universal ornament concept art
  
• $1 million – Dawning 2020 Legendary Reward preview
  
• Every $100k after reaching $1 million – Guest lore reading
  

For the full schedule of featured streamers, head on over to the Game2Give website to learn more.

Return of the Banner

With the raid done and dusted, Lord Saladin is ready to get Guardians back into the Iron Banner. This will be the first Iron Banner to feature Stasis powers, so we’re all excited for what’s to come.
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For any New Lights out there, Iron Banner is a limited time 6v6 Crucible activity with Power-enabled combat. While artifact power is disabled, you’ll want to infuse and equip your most powerful gear before jumping in.
Similar to Control, there are three zones on the map for your team to capture. The more zones you hold, the more points you get when defeating Guardians. If your team is brave enough to capture all three zones, the opposing team will be locked out of capturing zones for a short duration. In other words, this is your time to shine while your enemies cower in fear.
To say it clearly, capping those zones is one of the most important things you can do. Stay close to your teammates, slay your enemies, and enjoy the spoils of victory!
Lord Saladin can be found in The Tower, offering Iron Banner bounties with pinnacle-powered rewards. If you’d like to adorn your Guardian in Iron Banner-themed loot, he’s got you covered. Two weapons from the first year of Destiny 2 have been reprised, now featuring random rolls! Additionally, the Iron Will armor set is making its return, updated to accept new combat mods.
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Iron Banner begins at 9 AM on December 8, running through 9 AM on December 15.
Truth be told, you’ll be downloading an update right before Iron Banner becomes available. You know what that means? It’s time for a patch note preview.

It's All in the Patch... Notes

December 8 can’t come soon enough. In just a few short days, next-generation enhancements will be coming to Destiny 2! In case you missed our next-gen article, here’s a quick refresher of the update coming next week:
Feature

Feature	Xbox Series X	PlayStation 5	Xbox Series S
Resolution	4K	4K	1080p
Framerate	60fps	60fps	60fps
120hz Crucible Support	Supported*	Supported*	Not Supported
Field of View Slider	Yes	Yes	Yes
Faster Load Times	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cross-Generation Play	Yes	Yes	Yes
Next-Generation Upgrade Free	Xbox Smart Delivery	Yes	Xbox Smart Delivery

For all details concerning our next gen enhancements, click here!
Destiny 2 Update 3.0.1 has quite a bit more under the hood. The team has been working on some bug fixes for issues found around launch, but we also have a few promises to keep. Let’s dig in.
Dungeons - Prophecy

• The Prophecy Dungeon will be returning to Destiny 2 on December 8, 2020.
  
  • This endgame activity is free to all players.
  • Powerful rewards may be earned from each checkpoint once per week.
  • Players may complete the dungeon once per week to obtain a pinnacle-powered reward.
  • Previously featured weapon and armor rewards are available once more.

Destiny Companion App – Bounties

• Beginning next week, players may acquire bounties from Destiny 2 vendors using the Destiny Companion App.
  
  • Bounties may only be acquired when players are Offline, In Orbit, or in The Tower.
• This will be introduced through a Companion App update, which is planned for December 8, 2020.
  
  • Stay tuned to @BungieHelp for more on this Companion App update.

New Light – Resolved Issues

• Fixed an issue with the New Light subclass quest where Ikora's waypoint was suppressed.
• Fixed an issue where veteran players with two characters of the same class were blocked from acquiring their subclasses.
• Fixed an issue where a step on the New Light pursuit was not granting experience.
• Fixed an issue where players who skip the Shotgun chest in the first mission did not receive Special ammo when the Shotgun was granted.

Monument to Lost Lights

• Fixed an issue where the waypoint on the Exotic Archive Vendor continues to flash for players who own all Exotics.

Collections

• Badges and Armor in Collections correctly select player's class.
• Fixed an issue where the UI would forget which page the player was on after previewing an item in Collections.
• Fixed a bug where some new armor mods had incorrect sources listed in Collections.

Crucible

• Updated the mercy rule for Control and Clash to prevent it from triggering too early in the match.
• Fixed an issue where the "Survivor" medal could be awarded to players who were defeated during the round.
• Fixed an issue where the "Untouchable" medal could not be earned.

Beyond Light Exotics

• Icefall Mantle
  
  • Fixed a bug where the Icefall Mantle's description did not mention the slow field it generates when activated.
• Mask of Bakris
  
  • Improved the readability of the visual effects when another player wearing Mask of Bakris shifts directly toward you.
  • Updated the description string of Mask of Bakris's perk to correctly describe its damage bonus, which applies only to combatants and affects all Arc weapon damage and all damage against slowed or encased enemies.
    • Additionally, fixed an issue where this damage bonus was applying to players who are slowed or encased in Crucible and Gambit.
• Necrotic Grip
  
  • Fixed an issue where being killed by the effects of Necrotic Grip would show as being "Killed by the Architects."

We’ll have a full list of patch notes ready to go on December 8 when the patch becomes avaailble for download. Speaking of availability…

Player Support Dream Team

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With every patch, many of you ask what time you should set your alarm to in order to wake up for the fresh update. How long should you spend eating breakfast before hopping online? At what point should you shake your fists in the air because you forgot to set your console to auto update? Destiny Player Support has most of the answers we’re looking for. Some you may have to answer on your own!
This is their report.

UPDATE 3.0.1
Today, December 3, background maintenance for Update 3.0.1 will begin. Below is a timeline of events:

• December 3, 10 AM PST (1800 UTC): Destiny 2 background maintenance for Update 3.0.1 begins.
• December 3, 2PM PST (2200 UTC): Destiny 2 background maintenance for Update 3.0.1. completes.
• December 8, 7 AM PST (1500 UTC): Destiny 1 and 2 maintenance for Update 3.0.1 begins.
• December 8, 8 AM PST (1600 UTC): Players are removed from activities in Destiny 1 and 2 and won't be able to log back in until 9 AM PST when Update 3.0.1 is available.
• December 8, 9 AM PST (1700 UTC): Destiny 2 Update 3.0.1 is rolled out across all platforms and regions. Players can log back into Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 at this time. Ongoing maintenance is expected to conclude at 10 AM PST.
• December 8 10 AM PST (1800 UTC): Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 maintenance is expected to conclude.

NEXT-GEN CONSOLES
When Update 3.0.1 releases on December 8, next-gen console users (Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5) will need to download the full-size game, regardless if they have been playing Destiny 2 since Beyond Light’s launch. This does not affect Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or Steam users. Pre-load will not be available for this patch - pre-loads are usually only available for expansion type patches and are not available for hotfixes or seasonal updates.
The estimated patch sizes for Update 3.0.1 based on platforms are as follows:

• Xbox Series X|S 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~70.0 GB
• PlayStation 5 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~67.0 GB
• Xbox One 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~2.35 GB
• PlayStation 4 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~2.09 GB
• Steam 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~1.5 GB

Additionally, the updated Storage Requirements for Destiny 2 are as follows:

Platform	Destiny 2 Install Size	*Free Space Needed to Update *
Xbox Series X/S	70.0 GB	70.0 GB
PlayStation 5	67.0 GB	67.0 GB
PlayStation 4	70.78 GB	70.78 GB
Xbox One	65.7	65.7
PC	69.7 GB*	69.7 GB*

• PC: Destiny 2 install size may vary based on languages installed, size shown is maximum size possible.

UPCOMING RESOLVED ISSUES

• Below is a list of some issues expected to be resolved with Update 3.0.1:
• The lift tubes in the Warden of Nothing strike fully drain Super energy.
• The "Wanted: The Fanatic" Triumph is not being awarded after defeating the Fanatic in the Forsaken campaign.
• "The Hit List" Triumph is not being awarded after defeating all the Barons in the Forsaken campaign.
• The holograms from looped emotes, such as the Luxurious Toast and Feline Fancy emotes, disappear and leave players in a static position after the first loop ends.
• The Adored Sniper Rifle cannot be reacquired from the Collections.

**KNOWN ISSUES *
While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help Forum:

• Players who are colorblind may have difficulties seeing trails in Wrathborn Hunts.
• In the Last Wish raid, players will get the “Place Relic” prompt for Riven’s Heart even if they aren’t holding it.
• The Binary System ornament for Symmetry disables enemy highlighting in seeker mode.
• Some players are being forced to reacquire the Cryptolith Lure every time they launch the game.
• Major enemies that drop Moon weapon parts aren’t spawning.
• The Scourge of the Past armor can’t take Season of Arrivals mods.
• The Strength of Memory Challenge can’t be completed.
• Some icicles on the Rimed Ghost shell are black and don’t look like icicles.
• The Lost Lament quest sometimes progresses inconsistently/not at all and sometimes needs to be abandoned and reacquired to continue.
• Kills with the Jade Rabbit Exotic Scout Rifle no longer auto-refill its magazine.
• The Halcyon Visage Exotic Sparrow takes shaders poorly.
• The Selfie Emote functions poorly on ultrawide monitor setups.
• The Wisdom of the Witch Triumph no longer counts progress.
• Some players cannot progress past the first mission of A Guardian Rises.
• The Drifter sometimes misgenders players in idle dialogue and Gambit dialogue.
• Eris still has a Weekly Challenge for some players. This Weekly Challenge intentionally does not provide a Powerful reward.
• Flawless Execution on the Way of the Wraith Hunter subclass has a delayed trigger.
• Resetting Valor rank on step 4 of 5 on the Light Reforged Crucible quest prevents future Valor earned from being recorded for the quest.
• Multiple ships have their rocket effects floating behind the ship model.
• Shiver Strike Titan melee does not function with the Heavy Handed mod.
• Collections go back to the main menu instead of to the previous section.
• HDR isn’t working as intended.
• We’re investigating player reports that their veteran dialogue has been replaced with new character dialogue.

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

Don’t Fall for an Imposter

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Since the Deep Stone Crypt raid went live, we’ve been watching numerous fireteams take on the challenge. For some, it was their first trip through pinnacle content in Destiny 2. Exploring new zones, encountering new bosses, and earning new loot is always exciting! For others, this was an opportunity to take things to the limit by taking on the challenge solo. Who needs a backpack?
Movie of the Week: Solo Slayer
Video Link
Movie of the Week: Beneath the Ice
Video Link
Movie of the Week: Band of Bro
Video Link
If you’d like to throw your hat in the Movie of the Week ring, make sure to tag your video with #MOTW, submit it to the Community Creations page, and include any and all contributors to your video in the description.

Piecing Art Together

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‘Tis always the season to celebrate the artists of our community. Whether it be an awesome cosplay build, a slick digital piece, or a handcrafted replica of a raid boss using plastic construction toys, we’re excited to celebrate it!
Art of the Week: Blocktraks-1

She is done! Atraks-1, the First(?) Eliksni Exo. Her Encounter on Day one but was super Satisfying to beat together with my Day1 team! This is easly my proudest Destiny 2 Build, and I hope you all will enjoy it!
__________#Destiny2 #DeepStoneCrypt #LEGO #MOC @Bungie #DestinyArt pic.twitter.com/DJSWHtszT5
— Ernie (@TheCreeperIV) December 1, 2020

Art of the Week: Silence… and Squall

Silence and Squall@Bungie @DestinyTheGame @A_dmg04 @rDESTNYCREATION #BeyondLight #Destiny2 #DestinyArt #fanart pic.twitter.com/10oMGMScZA
— PJM (@PJM_Artwork) December 1, 2020

Art of the Week: Preparing for the Dawning

Preparations for 2020's dawning have started. ❄️#destinythegame #DestinyArt #BeyondLight pic.twitter.com/ERAZEKYQAI
— sentinelscg (@Konradodo) December 1, 2020

If you’d like to be featured, make sure to tag your creation with #DestinyArt wherever you happen to submit it! We frequently check Twitter, Instagram, and our very own Creations page for things to highlight.
That’s a wrap for this week. A bit to look forward to next week, and even more over the course of December. Thanks to that community art, I've just realized it's almost time for the Dawning. More on that soon…
Next week will be our final TWAB of the year. We’re entering a period where many of our employees will be spending time with family, celebrating the end of a year, and recharging for what’s to come in 2021. We’ll still be around to respond to your feedback, process bug reports, and keep the servers running.
Now, it’s time for me to raid. Looking for a better roll on my Trustee scout rifle from the Deep Stone Crypt. Any suggestions?
Cheers,
-dmg04

After a good launch for my game, i started to get some random questions from users across all the channels, but there were one user on reddit (u/TamoorGames) who had many questions and he sent them in a very nice and organized way (mostly asking about the Xbox and Nintendo Switch for each question), i did answer him. Although i own the answers, i did ask his permission to put his questions alongside my answers in public, just in case it can help someone. So, Enjoy it, and feel free to AMA.
​
Q.1: Have you signed up as Individual or as a company? Or enrolled into Xbox Creator Program? Can you please share the overall process in a quick brief.
- Singed by myself for both platforms, i only had to contact the ID@Xbox team, show them my game, they first didn't approve it as it was not polished enough, so i did try once more time after a couple of years, and then it was approved, and everything started from there. No not Creator Program, and tbh i don't even know what is Creator Program, will google it later.
For Nintendo, I did reach out the Nindies guy who was always on the youtube videos and on twitter (he left by now, a new guy came, and that new guy just left a year ago or so). But in general, this is how i showed my game, just reaching out the nindies team leader.
==================================================================================
Q.2: From which country you’d signed up? Is the Xbox Developer program available for developers all around the world? I’ll signup from Pakistan
- I did from China while I'm not Chinese, i would say Microsfot is the most open company, they don't have per region issues, like for example if you are in China and try to sort things with Sony or Nintendo, it won't be that easy...not at all. Because you've then to go through Japan office (due to region), but then you targeting the western market and English only game...it becomes a lot of communications and troubles.
==================================================================================
Q.3: Can we publish any game on Xbox? Or first we need to get concept approval from Xbox and then we can start our development. Or does Xbox have any categories on which we can only develop our games? e.g. shooting, puzzle etc
- While the certain answer for this question is not from me, but I would say any game. Xbox & Switch are platforms, mostly for gaming, despite the fact there are some apps in there (YouTube, Netflix,...etc.) so whatever your game genre or type is, I'm sure if they like it they won't mind it on their platform.
==================================================================================
Q.4: Which Game engine have you used to develop your game? I am using UNITY. Is it good for Xbox or i’ve to consider any other game engine?
- Unreal. Any Engine is good for any platform. Don't let the engine be your biggest issue, we're are in 2020, all Engines are great and most of them are cross platform. if you are not so confident about Unity, you can just remember it made Cuphead, Ori franchise, Max & Magic Marker, and many more Xbox exclusives. And if we start thinking about Unity games made for Switch, we will have endless list! Even more than Unreal based titles, as Unity already prove that it is super optimized engine for Nintendo devices since the WiiU and 3ds.
==================================================================================
Q.5: Can you please share the list of Hardware that you used for Xbox development and testing? E.g. Does Xbox have their own development kit or we can test our game on any Xbox? Which Xbox you used?
- Yes, i used devkits. With that said, i learned that any Xbox One (consumer device) can be turned to a devkit mode. I tested my game on Xbox One S & Xbox one X (the weakest and the Powerful one, so i can grantee the performance).
For Nintendo, i can't explain what hardware i did use, but once you are approved you've access to the documentations where you can read about the different hardware types, and then you can based on your use and game type or development type request the hardware that you need.
But all in all, for any platform, you need their hardware (aka devkit). And at least one device per platform.
==================================================================================
Q.6: What are the main reasons for rejection from Xbox? And what factors do I need to consider while developing my game?
- If you mean rejected as a project to be released on the platform, I guess when my game rejected first time, because it hasn't a "Full playable loop". Start, Play, End, Restart if you want. It was a punch of levels, not connected, no UI & lots of Debug menus. Xbox team (or any other platform) they need a very clean and clear vision so they can decide..
==================================================================================
Q.7: What kind of Legal document and other Document Xbox require? This will help me to save time by preparing in advance.
- Most of the documents as far as i can remember, they send to you. You don't produce documents, you just read and sign (of course if you find it make sense and nothing against your goals or considerations). Xbox was the least demanding, Nintendo was fine, no magical papers were requested. But Sony for example would require your last fiscal year revenue breakdown and documents to proof that!
==================================================================================
Q.8: Do Xbox have their own tools for leaderboard, cloud, ranking & in-app purchases?
- Any Xbox player already know, all that called Xbox Live (which is a set of services), and most of the engines does have high level interface to deal with those services. Don't worry :) and there is always documentations and pages to help you, either at Xbox websites or at the engine (Unity at your case) site.
For Nintendo it is different, i don't have any online features in my game, because online in Nintendo is treated differently, where any user on Xbox have online access and online features, in Nintendo the online features you purchase as a product (per month, per year,...etc.), so it is common to find many games doesn't have leaderboard or clouds save,...etc.
But again, all engines already have the high level interface for those features, regardless you will support them or no.
==================================================================================
Q.9: Can you please share the complexities of the Xbox development as you’d mentioned in your message? Like which development steps i can follow to avoid delays and rejections (Any Tips and Tricks)
- I was already familiar with the platform[s] (remember I'm already a game engine programmer), but what was new and seemed complex to me was the "rules" of the platform. Those are things you must read about at your first days of developing for the platform, due to NDA i can't talk further about that. But what i meant by the rules it is for example how to save, when to save, for example a platform would give you limit/bandwidth for saving calls per second, where other platform won't care and give you unlimited calls. Or what is the status of a player while playing (online/offline), some platforms won't care, where others would care a lot about that. Can a player change account while playing or not, some platforms would require, where others would not even allow.....etc. those are thing that vary between the different platforms, and they were the reason for any rejection i had (the ignorance of the rules). Because even if your game is already complete and finished before the port, the port to a platform is not just hit "Build", you have to "re-adapt" the game for the platform.
==================================================================================
Q.10: What advice would you like to give yourself, if you are starting today as an Xbox Developer?
- Don't rush things. And try to "Understand" the reason behind any thing in the platform. If you just adapt the game for the platform rules, you will have lots of complications, because you could make something to fit a rule, but it break with another rule. If you understand perfectly the platform, and the reason behind everything, you will not suffer during development.
==================================================================================
Q.11: What are the things you wished you knew when you were starting as an Xbox Developer?
- as i said, the platform set of rules. It takes time to know them correctly.
==================================================================================
Q.12: Can you please share any other tips and tricks or would like to add any point/Question if i am missing?
- just focus on the game more than on what platforms you need to target. If your game is good, solid, bug free, the platform stuff won't take much time. Also some info about how to be recognized by platforms could be changed, I've been Nintendo developer for long time, even before the Switch device announced, and I've been Xbox developer since 2014 i guess, when the ID program was announced. So things might be different, might be easier or might be harder now, not quite sure.
==================================================================================
Finally, few more points:

• I'll tag him as soon as i get his approval, i wanted to put his name, but yet there is no answer from him.
• All questions were duplicates, one version for Xbox and other version for Nintendo Switch, for the sake of making this shorter, i put the Xbox question version only, but each answer is about both.
• I wanted to put all those in Audio/Video format, but dunno, it is not my thing, and I'm not good at it.
• The game (if you're interested) is Chickens Madness, which is now on Steam, Xbox& Switch. Solo developed in 7 years.
• This is my twitter handle, follow if you're interested in the upcoming adventures :)

Sign-On has been reenabled & servers are slowly booting up - you might see a queue / "at capacity" messages.

All such posts will be redirected here.

(Background) Maintenace will last another hour (until 1900 UTC).

Hey Guardians,
Here's a megathread for the upcoming maintenance that will bring us Update 3.0.1 & the Next-Gen-Patch (PS5 & Xbox Series X|S only). All posts about the maintenance & next-gen-patch will be redirected to this thread.

Downtime will begin when this thread is one hour old. Some features of third party apps (like DIM) could be disabled right now.

Game Downtime is 1 HOUR (until DAILY RESET). Maintenance will take another hour after that to complete.

Most of the time the game is (more or less^{Contacting Destiny servers...}) playable during the ongoing Maintenance after the Downtime is over

Patch & Patchnotes should hit at DAILY RESET as well.

Please note that maintenance isn't fully over until one hour after reset, which means third party apps (like DIM, and your beloved DTG_Bot) might not completely work until then!

Next-Gen-Patch

A highlight of this patch is free Next-Gen-Support for PS5 & Xbox Series X|S, for all those lucky enough to snag one. Here is what you can expect (please read this article for all details):

Feature	Xbox Series X	PlayStation 5	Xbox Series S
Resolution	4K	4K	1080p
Framerate	60fps	60fps	60fps
120hz Crucible Support	Supported*	Supported*	Not Supported
Field of View Slider	Yes	Yes	Yes
Faster Load Times	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cross-Generation Play	Yes	Yes	Yes

^{* For supported platforms, 120hz Crucible requires a 120hz compatible display. When enabled, Destiny 2 switches to 120hz, lowers resolution, and lowers some advanced graphics settings upon entering a Crucible match. All other modes remain at 4k/60fps.}
Please note that affected consoles are required to basically re-download the entire game as soon as the patch is available:

• Xbox Series X|S 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~70.0 GB
• PlayStation 5 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~67.0 GB
• Xbox One 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~2.35 GB
• PlayStation 4 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~2.09 GB
• Steam 3.0.1’s patch download size: ~1.5 GB

There has been no indication that deleting the game has any benefit, so keep it installed and just let it copy the patch over it!

Other Patch Notes preview

Dungeons - Prophecy

• The Prophecy Dungeon will be returning to Destiny 2 on December 8, 2020.
  • This endgame activity is free to all players.
  • Powerful rewards may be earned from each checkpoint once per week.
  • Players may complete the dungeon once per week to obtain a pinnacle-powered reward.
  • Previously featured weapon and armor rewards are available once more.

Destiny Companion App – Bounties

• Beginning next week, players may acquire bounties from Destiny 2 vendors using the Destiny Companion App.
  • Bounties may only be acquired when players are Offline, In Orbit, or in The Tower.
• This will be introduced through a Companion App update, which is planned for December 8, 2020.
  • Stay tuned to @BungieHelp for more on this Companion App update.

New Light – Resolved Issues

• Fixed an issue with the New Light subclass quest where Ikora's waypoint was suppressed.
• Fixed an issue where veteran players with two characters of the same class were blocked from acquiring their subclasses.
• Fixed an issue where a step on the New Light pursuit was not granting experience.
• Fixed an issue where players who skip the Shotgun chest in the first mission did not receive Special ammo when the Shotgun was granted.

Monument to Lost Lights

• Fixed an issue where the waypoint on the Exotic Archive Vendor continues to flash for players who own all Exotics.

Collections

• Badges and Armor in Collections correctly select player's class.
• Fixed an issue where the UI would forget which page the player was on after previewing an item in Collections.
• Fixed a bug where some new armor mods had incorrect sources listed in Collections.

Crucible

• Updated the mercy rule for Control and Clash to prevent it from triggering too early in the match.
• Fixed an issue where the "Survivor" medal could be awarded to players who were defeated during the round.
• Fixed an issue where the "Untouchable" medal could not be earned.

Beyond Light Exotics

• Icefall Mantle
  • Fixed a bug where the Icefall Mantle's description did not mention the slow field it generates when activated.
• Mask of Bakris
  • Improved the readability of the visual effects when another player wearing Mask of Bakris shifts directly toward you.
  • Updated the description string of Mask of Bakris's perk to correctly describe its damage bonus, which applies only to combatants and affects all Arc weapon damage and all damage against slowed or encased enemies.
  • Additionally, fixed an issue where this damage bonus was applying to players who are slowed or encased in Crucible and Gambit.
• Necrotic Grip
  • Fixed an issue where being killed by the effects of Necrotic Grip would show as being "Killed by the Architects."

Others

• The lift tubes in the Warden of Nothing strike fully drain Super energy.
• The "Wanted: The Fanatic" Triumph is not being awarded after defeating the Fanatic in the Forsaken campaign.
• "The Hit List" Triumph is not being awarded after defeating all the Barons in the Forsaken campaign.
• The holograms from looped emotes, such as the Luxurious Toast and Feline Fancy emotes, disappear and leave players in a static position after the first loop ends.
• The Adored Sniper Rifle cannot be reacquired from the Collections.

(source)

Time	UTC	Action
7:00 AM PST	1500 UTC	Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 maintenance is scheduled to begin. Some Destiny Companion features may be unavailable on Web, Mobile, and Third-Party Apps.
8:00 AM PST	1600 UTC	Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 will be brought offline for expected maintenance. Players will be removed from activities and won't be able to log back into Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 until 9 AM PST on December 8. Destiny 2 Update 3.0.1 will begin rolling out across all platforms and regions.
9:00 AM PST	1700 UTC	Players will be able to log back into Destiny 1 and Destiny 2. Players logging into the game may be placed in a queue, and may experience sign-on issues as background maintenance is still ongoing.
10:00 AM PST	1800 UTC	Destiny 1 and Destiny 2 maintenance is expected to conclude. Console players who encounter issues updating to Update 3.0.1 should restart their console and try downloading the update. Players who observe issues should report to the #Help forum.

^source
Timezone convertor for Guardians in need.

Sub News: New Flairs available!

Our Flairmaster Glamdring804 recently added Beyond Light flairs to our flair selector tool, go check them out!
Unfortunately due to reddit limitations you can only see them on "old" reddit, sorry :( (due to other issues, like the TWAB not loading properly on "new" reddit, we always recommend to use "old" reddit on Desktop browsers).

I’ve been booted offline. Guy decided to flood my address with traffic. I called my ISP and all they tell me they can do is send me a new modem to change my IP address, and according to the internet, that probably won’t work anyway.
My buddy told me to just leave my modem unplugged for a couple hours and give it another try, and if that doesn’t work, try leaving it unplugged for an entire day to ensure I make the time of day when the IP address will reset on its own.
Currently using ATT and they are useless customer support agents who literally don’t even know what a DoS is.
Edit: Thanks for the insight guys. I unplugged the modem for two hours and just watched a movie. Assuming they noticed or found a new target and got bored with me. Turns out my modem’s firewall settings aren’t useful whatsoever. Sadly 12mb/s is the absolute fastest I can get, and I’m paying the same price I used to for triple the speed. I just live in a shitty area with nice homes.
Thank you guys so much.
Edit2: “How does OP know he got DDoS’d???”
OP got DoS’d, not DDoS’d. There were no network outages in my area and my ISP had no idea something like this was possible, because they are more than likely untrained professionals that read from a script after they type your question into a prompt.
ISP tech support is useless unless you manage to get a Tier 3 Engineer on the phone (apparently).
The guy literally told me he was going to bone my Internet, and he did. But for like 3 hours. Probably found a new victim and needed the bandwidth he was using on me for someone else.
Also assuming the butthole that did it can’t afford any botnets for DDoS’ing because he’s (probably) jobless and lives with his mom that buys his beer for him while he sits in his basement playing GTA on an Xbox next to their PC getting off to threatening people that upset them in a PvP game.

Edit (10:40 p.m. ET, Nov 24): Maintenance is complete and the Steel Dawn Update is now live. Thanks for your patience during downtime today, everyone. We hope you enjoy the new quests!
Hi, everyone! We've decided to release the Steel Dawn Update a week early on all platforms, and we expect Fallout 76 will be back online between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. ET. You can head here on Fallout.com to catch more details. While we're offline for maintenance, please feel free to check out the patch notes below:
Today marks the release of our Steel Dawn Update, and with it, the return of the Brotherhood of Steel to Appalachia. Take on the Steel Dawn questline, meet new characters, explore new locations, and lay claim to some new rewards. This update also introduces the C.A.M.P. Shelters feature, hunger and thirst improvements, and much more. Read on to catch the patch notes.

Update Highlights

• Ad Victoriam!: The Brotherhood of Steel is back! Explore the first chapter of their story, meet new characters, visit new and updated locations, and unlock rewards as you experience the all-new Steel Dawn questline.
• Head Underground: Flex those creative muscles by building out your very own instanced interiors with our first three C.A.M.P. Shelters.
• Gear Up: Complete Steel Dawn quests and take on Daily Ops to earn new weapons and armor that are straight from the Brotherhood arsenal.
• Don’t Just Survive, Thrive!: We’ve removed all negative effects from Hunger and Thirst. Instead, you’ll receive buffs that increase based on how well fed and hydrated you are.
• Save Those Atoms: (Coming December 1) Already have some of the items in an Atomic Shop bundle? No problem! Bundle prices now lower automatically if you already own any items they contain.

Update Version 1.5.0.19

Check the download sizes below for today’s patch on your platform of choice:

• PC (Bethesda.net): 8.3 GB
• PC (Microsoft Store): 16.4 GB
• PC (Steam): 8.8 GB
• PlayStation 4: 15.2 GB
• Xbox One: 16.0 GB

New Steel Dawn Questline

The Brotherhood of Steel has returned to Appalachia on a mission to reclaim the region for humanity, to preserve any tech they can find, and to find out what befell Paladin Taggerdy and her crew. Starting today, you can begin your journey with the Brotherhood of Steel and work toward a brighter future for Appalachia in the all-new Steel Dawn questline.

• Complete New Quests: Meet the new Brotherhood arrivals and begin your journey through the Steel Dawn questline by heading to Fort Atlas (formerly ATLAS Observatory) in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia.
  • Your level 20+ characters can begin the Steel Dawn quests immediately, even if you haven’t completed any prior Fallout 76 quest content.
  • When you log in with an eligible character, a quest called “Welcome to the Neighborhood” will prompt you to visit Fort Atlas.
  • Please note: You can now Fast Travel to Fort Atlas for free. However, if you had already discovered ATLAS Observatory before to today’s update, its icon will no longer be visible on your Map. You will need to revisit the area to discover Fort Atlas, which will cause its Map marker to appear.
• Meet New Faces: Get acquainted with new characters, like Paladin Rahmani, Knight Shin, Scribe Valdez, and many others who have arrived in Appalachia with the Steel Dawn Update.
• Explore New locations: We’ve added several new locations and updated a number of existing ones that you’ll delve into during your journey with the Brotherhood.
• Gear Up with New Rewards: Progress through the Steel Dawn questline and complete Daily Ops to earn a host of cosmetic, C.A.M.P., and item rewards, including the following new weapons and armor straight from the Brotherhood arsenal:
  • Crusader Pistol
  • Plasma Cutter
  • Hellstorm Missile Launcher
  • Brotherhood Recon Armor
  • You can purchase a variety of mods for these new items from Regs in Vault 79 using Gold Bullion, including mods that can alter each weapon to deal various types of elemental damage.
• Main Menu Updates: The Brotherhood has taken over the game’s Main Menu with an all-new background video and music.

C.A.M.P. Shelters

Head underground with C.A.M.P. Shelters, which are instanced interiors that you can add to your C.A.M.P. and customize to flex your creativity as a builder.

• We’ve added a brief new quest, called “Home Expansion,” to the game that all players must complete in order to gain access to the C.A.M.P. Shelters feature.
  • Begin the “Home Expansion” quest by reading a Shelters Claim Center poster in Train Stations throughout Appalachia. Or, find your way inside the Claim Center by locating a key in the northern Forest region.
• With today’s update, we’re introducing our first three C.A.M.P. Shelters, which each offer a different sized space to build in, and feature their own layouts and styles.
  • Vault Utility Room: After completing the “Home Expansion” quest, all players can claim the Vault Utility Room for free in the Atomic Shop.
• Please Note: Since we decided to release Steel Dawn early, only the Vault Utility Room will be available on November 24. The Vault Lobby and Atrium described below will arrive at a later date.
  • Vault Lobby: Fallout 1st Members can claim this medium-sized Shelter this month in the Fallout 1st section of the Atomic Shop. In the future, it will be available to all players for Atoms.
  • Vault Atrium: The largest of our first three Shelters, the Vault Atrium can be purchased using Atoms.
• Once you’ve claimed a C.A.M.P. Shelter, you can access its interior by building the associated Shelter Entrance in your C.A.M.P.
  • Your C.A.M.P. can contain one of each type of Shelter that you own, and you can build multiple Entrances to the same Shelter.
  • Find your available Shelter Entrances by scrolling to the new “Shelters” category in the C.A.M.P. Build Menu. Select the Entrance you’d like to build, and then head inside.
• Every Shelter has its own build budget that is separate from your main C.A.M.P., as well as any other Shelters you’ve built.
  • Your Shelter interiors will be saved as you build, so you won’t lose anything if you relocate your C.A.M.P., move your Shelter Entrances, or if your Entrances get destroyed.
  • Since they are instanced, Shelters are able to offer sizable build budgets. Currently, each of our first three Shelters have larger budgets than your main C.A.M.P.
• We’ve relaxed certain build restrictions inside Shelters by introducing a “Toggle Snapping” option that you can turn off to place objects anywhere you’d like, or turn on to snap objects to each other or the build grid.
  • Additionally, use the Shelter Control Panel inside of each C.A.M.P. Shelter to quickly scrap or repair everything you’ve built so far.

Design Updates

Dynamic Bundle Pricing

• Please Note: Since we decided to release Steel Dawn early, Dynamic Bundles will not be available until our original patch date of December 1.
• A common suggestion we’ve received from Atomic Shop aficionados has been to reduce bundle prices for players who already own some of the items they contain. With today’s update, we’ve added pricing tech that will do just that.
  • Going forward, if you own one or more items in a bundle, its Atom price will automatically reduce accordingly. The more items you already have, the lower your adjusted price.
  • Bundles that have been adjusted this way will now display your price vs. the original price.
  • Items you already own will be marked in each Bundle’s description.
• We’ve also added a new “Bundles” category to the left-hand side of the Atomic Shop menu so that you can more easily find all of the bundles that are currently available without having to hunt for them on multiple pages.

Additional Atomic Shop Updates

• Backpack Flair: Add even more personality to your characters with Backpack Flair! We’ve added two Backpack Flair slots to the modify menu for Backpacks that you can use to add cosmetic Flair.
  • Going forward, keep an eye out for different Backpack Flairs that you can unlock in the Atomic Shop, claim from Season Scoreboards, or earn as rewards in-game.
  • Backpacks you crafted prior to the Steel Dawn Update will not have Backpack Flair mod slots. Craft new versions of your Backpacks to cause the Backpack Flair slots to appear.
  • Please Note: While the Backpack Flair system is live as of November 24, Flairs themselves are not yet available. We will let you know as soon as we add them on a later date.
• Fallout 1st: Items that have special discounts for Fallout 1st Members will now appear in the Fallout 1st section of the Atomic Shop while they are on sale.
  • These items will now also display a Fallout 1st icon, both in the Fallout 1st category and in their appropriate sub categories in the Atomic Shop.
• Lunchboxes: In addition to earning Lunchbox rewards from a Season Scoreboard, or buying them with Gold Bullion in-game, you can now purchase them for Atoms in the Atomic Shop.
  • Please Note: Since we decided to release Steel Dawn early, Lunchboxes will not be available in the Shop until our original patch date of December 1.
  • Lunchbox buff descriptions and the chances to receive each buff have been added to the “Lunchboxes” section of the Help Menu.

Daily Ops

• New Items: We’ve added a number of new rare rewards that you can earn by completing Daily Ops. They include Plans to craft Brotherhood Recon Armor, the Crusader Pistol, Plasma Cutter, and Hellstorm Missile Launcher.
• Plan Rewards: Say goodbye to duplicate Plans! Non-tradeable item Plans that can be awarded by Daily Ops, like the War Glaive Plan, will no longer continue to drop as rewards after you’ve learned them.
• Mutations and Enemies: To help keep Daily Ops feeling fresh each day, we’ve made an adjustment to prevent the same enemy mutation and faction from appearing two days in a row.

Hunger and Thirst Updates

• We agree with feedback from the community that our hunger and thirst mechanics could feel a little too punishing. We’ve decided to remove the negative effects when you’re hungry or thirsty, and buff up the bonuses you receive when you’re fed and hydrated.
• Going forward, your Action Points, Health, and Disease Resists will no longer be negatively affected when you haven’t had anything to eat or drink recently.
• Instead, you will receive buffs that increase depending on how full your hunger and thirst meters are:
  • Hunger: Gain +15 Max HP when partially fed, up to +35 Max HP, +35% Disease Resist, and +1 Strength when fully fed.
  • Thirst: Gain +15% AP Regeneration when partially hydrated, up to +35% AP Regeneration, +35% Disease Resist, and +1 Endurance when fully hydrated.

Items

• Holiday Gifts: Increased the weight of Holiday Gifts to 1 pound each, and made them untradeable.

PVP

• Pacifist Mode: When Pacifist Mode becomes available to new characters at level 5, it will now be toggled on by default.

User Interface

• Map: Added a Fast Travel point and Map marker for Vault 51.

Bug Fixes

Allies

• Settler Forager: Players can once again receive Daily Quests from the Settler Forager Ally.

Art & Graphics

• Animations: Human NPCs that have both legs crippled no longer appear to fall down and then immediately stand back up. Instead, they will remain standing, but they will remain immobile until one leg is healed.
• Power Armor:** Players’ posteriors are now properly protected while wearing Enclave Power Armor.
• Weapons: Turbo-Fert Fertilizer Grenades no longer appear to explode twice on detonation.
• Weapons: Charging up the Gauss Pistol and then holstering it no longer causes a small portion of the weapon model to disappear.

C.A.M.P. and Workshops

• General: Grass and small plants are once again visually removed when placing Foundations and other large C.A.M.P. objects on top of them.
• Brotherhood Field Station: Closed up a hole in the Field Station’s ceiling.
• Décor: Players can now build Powered Lawn Flamingos without having learned the base Lawn Flamingo Plan.
• Encampment Bridge: Fixed an issue that could allow Encampment Bridge pieces to remain floating in mid-air after removing connecting pieces.
• Encampment Fence: The Encampment Fence now spins at its center point when rotating the object in build mode, and its explosion visual effects also appear at its center point when the Fence is destroyed.
• Exploit: Traps now have a minimum distance that they can be placed from other Traps. C.A.M.P.s and Blueprints containing Traps that are stacked on top of each other can no longer be placed.
• Exploit: Addressed a C.A.M.P. budget exploit related to Wires.
• Exploit: Addressed an item exploit related to Collectron Stations.
• Rocket Rides: Can no longer be placed clipping into other objects.
• Super Reactor: Now scraps into Aluminum, Copper, and Rubber, instead of just Rubber.

Combat

• Explosion Damage: Fixed an issue that caused non-physical explosions from weapons, like Floater Grenades, to deal less damage than intended.
• VATS: Greatly improved the accuracy of chance to hit percentages when using VATS.
• VATS: Hits that successfully strike the target now deal damage correctly.
• VATS: Fixed an issue that could cause VATS to close when line of sight to the targeted enemy became partially obstructed.
• VATS: Continuing to fire a Flamer or Cryolator after closing VATS no longer stops those weapons from damaging enemies.
• VATS: Corrected the damage dealt when firing the Tesla Rifle and uncharged Gauss Weapons in VATS.

Daily Ops

• Contextual Ammo: Enemies in Daily Ops now correctly drop Shotgun Shells when using the Fancy Shotgun.
• Bosses: Daily Ops Bosses no longer sometimes swap their unique weapons for weapons from nearby creature corpses.
• Bosses: The Super Mutant Daily Ops Boss is no longer disarmed after being staggered.
• Operation Report: After achieving Paladin Tier or higher, the rewards list in the Operation Report now correctly includes both of the player’s legendary item rewards.
• Vault 94: Fixed an issue causing certain doors inside Vault 94 to display a button prompt without any text.

Enemies

• Blood Eagles: Can no longer be turned into Scorched Blood Eagles by Scorchbeasts.
• Earle Williams: Can no longer turn into an Ash Pile or a Goo Pile on death, nor dismembered by the Bloody Mess Perk.
• Scorchbeast Queen: No longer clips into the terrain during her strafe attack.

Items

• Apparel: Fixed several instances where Enclave Underarmor could clip through different apparel, like the Bomber Jacket and the Pint-Sized Slasher Outift.
• Armor: Sturdy and Heavy Metal Left Leg Armor can now drop as legendary items.
• Armor: Players can now correctly remove Misc. Mods from Armor pieces.
• Armor: Secret Service Armor with the Weightless legendary attribute no longer counteracts cloaking granted by the Chameleon Mutation.
• Gamma Gun: Firing rapidly no longer sometimes causes the Gamma Gun to fire more rounds than the magazine contains.
• Gauss Minigun: The crosshair no longer persists on top of the Gauss Minigun’s sights while aiming after applying the Gunner Sights mod.
• Gauss Shotgun: Can no longer spawn with the Explosive legendary effect.
• Heavy Weapons: The Cryolator now correctly deals cryo damage, and the Flamer deals fire damage.
• Mods: Weapons that have Heated Mods applied now correctly deal Fire damage.
• Mods: The Refrigerated Backpack Mod now consistently reduces the food spoilage rate by 50%.
• Mods: Weighted Armor Mods now ignore 5 points of enemy Damage Resist in addition to the 10% they ignored previously. This will improve situations where Weighted mods had very little effect on enemies who already had low Damage Resists.
• Pump-Action Shotgun: Increased Pump-Action Shotgun Bash damage so that it is in line with Rifles and other Shotguns.
• Recipes: The Radstag Redemption, Mirelurk Boil, and Headhunters Headcheese Recipe Notes now correctly unlock the ability to craft those items.
• Thrown Weapons: The following weapons now deal the correct damage types, and they are properly enhanced by the Demolition Expert Perk Card.:
  • Cryogenic Grenade
  • Cryo Mine
  • Floater Grenades
  • Plasma Grenade
  • Molotov Cocktail
• War Glaive: Added Copper to the War Glaive’s crafting requirements and removed the Plasma Core requirement.

Mutations

• Carnivore: The following items now count as meat when affected by the Carnivore Mutation:
  • Canned Dog Food
  • Deathclaw Eggs and Omelettes
  • Frog Eggs
  • Imitation Seafood
  • Mirelurk Eggs and Omelettes
  • Mothman Eggs
  • Pork n’ Beans
  • Radscorpion Eggs and Omelettes
  • Radtoad Eggs and Omelettes
  • Radtoad Omelettes
  • Salisbury Steak (Preserved)
  • Yum Yum Deviled Eggs
• Herbivore: The following items now count as plant-based food when affected by the Herbivore Mutation:
  • Cajun Rice & Beans
  • Firecap Tasty Souffle
  • InstaMash
  • Preserved InstaMash
  • Vegetarian Ham

NPCs

• Animations: Corrected a number of issues that could cause various world NPCs to play incorrect animations or temporarily stop animating.
• Fisher: No longer plays an animation as though he is using a terminal when he is not near one.
• The Overseer: No longer sometimes becomes stuck when heading to the presentation room during “Overseer, Overseen.”
• Whitespring Bots: Sentry Bots and Doorman Protectrons now respond properly when players interact with them.

Performance and Stability

• Client Stability: Fixed an issue that could cause a client crash when loading into a world.
• Server Performance: Players will no longer receive an error when joining a Daily Op while using furniture.
• Server Stability: Addressed a server crash that could occur when loading into a world.
• Performance: Addressed an issue that could result in a performance drop when viewing the Season Scoreboard.

Perks

• Animal Friend: Removed outdated level requirement wording from the Perk Card description.
• Chem Fiend: Now correctly increases the duration of all effects granted by Berry Mentats.
• Nerd Rage: Fixed an issue causing Nerd Rage to grant its damage bonus while above 20% health.
• Wasteland Whisperer: Removed outdated level requirement wording from the Perk Card description.

Quests and Events

• Ally: Thicker than Water: Watoga Underground is now properly instanced.
• Defend: Billings Homestead: Enemies no longer get stuck or spawn in nearby water during Workshop events at Billings Homestead.
• Free Range: Beefed up Brahmin health and resistances during the Free Range event.
• Project Paradise: Friendly creatures that appear after completely filling the habitat troughs now have a consistent max level of 100.
• Scorched Earth: Now correctly grants a 3-star legendary item reward on completion.

Sound

• Armor Ace Shooting Gallery: Joining a Daily Op while using the Armor Ace Shooting Gallery no longer causes its sound effects to play continuously.
• Boney Death Tambo: Added unique sound effects to the Boney Death Tambo Skin.
• Communist Bunker: Sound effects no longer continue to play after the door has finished opening or closing.
• Encampment Fence: Corrected the sound effects that play when opening the Encampment Fence Gate.
• Hounds Reclining Sofa Chairs: Now play sound effects when players sit in them.
• Theremin: Now plays one of two different songs, depending on the in-game time of day.

User Interface

• Map: Bloody Frank’s is now labeled correctly on the Map.
• Scoreboard: On PC, pressing the Spacebar while viewing the Scoreboard in-game no longer incorrectly opens the Challenge Menu.

World

• Pathing: Fixed a number of objects in the world that players could path through or clip into.
• Pathing: Fixed several locations throughout the world where players could become stuck.

Source: https://www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/49751
This week at Bungie, we’re beginning our descent to Europa.
Every release, we have a long conversation about what we should show players leading up to launch, and what we should leave for players to discover. We want to build up the sense of wonder as a new Season or expansion makes its approach without spoiling everything that’s coming. With just a week to go before launch, we’ve almost reached our destination.
Video Link
Our Beyond Light Launch Trailer went live last week. A ViDoc, exploring Beyond Light and Season of the Hunt, is available for your viewing pleasure. We’ve released our Season of the Hunt calendar to help you plan out your days for the next few months.
Image Link^imgur
All that’s left is a quick preview of patch notes and a maintenance timeline. After that, we leave the rest to you.

It’s All in the Patch

Over the last few weeks, our goals have been to set expectations. We’ve covered the Destiny Content Vault, upcoming Sandbox changes, Gambit tuning, and more. These updates aren’t mind-blowing or overly game changing, they’re just nice little morsels to chew on in the final days leading up to launch. In any case, we hope you like the following quality of life appetizers before your meal is delivered on November 10.
Archives
Beginning November 10, two new kiosks will be available in the Tower. First up, the Quest Archive will be found next to the Postmaster. Our hope is that this removes some of the confusion when trying to track down the odd quest that you previously discarded. Additionally, this will be the place for any veteran players to pick up the New Light Quest on November 10, if they have a strong desire to experience new player tutorials and the (re-)introduction to the Cosmodrome.
Image Link^imgur
Next up, the Monument to Lost Lights Exotic Archive will be found by the Vault. Here, players may acquire various Exotics and Legendary Pinnacle/Pursuit weapons that were once available through now-retired quests. As many of these Exotics were tied to lengthy quests or difficult objectives, we wanted to make sure their prices reflected those previous efforts. Players will need an amount of Glimmer, destination materials, masterworking materials, and an Exotic Cipher or Ascendant Shard in order to purchase the Exotic or Legendary which they desire. We’re also introducing a currency, Spoils of Conquest, which can only be acquired when completing raids. This currency will be required for Exotics previously tied to Vaulted raids.
Image Link^imgur
In the past, Exotic Ciphers were very limited in nature. While you can expect one to be available as part of the Season Pass, Xur will also offer a quest to earn one Exotic Cipher on a weekly cadence.
Now, let's move on to some traditional patch notes...
Crucible

• Trials of Osiris
  
  • Trials of Osiris Power level requirement increased to 1210.
  • Added ADEPT weapons and weapon mods to Flawless chest rewards.
  • Additional information here (link TWAB).
• Maps
  
  • Added physics blockers to some out-of-bounds areas on Altar of Flame.
  • Added physics blockers to some out-of-bounds areas on Exodus Blue.
  • Added physics blockers to some out-of-bounds areas on Cauldron.

Player Identity

• Login screens now have a dark background.
• Updated the full-screen menus to have a dark background style.
• Player waypoints now display Season Rank, HUD waypoints.
• Added toggle functionality to the character screen, allowing the player to make a choice between Light and Dark subclasses.
  
  • Character screen visuals updated depending on player choice between Light and Dark.

Character Creation

• Changed selection from "Male" & "Female" to "Masculine" & "Feminine."
• Guardian head and hair models have been replaced with improved versions.
  
  • Several color swatches have been changed to better represent the applied color.
  • Player’s previous head selections are still used.

Misc

• Fixed a bug that prevented online friends from showing up in the roster on Stadia for players with more than 100 friends.
• Fixed a bug that occasionally prevented players from earning progress on bounties when joining an activity in progress.
• This most notably impacted Iron Banner bounties and could cause players to have their Artifact Power bonus enabled during Iron Banner matches.

A few Sandbox changes that we missed in our Sandbox preview

• Traveler's Chosen
  
  • Reduced muzzle flash intensity.
• Point of the Stag
  
  • Increased Point of the Stag's Max Power Level to 1310.
• Divinity
  
  • Fixed a bug that prevented some weapons from dealing precision damage to the Divinity cage (e.g. Eriana's Vow).
• Hunter Dodge
  
  • Increased Hunter's Dodge cooldown by a few seconds.
  • (E.g. Tier 4, old cooldown: 22 sec. New cooldown: 26 sec.)
• Anti-Champion Mods
  
  • Anti-barrier rounds will now penetrate Taken Phalanx shields.
  • All Anti-Champion mods have been shifted to armor, rather than taking a weapon mod slot.
• Orbs of Light have been changed to Orbs of Power as they can now be consumed by Light and Dark subclasses.
  

Before we end our patch note preview, we do want to call out the collectors among you who have been talking about the impending removal of Expired Ramen Coupons from your inventories. We know this one stings a bit. It’s a byproduct of us cleaning up inventory systems and doing general maintenance.
We want to a provide a parting gift before these coupons are tossed into the bin. These coupons can’t be redeemed for spicy ramen, but they can decorate your desktop for as long as you desire.
[4k – SPICY RAMEN COUPONS]
Image Link^imgur
…and there we have it. Full patch notes will be released on Tuesday around launch time. Stay tuned!

Novembrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

With a new expansion coming next week, we also have a fresh update coming to Bungie Store! We’re entering the holiday season, so it’s a pretty good time to start gift shopping for your favorite Guardians out there in the world.
Image Link^imgur
Starting November 9, upgrade your arsenal of collectibles and gifts at Bungie Store with new exclusive products and free in-game emblems with purchase, including the Destiny 2: Beyond Light Original Soundtrack!
Cosmic Alignment (Available November 9 through December 4, 2020)
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Between Stars (Available November 9 through February 9, 2021)
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Shattered Harmony (Available November 9 with purchase of Destiny 2: Beyond Light Original Soundtrack)
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Follow @BungieStore on Twitter for more deals and discounts to be announced every Friday in Novembrrrr from The Drifter, The Exo Stranger and Variks.

Let’s Talk Maintenance and Pre-Loads

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Next Monday, November 9, Destiny 2 will go offline for an extended maintenance period. We want to give everyone ample time to download Destiny 2 Update 3.0.0. Our teams are prepping for the launch day assault on our servers. Destiny Player Support has the full timeline for maintenance, downloads, and more. Read up, spread the word, and get ready for Beyond Light.
This is their report.

UPDATE 3.0.0.1
Next Monday, maintenance for Update 3.0.0.1 will begin. Below is a timeline of events:

• November 9, 3:30 PM PST (2330 UTC): Background maintenance for Update 3.0.0.1 will begin.
• November 9, 4:00 PM PST (0000 UTC): In preparation for downtime, players will be removed from activities and will be required to download a small update before logging in again.
• November 9, 6:50 PM PST (0250 UTC): Sign-on for Destiny 2 will be disabled.
• November 9, 7:00 PM PST (0300 UTC): Destiny 2 will be brought offline for expected maintenance. Players will be removed from activities and won't be able to log back into Destiny 2 until 9 AM PST on November 10.
• November 10, 9:00 AM PST (1700 UTC): Destiny 2 Update 3.0.0.1 will be available across all platforms and regions. Players will be able to log back into Destiny 2.
• November 10 12:00 PM PDT (2000 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance is expected to conclude.

For more information, please visit our Destiny Server and Update Status help article.
BEYOND LIGHT PRE-LOAD
Pre-load for Update 3.0.0.1 will be available prior to the game’s release. Below are pre-load timelines and instructions based on platform:
PlayStation
Beginning on November 8 after 8 PM PST (0400 UTC), users can start pre-downloading Update 3.0.0.1 by:

• Navigating to Destiny 2
• Pressing the “Options” button
• And selecting “Check for Updates”

In an effort to decrease server load, some PlayStation Plus users may be able to pre-download Update 3.0.0.1 starting on November 7 after 8 PM PST (0400 UTC) if they have auto update/download enabled on their PlayStation 4. For instructions on how to setup auto update/download, please click here.
PLEASE NOTE: BUNGIE RECOMMENDS THAT PLAYERS SHOULD NOT DELETE THEIR CURRENT VERSION OF DESTINY 2 ON THEIR PLAYSTATION CONSOLE TO SPEED UP THE PRE-DOWNLOAD PROCESS.
Xbox
Pre-load for Xbox will be available shortly after Destiny 2 is taken offline for expected maintenance at 7 PM PST (0300 UTC) on November 9. For instructions on how to setup auto update, please click here.
PC
Pre-load for PC will be available shortly after Destiny 2 is taken offline for expected maintenance at 7 PM PST (0300 UTC) on November 9. Update 3.0.0.1 should automatically be put in the Steam download queue once it is available to pre-load. For more information on managing Steam downloads and updates, please click here.
STORAGE REQUIREMENTS
Below are the updated storage requirements for Beyond Light:
Platform |Destiny 2 Install Size |Storage Space Needed for Installation | |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--| Xbox Series X|S|65.7 GB|65.7GB| PlayStation 5|70.78 GB|70.78 GB| PlayStation 4|70.78 GB|171.68 GB| Xbox One|65.7 GB|65.7 GB| PC|69.7 GB |186.2 GB** |
** PlayStation 4: Includes current installed version of Destiny 2 (100.9 GB) + Update 3.0.0.1 pre-load (70.78 GB) = 171.68 GB*
*** PC: Destiny 2 Install Size may vary based on languages installed, size shown is maximum size possible *
** PC: Includes current installed version of Destiny 2 (up to 116.5 GB) + Update 3.0.0.1 pre-load (up to 69.7 GB) = 186.2 GB*
DESTINY CONTENT VAULT AND THE END OF SEASON OF ARRIVALS
With the start of Year 4 and the introduction of the Destiny Content Vault on November 10, certain items will be deprecated from player inventories that correspond with Vaulted destinations, activities, and campaigns.
Players should review our help articles on items being deprecated at the start of Year 4 and items being removed at the end of Season of Arrivals for more information on items, quests, and currencies that will be removed from player inventories at the start of Year 4. Some items listed can be used or turned in for rewards, such as Glimmer, weapons, and armor, so be sure to do that before November 10.
Additionally, certain Titles will become Legacy Seals and unavailable to earn at the start of Year 4. Players should be sure to equip the following Titles before November 9 at 7 PM PST (0300 UTC), after which they will be unavailable to earn. For more information, please visit our Year 4 Triumphs Update help article.
Seal |Title | |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--| A Shadow Rises|Shadow| Reckoner|Reckoner| Black Armory|Blacksmith| Destinations|Wayfarer| Lore|Chronicler| Undying|Undying| Dawn|Savior| Almighty|Almighty| Arrivals|Forerunner| Moments of Triumph 2020|MMXX|
BUNGIE REWARDS
With the release of Beyond Light on November 10, certain Bungie Rewards will no longer be available to earn. These include the ‘Eclipse Sunset’ and ‘Sunset’ emblems, the Year of Shadowkeep Artifact Coins, the Moments of Triumph t-shirt, the Raid Ring, the Prophecy Dungeon Hoodie, the MMXX Seal, and the Forerunner Seal.
Players should be sure to earn these rewards by November 9 at 7 PM PST (0300 UTC) and claim these rewards from the Bungie Rewards page before November 13 at 8 AM PST (1600 UTC).

Encore

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Before we kick off a new year of Destiny content, we have a final round for Movie of the Week. 2020 isn’t over yet, but we’ve had a blast watching community-created content throughout Shadowkeep and its associated Seasons. Many thanks to those who’ve submitted their footage (and art!), as it’s kept us sane week over week.
Here are your final Movie of the Week selections before Beyond Light brings some Darkness to the table.
Movie of the Week: Thanks, Taken!
Video Link
Movie of the Week: Festival of the Lost, Parting Shot
Video Link
Movie of the Week: Give ‘em a hand
Video Link
Movie of the Week: SEVENTH COLUMN!!! ...AND ANOTHER ONE!
Video Link
Movie of the Week: It isn’t over until it’s over

OMG can someone explain this please?!?! Like wtf just happened🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ @A_dmg04 @Gladd @BungieHelp @Xbox pic.twitter.com/aYNfaeG7WM
— TG DuAc (@TGDuAc1) November 2, 2020

Next week, we’ll have a new companion section for Movie of the Week. We felt it important to give the same spotlight to the artists of our community as we’ve been giving to those who create fun videos.
To throw your hat in the ring, submit your content to the Community Creations portal on Bungie.net. If you also post your content to social media, tag it with #DestinyMOTW or #DestinyArt. We’ll snag a few winners each week and grant them some fancy new emblems.
We’ve been here a few times. What was once months became weeks. Weeks have become mere days. Five more sleeps stand between you and Beyond Light. Well, that’s if you can even sleep the night before launch. I know I probably won’t. Many of you have been on this journey with us from the start. In the last year, numerous Guardians have begun their journey through New Light. No matter how long you’ve been a Guardian, we can’t thank you enough for playing.
Stay hydrated. Be healthy. Treat yourself well.
We’re almost there.
See you starside.
-dmg04

I(14m) recently got the new xbox and as you've heard it is in high demand and a lot of people wanted one for Christmas.
People: me, my mom, 2 aunts, 2 uncles, 5 cousins.
So this year has been rough on everyone. My mom lost her job for a bit, my aunts and uncles either lost their job and still are looking or lost it for a while and barely got it back. I lived in a small apartment where i shared my room with 3 siblings and my parents had their own room but they arent part of this.
It all started when i buy myself an xbox with my own money. When it gets here i actually was moving since my grandparents let us stay at their house until my mom got a job since she lost it at the time. Since i was moving i didnt use it.
Then a month later my mom actually got us a better apartment that let me share a room with only one of my siblings. Once we move in i finally use my xbox for the first time a couple days ago because i forgot i had it but found space for it. My sister doesnt play video games because she got her own switch last year so she barely used the tv in our room which i owned.
Fast forward to Christmas where i have a cousins coming over with my aunts. Once they come inside they go everywhere even in my room and once they saw my xbox they were like "can we play the xbox, i havent used one" i said fine but only minecraft because again i just started using it. They used it for 3 hours but had to go eat and once they ate they asked my mom what they got for Christmas. She gave each of my cousins $20 because she didnt know what they wanted or didnt have the money.
2 of them got me some clothes which i liked very much since i didnt get any new ones this year. The other ones gave me $25 which i was really expecting nothing because i knew they've had a very rough year.
Then once everyone gets their presents we just play card games and board games. i decided i was going to get some sleep they said ok and i said my goodbyes. Later i get woken up by my cousins saying that i have their Christmas present.
By this time my aunts offer and say"uh no i need it more than you" i was just like shocked because i was still tired and they were very demanding especially when my cousins started asking "can we go home now i want to play the new xbox" i said no its not for sale and to get out of my room. Then they started calling me ungreatful for not letting them have it because they've had a rough year and my cousins just want it.
When my mom came my aunts explained first then i told her my side and my uncles tell the truth and say that its mine and i should keep it since they kniw i bought it with my own money. My mom tells them to leave and they were just whining. I woke up and my mom apologized and my phone was blown up by my cousins and aunts saying im an AH.
AITA?
Edit:im going to go offline for a bit while i slowly go through this because i am a bit traumatized from all the drama especially since it was all from family which just makes me scared since they have keys but my mom is working on everything
Edit 2: im going low contact with my family that was involved, my mom has also been helping me go through this, i have decided to hide my xbox, and for those wondering why my uncles and aunts have keys its because they would babysit my siblings incase if me or my mom werent here, but she changed the locks and is seeing if she can get a house with mortage to set up cameras. I am feeling a bit better but still very traumatized from the incident. Thank you for all your supporting comments

You might know how this goes by now. I run a few TWAB articles into the Botnik predictive writer, which can generate sentences in an autocomplete fashion based on what you feed it.
Not Bungie has a website! All articles that have already seen their time on Reddit can be read over on https://notbungie.net/

THIS WEEK AT NOT BUNGIE - 11/30/2020

This week at Not Bungie, the DCV saved up to launch your solstice packages into thick Gambit.
With the release of Destiny 2 Beyond Beyond, we introduced two varieties of your heart candy. With stasis subclasses beginning in November, you can continue your new favorite Korean perks that you won't read. For every single dollar we have, we will sunset your Ghosts that originally had access to highly useful guardian healthcare. Now, players who die being upgraded with stasis will make room for Cosmodrome cone loops.
We're excited to see how long you survive in the tower without consuming everyone. The DCV will not grant bright engrams or activities when Beyond April launches Europa to the table. You can tackle the first armor pieces instead of deleting kids in the Crucible. It will be easy on Steam where certain leg armor mods will grant super energy on Xbox. Come together forever and make it somewhere with snow inventories.

Beyond Hotfix
With the launch of Stasis Objectives, we want to give everyone ample time to dig your characters a new grave. Here for all the encounters in the tower, without spoiling everything, is Factual Zavala about how titans are rubbing their homes across California.
Zavala: Guardians. We have seven total community emblems to expect next year. We continue investigating the darkness on Mars's strange tree of stasis. Where is Mars? We have fixed the last mission host instead of making meaningful actors for Shaw Han. The darkness abilities you've earned are going away. Season of the Event ends with the weekly tradition of honoring guardians that received any bright dust from Eververse. Here to succeed me are 22 shards of rat.
Rat Shards: After solstice went live, we started my purple glows on your alternate classes. This will now contain all Eververse content from Destiny 2 in your Android mobile devices. You can purchase my own eyes on bungie.net with energy notes when the update goes well. The DCV will now sunset the DCV. To guide us through this speculation is a list of surgical bugs in our living rooms.
List of Surgical Bugs in Our Living Rooms: Crucible. We continue investigating people who play Bungie games. Strikes. Garbage disposals. Three days that follow the little giggle. We have a small grenade. Vents who observe other vents. Our known player experience. This week before December. Here to review a lot of questions about the sandbox is Hotfix 2.9.1.2.
Hotfix:

• Fixed an issue where Ruinous Laying Persona names could cause weasel levels until you approach Shaw for those enhanced mods we continue to spend large quantities of time to get ready.
  
• Fixed an issue where you are going to need some loot anytime during the year.
  
• Reduced all platforms to create more 4k/60fps patch notes.
  
• Decreased hunters to be less thick. Hunter stasis leg armor will drop from your garage.
  
• Increased warlocks to get the space grandma. After reviewing player heads, we weighted warlock blood on your eyes and we're sorry.
  
• Increased titans to get through the story missions. Three years for the first time after calling out YouTube for those unfamiliar armor perks and we look pretty good for shortening your minds.
  
• This is not the only patch note.
  
• This is note number 8, after reviewing the others.
  
• Decreased Trials matches to 0000 seconds.
  
• Increased Gambit matches to 3,000 hours per bullet.
  
• Upgraded Deej to player fireteam. Goodbye for the first time.
  
• Increased dmg04 to get invaded every day for removing bad styles from Europa.
  
• Increased Cozmo into the DCV. It will be easy to snag some loot again.
  
• Fixed an issue where you are shooting aliens. You will now shoot your Ghosts and will be pulled from both Destiny 1 and 2 into the DCV.
  
• Fixed an issue where enemies would stop responding to players if they carried too many arrows in their heads.
  
• Fixed an ongoing issue where you came from the Moon.
  
• Why do these continue to exist?
  
• This is now a patch note.
  

Who are those bugs over there?

Duplicate Hydrated Confusion
With more details on improving how you aim, we have a few more fun social months for the first time after calling out Twitch Streamers for those unfamiliar future disaster perks. Three characters every single week will be available to give us emails that may continue to earn more randomly rolled art. This time, players who observe a perfect mood will be deprecated from home. If you have any energy, we will give you raid boss hiatus for a while. If you haven't snagged the sweet wallpapers for Beyond Arms, we will sunset you. Happy creepy Drifter needles!

Movie of the Baboon
Are you ever closer to brain? I have already pre-resolved an issue causing players to see YouTube energy. Now to check in with our community volunteers on some werewolf appetizers. These movies aren't going to leave plenty for you to experience. They aren't entirely real. Sometimes, we have a few grenades work in the tower. Why this year? It will be taken offline for maintenance at least 400 times next week. Enjoy these over the next two weeks.
Movie of the Vault: Journey with the Big Trailer
Honorable Crawlies: After the Bin of Arrivals
If you want to earn the movie emblem, please stop reminding me that hunters lost those love spheres.

Another November at Bungie will not have this dedicated flag. We will deprecate more information into the DCV. Stasis subclasses will now contain all patrols in the Crucible. If you haven't snagged Beyond Different, your guardian will be upgraded to 4k/60fps. Note that season pass rewards can now penetrate Taken phalanx shields deep in the bottom. That wasn't a little tease. Whether you wanted it or not, the DCV has reached in the game and swapped Mars for a mummified Ghost. A few more fun things between now and 2021 will be available to players who already own their Xbox Series X, unlike you. Time to kill our plans.
Stay intact.
<3 Not Dmg04

Edit: Thank you, ChefDrizzt for the platinum award! Glad you enjoyed the post!
Edit 2: Thank you to Blakk_exe for the wholesome award! Glad the post helped brighten your day, even if it was just a little!
Edit 3: Also thank you to B_reaker for the hugz award!
Edit 4: And to the anonymous redditor for the rocket away, blippityblap1 for the heartwarming award and GreenJay54 for the helpful award! :)
Edit 5: And more thanks for various anonymous guardians and ThePoiBoys for various awards! You are all too kind.
Edit 6: And also thanks to HonkHonkMF and another anonymous guardian for awards as well!
Edit 7: And they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming... thanks to Amarthanor for yet another award!
Edit 8: And a thank you to Link2448 for another award!

I made this list a while back for a YouTube video script I never did but got the community's feedback of Features and Content they wanted to be added to Halo Wars 2 that never made it. Not sure if some stuff did get added or stuff I forgot. Some might not be necessary, let me know what you think. Sad to hear it never made it to Steam which was what a lot of people wanted the most from what I heard.
Features & Content that fans wish to see added later >Add to Steam (More people to buy on steam would mean a higher population increase. Same with Halo Wars 1 DE) >Platform Crossplay (On all Modes for PC and Xbox, even in PVE Terminus Firefight, this will boost population. Same with Halo Wars 1 DE) >PC/Console Account Linking (Steam/Xbox account, Stats, Ranks, Customization. Same with Halo Wars 1 DE) >PC Features (Sliders, uncapped frame rate, video settings. Add to console as well) -FOV Sliders (PC/Console) -Video & Enhancement Settings (FOV Slider and other slider options for PC/Console) >Additional Video Settings/Options -Toggle Motion Blur Option (Turn off motion blur, especially with game like Halo 3’s Motion Blur)
-Toggle Dynamic Lighting Option (Atmospheric Perspective/Atmospheric Fog/Lens Flare/Bloom Effect/Dynamic Lighting in Halo 4/Halo 2 Anniversary MP are the two most mentioned. Also noticed in Halo 3 and Halo Reach. It looks great cinematically for videos and images but distracting in gameplay visuals) -Anti-Aliasing (older games it is more noticeable) -Other Lighting and Texturing settings (ability to adjust the lights and texture quality to improve them visually) >Game Graphics Options
>Game Audio Options (Toggle volume for background/soundtrack music, voice chat, etc. Great for streaming, currently only affects main menu music) >Input Based Matchmaking (Opt-in/out Feature for PvP Matchmaking search option setting)
>Platform Based Matchmaking (Opt-in/out Feature Xbox/PC platform based matchmaking search option setting)
>Input and Platform Display (In pre/post game lobby show what the player input selection, Keyboard & Mouse/Controller, and device platform they are playing on Xbox/PC) >Mod Support (add support to make it easier for the community to make mods) >Matchmaking Composer (map/mode selection, even variants. map/mode selection, even variants. Also options like JIP and Solo Queueing to avoid fireteams, and strict search options to restrict the search to a more refined lineup based on your ranking. This might increase match search times but improve the experience if you don’t mind waiting, so you aren’t going against sweaties) >Improved Map Diversity and Weighting (For competitive make sure every map is getting a fair amount of playtime. But expand matchmaking composer for social and provide either a veto or voting system for the maps and modes option maybe but only from what is available from all the players’ preferences. So if everyone says any map or game mode but 1 player only picks a specific map and mode, then there is no voting/vetoing that will be the map. If you don’t want those maps or modes to show up, then don’t select them. This is to be fair for those that want to play specific maps and modes but if open then players can choose if there is a choice to be had) >Player Population Counter (For every playlist so we know if we are not going to find a match or not) >Visible ping indicators on players
>Toggle JIP Option (if you want to JIP or now)
>Social Re-Join Option
>Solo Searching Option >Custom Game Browser (Custom games and possibly open forge, though that is always full of griefing. Would be great for filter options to white list and black list text names to avoid certain types of custom games) >Xbox Series X Enhancement Upgrades (like how Halo: The Master Chief Collection is getting the full treatment with up to 4K, 120FPS support, Raytracing Support) >Playable Flood Faction (This is a lot of fun as they can swarm and take over entire armies if the opponent doesn’t play carefully making it more fun to play as and against as Flood can easier reverse the situation) >Better Reputation System (Players that quit often should be subjected to punishment like timeouts) >HDR Support Settings (HDSDR Calibration Settings. Brightness, Paper White, Contrast, Shadows, Highlights) >Party Up Feature >Improved In-Game Roster (Features/Social Feature Improvements) >More Skulls modifiers to use in Campaign >Campaign Matchmaking >Add FFA and 1v1 Competitive Playlists >Progression System Improvements (Make progressive ranking not take so long to get to max rank by increase XP payouts) >Revamp Req packs (Do away with real money loot boxes so they can only be bought with in-game currency. Preferably do away with it entirely and be able to in-game currency buy cards directly or make it so look boxes are extremely cheap vs direct buy to give it some incentive to direct buy cost more vs risk it and might get something good) >Double Key Binding >Updated UI/UX Overhaul Improvements (Navigation, Main Menu, Title Screen, Rosters, Customization, Button States/Highlight States, See achievements easier, see other player's spartan/odst models in Roster, and more features of the game)
>In-Game FPS Cap/Adjustments (PC Feature)
>VFR Improvements (Improved Uncapped framerate) >Text Chat Improvements (Filtering, accessibility settings [set to squad/team/all for the default], toggle text/voice chat, and mute players) >Regional Server Selection >Missing Custom Game Features/In-game Party Leader Controls >Add Cut Content & Customization (Weapons, Vehicles, Armor, etc) >Idle System Improvements (Making sure to kick idle players better while not punishing those that are playing or get glitched out due to lag spikes) >Better Reputation System (Players that Quit/Idle/Suicide often should be subjected to punishment like timeouts.) >Better Reporting System (Able to easily report text/voice chat violations and people exploiting the game mechanics and maps) >Additional Accessibility Support >Additional Mod Support/Steam Workshop (Be able to add user generated content with tools to make it easier for the community to make mods) >Remove FOMO Content (When 343 no longer supports this game, they should unlock all content that can't be unlocked through normal gameplay methods and never will now since it will no longer be updated) >Full Customize Unlock in Offline/Anti-Cheat Mode (No point having content locked away in offline mode in Steam) >Halo Bridge (Link with Halo 5, Halo MCC, Halo Infinite) >Patches and Optimization (Bugs/Glitches/Exploits/Issues that need to be fixed the most and optimize the game to lower game size)

Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well during this Covid-19 crisis and take care of all of your family and friends!
I have been a gamer since my young childhood, and I love them since it is a good way to relax when I am stressed. I will always defend video games for the positive effects they can have on our minds.

Why I am writing this?

I have noticed something really severe: most people now care only about graphics. They want to know which is the most powerful between PS5 and XBOX Series X. And they will buy only games with beautiful graphics. I am playing newer and older games, and I feel like why people care about graphics. I have been playing Super Mario World and Super Metroid on the Switch's SNES Online, and it was more rewarding and satisfying than most nowadays games I have been playing. By seeing how the gaming community behaves, I believe it tends to focus only on graphics and nothing else. When I want to buy a game, I don't even care about the graphics, and I have the feeling I am the only one who focuses on gameplay, music, art style, etc. Am I the only one?

The Delusion about FPS/Graphics

At least 20 or 30 FPS is good. I understand if someone wants to play at 60 FPS, but this should not be mandatory in my opinion. And then who cares about 120 fps or 240 fps? Your eyes don't even see the difference. I know sometimes games need some precise input so my best compromise would be 30 FPS for offline and relax games, and 60 FPS for online games with tournaments for example. I don't understand when people tend to buy the best resources for their PC. Games don't need 8K and 240 fps to be enjoyable. But yeah, this is your money and you do whatever you want with it, I am not your mother ;).

The most powerful is NOT the winner

If you look at each "war" generation console, the most powerful console always failed. But remember that there were never console war. Only one during Nintendo and SEGA during the beginning of the 1990s. Sony VS Microsoft is nothing compared to what happened then.

• NES and Master System were a bit equal and during this period we didn't care about the power of a console.
• SNES won against Megadrive (Genesis). Sonic The Hedgehog for example was more beautiful and smooth than Super Mario World. You can even add the Neo-Geo which was really really expensive but wasn't successful. And even the PC-Engine (TurboGrafx-16) if you want to be exhaustive.
• Playstation won against N64 and Atari Jaguar. Playstation is 32-bit and less powerful than N64 and Atari Jaguar that were 64-bit. It won most notably because of the usage of the CD that could store 1 GB instead of a cartridge that can't store more than 100 MB. N64 games are more beautiful than Playstation games but it lost. I don't even count Saturn, because it was a mess during the commercialization of this console. I think it was as powerful as the Playstation but correct me if I'm wrong.
• PS2 won against XBOX, Gamecube, and Dreamcast. Dreamcast won at the beginning because it was the only 128-bit console, but when PS2 came, it led this whole generation, at the expense of the Dreamcast. Gamecube and XBOX were more powerful than the PS2, they "survived" because of their exclusivities.
• Wii won against PS3 and XBOX 360. I think this one is the most relevant. If you were living during this period, you can totally relate to what I am saying. This was Gameplay (Wiimote) versus Graphics (transition to HD), and Gameplay largely won. The Wii was largely criticized for being just a copy of a Gamecube.
• PS4 won against Wii U and XBOX One. PS4 was less powerful than XBOX One, and yeah I know the Wii U was less powerful than PS4. The failure of the Wii U was because of its marketing and how Nintendo sold it. They didn't make the same mistakes for the Switch. For the Switch, I don't know where I can put it since it was released in the middle of a generation. But anyway, XBOX One was the most powerful and didn't win.
• For the handheld consoles, this will be really quick... Game&Watch won but no rivals. Then someone who will tell me the GameBoy didn't win against Game Gear and Atari Lynx... GameBoy was monochrome and ugly compared to them, but it won easily. GameBoy Advance didn't have any concurrent (there was Wonderswan or the N-Gage but do you know them?). DS easily won against the PSP, and again the DS was less powerful than the PSP. Same for the 3DS and PS Vita, don't tell me PS Vita won against 3DS.

Graphics is different than Art Style

Don't confuse graphics and art style. the Pokémon series, or Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has awful graphics but an awesome art style. The games have bad graphics, but the character design, the level design, the way everything is drawn is beautiful. However, we are not talking about art style here.

People who tell me Graphics are important

If you are going to tell me graphics are essential because when you play, you need to look at a fantastic landscape. A video game is something you play through. If you just sit and look at the landscape, I'm sorry but this is not a video game since you are not playing, this is just panorama. This is not playing, you just watch beautiful pictures. Photography is different than video games, even both are considered art. I would ask you what is a video game for you? For me, a video game is the gaming interaction between the human and the video of a machine. No questions about graphics. This is called a video game, and not video watching or anything like that. If you need to look at beautiful backgrounds, you can go on Google Images, and look for high-resolution pictures (Settings > Advanced Research).

Games with bad Graphics are Bad?

My favorite question to beat the people who only care about graphics is: Why retrogaming exists if graphics are so important? This is not nostalgia or anything like that, I am born during the Gamecube/PS2 era and I didn't even know how the 1980s or the 1990s were in terms of video games. (I wish I could have been here when Final Fantasy VII and Pokémon Red/Blue were released). And can you tell why Minecraft is the best selling game of all time?

Conclusion

To conclude, of course, I agree this is cool if you have good graphics, but people need to stop worship graphics and giving all of their attention to this instead of focusing on gameplay, music, etc. This should not be a criterion to define the quality of a game in my opinion. Can someone tell me this is just me who is a toxic hater, or if someone feels like me? Maybe I am just stupid so I would like that someone can correct the wrong things that I believe in.
Thanks a lot for reading my very long message and have fun playing the wonderful video games we can have in 2021! Remember video games are the most prolific media, far ahead of the cinema or the books.
TL;DR: Am I the only one who is noticing people only care about graphics? I want to know if I am just a toxic hater who doesn't understand what the gaming industry needs right now, or if I am on the contrary smart enough to understand video games are not based only on graphics.

1.11 UPDATE NEW FEATURES ZOMBIES HAS SPLIT SCREEN OFFLINE NOW!

1.11 update news

-Zombies now allows 2 player split-screen in offline, you can add a controller as well as start/boot the match fine, however the same issues persist with offline split-screen, visual/menu glitches/bugs just like the normal multiplayer split-screen
-Multiplayer offline split-screen is working again, it seems to have all the same issues it had prior to the 1.09 update where it got broken, rough menus, class selection not working in certain scenarios, I've also found Nuketown 84 in split-screen will crash every time it loads into the match...etc etc.
- RAID and PINES map are available offline now
-Prop hunt is available offline now, however no bot support.
​

1.10 update - literally nothing added for offline

1.09 update - literally nothing added for offline

KNOWN MAJOR OFFLINE ISSUES/BUGS all present in latest 1.08 'season one' version (tested on PS4/PS5) Please read these as it may answer some questions instead of posting a comment.

*NEW BUG/GLITCH as of V.08\*
- V1.08 you can no longer play split-screen offline, when adding player 2, it will attempt to add player 2 and just fail each time....
- when playing split-screen multiplayer (versus) player 2 can do create-a-class but only edit the main weapon, they can not edit any attachments
- when playing split-screen multiplayer (versus) often player 2 can not select a class when starting the match at all.
​
- offline zombies has no option for split-screen or adding a controller when playing offline period (unsure if this is a glitch or the fact zombies has no split-screen option offline at all
- online zombies, has the option to add a second player for split-screen, but even when you do this the game won't launch and will often come up with a error stating this mode has exceeded the maximum amount of players, (unsure if ths is a glitch or the fact zombies isn't supposed to be split-screen at all)
- Search and Destroy and VIP Escort modes, do not support offline bots at all
- the maps Armada and Crossroads do not support offline bots at all currently for any mode
- the maps Armada and Crossroads have a small variant for normal modes, however when playing VIP escort mode only, you get the full expanded large scale combined arms map (with vehicles) however again no offline bot support, unsure if this is a glitch or not.
- various interface/menu bugs within the menus/lobbys
- multiple instances of glitches when playing in split-screen, gunsights missing/notloading, hands dissappearing etc etc.
- multiple settings not working, loadout restrictions settings completely broken and not working right, guns misnamed, M82 is called the XM4 etc and turning off or enabling what is supposed to be the M82 turns off both or enables both the M82 and XM4, really broken.
- I have to do more testing but I've had two instances on PS5 where my campaign save will dissappear completely after playing split-screen multiplayer.
- unsure if a glitch or designed this way.
If you find any bugs/issues or fixes that I haven't do let me know in the comments or flick me a PM, Finding new stuff every time I play it.
I'll endeavour to keep this guide updated over the next couple of months, do be with me as I can't update EXACTLY on time every time a new update comes out..
All testing done with the PS4 and PS5 version of the game (v1.03) (now updated to V1.07)
I have updated the game now to V1.05, I can confirm nothing has changed for offline with this update, what is down below is still current including no OFFLINE split-screen option for Zombies and the Crossroads/Armada maps still do not support bots.
I now have the PS4 as well as the PS5 version of the game, It's exactly the same, nothing additional, no extra bots/maps/modes/features, exactly the same issues, exactly the same stuff.
Some people are asking about the Dualsense for it, it's neat, the guns all feel slightly different, so the resistive triggers have different 'pulls' for different weapons, big LMGs the aiming trigger is a slow steady pull where as a pistol is very lightweight and barely any resistance, the vibration stuff, pretty standard, although again every gun feels a little different, nothing mind blowing, but neat feature. Astros Playroom on the other hand is amazing for the dualsense.
All testing done on PS4 Pro and PS5, running in an offline environment, no internet on the console, boot from cold startup, booting up Black Ops Cold War OFFLINE and playing OFFLINE.
This guide is aimed at people who enjoy the offline part of Call of Duty (yes there are people like us) If you play online thats fine, no need to make a stupid comment like "why are you playing offline in 2020 what a loser etc etc"
I've done this for several years, this guide is for fans of offline play and aimed to get CORRECT information to people who need it

FAQ Starts here

What do you mean when you use the word OFFLINE?
To clear up any confusion as many people seem to confuse the terms OFFLINE and LOCAL PLAY, these are two VERY different things.
If I use the word OFFLINE in this guide at any point, I mean OFFLINE, no internet on the console, no WiFi, no Ethernet, Console as well as game has been cold booted with NO INTERNET WHATSOEVER.
Can you play Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War OFFLINE without an internet connection?
Yes once your game is at version 1.03 (latest current version at time of release) You can play the game fully offline.
Like Modern Warfare 2019, the game is quite large (100.4GB for PS4 at of time of writing) It also like Modern Wafare 2019 is divided into PACKS
The Base game has the following PACKS, which you need to have installed if you want to play every mode available.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Single Player LicenseCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer License
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies License
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - Campaign 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - Campaign 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - Campaign 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - Multiplayer Base Install
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - Zombies Base Install
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War - Dead Ops Arcade Pack
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Content 1 - 6 License (1 file for each) ( I believe this is just DLC stuff)
The console versions like WWII, Black Ops 4 and Modern Warfare 2019 will work OFFLINE after patching/updating, the PC version however due to Battlenet is ONLINE ONLY, even for Campaign/offline bots.
Can you install and play Black Ops Cold War from the disc without installing any updates/patches?
No you can not, like Call of Duty WWII, Black Ops 4, and Modern Warfare 2019 before it, the physical copies of the game do not contain all the files nor can you play the full experience OFFLINE via the disc only, you can only play a few multiplayer maps vs bots, thats it.
*A MANDATORY INSTALLATION/UPDATE IS REQUIRED FIRST\*
Can you play the Campaign OFFLINE?
Yes as mentioned before, as long as you have updated your game to the minimum version of 1.03 (latest current release) the games campaign will be playable OFFLINE.
Can you play the multiplayer (versus) OFFLINE?
Yes as mentioned before, as long as you have updated your game to the minimum version of 1.03 (latest current release) the games multiplayer will be playable OFFLINE.
Can you play the Zombies mode OFFLINE?
Yes as mentioned before, as long as you have updated your game to the minimum version of 1.03 (latest current release) the games multiplayer will be playable OFFLINE.
**Can you play the Zombies Onslaught mode OFFLINE? (exclusive to PS4/PS5 for 1 year)**yes
Is there Split-screen support in mutliplayer versus?
Versus Multiplayer has 2 players split-screen per console maximum
Is there split-screen support in Zombies?
EDIT: Version 1.11 has finally added the ability to play zombies OFFLINE split-screen, however its still rough, but it does work.
Is there co-op campaign or split-screen campaign?
Campaign is single player only.
​
What does the aspect ratio for split-screen look like? Is there any 'black bars' on the sides?
Split-screen for multiplayer versus has both Vertical and Horizontal options.
Horizontal split-screen (TOP and BOTTOM) has black bars on the left and right.Vertical split-screen (LEFT and RIGHT) has black bars on the top and bottom.
Is there OFFLINE LAN support, (2 or more systems connected offline for multiplayer) ?
You can play 2 players PER CONSOLE in multiplayer versus. Zombies is ONE PER CONSOLE currently, LAN is broken though unless you go online and download temporary hotfixes, so basically you need all consoles to be online, connected to servers, get hotfixes (so every game/console is on the same version and then it will work) this is the exact same issue Modern Warfare has. Its stupid. true proper OFFLINE LAN play is pretty much broken in the last two CODs.

OFFLINE BOT SUPPORT

Is there offline bot (AI Enemies/teammates) support?Which modes support them?How many Bots per mode?
Yes there are offline bots
you can have a total of 12 players in each core game mode, so if playing SOLO, you can have 11 bots.
I can confirm if playing split-screen you can still have 11 bots in the game total.Previous versions of the game only supported 7 bots in TDM and FFA game modes, this was fixed in V1.07. all modes support 11 bots.
you can not add bots to the Crossroads or Armada maps at all.
VIP Escort and Search and Destroy game modes do not support offline bots.
Can you make assymetrical/uneven teams?
Yes, however you can't go over the maximum of 6 players per each team,
So you can't for example do a team death match with you on one team vs 11 bots on the other team.
6 v 6 max
How many players can play each mode? (assume bots means players too here)
2 REAL players in split-screen and up to 11 bots (6 players/bots per team)
Edit: I didn't notice before as I mainly play objective modes not FFA or Team Deathmatch,
If you play Free-for-all or Team Deathmatch the bots cap at 7, not 11
What difficulties are there for the bots?
Recruit, Regular, Hardened, Veteran
are there loadout restrictions and can we force the bots to use certain loadouts?
There is an option for loadout restrictions in the menu, however It dosen't affect bots, you can turn off custom classes but sadly there again is no option to set what the DEFAULT classes are (like how Modern Warfare Remastered allows)
Right now the restrictions screen is VERY broken, half of the weapons are sharing the same name, for example the M82 Sniper rifle is incorrectly labelled as the XM4 (assault rifle) I turned off EVERYTHING but the M82 but it has the XM4 enabled (as its obviously broken) I have turned off everything but the XM4 and there are still weapons that are accessible.
So hard one to test right now, It's restricting some weapons but I can only tell from the player side no the bot side, Patches are needed to test this feature properly.
are there friendly/teammate bots for Zombies mode?
No there are no friendly AI/teammates/bots in Zombies mode.
What are the bots like, and how do they play?
I've had a quick go (I'll update this more later) but they feel like how they did in MW 2019.

Create-a-Class/Loadouts/Customisation

Is there an offline progression system? or is everything unlocked for offline play?
There is no offline progression system, everything is unlocked from the start, all attachments, gear, weapons etc is available offline from the start
What about customisation/camos etc?
Yes you can apply camos, change reticles offline, it looks like everything is unlocked here
What is available in offline create-a-class?
A ton, I'll add a video in the comments later with a showcase of everything, it's comparable to how MW was at launch.
How many custom classes can you have? can you save/rename them?
You can have 5 custom classes per player offline, yes you can rename/save them.
What Operators are available offline?
All launch Operators are available offline
NATO:
Mil-Sim:
HunterSong
Operators:
ParkAdlerBakerSimsWoods
Warsaw Pact
Mil-Sim:
VargasPowers
Operators:
PortnovaBeckGarciaStone

Multiplayer VERSUS

​
What game modes are available offline?
Team DeathmatchFree-For-AllSearch & DestoryDominationHardpointControlVIP Escort
What about the Larger Combined Arms modes?
Although the maps like Crossroads (which was the big snowy map in the beta with snowmobiles etc) are here, these are not the combined arms versions, these are smaller cut down versions of these maps, you can only do 6 v 6 in offline.
Is there a realism mode? or Hardcore Mode?
No realism mode, there is no hardcore 'mode' like MW2019, however there are Hardcore versions of TDM, FFA, SND, and DOM.
What multiplayer maps are available?
ArmadaCartelCheckmateCrossroadsGarrisonMiamiMoscowSatelliteNuketown 84 (added for offline in update V1.07)
What interesting custom game settings are there? anything different/new?
Nothing out of the ordinary, all pretty standard fare at launch.
Can I save custom game modes OFFLINE?
Yes you can save them.

Zombies

Is everything unlocked for create-a-class?
Yes, everything is unlocked, it's the same weapon selection from multiplayer versus, however you get 1 weapon, not 2, and a field upgrade which are zombies themed special powers.
Is there settings like in Black Ops 4, where you could adjust zombies/custom game settings?
Sadly no, it seems very scaled back more like the normal zombies modes from the older Black Ops games.
What modes are available for zombies offline?
Round based (standard zombies)Dead Ops arcade 3 (top down twin-stick shooter mini game mode)Onslaught (PS4/PS5 Exclusive for 1 year)
What maps/scenarios are available for offline zombies?
Round based (standard zombies)
Die Maschine
**Dead Ops Arcade 3 (mini game)**Rise of the Mamaback
Onslaught
Moscow (same as the multiplayer Moscow map....just with zombies)
What is onslaught mode anyway?
so its basically a VIP escort thing, you have a floating orb, that has a protective cirlce around it, you need to stay in the circle to live, zombies come at you, you shoot em, orb moves to a new location, rinse and repeat. Neat but you aren't missing much if you are a PC/Xbox player.

I'm making this mainly so if you come from my mindset you have a better idea of what you're getting into.
I love edf. Starting with 2017 on Xbox 360. I've bought every game, even PS Vita. I imported 5 and obviously this (PS4, but wanted the split screen and frames). I hated iron rain, insect Armageddon was fine but not as good as the main series blah blah blah.
I'm only 11 levels into world brothers, I've loved every level and it may be my favorite edf entry.
If you love edf for the crazy over the top moments, all the stuff you can do, variety, etc.... You'll love this game.
If you love edf because of a serious tone it might not be for you.
In my mind though, this game doesn't take too many crazy "un-edf" risks like I thought iron rain did, but it only adds to what someone who loves edf crazy stuff would like (ohhhh I'll explain).
I also think for once, they didn't try to cater to a western audience (I.E. Iron Rain and Insect Armageddon) , and I think that's what finally made this an awesome third party entry... I will be buying it again when it gets here, I'm that happy with it.
Here's a list of a bunch of moments and things I could do that stood out and put a smile on my face that I didn't see too many people talking about.
You probably know by now you can take a team of 4 people and switch on the fly, yes if you play multiplayer that means 4 PER person, you're NOT sharing. I really think that are things that they could have done to nerf it so combinations didn't feel OP, that is not the case here.
You CAN take 4 wing divers, fly up with one, switch to another near the end of their flight running out, and get a full tank, and do the same with all 4, and go SUPER high/far. Now you do have to land in order for all of them to refuel but still. There's also no penalty if your boost runs out. I.E. you can still use your weapons or switch to another guy.
Red ants bite you and won't let you go? Switch to another character and get your character out of there.
You can use a weapon with a reload like the Fork comes to mind. A lock on missle launcher that shoots like 15 rockets at once, but while it's reloading you can use another person, so YES, you can have 4 people with this gun, and basically shoot them non stop in a loop. Shoot, switch character, shoot, switch character...etc...
There's a character then drops a magic carpet in front of them, it gives you a few seconds to jump on it, then it raises into the air (essentially this is a floating platform you can put out anywhere). You can jump on this thing, go high up into the air, switch to a sniper and go to town, switch to a wing diver and have a height advantage to jump off from, etc... It's awesome!
One of my favorite things to do so far is an air raider, wing diver combo. One of the air raiders attacks is to launch and air raid missle drop, but the con is, you throw a grenade type object to signal where you want the drop, but it has a pretty weak throwing range...SO, I get a wing diver, fly above where I want it, switch to the air raider, throw the grenade/beacon, switch back to my wing diver and fly out.... It so cool!
There are so many crazy characters too but they all have sort of relation to old edf characters or a combination, and there are some cool new variants. I don't want say these too much because it was so cool seeing them for the first time or unlocking them.
Also I'm sure you've seen, but I'll clarify, there are no weapon drops in the traditional edf sense, this was fine though. Instead you find characters (usually 3) on each stage. Whatever weapon they have, you unlock, if you find the same character again, it levels them up, and the main benifit of this, is it allows them to use more weapon types.
At first, each character can only use 1 category of weapons. So think of a ranger, but it can only use sniper rifle type weapons, no rocket launchers or anything else. But when you find that ranger again, you now can use a second category of weapons. It may be rockets, it may be wing diver type weapons. They categorize all the weapons into 10 categories... I am super excited that at some point I will be able to fly around as a wing diver, and shoot at people with limpet grenades.
Last, difficulty ... This is a pretty easy edf game, and I am hoping to get some challenge soon. Let me clarify though. So far I have been doing nothing but hard BUT, I have been playing 2 player split screen, in offline mode.. this is trandionally easier. Also being in 2 player also means the focus isn't on just me, so I'm dealing with maybe half the enemies. I have done some stages again solo, and they were harder but still manageable. This gives me hope for hardest and inferno. I really can't wait to tackle a level, lose, then go back with a combination of people that I think would fit that level better.
I also haven't been able to call in weapons but there have been some on levels. They also control like a dream.
Armor pickups also give you a little bit of health, awesome addition.
Kind of a bummer, doing hard mode, doesn't give you credit for easy and normal, you have to do all 3, but this is fine as it gives me more of an opportunity to level up my characters. Also it sounds like there are half the levels of the normal edf games so having to replay a levels 5 times AND not having to do it for each class again and again is still less times overall. In EDF 5. You only had to technically beat a level 3 times instead of 5, but you also had 4 classes, so if you wanted 100% you were doing each level 12 times minimum... This one, only 5.
I mentioned it earlier but it controls amazingly.
I haven't done the online yet, too lazy to put my Japanese psn on my ps5 and honestly having enough fun solo.
I haven't used any translation apps, but through messing around and my knowledge of edf games (this is very helpful) I am able to figure everything out pretty easily.
There are wearables it looks like, nothing cosmetic, but they give you boosts of some kind, I haven't messed with it because I haven't needed to and it seems new to the series so figuring it out would be harder.
Reviving your characters still takes half your health. But again unless all 4 of your characters go down, you can basically revive yourself. And instead of it being instant reviving does take a few seconds.
Blowing up buildings and such is still there, as is exploding bad guys, dismembering them etc... It's just adorable now.
Okay I hope that helps someone's decision.