BruceVC

I completed Hogwarts after 80 hours, it gets a solid 71/100 on highly popular " BruceVC game system " I have mentioned all things I liked about it so I wont repeat it The main negative is the combat doesnt require much strategy and the repetition of the same 5-6 enemy types for the whole game You can only have 4 spells active at one time and even though you can change this in the HUD for most battles you dont need to so combat does tend to become repetitive But that negative doesnt detract from the overall positive experience

Yes and Im glad you mentioned this because what is more interesting than confirmation bias is why do people have confirmation bias because why they have it differs from person to person and the severity of it And anti-semitism IMO is definitely part of the confirmation bias around how many people reflect on the media reporting in Gaza but its not the normal historical Nazi anti-semitism or part of what Netanyahu keeps saying where any criticism towards Israel is " anti-semitism " and this is cringe because you can have legitimate criticism of the IDF and its not because of anti-semitism What Im seeing is its more about a general mistrust and immediate rejection about anything Israel reports on and people who typically wouldnt have an issue with Jews suddenly reaffirming previously held biases and now generalizing and repeating Jewish conspiracy theories about domination of the world and the media So for example in South Africa after taking Israel to the ICJ our president and several senior ANC members suggested that "we could face regime change and interference in our election because we took Israel to the ICJ " But its like WTF They cant produce any evidence of how this may happen and we have always had free and fair elections since 1994 with no evidence of vote rigging or any real "foreign powers somehow implementing regime change " and yet suddenly the Jews are going to use there Jedi mind tricks to undermine our election because of the ICJ ruling And then of course the conspiracy theories get more ridiculous and it evolves to " the US is going to implement regime change in South Africa because of the ICJ " and this is some politicians suggesting this. Its not random citizens who would have wide ranging opinions. You would assume politicians would be more responsible and informed But end of the day anti-semitism is a nuanced type of bigotry and how people demonstrate it, its often not like other forms of bigotry like homophobia which is much easier to see

Yes and I can believe this is true but this type of misreporting exists in most countries. On DSTV we have 2 private sector news channels and 1 public sector national broadcaster and I alternate between them And they sometimes get things wrong or have very strange or inaccurate framings of stories but they get things mostly right and Im sure thats the same in most countries I like to believe that most journalists in any non-autocratic country do believe in the truth and the integrity of what the media stands for But that doesnt apply to opinion pieces and whole ideological bias you find from the likes of FOX or MSNBC. But even these news channels report on things accurately, it just depends on what they reporting on and its the culture wars garbage that I seldom take seriously

Fair enough, do you consider the likes of CNN and BBC as generally trustworthy on its reporting? I do but they sometimes get things wrong or misrepresent events. But my question is more about what media sources do you personally consider to be generally trustworthy?

Yes I do think its confirmation bias but I cant assume that is what everyone thinks, thats why I am asking the question. In the context of South Africa and how some commentators dismiss the media reporting on Ukraine but believe the same media in Gaza is inconsistent and strange to me I do believe the international media is generally reporting correctly, like this link, in both Ukraine and Gaza and the IDF has killed many civilians and the stories about the kitchen being bombed is true and egregious. I just dont think it was done on purpose because of the obvious negative media coverage this creates but that doesnt change how the IDF military approach is heavy handed and unacceptable But the point I was trying to make is if the war in Gaza hadnt happened there will still be some people dismissing the media reporting coming out of Ukraine yet many of those same people dont question the media reporting from Gaza And I was looking for an opinion on that so thank you for responding

I assume this is legitimate response but you not answering my good faith question because I used the wrong word, yes its the wrong word. I should have said "some " or " certain " Can you answer now and again this your opinion. I know you dont speak on behalf of billions of people And the question is simple " why do you think some\certain\ a few people believe the media reporting in one war but dismiss the same media reporting on another war "

Maybe you answer a different question for me? We have had over 2 years of the war in Ukraine and there is view from some, like @Zoraptor and even commentary from people in South Africa, that we cant trust what the Western media reports on and we must question Russian atrocities and killing of civilians. And this is despite the fact there are many different media houses and embedded journalists in Ukraine reporting live on many things and often the same things like the massacre in Bucha which is still denied by Russia But there is limited media access in Gaza for reasons you mentioned and reported deaths of Palestinians that even the UN uses come from the Gaza Health Ministry which is controlled by Hamas I accept that the media can get things wrong both intentionally and unintentionally but my question is why do you think most people will believe what comes from Hamas but question what we hear from Ukraine? I realize you cant comment on why others have this stance but I want to know why you think this occurs. In South Africa there is a constant view from some that " you cant trust the Western media " but those same people will believe and repeat everything that Hamas or Palestinian spokespeople say And Im not denying that Palestinian civilians havent been killed or the IDF has been heavy handed, they have Im interested in why people will spend years questioning global media on one war and yet immediately believe everything about another war with limited and often unverified reporting? Is it as simple as confirmation bias in your opinion?

But dont you follow lots of Reddit and Twitter sources about the war?

True but this war there seems to be excessive amount of interest in battlefield updates and gore pictures from people on both sides and SM is the medium for that For example we not seeing the same amount of SM attention from Gaza, there is some but not at the same level of distribution?

I know you not posting gore pictures or these types links for sensationalism But its a war and you cant avoid these types of videos if you want to understand how it unfolds on the battlefield, its about the nature of war What I have found different about this war is I cant think of another example where so much of active battles is captured on SM from both sides

I think you would really enjoy it and especially if you a HP fan As I mentioned the developers did an amazing job at recreating the HP world and there is lots of easter egg type things to see at Hogwarts For example you will go into a corridor and see 2 ghosts chasing each other or go past numerous paintings and they start acting out or talking It is light hearted fantasy, no chainmail bikini armor for example so its definitely not for someone like @HoonDing

Im 60 hours into Hogwarts so I can share an informed and more detailed review I am enjoying it and its overall been a good experience Firstly as I mentioned previously I am not a committed fan of the HP universe but if I was I would be truly enthralled because the game incorporates so many elements of the books. The developers did an excellent job at recreating the HP world and all its components I like the activities like Merlin Trials, the astronomy puzzles, the animal code doors and then exploring Hogwarts to find the moons. And broom races are lots of fun, I loaded a mod which lets you use the mouse to control the broom and that made things much easier Crafting is well done, they have created a good balance with how its better to create potions than buy them so I find myself looking for ingredients Combat is fun and spells make a difference, the game lets you adopt different spell strategies and I decided I can use Dark Magic because I can control it and its effective The companion side quests are interesting and I support Sebastian and his passion to save his sister...not sure how thats going to end but I can guess And then I found myself enjoying saving and breeding beasts, its not something I would typically participate in but you can get ingredients which help with item upgrades and the critters are cute The main negative is enemies are repeated ...a lot. I am not sure I can kill any more poachers or Ashwinders but I will persevere So Im at the point now where I will be focusing on the main quest and I should be finishing the game soon

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/04/01/how-to-lose-a-russian-tank-regiment-in-just-a-few-hours-attack-ukraines-angriest-missileers-in-broad-daylight-with-the-wrong-forces/?sh=3004ea551308 Another example of minefields preventing meaningful advancements for both sides

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/01/turkey-opposition-stuns-in-local-election-victory-over-erdogan-party.html Im very pleased with the Turkish municipal election outcomes Its not that I particularly dislike Erdogan but this is evidence that Turkey does have free and fair elections and more importantly Erdogan is prepared to accept the loss. Putin could learn a lot from him The general Turkish unhappiness is because of the state of the economy and particularly the horrendous high inflation sitting on 60% in February And if Erdogan has just followed normal monetary policy and raised interests rates when inflation started climbing they wouldnt in the mess they now in https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/07/turkey-economy-inflation-erdogan-lira-interest-rate-tourism/ I can understand politicians and the average citizen not understanding the synergy between inflation and interest rates but thats why you leave these decisions to Central Banks, they qualified and are aware of the historical reasons for doing this But its generally a recipe of disaster to conflate sustainable economic outcomes with ideology or populist rhetoric

I am conflicted on this one because I absolutely know there is lots of harmful and perverse content on the Internet that young people shouldnt be viewing but where is the responsibly from parents around how kids use the Internet? Also its a slippery slope, next thing they " ban " LGBT support groups or ban anyone who questions " CRT " teachings so suddenly this type of well meaning law becomes a political or ideological tool for the extreme left or right But reading the article its not a " ban" , it says it requires parents consent but how would that practically be enforced. They mention ID would be used, but that does mean just the ID number or a scanned copy of the ID? Because if its just an ID number any youngster who is committed can get his parents ID number and use it to bypass the verification I think a better way to preventing kids from accessing harmful content is some kind of net nanny program that parents control where they can decide what websites and content kids can access and you do get that. You start with an overall blanket restriction and then parents can add what they consider is fine. Leave the state out of deciding what is appropriate https://www.netnanny.com/

You guys are over-analysing the UNSC ruling and misunderstanding why its significant No country is going to invade Israel to enforce it if thats what you hoping But its symbolic and it matters to global and UN opinion and the continuation of the legitimacy of the IDF campaign in Gaza We tend to confuse Internet opinions and grandstanding with RL optics and how governments want to be seen in conflicts like this Its like with Russia, some people will say " Russia doesn't care what the world or the UN thinks. Its ignored the ICJ ruling to end the invasion and no country will invade Russia because it was nukes " But Russia absolutely does care what UN thinks, it wants legitimacy for the invasion and it has several cases in the ICJ and one of them is around how the invasion was justified because of genocide committed against Russians in Donbas. Russia wants the world to see it as a country that believes and supports international law so despite what we think and see Putin doesn't want Russia to be seen as a rogue or warmongering state who would invade a country without a legitimate reason And this is the same as Israel, they want legal legitimacy for the IDF campaign in Gaza. Netanyahu is a terrible leader but optics do matter to Israel Israel has ignored UNSC resolutions in the past but this is different. There is far too much global attention on Israel in this latest conflict and Biden is also getting negative views of perceived indifference and lack of action Just compare most of the worlds support for Israel after 7 October and look at it now? Global public opinion is now generally very critical towards Israel and if they ignore this UNSC it will only get worse Thats why it matters, its not so much about words like binding or enforceable. Its that it was passed and how the globe and the UN will reflect on this UNSC ruling

Im really disappointed, he is such a talented artist but the allegations are very serious and if he is on the run then the allegations are more than likely true

You make some good points here Wormie, especially " It seems Sven has a vision that he wants to reach one day and BG3 was just a stepping stone toward it. They took BG3 IP as they needed money and profile to evolve beyond D:OS2. Now they have both and they can do the next thing. " Maybe we will see D:OS3 because I assume they want to have control of what IP they create The risk with creating your own IP is it doesnt have the same global footprint as an established IP like D&D but look at games like Dark Souls or other JRPG, they have there own IP and they do very well

It was a surprise for me because BG3 was an overwhelming sales success, over 15 million copies sold and still on the top 10 for ongoing Steam sales https://dotesports.com/baldurs-gate/news/baldurs-gate-3-reportedly-passes-15-million-copies-sold-as-larian-prepares-to-move-on To quote " Vincke revealed BG3 sales were “almost double” that of Divinity: Original Sin 2 in an interview with GameSpot on March 21. Vincke also remarked that BG3 was more successful than the studio anticipated it to be, which tracks given both the speed of the sales figures and the game’s reception. Seeing as Divinity: Original Sin 2 shipped approximately 7.5 million copies according to Vincke’s interview with Eurogamer in 2023, that would put BG3‘s sales at over the 15 million mark and make it one of the best-selling modern RPGs of all time" So this one of those unusual outcomes where its not just the sales success that is the reason for a studio to make another game and I assume as you mentioned that working with WotC is arduous

Yes its clear they have been brutalized and tortured but no surprise. If a state is fine with killing political dissenters you can imagine what they would do to people involved in a terrorist attack

This was almost inevitable, Netanyahu has gone too far with the military campaign and dismissed the measures the US suggested so its not a surprise the US didnt veto this latest resolution Its the most clear unofficial statement you can get with overall US displeasure with how Israel is conducting itself

I also dont want to see Trump elected again but there are several reasons he might win For me I respect the outcomes in any free and fair election, I may not be happy with the result but I respect it. We also have our national elections this year in May. Its the first time since 1994 that there is a chance the ANC will get less than 50% so it will be a very interesting election

Well there are people who claim to support Neo-Nazi ideology but they are a tiny group, maybe 6-7 people? The Ukraine thread has about 40 active people so they not a big factor Codex does have extreme political views but its from the left and right. But it also has normal opinions and more centralist views which is where I place myself more or less but I always support basic human rights over anything else If you take the US definition of left and right politics I support both the Dems and GOP around different policies

Nazi or Fascist leanings, it will be one or the other

Codex is not an echo-chamber and they have relaxed moderator rules I have realized its good to be exposed to different opinions especially because I dont use SM as a news source But its a very active and busy forum and I like that. But you cant engage in political debates on Codex and get offended because thats what some people will intentionally try to do once they know your views