BruceVC

Yes and its up to Hamas to release the hostages or the war will continue like we discussed in the other thread And the tariff threat being effective was more about South American countries that initially didnt want to accept there own citizens back But the Canadian tariff threat was a silly example of Trumps theater and grandstanding

I agree he doesn't have a deep knowledge of the reality of most geopolitical events but then he seems to achieve results through his grandstanding and hyperbole Im not saying everything he says he commits to he delivers on especially around US voting issues, for example he won the election on 2 main issues. The border\illegal migration and US inflation and we dont know yet how successful either of these objectives will be because its too early to gauge But he does have more measured success on geopolitical events like the current ceasefire in Gaza and the tariffs threat and how several countries have already agreed to his demands and expectations It remains to be seen if the Gaza ceasefire maintains and we dont know enough real details around the Ukraine peace deal to understand if it is realistic and sustainable?

Yes he is notorious for these types of selective speeches around his understanding of geopolitical events But I do think its in the best interest of everyone for this war to end but particularly Ukraine themselves and concessions have to made but only Ukraine can decide that and I will support Ukraine ether way Hegseth said a lot yesterday and Im sure several things he said we can agree on like Ukraine not joining NATO and accepting it wont gain back regions Russia has illegally annexed and the EU taking more responsibility for the future security of Ukraine https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0pz3er37jo But he also confirmed that US focus will be China as there " real " geopolitical adversary. And this is something that Trump raised during the campaign so its not a surprise https://www.aol.com/hegseth-warns-europeans-realities-china-161245465.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACn3vDgTVKBK663q_1TsuPd9dexUFoa2eTWDOPdEhVANLH-vsoXXpaDUUE-d4PQM8kXQkAlseJStsxk3NlGkeoFfyvcdyClwgqBstCvqNvyLlnCSXbswPWhkW3S-z9FSRpZ3JkkABEiWgOJTjvi_eLhZaGYqrpDG3IW_jMtDcEGm " We are focusing on security of our own borders. We also face a peer competitor in the Communist Chinese with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific," Hegseth told a meeting of a Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Belgium on Wednesday. "The U.S. is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific. Recognizing the reality of scarcity and making the resourcing trade-offs to ensure deterrence does not fail. Deterrence cannot fail."

Yes thats basically what I think. Even though there is no guarantee that Israel will not continue the war once the hostages are released it will change the US views and how Trump understands a permanent ceasefire Its going to be even harder for Israel to justify continuing the war once the hostages are released

Do you agree with me that all the hostages should be released or do you think Hamas should not do this and then we see what happens with the war in Gaza starting again as the most likely scenario?

But we dont know that and thats the problem with not releasing the hostages, there is a current ceasefire in Gaza But we do know Israel will more than likely continue the war if the hostages are not released I do agree thats its possible Israel will continue the war even if all the hostages are released but thats not Trumps view on this Trump has a simplistic and binary understanding of this war and he does have influence on Netanyahu and in his mind " Hamas needs to release all the hostages to demonstrate they are taking the ceasefire seriously " It makes it much harder for Israel to get US support for the war if Hamas releases all the hostages and then Israel still continues to fight in Gaza Its really in the best interest of a permanent ceasefire to release all the hostages because failing to do that plays into hands of the Israeli right -wing warmongering objectives and justifying the war continuing?

Why doesnt Hamas just release all the hostages? Why take the risk of the war starting again?

No Im not going to go into more details. Its not like you really want to have this debate in a constructive way As usual your standard response is " you a racist\fascist " and that's why Im saying what Im saying No point wasting my time with this type of engagement Anyway it doesnt matter what we think the reasons are the game failed to make its sales target, either it makes its target or it doesn't It doesn't seem like Bioware is going to be around much longer and then these types of analysis become irrelevant anyway

I ended up loading a mod that increased my party size to 6, I like 6 people in my party https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/288?tab=description

KCD2 sounds amazing, I can only imagine how much more fun its going to be once we see the mods that get created

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/bioware-has-reportedly-lost-at-least-half-its-staff-with-fewer-than-100-people-left-and-the-studio-a-ghost-of-its-former-self/ Bioware now has fewer than 100 staff after Veilguard missed its sales target by 50% So the question is really why did Veilguard fail at what matters the most which is always about sales? And I firmly believe that the whole woke design of the game is a big part of this. If you create a game where a big part of that game is party based interaction and you dont create any real options for your biggest target market which is straight men then you are limiting overall interest in the game You can create a game that is inclusive and that game can absolutely be financially successful. Both KCD2 and BG3 are examples of this but these games dont exclude straight men The moment you confuse inclusivity with exclusivity you create a massive problem for yourself

Im 45 hours into W3 and Im loving all the different side quests and activities apart from the main narrative. W3 really is the best example of an open-world RPG that aligns with the broader Witcher narrative and lore. Some key points I have just completed the Bloody Baron quest and it was brilliant, very nuanced and thought provoking around what the Baron did and the botchling. I also decided to help the Baron free his wife from the Crones. The Crones really are diabolical even though I worked with them around killing the tree\druid evil spirit but I now want to kill them. I laughed how they flirted with Geralt..imagine having a foursome with them I like how you can get so many different Witcher contracts, this is exactly what the Witcher is about. Killing beasts and monsters and having to plan how to do this before you engage EE and Redux makes the skill advancement realistic and I prefer it to level advancement. You gain skill points when you use them so you have to focus on the type of build you want if you want to progress The economy has been rebalanced with EE and Redux and I like it, you cant sell everything for maximum money and special item upgrades and crafting is expensive but thats a good thing because Im always short of money and I have to go on quests and hunt for gold. It encourages exploration Triss is so beautiful aesthetically with my advanced graphic settings and 4K mod , its going to be difficult to decide who to support between her and Yen but that is a decision I will make later once the narrative unfolds

Its funny you mention that because other people have said the exact same thing about Xoti, her accent was the biggest criticism about her I loved it, I cant recall another game that has that pronounced Southern accent for a character? But I like the Southern accent so it worked for me

I still dont get what your point really is around how some media houses get foreign funding, that shouldnt change the reality of what they report on if the problems or issues are real I will use South Africa as an example. We have lots of media houses reporting on corruption and state inefficiencies and they sometimes report on the links and corruption that we see from some in the ANC around corrupt public sector tenders with Russia or other countries. Here is an example https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-22-gazprombank-reneged-on-r3-7bn-deal-to-restart-mossel-bay-gas-to-liquids-refinery/ Now Daily Maverick (DM)is sometimes accused of being a "CIA\Western " controlled media house with an agenda to destabilize the country but this story is true, the way the tender was awarded to Gazprombank had massive and egregious irregularities but the only reason this project fell apart is the Russians wanted complete control of the refinery and the SOE wasnt prepared to agree to that but the tender was initially awarded to Gazprombank So my point is it doesn't matter if DM gets some of its funding from USAID, they dont get any but they have been accused of getting some, because they report on legitimate and real cases of corruption within the country Is your overall point that independent media houses that get USAID cant be considered legitimate and objective because of this funding or are you just pointing out they do get funding from the USAID which might have been denied?

The entire USAID budget for 2023\2024 was $50 billion and independent media houses gets $300 million Media funding is 1% of USAID and not significant in any way compared to where the rest of the money is spent https://rsf.org/en/usa-trump-s-foreign-aid-freeze-throws-journalism-around-world-chaos?mc_cid=4e8b353ce6&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Yes I found PoE2 improved on almost every level and PoE1 was a great game I particularly liked the open-world design of PoE2 and the whole sailing mechanics And great party members to interact with, my favourite being Xoti with her cute Southern accent

https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/afriforum-solidarity-reject-trumps-refugee-offer-we-want-to-build-south-africa-20250208 The justification for this Afrikaans " refugee" migration offer has been exaggerated There is potential future risk around both nationalization and expropriation without compensation but that doesnt exist at the moment Afriforum which represents a large group of white Afrikaners had a press conference yesterday and they made several statements and clarifications around this US EO " While the groups welcomed the political pressure placed on the ANC government, they rejected the withdrawal of aid and the classification of Afrikaners as refugees. Buys stressed that Afrikaners do not want to leave South Africa, but rather seek conditions that allow them to thrive within the country. “Our ancestors came to Africa centuries ago, but we became Afrikaners here long before South Africa was a country. Our language and culture are indigenous to Africa,” he said. He emphasised that Afrikaners are not just a language group but a cultural community with deep ties to South Africa. While acknowledging that some Afrikaners may wish to emigrate, Buys rejected the idea of mass resettlement. He said: The repatriation of Afrikaners as refugees is not a solution. We want to build a future in South Africa. "

https://www.bbc.com/mediaaction/press-release/4-feb-25 Well thats easy and you could have quickly done your own research if you wanted to " A free press is essential to freedom and democracy – and 75% of countries around the world do not have a free press. BBC Media Action supports local media around the world to deliver trusted information to people most in need. Like many international development organisations, BBC Media Action has been affected by the temporary pause in US government funding, which amounts to about 8% of our income in 2023-24. We’re doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our partners and the people we serve. "

I think Trump has chilled in his old age, he seems more likely to share the limelight and media attention with Musk than last time where Bannon lost favor? He seems to have a good but strange relationship with Musk

Getting 10-20% of your funding model from USAID if you a media house doesn't mean you not independent or you dont have editorial discretion to post any news article you want "Independent " typically means not state sponsored around influence of what you report on but USAID provided dozens of examples of humanitarian aid and very little of it had anything to do with expecting the country to align with US policies and that would include media house funding We would have to look at what independent media house you talking before we accuse them of bias or pushing an American agenda if that is what you suggesting? But end of the day, no. Russian war crimes, Irans fundamentalist reality and Chinese abuse of Uyghurs is still real and not made up

Yes, Im not We English\Anglo and its all about which country your ancestors came from and there are lots of other white people in SA who wouldnt be considered Afrikaans like Jews or people from most European countries outside of the Netherlands But because Apartheid was implemented by white Afrikaners there would always be an understandable focus on white Afrikaners in the modern SA around language and ownership of land There is no genocide of white Afrikaners but there are real farm killings and there is new legislation around education and language and that has riled up white Afrikaners the most because English is still our main language And then there is the recent Expropriation bill which we have already discussed So what Im saying is this EO generalizes about things, it has some truth to it but its also exaggerated

This is going to create days of debate and this EO order is different to the one around the expropriation act, it has more details and includes Israel and several of SA foreign policy decisions that are aligned with countries that are hostile to the US like Iran " The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its ‘undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests. " SA does have these "friendships " and I have often raised the inconsistencies around our foreign policy decisions, we say we neutral yet we often dont seem be consistent around this. But we have always seemed to assume that there would be no global fallout for this inconsistency. I doubt the ANC is really aware of the reality of this inconsistency and how it can criticised by someone like Trump and then action taken But this EO is a combination of things and even allows Afrikaners a migration path to the US But as I said lots of debate coming around the different points in this EO and why its been signed

Sure but if someone says " they not good at combat " in any game that typically just means they not comfortable with the mechanics and they can address this by focusing on combat and learn the mechanics It is a personal choice but you have options to become good at combat

Such an important and relevant question and its great you have raised it because we want to avoid confusion for the millions of gamers who use the "BruceVC game rating system " as there main benchmark around reviews for any game No it wont count, the global rating applies to a single rating and the original post. It cant stack

Double post