Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-07-2018, 02:30 AM - Forum: Windows
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Bringing our October 2018 release to life at Ignite
As we continue our momentum and investments in Microsoft business applications, I’m excited to highlight some of the new capabilities in the October 2018 release of Dynamics 365 and the Power platform at Ignite 2018 today.
In my keynote at the event with Alysa Taylor, we are featuring two customers, Polaris Industries and Northwell Health. These customers exemplify companies that are using Dynamics 365 and the Power platform to fundamentally reimagine how they engage with their customers, use data to optimize their operations, empower their employees and transform their products.
You’ll see how Polaris is transforming their customer engagement processes and manufacturing operations through connected products, using Dynamics 365. And we’ll show some pretty amazing applications of mixed reality as we demonstrate HoloLens used in a field service engagement.
You’ll also hear from Northwell Health about how they are changing patient engagement with Dynamics 365, the Power platform, Office 365 and Azure. One of my favorite parts of their story is about a PowerApp which gives physicians and nurses visibility into each other’s teams – developed by one of their doctors! These business applications are helping teams at Northwell collaborate more effectively and provide even better patient care that is truly transformational.
In addition, the October release is packed with hundreds of new capabilities across all Dynamics 365 applications and the Power platform, including new connected field service capabilities and deeper integrations with Office 365, Teams, and LinkedIn. Get the full details of this release through our release notes.
The terminal is a very powerful tool, and it’s probably the most interesting part in Unix. Among the plethora of useful commands and scripts you can use, some seem less practical, if not completely useless. Here are some Bash commands that are fun, and some of them are useful as well.
Oneko
This command adds some spice to your terminal by adding a cat to your screen which will chase after your (mouse) cursor. Install it by running this script:
sudo apt install oneko
Type oneko to display the cat.
figlet
Figlet is a command for those who love to write in ASCII art. It greatly simplifies this task as it automatically transforms any given string. It comes with a bunch of fonts by default at “/usr/share/figlet/fonts/,” and you can of course add your own.
Game Of Thrones Prequel Series Name Carries Big Story Implications
New details have slowly trickled out about HBO's first Game of Thrones spin-off series, even as we're finally learning something about the hit fantasy epic's last season. The biggest reveal about the Game of Thrones prequel series so far is its name: The Long Night.
Author George RR Martin, who penned the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books on which Game of Thrones is based, revealed the title on his blog following news that Naomi Watts had been cast as the lead of the new show, which is being run by Kingsman and Kick-Ass writer and producer Jane Goldman. For Game of Thrones fans, the name provides a huge piece of information that had previously been the subject of speculation, because it suggests the prequel will hinge on a very specific, and very terrifying, moment in the history of Westeros.
The Long Night refers to a time around 8,000 years before the current events of the show, during what's known in Game of Thrones lore as the Age of Heroes. It was specifically a very long winter--the world of Game of Thrones has weird seasons that can last years, and the Long Night lasted a generation. It was so bad that, according to the Starks' servant Old Nan, "There came a night that lasted a generation, and kings shivered and died in their castles even as the swineherds in their hovels. Women smothered their children rather than see them starve, and cried, and felt their tears freeze on their cheeks."
What was extra awful about the Long Night was the arrival of the Others, or White Walkers, for the first time in Westeros. Descending from the North, the White Walkers led an army of the dead that, Nan says, routed armies, swept through castles and towns, and showed no mercy. According to Westerosi legend, it was only when an unknown figure called the Last Hero sought out and allied with the magical folk called the Children of the Forest that the White Walkers were defeated.
So it definitely seems that The Long Night is going to cover a lot of that legendary ground, likely upending fan expectations by showing a truer version than the stories that were passed down around Westeros. From previous rundowns from HBO, we also know that The Long Night will deal with a few legendary figures, specifically Bran the Builder, the founder of House Stark (who also built Winterfell and the Wall), and Lann the Clever, the founder of House Lannister.
There's also the Children of the Forest, who we know from Game of Thrones were the original creators of the White Walkers. The Children of the Forest made the first of the undead creatures in response to the original humans to settle Westeros, the First Men, basically kicking them off their land and cutting down their forests. The Long Night creates an uneasy truce in the wake of that conflict.
Finally, there's likely to be some interesting things going on across the Narrow Sea in The Long Night, as well. The generation-long winter didn't just befall Westeros, it impacted the entire world, and the eastern civilizations have their own legend about what happened. That's the story of Azor Ahai, the hero in the Lord of Light religion, who used the glowing sword Lightbringer to battle "the darkness." It's not clear what exactly that means, or whether Azor Ahai and the Last Hero are one and the same.
Martin didn't reveal any other information about the show, but he did write that there still are other Game of Thrones prequels in "active development." Without revealing any potential stories for the other shows, he mentioned that "the readers among you might want to grab a copy of Fire & Blood," his upcoming book, when it's released on November 20. That story is also a Game of Thrones prequel, but goes back through the 300 years before the original books to detail the history of the Targaryen family--another fascinating time in Martin's world, filled with intrigue, war, and dragons.
Meanwhile, we do know that Season 8 of Game of Thrones made at least one cast member cry, and that it'll have the biggest and most brutal battle in the series' history. There was also a least a short time when showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss were considering trying to make three standalone movies out of the final season. And while there aren't too many details out there about what to expect from the end of Game of Thrones, a recently released tie-in video game might hold some clues.
Weekly Jobs Roundup: Monster Squad, Game Closure, and more are hiring now!
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.
Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.
Here are just some of the many, many positions being advertised right now. If you’re a recruiter looking for talent, you can also post jobs here.
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Game Closure is on the hunt for Systems Engineers to help us build the social games that guide the development of our mobile game engine. We are a 70 strong and growing team with offices in Mountain View, CA, Eugene, OR and Tokyo, Japan. If you want to join us to make great games on our cutting edge technology and truly make an impact, then we want to talk to you!
As a Systems Engineer at Game Closure, you will play a pivotal role in creating a platform to revolutionize the mobile game development industry. Our engineers are generally amazing at something and great at everything else. We write cross-compilers, custom browsers, ARM7 assembly, GPU shaders, Node.js & Python backends, JavaScript game APIs and tools, and whatever else it takes. No matter what you work on each day, you will work with the best engineers in the world; we have top talent in every part of our stack.
Location: Hamburg, Germany
As a Unity Developer, you will be part of our agile, cross-functional and international development team. You will drive the development of new features as well as maintain and improve the current code of our new games.
Location: San Francisco, California
Impulse Gear is looking for a Senior Narrative Writer to help push the boundaries of interactive storytelling in our next Virtual Reality game. Daily tasks will include story development, game dialogue and general narrative contribution. The ideal candidate will have previous success as a game writer or screenwriter, outstanding communication skills, a good understanding of story and game structure, and an absolute passion to tell great stories in various mediums.
Location: Los Gatos, California
Senior Producers at Cryptic Studios work closely with designers, artists and programmers to organize and drive the game development process. A Senior Producer’s number one priority within the development structure is to make sure the overall development and business goals are being driven towards and met. This means a no nonsense approach to problem solving with daily communication and working to support all the members of the team in task management and scheduling challenges.
Location: Seattle, Washington
Are you the type of Programmer who recreated your favorite game’s combat system to figure out how it was made? Did you learn to program so you could make the games you love to play?
At Monster Squad, our Gameplay Programmers are also Gameplay Designers. In this role, you will go beyond just building tech, and actively design the systems that go into our games. This is a unique opportunity for creative individuals who have the self-direction to bring the team and your own inspiring ideas to life.
[Blizzard designer Leonard Boyarsky talks to Gamasutra about the process of expanding the Diablo universe significantly with the third installment of the series, talking about what has both worked and what has not.]
Tackling mammoth expectations while building a world for a highly-anticipated sequel would be daunting for most game designers. Thankfully, Leonard Boyarsky isn’t just any designer. With nearly 20 years in the industry, Boyarsky’s career encompasses several PC cult classics, including art direction for Fallout and Fallout 2 at Interplay, as well as Arcanum and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines during his helm as CEO and co-founder of Troika Games.
After Troika’s demise, Boyarsky joined Blizzard in 2006, where he’s been hard at work as Diablo III‘s game world designer. He has integrated his years of know-how into crafting a game that evokes the feel of its predecessors while driving a more plot-focused experience.
In this interview, Boyarsky details the experience of working on a title with lofty expectations, infusing Diablo III with more back story, and scrapped iterations of the game on its long journey from concept to product.
What’s challenging about going from wholesale crafting an aesthetic — as you did in Fallout — to working within a certain set of expectations?
Leonard Boyarsky: Well, it’s really just interesting to come in and work with an established franchise, but a lot of the process is the same: trying to find interesting ways to explore the story, to develop the universe.
I think the most interesting thing about the Diablo universe is just that there’s so much richness to it that hadn’t been really explored.
So, I think that’s the way I approached it, looking at what we could do with this universe that really hasn’t been exploited. [VP of creative development] Chris Metzen was really on board with that because he really had a lot of ideas and a lot of things that he wanted to see in the series that hadn’t been brought to the forefront. So, it’s been a very creative process. It’s been very challenging but enriching at the same time.
Can you provide some examples of elements within the Diablo lore in which there were gaps for you to expand upon?
LB: Well, I think they had a lot of ideas — like Chris was talking about [during the Diablo III presentation preceding this interview], the battle between Heaven and Hell, and all that stuff — where they kind of touched on some of that stuff, but they didn’t really explore it.
A perfect example is like Deckard Cain, you know. He identified your items, and he threw out a bit of lore for you in the first two games, but you know, we’ve give him this extra depth that we feel like he should’ve been able to see… if he had taken the Horadric teaching a little more seriously earlier on, he could have avoided what happened during Diablo. Kind of giving him a little more depth as a character, we feel.
And it’s a different time in terms of game-making. You know, we want the characters to be deeper. We want them to have more realistic motivations, I guess you’d say, have reasons for what they’re doing, and feel like they have a background and history to them.
In your long career of working on different franchises from Fallout to working with Vampire: The Masquerade, you’ve definitely dealt with very passionate, vocal fans. Would you say that’s given you thicker skin for coming into Diablo III?
LB: [laughs] Yes. You would definitely have to have thick skin, because there’s always going to be people who don’t like what you’ve done or are objecting to your latest decisions. So, you get used to it after a while. Try not to take it too [personally]…
It’s a double-edged sword because it’s very helpful to hear what people have to say, how people see things and what people want to see from a franchise, whether it’s one that you created or whether it’s one that you’re carrying on.
It’s not to say that we always have to blindly follow what the fans want, but it’s nice to know what the fans are looking for, if that makes sense. [It’s important to know] what people are expecting, what people are looking for, the questions that they feel that they need to have answers to. Because if you don’t deliver on at least some of those things, then you’ve kind of failed.
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
Red Dead Redemption 2 Now Available on Xbox One We’re excited to announce that Red Dead Redemption 2 is now available worldwide for Xbox One. From Rockstar Games, the creators of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an epic tale of life in America at the dawn of the modern age… Read more
Celebrate All Things Red with This Custom Red Xbox One X Our favorite color this month happens to be red, and today of all days, it’s easy to see why. To celebrate, Xbox is offering amazing deals on Xbox One, and kicking off a sweepstakes to win a red Xbox One X and more to make your gaming setup complete… Read more
Celebrate the Launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 with $100 off Xbox One Consoles Red Dead Redemption 2, an epic tale of life in America at the dawn of the modern age from the creators of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption, is now available across the Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox One X where gamers can experience the amazing old west in native 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR). To celebrate, Xbox is offering an amazing deal in the U.S. and Canada on Xbox One consoles, available at participating retailers, including your local Microsoft… Read more
A Beginner’s Guide to The Long Journey Home on Xbox One Hey Xbox community, I’m really excited that we’re finally able to bring The Long Journey Home to Xbox One and I can’t wait to hear your feedback. In The Long Journey Home, a misfit crew finds itself stranded in space after mankind’s first experimental jump drive goes wrong… Read more
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for October 30 to November 2 Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One, read on below and click on each of the game profiles for pre-order details (dates are subject to… Read more
Mixer Builds Custom Golf Carts for Post Malone to Game and Stream at Posty Fest Mixer is teaming up with multi-platinum recording artist Post Malone, to give him and fans the ultimate festival experience, Posty-style, at his inaugural music festival, Posty Fest. We’ll be serving looks in customized golf carts that are tricked out from top to bottom… Read more
Xbox, Bethesda, and Hypemaker Partner on #HelmetsForHabitat Xbox, in partnership with Bethesda and Hypemaker, the creative agency of Hypebeast, are teaming up to launch #HelmetsForHabitat: a charitable initiative to auction off a host of one-of-a-kind custom Fallout 76 power armor helmets. 40 renowned artists… Read more
Prepare to Die in Zombie Survival RPG Skyhill on Xbox One Hey, Xbox community! It has been a long ride but I’m excited to announce that Skyhill is out now for Xbox One! Skyhill is a zombie survival RPG in an apocalyptic setting. However, don’t think that it’s just another survival game! Skyhill mixes RPG, point & click… Read more
Announcing Vigor 0.6 Update: Ally for Xbox One Vigor is a new and exciting experience for both us as developers and you as players on Xbox One. Cooperating with the playerbase on improving the game before (and after) its release is one of the key tools which allow us to make the game better… Read more
Announcing Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise Coming Soon to Xbox One In Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise you play through the eyes of Agent A, a secret agent on a mission to infiltrate enemy spy Ruby La Rouge’s hideaway and put a stop to her evil plans. The stylish 1960s-inspired world is full of retro-futuristic contraptions… Read more
We’ve Got the Answers to Your Burning Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. Questions With the launch of the highly anticipated Fallout 76 nearly upon us, the development team at Bethesda Game Studios has decided to open the doors to their vault early, in an effort to test their servers and squash some bugs of the non-radioactive variety… Read more
The Fortnitemares Event is Now Live in Fortnite on Xbox One Fortnite Battle Royale Fortnitemares 2018 is here, and it features all manner of haunting happenings across Fortnite. During Fortnitemares, you’ll face off against Cube Monsters and experience battle royale in a whole new way. Wield new weapons… Read more
Every Xbox Bundle, Controller and Subscription Available this Holiday This holiday season Xbox has something for everyone, including special edition Xbox One bundles that pair consoles with some of the hottest games available, new and customizable controllers and 4K entertainment experiences with the highly-anticipated blockbuster… Read more
War Thunder Launches as Free to Play Title on Xbox One with Combat Helicopters Back in June we started paid access for War Thunder on Xbox One, and those initial three months were incredibly helpful in preparing the game for free-to-play release. Now War Thunder is available for free on the Microsoft Store and we prepared a huge content update… Read more
Jump in Xbox fans might remember the phrase, ‘Jump in’ from years past, or as recently as June of this year at E3, when we reintroduced it to gamers around the world. And whether you’re Team Xbox for life, or new to the family, we’re excited to invite all gamers… Read more
The Journey of Fighting Game My Hero One’s Justice Hello everyone! Allow me to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on and how excited I am about My Hero One’s Justice. First of all, to work on a game based on possibly one of the world’s biggest anime in recent memory. I am tremendously honored… Read more
Starting tomorrow, a brand-new feature called the Temporal Surge will become available through the Eververse storefront. Our goals for this new offering are to offer Guardians a limited-time opportunity to directly purchase items from past Bright Engrams. While future Temporal Surges may offer a variety of items, this particular version focuses on Year One emotes.
The Legendary and Rare emotes included in this Temporal Surge will be the same exact items made available in Bright Engrams from previous seasons of Destiny 2. The Exotic emotes are Temporal versions, which will feature recolored effects to allow the original version to retain their uniqueness.
Emotes will be priced as follows:
Rare Emotes: 200 Silver (Destiny 2)
Legendary Emotes: 500 Silver (Destiny 2)
Exotic Emotes: 1,000 Silver (Destiny 2)
The first Temporal Surge will be available from 9 AM PST on November 6 through 9 AM PST on November 13, 2018.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-06-2018, 06:50 PM - Forum: Windows
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Photos from last week’s Future Decoded event in London
Tens of thousands of people attended Microsoft’s Future Decoded in London on October 31 and November 1.
Partners, consumers, experts, journalists and analysts heard from keynote speakers including Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella, UK CEO Cindy Rose, Azure Executive Vice-President Jason Zander, UK Chief Technology Officer Michael Wignall, broadcaster and author Matthew Syed.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-06-2018, 06:50 PM - Forum: Windows
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Empathy Vision Model: AI that can see and talk with us about our world
Microsoft unveils a smartphone app in Japan, featuring Rinna the chatbot with a combination of powerful new AI technologies
Artificial intelligence (AI) that can see and comment on the world around us will soon be interacting much more naturally with people in their daily lives thanks to a powerful combination of new technologies being trialed in Japan through a chatty smartphone app.
Microsoft Japan President Takuya Hirano
The app features Microsoft Japan’s hugely popular Rinna social chatbot. It was unveiled at the Microsoft Tech Summit 2018 in Tokyo on Monday and is still in its developmental stage.
The AI behind the app has enhanced sight, hearing, and speech capabilities to recognize and talk about objects it sees in ways that are similar to how a person would. As such, it represents a significant step towards a future of natural interactions between AI and people. At the heart of the app is the “Empathy Vision Model,” which combines conventional AI image recognition technology emotional responses.
With this technology, Rinna views her surrounding through a smartphone’s camera. She not only recognizes objects and people, she can also describe and comment verbally about them in realtime. Using natural language processing, speech recognition, and speech synthesis technologies – developed by scientists at Microsoft Research – she can engage in natural-like conversations with a phone’s human user.
“A user can hold their smartphone in their hand or place it in a breast pocket while walking around. With the camera switched on, Rinna can see the same scenery, people, and objects as the user and it talk about all that with the user,” Microsoft Japan President Takuya Hirano said.
Unlike other AI vision models, Rinna can describe her impressions of what she is viewing with feeling, rather than just listing off recognition results such as the names, shapes, and colors of the things she sees. Rinna on a smartphone can view the world from the same perspective as a user and can converse with that user about it.
Let’s take the following image to help illustrate the difference:
Conventional AI vision technology might typically react this way: “I see people. I see a child. I see a dog. I see a car.”
In contrast, Rinna with the Empathy Vision Model might say: “Wow, nice family! Enjoying the weekend, maybe? Oh, there’s a car coming! Watch out!”
As well as the Empathy Vision Model, which generates empathetic comments in real time about what the AI sees, Rinna’s smartphone app also features other cutting-edge features, including “full duplex.” This enables AI to participate in telephone-like natural conversations with a person by anticipating what that person might say next.
This capability helps Rinna make decisions about how and when to respond to someone who is chatting with her, a skill set that is very natural to people, but not common in chatbots. It differs from “half duplex,” which is more like the walkie-talkie experience in which only one party to a conversation can talk at any one time. Full duplex reduces the unnatural lag time that can sometimes make interactions between a person and a with chatbots feel awkward or forced.
Rinna’s smartphone app also incorporates Empathy Chat, which aids independent thinking by the AI. This helps keep a conversation with the user going as long as possible. In other words, the AI selects and uses responses most likely to encourage a person to keep engaged and talking.
It is still in its development stage and the timing of its general release has not been set. But the voice chat function is available as “Voice Chat with Rinna” on Rinna’s official LINE account in Japan.
Diablo is coming to Mobile – But is this what you wanted?
By Joe Robinson05 Nov 2018
Do you know which article does surprisingly well for us? The one where we talk about the best games like Diablo on iOS and Android. Diablo is THE defining action/RPG, and a game that mobile users at least would love to see on their phone or tablet devices (I’d say ‘handheld’, but you’ve got that Switch version coming now).
So, it’s interesting to observe how… mixed, the reaction was to Diablo: Immortal. To recap, this is a new action-RPG game designed in the same vein as Diablo 3, and designed for mobile… it’s just not Diablo III, and so far, that’s the game’s biggest and only sin in the eyes of many.
But while there’s been a lot of fan backlash to Immortal over the weekend, but we’re now starting to see some actual gameplay and more in-depth discussions emerging. For starters, take a look at the official gameplay trailer, as well as this hour-long gameplay demo wuith commentary from YouTube user Kraxell:
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As far as controls go, you see to have a virtual joystick on the left hand-side, with the quick-access attack powers on the right hand side. Much like Diablo 3, gameplay is about keeping yourself mobile (for long-range classes, at least), but also firing off those abilities as often as possible. TouchArcade notes the controls are a lot like MOBA Arena of Valor, and they (along with Kraxell and a few other commentators) seem to agree that Immortal plays a lot like Diablo III.
Loot has always been central to the identity of Diablo games, and specifically, the near-totally random system of “loot fountains” that beget slaying big-groups of mobs as quickly as possible to get what you need. According to Polygon at least, Blizzard seem to be using Immortal as a change to try something different. There will boss-specific loot, emulating games like Warframe or Destiny 2, but Blizzard maintain the old system will be there in some form as well.
It’s also probably wishful thinking you could port Diablo III whole-sale to mobile – changes will (and should) be made to account for the differing control scheme and player mentality. But to be honest, the basic gameplay interaction/loop of Diablo 3 is something we’ve already seen in other successful ARPG titles, and considering the game wasn’t that graphically demanding to begin with, what will really set Immortal apart from being just D3 on mobile is the supporting mechanics, the window dressing, and more importantly, monetisation.
Speaking of which, the involvement of Chinese company NetEase may have some people concerned – China’s mobile market seems exclusively geared towards freemium business models, and what games do make it out West don’t do much to change this perception. Putting the company aside for a moment, C&C Rivals and The Elder Scrolls: Blades are also indicative of where western publishers see the value of mobile products.
But you might be surprised to learn that NetEase have worked closely with Blizzard and others on a number of licensed properties. They’re credited with launching Hearthstone in the PRC, as well as being involved in Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm and Diablo III itself in this territory. They took over publishing duties for EVE Online in the Chinese market last month, and they’ve even licensed Minecraft: Pocket Edition for China. In this context is makes a lot more sense to have them involved in a game like Immortal.
Ultimately there’s been no word on monetisation – but given the precedents that have been set, freemium seems likely. But where a company like EA has a terrible reputation when it comes to freemium design, Blizzard have largely kept their heads above the water – there are few horror stories of “Blizzard F2P”, so I imagine they’ll be riding that good will as much as possible as more details are revealed over monetisation.
So what do we know about Diablo: Immortal at this point?
The narrative is set between the events of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction & the start of Diablo III.
You can choose from six classes, Barbarian, Monk, Wizard, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Necromancer.
It’s being billed as an ‘MMO’, although we’re not entirely sure as to how far this extends.
Social hubs areas are mentioned, as is the ability to group-up on the fly to tackle levels and bosses. We’re not sure what the maximum group-size is, or how else you interact with other players.
Uses Directional controls via a virtual joystick and quick-access buttons. You choose a skill, aim it, and release.
Doesn’t seem to use ‘Mana’ or skill resources, just has cool-downs.
There will be both a traditional Diablo loot system, as well as a contemporary boss-specific loot system.
There is also an auto-upgrade prompt that tells you when you have better loot to equip, and allows you to auto-equip via the prompt.
It’s still very much “in development”, so a lot is subject to change
Diablo: Immortal’s is due to release “when it’s done”, but you can pre-register on both iOS and Android via the official website.
