Celebrate E3 2018 with up to 50% off select digital games
Celebrate E3 2018 with up to 50% off select digital games
Super Smash Bros. is back! Celebrate E3 2018 by checking out select digital games that helped make some of your favorite fighters famous, as well as other great games.
Savings like these don’t happen every day, so don’t miss out! Offer ends June 21 at 8:59 a.m. PT. You can also shop the sale on Nintendo eShop on your device. And remember to stay up to date on all things Nintendo from E3 on the official site, e3.nintendo.com.
Remember that My Nintendo members can earn Gold Points on eligible digital purchases. Already have Gold Points? Redeem them toward purchases of Nintendo Switch games featured in this sale for additional savings! Visit my.nintendo.com for more details.
Sony issues evasive response to Fortnite cross-platform controversy
Sony has built up something of a reputation for being a spoilsport when it comes to cross-platform play, and the company has found itself at the center of another controversy after its reluctance to join the party started affecting players’ experiences on other platforms.
Earlier this week Fortnite players directed their anger towards the Japanese console maker after being blocked from accessing the Switch version of the popular battle royale effort, seemingly because their account had already been associated with the PlayStation 4 version of the game.
With fans understandably aggrieved, the company has issued a statement to the BBC, although there’s a good chance the evasive response could do more harm than good.
“We’re always open to hearing what the PlayStation community is interested in to enhance their gaming experience,” said Sony, speaking to the BBC. “With more than 80 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network, we’ve built a huge community of gamers who can play together on Fortnite and all online titles.
“We also offer Fortnite cross-play support with PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, expanding the opportunity for Fortnite fans on PS4 to play with even more gamers on other platforms. We have nothing further to add beyond this at this point.”
You probably don’t need us to tell you that it’s a statement that succeeds in saying barely anything. Sony manages to avoid acknowledging the issue entirely, beyond suggesting its open to feedback from the PlayStation community, which doesn’t offer much hope to those eager to carry their progress over to the Switch.
Jump into NBA 2K18 for Free This Weekend with Xbox Live Gold
Take a break from watching the NBA Finals this weekend and hit the court with NBA 2K18 during Xbox Live Gold Free Play Days. Xbox Live Gold members can enjoy NBA 2K18 for free and enjoy a limited time discount on this fantastic sports game and its virtual currency.
Starting Thursday, June 7 at 9:00 a.m. PT and running through to Sunday, June 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT, Xbox Live Gold members in Xbox One markets can play the most critically acclaimed basketball video game. During the weekend you can build up your career in NBA games, hit the courts in The Playground, join the Pro-Am circuit, or explore an all-new open neighborhood setting.
As mentioned earlier, you’ll also have the option to purchase NBA 2K18 Legend and NBA 2K18 Legend Gold Edition through the Microsoft Store at a 67% discount and up to a 30% discount on virtual currency to continue your gameplay experience. If you pass up on this opportunity, don’t worry – all your saved progress and earned achievements will be waiting for you should you decide to pick up the ball later to continue your career.
You can download NBA 2K18 by clicking on the Gold Member area on the home dashboard from your home console or by downloading directly from the Microsoft Store.
Guide: Fortnite Pleasant Park Treasure Map Location
Finding the Fortnite Pleasant Park Treasure Map and then following it to the treasure is one this week’s Battle Pass challenges in week seven, season four. Complete it and you’ll earn 10 Battle Stars that will help boost you up the tiers for those sweet season four exclusive rewards.
In this guide, we’re going to help you find the location of the Treasure that the Pleasant Park Treasure Map details. You don’t have to find the Treasure Map itself though, so just skip that bit and read below for a walkthrough of this challenge.
The Pleasant Park Treasure map points towards Tilted Towers – specifically to a small hill to the southeast of it. For a better view of its location, take a look at our handy map above, that details the exact location.
Set your marker there and glide down to it. For the exact location, take a glance at our screenshots below that shows the hill from two different angles.
If you’ve landed in the right spot and you own a Battle Pass, the Battle Star should appear before you. Look at it and hold ‘Y’ to collect it and the challenge is complete.
Fortnite – How To Complete This Challenge
Do note that you need to complete the particular match of Fortnite you’re playing to mark this challenge as complete – quitting out will only cause you to fail. If this is all you want to achieve during this match, just run down to Tilted Towers and get yourself shot.
Bear in mind that this will be a particularly hot area this week, so you might want to hold off from doing this challenge until next week, when everyone else has completed it.
Having said that, if you do aim to do it right at the beginning of the match, you’ll only really have pickaxes to contend with. Should be easy enough to grab the treasure before those can finish you off.
Now that you’ve completed this challenge, make sure to check out our guide to scoring goals in five different soccer pitches. That’s the other tough challenge from the week.
* Eul’s Scepter of Divinity: Bonus movement speed reduced from +40 to +30 * Moon Shard: Night vision increased from 300/150 (base/consumed) to 400/200 * Refresher: Recipe cost reduced from 1800 to 1700 * Talisman of Evasion: Evasion reduced from 20% to 15% * Talisman of Evasion: Cost reduced from 1450 to 1400 * Solar Crest: Base evasion reduced from 20% to 15% (active application is still 20%)
* Abaddon: Level 10 Talent increased from +20% XP to +25% * Abaddon: Level 15 Talent increased from +60 Mist Coil Heal/Damage to +75 * Abaddon: Level 15 Talent increased from +6 Armor to +8
* Alchemist: Chemical Rage now applies a basic dispel on cast
* Ancient Apparition: Level 10 Talent increased from +60 Gold/Min to +90
* Anti-Mage: Base damage increased by 2
* Bane: Base damage reduced by 2 * Bane: Brain Sap manacost increased from 70/100/130/160 to 90/115/140/165
* Beastmaster: Base armor reduced by 2
* Bristleback: Viscous Nasal Goo now has a -2 base armor reduction
* Clinkz: Base armor increased by 1 * Clinkz: Strafe dodge now works against non-player units * Clinkz: Strafe attack speed increased from 80/140/200/260 to 110/160/210/260
* Clockwerk: Base damage reduced by 4
* Crystal Maiden: Crystal Nova cooldown reduced from 12/11/10/9 to 11/10/9/8 * Crystal Maiden: Level 15 Talent increased from +120 Gold/Min to +150
* Dark Willow: Bramble Maze cooldown reduced from 40/35/30/25 to 34/31/28/25 * Dark Willow: Level 10 Talent increased from +20 Damage to +30
* Death Prophet: Exorcism spirit spawn interval increased from 0.3 to 0.35
* Disruptor: Thunder Strike cooldown increased from 15/13/11/9 to 18/15/12/9
* Earthshaker: Echo Slam now has 100 Initial Damage
* Enchantress: Nature’s Attendants cooldown reduced from 45 to 35 * Enchantress: Enchant slow rescaled from 3/4/5/6 to 3.75/4.5/5.25/6
* Enigma: Demonic Conversion manacost reduced from 170 to 140/150/160/170 * Enigma: Demonic Conversion Eidolon HP regen increased from 0.25 to 4
* Gyrocopter: Level 15 Talent changed from +3 Flak Cannon Attacks to +0.5s Homing Missile Stun Duration * Gyrocopter: Level 20 Talent reduced from +45 Movement Speed to +40
* Huskar: Level 25 Talent changed from 0 Inner Vitality Cooldown to Burning Spears Pure and Pierces Immunity * Huskar: Level 25 Talent increased from +125 Attack Range to +150
* Invoker: Catacylsm max spread distance reduced from 220 to 200
* Io: Spirits damage reduced from 25/50/75/100 to 20/40/60/80 * Io: Tether movement speed reduced from 7/10/13/16 to 5/8/11/14% * Io: Level 10 Talent reduced from +60 Damage to +45 * Io: Level 20 Talent reduced from +20 Health Regen to +15
* Juggernaut: Base armor increased by 1
* Keeper of the Light: Chakra Magic no longer has a 25/35/45/55 manacost
* Leshrac: Lightning Storm cast range reduced from 650/700/750/800 to 650
* Lich: Frost Blast attack slow increased from -20 to -30 * Lich: Frost Blast cooldown reduced from 8 to 7 * Lich: Level 10 Talent increased from +175 Health to +200
* Lycan: Feral Impulse damage reduced from 15/26/37/48% to 12/24/36/48%
* Magnus: Base strength increased by 1 * Magnus: Skewer slow increased from 2.5/2.75/3/3.25 to 3.25 * Magnus: Shockwave damage increased from 75/150/225/300 to 90/160/230/300
* Meepo: Base armor increased by 2
* Mirana: Level 25 Talent reduced from -80s Moonlight Shadow Cooldown to -75s
* Naga Siren: Song of the Siren manacost increased from 100/150/200 to 150/175/200
* Necrophos: Level 15 Talent increased from +16% Ghost Shroud Slow to +20% * Necrophos: Level 25 Talent increased from -1.5s Death Pulse Cooldown to -2.5s * Necrophos: Level 25 Talent increased from +0.6 heartstopper Aura to +0.8
* Night Stalker: Crippling Fear cooldown increased from 12 to 24/20/16/12 * Night Stalker: Void cooldown increased from 8 to 11/10/9/8
* Oracle: Fortune’s End is no longer disjointable * Oracle: Level 15 Talent increased from +90 Gold/Min to +120
* Pangolier: Fixed Rolling Thunder having no effect on units like Primal Split Brewlings and Ancients neutrals (still doesn’t affect roshan)
* Phantom Assassin: Stifling Dagger slow rescaled from 1/2/3/4 seconds to 1.75/2.5/3.25/4 * Phantom Assassin: Level 20 Talent improved from Double Strike Stifling Dagger to Triple Strike Stifling Dagger
* Phoenix: Supernova stun duration from 1.5/2/2.5 to 2/2.5/3.0
* Puck: Waning Rift silence duration increased from 0.75/1.5/2.25/3 to 1.5/2/2.5/3
* Pudge: Level 10 Talent changed from +5 Armor to +30% XP * Pudge: Level 15 Talent changed from +75 Damage to +12% Rot Slow
* Riki: Base armor increased by 1 * Riki: Base damage increased by 4
* Sand King: Base damage reduced by 3 * Sand King: Caustic Finale slow reduced from 21/24/27/30% to 15/20/25/30%
* Shadow Shaman: Base intelligence increased by 2 * Shadow Shaman: Hex manacost reduced from 110/140/170/200 to 70/110/150/190 * Shadow Shaman: Level 15 Talent increased from -4s Hex Cooldown to -5s * Shadow Shaman: Level 25 Talent reduced from +60 Wards Attack Damage to +50
* Silencer: Arcane Curse penalty duration increased from 4 to 5 seconds
* Sniper: Assassinate cast range increased from 2000/2500/3000 to 3000 * Sniper: Level 10 Talent changed from +15% Cooldown Reduction to +25%
* Spectre: Level 15 Talent increased from -8s Spectral Dagger Cooldown to -10s
* Spirit Breaker: Greater Bash disable duration increased from 1/1.2/1.4/1.6 to 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8 * Spirit Breaker: Nether Strike damage reduced from 150/250/350 to 150/200/250 * Spirit Breaker: Level 10 Talent increased from +400 Night Vision to +600
* Sven: Storm Hammer Manacost reduced from 140 to 110/120/130/140
* Terrorblade: Agility gain increased from 3.2 to 3.7
* Tiny: Base movement speed increased from 280 to 285 * Tiny: Tree Throw splash damage increased from 130% to 150% * Tiny: Grow Status Resistance increased from 20/30/40% to 30/40/50%
* Ursa: Overpower duration increased from 15 to 20 * Ursa: Level 20 Talent changed from +1s Enrage Duration to +1.5s
* Winter Wyvern: Base Intelligence increased by 2
* Wraith King: Mortal Strike skeletons now have 30% Magic Resistance * Wraith King: Level 15 Talent increased from +25 Skeletons Attack Damage to +35
* Zeus: Lightning Bolt manacost increased from 75/95/115/135 to 90/105/120/135
MC-130936 – Carpets on llamas removed when loading 1.12 map
MC-130942 – Errors, warnings and 10 second freeze on loading list of singleplayer worlds
MC-130945 – Command tab completion does not work in command blocks with command suggestions off
MC-131125 – InhabitedTime set to zero after update from 1.12.2 (Local Difficulty)
MC-131155 – Saving structure which has not been saved before logs error “Couldn’t load structure”
To get pre-releases, open your launcher and go to the “launch options” tab. Check the box saying “Enable snapshots” and save. To switch between the snapshot and normal version, you can find a new dropdown menu next to the “Play” button. Back up your world first or run the game on in a different folder (In the “launch options” page).
Please report any and all bugs you find in Minecraft to bugs.mojang.com.
Pre-releases can corrupt your world, please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds.
Share your thoughts on how 1.13 is shaping up in the comments below!
If you want to remain spoiler-free, you should stop reading now and not look at the internet until September 4. As many of you already know, we gave you a glimpse of beloved Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6’s final moments earlier this week.
We told you that Forsaken is taking a darker tone and has a Western revenge vibe. It looks as if many of you have taken it upon yourselves to avenge Cayde. In September, you’ll get your chance to hunt down the Barons, confront Uldren, and make him answer for his crimes.
The away team has been on the ground at E3 giving out new information on Forsaken and letting players get their hands on our new game mode, Gambit. Speaking of Gambit, we have a new trailer showing off this competitive co-op experience.
A lot of excited players have stopped by the booth to get their hands on Gambit for the first time. Here are a few photos documenting the action.
Play Your Way
You caught your first glimpse of the weapon slot changes in our ViDoc, and there is gameplay footage of Gambit coming out of E3 showing how the new system will work. Our very own Design Lead Josh Hamrick shared his team’s goals for the new system and a little more info on how it works.
Josh: Hey everybody, I wanted to stop by for a second and provide just a bit of information regarding the new weapon slot system. We know many of you want the D1-style system back. Many of you have also asked us to keep the D2 model. We want to deliver something you all want, but we also want to surprise and delight you while moving the game forward. Ultimately, we want to give you something better than anything you’ve seen yet.
More Choice and Deeper Customization
The top two slots (quick slots) have more freedom than ever, allowing you to carry unique sets of Primary & Special Weapons. When paired with the appropriate Exotic, crazy load outs like the 3 Shotty build I mentioned in the ViDoc are possible… and freaking awesome.
Balanced with Ammo
Uptime for your weapons is balanced by how often you can get your hands on the right ammo. Tuned to be very similar to D1, uptime works out as follows: (most to least) Primary (White) then Special (Green) and then finally, Heavy (Purple). Primary Ammo is useless while running the 3 Shotty loadout, which takes a combination of Special and Heavy ammo —and finding yourself completely dry means it’s time to get your hands dirty. Godspeed, space puncher.
Perfect for Roles
Whether it be for raids, trials and comp, or the brand new, incredibly awesome, and (in my opinion) pinnacle Destiny sandbox activity, Gambit, the new weapon system shines at allowing incredible flexibility and customization so you and your team can strategize and build your way to greatness. Momma always said, “Loadout for the job you want.”
I promise you’re going to get more, very specific details soon™ alongside a TON of additional Forsaken information.
To the Victor Go the Spoils
Its winner’s week. Dead Orbit rose above the rest and claimed victory.
They broke the previous streak of dominance by New Monarchy who had won the previous four events in a row. New Monarchy finished second this time, and Future War Cult took home the bronze. Here’s a breakdown of the pledges and packages.
Dead Orbit is offering their weapon to everyone all this week. Make sure you pick it up before the next reset. If you pledged to them, you also get a hefty discount. New Monarchy and Future War Cult will get another shot when the Faction Rallies start back up again.
Oh Lordy
The banner is going back up again. Saladin invites fireteams of six to do battle for glory.
BEGINS: Tuesday, June 19
ENDS: Tuesday, June 26
The game is Control!
If you didn’t earn all your Season 3 ornaments during the first event, your progress carries over, and you can pick up right where you left off. Same goes for working your way through Saladin’s reputation ranks.
Good luck out there!
Comic
Next Friday, we are delivering the next episode of our web comic Warmind. Follow Ana Bray as she continues her adventure.
We will also release the localized versions of Warmind episode 2 next week. All of it is going live on June 22 at comics.bungie.net.
Pride
Bungie is dedicated to every individual in our community and embraces what makes us each unique. We are excited to support the LGBTQIA community through the sale of our Bungie Pride shirts and tank tops on the Bungie Store.
100% of the profits will support The Trevor Project, a leading national nonprofit organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQIA young people under 25.
Lifeline
Destiny Player Support is already preparing for your next adventure. They will be on hand to make sure you have the information you need when we roll out Forsaken this fall. Until then, they are still supporting the live game every day.
This is their report.
Young Wolf and Saladin’s Pride Memorialization Emblems
Since Destiny 2 launched, DPS has monitored reports from eligible veteran Destiny players who have not yet received the Young Wolf or Saladin’s Pride memorialization emblems in Destiny 2. We have determined the cause of this issue and have set up a process to verify reports and resolve the issue for impacted players. To submit a report, affected players should see our Missing Memorialization Emblems pinned thread.
Player-Impacting Issues on Xbox One
DPS is currently investigating an issue which is causing some Xbox One players to be unable to launch Destiny 2 from their console dashboard. Additionally, some players have reported infrequent framerate issues on Xbox One following Hotfix 1.2.1.1. While we continue to investigate these issues, affected players may find resolution by following the mitigation steps listed in our Xbox One Application Launch and Framerate Issues pinned thread.
Reports of Recent Crashes on PC
Recently, the DPS team has observed reports from players encountering crashes or freezes while playing Destiny 2 on PC. While this issue is still under investigation, so far it has been determined that the causes of the majority of these reports are unrelated. As always, players who encounter issues on PC should report them to our #PC Support forum. For confirmed issues on PC, players should visit our PC Known Issues list.
Warmind Known Issues List
With the launch of Destiny 2: Warmind, DPS has consolidated all the latest gameplay known issues reported by players into the Warmind Vital Information and Known Issues list. Before players report an issue to the #Help forum, we recommend they visit this page to determine whether or not the issue is already tracked by the DPS team. If they are available, potential workarounds and mitigation steps will be there as well.
I Don’t Feel So Good
The movies keep on rolling. We have two more picks for you this week. As always, we’ll be sending the creators a special emblem to celebrate their victory. If you are one of said creators, make sure you put the player names of everyone involved in making the video in the description. For a chance to win next week, submit your video to the Creations page.
Movie of the Week: Cayde-6 Tribute
Honorable Mention: Borealis Mayhem
What a week. We’ve had a great time sharing details about Forsaken and watching players experience Gambit for the first time. There is plenty more to talk about. We know you have lots of questions. The answers are coming.
E3 2018: Cyberpunk 2077 Is More Ambitious Than You Think
CD Projekt Red's next game, Cyberpunk 2077, is a massive departure from the developer's previous efforts on The Witcher series. Instead of lush forests, picturesque fields, and towering mountains, the devs are creating a world set in the concrete jungle of Northern California in the distant future. Unlike a lot of fiction focusing on a darker future, Cyberpunk 2077 aspires to move away from grimdark and towards a more exuberant but equally cynical vision for a future where capitalism and technology has run amok.
Inspired and influenced by the original Cyberpunk 2020 pen and paper RPG, 2077 extrapolates many of the themes and iconography while capitalizing on the developer's skillset for crafting dense and visually rich environments. We saw a near hour-long gameplay demo behind closed doors at E3 2018, showcasing many of the game's systems and locales, and came out impressed by the scope of CD Projekt Red's ambitious project.
Set in an alternate universe 2077, you'll take on the role of V, a vagabond and hustler living in the bustling Night City located between SF and LA. You undertake sketchy gigs to fund cybernetic enhancements and pay off debts from society's most unsavory characters, and dive further into the seedy underbelly of the technopolis and its surrounding areas--all which are run by factions and mega corporations vying for power. Unlike CD Projekt Red's previous games, your protagonist, V, is entirely who you want them to be. At the beginning of the game, you'll be able to create a custom character--choosing their gender, characteristics, and picking backstories--along with tweaking particular stats.
The open world of Night City is a massive urban environment encompassing several regions with different warring factions . With no load times (according to the devs), you'll be able to freely explore the city both on foot and in your vehicle, even engaging in high-speed shootouts on freeways, tightly packed streets, and alleys--leading to some of the more unsavory parts of town.
During the demo, V traveled to a gang hideout with their close associate Jackie--an imposing but ever jovial ally--to find a missing cyborg. Things quickly went south as the player engaged in a shootout with a gang of scavengers running a black market harvesting operation. Action looked punchy and impactful, with V sliding in and out of cover--with bits of the environment, including walls, tearing apart from all the gunfire--to get the jump on the bandits. Sticking to its RPG roots, attack damage numbers pop up in real-time when attacking enemies, which takes into account the statistics of your current loadout. After taking out the gang, V and Jackie bring their target outside to await pickup from the Trauma Team, a crew of heavily armed EMTs assigned to the super-wealthy of Night City.
Experiencing all these aspects of Cyberpunk lore took some getting used to, as key terms and locations were referenced quite often. However, the core concepts behind them are familiar enough to get a handle of. The heavy sci-fi aesthetic, where advanced technology gives people some extraordinary abilities, gives it a very familiar vibe akin to CD Projekt's past fantasy games. Seeing the setting in action showcased the game's superb visual style and aesthetic, which feels like a heavy contrast to other dark and gloomy cyberpunk fiction like Blade Runner, Altered Carbon, or Johnny Mnemonic. In Cyberpunk 2077, there's a lot more variety on display, which plays with many of the sub-genre's familiar tropes.
Cyberpunk is deeply entrenched in its PC RPG roots, and The Witcher devs wanted to lean in harder on the more adaptive and varied styles of storytelling from their past games, with many of your decisions altering the course of your character's journey in strange ways. 2077 features an involved dialog system, where you'll be able to make choices that can determine your path towards a number of different outcome. In the dialogue system, you can show off different facets of V's personality as you appear imposing, curious, or outright lie to other characters in order to get what you want. However, certain characters are able to turn the tables and use some similar tricks against you.
During a character interaction--which can be avoided entirely if you choose--V is taken captive by a Milicorp agent who has one of her bodyguards hack into the main character. This invasive hack made certain dialog choices more difficult, with the bodyguards being able to tell when the main character was telling the truth or not. After cutting a deal with the corporate agent with some non-confrontational options, V headed into an engagement with the Maelstrom gang, a group so heavily upgraded that they have the appearance of neon-lit ghouls.
The theme of transhumanism is one of the core pillars of the game, and you're constantly seeing the impact of technology on society, which also plays a role in V's development. Cyberpunk 2077 features many familiar RPG systems and mechanics, such as leveling up, skill-checks, and loot--including some nasty high-tech weapons like the assault rifle with homing bullets--but it has a mostly loose approach to character growth. You don't pick classes--such as Cyberpunk 2020's Fixer, Techie, and Nomad archetypes--but instead outfit your character with new tech enhancements they'll need at any given time. You can give your character a set of outfits that offer Street Cred bonuses--reputation experience points that open up places in the city--along with visiting the local RipperDoc to outfit yourself with new parts.
Dropping by Doctor Victor's spot in a back alley near V's apartment, we saw a few of the enhancements you can get. After choosing a new cybernetic eye, which added a zoom function and a target analyzer that allows you to see the level and stats of other characters, the ensuing upgrade sequence was gruesome, as the RipperDoc pulls out V's old eye with its vision still engaged--showing a full-view of the protagonist laying on the operating seat. This upgrade can come in handy as you'll occasionally wander into high-level characters that can pummel your character easily. While exploring the Maelstrom hideout, V utilized a number of bizarre, but powerful enhancements and tools--such as a hacking skill that allowed them to hijack an enemy's internal memory to steal precious info, along with a set of combat drugs that activated a bullet-time effect. During one moment, V hacked into an enemy's weapon to disable it remotely, and followed up with a set of advanced acrobatics to land an attack on the unsuspecting foes using with a set of arm blades, like the ones shown during the game's original teaser trailer.
While this section led to the demo's most action-packed moments--such as a boss fight that showcased feats of cybernetic skill-chaining and some of the game's most powerful weapons, like the double-barreled shotgun that fired through walls--there are apparently many different approaches to take. The developers stressed throughout the demo that many of the events and sequences shown were optional, and while the shootout in the Maelstrom hideout or making deals with the mega corporations can happen, they'll play out much differently based on their choices.
The E3 2018 demo for Cyberpunk 2077 was overwhelming with all its detail, but it did give us the impression that there was a large world with all sorts of systems to explore and mess with. The setting and some gameplay ideas are certainly a big departure for CD Projekt Red, but it also has a number of cool and visually stunning details that show off an incredibly rich world to jump head-first into. The game has been a long time coming, and we're excited to see more of it soon, and hopefully not too much later.
For more info on CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077, and all other games we saw during E3 2018, be sure to visit GameSpot's E3 Hub page.
Kubernetes is often touted as the Linux of the cloud world, and that comparison is fair when you consider its widespread adoption. But, with great power comes great responsibility and, as the home of Kubernetes, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) shoulders many responsibilities, including learning from the mistakes of other open source projects while not losing sight of the main goal. The rapid global growth of CNCF also means increased responsibility in terms of cultural diversity and creating a welcoming environment.
Rise of Kubernetes in China
CNCF in general has more than 216 members, making it the second largest project under the umbrella of The Linux Foundation. The project is enjoying massive adoption and growth in new markets, especially in China. For example, JD.com, one of the largest e-commerce companies in China, has moved to Kubernetes.
“If you are looking to innovate as a company, you are not going to always buy off-the-shelf technologies, you take Open Source technologies and customize them to your needs. China has over a billion people and they have to meet the needs of these people; they need to scale. Open Source technologies like Kubernetes enable them to customize and scale technologies to their needs,” said Chris Aniszczyk, CTO, CNCF.
This growth in Asia has inspired CNCF to bring KubeCon and CloudNativeCon to China. The organization will be organizing their first KubeCon + CloudNativeCon in Shanghai, November 11-13, 2018. China is already using open source cloud-native technologies, and through these and other efforts, CNCF wants to build a bridge to help Chinese developers increase their contribution to various projects. CNCF is also gearing up to help the community by offering translations of documentations, exams, certifications, etc.
In interviews and at events in China, language often becomes a barrier to collaboration and the free exchange of ideas and information. CNCF is aware of this. And, according to Aniszczyk, is working on plans for live translation at events to allow presenters to speak in their native language.
CNCF projects are growing not only in new regions but also in scope; people are finding new use-cases every day. While they are enjoying this adoption, the community has also started to prepare themselves for what lies ahead. They certainly can’t predict how some smart organization will use their technology in an area they never envisioned; but they can prepare the community to embrace new requirements.
We have started to hear about CNCF 2020 vision that goes beyond Kubernetes proper and looks at areas such as security and policy. The community has started adding new projects that deal with some of these topics, including Spiffy, which helps users deal with service identity and security at scale for Kubernetes related services, and OPA, a policy management project.
“We are witnessing a wide expansion of areas that CNCF is investing in to bring cloud native technologies to users,” said Aniszczyk.
Bane or boon?
Adoption is great, but we have seen how many open source projects lose track of their core mission and became bloated in order to cater to every use-case. The CNCF is not immune to such problems, but the community — at both developer and organizational level — is acutely aware of the risk and is working to protect itself.
“We have taken several approaches. First and foremost, unlike many other open source projects, CNCF doesn’t force integration. We don’t have one major release that bundles everything. We don’t have any gatekeeping processes that other foundations have,” said Aniszczyk.
What CNCF does do is allow its members and end users to come up with integration themselves to build products that solves the problems of their users. If such integration is useful, then they contribute it back to CNCF. “We have a set of loosely coupled projects that are integrated by users; we don’t force any such integration,” said Aniszczyk.
According to Aniszczyk, CNCF acts almost like a release valve and experimentation center for new things. It creates an environment to test new projects. “They are like sandbox projects doing some interesting innovation, solving some serious problems. We will see if they work or not. If they do work then the community may decide to integrate them, but none of it is forced,” said Aniszczyk.
It’s magic
All of this makes CNCF a unique project in the open source ecosystem. Kubernetes has now been widely adopted across industries. Look at cloud providers, for example, and you see that Kubernetes has the blessing of the public cloud trinity, which includes AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Three top Linux vendors — SUSE, Red Hat, and Canonical — have put their weight behind Kubernetes, as well as many other companies and organizations.
“I‘m so proud of being a person that’s been involved in open source and seeing all these companies working together under one neutral umbrella,” Aniszczyk said.
Join us at Open Source Summit in Vancouver, August for 250+ sessions covering the latest technologies and best practices in Kubernetes, cloud, open source, and more.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-15-2018, 02:24 PM - Forum: Windows
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Power and simplicity—updates to the Office 365 user experience
Technology is changing the way people get things done. We’ve picked up the pace. Our work is more collaborative. And we’re blurring the boundaries of time and place. When we ask customers why they continue to choose Office for their most important work, they tell us that they love the power the Office apps offer. The breadth and depth of features is unmatched in the industry and allows them to do things that they just can’t do with other products. But they also tell us that they need Office to adapt to the changing environment, and they’d love us to simplify the user experience and make that power more accessible. Today, we’re pleased to announce user experience updates for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook rolling out gradually over the next few months. These changes are inspired by the new culture of work and designed to deliver a balance of power and simplicity.
Office is used by more than a billion people every month, so while we’re excited about these changes, we also recognize how important it is to get things right. To guide our work, we came up with “The Three Cs”—a set of guiding principles that we use as a north star. Because these principles will make this process feel different than any previous user experience update, we thought it would be useful to share them with you.
Customers—We’re using a customer-driven innovation process to co-create the design of the Office apps. That process consists of three phases: initial customer research and analysis; concepting and co-creation; and validation and refinement.
Context—Customers love the power of Office, but they don’t need every feature at the same time. We want our new designs to understand the context that you’re working in, so you can focus on the job at hand. That means surfacing the most relevant commands based on the work you’re doing and making it easy to connect and collaborate with others.
Control—We recognize that established skills and routines are powerful—and that the way someone uses the apps often depends on specific parts of the user interface. So we want to give users control, allowing them to toggle significant changes on and off.
These updates are exclusive to Office.com and Office 365—the always up-to-date versions of our apps and services. But they won’t happen all at once. Instead, over the next several months we will deploy new designs to select customers in stages and carefully test and learn. We’ll move them into production only after they’ve made it through rigorous rounds of validation and refinement.
The initial set of updates includes three changes:
Simplified ribbon—A new, updated version of the ribbon is designed to help users focus on their work and collaborate naturally with others. People who prefer to dedicate more screen space to the commands will still be able to expand the ribbon to the classic three-line view.
The first app to get this new experience will be the web version of Word and will start to roll out to select consumer users today on Office.com. Select Insiders will then see the simplified ribbon in Outlook for Windows in July.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows offer our deepest, richest feature set—and they’re the preferred experience for users who want to get the most from our apps. Users have a lot of “muscle memory” built around these versions, so we plan on being especially careful with changes that could disrupt their work. We aren’t ready to bring the simplified ribbon to these versions yet because we feel like we need more feedback from a broader set of users first. But when we do, users will always be able to revert back to the classic ribbon with one click.
New colors and icons—Across the apps you’ll start to see new colors and new icons built as scalable graphics—so they render with crisp, clean lines on screens of any size. These changes are designed to both modernize the user experience and make it more inclusive and accessible.
The new colors and icons will first appear in the web version of Word for Office.com. Then, later this month, select Insiders will see them in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows. In July, they will go to Outlook for Windows, and in August they will begin rolling out to Outlook for Mac.
Search—Search will become a much more important element of the user experience, providing access to commands, content, and people. With “zero query search,” simply placing your cursor in the search box will bring up recommendations powered by AI and the Microsoft Graph.
Commercial users can already see this experience in action in Office.com, SharePoint Online, and the Outlook mobile app, and it will start rolling out to commercial users of Outlook on the web in August.
For an overview of these changes, check out the video below by Jon Friedman, our chief designer for Office.
To develop these initial designs, Jon’s team worked closely with customers. They collected data on how people use the apps and built prototypes to test new concepts. While we have plenty of work left to do, we’ve definitely heard encouraging things from customers using early builds:
“It’s simpler and I feel like I can open it and immediately get my bearings and move forward. Not a lot of extra information. The tasks are obvious on this screen.”
“The toolbar provides the most frequently used features…maximizing the screen real estate for the actual content.”
“I like the extra space. What I do find is that the feature to toggle it off/on is helpful because occasionally I can’t figure out (quickly) where something went.”
We plan on carefully monitoring usage and feedback as the changes roll out, and we’ll update our designs as we learn more.
Technology is changing the way people get things done at work, at school, and at home, resetting expectations for productivity. Inspired by these changes, these updates are designed to deliver a balance of power and simplicity. But what’s most exciting for us is that over the next few months we’ll be co-creating and refining these new experiences with our customers—and making the power of Office more accessible for everyone.
