Today at the Square Enix showcase, Crystal Dynamics did a whole lot more than simply announce that Hawkeye was live in Marvel’s Avengers today. They took the opportunity to try and quiet a lot of doubts that fans and critics have had about the game, showing off a full six month roadmap of content, culminating in something that’s long been rumored, a large, free Black Panther-led expansion set in Wakanda, out sometime this fall.
I actually had the chance to talk with Studio Head Scot Amos and Executive Producer Morgan Gray for about 40 minutes ahead of all this, where they laid out their changing philosophy of communication going forward, recapping where they’d fallen short and previewing what’s to come.
What was made very clear from the outset of the conversation was that yes, Crystal Dynamics is still wholly committed to the Avengers and their promised version of it with a lengthy, interconnected story threaded through a live service game with frequent updates.
Those updates have…not been frequent so far. I confirmed that yes, the original plan was to get a whole bunch more content out a lot more quickly, but Crystal Dynamics was forced to drop everything and focus on fixing core issues with the game right at launch. Combine that with COVID and California wildfires, and we have a recipe for a whole lot of delays.
But they understand their communication has been poor, and they have not given a clear enough vision of where there is to look forward to. In their presentation they even cited one of my articles, where I called the game’s current roadmap “datamining and fan dreams.” Well, they listened. Now Avengers has a literal roadmap.
Avengers
CD
Today is meant to mark a turning point with the release of Hawkeye, Maestro and the Future Imperfect campaign, along with the release of the next-gen update for the game which should drastically increase performance, and some additional features like the ability to replay the campaign.
Going forward, in the months that follow, Avengers will start having more dedicated “events” in a way they haven’t so far. There’s something planned for the release of the Black Widow movie in May, a “Red Room” challenge which will mark the arrival of actual MCU skins in the game, another big fan request. The game will get another Villain Sector starring original campaign villain Monica, unattached from a hero release. Later, there’s a new type of mission type which is essentially unstructured patrol, where players can traipse around the Wasteland zone, free-farming at their will. Changes to gear to make it more impactful are coming. Lower level players will find they get stronger, faster (even if they’ve slowed down the XP curve). They’re introducing cool new things like an artifact that can spawn Hank Pym to shoot an energy cannon at enemies as a one-time summon.
And all of this culminates in the Black Panther expansion (yes, it’s an expansion, yes, it’s still free), which was teased during this reveal, but not a ton of details were shared. What they did tell me was that Black Panther was a fully new character, ie. he won’t just mirror Cap’s brawling moves or anything, and that Wakanda is a totally new zone with new types of areas, puzzles and more. Datamining (not Crystal Dynamics) has said that the villain for that content will be Klaw, and it’s possible King T’Challa may be voiced by none other than Kratos himself, Christopher Judge, as Avengers continues to expand its A-list voice cast.
Is it pure, unadulterated good news all around? Mmm I think there are a few caveats to explore here.
While Crystal Dynamics said that Omega-level threats are still coming, high level boss fights and its raid-like AIM Labs, even with the arrival of the roadmap, those still do not have dates. I asked them what was going on with this content, as AIM Labs has been teased since release, and here we are. It’s not precisely clear, with them saying only that they want to make sure to “get it right” precisely at launch and make sure everything is balanced and nothing break for what it deems some of the most important content they’ll be introducing.
Avengers
CD
I am wondering about how fans will receive some of the content that’s been announced as arriving in the six month window until Black Panther shows up. The Black Widow event is a reskinned HARM room. Monica may be a new type of boss fight, but she’s not exactly a high profile Marvel villain. And when AIM Labs do come, they are still teasing a boss segment as four Abomination clones, which sounds like no one’s idea of a good time.
But it’s all certainly more than the game has had so far, with yawning gaps in between content drops. And systems changes like better gear will help, and Crystal Dynamics says they’re working on something akin to a paragon system where XP will let you further upgrade your character once you hit max.
Some things weren’t mentioned at all, however. I pressed them on the absence of Spider-Man, the Sony-exclusive hero that was supposed to be out early this year, according to a long-altered timeline, and it does not appear he will make it out in the first year of release, though they said yes, he still exists And no other heroes were teased besides Black Panther, even with rumored ones like Captain Marvel, She-Hulk and Bucky Barnes buried in the files. They also couldn’t tell me if Black Panther would mark the arrival of a new enemy race, something fans have been waiting for so they can stop fighting AIM, but they wouldn’t say, though we know a Kree invasion is supposed to happen at some point.
Avengers
CD
As for the long, long term? All I could get them to say is yes, they’re working on content past the first year here. They want to express that players can feel comfortable committing to investing in Avengers, and it seems like it’s not going to pull an Anthem and just evaporate before a bunch more content comes out.
I want all this to work. I’d love nothing more to still be playing new Avengers expansions three years from now with a 20+ hero roster. But for that to happen, the next six months seem like they’re going to be key, and if Hawkeye, Black Panther and all the rest can’t pull together a larger playerbase, that won’t be good.
To quote the old looter adage, “things seem to be moving in the right direction.” I’m not sure I could say that a few weeks ago about Avengers, but I think fans who have been waiting for actual announcements and plans and new content should be satisfied by what they heard today. There are lingering questions and shifting timelines, but for now, things are in a far better place than we’ve been for a while now.
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
