An air force helicopter and a commercial jet collided with complete loss of life in Washington last night. Apparently the helicopter was on a training flight.

This should never have happened …Trump was right about that. But the news conference was another unnecessary  controversy. The time for speculation about cause should have waited for the facts.This was the time for condolences.

This unfortunately was a repeat of the disastrous Covid briefings, with the President venturing way out of his zone of expertise and ad libbing when sticking to the script would have been better.

Frustrating and an unnecessary additional stress for the families of those lost.

Stop talking nonsense mozzie. Everyone thinks something very odd happened.

It actually didn't even need Trump to draw attention to how bizarre this crash was. But thankfully Trump did comment on Truth Social and there doubtless be a full Investigation.

The Disgraced FBI came out very early and said there was no reason to suggest this was a, terrorist act. President Trump's comments assured people that there would be an investigation and thst the Commander in Chief understood the astonishing facts surrounding the crash.

I think in a way Trump smells hat really happened - same as why the fires in Los Angeles got out of control,- the incompetence of people - b0th amongst the politicians - but also in the bureaucracy appointed and used  without having the necessary ability to ensure that tragedies like this aircrash does not happen.   

That is why a full investigation is needed to ensure that maladministration is stopped before further maladministration and imcompetence cause further problems.   .     

Trump's a disgusting gobshite ..................... a classless obscenity.

I remember when Trump was questioned about his apparent slowness to condemn the Neo-Nazi's in the aftermath of the Charlottesville violence, he repeatedly stated that he he wanted to wait for all the facts before commenting and now here is pushing baseless conspiracy theories and politicizing the tragedy.

Says its all really. 

This is the Trump that we all know and love....  . 
How is this person in charge of running America....

I like he wyou are using the word "RUNNING"which is exactly the right word to use,   A massive difference with Biden - who was "RUINING"  the country TURNING ANYTHING  HE TOUCHED INTO SHIT.

Trump is desperately trying to remove the shit Biden caused for the por people of the USA by cancelling out all the illegal rules introduced by the worst President in the history of the USA.       

In many ways he is the right person among those available to be running the country. Certainly better than Harris who was totally unqualified and unsuited.

Nonetheless for a President to introduce politics into remarks about an air accident was shameful. His only mission in this initial announcement should have been to focus on the victims and provide whatever comfort he could to the families.

The Air Crash was just the latest proof that this man is not fit to be a president. How can you endorse him?

Trump is good for the shareholders, he is bound to allow lots of acquisitions to boost shareholder value and suppress natural wage growth. 

Trump has no moral fibre, remember the 2 innocent election workers (Ruby Freeman?) These people had to be relocated as they were getting death threats. Their whole lives were turned upside down.

I have never seen a US president stoop to such lows. People may not have liked Bill Clinton or George Bush - but they still had moral fibre and presidential characteristics.

It will be interesting to see how Trump goes over the next 4 years. I don't see it going well, and think most of his most rabid supporters will become his biggest haters.

In many ways he is the right person among those available to be running the country. Certainly better than Harris who was totally unqualified and unsuited.

More qualified than Trump when he first ran.

Frankly the only people I think who would be less suitable in the role are Beeno and Clevermike.

Take the situation with Greenland.

Its been known for sometime that the US has genuine security concerns and interests around Greenland, so its not something that just randomly popped into Trumps head, its a genuine issue for the US.

The Greenlanders themselves nor Denmark are realistically capable of providing security over the whole of Greenland either.

But this is were it gets stupid. Denmark and the US have excellent relations. The US has had a military base there since World War 2. Denmark is one of the few countries that has a trade deficit to the US, so its not one of these countries that Trump believes are screwing over America in trade. The Danes supported the US in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

There is no reason to think that the issue could not be resolved to everyone satisfaction by simply good friendly diplomacy between the US and Denmark who would allow the US to open another military base there or expand the size of the current base. The Danes and Greenlanders have expressed an openness with working with the US on the issue.

When it comes to mineral and rare metals rights. Companies are free to go to Greenland and try to mine the resources of Greenland, but its never been economically viable. With global warming and the continuing decrease of ice covering Greenland, resource mining will likely become more viable. Again US companies could go there and try to set up shop and make it work. 

But what does Trump do, he has a very aggressive phone call with the Prime Minister of Denmark, threatens economic pressure and won't rule out military action against Greenland on security grounds.

Even if its all just bluster from Trump it absolutely sends the wrong message around the world, that security can be used to justify aggressive military action. China could simply use the same excuse to invade Taiwan. The Norwegians are panicking because they have island in the Arctic that are disputed with Russia. Russia could try to take those islands using the same rhetoric.

Trump has claimed that American control would bring huge financial benefits to Greenland, but again this demonstrates why he's so unsuitable a world leader, he doesn't seem to understand peoples national identity can't just be bought off with money and its frankly pretty insulting to them. It's also the reason why his deal of century between the Palestinian's and Israel never got off the ground. 

And then there is the claims that Greenlanders want to be part of America. Which according to a newly released poll is complete bullshit with just 6% of Greenlanders who supported the idea while 80% rejected it.

And if Trump tries economic pressure against Denmark in the form of tariff's or puts other business restrictions on them, he would be best be advised that Denmark is both an EU state and any economic pressure be it sanctions or tariffs would see the entire EU respond in kind but it is also one of the main providers of Insulin to the USA, along with other EU states.  I'm not sure the US would be will served putting that supply in jeopardy.

The whole situation, just like Panama is an unnecessary and counter productive farce.

There's a report out there in which Trump is blaming the Democrats, he goes as far back as blaming Obama.

What a poor apology of a human being.

'Despicable': Pete Buttigieg thrashes Trump for plane crash press conference rant

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hit back on Thursday after President Donald Trump blamed him and assorted "diversity" initiatives for Wednesday night's deadly plane crash over Washington D.C.

During a press conference about the crash, Trump directly blamed Buttigieg for the crash despite having no evidence whatsoever to back up such a claim.

"Maybe this is the reason the FAA, which is overseen by secretary Pete Buttigieg, a real winner," Trump said. "That's the guy's a real winner. Do you know how badly everything's run since he's run? The Department of Transportation? He's a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor, he ran his city into the ground, and he's a disaster now. He's just got a good line of b------. The Department of Transportation, his government agency charged with regulating civil aviation while he runs it, 45,000 people, and he's run it right into the ground with his diversity, so I had to say that it's terrible."

Buttigieg came out swinging at Trump immediately after the president's rant and pointed out that Trump in his first week in office pushed out several aviation safety officials.

"Despicable," he wrote in response on X. "As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch. President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again."

'Using tragedy to compliment himself': Critics pounce on Trump's latest press conference

President Donald Trump was eviscerated online after blaming diversity for the plane crash at the Washington, D.C. airport on Wednesday night.

"Trump's press conference today, blaming the FAA's hiring of women and black people for the crash - was disgusting," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) in a response video. "Especially after he just threw the FAA into chaos, ousting the Administrator and the whole FAA safety board. He's in charge. This happened on his watch."

"Trump, looking like an Oompa Loompa with severe scalp mange uses the American Airlines / Blackhawk helicopter tragedy to trash Obama and Biden and complement himself. This deranged, malignant narcissist is as pathetic a human being as it gets," bashed singer-songwriter Bill Madden.

Software engineer and pilot Alex Cole responded to Trump blaming diversity by pointing to local Atlanta reports about the white American Airlines pilot with Georgia ties.

"Trump is out here trying to blame Black people and women for a plane crash that happened *after* he announced a DEI purge of the FAA," postedjournalist Aaron Rupar.

Long-time journalist Jim Acosta recalled the quote from President Harry Truman that with the presidency, "the buck stops here."

"Trump is trying to pass the buck and blame everybody but his administration for the DC plane crash. This is a time for consoling the families and investigating the cause of this tragedy, not shameful finger-pointing," Acosta posted on X.

Right-wing watchdog group PatriotTakes pointed to a tweet from Trump in 2018 in which he took credit for "zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record." After the crash, however, Trump is pointing fingers.

"When good things happen, Trump takes credit. When bad stuff happens, Trump takes no responsibility," the group said.

'Not normal': FAA confirm air traffic controller was doing the job of two people

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed the air traffic controller working was doing the job of two people.

The air traffic controller was on duty when the mid-air collision between a black hawk helicopter and a passenger plane killed 67 people.

According to The New York Times, an FAA preliminary report made an interesting discovery of the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s staffing.

The FAA preliminary report found that air traffic control tower staffing was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic”.

The report found the air traffic controller working was pulling double duty, watching arriving and departing planes while also overseeing helicopters.

The responsibilities of watching arriving/ departing planes and overseeing helicopters are usually split between two people, the report added.

Thanks  Denny

That says a lot.   Why was there only one officer on duty when the crash occurred?  Who ran he control of the tower - normally it is he function of he Department of Transport - but Buttigieg was a gross incompetent and could not manage a cool drink stand at a charity bazaar.   So there were supposed to be 2 officers on duty - where was there was no second one or was his salary stolen by the airport management?   So somebody is going to be in hot water - wrong of me tio use that term "water",  There were no water in the fire hydrants in the Pacific Pallisades area of Los Angeles - so "water" is for the  Democrats a curse word.             

Oh yes, why am I not surprised.....of course it's Obama, Biden, Buttigieg and every other Democrats fault.......I know, we know......everyone knows. Goeigenade I'm surprised you didn't blame Clinton or did you forget.

This focus on criticizing and belittling his enemies has long been Trump's problem, which is why I've suggested they get someone else to speak in public because he just can't seem to help himself. 

In other news, apparently a new poll shows the democrats at only 37% approval. Imagine having only Trump to beat and you can't even muster 50% approval.

Complain about Trump all you want - that shows the dire state of the alternative, and the dems only have themselves to blame for being too far up their own asses to read the room - the room of course being the American people. 

Exactly Pakie.

Imagine if something is in bad taste but still better than the alternative.

Well, you don't have to imagine it. Both of Trump's presidential wins prove it.

If they're 50% competent, you only need to be 51%. 

My leftie chums are still blaming the win on the "dumb bigoted American rednecks" voting for Trump. 

All I say to that is "cool, keep punching that theory and watch how you lose the next election too because, just like the Dems, you've learned nothing."

Badmouthing the opponent only gets you so far - and already you can see the focus is the same as in 2016-2020: ripping Trump at every possible opportunity. But some time or another you have to put a value proposition on the table, tone back the radical and the stupid that have just lost you an election and get some balance going. I see nothing in that direction from the left so far.

You keeping up with what's happening in the gaming industry, Plum? Studios closing, big guys like Ubisoft and EA in trouble over their stupid DEI and political pandering in games and the absolute dive in quality? People just aren't buying into it anymore.

"Nonetheless for a President to introduce politics into remarks about an air accident was shameful."

Agreed

"It will be interesting to see how Trump goes over the next 4 years. I don't see it going well, and think most of his most rabid supporters will become his biggest haters"

I seriously doubt it

Trump is going to make mistakes, probably a lot .... but I can only see the USA and the world as a whole being a better place after the next 4 years, than having Biden or Harris for the next 4 years ..... and if anyone thinks that Harris would do a better job than Trump is just delusional.

"Complain about Trump all you want - that shows the dire state of the alternative, and the dems only have themselves to blame for being too far up their own asses to read the room - the room of course being the American people"

Well said Pakie, 100% true

"All I say to that is "cool, keep punching that theory and watch how you lose the next election too because, just like the Dems, you've learned nothing."

Badmouthing the opponent only gets you so far - and already you can see the focus is the same as in 2016-2020: ripping Trump at every possible opportunity. But some time or another you have to put a value proposition on the table, tone back the radical and the stupid that have just lost you an election and get some balance going. I see nothing in that direction from the left so far.

You keeping up with what's happening in the gaming industry, Plum? Studios closing, big guys like Ubisoft and EA in trouble over their stupid DEI and political pandering in games and the absolute dive in quality? People just aren't buying into it anymore"

Brilliantly said Pakie ..... and so pertinent to what we have all witnessed over the last couple of years....

Stupid is, as stupid does, and the general american population have had enough of the false bullshit being pedalled by politicians and organisations.

Nobody realize what Denny wrote out above so let me repeat what happened claim what happened:-

"An internal preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reportedly showed that the number of staff members working at the air control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia, was "not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic."

On Wednesday night, an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.C., and all 67 people onboard both aircraft are presumed to be dead.

The Associated Press obtained a report which showed one air traffic controller was working two positions at the time of the crash. "

Whenever there was a major problem in the USA there was an administrative disaster causing the catastrophe.    In the past three months It happened -

• when the cyclone Helene struck Georgia and North Carolina and the claim that FEMA ran out of money because the Biden Administration illegally used it to cover other expenditure of the Federal Government and then issued insrructions that no people showing  any signs of supporting  Trump may not be assisted in any way;
• when a train derailed in New Palestine - Ohio - causing a major environmentl disaster that impacted on affected people as well - the Secretary of  Transport  - Buttigieg - waited a month before he visiting  the site and then did nothing about the problems and in the end the effort was to get rid f the poblem throug silence  - no comment from Biden either; and 
• when the fires raged in Los Angeles  there were no water in the fire hydrants to fight the fires - there were no water in a reervoir serving the area either - all leftist ideology but sure to bugger up everything the Democrats touched, 

Giung through the disasterous Biden Administration everthing Biden and his Administration touched tuned into instant shit.    So I am not surprised by the absence of two staff members when there was only 1 in the ower,   

 So when in most Government Departmets there was a case that over the last 3 years  90% of the Federal Departmental bureaucrats not for even  a day went to their offices.   In the case of  the army they could not reach recruitment targets  becaue of a quota systm intrduced by the Deparments,   In the case of  virtually evey Department there were billionss of dollars here no proof as  what the money was spent on found by the auditors.   The money just vanished into thin air.   

In Homeland Security it happened to run into $382 billion and thus far in the Defense Department the ultimate "lost" amount is approaching $250 billion out of a Budget of $825 billion.    Was it ACCIDENTAL OR WHERE DID THE MONEY ACUALLY WENT.    That is why Hegseth was appointed as S ecreary of Dfense and there are also Secretries of the Navy and the Army nominated to try and root out the problem.    Neither candidates nominated by Trump had much  of a military background - because it is the Administration  that collapsed - the function to head the DOD had nothing to do with fighting the Wars and everything to do with business mismanagement,   

The fac is that in WW2 there were only 8 Generals and Admirals in the DOD there are at present 32 people in that rank.   Most who have desk jobs in the Pentagon - who are deskbound in the Pentagon and their actual command were disastrous in the case of the Afghans and fled from Afghanistan and left tens of thousands of American, green card holders and co-oprators behind.   They then had to return to Kabul  Airport to try and save the people invovled and handed the Taliban a list of people and families the US wants to withdraw.   To this date nobody knows what hapened to the people on that list.   Despite the total fuck-up some people with the help of American volunteers funded by US business enterprises got out of Afghanistan.   The US Government got them held in camps in the Gulf States and neighbouring countries  and for some reason or another never allowed them to enter the USA,   Two weeks before Biden left office the DOD suddenly closed those camps and left the people staying there in destitute.  Hegseth would have none of it and  one of his first jobs is to get the poor people promised protection by the US Government into the USA, 

What made is worse the US Government paid the UN $68 billion to give food aid to the Taliban in exchange for releasing the people on te US lists - so the Taliban sent 125 000 people picked by them to the USA - who was never screened properly and even Wray feared that there may be tens-of-thousands of people with links to terrorism amongst the 125  000 on that list.  The people ended up in the USA and nobody knows where these people are at present,   Biden bragged about how successful he evacuation worked out - but in real fact it was a disaster and the price to be paid for it is going to be equally bad  if not worse,

There are literally of hundreds of similar disasters the Biden Administration caused,  I il take many years  salvage the disaster caused by that lot of simpletons in charge of the US Government.   The amin disaster was Biden's Oen Border policy and now the repatriation of illegal migrants have started with the first people to go were criminals and their families who are being deported,

If there was anything sound in the Biden Administration  it still will have to be discovered and no amount of "pardoning" will sae the crimials involved will be saved from going to jail.    Fact is the pardoning by Biden is in reality  an admission of guilt of crimes being committed by the abstards involved.   That is why the Demcorats  fought desperately to prevent Hegseth's appointment and is at roeent fighting all out to prevent teh appointment of Bondi as AG and Patel as FBI head - and firther ighting will take place in the case of the Amy and Navy Secretaries,   It has everything to do with cover-up of bribery and corruption and nothing to do with management ability of the people involved. 

I think the epeople on thiss ite getting their info from the fake media trying to undermine Trump is basically sdishonest as well and on the side of bribery and corruption developed by the Democrats over the past 20 years,    The only way to clean up the emss is to implement contrl measures to stop the rot in the USA.

The first step is  to stop the rot in Administration - the next step would be to clen up the election system in the USA,   The irst thing is to tr and upgrade the sstem to prevent fraud in elections at present rife in the USA - esecially in states run by the Democratic Party - were election laws are absically ignred and implmented to provide for fraud in elections.   Where the election results are delayed for weeks after the election fraud was the system used to get Democrats elected,   In he case of the Senator election in Pennsylvania the court ruled against an attempt by the DP to get fraudulent votes counted  and  Schumer tried to stop the  Republican winner from being seated and the corrupt bastard  in the end was foced to change that decision. 

There were similar problems in Senate and House seats in a number of States and the  use of fraudent methods to steal elecions will be stopped before the end of this year,    Watch out for the howling of the DP about undermining the right of people to vote is bound to be highlighted by the media and carried from there to this site.  It has nothing to do with  freedom to vote and eveything  to do with voter fraud protected and helped along by States governed by the Democrats,   .

                                                                  ,   

This CNN article says that despite 16 years without a fatal crash for US airlines, there has been signs of stress on the system for quite some time. We'll see what comes out.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/30/business/us-airlines-warnings-ahead-of-crash/index.html

How rhe hell did that person got nominated by Biden at all.   He has no idea of management and of the FAA function at all  and I would think that either Harris had to cast a deciding vote or some Republicans voted for the guy like in so many other  cases also.   Was there no candidate that knows what functions the FAA is invovled in nominated and why was this disastrous pick - a toal ignoramus - picked for the job.?  

Let me put it bluntly - it is the normal unholy mess started by Obama and Trump could not fix when he was President because of too many Republicans siding wit h the  Democrats,   It got worse under Biden and now Trump is trying to solve t he multitde of problems made worse under Obama.    You know what I call it - unholy sht all ovr the show and Trump speaking the truth is now being atacked by the Democrats and the site idiots follow them vigorously as to be expected,

Name me on thing where the country is not in ever-deeening  shit virtualy on a daily basis and I will change my idea accrdingly.   The fact is leftist idealogues are always Government failures becse they believe in abnormal BS which cannot be implemented.

Normal is not normal in the DP in the USA,    So the situation is normal BS in management of everything.        

Trump politicized a tragedy........insensitive and unnecessary.

Trump politicized a tragedy........insensitive and unnecessary.

Yep, no getting around that. And not long before Trump was the one who shut down a reporter asking about spending during the signing of the Laken Riley Act as inappropriate. He should apply that standard to himself.

He's not a politician...he tells it how he sees it without filters or tact and he's probably better informed than anyone else... but the timing and platform was wrong.

"He's not a politician...he tells it how he sees it without filters or tact and he's probably better informed than anyone else... but the timing and platform was wrong"

Agreed

He could be a bit more tactful or diplomatic, but I guess he's tired of wading through all the constant bullshit questions and accusations that he gets, just like recently when he was asked if he knows the names of all the 67 people who were killed on the plane, to which he replied that it was not a very smart question.

What is interesting though, is that I read a report a while ago that said that the one of the main reasons why Trump received so much support this time around, especially from the younger generation, was because people could see that his answers to certain questions, and comments that he makes in interviews, podcasts... or in some of his speeches are not rehearsed.... they are spontaneous.......and that the public see it as a breath of fresh air that someone in such a high political position is not putting up a front or false persona or speaking with a well practiced and rehearsed answer or speech to a certain issue or situation.... and I also see that...but with sponteanity comes the risk of putting your foot in your mouth....which we know Trump has already done many times...

The problem with doing this spontaneous taking so often though, is that he will stumble into doing something stupid like he just did here, because it was unnecessary and insensitive and he should and could have handled it better.

Trump doesn't have much tact at all... and that's not going to change anytime soon......just watching that old video of how him and Obama handled the big news of a terrorist getting killed ...Trump "He died like a dog" ...... it was so funny though.

Yes it's easy to forget that not too long ago the American president could barely speak without a teleprompter. I thought Trump's signing session with all the reporters present and just answering questions off the cuff was great, so different from the protected and sterile nature of any of the Biden/Harris press interactions (if you could even call them interactions). Notice how much more fiery the press conferences are now? The liberal press have suddenly woken up from their stupor. Very predictably, of course.

Yes it's easy to forget that not too long ago the American president could barely speak without a teleprompter...

Well... at one point Biden couldn't even speak with a teleprompter

"I thought Trump's signing session with all the reporters present and just answering questions off the cuff was great, so different from the protected and sterile nature of any of the Biden/Harris press interactions (if you could even call them interactions)."

I thought the exact same thing Pakie, which I think is exactly the kind of thing that this report alluded to.... because Trump was going into detail, sometimes into great detail, when he was asked spontaneous questions about any specific policy that he was signing in, and his broad knowledge and explanations were really very good, whether it be from discussing the economy to the WHO pull out.

Imagine Kamala even remotely trying to do that.

"Notice how much more fiery the press conferences are now?

"The liberal press have suddenly woken up from their stupor. Very predictably, of course."

It was expected by most I assume, which is why I mentioned earlier, one can only imagine the amount of complete and utter bullshit that Trump must put up with every day from certain news outlets or journalists.

Trump generates his own shit sometimes, so some of his backlash is 100% justified, but at the same time, a lot of it isn't.

It also seems that news will come out soon that a transgender person was not one of the three US Army personnel that were flying the helicopter, which should put some ugly perceptions or assumptions to bed.

Why that was even brought up is stupid

Bottom line, Trump's batshit. Undeniable. Sadly, a vast majority of Goppies are shit scared of their fuhrer.

Bob, you're lost at sea ATM...

Imagine being so fascinated by Trump that talking about him has basically become 90% of your personality.

"You keeping up with what's happening in the gaming industry, Plum? Studios closing, big guys like Ubisoft and EA in trouble over their stupid DEI and political pandering in games and the absolute dive in quality? People just aren't buying into it anymore."

I have indeed, Pakie.

Ubisoft's inserting a black samurai into Assassin's Creed haha...and basically just changing the race of a Japanese historical figure. They're paying for that one. 

And then of course BioWare with their latest Dragon Age insertion of trans philosophy into  Middle Ages fantasy game.

It's hilarious watching these companies pay the price for giving in to the insatiable need their twenty-something employees have to virtue signal.

Meanwhile, studios like Rockstar have their finger on the pulse and are about to earn more money with GTA 6 than any game or movie before.

Batshit

Lets get back to the Air disaster in the USA.    We have serious deficiencies in th c ontrol tower at the Reagan Airport and the questions keep piling up going back to 2014:-

•  A ccrding to a video recording a certain Mr Washington was nminated and appointed after an interview in which he could not answe a single question on anything relating to conmtrol of air traffic at airports.   He was the epitome of a DEI appointment and the result was a tragic loss of life - and over te last week two air ccrashes tok place - one in Pennsylvania and one in Virgina adjacent to Washington D C.
•  At the Reagan airport there  should be 30 air controllers in service - there are only 17 staff members,
•  At the time of the accident there was only 1 air conmtroller on duty - the second one went home early, 

"You keeping up with what's happening in the gaming industry, Plum? Studios closing, big guys like Ubisoft and EA in trouble over their stupid DEI and political pandering in games and the absolute dive in quality? People just aren't buying into it anymore."

Ah yes the get woke go broke fallacy.

Care to explain why Cyberpunk 2077 sold over 30 millions copies and and its expansion sold over 8 million copies yet it allowed you to play as gay/trans character?

What about the Last of Us Part 2. Lesbian lead characters. Over 10 million copies sold.

How about Hogwarts Legacy, featuring a transgender women, sold 30 million copies.

Baulders Gate 3, 10 million copies.

And there is loads more examples.

Meanwhile, studios like Rockstar have their finger on the pulse and are about to earn more money with GTA 6 than any game or movie before.

Rockstar, you do realize they made a game Bully in which you play as teenage boy in a boarding school and there is an achievement for kissing other boys.

DEI or wokeness has nothing to do with the quality of a game. Some games that contain what's considered woke content are good, some are middling some are bad, same as games without DEI/Woke content.

So what happened in reality iro the saga is no said by the media to be part of it,   That relates to the Head of FAA - he had no influence in runing the Authority because he was a comlete idiot based on DEI quotas.

So what did effect the Reagan Airport staffing.   In terms of real requirement there should be 30 controllers - but the problem is that when the vacanxcies was advertised and there was minimal applications complying with DEI requirements - but the also failed in all other requirements and in the end  it was decided to keep the jobs vacant and re-advetize the vacancies.   Why the  hell keep crucial posts vacant because appliants do not meet DEI requirements.  

Ultra-left policy implmentation caused the havoc in this case and Trump must have been furious when he made that well-deserved attack on yet another disaster caused by such policies Biden introduced,  Same BS as was the case in  California with its waterless fire hydrants.

Now the problem Trump has is to root out the malignancy in the US Public Service and that is going to lead to firing of tens of thousands of Public Servants wasting tax-payer dollars,   It will require AI evaluations to find out who never contribute any work - but getting their salaries and allowances every month.   Employment fraud leads to monetary fraud and the pestilence should be rooted out. 

            . 

BB 

That video clip of the question "Why are they so afraid with you"?   The answer is real - a number of Dem Senators are involved in criminality - both through bribes and backhanders and they know Patel is going to find out what is really happening and going to report to the AG Bondi on the findings and some Senators do not want to spend the rest of their lives in jail.

Top of the list are people like Schiff - who will  have his feeding system exposed quickly and decisively.   

Stav, nobody apart from some extremist trolls really care whether there are gay/lesbian/trans people in a game, as long as it is organic, doesn't artificially do that to further an agenda and the game remains authentic. That's why games like Cyberpunk, BG3 and Hogwarts were huge successes. 

Now contrast BG3 to DA: Veilguard, as an example - where right from the start you can't even create a female character with large breasts or anything but a flat ass, and no male character can be bigger than Manie Libbok. It is a clear drive towards the blurring of lines between the sexes, an agenda so obvious not even you can overlook it, and a complete mockery of "diversity and inclusion". And then adding in gender surgery scars? In a medieval fantasy world? And even that would have been excusable perhaps if it was a passable gameplay experience, but it's not. It's like an MMO with an identity crisis.

This is what I mean by DEI, from Ubisoft (their website is more littered with boasting about their diversity and inclusion commitment than anything about game quality):

Ubisoft is committed to contributing to the feminization of its workforce and the overall industry!

That is a political agenda, meaning better qualified candidates will be overlooked to meet a different quota, and it shows in the terrible quality of recent Ubisoft games. It shows in their interns and graduates program only allowing women and non-binary people. If you don't think that is a "go woke go broke" strategy, well, Ubisoft has lost 80% of its value in the last 5 years and is predicted to go bankrupt this year.

The usual Anger anti US  stance. Here’s your problem…Chat’s summation of trade conditions:

Generally, government barriers to imports are greater for U.S. goods in Europe than for European goods in the U.S. This is due to a combination of tariffs, regulatory differences, and non-tariff barriers.

1. Tariffs

• The European Union (EU) has slightly higher average tariffs on imported goods compared to the U.S.
• The EU's Common External Tariff applies to goods from non-EU countries, including the U.S., and can be higher in sectors like agriculture and food products.
• The U.S. also imposes tariffs but has, on average, lower tariff rates on manufactured goods.

2. Non-Tariff Barriers

• Regulatory barriers in the EU tend to be stricter, especially in areas like food safety, chemicals, and digital privacy (GDPR).
• The U.S. has regulatory differences, but American standards are often more flexible than the EU's.
• Agriculture is a major point of contention—the EU has strict rules on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), hormone-treated beef, and chemical treatments for poultry, which restrict U.S. exports.

3. Trade Disputes & Agreements

• Both sides have filed complaints at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over tariffs and subsidies (e.g., Boeing vs. Airbus dispute).
• The EU imposes restrictions on certain U.S. tech companies over antitrust and data privacy rules.
• The U.S. has imposed tariffs on European steel, aluminum, and some luxury goods, but in general, the EU maintains more import restrictions.

Conclusion

While both sides impose trade barriers, European import barriers for U.S. goods tend to be greater due to higher tariffs and stricter regulatory requirements, especially in agriculture, chemicals, and digital services. The U.S. market is generally more open, though it does impose some trade restrictions, particularly in response to trade disputes or national security concerns.

When you can’t compete….regulate and use the courts:

But against Chinese companies, the actions are not as aggressive. What do these little Brussels  men in suits think the reaction is going to be….bite the hand that has helped you survive two wars, look the other way with China:

It’s about time America demanded a level playing field.

The usual Anger anti US  stance.

Emm, where?

Mozart thank you for doing all that research on the EU bias against USA which is the country that has spent Billions on Nato and other programs to the EU since WW 2.

No other country has assisted Europe as much as the USA or come close.

Unfortunately the more you give the more they demand and if they do not get their way it ends up in the situation that prevails in Europe today.

What a shame.

"It’s about time America demanded a level playing field."

Indeed...

Lol Cyberpunk...

You mean one of the most refunded games in living memory?

If I have to sit through an unskipable cutscene where some character is telling me all about how they never felt comfortable in their body and and and...I'm deleting. I don't play games to hear about the latest wokeness and gender, race...blah blah blah.

And the majority of gamers of agree.

Yes, Rockstar have their finger on the pulse. They will let you play as anything you like but won't preach to you about what you should and should accept.

Perhaps that's a subtle a distinction but it makes a huge difference to the player. 

TLDR; People are sick of the preaching.

Cyberpunk got good Plum, they just released it very broken. No excuse for that, but at least they committed to fixing it. 

Rockstar is the shit though. I'm not necessarily on board with some of their business practices, but damn they make epic games. RDR2 still sets an almost unmatchable standard 6 years later.

I don't play games to hear about the latest wokeness and gender, race...blah blah blah.

This, and this is what the activists now masquerading as game developers don't get. Gamers play games to escape the real world. These people instead force reality, and of course their reality or perception thereof, into games.

Ubisoft makes that clear on their website and I quote: "creating games that reflect the diversity of the world we live in". Exactly what gamers don't want and no one asked for. That's why they're going bankrupt.

Lol Cyberpunk...

You mean one of the most refunded games in living memory?

The refunds were for technical issues, nothing to do with DEI.

And the refunds were only tiny fraction of total sales, not even 1%. So Lol all you want, its been one of the most successful and profitable video games of all time.

Game was excellent.

If I have to sit through an unskipable cutscene where some character is telling me all about how they never felt comfortable in their body and and and...I'm deleting. I don't play games to hear about the latest wokeness and gender, race...blah blah blah.

And the majority of gamers of agree.

Lol except they don't.

Yes, Rockstar have their finger on the pulse. They will let you play as anything you like but won't preach to you about what you should and should accept.

Yet the pricks won't release the game on PC day one because they want people to buy the game twice and are absolute asshats towards the modding community. Maybe its the publisher Take 2 forcing that stuff, but they come across as very corporate greed over creativity. I like their games but they have been very samey for years.

Perhaps that's a subtle a distinction but it makes a huge difference to the player. 

It's not. I tell you what, why don't you try to be a free thinker for once and just play and judge a game on its own merits and stop being angry at X title  because other people tell you to be angry about them for X reasons. Chances are you won't even notice the shit they are complaining about it.

Arthur the expectation is we smile and ignore the inequities. The moment you stop giving everything they want….what has gone before is forgotten.

America conventionally do not classify their digital products, as products.
Instead, they classify them as services. (e.g. Software as a service). A dog as a cat is still a dog.

If you do the numbers again, but this time consider software as a product, then it may be that the US has a surplus with the EU (not the other way around).  Google usually call their advertising products - products, not services. 

I would be happy for Big Tech to be fazed out of the EU. The Big Tech Oligarchs are destroying America, and they should not be allowed to take down the EU as well. They just want monopolies to pay the shareholder. 

Big Tech refuse to follow any data privacy laws, and just harvest the internet to steal personal data to sell it. 

Still baffled as to how Mozart construed my posts as anti US.

I would be happy for Big Tech to be fazed out of the EU. The Big Tech Oligarchs are destroying America, and they should not be allowed to take down the EU as well. They just want monopolies to pay the shareholder. 

Big Tech refuse to follow any data privacy laws, and just harvest the internet to steal personal data to sell it. 

I'd say there is a reasonably good chance X will end up banned in the EU in the next year or two. 

That’s a plan…I’m sure your Chinese software will work better in your Chinese cars.

I would rather deal with the Chinese than Trump and the Big Tech Oligarchs.
China are a more long term threat, but the US and Putin are the immediate threats.

So the world is the EU enemy and China is not a threat - but The USA who must fight the Russians and China on behalf of the pathetic EU  because they cannot even figt a regiment of Russian soldiers and use Ukraine to lose people and territory in the process,   Weird thinking of a woke BSter. 

China will be a direct threat to the EU countries if it is not for the USA actually protecting  the EU.    So start learning Chinee soon - but then you will find that Europe will be tickets sooner than you think because they are spineles .        

Stav, I warn you, when it comes to gaming you are way out of your depth against me.

Firstly, people bought Cyberpunk on the basis of two things. The fact that Witcher 3 was an all time legendary game and also because there was an itch for a futuristic open world game. They bought it because of the studio's reputation and because the genre was sought after. I dare you to prove otherwise.

If you are using sales as the metric of success then you're in a road to nowhere as far as games go. Remember Anthem? The BioWare flop that sold a gazillion copies. There's a very long list of games exactly like that. Yes, a game has to sell well...but an open world game needs to retain a player base for it to be considered a success. Would you like me to show the actual stats of what happened with Cyberpunk? It was an abject failure. 

I see you say that gamers are not against being forced into experiencing social engineering and wokeness in games? Well, then I'd love to see you explain why Ubisoft just fired the entire writing team on Dragon Age. I know why. It's because they woked it to high heavens and the community response was, in a word, repulsion. The hilarious things is that as far as the gameplay went it got decent reviews...but I was the story(in all its wokeness) that the community despised. 

Next, I see you complaining that Rockstar want you to pay for their games on various platforms. Umm, that is the norm. And the fact that you don't seem to be aware of it tells me that you're a casual. 

On another note: I'd never played the modern Doom franchise. A friend recently challenged me to play through Doom Eternal on Ultra Nightmare. Quite difficult when you've never played it and know nothing about the game. At that difficulty, it basically becomes a Souls game. Plenty of dying since almost everything one-shots you.

If ever you find yourself looking for a game, I suggest taking up that same challenge. It's 120FPS on PS5 and runs very smoothly. 

DumbMike, you are a member of shitting BRICS. You need to focus on your own politics where China is your master. 

That is why I am warning you against the shit your propaganda  will result in.     Without UDS protection the EU countries will be occupied by China within 2 weeks,    Nobody really wants war against Russia and China - but site simpletons like you wants it,   Many millionaires have deserted the UK and is now living i Cape Ton and the Western Province area.   At least the said province still fuction administratively and the buyers are sreaming  in from all over the UK as he desired place of residence,.

What do they know that you woke supporting idiots  do not know?

   .      

Well, then I'd love to see you explain why Ubisoft just fired the entire writing team on Dragon Age.

Bioware, of course.

On another note: I'd never played the modern Doom franchise. A friend recently challenged me to play through Doom Eternal on Ultra Nightmare.

Hehe, you don't just fire up Doom on UM. Haven't gotten round to Eternal yet but I struggled through Doom on Normal I think, doubt I'd be able to get through it at anything higher. It's fun though, even if the amount of backtracking you often have to do through levels to get the right key back to the right door did frustrate me at times. But that's nothing new in the franchise.

Stav, I warn you, when it comes to gaming you are way out of your depth against me.

ROFL. Will come back to this.

Firstly, people bought Cyberpunk on the basis of two things. The fact that Witcher 3 was an all time legendary game and also because there was an itch for a futuristic open world game. They bought it because of the studio's reputation and because the genre was sought after. I dare you to prove otherwise.

So they bought the game for some of the typical reasons people buy games...your point is?

If you are using sales as the metric of success then you're in a road to nowhere as far as games go. Remember Anthem? The BioWare flop that sold a gazillion copies. There's a very long list of games exactly like that. Yes, a game has to sell well...but an open world game needs to retain a player base for it to be considered a success. Would you like me to show the actual stats of what happened with Cyberpunk? It was an abject failure. 

Anthem sold less than 1/6th of what Cyberpunk 2077 did. Comparing Anthem to Cyberpunk is a joke. Anthem was a multiplayer live service RPG, Cyberpunk 2077 was a single player RPG that was not a live service game. It didn't need to retain a player base for it to be a success but for a single player game it's actually retained a very good number of players. Steam stats have  63,451 people playing it right now and even that's not a true reflection of the actually playing numbers because it would of also sold very well on the developers own storefront GOG, not to mention other digital storefront. So its the 25th most played game on Steam over 4 years after release. Those numbers are excellent.

I see you say that gamers are not against being forced into experiencing social engineering and wokeness in games? Well, then I'd love to see you explain why Ubisoft just fired the entire writing team on Dragon Age

I see your gaming knowledge is so extensive you think Ubisoft made the latest Dragon Age, ROFL. 

Dragon Age didn't do as well as expected because as an overall gaming experience it was a pretty average.

 I know why. It's because they woked it to high heavens and the community response was, in a word, repulsion. The hilarious things is that as far as the gameplay went it got decent reviews...but I was the story(in all its wokeness) that the community despised. 

You do in my bollocks. There is countless games that people have called woke and they have been extremely successfully. A game can have woke characters and a good story, the two are not mutually exclusive. 

Next, I see you complaining that Rockstar want you to pay for their games on various platforms. Umm, that is the norm. And the fact that you don't seem to be aware of it tells me that you're a casual. 

No I complain because Rockstar deliberately delay the release of their games on certain platforms in the hope of getting people to double purchase the game on multiple platforms, there is no reason a company the size of Rockstar with the money they have can't release the game on PC day and date with the console release.  Rockstar/Take 2 are notorious for how they treat the modding community, shutting down long running projects if they perceive it as any sort of threat to their profits no matter how small. Its particularly galling when the modding community did a better job in improving the older GTA titles only for Rockstar to approve that hack job cash grab of Definitive Edition release.

As for me being a casual. This is how far your out.

I've been building my own custom PC for decades. Current rig is 7800X3D with a 4090, 32GB RAM, 5 TB NVME hard drive. Have 34" OLED ultrawide monitor. I have a 9800X3D on order.

Between Steam, GOG, Epic Game Store, Battle.net, EA App, Ubisoft Connect, Rockstar Launcher, Microsoft Store and retail games on disc, I've well over 1,000 games.

I also use to play game competitively and in doing so I won a free trip to Evo 2010 in Las Vegas. 

On another note: I'd never played the modern Doom franchise. A friend recently challenged me to play through Doom Eternal on Ultra Nightmare. Quite difficult when you've never played it and know nothing about the game. At that difficulty, it basically becomes a Souls game. Plenty of dying since almost everything one-shots you.

Your loss, the modern Doom games are excellent. I didn't play Doom Eternal on Ultra nightmare, but I did beat it twice on Nightmare. When it comes to Nightmare versus Ultra nightmare there is no difference in the damage the enemies do, so I know for a 100% fact that your wrong when you say almost everything one shots you. 

If ever you find yourself looking for a game, I suggest taking up that same challenge. It's 120FPS on PS5 and runs very smoothly. 

Playing Doom on a console, on a game-pad!. Disgusting sacrilege. Hope you turned off the aim assist, I hear its particularly egregious on consoles. Id Tech 7 is fantastic, looks great and runs well on anything. My monitor supports 144FPS with HDR or 175fps without HDR and Doom is a game you can easily max out with either option with full ray tacing and you wouldn't even need that powerful a rig.

Hehe, you don't just fire up Doom on UM. Haven't gotten round to Eternal yet but I struggled through Doom on Normal I think, doubt I'd be able to get through it at anything higher. It's fun though, even if the amount of backtracking you often have to do through levels to get the right key back to the right door did frustrate me at times. But that's nothing new in the franchise.

I'm a sadist, always whack everything to max difficulty with the exception of games that have difficulty levels that are one death and you start over.

DumbMike, you are a member of shitting BRICS. You need to focus on your own politics where China is your master. 

I see Trump is threatening tariffs on the BRIC's countries. I wonder will the Trump supporters here be supportive of tariffs being place on their own country.

Ou exoirts to t he USA is minimal and imports much more,   So we will just return e compliment,   Wheat we get from Russia and most other imports from China India and Brazil - so all that would happen is that the imports from the USA will have a 100% charge as well.

Princes William's and Harry's cousins grew up in SA an their main residence is in C ape Town,    On divorce Charles Spencer lost all his properties  and money in SA because he cheated his wife ad she got duly compensated,    The scoundrel then said SA is the orst place in the world to live in.   Three years later he boought another hme in Constantia - Cape Town -  and he is now back in SA,    In Cape Ton the cost of lvin g in SA  terms are hig h - but due toe xchang e rates benefittin g  money brougth in SA - they live five times better than they live in England,   

There were even US millionnaires loking around to see about moving to Cape Town to escape from the Biden maladministration and destruction of the USA. - but after Trump's voctory they seems to be happier in the USA as they used to be/

Inflation is hihgh in SA - but we do survive despite it especially if a better economy in te USA develop  in the USA after the chaotic BS of the Biden A dministration.    ,   .              

I'm a sadist, always whack everything to max difficulty with the exception of games that have difficulty levels that are one death and you start over.

I did Witcher 3 on Death March, but that's not so bad since the game works in your favour quite a bit with the easy dodging and the multitude of aids. The only other games I go for extreme difficulty is the Souls, which of course only has and on/off difficulty, with On meaning you're in the game and Off meaning you're in bed with a book. My twitchy twitch isn't what it used to be in my younger days so fast paced games like Doom kick my ass on higher diffs. Nice to know you played competitively Stav, wouldn't have known. I'm just an enthusiastic recreational gamer (on a less than enthusiastic recreational system, haha).

"I see your gaming knowledge is so extensive you think Ubisoft made the latest Dragon Age, ROFL."

Apologies, I was mixing up Ubisoft and their Assassin's Creed debacle with BioWare and their Dragon Age disaster.

An honest mistake.

"Anthem sold less than 1/6th of what Cyberpunk 2077 did. Comparing Anthem to Cyberpunk is a joke."

I'm simply making the point that game sales are based around hype and the studio's and/or franchise's reputation. There have been plenty of games that tanked despite initially selling well. The new Dragon Age being a new addition to that list...and most of the reviewers out there blame the woker than woke writing. Here's a review on how woke it is...from a person that declares themself ultra woke:

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Is That Friend That’s Too Woke Without grey areas to make characters and factions more complex, Dragon Age loses all its flavour. Tessa Kaur TheGamer

I'm every bit as sadistic as you when it comes to choosing difficulty. Honestly, most of the time I find that the hardest mode is probably how the games are supposed to be played. I find that playing on the hardest difficulty makes it a very different game from playing on normal mode.

I wouldn't know what the second hardest difficulty on Eternal is like since I only played it on the hardest. And things DID one-shot me constantly. Even once I'd upgraded my health and armour to max, I'd be doing fine and then my health bar would suddenly vanish.

What game did you play competitively? I'm hoping it's Street Fighter  or an RTS... and not COD.

lol Pakie...I had a buddy, the same fker that suggest it, watching my screen and he was telling where the keys and secrets were.

Only because he wanted to get me to the next fight quickly so he could watch me die some more.

I must say though, I'd never have tried it had he not suggested it and it...and now I'm looking forward to the new one coming this year.

I'm realising there are plenty of gamers on this board.

Some people love watching other people step in some shit. Oh wait, I'm one of them, watching YT videos of people playing Fromsoft games and running straight into death they didn't know was coming is one of my time killers. Come to think of it, I even like watching myself walking into unexpected annihilation in Souls :) 

...and I fully support Trump hitting SA with as many tariffs as he can.

The ANC believes that the world owes them something. It's high time that they find out the free money, and drugs, they get from the US isn't a right but a privilege.

South Africa has long been taking what they can from the West while doing their best to cosy up to the West's adversaries at every opportunity.

They want to be treated as equals and be respected on the world stage. Perfect. Let them be treated like adults and have to make adult decisions for a change about who they align with. Until now they have been treated like the little brother that doesn't know better and been getting a free pass from the US.

Pakie, you like Souls type games?

For some reason I do, Plum. I'm not one for tedium so you'd think I'd hate them, but there's something addictive about it, about figuring out stuff and about having to be good and improve your skill and dissect a boss to actually progress. I also love the fact that there's no hand holding or quest markers or any of that paint by numbers kiddie shit that have made open world and fantasy games so stale and dumbed down over the past decade. 

I never finished Dark Souls, got about halfway through just past O&S and Anor Londo before some new shiny thing probably drew my attention. Then I went a long time without playing any Souls, but I got Elden Ring on Steam's winter sale and I'm having fun with that now. Incredible world to explore, I go "what the hell is that" more than I've probably ever done in an open world. Will go back to DS and finish it some day and probably take on some of the others as well, unless Fromsoft comes up with a new shiny before then. But I'll be busy with ER for some time still, it's huge and I take my time exploring everything. Best game I've played in a good while.

"I see Trump is threatening tariffs on the BRIC's countries. I wonder will the Trump supporters here be supportive of tariffs being place on their own country"

I would honestly have no issues with this at all

What FPS game can you guys suggest, since it seems that you guys have played a lot more games than me....

Not sure if you guys like the older games from Ubisoft and CI Games, like Splinter Cell, Sniper Ghost Warrior, Crysis, Metro etc etc

Looking for something similar, but you guys seem to be on another level with gaming.

I play on a ASUS gaming Laptop which seems to offer me enough to handle most games.

Not an FPS, but if you like sniper type games you can try the Sniper Elite series. Maybe 4 & 5, which is pretty up to date graphics wise. Nice sandbox to mess around in. Check out a gameplay video or two on YT maybe.

I'm out of the loop a bit with FPS, playing mostly open world fantasy when I do get some time. Did you ever play F.E.A.R., DA? It's a bit dated now graphics wise but still passable and a fantastic FPS. I think I may actually fire it up again myself for a palate cleanser once I'm done with Elden Ring. Start with the original and then you can look at the expansions. DOOM of course, if you like that sort of thing. Maybe Stalker 2 - although it seems to have some pretty stiff system requirements so not sure how the laptop will handle it.

Not an FPS, but if you like sniper type games you can try the Sniper Elite series. Maybe 4 & 5,

Great games, thanks, did do

"Did you ever play F.E.A.R., DA?"

Shot Pakie, no I haven't, I will have a look at it

"I think I may actually fire it up again myself for a palate cleanser once I'm done with Elden Ring"

I almost tried this, because I hear a lot about it, just wasn' t sure if it was my thing, are you enjoying it?

I almost tried this, because I hear a lot about it, just wasn' t sure if it was my thing, are you enjoying it?

I am, but it is a "soulslike". If you've never played Souls games (Dark Souls, Demon Souls, etc.), it's a pretty unforgiving difficulty and there's no hand holding. You get dumped in the world and told "here you are, figure it out." No quest markers, no journal, vague clues and guidance if anything at all. Of course there are guides and walkthroughs online but on first playthrough I prefer to make it up as I go along as much as possible otherwise you ruin the enjoyment of your own discovery and exploration. So it's not for everyone and you really need to commit to improving your own skill and mastering the mechanics of the game if you want to progress. Maybe check out some gameplay on the Tube first. 

Will do, thanks Pakie

Did you finish RDR2

Yep, I did. I don't finish many games these days but that one I did. And I am in a second playthrough which I'll continue at some stage, depending on how many fresh shinies I have to fight off. You keep discovering something new in that game, it's crazy.

Nice to know you played competitively Stav, wouldn't have known. I'm just an enthusiastic recreational gamer

Well its not something that's really discussed much on this forum, so I never mentioned it.

An honest mistake.

And I wouldn't have brought it up had you not been bragging about your knowledge of gaming.

I'm simply making the point that game sales are based around hype and the studio's and/or franchise's reputation. There have been plenty of games that tanked despite initially selling well. The new Dragon Age being a new addition to that list...and most of the reviewers out there blame the woker than woke writing. Here's a review on how woke it is...from a person that declares themself ultra woke:

Cyberpunk 2077 did not tank after selling well. Its been a massively successful game. You can play as a gay or trans character if you want, its game world features trans advertising and there's an NPC character that's a transwomen that features heavily in one of the side missions in the game.

It meets all the criteria for being a "woke" game yet it was massively successful. Sure part of it was down to the developers reputation and hype for the game as well as Cyberpunk being a well established franchise in the table top RPG scene. But those reason's don't invalidate Cyberpunk's success any more than any other game, GTA 6's success will be partly down to hype and developer reputation as well. Cyberpunk was actually a really good game, with a really good story (the expansion was even better) and it absolutely pushed the boundaries video game graphics, on a high end PC its probably the best looking video game ever made. 

The latest Dragon Age, never sold well to begin with. It missed its sales expectations by half.

I guarantee you their will be games in the future that will be considered woke that will go on to be very successful and other ones that won't. It's ultimately down to whether a game is actually good or not to play, not a lack of wokeness. 

I'm every bit as sadistic as you when it comes to choosing difficulty. Honestly, most of the time I find that the hardest mode is probably how the games are supposed to be played. I find that playing on the hardest difficulty makes it a very different game from playing on normal mode.

I don't necessarily think its the way the developers intended the game to be played. Sometimes it is but I think sometime the developers intend a game to be played multiple times and that they want you to play on the lower difficulties to learn the game first before tackling the higher difficulty levels. I'm 100% sure neither Doom Eternal nor the last Wolfenstein game was meant to be played first time on the one life highest difficulty mode.

I wouldn't know what the second hardest difficulty on Eternal is like since I only played it on the hardest. And things DID one-shot me constantly. Even once I'd upgraded my health and armour to max, I'd be doing fine and then my health bar would suddenly vanish.

There is no difference other than you when you die on the hardest mode its game over, you have to start again and can only save at the end of the mission. You fight the exact same number of enemies with the exact same A.I and damage.

What game did you play competitively? I'm hoping it's Street Fighter  or an RTS... and not COD.

Yes Street Fighter 4 was the game I played the most seriously, though I've played a lot of different games and genres. I was pretty good at the original Company of Heroes which was an RTS as well. I did play a fair bit of a combat flight simulator as well called IL-2 Sturmovik. Other games I played a fair bit where Day of Defeat (3.1/Steam and Source), Unreal Tournament 2004, Company of Heroes 2/3 as well Street Fighter 5. I did play a lot of the first two Call of Duties but the later games much less so. While I enjoyed them, I just found them too repetitive.

I never finished Dark Souls, got about halfway through just past O&S and Anor Londo before some new shiny thing probably drew my attention. 

I literally only beat Dark Souls Remastered a few weeks back. Have owned Dark Souls for years and probably first played it over 10 years ago, but like you something shiny distracted me and only got back to it over Christmas this year.

Then I went a long time without playing any Souls, but I got Elden Ring on Steam's winter sale and I'm having fun with that now. Incredible world to explore, I go "what the hell is that" more than I've probably ever done in an open world. Will go back to DS and finish it some day and probably take on some of the others as well, unless Fromsoft comes up with a new shiny before then. But I'll be busy with ER for some time still, it's huge and I take my time exploring everything. Best game I've played in a good while.

Yeah Elden Ring is a brilliant game. Enjoy it.

Not an FPS, but if you like sniper type games you can try the Sniper Elite series. Maybe 4 & 5, which is pretty up to date graphics wise. Nice sandbox to mess around in. Check out a gameplay video or two on YT maybe.

Ah yes the Nazi nut cracking simulator. Best 7 out of 10 game services ever made. Just finished the latest game Sniper Elite Resistance, its good but its pretty much exactly the same as 5.

I'm out of the loop a bit with FPS, playing mostly open world fantasy when I do get some time. Did you ever play F.E.A.R.

F.E.A.R is another all time classic. A combination of really good A.I and excellent gun feel and bullet time affect make it one of the best single player FPS games around even now nearly 20 years later.

Stav, here's something picked up in Singapore over a decade ago now...

I guessing yours was Mad Catz.

I much preferred the Square gate in mine...Octagonal and Round never felts as efficient as Square. 

Haha this stick was a bit special at the time, as it could be used on PS, XBox and PX. 

...of course the buttons are Sanwa.

...and by coincidence, my flatmate in Oxford was the lead sound coder at Rebellion...who made AVP and more recently the Sniper Elite series, and was a demon Ryu player.

"There is no difference other than you when you die on the hardest mode its game over, you have to start again and can only save at the end of the mission. You fight the exact same number of enemies with the exact same A.I and damage."

That's ultra nightmare which unlocks after you complete the game. I played on Nightmare and defos don't see myself playing with only one life. I died far too much on nightmare already.

DA, Overwatch 2 is fun...and free to play. 

Easy to pick up but difficult to master. 

It's a class based "shooter" and each character as its own unique feel. And tis well balanced. I still maintain that Blizzard masters at balancing their games. 

Stav, here's something picked up in Singapore over a decade ago now...

I guessing yours was Mad Catz.

I much preferred the Square gate in mine...Octagonal and Round never felts as efficient as Square. 

Haha this stick was a bit special at the time, as it could be used on PS, XBox and PX. 

...of course the buttons are Sanwa.

Yeah I had two Madcatz Street Fighter 4 Tournament Edition arcade sticks when SF4 first released back in 2009 on consoles.  One for PS3 the other for Xbox 360. No longer have them but I do have a Hori Real Arcade Pro VX-SA now.

Don't play a huge amount of fighting games anymore but I might try to get into Virtua Fighter with the release of VF5 R.E.V.O on PC. Series I always wanted to learn to play.

...and by coincidence, my flatmate in Oxford was the lead sound coder at Rebellion...who made AVP and more recently the Sniper Elite series, and was a demon Ryu player.

Yeah AVP was a fun game as well. Think it was released back in 2000. I do enjoy the Sniper Elite games, just a guilty pleasure of mine, just good dumb fun.

That's ultra nightmare which unlocks after you complete the game. I played on Nightmare and defos don't see myself playing with only one life. I died far too much on nightmare already.

Yeah that's the mode I played it on myself. Your lucky, the really ramped up the difficulty in the first expansion campaign, but due to complaints patched it to make it much easier. Was a rather controversial move with the hardcore players. Doom Eternal got a mixed reception among gamers in general. Personally think its one of the best FPS's ever made.

Pakie...

Now imagine something more difficult than Dark Souls, but with a looting system like Diablo and a combat combo system similar to the Ninja Gaiden series. 

Welcome to Nioh 2, probably my favourite game of all time.

It took the Souls genre to a place the word wasn't ready for, still isn't ready for. 

In this video, all the combos you see are just for one weapon type. There are about 11 different weapons...and that's before you use any magic, ranged weapons or Yokai abilities.

I actually don't know how they made this game as good as it is. After this type of combat, other souls games just seem pedestrian.

Fine Stav, you're not a casual.

Haha, honestly, I wasn't expecting you to be.

Plum I heard of Nioh 2 from a dude with a gaming channel on Youtube, FightingCowboy who spoke highly of it, and he is a seasoned souler. Just checked and he actually streamed it again a month ago. The few gameplay videos I watched immediately after I heard of it the first time didn't particularly grab me, but I'll check out this recent stream of the dude to get a better idea of the gameplay. Might give it a shot if it goes on sale again.

"DA, Overwatch 2 is fun...and free to play"

Shot Plum, will check it out

I don't mind at all paying for games, just never really know what is genuinely a good game.

Used to play Tekken, but I assume there are other better fighting games out there as well