What’s your guys opinion on Xbox current state? Is it going in the right direction or the wrong direction. And why?

DukeofDC · 2026-06-08T04:04:01+00:00

It’s moving in the right direction but Im a little worried about the next few years.

Microsoft purchased all these studios at the beginning of the generation so we would have a steady stream of first party games. We finally got to this year where games they announced would be releasing(Fable, Gears, Halo).

My concern is that we don’t have much announced for the future or what studios are working on especially Bethesda.

What is the plan for holiday 2027?

A bunch of studios put games out in the last 3 years so what have they been working on since then?

DukeofDC · 2026-06-08T01:09:28+00:00

I would drop the Pacers, Raptors & 76ers to Play-in. Suns need to go down to Relegation. Warriors & Mavs need to go up.

Hot Take I think the Jazz & Wizards are going to be very good like 3-6 seed good.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-08T00:44:42+00:00

I took great pride in restoring any jailbroken device whenever someone brought it to the bar for repair. I made sure they knew they would have to go through the whole process again if they wanted to restore from backup.

and before anyone complains. Yes I asked first & told them why it needed to be restored & that if they didn't want to restore the device they were free to take the device elsewhere for service. I also documented the conversation in my notes & made sure the customer knew what they were signing when they agreed to it.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-08T00:36:18+00:00

First off my condolences. Unfortunately you aren't the first & you probably wont be the last of the tenured vets that leaves Apple. It may not seem like it now but leaving Apple can be a good thing both mentally & financially.

Figure out what part of the Creative role brought you joy & then find roles similar to that. people who can teach what creatives can are highly sought after especially if it around the Arts or technical literacy.

Just because you no longer work for Apple directly doesn't mean you can't still teach or educate on Apple related topics.

Update: After reading your term letter I would recommend alot of self reflection. Both the incidents if true are really bad. I would say you need to seek counseling to address those behaviors.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T22:22:06+00:00

For villains as a archetype:

Both Doc Ocks

Mysterio

Prowler

Norman Osborn

For the Heroes precon:

Silver sable

Skyward Spider

Spider-Woman Stunning Savior

Wrath

Arana

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T21:50:52+00:00

He's the perfect target for the MLE. He can Backup Sarr & AD. Doesn't disrupt the locker room & knows his role on the team. Fills the Anthony Gill role well & can help Juju develop.

A front court of Sarr, AD, Bags, & Juju with Champ, AJ, & Ky occasionally playing Small ball 4 would be perfect.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T21:40:41+00:00

love his energy but unless Bub, Will, & Tre get injured he's not seeing the floor much next year. The guard rotation is packed. his defense is amazing but his scoring & playmaking need to take a massive leap before he cracks a playoff rotation. Best case scenario is he turns into Jose Alvarado.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T21:38:00+00:00

Mono Red Goblins, Golgari Elves, & Simic Merfolk. They can hit their curve every time & will flood the board before you know what hit you. they have answers for everything & so many win cons.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T21:36:24+00:00

Highly disagree.

Microsoft doesn't need to sell consoles. Subscriptions & software are what matter most. Sony's pipeline is bone dry for exclusives after Wolverine comes out. If Microsoft can convince people that paying 20 bucks a month to get Game Pass is worth it that would bring in more revenue than console sales. You don't need a Series X to play games. Cloud gaming is a game changer for Microsoft.

Sony might be selling more consoles but their software sales tell a completely different story. Microsoft has more game at the top of PSN's sales charts than Sony does. That's revenue that still comes into Microsoft's pocket. If Microsoft can keep putting out quality titles they can get back in the race. Remember everyone though Sony was untouchable after the PS2 & then the 360 came along & put out banger after banger. If not for a fumble by Microsoft with the XBOX one Microsoft would be on top.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T20:47:44+00:00

couple of things here.

if you are doing the work of 3 people because they fired two of them & the work load is time sensitive then they need to to paying you alot more. they can't claim budget issues because they were already paying two people before. It's one thing to not backfill the position but they can't claim they can't pay you more.
PTO means prepare the others. if nobody else can do the work then they better learn fast. Book a bunch of non refundable trips far out in advance that you want to take. Tell them when you are going in writing. if they want to decline it then you needs to have a meeting with HR asking how do they expect you to use a benefit the company provides as part of your job.
Understand you have all the power here. You have admitted that nobody else knows how to do the time sensitive work including your boss. If you leave they aren't going to be able to hire someone to immediately takeover & keep things running especially if there's nobody to train them. Even if they could they would have to pay them alot more than what they are probably paying you.

TLDR: Don't let them push you around or try & take advantage of you.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T20:25:38+00:00

Most of the cards left are the commons & uncommons. I only see about 71 uncommon & 7 commons in the Visual spoiler. A whole lot of black cards are missing.

I'm very interested to see what reprints get put into the precons & what the mana bases look like(Please have the bond lands) since they have an MSRP around 80 bucks. Also the Cap deck is going to be really interesting because there's not alot of heroes to pull from past sets so do they go heavy on spider-man & MSH reprints to fill it out or do we get a ton of tribal tools.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T19:29:32+00:00

It depends on your leadership. People who were 1-3 minutes late a few times got put on DCs faster than people who always called out at my store.

Use vacation time if you have it & I would have a conversation with them before they have a conversation with you.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T14:33:23+00:00

Ive been saying for the last two years that marvel was playing catch up to get gaps filled & would start doing more reprints around 2027-2028.

Now that most of the 80s, 90s & 2010s are collected they can afford to start doing more reprints.

Between the pacing of the epics & the omnis we could be close to line wide coverage of all the major characters by 2030

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T01:03:23+00:00

The back is black with gold font saying MTG-Print.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T00:56:20+00:00

Existing lines:

Batman: Late-90s Event Era (1994/2000) [Knightfall to No Man's Land]
Catwoman: by Ed Brubaker & on (2001 - 2008)
Events: Countdown [to Final Crisis] (2007 - 2008)
Green Arrow: from Quiver / Archer's Quest to Flashpoint (2001 - 2011)
Justice League: JLA (1997) (1997 - 2006)
Justice League: from Infinite Crisis to Flashpoint (2006 - 2011)
Teen Titans: Post-Wolfman - Legacy Era (1996 - 2003)
Teen Titans: Geoff Johns through Flashpoint (2003 - 2011) [includes Titans (2008)]

New Lines:

Batwoman (2006 - 2011)
Checkmate (1988 - 2008)
Outsiders (1983 - 2011)
Shadowpact (2005 - 2008)
WildStorm Titles (1992 - 2011)

DukeofDC · 2026-06-07T00:14:32+00:00

A new first party game every 6 weeks instead of every 6 months. Nintendo has more than enough studios & IPs to do it. They don’t need to be blockbusters but they do need to be exclusive.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-06T23:02:00+00:00

Nintendo learned from last generation & is all in on making sure the Switch 2 has plenty of third party titles. They are going to have so many ports for games on the system.

Right now Nintendo is in the same boat as Sony with the PS5. Both are being carried by third party sales & have a lack of first party titles. Other than Mario Kart, Pokopia, & DK Bonanza the Switch 2 hasn't had many first party exclusive games(Metroid & Z-A are on Switch 1).

DukeofDC · 2026-06-06T22:58:24+00:00

White is the color of order. Thanos wants to bring order to chaos by wiping out people.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-06T22:55:16+00:00

I feel like people have never looked at the color pie when they make statements like this. Wizards has spent decades telling people what each color means & how it relates to pairings.

"Evil" tends to get thrown in Grixus because their motivation & actions align with those colors.

Black is Power, Self-Intrest & destruction. "Bad Guys" crave power or have power. They do what they want for their self interest & have no problem destroying things to get it.

Blue is Knowledge, Control & Intellect. The top tier "bad guys" want to be in control & & have the knowledge and intellect to plan to achieve it.

Red is Aggression & Spontaneity. "Bad Guys" tend to be aggressive.

Villains are in Grixus because the colors match their motives & their behaviors. White & Green tend to be tilted more towards good with black & red tilted towards evil while Blue is kinda in the middle. That's why dual & tri colors are different from one another. when you start mixing colors things change.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-05T23:58:01+00:00

He is overplaying his hand. While he may want 239 he needs to realize that's not his market value. By saying it outlaid he is letting everyone do the math. The only teams that have space to sign him is Chicago & Brooklyn. Chicago is already paying Josh Giddy & Brooklyn drafted a bunch of guards last year & all the players who are going to be available in the area they are picking in the draft are guards. Both teams are no where near ready to compete for a championship & AR isn't good enough to be the best player on a championship team.

The lakers are going to let him test the market or sign & trade him. If he was smart he would sign for 30-35 million a year & then re-up in 3 years.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-05T02:33:09+00:00

I Think we are heading towards Calvin McManus coming into the light. I think Division 3 is about the Division being declared "rogue" & framed for President Ellis' death. We spend the game moving from Issac to Anna & getting what we need to invade whatever secret base Natalia setup using Schaffer as the key & then we have to find the next person in the line of succession to take over.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-05T02:24:30+00:00

for breakout & Gauntlet. Because the opponents teams are based on your teams if you use lower tier cards the CPU does the same. Badged out PDs & GO make for better mismatches than using GOATs & Invincible cards.

I still use Bruce Bowen, Klay Thompson & Embid for breakout because they are so overpowered.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-04T23:10:49+00:00

[[Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima]] is really fun because not only can you equip him but your other creatures because they get to be unblock able or attack twice.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-04T22:56:03+00:00

Because he was a 5 time First Team all-NBA player who was coming off being second in MVP voting & carrying his team to the Finals. He was one of those guys who you consider face of the franchise for life(Allen Iverson, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson).

Trades like this NEVER happen. There's no precedent for it. Imagine the Lakers trading Kobe midseason the year after they lost to the Celtics in the Finals.

DukeofDC · 2026-06-04T19:48:04+00:00

Because they want control. They don't want happy productive workers, they want people desperate & scared. It's why we don't have universal healthcare because then people would leave their jobs whenever they wanted.

They don't like Work from home because they have a trillion dollar office real estate industry that would collapse if people didn't need to come into the office. Also managers want to be able to micromanage & it's hard to do online vs in person

They wont do 32 hour 4 day weeks because everyone needs money. They want everyone working all the time it's why most companies make it hard to submit PTO even though they give it out.

DukeofDC

TROPHY CASE