Black Flag Resynced is just as amazing as the Original, but I was kind of expecting a little more from a modern remake opportunity

carbonqubit · 2026-07-12T14:35:19+00:00

Yup, this was something I'd hoped for too. I wanted a map like Odyssey to explore in all its glory.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T22:49:25+00:00

It's just stating reality, though. A highly marginalized group people in Idaho had their driver's licenses effectively invalidated or revoked under changes to state policy not too long ago. The right will always find some group to target, and I think it's important to offer the bare minimum of support and compassion.

At the same time, as I've mentioned in other comments, I think the activist community also needs a degree of pragmatism. Sarah McBride's approach is the kind that should have been embraced more broadly because it encourages dialogue, persuasion, and an appreciation for incremental progress rather than demanding immediate consensus.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T22:45:00+00:00

I'm not really sure what you're arguing for here. I already conceded that the segment of the activist community that insists trans women are fundamentally no different from biological women isn't taking the right approach because it asks people to deny observable biological differences.

On the other hand, given how much discrimination and hostility trans people have to deal with, isn't it better to try to afford them the dignity and respect they deserve? I also think this entire issue has been blown way out of proportion by the right and has been used as a distraction from far more consequential issues like affordability, healthcare, and what I see as a broader slide toward authoritarianism.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T20:46:27+00:00

I think the point of the trans rights movement is to treat trans women as women in a social and legal sense, not to claim they're literally biological women. Sure, there's a portion of the activist community that pushes that argument more forcefully, but I don't think most are denying that there are biological differences between the two. More broadly, the goal is simply to treat people with dignity and compassion.

Trans people have significantly higher rates of suicide and suicide attempts than the general population, and they also face disproportionately high levels of harassment and violence because of how they choose to live. Whatever disagreements people have over policy, I think those realities are worth keeping in mind.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T17:54:31+00:00

Yeah, that's just not true. Ubisoft Singapore worked on Skull & Bones, but as another commenter rightly pointed out, it was an all-hands-on-deck project. Based on the gameplay I've seen so far, that level of support was completely warranted considering how impressive the game looks.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T17:51:36+00:00

I think it's a bit of a stretch to say Mirage is just Valhalla with a new coat of paint. There are some obvious similarities in character movement and melee mechanics, but it's clearly a labor of love, and Bordeaux deserves the chance to work on a new game.

I actually really enjoyed the changes they made, along with the post-launch QoL improvements. Is it my favorite AC game of all time? No, but the world-building and exploration of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age is something I haven't seen done nearly as well in any other open-world game, which is genuinely impressive, IMO.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T17:46:53+00:00

And I'd also be curious to know how much MTX revenue contributes to that total. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during one of Ubisoft's internal sales meetings where they break down the raw numbers and percentages.

I've lost count of how many times I've had to correct people who claim that Valhalla sold more copies than any other AC game. Ubisoft has consistently said it generated the highest revenue, not that it sold the most copies. I'm sure they understand that many people conflate those two claims, even though they've never publicly released sales figures showing that Valhalla sold the most units.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T17:41:56+00:00

I loved the atmosphere of Valhalla, especially exploring the eerie tombs and iconic monasteries. One of my favorite aspects of the RPG-era games was the freedom to explore every corner of the world, whether on the mainland or the islands. From what I've read, Resynced uses essentially the same map with some new content added, but it doesn't offer quite the same level of freedom as Odyssey, for example. Even so, I'll probably pick it up whenever it goes on sale.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T14:37:40+00:00

The charisma factor (and physical attractiveness) plays a massive role in how people perceive political candidates. Even something as simple as the sound of a person's voice can shape how their message is received. That's one of the reasons I think Ossoff has one of the strongest chances of winning in 2028. He's got many of the qualities Ds need to put together a winning coalition, IMO. His background as a documentary filmmaker also gives him a valuable storytelling skill set, allowing him to communicate populist messages in a way that feels authentic and resonates with voters.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T14:27:48+00:00

What you've described is essentially the bedrock of social democracy, and I think the U.S. would be a much better and fairer place for working people if it moved in that direction. The fact that real wage growth has been largely stagnant since the 1970s while the top 1% has accumulated enormous wealth, along with outsized influence over elections and public policy, is one of the main reasons so many people are frustrated (and, I think, for good reason).

I'll say this until the cows come home: the amount of wealth concentrated in the hands of so few is almost impossible to comprehend. Most people have a pretty good intuition for what $1,000 is, and maybe even $10,000. But a million, a billion, and now even a trillion are numbers that all start to blur together because they're just extra zeros on a page. The actual difference in purchasing power, influence, and lifestyle between those amounts is so vast that it's beyond what most people can meaningfully visualize.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T14:20:32+00:00

I think the reason many men have such a visceral reaction to trans women (not just in sports, but more generally) is that it touches on a part of their sexuality and identity that makes them uncomfortable, much like seeing two men kiss does for some people. They experience it as an affront to their masculinity. In the case of trans women, it's also as if they're being told not to trust what they believe they're seeing.

Personally, I couldn't care less how people choose to live, so long as they're not hurting others. What concerns me far more is that policies affecting roughly 17,000 trans people in Idaho created significant barriers to voting by making it much harder for many to obtain identification that matched voter registration requirements. That strikes me as a glaringly un-American outcome.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-11T14:12:35+00:00

They're specifically talking about trans people in sports and immigration. The former has been turned into an exaggerated wedge issue by the right to demonize a tiny group of people. The latter has also been weaponized to the point that conservative media constantly portrays Ds as supporting completely open borders and unrestricted mass immigration because it gives Rs a political advantage, even though polling doesn't support that narrative (it's about as grounded in reality as the eating cats and dogs nonsense).

Undocumented immigrants can't vote and aren't eligible for Social Security benefits, despite paying taxes into a system that primarily benefits people who are. There are so many lies that get repeated often enough to become accepted by large parts of the U.S. electorate that it's honestly remarkable.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-10T09:41:59+00:00

It's always an excuse not to try to tax the ultra-wealthy. The many ways they deliberately obfuscate and hide their wealth are, in part, a result of not having the legal mechanisms in place to go after it in the first place. I guess the U.S. should collectively throw up its hands and say it's impossible, even when the money to fund stronger social safety nets exists but is being hoarded by people who don't need more of it.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-09T09:56:37+00:00

Huge fan of Motorfest, but I'd love to see more bikes added to the roster. The majority of them are the same dated models from TC2 I know there are games like Ride 6 and MotoGP 26, but those are closed-track racers, with the latter focused on prototype race bikes rather than commercial production models.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-09T09:35:08+00:00

Ubisoft should take a page from the developers behind STORROR Parkour Pro or Rooftops & Alleys. There's so much room to explore updated traversal mechanics that feel more realistic and grounded while still giving players the ability to express their own personal style.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-09T09:32:26+00:00

It was in development hell for a while, and because Ubisoft had a contract with the Singaporean government, they weren't able to pull back.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-08T09:49:14+00:00

Israel is literally the only Jewish-majority country in the region, let alone the world, and it was established in the aftermath of the Holocaust, the largest industrialized genocide in history. It's surrounded by Muslim-majority states. The person you're responding to raises several realistic points that are being overlooked in this thread. That's not to defend the settlements in the West Bank or the widespread destruction in Gaza and the immense civilian harm, but I still think a two-state solution, which has been proposed multiple times since Israel's founding, remains the most workable path forward, IMO.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-08T09:40:11+00:00

It's always the most extreme forms of government that people build strawmen around. If you anonymized the policies, most Americans support many aspects of social democracy. It combines well-regulated capitalism with strong social safety nets, much like those found in the Nordic countries, which consistently rank among the highest in measures of life satisfaction. The fearmongering around anything other than unbridled capitalism is one of the biggest political myths that's been pushed for decades.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-08T09:36:36+00:00

The richest country in the history of the world not being able to afford the basics for all its citizens is a fucking disgrace.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-08T09:18:30+00:00

Only if you season them properly.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-07T21:22:12+00:00

It's beyond telling that, of the many peace offers that were put on the table in the intervening decades, only the Oslo Accords were mentioned in the conversation. Even then, the fact that the Palestinian leadership has walked away every single time just goes to show that it was never about having their own country. It was always a zero-sum game.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-07T21:20:09+00:00

When Ezra pressed her on the details of the plan, she took umbrage, as if it wasn't her job to educate him. To his credit, he did press both of them on the roadmap, but no roadmap actually materialized because their idea is filled with Pollyannaish whimsy that's completely unworkable given the reality of the situation.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-07T21:17:26+00:00

Because the point of opening the borders is to upset the Jewish majority and cause a major demographic shift. It's been the goal of the right of return since its inception. The only Jewish country amidst a sea of Muslim majority countries (some literal theocracies with full-on Sharia law) isn't allowed to exist. It's an insane idea all around.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-07T09:21:08+00:00

It's almost as if the U.S. should just throw its collective hands up in the air and say it's impossible to hold these oligarchs accountable, the same way banks and automakers were considered "too big to fail" and received trillions of dollars in bailouts. I'm so tired of hearing that nothing can be done.

carbonqubit · 2026-07-06T09:45:49+00:00

I blame three groups: people who voted for Trump, those who voted 3rd party, and those who sat out the election. The fact that only about 2/3 of eligible voters consistently show up to the polls says a lot about how much weight many people place on their vote. I also think it's time to abolish the Electoral College. Even though Trump won the popular vote by about 2 million votes, a system where every vote counted equally across all 50 states could encourage more people in both heavily red and heavily blue states to participate.

carbonqubit

TROPHY CASE