Same few people spamming the same type of threads over and over again in the span of a few hrs each, all of them barely own the game, and barely own more than 10 games on Steam, or far less than 100.

I love how super lax Steam's barrier to entry is, that anyone can post on any forum without owning said games, but you can also just make another Steam account, buy some games super cheap on sale, less than 5 games and just spam vilifying threads on Steam within 24hrs. 

Valve needs to change the barrier to entry and also scan for bots, because this is absolutely not normal to see happening on this forum board alone, it's absolutely batshit insane to see this amount of pure putrid spam and vilification of customers with privacy concerns and simply wanting refunds. This has to stop. 

Ghosts and other games going forward are going to require it, but this is still a small win for us.

I'd just rather they make it entirely optional across all games going forward, that way I could buy a game and just not link it, while others can if they want to, everyone wins. 

Tbh I didn't care that much myself about the situation but I do like it with corps lose and backpeddle. There's nothing like banning together and defeating the big baddie.

I find it funny how a game that trained us to work together and spread democracy, prepped us for this kind of moment and it paid off.

Now if they could just make the account system optional going forward, that'd be nice, but if not, then HD2 will be the last Snoy game I buy on PC. 

I probably should not be giving ideas to Sony since the best thing is them simply not to require linking period but from a business stand point if Sony was smart they would of made PSN optional for all there games on PC but offer free stuff (like skins)/minor benefits for people who do decide to link it. The people who still decide not to link are probably customers that was unlikely to ever spend money within PSN anyway and the people who do decide to link are the people who are more likely to give them more money in future through PSN. Just seem like a smart strategy for Sony. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar as the saying go.

Forcing people to link to PSN after they already been playing the game fine without doing so was always going to be a PR disaster and it always surprise me how a big company like SONY did not see it coming and instead offer a incentive to link instead of attempting to make it mandatory.

I did not expect Jensen Huang, CEO of NVidia, to show up in there. But hey, like he said, AMD was his first job, look where he is now...

It’s Monday and these are the news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG starts the week with three new Deals of the Day that will last until Wednesday:

• Zoria: Age of Shattering, that has a demo, is 20% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/zoria_age_of_shattering
• Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector is half its usual price: https://www.gog.com/en/game/warhammer_40000_battlesector
• And Night Lights gets a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/night_lights

Steam has four new deals:

• Regiments, that has a demo, will be 30% off until the 12th of May: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1109680/Regiments/
• Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk features a 50% discount until the same 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1604000/Milk_outside_a_bag_of_milk_outside_a_bag_of_milk/
• Worldless, there’s a demo for it, is going to be 30% off until May, 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1898500/Worldless/
• And the last one, Indies' Lies, also with a demo, can be yours with a 50% discount until the 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1638390/Indies_Lies/

Three new deals at Humble:

• Humble Bundle features the RUNgeon Crawlers Bundle, with up to 7 games to get during 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/fungeon-crawlers
• The Humble Store has two sales:
  • The Square Enix Golden Week Sale has up to 85% deals during 9 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/square-enix-golden-week-sale/
  • And the store is having its Spring Sale, from now (well, the 3rd) until the 21st of May. Go check the store!

And now Fanatical, that has three new 24h Flash Deals:

• Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition is 35% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/resident-evil-4-gold-edition
• Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition has a 61% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dying-light-2-stay-human
• Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr Definitive Edition features a 86% deal: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/warhammer-40-000-inquisitor-martyr-definitive-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Keep scrolling-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Skyblivion, Oblivion Remake in Skyrim, looks better than ever in this latest gameplay video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/skyblivion-oblivion-remake-in-skyrim-looks-better-than-ever-in-this-latest-gameplay-video/
The modding team behind Skyblivion, a fan remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in Skyrim, released its fifth dev diary. This new diary features some new gameplay footage from it, and the mod looks now better than ever. So, be sure to check it out.
In this video, the team showcased gameplay systems, a part of the world map, a new city, Ayleid dungeons and much more. And, seriously. I can’t stress enough how great this total conversion mod looks. Its team was able to perfectly mix Oblivion with Skyrim. And yes, Skyblivion looks way better than a heavily modded version of Oblivion.
>> It’s a 14 minutes video.

Skyrim gets a new mod, featuring 3 hours of lore-friendly and high quality original music
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/skyrim-gets-a-new-mod-featuring-3-hours-of-lore-friendly-and-high-quality-original-music/
Modder ‘youngscrolls’ has released a new mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that aims to replace the game’s music. According to the modder, this mod packs around 3 hours of lore-friendly and high quality original music for the base game and its DLCs.
LORKHAN is a new soundtrack for Skyrim that’s different from Jeremy Soule’s music. It uses less background sounds to give the game a fresh vibe. The music is specially made for important moments in the game, like when you first ride in the cart to Helgen, arrive at Solstheim by boat, shoot Auriel’s bow, or climb up to High Hrothgar. It also has short musical notes for when you finish exploring places or find beautiful views. Plus, there are certain musical phrases that repeat throughout the game to keep everything feeling connected and cool.
In short, this is a mod that a lot of Skyrim audiophiles may appreciate. It’s also different from what we usually post. Thus, it should be compatible with all the Skyrim mods we’ve shared these past few years. At least the simple graphics/gameplay mods. I’m not sure whether it will work with the fan expansions. After all, some fan expansions may have their own custom music.
>> The article has a more than one hour long video with the music.

Here's a Baldur's Gate 3 mod so that characters can hug each other
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/heres-a-baldurs-gate-3-mod-so-that-characters-can-hug-each-other/
A clear and obvious oversight in the smash hit video roleplaying game Baldur's Gate 3 is that the big weird family of characters you build cannot give each other more hugs. One brave modder by the name of Cerberry has fixed that.
The mod, appropriately named HUGS, lets your characters hijacks the already-extant Halsin and Shadowheart hug animations in order to make characters hug each other. Once installed you'll find two new hug actions on your panel that let you hug people. Or control party members and have them hug you. Whatever way you want the hugging to happen, you can do the hugging.
>> There is a screenshot, but it doesn’t show much.

Check out the trailer for this big, cooperative Halo campaign mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/halo/check-out-the-trailer-for-this-big-cooperative-halo-campaign-mod/
A just-announced Halo: The Master Chief Collection mod project is working on a full singleplayer and cooperative campaign in the style of Halo: CE and Halo 2, and has released a trailer, statement, and screenshots that are pretty promising.
The trailer does some flyover shots of what might be the destroyed colony world of Reach before transitioning to the familiar environment of the Halo ring, then showing off some unique takes on the older covenant alien designs.
The RedShift team, a seven person group called Blimp Brigade, described their project like this on ModDB:
"RedShift is a large open-ended Halo campaign that can be played either solo or cooperatively with up to 4 players. This is a brand-new campaign. All of our levels are being made from the ground up, with a completely unique story and new set of characters. While we are drawing our inspiration from Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, we are particularly looking far beyond the world of Halo to make sure we have an experience that is completely unique," they said.
>> You’ll only find the trailer in the article, and it’s less than 2 minutes long.

GAMING NEWS

Hellblade 2 just got detailed PC system requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/hellblade-2-just-got-detailed-pc-system-requirements/
A few days ago, Ninja Theory shared the minimum PC system requirements for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. And today, we are happy to share the final and slightly more detailed PC system requirements for it.

The next Tomb Raider is rumored to be open-world, may allow Lara to freely use her motorcycle and parachute
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-next-tomb-raider-is-rumored-to-be-open-world-may-allow-lara-to-freely-use-her-motorcycle-and-parachute/
Rumor alert everyone. It appears that the next Tomb Raider game will be open-world, and it will take place in India. Moreover, it is said to feature vast sceneries, free use of the motorcycle, parachute, and Lara’s common traversal methods.

Ghost of Tsushima will NOT require a PSN account on PC for its single-player campaign
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ghost-of-tsushima-will-not-require-a-psn-account-on-pc-for-its-single-player-campaign/
Yesterday, Sony and Arrowhead upset a lot of PC gamers when they announced that Helldivers 2 will soon require a PSN account on Steam. And, another game that has listed a PSN account as a requirement on Steam is Ghost of Tsushima. However, Sucker Punch has confirmed that you will be able to play its single-player campaign without one.

Moon Studios lowers the PC requirements for No Rest for the Wicked
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/moon-studios-lowers-the-pc-requirements-for-no-rest-for-the-wicked/
Moon Studios has released a new major performance update for the Early Access version of No Rest for the Wicked. As such, the team has also decided to lower the game’s PC system requirements.

SECOND-LOOP is a new single-player FPS action game with sandbox physics puzzles
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/second-loop-is-a-new-single-player-fps-action-game-with-sandbox-physics-puzzles/
Kakaru has announced a new single-player FPS action game with sandbox physics puzzles, called SECOND-LOOP. The team has also shared its debut gameplay trailer which you can find below.

First gameplay trailer for the co-op tactical survival horror shooter, The Forever Winter
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-the-co-op-tactical-survival-horror-shooter-the-forever-winter/
Fun Dog Studios has released the first gameplay trailer for its upcoming co-op tactical survival horror shooter, The Forever Winter. The game is powered by Unreal Engine 5 and appears to have an amazing art style. So, be sure to check it out.

Gearbox has shared the first gameplay trailer for its single-player 3D platformer, RKGK
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/gearbox-has-shared-the-first-gameplay-trailer-for-its-single-player-3d-platformer-rkgk/
In April 2024, Gearbox announced a new single-player 3D platformer, called RKGK (which is pronounced Rakugaki). Back then, I said that I was a bit disappointed by the announcement trailer, as it didn’t feature any gameplay sequences. And, thankfully, Gearbox has shared a proper gameplay trailer for it.

Monday news, part two and also last, surprisingly:

Baldur's Gate 3 once featured an even deeper co-op conversation system, but Swen Vincke said their 'dialogue trees blew up so hard, we just couldn't manage it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/baldurs-gate-3-once-featured-an-even-deeper-co-op-conversation-system-but-swen-vincke-said-their-dialogue-trees-blew-up-so-hard-we-just-couldnt-manage-it/
In a recent RPG roundtable I hosted for the PC Gamer Chat Log podcast, something Larian founder Swen Vincke said caused my ears to perk up: the already impressive multiplayer roleplaying in Baldur's Gate 3 was once even more involved than what made it into the final game.
(...)
"We've been trying to experiment with that—the problem is that it's so intensive to get it to work," he said. "In Original Sin 1 you could actually roleplay dialogue with your partner, in co-operative play. We actually had that deeply in Baldur's Gate 3 at some point also. But the problem was our dialogue trees blew up so hard, we just couldn't manage it anymore. So we had to cut it all."

'We have not confirmed any instance of Vanguard bricking anyone's hardware' following its League of Legends rollout, Riot says, but there are definitely problems for some players
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/we-have-not-confirmed-any-instance-of-vanguard-bricking-anyones-hardware-following-its-league-of-legends-rollout-riot-says-but-there-are-definitely-problems-for-some-players/
In response to multiple complaints of hardware failure following the rollout of its Vanguard anti-cheat software to League of Legends, Riot Games says it has "not confirmed any instance of Vanguard bricking anyone's hardware" but acknowledged that some BIOS settings could be causing headaches for a small number of players.

Even a boomer shooter freak like me can't keep up with them all anymore, but this one where you run around on the ceiling and shoot ray guns at Cthulhu guys woke me from a retro FPS stupor
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/even-a-boomer-shooter-freak-like-me-cant-keep-up-with-them-all-anymore-but-this-one-where-you-run-around-on-the-ceiling-and-shoot-ray-guns-at-cthulhu-guys-woke-me-from-a-retro-fps-stupor/
After an incredible demo showing nearly two years ago, gravity defying raygun gothic shooter They Came From Dimension X is back with a road to release, and that road goes through Kickstarter. The devs behind the standout FPS are looking to raise $30k by the end of the month, and a $15 donation will net you a digital copy of the game for Steam or itch.io.

Don't say Manor Lords was made by a 'solo developer,' argues competing city builder maker: 'The team size on it is maybe even larger than ours'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/manor-lords-solo-developer-perception/
Hit medieval town builder Manor Lords is frequently said to have been created by a single developer, Greg Styczeń, and its marketing has leaned into that notion: The official website says it was "hand crafted by a solo developer." Crate Entertainment CEO Arthur Bruno, whose town builder Farthest Frontier is also in early access, takes issue with that characterization.
On a call with PC Gamer this week, Bruno expressed annoyance over receiving feedback that assumes Farthest Frontier is being made by a huge development team—it's actually a team of seven—especially when it's compared to the "solo" Manor Lords developer.

The idea that the Manor Lords dev should 'just hire 50 people' to update it faster is 'fundamentally not the way things work,' says publisher
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/manor-lords-abandoned-feedback/
It's an exaggeration to say that early access city builder Manor Lords was made by one person—developer Greg Styczeń has worked with a number of contractors—but it certainly isn't being developed by a big, 50-person team. Some players think it ought to be, though.
In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Tim Bender, CEO of Manor Lords publisher Hooded Horse, recalled seeing a post in the Steam forums asking if the game had been "abandoned" because it hadn't had an update yet—just four days after its early access launch. A solution put forward by another commenter was that Styczeń should "immediately hire 50 people and create a gigantic company, and that way they can get faster updates."

Gray Zone Warfare players can now change factions so they can team up with their friends
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/gray-zone-warfare-players-can-now-change-factions-so-they-can-team-up-with-their-friends/
There was major beef in the PC Gamer Slack recently when we, along with everyone else, discovered that faction choices in the recently launched shooter Gray Zone Warfare were permanent: If you and your gaming buddies signed up for opposing sides, well, that was just too damn bad: There was no going back until an eventual server reset, which is months down the road.
(...)
Fortunately for those who chose poorly, there is now an out: The most recent hotfix adds an option to wipe your current character and start over from scratch.

Here's the launch trailer for V Rising's 1.0 version, releasing very soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/heres-the-launch-trailer-for-v-risings-10-version-releasing-very-soon/
Vampire empire survival and crafting RPG V Rising has a proper launch trailer ahead of its 1.0 launch this week on May 8—almost exactly two years from its May 17, 2022 Early Access release.

Robot roguelike Cogmind outlines three free expansions for its ultra-customizable scrapbots
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/robot-roguelike-cogmind-outlines-three-free-expansions-for-its-ultra-customizable-scrapbots/
Modular robot roguelike Cogmind has outlined big plans for its next year or so of updates, with three big expansions coming alongside the final, proper 1.0 release after a decade in development. Turns out there's a lot coming still for the game about a little robot rising from the scrapheap to the top of a megastructural robot society.

New Apex Legends trailer gets us another look at Alter, Season 21, and the return of solos
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/new-apex-legends-trailer-gets-us-another-look-at-alter/
An Apex Legends trailer released this past week shows off what to expect in Season 21, Upheaval, when it drops this week on 7 May. The trailer shows off Alter, the first evil character to get added in quite a few years, and the new New Legend Alter is one of those cackling, clever, cutting evil people who delights in destruction for destruction's sake, given her behavior in the trailer. She seems like she'd say something mean to you on your birthday, of all days. Terrible.

Looks like Space Marine 2 will continue the first game's grand tradition of PvP multiplayer
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/looks-like-space-marine-2-will-continue-the-first-games-grand-tradition-of-pvp-multiplayer/
A video uploaded to YouTube by prdalien0 showing a flick-through of The Art and Making of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 seems to have confirmed Saber Interactive's sequel will have a PvP mode. A two-page spread shows the armor of Chaos Space Marines who will apparently be playable in the mode, from the chapters of the Death Guard, Black Legion, Iron Warriors, Night Lords, Alpha Legion, and World Eaters.

NetherRealm gives us a proper look at Homelander in Mortal Kombat 1's latest DLC trailer, and somehow the fatalities aren't the grossest thing in it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/netherrealm-gives-us-a-proper-look-at-homelander-in-mortal-kombat-1s-latest-dlc-trailer-and-somehow-the-fatalities-arent-the-grossest-thing-in-it/
I've long since become inured to Mortal Kombat's grossout action. There are only so many ways to slice up a virtual human before it becomes passé, after all. But NetherRealm's latest DLC trailer for Mortal Kombat 1, which gives us our first look at The Boys' deeply disturbed superhero Homelander fighting in the game, has found a whole new way to disgust me.

As Helldivers 2's Steam reviews begin to recover, Arrowhead's CEO shares an 'accidental' cape design based upon its Overwhelmingly Negative rating, and of course the community wants it added to the game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/as-helldivers-2s-steam-reviews-begin-to-recover-arrowheads-ceo-shares-an-accidental-cape-design-based-upon-its-overwhelmingly-negative-rating-and-of-course-the-community-wants-it-added-to-the-game/
It's been a rough few days for Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead. (...)
Now though, the crisis is over. Sony has walked back its plans to force PSN accounts onto Steam players, and those negative steam reviews are slowly being flipped to positive (though the game's recent review rating remains at "Mostly Negative"). It seems Arrowhead hasn't lost its sense of humour over the debacle either. Following up a tweet about how "impressed" he was by the willpower of the Helldivers 2 community, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt shared an "accidental" cape design based on the game's recent avalanche of negative reviews.

PlayStation 5 Pro GPU to Deliver a Maximum of 36 Teraflops of Performance – Rumor

https://wccftech.com/playstation-5-pro-36-teraflops/

Intel Requests Motherboard Makers To Implement “Default Settings” Profile As BIOS Defaults By 31st May To Fix 14th & 13th Gen Stability Issues

https://wccftech.com/intel-requests-motherboard-makers-implement-default-settings-profile-bios-defaults-14th-13th-gen-cpu-stability/

"So what is the Baseline profile exactly? Well, Intel has a total of three pre-configured profiles for its 14th Gen and 13th Gen CPUs. These include "Baseline", "Performance" and "Extreme" presets. The baseline profile sets the PL1/PL2/PL4 to 125/188/293W and the Iccmax to 249A. Then we have the "Performance" profile which sets these to 125/253/380W & 307A, respectively. Lastly, there's the "Extreme" profile which sets these to 253/253/380W & 400A, respectively."

Not a trap: NVIDIA gives away custom GeForce RTX 4080 Star Wars edition

https://videocardz.com/newz/not-a-trap-nvidia-gives-away-custom-geforce-rtx-4080-star-wars-edition

MSI MPG QD-OLED monitors with multiple firmware updates, nothing for MAG series

https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-mpg-qd-oled-monitors-with-multiple-firmware-updates-nothing-for-mag-series