Riot Games announces a collaboration with Ubisoft on a new "Zero Harm in Comms" research project to take on toxic behavior in games, and create more positive gaming communities. Here's the overview on this effort at building better moderation AI:

That’s why Riot and Ubisoft are teaming up on a tech partnership to develop a database gathering in-game data to better train AI-based preemptive moderation tools that detect and mitigate disruptive behavior in-game. Any data gathered that will be able to identify a person will be removed before sharing.

The “Zero Harm in Comms” research project is the first step in a cross-industry project that aims to benefit all people who play video games. Riot and Ubisoft are aligned in their mission to create gaming structures that foster more rewarding social experiences and avoid harmful interactions.

A tweet from Bethesda Softworks responds to the recent statement on Medium by Mick Gordon discussing his negative experiences working with id Software on the original soundtrack for DOOM Eternal. The response from id's ownership refutes this account, and decries harassment and threats against the developers, something Gordon specifically warned against. Here's word:

The recent post by Mick Gordon both mischaracterized and misrepresented the team at id Software, the development of DOOM Eternal, Marty Stratton, and Chad Mossholder with a one-sided and unjust account of an irreparable professional relationship.

We are aware of all the details and history in this matter and unequivocally support Marty, Chad, and the team at id Software. We reject the distortion of the truth and selective presentation of incomplete "facts." We stand ready with full and complete documented evidence to disclose in an appropriate venue as needed.

The statements posted online have incited harassment and threats of violence against Marty, Chad, and the id Software team. Any threats or harassment directed towards members of our teams will be met with swift and appropriate action to protect their health and safety.

We remain incredibly proud of id's previous collaborations with Mick Gordon and ask that fans refrain from reaching conclusions based on his account and, more importantly, from attacking any of the individuals mentioned on either side, including Marty, Chad, or Mick.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is coming to Windows PCs via Steam on November 30th, offering a first-person action game set in the far-future Warhammer 40K universe. To help us gauge how our computers will stand up to the game, Fatshark offers a complete rundown of system requirements, including what it will take to run the game with ray tracing on. Here's the big picture:

Perseus: Titan Slayer - Free Trial is now available for Windows on Steam, offering a sample of a roguelike dungeon-crawler that's expected for full release next year. Word is: "In this rogue-like dungeon crawler adventure, you will play as Perseus, a demigod tasked with one mission; stop Hades and the evil forces that surround him." This sample includes a community challenge offering a free key to the full game to the first 10 players to slay the Chaos Dragon. Here's word on the trial:

The Free Trial is a free, short version of Perseus: Titan Slayer. We want to show you the main mechanics, so in the Free Trial you can finish the first 2 acts and fight 2 bosses.

Perseus: Titan Slayer is an over-the-top hack and slash, rogue-like adventure that focuses on depth and branching choices which allow for multiple unique runs.

Branching choices allow for custom runs and many opportunities to play again and try new builds.

You think you're better than me? In that case, head over to Steam, where Early Access is now underway for Superior. This is a third-person co-op roguelite set in a stylized superhero universe. The recent Official Game Trailer shows off that style and gameplay. This post lays out a roadmap for how this will progress through Early Access. Here's more:

Start each mission unpowered and outgunned as you hunt down superheroes, steal their powers, and save the world. As you succeed in your mission, characters are upgraded with a branching skill tree, granting more powers and abilities to take on more heinous heroes. Armed with a powerful arsenal and your teammates, you advance through a sprawling hyper-stylized superhero universe with multiple locations and dynamically configured missions. With hundreds of unique superpowers, weapons, items, and abilities to upgrade and choose, Superior lets you craft your own Hero Hunter, progressing from “gutter to godhood” with every session.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Microsoft Flight Simulator IronSim Sale.
• Save 30% on Martha Is Dead on Steam.
• Save 55% on Outward Definitive Edition on Steam.
• Save 40% on Deadside on Steam.
• Save 67% on Shady Part of Me on Steam.

• Brawlhalla X Avatar: The Last Airbender - Crossover Launch Trailer.
• Dynopunk - Announce Trailer - Wishlist Now on Steam.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• Fallout 76 - Live Action Concept Trailer. Thanks PC Gamer via Neutronbeam.
• Playing a game with R18 settings - Viva La Dirt League (NSFW). Thanks Ant.

• SCS Software's blog: Happy Hauloween Conclusion.

• Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 Tactical Guide - New Features, DMZ, and More.

• The Xbox November Update Rolls Out Today.
• Soccer Story Kicks Off For PS4, PS5 On November 29.
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Alpha Skip-Ahead (2308.221114-1900). Thanks Console General.

• Qualcomm's new chip will lead to augmented reality glasses you'll actually want to wear.

• Facebook fact-checkers will stop checking Trump after presidential bid announcement. Thanks Acleacius.
• Economist Nouriel Roubini slams crypto 'con men,' Binance CEO after FTX crash. Thanks Matthew.
• Xbox Cloud Gaming is Coming to Even More Samsung TVs and Adding Rumble Support.
• IBM is retiring its Watson IoT cloud management platform.

Thanks Console General.

• The Truth About NVIDIA’s RTX 4090 Adapters: Testing, X-Ray, & 12VHPWR Failures - Gamers Nexus (video). Thanks Simon.
• Nvidia and AMD’s GPUs are headed in the wrong direction.
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Xbox App for Windows [2211.1001.25.0].
• Evernote v10.49.4
• Azure Data Studio v1.40.
• Visual Studio 2022 version 17.4.1.
• Facebook Messenger version 169.0.0.17.103.
• Umbrella Corp Build of the Day.

• Stop using Twitter to log in to other websites.
• FBI director worried about how China uses TikTok user data.
• Disneyland Malware Team: It’s a Puny World After All.

Last Link of the Day: She-Hulk Pitch Meeting.

Season 01 is now underway in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and the newly launched Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0. The Call of Duty: Warzone Website has details on the new free-to-play battle royale, and there are patch notes for both games on the Infinity Ward Website. Here's the Warzone 2.0 Launch Trailer and here's a briefing:

Welcome to Al Mazrah. Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0 heads to the metropolitan area and rural outskirts within the Republic of Adal in the next iteration of Call of Duty®’s massive Free-to-Play Battle Royale experience. The sprawling and immersive locale isn’t the only thing that’s new: Warzone™ 2.0 has been built from the ground up as the ultimate Battle Royale experience. Al Mazrah brings with it brand-new gameplay innovations, new player mechanics, and the all-new DMZ mode.

Continue here to read the full story.

New version 526.98 GeForce reference drivers for Windows are now available from NVIDIA. Highlights include support for the new RTX 4080 cards and Friday's planned launch of the PC edition of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. To see all the changes, you can check out the Release Notes. Or you can wait for the movie, since they run 38 pages. Even better, we have a summary:

The drivers bring with it support for more DLSS games, including new DLSS 3 games just in time for the GeForce RTX 4080 GPU launch. Gamers will want to download and install this new driver to get systems Game Ready for the launch of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PC on November 18th.

The Game Ready Driver for GeForce RTX 4080 also adds support for the launch of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, enhanced with a full slate of RTX tech, and World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. Plus, support for Monster Hunter Rise:Sunbreak’s NVIDIA DLAA update, and WRC Generations – The FIA WRC Official Game's DLSS 3 update.

Continue here to read the full story.

AMD has released new version 22.11.1 Adrenalin Edition drivers for Radeon graphics cards running under Windows (thanks VKEvilution). Among other things, these add support for today's launch of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0. Here are the details from the Release Notes:

Highlights

• Support for:
  • Call of Duty®: Warzone 2.0
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales™

Fixed Issues

• World Of Warships prediction lines may be missing on Radeon™ RX 6000 series GPUs.
• When Radeon™ Anti-Lag is enabled, a beep can be heard when pressing the shift + back key.
• OpenGL applications using MSAA may see visual corruption.
• Higher than expected idle VRAM clock using multi-monitor setups on Radeon™ RX 6000 series GPUs.
• Selected objects may be missing in Edificius™.

The Complete Nominees List for the 2023 GRAMMY Nominations is online. This year the cutthroat competition in the musical world gets even more competitive with the addition of a video games soundtrack category. Here are the details from the 66th of 91 categories:

Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, video games and other interactive media.

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite
  Austin Wintory, composer
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn Of Ragnarok
  Stephanie Economou, composer
• Call Of Duty®: Vanguard
  Bear McCreary, composer
• Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy
  Richard Jacques, composer
• Old World
  Christopher Tin, composer

A post to the Blizzard forums reveal that the patch for Overwatch 2 promised for yesterday has hit a setback. Word is the balance changes, bug fixes, and return of Mei to the multiplayer shooter sequel are now expected tomorrow: "We are now planning to release this mid-season patch on Thursday, November 17 at 11 AM PST. Thank you to our players for your patience as we addressed this issue." Here's more:

Today’s patch is delayed as we work to resolve a critical issue. We’ll provide an update here and set the patch live as soon as the problem is addressed.

This includes the upcoming balance changes, bug fixes, including those that affect Mei, and core content updates we have planned for this patch. This delay also impacts the delivery of Overwatch League Viewership Incentives & Perks from the Postseason matches during the period between Oct 30 - Nov 4, along with the rotation of cosmetics in the Overwatch League shop.

Developer Shade and publisher D3PUBLISHER announce a December 8th release date for SAMURAI MAIDEN, a samurai action/RPG for Windows, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch. The game's titular hero is a schoolgirl who brings the art of the samurai into the 21st century with the help of her shoolgirl ninja companions. Here's the recently released Opening Trailer with a look at all the hacking, slashing, and girl-on-girl action this will bring. Read on for more:

Together with historical figure, Nobunaga Oda, and a trio of newfound ninja friends, Tsumugi and team race through the underworld to slaughter mobs of undead enemies with powerful swordsmanship and mystical abilities. Using stylish combination attacks and strong counters, Tsumugi is well equipped to slay groups of zombies as well as tough bosses, alongside her friendly ninja friends while quarreling, laughing, and fighting, all while forging new bonds in the process.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Activision is locking new Call of Duty weapons behind its other game modes.

• Starfield delay was 'the right thing to do' says Phil Spencer.

• Return to Point & Clicks with more than 300 awesome titles with deals up to -90%! - GOG.com.*
• Midweek Sale: FPP games with deals up to -85%! - GOG.com.*
• Special Sale: Focus Entertainment titles up to -80%! - GOG.com.*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• World of Warcraft Alexstrasza 20in Statue – Blizzard Gear Store.
• Upper Deck and Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products Adds Mortal Kombat 11 Trading Cards and Collectibles.
• BioShock Movie Has Ken Levine Involved in Some Capacity; Director Explains What Makes the IP Unique.

• MULTIVERSUS Season 2.
• Steam Beta Client Update - November 15th.
• Steam Deck Beta Client Update - November 15th.
• World of Warcraft — Dragonflight Pre-Expansion Phase 2 Update Notes—Now Live.
• World of Warcraft Hotfixes: November 15, 2022.
• X-Plane 12 – Official Trailer.

↑ Official patches. ↓ Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• FIFA 23 gets new high quality graphics overhaul mods on PC.
• Half-Life remaster, out now, makes Valve’s iconic FPS game even better.

• Overwatch 2 bug is letting heroes halt the objective while invisible.

Official trailers.

• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles - Gyutaro Introduction Trailer.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake - Languages are F.U.N. Trailer.

• Video Game Director Answers Questions From Twitter - Tech Support - WIRED (video-(may require registration or subscription)).

• Unreal Engine 5.1 Out Now, Offering Nanite Improvements, Tools for Bigger Worlds and Crowds. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive » IEM Rio Major Champions.

• A Plague Tale- Requiem: PC analysis, optimised settings - and the performance boost from the new patch.

• Xbox Live is now 20 years old.
• 3-Month Free Trials of Apple TV+ and Apple Music Come to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks This Holiday.
• Microsoft’s Xbox streaming console ‘Keystone’ was pushed back because of its price.

• Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Announced – Huge Power And Performance With Lots Of AI.
• Can AirPods do the job of $10,000 hearing aids? Thanks Roddy.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Elon Musk demands Twitter employees commit to ‘extremely hardcore’ culture or leave.
• Elon Musk: Twitter Blue verification service will relaunch on November 29.
• 'Three quarters' of retail Bitcoin investors are in the red.
• Everyone is bullying the UK government in its own Discord server. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• The Man Behind Mastodon, Eugen Rochko, Built It for This Moment (may require registration or subscription).
• How to Get Started on Mastodon (may require registration or subscription).
• Protocol, the tech-news focused website, will shutter and lay off its entire staff.
• Removed HBO Max Shows Going Elsewhere?
• ISP deploys fiber service with a wrinkle—the users themselves own each network.
• Build connections in Microsoft Teams with Games for Work, a new Microsoft Teams app.

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Graphics Cards Now Available at Newegg.com.
• Nvidia investigates melting graphics card cable reports.
• Students- Learn AI and Data Science on GeForce RTX.
• NVIDIA Studio Windows Driver version 526.98.
• Rocky Linux Foundation launches. Ready to eat lightning and crap thunder. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Microsoft pledges annual harassment report after audit sparked by complaints and Bill Gates allegations.
• Inside the turmoil at Sobeys-owned stores after ransomware attack. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Repair technicians caught snooping on customer data. Thanks DSLReports via Ant.
• FBI warning: PC and tech support scams are back. Here's what to watch out for.

• Goat Simulator 3 review - PC Gamer.
• Goat Simulator 3 review: more than the sum of its fart noises - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Goat Simulator 3 review – A wacky yet meaningful lesson in the etiquette of an entitled goat - VG247.
• Pentiment review- a captivating murder mystery spanning 25 years of rich medieval history - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Kotaku's Review Of Somerville, Jumpship's Alien Invasion Game.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Case: SSUPD Meshroom S SFF Chassis Review - TweakTown.
• Gaming Chair: noblechairs LEGEND Review - Vortez.
• Gaming Chair: Sihoo M90D Ergonomic Office Chair - Nikk Tech.
• Graphics Card: MSI RTX 4080 Gaming X Trio - LanOC Reviews.
• Graphics Card: Nvidia RTX 4080 Founders Edition - LanOC Reviews.
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU Rendering Performance Review – Techgage.
• Graphics Card: MSI GeForce RTX 4080 16GB SUPRIM X Graphics Card Review - FPS Goes Brrrr - ThePCEnthusiast.
• Graphics Card: Zotac GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Trinity OC Graphics Card Review - Let's Generate Some Frames! - ThePCEnthusiast.
• Headset: Asus Delta S Wireless Headset review - Guru3D.
• Laptop: Asus Vivobook 13 Slate (Steven Harrington Edition) review - The Verge.
• Laptop: MSI CreatorPro Z16P laptop review - Mobile workstation with temperature problems - NotebookCheck.net Reviews.
• Misc: Lamptron HM070 Flip LCD review - Guru3D.
• Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming Wifi review- This motherboard packs a punch - PCWorld.
• Speakers: Sonos Sub Mini Review - Pricey Bass - TechPowerUp.
• Speakers: Syng Cell Alpha Wireless Speakers Review- Spatial Sorcery, Bass Bother - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).

When the BlueTower moved, we learned we needed an alarm system in our townhouse in order to get homeowner's insurance (I'm still dubious about this, but that's another story). Yesterday a mysterious beeping in our living room led me to the alarm control panel, which was complaining about a low battery in a motion sensor. MrsBlue set out to call ADT about this, seeking the first tangible service from them since committing to this technological boondoggle. A bit later I came upon her in a state of agitation as one 45-minute phone queue melded into another. In the meantime, a coworker had warned her this would probably result in a service charge. So I had her hang up. I checked the sensor and found it requires a CR123A battery. A pair of these are on the way, and the problem will be solved a minute after they arrive. At some point I'm going to dig further into this "mandatory" alarm, and it if is indeed necessary, look into a cheaper more responsive provider.

Alarming Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Breakfast Links

• How to find great films to watch. Thanks Max.
• This year’s ugly Microsoft sweater has a suggestion for you: It’s Clippy.

Stories

• Consumer Reports finds hybrid cars are more reliable than gas-only models. Thanks Max.
• Netherlands to ban laughing gas from January. Speaking of gas-only.
• Woman caught smuggling almost half a million dollars of cocaine in wheelchair that didn't work.

Science
Thanks Acleacius.

• People are knowingly taking placebos — and feeling better anyway. Did they slip in real drugs as a control? Thanks Max.
• Ants – with their wise farming practices and efficient navigation techniques – could inspire solutions for some human problems.
• Powerful linear accelerator begins smashing atoms – 2 scientists on the team explain how it could reveal rare forms of matter.
• A new analysis shows a “crisis” of male reproductive health.

Media
Thanks RedEye9.

• Hans Niemann's $100 Million- Suit Against Magnus Carlsen ft. GothamChess.
• How to power your house, with xkcd's Randall Munroe.
• The 5 WEIRDEST Communist Cars Ever Made.

Creature Features

• Reporter is interrupted by a hilarious baby elephant who can't keep her trunk off him. Acknowledge me!

Follow-up

• NASA's Artemis rocket finally lifts off and heads toward the moon.
• Mariah Carey Loses Bid to Trademark 'Queen Of Christmas'.