Flatpacks are very restrictive by design. While this is a good thing in many cases, it makes it very difficult for tools like EmuDeck to work properly. For example, automatically installing other applications (in this case: emulators) isn‘t easily possible. This would make a flatpak version of Emudeck pretty much useless.

While I understand your concerns, I think installing an AppImage which has been built on Github from open source code just isn‘t all that risky.

It‘s worth noting that this has been going on for quite a while now in Europe. Two of Germany‘s largest retailers, Edeka and Rewe, don‘t stock products from quite a few companies like Mars, PepsiCo and Procter&Gamble anymore. Edeka even went to court with Coca-Cola because of their ludicrous price increases in 2022.

And both retailers haven’t shied away from making these issues very public. They‘ve often put signs into the empty shelves explaining the situation in detail.

They are obviously more afraid of having to explain those massive price hikes to customers, than they are of not stocking these products at all. Which, seeing how little the manufacturing costs actually increased while profits for the manufacturers surged, is definitely a good thing for consumers.

I‘ve been using Kagi since September as well and I can only recommend giving it a try.

Being able to personalize search rankings is something I definitely wouldn‘t want to miss anymore.

One thing I’d like to mention is that they‘re also really great at listening to feedback. For example, they recently added an indicator for potentially paywalled sites to the search results, because users have suggested it.

Yes, we will. This was also specifically demanded by the EU and has to be implemented by March 6th 2024.

It’s being said that Google and Mozilla already have iOS-versions of Chrome and Firefox ready for this.

Well, Nick used that term and he‘s probably in a position to know if it‘s the right one.

It‘s probably important to mention that the entire video team is gone. Some of them were fired, so the rest walked. They‘re planning to go independent soon.

Edit: Their new channel will be SecondWindGroup. They’ll do a livestream on November 8th at 11 AM CT, explaining their plans for the future. (Source)

I think it‘s different enough to scratch a different itch from time to time. Sure, the general setting and some basic mechanics are similar to AoE2‘s, but overall the game plays very differently. For example, I really like that there are fundamental differences in the play styles of different civilizations. I‘d really recommend giving AoE4 a shot, if you want to play an RTS besides AoE2.

Ich mag Exklusivtitel auch nicht, glaube aber, dass sich das finanziell schon lohnt.

Wenn Microsoft Starfield auch auf der Playstation herausbringt, haben sie zwar kurzfristig mehr Einnahmen, aber sie binden die Spieler nicht an sich. Wenn es ein Exklusivtitel ist, verdienen sie zwar direkt weniger, dafür wird aber das Hardwaregeschäft deutlich angekurbelt. Es wird sicherlich einige geben, die sich extra für Starfield eine Xbox kaufen. Und diese Spieler kaufen dann, wenn sie das Gerät schonmal haben, auch sicherlich noch mehr Spiele dafür, von deren Erlös auch immer etwas an Microsoft fließt. Im Großen und Ganzen wird das wohl mehr Geld einbringen, als die Veröffentlichung des Spiels auf Systemen der Konkurrenz.

I‘m not sure if I‘m missing something, but I‘d be really surprised if Volition was doing fine. Agents of Mayhem didn‘t do well at all and the Saints Row reboot was pretty terrible. Their last somewhat successful launch was probably the Saints Row 4 expansion back in 2015.

It‘s always sad to see a developer shut down, especially one with such history. But I can honestly understand closing a studio which hasn‘t had any great release for over eight years.

Unsubbing from your own mother?! Have you no shame?!

I was on vacation in the Jungfrau area twice now and it’s really one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. The Lauterbrunnental, which is very close to Grindelwald, is said to have inspired Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings and I can totally believe it.

I don’t think that’s likely.

StatCounter uses web analytics to get those numbers. The Steam Deck probably isn’t used as a web browsing device by most users. If I recall correctly, you don’t even have a browser shortcut by default in gaming mode. Even if you’re in desktop mode, the browsing experience is far worse than just using a smartphone. So I wouldn’t think that the device is really pushing the numbers here.

GW2 is my most played game on Deck (probably around 200 hours) and I think it plays very well in most situations. The community controller layouts available via Steam work very well (full disclosure: I’ve created the second most popular one).

I personally would recommend playing on Deck, if you’re mostly doing open world content, like leveling, world bosses, events, world completion, dailies, farming or something along those lines. Story content works very well, too.

Crafting and jumping puzzles can get a bit tedious because of the smaller screen.

WvW can work, if you’re just doing some PPT.

I wouldn’t recommend raiding, sPvP or intense WvW, as you’ll always be limited by using a controller.

Performance-wise, the Deck holds up very well. I’ve set most settings to high, capped my FPS at 40 and didn’t have any major issues yet.

So, all in all, I’d recommend GW2 on Deck to anyone who isn’t exclusively playing very intense or competitive content. :)