You can play from a third-person perspective in Avowed, a notable deviation from developer Obsidian Entertainments previous big RPG, The Outer Worlds, in which you played the whole game from a first-person perspective.If youre the type who prefers to see your character model in action, heres how to switch to third-person in Avowed.Update (Feb. 17): Added a second (faster) way to method to switch to third-person.How to play Avowed in third-personTo play Avowed in third-person, there are two options:On an Xbox controller, press and hold the right thumbstick for a few seconds to change your perspective (thanks Klobrille on X for the tip).Go to settings, then the game submenu and the camera section, then select third-person view, as shown in the screenshot above.Switching to third-person in Avowed is a head-and-shoulders improvement over Obsidians own The Outer Worlds even modders havent been able to square that circle. To date, there still isnt a popular third-person mod for the game a discussion point for the games community even years after the games release.How well does third-person in Avowed work?The third-person mode in Avowed certainly functions smoothly enough. While climbing or jumping reveals your character is no Nathan Drake, you move smoothly enough on flat ground, including dodging during combat. The third-person reticle is the size of a pinprick, which would conceivably make looting a cumbersome action, but if you get close enough to the item you want to pick up, youll get the prompt regardless of how exacting your reticle placement is. Even ranged weapons, like pistols, bows, and wands, are just as precise in third-person as they are in first-person. (Plus, an early skill allows you to slow down time when aiming.)That said, theres admittedly a draw to the immersion of a first-person perspective. Though if you get motion sickness from playing first-person, wed recommend reducing the head bobbing strength level by 50% or simply toggling off the head bobbing setting entirely. Both settings can be found directly below the third-person view setting.For more Avowed guides, see our full Avowed walkthrough, plus learn what background to pick, the best attribute points to assign, and how to unlock all companions.

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Personnel from Elon Musks government-downsizing team DOGE were set to visit the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)s Air Traffic Control command center in Warrenton, Virginia, on Monday, as the Trump administration says it wants to reform the system.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy disclosed the plan in a social media post on Sunday.DOGE personnel will get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system, he added.The Trump administration this month reversed course and denied participation to air traffic controllers or security officers of the Transportation Security Administration in a government incentive program to quit.On Saturday, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union said several hundred FAA probationary employees were among thousands fired as part of a campaign by President Donald Trump and Musk to slash the U.S. bureaucracy.The union said the draconian action will increase the workload and place new responsibilities on a workforce that is already stretched thin.The FAA did not immediately comment on Sunday.Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, said on X in response late on Sunday to the planned DOGE visit that the safety of air travel is a non-partisan matter. SpaceX engineers will help make air travel safer.Musk previously cited concerns about the recent temporary failure of the FAAs NOTAM pilot alerting system, housed at the Virginia command center.This month Senator Maria Cantwell called on Duffy to bar Musk from involvement in FAA air space reform, citing conflicts of interest and saying SpaceX was fined by the agency. SpaceX did not comment late on Sunday.The FAA handles an average of 45,000 daily flights and says more than a quarter of the worlds scheduled flights arrive at or depart from U.S. airports.Last week, two U.S. senators called for increased funding and staffing for FAA air traffic after a fatal midair collision highlighted the persistent lack of aviation safety personnel.Senators Jeanne Shaheen and John Hoeven said the FAA is more than 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels. FAA controller staffing has been flat in recent years and is down 10% from 2012.A January 29 collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people near Washington Reagan National Airport in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.Duffy says the administration plans to make sure that America has the most innovative, technologically advanced air traffic control system.He is reconsidering rules that let air traffic control supervisors cut staffing before the fatal collision.Duffy plans to soon announce steps to surge more air traffic control training and applicants and will visit the FAA Academy in Oklahoma this week to meet air traffic controller instructors and students.David Shepardson, Reuters

Signaling a major shift in civil rights enforcement, the federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws has moved to dismiss six of its own cases on behalf of workers alleging gender identity discrimination, arguing that the cases now conflict withPresident Donald Trumps recent executive order, court documents say.The requests by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) mark a major departure from its prior interpretation of civil rights law, and a stark contrast to a decade ago when the agencyissued a landmark findingthat a transgender civilian employee of the U.S. Army had been discriminated against because her employer refused to use her preferred pronouns or allow her to use bathrooms based on her gender identity.Just last year, the EEOCupdated its guidanceto specify that deliberately using the wrong pronouns for an employee, or refusing them access to bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, constituted a form of harassment. That followed a2020 Supreme Court ruling that gay, lesbian and transgender people are protectedfrom employment discrimination.Nearly all workplace discrimination chargesmust pass through the EEOC at least initially and the agencys decision to drop at least six of the cases raises serious questions about whether its protections will continue to extend totransgender and gender nonconformingpeople going forward.The EEOC is seeking to dismiss three cases in Illinois as well as one in Alabama, New York and California. In each instance, the original complaints allege discrimination against transgender or gender nonconforming workers. The agency cites Trumps Jan. 20 executive order declaring that the government would recognize only two immutable sexes male and female as the reason for why it no longer intends to pursue the cases.The Alabama case charged that Harmony Hospitality LLC discriminated against an employee who identifies as a gay nonbinary male by firing him hours after co-owners learned of his gender identity. The New York lawsuit alleged that Boxwood Hotels LLC fired a transgender housekeeper who complained that a supervisor repeatedly misgendered them and made anti-transgender statements, referring to the housekeeper as a transformer and it.Another suit alleged that Wendys franchisee Starboard Group, Inc. subjected three transgender employees to pervasive sexual harassment at a Wendys restaurant in Carbondale, Illinois, claiming a supervisor demanded to know if one employee had a penis. In another Illinois case, a transgender Reggios Pizza cashier at Chicago OHare International Airport was outed by her manager, called a racist, homophobic slur by coworkers, and fired when she complained. In southern Illinois, at a hog farm called Sis-Bro, Inc., a coworker allegedly exposed his genitals to a transgender employee and touched her breasts.And in Santa Clara, California, the EEOC charged that a Lush Handmade Cosmetics store manager sexually harassed three gender nonconforming employees with offensive physical and verbal sexual conduct.Former EEOC General Counsel and Professor and Co-Dean Emeritus at Rutgers Law School David Lopez, who served in the agency for more than 20 years, on Friday said in his experience, the EEOC has never dismissed cases based on substance rather than merit until now.For the countrys anti-discrimination agency to discriminate against a group, and say, Were not going to enforce the law on their behalf itself is discrimination, in my view, Lopez said. Its like a complete abdication of responsibility.The EEOCs requests to dismiss the cases come just weeks after Trumpdismissed two Democratic commissionersof the five-member EEOC before their terms expired, an unprecedented decision that removed what would have been a major obstacle to his administration efforts to upend interpretation of the nations civil rights laws. Had the commissioners been allowed to carry out their terms, the EEOC would have had a Democratic majority well into Trumps term. The administration also fired Karla Gilbride as the EEOCs general counsel, replacing her with Andrew Rogers as acting counsel.Shortly after their dismissals, acting EEOC chair Andrea Lucas, a Republican, signaled her intent to put the agencys resources behind enforcing Trumps executive order on gender. She announced in a statement that one of her priorities would be defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights. Later, she ordered that the EEOC would continue accepting any and all discrimination charges filed by workers, although complaints that implicate Trumps order should be elevated to headquarters for review.Biology is not bigotry. Biological sex is real, and it matters, Lucas said in her statement. Sex is binary (male and female) and immutable. It is not harassment to acknowledge these truths or to use language like pronouns that flow from these realities, even repeatedly. She removed the agencys pronoun app, which allowed employees to display their pronouns in their Microsoft 365 profiles, among other changes.The EEOC in fiscal year 2023 received more than3,000 chargesalleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the most since the agency started tracking these charges in FY 2013, and up more than 36% from the previous year, according to the agencys website, which also provides a link for more information on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. But the information appears to have been removed and the link now leads to a blank page with the message: The requested page could not be found.Jocelyn Samuels, one of the Democratic EEOC commissioners who was fired last month, said via email that Trumps executive order and the EEOCs response to it is truly regrettable.The Administrations efforts to erase trans people are deeply harmful to a vulnerable community and inconsistent with governing law, she said.Sarah Warbelow, vice president of legal at LGBTQ+ rights group Human Rights Campaign, added in an emailed statement: This is the inevitable outcome when the EEOC is weaponized to greenlight discrimination against American workers.Instead of standing up for the rights of everyone to a workplace free from discrimination, including harassment and bias, the Trump administration is making it abundantly clear they will not protect working people.By Claire Savage and Alexandra Olson, Associated PressThe Associated Presss women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APsstandardsfor working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atAP.org.

The Nokia 3310 is the closest thing consumer tech has to a cockroach. Built to survive drops, spills, and the passage of time itself, this chunky brick of a phone has been immortalized in memes, internet folklore, and the memories of anyone who lived through the early 2000s. It was the phone you could drop down a flight of stairs and find in perfect working order at the bottom. The one that could take a direct hit from a hammer and still let you play Snake. Even its battery life felt mythicalweeks on standby, days of talk time, all while todays smartphones barely last till dinner.But for all its resilience, the 3310 is a relic of a bygone era. The proprietary charging port, once a symbol of Nokias dominance, now feels like an artifact from an ancient civilization. Try finding a compatible charger today, and youll quickly realize that nostalgia alone isnt enough to keep this tank operational. Thats where a clever new mod steps inone that breathes just a little modern life into the legendary handset without compromising its rugged soul.Designer: Andrea SalvatoriA YouTuber by the name of Andrea Salvatori has designed a USB-C adapter that seamlessly replaces the 3310s old-school charging module. This isnt some clunky, solder-heavy hack job; its a sleek, drop-in upgrade that fits like it was meant to be there. The process is refreshingly simple: open up the phone, pop out the microphone from the original charging module, install the new one, and screw everything back together. Thats it. No microcontroller trickery, no finicky voltage regulationthe 3310 happily sips power from any standard 5V USB-C source like it was always meant to.Its almost surreal to see this fusion of old and new. A phone that once relied on a forgotten charging standard can now share a cable with your laptop, tablet, or modern smartphone. Theres something poetic about plugging a Nokia 3310 into the same charger as a MacBook, as if two entirely different technological eras have found common ground. The best part? It doesnt just workit works elegantly. The module retains the spring-loaded contacts of the original design, meaning no loose wires, no risk of breaking delicate components. Its as close to an official upgrade as you can get without Nokia (or now its parent company HMD) itself stepping in.Beyond the sheer novelty of it, this mod has practical appeal. If youre one of the rare few who still owns a 3310whether for nostalgia, minimalism, or just a desperate need for a phone that wont shatter on impactthis USB-C upgrade makes keeping it charged effortless. No more hoarding 20-year-old adapters or scouring eBay for questionable third-party chargers. You can toss a single USB-C cable in your bag and know that, should the need arise, your trusty Nokia will be ready to go.Just to clear the air, were talking about the classic 3310 phone from 2000, not the recently refurbished one that rocks a color screen and an (ugh) MicroUSB connector.Of course, not everyone has the patience or tools to crack open an old phone and swap parts around. Thats why Andrea has made the USB-C module available for purchase. For just 25 ($26.2 USD), you can order one and bring your 3310 into the modern age, no engineering degree required. Its the kind of upgrade that sparks joynot because it adds flashy new features, but because it respects the integrity of the original device while making it just a little more practical.And broadly, this is what I love about the tech communitys ability to come up with the most unique solutions in the search for true consumer-friendliness. Even something as small as replacing the charging port on a device is an apt act of rebellion, because it means doing something that benefits YOU, not the corporate that sold you the device.Weve seen mavericks lead the way in the past too, like our friend Ken Pillonel who managed to fit a USB-C on the iPhone and the AirPods YEARS before Apple actually did so. Pillonel even went as far as open-sourcing the circuitry to allow others to perform the same mods. Now all I ask is that someone put Qi2 wireless charging on the back of the Nokia 3310!The post Ingenious Hacker Revives the Nokia 3310 with a USB-C Charging Port For Just $26 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Nearly eight years after the launch of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, the franchise made its long-awaited return with Digimon Story: Time Stranger. Its out later this year for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, but fans wont have to wait long for new details. Digimon Con 2025 will see the developer revealing the latest updates for the title on March 20th at 7 PM PT.Thus far, its been revealed that players will time travel and explore parallel worlds. Of course, that also means traveling to Iliad, the Digital World, and taking on different quests. The series turn-based combat returns, promising deep customization and Digimon variety for limitless ways to battle. Its also a significant visual bump over its predecessor, which is nice.The overall goal is to discover why the world collapsed and maybe to prevent it from happening. How this ties into Cyber Sleuth should be intriguing so stay tuned for more information. You can read more about the latest Digimon title, 2022s Digimon Survive, in our review.

While Marvel Rivals has been incredibly successful for developer NetEase Games, many have been wondering how Blizzard feels about a new title seemingly stealing the thunder from Overwatch 2. Director Aaron Keller has revealed in an interview with GamesRadar that the team has to stop playing it safe.For context, while Overwatch 2 has still maintained a healthy player base, more and more players have been opting to spend their time with Marvel Rivals instead. Even Overwatch 2s Twitch viewership dropped back in January, with Marvel Rivals getting more viewers since its release.Keller spoke about the new sense of competition that Blizzard is feeling from Marvel Rivals, since the two games are quite similar in genre and gameplay styles. He refers to this competition as kind of exciting.Were obviously in a new competitive landscape that I think, for Overwatch, weve never really been in before, to this extent where theres another game thats so similar to the one that weve created, Keller said in the interview. Theres actually something kind of exciting about this, for a few reasons.The Overwatch 2 director then pointed to the recently-announced Season 15 of the game as a good example of how the company is looking to shake things up in response to the popularity of Marvel Rivals. He refers to the team working on Overwatch 2 as feeling internal pressure, prompting themselves to make the best possible game that they can.There is pressure on the Overwatch team, and a lot of it is internal, Keller said. Its [asking] how do we make the best possible game that we can? And weve been feeling it for a while.We want to inject a bit of freshness into the game, but not just for varietys sake. We want to increase the depth of play, Keller continued. So with perks, theres some choices in there that we hope add depth to what it means to play any one of our heroes in the game, and we hope that it adds strategy over the course of a match, because now youre able to pick things that either augment what your hero is doing or maybe youre going to use it to counter what somebody is doing on the other team.Season 15 of Overwatch 2, titled Honor & Glory, is slated for release on February 18. The update is going to bring quite a few new features to the game, including the addition of Perks as a new game mechanic. Divided into Minor and Major perks, the system allows players to refine their play style with any of the playable characters the deeper they get into a match. For example, a Torbjorn player will be able to pick between having a more powerful level 3 turret, or if they would prefer level 2 turrets that can be built along walls or ceilings instead.Along with the gameplay and balance changes, Overwatch 2 will also be resetting player ranks. A new reward system is also being added to the game in the form of loot boxes that will allow players to earn more cosmetics.

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Kingdom Come Deliverance tops 2m copies sold in less than two weeks | News-in-briefDeveloper Warhorse says the milestone is "a triumph"Image credit: Warhorse Studios News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Feb. 17, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Kingdom Come Deliverance tops 2 million copies sold in less than two weeks