NotDaRealSlimShady Member Mar 8, 2025 631 You've been playing this great open world for a few hours now and you start a mission asking you to travel to an undiscovered part of the map when all of sudden different music starts playing.You're still playing but just by adding music you feel the vibe shifting,it brings you closer the character,what they might be thinking, are they afraid they might not come back?Do they have any regrets? I believe Red Dead Redemption 1 is the first game that that really pulled off this moment, not just once but three times if you include Undead Nightmare. Red Dead 2 has lots of these moments as well,although the biggest one is the ride back from Guarma as D'Angelos Unshaken starts playing. I pulled together a poll of the most memorable ones to me, do you have a favorite not on the list? Doesn't need to have any lyrics. Uncharted 4 is not an open world game but it qualifies.Nate and Elena at the lowest point in their relationship. View: https://youtu.be/t66-a8m1HjQ?si=6Ft603-xXJ0Y2vH8 Red Dead's ride to Mexico (Jose Gonzalez-Far Away) View: https://youtu.be/AUXGW6sWYDY?si=VIIjmUtF_z9PWXCi Death Stranding lonely walk while Silent Poets is playing View: https://youtu.be/0R3QybOmGjU?si=Wy1FQNhVEQ5T5R8I Undead Nightmare's bombastic surf rock ride in the last mission. Deja Vu by The Kreeps View: https://youtu.be/A1iM3HRXlmU?si=eAHqwSEGSmPqciNv  Last edited: Today at 9:33 AM OP OP NotDaRealSlimShady Member Mar 8, 2025 631 Red Dead 1 "Head home to your family" (Compass by Jamie Lidell) View: https://youtu.be/x_dBxGThEx8?si=IElZAshsNX1N-aRD Red Dead 2 "May I Stand Unshaken" by D'Angelo View: https://youtu.be/ulTH0MHwa8c?si=UkWqtzxOFJgt-RDt  Last edited: Today at 9:32 AM MadMod Member Dec 4, 2017 4,816 Legit thought you were talking about Death Stranding from the title, so that's my pick, always sad when it ended. Doesn't qualify but Max Payne 3 - Travelling with bullets to the other side of the airport with HEALTH playing sticks out for me.  OP OP NotDaRealSlimShady Member Mar 8, 2025 631 MadMod said: Doesn't qualify but Max Payne 3 Click to expand... Click to shrink... Deserves an honorable mention.I almost put it in the poll,it's that good View: https://youtu.be/ovl6TcX-G-E?si=Yw56wXncl3cZ16JP   Bucca Member Oct 25, 2017 5,512 Death Stranding the thread lol   NoctisLC Member Jun 5, 2018 1,691 Unshaken was so friggin good in RDR2   Danielsan Member Oct 26, 2017 7,013 The Netherlands Death Stranding was definitely the first thing to come to mind.   Pyccko "This guy are sick" Member Oct 25, 2017 4,021 i still regularly remember my first ride into mexico in RDR. Unmatched high for me   OP OP NotDaRealSlimShady Member Mar 8, 2025 631 Danielsan said: Death Stranding was definitely the first thing to come to mind. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Bucca said: Death Stranding the thread lol Click to expand... Click to shrink... Kojima even put it in the trailer which kinda took away the surprise for me but it's such a great song   Jedi2016 Member Oct 27, 2017 20,047 Death Stranding was the one that popped into my head first, but I feel like RDR2 hit a lot harder in the moment. I still have the recording of that ride.   Rassilon Member Oct 27, 2017 11,286 UK it's a tie between RDR2 and Death Stranding for me they hit for different reasons  NewDust Visited by Knack Member Oct 25, 2017 7,719 Docking DS points for using Asylums pre-release. The impact of Far Away was much bigger while playing, so that gets my vote.   YaBish Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer Member Oct 27, 2017 5,885 I think it's damn close between Death Stranding and RDR1. I think I'd give it to the former, but I love Jose Gonzales the most out of the artists in the poll.   GokouD Member Oct 30, 2017 1,346 Not an open world game, but the boat ride to the island in Disco Elysium was my first thought on seeing the title. Such a great scene.   onibirdo Member Dec 9, 2020 3,569 Pour one out for the people who didn't steal that obviously placed horse for Unshaken.   Kapten Avenger Nov 1, 2017 1,545 RDR2 with Unshaken and then hitting us with "That's the way it is" is unmatched for me.   OP OP NotDaRealSlimShady Member Mar 8, 2025 631 NewDust said: Docking DS points for using Asylums pre-release Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah,part of these moments is the surprise.It's still a really great song and i guess lots of people haven't seen that trailer. But like,imagine if Rockstar used Unshaken in a trailer before RDR2 released? 😂 View: https://youtu.be/rP3UngLFou4?si=wRxxAqU2COFgdMfB  Magnus Member Oct 25, 2017 9,633 I'm having trouble remembering the specific moments but I feel like a bunch of RPGs do this. Clair Obscur, Rebirth come to mind. After a poignant series of story/events, the status quo for the characters and world is different, and the music acknowledges that while you are given control to keep on going, knowing things aren't the same. It's very powerful.   OP OP NotDaRealSlimShady Member Mar 8, 2025 631 onibirdo said: Pour one out for the people who didn't steal that obviously placed horse for Unshaken. Click to expand... Click to shrink... A very good example of simple game design.The game does its best to tell you "PICK THIS DAMN HORSE" i did see some let's players who didn't get the clues 😂   selfnoise Member Oct 25, 2017 1,552 "Far Away" happened for me in the middle of the night game-time and it is one of my most memorable open-world memories. Just slowly riding in a desert bathed in moonlight.   adventureracing2 Member Feb 13, 2025 246 Not sure if this is what you were thinking of but my immediate thought was of the second mission on the original halo. You leave the tunnel on your warthog out into the big open world for the first time and this badass bombastic tune kicks in letting you know what the game is all about. It's one of my greatest gaming memories.   Lbbaker Member May 21, 2018 2,347 Sometimes I think about Unshaken in RDR2 and still get chills. Absolutely perfect.   Katbobo Member May 3, 2022 8,227 the "Weight of the World" segment at the end of Nier Automata Just absolute chills  Rookhelm Member Oct 27, 2017 3,784 The metal gear solid 3 long ladder climb is such a weird but cool moment. It plays a vocals-only version of the main theme while you climb this insanely long ladder.  Ant_17 Member Oct 28, 2017 2,943 Greece You confused the hell out of me. Its Bad Voodoo, not Deja vu   scottbeowulf Member Oct 27, 2017 10,934 United States I've been playing through Assassin's Creed Shadows and they do this sometimes when you start fighting. This cool 70s sounding music will start like I'm in a Tarantino movie and I'm like oh shit ok shit getting real   petetnt Member Oct 28, 2017 1,692 Kojima is all time GOAT with I'M STILL IN A DREAM SNAKE EAAAATERRRR View: https://i.imgur.com/0u8PAgn.png In the Ladder boss fight.  Mary Celeste Member Oct 25, 2017 14,267 Asylums for the Feeling drop is my fav game moment of the PS4 gen   MadJosh04 Member Nov 9, 2022 2,761 The ride into Mexico gave me goosebumps. Absolutely perfect part of an amazing game.   Clay Member Oct 29, 2017 9,583 NoctisLC said: Unshaken was so friggin good in RDR2 Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah, that easily takes it for me. Getting to Mexico in the first game was great too, blew my mind a bit at the time, but the Unshaken scene is just on another level.  MadMod Member Dec 4, 2017 4,816 Just remembered another - Days Gone - Jack Savoretti Soldier's Eyes. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqhh18gp5l0   Xwing This guy are sick of the unshakeable slayer Member Nov 11, 2017 11,595 That part in MGSV The Phantom Pain - 10 year anniversary DLC where Invisible by Duran Duran starts playing.  

We're glad to see everyone enjoying Apocalypse Rising! It's been three weeks since release and this marks our first major balance pass! We are also releasing the modding SDK so users can look into our tools for custom projects! Posted by FRAYDO on May 16th, 2025 We are glad to see everyone playing and enjoying Apocalypse Rising so far! It has been three week since release and this update marks our first major balance pass. The initial feedback has reported that the "Allies are overpowered", and we aim to address that notion with this major patch. This post will include patches 0.9.0.1 through 0.9.0.5 in descending order to describe everything that has been adjusted since our release. At the bottom of this post, after all of the patch notes, we are also including information on the release of our Modding SDK! Patches 0.9.0.3 - 0.9.0.5 There are three patches here because we ran internal testing before settling on the final build (0.9.0.5) Based on game experience and player feedback, it was identified that the Allies were winning the majority of the games. This patch brings the Soviets up to compensate whilst also nerfing some key Allied units. Soviet will now have more of a chance in the face of the Allied teamwork machine. Bug Fixes Fixed several crashes reported by players via crash dumps (thank you!) Fixed Nvidia App "game filters" crashing the game Keyboard keys no longer get stuck when the window loses focus (e.g. Alt+Tab would leave Alt stuck) Less hitching when units spawn Fixed an issue relating to Chrono Miner Objective Markers Performance has been improved by optimizing some game objects General Changes Team remixing/rebalancing logic was re-implemented to improve team variety for players from match to match Players can no longer refill when in combat. Players can now set max FPS to any value instead of an arbitrary selection Bots can path their way out of buildings now (mostly) Mesh optimizations have been applied to the War Factories and Refineries. The legacy "Battlefield Key Success Tips" document has been removed from the game. Several PT icons have been updated Reinforcement Bays are no longer targetable by enemies. Kill messages: Grand Cannon kill strings no longer fill the feed on FreezingStraits. Added crushed kill string. Revolver kill string has been added to the nagant. Shotgun kill string has been added to the shotguns. Map Changes Fort Bradley: Fixed a bunch of buildings, improving performance and removing ngons Adjusted some of the building roofs to prevent degenerate gameplay FreezingStraits: Added visible boundary stripes. The hills behind the bases are now considered out of bounds. Removed a chunk of terrain sticking into the Radar Tower basement. LittleBigLake: Fixed a floating rock on the cliff behind the Allied base. SnowBound: The cliff to the northwest of the Allied base is now considered out-of-bounds. Fixed a couple texture seams at the main road north of the Allied base. Updated the screenshot on loading screen. Updated the overhead map. Dune Patrol: Adjusted out of bounds area to prevent degenerate gameplay General Balance Changes The targeting ranges of several weapons were increased by 3m in order to for units to be able to target enemies a little way before they are actually in range. Lock-on untrack time increased: 1.25s -> 1.75s Prevented some map objects from being locked onto (i.e. Bridge repair Huts) Deployed Infantry Damage Resistance Reduced: 50%->40% Damage from Explosions now affects Mines, C4 and Dynamite Infantry that are crushed by vehicles now register on the kill feed Proximity Mines are now placed at the player's feet. This is in order to prevent mines from being placed on walls and in other weird places. All thrown cooldown-based weapons now autoswap back to the unit's Primary after being used. i.e. After using Molotovs, the Conscript will switch back to it's PPSH automatically Dogs can now reload their bite and bark weapons whilst sprinting. Allies Guardian GI Secondary Fire now shoots a missile that does not lock-on Rocketeer Jetpack Cooldown increased 1s->2s Projectile Damage Reduced: 25->20 Projectile Explosion Damage Outer Radius Increased: 3m->3.25m Projectile Explosion Damage Inner Radius Increased: 1.5m->2m Sniper Projectile Range Decreased: 350m -> 220m Corrected Damage Falloff Range (Within the last 50m of range, the damage falls off by around half) Navy SEAL Projectile Warhead changed: Bullet -> Bullet Anti Infantry This change nerfs the MP5N vs armoured targets Primary Projectile Damage: 15->14 Primary Projectile Spray angle Increased: 0.24°->0.75° Secondary Projectile Damage: 15->14 Secondary Projectile Burst Delay time: 0.12s->0.15s Secondary Projectile Spray angle Increased: 0.1°->0.5° C4 Inventory Count Reduced: 2->1 C4 Explosion Damage Increased: 60->90 Tanya Projectile Damage Increased: 20->22 Projectile Rate of Fire Increased: 6->12 Weapon now fires in 2 round bursts Weapon Clip Sized Increased 18->36 Tanya is supposed to be holding two pistols, so this new clip size aims to reflect that C4 Range: 5m->10m IFV Guardian GI Range Decreased: 120->115 Seal Damage Increased 12->14 Rate of Fire Increased 14->16 Range Increased 95m->115m Sniper Changed Warhead form Bullet_AV to Bullet_AI Projectile Damage: 102 -> 100 Projectile Range: 300 -> 275 Corrected Damage Falloff Range (Within the last 50m of range, the damage falls off by around half) Mirage Tank Range Decreased: 115->110 Prism Tank Projectile Range Increased 145m->150m Tank Destroyer Projectile Range Decreased: 135m->120m Cost Increased: 900->1000 Howitzer Adjusted the model so that it looks less like the Tank Destroyer Harrier Projectile Range Decreased: 130m->120m Black Eagle Projectile Velocity Decreased: 120->100 Projectile Range Decreased: 130m->120m Soviets Crazy Ivan Grenade Launcher Explosion Damage Increased: 50->75 Large Dynamite Inventory Count Reduced: 2->1 Large Dynamite Explosion Damage Increased: 60->90 Terrorist Self Explosion Damage Inner Radius Increased: 4m->6m Weapons are now hidden when not being held. Boris Airtsrike Timer Reduced: 15s->12s Terror Drone The physics have been altered for better handling and cliff climbing performance Jump Height Increased: 12->15 Flak Track Has a new model! Weapon Reload Time: 1.5s ->1.25s Primary Projectile Damage Decreased 33->30 Secondary Projectile Velocity Increased: 400->500 V3 Rocket Launcher Projectile Velocity Decreased: 112->90 Projectile Gravity Increased: 7.0->3.75 Projectile Extension Adjusted Explosion Damage Inner Radius Increased: 10m->12m ***TOTAL RANGE IS AROUND 230m*** Tesla Tank: Weapon handling adjusted to reduce the arc of fire overall Demo Truck Cost Reduced: 1500->1400 Explosion Damage Increased: 400->500 Radiation Radius Increased: 24m->30m Apocalypse Tank Cannon Velocity Increased 250m/s->275m/s Missile Range Increased 135m->140m Missile Lock-on Time Decreased: 1.25->2 Missile Turn Rate increased: 350°/s->420°/s Siege Chopper Model updated with Rotor Blur Cameras re-worked Physics altered to make the controls more responsive Projectile Explosion Damage Outer Radius Increased: 1.5m->2.5m Projectile Explosion Damage Inner Radius Increased: 1m->1.85m Kirov Airship The Kirov now takes half as much damage from all non-AA weapons Points Given on Death: 200 -> 175 MG Damage Increased: 10->11 MG Spray Decreased: 1°->0.9° Bomb Impact Damage Increased: 110->125 Explosion Damage Increased: 100->110 Patch 0.9.0.2 This patch introduced more fixes and altered the balance of some of the most egregious units ingame. Bug Fixes Fixed a crash when spotting a disguised Mirage Tank as an Attack Dog, Tentatively fixed an exploit where GIs and GGIs could become invincible after using a parachute General Changes Added Siege Chopper Weapon Strings, Removed a Projectile Blocker from the doors of the Allied Power Plant Elm and Aca trees now have less upper branch projectile collision Fixed Allied Supply Truck and Siege Chopper entry/exit zones Fixed Shotgun Scaling Terror Drones and Robot Tanks now tell the pilot that the vehicle will be killed if they leave it Added a missing texture fron the loading screen AI turrets on the Battle Fortress and War Miner will now search for targets Terror Drone now has an attack sound Desolator Weapons no longer leave black marks everywhere New Soviet Technician PT Icon Re-ordered the infantry purchase list When using Artillery Auto-Aim feature when out of range, the auto aim will now adopt the max weapon elevation Updated the Credits Map Changes Little Big Lake: Fixed a hole in the ground by the Allied base. Adjusted pathfinding for Harvesters. Dune Patrol: Removed out-of-bounds lines in the small infantry tunnel next to the Soviet base. Snowbound: Added more ground clutter New terrain textures Added some rocks Fort Bradley: Fixed a bunch of NGons on the Urban Buildings Balance Changes The Attack Dog's Bark can now pierce through multiple targets Engineer + IFV Repair Reduced: 0.65 -> 0.6 Technician + IFV Repair Reduced: 0.32 -> 0.3 Technician IFv Self Healing Halved Deployed Infantry now take 50% less incoming damage from all sources (was inconsistent beforehand) AA Flak Damage vs Helicopters Increased Sniper IFV Laser now uses the correct range Patch 0.9.0.1 Released shortly after the game launched, this patch contained key fixes to the game. Bug Fixes Fixed a Server Crash that was sometimes occurring when a player added a vehicle to the queue and then left the server Siege Chopper can no longer deploy in mid-air Siege Chopper animation has been fixed Fixed an issue with Fort Bradley where Allies were getting 500 free points at the start of the match Fixed some graphical issues with Fort Bradley General Changes Added Siege Cameras to the V3 Launcher and Howitzer Added Encyclopaedia entries for the weapons and infantry Ricardo Engineer credit to Scorched Earth! Check out his RA2 and Apocalypse Rising videos on his YouTube channel! Youtube.com Over the course of these past few weeks, we have heard several requests from our players to release the tools for the game so they can make mods, dive into unit statistics, and translate the game into various languages. We are proud to announce we've made the modding SDK available here: Gitlab.com Whenever we release we will aim to update the tools to match the latest public version, much like we do with the server (also found here: Gitlab.com). If you're looking for tutorials and documentation, we have a wealth of info in our Tutorials forum but also on Tacitus, which is our documentation resource. Links below the image. Tacitus: Documentation Tutorials: W3D Tutorials Over time we will aim to add more to these tools, like pieces of example content and maps for you guy to dissect. In the meantime though, we can't wait to see what you'll all end up making and if you need any help creating things, please feel free to reach out to us over Discord! Found here: Discord.gg Keep 'Em Coming! That's all for now. Please feel free to leave your feedback and report bugs in our Discord and on our forums. We've got eyes on both platforms, so we'll make sure that every point gets a fair shake. Thanks again for supporting the game and our community! - The W3D Hub Team

Vex Member Oct 25, 2017 25,591 Were you ever bullied or made fun of for liking video games growing up (by Relatives/Friends/Enemies)? It was kind of in the same category as liking paper back comic books back in the day (i.e. "nerd culture"). Just curious. I know things are kind of different now (mostly), but I am wondering if you were made fun of by the "uninitiated" as they say. Back during a time where video games were kind of "niche" to enjoy in the capacity we do now on a much broader scale. Personally my parents thought it was odd that I enjoyed video games and would often ridicule me for enjoying a quiet game during the summer months. They'd say "why don't you go outside" and take my console away sometimes. They'd also say very hurtful things but I won't get into that. I figured as long as I wasn't doped up and doing drugs like all the other "cool kids", or getting an early pregnancy, I was good wtf MOM 🤣  Last edited: 48 minutes ago Baphomet Member Dec 8, 2018 21,845 Nope.   Mephissto Member Mar 8, 2024 1,145 No, video games were always hot shit in my school etc. I remember in elementary school almost everyone was playing Pokemon during breaks.  Dan Thunder Member Nov 2, 2017 16,965 Occasionally made fun of but I grew up in the 80's and there was a much bigger stigma in the 80's and early 90's around playing computer/videogames.   Jus Do It ▲ Legend ▲ Member Oct 25, 2017 43,755 South Central I'm a millennial, so I act like I was an outsider because of video games even though everybody else my age was also into video games. Gen Xers were the last true nerds.  Jubilant Duck Member Oct 21, 2022 9,214 The only people who made negative comments about how many videogames I played were my parents.   Dal Uncle Works at Nintendo Member Aug 18, 2024 2,197 No, video games were huge in my school (and bullying was uncommon fortunately since everyone knew everyone and hitting another kid or making fun of them was a good enough way to get you in trouble with the rest of the school)   Okada Member Nov 8, 2017 749 I'm a millennial and everyone around me was playing video games. It wasn't weird even then. Not liking football would have been seen as much weirder and more likely to lead to bullying.  THANKS Prophet of Regret Member Oct 22, 2018 1,587 Yes because I played JRPGs.   ConflictResolver Member Jan 1, 2024 4,856 Midgar I don't think this was ever a thing in the UK. But American pop culture made it look like a thing there (nerds vs jocks) but maybe that's just a made up thing from TV and movies and was never true? Vex said: Personally my parents thought it was odd that I enjoyed video games and would often ridicule me for enjoying a quiet game during the summer months. They'd say "why don't you go outside" and take my console away sometimes. They'd also say very hurtful things but I won't get into that. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Ah yes I can relate. I'm married in my 30s, have my own house, my own kid and my parents still sometimes scrutinise my lifelong videogame hobby. It's weird. My Dad is more about scrutinising the finances of it, but my Mum sometimes says throwaway comments like "wow you are a big man now and still play game?". It's actually really hurtful considering how big a part of my identity videogames and videogame culture is (and she knows it too). As if I am going to give up the thing you have seen me passionately into since I was a toddler lol.  Last edited: 37 minutes ago Ravelle Member Oct 31, 2017 20,328 No, never. Everyone played video games, that's the thing you spent your lunch break talking about with classmates.   Dead Man Typing Member Oct 27, 2017 7,601 Kinda but not really. I was definitely known as the video game guy all through school. Most people played games so it wasn't like they bullied me for it. There were definitely jokes about how much I loved my Dreamcast.  Lamptramp Member Oct 27, 2017 2,871 Germany I grew up in the UK in the late 80s early 90's Games weren't really a thing that got you marked for bullying that I recall. That's not why I was bullied all the time I was at school.  Greywaren Member Jul 16, 2019 13,079 Spain Oh yes. Quite often, actually. It stopped when video games became more mainstream, though.   onibirdo Member Dec 9, 2020 3,566 No, if anything it was a lot easier to out yourself as a gamer as a kid than it is as an adult.   julia crawford Took the red AND the blue pills Member Oct 27, 2017 40,539 No memory of it, but it might have happened. I really don't discuss games with pretty much anyone IRL. I have however used the words "magic circle" at one point.   ConflictResolver Member Jan 1, 2024 4,856 Midgar Lamptramp said: I grew up in the UK in the late 80s early 90's Games weren't really a thing that got you marked for bullying that I recall. That's not why I was bullied all the time I was at school. Click to expand... Click to shrink... UK bullying from my recollection was mainly mainly about outward appearance. If you looked the part you can be into whatever you want.   AerialAir Member Oct 25, 2017 2,326 Portugal Nah, but I was born in the 90s. By the 2000s, gaming was already a dominant form of mainstream media.   Dunfish Member Oct 29, 2017 1,577 Was it ever actually a thing? I know it was portrayed in every teen movie in the 80s and 90s but never experienced it or saw it growing up. There was a lot of tribalism around brands though, so weird how people carried that into adulthood.   Fudgepuppy Member Oct 27, 2017 5,841 Yes, specifically because I had a Gamecube.   DaveB Member Oct 25, 2017 5,134 New Hampshire, USA Oh god, yeah. Me and my friends at the time were called nerds and bullied incessantly over it. Kids around school called it "No-friendo". It wasn't until we were in high school - around the first PlayStation - that they started to become mainstream.   Derbel McDillet ▲ Legend ▲ Member Nov 23, 2022 24,298 I can't really relate to the whole "they made fun of us for playing video game or watching anime" thing. I can think of single instance where I was made fun of for playing Pokémon in elementary school, but just about everyone else was playing Pokémon. But outside of that, to my knowledge, no one cared. Elementary school everyone had Gameboys. Middle school everyone had GBAs and then DSs. High school, we'd play our DSs together for lunch and a lot of kids had 360s at home. There was also video games club where we played PC games during lunch or after school. In college, only a handful of people I knew played games, but people were up for any game nights I hosted. I just wish I had a bigger TV. At least one of my friends today has this weirdly negative perception of video games to the point where she was weirdly stubborn about not watching a trailer I wanted to show her that literally two minutes. It was like giving a 6 year old broccoli. Dunfish said: Was it ever actually a thing? I know it was portrayed in every teen movie in the 80s and 90s but never experienced it or saw it growing up. There was a lot of tribalism around brands though, so weird how people carried that into adulthood. Click to expand... Click to shrink... School felt like it was a melting pot of all types. Some of the band kids were jocks. People were getting into Naruto. 90% of the manga readers I knew were girls. Like no one really gave a shit what other people liked, and if they did, that was a bonding experience. We had the Halo PC demo on some of the better computers and played at every opportunity, sometimes during computer lab. I remember in chemistry if the teacher finished the lesson early he'd just give us the last 20 minutes to do whatever and like 8 of us would just play Mario Kart via DS download. That's not to say I never had a rough time in school, it just had nothing to do with my hobbies. Or maybe I was just super oblivious.  Mass Effect One Winged Slayer Member Oct 31, 2017 19,186 No. Video games were widely played when I was in school.   Shopolic Avenger Oct 27, 2017 8,089 Bullied? No. Made fun of? Yes. Not a serious thing though and it was mostly friendly.  Hrodulf Member Oct 25, 2017 5,761 Might be one of the few things people didn't try to bully me about in school, honestly.   Nameless Member Oct 25, 2017 17,247 Nope. It wasn't a secret I loved games, but I also had enough social awareness not to pull an EGM out of my bag or start extolling the virtues of Chrono Cross while sitting at the "cool kids" table.   Giga Man One Winged Slayer Member Oct 27, 2017 23,162 No. Everyone was into some form of video game adjacent pop culture, whether was Pokemon/Pokemon cards in elementary school or sports games in middle/high school. I was bullied for other reasons. If we're talking parents, I was blessed with a loving, albeit passive, pair who, while not into games themselves, would play with me if I asked. They let me keep to myself more often than not, which was too my detriment in development if I'm being honest. They didn't really challenge me, and if they tried, I'd reject it and go to my room where it was safe.  Eidan AVALANCHE Avenger Oct 30, 2017 9,840 No.   Kemono ▲ Legend ▲ Member Oct 27, 2017 8,621 No. Most kids around me played or liked games in some kind of way.  Derbel McDillet ▲ Legend ▲ Member Nov 23, 2022 24,298 I guess there's also the factor of what you put out there. Like, I openly carried my DS with me and could be seen playing in the library and some classes, but the average person wouldn't know or care what systems I had at home. Nor would they know or care what I watched at home unless we specifically talked about it at school. I wasn't hiding it, it just had no reason to come up. You had your cliques, but everyone knew each other from like middle school, so it was easy to just group hop. My friends got super into Magic the Gathering, I didn't care for it as much, I bought a $10 starter deck and borrowed a few cards to give it a try a few times and then I just pulled back from that group just bit (because I wanted to do things I found fun for lunch) to chill with another (theater kids, burnouts, student government, national honor society), they didn't play video games at all, so it was mostly something I just did at home or at the end of Chemistry. Like, no one was made fun of for liking Naruto, but there was the kid that could be seen doing the Naruto run to lunch everyday. And it was more laughing from a distance (the fact that they got the reference was telling).  Lamptramp Member Oct 27, 2017 2,871 Germany ConflictResolver said: UK bullying from my recollection was mainly mainly about outward appearance. If you looked the part you can be into whatever you want. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah, pretty much or if you were LGTBQIA+ not that we knew what that was or would dare to say so. Hell even if someone just said you were "gay" on a whim. Everyone else had school had a c64 or spectrum when I grew up and aside from "warring" over which was better there wasn't any bullying.  Chainshada Member Oct 25, 2017 3,010 My parents were fine with it, after like 8-10 years old my brother and I were pretty much left to play on our own, I have a few memories of them playing games with us when we were little. I don't want to say there was no bullying in school, as I have no clue what other kids went through around me as a straight white kid, but I always bounced between 2 friend groups, 1 more for nerdy stuff (D&D, Warhammer, etc) and the other for sports..but both groups played games, both watched anime, occasionally the groups merged without issue, never heard either side shit talk the other behind their backs.  TheEchosOfTheCyborg Member Feb 24, 2018 7,684 Not bullied for playing games but playing the "wrong" and "kiddie" games like loving Pokémon, Halo, Minecraft and Tekken rather than "mature" stuff like COD, FIFA, the Saw franchise, Max and Paddy, Little Britain etc  

Red Dead Redemption 2 – Rockstar’s best game? (Rockstar Games) The Tuesday letters page asks whether video game execs need to be gamers or not, as one reader predicts Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe will be a while yet. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk Rockstar #1 Interesting to see people having the confidence to speak out against GTA, which I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of as the game gets closer. I won’t pretend I don’t enjoy the games, and still play GTA Online occasionally, but what I will say is that GTA 5 is not my favourite Rockstar game at all and I do feel it’s a shame they don’t make a wider range of games like they used to.Bully was great and so was The Warriors, but I especially liked the first Manhunt and I’m very upset that never became a regular franchise. I don’t think Midnight Club or L.A. Noire were as good but at least they were something different, as was Max Payne 3 (although I prefer Remedy’s two games). I would say that Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily their best game. It has all the scope and size of GTA but none of the flaws that people have been pointing out. It has a good, clear plot. The characters are all interesting and many of them are likeable. They act like people too, not just try hard characters. The gameplay still isn’t great but it’s no worse than GTA 5 and I definitely prefer riding a horse to driving a car, at least one designed by Rockstar. So while I am looking forward to GTA 6 there are quite a few other Rockstar games I’d rather see get a sequel first.Focus One for two Is it me or has Shuhei Yoshida been acting like a bit of chump in his recent round of interviews? He was very down on Switch 2 for no reason that I could really see, other than he’s ex-Sony, and now he, who is presumably very rich, is trying to tell us all that £80 for a video is a bargain and we shouldn’t complain?I’m sure it is good value for money but at the end of the day that’s money that a lot of us don’t have lying around spare. Only a few years ago I would’ve been able to get two triple-A games for £80, at least a couple of months after launch, and soon I’m only going to be able to get one. I don’t see how that’s good for gaming or publishers or anyone else. It’s definitely not good for my wallet.Brian Summer secrets So, the Switch 2 is out on June 5 and the Summer Game Fest is June 6… does that mean there’s going to be some kind of big annoucement? I know people are 50/50 on whether there’s a secret Christmas game still to be revealed but if there was I would’ve though this would be a good time to do it.I can’t see anyone getting all that excited when Nintendo try to make the reveal of the release dates for checks notes Hyrule Warriors 3 and Kirby Air Ride 2 seem like some epic reveal. I’m with everyone else that thinks they are very strange things to be out in the first year, especially when that could mean there’s really only big first party game out all year. I’m not going to try and predict anything, because it’s Nintendo and who knows, but does GC think the two dates are coincidence or are they going to end up being connected?Paulie GC: Our guess is that it’s just a coincidence. Nintendo doesn’t tend to use third party events to announce anything significant. They may try and squeeze something in at the last minute, just because the timing is so odd, but we wouldn’t count on it. Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk Strange ideas Like a lot of readers, I find Hideo Kojima a fascinating but flawed character. He’s got so much obvious talent, but he’s squandered so much of it on one franchise, that faded from public view surprisingly quickly. Dead Stranding was interesting but I’m not sure how a sequel is going to work if the core gameplay is still… walking very slowly and delivering parcels to holograms.I’m painting the game in its worst possible light there but even so, Death Stranding was just flawed as anything else Kojima has done and I would’ve liked to see him give it another roll of the dice with a different idea. Instead, he’s working on a sequel, and what seem to be spiritual sequels to Silent Hills and Metal Gear. By which time he’ll be well into his 60s… If all the ideas on the USB stick are as weird as the guy forgetting his abilities over time, I’d rather he do them now. It just feels he’s permanently got one foot in the past and it’s a real shame.Kurgen Come back later If Nintendo does do a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe edition for the Switch 2 do we have any idea who could be added to it? I would’ve said someone from a new Switch 2 IP but there really hasn’t been one yet, which is a real shame. Maybe they could try and do one of the wheelchair basketball people, but I can’t see many people queuing up for that.I also thought maybe a couple more Microsoft games, back when I expected them and Nintendo to be all chummy. Now it seems that was all just talk and Xbox doesn’t have any plans at all, or at least none so urgent they’ve felt the need to talk about them so far. So if a Deluxe edition does happen, I don’t think it’s going to happen for a while, for the simple reason that there isn’t anyone new to add, because they’re all already been done.Roel Dungeons master I was going to compose a missive contemplating the likelihood of Dungeons 4 being ported to the Switch 2, only to find out that it’s actually already out on Switch?! That would be an amazing feat if it worked but apparently it’s a bug ridden, almost unplayable mess from the only review I can find (I literally had no idea and can’t be the only one unaware of the port).So now, instead I’m wondering if they’ll release a Switch 2 Edition or complete edition with all the DLC, or even just put some fixes through so the game runs better on the new hardware. I hope they do the same for Tropico 6 (both are by Kalypso, so if ones done the other will probably be too). As an aside, put me on the boat for people not really interested in GTA 6. Five or six years ago I’d been down for it but current, me who replayed GTA 5 before getting shot of my PlayStation 4, I found it pretty awful actually. The characters, the controls, the story, were all just urgh. I appreciate the characters aren’t supposed to be likeable (except Franklin, maybe) but my god what were they thinking of with Trevor? Every time I had to play as him it felt like my soul was dying a little more, until I just gave up playing. I don’t expect much from the single-player campaign of GTA 6, if there even is one…Solabound Glory days I don’t think I’m the first person to say it on here but if Bungie lasts to the end of the year I will be shocked. I’ll also be relatively surprised if Marathon isn’t cancelled within the next few months. It’s a game no one wants, in a genre no one will admit to liking, by a developer that seems to be in a downward spiral.It’s sad to think how this sort of thing can happen. Halo 3 was 18 years ago now, and it’s at least five years since Destiny 2 was relevant. It’s unfortunate but Bungie were never the same after leaving Microsoft and I think the initial success of Destiny 1 just hid that for a while and now it’s obvious.Tony T. Management sim I’m in two minds as to whether the head of a big games company needs to be a gamer or not. It feels like it should be a thing but at the end of the day what’s most important is that they’re a good business person, which the Take-Two guy seems to be. At least going by how long he’s been in the job.Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata was a great leader and actually used to make games, but his replacement is just a businessman with no developer background at all, and yet he seems to be doing a decent job. Then there’s that other obvious example: Phil Spencer. He can’t stop talking about what a keen gamer he is, and I think he genuinely is a fan, but I also think it’s increasingly hard to pretend he’s doing a good job at Xbox. Ultimately, I don’t think it matters whether you’re a gamer or not, whether you’ve ever been a developer or anything. The only thing that matters is being good at your job, which has nothing to do with making games but backing the right people that do, making sure they have the resources, and not interfering with them. I believe that’s pretty much what the Take-Two guy himself said. Where you get a bit of a grey area is something like EA or Ubisoft, where you definitely feel like their leaders could stand to actually play some games once in a while, instead of just making decisions by spreadsheets. Remember that the team that made Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 used to work on Ubisoft, so they clearly weren’t being creatively fulfilled there and that’s a management problem.Lemmy Inbox also-rans I was thinking of getting Doom: The Dark Ages after the positive reviews but I was shocked to discover it was £70. This isn’t Call Of Duty, this is a single-player only game that apparently is quite easy. I’ll come back on Black Friday.PancusIf Red Dead Redemption 2 is out on Switch 2 this year I think that could be a really good selling point, because the obvious comparison, in terms of graphics, is Zelda and Rockstar’s game is lightyears ahead of that.Bosley More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk The small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. 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OpinionMay 19, 20256 min readWhat to Do If Your Child Is the BullyIt can be difficult to accept that your child may be bullying others, but the way parents respond can help minimize any damageBy Elizabeth Englander Malte Mueller/Getty ImagesIs it ever okay—or at least, understandable—for one child to bully another?I spend a lot of time speaking to parent groups and students about bullying, and it’s common for parents to approach me after a talk with questions about their personal situation. A mother once asked for my thoughts about a situation in which her eight-year-old son had been accused of bullying another boy.In my experience, parents often have a hard time believing that their child could ever engage in bullying; this mother clearly accepted that the behavior had happened, yet she just as clearly felt that there were extenuating circumstances. She pointed out that the target had the annoying habit of picking his nose, and this had bothered her son, who had lashed out.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.She hedged; surely, she thought, there could be circumstances under which it’s acceptable for one child to bully another.If your child is being accused of bullying another, it can be surprising and upsetting. Beyond those understandable emotions, as a parent, you have many options to help your child understand their behavior and why it was seen as bullying.Let’s first define what it is we are talking about: bullying means that someone repeatedly and deliberately hurts a less powerful person. Bullying is a very unhealthy and potentially damaging behavior, for both the target and the bully. Research tells us that children who bully carry mental health consequences like depression and anxiety into adulthood. This is especially true for kids who are both bullies and victims.I think most people would agree that bullying sometimes calls for punishment, and often calls for interventions; but is bullying ever a behavior that calls for understanding? If your child is being aggressive once (which doesn’t meet the definition of bullying), and in self-defense, that may indeed be excusable. On the other hand, if your child is bullying, that repeated torment is not excusable. I reminded the mother whose son bullied the nose-picking child that bullying is harmful to both individuals, so even when it happens because of a provocation, it shouldn’t be shrugged off.What’s interesting is that generally, children don’t excuse bullying. In a study in which scientists interviewed elementary school children (both those involved and uninvolved in bullying) in Sweden to understand how kids view bullying, the students tended to think that bullies were either psychologically troubled, or alternatively, attention seekers—bullying to gain social status (in other words, that they wanted other children to see their power and admire it).Kids who bully others, however, tend to have justifications for their behavior. In my study of more than 2,200 teens, about 62 percent of those who admitted bullying others offered one or more of the following explanations: “People didn’t try to understand my point of view,” or “I needed to show I wasn’t intimidated or afraid,” or “My behavior was taken way too seriously; I never meant it.”It’s important to understand that kids can engage in bullying for a variety of reasons. Parents may think of bullying as a behavior reserved for only truly disturbed kids. The research, however, shows that some youth who bully are otherwise doing well socially, while others, who tend to be both bullies and targets, struggle more with making friends and being social. It can be difficult to believe that a child who does well in school and has friends could actually be a bully.What should parents do when their children are accused of bullying? How should they handle their child’s protests that they were justifiably provoked? Should they believe their child and accept the reasons for the bullying? Should the response be punishment, intervention or understanding—or all three?The word bullying tends to be overused, and is sometimes applied to any situation (repeated, deliberate or not) when someone hurts someone else. How you approach the situation may be completely different if the aggression in question only happened once, or between two children with relatively equal social and physical power, which likely would not be bullying.If the power dynamic is unequal, and it appears to be a bullying situation, talk to everyone to determine the facts. Make it clear to everyone involved that you’re approaching this with an open mind. The school’s perspective is almost certain to be different from your child’s. It’s not hard to imagine a situation where a school counselor explains that your child has bullied another student, but your son or daughter claims they were just mad and not thinking. Bullying is a behavior that is planned out. It is not an impulsive, one-time response to someone else’s provocation. A target may have engaged in nose-picking, and that may have been genuinely irritating; but repeated aggression against them isn’t impulsive or thoughtless.While many parents are understandably reluctant to simply disbelieve their child, pointing out that there are other possible explanations doesn’t mean you’re calling your own child a liar. You can say things like: “You mentioned that you didn’t mean to hurt their feelings, but you must have taken a long time to draw all that graffiti on their car. Writing all those hurtful words doesn’t sound like an accident.”Many children don’t yet grasp that different people can have different interpretations of the same behavior. It may not have occurred to your child that what seemed like self-defense to them appeared to be something else entirely to others.Once you’ve understood the situation and had a chance to think through it, you’re ready to teach your child a few life lessons. Acknowledge that some of the circumstances may have provoked your child, but then draw a clear line between feelings, thoughts and behaviors. Point out that everyone is entitled to their thoughts and feelings, and sure, people can make us feel uncomfortable, angry or upset. But how you act is different from a feeling. No one has the right to hurt others, no matter what their feelings are.You can also discuss alternative actions that can help in difficult situations. Is there an adult (perhaps a counselor or favorite teacher) who could help your child cope at school with their feelings (instead of acting out their aggression)? Maybe a friend can help them feel calmer and less aggressive. Or you can help your child find an activity to help them calm down when they are feeling aggressive.Be sure to point out how the choices you make to act can result in real-world consequences. Consequences always need to be age-appropriate, and if possible, they can help rectify the hurt your child may have caused. When one of my children was a kindergartener, he made fun of another child because of their favorite stuffed toy. Our solution was to have him buy that child another of the same stuffed toy, with his own allowance, and give it to the target as a way of saying sorry. My child is now grown, but he still remembers that episode.Finally, consider your child’s environment. Think about their technology use. Children differ markedly in how much aggression in video games or, say, on social media influences their behavior. One study of more than 40,000 teens in Russia found that aggression on social media was very common, but that different teens responded to it quite differently. Some tended to copy the aggression, while others saw it as part of the app’s amusement. Consider if your child tends to behave aggressively after interacting aggressively with others online, and discuss with them alternative activities while limiting their time spent online.Bullying isn’t healthy, so consider counseling. Aggressive behaviors can be impulsive, but they can also reflect psychological struggles. A large meta-analysis of many studies found that emotional difficulties greatly increased the chances of being involved in bullying (either as a bully or a victim, or both). Is your child having trouble making or keeping friends? Perhaps they’re also a victim of bullying (it is not unusual for a child to be both a perpetrator and a victim of bullying). Maybe your child is coping with a bout of loneliness, depression or persistent anxiety. Maybe their best friend has abandoned them. The possible list of stressors could be long, but pursuing professional help can make a big difference in the outcome of a bullying situation.Parents of kids who struggle with aggressive behavior can look forward to the summer as a time when less rigid, and more forgiving, behavior standards might ease their stress. But the summer is also an opportunity to discuss and explore these situations more deeply with your child or teenager. Any habit—including using aggression—benefits from reminders and reinforcing positive behaviors. So plan to continue that as you move into the new school year and monitor your child closely to make sure their psychological and emotional needs are being met.This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

This list contains spoilers for the Mission: Impossible franchise.A new Mission: Impossible film is hitting theaters this month – the final one in the franchise, if we’re to believe Tom Cruise and the suits at Paramount – and if you’re like us, you’re probably knee deep in a series rewatch right now.The focus of the films, spectacular action set pieces aside, has been Cruise’s lead spy, Ethan Hunt. Fellow team agents have often come and gone, and supposedly impossible missions have varied time after time, but Ethan has remained. The only other constant has been a steady supply of villains – men and women with big plans fueled by greed and/or malice, who think they’ll be the one to outwit, outsmart, and outrun Hunt. Fools.It might seem counterintuitive ranking the Mission: Impossible villains under the banner of “best,” but every great hero needs an equally great villain. Numerous elements come into play when determining the best villain, but we’re zeroing in on the scale of their threat, the weight of the violence (both physical and emotional) they commit against Hunt and his team, and the palpable degree of villainous charisma they exhibit.So cue up that classic Lalo Schifrin theme, here are the 10 Best Mission: Impossible Villains, Ranked!Top 10 Mission Impossible Villains10. A.I. The Entity (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One)Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Writer: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen | Stars: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson | Release Date: July 12, 2023 | Runtime: 163 mins“A self-aware, self-learning, truth-eating digital parasite infesting all of cyberspace” sounds like a pretty cool threat in any other high-octane thriller, but in the Mission: Impossible franchise it’s only good enough to land at number ten. It underwhelms compared to its human counterparts, because let’s be real – zeroes and ones ain’t got shit and madness and guns – but its power and immense reach are undeniable. The Entity began “life” as a digital weapon designed by the U.S. government before going rogue and hopping through cyberspace with the giddiness of a puppy experiencing its first snowfall.Most villainous act of villainy: While toying with and killing a submarine filled with Russian sailors is an act of murderous cruelty, it’s the Entity’s bigger, broader acts of deception that mark it as a true villain. Its early days of online manipulation saw it shifting public opinion and behavior through social media, and it’s a brutal reminder of events in the real world. We live in a present where people with nefarious agendas are influencing easily shaped minds, and with the increased use of A.I. in our online dealings, it’s not hard to imagine something like the Entity stepping in and really turning our daily lives into a nightmare.Where to WatchPowered by9. John Musgrave (Mission: Impossible III)Director: J.J. Abrams | Writer: Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci, and J.J. Abrams | Stars: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan | Release Date: May 5, 2006 | Runtime: 126 minsNot every villain has direct blood on his hands, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less dangerous. Musgrave is Hunt’s Operations Manager at the IMF, and it’s suggested they may even be minor friends – understandable as he’s played by Billy Crudup, and who wouldn’t want to be friends with Billy Crudup. He brings Hunt in on a mission to rescue one of his proteges, Lindsey Farris, and when that goes wrong and Hunt is blamed for the fallout, it’s Musgrave who helps the agent escape to pursue justice. See? A friend.Surprise! It’s all a ruse, and Musgrave is actually a traitor working with a man named Owen Davian on some elaborate plan to retrieve a piece of tech nicknamed “the rabbit’s foot.” Musgrave’s a hero in his own mind, though, as he’s hoping to use this as motivation for first strikes against enemy forces. He wants the U.S. and the IMF to play a more aggressive role in the fight against terrorism, and if that means supporting terrorists along the way, well, he’s all for it.Most villainous act of villainy: Musgrave might think his heart is in the right place here, but in addition to enabling a murderous terrorist in Davian, he crosses an equally big line by pulling Ethan’s wife, Julia, into danger. Worse, he lets Davian shoot Julia in the head right in front of Hunt. Sure, she’s revealed to have been a minor henchwoman in a mask, but the emotional damage is real.Mission: Impossible IIIParamount PicturesMay 5, 2006PG-13Where to WatchPowered by8. Kurt Hendricks (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol)Director: Brad Bird | Writer: Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec | Stars: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Michael Nyqvist | Release Date: December 21, 2011 | Runtime: 132 minsWhile some villains act out of greed and others cause misery simply for the fun of it, Kurt Hendricks is a man who only wants the best for humanity. What is the best, you ask? Well, in Hendricks’ mind, our species would benefit from something of a cleanse. From the great biblical flood to the atomic bombing of Japanese cities during World War II, immense disasters lead to rebuilding, recovery, and real improvement… apparently.Sounds logical, so Hendricks sets out to trigger just such a global debacle starting with a massive attack on the Kremlin in Moscow and leading to the acquisition of nuclear codes. He proves himself to be one of the greatest threats Ethan Hunt has faced to that point.Except, and this is where casting comes into serious play, the film wants us to see him as a physical threat to Hunt – but that’s nearly impossible. Michael Nyqvist was a fantastic actor, and he makes for a compelling villain through dialogue and intent. But a serious contender in a fight with Cruise? It’s difficult to buy, but that doesn’t stop director Brad Bird from letting him go toe to toe with the film’s star for a weirdly long fight. (To be fair, Chad Stahelski started it by letting Nyqvist seemingly hold his own for a bit with Keanu Reeves in John Wick.) So, while Hendricks is a grand threat on the world stage, he tumbles some in the ranking here as an unserious brawler against the highly trained and in far better shape Hunt. Most villainous act of villainy: Like Musgrave above, Hendricks seriously thinks he’s doing the world a favor by causing harm. His final act results in a nuclear missile being fired towards San Francisco, something that would have killed tens of thousands of people immediately before triggering the death of millions more. That’s no small thing, and he would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for those meddling IMF agents.Where to WatchPowered by7. August Walker (Mission: Impossible - Fallout)Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Writer: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen | Stars: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson | Release Date: July 27, 2018 | Runtime: 147 minsHunt and his IMF team have been betrayed by double agents and traitors on numerous occasions, but most of them are greedy middle-aged men in suits who don’t pose an immediate physical threat to our intrepid hero. August Walker is something different entirely. He towers over Hunt and is jacked from his mustache on down. Henry Cavill’s portrayal ensures that he’s already menacing even while pretending to be on Hunt’s side, but once the truth comes out, the gloves come off.Walker is revealed to be working in cahoots with the brilliant Solomon Lane, and together they frame Hunt and once again pull the love of his life, Julia, into harm’s way. His motivation for it all is a bit over the top and dramatic – he wants the old world to implode and give rise to something better – but what else would you expect from a man who seems to cock his arms like guns during fist fights.Most villainous act of villainy: Walker and Lane are planning to detonate nuclear bombs, and while the latter stays behind to die in his greatest act of terror, Walker is on a chopper heading to safety. Hunt, of course, catches up to him in pursuit of the detonator that’s needed to stop the countdown. While Walker could have easily escaped by giving up the detonator, his desire to cause suffering – especially Hunt’s suffering if Julia were to die – leads him to a one-on-one fight to the death with the agent. It’s a decision built on rage and self-righteous justification, and it rightfully ends in his painful demise.Mission: Impossible - FalloutParamount PicturesJul 27, 2018Where to WatchPowered by6. Paris (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One)Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Writer: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen | Stars: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson | Release Date: July 12, 2023 | Runtime: 163 minsWhen it comes to villains in the Mission: Impossible universe, few can touch Pom Klementieff’s Paris on style and charisma points. A henchwoman to Gabriel, she lets her gleefully murderous skillset do most of her talking, and it’s a refreshing change of pace from baddies who seem compelled to share their life stories before pulling a trigger.Her costume and face makeup see her stand apart from the crowd, but don’t let her doll-like appearance fool you. Paris is a merciless fighter who refuses to quit despite the odds, as evidenced by a shootout and car chase in Rome that sees her literally plowing through obstacles both human and otherwise in her pursuit of Hunt. Most villainous act of villainy: While Paris makes mincemeat out of numerous threats, she ultimately succumbs to Hunt during an alleyway brawl. He spares her life, though, and after being punished by Gabriel – he basically tries to kill her – she chooses to betray both him and her villainous tendencies by saving Hunt’s life. Maybe I’m stretching the definition here, but it takes a real badass to turn your back on villainy with the discovery of unexpected morals and a change of heart.Where to WatchPowered by5. Gabriel (Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning)Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Writer: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen | Stars: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson | Release Date: July 12, 2023 & May 23, 2025 | Runtime: 163 mins & 169 minsThe mysterious Gabriel arrives in the penultimate entry of the franchise, and he’s a man with deadly skills and an alliance with the Entity. He also comes with a backstory suggesting an integral role in Ethan Hunt’s life. It seems Gabriel killed a woman named Marie thirty years ago, someone Hunt was apparently fond of, and it’s that murder that landed Hunt at the IMF – where he went on to save thousands of lives. Hundreds of thousands, even. So maybe Gabriel is a hero? I kid, I kid.He’s obviously a villain, and he may even be something of a seer (?), but while his late-to-the-party franchise arrival unavoidably undercuts his dramatic weight, the character’s casting lifts Gabriel right back up again. Esai Morales brings real charm and a calm menace to the character, and it’s immediately made clear that he’s not someone to be trifled with. You believe both his physical abilities and deadly intentions, and Morales’ added dramatic weight makes him a real threat to Hunt. He also earns a bump in the rankings by gifting viewers with the best, most unforgettable villain death in the entire franchise.Most villainous act of villainy: Gabriel’s killed a lot of people, and he even destroyed a rolling Agatha Christie landmark, so it’s clear he’s a bad guy. His most vicious act, though, comes as a bookend to having “fridged” Marie three decades earlier. Gabriel threatens to do it again by killing either Ilsa or Grace – Hunt’s current love interest or the woman who just landed in his lap mere hours ago – and while the film wants to trick viewers into thinking it’s going to be the latter, it’s Ilsa who dies by Gabriel’s blade instead. McQuarrie and Cruise are obviously the real villains here for introducing this tired trope of a woman’s death being responsible for a man’s life, but it’s ultimately Gabriel who thrusts the knife into Ilsa’s gut. It could have been Grace who died. Hell, it should have been Benji. Instead, Gabriel extinguishes the franchise’s brightest flame this side of Hunt himself. J’accuse!Where to WatchPowered byNot yet available for streaming.4. Jim Phelps (Mission: Impossible)Director: Brian De Palma | Writer: David KoeppSteven Zaillian, and Robert Towne | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Beart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno | Release Date: May 22, 1996 | Runtime: 110 minsJim Phelps wasn’t the only friend/fellow agent to betray Hunt over the years, but he was the first – and arguably the most shocking. The character, as played by Peter Graves, was the IMF’s lead agent for the bulk of the television series’ seven-season run from 1966 to 1973. He was unquestionably a good guy, so there was no reason to suspect that his presence in the first Mission: Impossible film would be anything different – well, Jon Voight in the role was probably a clue.Audiences expected Phelps to essentially hand the reins over to Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, but while he did just that, he did so with a major act of betrayal. As he tells Hunt once his ruse is discovered, the end of the Cold War threatens to end the need for the IMF – this is as naive a statement as ever uttered in the entirety of the franchise – and he was worried about becoming a relic barely scraping by on sixty-two thousand dollars a year.Most villainous act of villainy: The betrayal itself is already brutal as Phelps turns his back on friends and agents who’ve risked their lives together over the years, but it’s the specifics of his traitorous act that hits hardest. In his effort to frame someone else for his crime, Phelps kills off three members of his team during an operation and then fakes his own death. What could have been a simple theft, instead becomes an act of cruelty making his betrayal sting even more.Where to WatchPowered by3. Sean Ambrose (Mission: Impossible II)Director: John Woo | Writer: Robert Towne | Stars: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandiwe Newton, Ving Rhames | Release Date: May 24, 2000 | Runtime: 123 mins“That was always the hardest part of having to portray you,” says ex-IMF agent Sean Ambrose to a beaten and angered Ethan Hunt, “grinning like an idiot every fifteen minutes.” That line alone makes Ambrose a top villain as it’s a terrific zing at both Hunt and Cruise himself. He’s equally dismissive of women as evidenced by his comment that they’re like monkeys when it comes to the men in their lives, that they “won’t let go of one branch until they get a grip on the next.” Say what you will about his greedy desires, but Ambrose (Dougray Scott) understands the assignment when it comes to being a charismatic villain.That greed has led him to steal a deadly plague with plans to unleash it on whole populations if his demands aren’t met. While cash money is his primary motivator, though, Ambrose also seems fueled by a splash of jealousy towards Hunt. That makes their faceoffs all the more entertaining whether they’re jousting on motorcycles or sharing beatdowns in the sand as only the great John Woo can capture it.Most villainous act of villainy: The film opens with Ambrose masquerading as Hunt in order to acquire the Chimera plague, but rather than just kill one man, Ambrose and his team crash an entire passenger jet filled with innocent civilians. Acts of terror would claim higher body counts in later films, but this puts faces to the dead in a far more direct way making it more personal and affecting.Mission: Impossible IIParamount PicturesMay 24, 2000PG-13Where to WatchPowered by2. Solomon Lane (Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation)Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Writer: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris | Release Date: July 31, 2015 & July 27, 2018 | Runtime: 131 mins & 147 minsWhether due to low pay or poor benefits, the world is seemingly overflowing with ex-government employees ready and willing to betray their nations and jump on the train to villain town. Solomon Lane is one such agent, but he goes a step or three further by helping create an organization called The Syndicate that’s built entirely on those bitter, trigger happy ex-agents. They want to sow chaos and reap financial rewards, and they’ve been doing it for years.Lane is introduced killing a young, unarmed female agent right in front of Hunt, and it’s soon revealed that he’s responsible for thousands of deaths over the years through events made to look like accidents or the work of wholly unrelated perpetrators. Lane’s history of manipulating trust and the world’s various systems makes him one of the most dangerous villains in the franchise. He’s ahead of Hunt at every step, and his mantra – “The greater the suffering, the greater the peace.” – marks him as a man willing to do anything to accomplish his goals.While many actors go big playing villains, Sean Harris takes the opposite approach and makes Lane a weasel of a man who you just want to see get beaten senseless. It’s an unusually bold choice that leaves him without a darkly appealing persona or personality – he’s just a very bad man who couldn’t care less about you or your loved ones.Most villainous act of villainy: As the rare villain to be an active threat across more than one film, Lane inflicts plenty of pain, suffering, and stress on Hunt and his team. The bulk of his evil acts were committed before Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation even begins, but his cruelest and most personal action unfolds during the followup, Fallout. Along with August Walker, Lane manages to activate two nuclear bombs threatening not only the water supply for billions of people, but also the life of Hunt’s greatest love, Julia. Seeing her in harm’s way is the kind of gut punch that Hunt felt only once before, and it’s clear just how sorry he is that his choices have once again brought her so close to dying.Where to WatchPowered by1. Owen Davian (Mission: Impossible III)Director: J.J. Abrams | Writer: Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci, and J.J. Abrams | Stars: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan | Release Date: May 5, 2006 | Runtime: 126 minsThere’s a lot of competition when it comes to selecting the best villain in the Mission: Impossible franchise, but there was never any doubt who’d land at the top of the heap. Davian doesn’t care about much beyond his own wants and needs, and the film reflects that by never revealing exactly what his end goal is – we know he wants the so-called rabbit’s foot, but what it is and what it does are never made clear. We just know that Davian will cut through anyone and anything to get it, and that makes him an exceptionally dangerous man.J.J. Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III is unfairly maligned, but even those underwhelmed by the film itself can’t help but applaud Philip Seymour Hall’s frighteningly effective and highly entertaining portrayal of Davian. His blistering stares, his lightning quick shifts from dead silence to raging outbursts, and his deceptively calm way of threatening everything that Hunt holds dear all work to make him a villain who commands the screen and even steals every scene from Cruise himself.There may not be a big, global threat at play here, but Davian is the man who arguably gets closer than any other villain to actually killing Hunt. He injects the agent’s head with an explosive device that gets within seconds of churning Hunt’s brain tissue into ground beef, and he even gets some serious licks in while brawling. You wouldn’t think a Cruise versus Hoffman fight would convince, but the latter’s pure ferocity paired with Hunt’s incapacitation due to the pain in his head makes for a viciously compelling bout.Most villainous act of villainy: Davian is a mean bastard who, while still in restraints, coldly threatens to murder Hunt’s fiance Julia. “I’m gonna make her bleed and cry and call out your name”, he says, and it’s one of the few times where Hunt’s legendary control tips into real fear and emotion. Davian later comes close to doing just that after abducting Julia, tying her up, and appearing to shoot her in the head. Hunt’s pain is palpable, and it’s enough to damage his heart to the point that he’d go on to never let someone that close again. Davian has literally halted Hunt’s ability to connect with someone on a deeply personal level, and it’s the kind of attack that bullets and bombs just can’t compete with.Mission: Impossible IIIParamount PicturesMay 5, 2006PG-13Where to WatchPowered by

In a 2019 speech at Georgetown University, Mark Zuckerberg famously declared that he didn’t want Facebook to be an “arbiter of truth.” And yet, in the years since, his company, Meta, has used several methods to moderate content and identify misleading posts across its social media apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. These methods have included automatic filters that identify illegal and malicious content, and third-party factcheckers who manually research the validity of claims made in certain posts. Zuckerberg explained that while Meta has put a lot of effort into building “complex systems to moderate content,” over the years, these systems have made many mistakes, with the result being “too much censorship.” The company therefore announced that it would be ending its third-party factchecker program in the US, replacing it with a system called Community Notes, which relies on users to flag false or misleading content and provide context about it. While Community Notes has the potential to be extremely effective, the difficult job of content moderation benefits from a mix of different approaches. As a professor of natural language processing at MBZUAI, I’ve spent most of my career researching disinformation, propaganda, and fake news online. So, one of the first questions I asked myself was: will replacing human factcheckers with crowdsourced Community Notes have negative impacts on users? Wisdom of crowds Community Notes got its start on Twitter as Birdwatch. It’s a crowdsourced feature where users who participate in the program can add context and clarification to what they deem false or misleading tweets. The notes are hidden until community evaluation reaches a consensus—meaning, people who hold different perspectives and political views agree that a post is misleading. An algorithm determines when the threshold for consensus is reached, and then the note becomes publicly visible beneath the tweet in question, providing additional context to help users make informed judgments about its content. Community Notes seems to work rather well. A team of researchers from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Rochester found that X’s Community Notes program can reduce the spread of misinformation, leading to post retractions by authors. Facebook is largely adopting the same approach that is used on X today. Having studied and written about content moderation for years, it’s great to see another major social media company implementing crowdsourcing for content moderation. If it works for Meta, it could be a true game-changer for the more than 3 billion people who use the company’s products every day. That said, content moderation is a complex problem. There is no one silver bullet that will work in all situations. The challenge can only be addressed by employing a variety of tools that include human factcheckers, crowdsourcing, and algorithmic filtering. Each of these is best suited to different kinds of content, and can and must work in concert. Spam and LLM safety There are precedents for addressing similar problems. Decades ago, spam email was a much bigger problem than it is today. In large part, we’ve defeated spam through crowdsourcing. Email providers introduced reporting features, where users can flag suspicious emails. The more widely distributed a particular spam message is, the more likely it will be caught, as it’s reported by more people. Another useful comparison is how large language models (LLMs) approach harmful content. For the most dangerous queries—related to weapons or violence, for example—many LLMs simply refuse to answer. Other times, these systems may add a disclaimer to their outputs, such as when they are asked to provide medical, legal, or financial advice. This tiered approach is one that my colleagues and I at the MBZUAI explored in a recent study where we propose a hierarchy of ways LLMs can respond to different kinds of potentially harmful queries. Similarly, social media platforms can benefit from different approaches to content moderation. Automatic filters can be used to identify the most dangerous information, preventing users from seeing and sharing it. These automated systems are fast, but they can only be used for certain kinds of content because they aren’t capable of the nuance required for most content moderation. Crowdsourced approaches like Community Notes can flag potentially harmful content by relying on the knowledge of users. They are slower than automated systems but faster than professional factcheckers. Professional factcheckers take the most time to do their work, but the analyses they provide are deeper compared to Community Notes, which are limited to 500 characters. Factcheckers typically work as a team and benefit from shared knowledge. They are often trained to analyze the logical structure of arguments, identifying rhetorical techniques frequently employed in mis- and disinformation campaigns. But the work of professional factcheckers can’t scale in the same way Community Notes can. That’s why these three methods are most effective when they are used together. Indeed, Community Notes have been found to amplify the work done by factcheckers so it reaches more users. Another study found that Community Notes and factchecking complement each other, as they focus on different types of accounts, with Community Notes tending to analyze posts from large accounts that have high “social influence.” When Community Notes and factcheckers do converge on the same posts, their assessments are similar, however. Another study found that crowdsourced content moderation itself benefits from the findings of professional factcheckers. A path forward At its heart, content moderation is extremely difficult because it is about how we determine truth—and there is much we don’t know. Even scientific consensus, built over years by entire disciplines, can change over time. That said, platforms shouldn’t retreat from the difficult task of moderating content altogether—or become overly dependent on any single solution. They must continuously experiment, learn from their failures, and refine their strategies. As it’s been said, the difference between people who succeed and people who fail is that successful people have failed more times than others have even tried. This content was produced by the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. It was not written by MIT Technology Review’s editorial staff.

In a 2019 speech at Georgetown University, Mark Zuckerberg famously declared that he didn’t want Facebook to be an “arbiter of truth.” And yet, in the years since, his company, Meta, has used several methods to moderate content and identify misleading posts across its social media apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. These methods have included automatic filters that identify illegal and malicious content, and third-party factcheckers who manually research the validity of claims made in certain posts. Zuckerberg explained that while Meta has put a lot of effort into building “complex systems to moderate content,” over the years, these systems have made many mistakes, with the result being “too much censorship.” The company therefore announced that it would be ending its third-party factchecker program in the US, replacing it with a system called Community Notes, which relies on users to flag false or misleading content and provide context about it. While Community Notes has the potential to be extremely effective, the difficult job of content moderation benefits from a mix of different approaches. As a professor of natural language processing at MBZUAI, I’ve spent most of my career researching disinformation, propaganda, and fake news online. So, one of the first questions I asked myself was: will replacing human factcheckers with crowdsourced Community Notes have negative impacts on users? Wisdom of crowds Community Notes got its start on Twitter as Birdwatch. It’s a crowdsourced feature where users who participate in the program can add context and clarification to what they deem false or misleading tweets. The notes are hidden until community evaluation reaches a consensus—meaning, people who hold different perspectives and political views agree that a post is misleading. An algorithm determines when the threshold for consensus is reached, and then the note becomes publicly visible beneath the tweet in question, providing additional context to help users make informed judgments about its content. Community Notes seems to work rather well. A team of researchers from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Rochester found that X’s Community Notes program can reduce the spread of misinformation, leading to post retractions by authors. Facebook is largely adopting the same approach that is used on X today. Having studied and written about content moderation for years, it’s great to see another major social media company implementing crowdsourcing for content moderation. If it works for Meta, it could be a true game-changer for the more than 3 billion people who use the company’s products every day. That said, content moderation is a complex problem. There is no one silver bullet that will work in all situations. The challenge can only be addressed by employing a variety of tools that include human factcheckers, crowdsourcing, and algorithmic filtering. Each of these is best suited to different kinds of content, and can and must work in concert. Spam and LLM safety There are precedents for addressing similar problems. Decades ago, spam email was a much bigger problem than it is today. In large part, we’ve defeated spam through crowdsourcing. Email providers introduced reporting features, where users can flag suspicious emails. The more widely distributed a particular spam message is, the more likely it will be caught, as it’s reported by more people. Another useful comparison is how large language models (LLMs) approach harmful content. For the most dangerous queries—related to weapons or violence, for example—many LLMs simply refuse to answer. Other times, these systems may add a disclaimer to their outputs, such as when they are asked to provide medical, legal, or financial advice. This tiered approach is one that my colleagues and I at the MBZUAI explored in a recent study where we propose a hierarchy of ways LLMs can respond to different kinds of potentially harmful queries. Similarly, social media platforms can benefit from different approaches to content moderation. Automatic filters can be used to identify the most dangerous information, preventing users from seeing and sharing it. These automated systems are fast, but they can only be used for certain kinds of content because they aren’t capable of the nuance required for most content moderation. Crowdsourced approaches like Community Notes can flag potentially harmful content by relying on the knowledge of users. They are slower than automated systems but faster than professional factcheckers. Professional factcheckers take the most time to do their work, but the analyses they provide are deeper compared to Community Notes, which are limited to 500 characters. Factcheckers typically work as a team and benefit from shared knowledge. They are often trained to analyze the logical structure of arguments, identifying rhetorical techniques frequently employed in mis- and disinformation campaigns. But the work of professional factcheckers can’t scale in the same way Community Notes can. That’s why these three methods are most effective when they are used together. Indeed, Community Notes have been found to amplify the work done by factcheckers so it reaches more users. Another study found that Community Notes and factchecking complement each other, as they focus on different types of accounts, with Community Notes tending to analyze posts from large accounts that have high “social influence.” When Community Notes and factcheckers do converge on the same posts, their assessments are similar, however. Another study found that crowdsourced content moderation itself benefits from the findings of professional factcheckers. A path forward At its heart, content moderation is extremely difficult because it is about how we determine truth—and there is much we don’t know. Even scientific consensus, built over years by entire disciplines, can change over time. That said, platforms shouldn’t retreat from the difficult task of moderating content altogether—or become overly dependent on any single solution. They must continuously experiment, learn from their failures, and refine their strategies. As it’s been said, the difference between people who succeed and people who fail is that successful people have failed more times than others have even tried. This content was produced by the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. It was not written by MIT Technology Review’s editorial staff.

He sees the writing on the wall.Getting OutA wealth manager and longtime Tesla bull has lost confidence in multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk — and now, he's forewarning of Tesla's downfall yet again.As Business Insider reports, based on financial disclosures, investor Ross Gerber of the Gerber-Kawasaki wealth management firm unloaded more than 26,000 of his company's Tesla shares in the first quarter of 2025, roughly ten percent of the firm's stake.One of the company's earliest investors, Gerber has had a very public change of heart as Musk's politics became more and more toxic to the company's brand.Earlier this year, Gerber predicted that Tesla stock was going to lose as much as 50 percent of its value — a figure that was right on the money in the wake of Musk's infamous Nazi salute at Donald Trump's inauguration.Though Tesla's stock value has since rebounded, the investor told BI that he doesn't see that rise lasting."We certainly haven't changed our view where we would start [buying Tesla stock] again," Gerber said.Full Self-DelusionThe investor suggested that unless Tesla can massively turn things around with the slated June launch of its Robotaxi service in Austin — which seems quite unlikely given that its misleadingly-named "Full Self-Driving" feature "doesn't work," per Gerber — there's not a lot of hope for the company moving forward."This could be an extremely difficult time for them," he told BI, "if they don't pull off or at least convince people that they have a real robotaxi business on the way."Unless Musk resigns (or is removed) as CEO and is replaced with someone who can "sell cars," Gerber predicts that Tesla's future will remain murky."I think the next six months will really be make or break for them," he said, "and we'll see how they do."Share This Article