Fortnite’s Turbo Building Time Delay Change Rolled Back by Epic Games After Backlash

Photo source : Epic Games

Epic Games has had a rough couple of weeks. First, it was the B.R.U.T.E mechs in Fortnite that caused outrage among players, causing Epic Games to make a host of changes in order to level the battlefield. Now, it is the changes done to Fortnite's turbo building feature that has generated quite a controversy and has again pushed Epic Games to backtrack. To give some context, Epic Games recently increased the delay between placing items while Turbo Building from 0.05 seconds to 0.15 seconds. Fast forward a few days, and Epic Games has reverted it back to its original span in Fortnite.
Epic Games recently delayed subsequent Turbo Build placements from 0.05 seconds to 0.15 seconds. The change went live with the Fortnite v10.20 update, and to put it simply, not many people liked it. And even Fortnite pros like Ninja and Daequan expressed their displeasure at the change. The logic behind it all? Well, Epic Games says that “Rapid Turbo Building favours players with low ping in disproportionate ways” when it comes to turtling and taking walls.
Epic Games also cited accidental item placement, spam building, and disproportionate benefits of turtling for defenders as the other reasons. But it appears that increasing the time gap while turbo building did not sit down well with players, who said their ability to perform 90s and waterfalls in Fortnite was affected as a result. The time delay might not sound like a big deal on paper, but in high-stakes situations, the ability to build a wall quickly for defending oneself is vital.
Now, Epic Games has rolled back the turbo building time delay and has provided an update about it in a blog post. The turbo building delay is now back to 0.05 seconds, which means Fortnite players should again feel at home while performing 90s and waterfalls. But there are a couple of other changes as well. First, there will be a delay of 0.15 seconds between destroying a structure and building another one at the exact same spot. Second, when two players are trying to do so simultaneously, it will be decided randomly whose structure is given the ground.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Has Been Fully Assembled

Photo Credit: NASA/ Chris Gunn

Engineers have finally assembled NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble observatory.

Once in space, the telescope will explore the cosmos, planets and moons within our solar system as well as the most ancient and distant galaxies using infrared light, NASA said on Wednesday.

NASA's most powerful and complex space telescope has now been mechanically connected. The next step will be to electrically connect the two halves and test the electrical connections.

"The assembly of telescope and its scientific instruments, sunshield and the spacecraft into one observatory represents an incredible achievement by the entire Webb team," said Bill Ochs, Webb Project Manager for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"This milestone symbolises the efforts of thousands of dedicated individuals for over more than 20 years across NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, Northrop Grumman, and our industrial and academic partners," Ochs said.

Next up for Webb testing, engineers will deploy the intricate five-layer sunshield, designed to keep Webb's mirrors and scientific instruments cool by blocking infrared light from the Earth, Moon and Sun.

The ability of the sunshield to deploy to its correct shape is critical for the success of the mission.

The fully assembled observatory will then go through additional environmental and deployment testing to ensure mission success. The spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in 2021.

Activision revenue beats estimates on higher investments

Source : Internet

Activision Blizzard recently had their quarterly earnings call where they said they outperformed their outlook, and yet investors remain skeptical of their overall game output, which has lagged in recent years, to say the least. To try and reassure everyone on that front, Activision Blizzard said that they were expanding their development teams across Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch and Diablo.

Activision raised its full year forecast for adjusted profit to $2.15 per share, from $2.10, but reaffirmed revenue of $6.30 billion. Analyst were expecting a profit of $2.15 per share and revenue of  $3.36 billion, according to IBES data from refinitiv. Activision recorded $1.7 billion in revenue a year ago, bolstered by expansions in two of its hit video game franchises: "Destiny" and "World of Warcraft." Wall Street didn't expect Activision's forecast to beat last year's numbers, but it was hoping for more than $1.1 billion.

Candy Crush remains the top-grossing app in the United States. King, the developer which makes Candy Crush and is owned by Activision, brought in revenue of $499 million during the second quarter. Activision's other popular titles performed well, too. "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4," and "Hearthstone" grew sales and the number of monthly active users rose on both games. The company plans to continue expanding upon its well-worn franchises. The Over-watch League is set to hold its grand finals in Philadelphia next month, with a $1.7 million prize pool between the top two teams.

 

Source : Internet

 

"Our second quarter results exceeded our prior outlook for both revenue and earnings per share," said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. "In the first half of 2019 we have prioritized investments in our key franchises and, beginning in the second half of this year our audiences will have a chance to see and experience the initial results of these efforts." Kotick said.

Overall, the company reported a net income of $328 million in the second quarter, an 18.4% decline compared to last year. Revenue was also on the downturn. Activision recorded $1.4 billion in sales compared to $1.6 billion a year ago.