So I have spend a lot of time on CS:GO case opening sites and I have found the best one, the first reason that it is the best one is because instead of giving you a daily case that gives you $0.01 with a tiny chance of $0.05 this site gives you $0.15 daily, and after you deposit $5 you will get $0.25 daily, and the milspec case is $0.30, another reason it is really good is because of the swap option unlike other sites that let you swap one skin for one of similar value this one lets you select up to 10 skins and get on skin form the combined value, eg. if you have 10 $1 skins you can swap it for any skin that is $10 or under, and there is pleny to choose from, so if you want to give it a try for free click get free coins button on top of page and enter the code "OneOutis" link - https://wildcase.com
Team Stickers featuring the best-performing regional teams from the 2020 Regional Major Ranking events are now available for purchase. 50% of the proceeds go to the teams who participated in the 2020 RMR.
GAMEPLAY
In Competitive and Wingman, if your team has fewer players than the opposing team for 3 or more consecutive rounds in the half, each of your team members will receive a $1000 ‘Shorthanded Loser Income’ following a round loss. This does not apply in cases where a player was kicked.
In Competitive and Wingman, each team has one 2 minute technical timeout that will be automatically initiated the first time a teammate disconnects. The timeout will end early if the teammate abandons or reconnects to the match.
Pinging now displays the name of the pinged location. (Thanks, VasaLavTV)
DANGER ZONE
Added client convar to control automatic parachute behavior. Set cl_parachute_autodeploy 0 to disable automatic parachute activation.
MAPS
Elysion:
Outside
Fixed a boost spot near the entrance to A site.
Fixed a pixel walk on the door hinges (both doors).
Improved the clipping of the roof.
Grenades now bounce more predictably off the wall.
A site
Improved the clipping on the A sign.
Fixed a pixel walk on top of the wall.
Fixed a gap in the center wall on site.
Grenades now bounce more predictably off the A sign, Elysion sign, art on the wall, wall in connector, the wall on site and the poles connecting to the roof.
Main hall
Grenades now bounce more predictably off the art work and painting.
Middle
Fixed a boost spot where players were able to jump on top of the waterfalls.
Fixed a pixel walk on the lower levels of middle.
Fixed a pixel walk on the light fixtures (not sure how you would get up their but you cannot trust anyone).
Grenades now bounce of more predictable of the grey poles inserted in the wall, the wall with the waterfalls and the wall near T spawn.
CT spawn
Fixed a pixel walk on the clock (clock has been made non solid).
Fixed a pixel walk on the glass wall.
T spawn
Fixed a pixel walk on the clock (clock has been made non solid).
It is no longer possible to jump on top of the light above the desk.
Generally improved the clipping.
Rumor has it:
Here's what the 2020 RMR Stickers look like, starting with the Legends capsule:
If you really love one or more of the above stickers and you feel like you need to buy it now, CS:GO Stash has put them up on their site so you can find someone who's selling them on the Steam Community Market. Alternatively, you can also inspect them in-game
Beyond that, you can take a look at the script updates (including changes to the item schema) that make today's update possible here, and also view some translations mostly for recent Broken Fang mission additions which are made possible in part by contributions from Translators Like You - Thank You
"I think I've lived long enough to see competitive Counter-Strike as we know it, kill itself." Summary of Richard Lewis' stream (Long)
I want to preface that the contents of this post is for informational purposes. I do not condone or approve of any harassments or witch-hunting or the attacking of anybody.
Richard Lewis recently did a stream talking about the terrible state of CS esports and I thought it was an important stream anyone who cares about the CS community should listen to. Vod Link here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/830415547 I realize it is 3 hours long so I took it upon myself to create a list of interesting points from the stream so you don't have to listen to the whole thing, although I still encourage you to do so if you can. I know this post is still long but probably easier to digest, especially in parts. Here is a link to my raw notes if you for some reason want to read through this which includes some omitted stuff. It's in chronological order of things said in the stream and has some time stamps. https://pastebin.com/6QWTLr8T
Intro
"The last month has convinced me, that we are going to be heading into a dark place for Counter-Strike esports in 2021."
"I think I've seen the scene essentially kill itself."
"For the past 5 to 6 years, we've basically been in a holding pattern of people coming into our game wanting to run it, wanting to run all of the esports and wanting to profiteer and its been sort of a concerted effort to drive them off and push them away."
"We're spread way too thin."
"If Riot don't get involved and stop the scumbags that have moved over to Valorant from getting their feet under the table, Valorant is going to have real problems."
RL thinks too much has happened all at once for us to do anything except watch it play out, like:
Recent CSPPA strike against BLAST
ESIC failures and them not being supported enough
Teams cheating i.e. coaches/bugs
Widespread match fixing
The Pandemic
"People who try to hold bubble events are so incompetent and fuck up and people get the 'rona and its their fault."
"People who say Flashpoint is a bubble is full of shit and is a lie and people are now suffering for that lie."
"To save money they let people go home and break the bubble for a week."
"Not just Flashpoint peoples decision, they have a partner that handles the production." (hinting FACEIT)
"People are trapped in hotels essentially under house arrest because of COVID restrictions and has fucked peoples lives up."
"It's all too much, all of this incompetence, all of this greed, maybe we ride it out."
RL says he has talked to the Riot devs (the ones working on Valorant) and says, "They are so cognizant of all the fuck ups and all the problems we have in Counter-Strike."
He continues to say that this is factored into their business plan and that we never had a competitor, but just so happens to have one coincide, when we are at our worst.
CSPPA - Counter-Strike Professional Players' Association
"Who does this union really fucking serve?"
RL believes that the CSPPA is a mockery.
He points out the hypocrisy that they wouldn't strike for the pros who were kicked out of ESL Pro League, or for Jamppi or dream3r.
He also says ESL paid CSPPA and are racketeering and many other TOs have to pay them to get their "seal of approval"
He says they would strong-arm TOs saying "well if you don't give us the money, these guys are so we'll just have to commit to playing their event."
Also points out that they will strike against a competitor they are not in agreement with (Flashpoint)
RL: "It's what it says about every other time you haven't done it and it's about every time you don't do it now moving forward." "The issues they've chosen to ignore this year alone are embarrassing."
Then he points out that there was no strike for Valve qualifiers even if we have no major but Jamppi and dream3r can't play in them.
"and Valve have said 'Oh yeah we know actually their stories are accurate, Jamppi didn't cheat, now in a legally binding document. Yep dream3r did have his account hacked in a LAN café', but they still can't play. Where is the fucking solidarity? Gone. Doesn't exist. It's not important [because] it doesn't affect you." "That's what the union does right now, it looks after all the tier 1 people."
He says the CSPPA doesn't represent all players all the time and has driven a divide where you have the haves and have-nots
"We have a tier of players that operate with impunity and do not help their tier 2 or tier 3 players out at all." "If you are not a tier 1 player you do not matter, they don't event ask your opinion."
He tells chrisJ to admit and own the fact that the reason he didn't speak up during the ESL Pro League debacle is because it didn't affect him
"They are looking after some players at the expense of other players. How the fuck is that a union?"
He says the BLAST situation is a reasonable dispute and supports the players but is not the right time for a strike and have not even identified the correct enemy
He thinks players are lashing out now due to previous incidents and are upset that BLAST are working with ESIC
He stated that CSPPA shouldn't beefing with ESIC and they should be working in harmony
He says what they need to do is talk with the teams/organizations that have sold that right to BLAST
RL: "Your employers, the people who pay you that massive exorbitant salaries, when you don't stream and you don't do interviews and you offer no value beyond your ability to click heads and you get 25k dollars a month." "Why don't you talk to them about it? Oh right. You're happy to take away BLAST's paper, but you don't want to risk your own."
"I am seeing such unbelievable cowardice from the players here with the battles you choose."
"Where was the strike action when in the qualifiers for the world championship, there were teams and players engaged in huge conflicts of interest?" "Where was the strike action when your image rights were taken and sold to every league you've ever been in every union type organization you've ever been associated with like, WESA, to your org every time you sign a contract, to the leagues you play in."
"Your image rights are essentially worthless now, there's about 10 fucking separate parties that have them, and how many of them are giving you anything for it? Not much pretty much your org by the way."
"That's a big issue. Your image is you, your image is your brand. What are you doing about that? Nothing."
He is also angry at SirScoots who is "popping off" at people on Twitter who all want the same thing, which is 'A unified Counter-Strike scene for everybody, that works for everybody, that has a sustained ecosystem that nourishes everybody.' "We don't have that now."
He also says their rankings are a joke
"Just so happened, oh look TACO, that very important prominent member of the board, we pushed his team artificially up when they weren't even in the fucking top 20, not by a long shot."
He also says the ineptitude of the CSPPA cost Flashpoint a monitor sponsor
"Is it really a player association or is it like a fucking agency at this point"
ESIC - Esports Integrity Commission
"They have been put in an impossible position."
RL says that Ian Smith, the founder of ESIC and who was done work in mainstream sports, is a good and honorable man who has dedicated his life to integrity and sports. He takes on both sides, ensuring match fixers are punished, but also doing appeals and ensuring those punishments were fair.
"ESIC is a tiny organization" and are in need of money, "They didn't run a grift like the CSPPA did."
"Saying 'you want our support and you want the players to turn up you better pay us.' They don't do that."
"Had startup seed money from MTG and since then they've been pecking shit with the hens."
Ian Smith made sure that the money given by MTG (Modern Times Group, parent company of ESL, ESEA, DreamHack) was nothing more than startup money and wouldn't be in debt to them
Ian Smith sat down with other TO's not part of MTG and wanted to partner with them. They declined and called ESIC "ESL spies and we will never align ourselves with you"
"They only were just able to afford, hiring a PR guy on a full time salary to deal with the press and send out those releases you've seen, this year."
"They have a tiny group of staff investigating these things and they have taken on the biggest problems in our scene: the cheating, the match fixing."
ESIC have had "unprecedented levels of cheating to deal with, because there's something wrong with our scene ever since we went online. There's something wrong with it, everyone's lost their fucking pride and self-respect and they got no passion for it anymore, so they think fuck it, what's in it for me?"
He calls out coaches who are talking about players rights when they would rob and steal from them.
Also says more coaches being banned are coming
He also points out flaws in community's reaction to the punishments to coaches bans: "Half of the cunts still have jobs and some of the cunts got new jobs. We didn't even shun the cheating coaches."
ESIC have "found I think another 2 or 3 exploits like that one and they are investigating them all right now, it's going on right now."
"I know that there are going to be more names getting banned, again."
"So they're doing that on a skeleton crew while, investigating 3 continents worth of match fixing in MDL and semi-pro level CS." "They're doing this with half a dozen people." "They don't have any money or any help. People barely even fucking cooperate with them, they are treated like pariahs. It's ridiculous."
"Why are the CSPPA popping off at ESIC on my Twitter timeline, when you should be working together." "because its all about what's in it in for me." "2020, the online era of CS: 'What is in it for me?' How can I cheat, how can I get my paper, how can I bleed this scene one last time before I fuck off and play shooty shooty bang bang Riot Games babys first fps."
RL says that in the CIS region, teams have gone to tournaments and have been eliminated multiple times by the same team. We found out they were cheating and those players who lost, have been cut from their roster, careers ended because of cheaters.
Stream Sniping
"They're all at it in the online era, they're all at it, they're all cheating, they're all using exploits, probably that see through smoke bug got used a bunch of times"
RL talks about how there is no integrity from dead (the player), always denying when caught doing something
On the topic of 'BLAST never said we couldn't stream snipe': "Lies, BLAST never said you could do that, they had to sort of retcon it." "because what happened after that they fucking started snitching and squealing"
"Suddenly you had like, 10 of the top 15 teams in the world, staring into the abyss of being banned for 6-12 months in line with ESIC recommendations."
He says that ESIC was put in a tough situation and couldn't enforce the bans because it would have resulted in killing CS. What resulted was, BLAST, ESIC, and teams came together and gave them a warning and told them, in RL's words "don't do this again or you're gonna get got."
He then says the top teams brushed this off and didn't give a fuck
The new MiBR team playing Flashpoint, that wasn't involved in the previous incidents are doing it again (stream sniping). He gave credit to Flashpoint for the quick resolution and punishment and respect for cogu's response to the situation.
"ESIC came out and said, once more, 'Guys, zero tolerance from now on.'" RL then got upset at community's reaction calling ESIC "pussies" for their non enforcement and said if we want competitive CS we cant ban the top 10 teams.
He points out how players have no integrity and will do anything for an edge as long as they won't get detected or banned or it's within a grey area.
"All of this shit was mad avoidable, even in the pandemic era."
He talks about why aren't we filming them. Why aren't there representatives for leagues and tournaments making sure players aren't cheating?
Match Fixing
"How many years have we let our scene be fucking pillaged by these greedy cunts?" "We just let it happen."
RL says that gambling and skins betting which existed in moderation was "accelerated and blown up by the Call of Duty greedy fucks."
"Never forget TmarTn was on the board of EnVyUs." "His website, CSGOLotto, they had a bunch of off-the-books sponsorships." "NBK promoted them. People forget."
"Those people who had access to the skins, go to the players" "Even people like s1mple, best player in the world, even he scammed knives and skins off fucking fans."
Owners of skin casino sites would approach pros and lend them skins to use in tournaments and possibly keep them after reaching a deal
Players would tip off inside info about matches and teams in exchange for skins. Info such as: roster changes, how they played in scrims
They would use this info to bet and subvert the odds on their sites. "That happened religiously, I can't even tell you how many times it happened."
"I had access to the biggest database of information, from an inside betting circle in NA, and it would take information and screenshots from other pro players, who were feeding them info in exchange for money or skins."
"Some of these players are still playing." "Incredibly, there are players still in the CSPPA today, complaining about the BLAST recordings, that were embroiled in this murky shit back then."
RL also says that there were tournaments where teams contrived with each other, who should throw, who should win.
"There's a handful of people that are trying to fucking clean it up, and you think you get something over the line and you see something like the CSPPA and it's run by corrupt fucking chuckle heads, and now you've got another corrupt body you have to fight on a fucking daily basis, it's demoralizing."
"It's too far gone. Our entire semi-professional scene is compromised."
"It's rife guys, I'm not going to lie any more. It's not just China, it's not just Russia, it's here, it's NA, it's Europe, it's Australia, so much more than you think, so much more than we can prove."
"I get sent chat logs all the time […] and they're morons, these players, short-sighted, amateur, morons and they're doing it on WhatsApp." People would get cut from the bets because they want to make more money, then they leak the logs. He says, from the chat logs, they spread "little" bets across every site they can (400 to 1k dollars) to prevent shifting odds
He says the scumbags who've fucked off to Valorant will do the same there if Riot doesn't do something and says Valorant "is an esports scene heading for a very early fall based on the sheer volume of scumbags that are already there."
"That's tier 2 CS in a nutshell these days. They know they're never going to play in a major, so what's the punishment?"
"All of these tier 2 fucks that are fixing games now they are like the fucking mafia compared to iBuyPower" "These guys are working with organized criminals to fix entire seasons worth of games. That's what's going on in your tier 2 CS."
"I'm literally being told that there are players fixing games at all levels of Chinese esports and motherfuckers with guns are turning up to team houses and stuff."
North America
"Everyone in NA has left we've lost a continents worth of support during this pandemic and Valve haven't said a fucking word."
RL says the Call of Duty "goblins" that destroyed CS for years are the same people who are now trying to leave CS. "The nerve to treat a game where the fans, and the community, and the TO's were nothing but good to you." "To just kick the players out now and go and leave and say 'It just doesn't make financial sense.' Oh you'll slither back when we have a major though for them stickers won't you."
There's a cascading effect in NA where people don't bother with CS anymore and people like Chaos suffer.
He says NA team owners are incompetent for always wanting it easy and always wanting a guarantee on their investment without skill or nuance.
RL says he would be able to market a team correctly and would have a good ROI and also points out how TSM wouldn't even be bothered to tweet that their team, which was one of the best in the world, was playing at the Major.
He also says not all NA owners are like that, compliments and respects Jason Lake who nearly lost everything to keep Complexity going.
He then calls out the incompetence in Infinite Esports when they acquired OpTic Gaming and bought an Indian CS team.
He says HECZ is not to blame here and that they couldn't tell forsaken was cheating when it was so obvious.
They measured his reaction time to the likes of dev1ce and s1mple
When an enemy showed up on his screen he won that duel something like 44% of the time
"was like the number 1 player in the world statistically"
He brought a laptop to their bootcamp and refused to use the high end PCs that hey provided
He respects Andy Miller (NRG CEO) and HECZ but says that the attitude of not being able to easily monetize their teams is "piss weak" and there needs to be a risk.
He says Chaos EC shouldn't be cutting their roster and should be competent enough to be able to figure out how to make money off their team.
He says there are still opportunities in NA and people are panicking and pulling out, and says Valorant will be the same if not worse.
He also says "bums" who couldn't even get out of groups in NA competitions, are making crazy money in Valorant and says it will continue to inflate.
He also said that he heard rumors that EG (Evil Geniuses) are done.
He also thinks that the rumors of a Valve franchised league from before was sparked up from "these lazy fabled weak NA fucking team owners basically trying to see if Valve would bite at the hook if it was dangled and they didn't"
Slasher says NA team owners are really in favor of franchised leagues because they want to make more money. "Most of the powerful team owners right now are on board with ditching this third party organization structure, or they are trying to play this power politics with all the TOs, and that is contributing to a lot of the problems there"
RL says that Riot has proved they can run a franchised league (LCS) and will be profitable in 2021 which is what a lot of team owners care about and says the competition will only serve to snatch people away from CS.
RL continues to say, "I am so sick and tired of what we have done to this scene, I am just exhausted with it." "I think we have legitimately fucked it, I really think we have. I think we're staring into almost like a CGS (Championship Gaming Series) wasteland in NA." "Counter-Strike esports is a fucking joke."
Talent
"TO's have treated CS talent like absolute human garbage for years now."
RL says that people like Sean Gares and ddk switching over to Valorant isn't for financial reasons because they are making less over there.
He points out that TO's can't even give talent a 3 month in advance calendar.
Because of the pandemic TO's won't hire certain people and some people are working more hours for the same money.
He says we as a community don't respect journalists enough which is why we don't have good journalists.
He also says DeKay is leaving the scene soon and that Thorin is close to leaving also
He says he had to talk a caster down from quitting and was struggling to find reasons.
He says that DreamHack told Vince they would hire him but not if he wants to stick with dusT and says that this is the norm in esports. "Constant leveraging of people against each other." and says this is why we don't have a talent union.
New gen casters are getting put into shit situations and the community's reaction to them is adding fuel to the fire
He says the reason Moses left was because of the terrible conditions
He says that Anders had to constantly leave his family and kid because someone fucked up or broke promises and had to constantly tell his kid to their face that "daddy can't be home this weekend."
He says that esports has always been a lie to sell you this dream, "Meanwhile there's about 2% of the cunts getting all the checks."
Valve
"Anything that Riot does, is better than Valve's inaction"
Slasher says that the larger aspect of esports as a whole compared to other entertainment mediums and Valve's lack of inattention are the bigger problems. He continues saying that the fact that Valve let their game be ran as an esport, they need to take on the responsibilities of it.
Both Slasher and RL wants Valve to take control but not on the level of Riot Games, there needs to be a balance.
In case it was ever a question: Gabe Newell has been to 0 CSGO Majors.
RL calls Valve out saying they could have done something during the gambling era.
He says Valve used to come to the majors, but doesn't think they do anymore.
RL had met with Valve at the Cluj-Napoca Major and had tried to appeal iBP's indefinite punishment and had also gave Brax's life story:
A recent family member passed away, they had lost a lot of income, they had to live in trailer, iBuyPower did not pay any salaries, and was pressured by family to make money who didn't support his career.
RL said that Valve told him, "How dare you try and make us feel guilty." "We shouldn't feel bad about enforcing the only thing that matters that we need to make players afraid of: cheating and match fixing"
RL also tried to share other info about match fixing and nothing came of it
RL points out that Source 2 or a new engine is not something you will want based on the experience of transitioning from CS 1.6 to CS:S. "Valve's track record with brand new engines being launched, not fucking great from what I remember."
Slasher says "If there is anything the community should do, is pressure Valve to hire a community manager."
They say that we need a commissioner, a community manager (not the person who runs the Twitter who posts memes all day), then we need to have a circuit
RL reiterates that Valve doesn't care about CS esports and says they need to change the culture at Valve to make them care about CS esports
Slasher says a systemic problem is making it so working on CSGO would be a bad decision for you as an employee for Valve
He also hasn't talked to Valve in ages and have sent over bugs and cheats and doesn't get emails back anymore
Slasher says we should be directing attention at the developer leads, pointing out Ido Magal, if he even is still the project lead
RL thinks that Ido and Brian are the only people that "vaguely even give a fuck about CS" and were the only people that RL recalled that actually read Reddit and paid attention from time to time
"It is really fucking precarious. Somebody has got to step the fuck up and start giving a shit"
Slasher suggests org owners, with CSPPA, with ESIC, with TOs have a concerted effort against Valve
"Riot Games are doing better things than Valve in the esports space" which is something RL didn't think he'd say.
"People who used to be talent, working with unions, arguing with other talent, when the unions fucked them over, can't understand their perspective, TOs fucking over broadcast talent, broadcast talent wanting to leave and go and work for orgs, orgs having no money, Valve might take coaches away because all the coaches are cheating, ESIC has about 4 people in a fucking call doing the investigations, everyone thinks they're spies for ESL, ESL are just the evil fucking overlords wanting to rule the scene and will just somehow, like cockroaches outliving a nuclear bomb, and Valve are in a fucking holiday in Hawaii thinking about the next Dota character because they don't give a fuck about us."
Closing Statements
"We've peaked. If we want to sustain and exist, now is the time to figure it out. No esports lasts as long as this, we've already done 8 years. We've already broke the records. We have got to figure out a way to coexist and drive the negative forces out and we need to do it as a collective and we're not doing that."
RL compared the Counter-Strike scene to the people on the Titanic who ran around with guns robbing people while the boat was sinking.
"We have given up on being a respectable esports scene." "We are now a conduit to make money for those who want to just milk it, just have one last ride, one last roll of the dice. It's done." "What a fucking mess. What have we done to our fucking scene?"
"There's just too much self-interest driving all of this." "I don't see a way we stop the dominoes." "When it's that bad, when there's that many dishonest people that ESIC have to come out and say that if we punish them all there's no one left. What does that tell you?"
"How many opportunities have we had to clean house? How many times have we said, 'this must never happen again', and another scandal." "The entire skins betting operations was the biggest criminal conspiracy in esports ever executed and no one has been punished for it." "The people who could be driving that don't want to."
"Right now people are fans of those organizations because the scene has value. It is worth being a fan of Astralis because they are excellent at Counter-Strike. It is worth being a fan of s1mple because he is the best player in Counter-Strike, maybe the exception of ZywOo. If the scene is devalued, if the scene loses its meaning, those things lose its meaning too, and people will leave, people will stop tuning into the games. I have seen it happen in multiple esports, this is not my first time at the rodeo. I am getting big Brood War vibes right now and I don't like it."
"The role you play in all of this as fans, as viewers, as listeners, as consumers of esports content, it's absolutely imperative that you know who the good guys are. It's absolutely imperative that you use your voice. It's absolutely imperative that when things are bad, you know who, at least, is trying to make them good, and you have to apply your criticism to the right targets."
He continues saying it's no good in continuing to attack ESIC and saying how they are bad, ESIC have it hard
He says CSPPA are on the right side of the argument on BLAST but have been on the wrong side of many arguments many times.
"If you are not willing to stand along side the weakest member of the union, with the least amount of influence, and the least amount of power, then it is not a union at all and you shouldn't pose as one." "You wanna serve a bunch of special interest do it, everyone else in esports fucking does, but do not pose as something you are not." "We love the players. I've been fighting for players rights for as long as I've been able to, but the CSPPA is not what we needed."
"They are not applying the pressure to the right people, they are not fighting the right battles, they are not helping their weaker members."
He says what orgs have done by keeping or hiring coaches is bad. "When you give up on holding an appreciable standard, you've lost the scene" "Competition matters, rules matter, punishments matter, achievements matter, excellence matters" "If you start stripping that away, you have nothing" "You guys need to take that knowledge and apply it sensibly."
"Valve has sold you all down the river, they sold everyone in the esports scene down the river, tournament organizers are selling their talent down the river. Don't hate on them for sounding tired after a 16 hour day. Don't hate on them because the hype for a matchup they've seen for the 20th time in the past 3 months, they can't be as excited or it sounds contrived. Support your guys, they're there for you, these are your people."
"This community has got to start acting like one for the first fucking time. Just put the petty shit away, let's try and fix this fucking scene while we still have one to save."
"You can't rely on Valve, you can't rely on ESL, you can't rely on the CSPPA, you can't rely on anyone." "Once again, it's gonna be the likes of us, the amateurs, the people who give a fuck, rolling up our sleeves and grafting." "I'm old and tired and I don't want to have to do it again. People need to pick up the torch and do it."
"Like Michal did, like Dudenhoeffer did. You see something wrong, fix it. You see somebody doing something wrong, call it out. If you think something could be better, let people know."
"Vote with your wallets if you're not happy with the direction Valve goes in. If when we do get to the Major, they serve up another subpar, same old bullshit stickers and signatures package again, do not buy it."
"You're a powerful block and if you use it correctly we can fucking avert this disaster."
"I'm not doing another year in this broken, bust-up fucking scene, where everyone is miserable, everyone is broke, everyone is tired, and everyone is trying to fucking rob everyone else, blind, while the fucking people who are meant to be protecting you, are just fucking enhancing it and lining their own pockets."
"I'm not doing it anymore and you shouldn't want to do it either."
"I stand by every fucking thing I said. I mean it, because this game fucking matters to me, this scene fucking matters to me. I put my life into this, my adult life, and to see it in this state is fucking sad."
PSA - Cyberpunk 2077 currently has a security vulnerability if you're using mods or downloaded saved games!
The latest update:
CDPR has addressed the vulnerability issue in their latest 1.12 Patch for Cyberpunk. The update should be live on your respective platform of purchase (e.g. GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store) so you all can now enjoy Cyberpunk 2077 and its amazing mods without having to worry about any vulnerabilities. Since the vulnerability has been officially acknowledged and more information has become available, I feel that it's my responsibility to inform everyone my choombas on what's going on. The intention of this post is to raise awareness among the playerbase and not to incite panic. Please, understand that due to the sensitive nature of the matter at hand, the old original post was vague in some regards, so I'll try to clarify things to the best of my abilities. It is also important that you understand that the presence of a vulnerability doesn't necessarily mean you're impacted by this, but rather is an attempt to prevent potential damage that could be done to the playerbase. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank PixelRickyRick for finding and reporting the vulnerability's existence to CDPR, and Yamashi for providing a patch in the latest iteration of CyberEngineTweaks. I'd also like to thank CDPR for acknowledging this vulnerability, and prioritizing the necessary fix for it.
Distinction between mod(s) and dll based 3rd party tools:
Before getting into the details of the vulnerability, I'd like to inform everyone on a bit of distinction between "mods" and 3rd party utilities that rely on dll based injection, like ReShade, SpecialK or CyberEngineTweaks. ini file edits of in game configuration or 3rd party utilities such as ReShade, SpecialK, dgVoodoo, etc. can be used to make changes to the game's graphics, or some in game parameters, but are not necessarily the type of "mods" that I am referring to. This is important, as some of you who took part in the conversation have confused/don't seem to consider the distinction between in game asset alteration "mods" and the use of 3rd party dll based injection tools/utilities. They arenot the same, even though these are capable of modifying the in game experience. The game prioritizes loading assets from the "Cyberpunk 2077\archive\pc\patch" folder, and proceeds to override the assets that are shipped with the game. Modified textures, mesh and other form of asset alterations can be placed into that folder using the oodle compression method to produce the .archive files that Cyberpunk 2077 can read from. From this point forward, whenever I am using the term "mod(s)" I am exclusively referring to alterations to in game assets using archives containing modified assets only.
CDPR Support's official statement:
"If you plan to use@CyberpunkGamemods/custom saves on PC, use caution. We've been made aware of a vulnerability in external DLL files the game uses which can be used to execute code on PCs. Issue will be fixed ASAP. For now, please refrain from using files from unknown sources."
The first thing I'd like to clarify is that the vulnerability has absolutely nothing to do with utilities such as PixelRickyRick's Cyberpunk Save Editor, or Yamashi's CyberEngineTweaks, ReShade, SpecialK, etc. I have seen a lot of discussions that tries pinning the blame for the vulnerability on DLL based utilities like these, which simply isn't true, as you'll soon find out as to how this vulnerability works. It is pretty common for people to upload save games to sites like Nexus Mods, or other mod hosting websites, and people download them all the time. Through the use of an edited save game file, a vulnerability can be triggered that can be used to execute arbitrary code. When reloading a save game file that was edited for the purpose of arbitrary code execution, some objects on the game stack can be accessed, like the current save file reader. Then the save file reader can be made to read a way bigger payload from such a save file, and hide it from the reader, and then reset the load from the start. Thus the game loads this malicious save game file normally. This is something that is known as buffer overflow. This is a good vector of attack, because any save games made after arbitrary code execution also becomes infected. When a user uploads such saves on to a site like Nexus Mods, this can act like a worm, infecting other users who are downloading and then loading these infected save games. This can be done using mods as well, which are archives containing in game assets. The buffer overflow then can be used to redirect to an external dll that the game uses, which happens to be a library that the game uses, Mircrosoft's "xinput1_3.dll" aka the external DLL that CDPR is vaguely referencing in their tweet. So, what's the problem with this DLL? Firstly, it is not relocatable and has a bypass for a security feature called Address Space Layour Randomization. This DLL is used to maintain backward compatibility with OSes for applications that rely on Xinput. Since this is a library, it can be used by an app to use specific algorithms that isn't implemented in the app itself, and it is enough to to execute any type of malware by the attacker on that system. So, this vulnerability works in two folds. One is the buffer overflow that can be triggered within the game's executable through the a forged save file, and second is a vulnerability in Microsoft's xinput1_3.dll library itself. What makes this vulnerability a serious concern? The game in its unpatched state, when coupled with a malicious save game or a mod, can be used to exploit systems. People don't expect save games or mods to execute arbitrary codes or infect the system. CyberEngineTweaks in its latest update provides a patch for the buffer overflow. So the worst a malicious save game or mod can do is result in the game crashing. CDPR has already fixed the buffer overflow issue that should come in the next patch or two.. but it's also Microsoft's responsibility to fix the vulnerability present in xinput1_3.dll. The description above is an attempt at simplifying the nature of how the vulnerability works. Some technical details were omitted for security reasons, as they won't be disclosed to the public for reasons of safety. As a byproduct of trying to simplify all this, it is also possible that some aspects may be misstated.
An even uglier side to the truth:
This vulnerability could have been used to penetrate CDPR's own official servers! As it has been already established, users don't expect something like save games to execute arbitrary code, as on the surface this appears harmless to most, as this is what it should be. If someone with a malicious save game were to use it as a means of reporting a crash to CDPR's support, there is a good chance that seeing this to be a mere save file, it could've infected CDPR's own systems. Had this vulnerability not been discovered or disclosed to the userbase, it is very possible that wrongdoers who are always on the look out for such opportunities could've used this to penetrate CDPR's file servers because of the worm like nature of the vulnerability. The last thing CDPR needs right now is a massive breach like CAPCOM.
A word on using dll based injection tools:
There's always risk involved in using dll based injection tools that allows custom codes to be executed. So, always make sure you download them from the official website or source. If you're someone who wants to download presets from other people that can be used with ReShade, or SpecialK, make sure you always use the ini file that stores the configuration/preset, and modified textures if applicable. But be very weary of any dll file provided within the same download. Best to always use/replace them with official ones instead. English is not my native language, so if this whole post comes across as cumbersome to read, my apologies. I am leaving the old post as is, as I want to remain transparent. I am glad that this issue is getting addressed and will soon get patched! If you have questions, or want more clarifications, please don't hesitate to post them below. However, I do not wish to get into arguments like "whose fault is this" or "this is very easy to do and has been done for a long long time you just didn't know about it/I knoweth more than thou" or "3rd party tools are all malware thus can be just as dangerous if not more so average users shouldn't worry about this as they use them all the time" or "this whole thing is overblown and BS because I know better because my dad works at Microsoft/CDPR" or "N0th1n9 is st0pP1n9 Y4M451 fr0m Put1n9 mAlwareZZ in CyBerTweakz" as these arguments do not add anything of value to this discussion. Now that we have a patch in bound, all of my choombas will be able to get back to burning down Night City with the mods that they have been wanting to try without having a worry in the world!
(old) Original post:
Major Edit 2:
CDPR official support has acknowledged this. You can check it out here: CD PROJEKT RED CS on Twitter: "If you plan to use @CyberpunkGame mods/custom saves on PC, use caution. We've been made aware of a vulnerability in external DLL files the game uses which can be used to execute code on PCs. Issue will be fixed ASAP. For now, please refrain from using files from unknown sources." / Twitter External DLL in this case doesn't mean 3rd party tools, but rather other dll files or runtime dependencies that the game requires to function. I feel that this topic has served its purpose. Though I was shocked how some people were trying their best to downplay the severity of the issue, or derail the thread without not understanding the whole context. So, this is the rundown: Through the use of a mod or a crafted save game, malicious codes can be executed to take control of the PC by the creator of the save game/mod. CDPR was made aware of this serious security vulnerability for almost one week. They went on to release the Hotfix 1.11, but didn't bother to address this. You have PixelRick (Red Tools Team) to thank, whose discovery brought this to the attention of the modding community. Edit: Initially, I was under the impression that this vulnerability only affects the PC platform, but PixelRickyRick himself has confirmed that the PS4 too is susceptible to this vulnerability to an extent. It is common knowledge that many of you like to download save games or use mods from Nexus Mods or sources of your liking. It's very difficult for the average user to know if a saved game or a mod has malicious code within it. What's more, this is a simple issue of literally changing something from 511 to 255, if you intend on closing the security loophole. Obviously, competent testing was not done, and therefore this exploit is there for the taking. Thankfully, Cyber Engine Tweaks in its most latest update, version 1.9.6 as of writing this, addresses this vulnerability issue. You can find the release notes here: Release Major vulnerability fix · yamashi/CyberEngineTweaks (github.com) If you're not comfortable using Cyber Engine Tweaks, wait for CDPR to officially address this vulnerability in an upcoming patch, and don't use mods or saves from elsewhere. Or, you can use Cyber Engine Tweaks, which will patch the exploit, and in the worst case scenario, the game's going to crash if you do happen to use a mod or a save game with malicious code in it. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Yamashi, the creator of Cyber Engine Tweaks, for taking the time to explain all this, and PixelRickyRick, who is actively taking part in the conversation. Stay safe, and take care everyone.
How powerful is the Oculus Quest 2? - Part 2: Is the Quest 2 truly as powerful as an Xbox One S?
How powerful is the Oculus Quest 2? – Part 2 Let’s Revisit:“The Oculus Quest 2 is approximately as powerful as an Xbox One S” - Is the Quest 2 truly as powerful as an Xbox One S? (Written and posted January 2021 by MaybeVRoomer) TL; DR 6400 words: Not quite. Prologue Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone for all the interest, attention and support my previous post got (now referred to as Part 1). I was very glad to see my very first Reddit post stirred a lot of discussion and thanks to your comments, critiques and links, I am able to write Part 2 with far more information than I otherwise would have found, and with far more points that I otherwise might have overlooked, so thank you! I would also like to apologise in advance for the length of this post, which is much longer than Part 1 (ughh I know). I do however believe it to be important to show each step of research with all the references, evidence and data that has been gathered relating to this topic, so if you manage to read through all of this, thank you very much! Due to the influx of new info now available, I will have to dedicate this post to readdress Part 1, going into detail about the Quest 2’s specs and performance, the Xbox One S’ specs and performance, and finally a more accurate comparison between the two. This means that a detailed explanation as to why Quest 2 games don’t and won’t look as good as Xbox One games will have to wait for Part 3, but here is a quick snippet about one of the most obvious factors (and there are many other factors that will need to be addressed): whilst Xbox One S games target 900p-1080p at 30fps, or 720p-900p at 60fps, the Quest 2 usually targets anywhere between its default render resolution of 2880x1584 (combined) all the way up to the display’s native 3664x1920 (combined) at frame rates of 72-90fps no less. If the two systems do in fact have similar hardware capabilities, it is without a doubt necessary for visual fidelity and complexity to be scaled down from what might have looked like PS4/Xbox One equivalents to roughly PS3/X360 levels in order for them to be rendered at this combination high resolution and framerate. So, what you see in most native Quest 2 games are indeed essentially PS3/X360 era graphics but rendered at much higher resolutions with higher framerates (think Contractors, Star Wars TFTGE or Red Matter). The other factors I’ll go into another time, so let’s get back to the main topic. As mentioned in Part 1, comparing different hardware with different architecture is challenging, therefore, we can only use the data and tools we have available to us (which is no doubt better than no data at all) to give us at least a ballpark idea of what we are working with. Please feel free to go back and read through Part 1 which has been left unchanged except for the updated subheading and links to this post. (Section 1.1) - Introduction To begin, here’s a recap of the basic hardware specifications for both the Oculus Quest 2 and the Microsoft Xbox One S in the table below. Specifications: Quest 2 & Xbox One S (sources: Quest 2 & Xbox One S) In Part 1, two claims were made. Firstly, that the Quest 2 is as roughly as powerful as an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G and secondly, that based on this, the Quest 2 is as powerful as an Xbox One S. Part 1 was written around the time of the Quest 2’s release and was based on the limited data that was available at the time. Since then, there has been a much larger pool of more accurate data that we now have access to, which we will use throughout this post. We used and will continue to use the Xbox One S model as a comparison as it is the most recent base Xbox of the previous (eighth) console generation, superseding the original (2013) Xbox One in 2016 with only a few improvements. These improvements include a more cost-effective and energy efficient 16nm process, a 7.1% GPU clock speed increase and a 15GB/s bandwidth increase for its 32MB ESRAM, with all other relevant specifications being virtually identical. This also puts the Xbox One S comfortably between the original Xbox One and base PS4. Therefore, if the Quest 2 were to be as powerful as an Xbox One S, the claim could easily be made that the Quest 2 is as powerful as an eighth-generation home console. Whether this claim could now be made is what this post aims to find out. So, going back to the claims made in Part 1, is an XR2 chipset still as powerful as an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G? Overall, the answer to this is still a YES (roughly). Is the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G as powerful as an Xbox One S? For this, the answer is also still a YES. So, is the Quest 2 really as powerful as an Xbox One S? As a whole, this is now a big big NO! A bit confusing right? Let’s dive in. (Section 2.1) CPU: Quest 2’s SoC and the XR2 - Same but not the same? https://preview.redd.it/fnfqac5vdnd61.jpg?width=230&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d215eaad9214f227b99ef3f6c8eef41ee110632c Here, we go into the Oculus Quest 2’s system-on-a-chip (SoC) and its CPU. As mentioned in Part 1, the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 SoC (which is a modified Snapdragon 865 built for standalone VR) powers the Quest 2. The XR2 features a 'Kryo 585' 8-core CPU, 'Adreno 650' GPU and 6GB of onboard RAM. At the time of writing Part 1, the only benchmark available that featured the XR2 happened to be of a yet unreleased version of the HTC Vive Focus headset, and in terms of CPU and GPU performance it benchmarked a score that was virtually on par with the those of an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G Desktop APU (why this APU was used as a comparison is explained in Part 1). The 3400G also performed marginally better than an Xbox One S in most game benchmarks, leading to the conclusion that if an XR2 (and by extension the Quest 2 that it powers) is approximately as powerful as a 3400G, then it should be at least as powerful as an Xbox One S. Since the Quest 2’s release, users have managed to benchmark the headset’s CPU by sideloading Geekbench 5, a widely used cross-platform/cross-architecture CPU benchmarking tool, and the results were surprising. The median scores of Quest 2’s CPU performance benchmark were “Single Core: 451, Multi-core: 1357”, each of which is less than half the benchmark scores of the CPU on an HTC Vive Focus (XR2) despite the two headsets supposedly sharing identical SoCs. HTC Vive Focus (XR2) vs Oculus Quest 2 - Geekbench 5 CPU Benchmark Comparison (Source) This also means the Quest 2’s CPU scores much lower than the CPU onboard an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G APU. UploadVR have also written an article to cover their own benchmarking tests, which help provide us with a bit more info on this topic. In it, they show their own Geekbench 5 results for the Quest 2, with scores approximately 18-24% higher than the median score of the user uploaded results and much higher than the top user uploaded score, but still much lower than that of the XR2 powered Vive Focus. The reason for the discrepancy between the user-uploaded Quest 2 results and UploadVR’s can be explained by a clarification in their article. For their CPU benchmark test, UploadVR mentions that the guardian system was turned off, a blank home-screen was installed and clock speeds were maximised to the limit the system would allow, therefore we can consider that these figures may actually not reflect a realistic use-case scenario. Even if we were to include this dataset to the pool of user-uploaded results, this has almost no effect to raise the median score-pair as the next dataset up is virtually identical. When comparing the benchmark results to those of a mobile device powered by a Snapdragon 865, such as the ASUS Zenfone 7, we see the phone also scores much higher on CPU performance than the Quest 2 and, as expected, near identically to the HTC Vive Focus (XR2). Oculus Quest 2 vs Asus Zenfone 7 - Geekbench 5 CPU Benchmark Comparison (Source) HTC Vive Focus (XR2) vs Asus Zenfone 7 - Geekbench 5 CPU Benchmark Comparison (Source) (Section 2.2) So why is the Quest 2 CPU performing so much worse? When asked by Twitter users, John Carmack of Oculus/Facebook confirmed that the speed of several cores in the Quest 2’s CPU have been intentionally underclocked to “about half”, which appears to correlate with the Geekbench user results (he also mentions the GPU is clocked “most of the way up” which we will come back to later in this post). This seems to have been done to ensure a reasonable battery life, and to prevent thermal throttling/overheating. To put this into perspective, the XR2/865’s CPU when stock and unconstrained features different clock speeds for each of its 8 cores by default. The single ‘Prime’ core is by default the fastest with boost of up to 2.84 GHz, followed by each of the three secondary ‘Gold’ cores that go up to 2.42 GHz, and finally the four remaining ‘Silver’ cores which are clocked at 1.80GHz. However, in the case of the Quest 2, the Prime and Gold cores being the more power-hungry cores have had their clock speeds reduced to frequencies lower than those of the Silver-cores, explaining the dramatic difference in the Geekbench results between the Quest 2 and the HTC Vive Focus (XR2). Using their own Android tools, UploadVR are also able to corroborate this and report that the Gold-cores of the Quest 2 operate at 1.5GHz and the Silver-cores remain unchanged at 1.8GHz (incorrectly labelled as “1.9GHz”), with no mention of speed of the single Prime-core, but which we now know is below 1.5GHz. John Carmack has also stated that in future, clock speeds could be boosted higher for short periods for start-up (either for the system, apps or games) suggesting the caps to the core speeds are done through software (and by extension, these could theoretically be unlocked with a firmware update, although this seems highly unlikely to happen). CPU Comparison As a side-note, it’s worth mentioning that whilst preserving battery life on a phone with an 865 (such as a Zenfone 7) is indeed important, phones do not have to constantly track their position in 3D space to near millimetre precision, let alone two wireless controllers at the frequency needed for smooth and reliable tracking in addition to running fairly complex 3D games. Therefore, even with a higher clocked CPU, phones are able to run for much longer due to the lower demands on them. We can see evidence of the high energy demand of the Quest 2 with its relatively short 2-hour gameplay time when using the built-in battery, even with its fairly decent capacity of 3640mAh. So, what about the Geekbench score for the HTC Vive Focus (XR2), why is this headset seemingly able to perform so much better than a Quest 2? Well, we can speculate two theories. One is that since the Vive Focus is a standalone headset meant for enterprise customers (businesses) and not for home consumers, it can afford to be bigger, heavier, noisier and pricier than the Quest 2. This would allow for sufficient room and budget to include a beefier cooling system and even a higher capacity battery to be able to take full advantage of the XR2’s capabilities. Second theory is that since the XR2 based Vive Focus is still unreleased (thus, could still be in development), this benchmark was done as a test in a sterile best-case scenario, ignoring (or at least lowering) the consideration of power and thermal constraints that would need to be factored in before it is released. Either way, the benchmarks for the Vive Focus match those of a Snapdragon 865 powered phone, so it is highly likely that they accurately reflect the capabilities of the chipset itself when unconstrained. So, to summarise this section; a stock XR2/865’s Kryo 585 CPU as seen in the Vive Focus and Asus Zenfone 7 is still equivalent in performance to an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G’s CPU as stated in Part 1. However, due to battery life and thermal constraints the the Quest 2’s CPU has been significantly down-clocked and therefore is indeed much slower and lower performing than that of a stock XR2/865. This means that the Quest 2’s CPU is not even close to the performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G’s CPU. (Section 3.1) GPU: Quest 2’s Adreno 650 Quest 2’s GPU is the Adreno 650 which is packaged onboard all Snapdragon XR2/865 systems. The default clock speed for the Adreno 650 on a stock XR2/865 is 587MHz, however as Carmack mentioned, the Quest 2 has its GPU under-clocked, although nowhere near the down-clock seen on the CPU. The exact speed at which the Quest 2’s GPU is operating is at first unclear. Thankfully, UploadVR in their benchmark article have included one piece of data regarding the Quest 2’s GPU. For this they used GFXBench 5.0, another cross-platform/cross-architecture tool but specifically for benchmarking GPU performance, using the latest benchmark within called ‘Aztec Ruins’ which simulates recent game titles. Using the Aztec Ruins Higher Tier (1440p) Offscreen test running on the Quest 2, Upload VR have reported a score of 1142 (the number of frames that were able to be rendered within the duration of the benchmark), where the higher the score the better. “Offscreen” is the method used as it renders at a set resolution (in this case 1440p) as opposed to the “Onscreen” test which renders at a device’s native resolution or the resolution of the display that is plugged into it which would make comparisons needlessly more challenging. Unfortunately, the results for the 1080p version of the Aztec Ruins benchmark as well as other legacy benchmarks included within GFXBench such as ‘Car Chase’ (GFXBench 4) and ‘Manhattan 3.1’ (GFXBench 3) are not reported. In any case, thanks to UploadVR’s reported benchmark score, we can actually calculate a ballpark estimate for the Quest 2’s GPU clock speed. This is done by first finding the same GFXBench test results for the Asus Zenfone 7 which features a stock Adreno 650 GPU at 587mhz, in addition to those for its more powerful gaming-oriented relative, the Asus ROG Phone 3, which also features an Adreno 650 but at a higher clock speed of 670Mhz. Given that we have two frequencies for the same type of GPU as the Quest 2, as well as the benchmark scores for each frequency, we can use a simple rate of change (deceleration) formula to give us the estimated clock speed that would achieve the 1142 score reported. Asus ROG Phone 3 vs Asus Zenfone 7, GFXBench 5 GPU Benchmark Comparison (Source)
To get our rate of change for the 1440p benchmark: -(670-587) ÷ (1419-1314) = -0.79 MHz/frame
Then to get our estimated clock speed: 587+(-0.79(1314-1142)) = 451MHz
This would lead us to an estimated clock speed of 451MHz, a 23% drop in speed compared to stock, correlating with Carmack’s “most of the way up” comment. Again, this is an estimate and may not be the actual frequency, but is probably close. Using this frequency and the same formula, we are also able to calculate the ballpark estimate for the Aztec Ruins Normal Tier (1080p) Offscreen test.
Rate of change for 1080p benchmark: -(3751-3483) ÷ (670-587) = -3.23 frames/MHz
Then to get the estimated score for 451MHz: 3483+(-3.23(587-451) = 3043.72
This gives us a Quest 2 benchmark score of approximately 3044 frames. This suggests the Quest 2’s GPU is a 12.6-13.1% drop in performance when compared to a stock Adreno 650. Adreno 650 GPU Performance Comparisons It should be also be noted here that tech page GSMArena was found to have already attempted to benchmark the Quest 2's CPU and GPU in their review, however, when studying their results as of January 2021, it is very clear they have been mislabeled and/or rearranged. This is evident from their reported single-core score being much higher than that of the multi-core, which obviously makes no sense. In addition, regarding the GPU, their GFXbench 4 scores show the ‘Offscreen’ (rendered at 1080p) results being far worse than ‘Onscreen’ (rendered at Quest 2's display resolution), which again does not add up at all, even if we were to consider the possibility of some sort of bug where it only renders at the resolution for a single eye. Due to these inconsistencies throughout the benchmark section of this review, GSMArena’s Quest 2 benchmark results cannot be trusted enough to be used as valid data for this post. (Section 4.1) The AMD A9 9820 APU – An Xbox One SoC for PC? So now with more understanding of the Quest 2’s capabilities, how will we be able to compare a Quest 2 and an Xbox One S? For this we will again need to be able to quantify the performance of an Xbox One S first. Thankfully, a very useful gem has been uncovered since Part 1 was written. In late 2020, a mysterious motherboard with an even more mysterious AMD “A9-9820” APU soldered onboard was listed on the Chinese site AliExpress, with rumours circulating the web that this could be a modified Xbox One (Original) SoC for PC use. This mysterious APU was never officially released directly consumers, and given its model designation, it was speculated this model was developed and manufactured years ago. Doing a quick search revealed a 3DMark leak from early 2019 that shows the AMD A9-9820 APU as part of a family of three closely related AMD products, the other two being the ‘RX-8125’ and ‘RX-8120’ (not to be confused with unrelated "FX-8120" AMD CPU) with advertised base/boost clocks of 2.3Ghz/2.395Ghz and 1.7Ghz/1.795Ghz respectively. Motherboard with AMD A9-9820 APU Only very recently, several Youtube channels and tech reviewers have managed to get their hands on these units and can now confirm that the A9-9820 is indeed essentially a modified Xbox One (2013) APU for PC. The related RX-8125 and RX-8120 in fact appear to represent the same CPU as onboard the A9-9820. More specifically each designation is not itself a different model of CPU but instead represent one of the two clock speeds the CPU on the A9 is able to operate at, with the RX-8120 mode at base clock speed and RX-8125 at boost clock speed, with the A9-9820 being able to switch between these two states automatically by default. At roughly the same time as the AliExpress listing, a prebuilt budget PC marketed as the ‘Chuwi Aerobox’ from the Chinese brand Chuwi came to light. Also powered by the A9-9820 APU it was set to be released in 2020 for the East Asian market. It is now believed that the motherboards listed on AliExpress were intended to be installed in Aerobox units, but were sold as spare parts for whatever reason. Chuwi Aerobox - PC with AMD A9-9820 APU Thanks to the Youtube channel Socket Sanctuary, the techblog The Chip Collective, and twitter user momomo_us (Link) we have a great idea of what’s under the hood of an A9-9820 motherboard. Linustechtips also briefly covers this SoC in their video. Furthermore, tech website Anandtech has managed to receive a fully assembled and functioning unit of a Chuwi Aerobox and together we are able to derive more data that will help us compare the Quest 2 against the Xbox One S more accurately (https://www.anandtech.com/show/16336/installing-windows-on-an-xbox-one-s-apu-the-chuwi-aerobox-review). Exactly like the original Xbox One of 2013, the A9-9820 has a die size of 363mm2, a CPU with 8 Jaguar cores and was manufactured in 2014 (the same time-frame as when the original Xbox Ones were still being produced). Even the integrated GPU of the A9-9820 was identified as an “RX-350” with the code-name “Kryptos”. While the Xbox One’s GPU was code-named “Durango”, the “Kryptos” code-name is very significant as it was the exact code-name used for the Xbox One console as a whole before its release, further reinforcing the likelihood that this is indeed an Xbox One SoC. (Section 4.2) A9-9820 = Xbox One So how close is it? Despite the similarities, there are several very important differences worth noting. Firstly, the CPU on the A9-9820 is able to boost from its base clock of 1.75GHz to 2.35GHz by default, whereas on the Xbox One/S they are fixed at a 1.75Ghz, meaning the A9’s CPU will no doubt perform better by default. Secondly, in the case of the A9-9820, the GPU’s render config readings appear to be inconsistent from one reviewer to the next. In Socket Sancturary’s video of the motherboard-only unit, the render configuration appears to show readings of 384:24:8 (shader units, texture mapping units (TMUs), and render output units (ROPs) respectively) with an undisclosed number of compute units (CUs). This configuration also happens to be exactly half the render config values of the GPU in an Xbox One/S which has 768:48:16 (with 12 CUs). In both Anandtech and The Chip Collective’s review of the Aerobox however, the readout displays 896 shader units and 14 CUs which is what we would expect from an unconstrained Xbox One S GPU as it is well known that a number of shader units, TMUs and CUs are factory disabled on the console. Based on these readouts the full render config is likely to be 896:56:16 in line with other AMD GPUs with the same number of shader units. The Chip Collective in their post highlight that the 14 CU readout for the Aerobox is likely false, as their calculation makes it more probable that the Aerobox also has 2 CUs disabled, leaving 12 like the Xbox One S. This seems to suggest that the Aerobox comes with a fully unconstrained APU apart from the 2CUs, while those that were sold only the motherboard assembly appear have a good portion of their render units disabled for unknown reasons. In any case we can expect the Aerobox GPU to be theoretically more powerful than an Xbox One S’. Another mysterious aspect of the “RX-350” GPU is its designation, as it is and integrated GPU model that has not been seen before. The designation implies that it is related to the discrete R7-350 desktop GPU first released in 2015 and built on AMD’s GCN 1.0 architecture, as no other known GPU model has an R prefix with a 350 suffix. Even on the official product page for the Chuwi Aerobox, the GPU is listed as a “R7-350”, although inconsistent with the listing as the “RX-350” on the specifications page of the same site, suggesting a type-o. The Chip Collective, having investigated further, state that through their calculations, the GPU is most certainly not an R7-350, and it is most likely a “Bonaire” (GCN2.0) based GPU. This conclusion is based on the tested float performance value (teraflops) of the “RX-350” and using its reported render config, CU count and required clock speed to achieve that stated float performance as a comparison against existing discrete AMD R-series graphics cards. Based on these, the “RX-350” sways much closer to the GCN 2.0 “Bonaire” based R7 260/360 GPUs and not the GCN 1.0 based R7 250/350 models. Reviewing their findings, we can also reach the same conclusion and this is further supported by an early article covering the Xbox One by renowned game tech site Digital Foundry. We can even add a supporting theory, that given that the Xbox One, R7 250 and R7 260 were released in 2013 (and at that point the R7 300 series had not even been announced yet), the “RX-350” was most probably a working title and placeholder designation for a GCN 2.0 based GPU that was used for both the Xbox One and was also intended to be the basis for the replacement of the R7-250. In actuality, what appears to have happened instead was the “RX-350” designation (and only the designation) was recycled and applied to a 2015 re-release of their GCN1.0 based R7 250 model, repackaged as the “R7 350”. All in all, we can be confident from these findings that the “RX-350” GPU in the Aerobox/A9-9820 APU is indeed not an R7 350. Another difference between the Aerobox and Xbox One S GPUs is clock speed which is reported as 985MHz on the Aerobox, as opposed to the Xbox One S’ 914MHz (853Mhz on the original Xbox One). A significant difference which would inevitably lead to an expected performance advantage for the Aerobox. Next, the Xbox One S consoles features 32 MB of ultra-highspeed ESRAM to help minimise bandwidth bottlenecking and to compensate for its use of slower 8GB of DDR3 as its main memory. The A9-9820 APU on the other hand has no onboard ESRAM and relies solely on whatever DDR3 RAM is installed, creating a potential memory bandwidth bottleneck. It also appears that on the A9, only up to 2GB of the installed RAM can be allocated to the GPU as VRAM. Whether this implies that a similar cap is in place for the Xbox One/S GPU is unclear but given its release at a time when 2GB discrete graphics cards were the norm in higher-end gaming GPUs, it appears likely. We could theorise that at the very most, only half the total memory would be allocated to the GPU as the rest would be needed for other tasks (so up to 4GB total allocated for the Xbox One GPU in an extreme case perhaps, but this is in theory). Lastly, pretty much all who have reviewed the A9-9820 highlight a lack of driver support for its GPU, with many of the drivers being extremely dated and prone to crashes, which is not a huge surprise given that this SoC was unlikely to have been designed to run Windows 10 in 2020 and beyond. This poses a serious problem when benchmarking games on this APU as seen in Anandtech’s review, where the Aerobox performs nowhere near Xbox One levels in games. (Section 4.3) ‘Building’ our Xbox One S equivalent These findings confirm that the A9-9820 in the Chuwi Aerobox is indeed a modified and virtually unlocked/unconstrained version of the APU in the Xbox One S. Despite this, we cannot use the Aerobox/A9-9820 as a whole as a fair stand-in for an Xbox One S. The GPU specs on paper are close but not close enough and the driver issues would mean any GPU benchmark would be unlikely to reflect the true capabilities of the actual hardware. Thankfully, with the data gathered from studying the A9, we can identify what can be used instead. As previously mentioned, the RX-8120 CPU mode is advertised to cap at a peak of 1.795Ghz, however, by switching the A9-9820 into RX-8120 mode, this in fact caps it at 1.75Ghz instead, giving it identical specifications to the Xbox One S CPU, which we can use as an ideal stand-in for our CPU comparison. This CPU configuration has only very recently been benchmarked and the results show “Single-core: 222, Multi-Core: 1379”. RX-8120 CPU - Geekbench 5 CPU Benchmark Results (Source) For the GPU, given that we have identified the onboard graphics as an GCN2.0 Bonaire based system but with several render units and CUs disabled, we can compare it to other discrete GCN 2.0 models with similar specifications. The most obvious pick would be the R7 260 given its similar release date as well as its identical render configuration and CU count to the Xbox One’s (not to mention it is also one model up from the R7 250 as the “RX-350” is theorised to have intended to be). The R7 260 also has a bigger brother called the R7 260X which like the “RX-350” has all its renders units unlocked but with all 14 CUs as well, giving it a closer match to the Aerobox’s unlocked GPU, although this is no longer relevant for our purposes as we are looking for the Xbox One S equivalent, not the Aerobox. Going back to the standard R7 260, again we see several differences between this GPU and the Xbox One S’ with the former clocked much higher at 1000MHz, and also utilising GDDR5 giving it 96GB/s of bandwidth. Therefore, even with just the clock speed advantage alone we can expect this GPU to perform significantly better than an Xbox One S. Unfortunately, no GFXBench results for the R7 260 were available, but the near-identical R7 360 GPU would work just as well for our purposes. The R7 360 is essentially a repackaged R7 260 but with a 1050mhz boost clock, using the 2015 version of “Bonaire” known as “Tobago” (also GCN 2.0). The important thing is that the GPUs we use for our calculation feature the same architecture, render config and number of compute units as the Xbox One S. Looking at a full list of AMD’s GCN 2.0 releases we can identify another GPU that looks to be even closer to the spec of the Xbox One S and that is the AMD FirePro W5100, again a Bonaire based GPU. List of mentioned GCN 2.0 GPUs (Note: Radeon R7 360 boost clock of 1050MHz not shown on this chart). (Source) On release, the W5100 was marketed as a professional workstation GPU but its specs show that is also essentially a R7 260 but with a lower clock speed at 930MHz and double the memory at 4GB. All other specifications including 96GB/s GDDR5 bandwidth appear identical between the two. With the clock speed being only 16Mhz faster than the Xbox One S GPU, we can surmise that the W5100 would perform just marginally better in games, but this is not without a few caveats. Firstly, while the W5100 performs slightly worse than the R7 360 as you will see below, we do not know how much of this gap is kept relatively small thanks to the W5100’s 4GB of VRAM and whether there would be a bigger drop if the W5100 came with 2GB of RAM instead. We can only assume this difference would be negligible for these tests. Secondly, as both of these discrete GPUs utilise GDDR5 exclusively, we will also have to assume that this only gives a negligible advantage to what a true Xbox One S GPU with its ESRAM aided DDR3 would benchmark at, as there are no other GPUs with more similar specifications. In any case, based on the W5100’s superior specifications, the Xbox One S GPU would be expected to perform below, and not equal or above the W5100 in benchmarks. Xbox One S PC Equivalent Specifications AMD R7 360 vs AMD W5100 - GFXBench 5 GPU Benchmark Comparison (Source) A quick check confirms the R7 360 outperforms the W5100 in GFXbench, so off we go. Using Aztec Ruins Offscreen results, both at 1080p and 1440p, we can use the same rate of change formula as earlier to calculate the drop in clock frequency for every drop in frame between the R7 360 to the W5100, for each of the two resolutions. Extrapolating this to a GPU clocked at 914MHz gives us our ballpark Xbox One S GPU estimate, with a score of 1950 at 1440p, and 4854 at 1080p. Xbox One S Estimated GPU Performance (Section 5.1) Finally comparing the Quest 2 and Xbox One S Now that we have the benchmark values for both the Quest 2 and Xbox One’s CPU and GPU, we can finally put them head-to-head. Xbox One S vs Quest 2 Performance Comparison CPU Comparison When comparing the Quest 2’s CPU and the Xbox One S / RX-8120 CPU we see nearly double performance in single-core on the Quest 2. More importantly, seeing as the maximum performance capabilities are achieved when using all cores, we see near identical results on the multi-core scores with and ever so slight advantage for the RX-8120, although at a 1.6% difference this is well within the margin for error. From this we can conclude that the Quest 2’s CPU at the very least is as powerful as an Xbox One’s CPU if not more-so due to the superior single-core performance. CPU Winner: Tie GPU Comparison For the GPU we see the Xbox One S as the clear winner with a GPU that is 60-70% more powerful than the Quest 2 (or the Quest 2 having a 37-41% weaker GPU than the Xbox One S). With such a large gap on this key component, the Quest 2 is in no way able to perform to the level the Xbox One S can reach. GPU Winner: Xbox One S RAM Comparison: The onboard RAM can easily be compared using memory capacity and memory bandwidth which are listed throughout the web. The Xbox One S features 8GB of DDR3 with 256bits at 2133Mhz, resulting in a memory bandwidth of 68.3GB/s as well as an additional 32MB of high speed ESRAM at 219GB/s. The Quest 2’s RAM is specified as 6GB of LPDDR5 with 16bits at 2750Mhz, resulting in a bandwidth of 44GB/s. Even when excluding the ESRAM, this gives the Xbox One S a clear edge with 33% more memory capacity and 55% higher memory bandwidth. This essentially means the Xbox One S is able to load assets quicker and store more of them on the fly than the Quest 2 can. RAM Winner: Xbox One S Bonus: Ryzen AMD Ryzen 3400G vs Xbox One S (Section 6.1) Performance Comparison with Vega 11 included (Sources: CPU, GPU) Before we conclude, lets address one last point. In the table above, we’ve included GFXBench results of the Vega 11 GPU%20Vega%2011%20Graphics&did=63140191&D=AMD%20Radeon(TM)%20Vega%2011%20Graphics), the same model onboard an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G APU. In Part 1 we established the 3400G’s CPU performance is on par with the (unconstrained) XR2’s Kryo 585 CPU, and that the GPU’s were relatively comparable with a slight advantage to the Vega 11 (based on the more limited ‘3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics’ benchmark scores). Using GFXbench this time, we do in fact see similar results again, although with a slightly larger performance advantage to the Vega 11. So, if the Xbox One GPU is more capable than the XR2’s Adreno 650 GPU as well as AMD’s Vega 11 GPU, how is it that the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G APU performs better in actual games than the Xbox One S as mentioned in Part 1? This is highly likely due to the much more powerful CPU on the 3400G, with performance that is more than double that of the Xbox One S CPU (RX-8120). This allows the 3400G to perform better in game overall despite its slightly weaker GPU, utilising its CPU to help overcome the GPU disadvantage, especially in more CPU demanding titles. Conclusion (Section 7.1) So, there we have it. The Quest 2 is undoubtedly not as powerful as an Xbox One S, contrary to the initial claim made in Part 1. This is mostly due to the significant down-clocking of both the CPU and GPU featured on the Quest 2, a design and engineering decision made for the purposes of preserving battery life and preventing overheating. Despite similar CPU performance as the Xbox One S even after it’s down-clock, the Quest 2’s significantly less capable GPU and lower memory bandwidth prevent it from being able to achieve comparable performance as a system as a whole. Therefore, we can also conclude that the Quest 2 is not able to achieve the performance we’d expect of an eight-generation home console. In regards to the XR2 SoC however, we can still see that when the chipset is unconstrained, it is able to achieve similar CPU performance and slightly lower GPU performance to that of an AMD 3400G APU. Given the 3400G’s comparable if not, superior game performance to an Xbox One S (in Part 1), had the Quest 2 featured and unconstrained XR2 and if that were to be possible, we would expect to see more comparable performance to that of an Xbox One S. Thank you very much for reading.In Part 3 we will discuss why Quest 2 games look the way they do, what to expect in future Quest releases and whether we can expect ports of some of the most popular PCVR titles. It will also be much shorter, I promise!
For those unable to watch the SEO webinar today...
UPDATE FROM SEO:Watch the webinar here until February 28 In case you find it helpful, we wanted to pass along a few resources that were mentioned in yesterday’s program:
LSAC Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Programs: Each year, LSAC partners with host law schools to provide selected participants with a unique immersive learning experience designed to prepare them for law school success. The PLUS Program is specifically aimed at rising undergraduate sophomores and juniors from minoritized groups who are underrepresented in the legal profession. However, anyone can apply and, during the application process, applicants have the opportunity to demonstrate ways in which they can benefit from the program.
UCLA Law Fellows Program: This program is designed to encourage and prepare high-potential undergraduate and graduate students for a career in law, increase the pipeline of diverse students interested in law, and demystify the law school experience. The program includes a series of Saturday Academies held at the UCLA School of Law.
TRIALS Program: This program includes a rigorous 5-week summer residential LSAT preparation course for students of underrepresented backgrounds.
In addition, we wanted to pass along the following book recommendations which have been helpful to other pre-1L students:
Here are my notes! Almost 400 people came to the webinar!!! Holy Crap!!! We are awesome and we are numerous! All the panelists took time before applying to law school so if you're a non-KJD, you're not alone! Sadiki: Stanford JD, Princeton UG- interested in Tech/Law (Holy crap look how impressive he is: https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardzimmerman/2020/07/01/theresia-gouw--pj-parson--ed-zimmerman-vc-strategies-for-building-a-venture-firm-raising-a-new-fund--investing-during-crisis/?sh=1ae11fc0e7aa) Estefany: Berk JD, Berk UG (Transfer student! Doesn't matter how you start!) Tashay: Georgetown JD, Wellesly UG -- paralegal before law school Eriele: Yale JD, UIUC UG -- interned at Obama fellow, Fullbright teacher How to prepare for interviews: Have a solid "why law school" and "why *that* law school" nailed down. Talked a bit about Georgetown's group interview-- I'm not gonna write much more about this here because LSA/7sage has a lot more specific details for each school. Reapplying: Van Ann Bui is a huge fan of reapplicants because it shows a lot about your tenacity. (Sadiki was a reapplicant for both law schools and SEO). If you reapply just make sure you're finessing your materials and applying early to get a better advantage. Van Ann Bui says working before law school can provide valuable experience and there is certainly no harm in waiting and trying to be strategic about timing. Waiting: Estefany had 6 months go by before she got into Berkeley. Don't panic if you're waiting! She also says stop looking at LSData and reddit... be kind to yourself <3. When considering what law school to choose: what will make your mental health the best. Whether that's what the grade system is, finances, smallebigger schools, location, alumni network, etc. Also consider how you learn-- if you learn better hands on then lots of clinics is good, etc. How do you decide on a school without seeing the campus in person? What resources did you use? Etc: Eriele reached out to current students, used reddit, kept in contact with admissions, went to online programming and webinars. Tashay still wanted to get a feel for the culture and what the school was like; so she went on Linkedin and started looking up people from different school and reached out to them. She purposefully wanted to reach out to people who werent sent by the school to made school responses were candid. Financial aid stuffs: Estefany was really frustrated about berkeley's financial aid process. Put the perspective in your head when you're writing an email "if this school doesn't give me what I want, I will be going to this other school." An alumni reached out to her and said "what can I do to help you" she said she needed financial help-- he put his neck out for her. So basically: reach out to people who are offering you help and TAKE IT. Van Ann Bui wants to encourage people to advocate for themselves and also the importance of networking and leveraging connections, taking advantage of opportunties. Money was a big part of Tashay's decision making process and she was also considering all schools so she wanted to see what she ended up with. Her advice: don't be shy, if you don't ask for it, you can't get it! Don't be rude or cross any boundaries obviously, but please advocate for yourself. Don't feel bad to ask for what you need. Van Ann Bui says imposter syndrome can really stop a lot of us from asking for what we deserve, she recognizes it's difficult to put yourself out there and to be rejected or hear no; if you don't put yourself out there at all, you will never receive. The worst that can happen is someone says no, you will never be worse off by asking. ASK FOR FEE WAIVERS DIRECTLY FOR REAL. What is law school like? Sadiki says: Hybrid learning is weird, but if you know how you learn-- don't reinvent the wheel. If you're an individual/insular learner, don't think you need to be group studying just because others are doing so. Esp with zoom learning, you need to be intentional about how you spend your time. Sadiki loves zoomversity. Eriele is also in hybrid, so some classes were purely in person and some were remote. Estefany hated the online school because she needs a support system, but she was able to find five people to be in a study group with her because she was deliberate about it. Talk to the 2Ls and 3Ls who have taken your class already, they can give you solid advice. Tashay says there's room for social interaction and friends even with zoom classes! Van Ann Bui says no one knows what the new normal will be, even when everyone is vaccinated. We don't know if it will return back to how things were pre-pandemic. So she wouldn't defer just to avoid online learning. SEO will help you prepare for law school, but you can't prepare for all of it. It's a very unique experience. Imposter syndrome is real. Eriele says be kind to yourself. Sadiki says you don't need to prove yourself to anyone but yourself. It is likely you will encounter events where your beliefs are challenged: we come to law school to be advocates. Know you're not alone, use your voice. Estefany goes to therapy every other week: mental health care is IMPORTANT. Tashay says seek out mentors. https://trials.atfoundation.org/program -- Eriele did this program and recommends it for those just starting studying for the LSAT. The fellowship program powerpoint: SEO provides support through first year and in many instances beyond that. 2 weeks training program- Typically last two weeks of may, the dates will be announced shortly. Anticipating it will be virtual. Involves a mix of legal writing sessions and professional development skills (networking, relationship building). Get familiar with jargon and what to expect before going into your internship. There will be panels and networking events. Since it's virtual, more attorneys will likely be able to attend. 8 week internship- Students will typically spend 8 weeks at their firms. It's a bit impacted because of covid, but we're not totally sure what it's going to look like. It could be that some firms may have different numbers of weeks. Some may be doing fully virtual, depending on geographic location and local regulation. Some may be doing hybrid. Kind of up in the air at the moment, unfortunately. Even virtually, SEO will make sure firms reasonably compensate you. Typically ranges from 1200 per week to 1800 per week. There is a writing component during the summer, SEO will still help you develop your legal writing skills and the firms will provide their own workshops and events for the students. Nationwide areas: MIAMI IS ENTERING THIS MIX THIS YEAR, Y'ALL!!!!!!!! Here are the list: SF, Palo Alto, LA, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Columbus Ohio, Cleveland, Atlanta, Washington DC, New York, Boston, Wilmington DC, Miami. PLEASE even though we are probably virtual, please take care in looking at the locations and choose the ones that you really do want to work in and live in. If not virtual, you WILL be expected to go to these locations. List of law firm partners: Still in the middle of securing the law firms so this is not a complete list because it's from 2020: https://imgur.com/a/SSXpX0b Law school Meetups: You get matched up with upper level SEO law alumni at your school to get school specific resourses 1L academic support: You get a tutor to help you throughout your 1L year. You also get access to other online resources outside of the academic coaches Career Day: resources for landing a 1L SA-- workshops, panels, interview coaching, meeting former SA to hear their experiences, connect with law firm reps at a career fair SEO does all of the placements. So the interview is all about getting to know you and your career goals and they do their best to match the students with firms that they will have the best fit with. Eligibility: minimum gpa 3.0, must have graduated college or will graduate by spring, available in the summer, must receive LSAT/GRE prior to March 7 (no score minimum), interest in exploring corporate law (no one is asking you to commit!!! Just come with an open mind!). Application Process: March 7, deadline to submit app, March to April- interview invites go out for a 45 min interview, April 26 proof of enrollment due, May 3 final decisions made. Program dates: May 15, 2021-July 23 2021 (in certain instances, fellows my be asked to start or end their internships earlier or later) References: make sure they can speak to your work ethic, etc. not like academic references. They want to make sure you can do the work at a law firm. The way the system works is RANDOM and the capacity of the different reviewers. So don't worry if someone receives an invitation who just applied and you haven't and you applied a long time ago. First interview invites will be going out in a couple weeks. If Van Ann Bui didn't conduct your first interview, you will have to interview again. All interviews will be conducted online this year. Answered questions from the chat box, I bolded answers that I think a lot of people would like to know:
We have applicants and many fellows who attend and apply to many, many different law schools. You do not have to attend a particular law school to be accepted to the SEO Law Fellowship.
We are still in the process of reviewing applications and hope to release invitations to interview with us soon!
You can apply to both or either the SEO Law Scholarship and SEO Law Fellowship; the only difference is you will have to write an additional essay if you are interested in applying for the Scholarship.
We are accepting applications for the program until March 7, 2021.
While we are still working out the format of this year's program, we are strictly complying with all federal and local COVID guidelines. Last year, we were able to host an entirely virtual program. The amount of spots available in the program differs from year to year, but last year we had 104 fellows in the program and hope to have more this year.
We start reviewing applications even without references, but should you be invited to an interview, you will be required to provide us with the contact information for two references before we can move forward with your candidacy. If you have not heard from your recommenders, we suggest reaching out to alternative references who can submit a recommendation on your behalf. No offers can be made before both recommenders send in their references.
While there are no travel costs in a completely virtual format, in a typical year, our law firms reimburse travel costs for fellows placed outside of NYC to travel to NYC for the 2 week Law Institute
We have many students who are enrolled in dual degree programs every year! The only requirement is that you plan to also start the JD program in Fall 2021.
The scholarship is awarded to students directly.
If you are accepted into this year's program and decide to defer, we ask that you notify the SEO Law team immediately.
Fellows are responsible for their own housing. In the past some have secured housing with other Fellows and throough using online resources like Facebook housing groups
We have a 3.0 minimum GPA requirement, and no LSAT requirement. However, we review all applications holistically and encourage you to apply to the program!
Yes, we have had Fellows who were accepted as reapplicants to the program.
Every year we have many Fellows from public interest backgrounds, as well as Fellows who go on to pursue careers in public interest law. Additionally, many Fellows have the opportunity to work on pro bono cases during their firm internship.
The location preferences help us determine where you would like to be placed during the Fellowship. if you have more than two choices, please list your top two choices. We will never place a fellow in a location that they do not indicate interest in. In a typical year, fellows must be physically present at their placed location, but this is tentative due to covid.
All salary and benefits are handled directly by our partner firms. To clarify, all of our fellowship placements are paid.
You may choose to include this (idk what the this is, sorry I can't see the question) in your PS/DS if you so choose. We also allow Fellows to submit the PS/DS that they submitted to law schools directly. We have no preference - it's up to you!
We do welcome applications from students who completed their undergraduate studies abroad. Please specify that you do not have a GPA on the application.
If you have already submitted your application for the Fellowship, you will have to submit a separate application for the Scholarship. However, for those still working on their applications, if you are interested in both programs please only submit one application and select your interest in both programs.
Please send any acceptance updates in one email. Should you be selected for an interview, you'll have a chance to provide an update on your law school status.
We do not have "early decision" and notify applicants of an invite to interview on a rolling basis. You have until March 7 to submit your application.
We weclome apps from non-traditional students and have non-traditional fellows in the program every year.
One requirement of the program is that Fellows enroll in law school in Fall 2021. If you are already in law school, we encourage you to keep up with us as we offer a Career Fair for diverse current law students!
We encourage you to be real, genuine, and authentic in your personal statements. While we would love to know your interest in participating in SEO Law and/or corporate law, many students have submitted their personal statement for law school in the past which is not catered specifically to SEO law.
We invite students from different areas of interest to apply to the program. In addition to learning about the world of corporate law, Fellows will also have the opportunity to learn about the legal field more broadly, including areas of PI.
We anticipate being able to accept around ~120 fellows this summer.
We encourage you to share why you are interested in a legal career and any particular practice areas. We will review all applications holistically
We will follow up with all participants with a link to this recording! (I will post when I get it)
You can include an addendum or any additional info in the Additional Information Section of your application
We make all final admissions decisions on candidates at the same time in late april/early may
Landing a Senior Data Scientist Job After 6 Months of Unemployment
I graduated this year with a masters of statistics. In this article, I will explain the process that ultimately led to my offer for a Senior Data Scientist - Team Lead position for a company in the SF Bay Area. The components of the process that led to my success, in no particular order, were: crafting my resume and LinkedIn, building skills and projects, staying motivated (during the pandemic), decoding the data science interview process, and determining my professional goals. (EDIT // Important Note: this is not big N or FAANG, since in the comments people are using top top companies to benchmark my experience)
Preface
As with any statistical inference, a singleton dataset won't yield robustness. I was an unusual applicant to my grad program, and am an unorthodox candidate for DS roles, which is why it took me six months to find a job while my peers all had several offers immediately following graduation (and some months in advance!). I worked for 6 years between my undergrad and masters in the nonprofit world and had many different job titles, as noted in Edit #2 below. Coming back to school was a huge pivot and career shift, and so I am extremely fortunate to have found a firm who recognized the unique strengths I bring to the table; I was also extremely fortunate to interact with this firm at the right time where my unique strength combination was part of their strategic plan. Takeaway: My experience is not a modal experience, but the tools I used and the lessons I learned may be useful for others. I would have appreciated reading it two years ago, so I'm putting it here in case others relate. Also a friendly reminders to aspiring or current data scientists not to conflate prior and posterior probabilities.
Crafting My Resume and LinkedIn
I completely botched my first DS resume. I borrowed a classmate's resume and used it as a template, and tried to copy what they had done. But they had internships, relevant projects, and a better GPA than me, so my version looked... weird, since I didn't have any of those things. Also, I was still expecting people to "read between the lines" on my resume instead of being as clear as possible. I started applying and connecting with folks, and what I am shocked by is that not one person I asked about my resume gave substantial or useful feedback. The one useful piece of feedback that I received was from my parents, who remarked "this doesn't seem to really sell you; you're much better in person than on this paper." While initially, I was resistant to rehauling my resume, I decided to spend a full week almost full time rehauling my resume. This paid off, because I saw a significant uptick in responses and was able to get several first round interviews. The main changes I made:
Only put what is relevant to the role you are applying for. Even though I had some impressive accomplishments from other projects or roles, I chose the projects or skills that were relevant to data science.
I used Canva to make a visually appealing resume, and later switched to a LaTeX resume template to make my resume more professional looking. This was a very very good decision, and I got so much positive feedback from recruiters and hiring managers after making that change.
I used a LaTeX cover letter template to write cover letters, which made it look very official and professional. It was easier to produce because I could just make a new document in overleaf and change small portions in the letter, since it's mostly common across applications, and once you do enough you have even domain specific and role specific letters ready to go.
Takeaway: your image matters a lot. Make sure to craft it carefully, and tailor it for roles that you are really interested in.
Building Skills and Projects
My strategy for learning something is spend at least a week or two finding the best resource, then pay whatever it costs (in your budget) and use it 100%. Don't find 16 free cheat sheets and "shortcuts". I researched every resource I could find (many thanks to datascience, machinelearning, and cscareersquestions) and I tried out a few, but saw that many only give free temporary access to some subsection of the entire platform, so you can't really explore past the first few questions or modules. However, I saw a reddit post talking about some site called DataCamp where they gave you 7 days for free, but it was full access. I looked through the catalogue and found a lot of what I wanted to learn. I took a week and devoted 8 hours per day to going through the modules. There are some things I would change, but for the most part, it is very well designed, and extremely helpful. I earned somewhere around 20K "experience" on the platform, which means I finished ~100-200 exercises from data engineering, modeling, or reviewing OOP in Python. Then at the end of the free trial, they emailed me a 62% coupon for a year's subscription, which brought it down to an insanely reasonable number, like between 100-150 bucks? Easy decision, since I had already mapped my curriculum through the rest of their materials, and they have new courses coming out every 1-2 weeks. For textbooks, anything from O'Reily with an animal on the front is probably going to be a good resource. I burned through about a half dozen of those books, taking notes and building the example projects, then moving to DataCamp to do similar projects, then once I felt confident, I would find a dataset from Kaggle or the UCI ML repo and try to carry out the steps, then benchmark my findings with some medium article where someone did the same thing. Try to keep projects at the center of your learning, then find materials that will add to the project. This is much more transferrable to a job, and learning to think in this way will help you in interviews. I saw an instagram account I follow put out a survey and was getting a lot of responses, but the way they were reporting the data was not able to do full justice to the story they were trying to tell. So I reached out and asked if I could take a look, and they were super excited to have someone with experience weigh in. So I ended up getting a few different spreadsheets, some with categorical and quantitative data and some categorical, while one of the responses was meant for a massively long response (Some users inputted over 1000 words). Do you see where this is going? It's basically a playground where my boss has 0 expectations and all I have to do is improve on autogenerated excel charts. I began cleaning the data in a notebook, then built a set of scripts, then loaded a database, then made a dashboard for the team (using a python flask app), and scheduled cron jobs to extract the data and report results to the ceo/founder of this nonprofit. Every new DataCamp module I completed was one more secret to the puzzle of how to present and improve the data visuals, process, and my code. I got invited to meetings with the other leaders, asked about business decisions, and got to be part of the real life cycle of their mission. Now that I had a taste of what that looked like, I reached out to my gym; they keep all of their members data on lifting progress and workout goals in an app, and I was able to give them a fun graphic and report for their members, and they shared on social media and saw an uptick in new memberships! I considered packaging this "product" and emailing other gyms, but I got overwhelmed by the pandemic/election and decided to put extra stuff on the back burner and wait for later when I have more skills. Takeaway: make your learning project driven, and document your entire project, including packaging in several different formats, making a clear write-up, and versions of a verbal explanation that take 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 20 minutes. Then, explain it for a PhD, a CEO, a peer, and a non-technical client (or whatever audiences you want, provided they vary by technical understanding and business investment). Try to carry every project through the finish line. As an example, this post/article is my way of compiling a high-level overview of the job search process--the "finish line" of this 6 month project.
Decoding the Data Science Interview Process
Have you ever been invited to church by your friend, but they didn't explain anything before you got there? You don't know when to raise your hands, or to stand up or sit down, or why the man up front is yelling? That's how I felt for the last 6 months. From when you're supposed to negotiate salary, wtf a "first year cliff" is, or what you're allowed to ask and to whom, nobody teaches you this stuff. Why does everything have to be so goddamned awkward and needlessly confusing? I have teaching experience so all of this infuriated me as a very eager learner. There are two kinds of people you will encounter: - Those who pretend to know the answer, and give you bullshit advice or project onto your experience - Those who know the answer, but don't know how to explain it, or give equally useless advice like "just keep applying". Nobody will tell you the truth to your face, or give you meaningful feedback of any kind, and I asked for it constantly. They will send you a form email, ghost you, or dodge your questions and judge you for breaking etiquette you have no idea about.
My Process
I decided to submit some applications on Linkedin every other day as a benchmark, and took advantage of the "Easy Apply" feature to get more applications out. There is a tradeoff between quality and quantity in the applications you send out. Aside from more applications going out, I needed more information, so I decided to use my network to do some decoding. I went on Facebook, IG, and my LinkedIn and filtered by software, data, CS, analyst etc until I had a list of people to ask questions to. I contacted each of them and asked for a brief phone call to get their advice and to hear about their experience in role R at company C. Here are examples of the questions I asked:
What are your career goals and how have they changed?
What are some of the important technologies or libraries to be fluent in as a [their role / your desired role]?
What helps a candidate stand out when you’re selecting for promotion or advancement?
What is the culture of [their company] in terms of work / life balance and expectations?
What does a normal day / week look like?
What do teams look like and how are projects carried out?
In risk analytics / Risk dynamics, what are the industry tools?
For risk analytics, what are differentiators in top analysts?
What is the culture like?
The final question I always ask is:
How do internal referrals work and would you be willing to submit one on my behalf?
I got some first round interviews or conversations with recruiters through this method, but none of the connections panned out, and I only got one technical interview, which was a coding challenge that I answered 5/6 correct, so was not invited to the next round. Now that I had exhausted my first round connections, it was time to go to strangers. I went to company pages on LinkedIn and clicked "people" and filtered by Data Scientist / Analyst / Data Engineer, then reached out with the following message:
Subject Line: [Fellow University Alum]* wondering about [Company] Hey [name], My name is [name] and I just finished up at [school] with an [degree] in [major]! I have a background in [sub-filed] and love what I have seen in the job descriptions at [company], and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind connecting and answering some questions I have about the data scientist role and how your experience has been. Thanks so much for your time! Best, [name]
* replace "Fellow University Alum" with whatever way you can connect with the person based on their profile. Otherwise just say "Aspiring Data Scientist" or something humble and eager. I got several interviews and referrals from strangers this way. Takeaway: use your network and reach out to make as many connections as possible in order to learn more about what you want or don't want. They may also be happy to refer you to a position.
Determining My Professional Goals
I interviewed for the following positions: Intern, Research Associate, Data Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer, Data Analyst, Product Analyst, Analyst, Consultant, Product Manager, and others. I talked to a lot of people and wanted to understand what motivates them, what they are experiencing in their role, and what they hope for in the future. What skills do they have, and are those skills transferrable? It seems to me that coding practices and statistical intuition are very transferrable, and so I wanted a role that would allow me to improve those two things. I want to be able to transfer what I learn in my next role to future roles, and I'm not attached to any particular industry. So it was important for me to distinguish myself from those who love coding, or those who want a 9-5 without much challenge, or those who want to do analyst work but don't want to become leaders. Benchmarking and measuring your goals and feelings against others similar to you but in different roles and spaces is an excellent way to figure out what you want to do, and even what size of company you prefer. My set of values pre-job offer:
Any size company, but prefer a medium team size, and a company without too much bureaucracy.
Exposure to ML as well as data-wrangling, without too much emphasis on one vs. the other.
If I can mentor or help more junior developers, I would enjoy that.
Have an enjoyable connection to other employees during the interview process.
If possible, a company that has a meaningful contribution to society, or positive local impact.
Being able to bring my ideas and whole self to the job, not just a clock-in clock-out situation.
Takeaway: find out what positions interest you, and try to craft your profile, projects, and skills to fit that role. Don't be afraid to say no to positions if they don't meet your criteria.
Staying Motivated
The 2020 turbulence shook everything that wasn't securely tied down. I've spent much of my free time on calls with friends and family about navigating the challenges they are facing this year. I had weekends and whole weeks where I didn't do anything except scroll on reddit, tiktok, IG, etc. and felt like shit. I had other weeks where I felt like a superhero, learning things and gaining confidence, getting a website to work, debugging part of a data pipeline, etc. Here are the things that helped me stay on track:
Getting enough nutrients and listening to my body's caloric needs.
Stretching and foam-rolling when I feel stiff or uncomfortable sitting all day.
Lifting weights or going for a walk.
Taking one or two weeks to stop applying because of rejection fatigue.
Scheduling phone calls with other people in the same boat to commiserate.
Watching stand up comedy on youtube to crack up and laugh to break the day's tension.
Limiting doom scrolling and hyper vigilance (our house was 2 miles from one of the fires, so that was hard).
Any time I needed a nap, I took that nap.
Unfollow anything that isn't encouraging, uplifting, or useful to me in this period of time.
Giving Back
I was SO LONELY on this journey, and resources on Reddit have helped me massively. As a way to give back to the community, I want to offer the following things for free:
A 10-15 minute zoom call to advise you or answer your questions about how to get the Data Science job you're looking for (limited to how many I can fit in next week and who is in dire need).
A tailored response to your personal question or situation via email, or advice on how to improve your resume.
A follow up post on this subreddit answering the top several questions I get.
Answering as many questions in the comments as I can. I'll reply "pass" in some cases, or refer you to resources that were useful to me.
Update: Survey now closed. See Edit #5. Edit #1: Formatting, added link to DataCamp Edit #2: It's an important note that I worked for 6 years in the nonprofit world before coming back to school. Here's a quote from one of my responses below:
"I worked in the nonprofit world and had a lot of different roles and responsibilities, including working abroad in a humanitarian capacity, translating for conferences, logistics and operations, participating in making curriculum for staff and volunteers, casting vision to donors in a fund-development capacity, etc. I wish it were a one-liner 'I worked in software' that would be satisfying or succinct, but it is simply more complicated."
Edit #3: Some people are suggesting that my offers to have a zoom call or offer resume feedback are part of some nefarious ploy to obtain people's information or manipulate them in some way. I'm sorry to hear that. Did you know that there are firms who have been scraping employment data from before the sites had adequate protections in place? I interacted with one such company over the course of my research. It would probably be more efficient for me to make a LinkedIn Recruiter Profile. Then I could have thousands of emails and LinkedIn profiles all for my nefarious purposes! Muahahahaha! For more stories of recruiting shenanigans, check out recruitinghell for best practices. Relevant quote from one of my comments below:
Hey! I made an edit about this. I had hoped to have some verbal conversations if people were interested, since I have a track record of coaching younger students, teaching, and mentorship. It was the first way I could think to give back to this community aside from writing more posts (which I could certainly do). Is there a method you would suggest that might help that come through more effectively? I definitely don't want to send the wrong message. Thanks!
Edit #4: Added Preface section to better contextualize my story. Edit #5: I have closed the survey and will be turning off notifications for this post, following up with the folks who filled out the survey, and writing follow up posts if I get feedback that it will be useful. Thanks to all of you for celebrating with me and helping me make sure this post is as useful for the community as possible! I also received some rather hateful messages, and people disbelieving my story and hard work. I am flattered by your disbelief, because it underscores how incredible my journey has been! Until next time!
In the Scam Home Warranty business, the people are represented by two separate but equally lazy groups: The Authorization agents, who deny claims and smoke like chimneys, and the technicians who lie through their teeth to snag a few extra bucks. These are their stories CLICK CLICK (background) There are a couple reasons why a garbage disposal would start dripping and if you ignore the catastrophic failures, it might just be a loose seal cover or a gap. Most techs can fix those very quickly, do-it-yourselfers might throw some tape on there and call it a day. A SHW tech knows we'll probably cover the replacement and just play it off like the unit is on its last legs. Nobody is going to think twice about such a small failure, right? My hand gripped tighter onto the half empty can of monster as a customer spoke unflinchingly on my line, assuring me that her tech was right there but she had a few things I needed to hear first. To pass the time I opened up Ubereats and found TGIF was doing free delivery or maybe it was the app itself picking up the cost but whatever reason was beyond me as I typed in my order. Once about 5 years ago when I was still working as an electrician our boss told us we could get whatever we wanted from TGIF for Christmas as we were working overtime at a construction site and it was snowing like crazy outside. Might have been easier to just pay us the money and let us get what we want on the way home but then he couldn't claim it as a workplace expense, so I made the trip myself with his card in hand and waited for the curbside. Replicating my order from then, 2 of the smallest steaks but with all 4 sides that came with the full order being fries. Fantasizing about my greasy potato future ahead of me, I almost forgot I was being told over-and-over that I wouldn't have a job if I didn't cover this claim. Me: "Which claim?" Cust: "How would I know?" Me: "It says in the email." Cust: "Here's the tech, I'll go find it and you can figure it out from there in the meantime and stop wasting my patience and..." (she probably finished the sentence but I already had her claim up on my screen from the phone number) Tech: ".....hi this is Mark with Mark's Plumbing, am I speaking to Auth?" Me: "Yes, what's a good number for your company?" Tech: "# or #, I'm not sure which is which you prefer they're both my boss's cell. We don't usually do housecalls." Me: "Ok so is this a garbage disposal claim?" Tech: "Yes it is." Me: "Is that a badger 5, 1/2 HP?" Tech: "Yep." Me: "Know how old it is?" Tech: "Few years, less than 10 for sure." Me: "What's our failure?" Tech: "It's leaking out the bottom." Me: "Know why?" Tech: "Just old." Me: "Any physical damage to the unit, someone put a fork in there?" Tech: "No." Me: "The bottom rusted out?" Tech: "Not at all." Me: "Is the seal clean?" Tech: "Clean as it can be after all these years, just lose and broke over time in very small pieces." Me: "Recommended fix?" Tech: "I can fix it but she's got other ideas." Me: "Like?" Tech: "She wants it replaced." Me: "Is the motor still good? The casing cracked? The blades dull? Is it making noise?" Tech: "Yes, no, no and no. You guys ask a lot of questions." Me: "What's your price on a new one?" Tech: "Why does it matter, is it covered or not?" Me: "Customer has a cap for the year and being this is a claim where they chose to use their own tech instead of ours we have the right to reimburse at our rates. The system won't let me assign an auth number without a price in the first place, it's automatically generated post-coverage unless it's over the cap in which case I have to get my boss to override it and I wanna know now before then if I should get ready to ask him." (press X to doubt) Tech: "$299 installed." Me: "Ok that's covered, we're going to email the auth number to the customer who will put it on our reimbursement form in order to be paid upon receipt of a paid invoice. She has all that info already, do you want to write it down anyway?" Tech: "No, I'm just going to install this thing and get out of here." Me: "Great have a good one." Tech: "She's still not back, is it ok to hang up?" Me: "Yep, claim closed approved on my end." click tasked to cs: email customer covered claim, auth number #, reimbursing at SHW rates $150-55= $95 to customer after paid invoice on file. internal auth note do not read: customer getting ripped off by tech Epilogue: Both steaks were OK but the fries were and always are some of the best in the industry. I know they got more oil on them than Saudi Arabia and are worse for me than lawn darts but nothing hits the spot better after lying to customers all day than a nice plate of lukewarm fries. Also if you're curious, this might have been an instance where a tech inflated their bill to help the customer but again, we can't really prove it. Just a gut feeling that a guy who sounded that nice and professional on the phone wasn't charging $300 for such a quick replacement.
Hey guys, I recently had my account hacked and managed to recover it within 5 days through Mihoyo customer support so I thought I'd talk about my experience and the steps I took to recover the account. I do know that there have been other posts made on this topic, but there has been a wave of new hackings around the same time as mine so the hope is that this post is seen by someone who needs it. In this post, I'll give a few details on the state of my account at the time of the hacking (so you know the type of accounts they're after), the steps I took to recover the account, and what they actually did with the account before recovery (this part is a somewhat ironic bonus). THE ACCOUNT My account was hacked on the 9th of November in the afternoon (Central European Time), and I found out when I tried to log in to claim a promo code on the Mihoyou site (before 1.1). I was met with a login error which was the same case in the game itself. I initially had the account linked to my email but after reading about hacks happening even despite having 2FA, I decided to unlink in order to protect my email (which is way more important). The account was at AR 44 with a Diluc, Venti, and Jean for 5-star characters along with about 85 wishes worth of Primo Gems which I had saved up for Zhongli (more on this at the end). I had only spent about $20 (2*Welkin & BP) on this account, but I was very careful with my use of exp books, resin, and Mora so the account was in a great state going into 1.1. STEPS TO RECOVERY After calming myself, I managed to find this post which was the only decent breakdown I found at the time. You will see similarities in the approach, but please feel free to read it as well. Please note that I can only speak for my experience so the steps will reflect the same. After the steps, I'll mention a few things to do to prep yourself in case it does happen to you.
Log in to an Alt account - Since you can't submit a ticket from the hacked account it's crucial that you have alt to do so.
Open the Paimon Menu
Scroll to the bottom and select the Feedback icon (this will open a separate page)
Select the + icon at the very bottom (next to the chat bar) and select 'History' (this will open a new page)
Select the 'Contact CS' option at the bottom
Open the 'Issue' section with something to the tune of "Main Account Hacked - UID"
In the body explain briefly how you realized the account had been hacked the last time you were logged in
If you have screenshots with the UID attach it (preferably one from an early stage in the account, and one from later)
Submit and hang tight
Once submitted you need to constantly check back on this ticket since the CS team's response time will defer depending on the time at which the ticket is submitted. I've read numerous posts on them taking weeks to respond, but in my case, I got my first response in under an hour. BE PREPARED While you wait for a response, be prepared with the following as proof of account ownership:
UID and Account Name
Date of registration
Last login location and time
Device used
Proof of purchases - This is crucial (unfortunately) to establish ownership and will require the invoice numbers that are emailed to you
5-star characters /weapons and levels
Screenshots from the game (wishes and in-game)
If you haven't already done it, I would highly suggest gathering the above info and keeping it handy so that you can give the CS team everything they need to investigate. ** One thing I really wanted to stress is to BE PREPARED TO SUBMIT A SECOND TICKET. In my case, the first ticket response wasn't very professional and despite telling me that they are investigating, the ticket was closed before they actually gave me an updated password. Luckily whoever handled the second ticket kept responding every few hours and kept me hopeful. THINGS TO NOTE Let me tell you right away, the wait is going to be painful. I kept checking in on the account in-game by searching the UID in the friends section and seeing account level and change nicknames pissed me off so much. But this also allowed me to send updates to the CS ticket (though I doubt they needed it).
Even though they ask for your email, you will not receive any email notifications when they respond so keep checking back
I also enquired whether the CS team could suspend the account while they investigated, to which I was told that this process would take the same amount of time as recovery
If you have any wishes or primos on the account that is used by the hacker, you will not be able to recover them :(
I finally got confirmation from the CS team which got back to me with a new password. AFTER RECOVERY (they tried hacking it again) It's tempting to immediately start looking at what happened to your account once you get it back, but the first step should be to link to your mobile (or low-value email) and immediately set a new password. I went with the mobile link option and I'm so glad I did it immediately because as I finished linking (before changing pw) I was logged out again with the notice that someone else had logged in from another device. However, this time they couldn't change the pw before I did. TBH I have no idea whether this account will be compromised again in the coming weeks but I'll always have the previous tickets to keep recovering it. The fact that they tried to get in again on the pw given by Mihoyo makes me believe that the hacker himself was using the account instead of it being sold to a clueless buyer (which makes the next section even better) WHAT THEY DID ON THE ACCOUNT (a bit ironic) This final section is for those who are curious as to what they did and what I lost in the process. For a bit of context, I had saved up 300 purple exp books + 600 blue exp books, along with a stockpile of 800 artifacts (90% fodder for 5 stars) and 30 fragile resin. The goal was to hit AR 45 and start farming Crimson Witch and Viridescent sets with better 5-star rates. I'm also probably one of the few people that really didn't want Childe (doesn't suit my playstyle), so when I lost the account right before patch 1.1 I knew there was no chance of my 85 fates surviving the recovery period. on returning to the account I found that all my wishes had been used on the Childe banner. However, they had instead rolled another Diluc on the 83rd pull! This was such a relief because I can now save up again for a guaranteed Zhongli in the next banner. They had also only used up about 170 purple books (which isn't the worst case) and 6 fragile resin along with upgrading many highly ill-advised artifacts. I think what annoys me the most was not being able to experience the new storylines in patch 1.1, instead having to watch a Youtube video. The best part, however, was when I had a look at the Crystal top up to see that the hacker had spent $80 dollars (why?). Which he had used for even more pulls which got me Skyward Blade (on the normal banner). So in the end they somehow ended up spending way more on the account than I did and left me with another Diluc, Skyward Blade, 3* Diona, Chongyun, and a Rust. Finally, If this post reaches someone from Mihoyo CS, you have my gratitude :)
Extreme and historic spikes in excess of 50 Tbps on the Steam content servers have been observed after the release of Cyberpunk 2077 on the Steam system.You will notice significantly greater than usual download speed variability tonight and it is likely that extreme content server load will persist well through the overnight hours in spite of an otherwise clear coast through the next several days; although bursts of usual peak performance are possible, they may be short-lived at best.
I'm new to this Reddit, but already I've seen a some of "I'm new to this, what to do?" questions. Since I've been collecting vgm vinyl for five years now, here a few thoughts for beginners, who just discover the wonderous world of vgm vinyls. But first: Feel free to chime in, I'm happy to edit this post and add your ideas or correct my mistakes! The first words would be: Remember, you are not doing this for convenience or out of true necessity. You do it for the love of "touching" great music, HiFi and because you are a massive nerd. You can get every vgm soundtrack in digital format, so there is always an easier way to just listen to the music. Which brings us to: 0 - Listen before you buy. (Added by very sensible suggestion) You should be honest with yourself why you want to buy a vgm record. Do you like the game? Do you just like the cover artwork? Or do you really like the music? I've bought records always because of one and sometimes all threes reasons and will fault no one for buying a beatiful record, that is more for the shelf than anything else. But ask yourself: Have you really ever listened to just the music of a game? That is the reason I don't have too many Nobuo Uematsu records (same for John Williams). Great games (and movies), absolutely brilliant soundtrack work, that goes with the intended purpose like nothing else. But on its own, it's just not my listening taste. Try to listen to everything you want to buy beforehand - Youtube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, million ways nowadays. Then decide what your reasons for buying are and if they suit you. Don't do it just for the hype. (And please don't buy it just for the higher resale value. Leave it to somebody, who really wants it.) After that, if you still want the record, then know that... 1 - Patience is the name of the game. At least when it comes to stuff, that seems sold out. Do not buy at the first price you see on Discogs or, heavens beware, eBay. More on that later. And also: 2 - Be quick about it. When a release is fresh, and you know you want it: buy it. Be it on Amazon for more mainstream releases or – preferably – from the label itself, you rarely will get a better price than that. Out of over 200 vgm records I bought, only a handful I could have gotten cheaper later on. This is a key difference between regular music and vgm. Whereas even a limited release of a major band will not always mean the prices will go up or even be sold out over the years, in a way every vgm release is limited, since the audience is small and the numbers pressed are even smaller. So, when you have the cash and see a release out now then go for it. Even if you decide later that you didn't really want it, you usually can sell it without losing money. 3 - Repress is a real thing. While it was not that common for many years with regular music – and often enough still not is –, vgm soundtracks will often get repressed. I think Witcher 3 got its fourth or fifth run by now, it feels like Stardew Valley gets repressed every month, Square Enix seems to have woken up from a deep slumber and there is even hope that they will repress the holy grail, the Final Fantasy Box Set. So, if a certain release is popular, sold out, commands outrageous prices: Wait and see, there might be a repress coming. Can take year, can take longer, here comes patience back in, but remember: The hunt can be as much fun as owning a vinyl. 4 - How to look. You know what you want. Or maybe you don't? Here are the first links to help you get an overview, what exists out there. Discogs has introduced Video Game Music as a "style", so you can use the search to filter for style and medium (vinyl of course): https://www.discogs.com/en/search/?type=all&format=vinyl&style=Video+Game+music&lang_alt=en There is also an old, but still well-kept list too: https://www.discogs.com/de/lists/Video-Game-Music-on-Vinyl/196505 Another resource is this: https://vgmdb.net/ But, vgmdb is a very old-school page and a bit harder to navigate. Use the advanced search feature, choose "Game" under media and "Vinyl" (and maybe "Flexi disc") under format and then choose how you want to see the results sorted. And of course you can add additional filters to the search if you want to narrow down what you're looking for. While it is good to know, what exists, it is as important to know what will come. The guy keeping the mentioned Discogs-list up do date (and doing a damn fine job doing it), also has a site: https://blipblop.net/ Blibblop is your go-to-site for news, releases and more, the guy is an avid collector, knows about all the releases and keeps his site in great shape. Visit at least once a week, maybe even more often, so you don't miss out on releases. Also, a good Google-search can't hurt: https://tinyurl.com/y69uzsgp This one looks for "video game vinyl" in the last year, sorted by date in English. Upcoming releases are often covered by someone, sometimes by sites you wouldn't expect. (If anyone knows any other reliable news sites on topic like Blibblop, let know, so I can add them.) 5 - How to find and buy. Now you know what is out there, what will come and even maybe what you want. How do you get it? First, go outside. Wait, until this Corona-things has gotten better. Then, go out, get some fresh air, take a long walk and visit your local vinyl shops. It is always fun to scour them and see what you can find. Sadly, it will only rarely be a vgm vinyl. I live in such a wasteland when it comes to shops and vgm vinyl, that I didn't even think of it. And this is Berlin, we have ton of vinyl shops. And I still have to find one, that carries even a small selection. But different countries, different cultures, I heard very good things about France, Italy is supposed to be a nice place too for this (and many other reasons) and also, there are supposed to be a many good shops in the US as well as in Japan. You can use Discogs Vinyl-Hub: https://vinylhub.discogs.com (seems to be down right now). Here you will find a lot of stores in your area. Also use google maps, I found some, that were missing in the Hub. It is a nice way to get to know your city or area better, have a nice chat and maybe even convince your local shop to carry more vgm vinyls. And also, he can order everything, Amazon has to offer. Because always remember: support your local dealer! Since such nice strolls won't always be successful, your first stop on the internet should always be the label itself for several reasons. You find the name of the label on Discogs and often the link to their site as well. The first reason is the price. It usually is the best one you'll likely get, unless their shipping to wherever you live is outrageously expensive (which is not always the fault of the label). Then sometimes the labels offer special editions in form of different vinyl colours. Spacelab9 loves to do that, as well as Enjoy The Ride Records. So, you get a maybe nicer and often rarer edition. The final reason is, that this way you support the label and in most cases the artist as best as you can since the money goes directly to their pocket. To support an artist even better, you can look, if there is a direct website or at least a Bandcamp page. Bandcamp has also a discover-function, where you can sort by style and medium, but you have to scroll down a bit to find it: https://bandcamp.com/?g=soundtrack&s=top&p=0&gn=0&f=vinyl&t=video-game-music If it is sold out at the label, then don't go directly to Discogs or eBay, but instead use Google. A lot of smaller record stores, some even specialized in vgm music, may still have stock. There is of course this subreddit, you can scour ( https://www.reddit.com/VGMvinyl/wiki/index/vgmlabels#wiki_list_of_video_game_music_record_labels / https://www.reddit.com/VGMvinyl/wiki/index/vgmlabels#wiki_list_of_video_game_music_distros ), but there are non-specialized shops as well in the world. (For example, I found a limited Skies of Arcadia months after it was sold out and it was on the Walmart site). Klick on all the shops you get listed, you might get lucky. Also, search Amazon, especially Amazon.com. Often, there are resellers with outrageous prices, but sometimes you find the best stuff at regular prices (an example here would be various Distant Wolds, over a year after release). If it is really sold out, the next stop after the label and the shops is Discogs. But not yet to buy, but to find out the current going rate. You may know the original price, having looked at the label price, now Discogs will tell you, if a release has already been sold on their page, what it went for and if there were enough sales, what the medium price is. That price is highly volatile since there are always outliers up and down and usually there are not enough sales for such limited releases to really cement a median. Also, take a look at the curve. Where the highest prices made in the rush to get it at the start? Has the price been climbing steadily? That is good to know, because it can give you a hint where current and future prices might be going and what to expect from sellers, that are putting their copies up for sale. Obviously, if you see an offer for a price that looks good to you, you buy. Not before checking the sellers rating obviously and what the shipping will be, but yeah, go for it. If the price on Discogs is not to your liking, put it on your want-list. Discogs will send you a daily pm, that lists all new listings for the stuff you are looking for. Can be frustrating. Often, when a good price popped up, somebody else was faster. But still, if you don't try, you can't win. Then, try the community here: https://www.reddit.com/VGMvinyl/comments/ko6zze/monthly_selltradebuy_thread/There is this handy trade-thread, have a look, say what you are looking for, maybe someone will part with it. Maybe even for a good price or a nice trade. After that, go to eBay. It is not the primary marketplace if you want a good price, since the buy-now-offers are more often than not quite inflated. But still, if it is a really hard to find release, that might be the way to go. If you find something that is actually auctioned off, then go for it. Often the prices stay well within a reasonable range (unless it is some badly pressed Donkey-Kong-bootleg, then everybody goes completely bananas). If all that was not successful and you couldn't find what you were looking for, or at least not for a reasonable price, then you have to play the waiting game. Look at your want-list in discogs, set up eBay alerts and also sign up for the newsletters of the labels, so you don't miss it, if they do a repress. And in some cases: Just safe up the money, bite the high-price-bullet and go for it, when it feels right. 6 – Important Links. I could do a long list, but thankfully, this Reddit has done the work already (thank you, nice community!): https://www.reddit.com/VGMvinyl/wiki/index (the next part was a sensible suggestion, though it is not strictly about buying, at least records.) 7 – Keep your precious safe. Since someone suggested it and it makes sense, let's take the next step – keeping your PRECIOUS safe (say it like Gollum, you know the spiel). For me, that never really occurred as a topic, since I collected before. But yes, some of you may have come to vinyls through video game soundtracks and so the basics can't hurt. Here are a few do and don'ts. - Keep your records out of too much direct sunlight. If you ever walked past a record store, that has no UV-filters and doesn’t change it's presentation often, you know why. A faded nightmare. - Do not stack them in piles – at least not higher than 15 or so. Vinyl is a soft material, apply too much pressure and it will get damaged over time. So, in a huge stack, the records at the bottom will suffer. - Keep them upright. Like very slim books. That way, there is no pressure on the disc, if you don't pack them too tight next to each other. Which you also must avoid. Do not stuff records in a row with force. If you have too use force, then they are packed already too tight. Give them a little breathing room. But not too much. You don't want to lean them on each other for a long time – months or even years, for a short while, they should be fine. They can bend and warp over time, even be beyond being playable. - Keep your needle clean. The direct point of contact with the record is the needle and the needle collects at least very fine dust. That can accumulate and in the worst-case damage the record and the needle. Pro-ject has a small brush, Audio Technica has some kind of paste, there are a few options. Unless you have a super expensive needle, they should all be fine. But never use force! Brushing gently is usually enough, if a needle is severely dirty or even damaged, you have to get it serviced or change it, but don't use it. There is a good chance, your records will get damaged. Example - Pro-ject stylus cleaner: https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/clean-it/ - Buy an antistatic brush or cloth to clean your records before play. It doesn't have to be fancy – actually, my fancy 50-Euro super brush is the worst. Looks nice though. Pro-ject has a nice one for around 10 bucks. Some people love very fine antistatic dust-clothes, my own experiences were not that great though. But in the end, try a few things, see what works for you. The problem you are combatting with this is, that vinyl tend to attract every bit of dust in the area and then the needle collects it. At best, it doesn't matter, it often influences the sound and produces crackles, worst case is a damaged needle (though that is more theoretical, unless you play super dirty records. And I mean dirtier than Frank Zappa in his prime). Example - Pro-ject brush: https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/brush-it/ - Same problem, additional solution: Buy antistatic inner sleeves. Some records will already come with those "plastic bags", that cling to the record. Sadly, more often than not, you'll find a paper sleeve, that looks nice, but never does the job right. The best you can get in my opinion are MFSL Original Master Sleeves by Mobile Fidelity (MoFi). These are kinda cheap in the US (20 Dollars for 50 I think), but a almost double that in Europe. Still, these are amazing and considering, that a record is worth 20 to sometimes hundreds of Dollars, 50 to 80 Cents extra per disc is not that expensive. Really good alternatives are the Japanese ones, Katta and Nagaoka. A little bit cheaper, sometimes but not really, they also will do an excellent job keeping the dust from the vinyl. But in the end, you can look for cheap "Nagaoka style" sleeves, 15 Euros for a 100 or even 150 and most of them should do that too. Better than any paper sleeve anyway. MoFi inner sleeves: https://mofi.com/collections/accessories/products/mfslis_original_master_record_inner_sleeves_pack_of_50 Nagaoka inner sleeves: https://www.amazon.com/NAGAOKA-Plastic-Sleeve-Record-ANTI-STATIC/dp/B009AOLH8G Katta inner sleeves: https://protected.de/en/lp-inner-sleeves-katta-sleeves-square-1006c - Get some outer sleeves. Should be obvious, you have an expensive record, it should be protected. What you use here, comes almost completely down to taste. Used bags of sleeves on eBay are super cheap (I've seen a Dollar per pound one time) and they do the job. After that, it is a question, what you want. For maximum protection, you should get the thick, stable poly-sleeves with a flap, that you can close. DJs love those since they carry their stuff around and use it under heavy work conditions. It is not super-clear, doesn’t look as nice, but even with a knife, you have to work, to cut is, so accidental scratches are no longer a worry. I personally prefer something, that became known as "Blake Sleeves" – a guy named Blake invented them – and can also be found as BLPD sleeves, "super clear" or "ultra clear". They are very thin and no, they won't stop a cut like the polys. But they prevent normal shelf wear perfectly fine (I've been using them for a few years now and have no complaints at all) and the covers look like the should – sometimes even nicer. Also, you can see the sides much better. With thick Poly-sleeves, some record-sides are almost unreadable, with Blakes, you can see them perfectly fine. Both types come with or without flaps to close the sleeve, some are sealable. Not my thing, but some people swear by sealable flaps (and it does make sense, but I prefer convenience in this case). Really tough poly outer sleeves: https://www.amazon.com/100-Record-Outer-Sleeves-Resealable/dp/B07B8VT4DC Blake (ultra clear) sleeves: https://www.packlinq.com/bags/album-sleeves/outer-sleeves-for-records.html - Get a record shelf (at some point). Be it Ikeas cheap Kallax, the slim Billy with more depth or something fancy, at some point you should treat your collection to its own home. Not just for show, but because these shelves offer ideally sized compartments, so not too many records are in a row and don't get damaged. If you have suggestions for great equipment, let me know and I'll add it. Also, what else can we do, to keep records safe, let me know what is missing here. 8 – What do you need to play these wonderful discs? Since I've actually met someone, who told me, that he bought a quite expensive Thorens player, plugged the RCA cables in his soundbar and didn't get the desired results, here's what you need: A) A turntable. Obviously. There are a few options, mostly it comes down to belt- and direct drive as well as manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic. The fist refers to the way the table is turned. Direct drives have the motor directly connected to the spindle while the motor on a belt drive is separated, turns a little wheel, which is connect with a rubber band – the belt – to a larger wheel below the spindle. Usually, direct drives use fancy tech like quartz locks to turn at the exact speed. DJ players, like Technics 1210, can be adjusted with a lever to the exact desired speed. Belt drives follow the philosophy, that the motor can cause slight vibrations that can distort the sound and so it is better to remove motor and power supply as far as possible, in some cases even outside the actual table. I have both types right now here, both from the mid-high range and… both work fine. I really wouldn't say that one is better than the other, both work perfectly fine. For me this is one of those philosophical HiFi discussions, but not something you need to worry about at the start of your career. The question of manual or automatic is the same as long as the player works. Fully automated players start on the push of button, stop or even repeat, once the needle reaches the end and sometimes even offer skip or rewind features. The more manual a player becomes, the more you have to do yourself. My Thorens 203 is almost fully manual. It has a button for starting the motor and one for the speed. I have to set the needle manually, it doesn't stop at the end and of course it does not reset the arm after listening. That can go even further, some players have no speed adjustment, but instead you have to move the belt to a different sized spindle. The pro for the automation is obviously convenience. Put a record on, press play, enjoy. The problem is that there is a lot more tech under the cover involved. Stuff that can be hard to fix, especially with some rarer vintage machines. Also, purist will argue that the more tech comes in, the more the "true" sound could be distorted. Another philosophical question. *B) A phono amp. *Since the signal from a turntable is very quiet, it needs to be amplified, before you can plug it into a regular RCA-in. That was the reason my friend couldn't get a decent sound. Almost all HiFi amps from the 80s well into the 2000s had a phono in, which was the input with a build in phono amp. Newer amps have this again, but there was a time in between, where vinyl was so out of fashion, that many amps didn't. Cambridge for example forwent the phono in for a while. So, take a look behind an amp, to see if there is a phono in. If not and you still want wo connect the player to this amp – or an active speaker like a soundbar –, you can buy a phono amp. Those can be quite cheap, Pro-Jects phono box costs less than a 100 Euros and there are lots of even cheaper entry options. There are also turntables with build in phono amps, especially at the entry level. In this case, you have no further worries, just plug it in and it should work with everything except a phono in. In that case you would have two phono amps chained and you don't want that. *3) An amplifier with speakers or powered speakers. *Depending what turntable you have – with or without a build in phono amp – you need either a Stereo with an amp that has a phono in or you can use simply use some powered speakers. Obviously. 4) What is MM and MC? At the entry level you probably won't have to worry about this, but so you don't wonder: There are two ways a signal can be picked up from the needle while it moves through the groove, moving magnet (MM) or moving coil (MC) – if you want to know the technical details, google it. That refers just to the cartridge with the needle, not the turntable itself… as long as there is not a MM-only phono amp build in. Even the cheap Sony player has a MM-MC switch, but maybe not all players have that. But then again, only the cheapest models wouldn't have such a switch and MC carts are very expensive, that would be a rare combination anyway. If you use a HiFi amp, they sometimes have either separate inputs for MM/MC or a switch. Make sure, that it is set to your cartridge type, otherwise it will sound horrible. So, those are the basics you need to play a record: turntable – phono amp – amp – speakers. The next question is: What should I buy? 9 – A little turntable buyers guide There was a somewhat recent study, that around half of the vinyl bought right now are never played. But records were made to be played – well, most of them, not to sure about the Nuclear Blast stuff –, so get something to enjoy them on. No fortune required (but can't hurt). First think about what you have. I don't mean money; I mean space to listen in. Do you live in house, where you can go loud? Do you live in a tiny apartment? Do you have annoying neighbours, who only seem to find solace in absolute silence? That is an important factor, because while a great stereo can will sound better at all volumes, you can safe money with not going for size and power. The next question is of course money. What do you want to spend? What can you spend? I'm not going to say you should get a loan to get a massive stereo, especially not in these trying times. But then again, it might be worth a thought. If you already know, that you want to dive deeper into the whole HiFi thing, don't waste good money on a cheap set you don't like. You are going to upgrade sooner than you think. So maybe safe up more money and get a stereo you can get into. If you are not sure, a cheap set is the way to go, then go for the incremental upgrades. New speakers, new amp, new player, one after another. Just think a little while about it, because either way you'll put a lot of money on the table. Also, HiFi is as much art as it is science, especially in the higher price ranges and there are about as many views on it as there are enthusiasts. So I'll try to sort it into general options with a few recommendations of my own. A) It's not cheap and old. It's vintage! The first and cheapest option is an old stereo set from the 80s or even 70s. There are tons of amps and players out there, that went for 500 or more Dollars back in the day, where not state of the art, but still really good HiFi and are technically still not worse then a lot of sets, that nowadays cost 500 Dollars. Maybe even better, there is inflation and stuff. Stereo-tech was highly developed in the 80s, so many brand name sets you can buy on eBay still hold their own against new sets, that cost way more. Examples: Dual CS 2125 – A nice player, that no one cares about. Looks very 80s, sounds solid and I paid 30 bucks for mine in almost mint condition. Check if it's working and if so, it should do so for a long time. You'll probably need a new needle. The Audio Technica 95E is cheap – around 25 Euros – and a nice allrounder. Another great entry player I toyed around with costs 30 Euros and was even a direct drive model: The Pioneer PL880 is an excellent player for that kind of money, but since it's a t4p-system, you need another cartridge. AT will help you again, they offer t4p-carts as cheap as 30 Dollars. Then look for a nice amp. An older Sony might be a good fit, you can find an old TA-F505 ES for 150 Euros in great condition. That is an amp that can stay with you, even when you upgrade the player. But if you are really on a Budget, look at old Aiwa amps. I found an Aiwa XA-006 for 40 bucks in almost perfect condition, great machine for very little money. Both have built in phono amps, so no need for a dedicated phono preamp yet. Speakers are not a problem: look for older Yamaha or Sony speakers. Not high-end names in the speaker business, but still very solid designs for little money back in the day. You can get a pair of Yamaha NS-G 30 for around 60 bucks. Now you have a nice-looking vintage set for under 200. If all the parts are functioning, they should be reliable for a while and sound really good. After all, that would be a stereo someone would have paid well over a 1000 Dollars back in the day. Depending on your wallet, you can scale that up of course, eBay and other sites are full of great vintage HiFi, there are second-hand-HiFi-Shops all over the world – which is the preferred way, should something be broken and maybe you can even listen before buying. B) Must be new, but money is an issue. That is the point where a lot of classic vinyl fans will stop talking to you, since they swear by the old players. I get their point, but then again, some people just don't buy used for one reason or another. So, not to worry, there are options. The Audio-Technica AT-LP60X is a solid workhorse for 100 bucks. Not a great player by any means, but it will get the job done and sound alright while doing it. Also has a preamp build in, saves money. If you can go up to 250, you'll get the next bigger player of the brand, the Audio-Technica AT 120XUSB. It kind of looks like the legendary Technics and while it is no 1210 by any means, it is sturdy, has the features and plays a nice, crisp sound. Want to be fancier? Take a look at the Pro-ject T1 SB, for 350 a real looker and sounds great. One of the nicest entry level plug and play sets. But let's get back down. You spend 100 bucks for the small AT LP60, now you need to connect it to something. To keep the price low, you should think about powered speakers, because getting a good, new stereo amp for around a 100 or a 150 is near impossible and then you would still need the speakers. I once had some Edifier R1850, that sounded better than the 170 Euro they cost, they have a lot of features, even a remote. Should you upgrade later, they will make really nice PC speakers. You should not go much cheaper than that and, if in any way possible, listen, then buy. Or check if you can return without further costs. If the Money is there, go for a Nubert nuBox A-125 or a Dali Zensor 1, both sound way better than the Edifier, but they cost around 400 Euros. Still, great speakers, ready for a later player upgrade. That will get you a solid little system between 280 and 700 Euros / Dollars. That is the reason I would always stay vintage in that price range. For that kind of money, you have a good choice of really good old equipment. That will in the end sound better if you invest a little bit of time, check in HiFi forums what to get and maybe invest part of the money to get an old player serviced. C) Getting serious (and poorer). My personal sweet spot for a really good stereo set lies somewhere between 2000 and 3000 Euros. Serious money for many people, me too, no two ways about it. But if you buy a good stereo and treat it well, then it can be with you for the rest of your life – or at least 10 to 20 years. Here the choice between going vintage and buying new is not easy. Both can lead to awesome setups. Vintage, you have a wide choice of some of the best classic players. 600 to 700 will get you some of the best Technics, Denon or Dual players – my own player right now is a Denon DP-47f. If you want to be more avantgarde and don't mind the higher maintenance, Bang & Olufsen and Revox had some nice looking stuff (though not the greatest sound that money can buy). For the amp, you can go for some old high-end Sony or Marantz, maybe get more creative with a good Luxman or Krell. I went with a fully serviced Sony TA-N870ES – close to 700 Euro – and it is a beast. At this range, you can use the build in phono amp without regret. Vinyl was important enough back in the day, so that amp producers cared, at least in their higher range models. Speaker-wise I would go with some nice Tannoy, Wharfedales, Dali or Nuberts in the 800-1000-range for a pair. It does not get much better than this. For that kind of money, there is also lots of good new hardware. For the amp, the Rega Brio is a really cute little brick with a lot of power and great sound. Another very phono-capable small form powerhouse is the Pro-Ject MaiA DS2. I'd buy it right now, if it weren't for the 900 Euros. Yamahas S701 and S801 are simply gorgeous (not as much as the S1200, but we have to stay somewhere near the budget). For players, the latest Technics SL1210 model is within range, at around 900 Euros and lots of people swear by it. I'd go for a Thorens TD240-2 or a Dual CS465, I love fully automatic players. You want to go manual, the Rega Planar 3 is gorgeous. All of these sound excellent – though a little bit different from one another – and come in at around 800. Speakers? I love the small Nubert NuVero 30 and plan to use them for the rest of my days. But at slightly above 1000 Euro you have tons of options and listening beforehand is not optional. These new components offer some amazing tech. With the vintage ones you get some of the best mainstream components from their era. Both will sound great. Personally, I love the vintage look and sound too much, but that is just my opinion. No right or wrong here. D) The Sky is the limit. Your budget lies above 3k? Cool. Get, what your heart desires, everything will sound good. Beyond my limits, go test out the Transrotor moon lander. No, seriously. If you go into a HiFi-shop and tell them, that you plan to spend 3k+ on a system, they will help you pick something out and let you listen to different options. If they don't, find another shop. But no matter what you buy, it will sound really good. So, these are the most basic options to get sound out of your records. HiFi is an endless ocean of possibilities (also to spend tons of money), so there is no perfect setup, just sound you like. Finding that is a worthwhile quest. Good luck. Like I said, if I missed something or got something wrong, let me know, I'll be glad to add and fix.
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