ssbet77 apk Army holds social activities to promote unity, diversityDiablo 4 did huge numbers when it was released in June 2023, with positive reviews, impressive sales numbers , and over 12 million players. But for those who finished the game's campaign and dove into its endgame content, the real meat of an ARPG like Diablo, it was clear something was amiss. Item progression was frustrating and often felt like a chore. There were few endgame activities and little reason to do them. Seasonal updates added new mechanics and smaller fixes but didn't solve the underlying structural issues players had with the latest entry in Blizzard's legendary loot-chasing franchise. It carried echoes of Diablo 3's 2012 launch, when players quickly became frustrated by its endgame loop (and its real-money auction house). Was Blizzard repeating the same mistake twice? What a difference a year makes. Whereas it took around two years for Diablo 3 to become great with the addition of its Reaper of Souls expansion, Diablo 4 today is vastly improved to the one of last year or even just seven months ago. Whereas I quickly fell off Diablo 4's endgame loot grind at launch, I'm now hooked thanks to free updates that overhauled itemization and revamped its difficulty. Diablo 4's endgame loop is now extremely satisfying, and I'm continuing to chase those smaller upgrades and highly coveted Mythic Unique items that could take my character ever slightly further--something that felt like a fool's errand a year ago. Many of the biggest changes came alongside Diablo 4's appropriately named Loot Reborn update in May. Items gained fewer affixes but ones that were more useful, making it easier to parse at a glance whether an item may be useful or not. Legendary Aspects, once a chore to find and replace, became an almost automated process, with salvaged Legendary items automatically having their Aspects added to the in-game codex for easy imprinting on future items. The addition of two new itemization systems, Masterworking and Tempering, is what truly took Diablo 4's items and its endgame into overdrive. Tempering allowed players to add certain affixes to items in order to hand-craft the perfect weapon or piece of armor. Masterworking, meanwhile, pushed players to upgrade a Tempered item into the ultimate version of itself. Loot Reborn proved to be a game-changer, not only because of the agency it gave players when it came to gearing up, but also for giving reasons to continue deep into Diablo 4's endgame. The addition of The Pit, a new timed endgame dungeon where materials needed to Masterwork items could be found, additionally gave players more goals to chase. Just as these systems overhauled Diablo 4's items and endgame, the game's 2.0 update, released alongside its first expansion in October, pushed things even further. Blizzard dropped the game's confusing World Tier difficulty system and instead replaced it with one more akin to Diablo 3 . It reorganized the endgame to form a more satisfying endgame progression loop, with Masterworking materials shifting to be found in Nightmare dungeons, and Glyph XP moving to The Pit. A new roguelite endgame activity introduced in Diablo 4 Season 5, Infernal Hordes, became a permanent fixture in update 2.0, giving players more options when it came to choosing how to spend their endgame time. All of those changes are without even mentioning the additions that came as part of the paid Vessel of Hatred expansion. It added a new region to explore, continued the game's story, introduced an additional endgame activity in the Kurast Undercity, brought recruitable Mercenaries into the fray, tossed Runewords into the build-customizing equation , and added a brand-new (and very overpowered) class: the Spiritborn . Now, when it comes to the endgame, players have choices. Do I need to Masterwork my gear more? I can run Nightmare dungeons or Infernal Hordes. Maybe I need to upgrade my Glyphs, so I'll hit up The Pit for a bit. If I'm looking for runes, a particular type of item, or materials, I can do an Undercity Tribute run with that specific goal in mind. Or if I'm looking for a certain Unique or Mythic Unique item, I can target-farm one of the endgame bosses for a higher chance of finding what I'm looking for. Diablo 4's endgame now lets me easily work towards whatever goals I have for my character and gives me options when doing so. Many of these endgame activities feed into each other. Running The Pit will give me tributes to use for the Undercity. Doing Undercity can give me boss-summoning materials. Defeating those bosses will give me Infernal Horde keys, which I can then use to gain Masterworking materials. It all feeds into itself in a satisfying endgame loop that keeps me playing, slaying, and upgrading, something that was definitely not the case when Diablo 4 launched. That's not to say there's no room for improvement. Though there is now much more to do in Diablo 4's endgame, there are few real challenges or reasons to keep pushing after a certain point. Most dedicated players will be able to easily clear higher-levels of The Pit or defeat the game's Torment bosses on the game's highest difficulty, after which gear upgrades simply allow players to clear those activities slightly faster. Doing things faster can be fun (and makes for efficient farming) but can lose its luster after a while without additional goals to pursue. Bugs also continue to be an ongoing issue, and Blizzard could benefit from putting a bit more polish on updates before releasing them out into the wild (something the game's public test realm, also introduced this year , does help with). Diablo 4's road of refinement likely won't be coming to an end anytime soon, but I am impressed at how far it has come in a relatively short amount of time. Even though Vessel of Hatred proved to be an excellent addition, it was this year's free Loot Reborn and 2.0 updates, more than the paid expansion, that transformed Diablo 4 from just "okay" into a great ARPG worthy of the Diablo name. It's fitting that Diablo 4 found its footing just ahead of Grinding Gear Games releasing the highly anticipated Path of Exile 2 into early access . Suddenly, the battle to be the top ARPG in the genre Blizzard invented is heating up. If Diablo 4's 2025 is anything like its 2024, next year will be a banner year for the genre, and I can't wait to see what's in store. 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Lions revoke season tickets of fan who had exchange with Packers coach Matt LaFleurSome tech industry leaders are pushing the incoming Trump administration to increase visas for highly skilled workers from other nations. Related Articles National Politics | In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families National Politics | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case National Politics | New 2025 laws hit hot topics from AI in movies to rapid-fire guns National Politics | Federal hostility could delay offshore wind projects, derailing state climate goals National Politics | Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen The heart of the argument is, for America to remain competitive, the country needs to expand the number of skilled visas it gives out. The previous Trump administration did not increase the skilled visa program, instead clamping down on visas for students and educated workers, increasing denial rates. Not everyone in corporate America thinks the skilled worker program is great. Former workers at IT company Cognizant recently won a federal class-action lawsuit that said the company favored Indian employees over Americans from 2013 to 2022. A Bloomberg investigation found Cognizant, and other similar outsourcing companies, mainly used its skilled work visas for lower-level positions. Workers alleged Cognizant preferred Indian workers because they could be paid less and were more willing to accept inconvenient or less-favorable assignments. Question: Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers? Caroline Freund, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy YES: Innovation is our superpower and it relies on people. Sourcing talent from 8 billion people in the world instead of 330 million here makes sense. Nearly half our Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Growing them also relies on expanding our skilled workforce. The cap on skilled-worker visas has hardly changed since the computer age started. With AI on the horizon, attracting and building talent is more important than ever. Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research YES: After years of openly allowing millions of undocumented entrants into the country, why is there controversy over legally increasing somewhat the number having desirable skills? Undocumented immigration significantly impacts lower skill level jobs and wages competing with domestic workers at every skill level. Why should special cases be made against those having higher skills? Could they just not walk across the border anyway, why make it more inconvenient to those with desirable skills? James Hamilton, UC San Diego YES: Knowledge and technology are key drivers of the U.S. economy. Students come from all over the world to learn at U.S. universities, and their spending contributed $50 billion to U.S. exports last year. Technological advantage is what keeps us ahead of the rest of the world. Highly skilled immigrants contribute much more in taxes than they receive in public benefits. The skills immigrants bring to America can make us all better off. Norm Miller, University of San Diego YES: According to Forbes, the majority of billion-dollar startups were founded by foreigners. I’ve interviewed dozens of data analysts and programmers from Berkeley, UCSD, USD and a few other schools and 75% of them are foreign. There simply are not enough American graduates to fill the AI and data mining related jobs now exploding in the U.S. If we wish to remain a competitive economy, we need highly skilled and bright immigrants to come here and stay. David Ely, San Diego State University YES: Being able to employ highly skilled workers from a larger pool of candidates would strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. companies by increasing their capacity to perform research and innovate. This would boost the country’s economic output. Skilled workers from other nations that cannot remain in the U.S. will find jobs working for foreign rivals. The demand for H-1B visas far exceeds the current cap of 85,000, demonstrating a need to modify this program. Phil Blair, Manpower YES: Every country needs skilled workers, at all levels, to grow its economy. We should take advantage of the opportunity these workers provide our employers who need these skills. It should be blended into our immigration policies allowing for both short and long term visas. Gary London, London Moeder Advisors YES: San Diego is a premiere example of how highly skilled workers from around the globe enrich a community and its regional economy. Of course Visa levels need to be increased. But let’s go further. Tie visas and immigration with a provision that those who are admitted and educated at a U.S. university be incentivized, or even required, to be employed in the U.S. in exchange for their admittance. Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch & Associates NO: While attracting high-skilled immigrants can fill critical gaps in sectors like technology, health care and advanced manufacturing, increasing high-skilled immigration could displace American workers and drive down wages in certain industries. There are already many qualified American workers available for some of these jobs. We should balance the need for specialized skills with the impact on the domestic workforce. I believe we can begin to increase the number of visas after a careful review of abuse. Austin Neudecker, Weave Growth YES: We should expand skilled visas to drive innovation and economic growth. Individuals who perform high-skilled work in labor-restricted industries or graduate from respected colleges with relevant degrees should be prioritized for naturalization. We depend on immigration for GDP growth, tax revenue, research, and so much more. Despite the abhorrent rhetoric and curtailing of visas in the first term, I hope the incoming administration can be persuaded to enact positive changes to a clearly flawed system. Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health YES: But it should be based upon need, not politics. There are several industries that have or could have skilled workforce shortages, especially if the next administration tightens immigration as promised and expected. Over the years, there have been nursing shortages that have been met partially by trained and skilled nurses from other countries. The physician shortage is expected to get worse in the years to come. So, this visa program may very well be needed. Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere NO: While skilled immigration could boost our economy and competitiveness, the U.S. should prioritize developing our domestic workforce. Hiring foreign nationals in sensitive industries or government-related work, especially in advanced technology or defense, raises security concerns. A balanced approach could involve targeted increases in non-sensitive high-demand fields coupled with investment in domestic STEM education and training programs. This could address immediate needs while strengthening the long-term STEM capabilities of the American workforce. Not participating this week: Alan Gin, University of San DiegoHaney Hong, San Diego County Taxpayers AssociationRay Major, economist Have an idea for an Econometer question? Email me at phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com . 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Arguably the biggest storyline from Sunday's game between the Giants and Saints took place during pregame when a plane asking Giants owner John Mara to fix "this dumpster fire" flew over MetLife Stadium. Not surprisingly, Giants players were asked about the plane following Sunday's 14-11 loss that dropped Big Blue to 2-11. While the question was expected, Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabers ' response certainly wasn't. "I ain't pay for the plane," Nabers said . Here's a look at the plane that sent a not so subtle message to Mara prior to Sunday's game. A plane flying over MetLife Stadium towing a banner that reads: “MR. MARA ENOUGH — PLZ FIX THIS DUMPSTER FIRE.” Last time things reached this level was 1978, which prompted an organizational overhaul pic.twitter.com/ym5OWA4Tws After a slow start, the Giants did provide some hope late in the game, as Tyrone Tracy Jr.'s short touchdown run made it a three-point game with 4:11 left. New York then had a chance to tie the score, but Graham Gano's 35-yard field goal try was blocked, as the Giants continue to find different ways to lose. If there is a bright spot, it's that the Giants are in position to possible secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft . The Giants are currently in a two-team race with the Raiders , who also fell to 2-11 after losing to the Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Chicago Bulls conclude a three-game homestand on Friday when they host Eastern Conference counterpart Charlotte Hornets, with both returning to action after lengthy breaks. Both Charlotte and Chicago last played on Sunday, going on hiatus the following four days due to their eliminations from the NBA Cup. The Hornets finished 0-4 in East Group A, and the Bulls went 2-2 in Group C. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Stacker ranked the best films of 2024 so far using data from Metacritic as of Dec. 2, 2024. Check back to see this list evolve as the year concludes. Click for more. The best movies of 2024 so far

MUMBAI: BMC-run Nair Hospital Dental College, located in Mumbai Central, has won the Best Social Service in the Asia-Pacific Region award from the United States-based Pierre Fauchard Academy. The recognition highlights the college’s community outreach efforts, including its innovative ‘Portable Dental Van on Wheels’ initiative. Through this programme, the college organises dental camps in old age homes, prisons, schools for blind students, orphanages, and settlements of sex workers, raising oral health awareness with the help of professors, trainees, and students. The award was presented to the college’s dean, Dr Neelam Andrade, by Pierre Fauchard Academy international president Dr Sheryl Billingsley at a ceremony in New Delhi. Established in 1936, the Pierre Fauchard Academy honours outstanding contributions to dentistry and is named after the French pioneer widely considered the father of modern dentistry. Acknowledging the honour, Dr Vipin Sharma, additional municipal commissioner (western suburbs), said the recognition brings heightened expectations for Nair Dental College to continue serving the public with advanced technology and superior care. Civic chief Bhushan Gagrani also stressed the need for the BMC to uphold its commitment to quality healthcare. Founded in 1933, Nair Hospital Dental College is Mumbai’s second-oldest dental hospital. It treats 1,000–1,200 patients daily, with over 3.5 lakh patients receiving care annually. Beyond patient care, the institution is deeply invested in social welfare, making its mark with impactful community service initiatives that extend its reach beyond clinic walls.

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