Posted by from MMO Champion
Upcoming PvP Class Tuning with the Weekly Maintenance on April 8
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
The following PvP class adjustments will arrive with scheduled weekly maintenance (April 8 in this region). We will continue to monitor and tune class combat in PvP and PvE as necessary in the weeks to come.
PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER
Death Knight
Unholy
Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the damage of Unholy through a few sources this week and adding some power back into their healing reduction PvP talent.
Necrotic Wounds now absorbs 4% of all healing received (was 3%).
Festering Wound damage increased by 12% in PvP combat.
Virulent Plague damage increased by 12% in PvP combat.
Death Coil damage increased by 12% in PvP combat.
Druid
Heart of the Wild cast time reduction reduced to 15% in PvP combat (was 30%).
Feral
Rip damage decreased by 15% in PvP combat.
Restoration
Mana regeneration reduced by 70% in PvP combat (was 65%).
Liberation of Undermine 4-set bonus chance to trigger reduced to 10% in PvP combat (was 15%).
Hunter
Marksmanship
Developers’ notes: We’re adjusting Marksmanship with the goal of reducing their maximum burst damage potential and increasing their consistent damage.
Trick Shots now hits targets for 40% of normal damage in PvP combat (was 75%).
Aspect of the Hydra now fires at 30% original value in PvP combat (was 60%).
Spotter’s Mark increases Aimed Shot’s damage by 10% in PvP combat (was 20%).
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the new-and-improved department: Midjourney's new V7 image model features a revamped architecture with smarter text prompt handling, higher image quality, and default personalization based on user-rated images. While some features like upscaling aren't yet available, it does come with a faster, cheaper Draft Mode. TechCrunch reports: To use it, you'll first have to rate around 200 images to build a Midjourney "personalization" profile, if you haven't already. This profile tunes the model to your individual visual preferences; V7 is Midjourney's first model to have personalization switched on by default. Once you've done that, you'll be able to turn V7 on or off on Midjourney's website and, if you're a member of Midjourney's Discord server, on its Discord chatbot. In the web app, you can quickly select the model from the drop-down menu next to the "Version" label.
Midjourney CEO David Holz described V7 as a "totally different architecture" in a post on X. "V7 is ... much smarter with text prompts," Holz continued in an announcement on Discord. "[I]mage prompts look fantastic, image quality is noticeably higher with beautiful textures, and bodies, hands, and objects of all kinds have significantly better coherence on all details." V7 is available in two flavors, Turbo (costlier to run) and Relax, and powers a new tool called Draft Mode that renders images at 10x the speed and half the cost of the standard mode. Draft images are of lower quality than standard-mode images, but they can be enhanced and re-rendered with a click.
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the PSA department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A technique that hostile nation-states and financially motivated ransomware groups are using to hide their operations poses a threat to critical infrastructure and national security, the National Security Agency has warned. The technique is known as fast flux. It allows decentralized networks operated by threat actors to hide their infrastructure and survive takedown attempts that would otherwise succeed. Fast flux works by cycling through a range of IP addresses and domain names that these botnets use to connect to the Internet. In some cases, IPs and domain names change every day or two; in other cases, they change almost hourly. The constant flux complicates the task of isolating the true origin of the infrastructure. It also provides redundancy. By the time defenders block one address or domain, new ones have already been assigned.
"This technique poses a significant threat to national security, enabling malicious cyber actors to consistently evade detection," the NSA, FBI, and their counterparts from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand warned Thursday. "Malicious cyber actors, including cybercriminals and nation-state actors, use fast flux to obfuscate the locations of malicious servers by rapidly changing Domain Name System (DNS) records. Additionally, they can create resilient, highly available command and control (C2) infrastructure, concealing their subsequent malicious operations." There are two variations of fast flux described in the advisory: single flux and double flux. Single flux involves mapping a single domain to a rotating pool of IP addresses using DNS A (IPv4) or AAAA (IPv6) records. This constant cycling makes it difficult for defenders to track or block the associated malicious servers since the addresses change frequently, yet the domain name remains consistent.
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the AI-all-the-things department: Google has introduced Sec-Gemini v1, an experimental AI model built on its Gemini platform and tailored for cybersecurity. BetaNews reports: Sec-Gemini v1 is built on top of Gemini, but it's not just some repackaged chatbot. Actually, it has been tailored with security in mind, pulling in fresh data from sources like Google Threat Intelligence, the OSV vulnerability database, and Mandiant's threat reports. This gives it the ability to help with root cause analysis, threat identification, and vulnerability triage.
Google says the model performs better than others on two well-known benchmarks. On CTI-MCQ, which measures how well models understand threat intelligence, it scores at least 11 percent higher than competitors. On CTI-Root Cause Mapping, it edges out rivals by at least 10.5 percent. Benchmarks only tell part of the story, but those numbers suggest it's doing something right. Access is currently limited to select researchers and professionals for early testing. If you meet that criteria, you can request access here.
Posted by from MMO Champion
Patch 11.1.5 PTR Development Notes - April 4, 2025
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Greetings! Here are the notes for this week’s PTR update:
HORRIFIC VISIONS REVISITED
Enemy Changes
Bosses and lieutenants have had their health increased when running with 1 or more masks.
Nemesis enemies have been tuned down slightly.
Some caster groups in Stormwind Mage Quarter have had casters removed or swapped for melee.
Follower Tuning
The orb will now heal constructs.
General construct damage increased for all roles.
Damage Dealer construct will now hit multiple targets for added area-of-effect damage.
Healer construct’s damage-over-time will max out at 5 targets.
Vengeance Mask
Bonus damage reduced to 15% (was 20%).
Now one debuff instead of multiple that would include the bonus from previous buffs.
Scorched Feet Madness
Cooldown increased from 9 seconds up to 19 seconds to happen less frequently.
Split Personality Madness
Removed two orbs to increase the opening to get out and add some smaller escape routes in a pinch.
Crests and Valorstones
Gilded Crest repeatable amounts increased slightly for 5, 6, 7, and 8 mask levels, 3, 4, 5, and 6 respectively.
Weekly bonus crests at all levels is 5.
Repeatable Valorstone values for 2+ masks slightly reduced.
Quality of Life
We now remember the Construct of Soridormi selected in your last run and automatically summon that one.
Also soon, mask selection will be remembered between runs. For groups it will use the Leaders last selection to start.
Various bug fixes. Also, we are disabling the 8.3 Horrific Vision food for Horrific Visions Revisited.
Posted by from MMO Champion
WoW Weekly: 20th Anniversary Edition Phase 3 PvP, AWC Returns on April 4, April Fools
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
WoW 20th Anniversary Edition Phase 3 Honor Cap, Arathi Basin, and More Now Live
The PvP Honor Rank 11 cap has been removed, giving access to titles and awards for ranking up to 14, the gates of Arathi Basin are open for a resource race, and more opportunities for Honor and Rewards can be had during Battleground holiday weekends.
Get Ready for Arathi Basin
Players: 15 vs.15
Level Range:20+
Capture Points: Farm, Mine, Blacksmith, Lumber Mill, and Stables
Resources Needed to Win: 2000
Players must hone their team coordination to a keen edge to capture and hold five different bases throughout the map and accrue resources. Alliance players will start close to the Stables at Trollbane Hall, while Horde players will begin near the farm in the Defiler’s Den. The first team to collect 2000 resources wins.
Battleground Holidays: More Honor and Rewards
Every weekend from Thursday night at midnight until early Tuesday morning, performing objectives in the featured battleground gains increased Honor and Faction rewards. Battleground holidays are on a weekly rotation cycle, starting the weekend of April 4 with Arathi Basin. Seek out the emissary in major cities to get the objective for the featured battleground to kick off your battle weekend.
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the art-of-the-deal department: For the second time, President Trump has extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. operations by 75 days. The TikTok deal "requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed," said Trump in a post on his Truth Social platform. The extension will "keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days."
"We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!)," Trump added. CNBC reports: ByteDance has been in discussion with the U.S. government, the company told CNBC, adding that any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law. "An agreement has not been executed," a spokesperson for ByteDance said in a statement. "There are key matters to be resolved." Before Trump's decision, ByteDance faced an April 5 deadline to carry out a "qualified divestiture" of TikTok's U.S. business as required by a national security law signed by former President Joe Biden in April 2024.
ByteDance's original deadline to sell TikTok was on Jan. 19, but Trump signed an executive order when he took office the next day that gave the company 75 more days to make a deal. Although the law would penalize internet service providers and app store owners like Apple and Google for hosting and providing services to TikTok in the U.S., Trump's executive order instructed the attorney general to not enforce it. "This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security!," Trump said in the Truth Social post. "We do not want TikTok to 'go dark.' We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the nice-try department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: It took only seconds for the judges on a New York appeals court to realize that the man addressing them from a video screen -- a person about to present an argument in a lawsuit -- not only had no law degree, but didn't exist at all. The latest bizarre chapter in the awkward arrival of artificial intelligence in the legal world unfolded March 26 under the stained-glass dome of New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division's First Judicial Department, where a panel of judges was set to hear from Jerome Dewald, a plaintiff in an employment dispute. "The appellant has submitted a video for his argument," said Justice Sallie Manzanet-Daniels. "Ok. We will hear that video now."
On the video screen appeared a smiling, youthful-looking man with a sculpted hairdo, button-down shirt and sweater. "May it please the court," the man began. "I come here today a humble pro se before a panel of five distinguished justices." "Ok, hold on," Manzanet-Daniels said. "Is that counsel for the case?" "I generated that. That's not a real person," Dewald answered. It was, in fact, an avatar generated by artificial intelligence. The judge was not pleased. "It would have been nice to know that when you made your application. You did not tell me that sir," Manzanet-Daniels said before yelling across the room for the video to be shut off. "I don't appreciate being misled," she said before letting Dewald continue with his argument.
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Posted by Tony_Bacala from TFW2005
Hot on the heels of Takara Tomy’s livestream and official announcements, Western retailers are now offering the next Masterpiece Optimus Prime, MPG-17. Read on for official pics and info, hit our sponsors to snag yours!
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Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the high-stakes department: Hackers targeting Australia's major pension funds in a series of coordinated attacks have stolen savings from some members at the biggest fund, Reuters is reporting, citing a source, and compromised more than 20,000 accounts. From the report: National Cyber Security Coordinator Michelle McGuinness said in a statement she was aware of "cyber criminals" targeting accounts in the country's A$4.2 trillion ($2.63 trillion) retirement savings sector and was organising a response across the government, regulators and industry. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, the industry body, said "a number" of funds were impacted over the weekend. While the full scale of the incident remains unclear, AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Rest, Insignia and Hostplus on Friday all confirmed they suffered breaches.
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