Category Archives: Ascension

Summary

Silent Hill is a beloved franchise. Many of the games in its early catalog are considered the peak of the psychological horror genre, Silent Hill 2 being a masterpiece of storytelling and atmosphere. Even the weaker entries into the franchise have some who adore and defend them. So the excitement that the fandom felt at the promise of a new entry after eleven years of waiting was palpable. There was a lot of anticipation for Silent Hill: Ascension as the days got closer to its release, only for many of those hopes to end up completely dashed in the wave of its release.

Gaming spaces have had a contentious relationship with many of the larger gaming companies in the last few years. Much of it related to things like poor out-of-the-box quality and the ever-hated microtransactions. Silent Hill: Ascension has come to have the reputation of reproducing the feeling of being in a pachinko parlor without any of the actual excitement that can come with it. The fact that this style of game was even released is ultimately a bad sign for the future of gaming if large studios can assume that they can get away with making "games" like this going forward for beloved and innovative franchises.

The Best Underrated Horror Title While You Wait On the Silent Hill 2 Remake

Part of understanding why the reaction to Silent Hill: Ascension has been so vitriolic is understanding that it is only just barely a game. It is a mix of a streamable series and a "choose your own adventure" game at its core. The audience (i.e., the players) is able to vote at certain points to influence the course of the story. The story itself follows six different characters in very different places, all connected by cultish deaths and mysteries. The game references the first three games in the series often and without any real subtlety involved specifically in the psychological elements. The game is set to release its episodes over time to goad audiences back to the app to observe it.

The biggest problem is the voting system. Not all votes are created equal and players can pay for points or a season pass. These points go towards influencing the decisions in the game, so players who are willing to sink money into it have a disproportionate voice in the proceedings. This is where the major cracks settle in. There are free ways to earn points, of course, but in a game that relies on the votes of the community to proceed and change, the fastest way to accumulate these points is by buying them. There are other sequences that don't rely on this system, but they aren't robust enough or as impactful as they should be. This system makes it so that those who pay money are the ones who shape the story with more regularity than any of the players who don't think they need to buy a season pass for something that is basically a cut scene.

Microtransactions have always been a point of contention, especially when they can provide paths to victory or are gatekeeping some content that deserves to be in the vanilla version of the game. The release of Baldur's Gate III had many developers looking rather bad, especially Blizzard with Diablo IV, because no microtransactions exist and BG3 still did extremely well. Diablo IV, by comparison, was universally panned because of its constant redirection to the in-game store and the fact that it was nowhere near what the community actually wanted. For a franchise as classic as Silent Hill to fall to this specific pain point for gamers is something of a slap in the face. Despite the fact that it is barely a game, it fundamentally does not understand what made the franchise so good and beloved. The graphics are cheap-looking, even for a mobile game. The story is very on the nose with very little actual mystery beyond what is conjured up to keep players on the hook. The biggest sin is the fact that it is ultimately a pay-to-play game where money will always win the dayand this is where Silent Hill: Ascension conjures a foreboding sense of what could be to come for the wider gaming space.

Best Horror Movies About Alternate Dimensions And Parallel Universes

After Netflix canceled free password sharing, the collective streaming world had to see what would happen. The company would either lose customers and viewers as people walked away, or it would gain them and become more profitable. Rather than losing money, it made money and gained more customers. This has led other streaming services to consider getting rid of password sharing themselves and has effectively changed what this space will look like going forward, as more services see the potential to make money off of this idea. Several companies, like Disney+, have already announced their considerations. Silent Hill: Ascension could easily be seen as a testing ground for a similar theory and that theory paints an incredibly bleak future for gaming.

Microtransactions have been a pain point for gamers for quite some time. From Asura's Wrath having its true ending locked behind DLC to Mass Effect 3 having day one downloadable content for content that was pretty pivotal to the plot, the complaints have been there for an incredibly long time. Games that don't have in-game marketplaces have become rarer and rarer from triple-A gaming publishers and people are getting more fed up with the way the system works. Game studios will defend these choices as needing to prop up revenue and make more profits, but with game developers' salaries kept low and executive salaries kept high, the platitude rings hollow. Large gaming companies make a good amount of money on their games, but their promises to their shareholders require them to squeeze as much money out of a game as possible. These policies and decisions have led to games like Dead Space 3 and Diablo IV being scorned by the players who loved the earlier installments in their franchises.

What Silent Hill: Ascension proposes through its very existence is that gamers will take anything as long as they slap a beloved IP on it. People will spend money to have their voices heard, to play something that only barely counts as a game, because it falls into a franchise that they absolutely adore. It is a pretty dystopian thought. That the future of gaming won't try to innovate or create something new when people can be squeezed for every spare dime to play games like these. If this model is shown to be successful and profit-generating, it's only logical that gaming companies would try to continue with this specific trend in design. If the goal is not to create quality, but to act as a free money printer, as some of these games do, then this is the ideal design. Low effort, low cost with high profitability. It cannot be understated that games that are quality on day one with well-paid employees and a lack of predatory in-game markets are becoming more and more in the minority when it comes to triple-A game production. It's one thing for a game to be bad; it's wholly another thing for it to be an ill omen in and of itself.

Silent Hill was a franchise that truly changed the gaming landscape for horror games. Its innovation in storytelling and atmosphere rippled throughout gaming for multiple generations of consoles and gamers alike. At its best, Silent Hill: Ascension is a predatory insult to everything that the franchise was once known and praised for. At its worst, it is a herald of things to come in the unlikely event that its model is completely successful. Gamers deserve better. They deserve to be respected if nothing else, as the gaming industry has only grown in the last thirty years. For so long, developers have been working for small audiences, but most games now do better in their first weeks than most movies. Silent Hill: Ascension is a cash grab that doesn't even bother to dress up its intentions, and its success will only beget more of its kind of game.

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Silent Hill Ascension Could Be A Bad Sign For The Future Of Gaming - CBR - Comic Book Resources

People have found a new artist to listen to after a video of Stephen Sanchez singing Cigarette Daydreams by Cage the Elephant blew up on TikTok.

It was the first time that something that I had sang got a nice reaction, Stephen told SoundStrip during his Southeast Asia press conference.

Since he posted that cover, the American singer-songwriter said it motivated him to post some more. He shared that it was an interesting experience to have strangers on the internet praise his singing, his playing of the guitar, or just the song itself.

Riding on that wave, his second post was his first song, Lady By the Sea in 2020. It was even cooler to have written a song, and have people be excited about that, he added.

From there, he kept on releasing songs until his RIAA 3x Platinum Certified hit Until I Found You from his second EP became a viral hit on TikTok and peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

His breakout single is a brilliant foreshadowing of his full-length debut album Angel Face, which tells the story of the fictional Stephen Sanchez as The Troubadour Sanchez who finds fame based on his 1958 hit song Until I Found You.

A different universe

In this fictional world, Troubadour Stephen met a girl named Evangeline, also his track from his debut album, and had a tumultuous romance with her. Troubadour Sanchez was murdered in 1964, and almost 60 years later, his supposed first album Angel Face was unearthed.

Along with the album, Stephen has released cinematic music videos for Death Of The Troubadour and High, directed by Charlie Rees, giving a closer look at The Troubadours story by narrating the love triangle between him, Evangeline, and her former lover Hunter.

In the real world, Angel Face is a 13-track album released in September 2023. Heavily inspired by 50s and 60s love songs, the storytelling through lyrics coupled with crooner Stephens smooth and magnetic vocals along with dreamy jazz, blues and rock melodies, dominated the whole album.

He shared that his motivation to create the role of Troubadour Sanchez was his curiosity about what he would be like if he grew up in the 50s and 60s. If he was lined up against the icons at that time, how would he look like, he asked himself.

Stephen has also collaborated with Ben Schneider, the lead singer of the band Lord Huron, who he said working with was a dream come true since the band was his musical inspiration while growing up. They wrote together the songs No One Knows, Caught in a Blue, and Death of the Troubadour.

When they were writing No One Knows together in the studio, Stephen shared that Ben brought up a very important point: A love song thats only about how great it is all the time is not a real love song, its not the truth.

He added: We want to write it then as a duet that highlights both sides of the relationship and kind of say awful things that both of these people are doing to one another. And so, Stephen reached out to Laufey, an artist hes a fan of, and told her about the song and to sing this duet.

She came to the studio with a cello in hand and we recorded the song live. Exactly what you hear on the record is what we did, looking across from each other, recording the song, he said.

An old soul

The 21-year-old Stephen is an old soul, a lover of all things vintage like cars, style, hair, makeup, revolutionizing the future, music, and art, reflected in his music and fashion styles.

Oftentimes, he was compared to King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley for his jet black slicked-back hair and 1950s crooner The Troubadour Sanchez persona.

He remarked: Getting compared to anybody like that is a very wonderful compliment, citing Elvis along with Sam Cooke and Frank Sinatra as his favorites.

I think its really amazing that anyone would compare me to someone with magnitude and talent, he said.

He also cited Harry Styles as his inspiration, but he shared: More than their moves, its their confidence that inspires me to explore my own moves, the way I want to dance on stage and express myself.

They have definitely inspired me, but it always turns into your own thing, he quipped.

Much like his fictional character as the troubadour, Stephen also rose to fame after the success of Until I Found You, amassing 1.6 billion streams on all versions on Spotify.

He was also invited by Sir Elton John to perform the track during his last-ever headlining show at Glastonbury and performed the song during Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainges wedding in France as well.

Stephen is currently touring the United States with Angel Face and revealed that as far as a sequel goes for his debut album, he said he has some things in mind for making an ascension story. For his sophomore album, he shared that he has some ideas but hes not sure yet what it will look like.

Fictional or not, fans will likely watch out for both versions of Stephen Sanchez in Angel Face.

Image credits: Caity Krone

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VIRAL-WORTHY | The 'ascension story' of Stephen Sanchez | Reine ... - BusinessMirror

BATON ROUGE, La. - Hurricane season starts next week and several long-term projects to protect against storm surge are just getting started. Washington recently signed off on the money to provide some peace of mind for those in Ascension, Assumption, and St. James parishes.

The bill will deliver better flood control, coastal restoration, and hurricane protection, as well as direct investments in our ports and waterways.

"It's a long drawn out process when you recover from a hurricane," said Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre. "The swath of damage is extensive."

Year after year, Louisiana residents are left in recovery mode from devastating storms. Strong winds causing major damage to homes and above all, flooding, a main concern in our southern parishes.

"I would love to have an Ascension Parish where the concern of flooding is no longer an issue," Webre said.

In December 2022, the Water Resources Development Act was passed to help prioritize coastal ecosystem restoration. It's a vital $1.8 billion project that would benefit coastal parishes and includes Ascension, Assumption, and St. James.

"It is going to effectively put a barrier down at the bottom of that 'Achilles heel,' or vulnerability, and prevent storm surge from going all the way up into the parishes like Assumption, St. James, and even all the way up into Ascension Parish during a tidal surge or hurricane type event," said Congressman Garret Graves.

A surge like what we saw in 2012 when Hurricane Isaac brought major flooding into St. James Parish. Isaac made landfall in Plaquemines Parish as a category one. The project would prevent that surge from reaching the three parishes, something Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre agrees is a project that's also needed in their area.

"They all matter and they all will make a difference," Webre said of the projects. "And that is good for the parish of Ascension and good for our residents here to be able to say 'you know what, we are at least heading in the right direction' to mitigate the flooding that we have because none of us want to go through the things that we went through."

But as for a completion date, that's going to take some time.

"We need about another four to five years to get some of these key projects in place or at least some of the base of these key projects in place," Congressman Graves said. "So what I'm praying for this hurricane season, and the next several is that we don't get it, that really is it, that we need a little bit more time to make progress to actually get these dollars invested in the ground."

Construction on the project, which would be seen around the Barataria basin, is expected to be completed in about 10 years.

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Construction to begin on long-term project to prevent storm surge ... - KTBS

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after the events of Jedi: Fallen Order. The game continues to follow Cal Kestis and BD-1 in their neverending struggle to topple the Galactic Empire and restore the Jedi Order.

RELATED: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - Hardest Trophies To Get

Kestiss journey takes him to the desert planet of Jedha, where he hopes to reunite with his former Jedi companion Cere Junda. Kestis managed to find her contact to help reach her hidden base but theyll need to hold off patrolling Empire forces.

After Merrin arrives to save Kestis from a group of Stormtroopers, a few more waves of enemies will attack you. Utilize Merrins dark magic to immobilize enemies to make it easier for you to take them down.

Once youve defeated the Empire forces, have Merrin create a holder for Kestis ascension cable so you can ascend the wall.

Merrins magic allows her to create ascension holders that were previously broken.

Head down the path and loop around to the next level. Youll find a Jedha Scroll to your left, then use the Force to push the large block down the slope.

Continue pushing the block until its in between the stone walls, then climb up the block to reach the ledge above you.

Keep heading down the path as it narrows until a cutscene occurs.

Drop down into the group of Stormtroopers and clear out the patrol.

Interact with the speeder to trigger another cutscene, then have Merrin create a holder for Kestiss ascension cable to wall run and reach the other side.

There will be a longer wall to run on, so you might need to jump in the middle to reset Kestiss wall run.

Squeeze through the opening and use the Force to push the opening but the rocks will block the path.

Merrin will use her magic to restore the opening so you can continue moving forward.

Wall run and jump on the metal grate to climb on the wall. Examine the Spamels from a distance, then use the Halls Of Ranvell Meditation Point nearby.

After using the Meditation Point, sense the Echo down the path to the right of Merrin. Keep heading down the path to find a Jedha Scroll at the bottom of the steps.

The door is locked on the other side, so head back up to the Meditation Point and run toward Merrin. Use a sky attack on the Stormtroopers below and eliminate the rest of the group.

You can use the Force to pull the shield off a Stormtrooper and throw it back at them for damage.

Before asking Merrin to make a holder for your ascension cable, turn around and run on the wall to reach an area that Merrin will say isnt in the direction of Ceres base.

Jump on the patches of the wall so Kestis can stick to them until you reach the top platform. Interact with the Powerup to receive some experience points.

Be sure to use the Meditation Point to cash in the Skill Point you most likely earned from the Powerup.

Return to the area you defeated the Stormtroopers and now ask Merrin to create the ascension cable holder and climb up the ledge. There will be a Stormtrooper to the left waiting to shoot you, so be prepared to block right away.

Jump on the ceiling to climb across to the other side, then round the corner and take down the Flametrooper waiting on the steps. Defeat them and scan the databank to the left.

Drop down from the ledge and defeat the first Stormtrooper before deflecting several blaster shots from the other Stormtrooper from the other side of the platform.

Once theyre dead, run on the wall to the other side and climb up the metal wall grate. As youre climbing, youll see Merrin take down a few Stormtroopers. Climb up the ledge and head down the path to find another ledge to climb.

Head out of the side opening and wall jump to an opening above you to find a Jedha Scroll.

Drop down to the lowest level of the structure and follow the path to find a holder for your ascension cable to latch yourself to a grate above.

Swing your way to the end of the path and drop down on the Stormtrooper. Head inside and walk along the path then wall run to reach the other side across the gap.

Turn around and wall run again to reach another platform.

Continue down the ramp and wall run again to reach the highest platform. Kill the Stormtroopers in the area, then scan the databank on the far lefthand wall.

Directly on the opposite wall of the databank will be a crate with Common Plastoid color palette for BD-1 Materials.

There is a workbench next to the crate that you can use.

Head down the side path and climb up the metal grate, then climb around the left side to find a patrol of Stormtroopers. Defeat the Stormtroopers and have BD-1 activate a shortcut.

Examine the storm in the distance, then run to the edge of the path, and wall run to the end of the cliff wall to use your lightsaber to descend.

Kestis and Merrin will land in a Skriton lair, the beast that was stalking you underneath the sand earlier. This creature resembles a giant scorpion, so youll want to avoid its claws and tail.

The Skriton will use its larger claw to protect its face and lash out quickly with its tail. It will also try slamming its claw into the ground as an unguardable attack.

Alternate between Merrins dark magic and Kestiss time-slow ability and the Skriton will be disposed of rather quickly.

Scan the Skriton corpse, then have Merrin create a holder for your ascension cable. Youll emerge in the Divine Oasis, the main open area of Jedha.

Sense the Echo near the camp and then circle around to find a Jedha Scroll.

Tame the Spamel, and youll be able to ride the creature.

Unlike the Nekkos on Koboh, Spamels can sprint. They can also walk up the slopes, so follow the path over the slope and youll be in the same area where you swung on the metal bar into the group of Hardshells.

Lead the Spamel up the middle path that resembles an open hand and head across the pillar. Continue heading down the path until you enter the Abandoned Tradeway.

Keep following the path through an underpass and sprint through the desert after the Empire ships. The desert storm winds will become more intense and a cutscene will trigger as you run into another Skriton.

Kestis will be knocked off the Spamel, so walk carefully through the storm to find Merrin, and shell fix the broken bridge. When you try to walk across it, a pillar will fall and break it.

Continue following Merrin through the storm until you encounter a group of Stormtroopers. There will also be an AT-ST among the group as well, a giant machine that fires blasters and grenades.

Use Merrin to immobilize the AT-ST and continue to hack away. When its health is depleted, use your ascension cable to scale the AT-ST, and Kestis will yank the pilot from the cockpit.

After the cutscene, continue following Merrin to find shelter from the sandstorm. Youll also find the Spamel safe in the cave. Another cutscene will occur.

When Kestis and Merrin wake up, the storm has cleared. Head through the cave and use the Sheltered Hollow Meditation Point on the right.

Continue down the path and open the crate on the left for another Health Stim.

Use your ascension cable to begin wall running - youll need to jump in the middle to keep wall running to reach the next ascension cable holder before falling to the slope below.

Once you drop into the new area, jump across the gap and climb the ledges on the rock pillar. Run on the wall to the top platform where Merrin is waiting and keep heading toward the metal door on the side of the rock wall.

When you reach the door, a cutscene will trigger, and Jedi Master Eno Cordova opens the door for you. Follow Cordova and Merrin to the Base Antechamber and take the lift down.

Eventually, youll see the Mantis descend into the hangar. Use the second lift to arrive on the ground level with the Mantis.

Head across the hangar, and youll pass a spike with Stormtrooper armor on it. There will be a lift behind the spike, but you wont be able to use it.

Continue into the next area and use the Force to push the orb across the room to open the door to the Archives. Here, you'll find Cere and complete the objective.

NEXT: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - How To Defeat Every Legendary Enemy

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How To Reach Cere's Base In Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - TheGamer

Kalamazoo area police are on the scene at Ascension Borgess after the hospital entered lockdown May 16, 2023. (Matt Lawrence/WWMT)

A 32-year-old Kalamazoo man was arrested after allegedly threatening Ascension Borgess staff Tuesday morning.

Officers were called to the hospital's ambulance bay after the man, who was upset about a previous visit, threatened security staff while holding a knife, according to Kalamazoo Township Police Department.

After nearly an hour of negotiations, the man was arrested and taken to Kalamazoo County Jail, police said.

Kalamazoo area police are on the scene at Ascension Borgess after the hospital entered lockdown May 16, 2023. (Matt Lawrence/WWMT)

No one was hurt in the incident, and the case is expected to be reviewed by the Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney, according to police.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Silent Observer at 269-343-2100, or Kalamazoo Township Police Department at 269-488-8911.

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Knife-wielding man arrested after threatening Ascension Borgess staff - WWMT-TV

Talent at the old ESPN, as Keith Olbermann once said, were treated as factory workers in a factory town. The new ESPN is moving in a different direction.

A few minutes into an upfront that featured a video of Baby Yoda and an appearance from the Kardashians, Disney unveiled its newest star. Pat McAfee strode onto the stage in a black suit like he was on his way to a wrestling ring to cut a promo. My show, my guys and I, will be joining the ESPN universe, he declared. The New York Post reported that McAfee got an eight-figure deal. That was enough to lure him away from a deal worth $30 million a year that he had with FanDuel.

McAfee is already on ESPN as an analyst with College GameDay. ESPN is forking over additional millions to put his three-hour daily podcast on TV, its app, and its YouTube channel simultaneouslya first, McAfee noted. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, he said, was one of the only people that I talked to that truly understood what the future of sports media is gonna look like.

A decade ago, critics had a vision of ESPNs future. The network would be defined by debate. Takes would replace journalism. Stephen A. Smith would crowd out the wisecracking SportsCenter host.

At Tuesdays upfront, as McAfee was followed onstage by Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Peyton Manning, it became clear thats not what happened at ESPNnot exactly. ESPN has come to be defined by stardom. Even as the network lays off employees, its handing out the richest talent contracts in its history, trusting that a handful of highly paid big names will help it win the streaming wars. ESPN today is like a cable network run by the front office of the 90s Yankees or the 2016 Warriors.

Since becoming ESPN president in 2018, Pitarowhom McAfee affectionately called the Paisanohas had an eye for a certain kind of free agent. McAfee, like Buck and Aikman, is a big name. Because of that, McAfee is very expensive.

McAfee is also the kind of content workhorse ESPN likes. McAfee hosts three hours of daily podcasting, which has included Tuesday interviews with Aaron Rodgers. On Saturday mornings, hes on location with GameDay. He hosted an alternate telecast of the national championship game; he has called wrestling matches for WWE; he stumped for a spot on Monday Night Football. Weve been able to generate a group of humans, he told the advertisers gathered on Tuesday, that will ride with us wherever I go.

ESPN handing over huge chunks of its schedule to hosts like McAfee is a complete philosophical about-face. For decades, ESPN reined in anybody who dared to get bigger than the brand. We were not celebrities, Keith Olbermann once told me of his first tour on SportsCenter. We were factory workers in a factory town.

ESPNs new stars are factory workers who never punch out. Every weekday morning, Mike Greenberg (the host of Get Up, NBA Countdown, the NFL draft, and two hours of daily radio) hands it off to Stephen A. Smith (First Take, NBA Countdown, the NBA draft, the Know Mercy podcast, and an alternate broadcast of playoff games).

During the NBA playoffs, Greeny and Stephen A. have been squeezed for so much content that you can see them straining when theyre called to churn out even more. After Game 4 of the Lakers-Warriors series, Greeny suggested the Lakers should sit their starters because they led 3-1. After Game 5, Stephen A. laughed at the idea that Anthony Davis could have gotten a concussion. Both statements were mostly really strange. Theyre also outgrowths of a system where a few anchors are talking all the time.

Another outgrowth is that shows like NBA Countdown have become weirdly personal affairs, more podcast than pregame. Before Game 6 of the Heat-Knicks series, Countdown ended with Smith embracing the logo of his beloved Knicks on a video screen as his colleagues applauded.

Im not happy at all, Greeny, Smith said at halftime, after the Knicks blew a big lead. Following the Knicks loss of the game and series, Smith demanded they trade Julius Randle. As Sports Illustrateds Jimmy Traina noted, the victorious Heat did not exist in this universe because they didnt happen to be Smiths favorite team.

The old ESPN didnt offer that kind of creative license to anybody. But it offered pathways for lots of employees. You could carve out a career as a SportsCenter anchor, a hyperactive basketball analyst, a hot-take radio host, an intrepid scoop gatherer, or a long-form magazine writer. Six yearsand approximately a million media lifetimesago, ESPNs upfront featured Wright Thompson sitting at a faux whiskey bar, regaling advertisers with war stories from his reporting.

Pitaro would tell you hes playing a far different hand than his predecessors did. As ESPN moves from a world defined by the cable bundle to one defined by streaming, Pitaro is building the network around a tiny group of anchors who can help it hang on to cable customers, make streaming shows, and eat innings so it can have a smaller workforce.

There are a couple of costs involved. One is that a decade of layoffs means ESPNlike the old Yankeeshas stopped creating many of its own stars.

Another is that ESPN cant pay anchors eight figures and hope to control them. On the Know Mercy podcast that Smith hosts outside the networkitself one of the spoils of the new ESPNhe has weighed in on Robert De Niros sex drive and torched Representative George Santos. Last month, McAfee told his audience that under any deal he signed, creative control was nonnegotiable.

The way ESPN is rebuilding its workforce has been tried before, and not just by Joe Lacob and George Steinbrenner. Network news in the 80s created a star system even as it cut back on news-gathering. A good preview of the new ESPN came last September, when McAfee joked on his show that Greenberg had missed Get Up too many times during his vacation. In the age of the ESPN super-superstar, theres no such thing as load management.

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Pat McAfees Ascension to ESPN Superstardom Is a Sign of the Times - The Ringer

GONZALES - Administrators said they found no sign of any real danger after investigating a threat made against East Ascension High.

In the statement sent to parents Tuesday, school leaders said that the Gonzales Police Department had also been called in to investigate the threat made on social media. The person responsible has reportedly been identified, and the campus is not facing any immediate danger, according to the school.

Read the following statement from the principal below.

Dear Spartan Families,

I want to share with you information about a potential threat that has been swiftly investigated and addressed.

This morning, the Gonzales Police Department and our administration began investigating a threat posted on social media. The individual who made the threat has been identified, addressed and will face appropriate consequences for the distress caused to campus.

Although the threat was found not credible, as with all matters of student safety, we have taken this very seriously and have acted accordingly. I want to thank our law enforcement partners working quickly to bring closure to the incident.

Please encourage your child to let a teacher or administrator know if a situation exists that could ever place him or her and others in danger. Only by working as a school community can we maintain the level of safety that we want for our children and that they certainly deserve at East Ascension High School.

Sincerely,

Lauren Avery

Principal

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Online threat made against East Ascension High prompts police investigation - WBRZ

CNA Newsroom, May 17, 2023 / 16:30 pm

Thursday is the Ascension, the day the Church marks 40 days since Jesus resurrection and the day he ascended into heaven (see Acts 1:111). But depending on where you live, you may or may not be obligated to attend Mass on that day.

If you live in the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Omaha, and Philadelphia, tomorrow is a holy day of obligation for you. That means if you live in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Nebraska, or Pennsylvania, you have to go to Mass!

If you live in the rest of the country, the celebration of the solemnity of the Ascension is moved to the Seventh Sunday of Easter which this year is Sunday, May 21.

Why the different days of celebration?

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Is Thursday a holy day of obligation? It depends on where you live - Catholic News Agency

Bangkok, Thailand, will be the host city for the highly anticipated VCT Ascension Pacific 2023 tournament from June 28 to July 9, marking an exciting milestone for Valorant Esports in the Asia Pacific region.

Riot Games made the announcement on Valorant Esports Indonesian YouTube channel, and Jake Sin, the Head of Valorant Esports in the APAC region, confirmed it on Twitter.

The tournament will showcase the top 10 teams representing various countries and regions within the Asia Pacifics Challengers Circuit.

In addition, the team that wins Ascension will earn a coveted two-year promotion to the prestigious VCT Pacific League, allowing them to compete against other partnered teams next year.

VCT Ascension Pacific 2023 will feature the top tier 2 Valorant rosters from Korea, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia/Singapore, Hong Kong/Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Oceania, and South Asia.

At the time of writing, the participating teams for Ascension are yet to be determined.

According to the newVCT formatintroduced before the 2023 season, the Pacific League will expand, adding one team per year until reaching a maximum limit of 14 partnered squads by 2027.

We expect Riot Games to release more information about the upcoming Ascension tournament. Follow ONE Esports onFacebookandTwitterfor more Valorant esports news.

READ MORE:Paper Rex Jinggg lost all his clothes in Iceland

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Inaugural VCT Ascension Pacific 2023 is heading to Thailand - ONE Esports

Jing Yuan

Lightning

Erudition

5-Star

Guides

Build Guide (coming soon)

Level-Up Materials

Team Composition (coming soon)

Best Light Cone (coming soon)

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It's no secret that General Jing Yuan is set to be playable, considering he was released in the beta of Honkai: Star Rail. Players first meet Jing Yuan in the Xianzhou Luofu, where after Yukong refuses the Honkai: Star Rail Trailblazers' offer to help with the Stellaron, Jing Yuan makes a proposal that the trio can't refuse.

As he's a citizen of Xianzhou Luofu, it's no surprise that Jing Yuan materials in Honkai: Star Rail revolves around the area, where his boss and enemy drops can be obtained in the region. However, as there's no weekly boss in Xianzhou Luofu upon Jing Yuan's release in version 1.0, he'll be using the Doomsday Beast drops in Honkai: Star Rail, a foe that can be found in Herta Space Station.

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Jing Yuan materials in Honkai: Star Rail are basically:

Here's the full list of Jing Yuan mats in Honkai: Star Rail for his Ascension:

Level

Credit

Enemy Drop

Boss Drop

20

4,000

Immortal Scionette x5

-

30

8,000

Immortal Scionette x10

-

40

16,000

Immortal Aeroblossom x6

Shape Shifters Lightning Staff x3

50

40,000

Immortal Aeroblossom x9

Shape Shifters Lightning Staff x7

60

80,000

Immortal Lumintwig x6

Shape Shifters Lightning Staff x20

70

160,000

Immortal Lumintwig x9

Shape Shifters Lightning Staff x35

Total

308000

Shape Shifters Lightning Staff x65

Unlike in Genshin Impact where each talent can be leveled up to level 10, it's a little more complicated in Honkai: Star Rail, so this section will be split into three parts:

Each character in Honkai: Star Rail can upgrade their Basic Attack up to level six.

Level

Credit

Trace Materials

Enemy Drop

2

5,000

Key of Inspiration x3

Immortal Scionette x6

3

10,000

Key of Knowledge x3

Immortal Aeroblossom x3

4

20,000

Key of Knowledge x5

Immortal Aeroblossom x4

5

45,000

Key of Wisdom x3

Immortal Lumintwig x3

6

160,000

Key of Wisdom x8

Immortal Lumintwig x4

Total

240,000

Meanwhile, Skill, Talent, and Ultimate can reach level 10, and they have the same list of materials for each level.

Level

Credit

Trace Materials

Enemy Drop

Weekly Boss Drop

Track of Destiny

2

2,500

-

Immortal Scionette x3

-

-

3

5,000

Key of Inspiration x3

Immortal Scionette x6

-

-

4

10,000

Key of Knowledge x3

Immortal Aeroblossom x3

-

-

5

More:

Honkai: Star Rail Jing Yuan Ascension and Trace Materials - GameRant