Thomas Russell

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@pepsi Pepsi Vanilla, please bring it back.

[Colin Moriarty @longislandviper]

An update!

I'm sorry I've been quiet, but I've spent the last couple of days learning as much as I can about PSN account theft: How long it's been happening, why people are being affected, and so on. I've likewise exchanged a ton of emails with and spoken extensively on the phone with multiple high-ranking people at Sony in different departments over a series of lengthy calls. I want to sincerely thank them for listening, asking great questions, being thorough and thoughtful, and doing everything they can to help. I owe them a lot, and it's through their efforts that I hope we will see action.

On the next episode of Sacred Symbols, I will go deep into what we've learned (and because it's so important, we will make this episode free-for-all upon release this Friday). The reality, as far as we can tell, is that the PSN is extremely vulnerable to so-called "social engineering": Using completely mundane information -- like what you'd find on a Wal-Mart or Target receipt (if that) combined with nothing more than an email address -- and using those details to hijack innocent people's accounts via call center customer service representatives. This technique completely circumvents not only your password, but your 2FA, etc. It happened to me, it's happened to many others, and it will continue to happen unless fundamental changes are made.

In addition to the people at Sony that have been so helpful, I want to thank people in my community with IT, infosec (etc.) backgrounds who have stepped up in major ways, all without being asked. We've learned an enormous amount about the who, what, where, why, and so on, all because of these people volunteering their time and effort. I'm actually (pleasantly) shocked how good these folks are. We have been and will continue to be passing along everything we've learned (and continue to learn) to Sony, in hopes that we can be useful in solving this major problem for the entirety of the PlayStation community.

Ultimately, I have two goals:

1.) To help convince Sony that they need to make serious, immediate efforts to secure people's accounts on PlayStation Network. (We are in this stage.)

2.) To help reunify people with their stolen accounts. (This is a big one, and my heart is so heavy for people who have lost access, sometimes for months and even years, through no fault of their own, and with seemingly no recourse for them. It's simply not fair.)

More on the show! In the meantime, be well. <3

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@videotech This is so misleading. Red dead stopped updates in 2021. Of course nobody is spending money on a game that hasn't been updated in 5 years. We need data from between May 2019 and August 2021

[PoP Universe @popuniversee]

Game designer Chandra Kouns, who worked on the remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2021/22), shared a GIF on his website (portfolio) showing previously unseen footage from the game: the Prince fighting alongside Farah in the library, and the Prince jumping from one wall to another to retrieve the Dagger of Time! 🔥
#PrinceofPersiaRemake

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

I've always wanted a mod for FF7 that keeps the appearance of the default weapons when equipping new ones. A transmog mod so to speak.

For FF9, a mod that doubles battle speed without just having to resort to fast forward.

[Tsunamods @tsunamods]

Do you have any ideas for mods for Final Fantasy's 7-9?
Let me know! Our team is always looking for new and interesting projects to work on!

I can't promise they'll get made, but we can certainly look into it! Show us what kind of creativity you have!

[Tsunamods @tsunamods]

Do you have any ideas for mods for Final Fantasy's 7-9?
Let me know! Our team is always looking for new and interesting projects to work on!

I can't promise they'll get made, but we can certainly look into it! Show us what kind of creativity you have!

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

so is it possible to gut that awful junction system now?

[Tsunamods @tsunamods]

FINAL FANTASY VIII FANS

Do you feel like your game gets ignored?
Do you wonder why it has less mods than 7 and 9?

Well, I'm happy to announce that Tsunamods broke through a modding barrier yesterday!

After 27 years, the walls of FF8's code have finally been broken!

⬇️(1/2)

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@trailoutgame awesome, thanks!

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@trailoutgame can you guys add button remapping?

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@trailoutgame oh well, perhaps for trail out 2?

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@RohanKarMooN Can you do Undercover and The Run?

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@RobertDaleSmith Hey there, I just happened upon your joypad OS thing. Can you explain more about how it works and what one needs to set it up? And what all can/can't I do with it? Been looking for an alternative to the Cronus Zen, which has developed issues they refuse to fix.

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@Doctor_Cupcakes Oh man I really wanna know how a company the size of Ubisoft couldn't remake a linear 7 hour gen 6 action game.

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@tsunamods Voice acting makes it way easier to play when your SO is watching and trying to enjoy the story with you, since everyone reads at different paces. These types of games are really hard to enjoy with someone else without voice over.

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@PeterMooreUSA As someone who led Xbox during their most successful period, what do you think of everything happening at Xbox right now?

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@TheCriticalDri2 @SnarkyJCosplay I don't think it's some god awful game like everyone likes to label it. It can be fun, and plays a lot better than most games of it's type at the time. But no, it isn't some hidden gem, it's mid at best. But it's cool to see OG FF7's world in full 3D.

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@StartIsBack I'm still getting it on my laptop.

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@StartIsBack I keep getting this when trying to use windows update. Any chance of a fix?

[Thomas Russell @wvnative03]

@expedition33 Just finished the Expedition! My thoughts?