Quoting: kaimanSilk & Silver on the other hand feels like it's deserving to be a core expansion, and so will likely end up too shallow and too separate from existing systems and mechanics.

Paradox's DLC classification is a bit confusing, yes, but "Major" expansion is considered to be bigger then a "Core" one.

Yes, it's also confusing and not reassuring that developers left only two month for a major expansion after the previous one but still, the "trade" expansion is at least planed to be of the same scale as tournaments and Asian expansions (both were "Major" expansions too). And "By God Alone" is supposed to be of the same scale as Khans DLC (another "Core" expansion).

Anyway, I'm very hyped so far. Mostly for trade system but united Chalcedonian Christianity from BGA also scratches my "historical accuracy" itch very much. Will definitely play a campaign at the end of the year.

:).

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Quoting: bisbyx...but achievements are a way of documenting progress in a game and some people like collecting souvenirs from their virtual journeys.

Really liked the description of achievements as "collecting souvenirs from virtual journeys". I think that's what it is for me, mostly.

:).

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Question: Does building Lavapipe on Windows require building “microsoft-experimental” as well?

Just out of curiosity - since this "bug" count as fixed, can we know the answer to the question?

:).

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On a good side of things: all those news finally convinced me to buy a Steam Deck while it's still available.

:).

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Quoting: Sakuretsu26.0 is really 2026-02-11 or is it 2026-03-11?

Yes, it's 2026-02-11 in MESA's Release Calendar [External Link]. And it's also typical for MESA to release it's first major version of a year in February, so it's within expected schedule.

:).

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What a strange change. If clown award farming was such a problem, Valve should have disable point transfer, for that award specifically. And that would be enough.

If Valve's goal was for me to care even less about anything on Steam outside install/launch button then they certainly succeed...

:(.

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So nothing about rumored Radeon 9080/9090, and not even Ryzen 9950x3d2? I'm in the middle of building a new PC now and I was really counting on them... For me it's the worst showcase in the last five years.

P.S. Before anyone asked: I got lucky to buy my RAM in advance around August 2025. So at least it is that, yea. Still sulking about the showcase.

:(.

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Steam replay says I played 202 different games this year and of course I'm not able to remember most of them. :). The Top was split between different Paradox grand strategies and Underrail, but those are not 2025 games.If we concentrate on the games of this year I will probably mention two, both very recent: Of Ash and Steel [External Link] and Swordhaven [External Link].

Of Ash and Steel [External Link] is a very immersive Gothic (or Risen)-style ARPG that "don't hold your hand" (meaning, among other things, that you won't even have a map in the first 1/3 of the game and will need to remember surroundings yourself and find quest locations by their descriptions). The game had a very rough start a month ago but now, with 1.05 patch, developers seems to fix at least the most critical bugs and have a good roadmap to move forward.

Swordhaven [External Link] is an isometric-style CRPG from the developers of ATOM RPG.The game was only released recently and I didn't play that much yet but the beginning got me hooked with reactivity and good writing and I have a long-established faith in developers. Also, the game has a Linux version, which is always nice.

Obviously I can't name anything GOTY without finishing at least most of it first but those two games seems to have a potential so far.

:).

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If anybody interested - my replay is here [External Link].
In short - 16% in 2025 releases, Top 5 most played games are Hearts of Iron IV, Europa Universalis IV, Underrail, Stellaris & Gothic 1.

:).

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Do I understand it right and Paramount is still more or less "classical" film company? I know they have a Paramount+ service but they seems to continue to release a lot of movies in cinemas. If so, I will definitely root for them.

Paramount, fighto!

:).

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