Elden Ring players who are getting increasingly irked by the messaging system are just going to have to lump it. FromSoftware says it doesn't have plans to offer an option to disable it. But there is a workaround.
Thanks to Elden Ring 's surge in popularity, longtime players are seemingly finding the messages more bothersome than previous FromSoftware titles. The game has sold 12M units worldwide as of March 16. By comparison, the Dark Souls series as a whole has sold 27M units at last count (2020), so there's been a massive influx of new players.
Messages in Elden Ring let you leave helpful tips and warnings using a combo of preset words and phrases. You'll find missives about enemies and environmental hazards, and, unsurprisingly, outright trolling. So veterans have become accustomed to not trusting everything they read. People will often try to lure each other to their deaths with false information, but it's all part of the fun!
But now that the game has found a larger audience, all of those 'try finger, but hole' messages next to NPCs have lost their luster. And the lighthearted trolling has arguably turned into griefing. Messages can be left so close to interactable objects that reading them supersedes the performing actions. Escaping up a ladder, for example, can be thwarted by someone looking to mess with other players.
The tradition of trolling and memeing with in-game messages has become a tradition with FromSoftware's games. I reached out to the devs to ask if there would be an update to let frustrated players turn off messages and the response was that there are "no specific plans to change things for now." I asked if the studio was looking into ways to prevent this 'abuse' of the system, given how integral a part of the game it is, and the reply to that question was exactly the same.
If you're among the contingent of players who's come to resent the messaging system, there is a workaround... but it has pros and cons.
How to turn off Elden Ring messages
I'll just put this out there straight away – you can't turn off messages in Elden Ring. Sorry (not sorry). If other people discovering the joys of the game and being silly is getting to you, there is something you can do about it: go offline.
Yep, you read that right. That means no summons, no bloodstains, no invaders – and no messages! So if you're happy playing on your lonesome with a purely single-player experience, here's what to do.
You can now enjoy the offline Elden Ring experience! Which isn't half as fun, let's be honest. But it's the only solution out there for now, if the message system is making you lose the will to live.
This new modular action cam beats GoPro in two key ways
Insta360 has a launched a follow-up to the modular action camera it released at CES 2020 – and the impressive Insta360 One RS beats its GoPro rivals in two important ways. (Want to jump straight to our verdict? Check out our Insta360 One RS review ).
Like the previous Insta360 One R , the new model consists of three sections: a base block that holds the battery, a sensor/lens block, and the camera's processing engine. This time, the One RS can be bought with a new 4K Boost lens that has a 1/2in 48MP sensor, which you can swap out for the existing 5.7K 360-degree camera or the 5.3K 1-Inch Wide Angle Lens block.
It's this versatility, coupled with other improvements like a new battery base and a faster processor, that gives the One RS one key advantage over its GoPro rivals. GoPro's Hero range, led by the Hero 10 Black, remain slightly better single-purpose cameras, but the Insta360 One RS uniquely lets you take a 360-degree camera and standard wide-angle action cam out with you, while only needing one main body and battery.
The other advantage of the One RS, when you buy its standard package, is its value for money. You can buy that standard bundle, which includes the 4K Boost Lens, battery and main unit, for a pretty reasonable $299.99 / £279.99 / AU$569. That's significantly less than the GoPro Hero 10 Black ($399 / £379 / AU$599.95, when bought with a GoPro subscription) and DJI Action 2 ($399 / £349 / AU $609).
Naturally, the cost mounts up if you want more modules, with the Twin Edition (which adds a 360-degree lens to the standard package) costing $549.99 / £499.99 / AU$919.99. You can also get the Insta360 One R with the 1-inch Wide Angle lens for $549.99 / £499.99 / AU$919.99. But the benefit of the One RS' modular approach is that you can always start with that base bundle and add extra modules if needed.
Like the DJI Action 2, there are also dome downsides to the Insta360 One RS' modular design. The main one is that it has a pretty tiny 1.5in screen, which makes it harder to see what you're filming. It also doesn't pack the same slo-mo powers as rivals like the Hero 10 Black, with no 4K/120p option. Instead, you can shoot 2.7K resolution at 100fps, or 1080p at 200/120fps.
Still, the Insta360 One RS does has fewer workflow headaches than its predecessor. Previously, you had to process videos through the Insta360 app to get image stabilization, but FlowState is now all done in-camera and produces impressively smooth results. Combine this with its high-quality 4K video and you have a strong rival to the GoPro Hero 10 Black for the title of best action camera .
Analysis: The bridge camera of action cams
In many ways, the Insta360 One RS is like the bridge camera of action cams – it aims to pack maximum versatility into one, simple-to-use body, and it largely succeeds thanks to some extra polish that was absent from its predecessor.
It remains a more niche choice than a GoPro Hero 10 Black, because it only really makes sense if you're looking to take advantage of its modular design and swap in different cameras. But if that sounds like you, then it's a fine new option at a reasonable price.
Our Insta360 One RS review praises its good in-camera stabilization, sharp-looking 4K video and surprisingly intuitive interface, given its small 1.5in screen. We were also relieved to find that it fixes all the workflow issues we found with its predecessor, caused by the need to process footage through the app in order to get stabilized footage.
In fact, we even found the video from the Insta360 One RS' 4K module to be more engaging and detailed than its GoPro rivals, even if it does exhibit some issues like aliasing and shimmering. As our review states: "A GoPro nets you footage with fewer issues, and often a more pleasant warm color tone, but there’s an open and airy quality to the Insta360 One RS’s 4K video that we just don’t see from our Hero 9 Black".
If you can accept slightly less consistent footage than a GoPro, along with that tiny 1.5in screen, then the One RS is a very solid new action camera, particularly at that base price of $299.99 / £279.99 / AU$569.
Sony WH-1000XM5 leak reveals immense battery life and better noise cancellation
We may have just been given our first look at the Sony WH-1000XM5, the possible successors to the best headphones you can buy today.
A new leak from TechnikNews (via XDA Developers ) includes high quality renders of what it says are the next-generation noise-cancelling headphones, which are expected to launch this year and replace the much-loved Sony WH-1000XM4 .
While the leak doesn't include a release date or price, we're expecting that the Sony WH-1000XM5 will make an appearance in August, and will retail for a similar price to their predecessors $350 / £350 / AU$550. That's based on previous launches in the WH-1000X lineup of wireless headphones .
Sony hasn't confirmed that it's working on a new pair of noise-cancelling over-ear headphones , but the renders look pretty convincing to us - and the timing matches up with our expectations of an August release date. We've reached out to Sony for comment, and we'll update this piece when we hear back.
If they are legit, the images shared by TechnikNews show that Sony hasn't deviated too far from the design of the WH-1000XM4 for its next noise-canceling headphones , but it has made a few changes to give the WH-1000XM5 a sleeker appearance.
The earcups seem to be larger, and more generously padded, which could make the WH-1000XM5 more comfortable to wear than their predecessors - not that this was a problem we encountered with the WH-1000XM4. The headband also looks to have thicker padding.
It looks as though the on/off button on the left earcup has been replaced by a slider, and the 'Custom' button has been reverted back to 'NC/Ambient', as it was on the Sony WH-1000XM3 . Like their predecessors, the renders show the headphones available in black and silver, and they'll come with a carrying case - though this time, they don't fold up inside.
The longest-lasting Sony headphones yet
As for the specs? TechnikNews claims the Sony WH-1000XM5 are getting a big upgrade to their battery life, which will come in at 40 hours with ANC switched on. That's 10 more hours of playback than the Sony WH-1000XM4 can manage, though the charging time (via USB-C) has increased slightly to three-and-a-half hours.
That longer battery life seems reasonable. A recent patent filed by Sony, which describes a pair of wireless noise-canceling headphones showed an internal battery rating of 3.8V, as opposed to the 3.7V rating of the WH-1000XM4.
The active noise cancellation will also apparently be improved, with two dedicated chips and three microphones to detect environmental noise and cancel it out. The noise cancellation provided by the XM4 was already very good, so any improvements in this area will just feel like a bonus.
The wireless connectivity standard has been bumped up to Bluetooth 5.2 from Bluetooth 5, and you'll still be able to listen with a wired connection thanks to a 3.5mm port.
There's no word on any improvements to the audio performance of the Sony WH-1000XM5, but there are a few things we'd like to see, namely the reintroduction of the aptX codec, which came with the Sony WH-1000XM3 , but was missing from the XM4. This codec allows for hi-res audio playback, and while the XM4 are covered for high-quality streams using Sony’s own LDAC technology, you’ll need a compatible device to take advantage of it.
As well as comprehensive hi-res audio support, we’d love the Sony WH-1000XM5 to come with lossless audio. This was once impossible for wireless headphones, as the bandwidth offered by Bluetooth connectivity wasn’t wide enough to handle uncompressed, lossless streams. However, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound technology could make this possible.
All Sony would need to do is integrate the new QCC3065x headphone chip, and WH-1000XM5 users would be able to enjoy bit-for-bit mathematically exact music that closely reproduces music just as the artist intended it to be heard.
This chip hasn’t hit shelves yet, but headphones utilizing the technology are expected to start coming out this year, making the Sony WH-1000XM5 a prime candidate for lossless audio support.