Hah, I used to be like that in school, but that didn’t go well at all. After all those years of having to keep quiet I’ve kinda lost that ability to be so straightforward. I wish it was normal for people to say what they think even if it isn’t nice.

From my experience, things work out eventually. It’s the waiting and the uncertainty that feel terrible, but you just have to hang in there and make the best of the opportunities you get. When I left school behind, I didn’t know what to do with myself and, honestly, I still don’t; but when I look back at the years since then, I can see I’ve grown and changed my life in little ways that I didn’t recognize at the time.

So, I’m fairly sure it will be okay. I believe in you.

Yeah, I can’t help but laugh at the man (in a good way) whenever I see him on the screen. I’m sure it’s for the best that he leaves the stage, but I know I’m going to miss him.

Congratulations! I’m glad it worked out for you. :D How hard was it for you to get the diagnosis, if you don’t mind sharing? I’m still waiting for the opportunity myself, but now I’ve grown so old that I feel like it’s borderline impossible to get anyone to believe me, haha. (sigh)

I’ve played Destiny 2 religiously throughout Warmind up to Shadowkeep, but after giving it some thought, I feel like I agree with you. Most of the fun I’ve had in that game was because I played it with my friends. We were happy messing around and shooting at each other’s backsides and maybe occasionally getting something done in the scarce 3-player content there was, kind of like a glorified hangout space, but if I had to play it by myself? I don’t know, chief. I do love the feel of the guns and the lore (up to a certain point), but I wouldn’t call the game itself a good time.

I can’t imagine that anyone actually likes being forced to be online in singleplayer games/modes, but I see the point when there is multiplayer involved. Diablo IV makes sense, but I strongly dislike the shift to the MMO-lite model that necessitates a permanent syncing instead of making it optional. I thought it was fine in Diablo III where you could pause as long as no one was in your lobby.

I suppose my stance on it is that, as long as multiplayer doesn’t bleed into singleplayer, I’m okay with it - but I’m also fortunate to have a relatively stable connection. I much prefer games that don’t lean into the online aspect at all, though.

I feel you… especially that last part, heh. I originally started playing it on its release to keep my friend company - he’s really into the anime aesthetic, I am not. I have never even played a gacha game in my life.

Something about Genshin is just so strangely charming, though. I cannot stress enough how much I love the music and the latest region especially has been such a wonderful audio-visual experience, which is probably what makes me stick around. There are few characters I genuinely enjoy from a writing/design perspective that not having to chase the gacha is a bonus, but it certainly makes the ones I pick all the more special to me. :)

Something I also appreciate is that Mihoyo/Hoyoverse is constantly making updates on a 6 week basis. 6 weeks! One could argue that quality of life and new features suffer for it, but I think it’s impressive that they manage to keep a game stable and mostly problem-free on such a tight schedule. And the orchestras they make happen are wonderful. For all its shortcomings, I am… positively surprised.