This is what I’ve done; I founded an adult rec sports league a few years ago that’s burgeoned into a thriving community. It’s about half queer, we have a large group that hangs out after games, regular social events, developing leadership board, active Discord. We’ve raised over $10,000 for charities and member medical bills. (America is really sad) It’s really a bright spot in a lot of our lives right now. As things get worse, we now have a community to fall back on and support one another.

Critical thinking is important, y’all.

You’re right, unfortunately. That’s a reality in some rural areas. My experience does come from a city with options, and I’m judging those folks. One positive is that so many things can be delivered now, which helps to supplement the absence of local businesses put under by Walmart, and can even create more local businesses. While you may not have the option with certain medications, spending 30% less there will make a difference.

You hit the nail on the head; principles are important and a measurement of your character. I understand that ignorance plays into it as well - I’m sure I support some crappy companies inadvertently. If we all tried our best however, there’d be less kowtowing to bigotry, fascism and exploitation of vulnerable people.

I didn’t used to, but I’m getting more judgemental as time goes on. I’m an ally and involved in LGBTQIA orgs and I can’t tell you how many gay friends and acquaintances I have that still go to Chick-fil-A and Walmart. I’m harsher with those two, but now, I’ll speak out against folks going to Target as well. Even without Target, Walmart and Amazon, I still have no trouble buying anything I need without inconvenience. The only language large corporations speak is money and if you can’t even boycott a company that makes mid fast food that’s spending money to take away your rights, it seems pathetic to me.

That’s a good way to describe it. I really enjoyed Dark, but I didn’t watch TV for a few weeks and it felt impossible to get back to.

I would implore you to catch up, or at least watch season 16. The Risk E. Rats and Dennis mental health Day were amazing.

I think BG3s success bodes well for Owlcat, since it brings more fans to the niche genre, that just went mainstream.

Also - Owlcat makes fantastic games. Kingmaker and its sequel, wrath of the righteous are some of the best CRPGs ever made. Pathfinder rules are a little crazy, there are redundant classes, but the character building and customization are a blast. In wrath of the righteous, you get a hero class that you can make completely broken, which is just a ton of fun. Especially considering the lower budget, they accomplished a ton and I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into their CRPGs.

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I have not tried those things in BotW and TotK. I got to the water temple in Ocarina of Time and got bored, which I heard was common - sincerely tried to beat it because my childhood friends love the game and were excited for me to get through it. Played 10 mins of Majora’s mask and BotW. Watched a bunch of videos of BotW and the new game of people doing cool stuff with bombs and gliders. Just not for me I guess, but I totally see the appeal of them.

I can definitely see your point about modern action RPGs catering to lots of mechanics that other games do better and the genre is saturated now with different souls-likes that lack any kind of innovation but I guess they are safe to make due to their popularity.

This. I think people who enjoy it see every enemy as a puzzle. Even developing your character is a bit of a puzzle, figuring out what stats suit the weapons you like and the play style you’re aiming for. Conversely, Zelda is incredibly simple and boring to me. Most of the fights are boop boss on the head 3 times, or throw their own bombs back at them 3 times. The only Zelda I enjoyed was the first one.

I wanted to like it. I used it for couch co-op a handful of times but always had so many issues. After troubleshooting it for the 10th time, it became ewaste and I just setup chairs next to my small computer monitor. It’s a shame.