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Especially since it already has party mechanics built in. Why can’t they just swap out pawns for your friends? I get it wouldn’t really fit the story, but that can be handwaved.

A lighthearted and colorful Soulslike RPG with actual multiplayer. I want to run around in a BotW/TotK style world and go adventuring with friends, while still feeling like the combat is challenging. I want to be able to head into a dangerous dungeon with friends and not be sure we’ll make it out, while having a more storybook fantasy vibe. Too many game opt for gritty apocalypse worlds. The recent Zeldas show that you don’t need to go grimdark to have a compelling fantasy world, while still retaining a save the world vibe.

The Artemis app is in beta and it’s looking pretty promising. Definitely still some bugs, but the UI is dead simple and easy to customize. Switching to a subbed only view works well too. The official mag is m/artemisapp

Now I’m tempted to bake a steak shaped cookie from an entire tube of cookie dough

I personally love working nights. I’m not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. In fact I am actively worse at things the earlier I wake up. Conversely my brain feels clearer and more active after 10pm.

That being said, my social life is almost entirely online. I rarely go out IRL. I sleep like a rock and only need about 6 hours anyway.

If you are someone who needs to talk to people, has trouble sleeping during the day, or requires a lot of sleep, the night shift is likely not for you.

Some people are built for it, some aren’t.

Electricity can be generated sustainably. Rare earth metals can be recycled. We are working on alternatives to fossil fuels. Environmental issues aren’t a zero sum game. You don’t “Lose” just because something else also pollutes. It’s an issue that is worked on systematically. Could it be a lot faster? Yes of course. But we work with what we have.

Data centers are also multi-use. You don’t build a data center just to house your game. You pay for the space in one that already exists. A company can choose to make software available on a platform that is open to a large portion of the world, or it can spend cash and resources shipping boxes of plastic all over the world. The pollution and waste generated by shipping something across an ocean massive. Do you really want to put all that into the air so you can have the plastic circle?

How often does that happen these days though? Trading in games or lending to friends hasn’t been worth it for a while. Trades are worth a handful of dollars and if your friends are adults they can probably afford their own game anyway. We cling too much to an era where people could still believe the earth would be fine. It’s a hobby, is it really worth it?

You’re absolutely right. All these people shouting about “back in my day we owned games!” are forgetting that games have to be manufactured. Is all that plastic and pollution worth having a plastic rectangle with a different plastic circle in it? At the end of the day once you’ve played the game that’s it, it’s yours. Your experience is unique and it can’t be taken away, don’t cling to manufactured waste when what you cherish are the memories.

This is the heart of the issue. People don’t feel like they are allowed to take time to themselves. In reality all it takes is not answering the messages if you don’t feel like it. Hell, you don’t even have to look at them.

Anyone I talk to regularly, would not care if I didn’t answer their texts for a few days. My phone is always on vibrate or silent. I engage with people only as much as I want to.

What I’m saying is all that stuff can be changed if you want it to.

I’m hoping that Kobold Press’ alternative ttrpg is easy to switch to from D&D. They do good work and I’d hate to just trash all my D&D stuff.