I think it might be helpful to really drill into what you want vs what you’re experiencing. You state you have a desire to grow socially, but your attempts to do so have left you feeling symptoms of burnout.

More information about what you feel is expected of you, socially, at work, and what the specific triggers for your negative emotional reactions are would be useful to identify strategies to ameliorate those responses.

Doing some real specious armchair psychoanalysis here, but you’re statement that you do not want to be somewhere where you might be recognized indicates to me, specious armchair psychologist extraordinare, that you perhaps have some self-esteem issues which are going to be a significant impediment to socializing in any context, let alone work. I’m casting aspersions from within my glass house here, but in the worst troughs of my depression, I rationalize self-isolation as a protective measure so that I don’t have to converse with anyone about my life, since I’m not proud of anything I’ve done in those moments. It’s only when I get myself back into a headspace where I have things in my life that I’m excited about and want to share with people that socialization begins to look attractive again. If any of that rings true with you, you might recalibrate your focus from trying to force yourself to enjoy your professional social life and instead focus on the thing that’s actually holding you back from making that a reality.

Good luck, and I hope you find a solution.

Offline play? It’s SOLITAIRE. Offline play should be the ONLY play, by default.

Feeling like I took crazy pills this morning…

I believe I have a similar issue as you. I’ve described it as being caught in a maximization trap. See, I spend all day thinking about the fun things I’ll do when I have free time. However, when I get home, I have a huge amount of difficulty selecting what activity to engage in from my plethora of options. I’m inexplicably terrified of making the “wrong” choice. Like, what if I choose to play Game A, but that only offers 6.9 units of fun per hour, when I could be playing game B, which offers 7.1? So, instead of actually doing anything, I sit down at an intersection of options and have a panic attack about my inability to actually do anything.

I wish I had a silver bullet recommendation for you, but this is an ongoing struggle for me. I try to be cognizant of when I’m starting to fall into the thinking trap of “maximizing fun” and shut it down before it spoils the evening. As others have said, taking notes throughout the day when inspiration does strike, rather than telling myself I’ll remember when I get home does help to some extent. Additionally being open to alternative forms of entertainment helps as well. What I mean is, sometimes when I’m upset with myself for not being able to force myself to just start a game and see if I like it, I’m so hyper fixated on the gaming aspect that I ignore the possibility my body/brain is saying, “probably enough screentime for today, don’t you think?”, and select a book instead. Or go for a walk. Or “meditate” (read as: listen to music while stoned).

Good luck buddy, keep your stick on the ice, and remember, we’re all in this together.

He was dismissed for “gross misconduct” following an investigation into his involvement in sexual harassment. One of the articles has the guy’s lawyer saying it was a sham investigation because he was not involved in it (as in, was not questioned). Which, if this were a court of law, where a defendant has the right to confront their accusers, then sure, he’s got a point.

But it wasn’t that, and clearly Sony/Bungie felt that he was a greater liability than an asset. That leads me to believe that they DID find evidence of wrongdoing on his part, convincing enough that questioning him was unnecessary, and severe enough that they felt they could terminate him for cause. In taking those steps, I’m certain they cleared it with legal to ensure that their case was as airtight as they could make it, especially if there was a 45 million dollar payment at stake.

So, maybe he’s being truthful, and he was a convenient fall guy for Bungie to throw to the wolves during the height of the scrutiny on them. However, until there’s more convincing evidence available than, “well they didn’t ask ME if I harassed my colleagues”, I’m not buying it. Discovery will be interesting.

First, I think it would be to your benefit to investigate whether this project of yours was even interesting to your grandparents. Youve shared your interpretation of the situation (they are practically homebound and may be missing out on some experience with the wider world), and it seems reasonable, but it does not account for their perspective. They may not be missing anything about the wider world. Or, maybe they are missing some aspect of it, but don’t view “digital tourism” as a valid substitute. Most likely though, they’re just pleased their grandchild is visiting and want to focus on that, rather than the TV or computer.

As an illustrative example, imagine an introvert and extrovert coworkers. The extrovert discovers the introvert has no weekend plans, and assumes that they must be lonely or sad. They, with the noblest of intentions, try to cajole their colleague into going out on Friday night. The introvert, who has been looking forward to finally being able to settle into their latest novel, is upset that the extrovert is projecting a void onto their lives that they don’t see as a void at all.

I’m not saying that that is what’s occurring here, and obviously you know your grandparents better than strangers on the internet, but I do think it’s a possibility that should be investigated before you commit to any plan.

If your question encompasses the broader theme park tycoon genre, and you chafe against some of RCT’s legacy design elements, you might try Parkitecht or Planet Coaster. PC2 just released, though the reviews seem comparatively tepid to the OG, so buyer beware.

Not much to say about the wider conversation here, but I just want to chime in to support your position. I read that article you posted, and I was kinda chuckling to myself at the author, who seems to be at least a casual fan of deckbuilder type games, arguing that the devs are wrong, and that the cards were not a barrier to entry. Meanwhile, I’m sitting over here, looking at the copy I have in my steam library which has never been touched, specifically because I heard it was a deckbuilder and immediately lost all interest. This despite the otherwise fairly positive reception the game got, and the hundreds of hours I’ve spent in Firaxis style tactical strategy games.

Sometimes I wish I knew why I have such a mental block about deckbuilding. I think the layers of strategy become too abstract for me to visualize what I’m trying to pull off, and it feels artificial in a way that rubs me the wrong way. Even if a 3 turn cool down on an ability is no less artificial, it doesn’t irk me in the same way.

And for the record, I didn’t buy the game just to never play it, its a family library copy! I’m not that wasteful.

That’s a little reductive. The Division is a primarily PVE looter shooter with MMO trappings. Rainbow 6 is a competitive hero shooter with emphasis on quick kills and gadgets. Ghost Recon is an open world action game with emphasis on stealth.

Don’t get me wrong, “Ubisoft game” could be its own genre at this point, considering the amount of mechanical overlap in some areas, but most of those products do offer generally distinct gameplay experiences. Though, it does seem like Rainbow 6 and xDefiant would be positioned as rivals in market share, upon reflection.

Losing money absolutely does provoke murderous rage, in some people. That’s how we wound up living in a reality with billionaires to begin with.

Well some smart arse put up a sign that said “1 robber occupancy max” and now they’re all queued up outside the urine depository. Haven’t moved in days .

They link their source in the article, and the source has a FAQ which has their methodology explained in the first question. You are capable of looking at market, you just need to, y’know…look.

In short, they are among the 867 partners on your favorite website who want to install cookies on your browser for analytics. OS info is included in what it reports back home.

Ooooo boy, this is exciting. Nancy Drew games seem like the perfect vehicle for Goth Gamer Nation retrospection, second only to mid-2000s B tier action-horror titles.

I’m not busy this week, but I have no money with which to purchase anything I find this particular sale. Want to combine powers? If you tell me what sort of itch you are seeking to scratch, I’ll come back with some relevant options I find trawling through the sale listings. That way I can maybe find something outside my usual bubble for myself come the winter sale, and you don’t necessarily need to wade into the waters yourself.

Whether it’s and advantage or not depends on your perspective. If you want the fediverse to supplant Big Tech, then no, having a culture which is not welcoming of outsiders is not an advantantage.

However, if you happen to be a part of Lemmy’s “in-group”, you probably don’t want a bunch of “normies” flooding in and cluttering up your feed with what you consider to be low effort shitposts, or starting drama in the comments. In that sense, maintaining a barrier to entry is an advantage because, in this mindset, if they can’t be bothered to wrap their head around a slightly more complex signup than usual, than they weren’t going to be good members of this community.

Perhaps some will disagree with my interpretation of the two popes (I meant poles, but I’m keeping the typo) of users here. To be clear, I’m not ascribing a value judgment to either position. I think both have valid points, and, frankly, I’m not sure where I come down on it.

I think Cormac McCarthy’s The Road may fit the bill a little bit as far as “hard post-apocalyptic”. I can’t say for sure, as I didn’t finish the book. I found it to be too depressing at the time. Which, duh, but it goes to show that the author is uninterested in the power fantasy that often accompanies the genre.

I mean bag on the pledge of allegiance all you like, but using the flag as a synecdoche of the nation as a whole doesn’t seem like it is as great a leap of logic as you are making it out to be.

Jeezy Creezy, I didn’t realize it was so important.

Why do I sound like James Mason…?

Yes. However, federal trade unions are muzzled in the sense that it is against the law for a federal employee to engage in a strike. It’s been on the books since the 50s, but the balance of power really shifted when Reagan enforced it against 10,000 striking air traffic controllers. Some were incarcerated, and nearly all were blackballed from ever working a government job ever again (though that was eventually rescinded in the 90s). There’s no doubt now that even a “liberal” president would follow suit in the event another illegal strike occurred.

I’m speculating, but I believe that’s a portmanteau of “gut” and “cunt”…

By all means, I’d expect him to try, however, this is a constitutional amendment. The Supreme Court can’t take back an amendment the way they can strike down laws (I.e. by ruling it unconstitutional for whatever reason), because it IS constitutional by definition.

Thankfully, the Constitution is also very specific about what it takes to amend it further. 2/3 of both chambers of Congress, or 2/3 of state legislatures must vote to just propose an amendment, and then, to pass the amendment, they need 3/4 of the vote. Because the process is enumerated, there’s no legal ambiguity they can use to shape their ruling the way they want. To remove term limits, you must amend the Constitution. To amend the Constitution, you must meet these (intentionally) high thresholds. If A -> then B.

So, unless Trump is able to woo half of the sitting Democrats, as well as 100% of the Republicans, we’re safe from the system being used to guillotine itself (instead, the system will spend the next 4 years hitting itself in the face with a bat). Now, if Trump wants to seize power outside of the system, that’s a different ball game, and the relative friendliness of judges and Congress is a moot point.