I could say a positive thing and still get harassment. Ahem:
“I started with Ankha/Marshal/Raymond in my town! They any good?”
Then the freaks would come out of the woodwork demanding they get given them since “I don’t know their worth and they deserve better than my trash borough island”. Yeah okay.
This is it here. There’s multiple factors, and they all swirl into the drain of PvP/competition
Rank ego. This rank means ME BETTER ME GOODER ME SUPERIOR YOU TRASH
Skill variances and/or bad matchmaking. There’s no hope/no challenge. Feels bad unless you’re a Timmy Stomper.
1 or more guaranteed losers. Why waste 2 hours (MOBA theoretical) with strangers only for it to be horrible after 40 minutes, but the game holds you hostage in a hot box with at least 5 other people who want you dead and don’t like you, and it only gets more irritating as time goes on? Feels bad to lose baseline, and little games do anything to massage the ego.
Pride. People get that MUST WIN MUST WIN mentality, and when they win? It’s arrogance. When they lose, it’s JUST A GAME BRO CHILL BRO IT’S NOT GETTING YOU PAID OR LAID BRO. Toxicity.
Status. Not rank! This is more along the MMO line of work. You have glowing flamescalibur+19, and it’s peak item. You’ll automically breed those who like it, and of course - toxic haters. Being ahead is something real people get toxic about when they’re not ahead. Jobs, finances, and of course games lol.
Co-op dodges most of these hurdles, but even my beloved Monster Hunter has DPS parsing elitist dungheads. Thank God the game can be played solo. Pub experience was horrible and not even for carting’s sake.
It’s a shame.
99% of games I play are work, and the fun just isn’t there. There’s only so many times I can do Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy. Gaming is rapidly becoming less fun for me. Pseudoregalia was looking to be a smash hit for my needs, but getting lost for literally 3 hours with no progress killed the game instantly. Sucks being easily frustrated (leaving most games off the table, particularly anything multiplayer PvP, anything multiplayer with selection (read, MMO Raids/have to spend years in line to be relevant, and if you suck - no progress for you without risking your identity and life on Discord to random people), and super high intense difficulty over long periods (Ye Dark Souls and such).
It’s Roguelites or bust since even if I lose, I’m not wasting too much time. They’re not ‘fun’, but they’re engaging in bite size bits. Someone mentioned Slay the Spire. I have no luck in card games so it’s impossible to win, but I smile from time to time. More than I can say about most games.
Shadowrun on the SNES.
After everything you’ve been through, fighting through the syndicate, destroying a damn dragon on the top of a skyscraper (with or without rocket launcher!), you just hop in a helicopter and leave the city.
Echoes in my memory as a very, very, very bland ending…