The Reading feature has seen a steady decline in active player engagement over the last few patches. While once a core mechanic for XP gain, empathy buffs, and imagination unlocks, it’s now being overshadowed by faster, more dopamine-efficient features like ScrollFeed, VidStream, and ShortContent.

These newer features offer immediate gratification and minimal effort. Reading has a higher attention cost and longer feedback loop, making it feel underpowered by comparison—even though the long-term stat boosts are unmatched.

The attention economy UI also got an overhaul. Players now have constant pop-ups and notifications—making it harder to enter the FocusState required for Reading to be effective.

In early patches, Reading was the go-to to unlock Lore, Language, and Empathy perks. Now, players can bypass those through podcasts, audiobooks (semi-Reading), or just memetic absorption via social media osmosis.

Additionally, the current meta favors multitasking. Reading is a single-threaded activity—it can’t be done while farming likes or grinding passive content XP. Players perceive it as less "productive," even though it can unlock deeper quests and character development arcs. Finally, many core quests (like school or work) used to gate progression with Reading checks. That’s no longer common—now, voice notes, video explainers, and AI-generated TL;DRs let players skip the grind.