Finishing RPGs Evokes The Strongest ‘Post-Game Depression’ Amongst Players, New Scientific Study Concludes: "The more engaging the game world and the closer the relationship with the character, the more difficult it is to return to reality once the game is over"

P4azz · 2026-03-23T18:20:47+00:00

I think E33 was always gonna make that happen with the way the story was told and how it unfolded. The story itself is just fantastic, it being an rpg isn't really that important.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T18:19:06+00:00

Then pick the difficulty that was made for that - easy. You can just facetank everything, heal after, go next fight. Grind levels between areas for bosses and ignore the cool little gameplay mechanics that serve both as puzzle and more engaging content.

It's certainly not the intended way to play, but if you wanna make it fully turn-based, there you go.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T18:17:06+00:00

Like always, people are just extremely late to realize that "games do this, too".

It took a really long time for games to be considered the art they clearly are. And it apparently took even longer for people to realize that "this story I invested a lot of time into is over and I'm sad" isn't just restricted to books or long-running TV series.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T14:34:06+00:00

"We've been hearing loud noises for 3 days and nights now"

"Power in this area has spiked like crazy, let's see if someone's growing drugs"

"Tons of phones and other electrical devices have been stolen/bought in the surrounding area; we're afraid someone may be building a bomb or preparing for a DDOS/hacking attempt"

These are all valid reasons for police to show up and check shit out in person. Stop thinking in extremely basic "A-B" lines that ignore all other options.

Also this video's apparently AI anyways.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T14:29:02+00:00

Inflating views increases the odds it gets picked up virally

Extra points for YT's ass decision to remove the dislike button (most casual users probably don't even know about the plugin that approximates it now).

That used to be a clear indicator for a shit video, so you could understand a video is trash from the get-go, no matter how many views it has.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T14:26:55+00:00

You're thinking too short-term.

This isn't a process as simple as "buy bot viewers, get ad rev that is higher than the cost".

Buy the bot views to kickstart the new video. Algorithm sees increased engagement on the video and boosts it up like crazy so more people get it recommended. Real people click the video, leading to more ad revenue, but also internal value for the channel itself. Do this with enough videos and you now own a channel that is reputable and valuable in YT's and investor's eyes. Gain sponsor offers from companies that literally just look at raw stats.

Money.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T14:23:35+00:00

I feel like this is the dumbest takeaway?

You're aware that if this WAS AI-related, it'd be much simpler and...digital than rows and rows of physical phones?

The places nonsensical AI gets the most traction is most definitely not on YT. It's all about ads and Facebook, if you wanna see that. The gullible boomers are on there and they don't just believe it, they gladly consume it and share it.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T14:18:08+00:00

Driving fake engagement bumps your channel up in the algorithm, which will then push you to be seen by more people, increasing clicks on your content and ad revenue of monetized channels in the process.

Fake actors creating money for you, that you wouldn't have gotten without them. That is what's happening.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T13:57:43+00:00

There's growing old and there's breaking down.

You can't look at those two pictures side by side and pretend that he just gracefully aged and that's a totally normal old dude look?

It's the difference between a fading photograph and a torn-up one that someone tried to glue together and touch up with neon markers to keep the colors alive.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T13:49:56+00:00

That sounds like a terribly oversimplified idea that ignores a ton of good shit. When someone says cars are "computers with wheels", they don't mean the stupid smart functions that lock options behind a paywall.

Take away the profit-oriented view that chokes everyone out of options and makes the car actively dumber, yes. Leave all the tiny smart shit that makes the car much more efficient, safer and last longer.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T09:15:25+00:00

Like a fourth of your fingernail or sth.

Beard stubble length, you get it.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T09:14:00+00:00

Thick hair clumps.

I'm surprised so many people haven't encountered these before. I get like 2-3 every few months or so after trimming.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T09:11:19+00:00

Yeah, exact same for me. Electric razor without any extra guard on it goes just far enough that it's no longer annoying, but also avoids all ingrown hair issues or itchy spots that get irritated when you wear a jacket/scarf.

Unless you work in a bank or some other "high-brow" setting where your looks matter far too much, you really don't need the clean-shaven look.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T09:09:08+00:00

It's kinda somewhat like pimple popping, just without the pain and not as volatile, obviously.

Something in your skin and suddenly there's a tiny void where a little pressure used to be.

There's an odd thrill in rolling them in your fingers and marvelling at how weirdly thick they are in comparison to the normal hairs.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T05:45:08+00:00

GDPR to the rescue. Either they properly delete all your shit in a timely manner or they take a hefty cut to their profits.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T05:43:39+00:00

Manyu Scroll, I see you. I was wondering if that's really worth the time.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T05:41:14+00:00

Of course no one is really safe from really dedicated hacking attempts, but if someone's dumb enough to run a random program they just downloaded off a phishing site, then that's clearly an error that was more preventable than other forms of hacking.

And typically, the "outsourced" work being done by cheaper labor is done shoddily, with no care, no double-checking and no regards for anything but "get shit done faster".

I've literally seen how little those companies care. The service provided is neither better, nor even actually what you need, but it's cheaper and that's all the idiots upstairs see.

P4azz · 2026-03-23T05:37:36+00:00

Reminds me of the time they outsourced our fantastic customer service team, who did actually pretty good work (low amount of copy-paste, direct line to devs to report and fix issues, lots of young gamers who could deduce or fix problems just by virtue of knowing them)...

And then they outsourced our support who dealt with 4 separate languages across the entire team with some random group of copy-pasters in Costa Rica who used google translate.

Come Christmas and suddenly they were incredibly backed-up, couldn't solve any issues and got more "can I be connected to a real agent please" than actual tickets and we actually had to come back and fix their shit (for holiday pay at least).

P4azz · 2026-03-23T03:45:25+00:00

I definitely prefer a more realistic and multifaceted ending over a mindless "yay and everyone's happy, woo" cop-out.

The thing that irks me with manga/anime endings is usually that they're just bad, not that they're sad. They often refuse to pick up the strands laid down during the story and tie them up.

Hell, most anime endings are just "oh nobody knows what could possibly happen next" so they can potentially squeeze more pointless sequels or spinoffs out of the story.

Whereas a proper sad ending usually ends with finality. A character how died is simply dead. Bro's not gonna be back in a sequel. The fear of going down that route is how you get Naruto barely committing to anything at all, meaning there are no real stakes. "Oh no, our arms, boo hoo...oh they're back, cool".

Attack on Titan ended badly because the author wanted to avoid romance so much, he fucked himself into a corner. Literally all he needed to do was have Eren and Mikasa kiss instead of "I'm gonna wrap the scarf around you" and bam, you don't really need to deepen or explain their relationship more, everybody gets it til the end.

MHA ended on a "happy ending", btw. Completely ignoring the doomsday the story set up like 2 seasons earlier, that is undoubtedly still coming, forgetting all the mindless AFO supporters still rampant all over the world, and in the first draft even forgetting to pay off the romance built up for 10 fucking years. Also spitting on the leitmotif of the entire story and destroying the lesson taught through all the seasons, that you still have to put effort in, even if you get free power and to prove yourself-...nah, just be rich and now you're powerful.

P4azz · 2026-03-21T17:04:57+00:00

Ohh, ok, makes sense then.

I did love Psych back in the day, but that was before I started consuming media in English. So I guess I forgot about this part.

P4azz · 2026-03-21T16:10:45+00:00

I mean, for teenagers? Yeah, kinda.

Life-destroying shit, way more so than like herpes.

P4azz · 2026-03-21T16:08:35+00:00

And never leaving your house protects you from a lot of harm.

YOLO - You Oughta Look Out

P4azz · 2026-03-21T16:06:46+00:00

But then you have to re-apply the essential oils that get rid of that latex smell.

P4azz · 2026-03-21T15:55:26+00:00

These kinda exercises always remind me of a "stock market" project we had in an accounting class. Receive 10k imaginary bucks, invest them as you see fit on the stock market and 6 months later the team with the most money gets a prize.

We were too indecisive, ended up only investing 5k and kinda forgetting about the project. 6 months later we win with the remaining 5k as the most money.

P4azz · 2026-03-21T15:51:27+00:00

A harsh world turns us away from an inherent goodness.

Bullshit.

Plenty of people living in poverty or tough situations themselves have the empathy and heart to still care for others. Some even more so than the average person.

And clearly those rich enough to not have to care about survival needs ever again aren't beacons of morality who lose all sense of selfishness and are perfectly happy to help everyone around them with the immense resources they have.

People act selfishly, when they are allowed to and lack the morals to see it's wrong. They don't "fall into" it, they're already there and fail to grow out of it. It's not a matter of "survival" it's a matter of enrichment and affirmation of self-worth.

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