Enttropy

I'd love if they could spark a revival of sports games, like the ones in the days of Activision O2 and EA Sports BIG.

Times have changed and the wackiness of the 90s, the edginess of the early 00's are long gone now, but I'm also incredibly tired of the clean, hypercorrect, "everyone can do it!" chill vibe, and braindead PG10 humor of the AAA sports titles from the past 15 years... but knowing Microsoft, that's exactly what they'd go after.

Having kbin.social direct straight to your subscribed magazines just started working since this last update, and yeah, I spent my first day curating my subscribed/blocked mags, but even after weeks, it's like playing wack-a-mole. You block one community and the next day you go to "All", and it is there, except now it's from another instance. Right now, I have six "196" magazines blocked, but what the hell... that's the current way of the Fediverse, and I'll accept it.

It's cool to witness how Kbin takes shape, and hopefully it becomes an easy and attractive platform for the regular Joe, so we have all kinds of neat and diverse communities over here. 😁

Yeah, I had to go back to Reddit.

To be honest, I never had issues with the official app as I barely used it since 95% of my Reddit time was via Safari on my iPad Pro. Slide for Reddit was the only iPadOS app anywhere close to Sync for Android, which I adored, so after trying multiple times basically every single app, I never could stick with any but the official.

I deleted my 30K karma account in solidarity with the people who used third party apps and because I was incredibly angered at the stance that moronic rat-face of a CEO took, but so far the demographic of the Fediverse is huge on topics I couldn't care less about. My Kbin frontpage was filled with LGBTQ+, US Politics, Ukraine, shitty meme communities, people mourning about their deleted Reddit accounts, and massive circle jerks regarding Reddit, while the communities I used to follow are non-existent here or are depressingly abandoned.

The biggest Solo RPG community on the Fediverse has been running for over a year, and it has ~40 posts, mostly made by a single dude. Others have said "Be the change!" but I'd end up repeating the Solo RPG case of posting literally for my own eyes. I'd definitely do it once Ernest can figure out how to make Kbin show embedded images on posts, instead of just creating hyperlinks to them, but in the meantime, all my communities are still on Reddit and I doubt that will change for a long time.

Oh and tips to keep them engaged, well you need to read the room and identify which parts of the game they enjoy the most and the least, and the reason behind that.

Give them what they want and make all of them participate. With adults it also happens, but it’s way more prominent with kids: some will talk much more than the rest, and some will be ashamed or have shyness to let themselves go. You need to kindly guide the shy ones into the spotlight and reward them for participating.

Also, when you narrate the places and events, ask them to complete your idea. For example: “As the group follow the trails, a vendor interjects them and tries to sell them micro-hamburgers, but Player #4 doesn’t loose focus and realizes that just around the corner, drenched in the glow of the neon lights from the skyscrapers, is the vehicle that Mr. Jenkins gifted to the group… What does this vehicle looks like, Player #4?” Do this every now and then for places, NPC descriptions, the smells and sounds, etc. Make them have as much agency as possible in the world building, instead of just having them react to your dice checks.

Hell yeah! Your daughter is a crunchy-gamer in the making! I can relate to her in the sense of her wanting to play things with a solid structure that she can study and master, to keep her engaged. I think that she will enjoy Savage Worlds.

If 5e is rules-heavy, then SWADE is a rules-medium system. The slowest part is making a character because the system is universal and there are a ton of options, but as a DM, you can curate the options for your players. Also, there are Savage Settings and one of them is "East Texas University." Teens will be able to relate to the school setting but "rad-idfied". They get to role play as university students who then solve mysteries, join fraternities, hunt monsters, drive and modify badass combat cars, etc.

Also, maybe it’s time to introduce the kids to Cyberpunk RED. It’s not hard to learn or teach and the game itself is fairly lightweight.

Otherwise, for the smaller, Index Card RPG or EZD6 can work. Both are super streamlined and they retain that D&D feeling. Also, games using the LUMEN system can give the kids a nice dopamine rush. The creator basically states that his system is meant to make players feel like Overwatch or Diablo characters. In contrast with 5e, in which players often hoard spells and powers for the "right event", LUMEN makes everyone use their spells and special skills all the time in fast paced combat that resolves super quick. Check out ”Nova" and "Light".

And personally I don’t like them, but you can also show them the FATE and Ironsworn/Starforged systems to broaden their horizons and make them experience a different perspective which they might love.

Who gives a fuckidi fuck?

Though choice! I choose Sagrada just because of how much I like the real game and how well made is the digital version, but Ascension, Mystic Vale, and Through the Ages are close.

Damn, Gameranx is still going hard with the pathetically desperate clickbait titles/thumbnails.

Come on SEGA. Stop the sass and show all these lame ass video game and console makers how it's done.

Return to the console industry with a goddammit Dreamcast 2!

Nothing has changed for me.

98% of the games I buy are on sale, most of the times they’re bundled with DLC and if they aren’t, I set a sale alarm for the DLC I’m interested on. Microtransactions are not an issue either. I’ve enjoyed COD, CSGO, LoL, Fortnite, and other F2P microtransaction-riddled games without spending a dime, or by just spending trivial amounts (less than $30 in a 5-year span).

Back then, we had expansions.. Also, pre-internet days, micro transactions came in the form of secret stuff locked behind passcodes that were only published in magazines or super expensive official guides, which as a kid, you could only dream of having as a birthday present or so.

There have been a few people I’ve liked to watch play, like ELPRESADOR, Ashens, Jim Sterling back in the DigitalHomicide days, Tony Hawk, or the dudes from Digital Foundry, or ironically DSPGaming to see the detractor edits, but it’s 100% because I wanted to consume content of these dudes, as opposed to me being remotely interested in the game they were playing or how they were playing it.

I’ve never understood the appeal of watching a full playthrough of someone else play a video game, especially live when the streamer is trying to be entertaining and engaging for those sweet tips, and it’s full of filler commentary and downtime.