single responsibility principle

There's also that there are places where it's an unwritten social convention that declining invitations a certain number of times is a polite, non-hostile way to say "I'm not interested in your invitations anymore" or "I'm unreliable, stop inviting me"

I also struggle with this idea because I'm very used to the idea that it's rude and hostile to directly tell someone you don't want to hang out with them anymore ever, and declining invitations repeatedly is a polite way to communicate that instead

I don't think it would cause a ton of anxiety in me if I couldn't attend, but it *might* upset me to be invited to something that I have already implicitly told people I cannot attend - because it would make me feel like I wasn't being listened to. I wouldn't SHOW it, of course, that would be rude

I really liked "Diamond Dogs", and if you're into dungeon crawls, you probably will, too. There's a "kind of" sequel to the RS trilogy as well ("Inhibitor Phase")

If you're looking at gaming through the lens of an intense WoW addiction, that would explain quite a lot about what you're saying...

How much time do people "waste" repeatedly lifting weights at the gym?

I don't agree that it's "so much time." Watching even the most expanded editions of the films takes like... 12 hours? Reading it probably takes longer for most people, but it still seems like a trivial amount of time spent on something that enhances their mental health and well-being to me.

And I don't think wanting to re-experience something repeatedly is "addiction," at least for mentally healthy people who don't have addictive personalities. The toxicity of LoL I see comes from its players and the culture therein, not the gameplay. Never played WoW so I can't comment on that.

You say you don't need novelty, yet your judgement of what is "best" seemingly requires it. Is that a conscious choice or an unconscious one?

(Of course, one could argue that re-reading LOTR *isn't* exactly the same experience every time if the reader leaves enough of a gap between readings, because the *reader* isn't the same with each reading, but I ignored that because I don't know that most LOTR readers notice that)

You give me the sense that you *need* novelty to engage with and feel something. I suggest to you that what stimulates you is quite different from a lot of players. Not all of us require novelty to the degree you're suggesting to have fun or engage with an experience.

"Seeing everything there is to see" is not really the point. The point is to feel something. There are people out there who re-read or rewatch LOTR every year *because* it's the same every time; it* consistently* triggers the release of the same particular emotions associated with the trilogy.

It's an honest statement in that nothing I said was lying.

When did kids come into this discussion? I thought we were talking about you, and your specific experiences with video games. You said "negative value for ME."

TF2 gameplay scratches a particular experiential itch for me that other games don't, but I don't experience that itch *all* of the time.

That seems like an odd criticism to me. An experience repeating over and over is fine if the thing that's repeating is fun. Or if you take breaks and do other things when you get bored of it and come back later when you want that particular experience, which is what I tend to do with TF2.

Can't tell you about Warhammer or Dr. Who, but re. BattleTech: I just like painting mechs and playing tactical wargames with my friends. My engagement with the lore thus far has been pretty minimal. YMMV on whether I count as being part of BattleTech "fandom," though. Or any "fandom" really.

And yeah, TF2 has lootboxes, but I disregard them completely. Just because a game has a lot of content or lootboxes doesn't mean you *need* to engage with all of it. I can tell that you're jaded, but I think you would be less so if you engaged with the games you play differently. Or different games.

And I completely ignore the lootboxes in TF2. I bought the game *once*, as part of the Orange Box. Never spent anything on microtransactions, because I don't care about items or hats. I care about playing a game to unwind and have fun. That's what games are *for*. Time having fun isn't wasted.