I heard about the USA mode thing, but I didn't realize this was the reason. Fascinating!

I am also rooting for this so much!

It's a game where you can build your character in many different ways, do whatever activities you want, and anything you choose to do will help you progress toward something meaningful for your character or account

Yet very little of it is explained well, which makes it overwhelming for new players

One design allows for wonderful situations where an experienced player can observe a newer player getting lost in the labyrinth, then offer to guide them or team up to overcome a shared adventure. This organically leads to meaningful friendships.

The other just streamlines the fun away entirely.

Enjoy the journey!

But yes, it's kinda disappointing to join a seemingly-promising guild only to find that guild chat is dead, and even discord chat is pretty inactive; it's just a few close-knit people who hang out in voice and even else is just there to reap guild benefits or boost numbers

That's because those are the types of guilds that care about actively recruiting. The good guilds are the ones made up of people who are willing to actually befriend strangers in-game and then invite them to a guild once they know they get along. These are extremely rare, but I had that in FF14 once

The DS is absolutely magical. The #1 console I'd want to have on a deserted island, and the #1 gaming library I'd want to fully collect if I ever happened upon an absurd amount of money xD

The DS is absolutely magical. The #1 console I'd want to have on a deserted island, and the #1 gaming library I'd want to fully collect if I ever happened upon an absurd amount of money xD

That would be a bummer if it happened, because the relative ease of reaching endgame and the huge emphasis on horizontal progression is a major appeal to me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I definitely know how much of a problem visual clutter can be in MMO party content xD
Hopefully the option to hide ally visual effects helps somewhat!

I'm a newer player and having a great time, but I'd be interested in knowing what kind of issues a more experienced player might have with the modern state of the game!

You had a cool childhood!

I still think about the main message of The Good Place all the time.

Will keep you in mind when/if I make a meaningful return!

It makes me think of the time when mobile games were super niche, in the time before everyone was carrying a gaming-capable smartphone.

VR gaming will only take off if everyone's already wearing VR-capable glasses that they use for other tasks. Which is what Apple wanted with the Vision, but w/e.