Sterile_Technique

Oh, he’s still alive then. Maybe his next stroke will do the trick.

…well fuck, I didn’t actually expect the former. This world would be so much better without that religious nonsense. -_-

But like… why? Does their religion actually have some angst with music, or is this another one of those “god told me so in a dream!” kinda bullshit?

If “Secret World Legends” isn’t already on your radar, it might be up your alley.

Haven’t played GW1, but SWL has a moveset similar to what you described.

It’s set in modern day, with the premise that all myths, conspiracy theories, urban legends etc are all true - and frequently need to be contained. There are three factions: STRONGLY recommend you choose Illuminati (best faction story line by a long shot).

The investigative missions will make you feel like a moron, but in a weirdly good way. SUPER satisfying to figure them out without looking up hints online.

Hate:

Lazy UI porting between PC and console. It goes both ways - radial menus showing up in a PC game or a joystick-controlled-cursor in a console game. M+KB vs controller are not comparable input methods, so trying to manage the UI with one that was built for the other is always a massive pain in the ass.

Inventory restrictions in games that throw a LOT of shit your way. Looking at you, Bethesda. Fortunately there’s usually a mod of some kind to make items weigh like 0.01 lbs, or kick your slots up to 9999 or something. Sometimes realism adds to the experience… inventory management isn’t one of those times.

Sluggish controls. I want to actually enjoy the Dark Souls games SO BAD - they look beautiful, I fuckin love that dark fantasy setting… but moving and combat feel like I’m driving a school bus with boxing gloves on my hands and diving flippers on my feet. I get that the cumbersome controls are a huge part of what makes it difficult, and that the difficulty is what a lot of players are after, but personally that’s not a flavor of difficulty I’ll ever be able to enjoy.

Love:

Good QOL features, especially involving the topics above. Like ‘Hot Deposit’ certain items to all designated storages in range, or AoE loot when a bunch of foes die in a pile. The quick loot style menu from Fallout 4 is another great example. Love that stuff!

Lore. Good story writing, believable/relatable characters, ESPECIALLY the antagonists. Hitting the sweet spot there is a quick ticket to my all time favorites.

Environmental challenges, with fun ways to overcome them. When I was new to Ark, one of the biggest challenges in my first play through was getting into the super cold zones and not freezing to death. My cold weather gear didn’t cut it… the solution I came up with was to tame a paracer (kind of an elephant looking dino) and build a platform on its back: and made like 6 camp fires on the platform. So the I was, trudging through an insanely cold environment on a flaming elephant, cozy as can be. As a veteran player now, there are SO much more efficient methods to solving that problem, but the experience gave a unique sense of accomplishment, which is the kind of thing that got me hooked on that game.

Escorts matching the move speed of the player. 'nuff said.

“Do no evil.” …unless it’s projected as profitable, in which case, evil that shit up!

Man, I’m really under-utilizing GOG.

Most of these aren’t really ‘hidden’ but there are some good deals on some of my favorites right now:
Skyrim - $10, which gives you access to:
Enderal - Free but requires Skyrim in library
Witcher III + DLCs - $15
Raft - $13.39
Grounded - $24
Satisfactory - $16.49
Subnautica & Subnautica Below Zero - $18
Valheim - $12
Age of Empires - $5
Halo: Master Chief Collection (7 Halo games) - $10

The concerning part is that a lot of the data is the most conservative available, so as to not seem alarmist. When even that looks grim, it’s hard to hold onto any hope that our planet is on track to becoming anything other than a hellscape. A lot of climate change is the result of positive feedback loops – self-aggrivating conditions. E.g., warmer arctic climate causes the release of methane previously trapped by ice (methane is a ridiculously potent greenhouse gas… something like 30x more potent than CO₂), so its release causes the climate to warm even more, which melts more arctic ice, which releases more methane, which makes the climate warmer, which melts more arctic ice, etc…

Even if every human just suddenly got thanos-snapped out of existence right now – no more cars, no more shipping, no more deforestation, no more industry of any kind… full stop on pollution and active environmental destruction… even then, the positive feedback loops we’ve set into motion aren’t just going to stop on their own. The process would be slower, sure, but Earth is (rather, the things on earth that make it more than just a dead rock floating in space, are) fucked.

On the plus side, we’ll only be alive long enough to see the start of the ‘find out’ era. It’s the generation after you that’s really fucked; and the generation after them that’s really, REALLY fucked, rinse and repeat until humanity is an eco-dome filled with oligarchs, or just straight up extinct.

At this point we’re dependent on a (series of) miracle-tier scientific breakthrough(s), or literal divine/extraterrestrial intervention. I don’t see the latter two happening. Vote for candidates who give a shit about science if you think there’s any hope in that route.

Damn, wish I saw that before deleting mine.