sanqui: (Default)
2018-02-04 11:38 pm

Sizing down

Last post, I wrote "I do hang out in many communities. Always have."

This is true. But what is also true is I have been reducing my presence in the recent years.

Do I need to be in a hundred of IRC channels? Twenty Discord servers? Several hyper-active Telegram chats? No, I don't think so.

Leave everything that's not dear to you. If you ever need anything, you can come back. But most likely, you won't even remember.

Less things to click on is always a good thing.
sanqui: (Default)
2018-01-21 10:59 pm

Out of touch

I feel so out of touch, more and more.

A friend talks to me about how he's bought a Switch, and adamantly tells me how he's ready to sink a hundred hours into Zelda. I have little to say. Yep, the Switch seems well made. Yeah, the game looks good, I saw my friend play it and it looks as if a lot of effort's gone into it. I have no desire to play it, and especially no desire to play it for hundreds of hours! Even the idea of spending ten on a game feels awful. And that's how my Steam account clocks last online over 1000 days ago and why my 3DS collects dust.

I do hang out in many communities. Always have. But recently, when people in some chat talk about some current video game, it's felt surreal. I can't seem to connect. I feel fundamentally left out. It's a current game. "Who's going to play with me?". Not me. I don't know the game, I don't have it, I probably never will.

And then... I keep being reminded how speedrunning still leaves a distaste in me. I did use to be somewhat involved in the Pokémon speedrunning scene. I've never been speedrunning myself, but I enjoyed the concept, watched streams, raced and invented glitches. But nowadays... I honestly feel really bad for the people who play one game over and over every day. And it's not even my business! I'm not trying to insult anybody here, I would never say it to anybody's face. I do want people doing what they love. But I'm repulsed, and I can't help that.

If I look back, I know this has been a slow process in the course of several years. But sitting down like this to realize just where I stand right now makes me see the gap, and it feels bizarre. I don't know how to bridge that gap and I don't desire going there anyway. So I guess I just need to venture further out.