WWG Obligatory New Years Post 2023 / 2024

So I'm apparently putting this on Pastebin because Twitlonger no longer works? Whack. Anyway,

Every year, I make one of these check-ins for whoever still checks my Twitter. I usually preface and punctuate them with a reminder to get the hell off Twitter. Part of me feels like if you haven't by now, you never will. To say that Twitter is a train wreck would be an understatement. But if you're even a little on the fence, I urge you desperately to save yourself: Twitter is providing 0 to your life, I promise, and you'll be much happier off of it. Give yourself a one week free trial, see how you feel. You will not regret it.

Anyhow, 2023 feels like the first "year" of my life that was a proper length. Back in school, I would write my name and the date on the top right corner of every page, and every year felt so short, we'd start the new year, and I'd have to train myself to write the correct date. I don't feel that this year (though I don't write the date anywhere either because I'm not in school and I work from home). In fact, I kinda feel like 2023 has been unusually long. Hard to say. I don't think there's any concrete reason I feel this way other than because I'm a parent who works full time and so much of my time is spent working, parenting, and not sleeping (maybe the unusually large amount of time I've spent conscious when I should be asleep contributes too).

For those who are wondering WWG is still on pause. I barely get to play games, and when I do, I am not looking for topics for videos. If they come up organically, maybe, but I just want to relax and enjoy game. I will say, I had a video idea that propped organically this year, and I even wrote the script and recorded Voiceover... But things got in the way, new information came out, and now I'm not all that inspired. Perhaps I'll come back to it. Or if people are interested, I can publish the script and just leave it at that.
This year, I played a grand total of 3 games: Dome Keeper, Campfire, and the DLC for Pokémon Scarlet.

Dome Keeper is a great relaxing Roguelite thing. A sort of mix of Tower Defense, Steamworld Dig, and mild RPG Elements. I recommend it.
Campfire is Animal Crossing but the Villagers are AI-Powered and you can have more meaningful conversations with them. It's still in beta, so it's a little rough around the edges, but it excites me that AI can be used for good and fun ideas instead of just all the ugly art.
The video I alluded to before was about the Pokémon DLC, using it as a springboard to talk about the direction of the franchise form a perspective I feel like no one is talking about (even the diehard fans). I may still make the video, so I'll briefly outline my thoughts: The culture surrounding Pokémon, along with the loud design sensibilities of the recent release + DLC paint a curious picture about what the designers prioritize when developing this games, and I think it's super cool and interesting. Note that this opinion is independent of and ignoring the performance of the game, I'm talking just about the design.

That last asterisk leads me to another thing that's been bugging me lately. I find myself less and less patient for our culture's obsession with needing to have an opinion about something. I've always had an issue with it--it's on of the reasons I quit Twitter 3 and a half years ago. But lately I find myself even less willing to engage. Perhaps it's because I have so little time to spare that wasting the precious time I do have on stuff I find unentertaining or annoying feels especially frustrating. Either way, I also implore you all to just... exist. You don't need to have an opinion on everything. It doesn't matter. None of it matters. Not in an existential way, but in a freeing, liberating way. Is it not exhausting hearing about the latest thing and feeling inclined to engage? You don't have to. Just take a deep breath and remind yourself that it doesn't matter. You'll thank yourself.

I guess that's all I can think of. Hope everyone has a swell 2024.