I'll answer first: One thing that I do that helps my work environment feel a little nicer is I have a stuffed Totoro on my desk, a nice-smelling candle, and a few tasty snacks in my drawer. I also very quietly play video game music or ambience to remind myself of my hobbies that I like 😊

I just started this job, but I'm trying to make myself feel a bit more cozy, since the work can feel a bit heavy sometimes.

Curious what others do to make their environment a little nicer. :)

Hi, everybody! Sorry for the rant!

I'm just posting this as a combination of question and vent. Does anyone else here feel frustrated by the current ethical dilemmas of purchasing games from certain companies? My partner is very tuned into the various ethical mishaps happening in the world and keeps me apprised of which companies are doing shitty stuff and which people/companies I should stop supporting. This is important to remember, but it is also frustrating to see how many companies out there are doing bad things.

This is a very "first world problem," but it's frustrating just how many games out there look cool, but I can't play them because it'd be giving those companies/people money. The biggest examples are Activision Blizzard, J.K. Rowling, and Wizards of the Coast. I think Baldurs Gate 3, for example, looks so awesome, but I don't feel comfortable playing it because my partner has alerted me that some of that money would go to Wizards. I feel somewhat frustrated that the discussion around these issues has evaporated when the games are released; it's as though people stopped caring about the bad things these companies/people did. To be entirely honest, I'm not sure if I myself would be able to keep myself accountable if my partner doesn't remind me of it; I think I may have bought the games like everyone else because of how fun they look, and how much they remind me of games I grew up on.

On a similar note, as my partner is working on becoming a game developer, he follows the state of game development and tells me about it, which seems bleak. I mourn the old studios that I used to have a lot of enjoyment for, like BioWare and the others that EA ate up.

Thanks for reading all of this. :) I wish things were more hopeful, I suppose. My partner urges me to support indie developers, so I'm trying to move in that direction. Does anyone have any recommendations on staying hopeful, given the current state of entertainment?

TL;DR: I'm frustrated by the current largely-unethical state of the games industry and want to know how I can regain some hope about it.

Hi everybody! I couldn't figure out a good place to put this so I'm going to put it here. All the running/fitness communities seemed dead.

I've recently gotten into running with my boyfriend for fitness and our general health. I get bored just exercising with nothing to do while I exercise, and I found an app a few years ago called "Zombies Run!", which has a companion app called "Zombies Run 5K" that gets you slowly trained to run consistent 5k's.

I really love it because it has some really great characters and a plot that you progress through by running.

I really wish other apps like this existed, that gamify working out, because I'm quite a lazy person who needs an extra reason to workout besides just "it's good for me." Being able to talk about the plot and characters with my partner is really helpful at keeping me motivated.

Has anyone else tried this app or apps similar to it?

(the app is forcing me to put a link so I put Timesplitters 2 gameplay cuz this is mostly a text post)

Hi everyone! I've been feeling frustration about games lately, remembering experiences I had as a kid playing co-op story games with my friends, like Timesplitters and Destroy All Humans, etc.

Modern multiplayer games sometimes have some co-op elements, but many of them are party games like Human Fall Flat or Among Us, or big Battle Royales or Multiplayer shooters. The co-op ones seem to only be survival games like The Forest.

I'm always looking for good co-op experiences to play with my friends, but it's hard to find what I am looking for. I recently played It Takes Two with my partner and that was so wonderful.

Does anyone know any games like what I am looking for? It seems these kinds of games are so few and far between, sadly.

Hi! I made a post a while ago about the show "From." It's a horror thriller about people stuck in a town where monsters that look like people come out at night. It starts quick, slows down in the middle, and picks way back up at the end of the first season. I kept rapidly alternating between loving and hating characters. It's also nail-bitingly tense at times!! I'm absolutely hooked and wanted to share it with others!

I think it's on Amazon Prime, though I just pirated it because I am poor.

I'd love to know if anyone else has watched it and what they thought! If you talk about season two, please spoiler-tag your posts cuz I haven't seen that yet.

Hi everyone! I'm in my late 20s and I've been reminiscing on my young adult life and what I like/don't like. One point that has been coming up for me is close, vulnerable friendships. I used to have a few friends who I was very close to a few years ago, who I could talk to about deep life stuff, big emotions, vulnerable feelings and worries, and also just enjoy time together discussing silly/serious media or the world.

I have since lost these friends, one way or another. Some simply drifted, some left in a flurry of drama and hurt feelings. I thankfully kept some friends, but a lot of them have been lost.

Despite the volatility of those friendships, there was something I was getting from them that I really needed and still need. I think that need is simply the human desire for close companionship. I have a partner, and he's wonderful; he's not particularly feel-y however, and my friends aren't either. I think I need more emotionally-vulnerable people.

My question is this... How does one make these friends as an adult? In fact, how does one make any friends as an adult? I'm finding myself not knowing how to proceed and find other emotional folk. Any advice would be appreciated. <3

Hi all! I've been teaching myself German lately, and I've really found so much value in switching Skyrim over to German and immersing myself that way! At first it was really, really hard, and I was spending a lot of time stopping and translating words and adding them to my flashcard app.

Now, it's still hard, but I'm finding with the repetition and the need to know the words, I'm learning quickly! The way you can stop and examine items and learn words that way, and the slow speed of dialogue and ability to repeat most dialogue really lends itself to learning a language.

It's also just a lot of fun! I've never played the DLCs, somehow, so I'm excited to get through the game and play those, as well as trying out some nice mods!

Has anyone else here done this? :)

Hi! Has anyone seen the TV show "From"? Itl watched the first two episodes with my friend and it's really intriguing! It's very creepy and apocalyptic in a way, with there being a town people can't leave and creepy monster people at night!

Hello all! I'm looking to practice my German with other German learners or patient native-speakers! I'm at/near the A2 level and am actively studying as much as I can! A huge part of learning a language is writing/speaking to others, however, and - living in Ohio in the U.S., I don't have much opportunity for that. So I'm looking online!

I'm looking for either: people here who would like to help me practice, or directions to where I might be able to practice with others.

Thanks! :)

Hello everyone! I'm learning German and I'm trying to make sure my language learning habits are the best they can be. I was using Duolingo and Busuu, but that was taking a lot of time away from immersion/fun and what I learned in one app I often learned in the other, so it felt redundant. So now I just use Busuu for grammar learning.

Any new German words I come across I then enter into Anki for memorization, which I practice once or twice a day.

After these two activities, I try to fill my day as much as possible with German media; this includes German podcasts, music, games translated into German, and YouTube videos.

I want to know... Is this an effective method? I'm always a bit of a perfectionist, so I'm looking for feedback or constructive criticism. Alternatively, you could just share your own language learning methods!

I'd also love to know if there are any great instances for people learning languages! I tried looking, but none of them seemed active :(

Hello everyone! I'm trying to make sure my language learning habits are the best they can be. I was using Duolingo and Busuu, but that was taking a lot of time away from immersion/fun and what I learned in one I often learned in the other. So now I just use Busuu for grammar learning.

Any new German words I come across I then enter into Anki for memorization, which I practice once a day.

After these two activities, I try to fill my day as much as possible with German media; this includes German podcasts, music, games translated into German, and YouTube videos.

I want to know... Is this an effective method? I'm always a bit of a perfectionist, so I'm looking for either validation or constructive criticism. Alternatively, you could just share your own language learning methods!

This is basically my favorite artist. I always try to share their work with as many people as I can, since they deserve the attention. :)