@_dmhIt's the weekend so it's time for a casual #WhatHashtagsMeanToMe. Tonight is about #FPS or #FirstPersonShooter video games, a genre which feels slightly out of touch with my real world pacifism.
For those of who don't know, these are the games where you control an avatar running around in a virtual world and your screen shows you whatever is visible to the avatar from where you are in the world. And you shoot things (usually human-shaped but not always) to score points or complete an objective.
@_dmh@tech.lgbtWhen I was growing up, this meant lots of #Goldeneye and #PerfectDark on the #N65 (#Nintendo64). At university, it meant lots and lots of #Halo with folks living on my hall. Nowadays it means nostalgia with #GoldeneyeSource (an online multiplayer version built on the Half Life 2 game engine) with a bit of #Titanfall2 and #CSGO mixed in. I've never personally gotten the appeal of 3rd person perspective for shooters, but if you're a fan maybe you can tell me why?
@_dmhThese games are particularly gripping for my attention because there is so much happening all the time. I tend to prefer more chaotic game modes over more strategic ones, so I can just run around in the chaos fully immersed for hours. It does an excellent job of dragging me away from my worries and doesn't require a lot of set up or planning.
@_dmhThey also provided some of the community that got me through 2020, as I bonded with the small group of regulars who were playing #GoldeneyeSource frequently. That was a hard year for the obvious global reason, but also personally due to burnout and the ending of my life partnership (fortunately not legally complex, since we never civil unioned or married). Retreating into nostalgia and community was a great help to me at that time.
@_dmhA while back I started playing #Titanfall2 as most of the official servers started getting buggy, but the game lives on supported by some fans running a new server and mod called #Northstar. What makes this game fun is the "titans"--big mech suits that you can deploy during the match, forcing you to play at the quick and nimble pace of the pilots as well as the slower but more powerful pace of the titans. It's good stuff!
@_dmhAnyway, talking about #VideoGames still feels like a weird hobby, since I don't go as hard as "serious gamers" but I play fairly often and still have the internalised stigma that video games are a "waste of time", especially compared to all the other hobbies one can have. If you want to talk excitedly about these things or also deal with that negativity, gimme a shout :)