It has such potential! The mechanics they added are already everything one needs to create some awesome operations! Imho, I’d also polish the mechanics up a bit, like remove the rolling rubber bands and add more mass to the Railjack itself (this last one was the first thing a friend remarked when playing at release, and I agree).

Either way, every single thread could do with more fleshing out, it’d make the world feel less like a super-wide puddle and more like a cohesive, evolving thing.

The worst thing GTAO did (other than the griefing and Shark Cards) was not evolving the world with time. Staring at those construction yards which have not changed in over a decade pulls me out of the world entirely.

i can understand that, yeah. Honestly, I think it’s a neat addition which serves as something else to do, speaking a someone who has nearly 3k hours in the game. It’s enough on its own for the first 1.5k hours, but then the grind slowly started getting to me, at least. Adding more depth to the character interactions can always only ever be a good thing.

I do agree with you that the trend chasing tendency is pretty dangerous, and I get that distinct feeling they still rushed it a bit [edges sanded off too abruptly, some points in the flow feel jagged, people hate your guts if you tell them you won’t leave them (in a positive way), etc.], and my main fear is it ending up like pretty much every other branch, kinda’ like toys forgotten in the sandbox.

Personally, I would’ve thought of a way to deepen the mechanics, meaning build upon what’s already there instead of further widening the spreadsheet of buffs and unrelated activities. And I will never shut up about how the Railjack is just begging to be used more…

Yes, it’s a surprisingly deep rabbit hole.

Weirdly enough, I let him do his thing and it eventually broke down. Which seems organic, he got to trust me and no longer feels the need to secure cooperation through debt.

Unlike Lettie, who seems to be thrown even farther into avoidance the closer you get to her. Which, again, makes sense! But nah. No more, thanks… She has become yet another reason why one should never dip their pen in company ink.

You’re not wrong, it really did feel like I was gaming the system with her. There are moments when you seem to break through and have a “normal” conversation (i.e. her not slamming the door in your face after your third sincere word), but this avoidant dance is making me really tired.

I seem to have reached the same point, we’re Best Friends (down from Loved) and she’s not messaging me anymore. Fun. I’ve been through this IRL more than I’d care to remember.

Oh, yeah, it’s a whole thing! The writing’s very good, but the time limits and overall progression dynamics are a bit… frustrating at times. Moreso because the characters are well written!

Like, you get one Chat per day (consisting of anywhere from 2-3 lines, to a hefty, in-depth discussion on a subject) and you can also screw it up pretty badly in some very abstract ways (see my example above and expanded in my other comment). And it being Warframe, the mechanics are blackbox, so you’re stuck wondering if you have to brainwash the characters into resetting your status with them, or hang in there hoping there are some twists and turns in character dynamics which will allow you to progress and develop your interactions with them.

Honestly, the contrast stands elsewhere for me, in that with a real person, I at least know there’s still a chance to talk things out if I play my cards right. In this case, though, I have no idea whether or not this is one of those “this will branch out into a related convo which will either solidify or completely cancel,” which would motivate me to keep trying to navigate this situation and would pull me into the game even more, or if it’s “you triggered the Ick flag and now you’re out unless you mind wipe them,” which just sounds sociopathic in and of itself, so no. Just no. As a person who’s really into the not being able to retread choices aspect, means that something may have been blocked off for me for a really shitty and unjust reason (yes, I still believe it’s an unjustified reaction based on the conversation, although a realistic one - realism does not imply healthiness).

And all I know now is that I triggered her NoDate flag, and I barely even know what that means other than she literally hates my guts for saying I’m never leaving. Not even kidding, her reaction to my asking to date her again would suggest I insulted half of her family tree…

Thanks for the support, kinda’ regret getting into the dating sim part. They wrote the characters well enough for their presence or absence to matter, and it feels a lot like a real break-up would, although the impact is far smaller. It still fucking sucks to see an empty apartment and just go through with the grind after that.

My favourite example of such.

Jesus Christ, it didn’t even take my brain a millisecond to start fantasising…

“You’re also a contortionist in this scenario.”

Fair, could’ve used a few lighter nudges beforehand. We came close to kissing a couple of times before, but it never materialised and I’ve never been one to push.

Plus, in all fairness, I was baked out of my gourd and mesmerised by the movie (I can’t say I like Sandler movies, but they sorta’ entrance my brain into trying to make sense of them every time). It was most certainly not a sexy times kinda’ mood for me:))

I don’t even know why I bother with this train of though at this point, but I just can’t figure out if he seriously believes the shit he’s spouting, or if he’s just playing up the shock value like an edgelord. I mean, it’s clear he’s way dumber than he thinks himself to be, but I can’t get the nuance in it…

Oh, wow, that sounds pretty deep, too! Makes one wonder how things could’ve gone differently had we caught the hints for what they were.

Or at least they make for cute and funny stories if nothing else!

Hah! Had something very similar happen to me in high-school.

Had this very metal friend, and being the hormonal teenager I was, I kinda’ lusted pretty badly after her. I didn’t do or say anything about it, getting along and having someone with whom to chat during metal concerts and while hanging out at the local dive spot for people with such inclinations was enough.

We used to hang out a lot after class, she was one year younger so we had similar schedules. She sorta’ hinted that she “didn’t dislike” me every now and again, but had a… tumultuous repertoire of random relationships, so my gut told me to hang back. She not once invited me over to her place, though. Until one afternoon when she did.

It was nearing the summer vacation, it was a torrid day from the start, the dive was closed for “renovations” (meaning someone probably puked over the bar again), so we were just sitting aimlessly on a random curb, thinking about what to do. She presented the idea of schmoozing over to hers for a toke and a comedy. My beautiful brain instantly dismissed any ‘nefarious’ potentialities and set itself to “friendly.”

We got over to hers, rolled one up, she selected some Adam Sandler comedy (I honestly don’t remember which one, they all blend together in my memory…), and we started happily baking. About halfway through the movie, she tells me she’s headed for the washroom to freshen up. I don’t even think I registered the though, I just kept absorbing the movie.

She comes out ten minutes later, buck naked and confident. Says nothing and starts returning to the couch. I swivel my head toward her as I felt she was coming, and get but a flash of flesh. My right hand instantly flies to my eyes, I start spouting panicked apologies and a jumble of “fucks” and “shits,” then I hurry toward the front door while keeping my eyes covered.

I realised what had happened several months later. She didn’t say anything about that afternoon again, and neither did I. We continued hanging out for a couple more years, I think.

I hate that I started hearing Gungans explaining 1984 to me now…