Life is like a game, except some folks get all the DLC and game hacks, whilst others get the base or light version, their installation might be missing files, or get corrupted.
Whereas some will get good or even the best hardware, others will be running on damaged or limited hardware, or even have their gamer account limited from the start!!!
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Like any game, you need to learn the rules and mechanics.
People with auto-aim or cheats enabled, and/or with upgraded hardware, will tell you just to "get good", but you might just never be able to.
Some will say it's a "skill issue", but there might be multiple options missing from your version of the game that make it far more difficult for you to progress.
Over time, you might start to internalise the insults, the losses, and the game overs that tell you to press start in order to continue playing.
You might start to question why you keep on playing this game, but it's not like there's any other you can play, so you keep on pressing start, you keep on trying to do better, and you hope and plead for better RNG.
Over time though, if you don't get better, don't have better luck, and you keep on losing match after match for long enough, you might begin to realise that you really don't enjoy playing a game that you can't ever win, and which isn't bringing you joy... at least not any more.
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Maybe you used to enjoy playing the game.
Maybe you had friends you used to team up with who made it fun, or at least made it feel less awful when you lost matches together, as you were there for each other.
Maybe you enjoyed the daily and weekly quests and events, unlocked some achievements, found and adopted some familiars, and/or met another gamer or even other gamers to regularly or even permanently co-op with.
But even then, maybe you just kept on losing matches regardless.
And when you play a game like this, some folks will inevitably end up ragequitting.
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There will sadly always be many players who will harshly criticise players who ragequit.
Some players will even brutally mock them for not having been a "good player", despite those players having tried their damned hardest to keep playing and keep trying to progress through the rankings for decades, all whilst their bodies were aching and sore, their heads were pounding, their eyes were throbbing, and their games were glitching and crashing and barely playable at the end.
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It's all too easy and unfair to criticise those who ragequit the game.
Some folks will lash out at former teammates or clan mates for leaving them suddenly and unexpectedly, sometimes right in the middle of a chat, round, encounter, or raid.
However, the player who ragequit might have been discussing their game struggles for months or even years, with insufficient or even no support from gamer friends, the mods, or the devs.
And not everybody who stops playing the game ragequits.
Some will discuss it long and hard with those they game with, say their goodbyes, leave their loot and gear to them, and then shut down their game for good.
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The fact is that not everybody will play the game until their hardware finally gives up the ghost, and most won't ever really do well.
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Many gamers will experience good moments, maybe at the start or later in the game, but it won't always be enough.
Sometimes people you know, like, and/or even love will stop playing the game.
And for those who continue playing, it may hurt to lose them, but we should never blame, demonise, nor stigmatise them for doing so, nor make it about how we feel, because them stopping playing the game ultimately isn't about us.
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If we truly want gamers to play the game for longer, we need to work together for a world where:
- everybody gets to play the full game on quality hardware that's suitable for their gaming needs;" the top 1% of players who cheat their way to the top of the rankings get perma-banned; and...
- corrupt devs get called out, held accountable, fired, and blacklisted across the entire industry.
Unless we do all that and so much more, we are going to see more and more gamers deciding that their only winning move is to not continue playing any more.
(pauses)
As sad as we may feel personally, we won't judge or blame anybody who stops playing for any reasons, especially the ones we've got to game a lot with.
All we hope is that, before they close their game for the final time, they'll give us one last chance to say goodbye, to tell them how much we appreciated them as a gamer and friend, and to thank them for playing as long as they did 🥺
If that's ever you, thank you for playing with us.
GG 🫂🩷
#MentalHealth #RightToDie #DarkThoughts #HereBeDragons #CaveatLector #ThankYouForPlaying
