My N=1, I was a gamer before I was a developer, tbh. I started with a CS elective in high school, because "If I'm going to be on the computer all day, why not

My N=1, I was a gamer before I was a developer, tbh. I started with a CS elective in high school, because "If I'm going to be on the computer all day, why not make them work for me?", suffering GridWorld by day, and binging CoD most evenings. I was a C student, except for CS and some other things. Less games interest me as I've gotten older. If they don't actively fill some enjoyable niche, have an element of challenge that feels satisfying to overcome, and/or involve my friends, then they don't get bought or played. My last Rimworld game was laid to rest when I'd built a massive wall around my base. I realized that I'd achieved the 80 of 80/20, since I was now secure enough to do almost anything I wanted with 1/3rd of the map, while weathering the consequences of my colony's wealth factor counting all of the marble tiles I'd been putting in. I can't play Minecraft anymore, and have not responded to MS's emails about account stuff. I get in, build my base, establish food and resource security with the tried-and-true-enough methods that are burned into my brain. Then, I raid caves until I start forgetting to log in. Like above. Valorant is probably the only multiplayer game I'm willing to play with pure randos from the matchmaking servers. I can screw around and be aggro, or tactical and precise, and I sometimes play on the ranked ladder. It's not a very meaningful reward to explain to people, but it gives me a representation of "mastery" I can think about. It's also a mechanically precise game with a short feedback loop, which gives me a clear 'thing' to get good at. Like, bringing my crosshairs up by a millimeter may make me more effective, but I have to train myself into it. But at $CURRENT_AGE, if I don't have personal contact with physical humans, my social perspective gets wonky, and I get antsy. I'd choose a real party over a Valorant party most of the time.