35-40 You realize you’ve spent so much time trying to level up that you haven’t done any of the fun quests and crafting you really wanted to do, so you start focusing on those.
40-45 You look around and realize you’ve somehow managed to accrue skills and experience and loot and feel cringingly compelled to give advice to other players who are newer to the game. “When I was your level…”
35-40 You realize you’ve spent so much time trying to level up that you haven’t done any of the fun quests and crafting you really wanted to do, so you start focusing on those.
I’m on the upper end of that range and this is very true in my case. You also realize your body is no longer equipped with the right health/mana/stamina points to fully enjoy the fun quests.
I feel for you. I was so terrified of this happening that I spent my whole life until 35 basically doing all the crazy quests and collecting all the pointless loot I could.
The fact that I managed to stick the landing at 40 is basically a glitch/exploit.
Was it the right decision? Am 21, wasted a lot of that time. I fear the same thing
My man, I cannot recommend it. It worked for me out of sheer blind luck. It could have gone horribly. And I mean, it could have ended up with me on the streets, permanently, in any number of countries. It could have wound up with me in a morgue a few times 🤣
Looking back, especially in the context of how well things turned out for me, I probably wouldn’t change a thing… but it took a lot of danger and a lot of heartache and a fair whack of my dignity to get here.
Maybe that’s the cost of running hot until your 40s? There has to be a middle ground out there that I wasn’t motivated enough to find. I hope you find it.
Take some risks, but look after yourself. You’re gonna be old one day and you’ll need some left in the tank :)
Addendum: At 21 it’s impossible to say you’ve wasted any of your time. This has all been the onramp so far. It’s fine 👍🏻
Yep, that’s why I plan my suicide on 35th birthday
When I was a teenager, I felt like 40+ was so old that your life was pretty much over and not worth living, but I’ve done so much self-actualization since my mid-30s that I’m still unlocking many of the things I hadn’t previously thought I could do, like find a job I actually love, create stuff I’m proud of and have gotten positive feedback on, getting recognized for my skills and interests, etc. It’s unfortunate that it can take a while to get around to doing some worthwhile stuff, but it’s better now than later, regardless of what age you are. Thinking there wasn’t much more after 40 was just a limitation of perspective on my part.
I’m ancient. When I started working, the company had a pension that would have allowed me to retire at 55 with 85% of my final salary. Many years ago, they got rid of the pension program (I’ll still get something, but far, far less).
When I turned 55, I was initially pissed off about that. Then I realized that I likely still had 30 years or more to live. That’s a really long time, and it hadn’t really occurred to me before.
988 suicide hotline… You’re probably just joking, but just in case
No jokes. Want my steam library?
I don’t not want it… When’s your 35th birthday?
It’s in a year
Feel free to DM me… Or do call 988… Whatever is troubling you, there’s help available. Don’t take yourself out before you get to do the the fun side quests!
Do not worry, really. I’ve been in therapy for a long time and it’s my decision that I’ve made back in 2020. I’m absolutely sane
I’m just unga-bunga my way through in the 40-45 range. Sometimes I’ll try crazy shit just to see if it works.
I followed the tutorial so 18-25 was easy mode. 26-35 was a blur mostly making money for other people. 36-40 was realizing the tutorial was a goddamn lie, going to therapy, trying to make up for missed experiences, and balancing work with reward. Now in the 41-45 phase and wondering what it will look like when I reflect back on it in a few years.
Username kinda checks out
Aww, thank you 😊
Well, good news: in the more developed nations (that haven’t gone dystopian), work-life balance has a high priority for young people. They learned from their parents’ errors.
I’m seeing this and it makes me very happy.
45-50: It starts to dawn on you that grinding is a waste of your time and life, and that it only makes the game makers richer and richer by keeping you bound to a game that you have grown to loathe. You also start to realize that the loot you have made from grinding is mostly worthless crap that you have no use for. Who cares for achievements and PvP medals when your back hurts, your eyesight is all shot to hell and you keep having these migraines?
I felt this way too viscerally.
Me too, especially recently. It’s a feeling that had a direct role in the writing of this just the other day. So, fancy seeing exactly the same sentiment from so many other people, here and now!
I read your first sentence without knowing this was about gaming, and I was knowingly nodding my head because I thought you were talking about life and the corporate rat race
Porque no los dos?
Finding out you are trans and respeccing to a different class and all of sudden your build comes together so much better.
+40 - look at all those youngsters taking things so seriously. They’ve forgotten it’s just a game.
Being ultra-wealthy is like having “save game” whenever you need it.
If you screw up, you can always start again.
It usually comes from starting a New Game+
I just want to quit
i believe in you and i think it will get better for you
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Hmm
Thanks, that does mean a lot
Tfw you realise RPG mechanics is based on real life mechanics.
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Hoping a revolution occurs before the consequences of my decisions start to matter…
16-20: you think you have the game figured out but you don’t realize you’re still in the tutorial.
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This thread is just making me want to take 1 point in ranged weapons so i can use a shotgun to reroll with another character.
I send hugs?
Anybody know what a stealthy archer build is irl?
Scam artist
Probably involves too much interaction to qualify but pretty warm
Tech worker probably
That’s probably the closest. A work from home (or on the hoof) tech worker.
It really felt true to be, but I’m not entirely sure why
…sniper?
Thomas Crooks isn’t exactly flourishing
Politician
Is there such a thing as a stealthy politician
It’s more the idea that you’re acting as a representative of your people while disregarding them entirely to get whatever you want.
I meant it as more as “Stealth archer build is the cheese option. Politicians cheese everything”
All good points. They are the champions of cheesing life. But it still lacks the solitary, unobserved, nature of the stealth archer.
In that case I would say shareholders.
Ugh… That’s got to be it. I was thinking something like a lobbyist probably fits the bill but a shareholder is better.
Turn up to the AGM once a year and demand more profits even if it kills the business and beggars the workers. Cheese O’Clock.
40-45: you’re stuck in the intense endgame grind and wish you could go back to just whacking shit with your sword.
I’ll be 36 later this year, and I’ll be damned if I don’t keep swinging my sword for the rest of me days!
40 is when swinging a sword makes your back hurt
I can’t be the only one who misread this as boeing and thought this was a weird analogy for boeing models.
