The only two online games I really have an interest in any more are FFXIV and OSRS, the latter of which has surprised me with how much I enjoy it. It’s a huge grind but it’s low commitment and you can pick it up and put it down at any time for however long without missing a beat. That’s refreshing in the modern digital age. The monotony is an acquired taste but I don’t mind it either. It ticks all of my autistic boxes to watch numbers go up and bars get filled, not to mention that ongoing isolation as a medically vulnerable person living in a society of Covid denial has made my mind very receptive to this simple, banal pleasure. Working slowly toward goals in a world that lets me be largely independent is nice. I don’t have to make connections with people who will disappoint/harm me to play a majority of the content, and I feel empowered to exist, unlike the real world or anywhere else I actually need to be sociable.

I have not felt the impetus to play much XIV, conversely, despite my love for that game and its world, because playing it makes me want to make friends, and I’ve been burned too much by that to continue. Maybe I’ll get over it eventually, but it is a deep trauma, so I don’t know.

…uh, video games