You act like Epic, GoG and itch.io don’t exist. Steam has plenty of competition. They just suck in comparison.
I’m my experience, that’s most right-wingers in Texas. They’ll bitch about corporate power, the consolidation of megacorps, the little guy getting fucked over and then just be completely unable to process that the last 40 years of Republican rule are why that’s happening. They’ve decided their identity is Republican and questioning that is something they’re not willing to do, even if their ideology runs counter to it.
Of course they are. They literally allow you to ignore all of the most difficult game mechanics. With a great shield you literally never need to time dodges. As a mage, you can easily do ranged damage, so you don’t need to time your attacks or worry about positioning. Using a summon means the boss doesn’t even attack you half the time, and some of them are so powerful that they can beat many bosses on their own.
It’s actually a far better difficulty system than the standard “the game mechanics are the same, but enemies do less damage and have less health” system that most games use.
Starsector: It’s an Elite style open world space game. What makes it special is that it’s been in constant development for over a decade and has a crazy number of ships, weapons, lore and features. And a vibrant modding scene.
Also the devs are vehemently against DRM, so the only place you can buy the game is their own website. Or not buy. They put the full version up for anyone to download.
A large percent of the population tunes out when you talk about real problems. They don’t understand them or don’t want to think about them. They’ll still have some fun making fun of a billionaire who so pathetically craves nerd cred that he’ll cheat at a video game. Now every time Musk does something, one of the top 3 comments, even in non-left spaces, will be people making fun of him for cheating in POE2. It exposes him as a sham and undermines the air of competence he tries to convey.
Is it stupid and shallow? Yes, but so are most people.