In the last few posts here I’ve talked about being in a gaming-slump where I just wasn’t interested in playing games. I said then that I knew it was going to be a temporary thing, and it was. I’m back to gaming regularly, but I’ve been staying pretty focused on Wuthering Waves. Playstation says I’m at about 90 hours total, and I sometimes play on PC too so I figure I’m around 100 hours all told.

At first my plan was to ‘catch up’ with the story, mostly so I could watch Dusty Monk’s videos talking about it without being spoiled. I pushed hard for that but then realized I was WAY more behind than I thought I was. (I was equating in-game Chapters and Acts with game versions, so when people talked about version 2.4 I thought they meant Chapter 2, Act 4 but noo… not even close.)

Anyway contrary to my usual self-defeating behavior, I decided to give up on that plan and just play the game however I wanted. Crazy idea, right? I’ve been pushing the “Pioneer Podcast” (think battle pass) pretty hard, being sure to spend my Waveplates, do Daily Quests, and things of that nature. I have 4 characters at my current cap (80) but they all need more work in various areas. My Union Level isn’t high enough to push them to 90 yet but we’re getting there.

What keeps me coming back, besides the aesthetics which I just adore, is actually getting better. I don’t mean just progressing characters, though that is part of it. Having to farm materials for these characters means going up against the same bosses over and over, and as I do this I’m getting more skilled at playing. Again, this isn’t radical stuff, except it kind of is for me. I’m usually a button masher but now I’m learning timing and combos. When I go against a boss that I used to barely scrape by on, and now can almost take down without switching out characters due to being better at parries, dodges and pulling off combos, it feels really good.

Which I guess is what folks love those Souls-like games, eh? A boss that smushes you flat the first time eventually becomes trivial as you get better. I can finally see the appeal.

But this got me thinking about why I love Gacha games and this is what I came up with: they’re not that hard. They can BE hard if you want because there are always a variety of ‘tiers’ of enemies to take on. But the developers definitely don’t want you getting frustrated and quitting; it’s in their best interest to keep you logging in all the time. So they always seem to offer some path forward, whether it be leveling up characters to get stronger, choosing an easier world tier, or just getting more skilled as a player. And I love that. Again, no world-shaking revelations. Just me taking a moment to think about why I like the things I like.

Anyway, that’s about it for today, but before I go I wanted to share some un-related news.

I have had a 2nd blog since 2017 and it has mostly been collecting virtual dust. I’ve now starting using it to “learn in public” in order to keep myself motivated. It’s probably not going to be very interesting to 99.9% of the people who stumble on it, but here is the link to the first post in my new Learning Journey, in case anyone wants to keep me honest.

I might start posting my AI stuff over there too, since I know that’s kind of niche.