It really shook me. I started watching his videos and streams when I was 14. Gaming content as we know it was just getting started, and I’m pretty sure he started streaming on justin.tv before it became twitch. It felt like I was part of some new and exciting world, right on the cutting edge.

8 years later, I was 22 and he was dead at 34. There had been a couple kids in my grade that died growing up, but I had never truly been confronted by human mortality and how unfair it could be. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say I listened to him talk every day for over a third of my life. I knew it was coming eventually, but when I saw the news I was truly devastated.

Parasocial relationships are crazy. I was so young (and therefore broke) that I never got to meet him, but his death hit me harder than not only that of a couple pets, but also my great grandmother. In a way it makes sense, I literally “spent more time” with him than almost anyone else in the world. That may still be true even today. I don’t regret a minute.

I see, I do agree that players are overpaid relative to people who do more useful things for society, but I don’t think the situation is really any worse than other big entertainment industries. I have no issue with anyone that pirates anything, the people at the top of any industry already make more money than they need.

What is the point of this comment? What “cause” do you think I have? My point is simply that sports are a form of entertainment like any other. There is expression, there is drama, there is tension, etc. Those who look down on people who enjoy watching sports are at best immature, and likely to be hypocrites as well.

Edit: To address #3, I have been watching sports for 25 years and the growing focus on drama is actually part of why I watch sports much less now than I used to. You can see it when discussion about a game starts on the topic of x participant wanting to get revenge on y participant rather than anything involving strategy. You can see it when every Chiefs broadcast mentions Taylor Swift multiple times. You can see it when guys like Pat McAfee and Stephen A Smith get paid the big bucks to talk about sports rather than people with a deeper understanding of the game. As this shift has happened, sports have only gotten more popular and more profitable. I don’t think less of anyone who enjoys the above things, it is just not for me.

Forgive me for not having a source for my comment on an internet forum, the growing focus on drama is a common gripe of sports fans on reddit so from my perspective it is more of a fact of life than a contested claim.

I get that, but shouldn’t it be possible then to target that kind of behavior specifically rather than all smoking? Rather than banning smoking on x beach or in y park, they could ban smoking within x meters of a minor or non consenting adult. It would be more complicated but also more fair.

Ultimately I don’t know what all of the problems with that approach would be, but it would make more sense to me.

I guess, but at the highest level it is a well paying job. You wouldn’t say that actors show up to work to prove that they’re the best. They’re doing something they are good at and getting paid for their time, and so are high level athletes. They’re both part of productions that entertain people. Yes, sports are a competition, but by and large people are watching for the drama.

Yes, secondhand smoke is bad. But we are talking about outdoor environments where it should usually be possible for smokers to keep their distance.

As for vaping, it hasn’t really been around long enough yet to know for sure what the health risks are regarding the secondhand aerosol exposure, but there is reason to be concerned. It is almost certainly not as bad as secondhand smoke, but there are still risks.

This comment section is a disaster, just as bad as reddit. Comments of no substance on the side of popular opinion get upvotes, and waves of downvotes come for anyone who disagrees even a little, and even if they do it in a reasonable way.

I’m mildly asthmatic so I don’t smoke, vape, etc. I have tried a few times and it is simply too much for my lungs to cope with. I still think banning people from smoking in public parks or on beaches is a bit much, and not doing the same with vaping seems like a strange double standard. I had a college roommate who both vaped and smoked, and the vaping bothered me more. I still put up with it.

Hopefully enforcement is reasonable - respectful smokers who deliberately try to keep their distance should be allowed to enjoy themselves, but I understand prosecuting(?) those who show no care and smoke right next to nonsmokers.

Ling tosite sigure, Asian Kung Fu Generation, Kendrick Lamar, and Kid Cudi.

Would love to get some electronic music represented in there but I can’t think of any one artist whose music I really love. Maybe Blue Sky Black Death or M83.

Absolutely, just saying they are still important to work on for people who can, even if you are more likely to be complimented on arms, abs, etc.

Strengthen your legs for yourself, not anyone else

You mean the onions I bought aren’t actually onions??

A. Dead within a day unless helped by a stranger

B. Probably still dead soon but at least I have clothes, I normally carry nothing of use

C. There is a chance I live long enough to learn how to survive with knives, a handgun, and some amount of food and drink. If I get the tools from my garage I guess I can build a makeshift shelter. Probably still a betting favorite to die within a week unless I can find and somehow ingratiate myself to some locals by giving them cool stuff.

I don’t think it makes you an asshole, it just means you’re not that interested in seeing her or really don’t like kids. Probably a combination of both. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either of those things.

If the kids are the dealbreaker then your options are 1. Decline and lie about why, 2. Decline and tell her why, 3. Just suck it up and do it to save face. Personally I think 1 sounds unnecessarily complicated and you should just do whichever you prefer of 2 or 3.

Dipping fries in mayo is something people do, which is pretty close to eating it raw, but I guess people eat liquorice too. Eating mayo raw would be something I don’t want to do, while I wouldn’t mind at least trying salmiakki. If I saw someone eating spoonfuls of mayo I’d definitely judge them more than if they were eating liquorice.

I refuse to say anything that creates any unnecessary expectations of me. If asked whether I know something I will always downplay my knowledge. If asked whether I’m interested in something I will always downplay my interest. If asked whether I can commit to something I will always say something to the effect of “I’ll think about it” rather than yes or no.

I would like to be more open and easygoing but it’s hard to do. I would rather people expect little of me and be surprised than expect a lot and be disappointed. As I have gotten older I’ve started to suspect that this is more like building a wall between myself and the world than I’d like to admit.

Iwatodai Dorm from Persona 3 Reload was the most recent one that really got stuck in my head, but it happens a lot for me. It’s not always video game music, but probably is a majority of the time.

Cameras are definitely the main problem. To get away with any crime in the modern age, you probably need to plan for being caught on camera. Especially if you end up in front of a cop.

That is probably the right way to get people started, assuming they want to do their browsing on their phone. The barrier to entry for those who just download Voyager is so low that it might help make up for a lack of understanding about other features. Then they just have to get over there not being an active community for everything under the sun.

Personally I find it worthwhile just for the extra civility there is here in the comments and the peace of mind I get from knowing that I’m probably interacting with real people rather than bots. Maybe those benefits of using Lemmy could be emphasized more than the benefits of instancing and federation.

Really? When I have posted comments on /r/RedditAlternatives about Lemmy being too complicated and that it won’t gain traction, I’ve been getting downvotes. Despite saying I use it.

Concepts like federation and instances are definitely part of the problem. Reddit is quite easy to understand. Make an account on the website (or not), go to /r/all or type in /r/whatever, and away you go. Lemmy is not that easy to understand. Many people that could be interested in Lemmy don’t have any idea what the different instances are or which they should use, so they just give up.

Lemmy doesn’t need to take off like reddit did, but those touting it as the next big thing are being very optimistic. The barrier to understanding is just too high.

Why would anyone want that? You mention “Lemmy’s core values of decentralization, privacy, and user autonomy”, but surely another “core value” is being a general use forum. One main benefit of a forum is that you can have discussions without necessarily having to have everyone together in the same place at the same time. Live voice chat is the opposite, so surely something like that would be better off as a feature of a platform that focuses more on live interaction.

Moderation challenges would be absolutely immense of course, that is not in question. Moderating a voice chat is all but impossible in a setting where anyone can join without an invite, and accounts are free and easy to create.