My friends keep telling me that getting the game is unethical because it supports Wizards, so I've not gotten it yet. I know Wizards is shitty and sent the Pinkertons to someone's house, but does this game actually directly support them? Can anyone here weigh in on this? Should I just pirate the game instead? It looks fun, but I also don't want to put my money in a bad place.

You illustrate your point very well, and with it you've helped me make a more clear decision. Your emphasis on the ability to choose, the luxury of multiple options, has clarified for me that I do in fact have quite a few options. I can chop out Acti-Blizz, JK Rowling, and WotC and still have tons of great sources of media. I have so many other choices.

With clothing as you've stated - and I think food applies here as well - I don't have much in the way of choice unless I want to make my own clothes/grow my own food - and I do not have the skills for that.

But with video games, which themselves are a luxury, I can stand to be a little more picky. I can always pirate the games later :)

Thank you for your comfort. I think I'm trying to hold myself to realistic standards. When I can choose, and the options are many - such as with media - I feel I can cut out the options which don't align with my values. As I stated elsewhere, I cannot hold myself to this standard with food and clothing. The ethically-pure options are too limited to result in a realistic and affordable lifestyle for me.

Look into Skywind and rejoice 😊

I'm playing through Dragon Quest 11 when I have time! I'm really enjoying the characters and the art! The story is... Okay. Nothing to write home about. The music was good, but then after having it repeat over and over and over and over it has kind of started making me grit my teeth. I also kind of wish the game was a little shorter? It feels extremely long, but I think that's a side-effect of me hearing the same songs over and over and the plot not really clicking with me as well as some other stories have.

Critiques aside, I really love Sylvando; I think he's the best character I've seen in a long time! So flamboyant, yet so caring and complex. And the art is really pretty and pleasant to look at at times.

I'm still gonna stick it out to the end, because I feel like I'm close to the end now anyway and maybe it'll leave on a really high note :)

I should clarify I'm not calling for a boycott; thinking realistically, I believe the gaming community is way too large/relatively uninformed for something like that to work. I'm simply trying to be mindful about how I spend my money.

For WotC, it's a combination of their OGL licensing controversy and them sending the Pinkertons to someone's house to threaten them over Magic cards.

This is really fascinating. The brain is truly such a complex tool that we can do so much with. I appreciate you sharing your story/stories with us. The brain hacking reminds me of how others can hack their brain to lucid dream. What you are doing sounds even more complex than that, however.

Would be curious to hear more detail on your method, should you choose to share it.

Haha, this is a fair response. I'm considering it for the companies that make me feel more icky, but whose games seem really fun.

It sounds like you're struggling with the same ethical dilemmas that I am, and you're doing the best you can to consider your purchases as you make them. I think donating to the Trevor Project is an incredible way to spend your money.

As you seem like someone that aligns with me in some ways, do you have any game recommendations that don't cause either of us to "feel the ick," so to speak?

I don't trust like that.

"Stray Gods" is an incredibly beautiful game. I was turned off by the playstyle at first, but then I embraced it and got really invested in the characters and the story. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Greek mythology and/or fantastic stories about interpersonal drama and enjoys games with tough dialogue choices.

The soundtrack also!!! It's a musical game and the songs are all SO BEAUTIFUL. I teared up a few times.

Oh, of course. I don't think I'm doing some major thing by pirating a game, I promise. Though, to be entirely honest, there are so many games out there and so little time to play them all, I might as well just focus on the games that don't make me feel dirty.

I kind of like the way "reducles" sounds in my head. "Rih-duck-uls"

reducles reducles reducles

"Stray Gods" is an incredibly beautiful game. I was turned off by the playstyle at first, but then I embraced it and got really invested in the characters and the story. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Greek mythology and/or fantastic stories about interpersonal drama and enjoys games with tough dialogue choices.

The soundtrack also!!! It's a musical game and the songs are all SO BEAUTIFUL. I teared up a few times.