#Likewise... I've watched people hype themselves up not over information they truly have but feed off others' energy...

[meteorstricken]

Something that's really crystallized for me in recent months is that the kind of performative hype (or pre-emptive disappointment) that goes on in social media spaces is simply not something I can be heavily party to if I want to have an honest experience with a game.

Rumor-mongers, streamers, influencers-- what are they to me? What is their opinion to me? They are not me. They have not lived my life nor do they have my specific set of biases. They are not possessed of the specific lens through which I would naturally experience the story and mechanics. They cannot give me my opinion, nor am I motivated in any way to adopt theirs because of that whole authenticity issue.

But if I try to divine what the "acceptable" or most common opinions are, it does little but destroy my ability to enjoy anything at all. It makes me want to hide it if I do enjoy it for fear of punishment. And let's be real here--there's a metric fuckton of poison and faux anticipation out there that's generated for no other reason than engagement.

Truth lies in the one on one experience with the game, relatively free of influence or the social pressure to agree to anyone's take.