I have seen so many people, in the name of “optimization”, go out of their way to do things that make the game actively less fun. And I get it, to an extent, optimization is a core part of gaming. The Persona series are some of my favorite games of all time and optimization is a core mechanic in that. And it can be fun to go out of your way to make a broken build that wrecks through a game with no issue, that I can get. But people take it to frankly ridiculous degrees.

For instance, in Final Fantasy XV, the game has a day-night cycle and when you rest for the night, you get various bonuses depending on what you have the characters eat for dinner. You can either go to a hotel or a campsite, with hotels offering better bonuses but only being available in cities, while campsites don’t give you as many bonuses but are far more frequent. And I have seen multiple people zero in on the “hotels give better bonuses” part of that equation and will completely avoid campsites like they’re infested with every STD known to man. And keep in mind, it is a VERY bad idea to stay up at night in the game, as level 90+ monsters come out at night and WILL wreck your shit if you keep going. And yet, so many people will only ever sleep in hotels for, what, a slightly higher attack boost? A little bit more exp? It’s ridiculous.

And sure, if that’s how you like to play games, fine, whatever, go for it. But then these people will clearly not be having fun and start complaining that it’s the game’s fault that they have a crippling addiction to optimization. Like no dude, there is a path right there that lets you avoid all of this, you are the one actively deciding not to take it.

I just do not understand this mindset. You are playing a game, not doing a job, why are you avoiding the fun?

Edit: The reading comprehension on Reddit never ceases to amaze me. YES! I KNOW that that’s how some people have fun in the game, I specifically point that out in this very post. But there are tons of people that do this and yet are clearly NOT having fun doing it, and then complain that the game sucks because of it. THOSE are the people I’m referring to.