Sure the post is a little fedora-lordish but why not add meaningful input by discussing the value of games and their stories like the post suggests, rather than bashing a stranger for no reason other than hypercriticalism?

Because the post doesn't suggest anything. It's a random stranger gloating about spending thousands of dollars on games they barely play. No interest in starting any meaningful conversation whatsoever. OP did not say anything meaningful or specific about their favorite "stories" or "moments" in games, and did not show any interest in learning about yours or ours.

It's not a crime to enjoy something. Just because someone has a differing view does not make it a wrong view. And honestly if I get downvoted, it kinda proves that lemmings just critisize others and hate when someone is critical of them. Hypocrisy at its finest.

You or OP can do whatever you want, but if you gloat about your senseless consumption habits online while showing zero interest in starting any meaningful discussion, don't throw out the pikachu face when you get clowned.

I too have chosen to spend a good chunk of my money on games, and came to, you know the "games" lemmy instance, to talk about them. That's not hyper-consumerism, its me finding happiness in a world where there's not much to be happy about. Like op said, it's a way to escape, explore, and lose yourself.

Talk about them then. No one's stopping you or OP—although I imagine it's hard to talk about thousands of games they haven't played 😂

Let me demonstrate: one of my favorite moments in gaming was S ranking Furi's first boss on Furier.

IDK why, but for some reason I didn't know I was actually capable of improving at things. I had this silly idea that people are either born good at something or they aren't, until I picked up Furi in 2017.

I heared the game is most fun on Furier, I find a code that unlocks it, and I start my first playthrough. As if that wasn't enough, for some reason, I decided my first playthrough will be a challenge run: beating bosses is not enough, I will not move on to the next boss until I S Rank the one before them.

Now, Furi has nothing but boss fights and walking segments between each fight. Nothing to fallback on if you suck except your response time and pattern recognition skills—no weapons or skills to unlock, no shop to buy consumables, nothing. I shit you not: it took me 35 hours to S rank the first boss, and the moment I did it, I genuinely felt like a different person.

It was mind blowing. Like, what else can I do? What else can I get better at? I know it's a video game, but my experience is indisputable proof I can improve at least at one thing and maybe even pick up new skills I don't already have.

This lead me to re-examine and rebuild my idea of who I am and what I can do, snapped me out of my chronic depression, and eventually lead to a career change.

I still carry that feeling with me. Every time I pick up a new action game, I get excited about the learning process, and what I can accomplish after 35 hours.

What about you? Is there any moment you always carry with you?

Now, that wasn't hard, was it? Wouldn't it have been nice if OP did this instead of generically gloating about amassing a huge library of games they barely play?