Up above the clouds the path behind you is steep satisfied the heart

#Haiku #17Syllabes

Different people No one is an enemy We're made from the same

#Haiku #17Syllabes

In the bustling city of Aetherion, where towering spires of technology kissed the heavens and innovation thrived beneath the watchful eyes of progress, there existed a secret that the mundane populace overlooked—a power as elusive as the shifting sands of the desert and as intoxicating as forbidden wine. Those who possessed this power walked a precarious line, teetering between illumination and madness, burdened with the weight of a ceaseless, inescapable introspection.

Kaelan was one such individual, a reluctant inheritor of the “Desert of Overthinking,” a gift—or curse—bestowed upon him not by choice but by the whims of fate. In his waking life, he was an enigma, a thoughtful soul cloaked in the ordinary trappings of a librarian, his presence as unassuming as the pages of the books he adored. Yet, beneath the veneer of an unremarkable façade, his mind was a tempest of endless contemplation, a vast desert where every grain of sand whispered possibilities untold.

Kaelan's power would make for rich storytelling, exploring themes like the mind's capacity for thought, the fine line between genius and madness, and the ethical ramifications of influencing others' mental states.

But, what is the “Desert of Overthinking”? I'm glad you ask! Let me layout the concept of this power with RPG terms.

“Desert of Overthinking” allows the individual to project or induce an overwhelming state of over-analysis in themselves or others, essentially trapping the target in an endless desert of thoughts where every grain of sand represents a different angle, possibility, or outcome of a situation.

Abilities:

Inducing Overthought:

• Single Target: The hero can focus this power on one individual, causing them to second-guess every action, decision, or even word they might say. This could be used to prevent enemies from taking immediate action, giving the hero time to escape or strategize.

• Area Effect: When activated in a crowd, it could lead to mass indecision, where everyone becomes so caught up in thinking about what to do next that they effectively become immobile or inactive.

Self-Reflection:

The user can enter this state themselves to explore every possible scenario of a future event or past decision. This could be used for planning, learning from hypothetical mistakes without making them, or deducing the best course of action through sheer exhaustive thought.

Memory Manipulation:

By navigating through the sands of thought, the hero might be able to uncover forgotten or repressed memories in themselves or others, using overthinking as a tool for deep introspection or interrogation.

Defense Mechanism:

When under mental attack or interrogation, the hero can retreat into this desert, making it incredibly difficult for any mental intrusion to extract useful information since every thought leads to another, creating a labyrinth of consciousness.

Creativity Boost:

While overthinking is often seen negatively, in controlled doses, it could lead to bursts of creativity or innovation, where the hero or others can come up with unique solutions or ideas by considering all possible angles.

Drawbacks:

• Mental Exhaustion: Frequent or prolonged use could lead to severe mental fatigue, stress, or even mental health issues for the user or their targets.

• Isolation: The hero might find themselves isolated as others might fear being around someone who can induce such overwhelming introspection.

• Loss of Action: There's a risk of becoming trapped in their own mind, leading to paralysis by analysis where the hero or others can't act due to over-analyzing.

• Ethical Concerns: Using this power to manipulate or incapacitate others could raise significant moral questions about free will and consent.

Character Development:

• Journey to Control: Kaelan's arc could involve learning to control this power, transitioning from someone who inadvertently causes chaos with their ability to someone who uses it with precision and care.

• Finding Balance: The hero might need to find activities or companions that help them switch off this power, like meditation, art, or a partner who has a grounding effect on them.

• Moral Dilemmas: Stories could explore situations where using the power is necessary but ethically ambiguous, forcing the hero to make tough choices about when it's justifiable to use such an invasive ability.

The prologue is just the beginning of a story you might think and develop yourself. It is a mirror, reflecting the infinite potential that lies within you. As you step out into the world, know that the story never truly ends; it continues with every choice, every moment of reflection, and every dream that dares to take flight.

Wander well, dear reader.

As is the want of saying for all things new and full of promise...

Hello World...

A few weeks ago, I started playing Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, one of the many products of that #retro #nostalgia wave that has now invaded every form of entertainment: from #videogames to music, from movies to fashion, makeup and, of course, furniture, comics, and practically any other product that can be sold by leveraging nostalgia.

To make this article understandable for everyone, I need to do a long premise. But I assure you, much like old thrillers, you’ll figure out the “killer” long before the book ends. Here, there’s no murderer—just a question: why do we crave so much for nostalgia if we won't actually recreate the experiences of the past?

“I liked you better before”

To explain the difficulty of today’s video games, we have to start from a long time ago—from the concept of nostalgia itself. Without diving into massive linguistic rants, nostalgia is a word that contains the meaning of “return” and “algia,” a compositional element.

The funny thing about words that include “algia” is that all of them, or almost all, denote pain: neuralgia, myalgia... So, in practice, nostalgia means “pain of returning.” The word itself carries a red flag (to immediately switch back to a more international vibe), signaling that we should think carefully about the type of emotion we’re experiencing.

Are we naturally drawn to the pain of remembering? Fantastic. Let’s move on.

Photo by Mitchell Orr on Unsplash

Nostalgia as a Marketing weapon

The “nostalgia effect” has been around for decades. Every generation looks back fondly on something: some miss the PlayStation 1, some the landline phone, some the telegraph, some the Pony Express, some even the bubonic plague (to sell plague doctor masks, of course). It's difficult to pinpoint when, how, and why nostalgia takes root, but everyone experiences it for certain aspects of their past—whether those aspects have improved or worsened.

This sentiment was already a reality years ago, but with the rise of the Millennial generation (also known as Gen Y) and the unstoppable evolution of the digital world, the generational lamenting for what was lost has grown stronger. More importantly, it has been weaponized by marketers like social media Rambos, wielding heavy machine guns.

The result? We now swim in a sludge of Philip K. Dick-esque dystopia and a calculated reassembly of generational lost loves, carefully packaged to serve as marketing bait.

Kids born in the '90s—who still haven’t realized they’re in their 30s—used to eat the “Twister,” a kind of abomination made of cardboard and food coloring that tasted like everything you’d find in a bottle of hydrochloric acid—minus the irritation part. Or at least, rarely, you know.

This particular product, which ignored any ethical manufacturing standards, was actually very popular among kids in the '80s and only made it to '90s kids thanks to a mix of a completely unregulated market, flashy colors made from what might as well have been radioactive waste, and, ultimately, the fact that generational product turnover was much slower than it is today.

Despite this, it’s extremely likely that kids born up until 1996 (that is, the “late” Gen Y) feel nostalgic for this stuff, even though it actually dates back to 1982—just a year after Gen Y officially started.

Unfortunately, the sociological concept of “generation” has been fading in recent years due to excessive meme culture, but it wasn’t created by accident.

People born between 1981 and 1994 share many life experiences that define them as a group, naturally with some exceptions. For marketers, this translates into an incredibly broad target audience: Italians aged 41 down to those who haven’t quite hit 30 yet all react in some way when they see “Super Twister” on an ice cream menu. Nowadays, it no longer looks like nuclear fission waste but rather like a normal, aesthetically pleasing fruit-flavored ice cream. Point remains, though.

Why not just create a new ice cream and play on the nostalgia of the “Twister”?
Because, in a way, it's already a market-established product. This isn't just about nostalgia; using a brand that lasted nearly twenty years—like the Twister—allows you to skip many steps in building a brand identity. Instead, you can tap into the most powerful weapon in marketing: personal resonance.

That’s why we have film adaptations of old comics, reboots, remakes, '90s and 2000s fashion trends making a comeback, and even home decor styles from forty years ago. We’re now at the point of re-remakes and re-reboots. Marketing is most powerful when it resonates deeply with individuals on a personal level.
Virtue signaling, nostalgia marketing, branding—these are all ways to create a connection between the product/company and the customer (or potential customer).

I'm not selling you a product, I'm telling you why you'll buy It

Paul Watzlawick, from the Palo Alto school, was a sociologist of near-fundamental importance. His concept of “it is impossible not to communicate” holds the same weight in social sciences as “I know that I know nothing” does in philosophy.
Marketing is not simply a tool for selling something; it is literally the manipulation of any communication for a purpose, which may or may not correspond to selling a product.

Marketers and industry professionals need to connect “intimately” with people as an organic response—made of flesh and nerves—to the human drive for socialization. The only way to build customer loyalty is to establish some kind of bond that persists beyond the first purchase and lasts until the next.

Whereas in the past, the goal was to create a desire to choose one product over another through imaginative slogans and honestly genius commercials (if you’re over 25, I’m sure you remember Nike’s The Cage ad, where footballers pulled off crazy tricks in a metal cage). Today, the way to sell something is by reminding you what you used to love, and making you want it again.

And I don’t even have to sell you anything—I'm just telling you why you’ll buy it.

In short: large-scale gaslighting.

---

“Okay, but can you talk about GAMES now?”

We already talked about it.

I just explained why Crash Bandicoot 4 exists, why we have remakes of games barely 20 years old. That’s why Final Fantasy has reached its 16th installment, even though the newer games barely resemble the original series.

With this axiom, we can also explain why some games are painfully easy while others are frustrating, impossible, and seemingly unenjoyable.

Nostalgia-driven strategies operate in two ways:
1. I give you the product as you remember it But with some improvements to “refresh” it—maybe by changing the ice cream wrapper (hint: the graphics) and the price (hint: the actual price). 2. I offer you a product very similar to what you remember But I slap a “2.0” label on it.

The clearest example? Pokémon.

Since it struggles to retain longtime players (who often don’t bring in much money), the formula gets reshuffled—not just to appeal to new players, but also to give longtime fans a little “consolation prize.” So what happens?

• Difficulty is lowered
  
• Creativity is reduced
  
• The game world is made more accessible
  

So much so that even a fifty-year-old parent—too lazy to even turn on a console—can still play alongside their child, drawn in by Pokémon’s nostalgia factor.

Small Digression: regarding simplification as a means to sell a video game to old/lazy adults rather than, as they want us to believe, “small children,” I refer you to this video: note how the guy's solutions to ensure his mother reaches the end of the game are the same criticisms aimed at recent games. Pre-made paths, zero difficulty, forced sequences, and removal of “confusing” content.

The Flip Side: making games “ChaLLeNgInG”

The other side of this ugly coin is, instead, making the game “challenging.”
Kids who played Crash Bandicoot back in the day remember it as a hard game. But after 20 years of gaming experience, would they still find it difficult?
The answer doesn’t matter. The goal is to keep players glued to the screen.

So, the final product of Crash Bandicoot 4 is: a game that's moderately easy to complete**, but nearly impossible to 100%. That way, it satisfies both casual gamers who just want another Crash Bandicoot game and die-hard fans willing to sink 30 hours into clearing a single level perfectly, collecting every gem, and nailing every time trial relic.

Despite these fence-sitting strategies—which help in marketing—the final product will be nothing more than a watered-down rip-off of the original material.

Thus, Crash Bandicoot 4 feels like a fan game rather than a real sequel. The Bomberman reboot looks like a child’s fever dream turned into a video game. And we won’t even talk about franchises like Duke Nukem or Sonic, because this blog should be as PG-13 as possible, so I should avoid profanity.

Of course, let’s be clear: there are remakes and reboots that stay true to the original material. Examples? Tomb Raider, Doom.

But these are often “safe bet” franchises—ones that get proper care simply because they’re guaranteed successes. Even with these games, though, there’s still a fence-sitting attitude. No matter how much effort someone involved in the game puts into recreating the original feel, they'll always push long-time fans to say the dreaded phrase:

“Sure, but it’s just not the same as when I played it as a kid...”

Cue the tears. Curtains close.

Let's talk about this on the Mastodon post page: https://gamerstavern.online/@Gnagnao/113953391959507273

Want to transform your perfectly organized life into a chaotic masterpiece? Look no further! Follow these expert-tested methods to achieve maximum disorder.

Step 1: Master the Art of Procrastination

Remember: tomorrow is always the best day to start anything. Why do today what you can postpone until next week, next month, or preferably never? Pro tip: Set at least 17 alarms every morning and ignore them all.

Step 2: Perfect the “Floordrobe”

Closets and drawers are overrated. Your floor is a perfectly valid storage solution for clothes, books, and important documents. Create an archaeological layer system – the deeper the layer, the longer it's been there. Bonus points if you forget what's at the bottom!

Step 3: Embrace Financial Chaos

Keep all your receipts, but make sure to crumple them up and distribute them randomly throughout your house. When tax season comes, enjoy the thrill of the hunt! For extra excitement, never check your bank balance – let every purchase be a surprise.

Step 4: Master Time Mismanagement

Schedule important meetings for the same time. Double-book yourself constantly. When someone asks if you're free next Thursday, always say yes without checking. Remember: calendars are just suggestions, and time is a social construct anyway.

Step 5: Perfect Your Excuse Arsenal

Develop a comprehensive list of creative excuses. “My pet goldfish needed emotional support” is always a classic. “I was abducted by aliens, but they had terrible WiFi” works too. The more outlandish, the better!

Step 6: Dietary Excellence

Eat breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast. Better yet, forget meals entirely and survive on random snacks found in the back of your cupboard. That expired protein bar from 2019? It's probably fine.

Advanced Tips for the Committed Chaos Enthusiast

• Name all your files “final_final_FINAL_v2_REALLY_FINAL.doc”
  
• Keep your phone permanently at 1% battery
  
• Respond to all emails exactly 3 weeks late, always starting with “Sorry for the delayed response!”
  
  

Disclaimer: Following this guide may result in unexpected organization and productivity as your life spirals so far into chaos that it somehow loops back around to order. The author takes no responsibility for accidental success in life.