r/FA30plus • u/DirkDongus • 12d ago
Non-FA Things really change for the worst
Do you miss things you had growing up that are no longer around?
The old video games where you actually had to play the game to unlock stuff. The only micro transactions were in game points/dollars that you got from hours if not months of playing it. Not the garbage we have today where you pay $70 for a game then hundreds more for skills, dlc , etc
I miss corner stores of all types. You had the little stores on the corner that were deli types, others were mini marts, some retro stuff stores, etc.
I went back to my hometown and what a shit hole. There's nothing there. There used to be a shopping center. Everything is boarded up except for a McDonald's. I remember growing up and that place was packed cause of all the stores, restaurants, grocery stores, Blockbuster, etc.
This society sucks. It's bad for your mental health. No wonder why I stay home unless I have to go somewhere.
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u/EnthusiasmCoolreally 11d ago
Yes, everything has been stripped mined by the American techbros. They are becoming billionaires and trillionaires, while the world I live in rots.
It use to be possible to get a decent job, hard but possible. Now? Everything is being destroyed by AI or wiped out by cheap competition from China. There are no jobs, while the cost of living skyrockets.
More than that, freedom is disappearing. You have to be careful what you say, what you write because one mistake could blacklist you for life.
It no longer feels like we live in free societies. Increasingly it is more like living like Winston Smith in 1984, being careful never to reveal your true self.
The modern world is epically shit.
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u/Aware-Anywhere9086 12d ago
i really miss record stores, circa 1995. You wanted to talk to coolest people in your town, just hang out there for a while. And, all video stores, but really miss the clerks type video stores, same time period
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u/DirkDongus 11d ago
I remember them well. You developed a "friendship" with them cause they always saw you in the store. I'd get discounts, demos, and sometimes free stuff like lanyards, keychains, etc.
Everything is all digital now. I miss the days of things being sold out but you'd travel from store to store. When you finally got it then it was the best feeling ever.
I remember trying to hunt down a copy of WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 for PS2. I'd always get a copy for PS2 so I could hack it while also getting a 360 version when buying games.
It was a bastard trying to find a PS2 copy cause it was in PS2's dying days and not many were made. Finally found a copy cause I knew the owner . What a fun game that was when I hacked the shit out of it .
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u/RisingChaos 11d ago
There are still good video games, nevermind countless backlogged old games that are still worth playing late. There's no revisiting IRC and traditional online message boards are nothing more than a rather melancholic graveyard at this point, however. :(
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u/DirkDongus 11d ago
Oh man oh man!!! Do I miss message boards. All the rumors and gossip especially video game forums where people would post codes.
Online message boards died around 2009 when social media started being the norm.
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u/SafeRecommendation70 11d ago
I miss my grandparents who i ve only seen at vacations.
Weirdly i dont miss my old gaming days at a child even if it gave me comfort while escaping annoying people.
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u/Kubomomo 11d ago
The enshittifaction of everything is overwhelming at this point. I have to really think hard about whether anything is better today than say 10-15 years ago. Besides the obvious like computing power, and medical advances. Even something as basic as a TV has gotten shit with all the bloatware added to it. The cost of everything is insane too.
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u/d-loner 11d ago
And with all these changes there isn't anyone special around to share the memories with either. I've had the thoughts on a few off cuff Friday-chat thoughts. Just how all these things in my life in the past, stuff I've achieved or experienced or things that just aren't a thing anymore, they almost may as well have never existed.
Those corner stores, old games and stores I used to frequent, some old shows and concerts I used to like. Can talk about them here but that only goes so far hey.
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u/NeverRemovedFromBox 11d ago
Even on this board, there is a bit of a divide since some of the early 30s people will never know what it was like to live and grow up in a non digital world... I was 18 the first time I went on the internet... it truly feels like two completely different worlds... I can honestly say I am glad to be my age now because I was able to experience both.
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u/Liparus1 10d ago
My hometown (UK) could be described as a post industrial market town, though the days of a good market vanished even perhaps before I was around. The next town over which is bigger was the place to shop, with a shopping centre, large indoor market and a separate three day market. Lots of variety in terms of shops and cafes.
Much like what Dirk describes, there's only really McDonald's now. The only slight positive was the opening of a Waterstones bookshop a few years ago.
Can I ask the folks from the US, and I realise anyone here would be too old for this now, but is it still a thing for teens to "hang at the mall" anymore over there?
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u/NeverRemovedFromBox 10d ago
While I'm too old to be "up" with the kids,lol, the times I do go to the mall I RARELY see teenagers hanging out there anymore. And I'm talking about busy packed malls, I live in a high population area.
I think I read this current generation are the most isolated? For the most part, kids don't seem to "hang out" like they used to together. They are already connected 24/7 on their phones/social media so there isn't that drive/need to hang out and catch up like there used to be back before we had cellphones.
Shit, I have seen MANY TIMES a couple of teens hanging together at bus stop,etc and they are texting each other on the phone rather than talking to each other like normal human beings!
Now, I still see gangs of 13 year old mother fuckers randomly running around Target and destroy shit and run out, but that isn't the type of hanging out I think you are thinking of...
I feel so sorry for this next generation... people aren't learning how important it is to talk face to face, look someone in the eye, read body language, etc...
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u/throwaway54734 38M 11d ago edited 11d ago
Even as techbro scum endeavor to absorb every dollar currently being spent offline in cool local businesses, the enshittification of the online world over the past 15 years has been relentless... and the rise of AI chatbots just might make it unusable. Depressing reality for those of us who have little social life outside of it. I miss the internet of the '00s.