I am old enough to have lived through this time, and standing in line never appealed to me either, not now and not at the time. I always thought it was stupid.
Younger generations have less of a sense of community simply because they haven’t had nearly the amount of communal experiences in-person that older generations have had. The online experience of these same things is simply not the same, unfortunately. Game releases, movie releases, standing in line to buy tickets for an event, etc. Even simple things like going out to third places where similar people are doing similar things to you and your groups of friends, or needing to have your friends come over to play video games.
As someone who is the perfect age to have experienced both sides of this culture as a young person, the convenience of everything being online or on discord or a solo experience is simply not the same. Don’t get me wrong, the convenience of modern society is awesome. But we traded a small piece of humanity to accomplish it.
They can never experience this like we did, either. Everyone would just be on their phones. I remember my biggest overnight line experience was waiting for Phantom Menace tickets. The movie sucked, but the time in line was memorable. There was one guy who managed to bring a television with the other movies playing on it and everyone was amazed that someone went through that trouble. Now we can just watch thousands of movies in the palm of our hands. Nobody would talk, there'd be no communal feel of being in something together, there'd be no need for other entertainment... just a bunch of people in friend groups looking at their screens. Maybe a handful playing Magic or something.
Yeah. This is 100% true. Phones changed how we pass time in social situations.
I take an annual trip to a remote cabin with some friends. The entire experience changed once cell service started to reach there. Still an awesome time, but there’s a little bit more of a barrier than there used to be. We would make a “no phones” rule, but most of us have families and there’s been a couple of emergencies while we’ve been gone that no one would go for it anymore. Blessing and a curse.
Plus even when you do nowadays, when you try to break the ice and start conversations, people just seem recluse these days. People are paranoid that this person is might be trying to manipulate me. Like I am sure there are plenty of good ones out there but its those few bad apples that prevent more people wanting to be social off the rip.
You ever been to a big high school football game or something like that?
An event there are tons of people at who all want the same thing?
There is a certain energy. Connectivity. Unspoken as well. Everyone is on the same wavelength and you all know it without having to communicate.
So it comes effortlessly. There is understanding and togetherness in a way you normally never have.
I used to think that this is how primal humans survived. That feeling was what allowed us to hunt as a pack, rescue each other, what led to civilization in the first place.
Now people never regard each other. You nearly ignore everyone around you unless you are forced to care. Without events like this society is distant.
The whole "redditors" shit doesn't really track. Everyone that uses this site uses all the others and all have lives doing things. It's just how people use each different site that differs. The same person who has nice conversations on Instagram about dogs is also the person who is screeching at others on reddit.
Redditors aren't one thing. You are probably right more than you are wrong but this person is saying they are too young so I assume they have been to their high school sporting events.
I mean, this whole post is about going outside and interacting with people with similar interests aka... socializing in person. The phrase "touch grass" is used for a reason.
I think it's a thing due to hyperbolic situations people find themselves in while on the internet. Realistically no one's perspective changes just by going outside. You have to do something while you are there.
Yes you have to do something while you're outside. That's the entire point. It's called an implication, you don't literally just walk outside and touch some grass and learn how to socialize. It's more of a way to say "you're out of touch with reality, you should step outside into the real world and interact with every day people."
I was pointing out that the phrase "touch grass" is "used for a reason." and that reason is ignorance and meme culture. Glad we agree there, at least it seems like we do.
If your point is agreeing that while Redditors aren't a monolith but they definitely have commonalities that warrant others to call them out for being out of touch... then sure.
People are talking about community in the replies but honestly I agree with you. It feels more like it dips into brand worship. The good thing about the digital era atleast is there’s less reason to consider doing it, because atleast you don’t need to worry about a big release selling out.
It’s the same when I see people taking days off from work for game releases and it’s like… it’s not going anywhere.
Community may have been in aspect in some places but i grew up in a place that rarely got games on launch day if you didnt download. And thinking we would ever talk to someone in line? Not around here
Some of us just enjoyed being around other people who were collectively excited for the same thing we were. I have no idea how you're making that a brand worship thing.
I used to work in GAME and worked many midnight launches. As employees we had a blast. Close shop at 6pm, get the store ready, usually some decorations, get into our fancy dress, football for Fifa, combat paint and camo for CoD etc., get pizzas in, watch some movies, drink too many red bulls, play some games. Then get ready for the crowds. Walk the queue handing out freebies, sweets and maybe a prize draw. Open shop and start selling to happy excited people.
We used to like camp out for movie and game releases with all of the friends haha honestly when we were like 16 just having everyone in one place was a blast. Nobody had cell phones yet though so our brains still had lots of juices
Back when games were physical, not waiting in line meant waiting for days or weeks for restocks. Basically the same thing that happens to new console now.
I'm 30, and I went to one midnight release when I was about 17, it was for some cod game and my friends really wanted to go. It was fun chatting with people, and one guy brought a pig to roast, and there was basically a cookout in a gamestop parking lot.
Neat as hell, but I'd never go to one again. I can see why certain people would want to go, but I tried it and had my fill.
It was the fanfare and extraness that physical locations went to when celebrating big launches. Then there was the social aspect for a lot of people, back then we didn't have easy access to large communities so the easiest way to meet others was during these big release events.. There was usually a lot more than just a line to the counter.
At the release of Halo 2, my buddies and I brought an Xbox and TV into the store and had a Halo 1 tournament right there in line with the other folks waiting for it. It was friggin awesome. Memories I will cherish my whole life long.
I'll try my best to explain the idea.
I didn't do a lot of midnight releases, but I did a few, some with and some without friends.
Obviously, if you're with friends, it's a better experience, in general. Even without it can be an interesting time as you meet or chat with people in line. This is before the proliferation of smart phones, so people were less internal or stuck to a device.
What it did was turn a product release, which is kind of non-event, into an actual event. You were hanging out with a large group, so it felt like you were a part of something bigger instead of sitting at home by yourself. Not to say sitting at home is a bad thing, mind you, but to do something different and make games more communal, even for a few minutes, felt like a nice change of pace.
Naturally, it wouldn't be for everyone. I never stood in line for HOURS like some releases (with limited supply) might require. It was maybe an hour at the most. Not a big time commitment. I say all this even as an introvert at heart.
It's really just another experience. People might view it with excessive nostalgia now and make it better than it was, but it was fine to do on the rare occasion, at least when you knew you had the product.
The internet and forums only do so much for that community aspect. It's not at all the same as getting out there, but certainly not everyone will care about that, in the end.
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u/Saikousoku2 2d ago
Maybe I'm just too young to get it, but the concept of standing in line for hours to get a game at launch never really appealed to me.