Tarcion

To be fair, these were good predictions. All of this is actually possible. It's just capitalism being the problem it usually is..

Congrats to OP on surviving getting thrown off a cliff.

Are you are suggesting Blades in the Dark is some kind of derivative of D&D? If so, that is a very hot take. And even if you like 5e, imo, Pathfinder 2e is right there doing the same thing but better.

Personally, I loved the random NPC affinity results in the first game. Then again, I always wind up with the Queen as my beloved and not like... a child, or the blacksmith.

Are these values inclusive of the 60 minute nonsense?

I've found the overall performance to be more consistent/better. The "better" part is a bit moot as every time I buy a new phone, the performance should be better than the last one just because it's newer technology.

And while there are a lot of things I don't like, core performance kind of overshadows any other issues I have or features I'm missing out on. Perhaps I should have said "better for my needs" instead of "better product."

Yeah, obviously hyperbole, but there is a kind of console fanboy-ism around smartphones which is honestly bizarre.

And while I'd rather Apple not be so shitty about proprietary everything, it's also not the end of the world.

I've owned flagship androids and iphones. I like my iPhone better, sorry. If other companies want to make a better product, I'll switch back again. It's not really about the exclusivity/walled garden nonsense.

It is crazy that it has become this much of a problem and it feels like it is on almost no one's radar. Is this even reversible at this point? I assume not, but that it can definitely get worse.

Some people would have laughed you out of the room. A lot of people, myself included, warned that this was the kind of shit we'd spiral into with these microtransactions. It was basically confirmed within a year or two with the absolutely insane amount of money mobile gaming was seeing where the base product was just addictive crap with as many microtransactions shoveled in as possible. These games just completely blew the revenue of actual AAA titles would out of the water. It was basically inevitable and we're now in a situation where we've got a generation of consumers raised on this trash.

It is truly a blessing for the times I torture my players with a 4 hour boss fight which was, of course, preceded by 1.5 hours of them being indecisive at the magic shop.

Having run and participated in a few multi-year games with busy adults with children, my absolutely unsolicited advice for anyone wondering how to do the same is the following:

1. Run the game online. I still like in-person better but you cannot underestimate how much logistical burden is removed by allowing folks to log in and jump on mic/video. I recommend FoundrtVTT - no subscription and it has support for a ton of different systems, particular shout out for the masterpiece that is it's PF2e support.

2. Get more players. This seems counter-intuitive since that is more points of scheduling conflict. However, what you do if you want to run a 4-person game is get like 6 players. If at least 3 or 4 can make it, have the game. The PCs whose players can't make it just fade into the background and can reappear next session. Sounds weird but it keeps things moving. You'll get a feel for balancing encounters based on who shows up the most and will get better at that.

3. Run shorter sessions. I feel like I see a lot of posts about people running 4+ hour sessions and when we do get in person, we do that. But for week-to-week games, that is a significant commitment. I know for our group we keep them 7:30pm-10pm with some understanding that the first 15 minutes is usually time spent letting delayed people show up and going over what happened last time (good opportunity to give out inspiration/hero points). A rushed hour-and-half session is still better than a canceled session.

4. Talk to your players. I think this supercedes the above but just chat with people to see what can work. I mentioned our start time of 7:30 but if people are not able to start that early, we'll postpone to 8 or even 8:30 that night. That comes from communication. Check in with each other periodically to see if there should be other times considered. Essentially, focus on what works for your table. Be flexible, allow folks to miss a bunch of games consecutively if needed. Make sure it's a fun thing and not an obligation.

All that being said, if people aren't engaged in the game or that interested in playing, there's not really anything you can or should do about that aside from find other players.