January 29, 2026 • 27 mins
A new game appears to be bringing out empathy online. Samantha and Anney chat about what's going on, and why it's a good thing.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Sanny and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome to stuff I've never told your prodiction of iHeart radio.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
And welcome to another edition of Happy Hour where I
just ponder things. Any we're gonna ponder together.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
That's exciting.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I you know, when we ponder, I phil like we
make some good discoveries, maybe try to help all the issues,
fix some things, and we're like, hey, this is what
we can do. Do this people's and life will be better.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
We try.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I hope that becomes that as I look far from
into the distance. Anyway. Yes, we are doing this as
a Happy Hour episode, so as it indicates if you're
doing anything happy hour ish, please do so responsibly. Also,
we are not being sponsored by any of the content
we're talking about, or programs or games or any of
the such. It would be interesting if we were ever
(01:02):
sponsored by something like the things that we talk about,
wouldn't it In this episode? In this episode specific all
about to say Annie, are you doing anything happy hour ish?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, still working through my mom's supply of wine. It
lasted me through the ice and now there might be
more snow.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, So they say, I don't know. It's one of
those things where when they tell us that this bad
thing is happening, or like the snow weatherwise, we get prepared,
Like Georgia wasn't a full blown panic. Bread was gone,
Milk was gone. I don't know what you're all gonna
do with milk, and the refrigerator of the power goes out,
but you do you. Eggs were gone except for the
(01:47):
ones people are are boycotting, which was also funny to
see y'all of that. People were in painting mode and
then nothing. We dig get some icicles and a lot
of wetness, but immediately dried because of all the winds
that happened. The wind was intense. I will say that, yes,
the wind was intense. Yeah, but with that, if they
(02:09):
didn't prepare, which they've done before, we've been like it's
not a big deal, and then like, oh, I don't know,
ice pocalypse happened. We were like, oh my god. And
people were stuck in the card for twenty four hours
because people didn't let people go. It was a chaos.
So it's one of those things of like we would
rather be prepared and look dumb than not be prepared
(02:30):
and be stuck.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Oh yeah, I was in my car for fourteen hours.
I have not forgotten what So one of the things.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I will brag about till I die was knowing how
bad the weather was gonna be before it happened, and
I'm like, nope, I'm out. Like I literally looked at
my boss and I was like, I'm an hour away
from here. I'm leaving, Like I just say. He was
like what. I was like, I don't play with snow.
I'm from LJ, which did ice a lot, and any
snow happened, it happened there, and I think actually they
(03:05):
missed out on this time too for some reason. South Georgia, Hello,
climate change got a lot more snow this year than
we had thus far. But yeah, I was like, I
don't play with ice, Like we're we're not doing this.
So I immediately left. And I was like, this job
is not worth me being stuck here. You ain't getting me.
So I immediately left the moment I saw it and
(03:26):
heard it, and when I got there, everything started shutting down,
and I was like see And I went and got
to my little neighborhood grocery store with my wine and popcorn,
and I was pretty happy.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah you were smart, Yeah, yeah you're right. To bragger
about it. It was a nightmare.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
It's one of those things that I it was not again,
this job was not worth me being stuck. Yet, Yeah,
they did not care about me. They were very, very
obvious about the fact that the job did not care
about me. I worked for the government, and so I
was like, I'm not sacrificing my car and myself time
(04:05):
for things that that can be preventable.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Now, see, this is my concern now. It's that I
haven't gone to the grocery store since before last weekend,
which was when the icing happened. And if the snow
does come yes Saturday, then I really need to go
to the grocery store tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Right, don't get casual, because I feel like this is
when things go wrong.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah oh yeah, And like you said, people panic by
even if nothing happens, So who knows how much will
even be there. So I didn't know it was going
to snow maybe snow until this morning, or I would
have gone already.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Really, Oh Annie, all right, I guess the start saying
a new weather. Here's the other part to this. Though.
We know that the government has dismantled a lot of
the programs when it concerns weather and climate change, So
no wonder we're getting confused data. Just to put that
out there, because you know, everything is so anyway, back
(05:07):
to doing some more like let's hope for change, let's
look at how we can make things change, because the
world is awful and I think I'm slipping deeper into
my sad depression. So with that, Annie, I thought, by
the way, I'm drinking tea, this is the weather. My
happy hour choice that I jumped into was I've been
drinking some tea lately with like good little honey creamers
(05:30):
whatever whatnot. This time I used my satrone. Which have
you used satrone yet?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I have. Do you like it?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I did like it.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yes, it didn't cause anything because there's no tea in it,
but it didn't cause any reaction night. So listeners, if
you are allergic to tea and you want something warm
and delicious that helps them feel soothing, and it's actually
one of those things like the home remedies of a
lot of Asian communities, satrone tea that you can find
(05:58):
at many grocery store, which I think it's becoming more
and more popular now you can. I think I found
a giant jar at Costco not as sponsor was again,
but I wish they will sponsor us. We really like you, Costco.
I love you give me money. Moving on. But yeah,
so it's a true it's for the win, but I
like to add it to all my teas because it does.
It is delicious, and that's what I'm doing right now
(06:20):
because it is very cold and the coldness makes me unhappy.
But warm tea, the warm team makes me very happy.
So you know, Owen's a win. But today what I
wanted to talk about a little bit was the fact
that I think, and we've talked about this a lot recently,
especially because we were talking about gaming and what kind
(06:43):
of benefits you can get from gaming. We've talked about
the cozy gaming and how it can help so many
people relaxation wise, community wise, just doing something engaging. It
helps your mind to exercise as well, because if you
do good puzzle stuff, or if you are like me
who get caught up in the games like Oxen Free,
which we just talked about, get obsessive and cheat a
(07:06):
little bit.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
It's not cheating, is.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
It not cheating? I played it through so many times
that I've not not progressed really well. So I'm like,
oh no, I need some help now.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I'm a big walk through person. You only have a
limited amount of time if you want to play a
game and make sure you haven't missed something and you've
already done it enough. I'm a big fan. Yeah. I
used to live by that when I was playing Silent
Hill as a kid and my friend Katie, she'd be
like my woman in the chair and she'd be like,
jump on the subway and I'll do it. One time
(07:37):
she did lie and I died immediately left very hard.
But no, I think that it's a legitimate Okay, good.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Well with all of that, I've become really fascinated with
my partner playing a specific game, Arc Raiders. It is big.
It is huge. It has been around for a couple
of years, a year or so, I don't know. It's
been a loung enough that people have caught onto it.
Twitters and streamers have used this game as their platform.
(08:05):
Are making huge progress and a lot of money and
a lot of content with this game alone. And it's
quite funny because I know really very little, especially when
it comes to like PC gaming, about this narrative, like
it throws me off because I can't figure out how
people use what I use for work only or schoolwork
(08:26):
or research only as a gaming base. So I'm like,
what's happening. What's happening? Because I did not know up
until probably ten years ago gaming was for PC. I
was thoroughly confused when I watched people play games at
their computer and I was like, what are you playing Solitaire?
Is that what we're doing? So for me, this world
was fairly new, and I was like, okay, And that's
(08:49):
what I think many people picture both gaming industries in
that the PC when we say gamers, whether the PC
world or like PlayStation and all that. I really thought
it was just PlayStation in Nintendo because my brother's never
played on PCs. So this was fascinating. Again, you know,
we grew up in the era of it up and coming.
(09:11):
I'm really old. Take a moment in silence for my age.
So him playing his game is quite fascinating because I
hear again he's in a different room on a different floor,
(09:33):
and I can hear him talking on his headsets, and
I do make goofy jokes about oh, you're talking to
your internet friends. I'm so glad you have internet friends.
Are you meeting up with your internet friends today and
sounds ominous, but it's you know, it's just a little
little poking, not not too much. But some of the
things that I really I hear from him are some
of the most wholesome things that I think I've ever
(09:56):
heard in games. So in my mind when PC g
come to mind, I think a Call of Duty. I
know that's one of those big games, and all you
do is team up together and kill people. That's I'm sure.
I'm just putting that in very like loose generics, and
people are gonna be like, no, that's not what that is.
Don't come at me. I'm just say that's what I
know of it. You just hear people shooting. There's a
(10:18):
whole clip in the office in which they do this
as a team exercise, and they get really loud and
volatile about like how did you not kill that person?
Type of narrative. That's what I imagine for PC gaming. But
when I'm listening to my partner playing these games, they're
all both either screaming. This is the line I hear
(10:41):
from him often is does anybody have a defibrillator? Or
I have a defibrillator? I got you man? Or do
anybody want to trade? Does anybody want to trade these things?
So these are the lines that I hear often. I'm like,
what is what is happening? What is happening? And then
also are you friendly? Are you friendly? I'm friendly? Don't
kill me like this is This is the back and forth.
(11:04):
And as he's talking more and more about this game,
he gets really excited. He comes and tells me what
hate's done, and these are the things that you can do,
and these are the weapons that you can get. It
has become some of the most wholesome interactions that I've
ever heard between him talking to each other about helping
each other up and doing this one mission, trading with
(11:24):
each other so they can finish a mission, teaming up
together to go for the boss, whatever whatnot. It is
something that I'm like, Wow, this is really endearing. And
the more I talk with him he has sent me
some content, the more I see like this is a
whole thing. And there was an article recently. I don't
have it upbadingy, I'm gonna talk about it, but they
(11:45):
talk about the fact that more people are getting together
in like rooms or dens or so just to hang out,
and some of them come together because they have different
types of musical instruments that when they come together, it
plays these whole songs together.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Any wow, okay, Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
So I'm just I was just like, man, this could
really be an interesting look about our conversation about the
male loneliest epidemic because unfortunately, just like any other game,
this game seemed to be more geared towards men when
we look at who is more interested about it. I
think it originally came as a person versus person game
(12:32):
and then it went to person versus machines. I don't
think that's how they call it. Ya. So all those
things are things. But like as more and more people
come through, they realize they don't want this as in fact,
the gaming company has figured this out to the point
(12:53):
that they build on that. As we were talking about
Oxen forre you building on those type of choices. They
also build on that. So the more empathetic you are,
the more likely that you will be grouped up with
others who are just as empathetic. Now, don't get me wrong,
there are those that they call rats who just come
in as snipe people. Yeah, there's always some bad characters
(13:16):
We know this when I hear my partner talking to
the rats the way he talks to them, he's so
disappointed in them, Like it is not like they don't
he doesn't get angry, which I should say probably means
the whole different thing for him as a green flag,
that he's not necessarily angry about it, but he's just
(13:36):
more disappointed. And he does call him a dick, like,
don't get me wrong, he will name Paul, but it's
all with disappointment and like there was one interaction in
which he that must have been like multiple people. But
this is what I'm hearing, y'all. I hear I'm a
friendly I'm a friendly dick. You try to kill me?
(13:57):
Does anybody have a depibrillator? A person comes over or
with another person with defibrillator gets him up, but then
they shot him, and so my partner revives them, and
then they figured out who the rat was and I
think my partner ended up shooting him. This sounds of graphic,
but it's not. But you get the choice of finishing
them off or not. And my partner goes, hey, man,
(14:19):
he's the one that shot you. So you make the choice.
You make this choice. I'll leave it up to you
to the other dude, and the other dude's like, nah,
we're just gonna let him lay here, and like, I
think eventually, if you don't get the help or the
assistance of someone else, then you just you know, your
player dies. And so they're like, Okay, that's your choice,
(14:40):
Like they walk away, Oh wow, and they were like,
it is again, this is one of the most wholesome iterations.
And then they're like, well, good playing with you, man, Yeah,
good luck to you. And then they like go off.
So but that's the type of interaction that I'm hearing
from him, and it's not again, it's not just him,
(15:00):
it is so many in the community. There was one
where they go to an area where they can just
zipline and just knock each other off for fun. But
that's that's the entirety of the thing. They're not trying
to kill each other, they're just hanging out. It's the
most wholesome thing. There was another clip of a streamer
where a woman was singing as she walks in, so
(15:23):
it was a woman player all love that, and someone
jumps up and joins her singing. They both scream and
he's like I enjoyed just singing and really just runs
off like that's the entirety of Like, of course you're
trying to find things, you're trying to defeat things, you're
trying to get to the next level. But it's such
wholesome content. Them'm like, what, I don't know. I've been
(15:44):
with my partner for seven years now and I've heard
him play a lot of games. This is the first
time that I've seen this type of interaction in a
game that's all strangers. Again, I will say this, I'm
just an and I know this is so far off
that we've talked about. How Like, when it comes to
(16:06):
the malowliness epidemic, even though the women are not the
cause of it, the women are the ones that feels
a lot of the repercussions of it, whether it's the
violence that happens because of in cell ideals, or whether
it's the lashing out in general and being told that
you shouldn't have the rights like politically, like we see
the overall damage that it caused. We also understand that
(16:29):
men stereotypically but like statistically, do not emote, or have
conversations or have moments of like empathy and calm and
just kindness, oftentimes with each other if it doesn't involve
something mainly. Don't get me wrong, I guess in this scenario, yes,
(16:52):
it seems like video gaming it is considered mainly, which
is unfortunate because it's not It shouldn't be, but in
this scenario it is seen that way. But the thing
that surprises me is in a time where we see
such harshness and such violence, they're taking the opportunity to
(17:13):
choose to be the nicer versions of themselves.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Mm hmm, yeah, yeah, I mean, especially like going back
to what you were saying, I've done a lot of
PC gaming in my time, but usually I associate it
with like there's a reason I don't play with strangers online.
So it's nice to hear that that is happening. But
(17:37):
it's also because it kind of reminds me of what
we were talking about with when we had Doctor Bathon
recently to talk about trans athletes, and we had that
conversation about kind of the toxic masculinity in the locker
room and how it's actually like really hurting boys. And
one conversation we've had before on this show is that
(17:57):
a lot of games that are designed by women do
have a lot of a lot more of that type
of interaction of like not necessarily violence, like you know,
more calm, more friendly. And I feel like since feminine
traits are so have for so long been looked down on,
(18:17):
it's really nice to see that transition outside of just oh,
that's how women gamers are, because it is healthy and
it is nice.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
So there is an article written by somemerver singh I
really so hope I said that right. This was written
in November of last year, twenty twenty five, and it's
titled Arcreator's community is the best in the gaming right
now and then that he says, but there's a catch,
but I wanted to read this part. He says that
(19:02):
art Graders specifically was created to be PvP ve so
like you can do all those things, and in this game,
the arcs were the real enemy, but still had the
options to take each other's stuff essentially, and he says
art Graders, while being an online multiplayer shooter, still feels
more it's like a quiet social experiment about how it's
(19:25):
actually working, like what is working, And he says there
are streamers who could have gone the sweaty PvP route.
Some have and they and the more power to them,
but instead they've leaned into wholesome chaos. It's genuinely refreshing
to see popular content creators who thrive on viewership's post
clips about trust building rather than kill streaks. The proximity
(19:48):
chat feature in the Arts Raider is perhaps its best feature,
and again my partner was like, yes, this is He
was explaining to me how this is great because it
becomes its own kind of theater, providing hilarious and sometimes
heartfelt encounters That to me is the power of design
that rewards empathy. The games most viral clips aren't about dominance,
(20:09):
but rather about players coming together to work towards a
common goal or just to exchange jokes. Clearly and Bark
has done something right the creators, because I hear someone
say the phrase it's us against the clinkersman at least
twice every day while playing this game. It is interesting
because my again, my partner met to random gamers and
(20:30):
he thinks they're both in the UK, and they set
up times to go do quests together. I have again
heard them come together just to sing and just to
like and they sit there listening to the singing and
praising them for what they can do. There was one
clip of the and it was titled the Nicest Gamer Ever.
(20:52):
And he just says, there's a guide people and help
them around in different locations to get whatever quest is helping.
And my partner, actually this send me a TikTok and
it's from mister Coffee, who is a woman gamer. You
know who this is, you're not in your head. I've
heard of them, yeah, okay, okay, And she talks about
having meeting women and specifically Arc Raiders and how it's
(21:16):
the best. And I see people like commenting throughout about
in the different women gamers and I love this about
how their interactions have been so fun. And then one
of them was like every time I see a girl,
I'm like, heck, yeah, let's get together. But then there's
so many dudes on here who have actually said I
love this. I love that this is what this game
(21:37):
is about. Like I have seen so many great comments,
even from the men, which is rare. Let's be honest,
which is rare. Like one dude says, a girl snuck
up on me in a burried city the other day
and persuaded me into a rubber ducky trade in a
dark alley like it's like the experiences earlier, and then
this one says, I thought you were going to start blasting.
(21:57):
This was beautifully wholesome. And it is this interaction between
the women getting each other goods, finding each other goods,
and helping with each other that says, as a dude,
I'm glad y'all found you a little comfort and experience
some fun in the game. Games are for everyone. Video
games are the best way to chill and meet some
kindred spirits. And then it's just all these things and
(22:18):
I love seeing these comments like these encouragement one woman
game reput I'm crying. We really are just girls trying
to make our way in a male dominated industry. I
love being a girl. So like, there's so many aspects
to this. Again, I know nothing about this company. Really,
I know again about the game because of my partner,
But the interactions that I continue to see, it feels
(22:42):
so nice to see that the winning part to this
type of game is more welcoming, more empathy and just fun.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, we need more. Yeah, it's just nice. It's just nice, nice,
and it's it's I'm very happy to hear that people
are having that experience because it is so fun. That
kind of reminds me of when you have a really
good D and D crew. Yeah, because D and D
can be very, very toxic. But when you find like
(23:14):
your good crew, then you do have very silly like yeah,
here's my rubber duck in a dark cat like you
have these interactions that are so funny and cute, and
then you know, maybe you meet up with that person
again digitally or not. But it was nice. It was
a good experience for you both. And it's a funny.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Story, right exactly. And it seems like that's more of
the case than not when it comes to this game. Again,
it could just be my FYP. There are some content
creators who loves chaos, and apparently one big, big, huge
and he has made his fame off this game, I believe.
But his whole thing is to almost kill people bring
them back and because he knows he's famous enough that
(23:56):
they're going to help him get more stuff. You know.
Sure that works too, I guess. But all of the
thing is like, it's nice to see and again, what
feels like such a hostile timing that in pretend in
games people are making better choices again, and this is
(24:19):
supposed to be an into the world like scenario this game,
so it's nice to see. I feel like it almost
makes me want to play the game just to have
the interactions. But I'm not good, so I would just
frustrate myself and everyone with me. I think I would
just die. You get you definitely die if you fall
of me. So I think so, and I feel like
(24:43):
I need to enlist you into playing once or twice.
There is also a voice modifier, so you can change
your voice to be a woman or a man. Oh yeah,
from what I understand.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
I've never done the voice thing. I've done the like typing.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Mm hmmm.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Maybe I've got the headphones, I got the.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Little we need to get you in one time. Well,
have you and my partner go through a game, just
so you can tell us what you experienced, because I
don't know this from firsthand, and my partner is a man,
so his interactions are probably gonna be different. So and again,
since I'm not good at games in general, I think
I would just end up being hated and murdered all
(25:24):
the time.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Well, hopefully it's a nice community, because that's kind of
the problem with with like what you The example you
brought up with the office is that Jim was so bad. Yeah,
and he kept dying repeatedly and people would get mad
at him or yell at him, or hopefully in a
nice experience, you know, people would be like, it's okay,
so come on, you can do this.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Well, Annie, I'm this is another one. I'm putting you
in as an list thing, like I'm gonna need you
to try one time and tell me about it.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
I have no idea what this game is. I never
heard of it until you brought it up. I don't
know the plot is. I don't have no idea. So
that'll be fun.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Should they we're going to set it at the time.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Oh my goodness. Well, I really appreciate you bringing this topic.
I thought it was really interesting because I hadn't heard
about this and it makes me happy. It does.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, maybe it will come as an episode about like
better healthy games that we see, so that we can
focus on the good and highlight those. We'll see.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Yes, we will see. And if you did listen to
our recent update on Cozy Gaming. At the end, we
asked for recommendations. Some of you have already sent some
so thank you so much. But yeah, if you have
any gaming recommendations or gaming thoughts or topics you would
like for us to cover, I think we should come
(26:45):
back and talk about people who report on video games
and what's going on there.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
But yes, if you have any thoughts about that, please
let us know. You can email us at Hello at
stuff Wenever Told You dot com you can find us
some Blue skyte Mom Stuff podcast or Insta, Pagram and
TikTok at stuff one Never Told You. We're also on YouTube.
We have some merchandise at Cotton Bureau, and we have
a book you can get wherever you get your books.
Thanks as always to our super Christine, your executive producer
(27:11):
My and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to
you for listening Stuff Never Told You dispection of by
heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, you
can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts, or
if you listen to your favorite shows
Hey, this is Sanny and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome to stuff I've never told your prodiction of iHeart radio.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
And welcome to another edition of Happy Hour where I
just ponder things. Any we're gonna ponder together.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
That's exciting.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I you know, when we ponder, I phil like we
make some good discoveries, maybe try to help all the issues,
fix some things, and we're like, hey, this is what
we can do. Do this people's and life will be better.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
We try.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I hope that becomes that as I look far from
into the distance. Anyway. Yes, we are doing this as
a Happy Hour episode, so as it indicates if you're
doing anything happy hour ish, please do so responsibly. Also,
we are not being sponsored by any of the content
we're talking about, or programs or games or any of
the such. It would be interesting if we were ever
(01:02):
sponsored by something like the things that we talk about,
wouldn't it In this episode? In this episode specific all
about to say Annie, are you doing anything happy hour ish?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, still working through my mom's supply of wine. It
lasted me through the ice and now there might be
more snow.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, So they say, I don't know. It's one of
those things where when they tell us that this bad
thing is happening, or like the snow weatherwise, we get prepared,
Like Georgia wasn't a full blown panic. Bread was gone,
Milk was gone. I don't know what you're all gonna
do with milk, and the refrigerator of the power goes out,
but you do you. Eggs were gone except for the
(01:47):
ones people are are boycotting, which was also funny to
see y'all of that. People were in painting mode and
then nothing. We dig get some icicles and a lot
of wetness, but immediately dried because of all the winds
that happened. The wind was intense. I will say that, yes,
the wind was intense. Yeah, but with that, if they
(02:09):
didn't prepare, which they've done before, we've been like it's
not a big deal, and then like, oh, I don't know,
ice pocalypse happened. We were like, oh my god. And
people were stuck in the card for twenty four hours
because people didn't let people go. It was a chaos.
So it's one of those things of like we would
rather be prepared and look dumb than not be prepared
(02:30):
and be stuck.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Oh yeah, I was in my car for fourteen hours.
I have not forgotten what So one of the things.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I will brag about till I die was knowing how
bad the weather was gonna be before it happened, and
I'm like, nope, I'm out. Like I literally looked at
my boss and I was like, I'm an hour away
from here. I'm leaving, Like I just say. He was
like what. I was like, I don't play with snow.
I'm from LJ, which did ice a lot, and any
snow happened, it happened there, and I think actually they
(03:05):
missed out on this time too for some reason. South Georgia, Hello,
climate change got a lot more snow this year than
we had thus far. But yeah, I was like, I
don't play with ice, Like we're we're not doing this.
So I immediately left. And I was like, this job
is not worth me being stuck here. You ain't getting me.
So I immediately left the moment I saw it and
(03:26):
heard it, and when I got there, everything started shutting down,
and I was like see And I went and got
to my little neighborhood grocery store with my wine and popcorn,
and I was pretty happy.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah you were smart, Yeah, yeah you're right. To bragger
about it. It was a nightmare.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
It's one of those things that I it was not again,
this job was not worth me being stuck. Yet, Yeah,
they did not care about me. They were very, very
obvious about the fact that the job did not care
about me. I worked for the government, and so I
was like, I'm not sacrificing my car and myself time
(04:05):
for things that that can be preventable.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Now, see, this is my concern now. It's that I
haven't gone to the grocery store since before last weekend,
which was when the icing happened. And if the snow
does come yes Saturday, then I really need to go
to the grocery store tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Right, don't get casual, because I feel like this is
when things go wrong.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah oh yeah, And like you said, people panic by
even if nothing happens, So who knows how much will
even be there. So I didn't know it was going
to snow maybe snow until this morning, or I would
have gone already.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Really, Oh Annie, all right, I guess the start saying
a new weather. Here's the other part to this. Though.
We know that the government has dismantled a lot of
the programs when it concerns weather and climate change, So
no wonder we're getting confused data. Just to put that
out there, because you know, everything is so anyway, back
(05:07):
to doing some more like let's hope for change, let's
look at how we can make things change, because the
world is awful and I think I'm slipping deeper into
my sad depression. So with that, Annie, I thought, by
the way, I'm drinking tea, this is the weather. My
happy hour choice that I jumped into was I've been
drinking some tea lately with like good little honey creamers
(05:30):
whatever whatnot. This time I used my satrone. Which have
you used satrone yet?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I have. Do you like it?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I did like it.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yes, it didn't cause anything because there's no tea in it,
but it didn't cause any reaction night. So listeners, if
you are allergic to tea and you want something warm
and delicious that helps them feel soothing, and it's actually
one of those things like the home remedies of a
lot of Asian communities, satrone tea that you can find
(05:58):
at many grocery store, which I think it's becoming more
and more popular now you can. I think I found
a giant jar at Costco not as sponsor was again,
but I wish they will sponsor us. We really like you, Costco.
I love you give me money. Moving on. But yeah,
so it's a true it's for the win, but I
like to add it to all my teas because it does.
It is delicious, and that's what I'm doing right now
(06:20):
because it is very cold and the coldness makes me unhappy.
But warm tea, the warm team makes me very happy.
So you know, Owen's a win. But today what I
wanted to talk about a little bit was the fact
that I think, and we've talked about this a lot recently,
especially because we were talking about gaming and what kind
(06:43):
of benefits you can get from gaming. We've talked about
the cozy gaming and how it can help so many
people relaxation wise, community wise, just doing something engaging. It
helps your mind to exercise as well, because if you
do good puzzle stuff, or if you are like me
who get caught up in the games like Oxen Free,
which we just talked about, get obsessive and cheat a
(07:06):
little bit.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
It's not cheating, is.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
It not cheating? I played it through so many times
that I've not not progressed really well. So I'm like,
oh no, I need some help now.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I'm a big walk through person. You only have a
limited amount of time if you want to play a
game and make sure you haven't missed something and you've
already done it enough. I'm a big fan. Yeah. I
used to live by that when I was playing Silent
Hill as a kid and my friend Katie, she'd be
like my woman in the chair and she'd be like,
jump on the subway and I'll do it. One time
(07:37):
she did lie and I died immediately left very hard.
But no, I think that it's a legitimate Okay, good.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Well with all of that, I've become really fascinated with
my partner playing a specific game, Arc Raiders. It is big.
It is huge. It has been around for a couple
of years, a year or so, I don't know. It's
been a loung enough that people have caught onto it.
Twitters and streamers have used this game as their platform.
(08:05):
Are making huge progress and a lot of money and
a lot of content with this game alone. And it's
quite funny because I know really very little, especially when
it comes to like PC gaming, about this narrative, like
it throws me off because I can't figure out how
people use what I use for work only or schoolwork
(08:26):
or research only as a gaming base. So I'm like,
what's happening. What's happening? Because I did not know up
until probably ten years ago gaming was for PC. I
was thoroughly confused when I watched people play games at
their computer and I was like, what are you playing Solitaire?
Is that what we're doing? So for me, this world
was fairly new, and I was like, okay, And that's
(08:49):
what I think many people picture both gaming industries in
that the PC when we say gamers, whether the PC
world or like PlayStation and all that. I really thought
it was just PlayStation in Nintendo because my brother's never
played on PCs. So this was fascinating. Again, you know,
we grew up in the era of it up and coming.
(09:11):
I'm really old. Take a moment in silence for my age.
So him playing his game is quite fascinating because I
hear again he's in a different room on a different floor,
(09:33):
and I can hear him talking on his headsets, and
I do make goofy jokes about oh, you're talking to
your internet friends. I'm so glad you have internet friends.
Are you meeting up with your internet friends today and
sounds ominous, but it's you know, it's just a little
little poking, not not too much. But some of the
things that I really I hear from him are some
of the most wholesome things that I think I've ever
(09:56):
heard in games. So in my mind when PC g
come to mind, I think a Call of Duty. I
know that's one of those big games, and all you
do is team up together and kill people. That's I'm sure.
I'm just putting that in very like loose generics, and
people are gonna be like, no, that's not what that is.
Don't come at me. I'm just say that's what I
know of it. You just hear people shooting. There's a
(10:18):
whole clip in the office in which they do this
as a team exercise, and they get really loud and
volatile about like how did you not kill that person?
Type of narrative. That's what I imagine for PC gaming. But
when I'm listening to my partner playing these games, they're
all both either screaming. This is the line I hear
(10:41):
from him often is does anybody have a defibrillator? Or
I have a defibrillator? I got you man? Or do
anybody want to trade? Does anybody want to trade these things?
So these are the lines that I hear often. I'm like,
what is what is happening? What is happening? And then
also are you friendly? Are you friendly? I'm friendly? Don't
kill me like this is This is the back and forth.
(11:04):
And as he's talking more and more about this game,
he gets really excited. He comes and tells me what
hate's done, and these are the things that you can do,
and these are the weapons that you can get. It
has become some of the most wholesome interactions that I've
ever heard between him talking to each other about helping
each other up and doing this one mission, trading with
(11:24):
each other so they can finish a mission, teaming up
together to go for the boss, whatever whatnot. It is
something that I'm like, Wow, this is really endearing. And
the more I talk with him he has sent me
some content, the more I see like this is a
whole thing. And there was an article recently. I don't
have it upbadingy, I'm gonna talk about it, but they
(11:45):
talk about the fact that more people are getting together
in like rooms or dens or so just to hang out,
and some of them come together because they have different
types of musical instruments that when they come together, it
plays these whole songs together.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Any wow, okay, Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
So I'm just I was just like, man, this could
really be an interesting look about our conversation about the
male loneliest epidemic because unfortunately, just like any other game,
this game seemed to be more geared towards men when
we look at who is more interested about it. I
think it originally came as a person versus person game
(12:32):
and then it went to person versus machines. I don't
think that's how they call it. Ya. So all those
things are things. But like as more and more people
come through, they realize they don't want this as in fact,
the gaming company has figured this out to the point
(12:53):
that they build on that. As we were talking about
Oxen forre you building on those type of choices. They
also build on that. So the more empathetic you are,
the more likely that you will be grouped up with
others who are just as empathetic. Now, don't get me wrong,
there are those that they call rats who just come
in as snipe people. Yeah, there's always some bad characters
(13:16):
We know this when I hear my partner talking to
the rats the way he talks to them, he's so
disappointed in them, Like it is not like they don't
he doesn't get angry, which I should say probably means
the whole different thing for him as a green flag,
that he's not necessarily angry about it, but he's just
(13:36):
more disappointed. And he does call him a dick, like,
don't get me wrong, he will name Paul, but it's
all with disappointment and like there was one interaction in
which he that must have been like multiple people. But
this is what I'm hearing, y'all. I hear I'm a
friendly I'm a friendly dick. You try to kill me?
(13:57):
Does anybody have a depibrillator? A person comes over or
with another person with defibrillator gets him up, but then
they shot him, and so my partner revives them, and
then they figured out who the rat was and I
think my partner ended up shooting him. This sounds of graphic,
but it's not. But you get the choice of finishing
them off or not. And my partner goes, hey, man,
(14:19):
he's the one that shot you. So you make the choice.
You make this choice. I'll leave it up to you
to the other dude, and the other dude's like, nah,
we're just gonna let him lay here, and like, I
think eventually, if you don't get the help or the
assistance of someone else, then you just you know, your
player dies. And so they're like, Okay, that's your choice,
(14:40):
Like they walk away, Oh wow, and they were like,
it is again, this is one of the most wholesome iterations.
And then they're like, well, good playing with you, man, Yeah,
good luck to you. And then they like go off.
So but that's the type of interaction that I'm hearing
from him, and it's not again, it's not just him,
(15:00):
it is so many in the community. There was one
where they go to an area where they can just
zipline and just knock each other off for fun. But
that's that's the entirety of the thing. They're not trying
to kill each other, they're just hanging out. It's the
most wholesome thing. There was another clip of a streamer
where a woman was singing as she walks in, so
(15:23):
it was a woman player all love that, and someone
jumps up and joins her singing. They both scream and
he's like I enjoyed just singing and really just runs
off like that's the entirety of Like, of course you're
trying to find things, you're trying to defeat things, you're
trying to get to the next level. But it's such
wholesome content. Them'm like, what, I don't know. I've been
(15:44):
with my partner for seven years now and I've heard
him play a lot of games. This is the first
time that I've seen this type of interaction in a
game that's all strangers. Again, I will say this, I'm
just an and I know this is so far off
that we've talked about. How Like, when it comes to
(16:06):
the malowliness epidemic, even though the women are not the
cause of it, the women are the ones that feels
a lot of the repercussions of it, whether it's the
violence that happens because of in cell ideals, or whether
it's the lashing out in general and being told that
you shouldn't have the rights like politically, like we see
the overall damage that it caused. We also understand that
(16:29):
men stereotypically but like statistically, do not emote, or have
conversations or have moments of like empathy and calm and
just kindness, oftentimes with each other if it doesn't involve
something mainly. Don't get me wrong, I guess in this scenario, yes,
(16:52):
it seems like video gaming it is considered mainly, which
is unfortunate because it's not It shouldn't be, but in
this scenario it is seen that way. But the thing
that surprises me is in a time where we see
such harshness and such violence, they're taking the opportunity to
(17:13):
choose to be the nicer versions of themselves.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Mm hmm, yeah, yeah, I mean, especially like going back
to what you were saying, I've done a lot of
PC gaming in my time, but usually I associate it
with like there's a reason I don't play with strangers online.
So it's nice to hear that that is happening. But
(17:37):
it's also because it kind of reminds me of what
we were talking about with when we had Doctor Bathon
recently to talk about trans athletes, and we had that
conversation about kind of the toxic masculinity in the locker
room and how it's actually like really hurting boys. And
one conversation we've had before on this show is that
(17:57):
a lot of games that are designed by women do
have a lot of a lot more of that type
of interaction of like not necessarily violence, like you know,
more calm, more friendly. And I feel like since feminine
traits are so have for so long been looked down on,
(18:17):
it's really nice to see that transition outside of just oh,
that's how women gamers are, because it is healthy and
it is nice.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
So there is an article written by somemerver singh I
really so hope I said that right. This was written
in November of last year, twenty twenty five, and it's
titled Arcreator's community is the best in the gaming right
now and then that he says, but there's a catch,
but I wanted to read this part. He says that
(19:02):
art Graders specifically was created to be PvP ve so
like you can do all those things, and in this game,
the arcs were the real enemy, but still had the
options to take each other's stuff essentially, and he says
art Graders, while being an online multiplayer shooter, still feels
more it's like a quiet social experiment about how it's
(19:25):
actually working, like what is working, And he says there
are streamers who could have gone the sweaty PvP route.
Some have and they and the more power to them,
but instead they've leaned into wholesome chaos. It's genuinely refreshing
to see popular content creators who thrive on viewership's post
clips about trust building rather than kill streaks. The proximity
(19:48):
chat feature in the Arts Raider is perhaps its best feature,
and again my partner was like, yes, this is He
was explaining to me how this is great because it
becomes its own kind of theater, providing hilarious and sometimes
heartfelt encounters That to me is the power of design
that rewards empathy. The games most viral clips aren't about dominance,
(20:09):
but rather about players coming together to work towards a
common goal or just to exchange jokes. Clearly and Bark
has done something right the creators, because I hear someone
say the phrase it's us against the clinkersman at least
twice every day while playing this game. It is interesting
because my again, my partner met to random gamers and
(20:30):
he thinks they're both in the UK, and they set
up times to go do quests together. I have again
heard them come together just to sing and just to
like and they sit there listening to the singing and
praising them for what they can do. There was one
clip of the and it was titled the Nicest Gamer Ever.
(20:52):
And he just says, there's a guide people and help
them around in different locations to get whatever quest is helping.
And my partner, actually this send me a TikTok and
it's from mister Coffee, who is a woman gamer. You
know who this is, you're not in your head. I've
heard of them, yeah, okay, okay, And she talks about
having meeting women and specifically Arc Raiders and how it's
(21:16):
the best. And I see people like commenting throughout about
in the different women gamers and I love this about
how their interactions have been so fun. And then one
of them was like every time I see a girl,
I'm like, heck, yeah, let's get together. But then there's
so many dudes on here who have actually said I
love this. I love that this is what this game
(21:37):
is about. Like I have seen so many great comments,
even from the men, which is rare. Let's be honest,
which is rare. Like one dude says, a girl snuck
up on me in a burried city the other day
and persuaded me into a rubber ducky trade in a
dark alley like it's like the experiences earlier, and then
this one says, I thought you were going to start blasting.
(21:57):
This was beautifully wholesome. And it is this interaction between
the women getting each other goods, finding each other goods,
and helping with each other that says, as a dude,
I'm glad y'all found you a little comfort and experience
some fun in the game. Games are for everyone. Video
games are the best way to chill and meet some
kindred spirits. And then it's just all these things and
(22:18):
I love seeing these comments like these encouragement one woman
game reput I'm crying. We really are just girls trying
to make our way in a male dominated industry. I
love being a girl. So like, there's so many aspects
to this. Again, I know nothing about this company. Really,
I know again about the game because of my partner,
But the interactions that I continue to see, it feels
(22:42):
so nice to see that the winning part to this
type of game is more welcoming, more empathy and just fun.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, we need more. Yeah, it's just nice. It's just nice, nice,
and it's it's I'm very happy to hear that people
are having that experience because it is so fun. That
kind of reminds me of when you have a really
good D and D crew. Yeah, because D and D
can be very, very toxic. But when you find like
(23:14):
your good crew, then you do have very silly like yeah,
here's my rubber duck in a dark cat like you
have these interactions that are so funny and cute, and
then you know, maybe you meet up with that person
again digitally or not. But it was nice. It was
a good experience for you both. And it's a funny.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Story, right exactly. And it seems like that's more of
the case than not when it comes to this game. Again,
it could just be my FYP. There are some content
creators who loves chaos, and apparently one big, big, huge
and he has made his fame off this game, I believe.
But his whole thing is to almost kill people bring
them back and because he knows he's famous enough that
(23:56):
they're going to help him get more stuff. You know.
Sure that works too, I guess. But all of the
thing is like, it's nice to see and again, what
feels like such a hostile timing that in pretend in
games people are making better choices again, and this is
(24:19):
supposed to be an into the world like scenario this game,
so it's nice to see. I feel like it almost
makes me want to play the game just to have
the interactions. But I'm not good, so I would just
frustrate myself and everyone with me. I think I would
just die. You get you definitely die if you fall
of me. So I think so, and I feel like
(24:43):
I need to enlist you into playing once or twice.
There is also a voice modifier, so you can change
your voice to be a woman or a man. Oh yeah,
from what I understand.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
I've never done the voice thing. I've done the like typing.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Mm hmmm.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Maybe I've got the headphones, I got the.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Little we need to get you in one time. Well,
have you and my partner go through a game, just
so you can tell us what you experienced, because I
don't know this from firsthand, and my partner is a man,
so his interactions are probably gonna be different. So and again,
since I'm not good at games in general, I think
I would just end up being hated and murdered all
(25:24):
the time.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Well, hopefully it's a nice community, because that's kind of
the problem with with like what you The example you
brought up with the office is that Jim was so bad. Yeah,
and he kept dying repeatedly and people would get mad
at him or yell at him, or hopefully in a
nice experience, you know, people would be like, it's okay,
so come on, you can do this.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Well, Annie, I'm this is another one. I'm putting you
in as an list thing, like I'm gonna need you
to try one time and tell me about it.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
I have no idea what this game is. I never
heard of it until you brought it up. I don't
know the plot is. I don't have no idea. So
that'll be fun.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Should they we're going to set it at the time.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Oh my goodness. Well, I really appreciate you bringing this topic.
I thought it was really interesting because I hadn't heard
about this and it makes me happy. It does.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, maybe it will come as an episode about like
better healthy games that we see, so that we can
focus on the good and highlight those. We'll see.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Yes, we will see. And if you did listen to
our recent update on Cozy Gaming. At the end, we
asked for recommendations. Some of you have already sent some
so thank you so much. But yeah, if you have
any gaming recommendations or gaming thoughts or topics you would
like for us to cover, I think we should come
(26:45):
back and talk about people who report on video games
and what's going on there.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
But yes, if you have any thoughts about that, please
let us know. You can email us at Hello at
stuff Wenever Told You dot com you can find us
some Blue skyte Mom Stuff podcast or Insta, Pagram and
TikTok at stuff one Never Told You. We're also on YouTube.
We have some merchandise at Cotton Bureau, and we have
a book you can get wherever you get your books.
Thanks as always to our super Christine, your executive producer
(27:11):
My and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to
you for listening Stuff Never Told You dispection of by
heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, you
can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts, or
if you listen to your favorite shows
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