Talk:Beginners guide/@comment-39614671-20191104185542

During Smutstone's first hours, I was enthralled, fighting back tears. Gobsmacked at the map, the aesthetics and - surprisingly - the efficient, restrained gameplay.

Then I'd explain that I spent my next days in Smutstone making a sport of absolutely hating it. The pure indulgence, the patience of what it asks of players: to essentially farm gold and items to level cards, to win Duels back and forth in a gameplay empty of challenge, personally or even a half decent set of stakes.

But then I'd say, around a month in, something weird happens, That my lizard brain - in an attempt to somehow make sense of the time spent brainlessly trudging through this universe - slowly began to convince me I was actually having fun and enjoying the experience.

I'd then say that, by 2 to 3 months, I was in the full grip of a powerfull Stockholm Syndrome. Not only was I enjoying the brain dead labor of Smutstone's endless, grueling fetch of Duel Chests, coin bingos and browser refreshes, but my internal dialogue was lauding them with hyperbolic praise. I was in love.

But then a final twist: In the final hours, the fever dream broke. Smutstone sent me on the fetch for Tournament cards and Artifacts, essential to end the quest of quests, and it broke me. Topping it off with head-spinning bots and snipers that was equal parts baffling and sublime.

Years later, when people ask me if i enjoyed Smutstone, I don't even know where to begin. I'm not even sure enjoyment is the point.