pikasaurX4

I can see where you are coming from but OP assures us that this player knows about games and specifically makes caster characters. This isn’t one sorcerer with a quirk in their backstory about never using their magic, this is multiple characters in a row. I play with new players all the time. Maybe an occasional person will take others’ suggestions as law, but if they do the same thing too many times in a row or force themselves to use the move you recommended when it still doesn’t make sense, you just keep guiding them.

“Don’t forget you have other cantrips too. Using fire bolt was a suggestion. In this fight, you could try using your shocking grasp to get away. Or you could use your magic missile for some guaranteed damage on that heavily-armored hobgoblin. It uses one of your slots, but now seems as good a time as any. They’re no good to you when you’re dead.”

The DM and even the other players should be chiming in with suggestions on other players’ turns. It can get annoying when you know how to play and others are telling you what to do, but if you had a fighter player who just stood in combat and took a disengage action every turn, wouldn’t you eventually speak up and suggest they try a dodge or an attack instead?

There’s really no right answer here and I don’t think it’s something that we can work through without that player involved in the conversation. It’s not that they don’t know better, it’s not that you haven’t helped them, it’s not that you haven’t made suggestions, and they’ve been doing this for 3 YEARS??? I’m sorry, but this is above my pay grade. I am almost certain there is some detail that I’m missing because this makes zero sense. I have played with veterans of all walks and ages, new players who are 8 years old, new players that are 60 years old, and everywhere in between. It just doesn’t make sense unless there’s more to it.

Sit down with the player again. Ask why they don’t use cantrips. Leave the leveled spells aside for now (saving them forever is a problem, but an understandable one). Continue to remind them every combat, every turn, every time they take out their dagger. I know you said your group doesn’t know the rules well, so maybe it’s time to learn (3 YEARS???). Cantrips and weapons work exactly the same, so I don’t know how “not wanting to engage with the mechanics” has anything to with it. There’s something going on and I can’t be sure what it is without talking to this player themselves

“I run up and stab it with my dagger!”

“Are you sure? As a wizard, your dagger is very ineffective and puts you in harm’s way. You could cast fire bolt from where you are standing. You’d have a better chance to hit, do more damage, remain safe, and play to your character’s strengths more. Do you want to do that instead?”

“I’m trying to save my spells for an emergency”

“Well fire bolt is a cantrip, so it never runs out and you can use it every turn like a fighter would use their weapon. Cantrips are the ‘auto-attacks’ for spell casters”

I can’t understand your situation OP if the exchange I described above isn’t the solution. I play with newbies and first timers all the time and we constantly strategize in combat so they can learn how to play as we go. Would your player really say “no, I don’t care, I stab them” after being presented with that option? If so, I think they are doing this intentionally because they think it’s funny or interesting, not because they don’t know better

I mean, this has always been true about the monster taming genre. This game just kinda leans into it like it’s a joke instead of pretending it isn’t happening. Not saying I’m a fan of that angle. In fact, the original trailer had CG video of pals working in sweat shops and they all looked sad and tired, and it was a huge turnoff for me from the game. But let’s not pretend that the premise of every monster taming game ever isnt that you force them into servitude and almost always into violence.

That said, after seeing actual gameplay, all you do is send your pals out on your ranch and they perform chores. It’s not especially dark or gruesome about it. Sometimes the chore is helping you make food or medicine, and sometimes it’s mining or logging, and yes, sometimes it’s making weapons or ammo. I’m not a fan of the memes about slavery or the people who think it’s funny, but the game marketing doesn’t strike me as all that problematic. I would argue it’s worse that you run around punching and shooting these creatures and making them fight to the death, but again, that’s the whole genre. Did you know there are games where all you do is shoot people? People love that shit

Single player is fun if you like to play survival crafting games alone. “Pokémon with guns” is not actually a very good description. It’s a monster capturing game, and the creatures are cartoony like Pokémon, but it’s a third person survival crafting game. No turn based elements or choosing monster move sets or anything like that.

It’s more like Ark with Pokémon instead of dinosaurs

Gotta be Happy Days or something, right? That show had so many spin-offs, including Laverne and Shirley, which itself got spun off into an animated show. But I don’t know if there’s ever been a spin-off that got a spin-off and then that second spin-off also got a spin-off

I’m not familiar with the manga but I love me a mahjong anime

It is a ton of fun. My recommendation is to take it slow and play at your own pace. Take in the story and characters. It plays like a solo RPG where you can see other players and group up for dungeon/raid content. Just don’t start paying for it until you have milked the trial dry. I think you can level every job except the latest few to level 70 before you run out of free trial. As soon as you pay for one month, though, you lose the trial for good

This is very true. Fun game. Probably my favorite MMO, but probably not going to scratch the itch OP described. Races have negligible stat differences, classes do not have trees or talent points or ANY kind of build customization, and one character can freely change classes as often as they want while keeping all their gear and level. Once in a while the game lets you pick an absolutely pointless dialog option and otherwise you are a silent protagonist. Each class or job has a very specific way it is meant to be played and there is no room for deviation. You press the skills exactly when your job is supposed to and that’s that

I remember traveling through some random town on a job with a work buddy many years ago. He was always a bit of a goofball and I loved his zany humor and offbeat jokes. For example, he would say things like “wrong number” after hanging up a long phone call that was clearly with a client or family member.

Anyway, we’re driving along and he points at someone walking down the street. He says to me, “you see that guy right there?” Sure, I say, what about him? And in a completely deadpan tone he answers, “you’re never going to see him again.”

We sat in silence for a beat and then both laughed. What a card. But I think my brain actually changed that day. I started seeing strangers and passers-by as entire people with families and goals and problems instead of extras in the background of the scene. Every time I make an honest, simple mistake it made me realize that everyone is capable of the same thing. That not every idiot in traffic is just some idiot. Not every difficult customer is just some asshole. It seems obvious, but that moment really pulled that way of thinking into the front of my mind and I’ll never forget it.

Anyway, it was after that that I learned sonder was a word, and it applies perfectly

It’s just a reference to this 80’s film title, “Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo”: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0086999/

I’ve never even seen the movie, but I’ve said the thing. It just comes easy because boogaloo and two rhyme so well, so it caught on a s a meme. People have been making that “joke” for over 30 years

I think I know what you mean, OP, but it seems like most of the comments think you are just complaining about people saying “thanks” at the end of an email, or in general.

So forget email for now. This is an in person thing or instant message. Ending an email, even a short one, with “thanks” is fine and normal. But if you message me “please update that ticket. Thanks.” It has a more aggressive tone than you might have meant. It feels like you aren’t asking and so the “thanks” comes off as fake or even sarcastic. Maybe also a bit dismissive or distracted. Like this isn’t a conversation or even a request. I’m telling you what to do and walking away. It’s a bit terse. You’re not even giving me a chance to reply. If you say “please update that ticket” and I say “sure thing” and then you say “thanks”, the tone is much different. That doesn’t sound bad at all.

Again, email is different. Emails are meant to be send and forget. The thanks at the end can even be read as a “thanks for reading”. I think OP is talking about something different, and I agree it feels bad when someone talks to me that way.

As for your actual question, OP, I can’t say I know why they said it that way, but I’d guess they mean no offense, like most people are saying. It could be a second language thing or they really are too distracted or busy to wait for your reply. They don’t want to get into it, they just want to check off that someone is taking care of that one thing