Allero

I played both official and private (pirate) servers, and from all I have experienced, Firestorm offered the best private server experience. It's actually very smooth on the newest expansions, although some of them (like Mists of Pandaria) sure need some love.

I share your concerns about dungeon finder etc., and I believe it could be fun to have some kind of private server with newest content, but also some features removed specifically to make people experience more real human connection, like in the Classic era. I wasn't there back then in the 00's, but even just World of Warcraft Classic and WoW Classic TBC definitely made me experience the game differently. There's just...no rush, and more human element. I like it.

Questing element is still there, and it can be fun, but something about game's pace makes you skip it over rather quickly. Many folks just try to level up real quick and go through dungeons to see the numbers go up - but it's not that every player has to do so.

But, on the other end, the game just became more of everything, and a lot that has changed about it has rather changed about the player base. Nothing stops you from walking out to the Elwynn Forest with your friends and go to the Deadmines, like you always did. On the other end, nothing stops you from racing dragons, either. The content is still there, the core mechanics unaltered, and with the right people wishing exactly the same kind of playthrough you can get all of the old joys yet again.

Maybe more people started playing the game a certain (arguably killjoy) way. But you don't have to, and the game as you know it is still there, waiting.

Raiding community seems to be extremely toxic. I feel like the level of challenge Blizzard brings with raids doesn't resonate with casual players who just want to see the content of the expansion. If there could be levels like in dungeons, this could greatly alleviate it. Until then, the difficulty mechanic applied in raids (more players = more boss HP) will inevitably lead to conflicts once weaker players want to join the party.

Somewhat similar issues appear with Mythic dungeons, but there at least they added a gradual increase of difficulty. Imagine going for, like, Mythic +5 right after Heroic, and this is what you get when you just want to see raiding content without grinding for hundreds and thousands of hours of the absolute same dungeons over and over again.

Ohhh, I'd love some rant!

Also, I think that starting with Dragonflight, they kinda started going back on track. Didn't play enough The War Within to make any conclusions yet, I'm a bit of a patient gamer.

There are some questionable mechanics, there are some things borrowed from other MMOs, there is a bit of uncomfortable pacing here and there, but that's pretty much how it's always been, and overall my impression of the new direction of the game is positive.

(Also, we're finally back with talent trees, whew!)

Never saw the show, but I read through the main book series and connected works as a teen.

Was a very worthy read back then. Still warmly remember the series.

Doesn't anon know Rule34? It's the first one you need on Reddit

Nice! Heard of new versions of TerraFirmaCraft, but I believe it is community maintained, as the main author seems to focus on Vintage Story. But since you mention it works fine, I might as well give it a spin! Didn't know Gregtech updated to newer versions.

No need to advertise Prism - using it already :)

Also, UltimMC is a decent offline fork for pirates and privacy enthusiasts (Disclaimer: I do not promote piracy and own a legal Minecraft license)

I'm so lost and then I try to play like a Beta 1.7.3 player and everyone else just goes "the fuck are you doing?"

Happily, I joined Minecraft when it was already 1.7.2 (release versioning, not Beta), so my ways are not THAT outdated, and obviously I never had issues with 1.7.10 because it's literally my first version with two minor updates. Who would have known that it will all stop there...

Also, I struck some delicate balance with mods at version 1.21.1, but it is for sure still a much different experience.

I too find myself returning back there :)

So many great mods died after this version that it was impossible to recreate the experience - and I feel bad for those who joined the party later and never knew what 1.7.10 (or 1.6.4, or 1.5.2 for that matter) has to offer.

It goes so bad that when I recently loaded a newer version, I was like "what the hell is going on here" :D

Feed the Beast is commonly overloaded and also commonly shoves things like progression and questing, which are not to everybody's liking.

The best approach is always to add the mods you want manually to tailor the experience.

I personally had most fun with Terrafirmacraft, Thaumcraft, Electrical Age, and GregTech. But those were the days gone, and most of them got stuck at 1.7.10

The thing is, there's no need to rebuild the world from the 1850s.

We already have the required machinery and energy. We can make use of what we have, even fossil-powered, to speed up the green transition. Our only goal is to keep it going at a growing pace.

As per agriculture, there are sustainable solutions that I addressed in my other response to you. There are green fertilizers, and there are also genetically modified plants able to produce their own pesticides. There are also innovations in logistics and food sharing initiatives to make less food rot without use.

We have the knowledge, we have the energy. What we lack is the political will to shut down those standing in the way for their own gain over our collective future.

Electrical power + water = rocket fuel. You don't have to use kerosene to launch to space - not that it's the highest priority anyway.

Why do you equate renewables with primitivism? What exactly stops you from building a skyscraper in a renewable-powered world? We do have green steel, concrete and glass. Besides, most use cases do not require skyscrapers in the first place, and they are seen as undesirable by many urbanists.

Now, yes, switching to sustainable lifestyles is not without compromise here and there, especially on the first stages of green transition. We have to put our effort into this, and there's no way around this. But with rational organizing, we can end up making something so much better!

• Properly developed public transportation minimizes time and comfort losses associated with this mode of commuting, while making streets and air cleaner, freeing up plenty of space for pedestrians and buildings.
• Comfortable high-speed rail minimizes the need for planes, enabling high-speed travel without all the airport controls and inconveniences and with plenty of amazing vistas.
• Locally sourced seasonal varieties bring back the sense of excitement and allow you to explore so much more than just apples and oranges - there's a trove of underdeveloped cultivars waiting for their time to shine!
• Plenty of said cultivars are not particularly demanding; also, green fertilizers (for example, microbiological ones, alongside good old manure and compost) are available and can be produced at any scale you need without the need for fossils.
• Easily repairable (user-repairable wherever possible) tech removes financial and organizational anxieties about breaking your devices. Something broke? Just...take spare parts and an hour, and it's good as new.
• Clothing can always be torn and reassembled in new creative ways! This opens up endless possibilities for creativity, and if you personally don't like it, I'm pretty sure a local atelier will be happy to help you.
• Community is key to urban living! With more interaction between you and your neighbors and the culture of common responsibility over shared resources, you can turn any "box" into a sprawling place people love to live in. We need to combat the individualist culture to make it work, though.

In this age of sustainability, there's no issue in having a smartphone, or laptop, or whatever you write this on. In fact, right now there are tech brands oriented at sustainability, long-term support, user repairability and more. Fairphone, Framework, you name it!

We can build our tools, appliances and toys in a post-fossil fuel world. And we can make use of the materials we've already extracted to make it even greener.

In the 18th century, we had the technology of 18th century. We did not have photovoltaics, electrical wind and hydro, batteries. We do have them now, and as things stand, renewables are already cheaper than the alternatives.

Energy-wise, we can sustain much, much more people.

And even agriculture can accomodate for more people than we have now. With modern green agricultural technologies improving the efficiency of green farming, as well as wider accomodation of vegetarian diets and alternative protein sources, we can provide food for much more people with much less fossils.

Besides, better logistics and organizational measures can lead to less food perishing before it reaches the consumer, and less of the perfectly good food being thrown away.