u/Gazeb0r

I know that for some reason the DoW 2 Retribution campaign isn't everyone's favorite, with many saying it's the worst of the 3 DoW 2 games.

I've played them all a long time ago - albeit I didnt finish Chaos Rising - and they were also fun, but to me, still less memorable.

People's criticism of the Retribution campaign is that it was less in-depth as the other two games and repetitive as all the races essentially went through the same story.

I disagree - as I think it deserves commending that they actually gave you the choice to play as all of the races in the campaign.

I've always been more of a xeno fan and it's super rare outside of the RTS games that you get a POV from them as the protagonists.

Each of the races get their own set of characters, with their own fully voiced lines and dialogue, unique abilities, wargear, and playstyle which makes each playthrough of the campaign refreshing and entertaining enough (I've played them all except Tyranids cause there's no characterisation there).

Sure the characters you play go through the same chapters and missions, but I think it's still cool to see their reactions to how the story unfolds and how they express their own goals. And leveling the characters and unlocking the abilities for each is also fun.

Honestly, I even prefer this style of campaign over the Dark Crusade conquest-style campaigns because there's a lot more story and feels like you're playing actual heroes like you would in a 40k Novel.

The conquest style campaigns are fun too but I hope they bring this RPG-lite style back in future games, even if its outside Dawn of War.

Mann maybe I just wanna play more W40K story games where you can play as the other races for once.

It's also the only game where you get to play as Kaptin Bluddflagg and his crew. I think that says more than enough.

I know I might not be that old yet (turning 27 not long from now) but life has already felt long and the years are starting to wear on me.

I feel like I've given a shot to most things life has to offer (to a certain extent) except for going totally crazy and getting addicted to hard drugs and stuff.

I've graduated from university, I've made so many friends both long-term and short, been working a full-time job that lets me travel often for years now,

Have travelled to so many countries of all kinds, swam with sea turtles, manta rays, and sharks and have been to some beautiful locations in nature

Solo travelled in European cities and partied with strangers,

Dedicated myself to fitness and building a physique

Did all sorts of social activities and events and have had multiple (terrible) dating experiences.

And for the past year I even took up salsa dancing and have had a ton of fun with it and made even more friends.

And yet, in spite of it all, all those things tire me. People tire me. They disappoint me. They stress me out. These fun experiences come with a lot of highs and lows.

And though I don't have much time for them anymore in my schedule, I find what brings me the most comfort consistently are things like fictional worlds; video games, movies, books, comics, art and music.

Oftentimes Ill end up listening to a piece of music from a videogame with those synthy vibes maybe with chiptune sounds or a more atmospheric vibe, and even if I havent played the game, I feel like Im at home. Home somewhere in a mysterious and fantastical universe where odd critters abound and people live in impossible, but cozy abodes.

It's in these worlds where it feels I can't be hurt by others. I can't disappoint others. And there's just a calm I won't find anywhere else.

Call it escapism I guess. But as I get older, as stress around obligations and money grow, and as the world continues to churn out increasingly harrowing news, I start to value "frivolous" fiction even more and not less.

Maybe it's also because Ive had the privilege to live a storied and busy life of my own, because maybe too much of fiction could be a bad thing if I just stayed home all the time. I dunno, but I think fiction and art is more important than people give credence to.

I dont know why I felt compelled to write this, but I guess I wanted to tell people that the stuff you consider frivolous might be more important than you think. And maybe to see if anyone feels the same.

For those who workout at the gym or strain themselves in general. Before I started I remember I would go quite intense on exercises and this would include clenching my teeth and having pressure go to my head in general.

I just started with invisalign and did one or two workouts that werent too heavy and noticed I was clenching down on my aligners still.

Is this okay? Or will they break? Anyone have experience with this? Im changing every 7 days so Im hoping the wear isnt that bad.