Yup. You knew what you were getting into. That, best case scenario from the child’s pov, is going back to their real family. Always.

Yeah, we have a PS5 and keep considering trading it in for a second Xbox…

We haven’t raked leaves in years. When we did last it was much more to create a giant pile for kids to jump into than for any other reason. All we have ever done for the yard is mow. And pick up what sticks are required to do so.

No, just a red potato. So good 😊

Yup slim is what I’ve been using for ages. I’m disappointed that recently I can no longer get messages in it, but I accept that. Just have to open a browser and login there. Sigh

If you aren’t on the same server, encryption doesn’t always work very well, and you semi-frequently end up with conversations where you can’t read each other’s messages. Id you try get signed out of your app on a given device, you’ll likely lose past conversations. Etc. It’s just… obnoxious.

And, you’d be wrong. Works don’t lose their copyright just because they go out of print and are hard to find. Thanks to Disney, copyright survived for the length of the authors life plus 90 years.

Eh, I have a serious love-hate relationship with Matrix. For groups its fine. But trying to communicate with individuals on matrix is a major PITA, because of its end-to-end encryption which causes constant issues, IME. It’s great, in theory. But, in practice is just far more of a PITA than its worth.

I understand why I should care about encryption, in theory. In practice, 90% of the time, I don’t. If I’m texting my kids ‘hey where are you?’ or my husband: what do you want for dinner?’ or a friend, ‘hey, come hang out!’ - I just don’t care. And putting up with all the hassles that come with encryption via matrix… It’s just, generally, far more hassle than it’s worth, IMHO.

Yeah, a lot of my kids friends are PC gamers with $600-1000 systems, tops. They might not be the greatest, but they work. Even my kids systems were only ~$1500 and they’re both at least a year or two old now, and still running just about everything.

Honestly, this is our experience too. My kids play on their computers and the Xbox probably 90% of the time. The PS5 getting very minimal use. The switch at least has the virtue of being portable, and thus gets hauled around.

It’s also very hard, if not impossible in some cases to find old conversations on discord, vs forums where they’re mostly preserved for eternity.