How the Mighty Have Fallen

I feel sad when I contemplate the historical downfall of Fortnite. The developers of the game purposefully designed it to be as psychologically addicting as possible. And there was a time from 2017-2019 when, for me (and many others across the world), nothing else compared to queuing late-night sessions of solo/duos/squads matches for hours at a time. Sure, the game always had its fair share of frustrations; every game does. But it didn't matter since the pure ecstasty I derived from the game far overshadowed the few, short-live moments of dissatisfaction. At the time, I could never even fathom the idea of quitting Fortnite for any signficant period of time (or permanently). And to be completely honest, I probably wasn't capable of quitting at the time. I was addicted. And so was a large subsection of the human population. The game had captured the attention of a global audience as well as taken the mainstream media by storm. And nobody else wanted to quit either. But Fortnite ultimately proved to be its own worst enemy. Years of deterioration gradually extininguished the spark originally lit under the community during the game's infancy. Now, midway through the year 2023, I regret to say I can (and have) quit playing the game for months at a time (on various occasions). At one point I felt an insatiable urge to play after just 1-2 days away from Fortnite. And now I can stop playing at any time, without even feeling a mild sense of attachment. It's so depressing. The nostalgia of "OG" Fortnite will always live within my heart, but I don't believe the game will ever captivate me the way it has in the past. And that makes me sad.