>>717707862
Forced diversity =/= organic diversity. It's that shrimple. Having a diverse cast is a good thing. But having a diversity checklist cast to push some sort of agenda is a crime against humanity.
Alyx was a particulary well written character. The way she generally behaves is pretty great. Competent in combat but not Mary Sue tier capable. She's strong willed but she breaks down at several points in various gradations. A big one is her panicking in the train, the way she composes herself afterwards is very telling of who she is. Her design is cute and feminine, while still maintaining her capable look.

>>717511890
This isn't about left or right anymore. Both are in on it. Corps are pushing this from all sides, since it's a big win for them. The entire UK bill was funded, created and politicians got bought to push it through. People have already started following the money and it all came back to the funds (with no oversight) tied to big tech. No western country is safe from this.
Current governments in power now help it push through because it also helps their agenda, especially in the EU. They can just label anyone that says bad thing about migration as a domestic terrorist at this point. It's all about mass surveillance and controlling the flow of information. For corps it's about expanding ad revenue even more (with ID verification they can literally start throwing "you've been pre approved for x credit card or buy now pay later" schemes.
ID verification also means smaller, niche sites won't be able to keep going. Only corpo backed sites can pay for the infrastructure while many places on the internet will die off, even more than it has up to today. Total corpo sanitization and control.

>>717512240
Has the last few weeks shown you nothing? It starts with "porn is bad" and "think of the children" but it will end with a camera in your living room.

>>717512572
Sure, but if you played your cards right you can be invisible or at least anonymous. With these laws cropping up everywhere and ID verification it will become increasingly different.

I look at it like some sort of legacy game. HL was the true classic but HL2 certainly has it's merits. The problem is that so many games have copied HL's ideas ad nauseum so I can relate to anyone playing it now for the first time and judging it as "nothing special". But in it's time these physics based silly puzzles, driving/boating sections etc etc where all brand spanking fresh. The engine itself was a lot of fun to mess around with (no other reason Gmod was born), so it's the kinda game you have to judge in the spirit of the time of release. I still think they are worth playing if you are a younger anon that goes in with the right expections. The game is still interesting enough to hold it's own in current year. There's also something to be said for the episodes, which really are significantly better than the base game. Really focused, thightly knit experiences on those. And Alyx is a masterclass on how to write female support characters. Holds her own, both in gameplay and story but she's not without faults or weaknesses. Her little breakdowns and damsel in distress moments tend to make most players care for her.

HL doesn't have this "nothing special" problem, it still holds up incredibly well and hasn't really been outdone by any other FPS. Making it the true classic HL without a doubt.