I actually really like the developer’s rationale for why they use an anime character as the mascot.

The whole blog post is worth reading, but the TL;DR is this:

Of course, nothing is stopping you from forking the software to replace the art assets. Instead of doing that, I would rather you support the project and purchase a license for the commercial variant of Anubis named BotStopper. Doing this will make sure that the project is sustainable and that I don’t burn myself out to a crisp in the process of keeping small internet websites open to the public.

At some level, I use the presence of the Anubis mascot as a “shopping cart test”. If you either pay me for the unbranded version or leave the character intact, I’m going to take any bug reports more seriously. It’s a positive sign that you are willing to invest in the project’s success and help make sure that people developing vital infrastructure are not neglected.

Adding on to what you’re saying: I think it’s pretty clear that Morrowind and Oblivion are more focused on a first-person perspective for the player character with third-person being a bit of a secondary concern. As such, it seems to me like the focus of the third person animations is on matching what the player would see in first person, especially since they can switch between the two with a single button press.

For example, when the player holds the “A” key to move pure left while keeping their view straight, it certainly seems more natural from a first-person perspective that they’re strafing left rather than turning their torso left with their head and arms awkwardly straining at a 90° angle (try this at home, it feels weird).

The alternative here would be for the character to actually turn their whole body left when you hold the “A” key in third-person, but then have their view (i.e. their head and arms) snap 90° to the right whenever you switch back to first-person, which seems odd and immersion breaking.

That being said, obviously it does look quite jank from a third-person perspective for a player to be strafing all the time, even when they’re in non-combat scenarios. This isn’t helped by aging animations, either.

FYI: For those out of the loop like me, the headline is written somewhat ambiguously and actually means “free multiplayer features and Age features,” not that multiplayer isn’t included at launch.

That being said, according to the Civ website at launch “up to five players [will be] supported in the Antiquity & Exploration Ages, and up to eight players [will be] supported in the Modern Age.” One of the post-launch updates will expand that limit to 8 players throughout the game and another will add teams and hotseat to multiplayer.

Not sure why they’re not there at launch since they’ve been standard Civ features for years, but…

I want to preface this by saying that I just wanted to share my own experience and point out that not everybody is in the same situation you’re in. You’re treating this like we’re having a debate, and I don’t really know why.

You skipped the last question. In 10 years or whatever, when you buy another new phone/laptop/literally any electronic device, you’ll be able to charge it with the same charger you already have and won’t have another one filling up your drawers like I do.

Well, maybe? Considering I only buy phones every 4 or so years, it’s not impossible by that point I’ll need an entirely different charger to get maximum charging speed. Either way, I currently only have the Steam Deck charger, so I’ll need to purchase some.

Also didn’t reply to the bit about having an actually good and useful charger.

We’re veering into the realm of the hypothetical since most phone manufacturers don’t include chargers any more, but certainly at least some manufacturers would include full speed chargers with their phones if that was still the trend. I know OnePlus already does, at least for some models?

…why do you need 2 chargers?

One for my desk, the other for my bedside. I could keep carrying them back and forth, but that’s a bit annoying, yeah?

Have you never owned a laptop before? Have you never owned a PD charging phone before?

Not really? I have an old as fuck laptop with a power brick, and previously owned a Pixel 4a, which does have PD, but only up to 18W.

I think I must be you, but from an alternate, worse reality, since I’m in the exact opposite scenario.

I recently purchased a Steam Deck and a little while after that, a new phone, and currently the Steam Deck charger is only fast charger I have in my home (since I didn’t really have any devices that required them before). This sucks, since now I need to purchase at least two USB-C PD adapters since I need two different chargers for the phone. Obviously this isn’t an insurmountable obstacle, but it definitely would’ve been nice to have at least one included with the phone.