i think it's very funny when devs add dogs and cats to games and then don't add a way for players to give those animals affection and then get inundated with like... breathless complaints about not being able to pet the fake cat or tell the digital dog they're a good boy.
thousands of years of convergent evolution and symbiosis makes our monkey brains lose it when there's a dog or cat and we can't touch them and praise them. you gotta let people pet the animal and give it treats or it will actually make them anxious lol.
reminded of when i was in a seaside town in california once with a staggering amount of stray dogs and the person i was with had to actively stop me from petting each and every stray that came up to us.
i see a dog, i pet the dog, that's how it works. you can't just ask me not to pet the dog.
