it's real gamer hours right now for the folks who are determined to get every last little crumb of rollback xrd before the beta shuts off at midnight.
it reminds me of closing out the frosty faustings sunday afterparty at the beginning of the year. the afterparty is great because it gives you time to come down a bit from the highs of tournament excitement and just play games with people who also want to hang out and play games. the ballroom starts out with a relaxed, friendly hum, buzzing with people who are just excited for a day of gaming.
then you leave for a minute to grab some lunch, and you see the first wave of ubers and carpools headed off for the airport. a couple homies leave because they have work the next day. the setups are a little bit less densely distributed across the room. some of the locals start packing their stuff up and starting their drive home.
eventually it was just a cluster of xrd setups keeping the party going. security lets us hang out for a little bit longer than intended since the rest of the event is still breaking down. every game could be the last. finally, security comes for us, and we have to hit him with the same line we used on our parents countless times: let us just finish this one last game. it's for Supreme Champion of the Universe.
the lobby is still open, for now, but the patch has been deployed. the moment i quit xrd, steam will delete the beta branch, and we're back in delay-based for the next few months.
i can't bring myself to quit the lobby but i'm too tired to play any more, so i'm just going to leave myself connected and idle in the lobby until something boots me out.
