'They want me to speedrun, I'll speedrun': Insistence over how to play a 'The Legend of Zelda' game ends a friendship

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jul 14, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

Different people do things in different ways. For example, when I play video games, the wonder of possibility consumes me, driving me to obsessively check every last corner for hidden loot and easter eggs, turning over (literally) every stone until I 100% the game or reach a point of sheer exhaustion where my brain can no longer function and the desire loses its spark—leaving the game unfinished and untouched ever again. This, generally, reflects my approach to life at large.

You, on the other hand, might… not. Instead, you might choose a more sustainable way of appreciating your hobbies, enjoyment, and relaxation.

Who is right? It's hard to say. (Me.) As long as each of us is enjoying ourselves… (I'm not, help)—what does it matter? Us insisting that other people enjoy things in a certain way—our way—is not going to lead to them having a greater enjoyment of that thing. Just leave them be, man. 

Anyways, this gal posted an incident that occurred between her and her gamer friend. In her post, she explains how the two had a falling out over her friend's insistence that she play The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild in a particular way, leading to her speedrunning the game her way and upsetting her friend.

Read on for her story, originally shared with Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance and r/pettyrevenge subreddit communities. Next, see this gamer who got even with their trolling teammate by repeatedly deleting their game files. 

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  • 01
    Font - You want me to speedrun the game so you have someone to talk to? Fine. M OC Originally posted on r/pettyrevenge but then I realized it fit here too. I (25F) have a friend (25) who's been wanting me to play Breath of the Wild for years now. It's not that I'm not interested in playing. Heck, I bought the game ages ago. I've just been more invested in other things. After five or so years, I finally cracked down to play and absolutely love it. My friend is equally excited and can't wait for m
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 02
    Font - Almost daily, I'm hounded with DMs asking how I like the game. Did I meet A yet? Have I done B yet? Have I finished C quest? Why is it taking so long for me to finish C quest???? I prefer taking things on my own time. With a game of this scale, I want to take my sweet time exploring and finding things as I go. I feel like I'm progressing the plot at a decent pace (50 hours into a game that other people have spent 300 on) and I'm doing side fun side quests. Also, I have other hobbies and I
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 03
    Font - At first, they were supportive if not a little pushy for me to play the game. When I'd talk about certain plot points and gameplay that I enjoyed, they'd brush off my gushing and say things along the lines of "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet. You're not ready. Keep going." As I juggled between the game's two main missions, they pushed me to do one over the other because "it's where the good stuff happens". Despite me saying multiple times that I wanted to go at my own pace and do both m
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 04
    Font - I talked to them about it probably dozens of times, and they explained that they were so pushy because they needed someone else to talk to the game about. No, they wouldn't stop hounding me. I needed to keep going. For them. For our friendship. I'd thank them later. Speedrun.
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 05
    Font - So I thought, to heck with it. They want me to speedrun, then I'll speedrun. I used guides and read up things to finish the game as quickly as I could. I honestly have no clue what I did or how I finished, but I did. I eventually sent them a screencap of my finished game file and gave them my honest opinion: I hated it. There was no build up to anything. I didn't know any character well enough to be invested in their struggles and the puzzles ranged from stupidly easy to unnecessarily com
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 06
    Font - Needless to say, we're not friends anymore. Now that I've returned to my original save file and am playing how I want, I can say that BotW is one of best games I've played. Since I skipped over so much for the sake of being petty, a lot of things still feel like new. I have no shortage of other friends to talk about the game with, and thankfully, these ones encourage me to take my time. They can't wait for me to get to their favorite parts. But not literally, they'll wait however long it
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 07
    Font - LSP4Brad +3 Botw is probably my favourite game of all time and I think it was specifically designed to be played slowly. You're supposed to discover things by accident and make mistakes and try again. Glad you are getting to enjoy the game as was intended. 979 Reply Share 114 ... Snake Michael I feel the same way. 90% of my enjoyment in both BotW and Totk so far has been me going "ooh what's that over there" only to be distracted by something else, then something else distracts me from th
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 08
    Font - 010 bloodsport666 A friend should be able to say to another friend "hey, you're being pushy. Let me have my space so I can enjoy this" without issue. Good riddance and glad to hear you got to enjoy it at your pace. Absolute masterpiece of a game. My wife and kids just got into it and it's been super fun watching them go through everything. I beat it years ago so I don't remember much and I'm no help lol. Edit: typo 552 Reply Share
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 09
    Font - Some-Region-5668 +1 Lol. Playing it wrong? The whole big thing with BOTW was that it is open world and offered more flexibility than previous games... As well as the (for the time) stunning graphics. With open world games, I'm more of an 'I want to collect all the items and do side things' more than actually making sure I only do the 'main' quests... I only got BOTW for my switch, like, around when TOTK came out, and I've spent more time on side quests and exploring than actual main quest
    via u/la_cROAissant
  • 10
    Font - GarlicAble1556 I have had this game since release and have still not finished it bc life and I want to enjoy it. Every time I play I find a new item or place or quest. It's such a beautiful game and there's no point in not enjoying it at your pace! Reply Share 20
    via u/la_cROAissant

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friendship the legend of zelda drama malicious compliance revenge gaming friends friendship-drama video games
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