In Farmville, a player doesn't have a spike of excitement every time they harvest their potatoes. It comes from watching the farm grow in size and complexity over a period of days, weeks, or even months or years.

In Ogame, a player doesn't get a rush for each individual rocket launcher or solar panel. It's when they have a planet covered in defenses and a massive fleet that withstands anything thrown at it.

In "clicker" games, it isn't about performing the same mundane task over and over again. It's about the player making a number that started at 0 grow by trillions or more every second.

The thing about casual games is that the accomplishment doesn't come from completing individual tasks or overcoming overt obstacles. It comes from viewing the progress of something that started small as it grows ever bigger due to your direct actions, as well as the constant attention required over time to build toward an ultimate goal. The only real obstacle is the amount of time you are willing to put into it.

Some people see such accomplishments as shallow and meaningless due to them not strictly requiring much strategic problem solving or the absence of competition due to the lack of a direct opponent. But the way I see it, the accomplishments are just as meaningful as those in more hardcore games, but in a different way. Sure they generally don't require the things that hardcore gamers hold in such high regard, like reflex speed or tactical planning. But they require something that most hardcore gamers are deathly afraid of, and is the one obstacle they will always be hard-pressed to overcome:

Patience.

The ability to stick to something for a very long time without necessarily seeing immediate results is something the casual gamers have in spades. The hardcore gamers see their games as "simple", "easy", or "unfulfilling" are the people who just don't understand what those games bring. And that's not a bad thing. Just like a hardcore gamer doesn't understand the appeal of a game about picking flowers, so does a casual gamer not see the appeal of playing a game where you die over and over again.

Everyone likes different stuff. No one's asking anyone to like everything or even understand why some people like other things. All that is required is to understand that there are other people who like other things that you don't, and they have reasons that you probably can't relate with.

Every villain that got a redemption story had something about their character that made redemption possible. Trixie was boastful but never truly villainous (except when under the Alicorn Amulet's sway). Discord had never known what having a friend was like. Luna/Nightmare Moon overcame her jealousy (albeit forcibly) to realize how much she loved her sister and how important the balance of their ruling was. Sunset Shimmer was shown that true friendship is where real power comes from.

Gilda was an unabashed jerk in every regard. She had a good friend but ended up turning on her. There was nothing to suggest that she had any reason to do anything she did other than for her own personal petty whims. There is little to nothing redeemable about her character as it has been depicted in the show. Any redemption story would feel quite forced, and would possibly take a two-parter to have a chance of being done even remotely well.

I'm not discouraged by comments about C&Ds. I'm infinitely more discouraged by the C&Ds themselves. The comments are just harmless lighthearted jokes.

Okay, so after giving it a few hours and trying it again, the Captcha image did finally load, so I guess you just need to continually refresh the page while praying to your deity of choice.

A group of friends and I can't sign up. Every time we try to register, it says "The letters you typed do not match the letters that were shown in the picture." ...Even though there is no picture.