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The fact that the salute is so offensive, they did it so blatantly, and their denial was so disingenuous is the point. It’s a demonstration of power. They can do a Nazi salute and their opponents can’t punish them. They can deny that they did a Nazi salute and their opponents can’t control the narrative. If they did something more subtle, then people might think that they weren’t facing any consequences because their opponents were giving them the benefit of the doubt. With the Nazi salute there is no doubt. The only explanation for why they aren’t facing any consequences is that their opponents are powerless.
But that’s the stuff that’s fun! A good game is a game I have a spreadsheet for.
When I was a pre-teen, I used to play Diablo with a married couple that played together. (I never met them IRL, just in-game.) That created some unrealistic expectations for me about romantic partners and computer games - I wanted to date a woman who shared my interest in games, but I never met even a single one and so I gave up on that long ago. A couple of women I dated did want to try playing games with me because they were interested in sharing my hobbies, but they were so bad at the games I liked and the games they wanted to play were so casual (and they were bad at those too). I knew I was being an asshole but I still refused to keep playing with them. It was just too frustrating.
I should clarify that I didn’t expect someone who had never played games before to become a pro instantly. What bothered me was that they didn’t even seem to want to win. Nowadays I just accept that I’m way more intense about games than most people (not just women) are and so I deliberately avoid showing that part of myself IRL. It wouldn’t look good.