I was grinding through a tricky raid boss last night when my buddy dropped the news: Polygon got sold. Felt like someone yanked the controller mid-fight. That site’s been my go-to for walkthroughs since the Destiny 1 days. Now half their team’s gone? Makes me wonder who’s gonna explain the lore when the next big RPG drops.

Gaming sites ain’t just click farms. They’re cheat codes for stuck players. Remember begging forums for help before guides existed? Polygon fixed that. Their Elden Ring tips saved me from rage-quitting that fire giant fight. Now corporate buyouts might turn these hubs into ad-filled loading screens. Would you trust a walkthrough written by someone who’s never played the game?

When I played Tears of the Kingdom last summer, Polygon’s shrine guides had that human touch. One writer joked about losing 20 apples to a dumb puzzle. That stuff matters. If Valnet turns guides into soulless checklists, we’ll all feel that loss. It’s like when devs nerf your favorite gun – suddenly the whole meta feels off.

Back in the Xbox 360 era, gaming sites felt like hanging with pals. Now everything’s SEO slop or listicles about “10 SWORDS THAT LOOK LIKE BANANAS.” I miss when writers roasted bad glitches or shared dumb speedrun fails. Corporate overlords don’t get why we care about that stuff. You think they’ve ever farmed for a 0.01% drop rate?

Here’s hoping this isn’t game over. Indies prove passion beats profit daily – maybe gaming media can too. Devs, give your review copies to folks who actually game. Writers, keep those hot takes coming. And players? Don’t stop demanding realness. Our walkthroughs shouldn’t be written by bots.