If it we weren't Google, I'd be ok with paying too. As it is, the content creators will have to get by with their individual sponsorships, rather than getting ad revenue from me.
There is no tolerable amount of ads, because not only are they an awful experience, they explicitly drive user hostile growth and decisions in the future (ie enshitification).
I used to pay for YouTube to avoid ads, before I got sick of Google and refused to give them any more money. Now I use a pihole and a browser based adblocker, as well as 3rd party front ends, because fuck Google. I don't give a shit if I'm denying them income.
It's entirely possible to host an instance that doesn't require emails to sign up. Blahaj lemmy and piefed don't for example. We don't have a spam problem though, because we require manual approvals of new accounts. Lack of email verification is only a problem when it's combined with open signup
We don't have any stickied posts on lemmy at the moment, so there is nothing to sync, but as I understand it, they will sync fine
That being said, another thing you can do is turn on notifications for the community itself. That way, you'll get a notification whenever someone makes a new post (not comment) to the community. You can do the same thing with individual posts too, and get notifications whenever someone replies to a post, even if you didn't make the original post!
"I don't want to have to fight and force you in to making this game work, because even though I'm GMing, I'd like to enjoy myself too. You need to create a character that will want to stick around with the rest of the group. You don't have to all get on, or have deep attachments, you just need a character that I won't have to railroad"
People see the same ideas echoed over and over again, and eventually it shapes how they think. That’s why regular, everyday people, people who aren’t even political start parroting right-wing talking points. Even my kids and their friends are saying this stuff.
You are 100% correct on this part.
The problem is, arguing with them magnifies that effect, it doesn't challenge it.
That's not to say you shouldn't push back. I don't mean smile and agree, or just ignore them. Deplatforming works, protests work, proud visibility works, civil disobedience works. Responding negatively works. Making it so that there is a social cost to being a transphobe works.
As much as it feels right to argue with them, all you are doing is strengthening their already held beliefs when you do. It might feel like its helping, but it isn't. You'll read my response, and you'll likely go "screw that, you're wrong, I'm going to keep arguing". And that's the exact effect I'm talking about at play. Every time you argue with someone, they have that same internal reaction to your comments, no matter what you say, or how strongly you believe it.
As you wish!!!!!