Yes. The out of left field had more to do with what was expected going in. We all expected silly D&D and fart jokes. We didn't expect a legitimately touching examination of grief and denial to bring depth to a silly character.

I haven't, and I really should. Like, REALLY should. I was college roommates with and took part in the wedding of someone high enough at Gearbox that I can't say their role without doxxing myself, and we've stayed really close.

The Tiny Tina DLC was pretty good.

Such a great big douchey motivator!

I'm not OP but varied gameplay and interesting mechanics is way more important for me unless it's a very story rich game that's done well (the last of us or death stranding for example)

Depends on the game. In a looter shooter like Borderlands, it’s the looting and shooting

Story matters in a lot of games to me. But not in borderlands. I play borderlands for the looting and shooting basically. And 3's the best at that. Though I've heard 4 is even better still in that regard.

I'm not dismissing the criticism of BL3, I honestly don't know what it is beyond my personal experience. I wasn't a big fan of the antagonists or the weapon changes, but It didn't ruin the game for me. I really didn't know that the game was so widely disliked - I never even looked into it. It came out, I played it, lost interest, and moved on with my life.