The question would be more: Can we "play" even in the future to the rules we want to make ourself? The answer is here just: NO. So yes, it is a harsh part, but either choose free and libre hardware or parts being compatible with free and libre software or ending up with non-free parts and bad compromises in a whole. SuperTuxKart plays also for sure without all details on maximum as far I can read from your posting.

Modern gaming is heading completely in the wrong direction for years and won't stop. Partly also other projects also heading in the wrong direction: Do we really need the best graphics? All details on modern graphiccards with all the interfaces? That's the trick to buy always "newer". As I have written: Wrong direction, especially when it comes to our environment and climate. Not to mention that "Talos" for example is nothing to even think of: Free and libre hardware has to be also payable for everyone, not just to some.

First: The problem needs to be explained onto a complete different level. What happens with all the used hardware? Second: The hobby "gaming" is not some single-sided topic. It is a far range and when someone is just oriented onto "newest graphics" there won't be any solution with free and libre software at this point. That is clear to read and clear communicated. So there is for sure no real problem to understand that. The reasoning is the ignorance of companies and consumers both as only "numbers" count and therefore more profit, but not development being oriented to minimize the damage onto environment and be as compatible as possible also with free drivers and software in general.

About the pricing: There are surely ways to afford a libre system on different levels, either with "Libreboot" or "Coreboot". It depends on what the person is willing to do. And that was all I have said: It depends on the will. The full topic depends on the will. Am I willing to understand that buying newest hardware will cause rising environmental damage? Am I willing to get deeper into hardware, into the problems being there and also to ask for help, when I encounter problems? Or do I want something "out of the box working without any further questioning? And to be clear here: Buying a "Talos"-machine will also cause enough damage.

And last but not least:

I can and will for sure explain anytime again the points to everyone asking. Libre gaming is quite not straight defined: It can be emulation at a point. It can be also something different as the phrase "gaming" itself is not that easy defined to one exact action to be done. And please: It is for sure your impression that something is about "poor value". But this does not change anything into any direction. If you want to have something changed, you need to take action. And I think personally that "libre gaming" is already fine enough as I don't want a comparison to commercialized software in general out of enough reasons.

But to underline again: The problem is on a such high level that only all groups and people in general can solve that. The alternative way: Solving onto individual position and this means trying to find ways learning to flash, document the process for others and support them also compiling their own firmware in the end. It is not the final solution, but the best we have. The future of GPUs in general is not written in stone, but it won't change soon enough. Sorry, but that's the part we have for the moment! Changing all free and libre software / hardware the other way won't result into "more freedom" or speaking with one of our goals like more technical emancipation. When you try to change something from the inner perspective, there won't be any change. So people need to understand that our concurrent way of consume and usage is the real problem. I understand that you are oriented onto the single question and topic itself. But it is what it is: Libre hardware stays frozen as newer hardware is not moving into the perspective of freedom and emancipation, the companies have no reasoning to do that and consumers have no interest into that. I don't see any "future", but I am also happy with the concurrent situation and will stay there as I did for the last ten years also. We should therefore try to optimize what is there and do the best we can. When we try to run behind the non-free parts more and more, we will surely loose everything on every stage possible. And to optimize and find new / better solutions for the problems being there with the free capable hardware is quite more promising than having any kind of imagination of some libre GPU in the future. This will be an illusion for sure with the known manufacturers.

This part of the forum is also not the place to discuss this matter, so I will move the topic.

Oh, I hope this was not too harsh said: I don't want anyone being seen as "enemy". Personal I don't even see the companies mentioned generic as such. But we have to face our own ignorance, otherwise we won't solve problems. Even more we stumble again back into darkest times, because our (I mean for sure "us" as a whole, not any kind of group, any kind of individuum) own greed drives us there.

The point: Can we forgive that? Can we overlook the coming reactions? And are we able to do it other way BEFORE it is too late? Learning from history instead repeating it.

To explain a bit more the way and thought of Hyperbola especially here: We will always try having HyperbolaBSD and our GNU/Linux-libre running on hardware capable. But for sure also only with free and libre drivers. Perhaps one day for example Nouveau gets a bunch of help and is able to enhance their implementation? Perhaps they get community-help and more attention? For sure they should get that. Hyperbola is build on top of integral parts and thoughts: Emancipation, empathy, solidarity and a warm welcome for all democrats out in the world oriented for sure onto those values. This will always be essential for us and for this community, on-going with the social contract. So following those: We have to make also critical annotations towards problems on-going and rising more within free and libre software itself - it is more or less the same ignorance, just another shaping.

For XMPP: Perhaps you can also use pidgin? We have also implementations for OMEMO and Matrix.

NOTE: I have removed and changed my personal stance about "last posting". Sure: I will be here and discuss, nobody should be handled that way. And if somebody felt attacked: No this was not my intention as everyone has a responsibility.

I know that this "NO" for future of GPUs is harsh, I understand for sure that we all wish for better ways and alternatives. But also we have not that much of any choice for the moment as working with what is there and build on top of it. This should not prevent us with possible other ways, but stay a warning. When we go for the other way(s) we won't get better and enclosure so many problems we would never want. Gaming is surely a wide range, but personally it is also quite a fine taste when you can emulate any older console with Hyperbola and have a fine time with beloved adventures from older days. Or you take a journey out in space, perhaps you help the ninja-rabbits to get justice or you settle down with your people in the "widelands". There is so much to discover! In the end it is just this: Either we (as a whole community in free and libre software) find a perfect "hack" or somebody leak disassembled bytecode of the firmware-blobs or we have to work with what is there. Besides that disassembling is surely a very questionable point in the legal perspective (and therefore a good point to question again copyright and patents), we can only stay clear and work together with what is here. We can explain the reasoning, but as already noted: If all of this is not sufficient, nobody is able to change the mind of others, besides everyone has a responsibility and no one can be spoken free from it: The point is then that we can surely hold our hands on our ears, singing meanwhile and not listening. But this does not change neither the problems nor reality in a whole as every brandnew device stays a damage.

Just a note, as a proposition... didn't know if I should make a new thread, or not... but I wondered about this regarding debian regarding blobs...

If people want to install them,  before they can, I had a thought, of a warning screen that says:

Warning! Be aware if you install this blob, your privacy and security will be weakened! Might be a little, might be a lot!
IF you don't like this as being required, for your computer, PLEASE HELP in freeing THIS hardware from needing said BLOB!
Otherwise, this issue will REMAIN!

Whether it is:
wifi
ethernet
usb
graphics not just 3D either
sound
bios as a whole
Or just any blobs that are a remote threat on any level.

Or at the bare minimum, coreboot + intel me disabled and any other remote blobs disabled and/or replaced and again mention how completely freeing the hardware would be wise to work on, etc...

Also, I forgot: A modified fork for Stratagus, with a game made with free content:

https://github.com/andrettin/wyrmgus

The data repo:

https://github.com/andrettin/wyrmsun

Not much, and Battle for Wesnoth it's far superior, but for a libre and lightweight RTS game, it's fine.

Ah, sorry. Stil, RMS has no issues with non-free *data* (art/music) on games, for instance in the case of game engine reimplementations. Having libre engines running non-free bytecode from games such as the ones under ScummVM would be a freedom issue.

On libre culture and gaming, I mis Nethack, Slashem and the mentioned projects from Onpon, but I know python dependencies can be cumbersome to set (PyGame/SGE related).

The last games don´t require a powerful GPU to run, I think a 15yo GPU would be enough to play the games at least at the lowest resolution.

To be honest, I no longer care, for many reasons and today, I found a new version... some of these, online games, have similarities to anti-social media companies and as an aside, social media, is way more toxic than I could ever have imagined.

Point being, as much as I hate to admit it, social media would be "better off dead" in almost every possible way.

Same with those mainstream gaming networks as well, which also have similar, maybe worse nightmares depending on where you go.

as a final edit:

That ALONE is enough of a reason for me to say:

Suck it corporations + ban corporations who are this evil

That aside, there seem, other issues...,

And don't get either me, throgh, or other likewise people started on the massive freedom issues appearing...

At this point, moderation is becoming unbelievably impossible for these systems based on the data collection alone, let alone other more dangerous reasons and just vile ones too of course...

Bloat and data collection and planned obsolescence do bad things on multiple issues, especially human beings and the climate directly.

I am somewhat suspicious of their open source counterparts, even... but I might tolerate them for now... that being said, people need to look at them with massive amounts of skepticism regarding them not being toxic or unusable!

Sadly, I think the time is quickly coming when this stuff needs to be either banned from making any profit, which would kill corporate interest in them, or better yet, them disappearing entirely... mostly because, even the libre ones, have their issues, here and there... point being, moderating toxicity and greed, on the web is even more crucial then ever... I would say more, but some of it might be "sensitive to people as a whole!"

Also, as an aside, I very much disown the regular ones at this point as having any good purpose.

I am, pondering getting rid of my reddit though for this reason and one and one other place which I begrudgingly had to tolerate awhile back, for reasons I am not fond of.

Too bad data collection was permitted so long, and still is to this DAY... now people can make these toxic situations a lot hellishly worse due to that!

So... I very much apologize, I begin to wonder if moderation is possible at this point, on those websites... especially since, hate speech, meaning "extreme hatred/violence type" is just too common on there...

I think the bigger issue is hatred gives many of these corporal, yes I meant corporal, because corporations seems to have a name similar to corporal, which if I recall correctly has an old definition, of something evil...

But to reply, yeah... pretty sure, not policing corporations is not death... it is much, worse... its like putting the internet in a freefall towards hell!

The main reason though, they allowed this in the first place, is due to some toxic souls, meaning people thinking all speech is free speech.

Just felt like I should finish my thought, if you prefer, feel free to add it to my above comment, etc... with quotes, etc..