For me it's always been partly about ease of use, but the biggest thing is a superficial one. I just really enjoy a beautiful UI and slick UX. In these categories Windows is deep in the trash, but the bar for me is MacOS. An OS needs to make what I'm using it for easier and nicer, not have me spending time just making it work.

I haven't dipped my toe into the distro test pool in a few years, but every time I do I find myself spending more time sorting out the OS than just using it, and we'll, they just haven't been pretty to look at.

I think that's what it comes down to, distros can be decently developed but are often severely lacking in the design department.

I'd definitely love to know if any distros out there for that sort of vibe!

I think it boils down to the fact that scenarios and encounters are designed to be the adventure. Extreme circumstances aside, to a player, running away feels like avoiding the adventure or worse- failing it.

As DMs, we know that hints are left for periphery details. A DM shouldn't be designing an encounter to be certain death, and they also have the power to have the players fail forward into new scenarios even if it becomes one. If an encounter must be deadly, then there should be no hints, you should be saying flat out this is not an encounter where the goal is victory through combat. Combat will mean death. Their characters can feel it in their bones.

DMs ought to avoid making encounters where the best course of action is to not engage with it on the players terms. And at worst, have more creative fail states than a TPK.