Wow. OK, let's see....
I'm not "just hopping on [your] comment and hopping away", but I also don't have to agree with you nor explain why. You have your opinion on why you think it doesn't work and "that people are[n't] acting realistically" and others of us may have differing views. I find your comments a bit brusque, TBH. You state something, we disagree and NewTricks even offered his opinion, and you then reply with a fairly dismissive, "Interesting thoughts but not very convincing".
I can't speak for them, but I didn't take NewTricks' response as trying to convince you. I myself certainly am not trying to convince you. But I
definitely don't agree with what is practically a demand that I explain myself. Here are a couple of my thoughts after reading your posts:
- It sounds like you didn't pay enough attention to anything that's happened so far in the game. You appear to assume the gem has no effect on people, including their feelings. This is just no true, at all. The gem is extremely powerful to make people feel and act in ways people normally would not. This is demonstrated in several places, but I'm not going to enumerate them here. If you can't think of any instances, then you definitely have missed stuff.
- These are college-aged friends who took a trip together. Teenagers for sure, but even those in their early-to-mid-20s often say they "love" someone when they don't actually love them. They might be infatuated and still think they love them. They also might like them quite a lot and be speaking hyperbolically.
And that's just riffing a couple of points off the top of my head, which don't necessarily reflect my own feelings or reasons. So to make a statement and then become pretty terse in your response seems uncalled for. You don't have to agree with anyone who thinks their statements are fine, but you're not entitled to any explanation whatsoever. Acting like you are is a response that is less likely to be well received.