I missed the crucial detail... backing up to a MemCard Pro GC*

because then I can back up the entire card's image as one.

Probably Pandora Tomorrow. I have fond memories of playing the asymmetrical online 2v2 on the PS2. It was a reason for me to buy the headset.

I would probably feel different if I had multiple users in the same household. I didn't do the system transfer when I first bought the Switch 2, so the card transfer process can be pretty tedious.

Actual screenshot of my character on the Pandemonium server from my PS2 from what looks like 2005.

Completely agreed. Each repository is going to be a different situation, and change in different ways over time.

Contributor count is definitely a flawed vanity metric. But another viewpoint is if people see contributions are welcome then maybe they'll contribute, too. That's assuming it's a project where outside contributions make sense or aren't disruptive.