Thread 2111053

Has it finally happened? Did I age out of gaming?

I had a super easy slacker life for a decade. I worked as a night security guard and I just played vidya and watched TV all night and got paid for it. It was so easy/fun. I was an avid gamer for the first 35 years of my life, playing probably 30 hrs/week on average.

Now I'm a father and I have a "real" job and a house and a mortgage, etc. I'm fucking busy. I work full time at a "real" job where I have to actually work, and then I have a lot of shit to do outside of work, like taking care of the house, taking care of my kid, etc.

But, I do have some down time. I get 90 mins or two hours to unwind most days, and on the weekends I get more. I have hours on the weekends where I could just sit and game if I wanted to. The problem is, I just can't get into it anymore.

This makes no sense to me. Back when I was a night guard and I could game like 100 hrs/week, I didn't, and sometimes I got bored of gaming so I'd do other stuff. That makes sense. Too much of a good thing. But now, I only get maybe 15 hrs/week to game. You'd think that time would be precious. You'd think I'd want to game even more now that my time is limited. But the reverse has happened. I sit down and start a game and then just immediately close it because I don't feel like playing it.

What the fuck happened? Is this why people stop gaming? Problem is, I don't feel motivated to do anything else. I already read and work out. I don't want to read and work out even more.

>>2111053 (OP)
>You'd think that time would be precious.
It is and that's why playing grindy forever games or 200h bloated collectathons is less appealing. Also even, say, an RPG without a lot of filler will take you weeks or months to finish and it's hard to remember what you were doing and remain engaged when you are limited to playing in short sessions.

>>2111053 (OP)
>Did I age out of gaming?
Yes, shit sucks feels bad but that will eventually happen with all of us. I don't even have family that needs me to take care of, I am alone. I would have time to game but I don't have the motivation anymore.

>>2111058
This is a serious problem. When playing a complicated 4x or strategy game, it takes me a little while to remember what I was doing in every play session. If I have 5 hours to kill, that's not a problem. If I only have 75 minutes to play, it feels a little stressful because I might need to stop playing just as I'm getting into the swing of it.

>>2111053 (OP)
I would wager that your brain doesn't want to waste limited free time on gaming since you have less to spare
>>2111061
>If I only have 75 minutes to play, it feels a little stressful because I might need to stop playing just as I'm getting into the swing of it.
Why not just play something that's match based like an RTS?

>>2111066
I actually did migrate to competitive online gaming, like Dota, probably for this reason. I was playing Dota and WC3 again. But I uninstalled those games because my behaviour became very toxic. I have a real problem playing a team game with online strangers. If I could play with friends, like I used to a decade ago, it would be different. But stranger teammates just piss me off. And I'm too old for wc3 now. Too slow.

>>2111061
Oh right, this is vst, but yeah, when you play a gsg or 4x getting to victory screen takes a dozen hours and they are games that require forward planning and managing multiple aspects.Other genres in the board scope like city builders or factory automation still have that problem, designing and building a thing might take more time than an individual gaming session.
In general might be why games with roguelike elements seem to be so popular.

>>2111066
>Why not just play something that's match based like an RTS?
If you don't commit enough time you won't be able to keep up with the meta and rising skill level. Only few RTS games have playerbases big enough to sustain casual play and you'd probably still need to "main" it.

>>2111072
Yeah, you get it. I don't think it's the only reason I stopped playing Dota, but it's definitely a big part of it. Dota changes so much all the time, and the player base doesn't add new players, so everyone is an ultraleet nerd who plays Dota for 40 hrs/week.

Trying to play Dota as a casual just fucking blows.

>>2111053 (OP)
The real reason is very simple

>>2111069
I know the feeling.
1v1 is fun gameplay-wise but it's kinda lonely. Unless you can get hyper focused on trying to improve at a game it's not that entertaining.
Team games would be better except some of them make teammates feel like dead weight and other are infested with annoying spergs that only communicate when shittalking other people.

I do wish we had a strategy equivalent to TF2 but nobody has managed to make a true casual strategy game.
Unironically getting your strategy fix vicariously by watching streamers or casts might be a good alternative.

Your routine's changed and you're off balance. I have the opposite issue - suddenly I have plenty of time after some particularly busy years when I couldn't use my computer much and relied mostly on my smartphone. Thought I'd be glad to go back to playing RTSes but couldn't get into it this whole last month. I'd rather lie down with a phone in hand than sit in front of a PC. Taking a nap works too.

>>2111082
I mean, that's kind of my problem now. I was super busy for months but now I have two weeks off. You'd think I would be ecstatic and gaming all day and night, but the magic just seems to be gone. I force myself to start games and play them, and after 20-30 minutes I just close the application.

I'd rather just watch random Youtube videos. What the fuck has happened to me?

>>2111080
Yeah, it is definitely lonely. I miss the social aspect. But online games these days seem to be populated by mostly ESL anyway, they don't speak English.

>>2111080
>Unless you can get hyper focused on trying to improve at a game it's not that entertaining
Yeah that to. There are some people like that, but I think a lot of people are are not going to be content to just remain a low elo legend forever, especially if they have previously played to a higher level when they had more time.

>>2111101
I was rank 91 on Bnet east, 20 years ago, in WC3. These days there's just no way I could ever get anywhere near that level of play anymore. The same goes for Dota. Yeah, it's not fun.

>>2111053 (OP)
You are now aware why most old people welcome death: Eventually you get bored of life

>>2111123
funny, I was having an existential crisis in my 20's and my grandpa told me that if I lived to be his age I'd be ready to die. I didn't believe him. Perhaps you're right.

>>2111053 (OP)
how the fuck did you go from a lazy slacker job as a night security guard to man with a family, a homeowner and a serious job, in your 30s no less

>>2111098
>What the fuck has happened to me?
The brain craves dopamine, it's completely natural to get addicted to those apps, they hire psychologists specifically because they want to maximize user addiction.
I have uninstalled all apps and even all browsers on my phone because of that. I still get distracted by 4chan on my desktop sometimes, in fact I should be working right now, but it's mad how much cumulative time and energy you save by not pulling your phone out and tiring your brain every time you're taking a shit or spending a quiet moment outside.

>>2111053 (OP)
well so you are older and have more responsibilities. I am in a similiar situation as you. I still game, but much less. these days I only play "quick coffee break sort of strategy games" (roguelikes, quick strategy games, board games turn into digital board games) or I play "single player games that are 15 to 20 hours or less" (Resident Evil 2 Remake, Astro Bot).

t. 34 year old, pic related

>>2111164
>tiny baby japanese monster can instead of real man 500ml one

>>2111053 (OP)
We have too little time to enjoy life nowadays, honestly. Working hours are crushing people, imo also the reason why fertility rates are all collapsing around the world.

>>2111165
No his hand is just that big
Or store where he bought it doesn't have normal cans (many such cases actually)

I'm in the same boat. I'm in my 30s and currently in a two-month transition between jobs. I thought I would finally play to my hearts content, but it has been one month already and I haven't even opened a game. Thought to myself in the last few months when I didn't have time, that I would play this and that, but in fact I really can't be bothered to play. Like >>2111098 said, I would rather watch randoms videos.
In the end I think I have to accept I currently don't want to play anymore, and try out others hobbies, but it is still a bit disheartening.

>>2111053 (OP)
You do the same thing over and over again for long enough, eventually you will get bored. That's natural. If you didn't, it would be a sign of autism unironically (and this doesn't just apply to games).

Put the video games down and try a new hobby for a bit. You can come back to it later and maybe even find a newfound appreciation for it, provided you don't fry/haven't fried your dopamine receptors.

>>2111166
it's a small factor, but it's definitely a factor. Why do sim games have this shit figured out, but governments around the world can't?
If you want people to procreate, give them housing and free time. They WILL make kids if there's space and means to support them. Take away housing and drown them in work, they won't. Simple as.

>>2111146
I met a hot Japanese girl with double D tits who plays Vidya, is super chill , super funny, has a middle class family who helped us buy a house in Japan and then insisted we get married and insisted that I fuck her daily and cum inside her.

White privilege exists but only outside of north America lol.

>>2111098
>I'd rather just watch random Youtube videos. What the fuck has happened to me?
you're an adult with life-sized worries. People have to literally travel into the wilderness and take weeks of vacation to get out of the stressed out mindset

>>2111164
The resident evil 2 remake was quite good. Clair's hot af in that biker chick outfit.

>>2111267
Also, allowing women to work heavily contributed to this. If they were all housewives, they would eventually be bored enough to want kids and to take care of them. Now that they work and have imaginary careers, they don't want kids.

>>2111281
This is the obvious problem that no one knows how to solve. Actually women have always worked. They've always had work to do. The difference is that women used to judge themselves based on family. Now they are taught to think like men and judge their life based on their career progress.

>>2111276
I loved it (having not played the RE games growing up). I played RE4 Remake (also loved, though I think I prefer 2 more, it was "tighter"). Did you play RE3 Remake and if so how do you like it?

>>2111293
>Actually women have always worked.
they were never shackled up for 8 hours a day 5 days a week halfway across the city. They "worked" the job of a housewife and a child caregiver