Falling out of love with gaming

The people on page 2-3 talking about it being because we're older now could not be more full of shit. I'm still finding amazing games to play that try fresh and innovative, genuinely interesting ways to hold my attention. Stuff like minecraft, killing floor, dark souls, DayZ and plenty of other recent games have all been fantastic to me. The problem is that MMOs have been UTTERLY stagnant in every way I can think of since about wow. I liked UO, but thought EQ was an amazing improvement. I loved EQ, but thought WoW added a ton of good things that the genre needed. Since wow though? Stagnant. It's like the genre just stopped evolving after about 2004. Every game tries to rip off wow, or is just basically awful. I can't even BELIEVE someone used rift as a counterpoint. I felt like every single aspect of that game was wow, right down to graphics and gameplay style. All I can remember it having as different are the dynamic events and a more interesting class system.

GW2 might be the exception since I feel like it's finally made F2p done in a less terrible way, and hopefully future MMOs follow suit.

GW2 is B2P, not F2P. Just sayin.

Yeah, true. I should have specified "no monthly fee" instead. Just because almost every f2p model seems geared at hooking a person and roping them into a sub. Pretty much every MMO I've played makes you buy the box to start at launch anyway, so I just kind of don't consider that aspect anymore. I guess recent ones have been downloadable from the get-go, though.

Adebisi_sl said:

I'm having trouble finding games to love these days. The only games I've been crazy for in the past couple years is Minecraft and DayZ.

Is anyone else experiencing a gaming funk? Am I gaming depressed?

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Bro I've been hardly touching any games for the past couple years, a game here or there and that's it. And the games I do play are more like movies, like The Walking Dead game, I really like not having to level or any other various so called "strategic" bullshit. I certainly haven't touched MMOs in years, and there's quite a few games on my STEAM account that I've never so much as played. I haven't even played CS in the last 2 months, and I've been playing CS since I was twelve, shit when I sold my EQ player I kept playing CS.

I've been doing more physical hobbies over the years and specifically Martial Arts the last couple months. Boxing, Kick Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai (my teacher has 4 Black Belts). Gaming is often a predictable chore for me, I can predict the outcome, there's really no satisfaction from the games anymore. It's much more satisfying to push my body and feel that "high" you get from knowing you've given it your all while you're lying in a pool of your own sweat because you're to fuckin' tired to care. You know what I mean brother?

Tol_sl said:

The people on page 2-3 talking about it being because we're older now could not be more full of shit. I'm still finding amazing games to play that try fresh and innovative, genuinely interesting ways to hold my attention. Stuff like minecraft, killing floor, dark souls, DayZ and plenty of other recent games have all been fantastic to me. The problem is that MMOs have been UTTERLY stagnant in every way I can think of since about wow. I liked UO, but thought EQ was an amazing improvement. I loved EQ, but thought WoW added a ton of good things that the genre needed. Since wow though? Stagnant. It's like the genre just stopped evolving after about 2004. Every game tries to rip off wow, or is just basically awful. I can't even BELIEVE someone used rift as a counterpoint. I felt like every single aspect of that game was wow, right down to graphics and gameplay style. All I can remember it having as different are the dynamic events and a more interesting class system.

GW2 might be the exception since I feel like it's finally made F2p done in a less terrible way, and hopefully future MMOs follow suit.

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I agree with most of this. I played Rift at launch and got a warrior to max level and then quit after the first patch that gutted warriors. Haven't been back to the game since because I knew they would keep fucking around with classes every patch and now with Hartsman gone I see why it's FTP. Defiance was shit as well. Most of the MMORPG's that have come out since WoW I have tried and I usually get to the end game and quit because there is fuck all to do or it's poorly implemented. I think the only big name MMO I haven't gotten to max was SWTOR and GW2 just because I found it boring as shit after about 30.

I'm not defending WoW either. It was fun for a few years but I just can't play it anymore. I hope Wildstar, ESO and FFXIV (lol yeah right) are decent. Wildstar sounds promising though but so did all the hype the GW2 devs spouted before release.

Maybe to get something positive out of this thread, for those that seem burned out by games, which games *have* you played recently that you have enjoyed, even for a bit? Maybe some of them will rekindle my gaming fire....

Zuuljin_sl said:

Maybe to get something positive out of this thread, for those that seem burned out by games, which games *have* you played recently that you have enjoyed, even for a bit? Maybe some of them will rekindle my gaming fire....

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I'm super jaded and picky now, but I've loved these:

Dark souls: Super innovative multiplayer system with fantastic mechanics and an amazing world. Probably my game of this generation. I don't have enough nice things to say about it.

FTL, dungeons of dredmore: really fun roguelikes.

Strike suit zero: Pretty fun space arcade shooter

XCOM: Buggy, but I had loads of fun with it

Minecraft: Minecraft.

Killing floor: older title, but it's my favorite shooty-man game on steam easily. It takes minutes to learn, but getting all the map achievements on the hardest mode took me like 200+ hours, and I'm still playing regularly. Theres a ton of depth that scales with difficulty

Metal gear rising: Terrible concept, yet I had so much fun with it. The game doesn't take itself or its franchise at all seriously ("NANOMACHINES, SON") and it says a lot that I like it because I almost universally despise action/adventure games ala devil may cry.

Tomb raider: Not much replay value, but it was a fun once-through

Looking forward to: Shadowrun returns next month

Zuuljin_sl said:

Maybe to get something positive out of this thread, for those that seem burned out by games, which games *have* you played recently that you have enjoyed, even for a bit? Maybe some of them will rekindle my gaming fire....

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bioshock was fun as shit, just wish it was a little longer.

Voyce_sl said:

I've been doing more physical hobbies over the years and specifically Martial Arts the last couple months. Boxing, Kick Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai (my teacher has 4 Black Belts). Gaming is often a predictable chore for me, I can predict the outcome, there's really no satisfaction from the games anymore. It's much more satisfying to push my body and feel that "high" you get from knowing you've given it your all while you're lying in a pool of your own sweat because you're to fuckin' tired to care. You know what I mean brother?

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You go girlfriend. You're so hot right now.

I've been in the same boat for a while now with similar results. Not too excited about much that's coming on the MMO front either. I strongly feel that the next Wow-level-of-success is going to come out of the East. They have some amazing coders and artists, if they can just build around a decent (and truly) Western design, I think they could really make a great game.

My go-to game when nothing is holding my attention has been APB since it was re-launched. And it may be part of the problem. I'm not crazy about PVP or shooters, but damn, I enjoy the fuck out of this game. I've run the same missions hundreds of times, but it's always different since the players are different. And a good tense game really gets your heart pumping. It's hard for an MMO to be interesting enough to compete with that, especially when you consider we've all done it before. Sometimes I'll be leveling up in a new mmo and stop and think "Geez, how many times have I been level 9 in my life?" lol

The problem isn't that their little new gimmicks here and there aren't often cool, or fun, or interesting. It's just that, as others have mentioned, the genre is stagnant, it's just an old game with a new twist. When I play a new MMO, I want it to FEEL like a god damn NEW MMO. UO did it, EQ did it, WoW did it, fuck, even EVE did it. Besides that? Pshh.

I'm on a retro kick lately, playing awesome things like Super Metroid on Wii U because the system is hot garbage not counting the classic releases. I did just play through MGS: Rising which is a fun 4 hour experience. I'm getting pretty bored though, too, but I think that'll change when the next gen systems hit this holiday. For now I'll keep playing old games and PlanetSide 2 for PC multiplayer.

Steam is full of fun indie games, too, if you're into small experiences. Try out To The Moon if you get a chance, really interesting story (no traditional gameplay) you can get through in a sitting.

Problem with gaming these days is the people with passion for designing it are now controlled by super corporations that have one sole purpose, and that's reaching the largest audience to generate the most revenue. Think about the majority of the awesome games that you love, most were made by passionate low key development companies targeting a niche audience, even the ones that eventually were taken over by the big guys. Once corporate mainstream gets a hold of something, they destroy it, and that is what's happening to gaming.

RPG's don't really get released like they used too, FPS games are all CoD clones, MMO's are all WoW clones, sports games haven't changed in ten years, and RTS games have gone MIA. Indie games developers can't afford to use expensive engines, so they end up with NES games, and as much as graphics don't equal gameplay, I'd still like to play something with at least PS2/2000+ era graphics.

I've just accepted gaming as a lost cause at this point. I don't play as much as I used too, but I rotate between about 20 games, and those are entertaining enough to keep me satisfied. Then once every two or three years something worth a few days of my time gets released, then I'll throw it in my rotation.

Both of these new consoles are complete gimmicks as well, solely meant to destroy the third party market and kill off trading games with friends, buying used, or renting from Gamefly. These fuckers just want to exploit a vulnerability for more money, and this is a huge step into forcing people to spend more money that goes directly to them. They're nothing more than marketing gimmicks to get the idiots of today's gaming market to invest in another system. You people are stupid enough to buy these rehashed shitty games, why not add a new system in the mix as well.

Raes_sl said:

The problem isn't that their little new gimmicks here and there aren't often cool, or fun, or interesting. It's just that, as others have mentioned, the genre is stagnant, it's just an old game with a new twist. When I play a new MMO, I want it to FEEL like a god damn NEW MMO. UO did it, EQ did it, WoW did it, fuck, even EVE did it. Besides that? Pshh.

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Yeah, I think WoW pretty much killed the genre with it's success. Simply put, no one is willing to invest serious money in something that deviates too much from the WoW formula. This means that anything original will be made on a shoe string budget and will be unlikely to have the kind of polish that players expect today.

Asherah_sl said:

Yeah, I think WoW pretty much killed the genre with it's success. Simply put, no one is willing to invest serious money in something that deviates too much from the WoW formula. This means that anything original will be made on a shoe string budget and will be unlikely to have the kind of polish that players expect today.

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I have to disagree here. EQ and DAOC were not made with huge budgets. There are great indy games, such as A Tale in the Desert or FTL that appeal to nice niche crowds. I think polish is an overused term in MMOs. I'd take less polish and more freshness, personally.

The problem comes down to design and innovation, or lack thereof. I think most of us are far easier to please since we've morphed from hardcore to dirty casual. The problem is there just aren't any really innovative games out there. If I look at the last dozen MMOs I've played, at their core they are fundamentally the same despite minor variations in presentation, story, UI, etc. Ditto with FPS games. Ditto with RTS games. Ditto with 4X games.

I keep hoping there will be changes in consoles, PCs, VR, etc that will allow for a better experience, more immersion, and something completely different, but unfortuantely what we keep getting are more Madden games, Diku clones, and similar FPS type games. Zzzzz.

Gecko_sl said:

I have to disagree here. EQ and DAOC were not made with huge budgets. There are great indy games, such as A Tale in the Desert or FTL that appeal to nice niche crowds. I think polish is an overused term in MMOs. I'd take less polish and more freshness, personally.

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Yeah, all MMOs prior to WoW were low budget by today's standards. Can you name a more recent low budget MMO that made it big? Also, niche MMOs have a disadvantage in that many players prefer to play MMOs that they can convince at least a couple of their friends to play as well. For other types of games I definitely agree -- there are many great and commercially successful indie games.

I've had more fun of late picking up inexpensive and interesting indie titles on steam.

Very interesting thread. Biggest bummer in gaming is how over the years most of my old pals have moved on and I don't really give a shit anymore to find new ones. Usually end up just playing whatever solo, even though I pretty much just play MMOGs for any stretch of time. That's pretty much what's changed for me, I don't care about being in some structured group and trying to climb the treadmill that never ends. Every game is a $20 prostitute now, get in, get out, get on with life.

Great indie game on steam:http://www.defendersquest.com/simple game, very fun. Can probably get 20-30 hours out of it. Time just disappeared when I first picked it up.

Ryanz_sl said:

We all got older, and games got shittier. I find myself watching streams much more than actually playing games.

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I'm with you on this one. I used to be fairly competitive at whatever I played (high level in warcraft 3, several glads in wow, smash bros or w/e) but it kinda feels like the torch has been passed to a younger generation. I still have quite a lot of time to game (4-5 hours a night if I want to) but when I think about it, I could put in 10+ hours easily a day as a teenager, it becomes fairly obvious that the era is lost. I just don't get why we can't get a proper mmo. Argh

At least watching speed runners or competitive esport is entertaining, I guess this is how my dad felt when he stopped boxing professionally and just started watching it on tv instead

The not enough time to be really good and being unable to tolerate mediocrity is the boat I find myself in. I was accustomed to easily being in the top 1% of players at RTS games back in the day and now can't even put up a fight against the type of player I used to crush without a sweat.

MMOs are all terribly dumbed down which makes them mostly awful. I don't want EQ level difficulty/fragility but I want something with a challenge.

That and the old crew has mostly quit, bunch are married despite having been huge hopeless geeks back in the day. Others have demanding careers with little time for gaming like hobbies. Heck I thought I would be a forever alone and am getting married this fall and have a job I wouldn't dream of having at this age (32) when EQ almost made me fail out of undergrad and it took forever to get a real job.

I still identify as a gamer despite not having lived up to that description in well over a year. I feel like there is a good game out there, I just have to find it! I have found some hobbies that work for me (being a foodie, wine in general) but they tend not to have a good group my age (everyone is older!) because good food/wine is expensive as hell. TV/Movies are still fun but my standards are high so I don't watch that much of either.