Title mostly describes how I’m feeling now.

When I was younger, my main worry when deciding what game to buy and play next was that the game wouldn’t be able to keep me entertained until I can buy another game.

Now I have a backlog of almost 100 games that I own and haven’t played yet (although some come from bundles, not all are worth playing). My new concern when I’m playing a game is whether or not the time I put into the game is well spent.

I used to really like the idea of games where it would take me 100s of hours to get to 100% completion, but now I tend to almost avoid playing them entirely even if I know I don’t care about completion anymore.

I don’t think I’m alone in this, but what I’m really wondering is if this is a result of getting older? Or is it because the gaming space itself has changed?

  • MagicShel@programming.devEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Yes. Also, I don’t need a game to drive engagement. I don’t need (or want) some tangible reward for playing every day. I don’t want to compete with anyone - I mean I can enjoy pvp in some games, but I want success to be purely based on skill, not who has collected the most kills to buy specialized pvp gear without which someone can’t even compete.

    If I have to grind to earn “fun,” I’m out. Some games can be fun to grind. I’ll play Diablo just to watch destruction fill my screen. But for example around the time WoW added daily quests, I realized I had to be done with the game. I loved Team Fortress and every few years I’d reinstall it and play some more, but now there are rewards and stuff that changes the balance of the game making it “impure.” If the game isn’t fun to play without earning rewards that unbalance the game in your favor, is not worth playing at all.

    I’m “in the middle” of Horizon: Forbidden West. Then Jedi Survivor (or whichever the new one is) came out and other responsibilities ate into my time and now I don’t remember where I am, what I was doing, and I frankly barely remember how to even play.

    I enjoy the games. There is so much to do and the worlds are so large. They are well written, the voice acting is great. But I just don’t have time to engage with it all. And heck I don’t have to experience every iota of content, but I have to grind all the systems to become capable of finishing the game and I just can’t.