Has anyone else given up on gaming?

Dr. Righteous

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
3,163
I really don't know how or why but a few months back I totally gave up on PC gaming (only kind I do) because the lack of interest. I just don't care anymore and I can't really give a good reason why. That seems weird since I've been gaming starting in the arcades in the late 70s and 80s, then on the Atari console, to a Atari 8bit computer, then to a NES, and then a Saga Genesis and finally graduated to a PC in '92. I've been a gamer since the beginning. But the whole idea of gaming got so boring to me I pulled my RX480 card out and sold it. I loved gaming too. I spent countless hours playing 2 player games with my son. Starting with Dungeon Siege when he was 4 or 5 and Terraria when he was older plus lots of other games.
I've really never thought in terms of gaming was a waste of time. If so I would have never been such an avid gamer if that was the cases. But if anything I could contribute it to fatigue. I sit behind monitors all day 5 days a week and the urge to get away from it is strong. That could be part of it. And maybe it just isn't fun anymore. But still it seemed like a switch was thrown and all my attitudes toward it changed. And there is no going back because the desire just isn't there.
 
Similar situation. None of the PC AAA Titles have pushed me to buy/play.. and none of them really excite me. I still have a Steam Backlog of dozens from Steam sales and Humble Bundles over the past few years that I'll never clear. At home my PC now gets used mostly to play an awful lot of Factorio, rip for my Plex server, and apart from that sit on forums and watch stupid cat videos.

PS4, on the other hand, I've been having a blast lately. Not hours per day like when I was young, but enough to get me playing. I think a big part of it is just being able to sit on a couch and play without having to worry about KB/M. Yeah, you can hook a PC up to a TV, but there's always that moment when my fat ass is in my lounger, and something pops up that needs me to drop the joystick and that just kills it for me.

Sitting at a desk to play games just isn't as much fun as it used to be. Yeah, it's "better", but when I just want to veg out and button mash while I booze it up, console is winning my dollars right now.

Another big part of it is stagnation of computer hardware, and the rediculousness that hardware prices are going for right now. Half the reason I ever played any of those AAA games was just to see whatever my current rig could do with them - not so much because they were good games. I'd ooh and aah over the eyecandy for a few hours, get bored, and then move on. And once I got to the point where I stopped ooh-ing and aah-ing, it was time to build a new PC. Well, I can still game decently on a Nahalem. And sure, graphics power has gone up, but we aren't that far removed from the DX9 1080 days that we've had since ... PS3/X360 (although it's finally starting to look better)... if you want to afford it, with the miner inflation going on right now. The RAM shortage has those prices crazy.

Chipmakers have gotten better at binning and dynamic clocks. That means overclocking is largely done at the factory. Sure, you can squeeze a few more Mhz out, but long gone are the days of the Celeron 300A 50% overclock, or the i7 920 65% overclocks, or the Duron pencil tricks. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not nearly as exciting as it used to be... There's always the crowd that are after every last drop, and I salute them, but for me, it's hit the point where that 4-5% isn't worth the hassle for the sake of performance.

Hell, in the past 10 years, the most exciting thing to come about in the PC world has been the rise of cheap SSD storage - a very nice QOL item, does almost nothing for the gaming experience though. While a whole slew of fads, gimmicks, and buzzwords has come and gone to some degree or another, all promising to be game changers, but none of them have really moved the needle all that much (for me anyway) - SLI, Physics, 3D, VR, RGB, VRR, HDR, etc... Not saying that those things are of no value at all - some are pretty darned neat, but they haven't really changed much.

When the most exciting part about your build is your storage, it's difficult to get too excited about it.
 
Last edited:
I go in phases, but certainly has taken a dip. Echoing above - there's nothing that really is tripping my trigger. I think the last 'must have' was Fallout4 - three years ago. Typically I futz with a few TF2 games now and then, and the occasional minecraft if I want to zone out, but that's about it.
 
Hell, in the past 10 years, the most exciting thing to come about in the PC world has been the rise of cheap SSD storage - a very nice QOL item, does almost nothing for the gaming experience though. While a whole slew of fads, gimmicks, and buzzwords has come and gone to some degree or another, all promising to be game changers, but none of them have really moved the needle all that much (for me anyway) - SLI, Physics, 3D, VR, RGB, VRR, HDR, etc... Not saying that those things are of no value at all - some are pretty darned neat, but they haven't really changed much.
When the most exciting part about your build is your storage, it's difficult to get too excited about it.

Yeah, when I'm thinking about spending money on "computer stuff" it has more to do with storage. Twice I've lost archived home videos because hard drives died. I want to avoid that.
Another thing I was excited about at first was the potential of VR; but it looks like it is starting to fall on it's face because of the money grab the developers see this as. Buy Skyrim again if you want VR implementation. By Fallout4 again if you want VR. What ever happened to a patch if you already purchased the game. Sheesh. I always thought that VR and AR had the potential to revolutionize how computers are used. But it seem all development has gone in the direction of a novelty instead of solid computer tech. I use to think when the HMD VR gear hit an affordable price point I would buy. Now I don't give a crap. This apathy is concerning gaming, not computer. I'm always picking up new computer skills.
 
I'll give my reason for almost quitting gaming: Instant gratification.

I was in an Unreal Tournament 2004 Onslaught clan. When you die there is zero wait time. You are right back in the thick of things. The maps were big enough to not feel choked but not too big where you spend too much time hunting for supplies/people. There were modes for DM maps that gave everyone all weapons at the start. You didnt waste time looking for weapons. You simply went hunting for the kill and ended up being a game of pure rush and skill. And the only learning curve was your skill at hit scan shooting - which can actually be a huge curve.

Ive tried a few of the modern warfare games, World of Tanks, EVE, etc. I dont want to waste time building and learning and crafting and going somewhere. I want instant gratification for the limited time that I have for gaming. UT2k4 still gives me that instant gratification. Dont even get me started with the pay to win models to cater to all the whining kids that can't get their skills up to be a good player and rely on their paren't credit cards to win.

For the moment Ive mostly played single player games. Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, Doom, Wolfenstein, etc, and a little bit of UT2k4 here and there.
 
Giving up on PC gaming? no way. But every once in a while I don't get excited by new releases. And I'm much more selective on what games I buy.

I find myself going to retro gaming and emulation until something comes up that's worth my time.

Currently me and my kid are really hooked on Fortnite.
 
Haven't given up, but I am definitely less excited or interested nowadays. I still log the occasion game of Starcraft/Starcraft 2 haha. Old school gaming
 
I haven't given up, but I get where you are coming from. After sitting 8 hours in front of a screen for 5 days a week, you don't want to stare at a screen in your free time. That's why I have my consoles and PC attached to my TV. This makes a huge difference in the fatigue I get from computer screens.
 
Thats a common thing. Lots of people burn out of gaming for awhile, and come back later.

That being said, if you don't like the current crop of AAA games more than feeling burnt out in general, there are tons of older and more obscure games to choose from. The trick is finding them.
 
I think it's just a case of people playing the same types of games over and over, and the variety of differences over time gets skewed into the "same old same old". It's kind of like my tower defense game days. I was so hooked for so long, trying them all, and now when new ones come out I'm sick of it lol. Same old same old with minor variations; just makes me bored. I think companies need to start thinking more outside the box and start doing something more creative and fun. Mindless FPS games have gotten so boring to me also. Anyone remember Timeshift? That was really new and fun when it came out.
 
It's a time/priorities issue for me. Some games really demand your attention to be worth playing. Competitive gaming which is all the rage right now isn't much fun when you don't have time to practice and are owned all over the map, or you constantly have to jump out of game due to other things you need to do. Spending time with my 3-year old son is more important to me, so I'm just playing games that I can pause/stop at any time and go back to later.
 
It's a time/priorities issue for me. Some games really demand your attention to be worth playing. Competitive gaming which is all the rage right now isn't much fun when you don't have time to practice and are owned all over the map, or you constantly have to jump out of game due to other things you need to do. Spending time with my 3-year old son is more important to me, so I'm just playing games that I can pause/stop at any time and go back to later.
I agree. I don't have the time to learn to play Fortnite and trying to use traditional 3rd person shooter tactics doesn't work well.
My 11yo is getting good at it. Then again he watches tons of gameplay videos.
 
last game I tried was destiny 2 and the go to hell attitude of the devs and the lies just turned me off.
I personally blame the devs for their ideas and could care less about the players.
I guess that games now are take it or not either way we don't give a damn.

personally I have not seen a good game in years.

when it comes to hardware I am fed up with the same old same old for a higher price....but it has LED's

I was really shocked when I saw china sue the memory people for price fixing...20 years ago they would be banned in america for the same thing but now its nothing new here.
 
no. I always mute everyone I game with so when the 6 year told trolls I never hear em. I spend many hours on Destiny 2 after coming off a Overwatch kick for a few months. I own PS4, xbox, and a PC. All gaming is done my PC. Suppose I start a FS thread soon.
 
Lately, I get far more enjoyment replaying old favorite games. Right now, I'm on another replay of the Mass Effect series. I'm enjoying the hell out of it.
 
I can't seem to get back into gaming.
And I did try.

The last game that caught my interest and that I played until I finished was Mass Effect: Andromeda (even though it was slammed by reviewers, I found the game a lot of fun).
I tried Star Wars: The Old Republic back in April, played a few days but gave up. I will give World of Warcraft new expansion a go a few weeks/month after it's released.

But the only game I really see myself playing in the future is Diablo 4. Damnit Blizzard, hurry up!
 
Back
Top