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Getting frustrated with gaming

V

Virai

n00b
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Messages
37
Hey all,

In the past few months I've been getting extremely frustrated when gaming. I never used to get this frustrated, but lately I seem to only last about 15-20 minutes before I'm frustrated to the point of having to quit. This is namely FPS titles like Bad Company 2 and Call of Duty, and to a lesser extent Dawn of War 2.

I'm not sure if I'm getting to old for this (27), or if I have some insane expectations on my skill level, but I'm truly not enjoying any games lately because of this. I'm very excited for Battlefield 3, so this has me a little worried. I can't really pin-point why I'm getting so frustrated, I'm thinking it may be that I'm tired of the same-old games or that I just need to relax and have fun.

Do you guys ever get like this? Any tips on getting out of this frustration-funk? This really does suck. :(

J
 
If you have hundreds of hours in those games, at some point everything gets kind of repetitive. You can try to change up your routine in the game (eg. DoW play a different race) or play a new game.
 
Just have to switch it up , like play FPS one month/week then MMO or MMORPG then Whatever else. But to constantly play the same type's of game's over and over would get old and stuff.
 
I've gotten tired of FPS games too (BFBC2 specifically)....but that's because I'm tired of crappy teammates who have no clue about how the hell to play the game or work as a team. Too many damn snipers and people who fail to realize the point of "Rush" is to cap the MCOMs, not sit back and play like a bunch of wimps who are afraid of dying.
 
CryingGod said:
Try a new genre of games? Try an rpg or something?
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this. try a different type of game for a bit. there are many amazing fps's out, but they can get tiring very quickly if they are all you play.

also, don't expect to "OWN" every game. in general, the skill level of average gamers is much higher than what you probably remember from your younger days. just enjoy your smaller victories and have fun. if you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong.
 
I go long stretches without playing an FPS and then have frustrations jumping back into matches. I either power through, which takes a few days, or play a single player game to get use to aiming again. There aren't many single player FPS games I enjoy, so usually its sucking it up.

Most games don't really take similar mouse precision, so it's easy to lose your abilities, but they do come back.
 
I get burnt out on games on occasion and usually take a few months vacation from them while I wait for the next big thing. It happens to me once every 1-2 years.

Just this May I finally got sick of BFBC2 and its Vietnam ex-pack. I put in over 500 hours in that one game. The first couple weeks afterwards I tried playing some other backlog in my inventory such as Crysis 2 and Dead Space 2, but just got sick of playing and it felt like a chore. The BF3 Alpha came up recently and I got back into gaming for about a week, but I still felt I needed to stay away from it for a while. I'm sure I will be refreshed when BF3 is released.
 
I think it might be the sheer amount of games released now. Look back to the early 2000. It was months between major releases. Now there are a few big games every month and they come out almost weekly/daily. Even dedicated people playing games all day couldn't possibly hope to play and complete every single game and there is a new one every few minutes competing for your attention. Added to this all the old games are easily availible for next to nothing. Though its not really relevant theres also all the casual games that are released every single minute.

So what this means is that it's easier and easier to play a game for 15 minutes before switching up and playing something instead. Back in the early 2000s id buy one game and play it to the end, then buy another one, unless it was terrible. Even though I had my long burning games like Q3a. Now i'll get a game, preorder a few others, buy those classic games etc etc. and struggle to get through anything. I'll see friends with hundreds of titles on steam they haven't even started.

So maybe a tip is buying 1 game every month/2 months and playing it and ignoring the other games around you? :D
 
I'm mainly a FPS player,and found myself losing interest a while back,I was getting not so much frustrated but bored with the same old unimaginative,linear run n' gun shooters. Then I discovered the STALKER series,and it revitalized my enthusiasm for gaming. I really believe the non-linear,open world RPG type gameplay is the direction shooters should take.
 
On one had, 27 years of age is the peak of a man's life. You might as well join the 27 Club because it's all downhill from now on.

On the other hand, maybe it's time you explore other styles of games, those more cerebral than reflexive. Especially because the modern FPS games are so boringly linear.
 
Quit. Seriously, just try it. Tell yourself "I'm not gonna play games for the next month". That's what I did during a summer holiday one time because I had previously wasted the last two summer holidays doing nothing much more than playing games (COD4 and Warhammer Online to be precise :p). It wasn't that hard to quit if you find yourself something else to spend time on (dont just go watching TV instead :p). At the end of the month I had no real motivation to go back to playing games and didn't play anything for another 2 months after that. After those 3 months I was thinking "fuck, why did I even waste the money on a gaming PC". I've gone back to gaming now, but I dont spend nearly as much time on it as I used to and dont take games nearly as seriously as I used to take them.

If you're getting sick of gaming find some other way to waste time and give up for a while.
 
Tudz said:
Quit. Seriously, just try it. Tell yourself "I'm not gonna play games for the next month". That's what I did during a summer holiday one time because I had previously wasted the last two summer holidays doing nothing much more than playing games (COD4 and Warhammer Online to be precise :p). It wasn't that hard to quit if you find yourself something else to spend time on (dont just go watching TV instead :p). At the end of the month I had no real motivation to go back to playing games and didn't play anything for another 2 months after that. After those 3 months I was thinking "fuck, why did I even waste the money on a gaming PC". I've gone back to gaming now, but I dont spend nearly as much time on it as I used to and dont take games nearly as seriously as I used to take them.

If you're getting sick of gaming find some other way to waste time and give up for a while.
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Wow, at first glance I was like "Stop playing games?! No way, this guy is crazy". Then I finished reading your post and I think you've hit the nail on the head. More than anything, I think I'm starting to realize that gaming isn't really giving me the satisfaction it used to.

I think you're right, it might be time to pursue another hobby for a while.
 
450 said:
Take a break and try out a new hobby for a while.
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This is not a bad idea. Tons of hobbies out their that range from cheap to retirement fund destroying, and from sedentary to active.


Instead of building a new gaming rig this year, I bought a used motorcycle myself. Save the gaming for bad whether and, well, winter will be here soon enough.
 
Stone Cold said:
On one had, 27 years of age is the peak of a man's life. You might as well join the 27 Club because it's all downhill from now on.
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It that was true then I'm in trouble.... :D
I'm 52 and still gaming every day....:cool:

Like others have said, take a break for a bit, try other hobbies and then come back after a while. Everything gets stale if done too much, but after a break I'm sure you will enjoy gaming again.
 
Yeah, it aint the age. Im 40 and been playing since '82 and Im sure when Im 82 years old, Ill have my computer desk sitting high enough that my wheelchair can clear it.

I feel your pain on the games like MW and other war games. Theres not much to them. You go from mission to mission and kill a bunch of people but its usually you move 3", get killed, move 6" get killed, move 9" get killed ad nauseum.

Branch out into other genres like RPG's. If you havent played Mass Effect 1 or 2 yet, first punch yourself in the balls for waiting this long, then buy them both now and play them. Any self respecting shooter fan will appreciate the combat in these games and the story lines, interactions and atmosphere are virtually intoxicating. When I played ME1 for the first time, I played for 9 hours straight! Word of advice though, it does start out slow so give it some time.

War games arent meant for single player experiences. Theyre meant to be multiplayer games and they just slap together a 5 minute single player game so they can sale it to SP gamers. Games like Bioshock, Dead Space and even Crysis 2 are built more like interactive movies that will go much further to engrossing you and make you want to play more.
 
When I get to the same point you've reached I take a week off and just do other things. I go to the local cigar shop and play some poker and smoke a nice cigar. I go out with friends and chill doing whatever. I'll even just go to the park with my DSLR take lots of shots of random stuff (its surprisingly pleasing to do this). Some times I'll even take a road trip and visit a friend for the weekend. I might even just chill out with my GF during the weekend do something with her (not fucking go to her parents that's for sure).

The point is as you get older you will find yourself wanting to take breaks from those hardcore gaming sessions from time to time. You need to clear your head then find what does so that isn't gaming related. There is nothing wrong balancing gaming with some real life activity.

Then after a little clarity you can dive back in and it'll feel fresh and you'll be eager to clock in the game time.
 
Valshistixol said:
Play some single player games for a while.
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This. And I'm in the same boat too, I enjoy FPS games quite a lot and have spent countless hours blasting people with friends, but that does get tiresome when you start getting frustrated at yourself for having "those nights."

That's why I have a nice and varied library of single player games that I can escape to; Just Cause 2, Cities XL 2011, Mass Effect, Fallout, Torchlight, etc. It really is surprising how therapeutic a good single player game can be. Find a genre you enjoy or are curious about and put some time aside to get to grips with it; a good RPG, a simulator, an adventure game, etc. and just soak it up. Yeah, I know, investing time into a game that doesn't reward immediate gratification is pretty fucking unheard of today! Who'da thunk it!

Get away from the competitive nature of multi-player games and go back to what gaming is all about, enjoying yourself.
 
jebdawg said:
Wow, at first glance I was like "Stop playing games?! No way, this guy is crazy". Then I finished reading your post and I think you've hit the nail on the head. More than anything, I think I'm starting to realize that gaming isn't really giving me the satisfaction it used to.

I think you're right, it might be time to pursue another hobby for a while.
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as for hobby's that you might enjoy (given your past affinity for PC games), I suggest the following:

Settlers of Catan (think RTS on your table)
Dominion (deckbuilding game that feels like magic drafting to us, but you can get non-nerds to play and love)
 
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Taking a break is always a good thing..

Also

Valshistixol said:
Play some single player games for a while.
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When you do come back

After i got older I didn't enjoy the multiplayer games anymore, i played a lot BF1942, and before that UT99 and Tribes..

I've now gone 100% Single player and find it much more enjoyable.


i would also suggest giving serious Flight Simming a trying.

Look at DCS:Black Shark and DCS:A10C


The nice thing about the Single player games is they go at your pace... you dont' play for 3 months at a time it doesn't matter, you pick back up where you left off.
 
Some times I will also go back in my catalog of games and play some of my older favorites. I really like going back to the original Doom and Quake. I just like the fact that the game is so straight forward, no cutscenes, no regenerating health, no worrying about who this character or that character is, just pick up ammo, health, keys, and power ups and shoot shit. I often find these games reinvigorate my gaming urges as well as helps me reminisce on my gaming past.

It can also be frustrating this time of year when they release all the trailers for the big game releases. Especially this year there are a lot of nice looking titles to look forward. I find this can make me get frustrated with my games since none of them have that new exciting feeling to them anymore and I just want to move on.
 
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Valshistixol said:
Play some single player games for a while.
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I agree with this. I'm 27 and sometimes I feel that I'm growing out of gaming, but then games like BF3 gets me excited again.
The issue is there aren't many games that live up to the hype these days. You sort of have to go in with lowered expectations or you'll never enjoy yourself.

Try games with complex storylines and adventure, I think that will spark you intellect more than killing people over and over.
I also agree with taking a break. Do outside activities for a week or two then come back to gaming. When you get bored of gaming, go back outside and have fun on the town.
 
Also do you game with friends when you play MP? If you're playing solo it becomes very easy to get frustrated since you feel so alone and like you have no control over your team, but once you add in a friend or two the experience becomes much nicer, even if it is just because you have someone you know who you can bitch about things to.

Also maybe you might want to look into some coop gameplay. It seems a lot of newer games offer coop which is a nice change from multiplayer since you aren't competing against one another but teaming up to complete a common goal.
 
I've gotten tired of FPS games too (BFBC2 specifically)....but that's because I'm tired of crappy teammates who have no clue about how the hell to play the game or work as a team. Too many damn snipers and people who fail to realize the point of "Rush" is to cap the MCOMs, not sit back and play like a bunch of wimps who are afraid of dying.
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This....this drives me crazy, people who just nurse a KDR...thats not the point of the game. If you have anything much over a 1.0 in objective based games (anything not called deathmach/FFA) then you are doing it wrong...it doesn't make you good at the game.

BFBC2 is probably my favorite FPS and am looking forward to BF3, but I wish they would do something like America's Army does and limit the classes. In AA there were only two snipers spots...I get tired of 60-70% of my team being camping bitches...especially on Assault. I also can't stand actually trying to play and just getting sniped from accross the map by losers who are afraid to die.

Also people in BFBC who just spawn camp.

I feel your pain on the games like MW and other war games. Theres not much to them. You go from mission to mission and kill a bunch of people but its usually you move 3", get killed, move 6" get killed, move 9" get killed ad nauseum.
Click to expand...

You can attribute that to the campers.

As for the OP, I am not much on single player...I feel its a waste of time. I love multiplayer and play with/against other people.

Try some RPGs like Torchlight II (comming soon), Diablo. I absolutly love teaming up with people to raid dungreons and find loot.
 
XvMMvX said:
If you have anything much over a 1.0 in objective based games (anything not called deathmach/FFA) then you are doing it wrong...it doesn't make you good at the game.
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I wouldn't generalize it that easily. Sure there are the people who hide in the back and only get a handful of kills and those are the ones I'm sure you're talking about, but you really do need people who are good slayers to play objectives well. A good slayer can cut down enemy defenses which clears out the objective so it is safer to capture and by cutting down the defense it mentally breaks the enemy by annoying them which breaks their focus on the goal. So while those players might not be standing on the objective, they are playing it by allowing their teammates easy access to the objective. In team oriented activities not everyone has the same task, but in the end if everyone does their different roles right the final goal will be accomplished.
 
Take up an outdoor hobby. I just took up fly fishing this year and it has done wonders for me.
 
Hey all,

In the past few months I've been getting extremely frustrated when gaming. I never used to get this frustrated, but lately I seem to only last about 15-20 minutes before I'm frustrated to the point of having to quit. This is namely FPS titles like Bad Company 2 and Call of Duty, and to a lesser extent Dawn of War 2.

I'm not sure if I'm getting to old for this (27), or if I have some insane expectations on my skill level, but I'm truly not enjoying any games lately because of this. I'm very excited for Battlefield 3, so this has me a little worried. I can't really pin-point why I'm getting so frustrated, I'm thinking it may be that I'm tired of the same-old games or that I just need to relax and have fun.

Do you guys ever get like this? Any tips on getting out of this frustration-funk? This really does suck.

J
Click to expand...

I was the same way a couple month ago, but you have to take a step back and ask yourself, what do you get when you win? is it worth forcing yourself to play a game and not have fun? in all seriousness, you get the satisfaction of a victory or good score and feel good for 30 seconds then a new match starts.

I'd suggest toning down your competitiveness or just go in with a mindset that you're going to play for fun. If those don't work, then you should take a break or play different games or take up a new hobby.

I found my love for indie games now that i had taken a break from multiplayer gaming, im actually more satisfied and enjoying games more than i did when i played multiplayer games and got frustrated.
 
I agree. 28 here and its just not the same. I always keep going back to Quake tho.....go figure. ;)

Waiting for Rage tho!
 
I am 27 too and lately I have been limiting the amount of time I put into gaming. I have basically quit L4D2 after putting in many hours, although I still get invited every time I'm on steam. It's also summer, and since I live in NY state I need to enjoy the outdoors as much as I can this time of year. One thing I've found I need to do more often as I get older is EXERCISE. A couple years ago I bought a road bicycle and this summer I've really gotten into it, nothing beats a nice long ride on the paths around here cruising at a steady 20mph for a few hours. Then when I get home and feel the endorphins, I enjoy hopping on and playing a nice RPG, right now I'm playing the Witcher and have Witcher 2 ready to go when I am done, and I'm really looking forward to Rage and Skyrim, and maybe a little BF3 but again like some of you the competitive multiplayer is something I'm not as into compared to the old days of Quake 3 and UT04.

The key is definitely to have a varied approach, and as you get older to keep your body in shape because a healthy body and a healthy mind go hand in hand. About a year ago I was beginning to associate gaming with drinking beer, and it got to the point where I was getting drunk every gaming session. I knew I had to make a change, so now instead of drinking and gaming, I exercise a lot more and then I don't feel the urge to drink beer when I sit down to game.

I know I've rambled, but it is what it is. I never want to completely lose my passion for PC gaming.
 
cjhatesu said:
Also do you game with friends when you play MP? If you're playing solo it becomes very easy to get frustrated since you feel so alone and like you have no control over your team, but once you add in a friend or two the experience becomes much nicer, even if it is just because you have someone you know who you can bitch about things to.

Also maybe you might want to look into some coop gameplay. It seems a lot of newer games offer coop which is a nice change from multiplayer since you aren't competing against one another but teaming up to complete a common goal.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I only really have my brother who games, and he's busy with two kids most of the time. I've been thinking about joining a clan lately, but I find it difficult to come across clans that play a wide range of games and/or have a large "mature" group of players.

One thing that I've tried today is firing up my PS3 which I haven't done in a while. I played Killzone 3 and some old World at War. Besides sucking with the analog sticks on the controller, it was actually really fun.
 
I went through a period of anger management fail several years back. I found I was taking the games way to serious. I use to play a lot of CS:S and even was on 2 CAL teams. As I got older, I seemed to have lost some of my reflexes. Turns out I was developing arthritis. I was not able to aim my shots as accurately and quickly as I use to and it started to really piss me off the more I died because my shots were slightly off. It lead to me having moments of RAGE and I destroyed a couple wireless mice (hurling them into the wall haha). I began to look at what it was doing to myself. I realized I was taking the game way to serious and expecting too much from myself. The stress in my real life was adding to it. Gaming is suppose to be an escape from R/L crap. So I started to hang around on some laid back servers; playing with less care about my stats. I found a group of guys who liked to fuck around and we started to just use the knife and see how many knife kills we could get. Sometimes I would just use the scout and see how many no scope headshots I could do. I found myself playing with many people enjoying the same style and it helped me relax at gaming and enjoy it again. Take the stats out of the game and not play all serious made gaming much more fun again.

So long story short, change up your style. Don't try to be the best or highest contributor. Instead, find an alternate way to enjoy the game. You are frustrated with BC2... so try not to be the top dog. Play as a medic or engineer and spend more time offering repairs or health. Don't rush with them, hang back until they need help. Throw health packs in popular areas your team takes cover at so that when your team retreats and needing a medic, they know where to go to get healed.
 
This isn't particularly aimed at the OP but at anyone who's getting disenfranchised with games in general. Gaming isn't everything. I used to be obsessed with video games when I was a kid (never to the level my grades suffered, thankfully). As I went through college I got more and more bored with games. They're just not that important, to be frank. Life is short - sometimes I think back upon all the hours I spent playing games and imagine how great of a person I would be if I had devoted all that time to playing music, learning languages, getting ahead in the gym, or broadening my horizons in any one of an infinite amount of ways. I've since reorganized my life to make sure my real-life hobbies and well being comes before that of any of my in game avatars.

That's not to say you shouldn't play games at all. They are enjoyable and everyone deserves to enjoy life. It's just that you'll start to appreciate them more and have fun when they're something you do to relax, rather than something you plan your life around.
 
NativeAlien said:
This isn't particularly aimed at the OP but at anyone who's getting disenfranchised with games in general. Gaming isn't everything. I used to be obsessed with video games when I was a kid (never to the level my grades suffered, thankfully). As I went through college I got more and more bored with games. They're just not that important, to be frank. Life is short - sometimes I think back upon all the hours I spent playing games and imagine how great of a person I would be if I had devoted all that time to playing music, learning languages, getting ahead in the gym, or broadening my horizons in any one of an infinite amount of ways. I've since reorganized my life to make sure my real-life hobbies and well being comes before that of any of my in game avatars.

That's not to say you shouldn't play games at all. They are enjoyable and everyone deserves to enjoy life. It's just that you'll start to appreciate them more and have fun when they're something you do to relax, rather than something you plan your life around.
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i agree with this approach. also, by cutting back, you essentially cut all the "ok" games out, but still have time for the truly great titles. There is currently a ton of filler out that you won't miss at all once you leave it behind.
 
The quality of games over the past few years has really gone downhill which is why I think a lot of gamers are becoming bored. I honestly think this fourth quarter will be the best quarter of gaming in over a decade though so I'm pretty excited.
 
I've found a way to keep things interesting in games is to play in ways that you normally don't.

For instance I play a lot of Call of Duty and typically I will find a few staple load outs and just stick with those. I have three assault rifle classes and they are all identical except for the primary weapon.

I've forced myself to play in different ways. Silencer/Motion Sensor combos. Sneaky Ninja Pro combos, etc.

Hell for a bit I had a shotgun runner class that I used in Array in Black Ops. I ended up whooping ass.

You'd be surprised how interesting you can make it. Hell even changing out your kill streak load outs can make a big difference. I didn't start using the Blackbird kill streak until after I maxed out my 15th prestige in Black Ops.
 
jebdawg said:
Hey all,

In the past few months I've been getting extremely frustrated when gaming. I never used to get this frustrated, but lately I seem to only last about 15-20 minutes before I'm frustrated to the point of having to quit. This is namely FPS titles like Bad Company 2 and Call of Duty, and to a lesser extent Dawn of War 2.

I'm not sure if I'm getting to old for this (27), or if I have some insane expectations on my skill level, but I'm truly not enjoying any games lately because of this. I'm very excited for Battlefield 3, so this has me a little worried. I can't really pin-point why I'm getting so frustrated, I'm thinking it may be that I'm tired of the same-old games or that I just need to relax and have fun.

Do you guys ever get like this? Any tips on getting out of this frustration-funk? This really does suck. :(

J
Click to expand...

I'm 27 also. I am in the same situation as you are experiencing. I still play Bad Company 2 of and on and still do my daily frag fest of Team Fortress 2 and such. But I think there is really nothing exciting to play.

Same with my Xbox 360. I played the hell out of Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Mortal Kombat. There is really nothing that is different or unique this year.

My only advice is start doing other activities. Gaming is fun don't get me wrong. But it's the summer! Go outside and have fun with your friends. Go to the sports bar. Hell one of my old friend invites me to go bowling with him at night. I haven't went bowling since I was alittle kid :p Enjoy it before the dreaded cold weather and gray skies return this fall/winter.

If you need a gaming time sink. You can always play a MMO. Granted I stopped playing MMOs early this year ( I got bored of MMOs this year. WoW isn't fun like it was back in the days ). You could always try Dragon Age 1 or Mass Effect 1 and 2 for alternative gameplay/endings.
 
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