Getting frustrated with gaming

[Mr Mean]

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 have to agree with this. I play $50-$60 on a brand new game and after I beat the game in a day or two. I don't feel like I got my moneys worth. Also the content is somewhat easy now. I am hoping deus ex human revolution isn't pure garbage.

 

[Splinter24]

I have to agree with this. I play $50-$60 on a brand new game and after I beat the game in a day or two. I don't feel like I got my moneys worth. Also the content is somewhat easy now. I am hoping deus ex human revolution isn't pure garbage.

Don't get me started. I have Deus Ex HR, Dead Island, AND Star Wars TOR on my list. This is gonna be insane

 

[Deleted member 83233]

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

Echo the suggestion to play other types of games. Not even completely different genres, but different types of shooters as well. Play a classic run and gun type, like Doom 3. Play something like Mass Effect that has shooting, but in a different setting. If you play a ton of multiplayer, try single for a while. Play some role-playing games, or some old classics, C64, NES, SNES, etc. It sounds like you're frustrated with multiplayer tactical shooters. So, don't play them. Doesn't mean you have to stop playing everything. If those get on your nerves too, then maybe you're just not into gaming. If you're asking for opinions on this though, it sounds like you still WANT to play, you just aren't enjoying WHAT you're playing.

 

[theNoid]

Sometimes I just play tower defense games to relax, stuff like Plants vs Zombies, Defense Grid, Toy Soldiers or Trenched. There are stints where I dont fire up a RPG or FPS for months on end. And then there are hours in the week I'd rather spend on other hobbies, like cycling or photography.

Only having 1 hobby is going to bog you down and eventually, some day ... drive you mad. Get more hobbies

 

[LeninGHOLA]

Try a glass of whisky beforehand.

 

[evilcartman]

Try a glass of whisky beforehand.

Amen. Having some scotch while gaming helps me relax and enjoy myself more.

 

[iroc409]

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.

Every server I've been on, the snipers aren't in that boat. They sit back there and shoot at things, but no matter what I meet an onslaught of snipers on objective maps and I can't get anywhere near them. I spend more time sneaking around behind the objectives trying to take out snipers than I do going for the objectives.

It really makes the game awful, when most of your team are snipers and they aren't doing anything but sniping from your own spawn--and the battlefield isn't clear. I agree with you--IT SHOULD BE!

I do play recon class sometimes, but rarely with a sniper rifle (unless it's a M95 w/red dot for some bolt action CQB fun). I use the mortars to take out destructible targets. Which, is another thing most of those crappy snipers fail to do--attack destructible targets with mortars! Argh!

MOST snipers on objective maps in public servers are WORTHLESS. The only people that should have high kill/death ratios are the helo gunners. A good pilot (which there are many on public servers) with a good gunner can really wreak havoc on the enemy team.

Sorry for ranting, I was just playing last night like this. My whole squad were snipers.

 

[Gorankar]

Snipers are both, an effective denial of area strategy, and also are the easiest to use an aim bot with and still look legit. It's the reason so many people like to play them.

 

[Kranium]

I like how this thread reads like a group therapy session :-P

I have felt the same way as many of you. So much so that with my 50 other hobbies I stopped PC gaming for... well 6 years I guess. Last PC title I played was Black and White 2. Of course there are other reasons for my long departure but I think most of the blame rests on the quality of the gaming experience (in my opinion, of course). Maybe I'm jaded, but wasn't the first run through on Unreal REALLY long? It seemed that way to me at least. Half Life took a good 12+hr my first time through too. Mech Warrior 2 took me forever.... mostly because it was hard for me. Now I'm not saying time is everything but the good games make you want to play a long time; and in single player, with good story telling, it doesn't seem too repetitive!

Then, Tribes and Unreal Tournament, Battlefield:1942 etc come out and these companies think multiplayer is ALL that matters! Campaigns shrink to the 6-8hr In Medal of Honor Allied Assault and I just felt ripped-off. Not to mention how bastardized Tribes 2 was.... major let down :-(

Now I get out of school, get a job.... all I want to do when I get home is relax. Enter the Console and it's oh-so-simple interface. Lie on the couch, wonder around in Mass Effect or GTA for a few hours.... and they wonder why the PC has it so rough.

I'm back after my break now though. I plan to play the Bio Shock games, finish the expansions to Half Life2, and see what else I've missed along the way, plus it'll force a fun PC upgrade!

 

[Tudz]

I tend to agree with this...

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.

More than this...

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 think there's still plenty of good games out there, its just a large portion of people (me included) as they get older start to feel that gaming is a bit hollow. I look at the games I spent huge numbers of hours playing as a kid and the games available now and there's certainly still a lot of good and enjoyable games around, rather its my attitude toward them has changed.

Of course I know there's other people out there who are hardcore gamers into their 30s, 40s, 50s and further... but I think many are more inclined to be hardcore as kids and become more either more grumpy, casual or quit altogether as they get older.

 

[J Macker]

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)

I've switched from Settlers of Catan to Agricola. There is so much more depth in Agricola and it's not as ruthless. Also, try out the card game called "Bang!" it's a blast with 6-8 people.

 

[SHiZNiLTi]

Everyone get's upset all the time in game, even one of my squad mates who has a 4.2 k/d in BC2 and 600hrs logged gets upset and frustrated, but it's still fun. You need to play with a group of people on TS.

Don't..

 

[kevineugenius]

Multiplayer games are frustrating especially in versus modes because it really requires other people to be good/cool in order for it to be fun. If you repeatedly get awful teams, frustration can happen after 10 seconds. Do something co-op, singleplayer, or arcade-style like a zombieshooting survival mode or something.

 

[Devilpup]

OP - You're getting old, happens to everyone. I used to be a lot more hardcore, sometimes spending a whole Saturday in a raid if needed. Then I got old, grew up, got a job, had kids, etc.

Now I spend a lot more time doing more interesting things. I no longer spend my time in a virtual world because I can afford to live in the real world; and there is way more satisfaction to be found in that. I just don't have time to compete in shooters or MMO's with kids who are out of school and spend the whole summer practicing and grinding out better gear than I can get.

Think about it this way, are you just as bored with Hollywood and current music as you are getting with games?

I would say play single player games, but I'm not liking the way some of it is going with the "online connection needed" to play deal. Only thing I can feel ok suggesting is rolling up a game like Elder Scrolls and play through until Skyrim is released.

Me? I'm looking forward to planting some fruit trees and starting a garden. Hey, at least that provides me with something edible, unlike my elf.

 

[Frog2]

Try these rather than the deadly boring run and gun junk.

FO3
FONVegas
Stalker 2007
Crysis+WH{yes these are basically r&g's, but with the best blend of GFX/physx/semi-open world combat shooters to date}
Mass Effect2

Race07/Gtr Evo racing simulators, but get a decent wheel....you'll certainly find a challenge in these type of games, and a level of satisfaction as well.

 

[HardwareSearcher]

Stop playing to win and start playing to have fun, at least in games that are getting frustrating/repetitive/boring. For example, in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I am approaching 400 hours (just because there is no other FPS better and few modern games of any other genre that are fun - would have quit long ago if there was more good games to keep my interest). For the last 250+ hours or so I have mostly been playing increasingly irregularly (once in a while I play normal/try to win). By irregularly, I mean I generally disregard the objectives and try new things (I progressed in this order):
1. Mobile C4 Car Bombing.
2. Pistol-only servers/Playing with pistols only in regular servers.
3. Road-kills only (24/7 Oasis non-HC servers)
4, Repair-tool killing only (yes, even as people shot at me with other weapons, I would challenge myself and refuse to use anything but a repair-tool to fight back. 24/7 non-HC Oasis.)
5. Using knife-only (24/7 Oasis non-HC)
6. Spawn-killing with 40mm GL (24/7 Oasis non-HC).- this is what I am currently mostly during, but I switch between road-killing and knives as well. For me it is much more satisfying to try to calculate the angle you have to launch your grenade and hit your target than just trying to out-twitch your opponent with a regular gun. I have actually got a few headshots with a 40mm from literally half-way across the map. And by doing it in their spawn, you're not lacking targets and it gets really fun when one or two full squads are encircling you at a building and you're having to keep thinking tactically to stay alive as long as you can in their base.

Basically, pure twitch-based FPS games get boring really fast for me. I prefer tactical, slower-based games...but unfortunately that genre is pretty much dead at the moment and has been for years. So I try to play in ways that are less twitch-based and more tactical and slow-paced, even if my enemies are not doing the same.

Unfortunately, there is only so much you can do to keep game(s) interesting. The diversity and gameplay quality are ever-decreasing throughout the entire gaming industry - so it is increasingly more of the same.

As for frustration specifically - just do your best to not care about winning and remembering it is just a game so there is no reason to get too upset about anything. People get so mad sometimes when I am constantly running them over and 40mm GLing them in their base (even though the server specifically allows for spawn-killing) and sometimes they find a way to start killing me over and over and act like they are trying to frustrate me - but most of the time it is just a new challenge and I am actually having fun getting killed while trying to overcome their new tactics.

But if it is a game that you just can't help but get frustrated about, quit the game, seriously! There was one single squad-based real-time tactical combat game in which I became one of the best players in the game, got really involved, and yet the perfectly planned and perfectly executed action that would normally give a decisive and overwhelming victory, could instead pretty often result in devastating defeat due to serious game glitches and bugs. It was a game that had some of the best gameplay design ever made, and a game I got to be one of the best players at. But although the design was great, the code was bugged and the better I got at it, the more frustrating the bugs became. Eventually I realized it was actually becoming very physically and mentally unhealthy to continue playing it. As soon as I started physically feeling bad when a bug ruined a game - I realized the game wasn't worth it anymore and quit right then and never looked back.