Too lazy to play games?

Too lazy to play games?

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TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Saturday 1st April 2017
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I'm guessing I wont get many responses to this on a gaming forum, but thought I'd put it out there. I've always liked computers, and I've generally always liked playing games, but recently, I can't seem to muster any motivation.

I'm coming up 38 now so maybe I've grown out of it?

I have what most average folks would consider to be a bloody good PC gaming rig, which cost a small fortune. I have a large superwide monitor. I have audiophile grade audio. I have a Xbox controller. I have a Logitech G27 steering wheel, which I figured I would love as I am a petrol head. So its not like I lack the gear.

Yet half the time, it seems like too much effort. I almost seem to have to force myself to play games. I am still impressed with the graphics and quite often I find it fun to play, although I am useless, so sometimes I also find it frustrating and turn it off. Perhaps games now are too hard and demand too much attention, practice and concentration? When I grew up many games were a joystick, 8 directions and a fire button. Now you seem to have to learn about 50 different buttons. Sometimes I'd rather throw darts at my dart board just for the mindless simplicity of it. The rest of the time, I'd rather just listen some tunes and browse sites like PH.

Has anyone else found this? It seems a bit odd to me that I suddenly find gaming a bit of a chore despite having impressive hardware to do it. It almost seems like a petrolhead who owns a superb drivers car that suddenly can't find themselves bothered to go for a drive, but if anything, I'm as much in love with driving and cars as ever - despite the fact my car is probably worth less than my computer rig. Is there any hope for me or have I really just grown out of it all?

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Saturday 1st April 2017
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rustyuk said:
I find most games boring now and that is something I never expected to say, though at 42 I should probably be doing something else!

VR is probably my last attempt to get back involved. Though I did quite like the latest release of Doom.
Yeah thats the last game I found myself enjoying, Doom. I LOVED the original Quake which was my first PC game (I had Amigas before that). I put so many hours on that game. Doom was like a throwback to that. Even that though, I've not managed to finish.

Another game I like is Far Cry 4, mainly for the graphics and general freedom of the environment but its a little too much wandering about doing nothing much, then you get to the action bits and get wiped out hehe

I bought GTA V, luckily I only paid £4 for it, but I played for an hour. Ran a few people over, wasn't exactly sure what else I was meant to do, and haven't played it since.

VR is tempting but I feel its throwing more money at something I might still never use.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Saturday 1st April 2017
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boxst said:
I'm quite old and loved video games when I was younger, but now I cannot get into them. I need something that is relatively easy to pick up and can by played in 10-15 minute segments.

I will still play Postal 2 or Unreal Tournament as they both fit that criteria but newer games seem to require to much dedication.
Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 I played a lot until relatively recently, simply because it was pick up and shoot shoot shoot, didn't really require too much effort. Actually, I would only play these offline as the online players would wipe the floor with me. I feel the same, I need to be able to play in short bursts, but most games seem to demand more commitment than that now.

Richyvrlimited said:
Feel pretty much exactly the same way, similar age to you as well.

I bought Battlefield1 a few months ago, and have barely touched it. Fifa17 with came with the console has had about 2-3 plays of 20-30 minutes each, you need to sink far too much time into them to even be mildly competent.
Interesting, I really liked the look of BF1 and considered getting it, but from what you're saying it would end up going the same way.

Clearly I am not alone with these feelings. Gaming seems to be a young persons endeavour and I'm not that young any more. In a way its annoying because I feel like I WANT to play them, I just can't be bothered because it seems too much like hard work.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Saturday 1st April 2017
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Richyvrlimited said:
Ha yep, I want to play both those games, but when I ever get an opportunity to, I really cba and end up watching youtube videos or something else mindless
Yep. I have an opportunity to play games now. Instead, I'm sat on here, on my expensive gaming rig, listening to 80s and 90s music on my headphones, and talking about how I CBA to play games anymore hehe

rustyuk said:
Maybe it's because they are not fun anymore.

Though my son had a RetroPie for Christmas and nearly every retro game going and we have spent no more than 2 hours playing the 1000 games available.

I've even tried a few games myself I enjoyed as a youngster. Christ, I must have been easily pleased back then....

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Sunday 2nd April 2017
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It makes me feel better to see I'm definitely not alone here.

A few points i will make. I don't play multiplayer games because they're too hard when you're up against season veterans and it's no fun getting killed constantly.

I agree that it was a shame we don't get good split screen multiplayers any more.

The update situation is another thing that is off putting.

I love cars and driving and i have a g27 mounted on a stand but i don't play that as much as i should although it is fun when i do. I think i need to find the right game though, I'm mainly playing pCars and it's ok but I'm sure there must be better out there. I've also tried that new dirt rally game and it's quite good but very hard to get a good time.

Shooting games are generally my favourite but i increasingly find them too open like far cry, Doom is more my bag.

Maybe i need games that can be played more casually.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Monday 3rd April 2017
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J-D-Stagpump said:
That said the whole "should be doing something else" remark is oinly true to a certain extent if you meant do you have other responsibilities then yeah you shouldn't pit off important stuf , absolutly. If you are talking about a hobby then why not. this is for your enjoyment and that really is a case of whatever floats your boat age has nothing to do with it.
Agree with that. I don't really have much in the way of responsibilities, I don't have kids for a start, and I'm not exactly all that career driven either, and have a standard Monday-Friday 9-5:30 job so my time is my own.

I think I really just need to find the right game for me. I tried playing Doom again last night. Keep getting killed, turned it off after 10 minutes (and thats on easy!) hehe

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Monday 3rd April 2017
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The time thing is an interesting one, and I think maybe that is *part* of the problem. Although I don't have kids, I do have a partner, and she's not into games at all (save for Bejeweled or Solitaire on an ipad), and although she doesn't mind me having some "me time", I'm pretty sure she'd be on my case if I were spending hours gaming.

Another post from earlier today rung a chord with me. I actually lost interest in games a while ago, and didn't have a computer capable of playing any for quite a few years. Then I decided I missed it and thats when I got my current rig. Except I've had for probably over 2 years now and I dare say I haven't even racked up 100 hours of play time in the whole 2 years, which seems like such a waste of money. frown

The thing I understand even less is the fact I am a petrolhead with a great system and steering wheel and pedals, and yet I still CBA to use it, when in fact I should probably love this sort of thing. I only occasionally do a couple of practice laps on the 'ring in a couple of different cars on Project Cars before quitting and not playing again for months.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Monday 3rd April 2017
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Old Tyke said:
+ another. Some days when I'm not working I get absolutely nothing done, just sat on the PC browsing forums and gazing out of the window in a bit of a trance. Before I know what's happened, the whole day has gone and it's time to go to bed again frown. What is wrong with us? cry
+1 for me, I also do this. What IS wrong with us indeed?!

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Monday 3rd April 2017
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I think my dad mainly either sat in front of the TV drinking wine or at the footy. Although now he seems to sit in front of the TV, drinking wine, with a tablet on his lap hehe

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Tuesday 4th April 2017
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Having read through all these replies to what has turned out for me to be an insightful, interesting thread, I can only conclude that although I almost certainly won't sell up, I certainly think the days of me throwing big money at my PC for games has now come to an end. I've always liked my "toys" but there seems little point in spending £400+ on a GPU for me to play for an hour a month. In all likelihood when my current kit expires or becomes out of date I will probably just go with a budget setup, but in fairness I don't think my current machine will particularly struggle with almost anything for quite a few years yet.

It has got me thinking though what games are likely to be best for a bit of casual game play. As mentioned before, the likes of the deathmatches on UT or Quake 3 used to get a fair bit of play back in the day and even the likes of Serious Sam. I actually even have the latest Serious Sam installed but even that seems to have lost the simplicity that made its predecessors so easy to pick and play. Apart from Doom, is there even anything around from the last few years that has that mindless entertainment factor at its heart? I feel like there must be something out there that will appeal, and given how much money I've sunk into it, I don't really want to give up on it completely!

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Wednesday 5th April 2017
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I read this article the other day, it definitely struck a chord with me. Online multiplayer isn't the same for me because essentially, unless I'm playing my mates, I could simply be playing a very good computer opponent, and even if I am playing my mates, its not the same as you all being there in the same place having a laugh over a few beers.

http://www.techradar.com/news/the-demise-of-local-...

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Monday 7th May 2018
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Sorry to drag up a thread from the dead, but I guessed correctly that I thought it was about a year ago I posted this, and sure enough...

Has anything changed in the last 12 months? Nope, it doesn't seem to have, despite me sinking yet more money into it. I bought myself an Acer Predator X34 monitor (very expensive) and a Geforce 980Ti to go with it (also very expensive).

Yet I still don't really play games any more than I used to, and again I have to pretty much force myself to play. I do sometimes enjoy it when I play, but not massively.

Now I have a very, very expensive computer which I mainly use to listen to music and go on the internet in the spare couple of hours I have a week to use my "man cave".

Maybe I should just admit to myself that I'm just not interested any more? And perhaps free up some money to pay off a credit card (the one I used to buy most of this stuff!). I am a little concerned that I will regret it if I dismantle it all, but in all honesty, I'm not sure how much I would miss it. Don't get me wrong, beautiful rig, one which I built myself and am quite proud of but its criminally under-utilised.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Monday 7th May 2018
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The_Jackal said:
A lot of car nuts think a PC and a driving wheel will keep their interest but playing games is not like real driving.
Yeah and to be fair I was probably one of those people. In fact, I remember some telling me that it was more exciting than driving a road car on the road, but in actual fact I still prefer driving even at fairly low speeds on the road. The driving wheel probably only gets used a few times a year.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Tuesday 8th May 2018
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Funk said:
I don't know if you saw it but I pinged you an email through PH yesterday - did you get it..?
I did mate yes, although I haven't made any decisions. In all honesty I'm more likely to hang on to it for the time being, given how much time, effort and money I've put into it. I'll certainly let you know if I decide to part with it

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Thursday 10th May 2018
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Some interesting replies.

Having thought about it more, I’ve think I’m starting to realise the problem. I need games that are fairly easy to get into and play. Anything that is a slow burner is never going to appeal. Anything that takes too much learning, too. I need easily accessible and stuff that I can dip in and out of.

I thought I would like GTAV for example. Technically impressive I suppose but somehow I feel I can’t be bothered with it. I don’t mind shooters but Far Cry type games with all their silly crafting, and if you don’t do it quite right you end up in difficult situations woefully under-armed.

I don’t seem to mind stuff like COD to be fair and I used to play a fair bit of Unreal Tournament in my time.

I need to give car games more of a chance, possibly, and try some different ones.

I probably need to try some other genres again, too.

MAME is a decent suggestion. In fact I wish I could afford / justify an arcade machine, but I’m not sure it would get any more use, in reality.

One of my mates plays truck simulator. He seems to enjoy it despite not having wheel and pedals. I am struggling to understand the appeal personally but maybe i need to try it.

All in all i probably need to try something different, in any event.

I have an iPad Pro too so might be worth seeing if there’s anything on offer.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Friday 11th May 2018
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I feel your pain Berlin.

I tried to have a quick game of unreal tournament the other day. Only there was a 50 minute update to install. So I didn't bother. Lucky the game was free.

Same sort of thing with GTA. Every time I try and play it there's a huge update. And then when I do, I'm "meh" and switch off after about 15 minutes of pissing about not doing much!

Agree with others I don't have the time or motivation to invest in being good. What happened to simple games?

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Friday 11th May 2018
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schmunk said:
Do you not have your console set to auto-update?

I never have to wait for an update before gaming.
It's a PC. And the updates only seem to happen when I run the game.

If there is another way, then great.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Tuesday 15th May 2018
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I tried playing Unreal Tournament the other day. Just on the medium level, and against the bots. I was rubbish. Finishing 3rd in my 1st game and then last in my next game. I turned it off in a strop after that hehe

I must admit I do quite enjoy Doom in Arcade mode though.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Wednesday 13th June 2018
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boxedin said:
This is where gaming on the Apple TV really needs to get itself sorted for the myriad of reasons listed previously.

Sit down, turn on and you're running.

There are some good games on the ATV, OceanHorn, broken age, lumino city, inside etc. but it doesn't have the catalogue of games needed nor support for a steering wheel and pedals.

Perhaps a Steam type box instead?
Funnily enough I’ve got a Steam Link still in its box that I bought for downstairs on Black Friday for the princely sum of £4, which I find myself too lazy to set up.

Maybe I am the problem hehe

Mind I am VERY interested in Forza Horizon 4 when it comes out.

TameRacingDriver

Original Poster:

18,104 posts

273 months

Tuesday 31st July 2018
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So I removed most of my games at the weekend, leaving just doom, project cars and dirt rally.

I had a lot of crap on there that I just wasn't bothering with so I wanted to start again.

I've just got my hands on far cry 5 and actually so far it's surpassing my expectations and is really quite enjoyable despite me being bored with FC3 AND FC4. It just feels a bit more action packed to me and has a better flow to it.

Maybe there's hope for me yet.

I'm still looking forward to Forza horizon 4 but I tried 3 and it just kept crashing and when it didn't crash it doesn't handle well with my steering wheel.