Can't play games I know I won't win

[Deleted]

Sup guys,

I've played games most of my life and at the ripe old age of 20 I'm struggling to really put some time into a game. I recently got back into WoW, levelled a lock and geared him a bit. Now I'm back to being burnt out on it and can't find another game that I enjoy playing on my own.

I've recently come to the realisation that I won't play a game that I know I won't win... For example if I play a game such as LoL or Overwatch, I'll play against bots. I play Dark souls until I die once or twice then exit.

I know that all of these games are good and could be fun however I just can't find the motivation to stick to one.

Has anyone else ever encountered this issue before? Any advice?

Thanks guys,

Warcram

[Kathandira]

Sup guys,

I've played games most of my life and at the ripe old age of 20 I'm struggling to really put some time into a game. I recently got back into WoW, levelled a lock and geared him a bit. Now I'm back to being burnt out on it and can't find another game that I enjoy playing on my own.

I've recently come to the realisation that I won't play a game that I know I won't win... For example if I play a game such as LoL or Overwatch, I'll play against bots. I play Dark souls until I die once or twice then exit.

I know that all of these games are good and could be fun however I just can't find the motivation to stick to one.

Has anyone else ever encountered this issue before? Any advice?

Thanks guys,

Warcram

I'm sorta with you. But there is nothing wrong with knowing your tastes, and your limits. For example, I can't play Dark Souls. The issue is, i'm impatient and don't really enjoy all the rolling around and waiting for the right moment to strike. One reason is because I find that incredibly dull, and the other is because i'm not patient enough to enjoy it.

As for gear grind games (WoW, Diablo, Destiny) I can play them for quite a while, but once I am geared enough where the all i'm doing is repeating the same content just to get the last 1 or 2 best in slot pieces, I get bored and retire.

Currently, i've been playing Forza Horizon 3 again because there are many races I never completed, and cars I never drove/modded. I'm sure this will bore me soon as well.

[Thoughtful Trolli]

Sup guys,

I've played games most of my life and at the ripe old age of 20 I'm struggling to really put some time into a game. I recently got back into WoW, levelled a lock and geared him a bit. Now I'm back to being burnt out on it and can't find another game that I enjoy playing on my own.

I've recently come to the realisation that I won't play a game that I know I won't win... For example if I play a game such as LoL or Overwatch, I'll play against bots. I play Dark souls until I die once or twice then exit.

I know that all of these games are good and could be fun however I just can't find the motivation to stick to one.

Has anyone else ever encountered this issue before? Any advice?

Thanks guys,

Warcram

When you say games you can't win, you should really mean Tetris and the Google Dinosaur Jumping games.

Those are games you can't win. Any game with a High Score you can't win, unless there's a limit to that high score like Pac-Man.

All the other games you've listed as ones you can't win are actually games that can be won. Even WoW. There's decisive conclusion conditions.

So nobody can encounter the issue you claim you have because it doesn't exist. You're misdiagnosing yourself.

I recommend you watch some speedruns or something so you can see a whole gamut of games and glut on that, it's what I do. Summer Games Done Quick doesn't start until July though, but they support the Doctors Without Borders Foundation, and if you haven't looked into any of their previous years speedrunning, you'd need more than a month to catch up probably.

My recent favorite was watching them speedrun Red Dead Redemption. I never knew that game ended with killing some kind of evil cursed mummy in a drug lord's basement south of the border! But what was funnier was watching the speedrunner glitch leap fly to the mansion in nary a minute using only in-game mechanics.

[seventysix]

You're not alone, your entire generation is this way, and the ones even younger than you will be worse. RIP MMO Genre, and welcome instant gratification era.

[Independent voter]

Yeah, I agree "patience, discipline".

[Darsithis]

I feel the same way, often. When I was younger, in my teens and 20's, I was a little different, and didn't have as much of a problem with losing and starting over, but as I've gotten older, I find I prefer to play games I know I'm not going to waste my time in. So MOBA's and most multi-player games are out because I don't want to group up with people who are going to ruin the experience for me.

[Revi]

Don't have any advice other try to get used to delaying satisfaction. I'm sure you'd feel great when you eventually beat Dark Souls, probably a lot better than you would if it was so easy you didn't die once, but the satisfaction isn't going to come straight away without any frustration along the way. In my experience, most very satisfying games are like that. Like most other things in life, it's better if you've had to work for it.

[Nelavar]

Here's an interesting question for you: What is the point in playing a game that you can't lose? One could argue that it ceases to be a game at that point.
So maybe games just aren't your thing, lucky for you there is no shortage of other hobbies to spend your time with.

[The Casualty]

I am the exact opposite. I find it difficult playing games where it's virtually impossible or would require great effort to lose. I like going into games where there is a real possibility that if I don't play well that my character(s) could die or I could lose.

[XDurionX]

That happens naturally when you realize that video games are not the most important thing in life. Welcome to the adult world.

[dope_danny]

Sounds like you are just part of the casual market and i'm not being snarky, if it wasnt the majority of people games like dark souls would not have been considered a huge novelty. Try something by Bioware.

[zealo]

There's nothing wrong with not playing games on hard modes if you're not willing to put up with having it handing your ass to you once in a while.

The modes are there for those that wants to, but no one is holding you at gunpoint forcing you to. If you're having more fun just blowing through content on easy or normal, then do just that.

[the]

I've played games most of my life and at the ripe old age of 20 I'm struggling to really put some time into a game. I recently got back into WoW, levelled a lock and geared him a bit. Now I'm back to being burnt out on it and can't find another game that I enjoy playing on my own.

You're playing to relax and have fun. When something really pulls you in at the beginning, you'll spend the time to get competitive and good. Sampling is good.

Finding something where your friends don't have literally years of experience ahead of you like they could in LoL or even Overwatch is more than a year old is important. That amount of time makes a huge difference in both how someone is going to play and enjoy the game.

Sometimes a simpler game will launch you into a more complicated different one because you've mastered the mechanics, but you'd like to see a new twist on it. When you're ready to test yourself, you can. Just have fun for now. It's a game!

[FobManX]

Games are supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun, then don't play. Its your money and your life. Don't care what others think.

[Kathandira]

There's nothing wrong with not playing games on hard modes if you're not willing to put up with having it handing your ass to you once in a while.

The modes are there for those that wants to, but no one is holding you at gunpoint forcing you to. If you're having more fun just blowing through content on easy or normal, then do just that.

For real. I played Witch 3 on easy on my first play through. Not because the game was too hard, but because I didn't want the combat to slow down the story.

I play games mostly for interactive stories, and sometimes the combat just doesn't matter to me.

[Video Games]

I don't think git gud had ever been so relevant.

[Witchblade77]

there is nothing wrong with not wanting to be frustrated, or not wanting to feel like you won't be able to finish the game. unless video games are your job, who the hell cares how you play them or which games you prefer to play, especially single player games? git gud can GTFO.

[Adam Jensen]

I agree about Dark Souls. DS goes too far for me. I don't mind some challenge, but trying to beat the same boss over and over and over again, having to dodge and duck at precisely the right time is just too frustrating for me to find it fun. I didn't even get past the first boss in DSIII. Not so much because it was hard. I knew the pattern, I just had a bit of trouble getting my timing right, but because I knew the rest of the game would be like this.

[zeropeorth]

Eh, I know where you are coming from. PvP used to get me intense, because I wanted to win every match, every battle, etc. But I found a way to look at it differently and judge myself on many factors; be it K/D + objective participation in a game like Destiny, or healing/damage totals + objective participation in other forms of pvp like in FFXIV, LoL, HotS, etc. Back when I did play LoL, I rarely played against people, because of that irritation, but playing bots gets boring as even when they had those overtuned bots, you could still win most of the time.

I have an alternative issue, the way the grind is set up in games. Right now, the direction they've gone with WoW, its too much for me to bother keeping up with their form of carrot on the stick/treadmill. I liked the Wrath/Cata systems better, but that is me. The WoW grind ruined other MMOs for me for quite some time. I couldn't bother to get to max level in Tera though I enjoyed it. I got close in Rift, but when I tried it was in the xpac where the last 10 levels took absolutely forever and I just got burned out before I got all the way there. SWtOR, not sure what happened, but when I go back now, it doesn't feel the same as it did in 'vanilla' version. FFXIV is the only one I can stand to keep playing, and I approach it differently for whatever reason as well.

Just trying to take a step back and try to approach a new game in a different way may help. For me, something just changed after raging in Destiny pvp from some imbalances and people with redbar invincibility, and at some point I focused more on what I was doing right, and how to improve. Paying attention to your games you get really high K/D can help. Try not to take it as serious, as it apparently doesn't bring enjoyment for you, so no need to play that way. Have some friends that can lighten the mood, you can joke and fool around, so you focus less on the stuff that normally gets you going.

And all games aren't for everyone. Most games can be great for a certain section of players. Some loved Wild Star, or love ESO ... whereas I cannot get into those at all. Same goes for other popular games ... like Dark Souls I have no intention of ever playing as it is not for me. Gaming tastes change over the years. I don't like the same games I did 10, 20, 30 years ago. I mean I've been gaming for over 30 years now, since ColecoVision/Atari. Some of the games I sunk tons of time in, I probably couldn't spend more than a few minutes or maybe hours. I don't play GTA games really any more, but played the hell out of 3/VC/SA, I barely touched IV and haven't touched V. I played a ton of Tony Hawk 1 & 2, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't today.

Maybe taking a break will help you better recognize what appeals to you. Good luck.

[Schalde]

Its allways nice to win and good to have this motivation that you want to win.... but to me it sounds abit unhealthy and spoiled that u dont want to lose, and u really need to get rid of that attitude.. allways thing of it as a learning progress when u lose.. evaluate what happen and move on and improve.