Losing interest in gaming

[Deleted]

As the topic says, losing interest in gaming.

I used to be an activist in real life until I got bored a bit and started playing WoW, everything was an epic experience and I felt like nothing could replace this. obviously I got bored after a while anyway; " it's because you have to take breaks from wow during long patches to keep enjoying it." and the person that said this, was right about that, at least it was for me, when taking these breaks I played some other games. a lot of them were very enjoyable to me, but they got me bored after a while aswel. That's when I saw guild wars 2 video's on youtube, oh the way it looked like was awesome enough already, but when I got to play the beta I wasn't really interested in playing the game anymore. And all that wasn't because gw2 sucked or anything like it, no absolutely not, I felt like no game was giving me a fun experience anymore.

My point is, is that many companies aren't really trying something new just because they're afraid to lose everything they've ever worked for. and even though guild wars 2 is an outstanding mmorpg with no grinding or what so ever, it has a lack in "the endgame" in my opinion. now, guild wars 2 is just one of those many other games that have this problem. I feel like the older games were really refreshing compared to what we've got right now, games these days are just being "expanded" to much...

I wonder, and this question belongs to anyone that's 18+ who has played games before that, are you losing interest in gaming or is it our age working against us?

*my apologies for any broken english grammar or spelling, this was written during the night*

[Larynx]

GW2 lacks tiered raiding. Raiding does not constitute the only form of endgame.

[Snuckerpooks]

For me it isn't losing interest in gaming, just losing interest in a game. I have lost my faith in WoW from just the pampering to the community. There used to be exclusivity back in the day, and that made it interesting for me.

That need for exclusivity came from Counter-Strike for me, I was an exceptional player and participated with high end CAL-M. So anywhere I went I was on top and I could do this without having to spend to much time and didn't need to burn myself out.

I think this is what makes GW2 exceptional in the current MMO market, is that there is the opportunity for people to play like it is WoW, but can have buddies that are super casual and be able to play with them. The PvP is the best example of this, you can just buy the game, and hop right in and be able to hold your own. Sure it doesn't have the raiding end-game like other MMO's, but that is a small price to play to make exclusivity based on skill and less on time dumps.

I wouldn't base everything off of the beta for GW2, of course they are holding back a bit. You may have burned yourself out temporarily of the genre, play some good old Quake 3 and get your fix of other games to rekindle that old MMO spirit inside you.

[Djuntas]

Not loosing interest in gaming at all. I just want a game that can suck all the time out off my life, until then I am loosing interest.

Diablo3 should have been sucking all my time away for atleast 1 year I hoped..., atleast it should have been my go to game when I feelt bored.

Edit: What Im saying is, I cant relate or get interested inn games cause Im afraid, or know they just aint for me. I look at all these games and just think baah...then I over-hype a few games, and im sad when it floops.

I hate that I cant enjoy wow like I used to, hate that I cant spend a hole weekend from I get up to I go to bed playing only 1 game, and knowing I'll repeat that the following weekend /nerd!

[Kirse]

I am 31 and have been a gamer since 1994. I haven't lost interest in gaming in general, but I have lost interest in gaming from time to time.

I quit playing WoW for 4.5 yrs and returned. I was thrilled by the changes, and to prevent boredom I got heavily into PVP and raiding. I had never done anything like that in other games. Gaming felt new and exciting again.

It really just comes down to personal experience and preferences. Some people never seem to tire of games. Others have higher expectations of progress and feel uninspired by new releases. Some people are more prone to boredom than others. Some people have other activities to hold their interest.

It's healthy to take breaks, so take advantage of your boredom like I did. It's easy to become desensitized to activities over time. You'll probably find them enjoyable once more after some time off. In the meantime take on another hobby, educate yourself, hang out with friends. Enjoy life!

[Mihalik]

OP its not you. Its the shit games they pour out on us nowdays. The only 3 games with real replayability that I have seen around the past couple of years was Mass Effect, Starcraft 2 and Battlefield 3 (this one just because the crazy shit you can pull of ingame http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOaGhE_sejI). But in general games have become simplistic and too straightforward.

(Opinion of someone who started playing in 1994.)

[Daws001]

I've definitely been there. My expectations in gaming changed when I got hooked on WoW and it became the only game I played. When I took breaks from WoW, I pretty much didn't play anything. I impulse bought a PS3 a couple years ago, but now it's just sitting gathering dust. I occasionally bust out MvC3. But games that I thought I would love like Uncharted, Arkham Asylum, Skyrim...I ended up returning all of them.

WoW is boring now but I'm looking forward to MoP. And after playing a coworker's 3DS, I think I may have to cave and buy one (waiting on the XL next month). I haven't played a Mario game since the N64 was current, and I forgot how frakin' fun they are! Mario Kart...<3.

[Dragonix80]

I am 31 and have been a gamer since 1994. I haven't lost interest in gaming in general, but I have lost interest in gaming from time to time.

I quit playing WoW for 4.5 yrs and returned. I was thrilled by the changes, and to prevent boredom I got heavily into PVP and raiding. I had never done anything like that in other games. Gaming felt new and exciting again.

It really just comes down to personal experience and preferences. Some people never seem to tire of games. Others have higher expectations of progress and feel uninspired by new releases. Some people are more prone to boredom than others. Some people have other activities to hold their interest.

It's healthy to take breaks, so take advantage of your boredom like I did. It's easy to become desensitized to activities over time. You'll probably find them enjoyable once more after some time off. In the meantime take on another hobby, educate yourself, hang out with friends. Enjoy life!

Couldn't said better than this.

[Chireru93]

I have the same problem. But, the thing is, I know why I'm losing interest.

Gaming has become too "serious" for me. By that I mean, I analyze games, I become critical of them. While playing a game in the back of my mind I'm thinking "what parts are good and what parts are bad?". Like you were talking about GW2 not having an end-game, when we're kids we don't think about that stuff, we don't care, we live more in the moment and enjoy what time we do spend with a game because we're not analyzing the game and what may or may not happen with it in the future.

[A Dark Knight]

Am 28 and been playing since Atari days (ET), i think you're in a rut, try playing other games, console or PC, check out steam or orgin .

[vizzle]

I don't know why everyone says it can't be the OP. People lose interest in things all the time; yes, you can very well lose interest in gaming, as impossible as that may sound.

@OP

I'm 20, and I've been playing games since the Sega Genesis when I was like 7 or 8 I would guess. About 14 months ago (I quit WoW July last year) I would spend at least 10 hours a day gaming, honestly. After I quit WoW I stopped playing games until about December when SWTOR came out, and I played about 6 hours a day for a month and a half, and I realized, gaming's just not for me anymore. I tried playing LoL but that only lasted a month for about an hour a day. Right now I'm playing nothing and I'm happier than I've been in a long while. I'm going to try GW2 since a friend preordered it for me, but I doubt that'll hold my attention very long. It'll be a nice game to log into on the rare occasion I have nothing to do, since it doesn't have a sub, but even then, probably not. You can lose interest in gaming, just find another hobby that makes you happy.

It's just great to lose that "itch". The itch of a game that you're waiting for, for every update and every interview with the devs, where you always want more more more. The "itch" of another update or another raid, and the itch of waiting for the raids to reset for the week so you can farm Alar and the Horseman for your weekly chance at the mounts. It's really nice to break away from that.

[TJ]

I'm in a similar problem, I haven't lost interest in gaming but all the games I have now are boring me. Just a waiting game for me until around October when stuff starts to come out.

You might just need a break, I was unemployed for a year and had all the time in the world to game, this is when it gets boring because you can do it all the time and basically exhaust most things you can do in a game, whereas when you have school/work and get home it's more of a reward and feels more exciting. Games always feel better when you don't have enough time to play them

[Stormgnoef]

Well i have been playing games since i was 4 years old(now 23) and usually if i get tired of gaming i just go watch some anime for a couple of days.Works everytime :v

[Letmesleep]

I'm definitely losing interest in gaming, but I also suffer from crippling clinical depression and existential nihilism. I'm not sure I'm really a good judge on whether or not the industry is getting stale. I am definitely finding it hard to entertain myself, in fact the boredom is crushing. I was having fun with D3 for awhile and then...well..you know..it's D3. I wish someone would just make a better version of WoW. I'd be all over that.

Edit. Hmm everyone seems to be posting their age, so I'll just say I turned 27 today.

[mittacc]

I'm definitely losing interest in gaming, but I also suffer from crippling clinical depression and existential nihilism. I'm not sure I'm really a good judge on whether or not the industry is getting stale. I am definitely finding it hard to entertain myself, in fact the boredom is crushing. I was having fun with D3 for awhile and then...well..you know..it's D3. I wish someone would just make a better version of WoW. I'd be all over that.

Edit. Hmm everyone seems to be posting their age, so I'll just say I turned 27 today.

Happy Birthday! hope you have a pleasant day!

[Letmesleep]

Happy Birthday! hope you have a pleasant day!

Heh, thanks :P Appreciated. It honestly crept up on me. I had only just realized it was my birthday when I looked at the time.

[Deleted]

What if I always find interesting is the fact that the ones who become jaded faster on new games are pretty much always older and more mature. As an under 20 I'll say I still really enjoy games, and pretty much all games from WoW to CoD to Forza to The Witcher and then indie titles like Twisted Planet or Botanicula. I enjoy Diablo 3 a lot and still play regularly, currently looking for a job though so can't put in as much time. People always say that it's due to the fact that old games were so awesome and amazing, this could be why as I never played these games when they were new - for example D2, I only played it a couple of years ago and thought it was stilted and repetitive.
Personally I don't think it's the industry that's becoming stale but I think some players just get burned out. As said you could take significant breaks from a game or gaming as a whole.
You could try more casual games? That sounds like hell to a lot of people but it's a change of pace from the elitist competitive nature of WoW.

[tombstoner139]

Gaming is not just playing one game until you cant stand it anymore. I change games frequently and move through a rotation otherwise it quickly becomes a job.
i need a reason to play WOW. i am fast approaching burnout doing heroic DS. the fun just isn't there. The challenge vs. reward for that game is nill.
i want to create something and i'm now playing citiesXL. its filling that need. in short a gammer plays many games. A noob thinks their a hardcore gamer by downing one boss before hes nerfed, i mean rebalanced. The closest thing to hardcore now a days is EVE. i cant stand the flaws, but it has so much potential.

[Bolson13]

My theory is that a lot of us (I have been playing games since around '88 I guess) have been playing games for a long time and saw that almost every year a new genre was being born. Games that were completely different from anything out there. Even WoW was the first MMORPG for a lot of us that had the 3d world and all that. I guess everybody still remembers the RTS hype starting with Dune 2 and (for the masses) C&C. Or the big fighting game hype when Street fighter 2 hit. Or the true 3d racing + tuning with gran turismo.

However, these days it is really hard to invent a truely new genre of games. Some indie developers can come up with completely different styles but they often are hard to translate to big budget games since it is not enough to warrant a big budget price.

So in part it is because most of us have seen all genres of games already (or are not interested) and in part it is because game developers can't invent something new/ are not interested/ don't have the budget for something completely radical.

Perhaps now we will start seeing cycles where genres which were almost forgotten make a return?

[Deleted]

Moved to (General) Video Games Discussion, where this seems like it would be more appropriate.

OT: I'm 23 and in recent years I've found my interest in gaming, as a general hobby, is steadily declining. I wouldn't be as bold or big-headed as to say that I have grown out of it (I watch High School Of The Dead for Pete's sake!), but my interests are changing and I am not as dedicated to games as a past-time as I used to be. I think a lot of it may be to do with the fact that recently, with my friends and I growing up and inevitably growing apart (as partners and careers begin to consume more time), it has become a little less enjoyable to game as the days are gone when we would just spend a long weekend Halo'ing it up together or w/e.

When I find a game that I like I still get absolutely enthralled and it's pretty much all I will do in my free time until I complete it, but the number of games that get me hooked like that are becoming less and less.