I miss how gaming made me feel

This is badged as a thread about gaming but really I think it is a thread about friendships. The way I interpret this is you have a craving for social contact but the main avenue you have to get that is via gaming. Your social group was tied to gaming and that took a back seat for others as times move on. Maybe you need to look for some other sort of social engagement?

That said, the timing of this post is a bit odd, as the recent quarantine periods have brought quite a lot of older people back to gaming. I only play one game online and have done for over 20 years, and with lots of countries going into lockdown etc there's been a bit of an uptick in old-timers coming back to it because their normally hectic lives have been put on hold to some extent. I've been WFH for about 3.5 months now which is saving me about 18hrs a week in commuting time.

I guess I'm different in that I can still get big highs from gaming without the social interaction. I'm 40 and not even close to getting bored yet, it's kind of the opposite, I crave having more time to spend gaming.
 
I just play a lot of single player games now but I really miss playing on teams in games like Mechwarrior4, RTCW, Operation Flashpoint and so on. I'd like to play Risk of Rain 2 and Borderlands 2 with others again.

I played a bit of Rocket League with mates for a while but the problem these days is that we're never all online/free at the same time. Many of them have kids and a missus so have next to no gaming time now.

One solution is casual games where other people join your game with no real negative impact - something like Warframe is one option but as a curve ball, Journey was really nice for this!
 
At 53 continue to enjoy the multiplayer gaming experience though have adapted to play multiplayer solo no voice or chat ...do send or respond to the odd message. Still play x360 and in the early days of the console the multiplayer chat was quite good on the public servers though quality gradually declined over time with most players turning mic off altogether . Regularly played over the years with one friend though we fell out some time ago. Was online friends with one guy I teamed up with regular on BF3 lovey chap was a real laugh but unfortunate one day died suddenly....got the news via chat from his son very sad :(

Still happy to fly solo though perhaps need to find a multiplayer game with better chat/comms experience.
 
I’m 40 and play Rainbow Six Siege everyday and this is after a full days work. Currently in gold rank. Love it. Keeps my brain and reactions sharp. I’m very much a lone wolf and just play with random people. I don’t like single player games they lack excitement and competition.
 
I know what you mean. I used to be a complete gaming addict when younger. It started with games like Space Invaders, Pacman, Lunar Lander, Defender, Scramble, etc in the arcade and then moved onto micro computers and eventually the PC. In the mid to late 1990's I started playing Quake and Quake 2, then Quake 3 multiplayer. They were the best gaming years for me and it was due to playing with a childhood mate and a good clan that we used to meet up with at regular events like Insomnia.

Sadly I was unable to play it for about four years due to a house situation and then also gradually lost most contact with my mate. I'm now almost 51 and find it difficult to enjoy games. I occasionally get a little addiction back when something like Command & Conquer Remastered is launched. But the only game I can still go back to regularly is Quake Champions. It's one of the poorest Quake versions but at least it is still reasonably active in the evening. I'll play it a few times a week. But my attitude has had to change. I can't play it competitively now even though I'm often doing well on the server. But the main issue is I just don't know the people I am playing with and so I don't enjoy it as much. I recognise names but it's just not the same as the old days. So gaming has become very casual and less enjoyable for me. But I'm still able to game occasionally and I still insist on having a PC capable of playing things when I want to.
 
The most fun I had gaming was mid 00s. Playing counter strike, day of defeat,
Starcraft and unreal tournament at an Internet cafe with a group of friends. We also used to play Halo a ton on a couple Xbox’s, so many good memories playing Blood gulch with 8 friends crammed in a living room around 2 TVs.

We still have games nights most Saturdays but play board games now instead of computer games. @Syla5 knows ;)

@tlrBeta I remember the LAN party at your parents, good times.


Gaming will never be as good as it used to be for me. I’ve tried over the past year to rekindle the passion but it’s just not the same. I’ve moved on.
 
LiE said:
The most fun I had gaming was mid 00s. Playing counter strike, day of defeat,
Starcraft and unreal tournament at an Internet cafe with a group of friends. We also used to play Halo a ton on a couple Xbox’s, so many good memories playing Blood gulch with 8 friends crammed in a living room around 2 TVs.

We still have games nights most Saturdays but play board games now instead of computer games. @Syla5 knows ;)

@tlrBeta I remember the LAN party at your parents, good times.


Gaming will never be as good as it used to be for me. I’ve tried over the past year to rekindle the passion but it’s just not the same. I’ve moved on.
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That's going back some!

What were we all playing then, was it early CS? HLDM? Why do I think HL:Firearms also? Either way, good times - never the same since.
 
i still keep in touch with a group of friends from the early 2000's, we still regularly play games now like CS:GO, Supreme Commander and Rocket League, however i do think that if the social element went and we all lost touch i would not bother playing any games.
 
Buy a Valve Index, play HL: Alyx

Best gaming experience I've ever had and I've been playing games since the binatone in the 70's :p
 
HangTime said:
This is badged as a thread about gaming but really I think it is a thread about friendships. The way I interpret this is you have a craving for social contact but the main avenue you have to get that is via gaming. Your social group was tied to gaming and that took a back seat for others as times move on. Maybe you need to look for some other sort of social engagement?

That said, the timing of this post is a bit odd, as the recent quarantine periods have brought quite a lot of older people back to gaming. I only play one game online and have done for over 20 years, and with lots of countries going into lockdown etc there's been a bit of an uptick in old-timers coming back to it because their normally hectic lives have been put on hold to some extent. I've been WFH for about 3.5 months now which is saving me about 18hrs a week in commuting time.

I guess I'm different in that I can still get big highs from gaming without the social interaction. I'm 40 and not even close to getting bored yet, it's kind of the opposite, I crave having more time to spend gaming.
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Yes and no but it depends on the scenario. Gaming with people who you've met through matches and kind of got to know makes it a lot more fun.

A few nights ago in The Division 2 with randoms I had great flashbacks to the Battlefield 3 days chuckling at moments between and during fights. It was such great moments. Speed running for an exotic chest in Lincoln Memorial, the group would run it and run it which we had a lot of laughs. It almost felt like the gaming experience of the mid 2000s to early 2012.

The only thing to a degree I do miss is the old days of Quake 3 with clans but that seems to be a long gone thing the way how the gaming industry has changed so many things. Not only that, the majority of gamers are a fad where they chase the latest game for up to 6 months then it gets ditched for the next title.
Not a lot out there stick to a game or two. It's always the latest release bandwagon they chase.

Bored isn't the thing. Too many people are quitters if it gets too tough and/or has short attention spans.
 
Yeah just isn't the same engagement with a lot of games today like there was in the UT99, Quake 2/3 era. A large part of that IMO is the big downturn in community run dedicated servers and modding. I guess publishers kind of think that is a good idea as it drives players to buy their next game when it comes along, etc. but personally I find it tends to result in me buying the next game less and less.
 
46 and gaming does nothing for me. I'm trying to get into Dcs, got me a cheap hotas and ir tracker, but I just don't feel the urge to get into it.
The older I'm getting, the more I prefer going out and living.
 
V F said:
The only thing to a degree I do miss is the old days of Quake 3 with clans but that seems to be a long gone thing the way how the gaming industry has changed so many things. Not only that, the majority of gamers are a fad where they chase the latest game for up to 6 months then it gets ditched for the next title.
Not a lot out there stick to a game or two. It's always the latest release bandwagon they chase.
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It's still there, but just very small. The only game I play online is Quakeworld, which has a very competitive TDM scene but it's too small to register with 99% of people (we still occasionally get newcomers discovering it often coming from other FPS games). Perhaps around 80 players playing in the recent leagues and lately it's migrated away from clans to a draft format to provide more balanced teams (one advantage of a small scene is it makes drafting easier as you have more knowledge about the players).
Ironically, back in the day Quake 3 itself was an example of gamers "chasing the latest game", there were numerous players I remember who left QW for it not because they thought it was a better game, but because "everyone else is moving to it" (kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy).
 
Christ, who left the door open. All the OAPs have escaped again :mad:

to OP... you need to adapt and move on. Maybe find a different hobby and keep gaming as a treat, rather than a daily getaway. Try going for walks, listening to music, running?

ultimately it sounds like you’re lonely and feeling left out as your friends have moved on and grown up, so to speak.
 
Smokey Deza said:
Yeah. I sometimes think about UT99 when I see threads like this.
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I was so into that game my mum sold my computer to force me going outside around ~2005. As I was a right hermit otherwise!

I've found 'peak' gaming with my friends ended around 10 years ago, in my early twenties. DayZ (the mod) was the last game we really all played together and it was a blast but life has moved on for most of us and we don't get to play the same way we used to.

Though for one of my friends he never got the memo and still plays like he is a teenager
 
EVH said:
Christ, who left the door open. All the OAPs have escaped again :mad:

to OP... you need to adapt and move on. Maybe find a different hobby and keep gaming as a treat, rather than a daily getaway. Try going for walks, listening to music, running?

ultimately it sounds like you’re lonely and feeling left out as your friends have moved on and grown up, so to speak.
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Got to do a Bear Grylls. Improvise, adapt, overcome, drink your own pee..........
 
I used to spend a lot of time gaming 10+ years ago - the likes of Eve Online, Civilization, Morrowind/Skyrim; that kind of thing. Real time sinks! At some point real life just overtook gaming but it's hard to pinpoint exactly where it happened because it sort of happened gradually. Now I play a little bit of Football Manager and some retro games (SNES/NES) but there are so many other things I'd rather be doing now gaming is almost a last resort when I'm bored.
 
I find it's usually folk with severe mental health issues that are addicted to mmorpg type games.

You don't sound healthy at all both mentally and physically.

Maybe join a gym or build a home one.
 
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