Need help getting my gaming mojo back!

[RavenSEAL]

I'm 19 and games have pretty much died on me. Very rarely do I find myself starting up a launcher for a title. I look at my Steam/Origin library and see all these games I spent hundred of dollars on, yet have no desire to play them.

The Witcher 2 & Skyrim have been the only titles that have gotten me somewhat excited in the past few years. Besides that...I find myself just refreshing through a couple of forums, scrolling through reddit or screwing around in Photoshop when I have absolutely nothing else to do.

I'm starting to get a feel for some Final Fantasy nostalgia and been meaning to get some FFIX going on a simulator, but even then, I'm just like "meh".

 

[chelhxi]

In my experience, once you've lost your mojo, you don't get it back. The odd title may interest you for a bit, but soon enough you'll get bored. I used to be able to play games for weeks on end, and be totally enthralled. Now, if I can play continuously for 45 minutes, the game must be REALLY good. I'm 35. I do figure Diablo 3 will kindle my interest for a time, but it's the only one I'm looking forward to.

 

[Sulaco]

In my experience, once you've lost your mojo, you don't get it back. The odd title may interest you for a bit, but soon enough you'll get bored. I used to be able to play games for weeks on end, and be totally enthralled. Now, if I can play continuously for 45 minutes, the game must be REALLY good. I'm 35. I do figure Diablo 3 will kindle my interest for a time, but it's the only one I'm looking forward to.

That's how I am.

I'm always baffled, and a little amused, by the people who say things like, "Oh, you can beat this game in one sitting it's so short! I did!" , and they're referring to a 6-8 hour game.

Really, people? You can spend 6-8 hours at a stretch in front of your PC playing one game? I can't stomach more than 2, and that's if the game is enthralling. I just can't imagine spending upwards of 5-6 hours. I did as a kid, sure, but not for years and years now.

 

[thespyder]

Is Dragon Age really that good? I only fiddled with it for a few min. I've had a hard, hard time getting into Bioware games. I played some Mass Effect 2, that's the one that grabbed me the most... but I still lost interest. I keep meaning to revisit it.

I was really left cold by Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur's gate 1 + 2 did nothing for me. I got them at the same time as Fallout 1 and 2 in bundles back in 2000. *Loved* Fallout, did not care for Baldur's.

If Dragon Age is honestly good, I'll try to get over the hump.

So, if you weren't a big fan of Baldur's gate, yet you were of ME2, Dragon Age: Origins may not be 100% the game for you. Don't get me wrong, it was AWESOME, but people usually compare it favorably to BG1-2 and to Neverwinter Nights. Still, if you own it, I would say give it a good solid try.

Secondly, my opinion is that you are more mature now and possibly more discerning. Neither is a bad thing, but it means that you probably expect something in your gaming experience that you didn't need when you were younger. I got that as well (I am 45). Just means that volumes of games that may have really captured your attention when you were young, may not now. Not that they are bad, but that they appeal to a younger audience.

I also spend a lot of time gaming, but find that, basically I know what I like. So if something strays too far from that, it is easy for me to lose interest. The "Kiddie" themes that sometimes come out today, I just don't find that enthralling. So I seek out games that are more gripping. It's like when you go from reading comic books to reading more in-depth stuff like Dostoyevsky (not that everyone does this), but if you ever tried it, you might find the REALLY AWESOME comics kind of bland and cookie cutter afterwards.

Anyway, don't give up. But definitely be more selective in the games you chose. And be conscious of your expectations going into them. Skyrim really nailed it. And while I very much enjoyed Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, it was somewhat lacking in comparison (IMHO).

 

[Slammy1]

I find myself somewhat in disagreement. Loved BG2 (1 was meh, H&S), didn't make it off the starting ship in ME2 (too consoley for me), and didn't like DA:O (I made it a little bit, not too far). Again, too consoley. Maybe I just need to play these games on a gamepad to enjoy them, the controls are usually what do me in. I went back and played HoMM3 not too long ago, really enjoyed it for a few scenarios.

To me, once consoles took the forefront my gaming took a back seat in my life. Last game I really liked was probably SW:ToR despite its console-like properties .

 

[spittledip]

I am the same way too. I am 37 and don't care too much about games. I lose interest before finishing them. Most games are boring to me- I played Deus Ex 3 and Dragon Age and I was bored almost immediately. I enjoyed FO NV for a while, but even that got boring once I got to NV itself. The only game I am looking forward to at this point is Wasteland 2.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Tell me about it. I'm also 32 and have like 150 games on Steam and elsewhere and I've only even played half of them (at best). And many of them I've only played for an hour and gone "meh" and never touched again.

Even in games I really like (such as Skyrim, Witcher 2, Deus Ex) I normally only play for about an hour before I start to feel like I want to do something else.

Hell, even in games I like such as Deus Ex 3 I bought the DLC but then have never actually played it yet. I may never do so.

The only games I really have interest in DLC are the Fallout/Elder Scrolls games.

I think Diablo 3 may get my interest (I hope).

 

[StinkyPinky]

That's how I am.

I'm always baffled, and a little amused, by the people who say things like, "Oh, you can beat this game in one sitting it's so short! I did!" , and they're referring to a 6-8 hour game.

Really, people? You can spend 6-8 hours at a stretch in front of your PC playing one game? I can't stomach more than 2, and that's if the game is enthralling. I just can't imagine spending upwards of 5-6 hours. I did as a kid, sure, but not for years and years now.

Agreed. 2 hours would be max for me.

 

[repoman0]

Same way and I'm 22. In the past four years the only games I've actually sat down and really played inside and out were Fallout 3 and Skyrim - spent about 65-70 hours on each but then got bored of them.

I prefer to read or work on projects or bike or run these days. Although occasionally I get really pumped about some game I hear about that I never played, like Amnesia or Mass Effect or Stalker, so I buy it on sale but never even bother starting it up. Still want to play Amnesia because the concept sounds pretty interesting.

edit: Actually I lied above, in the past four years I've gone through stages where I was completely addicted to Pokemon Diamond and sunk about 190 hours into it raising badass teams, played Pokemon Black for about 50, Chrono Trigger DS for 30, Final Fantasy IX for another 30, Pokemon Firered for 40.. damn, apparently I only like RPGs because I really haven't been able to get into anything else.

 

[thespyder]

That's how I am.

I'm always baffled, and a little amused, by the people who say things like, "Oh, you can beat this game in one sitting it's so short! I did!" , and they're referring to a 6-8 hour game.

Really, people? You can spend 6-8 hours at a stretch in front of your PC playing one game? I can't stomach more than 2, and that's if the game is enthralling. I just can't imagine spending upwards of 5-6 hours. I did as a kid, sure, but not for years and years now.

+1

And this I think is the other issue that the OP may be encountering. Being in my 40s, I have a full life. Full time Job. I go to school at night. I have a wife and a teenager. I own a house. And I have hobbies outside of gaming. the bottom line is, with so many demands on my time, I have to be really into a game to spend HOURS at a sitting at it. Even to go back to some games is a challenge if they haven't grabbed me in the first sitting.

It's not that I don't enjoy gaming. It is merely that, where I used to have nothing better to do than gaming for 6-8 hours at a stretch, now I have other things that compete for that time. And some of the rush and suspense can dissipate if you don't lose yourself in the first few hours of a game.

Even Skyrim, which I LOVED and played for 40+ hours, I haven't completed. Just put it down one day and haven't gone back to it. Doesn't mean I lost my gaming mojo. or that I am not enchanted with the game. Just that where before gaming was #1 priority, now it is #5 or maybe lower.

 

[mazeroth]

I'm 31 and in the same boat. For whatever reason I keep upgrading my computer thinking I'll get back into gaming but I just never seem to. I guess a full-time job, two kids, a wife and a house can do that to you.

In the past 4 years I can only remember really playing 3 games: GTA: San Andreas, GTA IV and Torchlight. I have about 50 games on Steam that I've been meaning to get to but seem to get distracted by fixing up my house and building stuff.

OP, I see you have GTA IV on Steam but haven't really played it. Do yourself a favor and give it a shot. It's one of my all-time favorites. Also, I can't believe that I've spent over 100 hours playing Torchlight but I have. It's such a simple game but it's a blast.

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm in the same boat OP! Gonna be 32 in july too...damn that's weird

Started with Pong, then Commodore 64, then 486, then my first personality bought Pentium II 400 in 1998 and upgraded since that.

Been buying lots of games and upgraded lots of time but many of those games are still unfinished and some unplayed at all.

Sometimes a new game comes out that look pretty cool, i'd play a couple hours on the days release and will do something else.

I think it's our tolerance that's getting a Low Bat signal lol!

I'm now playing more board games with friends than playing video games. social stuff is cool!

 

[videogames101]

Ok, well I'm 19, so maybe I see things differently, but I can pretty much say while most AAA titles suck, I think you need to look elsewhere to find a game to get "lost" in. Currently a bunch of my buddies and I are spending hours playing Dungeon Defenders. It's very akin to Diablo II, it's all about loot. You run the same levels again and again to get better loot to run harder levels to get better loot to run harder levels to get better loot to... It's not even that "good" of a game, no AAA to be found, but it has that ability to draw you in. Don't limit yourself to the big name titles.

Also, I'd give GW2 a try despite your objection to MMOs, it looks to bring some fresh air to the industry.

 

[Aikouka]

I'm similar to others in here in that while I will get excited over a game, and buy it, I just never get the drive to play it. I recently started playing some 360 games that I've owned for 4 years (Blue Dragon, Assassin's Creed), and there are still more like that.

I've been wondering though... why can't I muster the desire to play? It's not like I'm doing anything else. It made me question whether or not World of Warcraft essentially killed my desire to play games. It's nothing that I can substantiate given I've been playing WoW for 7+ years and plenty of other things have happened to me over that time, but I used to play games often prior to WoW, but not much anymore.

My thought is that it might be related to how I get burnt out or tired of playing WoW (like I am now) and that affects all of my gaming.

To note, I'm 27.

 

[thespyder]

I'm similar to others in here in that while I will get excited over a game, and buy it, I just never get the drive to play it. I recently started playing some 360 games that I've owned for 4 years (Blue Dragon, Assassin's Creed), and there are still more like that.

I've been wondering though... why can't I muster the desire to play? It's not like I'm doing anything else. It made me question whether or not World of Warcraft essentially killed my desire to play games. It's nothing that I can substantiate given I've been playing WoW for 7+ years and plenty of other things have happened to me over that time, but I used to play games often prior to WoW, but not much anymore.

My thought is that it might be related to how I get burnt out or tired of playing WoW (like I am now) and that affects all of my gaming.

To note, I'm 27.

I think you nailed it. WoW killed your desire to play. It sucked you in (man, you played for SEVEN years?) and ate your soul. Because WoW is like Evercrack and gets you addicted to the zero happening.

 

[Aikouka]

I actually still play WoW and have a raid tonight. The thing is that I don't really want to even play anymore, but still do... essentially because I'm "needed." That exact same thought pattern might be the same reason why WoW killed my desire to game... it essentially took something that I considered fun (gaming) and made it into a job/task. I don't level a character in an expansion to experience the content... I do it to get prepped for the next set of end-game content. I'm essentially going through the motions like a mindless drone that's doing his part for "the hive."

I really have little desire to play anymore, but damnit... I want my legendary!

 

[exdeath]

It's not you OP.

It's the gaming industry.

Games that you can get lost in are usually high quality and take a lot of complexity and resources to develop, which is absolutely contrary to today's franchised sequel quick buck strategy that rules the gaming market courtesy EA and Activision.

The golden age of gaming died with the 16/32 bit era. Enjoy your Call of Duty 19 and Rock Band 17 1/2.

 

[exdeath]

I really have little desire to play anymore, but damnit... I want my legendary!

Aim higher and get legendary items in real life

If you want a new car, you just go buy it. You go to work and you get X paycheck for Y effort, it's guaranteed.

It's not a random chance once a week for weeks on end of no showing, only to have one drop a year later and have 25 people bidding...

Better still if you buy a 400 HP car, it will still have 400 HP next week... and the week after... and the week after... and the week after... it won't be changed to 150 HP but have floor mats thrown in one morning because of Prius owner QQ.

Personally I got tired of only being able to toss dice once a week...

What killed WoW for me was all the endless meddling and developer god complex that started after Burning Crusade. Leave the damn game alone, I want to be able to log in and recognize my class tree or have my abilities work the same for at least two consecutive weeks. That and all the achievements, adding "limited time only" items like rare mount drops that you had to get before the next patch and never again, adding MORE seasonal achievements after you already did last years, etc, etc, etc. You pretty much have to play 24/7 now if you don't want to miss anything. Just waaaay too much busy work where they make you feel like you will miss something forever if you log out.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I've been playing Shogun 2 and Empire Total War as of late. Got burned out on FPS games, got bored of skyrim, got bored of minecrack, and then got bored again with X3, so I went over to fvck with strategy for a while.

 

[thespyder]

I actually still play WoW and have a raid tonight. The thing is that I don't really want to even play anymore, but still do... essentially because I'm "needed." That exact same thought pattern might be the same reason why WoW killed my desire to game... it essentially took something that I considered fun (gaming) and made it into a job/task. I don't level a character in an expansion to experience the content... I do it to get prepped for the next set of end-game content. I'm essentially going through the motions like a mindless drone that's doing his part for "the hive."

I really have little desire to play anymore, but damnit... I want my legendary!

See. It did eat your soul. You are now working for the WoW-man.

 

[Geosurface]

I've been playing WoW for 7+ years and plenty of other things have happened to me over that time, but I used to play games often prior to WoW, but not much anymore.

My thought is that it might be related to how I get burnt out or tired of playing WoW (like I am now) and that affects all of my gaming.

I played WoW from release in 2004 pretty solidly, and disgustingly until December 2009. I then stayed away for about a year, and went back for a while. Thankfully now it appears I'm done, and done for good. Even when they try to lure me back in with a 7 day free trial I take it, but log on like once... for 2 min...

I avoided raids for the most part, i did it back in Molten Core, BWL, AQ20 and original Naxx era (and even remember 40 manning Stratholme once early on) but thankfully I wised up about guilds with raiding schedules. Like someone said, that turned a game into a job for me. I wasn't down with that. That's why I've never wanted to work as a game designer, artist etc it would suck whatever morsels of love for it I still have for a certainty.

Maybe WoW did kill my gaming mojo... that's not a bad theory.

Then again I suppose I can't really say I lost my mojo if I clocked 200 hours in Skyrim within the last couple of months... I think maybe some of the people who said that the games just aren't as good as often, or that I'm more discerning were right.

 

[Aikouka]

Then again I suppose I can't really say I lost my mojo if I clocked 200 hours in Skyrim within the last couple of months... I think maybe some of the people who said that the games just aren't as good as often, or that I'm more discerning were right.

At least for me, "losing my mojo" doesn't mean that I won't play a game quite a bit. The hard part for me is actually having the desire to start a game.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

But honestly, and this is sad, I probably spend more time talking and reading about games than I do actually playing them. I feel like some sort of old, curmudgeon sports writer who used to play in college, but now spends more time analyzing games rather than spending their free time playing.

Bleh.

*Raises hand to speak*

In my mid-forties, and the last game that REALLY-REALLY got me silly-excited was STALKER:SoC, back in the summer of '08. That game just pushed all the right buttons for me. When I reached the (false!) ending in my first play-through, I was so hungry for MORE!

Now I still look forward to buying new games during the big steam sale events, … but then they just sit untouched in my library for months!

I thought i was alone, this thread has defined me perfectly. I've been trying to care about ANY game over the past few years, but i just cant do it.

I played sports games on the 360 with my friends on occasion, but i almost dont consider that 'gaming'.

I just keep buying games on steam, in hopes that ill play them. Portal 2 was awesome, and is probably as much as i can handle as far as time goes. I look up some games before i play them, and if i see that it takes a bunch of hours, i kinda shy away, because i know i wont finish them.

I bought warhammer 40k space marine when it was on sale because people complained that it was too short despite being a decent game - couldnt even finish it, got bored, prayed for it to just end (im like 7 or 8 hours in).

Currently playing BF3 multiplayer, and its pretty fun. I have no friends who game on the PC, so it kinda takes away from the experience though.

 

[thespyder]

I have actually had some time to play in the last 8-9 months. Played Skyrim and KoA:R and ME2. Started Batman:AC and got maybe 35%. And got about 10% into Dark Souls. So this year has been good so far.

Still I understand what the OP is talking about.

 

[nleibert]

Hi everyone, I'm usually just a lurker here but figured this was one thread I needed to reply to because it captures exactly how I feel.

I'm about to turn 25 and computer gaming just doesn't give me the same feeling it used to.

I'm younger then a lot of people in this thread but I remember when Doom 1 came out and first playing it at my friends house...I was hooked and immediately got my parents to buy it for me (and oh man, my dad had so much trouble getting it installed in MSDOS at the time!). That was probably my very first computer game, we had purchased a brand new Packard Bell computer and I remember crashing it the very first day we got it because I was trying to install some game on it.

I remember walking into the local gaming shop and seeing the boxes for Baldur's Gate 1, Jagged Alliance 2, Deus Ex, Planescape Torment, there was just so many games and the stores were always filled with amazing games that seemed to come out every month! I convinced my parents to upgrade our 2MB video to 4MB just so I could play Baldur's Gate. I had a Playstation 1 and I remember trading that in to purchase a Voodoo3 so I could play Aliens Vs. Predator in all of it's glory.

There are just so many good memories I have of my gaming years and unfortunately it's just not the same for me anymore. I still fire up a couple of old games and I will buy a new game every once in awhile but I'll play it for a few hours and then it will just sit.

It's funny because I still buy the latest and greatest upgrades for my computer and still build custom ones every 2 years or so...and then just end up using it to browse the internet :biggrin:.