PigLick on 31/5/2020 at 07:08
OK so I was just wondering if anyone else feels like this.
Now I am a definite gamer, its my favorite pastime/hobby. Love talking about them, reading about them, thinking about them, but recently I havent really been playing a lot of them. I have a backlog of amazing games to play/finish and I kinda feel this weird ass guilt about not spending time to delve into it. It seems whenever I do have free time I end up doing something else and theres a voice in the back of my mind saying "you should really be playing x/y, you know"
And the thing is when I do end up playing something, I enjoy it for sure, but the compulsion/desire just doesnt seem to be there like it used to. The last time I really got stuck into a game was Kingdom Come Deliverance, which I finished last year around sept/oct. Brilliant game, played it daily over 100 hours. But after that apart from the occasional Arma 3 session with the ttlg crew and casual stuff like hearthstone I havent really played anything, not to any depth at least.
For example, got a ps4 for the family for christmas, and RDR2 and Last of Us remastered (which never having owned a ps3 i really wanted to experience) and I have clocked maybe a dozen or so hours on RDR2 and last of us is still in its shrinkwrap.
Now I have had some pretty major life changes in the last 6 months or so, but I still love gaming as a hobby, except I just feel very "meh" and not inclined to sit down and play stuff that I know I will enjoy for some reason.
Does this resonate with anyone or am I just getting some kind of midlife crisis?
Malf on 31/5/2020 at 07:22
Don't sweat it, it'll pass. I get this "gaming ennui" every so often too, usually after completing a big game I've put lots of hours in to.
So I usually play on a cycle these days; one big "feature" game, that requires tens, if not hundreds of hours, followed by something more freeform and systemic, such as management / city builder games (Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld, Sims etc.)
That's usually out of necessity, as I've found with my current phase. Having finished AC Odyssey, I tried going in to Gears Tactics and DMC 5, but they're both too linear and structured for my current mood. So I'm now playing a lot of Sims, and I bought Age of Wonders Planetfall in the GoG sale, so I may put some time into that too.
But that's just me, and it took me a while to get in to this schedule.
The first time it really hit hard was after completing Witcher 3, and I really struggled to find something able to engage me for a long time. I think at the time Civ helped me get out of that phase.
Thirith on 31/5/2020 at 07:59
Pretty much the same here. Once a year or so, I have a phase where I feel meh about gaming. So far it's always passed. It tends to be during phases when I'm not doing great anyway and things I generally enjoy are somewhat sapped of that enjoyment. If you're feeling off in other respects as well, definitely keep an eye on that and look after yourself. Games will always be there when you feel like them again, but you don't owe the hobby anything.
PigLick on 31/5/2020 at 08:10
yeh thats a good way to describe it "owing the hobby something", thanks for the replies
Malf on 31/5/2020 at 08:23
Also, I don't know if your current circumstances are the same where you are, but I'm currently furloughed, with a LOT of spare time. So I'm making sure to spread it out amongst lots of different activities.
My typical day consists of a couple of runs in the morning broken up by some forums and YouTube until lunch, then some gaming up until dinner, when I'll watch some TV. Then I might put in some time playing guitar (grabbed my old electric out storage after almost 20 years!), followed by more gaming.
In the week, I'll squeeze some work-related training in there too. It really helps to stay this busy and structured, spreading my attention out amongst different things.
I honestly don't know how I'm going to find the time for it all when I go back to work!
Anarchic Fox on 31/5/2020 at 08:38
Elsewhere I described playing Dragon Quest games a "pure liquid joy," which then raised the question of why I would ever not play them. Well, for one, they're exhausting and draining to play, if joyful. But, more importantly, I've come to approach them with something akin to reverence. Whenever I play a DQ game in my normal compulsive manner, I feel like I've defiled something special, like going to a beloved childhood park and tossing my fast food trash into the bushes. So it's reached the point where I'm only willing to play Dragon Quest when I'm in top condition, and that's rare.
PigLick on 31/5/2020 at 08:44
The thing is, I have also had a heap of spare time recently, for obvious reasons. I was kinda expecting to be gaming a lot, but just hasnt happened. I actually enjoy watching my kids play rather than gaming myself.
Although with gta5 having been free on epic, now both me and my eldest daughter can play co-op online, which is pretty fun in short bursts i must admit. Although its like rockstar DONT want you to play it the amount of hassle we had setting up both accounts, i mean for fucks sake.
malf- what guitar you got, after 20 years it might be worth something
Malf on 31/5/2020 at 09:11
Nah, it was low-mid range at the time of purchase (£300 in 1991 if I remember correctly, so the guitar itself is almost 30 years old!), and having looked around, they can be picked up quite cheaply; it's a Washburn KC 40V.
The two single-coil pick-ups are quite noisy, and the volume pot has a tendency to cut out completely if touched, so I'm thinking of getting a new one depending on how the current situation works out. So far, this has been pretty good to me financially, and I have more money than I've had in a long time. But I don't want to go splashing out while things are still up in the air.
PigLick on 31/5/2020 at 09:22
Yeh its not the best time to be buying a new instrument tbh, prices are high and stock availability is low, at least here in Aus.
haha funny fact I had one of those washburns, some years ago with a leopard skin pain job. Yeh not worth much these days. The ones that are worth a bit are South Korean models made in the late 90's, that was the years before they switched to chinese/indonesian manufacturers, the korean ones were of a much higher build quality.
Jeshibu on 31/5/2020 at 15:33
Not to armchair psych here, but if you feel this way about many things, you might be depressed. Was one of the signs for me at least.
