I think you'll come to realize that it isn't your attention span but rather the amount of mental energy you have left after working a 9 to 5 for 5 days a week
Yeah, sometimes I just want to mindlessly scroll. Like now.
There's games that do that like vampire survivors
That's definitely a large aspect for me. But, another large part is that the games just seem to be less fun. Online play has gotten so competitive that half the time people just rage quit, and single player games have just become grind machines with pay to skip options.
No, I'm not going to spend my limited free time getting a virtual job gathering wolf pelts. No, I'm not going to give you real money to avoid being virtually employed by an NPC.
I feel like game mechanics that were originally designed to immerse you into the game are now just being used to pad the game time. I won't even buy a game anymore unless I can mod it. I refuse to spend extra hours of my time just because the only realistic aspect of the game is a limited inventory.
AAA games are trash agreed, I stick to indie games
I know I've been playing BG3 recently and I'm struggling a bit with the mental energy required to play it after work. It's something that really requires full attention for a long period of time and a lot of days I'd rather just do something simpler.
Bruh, I'm 33 and I started playing Subnautica for the first time a few weeks ago only to realize that in the first day I accidentally played for 10 hours. You just need to find the right game for you to revitalize your interest in gaming. Whatever that game may be!
Subnautica just does that to you. I completed an entire hardcore playthrough in a single session once (Mostly because I already knew what I was doing but it was still like 14-15 hours straight).
Is VR in subnautica an actual way to play or just a once in a while gimmick. I've had it in my library since back when it was beta and have never played more than a few minutes. Installed it since it does VR through steamlink but haven't played yet.
I love VR and Subnautica but Subnautica is not a good game to play in VR. You can make it kinda work with mods, but it does feel very janky.
You just gotta find the right game. I discovered Satisfactory last year and had to uninstall it after a few eeks because I was staying up till 2am playing. I am 40.
I think for me a lot of games just don't challenge me in a meaningful way anymore. Especially as I get older the game AI feels a lot more predictable and shallow.
Then I tried factorio and that game is fun. So I agree its about finding the right games which spark that interest.
I think for me a lot of games just don’t challenge me in a meaningful way anymore.
I'm the opposite. If it's a story driven game, I don't wanna die. If I do die, you better make sure I don't have to repeat much. And you'd better make sure I don't die twice in the same place.
Old style save anytime is much preferred to checkpoints, but I feel barely exist in AAA games anymore. I'll put up with checkpoints if they are very frequent. If you make me repeat 30 mins I'll probably just stop playing.
I feel the same way about Baldurs Gate 3, I'm only pushing 30 but after playing for less than 20 minutes I had a mini pre-intervention with myself like, "okay listen up you geek, remember staying up until 4am every night and surviving on popcorn chicken and coffee isn't sustainable"
I installed Civ 6, played one game on easy and uninstalled it because I knew what was going to happen if I went down this road.
The right game can cure depression
The right game can cause depression, because I have no impulse control and will shurk my responsibilities to play it.
Sigh. I do love me some satisfactory though.
Fun fact. I was 2 years older than Bart when the Simpsons started on the Tracy Ulman show and now I'm over a decade older than Marge and Homer.
I need a nap.
No…. That would mean I’m…. Oh god. It’s happened.
If you want your mind blown when Simpsons started Marge and Homer were boomers, then Gen X and now they're millennials. Bart, Lisa and Maggie started out as Gen X (underachiever and proud of it) then millennials, then gen z, and now they're Gen alpha.
But grampa is always a ww2 vet.
They changed what "it" was
"What the fuck, a tutorial? I'm done."
Me after inattentively spamming through the tutorial just so I can play the game:
“How the fuck do I play this game?”
Also very true. "There's been a button for that this whole time!?"
Tutorials are child's play. I tried playing "This is the Police II" when it came out. Literally 2 full hours of what was basically a visual novel before I got into any gameplay. After a while I kept thinking "surely the game starts now?" before another scene started.
This was how I felt starting MGS V. I gave up.
Death Stranding, as well. Sooooo many cut scenes followed by 30 seconds of game play, followed by more cut scenes. It was all world building and back story.... But good lord... Took forever to get through
For me it's less the attention span thing and more the lack of time
There's a million things I gave to worry about all pulling me in every direction at the same time
Plus now that my ADHD is actually being addressed it's way easier to find time for things
Swap the shitty snacks out for something healthier and maybe you’ll have more stamina to play
This is how I felt until I played Valheim and BG3. I think my preferred genres have just shifted. I need something I can relax and play at my own pace. I use to only play competitive shooters, where I needed to be "on" the whole game. Now I can only play a shooter for about an hour before my mind starts to drift and I lose interest.
I've put over 400 hours into vanilla terraria and recently started the calamity mod, first day I put like 6 hours into it.
I don't play every day, I just don't have the time/energy. But when I do I try to make it count.
That being said, we used to play Edward forty hands and try to beat ocarina of time in a single evening, usually staying up until dawn despite the copious alcohol.
I'm not the stallion I used to be, but even an old horse has something to prove.
The most realistic part is that you can't afford name brand chips as an adult.
I think that's the fault of games rather than me.
A lot of games are the same generic open world bollocks and it's honestly just exhausting.
That hurts.
If your only issue is that modern games suck, rather than A) Being too exhausted after work, B) Having social media-induced attention deficit, C) Being overwhelmed with other responsibilities or anxiety, or D) Simply just not having enough time, you just have to find games that are actually good. Not AAA grindfests that aim at keeping you glued to the screen getting collectibles for 80 hours, but games that are actually trying to provide you with a worthwhile experience.
Some suggestions: Subnautica, Outer Wilds (not The Outer Worlds), Disco Elysium, Pathologic 2 (mind you, this one is extremely stressful, it's a masterpiece but most people will not enjoy it), The Forgotten City, Hades and Omori.
Trying to learn how to play a Final Fantasy game in your late thirties is like trying to learn brain surgery on a worm. I don't know how I had the patience for any of that shit back in the day.
Back when I was a kid I could play games for hours and hours. Now that I'm 38 I can play video games for hours and hours.
There's a bit of a hump you get over, though. I've been recently doing some long franchise-wide marathons and once I got into the groove it was surprisingly nostalgic. It recaptured that feeling of coming back from school and just playing games until I got called for dinner.
I do understand that when I lose that flow I REALLY lose that flow. Not sure if it's age or distractions or what. All I'm saying is you can get it back and it does feel good when you manage it.
I feel this way pretty often, but then I open Factorio again and the night turns to day quickly.
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