Is Gaming fun anymore?

Strazdas

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Do i find gaming fun? sure, Just this weekend i had amazing fun playing Tropico 3 and in fact cant wait to get back home tonight to play some more.

As far as state of gaming. there are bad apples obviuosly and some tendencies (like DLCs and DRM) are obviuosly annoying, however the games themselves are getting better. we have the technology and ability to make what we never did before. and altrough my dream is not realized [footnote]ever since i saw videogames my dream was a GTA-like (altrough i didnt knew about GTA back then) game where the city is simulated in actual simulation, for a simple example if i steal all ferraris in the game there wont be another one in the streets that would have realistic physics down to destruction and big player agency. a sort of virtual world[/footnote] amazing strides were made. the difference of games we had in 90s and now is massive and i love modern games.

As far as your own dissatisfaction, there is a tendency in humans to gain perspective and with more experiences we get more perspective and what we though was great due to low experiences when we were young may not be interesting now. People who replay old games often have this problem.
 

Erttheking

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Still love em. Not as much as I used to though. I get distracted more easily. And everyone fighting over every time someone scratches their nose is really taking me out of the hobby. Makes me want to not call myself a gamer anymore. Really gaming would be a hell of a lot more fun for me if there weren't so many people I had to deal with. People who are just so convinced of how right they are about everything.
 

Xerosch

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Well, I asked myself the same question and, at first, had to answer with 'Not really'.

Then I realized that with some exception AAA titles aren't made for me anymore. I'm really interested in buying 'Bloodborne' and 'The Handsome Collection', but aside from that I have more fun with games that are mostly shunned by most gamers or flawed.

I also fired up my PS1 and 2, SNES and Wii and had the completely subjective impression that the games for these consoles were made with more love and regularly dared to use different visual styles. I also think that the PS1 and some PS2 games are still great because they were able to give you a cinematic feeling without being too technically advanced that they could ignore writing a good story.
Just look at the great games Squaresoft pulled on the SNES and PS1: Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy 4 to 9 and Tactics, Parasite Eve, Chrono Trigger and Cross, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana... And that's just one company.
 

Dantos

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Gaming was more fun when I actually had disposable income and could wander into a gamestop and make choices based on box art, also when I was more naive. Nowadays with huge student loan bills, rent, cable, gas, insurance, electricity, food. I cant afford a new console, games or to upgrade my computer. I have to really research titles now to see if they are going to be worth my money, removing alot of mystery.

I want to get back into console gaming to try and rekindle things, just cant afford to.
 

CaitSeith

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ThePurpleStuff said:
What are your thoughts on gaming now? Do you like how gaming has become than it was when you were a kid? I, deep down, do not.
There are certainly things I don't like about gaming nowadays (specially in the AAA industry). However some other things seem to be of my liking. Alien: Isolation and Shadow of Mordor reminds me that some of the AAA titles still are fun for me (or at least entertaining, as I call the former Alien: Frustration). Besides, Steam allows me to play past and old games that were epic, but that I missed at its time (which were a lot). Then there is Nintendo, who still knows what fun (and nostalgia) means, and apply it to their portable console (and to the Wii U I suppose...). And finally the indie, good and bad things come from them; but overall I still like their best games.
 

CaitSeith

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Tilly said:
...

1) The rise of the indie scene, the fact that it largely destroyed the mid-range developers.
...
Wait, wait, wait. What? From what evidence do you base that "fact"? The way that EA has bought middle budget developers (like NuFX, PlayFish, Pandemic, Black Box Games, Phenomic, DreamWorks Interactive, Westwood, Bullfrog, Mythic, Maxis, etc) just to shut them down later seems to say pretty much the same about the AAA publishers.
 

Thyunda

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The OP seems to be easy to distill into "I only play Zelda games, and gaming isn't fun anymore."

That'll be because of the lack of Zelda games, mate.

I still find gaming fun. I flit between console and PC, too, now that I've got a decent laptop. I play Crusader Kings II and the Total War games and then I go onto console and play some Destiny or...because I'm in Ireland and away from my collection, I've been playing Quake 4 because my girlfriend got it free from Gamestop when she worked there and it's actually really fun. And I study creative writing and that, and this is relevant because the entire time I'm playing games with stories, I'm analysing said story almost subconsciously. Strong male characters, strong female characters. Plot holes and the like, but mostly consistency. I noticed with Quake that there are no female soldiers - so the game establishes fairly early on that women don't fight on the front-line in this universe, and then makes it so the comms officer who seems to be in charge of all the air support, is female. Which I think is really cool
And I brought that up because a few people have mentioned Sarkeesian and others have mentioned GamerGate and yeah, despite all the moral and social justice shit flying about around our hobby, I still find gaming fun, and I don't even have to block out the drama.
 

tm96

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Its still to me at least if filter certain headache inducing noises when I'm playing but it maybe different for you.
 

Rayce Archer

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Well my experience is different as I am part of the PC MASTER RACE, but I can echo my loss of interest in completionism. If it doesn't give you an in-game reward, cheevos can eat me. I've also found that single-player holds my interest less and less, as I spend more time at home because of my kids and job, games have become more of a social outlet for me.

I also sort of feel like games are increasingly a hollow substitute for accomplishment, that my time would be better spent on something that will endure and be useful. So games with shared content are very appealing to me now. The awesome Workshop integration in AOE2 was a huge plus for me.
 

Atmos Duality

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Tilly said:
Gaming is going through a tough transitional time, no doubt. There are so many issues that are conspiring to make gaming less relaxing at the moment.

1) The rise of the indie scene, the fact that it largely destroyed the mid-range developers.
To an extent, but I wouldn't say indies "largely" destroyed mid-range ("AA") developers.
There's a few big things that lead to AA's demise:

i) AAA stopped funding "AA" projects entirely. Why? To focus on big-budget broader-appeal blockbusters, because that's where the megabucks were. I lay the blame largely on them because prior to the 360/PS3 generation, AAA basically owned the market and fronted the cash for nearly all significant works, mid-range included.

ii) Online distribution. Duh. This is essential for the current indie market to exist at all.

iii) The cycle of consolidation and reemergence of talent.
The quick and dirty version: AAA focuses on big budget games, AA productions get slashed, layoffs ensue, many ex-AA developers find new employment elsewhere -AS- indie devs.

In this sense, I agree that the rise of indies did contribute towards further killing off AA productions simply via economic clout (efficiency matters; cheap game with a bit of creativity is more effective than expensive game with similar creativity), but at the same time a number of these indies would not exist if not for the influx of talent and other resources caused by AA's demise.

Also, There is a silver lining where indies are concerned: Some may become tomorrow's AA producers (developers and publishers). I say that, because their success is predicated largely on filling the void AAA left. They may never be as big as AAA, but they have the advantage of offering actual diversity.

These things go in cycles; ~25 years ago, SEGA was a legitimate, major competitor to gaming's (former) kingpin.
Today, not only do they effectively work for said (former) kingpin, but they're a pathetic joke in their own right; a company whose name inspires more punchlines about "Sonic" than anything...or vitriol for irritating Lets Players with DMCA takedowns of games that haven't been relevant in 12+ years.

2) The transition towards youtubers and away from written gaming media.
3) The problems with swelling AAA budgets that have forced developers into releasing shoddy messes of games/ huge delays.
4) The rise of people eager to force social issues into gaming, sometimes well thought-out and welcomed. Often for cynically pushing an agenda that has no benefit to the industry at all but is surprisingly lucrative.
That I can agree with.
Gaming has become more political because it's becoming a mainstay form of media.
And with politics comes the power to inspire, preach and pander.

It's always bugged me that for all the talk of promoting "diversity" or "progressiveness" (or whatever euphemism they choose) in gaming, the modus operandi of many such advocates is based more on deconstructing existing gaming culture; removing what they hate rather than adding what they want.
Which isn't really promoting diversity, but doing the opposite and hoping others fill in the void with stuff they like.

As for the "social justice" angle: I'll be frank here: I find a big difference between correcting irrational hatred/behavior based on misconceptions and thrusting artificial guilt onto an audience for social leverage.

And yet, that guilt-tripping is always at the forefront of "social justice" topics in gaming now. To the point where, I'd be so bold to say a disturbing amount of online "social justice" outrage operates on the subtext: "Others have had it too good for too long, so my actions and opinions are justified! No matter how irrational, hateful or hypocritical they may actually be."

Granted, gaming isn't the only place I've seen that, but it's certainly a major arena for "social justice" types currently.

I for one just don't want all of the external hassle. I just want gaming to be my go-to escapism (maybe why I'm at the escapist) that I can pick up at a moment's notice and then forget about when I put it down.
Frankly, I want the same.
That's a big part of why I'm taking my game-centric discussions elsewhere and why I'm basically receding from the growing social-media knee-jerk culture associated with it (which is not as easy as it sounds).
 

SecondPrize

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I'm still having a lot of fun with it. I've not been very enamored with AAA releases of the same period you mentioned but there are plenty of great games out there to find. I'm going through my backlog on steam now and pick up 'new' games when they're a 20 spot or better which eases my disappointment in theses games. Colonial Marines is pretty enjoyable when you've invested 5 dollars in it.
 

Charli

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Johnny Novgorod said:
So don't play modern games then. I was playing on the SNES the other day, still as fun as it was 20 years ago.
This. When I lose my way a bit I go back in time and play a few older titles. It reminds me why I love games.
 

Offworlder_v1legacy

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May 3, 2009
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No I'm the same. Recently I've bought about 5 games on Steam and put 2 hours into each. A few years ago I would have lapped that shit up, nothing else would matter til I finished one. I guess it just harkens back to when I was younger and only got one game every now and again, so I had to make the most of it. Nowadays I can just go on Steam or Amazon and buy what I want whenever I want. Different states of mind I guess, but I still enjoy playing games when I do, and every so often a game will come along that will give me that drive to 'make the most of it'.
 

BarryMcCociner

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The issue with the game market right now is twofold.

Oversaturation) Far too much coming out, especially in October, leading to a disproportionate amount of Shovelware.

Lack of Identity) Games are being stripped of uniqueness, if you've played a CoD you've played three other games coming out this year. This problem doesn't just exclusively lie on the head of FPS's though. For instance, Gone Home felt derivative from Dear Esther. Dragon Age: Inquisition felt like EVERY MMO EVER even without the addition of other players.

But you're never going to get rid of either of these problems, there will always be games coming out quickly, Jesus just look at the size of the industry, and as for identity, for every unique idea there will always be 10 people taking notes ready to beat that horse to death and beyond.

You're going to have to wait for fun games to come out. You're going to have to pass over a few "Generic Sword Quest" titles waiting for a game like Skyrim to come out. You're gonna have to wait through some "Assassin's Creed: Unity" titles before you hit a solid "Velvet Assassin" and you'll have to deal with a couple "Legend of Korra's" before you get a Metal Gear Rising.

Sometimes it feels like finding a needle in the haystack, but once you do find a title like Journey or E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy it feels so very worthwhile.
 

Sleepy Sol

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No, I cry profusely every time I play a game looking at my TV or PC screen. It just hurts too much.

To be more serious, I have actually stopped buying most AAA titles just because of how boring the industry seems to be becoming. That doesn't stop me from playing tons of smaller or more niche titles that are more appropriate to my tastes, though. And I generally still enjoy the hell out of those games.
 

Tilly

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Atmos Duality said:
It's always bugged me that for all the talk of promoting "diversity" or "progressiveness" (or whatever euphemism they choose) in gaming, the modus operandi of many such advocates is based more on deconstructing existing gaming culture; removing what they hate rather than adding what they want.
Which isn't really promoting diversity, but doing the opposite and hoping others fill in the void with stuff they like.
"Diversity", in the sense it's colloquially used, is one of the most confused ideas I've ever come across. It's terrible that so many people have been conditioned to think of it as almost good by definition and that it's been forced as dogma into so many institutions in the west. There is no 1 thing called diversity. There are a variety of traits across the human population and they're spread differently depending on the trait. It's in principle impossible to have diversity of all of them because they clash. All people mean when they say diversity is "we feel bad about racism and sexism". It's got nothing to do with the idea of being diverse in general.

How many companies promote diversity of IQ? How many promote diversity of physical height? Diversity of physical beauty? Those are 3 traits that to differing degrees also affect how financially successful people are so how come they're ignored?
 

Islandbuffilo

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BarryMcCociner said:
The issue with the game market right now is twofold.

Oversaturation) Far too much coming out, especially in October, leading to a disproportionate amount of Shovelware.

Lack of Identity) Games are being stripped of uniqueness, if you've played a CoD you've played three other games coming out this year. This problem doesn't just exclusively lie on the head of FPS's though. For instance, Gone Home felt derivative from Dear Esther. Dragon Age: Inquisition felt like EVERY MMO EVER even without the addition of other players.
But these have always been problems. We just, didn't care, didn't notice, or forgot about them at some point. And these problems don't really seem to be all that major to the gamer who knows what they wants, which is why the industry has survived as long as it has despite those problems.
 

Atmos Duality

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Tilly said:
"Diversity", in the sense it's colloquially used, is one of the most confused ideas I've ever come across.

...

All people mean when they say diversity is "we feel bad about racism and sexism". It's got nothing to do with the idea of being diverse in general.
I can agree with that. Though I still use "diversity" in airquotes because far too often someone is just using their incidental traits to extort sympathy and social leverage from the public. And holy crap are you right about it being dogmatic; all social structures discriminate by implicit definition, because without a list of "Do-NOTS" there really isn't law or order.

(even the most huggy-lovey-dovey of hypothetical peaceful communes employs discrimination at some level; I'd go so far to say that the only truly non-discriminatory people aren't "people" as we know them, but those utterly incapable of comprehending or making their own decisions. Mindless drones, essentially, that only do as they're programmed to, without pause or reason.)

There's a growing problem with some of those "progressives" taking their personal grievances exaggerating their impact to describe "systemic issues". (and it ALWAYS defaults to describing "systemic issues" whenever I ask for practical proof; which must be the ultimate hand-waving gesture)

Which is a bit like saying because I used a sprinkler on my lawn one day, I directly contributed towards a lethal flash flood some miles downwind later that day.

Technically, I can't prove that I *DIDN'T* contribute towards that flood by adding more free water vapor to the atmosphere, but by the same absence of hard evidence it'd be awfully stupid to make the accusation in the first place.

Yet, with enough ignorance and indignant anger, someone will believe the claim anyway, and get mad on the net about it.
*sigh*
Maybe there's something more to this, or maybe I'm just describing an increasingly cynical, angry society (and coat of anonymity) looking for something to feel outraged about, no matter how impractical or asinine.
Which really sucks when REAL systemic issues actually DO arise, and go unaddressed.

Frankly, I don't even really know anymore.

How many companies promote diversity of IQ? How many promote diversity of physical height? Diversity of physical beauty? Those are 3 traits that to differing degrees also affect how financially successful people are so how come they're ignored?
Because the powerful favor the powerful, and work to protect the system that gives them power.

Power dynamics in society are zen-like: Is society a complex system with simple rules to control the masses, or a complex set of rules to mask an otherwise simple system of inept sovereignty? Or are the masses too stupid to be allowed that kind of power at all?

Blah. I need to get going before I ramble more.
 

scorptatious

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I still enjoy gaming quite a bit.

Now though, I tend to avoid the AAA market and focus on more niche titles. Been playing the hell out of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and despite it's flaws, I'm enjoying it immensely.
 

Tiger King

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I think games are still fun, wish I had a console or powerful enough pc to actually play them though ha ha.
The only gripe I have with modern gaming is the shackles developers have to sometimes work under. This can make the difference between a game being original and fun or just a clone and safe investment for shareholders.