What's with all these "quitting gaming" threads I see popping up?

[SonOfVoorhees]

the industry is not crashing, but the gears in it are quitting.

i am too thinking of just taking a long break from games. they get less and less interesting for me. even when some gems pop up to stir this pot of bland mush.

Every gen has less new stuff and more of the same stuff but it looks better graphics wise. That why PS4 Cod will be the same linear game just looks nicer. I think many gamers have been gamers since Atari or Spectrum and have seen game become less imaginative and more graphical as the gens have continued.AAA titles cost a lot, and each new consoles means most of that is spent on graphics.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Dunno if it's the case, but perhaps many members are at the same stage when they realize that there are other things to do during your free time. I for one don't own a single game that's been released this year, and only 3 from last year. It's not that I see the industry becoming shit, since I never really cared much for it anyway, I just don't find many games interesting enough to make me want to play them.

 

[Bravo 21]

I'd say it probably has something to do with this being exam season. I myself haven't been on the escapist much, or gaming at all for a while, mostly due to studying and stuff. Don't fear OP, this too shall pass.

 

[ChristopherT]

people get bored, don't know how to self moderate, think they're getting 'too old' for games, ect, ect. ?

The 'too old for games' part I can at least laugh and shrug at. It's just a silly thought, so what ev' whatever makes them happy.

Those who can't self moderate their time is kind of sad, and hopefully they can at some point in the future find a nice balance between life and some time for games or whatever activity they go on from their. The only problem is when they blame games instead of themselves - games only take as much time as you give them.

However the bored group usually blames the games right off and can't look in the mirror, makes stupid excuses, and can go do what ever the hell they want thinking they're better off for it, 'cause I don't want to hear their shit. New games suck, new games are boring, new games are uncreative, new games this, new games that. If all new games are the same to you, you're not looking hard enough or you simply don't care, in which case move on and realize it's you, not the games.

And it being about new games anyways is such shit. Older games are easy to find and only becoming easier. You don't need a great PC to play most of the line up at GOG.com or the older games on Steam and on other digital distribution sites. If you have a PS3, PSP, Vita or a Nintendo console you have a selection of older games in the digital department as well, Playstation One games and whatever Nintendo offers on their classics store. SO you mean to tell me, that with all these games available, you've played enough of them to declare the end, that gaming is a waste of time, all games are the same, games are boring, you've played ALL the good ones, ect.

No, it's you, and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with moving on from a hobby. There's nothing wrong with having your tastes change. Have a good day, I hope you find greener pastures.

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

I really don't buy that someone who likes games enough to join an internet forum to discuss them is going to quit gaming totally. Sure they give good reasons why they quit, but in the long run to say that the entire industry has gone to shit is such a generalisation. You must be looking forward to something surely. As for people who feel they've outgrown games, well that seem strange to me, but fair enough

 

[Pink Gregory]

I liken such public and proud announcements to the way teenagers will sometimes make a big deal about going vegan or becoming an anarchist. The ones who make the most noise tend to want more attention given to themselves than to the actual causes they claim to support. So whenever I see someone making a bold announcement that "I'm no longer playing games because the industry is a pile of shit and doesn't regard me as a customer!" what I see reads more like "I think very highly of myself and I'm very ignorant of anything that doesn't come from EA or Ubisoft, so I'm going to make a very ignorant and childish choice that looks very bold but won't even catch the eye of even the lowliest EA or Ubisoft employee."

I agree really quite hard with this.

Although admittedly you're kind of fudged if you're primarily a console or handheld gamer as this is where we're seeing most of the homogenisation, because encouraging and supporting and environment for niche and lower-budget games as part of your service would totally be a bad idea, Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo...

 

[MoltenSilver]

I think it has a lot to do with hitting a 'breaking point' in putting up with the industry, it just seems to be happening alot now because this is the line where coincidentally a lot of people have individually come to the conclusion of 'not worth it'.

Now I do think most people posting it don't really intend to quit gaming wholesale, my (very possible erroneous) assumption is that they mean they're done with the AAA industry 'hardcore' $60 games.

And frankly I wouldn't blame anyone who decided the current sewage line that is the big-budget market isn't worth having hope for.
That's not to say there's not good games, there almost certainly are many... the problem is most of them are the same game as well: the generic jack-of-all-trades watered down focus-grouped game that doesn't even know what its trying to be, coming off more like a sight-seeing tour than a toy. And given the current attitude of the AAA industry of 'if it doesn't sell 10million its not worth making' its easy to see why some people wouldn't have hope that's going to change anytime soon.

Then there's the even bigger sticking point for some people: publishers meddling in their product post-sale. When your done your day, come home exhausted, and sit down to play video games the absolute last thing you want to have to do is put in more work just to get the damn things to function, to say nothing of server outages, endless barrages of updates for broken products, and DRM - I'm sorry, 'features'- that obstruct the game. When the person who sold you the product physically bars you from using it afterwards, picking up a different hobby seems really really attractive.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

I think I understand your point OT. Giving oneself this ultimatum feels like being an extremist. All or nothing. Either I love games or I hate games. I buy all of them, including the bad and generic, or I don't play any, even when they seem interesting.

Just because someone is not currently playing games doesn't mean they have to officially "give up," or "take a break." You just choose to focus your attention or free time elsewhere.

Picking up 'that one game I've been hyped over' once a year can be ever so more satisfying than sloshing through trash waiting. You can pick up some shooter not even popular or 'good' and still enjoy it if you haven't been bogged down by the 50 Calofield Battleduty clones that came out this year.

In fact, this could be even better for the industry if you think about personal brain space, or that less people buying shooters per minute means that the AAA market would see a shift in genre or style.


TL;DR
there are fun things to do outside of only games. If you feel stressed with gaming go on an adventure!

 

[uchytjes]

Well I mostly blame the "I'M QUITTING GAMING" threads on people that have grown out of the "must have all the games" stage and have finally realized that a fairly large amount of stuff out there is either a clone, broken, or otherwise mediocre.

Why they do this? Growing up mostly, but there are some legitimate reasons as to why they do this.

1. AAA stagnation. This is likely the biggest culprit. Because AAA games are the most visible and easiest games to pick up off the shelf, most gamers find these to be their only source of gaming. No indies, just AAA gaming. Because of recent stagnation (I'm blaming it on both marketing and the "console gap") and the fact that their mind is developing, they have come to realize that a lot of games are "samey" and not a new idea.

2. Multiplayer/MMO overload. Playing a multiplayer game is pretty damn tiring for some people (myself included) and because of this, having a bad day combined with a particularly frustrating matchmaking set can lead to some very frustrating circumstances. This can be remedied by playing a single player game and winding down, but because there seem to be very few that are coming out nowadays that actually are almost infinitely replayable some gamers just don't notice them and think that multiplayer is the best way to go about playing beyond a campaign.

Thats all I can think of, but there are surely more besides what I mentioned. Also, my entire argument is based around teenagers growing out of childhood and there are certainly people out there that have completely legitimate and significant problems that they feel can be resolved through quitting gaming, so arguments don't always apply.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

What's with all this whining about how tired we're about games? They're our hobbies, not our jobs. And enough about the AAA industry. There're enough GOOD games to last several fucking lifetimes, if you care to find them out.

 

[scorptatious]

What's with all this whining about how tired we're about games? They're your hobby, not your job. And enough about the AAA industry. There're enough GOOD games to last several fucking lifetimes, if you care to find them out.

I think that best sums up how I feel about this issue.

If you want to quit gaming, go ahead. But don't shout about it to the rest of the world. Most of us still enjoy playing games.

 

[Cyfu]

Sorry, I'd better rein this in before it becomes any more inflammatory, the point I wanted to get to was this question. why would you want to quit games? I mean take a break from them sure but I think that to actively avoid them would be more hassle than it's worth.

1) The AAA game industry has decided that it's only interested in making one type of game. If that type of game doesn't interest you, and you're only still playing because of habit, then maybe it's time to re-examine how you spend your time.

2) No, it's a little depressing at first to give up a hobby, but afterwards you realize that there are plenty of other things you could be doing with your time. I haven't bought nearly as many games over the past two years as I used to. I've gone from actively looking for games to play to only bothering when something rises above the sea of bland, button-mashing action games and COD sequels and wanna-be sequels and really makes me want to play it.

It's actually much nicer once you don't care as much about gaming anymore, and sometimes it takes an "I'M QUITTING GAMING FOREVER!" stage to get there.

Except that the amount of good indie games that are being released now your argument is kind of pointless? Not sure if pointless is the right word though. what I mean is, that just because the AAA game industry isn't making game that you like there are a FUCKTON of indie developers that make absolutely fantastic games.

 

[Zeras]

I think it's a seasonal thing. Oh no, everyone else seems to be starting to enjoy the summer when I'm not, time to quit gaming altogether.

I really can't enjoy the summer - allergies to indoor/outdoor contaminants - so screw the people who like the summertime. Every summer I've had has been yard work and worries about skin cancer from being out in the sun too long.

@uchytjes, I think you're spot on with #2 of the reasons for "Quitting Gaming": the Multiplayer/MMO type of games. I got Halo 4 when it first came out - more because I really enjoy the story and setting of the Halo universe - and it's been at least a month since I played any kind of multiplayer mode with it; I can't stand the competitiveness of people who play. I see gamertags that have ranks of 130+ and think "how can you stand getting beat at least 1/2 the time to get that ranking?" I mainly have singleplayer games for my 360, and it's what I use to unwind and play around with. EDIT: Ditto with ME 3s' multi-mode. So pointless....

 

[MammothBlade]

I think it's a seasonal thing. Oh no, everyone else seems to be starting to enjoy the summer when I'm not, time to quit gaming altogether.

I really can't enjoy the summer - allergies to indoor/outdoor contaminants - so screw the people who like the summertime. Every summer I've had has been yard work and worries about skin cancer from being out in the sun too long.

@uchytjes, I think you're spot on with #2 of the reasons for "Quitting Gaming": the Multiplayer/MMO type of games. I got Halo 4 when it first came out - more because I really enjoy the story and setting of the Halo universe - and it's been at least a month since I played any kind of multiplayer mode with it; I can't stand the competitiveness of people who play. I see gamertags that have ranks of 130+ and think "how can you stand getting beat at least 1/2 the time to get that ranking?" I mainly have singleplayer games for my 360, and it's what I use to unwind and play around with. EDIT: Ditto with ME 3s' multi-mode. So pointless....

You don't have to like summer. I just mean that everyone's out "enjoying" themselves, and some people think they're missing out on others' perceived fun, even if they prefer sitting inside playing games.

 

[Zeras]

I think it's a seasonal thing. Oh no, everyone else seems to be starting to enjoy the summer when I'm not, time to quit gaming altogether.

I really can't enjoy the summer - allergies to indoor/outdoor contaminants - so screw the people who like the summertime. Every summer I've had has been yard work and worries about skin cancer from being out in the sun too long.

@uchytjes, I think you're spot on with #2 of the reasons for "Quitting Gaming": the Multiplayer/MMO type of games. I got Halo 4 when it first came out - more because I really enjoy the story and setting of the Halo universe - and it's been at least a month since I played any kind of multiplayer mode with it; I can't stand the competitiveness of people who play. I see gamertags that have ranks of 130+ and think "how can you stand getting beat at least 1/2 the time to get that ranking?" I mainly have singleplayer games for my 360, and it's what I use to unwind and play around with. EDIT: Ditto with ME 3s' multi-mode. So pointless....

You don't have to like summer. I just mean that everyone's out "enjoying" themselves, and some people think they're missing out on others' perceived fun, even if they prefer sitting inside playing games.

I am definitely not one of them.

captcha: Tough evolved (strangely kind of appropriate).

 

[Little Gray]

What's with all this whining about how tired we're about games? They're your hobby, not your job. And enough about the AAA industry. There're enough GOOD games to last several fucking lifetimes, if you care to find them out.

I think that best sums up how I feel about this issue.

If you want to quit gaming, go ahead. But don't shout about it to the rest of the world. Most of us still enjoy playing games.

They cant help the fact that they are emo blowhards. They have to announce it so they can get some attention.

Telling people you are quitting gaming is simply a popular trend right now, just like hating on EA or declaring that the games industry will crash soon. Give it some time and the ranting idiots will move on to something else.

 

[Lilani]

While i agree , can you really deny the industry treats us badly ? I mean not many people would go through all the BS gamers have just to do their hobby .

OT: iunno , new fad?

Yes, but a public announcement of your personal boycott on an Internet forum is not going to change any of that. I am a strong supporter of voting with your wallet, which is why I didn't buy ME3 until 6 months after it came out so that I didn't contribute to its launch numbers. So if others want to do the same or completely abstain from buying games from certain devs and publishers then fine, more power to them. But if they want to make a scene about it, they shouldn't be ranting on Internet forums about it. Nobody from EA or Ubisoft is going to look at the Escapist forums and think "Oh no, somebody's saying they aren't buying from us anymore! Better change our ways!" One less sale is an important step, but if you feel the need to air your grievances then take it straight to the company you've got a problem with. Send EA or Ubisoft an email and personally tell them exactly why they've lost your future business. But announcing it to the world on a forum is nothing but looking for validation and praise from your peers.