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I can't help to notice as I've gotten older, my attentionspan for games has become exponentially shorter. When I was younger, studying in High School and College I could play games online and offline for hours an end. Gaming alone or with friends til 3-4 am and getting up for class at 7. No problems at all.
Now I get bored/biased after short sessions and go watch streams where the really good players are.
I don't know if this is an age thing or just me lacking in skill and being more competative now then when I was younger or if its because now I have a full time job working horrible hours (2.30 pm - 11.30 pm) and just not having the energy for 'serious' gaming.
I would love to get 4-6 hours of SC2 every day on weekdays, make my way up to Master League and do smaller tournaments for my own competative sides sake. Its just not in me. Even tho I have a great circle of practice partners on EU ranging from Masters to Platinum I never get on to grind.
It just bothers me.
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when i was a kid i used to think "man i cant wait until im senile and retire so that i can play games all day"
now im the same as you except only in college
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I'm the same way now. I'm 31, how old are you? I find myself playing at a much slower pace and just for fun nowadays.
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United States24612 Posts
When I was a kid my parents always had me doing stuff (camp, sports, etc) in the summer so I wouldn't stay home and game. I always used to think that, if given the opportunity, summer would be awesome because I could game the whole summer. In college I sorta did that one or two years when I wasn't working and couldn't get the research gigs I wanted; post-college I still get summers off but just don't get myself to do half the "fun" stuff I've always thought I'd want to do :p
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Been a gamer and a nerd since I was around 10 and I just turned 28.
I donno if its my work hours that kills the social part of gaming on EU servers for me. Not alot of people on weekdays after midnight playing. Always felt that the social aspect of gaming was a big deal for me.
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Same for me at 30, it is a combination a few things. There is the weight of all the other responsibilities I have that I didn't have when I was younger, much higher stress levels at work and just a physical need for more sleep.
It sucks.
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On July 19 2011 08:30 micronesia wrote:
When I was a kid my parents always had me doing stuff (camp, sports, etc) in the summer so I wouldn't stay home and game. I always used to think that, if given the opportunity, summer would be awesome because I could game the whole summer. In college I sorta did that one or two years when I wasn't working and couldn't get the research gigs I wanted; post-college I still get summers off but just don't get myself to do half the "fun" stuff I've always thought I'd want to do :p
Don't get me wrong, my parents were the same way and I competed in sports (hockey and soccer) til I was 18. I had an active life outside of my gaming. But I could still enjoy gridning games in SC, SC;BW, doing Hell/Hell in Diablo, 8 hour Temple of Veeshan raids in EverQuest. I just dont see myself doing that any more.
I don't like getting old =)
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Same here. 29 now and with time I get less and less interest in playing games altough I have time to do it after work.
I too spend alot of my time checking streams and playing games for fun.
Besides SC2 i'm playing TF2 (again) and Plant vs Zombies(again).
Things change with time. Just accept it and try to take the best from it.
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feel you too man. 26 now, and i just get this huge sense that my playing games is going to hurt me in the future. These days I jump back and forth between being career focused and game focused, but I can sense the gaming part of me losing its tenacity.
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I swear if this game came out when I was in university and playing it instead of wow like 6-8 hours a day I would be a pro.
Alas, Full time Job, Girlfriend, Travel, and just plain lack of energy keeps me to 1 or 2 games a night and then the rest is stream watching. I just lack the drive for it that I used too. Sadly I dont see this changing, because I cant very well quit my job unless my poker career takes off (lol).
for reference Im 25
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Meh. I've gone through times where I play games all day everyday with short breaks to sleep to periods where I play maybe a half hour once a week. It depends on the game and the community, really stressing the community. In the past I could just go on anon and play for hours but now, I wouldnt say I need a friend there, but to keep myself interested in the game I need that sense of vibrancy that comes with a social aspect to it. So not necessarily playing games with friends but knowing there on, having a chit chat here and there and then gaming again. Otherwise if anything as of the last bit I've wanted to game more.
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Wow I feel exactly the same way and I'm only 18 xD
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I miss those times when I was able to play Arcanum for 3 months, or Quake 3 for days without really doing anything else. Nowadays I have no patience to play 40+ minutes of Arcanum in one sitting. Same goes for BW matches.
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Wow, this is a depressing blog to read. I guess I'll have to enjoy my young years gaming while I can.
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United States12231 Posts
It's not like that for everyone. I try and play games every chance I get. I'm 28 and I think there are several big reasons why people stop gaming hardcore:
- Wife and kids, or desire to get a wife and kids =]
- Realization they're not going to be a competitive player (though some like me still stick it out just for the competition)
- Work takes too much time
- Friends or coworkers stop playing games
I think the last one is one of the biggest. If you don't have people to talk to regularly who are just as into competitive and/or hardcore gaming as you and who share your interests with the same passion, you'll just lose interest yourself. I played WoW for a really long time and did raiding, PvP when I could, I played with my girlfriend and her guild too, and more and more people I knew started dropping out of WoW -- my girlfriend stopped playing, my coworkers stopped playing (even though they weren't on my server it still was subject matter), and my schedule changed and I can't commit to a raid schedule so I stopped playing too. I still have friends who I talk to every day who play SF4 and SC2, so I still play those games as often as possible.
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Whoa, I've been realizing the same thing about myself recently. Good to read that I'm not alone :D
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On July 19 2011 10:54 Excalibur_Z wrote:
It's not like that for everyone. I try and play games every chance I get. I'm 28 and I think there are several big reasons why people stop gaming hardcore:
- Wife and kids, or desire to get a wife and kids =]
- Realization they're not going to be a competitive player (though some like me still stick it out just for the competition)
- Work takes too much time
- Friends or coworkers stop playing games
I think the last one is one of the biggest. If you don't have people to talk to regularly who are just as into competitive and/or hardcore gaming as you and who share your interests with the same passion, you'll just lose interest yourself. I played WoW for a really long time and did raiding, PvP when I could, I played with my girlfriend and her guild too, and more and more people I knew started dropping out of WoW -- my girlfriend stopped playing, my coworkers stopped playing (even though they weren't on my server it still was subject matter), and my schedule changed and I can't commit to a raid schedule so I stopped playing too. I still have friends who I talk to every day who play SF4 and SC2, so I still play those games as often as possible.
I agree, though i still play almost every minute i'm at home. Probably because i neither have a wife nor kids (and lost the drive to go out and find a future wife) and don't have any friends in this town to do something else, so gaming is the best way to relax for me, though SC2 is too stressful atm with my loss streak so i just play team monobattles and watch streams on my second monitor :p
For those that have either of those, it's definatly a factor that keeps you away from gaming. A colleague recently sold his gaming PC because after his son was born, he just had no more time for games. Another colleague stopped playing, too, because his wife got pregnant. A few other colleagues still play some very casual games once a week, but in general it's getting a lot less.
What would we all do to be young again...
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On July 19 2011 10:54 Excalibur_Z wrote:
- Realization they're not going to be a competitive player (though some like me still stick it out just for the competition)
It's easier to become pro, if you got pretty far by playing casually. I don't plan on becoming a progamer, but I'd still like to hit high masters/gm just to be able to compete in local tournaments for fun (and maybe a bit of cash and other prizes).
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As several others have echoed, I feel the same way. I still game, but most of it is concentrated on the weekends. After getting home from work or finishing a day of law school classes, I need to make dinner, work on applying for jobs, and prepare for classes. By the time I finish all of that, I have maybe an hour or two of free time before I need to sleep in order to be functional the next day. I just don't have the mental energy to concentrate on gaming. So I usually read a bit or watch some television, and save the interactive entertainment for times when I'm not so damn busy.
I'm just glad I live in an urban area and I don't have to spend the weekend mowing the lawn/weeding/tending a garden/fixing broken shit all over my house. God bless maintenance guys.
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
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On July 19 2011 22:29 alffla wrote:
this blog is depressing
It only seems depressing. I game no where near as much as I used to (still not much) either. But the thing is, whether you miss it or not.
Personally I miss having free time period. It's just part of getting older, like your sex getting scheduled...
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Last night I gamed for like 30 minutes. I was happy. But I got tired. So that was the end. =(
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On July 19 2011 22:29 alffla wrote:
this blog is depressing
not so much, its just the realization of something.. we change  as we grow older the stuff we like and we do change, we dont really notice this too much because the enviroment or the people we hang out with change as well with us. Yesterday for example i was at my friend's house and he showed me his ps3 with sony move, and we ended up talking about the graphics and evolution of gaming consoles instead of play the fuck out of the games he had. I guess sometimes we become more analytics? =/
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Zurich15315 Posts
Huh. I am 28 and I don't game mainly because I have no time for it. If I can make the odd Sunday afternoon free for gaming every couple of weeks I sure still play 8 ours straight though no problem. When I was sick for a couple of days a while ago I played all day back to back. It's definitely still in me :-)
Not sure if I could continue this without, well, being sick and not having anything to do but definitely lack of time is what keeps me from gaming much more than lack of drive to sit down and play.
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On July 20 2011 00:16 josemb40 wrote:not so much, its just the realization of something.. we change
Thats excactly what I wanted to convey in this blog. I don't feel sorry for my self for not having the time, energy or dedication to play games on a 'higher' level. But I can still miss it at times and it annoys me that I can't be as enthusiastic any more.
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EPT
