Losing my Gamer's Spirit

[DustyDrB]

Well, it's a wonderful world with many things to do. Video games are just one of them. I didn't play any games from the time I was a freshman in high school until I was a sophomore in college (a span from 2001-2006 if I remember correctly). And I've taken months off at a time since then as well (like this entire past summer).

And then I get back into it with a whole lot of catching up to do. Just go do other things for a while. You don't have to say you're done gaming forever. It's a good time of year to explore new interests anyway (well, here at least. But this is South Carolina).

 

[WolfEdge]

It could be that you're letting the inherent negativity that exists within the gamer community bog you down. I remember when I first started really using the internet I went through a sort of gamer's depression; I couldn't reconcile the hatedom that simply existed for every console and game, and it seemed at the time that every other discussion was about how terrible video games were becoming. It was effecting my ability to draw true enjoyment from a game without worrying whether it was objectively "good" or "bad". I mean, it's fun watching or reading scathing reviews and all, but you can get mired in that bullshit if you're not careful.

If that sounds anything like what you're experiencing, then my advice: take a little break from all of the forums and flame wars and fanboys and reviews, and just let yourself game without influence for a week or two, to clear your head a bit.

Hope that helps.

 

[Logic 0]

I got burned out a few times but I solved that by playing some games that I haven't in a while or playing some I just haven't played.

 

[Jack of Spades]

I know what ya mean, seeing the market flooded with cloned game after cloned game and seeing the sequels of great games being dumb done to appeal to the Call of Duty's multiplayer player base or the company milking the player for money by releasing half-done games and releasing the rest as DLC you have to pay for, day-one DLC is the biggest rip off to ever hit gaming.

 

[Signa]

Well, I just got Okamiden, and I'm finding it to be as great as the original, though it is admittedly gimped a little. It gives me faith in gaming, but that is shattered when you know few people are going to buy it.

 

[MercurySteam]

"That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight, I'm losing my religion.........."

Dunno why but it felt appropriate.

 

[The_Yeti]

i feel the same, but personally i think its just a matter of frustration and irritation that no game ever feels like its lived up to my standards, admittedly the older years of WoW were as close as I've gotten to feeling like a game could occupy my attention and give me reason to kill things.

When will i find the right combination of game-play, replay-ability, quest-line, and oodles of superbly beautiful and functional loot to satisfy my game needs D:

Heres hoping it comes out in the next 2 years if swtor and diablo3 don't suffice.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I feel like that sometimes. I will admit that fewer and fewer games give me that sense of childhood wonder I got when playing games like Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII. When my brother and I got IX from our grandmother, we squealed. Now though, not much makes me that giddy. I think part of it is simply growing up and losing contact with your inner child, that sense of wonder. I also think that another part of it is because I can buy whatever game I want without pause. Not much excitement for something when you know you can get it right away. It's kind of like Christmas. Much more fun when I was little. Still fun now that I'm an adult, but not nearly as much.

 

[The Madman]

Just take a break from gaming for awhile to do something else, it's what I do whenever that feeling comes over me as well. We're only human after all, we get bored! It happens!

I usually just take a complete break from gaming and even technology in general for a couple of months. Last couple of years I travelled, though I haven't any money to do so now. It's amazingly liberating to be completely cut off from this stuff we take for granted every day, and when you return after a couple of months absence, there's news to catch up on, new gadgets and games to read about, and everything seems fresh and novel again.

At least for me!

 

[dolgion]

I think this is connected to becoming older and your taste just gets more refined. It's not your fault. I get like that too. It's just that the industry hasn't matured at the same pace. Games that were mindblowing for me in my teens just don't cut it anymore today (JRPGs for example).
As an older gamer who's played a ton of games, I want to play something fresh and that speaks to me on a more sophisticated level...

 

[Nouw]

Try new games or focus on something else for a while, it won't last long.
[sub]And by long I mean until a great game like Portal 2 gets released.[/sub]

 

[Carnagath]

Never happened to me to be honest. If I don't really feel like playing something, I don't play anything. I don't force myself to spend all my free time there. Also, I haven't played anything online except Starcraft 2 and Demon's Souls in the last 5 years, because I seem to get bored of everything else instantly, so I just stick to single player games. Right now, there are no new releases that interest me, so I am in the middle of an Infinity engine marathon, and it's awesome.

 

[Bobbity]

I've had this same problem, both in literature and gaming.

I can't get into any fantasy or sci-fi books - unless they're radically different - because I've read so many that I can predict most every single plot twist. I lose focus a lot more easily than I used to, and can't get into it.

I don't have this problem so much with gaming - Heavy Rain and Red Dead both pulled me in quite effectively, but it's definitely there. I can pick up a game, and know it for nothing more than a re-skin of something else. I get burned out on FPS games very, very quickly, and I'm having difficulty immersing myself in new games.

I know that the wonder I felt just getting into the mediums can probably never be recreated, and that's a pity.

 

[Grabbin Keelz]

Sometimes I'll stop playing Team Fortress 2 for awhile. Then a few weeks later I'll play it and be like "Wow, how was this ever NOT fun?"

 

[Atmos Duality]

I've been burned out for a long time.
If I can't really play co-op with my friends, or it isn't an indie or good puzzle game, I'm basically bored with it already. Methinks the last shooter I'll ever buy might be Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and solely because Eidos Montreal is allegedly putting real effort into it.
My hopes are not high however, given the fact that Squeenix is publishing the game, and haven't published a single fucking title since the merger that's I've been happy with (well OK, one they had one great remake, but that was like 5% new material and a kickass remake of the text translation).

 

[Silent Biohazard Solid]

I've been calling myself a "gamer" since the mid-ninties back when starcraft movies were epic technology and the only fps people really knew about was Doom.

Yet, these days, I just can't lose myself in games the way I used to - whether new ones or old classics.

Anyone else ever get burned out like this? Think I should just try a new genre of games?

It happens to everyone. I agree with Woodscare. Take a break, do something creative, start working out put on some muscle, whatever. Trust me, last summer I thought, "Man, I guess I'm just growing up, I don't even get excited about the idea of games anymore." Right now, I'm on a major gaming kick, and I've been enjoying my games like I'm 16 again.

I don't know if you'll have a comeback, but don't just go and trade off all your games just yet. Take a break and do something else for now.

 

[warprincenataku]

It's a part of growing up I suppose. As I get older I find I play less and less games, but still enjoy it from time to time. My attention span for most games has been dramatically cut short as well, hence I only play any game for about two weeks before I get bored and quit or move on.

 

[Still Life]

It could be that you're letting the inherent negativity that exists within the gamer community bog you down. I remember when I first started really using the internet I went through a sort of gamer's depression; I couldn't reconcile the hatedom that simply existed for every console and game, and it seemed at the time that every other discussion was about how terrible video games were becoming. It was effecting my ability to draw true enjoyment from a game without worrying whether it was objectively "good" or "bad". I mean, it's fun watching or reading scathing reviews and all, but you can get mired in that bullshit if you're not careful.

If that sounds anything like what you're experiencing, then my advice: take a little break from all of the forums and flame wars and fanboys and reviews, and just let yourself game without influence for a week or two, to clear your head a bit.

Hope that helps.

I think he just needs more ponies.