Ask Lemmy

I bought a Wii U, and then nobody made games for it. I didn't feel like making a console switch.

I still play games, but I did definitely notice a change in the way I do play them.

When I was young, there was a magic to everything. Most of the things in life are pretty new to you when you're young. There's so much you don't understand, so much new stuff to explore. I didn't know that the guests in Rollercoaster Tycoon were just some simple algorithms, to me they seemed like people. People who'd enjoy all the crazy things I'd build. I didn't know that the AI in Age of Empires was just a collection of some rules, to me they felt human-like.

Over time, especially because I'm a programmer, the magic got lost. I started understanding how these things worked. And because of that it started feeling pointless. Just something I do to waste my time and nothing else. The guests felt nothing, the AoE AI are just some if statements.

However, somehow I also kinda outgrew that phase again. After dealing with what could be called a "quarter life crisis" I've kind of found a more creative and open minded side of myself. One that doesn't always try to resolve everything to cold hard facts. One that pretends that the guests in RCT have feelings, even if I damn well know that they don't. I've started finding plenty of new games that filled me with wonder again, whether they are large games like Cyberpunk or Jedi Survivor, or smaller games like Celeste, Hades, or Cassette Beasts. Coincidentally I also stopped playing live service and competitive games mostly. There's plenty of fun to be had beyond all the lootbox and battle pass grindfests.

Kids, and other hobbies.

I still fire up AoE2, Civ5 or GTA5 once a year, but quickly get distracted with other things. Or yelled at for ignoring the kids.

I decided to apply myself at work.

Like, fully invested during work hours, fully off when it's time to go home.

Suddenly, my drive to constantly fit a quick mobile game in here and there evaporated. Work became my game, efficiency, working safely, and skills improvement becoming my stats.

I found less and less returns to sit at a desk for several hours a week. I play maybe 60hrs a year and it's mostly just replaying the same games I played when I was a teenager.

I used to play tons of games but over time they simply got worse. Trying everything to suck every last drop of money out of you, battle pass, daily quests, seasons, limited time exclusive content, FOMO. And of course games that waste your time and are far too long for the sake of being long. I have like 300 hours in destiny but never reached the "actually good" endgame content. It was because after sinking 40 hours in a month or so, I would give up for some time and my progress is reset because of the new season, etc.

That and every game feels so stale. Another mindless PVP shooter, another cod every year, another battlefield. It also doesn't help that now as an adult I have actual responsibilities and limited time. Plus as an adult you begin to actually value your life lol. I'm over the period of my life where I'd want to spend time gathering 1000 blocks of virtual sand.

I played a lot of Runescape. I looked at my 4000 or so hours that I had put into it and decided that I can probably level up some real life skills instead.

Wanted to fully experience life!

Grew up gaming. Stopped gaming for twenty years. Now I game again. I've had a great time. Climbed mountains. Traveled. All manner of relationships. Built a nice career. Now I find I can enjoy games without that, I'm wasting my life feeling.

All humans "waste" time. It's odd to say reading is better than games. Or movies are better than TV. They're all just mediums to convey stories. And really, there aren't many original stories, just the same ones told over and over in different ways.

At least with games, you are actively participating rather than passively consuming. And yes I do read lots of complicated books, and watch fine cinema, and great television.

But I also garden, birding, botany, camp, etc.

For me it was simply family. I grew up and don’t have the time - but I regret nothing.

For you, if it doesn’t bring you joy then I agree you’re wasting your time. Maybe look into the underlying cause of that? I don’t think games are inherently a waste of time if they do bring joy- as then WTH is the point of life if not to enjoy it.

Get over-immersed too easily. So now I stick with boring, repetitive stuff with zero social element, with the aim of not finding it engaging enough to take me away from the rest of my life.