General Gaming Have any of you been in a gaming rut?

[best3444]

@ManUtdRedDevils please explain what you meant in your last post. It confused the hell out of me.

[best3444]

23 hours ago, best3444 said:

@ManUtdRedDevils please explain what you meant in your last post. It confused the hell out of me.

 

@ManUtdRedDevils please explain yourself. 

 

Also, I couldn't bring myself to game after work yesterday or today. I'm really focusing on playing tomorrow though! I want to attempt to beat Ori and the Will of the Wisps. 

[BloodyHell]

On 6/21/2021 at 9:00 AM, best3444 said:

I'm trying to decipline myself to set aside 2 hours this evening to play Ori. I think I have to get myself in a rhythm and then I get hooked. I don't know. 

Jesus man, if you don't feel like playing, don't play. You sound ridiculous. Im not trying to be an ass, but this is the kind of stuff I expect from a kid. If you feel like playing, play. If you don't, do something else. Your life is not going to be worse if you don't game for a while.

[Fizzzzle]

5 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Jesus man, if you don't feel like playing, don't play. You sound ridiculous. Im not trying to be an ass, but this is the kind of stuff I expect from a kid. If you feel like playing, play. If you don't, do something else. Your life is not going to be worse if you don't game for a while.

I think it's a sunk cost fallacy kind of thing. Like, I payed for it, I damn well better finish it. I know I've certainly took games farther than I should after I've stopped having fun because I feel like I HAVE to finish it. And sunk cost is a normal emotional response.

 

Personally, I know I go through periods where I'll go through like a game a week for a couple months, then I know it's time to take a break when I start a game that I know I actually like, but I just can't bring myself to play. Then I kind of feel bad because I know I'll probably never go back to that game again. So I bought it only to never finish it.

[best3444]

46 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Jesus man, if you don't feel like playing, don't play. You sound ridiculous. Im not trying to be an ass, but this is the kind of stuff I expect from a kid. If you feel like playing, play. If you don't, do something else. Your life is not going to be worse if you don't game for a while.

 

I didn't feel like playing yesterday or today. Your post is ridiculous if anything. I'm not stressing over this just having a conversation on a forum. Relax Jesus Christ. You get really heated and passionate in your posts. Calm down a bit.

[BloodyHell]

36 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

I didn't feel like playing yesterday or today. Your post is ridiculous if anything. I'm not stressing over this just having a conversation on a forum. Relax Jesus Christ. You get really heated and passionate in your posts. Calm down a bit.

Dude, the only thing ridiculous is you trying to force yourself to want to play a game. That's not passion, that was me just straight up telling you to play or don't, and stop trying to force yourself to do so. 

I don't feel like playing, but im going to force myself to play!

Do you not realize how absurd that is? Like I'd get it if it was exercise, studying, working, it's your health and betterment. I didn't want to run this morning, but I did because its good for me. You gaming is not going to make your life better or worse, so stop worrying about it and do what you want, not what you need to force yourself to do.

[best3444]

8 hours ago, BloodyHell said:

Dude, the only thing ridiculous is you trying to force yourself to want to play a game. That's not passion, that was me just straight up telling you to play or don't, and stop trying to force yourself to do so. 

I don't feel like playing, but im going to force myself to play!

Do you not realize how absurd that is? Like I'd get it if it was exercise, studying, working, it's your health and betterment. I didn't want to run this morning, but I did because its good for me. You gaming is not going to make your life better or worse, so stop worrying about it and do what you want, not what you need to force yourself to do.

 

That's not how I look at it at all. It's a videogame forum and I was talking about me being in a rut. I'm trying to get back into it. Plain and simple. I suggested that maybe I get myself back into a rhythm by just start playing a game and see if I get hooked again. You're taking this way too seriously. I understand what you're saying overall. Thanks for the concern lol.

[brucoe]

I fall into a really weird rut whenever it comes to gaming. I'm very specific in the kinds of games I like, but those change drastically on me over periods of months. I tend to like huge world building types of games, and will play them for thousands of hours, and then just grow bored with them and look for something else JUST LIKE IT. Yeah, the logic there throws me off every time as well.

 

Recently, I started in on an older game, Rimworld, and after getting past the initial problems (like I was constantly being completely murdered by wild animals in EVERY play through after doing just fine, and nothing would stop this from happening). Then I moved onto mods that managed to make it so that I could become overpowered so that those problems didn't occur, but then something else would diminish the experience, because no mod or series of mods could compensate for the fact that every mod seemed to build some kind of crappy experience to compensate for the good parts of the mod. Basically, after hours and hours of trying to get that game going, I just stopped playing and am now looking for something similar, but not the exact same thing. That stupid problem again.

 

So, I'm constantly looking for something super great, but then constantly stuck because no matter what you do, it appears that every game out there comes installed with some fatal flaw that you often don't discover until many hours into the experience. It's almost like my gaming experiences have become one huge pursuit for what is wrong with a game, as if that's the goal of the game in each new game I get into. I'm torn between whether this is a fatal flaw in me, or a fatal flaw in the fact that I'm starting to believe that laziness is allowing developers to create games that should have been developed better. It kind of leaves one in a sense that the next best game is always around the next corner, but it's just not done yet.

[TheLeon]

All I want to do it play games, but I've had persistent hand/wrist problems, and holding a controller for more than a few minutes can be a problem most days. I can tap on an ipad, so I play games like Hearthstone and Slay the Spire while watching TV, but that's about it. 

[Fizzzzle]

8 hours ago, TheLeon said:

All I want to do it play games, but I've had persistent hand/wrist problems, and holding a controller for more than a few minutes can be a problem most days. I can tap on an ipad, so I play games like Hearthstone and Slay the Spire while watching TV, but that's about it. 

Is KB/M a problem, too?

[TheLeon]

1 hour ago, Fizzzzle said:

Is KB/M a problem, too?

The mouse is. Pretty much anything that requires a constant grip. I guess I could try just using the keyboard and play some old emulators or something. 

[best3444]

20 hours ago, TheLeon said:

All I want to do it play games, but I've had persistent hand/wrist problems, and holding a controller for more than a few minutes can be a problem most days. I can tap on an ipad, so I play games like Hearthstone and Slay the Spire while watching TV, but that's about it. 

 

I'm assuming you went to the Dr for this? What's the issue you have? Sorry to hear that, man. 

[TheLeon]

1 hour ago, best3444 said:

 

I'm assuming you went to the Dr for this? What's the issue you have? Sorry to hear that, man. 

I went to a couple of doctors last year when I was having similar problems. Ended up having carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists. I was perfect for about 5 months, then started developing these new, slightly different symptoms. 

[best3444]

1 hour ago, TheLeon said:

I went to a couple of doctors last year when I was having similar problems. Ended up having carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists. I was perfect for about 5 months, then started developing these new, slightly different symptoms. 

 

God, that sucks. I hope it improves some how. Surprising that the surgery didn't fully fix your issue. But I have heard that carpal tunnel surgery isn't always a 100% fix. I wish you the best. 

[heydude93]

Kinda.  There's maybe five or six new releases this year I've tried. I'm definitely gonna play and finish Kena:BoS, Psychonauts 2, and Elden Ring though.

[best3444]

Well when I choose to game again I'm going to:

 

Finish Ori and the Will of the Wisps 

Play and beat YS9 on ps4 

Get back into ME and play and beat part 2

 

Then I'll see where I stand. I'll eventually get the itch back. I'm not worried about it.

[ShreddieMercury]

Yes, and I think it's very common.  A big part of it is aging - if gaming's been a hobby of yours for a significant portion of your life, you've likely seen most of what's out there, and at this point most games offer more subtle refinements than radical innovations.  The sense of wonder and excitement that you might have had when you were younger is likely much rarer these days, and for good reason because returns have been diminishing for a while.  Take the new consoles for example; while we haven't had a whole lot of "next-gen" games, what's out there is quite literally just the last generation with better reflections and short load times.  VR is really cool, but even that still fails to spark the absolute astonishment of the transition from 2D to 3D with something like Mario 64 (for me at least).  Until game design itself changes, that spark will be hard to find.

 

Speaking personally, I find that any rut (gaming or otherwise) usually coincides with periods where I'm down about other things.  It really helps to try other things, or to take a break, or even to just play for a shorter period of time.  Sometimes games can be more rewarding when you engage with them less.  Another problem may be paralysis of choice given how much is out there.  Picking a game is like scrolling through Netflix for half hour before giving up and turning it off.  It's simply hard to process having so many options, which then creates anxiety about how to most wisely use your time.  Video games should enrich your life.  They should not stress you out. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I guess I was for a long while, but I think it’s more because reading took over as my primary hobby. 
 

But I’ve been consistently playing games again and enjoying it quite a bit. 

[best3444]

20 hours ago, ShreddieMercuryRising said:

Yes, and I think it's very common.  A big part of it is aging - if gaming's been a hobby of yours for a significant portion of your life, you've likely seen most of what's out there, and at this point most games offer more subtle refinements than radical innovations.  The sense of wonder and excitement that you might have had when you were younger is likely much rarer these days, and for good reason because returns have been diminishing for a while.  Take the new consoles for example; while we haven't had a whole lot of "next-gen" games, what's out there is quite literally just the last generation with better reflections and short load times.  VR is really cool, but even that still fails to spark the absolute astonishment of the transition from 2D to 3D with something like Mario 64 (for me at least).  Until game design itself changes, that spark will be hard to find.

 

Speaking personally, I find that any rut (gaming or otherwise) usually coincides with periods where I'm down about other things.  It really helps to try other things, or to take a break, or even to just play for a shorter period of time.  Sometimes games can be more rewarding when you engage with them less.  Another problem may be paralysis of choice given how much is out there.  Picking a game is like scrolling through Netflix for half hour before giving up and turning it off.  It's simply hard to process having so many options, which then creates anxiety about how to most wisely use your time.  Video games should enrich your life.  They should not stress you out. 

 

Very accurate post. I feel exactly what you explained. However, I had a chance to leave work early today and decided with all my free time I'd sit down and relax with a game. I posted this in another thread but I continued playing Ori and the Will of the Wisps:

 

"I played 3 solid hours of Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Such a cool game and they keep it fresh with constant upgrades. The only thing I dislike is back tracking which can get confusing where to go next. Overall, it's an excellent game!".

 

Edit: I couldn't resist and went to play more and figured out how to advance. I love this game. It's basically a masterpiece for the genre.

[best3444]

I'm no longer in a rut. Played 2 more hours of Ori and I think I'm about half way through it. The flow of the game is fantastic and it constantly gives you upgrades right as you are over using other abilities. It keeps things fresh and I can't say enough about the visuals and music.

 

On my Xbox one x it does have a few very small hiccups and I actually got caught in the floor today. Lost progress and had to exit and re-enter the game because of it. 

[crispy4000]

I’ve found that keeping a playlist of a dozen or so games helps.  Once I beat one, I’ll rotate it in for something else.  Genre variety helps.

 

Howlongtobeat is also a great resource.  I’ve definitely used that to make some picks before.  It helps knowing what you’re getting into.

[Fizzzzle]

3 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

I’ve found that keeping a playlist of a dozen or so games helps.  Once I beat one, I’ll rotate it in for something else.  Genre variety helps.

 

Howlongtobeat is also a great resource.  I’ve definitely used that to make some picks before.  It helps knowing what you’re getting into.

When I'm picking a new game, I make a quick scan through my steam library, throw any game that sounds like I might be in the mood to play onto a list, then use a random generator to pick one from the list. Works pretty well.

[best3444]

10 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

When I'm picking a new game, I make a quick scan through my steam library, throw any game that sounds like I might be in the mood to play onto a list, then use a random generator to pick one from the list. Works pretty well.

 

That's pretty awesome. I didn't realize steam did that. What are you currently playing?

[Fizzzzle]

1 minute ago, best3444 said:

 

That's pretty awesome. I didn't realize steam did that. What are you currently playing?

Steam doesn't do that, I do it. I'm not playing anything right now. I haven't in probably a couple months.

[best3444]

1 hour ago, Fizzzzle said:

Steam doesn't do that, I do it. I'm not playing anything right now. I haven't in probably a couple months.

 

It confused me in how you explained it. I figured you weren't playing anything since you watch 9 movies a day. 

[crispy4000]

Got mine set up in Launchbox with a custom theme I made.

 

(not my rating by the way, it's from a user database)

[Paperclyp]

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a rut per se, but I have had like that conundrum of having too much to play and have been paralyzed by choice, start one game and then think I should get real into some other game, start that one and then not sticking with it as long as I hoped, etc.  

 

Im kind of getting to the point where I enjoy playing games I’ve already completed more than I like playing new games. I think I almost get stressed out with trying to keep up with the Jones’s when I should really just play what I feel like playing. 

[crispy4000]

39 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a rut per se, but I have had like that conundrum of having too much to play and have been paralyzed by choice, start one game and then think I should get real into some other game, start that one and then not sticking with it as long as I hoped, etc.  

 

Im kind of getting to the point where I enjoy playing games I’ve already completed more than I like playing new games. I think I almost get stressed out with trying to keep up with the Jones’s when I should really just play what I feel like playing. 

I used to replay games a lot more than I do now.  Specifically, I’d rebeat them before a successor came out. Unless it’s a 40+ hour RPG or something like that.

 

The problem today is that games are too long generally.  Also, the value proposition of buying a whole bunch of bundled cheap games (or Games Pass, if you prefer) is so much better than buying new.    I’d rather check out something new than replay something too long.
 

I also stopped caring about the Jones, and started being more interested in games like Titanfall 2 that slip through the cracks.  It’s more exciting to me to play an overlooked gem than some overbloated popular game that doesn’t deliver on its promise anyway.

[Nokt]

I can only recall a few times where I can remember being in a rut. I try and pick up a new (or new to me) game and it doesn’t entertain me. So I try to play an older game and replay one of my favorites, but again it just doesn’t do anything for me. 
 

I usually just start watching movies that have been on my list for awhile or try and read a book to pass the time until I feel like I need to play something or have an itch to scratch.