Maybe I'm too old for games?

    Quote from Lord Soth

    EQ grieving. Outdoor map take bard with highest run speed in game aggro multiple mobs and train them all on the unexpecting group trying to get xp.

    How could I have forgotten this. Bard charms rare mob then runs off with it to some lonely spot in the zone and then kills it for any potential loot.

    Bunch of nerds


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    Lemme kick some life back into this thread.


    There was a time when I thought computer gaming was for young people. Kids in arcades... kids with early consoles... kids with early computers... a nintendo... kid's stuff. You didn't see mom and dad playing the Atari 2600 or the c64. I thought it was a young person's thing, and everyone eventually grew out of it, like kids eventually lose interest in toys or board games.


    I played the shit out of computer games in my 20s... thinking I better get all I can out of it, because I certainly had to be abnormally immature to still be into games, and certainly I'd lose interest in my 30s, or middle age. I mean, "Old" people stared at the TV (Lawrence Welk) and drank booze - you certainly could never imagine someone over 50 sitting at a TV with joystick in hand. Old people played cards on the kitchen table... old people games like cribbage, gin or bridge. It was right up there with playing outdoor shuffleboard.


    What I didn't get was those old people simply didn't grow up with computer games like most of us here did. We are kind of the First Generation of computer gamers. I've come to just see computer gaming as a hobby. Like any other hobby, you can dabble in it, get really into it for years on end... get obsessive... then walk away from it for many years as you burn out - but you can always come back (and given enough time, you will).


    I thought when I was young I'd stop gaming by 35 or certainly 40. I now see it as I'll game as long as I'm physically able to. I'll also go through periods (sometimes years) where I won't game at all as I'll be too busy with life, or simply into other hobbies at the time.


    All to say, I think if you ever got really into computer gaming at one time in your life, there's always a good chance you'll fall back into it (or in and out of it). It's just like any hobby you get really into, then burn out - and maybe not think about it for many years... but you come back to it one fine day.


    Your tastes also change - and not permanently. There's times where I'd get into the latest and greatest games with the best graphics - or I'll turn around and start playing ancient arcade games or early 8-bit computer games (I built a C64 2 years ago and I'll often fuck around with it).


    Today the games have obviously better graphics and more depth, but some old games are masterpieces. Graphics aside, I think the best games ever made were pound for pound between 1995 and 2005 give or take. Proof of that is they keep re-releasing them because they make so much money and are so damn good. Look at Starcraft, Half Life, Red Alert, Baldur's Gate 2, Diablo and countless others.


    I love old games. I spend hour and hours finding old DOS games for DOSBOX. I play all kinds of old arcade emulators or NES/SNES games. I also like to discover classic games that I never played (C64, Apple II etc etc). I like going back to old games I played a few time back in the old days, and really give them a good try. I recently finished Zork I playing fair. I think I first played it in 1982 - and finished it 40 years later. Baldur's Gate 2 same kind of thing - I played it in 2000 - and finished it 20 years later (on the same save file no less. I took a 10 year break from this one game and came back - it was like seeing an old friend).


    One thing I do notice is as I get older, I like playing older games on things like DOSBOX - I care less about the latest and greatest games. I guess part of that is nostalgia, but that's ok - nothing wrong with that.


    I tried getting my dad into Arcade games back around 1981 or 82 - he wanted nothing to do with them, I remember he tried pac man for about 10 seconds and felt embarrassed. Today he's pushing 90 - I FINALLY got him into gaming when he was about 70 - and he's a huge gamer now - plays every day LOL. Mostly Microsoft Golf but he messes around with all kinds of games - esp billiards simulators and card game simulators. Also some old fishing games.


    All to say yeah, computer gaming is a hobby, and you'll get in and out of it over the years, and get into different things - and it's all good, so long as you still have hand-eye coordination. Even if you don't, there's games that can be played slow without fast reflexes. I don't ever plan on quitting gaming.

    On old graphics: If you play any decent DOS era (pre-3d acceleration) game for an hour (or less), you adjust and get used to the graphics. The only ones that get rough are the 3d games in particular the proto 3-d shooters, but you get used to them as well. The modern ultra-realistic games actually hurt my eyes if I play them for any length of time if there's non-stop action. I can't play the latest Doom games for instance, I just get an ocular migraine from it.


    I love good games that precede these politically correct times - content that would never fly today in corporate America. Nowadays you have franchises ruined by political correctness. The protagonists of a long running series get sidelined, and replaced with a strong bipoc lesbian lead character (think the Uncharted Series - Nathan Drake replaced with Bipoc Lesbian protagonists etc).


    I shudder to think what Grand Theft Auto will be like in the next iteration (same for Red Dead Redemption). I have read that the design teams of old were completely purged because the past games are completely unacceptable by today's "Bud Light" standards.


    So yeah.... Old Games man.

    I still fritter away a portion of my free time to them, especially when I'm in motels during the week. All I play anymore is a NBA 2K game on PS4 and world of warships (destroyers only) on the computer.


    I've noticed as each year goes by I'm more conscious of getting stuff done and not wasting time, have been pondering taking all that wasted video game time and learning how to play a keyboard or something. I can't even play with an acoustic guitar in a motel, but I could learn how to play a full-size keyboard with a pair of headphones.

    Well respected man about town doing the best things most conservatively

    Edited once, last by Beej ().