I don't like playing games anymore

Posted by Phoebii on Dec. 23, 2016, 6:53 a.m.

My Steam library now has Borderlands 2, Skyrim, Dishonored (hail cpsgames!), and Darksiders.

I can't force myself to play them. I only scratched the surface of these games. I can see how awesome they are, but I don't like them.

I play them sometimes to kill time, but it's just that. When I turn them off, I don't feel like I really want to turn them on again. I play them because of Steam achievements, that's the sign that I don't really enjoy them.

Oh yeah, I tried playing Undertale, because it's "different". Undertale (hail Jani!) is… meh.

What the hell is wrong with me!? Why I can't enjoy good games!?

I'm afraid to buy games now because I will probably won't like them, no matter how awesome they actually are.

I guess it's RuneScape's fault. I truly loved playing that game, but then it died and it seems that nothing can fill the void it left. (Bleak, I know)

I can play Old School RuneScape (for those who don't know, it's the old version of RuneScape brought online a few years ago), but 1) it's still not the same and 2) it's rather expensive.

What else? I kind of like Hearthstone. I think that if I'll play it long enough, I'll start liking it as much as I liked RuneScape. But then it will probably die as well and I'll be left with nothing. Also, it has two problems. It's a 30 minutes per day game and sometimes it forces me to play with <insert not priest class here> to complete quests.

Dark Souls is a lovely exception. I really like how brutal it is. I can't play it not because I don't like it, but because I just can't make progress. I could try again and again, eventually overcoming its challenges, but I need games to rest from making games and Dark Souls is not a very good game for it.

Indie games? I've played few. Again, nothing. Void. But could be I've been playing wrong games. Oh, yeah, I enjoyed LIMBO. (I beat it in one sitting.)

Good thing I remain incredibly passionate about making games!

I'm having great time making Sector Six.

I'm having great time making my single player CCG, which is going to be released as alpha soon and you all are going to have to play it.

And maybe instead of playing games, I will start doing the A.C.E.D. game challenge!

I'll make a very simple game and Add Content to it Every Day. (I won't dedicate more than 1 hour per day) Imagine what it will be like 10 years later!

Anyway, do you guys ever had a similar "game depression"? Any tips on fighting it? Should I fight it?

Comments

Gift of Death 7 years, 9 months ago

I've had these periods in my life as well. They come and go, and I haven't found anything I could do about it.

Meanwhile, let's just focus on making them. :3

Astryl 7 years, 9 months ago

Yeah, I've had this kinda feeling before. Usually happens when I'm pushing myself too hard in other areas (That gut feeling that I really ought to be working on something or other, not playing games).

The way I overcame that problem was by setting myself semi-strict work hours. I work Monday through Saturday, 8AM to 5PM. On Saturday I let myself off at 2PM.

That way I can relax, read a book, watch a bit of Masterchef or whatever self-imposed-guilt free.

… oh, and just because you don't feel guilty playing a game, doesn't mean you're not guilting yourself into not playing a game.

…and don't try force yourself to play a game… but do force yourself to have some off-time. Try to even things out with a bit of other activity away from the computer (Personally, I start to feel chained to the damned machine after a month of heavy work).

Jani_Nykanen 7 years, 9 months ago

Quote:
Anyway, do you guys ever had a similar "game depression"? Any tips on fighting it? Should I fight it?
Don't fight it. Let it happen and let it go away. If you don't feel like playing games, why should you? Eventually you might come back to games, and if not, well, if you don't enjoy games anymore, you probably don't miss anything if you stop playing them.

I know that feeling, it has occurred me a few times. I never let it bother me, because if I'm not playing, I can focus on "more important things" - like making games!

Cpsgames 7 years, 9 months ago

By RuneScape dying do you mean just the feeling of how playing it used to be? Because other than that, it's still fairly popular. OSRS being even more popular than RS3, which is nice.

As for the "feeling" of it, I can see that. It seems people are less talkative conversation-wise and more about XP/hr and shit talking others. I blame streamer culture, Twitch chat is ruining everything. Aside from that, exploring the world definitely feels different too. I'll never get to relive the feeling of my first time with membership and journeying into the huge new world.

death 7 years, 9 months ago

Ive felt like that for the past 5 or 6 years now. Feels like nothing good ever comes out anymore. All these boring sequels and awful disapointments. The indieboom didnt help, mostly a huge heaping pile of trash that makes looking for a semi decent game to play much harder than it should be.

I havent written a positive game review in Steam for years now. I havent been buying as many games as i used to either. Few games i do try today tend to infuriate me. I didnt like Doom 4, hated Shadow Warrior 2, and practically forced myself to finish Dark Souls 3. Its hard to get into these games when its clear that theres no passion in it for these developers anymore, theyre just churning out franchise sequels to stay in business.

However its not a permanent problem. The way i usually find that spark of enjoymeny in gaming again is i go back to the games i loved and play them again. I seem to do this every few years, i can only take so much modern age garbagr before i have to go back and remind myself that gaming was once fun. Played the entire Resident Evil series last month. Had a lot of fun doing that. Now im playing old jrpgs, which led me to working on an old rpg project of mine, might actually finish it now. (thanks to playing Ys)

Phoebii 7 years, 8 months ago

Thanks for answers guys!

@Cpsgames: It's really interesting how OSRS has more players than RS3. It probably puts Jagex in a very strange situation. All their teams, investments, etc. going to smaller part of their customers. But RS3 must be making a lot more money, because of microtransactions.

Sometimes I wish they made new MMORPG, with good graphics, no dead content and old gameplay style.

@Mega: Guilt, huh? When I think about it, I do feel guilt, but I don't notice it, mostly. That's something to think about…

@death: I know what you mean. New games feel like they are made by the same recipe. Quest markers, quick travel, lots of pointless side quests/challenges/achievements to waste your time, regenerating health, no death penalties… And indie developers make retro games, AAA game rip-offs or games that are not games actually. I don't want bad new games or good old games. I want good new games, damn it!

I myself repeat some of those mistakes, but at least I'm trying to do something new…

Moikle 7 years, 8 months ago

I have had that before too, it tends to actually be more because the kind of games I like has shifted, so what had previously kept me hooked is now just meh, and I have found another genre that grabs me.

Acid 7 years, 8 months ago

It happens. Make sure you do things outside of playing/making games. Exercise, sports, hobbies all help to recuperate and reinforce mental stamina.

Another possibility is that you might not like the same KINDS of games anymore. Try scouring through itch.io and seeing what's there. I'm more into experimental gameplay and interesting ideas than I am visuals or massive multiplayer experiences anymore.

There's also the fact that some people just stop enjoying playing games as they get older.

Acid 7 years, 8 months ago

And there's also just sitting yourself down and FORCING yourself to do something. Sometimes I get into a depressive funk and don't feel like doing anything but desperately want to do something fun. When I force myself to just watch that movie I've been waiting to see, or play a game I know I like, it's almost like a spark that ignites the "fun" portion of my brain and then it's working properly again.