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Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

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Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#131

Post by kp1234321 »

dvt wrote: post #128

Guess I might go against the HN grain here. I played Counter-Strike competitively and professional from around 17-22 (I'd say on average 5-6 hours a day). I still play every now and then, but don't compete at tournaments or in leagues. I'm 30 now. Not only was my experience irreplaceable and positive (I made many life-long friends and met many cool people), but it also helped me with many other aspects of "grown-up"…

I am finding it very hard to get out of Silver because when I solo queue i frequently get matched with teammates who treat the competitive match like a casual game. Most people either don't use mics at all or they only use them for racial slurs, and many others just play like they don't really care about getting a win. It's difficult to lead the team when I get matched with three other kids who queue up together and dick around the whole match, and it's very demotivating to realize I'll have to endure at least 16 rounds of obnoxious chatter and getting owned. I really do want to get better, but I'm not yet at the point where I can carry an uncooperative team (especially when there are also smurfs on the other team).

I feel like a good approach would be to find some consistent players and stop solo queueing, but I'd love to hear if you have any other advice. Also, what has been a good strategy for you to in weeding out toxic players? Definitely seems like an applicable skill in all aspects of life.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#132

Post by crooked-v »

mikestew wrote: post #38
civilian wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dad just turned 65 and he still has no interest in video games except for solitaire. But I really think that he'd enjoy video games, especially as a way to keep an active mental life in retirement. I tried to explain the "it's almost-real physics!" angle of Kerbal Space Program, but that wasn't persuasive. Any tips? Also, have you played Overwatch or TF2? I found both of those more interesting than Titanfall-- and…

"Hero" type games don't interest me much, and though Team Fortress interests me, just never made time for it. But, yeah, I've always been the one to sit on the flag with a rocket launcher, throw my warm body at a territory when no one else will (K/D, phfffftt ). Don't see why that won't still serve me well in my old age.

Overwatch may interest you because it's tuned pretty hard to reward team gameplay instead of just "who gets the most kills" and K/D isn't even something reported in the game stats. One of the characters (Reinhardt) is even designed around essentially being a damage sponge for teammates, with killing enemies being a distant third priority after shielding allies and keeping enemies out of short range with his big hammer.

It's also got a lot more variety in characters than most similar games, with the cast covering a variety of ethnicities, cultural origins, and ages ranging from 18 or 19 to 60+.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#133

Post by thoughtpalette »

dvt wrote: post #128

Guess I might go against the HN grain here. I played Counter-Strike competitively and professional from around 17-22 (I'd say on average 5-6 hours a day). I still play every now and then, but don't compete at tournaments or in leagues. I'm 30 now. Not only was my experience irreplaceable and positive (I made many life-long friends and met many cool people), but it also helped me with many other aspects of "grown-up"…

Hi there,

We may've ran into each other online (I'm 29). I've played CS:S and CS:GO competitively and minor professionally, mostly under the team MM3 (Message Mode 3). I can't stress the importance of video games (especially on my industry skills). Typing skills, debugging, communication, economics, strategy, critical thinking, most of this on-the-fly decision making. It's been an immense help.

I now play RocketLeague Competitively at the higher ranks and always wonder if I'm wasting time trying to reach that final high tier. (already made GE in CS:GO/15 LANS). But I'm seeing it start to affect my personal life. I can't stop, and I don't want to stop.

Just some anecdotal experience, figure it may be interesting.

VagDis|vDis-

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#134

Post by Baeocystin »

overcast wrote: post #3

Honestly I don't see the thirty something generation ever giving up video games. They've been a part of our entire lives at this point. Once we're old, it will be a case where no generation has ever been without video games in some capacity.

Am 43. Grew up playing games. Not planning on stopping any time soon. Went through the 'I should be doing something better with my time' phase briefly, about ten years ago. Realized it was anxiety driven, not rational. Having fun is an intrinsic part of being human, and cannot be skipped without genuine mental health consequences.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#135

Post by eludwig »

jessriedel wrote: post #114
eludwig wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for this. I was hoping someone would cover the obvious: games are fun! Why is that we feel the need to justify fun? Isn't fun (a form of happiness) what we are all striving to be able to have more of?

> Isn't fun (a form of happiness) what we are all striving to be able to have more of? No, we are not all striving to have more happiness (although some people surely are). So long as you don't circularly define happiness as "that feeling you get when you accomplish your goals", then most people have at least some goals besides happiness, and some of us explicitly advocate that many or most goals should not be happin…

Fair enough. "All" was a poor choice of words. I would be the last (more hyperbole) person to tell anyone how to live their life.

Also, I failed to mention why I replied to the parent post: the mention of moderation. I think if you are listening to how you're feeling, you can (one can) tell when a life strategy isn't working. The important things in life will make their demands known.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#136

Post by Baeocystin »

alexchantavy wrote: post #12
overcast wrote: post #3

Honestly I don't see the thirty something generation ever giving up video games. They've been a part of our entire lives at this point. Once we're old, it will be a case where no generation has ever been without video games in some capacity.

There's also probably going to be a huge market in making games that older people can play when this generation hits retirement age.

I play World of Tanks with my friends, and we're all in our 40's. It's basically an FPS for people with slower reaction times.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#137

Post by TulliusCicero »

cableshaft wrote: post #80
TulliusCicero wrote: post #6

Playing games is rad and cool, and there are many studies demonstrating various cognitive benefits. One of my favorite was on the elderly playing Rise of Nations , a critically-acclaimed RTS that's a sort of blend between Civilization and Age of Empires: https://news.illinois.edu/blog/view/6367/206094 > The researchers found that training on the video game did improve the participants' performance on a number of thes…

They really need to make a proper sequel to Rise of Nations. That game was great. Also loved its single-player metagame mode.

Well, at least they released an HD version on Steam.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#138

Post by lutorm »

pmarreck wrote: post #125
lutorm wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, I enjoy playing Civ, but realizing the absolutely astronomical amount of time I've sunk into it and all the things I could have done instead has really turned me off from it. Maybe it's an age thing; once you realize half your life is gone, wasting time like that seems less attractive than it once did.

At least until you retire. ;)

It's not even that I don't have time, I just have so many other things I want to do, explore and learn that it just doesn't seem attractive any more.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#140

Post by Baeocystin »

dvt wrote: post #128

Guess I might go against the HN grain here. I played Counter-Strike competitively and professional from around 17-22 (I'd say on average 5-6 hours a day). I still play every now and then, but don't compete at tournaments or in leagues. I'm 30 now. Not only was my experience irreplaceable and positive (I made many life-long friends and met many cool people), but it also helped me with many other aspects of "grown-up"…

I paid for a year of college textbooks with Brood War. Won some decent hardware, too. Small beer compared to the competitions of today, but at the time it felt awesome. I can honestly say I learned just as much from the dedication required to be competitive at the time as any of my other classes, too. It was fun.
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