so this will be a long and rambling rant that really has no point. you are warned. I'll hide it behind the jump here since you probably don't care
Follow up:
recently I stopped playing WoW due to lack of interest. since then, I've bounced around to a few F2P MMOs (what MMOs AREN'T F2P anymore now? like 3 of them or something?) mostly asian imports. specifically, dragon nest and eden eternal. both of which I started playing because da and sruff were playing them as well. I've also been playing some more league of legends, as well as watching some let's plays on youtube. notably stuff by totalbiscuit and OFMGcata. because of all this, I've noticed something. I just don't play games like everyone else.
maybe it's because of my age, or my personality or whatever, but I feel so out of place in online games nowadays. for instance, I go to the dragon nest forums and look at posts. 90% of them are so poorly written that even if they had the most salient point in the world, no one would be able to tell. it's like a code-breaking exercise to understand what's being said. additionally, most of the posts appear to be written by one of two general types of people.
1) non-english speakers. these people are clearly not from an english speaking area and it shows.
2) children, or people whose writing is indistinguishable from that of a child's. these people make almost no sense at all times, doubly so if they're trying to explain something or give instructions.
it's honestly shocking to me, and extremely demotivating to me to see this kind of thing. I don't want to log in to a game where I feel like I'm an adult trapped in a kindergarten class. it's just not enjoyable. on top of that, the main thing that keeps me going in these games used to be the people in them, usually people in my guild/supergroup/clan/linkshell/whatever. now though I don't feel like I can relate to anyone who plays these games. I feel like I'm a relic of a bygone era, surrounded by a group of gamers that don't "get it" or something. it's very hard to put into words the feeling this gives me. "out of place" is the best I can do.
add to that the let's plays I've been watching. I don't know if it's just the people I've been watching or what, but they all seem utterly incompetent and unable to notice any obvious contextual clues or make educated guesses based on common genre mechanics. I'm not going to sit here and claim I've played a bajillion games, because while I have played many I don't think it's any more than these people. I guess I'm just so jaded or conditioned or something that I am always looking for the mechanics behind the game. that's all I really care about nowadays, honestly. graphics don't matter, plot doesn't matter, just the mechanics. what do I need to do, how do I do it, and how does it work so that I can win/progress. I read every tool tip, loading screen protip, and tutorial window (the first time, anyway) then infer the rest. only rarely do I ever have to adjust my assumptions or inferences that I make about the mechanics of a game. all of this happens pretty fast too, if the game isn't an RPG or game with a similarly large number of stats/powers/systems/variables it's a <5 minute process for the most part.
the people doing these let's plays though, are painfully bad. now, they are entertaining with their commentary, but they're terrible at the game they're playing. they can't see the rules and mechanics through the graphics or whatever. they can't make simple inferences like "I have a bunch of elements charged up in magicka and I'm moving slowly now, clearly move speed is reduced when you have many elements charged" and then do a quick test to see if that's true and move on. no, they flail around for minutes and then give up. is that how people play games now? I just don't get why someone who's played many games would do such a thing.
on the other hand, these people seem to be enjoying the game a lot more than I do or did. everything is a surprise, everything is an adventure to them it seems. I wish I could get that excited about a game now. I haven't been genuinely excited due to playing a game in years I think.
I dunno, I guess I am outgrowing games or something. either that or I'm just missing the people that play them who aren't hyperactive 12 year olds and/or like acting like one.
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games that require reflexes aren't really a problem for me, but it has to be something I would want to play. I was pretty good at League of Legends back when I was playing it a lot, for instance. I enjoyed it for the most part, when I wasn't raging about idiots or getting my face rolled by ridiculous bastards on the other team.
Dude, when it comes to multiplayer, we are either killin each other or killin everything together. I simply refuse to play another game like WoW, or FFXI, or even Asheron's Call (no I probably would play AC again). But I've simply just moved onto xbox live.
I can't stand the whole hardware component to PC gaming, it makes me sick. I have a laptop now so I will play LoL, and I did try Dragon's Nest (my laptop can play with everything on low). To be quite honest this is my favorite game atm:
http://www.lordofultima.com/
I also play with my Kinect from time to time, lol. Netflix has taken up a lot of my used-to-be gaming time.
I tend to prefer PC gaming, but I will play console games too. unfortunately my xbox is dead atm =/ a lot of my preference for PCs is that I actually have the hardware to handle them.
I don't really think I'm too old for games, I think my main problem is that I miss having people to play them with. nowadays it's pretty much just me, da, sruff, and mythachu. good luck getting us all on at the same time in the same game, too. I think I should try to branch out and find more people to hang around with online, but that is much harder than it sounds for me
honestly i lost internet connection for about a year when I was moving out of my house, but i think i kept a pretty good line of communication between me and werd over the years. I got him added on google+ (one of my two friends) do you use it? it seems like a fun gadget to let people know you're still alive.
If you like MMORTS's i still suggest LoU, otherwise another F2P game (free to play) is called Battle Forge.
http://www.battleforge.com/en/home/
It's kinda like an RTS, but much simpler. You use cards like cool downs to spawn groups of troops or heroes. I would play that if liked it, otherwise I would need some suggestions lol.
Too bad your xbox is busted, I can't wait for Dark Souls to come out!!!
as for google+, I do have one.
I actually replaced my Xbox the other day (though I haven't hooked up the new one yet) in part because of your comment.
I'll look into those games, thanks.
Firstly, most people seem to be complete idiots nowadays. Out of the hundreds of people i see come through the taco bell where I work maybe 5 in an entire day give me the feeling like it would be worth having a conversation with them. Maybe I'm just jaded, but that is kinda what i have come to expect from society as a whole. It's too difficult/annoying for the average person to learn proper English and form a coherent sentence. So when it comes to the internet i just expect more of that. People like you are the rare exception rather than the rule.
Second, I think that, at least in my experience, it takes finding a genre which you really enjoy to get some excitement out of a game. I've tried enough games out to know whether or not I'll enjoy it just from seeing some gameplay or a trailer. Personally I've found I really enjoy RPGs and action games. I have restarted my FFXII (my favorite FF by far) file at least 4 times now and while i do take breaks in between them, I have yet to really get bored with the game. Where as i got Little Big planet 2 from Gamefly and could tell within 5 levels that i wouldnt like the game. Not that its bad, its actually got a lot of really good stuff going for it, i just cant get into it.
I gotta say though, that my feelings on games in regards to what matters are kinda opposite yours. I feel that since I've basically seen any mechanic that is out there what really matters most to me is story. If the game has a poor story, or worse basically none (i played torchlight for maybe 45 minutes before i was bored) its not worth my time. Somehow i still play a lot of League but thats really the only major exception.
Lastly though, playing with other people is really what can make any game enjoyable. The problem though is we have lives now. When i was i middle school or high school i had nothing better to do than invite someone over and play games all night. The only games i really pay a lot of attention to are games that i know my friends will be getting. The new assassins creed will be out in a few months and it looks like its gonna be pretty great. But im honestly more excited for Dungeon Defenders because i know that ill have a full team to run with.