Gaming Anyone feel that Video games and by extension (most) media consumption is feeling like a chore?

[ThirdyAughtSix]

I remember when i was younger , when playing a video game was like a fine luxury.It brought upon countless of unforgettable moments, I remember playing custom games on halo , PVP and late nights on minecraft ,forming endless conga lines on TF2 servers and various other moments. Sadly All these games are lost upon me , Halo just isn't fun anymore , Minecraft doesn't hold its original charm , And Tf2 is just Tf2. Now normally most would promote the idea of how Video games have gotten worse over time , but ive noticed that it wasn't the games changing , I was. Even More recent examples like dune and starship troopers. Both are amazing books , but i often find myself putting off , and dreading when I inevitably convince myself to read these books. All of these are examples of the issue I face. Cosuming media feels like a chore , its simply not enjoyable anymore. I think this is caused mostly by over-saturation , the idea of when your body gets used to something it nullifies the effects of it. This obviously happens in drug users and other addictions. While i wouldn't call myself addicted to most media, I do think this phenomena is interesting and connected somehow to how the brain processes things. Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject

 

[Dwayne]

Moved to Videogames & Tech as I felt like it would make more sense being there. Good thread.

 

[Khastle]

I remember when i was younger , when playing a video game was like a fine luxury.It brought upon countless of unforgettable moments, I remember playing custom games on halo , PVP and late nights on minecraft ,forming endless conga lines on TF2 servers and various other moments. Sadly All these games are lost upon me , Halo just isn't fun anymore , Minecraft doesn't hold its original charm , And Tf2 is just Tf2. Now normally most would promote the idea of how Video games have gotten worse over time , but ive noticed that it wasn't the games changing , I was. Even More recent examples like dune and starship troopers. Both are amazing books , but i often find myself putting off , and dreading when I inevitably convince myself to read these books. All of these are examples of the issue I face. Cosuming media feels like a chore , its simply not enjoyable anymore. I think this is caused mostly by over-saturation , the idea of when your body gets used to something it nullifies the effects of it. This obviously happens in drug users and other addictions. While i wouldn't call myself addicted to most media, I do think this phenomena is interesting and connected somehow to how the brain processes things. Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject

South Park has done an episode on this phenomenon which doesn't really have a name (though the Germans probably have one with their weird words). Stan realises he is getting older and what he used to enjoy is simply shit, it's all becoming shit and he can't grasp why but it's all boring and shit to him. Not a complex concept tbh, as its just getting older, but it hurts to see what you used to love becoming shit or not engaging.

 

[Void]

I feel you especially as I get older I have to justify when I give myself game time as I never get the feeling I'm doing enough with my life. Sure its good fun but when I'm finished I don't have much to show for it other than some trophies/achievements on an account. It was an escape for me as I had a shitty upbringing and playing a game through and getting good at it was the only peace I had away from things but now I can't just distract myself and that's all it ever feels like. Yet nothing else brings me joy either. I've done more outside of myself but games are a shelter and an especially good one feels elating. Last time I was in a video game slump I played bloodborne for the first time and was inspired to play again then was in a lull until Ghost of Tsushima. Now its just multiplayer with friends because they like those games. With any other media its the same. I hardly feel like I haven't seen the same story repeat itself until the dead and beaten horse is turned to a mash of soulless media. Predicting stories makes them often less enjoyable while I ruin it for everyone by guessing within minutes major plot points. I'm holding out for Persona 3 Reloaded because FES changed my life when I was 16 and i absolutely loathe 5.

 

[clover]

I get what you're saying OP. No feeling like that of the malaise as you stare at your game library, full of have done's and will do's, and ultimately resorting to mindlessly scrolling through image boards or whatever.
I think part of it is fatigue with the familiar - is this match of CS really going to be any more interesting than the hundreds of others I'd had? How many times can I go through this Bethesda RPG before it just feels too same-y?
Part of it is also related to focus, for me at least it's not like I have ADHD or something - probably - but I can easily get distracted by like five other things I could be doing that just doesn't make the attention needed to play this round of Civ worth it.
And yeah part of it is also probably some kind of dopamine-related reward mechanism thing but psychological stuff is weird and generally hard to explain anyhow. I just hope it isn't something like depression related lol.
I dunno man, I think sometimes it's almost like taking notes for a class where I have to force myself through whatever initial feelings of "I could be doing anything else" for an hour or so before I can really be genuinely sucked into a game. At the very least it's still possible, and I'll find that doing so is often worth the effort, but it definitely isn't the same as it used to be.

 

[Khastle]

I get what you're saying OP. No feeling like that of the malaise as you stare at your game library, full of have done's and will do's, and ultimately resorting to mindlessly scrolling through image boards or whatever.
I think part of it is fatigue with the familiar - is this match of CS really going to be any more interesting than the hundreds of others I'd had? How many times can I go through this Bethesda RPG before it just feels too same-y?
Part of it is also related to focus, for me at least it's not like I have ADHD or something - probably - but I can easily get distracted by like five other things I could be doing that just doesn't make the attention needed to play this round of Civ worth it.
And yeah part of it is also probably some kind of dopamine-related reward mechanism thing but psychological stuff is weird and generally hard to explain anyhow. I just hope it isn't something like depression related lol.
I dunno man, I think sometimes it's almost like taking notes for a class where I have to force myself through whatever initial feelings of "I could be doing anything else" for an hour or so before I can really be genuinely sucked into a game. At the very least it's still possible, and I'll find that doing so is often worth the effort, but it definitely isn't the same as it used to be.

Couldn't have put it any better than this.