How many of you have moved on from PC gaming?

[Roswell]

Curious about the demographics here and wondering how many people have shifted away from the hobby for one reason or another. Whether it's for financial reasons, life happening, kids, losing interest or whatever, let me know!

 

Personally, I left the hobby -mostly- about 5 years ago, fully left it about 2 years ago. I realized that the stuff I was really playing or interested in were games on my Switch or emulating retro consoles. I think I just lost interest in the only thing that ever really captivated me on my PC, multiplayer competitive titles. I think I just got burned out and got tired of playing the same matches on the same maps over and over. I felt like there was never a sense of achievement. Contrast that with the single player pick up and play stuff on my Switch or retro games (think stuff up until PS2/GC era) and I end up feeling as if I can FINISH something along with the convenience of not being tied down to my desk.

 

What really sealed the deal for me was probably a financial situation. I had built the best of the best consumer build in 2013 (4770k/780 Ti/bunch of SSDs/etc) and it was aged to the point where it started to struggle with new stuff. At the same time I reeeeaaallllyyyy needed a new Mac for work. I started planning out a new desktop for gaming and a bottom spec MacBook 16 for work. It then dawned on me that I'm barely touching the desktop anyway and that It would be a waste of money. So I took the $4K I had budgeted for both and just went ham on the MacBook and I still don't regret it.

 

I'm now pretty happy just playing casually on Switch and emulating retro stuff on the MacBook. I guess a bonus is that if I reeeallllyyyy want to play a popular title that I still can since many of the eSport titles are compatible with Mac (or I can just bootcamp) and this one can handle gaming easily.

 

Anyway, what about you guys?

[dilpickle]

9 minutes ago, Roswell said:

 I think I just got burned out and got tired of playing the same matches on the same maps over and over. I felt like there was never a sense of achievement.

 

And that's exactly why I never got into multiplayer. I only play single player games and while I certainly have less time these days I don't see myself ever stop playing. That's like saying you got burned out on watching movies or reading books. It's just another medium of entertainment.

[Guest]

I gave up waiting for HL3. Instead some BsGo came out. Sorry I mean CsGo. Lol my bad... 

 

Have been into mostly competitive overclocking and extreme cooling modifications. 

 

Some F@H threw the years on various teams as well.

 

But hey, as long as we all compute in some way, we are all techies!!

[Moonzy]

sorta lost interest

or there isnt many games that catch my interest lately

[BondiBlue]

I haven't really moved on from PC gaming, but I never really got into it much. The only two games I play anymore are Minecraft (very rarely, I haven't had much desire to play it in years) and Forza Horizon 4. Even then I only play FH4 on rare occasions when I get some free time. 

[Immure]

I haven't moved completely out of it, but I've caught myself playing more PS4/XBOX lately just because I sit in front of the computer all day for work. So because of that, I kind of don't want to be in the same spot for even more time for work AND play.

 

Also new releases for games have been awfully slow...

[Roswell]

39 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

Haven't moved on from PC gaming... just don't play as much as I used too. I have a puppy that keeps me on my toes (adopted him last October).

That thing is adorable lol. What breed is it? I thought husky because of the eyes but I’ve never seen a white husky.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

I found that if you want a refreshing take on PC games, look at classic titles.  The pandemic left me with time to toy with my retro PCs, a WinME and WinXP system, and toy around, and I found a lot of joy there.  Frankly, from the Early 1990s to mid 2000's, PC gaming was a lot more 'Experimental' and there was  wider range of experimentation across many genres.  Today most so called 'AAA' gaming is 'Expensive to make, designed by committee, and safe as hell'.  Any 'Experimentation' you see today is more in indie titles. But there's a whole range of 'Tycoon' or 'Management' games that's largely dead today but for a few titles.  Lots of long forgotten RTS games.  Experimental FPS mechanics.  Overall, a lot of fun stuff that is not repeated today because most of the money is focused on 'mass appeal, commercially safe' productions.

 

And hey, there's an open source port of Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, that only requires the game assets from an official copy of the game, which will then run native on modern OS's with wide screen and a lot of quality of life improvements too.  Still an amazing game to sink hours into 2 decades later.

 

Most games today bore me.  It's all open world, or derivative FPS, or third person following the mechanics locked in with Resident Evil 4 and such.  I want some imagination in my games and trying to safely invest 30 million in a video game largely kills that imagination.  Instead, go find out what nerds and only one million dollars put together 15+ years ago.

 

And yes, there are also a lot of super neat and daring indie games made today to check out too.  So much about gaming is just trapped in a very specific 'box' and you should see what's beyond that box be it contemporary or classic.

[tire]

have not moved on yet but my gtx 1650 stops me from playing most titles at my monitors 1440p 144hz capabilities

 

[D13H4RD]

I did, mostly because I've lost interest in gaming as a whole. It's got a lot to do with the commercialization of the gaming industry. Many of the newer games just don't seem as fun or engaging as before.

 

Robert Kotick and Andrew Wilson might as well be the Robert Iger of videogames, in the sense that their respective companies have experienced such major financial growth during their tenure but at the expense of sheer creativity and wanting to take risks.

 

Of course, it's much more than just Kotick and Wilson as it's the entire corporate structure of the company and their studios that has led to this.

[Shammikit]

I am a person who like single player games and I noticed that in a long time I have never been excited for a new game release. Assassins creed was a series I closely followed and was almost always excited for, but after them going off track from the original story and now gone fully RPG I lost complete interest in it. So now im mostly playing older games that came prior to 2010. Their stories are far better than most modern games imo. But the issues are their controls are clunky and some times running them can be problematic with Windows 10. But after playing the older games idk wat I will play tbh. I think Playstation has great single player titles. I hope they will come to PC or I might have to go full Playstation.  

[Beerzerker]

I quit years ago for a few reasons, most of those being personal and only relevant to myself so I won't go into all that.

When games began to have a requirement to always be "Online" just to play it, not being able to have the entire game program on your machine (Local install of the entire game) creating an online tether for it AND to be associated with online stuff like Steam, those were the nails in the coffin about it for me. I knew when the buzz about Steam and such began it wasn't anything in favor towards or for the benefit of gamers.

Now instead of just being able to fire up your favorite game offline and be done with it, you have to connect, login, and then if you don't get locked out by an account problem/stolen or hacked account/game no longer supported online/ect-ect, you can play a round of your game this time.
No guarantees about the next time you'd want to.

[Roswell]

32 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

Thank you, he's a Pomsky (Pomeranian-Siberian Husky) mix. His name is Yeti (but I've been calling him Putt Putt... don't ask why lol) and he's a fucking doll lol.

This last photo is Yeti playing with his littermate Hunter, which my brother owns so thus my brother and I adopted puppies from the same litter. They love each other a lot, and we get them together for playdates on a weekly basis lol.

 

Sorry for getting off topic OP, but someone was wondering about my pouch so I'd thought I share with the LTT community lol.

I’m OP and I was the one that asked!
 

15 minutes ago, Shammikit said:

I am a person who like single player games and I noticed that in a long time I have never been excited for a new game release. Assassins creed was a series I closely followed and was almost always excited for, but after them going off track from the original story and now gone fully RPG I lost complete interest in it. So now im mostly playing older games that came prior to 2010. Their stories are far better than most modern games imo. But the issues are their controls are clunky and some times running them can be problematic with Windows 10. But after playing the older games idk wat I will play tbh. I think Playstation has great single player titles. I hope they will come to PC or I might have to go full Playstation.  

Maybe take a look at PS3 emulation (with legitimate copies of course *cough*) for some of those 2010 and earlier games. It’s apparently come a really long way and a lot of stuff is fully playable.

[Arika]

I find myself playing my switch or mobile games more often than pc games lately. And when I do fire up a game on my PC it's either a simulator or builder type game

[Avocado Diaboli]

I've probably played and finished more PC games in recent years than ever before. It helps that I really don't care about multiplayer games at all these days. I used to play Counter-Strike 1.6 a lot as a teenager and Team Fortress 2 later on, but honestly, I just lost interest in doing the same things over and over again. Meanwhile I have a pretty big Steam library that allows me to play pretty much anything I like if I have a particular itch I want to scratch. It also helps that I don't particularly care to play the most current games all the time. I tend to buy games when they're a bit older and more importantly cheaper. In the last 10 years, I've only ever bought a single game on launch and for the foreseeable future, I only see another single game potentially sway me to buy it for full price on launch day. I don't need to be part of the trend crowd that goes from new hot title to new hot title to stay on top of all the memes. So I tend to hop around a bit, playing some older titles I never got to between more modern games that I happened to get for cheap. I just finished Metro 2033 a few days ago and even the Redux version I played is 7 years old at this point. I don't see myself ever completely abandoning PC gaming, simply because it's the only platform where I can comfortably choose the input option I want to use with a degree of customization. I play all first-person games with a mouse and keyboard, I simply can't play those games with a controller. Similarly, if I'm in the mood for a city builder or the rare cases where an RTS grabs my interest, at least a mouse is basically a requirement. 

[The_russian]

I’ve mostly moved on, in the last year or two I’ve only played on my gaming PC probably a handful of times. It was a combination of a few things with the biggest being what someone else already mentioned: after working in front of a computer all day I just don’t want to keep sitting in one spot staring at a monitor. Even with a comfortable chair and taking breaks, it can still be physically and mentally tiring and I just need to go somewhere/do something else. 

[rockyroller]

I have always preferred playing a PC game than watching TV 

[tikker]

Haven't moved on, but the perspective has just changed. I'm still interested in all aspects of it, I'm just fine with High versus Ultra and don't really feel the need of upgrading to the best of the best hardware every single year. That and sadly there just isn't enough time to play everything anymore. Otherwise I would have every console there is besides my PC.

[AzzaNezz]

I just grew up.

Used to be a gamer since like 9 years old when my friends introduced  me to pc games and mmorpg's.

We played this one game for like 4-6 years and i was addicted to it.Then played some COD 2 since i had old PC and couldnt play anything else.

Then finished school,worked my ass,and at age of 19,i bought a real pc.I mean 9700k,980ti,ultrawide 35' 1440p and boy the addiction started again.Slept about 4-5 hours a day and worked and played for about 6 months.

Got in financial problems,i got burnout from games,sold the pc and that was it with pc.

I tryed to get into gaming couple of times,PS4,XBX and now xbox series S but i dont know i just grew up,i have a kid and i dont even play it anymore.

Sometimes i want a new pc for gaming,but its more like a want thing and not a need thing.

(P.S if someone doesnt know hot to save money,before you buy something ask yourself,do i need it or do i want it,i save a lot of money not buying stuff).

[akio123008]

I voted yes, not just for the PC, for any kind of gaming.

 

I haven't stopped gaming entirely, because I do game every now and then, but it's quite rare. Only when I'm really bored and have nothing to do I fire up a game.

 

I just don't find it that interesting anymore, I've got better things to do now. Gaming feels like such a waste of time to me. I'd much rather work on some DIY project or go for a ride on my bike.

 

When I spend time at my computer in the evening I'm usually a bit exhausted and I can't bring up the mental effort to concentrate on a game, so in that case I prefer to just watch youtube videos.

[IDK what to pick]

im building a new PC and i need some advice . i tend to keep my desktops for a while 4-6 years ish so i need to to stay pretty top spec for that time and im wonder if i should make the trade of and bump my cpu down from a ryzen 7 5800x to a ryzen 5 5600x and get a 3080 im at a 3070 and i want to game at 4k max-high ish settings but i don't mind turning down the quality a bit if it means i can save a few hundred bucks. right so please help if you can or got any advice thanks and have a great day.

[tikker]

19 minutes ago, IDK what to pick said:

im building a new PC and i need some advice . i tend to keep my desktops for a while 4-6 years ish so i need to to stay pretty top spec for that time and im wonder if i should make the trade of and bump my cpu down from a ryzen 7 5800x to a ryzen 5 5600x and get a 3080 im at a 3070 and i want to game at 4k max-high ish settings but i don't mind turning down the quality a bit if it means i can save a few hundred bucks. right so please help if you can or got any advice thanks and have a great day.

This isn't really the thread to ask. Make a topic in the new builds and planning section and most likely people will be happy to offer advice: https://linustechtips.com/forum/18-new-builds-and-planning/

  

34 minutes ago, AzzaNezz said:

I tryed to get into gaming couple of times,PS4,XBX and now xbox series S but i dont know i just grew up,i have a kid and i dont even play it anymore.

Sometimes i want a new pc for gaming,but its more like a want thing and not a need thing.

(P.S if someone doesnt know hot to save money,before you buy something ask yourself,do i need it or do i want it,i save a lot of money not buying stuff).

Funny how the adage turned out to be true. As a kid you have all the time in the world but no money, as an adult you finally have the money but no time. Regarding the saving if you don't know how to save I'd say first learn that. I like to think about the need/want problem more as a afford/justify problem. Otherwise you deny yourself everything and you teach yourself that it's wrong to want something. Instead, do the math to see if you can afford it. It's much harder to justify spending 90% of your life savings on a gaming PC vs on a car that supports your job and family for example (and of course if a purchase gets you in financial trouble try not to do it at all).

  

40 minutes ago, akio123008 said:

I just don't find it that interesting anymore, I've got better things to do now. Gaming feels like such a waste of time to me. I'd much rather work on some DIY project or go for a ride on my bike.

 

When I spend time at my computer in the evening I'm usually a bit exhausted and I can't bring up the mental effort to concentrate on a game, so in that case I prefer to just watch youtube videos.

It also sometimes feels like there are just less interesting games nowadays, but I guess that's just because my tastes have refined and become more specific and there isn't really this huge bucket list of games waiting to be played as they're all instantly accessible once they launch.

[AzzaNezz]

25 minutes ago, tikker said:

Funny how the adage turned out to be true. As a kid you have all the time in the world but no money, as an adult you finally have the money but no time. Regarding the saving if you don't know how to save I'd say first learn that. I like to think about the need/want problem more as a afford/justify problem. Otherwise you deny yourself everything and you teach yourself that it's wrong to want something. Instead, do the math to see if you can afford it. It's much harder to justify spending 90% of your life savings on a gaming PC vs on a car that supports your job and family for example (and of course if a purchase gets you in financial trouble try not to do it at all).

I could afford to buy a number of things i want but as you said justify/need is different.

I want a smart watch to track my HR,and steps,but do i need it well no.I would wear it at home and gym but i cant wear it at work since i will probably break it.

I want apple earpods but again i would want them but i dont neccesery need them,since i survived 25 years without them(used earphones when i was in school but even that was at minimum),and even cheaper non apple ones are the same.(lets not start apple vs something disscussion here).

I want a new 4 monitor but i dont need it.

I grew up in poor familiy where i didnt have many things,and after i moved country started making hips of money my spending habit got overblown.We are talking going from spending 10 euros for going out,up to 300 euros spending in night in a club.

Instead buying cheapest keyboard and using it until it break to 200 euro keyboard,buying a 600 euro monitor etc.

To put in context,my father made 1.4k a month,and after you pay bills/food/loans not much was left.

I bought all these things since i wanted to feel how is to buy those things.

Thank god  i am now more mature,married,have a son so i am slowly fixing myself.I found that i enjoy buying stuff for my wife and my son more then i like to buy it for my self.

No going out,no buying stuff,but when i buy something now i am more gratefull and satisfied,and learned that i dont need these things.

I bought some books about saving and they are helping a lot.

48 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Well, I need a powerful workstation as I do game development, AI development, and research that is heavily FP oriented.  XD  As for my focused major, Asian studies, yes because I'm going to be an anthropologist, focusing on the Japanese, gaming is kinda required.

That is something different,you need it for work and studying.I talked about hobby and freetime

[tikker]

23 minutes ago, AzzaNezz said:

I could afford to buy a number of things i want but as you said justify/need is different.

I want a smart watch to track my HR,and steps,but do i need it well no.I would wear it at home and gym but i cant wear it at work since i will probably break it.

I want apple earpods but again i would want them but i dont neccesery need them,since i survived 25 years without them(used earphones when i was in school but even that was at minimum),and even cheaper non apple ones are the same.(lets not start apple vs something disscussion here).

I want a new 4 monitor but i dont need it.

I grew up in poor familiy where i didnt have many things,and after i moved country started making hips of money my spending habit got overblown.We are talking going from spending 10 euros for going out,up to 300 euros spending in night in a club.

Instead buying cheapest keyboard and using it until it break to 200 euro keyboard,buying a 600 euro monitor etc.

To put in context,my father made 1.4k a month,and after you pay bills/food/loans not much was left.

I bought all these things since i wanted to feel how is to buy those things.

Thank god  i am now more mature,married,have a son so i am slowly fixing myself.I found that i enjoy buying stuff for my wife and my son more then i like to buy it for my self.

No going out,no buying stuff,but when i buy something now i am more gratefull and satisfied,and learned that i dont need these things.

I bought some books about saving and they are helping a lot.

I mean I can understand, but the situation you describe is exactly what shaped my view on this and why I feel the "need it vs want it" isn't the right way to look at it. There's nothing wrong with buying something because you want it. Generally good things are more expensive, but instead of buying the cheapest keyboard that'll probably break in 2 years, invest in that good €200 keyboard that'll last a decade, indulge in that €600 display that'll serve you many years. One good thing satisfies me much longer than going through a handful of shitty versions. Smartwatches also don't really break that easily in my experience, unless you do construction or something where it's particularly at risk maybe. Disproportionate spending habits aren't uncommon after a significant change in wealth. It's just something you'll have to learn to deal with.

[AzzaNezz]

36 minutes ago, tikker said:

I mean I can understand, but the situation you describe is exactly what shaped my view on this and why I feel the "need it vs want it" isn't the right way to look at it. There's nothing wrong with buying something because you want it. Generally good things are more expensive, but instead of buying the cheapest keyboard that'll probably break in 2 years, invest in that good €200 keyboard that'll last a decade, indulge in that €600 display that'll serve you many years. One good thing satisfies me much longer than going through a handful of shitty versions. Smartwatches also don't really break that easily in my experience, unless you do construction or something where it's particularly at risk maybe. Disproportionate spending habits aren't uncommon after a significant change in wealth. It's just something you'll have to learn to deal with.

 

Its was more an impulsive and not generally smart decision at that time to buy those things.If you are 100% sure that you want to game and what not,then i agree its better to invest in better quality stuff,but if you just buy someothing like i did just because of sake of it,to have it,it  isnt right decision.

I work in lumber industry,i work in a factory and often while repairing same things,you need to do in in small places so you often hit your hands around while screwing things.And i had often happen that a piece of lumber falls on my hands,its a smaller pieces and generally dont do much damage but still hurts,but i  wouldnt want my 300-500 euros watch to break like that.