"I can't game the way I used to."

DarthMol

DarthMol

New member
Based on a bit of a derailment of the Division thread I thought I post this so us "ou ballies" on the forum can moan together about how we can't manage the late hours and gaming marathons we used to.

I just turned 29 - so nearly into my thirties (but with 2 kids) and I can certainly relate to the [MENTION=532]Hiro[/MENTION] and [MENTION=193]matt[/MENTION] when it comes to this.

Anyone else find that you just can't game like you used to?
 
I'm turning 29 later this year and we have a 14month old boy. Gaming time is minimal. Luckily I decided to quit WoW soon after my wife got pregnant, because I knew I wouldn't have time for the 3 - 4 hour raids anymore.

But now I still find that my game is very limited. I get bored of a game long before I finish it because I play in these 1 or 2 hour stints (max), but over weeks, and then I lose interest because it feels like I am getting nowhere with the game.

I still need to finish Witcher 3 for instance. I'm only level 9 in Division. Those are just 2 games, there are so many more I want to play but never will because time.
 
Pffft. "Ou ballies". :wtf:

It seems having children makes you old way before your time. I'm nearly 37 and when I'm not working can I pretty much play games whenever I want.
 
MetalSoup said:
Pffft. "Ou ballies". :wtf:

It seems having children makes you old way before your time. I'm nearly 37 and when I'm not working can I pretty much play games whenever I want.
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+1

I'm turning 36 this year and I'm happily married and I game whenever. On Saturday I got up at 5 and played games until 9. It really does look like it's kids who take your games away.
 
I'm turning 28 this year, and I have my fair share of gametime still. See the GF on weekends, so no gaming then unless I wake up really early and get an hour in while she still sleeps.
 
MetalSoup said:
Pffft. "Ou ballies". :wtf:

It seems having children makes you old way before your time. I'm nearly 37 and when I'm not working can I pretty much play games whenever I want.
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Solitude said:
+1

I'm turning 36 this year and I'm happily married and I game whenever. On Saturday I got up at 5 and played games until 9. It really does look like it's kids who take your games away.
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Oh ya it's definitely kids that do it. Children are the most tiring thing known to mankind.
 
Work gets in the way. So really only game on weekends.

Noticed I'm wasting huge amount of time of aimless surfing though...so might cut that down and do like 30 mins of gaming every day
 
It's a combo of work, wife and kids that utterly decimates game time. I get home from work around 18:30 - 19:00. Have supper, spend some time with wife and kids and before you know it, 10pm. If the missus then wants to spent time together chatting or watching TV, gaming is gone. And even if not, you normally so kaput tired by then. I sometimes FORCE myself to make time for gaming, else I will feel like I'm stuck in a work-sleep-repeat pattern.

But where the pain is really felt is on weekends. Impossible to game with kids around. So basically, only free time is when they are asleep. Which is why I'm so happy that school holidays are over [emoji16]
 
Blazzok said:
But now I still find that my game is very limited. I get bored of a game long before I finish it because I play in these 1 or 2 hour stints (max), but over weeks, and then I lose interest because it feels like I am getting nowhere with the game.
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I'm also finding this, a 30 hour game will more than likely take me around 2.5 months to complete which by that stage at least 3 humble bundle sales have happened and I've moved onto the next newest thing while my backlog grows.
[MENTION=17]MetalSoup[/MENTION] hence the " " on "ou ballies" - we're not that old really but having the kids... that makes you old :D Or more like the responsibilities don't clock off when working hours end.
 
Turning 30 soon and I also have less time for gaming, albeit I have no kids. I see it as a good thing though - it's forced me to be more selective about the games I play so the quality of my time spent gaming has gone up.
 
HavocXphere said:
Work gets in the way. So really only game on weekends.

Noticed I'm wasting huge amount of time of aimless surfing though...so might cut that down and do like 30 mins of gaming every day
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Pretty much this. While I decided to get to bed early tonight after working until 01:00 this morning, I find myself reading forums and useless internet articles tonight. I could've spent 2 hours gaming instead...

But, reality is that I seldom get time to game. I'm turning 33 this year, married to a gorgeous lady who doesn't mind me gaming a couple of hours a week, but we don't have kids (yet).

Being a business owner means I'm forced to work 80% of the time, and that includes weekends and holidays. In fact, that's when I get most productive work done.

I force myself sometimes to take a break and game a bit, but I can hardly bear a 2 hour stint before stopping from mental fatigue.
 
Noted, no kids for us then. I have allot of game time with the missus working night shifts and also supporting my gaming habits. The problem is that I get bored with a game quickly. I can't sit down with a game and finish it over a weekend like i used to 15, even 10 years ago. The only games that keep me interested are Flight sims and some MMO's where I group up with friends.
 
I am 38 in a few days (wink-wink) and have two girls, one almost 4, the other just 3 months. For me it is all about routine. Get the kids in bed by 7 - 7:30, spend some time with the missus watching TV or a movie, then I game from 9-ish for about 2 hours. I am used to living on 7 hours of sleep so I dont often feel very tired. Weekends are more variable and often get a morning off when the girls go shopping or attend birthday parties, or I will play much later on a Friday or Saturday depending on the following day's schedule.

I used to spend a lot of time surfing aimlessly but cut that right down. I decide "Tonight it is Battlefield 4" or "Time for more Mad Max" and I only play that. Anything else and I lose out on some valuable gaming time. I used to sit at my PC and spend an hour going through my games list wondering what to play. What a waste!
 
Im 30 at the end of the year, no kids, recently got married, 8-5 job during the week, and i dont have NEARLY as much time as i would like to game... Iv taken to trying to select shorted games, that i can actually finish quicker... The new Hitman fits me perfectly because of the episodic release... I love having the game spaced out over the year because it gives me time to really play each mission...

I cant even imaging how you guys with kids manage to get any time in...
 
Pfff kids of today...

44 and still gaming till late. Granted I don't do all nighters any more (Skipping a night's rest every now and then) but I still game till 12 often with only 5 hours sleep a night.

Biggest difference from my younger years is that I only start at 8 instead of the moment I get home.
 
Not just gaming, it's everything in life. It's a constant rush. We spend more time in traffic now than we did 5 years ago. We end up leaving earlier for work, we end up getting home later from work. Then there is the added stress of not having enough hours in the day, dealing with traffic, having to help kids with school work ect. By the time you can finally relax it's already 10pm and you're exhausted.
 
oltman said:
I am 38 in a few days (wink-wink) and have two girls, one almost 4, the other just 3 months. For me it is all about routine. Get the kids in bed by 7 - 7:30, spend some time with the missus watching TV or a movie, then I game from 9-ish for about 2 hours. I am used to living on 7 hours of sleep so I dont often feel very tired. Weekends are more variable and often get a morning off when the girls go shopping or attend birthday parties, or I will play much later on a Friday or Saturday depending on the following day's schedule.

I used to spend a lot of time surfing aimlessly but cut that right down. I decide "Tonight it is Battlefield 4" or "Time for more Mad Max" and I only play that. Anything else and I lose out on some valuable gaming time. I used to sit at my PC and spend an hour going through my games list wondering what to play. What a waste!
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I wish I could get my kid to bed by 7:30. We did get him in bed by 8 last night, but he only got to sleep around 10:30. He just refuses to sleep. The one bonus is that he likes to sleep in, which is awesome on the weekends, not so lekker when we have to get him up for school though.
 
I find it comes and go's in waves. There are weeks at a time when other things take priority (studies,work,family etc) and rightfully so. Then a day or two will open up and I can game as much as I want. Work/Life balance is important - gaming doesn't feel good when you're skimping on other responsibilities.
 
I landed up playing Factorio until about 1:30am this morning (it's one of those games that makes the hours fly by before you realise it). I'm doing surprisingly well today despite the 4h30min sleep - worth it!
 
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