Originally posted by Torgrim

For me i like gaming this is part of my life since pong 1982 at the girl next door who had a big brother that had that very first "mobile" playing station.

I wasen't into mud, I played games on 64, and Amiga, my very first MMO was Meridian59 that game as a demo, yeah funny it wasen't called freetrial back then.

I played the demo didn't like much, so I continued playing C&C, Starcontrol 2, D&D games and alike and bla bla.

I loved Baldurs  gate 1 and 2, I loved Icewind dale 1, I loved Ultima series from 1 to Online.

I tried SWG at launch it was a mess but got better at the end, I fell in love with EQ, but got pissed more times than I want to say ;)

I really love gaming well I thought I did, let me explain, I'm a gamer like all of you, we all like games, I can read about a game dream about it how much fun it will be but the thing is is when I get the game It's not always like it used to the feeling is gone

Sure the game is good and fun and every bells and wissles are there just like the old days but I lost the feeling.

I can still feel the upcomming games with joy but not as much playing them, sure I'm having fun, but the fun I had when I was younger., that feeling is gone.

SO am I'm burned out or am I a relic of old gaming?

Im the same.  Started gaming back in 78 with the Telestar Ranger system. Rolled through all the console generations starting with Atari 2600.  Did some Vic20 and C64 but never really got (heavy) into PC gaming until recently.

Long story short we grew up.  Half of us are starting to hit our 40s.  Some of us have families, involved work schedules or just plain interesting lives.  The thing I loved about games in the past was they left alot to the imagination.  They were built to be semi dramatic and fun.  

What I personally noticed is that gaming started to become hyper realistic.  No longer was it just OK to save the world, or the princess or just to explore.  Now you had to have serious seedy backstory, anti-hero mechanics and a level of maturity that prevents me to enjoy some AAA games with my kids.  Its own popularity is to blame as well, for when we were playing games it was an undergroud niche pass time.  It was seen as quirky and geeky.  Now even my mom plays games.  Expanding the market to the masses just oversaturated the market.  All part of its evolution.

The future of gaming is now moving far enough away from what I enjoy that I dont follow it with the same enthusiasm.  I'll always be interested and probably try the latest and greatest but I'm smart enough to know I wont stick with it.  The silver lining for me is now I get to go back and enjoy some of the great titles of the past that I didnt get to play.  With all this twitch / action combat MMO themes going on recently, it feels really good to sit back and thoroughly enjoy EverQuest (as I didnt get to play it at launch).  It really is a unique game that caters to what I look for in an RPG.  Looking back I find it odd (and saddened) that no one really took it further.

Even with the this talk (buzz word) of emergent gameplay and sandbox, I dont believe it will deliver the level of interaction I interpret to be fun.  Am I mad at the developers or the market?  What for?  They are just catering to their audience.  I just chalk up the memories of growing up during the golden age of gaming reiving the past with emulators (now I can play Super Nintenodo on my phone) and such.

Who knows, maybe one day a small niche developer might actually create a throw back RPG of my heyday of which I would thoroughly enjoy.

We probably have "grown up", but I don't think that means we grew out of gaming.  What I find is that the games marketed at your average MMO gamer (almost all of them) don't appeal to me because I want a deeper, more complex experience.  It's likely that a lot of gamers who have been into MMO's for a long time really expect more now.

Honestly we should have more in these games.  When you look at how much they have evolved, I mean really look at the programming and technology, there's doesn't seem to be much to point to.  Your average MMO appears to have no better AI, for example, than the aliens in the original Unreal FPS game.  In fact, I don't think they have much AI at all.  They just seem to have some mechanical reactions to getting attacked, which includes a list of attacks and a roll of the dice to see which one will get thrown.  That's just weak.

While game worlds obviously look better, most of them don't really have much for dynamic content that make the world feel alive.  What is available feels very mechnical and contrived after a short time playing.  The atmospheric  / weather systems in these games feels weak, if they bother to put it in at all these days.  Look at SWTOR abandoning even the day and night cycle, let alone dynamic weather.

Actually, I think we can all basically agree that these games have been "dumbed down" or simplified with each release.  What ever happened to things like players needing to eat food, or hindrances from environment and weather? Even though those systems were rudimentary, it all added to the overall virtual world feeling.

What about an adult-focused MMO?  A few games have gone in the direction of Rated M, but when you look at what got them the rating you have to wonder why they bothered.  Most of these games are stil very tame compared to your average Rated R movie in 2012.  

Gaming, in general, is still growing and will continue to do so.  Enough of these companies are blowing their games that they will either need to change their approach, or abandon the genre.  Either way I see that as a win-win because it will leave more gamers for developers who want to take some chances and push the genre forward.

I think the future of this genre is bright, but we need more developers to really start pushing things forward.  Computer hardware is very powerful now, and there are much fewer people running machines that can't handle things like advanced AI.  Most decent computers aren't even using much CPU now, so there's room for more dynamic programming there.

Originally posted by nethervoid
I think the problem your having is game makers aren't really producing anything new. Why is minecraft so huge? It's different and let's players build whatever they want! If they release minecraft 2, and it basically plays the same, people won't be as into it as the first time.

what about the CoD series?  or Battlefield,  Madden Football,  etc.  if people find something fun they will play it.  if not they won't.

Alot of us UO vets are currently watching (What we hope) will be the next niche thing.

http://www.greedmonger.com/forum/

Looks like it has some promise honestly.

Originally posted by Zeppelin4

Its not me. :) I have gown tired of the action combat games we have today with no depth. [mod edit]

To make a long story short no. Its the games today not us. :)

Glad to read that :) .

Seems like with the replies currently, it's the games, not us.  Although graphic cards to continue to improve, online speeds are faster, etc. I'm always curious if a game will come out that will take advantage of something like Google Fiber & blow the lid off of the current games.  Maybe something like;  Google Fiber + Sight: Contact Lenses with Augmented Reality - Futuristic Video + MMO + Cthulhu game / Paranoia  :)   (minus all of that cheesball in the video).   

I don't think it's "growing up", I think that the new games just don't have the same impact as the older ones did. There's not as much love put into them as there used to be. The games are bland, boring, and just don't have the content to keep you zoned in.

I personally still play Everquest 2, and I enjoy it, the content is still good and intriguing. I dunno, could be maturity for you, but I'm hoping to never really grow out of it.

Neither...  The answer is obvious.

Games just aren't made like they once were...

Originally posted by DAS1337

Neither...  The answer is obvious.

 

Games just aren't made like they once were...

Worse than that, they are moving backwards in a lot of ways.  Game companies have decided we are all stupid, and so each new game "simplifies" or removes something. 

It's like we are moving toward a game that just plays itself while you watch, and you always win.

Originally posted by Jemcrystal
What on earth does "maturity" have to do with gaming?  Used to be in the old days we made "men's only clubs" where we went to game or gamble the day away.  The idea was only an adult would like sit down games.  Youth games are one's where you run around after a ball or some such; sports.  Adult games - sit down and play.  There is no such thing as becoming to old to play.

If you ask me, a video game is more interesting that sitting in front of the TV like a lot of adults do.  I prefer something interactive, social and requiring brain activity to TV most of the time.  These new games are almost to the point where they are no better than TV.

Neither, the games changed.

I never found mindless grinding on its own to be fun. I tolerated it in DAoC because you had the freedom to explore while you did it, and you were almost always in a group, socializing while it happened, which made each day unique and interesting. On top of that, there were about 4 different ways to level (hunting mobs with good camp bonus, kill tasks, bounties, and the battlegrounds).

I cannot tolerate it in WoW where it is just quest grinding until you die with nothing to look forward to.

Modern MMOs, have just about less of everything. Less features, less customization, less socializing, and so, I'm less interested in them. I like the same things I liked 10 years ago. But the games I liked then are no longer there. And new ones are not being made.

Originally posted by MindTrigger

Originally posted by DAS1337

Neither...  The answer is obvious.

 

Games just aren't made like they once were...

Worse than that, they are moving backwards in a lot of ways.  Game companies have decided we are all stupid, and so each new game "simplifies" or removes something. 

It's like we are moving toward a game that just plays itself while you watch, and you always win.

They're slowly mutating into what will eventually be nothing more than terrible movies. As I said in another thread yesterday, the new complaints we're going to be reading on forums like this will include frustration over having to mobilize and walk to the pc with the additional chore of having to actually push the power button to get that picture rolling. 

I've really grown tired of watching a genre with such an unprecedented amount of potential stagnate and rot like a fallen tree in a soggy forest. Sad is where I would put us a half decade ago. Where we are now; I have no words.

     I'm neither burned out or mature.. ha ha..  I've been a gamer for 30 years..  I still have a warm spot in my heart for Elite, which I played on my Commodore system, and EQ.. Now at the time I played both those games I could spend hours playing them, no different then when I would play my PS3 games on a cold winter weekend..  I haven't done any of that of late.. My free time as changed over the years, but IF the game is fun and still playable, I'll play....... Because of limited time, paying for a sub does become an issue..  I'm enjoying GW2 alot.. The gameplay is good and I can play at any rate I want.. I no longer feel cheated if I don't play this week or next week..  If all I have time for is an hour a week.. great.. 

     For me, the issue is:  1) Is the game fun?  2) Is it worth the time to play?  I read that someone is trying to make an MMO version of Elite..  I loved that game and even if the game just ended up a working reskin of the original I would buy it in a NY second..  EVE is too group and PvP oriented from what I gather.. and I refuse to pay to play PvP..  From where I sit , GW2 is the first significan change in the MMO direction over the past 10 years..  Neverwinter might be another, who knows..

@ OP

The games today are just simply overplayed the same way with nothing new to offer but short term value and playability.

Yeah they are superior in graphics and audio, however simply point.

"All flash and no substance".

For how many hours did you play Pong then?

In total? Effective playing time. 3 hours? 4? 10?

How many hours did you sink into C&C? 

Nowadays both we and the gamedesigners expect games to last like forever. 

Thats a huge mistake.