Tal Shiar Agent
Member
They do, but you can prevent it by getting a blood transfusion with younger blood.
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Do skills and reflexes actually deteriorate with age?
- Thread starter Imp the Dimp
- Start date
Principate
Saint Titanfall
Experience counts for a lot, especially when your doing minimal exercise. So yes they do, but in many ways raw experience, better tactics etc can all combat these things. There's less need to perfectly react to an opponent, if you've already correctly predicted their next 3 moves.
Sapphire Dreams
Member
"Reflexes has changed..."
GoldenCrow
Member
Yeah reflexes deteriorate with age, differently for different people but they aren't the only factor in skill, experience and an understanding of the fundamentals goes a long way in determining skill. That is why there are so many elite sports people that are considered to be the best in the world and are over the age of deterioration and usually have some nasty old injuries that stop them physically being at their peak. The young might be quicker and faster but if they don't know how to put it to use then an old timer can school them.
34 here and worse than ever. Or maybe my tolerance for losses has decreased. If I start going on tilt I ask myself, 'dont have i have better stuff to do with my time? this isnt fun at all' and so i'll stop playing that game. I guess if I was younger I'd just grind it out and improve but I'm at the stage of my gaming life where if i'm not having fun, its hard to justify why i'm spending time on a game and not, you know, being a productive member of society, or some shit.
also. some of these kids are mean these days lol. come to think of it, i think my gaming skills AND trash talking skills have both decreased as ive gotten older.
Herbspiceguy
Member
Ofcourse they do.
I believe DotA is the prime example of an e-sports game where you can compensate with other skills over deteriorating (twitch) reflexes. There's just so much to the gameplay, I think Fear's sheer experience is a big benefit combined with younger players. I think he knows how to anticipate games/teams more than others.
I believe DotA is the prime example of an e-sports game where you can compensate with other skills over deteriorating (twitch) reflexes. There's just so much to the gameplay, I think Fear's sheer experience is a big benefit combined with younger players. I think he knows how to anticipate games/teams more than others.
Reflexes rely on cognitive ability, not just fingers and eyeballs, and the evidence shows that look-to-action response time deteriorates from an average of 25 years.
Skills are a different thing tho. They are learned behaviour.
One of the things I've noticed over the past few years as I've gone past 25 years of age is that I play more games to wind down as opposed to competitively or to really test my skills. I don't play as much of the fast reflex/high intensity games and as a result I think my skills have declined noticeably so it's kind of resulted in me being pretty crap at games now whereas I used to be pretty good.
About 10 years ago I was energised by the challenge and the competitiveness but these days I just don't have it. I used to play Ninja Gaiden over and over on hard mode trying not to take a hit of damage, I don't think I have that commitment anymore. The other thing is I can't get to that same level of engrossment and attachment that allows you to have that level of skill and reflex which I think comes down to changing priorities. I think a lot of people go through this around mid twenties just to the circumstances in their life.
About 10 years ago I was energised by the challenge and the competitiveness but these days I just don't have it. I used to play Ninja Gaiden over and over on hard mode trying not to take a hit of damage, I don't think I have that commitment anymore. The other thing is I can't get to that same level of engrossment and attachment that allows you to have that level of skill and reflex which I think comes down to changing priorities. I think a lot of people go through this around mid twenties just to the circumstances in their life.
John Caboose
Member
So morbid. I hope I do more than decline and die.
That's so god damn interesting. Thank you!
Sevket-Erhat
Member
I am 40 and been playing since Atari 2600 days and I can tell you that the only thing deteriorating is my patience and motivation
LittleBuddy
Neo Member
I'm 31 and haven't seen any deterioration in gaming skills, I think I'm actually better now than I was when I was in my teens and early 20s. Though I could see how they can go downhill if you don't take care of your health, mainly mental shape more than physical.
FinalStageBoss
Banned
Of course reflexes decline. Father time catches up to all of us(I'm still in my prime tho).
I think there are several factors that play into this but Yes, Reflexes do slow down. You can take the most extreme example comparing a 20yo with a 80yo and you will see a huge difference in reflexes, it doesn't take an article out of a scientific journal to prove that.
Several factors can speed this up. Your genetic predisposition, The food you eat, the chemicals you breathe in (from detergents to other types of cleaning products), the quality of the air you breathe all can promote degeneration much faster.
Several factors can speed this up. Your genetic predisposition, The food you eat, the chemicals you breathe in (from detergents to other types of cleaning products), the quality of the air you breathe all can promote degeneration much faster.
Sanctuary
Member
Same. All it takes (for me) is motivation and practice. If I don't practice every day like I did in the past, that "skill" rapidly dimishes to the "I just don't give a fuck anymore" point, and I move on to other things.
JasonUresti
Member
Reflexes clearly do, it depends on the sport/game how big of an impact that makes.
In physical sports inevitably there is a point of overall physical decline where even the very best would no longer be competitive. These sports involve much more than just reaction times though. Being so much less demanding physically, I would tend to think that esports drawing from similar sized talent pools would have players having much longer primes (I am ignoring the potential "burnout" aspect as that is largely mental and can happen at any age)
In physical sports inevitably there is a point of overall physical decline where even the very best would no longer be competitive. These sports involve much more than just reaction times though. Being so much less demanding physically, I would tend to think that esports drawing from similar sized talent pools would have players having much longer primes (I am ignoring the potential "burnout" aspect as that is largely mental and can happen at any age)
Nip forest . Vp neo and dotta is actually a esport which requires fewerer reflexes . Both the ppl I listed are from cs where reflexes matter more .
Looking at other sports, I would think that people could be competitive at certain games into their 40s/50s.
Pure reflexes deteriorate but they don't exactly drop off a cliff at 25.
I think the bigger things that hurt older gamers are 1) lack of money for people to compete professionally and 2) relatively short lifecycle of games (if there's a hot new game every 3-4 years the older gamers can't get the experience to compensate for their slightly slower pure reflexes).
Pure reflexes deteriorate but they don't exactly drop off a cliff at 25.
I think the bigger things that hurt older gamers are 1) lack of money for people to compete professionally and 2) relatively short lifecycle of games (if there's a hot new game every 3-4 years the older gamers can't get the experience to compensate for their slightly slower pure reflexes).
superNESjoe
Member
The sleeper hit post of the thread.
No reflexes in general across both sports and esports drop off in the late twenties . In thirties most ppl compensate with strategy . Very few ppl last into their forties unless they are by ridiculously talented/strategic . 50 ? Professional sports /esports ? Who the fuck you kidding ? Or maybe you're from te future .
Mihos
Gold Member
I am 43 and this conversation is bullshit, the only thing that changes is how much time you can devote to it and how it ranks in your priorities. I spend about 40 hours a week gaming, but as far as where it ranks in importance, it is dead last on the list. You can get out of practice, and there are far less people my age or older that play regularly. But it's not a matter of can we compete, it's more why the hell would we want to?
Fear also has a rsi in his hand.
Reflexes can be an issue, but people bust Fear's balls because he's been in the scene so long, not necessarily his age.
The reason so many people drop out of e-sports after their early 20s is the same reason so many musicians stop trying to be a touring/garage band as a career. E-sports isn't something you can be reliably employed in. Just look at Aui. Sure he'll get a team, but it's such a volatile market, and one where you know you probably won't have a future in 20 years so it's time to focus on a path and cut back on the dedication to the feast or famine world of e-sports.
Prize pools have exploded with dota, and the majors may bring some sort of stability, so we'll see how that goes.
Look at a guy like IXmike. He's a better dota player than 99.9% of the people reading here but unless something crazy changes it's not going to be any better a career for him than gamestop manager.
Reflexes can be an issue, but people bust Fear's balls because he's been in the scene so long, not necessarily his age.
The reason so many people drop out of e-sports after their early 20s is the same reason so many musicians stop trying to be a touring/garage band as a career. E-sports isn't something you can be reliably employed in. Just look at Aui. Sure he'll get a team, but it's such a volatile market, and one where you know you probably won't have a future in 20 years so it's time to focus on a path and cut back on the dedication to the feast or famine world of e-sports.
Prize pools have exploded with dota, and the majors may bring some sort of stability, so we'll see how that goes.
Look at a guy like IXmike. He's a better dota player than 99.9% of the people reading here but unless something crazy changes it's not going to be any better a career for him than gamestop manager.
dragonyeuw
Member
I'm worse at Street Fighter at 37 than I was at 17, but I think that has more to do with not playing the game as feverishly as I used to. I'm better at strategy games nowadays though, probably having to do with patience.
Imp the Dimp
Member
Check out Bernard Hopkins
You're 43 and you've never played a real esport if you dismiss age as a factor that quickly .im 29 and my reflexes are slower than they were at 22 .
http://livehealthy.chron.com/men-women-reach-physical-peak-2652.html and check out essentially any other athletes careers post 35 .
Imp the Dimp
Member
I'm well aware. Just saying it's possible if you are a freak of nature.
Perhaps but only very gradually and only by a few percent .. Of course those can make a diference between kill or be killed in a competitive online environment.
Biggest diference for me now that I'm almost 40 and married with kids is that I don't have the same oceans of time anymore to play a game until I got really good at it.
I'm lucky to get 10-15 hours of playing time a week nowadays.. used to play 4 times as much when I was single.
Biggest diference for me now that I'm almost 40 and married with kids is that I don't have the same oceans of time anymore to play a game until I got really good at it.
I'm lucky to get 10-15 hours of playing time a week nowadays.. used to play 4 times as much when I was single.
My brother is 40 and he is kicking asses and taking names on Battlefield, Plants vs. Zombies. etc., guess he had very good reflexes to start with when he was young.
The fact that those lines are (log) is depressing btw. (filter's post)
The fact that those lines are (log) is depressing btw. (filter's post)
There are always extreme ends of the bell curve when there are such a massive amount of humans.
It's weird that people are giving their own anecdotes of whether their reflexes have changed over decades. It's impossible to know because there are so many other variables that have entered over that time, add to that the fallibility of memory and it's just a messy anecdote that means nothing. Without a time machine to visit your earlier self and have a large series of trials to determine what's changed then you're just being hopeful (or pessimistic). And even if you could do that, it wouldn't be significant to answering the question because it's a sample size of 1!
bati
Member
Yes. As a fps player the thing that hit me the hardest is my eyesight. It's not significantly worse than it was when I was younger, but I can't spot camoed enemies as well anymore and when I have to snap aim I'll often overshoot the target. Some of these things can be partially attributed to different equipment (CRT vs LCD, different mice over the years) but most of the effect is due to age imo. Luckily most shooters I play (CoD on pc mostly) are fairly casual so I can still own noobs like it's going out of style.
Silent Chief
Member
Which point? If you think you've reached a point from which aging doesn't affect you, I've got bad news for you.
TheRealJakoozie
Member
Reflexes definitely do. Every process in your body deteriorates with age. When it starts and how quick the process is can vary, but there's not really any doubt about that. Video game skills are probably among the first to go.
EDIT: To all the people saying that this has to be BS, because they are better gamers than ever ... Just stop. I know aging is scary, but pull yourself together. As others have pointed out, it's impossible for you to know if you've gotten better or worse yourself.
Skill is another matter, but that depends on how you define "skill". Here you probably have to factor in experience and strategy, which can compensate for lower reflexes.
The fuck? Play a vg now it's a sport? I doubt I could notice change before 50 years old (if I continue to play vg). For now, I didn't noticed anything of particularly different in my reflexes compared the past. And I'm almost 40 years old (well not exactly but I'm not so distant).
Early 40s here - it has far more to do with time than age. I simply don't have time to play 3 hours a day like I used to... That said, I'm typically in the top 5 people on any Battlefield team. A lot of THAT is having the patience to not play the game like CoD and run around like a chicken with its head cut off.
No issue beating difficult games either like the Souls games or twitch shooters. Can I competitively play on the "esports" circuit? No, but even if I could, I wouldn't want to. Give me an actual ass set of golf clubs, some friends, and some beer. That's competitive enough.
No issue beating difficult games either like the Souls games or twitch shooters. Can I competitively play on the "esports" circuit? No, but even if I could, I wouldn't want to. Give me an actual ass set of golf clubs, some friends, and some beer. That's competitive enough.
Oh, you probably didn't mean me, but I'd like to clarify that I don't think that the study is invalid, I think my brother had a very good base and he's still better even if he might have lost some of it.
As the scatter graph tells, there are people over 40 that are much better than 20.
Melchiah
Member
I don't play competitively online, but I'm 40 and I've platinumed Resogun and Bloodborne. The former took me over a month, and the latter over four months. It just depends on how much effort you put into them.
WAR recon zero
Banned
I was never that good
However last afternoon I hit two hat tricks and one double and two mvps in rocket league. I'm 32 Kappa
Mr. Giggles
Member
I notice the prize pools are pretty good, maybe they just quit once they make enough money :/
As for getting older and skills going down, nah, I still got the moves from the old days just need to shake off a little of the rust
As for getting older and skills going down, nah, I still got the moves from the old days just need to shake off a little of the rust
Trickster
Member
I doubt many would say that reflexes dont deterioate at all as you get older. However I think that esport scenes in general, blow it out of proportion. There's plenty of normal sports, where you see athletes stay at the top of the sport a good chunk into their thirties, even in extremely reflex heavy sports like boxing.
And I honestly think that as esports become more and more accepted and common, you will see people who are 30+ years in top teams. Right now the average age is very low because esports is still largely a very new thing. So it makes sense that it's the young generation, who have less responsibilities and more freetime than older people, that manage to play the games enough to the point that they can go pro.
I think it boils down the the lifestyle that progamers have to live. Most live in teamhouses of some sort with a lot of other males. I think if you're one of the progamers who don't make bank doing it, it's a lifestyle that ends up not being worth it. And even if you make a lot of money doing it. You probably still end up tired of the teamhouse lifestyle and stress of constant travel and long hours, and you end up either stopping in esports entirely, or find a position somewhere that allows you to live a more normal life.
That's just my guess though
And I honestly think that as esports become more and more accepted and common, you will see people who are 30+ years in top teams. Right now the average age is very low because esports is still largely a very new thing. So it makes sense that it's the young generation, who have less responsibilities and more freetime than older people, that manage to play the games enough to the point that they can go pro.
I think it boils down the the lifestyle that progamers have to live. Most live in teamhouses of some sort with a lot of other males. I think if you're one of the progamers who don't make bank doing it, it's a lifestyle that ends up not being worth it. And even if you make a lot of money doing it. You probably still end up tired of the teamhouse lifestyle and stress of constant travel and long hours, and you end up either stopping in esports entirely, or find a position somewhere that allows you to live a more normal life.
That's just my guess though
