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Are you worried about losing your gaming skills as you get older? Has it already happened to you?

b0bbyJ03

Member
I'm 38 and I have no idea how much it's affected me because i lost my skills due to lack of time but to be honest I don't think it matters all that much. I still have just as much fun, the only difference is that I play smarter now. Younger me would have engaged any enemy in sight but now i only engage when I have the upper hand (FPS games). I retreat when necessary and I usually try and flank and user smart tactics. I've definitely lost a percentage of my 1v1 skill tho. I can definitely see it, especially playing Apex in the last week. I've ended up in the top 3 or 2 in almost 80% of games in the last few days but still haven't won.
 

Mr Nash

square pies = communism
Not really. The main thing that has changed is that I'll pick one or two games to focus on and try to get good at them rather than playing a mish mash of stuff expecting to get to a decently high skill level in all of them. For now it's mostly FFXIV and DoDonPachi. Anything outside of that is treated very casual with zero expectations.
 

Tiamat2san

Member
When I was younger , I loved hard games, I was very good at fighting games too.
Now I am 43 and I play almost everything on easy mode, I don’t spend time practicing.
I just play for the story and to relax.
Don’t care about being good anymore.
The only problem for me is that I can’t play games like dark soul :bloodborne because it’s just too hard and I don’t have the patience or the skills anymore.
 

FranXico

Member
It indeed has already happened to me, but it's nothing I lose my sleep over... I just enjoy games at a slower pace.
 
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Woo-Fu

Banned
Nothing to worry about, your tastes mature as well. There's no way in hell I could find spending an entire day running around Q2DM1 interesting like I did when I was young.

Instead of worrying about your skills waning, worry about your interest waning. Most new games are lucky to get a day or two out of me until I'm back to modded minecraft where I can build things.
 
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A.Romero

Member
I've never been that good but I'm 35 and I feel like I'm playing better than ever.

Many games play better if you have good reflexes but most of them can be compensate bad reflexes with better strategy, positioning, etc.

I think if anything it would show on professional level gaming for specific kind of games like twitch shooters or fighters.
 

Solomeena

Banned
I am an old person at this juncture and you young whippersnappers can challenge me to any game you want and i will still kick your ass at it, i have not lost shit due to age. I am the king, come take my throne if you can.
 
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Solomeena

Banned
It indeed has already happened to me, but it's nothing I lose my sleep over... I just enjoy games at a slower pace.

This comes across as you giving up, why don't i just find you a nice retirement home for gamers, you old man you!!!
 
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Ten_Fold

Member
My skills isn’t much worse, I’m actually a bit better than I was when I was 14-18. I’m 26 now turning 27 this year, if anything I don’t have the same time as I use to so my skills haven’t grown much.
 

JCK75

Member
I'm 43 and I still mostly dominate online, but I'm losing my persistence in single player experiences.
 

KiteGr

Member
32 and I did notice a drop on my skills.
This could be because I don't game that often these days.
I'm also more methodical now.
 
At 47 the only thing I've lost is patience. I've never been good at pvp but single player and pve type games I'm just fine.
 

J4K

Member
As I get older worrying about my gaming skills is pretty low on my list of concerns.

Bigger concern is just finding the time to play. I enjoy relaxing with a video game here and there and life doesn't allow as many moments for that when you're in the daily grind. Even when I do have time I'm often too tired because video games actually do take a bit of effort.
 

Alebrije

Member


Yep You suck , clearly age has affected your skills.


Jk ; )

Iam 45 , play TLOU multiplayer and several times a manage to end the best of my team with the most kills.


On a side note : I find young players cheating a lot with devices like CRONUS MAX and Keyboard "hacks" ( auto aim assists), that is what destroys the fun for the people that play on regular controllers. And saddly no matther your skills is hard to win againts these people
 

Dacon

Banned
The problem here is less to do with age and more to do with health I'd say. The older you get the harder it gets to stay in good condition, but if you work at keeping a healthy body then your mind will also benefit.
 

Lightsbane

Member
Already happened to me, and I'm only 33.

I recently picked up a couple of MOBAs, just to test out my "skills". And while I ended up with a Diamond/Master rank on both of them, I was forced to outsmart my opponents basically every time.
In a 1vs1, purely mechanical face-off, I was in trouble. My reaction times have gotten ridiculously bad. And I seem to struggle with practically every combo-based character.

And that's coming from someone who used to play freaking Team Fortress Classic competitively. I'd say that after the age of 25 or 26 my abilities began to diminish. Rapidly.
 

Naked Lunch

Member
Im better now than ive ever been and I started online gaming with Quake II. To me it actually feels like having all that experience carries over from game to game. I never really stopped playing online in that timeframe.
For MP, these days I play FPS (mostly Halo), 2d fighting games, World of Tanks, and Smite.
 
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Leonidas

Member
Hasn't happened to me so I don't care and haven't really thought about it.
If I did greatly lose my skills to a point where I couldn't compete at all I'd probably just play different types of games.
 
I'm about to turn 38 in a few days, and when compared with my 28 year old self, my reaction times in faster paced games has gone down somewhat. The biggest problem I face is my arthrits and carpal tunnel getting worse.

I got hit with arthritis young, and my carpal tunnel reared its ugly head at about 30. It is more of a struggle than ever to fight the pain and play through it these days. I do my best but can only play for short bursts. Both are a 1-2 punch that has significantly reduced my playing time over the past 7 years or so.


Being more busy with work and all that do their fair share, but the most direct reason for less playtime is a combo of physical conditions that limit me.

So in the end, my reduced gaming skills and lowered reaction times are, probably, mainly due to not being able to play as much due to physical limitations and not my brain's cpu and gpu not turbo boosting enough...causing input lag to my arm and hand peripherals.

Obviously none of this will stop me from loving tech, and building/tinkering/actually using my pc for its intended primary purpose...porn watchin I MEAN FAMILY FRIENDLY PC GAMING.

And yes, i take some anti inlfammatories and have a supply of lidocaine pain relief cream ready to be used in order to extend gaming sessions. Both will be used to their safe limits when cyberpunk 2077 comes out, and hopefully crackdown 3 as well. I just hope both games are super fun and enjoyable to play.
 
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Fnord

Member
I'm 49 and, if anything, I'm better at games than I was as a kid. Between games being ridiculously hard when I was younger and years of practice, things are good now. Of course, there is no tangible way to test this, since I don't play online (and never really have), but just a feeling I have.
 

zkorejo

Member
31 here. I feel it's the same as ever, but I have noticed my interest in games falling back. I used to play alot more even 2 years ago than now.

Then I think.. there hasn't been any game thats as good as what I was playing 2 years ago anyways. So maybe it's because of that.

Will have to go back to the mp gaming and put some time in to see if my skill level has dropped.
 
The more you play, the better you are. As you get older you spend less time playing games, so you get less good at playing games. Logic 101.
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
That ship's sailed. I can still be competitive, but not to the same level. It doesn't bother me at all though, but I do tend to gravitate to more tactical based shooters as opposed to twitch style.
 
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Iced Arcade

Member
I would think this but also life added a full time job, wife, kid, house, exercise, family other social things that took away precious gaming time lol
 

Halo0629

Member
I could still beat games like ds and bloodborne so I still have faith with my gaming skills. But when it comes to platforming though I'm not going to lie that I'm starting to suck at it, can't even count how many times I've died in super mario u alone because of missed jumps. Lol!
 

waxer

Member
Lol. Just do what you enjoy and stop overthinking shit. It's a game. Unless it's your income why would you be worried about it. Shit changes through life. Relationships hobbies jobs. Enjoy life and stop sweating the stuff that doesn't matter.
Go with the flow and do the things you enjoy and don't be afraid of change.
 
I still got it (single player games, obviously). I love some challenging, punishing games, I just love the thrill of beating a hard encounter. There are all kinds of gamers though and contrary to the "git gud" crowd, there isn't a correct way to enjoy your games. So if I ever find myself a touch slower or just unfocused, I'll lower the difficulty or play something different. I've been playing a lot of slower, methodical RPGs lately or stuff like Xcom or Fire Emblem. There's enjoyment to be found everywhere, video games are the fucking tits.
 

Pimpbaa

Member
I'm 43 and I really don't enjoy multiplayer FPS' like I use to, I just can't keep up with kids these days. A combination of age and legal weed means I enjoy more slower paced games.
 

Salvatron

Member
Skills are as sharp as ever... but my patience with shitty writing, over monetization, execs who say things like "gameplay loops", and empty open worlds with phoned in checklist style activities is out the fuckin proverbial window.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
People in their mid to late 30s+ that are on Twitch still do really well from what I see so I'm going to guess lack of practice intervenes a lot more than bad reflexes. That said I don't doubt age related mental decline is real. My memory has already declined a bit from my 20s but maybe I just hit my head too much
 

Kagey K

Banned
Not really. I´ve actually gotten better at playing with age.
I agree, while my skill hasn’t really changed, my attitude and anger did.

I used to get so upset every time I died and try to go get revenge on that person only to die and die again, resulting in me getting more upset.

Now I shrug it off and move on, which tends to help me do better overall as I’m not laser focused on that one guy.

I figure as long as I’m postitive in TDM or helping cap the objectives I’m doing my part and not holding the team back.

It has definitely helped make online gaming a less stressful experience. I have a few friends that still rage and scream and blame everything except themselves when they die, and I laugh my ass off and poke fun of them when it happens.

It usually results in them rage quitting, but eventually they will get it also.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
I'm 43 and I really don't enjoy multiplayer FPS' like I use to, I just can't keep up with kids these days. A combination of age and legal weed means I enjoy more slower paced games.
Damn that’s a tag. What’s the story? Sorry first time I’ve noticed it,
 
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