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Has anyone else given up on competitive gaming?

I've loved playing against friends and strangers ever since I was introduced to Smash Bros Melee many years ago. The race to improve and defeat your opponent sparked a flame in me that could no longer be quenched by single player gaming against the computer.

But here we are several gens later and I'm starting to get tired of competitive gaming, but not because I'm not good at them or the trolls are annoying or whatever. Rather, as games have become more complex and dev tools have grown more flexible, it feels like competitive games are always being changed and updated. It has reached a point where I can only enjoy these games for a short period before a patch is introduced that completely changes the mechanics, and in many cases makes it less fun.

I'm not really concerned with whether or not they are necessary or ultimately healthy for the game, but rather the fact that you can come back to a game after a while and it'll be completely different from the last time you played it. Investing in a game early on isn't as exciting as it used to be because it's going to see drastic changes at some point, and keeping up with or "adapting" to all of that is frankly exhausting. I've seemingly steered myself back towards single player and cooperative games where that is less likely to happen. Coop has always been my favorite way to play anyway, so perhaps it'll be a nice change of pace; Nevertheless, I hope this trend slows down at some point and the industry sees a shift to less volatile game design.
 
melee ain't getting patched any time soon and smash 4 hasn't been patched in nearly a year so my delusions of grandeur and I are closer than ever. #poolsFodder.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
  • Watching: Hell no, I'll watch fighting game tournaments 'till the day I die.
  • Competing: I'm trying to practice & attend more fighting game tournaments, but money is a bit of an issue as a college kid.

melee ain't getting patched any time soon and smash 4 hasn't been patched in nearly a year so my delusions of grandeur and I are closer than ever. #poolsFodder.
You do realize that there's rumors of a Smash 4 port for the Switch, right?
 

Tagyhag

Member
Yep, back in High School/college that's usually how I spent my late nights.

But now that I'm older and with a career job, I barely have time to play games, so when I do, they're usually going to be single player games where I don't have to play every day to keep up with my friends.
 

Quonny

Member
Like everything: moderation.

I was super into climbing the ladder in LoL, but have in the last year or so just been playing to do my best and climb, but not stress on it. Instead of playing the 10+ games a week to stay competitive, I now play a couple as to hold my mediocre rank, which is still in the top 20%, which I can be proud of.
 

sirronoh

Member
I still like watching it but I stopped playing years ago. Used to play Halo 3, Reach, and 4 competitively for a few years and then my 360 died. Tried to play Tomb Raiders and GTA Online recently and completely gave up. Just not for me anymore. Loving all of the single player experiences coming out this year though.
 
Gave up YYYYYEEEAAARRRSSS ago. I play any competative game at all. I don't need alpha bros calling me all types of names and dont need the frustration of those always trying to win.
 
I've loved playing against friends and strangers ever since I was introduced to Smash Bros Melee many years ago. The race to improve and defeat your opponent sparked a flame in me that could no longer be quenched by single player gaming against the computer.

But here we are several gens later and I'm starting to get tired of competitive gaming, but not because I'm not good at them or the trolls are annoying or whatever. Rather, as games have become more complex and dev tools have grown more flexible, it feels like competitive games are always being changed and updated. It has reached a point where I can only enjoy these games for a short period before a patch is introduced that completely changes the mechanics, and in many cases makes it less fun.

I'm not really concerned with whether or not they are necessary or ultimately healthy for the game, but rather the fact that you can come back to a game after a while and it'll be completely different from the last time you played it. Investing in a game early on isn't as exciting as it used to be because it's going to see drastic changes at some point, and keeping up with all that is frankly exhausting. I've seemingly steered myself back towards single player and cooperative games where that is less likely to happen. Coop has always been my favorite way to play anyway, so perhaps it'll be a nice change of pace; Nevertheless, I hope this trend slows down at some point and the industry sees a shift to less volatile game design.

Well, I dunno, competitive gaming was only "slow" in the past because versions/patches didn't drop all that fast. And unfortunately, games get figured out, meaning the meta doesn't change and it becomes stale. I get people don't like relearning things after they've spent time in the lab, but to me, that's what keeps it exciting. And the time you spent learning the fundamentals like what to do in neutral and removing scrubby things like jumping a lot still carries over.
 

Syf

Banned
I haven't really played a game competitively since StarCraft 2 1v1 ladder. These days I just play socially for fun. Co-op and MMO stuff. I'll still watch competitive games though.
 
Yes, but a really long time ago.

I just play stuff for fun now, and only played ranked game modes if my friends want to and under the rule of no one getting made, we're here to have fun.

Its not that games have become more complex, its just i've lost my competitive spirit. I'd much rather play co-op MMO's or stuff like Monster Hunter.

Having said that i have been really enjoying Rainbow Six Siege, probably the competitive game i've been into the most since CoD 4.
 
I have never had the interest, time, or dedication to take competitive gaming seriously. I also get bored of playing the same game after a couple hours, so I just focus on having fun.
 
  • Watching: Hell no, I'll watch fighting game tournaments 'till the day I die.
  • Competing: I'm trying to practice & attend more fighting game tournaments, but money is a bit of an issue as a college kid.


You do realize that there's rumors of a Smash 4 port for the Switch, right?

yeah i know. it's still been a pretty long period of stability to play in, though, and it looks like it's gonna be lasting another four or five months at the bare minimum.


not like they're gonna nerf pikachu on me anyway.
 

Hydrus

Member
Yea I'm in the same boat OP. I loved being able to just jump into a game at anytime with friends and play. Now with competitive games, if you take a few months off, you have no clue what's going on.
 

Nielm

Member
I haven't even bought the new Battlefield, and I'm a big Battlefield fan.

In my teenage years I much preferred competitive games to co-op, but now I'm primarily playing single-player games and co-op games.

It just doesn't interest me as much anymore. Plenty of the communities are toxic too.

The last competitive MP game I played heavily was TLOU MP.
 

DrArchon

Member
I found out a LOOOOOOONG time ago that I'm basically crap at any really competitive game out there, and it's only gotten worse as I've gotten older and lost a lot of the free time I had in college/high school.

It's one of the reasons I don't buy many fighting games anymore, even though I love watching them. I don't have it in me anymore to learn complicated combos, and without those I'm not even playing the game really.
 

KIRAKIRA

Banned
depends on the game, most games are fun but not mechanically good enough to really give a go competitively, especially recent games like overwatch

also by getting older you realize whatever you do you will never make a career of them, so whats the point between trying hard or playing for fun
 

Zackat

Member
whenever a WoW patch comes out my time for competitive games goes down. I haven't had time to play street fighter for a bit now :(

I will watch competitions online forever though
 
I have not been competitive since around 2007. There are sometimes I get in the competitive mood in some games, but I have not been dedicated to the competitive scene in general since that time.
 

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
Completely. Used to play Counterstrike exclusively for like 2 years.

Now I let my PS Plus subscription expire because I just can't bring myself to play anything online. Workmates tried to get me into LoL, couldn't do more than a few games and got sick of it. Online buddies tried to get me into Overwatch but I still haven't played it.

I don't know. I just don't get the point of it any more. Being better than some random online dudes in a videogame? Just doesn't spark anything in me any more. It's kinda weird because I know that totally used to entertain me. I can't even explain.

Destiny was able to get me a little bit into online gaming again but then again, that was more like Coop (the Raids I mean).

Every time I play something online I think about how I could play some other SP game with and actual story or something instead of doing this mindless rounds, beating someone else online and then getting swuat for it.
 

Trogdor1123

Member
I'm too old and busy. Full time work,full time school, and full-time family doesnt leave much me time... Let alone time to actually be competitive.
 

TacosNSalsa

Member
I just signed up for The King of New York SFV tournament so I guess that would be a resounding no..but I feel you on changes that happen too frequently which is why , for better or worse, I appreciate Capcom's once year thing for balance changes.
 

Cyanity

Banned
Unless Overwatch quickplay counts, then yes. I can't really stand the ranked mode in any multiplayer game. At least in quickplay I can be positive and not get all pissed when my rank goes down or my teammates suck.
 

Vic20

Member
Never cared for competitive play with other people. it is often an annoying, ego heavy, area of gaming that I tend to avoid. Doesn't really bring out the best in my fellow human being.
 

tioslash

Member
Yes. I really liked playing counter-strike competitively, but now I honestly don´t have the desire anymore. I prefer to play all my multiplayer games casually.

I do love to watch competitive e-sports though.
 

balohna

Member
I like playing against people, but I accept I'll never really "get good".

I'm happy I usually impact my team positively in Overwatch quickplay. That's enough.
 
Online competition opens your eyes on how high the bar actually is. In the days of melee everyone thought of themselves as good at the game, since hey they beat every kids on the block. That's certainly how I felt about Melee when I was a kid.
 
Yep. It just isn't fun anymore since nobody talks.
It's definitely a mute movement isn't it. Strange shift from 360 days


I get annoyed in sige all the time. Go down stairs and kill a dude, enter small hallway with my mate laying down peeking under the door from outside. Break the wall down and shoot around him. Our teammates are swarming behind me and dude is still creeping slowly inside. People do not only not talk. They also only pay attention to what they can and will do. So many times I get downed buy killed the guy and bleed out. I make it an effort to help teammates where I can. If it's in reason to not dying. Even if they are terrible I can use thier position and encounter to flank at least..
 

farisr

Member
I was never super into it, but I suppose Street Fighter IV was the closest I've got.

I've in general, given up on online multiplayer. After Halo 3, SFIV and Blops 2, I don't really play solo online anymore. I usually only play if there are some local options for it, like splitscreen online for COD, splitscreen for Rocket League etc. Solo, I boot up SFV once in a while to do the dailies and shut off the game as soon as I'm done those.
 
Pretty much given up at Street Fighter. I'm 28 and I'm mediocre at SFV. I'll play a few ranked matches a day, but taking the game too seriously is how a massive backlog happens.

I have about 20 games in my backlog due to taking SFIV too seriously. Way too time consuming.
 
I gave up on it after Halo Reach. I realized that it wasn't worth my time and that developers would always cater to whiners who couldn't figure out how to counter an ability. I've been average to very good at most competitive games I've played but it just became less fun over time.

I also developed a burning hatred for pvp when games like WoW and Destiny make changes to accommodate a mode I don't play that in turn affect my pve experience. It doesn't help that competitive mp is also mostly a cesspool of human filth.
 
Shooters yes. Other than launch week, its generally too hot for me to have fun.

Hearthstone and Rocket League still scratch that itch and i am alright at those two games
 
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