Middle-Aged: Shadow of Gamor.

[Lenny Solidus]

So then, I'd like to if I may ask those of you who still regularly game today just what kind of adaptive methods or conditions have you had to take on to keep your favourite hobby alive? Now I'm not asking for anything too personal you understand nor would I ever - anything that reflects upon where you are presently to how you once were shall suffice just nicely. If, of course, you are completely open to mention anything that is involved with how you've had to learn to adjust as the years have stacked one upon the other and yet you can still enjoy gaming to its fullest thankfully, please do feel free, I'm not trying to discourage it. We all have something to share no doubt.

For me being the Fps Doug that I once was while still retaining a modicum of hair I have long since moved away from the truly sweatfested titles such as R6: Siege, CoD, CS, Valorant all that shite and now find much lighter noted games such as Halo Infinite and Darktide to be more my bag...ok perhaps not the latter in terms of being light gaming fair I mean - you should honestly hear us all panting and thankful it's over with after we complete a mission together. My biggest issue in my middle term years nearing 53 is that my index finger over the years has taken on the form of, well a dick. It's become slightly bent out of shape and has quite the prominent head adorning it at the top and can often completely seize up on me during a match meaning I have to release relax crack it and continue to pwn noobs and yes I'm not kidding at all about said appearance. My entire family make fun of it on the daily and I do not care, I know what it's capable of. Another thing on top of this is how I've become so incredibly sensitive to sound, and I'm not talking about the game sound coming out of my pebbles I'm talking about how moving my mouse can sometimes make a wire on my desk keep making a tapping noise, and it absolutely infuriates me no end. I have to stop and find the source immediately. I'm not angry person by any means but fuck me having certain sounds suddenly capture your holes when trying to concentrate on a game.

I would say my reflexes and timings have slowed naturally, but there has been many a time I can and sometimes do surprise myself pulling off that 'sick' grenade or whatever and shaking my shoulders and propping up the middle finger letting out a hallowed burley FUUUUCK YOOOOOU! in an act of pure defiance as I did in my twenties. I'm happy that I can still hold my own in an online ruckus of the more slowed variety anyways. Just being part of the winning team is enough rather than trying to showboat constantly as I once felt was always warranted.

On top of this my eyesight, you know you're in trouble when in a game and suddenly a plethora of brightly colours appear akin to one of those old tin based kaleidoscopes in your peripheral vision and refuses to go away. I've had to go from my normal 1.25 to 1.50 and hopefully never have to go beyond and is clearly as I can see everything represented if I then take them off and get in bed with my phone in hand I can't see a damn thing. Perhaps gaming has played its part, but doing artwork for so long surely has been involved too. Do get your eyes checked chaps.

Ah yes, the pissing test. I've lost count of the amount of times I've had to make it through something I can't just really up and walk away from leaving my team in the shit because my bladder is intent on being emptied constantly. The irony being that during most if not all my time spent with the guys on Darktide the very first thing we resign ourselves to on a break is to get more drink. I know that you know that we all have to now get up in the middle of the night bladder near rupturing only for it to let out record scoring amounts completely countering the amount that you drank that day, but having that happen during a match where leaving once again could end up with a team wipe, yes not the best.

Another would be a more common symptom which is back pain, last year I finally gave up buying into all those fancy smanshy dedicated gaming chairs (that snap in half at the base if you own them beyond six to seven months) and settled for a much comfier much more embracing to me at least camping chair - not only do I no longer feel as though I'm constantly welcoming piles, but the allowance of more flexible natural movement has really made me never look back on ever buying a chair of any sort ever again to be fair. There are no doubt downsides I'm yet to recognise, but for now, I'm extremely comfortable in my blue fishing style ass holder far more than I ever was sat in a chair for overly long periods.

So again, gaming in your later years. Share what you like, hold in what might make you look like someone whose finger after years of mouse scrolling and not using auto-roll is now in the shape of a helmeted penis and gets mocked incessantly.

And what do we say to old age?



I AM. I GAME.

[Wrathbone]

On top of this my eyesight, you know you're in trouble when in a game and suddenly a plethora of brightly colours appear akin to one of those old tin based kaleidoscopes in your peripheral vision and refuses to go away.

Ah, the old silent migraine. I get them maybe once every couple of years and they last about 30 minutes as a crescent of vibrant flickering colours that slowly drifts to the side and out of view. Was terrifying the first time it happened but apparently is nothing to be concerned about.

Back pain is my main middle-age gaming grievance and has led to me almost exclusively playing PC games over the few years since my desk chair is good quality and supportive, whereas my old sofa (replaced last week, funnily enough) was 14 years old and had lost any semblance of support. The new sofa has all the bells and whistles - controls for adjustable footrest, lumbar support and headrest - and is very supportive and comfortable, so I may resume console gaming again soon.

The most humiliating demonstration of age that I suffered through gaming was last year when I dug out my old Rock Band Stratocaster and downloaded Clone Hero to play some of the old favourites. Back in the day, I got pretty damn good at Guitar Hero and Rock Band, being able to 5 star most songs on expert. There was a 5 year span where I played probably a couple of hours every day. Anyway, it turns out I now have what Futurama's robot devil described as 'stupid fingers'. Even easy songs were proving a challenge both mentally and physically, and Deep Purple's Highway Star caused my hands to sieze up during the fast solo towards the end. I used to be able to 100% that. It's sad when you realise it's no longer a case of getting back to speed with something, but that you've lost it and it's never coming back. Well, not unless I make a deal with the robot devil to get new hands...

[Sly Boots]

My gaming habits have definitely changed a huge amount in the last couple of decades. I can barely remember the last time I played a shooter, and I don't even bother playing/buying anything that requires twitch reactions or remembering complicated combinations of buttons - and as well as no FPS that rules out a bunch of other genres like some platformers, roguelikes (I didn't get on with Hades for example), metroidvanias etc.

And in some cases it's not that I probably couldn't struggle my way through them with effort, it's more that I don't find even attempting to do so in the least bit enjoyable, the rewards not being commensurate with the effort being put in.

Steam tags are a godsend - anything with tags like 'difficult', 'soulslike', 'bullet hell' etc are an instant do-not-buy

Mostly what I play these days are RPGs, indie narrative games, point-and-clicks (which, by the way, are having a massive renaissance, with a lot of great ones coming out in the last couple of years), turn-based stuff. Generally things I don't need split-second reactions to play, can take it slow and that respect my time.

[Maturin]

For me, the issues affecting my reduced gaming are not physical, but mental. In my very late 40s now, I find the increased pressures I'm facing - and general sense of being less contented in life & more worried about my future - have really impacted on my ability to just lose myself inside game worlds. It's not even a question of not having as much time - I have the spare time still - but there was just something inherently easier as a younger man to fill spare time with gaming and switch everything else off in my mind.

For some reason, my general state of mind and how I was feeling in my life was actually really important to my gaming habits. You'd think gaming could act as an outlet to take my mind off other things, but it doesn't really work like that - I have less enthusiasm to want to dive into games in the first place now. Also, I have money worries long term (I'm not set up for a comfortable retirement at all) and the reality that spending loads of money on gaming now will mean less money for me later has also played a part perhaps.

I know we shouldn't look back too much because it isn't healthy, but I do miss my youthful sense of wonder and giddy excitement at gaming.

[arqueturus]

Can i just give props to the thread title?

Gets a solid titter from me every time I read it

[Mantis]

I just don't have as much time anymore primarily. Between work always been intense, social things in the evenings on a lot of days and all my work towards band related stuff I only get maybe an hour or two every few days to play anything.

As such my performance in anything remotely competitive that requires muscle memory skill shots is in the toilet. And to be honest I think I've long lost interest in any kind of multiplayer game where you just do the same thing ad infinitum every 10 minutes. Shooters like BF, CoD, PUBG, Valorant, TF2 and Overwatch are long gone for me, I just don't have the interest in them anymore when you just rinse and repeat something in rounds. Same goes for competitive RTS games, though I do still play them with friends in co-op or solo on story modes. I also couldn't care less about being competitive or good at a game anymore either, so even if I had the time I don't think I'd be bothered to spend hours training my twitch reactions on a shooter. I'd rather spend that time playing a fulfilling single player game or something funny in co-op with friends. It's nothing to do with muscle pains or injuries though.

I think overall my tastes haven't changed that much, I'm just more ruthless with games that don't respect my time. If it's just another copy of a gameplay style that I've played a hundred times already or another open world clone then I drop something within a couple of hours and seek out more interesting and new experiences.

[Animalmother]

Dick fingers

I still play games regularly but the range has dropped to just 2 or 3. I mostly play Battlefield 6 but at this stage its more out of habit than for enjoyment. I just can't keep up with the sweaty frag fest its devolved into. I only seem to do well in games that have a mix of bots and real players now. I've started to get back into Red Dead Redemption 2 and am determined to finish it. I just recently finished Resident Evil 4 after starting it about 3 years ago. I started RDR2 about 4 years ago.

My arms have started to get sore over the past few months, if I stretch them it hurts like a bastard. Funnily enough if I position them as if I'm holding a controller they're fine.

[Hatredsheart]

For me at 62 it's regular breaks. Thanks to arthritis and neuropathy those old 4hr WoW raids are definitely a thing of the past. I can still cope with the likes of Elden Ring and first person shooters just.

[Alex79]

On top of this my eyesight, you know you're in trouble when in a game and suddenly a plethora of brightly colours appear akin to one of those old tin based kaleidoscopes in your peripheral vision and refuses to go away.

Ah, the old silent migraine. I get them maybe once every couple of years and they last about 30 minutes as a crescent of vibrant flickering colours that slowly drifts to the side and out of view. Was terrifying the first time it happened but apparently is nothing to be concerned about.

It's happened to me once, ever. Probably about 15 years ago and I was driving on a dual carriageway at the time. I suddenly forgot where I was going and was just driving, feeling confused for a couple of minutes until my memory came back. It was really weird, and I didn't really know what it was until years later when someone else was talking about a similar thing.