Have you ever had one of those days?

[Atrocities]

Have you ever had one of those days were you just didn�t feel like doing anything? As of late I have been having more and more of those days. I�m not feeling overtly depressed, just run down and tired. I lack intrest in gaming in general, and have found it very hard to get into the mood to play any game. I tried to play Tribes Last night, the first multi-player strategy, first person shooter game ever invented, but even my dogged love of that game was not enough to keep me going. So I tried Tribes 2, and that was fun for about the first game or two when I realized that all the human players had left and I was just killing BOTS.

So I re-installed Simcity 3000 Unlimited and started playing it. Then realized why they are making SimCity 4 and shut down the game.

Left with nothing else to do, I finished off Jedi Night, Jedi Outcast, a fun game to be sure, but still I found my self in that mood. You know the mood; nothing is interesting everything seems dull.

Hell even playing SEIV Gold is difficult for me. I love the game without question and enjoy it tremendously however, something is just lacking. My interest in actually playing.

I figured that I wanted interaction with people on line, you know no-body likes to play alone, when it occurred to me that �that� was exactly what was wrong. I�m lonely. Don�t get me wrong, I have family and friends in RL and I enjoy being with them a lot, but in this digital age, friends and family don�t mean much when you�re gaming on line.

I like playing against the AI, its fun, but really it has become utterly boring in the Last 6 months. That�s why I love Tribes so much, each person is real, each game is different. But lately the level of game play has decreased as my skill has returned to its elitists standard. I find that the competition is just now learning the tools of the trade that I had learned 3 years ago. So in essence, I am playing against a bunch of newbies who are easy pray for me. That is unless they are cheating. Even then, they are easy pray. Tribes 2 is more of an equal gaming experience, however fewer and fewer people are on line and playing Tribes 2. A sure tell sign that the game is dying I think. Sierra shutting down Dynamix was a massively horrible management move and an extremely short-sided affair to say the least. Kill the creator, and the created will soon die off as well.

SimCity, Birth of the Federation, Rebellion, and even Starcraft all seem like fun games to play until you start to play them. Then the appeal is quickly lost and I once again left with this lonely despaired feeling of hopelessness. I feel so alone on line these days.

So I visit Shrapnel Forums and I get no relief, the forums are slow right now, and that really seems to be the telling factor that times are a changing.

I am in two PWB games right now, and the one thing about PBW that really seems to be a downer is the slow game pace. I know, I know, that is just the nature of the beast. I realize that, but I find myself wanting more out of my gaming time with SEIV multiplayer. However, given the nature of the game, this will always be the way the game is played. One turn every 24 to 48 hours.

I guess I could always give Civ III another chance.

[Growltigga]

Hmmm, Atrocities, I think you need a break from computer gaming - your fallback plans indicate a healthy obssession with the genre and a break might do you good

Why not try a week's furlough on some caribbean island? does wonders for me

Also drinking a bottle of whisky does wonders for me to

[Arboris]

Atrocities,

I can see that you are a true gamer.

I have been playing computer games since the old C64. I still tend to think that games from yesteryear had more substance and really managed to stimulate my imagination. The immersion factor was almost always present despite the lack luster graphics and sound.

I have been in the gaming rut more often than not. I wish I could bottle the ingredients that inspire one to game with enthusiasm. Recently I started playing SE IV Gold TCP/IP games with an old gaming friend from my RPG days. We were having a bLast and had logged more hours than I care to admit. He even took a day off from work one day and we played until the birds began to sing.

Something that helped my experience tremendously was that I picked up a copy of "Crusade" by David Weber & Steve White. This series of books are set in the "Starfire" universe and it really helps immerse you into the SE IV Universe. I love to read while I wait for my opponent to finish his turns. It helps pass the time, is very entertaining, and compliments the gaming session magnificently.

The multiplayer experience is a double edged sword . Knowing that you are matching wits with another human is very powerful and adds a fun element to the game which is unsurpassed. When we were unable to play this Last weekend I decided that I would treat myself to an epic solo gaming experience. However after about 30 turns I had lost all interest and was bored out of my skull. Nothing could pull me out of this rut and soon I was so disinterested with everything that I could not have been excited if Bill Gates called and wanted to turn over his fortune to me.

" Well, Bill would you mind giving me a call back later next week..."

I can't offer any sage advice about the gaming doldrums but I hope you pull out of it soon.

Nigel

[ 15 April 2002: Message edited by: NigelWulf ]

[Atrocities]

Thanks for the tip, a good book sounds great. I need to finish the Brotherhood of War series any ways.

[capnq]

One of the things I do when I'm not in the mood for anything in my large computer game collection, is to revisit my even larger non-computer game collection. I have a pretty sizable library, as well, but when I'm depressed, I find it easier to concentrate on a game than a book.

I don't quite understand your impression that the Shrapnel Boards have been slow lately, though. I only check these Boards once a day, and there have been several times within the Last week or two that the "new Posts since Last login" threads listing spilled over onto a second page.

[TerranC]

Ahh... I had one of THOSE days...

I believe it was called "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Day"...

I got off work but couldn't do anything but read the daily newspapers

[dogscoff]

Atrocities - perhaps you need to dabble in a genre where *you* are the newbie- what genres are you not particularly good at / familiar with? mmporgs?(ie everquest and Camelot) fps? (quake etc).

Maybe having to learn the ropes and compete with people who are more experienced than you will give you the challenge and thrill you seek. Maybe then you'll full of energy and inspiration when you come back to 4X.

[ 15 April 2002: Message edited by: dogscoff ]