the retro blahs

[Exhuminator]

Does anyone else feel like putting too much thought or planning into your gaming makes the activity less fun?

To the contrary, I find planning what I want to play, strategizing what I want to buy, keeping track of what I've beaten, the time invested, and post-analyzing the experiences (hence my continued fervor in the Games Beaten thread), all of that serves to deepen and enhance my enjoyment of this medium.

But to be fair my brain is wired to think and live this way. This basic methodology extends beyond just gaming in my life.

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I agree rebranding the forum is a good idea. This hasn't been a true retro gaming forum in quite some time. I tend to think of it as an "experienced and mature gamer forum".

[BogusMeatFactory]

Does anyone else feel like putting too much thought or planning into your gaming makes the activity less fun?

To the contrary, I find planning what I want to play, strategizing what I want to buy, keeping track of what I've beaten, the time invested, and post-analyzing the experiences (hence my continued fervor in the Games Beaten thread), all of that serves to deepen and enhance my enjoyment of this medium.

But to be fair my brain is wired to think and live this way. This basic methodology extends beyond just gaming in my life.

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I agree rebranding the forum is a good idea. This hasn't been a true retro gaming forum in quite some time. I tend to think of it as an "experienced and mature gamer forum".

Yeah I am the opposite. I gotta fly by the seat of my pants. When I plan I never commit. Follow my instincts and I will always finish the game.

[isiolia]

I also tend to be more of the mind to not differentiate as much between old and new. It's more a matter of what I'm interested in or having fun with.
Plus, an inordinate amount of what I've played that'd (now) be retro is FFXI, which folks here don't tend to care about.

Does anyone else feel like putting too much thought or planning into your gaming makes the activity less fun?

Varies. Actually being organized or goal oriented can be pretty satisfying, and in some cases, results in gaming experiences that aren't really going to come together otherwise. I've also tended to have fun with self-imposed themes or goals, at least over a relatively short period.

I'd say it's more a matter of over-thinking it. Like you mentioned, stressing over backlog or what would be cool or "correct" or whatever to be spending time on does just make it less fun. Especially given that, objectively, the better thing (for me) would be to reduce gaming time in general.

[Ziggy]

Yeah. I can't plan on how I'm gonna feel at a given time. If I'm not in the mood for a particular game, I don't wanna force myself to play it because I set a schedule or goal or something. Forcing yourself to do something you don't feel like doing is the very opposite of having fun.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Yeah. I can't plan on how I'm gonna feel at a given time. If I'm not in the mood for a particular game, I don't wanna force myself to play it because I set a schedule or goal or something. Forcing yourself to do something you don't feel like doing is the very opposite of having fun.

Amen brother.

[Exhuminator]

Forcing yourself to do something you don't want to do is of course not fun.

Setting a desirable goal, enjoying the process of completing the goal, accomplishing the goal, and reflecting on the goal experience is fun. Especially if you're like me with a bucket list of classic games you want to finish.

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Anyway, we are veering the thread off course. Back to the retro doldrums.

[Ziggy]

Forcing yourself to do something you don't want to do is of course not fun.

Setting a desirable goal, enjoying the process of completing the goal, accomplishing the goal, and reflecting on the goal experience is fun. Especially if you're like me with a bucket list of classic games you want to finish.

Goals can be fun and rewarding, I'm just saying I can't structure and schedule my gaming. For example, say I set a goal to start and finish one RPG from my backlog in the month of June. Now let's say June roles around, and I'm just not in the mood to tackle an RPG. I'm not gonna force myself to play said game, and I've decided that I'm not gonna feel bad about it either.

To each his own, of course.

Anyway, we are veering the thread off course. Back to the retro doldrums.

But it's not really off-topic. I was saying that I don't differentiate between retro and current games. That combined with not structuring my gaming habits at all leads to me not getting a case of the "retro blahs."

[Xeogred]

I like what you said on the first page Ziggy587. It very much applies to my feelings on anime specifically as well, one week I'll be watching something that aired in 2015, the next week it might be 1975. I can see where some people are coming from and I'll admit I didn't fully read everything, but based off the temperature of the thread... I think it goes both ways. There are plenty of bad games from the past and current and plenty of good games from the past and still coming out to this day. I can see how some people like Bone have their preferences. But for me I continue to find tons of enjoyment in both the old and new and don't try to make there seem like there's such a split there. It's just a broad medium that's fascinating on both sides.

I like having a lot of structure with my gaming thesedays, keeps it more rewarding and organized. Mainly in keeping track of things I beat. And I tend to only play 1-2 games at a time, 3 is a little bananas. This is how I often like to balance one old game between a new one.

I can't really plan what I'm going to play, or watch for shows, etc. The mood just strikes. Here I was beating Breath of the Wild, and I currently want to purchase and play... Horizon, Nier Automata, Nioh, Yakuza 0, and some other backlog stuff. But then Dishonored 2 got a demo, a game I tried to play four months ago but it was an un-optimized mess. Now it works and I jumped into that and everything about playing that game now, felt right. I love when that happens and that's usually how it happens, I just let the flow and mood take me where it goes. Like some others said, forcing yourself is not the right approach. Once I got on my Doom 2 kick earlier this year I didn't really expect that to turn into 50 hours of fan made mapsets.

I can already tell this year might be heavier on new releases for me, if my wallet and time allows it. But I don't see why that should bother me or why there's anything to question about it. I keep seeing threads like these and I'm just not sure what to say. Also on the forums, I think the forums have been the best its been in years again thesedays and there should be no changes whatsoever. I don't see the point and doing so would only alienate people. Frankly myself and plenty of others have done a wonderful job making a lot of new topics and unless someone has some specific examples, I can't think of many retro-centric topics that have gone ignored or anything. If you want more retro talk then try to bring some stuff to the table. I say this as someone who has disturbingly been on forums for maybe half my life now, but I think it would be a big mistake to make any dramatic changes. It's great the way it is.

[Exhuminator]

I was saying that I don't differentiate between retro and current games.

You keep saying you don't differentiate, yet here you are talking on a forum specifically designed for retro gaming. I have to wonder how you ended up here, unless you were specifically searching for a retro gaming forum.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I was saying that I don't differentiate between retro and current games.

You keep saying you don't differentiate, yet here you are talking on a forum specifically designed for retro gaming. I have to wonder how you ended up here, unless you were specifically searching for a retro gaming forum.

An old game and a new game can easily be considered games. Nothing wrong with showing love and appreciation for both.