Question Gaming Burnout.

Given that gaming is a hobby & general interest in your lives, do you ever find yourself having gaming burnout?

Can't decide what game to play? Can't get motivated to finish a game? Finding a level frustrating? But you're still playing?

If so, how do you deal with it? What do you do or find inspiration from that makes you come back to it?
 
Burnout?

This is what I read

drags himself back on topic... um
Can't decide what game to play?
maybe secret is to have little choice, its like music. If you only have 10 albums, its way easier to choose than if you have 1000. Having one Pink Floyd album makes it easier to choose than having all 40.
I don't have many games so I don't have that problem.
Can't get motivated to finish a game?
I play games that don't end. I prefer them over games where you only get one try.
it depends what your aim is. My aim in Torchlight 2 last time was to get to lvl 100 without dying. So one of my characters died at lvl 80 or something, and while I could just keep playing, that record is always there showing 1 death. So I started again, and got one to 100 without dying... and stopped playing game again... for now.
 
Burnout?

This is what I read

drags himself back on topic... um

maybe secret is to have little choice, its like music. If you only have 10 albums, its way easier to choose than if you have 1000. Having one Pink Floyd album makes it easier to choose than having all 40.
I don't have many games so I don't have that problem.

I play games that don't end. I prefer them over games where you only get one try.
it depends what your aim is. My aim in Torchlight 2 last time was to get to lvl 100 without dying. So one of my characters died at lvl 80 or something, and while I could just keep playing, that record is always there showing 1 death. So I started again, and got one to 100 without dying... and stopped playing game again... for now.

You're truly dedicated given yourself that sort of goal. Always loved Diablos approach with the hardcore mode resetting when dying but bloody painful after 300 hours are sinked into it lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Frindis
Can't decide what game to play?
My problem is more which games NOT to play. My current 'In Play' desktop fence includes…
Dishonored
Ghost Recon Wildlands
Sniper Elite 4
…All of which I've started a first playthru, but dropped when time got tight, and just haven't got back to yet.

Can't get motivated to finish a game?
Recently played a couple of months of Civ 4—one of my games which is easy to dip in and out of when I don't have that much gaming time. Dunno how many games I played, but say 50—I finished 2. Most of the value for me is in the first 2/3 of the game, there's no attraction for me beyond around Scientific Method.

I haven't finished Far Cry 5 or FC New Dawn, and probably never will on replays. New Dawn's ending looks really boring on YT, and 5's may not be available to me. But that's fine, there's no need to finish a game unless the finish is fun.

Finding a level frustrating?
The 2 boss fights at the end of Far Cry Primal were such—one I couldn't beat, the other was very boring. I solved that quickly of course on replay—end the game before those. Of course, that would be less satisfactory in the middle of a game—in that case, it depends on how much I want to continue.

The Royal Envoy series has a few off-genre whack-a-mole levels mixed in, but I absolutely want to continue so I put up with it and do however many attempts I need to get 3 stars.

The second halves of Crysis and Warhead change the game by introducing aliens. I tried them originally, but got no fun from them—so in my annual replays I stop each at half way.

What do you do or find inspiration from that makes you come back to it?
Almost always I start a replay of an old fav, always brings a smile like meeting an old friend in the street :) If I'm just sick of clicking and key pressing, I'll go check out the mod scene for my annual replay list, see what's new since last time I checked.

I'm lucky that I enjoy a few genres, so there's always my big backlist to dig into for one of my less-played ones. Or simply organize the backlist a bit better.

Of course there's also the obvious 'give it a rest'—give more attention to another hobby like photography, or do some project at home until the urge revives.
 
You're truly dedicated given yourself that sort of goal.
Not really, you could finish the story/a difficulty in 2 days, Getting to 100 probably took maybe a week. Hardest part was not getting killed by the modded bosses that would randomly appear in places they shouldn't and attack... I had one fight on a swinging rope bridge
Making a Sacred 2 character that was max level is something I never achieved. I got to lvl 128, max is 200. Only really achievable online, I played offline. I can't remember how fast a difficulty could be finished, it got longer as the difficulties increased. but not for obvious reasons.

Game had 6 difficulties, you could only start on bottom 3. Easy wasn't even worth playing, monsters would turn grey too soon and not give any experience. Normal was a better place to start but you had to stick to story mostly as it was still easy to out level mobs and not get any experience.

Hard and the last few are when it become more difficult to out lvl areas and you can start to explore more... game has 682 side quests. There is a lot to do that is not related to main story.
So the longer you play the longer difficulties become.
1st chapter in Normal might take maybe a day
1st chapter in Noobium (last difficulty) can take 3 or so days if you go everywhere before touching main quest.

I have burned out on some games, I got to point the 1st time I played Diablo 2 that I hated the jungle music and or the stage... now I have played it a 2nd time, its still not my fav areas, too many little guys with daggers.

I did same with WOW, would load in and wonder why. That was just before I stopped playing game over 10 years ago now. Its not the same game anymore. So I don't feel any desire to play it.

I stopped playing Journey so that I didn't hate it. I don't want to play it to death.
 
Last edited:
I don't know tbh, i might be experiencing gaming fatigue as i find less and less joy and i rarely find games fun these days. Good, but was it anything that made me say "wow that fun! i want to play more!" its more mild entertainment/distraction these days.

i play a variety of games, genres and consoles hopefully experience different things. PVP stuff i stay well away from (for my sanity, blood pressure and just because i don't have the time etc), but alarmingly its one of the places where i do experience something akin to fun. Mostly fond memories of Planetside 2, but at the same time, bad and boring ones.

In most cases i try to brute force my way through a game just to say that, i gave the game a chance and also provide a coherent arguement why i hate the game. There are a few games where i've just given up and walked away because i didn't like them. Most of them being rogue likes unfortunately. Recently it was Parasite Eve 2. I loved the original parasite eve and i had high hopes for that game but it drove me over the edge with its awful game mechanics and combat decisions. Which is a shame, as there were some things i really liked about it but i got 2/3rds into the game before i said enough was enough. Other games of shame was chrono cross. Almost beat it but when i had to fight the dark dragon and seeing one of my key characters disappear and left me with a skill gap just pissed me off and moved onto another game.
 
At times I can get a little bored, especially having too many games to choose from. It's not a big problem though because I seem to always go back to the few games that I really enjoy a lot. Right now I'm switching between Skyrim and Dayz. I also try to do stuff in games that I want to do and have fun with. In Dayz right now I am using clothes with beans stitched all over them and I have confined myself to a safe zone where my only mission is to ask people if they want a can of beans while looking like a bean myself. It's the dumbest thing ever, but I love the reactions.
 
At times I can get a little bored, especially having too many games to choose from. It's not a big problem though because I seem to always go back to the few games that I really enjoy a lot. Right now I'm switching between Skyrim and Dayz. I also try to do stuff in games that I want to do and have fun with. In Dayz right now I am using clothes with beans stitched all over them and I have confined myself to a safe zone where my only mission is to ask people if they want a can of beans while looking like a bean myself. It's the dumbest thing ever, but I love the reactions.

The wonderful mind of @Frindis lol.
 
There's such a huge variety of games that it would be difficult for me to get burned out. Just today I went from tending a farm to building a zoo for dinosaurs to shooting aliens to investigating the paranormal to trying to survive on an alien planet to wandering around a quaint village saying my goodbyes to my lifelong friends and family before starting a new life abroad. Somewhere in there I briefly participated in a demolition derby.

Yes, I'm enjoying retirement so far.
 
For a real rejuvenation, there's always:


That will definitely bring the buzz back to your gaming! :D
 
There's such a huge variety of games that it would be difficult for me to get burned out. Just today I went from tending a farm to building a zoo for dinosaurs to shooting aliens to investigating the paranormal to trying to survive on an alien planet to wandering around a quaint village saying my goodbyes to my lifelong friends and family before starting a new life abroad. Somewhere in there I briefly participated in a demolition derby.

Yes, I'm enjoying retirement so far.
Whatever drugs Zeds on, I want in..
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Brian Boru
For a real rejuvenation, there's always:


That will definitely bring the buzz back to your gaming! :D

You better bee-lieve @Brian Boru would crack in with a Dad joke.
 
I don't really get burnt out from gaming, but I definitely have an issue with choice paralysis which can affect my enjoyment of games. I just have a ton of games I want to get to and it's often hard to choose something and stick with it. I have an eclectic taste in games and I like trying new things, but I really would like my library to be a bit more manageable, honestly. Organizing my library has definitely helped to some extent, but I really would just like to reduce the overall size of my backlog more than anything.
 
For a real rejuvenation, there's always:


That will definitely bring the buzz back to your gaming! :D
That actually could be a great game if they fleshed out the concept well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Brian Boru
As i am retired i have a lot of free time on my hands , i suffer from gaming burn out every day ...... the next morning i say to myself i knew i should have gone to bed an hour earlier than i did.

Burn out is the reason the Guinness Book Of Records no longer give their support to gamers who want to do a games playing marathon for a world record ...

Man breaks record for longest gaming session, clocks 135 hours | WIRED UK

Medical fact lack of sleep will kill you quicker than lack of food
 
  • Like
Reactions: Brian Boru
Guinness had to stop a stack of record areas as people almost have to kill selves to achieve some. I find the "wanting to be famous" at all costs sad really.

I only like the natural records like tallest human, or tallest mountain etc. "Not... who can pull their parachute latest and not come out a cripple"

We want real answers like who completed the quickest round of @Brian Boru board game!
 
I really would just like to reduce the overall size of my backlog more than anything.
Steam has a 'Hide' facility, which might help if you weren't aware.

That actually could be a great game
I know, I had a good look at it. Now it seems good for small kids, but there's loads of potential there.

i suffer from gaming burn out every day
Um, isn't that the opposite of gaming burnout? :D

Brians Birthday
Oh that's a friend's BD—thank you, this is gold!

Misses the point of course. It is actually one of the most interesting days in history:
Because it's the least interesting day, of course—ie one of a kind!
 
Steam has a 'Hide' facility, which might help if you weren't aware.
Yea, I've done something to that effect. I haven't totally hidden any games, but I have a collection called "No Interest" that I use for games that I have no desire to return to or play. The organizational features of Steam have definitely helped, but I still want to get my backlog to a more manageable state. It's just a little more than I'd like it to be at the moment.
 
Yea, I've done something to that effect. I haven't totally hidden any games, but I have a collection called "No Interest" that I use for games that I have no desire to return to or play. The organizational features of Steam have definitely helped, but I still want to get my backlog to a more manageable state. It's just a little more than I'd like it to be at the moment.
I got to the point to where I don't give a rip about a backlog. Especially after we started getting a bunch of free games on Epic. I don't even think about it being some backlog that I'm obligated to play through. I don't have enough time for gaming to waste on making it a chore. If I buy or obtain a game that I don't end up enjoying, I'll just ditch it for something I do enjoy, and I don't feel like I'm required to go back to it. I can't even count the number of games I've never even tried, and I never will. When I see a decent free game, I'll snag it in case I need something to play later, and then I never do.
 

TRENDING THREADS