A life of gaming

[mrsathletic]

I started playing games at the age of 10 with a Commodore 64. Now, more than 30 years later, I still play a lot. After a time of various relationships I ended up never being married and not having kids. I find myself still playing a lot. I think 95 percent of the people I have around rarely play games. This makes me feel very different, especially for being a woman. Playing games makes me feel so much younger. I have a great problem accepting my age.

 

In general, I spent a whole lot of my lifetime playing games. It is like being in a better alternative reality. It makes me feel good.

 

Anyone else?

Edited September 19, 2023 by mrsathletic

[acidzebra]

I turned 50 this year, I'm fine with it I guess, it is what it is. Despite our society's obsession with youth, everyone gets old. My family had a TI-99/4A before the C64, but the Commodore was my first computer love. Endless games, programming in basic and later assembly, experiments with the electronics and soldering, with the sound (that SID chip is still awesome), it offered so many possibilities and learning opportunities and sparked off a life in technology. My original c64 died long ago, I bought a refurbished one recently. Out of nostalgia I suppose, but it was very satisfying to finish some games I never did as a child or wanted to have but never found back in the day (we were at the mercy of what friends and the local stores had). The new-old C64 also has an SD-card loader, games load in seconds and not minutes (you can't see it but my inner 8-year old is still jumping up and down about it).

 

Anyway, I also never got around to doing the family script, and in between travel and reading and career stuff and various tech projects I kept up gaming as well. From the C64 to Amiga, through the console wars (mostly on the Nintendo side, I have a soft spot for Zelda and Mario), to PC gaming, then online gaming, watching new genres emerge (and die), the endless race for better hardware. It's been a wild ride so far, can't wait to see where it goes next.

 

As for why I play still games, I'm a big fan of two things in this life:

1) travel, I love seeing new places and people, trying new food, experiencing different world views, seeing all the weird and wonderful and sometimes breathtaking stuff that billions of years of planet earth has produced.

2) the stories we tell, I don't care if they're in book form, or a movie, a sculpture, painting, a song, a videogame. I love stories. One of the few redeeming qualities of the human race imo.

 

Videogames allow you to travel to places and tell stories in ways that would be hard or impossible to convey in another medium. Is it all escapism? On some level, I guess. But there's more to it imo. A life spent experiencing new things and being entertained and having experiences worth thinking about, it seems like a pretty decent life to have. Looking at the bulk of history, it could be a lot worse.

 

And when we all get really, REALLY old and sit in retirement homes, we'll have LAN parties again. It'll be great.

[RomanR]

For me gaming is just another hobby, same as others. It's on a same level like riding a bike, playing voleyball, carpenting in your free time etc. People tends to compare hobbies for "usefullness", but who can be so certain about it in the end?

 

Still, gaming isn't for some reason viewed as a normal hobby, even after all this years some computer or game console (and don't forget mobile games) is present practicaly in every home today.

 

Not much to add, as acidzebra summarized all I could tell about it already.

 

And if some mocks you about your age or this hobby, let it be. Sooner or later they all experience how it looks like to be old for themselves.

 

Edit: Commodore C64 is really a good choice if you want to peek into 8-bit era thanks to its capabilities, even if it's slower (CPU is at 1 MHz) then Atari XL/XE or ZX Spectrum (and its clones).

Edited September 19, 2023 by RomanR

[HeyYou]

Age is something you simply don't get a choice on. :D I am 62, and still like to think I am a teenager... However, when I try and do 'teenager' things, my body quickly reminds me that those days are LONG past. :D It sucks, but, it sure beats the alternative. :D

[JediMasterTallyn]

I am much the same although for me the main games were Table top RPG's until all the groups I was playing with got old or moved away then It was MMO's to keep in touch and still game. Finally we all kinda gravitated to game like Oblivion, I believe that was when we all started playing Single player games.

I miss 2nd edition D&D, I had nearly ever book printed by TSR. Even all the leather bound Class, Magic, Magic Item, Dungeon books. And no the Dungeon books were NOT in fact moduels they were prebuilt dungeons that could work in ANY campaign.

 

 

Also Who here remembers playing a Palladium game called Nightbane? And don't you wish they would or did make a video game from that.

[HeyYou]

I am much the same although for me the main games were Table top RPG's until all the groups I was playing with got old or moved away then It was MMO's to keep in touch and still game. Finally we all kinda gravitated to game like Oblivion, I believe that was when we all started playing Single player games.

 

I miss 2nd edition D&D, I had nearly ever book printed by TSR. Even all the leather bound Class, Magic, Magic Item, Dungeon books. And no the Dungeon books were NOT in fact moduels they were prebuilt dungeons that could work in ANY campaign.

 

 

Also Who here remembers playing a Palladium game called Nightbane? And don't you wish they would or did make a video game from that.

I still have my stack of 2nd Edition books. I used to DM with a group, and the same happened to us. We got older, got married, had kids, jobs, moved away, etc. Haven't played in years.... I still have the Dieties and Demigods book that had the legal issues with some of the included mythos. :D They have all been in a box, in storage, for years......

[Dashyburn]

Let's not forget Unearthed Arcana and Oriental Adventures!

 

Unearthed Arcana introduced the Cavalier and Acrobat character classes.

 

Oriental adventures was my favourite with it's revolutionary martial arts system, with special moves like "Circle Kick", "Eagle Claw" and "Crushing Blow", as well as a ton of new classes such as Samurai, Kensai, Bushi and Wu Jen.

 

Then I moved on to M.E.R.P. (Middle Earth Role Playing), after that was ROLEMASTER, an advanced version of MERP, using percentile dice (2 10 sided dice, 1-100).

 

I recall my favourite was a roll of 100 on the fire critical table which read as "All that remains are charred bits of teeth and bone" lol.

 

According to Rolemaster, Gandalf gained 10 whole levels for defeating the Balrog going from level 50 to 60. Without the ring Sauron is natively a level 60 sorcerer, had all those guys stats in Rolemaster, it really was a great game.

 

Almost forgot, my favourite module was "Ravenloft"

Edited September 20, 2023 by Dashyburn

[JediMasterTallyn]

 

I am much the same although for me the main games were Table top RPG's until all the groups I was playing with got old or moved away then It was MMO's to keep in touch and still game. Finally we all kinda gravitated to game like Oblivion, I believe that was when we all started playing Single player games.

 

I miss 2nd edition D&D, I had nearly ever book printed by TSR. Even all the leather bound Class, Magic, Magic Item, Dungeon books. And no the Dungeon books were NOT in fact moduels they were prebuilt dungeons that could work in ANY campaign.

 

 

Also Who here remembers playing a Palladium game called Nightbane? And don't you wish they would or did make a video game from that.

I still have my stack of 2nd Edition books. I used to DM with a group, and the same happened to us. We got older, got married, had kids, jobs, moved away, etc. Haven't played in years.... I still have the Dieties and Demigods book that had the legal issues with some of the included mythos. :D They have all been in a box, in storage, for years......

 

 

 

I have a first run Dragonlance book. It is printed upside down and backwards I have in a vaccum bag in climate controlled storage.

[MrJoseCuervo]

I started playing games at the age of 10 with a Commodore 64. Now, more than 30 years later, I still play a lot. After a time of various relationships I ended up never being married and not having kids. I find myself still playing a lot. I think 95 percent of the people I have around rarely play games. This makes me feel very different, especially for being a woman. Playing games makes me feel so much younger. I have a great problem accepting my age.

 

In general, I spent a whole lot of my lifetime playing games. It is like being in a better alternative reality. It makes me feel good.

 

Anyone else?

 

Do you find it hard having social interactions? Don't you feel a sense of emptiness? I guess you can't miss what you never had.. but man, you're missing a lot of what life is all about.

[JediMasterTallyn]

 

I started playing games at the age of 10 with a Commodore 64. Now, more than 30 years later, I still play a lot. After a time of various relationships I ended up never being married and not having kids. I find myself still playing a lot. I think 95 percent of the people I have around rarely play games. This makes me feel very different, especially for being a woman. Playing games makes me feel so much younger. I have a great problem accepting my age.

 

In general, I spent a whole lot of my lifetime playing games. It is like being in a better alternative reality. It makes me feel good.

 

Anyone else?

 

Do you find it hard having social interactions? Don't you feel a sense of emptiness? I guess you can't miss what you never had.. but man, you're missing a lot of what life is all about.

 

 

 

Trollla lolola lolololola.

 

Go tear other people down deputy downer.

 

We don't need or want your negativity hear.

 

So make like MJ and Beat It!.