A 53 yr old's view of difficulty

[BarefootWarrior]

This thread is beautiful, I never had a doubt in my mind that the age span of todays games is vastly greater than it used to be but see it black on white is really cool. At work most people I talk to that play games regullary are married and over 40, it's their way to dream away a bit I guess.

 

I am 25 myself and my dad who is 68 is mostly stationed in front of the TV or computer. Problem is he doesn't know english very well so I can't introduce him to some brilliant games like Skyrim. It's a shame though because he is also a hunter (And a pretty active one) and there are some amazing games out there I know he would just love.

 

Um...the ages here kinda...scare me

 

One day, before you know it, you shall be old and wonder "How did all those years just fly by?"

 

That should scare you more than anything.

 

 

Tip from an "older" person. Do something with your life before you get too old to be able to do it. :thumbsup:

 

Ok that did scare me. Stop saying those things >< I still feel like it was yesterday I was 18.

 

I remember 18 very well. I also know how fast twenty years go by.

 

bwhahahahahaha....... :biggrin:

[Tulx]

I'm 53 and I've played games since the Spectrum...

 

However Elder Scrolls are the only 'real time action' games I've played.

 

And unlike all you types I am a grade A cowardy-custard and possibly the worst fighter the world has ever known! Skyrim scares me half to death on a 5- minute basis, or thereabouts. Needless to say, I'm playing on the easiest level and am waiting for mods that make it ...well, maybe just a touch easier still. Which I did in Morrowind and Oblivion. :P

 

For me, minimising the combat element helps me cope with the "jumpy" side of things without actually having a heart attack... At the moment, my nerves only seem to cope for a couple of hours. Is it me, or is this game scarier than Oblivion was?? (Or did I just forget how that made me jump)

 

(Actually the one thing I remember most clearly about Oblivion was the Thieves Guild khajiit appearing suddenly on my screen after a rest. I screamed out loud and my mouse went flying clear across the room! If Elder Scrolls were films, wild horses wouldn't make me watch them.And yet... I'm addicted. Weird!) ;)

I'd love to see a video of you playing amnesia:the dark descent.

[terbovus]

Brilliant thread. I'm a stripling at 37 but had my first computer game ('Escape' for the 16k ZX Spectrum) in 1982 and been a regular player ever since. Played Civ in various incarnations until dawn for the past 20 years or so, first CRPG was Dark Sun (boy was it amazing to do RPGing on a computer back then!) and very much looking forward to Skyrim (living overseas in Bangladesh and the friend bringing it over for me got stuck until Jan. Credit card for an online purchase doesn't work from over here - Sympathy please!)

 

Lots of great memories. My wife pointed out that she was barely born when I started computer gaming. I went to the Computer Games exhibition at the Science museum in London and took great delight in showing her the computers and games I'd played on... :tongue:

[Jaypaul97]

Well, that does explain the lack of trolling here. I haven't seen one troll thing. Interesting.

[jeters5]

Wow, I'm the original poster, and I never thought this would get such a response. Thanks everyone for posting your stories from over the years. I saw one negative remark about a me being a PDP-8 guy which made me laugh. He was right. I started programming a PDP-8 in high school. You know the one with a 5MB (yes, mega) hard drive that was 20" in diameter. Then I moved up to an IBM with punch cards at MIT when I went to college.

 

I also had the opportunity to play D&D for several years with a group including one of the original Gary Gygax core players, so I love the comments about using imagination. That's what the original RPG was all about, and my mind is all over the place when I play RPGs on the computer. It's totally my escape.

 

Glad to see all the comments. Thanks.

[BarefootWarrior]

Wow, I'm the original poster, and I never thought this would get such a response. Thanks everyone for posting your stories from over the years. I saw one negative remark about a me being a PDP-8 guy which made me laugh. He was right. I started programming a PDP-8 in high school. You know the one with a 5MB (yes, mega) hard drive that was 20" in diameter. Then I moved up to an IBM with punch cards at MIT when I went to college.

 

I also had the opportunity to play D&D for several years with a group including one of the original Gary Gygax core players, so I love the comments about using imagination. That's what the original RPG was all about, and my mind is all over the place when I play RPGs on the computer. It's totally my escape.

 

Glad to see all the comments. Thanks.

 

I'm glad you posted this topic, been fun and interesting. We wandered off topic a few times, but sharing some history (cough)..never hurts. :tongue:

[SaturnFX]

As a mid/late 30s, I often wondered if I would be interested in gaming as I get older...I am so very glad that not only is that a "yup", but seemingly good gamers at that.

 

I can only imagine what games will be like in 20-30 years from now (matrix plugin)

 

I am glad that older people enjoy gaming. Currently the older crowd is pre-comp gaming, but starting to become less and less "kids stuff" as the atari 2600 gets up in years and gaming in general infests the elders of society...which is an absolutely great thing. the larger the demographics towards the 18-88 group, the more complex and interesting things become.

 

As far as the subject...well, I am a fan of medium/hard difficulty overall. I play roleplay games like skyrim and such not for the endless street fighter feeling, but the overall immersion of living in this land...a storybook filled with all aspects...fighting, loving, quests, puzzles, and lots of scenery...if I want super difficult insanity, I would just invest my time in a first person shooter and not worry about plot, scenery, characters, etc.

Got to keep in mind that TES is not a fps action game, it is a world you are invited to live in, for better or worse.

[SaturnFX]

Brilliant thread. I'm a stripling at 37 but had my first computer game ('Escape' for the 16k ZX Spectrum) in 1982 and been a regular player ever since. Played Civ in various incarnations until dawn for the past 20 years or so, first CRPG was Dark Sun

 

My god, I LOVED dark sun. What an absolutely brilliant game!

I would love to see that or like Balders Gate redone but in the open world sandbox sort of setting that elder scrolls is doing. I think it would be full of win.

Also, Champions of Krynn (seriously old school) and the first Might and Magic.

 

Remember when Hero's Quest first came out (so you want to be a hero)..around the same time era as the first leisure suit larry and such (omg, boobah's!)

 

ok, yep, going back in time here

[erezlaor]

i'm so old iv'e been dead for 3 years yet i play skyrim, any links to sites that has stuff about immersion? or any digits i can put in cc to play my age?

[BarefootWarrior]

Brilliant thread. I'm a stripling at 37 but had my first computer game ('Escape' for the 16k ZX Spectrum) in 1982 and been a regular player ever since. Played Civ in various incarnations until dawn for the past 20 years or so, first CRPG was Dark Sun

 

My god, I LOVED dark sun. What an absolutely brilliant game!

I would love to see that or like Balders Gate redone but in the open world sandbox sort of setting that elder scrolls is doing. I think it would be full of win.

Also, Champions of Krynn (seriously old school) and the first Might and Magic.

 

Remember when Hero's Quest first came out (so you want to be a hero)..around the same time era as the first leisure suit larry and such (omg, boobah's!)

 

ok, yep, going back in time here

 

You bring up another interesting point and again, going a bit off topic. I think there are a lot of older games that would do well for the younger generation if they were remade and brought up today's standards. I have to think that this could be a mini goldmine for some of the game producers. Yes, it would take a lot of time, but I would guess that it would pay off in the long run. I wonder if any of the game producers have ever thought of this. I just recently got Halo Anniversary and it is pretty good, I was genuinely surprised. Just a thought.