Does your competetiveness fade with age?

bbrown0770

Old guys rule, here to have fun and not stress or worry over being the best if it isn't fun i'm finding another game

rfennell_ESO

It's more about time than age.

As you get older you realize that to be "a name" in a game requires playing a lot more than you are capable of dedicating the time to.

Also, you realize (over time) that ultimately no one cares who you are or what you do for very long and any "fame" out of it is time wasted.

Things like emperor and streaming and editing best of clips are things you don't have time for or would rather spend the time in other ways. Reality wins versus fantasy when reality is bills and a job and a family.

So in some ways competitiveness does fade with age, but not in a skill erosion type scenario... it's more a choice to not compete with people that have a hell of a lot more time than you have. The weekly races for emperor are mostly among people with a full time job worth of time more than I have to dedicate to a game.

FrostFallFox

I've never been competitive, because I'm hella depressed and stuff.

Tandor

I'm 65 and have been playing computer/role-playing games since I was 30 or perhaps a bit younger. I've always played them cooperatively rather than competitively. I used to play more socially than I do these days but most of my friends who were into gaming have moved on in one way or another. I gave up first guilds and then groups because of all the drama queens, and PvP because of the immaturity it attracted. I realised I just didn't need or want those things in my leisure time hobby.

Was age a factor in making those changes? Very possibly. All I know is that I'm very comfortable now playing MMOs solo and cooperatively because they are much more story and quest based than they were originally, and they play like an evolving single-player CRPG in multi-player surroundings which I find a perfect mix.

JD2013

I turned 35 today, and I can say that my competitive streak is gone mostly. Maybe because other things in life took over, I don't need to be the best or feel the urge to be, or to spend hours meticulously getting my build right.

I've killed in PVP, I've been killed in PVP. It's no big deal. Gaming is for fun to escape the real world. I have enough competition in my work (and you'd better believe I fight in that!) without dragging it into my hobbies anymore.

Florial

I've never been the most competitive of players but have taken games a bit more seriously than I should have. I remember at times getting so angry and upset at things that happened in my guilds, raids, in game politics, etc. Now I look back and shake my head at how some of the stuff upset me. I'm on the much older side and really shouldn't have taken things so seriously. It is always interesting firing up a game that you've played long ago to see how all that hard earned gear you obtained so long ago through many nights of raiding, groups, head board banging, etc is now all obsolete, guilds long disbanded, friends scattered to the wind. Pixels at the end are so fleeting....

I think that as I've gotten older, I just don't care that much any more. I have bigger things to worry about---my health, my family, our goals as we near retirement. If I'm not having fun in an MMO, I simply find something else to do. Like @Tandor, I've found less enjoyment in guilds and group activities. Perhaps I need to find a guild with older players who have the same goals as myself. These days I'm too old for the drama and angst that goes on in some guilds.

Bossdonut

I'm late 20s and I don't care about being top dog any more.

I'm content just being dog these days.

DannyLV702

I'm 23 and feel the need to kill everything blue and yellow!

dem0n1k

51 here & I have to agree to some extent. In my 30s I was very competitive in the Quake deathmatch scene. Joined a clan & would play every weekend at a friend's "LAN house". Duelled in every competition I could... team deathmatch CTF, etc...
Then Quake2.. then Quake3Arena... then Quakelive. I still play Quakelive every now & then to keep the reflexes keen(ish)... but I really don't care about topping the leaderboards anymore.

For years before ESO I have really only been playing single player games or co-op games with a friend. We both still enjoyed difficult content (like Deadspace 3 on survival mode) but didn't have any real interest in competing.

I do REALLY enjoy ESO PVP though... but it's not really the competitive urge... it's more working as a team to achieve objectives. I will admit there is still a smidge of the competitive flame alive though

Moonshadow66

JD2013 wrote: »

I turned 35 today, and I can say that my competitive streak is gone mostly. Maybe because other things in life took over, I don't need to be the best or feel the urge to be, or to spend hours meticulously getting my build right.

I've killed in PVP, I've been killed in PVP. It's no big deal. Gaming is for fun to escape the real world. I have enough competition in my work (and you'd better believe I fight in that!) without dragging it into my hobbies anymore.

Today? Happy Birthday

Veske_Valrune

I honestly enjoy being both.

I love cooperation in groups, taking time helping people with tips, crafting for them and, if I feel like I've got more time to play than someone else who enjoys the game just as much as I do, have no qualms with helping out financially whether it be gold, gear or materials.

That being said, whenever there's any way to rate my performance against or compete with other voluntary players I have a blast doing so! One of the biggest things I hope to see eventually in ESO are arenas, similar to WoW or SWTOR. When it comes to mmos thats where I've found the most fun through competition because it requires synergy, a deep pool of class knowledge (yours and opponents) and better reactions then your competitors.

btw 24 here, so my perspective very well might change as I know I'm still young!

JD2013

Moonshadow66 wrote: »

JD2013 wrote: »

I turned 35 today, and I can say that my competitive streak is gone mostly. Maybe because other things in life took over, I don't need to be the best or feel the urge to be, or to spend hours meticulously getting my build right.

I've killed in PVP, I've been killed in PVP. It's no big deal. Gaming is for fun to escape the real world. I have enough competition in my work (and you'd better believe I fight in that!) without dragging it into my hobbies anymore.

Today? Happy Birthday

Aw thank you!

Curtdogg47

I'm 36, still competitive in my mind when I play but I'm playing for fun and always have played for fun. Do I want to win? Yes. If I don't no big deal. For me games are about having a great time and relaxing, and clearing my head for a few hours. I enjoy BF4, Halo, and star wars battle front. ESO is my first MMO ever. And I love it, just really started to PVP and its fun when your in a good group of like minded players. Like any online game its not so great when you get a know it all screaming at everyone about what to do, telling me or others our build sucks, or our playstyle is crap or we need to L2P. hey *** we're here playing to guess what? L2P!! When I come across these people in any game sometimes I try to dive the guy crazy. He says go left I go right!! He says wait I charge in. He says charge in I flee and leave the jerk to get crushed!! But in a good group with good polite players. I'll stick with whatever the game plan is and do my best to help as I am asked to. And just the other night I had a guy let me know one of my skills was hitting a little soft and he asked if I wanted help to improve it. And now that skill is hitting so much harder. Online gaming is a blast when you have good people in your group. I feel like there is two worlds of gamers now days the Original Gamer's who want to have a good time and the New generation who have a hard time separating the online life from the real life.

Robo_Hobo

I'm 23, and I'm already out of my competitiveness, so I don't think it has to do with age, or perhaps it does but people grow out of it quicker or slower than others. I used to like doing a lot of completionist and somewhat competitive things (but was never really that competitive anyway) but no longer care for it in the slightest, I prefer my exploration and lore and roleplaying and such now.

But I had grown out of it before I started playing ESO at all.

Sharakor

No, I teabagged my kills years ago and I still teabag them today followed by a /tell X "call me daddy"

Bossdonut

Sharakor wrote: »

No, I teabagged my kills years ago and I still teabag them today followed by a /tell X "call me daddy"

I hurt my back when I tbag

SkylarkAU

31 and still competitive, have been for probably 15 years or so now. That said my intolerance to bullsh*t has become finely honed over the years as I highly value an even playing field over unfair advantages that favor either side. As an oceanic player with 300 base ping on a game such as ESO you can probably imagine I have to keep my desal plant running 24/7/365.

Lysette

Waffennacht wrote: »

It's not that I'm constantly trying to be the best... it just ends up that way!

hahahaha - perfect line for a meme.

FriedEggSandwich

Sometimes I want to pwn some noobs, sometimes I enjoy the teamwork of pve, sometimes I just want to play minecraft by myself. I'm 35 and grew up on single player games but then moved onto arena shooters, cs and then cod and battlefield. Pokemon was my first rpg (my little brothers), then ffix, then skyrim. ESO is my first mmo, my brother drew my attention to it during beta and I picked it up at launch.

I think I'm just as competitive now as I ever have been, just more likely to enjoy stuff other than pwning noobs. Since playing ffix and skyrim I'm more likely to enjoy a story-driven single player game. I also enjoy the sandbox-survival genre, games such as minecraft, terraria, don't starve, subnautica etc. MMO is a new experience for me; I like that eso combines a lore-based persistent world with character progression for group pve and pvp. I can get my twitch pvp fix, my immersive-world fix and my progression fix all in one place. If they added player housing that might even satisfy my sandbox needs, and if they do that and fix pvp so that it doesn't lag I might want to stay around for a while.

So I guess my point was that I'm competitive when I'm in a competitive mood, and then I'm just as competitive as always. One thing I have noticed is that I rage less pvping in eso that I did playing cod or battlefield a few years ago. Not sure whether that has to do with getting older or just that mmo rpg is less rage-inducing than fps games. ESO zone chat is the least toxic chat box I've ever seen to be fair.

Wreuntzylla

Studies show that be exercising you can stay competitive well into your 50's. Unfortunately, they also show that after 10 p.m. you are 3x more likely to hit your keyboard with your forehead.

Nerouyn

I'm about the same age but have never been very competitive. I'm pretty smart so was regularly winning competitions and awards from an early age. Even without trying. I was bored with it all before I finished high school.

I loathe PvE leaderboards. Reducing an encounter to a score kicks immersion in the face and all too often encourages dysfunctional gameplay because of how scoring works. Instead of players doing what is most effective to complete the encounter - usually killing something - they do what is most effective at boosting their own personal score.

PvP can provide more of a challenge but the only satisfaction I've ever found in it was out-thinking / maneuvering someone much higher level than me, eg. back in the very early days of World of Warcraft when gankers were everywhere.

wayfarerx wrote: »

I've never been much of a "competitive" gamer, mostly because the people you compete with or against tend to be absolutely terrible humans that I can't tolerate for more than a few minutes at a time (ESO is better about this in general but there are still plenty of gamer bros out there).

This is why I wouldn't PvP with random people. I would only do it with friends / guildmates. Opposition being buttheads I can ignore but when everyone else on your team is so vile you'd like to stick your knife in their backs, it's hard to enjoy the game.

Asherons_Call

I never have been competitive and I've been in MMOs for about 16 years. Never understood climbing over each other over pixels. Slow down and enjoy, you'll live longer

deleted220701-004865

Miszou wrote: »

I know I'll never again match the abilities of an 18 year old hopped up on energy drinks and youth.

Anyone else getting old with me?

I was bad then, and I'm bad now. Consistency is my motto! I peaked at 7.

Sausage

Being pissed off and youth definitely go hand to hand with competitiviness. I was working at School a few year back and most angry kid was playing Dota, no kidding.

The Battalion of Bill Gates is coming, nuff said.

Johngo0036

Hey i am 42 years old and still think I am 21,

I seriously HATE, Despise, detest losing to anyone.... lol....

But i am starting to realise that my fingers are slower on the keyboard and mouse buttons,
My reaction times to gankers is getting worse.....

OH MY GOD,

I AM getting old....

anitajoneb17_ESO

Funny to read how the adjective "old" seems to apply at... any age !

I'm not young anymore but I'm sure not old yet, and I'm not into competition at all. Sure, I like it when I play well, but that's not because of how I compare with others, it's more because the game feels more "fluent" and I have more possibilities when I play well than when I mess up.
I enjoy PvP too, as long as it's more a "pillow fight" atmosphere. I go away as soon as I sense too much agressivity.

That said, I don't think I would have had a different attitude 20 years ago. I'm just a non-competition person, and so am I in real life stuff too. What matters is to achieve my own goals, not to beat anyone or be better than anyone.
.

Knootewoot

Miszou wrote: »

Here's an interesting little article about gamer competitiveness fading with age...

https://rockpapershotgun.com/2016/02/18/rps-asks-are-you-a-competitive-player/

At 44, I can say (from my perspective) that it's pretty accurate. 20 years ago, I was all about the frags, the PvP, the teabagging, the hardcore modes (permadeath), the twitch combat, the bragging rights etc.

Over the years though, this has changed and now I'm quite happy to just take my time exploring and helping others in PvE dungeons over a glass or two of wine. PvP just doesn't interest me at all any more. It's just too stressful and I know I'll never again match the abilities of an 18 year old hopped up on energy drinks and youth.

Anyone else getting old with me?

No. I am almost 40 and still PvP and do other online versus game like there is no tomorrow. In every mmo I mostly do PvP.

Yeah yeah, I have less time so if it's about gear I have the short end of the stick because I want to jump in and kill and not hassle with everything around it. Also my reflexes are not as good as when I was 20, but with shooters like battlefield or COD I am still mostly on the top 10 of the match. Except with battlefront because that game is so random (you spawn and instant die sometimes).
For TESO I am never on top list, but that does not mean I love the PvP. You kill some, you die some. It's also about fun and not only about being competitive (teamplay I more important for me).

Also I play a lot against my 10 year old son. And I don't hold back on him so I kill and maim him as much as I can as long as I can. In 10 years he might be able to beat me.

Aimora

JD2013 wrote: »

I turned 35 today, and I can say that my competitive streak is gone mostly. Maybe because other things in life took over, I don't need to be the best or feel the urge to be, or to spend hours meticulously getting my build right.

I've killed in PVP, I've been killed in PVP. It's no big deal. Gaming is for fun to escape the real world. I have enough competition in my work (and you'd better believe I fight in that!) without dragging it into my hobbies anymore.

Happy belated birthday Jonas

Hope you had a great day!

JD2013

Aimora wrote: »

JD2013 wrote: »

I turned 35 today, and I can say that my competitive streak is gone mostly. Maybe because other things in life took over, I don't need to be the best or feel the urge to be, or to spend hours meticulously getting my build right.

I've killed in PVP, I've been killed in PVP. It's no big deal. Gaming is for fun to escape the real world. I have enough competition in my work (and you'd better believe I fight in that!) without dragging it into my hobbies anymore.

Happy belated birthday Jonas

Hope you had a great day!

Thank you lovely! ❤️

Paske

38 here

I am competitive up to a point.

Like a good challenge as much as the next guy.
Enjoy PVE and PVP alike.

But will I loose my cool if we wipe for 10th time in trial, like I did 15 years ago ? No.

I will inform about my class on forums, watch Youtube video or generally look for some info on how to play better. But will not obsess over DPS or how viable I am in PVP with certain build.

However, for me, it is not age related as much as simple fact I got less free time then before - wife, kid, job.
However I will agree that with age you look at games as a good pass time. Something you do to relax. When at younger age it ment something to kill a hard boss. Sometimes even loud cheering over TS. You don't get that any more. It is nice, but not something monumental.