What do you do during a gaming rut?

lokiju · Post by **lokiju** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:49 pm

I am in a game funk lately. I don't have the desire to start any new games atm, even though I just got a bunch of cool titles like Warhammer DoW. For some reason I feel too lazy to learn how to play new material. This happens to me a couple times a year. When it does, I tend to read a couple of books a week, or take care of things around the house that I procrastinated about.

What do you octopi do during a rut? Do you ever have them, or am I in the minority?

Dirt · Post by **Dirt** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:52 pm

I stop playing games and do something else. Read a book. Watch a movie. Go out with friends.

lokiju · Post by **lokiju** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:55 pm

But I have such a HuGe backlog...I need to get through these games, lol. My hobby has become a job.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:00 pm

lokiju wrote:But I have such a HuGe backlog...I need to get through these games, lol. My hobby has become a job.

Welcome to my world. It's a world shared by most OOers.

As mentioned in another thread, my backlog currently consists of about 140 titles (that's just the stuff from 1998 an on - I don't count the DOS and C64 games I still haven't gotten to

).

If you get into a funk, wait for it to pass. Your game collection isn't going anywhere.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:07 pm

Well, I have learned to minimize the rut by mixing genres and settings. I usually play two or three games at once - less and it is instant burnout, more and I lose track. I try to play three different genres - generally a shooter, a strategy game, and an RPG, and I never play all three from the same setting - if the strategy and RPG game are fantasy, the shooter will be sci-fi or military, for instance.

If I get into a real rut, I break it by reading a couple of novels from a different setting - if I have been playing lots of sci-fi/fantasy, I'll pick up a good modern history book. If I have been playing lots of military shooters, I will pick up a fantasy novel. Usually, the change of setting gets my juices flowing for some interactive entertainment.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:15 pm

Runningmn, you sound like me...

Let me guess, you bought/buy games that you may or may not be interested in only because it's the "best of" genre for that particular year?

Guilty here...for some reason I can't stand the fact that there is some great game out there that I missed, even if I am not into the genre (Europea Universalis is one that pops into my head)

Thus, I am left with a huge GGB (Great game backlog) (R) that I will never catch up with if I am honest with myself. For Jimminy Cricket's sake, I still have System Shock 2 sitting there, all lonely and dusty on my shelf...sigh. ONE DAY!!!!!!!!

Head · Post by **Head** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:55 pm

I get into these gaming funks too sometimes. But, only after I completed a very cool game and it's a little hard to "change gears" and play something different. It would take me at times, up to 3 weeks to get over it. During that time, I would watch DVDs, go out to movies, become more social and do chores around the house. Eventually, something you saw or heard will spark your interest into learning and playing a game regarding that subject. I'm curious -- what game did you just recently complete?

~Head

lokiju · Post by **lokiju** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:58 pm

I just "almost" finished both Hordes of the Underdark and Rome TW. Lol, guess I played a little too much.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:02 pm

Two strategies:

1. Go do something unrelated to gaming for a while.
2. Go back to an "old friend," a favorite game that you know you're going to enjoy.

If your hobbies become work you don't get paid for, you're in deep doo-doo.

~Neal

Head · Post by **Head** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:12 pm

lokiju wrote:I just "almost" finished both Hordes of the Underdark and Rome TW. Lol, guess I played a little too much.

Hey, I just finished Hordes last Wednesday... I started Bloodlines on Thursday and gaming strong. However, I did have to put down Rome: TW last month due to being too addicted. I was starting to do troop defensive placement in my sleep.

~Head

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:17 pm

Guilty here...for some reason I can't stand the fact that there is some great game out there that I missed, even if I am not into the genre (Europea Universalis is one that pops into my head)

Yes, I buy games because I hear good things, even if there is no intent to play them (Sacrifice, Arx Fatalis, Freedom Force, NOLF2, etc., etc., etc.).

Thus, I am left with a huge GGB (Great game backlog) (R) that I will never catch up with if I am honest with myself. For Jimminy Cricket's sake, I still have System Shock 2 sitting there, all lonely and dusty on my shelf...sigh. ONE DAY!!!!!!!!

Dude. I still have System Shock 1 waiting for me to play it, let alone System Shock 2. Fallout 1 and 2 (and Wasteland too I suppose). It's horrendous. Maybe I'll post my entire backlog one of these days.

lokiju · Post by **lokiju** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:23 pm

Head wrote: Hey, I just finished Hordes last Wednesday... I started Bloodlines on Thursday and gaming strong. However, I did have to put down Rome: TW last month due to being too addicted. I was starting to do troop defensive placement in my sleep.

~Head

Haha, I had the same problem with Rome...I couldn't stop redrawing the map in my head and strategizing the next few moves.

I started an R.A. Salvatore book last night, "The Two Swords", about the drow Drizzt (latest and last in the Hunter's Blade Trilogy). By the time I finish that and Michael Moore's, "Dude, Where's My Country?", I bet I will be having gaming withdrawls...Michael Moore does that to me. I want to roll up into a ball and hide from the government, heh.

Eel Snave · Post by **Eel Snave** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:38 pm

What I do is mix it up. Right now I'm in a bit of a funk, and I just powered through TRON 2.0, so I'm going to reinstall Anachronox and give that a go, or maybe some C&C: Renegade. Who knows?

I say, try something you wouldn't normally have tried. I did that a while ago, and ended up playing Kohan. What a great game. I never would have played it otherwise.

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:59 pm

I'm in a rut of sorts right now, in that there's lots to play but I very rarely feel like playing any of it. Hard to get myself to dedicate the crazy amount of time it takes to really enjoy gaming right now. It's so bad I've been considering making this PC the last one I build and just slowly getting out of PC gaming... easier said than done.

Head · Post by **Head** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:03 pm

lokiju wrote:
Head wrote: Hey, I just finished Hordes last Wednesday... I started Bloodlines on Thursday and gaming strong. However, I did have to put down Rome: TW last month due to being too addicted. I was starting to do troop defensive placement in my sleep.

~Head
Haha, I had the same problem with Rome...I couldn't stop redrawing the map in my head and strategizing the next few moves.

I started an R.A. Salvatore book last night, "The Two Swords", about the drow Drizzt (latest and last in the Hunter's Blade Trilogy). By the time I finish that and Michael Moore's, "Dude, Where's My Country?", I bet I will be having gaming withdrawls...Michael Moore does that to me. I want to roll up into a ball and hide from the government, heh.

Okay...this is getting wierd. I just stated an R. A. Salvatore book last week "The Spine of the World" about the return of Wulfgar.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:10 pm

I'm in a rut now although I have a lot of games in the backlog...I also have a lot of DVDs to watch in my back log. So when I get in a gaming rut I break out the DVDs. Tonight I will watch the Director's Cut of the latest Dawn of the Dead. I've also loaded up Medeival: Total War and will start playing that when I get back into the mood. i should have a lot of gaming and DVD time over the holidays and hope to get around to playing Railroad Tycoon 3, Warlords: Battlecry 2 and maybe finally watching The Big Fish, The Last Samarai, and the Bourne Supremacy.

ANd don't get me started on my 20+ backlog of books to read...So I have pleanty to do when I'm in a gaming rut.

Meghan · Post by **Meghan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:20 pm

I do like Blackhawk does and keep a rotation of strategy, RPG & something. Usually I only get bored with one of those games and then I'll pull another one in the same genre. The Something is usually a game that's new or that I'm just demoing. FPS's usually go here since I'm so lousy at them. I just bought NOLF2 though. I have no idea why.

The default game is Morrowind. When all else fails I play Diablo.

Gwar21 · Post by **Gwar21** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:23 pm

I generally go through my backlog, trying to find something that looks interesting. When that fails (as it usually does, when I'm in a real rut), I just stare at the wall for a few days until I'm in the mood again.

bluefugue · Post by **bluefugue** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:45 pm

I think gaming ruts should be embraced, since there are other things to do than play videogames.

They'll be waiting when you want to return to them.

lokiju · Post by **lokiju** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 8:21 pm

Head wrote:
lokiju wrote:
Head wrote: Hey, I just finished Hordes last Wednesday... I started Bloodlines on Thursday and gaming strong. However, I did have to put down Rome: TW last month due to being too addicted. I was starting to do troop defensive placement in my sleep.

~Head
Haha, I had the same problem with Rome...I couldn't stop redrawing the map in my head and strategizing the next few moves.

I started an R.A. Salvatore book last night, "The Two Swords", about the drow Drizzt (latest and last in the Hunter's Blade Trilogy). By the time I finish that and Michael Moore's, "Dude, Where's My Country?", I bet I will be having gaming withdrawls...Michael Moore does that to me. I want to roll up into a ball and hide from the government, heh.
Okay...this is getting wierd. I just stated an R. A. Salvatore book last week "The Spine of the World" about the return of Wulfgar.

That IS awfully weird, lol. Btw, a little OT, Wulfgar should have stayed dead IMHO. I love the character, but it made me nauseous when he came back. It was like RA sold out to fanboi backlash. I don't know for sure if it was intened all along, but it still made me sick.

I will take a break and read I guess, maybe catch up on a few movies. Blockbuster online is pretty sweet thus far.

Thanks all for the support. I feel so guilty when I get into these ruts. Guess I just love games so much that it hurts to be burned out by them.

jonsauce · Post by **jonsauce** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 11:17 pm

I'm also in a bit of a rut so I figured it's a good time to get back in shape and lose some fat

I was 197 less than a week ago. Now I'm down to 192 and dropping slowly.
In about a week or two I will hate exercising and I'll be back to gaming alot.

Spike · Post by **Spike** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 5:35 am

Dirt wrote:Go out with friends.

Friends? How am I supposed to go out with people on the other end of an internet connection?

lokiju · Post by **lokiju** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 9:26 am

Spike wrote:
Dirt wrote:Go out with friends.
Friends? How am I supposed to go out with people on the other end of an internet connection?

Can you say, "Trip to Paris"!? On second thought, although I always wanted to visit Paris, I'd hate to be American in Europe atm (well anywhere really, we step on so many toes), they must think we are warmongers.

Spike · Post by **Spike** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 9:38 am

lokiju wrote:Can you say, "Trip to Paris"!? On second thought, although I always wanted to visit Paris, I'd hate to be American in Europe atm (well anywhere really, we step on so many toes), they must think we are warmongers.

Trip to Paris = walk out front door. Too damned cold.

Despite all the anti-French commentary on many fora these days (and French anti-US sentiment), I think you'd find yourself very welcome here. The only proviso is to try speaking a little French: if you make a bit of an effort, everyone pitches in to help and much fun ensues - this has happened to me several times in restaurants and so on.

One of my US colleagues visited for a week on business recently and had a wonderful time. He made a lot of friends, met a lot of Parisians and enjoyed himself immensely, because he could speak a little of the lingo.

The only Americans who are generally disliked here are the ones who assume everyone will speak American for them, accept dollars and treat them as deities. Of course, there will always be some radicals who hate everyone from a country simply because of their nationality, but thankfully they are as rare here as anywhere else.

On the subject of a gaming rut, I find that having two or three different genres installed at the same time helps a lot. I also tend to write if I don't want to play: fanfics, whatever. Then again, I guess one could always just surf for porn. More than usual, I mean.

bluefugue · Post by **bluefugue** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 9:46 am

Every time I tried speaking French in Paris, the person would reply so rapidly that I had no idea what they were saying.

Fortunately they pretty much all spoke English anyway. It's good to be the lingua franca of the world (ironic term, that).

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 10:57 am

I don't really tire of gaming so much as I do of whatever particular game I'm playing. The antidote is usually to buy a new game, or return to an old one. If the game that I'm coming down from was a long slog, I might spend a few evenings doing "togetherness sh!t" with the Bride. It doesn't take much of that to send me back to the computer -- often as much her idea as mine ("honey, do you need a new game?").

Right now, I actually have an unplayed game (KoToR, thanks again Austin) waiting for me when I finish X-Com. I never did play the expansion to Baldurs Gate 2, so that's ready to go anytime. I've been kind of pining for a game of Civ3 Rise & Rule...I'm thinking of revisiting Sim City 4...I never did completely burn out on GalCiv...I still have lots of gaming stretching out ahead of me, and no funk in sight.

I should note that I almost never have any serious passion for gaming anymore. It's been a looooong time since something grabbed me so that I wanted to spend every waking moment at the computer. In that sense, you could say I'm in a permanent gaming funk.

Head · Post by **Head** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 12:15 pm

lokiju wrote:
Head wrote:
lokiju wrote:
Head wrote: Hey, I just finished Hordes last Wednesday... I started Bloodlines on Thursday and gaming strong. However, I did have to put down Rome: TW last month due to being too addicted. I was starting to do troop defensive placement in my sleep.

~Head
Haha, I had the same problem with Rome...I couldn't stop redrawing the map in my head and strategizing the next few moves.

I started an R.A. Salvatore book last night, "The Two Swords", about the drow Drizzt (latest and last in the Hunter's Blade Trilogy). By the time I finish that and Michael Moore's, "Dude, Where's My Country?", I bet I will be having gaming withdrawls...Michael Moore does that to me. I want to roll up into a ball and hide from the government, heh.
Okay...this is getting wierd. I just stated an R. A. Salvatore book last week "The Spine of the World" about the return of Wulfgar.
That IS awfully weird, lol. Btw, a little OT, Wulfgar should have stayed dead IMHO. I love the character, but it made me nauseous when he came back. It was like RA sold out to fanboi backlash. I don't know for sure if it was intened all along, but it still made me sick.

I will take a break and read I guess, maybe catch up on a few movies. Blockbuster online is pretty sweet thus far.

Thanks all for the support. I feel so guilty when I get into these ruts. Guess I just love games so much that it hurts to be burned out by them.

From what I remember... RA had intended to leave Wulfgar dead. I think he got hounded so bad by fanboyz and maybe even his publisher that he gave in... and just for spite -- returned a very unlikable asshole. I can just hear him -- "you want him back? here you go... now leave me the f*** alone".

lokiju · Post by **lokiju** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 12:53 pm

Lol, I was thinking the same thing Head. And boy did R.A. do a good job of that! I actually came to despise Wulfgar for quite some time after his return. The second he hit Cattie-Brie I lost all hope for his character...

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 3:18 pm

My cycle over the last 8 or more years from when my first gaming rut probably started is to step away. Searching for another game just causes me to spend money on games that I don't enjoy. Eventually a classic game calls me. This then eventually want me to venture into newer or unplayed titles.

I am really happy with this cycle. It saves me money and from playing garbage. I a feel a lot more fulfilled from the computer gaming I do now and have no problems walking away from computer gaming when it seems like it is becoming compulsive as it sometimes does.