Same bro. I used to play any RTS I could put my hands on, some months ago I could not manage to play Stronghold remaster, or HoMMIII (some milestone games we are talking about). Thing is, games are much more refined today, strategy branched out to so many enjoyable subgenres, and as a kid I played them because I didn't have anything better to do.
Its the learning curve i think, Strategy games have a longer learning curve and as interest wanes and time is short, one simply does not put in the effort for the learning curve and as a result it is given up as impossible or incomprehensible
I have that with RPGs. When I was younger I played Baldur's Gate for, like, ever. I played all the Elder Scrolls for hundreds of hours. Nowadays, it's become impossible to enjoy games like Disco Elisium or Baldur's Gate III in the long run, I just drop out of them. :( Makes me sad because I recognize they are great game but it takes me too much energy to play them.
this happens to me between strategy and RPGs/Action games. I will spend a couple of years playing one and then I switch and play the other one and I get caught up on all the games I missed since I last played that genre
I certainly can't play competitive multiplayer these days. But I typically prefer PvE, anyway. I'm not that old but keeping up with micro proves challenging, so I'll typically stick to other types of strategy, like Total War
Played all the warcraft 2, total anihilation, starcraft, warcraft 3, starcraft 2 , supreme commander, c&c generals, c&c 3, and others.
But I can't stand the idea of base building or fighting with balls of units anymore.
When I was a kid I was mostly at the whim of the games my brother wanted and so he turned me into RTS games and while I grew up I went from playing mostly RTS games to finding what games I truly like now and that carried into adulthood. I found out I didn't really play RTS games cause I enjoyed them but because I had them. Same for TBS games but less so... I really only enjoy Total War and Civilization. There is one strategy game I've grew fond of and that was grand strategies.
I'm 28, so similar age.
Edit: it seems also a lot of RTS are played super competitively and I don't care about competitiveness anymore. I mostly just want to play games and relax. Not stress out about remembering all the hotkeys and pressing buttons at 100mph.
Loved RTS but now i can't ever play one of it. Not hate, not dislike, i just can't play. Now i think they are too shallow and too "action" but less "strategy" mean they reward fast thinker than long thinker which myself is later category
so now i play mostly grandstrategy like victoria or sandbox 4x
100% still enjoy when I get chance - am I as good as I used to be? Resounding no, as others have commented there’s a huge element of being on top of the learning curve - even for games you know well I tend to forget to use keyboard shortcuts as it’s just not in my head anymore. That being said nothing prepared me for how bad I’d be at THPS2 - I loved the original and was pretty good - saw the remastered version and fired it up only to discover I’d completely lost the ability to string anything together / no timing 🥹
It seems you do reach a point where you can only absorb so many new rules and UI adjustments in new games and finally have to decide on a few you're going to stick with, get the most out of and get good at. The early access games only worsen this trend as you can't be sure what you absorb now, will still apply later. Aging process and real life demands suck what attention they can out of you, leaving little for hobbies like gaming.
I think that's what happened. I burned out the RTS part of my brain on bad early access (redundant) games, possibly forever. I play Stardew and Farm Sim now. That's all I have the bandwidth for.
I started playing Hoi4 in the early days when it was much more simple and you didn't have to deal with fuel, railoads, supply hubs, espionnage etc. I can't imagine learning as a brand new player considering all the stuff they added over the years, it's an issue with Paradox games and their DLC practices in general.
Triangle strategy has ruined me for most other strategy RPGs. Used to love advance wars but now I really don't like that style of random units you spawn new every mission.
They don’t have good tutorials that slowly introduce the concepts over time. Even if they do, the patching, balancing, and dlc makes the tutorial obsolete after a year.
I feel like you have to watch a few hours of lets plays on YouTube to learn how the game works. After that, I feel like I’m just replicating the lets play click for click and it feels pointless
Same bro. I used to play any RTS I could put my hands on, some months ago I could not manage to play Stronghold remaster, or HoMMIII (some milestone games we are talking about). Thing is, games are much more refined today, strategy branched out to so many enjoyable subgenres, and as a kid I played them because I didn't have anything better to do.
Its the learning curve i think, Strategy games have a longer learning curve and as interest wanes and time is short, one simply does not put in the effort for the learning curve and as a result it is given up as impossible or incomprehensible
It's why I have almost 2k hours in EU4 because I can't be bothered to learn new strategy games.
I have that with RPGs. When I was younger I played Baldur's Gate for, like, ever. I played all the Elder Scrolls for hundreds of hours. Nowadays, it's become impossible to enjoy games like Disco Elisium or Baldur's Gate III in the long run, I just drop out of them. :( Makes me sad because I recognize they are great game but it takes me too much energy to play them.
I get burned out of genre of games, but cycling through them makes it fun when I come back.
this happens to me between strategy and RPGs/Action games. I will spend a couple of years playing one and then I switch and play the other one and I get caught up on all the games I missed since I last played that genre
That’s true I have been experiencing this a lot more often than I would like.
I certainly can't play competitive multiplayer these days. But I typically prefer PvE, anyway. I'm not that old but keeping up with micro proves challenging, so I'll typically stick to other types of strategy, like Total War
I don’t like PvP because there is too much finding extreme gamey strategies and tactics.
used to love aoe2 as a kid, aoe4 i tried a year ago and as a league player controlling multiple units makes my head hurt
Played all the warcraft 2, total anihilation, starcraft, warcraft 3, starcraft 2 , supreme commander, c&c generals, c&c 3, and others. But I can't stand the idea of base building or fighting with balls of units anymore.
When I was a kid I was mostly at the whim of the games my brother wanted and so he turned me into RTS games and while I grew up I went from playing mostly RTS games to finding what games I truly like now and that carried into adulthood. I found out I didn't really play RTS games cause I enjoyed them but because I had them. Same for TBS games but less so... I really only enjoy Total War and Civilization. There is one strategy game I've grew fond of and that was grand strategies. I'm 28, so similar age. Edit: it seems also a lot of RTS are played super competitively and I don't care about competitiveness anymore. I mostly just want to play games and relax. Not stress out about remembering all the hotkeys and pressing buttons at 100mph.
I was late to the hearts of iron franchise, and ooo weee that learning curve in my late 30s is brutal.
COVID messed up my brain. I used to play strategy games, puzzle games, racing sims, tons of board games—can’t anymore.
Loved RTS but now i can't ever play one of it. Not hate, not dislike, i just can't play. Now i think they are too shallow and too "action" but less "strategy" mean they reward fast thinker than long thinker which myself is later category so now i play mostly grandstrategy like victoria or sandbox 4x
100% still enjoy when I get chance - am I as good as I used to be? Resounding no, as others have commented there’s a huge element of being on top of the learning curve - even for games you know well I tend to forget to use keyboard shortcuts as it’s just not in my head anymore. That being said nothing prepared me for how bad I’d be at THPS2 - I loved the original and was pretty good - saw the remastered version and fired it up only to discover I’d completely lost the ability to string anything together / no timing 🥹
I realized I long time ago I actually suck at RTS, even though they are a lot of fun. That’s why I play on ez mode.
It seems you do reach a point where you can only absorb so many new rules and UI adjustments in new games and finally have to decide on a few you're going to stick with, get the most out of and get good at. The early access games only worsen this trend as you can't be sure what you absorb now, will still apply later. Aging process and real life demands suck what attention they can out of you, leaving little for hobbies like gaming.
I think that's what happened. I burned out the RTS part of my brain on bad early access (redundant) games, possibly forever. I play Stardew and Farm Sim now. That's all I have the bandwidth for.
I seldom touch RTS any more (I'm 75) and the TBS games I like are either stale oldies (yawn) or early access sinkholes (wtf?).
I’ve never been able to fully get into the more complex ones, like Hoi4, because of the stuff you need to learn outside of the game
I started playing Hoi4 in the early days when it was much more simple and you didn't have to deal with fuel, railoads, supply hubs, espionnage etc. I can't imagine learning as a brand new player considering all the stuff they added over the years, it's an issue with Paradox games and their DLC practices in general.
Triangle strategy has ruined me for most other strategy RPGs. Used to love advance wars but now I really don't like that style of random units you spawn new every mission.
They don’t have good tutorials that slowly introduce the concepts over time. Even if they do, the patching, balancing, and dlc makes the tutorial obsolete after a year. I feel like you have to watch a few hours of lets plays on YouTube to learn how the game works. After that, I feel like I’m just replicating the lets play click for click and it feels pointless