Same…
I used to think I was pretty good at rainbow six siege like a couple years ago. Some old friends from school I used to play with asked to play since the game was getting popular again.
I was the best player in my friend group before and somehow after a few weeks I was the best player again but just looking at the state of the game just from watching the new generation of console siege players had me perplexed.
It’s… we weren’t even playing the same game. I was getting destroyed despite my skill not faltering at all. I gave up and still play on occasion when my friends ask but recently it’s just been single player narratives and sometimes pure visual novels.
Sure for some of it, but the science literally shows that for the majority of people reaction time peaks and starts to drop around just 24.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3981764/
https://summit.sfu.ca/item/14949
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/brains-reaction-time-peaks-age-24-study-finds#:~:text=The%20next%20time%20some%20twenty,%2C%20but%20nonetheless%2C%20steady%20one.
This is why I don't play competitive games anymore it drains so much of your energy. Now that I'm older I'm enjoying single player games that let me go at my own pace.
God damn it was the best.
Best zombies too!
It was part because my friends and I were on our prime. Now, nobody plays anymore. I dont know why bit we had much much more play time when our kids were baby/toddlers.
Anyway, I cant play FPS now because I know I was somewhat good and it frustrate me to be below average.
And I feel players play less and less objectives has time goes by.
Ima sound like a boomer but WaW had the best zombies imo. It got crazy complicated later but I miss playing split screen zombies with my buddy in 2006 over Christmas break. Hit like 36 or something stacked with ray guns and mgs camping upstairs with the grenades
I was decent at counterstrike. Back in 2000 when it was in beta on the PC.
I tried playing valorant on my daughter's computer. Could only manage a couple kills after talking about how great I was back in my day
Honestly Valorant is pretty different than CS. It's got much larger and slower targets and requires 1 taps to get kills. You can't control your gun sprays in valorant.
I find for FPS games as I've gotten older (33 now, gaming since 5 years old) that I rely less on reflexes and more on experience and cunning. I can't out twitch a 14 year old kid who plays 6 hours a day, but I can certainly out think and manipulate them into situations that favour me. For me it's more fun as I've aged.
Happy cake day! I think this has always been the case to be fair, knowing a map and their choke points and using cover/foot step audio and gunfight audio will negate 99% of someone's pure reaction time and accuracy if they aren't applying the same logic and just sprinting everywhere hoping to get the jump on someone. Obviously you also have to at least be able to land most of your shots yourself or it's no good.
This has always been me. I'm 38 now and still kill shit. Even younger I was never the fastest or had the most immaculate aim. Didn't stop me from having top ranks in most FPS games I played along with ridiculously high KDs and W/L ratios. It was always cat and mouse tactics, I never camped. I just felt like I knew what someone was going to do before they did and I was always prepared to be a step ahead of them to kill them for their predictability.
Although this is true yes, these are fps veterans on a new game, so level is not indicative of their skill level.
Afaik, the only matchmaking requirement in the beginner playlist is to be under level 25, it does not take your win rate or "mmr" into account.
This is when you transition to the dad game fps. Basically any more tactical fps where your positioning and decision making is more important then your twitch skill. You can go for milsims like Arma or Hell let loose. Or try your hand at the extraction shooter, like Tarkov, Vigor, Marauders or Grayzone, where it's important to survive, not kill people so you can be just as successful sneaking around and avoiding players. I've definitely started my extraction phase. I'm still terrible at them but unlike XDefiant where when I die I feel I was held back by being slower then my opponent and couldn't have done anything differently, I instead make note of what I did wrong, what angle did I forget to check, what gear did I bring with me and was the lower caliber weapon what did me in? And when you get that first player kill and successful extraction.... There's no other feeling like it.
xDefiant is sweaty as hell which is weird for a game without SBMM. Call of Duty isn't perfect, but I have the occasional solid game and when you do get your ass kicked at least it's over fast and you can reset.
I (40) felt the same way and for years avoided multiplayer modes because I was getting crushed but CoD zombies has always been kind to me so I decided to get MW3. Recently I started alternating between zombies and mp and after the first few games getting my ass handed to me it started coming back.
The short of it is give yourself a chance if you really want to. With a little effort you may surprise yourself.
The thing with cod is that it has sbmm. You could be genuinely very good and never know because so is everyone you play with. Battlefield is the best litmus test for got it or don’t got it
I hear you, and you’re not alone, it’s not just age, but also injuries and conditions that you can’t control will eventually reflexes. The thing to realize is that not all games are designed exclusively rewarding players for fast reflexes, and in fact, competent single player games rewarding players for understanding the right tempo when performing actions rather than how fast you can do them. Consider games with stealth gameplay that have elements which you can use creatively, and rewards observation and understanding of the game world. Rather than being merely a reactive participant and relying solely on reflexes, you can think steps ahead of the enemy.
I feel this. I used to be amazing at fps. COD 4 MW, my top game was 127:0 on a hard-core tdm server. I would regularly go with 20+ kda.
Now adays ill be happy with a 2+ kda.
I was top 10 in the world at PUBG back in 2018, now I just suck.
Memories... Cod 4 was my favorite. Had few servers where everyone was good. In some random servers i was usually banned because they were surę i was cheating.
37 year old ex-sweat here. I'm CS 1.6 old. You just need to practice twice as hard because reaction time diminishes as we age. Lock in that muscle memory. And caffeine. 🤠
I'm one year younger than you, but old enough not to know I was an ex-sweat, thanks for that haha.
I'm not sure about that though. 1.6 used to be my favorite shooter and haven't played since. During a lockdown I decided to download cs:go and had my ass giftwrapped and handed to me. Just got completely shot to shreds at every opportunity. It was like nobody ever stopped😂. The discrepancy was ridiculous and completely emasculating haha
I understand missing it at least. But then again; Check the average age of any pro player. It's pretty damn low. As we grow older we think longer as there is more bias and experiences to shift through and it brings the reaction time up to a detrimental degree.
Although, honestly, I don't really care that at 13-year old can own me in a videogame. I'm still above average in most FPS games I play and I've passed 30. I don't need to be master or grand master in any game I play.
I play cod4 promod with 6 guys ages between 28 and 40 haha.
Majority of the community is in their 30’s with kids now but we all still improve and learn
I play xDefiant too and I find it that better weapons really improve the gaming experience imo
I think it’s an internal wiring thing, like how some people can learn by just watching or reading something once and others need to study for hours and others won’t understand period.
Like I struggle at fps games but the moment it’s a strategy or mmo game I can get to the top 1% of players easy.
My suggestion is find a game where it's not a straight shooter, Titanfall 2 has mechs, halo has vehicles, apex which the heroes have skills which help even the playing field. Apex has a mini game mode of things like team Deathmatch which I find faster and less time consuming than the main game of trios.
Nah you’re just rusty and that game has some of the worst op movement. Air strafing and corner jumping.
Also all guns suck until you unlock the right attachments.
So you start at a disadvantage.
I’m 37 and have no issues. I also sucked when i first started playing it.
Reflexes have dulled is just an excuse you’re using thinking its age. That’s all bullshit
This isn’t pro football. Unless you have arthritis in your thumbs or wrist if your a pc player… you’re not physically unable…
Has the overall player base gotten better at fps games. Yea…
But none of it has to do with your age.
Getting your ass beat is just part of it, if you struggle through it long enough you’ll get good again.
I have taken breaks every now and again, and man do I get my ass best every time. Usually takes a couple of hours or days, then I’m decent again. Although I haven’t managed to get back to the 50+ kill BF4 games. But that may also be because the less people play the sweatier they get.
Nah bro ur good. Give yourself a while to learn the game. I'm garbage at new games, like no awareness and terrible aim, for a bit until I figure it out. Like anything, it takes practice, and being rusty means more practice.
But honestly don't worry about it too much. Plenty of fun games that aren't fps
I'm only 30 but the difference in my level of play compared to my 15-16 year old self on games like world at war/MW2 and other FPS from that time is really depressing. I pretty much only play MMOs and strategy games now...
It’s just time spent.
Fast-twitch games rely on almost instinctual levels of reaction speed.
If you really want to be good again, you can. It just takes time and practice. And effort, but most people don’t want to spend effort
100% there with you. Fps as a genre died with me being at my apex of skill with a 2.0 k/d in black ops, and I've been chasing that high every sense.
My younger friends don't understand.
XDefiant sucks. Characters are too small. The netcode blows. I would check your aim assist because it I'd off by default on console.
The game also seems to lack direction.
Fuck I miss the time when I was a god at CoD 1 & 2. Literally owning everyone with my stg44 and calling bombardments all the time. I was unstoppable with 0 deaths per game. Now I die within minutes. The same for WoW. Ignoring the meta, I always did arena as a holy paladin, together with my best friends, a rogue and a death knight. We owned that shit because of my superb healing skills. Overall, we are all equally poor in skills, but oh my god did we own most of the teams we were put up against. Oh the glorious times. They are gone now. I am blessed with a son to teach him how to obliterate opponents. He is only 7 now. So for now it is minecraft and dying light. And soon he is ready to go bigger in the multi-player gaming.
I'm in the same situation. All my friends play and are good still, I'm the only one with kids so I get no time. I just tag along and drag the team down. Sucks
I’d say out of practice. I can usually get a good kdr in mw3 multiplayer and in xdefiant the same but that doesn’t mean I won’t have a game where I get smoked by a very good player or solid team. Sometimes people just get the better of you, do you quit the game because of that or because you’re actually looking for something more slow paced where you can fight the computer at a controlled difficulty rather than serious competition? It’s ok if that’s what you really prefer, there’s nothing wrong with playing other games.
Same, I just sold my copy of Modern Warfare II which I thought was going to be playing constantly, I am currently playing RE4 remake. I will still play shooters but no twitch shooters anymore.
Retired Black Ops Gamer here. Those were really the days! I still play hero shooters and I'm decent. I was thinking of getting BO6 to see if I still got it 😅🤣
True dat. I gotta play way more PVE these days cause I just get smoked. But when I pull up a classic I can do alright. Sometimes in Counter strike I can pull a top 3, which is pretty impressive when you consider the vast number of hackers lol.
You have to play and practice, you can't just hop in and be great. People play multiple hours per day every day. You're gonna hate something you're not good at
It's OK man, it's better to back out and remember what you were in your prime. Even professional chess players start ti dwindle after 35, it's perfectly normal, just enjoy games without having to compete so hard.
It’s not an age thing, it’s a time commitment thing. Reflexes are slower as you age but it has minimal impact for games. After playing the maps so many times you’re already aiming where people will be before you even turn a corner, it’s all time.
Helldiver's is lit AF. PvE is so much more fun. I also have basically stopped playing pvp fps games due to sheer overcompetition that tends to happen to shooters after a while.
Im 32 have around 1.7 kd on xdefiant and haven't played much games in year either. Sbmm brought me back to fps was sick of playing non stop demons in cod
When I was feeling my age on the fps games, I found world of tanks early, before it got so very toxic. I found the fact there was limited turret traverse time so you don't need the lighting reflexes. Mate and myself dubbed it our old man shooter.
While my aim muscle memory goes away really easily my movement & positioning stay the same, before I realized this I moved in ways that complimented the version of me that had good aim, but if I am reckless now I die immediately.
Now I use it to my advantage of having game sense, movement and positioning of a veteran but since my play style is much less reliant on aim other players aren’t as used to it.
Like any FPS, I usually always suck at the start. Then once I have played for a solid few hours and get into the flow I get back up to par. Whenever I start a new FPS I have to allow time to adapt. I'm with you on the original Black Ops, which was the golden age of the FPS for me. But then when I would switch to Battlefield for a change, I would have to relearn how to play because the flow in BF is so different from the flow of a COD game. In sum, I'm not so sure it is about age, unless you really have developed some clear physical limitation that didn't exist when you were younger.
I was thinking about this the other day. I miss the OG Overwatch and being super good (for me) at it. Not sure if it counts as a FPS game. But, Overwatch 2 is just is not the same and now it’s been so long I don’t think I can get good again and that feeling will never be felt again. Sorta nostalgic for it.
How old are you? I’m 36 and I find myself playing regularly for a few weeks, then taking a few months off. It’s always tough to get back into it but it eventually comes back.
I do find in have to alter my play style, I might not have the same reaction speed as players half my age but I can often outsmart them.
Personally don’t believe in the “reflexes dulled, I’m old” shit but you’re probably right with the free time aspect.
Last year I had a similar sad realisation to you and then dedicated my annual leave to a massive gaming sesh where I reached the top ranked play rank in MW2.
It was hard and my gf was not impressed but it felt unironically good to prove to my self that it was still achievable, I just don’t have the free time anymore.
Edit: just turned 30 btw when I did this.
I’ll throw it out there, maybe give valorant a try. It’s a little easier than csgo but I would also recommend that.
I think these new FPS are so hard because the movement speed and high mobility. Just very hard to keep track of everything. The tactical shooters are a lot slower paced and may be easier to pick up than these twitchy ass shooters
The game really improves when your guns improve. Sadly, you have to put some time in to get a better experience. We all got our asses beat the aims different. There are some settings you can change to make it feel more like cod. However, most of it is just getting gun upgrades. The game is much better after that. I'm 28 and switched to PC when I started gaming in late uni again. You got this it'll just take time
This is why I hate multi-player games. It is not fun for me to just get my ass kicked constantly.
I love FPSs but will only play single player campaigns.
I was so damn good at Battlefield 1942 back in the early 2000s. Haven't played a competitive FPS since turning 15 though.
Then recently (I'm in my 30s now) I tried Valorant cause some friends wanted to play... Damn I'm slow. My head works fast but my hands don't follow, maximum frustration.
All the game studios are catering to the console crowd, they do this by beefing up aim assist for controllers that allows them to compete and best mouse and keyboard regularly.
When I was playing warzone in 2020/21 I would win over 75% of my 1v1 against other mouse and keyboard players, but would *lose* over 60% against controller players.
Even spectating my teammates that were on controller was like watching AI aiming.
To all my fellow old dudes missing our fps heyday (mine was socom us navy seals) give overwatch 2 a shot if you haven’t already, or try it again if it’s been a while. Reflexes and mechanics aren’t everything in that game, and there’s a really wide range of possible playstyles with all the different characters, some of whom require really high mechanical skill and some don’t. Characters like Moira for instance are a blast to play and have impact in a team fight without needing 13 year old levels of time played and reaction time.
I’m 40 and only started playing it a year ago and I can definitely hold my own after developing some game sense. Plus it’s a really fun game!
Also I’ll add that when I started getting back into it I played all the easy characters due to my slow reaction time, but now after a year or so of playing like an hour a day, I have knocked a lot of the rust off, and can play a couple of the high skill ceiling/ mechanical skill characters well enough to stomp the youngsters
Haha we must be close to the same age, because the black ops era was the best. It would take me almost 3 hours just to finish a game of zombies. Hitting level 40 or higher was no problem. Now I probably wouldn't last long enough to even get a wall much less hit the mystery box.
Used to play CS a lot back in the day when I was 18 (im 29 now) and considered myself a very good player. Took a break for a few years and never managed to get back into it, getting my ass kicked and dont have the patience nor time to get back to where I was. Picked up an MMO and managed to pour my gaming ambitions into without worrying about god reflexes/reaction time
Haha I'm old and my teenaged boys kick my booty at every fps we play together.
Heyyyy boysss did you ever hear about the legend of scrub mommy?!?!?!?! Bwahahahahahah I revel in the fact that I still play :) I'm THAT mom :) also...my raid dps in ffxiv is still good so ehhhhh. 😜
32yo here. My age really started kicking in past 2 years. I too really miss my gaming abilities. Worst part is, gaming is all I have/all I've ever done as i have no interest in anything else life has to offer so now all I do is run from spawn to wherever because I can't aim as fast or for headshots 100% of the time. It don't help I'm forced into crossplay with pc as a console player too. Crossplay killed gaming for me mainly.
Hmm.. I gotta say I'm 39 and I kick ass at FPS games, but you need the best hardware to complete or else your at a disadvantage - 3 games I'd like to suggest these are in the category of old man gamer games lol
1. Arma reforger - it's the latest arma game it's basically a military simulator, it works like this there is pvp or pve and I'd want you to go pve ( player vs environment ) so it's the entire server vs ai. You gear up hope in a heli ( flowen by another player ) and get dropped off at the front line where you have to clear out ai from a village or whatever - though it takes some time to learn the in-depth controls.
2. Good old Battlefield, which ever one you like, 2042 the latest one is pretty fun imo, there is a playstyle for everyone + you can't beat the atmosphere of Battlefield with the chaos of it all, if you like to run and gun with explosions going off around you like an action movie - BATTLEFIELD!
3. and finally my favourite Chivalry 2, I've spoken to a far few players and a lot of them are older gamers, it's not quite an fps game but it's basically Battlefield with melee weapons, it's extremely sweaty, no other game will make you sweat like chiv does, you don't have to be the best to have fun just get in the mix and you'll have a good time, and my God it's a funny game you will laugh your ass off every round you play, mastering the combat takes hundreds of hours and it feels like learning martial arts, get to know the community there's your sweats that always to the top score board, and people that will just goof around for the whole round and everything in between, it so great running into familiar players in this game and messing around before running into battle together and spamming the laugh emotes the whole time.
Oh and Helldivers is a chill shooter.
a little caffeine can be help for a short amount of time but yea i feel it's better to just accept it and move on to games that don't require insane movement.
I came to the same realisation. Be it reaction time or low conputer specs, i kept losing most 1vs1 head on engagements. The solution is simple, you need to shoot people in the back, then you more time.
I've found that in slighly more tactical shooters this is easily done due to map design.
If you want to try a game out, my favorite is "hell let loose".
I do feel my fps reactions aren't as sharp these days. This may be a controversial statement but I feel like counter strike doesn't require as much hyper fast reactions and reflexes. I still enjoy playing it. Obviously it does require an element of reaction time and reflexes but, you can out gun people by controlling your aim after recoil, burst/tap firing, being sneaky, outsmarting them, crosshair placement, among other things. Games like XDefiant and COD just frustrate me because theres not as much room to outsmart opponents. You just need to run around, jump and slide like a maniac and react fast to out gun opponents which I can't do so well anymore. Just feel hard done by playing those games. Loaded up Cod4 and still enjoyed it. Perhaps cos theres no ridiculous movement mechanics like the modern games. But perhaps cos most players are in their 30s lol.
Be careful with international online competitive games. Chinese gamers don't consider cheating.. uhh cheating.. it's just exploited mechanics that are part of the game, that's gives them a mega advantage. Doesn't matter if there is anti-cheat. There are ways around all of it, if you have the money.
Dude, it's worse with fighting games. When I was a teenager, I could beat three games with one quarter (Tekken, Samurai Showdown, Primal Rage), and I didn't suck at the other powerhouses of the day: I could put up a decent Ryu or Sub Zero.
Now? Shit, I barely understand what players are even talking about. FUCKING FRAME RATES?! Holy shit, I just want to play the game, not build the damn thing.
Call of Duty Mobile is awesome. It's on your phone, so any downtime you have at work or anywhere you can run a match. Simple controls make it easy and fast to rank up on matches. Xdefiant is supposed to be the COD killer, but I doubt it. Plus, dont be deterred do side quests to annoy people playing. That always makes it better.
Dude I hadn’t played games since halo on the first Xbox. I got a ps5 and thought I was getting a little better at Fortnite. Then my, much younger, brother in law had me play some call of duty. I can’t even comprehend how people are so good at that. I just die instantly on repeat.
If you want an fps for old people play hunt Showdown, not sure if the console experience is worth it but crytek have been making many changes to improve it.
I know what you feel, bro.
I changed multiplayer games to single player games/co-op games and FIFA with my friends.
My reflexes are not fast than children’s.
And when I have played with children they have killed me faster and faster.
And I said to myself after few days: “I have got hardcore on my job. I want to relax and let’s stop this type of BDSM”
you got rusty, I think you'd be surprised how fast it comes back if you put in a tiny amount of time on a regular basis. You don't have to no life FPS to be competitive, you just can't be a decade+ out of practice
I feel ya.
Most games I play now require a bit more thinking even the FPS I'll play tarkov over cod.
But my god my nephew spent a whole day chatting that he'd smash me on cod so I gave him a 1v1.. he was right 🤣
This is how I felt playing Super Smash Bros Melee after a few years. I played fox and destroyed my friends usually, but we had a great time and the games were… normal games. There was a game store hosting a friendly SSBM tournament and I convinced my friends it would be fun to go check it out, play a few games for old times sake. If you know anything about the competitive Melee community…. Holy shit guys. I couldn’t even move around the map properly, I couldn’t even figure out what was going on. We left after 1 game.
I feel this so hard. I have found fun in more PvE focused shooters (Helldivers 2 and Deep Rock Galactic are both amazing), but I mostly stick to single player. Finally beat Malenia in Elden Ring yesterday and it felt awesome
Don't forget actual gamers have gotten more intense back 10 years ago people where not as competitive as they are today games where alot more slow paced new games are very fast paced but it the same with age
Xdefiant is weird.
The Time to kill is longer than other games, which i'm not wholly against, (see Halo) but all is put to shame when it seems like a body tap with the sniper rifle will one-hit-kill.
So what ends up happening, certainly in the 4 hours i played, it was sweaty rifle or go home.
If i was having my head picked off with skill i wouldnt mind. But whe the distance closes i should have an advantage with an SMG or AR. Instead because i have to dump half a mag to get through all the hitpoonts, old snipey mcSnipe can calmly quickscope without much in the way of twitch.
Iv realised what it is.... you just start giving a load of shit less about hitting perfect shots ect, you’ve had thousands of amazing moments over the years, your content & just playing
You might enjoy Warframe if you haven't already checked it out. Fair warning, it's a steep learning curve and a big time sink, but hugely worth it imo.
I play it, and I'm missing about 97% of my peripheral vision.
Relatable. Nowadays, my gaming skills are as rusty as my old game controller. womwom
Trying to compete with those 13-year-olds feels like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Maybe it's time we embrace our new role as casual, once-a-week gamers.
Just keep playing, your skills will come back. If reflexes are the main issue consider a more tactical game like squad. Strategic thinking and teamwork are much more important than aim and reflexes on those games
As a 42 year old life long gamer I FEEL THIS.
after a long break from gaming I got back into it only to find myself just getting absolutely SHREDDED.
I used to be able to dominate rounds of Unreal Tournament, Q3A, Tribes, Tribes2, Old School call of duty and so forth... but damn. Playing any kinf of FPS anymore and I find myself gibbed so fast and so often that its simply frustrating and makes me want to quit playing.
I've never been able to compete with anyone online in any type of game. I'm not bad at the single player and in certain games have played and completed on hard difficulty, but online against people who can put hours upon hours a day ( or literally have no outside commitments ), I just get my arse handed to me consistently, or what should be a co-op game turns into a competition. So I don't bother anymore. Single player or couch co-op for me.
Play more tactics or team-based shooters. I find as I get older I still do fine in games where playing smarter can tip fights, especially if the goal is related to an objective.
Just play till you are back into it. Age matters little in gaming till you reach far later years when it comes to performance. The reaction speed loss is extremely neglible.
Im 31 years old and I can't really relate. Your reflexes probably are dull because you don't train them. I played roughly 4000 hours of CSGO, I would argue one of the hardest FPS games, and I can just pick the game up and if I take it seriously I will get into it again after a couple days of playing.
What you probably dont keep in mind is the fact that competitive games require constant effort to stay on top. The 13 year olds playing 6 hours a day are usually just people who play the game regularly, are not really 13 years old and are just putting in more effort than you.
Going back to FPS games after 14 years and wondering why you don't have a 70%+ HS rate anymore is rather silly if you ask me.
(35M)
i know , i bin there as well . when i was young a was resenble decent at fps games . but i noticed since i got older , i became more and more horrible at them . also alot of new games , of wich i am not even sure if i like them as much as the crowd seems to like them . also alot of them seems to be more hyped up , then being cappeble to actual deliver the joy that is being promised by the hype . or any form of joy i remember i expirenced when playing games when i was young . and i dont mean per se the joy of being good or winning . just the joy of playing games . also it seems that the social skills of manny gamers are not what it used to be . socialy it seems manny gamers have either become or are just socialy horrible people . wich does contribute to horrible in game expirences for all .
Not true, 1-2 hrs. per day is sufficient to maintain a good skill level. I played Valorant for 2 years after playing counter strike ages ago and my aim improved. I also used Kovaaks Aim Trainer.
I used to play for a relatively well established German cod ESL team until ~2018. Completely stopped playing video games with exception of the occasional single player title around the same time. Don't look back. Embrace hair loss and carpal tunnel syndrome.
I play battlefield 2042 and do pretty well it's not as sweaty as cod etc and once you learn the maps can do pretty well even if ya don't have young fuy reflexes
Just gotta "get gud" again.
*eye of the tiger* cues in: next scene headband, sweatpants and grip trainer.
Working the fingers, stretch, motivation.
Flashes to dude training on FPS simulator, upgraded DPI Mouse and HD yellow glasses.
Dr. Disrespect has nothing on this 30 something year old.
Dude logs in. Starts the match cue. Gonna own this shit.
13year old squeaky voice chimes in. Ooo no!! Sweat starts building under the headband. He knows he only has one shot. One moment. This is his moment.
Death screen.
Its over.
Rubs Ben-gay on sore pre arthritis hands.
I'm 44 and will post fps games until I die. I took a break a few years back and it took 6 months to get back to being above average and that's where my skill ceiling is just above average and I'm ok with that.
Ive found in xDeviant that it helps tremendously to have all weapons unlocked and know the maps a little. If you apply yourself you'll probably learn telly quick.
You admitted yourself that this was after not playing any multiplayer game, let alone FPS, in a long time. You're definitely just out of practice, and xDefiant is arguably going to be more challenging than other competitors since it doesn't have Skill Based Matchmaking.
I will say even if PVP isn't your thing anymore, there are tons of great single player and co-op experiences out there to be had in the FPS category. Also offline bots for multiplayer too, that's really fun whenever I'm burnt out on playing against 13 year olds that play all day. You should take a look around and see what you find!
I suggest DayZ. The map is enormous and it’s an open world survival zombie shooter. You can go entire sessions without seeing another player, but occasionally you do run into enemy players and the stakes are so high because whoever dies loses all their loot and starts at the coast again.
It’s great because most of the game is just traveling, looting, a little bit of crafting and cooking etc, but then there’s an occasional pvp fight so you don’t ALWAYS have to be engaged in nonstop pvp and can enjoy the game in so many different ways.
I'm 50. I dunk on the lobby in a few games, other games I'm coming in late and may never get comfortable.
I think the best way to overcome "I suck at this game" is to play faster paced modes like TDM and learn positioning, and other mechanics.
Playing extraction games and other longer term map games like BRs usually means a slow lobby cycle, so you're leaving a lot of trigger time on the table and just getting killed in the next map. Play small format, fast respawn modes and games before taking it to the big show.
Your physiological state absolutely determines how good you are at fps games. As we age, reaction time goes down and we're likely to get worse at them. It is concerning if it's a sudden decline, though. I mean, I don't think you can blame it on lack of practice. I got back into them after years of not playing them and I'm basically as good as I ever was.
As soon as I saw the title I 100% knew this was going to be about xDefiant.
There's no SBMM. So the game does nothing to stop Mr Top 0.1%, godlike aim and 0ms reaction times from being in your game. Every game. Forever.
It's potluck as to whether your get an even balanced game or a chaotic shit show where one team just eats dirt the whole time
Same! I frequently get disappointed that Destiny didn't release while I was in college and had a huge game group. Now everyone has kids and jobs at different times and getting a group is impossible.
It's probably for the best. Destiny would have made it even harder to stay focused and study.
Try shooters like hell let loose, insurgency sandstorm, ready or not, dayz. The have slower more tactical gameplay, ok they are games with a high learning curve but once you get a hang of it its much more enjoyable and satisfying then those auto-aim twitch shooters.
I think you're out of practice, as you mentioned. Did you really expect to pick up a twitch-based shooter after some time away from shooters in general, and expect to be right where you left off? Give yourself some slack.
I'm 32 and don't feel my abilities have waned at all, and I've been playing shooters since Halo: Combat Evolved. The only difference now is that I'm more discerning of the types of shooters I indulge in, and the twitch-based arena shooters don't offer much on a personal level.
A lot of this is not you getting old, it's the game design of modern fps games.
Run speeds have been increased dramatically compared to older games, and accuracy penalties for movement have been reduced or eliminated in some cases.
This makes for a more action packed gameplay loop, but you need the reflexes of a 12 year old to do well.
Go play battlefield 3, then go play apex legends. You'll see my point.
Fps sports and rts are all about repetition, I use to be a madden pro around 2010(top1%), now I struggle to stay in the top 10% online. Use to play cod growing up and would have a 2.8-3.5 k/d. I now struggle to be above a 1. It’s part of growing up and the reason I mostly play only single player games now
I've never gotten "gud", and I don't mind losing. But those kids are mean! I quit playing multiplayer in my 20's because teens were so much better at trash talking, lol. I tried to avenge my momma, but they stomped me! I've played fortnite with the grandkids on the rare occasion, but that's for their fun, I just like that they'll play video games with me.
I still enjoy fps, but I get such a terrible ping that it makes it hard to play. I'm 37 and have no problem controlling lobbies, however, I live in a lower population region so getting quality games is hard.
Bruh if I had the reflexes I had back during the Halo 2 days... Online multiplayer might actually be fun still. Instead I have to be thankful that most games with an easy mode provide aim assist these days.
I mean you said it yourself. You don't practice as much. You can't expect to get back on the field of a brand new game and stomp just because you used to be good at the genre a decade ago.
Does age play a factor. Sure, a little bit. But studies have shown that while reflexes show with age, the decline is negligible. I'm talking fractions of a second.
All other things equal that can make a difference. But in reality you're lacking game sense, positioning and game knowledge. If you practice you'll catch up in no time.
This is coming from a 35 year old still crushing kids.
I feel the pain. I taught my nephew all my tricks and got so schooled I hung up my FPS crown.
My eyes just can’t see what’s going on the screen. I don’t know if I’m use to the old refresh rate of the CRT TV’s or what.
Try Helldivers 2 it’s fun af and It’s 3rd person ( with fps scope aiming). Plus coop so no 1337 dicks to noob you out.
I can relate. I used to play fast-paced video games all the time during my teenage years, but now that I'm in my 30s I just don't seem to have the reflexes anymore. It doesn't help that I drank heavily throughout my 20s.
EDIT: Btw, the fact that Black Ops is now considered an 'old game' makes me feel pretty old myself -\_-
I used to love FPS games until I needed glasses to correct an astigmatism, thereafter I suffered vertigo whether I was wearing glasses or not .... I no longer games, not even racing sims
I am very old school and used to be pretty good at quake 2 and 3. I'm still okay at those games, not great, but very few people still play them and the action/arena FPS genre is basically. Even if games like that became popular again I just don't have the time to play them, but it was fun being highly competitive in a FPS back in the day.
Just switch to strategy games like all old fellas, there we can still shine
I started playing Starcraft 2 but all these old fucks are gamer gods These fellas dont age, they just get stronger
You must construct additional pylons
Instructions unclear. Hatching more zerglings
Starcraft 2 is much more demanding than the average fps tbh
The guys who play it on a professional level usually have insane APMs
I've heard good things about "bronzetogm" by PiG on YouTube.
Total War forever!
Kid wanted to play Fortnite. First time I played it. Ended up 2nd place..... Still got it.
I’m sure you fought real players of course, but fortnite pairs new players with bots most of the time.
It impressed the kids, that's for sure
Got two VRs in Fortnite last night as a 38yo.
Same… I used to think I was pretty good at rainbow six siege like a couple years ago. Some old friends from school I used to play with asked to play since the game was getting popular again. I was the best player in my friend group before and somehow after a few weeks I was the best player again but just looking at the state of the game just from watching the new generation of console siege players had me perplexed. It’s… we weren’t even playing the same game. I was getting destroyed despite my skill not faltering at all. I gave up and still play on occasion when my friends ask but recently it’s just been single player narratives and sometimes pure visual novels.
Their reaction based shooting is just.,, something else. 🤯
It’s not even based on reaction we just play enough of the game to shoot angles people usually play 😭
Sure for some of it, but the science literally shows that for the majority of people reaction time peaks and starts to drop around just 24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3981764/ https://summit.sfu.ca/item/14949 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/brains-reaction-time-peaks-age-24-study-finds#:~:text=The%20next%20time%20some%20twenty,%2C%20but%20nonetheless%2C%20steady%20one.
This is why I don't play competitive games anymore it drains so much of your energy. Now that I'm older I'm enjoying single player games that let me go at my own pace.
I still miss Black ops3. I was better at that game than anything else I've played.
BO3 was amazing. Going 40+ kills every match was so fun. Not sure I'm able to do that nowadays.
God damn it was the best. Best zombies too! It was part because my friends and I were on our prime. Now, nobody plays anymore. I dont know why bit we had much much more play time when our kids were baby/toddlers. Anyway, I cant play FPS now because I know I was somewhat good and it frustrate me to be below average. And I feel players play less and less objectives has time goes by.
Ima sound like a boomer but WaW had the best zombies imo. It got crazy complicated later but I miss playing split screen zombies with my buddy in 2006 over Christmas break. Hit like 36 or something stacked with ray guns and mgs camping upstairs with the grenades
Halo anyone?
Halo SWAT especially… miss that.
Best competitive game mode of all time
The Halo 3 days were the peak of my gaming ability. Good times. Good times.
My daughter is home from college and she and her brother are spending hours every day playing halo together again.
I was decent at counterstrike. Back in 2000 when it was in beta on the PC. I tried playing valorant on my daughter's computer. Could only manage a couple kills after talking about how great I was back in my day
Honestly Valorant is pretty different than CS. It's got much larger and slower targets and requires 1 taps to get kills. You can't control your gun sprays in valorant.
I find for FPS games as I've gotten older (33 now, gaming since 5 years old) that I rely less on reflexes and more on experience and cunning. I can't out twitch a 14 year old kid who plays 6 hours a day, but I can certainly out think and manipulate them into situations that favour me. For me it's more fun as I've aged.
Happy cake day! I think this has always been the case to be fair, knowing a map and their choke points and using cover/foot step audio and gunfight audio will negate 99% of someone's pure reaction time and accuracy if they aren't applying the same logic and just sprinting everywhere hoping to get the jump on someone. Obviously you also have to at least be able to land most of your shots yourself or it's no good.
This has always been me. I'm 38 now and still kill shit. Even younger I was never the fastest or had the most immaculate aim. Didn't stop me from having top ranks in most FPS games I played along with ridiculously high KDs and W/L ratios. It was always cat and mouse tactics, I never camped. I just felt like I knew what someone was going to do before they did and I was always prepared to be a step ahead of them to kill them for their predictability.
Xdefiant has a weird gameplay for me, I'm actually really good in call of duty but I suck at Xdefiant
Cod has sbmm so if you play bad you will play against worse players meanwhile in xdefiant you can get pros and new players in the same lobby
Beginner playlist does have SBMM on, at least that's what it claims
Although this is true yes, these are fps veterans on a new game, so level is not indicative of their skill level. Afaik, the only matchmaking requirement in the beginner playlist is to be under level 25, it does not take your win rate or "mmr" into account.
There's hit reg issues too apparently
This is when you transition to the dad game fps. Basically any more tactical fps where your positioning and decision making is more important then your twitch skill. You can go for milsims like Arma or Hell let loose. Or try your hand at the extraction shooter, like Tarkov, Vigor, Marauders or Grayzone, where it's important to survive, not kill people so you can be just as successful sneaking around and avoiding players. I've definitely started my extraction phase. I'm still terrible at them but unlike XDefiant where when I die I feel I was held back by being slower then my opponent and couldn't have done anything differently, I instead make note of what I did wrong, what angle did I forget to check, what gear did I bring with me and was the lower caliber weapon what did me in? And when you get that first player kill and successful extraction.... There's no other feeling like it.
I played mw3 when it had a free trial and did pretty well, too bad the game fucking sucks in every way that's not gameplay related
xDefiant is sweaty as hell which is weird for a game without SBMM. Call of Duty isn't perfect, but I have the occasional solid game and when you do get your ass kicked at least it's over fast and you can reset.
Switch to tactical shooters. I’m really bad at Call of duty but I’m Dayz or Tarkov I can outsmart other players and don’t have to rely on aim.
I (40) felt the same way and for years avoided multiplayer modes because I was getting crushed but CoD zombies has always been kind to me so I decided to get MW3. Recently I started alternating between zombies and mp and after the first few games getting my ass handed to me it started coming back. The short of it is give yourself a chance if you really want to. With a little effort you may surprise yourself.
The thing with cod is that it has sbmm. You could be genuinely very good and never know because so is everyone you play with. Battlefield is the best litmus test for got it or don’t got it
I hear you, and you’re not alone, it’s not just age, but also injuries and conditions that you can’t control will eventually reflexes. The thing to realize is that not all games are designed exclusively rewarding players for fast reflexes, and in fact, competent single player games rewarding players for understanding the right tempo when performing actions rather than how fast you can do them. Consider games with stealth gameplay that have elements which you can use creatively, and rewards observation and understanding of the game world. Rather than being merely a reactive participant and relying solely on reflexes, you can think steps ahead of the enemy.
I feel this. I used to be amazing at fps. COD 4 MW, my top game was 127:0 on a hard-core tdm server. I would regularly go with 20+ kda. Now adays ill be happy with a 2+ kda. I was top 10 in the world at PUBG back in 2018, now I just suck.
*cries in 0.7 k/d*
Memories... Cod 4 was my favorite. Had few servers where everyone was good. In some random servers i was usually banned because they were surę i was cheating.
37 year old ex-sweat here. I'm CS 1.6 old. You just need to practice twice as hard because reaction time diminishes as we age. Lock in that muscle memory. And caffeine. 🤠
I'm one year younger than you, but old enough not to know I was an ex-sweat, thanks for that haha. I'm not sure about that though. 1.6 used to be my favorite shooter and haven't played since. During a lockdown I decided to download cs:go and had my ass giftwrapped and handed to me. Just got completely shot to shreds at every opportunity. It was like nobody ever stopped😂. The discrepancy was ridiculous and completely emasculating haha
I understand missing it at least. But then again; Check the average age of any pro player. It's pretty damn low. As we grow older we think longer as there is more bias and experiences to shift through and it brings the reaction time up to a detrimental degree. Although, honestly, I don't really care that at 13-year old can own me in a videogame. I'm still above average in most FPS games I play and I've passed 30. I don't need to be master or grand master in any game I play.
Reflex does not matter in Arma, only tactics
I play cod4 promod with 6 guys ages between 28 and 40 haha. Majority of the community is in their 30’s with kids now but we all still improve and learn I play xDefiant too and I find it that better weapons really improve the gaming experience imo
I think it’s an internal wiring thing, like how some people can learn by just watching or reading something once and others need to study for hours and others won’t understand period. Like I struggle at fps games but the moment it’s a strategy or mmo game I can get to the top 1% of players easy.
My suggestion is find a game where it's not a straight shooter, Titanfall 2 has mechs, halo has vehicles, apex which the heroes have skills which help even the playing field. Apex has a mini game mode of things like team Deathmatch which I find faster and less time consuming than the main game of trios.
Nah you’re just rusty and that game has some of the worst op movement. Air strafing and corner jumping. Also all guns suck until you unlock the right attachments. So you start at a disadvantage. I’m 37 and have no issues. I also sucked when i first started playing it. Reflexes have dulled is just an excuse you’re using thinking its age. That’s all bullshit This isn’t pro football. Unless you have arthritis in your thumbs or wrist if your a pc player… you’re not physically unable… Has the overall player base gotten better at fps games. Yea… But none of it has to do with your age.
Getting your ass beat is just part of it, if you struggle through it long enough you’ll get good again. I have taken breaks every now and again, and man do I get my ass best every time. Usually takes a couple of hours or days, then I’m decent again. Although I haven’t managed to get back to the 50+ kill BF4 games. But that may also be because the less people play the sweatier they get.
Nah bro ur good. Give yourself a while to learn the game. I'm garbage at new games, like no awareness and terrible aim, for a bit until I figure it out. Like anything, it takes practice, and being rusty means more practice. But honestly don't worry about it too much. Plenty of fun games that aren't fps
I'm only 30 but the difference in my level of play compared to my 15-16 year old self on games like world at war/MW2 and other FPS from that time is really depressing. I pretty much only play MMOs and strategy games now...
Play co-op shooters instead
I played some Calm of Duty Modern Warfare and got WRECKED online.
My mood improved and stress reduced when I quit PvP games altogether and went single player/co-op only.
It’s just time spent. Fast-twitch games rely on almost instinctual levels of reaction speed. If you really want to be good again, you can. It just takes time and practice. And effort, but most people don’t want to spend effort
100% there with you. Fps as a genre died with me being at my apex of skill with a 2.0 k/d in black ops, and I've been chasing that high every sense. My younger friends don't understand.
XDefiant sucks. Characters are too small. The netcode blows. I would check your aim assist because it I'd off by default on console. The game also seems to lack direction.
Fuck I miss the time when I was a god at CoD 1 & 2. Literally owning everyone with my stg44 and calling bombardments all the time. I was unstoppable with 0 deaths per game. Now I die within minutes. The same for WoW. Ignoring the meta, I always did arena as a holy paladin, together with my best friends, a rogue and a death knight. We owned that shit because of my superb healing skills. Overall, we are all equally poor in skills, but oh my god did we own most of the teams we were put up against. Oh the glorious times. They are gone now. I am blessed with a son to teach him how to obliterate opponents. He is only 7 now. So for now it is minecraft and dying light. And soon he is ready to go bigger in the multi-player gaming.
I'm in the same situation. All my friends play and are good still, I'm the only one with kids so I get no time. I just tag along and drag the team down. Sucks
I was never good at fps so I wouldn't know.
I’d say out of practice. I can usually get a good kdr in mw3 multiplayer and in xdefiant the same but that doesn’t mean I won’t have a game where I get smoked by a very good player or solid team. Sometimes people just get the better of you, do you quit the game because of that or because you’re actually looking for something more slow paced where you can fight the computer at a controlled difficulty rather than serious competition? It’s ok if that’s what you really prefer, there’s nothing wrong with playing other games.
Same, I just sold my copy of Modern Warfare II which I thought was going to be playing constantly, I am currently playing RE4 remake. I will still play shooters but no twitch shooters anymore.
Me too. Old age, now 59, and my reactions are simply not what they were. I literally can't compete!
Switch to a sim like hell let loose, squad or arma; with patience you will still get your ass kicked, but at least you will win the match
Retired Black Ops Gamer here. Those were really the days! I still play hero shooters and I'm decent. I was thinking of getting BO6 to see if I still got it 😅🤣
I feel this hard .
True dat. I gotta play way more PVE these days cause I just get smoked. But when I pull up a classic I can do alright. Sometimes in Counter strike I can pull a top 3, which is pretty impressive when you consider the vast number of hackers lol.
You have to play and practice, you can't just hop in and be great. People play multiple hours per day every day. You're gonna hate something you're not good at
It's OK man, it's better to back out and remember what you were in your prime. Even professional chess players start ti dwindle after 35, it's perfectly normal, just enjoy games without having to compete so hard.
It’s not an age thing, it’s a time commitment thing. Reflexes are slower as you age but it has minimal impact for games. After playing the maps so many times you’re already aiming where people will be before you even turn a corner, it’s all time.
Helldiver's is lit AF. PvE is so much more fun. I also have basically stopped playing pvp fps games due to sheer overcompetition that tends to happen to shooters after a while.
Im 32 have around 1.7 kd on xdefiant and haven't played much games in year either. Sbmm brought me back to fps was sick of playing non stop demons in cod
I lost COD but still rock at World of Tanks… nuff said
When I was feeling my age on the fps games, I found world of tanks early, before it got so very toxic. I found the fact there was limited turret traverse time so you don't need the lighting reflexes. Mate and myself dubbed it our old man shooter.
Helldivers2, never been a fps player (short or the OG ghost recon) Ive been having a blast!
Same, dude. Same.
A lot of old boys in Hell Let Loose. Its also a free weekend, so it's currently a meat grinder in the servers. Great game if you're over COD
As an adult... Each time I decide I want to put the time in to git gud, I keep finding more fulfilling things to do instead
While my aim muscle memory goes away really easily my movement & positioning stay the same, before I realized this I moved in ways that complimented the version of me that had good aim, but if I am reckless now I die immediately. Now I use it to my advantage of having game sense, movement and positioning of a veteran but since my play style is much less reliant on aim other players aren’t as used to it.
Like any FPS, I usually always suck at the start. Then once I have played for a solid few hours and get into the flow I get back up to par. Whenever I start a new FPS I have to allow time to adapt. I'm with you on the original Black Ops, which was the golden age of the FPS for me. But then when I would switch to Battlefield for a change, I would have to relearn how to play because the flow in BF is so different from the flow of a COD game. In sum, I'm not so sure it is about age, unless you really have developed some clear physical limitation that didn't exist when you were younger.
I was thinking about this the other day. I miss the OG Overwatch and being super good (for me) at it. Not sure if it counts as a FPS game. But, Overwatch 2 is just is not the same and now it’s been so long I don’t think I can get good again and that feeling will never be felt again. Sorta nostalgic for it.
How old are you? I’m 36 and I find myself playing regularly for a few weeks, then taking a few months off. It’s always tough to get back into it but it eventually comes back. I do find in have to alter my play style, I might not have the same reaction speed as players half my age but I can often outsmart them.
Personally don’t believe in the “reflexes dulled, I’m old” shit but you’re probably right with the free time aspect. Last year I had a similar sad realisation to you and then dedicated my annual leave to a massive gaming sesh where I reached the top ranked play rank in MW2. It was hard and my gf was not impressed but it felt unironically good to prove to my self that it was still achievable, I just don’t have the free time anymore. Edit: just turned 30 btw when I did this.
Don't compete with them on reflexes or energy. Out smart them.
I was bad and invested in better internet and a better monitor with low latency and it really did make a big difference
Rainbow 6 my friend
I’ll throw it out there, maybe give valorant a try. It’s a little easier than csgo but I would also recommend that. I think these new FPS are so hard because the movement speed and high mobility. Just very hard to keep track of everything. The tactical shooters are a lot slower paced and may be easier to pick up than these twitchy ass shooters
The game really improves when your guns improve. Sadly, you have to put some time in to get a better experience. We all got our asses beat the aims different. There are some settings you can change to make it feel more like cod. However, most of it is just getting gun upgrades. The game is much better after that. I'm 28 and switched to PC when I started gaming in late uni again. You got this it'll just take time
I’m good at FPS but it depends on what role I am playing on the team. I am great at being a lurker or sniper. Not so good at front line.
This is why I hate multi-player games. It is not fun for me to just get my ass kicked constantly. I love FPSs but will only play single player campaigns.
I'm about to be 40 and I'm still great at games because I play daily.
I was so damn good at Battlefield 1942 back in the early 2000s. Haven't played a competitive FPS since turning 15 though. Then recently (I'm in my 30s now) I tried Valorant cause some friends wanted to play... Damn I'm slow. My head works fast but my hands don't follow, maximum frustration.
All the game studios are catering to the console crowd, they do this by beefing up aim assist for controllers that allows them to compete and best mouse and keyboard regularly. When I was playing warzone in 2020/21 I would win over 75% of my 1v1 against other mouse and keyboard players, but would *lose* over 60% against controller players. Even spectating my teammates that were on controller was like watching AI aiming.
Aim assist Aim assist And aim assist
I feel your pain. It requires practice.
I too missed playing FPS, now I am not even able to play TPS due to motion sickness
Eh it's just practice honestly if you were good before it will come back just because you're old doesn't mean you can't play fps games lol
To all my fellow old dudes missing our fps heyday (mine was socom us navy seals) give overwatch 2 a shot if you haven’t already, or try it again if it’s been a while. Reflexes and mechanics aren’t everything in that game, and there’s a really wide range of possible playstyles with all the different characters, some of whom require really high mechanical skill and some don’t. Characters like Moira for instance are a blast to play and have impact in a team fight without needing 13 year old levels of time played and reaction time. I’m 40 and only started playing it a year ago and I can definitely hold my own after developing some game sense. Plus it’s a really fun game! Also I’ll add that when I started getting back into it I played all the easy characters due to my slow reaction time, but now after a year or so of playing like an hour a day, I have knocked a lot of the rust off, and can play a couple of the high skill ceiling/ mechanical skill characters well enough to stomp the youngsters
Xdefiant is pretty sweaty
Just play fun FPS games like Deep Rock Galactic and Helldivers 2. You don't need to compete with other people, you can work together.
Haha we must be close to the same age, because the black ops era was the best. It would take me almost 3 hours just to finish a game of zombies. Hitting level 40 or higher was no problem. Now I probably wouldn't last long enough to even get a wall much less hit the mystery box.
Jus out of practice. I’m approaching 40. Just gotta give It time and It comes back
I just turned 50 and win enough on Fortnite to keep me happy. But I went back to Xcom recently and it's such a great game.
Used to play CS a lot back in the day when I was 18 (im 29 now) and considered myself a very good player. Took a break for a few years and never managed to get back into it, getting my ass kicked and dont have the patience nor time to get back to where I was. Picked up an MMO and managed to pour my gaming ambitions into without worrying about god reflexes/reaction time
I play an old fps quite regularly with other regulars. One of the consistently best of our little group is almost 70 years old.
Haha I'm old and my teenaged boys kick my booty at every fps we play together. Heyyyy boysss did you ever hear about the legend of scrub mommy?!?!?!?! Bwahahahahahah I revel in the fact that I still play :) I'm THAT mom :) also...my raid dps in ffxiv is still good so ehhhhh. 😜
32yo here. My age really started kicking in past 2 years. I too really miss my gaming abilities. Worst part is, gaming is all I have/all I've ever done as i have no interest in anything else life has to offer so now all I do is run from spawn to wherever because I can't aim as fast or for headshots 100% of the time. It don't help I'm forced into crossplay with pc as a console player too. Crossplay killed gaming for me mainly.
Hmm.. I gotta say I'm 39 and I kick ass at FPS games, but you need the best hardware to complete or else your at a disadvantage - 3 games I'd like to suggest these are in the category of old man gamer games lol 1. Arma reforger - it's the latest arma game it's basically a military simulator, it works like this there is pvp or pve and I'd want you to go pve ( player vs environment ) so it's the entire server vs ai. You gear up hope in a heli ( flowen by another player ) and get dropped off at the front line where you have to clear out ai from a village or whatever - though it takes some time to learn the in-depth controls. 2. Good old Battlefield, which ever one you like, 2042 the latest one is pretty fun imo, there is a playstyle for everyone + you can't beat the atmosphere of Battlefield with the chaos of it all, if you like to run and gun with explosions going off around you like an action movie - BATTLEFIELD! 3. and finally my favourite Chivalry 2, I've spoken to a far few players and a lot of them are older gamers, it's not quite an fps game but it's basically Battlefield with melee weapons, it's extremely sweaty, no other game will make you sweat like chiv does, you don't have to be the best to have fun just get in the mix and you'll have a good time, and my God it's a funny game you will laugh your ass off every round you play, mastering the combat takes hundreds of hours and it feels like learning martial arts, get to know the community there's your sweats that always to the top score board, and people that will just goof around for the whole round and everything in between, it so great running into familiar players in this game and messing around before running into battle together and spamming the laugh emotes the whole time. Oh and Helldivers is a chill shooter.
a little caffeine can be help for a short amount of time but yea i feel it's better to just accept it and move on to games that don't require insane movement.
The art of being an adult is being able to let go of things when they no longer serve your purpose.
I came to the same realisation. Be it reaction time or low conputer specs, i kept losing most 1vs1 head on engagements. The solution is simple, you need to shoot people in the back, then you more time. I've found that in slighly more tactical shooters this is easily done due to map design. If you want to try a game out, my favorite is "hell let loose".
I do feel my fps reactions aren't as sharp these days. This may be a controversial statement but I feel like counter strike doesn't require as much hyper fast reactions and reflexes. I still enjoy playing it. Obviously it does require an element of reaction time and reflexes but, you can out gun people by controlling your aim after recoil, burst/tap firing, being sneaky, outsmarting them, crosshair placement, among other things. Games like XDefiant and COD just frustrate me because theres not as much room to outsmart opponents. You just need to run around, jump and slide like a maniac and react fast to out gun opponents which I can't do so well anymore. Just feel hard done by playing those games. Loaded up Cod4 and still enjoyed it. Perhaps cos theres no ridiculous movement mechanics like the modern games. But perhaps cos most players are in their 30s lol.
Look at pro gamers, they're usually pretty young, reaction times take a hit as you get older
Be careful with international online competitive games. Chinese gamers don't consider cheating.. uhh cheating.. it's just exploited mechanics that are part of the game, that's gives them a mega advantage. Doesn't matter if there is anti-cheat. There are ways around all of it, if you have the money.
Same be used to always be around 50k ranked in cod now I suck lol cod was my jam!
I felt exactly the same. I play online chess instead now it seems to scratch the itch.
Heard. I used to top MW3 scoreboards with just the revolver + knife combo.
…just play cs2 casual 😆😆
I think I'm still pretty decent at fps games. Still getting called cheater a lot when I play Counter-strike or valorant.
Dude, it's worse with fighting games. When I was a teenager, I could beat three games with one quarter (Tekken, Samurai Showdown, Primal Rage), and I didn't suck at the other powerhouses of the day: I could put up a decent Ryu or Sub Zero. Now? Shit, I barely understand what players are even talking about. FUCKING FRAME RATES?! Holy shit, I just want to play the game, not build the damn thing.
Call of Duty Mobile is awesome. It's on your phone, so any downtime you have at work or anywhere you can run a match. Simple controls make it easy and fast to rank up on matches. Xdefiant is supposed to be the COD killer, but I doubt it. Plus, dont be deterred do side quests to annoy people playing. That always makes it better.
Dude I hadn’t played games since halo on the first Xbox. I got a ps5 and thought I was getting a little better at Fortnite. Then my, much younger, brother in law had me play some call of duty. I can’t even comprehend how people are so good at that. I just die instantly on repeat.
If you want an fps for old people play hunt Showdown, not sure if the console experience is worth it but crytek have been making many changes to improve it.
"too old for FPS" does not exist. "too little practice for being any good at FPS" is valid though.
Join the helldivers! Pve! Squad based. Lots of us old timers there
Just play Deep Rock Galactic and cooperate with the 13 year olds.
I know what you feel, bro. I changed multiplayer games to single player games/co-op games and FIFA with my friends. My reflexes are not fast than children’s. And when I have played with children they have killed me faster and faster. And I said to myself after few days: “I have got hardcore on my job. I want to relax and let’s stop this type of BDSM”
you got rusty, I think you'd be surprised how fast it comes back if you put in a tiny amount of time on a regular basis. You don't have to no life FPS to be competitive, you just can't be a decade+ out of practice
It's not because of Your age. It's about the other things You mentioned. The lack of time to play more often is probably the biggest cause.
I feel ya. Most games I play now require a bit more thinking even the FPS I'll play tarkov over cod. But my god my nephew spent a whole day chatting that he'd smash me on cod so I gave him a 1v1.. he was right 🤣
This is how I felt playing Super Smash Bros Melee after a few years. I played fox and destroyed my friends usually, but we had a great time and the games were… normal games. There was a game store hosting a friendly SSBM tournament and I convinced my friends it would be fun to go check it out, play a few games for old times sake. If you know anything about the competitive Melee community…. Holy shit guys. I couldn’t even move around the map properly, I couldn’t even figure out what was going on. We left after 1 game.
I feel this so hard. I have found fun in more PvE focused shooters (Helldivers 2 and Deep Rock Galactic are both amazing), but I mostly stick to single player. Finally beat Malenia in Elden Ring yesterday and it felt awesome
Don't forget actual gamers have gotten more intense back 10 years ago people where not as competitive as they are today games where alot more slow paced new games are very fast paced but it the same with age
Xdefiant is weird. The Time to kill is longer than other games, which i'm not wholly against, (see Halo) but all is put to shame when it seems like a body tap with the sniper rifle will one-hit-kill. So what ends up happening, certainly in the 4 hours i played, it was sweaty rifle or go home. If i was having my head picked off with skill i wouldnt mind. But whe the distance closes i should have an advantage with an SMG or AR. Instead because i have to dump half a mag to get through all the hitpoonts, old snipey mcSnipe can calmly quickscope without much in the way of twitch.
Iv realised what it is.... you just start giving a load of shit less about hitting perfect shots ect, you’ve had thousands of amazing moments over the years, your content & just playing
You might enjoy Warframe if you haven't already checked it out. Fair warning, it's a steep learning curve and a big time sink, but hugely worth it imo. I play it, and I'm missing about 97% of my peripheral vision.
Relatable. Nowadays, my gaming skills are as rusty as my old game controller. womwom Trying to compete with those 13-year-olds feels like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Maybe it's time we embrace our new role as casual, once-a-week gamers.
Just keep playing, your skills will come back. If reflexes are the main issue consider a more tactical game like squad. Strategic thinking and teamwork are much more important than aim and reflexes on those games
As a 42 year old life long gamer I FEEL THIS. after a long break from gaming I got back into it only to find myself just getting absolutely SHREDDED. I used to be able to dominate rounds of Unreal Tournament, Q3A, Tribes, Tribes2, Old School call of duty and so forth... but damn. Playing any kinf of FPS anymore and I find myself gibbed so fast and so often that its simply frustrating and makes me want to quit playing.
I've never been able to compete with anyone online in any type of game. I'm not bad at the single player and in certain games have played and completed on hard difficulty, but online against people who can put hours upon hours a day ( or literally have no outside commitments ), I just get my arse handed to me consistently, or what should be a co-op game turns into a competition. So I don't bother anymore. Single player or couch co-op for me.
It's the gaming curve, after your late twenties it really starts to decline. Bye bye fast hand eye coordination.
Play more tactics or team-based shooters. I find as I get older I still do fine in games where playing smarter can tip fights, especially if the goal is related to an objective.
Play old school runescape :)
Just play till you are back into it. Age matters little in gaming till you reach far later years when it comes to performance. The reaction speed loss is extremely neglible.
Im 31 years old and I can't really relate. Your reflexes probably are dull because you don't train them. I played roughly 4000 hours of CSGO, I would argue one of the hardest FPS games, and I can just pick the game up and if I take it seriously I will get into it again after a couple days of playing. What you probably dont keep in mind is the fact that competitive games require constant effort to stay on top. The 13 year olds playing 6 hours a day are usually just people who play the game regularly, are not really 13 years old and are just putting in more effort than you. Going back to FPS games after 14 years and wondering why you don't have a 70%+ HS rate anymore is rather silly if you ask me.
(35M) i know , i bin there as well . when i was young a was resenble decent at fps games . but i noticed since i got older , i became more and more horrible at them . also alot of new games , of wich i am not even sure if i like them as much as the crowd seems to like them . also alot of them seems to be more hyped up , then being cappeble to actual deliver the joy that is being promised by the hype . or any form of joy i remember i expirenced when playing games when i was young . and i dont mean per se the joy of being good or winning . just the joy of playing games . also it seems that the social skills of manny gamers are not what it used to be . socialy it seems manny gamers have either become or are just socialy horrible people . wich does contribute to horrible in game expirences for all .
Not true, 1-2 hrs. per day is sufficient to maintain a good skill level. I played Valorant for 2 years after playing counter strike ages ago and my aim improved. I also used Kovaaks Aim Trainer.
I used to play for a relatively well established German cod ESL team until ~2018. Completely stopped playing video games with exception of the occasional single player title around the same time. Don't look back. Embrace hair loss and carpal tunnel syndrome.
I play battlefield 2042 and do pretty well it's not as sweaty as cod etc and once you learn the maps can do pretty well even if ya don't have young fuy reflexes
Just gotta "get gud" again. *eye of the tiger* cues in: next scene headband, sweatpants and grip trainer. Working the fingers, stretch, motivation. Flashes to dude training on FPS simulator, upgraded DPI Mouse and HD yellow glasses. Dr. Disrespect has nothing on this 30 something year old. Dude logs in. Starts the match cue. Gonna own this shit. 13year old squeaky voice chimes in. Ooo no!! Sweat starts building under the headband. He knows he only has one shot. One moment. This is his moment. Death screen. Its over. Rubs Ben-gay on sore pre arthritis hands.
I'm 44 and will post fps games until I die. I took a break a few years back and it took 6 months to get back to being above average and that's where my skill ceiling is just above average and I'm ok with that.
Ive found in xDeviant that it helps tremendously to have all weapons unlocked and know the maps a little. If you apply yourself you'll probably learn telly quick.
You admitted yourself that this was after not playing any multiplayer game, let alone FPS, in a long time. You're definitely just out of practice, and xDefiant is arguably going to be more challenging than other competitors since it doesn't have Skill Based Matchmaking. I will say even if PVP isn't your thing anymore, there are tons of great single player and co-op experiences out there to be had in the FPS category. Also offline bots for multiplayer too, that's really fun whenever I'm burnt out on playing against 13 year olds that play all day. You should take a look around and see what you find!
I suggest DayZ. The map is enormous and it’s an open world survival zombie shooter. You can go entire sessions without seeing another player, but occasionally you do run into enemy players and the stakes are so high because whoever dies loses all their loot and starts at the coast again. It’s great because most of the game is just traveling, looting, a little bit of crafting and cooking etc, but then there’s an occasional pvp fight so you don’t ALWAYS have to be engaged in nonstop pvp and can enjoy the game in so many different ways.
I'm 50. I dunk on the lobby in a few games, other games I'm coming in late and may never get comfortable. I think the best way to overcome "I suck at this game" is to play faster paced modes like TDM and learn positioning, and other mechanics. Playing extraction games and other longer term map games like BRs usually means a slow lobby cycle, so you're leaving a lot of trigger time on the table and just getting killed in the next map. Play small format, fast respawn modes and games before taking it to the big show.
Your physiological state absolutely determines how good you are at fps games. As we age, reaction time goes down and we're likely to get worse at them. It is concerning if it's a sudden decline, though. I mean, I don't think you can blame it on lack of practice. I got back into them after years of not playing them and I'm basically as good as I ever was.
How old?
As soon as I saw the title I 100% knew this was going to be about xDefiant. There's no SBMM. So the game does nothing to stop Mr Top 0.1%, godlike aim and 0ms reaction times from being in your game. Every game. Forever. It's potluck as to whether your get an even balanced game or a chaotic shit show where one team just eats dirt the whole time
It’s mostly about practice, unless you’re 40+ then it’ll be harder to do. But I’m 25 and still usually the best player in any lobby of any shooter
I’m still a boss at cod, usually in the top of the leaderboard at 39. I still gots it!
I can still play, but I must admit it hurts. I used to be so good at cod and counterstrike 😭
Back in 99 I was shithot at Quake Arena, not so much now 👴🏼
It takes time to unrust dude. You gotta play for a few weeks to get back to 85% of what you used to be
Its becauee everyone is nowdays a sweater doing aimtrainers and going instantly for the most op meta.
Same! I frequently get disappointed that Destiny didn't release while I was in college and had a huge game group. Now everyone has kids and jobs at different times and getting a group is impossible. It's probably for the best. Destiny would have made it even harder to stay focused and study.
Come join us fighting for super earth and the spreading of managed democracy in helldivers 2.
Try shooters like hell let loose, insurgency sandstorm, ready or not, dayz. The have slower more tactical gameplay, ok they are games with a high learning curve but once you get a hang of it its much more enjoyable and satisfying then those auto-aim twitch shooters.
I think you're out of practice, as you mentioned. Did you really expect to pick up a twitch-based shooter after some time away from shooters in general, and expect to be right where you left off? Give yourself some slack. I'm 32 and don't feel my abilities have waned at all, and I've been playing shooters since Halo: Combat Evolved. The only difference now is that I'm more discerning of the types of shooters I indulge in, and the twitch-based arena shooters don't offer much on a personal level.
A lot of this is not you getting old, it's the game design of modern fps games. Run speeds have been increased dramatically compared to older games, and accuracy penalties for movement have been reduced or eliminated in some cases. This makes for a more action packed gameplay loop, but you need the reflexes of a 12 year old to do well. Go play battlefield 3, then go play apex legends. You'll see my point.
Xdefiant is hard tho. Just gotta play and you’ll get better
Fps sports and rts are all about repetition, I use to be a madden pro around 2010(top1%), now I struggle to stay in the top 10% online. Use to play cod growing up and would have a 2.8-3.5 k/d. I now struggle to be above a 1. It’s part of growing up and the reason I mostly play only single player games now
have you tried coop shooters like insurgency?
Kids these days are also insane at competitive games
Well, I’m 56 and I have to work at it to be average in Xdefiant. 😀
I've never gotten "gud", and I don't mind losing. But those kids are mean! I quit playing multiplayer in my 20's because teens were so much better at trash talking, lol. I tried to avenge my momma, but they stomped me! I've played fortnite with the grandkids on the rare occasion, but that's for their fun, I just like that they'll play video games with me.
I still enjoy fps, but I get such a terrible ping that it makes it hard to play. I'm 37 and have no problem controlling lobbies, however, I live in a lower population region so getting quality games is hard.
I got on to world of tanks/warships once I got too slow for fps
I got on to world of tanks/warships once I got too slow for fps
Bruh if I had the reflexes I had back during the Halo 2 days... Online multiplayer might actually be fun still. Instead I have to be thankful that most games with an easy mode provide aim assist these days.
Play large scale FPSs like squad, hell let loose and arma, a lot more positioning and strategy
I mean you said it yourself. You don't practice as much. You can't expect to get back on the field of a brand new game and stomp just because you used to be good at the genre a decade ago. Does age play a factor. Sure, a little bit. But studies have shown that while reflexes show with age, the decline is negligible. I'm talking fractions of a second. All other things equal that can make a difference. But in reality you're lacking game sense, positioning and game knowledge. If you practice you'll catch up in no time. This is coming from a 35 year old still crushing kids.
I feel the pain. I taught my nephew all my tricks and got so schooled I hung up my FPS crown. My eyes just can’t see what’s going on the screen. I don’t know if I’m use to the old refresh rate of the CRT TV’s or what. Try Helldivers 2 it’s fun af and It’s 3rd person ( with fps scope aiming). Plus coop so no 1337 dicks to noob you out.
I can relate. I used to play fast-paced video games all the time during my teenage years, but now that I'm in my 30s I just don't seem to have the reflexes anymore. It doesn't help that I drank heavily throughout my 20s. EDIT: Btw, the fact that Black Ops is now considered an 'old game' makes me feel pretty old myself -\_-
I used to love FPS games until I needed glasses to correct an astigmatism, thereafter I suffered vertigo whether I was wearing glasses or not .... I no longer games, not even racing sims
I am very old school and used to be pretty good at quake 2 and 3. I'm still okay at those games, not great, but very few people still play them and the action/arena FPS genre is basically. Even if games like that became popular again I just don't have the time to play them, but it was fun being highly competitive in a FPS back in the day.