Help and old gamer get back into the habit?

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Hello,
This is my first post, so please be gentle. I use to be really into video games; but, I have not played much in the last 5 to 7 years. I am looking into getting back into the hobby and having a little trouble deciding what console to buy. I use to be into Halo, COD, Madden, Project Gotham, God of War, etc.. I played all types of games. But now I have no interest in a game like Gears of War or COD. I have nothing against those games, I just am not into the hardcore like I once was - I am old.

Which leads me to which system is right for me. I could play sports, car games and platformers on Xbox and PlayStation. The Switch not so much the sports - but no gore.

Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It really depends on your preference. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have some of the same titles, but if you're more interested in what's exclusive to each console, you have to look at them and decide which system has the more interesting-looking exclusives.

That's all I can say.

First question: What do you mean by "hardcore"? It has different meanings in different circles at this point. To me and most of the people I know, it has to do with a game's difficulty. "Hardcore" to me typically translates to "extremely difficult" (and I do alot of games that fit that). But it sounds like you're using it as referring to blood & gore?

I personally dont mind bloody games but at the same time I dont see the point of a game that focuses on it.


I wish I could give you really specific advice here, but I dumped the consoles long ago and switched to PC gaming. Prefer a selection that isnt bloody tiny, you see...

Well, no, I still have a Switch. I will say this: The Switch is the one least tainted by unfathomable greed. Do you know what a lootbox is? If you dont, I strongly suggest looking it up and seeing just how much of a bloody mess that half of the industry has become before deciding on a console. The Switch doesnt do that crap.... yet. But it has other problems.

Oh, and be CAREFUL about your purchases. That greed screws people over pretty often, and they dont realize it until they're too deep into a game to return it, usually. 5-7 years ago, this sort of thing didnt happen with such freakish frequency. But now, it's CONSTANT. A $60 game can easily end up costing $120. Or more. Honestly I'm so freaking glad I switched to PC when I did and avoided all that crap.



Also, I dont think you're old. Hell, you're younger than me if the info there is correct... 34 isnt "old". On top of that, the gaming industry isnt really looked at as young VS old anymore, that stopped LONG ago. Anyone can get into any game. Well, there's age limits for certain purchases, but beyond that nobody cares. I'm 36 and I do whatever the bloody hell I want. Whatever game you happen to like, just go for it, instead of worrying about young VS old. You're an adult, you get to make the choices here.

I don't know, new games don't excite me, so I just play the old ones that I have on backlog.

Breath of the Wild was phenomenal, though. But I'm a real nut for just about anything Link stars in, so there's a lot of bias there.

I've never been into "hardcore" games, so I can't recommend anything.

You young'ns and yer fancy consoles! Back in my day, when we wanted to play games, we played them with people!

AND WE LIKED IT!

I still play (A)D&D, but videogames are a lot easier to play by yourself, and you can play them in much, much shorter sessions.

Yeah, this is true.

Well, it's not just that. To be honest I've always liked board games alot, but nobody I know gives a fart about those, so... that's out. I find this very irritating.

And I love the idea of D&D (hell, I have one of the rulebooks for... some reason), but... it's the social aspect that bugs me. One of my autistic "symptoms" is paranoia in dealing with others. Social situations are scary. Hell, I have enough trouble doing videogames with others in a 1-on-1 setting... but a whole table full of other players, fact to face? I just cant. Not just that though. I could possibly work past that bit, with enough time and supportive friends, but the one other thing that bugs me about D&D sessions: The LENGTH. I know some people that do D&D every week. Apparently each session is about 5 hours. 5 *HOURS*. Of being social. Not to mention what would surely be many, MANY moments of sitting there waiting for another player to make some sort of decision. I mentally process things *very* fast, so I tend to make even complicated decisions very quickly, and on top of that I'm very impatient. So that would be a problem too.

To some degree that'd make board games tough as well, but board games (even the complex ones) are MUCH shorter, and without the roleplay element, the social aspect is at least somewhat less intense. I can handle that better. Not that it matters, I dont get to freaking do it. Well, there are some games that are designed to easily allow solo play, for those that cant get friends together... games like Sentinels of the Multiverse, or One Deck Dungeon. Those are quite good and even have PC versions. Sentinels can be played with 1-6 players (and it's excellent no matter how many exactly you have), One Deck Dungeon is 1-2. Would like to try either with friends, but.... yeah, they dont care. So, solo play it is. They're excellent games either way. Though One Deck Dungeon can be a BIT overly reliant on luck at times. So many dice. SO MANY.

Yeah, I would probably have a really hard time role playing with people that I didn't know, but I've always played with my friends, and maybe one or two people who were new. It was always pretty comfortable for me...plus, I like to really get into my characters, so I don't feel like I'm me, I feel like I'm acting as someone else.


I play almost every week, but I know a lot of people my age who, if they play regularly at all, will play maybe once a month. Having jobs and children makes it more difficult for a lot of people. I like having a schedule, for stereotypical Aspie reasons.

Five hours sounds about right. I know most RPGA style games try to limit things to four hours, and I've skimmed through some of those adventures, and they seem tiny. You could certainly have shorter sessions if you really wanted to, but I think the big reason that sessions are so long is because everyone is having so much fun, and they don't want to stop. We usually play until people start falling asleep. Things start to turn sour real quick if you try to keep playing past that point.


If there's a lot of long stalls, waiting for decisions, then the DM isn't running the game correctly. In my campaigns, the only stalls we've really had is players looking through spellbooks. That's mostly my fault, because I'm really quite ignorant about even the basics of most spells.

When we do hit a snag, we'll usually take a short break to use the bathroom or grab drinks/snacks.


You'd make a good caller, then. Especially when there's a larger group of PCs, it's good to designate one person to make the bulk of the group decisions.

Ah, so longer sessions are the norm... figured as much. Yeah, my attention span would last about 90 minutes at most. Particularly in something with so much talking





Ehh.... probably not. My playstyle in basically anything can usually be summed up as "just stab it alot".

Unless I'm in some sort of support role. Then it's usually "try to resist the urge to stab teammates for being idiots". Though I imagine such a role in D&D is perhaps a little less frustrating than the sort I'm used to.

It really depends on the DM, but I don't think I've ever played a game (any game) where people lost interest. Storytelling is a tradition that goes back to the dawn of time, and everyone gets sucked into the narrative, even if they've never played before.

The DM does the majority of the talking, BTW. When I DM, my voice gets pretty hoarse by the end of it, so I try to take it easy.


Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. It depends on the situation, and the game. Something like Shadowrun, almost all "monsters" are intelligent and can be conversed with. Older editions of (A)D&D gave very little reward for killing monsters, and wandering monsters were intended to keep the players from dawdling, so players were encouraged to find alternate means of dealing with monster encounters.


Sometimes it's warranted. I've seen plenty of times where one player decided they wanted to be an idiot, or they wanted to PK someone, or whatever...and the other players would turn on him and put him in his place. They may not have had very positive outcomes, but they've almost always been very memorable.

I have a XBOX One and only play Witcher 3 on it from time to time. I baught Monster Hunter but i think its a horribly bad game and no fun, just a waste of time. played it for 6-8 hours and never touched it again. I tend to enjoy the Indie titles more that you can find in the online store. I play Axiom Verge (side-scrolling platform) and point-and-click mystery puzzle games.
I mostly play Overwatch om my laptop and sometimes Fortnite. I got back into Guild Wars 2 a month ago but have not played it much as it's very repetitive and Im tired of grinding lvls and gear that lead nowhere.

But I will be getting a Switch as soon as Super Smash Bros comes out. I have grown tired of the hardcore competitive nature of the XBox and Playstation console games and looking for something fun and adventurous. So when Super Smash comes out i will be getting that and Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Will still play Witcher 3 from time to time but I need some more colorful games now days. Maybe pick up a Mario World game as well.

Well, first you gotta get you some polyhedral dice...

I thought you played Traveller? Isn't that all d6s?

(although technically a d6 is still a polyhedron...)

I have played some Overwatch and am familiar with loot boxes. Thank you so much for adding your feedback. I greatly appreciate your time in your response.

SoulcakeDuck I really appreciate your thoughts and can relate on the the Xbox One and PlayStation burn out. I am thinking Switch too with the recent WiiU re-releases for $40.

Yes, I do ... among other games.Yes, although referees will occasionally use other dice when designing a stellar system or starship.It certainly is.

Bit o'trivia: The official color scheme for Traveller dice is red pips on black cubes.