How the Internet Makes Things Less Fun - Although you can fight it with enough self control

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skykiii

skykiii

kiwifarms.net
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Jun 17, 2018
This is sort of something I realized recently.

So, lately I've been having trouble staying interested in Video Games, which have been a thing I'm into for as long as I've been alive, basically. Like even if I'm liking a game, I can only play for an hour or two before I just don't have it in me.

Some people say this is a sign of depression. Which isn't impossible (insert tons of "depression isn't real" responses), but I recently realized another factor.

I think back to when I was a kid. Yes, I played video games and would watch shows about video games when they were on.... But that wasn't 24/7, and I had other hobbies and interests. I liked to watch Unsolved Mysteries and Rescue 911, and would either look into or be forced to interact with things that had nothing to do with video games. This is why Oregon Trail was special: "I'm getting to play a game during school!"

But now we have the internet.

People like to talk about the convenience of things like streaming or digital purchases or youtube videos, but the flipside is its easy to over-indulge.

Recently I went thru my Youtube history and was like "Oh, its almost all vidya related. Gee, I wonder why I'm bored of this, it is such a mystery." And right there made a vow that I'm just not watching any video game based content except in very limited circumstances (for example, I'll make an exception for something like "how to repair GBAs" if I'm actually trying to repair one).

And so far it's helped. Not having Vidya bombarding me all day, every day has done a lot to stave off burnout.

.......

This is, of course, another thing I prefer about the world of the eighties, nineties, and even the 2000s. Yeah sure on some level its cool that nowadays we can just hop on torrent sites and watch whatever show we want... but like in my story, it's also way too easy to over-filter to the point you're getting bombarded, and then unsurprisingly the thing you over-focus on stops being fun and starts being irritating.
 
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The Internet made many racing games less fun in that the single-player career used to be the main mode in racing games but it's increasingly an afterthought in many formely single-player-focused racing game series like Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport which are now mainly focused on online multiplayer.
 
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This doesn't have anything to do with the Internet directly, but how you use it.

You almost figured it out, as they say, variety is the spice of life, so obviously constantly thinking about video games, watching content about them, and people who talk about it, will cause a burnout.

What is your favourite song? And your favourite movie? Watch/listen to those every single day for weeks, and you'll become sick of it.

This is similar, and you may think that because they're different games, it should not happen, that's variety right? Wrong, because at the end of the day, it's the same activity and expectation of it, your body/mind needs to be stimulated with other stuff. Yet you can do this with the Internet as well (like read & learn stuff, doing digital-art, write, etc), so it's not the Internet's fault.
 
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There is something that makes Clown World what it is, and can lead to a feeling of real life being "cancelled": oversaturation of "social media" on "smartphones" -- and this is even though I have no "social media" accounts and I don't like using "smartphone" much either. "Influencer" this, "viral TikTok" that. And that's not getting into "woke".
 
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The real thing that makes things less fun is age. Your emotions and feelings become shallower and you've got less and less new experiences to chase and even if you have them you're too decrepit to be arsed to get them.
 
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skykiii said:
So, lately I've been having trouble staying interested in Video Games, which have been a thing I'm into for as long as I've been alive, basically. Like even if I'm liking a game, I can only play for an hour or two before I just don't have it in me.

Some people say this is a sign of depression. Which isn't impossible (insert tons of "depression isn't real" responses), but I recently realized another factor.
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Umm sweaty you're meant to enjoy a hobby for going on 30 years with daily usage!!!
We Are The Witches said:
You almost figured it out, as they say, variety is the spice of life, so obviously constantly thinking about video games, watching content about them, and people who talk about it, will cause a burnout.
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The confusing thing is that I'm burned out but I don't play games 24/7. And I get spurts of playing games still, so the drive is there. I find myself rather reading books than playing games, yet feeling as if it's a lower quality passtime cause I'm so used to wanting to beat games that I discount a 600 page book.
 
Lemmingwiser said:
The real thing that makes things less fun is age.
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Reminds me of what I posted awhile back.

ToroidalBoat said:
What I miss about being a kid is how it seemed the world was a magical place where anything was possible.

Now it seems it is a bland world where physics are extremely limiting, and "supernatural" may be fiction.
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A big thing the internet has ruined for me is shopping for fun. For instance when my mom and sister would go to the mall I would have something to do by going to gamestop, a book store, or looking at CDs. Now I buy all my games online, own a kindle, and have a spotify subscribtion. The simple joy of going into a store just to browse and sometimes find a hidden gem or deal has gone away. Except used book stores. I still enjoy them because you can find old books. But even now due to the internet you never find hidden deals because everyone can look up what the going value of something is.

As far as the OP was saying I think recently there has been talk about how gamers are starting to consume more video content on games then they actually play. I am feeling this as its often easier to throw on some video review or recap of some drama about games after work than actually playing something. I agree we have lost the simplicity of just sitting down and playing a game by yourself and forming your own opinion. We are now bombarded with 50 different takes from podcasts and youtube every time something come out.
 
wholetthegodsout said:
A big thing the internet has ruined for me is shopping for fun. For instance when my mom and sister would go to the mall I would have something to do by going to gamestop, a book store, or looking at CDs. Now I buy all my games online, own a kindle, and have a spotify subscribtion. The simple joy of going into a store just to browse and sometimes find a hidden gem or deal has gone away. Except used book stores. I still enjoy them because you can find old books. But even now due to the internet you never find hidden deals because everyone can look up what the going value of something is.
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Oh hell yes I feel this.

Worse is stores where when you take a thing to the checkout counter, the shop owner pulls out their phone and goes to the relevant price charting site and then just makes that the price tag.

It's like, dude if you're gonna charge ebay prices then why would I not just buy it on ebay?
 
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