My problem is that I like story-driven games with game mechanics that make me think and allow me to be a bit creative. Namely old PSX and PS2 JRPGs back when turn-based was still a thing.
There's not much of that really available anymore and, to be honest, with my age, the grind just doesn't hold my attention the way that it used to and I find it actually challenging to push through them.
The last time I was okay with FPS games was Halo 3, and no FPS games play like that anymore. I did get into hero shooters for a bit, until I eventually learned that they're basically just cash grabs which is why balances and updates are seasonal with battle passes etc.
I have a strong opposition to in-game marketing adverts. I don't like the gacha system anymore than I like the battle pass or season pass system. I'm not interested in dumping my money into a game repeatedly, that's why I never really got into MMOs. Especially because it's really just a matter of time until they eventually putter out. Once everything gets narrowed down to a single server you know the end is nigh. And I legitimately do feel bad for people who got/get roped into this kind of stuff. It's sad, you know? The customers are spending continual money on the game to be part of the community and to keep it going, and the companies, they ride and rely on that. It's very similar to how I love burritos and chocolates for comfort foods and tasty desserts after, but in all actuality burritos and chocolates in excess are kind of bad for your weight and health. It's similar to that. And it shouldn't be, because if you came from the 90s era of gaming or earlier, you
know that it was not always like that.
Games used to come whole. Save for goofy things like Street Fighter II, but that's besides my point here. Ever since around probably 2004 - 2006, for the sake of a namedrop and simplicity we'll say The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion even though I adore the old game, it is indeed a buggy mess. However, at least the DLC that came with it was worthy of the price as it was expansive enough to be properly considered an Expansion Pack, which is another thing that also doesn't really happen much anymore.
Gaming in modernity has become very...reactionary and based on response time. With RPGs in particular it's the difference between Action RPGs and their Turn-Based counterparts. I grew up as a kid playing D&D, I'm at least old enough to remember Advanced Dungeons & Dragons or Dungeons & Dragons 2.0.
I've always preferred the turn-based approach and I've always felt that the action approach was more based on reactionary response time. Which is fine, I'm not totally knocking that, I do enjoy it on a rare occasion, but as I get older I am less and less inclined and less and less interested in being subliminally trained to be reactionary.
I suppose that has to do probably with the fact that I grew up impoverished to begin with. And as a history and anthropology buff, and as a business experienced adult, I am very cognitively aware of how reactionary response development will not improve my quality of life. In fact I would argue that it would work more to my detriment. Which ties into a bigger societal problem, and perhaps the fact that I'm quite stubborn in my ways about this sort of a thing. I'll look into furthering my reactionary response time again, when developing my reactionary response time is more beneficial to the greater of society than to otherwise not do so. So basically what I'm saying is, and to be blunt: If the money is authentically correct and logistically checks out, okay, I'll give it a shot. But until then, I'm just not interested.
I hate what it's become in its degradation, I guess is the thing. Because it's all about dopamine. I don't have a dopamine issue, I have a serotonin issue.