"I used to be with it..."

“…but then they changed what ‘it’ was, and now what I’m with isn’t it. And what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you, too!” – Grampa Simpson

When did you lose touch with the gaming zeitgeist? Or are you still completely clued up on everything?

For me it was the rise of YouTube stars. They were clearly aimed at a different generation, and the games they were playing just seemed so alien to me. Still do.

I don't get Minecraft. I don't get PUBG. I don't get Five Nights at Freddy's. And this isn't just disliking games certain games (I have nothing against any of them) – in some cases I'm completely unaware they exist. I just found out Fortnite is huge, despite everyone thinking it looked crap when it was announced.

When did you realise you were turning into a less salty Dok?

I keep up with gaming news pretty well, so I'm aware of most of this stuff, but I'm in the same boat when it comes to understanding it - i.e., I don't.

Why are teenage racists able to become millionaires by playing video games on YouTube? Why is there even a market for that? I hate Let's Plays, even when not accompanied by a shrieking toxic man-child's running commentary - hell, I don't even like watching gameplay videos, never mind streams that start with a four-minute self-hype intro of the, "hey guys wassup it's ya boi xX_eXtremeKilla_Xx, how y'all doin well today we're gonna be playing some loot box shoot game and whatever so don't forget to like and subscribe" variety.

Darn kids, just play the dang games!

I don't even remember Fortnite being announced. The first thing I heard about it was that it was ripping off PUBG, which I'd barely heard of, and the next thing I knew it was bigger than Jesus.

But I know when I finally completely fell behind the curve - when my son was born. I've been playing catch-up ever since, because I barely played anything that was already out for the first six months, let alone keeping on top of what was on the horizon.

Like you, I was already bewildered by the popularity of loud-mouth closet racists hurling epithets at a Twitch channel, but at least I knew what was coming out that I'd be interested in. Now, I can't keep track of what's been announced for which platforms and who's delayed blah blah, and I don't get long uninterrupted stretches to really sink into games, which affects what I bother to pick up.

But having a kid has also changed my relationship to games in a way I didn't expect - I'm much more sensitive to the kinds of things I don't want him to be exposed to, even if he's not watching at the time.

Going back slightly further, I think it was the advent of online gaming for me, specifically voice chat. I'm happy to play online games that aren't particularly competitive and don't require constant chatter, like Monster Hunter or FFXIV - games where I can dip in and out of the multiplayer aspects as I see fit. But I don't want to sit there with a headset all evening trying to have conversations with strangers, nor even particularly with people I know: I guess I'm a solitary kind of person at heart. I'll join your game, but don't expect much in the way of conversation from me!

Darn kids, just play the dang games!

See, this I can actually understand - games are expensive, and there seem to be a lot more of them coming out a lot more quickly than I remember when we were kids, and the pressure to keep up with the latest stuff is going to be fierce. If you can't afford all the games (and all the DLC and all the boxes to play on and any lootboxes to know what the best gear is) then this is an easy way to keep in the loop.

I just wish the role models weren't universally such utter shitbags.

I don't even remember Fortnite being announced. The first thing I heard about it was that it was ripping off PUBG, which I'd barely heard of, and the next thing I knew it was bigger than Jesus.

I do remember seeing the announce trailer, but I couldn't tell you when I saw it. Probably some E3 a couple of years ago? I can recall that I thought it looked gimmicky and crap, though.

Mr Party Hat have you heard of Ai-Chan? :^)

Imagine if Hatsune Miku was a Let's Player, totally your kind of thing. (Literally your worst nightmare actually)

Does Arino from GameCentral CX count as a Let's Player?

I honestly didn't understand any of the nouns you just used, except for my own name.

I don't even remember Fortnite being announced. The first thing I heard about it was that it was ripping off PUBG, which I'd barely heard of, and the next thing I knew it was bigger than Jesus.

I do remember seeing the announce trailer, but I couldn't tell you when I saw it. Probably some E3 a couple of years ago? I can recall that I thought it looked gimmicky and crap, though.

When it was announced it was basically a game which revolved around a four player co-operative Horde mode though, wasn't it?. The first trailer was a cinematic based on that concept, and even now I think that mode is down as being a full-priced release, still in early access, which has been completely overshadowed by them having since bunged in a FTP PUBG rip-off as an "alternative" game mode.

I'd echo most of the sentiments above though, even though I do watch the odd streamer (mainly to see what some new indie title looks like, or maybe watch someone play a comedy Hearthstone meme deck for easy background noise). I've also seemingly lost all interest in the vast majority of new AAA releases, and have turned into some kind of weird gaming hipster who increasingly only seems to care about Soulsbornes, indies, Roguelike/lites and strategy/RPG games (despite being largely terrible at many of those genres). The odd action/adventure game still slips through too, but frequently it's a fair while after release, having been picked up in a sale. (This applied to Horizon, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, etc.)

Even series I used to like I've largely stopped being able to generate interest in, like with Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and even God of War. (I was, and remain, more excited about the second Divinity: Original Sin game getting a PS4 port than about the new GoW, despite having still not gotten around to the first.) Any and all interest I had in fighting games and FPS's seems to be all but gone too, despite the occasional attempt to rekindle it.

I've also abandoned most online "lifestyle" games, to the point where I gave up on Destiny 2 slightly ahead of the curve, dropped ESO not too long after trying to get into it with Marit, and deleted Overwatch and Rocket League for the sake of my productivity/sanity levels. I was interested in sea of Thieves, so am actually glad it's a Bone exclusive so I can't be tempted. Even Monster Hunter World hasn't grabbed me at all yet (though admittedly I am only two-three hours in), to the point where I couldn't be bothered with it last week, so I spent half of the week playing Rogue Aces, and then just (finally) started Fallout 4.*

• this is another side-effect of finally ditching Destiny, Rocket league, et al - I am actually playing the backlog! I'm seemingly about 3-4 years behind, so I spent the last few months playing Dragon Age Inquisition (and all the DLC), and now seem to just be working through all the big RPG/adventure games I have while I play a few other things on the side, so at this rate I'll probably finally get around to The Witcher 3 sometime next year…

I'm not fussed what "the kids" are up to to be honest, although I do have to pay some attention as my eldest is 14 next month 😱🙀 as mentioned in another thread I play a bit of Fortnite and did play alot of Overwatch (which my 14 year old loves but I'm kind of burnt out on) but like Gar I'm happiest playing the stuff I've played for years, Monster Hunter and JRPGs. I did love playing FFXIV but our financial situation at the moment doesn't have space for that.

Can't stand YouTubers though, again the 14 year old watches alot of streams on her phone and I've taken to asking her to put her earphones in as the false exciting/laughter sets my teeth on edge.

I don't really keep up with what's coming out etc any more, I felt like trying to keep up detracted from my enjoyment of the hobby. The only things in really interested in this year are getting the PS4 Yakuza games and Shenmue but with me chipping away at Persona 5, playing Monster Hunter World and having FFXII Zodiac Age on the shelf I'm mostly sorted for the year anyway (although I'm also interested in a Zoe 2 HD remaster)

I haven't been up-to-date on PC games for a decade and that's where the kids seem to be. I never played any MMOs because I didn't have the money for a subscription or the time for the grind required for a freebie game. I skipped the whole League of Legends/DotA thing because I'm not interested in competitive multiplayer. Now it's all PubG and Fortnite and whatever else I haven't even heard of.

More recently I've lost track of console games too. That hit when I was half way through Assassin's Creed Black Flag and I realised I didn't care anymore. I looked at my thirty-game backlog and realised that I was never going to play them either. Deus Ex HR, Far Cry 3, RDR… I tried Dishonoured and got bored. GTA5 is still in it's shrink wrap. It's like overnight videogames lost the ability to surprise me.

I bought a PS4 thinking that it would reignite the wonder, but other than No Man's Sky (which I did really enjoy), it just seemed to be more PS3.

I'm sure I mentioned this before, but it probably isn't a coincidence that I started role-playing again at about the same time that I lost interest in videogame.