I'm still in full denial, personally.

Omfg we are so old :D :3

Play 4x/grand strategy and youllvonly get better as you get older.

You might find yourself playing on slower speeds with rts styles though

Strategy games are interesting, I feel aged when playing mount and blade.
I used to take on 10 men at once by myself with only half health but needed 25 men to fight an army of 35.
Now I lose a simple 1v3 but can beat armies thrice my size on hardest settings with my barely trained archer units.
I also use bufs and consumables in pokemon now so that's a thing.
Jokes on you, I've always been bad at RTS

I have never been good in FPS when it comes to "both jump around the corner and shoot, who wins?" But i have always been good at: "Where the heck did he come from?! what is this stupid play, this is not the meta!!!" happily frustrating some tryhards. As i get older i can still enjoy that way of playing.

I've noticed that with experience comes better predictive play, rather than relying on reaction time.

It's frustrating because I feel like my skills are actually still improving and better than they used to be but there's always some 11 yo kid who will absolutely wreck me over and over again to the point where I just quit out of shame.

Priorities change. Now I spend more time working on my house or riding my bike than I do gaming and that is OK. It’s fun to be casual too.

It's literally the opposite. Platformers, point and click, full 3d and action games.

Wait you mean competitive multiplayer? Well turns out, being a sweaty tryhard after all is not possible for us all.

Particularly because of meta changes, intentionally bad players (think of feeders in moba) and general hostility within a team as soon as one of these gamers show up.

Games are supposed to be a fun pastime, most of the internet treats them as a second job, some people need to be remainded of this simple fact.

Beating modders and pros in Halo piece of piss.

Top 0.1% PvP stats in Destiny.

Get a job and a family, get back online and told to kill myself for being so bad.

But.... Why is the logo for this community a Bad Dragon?

I see it as a curved sword handle on top of... idk a set top box 🤣

I was never that good.....and then I got old. Still enjoy gaming though.

Same here, mid 50s, was never better than average - I'm now mediocre

The best part, I've never been competetive so I never tested myself, but sure as hell I am getting currently better at gaming.

Mostly because I am finally fighting off a list of mental shit I picked up growing up so my mind is growing cleaner and hand is becoming more sure. xD

Mostly because I am finally fighting off a list of mental shit I picked up growing up
For real?

I never had skills in gaming to begin with, I ain't good at all. At best I'm OK at strategy, but even then I'm bad. Just give me the computer and let me do DnD

Me being terrible at games now is because I am old and can’t sink the same time into it. But I beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES. Do I really need to prove myself anymore?

That deserves a medal as far as I'm concerned.
- I am just going to frame your reply. Thank you.

Strategy and turn based RPGs FTW!

My FPS skills have diminished mostly because I stopped playing them. But my souls skills are still good up until I get the adrenaline shakes in PvP.

Those people are cracked tho

Oh no I no longer can play the incredibly toxic matchmaking multi-player games and instead have to enjoy the automation, exploration, story, management and strategy games I've always loved

Factorio, my beloved
Yeah. Now I only have like 3 hours to play by day and I'm not gonna waste them in losing.
- I'm the same way. I know some like the feeling of beating a hard boss after trying for hours, but I just don't have that time.
Hmm should I try different party combos in BG3 to see how the dialogue changes or run around a COD map getting shot in the back of the head every 9 seconds while ads for mtx strobe flash my corneas?
Feel kind of lucky. They weren't so toxic when I was good. The only place to really find that was from the notorious Xbox Live kids experimenting with their first ever swear words.
It was when gaming reached a broader audience and wasn't just for "nerds" that toxicity became commonplace. Went from making friends with strangers all the time to just default muting mics and avoiding communities.
Nowadays, the less reflex-deoendent, the more you'll be surrounded by players from those days and the less toxicity. Compare HLL to MW, for example.
- As always, the closer a game gets to being a full blown simulator, the older the playerbase tends to be.
  Almost like arcady bs with autoaim and automatchmaking and very short game round times and superhuman movement capabilities appeal to people with poor impulse control.
  ... of course you can then go way, way too far into fullblown sim territory and end up with actual geriatrics and/or turboautists, lol.
  (I say this lovingly as a turboautist who has spent probably an unhealthy amount of time in various niche sim communities, lol)
Or you can graduate to milsims.
The controls and game mechanics tend to be so complicated that... well, people tend to have more realistic expectations from their teammates, and if you find a decent community, people tend to be more mature and friendly.
It actually requires a part time job level of commitment to be an exceptional shooter or tanker or pilot or even medic if you're playing with a sufficiently complex health simulation... so, somewhat true to life, people tend to specialize and thus have much, much more incentive for decent communication standards.
Downside: Also true to life, a lot of games will end up feeling like 90% camping/hiking/road trip, punctuated, often essentially randomly, by 10% sheer terror.
...
You are not authorized for retirement unless you want a dishonorable discharge, soldier! If you need a wrist splint and vertical ergonomic mouse to continue your duties, check the nearest supply depot! Dismissed!
lol
- On the other hand, sims tend to get a lot of guys that are a bit too into it.
- What milsims would you recommend?

you cant lose what never had

Late 20s: You realize gaming from the couch is getting difficult because the distance to the TV is too blur without glasses

Mid 30s: No longer able to consume infinite packets of instant ramen. In fact it kinda tastes nasty. Halo 3 at Legendary still tho.

Early 40s: Quake 3 Arena and Half Life 2 now give you motion sickness. Can still get by Halo at Heroic.

Late 40s: The 2ft distance to your monitor now looks blur without glasses. not getting past gold or silver in ranked Overwatch

Mid 50s: Gonna need reading glasses to play. Clair Obscur difficulty now set to Story.

Honestly, as long as you're still having fun and enjoying game, I don't see an issue here. Sure, in some areas it might have gotten difficult, but if you're able to adjust
I'm in my 30 and I fucking can't beat Golgra at medium. Rrrrraaaaggeeee
- I'm stymied at Renoir at the Paintress' monolith. My pride is such that I rather take a break from the game than go down to Story.

Jokes on you. I never had the skills to begin with.

i still go on cod ww2 to pwn noobs but if i ever lose its because im going against no life sweats

MFW: you have given up PvP in favor of single player and PvE games as that live service treadmill and toxicity are too much now

I just never did PvP in the first place.
For me its more of a return to the fold.
I don't care about toxic players and I never spend a dime on any live services... my chief issue is that I have to work for a living and online game matchmaking mix me with people (children) who's primary stressor in life is trying to print out homework that doesn't look like ChatGTP wrote it.
- skill issue

Fine, my kids can beat me at Rocket League sometimes now, but they still can't manage their duchies and bloodlines for shit in Crusader Kings.

It just means it’s time for solo 4x and single player RPGs.

A huge Rimworld expansion drops today. Solo game players have never had it better.
- omg its out now! I know what I am doing all weekend then.
Single player and PvE superiority

Wait, y'all had gaming skills to begin with?

I can barely play online games against anyone without getting wiped in 0.0001 nanoseconds if it's a PVP game. Never had skills, so I'll never be in denial about losing what I never had.

Don't have to worry about gaming skills disappearing if you never had any in the first place :3

Nope. Not me! I’ve got new glasses. That was the entirety of the problem. Nothing to see here…I’m not old

I was already outdone like 10 years ago by my cousins who practically came with gaming consoles out of the womb. Idk how they figure the stuff out so fast.

For me it was the Doom reboot. I discovered my twitch reflexes just weren't what they used to be. Now I play only strategy games if anything at all.

Ah, OP makes more sense now. I've only ever played strategy and RPGs and was going to say I'm better now than I've ever been.
I know what you mean I thought that too but I think it was more the way you move in the reboot. I went back and played old school quake and quake 2 and still had it.

Honestly the opposite happened to me. I'm 31 and I've been playing much better in terms of aiming than any other time ten or 20 years ago.

Same, maturing and looking at things more intelligently made me better at online games. Still average to be honest, but I was really bad as a kid
By the time, I got better at puzzle resolving games. Has been a while since a get stuck in a videogame.

I cut my teeth on games when being balls hard was the standard. I paid my dues. Nowadays I just put them on easy (and use save states for old games).

59 years old today and still in denial.

From Atari's Combat, through Tribes, and now Helldivers, the gaming goes on. There may come a day when I put away my mouse and controller ...

BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY!

I'm not even in the initial phases of ~~dental~~ denial, and Im a millennial, I'm not ready to get attacked like this in a meme!!

Me, on the other hand, I gots my toothbrush right here in my pocket, and I'm ready to go.
- (Lmao! Also wtf scumbag brainhole.)
  I have my electric toothbrush in my pocket too, ~~ready to go~~ already went, but I'm not wearing any pants.

late 30's and I'll still whoop your ass at Street Fighter 6 or The Finals

Happened to me ages ago :3

I don't play enough competitive games to care anyway tho

This is the real reason to have kids. I'm not up on the Mario Kart meta, but I'll whup my seven year old around rainbow road any damn day.

Getting there. I'm introducing my oldest (3) to all the Mario games now.
- Super recommend Mario and the Rainbow Stars! It's a free fan game with a ton of fun moments. They'll have fun watching, and you'll get something new to keep your interest.

I'm in this picture and I don't like it.

Tried Ark the other day, looked awesome. So much damn micromanaging and juggling. Just nope

It can be fun if you ignore the breeding and dinosaur related stuff
- 15 minutes to build a simple 4x4 shelter and tame a dodo. Raptor appeared in my tiny peninsula, killed my dodo, wrecked my house, and almost killed me. I'm too old for that crap.

Tomas Jerby

It's not me who changed. It's the esports driven fast twitch game style that has. I should probably try out my backlog of rainbow six games.

48 years old and I haven't dipped yet 😂

Not only that but my shit talking is unmatched!

I'm 45 and have been playing games relentlessly for 30 years now. My hands are destroyed. I can barely use controllers, my thumbs hardly work. Can't click the space bar the arthritis is so bad. Hades and Sekiro were major culprits, button-mashing and parry precision intensity. I still play of course but it's difficult, slow, and I just can't play those high-action twitch reflex games anymore. Good thing there is endless games that are easier on the hands!

never was all that good, but declining coordination and a desire to quit investing time/money playing games made me stop. Asynchronous social interaction is more my speed now. also gave away my guitars for similar reasons. quit driving last year. if you are still having fun, keep going. I can still type, sort of.

Idk I keep hitting full combos in my favorite rhythm games

Honestly, going 27 years (of gaming), and I never was smarter and quicker to make tactical decisions. My hand may move slower, but I don't rely on dexterity when flanking your cover.

And other gaming skills, only better.

When you finally accept that the days of truly fun competitive shooters are gone, replaced with loot boxes grinders and gatcha mechanics, so you opt to play the actually fun, solo games.

Have to relate to this somewhat, it's hard to find time or interest to practice fighting games with all the accumulated responsibilities of being responsible adult and a parent. While boomer reaction time checks are one thing, the bigger problem is having to practice against multiple different matchups in 3-4 different games. Probably should play these online a lot more, currently mostly playing on locals few hours once a week.

The vast majority of games are overrated anyhow. They aren't really putting out anything new nowadays, just using the same tired old concepts over and over again.

Just play different games. Sure the kids may have fast reflexes but they don't have the wisdom to commit the number of warcrimes that an older gamer can in Rimworld.

Or maybe ya'll are have been so full of hubris and are now finally getting wiser with age and start to recognize that you were always shit or average at best.

It's entirely demographical.
I was unemployed for a while when private equity butchered the company I was manager at, at some point I spent about a week playing as dedicatedly as some of the younglings and I got really good, really fast, but the moment I had to get back to the grind I fell off again.
You simply cannot compete with kids who's primary concern in life is if their mom will keep paying for their ChatGTP subscription to do their homework for them when you have bills and family and medical procedures and loans and thousands of ropes of responsibility pulling you in different directions. You simply will not compete with people who can play several hours a day when you only get weekend nights, when you're already exhausted and just want to sleep anyway.

What? I don't find that at all.

People are too stressed and exhausted to live at a basic level, that tends to impact their ability to game although sometimes it makes them even more competitive with the small amount of time they have... but no I don't agree at all.

I am far better at video games than I used to be, admittedly I play a lot of them but that only makes my hand eye coordination locked in, the actually "being good" at games has little to do with that most of the time.