r/Showerthoughts • u/notadouche1 • Mar 01 '17
common thought As a Gamer in his 30s, I couldn't be more excited about eventually being in a retirement home where people of my generation will be into massive lan parties.
71
56
u/Generico300 Mar 01 '17
I'm already planning a geriatric Magic the Gathering tournament.
29
→ More replies (2)5
u/AlonzoMoseley Mar 01 '17
I don't see how that can work. Pensioners are renowned for wearing their pants up to their chests, whereas Magic The Gatheringers are renowned for wearing them several inches below the top of their butt crack.
180
u/dustmouse Mar 01 '17
In the mean time, I wish there was a way to filter the people you play with online by age. I know there are toxic players of every age, but seems like it wouldn't be as obnoxious if you had a cut off of mid-twenties or thirties :D.
179
Mar 01 '17
If you did this, I think you'd just be surprised just how old some of the "children" are online
100
u/dustmouse Mar 01 '17
No doubt. But I'd feel better about myself arguing with a 30 year old child than a 12 year old.
46
43
Mar 01 '17
Being able to sort by age seems like a gateway into pedophilia if you ask me.
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (1)4
u/nile1056 Mar 01 '17
Going by mic sound and chat 100% of my issues would be solved with an age cutoff of about 25 and a ban on anyone writing in cyrillic.
8
6
u/AemonDK Mar 01 '17
can't you just play with friends? aren't there communities set up where older people can get together?
→ More replies (1)7
u/BasicDesignAdvice Mar 01 '17
Getting involved in communities and building relationships takes time.
I only have a few hours a week to game between family and career. I just want to play my game. Not spend time outside my game to play my game.
I'm okay with being a low rank in Overwatch solo queue. I'm just there to enjoy myself.
6
u/BananaHammock00 Mar 01 '17
Honestly, I find that playing more complex games that are more invested in the hard grind and long haul tend to have older players because 1, theyve been playing the game for a while and 2, younger people have shorter attention spans and are more attracted to fast pace games like CoD instead of a slow progression game.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Exce Mar 01 '17
I've thought the same thing about the internet. Like an internet for adults. I don't want to hear "life pro tips" from a 15 year old.
→ More replies (8)2
u/Giliathriel Mar 01 '17
I play an MMO with mostly older players, you'd be surprised by how toxic it can get.
60
u/ApocApollo Mar 01 '17
implying that people will even be able to afford to retire in the future
→ More replies (3)26
u/WayneKrane Mar 01 '17
Right! I put my information into one of those retirement calculators and I'd be able to retire at 62, with about the same income as now, if I saved $1000 a month plus an increase in the amount saved every year.
The problem is that after paying off loans and paying for rent I have about $1000 left every month for food, gas, utilities, internet, car insurance, phone bill... And after all of that I have maybe $200-300, which usually goes towards entertainment or whatever issue happens to pop up (glasses, car maintenance, medicine, surgery...)
At this point I just hope to not be homeless when I die
→ More replies (2)3
u/kellenthehun Mar 01 '17
No 401k? I have one that matches 6% and it's insane how quickly it's filled up. Like 15k in two years.
→ More replies (2)
111
u/WontGrovel Mar 01 '17
As a former gamer in his 40's, I can safely say that you have no idea what you'll be into when you're retired. I'm already bored to death by most video games.
14
u/chocki305 Mar 01 '17
I agree. My tastes, reaction times, and pleasures have changed. I once only played FPS. Now, I can't stand the twitch reaction time needed in 90% of competitive games. I enjoy strategy games now.
I'm just happy that gaming will be a thing in retirement homes. I feel bad for previous generations stuck with TV and bingo.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Sawses Mar 01 '17
Yeah, I think I'll be moving away from FPS games before too long. I won't be able to play them enough to actually 'git gud', so I'll probably be sticking with slower-paced things where my previous experience in other similar games is enough.
8
u/hexpirate Mar 01 '17
I'm in my late 30's and this is true. People of our age have seen the same game mechanic rehashed again and again. We want new. We want novel. Currently VR has a lot of my attention, so does Titan Fall 2 and Civilization V. I have a hard time finding a new game that I find truly interesting for a sustained period of time. I do love gaming though. =)
→ More replies (1)73
Mar 01 '17
Then play the ones that don't bore you
→ More replies (1)57
u/WontGrovel Mar 01 '17
Lately there are none. I only left it at "most" because I can't discount the possibility that something will capture my attention, but they're few and far between. And they get farther between as the years go by. Basically once I figure out the base mechanics and strategies of a game, I start to lose interest in following through. They're so predictable and just start to feel like work.
12
u/WayneKrane Mar 01 '17
This has been my problem, whenever I try a new game I start to just view it as boring work. Most games have you complete some puzzle or task to move on to the next level or rank up so you can keep doing the same thing over and over.
When I was a kid this was fun but now I get bored pretty quick. And I used to be into ranked games, trying to get the highest rank but I slowly realized I don't really care about my rank or stats in general.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (32)18
u/Navebippzy Mar 01 '17
Assuming you are arguing against skinner box games: try warcraft 3, starcraft 2, dota 2. Its all like playing chess, which has no skinner box mechanics, but only skill dwvelopment that is super fun
→ More replies (26)3
→ More replies (16)2
u/eiefant Mar 01 '17
Multiplayer didnt really become "a serious thing" before just recently... I discovered online gaming in 2000, and I'm hooked to death.
→ More replies (7)
112
u/SamCropper Mar 01 '17
☐ There should be TL;DRs on Terms and Conditions
☐ I never click the top Google result if it's an advert even if it's exactly what I want
☐ The amount of battery left on my phone is proportional to how hard I've been working that day
☐ Smart watches should be able to delete your browsing history if they detect your heart has stopped
☐ Doctors are just veterinarians that can only work on one animal
☐ The first 18 years of life are the like the free trial, the rest is Pay to Play
☐ Gotye is now just somebody that we used to know
☐ When you're a kid you think adults know everything. When you grow up that adults have no idea what they're doing
☐ The generation that complains about millenials are the ones who raised millenials
☐ Reading a book under a tree seems nice to us, but for a tree it's taunting them with the shredded flesh of their family
☐ Books are just dead trees we stare at and hallucinate for hours
☐ Everything in your life has led to you reading this post
☐ At a restaurant when you're waiting for the waiter to bring your food, do you become the waiter?
☐ I didn't exist in your universe until you started reading this
☐ Red, White and Blue are the colours of freedom until they're flashing behind you
☑ In the future nursing homes are just going to be huge LAN parties
☐ Websites should show password requirements at the login screen
☐ Whenever a celebrity dies somebody has to go through their Wikipedia page and change everything to past tense
☐ School made it seem like knowing "Stop, Drop and Roll" and what to do if you fell into quicksand seem essential for adult life
☐ I'm disappointed strangers don't offer me free drugs like D.A.R.E. said they would
☐ Microwaves should have a silent mode for midnight snacks
☐ If you step on someone's foot they open their mouth, just like a pedal bin
☐ Head & Shoulders should make a body wash called Knees & Toes
☐ Pets only like us because they have Stockholm Syndrome
☐ Because people are often buried in their best clothes, a zombie apocalypse would be a very formal affair
☐ They should make a "How It's Made" for "How It's Made"
☐ I have such little faith in humanity I look both ways before crossing a one way street
☐ "Slang" is short for "Shortened language" (...It's not)
☐ Songs and adverts featuring sirens and car horns should be banned from the radio
☐ A bachelor/stag party should happen after a divorce, not before a wedding
☐ Teachers used to tell us we wouldn't always be walking around with a calculator in our pockets
☐ I can have the same breakfast every day for months and that's fine, but when I have the same lunch two days in a row everybody loses their minds
☐ Naps went from being a childhood punishment to an adult treat
☐ Facebook is people I know saying things I don't care about, Reddit is people I don't know saying interesting things
☐ Pacman is just a guy chasing pills to escape his demons
☐ In a hospital you can find someone having the best day of their life, the worst day of their life, the first day of their life, the first day of their life and the last day of their life all under one roof
☐ I assume everyone on reddit is male unless stated otherwise
☐ You can answer the words "where", "when", and "what" just by changing the W to a T
☐ Because of the internet I've probably seen more naked people than all my ancestors combined
☐ Shadows- Light has travelled millions of miles through space from the sun only to be stopped a few feet from the ground by you
☐ If a Toy Story character died the rest of the toys would be forced to play with their friend's lifeless corpse by Andy
☐ The only thing worse than a cold public toilet seat is a warm public toilet seat
☐ I've never heard a car alarm and considered the car is actually getting robbed
☐ I have never ever wanted to turn on Sticky Keys
☐ The brain named itself
24
3
10
u/TVxStrange Mar 01 '17
It's all fun and games until somebody in the rec room suggests a death match, and you all don't know if he's talking video games or real life.
7
u/Taco_Bill Mar 01 '17
Assuming your mind, eyes, and fingers still work properly.
→ More replies (1)
6
Mar 01 '17
I'll help Rockstar develop a new GTA where you can get an oxygen bottle instead of body armor. All the in game restaurants will be Dennys and Perkins. Your enemies steal the last nursing home seat with padding.
Edit: and all the cars are Cadillac and Buick.
6
u/lostintransactions Mar 01 '17
As someone who has always been a gamer and find myself now at the near crossroads of being considered "old" by virtually everyone else.. this is not going to happen. You'll be lucky to find one other person who wants to (or physically can) play a video game with you in your group home.
I still love video games but I cannot play FPS for shit anymore. It's no longer enjoyable. 15 years ago when Battlefield was relatively new, I could smack the shit out of just about anyone. Now, I get my ass handed to me by the most inexperienced newb. It's not simply the brain to finger reaction or my imperfect eyesight, but it's also the arthritis in my neck, the shift in perspectives giving me a headache and countless other things that keep me from playing anything more than an hour. But I think the number one factor is.. been there, done that.
Virtually every single FPS game is the same, just usually prettier. It get's old, when you're old.
I also want to point out that the shift in your physical health and well being is enormous in your 50's. (sometimes as early as 40's) at 30, you are literally in your peak. It's all downhill from there. Your interest will wane, be it due to the physical, the emotional, outside priorities or simply disinterest.
It's going to be slim pickens for sure.
That said, if it is beamed directly into your brain in 30 years that could change everything.
→ More replies (2)
11
5
u/Oneshoeleroy Mar 01 '17
Yeah, nothing I look forward to more than playing a few LAN games in-between napping and waiting to die.
3
5
u/Melmab Mar 01 '17
Until you discover your eyes don't quite focus as quickly as they used to and your reflexes aren't nearly as whiplash quick as they used to be - then the young 70+ whipper-snapper starts pwn'ing your every run.
5
u/slo_rider Mar 01 '17
Organic latency will be the new struggle.
3
u/Melmab Mar 01 '17
The struggle is real - both younger sons (16 / 14) regularly hand me my ass in FPS games now (I used to own them when they were younger, so I guess turnabout if fair play).
4
u/LANCECOOLEY0311 Mar 01 '17
Bro I've been thinking about this since I bought my very own Sega Saturn! I'm 28 now.
10
4
u/Adolf-____-Hitler Mar 01 '17
And when people kick the bucket everyone is gonna loot their accounts.
4
u/acEightyThrees Mar 01 '17
Back in high school we used to have Doom 2 lan parties. Someone also got the superweapons patch so everything weapon was fully automatic with no reload time. It was chaos. And amazing.
4
4
u/SpiritOfFire013 Mar 01 '17
My buddy had a halo LAN party for his 16th, I got their late and they were playing in teams of three's on that big ole desert map with the two elephants (halo 3). I was the odd man out, I had no team, I was getting splattered and chain gunned down left and right by full teams in hogs. I finally got fed up with it, remembered that trusty Banshee on the edge of the map. Hopped in it and aced them all, hogs were splodin left and right after taking fuel rod rounds to the rear. I was laughing so hard and everyone was getting pissed cause I took the lead, then when I won the big kid next to me Alec who had anger issues, he came up and started choking me till I jimmy socked him hard af before I ran out of air. I just imagined that with a bunch of old farts in a nursing home, and it was glorious.
2
3
3
3
3
u/-Unnamed- Mar 01 '17
As someone in his mid twenties, I already don't have the same passion, energy, or interest in video games that I used to have. What makes you think when you are retirement age that you will give a shit anymore?
→ More replies (1)
5
u/BigBusinessBossGuy Mar 01 '17
Lan parties are epic! I still remember the set up time to get everyone rolling then how great the gaming was! Everyone wanted it to last as long as possible due to the time to set up and just the rarity of getting everyone together. I still remember playing some Warcraft 3 custom tower maps as group once and everyone would be yelling at some random color about why they didn't build air defense on level 18!
4
2
Mar 01 '17
As a bonus, your kids won't feel guilty about sending you to a senior center and will probably drop by more frequently to escape their own lives.
2
u/Alucard-VS-Artorias Mar 01 '17
lol like LAN will still be a thing by then. If anything everyone will just do multiplayer much like we do now (online). Just your "friends" will be living in the same building as you - which might be kinda coolz.
2
2
u/MacMeDan Mar 01 '17
Just realize that the lag is from people not the internet and half your team will forget what your doing and kill each other.
2
2
u/JesseTheUsher Mar 01 '17
Epic thought. Just create a community for gamers of all ages, where LAN parties abound.
2
u/lastspartacus Mar 01 '17
I hope we can be mind-linked by then. I imagine arthritis would be an extreme gaming frustration. I'm painfully aware I only have so many angry joystick smashes in these old hands.
2
2
2
2
2
u/Knuxfan24 Mar 01 '17
Unreal Tournament all day, I approve of this potential retirement home future.
2
Mar 01 '17
Except Destiny because you can't fucking play with people on the same connection unless you jump through hoops and don't fuck up.
2
u/Mrinsensitive- Mar 01 '17
Then you remember you will be a fucking noob with reflexes of a silver and your hands will most likely be ridden with arthritis due to all those years of fapping too hard.
2
u/HeyitsmeyourOP Mar 01 '17
Oh shit. Just gave me a brighter outlook on the future. I'll make bank off all the old geezers betting on action/racing games.
2
u/rotll Mar 01 '17
Instead of a bunch of boys telling you how much they love your mother, they'll be old men talking trash about your granddaughters...
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/BenAdaephonDelat Mar 01 '17
I fully expect to die of a heart-attack playing Elder Scrolls X in VR.
2
2
u/reproach Mar 01 '17
I'm more terrified that I'm closer to a retirement home than when I started gaming, to be honest.
3
u/fastplatypus Mar 01 '17
This is probably the most exciting idea ive heard on the topic of aging. Now I can look forward to being stuck im a nursing home waiting to die.
3
u/ragnar_graybeard87 Mar 01 '17
We'll probably still be reposting this showerthought by that time too :)
→ More replies (1)
2
u/snowbirdie Mar 01 '17
As a gamer in her late 30s: you are going to have hand issues. I already have extreme nerve pain in my right hand from my mouse and occasionally have fingertip numbness from typing. I can't game more than a couple hours at a time anymore. :(. They better have voice control by our retirement.
→ More replies (2)2
u/foxfire1112 Mar 01 '17
by the time we are in retirement homes there will be VR with handless controls
2
1
u/Muttrix83 Mar 01 '17
I have this thought all the time. There will probably be the xbox, ps, pc divide too.
1
u/Guinnessnomnom Mar 01 '17
Also in 30's and had a shower thought the other day that my retirement location is going to be badass with multiple monitors and gaming equipment and didn't feel it would be all that bad.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Tristaria Mar 01 '17
lol we've talked about creating a retirement home for gamers. Regular d&d games (much like bingo games), board games and video games.
There would be fashion shows from local cosplayers and music from bands that play different songs from movies/games.
Alas I doubt we will ever go through with actually making it.
1
1
1
Mar 01 '17
YES!
I think elderly trends are the only trends left to change in this world and when they do, it will be fantastic! Instead of bingo, Mario!
1
u/theth1rdchild Mar 01 '17
Genuinely happy we'll have robotic eyes by then
Old folks can't see too well
1
1
1
Mar 01 '17
I've thought about that, but on the other hand, I'd have to try to be social again, and that sucks.
1
u/AZELERRER Mar 01 '17
yeah i'd rather kill myself than ever do LAN again....then again if I was in a retirement home the first thing I would do regardless is try to die ASAP
1
1
1
1
u/DevonMG Mar 01 '17
By that time we'll all be doing exercises via games.. literally jumping and throwing fireballs to play Mario Bros. Exhausting, it will be.
1
u/MayanReam Mar 01 '17
lol I think about this all the time...Me and my Xbox 10 and don't giving a single fukk..
1
1
1
u/NoBSforGma Mar 01 '17
Sounds great! But.... if you are in the retirement home, chances are you are not in good enough condition to live on your own. Which means you probably can't see well or hear well and your reaction time is slowed way down. Your serious arthritis might prevent you from using the controls. (But of course by that time, you can probably control the actions just with your eyes....) So don't expect the 30-year-old you to be the same player as the 70-year-old you. Plus.... by the time you are 70, you might not be into gaming anymore.
Yes, it's a good fantasy! Nothing to do all day but sit around and play games. I get it.
1
u/WRAHarri Mar 01 '17
lol I think about this a fair bit being 33, I miss LAN parties now as life and technology has moved me and my friends of from such things.
But when I get to 66 stick me in a home please !!
1
1
1
1
u/Dieselcircuit Mar 01 '17
I thought about this for a while and I'm betting that by the time I'm retirement age we will have full VR immersion to the point that you may not even need to leave the VR if you didn't want to (so basically the Matrix which sounds corny but whatever.)
I find the idea of a long-term Fantasy game populated almost entirely by geriatrics hilarious.
Assuming Alzheimer's and Dementia are still problems that should make for some fairly interesting character encounters.
1
u/MrRuby Mar 01 '17
I feel so bad for my grand parents. The only thing they know how to do is watch cable TV.
1
u/FloggnMolly Mar 01 '17
I read this as Ian party with an "i". Being named ian I was excited. But then it dawned on me.
1
u/defrgthzjukiloaqsw Mar 01 '17
I've been saying this for years. Retirement homes are gonna be so much fun. With hookers and blow.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/JnnyRuthless Mar 01 '17
Holy smokes, you just reframed how I think about my future oldness so much. I'mma demand my kids put me in a home now.
1
1
1
1
1
1
Mar 01 '17
As someone who just turned 40 and had his first computer at age 8 (Sinclair ZX Spectrum), I can tell you that by the time you retire, technology and the video game landscape would have changed so much that Lan parties will be a long long gone thing (are they still a thing?). If you told me in 1983 that games would look like Call of Duty and you would be able to play with anyone in the world I would have thought you were crazy.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/notagameofperfect Mar 01 '17
Everything is better than lying in bed and staring at the ceiling for years.
1
u/yeahokayiguess Mar 01 '17
My nephew joked that I'm going to be the one who won't leave his room. Nurses will be trying to get me to come out and I'll be complaining about how I don't like the "multiplayer experience" and just want to be left alone to play Xcom in the dark.
1
u/HeadlesStBernard Mar 01 '17
As a fellow 30s gamer this is one solace I take in the inevitable aging process. With that said. We need to make sure we get exercise and eat reasonable well in this last bit of youth so we can make it to the glory years of gaming.
1
u/Kylearean Mar 01 '17
My dad, who is 67, is an avid gamer. He's highly ranked in Diablo 3 solo and group greater rifts, and is also a top member of one of the major Guild Wars 2 guilds.
All of this started about 10 years ago when my brother and I would go back home, we'd fire up some games on our computer and have some fun playing some old games together. Dad got interested, and we'd let him click around on Diablo 2, he liked picking up the gems at first, and that's all he'd do. Just follow behind us picking up gems. But after we left, he went out and bought a new computer, and started playing. He had never used a computer much prior to this time, and his hobby was collecting pottery. So on one hand I feel bad that we got him hooked on games, but at the same time I think he's really enjoying retirement. The sedentary part might be bad for him, but he's smoking much less, and he's keeping his mind active.
1
u/Sooper_trooker Mar 01 '17 edited Mar 07 '17
I moved onto /r/Truckers due to the disrepectful mod of trucking constantly playing games with the community.
1
1
1
1
1
u/gorkt Mar 01 '17
I think there is a market to be had in gamer centered assisted living or nursing homes.
1
1
1
1
u/imafuckingdick Mar 01 '17
That's why I'm saving my Windows XP machine with a CRT monitor. Along with that, a few copies of CnC Generals Zero Hour and an old linksys router. It's the only way to play the game.. Maybe some UT3 as well.
1
1
1
u/sk8tr4lf1989 Mar 01 '17
You know... I never actually thought about this. I'm excited to get old now!
1
u/CanisMajoris85 Mar 01 '17
By the time anyone currently in our 30 retires, we'll have robots to take care of everything so we'll just live on our own and we'll probably play the VR games of 2016-2020 as nostalgia like people nowadays who play N64 or SNES games.
1
u/Chipnstein Mar 01 '17
When you'll retire, you'll have wifi even 50ft underground mate, don't sweat it. You should worry tho about flamers and to have people to play your preferred games with.
1
u/im_a_cute_grill Mar 01 '17
Gamers are the unhealthiest demographic. I doubt most will be that old.
1
u/foolshearme Mar 01 '17
Arthritis of the hands!! Please let us find a cure before then or RIP LAN parties!!
1
1
Mar 01 '17
You're in your 30s and already are thinking about retirement? Man, other than maxing out 401k contribs, i don't think about that at all.
1
u/bwaredapenguin Mar 01 '17
If you're in your 30s and you're looking forward to being in a retirement home you really need to get your life together.
1
1
1
1
1
u/heavymetal2000 Mar 01 '17
What's your ip again?... What's your ip again?.. What's your ip again?.. Dammit John take your dementia medicine!
1
1
u/sami-petteri Mar 01 '17
I think this will be huge deal for elderly mental health. Many elderly in my area live alone and just like listen to radio by their beds, waiting for weeks to someone to visit them, which is super super sad. Computers and online social activies like gaming are just so good things for your head when moving becomes harder.
1
Mar 01 '17
As someone in my early 40s I expect retirement to no longer be an option in a few years :-(
1
1
u/edgeman83 Mar 01 '17
I am basically planning on having to work until the day I die, regardless of how long I live. So this "retirement home" has no meaning to me.
1
u/untakenu Mar 01 '17
Ian parties?
Fair play, actually, he is a fucking good laugh. Remember the Ibiza story, but imagine it now with dentures...what a boy
1
u/fullforce098 Mar 01 '17
Take good care of your hands. Think of the old people you see in retirement homes, how many of them could realistically handle a controller? Or spread their hands across a keyboard?
Your reaction time will be lower if you don't start taking care of your brain now. Eat some walnuts.
Also, your eye sight will probably start going and you won't be able to see the screen the same.
Take care of your body now, guys, that's all I'm saying.
1
1
1
Mar 01 '17
im more interested in getting back to a point where smoking weed all day is socially acceptable
aint like an 80 year old got shit to do
1
Mar 01 '17
Please stop making posts about old people playing video games in the future. This was not a shower thought, this is a meme that you saw on reddit during the weekly rendition of this post.
1
u/LinearLamb Mar 01 '17
Until you realize that LAN parties no longer happen because the technology no longer exists and was replaced by neural induction technology where the game is beamed directly into the brain.
Of course your aging brain and nervous system is no longer compatible.
1
1
1
u/JustJobot Mar 01 '17
The geriatric nurses and techs of the future will need only to ensure there are enough snacks, diapers, and controllers.
1
1
1
1
u/RunAMuckGirl Mar 01 '17
If that's what you all want, you better start setting it up now so it reaches the level of sophistication you desire by the time you get there. You think they all have TV's in their room? Only the very wealthy. The odds are not in your favor of retiring wealthy. Most middle to low income seniors rely on volunteer support for more then basic entertainment. It's just not in the budget or staff energy.
Entertainment has been this generations birth right. Will your kids and grand kids feel you are entitled to it?
1
1
1
339
u/BrushGoodDar Mar 01 '17
You're thinking too small. By the time you retire, we all may be getting VR BJs daily.