So yeah, title. I don’t even know why, I have tons of games that would normally appeal to me, but the weather has been consistently great where I live and I put in a significant amount of time on my bicycle since I bought it in mid June (about 120h, ~2400km). I feel guilty if I don’t “seize the day” and make use of good weather, especially with autumn and rainy season approaching. On the days when I have to recover (~200-250km per week apparently takes a toll on the knees in mid 30s, who knew…) I’ll go for a walk and just zone out for 2-3h.
Plus, I started tracking my activities with Strava and I’m finding it immensely satisfying to look at my stats, examine the segment breakdowns, etc. It’s a game on its own, really, like playing a solo version of Cycling Manager in a way.
Anyway, just curious how long some of you have been stuck in such gaming slumps, regardless of reason.
For the past few years I’ve noticed my gaming has come in waves. I’m all about it for months, and then I’ll go months where I can’t get into anything. It’s not the games themselves, because I usually find I’ll get into the same exact games when the wave starts coming back.
Interesting, I am exactly the same. I haven’t turned on my gaming PC since Spring (I have played some Xbox/PS games, but not a lot). Working at home, I usually don’t want to sit at a desk in my office anymore than I have to after work.
I have also turned exercise into a RPG, always trying to improve my stats. Using Strava for everything, as well as Garmin, Smashrun for running, and then some apps on my phone. For biking I will be moving to Zwift for the winter, which really turns cycling into a game.
It’s not just the nice weather for me, I am just not as big as a gamer anymore. I want games that are quick to get into that I can play for 30 minutes and be done. Dead Cells is that game right now.
So, during the slumps, do you guys end up purchasing a bunch of games you think will trigger some response that you play like an hour before the “meh” comes in? That happens to me and my Steam account is littered with might have been interesting games that never got a fair shake during my slump =) On the bright side, my list of “go to” games has got bigger over the years, so I haev a few more to pick through then I used to. My go to’s are all over the place: KSP, Long Dark, Skyrim, Ark, Dark Souls (one of them), Modded Minecraft…
Yup, without fail. The backlog™ is an ever expanding beast. I’ll usually end up trying some, then alt+f4, watch some tv shows and go to sleep, looking forward to more physical activity after the next work day.
Oh, thank god I’m not the only one.
How exactly do you work with Zwift? I don’t have any trainers, but I’ve thought about purchasing one since I’ll be spending winter and spring at home (expat), and I legitimately want to improve my cycling performance now, and get some actual progression going (follow training plans, do an FTP test, etc), rather than just racking up kilometers. I have a hybrid bike now, but I’ll probably purchase my first road bike when I got home - the road surfaces there are much better, and I figured if I’m pedaling so much, I might as well go all the way and pedal faster on a road bike.
Also, +F1 on the WFH and wanting to get out of the apartment after work. I think this really is the contributing factor for why I shifted my interests.
Bonus question if you don’t mind: I’ve been looking at getting my first cyclocomputer (I don’t want to use my phone on a handlebar mount because 1) vibrations can cause permanent damage and 2) battery drain. I’ve been looking at Garming Edge 130 (not plus, I don’t need accelerometer) and Garming Edge Explore - I’m strongly leaning towards the latter, but when I think about it, the only thing I REALLY need are audio and visual cues to make the turn. I’ve been doing a lot of bike exploration lately and checking my phone every 500m on country gravel paths is more annoying than I anticipated. One aspect in favor of 130 is definitely the size, the Edge Explore seem like it would be too big for the handlebar.
Most people go with a trainer, but I went with the full indoor smart bike (Wahoo Kickr Bike). Not cheap, but I didn’t want to bring my bike indoors with an oily chain around cats and carpet. The bike does a pretty good job of mimicking the real thing, but it is overkill.
There are numerous articles/videos on how to get into Zwift at different price levels. One thing that is preferable for Zwift, especially if you want to do the workouts and the FTP test, you need a power meter. So if you get a trainer, I would get one that has one. Or of course, get a power meter for your bike so it’s usable everywhere. We have talked about it a little in the thread linked below.
On the bike computer I use a Garmin 830, but I am not familiar with the ones you mention. I use it for distance, speed, power, etc. I never use it for navigation so I can’t tell you anything other than I know it does have it. Wahoo’s computer seems to be the most popular nowadays, but there is a new brand called Hammerhead that seems to be growing in popularity.
DC Rainmaker is great for sports tech reviews, so I would check out his site for more info on all of the above.
Thanks for the links! I’ve been trying to justify a power meter, but my current hybrid bike costs about 1000€, so it would be wasted. Once I get a proper road bike (aiming at shimano 105 with hydraulic disks, so ~2000€) I’ll definitely think about it though.
My longest slump was about two years. Back in 2006, I left a long relationship and realized up until then I’d been using games almost purely as an escape from my PTSD and depression, not as the joyful experiences they actually are. After a lot of therapy, I returned to gaming seeing it for the joyful thing it is, and have just been loving it ever since. Do what you gotta do for you. If that isn’t gaming right now, that’s fine.
Pretty much. Game pass has slowed things down somewhat, but I still buy humble bundles and other sales during my off phase trying to give it a jolt. That’s one way I ended up with AC Odyssey and a bunch of other games I haven’t even touched yet heh.
It has slowed down though due to how many games I get for free via epic and game pass though. It’s usually a good sign that I’m not in a gaming mood if I can’t find anything on GP, my Epic library, my twitch library, or my steam backlog that is giving me the itch.
I think balance is important and I wouldn’t look at it as a slump but a redistribution of your time. I tend to split my time weekly between gaming, reading, and TV. I suspect that if we don’t switch it around a bunch during the week a longer shift will occur naturally such as going away from gaming for a period of time. I think that is healthy and not a negative.
I had a similar experience to Bateau in 2019. I moved to a new place with an excellent 24hr gym that was virtually never used, and having a spotless gym to work out in by myself meant that I was going every day and spending hours. I got into great shape and it became the thing I organized my whole life around. And of course, I dropped videogame time to make more gym time. But I did miss it - I kept up with videogames even more closely, and watched tons of gaming videos while at the gym. Then COVID happened and the gym shut down, so I’m back to couch potato gaming, baby!
I don’t think it counts as a “slump” but I didn’t game for about a month because I was hospitalized, followed by 3 weeks in rehab. Strangely, I didn’t really miss it (although I would log into Steam on my phone periodically just to see what’s going on).
I’m a sucker for the bundle deals that give me several games for $1 or $5 or whatever. Not the Humble deal, but some of the others. I keep growing my backlog that way. Really, it’s sort of stupid for me to keep buying but when I can get 5 games for $3 it’s hard for me to pass up when I can find 2 or 3 that look interesting.
I don’t game that much anymore. I’d like to get back into it, but when I game I isolate myself and that doesn’t always seem like the best idea.
My first child killed my gaming hours, and then my PC desktop died, so I had about a 5 year slump between then and when I got a used WiiU, of which has been my entire gaming platform up to now. I’m still making it through the Nintendo backlog, but I’ll be getting something to play MSFS soonish, either a new PC or XboxX.
I think I was lucky that PC gaming wasn’t a thing when I was a student. I had the 8 bit era while at high school then a lull that let me get edumacated and then PC gaming from the mid 90s. Fortunate timing :)
If you like stats, you want a power meter. Plus if you buy the right kind you can just transfer it to your new bike. (Mine are in the pedals).
There is a chart in Garmin and Strava of your power curve over time, from 1 second up your longest ride. Seeing your power levels and wanting to beat them is pretty addicting. Or when you are hammering away on the pedals and look at your computer and see your power spiking, it’s a great feeling.
They are expensive, and not really needed for an amateur, but I found them to be a lot of fun and a really interesting way of looking at your rides.
How does this work? Swapping over the entire crankset? I was under the impression that power meters are integrated into cranks (haven’t read deeply into it yet). I am indeed very curious about the power I can put out, and it will be useful when I start doing more structured training.
