I was having this discussion with a few friends of mine. I started playing Ultima Online at release when I was 12 (I'm 28 now) and played for years having a blast PKing/PVPing people. However, since I've gotten older I've tried so many newer sandbox full loot and pvp games such as Eve Online and Darkfall and I just can't get into it.
I really can't put my finger on when or why it changed, but it's more of annoyance now. It may be that I actually have a job now and other things going on in my life that I don't want to sink a few hours into a game just to have all of that progress halted by some guys just looking to screw up someone's day. It was definitely a gradual change, but now, I'm so opposed to PVP that i've become something I used to hate as a kid...a carebear. I never understood when I was playing UO why people would avoid fights, but now I completely get it. I still have no idea why the change happened, but a lot of my friends whom I played UO with have felt the same way.
Download Tribes: Ascend (free to play high-speed FPS). Play that relentlessly for a few weeks. If you have any kind of success there it's not age keeping you back in MMOs.
Play some chess, do some puzzles. The only difference is pace. Reaction speed is nothing if your decisions are always the wrong ones.
Watching older family members falter at what I would consider a simple task in a moderately fast game it quickly becomes obvious they simply can't process the relevant information fast enough and make the right choice. Those that have remained mentally active either perform much better, or "quickly" adapt (albeit much slower than someone half their age might.)
A little basic training never hurt anyone. Most good players react instinctively to specific moves or combinations learned over time. If you open with A, they'll counter with Y and use Z to counter the B and C they knew were coming. They tend to fall apart when something unexpected happens. The best players are those that formulate their own patterns, and are able to change them when the rest of the world catches up. You'll rarely catch up to those, but a good foundation will put you ahead of most the cookie cutter crowd who draw their knowledge from reading forums and blindly apply it without thinking.
Originally posted by Adamantine Hrr I'm 40 and I've been using LOL for 15 years now ... no idea why that would be "cringeworthy" but hey, whatever.
This seems out of context to the thread topic. What does pvp got to do with lolz? How are you to old to lolz??? I am older than all of you and I lolz and lolz and lolz at everything.
Well on the first page they were discussing how the op used Lol and it didnt feel right coming from someone older.
Nothing wrong with using Lol. Think back guys when we were playing muds even before visual muds (mmorpg's) like AOL's Neverwinter nights came out. We pioneered Lol and rofl etc... Don't let these young whipper snappers lay claim to Lol
Play an older game, like DAoC. Level up strictly in the battlegrounds to get a feel for the PvP. Try to reach the realm rank cap in each one that you can. Start with playing a healer class to get used to reacting to keeping people up. It's still a very good PvP game where group mechanics are important and you're always better when with a team!
I am 42, and suck at pvp in button mashing MMORPGs, and I am in good shape for my age, if that matters.
That said, I kick ass in Planetside 2 and do pretty damn well in FPSs. For me, it is not so much a matter of skill in MMOs, is I just cannot be bothered to learn all the right combos, or get the right skills, or skill builds to pvp, frankly because the older I get, the less I care about pvp in MMOs. My tastes just lean away from it, and I get my pvp jones taken care of in PS2 and other FPSs.
As others have said, MMO pvp success is also more a matter of time. When I put too much into WoW pvp back in the day, I got pretty good. Those days are gone, I barely have the time to play any of them now, so I squeeze and hour or two into PS2 now and then.
Originally posted by flizzer Whether it is GW2 or now Neverwinter, I just can't seem to get anywhere in PvP. Now I'm willing to accept I am just not skilled enough and I will never do well in PvP, but I am also wondering if I am just too old and slow at this point. The PvP in these games just seem to demand fast reaction times that I don't have. Maybe it is a bad ping which I hear people talking about, not sure. Im in my mid 40s and far from in a rocking chair, but I am beginning to feel there is no way I can keep up with these more action oriented games in the PvP department. Okay, now tell me you are in your 70s and routinely take on 18yr olds and make me feel even worse, lol.
Well I can only speak from my perspective, obviously.
I started gaming pretty much at the start of it all... around 1998 and was a s*cker for pvp. Teens, you get the deal. Now I'm in my mid20s and I developed a greater emotional sensitivity and PvP is too aggressive for me. This is only a good thing, but I doubt any gamer will understand.
53 here. I'm a little slower than I was 30 years ago, but still competitive in PVP. I do seem to be avoiding twitch games though. If I have to bunny-hop around in PVP, I'll pass. Someone suggested chess to keep your mind sharp and I would agree. My mom is 90 and does daily cross-word puzzles. She is still sharp as a tack.
Originally posted by flizzer Whether it is GW2 or now Neverwinter, I just can't seem to get anywhere in PvP. Now I'm willing to accept I am just not skilled enough and I will never do well in PvP, but I am also wondering if I am just too old and slow at this point. The PvP in these games just seem to demand fast reaction times that I don't have. Maybe it is a bad ping which I hear people talking about, not sure. Im in my mid 40s and far from in a rocking chair, but I am beginning to feel there is no way I can keep up with these more action oriented games in the PvP department. Okay, now tell me you are in your 70s and routinely take on 18yr olds and make me feel even worse, lol.
I used to play a real PVP called Darkfall with people in their 40s and they had no issues killing the younger players.. Also played FPS games with people in their 40s and they where bloody good.
Its all down to the time/practice you can put into the game.. the older we get the less spare time we usually have haha.. but the younger people usually have tons of spare time..
Originally posted by flizzer Whether it is GW2 or now Neverwinter, I just can't seem to get anywhere in PvP. Now I'm willing to accept I am just not skilled enough and I will never do well in PvP, but I am also wondering if I am just too old and slow at this point. The PvP in these games just seem to demand fast reaction times that I don't have. Maybe it is a bad ping which I hear people talking about, not sure. Im in my mid 40s and far from in a rocking chair, but I am beginning to feel there is no way I can keep up with these more action oriented games in the PvP department. Okay, now tell me you are in your 70s and routinely take on 18yr olds and make me feel even worse, lol.
Have you tried playing an archer in Dark Age of Camelot. Free trial will let you know the answer if this is the game for you.(One more thing(start your play experience in Hibernia).
Originally posted by flizzer Whether it is GW2 or now Neverwinter, I just can't seem to get anywhere in PvP. Now I'm willing to accept I am just not skilled enough and I will never do well in PvP, but I am also wondering if I am just too old and slow at this point. The PvP in these games just seem to demand fast reaction times that I don't have. Maybe it is a bad ping which I hear people talking about, not sure. Im in my mid 40s and far from in a rocking chair, but I am beginning to feel there is no way I can keep up with these more action oriented games in the PvP department. Okay, now tell me you are in your 70s and routinely take on 18yr olds and make me feel even worse, lol.
I'm 25. I could never pvp.
I could do ok in shooters but MMO pvp I could never do.
eve's 1 v 1 is slow enough that you can think about your actions carefully...which leads to "do I orbit closer? do my weapons track better than his ? maybe i should pick some distance and outrange his optimal. what are those, hybrid guns? i got lasers. he tracks better...I should stay close. Approach? or orbit ? "
and thn you realise you're at 50% armor and he's at 20% shield.
"my weapons do more dmg against armor. once I get past i should be ahead. or am I too far behind ? maybe i should disengage. can i outrun him ? can I get out of his point ?"
then you're dead with hi at 30% armor.
"oh crap I never used overload. I'm a retard. "
that's me in 1 v 1.
I think everyone who has played Eve has been there. On a number of occasions I've gotten half way through a fight and realized I haven't deployed drones.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own. -- Herman Melville
I think it is partly to do with MMO pvp. If I am playing a multi-player FPS I perform perfectly well, as soon as tab targeting and hotbars come in to play I find that: -
a) I just get a 'what's the point' kind of reaction to it, not sure why but I do.
b) I know there will be some huge gear advantage (which despite endless hours balancing classes through homogenisation) still makes many encounters unfair and therefore irritating; whether I am at an advantage or not.
c) Watching people jumping around like a kangaroo on speed in wow some years ago just turned me off mmo pvp.
Well 10 years ago i was so much better in shooters, now i don't have a chance against skilled kids but in mmorpg's i'm always somewhere in the middle. You lose something from your reactions but not so much. You need more practice and you will be doing ok in bg's but don't except to beat kids from top arena teams. We have now only chance in slow paced games like Eve Online
I'm 34 years old. I'm not too old for PvP. What I am too old for, however, is the extremely limited and annoying form of modern instanced PvP. I feel stupid playing it. Everything these days feels so... Middle School.
I want some realism...some world PvP with meaning.
I still love to PVP at my age. It's still my preferred form of end game and how I choose to play instead of raiding. However, I do notice that my reaction time has slowed a little and my hands shake slightly more but I'm still able to compete at most games with PVP except FPS'ers. Though in games like PS2 I just hop in my tank because you really don't have to have sturdy hands to get kills with it
Im in the beginning of my 40's, and I have no problems with reaction times. I still play FPS games as I did when I was in my 20's. I have not played MMO's for a long while, because they are so boring. I started out with an avid PvP'er in UO and being pretty good at it. Since then I have only played Planetside and WoW at a high level in MMOs. Both I had no problems with. WoW was in my end-30's.
I wouldn't worry so much about age and reactiontime. You might suffer very, very slightly, but you can make up for it by moving more cleverly (Im talking FPS here) and staying cool, which is often something older people can do better than teens.
Also look into your ping, which is exstremely important. If it is not too high - optimal is 50 and below - you will begin suffering after 100, if you are towards 200 you might as well give up playing FPS competitively).
Another factor is, that as we grow older, we have less time to dedicate to games. "Use it or lose it" applies here, and you cannot expect to do as good as teenagers dedicating their life to action games. If you could, and you put emphasis on other skills (moving cleverly, staying cool, being patient), I have no doubt you could compete, also against teens - provided that you have the basic abilities otherwise.
Your just getting to Old Master age, you just need to find your PvP gaming Fu and you will be fine. Tutorials, watching others play and reading up on classes and PvP do help!
I think it's all about the brain wiring and the lack of finger co-ordination learning curve. At least for me as in my mid 40's
Back in the day I was a Master at Quake and even played in tournaments and did extremely well. I have noticed through the years that my "enthusiasm" to create macro's learn the magic formulas for the right gear along with making sure I have the right spec'd toon has become "work" which I have enough of in the real world. Don't even give me an Xbox Controller to navigate!
That being said I find I enjoy my small victories now a lot more than the old days. Even if it is because I surprised my self that I won (maybe just took out someone older than me )
55 here and im mainly playing games like Asheron's call-darktide/Darkfall/DayZ.
Im also not fast enough or handy with my keyboard as most youngones are.
I compensate for patience sneaking im very carefull always pay attention to my suroundings and know when to run so i survive in these harsh games very well as oldie.
If im in group im not leading i leave that to younger players i follow.
But manage overtime very well.
Im also not concerned about dying losing stuff or wanne brag about how many i killed.
Numbers don't interest me i just wanne have fun i rarely chat ingame never say anything dying or winning.
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77 CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now)) MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB PSU:Corsair AX1200i OS:Windows 10 64bit
Comments
I was having this discussion with a few friends of mine. I started playing Ultima Online at release when I was 12 (I'm 28 now) and played for years having a blast PKing/PVPing people. However, since I've gotten older I've tried so many newer sandbox full loot and pvp games such as Eve Online and Darkfall and I just can't get into it.
I really can't put my finger on when or why it changed, but it's more of annoyance now. It may be that I actually have a job now and other things going on in my life that I don't want to sink a few hours into a game just to have all of that progress halted by some guys just looking to screw up someone's day. It was definitely a gradual change, but now, I'm so opposed to PVP that i've become something I used to hate as a kid...a carebear. I never understood when I was playing UO why people would avoid fights, but now I completely get it. I still have no idea why the change happened, but a lot of my friends whom I played UO with have felt the same way.
Play some chess, do some puzzles. The only difference is pace. Reaction speed is nothing if your decisions are always the wrong ones.
Watching older family members falter at what I would consider a simple task in a moderately fast game it quickly becomes obvious they simply can't process the relevant information fast enough and make the right choice. Those that have remained mentally active either perform much better, or "quickly" adapt (albeit much slower than someone half their age might.)
A little basic training never hurt anyone. Most good players react instinctively to specific moves or combinations learned over time. If you open with A, they'll counter with Y and use Z to counter the B and C they knew were coming. They tend to fall apart when something unexpected happens. The best players are those that formulate their own patterns, and are able to change them when the rest of the world catches up. You'll rarely catch up to those, but a good foundation will put you ahead of most the cookie cutter crowd who draw their knowledge from reading forums and blindly apply it without thinking.
This seems out of context to the thread topic. What does pvp got to do with lolz? How are you to old to lolz??? I am older than all of you and I lolz and lolz and lolz at everything.
Well on the first page they were discussing how the op used Lol and it didnt feel right coming from someone older.
Nothing wrong with using Lol. Think back guys when we were playing muds even before visual muds (mmorpg's) like
AOL's Neverwinter nights came out. We pioneered Lol and rofl etc...
Don't let these young whipper snappers lay claim to Lol
I am 42, and suck at pvp in button mashing MMORPGs, and I am in good shape for my age, if that matters.
That said, I kick ass in Planetside 2 and do pretty damn well in FPSs. For me, it is not so much a matter of skill in MMOs, is I just cannot be bothered to learn all the right combos, or get the right skills, or skill builds to pvp, frankly because the older I get, the less I care about pvp in MMOs. My tastes just lean away from it, and I get my pvp jones taken care of in PS2 and other FPSs.
As others have said, MMO pvp success is also more a matter of time. When I put too much into WoW pvp back in the day, I got pretty good. Those days are gone, I barely have the time to play any of them now, so I squeeze and hour or two into PS2 now and then.
Well I can only speak from my perspective, obviously.
I started gaming pretty much at the start of it all... around 1998 and was a s*cker for pvp. Teens, you get the deal. Now I'm in my mid20s and I developed a greater emotional sensitivity and PvP is too aggressive for me. This is only a good thing, but I doubt any gamer will understand.
Enjoy, what you like.
When you've got teenage kids and a full time job, the last thing you feel like doing is running 4 hour raids as a second job.
I used to play a real PVP called Darkfall with people in their 40s and they had no issues killing the younger players.. Also played FPS games with people in their 40s and they where bloody good.
Its all down to the time/practice you can put into the game.. the older we get the less spare time we usually have haha.. but the younger people usually have tons of spare time..
Have you tried playing an archer in Dark Age of Camelot. Free trial will let you know the answer if this is the game for you.(One more thing(start your play experience in Hibernia).
I think everyone who has played Eve has been there. On a number of occasions I've gotten half way through a fight and realized I haven't deployed drones.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.
-- Herman Melville
I think it is partly to do with MMO pvp. If I am playing a multi-player FPS I perform perfectly well, as soon as tab targeting and hotbars come in to play I find that: -
a) I just get a 'what's the point' kind of reaction to it, not sure why but I do.
b) I know there will be some huge gear advantage (which despite endless hours balancing classes through homogenisation) still makes many encounters unfair and therefore irritating; whether I am at an advantage or not.
c) Watching people jumping around like a kangaroo on speed in wow some years ago just turned me off mmo pvp.
I'm 34 years old. I'm not too old for PvP. What I am too old for, however, is the extremely limited and annoying form of modern instanced PvP. I feel stupid playing it. Everything these days feels so... Middle School.
I want some realism...some world PvP with meaning.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
Im in the beginning of my 40's, and I have no problems with reaction times. I still play FPS games as I did when I was in my 20's. I have not played MMO's for a long while, because they are so boring. I started out with an avid PvP'er in UO and being pretty good at it. Since then I have only played Planetside and WoW at a high level in MMOs. Both I had no problems with. WoW was in my end-30's.
I wouldn't worry so much about age and reactiontime. You might suffer very, very slightly, but you can make up for it by moving more cleverly (Im talking FPS here) and staying cool, which is often something older people can do better than teens.
Also look into your ping, which is exstremely important. If it is not too high - optimal is 50 and below - you will begin suffering after 100, if you are towards 200 you might as well give up playing FPS competitively).
Another factor is, that as we grow older, we have less time to dedicate to games. "Use it or lose it" applies here, and you cannot expect to do as good as teenagers dedicating their life to action games. If you could, and you put emphasis on other skills (moving cleverly, staying cool, being patient), I have no doubt you could compete, also against teens - provided that you have the basic abilities otherwise.
I think it's all about the brain wiring and the lack of finger co-ordination learning curve. At least for me as in my mid 40's
Back in the day I was a Master at Quake and even played in tournaments and did extremely well. I have noticed through the years that my "enthusiasm" to create macro's learn the magic formulas for the right gear along with making sure I have the right spec'd toon has become "work" which I have enough of in the real world. Don't even give me an Xbox Controller to navigate!
That being said I find I enjoy my small victories now a lot more than the old days. Even if it is because I surprised my self that I won (maybe just took out someone older than me
)
55 here and im mainly playing games like Asheron's call-darktide/Darkfall/DayZ.
Im also not fast enough or handy with my keyboard as most youngones are.
I compensate for patience sneaking im very carefull always pay attention to my suroundings and know when to run so i survive in these harsh games very well as oldie.
If im in group im not leading i leave that to younger players i follow.
But manage overtime very well.
Im also not concerned about dying losing stuff or wanne brag about how many i killed.
Numbers don't interest me i just wanne have fun i rarely chat ingame never say anything dying or winning.
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit