Current gaming experiences aren't great.
Current gaming experiences aren't great.
I'm a young player struggling with setup, so when I say "let's play for an hour," it usually takes me about twenty minutes to sign in across multiple accounts, read new terms, and deal with forced updates. Just want the game to start without all the hassle. Thanks for listening in my Ted talk. Sincerely, a frustrated gamer trying to finally join MSFS2020 after a couple months. Updated: settings and profiles were wiped by cloud saves and forced online changes. I won't play today. Thanks for modern gaming. Updated2: my flight training progress vanished too. It's really annoying. Edited November 4, 2023 by MG2R
You're on a PS4 or PS5. I don't use them often enough, so whenever you do, it's best to get a system and software update. With a PC that gets used more regularly, updates come along more frequently.
When you want to play a game right now while you have free time... But the game has a 14GB update and it doesn't give any option to simply "skip" this update to keep playing the outdated version... You HAVE to update. Guess I'm not playing for the next 45 minutes, which will leave me with 20 minutes to play before I need to go afterward.... may as well not play.
I recently started using a steam deck, which let me focus on single-player titles and shorter gaming sessions. Being able to quickly pick up a game like Civilization or Rocket League has been really helpful. I store it near my bed, and I can jump in for 20 minutes or an hour to enjoy quality gameplay without the distractions of a desktop setup.
I don’t have any problems with Steam; updates usually happen quickly, and client updates often take around 30 seconds. Battlenet works similarly, with very fast performance. I actually prefer the UI—it feels more current than Steam (though Steam offers more features).
Steam performance varies widely between titles. Some updates load quickly, while others take a long time to download and install. The slowest part often comes from the download itself, not just the installation. I experienced a 30MB update taking nearly an hour to finish, which was frustrating. Dead by Daylight handled it better, but newer games and browsers have improved consistency in downloading and updating.
This discussion highlights a lack of genuine player experience on today’s gaming platforms. My perspective comes from someone who’s been using Steam since its early days. They once offered offline play, but that feature is now outdated compared to the bigger problems. I’m growing more frustrated with how the industry has changed, even though I still play some classic games. It feels like every new release of a popular title is quickly followed by more gimmicks, making it hard to trust what’s actually being offered. There’s little real substance in most AAA games now. It’s tough to determine exactly when and why this shift occurred. I suspect the introduction of loot boxes by EA set a precedent, prompting other studios to copy it soon after. Blizzard followed up with a token system and basic shop items around 2014. Essentially, these large companies often launch products hastily and then promise fixes later. As someone who loves both CoD and BF, watching these developments is disappointing. The original versions of BF3, BF1, and the original MW2 remain cherished memories.
That's actually accurate, I experienced something similar too, but honestly I'm unsure if any of the usual reasons apply. (Except maybe a server overload situation, which is probably overkill.) The real point is I haven't encountered this issue in more than a year, even with games that had it before. To be honest, I don't really use Steam or Valve, but I've had minimal problems with Steam lately.