Today, I turned 30. Today, I realized I lost my competitive edge

J

JPS Kai

Member
Allow me to preface this by saying I was never an amazing tournament player. I've taken first in a few locals but most every tournament I've taken place in has seen a showing of second place (If not worse). My fifteen minutes of Fame were playing in UFGTX's Mugen charity tournament and taking second. Even with an OP character, I couldn't clinch a win.

Today, I went to a barcade in Columbus to celebrate my 30th birthday. There waa a high score challenge in Joust and the winner got a shirt and a free beer. After some back and forth against one particular gentleman, I reluctantly couldn't match his high score and had to relinquish the high score title.

It was that moment, I realized that my reflexes just aren't what they used to be. Maybe they're perfectly fine for my work as a game reviewer but I'm just not a spring chicken anymore.

My question for you, GAF: How do you stay positive knowing that you just can't be as good at gaming as you used to be five or ten years ago?
 
I'm not in my 30s yet, but there are a lot of good pro players in the fighting game community that are 30+.

If that makes you feel any better. It's just a number. You can still do what your 29 self (yesterday) could have done lol
 
Tokido is 32 and he beat Punk at EVO. Skills decline with age but I think the amount depends on a ton of factors, some of which are controllable.
 
"30? That's almost dead." - Radar O'Reilly, MASH.

One of the advantages of getting older is not caring about skillz in videogames. It's a rather silly thing to be concerned about, really.
 
35. I'm definitely better at fighting games than I've ever been (not saying much, but that's what I play the most). I may or may not be as good at 2D platformers as I used to be as a kid, but I think that's because I play them less now. Pretty sure I'm better at video games in general than I've ever been.
 
hmmm. I don't think I could beat myself 10 years ago. The me back then had all the time in the world and laser focused on playing.
 
Remember, if you lose at your video game find extenuating circumstances to blame.

- sun was in my eyes
- this controller is borked
- im older than you

etc
 
I saw a thread asking if we thought we were still growing in skill at all, and if not, what age did we peak at.

This was in late 2015 I believe.

2016 one of my resolutions for the year was to learn to play fighting games, and get better at games in general.
Besides shootem ups, it was the only genre I felt like I couldn't play at all.

At the time I was 23 or 24 and probably wasn't sure if I had peaked a few years ago or if I still had it in me. I took 2013 and some of 2014 and 2012 off from gaming completely.
In the 2000s I was unstoppable in the Battlefield and SOCOM series. Warhawk was my jam.


Anyway, I became good enough st fighting games to beat all of my friends who used to beat me all the time because they actually owned those games.
I also learned to play Splatoon 1 for a bit last year, and now am doing great at it this year.
I've learned to play Mario kart and Arms too thanks to Nintendo's big multiplayer push, and I do really well in both.

This year I've also started playing character action (I hate that name) games and maybe I'll delve into shoot em ups soon.
I can pick up old arcade style games like Donkey Kong and do better than I used to.


So I don't think I've reach my peak yet. I'm still getting better at 25.
All I needed was a learning posture to realize it.
I dread the day when I peak.
 
Someone on Rainbow 6 Siege said I was good last night. Im not quite 30 yet though.
 
Re-bought Lawbreakers on Steam after refunding it due to low player count worry...

Played an hour of vanguard and finally getting top 5 regularly every match. Feels real good as a 32 y/o guy.
 
Depends what it is because honestly the thing with me is that I don't care about competing in games as much as I did as a kid, I'd rather compete in other areas. Games though? Nah.
 
After the age of about 25 you no longer age at the same rate as your peers. Genetics and lifestyle start to play a far bigger role; that's why some 40 year olds look 30, and vice versa.

If you want to stave off age and maintain your competitive edge, be good to your body! But never forget that we'll all die eventually, and those of us who live long enough will get old before that. Work on making peace with this inevitability, and live as much as you can while your youth permits it.

Carpe Diem! Get a facial tattoo. Have sex with people of various genders. Smile at dogs. Buy a rug. Join a band. Summon a demon. Punch a child. Blame its father. Punch the father. Run for office. Respect an elder. Wear a wig. Shave your pubes. Read one book.

I've done all these things, and at least four others. So yeah, I think I'm ready for some eternal rest.
 
Dude, I was never super competitive even as a kid. I mean, the best I did back in the day was be better than my friends at Goldeneye. I'm almost 44 and I still do pretty good, I don't have any feeling like my reflexes have worsened at all.
 
I have never wanted to be a progamer but anything i play i play to win. Im highly competitive. Always have been and always will be. Not only in video games. I dont see how people cant have a competitive drive in all areas of life

Thats why i gravitate more torwards solo games. I dont like losing for any reason other than myself. Bad teammates are just the worst
 
Aske said:
After the age of about 25 you no longer age at the same rate as your peers. Genetics and lifestyle start to play a far bigger role; that's why some 40 year olds look 30, and vice versa.

If you want to stave off age and maintain your competitive edge, be good to your body! But never forget that we'll all die eventually, and those of us who live long enough will get old before that. Work on making peace with this inevitability, and live as much as you can while your youth permits it.

Carpe Diem! Get a facial tattoo. Have sex with people of various genders. Smile at dogs. Buy a rug. Join a band. Summon a demon. Punch a child. Blame its father. Punch the father. Run for office. Respect an elder. Wear a wig. Shave your pubes. Read one book.

I've done all these things, and at least four others. So yeah, I think I'm ready for some eternal rest.
Click to expand...

let's talk about that face tattoo, get into it.
 
37 here... It honestly depends on the game. I feel like I'm more patient now than when I was as a kid and therefore do better on hard retro games.

I never felt like I had a "competive edge" over anyone, even when I was a kid with ridiculous amounts of free time to game. I used to consistently stomp my friends at stuff like Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat, but when I'd play strangers at the arcade, I'd almost always lose. Though I would blame that on not being a joystick guy.

At any rate, yeah, I'm sure my nephews could play circles around me in most modern games.
 
holy fuck the end of my life is rushing toward me. Threads about age are terrifying. I've been here too long. Been playing games too long. I'll be old and have never loved because I gamed too hard
 
I'm 32 and I would destroy my 15 year old self in anything except maybe FPS. I think the rise of esports , especially Starcraft 2, taught me a ton about the mindset of a competitor. Things like discipline, mechanical dexterity and constant practice, self improvement via replay analysis, adapting strategy/countering correctly rather than blaming game balance, and the general idea of always striving to have the competitive eye of the tiger; ie fighting to the very end, never giving up, never thinking the enemy is incapable of making a mistake, especially in reaction to your perseverance and unwillingness to give up.

If only I would apply all of these things to real life, lol.
 
You lose some of your reflexes with age that is true, but I find that the older I get, the more tactically aware I become of my surroundings and use the maps to my advantage. This really helps balance the lost reflexes.

Of course this really doesn't apply to fighting games, but even there you can channel the experience you have through knowing your mix-ups, footsies, etc. Getting older has many downsides, but not everything is lost!
 
jetsetrez said:
I'm 32 and I would destroy my 15 year old self in anything except maybe FPS. I think the rise of esports , especially Starcraft 2, taught me a ton about the mindset of a competitor. Things like discipline, mechanical dexterity and constant practice, self improvement via replay analysis, adapting strategy/countering correctly rather than blaming game balance, and the general idea of always striving to have the competitive eye of the tiger; ie fighting to the very end, never giving up, never thinking the enemy is incapable of making a mistake, especially in reaction to your perseverance and unwillingness to give up.

If only I would apply all of these things to real life, lol.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you'd destroy your 15 y/o self in real life...
 
mikeGFG said:
31. And I would whoop my 15 year old self in any game.
Click to expand...

Yep pretty much. Reflexes are super overrated and people forget that anticipation is probably more important than raw reactions. Even then I'm not convinced my reactions are even worse at 29. Hell, many of the FGC pros are in their early to mid 30s and they still body opponents half their age.
 
I couldn't honestly compare myself to half-my-age-self simply because my taste in games has changed so drastically. Like I'm sure 16 year old me could probably beat me in Mario 3... but I'd definitely whip in Heroes of the Storm or Civilizations 6.
 
42 and I completely obliterated my 11 year old son's and his friends at Mario Kart 8 last night.


But yeah, I rarely play to be competitive anymore, easy mode and single player for days here.
 
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