Searching for a Game Worth the Time

Well, well, well… who would’ve thought, right?

I know it’s been a bit, and yes — of course — I’ve switched games once again. The dust never settles, the plight never ends, and the search continues. It’s not even that I quit these games because they weren’t fun. A lot of them are fun.

I just don’t have the time they demand on a daily basis to make it feel worth it — especially when competitiveness is baked into everything.

Take Fate War, for example. The time zone alone was brutal. Everything ran on some weird UTC schedule, so most events and activities were happening at the ass crack of dawn for me. On top of that, every single interaction had to be translated word by word just to understand what anyone was saying.

That alone wears you down.

I’m still dabbling here and there — Black Desert Mobile, Shadowverse, Bleach: Soul Resonance — and I’ve started checking out Motto Immortal, Stella Sora, and Elpis. We’ll see how long these little fellas last. They’re good so far, but… you know how I am.

LOL.

It’s a real shame though. There are a lot of games I want to play, but something always gets in the way — age of the game, competitive pressure, time commitment, or just life in general. Sometimes I wish my job wasn’t so demanding and I had more free time, but… what are you gonna do?

What really gets me is this: when are they going to make games that feel worth investing time into competitively without the constant fear of falling behind forever? Or at least allow casual players to compete in some meaningful way.

Ironically, 4X strategy games actually do some of this right. Rally systems let weaker players participate, and mechanics like base teleporting let you escape whales and focus on fights within your range.

But then the genre shoots itself in the foot.

Miss a few days? That’s a death sentence. You miss conflicts, base defenses, major events — all of which can set you back insane amounts. It doesn’t help that these games launch new servers every few days, so people constantly abandon older ones hoping to stay competitive elsewhere. Communities never get the chance to settle or grow.

And let’s not even pretend the pay-to-win isn’t outrageous.

Overnight, some oil prince, random wealthy Russian guy, or mystery whale can swipe their way into being the strongest in the kingdom. Resource packs, troop packs, speedups, research boosts — suddenly their units are ten times stronger than yours, and they just lord over everything solo.

After taking a short break from Fate War, I logged back in only to find I’d been kicked from my group 16 minutes earlier — then immediately jumped by a few of the members. No heads-up. No conversation. And this was after I’d been keeping the leader updated, knowing I was busy.

That was the moment.

Good.
That’s a good place to stop.

Seeing all the issues I already felt confirmed the moment I logged back in made the decision easy. Short experience. Interesting lessons.

On to the next.

💬 Question:

Have you ever quit a game not because it was bad, but because life just wouldn’t let you keep up?