No, the Apolcalypse is not Four Fat Chicks’ forum being hacked or the front page disappearing. My post Fallout 3 Apocalypse is a severe case of Gamer’s Drift.
After playing a game like Fallout 3 , special in so many ways, I find it very difficult to find a next game to play. Gamer’s Drift may take on personal idiosyncrasies, but perhaps some of these symptoms will sound familliar.
1. Install game after game, genre no barrier. If it’s on the shelf, it’s worth a shot.
2. Watch intro with one eye skimming a manual for enough comprehension to create a character. Easier to jump in when choices are limited but not so nice when none are appealing.
3. Flip quickly through manual for a simple list of keystrokes. Why can’t all maps open with M, all inventories with I? But I digress, that’s a post for another day.
4. With the most rudimentary understanding of how the game is played coupled with memory shards of recently installed & rejected games, try to stay alive long enough to run across a couple of screens & talk to some npcs. Bonus points if the UI is intuitive enough to cast any spells, damage or otherwise.
5. Finally, hit ESC and stare at the screen. Is this worth saving, was it fun? Or a total chore and something that feels like work? Loki and The Chosen: Well of Souls should have paid me for my efforts.
I’m doing fine now, settled in with Legend: Hand of God. Not by any stretch a great game, but I enjoy the dissonance of an articulate Canadian in a land of orcs’n’elves. As it’s a short game, very soon I plan to merrily skip wihout hesitation into a meatier game like The Witcher Enhanced.
Edit: Sorry, so many games, so many titles that I created a new one by combining two. That’s now fixed. 
I’m so glad to know I’m not alone in feeling adrift in a sea of mediocrity after finishing a game I adore. Sometimes it takes weeks to get “back that lovin’ feelin'” (dear god, I’ve quoted a song older than most of the people reading this site).
I won’t feel so alone the next time I play something for 10 minutes, pop the disc out and move on.
I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t even consider a game unless I have read several very positive reviews from people I trust, such as Steerpike. Forget those people who like every cookie cutter adventure game they happen across. Of course I am limited now and don’t know what game I’ll play next. Nothing great on the horizon like Bioshock, Fallout 3 or The Witcher, but something will probably appear on the horizon. I do have a bunch of old adventures and RPGs that I can dip into if nothing else comes along.
I find there are too many games and too little time. Admitedly, Fallout 3 is in a league of its own, but I’m also enjoying Moon on the DS, Mushroom Men on the Wii and the F.E.A.R. 2 demo on the PC. I hope to move through these in time for Burnout Paradise for the PC and House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii) which I’ve just picked up. Also looking forward to a couple of the weird DS titles Toger has mentioned, as well as GTA for the DS, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop and MadWorld, both for the Wii (who ever said the Wii is just a kiddie’s platform!). BTW, Toger, my parents used to hum “back to that lovin’ feelin'” – one of their favorites ;).
I guess I have lost the impulse to fill all my free time solely with gaming. There is so much to do with non-work time. Since the recession has cut my wage earning hours to the bone I have much more leisure. Games, music, films, books, friends, food, theater all interest me pretty much equally and compete for my time. That’s a lot of pieces of the pie and it has to be a pretty good game for me to set all the other things to the side. No way am I going to play a mediocre game just to play a game or support anyone or anything. Once I do commit to a game, like say Fallout 3, I play it steady for a few weeks and that pretty much satisfies the gaming monkey until the next great one comes along. I would be sort of scared if there were too many great games coming out one after another. I would have to start giving up other areas. So, for me, I’m not so worried about the amount of B and C games out there. I just ignore them.
Unfortunately, I game by an unwritten rule: triple A games must be followed by a less than wonderful one. Thus I seek the “better” B & C games to fill in the blanks.
Perhaps I’m afraid the AAA games will run out before I’m too feeble to click a mouse. Most likely this irrational habit started when I came to crps so late that I had a decade’s worth of famous titles yet to play.
Loved those Righteous boys the first time around. Can’t be, can it? I wonder what tune O.R. referred to.
I haven’t “loved” a game since last summer. Even titles I thought I’d love just fell short in one or several ways since then. Sometimes after finishing a wonderful game I head straight over to Big Fish. Brainless, one date, no committment. Shoot, for a real quick fix, the demos sometimes fill the bill.
I think I’ll head over to mostfun.com (thanks, O.R). If a game is free it’s harder to feel disappointment when it doesn’t live up to hype, or my own expectations.
P.S. Not that I don’t enjoy the latest FFC incarnation, but oh, am I missing the forums. I know they’ll be back, and better, soon, but….
No worries, Spike, we’re working on the forums. A decision has to be made regarding a larger issue before we move on that, is all.
Great post, Yap. I know exactly how you feel – and it’s made worse by the inevitable post-holiday slump, when nothing comes out and for some reason nothing in the pile of games you meant to get to but never did seems appealing. I myself am depending almost entirely on Defense Grid (charming) and Left 4 Dead (not charming, but hella fun) for succor.
“After playing a game like Fallout 3 , special in so many ways, I find it very difficult to find a next game to play.”
Dude.. I’ve been struggling with this for some time. I almost feel like I need a support group. What to do with yourself post-Fallout.
DA:O filled in some of that, but most things just keep falling short.. All I have now is to look forward to New Vegas and hope for the best.
If you’re playing on a PC, then mods are your friends. Just enough to stretch until New Vegas.