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I used to love traditional gaming, playing MTG, board games, miniature games, etc etc. I used to love video games, especially MMOs doing group events and raids.

I just turned 32 and am starting to feel like these things were just a waste of time, and I could have spent my time/money going out and experiencing life.
I feel less enthused to go out and play the games I used to love, find myself just not caring as much anymore about stuff, so I have to ask "am I growing up/out of the hobby" or am I just in some kind of a rut in my life?

Any others in their early 30s going through this? Is it just something that we call deal with at some point in our lives?

I'm in my early 30s, and I'm getting back into 40k.

I definitely think we can get burnt out on hobbies. I probably wouldn't phrase it as "growing up" as I don't think tabletop gaming is anymore juvenile than a lot of "adult" activities.

It's okay to put a hobby aside for a while and do other things. Maybe it will catch your interest again eventually, maybe it never will. It's all fine, as long as you're having fun.

Not sure what you mean by experiencing life. I know I've given up certain things because I didn't feel like I was getting any lasting benefit from them. Like, Hearthstone was a pretty enjoyable game to me. I had a good time playing it. However, I kept having this feeling like I should be doing something else. Unlike most games I enjoy there was no story that I enjoyed, no social interaction and no significant lasting memories. That's fine for something to do casually every once in a while, but not something I decided that I wanted to spend an hour a night doing.

Even though I haven't been active in the hobby or the game for about a decade I have been reading the books. That's something I think is really great about 40k, is that even if we decide to put it aside for the forseeable future we still have the fun fluff novels in our brains, memories of fun times with friends and a bunch of cool figurines we worked on.

Like everything, my commitment to my hobbies ebbs and flows. About 6 or 7 years ago, I was really burnt out on 40K and WFB and was just not enjoying games much. On a whim, I built a Blood Bowl board and two teams, and that jumpstarted my passion. Now I am working on 15mm WW2. The beauty of historical gaming is there are hundreds of choices as a Mk 2 is a Mk 2 no matter the manufacturer.

Lif changes but there's one thing people keep, you learned new skills, some useless, others transferable.

Painting a modeling takes dedication and practice and you never know when q side ways skill comes in handy you picked up be it guestinates measuring, painting somthibf, mending a kids toy.

If somthibf feels forced. Take a break. Its a hobby for fun after all.

If it stops being fun/relaxing you're done, at least at that point.

You may find your life changes later and you dip back in to a past hobby.

Some will depend on the 'why' you chose it as a hobby. If you did it for mostly social reasons (your buddies all did it, it was your main social activity, and so on) you may find as your social situation changes (due to time available/geography/different group of folks around) your hobby may not provide what it once did, so you'll gravitate towards something else.

Sometimes a change to your financial condition can lead to a change in hobbies. Sometimes being exposed to something new can lead to a change in hobbies.

Nothing wrong with it at all.

The real question, perhaps, is what is 'experiencing life'? What do you want out of it, really?

It is entirely possible. I used to eat, sleep, and breath supercross and motocross. I still follow it, but I no longer ride. I kinda miss it, but the expense, the upkeep, the traveling was wearing on me. I still spend lots of money on 40k but I don't have to travel, my knees don't hurt as much and I can still get that bit of excitement from a good close game, or from stomping face at a tournament.
My recommendation don't sell your models, but branch out to other stuff. Then you can have a box of awesome minis waiting for you if you decide to get back into it, instead of having to start over.

I am also 32 and the only reason my interest is dwindling is due to a combo of things.
A) in the last 2 years I went from single bachelor to having a Wife and 2 pre-teen boys. That kind of change takes up a lot of my time. I don't get to paint or play as often as I used to
B) the edition is about to change and even though I have several projects I would like to start, it is better to see how the changes shake out
C) even when I do get to the game store, it is hot or miss to get a game, We just finished a league and so many players are not coming up as often.

But even with all that, I still love this hobby and it has been a part of my life for the last decade and will continue through the next decade and beyond.

-

Burnout happens. I'm burned out on video games, mostly cuz of my roommate. He screams, swears, and roars racial slurs any time he isn't the #1 player in the game (unless couch co-op and his partner places better). It's hard to enjoy when hearing that. I still get a couple games...but they die off overnight if he happens to have an interest in the same game and he doesn't do well. I KNOW where my burnout comes from.

I dropped out of tabletop gaming for a year, maybe 18 months. It wasn't a conscious decision, I just lost interest in the games I was playing, and nothing else really appealed. On top of this both of my gaming groups stopped meeting, through a combination of people moving and relationships making it hard. So there wasn't really any games around, and I wasn't that keen. But then one day I got talking with a friend of a friend and got invited in to an RPG group, and over the next year got back in to wargaming as well.

Don't overthink these things. When you want to game, game. If you want to do something different, do that instead. If gaming never appeals again, then that's okay.

And don't worry about any hobby being a 'waste of life'. It's just a downtime thing. As long as you balance that hobby against your work and your personal relationships, it doesn't matter what the hobby is, so just let it be something you enjoy. If you're not enjoying gaming right now, do something different.

Just... be careful about selling your stuff. I've seen too many people get tired of the game, sell all their stuff for a fraction of the retail price, and then see them buying all new stuff a year or two later back at full retail. It is very hard to know where your mind will be in another 12 months, don't assume what you're feeling now is what you'll feel forever.

As I have aged, I have noticed I am less inclined to like things I used to 5, 10, even 15 years ago.

I think this is natural.

I think everyone whittles down things in their life to "Is it worth it for me? Do I enjoy this at all anymore? What am I missing out on if I leave?"
I love role playing games like D&D because it doesn't take much of a commitment and it also engages my brain that video games don't. I also haven't played in many years because I am just too fracking busy to be a consistent player.

How do I know when I am done? When I stop being excited for it.

I don't play computer games very much anymore. We used to have old school LAN parties on a regular basis, even when we had a decent Internet connection, but my high school and college friends have scattered all over the place now. For me, chatting over headsets just isn't as fun as yelling at each other in the same house.

I also really like RPGs like Fallout and Dragon Age, but I like to binge them. I don't want to play Fallout for an hour a night every night. I want to play it for fifteen hours a day for two weeks and then drop it for a year or two. It's been harder to make this work as I've gotten older. I've tried scheduling vacation time, but trying to be that regimented takes some of the fun out of it and usually other life events keep me from playing anyway.

I actually made it my New Years resolution to play more video games a couple years ago and I failed miserably.

I used to play a lot of MtG with the friends I lived with. All of us would go to the tournaments and the FLGS, and we'd pitch in for booster boxes and do our own drafts and sealed games at home. We played Constructed most nights for probably 2-3 years. Then one friend moved away and I don't think any of us have played since.

 HunterEste wrote:
Any others in their early 30s going through this? Is it just something that we call deal with at some point in our lives?

I am eclectic and have been in and out of several hobbies for years. The one thing I can recommend is unless you are really pressed for space, don't throw all of it out. Carefully pack whatever you are not interested in at the moment in a sturdy box, seal it up with some nice box tape, and put it away. Some years might go by before you have the desire to open it, but I can assure you once you do, the nostalgia is awesome.

I learned this the hard way. While collecting can be a form of hoarding, I do go through periods where I feel like I 'have too much stuff' and have to lose 'some of the weight' and get rid of a lot of it. Or purge rather. Then some time passes and I totally regret getting rid of some things. Granted, getting rid of some things cleared up space for some new things that I was interested in, but I hate looking back at something and wishing I hadn't gotten rid of it, when I have plenty of closet space. Not everything I miss, just the stuff I had the most fun with. You'll know which that is.

If you have to do anything, maybe get rid of the accessory stuff, but keep the main box sets and only what you can store in them. That is what I try to do now. This way I can bust the game out or whatever it is and enjoy that for a bit, yet not feel weighed down with all the tons of extra stuff that I am never going to use anyway that I felt was weighing me down.

I've decided that I can't have too many orks. When I die I want them to find my body buried under a sea of little plastic monsters. I hope they name a psychological disorder after me.

I have been in and out of the hobby for various periods and reasons.

I'm about to turn 39 and my last 3-4 have been some of the most productive hobby-wise, for the most part playing with people my age and whose wives and kids and mine have developed a group on their own.

Problem is, I have a new job lined up which if I end up taking it means relocating across the country (reconnecting with an old gaming group btw) but I'm sure hobby time will suffer.

So sure, there are highs and lows all the time. Don't feel bad for leaving the hobby, but don't think of it as childish or anything like that either.

There's nothjng wrong with changing your mind from time to time. I'm contemplating ditching 95% of my hobby stuff and comkng back to the resg in 10 years when the kids are old enough to join in. This will be my 3rd hiatus i think.

I have pretty much quit 40k (aside from fluff). For me the reason was that I no longer have the money and time needed now that I go to university.

Turning 33 next week and oddly enough I went through what you just mentioned a few years ago, so around 29 or 30. I still play the odd video game and occasionally feel like messing around with minitures and such but for the most part Id rather be doing something active or sitting here learning a new skill.

If you're not having fun with a hobby it's not worth persisting (unless you've got friends who you want to keep hanging with and the hobby is the only real way to do it)

and as time and circumstances change most of us will loose interest at least one hobby

but unless you really have to (space/money/partner) don't dump it all as you may well come back to it later, I know I've regretted it the couple of times I've done so

stick it in the attic/garage (or your folks if they will let you) and dig it out again in a few years time, you might well find you're interested again

 HunterEste wrote:
I used to love traditional gaming, playing MTG, board games, miniature games, etc etc. I used to love video games, especially MMOs doing group events and raids.

I just turned 32 and am starting to feel like these things were just a waste of time, and I could have spent my time/money going out and experiencing life.
I feel less enthused to go out and play the games I used to love, find myself just not caring as much anymore about stuff, so I have to ask "am I growing up/out of the hobby" or am I just in some kind of a rut in my life?

Any others in their early 30s going through this? Is it just something that we call deal with at some point in our lives?

If your "life energy level" hasn't dropped significantly and you already have an alternative to gaming, have been switching focus to other things/ways of life or something similarly positive change-wise; or you have other life obligations that draw time and money from things you used to like/love and gaming must simply go on hold, then it is perfectly normal and even expected after a longer period in any hobby. I'm 38 now and I've been no longer than 4 years straight into anything in my life (except my marriage ), but I usually do come back after a while (again, usually after 4+ years of hiatus).

But if all your feelings about gaming/hobby/life choices made are predominantly negative, "a waste of time, and I could have spent my time/money going out and experiencing life" type, then you might be in an early stage of dystymic disorder or depression and you should look into it a bit more than it is possible over an internet forum. Especially if you feel that you are stuck and don't have a clear idea what you want to do next in life and your "life energy level" is low.

In either case, if you feel that games just don't cut it anymore then by all means go and try new things - loosing interest in anything you know like the back of your hand is normal, especially if you were into things for the excitment of exploring ideas/stretching your brain.

I stopped playing 40k (and basically all TT wargames) right around the time 6th ed. 40k went on presale. The gaming environment there wasn't the greatest to begin with, and I felt that I could not justify the costs.

I basically traded all of those costs for the cost of mouthguards, boots and the like, because the gaming money basically went into my short-lived rugby playing career.

Once I left the army, and began upper-division course work in college, I couldn't give up the 8-12+ hours a week to play rugby (practice was 2 hours, commute was 30-60 minutes one way 2x a week, plus saturday game days). But, in the meantime I had found an awesome shop with great people, and picked up 7th ed. 40k, and AoS and haven't really looked back at all.

I think realistically, the only hobby I ever had that I've permanently given up, was drawing.

All been here! I'm turning 40 this year, scary. I left wargamIng behind almost completely in uni. I still bought WD most months and sci fi novels, good few BL but just what ever took my fancy. During this time I got my career underway and got married, kids etc and at around 30 I started to buy the odd model and paint. My BL habit has taken off though.
Honestly it won't go back to the same as when I was younger. I wouldn't want it to. I will never have the time to play big games again. I'm doing well to get 2 or 3 a year. Most of my friends who i played with are long gone, working and married all over the world. Life moves on, adapt your hobbies if you want a life. A hobby is great when it's a hobby not when it's your life!

 HunterEste wrote:
I used to love traditional gaming, playing MTG, board games, miniature games, etc etc. I used to love video games, especially MMOs doing group events and raids.

I just turned 32 and am starting to feel like these things were just a waste of time, and I could have spent my time/money going out and experiencing life.

Nothing wrong with any of that, in moderation. However, if you didn't yet get a girlfriend, then yes, you've missed out on a big, fun part of your 20s. Go chase some tail before you get too old and all the good ones are taken.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
Nothing wrong with any of that, in moderation. However, if you didn't yet get a girlfriend, then yes, you've missed out on a big, fun part of your 20s. Go chase some tail before you get too old and all the good ones are taken.

I think it's a good idea to avoid telling people what the best way to go about their lives might be. Especially when you have no idea who that person is.

I think it's important to remember that we're talking about a hobby. It's not a human relationship or a child...might at times be more expensive, though ...or a career, etc. It's something we do because it pleases us in our spare time and, accordingly, our interest and enthusiasm for said hobby ebbs and flows like most non-essential things in our life because as we evolve as individuals our tastes in what pleases us changes, shifts, etc.. It's not meant to be a replacement for "life", just an enhancer if you will, so some times it fits better than other times. No reason to be concerned if your hobby "Waaaagh" wanes or disappears for a while. It's normal.

Without boring you to death, I started wargaming/modelling when I was around 10. I was active through High School and immediately dropped it completely once I entered college. During my ensuing professional life I didn't touch it or even think of it for 16 years and then suddenly drifted back into it once my son was born and I found myself...okay, it's getting boring, sorry. Anyways, the point is that I literally walked away without a second's hesitation or remorse for 22 years and then out of nowhere the bug bit me again. Life's goofy like that.

Usually when interest fades due to one reason or another. I largely dropped out of serious MTG Collecting ( I still buy the odd booster pack here and there) because my friends who play all moved away and it has become extremely inconvenient to find pickup games now, not to mention the overall crowd here has become the "Serious" guys who no longer experiment with funky combinations, but rather make a beeline straight for whatever is listed as the top deck online. It gets extremely tedious when the only games you can get are basically all carbon copies of the most powerful deck in standard, the deck that beast the first deck, and the fringe deck that occasionally places in tournaments and nothing else.

Likewise I've dipped in and out of 40k over the years depending on my level of interest, although 40k hangs on my attention better because the modelling and painting aspects are also my quiet meditation times, which helps with my depression when I just need to tune out the world.

That and it attracts the ladies here. Which is never a bad thing (at least until their boyfriends show up).

 sebster wrote:

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
Nothing wrong with any of that, in moderation. However, if you didn't yet get a girlfriend, then yes, you've missed out on a big, fun part of your 20s. Go chase some tail before you get too old and all the good ones are taken.

I think it's a good idea to avoid telling people what the best way to go about their lives might be. Especially when you have no idea who that person is.

Yes indeed.

Box it all up, and make sure it's safe.
If you need to, get something back out, and do only that bit.
But, a lot of what I have now is due to the hobby.

I have spent time in the garage chopping up MDF to make scenery board,
Airbrush to speed up and improve my painting,
Magnets to save money of models,
3D printing to make buildings,
It is nearly the only time I see real people, at the gaming club,
Getting out to the shops, as I'd just buy online otherwise.

So, for a geeky introvert like me, gaming is a lot of things I wouldn't be doing otherwise. Some are actually useful, too.

Since I did not choose to stop gaming when I went to uni, getting back into it was probably easier.
If you're burned out, take a break. If you keep your stuff, coming back is an option.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:

 HunterEste wrote:
I used to love traditional gaming, playing MTG, board games, miniature games, etc etc. I used to love video games, especially MMOs doing group events and raids.

I just turned 32 and am starting to feel like these things were just a waste of time, and I could have spent my time/money going out and experiencing life.

Nothing wrong with any of that, in moderation. However, if you didn't yet get a girlfriend, then yes, you've missed out on a big, fun part of your 20s. Go chase some tail before you get too old and all the good ones are taken.

I'm married, been with the same gal for almost 10 years now, so no....that's not a contributing factor lol.

Just checking. People are more important than toys, hence my earlier comment.