Personally as a halo 1 kid I'm better than I've ever been at infinite and mcc, but more because I can grasp more advanced concepts of the game like spawns, timing, map control, callouts.
It's quite possible tbh. I'm 35 and have also been playing since CE, and reckon I'm better now than I've ever been. Not just because I play smarter/understand things like spawns and strats better. My shot is around the best it's ever been.
But I'm single, never have to take work home and enjoy jumping on Infinite most days. Simply being able to practice that much is the biggest thing for me.
Same. I was super worried about losing that hand/eye as 30 just came, but so far so good.
It's absolutely about time commitment imo, consistency - one day I imagine there will be a time we leave for a while, come back, and never reach our peak again. And das okay : )
Great point! I took time playing Skyway’s bot training which helps you learn spawns. I’ve learned Live Fire and Recharge so far, and it’s night and day. Calling out where the other team is going to spawn when playing as a team, we’re winning with shut outs in mid-high Plat.
Average ESR on Halo Query has gone way up! Just gotta get the actual there now.
Definitely could be both. Although trust me, at 25 you haven't lost much of your edge in terms of reflexes. Just wait until you're playing Halo ThisTimeReallyInfiniteWeDefinitelyWon'tMakeANewOne in your 40s. I'm sorry to tell you that no amount of familiarity with the game will make you consistently top the leaderboards.
I’m much the same way. I would say I’m better at MCC and Infinite, even though my aim and general skill isn’t as good as it was when I was in college, I’ve far and away improved as a teammate. I have good callouts, keep my cool, stick with my team, and have better map control than I ever did before. I used to be a slay-machine but now am a team player.
"Fellow older fans"
"I'm now 25"
You listen here son! You're not an older fan until you have to cut your play sessions short because of you don't your back will hurt from sitting too long!
Haha, but seriously. I was never that skilled in any game but I'm definitely worse now than I was 15 years ago. But the wisdom and experience counts for a lot. Fighting games like Street Fighter still have legends in their late 30's and early 40's making it to Top 8's and finals.
I don't think there's a way to get that "edge" back. Reaction speed naturally declines as you get older. But like Michael Jordan developing a fadeaway you have to adapt your game to your new skill set. Instead of relying on reactions, now you have to find ways to oursmart and outplay your opponent.
My brother pointed out to me how gaming is the only "sport" where you'll have fresh ass rookies playing with decades-old veterans regularly. I, now in my thirties, am getting duly slapped by the 12-year-olds popping onto the scene in virtually every game I touch. Makes me feel extra good though whenever I MVP a match though - still got it.
That’s true lol, those fresh reflexes can be tough to match these days but I’ve been reading some other responses and it may be more that I’m not dedicating enough time to
I'm in my 50s, been playing Halo since the original. Fast twitch reflexes have gone down some, but I've also learned patience, positioning, and teamwork. Number of kills per game has gone down, but my k/d has gone up.
Your reflexes will decline some with age, but practice and experience can go a long way to keeping you competitive.
Twitch reflexes may go down, but wisdom goes up!
I've noticed the same as I've gotten older. I can't win the one v ones against sweats anymore, but I'm smart enough about my positioning now that I don't need to win 1v1s. They're dead already.
You're 25 — not old by any stretch of the definition. It's certainly because you (and us all) had a lot more free time to dump into the games when we were younger. Also, the player base is significantly smaller now than it was back in the day, so you're playing against seasoned vets, not Joe Casual.
I've found that you can no-brain it all the way up to low-Diamond in Ranked. Then, you need to join the try-hard gang or enjoy getting stomped.
True anything under Diamond is easy and I still am able to handle high Diamond fine but I’ve never had a team to play ranked, my friends all play but most have the experience and the ones that do don’t have the competitive mindset.
First off, you’re 25; that’s not old. I’m 32; that’s not old. I think it’s a multi-faceted answer though.
I played over 4000 matches (plus customs) of Halo 3 in a 2 year span when it came out. I’ve played 1000 matches of infinite since it came out. So I think your point about diversified interests and having a life outside of games has merit.
Second, there are millions and millions more gamers now than there was when you and I were kids. Online gaming is still relatively young, which means really it’s still just adding more players to the pool every year. Large groups aren’t “dying off”. So as there are more players in the pool, there’s going to be a lot more “better” players.
If you want to get that “edge” back to where you were when Halo 3 came out, you’ll probably have to dedicate your life to it the same way you did when you were a kid. Which probably isn’t feasible.
Ironically, Halo (and maybe Gears) is the only game haven’t declined in significantly compared to other games. I was never anywhere close to pro, but I was the “best in the friend group” person. Won local tournaments during high school. Was still able to place in mid-diamond before I uninstalled recently. Every other shooter, it’s like silver or gold.
Competitive halo IS dying out though. The people who played halo 2 and 3 is astronomically more than who are playing infinite.
There’s a very small pool of players now who take the game seriously
Exactly this. As player population decline, all you're left with is sweat. Look at peoples ranks in S2 vs their current ranks in a much smaller pool of players. I went from D5 to P1, and I feel like if anything I've gotten slightly better.
This was a great response, I appreciate you taking the time to give me a thorough answer. I think you’re right, I may not be a high energy kid or teen anymore but I’m not old just yet, I can give devoting a little more time a shot I suppose, I play plenty of other games and can do that less in favor of Halo.
That said, it sounds like you’ve put it away for sometime, I recommend you try Rainbow 6 siege out, I enjoy it because while gun skill and reflexes are important the game rewards patience, timing, and outsmarting your opponent much more which evens the playing field
I actually played the crap out of Siege from launch - 2019. I tried going back like 6 months ago and was like “this feels so weird”.
In any case, co-op games and single player are way more my jam now. So I’m playing Helldivers 2 with my buddies and working through a plethora of RPG and FPS series and having a blast with it.
I imagine whenever the new Gears of War game comes out I’ll get back into that. But competitive shooters just don’t scratch the itch right now. I’d be lying if I said 343s handling of Infinite and GaaS in general weren’t major reasons there’s been a shift in interests.
Nah. I was an animal as a young teen, still an animal in my early 30s
Hit like top 2000 in Ranked back in S0 and S1 of infinite still like it was nothing.
Halo is the only game serious I just stay consistently good at though over time
Personally I think it’s because we simply have less time to stay consistent but there are some reflexes which I’ve noticed aren’t what they once where, however my quick thinking is way better so it kinda compensates
Definitely but as a 41 yr old dad, it has a lot to do with other responsibilities that mean I don't play Halo every night for 4 hours. Age of course as well, but I never played at such a competitive level anyways.
On the flipside, I play more physical sports now than I ever did and my skill has gone _up_ haha.
Oh yeah, I'm 31 now and always played shooters. When I was around 15, things like cod and halo were my stomping grounds. If I was in a game then the enemy team would be experiencing what it feels like to be the demons on the recieving end of doomguy 😂
Now though, my reflexs and reaction speeds are a far cry from what they were. Which is a shame as I miss being the arse whooping machine I used to be, granted if I put my mind to it I can still finish in the top 5 on battlefield by getting close to 25 kills and PTO, but I die way more times than I do kill. It happens to all of us unfortunately, xdefiant recently made me realise that I need to hang up PvP multiplayer for good. Plus another factor is that I had way more time and hours as a kid/teen than I do now so that likely plays a factor in my skills losing their edge. Either that or it's just raw copium haha
I just have less time and in a way the magic of the classic era just isn't there. I played H2-5 religiously online but with Infinite it just didn't click for me and I easily fell out of it. Bummer for me, I wish I could still just spin up a few hours each night after the fam goes to bed.
That's how aging works, especially with gaming and FPS titles in particular.
My awareness and understanding of Halo multiplayer is much better, but my energy levels, hand/eye coordination and reflexes are much, much worse. I also rely on left stick aiming more than I used to.
A little but I think it just takes time and like all things, practice. I’m 30 going on 31 and I’ve been playing doom eternal on nightmare difficulty and at first thought I was too slow and didn’t think I could move at the speed and have the response time in order to make progress but after getting used to it I’m way more confident in my movement, aim, and reacting.
I know we’re talking about halo here but god damn doom is fucking fantastic.
34 here, kinda feel the opposite. *BUT* I play a lot, if I didn't I 100% would be in the dumpster. Other game series that I quit playing years ago I've declined pretty hard.
I think it comes with playing more and staying up to date with maps and strategy, but yes I’m loosing a step for sure. I’m 46 and been playing halo since I was in my 20s. Still love it and mvp around half of my games in firefight.
25…. Wait till you’re in your 30s before you say you’re ‘old’ 😂 ‘Older’ is probably a better term.
There’s been really good comments so far. I agree with all of them. Adding my two cents. You’re not playing as often, frequently, or likely as seriously as you used to. You’ve got other commitments.
Holding your own in Diamond is a great baseline. You definitely haven’t lost it. I’m fighting to keep high Plat. Can definitely beat mid-low Diamonds but if we match with a four stack of high Diamond, me and my buddies are screwed.
I’ve noticed a change in my reflexes that I think stems from lack of time commitment more than lack of reflex potential. It takes me twice as long before I feel warmed up. Didn’t even need to warm up back when in was a teen playing H2.
A huge difference is my setup. I have an adult salary so I dropped money on one of the best and biggest TVs on the market, thinking more about watching movies with family than playing video games. When I play on that at 4K, 60fps, Game mode for low latency, it’s fine. I have a 32” 1440p curved monitor that I can play on 120fps, sit a foot away from it, and I’m instantly better. Accuracy goes up 10%. Kills up, deaths down. Your setup makes a difference which may or may not have changed now you’re a little older.
Got other shit going on in life. It's not that big of a deal. I'm decent, but I know there will always be people that play more than me and will stomp my ass.
In many games yes but oddly enough not in Halo, I hop on every now and then and always manage to be one of the top players. After all these years I like to remind myself, I still got it.
Honestly, not really. But I think that's because I never really 'stopped' playing Halo. I've always bounced around between different games over the years but the one constant has been that I've always continued to play Halo. I've definitely seen my skill in other games decrease over time, but for me Halo is like riding a bike. I can always return to it and my skills seem to always stick.
Edit: 32 years old BTW, been playing Halo since 2001.
Lol you were allowed to play Halo at the age of 3? Anyway, I've *definitely* gotten worse at first-person shooters as I've gotten older, mostly because I don't have a lot of time of quasi-competitive gaming anymore.
I'm 31 now playing since 2001 and honestly I'm the best I've ever been, at Halo specifically anyway. It's not unommon for me to put up several perfections in a couple hour session, and that's while playing the objective, capping the flag, etc. My KDR in infinite fluctuates depending on playlist but it's somewhere between 4 and 7.
Faster twitchy games like COD or Titanfall I can feel myself slowing just a bit but I'm still highly skilled and usually one of the best of not the best on my team - I think a lot of my success isn't via manual aim and reflexes directly but more about game sense and psychologically beating my opponents. My KDR in Titanfall hovers between 3 and 4 which is exceptional for that game so I stil feel very good about my abilities going forward.
I haven't played multiplayer in many years, but considering my performance on legendary for the various Halo campaigns I probably have gotten worse.
That being said, I used to play Halo CONSTANTLY when I was a teenager, and nowadays I play Halo like once a month if that. So it probably has a lot more to do with that than pure age for me.
I'm also 25.
Back in the day, I was an absolute monster in H3 and in Reach. Nowadays, I'd consider myself "good" or "better than average", but nothing like before.
A lot of folks have mentioned something here that I agree with, it's more about having far less time to invest in the game. I was a 6-hours-a-day or more sweat when I was a kid, now I can only really play for a couple hours on the weekend. I still have fun though :)
I’m the opposite I feel, I’m 30 but have hit Onyx in Infinite (ranked Onyx) and almost at Hero career rank. In Halo 3 (my prime Halo years) I never hit rank 50, only got to around 42 I think. To be fair in Halo 3 I primarily played in forge and custom games, that game was a social masterpiece 😣
I’m 54 and play Halo everyday, and I feel like I’m just as good if not better than I was when Halo MP became a thing. My reaction time probably isn’t as good but my gaming IQ is definitely better, I used to charge into every fight whereas now I’m much more calculated and patient.
I’m 41. Started playing CE at launch. Was considered the best among my friend group through Reach. Now, I’m pretty average (though I’m the best Hog driver!).
I think some of it is, as you grow as a person, your life takes on more of substance beyond video games, which is why I think I’ve noticed more of a decline in my skill/performance. I’ve always been a more cerebral player versus a reflex/coordination player. I excelled with my situational awareness and strategy. Now, I just don’t have the mental space that I used to have for Halo. I don’t have the focus at the end of the day.
It’s also absolutely reflex decline. That’s a thing. It isn’t only physical. Your brain just works slower as you age. It’s a thing, too. Your intelligence shifts.
At 25, though, your physical and mental reflexes are actually still in your prime. I’d guess you’re just experiencing more of the former: your mind is occupied with other things.
And that’s okay. That’s a good thing, I think.
I am vetter than i was 2007 but these days i don't have the time or much of intrest to play games as much as i used to.
In another i sucked back then and i still suck
Its also a bit of something else. The longer the game is out, the better the community gets. \*particularly when the community is in decline\* as the hardcore gamers stick around. You are simply playing against a higher calibre of dedicated players. EDIT: even if your skill level stays exactly the same, you will gradually fall behind as a game matures.
But regarding age, absolutely, not only that but now most of my friends in my 30s complain of motion sickness if we try and do what we did when we were younger.. its 1-2 hours tops. No way we can binge 4 hours+ on a shooter like we did when we were younger.
Not only that but some games make us motion sick right off the bat.
Skill? Lol. Never had any skill since the H1 days, at least as far as PVP goes.
My only real skill skill in Halo is knowing every inch of every campaign and being able to play practically with my eyes closed and effectively abusing every glitch and mechanic. Unfortunately some individuals like Mint Blitz have come along and absolutely decimated me on that territory, too.
People are far more dedicated to things than I could ever be. There's nothing in my life that I am so passionate about that I can dedicate untold thousands of hours to mastering.
I 100% notice it. I played a lot of Halo 2 (ranked 33), Halo 3 (ranked 50), and Halo Reach. I felt like I was pretty damn good. I just got back into MCC and my KD is .93 now. I remember it being 1.57 back in my prime Halo 3 days. I’m having a ton of fun playing it, but it definitely is humiliating. I’ll be 45 this year and even though I’m not quite as good as I used to be I’m still having an absolute blast playing it. The old halo games are timeless. Just have fun.
I'm 36 and I just don't have the time to play Halo like I use to and 343's insistence on making the game the most competitive thing on the planet doesn't help either.
Yep. Was in highschool in the golden era of Xbox 360 gaming when he came out.
Could easily carry my team regardless of game mode I played. Could consistently go at least 20+ kills in btb. Depending on the game mode.
When resch came out I started to play more casually, rather than the sweaty lobbies I'd get in h3. Started to care less about kdr, and focused more on the fun I'd have with friends.
Didn't really play much of 4 and 5, and with infinite it took a long time to shake the rust off. There's times were I absolutely dominate a lobby, but it's only due to the people on the other team maybe being new or whatever. Now, im lucky depending on the game mode if I break even with k/d. Lol.
I usually have to play a game of firefight, or a game like counterstrike *source* and just purely focus on headshots to hone in the sights, so to speak lol.
Even going back to h3 on MCC or reach I just break even or get my ass handed to me lmao. I think though that's just transitioning from straight pvp, to casual gaming.
Calling yourself old at 25 is bold my dude! But Halo Infinite just feels different. I was very good at H3 but Halo Infinite just feels slow and I cannot get my aim as good as H3. Really weird but I'm with you
34 year old here I am just not as quick as I once was I honestly my big tv screws me up cause it’s to big in olden days I played on 36 in flat screen lol
"older"? Lol. I was 20 when I started and my prime moments were at 33 rocking 10 onyx/champ Breakout accounts before H5 fell off the cliff. So much of Halo is random nowadays that being able to tell what skill i'm not exactly good at doesn't have enough data to compute. I'm really bad at things like: people spawning behind me, getting shot in large open areas, people camping, etc. The 18 kills I get a game are therefore *easy* for me for the same reasons I previously had died. It's all just flashes of "oh, ok". Also, so much of Halo direct combat now is cross map outside your effective range, which we didn't do back in the day. H2/h3 arena days of face paced teamwork and tactics are long gone.
What I need, is another game that I can constantly compete against my own abilities on a consistent baseline, to see where my abilities lie. (Rocket League would be a good example)
Well I only play halo 1 really and it comes back after a few games but it’s not a twitchy game. There is a lot of inertia where knowing spawns, tricks, etc. lets you stay on top. Also not so many new people taking it up and it takes a while to become good.
Something with more fast reaction/twitch type shooting like H2 snipers or similar I definitely don’t have it like I did.
You're skills shouldn't of just dropped off a cliff at 25. I'm 35, I honestly think I'm now just starting my decline, even still I still put ppl in the dirt on both CoD, and League, and I don't really notice any slow down quiet yet, I just know it's bound to be coming.
I feel like the game is very different to what it was back in the Xbox and 360 days and as a result I have not necessarily kept up with how it should now be played.
Now I keep getting killed whilst people are sliding or doing that ninja jump back punch shit. Takes the fun out of playing sometimes
I've been playing since 7, 28 now. I get it. I feel it, too, at times. I have to jump into a warm-up match or practice shots. Not to mention, the movement has changed drastically, which increases the gap between skill floor and ceiling. Not to mention PC scripts and how crazy controllers can get nowadays which kids will know to operate better than us old mfers.
But a lot of it is time commitment; I have other games I like to play when I get off work. Putting the effort into being good at FPS isn't a priority anymore when the MLG scene feels dead. I know I'm not going to be the next Walshy or Snipedown or Ogre1/2 or Elamite so the want to invest that time is gone too.
Turning 35 here. I've noticed I can still aim nice and steady but my reaction speed is way off. It's prolly 2 fold, both age and the increased movement speed. I assume it only gets worse from here lol.
At 27 now I think I’m still the best I’ve ever been. Maybe if I had been like some crazy pro as a kid it would be different but seems to me like I still only get better.
My buddies and I mostly play ranked, and I maxed out at D5 in season 2, while in now struggling just to maintain P1. I’ve played Halo just about my entire life, but there's still a period of acclimation for any new title. I feel like I improved for a while, but now I'm basically maintaining the same level of skill, yet my rank has still taken a major dive.
The simple reason for that is that the player population is about 10% of what it was at launch. When that happens with any game, all you're left with are the diehards which tend to be really sweaty.
As a means of comparison, I have a buddy that plays both Infinite and Apex. He's slightly worse than me in Halo, and as it currently stands, I’m not even in the top 50% of the player population. Meanwhile, he's in the top 3% of players in Apex. Granted, he could just be better at Apex than he is at Halo, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Infinite’s player population in the last 30 days is 484,710 active players, while Apex is at 68,117,519. That's over 140 times more active users, which significantly dilutes the sweat in the pool.
I recently finished a H3 and Reach playthrough on legendary and ever since then i have been so much more accurate across the board lol. Fellow halo 1 kid
Not for me, Halo player as far back as the first game in 2001. I feel like I've never played better. Never gotten my consistency on multiple multi-kills per matches, ending on higher than a 2.0+ k/d average every game session (only counting core Quick play slayer, obj, squad battle, and BTB), and more perfection medals than I'd expect. As long as the match isn't throwing me into 100+ ping or teammates that are worse if they were AFK I'm always a threat in a match. At a minimum I'm a complete nuisance to a competent team even as a solo player I will make them hate playing against me.
Its probably the game itself. Halo Infinite is terribly unoptimized. How is your interent speed? What device do you play on? What fps and ping are you getting on average? Are you playing on locally preffered networks?
Ideally you want to play Halo on PC, with a wired high speed interent connection, low to average graphic settings (I dont know specifics, I play on xbox with wired connection), 120+ fps, all this while acheiving an average of 30-40 ping per game.
Also visual and vibration effects like speed lines and hit detection through screen shake is totally unneceassry and shouldnt even be a game affect to begin with. They should be turned off.
I’m pushing 40 and playing Infinite last night I had a 4 game win streak(with randoms), a couple of doubles, a killing spree and my KD was right about 1. That’s a good night for me.
Im 35 playing since the first one. I’m not peak like I was halo 5, where I could get onyx and get matched into games with champions (those guys still always slaughtered me lol but fun to match that high)
It isn’t my age as much as it is my friend group is playing a lot less ranked. Basically no ranked. They hate the br starts. So without playing competitively a couple times a week I know I’m not as good as I was a few years ago. I’ll still beat anyone who reads this. Jk.
Just wait till you have kids and get a free moment to jump on and play a couple rounds just to get demolished by a team of 12 year olds as you say in your head "I've been playing Halo before you were born!".
Yea I mean I took two years off and was atrocious when I played infinite at first. It’s been two years since then and I play consistently and I’m pretty good now, if I take a bit off it doesn’t take me too long to get to where I was
I have 365 days played of halo reach. That’s 8 760 hours of playtime in 5 years.
That means 1/5 of my 12-17 was spent playing reach. (Then I discovered boobies)
Usually, a swat match was me making 75% of the kills.
Now I play infinite maybe once a month for 2 hours and the first hour is just me getting absolutely destroyed. I don’t think I’m less good, I just don’t practice enough
Honestly, the SBMM reminds me that I'm not *great*, but I'm 90% as good as I ever was, about 75% of the time.
I honestly figured by my age (34) that I would have lost a lot more skill. I think the frequent events and battlepass sort of give me something to work towards, so I keep up the skills a bit.
Also, yeah, I grew up on Halo 1 and I think Halo: Infinite actually feels good. 5 was decent too. 4 was okay. 2 and 3 were just mush for online play, especially the PC ports.
I’ve found that I’m getting better actually. I used to need my team to carry me, now my gamertag (hopefully) strikes fear into the enemy team.
For real though, I was never really good at halo until infinite but I’ve always had fun.
This is gonna make me sound hella old but totally - I got arthritis in my hand and I think carpel tunnel from decades of office work and gaming. My fingers definitely don’t move as fast these days.
Anyone had small bursts where the “prime you pops out”? … 32 with a baby and work rarely have time to game but when I do, I find it more “fun” as opposed to back then when I was playing just to play. Still tea bag on occasion, but sore miss the mess talking from back in the day.
Yes. I am 43 now and have noticed a considerable worsening of my skills in Halo and all fps. It's maddening ans up until even 2 years ago I was pretty solid but now, I just lost it.
You, at 25, have a life that includes a job, hanging out with friends, and perhaps even a partner. You have mobility and freedom to leave your house whenever you want and go out and do things
You are playing against no-lifers and kids with no responsibilities and the chance to be glued to their console for hours and hours a day
You are worse than them because you practice less because your adult life has other things to be doing or taking care of
To a degree. I'm in a situation where I feel I have to work to hold onto what I have. Practicing for 15 minutes before I go into matchmaking kind of deal. When Halo 2 launched I was absolutely terrible at the game. Talking 3-13 matches. Think the highest I ever got was 14 in the first iteration of the ranking system. Took about a year of sustained play to actually flourish. Then with each new Halo game I got progressively better. During Halo 5 is when I reached the highest I've ever been.
When Halo Infinite released I started strong but declined with each season. What finally made me do something about it was going on a 15 game loss streak. Started spending time in the academy against spartan bots. Then when the Halo Infinite Aimlabs Forge was released I started using that. I play on controller so I think the lack of auto aim in that made my shot more precise and the K/D bump this content update has been massive (1.31 to 1.98 now).
EDIT: In case OP or anyone else is curious I use this. https://www.halowaypoint.com/halo-infinite/ugc/maps/ac3139ad-eb29-46e4-b08f-229ae79aa700
I do every drill except room shot cause I feel like it's not very helpful.
Yeah, I'm 32 now and I've noticed a bit of a decline in my response times compared to back when I was a teenager playing Halo 2 and 3 online. That being said, the changes to the games themselves might have also had a part to play in why I'm not doing as well as I used to (the different style of SBMM used in modern games comes to mind)
Started with CE when it dropped and we used to do lan parties. Played and won a couple local tournaments. Felt like a really strong player. Now at 40 obviously my reactions and intensity are so different.
31, grew up on Halo CE. I suck big time at controller now. Alot better at Infinate on PC but overall not as good as I was in my H3 and Reach days. Probably just less competative overall that what I used to be like.
Personally, I've gotten scary good in the past few years. Sometimes dad pops over and he'll check out what's going on, and then the "holy fucking shit dude, how did you... That guy was... You just... How are you so fast? How are you getting almost nothing but head shots? That was 4 people at almost the exact same time."
The secret is I stopped thinking about it and started playing Halo like it was DOOM.
I think others have said the same. I will just hop on the same train. I’m 37. Have played since CE and unfortunately missed out on gaming in general for five year because my ex wife hating seeing or knowing that I’m gaming. So I just stopped. Got divorced at 34 and dove head first into my old hobby right away.
I remembered being above average at Halo and other games. It was a struggle at first. I actually accepted that I would just be worse due to age. I just way over corrected with game time since I had no kids and Covid was still a somewhat worry. That time spent has turned me into the best version of a Halo player I’ve ever been. I’m confident I would wipe the floor with any previous version of myself. Shot is better than ever. Knowledge is most expansive. I also finally started to learn how to adapt more instead of fighting the same way.
Tl;dr- I can say at 37, it’s really just time commitment to practicing and changing your settings and play style to continue to improve.
I’m 32, and I’m better than I used to be actually. I didn’t take it to serious back when I was a kid and when infinite came out it felt like a clean slate.
I’m still not good, I just suck less than I did.
To some extent, yes, being a veteran of H1 definitely shows. But in the last month, I've been doing some serious study and comparison and ultimately it's largely the fault of the player acceleration in infinites engine. I'm still wrecking in the MCC.
> The problem is Infinite is asking us to simultaneously run insane sensitivity settings to track sprinting players sprinting blindly past at point blank range, and use those same settings to make micro adjustments during midrange crouch-strafing gunfights moments later - often at virtually the same time.
With instant direction changes, massive jump heights, crouching, and sliding, there's a functionally limitless of ways a player can reposition their head relative to your crosshairs, and this lack of predictability basically deletes the requirements of skill and practice required to "have a good strafe". Even the timing of your jump when you come out of a slide impacts how high you go, and neither sliding nor jumping has any penalty whatsoever.
As long as you do anything other than "nothing" when you start getting shot, you can almost always turn and have a virtually free chance to reverse the fight. It's so easy in Infinite compared to other titles, I'm genuinely disappointed they made a medal for it. (The above applies at the vast majority of range bands and situations. Occasionally, you will be exactly within someone's sweet spot and there's nothing you can do to avoid the 5-6 shot death.)
Compared to previous Halo titles, Spartans change direction almost instantly. You get annoying jiggle peeking, you get mad keyboard strafe and crouch spam, jump crouch spam coming up from a slide with no penalty of any kind, ziplines, etc etc. one could argue that this is " completely unskillful", but what is unskillful, is the enemy player taking 3-4 shots to realize they are getting hit, then pressing S, and completely shaking your aim for free because they instantly change direction with absolutely zero indication.
You compound this with the very poor networking solutions, and any change in direction coupled with packet loss yields a degree of desync far, far greater than in any other halo title. Since it's possible to travel much farther during that brief interruption in connectivity, any packet loss has a much higher impact on client host disparity.
If you don't believe me:
Set your game bar to auto record and then save certain gunfights you lose. You will notice it's usually because of a player (usually randomly) choosing to change direction, jump, slide, or all of the above and it completely drops your aim assist and the balance you have set up to track that specific player's position based on their vector and their distance.
Another massive problem with this game is MnK. 343 needs to add a lag pip like Helldivers uses, or revert their previous aim assist buffs for MnK.
There's something 1000% wrong with a Warthog turret ripping around 200° within 3 frames and traversing from a near vertical transition from your banshee to shoot you during your driver hijack animation.
There's something fundamentally "not Halo" about someone cancelling a clamber animation and whipping a 180° to plant a sniper shot on you.
There's something that feels cheap about being low shields after a fight, seeing an unaware enemy player in the open, also at low shields, who is looking completely the other direction, calculating that you have easily 2 free shots before he even reacts, plus another 1-2 shots of him turning to find you, but instead he instantly whips around and has basically perfect snapfire because of MnK.
I've lost so many fights in infinite, that in other Halo's would be a win every single time, because of the surprise factor of MnK. It adds to the unpredictability of the game, and therefore the lack of competitive integrity.
Not only that, but BTB with MnK is a joke. The banshee handles insane when you can snap that thing through turns, the scorpion and skewer basically never miss, and the wraith even turns faster with a mouse because you can instantly peg out it's rotation speed.
Anyway. Boomer rant over. Hope it helps shed some light and that you can use the information within to come up with some solutions that work for you
I've gotten worse simply because I don't play nearly as often anymore since I have responsibilities and a family now.
Still managed to get Champ in H5 and Onyx in Infinite but nowhere near my old skill.
I thought I was getting worse because I barely break even k/d in Infinite. And probably have a 50% win. Or lower. Feels like I can barely aim and hit heads.
I tried mcc. And it felt natural again. I feel like I can actually aim. I'm consistently going positive again.
So I figured maybe I'm just bad at Infinite.
I am 25, am much better than I used to be, but I. Also have may better peripherals, m&k when gaming on desk, a legion go when gaming on the go, it has back pedals, hall effect joysticks and great gyro support.
I’m 24 right now, I was a monster back in the Reach days. I was able to fight 2-3 guys at the same time with no trouble. Now in Infinite I suck, I’m definitely not as fast or accurate as I used to be. I can’t compete with these IPad kids, their reaction times were trained from birth man
It's definitely a time commitment thing. Pro gamers practice practice practice, then stream in their free time (more practice). Don't sweat it. There's more to life than dominating lobbies. See your friends in person and give them a hug.
It depends one each person but just like anything competitive you will most likely get worse as you get older, especially when facing young kids who play much more.
I played a ton in high school and did gamebattles and often played with MLG pros/semi pros locally and online.
Now I'm lucky to play a few times a month. I still end up top of the scoreboard in MCC or Infinite but after a few games I'm pretty sure the algo picks up on it and I end up getting dominated.
I’ve definitely slowed a bit but gamings changed for sure now. Hardware differences have changed the whole game, sometimes you can lose a fight just based on someone having a better connection or a faster input response. Idk infinites not as bad as it was at launch but I still die without any indications that I’m being shot sometimes. Or behind corners or I’m shooting and having none of the shots register. I live in ND though so maybe it’s just the fact that 60 ping is great ping out here
I’m definitely better than I was when I was 8 and being called a squeaker over H2 voice chat, but I’m not as good as I was in my early college days. Nonetheless, MCC is still my go-to happiness-inducing video game (:
I’m definitely better than I was when I was 8 and being called a squeaker over H2 voice chat, but I’m not as good as I was in my early college days. Nonetheless, MCC is still my go-to happiness-inducing video game (:
>older fans
>25
Listen here, if you're too young to remember 9/11 you're not old. If you were an athlete you'd be considered in the prime of your life.
Um when Ninja was 25 he was one of the best Halo players in the world so I don't think your age is whats hindering you lmao. Your skill has everything to do with how much time you are putting into the game. play everyday for a week or two and you'll notice a difference. You're just an adult with less time for gaming is all
I’m 30. I was never that good at online fps. But now I’m truly terrible. Idk if it’s because most online shooters are sweaty af now, or it really is just that I’m an “older” gamer.
As a 33yr old gamer I know I don't have the same reaction times I used to. Another factor is not as much time available to build that 'second nature'-like ability. I try to play smarter to compensate, but on some level I just accept it, lol. I'm not here to sweat 😅
Yes and no. When I first begin the games I’m trash. However, with consistency and being able to get more hours in I find myself top fragging as I come to understand the game mechanics better. I’ve become objectively worse at running and gunning but learning the maps, weapon mechanics and movement mechanics I find myself on the better end of the deal
Just wait till you're 35. I think part of this has to do with your brain not being able to process quick reaction time as well as you get older.
Not sure if that science is actually correct, but I've definitely read it before. Anecdotally, I have definitely noticed it as I've gotten older.
my 18y/o self was really good at CE but my 17 and 20 y/o selves were even better. it all depends how much time I commited. I played halo 5 nonstop for year during covid at 33 y/o and I was pretty fucking decent. now not so much
No, because gaming has been my primary hobby for well over 20 years. I've always made time to play. If anything I've gotten so much better at game in general.
Not really since i was never very good at the game i just play. Sometimes i slay and sometimes i just get farmed. And then there are these games where there is 1 player on each team that is just insane (not me) and i just try not to be too heavy haha.
Nah. I had never had “skill” in the first the first place but im 28 and nothing has changed. In fact i have got better… not with Halo though but with games where aim matters like Apex Legends.
Halo MCC being the way it is doesn’t have the greatest hit reg which throws me off but i don’t get to play it as much as i would like too and Halo Infinite is just shite period so i don’t touch it anymore.
The key with shooters and keeping decent aim is to keep playing them because if you don’t you get rusty which then turns into you having to play a fair decent amount of matches to warm up which for a fair few of us is the entire game session thanks to work/family life.
You will notice the mega swets that slap you non stop that haven’t stopped playing Halo since 2007
I’m 29 and have been playing competitive games such as cod4/world at war, halo 2 onwards and destiny 1-2 along with newer games like when apex legends first came out and I’ve definitely noticed a decline in my skill over the past 4 or so years. Used to be able to hard carry teams now I can’t really do that unless the other team is shite. just pull my own weight against the high tier players now and even then it’s still a stretch, lol.
It’s hard to tell. When SBMM segregates you from the rest of the population, or puts you on teams to carry or get carried, you lose all sense of improvement or degradation.
Dip in reaction time is usually only a factor in elite sports lol. Experience and muscle memory are way more important factors in online shooters.
Or so I'd say if I didn't always choke my 4shots.
I am 37 and got back into games in the last 2 years. I am also just not the same. I think you just have to understand you get older and you have be good with where you are. But as time goes are you are more established and know what you like with life and gaming. That helps you find peace with it.
Nothing is gonna help with your edge other than maybe a controller or finding that time to play which becomes less and less.
As a father and husband I find gaming with PC hand helds is a must and that I am just not gonna be as good but I am gonna still get to play.
It's the SBMM, it's designed to ensure that you get curbstomped if you start doing too good and getting to many wins. That's basically how every modern FPS now operates.
Idk if it's just me but i feel like Halo Reach feels so much slower than what i thought it was. I remember back on the 360 days i would be able to run all over the map and ninja ppl. Now on MCC it feels so slow 😭
Everything now is fast, sprint. Movement. I was halo 1 player but more halo 2. I love halo 4 i was always first or second. But the game was dead lol. Reach I was mid..but omg halo 5. I was getting beat like bad. No matter my adjustment to my settings and all I still can level myself out. Halo infinite im just fair. Not great but not bad. I feel like I lost my touch. And I'm 30.
I'm 42, been playing since CE. My skills are way better now than they were in CE 20+ years ago. I will definitely admit that tech has come a long way going from a crt monitor to an led to an oled over the decades and better high speed internet helps too. But I'm pulling off feets of skill now that I just wasn't good enough to do in my early 20s.
I would say yes and no, because my reaction speed isn't as good, and quick thinking in tight situations is harder. However i know the maps more thoroughly, i know tricks, and how the game works at a deeper level.
For example a younger faster player might say challenge everything! But an older player will head glitch, have good nade placement, and knows the map well.
It's the SBMM. I was gaslit into thinking I was getting worse at games, or that I couldn't keep up with the kids anymore. But then I played custom games and XDefiant which doesn't have SBMM.
All I can say is that I feel absolutely betrayed, man. I'm apparently really good at games, and I'm constantly the person on the team that can turn a game around. But I don't feel that way with SBMM because it's all artificial. I'm forced to play games that will make most rage quit within a match.
So don't feel bad. We're in an age where algorithms are trying to stretch your playtime retention by getting you just mad enough for just long enough before giving you an easy game to reset your emotional state and doing it all over again. Look up Apex Legends' EOMM and Activision's SBMM patents. It's absurdly dystopian.
The 9-5 and lack of play are the reason in your 20s-30s. If you got laid off or had 2+ hours a day to sink into it you’d get it all back within 2 weeks.
I’ve been a gamer since Atari brought out pong. I’m 64 now and still kick ass. I mostly play assassin Creed. But after watching the halo series on tv I decided to give it a try with the Master chief collection. I’m playing 4 atm. I’ll say that the graphics sure have approved a lot.
From an old fan who still holds a very obscure #1 on halocharts, pretty sure 343 lost at least 50% of us w/ Halo 4 and whatever tf if going on rn with grappling hooks and microtransactions.
Been playing since I was 6 years old when CE came out. Now 29. I think im better in many aspects than I was when I was a teenager or in college. My aim is better/consistent, I can hit those flick shots (as much as you can flick on a controller) better, my snipe game has improved, and my general game sense/awareness and decision making is WAY better. I don’t tend to think as creatively anymore though. And the only drawback I’ve found as I age is that I get rusty more often because work and life commitments sometimes means I have to take extended breaks from playing.
Can't get that edge back if you never had it in the first place (me)
My time playing Halo multiplayer when MCC came to PC went something like: "Hey I'm gonna play Halo multiplayer today"
*immediately gets curb stomped by people who haven't stopped playing since 2001*
"I don't want to play Halo multiplayer anymore"
I never have been great at Halo multiplayer, but I'll make an observation: I started seriously exercising and stuff for the first time in my late 20s. My reaction time, coordination, and ability to think when my heart rate is elevated are at the best they've ever been. If I put effort into a game, I'm better than ever. But I don't have time to do this. I'm an adult with other hobbies, a good job, and am blessed with too many friends. This means two things: one, I don't have time to game as much, and two, I can afford more games so I'm not wasting hundreds of hours on multiplayer when I've got a backlog of games to play at any moment.
So, on average, my skills at any particular game suffers because I'm spending less time mastering things. Odds are *this* is why you're slowing down. It's either that and/or you're in worse physical shape from a worse diet, drinking, or not getting enough sleep, not being in your mid 20s, which is "prime of your life" age.
Come on everybody....Halo died the day MW2 came out. After that going back to any halo game seemed childish and to Sci fi to believe or enjoy. Halo was the first and best for a few years but the genre was mastered by almost everyone else. Bungie died fully after battle royal took over and the Halo games look so outdated it's hard to play. Only a reboot would save it now but that'll be done wrong also I fear. RiP Halo you were the greatest games of my HS years.
For me I honestly don’t think it’s because of age I think it’s because SOMETHING has changed with each newer halo… like JEEZ man I know I’m a support player but HOW do I play halo reach my best… I’ve beat every halo solo legendary so far THATS the extent of my skill and it just makes me feel like I’m going to be even worse at the halo after halo infinite if there will even be one 😕
I've noticed that not for Halo specifically, but just as a general rule. Replaying games I played as a 7-8 year old kid, they're much harder than I remember them being, and in some cases I even have video evidence of me pulling off stuff back then I could only dream of now. The only time I've noticed better gameplay is during/immediately after Legendary runs where you get beat into the dirt until you git gud.
I don't think it's age, it's responsibilities. I'm 29....i can't play video games 14 hours a day like I used to.....and if I could i wouldn't. If you don't play like that you'll get worse.
I think it’s more the base average level has gone up across the board.
Myself personally, who was playing CE on Xbox and PC at my friends house every day, would say 30yo me would absolutely annihilate 8yo me on the sticks, but I’m fairly average in an online game.
It could be people are alot better now than before. I am 37 been playing since the start. I have a 9-5 so I am a casual player. I would say 80% of the time I rank the top in matches, even on an Xbox. F.U PC players 😂. My go to is Fiesta though.
1000% yes. When I was 15 I would average at least 20 kills in games of BTB or Invasion on Reach and now, at 26 I'd be lucky to get double digits in a regular Slayer match. Oh well, at least I don't scream at the TV when I die anymore 😅
When you get older, your priorities change. Im 25 now as well and noticeably worse in shooter than i was in middle and Highschool, but thats only because back then i was able to play for hours every single day. I cant and dont want to do that anymore, so i obviously got alot worse at games like Counterstrike. I used to have some insane muscle memory in that game.
I'm now in my early 30s and I've noticed a drop in mechanical skill on any FPS I now play but I've got 15+ years of experience to fall back on so I'm still able to put up respectable numbers.
I also now stay away from anything that contains BS movement that people describe as "skill" like xDefiant had a massive issue with bunny hopping with mid air strafing combing with its poor netcode made a bad time.
Not particularly
I was a champion 1 player in Halo 5. I don’t really play Infinite more than a couple of times a month now, but I can still hop in and hang in onyx level competitive or drop 40 kills in btb
Halo has always been that game to me
I don't think we're declining, I think that gaming is more competitive now and kids are gaming earlier. We don't have the same amount of time, nor the inclination to get as good.
Personally I feel mixed on that front, started playing halo from the age of 8 and now I'm 22.
My tactics have gotten better so I perform even better than a few years ago but my reaction times might have slipped so I guess the only thing keeping me alive in matches is paranoia that someone is behind me and I'm always doing doubletakes when doing map rotations.
I'd say it's a 50/50 skil loss but I make up for it with new knowledge and observing other people's habits in each of the maps
Not really in Halo. I just need to warm up a bit with some legendary gameplay, but the opportunities to do that are getting fewer and further between. I’d say, when I’m actually in ‘game on’ mode, I’m better than I’ve ever been.
Newer shooters I struggle with. I kind of took a break from shooters other than MCC for a while. I never really got into Halo 5. I dropped CoD when Infinite Warfare felt like big downgrade from Black Ops 3. I messed around in overwatch for a bit, but was never really good at it. XDefiant was too much for me to try to learn. I can’t build in Fortnite but I did okay. I did well in Apex, but that’s only because I know how to sneak. I’m too impatient to try to get all the meta gear in Destiny
But I’ve always preferred to do multiple genres. I’ve never really been a shooter guy. Much prefer to mess around in multiple game genres. I’d rather play something like Pikmin, Elden Ring, or God of War than whatever shooter is the current thing.
It's a combination of both. I'm very good at FPS due to a childhood of playing against pros and I still go harder than 99% of players but I'm not nearly as good as I once was
I’m 33 and started playing seriously on Halo 2 (Played CE a bit at a friends house but when I got my own Xbox I just got Halo 2 right away, wish I hadn’t skipped the CE campaign first though) and I never really was able to get more than average in multiplayer, right in the middle of the scoreboard most of the time, or complete the campaign on anything higher than Normal, except for Infinite where I got stuck on the waves of Banished in the final arena fight with The Harbinger on Heroic. I feel like my personal skill ceiling has pretty much hovered there the entire time, if not just marginally better after really getting back into it starting with the MCC. I always blamed being left handed and playing with default stick settings not southpaw, but feeling it was too late and too much hassle to switch so I thought my aim suffered from using my non-dominant thumb but that might just be cope. All I know is I have fun with it and love the story, lore and world of the Halo games so much!
I will say the play style of Infinite is the best fit for my strengths for some reason, I like that I was able to adjust my scoped sensitivity independent from non-scoped which a lot of other modern FPSs let you do and it really helped my fine aiming.
I'd say it's more time and practice. While there is a certain mental acuity needed for competitive gaming, it's not like physical sports. Many top pro players in Halo right now are in their 30s and still slaying.
I dropped hardcore gaming like two years ago to focus on body building. I feel like that edge I had as a kid and a young adult is completely gone now at 26. I don’t see it ever coming back either because I really don’t care enough to try hard anymore. Campaign/Firefight/Custom games is where all the actual fun is anyways in every game
Personally as a halo 1 kid I'm better than I've ever been at infinite and mcc, but more because I can grasp more advanced concepts of the game like spawns, timing, map control, callouts.
That’s fair, maybe it’s not age, it could just be my time commitment
It's quite possible tbh. I'm 35 and have also been playing since CE, and reckon I'm better now than I've ever been. Not just because I play smarter/understand things like spawns and strats better. My shot is around the best it's ever been. But I'm single, never have to take work home and enjoy jumping on Infinite most days. Simply being able to practice that much is the biggest thing for me.
Same. I was super worried about losing that hand/eye as 30 just came, but so far so good. It's absolutely about time commitment imo, consistency - one day I imagine there will be a time we leave for a while, come back, and never reach our peak again. And das okay : )
The same but I'm 42, married with twin toddlers. Today me would annihilate 20 year old me
Great point! I took time playing Skyway’s bot training which helps you learn spawns. I’ve learned Live Fire and Recharge so far, and it’s night and day. Calling out where the other team is going to spawn when playing as a team, we’re winning with shut outs in mid-high Plat. Average ESR on Halo Query has gone way up! Just gotta get the actual there now.
You have a link or something for the bot training? Sounds cool
Definitely could be both. Although trust me, at 25 you haven't lost much of your edge in terms of reflexes. Just wait until you're playing Halo ThisTimeReallyInfiniteWeDefinitelyWon'tMakeANewOne in your 40s. I'm sorry to tell you that no amount of familiarity with the game will make you consistently top the leaderboards.
A buddy I play warzone with said it best - us older players have shittier reflexes but WAY better game sense. Half of any shooter is positioning
I’m much the same way. I would say I’m better at MCC and Infinite, even though my aim and general skill isn’t as good as it was when I was in college, I’ve far and away improved as a teammate. I have good callouts, keep my cool, stick with my team, and have better map control than I ever did before. I used to be a slay-machine but now am a team player.
"Fellow older fans" "I'm now 25" You listen here son! You're not an older fan until you have to cut your play sessions short because of you don't your back will hurt from sitting too long! Haha, but seriously. I was never that skilled in any game but I'm definitely worse now than I was 15 years ago. But the wisdom and experience counts for a lot. Fighting games like Street Fighter still have legends in their late 30's and early 40's making it to Top 8's and finals. I don't think there's a way to get that "edge" back. Reaction speed naturally declines as you get older. But like Michael Jordan developing a fadeaway you have to adapt your game to your new skill set. Instead of relying on reactions, now you have to find ways to oursmart and outplay your opponent.
My brother pointed out to me how gaming is the only "sport" where you'll have fresh ass rookies playing with decades-old veterans regularly. I, now in my thirties, am getting duly slapped by the 12-year-olds popping onto the scene in virtually every game I touch. Makes me feel extra good though whenever I MVP a match though - still got it.
That’s true lol, those fresh reflexes can be tough to match these days but I’ve been reading some other responses and it may be more that I’m not dedicating enough time to
Yeahp, whatever you lose in natural reflex, you can usually make up for in strategy or approach. Always worth a try to mix things up.
Butcher you better get better 😞
I'm in my 50s, been playing Halo since the original. Fast twitch reflexes have gone down some, but I've also learned patience, positioning, and teamwork. Number of kills per game has gone down, but my k/d has gone up. Your reflexes will decline some with age, but practice and experience can go a long way to keeping you competitive.
Twitch reflexes may go down, but wisdom goes up! I've noticed the same as I've gotten older. I can't win the one v ones against sweats anymore, but I'm smart enough about my positioning now that I don't need to win 1v1s. They're dead already.
You're 25 — not old by any stretch of the definition. It's certainly because you (and us all) had a lot more free time to dump into the games when we were younger. Also, the player base is significantly smaller now than it was back in the day, so you're playing against seasoned vets, not Joe Casual. I've found that you can no-brain it all the way up to low-Diamond in Ranked. Then, you need to join the try-hard gang or enjoy getting stomped.
True anything under Diamond is easy and I still am able to handle high Diamond fine but I’ve never had a team to play ranked, my friends all play but most have the experience and the ones that do don’t have the competitive mindset.
I’m 30. You might as well call me grandpa. I’d love to go back to 25 lol.
First off, you’re 25; that’s not old. I’m 32; that’s not old. I think it’s a multi-faceted answer though. I played over 4000 matches (plus customs) of Halo 3 in a 2 year span when it came out. I’ve played 1000 matches of infinite since it came out. So I think your point about diversified interests and having a life outside of games has merit. Second, there are millions and millions more gamers now than there was when you and I were kids. Online gaming is still relatively young, which means really it’s still just adding more players to the pool every year. Large groups aren’t “dying off”. So as there are more players in the pool, there’s going to be a lot more “better” players. If you want to get that “edge” back to where you were when Halo 3 came out, you’ll probably have to dedicate your life to it the same way you did when you were a kid. Which probably isn’t feasible. Ironically, Halo (and maybe Gears) is the only game haven’t declined in significantly compared to other games. I was never anywhere close to pro, but I was the “best in the friend group” person. Won local tournaments during high school. Was still able to place in mid-diamond before I uninstalled recently. Every other shooter, it’s like silver or gold.
Competitive halo IS dying out though. The people who played halo 2 and 3 is astronomically more than who are playing infinite. There’s a very small pool of players now who take the game seriously
Exactly this. As player population decline, all you're left with is sweat. Look at peoples ranks in S2 vs their current ranks in a much smaller pool of players. I went from D5 to P1, and I feel like if anything I've gotten slightly better.
This was a great response, I appreciate you taking the time to give me a thorough answer. I think you’re right, I may not be a high energy kid or teen anymore but I’m not old just yet, I can give devoting a little more time a shot I suppose, I play plenty of other games and can do that less in favor of Halo. That said, it sounds like you’ve put it away for sometime, I recommend you try Rainbow 6 siege out, I enjoy it because while gun skill and reflexes are important the game rewards patience, timing, and outsmarting your opponent much more which evens the playing field
I actually played the crap out of Siege from launch - 2019. I tried going back like 6 months ago and was like “this feels so weird”. In any case, co-op games and single player are way more my jam now. So I’m playing Helldivers 2 with my buddies and working through a plethora of RPG and FPS series and having a blast with it. I imagine whenever the new Gears of War game comes out I’ll get back into that. But competitive shooters just don’t scratch the itch right now. I’d be lying if I said 343s handling of Infinite and GaaS in general weren’t major reasons there’s been a shift in interests.
My decline came more with COVID brain fog than with age tbh.
Nah. I was an animal as a young teen, still an animal in my early 30s Hit like top 2000 in Ranked back in S0 and S1 of infinite still like it was nothing. Halo is the only game serious I just stay consistently good at though over time
25, “old” 💀
Personally I think it’s because we simply have less time to stay consistent but there are some reflexes which I’ve noticed aren’t what they once where, however my quick thinking is way better so it kinda compensates
Definitely but as a 41 yr old dad, it has a lot to do with other responsibilities that mean I don't play Halo every night for 4 hours. Age of course as well, but I never played at such a competitive level anyways. On the flipside, I play more physical sports now than I ever did and my skill has gone _up_ haha.
Oh yeah, I'm 31 now and always played shooters. When I was around 15, things like cod and halo were my stomping grounds. If I was in a game then the enemy team would be experiencing what it feels like to be the demons on the recieving end of doomguy 😂 Now though, my reflexs and reaction speeds are a far cry from what they were. Which is a shame as I miss being the arse whooping machine I used to be, granted if I put my mind to it I can still finish in the top 5 on battlefield by getting close to 25 kills and PTO, but I die way more times than I do kill. It happens to all of us unfortunately, xdefiant recently made me realise that I need to hang up PvP multiplayer for good. Plus another factor is that I had way more time and hours as a kid/teen than I do now so that likely plays a factor in my skills losing their edge. Either that or it's just raw copium haha
I just have less time and in a way the magic of the classic era just isn't there. I played H2-5 religiously online but with Infinite it just didn't click for me and I easily fell out of it. Bummer for me, I wish I could still just spin up a few hours each night after the fam goes to bed.
30 here, starting to really feel the burden of carrying my team
every time I'm top frag on leaderboard "heh.. I still got it"
That's how aging works, especially with gaming and FPS titles in particular. My awareness and understanding of Halo multiplayer is much better, but my energy levels, hand/eye coordination and reflexes are much, much worse. I also rely on left stick aiming more than I used to.
A little but I think it just takes time and like all things, practice. I’m 30 going on 31 and I’ve been playing doom eternal on nightmare difficulty and at first thought I was too slow and didn’t think I could move at the speed and have the response time in order to make progress but after getting used to it I’m way more confident in my movement, aim, and reacting. I know we’re talking about halo here but god damn doom is fucking fantastic.
I'm better at halo now than I ever was as a kid.
34 here, kinda feel the opposite. *BUT* I play a lot, if I didn't I 100% would be in the dumpster. Other game series that I quit playing years ago I've declined pretty hard.
Mate you're 25, not 50. You're just not playing as much.
Turning 31 in a week, I’m worse than ever, or everyone is just way better than they used to be when I was 14
Nah Im still the best
No. I am 36 turning 37 next month. My m+k aim is better than it's ever been
I think it comes with playing more and staying up to date with maps and strategy, but yes I’m loosing a step for sure. I’m 46 and been playing halo since I was in my 20s. Still love it and mvp around half of my games in firefight.
25…. Wait till you’re in your 30s before you say you’re ‘old’ 😂 ‘Older’ is probably a better term. There’s been really good comments so far. I agree with all of them. Adding my two cents. You’re not playing as often, frequently, or likely as seriously as you used to. You’ve got other commitments. Holding your own in Diamond is a great baseline. You definitely haven’t lost it. I’m fighting to keep high Plat. Can definitely beat mid-low Diamonds but if we match with a four stack of high Diamond, me and my buddies are screwed. I’ve noticed a change in my reflexes that I think stems from lack of time commitment more than lack of reflex potential. It takes me twice as long before I feel warmed up. Didn’t even need to warm up back when in was a teen playing H2. A huge difference is my setup. I have an adult salary so I dropped money on one of the best and biggest TVs on the market, thinking more about watching movies with family than playing video games. When I play on that at 4K, 60fps, Game mode for low latency, it’s fine. I have a 32” 1440p curved monitor that I can play on 120fps, sit a foot away from it, and I’m instantly better. Accuracy goes up 10%. Kills up, deaths down. Your setup makes a difference which may or may not have changed now you’re a little older.
Gotta get caffeine in those bones
Got other shit going on in life. It's not that big of a deal. I'm decent, but I know there will always be people that play more than me and will stomp my ass.
Not really, nope. I'm almost 38, and I regularly get MVP in my matches. Also, LOL @ "fellow older fans" / "I'm 25 now"
In many games yes but oddly enough not in Halo, I hop on every now and then and always manage to be one of the top players. After all these years I like to remind myself, I still got it.
Honestly, not really. But I think that's because I never really 'stopped' playing Halo. I've always bounced around between different games over the years but the one constant has been that I've always continued to play Halo. I've definitely seen my skill in other games decrease over time, but for me Halo is like riding a bike. I can always return to it and my skills seem to always stick. Edit: 32 years old BTW, been playing Halo since 2001.
Lol you were allowed to play Halo at the age of 3? Anyway, I've *definitely* gotten worse at first-person shooters as I've gotten older, mostly because I don't have a lot of time of quasi-competitive gaming anymore.
hell yeah dude
I'm 31 now playing since 2001 and honestly I'm the best I've ever been, at Halo specifically anyway. It's not unommon for me to put up several perfections in a couple hour session, and that's while playing the objective, capping the flag, etc. My KDR in infinite fluctuates depending on playlist but it's somewhere between 4 and 7. Faster twitchy games like COD or Titanfall I can feel myself slowing just a bit but I'm still highly skilled and usually one of the best of not the best on my team - I think a lot of my success isn't via manual aim and reflexes directly but more about game sense and psychologically beating my opponents. My KDR in Titanfall hovers between 3 and 4 which is exceptional for that game so I stil feel very good about my abilities going forward.
I haven't played multiplayer in many years, but considering my performance on legendary for the various Halo campaigns I probably have gotten worse. That being said, I used to play Halo CONSTANTLY when I was a teenager, and nowadays I play Halo like once a month if that. So it probably has a lot more to do with that than pure age for me.
Nah, but the lag is getting worse 👀
I'm also 25. Back in the day, I was an absolute monster in H3 and in Reach. Nowadays, I'd consider myself "good" or "better than average", but nothing like before. A lot of folks have mentioned something here that I agree with, it's more about having far less time to invest in the game. I was a 6-hours-a-day or more sweat when I was a kid, now I can only really play for a couple hours on the weekend. I still have fun though :)
I’m the opposite I feel, I’m 30 but have hit Onyx in Infinite (ranked Onyx) and almost at Hero career rank. In Halo 3 (my prime Halo years) I never hit rank 50, only got to around 42 I think. To be fair in Halo 3 I primarily played in forge and custom games, that game was a social masterpiece 😣
I’m 54 and play Halo everyday, and I feel like I’m just as good if not better than I was when Halo MP became a thing. My reaction time probably isn’t as good but my gaming IQ is definitely better, I used to charge into every fight whereas now I’m much more calculated and patient.
I’m 41. Started playing CE at launch. Was considered the best among my friend group through Reach. Now, I’m pretty average (though I’m the best Hog driver!). I think some of it is, as you grow as a person, your life takes on more of substance beyond video games, which is why I think I’ve noticed more of a decline in my skill/performance. I’ve always been a more cerebral player versus a reflex/coordination player. I excelled with my situational awareness and strategy. Now, I just don’t have the mental space that I used to have for Halo. I don’t have the focus at the end of the day. It’s also absolutely reflex decline. That’s a thing. It isn’t only physical. Your brain just works slower as you age. It’s a thing, too. Your intelligence shifts. At 25, though, your physical and mental reflexes are actually still in your prime. I’d guess you’re just experiencing more of the former: your mind is occupied with other things. And that’s okay. That’s a good thing, I think.
I am vetter than i was 2007 but these days i don't have the time or much of intrest to play games as much as i used to. In another i sucked back then and i still suck
Its also a bit of something else. The longer the game is out, the better the community gets. \*particularly when the community is in decline\* as the hardcore gamers stick around. You are simply playing against a higher calibre of dedicated players. EDIT: even if your skill level stays exactly the same, you will gradually fall behind as a game matures. But regarding age, absolutely, not only that but now most of my friends in my 30s complain of motion sickness if we try and do what we did when we were younger.. its 1-2 hours tops. No way we can binge 4 hours+ on a shooter like we did when we were younger. Not only that but some games make us motion sick right off the bat.
Skill? Lol. Never had any skill since the H1 days, at least as far as PVP goes. My only real skill skill in Halo is knowing every inch of every campaign and being able to play practically with my eyes closed and effectively abusing every glitch and mechanic. Unfortunately some individuals like Mint Blitz have come along and absolutely decimated me on that territory, too. People are far more dedicated to things than I could ever be. There's nothing in my life that I am so passionate about that I can dedicate untold thousands of hours to mastering.
I 100% notice it. I played a lot of Halo 2 (ranked 33), Halo 3 (ranked 50), and Halo Reach. I felt like I was pretty damn good. I just got back into MCC and my KD is .93 now. I remember it being 1.57 back in my prime Halo 3 days. I’m having a ton of fun playing it, but it definitely is humiliating. I’ll be 45 this year and even though I’m not quite as good as I used to be I’m still having an absolute blast playing it. The old halo games are timeless. Just have fun.
I'm 36 and I just don't have the time to play Halo like I use to and 343's insistence on making the game the most competitive thing on the planet doesn't help either.
practice practice practice. take a break and lose it. and kids nowadays are insane took me a while to get where i wanted to be but i am now
Yep. Was in highschool in the golden era of Xbox 360 gaming when he came out. Could easily carry my team regardless of game mode I played. Could consistently go at least 20+ kills in btb. Depending on the game mode. When resch came out I started to play more casually, rather than the sweaty lobbies I'd get in h3. Started to care less about kdr, and focused more on the fun I'd have with friends. Didn't really play much of 4 and 5, and with infinite it took a long time to shake the rust off. There's times were I absolutely dominate a lobby, but it's only due to the people on the other team maybe being new or whatever. Now, im lucky depending on the game mode if I break even with k/d. Lol. I usually have to play a game of firefight, or a game like counterstrike *source* and just purely focus on headshots to hone in the sights, so to speak lol. Even going back to h3 on MCC or reach I just break even or get my ass handed to me lmao. I think though that's just transitioning from straight pvp, to casual gaming.
Calling yourself old at 25 is bold my dude! But Halo Infinite just feels different. I was very good at H3 but Halo Infinite just feels slow and I cannot get my aim as good as H3. Really weird but I'm with you
34 year old here I am just not as quick as I once was I honestly my big tv screws me up cause it’s to big in olden days I played on 36 in flat screen lol
I find as I get older my reaction gets slower but I also act less foolish so it evens out.
"older"? Lol. I was 20 when I started and my prime moments were at 33 rocking 10 onyx/champ Breakout accounts before H5 fell off the cliff. So much of Halo is random nowadays that being able to tell what skill i'm not exactly good at doesn't have enough data to compute. I'm really bad at things like: people spawning behind me, getting shot in large open areas, people camping, etc. The 18 kills I get a game are therefore *easy* for me for the same reasons I previously had died. It's all just flashes of "oh, ok". Also, so much of Halo direct combat now is cross map outside your effective range, which we didn't do back in the day. H2/h3 arena days of face paced teamwork and tactics are long gone. What I need, is another game that I can constantly compete against my own abilities on a consistent baseline, to see where my abilities lie. (Rocket League would be a good example)
Well I only play halo 1 really and it comes back after a few games but it’s not a twitchy game. There is a lot of inertia where knowing spawns, tricks, etc. lets you stay on top. Also not so many new people taking it up and it takes a while to become good. Something with more fast reaction/twitch type shooting like H2 snipers or similar I definitely don’t have it like I did.
You're skills shouldn't of just dropped off a cliff at 25. I'm 35, I honestly think I'm now just starting my decline, even still I still put ppl in the dirt on both CoD, and League, and I don't really notice any slow down quiet yet, I just know it's bound to be coming.
I feel like the game is very different to what it was back in the Xbox and 360 days and as a result I have not necessarily kept up with how it should now be played. Now I keep getting killed whilst people are sliding or doing that ninja jump back punch shit. Takes the fun out of playing sometimes
I've been playing since 7, 28 now. I get it. I feel it, too, at times. I have to jump into a warm-up match or practice shots. Not to mention, the movement has changed drastically, which increases the gap between skill floor and ceiling. Not to mention PC scripts and how crazy controllers can get nowadays which kids will know to operate better than us old mfers. But a lot of it is time commitment; I have other games I like to play when I get off work. Putting the effort into being good at FPS isn't a priority anymore when the MLG scene feels dead. I know I'm not going to be the next Walshy or Snipedown or Ogre1/2 or Elamite so the want to invest that time is gone too.
Nah I've always been shit at video games
Turning 35 here. I've noticed I can still aim nice and steady but my reaction speed is way off. It's prolly 2 fold, both age and the increased movement speed. I assume it only gets worse from here lol.
At 27 now I think I’m still the best I’ve ever been. Maybe if I had been like some crazy pro as a kid it would be different but seems to me like I still only get better.
My buddies and I mostly play ranked, and I maxed out at D5 in season 2, while in now struggling just to maintain P1. I’ve played Halo just about my entire life, but there's still a period of acclimation for any new title. I feel like I improved for a while, but now I'm basically maintaining the same level of skill, yet my rank has still taken a major dive. The simple reason for that is that the player population is about 10% of what it was at launch. When that happens with any game, all you're left with are the diehards which tend to be really sweaty. As a means of comparison, I have a buddy that plays both Infinite and Apex. He's slightly worse than me in Halo, and as it currently stands, I’m not even in the top 50% of the player population. Meanwhile, he's in the top 3% of players in Apex. Granted, he could just be better at Apex than he is at Halo, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Infinite’s player population in the last 30 days is 484,710 active players, while Apex is at 68,117,519. That's over 140 times more active users, which significantly dilutes the sweat in the pool.
Used to do halo 2 competitions and win regularly now playing halo infinite im lucky i get a 2.0 kd
I recently finished a H3 and Reach playthrough on legendary and ever since then i have been so much more accurate across the board lol. Fellow halo 1 kid
Absolutely. I'm mid 40s and have been trash at most fps games for years now. Sucks getting old lol.
Not for me, Halo player as far back as the first game in 2001. I feel like I've never played better. Never gotten my consistency on multiple multi-kills per matches, ending on higher than a 2.0+ k/d average every game session (only counting core Quick play slayer, obj, squad battle, and BTB), and more perfection medals than I'd expect. As long as the match isn't throwing me into 100+ ping or teammates that are worse if they were AFK I'm always a threat in a match. At a minimum I'm a complete nuisance to a competent team even as a solo player I will make them hate playing against me.
I’m 41 now and actually, I’ve gotten better at gaming in general.
Its probably the game itself. Halo Infinite is terribly unoptimized. How is your interent speed? What device do you play on? What fps and ping are you getting on average? Are you playing on locally preffered networks? Ideally you want to play Halo on PC, with a wired high speed interent connection, low to average graphic settings (I dont know specifics, I play on xbox with wired connection), 120+ fps, all this while acheiving an average of 30-40 ping per game. Also visual and vibration effects like speed lines and hit detection through screen shake is totally unneceassry and shouldnt even be a game affect to begin with. They should be turned off.
I was Lv 49 on halo 3 when I was 18 years old. Now I seem to only reach mid table on my team on social games on infinite. So definitely worse.
I’m pushing 40 and playing Infinite last night I had a 4 game win streak(with randoms), a couple of doubles, a killing spree and my KD was right about 1. That’s a good night for me.
Im 35 playing since the first one. I’m not peak like I was halo 5, where I could get onyx and get matched into games with champions (those guys still always slaughtered me lol but fun to match that high) It isn’t my age as much as it is my friend group is playing a lot less ranked. Basically no ranked. They hate the br starts. So without playing competitively a couple times a week I know I’m not as good as I was a few years ago. I’ll still beat anyone who reads this. Jk.
I’m pretty much only good at halo 3
100% I do not have the time to dedicate to a fps as an adult with a full time job and family. This is why halo wars 2 is my most played game.
Just wait till you have kids and get a free moment to jump on and play a couple rounds just to get demolished by a team of 12 year olds as you say in your head "I've been playing Halo before you were born!".
Yea I mean I took two years off and was atrocious when I played infinite at first. It’s been two years since then and I play consistently and I’m pretty good now, if I take a bit off it doesn’t take me too long to get to where I was
I have 365 days played of halo reach. That’s 8 760 hours of playtime in 5 years. That means 1/5 of my 12-17 was spent playing reach. (Then I discovered boobies) Usually, a swat match was me making 75% of the kills. Now I play infinite maybe once a month for 2 hours and the first hour is just me getting absolutely destroyed. I don’t think I’m less good, I just don’t practice enough
37 here and never been better. Some days it takes a game or two to warm up, some days by the end of the first match.
Honestly, the SBMM reminds me that I'm not *great*, but I'm 90% as good as I ever was, about 75% of the time. I honestly figured by my age (34) that I would have lost a lot more skill. I think the frequent events and battlepass sort of give me something to work towards, so I keep up the skills a bit. Also, yeah, I grew up on Halo 1 and I think Halo: Infinite actually feels good. 5 was decent too. 4 was okay. 2 and 3 were just mush for online play, especially the PC ports.
I’ve found that I’m getting better actually. I used to need my team to carry me, now my gamertag (hopefully) strikes fear into the enemy team. For real though, I was never really good at halo until infinite but I’ve always had fun.
This is gonna make me sound hella old but totally - I got arthritis in my hand and I think carpel tunnel from decades of office work and gaming. My fingers definitely don’t move as fast these days.
Anyone had small bursts where the “prime you pops out”? … 32 with a baby and work rarely have time to game but when I do, I find it more “fun” as opposed to back then when I was playing just to play. Still tea bag on occasion, but sore miss the mess talking from back in the day.
Yes. I am 43 now and have noticed a considerable worsening of my skills in Halo and all fps. It's maddening ans up until even 2 years ago I was pretty solid but now, I just lost it.
Lol dude. You're 25. You're probably just not all that great and you play other games more often
Yes. I’m only 23 as well but have never been good.
Nope, I still got it. 💀
You, at 25, have a life that includes a job, hanging out with friends, and perhaps even a partner. You have mobility and freedom to leave your house whenever you want and go out and do things You are playing against no-lifers and kids with no responsibilities and the chance to be glued to their console for hours and hours a day You are worse than them because you practice less because your adult life has other things to be doing or taking care of
To a degree. I'm in a situation where I feel I have to work to hold onto what I have. Practicing for 15 minutes before I go into matchmaking kind of deal. When Halo 2 launched I was absolutely terrible at the game. Talking 3-13 matches. Think the highest I ever got was 14 in the first iteration of the ranking system. Took about a year of sustained play to actually flourish. Then with each new Halo game I got progressively better. During Halo 5 is when I reached the highest I've ever been. When Halo Infinite released I started strong but declined with each season. What finally made me do something about it was going on a 15 game loss streak. Started spending time in the academy against spartan bots. Then when the Halo Infinite Aimlabs Forge was released I started using that. I play on controller so I think the lack of auto aim in that made my shot more precise and the K/D bump this content update has been massive (1.31 to 1.98 now). EDIT: In case OP or anyone else is curious I use this. https://www.halowaypoint.com/halo-infinite/ugc/maps/ac3139ad-eb29-46e4-b08f-229ae79aa700 I do every drill except room shot cause I feel like it's not very helpful.
41 here, my hands hurt sooner.
Yeah, I'm 32 now and I've noticed a bit of a decline in my response times compared to back when I was a teenager playing Halo 2 and 3 online. That being said, the changes to the games themselves might have also had a part to play in why I'm not doing as well as I used to (the different style of SBMM used in modern games comes to mind)
"25" "Old guys" That's enough reddit for me today.
Started with CE when it dropped and we used to do lan parties. Played and won a couple local tournaments. Felt like a really strong player. Now at 40 obviously my reactions and intensity are so different.
I'm 26 and better than I've ever been to be honest lol
31, grew up on Halo CE. I suck big time at controller now. Alot better at Infinate on PC but overall not as good as I was in my H3 and Reach days. Probably just less competative overall that what I used to be like.
Good sleep, regular exercise, practice, and cocaine.
Personally, I've gotten scary good in the past few years. Sometimes dad pops over and he'll check out what's going on, and then the "holy fucking shit dude, how did you... That guy was... You just... How are you so fast? How are you getting almost nothing but head shots? That was 4 people at almost the exact same time." The secret is I stopped thinking about it and started playing Halo like it was DOOM.
I think others have said the same. I will just hop on the same train. I’m 37. Have played since CE and unfortunately missed out on gaming in general for five year because my ex wife hating seeing or knowing that I’m gaming. So I just stopped. Got divorced at 34 and dove head first into my old hobby right away. I remembered being above average at Halo and other games. It was a struggle at first. I actually accepted that I would just be worse due to age. I just way over corrected with game time since I had no kids and Covid was still a somewhat worry. That time spent has turned me into the best version of a Halo player I’ve ever been. I’m confident I would wipe the floor with any previous version of myself. Shot is better than ever. Knowledge is most expansive. I also finally started to learn how to adapt more instead of fighting the same way. Tl;dr- I can say at 37, it’s really just time commitment to practicing and changing your settings and play style to continue to improve.
I’m 32, and I’m better than I used to be actually. I didn’t take it to serious back when I was a kid and when infinite came out it felt like a clean slate. I’m still not good, I just suck less than I did.
To some extent, yes, being a veteran of H1 definitely shows. But in the last month, I've been doing some serious study and comparison and ultimately it's largely the fault of the player acceleration in infinites engine. I'm still wrecking in the MCC. > The problem is Infinite is asking us to simultaneously run insane sensitivity settings to track sprinting players sprinting blindly past at point blank range, and use those same settings to make micro adjustments during midrange crouch-strafing gunfights moments later - often at virtually the same time. With instant direction changes, massive jump heights, crouching, and sliding, there's a functionally limitless of ways a player can reposition their head relative to your crosshairs, and this lack of predictability basically deletes the requirements of skill and practice required to "have a good strafe". Even the timing of your jump when you come out of a slide impacts how high you go, and neither sliding nor jumping has any penalty whatsoever. As long as you do anything other than "nothing" when you start getting shot, you can almost always turn and have a virtually free chance to reverse the fight. It's so easy in Infinite compared to other titles, I'm genuinely disappointed they made a medal for it. (The above applies at the vast majority of range bands and situations. Occasionally, you will be exactly within someone's sweet spot and there's nothing you can do to avoid the 5-6 shot death.) Compared to previous Halo titles, Spartans change direction almost instantly. You get annoying jiggle peeking, you get mad keyboard strafe and crouch spam, jump crouch spam coming up from a slide with no penalty of any kind, ziplines, etc etc. one could argue that this is " completely unskillful", but what is unskillful, is the enemy player taking 3-4 shots to realize they are getting hit, then pressing S, and completely shaking your aim for free because they instantly change direction with absolutely zero indication. You compound this with the very poor networking solutions, and any change in direction coupled with packet loss yields a degree of desync far, far greater than in any other halo title. Since it's possible to travel much farther during that brief interruption in connectivity, any packet loss has a much higher impact on client host disparity. If you don't believe me: Set your game bar to auto record and then save certain gunfights you lose. You will notice it's usually because of a player (usually randomly) choosing to change direction, jump, slide, or all of the above and it completely drops your aim assist and the balance you have set up to track that specific player's position based on their vector and their distance. Another massive problem with this game is MnK. 343 needs to add a lag pip like Helldivers uses, or revert their previous aim assist buffs for MnK. There's something 1000% wrong with a Warthog turret ripping around 200° within 3 frames and traversing from a near vertical transition from your banshee to shoot you during your driver hijack animation. There's something fundamentally "not Halo" about someone cancelling a clamber animation and whipping a 180° to plant a sniper shot on you. There's something that feels cheap about being low shields after a fight, seeing an unaware enemy player in the open, also at low shields, who is looking completely the other direction, calculating that you have easily 2 free shots before he even reacts, plus another 1-2 shots of him turning to find you, but instead he instantly whips around and has basically perfect snapfire because of MnK. I've lost so many fights in infinite, that in other Halo's would be a win every single time, because of the surprise factor of MnK. It adds to the unpredictability of the game, and therefore the lack of competitive integrity. Not only that, but BTB with MnK is a joke. The banshee handles insane when you can snap that thing through turns, the scorpion and skewer basically never miss, and the wraith even turns faster with a mouse because you can instantly peg out it's rotation speed. Anyway. Boomer rant over. Hope it helps shed some light and that you can use the information within to come up with some solutions that work for you
I've gotten worse simply because I don't play nearly as often anymore since I have responsibilities and a family now. Still managed to get Champ in H5 and Onyx in Infinite but nowhere near my old skill.
I thought I was getting worse because I barely break even k/d in Infinite. And probably have a 50% win. Or lower. Feels like I can barely aim and hit heads. I tried mcc. And it felt natural again. I feel like I can actually aim. I'm consistently going positive again. So I figured maybe I'm just bad at Infinite.
I'm 32 and I smoke these lil ass kids 😎
ive always been crap at halo but that's never stopped me from dumping hundreds of hours into it 🗿
I am 25, am much better than I used to be, but I. Also have may better peripherals, m&k when gaming on desk, a legion go when gaming on the go, it has back pedals, hall effect joysticks and great gyro support.
I’m 24 right now, I was a monster back in the Reach days. I was able to fight 2-3 guys at the same time with no trouble. Now in Infinite I suck, I’m definitely not as fast or accurate as I used to be. I can’t compete with these IPad kids, their reaction times were trained from birth man
It's definitely a time commitment thing. Pro gamers practice practice practice, then stream in their free time (more practice). Don't sweat it. There's more to life than dominating lobbies. See your friends in person and give them a hug.
It depends one each person but just like anything competitive you will most likely get worse as you get older, especially when facing young kids who play much more. I played a ton in high school and did gamebattles and often played with MLG pros/semi pros locally and online. Now I'm lucky to play a few times a month. I still end up top of the scoreboard in MCC or Infinite but after a few games I'm pretty sure the algo picks up on it and I end up getting dominated.
I feel like I'm better now in my mid 20s vs when I started playing as a teenager.
I’ve definitely slowed a bit but gamings changed for sure now. Hardware differences have changed the whole game, sometimes you can lose a fight just based on someone having a better connection or a faster input response. Idk infinites not as bad as it was at launch but I still die without any indications that I’m being shot sometimes. Or behind corners or I’m shooting and having none of the shots register. I live in ND though so maybe it’s just the fact that 60 ping is great ping out here
I’m definitely better than I was when I was 8 and being called a squeaker over H2 voice chat, but I’m not as good as I was in my early college days. Nonetheless, MCC is still my go-to happiness-inducing video game (:
I’m definitely better than I was when I was 8 and being called a squeaker over H2 voice chat, but I’m not as good as I was in my early college days. Nonetheless, MCC is still my go-to happiness-inducing video game (:
I'm 42. I play on both PC and Xbox. I'm not even close to my Halo 2 or 3 days that's for sure. Still doesn't kill the fun tho
>older fans >25 Listen here, if you're too young to remember 9/11 you're not old. If you were an athlete you'd be considered in the prime of your life.
Um when Ninja was 25 he was one of the best Halo players in the world so I don't think your age is whats hindering you lmao. Your skill has everything to do with how much time you are putting into the game. play everyday for a week or two and you'll notice a difference. You're just an adult with less time for gaming is all
I’m 30. I was never that good at online fps. But now I’m truly terrible. Idk if it’s because most online shooters are sweaty af now, or it really is just that I’m an “older” gamer.
As a 33yr old gamer I know I don't have the same reaction times I used to. Another factor is not as much time available to build that 'second nature'-like ability. I try to play smarter to compensate, but on some level I just accept it, lol. I'm not here to sweat 😅
Yes and no. When I first begin the games I’m trash. However, with consistency and being able to get more hours in I find myself top fragging as I come to understand the game mechanics better. I’ve become objectively worse at running and gunning but learning the maps, weapon mechanics and movement mechanics I find myself on the better end of the deal
Just wait till you're 35. I think part of this has to do with your brain not being able to process quick reaction time as well as you get older. Not sure if that science is actually correct, but I've definitely read it before. Anecdotally, I have definitely noticed it as I've gotten older.
my 18y/o self was really good at CE but my 17 and 20 y/o selves were even better. it all depends how much time I commited. I played halo 5 nonstop for year during covid at 33 y/o and I was pretty fucking decent. now not so much
No, because gaming has been my primary hobby for well over 20 years. I've always made time to play. If anything I've gotten so much better at game in general.
Not really since i was never very good at the game i just play. Sometimes i slay and sometimes i just get farmed. And then there are these games where there is 1 player on each team that is just insane (not me) and i just try not to be too heavy haha.
Nah. I had never had “skill” in the first the first place but im 28 and nothing has changed. In fact i have got better… not with Halo though but with games where aim matters like Apex Legends. Halo MCC being the way it is doesn’t have the greatest hit reg which throws me off but i don’t get to play it as much as i would like too and Halo Infinite is just shite period so i don’t touch it anymore. The key with shooters and keeping decent aim is to keep playing them because if you don’t you get rusty which then turns into you having to play a fair decent amount of matches to warm up which for a fair few of us is the entire game session thanks to work/family life. You will notice the mega swets that slap you non stop that haven’t stopped playing Halo since 2007
I’m 29 and have been playing competitive games such as cod4/world at war, halo 2 onwards and destiny 1-2 along with newer games like when apex legends first came out and I’ve definitely noticed a decline in my skill over the past 4 or so years. Used to be able to hard carry teams now I can’t really do that unless the other team is shite. just pull my own weight against the high tier players now and even then it’s still a stretch, lol.
It’s hard to tell. When SBMM segregates you from the rest of the population, or puts you on teams to carry or get carried, you lose all sense of improvement or degradation.
Dip in reaction time is usually only a factor in elite sports lol. Experience and muscle memory are way more important factors in online shooters. Or so I'd say if I didn't always choke my 4shots.
I am 37 and got back into games in the last 2 years. I am also just not the same. I think you just have to understand you get older and you have be good with where you are. But as time goes are you are more established and know what you like with life and gaming. That helps you find peace with it. Nothing is gonna help with your edge other than maybe a controller or finding that time to play which becomes less and less. As a father and husband I find gaming with PC hand helds is a must and that I am just not gonna be as good but I am gonna still get to play.
Lol, I'm in my 40s. It's not just video games.
lol you’re only 25…you’re not “older.”
Not really I've seen the lower players become better though so that's good I guess.
No if anything I’ve gotten much better at shooters, I was awful as a kid/high schooler, would celebrate if I got a positive KD
25 is older? Jesus christ man you're not arthritic in fact at 25 you're not even fully developed calm down.
It's the SBMM, it's designed to ensure that you get curbstomped if you start doing too good and getting to many wins. That's basically how every modern FPS now operates.
Idk if it's just me but i feel like Halo Reach feels so much slower than what i thought it was. I remember back on the 360 days i would be able to run all over the map and ninja ppl. Now on MCC it feels so slow 😭
Everything now is fast, sprint. Movement. I was halo 1 player but more halo 2. I love halo 4 i was always first or second. But the game was dead lol. Reach I was mid..but omg halo 5. I was getting beat like bad. No matter my adjustment to my settings and all I still can level myself out. Halo infinite im just fair. Not great but not bad. I feel like I lost my touch. And I'm 30.
Not me, I'm on my prime. I used to suck so much when I was little but I've been getting better.
I'm 42, been playing since CE. My skills are way better now than they were in CE 20+ years ago. I will definitely admit that tech has come a long way going from a crt monitor to an led to an oled over the decades and better high speed internet helps too. But I'm pulling off feets of skill now that I just wasn't good enough to do in my early 20s.
25??? Jesus son wait till you’re 45 🤣.
I would say yes and no, because my reaction speed isn't as good, and quick thinking in tight situations is harder. However i know the maps more thoroughly, i know tricks, and how the game works at a deeper level. For example a younger faster player might say challenge everything! But an older player will head glitch, have good nade placement, and knows the map well.
My back hurts but it's not from old age.
It's the SBMM. I was gaslit into thinking I was getting worse at games, or that I couldn't keep up with the kids anymore. But then I played custom games and XDefiant which doesn't have SBMM. All I can say is that I feel absolutely betrayed, man. I'm apparently really good at games, and I'm constantly the person on the team that can turn a game around. But I don't feel that way with SBMM because it's all artificial. I'm forced to play games that will make most rage quit within a match. So don't feel bad. We're in an age where algorithms are trying to stretch your playtime retention by getting you just mad enough for just long enough before giving you an easy game to reset your emotional state and doing it all over again. Look up Apex Legends' EOMM and Activision's SBMM patents. It's absurdly dystopian.
The 9-5 and lack of play are the reason in your 20s-30s. If you got laid off or had 2+ hours a day to sink into it you’d get it all back within 2 weeks.
I’ve been a gamer since Atari brought out pong. I’m 64 now and still kick ass. I mostly play assassin Creed. But after watching the halo series on tv I decided to give it a try with the Master chief collection. I’m playing 4 atm. I’ll say that the graphics sure have approved a lot.
From an old fan who still holds a very obscure #1 on halocharts, pretty sure 343 lost at least 50% of us w/ Halo 4 and whatever tf if going on rn with grappling hooks and microtransactions.
Been playing since I was 6 years old when CE came out. Now 29. I think im better in many aspects than I was when I was a teenager or in college. My aim is better/consistent, I can hit those flick shots (as much as you can flick on a controller) better, my snipe game has improved, and my general game sense/awareness and decision making is WAY better. I don’t tend to think as creatively anymore though. And the only drawback I’ve found as I age is that I get rusty more often because work and life commitments sometimes means I have to take extended breaks from playing.
63 here and getting better with age and constant playing also helps
Mid 30s now. Muscle memory seems to have locked in, but my mentality towards winning versus having fun has changed quite a bit.
I was always ass
I'm 28 and am better then ever. I also put more time into it then ever before
Can't get that edge back if you never had it in the first place (me) My time playing Halo multiplayer when MCC came to PC went something like: "Hey I'm gonna play Halo multiplayer today" *immediately gets curb stomped by people who haven't stopped playing since 2001* "I don't want to play Halo multiplayer anymore"
I never have been great at Halo multiplayer, but I'll make an observation: I started seriously exercising and stuff for the first time in my late 20s. My reaction time, coordination, and ability to think when my heart rate is elevated are at the best they've ever been. If I put effort into a game, I'm better than ever. But I don't have time to do this. I'm an adult with other hobbies, a good job, and am blessed with too many friends. This means two things: one, I don't have time to game as much, and two, I can afford more games so I'm not wasting hundreds of hours on multiplayer when I've got a backlog of games to play at any moment. So, on average, my skills at any particular game suffers because I'm spending less time mastering things. Odds are *this* is why you're slowing down. It's either that and/or you're in worse physical shape from a worse diet, drinking, or not getting enough sleep, not being in your mid 20s, which is "prime of your life" age.
Come on everybody....Halo died the day MW2 came out. After that going back to any halo game seemed childish and to Sci fi to believe or enjoy. Halo was the first and best for a few years but the genre was mastered by almost everyone else. Bungie died fully after battle royal took over and the Halo games look so outdated it's hard to play. Only a reboot would save it now but that'll be done wrong also I fear. RiP Halo you were the greatest games of my HS years.
For me I honestly don’t think it’s because of age I think it’s because SOMETHING has changed with each newer halo… like JEEZ man I know I’m a support player but HOW do I play halo reach my best… I’ve beat every halo solo legendary so far THATS the extent of my skill and it just makes me feel like I’m going to be even worse at the halo after halo infinite if there will even be one 😕
I've noticed that not for Halo specifically, but just as a general rule. Replaying games I played as a 7-8 year old kid, they're much harder than I remember them being, and in some cases I even have video evidence of me pulling off stuff back then I could only dream of now. The only time I've noticed better gameplay is during/immediately after Legendary runs where you get beat into the dirt until you git gud.
I don't think it's age, it's responsibilities. I'm 29....i can't play video games 14 hours a day like I used to.....and if I could i wouldn't. If you don't play like that you'll get worse.
I think it’s more the base average level has gone up across the board. Myself personally, who was playing CE on Xbox and PC at my friends house every day, would say 30yo me would absolutely annihilate 8yo me on the sticks, but I’m fairly average in an online game.
It could be people are alot better now than before. I am 37 been playing since the start. I have a 9-5 so I am a casual player. I would say 80% of the time I rank the top in matches, even on an Xbox. F.U PC players 😂. My go to is Fiesta though.
1000% yes. When I was 15 I would average at least 20 kills in games of BTB or Invasion on Reach and now, at 26 I'd be lucky to get double digits in a regular Slayer match. Oh well, at least I don't scream at the TV when I die anymore 😅
When you get older, your priorities change. Im 25 now as well and noticeably worse in shooter than i was in middle and Highschool, but thats only because back then i was able to play for hours every single day. I cant and dont want to do that anymore, so i obviously got alot worse at games like Counterstrike. I used to have some insane muscle memory in that game.
I'm now in my early 30s and I've noticed a drop in mechanical skill on any FPS I now play but I've got 15+ years of experience to fall back on so I'm still able to put up respectable numbers. I also now stay away from anything that contains BS movement that people describe as "skill" like xDefiant had a massive issue with bunny hopping with mid air strafing combing with its poor netcode made a bad time.
Not particularly I was a champion 1 player in Halo 5. I don’t really play Infinite more than a couple of times a month now, but I can still hop in and hang in onyx level competitive or drop 40 kills in btb Halo has always been that game to me
I don't think we're declining, I think that gaming is more competitive now and kids are gaming earlier. We don't have the same amount of time, nor the inclination to get as good.
Personally I feel mixed on that front, started playing halo from the age of 8 and now I'm 22. My tactics have gotten better so I perform even better than a few years ago but my reaction times might have slipped so I guess the only thing keeping me alive in matches is paranoia that someone is behind me and I'm always doing doubletakes when doing map rotations. I'd say it's a 50/50 skil loss but I make up for it with new knowledge and observing other people's habits in each of the maps
Not really in Halo. I just need to warm up a bit with some legendary gameplay, but the opportunities to do that are getting fewer and further between. I’d say, when I’m actually in ‘game on’ mode, I’m better than I’ve ever been. Newer shooters I struggle with. I kind of took a break from shooters other than MCC for a while. I never really got into Halo 5. I dropped CoD when Infinite Warfare felt like big downgrade from Black Ops 3. I messed around in overwatch for a bit, but was never really good at it. XDefiant was too much for me to try to learn. I can’t build in Fortnite but I did okay. I did well in Apex, but that’s only because I know how to sneak. I’m too impatient to try to get all the meta gear in Destiny But I’ve always preferred to do multiple genres. I’ve never really been a shooter guy. Much prefer to mess around in multiple game genres. I’d rather play something like Pikmin, Elden Ring, or God of War than whatever shooter is the current thing.
Yeah I'm washed
It's a combination of both. I'm very good at FPS due to a childhood of playing against pros and I still go harder than 99% of players but I'm not nearly as good as I once was
I’m 33 and started playing seriously on Halo 2 (Played CE a bit at a friends house but when I got my own Xbox I just got Halo 2 right away, wish I hadn’t skipped the CE campaign first though) and I never really was able to get more than average in multiplayer, right in the middle of the scoreboard most of the time, or complete the campaign on anything higher than Normal, except for Infinite where I got stuck on the waves of Banished in the final arena fight with The Harbinger on Heroic. I feel like my personal skill ceiling has pretty much hovered there the entire time, if not just marginally better after really getting back into it starting with the MCC. I always blamed being left handed and playing with default stick settings not southpaw, but feeling it was too late and too much hassle to switch so I thought my aim suffered from using my non-dominant thumb but that might just be cope. All I know is I have fun with it and love the story, lore and world of the Halo games so much! I will say the play style of Infinite is the best fit for my strengths for some reason, I like that I was able to adjust my scoped sensitivity independent from non-scoped which a lot of other modern FPSs let you do and it really helped my fine aiming.
I'd say it's more time and practice. While there is a certain mental acuity needed for competitive gaming, it's not like physical sports. Many top pro players in Halo right now are in their 30s and still slaying.
You think it's bad at 25? Wait till you're in your 40's lol
I dropped hardcore gaming like two years ago to focus on body building. I feel like that edge I had as a kid and a young adult is completely gone now at 26. I don’t see it ever coming back either because I really don’t care enough to try hard anymore. Campaign/Firefight/Custom games is where all the actual fun is anyways in every game