Mine is video games. Like, I’ve sworn to myself that I was going to cling to that until at least 10 or 15 years while I still have the cognitive ability to play them. But it’s mid-30s and they say the 30s is generally where your love for video games go to die unless you’re in the industry or having some working part involving games.
I’m having a harder time picking up a controller and getting excited for any game. I know I’m isolated by choice which is part of the problem, but, I can’t even get that worked up for nostalgic games that I grew up with.
Mine is Magic: The Gathering, except I fully realize that I am pulling away from it and why.
The game sparked an immense amount of joy when I picked it up in high school. Now I barely recognize the game anymore. It doesn’t truly have an identity of its own and exists in this permanent state of limbo where 3rd party IPs are taking over the demand for new product and the rules are becoming so bloated that they can’t fit them on cards anymore.
This is such an “old man yelling at clouds” moment for me, because I heard just about every reason under the sun for why people quit the game when I was playing from power creep to changing art styles to just getting priced out of the hobby in general. I realize now that those people were not wrong, they were just not the target audience anymore. I am no longer a profitable demographic to pander to. I never buy packs anymore, and I’ve even stopped buying singles and I don’t attend tournaments or collect anymore, so why would Hasbro/WotC make products for me? Especially when there are deep pocketed whales out there who will pay top dollar for their favorite crossover set, no matter how silly or out of place it might seem.
I wish I could enjoy the game the way I used to, but I just can’t be bothered to hop back in when it doesn’t feel the same anymore.