The Glade 4.0

I'm old(er). I've not kept up with much of the modern gaming of recent years. My gaming experience is very limited. I played EQ when it came out. I played WoW when it came out. I've not really consoled since the few games I played on my (somewhere in a box) SEGA genesis. My last computer game outside of EQ and WoW, was something like MVP baseball in 2004? and Elder Scrolls 3?

Needless to say, I know very little about how gaming is today. I've never dealt with Steam or anything else. I don't even understand it. My internet speed is pretty slow by today's standards. I think I am on the 3Mbps plan with ATT, but tbh it rarely reaches that and is more like 2.7 or 2.8. I don't really keep up with my usage, but I don't think I've ever gone over whatever limit they supposedly have. I may one day, if I ever start to use Netflix. I mostly watch YT videos at this point. I have grown tired of WoW since the last expansion, and didn't bother buying Legion at all. Not sure, at this point, if I will ever go back. It's stale, and I just don't care to put aside the time, or try and be a part of some scheduled raid scene. My life just doesn't work that way anymore. I do housework and cook for my wife when she gets home, and my priorities are more about my health and my marriage than gaming progression and spending the time investment in that world.

And if you've bothered to read all this, I thank you for taking the time. My question is, how can I game now? I see that hard copies are no longer easy to find. And that is the world I last used outside of the MMOs scene I mentioned above. I see a copy of say, Skyrim, on Amazon for sale but it appears that it may just be some game code? Does this mean I need to use something like Steam to play games at this point? If so, is it worth my effort given my internet speed and download restrictions (I don't even know what that is tbh...maybe 150gb/mo.?)

I never got around to playing Oblivion, or Skyrim, but they seem like they may be games that appeal to my interest. I occasionally thought about playing Minecraft, but I'm not sold I won't get easily bored with that type of game. I saw Witcher 3 videos, and it may also appeal to me. I prefer adventure RPG type games mostly.

Can anyone give me a lowdown on my options? Or tell me if something like Steam is the way I should go for future gaming? And if so, is it viable for my internet limitations? Basically, I wouldn't mind playing a new game, but am somewhat lost on where I need to go to get that fix in today's world.

Thanks to anyone who can take the time to give an opinion. I am really starting to feel my age these days, as I either don't keep up with what's going on, or refuse to be a part of parts of it.

Hard copies are becoming more and more a thing of the past, yes. Steam is the major player in gaming delivery on the PC, although not everything is there. The consoles all have their own marketplaces.

If you want to remain a PC player, Steam is a good place to start. The sales are regular, and fairly deep. As long as you aren't too picky about what you play next on your list, you can generally always find a new thing to play at a reduced price. The catalog is pretty comprehensive, I can only think of a handful of games you wouldn't be able to get through Steam.

Your internet service shouldn't be that much of a problem. Modern AAA titles are larger downloads, but bandwidth requirements decrease drastically for pretty much everything else. Anything multiplayer probably has a fairly trivial impact on data usage, so you don't really need to worry about that.

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As Shuyung said, Steam is the way to go. One massive benefit, since you're not attempting to keep up with the bleeding edge of gaming everything you buy will be at a massive discount. Steam now has quarterly sales (Unfortunately the winter sale ended today at noon, but the spring one will be here before you know it), and anything older than a couple months gets marked down across the board. I would check out GOTY editions of titles from the past few years that include all the DLC and start there. (if your PC can run it, I recommend Witcher 3 GOTY, a single player RPG you'll get 150+ hours out of easily).

While game downloads can be QUITE large (in some cases, approaching 50GB or more, but those are GIANT AAA tentpole releases), unless you're downloading lots of games in a single month I doubt you'll hit your cap.

One final note: If you're interested in filling out your catalog of steam games with older AAA releases and some indie games, I would also check out Humble Bundle: http://www.humblebundle.com, for a couple bucks you can pick up a ton of games that activate on steam.

I will also add that you should check out https://www.bundlestars.com/en/ - they're similar to Humble Bundle, except they tend to offer a lot of old and cheap games more often.

But yeah, Steam is the way to go. Or - if you're really having that much difficulty with downloading games via Steam, just go pick up a console. You can always be assured (for this generation, anyway) that you'll walk out of the store with physical media.

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The Dude abides.

The problem with most console games is that these days they often have a "day one" 8gb patch that the game will be buggy-as-hell without downloading. You can still play them but often in unfinished states.

Those are usually the triple-A games though, so likely not the games he's looking to play.

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The Dude abides.

Thanks for all the feedback. Haven't done anything yet. We just found out our connection is good enough to use Netflix, and my wife has been hogging the bandwidth all week after she gets home

There were only two games I was considering at this time. Skyrim and Witcher3. Something fantasy that would be akin to playing EQ or WoW in single player mode.

Just keep your eyes peeled. One or the other of those two tends to go on sale pretty regularly, on Steam. I think I managed to get the special edition of Skyrim for $7 or thereabouts.

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As others have said, Steam is the way to go for PC gaming. Regular sales and/or discounted prices, and a nice repository for all of your owned titles.

Console gaming on 3 Mbps internet is....iffy, at best. I know, I've been there. It was the only speed available at our new house until about 4 months ago. And as Lenas said, playing a console game the day of release was just not happening. Most games had a 4 - 8 Gb patch on day one, so that meant I spent the entire first day downloading instead of playing. However, if you are more interested in older, single player titles, then console can be very convenient.



It depends on the game title, but usually those codes will be redeemed through Steam (or Origin, EA's 'steam-like' service). Very rarely, you'll come across one that you can download directly from Amazon, but that was mostly older titles.

IIRC, the base install / download size of Skyrim (Regular edition, not the new Special Edition) was around 9 GB, so you can set it to download overnight, and play the next day.

Just be mindful of your data cap. With game downloads and Netflix streaming, you could bump up against the cap fairly quick.

The nice thing about Steam (and since you mentioned Skyrim) is that you can 'subscribe' to Steam workshops and mods for Skyrim, and Steam will keep these mods updated for you, automatically.

And I'm sure others will agree, but you definitely should give Skyrim a try. If you can snag the Legendary Edition (which includes all the DLC's) for a good price, then jump on it. That game and all of the DLC's will keep you occupied for quite some time.

As for Witcher 3, I can't really comment, as I haven't played it. I own both Witcher and Witcher 2 and I just never could get into the playstyle. Just never kept my interest, so I didn't bother picking up Witcher 3. That's not to say you wouldn't like it, though.

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"I Live, I Love, I Slay, and I Am Content."
- Conan the Barbarian

I as well could not get into Witcher 1 or 2. Took a serious try at both but couldn't stay engaged. Witcher 3, on the other hand, is the some of the best gaming I've had in a long time. Put 200 hours into it. Probably the best story telling in a game I've ever seen. Plus, the developer is one of the most conscientious toward their fans. They really give you value, especially in their DLC. Can't recommend it enough.

Skyrim is great if you want to do some dungeon crawling. The lore is great. Some of the quests are good. Mods is where the game shines, but those really add up on your data. I have over 300 hours on it.

I'd still recommend Witcher 3 over Skyrim any day.

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The Dude abides.

This was also my experience, I didn't finish Witcher 1 or 2, put 150+ hours into 3 doing every sidequest. Amazing game.

Thanks for all the advice. I will likely wait until I can find a sale on them. If not, I'll d'load them at some point.

Lost power for the weekend due to the tornado action down here, so things have been a bit busy offline.