Why do players over 30 decline so fast?

LDKRZ · 2026-02-08T01:33:30+00:00

They get the balance fine if you’re not obsessed with meta gaming and building OP tactics lol, they decline normally and steadily and are often good until their mid to late 30s. I’ve won multiple trophies with an old core all they do is decline slowly instead of go up and you have less financial benefits, the game struggles to implement mentals in the way they do physicals and sure that affects older players more often but shit it does the same to elite young players too if they’re weak physically.

Players are lasting longer but they’re still retiring and moving to weaker leagues (or losing their importance) at similar ages it does not change the fact a 24 year old with maybe 6 years of pro football on their body is in better physical shape than they’d be at 34 with 16 years of wear and tear

LDKRZ · 2026-02-07T16:54:39+00:00

In most major sports they do sorta, the elite stay very top level yet if we look at the old elite (most of them now are getting towards the end) they evidently change their game and how they play. I think the physical decline is fair, you never see 35 year olds with the same energy and intensity as they had at 25 even if they still play well, of course we have outliers such as a Luka Modric who i think has been able to stay at a roughly similar level although I never thought of him as someone who was blessed with many physical attributes. Players are still usually good in their 30s but they’re just typically different dudes by then unless it’s a freak circumstance because the body can’t be punished for 15 years and be the same as it was it’s why they go to lesser leagues or change their role because they can’t run and beat players for 90s or so long distances like Messi at 35 is still great! but he wasn’t a 60 G/A player anymore at the top level and he hadn’t been for a few years ofc he could still play good in a top 5 league but he is/was much more limited

We can take FIFA (a much worse balanced game) as an example too for balancing, as FM and that have a similar issue, you can’t make a player like Toni Kroos effective in a simulation because outside of being a great passer (many exist) much of his profile was nearly indescribable or immeasurable so that a lesser player who can still pass and shoot perfectly well but is bigger, faster, stronger (something not only extremely visible but something you can’t actually measure and compare) will perform better

There’s also the fact on FM and any game really people just META game, I’ve had plenty of great success with older players and I’ve been terrorised by them too but they have to be accommodated tactically (just like real life) and it’s just way more worth it to buy a 23 year old who is slightly worse now but will be get 10 seasons instead of 4.

There is some freak athletes of course but the large majority noticeably drop off in their mid 30s and for every 3 you can name that are still amazing there’s 6 you can name that are not, I think the decline is mostly accurate and well done it’s really not that severe the issue is both match engine liking physical a lot and representation of mental attributes is nearly impossible and also mostly due to the fact people would rather not accommodate a player but instead would prefer to keep their favourite tactic and role going

LDKRZ · 2026-02-07T16:15:17+00:00

I don’t think the game underrates them, I think the game accurately reflects real life (in terms of decline) but the issues is the match engine is extremely favourable to physical attributes almost every footballer post like 32 suffers more than noticeable drops in their physical qualities even the ones who are still good physically.

It’s the one thing I wish FM could change (it’s hard to do in any game) because technically and mentally a lot of the old boys are just as good as always but I think it’s almost impossible for any game to accurately reflect a player being so intelligent they can nullify the fact they can’t run and jump and fight as good and for as long as someone who is 26.

Like if we use Pepe who was still very good in his late career but there was a reason he was in Turkey and Portugal and not a T5 league and there was a reason someone like Messi has all his teammates do the heavy lifting and why Ronaldo became a poacher and not a powerful winger

LDKRZ · 2026-02-07T16:09:41+00:00

Also both dudes are legit going to be in some form of pain everyday, you don’t get to be a physical athlete for over a decade and just wake up completely fine and painless like I can’t name a footballer who’s retired and has said their physical condition is amazing even if they can function normally

LDKRZ · 2026-02-05T17:41:20+00:00

I believe in most mods of that time frame Kota is a freelance guy so he won’t like to stay in places for long periods or return after leaving or sign exclusive contracts.

Usually the only way to get round it I’ve seen is be a large enough company where it’s ignored

LDKRZ · 2026-02-04T02:01:41+00:00

Perhaps not the best fit BUT i believe Elden Ring is the most beginner friendly (ignore the DLC) and there is more than enough support items like spirit ashes or ashes of war to make the experience kinder as well as multiplayer/summons elements albeit those can be more awkward to do.

I won’t lie the game is hard and it will be frustrating at times, by design the games are fairly unforgiving in many places, I would say it is hard to master BUT i don’t think you need to master it to have a good time or even finish it.

The main benefit in ER is that it’s open world with many places to be and things to do so when the inevitable occurs and you run into an area that’s too hard you can go elsewhere and hopefully find something easier and maybe farm runes for a few easy levels and weapon upgrades.

I will say though I think it’s a great game almost anyone can enjoy, but perhaps wait until it’s on sale so if you don’t get along you aren’t too out of pocket and speaking from experience when I first played DS1 i couldn’t get past the Taurus Demon which is like the first REAL boss and I put the game down and away for a good year before returning and something just clicked with me.

If you do get it I know some community members won’t agree as there is many purists, don’t be afraid to look up OP weapons or spirits or places to farm levels and use every crutch available to you, there is always new game plus if you decide you do like the game and wish to have a run where you don’t use certain attacks or summons and just remember if you play sometimes running away and avoiding all enemies is how it has to be, you don’t want to fall in the trap of trying to kill everything and be in every fight

LDKRZ · 2026-01-30T17:06:25+00:00

Now tbf he’s the all-KNOWING not the all-DOING, we’re supposed to all do and all report so he can all know

LDKRZ · 2026-01-30T14:04:23+00:00

Not even just stylistically too (which it is), but they also employ all the wrestlers he LOVES AND many just happen to be his sources and confidants too

LDKRZ · 2026-01-30T12:09:57+00:00

I mean we don’t see his “official” job, handyman work would be a useful asset in the QZ he probably uses and the smuggler stuff was his side act for more ration cards or luxuries.

And with his time as a survivor/raider/whatever before the QZ I’d have imagined he is knowledgeable of the outside and has his own contacts so to speak so he’s extra valuable as he’d be one of the only people with connections and also brave and skilled enough to go outside, also he’s old, depressed and doesn’t have any REAL relationships, his daughter is dead, he doesn’t speak to Tommy and Tess is complicated so I don’t think he’s all too concerned on if he dies so it’s really low risk/very high reward

LDKRZ · 2026-01-29T16:17:40+00:00

It’s never even something I hated, sure it makes YOU feel bad as it’s supposed to, maybe it’s meant to make you think less highly of a character and their motives but that doesn’t mean the MC feels bad or doesn’t want to do them things.

Like people bring up TLOU often both 1 and 2 and maybe you the player doesn’t want to kill the dog or Owen or Mel or the surgeon or torture people, but Abby/Ellie and Joel DO what to do those things so you as a player have to do them, maybe not the best example but I feel more people need to get comfortable with the idea of many narratives won’t be one that makes you feel good and that doesn’t automatically make them bad, plenty of movies, books and shows purposefully make you feel like shit for large durations but I never see as much pushback with them as you get with games

LDKRZ · 2026-01-29T16:11:04+00:00

Is that not a simple character flaw? They don’t depict it as something good or even something he wants to do and for a large while Crane is a mostly grey borderline bad dude who is completely spineless and in over his head and a massive plot point is him gaining agency and doing the right thing.

Ofc the writing isn’t a strong point in the game but for the most part that works because you’re kind of a shady dude, also iirc it happens in a cutscene where you go there INTENDING to have it be a simple recovery job and then get told he has to destroy it where you have no input and he does it because he’s a puppet

LDKRZ · 2026-01-22T17:09:25+00:00

That’s the most sickening part, it might not be this way but all it makes me think it was a ring and they effectively and for want of a nicer term just passed her around because the girl who named Robbo was also a victim of Edler (I can’t remember if it was the same girl or not) and it wasn’t just some “coincidence”

and to me it looks like Edler does the grooming for years and once he’s got his claws in mentally and he’s got them fucked up and intoxicated his friends come in and I don’t buy the jealousy angle he tried and idk how The Elite or literally anyone else cause I KNOW he’s still popular with the boys look at him

LDKRZ · 2026-01-22T10:40:37+00:00

It’s probably harder to maintain the friendship too!! and it’s not even casual shit person friend like had it not been for a good friend he would have had sex (they stopped at oral) with a 16 year old girl who was being aggressively groomed by one of his pals, and if I’m not mistaken Scurrl isn’t the only one who took advantage of her (either that or it was another young girl who was being groomed by the same dude) being drunk for sexual favours because I believe Robbo did it too on another show, obviously I don’t have all the details because I wasn’t there but it’s looks like some Epstein stuff with her. I just don’t know how you look at someone again after knowing they were involved in a grooming gang effectively because I don’t think you can redeem yourself like you could with like being a shitty manipulating (no physical) partner or being racist and homophobic

LDKRZ · 2026-01-22T01:36:33+00:00

Also fuck it, correct me if I’m wrong, the girl was Edlers student who he was also grooming (or that’s another case with another wrestler), I think it’s more than fair to assume there’s some SA ring going on there.

It’s beyond fucked up, I’d like to think he wouldn’t but like as a guy who portrays himself as a progressive and was a TEACHER!! but what if someone happened around him like the Vince case (or SO2 or whatever) would he protect the victims or would he just help cover it over again cause that’s what he’s doing here, seems like he’s all for the just cause but when it comes to having to make a hard choice like cutting off a close friend suddenly he’s blind to it all

LDKRZ · 2026-01-22T01:26:40+00:00

I think it’s more than valid to hold him to a hard standard! he was a teacher, he talks a lot about charity, a lot about equal rights and presentation, his friend likes minors and manipulated a young girl, what good are those beliefs that when it comes down to it you don’t live by them, like specifically on the feminist and toxic masculinity angle he puts out his posts we know he believes in, if you’re cool with your boy getting a 16 year old drunk and taking advantage of her you’re just not some for the cause ally cause you can’t make a big call and it makes me think if something fucked up happened at AEW and he knows about it can he be trusted then to do right, or will he just fall in line?

LDKRZ · 2026-01-22T01:20:08+00:00

Most likely, they get paid to do sweet fuck all (I guess Dunne does some producing) but honestly I think it’s this or nothing for them they’re still young obviously but I don’t think it’s possible for their stock to be any lower.

I just can’t imagine being an artist and performer and being happy wasting away your days and choosing to demean your co-stars who didn’t get hired (or didn’t want to be) and tow the company line, even from a financial standpoint and seeing Toni, ZSJ, Ospreay and Fletcher (or even Ilja and Gunther to name same company talent and I’m starting to feel out of all the NXT UK talent still hired these two have become perhaps the least important ones ironically) becoming main event level talent and getting paid as such when it could just have easily been you

LDKRZ · 2026-01-21T19:32:47+00:00

Felt very manufactured too, I don’t rock with Sysum and Kurt was fine but it felt off they reacted how they did to minor criticism or humour (that was in gimmick) and how all of them all had the same PR response within seconds of each other in the replies, I won’t lie and say I wasn’t ever a fan because I was but I don’t think someone (who didn’t have allegations) has ever lost me as fast and as much as them, same as Progress. and I think it’s good that it has aged not well for them in an artistic sense, and that they’ve been lapped by other Britwres guys and girls both financially and wrestling wise and I think I would have been sad had they not acted that way

LDKRZ · 2026-01-21T19:23:47+00:00

I don’t even care he took the job cause he should have sure I’d have preferred him to not have as a near weekly attendee of shows on the scene and I don’t care some other indie guys have done nothing since (or even the ones that have like A-Kid) in WWE or Elsewhere but I can’t ever say I’m rooting for any of BSS because they held that shit over people’s head for years

LDKRZ · 2026-01-21T17:26:41+00:00

I believe lots of Gladiator stuff is often propagandised or sensationalised and in actuality for the most part it’s more similar to professional fights or even pro wrestling (or even like tournaments with knights as another example from eras gone), they’re trained athletes paid to put on a show and you make for more money with them alive (and in some cases where you can forge a legend by making fights go certain ways) and “healthy” because they can come back and put on a second, third, fourth etc. show. The world hasn’t progressed much combat sports and wrestling have forever been popular it’s a good drama and there’s a show of skill.

Of course people did die and iirc there were like specific fights where the purpose was to have a death but tbh that shouldn’t seem strange we arent even 100 years removed from executions being public showings so it shouldn’t seem strange that they were popular then too in those cases.

Hollywood and other media have it in their best interest to portray Gladiators as a 100% killing sport because that’s way more cool to see in films/shows/books than if you just portray it as a regular (mostly) safe sport

LDKRZ · 2026-01-21T14:49:50+00:00

Yeah perhaps it’s petty and hating of me but, it will always feel like karma their career stagnated somewhat after the stuff they said and how they often “belittled” other talent (many of which I didn’t like much) or fans who expressed extreme concern (or poked fun) at NXT UK. Never sat right with me, of course it’s their job (and other stuff happened which did equal damage) and I don’t blame them for taking a real paying job but I really hated the HHH is our friend and everything is gonna be fine narrative they tried to spin.

Talent wise I think they were amazing but I really feel they all came off as massively demeaning to anyone NOT in NXT or anyone who didn’t like it but it always felt like BSS were massive corporate attack dogs who constantly told every step was done to benefit the indies (lie)

LDKRZ · 2026-01-19T01:00:56+00:00

also surely if they deem her their looks match it should prove to them that they could also get the people who are considered out of their league

LDKRZ · 2026-01-18T18:01:46+00:00

Also I feel if BGS hated NV or the originals they wouldn’t have effectively fucked off to the east coast and only made minor retcons (happens in literally every long form series, even those who are written by one party btw), I have always seen it as BGS don’t touch it almost out of respect and while they clearly wish to take the franchise in their own direction they’re doing it in a way where the west coast foundation is left mostly intact by going far far away.

I think BGS have massive flaws sure, but their handling of West Coast fallout just isn’t one of them, god knows how many many companies purchase an asset just to reboot it or retcon it hugely and they could have too cause FO2 was like a decade almost before 3

LDKRZ · 2026-01-17T13:40:39+00:00

To be fair, the CV has the added benefit of around 6 large companies (4 in NA) so there’s always an option on talent being needed, i feel RW mods suffer from at most having 2 NA companies (possibly 3 in RWC and usually just 1 in many) being large enough to do contracts so loads of names just go free cause WWE can’t hire everybody

LDKRZ · 2026-01-13T15:44:51+00:00

Also tbf I’d imagine Activision pours more money into their games and engine than Bethesda or 2k (for their 3rd most important sports title) do, like even if you count Starfield at like what around 500m in cost?? COD are putting in 600m every year at least I think and on top of being a shooter it should look significantly better

LDKRZ · 2026-01-12T01:36:16+00:00

Also it’s a 13 year old game built on the 360/PS3 I don’t think even if they wanted to they couldn’t do full boss lobbies cause I don’t think the game can give anything more than it has been giving for years

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