Boredom. When I was young, new games were a big deal. You went months or years without them. We eventually found things like Runescape and these proved to be ad

Boredom. When I was young, new games were a big deal. You went months or years without them. We eventually found things like Runescape and these proved to be addictive but they were kind of a boring timesink; a poorly tuned skinner box. So, you had time, you had what you had and people made mods and cool stuff because you work with what you've got. I learned image editing and 3D modeling this way. Now, many games like Fortnite and Genshin Impact are just straight up decent experiences for free. I have consistently marvelled how if you're on the Epic Games Store, you just get decent large games for absolutely free every few weeks. I have over 60 now. This would have probably ruined my childhood life. Touched on above: open systems that allowed modding like Jedi Knight 2 MP, or custom content, like Warcraft 3 custom maps, which did not survive the transition to a meaner, newer Blizzard corporation. Also lost, I think, is charm in interfaces/the medium. As it's less and less remarkable that game UIs exist, there is increasing emphasis on getting them out of the way. Cute skeumorphic designs are not so common now. On that same note, quirks. Age of Mythology included a miniature encyclopedia for every unit in the game, including for chickens. I read this a lot, as I had time and not a lot going on.