Games you love...but have never played

[Jarhead0331]

I cannot be the only one who has games that fall into this category...there are just so many games out there that I'm in love with, yet have never actually played.  I mean, I own them, and I've installed them, and I may have even ran them...but I never really learned them and never played for more than a couple minutes.

SDR's informative posts on HOI 3 has made me realize that I have a love affair with that game, but have never actually learned how to play it.  War in the Pacific, War in the East,  Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge and Falcon 4.0 BMS also fall into the category.  These titles all have something in common though, so I guess its obvious why I have never really played them.  For me, they are too complex, and just take too much of a time commitment to learn.  But I suppose there could be other criteria, that may make other people "love" a game, but for some reason, never really play it.

I suppose it means I love the concept of these games.  I love what they simulate, and how they go about doing it, but for whatever reason (maybe they are just too involved) I have never managed to take the time to sit down and learn the system.  Its kind of like that smoking hot girl that is in your high school english lit class...you love her, but she is just so hot, she is unapproachable...you dream about her all year, but never get the courage to walk up to her and ask her out.

What about you guys? Suffer from anything similar?

[PanzersEast]

Dominions 3.... love the game, installed it, have yet to learn and play through it.

Aurora 4X.... another, love the complexity of the game, installed, have yet to learn and play through.

SoTS II have installed and briefly messed around with, need to play through.


I have a couple more and I have started to make my Hit List of games I am going to stick to and continue to learn and learn WELL during the fall... with no deviation.  I will play it or uninstall and dwindle my list down...... I have a good handful of games on my list I like and need to let go of the "I spent the money I really need to play it" mentality... either I enjoy it or I do not, there is no try.

PE

[Anguille]

Too many to tell...well, let's try  :P

I know i will (let's hope) at some point give them the time they deserve:

Sword of the Stars
Medieval Total War
Rome Total War
Civilization 4
O.R.B
Space Empires 5
Port Royal
Sengoku (and most of Paradox games)
Europa Universalis 2
Pharao
War in the East
Uncommon Valour
Children of the Nile
Birth of America (and the other games by Ageod)
Homeworld 2
Rise of Nations

Etc...

Obviously, time is short and complex games require more time to learn, thus it's easier to turn to the more approachable games. One problem i have too is that i just suck at rts so these games take me forever to finish (like heroes of annihilated empires right now).

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

This is exactly the problem I have and I've decided to rectify.  That's one of the reasons I forced myself to finally get to grips with HOI III.

I have too many games that I've purchased because I love the idea of them but I never get around to playing because I dread the initial learning curve.

I'm taking it upon myself to go through my catalogue of games and play each one that I've previously avoided until I get comfortable enough to either enjoy it for its merits or move on.

I forced myself to learn the campaign system with Achtung Panzer and ended up having a great time playing through the Soviet-Afghan campaign.
I'm getting to the point where I feel like I understand HOI III well enough to try to tackle a more diverse major power next.  (Can't decided between the US, UK, or Japan though.)

I want to get back into Dangerous Waters and play it without the AI running any of the stations for me.

I want to learn Sword of the Stars II.

I want to play though a game of Pride of Nations (although it's the long turn times more than the complexity that sees me off in that one)

I want to learn to fly either the Ka-50 or the A-10 in DCS well enough that I can actually complete tasks on the fly.  (I currently have to hang back about 50km, circle repeatedly until I slowly go through all the steps to get my nav and weapons systems set up to make an attack.  Then I do, screw something up and by the time I reset, I'm 200KM passed the target.)

[undercovergeek]

Dominions 3.... love the game, installed it, have yet to learn and play through it.

Aurora 4X.... another, love the complexity of the game, installed, have yet to learn and play through.

SoTS II have installed and briefly messed around with, need to play through.


I have a couple more and I have started to make my Hit List of games I am going to stick to and continue to learn and learn WELL during the fall... with no deviation.  I will play it or uninstall and dwindle my list down...... I have a good handful of games on my list I like and need to let of of the "I spent the money I really need to play it" mentality... either I enjoy it or I do not, there is no try.

PE

+1 - im hoping these are the actions of the wise and sage-like, ive seen more than a few guys (including Star(!!)) say they have a select few that they will learn the deep intricacies of or delete and then move on but will not have a bloated hard drive (lord paraise steam and its storage facility).

Ive gone down this road with XCOM, WG:ALB, and Shogun and shortly Rome

My guilty love affair is probably EU3 and all its add ons, i have it, it is a grand opus - masterpiece if you will, but i have never given it any where near the love and attention it deserves - im sure its not the reason but the combat used to p*** me off, but i love the thought of guiding your country through wrack and ruin. For me Rome has coincided terribly with EU IV and ive decided i can hold out on it until Rome has worn me out.

And the HOI III AAR of SDRs has made me want to get back into that too - i did a German AAR over at the old place that i enjoyed doing very much

[Martok]

Good topic, Jarhead. 


Suffice it to say I'm in the same boat as the rest of you guys, and for much the same reason(s):  I love the concept a lot of my games represent, but am chronically (and tragically) intimidated by their learning curves.  JH's analogy about being afraid to ask out that hot girl is a fairly apt one. 

Games that I've barely touched include Eador: Genesis, Europa Universalis III, Dominions 3, just about all of my Matrix & AGEOD titles (Distant Worlds being a notable exception), and -- believe it or not -- Knights of the Old Republic (sadly).  Heck, I've even hesitated to fire up StarDrive (despite my having been one of its champions here), because apparently I'm intimidated by it being real-time...which of course is a new level of ridiculous, given how much I've played (and enjoyed) Distant Worlds (a real-time 4x game that's far more complex).  ::) 


...And those are just a few examples of games I've barely played (or not at all).  :-[ 

[phredd1]

You're not alone. I have the same problem. I like the concept of the game, buy it, install it and then realize it is gonna take me forever to figure the game out, and I don't really try after realizing that. For me SSG's Kharkov & Korsun Pocket,  Grigsby's War in the East, Schwerpunkt's Russo-German War are the best example of this syndrome.

But, fear not, there is still hope! Given some of the recent trends in gaming like the new "Renting" concept and the requiring internet connection for single player gaming, we ( It's the Royal "We.") won't be buying as many games and will then be forced to confront this issue.


What I don't understand though, is my behavior in regards to TOAW. All the Talonsoft versions (and I do mean ALL), I treated the same way load 'em up and then back away from the complexity.  Then I buy TOAW III from Matrix and load it up. I then backed off of it for a good while. Then I found myself slowly, very slowly, chipping away at it, and now after two years of this, am just about at a point where I can say I understand it.

But why TOAW III, and not any of the other games mentioned earlier? Thinking about your post, I realize that I can't come up with any reason why I chose to deal with that game, and not the others.

[TheCommandTent]

I have more of a problem of finishing games that I have than just letting them sit there never played but I can see where y'all are coming from.

[Barthheart]

Same here as all the others.

Distant Worlds - love the concept but the real time aspect intimidates me so that the AI ends up playing the game and I watch.....

EU III - way too many things going on at once, but still I bought it all plus a bunch of the unit DLC's...

War In the Pacific - no idea where to start as either side. Fired it up more than a dozen times only to close it up because I was just fumbling around.

HOI III - thanks to SDR I'm going to try and buckle down and learn the damn thing. Played HOI II to death.... So you'd think I had a basic idea on what to do....

[sandman2575]

Guys, play SOTS2 -- it rules!!!!

Games I keep wanting to spend time with but never seem to muster the mental energy:

1.  Crusader Kings 2 -- I seem to really lack imagination with this game.  I tend to just watch time go by, fend off vassal rebellions, then lose interest. 

2. Distant Worlds -- There's a lot I like about this game, and yet it doesn't seem to hook me -- and the constant pirate raids make me panicky ...

3. Total War series -- I know this is pretty much blasphemy around here, but another game franchise that in theory I love, but when I set up campaigns in Empire or Shogun2, I play for some rounds and then lose interest in having to set up repetitive RTS battles...

4. Fallen Enchantress -- I've really liked it the few times I've fiddled with it, and yet I haven't really gone back to get to know it better...

5. World War One Gold -- such an interesting game and I love  the board game look and feel -- but it's just so damn complicated and the UI can be pretty infuriating...

6. War in the Pacific: AE -- incredible depth, but I've never gotten past April '42 on the grand campaign.. Things just get completely overwhelming for me...

[Gusington]

At the risk of being virtually drawn and quartered by Toonces again, Rise of Flight. I know I will love it, someday, I just have not given it the time it deserves. The idea of it I love. I have to live up to the reality.

[Rayfer]

Crusader Kings 2....have done the tutorials at least six times intending to play but then I start a game then stare at the screen wondering, 'now what do I do?'.

[MetalDog]

With all of you who mentioned HOI III.  Played II to death (although, I have never played Germany as I found it too busy and intimidating).  I've even played a fulll game of III, but as Yugoslavia and i feel like I may have cheated myself.  I like playing minors, but, I think I should have taken Italy or France.

[Sparhawk]

  I'm in the same boat, though I only started buying from Gamersgate since 2010, Steam last December, and GOG since March. So my library may be a bit more limited than some. When I bought games on disk I had fewer and made a point to wear it out before buying another. I work construction so often have no time, but when am between jobs can really wrap my head around games I've been sitting on awhile. A case in point was Korsun Pocket back in the day. I read a great review, bought a copy on Ebay, and waited till I got laid off from work. I spent 10 hours a day for a week playing through a scenario. I still recall what a blast I had. Rarely have I been as satisfied gaming as letting the Soviets create an untenable salient in the pocket then cutting their supply lines and watching all those motorized divisions dissolve as I squeezed.
  Games I am waiting on at the moment are Crusader Kings 2, HOI 3 (its much easier just to fire up a game of Arsenal of Democracy), and I'm determined to scratch my mmo itch when I get a chance by playing Wurm online. I need lots more time than I will ever have.

[SgtRock]

How can you say you like something if you never played it, I don't get it ???