Every time I would open up steam I get that overwhelming feeling about all of my neglected games and when looking through my steam library and the 600+ titles it made that feeling even worse. So many games waving their play button at me just asking to be played and instead I would go buy something new to add to the library.
I've come to the realization that game hording guilt is a real thing, many games take days, weeks, months, or even years to play. I've put a thousand hours into just AI War 2 and Oxygen not Included over the years, then there is satisfactory, timber-born, starfield, skylines, planet coaster, sea power and so many others that I start but then never go back because of the realization I'll spend weeks or months playing it instead of the other games and in the end I just keep racking up new games.
Today I cleaned out my steam library and categorized games in to playing, unplayed, and holding. Went from 655 games down to 178 :) Now when I pull up steam I see much less "junk" and really only games I need to give serious consideration to.
Recently signed up for gamepass to play MSFS 2024 - and something amazing happened. I heard the hype around the stalker games and saw stalker 2 on there - spent 5 days and 44 hours and completed that game, I've never completed any other game except one of the assassins' creed the Egypt game. That felt great! Uninstalled it and I'll never worry about it again.
Now I want to back to metro redux or songs of syx and complete those but run in to that feeling again I'll spend weeks on them and the other games will go un-played and who knows what else I'll buy in the interim :)
Clearing out the steam library helped but I still have the feeling I want to be playing 50 different other games and can't just pick one and enjoy it for the feeling of guilt on not playing the other games so to solve that I figure I'll just buy a new game and invest my time in to that continuing and making the cycle even worse.
We need a support group for game hording
Quote from: rss334 on November 29, 2024, 01:44:11 PMWe need a support group for game hording
I call myself a game collector. Problem solved :Party:.
Not the worst thing to hoard. Doesn't even take up space on your harddrive.
Try guitars.
Or cars.
I'm waiting on, "Game Hoarder Simulator 2025" to come-out to find out if I have a problem or a REAL PROBLEM.
I don't see the problem here. :smiley:
:tophat:
(https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/C4E12AQHHM-iyB1I9VQ/article-cover_image-shrink_600_2000/article-cover_image-shrink_600_2000/0/1520085046835?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=Qk-OrQKvz6Zp9g1XU2dK5zsDelXmo42LCByAkGx0DSk)
Quote from: rss334 on November 29, 2024, 01:44:11 PM...
Today I cleaned out my steam library and categorized games in to playing, unplayed, and holding. Went from 655 games down to 178 :) Now when I pull up steam I see much less "junk" and really only games I need to give serious consideration to.
...
I feel much better about my addiction now, as I have only 75 unplayed games in my Steam account. :grin:
My stance didn't change:
It is bad enough I wasted the money on games, I don't want to waste my time, too.
I was playing a match of Vermintide 2 the other night and ended up adding a player to my friend list so we could play some more in the future. Out of curiosity, I browsed to his profile to see his game list. This user has over 1000 games, and only the top three or four had any playtime.
As a person brought up not to waste things like food, the idea that there could be that many unplayed games in my library too made me feel bad, so I went and checked. Of my 800 games or so I own, only about 5 to 10 are unplayed. Woohoo!
This discovery led me to two conclusions.
1: I mostly play the games I purchase.
2: I have no life at. At all.
Also:
A study by PCGamesN and SteamIDFinder estimated that Steam users have around $19 billion worth of unplayed games.
I think a part of the reason I've mostly played my games is that now and again I go into my library, select say 5 titles with zero playtime and dive in.
Quote from: greengiant on December 02, 2024, 12:27:36 AMOf my 800 games or so I own, only about 5 to 10 are unplayed. Woohoo!
:notworthy: :ThumbsUp: :Applause:
Quote from: Pete Dero on December 02, 2024, 04:12:14 AMQuote from: greengiant on December 02, 2024, 12:27:36 AMOf my 800 games or so I own, only about 5 to 10 are unplayed. Woohoo!
:notworthy: :ThumbsUp: :Applause:
Hehe you know we can laugh about this, but seriously, the only reason my ratio is that good is because I literally became incredibly self-conscious at some point in the past and began doing that 'install 5 randoms and try 'em out' thing.
Quote from: greengiant on December 02, 2024, 06:38:10 AM'install 5 randoms and try 'em out' thing.
All my games are already installed on 6 external HDDs.
Maybe I also suffer from Hard Drive Hording.
Quote from: Pete Dero on December 02, 2024, 08:40:12 AMQuote from: greengiant on December 02, 2024, 06:38:10 AM'install 5 randoms and try 'em out' thing.
All my games are already installed on 6 external HDDs.
Maybe I also suffer from Hard Drive Hording.
Haha, could be. I've been tempted to do something like that before, but I found that having just a handful installed saves me from endless, fruitless procrastination.
I'm also addicted to always keeping my installed games up-to-date, whether I play them or not.
Quote from: Redwolf on December 02, 2024, 09:55:28 AMI'm also addicted to always keeping my installed games up-to-date, whether I play them or not.
I do that too! I have the stupid idea it will make me more likely to try them if I don't have to do updates when I get the urge to try them for first time. :idiot2:
Quote from: Pete Dero on November 29, 2024, 01:57:32 PMQuote from: rss334 on November 29, 2024, 01:44:11 PMWe need a support group for game hording
I call myself a game collector. Problem solved :Party:.
Even better, we are game
preservers. I have SPI and other board games dating from the 1970s.
Valve's recent "helpful" clarification that games are licensed and not sold on their platform, has frankly made this a little easier for me.
At the risk of veering widely off topic, I'll explain.
The fact that Valve could in theory, decide not to renew a license, throws some cold water on my purchase frenzy.
Oh...I know that software has been "licensed" vs. "sold" for a long time now. But Valve helpfully reminded me of that when they "clarified" that earlier this year.
Now that Steam is a virtual monopoly, I can't help but think the "clarification" is the first step towards future marketing mischief. For example, an "infrastructure" fee for hosting titles that no longer generate revenue for Valve. Or maybe just outright "dropping support" for old titles that no longer bring in money.
I was once an enthusiastic Steam glutton. But now I feel much better spending my money with WDS, GOG or making a direct purchase from Matrix/Slitherine. Sure, they sell licenses as well, but at least you still get a downloadable, viable piece of software when you buy from one of them.
Anyway, this line of thinking has definitely put a damper on my purchases overall, but particularly from Steam.
I'm not all that concerned with my PC game collection since the vast majority I get via sales, mostly with deep discounts. It's my board game collection that takes up real space and gets the most comments. :idiot2:
Quote from: bobarossa on December 02, 2024, 03:26:31 PMQuote from: Redwolf on December 02, 2024, 09:55:28 AMI'm also addicted to always keeping my installed games up-to-date, whether I play them or not.
I do that too! I have the stupid idea it will make me more likely to try them if I don't have to do updates when I get the urge to try them for first time. :idiot2:
Never know when the internet might fail for not come back on, imagine having out of date games without an internet connection :hair: LOL best to keep em all installed and up-to-date cause you just never know
Quote from: smittyohio on December 02, 2024, 04:14:15 PMI'm not all that concerned with my PC game collection since the vast majority I get via sales, mostly with deep discounts. It's my board game collection that takes up real space and gets the most comments. :idiot2:
Dude, when the terrorists finally trigger that EMP device, we'll all be clamoring at your door!
The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.
:HideEyes:
Quote from: FarAway Sooner on December 03, 2024, 05:29:18 PMThe first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.
:HideEyes:
But my problem is that I don't want to recover.
Yes but how are you ever going to get to the relapse phase if you don't recover first? :huh:
This is a funny and telling thread.
I just, last night, finally set up my gaming PC that's been in storage since my divorce (about 3.5 years or so). Before that, I've been gaming exclusively on my laptop, which is still relatively powerful (for a 5 year old laptop) but that doesn't have PC power, nor storage, nor etc.
So I've been judicious on both my game purchases the last few years, and what I install, although I've bought games "for the future."
When I set up the gaming PC last night, it went through this ridiculous but expected updating routine. I think the gremlins are mostly purged. What I am left with is like a ghost of Christmas past, of games I own, but forgot I owned, and I anticipated to play but never did.
Rugby
Madden
Dragon Age
Witcher 1-3
Morrowind-Oblivion
Brother in Arms 1-3
Squad
Banner Saga 1-3
Alien saga
EU series
Total War: about 7 of them!
Then there were scrub games:
Full Spectrum Warrior
Truck simulators
And other stuff I'd have trouble finding especially if it isn't on Steam.
All of that is to say that when I restarted my PC, even though I owned but hadn't played those games in years, I had real trouble uninstalling them. The collection I have on my laptop is tight, limited by both HD space and what it will run. And I'm pretty happy, except the absence of flight sims.
We buy these games, and we have these expectations to play them. I had those on my PC. And when I saw what I had installed but never played: Kingdom Come, EU IV, Banner Saga Collection, etc, etc, I realized I'm pretty much done.
I have FOMO over a bunch of games for the sale, but geez, why even bother? By the time I get around to playing them, another sale will be here and they'll likely be cheaper.
I have maybe 6 games I keep coming back to to play. I don't have Jarhead's ability to learn new games every week. I have my handful that I know, and that's just what I do. Any new game comes with a learning curve, and increasingly I'm discovering I just can't be bothered unless the pain is worth the cost. Eg. Seapower.