I'm never going to have the chance to play all of the computer games I own.
By play, I mean invest enough time to finish, or nearly finish, the game.
I've come to realize that, and it sucks. Let me provide an example. I have the following games in my "queue" waiting to be played:
Morrowind
Oblivion
Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Empire Total War
Napoleon Total War
Shogun 2 Total War
Scourge of War: Gettysburg
HPS Dien Bien Phu
HPS Gettysburg
Amnesia
Pneumbra
Evochron Mercenary
Metro 2033
King Arthur 2
Brothers in Arms collection
Real Warfare 2: Northern Crusades
STALKER
Campaigns:
- ARMA 2 campaign
- Operation Flashpoint Red River campaign
- Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising campaign
- Left 4 Dead 2 campaign
And I could go on. I'm not even touching my Matrix Games collection, my Ageod collection....you get my point.
Just look at that list will you? If I stopped buying games today, not another game, I still couldn't finish those games in several years, if ever. And I haven't stopped buying games. I just picked up Dragon Age collection, FEAR, Doom collection...and more at the Steam sale.
And, to play those games, I'd have to give up playing the games that I DO actually play routinely.
It kind of bums me out. In fact, the more I think of it, I think of all the games I have on GoG- ToEE, Undying; games I have on Gamers Gate that I haven't even installed- SABOW, a couple of DLC's for Graviteam Tactics...and it's just overwhelming.
I guess the problem is, I actually want to play most of these games. I'm actually interested in trying a British campaign in E:TW; I'm curious how STALKER turns out; I want to know what is going on in Amnesia; and whatever happens after you find the atrocities in ARMA 2's campaign (not to mention the multiple DLC campaigns...)?
I probably shouldn't have even started this thread. As I look at my Steam catalog of games, I'm seeing more and more I want to play- Star Wars:KotOR, Sengoku, Sword of the Stars...
I'm going to die and my gaming life is going to be incomplete. I guess all we can do is enjoy those gaming moments we do have.
Ugh! :(
A situation I've felt myself in also. I used to try to work to try to finish the oldest games I have first, but then I feel like I'm denying myself all the advantages of the new games on my playlist. I felt terrible about leaving all 3 of the Combat Mission games( CMBO, CMBB, & CMAK) on my old computer when I got my new one but I know I'd never finish them and they look so ancient compared to CMBN, so there they stayed. I try not to think about all the games I never finished on my old Amiga. Still, the fact there are so many great games out now is a reflection of the industry meeting our demands and that we as a group must be taken seriously if they are to profit. Overall, this may be remembered as THE Golden Age of Gaming and that's something to be happy about. Too many good games is a hell-of-a lot better than too few.
This topic is so very true for me. I've got so many games installed on my PC that I've barely touched and yet I keep on buying when I see a good sale. It's like an addiction in that a hunter collects trophy heads while I collect games.
Indeed, and that's why I don't stress too much about various DRM schemes.
With the exception of STEAM, if the internet exploded tomorrow I could probably amuse myself for the rest of my life with the games I already have.
But what's troubling is that, instead of focusing on all this new stuff I have, I find myself going back to warm and fuzzy games, or just playing the same handful a lot.
For example, although I own most of the DCS catalog, if I'm going to fly I'm going to boot up BMS Falcon because it just gives me exactly what I'm looking for in a flight sim. 10+ years with the same sim and it still satisfies. So I'm never going to get around to mastering the DCS:A-10 at this rate (let alone the Huey and Black Shark). And although my Total War backlog is of embarrassing proportions, I really want to boot up M2TW again. I still haven't really exhausted it yet. I have several new Combat Mission games (CMBN and Shock Force) but instead I'm booting up Steel Beasts....
I just can't seem to move forward with so much excellent, relatively retro, gaming to play yet.
For the most part (I find) it's the learning curve. I just don't have the excitement to learn a new computer game, especially when I'm just playing against the computer. I find that I will take the time and at least try to learn and play a new boardgame when a buddy asks me to play it with him (as I recently did with Combat Commander). For solitaire PC games, I might sit through the tutorial and flip through screens trying to read and absorb what it's teaching me but my mind wanders and then I usually end up checking out the message boards (Grogheads). It's easier and I almost get a taste of wargaming by reading others experiences with games. What I will do on occasion is fire up classics that I feel comfortable already playing. CMBO/CMBB/CMAK that you mentioned (OP) are perfect examples of what I will fire up and play. I actually started a couple of pbem games in them; the first time in a year or so.
And yes, for some reason "collecting" becomes more exciting than actually playing. Same goes for modding (PC games) or painting (miniatures) or clipping/sorting and storing (boardgames). With almost every PC wargame (non-FPS) that I get - the first thing I do is want to find a mod to change how it looks or else create my own. I have fun doing that. For boardgames, I will scan the rules and convert them to electron ebooks for reading on my tablet. I like doing that. I may never actually play the thing, but I'll have ebooks of the rules at least.
Maybe it's old age. Maybe it's laziness. Maybe it's never actually fulfilling that quest for "THE" wargame. The one that you'll always go back and play for sake of all others. Ha! That will never happen, though we try to convince ourselves that it will!
Just say F**k it.........buy what you want .....play what you want. least that is how i feel right now :D I notice alot of games on that list are open world games, hell i've never finished one of those, unless being finished is completing the main quest...that I do. I'm enjoying my break from wargames at the moment...I'm on a FPS rampage with no signs of getting tired of it yet. Right now i'm into games that have a finish line. I just reinstalled steam this Feb. and also starting buying from GOG and Gamergate after playing nothing but wargames for about 5 years. I had thirteen games when i uninstalled steam and beside CIV 4 complete most of those were free half life 1 stuff. From FEB. i now have 44 on steam , 11 on GOG that i want to play and 8 on GG , i have managed to finish 6 or 7 games since my buying rampage started. Your's is a familiar feeling, hell everybody that frequents the sales thread probably has enough games to last a lifetime. Alot of us have probably stared at our game library and just didn't get pulled toward one game or another and decided not to play anything, i know i have.
Don't Worry, Be Happy... Gamer........and refer to my original advice.......F**k it ;)
Toonces, I am in
exactly the same position as you. I'm even in a situation currently where I can't really buy any new games anyway, and yet I
still spend more time reading about new games than I do playing what I have. It's terrible.
Quote from: Toonces on July 16, 2013, 11:02:06 PM
But what's troubling is that, instead of focusing on all this new stuff I have, I find myself going back to warm and fuzzy games, or just playing the same handful a lot.
Yep, again, same here. I look at my list of installed games (literally hundreds) and just can't decide where to start, so I go back to Sins of a Solar Empire or something. :(
It's oh so true !
...maybe i just look at it as a vine or whiskey collector. you discover a new speciality which is slight different in taste. Not perfect, but already very close. So it didn't stop you from testing new bottles of a next good vintage, from old trusted or newly discovered winery/distillery.
Especially when you learn about them here and they get recommended by all the other good wargame-sommeliers Grogs around here.
So of course you get the newest case, open a bottle, taste it, drink it when in the mood for it, or get a sudden itch for that special taste. And the rest of the case get carefully stored in the cellar to maybe after rippen (patches, addons ;-) )
...until you feel: "I think i'm in the mood for a little chopper-flying this eve", or just saw a documentary about a certain conflict and this fires up a certain itch for Market Garden, Barbarossa, Khe Sanh, Trafalgar, Hoth,... u name it.
There's a lot to reply to in this thread, but let's start with a little math.
I have 156 games in my Steam library right now. Ok, so I don't actually want to play all of them, but if you weed it down to the games I want to actually play- let's say "installed" games only, then I have 79 games installed. Let's add another 21 games that aren't on Steam, but are on my computer installed.
We have a round 100 games installed that I want to play.
We'll make an assumption that each game takes 10 hours to "play." We all know that the number is probably higher, but we'll say 10 hours is enough to say, "yeah, I played X and it was great!"
100x10=1000 hours.
My game activity on Steam is 18.2 hours over the last 2 weeks. So, we'll average that, taking into account that I do play games other than what's on Steam to 1.5 hours a day.
1000 hours divided by 1.5 hours a day equals 666.666 (repeating) days.
So, it would take me basically 2 years, playing 1.5 hours every day, to just get through 10 hours of the games I have installed- NOT the games I own.
That means only 10 hours per game, and I don't replay games, and I don't play something twice.
Since almost every assumption in this post is not tenable; most games DO require more than 10 hours, I AM going to revisit older games, I'm NOT going to play 1.5 hours every day...two years is an impossibility.
That's the retail brilliance of all these game sales. They know we can't resist buying many of them, despite not being able to play them all. So they're getting money where they would've received none, before. With digital distribution, their overheard costs are minimal and the fact that these big markdown sales happen quite often says that it's the profitable way to sell the stuff.
My list of backed-up games is as bad or worse, and I actually have a fair bit of free time on a regular basis. It's still impossible to catch up on all this stuff. I'm just glad that these big discount sales happen so much. It really has saved me a lot of money because I tend to game-hop around quite a bit anyway, and I'd normally be buying more than I could ever halfway finish, anyway.
So the sales are a good thing in the end, despite my tendency to collect PC games like women collect shoes & handbags. :D
Something needs to be done, and I think Toonces should lead the way. We should start a Grogheads backlog of shame club, wherein we pledge to finish a game a week or something. We can support each other, and pour righteous scorn whenever one of us comes up with some excuse not to play a game we'd already said we'd play.
Oh god something needs to be done!
i think Jason tried that - and failed miserably
i have a steely resolve to dedicate myself to none but a few games - i will be come the Calahan of Wargame:Airland Battle, Rome II and XCOM
I'm going to become the world's top-ranked Dota 2 player.
Geek, you're far too decent a person to be remotely close to Calahan. ;)
I consider my Steam account an investment in my future. I will be able to retire at 54, but the income from that retirement will be slim. My Steam account will still have dozens of games waiting to be completed in my middle years. It just has to last me until my social security kicks in....assuming it will still be available then. Otherwise once I retire...I'll have to get another job...and that simply won't due.
Quote from: WallysWorld on July 16, 2013, 10:58:14 PM
This topic is so very true for me. I've got so many games installed on my PC that I've barely touched and yet I keep on buying when I see a good sale. It's like an addiction in that a hunter collects trophy heads while I collect games.
I think I had too many games on the old machine. The new one currently just has CLOD, Graviteam, ARMAIII, CMANO, FOTS and CKII. I've erased about half a dozen games and left a lot on the old machine (including RoF and a lot of HPS stuff). So on the computer front, I'm just
keeping what I play fairly often. On the other hand the barn is slowly filling up with boardgames. Since I have a barn these days, I don't need to sell off or give away any more boardgames. Which is nice. Fontenoy for example was in the barn for a bit, but made a big comeback when I simplfied the command rules for solitaire intensity.
Quote from: undercovergeek on July 17, 2013, 04:19:43 AM
i think Jason tried that - and failed miserably
I made it four months, tops. Maybe only three. I got fuzzy toward the end there.
Then I discovered Steam sales and Gamersgate sales and GoG.
At least I'm spending much less on my gaming binges now...
I'm in the same boat as many of you are. I also enjoy the thrill of the hunt by purchasing a game when it goes on sale, especially when the price is dirt cheap. I have a huge backlog of games that I won't ever be able to finish.
If I take a step back and look at myself this game collecting thing is probably the most dumbest thing I could be doing now with my limited spare change. Why pay for something that you won't ever enjoy?
When I analyze myself further I realize that without games I would probably be destroying my life with drugs or alcohol. Gaming is a great way to escape the nonsense we deal with in real life on a daily basis. In fact, playing a good game beats watching a movie or a t.v. show any day of the week in my opinion. There is so much garbage and political propaganda on tv these days anyways that I feel like I'm not missing anything. I'm digressing now and this is another topic for another thread but avoiding the media keeps my brain from getting washed.
Back on point. Gaming allows me to lose a little stress that working out or going for a walk can't do. It's when the mind is engaged in figuring out the nuances of a good game that it can forget the misery of the real world. Working out relieves the body of physical stress, playing games relieves the mind of mental stress. Hence the reason why I collect games.
I think that you should consider looking at this in a different light.
There are a lot of good games out there. Thanks to GoG, Steam Sales, etc...... there are a lot of good inexpensive games out there.
We are truly blessed with both good new games and being able to play good old games on new machines.
I have bunches of games that are yet unplayed. But my total game spending is probably down from 10 years ago because so many purchases are on sale. Aside from a handful of games a year, I seldom pay full price anymore. When I do buy new games, they are almost always excellent. Strategic Command series, Panzer Corps series, Field of Glory, Fallout New Vegas. I bought them and loved them at full price.
Quote from: W8taminute on July 17, 2013, 02:11:37 PM
When I analyze myself further I realize that without games I would probably be destroying my life with drugs or alcohol.
This, indeed.
I shudder to think how much I spent just on alcohol, in my youth. Every night. Fortunately I shied away from the liver assault as I got older and became more sedate. ;D Now I'm just addicted to PC game sales. :o
Add me to the list of those who own FAR more games than I can find time to play.
Sales from GOG, GamersGate, Impulse/Gamestop, and Steam have forever corrupted me. If from this moment, I purchased no more games *ever*, I would still have enough to last me until death. (This is assuming I have another 40 years or so til I kick the bucket, which would be about average for an American male -- I'm currently 36.)
Quote from: Huw the Poo on July 17, 2013, 12:54:12 AM
Quote from: Toonces on July 16, 2013, 11:02:06 PM
But what's troubling is that, instead of focusing on all this new stuff I have, I find myself going back to warm and fuzzy games, or just playing the same handful a lot.
Yep, again, same here. I look at my list of installed games (literally hundreds) and just can't decide where to start, so I go back to Sins of a Solar Empire or something. :(
This is one of my big issues as well. I continue to regularly play "golden oldies" such as
Medieval Total War and
Birth of the Federation -- not as much as I used to, admittedly, but still enough that it significantly cuts into time that would otherwise be spent playing other games.
And I don't keep playing these older games out of a sense of nostalgia, either (or from a reluctance to try newer titles). I genuine enjoy them on their own merits.
Another issue is that I'll keep switching back & forth between different titles, especially as certain ones will suddenly -- but only temporarily -- be all the rage around here: Everyone's going ga-ga over
Shogun 2 Total War, then
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes, then
Distant Worlds, then
Civilization IV, then
Empire Total War, then back to
Legendary Heroes again... :o
Gah! It's too much; I can't keep up!
Wow, i think we are all in the same boat! prices on games have come down in many ways with something somewhere always on sale! and so much to choose from (though it seems like there is just never a game that is the game to end all games for its genre or historical period, though we search for it!)
I have around 70 games from GOG, over 100 from steam (many i have not even installed yet due) and easily over probably 200 of just old games i have bought and games i still own bought back in the 00's. Not only will it be impossible to play them all before i am dead let alone before my current computer harddrives probably die, i have over 13 books shelves of books. Ultimately i have to resign myself to teh fact that i will only be able to read a portion - and play a portion - playing what i feel like when i feel like it and part of the fun -(the costly part) is in just the getting of a game/thing - a collectors joy? or a hoarders joy? Though if i lost it all i doubt i would be rushing to build it all up again.
I think if i can at least play some solidly i am happy - no matter what i still enjoy playing what i can when i can
I have a friend who plays guitar. Most of the time he plays either his electric or his acoustic guitar. He also collects guitars and has them around his house on stands or wall mounts which he rarely ever plays. Maybe occasionally he will get one out to fool around with it then he puts it back on display. We are just like that with games. We are game-players and game-collectors. We have our handful of favorites that we play a lot then we have our collections that we might occasionally fire up and play a short while before going back to our tried and true favorites. Let's stop beating ourselves up over this. Collecting is a fun hobby, and so is game playing. We have the best of both worlds.....and with Steam, GOG, etc. they are really cheap. Let's celebrate and enjoy both the collections, which we only dabble in, and our favorites that we play a lot. We are in the golden age of pc gaming. It has evolved into a collectors hobby just like people collect stamps, coins, model trains and old books and we are at its cutting edge. Have fun!!
Quote from: Rayfer on July 18, 2013, 07:20:10 AM
I have a friend who plays guitar. Most of the time he plays either his electric or his acoustic guitar. He also collects guitars and has them around his house on stands or wall mounts which he rarely ever plays. Maybe occasionally he will get one out to fool around with it then he puts it back on display. We are just like that with games. We are game-players and game-collectors. We have our handful of favorites that we play a lot then we have our collections that we might occasionally fire up and play a short while before going back to our tried and true favorites. Let's stop beating ourselves up over this. Collecting is a fun hobby, and so is game playing. We have the best of both worlds.....and with Steam, GOG, etc. they are really cheap. Let's celebrate and enjoy both the collections, which we only dabble in, and our favorites that we play a lot. We are in the golden age of pc gaming. It has evolved into a collectors hobby just like people collect stamps, coins, model trains and old books and we are at its cutting edge. Have fun!!
QFT!