i feel like people have forgotten what gaming is

Agree.

I used to be pretty guilty of this. I would pick up every well-rated game and just slog through it cause it was critically acclaimed and I was mildly interested. I wanted to be one of those people who had played every game that Giant Bomb discusses in their GOTY discussions.

Eventually, I just felt burned out on games and it didn't bring me as much joy anymore. Now I only pick up games I'm *really* interested in playing (this season it's Spider-Man, RDR2, and Hitman 2). It really helped to keep my interest and it's great for my wallet.

Edit: Ok guys, this thread has inspired me. I'm finally going to delete Gravity Rush 2 from my PS4. I'm sorry, it just bored me to tears.

This is why I never 100 percent anythjng I don't care and typically when the story is over I'm good on it and move on to the next one. Gaming shouldn't ever be a chore

Fuck me, I needed this thread.

I stress way too much on keeping up and all that Day 1 stuff...

Hogendaz85 said:

This is why I never 100 percent anythjng I don't care and typically when the story is over I'm good on it and move on to the next one. Gaming shouldn't ever be a chore

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Same I'll mainline games if I'm enjoying it. I don't care about side stuff if it doesn't grip me.

but if i drop $65 you bet your ass im finishing it

This is a good mindset, I think we have all suffered through the whole backlog thing, because some of us yearn a lot of games since back in the day we had time but no money to buy the games, now its usually the inverse, so it gets really hard to play all the games one buys, so it kinda makes you feel compelled to at least try and play them all. But yeah its better to let go and play what yoy enjoy and thats it.

What are games?

I come here almost daily but I haven't even completed a game since March. What is the point of all this anymore?

I'm still looking for a game to get me back into this hobby, but it's pretty difficult. If it seems like too big of a time investment, I can't be motivated to start or keep playing knowing that this is all I'll be playing for a while.

Oh, yes. In a period when everyone talks about PUGB, Spider-Man, RDR2 and FIFA, I'm having tons of fun playing Roundabout, Guacamelee! 2 and Dandara.
Amen.

saltyramen said:

but if i drop $65 you bet your ass im finishing it

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Why would you pay to do work?

True. I could keep forcing myself to see what makes Witcher 3 so brilliant by everyone else's account or simply accept that it's not for me and that there are literally hundreds of games available that I have had and will have more fun with. Thanks, OP. You saved my Sunday!

This is why I never get why people don't think they've finished a game until they've gotten all the Achievements. You're done when you're done, why would you let Achievements tell you when you're done?

C O N S U M E Y O U R M E D I A

I don't moan about completing my backlog, i enjoy it ?

I know what you mean man. Most of the times back in the day I would just buy a game that looked cool to me while I was in software etc. or some video games store. That's how I found resident evil, dino crisis, Street fighter, FF, MK basically almost all of my favorite franchise. These days I do find myself looking more for reviews and the current "hot" AAA titles and play through them.

I hear you OP. I got into this rut of having to pay every hit game day 1 and got burnt out mentally and financially. I really had to take a good look in the mirror and see what was I REALLY missing out on if I skip some Blockbuster games.

Case in point, I'm skipping Spiderman and dragon quest xi because Smash and kingdom hearts 3 are so close together and I know those games will consume all my free time... And you know what? I'm ok with that because that's what we'll give me optimal fun.

Yeah. I know it's absolutely absurd, but there have been times recently where I have to sit myself down mentally and argue "No, you do not have to play that mobile game just because there's a time-limited event going on. Play it when you actually feel like playing it, and not before."

Things like this are part of why it's important to preserve the classics. Playing through Mega Man Legends every year or so always reminds me why I truly love this hobby.

"Should I complete this game?"
"Can anyone help me like this game?"
"I put 20 hours into this game and I'm not enjoying it. Is there something wrong with me"

I see these sort of threads all the time here and on reddit.

Why not, ya know, just don't play games you don't enjoy to begin with? Too many people in this hobby act like it's a part time job to them.

preach - never let your games become work

Tambini said:

I don't moan about completing my backlog, i enjoy it ?

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You're allowed to moan about having a backlog, but you shouldn't actually be moaning about having to run through it. Just do what you want.

I understand completely. I'm playing DOOM right now. The game is a blast when fighting demons and kicking butt, but the exploratory elements and hunting down every collectible and upgrade is the most boredom inducing chore in gaming.

In general, you should never try to 100% a game unless you really enjoy it. Just do you.

That's my method as well.

If I finish a game, it's probably a special occasion... 1000/1000g is even rarer that I'd care to do so, probably less than 10 games since 360 came out but I enjoyed those as well. I'm in the middle of like a dozen or so games right now.

And that is why I only platted my fav game ever, cuz it was fun to do so. I can't even begin to understand people that plat games they don't enjoy, and we see tons of cases like that here in ERA.

I did not care one single bit about trophies/achievements from the day they came to existence, and I never will. I've always considered them a neg negative for gaming.

I play games that are fun, I skip the parts that aren't fun, I don't play games that aren't fun.

i have felt this way for years. I typically sell anything i'm not having fun with pretty quickly and 9 times out of 10 i play a kingdom hearts title or mario kart 8 or bayonetta 1/2 because those are guaranteed fun.

True it's why i just buy the games i truly wanna play and just enjoy whatever i want. I dont buy on hype anymore i just get what looks intresting and fun to me even if it reviews like shit.

For example i hated skyrim when i first played it got to it back years later and loved it. This is why i like playing games at my.own pace whenever i want and try games i gave up later again.

Sometimes i even finish some gsmes years later. Tbh i am going back to onky buying one game a month or so and enjoy what i can as when i was a child play a few games a year and enjoy them than having a huge ass backlog and buy every single good game.

Only if games from y favorite franhises come out in the same month ima buy more but thats the only exeption

Also indie games are really fun cuz they bring me back to the retro days.

I dont care about ahievemets tbh in gaming i only have one single platinum from walking dead lol oh and assassincreed 2 on another acc.

Honestly i never feel like workin for trophies and maybe i will for spiderman cuz so far that game js awesome but yeah in general idc about that i play and do whatever i want in games and have fun.

Agree. Trophy hunting was a mistake. I was unhappy doing it.

This resonates with me, I tend to avoid checklist style content nowadays if I'm not enjoying it but if I buy a game at full price or close to it I need feel like I'm getting my money's worth in terms of play time.

It's money thing for me, I don't want to spend 60$ on a game and stop playing after 1 - 3 hrs, I'll feel like I wasted it

Oaklight said:

I understand completely. I'm playing DOOM right now. The game is a blast when fighting demons and kicking butt, but the exploratory elements and hunting down every collectible and upgrade is the most boredom inducing chore in gaming.

In general, you should never try to 100% a game unless you really enjoy it. Just do you.

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I just looked up all of the secret locales on YouTube and followed that. It streamlined the game and made it more fun for me. The problem with Doom 2016 secrets is that the world and tools you are given to find them aren't as fun as something like Metroid Prime.

Great thread. I agree with on everything. I see a lot of complain for side stuff required to 100% the game. Why doing it if you don't like it ? Just stop and play another game.

I took this year to finish some of my backlog because I was saving for new PC parts. That is why i am doing 52 games challenge. I haven't bought single game released this year on any platform I own (PC, X1S, PS4). But i am getting ready for long game sessions nownthat i have new PC starting with Shadow of the Tomb Raider and continuing with RDR2.

Going for 100% of the trophies has enhanced my gaming experience tremendously. There are times where trophies do become annoying or tedious, but overall I think I have much more fun trying to complete everything than not.

Games can now feel empty without trophies to aim for. There's something different about being tested by the developers than coming up with your own challenges.

I only go for 100% on a game if the gameplay is actually worth it. I couldn't get enough of God of War's combat so I kept playing it until I had 100%. And I still boot it up occasionally because it's a blast to play. Same goes for Spider-Man I'll definitely get the 100% on it because I'm going to keep playing it for a while, because it's a fucking blast to play moment-to-moment. Not all games reach that height for me and those are the only two I've wanted to 100% in a while.

Achievements were the worst thing to happen to games. Half the player base have that collect everything obsession, the other half like me don't give a flying fuck about some arbitrary "achievement" in a game. I just don't get it and why people feel driven or even forced to play games because of that trash.

Play. Have fun or get sucked into a great story... don't slog through something for no worthwhile reason.

I just buy what interests me and play it as long as it keeps my interest. I don't treat those I don't finish or start as a backlog weight that must be finished or else. It's a collection of games that I can move between depending on what I want to play each day.

Yep.

Personally i rarely 100% a game, it has to grab me completely and even for my favourite games i tend to leave stuffs and wait cause i don't want them to finish too soon. lol

Never cared about achievements since most of the time they ruin the fun (because of how complex or ridiculous they are)

It's not really peoples fault that the games industry spent hundreds of millions researching methods of pressing the right buttons inside peoples minds to make them feel pressured at every moment to engage more and more.

The way people stress over games these days isn't an accident, it's by design.

I remember working on my first 360 era game and reading The guidelines on achievements, pages and pages of breakdowns on player types and how to avoid giving any of them a comfortable moment where they felt like it was a good time to put the controller down...

sometimes I feel like esports also suck all of the joy out of gaming. I like the FGC though, still has that arcade one on one feel.

Wolfenstein TNO was one that I kept trying and giving up on, but eventually decided to force myself all the way through so that I could understand it since people talk about it so much. Glad I did because it ended up being one of the best shooters I ever played.

Now I find myself finishing all games I own just to try to fully understand them, whether I end up liking them or not. Honestly I enjoy having a list of games and going through them one at a time.

Some people get their fun out of the sense of accomplishment from completing challenges, most of which are self-imposed. 360 no scoping, speedrunning, 100% completion, randomized Zelda dungeons, deprived Dark Souls runs, level 1 Kingdom Hearts runs, Mirrors Edge with no guns, etc.

Most are usually just fine with playing through the story and that's fine too. You can play them however you want as long as you aren't a dick about it. Don't stand over someone's shoulder and critique them playing RE7 because they missed that herb wedged between two stacks of trash.

DavidDesu said:

Have fun or get sucked into a great story... don't slog through something for no worthwhile reason.

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I think a lot of people get sucked into hamster wheel mechanics. They drop a load of time into something utterly unrewarding.

Glad you made this thread. There was a time in the 360 days where I was achievement crazy and tried to 100% on games. Looking back maybe half the time I actually enjoyed doing it. Nowadays I play games for the enjoyment of the story and fun gameplay. I only do the side content I feel is necessary and do not purposely try to get that 100% or platinum.

Oaklight said:

I understand completely. I'm playing DOOM right now. The game is a blast when fighting demons and kicking butt, but the exploratory elements and hunting down every collectible and upgrade is the most boredom inducing chore in gaming.

In general, you should never try to 100% a game unless you really enjoy it. Just do you.

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The great thing about DOOM is that those things are optional. Scratch that, they are very optional. They don't slow your game down if you dont want them to.

People who have to 100% everything are in the extreme minority though. I'll platinum a game if I reakky like it and the trophy list is reasonable - eg Horizon and Resogun. I have 6-7 platinums this gen and none of them were hard or ultra long.

In terms of people giving games an extended chance - there's really nothing wrong with that. Games are pretty expensive unless you have to patience to wait 6 months to buy them. If you're on this forum then you probably want to be part of the discussion within the first month for big titles and at the end of the day you need to at least get half way to be able to participate in critical discussion.

At the end of the day it comes down to moderation, self control and just plain common sense. If you're really forcing yourself to play something and hating it then just drop it.

tuxfool said:

Why would you pay to do work?

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Work can be fun if you take pride in the accomplishment. If I love a game, I'll take the time to complete it to its full extent to get the most out of it. I picked up Celeste at launch, which I played to 100% completion, and enjoyed the experience enough to double dip on Xbox and am now working on it again.

Edit: having said that, it's only worth the grind if the game is enjoyable and the accomplishment is worth it. I have plenty of games I like that I haven't 100% completed.

A backlog isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's how I ended up playing Doom and it's one of my favorite games, I would have never played it otherwise

manustany said:

Oh, yes. In a period when everyone talks about PUGB, Spider-Man, RDR2 and FIFA, I'm having tons of fun playing Roundabout, Guacamelee! 2 and Dandara.
Amen.

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I'm loving Spider-Man right now. But I had a better time playing Celeste than any game this year. But it's no different to movies, there are plenty of low budget indie movies that I've enjoyed far more than the big budget blockbusters. But I'm glad we've got both.

With regards to a backlog, I'd rather just call it my digital game library. I love it when I see all those great games in my library that I'm yet to play. I don't feel any pressure at all, but rather at ease with the fact that I'm unlikely to ever run out of great games to play during my lifetime. If I don't get to play them all, it's not the end of the world.

Nah, people get enjoyment out of mediums differently. Unless they are really unhappy about grinding plats or actually completing games I don't think we should shame them.