RpgN's Backlog Thread

#1

Hi guys.

So I’ve been thinking for a while and I’ve come to the conclusion that things have to change when it comes to my gaming habit. I’m going to need your help. I would sincerely appreciate it if you can offer your own input, experience and knowledge in order to help me out with my decisions.

For a while I have been going through my usual behaviour. Buying tons of games and playing many of them in the hopes of completing them. As you know, I have been keeping note of the games that I have completed for years. It’s as if completing games has become a mission of mine.

This doesn’t make me happy anymore. Often times I force myself to complete games even when they are getting annoying and frustrating. I try many games that I don’t have a history with, willing to experiment with new IPs and play many different genres.

I’ve lost track of playing games that I truly want. I still have Final Fantasy V, VII and XII to complete for instance. I’m dying to play Resident Evil games. I want to play more Zelda games. The list goes on.

My other problem is buying too many games, to the point that I just can’t keep up anymore. The backlog is not decreasing, it is only increasing while I’m trying to complete games.

The third problem is money related of course. Buying games through promotions or second hand sellers helps a lot, but I can only go so far when there are too many games to buy.

The habit has become unhealthy. It’s time to come up with solutions!

#2

It’s very easy for me to define problems and explain what’s wrong. It’s incredibly difficult for me to solve my problems and execute plans.

In simple terms, my problems can be tackled in 2 ways:

  1. Buy less games
  2. Play less games and get rid of the ones I’m not interested in.

The problem is then…which games are considered less important? Which games should I get rid of and not play anymore? It’s not an easy task. I basically need to become picky. This is personal to every individual. And yet I need your help guys.

Let’s start with Xbox 360 games for the time being. The original plan was completing these last games I have left on the system.

  1. Halo Reach 8,5h-60h
  2. Forza Motorsport 3 72h
  3. Alan Wake 11-24h
  4. Viva Piñata 16-70h
  5. Kameo Elements of Power 9,5-13h
  6. Naruto Broken Bond 18,5-25h
  7. Banjo Nuts and Bolts 15,5-50h
  8. The last Remnant 62-150h
  9. Magna Carta II 39-44h
  10. Infinite Undiscovery 24-91h
  11. Tales of Vesperia 49-191h
  12. Arcade Games

When I go with my feelings and what I want, this would be my list:

  1. The last Remnant 62-150h
  2. Magna Carta II 39-44h
  3. Infinite Undiscovery 24-91h
  4. Tales of Vesperia 49-191h
  5. Banjo Nuts and Bolts (Maybe)
  6. Alan Wake (Maybe)

Is this a good list? Are there games that I should be playing or should avoid? I know it’s difficult to reach a consensus. I will take all replies seriously though.

#3

You don’t have to beat a game to be done with it.

#4

i think you should start by forgiving yourself and accepting that you can stop buying things for a while, and that you don’t need to play through them entirely

these days i have a simple measure, if i forget about the passing of time while playing a game, then it’s worth playing, if not then i figure out why it’s not happening and depending on the reason i either give up or adapt, because some times it’s me that’s not playing them right or in a way that gives me what i’m searching for

so i think you should, like play an hour or two of a game and then decide if you’ll sell, play, or maybe just skip it for a while while you figure out the other games

but this simple and straightforward advice isn’t indicative of me having an easy time either, for some reason taste in games has a lot of ups and downs which does’t really happen with other things… for me it’s a very “how am i feeling today?” kind of thing

#5

Suddenly it feels odd why I never thought that way. It not being necessary to beat games and instead of not playing and getting rid of games entirely, I can give them a try for a couple of hours and decide then. Often times when I get rid of games, I end up feeling guilty for doing that.

You guys offered some truly helpful advice. This is getting interesting.

And John, it’s true. The being hard on yourself part and playing games depending on the mood. The former is something that I have in general, not just games.

About not buying games for a while…I’m thinking of doing that, but this can be bad with certain games. Such as niche 3DS Jrpgs that get sold out quickly and end up costing more if you don’t get them straight away. Then you have stuff like Xenoblade Chronicles X. Ahhhhh…too many exceptions making things moot. I gotta work on that :cold_sweat:

#6

if you just buy things that will only be expensive later, you can definitely make it to a handful of games per year, if they’re available digitally then you always have that at the same price or lower (except in ninty’s case i guess)

making an effort to let go of the anxiety will definitely help, it’s not easy but finding your own way to release that tension and instead play games at a comfortable pace is probably very important as far as important things go in life

maybe you can write things down? like on a notepad or something, put some numbers down, write some names, keep constant reminders of how to do things (for example, i have this list on my wallet about what to do when taking photos, even simple stuff like “don’t be afraid” and “they won’t get angry” is helpful just to calm me down if for nothing else)

#7

#8

My backlog is still growing, although at a much slower rate these days. The worst offender is the PS+ games and I don’t feel I need to play all of them to get enough value out of the subscription.

Dropping games that aren’t fun is the best advice I can give. It’s also good to focus on a few games rather than switching between many.

I would much rather play ten 5-hour single player campaigns than force myself to go through 50 hours that are highly repetitive. That’s one of the reasons I’m playing a lot of first-person shooters, adventures, and puzzles. Those I can finish in a week.

#9

Either sell the majority of your games, and be liberated, or play what you feel like playing at your own pace. Don’t turn it into a race. Don’t make it feel like someone is pointing a gun to your head, telling you to play games. If a game isn’t beaten, that’s okay. It’s also okay if it hasn’t been played yet.

#10

I have bought more games that I haven’t even played more than one or two sessions, than I have beat.

You should ask yourself why you want to play a game, why it should even be on a backlog in the first place. I commend you in trying to play all those games, and sticking through it, but there will always be more games and content than you can consume. Most of it is also not worth your time.

Only a few games really catch my attention, and sometimes I can go half a year without really playing anything. Then again I am an outlier if you consider my other hobbies which are limited to technical things.

@RpgN do you eat everything you buy? Do you ever have to throw out food? Think of games as perishable, and put deadlines on games if they are past their expiration. That might be a way to force yourself to play less, or really play what matters.

#11

I look at old games like old books. There’s no reason why they can’t be treasured the same way, providing they offer a meaningful or charming experience, and we aren’t talking about some hentai game.

#12

…?

#13

No good can come from h-games.

#14

Pack it in guys, Fate/Zero was trash. Leo said so.

#15

No. That may have had sex scenes, but it also had a serious story to it. I’m referring to the tentacle porn batshit crazy h-games.

I wouldn’t dismiss the Fate/Zero game as having value, but I’d rather not play an h-game. They aren’t for everyone.

#16

#17

Ok, well I exaggerated. There can be meaningful h-games. I meant the total trashy smut.

#18

How did we end up talking about hentai games in this thread :joy:

Thanks for the helpful comments everyone. There are definitely some things I got out of them, and I’ll give some of them a try for the first time:

  1. Limiting the games I buy to ones that are incredibly rare, to the point that they end up being more expensive later down the line. I’m expecting The Legend of Legacy 3DS to be one of those games, as most games from NIS America in EU. Also games that I know I want, but I will get most of them when they will become dirt cheap. I’m not sure where Final Fantasty Explorers fits into this. Usually I get Final Fantasy games straight away because I want to play them. I will be more picky with other games, not buy ones that I usually would be weak to.
  2. Give all games a try for at least 2 hours to decide what to do with them. If I’m not enjoying a game, stop with it an accept that it is completed.
  3. Getting rid of anxiety by writing helpful notes and remind myself of what I want to achieve.
  4. Play games at my own pace and not caring about keeping up with others.

With the last one…this might be surprising once you read this example: Banjo Tooie. As you know, I mentioned quitting the game about 3 days ago, not defeating the boss and watching the ending on youtube. I did this mostly because I was getting frustrated how much time this game took out of me. According to howlongtobeat, the game is usually completed between around 12-24 hours. I was 32 hours in the game and still have lots of objects to collect. I hated always playing longer than others and feeling like I’m wasting more time that could be used to clear my backlog. Even though I enjoy exploring in this game despite feeling frustrated with the controls sometimes and others minor things. So…today I decided to pick the game up again and continue with it. Last time I had 79 out of 90 jiggies, today I have 85 jiggies and collected many cheat pages that give me powers to actually be able to beat the boss easily. I’m going to play the game some more for exploration and beat the boss when I’m ready to wrap things up.

These new tips are going to be difficult to implement and do right straight away, but I am hoping to get used to them gradually.

Tips such as, not playing with too many games at the same time and stick with them in order to complete them, those are things I have been doing for the past few years. It has been working out well when it comes to that. I got used to it. Though…sometimes I really feel like playing a game but have to force myself not to in order to keep the current backlog manageable.

#19

I’m also curious about your backlog guys. How many games do you own roughly? Is it working out well for you?

#20