I think I’ve persuaded myself that I don’t get the shiny new upgraded machine I want until I’ve cleared the gaming backlog. It was fine, then they just started piling up again. Not that this warrants a new thread, but nothing else seemed to fit :)
On top of Dragon Inq and FC4 I have this lot. Grimrock I’m well into, likewise Spellforce. My wife lost interest in Original Sin, so I’ll have to restart that but we weren’t far along. The rest I’ve barely touched. If I can get through them all by this time next year, I should just be in time for Windows 10, and PCI SSDs and interesting monitors and things.
I’m not swearing off new purchases, but there’s only really the new Witcher, plus maybe GTAV and AC Rogue so it shouldn’t impact too much… Though there is Euro-B-lister Raven’s Cry in a few days and maybe one of the big space sims in the near future. But anyway, not too much.
Anyone want to join me? Onward!
Edit: Oh and there’s Splinter Cell Blacklist over on Origin. Mustn’t forget that.
If only my backlog was that small…
I did just knock off a couple recently though - Wolfenstein The New Order, Dragon Age: I (not really backlog but I did finish it), I’m currently playing Banner Saga.
I’m planning for 2015 to be a big backlog-clearing year, though I do have several new releases coming out as well. The biggest issue is going to be time, of course, but after that, the problem will be sorting through hundreds of games, excluding PC, to find the ones I truly want to invest time into.
There’s a few games on the backlog I’ve been looking forward to clearing for a while. So let’s make it an official goal.
In 2015, I’ll plan on finishing, from my backlog: Planescape: Torment - Played 3 times, once as a warrior, twice as a wizard, past the undead/rat hivemind, but then got waylaid by life events.
Independence War 2 - Played until the end of the prologue on launch, but then got waylaid. Default control scheme sucks because it uses the joystick hat for the computer interface. You have to go to a text file and manually change the controls, which is what kept me from going back. Then later Space Sims as a genre died, and I liked the idea of having one more ace in the hole, one space sim I’d never played. Now that space sims are potentially coming back with Elite and Star Citizen and Limit Theory and others, maybe it’s finally time to dust off the joystick and wade back into Independence War 2.
Dishonored - Like RickH said, sometimes you just need to get in the zone, and on my last 4 attempts, I just never got in the zone with this one.
Three backlogged games for the PC sounds like enough for a year. I don’t generally sit down at the computer to play games much anymore. So any more than 3 will be pushing it. Plus I don’t think I can resist going back to Tron 2.0 again, even though I’ve finished it. So let me add some couch games now:
Alpha Protocol, Dungeon Siege 3: Some Obsidian games I need to finish. If I’m going back for Planescape, I’ll try to go back for these too.
Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor, Condemned 2: The Monolith pack! If I’m going back for Tron 2.0, I might also go back for more Monolith goodness. Though Condemned 2 is definitely the bottom of the list, only to be done if the rest of the list is actually finished. (WHICH WILL NEVER HAPPEN).
You can drop Aquanox, Deadly Premonition, Faerie, Hot Pursuit, Fahrenheit, and Spellforce 2 immediately. Only a few minutes play will confirm their agony.
Wow, I was actually contemplating creating a thread just like this. I’m thinking how to limit my game purchases for 2015, maybe only three titles or $100 limit.
I’ll post my game goals of 2015 later after having a good old jolly think about it.
So after purging all of the titles I don’t think I would ever want to play, and finishing five games the last month or so, here is the state of my backlog:
The plan is to clear this before making any new purchases (beyond hearthstone stuff (no one is perfect)!). I’m feeling pretty good about it, but have learnt the hard way that binge buying cheap games is not the way to go in this hobby of ours. You can get into psychological traps pretty easily where you don’t feel like playing something but the fact you spent money on it also prevents you from ignoring it.
in my Steam, I have a category called ‘what was I thinking’ which I find pretty useful to purge the backlog but yeah, I’m with you. 2015 is backlog clearing year.
Ha - Excellent, we’ll advance together and become happier and more succesful human beings by doing it. I find it’s pretty easy to blow through linear shooters like Gunslinger or Crysis 2 there, but something like Planescape or European Escalation takes a lot more psyching up.
But no! They all have at least that already and they’re all still on the list. I more or less never buy stuff without finishing it. That’s why I think this backlog is tractable. Blood Dragon is the only one I’ve given myself a pass on for plain old this-is-terrible reasons :)
No no no no no no no no. Keep your thread of weakness away from me.
This plan does run counter to the background goal I have bubbling away of spending less time playing games. I think I’ve decided I need to nominate videogame-free nights in the week. But the other nights can be all about ‘the list’.
I never understand this obsession with completing games. So you bought a bunch of stuff you wanted to play in some bundles or on sale. You don’t have the time to play. So? Whats the big deal?
This trend looks like completing games for the sake of completing them. What does it matter if you finished Spellforce 1 or not, really? How about you just play a game for fun and because you really want to play it, not because you “have to”. I bought Alan Wake from a humble bundle, because I was a fan of the studio. Havent had the chance to play it, maybe I never will. Does not bother me in the slightest.
I tend to collect games as much as play them. When I get that “let’s try something new” urge, it is smarter to look at the dozens of unplayed games in my backlog than to see what’s new at Steam or GOG
Starting some games takes a bit of determination, as there is a learning curve before the fun begins. Approaching something like a Distant Worlds includes something that feels a bit like work, at least at the beginning. More pressure to get through that first phase can help!
My overall entertainment backlog, including books and movies, is staggering. I’ll need to live a long time after retirement to have any chance at it ;)
First, if you are playing DAI and FC4, you don’t really need a new upgraded machine :P.
SC Blacklist is very good, just ignore the plot.
From that list: I didn’t like Bully nor Spellforce 2, and Fahrenheit had a bad rep.
edit: wait, what classification is that? Do you have enough games for boxing, rolling and climbing categories? What is soldiering if you already have a shooting cat?
This is how I’m planning to finish up my backlog of games. I’m retiring in the middle of next year and I’m building up my backlog now because once I retire my income will drop quite a bit. I won’t have the disposable income then that I have now. Quite a conundrum lots more time on my hands, but a lot less money. The solution, buy the game now and play them after I retire. For instance I want to play Vic 2, but I currently don’t have the time to get me through the learning curve. I will after I retire I’ll have lots and lots of time just no disposable income for games.
