Wow TurinTur, that is a seriously impressive list of strategy titles!
The problem I have with my backlog is that I will often go to it to try to find something new to play only to become “overloaded” by the choices and end up not making a choice at all (either doing nothing or going back to an old favorite instead of trying something new). I know that sounds stupid, but I find myself thinking “RPG, strategy or action? Do I have the time I need to really enjoy this game? Do I play the first one in that series or start with the most recent one? Maybe I should just play another 30 minutes of ___ instead?”. Meanwhile I buy more bundles, grab more stuff on sale, and generally compound the problem.
I like this backlog slimming idea, and with 6 months until the next major Steam Sale it seems like the perfect time to dive headfirst into the pool of backlog games. My backlog is far too large to effectively list here (somewhere around 275-300 games that I have either never played or only played briefly), so instead I will simply pledge to select a couple of titles from my backlog, install them, and stick with playing them until either they are completed, they prove to be terrible, or I have accomplished enough within them to consider them “well played” (finishing the main storyline in an open-world RPG for example, or winning a grand campaign in a strategy title). I’m going to start with the games already installed on my hard drive, as I recently had to do a complete system wipe and reinstall, so for a change I only have a few titles active…
[ul]
[li]Grim Dawn - just purchased and started this. Will play until the current content end is reached (game is still in development)[/li][li]Lord of the Rings Online - Does not count, I think I can consider this “well played” after some 500+ hours.[/li][li]Endless Legend - just purchased and have not started yet[/li][li]Din’s Curse - Installed and played a bit to generate trading cards. I am enjoying it, and will count this one towards my goal.[/li][li]Cargo Commander - another game installed for trading cards. I like what I’ve played, but it’s not my normal style of game.[/li][li]Total War : Rome 2 - I want to play this more. I’m in the early stages of a grand campaign.[/li][li]State of Decay - Can be considered completed. I played all the way through the main game, and started the Lifeline DLC.[/li][li]Skyrim - at 150+ hours I think I can call this one “completed” even though I have not finished the main storyline[/li][li]Planetside 2 - does not count. Not only do I have 300+ hours in this, there isn’t actually a campaign or an end to the game. It is so much fun though![/li][li]Blackguards - installed but not started yet[/li][/ul]
So given that list, I am going to ignore the two games I have installed but not yet started (Endless Legend and Blackguards) and concentrate for now on Grim Dawn, Cargo Commander, Din’s Curse and maybe some more Total War : Rome 2. My self-imposed loose rules will simply be that I need to “finish” one of these games before I can begin any others, and that I can cycle between currently active games as much as I like. I will post here about the progress I make.
Not really, since I also recently bought both DragonBorn and DawnGuard, which means I would feel compelled to play through both of those storylines as well. I’d like to make a dent in my backlog sometime before 2016!
So I’m through the stuff that was recent and enjoyable (DAI and FC4) and now through the DLC. Next up I guess, the ones I was already well into - a Spellforce and a Grimrock. Thing is they’re kind of similar in theme to what I’ve just been doing. I wonder if I should try one of the adventures for a change of pace…
Finished Death Rally today. Then had to redo it as it didn’t sync achievements with steam. In total it took 62 minutes.
My backlog is so big it is easier to track what I have completed.
Death Rally (2015-01-11)
Next I’ll work on Wolfenstein New Order, based on postings on this forum I bought it, and it seems nice so far. Really like the alternate reality theme.
I’ve already broken my self-imposed rule. While I have continued to play Grim Dawn and Din’s Curse, I went ahead and started Endless Legend as well since I was in the mood for a 4X this weekend and that game has been well received. I am enjoying it so far, but of course that’s one more slice of the pie chart that is my limited gaming time, so I do not expect to “finish” anything any time soon…
At least I’ve gone two whole weeks without ADDING anything to the backlog. Well, OK, there was Memories of a Vagabond, but that one was FREE from IndieGala so it doesn’t count!
I’m going to add Bioshock Infinite to this list. I totally forget that it exists, until I get low on hard drive space and sort my Steam games list by size, and number one, always, with nearly 45Gb, is Bioshock Infinite. I need to get back into it and just get through it somehow so I can have all that space back for other things.
You mean you’ve started Planescape three times? I think I can see where you might be going wrong :) I never picked up IWar 2 thankfully, as IWar defeated me. There was one mission I just couldn’t get past. So technically that’s in my backlog too. Damn :(
Bioshock isn’t super long and does have a great later section if you’re not somehow already aware…
What do you mean? That I shouldn’t start over? There were a few years between each attempt, and I wanted to start over. First attempt was on launch. That’s when I got the farthest.
I never picked up IWar 2 thankfully, as IWar defeated me. There was one mission I just couldn’t get past. So technically that’s in my backlog too. Damn :(
The first I-war took me many, many, many hours to finish. Some missions were really hard. The very first “real” mission (Gatekeeper) is super tough, for example. I don’t think I’d make it through I-war if I played it today, with my limited game time. Back then, it was my favorite game in my favorite genre and I played the hell out of it. But if you do go back and you can get past Gatekeeper, the rest is relatively easier or at its worst, just as hard as Gatekeeper.
Bioshock isn’t super long and does have a great later section if you’re not somehow already aware…
I am not aware. I loved the first section, but once I got through to the area where the black folks live, and stepped through multiple portals until they were also terrible people, I sort of lost my motivation to keep playing. It got impossible to keep track of who or what I’m even supposed to root for with all these damned alternate realities. It’s a really bizarre way to tell a story. But I’ll try to go back to having an open mind, if I can manage it, when I go back to it.
