Complete Lack of Self-Control: How backlogs develop

mxmarks · July 2009

For a really long time I was great at making sure I only got a couple games at a time, and beat them before moving on. Life was good, I was happy, and there was harmony in my living room. The Wii and 360 took turns, each one getting it's fair share while I re-stocked the other.

Then, a huge wave of random sales and deals hit, and suddenly I'm realizing that I have a TON of stuff that I've never played - all of it stuff I really was looking forward to for a long time. Which in turn seems to make playing games - an activity that is designed purely around relaxation and entertainment for me - somewhat of a chore, as I try to beat things quickly to go tackle what's waiting on deck before the list gets too long.

I just caught myself looking at games for this weekend's gamestop Buy 2 Get 1 free sale, and stopped. I still havent beaten 2 out of the 3 games I got LAST time they ran this sale. Nor have I beaten 2 games I grabbed at Blockbuster when they ran a sale last week.

So if I make the trip out to grab Dead Space, Dead Rising (again. Beat it, gave it back to my brother, and miss it so much...) and something else is still up in the air. Doing so would mean they all sit on the back burner (or force the other games even FURTHER back), which is a waste of money. Yet, looking at that shelf and KNOWING Dead Space is there the very SECOND I want to try it would be a good feeling.

So how do you deal with backlogs? Do you have no self-control like I do? Do you force yourself to finish stuff, or do you have 200 games all half-completed? Do you knowingly grab stuff on sale so you intentionally have a stash of fresh stuff, or does it just kinda happen?

G Rol · July 2009

Sounds like a good problem to have. I more of a "one game at a time" kinda guy. I tend to only purchase games that I know I'll play to death/multiple times.

Dead Space is a must have, I've run through that about 4 or 5 times.

langfor6 · July 2009

First I organize, categorize, group, and build spreadsheets. Then I exclude, cross off, sell, and trade.

Then I play whatever the hell I want and make little progress.

UnbreakableVow · July 2009

I look at it this way; if I'm only partially through a game and something else grabs my interest and I never return to the former, the former probably wasn't that great anyway.

HerrCron · July 2009

mxmarks wrote: »

For a really long time I was great at making sure I only got a couple games at a time, and beat them before moving on. Life was good, I was happy, and there was harmony in my living room. The Wii and 360 took turns, each one getting it's fair share while I re-stocked the other.

Then, a huge wave of random sales and deals hit, and suddenly I'm realizing that I have a TON of stuff that I've never played - all of it stuff I really was looking forward to for a long time. Which in turn seems to make playing games - an activity that is designed purely around relaxation and entertainment for me - somewhat of a chore, as I try to beat things quickly to go tackle what's waiting on deck before the list gets too long.

I just caught myself looking at games for this weekend's gamestop Buy 2 Get 1 free sale, and stopped. I still havent beaten 2 out of the 3 games I got LAST time they ran this sale. Nor have I beaten 2 games I grabbed at Blockbuster when they ran a sale last week.

So if I make the trip out to grab Dead Space, Dead Rising (again. Beat it, gave it back to my brother, and miss it so much...) and something else is still up in the air. Doing so would mean they all sit on the back burner (or force the other games even FURTHER back), which is a waste of money. Yet, looking at that shelf and KNOWING Dead Space is there the very SECOND I want to try it would be a good feeling.

So how do you deal with backlogs? Do you have no self-control like I do? Do you force yourself to finish stuff, or do you have 200 games all half-completed? Do you knowingly grab stuff on sale so you intentionally have a stash of fresh stuff, or does it just kinda happen?

I had a stupid backlog of games back in the day, when i had a saturn and then a dreamcast and a lot of disposable income, and as a result i never really played some games i bought as much as they deserved. Which makes me sad now.

These days, i find having a backloggery A/C helps me keep a tabs on what i've got waiting for me, as in i tend to be more aware that i have a shittone of DS games and no i don't need to buy another one now.

It still happens, but i'm sure it's been reduced.

Jam Warrior · July 2009

I used to be pretty good at simply not buying new games until I had beaten what I currently had in the system.

The Goozex came to Europe... Games come in on a random basis now and my 'to be played' pile is starting to get rather silly in it's height. Unfortunately my wife-to-be refuses to be convinced that taking time off to work through a videogame backlog is a sensible use of annual leave.

HyperAquaBlast · July 2009

Right now I'm basically making a huge backlog and/or a game library. I have a bit of disposable money the past couple of years and I have just been buying cheap and used games willy nilly and maybe play them for a max of 30 min.

langfor6 · July 2009

For the record playing WoW heavily for four years really contributed to my backlog, because I never stopped buying new games, I just didn't play them.

Dis · July 2009

I force myself to focus on only ONE GAME untill i beat it before moving to another.

Peewi · July 2009

I don't do it a lot, but I think I know what you mean. I bought Fallout 3 during the recent weekend deal on Steam, even though I had no intentions of playing it at that time and I bought Painkiller about a month ago and I'm only just now installing it.

I do play most of my games as soon as I buy them, though.

Dis · July 2009

langfor6 wrote: »

For the record playing WoW heavily for four years really contributed to my backlog, because I never stopped buying new games, I just didn't play them.

Then u should just go become a man of one game (WoW).

KalTorak · July 2009

Just not having a ton of free time makes it pretty easy for me. If I only have an hour or so per day to play games, I don't want to be switching back and forth between new games, I want to stick with the one I'm working on. I'm about halfway done with Red Faction at the moment - I wasn't going to buy anything else but then Amazon had a special on Prototype, so I picked it up. I still haven't tried it out though, I'm sticking to my program!

DietarySupplement · July 2009

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

I look at it this way; if I'm only partially through a game and something else grabs my interest and I never return to the former, the former probably wasn't that great anyway.

This. I, too, have been on the WoW horse for about... 5 years now? 6? Well, whenever it launched. That didn't stop me from getting new games, but if it didn't make me log off of WoW then it just sat.

There was only one game during that time that vied for my attention.

That game was/is Civilization 4.

mxmarks · July 2009

Peewi wrote: »

I don't do it a lot, but I think I know what you mean. I bought Fallout 3 during the recent weekend deal on Steam, even though I had no intentions of playing it at that time and I bought Painkiller about a month ago and I'm only just now installing it.

I do play most of my games as soon as I buy them, though.

Thats actually what spawned this whole thread for me. When I got Fallout 3. I used to kind of rotate 3 games at a time - something light that required little thinking like some XBLA games (and Burnout was perfect for this), something heavier/RPG/Adventure-esque for a chunk of time I found to myself, and something social and online to play when friends were around.

Then I got Fallout.

Ive sunk so many hours into it and I haven't gotten any of the DLC yet, and am maybe halfway through the main quest. There's just so much shit to do, I find myself feeling like I HAVE to finish it -- yet I really haven't stopped picking up new things. I managed to take 4 days off from Fallout to beat Ghostbusters, but Fallout has just thrown a huge wrench in my normal pattern of "complete 1 of the 3 games in progress every 2 weeks" by dominating all my free time. Which again, is weird, because I ENJOY IT, which is WHY I keep coming back to it - yet there's so many other things I want to enjoy, but just dont have time for.

I love my girlfriend to death, but I couldn't be happier she's out of town for the weekend. I'm totally reverting to 2 days of anti-social, lights off, frozen pizza video game time. Shitty weather + nothing planned = huge dent in the backlog, hopefully.

PaperLuigi44 · July 2009

I'm terrible with backlogs, I can't seem to stop playing COD 4 thanks to the 'one more match' mentality. There's something about weeding out campers from their hiding spots that makes me very happy.

Antihippy · July 2009

Persona 3, Persona 4, SMT: Lucifer's call, devil may cry, xensaga 2, atelier iris 3, disgaea 3, metal gear solid 4 and I recently got ninja gaiden sigma. Some of them (the persona games) halfway through, most of them bought because "eh, it's cheap and I heard it's good so I'll play it someday".

And all I ever play is Blazblue.

Collecting can be pretty fun though. In a way.

urahonky · July 2009

RPGs back in the PS2 era were the WORST for backlogs. 60+ hours to beat the game? Ughh..

My backlog is still pretty high, but luckily (?) for me the wife doesn't want me to buy anymore games. So now I just have Gamefly.

Mr_Grinch · July 2009

Prototype (About 3 hours in), Ghostbusters (about 1 hour in), Trine (About 15 minutes in), a desire to build LBP levels, Grid (played about an hour), Dirt (Played 5 mins and owned for 6 months), Left4Dead, Crackdown have ALL been put aside for a game I've completed countless times before:

The Secret of Monkey Island.

But I must play it again.

langfor6 · July 2009

urahonky wrote: »

RPGs back in the PS2 era were the WORST for backlogs. 60+ hours to beat the game? Ughh..

My backlog is still pretty high, but luckily (?) for me the wife doesn't want me to buy anymore games. So now I just have Gamefly.

Mine doesn't want me to buy any more either.

If you're sticking to it, I'm guessing you're a newlywed.

For what it's worth, I have cut down a ton on impulse buys. Digital downloading does make it easier for me to get one past her though. Still she knows it's an ideal to work for, a perfect form if you will, but in practicality it won't happen. Mass Effect 2 will be purchased. That is just a fact of life. She knows it, I know it, anyone who reads this now knows it.

urahonky · July 2009

Oh yeah. There will be games where I will purchase while apologizing to her. Galaxy 2, Mass Effect 2, lots of Nintendo games, etc...

langfor6 · July 2009

I broke it down to her like this. I don't live in a bar, I don't gamble, and I'm faithful. You should be happy this is my only real vice.

Then I point out all the friends we both have with fucked up marriages, give her a hug, and go buy a game.

Couscous · July 2009

Sales are how mine develops. Baten Kaitos Origins for four dollars; I can't pass that up.

Witchsight · July 2009

Im pretty good at avoiding backlogs apparently.
The only one ive got is about 3 oxbox games that i bought on a whim... The fragile lifespan of 360's makes me think twice about using it for anything other than installed games.

And Persona 3, but that doesnt count.... Im pretty sure i just lost interest all together.

Stormwatcher · July 2009

Wives are great backlog diminishing agents. WTF YOU BOUGHT ANOTHER SILLY GAME WHAT ABOUT OUR PLANS TO TRAVEL ABROAD BUY AN APARTMENT HAVE CHILDREN WHAT ARE YOU 12 YEARS OLD ARE YOU INSANE

but then Steam and Gamers Gate and GOG and Impulse make it so easy to buy games without her knowing.

DD is my fucking bane.

PeregrineFalcon · July 2009

Stormwatcher wrote: »

DD is my fucking bane.

This, I simultaneously love and hate Steam's weekend sales.

$5 for that? But I don't even need that.
But it's five bucks
But I don't want it
but it's five bucks

Wait

How did I buy that

FUCK

THEPAIN73 · July 2009

Super Mario RPG and World of Goo both came out in sequential months (September and October). I was playing SMRPG and having an alright time with it (wasn't how I remembered it). I then went to World of Goo the following month and couldn't put it down. I beat it in 6 days and never went back to SMRPG after waiting for so long. I constantly replay WoG.

The moral of the story is my backlog is huge and I do this with every other game.

Selner · July 2009

I generally only play RPGs, on the 360 at this point. But I have a really bad habit of never finishing them.

A new game comes out, and it's all new and shiny and I must play! So I play that, and the old game is forgotten. Then another new game comes out before I finish the 2nd one... and it goes on...

Lost Oddessy
Tales of Vesperia
The Last Remnant
Star Ocean IV
Fable 2

All are in some form of un-finishedness.

New house, recently married, social obligations... all leads to a minimization of free time. And RPGs generally require blocks of time, and not just an hour here or there.

At some point I would like to go back and play all those, and am hopeful that time will free up to do so at some point.

... and looking at my Achievement List online, I'm really wanting to play some of those now. I wonder if I can squeeze some time in tonight

.

SteevL · July 2009

A few weeks ago I finally created an account on backloggery and I feel kind of embarrassed about it. It does feel good to have something that I can use to remind me of which games I actually am currently playing, though. I tend to get bad cases of gaming ADD, mainly because of my backlog. I run into a difficult part in a game? Fuck it, I've got 200+ other games to try!

Of course, like others I've obtained the majority of this library from various sales. I've come to realize recently that I'm never going to play some of those PS2 games, especially the RPGs. I really need to try to sell some on amazon or something.

And yeah, World of Warcraft did not help at all. I've played it off and on since it came out in late 2004. This did not stop me from buying other games. I'm currently on a break from WoW and likely will not return until the next expansion.

I've gotten better with my impulses, I think. Now I just need to get focused on finishing these games while still having fun doing it.

Edit: Who the hell am I kidding, I just bought Deadly Creatures, Pikmin, Bionic Commando, and Street Fighter IV over the last week. They were all on sale.

Gorilla Salad · July 2009

I can not help myself. I bought Oni, SOCOM 1 and 2, and metal gear solid 2 one day for 10 bucks at a pawn shop. I have only ever played mgs2. I never touched the others. That was 4 years ago. I still do that today.

TyrantCow · July 2009

right now i have...

Silent Hill 2, Zone of Enders 2, Knights in the Nightmare, and Punch-Out!! that I have barely/not touched.

and, i've only played Ecco and some other game i had never played before off of that Soncs Ultimate Collection (i really need to play Space Harrier, as i've never done that)

oh yeah, and Metal Slug 7 i've only played like 2 hours

and Disgea DS

(and I have; but, haven't read...

Cable & Deadpool TPB 5-8, Swamp Thing TPB 4-6, Akira TPB series, Iron Fist TPB 1-3, Team of Rivals, The Satanic Verses, and some Charles Dickens collection.

)

Unco-ordinated · July 2009

I try to play one game at a time and sometimes even do but that doesn't stop me from continuing to buy more games. I also get distracted really easily, so I might get halfway through a game, get an itch for another game and then drop the first game, sometimes permanently.

My PC and DS are the systems that're suffering the most. I've got Empire: Total War, Secrets of Monkey Island: Special Edition, Bioshock, Crysis, Hitman: Contracts, Hitman: Blood Money and more on my computer, yet have barely touched them. Then with my DS there's DQV, FFIV, FFXII: RW, World Ends With You and Chrono Trigger sitting there untouched.

I'm pretty keen to filter out the non-'must-haves' from my collection though (which consists of like 65-70 PS2 games, 15 DS games, 20 PSP games and 5 GC games) but I wouldn't have a clue what's the best method to get rid of them (online auction or trading them in). So for now, I guess they'll just sit on my shelf and gather dust...

urahonky · July 2009

Having all game consoles is the worst idea I've ever had.

Also Gamefly doesn't help.

DietarySupplement · July 2009

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

Stormwatcher wrote: »

DD is my fucking bane.

This, I simultaneously love and hate Steam's weekend sales.

$5 for that? But I don't even need that.
But it's five bucks
But I don't want it
but it's five bucks

Wait

How did I buy that

FUCK

You basically just summed up my iPhone app store purchases. Do I really need another game? No. But it's 99 cents. It's cheaper than some songs I buy every week!

Elendil · July 2009

I've stopped worrying about it at this point. If I finish it, or at least play a lot of it, great, if not... ah well.

I've at least gotten a bit choosier about picking up games now.

TyrantCow · July 2009

urahonky wrote: »

Having all game consoles is the worst idea I've ever had.

Also Gamefly doesn't help.

yeah, i was always fine when i was a poor college kid with a gamecube and a PC

but, now... PC, DS, Wii, and a 360.. and i finally picked up a PS2 someplace in there, too...

Big Classy · July 2009

'm probably the worst when it comes to buying games I'll never play more than once. Here's a list of games I have that I played no more than twice (all told, I've put in less than 3 hours in each these) green titles are 360 and white are wii. also spoilered for size........

F,E.A.R. 2 - moved onto something else
TimeShift - average
Soldier of fortune Payback - was piss-poor so i gave up on it
FiFA 09 - bought pro evo 09, which isn't better but i'm more used to it
Resident evil 5 - sheva, ugh
Banjo 3 - again, good but other stuff
Colin Mcrae DiRT - bought with GRID........ that won out
Need for speed Undercover - maggie q, ugh
Godfather 2 - how they managed to ru9in it i don't know
Ace combat 6 - not even put this in the computer
Alone in the dark - dead space won out
Conan - other games to play
Destroy all humans - i put less than 40 mins in this
Devil may cry 4 - not a fan
iron man - yeah no explanation needed
ninja gaiden 2 - it got a little difficult and moving on is way too easy.
quantum of solace - i actually liked this..... not sure what happened
rise opf the argonauts - i hate this so much
rainbow six vegas - bought this couple months ago, doesn't really hold up to far cry
tomb raider underworld - haven't really given it a proper shot tbh
too human - i really don't wanna begin this one, it'll take up precious time on other games
unreal tournament 3 - no live

viking battle for asgard - decent but i have way too many awesome games to spend time on this
x-men wolverines thang - it broke my puter so i'm not risking it again
wwe 2009 - i don't even recognise anyone anymore, what the hell was i thinking
No more heroes - i should stop buying wii games, never play the console
Zack and wiki - cute but prefer 360
Resi evil umbrella chronicle - not even tried this one
dead rising -oooooh stinker
endless ocean - boring
madworld - again, sdtv sucks.

i just have to have that game that looked awesome in the trailers.

Shadowrunner · July 2009

I think the thread title goes right to the heart of the issue. I used to pick up games on sale (or off of ebay) thinking that I would eventually play them, but they usually just sat there unopened. Eventually I realized that it was a waste of money and I'd get a lot more enjoyment out of picking 1 or 2 games to play at a time. For example, I really want to pick up Red Faction, but I know that there's almost no chance that I'll finish it before the holiday game season starts.

Oh, and canceling my WoW account. That helped a ton!

Lunker · July 2009

I feel this is a great thread to remind everyone that GameStop is running a buy-2-get-1-free deal on all used games and accessories this weekend. :rotate:

ZeroCow · July 2009

I have a few game backlogged thanks to Steam. I can't resist a sale on a game I might like so I say, "fuck it" and make a quick purchase. The one thing that helps me is that my computer isn't the greatest so I can't play any of the newest PC games and the only current gen system I have is the Wii and I don't have reliable wireless access so I don't get as many virtual console games as I probably would. There are a ton of PS2 games that I want to get and if I do get around to purchasing them then my back log will go back up.

My other problem is a job and grad school. I hate grad school.

xa52 · July 2009

I have a backlog, in the form of a list. I usually don't buy the games on it until I'm ready to play them (most of the time- Atlus rpgs don't count because they go out of stock), but for the past year or so, that list has only been added to, thanks to a busted laptop, attempts at linux, and WoW. I uninstalled WoW 2 days ago and opened the floodgates. I've purchased Braid and the Monkey Island remake so far, but there's just a pile of games on Steam and GoG on my list, and I just don't know how long I can hold out. It helps that I'm on an Eee, which is somewhat limiting, but I'm getting a desktop in a couple of months which will open up a whole new can of worms, with Fallout 3, Mass Effect, and various Source games on my god damn list. I also tend to impulse buy DS games before going on trips and am currently in the middle of 3 of those. I can't complain though. I enjoyed Lich King, but variety is good.

HyperAquaBlast · July 2009

Lunker wrote: »

I feel this is a great thread to remind everyone that GameStop is running a buy-2-get-1-free deal on all used games and accessories this weekend. :rotate:

Haha the past four months of these is what has made my list grow.

Penny Arcade

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