[VOW ON] New Year's 2009 Gaming Resolution Thread

BTP

For those of you with backlogs reaching triple digits.....

For those of you wading through all kinds of plastic controllers, peripherals, and musical instruments.....

For those of you that just have one more thing to do to completely finish a game.....

For those of you with gaming ambitions beyond the bedroom/living room.....

For those of you that will say you will to do a certain thing, gaming related or not.....

For those that just need a sense of control in their lives.....

........and yet you still can't seem to do anything about it.....you just can't seem to take the next step to make it a reality......

Well, guess what?



Welcome to the New Year's Gaming Resolutions Thread for 2009!

Instead of instantaneously proclaiming to whoever's around you celebrating the new year when you're drunk off your mind just what you'll set out to do for the year, you're going to sit down RIGHT NOW, look over at the games you own (or even the games you will want to own) and figure out just what you want to do with it all and get the most gaming bang for your buck.

Need advice on where to start to make your first resolution? I'll put down what others have said in the past in the quote below.

BTP wrote:

- Write down a list of all the things you want to do with the games you own before buying a new game or starting a new one. Break it down into groups if you have to. Start by figuring out which games you are currently in the middle of playing and decide what you want to do and how far you want to go in them. When done that list, move on to the list of games where you stopped playing it halfway through for some unknown reason. When you're finished that list, THEN work on the backlog of games you haven't touched or opened yet. It's all about baby steps.

- Set out a time during the day to say "Okay, this is gaming time for me. I won't play any time other than this."

- Set out a gaming budget and try to stick to it. It can be "$X / time" or "Buy a maximum # of games / time" Just make sure you are finishing significantly more games than you are buying new ones.

[url=http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showpost.php?p=782530&postcount=160]RainbowDespair[/url] wrote:

My advice for clearing out your backlogs:

Rule #1 - There are too many good games.

The industry has long since past the point where it's possible for a single person to play every single good game out there. There just isn't enough time in a day. The solution? Be very selective in what you decide to play. Now I'm not saying to just buy games over a certain review threshhold because we all know that reviews vary drastically from person to person and some of my own personal favorite games were games that didn't do so well in the press at large. Rather, the mere fact that a game is good shouldn't guarantee it a slot in your gaming collection. Only game that are great and truly special should go in.

Rule #2 - Games are meant to be entertainment

If playing a game feels more like work than fun, it's time to stop playing. Now, even the best games have their drab moments (I thought the first couple hours of Twilight Princess were horroundously boring although after that things started to get awesome), but if the thought of finishing that one RPG that you've had sitting in your library for 2 years fill you with a sense of obligation and not with one of joy, then maybe it's time to sell the game and move on. There's no shame in not finishing a mediocre (in your mind) game.

Rule #3 - Gaming news sites and forums are the enemy

This rule is here for two reasons. First, time spent on the internet discussing and reading news is time that could be spent actually playing games. The second and more important reason is that reading and discussing games encourages the purchasing of additional games even when you don't need them.

Rule #4 - Make a list of your current inventory

I include this rule, because it's a good way to get perspective. The next time you think about buying a game just think about the games you already own and could get additional fun out of. Do you really need to buy that used platformer for $15 when you have 3 games like it back at home already?

Rule #5 - Longer isn't necessarily better

We've been conditioned to think that the longer a game is, the better. Now if you're very restricted in your budget, this may be the case, but think about it for a second. Rather than look at how long it takes to "beat" the game, think about how long the game will be fun. For example, I've spent hours upon hours on short games like Nights and various shmups, because I keep enjoying them even after technically finishing the game. On the other hand, I've played some long games where I've become bored after the first few hours. Now I'm not saying that long games are necessarily bad (they aren't), but just if you're going to spend 30+ hours of your life doing something, it ought to be something that's great fun instead of merely decent.

It's all up to you, and the rest of us are here to try to make sure you stick to it!

Make a list of your resolutions and post it here. Update whenever you can. And above all BE AMBITIOUS WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO DO! AIM HIGH WITH YOUR GOALS!

But BTP, how are we going to make sure we stick to it?
We all know how New Year's Resolutions just kind of disappear in our minds.

I'm glad you asked. Here's how we're going to do it. I'm going to link this thread in my sig just like I've done with the Nintendo Wi-Fi thread, so it's easily accessible to everyone. But what YOU are going to do, IF YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS, IS COPY THE LINK TO YOUR POST OUTLINING YOUR RESOLUTIONS AND PUT IT IN YOUR OWN SIG. I don't care how you do it, just as long as the link is not difficult to find. It will always be there to remind you of what you've set out to do, so there's no excuses of saying "I forgot what I wanted to do" or whatever. And if after a while someone notices you haven't updated in a long time, they can just send you a quick little PM of "Hey, how's those resolutions of yours coming along?" It's all about supporting each other.

And, of course, non-gaming related resolutions are welcome!

Good luck, and...........

ChewyWaffles

I do hereby resolve to complete more games this year instead of buying a shit-ton and never finishing them.

Anyone looking forward to Skate 2 next in a couple weeks?

Mortal Sky

I resolve to do one thing this year:
Get back into EVE and Merch Industrial, and not suck.

KupotheAvenger

I resolve to get off my lazy dev ass and carry my weight on my team. I also resolve to find some money to buy some airplane tickets and get over to Seattle for:

1) PAX

2) Valve to present afformentioned game.

Cherrn

I would have vowed not to get back into WoW, but a friend of mine bought me Lich King as a christmas present, so I guess I have to swallow the red pill once more.

I guess I could vow that I won't put as much time, if any, into raiding as I used to. Not that I find that sort of thing appealing anymore.

LewieP

I am going to finish the big stack of 360 games I missed out on only getting one in the last 12 months. I am going to be open minded about GTA4 and Halo 3, and I am going to buy less games "just because they are cheap".

Although I just got a red ring. And I am going to buy a bunch of stuff from the Steam sale.

BTP

LewieP wrote: »

I am going to finish the big stack of 360 games I missed out on only getting one in the last 12 months. I am going to be open minded about GTA4 and Halo 3, and I am going to buy less games "just because they are cheap".

Although I just got a red ring. And I am going to buy a bunch of stuff from the Steam sale.

Well, it's not quite 2009 yet. And you really can't follow through on those resolutions if you don't have a 360 to begin the resoluting. :P

Antihippy

I need to stop buying games when I have others to finish off.

Thank god I'm broke though!

...

Dareth Ram

I've done a better job then I normally do about buying games I don't have time to play this year. I have about four I haven't played, and I think that's mostly because I haven't liked them (Disgaea 3, No More Heroes, Eye of Judgement, and the Witcher).

I should either sell them or finish them. The Witcher I want to one day finish, but the others I'm kind of meh on.

Hopefully I do better this year.


Anyways, my gaming resolutions:
1 - Make an effort to Dungeon Master more.
2 - Scale back the number of games I buy but don't play even further
3 - Assemble and paint those space marines I bought. Only bought ten, shouldn't be hard.

My non-gaming resolutions:
1 - Learn to cook
2 - Find a new place to learn martial arts and start
3 - start writing my book.

Xtarath

I vow to try and not cry as much when I play X-Com. I'm not sure how I'll hold up.

Kami

My one resolution is to become competitive in a PC RTS. Ranked leaderboards, maybe a few enthusiast site interviews, but not hardcore enough to get sponsorships/play competitively.

Ziggymon

If people are struggling to play all the games they are buying, well if you cant help it this is really great idea, ive tried it before and managed to finish loads of games last year.

Also a tip, Don't buy every game you want/can afford at release. This is important for the AAA titles, if you are not gonna play said game for a few weeks then just wait till it drops in price. This last few months i saved around £300 just by waiting 2 weeks before buying.

Satanic Jesus

My resolution is to pick 3 of the ps2 games I own at a time and not buy or play any other games until I finish or get bored of them. The games will be different, one rpg, one shooter, one platformer, etc.

SirUltimos

This year I want to beat more games than I buy. I've bought, with no exaggeration, 50 or 60 games this year, even though at the beginning of the year I said "Only buy 1 game when I beat 2". Yeah, that didn't quite work out. So I'm gonna try to beat a ton of games this year, and try to limit myself to either the above rule, or possibly one game a month.

So,
1. Beat 2 games for every 1 I buy.
2. Go back and beat games that I've started but never finished.
3. Don't buy games on release day. Wait a bit and get them for cheaper, save myself some money (which should help with the non gaming resolutions below).

Non-gaming:
1. Get out of debt.
2. Do better in school.
3. Actually get over my ex-girlfriend.

gvandale

Gaming Resolutions:
1. Go back and actually finish MGS4 (long story, but fuck the fight with vamp)
2. Beat a game when I buy it and not shelve it when the next new release comes out that I must have
3. Quit buying fighters (these are guaranteed 2-week only plays and thus should be relegated as rentals)

Non-Gaming Resolutions:
1. Quit Smoking
2. Keep jogging (at a 3 day a week pace right now)
3. Get married (got the engagement done, date set, honeymoon paid, now just to make it to the day)
4. Get my fiance out of debt

BTP

SirUltimos, I'm not trying to tell you how to do your resolutions, but it seems like you might have some that could conflict with each other.

SirUltimos wrote: »

This year I want to beat more games than I buy. I've bought, with no exaggeration, 50 or 60 games this year,

So,
1. Beat 2 games for every 1 I buy.
2. Go back and beat games that I've started but never finished.
3. Don't buy games on release day. Wait a bit and get them for cheaper, save myself some money (which should help with the non gaming resolutions below).

Non-gaming:
1. Get out of debt.

The "Beat 2 to buy 1" concept is good, but I don't understand why it's focused with a number. You say you've bought 50-60 games this year. If you kept that pace and followed that resolution as-is, that 50-60 becomes 75-90, making your backlog feel larger than it actually is, at which point gaming could feel like work instead of being fun which you don't want. That's probably the equivalent of someone who just starts a workout routine to lose some pounds and then gets discouraged when the results aren't coming as quickly as they hoped.

Personally, I'd have it as "Beat lots of games until you can buy 1 or 2 games and feel good about it". Take my example of when I got Chrono Trigger DS. I never got to try the SNES version as I could never find it for rent or to buy, but always wanted to. Now finally, 13 years later, I got a second chance through the DS. When I bought it and held it in my hands, I should've had one of those "FUCK YEAH, I CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY THIS!" feelings, but it didn't really happen because I knew I had a backlog containing other RPGs that needed to be conquered first. Two years ago I said I would play Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, take a guess what I still need to play? ( :x & ) It's right at the top of my list once I get through what I'm in the middle of right now. No more putting that off for me.

What I'm trying to get at is if you try that resolution as "Beat lots of games until you can buy 1 or 2 games and feel good about it", it will encourage you to do resolutions 2 and 3 (especially 3), which will help you do the "Get out of debt" resolution even faster. The whole thing will be like a domino effect of happiness. If you try to focus on the 2 in "Beat 2 to buy 1", then you're continually planning to put money aside for more games when you could be chipping away at your debt, or at least for something more important than gaming.

I'm sorry if I'm being out of line here. Whatever happens, we're all in this together with our own resolutions.

Mustachio Jones

I have a ritual where I beat Donkey Kong Country 2 in the first hour of the new year, or the year will suck.

i didn't beat it this year. I am rectifying that.

edit:

this year sucked.

Velmeran

Get out of the gaming black hole that China is.

Examples:

#1. Do I wanna play some CS, ehh, sure, that could be fun for a bit. Wait...you mean CS1.6? Not Source? Oh god, my eyes!

#2. Yes I like Dota, no I don't like the chinese versions that are always hacked or broken in some way.

#3. NO boardgames/card games/miniatures/pen and paper roleplayers (They have yu-gi-oh, but lets just all agree not to think about that).

#4. No, I don't like Monster Hunter or terrible racers on my PSP, don't you people play ANYTHING else?

#5. No, I'm not going to teach you english if you let me into your WoW guild (Actually had this offered to me by some random guy on a long bus ride, I don't even play wow >.< )

algorythym

Velmeran wrote: »

Get out of the gaming black hole that China is.

Examples:

#1. Do I wanna play some CS, ehh, sure, that could be fun for a bit. Wait...you mean CS1.6? Not Source? Oh god, my eyes!

#2. Yes I like Dota, no I don't like the chinese versions that are always hacked or broken in some way.

#3. NO boardgames/card games/miniatures/pen and paper roleplayers (They have yu-gi-oh, but lets just all agree not to think about that).

#4. No, I don't like Monster Hunter or terrible racers on my PSP, don't you people play ANYTHING else?

#5. No, I'm not going to teach you english if you let me into your WoW guild (Actually had this offered to me by some random guy on a long bus ride, I don't even play wow >.< )

Ohh that does sound rough. But to number 3: China does have Magic the Gathering, or at least some of China does, my father has purchased Magic cards in China.

Sixfortyfive

It'd be nice if G&T would collectively take up "stop messing around with _____ ON tags" as a resolution, but I'm not holding my breath.

As for a real answer, I dunno, maybe try and build a Wii or 360 library that makes the purchase of those consoles worth it? I have less than a dozen total retail titles between them.

Solidhavoc

Gaming resolutions:
1. Play more games, read more about games, save a little more money for more games!
2. Play some different genres, and stop wasting time on free MMOs. Maybe try some sports and racing games for once!
3. Get involved in the development community a little more- try writing more reviews and perhaps volunteer to write for a team. Participate in discussions more!
4. Set aside a time each day for gaming, and stick to it the schedule!

Non-gaming resolutions:
1. Continue to follow a career path that is satisfying in some way.
2. Pay all bills on time and consistently, and start a savings account for daughter before setting money aside for recreation.
3. Sleep less, but make it better sleep. Spend every minute awake working towards something, or trying to reach some goal, whether it is practical or recreational.
4. Be more romantic towards the woman. Also, propose to her. Show her how much you love her and respect her.
5. Make this your 2nd year clean and sober. No drink, no drugs. Keep going to meetings, see a counselor, talk to my girl. Eat healthier, exercise more, and work harder at realizing your dreams.
6. Spend quality time with your baby every single day!
7. Meditate, think, dream, and remember how to love, respect, and help yourself! Continue to grow, and work hard at it!

Igort

1) Finish Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, which I got for Christmas and only played a little. Christmas 2007.

2) Finish Crisis Core as it's not mine, I borrowed it off a friend.

3) Get round to finishing my epic series of levels in LittleBigPlanet.

4) (this one's just for fun) Play through all the Metal Gear games in Chronological order on the highest difficulty.

Solidhavoc

Igort wrote: »

4) (this one's just for fun) Play through all the Metal Gear games in Chronological order on the highest difficulty.

You are a masochist!

mrsnackroad

Xtarath wrote: »

I vow to try and not cry as much when I play X-Com. I'm not sure how I'll hold up.

Can I just piggy back off of this resolution?


Other Gaming Resolutions...

1.) Create a content expansion mod for Fallout 3
- I've never made a mod for any game ever, so... even just a new fetch quest would count.

2.) Hit level 70 in WoW
- I'm half a bar from 61, I may be able to pull this one off.

3.) Accept that I am OK if I don't touch bonus content
- I'm looking at you, Disgaea series. I don't have to grind to level 17,000 and go toe to toe with all of your bonus bosses again! W-what's that? Y... you have the Adell/Rozalin pack as DLC for Disgaea 3. and its available now? ...well, shit.

Real Life Resolutions
1.) Learn to leave work at work

Igort

Solidhavoc wrote: »

Igort wrote: »

4) (this one's just for fun) Play through all the Metal Gear games in Chronological order on the highest difficulty.

You are a masochist!

I would do a Let's Play of it as well, but they may too Rage filled for viewing.

SirUltimos

Another thing I might do is cut back on buying games just because they're cheap. There's a bargain bin where I work which I where I got most of the 50-60 games this year, and I should start saying to myself "It doesn't matter if it's $5. I don't need it and won't play it".

It'll be tough, though, to go against my collector's instincts. :P

BTP

Two days to go, and you don't want to think of this stuff when you're drunk.

What will you do to better your life in 09?

Dareth Ram

I may finish one of my resolutions before New Years even starts. Got bored the other day and decided to open those 40k minis. Now they're all assembled and half painted.

BTP

24 hours to go, and only one person shows they're serious enough to link their resolutions to their sig.

Is this the part where I think no one cares enough to try to do this?

Lord Yod

This year I will finish either Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, or Metroid Prime 3. I swear.

AbsoluteZero

I resolve to finish the games I have before I buy any new ones.

Also

1280x768 lol

BTP

Okay, everyone! It's now or never! What'd'ya gonna do?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Rotam

I'm not going to buy any games anytime soon because I have things I want to go back to.

Also, I want to beat Assassin's Creed without dying of boredom.

LittleBoots

I will finish a game.

I can count the number of games I've actually finished on one hand.
I've been gaming since the release of the NES.
I feel guilty about this.

Yorker

I'll come up with a full list later, but there's like four hundred thousand PC games i'll have to play when i finally get a computer that isn't a complete shitfest of a laptop.

Rotam

Oh, I forgot one thing.

I'm pretty obsessed with getting achievements lately, and while getting some of these is pretty fun, I'm neglecting my other consoles a lot.

This is a bad thing and I would like to stop.

BTP

Huh.

No one made any resolutions involving their weight.....or with using Wii Fit. I would've thought there could've been one of either.

There's a lot of "Stop buying so many games" in here. Maybe if the economy keeps going the way it is, it'll just happen naturally.

Well, good luck to you!

BTP

You know what I just realized? You know how lots of people always make some kind of weight-related resolution, and then after a month when it's not working as well as they hoped, they just quit?

I just figured out why this happens. One month later is the SUPER BOWL! How much junk food do people consume during that game? Pizza, chicken wings, buffalo wings, fries, Coca-Cola/Pepsi/Dr.Pepper, BEER, etc. No wonder that resolution always goes POOF!

But this is for gaming resolutions, and we don't really have those kinds of constraints and setbacks unless we really let ourselves screw them up.

So, how are you coming along in following your own resolutions?

LittleBoots

Not good, I haven't finished a game yet. I'm working on Mass Effect and Far Cry 2, don't see myself finishing Far Cry 2. But I do enjoy Mass Effect quite a bit.

mrsnackroad

Following up on the resolutions - the way to succeed is to track them!

mrsnackroad wrote: »

1.) Create a content expansion mod for Fallout 3
- I've never made a mod for any game ever, so... even just a new fetch quest would count.

I'm fighting hard against the GECK, because I've never done anything like this... it's not a lack of imagination, just a fight against figuring how to put everything in order.

2.) Hit level 70 in WoW
- I'm half a bar from 61, I may be able to pull this one off.

Strike this sucker through - I hit 70 friday night. Tiered Resolution go!

2.) Hit level 80 in WoW.

3.) Accept that I am OK if I don't touch bonus content
- I'm looking at you, Disgaea series. I don't have to grind to level 17,000 and go toe to toe with all of your bonus bosses again! W-what's that? Y... you have the Adell/Rozalin pack as DLC for Disgaea 3. and its available now? ...well, shit.

The bonus content is the reason I'd start accumulating a backlog... less backlog means, more variety of games played, means more opportunity to go to old games I enjoyed again. Its a system that works!

Real Life Resolutions
1.) Learn to leave work at work

This is easier some days than others.

BTP

We are now two and a half months into the new year. How are you doing in your resolutions?

You could also think of it this way: 1/5th of the year has passed. Are you 1/5th of the way through your resolutions?