2013 - 12 month pile thread. Hello New Year, good bye pile!

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NEW THREAD FOR 2014 IS LIVE (go go Gadget Hotlink)

Welcome to the 12 month pile plan. How was 2012 for you? Did you get your game on, or are you drowning in the pile? If the answer to that question is more likely to be the second response, welcome, you are amongst friends.

What games that you own now do you want to have completed by the end of 2013? What bold predictions will you make, what goals will you meet, what failures will you endure? Only time (and this thread) will tell for sure.

To make it easy on yourself, we've got a few guidelines and a few tried and true methods to help you out. Feel free to use these to aid you in the pursuit of self cleansing. And if you have a better way of doing things, feel free to share with the group.

As before, with the help of this thread, we will be committing to a reduction in what has now become our mountains of shame. This thread is designed to support those who need it, and complement Hemidal's awesome efforts in the regular, monthly, pile of shame threads.

It is recommended, but not enforced, that you get yourself over to the backloggery and set yourself up an account. They have a really great FAQ that covers how to mark the status of your games, but, if that all seems too hard, and you are serious about making this 12 month thing a commitment, send me a PM with your lists, and I will happily enter the details in for you.

It is recommended you do it yourself, as some of us have found that particular exercise to be part of the process of increasing 'pile awareness'. I know personally, entering in all 126 XBLA titles I had bought one year stopped me from checking the DotW threads for those particular must have purchases…

Garden Ninja has also been hard at work creating a tracking spreadsheet for those that want to get really down and dirty with their respective piles. Discussion in thread, but remember, more features equals less time for him to tackle his own pile or other pet projects.

REMEMBER: This doesn't replace Hemidal's monthly thread, it just complements it for those of us that want that long term plan in place, some realistic dissenablement and to stop the impulse purchases (links will be added for each monthly pile thread here).
January: Welcome Back, Keepers of the Pile
February: You Know You Love the Pile
March: It's Pile Madness
April: The Pile, It Ends
May: Mayday! This Pile is Going Down
June: Summer Pile, Happened So Fast
July: Grills, Fireworks and Clearing the Pile?!?
August: Clear Them Out, While You Still Have a Chance
September: Time is Running Out, Better Clear That Pile
October - December: Turn Out the Lights, The Pile is Over... For 2013

Trueheart's Quartet of Contemplation (where it all begins).

trueheart78 wrote:

Hemidal's Law: Anything that can be added to the pile will be added to the pile.

I love the pile of shame threads, but I'm contemplating starting a support group of sorts that goes hand-in-hand with it.

It would comprise of 4 parts:
1. Listing the games in our collections that we want to finish.
2. Looking forward to the game releases for the year/months ahead and taking note of the games that we're going to buy and at what price.
3. Looking behind to the previously released games and take notes of the games we're going to buy and at what price.
4. Committing to certain games via and making sure we take part in the Pile of Shame threads.

Clockwork's Addendum (alternatively known as the remedy for recurring transgressions). Amend where needed for your own demons

ClockworkHouse abridged wrote:

I will not shop for games unless I actually plan to buy something and play it right away.

But remember Minarchist's musings...

Minarchist wrote:

Tackling the pile is a good thing, but taken to the extreme it can impede fun.

IMAGE(http://members.iinet.net.au/~monkey.boy/MyPics/BoB.gif)
Quick Backloggery links for those that want them, carried over from 2012:

TrueHeart78m0nk3yboyshoptrollbeeporamaluggagephiluciferMaximusMinarchiststevenmackSallyNastyimbiginjapanhoneycut1mrtomaytoheadHiggledyAUs_TBirD (a massive pile) • VrikkcasktapperwalkeraGarden NinjaSteleMantidMaclintokfilthyspringbokFarley2kDemyxjdzappaUMOarsman • more...

At the request of the 2012 pile crew, here is the start of the 2013 thread for us all to put our futures on the line, and commit to 'reducing the backlog'.

I think we need some updated language on Clocky Addendum C

shoptroll wrote:

I think we need some updated language on Clocky Addendum C :)

I don't know, I reckon those two titles may still stand as must haves for Clocky, plus:

Amend where needed for your own demons

should cover the rest of us

Looking forward, I may need to remove some items from my pile. For example, am I really ever going to play Fallout: New Vegas?

My gaming is slowing down a bit in December, so I'm probably going to start out with 20some games next year. That is, retail box games. Not counting most of the digital games I got from PSN+.

Hopefully 2013 is more productive than 2012.

I'm seriously toying with the idea of 'writing off' my long standing pile as 'bucket list' games, and then spend 2013 concentrating on what I've purchased in the last 12-18 months.

Not sure if I'll do it yet, but it's on the table in terms of ways to handle my backlog.

m0nk3yboy wrote:

Not sure if I'll do it yet, but it's on the table in terms of ways to handle my backlog.

I did something similar last year where I decided that anything older than the current generation and the previous generation wasn't really worth digging back up. It definitely helps prioritize things, but I somewhat tossed that out this year by putting some older stuff in my list of games to target :\

I think we could just boil my Addendum down to "I will not shop for games unless I actually plan to buy something and play it right away."

Thinking about it, I'm not sure I want to even bother with Dragon Age: Awakening or Dragon Age 2. I mean, I loved Origins, enough to play through it twice. I was also unemployed at the time and I had the time available to play the game two times over.

When I look at Dragon Age 2, I can't help but think "I may as well just play Dragon's Dogma".

I started to play Batman Arkham Asylum and am hopeful to have it off my list this month.

In order to pave the way for more games to be removed from the list I installed Batman Arkham City, and Rage, while at the same time removing games I have played and plan on not playing this month.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I think we could just boil my Addendum down to "I will not shop for games unless I actually plan to buy something and play it right away."

I have boiled my Addendum down to the same motto. In order to help me stop spending I removed my credit card information from Steam. Next step I may or may not put my credit card in my safe.

Yup, count me in for 2013.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I think we could just boil my Addendum down to "I will not shop for games unless I actually plan to buy something and play it right away."

Done

My 2012 went acceptably well, getting some big games off the pile for the first time in a while. The number of games I own did grow, but most of them are things I don't consider to be on the pile because I'm not looking to beat them, or in some cases, simply can't.

I didn't join the site until midway through 2012, so I was a little late on last year's thread, but I'm excited to be in for this one in 2013. My big targets for the year are going to be DA:O and KoToR 2, with a bunch of smaller non-pile gaming on the side. ME2 will likely slip in there somewhere too.

Shouldn't you wait until, you know, 2013 to start this thread? You're jumping the gun more than a little here.

edit: well, last year's started about December 15, so I guess it's only jumping ahead a little.

It's planning for 2013 - we can start anytime we want!

:p

Malor wrote:

Shouldn't you wait until, you know, 2013 to start this thread? You're jumping the gun more than a little here.

edit: well, last year's started about December 15, so I guess it's only jumping ahead a little.

We discussed it in the 2012 Thread, and the general consensus was that the people wanted a kick off point prior to day 1, 2013.

That way we can naval gaze in the remaining weeks of the 2012 thread, and it gives newcomers to the 'full year' (such as gravity and S0LIDARITY) a chance to get excited about 2013 in this thread. We can also discuss different strategies and approaches here ahead of Jan 1.

What the people want, the people get.

2012 was a failure for me, I spent way too much time engrossed by Mass Effect 2 early in the year and the addition of daughter #2 in July derailed any of the free time I thought I would have. On the bright side, I purchased much less in 2012 than I have for a number of years (despite purchasing 3 new systems :() and managed to get rid of a pretty good chunk of older games just taking up space.

I've recently been enjoying the Walking Dead on PSN and some various handheld stuff. Before I set a plan for 2013, I think I really need to figure out what I want to play and what I will have time to play.

Alright kids, let's do this. I, after selling a lot of my collection, will try to get my beaten % up to 50 of the total! It's currently hovering at about 40% right now, and there are some definite ones that have been sitting on my list for a long time that I want to clear. The ones in bold have already been started, but are longer games so they will definitely still be unbeaten when 2013 rolls in:

1.) Demon's Souls - PS3
2.) The Witcher 2: EE - PC
3.) Planescape: Torment - PC (GOG)... I know. I KNOW. This is mega shame.
4.) Legend of Mana - PS1
5.) Gravity Rush - PS Vita
6.) Radiant Historia - DS
7.) Stacking - XBLA

It's a small list, I admit. But I'm moving in with my lady friend at the start of the year, so that will definitely cut down on my available free time. I imagine that she will not want to sit and watch me play games every evening

Oh, and graduate school and my full-time employment probably will suck up hours too. Damn you, life.

I was a slacker in 2012 but I don't see many upcoming releases that I'm interested in so I will start chipping away at the pile in 2013. Count me in.

I am in. Will update later.

Of course I'm in. These are my favorite threads. I'm just not sure at this point how I'd like to go about tackling my pile. I've whittled it down pretty significantly over the course of the last year, but I'd still like to hit that beautiful equilibrium of only having on the pile what I'm actively working on finishing.

I still have some trimming to do on my PC pile before I'll feel like I'm ready to go.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I've whittled it down pretty significantly over the course of the last year, but I'd still like to hit that beautiful equilibrium of only having on the pile what I'm actively working on finishing.

I still have some trimming to do on my PC pile before I'll feel like I'm ready to go.

What's that Lassie? Clocky needs some games from the Steam sale?

shoptroll wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I've whittled it down pretty significantly over the course of the last year, but I'd still like to hit that beautiful equilibrium of only having on the pile what I'm actively working on finishing.

I still have some trimming to do on my PC pile before I'll feel like I'm ready to go.

What's that Lassie? Clocky needs some games from the Steam sale? ;)

Roger Ghostrider, the target is painted

shoptroll wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I've whittled it down pretty significantly over the course of the last year, but I'd still like to hit that beautiful equilibrium of only having on the pile what I'm actively working on finishing.

I still have some trimming to do on my PC pile before I'll feel like I'm ready to go.

What's that Lassie? Clocky needs some games from the Steam sale? ;)

Would you two just shut up and kiss already!

Wow.

I just realised I bought 8 games for my Xbox and PS2 in the last month that would see me through most of 2012 just by themselves.

I am splitting my pile into two categories this weekend.

Active: games I will play this year, and the games I will be tracking in this thread.

Vault: games I will 'get to one day' (but more than likely won't).

I'm going to have all games entered into Backloggery, as it took too much effort to enter them all to just kill that list now. What I will do though is go through and add in either an asterisk, or some other identifier, so I can make sure I am working the active pile more often than not.

Also, so I don't feel trapped into my choices, I'm going to allow a handful of interchanges throughout 2013.

I haven't bothered listing my 'vault.' I would need to be on some sort of non-competition payment to slog through that. Unemployment didn't make a big dent in my pile last time. I imagine that I would be too driven to find work to get far enough into my games I'm no longer excited about.

Double-click for double-post. Woops. I need to add a play-through of Link to the Past to my pile. I haven't touched that masterpiece since high-school.

I just made an account. I'll arrange my games into a physical pile tonight and prioritize them as I add them to my backloggery account.

I expect to move on from these games before 2013, will go back to finish short DLC
Currently playing:

  • 360 Halo 4 Multiplayer
  • PS3 Borderlands 2
  • 360 Spelunky

On Deck FIFO

  • 360 Dragon Age Origins Awakening, 30% done
  • 360 Mass Effect 3, 25% done
  • PS3 Dead Space 2, 25% done
  • PS3 Dark Souls, ?% I was pretty lost the first time I tried this game. I'm likely starting from scratch
  • SNES Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 0% Nostalgia-run
  • 360 Fallout New Vegas, 60% done
  • 360 Alan Wake, 40% done
  • 360 Skyrim, 40% of the sidequests that interest me %10 of the main story line
  • PS3 Dead Island, %75 of the way done my co-op buddy finished without me pretty bored

Inbound games. I will obtain these in 2013 and they're likely to cut to the front of the pile or kick an active game to the pile:

  • 360 Dishonored
  • 360 XCOM
  • PS3/360 Dragon's Dogma
  • PS3/360 Bioshock Infinite

I'm more likely to quit on games on the bottom of the list.

Before I cull some games from my list, I have a few questions:

1) Do your choices in Dragon Age: Awakening matter at all in Dragon Age 2?

2) Did your choices in Dragon Age: Origins have any impact on Dragon Age 2?

I feel the answer to these can influence my thoughts on whether I should play those, as I still plan on grabbing Dragon Age 3.

m0nk3yboy wrote:

I'm going to have all games entered into Backloggery, as it took too much effort to enter them all to just kill that list now. What I will do though is go through and add in either an asterisk, or some other identifier, so I can make sure I am working the active pile more often than not.

Perhaps Ownership Status: Other?

ccesarano wrote:

Before I cull some games from my list, I have a few questions:

1) Do your choices in Dragon Age: Awakening matter at all in Dragon Age 2?

2) Did your choices in Dragon Age: Origins have any impact on Dragon Age 2?

I feel the answer to these can influence my thoughts on whether I should play those, as I still plan on grabbing Dragon Age 3.

I'm still working on DA:O, so I'm not sure, but from what I understand DA:O affects Awakening somewhat, DA:O has some minor affect on DA2, and Awakening doesn't affect DA2 at all.

So I figure there is strength in numbers, and that I really, really need to slow myself down with the games buying, and try and reduce my backlog. I created a Backloggery account, started filling it, and then got depressed by the number of games I own but haven't actually played. I'm literally drowning in my pile, I need to get on this wagon! No more Steam sale for me, I'm cut off!
I'm trying to make a step in the right direction, though, I started playing Batman: Arkham City which I bought last summer, and I'm trying to avoid playing anything else (need... to resist... playing... Guild Wars 2). And I'm not going to buy any DLC for Mass Effect 3 (got burned with ME2, bought a whole bunch of DLC I never played because I'd already completed two playthroughs; only got one ME3 playthrough done, and that's good enough, need to move on to the rest).
And I need to finish games I started but haven't come back to yet: The Witcher 2, Bioshock, Fallout 3...

ccesarano wrote:

Before I cull some games from my list, I have a few questions:
1) Do your choices in Dragon Age: Awakening matter at all in Dragon Age 2?
2) Did your choices in Dragon Age: Origins have any impact on Dragon Age 2?
I feel the answer to these can influence my thoughts on whether I should play those, as I still plan on grabbing Dragon Age 3.

Your choices in DA:O do affect Awakening (I'm going to avoid spoilers, but it does more than affect cameos).
DA:O & Awakening have little impact on DA2, though, aside from some name dropping (what's up with your Warden, for example), and a few character cameos. All in all, nothing game-altering, but it's fun stuff.

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