2015 Pile thread - 12 month plan

Three hundred is too much, you definitely need to cull. For example, I've just culled a couple of games I've had since 2013. If I haven't played them in three years, I never will.

I've already culled it a few times this year

How exactly do you cull digital games? You can't! That's the issue. If I could sell digital, I would have a long time ago (in fact, believe it or not I did delete my GOG account, which deleted about 50 games. So it made a dent, but not a huge one).

I guess look at my Backloggery for my full list since I have no idea how to copy and paste from that site nicely. I just added a couple games that I got over the holidays from family, but beyond that I'm not planning on adding anything in 2016 (that'll never hold, but... y'know, it's the plan).

Vrikk wrote:

How exactly do you cull digital games?

To me, culling does not mean selling or deleting. It's all about mind space, and what you choose to focus on. I've stopped listing games that I know I'll never play, and sure, some times it can be hard to go into Steam and play one game out of 100+, but it's the choice I've made to focus on what I really want to enjoy.

As for Backloggery, they have no export option, so that really stinks. I'll search and see if something exists.

Personally, I keep a small, self-maintained list. I started doing that in my Dropbox, and it really helped.

You don't actually need to cull owning the games. Just cull them from your "want to finish/play" list. Also, on Steam you can set up categories so you only have the games you actively are playing or intend to play visible. The rest will still be there if you decide you want to go "shopping" for something new, but you can't act like they don't exist while you're doing other stuff.

On Stem you can completely hide games from your library by right clicking (or multi-selecting) and selecting "Set Categories..." there is a "Hide" option at the bottom that will remove it from your Games list and puts it on a "Hidden" list.

Nice to get crap out of the way.

Ah, I see. I'll see if I can do this. I think a mental tie-up for me is that I think "if I legally own it, I must play it since I spent money on it". This is why I requested Valve to delete a couple dozen games from my account about a month ago, as well as deleted my GOG account that had about 50+ games in it that I never beat.

Believe it or not, I had over 420 games that I had not beaten, so getting it down to 300 is a big feat for me.

Vrikk wrote:

I think a mental tie-up for me is that I think "if I legally own it, I must play it since I spent money on it"

Once you start focusing on the great games, the ones you most want to spend your time with, it becomes easier to look at the rest as just not being worth your time. Sure, it can be hard, at first, and you'll make mistakes (we all have), but it gets better, and it has helped me out tremendously.

The way I see it is if I legally own it, then it's mine to do with as I please even if it means *never* playing it. Sometimes I just like to look at how nice everything looks on my digital shelf, and I don't even have to dust them while they just sit there. Plus, while I may not be in the mood to play certain games now, doesn't mean that I won't grow more interested in them in the future.

I'm spending too much time with Card City Nights than it deserves. It's one of those games that is just good enough to play, but I know I have better games to play. It's hard to overcome the pull of an easy to fire up game because starting a new game, even though it may be better, takes more activation energy.

HowLongToBeat says it takes about 10 hours, I'm probably 60-70% of the way there. I know I should just put it down and forget about it.

Vrikk wrote:

Believe it or not, I had over 420 games that I had not beaten, so getting it down to 300 is a big feat for me.

That's pretty impressive. I havn't turned my 360 on in over a year because the HDD is full to the brim with XBLA games. I had a similar issue with "I've spent money on it, so I better get some value out of it".

Currently, the value I get out of those games is a reminder NOT to buy anything anymore (unless I plan on playing it immediately).

I broke this rule only twice this year, which for "Captain think how much I'll save" is not to bad at all.

2015 was a year of mixed results for me. I did not finish - or even start - many of the titles named on my start of year hit list. Due to circumstances, gifts and sales I added another Mario RPG to my Mario RPG backlog, another SMT to my SMT backlog, and another Tales of to my Tales of backlog, all of which I specifically said I wanted to play a minimum of 2 games from before I added more. I did mostly meet my Final Fantasy series goal, playing 2 games from that series but not managing to tackle the additional goal of FF: Tactics.

I tallied up how many games I completed in 2015 and it's more than I expected. 35 titles in total. All of those shorter games certainly helped! Pretty happy with that total. It would have been more if I hadn't lost focus and put a few hours into a bunch of different, still-unfinished games during the autumn but oh well, such was life at that time. Hoping to convert some of those games into easy wins this year.

My bonus goal was to get better at 2D platform games or ditch the genre entirely. I ticked that one off months ago, deciding that the genre holds little interest for me now. There will be occasional exceptions but, overall, 2D platformers are out of my backlog and off my buying plans.

Now to think about 2016.

Happy New Year everyone! Time for the December report.

Added:

  • Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey - Book Four (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif) - "Planned" purchase, although my interest seems to have waned.
  • Undertale (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • Saints Row: Gat out of Hell (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • King's Quest - Chapter 1: A Knight to Remember (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • Oknytt (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • The Journey Down - Chapter One (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • The Beginner's Guide (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • Gravity Ghost (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • The Dream Machine (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • The Witcher 3 (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • 12 Labours of Hercules II: The Cretan Bull (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • Technobabylon (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)
  • Shower With Your Dad (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif)

Finished:

  • Tales from the Borderlands (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/beaten.gif) - Absolutely stellar, I really recommend it.
  • Icewind Dale: Extended Edition (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/beaten.gif)

Dropped:

  • I Am Alive (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/null.gif)
  • From Dust (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/null.gif)
  • Divinity: Original Sin (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/null.gif) - I tried getting into it, I really, really did...

Also played:

  • Game of Thrones (Steam) IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unfinished.gif) - I'm up to episode four now.

Remaining games: 46 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unfinished.gif) (45 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif))
Progress (Games): 53 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/beaten.gif) + 37 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/null.gif) - 6 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/new.gif) = 84
Est. remaining hours: 398 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unfinished.gif) (392 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unplayed.gif))
Progress (Est. total hours): 456 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/beaten.gif) + 373 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/null.gif) + 6 played IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unfinished.gif) - 5 IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/new.gif) = 830

Backloggery says 58 for 2015 overall.

Predictably enough, there was some "damage" from the Steam Sale, but I'm okay with that. It didn't get too out of hand, they're pretty much all games that look super interesting and that I'm loking forward to. I did jettison a couple of games that I've been holding on to for years and that were randomly gifted to me by a high school friend. I adore him, even though we haven't seen each other in years, but those games aren't for me (like I Am Alive, which is pretty much a zombie game all about surviving - I played for five minutes, and hated the mechanics alone: say you're holding on to a ladder, your stamina eventually runs out and you fall off. Because you're out of stamina).
All in all, I'm happy with 2015. I made excellent progress for the first three trimesters, and even though progress slowed at the end because of family, well... it was still a good year for gaming. 2016, here we come!

Do we have a 2016 thread?

Yup, but I thought my December report should go in here nevertheless. Rest easy, I'll post in the other thread from now on!

Nothing wrong with a bit closure

We generally keep this one for wrapping up old business and reflecting, and save all new stuff, strategies, and future projections for the 2016 thread.

Keep posting here as long as you all need to, it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Oh you know me, m0nk3yboy! I've pretty much done my reflecting and projections, those are really short affairs for me, since I've pretty much made my peace with the fact that no amount of planning will help me. Too many factors to deal with. So my philosophy is basically, I did my best and I'll keep doing my best! next stop: January report!

My late December report

Added:
Jade Empire (Origin)
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix (PS3)
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix (PS3)
Undertale (Steam)

Beat:
Psychonauts (Steam)

Made Progress In:
Okami HD (PSN)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Steam)
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix (PS3)
Undertale (Steam)

Jade Empire is a game that I'd been meaning to get to so I snagged it up when I saw it for free on Origin. Bioware hasn't let me down so far. I loved the Mass Effect/Knights of the Old Republic series (Dragon Age too but I've only played Origins). Then I got Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix for Christmas. And finally, I caved in during the winter Steam sale and bought Undertale. I figured it wasn't getting any cheaper anytime soon. So I added a few RPGs but I plan to not keep them on the pile for too long. Looking forward to what 2016 brings

trueheart78 wrote:

To me, culling does not mean selling or deleting. It's all about mind space, and what you choose to focus on. I've stopped listing games that I know I'll never play, and sure, some times it can be hard to go into Steam and play one game out of 100+, but it's the choice I've made to focus on what I really want to enjoy.

Personally, I keep a small, self-maintained list. I started doing that in my Dropbox, and it really helped.

This. I think about 1/3rd of my pile according to Backloggery is comprised of games from legacy systems which I have stored in the closet. Am I going to ever get around to those games? Probably not if I'm being honest, but I don't have the heart to null them as I think they're interesting data point. But I can block them from my mind or lower their internal priority (I've a number of PS1 and PS2 RPGs I'd like to eventually play... some day).

And with that, here's my December report and end of year thoughts:

Started:
Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Continued:
Prof. Layton & The Unwound Future (DS)
Yoshi's Wooly World (Wii U)
The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth (PC) (DLC)

Beaten:
None

100%/Completed:
None!

Added to the Pile:
None!

Not really much to report this month. Holidays tied up a lot of my free time so I didn't really get a lot of gaming in this month. Got really close to finishing Yoshi's Wooly World and Prof. Layton but just didn't have the time to put them to pasture. So those are going to be a high priority for the new year.

And here's some thoughts/observations for the end of the year.

  • Backloggery puts me at -36 for the year. Not my worst year, but it shows I had the same number of new entries as last year but the number is higher since I didn't beat or complete as many games this year.
  • Keeping track of my wishlist/waiting on reviews games in the private document helps a lot. I think there's a lot of stuff out there that I think I would like and it's kinda therapeutic to just put them on a private wishlist that's not tied to a service instead of buying them and putting them on the pile. It's like faux retail therapy.
  • I keep a list of games from prior years as things to possibly buy but I never buy them. Maybe I need to stop tracking these?
  • I need to worry less about hitting my goals each year
  • The Kickstarter "flood" I dread each year keeps failing to materialize. That said, I'm glad I've steadily weaned myself off KS projects as like 99% of the time I'm rarely at a point where I'm willing to sit down and actually play a game I effectively pre-ordered 2+ years ago.
  • A lot of this years "big" games had very little appeal to me. I don't think this is a change in my habits as I'm still primarily a Nintendo/PC gamer, but walking into the GOTY voting thread I definitely felt like I was on the outside looking in. I'm not sure if this bothers me or not, but I don't feel like I really missed out on anything this year either.
  • I think I'm 65/35% story/world vs. mechanics player. There's a handful of games I've really gotten into for their mechanics (Transistor, Mario platformers, board games in general), but in looking at my collection of games I'm mostly interested in genres that have a large narrative/world-building component such as adventure and RPG.

And here's the relevant bits from my tracking document:

Games in the pile that I would like to beat in 2015

Spoiler:

Persona 4 (PS2)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
Professor Layton & The Unwound Future (DS)
Kirby Dream Collection (Wii)
Borderlands DLC (PC)
King’s Quest II (PC)

Status: 1 out of 6 (17%)

2014 or earlier titles I plan on playing in 2015 due to updates:

Spoiler:

Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS (Wii U / 3DS)
Shovel Knight (PC)
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PC)
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (PC)

2015 releases I am seriously considering playing/purchasing:

Spoiler:

Grim Fandango Remastered (PC) (January)
Majora’s Mask 3D (3DS) (February)
Kirby & The Rainbow Curse (Wii U) (February)
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (PS4) (March) (Borrowing from Demyx)
Splatoon (Wii U) (May)
Super Mario Maker (Wii U) (September)
Yoshi’s Wooly World (Wii U) (October)
Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void (PC) (November) (Going straight to pile)
Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U) (December) (Guaranteed not to finish this year)

Status: 2 of 9 (22%)

Waiting on reviews:

Spoiler:

Citizens of Earth (PC) (January)
Grey Goo (PC) (January)
Code Name: STEAM (3DS) (February)
Mario vs Donkey Kg: Tipping Star (Wii U/3DS) (March)
Mario Party 10 (March)
Technobabylon (PC) (May)
Lost Dimensions (PS4) (July)
King’s Quest: A Knight to Remember (PC) (July)
The Swindle (PC) (July)
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (September)
Heroes of Might & Magic VII (PC) (September) (Might not run on my PC)
The Legend of Legacy (3DS) (October)
Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes (October)
Human Resources Machine (PC) (October)
Helldivers (PC) (December)

Status: 1 of 15 (7%)
Status (Actually purchased): 1 of 2 (50%)

Kickstarted:

Spoiler:

Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore a Fedora (PC) (February)
Dyscourse (PC) (March)
Son of Nor (PC) (March)
War for the Overworld (PC) (April)
Broken Age (PC) (April)
Carmageddon Resurrection (PC) (May)
Massive Chalice (June)
City Quest (PC) (August)
Satellite Reign (PC) (August)
Armello (PC) (September)
UnderTale (PC) (September)
Concrete Jungle (PC) (September)
Adventurezator: When Pigs Fly (PC) (September)
Pulse (PC) (October)

Status: 1 of 14 (7%)

I know I'm late to the party but here's my EOY Report:

Games completed:
Dragon Age 2
Guild Wars 2 main campaign
Civilization 5: Brave New World
Crusader Kings 2
SWTOR Makeb Expansion
Skylanders Trap Team
Super Mario World 3D
Plants Vs Zombies Garden Warfare


Games significantly played though not beaten:

Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Fallout 4
Pillars of Eternity
WOW
Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns
Civ Beyond Earth
Endless Legend
Lego Movie
Lego Hobbit
Attila Total War

Games Added: 19

Long story short, I added a LOT of little $4-5 games during the Steam summer and holiday sale. I at least played the big purchases this year like Pillars, Fallout 4 and Attila Total War. But my pile keeps growing which is something I need to work on for 2016.

Well, a bit late to the party, but here we go. I was a bit surprised that since my update in July, I haven't finished a single game.
Sure, I dabbled in the Witcher 3, but taking a 3-4 month break after the first zone, I'd be surprised if I made it to the halfway point by now. Definitely savoring that one though.
I also discovered The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and put a few dozen hours into that and I am having a hard time defining when to call a rogue-like finished. It's glorious and for me a "proto-videogame": a game how they should be. If I had remembered the community GOTY vote this year, this would have been my number one.

The only big change to be honest was No More Heroes, which single-handedly killed any interest I ever had to play and finish Wii games. Bit of a bummer, seeing that Galaxy 1 and 2 and Okami went down in flames with it, but f*** those "cool" Japanese games. In the b***hole. With a poor man's laser sword bought on eBay. First Catherine, followed DmC, "surely Bayonetta must be better" and then this. If I wasn't chewing on Demon's Souls right now and loving it, I'd think Nintendo is the exception to the rule that Japanese developers just can't make games interesting to a western audience.

That being said, for me 2015 was a year for some personal change, one of which was to remind myself of the sunk cost fallacy frequently.
"Are you only doing/considering/ascribing value to this because you paid money for it? That money is gone either way, but it doesn't make this thing or activity any more valueable or desirable. Be a grown-up and accept that some decisions may turn out bad, but by trying to vindicate them by 'sticking to it' you're only making yourself miserable."
Something along those lines. Bottom line, it has become easier for me to let games go, no matter how much they cost me or how revered they may be.

Oh yeah, and I was there to see WoW die - finally...

Finished: 16

  • Antichamber
  • Assassin's Creed IV
  • Assassin's Creed IV - Freedom Cry
  • Borderlands 2
  • Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
  • Gunpoint
  • Infamous 2
  • Infamous: First Light
  • Infamous: Second Son
  • Life is Strange - Episode 1
  • Never Alone
  • Puzzle Bots
  • Q.U.B.E.
  • The Wolf Among Us Season 1
  • Thief 4
  • Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Abandoned/discarded: 27

  • A Virus Named TOM
  • Alan Wake
  • Alan Wake's American Nightmare
  • Alice: Madness Returns
  • Bayonetta
  • Brutal Legend
  • Cave Story+
  • Darwinia
  • Destiny
  • Dustforce
  • Half-Life 2 Complete
  • Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  • Loom
  • Lugaru HD
  • MadWorld
  • Mario Kart Wii
  • No More Heroes
  • No More Heroes 2
  • Okami
  • Pikmin 2
  • Sniper Elite V2
  • Super Mario Galaxy
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2
  • Super Smash Bros. Brawl
  • VVVVVV
  • World Of Goo

Total left: 42

  • Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)
  • AI War: Fleet Command (PC)
  • Assassin's Creed: Rogue (PS3)
  • Beyond Good & Evil (PC)
  • Chrono Trigger (DS)
  • Dante's Inferno (PS3)
  • Dark Souls (PC)
  • Demon's Souls (PS3)
  • Dragon Age 2 GOTY (PC)
  • Element4l (PC)
  • Endless Space (PC)
  • Far Cry 4 (PS4)
  • FTL (PC)
  • God of War 2 (PS3)
  • God of War 3 (PS3)
  • Heavy Rain (PS3)
  • ibb & obb (PC)
  • Just Cause 2 (PC)
  • Kentucky Route Zero (PC)
  • Machinarium (PC)
  • Mad Max (PS4)
  • Metro 2033 (PC)
  • Nier (PS3)
  • Penumbra: Overture (PC)
  • Puzzle Agent 2 (PC)
  • Quantum Conundrum (PC)
  • Reus (PC)
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
  • Space Pirates and Zombies (PC)
  • Star Wars: KotOR 2 (PC)
  • Super Meat Boy (PC)
  • Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (PC)
  • Teslagrad (PC)
  • The Dig (PC)
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4)
  • The World Ends With You (DS)
  • Thief: Deadly Shadows (PC)
  • Time Gentlemen, Please! (PC)
  • Torchlight 2 (PC)
  • Trine 2 (PC)
  • Vanquish (PS3)
  • XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC)

What a tragedy to see great games like Brütal Legend, Loom, Fate of Atlantis and VVVVVV discarded. *weeps*
Ah well, still progress, I guess. You've got some quality games ahead of you, Luggage!

We must be in a thread discussing having too many games we haven't played since we are still seeing updated for 2015 on the 17th day of January.

<3