Gaming Goals for 2017

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I started writing this up in the 2017 Pile of Shame thread, before realizing that this is really a slightly different topic. It isn't so much trying to play through a pile of games to clear them, this is more of I want to accomplish as a gamer. Games I want to play for a specific reason.

I've been having a love/hate relationship with RPG's lately, and it actually is stressing me out a bit. I want to play all these RPG's, heck I own a lot of the RPG's I want to play, but I fire one up, play for an hour or two, get into a city, have a dozen or so quests dumped on me, watch my quest log start looking like my daily to-do list, and my brain just goes "nope" this feels too much like work and I bounce off. I then repeat the process several times with the same games over the next few months because I REALLY want to play those games. Alternately I'll feel like I'm making progress in a game, life will intervene, a few weeks will go by, and I won't be able to remember where I was with all the quests and give up. Like I feel like I need to hold everything in my head about everything I'm trying to do, and once I can't do that, it isn't worth playing.

I feel like this is something I want to "solve" not only so that I can enjoy RPG's again, but also as I have similar overwhelmed feelings at work. When my task list becomes too big, or I don't keep good enough notes about what I'm doing and can't hold everything related to a project in my head, I have the same nervous/anxious feelings. It feels like I want to quit and do something else, or load an old save and make different choices, but I can't because it is that silly "Real Life" RPG that is stuck in Ironman mode.

I've been thinking about it, the last RPG that I really feel like I finished was Dragon Age: Origins. I own DA2 and DA Inquisition, but haven't played either. So my goal for 2017, is to play through the series. Start at Dragon Age: Origins, play through it again, then move through the rest of the series. I'm not holding myself to a specific timeline, just sort of stating it publicly so that I can hold myself accountable. The ultimate goal is I want to play The Witcher 3 and Fallout 4, but have held off buying both, because I've bounced off so may other RPG's that I fear I'll feel like I've wasted my money on them.

So do you have any gaming goals for 2017? Games you want to play for a specific reason. If so lets share them and help each other though the process.

Good idea for a topic. I was struggling a bit with fitting my goals into the pile reduction thread too. I totally understand and admire those that want to reduce their piles, but I'm not in that category. I enjoy building a game collection, even if that means that I won't play a lot of the games in it.

I hope you can sort out your enjoyment of RPGs. I wonder if casual note-taking might help with recovering from long breaks? Also, sometimes I find myself "working" at games, and that makes it tough to enjoy them. When I concentrate on enjoying the experience rather than optimizing my play, everything is better. I play games often to get away from work, so if I bring the same thinking to my gameplay as I do to work, I'm likely to get stressed out even more.

For example, I've been playing Summoner's War lately, and there are clear paths to optimizing the leveling up, and obvious things to concentrate on if you want to become a stronger player quickly. The thing is that those things aren't nearly as interesting to me as collecting monsters, and those optimized paths quickly get tedious. Instead of worrying about all that I just try to focus on having fun with the game. So far it's been a good experience.

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I set quarterly goals instead of yearly goals now. I find that an easier length of time to stay focused. So here are my first-quarter gaming goals for 2017:

1 - Create two small games using GameMaker. Both of these are currently underway. The goal is to get into the habit of creating games.

2 - Complete the Udemy Unity course on building games with Unity. The goal is to get comfortable with that game-creation engine.

3 - Play 2 games to completion.

4 - Clear the Tower of Ascension in Summoner's War.

5 - Organize my games on Steam.

6 - Concentrate on having fun with all of this.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

I set quarterly goals instead of yearly goals now. I find that an easier length of time to stay focused. So here are my first-quarter gaming goals for 2017:

1 - Create two small games using GameMaker. Both of these are currently underway. The goal is to get into the habit of creating games.

I don't know totally how GameMaker integrates with version control, but I have found using it has been a HUGE help in getting going with my own game development habit. Yes it makes it easy to go back, work in branches, recover lost things etc. but I'm trying to hold myself to making at least one commit a day, and that is helping tremendously. https://github.com/tomlarrow I've been working on an Unreal Engine "game" the past few weeks, and having that repetition helped me keep it in the forefront of my mind. It gives me something to think about and plan what I'll do while I drive home. Sure some days have been a easy/cheap commit because I only had a few minutes, applying a texture or moving the camera a bit to a better angle, but I'm continuing to make progress, and can see my changes stack up.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

2 - Complete the Udemy Unity course on building games with Unity. The goal is to get comfortable with that game-creation engine.

I assume that's this course: https://www.udemy.com/unitycourse/ Great course, can't recommend it highly enough. I "completed" it a bit over a year ago, and since they've almost doubled what's out there.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

6 - Concentrate on having fun with all of this.

That really is the key to all this.

1. Don't buy things I'm not going to play. Like competitive multiplayer fps games. I'm on a good road with this one. I fell for Overwatch but spared myself Battlefield, Titanfall 2, and the new Call of Duty. Felt goooooood.

2. Try and actually finish more than one or two games I do buy. Let's say a minimum of 5. I'd like to think I could buy five games or less in 2017 but let's be real here.

3. I should attempt a Gone Home or other such game at some point. It isn't what I come to games for so I'm likely to bounce off, but enough of them are available for super cheap often enough that I should give one a shot.

Realistically I should stop buying games completely until I play like 10 or 20 of the ones I've bought and either not even started or played one time for an hour or two, but let's go with baby steps here.

The big goal though is definitely going to be finishing what I start. I really want to. It's less satisfying hopping to the new shiny thing constantly, I find. I never get into the substance of most games.

Use the winter to kind of say goodbye to console games by getting to the pile that's built up the last ten years or so since I got back into gaming. With Persona 5 and the new Mass Effect being pushed towards the spring, it seems like a good timeline for that sort of thing. Then in the spring, move on to the PC. With Civ VI and Stellaris out for a while by then, it seems like a good time to move on to games that don't have real 'endings'.

1. Less collecting, more playing.

2. Guilt-free grazing.

I have a mixed reaction to the subject line. My working life is all about hitting goals, so do I really want to do the same for what is supposed to be my relaxing hobby? That said, maybe writing down some goals, even if I choose to ignore them, will help me get more fun out of my hobby. So let's give it a try...

Issues I want to tackle:

  • I've noticed that I have developed gamer ADHD (GAH?). I will browse lots but only play for short periods, not letting myself focus and/or get lost in games in the way that I used to.
  • I have no idea what I played or for how long over the last few years.
  • I have no idea what to add to the GotY discussions. Aside from heckling.
  • That Unity course triggers a few ideas. I never learned C# and my C is...ahem....let's call it rusty. I'm thinking of heading back to school for a Masters while I continue to work, but it's been a while since I studied, so maybe that's a good test of whether I'll really be able to find the time and motivation after work. And it's on sale this week. Hmm....
  • My gaming PC is struggling with the current generation of games.
  • My pile is shameful beautiful. Either way, there's a lot of it.

So, let's try some quarter one goals...

  1. Refresh my gaming PC.
  2. Get my game tracking system sorted.
  3. Get control of my Steam library again.
  4. Try an online course. Maybe game-based.
  5. Continue or exceed my current RL game night cadence of 1 every 2 weeks.
  6. Schedule a weekly "long" game session where I don't just surf & goof off.

Honestly: I should probably put things into a bucket list instead of trying to "finish" everything I got. Sub goal would be to at least put an hour to to each game at least. I do want to finish the main games in the PS3 library and put a nice bow on that. I do want to go back to the DS/PSP and put a few of them down too.

Oh well. *Goes back to steam.

Replace some of my game time with Rosette stone. I was doing really well with Chinese and Japanese before I slowed down.

Skraut wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

I set quarterly goals instead of yearly goals now. I find that an easier length of time to stay focused. So here are my first-quarter gaming goals for 2017:

1 - Create two small games using GameMaker. Both of these are currently underway. The goal is to get into the habit of creating games.

I don't know totally how GameMaker integrates with version control, but I have found using it has been a HUGE help in getting going with my own game development habit. Yes it makes it easy to go back, work in branches, recover lost things etc. but I'm trying to hold myself to making at least one commit a day, and that is helping tremendously. https://github.com/tomlarrow I've been working on an Unreal Engine "game" the past few weeks, and having that repetition helped me keep it in the forefront of my mind. It gives me something to think about and plan what I'll do while I drive home. Sure some days have been a easy/cheap commit because I only had a few minutes, applying a texture or moving the camera a bit to a better angle, but I'm continuing to make progress, and can see my changes stack up.

I'm a big believer in making daily progress, no matter how small. A sense of progress and momentum really helps me keep going. That's fantastic that you've been making progress in your game. Looking at your December commits, you've been busy!

Skraut wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

2 - Complete the Udemy Unity course on building games with Unity. The goal is to get comfortable with that game-creation engine.

I assume that's this course: https://www.udemy.com/unitycourse/ Great course, can't recommend it highly enough. I "completed" it a bit over a year ago, and since they've almost doubled what's out there.

Yes, that's the one. I got about 15% of the way through once before. I hope to finish it this time through. I really liked the parts I did.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

2 - Complete the Udemy Unity course on building games with Unity. The goal is to get comfortable with that game-creation engine.

Need to do this too.

Started in Aug but got distracted and haven't went back.

I'm going to take a moment and self promote: My wife and I discussed this as part of our end-of-the-year podcast over at Asynchronous Multiplayer.

We're on itunes, if you want to give it a listen.

Will be participating in the 2017 pile thread, for me I think of it more as pile management, than a pile reduction tool. Through 2016 kind of worked out that way as I maybe only purchased as many games as I completed or traded... But I can't be sure, which leads me onto my general 2017 goals...

1. To complete a small gaming diary. Keep track of purchases, games played, completed, dropped and traded. Plus maybe a few notes on titles particularly enjoyed that may make my goty 2017.

2. To decide on a reasonable amount can afford to spend on this hobby through 2017.... And stick to it!
Edit: Amount decided... £5 a week seems a reasonable amount... So £260 for the year.

3. To pick up, play and hopefully complete Fallout 4 + DLC ... AND .... Witcher 3 goty edition.

Last year I set out to spend less than the prior year and failed miserably - but hey, I'm eating better and losing weight!

I did succeed in mostly playing the games I bought, so that was an improvement. The problem is that I play a lot. I tended to buy less junk since it was cheap, but I did buy more expensive games closer to release.

Once again I need to try and cut at least $300 from my game spending before I get dissected by my wife.

My computer broke just before the holiday and because of this I have really just been focusing on my PS4. I have such a huge pile of games on PC I can't access now it is actually helping me focus on the games I have on PS4. I think my goal is going to be clearing out my backlog and recent games before buying any new ones.

Despite me really wanting Persona and Dragon Quest 8 I am going to try not buying any games until summer atleast. I've never tried an honest effort to avoid buying new games so we will see how well this goes.

I have several goals for the new year regarding games, and y'all have inspired me to add a couple more:

1. First and foremost, I plan on starting a gaming blog since I had so much fun writing about several games in 2016 including my guest post on the front page.
2. I'm going to commit to finishing the Mass Effect series from 1 through Andromeda.
3. I'm going to complete one of the three big rpgs I'm playing now: Dragon Age 3, Pillars Eternity, and Fallout 4.
4. I'm going to learn a big meaty strategy title - probably EU 4 or Stellaris at this point.
5. I will play more multiplayer with the community but spend less time in MMOs. This may seem counterintuitive but I find myself in MMOs playing either alone or with strangers in PUGs with mixed results.
6. Like some of you have already said, I plan to enjoy grazing more and mix in shorter titles.
7. I will likely give console gaming a try but am waiting for more info on Xbox Scorpio.

Stretch goal - I'd like to get competent at one multiplayer pvp game where I'm at least in the middle of the pack performance wise. Definitely interested in For Honor but I may hop on the Overwatch band wagon.

1. Stop playing for at least 20 minutes a day and do push ups or squats or something to help my New Year's resolution.

2. Have fun!

Spend more time playing games than reading about them. Also,don't buy a game unless I'm ready to play it.

Shifter wrote:

Spend more time playing games than reading about them. Also,don't buy a game unless I'm ready to play it.

This. I'm trying to say goodbye to the mindset that I'll feel like playing a game someday, but not now. If I don't want to play it as soon as it's installed, I'm not going to buy it.

This is a bit of a confession but I'm also going to steer clear of 'drinking games,' like Fallout 4 and Skyrim. Games I've put too many hours into and are all too comfortable to slip into when I don't want (can't handle?) a challenge.

1. Spend less time following the business side of things
2. Play more stuff from Wadjet Eye
3. Play more "chill" games
4. Worry less about the games I'm not playing from the pile and enjoy whatever I'm currently playing at the time

I think I will discard doing PS+ games unless I actually want to play them.

I mainly know I need to focus on more patience and taking my time to enjoy a game. The shiny new penny out there always is a distraction along with me wanting to "hurry up and play" a game so I can move on. I need to take a step back and not feel like I have to hurry up.

shoptroll wrote:

2. Play more stuff from Wadjet Eye

I stumbled onto Shardlight in my discovery queue today on Steam. Is there something about Wadjet Eye's stuff that sets it apart from your ordinary point and click?

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Is there something about Wadjet Eye's stuff that sets it apart from your ordinary point and click?

Yes I think so. Puzzle Bots came around just as my kids were figuring out computer games, and playing through it with them was a memorable experience.

The only other game I've played from them was Resonance. I loved that game, there was just enough super-science to keep me intrigued without feeling lost.

Running Man wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Is there something about Wadjet Eye's stuff that sets it apart from your ordinary point and click?

Yes I think so. Puzzle Bots came around just as my kids were figuring out computer games, and playing through it with them was a memorable experience.

The only other game I've played from them was Resonance. I loved that game, there was just enough super-science to keep me intrigued without feeling lost.

Ah, it looks like they did the Blackwell series too, and I have those games in my pile. I might start there.

Holy crap, that Udemy course, and all others are $10 for New Year's.

To get Gold in Street Fighter V. I need to primarily improve on general execution, throw teching, defense and match ups.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Holy crap, that Udemy course, and all others are $10 for New Year's.

They tend to do that pretty much all the time. A good deal, for sure, but they'll be $10 again real soon if you miss this one.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Holy crap, that Udemy course, and all others are $10 for New Year's.

I don't really have any game ideas to apply it to, but for $10 I think I might give that a shot just for the personal improvement. I've used C# professionally before, but it was years ago, and I've never worked with Unity. There are some other Udemy courses that looked interesting too -- anyone know of any other gems?

Running Man wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Is there something about Wadjet Eye's stuff that sets it apart from your ordinary point and click?

Yes I think so. Puzzle Bots came around just as my kids were figuring out computer games, and playing through it with them was a memorable experience.

The only other game I've played from them was Resonance. I loved that game, there was just enough super-science to keep me intrigued without feeling lost.

They mostly seem to prioritize telling a good story over doing lots of puzzles. That and really good art direction. Dave and his team are good people. I've only played the first two Blackwell games and the demo for Primordia (which W.E. published not developed) so far, and I've really enjoyed them.

merphle wrote:
MrDeVil909 wrote:

Holy crap, that Udemy course, and all others are $10 for New Year's.

There are some other Udemy courses that looked interesting too -- anyone know of any other gems?

Tristem's course is considered the best for Unity. However, Mark Price's/Devslopes' stuff is generally excellent, and they have released a Unity course that has gotten solid reviews. I have it in my queue but haven't started it yet. This one, by Awesome Tuts, is another contender. There are other less comprehensive courses on Unity, too, that focus on a particular concept, like building VR experiences.

For other topics, I've done part of Devslopes' Swift 3 course for making iOS apps, and I've really like that course.

In November I did this short course on making a game with GameMaker. It's just a few hours, but I really enjoyed it. For December I did his other course on making Pixel Art for Games, which was a super fun introduction to something I'd never tried before. Here's my four-frame running panther from one of the animation assignments...

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/qMPCUpt.gif)

Lastly, here is Business Insider's list of the most popular Udemy courses for 2016.

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