Gaming Goals for 2019

BDiggla wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

4 - Be more socially engaged with gaming.
I learn more about games and gaming when I connect with others. I'd like to do more of this during the upcoming year.

First time posting, so I hope I’m doing this right! I saw this post and thought “yup, that’s exactly what I want out my gaming in 2019”. I struggle to open up and connect with people in real-life, and it’s even more difficult with faceless internet people (you’d think this would be the opposite, but nope!). This has really prevented some of my enjoyment in a few games I play, since meeting new people could help me complete different challenges/aspects of these games. (I’m looking squarely at you, Destiny 2).

Part of that plan was to actually join this community and say hi. I’ve been a fan of the podcast and a silent participant here for a while. This thread, and Godzilla’s succinct social gaming goal, finally convinced me that I should follow through on my own gaming goal. I’ve been impressed with the amount of positivity and support from the members here and am encouraged that I may finally succeed in becoming more social and engaged with those that share a passion for this hobby, too.

I’m looking forward to new social experiences in 2019!

Nice first post, and welcome to the forums!

As a heads up, there are a handful of "gaming clubs" running, for adventure, RPG, JRPG, and mixed games. Those are pretty fun ways to connect with others, as you've got a group of people playing the same game at the same time, that generally isn't one of the newest releases. The more the merrier, so please feel free to dig in to any or all of them.

Thanks for the heads up about the clubs and the greeting!

Hello! It's your goal-setting conscience, just checking in...

January has passed, and we're now into the second month of the new year. How's everyone doing with their 2019 Gaming Goals?

All completed?
Forgotten?
What is this thread anyway?

---

For me, my gamifying gaming goal is to get to Level 10 in game-making, and Level 10 in game-playing. I finally finished a gaming course I was taking, so I hit Level 1 in making. I got distracted by Fifa 19 for a bit, but I'm going to actually consider that one "finished" as I've burned out on it and have pretty much gotten what I want out of it. So I'm at game-playing Level 1 as well. So far so good, I think.

My goal was to become more social and push pass my comfort zone to interact with more members of the gaming community. I'd say that I'm doing pretty good, so far. I've enjoyed participating in this community, which I may not have done if not for this thread.

The next step is to join a group of players I don't know to complete some task, like the raid in Destiny 2, for instance.

Thanks for inspiring me, GWJers!

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Hello! It's your goal-setting conscience, just checking in...

January has passed, and we're now into the second month of the new year. How's everyone doing with their 2019 Gaming Goals?

All completed?
Forgotten?
What is this thread anyway?

---

For me, my gamifying gaming goal is to get to Level 10 in game-making, and Level 10 in game-playing. I finally finished a gaming course I was taking, so I hit Level 1 in making. I got distracted by Fifa 19 for a bit, but I'm going to actually consider that one "finished" as I've burned out on it and have pretty much gotten what I want out of it. So I'm at game-playing Level 1 as well. So far so good, I think.

I'm doing good on my personal goals to play more strategy, play more with the PS 4, and try shorter games. Unfortunately, I've been sucked right back into Elder Scrolls Online with the big announcement of their upcoming expansion. And I'm downright failing hard in balancing gaming and IRL goals.

jdzappa wrote:

And I'm downright failing hard in balancing gaming and IRL goals.

Too much gaming, or too much IRL?

BDiggla wrote:

My goal was to become more social and push pass my comfort zone to interact with more members of the gaming community. I'd say that I'm doing pretty good, so far. I've enjoyed participating in this community, which I may not have done if not for this thread!

Good good! That's one of my goals as well. I drifted away for a bit when I got locked onto Fifa 19, but my son plays a ton so we have had some great conversations about the game because we are both playing it.

So that's been good, but I'm hoping to balance games out a bit more and leave Fifa behind for a while. It was too much Fifa 19, which at a certain point turns into an endless churn.

My goals updated s of 2/19:

Beat Pokemon Lets Go Eve story. No change.
Beat God of War Story. Some progress made.
Beat Spider Man Story. No change
Finish the 3 play throughs of Nier. Still kinda burned out many later in the year?
Monster Hunter World finish the weapons I was working on. Only one left and it needs a horn from xeno'jiiva... Done
Continue learning Disegea 5. Just got the fox lady so progress?
Continue Enjoying Path of Exile and Graveyard Keeper. There can only be one!

I still feel okay about my general plan.

BDiggla wrote:

First time posting, so I hope I’m doing this right! ...

Welcome, there are a lot of nice people here

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
jdzappa wrote:

And I'm downright failing hard in balancing gaming and IRL goals.

Too much gaming, or too much IRL?

Lol both. Work and my kids crazy school and activities schedule leave me without a lot of time on the weekdays, but on some weekends I feel burned out so I just plop and play comfort games.

jdzappa wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:
jdzappa wrote:

And I'm downright failing hard in balancing gaming and IRL goals.

Too much gaming, or too much IRL?

Lol both. Work and my kids crazy school and activities schedule leave me without a lot of time on the weekdays, but on some weekends I feel burned out so I just plop and play comfort games.

I hear you. Sometimes I get to gaming time and I'm like, "I need sleep."

I had two goals, and they were quite broad...
1. Buy fewer games
2. Buy smarter

Since I wrote those goals I had a poor steam sale. It wasn't that I spent too much- I got steam vouchers for Christmas so I wasn't out of pocket, but looking back now I am disappointed that the purchases weren't smarter. Divinity: Original Sin and Assassin's Creed: Origins are both long, story heavy RPGs, and I just don't finish games in that genre anymore. I think I have this ideal in my mind that I'm an RPG gamer because I played all the infinity engine and early bioware stuff and loved it, but in recent years (Witcher 3 aside) I've just found them a bit of a chore when I'm tired after the kids have gone to bed. We can split hairs about whether AC:O is an action game or an RPG but at the end of the day it's a long game, with a lot of story to sit through and logs to keep track of.... I enjoyed 6 or 7 hours of it but doubt I'll go back.

With all that said, since the new year I've been quite pleased with my gaming goal progress. I've bought one game- Subnautica: Below Zero for £15 and that's it. It's a smart purchase. Subnautica is smart. I am very smart.

I'm playing (and buying) fewer games simply because I can't afford to buy them being a workshy student (for at least a few more months, after which point I will be an unemployed freelancer ). However, of those I buy, I'm going to try and buy them anywhere except Steam and GoG if I can (excluding anything that shows up in a humble monthly bundle). I'm kinda done with both their bullsh*t as much as is humanly possible.

Beyond that...probably continuing to focus more on physical games and tabletop roleplaying stuff. I'm already in one physical D&D campaign and running a virtual one through Roll20 for some Euro Goodjers, but the hunger for more remains! Also I need to make time to finally play through some of the board game backlog. I still have most of the third Arkham Horror LCG Cycle to play, as well as some of the side scenarios AND the new prologue campaign for the fourth cycle which I just picked up last week.

I've pretty much failed in all respects to my goals (which I never got around to typing out here). I had a master plan of games to play and beat each month and I stuck to it until the end of Christmas break, January 6th. Since then there has just been a general lack of time to play, and when I did, I played other things. Best laid battle plans out the window once the first shot is fired and all that...

Haven't done great on limiting purchases either. Already bought/got for free 13 games this year. 2 of them via Epic for free, 2 of them I had intended to purchase last year and just never got around to it, and 8 which I just bought yesterday in the Steam sale (and also re-bought two games I had as physical copies). The only good thing I can say about that is that I spent an average of $4.22 on each.

I finished one single game so far this year...in early January....which was a 2.5 hour long game I first declared for the pile in February 2018.

On the plus side, I've played a bunch of Saints Row the Third and really enjoyed it, and got totally sucked into AC: Odyssey for almost 10 hours right after buying it at the end of January.

pyxistyx wrote:

However, of those I buy, I'm going to try and buy them anywhere except Steam and GoG if I can (excluding anything that shows up in a humble monthly bundle). I'm kinda done with both their bullsh*t as much as is humanly possible.

Did I miss something? What's up with gog?

Transphobic/gamergate stuff in the recent past, from their mods and their owners cd projekt red’s community manager.

I’d have deleted my account already but I still have to download a backup of all the stuff I have on there, which is a lot.

Well that's disappointing. If it were a single incident with a real apology, ok....but it's apparently a trend with them. I was totally unaware of this.

/end derail

ultimately they did respond by firing their community manager? I think? Who was mostly responsible for the newer problems. But there were different incidents in the past which were problematic enough that it was the last straw for me, anyway.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Good good! That's one of my goals as well. I drifted away for a bit when I got locked onto Fifa 19, but my son plays a ton so we have had some great conversations about the game because we are both playing it.

So that's been good, but I'm hoping to balance games out a bit more and leave Fifa behind for a while. It was too much Fifa 19, which at a certain point turns into an endless churn.

I've read that Fifa can be quite engaging! I'm not familiar with Fifa specifically, but I think I may have hit the same wall with Destiny 2. I put a lot of hours into that game, but reached a point where I think I felt a similar way. I know, that's probably sacrilege!

I'm looking forward to playing Yoshi's Crafted World with my son. He loved Woolly World, so we're both excited for the new release. I haven't even told him there is a demo yet.

robc wrote:

Welcome, there are a lot of nice people here :-)

Thank you! I have had a very positive experience here and I'm both glad and thankful for the awesome community. I am looking forward to continuing to meet new people and have engaging conversation about gaming.

Fifa is super fun, and they know how to push all the gambling/addiction buttons to keep you playing every day and checking your team account all the time. Ultimate Team is deep and rich, but at a certain point you realize that there is no end. They keep releasing new players who are better than the ones you have, and off you go again grinding for more. And the events and challenges and daily goals and weekly goals and monthly challenges and weekly leagues and weekend league and pack releases are all designed to keep people constantly engaged with the game. It's brilliant stuff.

I get hooked on those things easily, but I find that I'm learning how to step back, realize what's going on, and disengage quickly too.

BDiggla wrote:

Thank you! I have had a very positive experience here and I'm both glad and thankful for the awesome community. I am looking forward to continuing to meet new people and have engaging conversation about gaming.

Welcome!

And yes, this is a wonderful place in the interwebz... it is quite literally the only forum I post in/at at all. Always glad that I found this little spot, as I'm sure most here are.

brokenclavicle wrote:

Always glad that I found this little spot, as I'm sure most here are.

Those who aren’t probably already left.

  1. Play more games than I buy/download
  2. Buy an entry-level Freighter in No Man's Sky (probably ~150mil credits)
  3. Launch a rocket in Factorio
  4. Ding 50 in Borderlands 1 to get the achievement which will complete all achievements for the base game (and 80 TA points!)
  5. End Mass Effect 2 and start 3 *stretch goal*
  6. Finish any of the stupid-long JRPGs that I emulate on my phone (Final Fantasies various, Pokemons various, Lufia 2, etc.)
  7. Finish XCOM: Enemy Unknown (I triple dipped on this game and still haven't finished it) *stretch goal*
  8. Get a win in Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup during a tournament

I was able to complete #2 in 2018 and #4 a couple of weeks into 2019. Otherwise I am keeping the same list and adding the completion of Spider-man on the PS4 to it.

There are a lots of good goals for people.

Me? Just more stress free gaming time for me. I've actually done pretty good with myself. I've beaten a few games and stick to one/two games at most.

JohnKillo wrote:

I've beaten a few games and stick to one/two games at most.

I feel like I've gotten better at sticking to games too. Jumping around can be fun too, but I think I find it more rewarding when I stick to playing one or two games at a time.

Quick update on my goal - I’m about to beat my first big strategy game of the year! In the final rounds of Warhammer Total War 2.

I’ve utterly failed other goals, especially multiplayer. For example, I’ve only played a couple hours of Anthem and about 10 hours of Elder Scrolls Online.

Nice! I have never played a Total War game, and have never played a Warhammer game, but remember seeing reviews for that one and thinking it looked great. How did you like it? What other strategy games would you compare it to?

So we are halfway through the year (give or take a day), so seems a good time to check up on how everyone its doing.

Here's my progress:

  1. Finish my small back log of games - I'm fairly sure this isn't going to happen this year, but I am making a sizable dent in them. With four JRPGs in the backlog and a major time sink of a franchise looming in the future, there just isn't enough gaming time.
  2. Finsh game’s bought in 2019 in 2019 - So far so good. Out of six games purchases this year, I have completed three, am currently playing two, and the other hasn't been released yet.
  3. Fewer impulse buys - Going into the year, I had four games I knew I would buy, three of which have been released. So 50% of my games this year could be called impulse buys, two undeniably. At least I haven't glutted on VR games like I did last year, so it is an improvement, even if the percentage is still high.
  4. Start making a game - Umm... yeah... that goal... *cough*

In short: Damn you Borderlands 3!

I haven't done horribly in my goals so far, but it's definitely been a struggle to keep working towards them.

1. Buy/acquire fewer games
The two games I had definitely planned to buy, expansions for Civ 6 and FF14, have come out, and got played right away. I did end up getting a few things I regret I haven't spent more time with, such as Dreams on PS4 and the final Walking Dead season. On the other hand, there haven't really been any games that I've bought on a whim due to surprise hype. I'm usually vulnerable to whatever the latest indie breakout hit is, but I've thankfully managed to keep my wallet closed when it comes to those. Free games, streaming games, and the backlog have meant I've had plenty to play.

2. Cut my play time down
I think I've managed to pull this off so far, though I haven't really been tracking my hours played or anything like that. I wanted to do this so I could be more social, be more physically fit, and put more effort into learning skills for work. I've made some progress in the first two, and not as much in the last. I've also been trying to read more and generally not get caught up in gaming that doing anything else feels like I'm depriving myself. It's been a struggle, and something I'm still working on.

For the next six months, my goals aren't very concrete. I want to gain a sense of balance in my free time, work on enjoying whatever it is I'm doing without feeling like I'm missing out on something else, and continue to work on getting exercise and getting out of the house.

I'm going to try to make 2019 a year about gaming quality not quantity,
Well while that is definitely did happen, but lately my gaming time has not been quality or quantity, I been barely playing anything.
First and possibly the one I want to accomplish the most is I want to finish Witcher 3 and all of its expansions,
Yup... still not done...
Second I would love to add a CRPG to my finished column
Haven't even played one since typing that.
Third, I am planning to revisit world of Ni No Kuni 2
Never been back since finishing the game.
Fourth is that I would like to get back to some JRPGs
That is kind of happening? I've been playing Legend of Heroes ToV on PSP and just started Ogre Battle for JRPG club.
Fifth may go with fourth as I would like to utilize my handhelds a bit more this year, so hopefully find a way to spend some time on the Vita and 3ds.
While I haven't touched Vita or 3DS much this year, I'm using the PSP more so I guess that's someting
Only planning purchases next year that I can think of is God of War, Spiderman, RDR2, DQ11 (maybe) Dirt Rally 2 and maybe one of the new Atelier games.
I did buy Spiderman and God of War from this list, but made whole LOT of other purchases that I wasn't planning, so this didn't work out.
Lastly I want to have fun with my hobby and not make it a job
That is the only thing I accomplished, I really wish I could manage my currently limited gaming time better, but that is something I can work on second half of the year.

For some reason I mistakenly edited my original post rather than quoting it; sorry about that, everyone!

Here's what I originally intended...

Midyear check:

My goals for 2019, gaming-wise...

1. Keep my game purchasing to no more than 10 new games all together (2018 started well, then got out of hand). Yeah, this has already gone out the window. Oh, well.

2. Clear out as much as I can of my PS3 backlog, since the device is rather long in the tooth and its life expectancy might not be the best: 10 games at least. I've cleared a handful of smaller games. Have to get cracking on the big stuff.

3. Ditto for my Wii backlog: 5 games at least. Haven't even started.

4. Knock a few gems from my PS4 backlog: 5 games at least. I've kept a good show of this. Should be able to increase the pace, here.

5. Yeah. Yeah.

So taking a look:

1. Don't buy a full-priced game unless I know I want to play it.

2. Don't buy a game at any price if I have any misgivings about it.

3. Don't buy a game because others are praising it to high heaven.

4. Don't buy a game on sale unless I know I want to play it, I don't have any misgivings about it, and I have a clear gaming schedule coming up.

I was doing well with these, but I believe end of May tripped up. I bought TimeSpinners and it wasn't even on sale, and just before it released on Switch. Moreso, my first taste of it left me kind of... underwhelmed? It was early on, but I suppose I was hoping for something to strike like Iconoclasts did. It did not, and from a conversation with a friend it is bound to be a let-down. I also purchased Space Hulk: Deathwing on sale for my friends and I to co-op together.

We haven't played it together once.

So while the majority of the year I've done well, that was a bit of a poor mark. Otherwise, doing better than I typically do.