2016 - The 12 Month Pile Plan

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Pile management, for some of us, we spend more time figuring out what to play, rather than sitting down playing the games themselves.

This thread exists to help those with a slightly larger problem than Hemidal's Monthly commitments can solve. This is where we take a step back, look at just exactly what it is we're looking at from our gaming time, and trying to find the best way to reach that destination.

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

Tools available to you:

Online management sites.
Some of us use sites, like Backloggery, or newcomer Grouvee to handle our piles. Pros and cons of each take up some discussion, but the main downside to Backloggery is that it has no batch modifications, and no 'export' function. Grouvee does a really nice job of auto loading your Steam Library, so if your Pile of shame resides primarily in that space, it's a good place to begin. I'll add more, as we find them.

Spreadsheets, spreadsheets, and more spreadsheets.
Be they Google, Open Office, or Xcel, making and maintaining lists has never been easier. Fully customisable, to meet your every need. 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. Feel free to make a copy of that file, and modify it to meet your own needs if necessary.

Using what you've already got.
Never underestimate the power of your own apps. Some of us have modified Steam's category features to help organise our piles. Hide, Long Term, Gifts Received, pick a category title, and work your own magic.
Danopian has some tried and true categories listed in our 2014 thread.
Kamakazi010654 prefers stealth management in their Steam list, using the 'hidden' feature to avoid clutter.

Things we've made
This section is dedicated to those who have taken up the challenge, put their money where their mouth is, and have actually given it a go at making an App that works for managing the pile.
Our inaugural contribution to this section is Garden Ninja, and an App affectionately known as Gomer.

Garden Ninja wrote:

As a reminder, here is the one I made and am using. I'm pretty happy with it now, and am about ready to release a 1.0 version (like, I'll probably do that tonight). I made it because I was sick of the spreadsheet, and wanted something that did just what I wanted. I don't really envision it changing much at this point, but I'm certainly happy to take feedback if people find it useful. It is a .NET exe, so probably Windows only, though I can look into making it work with mono if there is demand for it.

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: Coming soon
February: Coming soon
March: Coming soon
April: Coming soon
May: Coming soon
June: Coming soon
July: Coming soon
August: Coming soon
September: Coming soon
October - December: Coming soon

So, how do I start this process?

Pile depletion/acceptance can be a very personal thing, but here are a few good questions/processes to keep in mind.

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).

ClockworkHouse 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.

beeporama's pile dieting tips.

beeporama wrote:

m0nk3yboy (and all): like with diets, it seems like the best motivator varies by person. So, try some things and see what profoundly affects you.

For me, I found it most effective to plan out a year. I said "I can average X games a month, so I'll list the 12 months for 2013, and schedule games for each of them based on my pile and release dates." Things moved throughout the year, but the important thing was, the schedule had to be "ONE IN, ONE OUT." Can't add a new game without removing one. Can't just toss a game on the pile without knowing it would be at least 2014 before I played it.

Shoptroll's affirmation

shoptroll wrote:

Everyone say it with me: Friends don't let friends have Steam Wishlists.

And finally, the internal ramblings of one haunted by the pile...

trueheart78 wrote:

Conversation with myself
Gamer: "Ooooh... [game] is on sale?"
Brain: "Are you ever gonna play that?"
Gamer: "I might..." / "But people say it's great" / "But that's a fantastic price"
Brain: "When?" / "Do you even like that genre?" / "Wrong answer!"
Gamer: "Well..."
Brain: "No [game] for you! Come back 1 year!"

Been working out pretty well for both of us ;)

So, whether you are here to decimate your pile of shame, or have it over for dinner for polite conversation, and a discussion on "where they're at", this is the thread for you.

In like Flynn.

Clock, first for the win.

Let the 2016 hand wringing begin.

Let's knock our piles square on the chin...

So what's everyone's goal for this year? Where would you like to be mid-December of 2016?

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Where would you like to be mid-December of 2016?

I'm going to say in a place of balance.

I've done too much this last year. I've focussed on one interest to the detriment of others, then tried to make up for it, and just put myself under too much pressure. This is meant to be relaxing, and fun, not stressful, and a source of anxiety.

Free time is an illusion, and calling this a hobby doesn't give the importance of it in my life enough emphasis.

So, this year, I intend to continue my reconciliation process with my interests. There will be balance, there will be order.

I'm in the "make peace with my pile" camp, having tried (sometimes successfully) to smite it, and it's influence over me.

I'm with m0nkey. I'm resigned to the pile always being there, so I'm more about managing the symptoms rather than looking for an outright cure right now. Which means limiting new purchases (something I've gotten much better about the last couple of years) and trying to dive into the new games that I get rather than putting them on the pile with a "In case of emergency, break shrinkwrap" sticker on them. I've noticed over the last few years that each year there's a few releases that get this treatment and I'd like to stop doing it to myself (or other people as this happens with gifts more often than I'd like).

I'm also getting tired of setting goals for myself about pile objectives and failing to reach them. I'm still doing a "hit list" this year but I'm trying to be more realistic about it in hopes that maybe this year I'll actually scratch more things off it than not.

In before....!.... well, you guys are super regulars on the boards so it doesn't count!

I'm, hoping - hoping! - that I don't go overboard this year 2016 with purchases. I want to buy a small place of my own sometime in the next 5 years without owing my soul to the bank, so, I must really put a hold on my acquisition addiction.

Intended purchases for 2016?

Um...

Dark Souls III - because I can't imagine not being part of the zeitgeist there.
Persona 5 - because it's Persona, c'mon!

That's about it... unless Zelda Wii U does drop in 2016, then that, too, gets added.

You know I'm totally onboard.

My two big gaming goals for 2016 are to figure out what I like and to find a place where I'm comfortable with my backlog. I want to know what I actually like (versus what I think I like) so that I can make smarter choices about what I buy and what I spend my time with. This whole last year has given me a lot of food for thought where that's concerned, and I've washed up here in December without a clear idea of what I'm into and what I'm not.

Wrapping up last year, I did okay. My new goal for this year is to start tracking my spending. I'm lucky enough to be financially okay, but it's a little tighter now and reckless spending is just stupid and wasteful and spiritually/emotionally unsound.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

So what's everyone's goal for this year? Where would you like to be mid-December of 2016?

I'd like to get my pile down to ten games or less. Ideal long term goal is around five games, give or take a couple. (I like having a little variety available for different moods.) I'd like to stop adding games because (1) they had a fancypants "collector's edition" I couldn't resist, or (2) I "should" play this "classic."

I could probably get there if I took the axe to my pile with abandon. Let's see what happens in 2016 with some of the stuff that has been sitting there for a couple of years.

I'm going to set a hopeful goal of having spent less than $600 on video games.

Here is my rough roadmap:

Spoiler:

January 2015: Xenoblade Chronicles X (continued); The Rise Of The Tomb Raider
February 2015: Uncharted series HD re-play; Gone Home (January 12)
March 2015: Uncharted series HD re-play; Life Is Strange (January 19)
April 2015: Uncharted 4 (March 18); Steins;Gate
May 2015: Quantum Break (April 6)
June 2015: Odin Sphere Leifthrasir (April 12)
July 2015: Dishonored 2 (Q2?)
August 2015: Star Fox Zero (April 22?)
September 2015: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
October 2015: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (August 23)
November 2015: Broken Age/Grim Fandango (or just give up on getting to them)
December 2015: (something new from 2016 but currently undated)

Other possible 2016 pile additions: The Fall; Final Fantasy XV; Horizon: Zero Dawn; The Last Guardian

Unscheduled Backloggery short list (to keep me from buying anything else): Bayonetta/Bayonetta2; Kirby’s Dream Collection; The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky; Never Alone; Tales of Xillia 2

HD remasters of games I already played but want to play again: Beyond Good & Evil; Final Fantasy X-2; Gears Of War - Ultimate Edition; Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker; Resident Evil 4; The Last Of Us

This is unlike past years in that I don't have any enormous JRPGs on there (other than carrying over Xenoblade Chronicles X, and maybe Final Fantasy XV if it drops). We'll see if I can go all year without yearning to send a teenage boy on a world-saving quest with a ragtag group of tropey pals.

Hello, long time, first time.
I've taken part in a Year of Shame challenge E3 2013- E3 2014 before but the year after has gradually seen me ramp up my game buying (and hoarding) I'm not a pc gamer so my problem isn't as bad as it could be.
My Goals
- PlayStation Plus - I've been buying all the free(ish) games on all platforms for years and only really played 5 or 6 of them
- Beat some of the massive RPG's that came out this year
- Spend less time on From Software games and give someone else a chance
- Only buy one game Dark Souls 3 - bit against the last point but I can't miss out
- miss the VR hype-train as much as I want to be on it *toot toot*
I've got a couple of known pre-orders (there are times when things turn up I've forgotten about) Uncharted 4 & Dead Island 2 hopefully arriving next year too

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this. If its not, Hello anyway

Welcome marshosaurus! You are most definitely in the right place.

This is the support group for those of us with all sorts of "gaming disorders" . We have collectors, curators, repeat offenders, completionists... You name it, we've got people around here that fit that description. All these things build up to add to our pile-age, and we use this thread to unravel our behaviours, and find a solution that works for our particular brand of game collecting crazy.

Welcome aboard, hopefully we can give you the support you need to hit some of those goals this year.

I haven't much planned for 2016, as far as my tracked pile goes. I have a couple of JRPGs I want to work through (ignore that the are almost all from the same franchise), a handful of new games I know I'll be purchasing (a digital handful could actually be a sizable amount, I suppose), a number of games dropping in from my foolish spending on Kickstarter (how long ago was that?), and a sizable backlog of visual novels I've decided I need to tackle (a baker's dozen in fact, though I don't normally include them in pile counts).

ClockworkHouse wrote:

So what's everyone's goal for this year? Where would you like to be mid-December of 2016?

I think 2016 is the year where I finally shake this "10ish hours and done" mode of gaming I've been in for as long as I can remember. I used to take a bit of pride in being able to say that I have literally played just about every popular (and some not-so-popular) game out there, but I realize that I've really only had a superficial experience with all of those games. Very rarely have I gotten really deep into a game to explore exactly how all the systems work together, or tinker around with various options/styles of play.

The GOTY thread and recently the JRPG thread got me to realize there were games I purchased in 2015 that I really enjoyed (Super Mario Maker, Bayonetta 2, Final Fantasy Type-0...), but only put a small amount of time into before moving on to the next thing. I aim to change that in 2016. I'm not laying down and exact goal of "complete X number of games by mid-December". Far from it, as I expect my completion rate will still be very low for 2016. I'm just saying that I want to have put in enough time with the games I do buy/play to say that I have experienced more than just basically a tutorial section.

How I go about tracking that is going to be the hard part, as it's kind of an open-ended goal. I'll have to think about it more over the next couple of weeks.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

So what's everyone's goal for this year? Where would you like to be mid-December of 2016?

I'm hoping to get more gaming than I got the last three months, but that's probably not going to happen. I'm hoping to keep on playing games I like, have fun, and be more discriminate in my purchases as I have been this past year. I'm pretty happy with how my Pile has fared this year, and although I think it'll always be there, it's not as out of control as it was two or three years ago when I started out here.

I need to be more prepared to give up on games I'm not actually enjoying rather than telling myself I'm going to come back to them some day. I'm a few hours into so many games it's massively overwhelming.

I joined Grouvee to help me manage things some, I think I'll have a look at my backlog and 'playing' on there, and put something together onto a 2016 shelf. I found that approach on GoodReads saw me make a massive dent into my reading pile of shame this year.

Going to add a JRPG to my "hope to get to" list. FFX-2 has intrigued me for a long time (bought the ps2 version on the cheap years ago), and it's recently risen back into my interest. Watching a couple videos of play on youtube, I think I'm going to make a go at it in 2016. Going to approach it differently than I have other JRPGs in the past, too.

I think I have reached the point of needing this, as 2015 has been a year of optimistic/delusional thinking and finding that I can't in fact keep up with gaming the way I'd like to while maintaining the rest of my life in the ways it needs and deserves. The good news, I guess, is that gaming is what has tended to fall off this precarious pile of needs and wants, by and large - I guess that means I'm a real grown-up now? Thankful to have rediscovered GWJ as it has definitely decreased my angst level about this aspect of adult life over the last couple of years.

The end result of this whining is that I spend almost all of my gaming time on twitchy stuff, which has its moments, but leaves the pile of RPG, adventure, strategy, and genre-bending games that I would really rather be playing to slowly grow denser and more unapproachable.

So, a plan? I'm terrible at planning, but like kayjoon, GoodReads has helped me immensely with turning shame into progress, to the point that I've all but eliminated my reading pile and have a solid queue for what to tackle next. While my gaming pile dwarfs my reading pile at its worst, I'm hoping to make similar strides.

Right now what passes as my plan is to not go overboard with the impending Steam sale (5 game limit, no more than 2 estimated at 40+ hrs - rationalizing that this falls under the "not impeding fun" clause for me), and to join in on the Trails in the Sky playthrough to kick off 2016. Beyond that, I need to settle on a tracking method and an approach to the year. Time to give Grouvee a look.

For anyone that is starting new, make sure to read the original post. A fantastic starting point (which is pretty much required to make progress) is to list all the games you have any interest in playing. Then post that list to this thread, and let us help you choose which ones to focus on.

Also, welcome to the new people.

Well, S-E have subverted my goals a bit as far as keeping acquisition to a minimum this 2016, thanks to what appears to be a Summer release for FFXV...

So, appending that, now I shift my focus onto the games I would play through to completion in an ideal world:

PS 4

Fallout 4
Bloodborne

PS3

Borderlands 2
Dragon's Crown
Batman: Arkham City
Persona 4
Child of Light
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles
Dishonored: Game of the Year Edition
Grand Theft Auto V
Tokyo Jungle
3d Dot Game Heroes
The Walking Dead Season One
Persona 4 Arena
Ratchet & Clank
Resident Evil HD
Sly 3 Honor Among Thieves HD
Zone of the Enders HD Collection
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Darksiders II
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
Okami HD
Resident Evil 4

WiiU

Xenoblade Chronicles X
Yoshi's Wooly World (must have all yarn yoshis!)

Wii

Xenoblade Chronicles
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
A Boy and His Blob
Mad World
The Last Story
Pandora's Tower

DS

Tingle's Rosy Rupee Land
Infinite Space
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Radiant Historia
Contact
Retro Game Challenge 2

PSVita

Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Retro City Rampage DX
Ys: Oath of Felghana

PC

Pillars of Eternity
Shadow Gate HD

360

The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings
Skyrim

Lofty, I know, and possibly impossible in one year. But hey, one can dream, right?!

I really should re-do a list.

I've traded a hell of a lot over the last few years, might be time to "have at it".

Welcome aboard benign1!

Welcome Benign and Kayjoon!! Always nice to see new faces! Definitely start by listing your games, in one fashion or another. I use Grouvee and Backloggery but I really, really like Garden Ninja's spreadsheet because I use How Long to Beat to estimate how long it's going to take to finish a game. It also helps fighting analysis paralysis and helps tackling the Pile. It really does something for morale when you knock off a couple of games in a row, even if they're smaller, shorter games.

My main goal is to spend at least 25% less on games and only buy something if I'm going to play it within the month. I think this year I've got about a 65-70% play rate.

My relationship with the pile is more complicated than ever. Right now, I pretty much spend all of my available gaming time playing Guild Wars 2, if you can call what I do in GW2 "playing". I'm a raging diamond/spade, so the fact that I'm not 163 mastery and regularly in raid parties makes me feel unaccomplished, and I refuse to throw money at the problem, in no small part because that would add up unbelievably fast. There's also the cheap imitation of social interaction, which makes me feel even worse when I'm off playing these other games. I think I've said it before, but it feels like I'm actively shutting them out when I do that (plus, missing out on daily tasks feels horribly inefficient). What's more, I've had the personal realization that I can't spend every free moment of my life in front of the PC. Having been unemployed for about four or five months at this point, I have quite a bit of free time, and sitting in front of the PC all day makes me really depressed.

I have this sneaking suspicion the pile isn't going to stand pat for long. I tried to rationalize the pile as a "collection", but it's digital, dumping money into it is way too easy, especially with sales and bundles as frequent as they are. I've updated my Steam name with the typical "No Gifts" tag, I'm going to attempt to hold out once more.

I tried last year to create an "A-list" and a "B-list" of games to play, then real life decided to slap me around for six months and I never got back on track. So in the spirit of this thread, I have a short list of 12 games I found in the "Uncategorized" part of Steam, which I plan to make my target for 2016:

DeadCore
Defy Gravity
Element4l
Freedom Planet
I Am Bread
Intrusion 2
Please, Don't Touch Anything
Road Redemption
Shovel Knight
SpaceChem
A Story About My Uncle
Super Time Force Ultra
Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP

How Long To Beat pegs most of these games in the 3-4 hour range. Some are longer (SpaceChem has something like 24 hours), some are shorter (Please... is only 1.5 hours). My challenge in the coming weeks before 2016 happens is to figure out how to make time for these games without disrupting any personal balances. Sounds simple enough, but it's eluded me for a while. Maybe once freakin' 2015 is in the rear-view mirror, I can get back into the spirit.

I looked back at what I posted in the 2015 thread, which mostly listed the games I planned on beating in 2015.

Spoiler:
bobbywatson wrote:

I think 2015 will be the year of Persona and MGS, for the most part:

  • Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (PC)
  • Persona 1 (PSP, probably on Easy)
  • Persona 2 Innocent Sin (PSP, probably on Easy if it exists)
  • Persona 2 Eternal Punishment (PS1)
  • Persona 3 FES/Portable (probably once as the male character in FES, and once as the female character in Portable)
  • Persona 4 Golden
  • Persona Q
  • Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
  • Metal Gear Solid 2 HD (PS3)
  • Metal Gear Solid 3 HD (PS3)
  • Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
  • Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker HD (PS3)

New releases I will buy and start playing as soon as I get my hands on them:

  • Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3DS)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Leftovers from 2014 I intend to finish in 2015:

  • Etrian Odyssey (DS)
  • Final Fantasy Type-0 (PSP)
  • Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
  • Puzzle Quest (PC)
  • Freedom Wars (PSVita)
  • Myth The Fallen Lords (PC)
  • ZHP (PSP)

Almost none of that has happened. I did finish a few leftover games from 2014, but none of the games I listed in the 'To beat in 2015' category has been beaten, and they're all still in the backlog. *sigh*.

So, for this year, the plan is to buy very few games. I am, however, going to Japan in March/April, so... I expect a spending spree in Akihabara. Other than that, none of the new releases currently listed for 2016 are in my 'buy on day one' list. FFXV is too much of an unknown, I still need to play P1 to P4G, so no Persona 5 just yet. I do plan on getting Xenoblade Chronicles X early in 2016, once I have cleared a few of the seven or eight games I'm currently playing. *re-sigh*

Still, I like making lists, so here goes:

Games already in progress that I want to beat in 2016:

  • Oceanhorn (Steam)
  • Yakuza (PS2)
  • Toukiden Kiwami (PS4)
  • Borderlands 2 (Steam)
  • Kentucky Route Zero Acts II/III (Steam)
  • Assassin's Creed Chronicles China (PS4)

Not yet started, but want to beat in 2016:

  • Undertale (Steam)
  • Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (Steam)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)
  • Persona 1 (PSP)
  • Mass Effect (PS3)
  • Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
  • Earthbound (SNES/Wii U VC)

I just wrote up a retrospective post in the 2015 thread, and I think that helped me formulate goals for 2016, so:

  • Don't let Pile Management become stressful
  • Only play Awesome Games. A game that is merely good isn't worth my time
  • Buy when I want to play, even if that means spending more on an individual game
  • No retail therapy
  • Prefer digital to physical because I hate clutter.

I think I'm in good shape for all but #2. Oddly, I think 5 might actually help with that in 2 ways. First, if I'm not enjoying a game, it's easier to just delete something and pretend it doesn't exist, whereas with physical I still have this thing on a shelf, and I don't necessarily want to get rid of it, because I might (won't) come back to it again. And second, since I prefer console, digital typically means I'm spending more on a game, so I'll hopefully consider each purchase more carefully.

So, all that said, I've broken down my pile into 2 lists: High Priority and Low Priority. And then a third list, I suppose, of IDGAF. Considering Goal 2, I'm considering dropping Low Priority as well. Though Low is mostly stuff that could be High if there weren't so many Highs, so I dunno.

I like the setup. "Only play awesome games", by nature, should nuke your low priority list.

trueheart78 wrote:

I like the setup. "Only play awesome games", by nature, should nuke your low priority list.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Some of the Lows are Probably Awesome. If the only thing keeping them off the High list is time, then they should be on the high list, and the lows can go away entirely. I suppose part of having Lows was that without prioritization the list looks huge, but if I'm psyched, I'm psyched. Might as well be honest about how many Awesome games I have and factor that in.

And another thing to keep in mind I guess, is that stuff that didn't make the cut didn't disappear. It's either in the closet, or on some service I can re-download from. What is in the pile doesn't need to be static, it just needs to be Awesome.

Pile management is one part of my goal in 2016 to reign in my spending and become more financially responsible. I'm attempting the same thing at the moment with board games, books, movies etc.

Since I started putting my list together I've discovered it to be quite a personal thing. Sometimes there are no hard and fast answers for what goes on the pile and what gets taken off. I wonder what to do with games like Battlefront or Civilization that don't have an "ending". Or games that I've borrowed or got free from PS Plus or similar when there's less "pressure" to play or finish them.

My pile is over the top at the moment with just over 170 games (and there's a ton more on my wishlist). Of course I don't believe I'll ever finish even half of them but it'll be nice to see the number shrink instead of grow in 2016. If I buy everything I'm interested in so far I'm looking at about 2 games a month but I'm sure there's stuff on the pile that's more exciting to me than half the new shiny games. Fingers crossed there aren't so many epic games either. Between Fallout 4, The Witcher 3 and Xenoblade Chronicles X I've got enough to last me a long time.

Fortunately I don't feel overwhelmed by my pile, just excited at the possibilities. 2016 may be the year I finally play Half Life, or finish Final Fantasy 7 (but that remake is mighty tempting to hold off for). But it will definitely be a great year to game no matter what I play.

That's the spirit, malking!!!

Let's do this thing! The main thing I want to achieve this year, as well as pile reduction, is to just relax and enjoy what I'm playing, instead of trying to rush finish games to get to the next one. At the moment I'm enjoying playing many hours of Rocket League, and that gave me a little pile anxiety at first until I got a grip and told myself that I was supposed to be having fun during this precious 1 hour a day I have for gaming.

Here are the games I'm thinking about picking up-
Feb- Street Fighter 5
Feb- XCOM2
Q2- Dishonored 2
Q4- Mass Effect: Andromeda

There's absolutely no point in me buying both sf5 and XCOM2 in February. I'm not getting Fallout 4 until Christmas day, so I'm just never going to be able to squeeze it all in. One of them can wait until later in the year when i might get a nice discount too. Honestly, i'm of a mind to not buy anything until the new Mass Effect. Famous last words maybe. Now for a (very) tentative plan for the year ahead, assuming I get 1 hours play a day, usually a bit more in Oct-Dec.

You know what, I just spent the last hour writing out a plan for every month, then redrafting it again and again, before realising how futile it was. How am I supposed to know what I'll feel like playing in May, for example? What I will do is list a small hitlist of games that I really want to focus on over the next 12 months (I think someone coined the phrase sinister 6 in the 2015 thread).

Fallout 4
Game of Thrones
Dragon Age: Inquisition
BioShock: Infinite
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
State of Decay

Wish me luck!

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