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2015: The year I stopped caring about finishing games
- Thread starter Ellite25
- Start date
I've actually always been a bit envious of people who finish every game they get. I've never had that mindset. I don't know if it's because of growing up around arcades and never really feeling like games were something to be finished or something else. But I'm pretty sure it took all the way to Metal Gear Solid for me to actually finish my first game. Which is funny because I ended up beating that game more than 6 times.
After that though, it would take probably until the 360 for me to ever finish a game again. Lot of the games I played though were open ended like Counter-Strike and Everquest, or arcade ports. I still struggle to keep playing games long enough to finish them though. I usually get bored or distracted with something else before I get a chance to finish them. The only game I remember finishing that I regret ever buying is Bioshock Infinite. Fuck that game. Hard mode is broken and the game sucks. Edit: I also mean to say since last gen, I've gotten a lot better about finishing games. It's still like a 1 game finished to every 10 or more games played.
After that though, it would take probably until the 360 for me to ever finish a game again. Lot of the games I played though were open ended like Counter-Strike and Everquest, or arcade ports. I still struggle to keep playing games long enough to finish them though. I usually get bored or distracted with something else before I get a chance to finish them. The only game I remember finishing that I regret ever buying is Bioshock Infinite. Fuck that game. Hard mode is broken and the game sucks. Edit: I also mean to say since last gen, I've gotten a lot better about finishing games. It's still like a 1 game finished to every 10 or more games played.
Gunslinger
Member
I try to finish all games i buy. so far i own 18 games for ps4 and finished 17. can't freaking finish farcry 4.....soooooo dull and boring.
edgefusion
Member
So many games are so long and overstay their welcome these days. I never finished Shadow of Mordor, Murdered or Dying Light because they're all games whose mechanics can't flesh out 60 hours of gameplay.
I don't have a problem dropping games I don't enjoy. My problem is with games that I do enjoy but are too fucking long. Nowadays I really hate when games go on for 40 hours or more. I just lose interest before I finish it.
Eh. I've finished Shadow of Mordor in less than 20 hours, and I did quite a bit of side activities. It's not that long. To me the sweet spot is 10-15 hours for non RPG and 20-30 for RPG's.
Eh. I've finished Shadow of Mordor in less than 20 hours, and I did quite a bit of side activities. It's not that long. To me the sweet spot is 10-15 hours for non RPG and 20-30 for RPG's.
Rising_Hei
Member
This is happening to me lately, but just because there aren't many great and freshly new experiences out there for now 
mhayze
Member
I reached that point a few years ago when I was at a similar stage in my life. Like you, I wondered what the reasons were for the anxiety I felt about not finishing it, and whether it was 'OK' to not care about finishing it.
My personal opinion is that modern society has us hardwired to care about finishing things, in general. If you start your homework, and don't finish it, you will either get no credit for it, or less credit, if your professor/teacher will even accept it.
At work, you can't hand in incomplete things. If you read a book or watch a movie, if you don't reach the end, you "don't know what happened at the end" or experience the catharsis moment at the end.
Games are a combination of the two, I think, and that's why we want to experience 'the end':
- We want to experience the catharsis of finishing it
- Our brain tracks games like work, and the anxiety is the physiological response mechanism that drives us to complete long term tasks that can be unpleasant in the short term (work, homework, etc.)
That's my 2c, anyways.
That makes sense, but to me there's more than that. For instance, if I paid next to nothing for a game, I don't care about not finishing it. The more I paid for, the more I feel anxious or guilty about not finishing. If I don't finish a game I paid full price I lose my sleep!
dead souls
Member
I finish everything I buy eventually, I just have a huge backlog.
With the way console releases have been reduced in the past few years my backlog is looking better every day. There simply aren't that many games I'm interested in coming out anymore.
With the way console releases have been reduced in the past few years my backlog is looking better every day. There simply aren't that many games I'm interested in coming out anymore.
Aaaaaand /thread.
Yeah, I'm at this point too.
Im doing the exact opposite for this new generation. Im making a point to try and finish every game that I purchase (games that I like). Im tired of letting my back catalog grow with unfinished games. I feel Im wasting my money buying games I don't complete regardless if the game was bought at a cheap price or not. I also didn't invest in 3 consoles which is a big help!
And speaking on not completing games, this is one of the main reasons devs don't spend time on doing good endings for their games, 90% of the people who buy games don't complete them to even see the ending. If you look at your trophies and compare a games first trophy to the one that says you've completed a game, you'll see it's percentage is ridiculously low compared to that first trophy. gamers just don't finish their games anymore.
And speaking on not completing games, this is one of the main reasons devs don't spend time on doing good endings for their games, 90% of the people who buy games don't complete them to even see the ending. If you look at your trophies and compare a games first trophy to the one that says you've completed a game, you'll see it's percentage is ridiculously low compared to that first trophy. gamers just don't finish their games anymore.
Bl@de
Member
I only buy great games (that is ... games that I like). That's why I finish them. It's not a chore for me to have a backlog with games like Divinity: Original Sin, Dark Souls 2, Risen 3, Deadly Premonition, Yakuza 3, Bayonetta 2, Might & Magic X, etc. ....
...but sometimes it's hard to keep track of all the amazing things, that's why I use lists^^ I don't know why people think it's a chore to keep a list of your gems. And since I paid for all the games, I finish them.
...but sometimes it's hard to keep track of all the amazing things, that's why I use lists^^ I don't know why people think it's a chore to keep a list of your gems. And since I paid for all the games, I finish them.
pixellated_man
Member
As we grow older, most of us come to the realization that time is more precious than anything else, including money. Sure you can put more hours into a game that you're not enjoying much in order to get more 'value' out of it, but the time that you've wasted on it is something you'll never get back. With games, you can always sell them and get something back.
Like the other poster said; 'Time is precious. Don't waste it'.
Like the other poster said; 'Time is precious. Don't waste it'.
xrnzaaas
Member
For me 2014 was quite the opposite. I didn't finish sooo many games when I was playing on a PC and on a 360, but after I bought a PS4 I changed my attitude. I've finished (not platinum'd, I still want a life ) all the games I bought so far.
(PS+ is a different thing, because I don't like other people picking for me what I should play next).
) all the games I bought so far.(PS+ is a different thing, because I don't like other people picking for me what I should play next).
I'm definitely in the same boat as I get older. That being said, it is a bit of a double-edged sword. Sometimes just the thought of returning to a game I've gotten into a couple hours of can be daunting. However, some games actually are worth getting over that initial hurdle of and giving them another chance; others are not. I do think it's a good idea to drop games you feel aren't respecting your time or are no longer enjoyable for you though. When I was younger, I was more likely to "push on" through a game, whereas now I'm happy to stop playing a few hours in, despite some semblance of guilt for not finishing what I started, etc.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
A few years ago I realised I had a big stack of games I'd not completed and had a lot of spare time. So I put that stack of games in order of "how easy do I think it is to complete them" and went about eliminating this backlog.
I got two games in before I realised that I was playing these games for the sole reason of never having to play them again. Which is as self defeating as it sounds. I stopped playing the games entirely because it was essentially work. That and I've grown out of the need to tick off that "you've got to complete it otherwise your invested time was wasted" box any more.
Nowadays games I play essentially have no end. The two games I've played the most of in the last two years have been Football Manager and Terraria.
I'm not that way at all, I play a game until I get tired of it or stop having fun (sometimes goes hand in hand). Being a hobby, I don't need the added stress and wasted time of beating every game I own, just because I own it. I have many unfinished games in my library, and sometimes I go back and finish many months/years after I started.
Megatron
Member
I enjoy going through the backlog and playing something I've been meaning to get back to for months/years. The thing is if I'm not enjoying the game or can't get into it, I sell it. So I'm never going back to Rage or Castlevania Lords of the Shadow etc, because I dumped those titles. However there are plenty of games in my backlog that I was enjoying but just stopped playing for a variety of reasons that I will get back to some day like Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Dishonored that I will get to some day.
The one game that I've kind of been pushing myself through that I haven't liked is Arkham City. But I kind of force myself to play it because A) I adored Asylum B) I love comic books and the Batman character C) It got such great word of mouth I keep hoping it will click with me and D) I still plan to buy arkham Knight, so I'd like to finish this game first.
CrazyHorse
Junior Member
Words of truth.