- Seriously, dude, play some of those PS3 games
- Clear at least one story path from SWTOR
- Finish up the PoF story content in GW2
- Clean up Steam library by removing titles not likely to play
That’s a very strange approach to me. I play very few games, but if I play a game, I play 100+ hours with it. In 2018 I played World of Warships, Subnautica and Northgard. I’m still playing Northgard, you’ll hear from it tomorrow. I put 200+ hours into Subnautica and made a complete map. I ranked out in every season and miniseason since I’m playing World of Warships.
I choose my games with serious consideration and play them with effort. If I’d play a game less than 2 hours, I’d ask for refund because the game was clearly not fun to play. I guess the game devs don’t make bank on me. More on Azuriel who had to buy all those games.
Can it be that games become like gym membership, making money from the people who buy them without playing? I see bundles and sales and whatnot to make people who are not really interested in the game throw a few dollars at the devs and then don’t play. It wouldn’t work on me. But it clearly worked on Azuriel.
I try not to judge, but it’s clearly not something I’ll ever do.
I frequently take chances on niche games on sale. Some pay off better than others. I recently bought Kenshi not on sale because it looked interesting and I’ll definitely pass 100 hours on that. Same with games like Dungeon of the Endless which was a bargain given how much time I’ve played it. I bought Stellaris on sale but I never even installed it. It can be a gamble I suppose
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You have a pretty good method going there. Many others have tons of back logged games to go through usually because they simply like buying stuff / “victims” of sales. I don’t even buy PC games for myself anymore (anything over $0 is too expensive) but I still have a back log from games people gift me. Or games I get for free.
As for the 2 hour game thing automatically being “bad”, it depends on the game. 2 hours is kinda short, but for people that like story games (which I don’t think is one of your ideal types) you could probably fit in some real gems like “To the Moon” or “Brothers: a tale of two sons”.
A little longer in the 6 – 10 hour range and you can start fitting in stuff like “Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice” which I found to be amazing.
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@Gevlon
“I try not to judge, but it’s clearly not something I’ll ever do.”
Me either. Buying something just because it’s on sale, or included in some bundled savings promotion is just foreign to me(especially if I have games that I have yet to start, let alone finish). Letting marketers have that kind of power or influence over me is something that will never happen.
I once had a co-worker who spent inordinate amounts of money on things(games included) he did not need. He justified it as spending his “disposable income” and that it was completely normal. The next minute you would hear him complaining about the price of food or gas and how expensive it was to live on his current wage. Apparently, his “disposable income” was determined by the group of entitlement fairies that lived in his head, rendering him unable or unwilling to adjust said “disposable income” so he could put better food on the table and/or gas in his vehicle.
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Humble Bundle is responsible for 90% of my gaming library, and none of them can be refunded. Which is fine in most cases, because I purchased the bundle for the headliner title (usually at historically low price) and remaining 8-9 games are “bonus.” Which can sometimes lead to “clean your plate” guilt, so perhaps they are not as big a bonus as previously thought.
But yeah, we’re looking for two radically different things in the games we purchase. I want single-player narratives, you want competitive ladders. We could probably judge each other on how the time-per-dollar costs averaged out, but we’d both be beaten by the people who watch paint dry.
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Sometimes you buy games on sale that you will clearly not play. You even know “I am 100% not gonna play it”. But you know that the game is good, you know that designers/artists/programmers did a good job, that for the low low price of 2$ this game is worth it for another person. Yet, you have no desire play it ever. Why would you buy it then?
1) You encourage specific developers. “I like your style, try again in another genre maybe”. I understand that you hate this way of looking at things, because you pay for games you play and do not want to “support” developers. After all, buying the game this way is about the same as donating money. But many people (me included) like to support/donate to specific devs.
2) Eh, maybe my kid will play it some time in the future. Sure, I don’t have time to play this game, but he might, and I better buy this game when it’s 2$, rather than 15$. If he won’t play, it will still be an interesting thing, to check all the game in the library.
3) I like buying little treats. It’s as simple as that. Does my wife need a kinder suprise? No, not really. But she still sometimes asks for one, and I still buy it for her, and she still feels good about it. Same here, little treat. The only positive reaction I have for this 2$ is the rush of endorphins. Is it psychologically healthy? Maybe not. But I don’t drink, I don’t cheat, I don’t do drugs, I don’t gamble. If I wanna spend 2$ for a game to get some endorphin rush, it’s not the worst thing in the world.
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The industry is slowly working on a large-scale subscription model (see f/ex XBox pass), which would allow them to take more of your money and less of Azuriel’s 😀
I have some stuff on wishlist and buy it out when i see a decent sale. But i’m in no rush for most of it, too (need to have at least 50% discount and if the game can be expected to fall even lower because it is not very popular, then i’d wait even for that)
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I used to go for the Azuriel approach to gaming, mostly due to Humble Bundles. Not anymore, as I don’t have the time to spend learning a ton of new games all the time. And this is probably the case for people that are goal-oriented: we want good results with the games we are interested in, which means pouring a lot of hours into them. People that want narrative-driven experiences usually have to branch out a lot more.
Azuriel said: But yeah, we’re looking for two radically different things in the games we purchase. I want single-player narratives, you want competitive ladders.
I’m not sure competition is at all needed for the distinction in player groups; this is just a trait specific to Gevlon. I, for example, dislike all sorts of PvP, but will invest heavy hours into something if the core gameplay loop is satisfying.
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@Roman: why would you want to support a dev if you wouldn’t play his game when it’s already in your library.
@Maxim: what is a “wishlist”?
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I usually buy games, that I’ve already finished, having them downloaded from a site providing said game without a charge (no, I don’t consider that theft, google infoanarchism). I do that to support the developer that did a good job. I tend to follow a path somewhere between you and Azuriel, I just don’t like to do a ton of reaserch before buying a game. Trying it out is a more optimal route for me.
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A game should not require discipline to play it. Good games are those from which you suddenly awake at 6 am.
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@Gevlon
I would support a developer, even if I wouldn’t play his game, if:
(the list is ordered from most likely to least)
1) I simply don’t have time for it. I would most likely never play modern classic-style RPGs (they take dozens of hours of gameplay). But I still love them, because I’ve played a lot before, when I had more time (before work, wife, child time).
2) It’s not my favourite style/genre of game, but I liked all the previous game by this developer, so I still want them to continue. Usually true for developers who constantly try different genres.
3) Want it for collection for some obscure reason (usually that’s why I buy old games on GOG, as I have played them as a kid or they are considered seminal classic). I know, it’s weird for you. But I have a few hobbies and all of them are collecting/cataloging stuff in one way or another. That’s just how my mind works. I play WOT not because I love the gameplay as much as the next guy, I just like having 100 different tanks all covered in all modules. I had a lot of useless ships in EVE and spend about 50% time just theorycrafting and not playing the game. Same with the games. I like checking my 500 games on steam and 500 games on GOG libraries and just look at them. As they are. Libraries. Do you like a book one? A book still smells nice, even if you don’t read it.
4) Developers are from some shithole. I view this as a donation to a good cause. If some poor fucker have made a game in some shithole and the game is somewhat competent, he might need that money more than me, cause I am not in a shithole. This factor only played a few times into consideration, but I can’t say it doesn’t exist.
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@Gevlon
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3489-AFBN-3039&l=english
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Also this: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/games/features/how-to-enable-wishlist-notifications-in-steam-to-track-all-sales-706908
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There is nothing wrong with 2-hours games.
If it costs £1 and provides 2 hours of entertainment, after which I’m done with it, it’s still better value than a £10 cinema ticket.
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@Maxim: it was a rethorical question. I meant “what the hell is waiting for a game. I buy it or not”
@Stawek: true, but there isn’t a game that I’d like for 2 hours. If I don’t like it, I want refund. If I like it, I play 100+ hours.
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