Too many games in my Steam Library to cope

[PXL]

Seriously, how do you guys manage your Steam Library?

I have various categories but I am still lost. I have a category called 'completed' that I add the obvious to, but what I really need to be able to do is FILTER that list from the full 'games' list.

I also want to be able to filter my oldest games, ie. ones that were made 2 or more decades ago.

Like I said, seriously, how best do you guys cope?

[Kargor]

Categories don't work. People try to make categories like "RPG", "Platformer", "Shooter" etc. and then a game that fits several ends up being randomly assigned.

But then, why would I even ask myself "what shooters do I own"? The only actual question that I need to answer occasionally is "what game do I play next?". Yes, just making a random, informal selection favors the more recently purchased games -- but who cares? I found I game to play, that's all I care about. I don't need to make a fair selection.

One could make categories "played" (for games that you have played), "backlog" (for games that you want to play) and "trash" (for games that you don't intend to play anyway) -- but I've actually picked games to play that I didn't even know I had, so I wouldn't be sure that "backlog" and "trash" are properly populated.

[RGX12]

Originally posted by leveller:

Seriously, how do you guys manage your Steam Library?

I have various categories but I am still lost. I have a category called 'completed' that I add the obvious to, but what I really need to be able to do is FILTER that list from the full 'games' list.

I also want to be able to filter my oldest games, ie. ones that were made 2 or more decades ago.

Like I said, seriously, how best do you guys cope?

Maybe you'd benefit from some of the tools available at IsThereAnyDeal.com? Apart from being a general price comparison and deal-tracking website, they have several useful features for loading in and then organizing your Steam library (and game collections from other services as well), specifically their "Collection Manager": https://isthereanydeal.com/collection/.

You can also use the site to track and organize your 'wishlist' and any number of spare game codes you might have. I've been using the collection manager myself, and although it's not perfect it can be pretty useful. I've actually had several email conversations with the site developer, in which I've made suggestions as to how the service can be improved, particularly as it pertains to the collection manager and the tracking of spare keys.
(As an aside, a while back I had actually started to develop an app of my own, primarily for keeping track of owned games, but was excited when I discovered this website-- I thought that maybe I could save myself the work if their service had the functionality I wanted. It does suffice to a certain extent, but IMHO my app could offer a more logical approach and greater control--if seen to fruition, of course. OTOH, Isthereanydeal's app could still pan out as a long term solution for me, depending on how receptive the developer is concerning a few tweaks that could be made, and some of the features I'd like to see added.)

In any case, definitely give it a look--depending on your requirements it could be just what you needed.

[Black Blade]

If someone is already going to use a 3rd party web site for libary, i think these is better
http://www.lorenzostanco.com/lab/steam/

[RGX12]

Originally posted by Black Blade:

If someone is already going to use a 3rd party web site for libary, i think these is better
http://www.lorenzostanco.com/lab/steam/

Sure, maybe it is, although that's impossible to tell just from looking at that basic landing page. One would likely benefit from signing up for and comparing a few different services, to see which one you prefer.

[Mr. G]

For games you don't use, just hide them. Add Category > Hide game.

[PXL]

I like the sound of 3rd party solutions but I'm not keen on actually using anything outside of Steam itself. I hope other users will find your suggestions useful though. I think the fact other people are trying to provide tools, is a sure sign that Valve needs to expand filters and give more control over our libraries. After all, they will only ever get bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

Originally posted by Captain Price:

For games you don't use, just hide them. Add Category > Hide game.

I'm not at my PC to see how this works. But if you mean I can actually physically hide my completed games from the main games' list then that is a help. It will hide a few hundred completed (or done with) games.

I would certainly still like the ability to sort my library by :

oldest/newest released game
oldest/newest purchase

[RGX12]

Originally posted by leveller:

I like the sound of 3rd party solutions but I'm not keen on actually using anything outside of Steam itself. I hope other users will find your suggestions useful though. I think the fact other people are trying to provide tools, is a sure sign that Valve needs to expand filters and give more control over our libraries. After all, they will only ever get bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

Originally posted by Captain Price:

For games you don't use, just hide them. Add Category > Hide game.

I'm not at my PC to see how this works. But if you mean I can actually physically hide my completed games from the main games' list then that is a help. It will hide a few hundred completed (or done with) games.

I would certainly still like the ability to sort my library by :

oldest/newest released game
oldest/newest purchase

Well, if you are not keen on using outside tools/services, then unfortunately your options are severely limited. As you are already aware, the Steam-provided tools and interface are sadly deficient, and I honestly do not think that Valve will ever improve them--they really have no incentive to do so.

The only other option for you, then, could perhaps be to export your entire library list to a spreadsheet, spend a little time customizing it with the information you'd find useful (you could add columns for description tags, play-interest priority, play notes, etc., and even whip up some charts and graphs if you're so inclined). As long as you are willing to devote some time to maintaining it, a spreadsheet could serve as a very robust intelligence base for your gaming life. Because you've created it according to your own specs, you can get out of it the exact information and organization that you need.

Incidentally, the spreadsheet method is what I currently use to keep track of what I'm doing with the plethora of spare game copies I happen to have.

Regards

[HEART]

I take the library system to the extreme by actually having different accounts for different styles of play. For example this account is for my singleplayer games. I have another one for Multiplayer.

[Mr. G]

Originally posted by leveller:

I like the sound of 3rd party solutions but I'm not keen on actually using anything outside of Steam itself. I hope other users will find your suggestions useful though. I think the fact other people are trying to provide tools, is a sure sign that Valve needs to expand filters and give more control over our libraries. After all, they will only ever get bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

Originally posted by Captain Price:

For games you don't use, just hide them. Add Category > Hide game.

I'm not at my PC to see how this works. But if you mean I can actually physically hide my completed games from the main games' list then that is a help. It will hide a few hundred completed (or done with) games.

I would certainly still like the ability to sort my library by :

oldest/newest released game
oldest/newest purchase

Yeah it will hide the games from the main Library tab, then it throws it in the "Hidden Library" tab, which you can access by click on "Games" at the search bar in the library.

[ErickaUnlimited]

Originally posted by Silversun ✴ Moon 0430:

I take the library system to the extreme by actually having different accounts for different styles of play. For example this account is for my singleplayer games. I have another one for Multiplayer.

That's dedication.

I have no system aside from the generic alphabetical order nonsense. I still haven't found it an issue to find my games, but that might change as the list keeps getting longer and longer. :3

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

I have far fewer games than you have, but here's what I do:

1. I only have a small minority of my library installed at any given point in time.

2. Sometimes when I don't know what to play, I sit down away from my computer, with a pen and paper, and write down ten games I want to play that I can think of.

[☆The 45th Flying Pyros☆]

I add them to a category, typically by Developer; eg, all the Grand Theft Auto games together, all the Civ games together with a few of Sid Meier's other games, and so on.

[RZW]

-By doing regular house cleaning and removing the low quality ♥♥♥♥ from my collection, games that just aren't my cup of tea, and older games I own on GoG.

-Then using categories for genres and keeping the amount of genres to a minimum, but splitting larger categories like "RPG" into "RPG - First Person" "RPG - Third Person" "RPG - Isometric".

-Hiding extra crap I don't want like betas/doubles/multiplayer

-Finally favouriting games im currently playing.


I've tried categorizing by themes (dark fantasy, sci-fi, crime. etc...), tried categorizing by franchise, tried categorizing by play priority, but none of those ever helped to keep things neat and easy to find.

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Out of curiosity how did you manage to accumulate 1,477 games ? That's enough to play one new game every day for four years. Do you have games on other platforms too ? Just on DVD ?

S.x.