Tips on sticking to a single player game?

[Turd Fury]

Hi everyone,

I like a lot of people (I assume), have difficulty sticking through single player games / campaigns. Short attention span I guess, multiplayer games like CoD, Battlefield, LoL, DoTA etc have ruined me.

My library keeps pilling yet I don't play through any of my games.

I have a bunch of games I'd love to play through but just can't manage to sit down for a week or so and dedicate myself to them.

Anyone have any tips on sticking to a single game (between multiplayer games when friends ask to play)?

[Frank ツ]

You should change the point to a questionmark in your title since i was hoping for some tips

[Brujeira]

I’m afraid that you’re not going to like my opinion, but my advice would be to give up trying.

As an ex-WoW player, I believe that you can’t really do both multiplayer and single player gaming at the same time. Your playing time becomes too fragmented and that makes focusing on the immersive nature of most single player games rather difficult.

It perhaps doesn’t have any effect on your multiplayer gaming because those games often rely on you being well drilled in your role to the point where it becomes second nature. You don’t get to that stage in a lot of single player stuff.

[Turd Fury]

Sorry Frank, I've updated it as you said to not confuse anyone else.

A harsh potential truth Brujeira, so you get through any single player games? I personally manage at least 1 a year, but it's always just the perfect time, place and game that gets me. I want to widen the field of what is the perfect time, place and game so I can get through a bit more. Last year I finally got into reading, this year I'm finally sitting down and watching films. I still think my goal is achievable!

[Ogami]

For me its the opposite, i can only play single player games. I loathe nearly all multiplayer titles, be it because of the playerbase or the repetive gameplay loop.
I just dont see any sense in playing endless online games, i prefer games that have a clear goal and end or who have a compelling story structure with a start, middle and end.

Games for me are media like movies or books, finite things and after the end i will play something else.
I may replay the game in the future if i really liked it or if its more sandbox like i may start another round but the allure of online/multiplayer gaming never really got to me.

I suspect its because i grew up with gaming in the 80/90s when "multiplayer" and "online" were not really a thing.


I finish like 30-40 single player games a year and dont want it any other way.
If i look at my library i see all those games i finished and not just 2-3 with thousands of hours "wasted". At least thats my take.

[Brujeira]

引用自 Rat：

Sorry Frank, I've updated it as you said to not confuse anyone else.

A harsh potential truth Brujeira, so you get through any single player games? I personally manage at least 1 a year, but it's always just the perfect time, place and game that gets me. I want to widen the field of what is the perfect time, place and game so I can get through a bit more. Last year I finally got into reading, this year I'm finally sitting down and watching films. I still think my goal is achievable!

I do now. As I said, I’m an ex-WoW player and I was a fairly high end raider so I eventually suffered burnout. Single player gaming is all I do now... but...

I’m also a carer. My Mum’s needs come first and rightfully so. So my playing time is still fragmented. Add in the complication of the amount of good stuff that is available through the XBox Game Pass and it’s still difficult to get around to finishing anything.

Now, I have managed to finish one XBox One game recently and I will finish a second one soon. However, that’s only because these two grabbed me enough to make me focus on them exclusively. I have that option but I’m afraid that you don’t.

Having said that though, if you’re finding the time to read and watch movies too then that’s a good sign. I don’t get to watch many movies at the moment but I prefer to watch them in movie theaters... which is not an option at the moment.

[Zekiran]

Yeah, "a lot of people"?

I would say: a lot of multiplayer or PVP-centric players might have issues concentrating on a plot.

If you are used to multiplayer fast-paced games, battle royales, and whatnot, of course the challenge might be to slow down and smell the roses.

If the MP games you play have a single-player or 'story mode', go through those. It's a 'familiar' setting, but with a solo aspect that might help ease you into just doing that for a while.

Or picking up games that have a fast paced *combat* system, but also a lengthy story or large world - Borderlands for instance, has superb fights, but quite a lot of story and exploration to be done aside from that.

[Kargor]

引用自 Ogami：

For me its the opposite, i can only play single player games. I loathe nearly all multiplayer titles, be it because of the playerbase or the repetive gameplay loop.

Yeah, same here. I've played 2 multiplayer games since 2013, focusing on solo gameplay as much as possible. It wasn't all that different before then -- when I had a "phase" of doing F2P MMO"RP"Gs, being able to solo most of the relevant game was an important feature to look for.

Still, if I don't like a game enough to complete it, then I don't. That's also possible. Sometimes it's a bit of a mix -- I'll complete a game, possibly even with DLC content, but it gets a thumb down anyway.

引用自 Rat：

My library keeps pilling yet I don't play through any of my games.

There are a couple of self-imposed guidelines that I'm trying to follow, though:

• One game at a time. That actually works very well for me; it means I'll not start a new game until I've "officially" finished the current one. I even keep a list of the games that I've played, and completing a game means the top entry has the "current" replaced with some form of completed/not completed and the thumb up/down. Kind of a formal dismissal :-)
  
• I try to avoid playing similar games back-to-back. I'm slightly less strict about that one -- like I might play a JRPG after a JRPG, if I get the impression that they are sufficiently different. I've never played two games from the same franchise back-to-back, for that reason.
  
• When selecting the next game, I just decide for myself. That decision doesn't need to be "fair" in any way, shape or form; it doesn't follow popularity, hypes or anything. I just pick whatever I feel like trying.

[crunchyfrog]

Boy, have I ever had similar problems of sticking to games.

I've been gaming since the very beginning and I do NOT sell games. So, I have thousands. And when you start amassing any number you can EASILY get sidetracked. I find the more listless or tired I am, the more the tendency to flit about games and not settle.

I'm afraid there's only one solution to this - self-discipline. Obvious, right?

You need to find out what works for you.

For myself, I'm disabled and can't carry much, so any new games I buy (physically) I will deliberately put away in another room so I'm least inclined to get one. I keep the shelves around my bedroom as just my immediate "to do list". SO if I finish a game, I simply reach over and get another.

As you rightly point out, the modern multiplayer "live service" ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ games can ruin your attitude. It's generally because of ease - if it's easier to just drop in and have a quick game, you likely will. Similarly, I've found that with the last two generations of consoles depending so much on hard drives has made this also easier to flit between games as they're installed right there.

So yeah, I find the best solution is to deliberately set up hurdles for yourself.

I also have to keep my games listed inventory for insurance purposes, so I keep a notebook of all the games I'm yet to start or finish. I push myself to only ever look at that, choose one then go get it.

It really does just boil down to these little mental tricks to keep you honest.

You can also try things like setting aside a certain length of time a day, say a clear couple of hours, and purposefully plan to play a certain game during that period. Make notes if it reminds you.

Anything that breaks the ease of "oh, I can't be bothered, I'll just pop into x for a quick game".

[steeze]

Disconnect yourself from the internet and play a game you know you will be invested in. Doesn't have to be a long game. Half Life 2 would be a great starting point.