Steam sales leave me feeling bad, I own too many games that I never play

[The Night Sqiurrel]

Hello all just wondering if I'm the only one who feels this way. I love Steam and all of its great sales BUT, I buy these great games and never have enough time to play them and enjoy them the way they deserve to be played. I play only the newest games that I buy and complete the story (if I'm lucky or invested enough) and quickly move on to the next. Some games that I've bought I haven't even installed yet and the longer I have them the more unlikely I am to even try them. I might be just an impulsive video game buyer but I feel almost really stingy about almost every dollar and because I'm cheap and I feel like I'm now researching good buys on steam and debating about buying games then actually playing them. I'm starting to calculate hours of potental enjoyment to a dollar amount: for example I might not buy a game because I might only play the game for 10 hours and it costs $5. Thats 50 cents an hour and I might not feel like its worth it, taking an hour to research the reviews and mentally debate it for another hour. I might buy it I might not. Steam spoiled me with cheap great games, now I just feel guilty that I don't play them. Am I alone and just going CRAZY.

[ReBoot]

See it this way: your game collection serves you! Not the other way round. So no need to feel guilty.

[B33 ENN]

Originally posted by MMMTastyTacos:

Hello all just wondering if I'm the only one who feels this way. ...Am I alone and just going CRAZY.

You've just entered a select club of Steam Sale veteren known as the Backlog Guilt Tripper

Pack your baggage and enjoy the ride!

[Salvego]

I felt like this in the past. I noticed I was buying more than playing.
Then I put some "rules" to myself, and now, I'm felling way better:

• Before I buy a game I should ask: "I'm going to play this game right now"?
  
• Never buy a game which is below the 75% discount mark.
  
• I don't have to buy every game on a sale, since I know there will be a new sale in four or six months.
  
• I put new games on my wishlist only if I'm really thrilled by its aspects (gameplay, design, etc).

Although you shouldn't feel bad. Look, you have played for 87h the last 2 weeks. It's like 6h a day and you only have 186 games. It's nothing like me. I have 32h, which is equivalent to 2h a day and I have 277 games. So, you don't have to feel guilty. You are using you library enough!

[The Night Sqiurrel]

Originally posted by Salvego:

Look, you have played for 87h the last 2 weeks. It's like 6h a day and you only have 186 games. It's nothing like me.

Actually my daughter (6 year old) is obsessed with the Batman games and Just cause 2 (open world games) she frequently starts a game and walks away leaving it running. I sleep during the day (third shift) and can't turn them off. Also with small children in the house I'm quite guilty of this myself, starting a game and leaving it running while I run around the house.

Thanks for the rule set I have a similar set in my mind but I'll add rule number 1 to my list because that might really help

[Baruk]

I used to buy a lot of games just because they were on sale and ended up filling my library with games I never really intended to play so this last year I have been trying only to buy games that I am really interested on playing.

[The Night Sqiurrel]

I find I'm always on the lookout for little gems like FTL, simple but addictive. Or I buy games people say are so great just to see what the fuss is about.

[Dreakon13]

Better to get games you're interested in while they're on sale, then to wait and potentially pay full price when you finally "get to it".

That being said, I think you're in the same boat as a lot of people. The trick is to not worry too much about how many games you have, and moreso on just enjoying the ones you do... one game at a time. Something I'm (very poorly) learning myself, since I have like 60 games installed at the moment and can never decide which to play. Accomplishing nothing in all of them.

As long as you aren't breaking the bank buying games lol.

[The Night Sqiurrel]

I too have a hard time deciding even what type of game I want to play, and if it isn't installed currently there isn't much chance I'm going to pick it.

[Zeolite]

Originally posted by MMMTastyTacos:

I find I'm always on the lookout for little gems like FTL, simple but addictive. Or I buy games people say are so great just to see what the fuss is about.

This is kinda changing the subject but it you like FTL you should check out Ring Runner I'm hoping it gets on the next steam sale but I got it awhile ago from gog and then on steam when it just got green lit and it is by far the best indie game I've ever played.

[The Night Sqiurrel]

Maybe I'll look it up. (if it is on sale)

[2point4]

Originally posted by Dreakon:

Something I'm (very poorly) learning myself, since I have like 60 games installed at the moment and can never decide which to play. Accomplishing nothing in all of them.

http://steam-roulette.heroku.com/

I ran your profile through and it told me you should play Psychonauts. I finished Psychonauts and it's a pretty fun game. Give it a try or give the wheel a spin.

[The Night Sqiurrel]

Originally posted by 2point4:

Give it a try or give the wheel a spin.

Tried to spin website is down

[Paragon]

Right there with ya.

[The Night Sqiurrel]

I'm beginning to feel like I would rather read, watch and talk about video games then play them, which makes me sad.

[Kargor]

I don't buy a lot "single games" on sale, since I know there's going to be another one. Or it might show up in a bundle. I already have "enough" games that I still want to play.

Nonetheless, if I stop playing a game rather than finishing it there's usually a reason. It's not all black and white -- the game might have flaws that made it less attractive at the time, without completely killing the intend to "try again" at some later time with better preparation.
This happens a for games that require preparation, wikis/guides and/or savefile editors to actually play through them -- I usually end up realizing that you can't just play through them, but I don't really feel like doing the next attempt right away (this killed off my plathroughs of Dragon Age Origins and Deus Ex HR, for example. Both are still "ToDo", but it hasn't happened yet). It can also "just happen" for minor reasons -- for example, I got stuck on a Quest in "Torchlight II", didn't get through it in just a few tries, and since I also had the impression that I wasn't doing things right I started playing something else. I don't even think the quest is THAT hard -- it's just that it forces you to move along, and there are enemy waves spawning and spinning blades and possibly other stuff. So it's merely a matter of memorizing what happens where along the way to navigate through it in time).

On other occasions I drop a game without intending to retry it.

There are also games in my library that I know I won't be playing.

For the game developers it doesn't really matter, for the most part -- I've bought the game. Sometimes dropping a game means I'm definitely not going to buy the next version (unless it's part of a bundle or something) -- for example, dropping "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" (with no intent to retry) made "Skyrim" an extremely unattractive game. However, in most cases there it's just a single game, not a series -- and whether I play a game or not, and whether I like/finish the game or not makes no difference for the developer: a sold game is a sold game. Unless it's a free-2-play game -- I don't generally have the intention to buy anything, so if I drop the game it's good for the developers :-)

From my perspective it's a bit of a competition between games. Not many games can be "active" at the same time, so if an active game gets kicked out by another game then, obviously, it didn't quite manage to really hook me up.