I don't think the desire is just because of what other games do. When I really get into a game, when I'm immersed, I don't remember to save (you have to break immersion to save). I was really thankful for autosaving in The Blackwell Deception because AGS on Android crashed or hang frequently, and although I was saving quite often, the autosave was often newer than my manual save.

Really? That was never a problem for me. It's like saying "you have to break immersion to click", after all the character in the game does not click on things or people, or have active pause, or could never possibly carry all the stuff you've got in the inventory, or whatever other features the game has. If a game is really immersive, you just don't think about such stuff.

If you're into the game, you're doing game related stuff. It doesn't matter if it doesn't make real world sense or is a schematic representation of something, but it's related to playing the game. Saving is a meta activity, outside the game, an activity that's related to the fact that you're running on a computer, like for example interacting with the settings. It's not part of the game interaction per-se and as such you have to go outside of "the game" to perform it.

Well, I can see it, I think. If you're clicking to attack, then the click becomes part of the game. It's not "I need to click to attack... *click*", but rather "Die, orc scum *click*". For saving, you have to get out of the "game action logic" and remember to do it. It's outside the action. It's "OK, orc scum, time to die... But first, let's save in case he bashes my face in *F5*... OK, now you die!"

I'm an old coot, so I'm used to manual saving, but it still happens to me. That magical "Oh, shit! My last save is THERE?" moment ^^

Saving can certainly break immersion. Like any game menu really.

There are many ways to implement it so it doesn't, though. Like having to pray at a statue to save, having a devices that remembers you body data and reproduce your body in case you die or simply a white circle you have to just walk over. Player just selects the save slot he wants before starting to play and then it automatically uses that slot without asking.

Why even play a game you aren't having fun with anymore?

Some people (like me) have a tendency to trudge through a game they aren't enjoying anymore simply for the sake of completing it. When it's finished, we have the psychological satisfaction of not letting the game beat us and because we beat it, we will never get the feeling to touch it again. I've done this with quite a few games.

Neverwinter Nights official campaigns (will still be trying user made modules though)
Teen Agent
Heroes of Might and Magic 1
Stargunner
Halo: Combat Evolved
Morrowind
Tomb Raider 2
Redneck Rampage (Not including the Rides Again expansion, that one was okay)
Command and Conquer

Probably more but I can't think of what they are right now.

You forgot Dungeon Siege 1. And yes, I felt like this about Halo too.

That would be a nice idea for a separate topic. Maybe there already has been a thread like that. "Games you completed although they were no fun and gave you nothing".

I don't have many candidates, maybe Rise of the Triad - Dark War.

So digital masochism, that I can understand.

You had to trudge through TR 2?
How sad.
The others I can kind of see.

For me, it's more like "Games that gave you fun at first, but overstayed their welcome. But since the start was cool, I wanna know the end."

For me too. It's the gameplay that gets old, but you still want to see the story to the end usually.

No that's because they've got no interest in being a gamer but are just as bored of Solitaire as they are of what they're supposed to be doing. For the majority it's a timesink. Nothing more. The most stupidity you'll find in gaming is where gaming is most popular - on the consoles with loads of 8 year olds swearing at each other as they play COD.

Even with modern games, I regularly save and rotate between different slots, even it it's a linear point & click adventure where you would believe nothing can go wrong. But it can: I found a 100% game breaking bug in Memoria that makes it impossible to progress, fortunately I was able to revert to an earlier savegame but if I had lazily used one save slot, I would have had to start all over, losing hours and hours. I used to think it's a paranoid old habit from buggy wacky DOS times but it sure comes in handy, don't let your guard down just because it's a modern game that's easy to install & navigate.