I just added up my spending on games over the last 5 months... and it is too much.

I don't regret any particular purchases. It's just too much.

Also, being in the "golden age" we are in right now, new releases I would like are piling up faster than I can purchase them, so my wishlists only grow longer even as I spend too much.

In this thread I will make no unkeepable promises. I will still probably buy a bundle here and there - some to give away, some to keep. But I need to get back down to my $5-$10/month budget I was at for several years.

In this thread I will list games I play and games I put down. I almost never finish games, but I will list those, too.

I know there are threads for these kinds of lists, but this is my thread. Keeping it up to date will help me with my goal.

Each post will chronicle the previous day. Some days I will not play at all, because that's how life goes.

My goal is to do much more playing and much less buying - for the next 5 months or so. Finishing games is not my goal. Neither is "clearing out my backlog." I just want to get back to a reasonable balance of playing and spending. My own definition of "reasonable balance" - that works for me and my life as it is now - with 3 kids, a job with crazy hours, and a busy life as part of a community outreach group.

Enough about me. On to the games!

Good luck on your mission! I have faith you can do it :)

^This!

10/08 and preceding

In this first post I will be catching up with the past. A summary of what I'm playing lately. Subsequent posts will just be about the day itself.

As I almost always am, I keep a bunch of games installed at any given time and switch between them often. Here is a list of what I've been playing and a short comment or two on each:

Skyrim - Finally have a mod list that has been unchanged since April I think and an orc character I like. I'll probably keep this game going for a while. I'd like to get through the civil war. I'm level 15.

Oblivion - Every few months I mod it all to pieces again. I love modding this game. Recently I built a modlist around the new Oblivion Reloaded post processing overhaul and Better Cities. Decent frame rates! Nice screenshots.

Nightmares From the Deep: The Cursed Heart - Linusthebold waxed eloquent about Artifex Mundi, and I like pirates, so I gave this one a whirl. i finished it in several hours over several days. Nice artwork, good voice work. Hidden Objects and simple collections of things. I enjoyed it.

The Blue Flamingo - I'm terrible at this type of shoot 'em up game, but the hand made paper graphics are beautiful! Oh, if only I were better at the game!

Last Word - picked it up, put it down 40 minutes later. Bad writing, a novel but uninteresting combat mechanic.

Road Not Taken - Saved the first five kids. I don't really like games that put kids in peril. Otherwise, looked fun and light.

Resident Evil IV - I'm liking this, and the sections are just about long enough to fit into the short bursts of time I have available for gaming these days.

Serious Sam the First Encounter - I really like the wide open level design. Has a very different feel than Doom. i like the sound design a lot.

Lilly Looking Through - I really enjoy this one. Simple puzzles with a fun mechanic. Pleasant, good art, nice sound work. Short segments are good to play.

Adventure Capitalist and Clicker Heroes - I hate that I play these games. I need to uninstall them right now...

OK, I unistalled those last two. Good.

I may have missed a few. You'll notice the list is not heavy on big deep rpgs. Time is a factor. I'd love to pick back up the Witcher games. Perhaps this new way of doing things will help.

Tomorrow a post about what I played today.

Cheers!

I think trying to complete games is good for your gaming and wallet, without feeling you need to beat your head agaisn't something that isn't any fun. If you have just one game that you feel is worthwhile to complete you don't really need any more at the time I find.

Good luck for your endeavours! I'm pretty much in the same situation than you, so now my aim is to thin out my unplayed games list, on GOG and on Steam. But with ginormous games like The Witcher 3 or Oblivion, that won't be an easy task...

Anyway, I'm an avid modder of Skyrim and Oblivion myself, and if you have time, I'd be interested in a list of the mods you use ;)

Thank you! You, too! Check your Chat! I agree. Thanks!

No problem, just shooting the sh!t. Many many great moments I might have missed without trying to finish them. Resident Evil 4 kept me most amused until the end. Metal Gear Solid's especially reward your persistence.

Silent Hill 3 was an amazing experience, I might not have got to it if I didn't get through Silent Hill 2 first.

I can only play two games at a time and at the end I end up focused on one game. I'm stuck playing Shogun 2. My plan is to just do one play through and move on......

The Fury from Metal Gear Solid 3 is one of the most amazing characters I ever saw in a videogame, I never would have even seen him without struggling through Ocelot, The Pain, The Fear and The End< (He was really tough)

"I've been to the edge of space, all I saw was THE FURY!" >:D

Nice initiative with this thread! I hope it helps you to achieve your goals. Although I have no issue with my ever-increasing collection, I do wish sometimes I had more time/impetus to actually play through it and I think checking in on this thread could give me a little inspiration to do so. :)

Man, I want to join this Journey too xDDD

Been feeling similar. Considering most of the games won't be played or beat, it's a wonder why i'm buying so many... So for now i've stopped. Course i'll still play games, but i'll get back to buying games later, maybe in a year. Maybe if i find my place i won't have to rely on games anymore...

Received, thanks! :)

Good, I need to try that too.

But most likely I would buy more than I can play. I need to reduce the ratio of 100->1 to 10->1