So, I decided to really work in my backlog (I mean I at least categorized everything and stuff) and I see that I have some games that I just don't want to play. I don't mean games I never played, but games that I gave a decent chance and ended up not liking them at all*. Of course I only try to acquire (buy, win, get gifts) stuff I believe I'll like, but even the most hotly awaited game may end up a flop. So, I just decided to let go of those games that offer me no excitement and no fun.

BUT I see my stats suffering because all those games I ended up abandoning because I didn't like them will count as not finished for eternity.

So, on one hand, my OCD cries in the shower. On the other hand, I really don't want to do the chore.

Any words of comfort?

*Note: It doesn't matter if it's a good or bad game, critically acclaimed or hated, expensive or cheap, only if I enjoy it.

7 years ago*

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Do you persevere to beat a game, even if you really, really don't enjoy it? (If yes, I admire your discipline. If no, share your thoughts about guilt :-) )

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Yes
No

In general I try to do some minimal research and only play stuff that I know I will enjoy. Some stuff fall through the cracks though. Like games with achievements that seriously take the piss on how much I'm willing to grind - for example Mugen Souls is a game that I like but it's currently "on hold" until I feel bored enough to do the 200 hour grind needed for the final 2 achievements and Killer is Dead was... kinda disappointing, so I decided that I didn't wanna do the significantly less grindy but still somewhat annoying remaining achievements in it.
On the other hand, I have 100%-ed games that I didn't like because I thought that they were waaay too easy to not 100%. The Binding of Isaac and King's Bounty: Warriors of the North come to mind in that category.

There are also games in my Library that I will never play, mostly from old bundles when bad games were merely "crap" rather than "so terrible you should feel embarrassed to even own it". I mostly ignore their existence and never run them so they wouldn't count for my achievements total. :D

7 years ago
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I always do my research but there's no way I'll know I'll enjoy something for certain until I've played it. The controls might be awful, or it might not run properly for various reasons (for example some lightweight games that are badly designed to require resources far ad beyond their genre) or there's a certain level that infuriates me,and so many other reasons all of us can imagine.

And I try to keep things neat, so I don't activate games I'm pretty sure I'll hate. Still, in my lean library, I have flops. :-)

7 years ago
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You only have a limited amount of time on this planet.
Do what you enjoy doing, that counts for everything. Work, games, friends, movies etc :).
If you don't enjoy playing a game, stop playing it and pick another one.
If you don't like the movie you are watching turn it off and watch something else.
Do what makes you happy :)

7 years ago
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If it's OCD, maybe change the goal. Instead of trying for 100% completion, set a goal for how many games you can try that you don't like and can banish into a "no fun" folder. So instead you'll experience joy as your "no fun" folder grows! ;-)

7 years ago
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I've already given a decent chance to those games, I'm sure I don't like them, and I have a separate folder for a couple that I'm just not in the mood but I might revisit. But your advice is solid, the moment each game gets its category for real in my head, even if it's "it's going to stay uncompleted" I feel better. :-)

7 years ago
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I agree everyone that there is no point in wasting your time on something if its not fun.
I definitely will finish the game if I like it. But I love getting achievements.
Thats whats fun for me. Even if im not much into the game, when I have time or Im just bored or dont have the mood to play any perticular game, I just go and get some random achievements in some random games I would usually play just for fun.

7 years ago
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I like achievements, but I let go if they require too much backtracking or a second playthrough.

7 years ago
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Definitely agree. Altough, if the game is really great I leave it for some time in the future. So after several years, When im feeling nostalgic, I could finish it again, but this time get missing achievements.
Ive actually done something like that previously. After a decent time when Ive forgotten how the story went in detail.

7 years ago
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I can see myself playing again the TR trilogy in the future, and this time getting every little treasure. I see what you mean.

7 years ago
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In fact, i don't know. I've tried and played through many games, but it's only since i bought and won games on Steam that i fond myself letting some of them die silentlyin the dark without being 100%ed.
I'd tend to say "Yes, play it until the end, you never know what you get out of it" because that's my philosophy for books, and as such, i always finish books i start. But games are not the same. Even if narratives can get more interesting at the end of the game, the gameplay stays exactly the same 99% percent of the time, so you don't like how the game plays right away, it's really hard to force yourself until the end, knowing you'd probably see nothing more than you've already seen.

7 years ago
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I think I only left max 5 books unfinished in my entire life,and I'm in the thousands.
There's no way I will ever reach the number of books I've read in games in my entire life. I'm in the low hundreds in games.
When I see the comparison that way(abandoned books/ total books vs abandoned games/total games), this is indeed a very valid point. You got me thinking, really.

7 years ago
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And from my experience as well: don't let that little OCD waste hours of your life.
The exception being if you're studying videogames and are trying to find what's wrong in this game.

7 years ago
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I used to do that with series and keep watching just to finish them, even if I had grown to hate them, but I'm working on it. :-)

7 years ago
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