This is the case with any hobby, buying art supplies and using them are also two vastly different hobbies π€£ unfortunately they're expensive hobbies and I seem to have all of them
Much like a crafter and someone who purchases craft supplies. And a reader and someone who buys books. I am guilty of both and fear I would be a video game purchaser not a player if given the opportunity.
I had to stop buying Magic The Gathering cards and am only focused on my video game obsession now. With MTG, it was getting crazy⦠wait⦠What is this? Final Fantasy MTG crossover this Summer!? [Pulls out wallet]
I stopped buying Games Workshop and comic books back in the 90s because they were getting too expensive. Sometimes I kind of wish I'd stuck with them because they were a heck of a lot cheaper than digital & physical game collecting have been in the years since :(
I sometimes turn my pc on for the first time in a few weeks just to install software and driver updates and then when everythingβs good to go I turn it off
Miss little game shops around everytown with diff names were u could trade ur old games and so forth :) Also some human interaction and with good luck ull find more humans that like to game around :)
Collecting games is a whole meta game in and of itself. There's a certain satisfaction in seeing the library grow, regardless of if you end up playing them or not π€·
Steam could do something like pokedex with games and you would have to collect all games released in parts of the year. it would be categorized into genre. I would collect all the souls like/lite
At 120 games per year, after 5 years, that is 600 games. I also lurk on the GameDeals subreddit and grab games that are free for a limited time. And the Epic Games Store gives away a free game every week, and most of them are actually decent. More games than I will ever play in my life.
You tell yourself they would be fun to play at some point, maybe third in your library. I have bought so many games as something more exciting turns up
We gamers can't help but try to categorize, subcategorize, disagree & granularize each individual aspect in order to min-max our understanding of the medium.
But ultimately, what are you trying to add to the conversation with this? Is this a real conversation you want to have or is this just bait?
I usually feel like Bullwinkle: βthis time for sure!β, followed almost always by disappointment and uninstalling. Well, the rapidly-approaching gutting of Medicare and Social Security will at least prevent me from adding new disappointments to my existing library.
I have never known a gamer that actually has played most games they own when they have a Steam account. For one, the free games alone make it challenging to play them all. The Epic Games Store gives away a free game every week.
See Iβm not allowing myself to do that lol but my friend gives me his spare code anytime he gets doubles! Iβve bought individual games from the Humble Bundle site tho
Building a Steam library is like creating a museum of games you loved, missed out on, or dream of playing someday (maybe in retirement?). Itβs not just about gamingβitβs about nostalgia, amazing sales, and hope for free time we might never have. Whatβs your most prized βstill-to-playβ game?"
I'm not sure it's a hobby so much, but many people fill up spaces they have with things they love. Books, art, movies, collections, and so on. I often feel that we do this to not feel alone and to create purpose.
Iβm fairly sure that the only unplayed games in my library are free ones that I canβt stop grabbing even though I know I wonβt load them. Or I played and uninstalled as they are seriously not my cup of coffee.
I very much feel this at the moment. I am staring at Baldur's Gate 3 being 20% off at GOG thinking why not while knowing the second I buy it I will never finish Divinity: Original Sin 2.
I bought an RTX 4090, but other than Cyberpunk 2077, I am mainly just using it on older games. Seems like a waste, but I am having fun. Most people usually spend a lot more on their hobbies, though, so I figure splurging every few years is not so bad. At least I do not own a boat or horse.
I feel at this point if I never bought a single game again, never worked again, spoke to another human, slept, ate or stopped playing games until I died... I would still die with a wall of shameful unplayed games that kid me would kick my ass over. Still though.... Black Friday soon! MOAR!!
i feel like there should be a german or japanese word for this, like there is for things like buying books but not reading them or the feeling of missing home but being at home
Nothing more eye opening then buying a new system and going over your library deciding what to download right away and realizing you never even opened like 1/2 the games.
I'm old school, I love the physical ownership of a game cartridge or a diskette. None of this oh you lease it or you don't really own it anymore that's bullshit
The problem with buying 50+ games each year is that none of them are Fable. When Fable comes out they may get their day in the sun, but until that day, those games are not Fable, and Fable is what the brain desires.
And then you buy a steam deck because you think itβs going to help your chances to get through your steam library. It doesnβt but you start buying more games because they will play well on the Deck
What about buying them for the Xbox, then Steam, then Switch, then PS5 π. Why oh why must I pay for the same game just to play it in a different room but oh I must .. collector's addiction
My "Pile-o-Shame" came from the thought that "Sure, I'm going to play that eventually." Now, though, with not actually owning any of the games I've purchased on Steam...well...it certainly gives me pause in buying any game, on that platform, going forward.
Ah there's a science to it actually. You should make a ranked list of games you want to play, ties get sorted alphabetically. Then just play down the list until you buy more games.
Aye, have a 1.5tb micro SD card that's so overfull I'm considering a 2tb version just so I can put even more games on that I'll never open. It's great!
Different, yes. But I think of it like a squirrel storing nuts for winter.
Like, I don't remember how long I had "Streets of Fury EX" in my library before I actually needed to play a French side-scrolling beat-em-up, with Mortal Kombat style digitized characters.
Worse is what I do. See them on a YouTube playthrough/reaction video like Markiplier, buy the game and then never play it.... But do deep dives into lore (FNAF, Amanda the Adventurer , etc.), especially with Game Theory, etc.
Comments
I'm sorry games we'll get to you eventually!
I have also moved into buying physical games because it feels like I have a physical reminder to play/beat that game.
Pray for me guys
π π
But ultimately, what are you trying to add to the conversation with this? Is this a real conversation you want to have or is this just bait?
My friend has the same hobby!
*Browses through wishlist prior to the Autumn Sale"
The FPS and 4x are lost causes, though.
I have no idea what you're talking about...
It's right next to my emotional support stack of books I haven't read.
Those pesky beautiful editions T_T)9
Why do i persist on this earth? To get through this library... like, eventually.
Same with books. Buying/collecting them and actually reading them seem to be two seperate hobbies too. Both hardcopy ones & kindle.
Like, I don't remember how long I had "Streets of Fury EX" in my library before I actually needed to play a French side-scrolling beat-em-up, with Mortal Kombat style digitized characters.
But it was there when I needed it.
Still haven't gotten around to that.