Re: CRAP Poll: Favorite Era of Gaming

On Mon, 16 Sep 2024 08:09:51 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
wrote:

On 9/16/2024 12:18 AM, JAB wrote:

On 15/09/2024 16:33, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 10:00:48 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>

On 14/09/2024 02:26, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

The things you had to do for entertainment before your had a video
game library numbering in the thousands ;-)
>

>
I kinda miss the days when my game library was far more limited than it
is now as it just felt individual games were more important. I did watch
a video recently that was talking about physical media and why some
people still prefer it. Their idea, and I think it does have some truth
in it, is that the inconvenience of buying and using it means you're
more engaged with the content.

>
But at the same time, you're also stuck with bad games. And no matter
how engaged you become with it, a bad game is still gonna be a bad
game.
>
I struggled with "Terminator: Rampage"* for months trying to finish
that thing. I didn't enjoy it. I could easily recognize all its flaws.
I knew there were better games out there. But I kept playing it
because I'd paid $50 USD (or whatever the going price for games was
back then) and I didn't expect to buy another game for several months
on. But the fact that I kept playing it didn't make the game any
better.
>
There are some benefits to having a smaller library... but there are
just as many disadvantages. Personally, I'm happier with my current
situation. If there's a lousy game, I can just jump to the next one.
If there's a good game, I can play that one as long as I like. The
only real downside --for me, anyway-- is trying to figure out _which_
game to play next. Paralysis of choice sets in, and instead I go out
for a hike instead. ;-)
>
(and sometimes find computer hardware to scrounge on my way, so it's
all win-win ;-)
>

 
One of the big problems I found was that I'd be happily playing a game
but then I was tempted by a 'bargain' on Steam. That often lead me to
start playing the new game even though I still had lots of enjoyable
playtime left in the now old game. It took me a bit of time to get out
of that habit and now I pretty much ignore Steam sales until I'm getting
to the position I want/need to get a new game. Even freebies I'm wary of
and the ones I go for are only those that I think I will actually play.
 

>
I usually don't do that, but I have in the past bought stuff on sale and
then never got around to it because I'm playing something else, then
there's something else that interests me more than the stuff I bought on
sale.
>
I do think all the free stuff is creating too much virtual clutter and
it's getting harder to find the stuff I actually want to play.  I think
I need to be more picky with what I'm picking up free.

It also doesn't help when our libraries tend to be scattered across
multiple silos. We've games on Steam, games on Epic, games on UPlay
and EA/Origin and Battlenet and GOG and Bethesda.net, and who knows
what else. And then we've got even more games on the Playstation, and
the XBox, and on Android. Trying to figure out what to play next
requires you navigate a dozen different platforms.

(unless you consolidate everything into a single launcher, like
Playnite... and even then it isn't perfect).

Back in the day, you could just scan your shelf to see what games to
play next; you'd find something interesting, reach for the box, and
play that.

Nowadays, I'm using a fucking spreadsheet!

Sorry numberites.

That's okay. We'll all forgive you when we are let into Video Game
Heaven because our libraries are suitably large and you sink into
Mobile Game Hell because you didn't snatch up every nonsense title
that was thrown at you. ;-)

But that's alright. There's still a chance for salvation. Be a good
consumerist and build up your library. Praise be to  The Number! ;-)