Opinion I've stopped treating videogames as disposable experiences

[Oldschool PC]

Starting the past two years I've based all of my purchasing decisions on whether I think a game will still be fun and rewarding after 15 years. Now I ask myself questions like these before purchasing any new games...

• Does this game offer replay incentives such as branching paths or new game +?
• Is the skill ceiling high enough that you can't master it all in one playthrough?
• How active is the modding community? How ambitious are the modding projects in the works?
• Is there co-op or multiplayer so that I can relive the experience with friends?
• Are there lots of hidden easter eggs and secrets to find?
• Is it good for doing challenge or speed runs? Achievement hunting?
• Does it have a fandom or multi-media presence (i,e books, comics, movies, television).
• Are the atmosphere/story/worldbuilding unique enough that it can't be fully replicated?
• Will this game leave an impact on the next generation of developers?

Since using this criteria as a guideline my backlog has went from over 350 games to less than 35, and I'm even starting to carve out time to replay old classics like Deus Ex and Fallout 2. I've also saved enough money that I can afford to continuously upgrade my PC, so that when I do buy new games I can experience them in the best way possible.

Ignoring FOMO and cherishing games based on their long term value has dramatically improved my gaming experience, and I hope more people will follow suit.

 

[lashman]

Ignoring FOMO and cherishing games based on their long term value has dramatically improved my gaming experience, and I hope more people will follow suit.

couldn't agree more!

 

[freshVeggie]

Whatever works for you and makes you happy is a correct option.

 

[Wok]

It is a good habit, because you spend less of your limited money, and you value more your limited amount of time.

I have a similar method: I ask myself how I would pitch the game to my friends, and whether they would be convinced, especially one of them who plays video-games but whose time is very limited because of work and family duty. If I cannot express a convincing pitch, then it helps me get some distance and reconsider my purchase.

Naturally, it is not foolproof, and my IRL pitch does not always convince them (even though it sometimes does). However, the goal is to trim the list of potential purchases, and I believe that there are not many false negatives (if I don't find the pitch convincing, then they also won't find it convincing), so it is a good method for me so far.

 

[Amzin]

Interesting. I have been going with almost the opposite approach. I appreciate a game more that is succinct and delivers a new or novel experience without excessive tedium or overstaying its' welcome - I'm probably never going to replay GRIS but I am glad I paid (almost) full price for it, because it was worth it. Hyper Light Drifter (avatarquote.jpg) is one of my favorite games ever and while it does have some replayability I have yet to replay it because it just... doesn't feel necessary.

I still do enjoy games like Endless Space 2, Civ VI, Diablo 3, but I try and force myself to limit my playtime on those games. I enjoy playing them and would enjoy playing them more but to me, with my own limited time, I see more value in variety than revisiting.

For me this is mostly true of other media - there are shows / movies I will always revisit but I am always trying to see new ones, and I definitely don't go in based on whether I think I'll want to revisit them down the road. I've only been on one international vacation in my life and while I loved it and want to go back, I would heavily prioritize going somewhere I've never been.

I don't really fall into the FOMO thing though - I'm never buying a new game because of FOMO, I'm buying it because it looks like it will be fun. Whether it's fun for one playthrough or 10 is somewhat irrelevant to me and in general I find games that focus on the "one playthrough" to be overall better. Since I mostly play games solo (including just playing with randoms in MP games) I'm not really running into peer pressure or anything like that.

 

[Exzyleph]

It's an interesting set of criteria, but not one that would work well for me:
My GOTY this year was probably AI: The Somnium Files, and it flat out fails most of your criteria, as does many other games that I cherish having played.

The takeaway is probably to sit down and think about what criteria matters to you and then use that to guide your purchases, and that is certainly something I could benefit from. I have too many games in my library that just happened to look mildly interesting at the time, but that I'll probably never get around to playing, and that money could have been spent better elsewhere.

 

[Oldschool PC]

The gist of my criteria is that I like games which are very deep and replayable, or just have incredible atmosphere and worldbuilding. I feel those are the only types of games which still hold up after 15 years.

 

[Amzin]

The gist of my criteria is that I like games which are very deep and replayable, or just have incredible atmosphere and worldbuilding. I feel those are the only types of games which still hold up after 15 years.

Those are both broad and subjective criteria, almost any game I've liked ever falls into one of those categories. Some of them hold up, some don't. I don't mean to say that your personal criteria aren't valid - they certainly are - I just think that they are very different from how I (and some others) get the most out of our time and money. I don't view replayability and depth as an inherent positive, it depends on the genre, but also replayability tends to imply that my time is actually not being used efficiently. If I have to play through a game 3, 4, 5+ times to get the "full" experience, I guess that's a "value of money" proposition but not a "value of time" one. I have very little time to spare (actually none, but yea) so it's super important to me that a game is respectful of my time and gives me the most it can with that time.

When it comes right down to it, I treat games as any other leisure activity / hobby. My criteria is "will I enjoy it" which, after hundreds and hundreds of games played over my lifetime, is usually apparent from just going through their Steam page. I don't gravitate to certain genres or indies over AAA or anything like that even. I'm perfectly willing to drop a book if it is boring or tedious for too long and same goes for a game.

 

[ISee]

That's a better way to phrase it than a bullet point list imo.
In the end you want good gameplay and good story combined. At best with an active modding community, some nice game innovations and replayability.
I think that's something we all want, but we all still like different games, because things like atmosphere, story and even gameplay are subjective experiences.

Pathfinder is boring to you. I love number crunching, I like to find synergies, tactics, min-maxing and to master those kind of games on hard difficulties. And I enjoyed the story a lot. You are not incorrect though, but it's still an awesome game, for me.

But in general I don't think you are doing yourself a favor with your last bullet point criteria. Some games are good, without changing this industry or game development. X-Com 2: War of the chosen is one of the best games this generation and it's not changing anything. Divinity 2:OS, is one of the best games ever and it's hardly recognized. Horizon Zero Dawn has an awesome Sci-Fi story, the best in this industry. But story presentation and gameplay are not the best out there, let alone replay-ability or modding.

 

[Taborcarn]

I've kind of adopted the opposite methodology. I put my backlog into a spreadsheet and have been working my way down it. The positions aren't set in stone, I can move games up and down the list based on my mood or possibly on a group-playing theme. And the occasional new game can make it's way onto the top of the list based on my excitement level.

But once I start a game, I play it straight through and don't touch other games. And when I'm done, it's gone. Replay-ability doesn't factor in to it for me since I pretty much never do that. I don't have any attachment to the games, if they're digital I'll delete them and if they're physical I'll sell them. But once the experience is done I'm on to the next and I'm not looking back.