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Comment on Infinite Backlog | A Video Game Collection Tracker

Flamekebab@piefed.social ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

The "point of the product" isn't to provide theoretical novel entertainment value by sitting, unplayed, on my digital shelves. Bold take here, but I'd suggest the point of a video game is to be played.

I see it as its job is to provide an option for entertainment. To use another flawed analogy, whilst ideally I'd like to wear everything in my wardrobe at least once I don't feel bad that my jeans see much more use than my tuxedo. I don't avoid buying a pair of shorts because I already have plenty of shirts. My goal is to have a good selection of options available in the hope that I'll never find myself short of something suitable.

I grew up playing games in the '90s. I remember running out of new things to play. It was miserable!

So I make a point of having a large library so there's always things hiding in there that I might enjoy. The last thing I want is to have played everything in my collection. The very notion of a "backlog" is strange to me. It's a library or a collection, not an obligation. Trying to min/max it doesn't feel particularly healthy framing to me.

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mohab@piefed.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Hmm… so how do you know you're going to enjoy the games you're buying if they sit in your library past the refund window? Do you not worry they may end up being unplayable bloat "polluting" your library? Or do you have a super broad taste and you enjoy everything?

I ask because I have a small library not because I'm worried about a backlog or whatever, but because I'm trying to make sure (1) I'm not needlessly spending money on games I don't enjoy and (2) I really enjoy looking at my library and going: "Damn, I could launch any of these games right now and have a great time!" which wouldn't be true if I have a bunch of shit I don't enjoy playing and can't refund.

I suppose I could permanently delete them from my library, but doesn't give me my money back.

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- Flamekebab@piefed.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  
  so how do you know you're going to enjoy the games you're buying if they sit in your library past the refund window?
  
  Knowing that about any given media before consuming it is an impossible ask, so that's an impossible ask to start with. I make my purchasing decisions based on a combination of developer reputation (e.g. FTL was great and Into the Breach was awesome too), reviews (not from any major game sites, I'm talking about friends and similar), and experience with the genre.
  
  Also, as I've said elsewhere, I'm spending less than the cost of a pint of beer. Any given game doesn't have to deliver all that much to justify its cost.
  
  Even if I don't enjoy it, perhaps my wife will, or eventually my daughter.
  
  Do you not worry they may end up being unplayable bloat "polluting" your library?
  
  I don't really understand the concept of what you're asking. I understand the words but the emotional meaning is completely lost on me. There's a load of assumptions underpinning it, from what I can see. Is someone else supposed to be looking at my library and drawing conclusions about my character based on it? If so, I couldn't possibly care less. Or is it a convenience thing, like finding a game would be hard? There's text search and there's not an insurmountable quantity regardless.
  
  Or something else? I don't get what you're asking, sorry.
  
  Or do you have a super broad taste and you enjoy everything?
  
  I don't know how broad the average taste is, I'm afraid I have no point of comparison. I've played most genres over the last 30+ years and there's only a few I find tedious (sports games, medieval fantasy-themed stuff, simulation-focussed stuff). What is a normal breadth of taste?
  
  I really enjoy looking at my library and going: "Damn, I could launch any of these games right now and have a great time!" which wouldn't be true if I have a bunch of shit I don't enjoy playing and can't refund.
  
  Whilst I have some stuff that I wouldn't enjoy, most of what I have was bought because it had some appeal to me. I don't buy many games, I've just been buying them for decades so it adds up.
  
  I prefer having a large selection so there's always potentially new fun things hiding in my collection. Knowing everything about it removes some of the mystique, essentially.
  
  It's also worth noting that I don't know what I'll enjoy anymore. When I was a child I really enjoyed management games, for example, so on the one hand they have nostalgic appeal, but on the other I have enough to manage in my life now so find them exhausting. There's also an element of enjoying things that others don't - I spent a lot of time playing Godus and listening to audiobooks. People do not like that game!
  
  You can perhaps start to see why I don't like the concept of a "backlog" - my perspective isn't built that way!
  
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redhorsejacket@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I mean, I guess I just don’t view entertainment options as a finite resource. Amusements abound. Games, movies, shows, books, lectures, theater, articles, podcasts, music, sports, etc. The means to dispense with my free time far far far exceed the amount of free time I have to fritter away. So, while you may view backlog management as unhealthy min/maxing, I would counter that your preoccupation with “running out” of entertainment is, at least, equally as unhealthy a min/max mindset.

Also, I can’t speak for others, but your clothing analogy made me think of this: when I talk about not wanting to purchase a game because of my backlog, usually I don’t mean “aw man, I’d really like to get Baldur’s Gate 3, but I haven’t finished my Madden dynasty yet”. Rather, it would be closer to, “I’d really like to get Baldur’s Gate 3, but I bought both of the Owlcat Pathfinder RPGs last sale and I haven’t even booted those up yet”. So, it’s less about deciding whether or not to buy a shirt based on how many pairs of jeans you own, and more about deciding whether you need the latest, most fashionable cut of Levis when you’ve got 3 pairs of Costco jeans at home still.

Ultimately, it’s neither right nor wrong of you to hoard digital games. It’s your money, you do with it what you will. It just seems like a wildly hot take to come into that conversation swinging around accusatory statements like “that’s an unhealthy min-max mindset”.

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- Flamekebab@piefed.social ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I really don't think it's a particularly hot take. The very term "backlog" normally refers to obligations. Plenty of people suffer from productivity guilt and applying that kind of framework to something that by its very nature is designed to be unproductive feels like a dreadful idea to me.
  
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