Do you find yourself locked into one/few games?

[Craig234]

In the old days of computer gaming, you'd get a game, and either not finish it or finish it, but you pretty much done. A really good one, you might replay a while.

The first phase of extending that to a more indefinite playing was multi-player - you could play the single player campaign in StarCraft, and even replay it, but it was multi-player you could play pretty much indefinitely if you liked the game. But that didn't seem to really change most people's buying a lot of games and playing each.

With MMO's, games have started to ask players to be quite dedicated - you are rewarded for playing the game all day. And a lot of people have changed their gaming habits over that. Instead of buying 20 games in a year, they might buy zero to a few, and mostly play one demanding game mostly.

It turns out, if you start to create a thread with a poll, and making the poll decide not to do it, the thread is already created. So I'll just leave it for discussion.

I felt that a big MMO that pulls millions of players into it likely cut greatly into the buying of traditional games - affecting that industry, and its budgets.

On the other hand, perhaps you view this as an evolutionary improvement as games become a more developed art form, just as tv shows now span seasons with plots.

 

[Grooveriding]

If you're referring to WoW when you mention an MMO, then I think that the majority of people who play WoW don't even play much in the way of other games to begin with. These days WoW's demographic is quite a bit different than it used to be, for the majority of the player base although not all.

I agree with what you're saying though because I tend to only play a couple of games at any given time and get around to clearing a game off my Steam backlog once in a while in between. The games I do play regularly are always online games as well.

 

[DeathReborn]

I do tend to find myself becoming more locked in but via a slightly different method. I can't stand MOBA and have long since given up hope of a good MMO surviving in a post WoW world. RTS is almost dead to me what with small team based RPRTS being the norm now & FPS being too linear or stopping you from doing things like jumping/climbing anywhere except where the devs want you to.

Back in the day I would almost play nothing but Diablo 2, D3 doesn't have the same pull and there's no really good C&C/RTed Alert game around either. Asia is a huge growth market of gamers who have an almost stereotyped to death ability to play for days on end.

In mobile you have the likes of Candy Crush, Farmville for Facebook & on computers the MMO/MOBA striving to take all your time (fleecebook is novel to me so may be out of date). Gone are the days where a good story kept us enthralled, now it's about finding that quick fix that you can repeat over and over.

 

[xantub]

I try to finish a game that I start, because I know if I switch to another one "just to check it out" it's very likely I won't ever finish it. Happened recently, I was focused on playing both campaigns on Age of Wonders 3. But then Divinity: Original Sin came out and I just wanted to "let me just check the character creation screen...". And now Europa Universalis 4's "Res Publica" DLC came out and I just wanted to "let me check that Dutch Republic gameplay". I almost don't remember I was playing Age of Wonders 3.

 

[Miklebud]

Battlefield 4 as of late. I've got a bunch of unfinished single player games that are totally worth playing (Crysis 3, MetroLL, FarCry3) but I keep going back to BF4 daily.

 

[Red Storm]

When exactly are these old days? Because In my personal experience when I look back at the old days I remember a handful of games that I played for years and years. Counterstrike, Day of Defeat, Starcraft, and Age of Empires, as well as the Infinity Engine games (Baldur's Gate & Icewind Dale series).

Nowadays my habits haven't really changed, though I do play a greater variety of games thanks to being a money making adult, but I still pick a few games and then play them for quite a while. Been playing TF2 for a good 7 years now, don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

 

[EDUSAN]

i have been hooked up in games since 1999

from 1999 to 2002 I played diablo 1 online
from 2002 to 2004 i played diablo 2 online (i think it was less time)
from 2004 to 2007 i played unreal tournament 2004
from 2007 to 2010 i played WoW
from 2010 to 2013 i played LoL
In this 2014 i still havent found the game that will hook me up some more years, im mostly playing hearthstone and lol back and forth
from 2015 onwards... Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade

And i still manage to play a SP game from time to time

 

[swanysto]

I haven't bought a new game on PC in forever. I started playing counterstrike just before 1.5 came out. Played that exclusively till I added TF:2 and L4d to my list. It wasn't till a few months ago that I added Plants vs. Zombies the original. I might add the FPS version cause I think it looks pretty cool.

I never had the patience to sit on the computer for all that long, so I was never able to get into single player campaigns and MMO's. On the console, I only really play sports games like FIFA. If every gamer was like me, gaming would probably cease to exist.

 

[TallBill]

Yes. I've played a LOT of original counterstrike, a good amount of star wars galaxies, diablo 2, and now diablo 3.

I have like 40+ games on steam and ill play something new from time to time.

 

[crownjules]

1998-2004: CS
2004-2007: Some WoW, then Eve
2007-2009: TF2
2009-2013: LoL with some TF2
Present: DOTA2

I play other games amounting to a couple hours a week. But those games would easily account for 75% of my game time in a week.

 

[exar333]

I try to finish a game that I start, because I know if I switch to another one "just to check it out" it's very likely I won't ever finish it. Happened recently, I was focused on playing both campaigns on Age of Wonders 3. But then Divinity: Original Sin came out and I just wanted to "let me just check the character creation screen...". And now Europa Universalis 4's "Res Publica" DLC came out and I just wanted to "let me check that Dutch Republic gameplay". I almost don't remember I was playing Age of Wonders 3.

This.

I can't be a 'game whore'. I have to focus on a single game otherwise I lose interest and move on to a different title. The only exception are some online shooters (which they don't make good anymore, so yeah...) like UT/etc. that I used to play on a regular basis mixed-in with RPGS, etc. Otherwise, focus on one game and finish, then move on.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I call it "gamelock" -- right now I'm earning achievements in Defense Grid by playing through the map mode variations. I'm down to 6 achievements to unlock but I'll probably stop before the 150 gold in Awakening and 40 gold in Containment. Probably.

 

[Squeetard]

I can't stick with a game for very long. Wears thin on me. I got half way through Skyrim and dropped it for about a year before I picked it up and finished it because there was nothing else I wanted to play.
I was jonesing for Elder Scrolls online, bought a 6 month subscription, quit it 3 weeks ago at Veteran rank 7 with 120 days left on my sub. Play a game long enough and it becomes a drag.
I did put mega hours into CS DoD and UT and quake back in the day, but now I can't do twitch shooters for very long either. Lost interest in them after CoD MW and TF.

 

[gorb]

I only play cs

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I always go back to Sup Com F/A, TF2 or one of the C&C games.

 

[DefDC]

I always have a few games I love go back to. Infiinity Engine games, GTA:VC, Fallouts, and now Skyrim.

For the RPG's, I always find it endlessly entertaining to take a new character and build them up differently. And now so many game have greatly different builds with different dialogue, it makes it that much more fun.

That makes me think, I should see if anyone is still playing Battlefield 1942 demos. (Both the demo levels were near perfection to me) I was also a monster on UT99 Deck16 deathmatch.

 

[werepossum]

I find myself playing Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas almost exclusively - they have sooo many good mods. Maybe 90% of my remaining gaming time I spend with Counterstrike: Global Offensive. I still buy about the same amount of games (apparently I'm stupid that way) but I just don't play them, although I did play all the way through the new Metro game and Halflife 2 plus the expansion packs this year. And Far Cry 3 when it came out, although that might have been last year. Oh, and I modded Stalker: Clear Sky with Complete and played it through - I'd never made it far before. And I started Lost Alpha but totally lost interest very quickly.

 

[toughtrasher]

I usually find myself going back to TF2 just because it's so stress-free and mindless. I don't really mind about my K/D or score much in that game so great game to just sit back and have fun.

 

[Malladine]

On one hand I'd agree MMOs have changed the landscape of gaming...but on the other there are many more gamer dollars to spread around so I think the industry as a whole can accommodate the changes and continue to grow. I haven't noticed any let up in the variety and volume of games being released!

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Lately, I have just moved towards replaying old games and finally getting to DLC I didn't finish or whole games I never got around to. The new game scene is definitely very lackluster right now, but I am hoping games like H1Z1 and Eternal Crusade could draw me in for awhile in the future.

 

[VashHT]

It's been happening to me lately with LoL/Hearthstone, I'll get home with the intention of making some headway in my backlog but after playing a few games of LoL and a little hearthstone most of the night is gone. Part of what draws me to those games is the whole "daily" factor, I'll play LoL telling myself I'm just going to do one game to get my win of the day bonus but then I'll end up playing 3 or 4 games, same with hearthstone.

 

[frozentundra123456]

There is a multitude of games available now, thanks to Steam, GOG, etc. Unfortunately, RTS games which were one of my favorites have pretty much disappeared. Seems kind of like cable channels, so many channels (games) and nothing new and exciting to watch (play).

I have a pretty big backlog on Steam, but end up playing only two or three at a time.

 

[xantub]

There is a multitude of games available now, thanks to Steam, GOG, etc. Unfortunately, RTS games which were one of my favorites have pretty much disappeared. Seems kind of like cable channels, so many channels (games) and nothing new and exciting to watch (play).

I have a pretty big backlog on Steam, but end up playing only two or three at a time.

same thing happened to me before. My favorite games were turn based RPGs, and they all but disappeared from PCs about 15 years ago, so I had to switch to the Playstation 2 to play them. Luckily the last couple of years have seen a resurgence, and right now Divinity: Original Sin is the best game I've played since like Baldurs Gate 2 in 2000.

 

[Hinda65]

I use to play one game at a time, start to finish then move one...now i'll have 2 or 3 games going....I still always have a single player game(your typical 20-40 hour game) that I'll play start to finish, but I also play those epics that you can put 200hrs+ into like xcom here and there, mostly on weekends, as well as borderlands 2 coop with my brother. Once I get tired of Xcom, I'll probably load up another epic like Dark Souls or Skyrim, and mix that in with my primary single player game.....Now that I type it out.....It's pretty sad really that my break from playing a video game is playing more video games :/

 

[DarkKnightDude]

DOTA2 mainly.