Author Topic: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome  (Read 3211 times)

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Offline Hey Einstein!

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The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« on: January 08, 2014, 07:17:22 AM »
I envision this thread (should anyone part take) as a sort of self help group. At the least it is my first step towards healing.


I have a problem and that problem is Lindemann Syndrome. And it's really started to get on my nerves.
Back in the day (before downloads) I would buy too many games (I cannot resist a bargain) but get sick of my stack and regularly sell anything I hadn't touched in 12 months. I have some regrets such as selling my N64. But in general this is how I funded most of the new systems I have bought and it allowed me to feel like I controlled my games collection, not visa versa.


But like it or not we live in the down load age. Personally I prefer to buy physical media but ALAS I cannot resist a bargain so I get well and truly sucked into online sales. And then there is PS+, the biggest bargain in games IMHO.
I know have 130+ download games just sitting on my various accounts (not counting PS3 titles because I never get to play that console) I know that some of you will have back logs that make that seem tiny, but for me this is a scary prospect. I can't sell these games and the likelihood is that I will never play most of them to any great depth because the new games just keep-a coming.
Now seriously, having this many games that are basically useless has started to weigh on my mind. I can't even give them away, so what good are they?


In December I decided to have a crack at as many of my games as I could. I never played the same game twice and played each one for about 30 - 45 mins max. Just long enough to get a feel for what in my back log was worth some attention and what wasn't. I played 53 games, 17 of which I want to go back to. So I have no shortage of things to play, and a couple of new games each month for the rest of the year via PS+.


But of course Christmas brought me 4 more games and some money, most of which I then blew in online sales on another 8 games.


I'm fascinated by this whole back log phenomenon. I see people all over the internet complaining about their back log. Growing up I would salivate over games in magazines (metaphorically speaking of course) but could only afford a couple each year. The only other way I could get games was to swap them with friends or rent them from a video shop. The notion that I have spent money on a stack of downloadable titles that are not really much good to anyone upsets me some what.


On the plus side I have no money for a while now so will just enjoy my Christmas games for at least the next 4 months. But I'm still haunted by my Lindemann pile.


Thank you for allowing me to express my sad condition. Whose next?




Offline ShyGuy

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2014, 04:26:34 PM »
Humble Bundles will be the death of me. I feel obligated to give most of the games at least a shot. I haven't given them a shot. :(

Offline Hey Einstein!

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2014, 04:28:18 AM »
Oh I hear you on that. I've only bought the Android bundles but they really wrack up quickly.

Offline Ceric

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2014, 10:56:21 AM »
Steam in General.
I bought the New Tomb Raider at a great price and for about $5 more I could get EVERY TOMB RAIDER GAME RELEASED FOR PC.  So I did that just in case I wanted to go back and look at the games.

Same for Serious Sam.

This happens quiet a bit for me.
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Offline lolmonade

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2014, 11:08:47 AM »
PS+ has actually helped me curb my spending habits on games.  I've only purchased games I was actually interested in in the last year, because I figure "I'll get a good variety of games on my PS3 & Vita. as part of my PS+ subscription.
 
Now instead of owning 5 new games a month, I get them with PS+.  I may not "own" them, but I actually take the time to play them this way.  That, and I got to play what turned out to be one of the most fun games I've played in a while because of it (Hotline Miami).

Offline smallsharkbigbite

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2014, 05:07:47 AM »
Gaming is a hobby and much like other hobbies, not every dollar spent on gaming is equal.  I've spent money on games before that I've never played, I've sold games at a loss that I've never played, and I have a collection of sealed games waiting for me to break them open.  Digital games aren't the issue, but they can highlight the issue since you don't have a physical game on the shelf that you can say you bought for collecting purposes even if you never play it. 


That said I think creating a budget is key towards getting rid of anxiety.  I try to limit my spending to a set amount each month that I'm comfortable with.  Then, next, is to focus on playing games over looking on websites or looking for deals for games.  I find I'm much happier when I'm actually playing through games instead of accumulating them.  Usually I limit myself to like one or two days a week to check deals on games and post on websites such as this. 


I only buy digital games when I want them.  I usually wait for sales to buy them.  Ducktales on the Wii U for $7.49 was something I was waiting on and I didn't hesitate to pick it up when it hit that price.  Yes, there are concerns that paying for something that I'll either get minimal use out of or may not get to.  But the reality is that digital content will still be playable for a long time even if it's technically not owned.  I have some digital content on my PS3 that I need to get through, but it didn't stop working when the PS4 came out and it won't stop working when inevitably PSN stops working on the PS3.


I don't have any rules about trying to get through my backlog.  If I'm playing 5-10 hrs a week of games I'm generally happy with my time spent on gaming (family time gets priority and makes it hard for me to get more gaming than that).     If I want to play an oldie but goodie game and leave my backlog untouched, that's fine with me.  Sometimes I'll crack open a new game and get enamored with it and make a lot of progress on it.  Sometimes I won't be that excited about it and I'll either put it back in the backlog or sell the game.  I don't want to force myself to play through games that I'm just not interested in. 


I know that sounds counter-intuitive, why buy something your not interested in playing.  But I buy games that sometimes I don't enjoy.  Sometimes I may not be in the mood for a certain type of game so I generally try to re-backlog games I didn't like to make sure I try them again or a couple more times to make sure I didn't like them.  I sold alot of games during the Gamecube era that I wished I hadn't and I ended up buying them back.  So I'm not in a rush to decrease my backlog for the sake of decreasing it. 


But really I think you just have to get used to the idea that hobbies cost money and it's not always money well spent.  But sometimes you may buy a game for $5 that you get an incredible amount of playtime out of and it's money incredibly well spent.  It balances out.  Just have a budget of what you are comfortable with spending on games and stick to and be comfortable with that.  Most hobbies are expensive.  As someone who has hobbies like hockey, snowmobiling, motorcycling, I know that hobbies can be very expensive.  You just need to get comfortable with your overall enjoyment you get from the hobby and your overall spend on it. 

Offline Sarail

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2014, 09:38:16 AM »
I have Lindemann Syndrome incredibly bad. As I look at my Backloggery account, I'm currently standing at 299 games unplayed/unfinished. The two platforms that I have the most unfinished games on are GameCube (47) and DS (41).

Yesterday, I told my brother I'd pass on my backlog to whatever children he may have in the future. Hah.
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Offline Hey Einstein!

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2014, 06:27:41 AM »
I got to play what turned out to be one of the most fun games I've played in a while because of it (Hotline Miami).


Easily my favourite Vita game we've had through Plus in the UK. I need to go back and finish it but I'm all about Zelda LBW right now.

Offline Ceric

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2014, 11:39:31 AM »
...
Yesterday, I told my brother I'd pass on my backlog to whatever children he may have in the future. Hah.
Wouldn't that be counter-incentive.  Every game you don't finish is another game that is part of future childs inheritance.
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Offline Sarail

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Re: The pain and anxiety of Lindemann Syndrome
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2014, 07:47:18 PM »
Oh, I'm trying to finish as many as I can before I pass on in this world. I'm not purposefully not finishing games. Hah.
I like Nintendo more than j00!
Jet. Force. Gemini. 'Nuff said.
Muh Backloggery!