Game Buyers Anonymous--My name is Zed Clampet, and I have a problem.

[ZedClampet]

My gamer handle is Zed Clampet, and I have a problem. I won't detail the extent of my problem so far in 2024, but the problem is significant. I buy way too many games. I suffer from Hyperactive Game Purchasing Addiction (HGPA).

(regardless of what you read in this post, I'm actually serious about this problem)

It doesn't matter that the majority of the games I buy are on sale. It doesn't matter that they are good games. It doesn't even matter that I will enjoy them. There are just way too many games that meet these requirements, and I end up buying way too many of them.

Perhaps I'm trying to cope with being a lonely empty nester. Perhaps I'm avoiding working on projects, either my own or those I've agreed to help with. Perhaps I'm not 100 percent satisfied with the games I have, and I'm desperately looking for that next game that I become completely immersed in.

Or maybe I just want to buy new games. But I've reached a point where even putting all of my games into a single launcher wouldn't be enough for me to know what games to play or what I've been playing. I'm in Steam and Epic constantly, but I still completely forgot that I owned Alan Wake 2 and had actually played it for a couple of hours. I've simply overwhelmed myself with games, and if nothing else, it's so bad that it's counter productive even for enjoying games, much less discovery within my own library.

So I'm pretending to start a new support organization called Game Buyers Anonymous, for people who buy too many games. Your problem doesn't have to be as bad as mine, all you have to do to pretend to join is to think you buy too many games.

We will also need spend-thrift cheapskates to be support staff. You may also pretend to sign up, and we really won't assign you one or more persons suffering from HGPA to be there in their time of need.

Anyone interested in joining this fake support group should tell their stories below.

 

[neogunhero]

My problem is that I buy games when I know I have a hundred in my library I can play. Like you said it doesn’t matter if they are on sale, it doesn’t justify it. I chose to play something brand new to me than to restart a game I played for only a few hours. I get a month Game Pass but end up barely using it at all. I do have a problem even if I don’t want to admit it.

 

[Brian Boru]

We will also need spend-thrift cheapskates to be support staff.

Good luck with that—tough ask. What's the pay—free games?

But yeah, I'll sign up as a recovering addict. My name is Brian, and it's 51 days since I bought a game 👏 👏

Here's my CV, please pass on to HR:

I end up buying way too many of them.

Probably the simplest way out of that, without starving yourself, is to limit yourself mostly to sub services like Game Pass. Set a realistic limit on what you can buy per month outside the subs.

Perhaps I'm trying to cope

Yeah, we mentioned the nest and retirement double-whammy recently. If you want to kill 3 birds with 1 stone, suggest to Ms Z that ye should have another couple of kids—nest full again and full-time job, there you go.

If you're wondering about the 3rd bird, that's you—assuming Ms Z can do 'that look'.

On the remote chance you're still alive, sorry to hear the early death stratagem didn't solve it. All you can do is wait for the Life Satisfaction Cycle to kick in after the transition period.

I still completely forgot that I owned Alan Wake 2

Oh that's not something to worry about, pfffft:
What games have you bought multiple times?

Secret to reducing your behavior is to steadily but gently do it. Don't go on a crash plan, that won't last. Do whatever subs you're happy to stay in long-term, and then have an account only for games buying—say in PayPal, and you put $X into it on the 1st of every month. Start reasonable, and reduce it gradually as time goes on.

If you break out in a sweat for want of a new game, there are loads of good freebies out there. At least then it won't cost you financially.

PS much better acronym for your org if you admit you're a Most Unusual Gamer.

 

[BeardyHat]

My methodology is this: have a cheap ass computer with integrated graphics, which really limits what you can play. Sure there's tons of new games coming out that will run on very basic stuff, but what I find is that it tends to drive me deeper into my catalogue.

I often feel stupid playing something like Spelunky or Pentiment on my big, powerful gaming rig, but running that stuff on my basic ass laptop? Oh yeah. Then I start diving even deeper and start looking at stuff I know will run and then, since it's my preferred way to play (since I won't be tied to my desk, where I usually sit to paint) when something new comes out that's all hyped (say, Lies of P) and it sounds interesting, I look at my library and see what's similar (Dark Souls, Elden Ring, say) then end up playing that instead because I know it'll run and I don't need to spend any money to buy it.

It also helps that I would just rather put most of my hobby money into expensive plastic toy models, so makes it easier.

 

[DXCHASE]

I spend more than ill admit on cosmetics. I hate MTX but yet i still purchased them. Most of them, to me, were good value, but sometimes ik theyre not and i just bought a whole set for 1 piece out of it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Good luck with that—tough ask. What's the pay—free games?

But yeah, I'll sign up as a recovering addict. My name is Brian, and it's 51 days since I bought a game 👏 👏

Here's my CV, please pass on to HR:

Probably the simplest way out of that, without starving yourself, is to limit yourself mostly to sub services like Game Pass. Set a realistic limit on what you can buy per month outside the subs.



Yeah, we mentioned the nest and retirement double-whammy recently. If you want to kill 3 birds with 1 stone, suggest to Ms Z that ye should have another couple of kids—nest full again and full-time job, there you go.

If you're wondering about the 3rd bird, that's you—assuming Ms Z can do 'that look'.

On the remote chance you're still alive, sorry to hear the early death stratagem didn't solve it. All you can do is wait for the Life Satisfaction Cycle to kick in after the transition period.

Oh that's not something to worry about, pfffft:
What games have you bought multiple times?

Secret to reducing your behavior is to steadily but gently do it. Don't go on a crash plan, that won't last. Do whatever subs you're happy to stay in long-term, and then have an account only for games buying—say in PayPal, and you put $X into it on the 1st of every month. Start reasonable, and reduce it gradually as time goes on.

If you break out in a sweat for want of a new game, there are loads of good freebies out there. At least then it won't cost you financially.

PS much better acronym for your org if you admit you're a Most Unusual Gamer.

I started to mention your recovery.

Funny enough, I already started part of your plan. I deposited $100 in Steam to last me till March.

As for Mrs. Z killing me (I think that was the plan), unfortunately, telling Mrs. Z I want a couple more kids wouldn't cause her to murder me, as she's too old to have kids, and if she were younger, she'd be all for it. I'm the one who stopped us from having more kids because I was concerned for her health since she was prone to having blood clots while pregnant and had a pulmonary embolism while pregnant with Guido.

 

[BeardyHat]

I started to mention your recovery.

Funny enough, I already started part of your plan. I deposited $100 in Steam to last me till March.

As for Mrs. Z killing me (I think that was the plan), unfortunately, telling Mrs. Z I want a couple more kids wouldn't cause her to murder me, as she's too old to have kids, and if she were younger, she'd be all for it. I'm the one who stopped us from having more kids because I was concerned for her health since she was prone to having blood clots while pregnant and had a pulmonary embolism while pregnant with Guido.

Rough. We had similar complications. I'm pretty sure a third would kill my wife, but probably also me, because two is hard as F***.

Also, I'm a liar and a cheat. I ended up buying Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition this evening. It was only $4 and I already owned it anyway in a D&D box set I bought like 15+ years ago and I wanted to play it without having to install a dozen different mods, so I'm just going to go ahead and say it doesn't count...

 

[Pifanjr]

You could also look on the bright side: at least your hobby isn't taking up an inordinate amount of space in your house. Especially people with ADHD are prone to jump from hobby to hobby, buying a bunch of supplies for each before moving on to the next one. Even if you do stick with one hobby, there's plenty of hobbies where you'll end up with an entire room dedicated to just that hobby (and it often spills out to the rest of the house).

Regardless, to stop buying things you don't need, you could look into incorporating some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tricks, like doing some introspection on why you keep buying more games and, when you find yourself wanting to buy a game, you take some extra time to think about whether you actually want to play the game or if you just want the dopamine shot of buying the game. Then analyse how you feel when you decide not to buy the game and why you feel that way.

 

[mjs warlord]

I have been a die hard gamer since 1982.
I was in a piracy circle and we took it in turn buy a game then pass it round i had every spectrum title that was a mix of genuine and pirate and i was so into them that i was copy and play till early hours of the morning. This only stopped when all the local shops pulled the many different games machines of the shelf literally over night and the only things you could buy were the first sega machines , an small shop had huge queues until his supply of games for all formats ran out.

Way back then my friends used to say ... get a life

I moved to pc's in 2002 and still burn the midnight oil and have no plans to stops , people who know me say its not the number of games i have that is a problem its the amount of time i sit in front of a screen.

I am a self confest geek but i go on holidays , do photography and have been happily married for 35 years.

FOOTNOTE ... this is a bit off topic .... can you remember when we were told to use screen savers to stop pixel burn , i used to think that was rubbish and then i got a job using a cnc lathe and if you viewed monitor data on a light screen you could see pick burn outside of other pages.

 

[Brian Boru]

take some extra time

Oh right, that's another technique for compulsive anything—mark it in your calendar for a week or a month hence, and see if it still feels like a good idea then.

 

[Pifanjr]

Another thing that might help is to turn off notifications for Steam sales. So turn off the Steam News popup and disable email notifications for when a game from your wishlist is on sale. Or just wipe your entire wishlist. Set Steam to open your library page as default instead of the store window. Whatever it takes to decrease the amount of times you get tempted to buy something new.

On top of that, it might also help to create extra hurdles to buying new games, at least by removing any saved payment methods.

 

[Rolfil]

There are a few things that I'd recommend. First, in steam, create some collections in your library.

I use

• Favourites - these are games that I come back to like American Truck Simulator or other open ended games.
• ToPlay - games that you intend to play. Try and keep this small so that you focus on it. Once one is finished move it to _Completed
• _Completed (I use _ for ordering) Games that you've completed, e.g. story based ones or something that you won't come back to.
• Multiplayer
• _Uninterested - Games that for you just won't play ever
• Uncategorized (Default)

Epic doesn't yet support tags like Steam. So for that I use an online notepad - currently Notion as it's still free unlike Evernote.

So this gives you some focus for playing through games in your backlog and also for realising you've probably bought (at least in steam) games that you will never ever play.

Epic free games are both a bonus and a curse. If there is a free game that is not something that you would ever consider playing then just don't get it.

Next create a list of games that you would like to play. I use a Notion note for this as I list games that aren't released, early access games and games that are released.

Finally budgeting. Record what you are buying. Then reduce your monthly spend on games by say 25%. Then reduce it to 50% of the original amount after 3-6 months.

 

[COLGeek]

Sounds like some of you have been missing "meetings". Better reach out to your sponsors.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I dont think I have it so bad compared to some, but maybe thats a sign of something. I have about 350 games, plus maybe 30 or 40 on Switch.

I usually put stuff on wishlist and wait for a sale unless I'm really excited to play something right that minute, which doesnt happen often. Theres a fair amount of games I buy and end up not loving, but not very many that never get played. Those are mostly in GOG, stuff like Master of Orion and Witcher 1 that were on sale for 0.99 and I just impulse bought, no way I'll do that with anything more than 10-15. Still 350+ is a lot of games, and I did kind of make a half resolution to myself that I'd try and replay a couple I've been meaning too and play the ones I got in the winter sale before anything else.

But then Last of Us and Armored Core 6 went on a pretty decent sale.

 

[Zimbaly]

I am not an addict. I'm a collector.... COLLECTOR!

 

[Brian Boru]

I am not an addict. I'm a collector.... COLLECTOR!

Oh yeah, that's it! Meetings… what meetings?

online notepad - currently Notion as it's still free

OneNote is also free, I've used it for years, very good if you like the books-sections-pages-sub-pages organization. Haven't tried Notion, but read good things about it.

I also use a spreadsheet, which we talked about in another recent thread.

 

[Alm]

I used to have this problem but now it has escalated into buying too much tech when I'm supposed to be saving.

 

[McStabStab]

Guys, I can quit any time. No seriously. It's a hobby. not an addiction.
*scratches arm slowly*

 

[Atekk920]

SIGN ME UP! I do this way too much, if I can get it for under 10$ I don't even think twice. Even if its a game I already have on Epic, I'd still rather have a Steam or GOG copy. The more "percent off" it is, the more likely I am to buy it, even if I don't have much interest - sometimes it turns out great (see: Ghostrunner) and sometimes its a xxxx show (see: Borderlands TPS)

There should definitely be a support group for this.

edit* apologies for the profanity, I'm just a foul mouth, it pops out without thought.

 

[mjs warlord]

Been using steam since its launch and i only have 85 in my library plus about 10 in various other clients.
My games collection is not the problem so i guess its the number of hours i sit in front of a monitor.
I tend to get my teeth into a game a just hammer it if it ticks all my boxes.

A perfect example of this satisfactory , i have been using it almost every day for 3 and a half years and my second playthrough has 3,500 on it.

I hammered Warframe every day for about 7 years until 1 day i logged in and everything i had built up was gone , 7 years of my free time down the pan.

My first 3 pc games all bought on the same day in 2003 were the original Age Of Mythology , The Thing and Grim Fandango . I must have played thousands of game on Age Of Mythology , i was so hooked on it that The Thing and Grim Fandango stayed in the boxes unopened for almost a year.

I got the Age Of Mythology Extended by skybox labs 4 years ago , it is rubbish compared to the original game and it is full of hackers who openly brag you will never beat them because they know of an exploit in the game that cant be detected.

Unlike some people i know who are gamers i know where the real world is