Why do we buy more games when we have a big Steam Backog?

[biggles]

Right now I have about a dozen games in my Steam backlog that I have never installed or tried playing. Yet every time there is a Steam sale I get a strong urge to buy more games. Why is that?

I have been thinking about this for a while. It does not make sense to buy more games when you have plenty of unplayed ones already. And I know many others are in the same boat.

Thinking this through rationally, it makes a lot more sense to wait until there are almost zero games in one's backlog before buying new games. After all, the longer you wait, the more prices drop. This is especially true for PC games.

Perhaps many of us have an irrational addiction to buying games on sale.

Anyway, this is an issue I have not seen addressed on gaming websites or forums, so it would be great to hear some theories on it.

 

[horrorshow]

I tend not to go crazy during Steam Sales anymore.

I keep a nice, lean wishlist and if something from that comes up at a ridiculous discount, I pick it up.

 

[Comixbooks]

Human Nature is never to be satisfied

Games are so cheap today it doesn't even matter how conservative you are with finishing and completing games.


I have about 12 games on my favorites list 260+ games on backlog I right click on the game and put in on my favorites list and make that one a priority then only play that one game for 45 minutes.

 

[NotJay]

Human Nature is never to be satisfied

Games are so cheap today it doesn't even matter how conservative you are with finishing and completing games.


I have about 12 games on my favorites list 260+ games on backlog I right click on the game and put in on my favorites list and make that one a priority then only play that one game for 45 minutes.

high five

 

[polonyc2]

we tell ourselves we are going to work through our backlog making any new purchase worth it

 

[Comixbooks]

You - 0

Video Game Industry is like 999,999,999,999 games and counting....

who is going to win?

The video game industry is already at a saturation point where the next best game has to be better then the best game out there which is a hard task. Unless you Cliffy B or Ken Levin Mark Jacobs or Swen.

 

[NickJames]

I tend not to go crazy during Steam Sales anymore.

I keep a nice, lean wishlist and if something from that comes up at a ridiculous discount, I pick it up.

Steam sales are filled with 99% indie games which throws out a lot of the great AAA titles I am interested in. I went from buying 4-6 games a steam sale to 2 or less. My backlog is over 300 though so that has something to do with it. I just have to roulette wheel this thing one day and get through some of them.

 

[Ed Lin]

Interesting thread. I have a backlog of maybe one game. That's the original Half Life which I've installed but never played.

I learned a while back not to buy games until I'm actually ready to play them. Yeah, that means watching a bunch of Steam sales and not buying but it keeps a bit more money in my wallet.

 

[schizrade]

Most of the games I buy don't have and ending. The ones that do I pretty much finish in a few weeks while still playing the ones that never finish.

 

[piscian18]

I have about 500 games with a realistic backlog of about 200. I've been on since 2004 The steam sales don't interest me anymore. I was never one of those "pack" guys so most of my games are stuff I legitimately want to play. If I do buy a new game its because its something I'm going to drop everything and play right now or some $5 indie game thats been on my want list for a while. Im pretty good about sticking to the backlog unless something like portal 3 comes out then Ill drop sail, buy it and knock it out in a weekend.

 

[Quix]

Lack of impulse control isn't an addiction . Games go on sale so often that I don't really care if they're on sale if I have games to play right now. Right now I'm playing Fallout 4 and Star Craft 2: The Third.

Older games are functionally always on sale, if you use a deal search engine like dealzon.com you can always get anything cheap without relying on Steam sales. Because of this I find it pretty easy to keep my games list lean.

 

[causticspill]

I would also agree that it's impulse and not addiction. You see a game, it looks fun, it's cheap/value is high, so eh, why not buy? Maybe you try it, maybe it winds up in the backlog, waiting. At this point you are collecting games.

I feel like I am going to have to get hit by a bus (hope not) and wind up at home for weeks/months on end before I can even hope of making a dent in the backlog, so I have backed off on game/steam sales like others have.

If I don't have any intention on playing a "good deal" game ASAP, I hold off and can wait for the next sale and re-evaluate then.

 

[lee0539]

Most backlog game i have were free or really cheap from humble bundles as addition to game i wanted. I don't know if i will ever play those. I have a little of most of the new games i bought. But until i finish fallout 4 i dont think those will get played much

 

[M76]

Human Nature is never to be satisfied

There is no such thing as human nature. Buying games can't be human nature. Just try sitting down someone from a native tribe in front of steam. If buying games was human nature then he would buy games too. Obviously he can't since he has no concept of games, but more importantly he has no concept of scarcity. Hoarding is a thing we do, because we fear we might not get something tomorrow.

We simply buy games because we know we have a limited amount of money and we don't want to miss a good deal.

Human nature is a label we put on everything we can't understand or don't want to face. The cold hard facts are that we simply buy games when they're discounted is because that's what the monetary system is about. Buy low sell high. The steam sale is exactly the same as black friday in an electronics store. You know you don't need a new tv, but you just can't pass it up for 75% off regular price.

 

[MrAgmoore]

Collecting things is a part of human psychology apparently. I think it has more to do with addiction and emptiness in Western society personally.

 

[Thuleman]

I have honestly stopped paying attention to Steam sales as of late. The Steam sales are now so full of indie crap games, even if they are only $2.99 each, that it's just not worth my time to look through them.

I have a huge backlog, and what I found is that I install some of the backlog games, play them for 30 - 90 minutes, and I am like: meh!

 

[M76]

I have honestly stopped paying attention to Steam sales as of late. The Steam sales are now so full of indie crap games, even if they are only $2.99 each, that it's just not worth my time to look through them.

I have a huge backlog, and what I found is that I install some of the backlog games, play them for 30 - 90 minutes, and I am like: meh!

I usually pick up games, that I used to enjoy years ago, but either no longer own, or never owned them. Even if I might not intend to play them. It's a sort of atonement for all the pirated games I played as a kid. When I had no means to get games legally.

 

[Hornet]

My gaming habit is such that I would switch to whatever I feel like playing at the moment. So I like having a large pool of games to chose from. Of course I purchase them during sales when they are cheap (has to be below 50% or I'll wait) so I won't have to spend much on having such number of games.

 

[chenw]

"Because it seemed like a good idea at the time"

except there are millions of "the time"

 

[Yakk]

Disposable income available.

Time to play not available.

The irony.

 

[Shantarr.Dalrae]

Why do we buy more games when we have a big Steam Backog?

Lack of both self control and time.

 

[Furious_Styles]

For me it's great deals. Friends recommend stuff and usually I buy it for 5-10 bucks and get to it when I get to it. Pretty win-win imo.

 

[Ryan7968]

I buy games with the best of intentions, and I can still put in 50+ hours into a game if I really enjoy it. But much more often I will buy a game and it will not really pull me in, and there it is rotting in my steam library (I'm looking at you Pillars of Eternity, Bioshock Infinite and MGSV).

I'd like to go back and play them but if it feels more like an obligation or even work, am I really going to enjoy myself? I should give MGSV another chance though.

 

[Deleted whining member 223597]

I usually don't. There might be a couple games that I haven't played for more than a few minutes (The Witcher 1 and 2, awful gameplay), but most of the games I buy are ones I actually play.

 

[JustReason]

So I have lots to do when I retire.