Tuesday, February 9, 2010

I Quit Completion Percentage. Forever.

My thinking has been trending in this direction for a while, despite making a TrueAchievements goal to hit 75%. Today Bioshock 2 came out, and I knew I needed to pick up Turning Point to boost with the Scooby Gang this month. That would mean adding two new games to my card, while I've been pushing along completing PSU and Borderlands. I have 4 games unopen on my shelf because I said I wouldn't play them until I completed a few other games, and I have Prototype form Gamefly which I likewise haven't touched. I actually felt I shouldn't get Bioshock because I hadn't "earned the right" by finishing other games yet.

It seems pretty stupid to deny myself from having fun with games I own or want to play because I haven't finished others yet. With my ADD additute towards games, paying too much attention to my completion percentage turns gaming into a chore, when it's supposed to be about having fun. Some people can focus on one game until it's done. If a game takes more than 20 hours, I probably can't. I'm done limiting myself with arbitrary ideas of what I need to accomplish before I add a new game to my tag. I'm impressed by high completion ratios, but that just isn't for me, and I'm going to stop pretending I'm that kind of gamer.

That said, I haven't given up on going after completions themselves. If I like a game and want to max it out, I will do my best to do so, though I'm going to stop thinking I need to do that for every game. My pogosticking method DOES work for me in terms of getting more completions, as I can take breaks from games and return to them when my interest rekindles. Of course, it's hell for completion percentage, but I'm not obsessing over that any more. I'll continue to chase the completions I want, and be happy for each one I'm able to add to the tally, which currently stands at 60.

I'll be playing the games I want, racking up all the points I can, and moving on, with the emphasis on fun, not completion. Really, that's what gaming is all about anyway, right?

3 comments:

  1. It's a shame but what you've said makes complete sense. You're not the only person who won't put new games on their card because of their completion percentage, thankfully I haven't gotten that extreme.

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  2. It is all about balance and staying flexible. I have played a few games to help boost my completion percentage but I miss playing a good RPG. So, I am going to play an RPG game for awhile. Then when I feel like i am falling behind on my completion percentage I will pick up some games to help that part out. But again I am only in the high 50% for games completed.

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  3. Dude, THANK YOU, you already know that I am so thru with shitty, glitched or just brainless achievements. Why do I have to kill 100,000 people in matches or play 2500 ranked games, I purchased this game to have fun or for a quick ass boost not to be stuck grinding garbagio. *hands you a CoorsLight* lets tap the Rockies to no more striving for completion.

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