How Many of the Games you Start do you finish?

[easytarget]

The question pretty much says it all. Games are never easier than today with digital distribution to pick up, but how many hold your attention long enough for you to finish them?

[Veho Nex]

The question pretty much says it all. Games are never easier than today with digital distribution to pick up, but how many hold your attention long enough for you to finish them?

I play through about 2/3, if it holds my interest to the ending credits then it was probably a good game.

[Kekvit Irae]

I try to get as much enjoyment out of a game I pay for before stopping. This usually means at least completing it once, even the horrid ones like Duke Nukem Forever.

[easytarget]

Agreed, I try and complete them, and probably succeed about 2/3's of the time for the most part. It helps being picky up front about what you buy, but I will admit when steam has a sale I can occasionally break down and try stuff I might not have otherwise because the cost vs risk reaches a point of being irresistible.

[johnhughthom]

For me, how many games that I have started and completed is well under 25%. If I don't enjoy a game I stop playing it, I rarely soldier on, unless I'm enjoying the story. I found Mafia 2 horrible gameplay wise but managed to complete it as I wanted to find out what happened.

You mentioned Steam sales, in terms of how many games I have bought and completed, I don't want to think about it. I have 121 Steam games, on a quick scan I have completed 12, I haven't even played most of them. A lot of games I play can't necessarily be completed though, like the game I play most, Football Manager. Other games I've played a lot of, like the Total War games and Mount and Blade, become tediously easy once you reach a certain stage and you know you've won, the actual completing it is a chore rather than fun.

[CountArach]

Probably about half. The biggest downside of working in a games store is that I've ended up with a whole stack of 'must play' games that I just can't seem to make a dent in. For example, I only finished Assassin's Creed II less than a week ago, and I'm finall almost done with Brotherhood. I had bought both of those games when I got my PS3 9 months ago...

[Samurai Waki]

I excel at not finishing games.

[easytarget]

Probably about half. The biggest downside of working in a games store is that I've ended up with a whole stack of 'must play' games that I just can't seem to make a dent in. For example, I only finished Assassin's Creed II less than a week ago, and I'm finall almost done with Brotherhood. I had bought both of those games when I got my PS3 9 months ago...

Know what you mean, I've loved the AC series, but I've only managed to finish the first two. ACB somehow just didn't start out hooking me in like the 2nd one did in particular. So I've owned that one for awhile and have yet to get even a quarter of the way through it.

The upside on SP games though, there's no rush, the only thing that happens with time is they get cheaper and more patches.

[easytarget]

For me, how many games that I have started and completed is well under 25%. If I don't enjoy a game I stop playing it, I rarely soldier on, unless I'm enjoying the story. I found Mafia 2 horrible gameplay wise but managed to complete it as I wanted to find out what happened.

I definitely agree with the sentiment that it should not feel like work, and I've definitely stopped games that started feeling like that, all too often it's due to a lack of proper content editing, the seeming goal of the creator to stick in repetitive content just to make the claim there's 50 hours worth of play time, when in reality it was 25.

[CountArach]

Know what you mean, I've loved the AC series, but I've only managed to finish the first two. ACB somehow just didn't start out hooking me in like the 2nd one did in particular. So I've owned that one for awhile and have yet to get even a quarter of the way through it.

The plot is worth it.

[CrossLOPER]

Welp, this is a list that was originally compiled in order for me to more easily finish up a rather long backlog of games that I had not touched. I originally thought that it was a few games, but that turned out to be a *slight* underestimate.

October 16, 2008

DONE LoZelda: Link's Awakening 06/22/08 FINISHED 11/14/08
1/2 Arena 06/01/06???, 06/22/08
1/4 Daggerfall o8/02/06
1/20 Redguard 12/25/07
DONE STALKER 06/22/07 FINISHED 02/28/09
DONE BoA: RH30 12/25/06 FINISHED 01/07/09
3/10 System Shock 06/22/06
DONE System Shock 2 06/22/06 FINISHED 04/11/10
DONE Medieval 2 TW 12/25/06 FINISHED 03/28/09
DONE Quake2 12/25/07 FINISHED 11/01/08
DONE Quake3 12/25/07 FINISHED 11/30/08
DONE AoE GOLD ??/??/04 FINISHED 05/13/09
DONE AoE GOLD RoR Exp ??/??/04 FINISHED 06/08/09
DONE Half-Life 2 ep 2 06/22/08 FINISHED 11/29/08
DONE Warcraft 3 FROZ THRO Exp 06/22/07 FINISHED 05/28/09
DONE Diablo 07/??/08 FINISHED 12/16/08
DONE Diablo 2 07/??/08 FINISHED 07/16/09
DONE Diablo 2 Exp 07/??/08 FINISHED 07/19/09
DONE Arx Fatalis 12/25/07 FINISHED 04/26/10
DONE Max Payne 06/22/08 FINISHED 12/28/08
DONE The Experiment 06/22/08 FINISHED ??/02/11
DONE Company of Heroes 12/25/06 FINISHED 10/11/09
DONE Shogun Total War GOLD ??/??/06??, 12/25/06 FINISHED 03/31/09
DONE Cultures 2 06/22/04 FINISHED 02/21/10
SEEN Wolf 3D 08/??/01 OBSERVED ??/??/96??
SEEN Spear of Destiny ??/??/01 OBSERVED ??/??/96??
DONE Dawn of War: Dark Crusade 12/25/07 FINISHED 03/01/09
DONE Condition Zero 12/??/06 FINISHED 04/03/09
DONE Condition Zero: DS 12/??/06 FINISHED 05/12/09

--------------------ESTIMATED EXTENT OF ORIGINAL LIST-----------------

DONE Fallout 12/12/08 FINISHED 01/30/09
DONE ShogunTW: Mongol GOLD ??/??/06??, 12/25/06 FINISHED 03/26/09
DONE Fallout 2 12/12/08 FINISHED 04/25/09
5/7 Baldur's Gate 12/25/08
DONE Quake 4 12/25/08 FINISHED 03/29/09
DONE Quake 2 EXP GZ 12/25/08 FINISHED 08/05/09
DONE Quake 2 EXP RECK 12/25/08 FINISHED 07/29/09
DONE The Witcher EE 01/01/09 FINISHED 09/19/09
DONE LoZelda: Oracle of Ages 12/25/08 FINISHED 06/18/09
DONE Prince of Persia 01/11??/09 FINISHED 06/13/09
DONE Mass Effect 03/13/09 FINISHED 01/01/10
DONE Rainbow 6 06/22/02?? FINISHED 06/17/09
DONE Rainbow 6 DC Eagle Watch 06/22/02?? FINISHED 06/17/09
DONE Rainbow 6 Black Thorn ??/??/01?? FINISHED 12/13/09 CONTESTED
DONE Unreal Tournament 3 04/30/09 FINISHED 06/21/09
DONE SWAT 4 06/22/09 FINISHED 07/09/09
3/4 Final Fantasy VIII 06/22/09
DONE Dawn of War II 06/22/09 FINISHED 09/27/09
DONE Final Fantasy Tac Adv 06/22/09 FINISHED 09/29/10
1/20 Battlespire 06/22/09
DONE Warcraft II ToD 06/22/09 FINISHED ??/11/10
DONE Warcraft II BtDP 06/22/09 FINISHED ??/12/10
DONE Fallout 3 12/25/09 FINISHED 05/17/10
DONE Unreal Tournament 12/25/09 FINISHED 06/03/10
DONE Unreal Tournament 2004 12/25/09 FINISHED 06/15/10
DONE Warcraft Orcs and Humans 12/25/09 FINISHED ??/11/10
--- Baldur's Gate II SoA 12/25/09
--- Baldur's Gate II ToB 12/25/09
DONE Bioshock 01/01/10 FINISHED 09/09/10
DONE Final Fantasty XIII 03/12/10 FINISHED 10/01/10
DONE Dawn of War II: CR 03/19/10 FINISHED 03/25/10
DONE Killing Floor 04/10/10 FINISHED 06/03/10
DONE Left 4 Dead 2 06/22/10 FINISHED 08/08/10
DONE BF: Bad Company 2 06/22/10 FINISHED 07/10/10
1/20 Parasite Eve 06/22/10
DONE Starcraft 2: WoL 07/27/10 FINISHED 08/21/10
DONE Call of Duty: MW2 08/10/10 FINISHED 08/28/10
DONE Machinarium 08/11/10 FINISHED ??/12/10
DONE Dead Space 28/09/10 FINISHED 21/10/10
DONE Section 8 28/09/10 FINISHED ??/12/10
1/6 Baldur's Gate: TotSC 29/09/10
DONE Psychonauts 17/10/10 FINISHED 12/02/11
DONE Tyrian 2000 16/02/11 FINISHED 23/04/11
DONE Beneath a Steel Sky 20/10/10 FINISHED 10.06.2011
1/20 Jagged Alliance: DG 20/10/10
DONE Lure of the Temptress 20/10/10 FINISHED 12.06.2011
DONE Teen Agent 20/10/10 FINISHED 11.06.2011
1/9 No More Heroes 25/12/10
--- Wii Sports 25/12/10
--- Super Mario Brothers Wii 25/12/10
DONE PlaneScape Torment ??/02/11 FINISHED 27.05.2011
--- Myst ??/??/93??
1/15 Star Wars: KOTOR ??/12/10
DONE Mount and Blade ??/12/10 FINISHED 15/01/11
DONE Mount and Blade: Warband ??/12/10 FINISHED 15/02/11
DONE King Arthur: TRPWG 03/02/11 FINISHED 15/03/11
DONE Amnesia: THe Dark Descent ??/10/10 FINISHED 01/01/11
--- Ultima 8 Pagan ??/??/9?
DONE Dawn of War 2: Retrib 03/03/11 FINISHED 10/04/2011
--- Civilization 4 03/03/11
1/10 Empire Earth 03/21/11
--- Empire Earth TAoC 03/21/11
SEEN Mafia 11/04/11 OBSERVED 19.06.2011
DONE Bioshock 2 13/04/11 FINISHED 17.07.2011
3/4 Borderlands DLC'd 13/04/11
DONE The Witcher 2: AoK 17/05/11 FINISHED 16.09.2011
1/2 Divine Divinity 11/05/11
1/4 Commandos 3: DB 10/05/11
DONE Left4Dead 01.06.2011 FINISHED 25.08.2011
1/12 Dragonsphere 07.05.2011
1/8 Deadly Premonition 22.06.2011
3/5 God of War II 22.06.2011
DONE Shogun 2: Total War 29.06.2011 FINISHED 03.09.2011
DONE Defense Grid: TA DLC'd 10.07.2011 FINISHED 24.07.2011
DONE Shattered Horizon 10.07.2011 FINISHED 26.08.2011
DONE Brink 07.08.2011 FINISHED 17.08.2011

I've enacted a moratorium. NO MORE GAMES UNTIL THIS LIST IS DONE.

EDIT: I am merciful. I will not force myself through a game that is only pain or is glitched out to the point of having to restart over and over. Also, I will not force myself to play a game that I have played long enough.

[Martok]

I excel at not finishing games.

Sadly, this is the case for me as well. I bet that I've honestly finished only around 10% of the games I've ever owned/played.

I guess for me, it's more about the journey than the destination.

[Monk]

I'd say on a rough estimate 2/3 of the games I buy i finish. If i don't like a game I will very rarely suffer its influence on me. If I enjoy a game I will try to get to the end as best I can, sometimes that just doesn't happen though. The Witcher 2 is a good example of a game i liked but never finished. I stalled at the end of act 2 and just didn't have the energy to go back.

[frogbeastegg]

I voted 2/3 but the truer answer would be more like 95%. I used to be terrible at finishing games until I made a concious decision to only start a new one after finishing my in-progress title. That's rather sent me too far in the opposite direction - I play games which I'd do better shelving instead of plodding on through. For me to drop a game it has to be physically upsetting (causes problems with my poor eyesight, motion sickness), critically broken in some way, outright repulsive to me, or have absolutely nothing at all which I see potential for enjoyment in. The worst games are the ones which start out ok and then go downhill. It never feels safe to drop them in case they pick back up again.

Sometimes I put a game aside to come back to. I do this when I believe I'd enjoy the game but am not currently in the mood to appreciate it. Also, life happens. I do usually go back to these games.

[Zim]

When I was a kid very few but for the past 15 years I've finishedmost games I've bought. Partly it's because I just don't buy a new game very often. Counting two games I've bought but haven't started yet (The Witcher and King Arthur:Collection) I'm probably around 80% or so for the last twelve months.

[Fragony]

Got enough fingers to count the amount of games I actually finish. There are just too many excellent games, and they get cheap so fast. Last game I finished was Enslaved, such a wonderfull game. After 2 months it was already a budget title. How am I supposed to keep up.

[Major Robert Dump]

I have a bad habit of not finishing, then deleting or losing game backup or changing PCs/laptops, then getting interested again but getting bored because "been there done that", or deciding that my save game is so old that I don't remember what was going on so I restart....

I've been trying to unite Caldara for 4+ years now.

Started FO3 a month ago, never got to finish it last time around, and before I think I restarted like 3 times, so for all intents this is my fourth playthrough never having finished.

[easytarget]

Wonder if the completion rate for books correlates with gamers completion rate of games?!

[Centurion1]

i have restartitis. its not boredom its just an innate desire to restart i enjoy the beginnings of games far more than the ends. i adore morrowind.... never beat it. have sunk hundreds of hours into total war never conquered the whole map or even won. mount and blade hundreds of hours in the last year. i have only beaten it like once before......

[johnhughthom]

The main quest is probably the worst thing about Morrowind though, I remember the first time I played it I was something like 150 hours in before I remembered about that package I'd been given weeks before.

[Papewaio]

I finish and sometimes read a good book again.

Some games I will finish, some I will replay to see alternate areas.

Strategy games CIV / TW I will often stop once I have an overwhelming advantage and the games become logistical management simulations.

Shooters I will play in micro MP sessions so TF2 suits my desires.

For similar reasons Dawn of War has bite size missions that suit my limited leisure time.

Most games are like restaurants, if they provide a good meal I'll be back. If not I'll go somewhere else for entertainment.

[Martok]

i have restartitis. its not boredom its just an innate desire to restart i enjoy the beginnings of games far more than the ends.

This is the case for me as well, particularly strategy games. I'm somewhat more likely to finish RPG's, since one is generally following some sort of storyline.