How Do You Handle Your Backlog?

[Lordguwa]

i pick a game from my list i have written down that i haven't completed.... though i alternate some games that do not have a platinum but i also look at the trophy requirements prior to make sure i can actually complete it or not. right now it is the nep-block along with sam and max (i have plans to start the next sam and max series) right before starting on the last nep-nep game.

 

usually the game-breaker is online multiplayer it seems

Edited August 10, 2016 by kingdrake2

[Dragon-Archon]

Well, I plan to finish all the games that are currently in my profile, derailing only for the ocassional old games. *nervously fans away the mist*

After that, if I won't feel strongly drawn to any game (or series of games) in my backlog, I'll just consult the random generator to point me in some direction.

 

So far my plan is as follows:

 

1. Finish writing that goddamn uber- checklist

2. Post the checklist to garner the substantial following that is going to cheer and chew popcorn watching me fight the backlog and mentally kick me in the arse so I won't procrastinate

3. Finish Star Ocean 4

4. Begin to actually clean my backlog

5. ???

6. Hopefully PROFIT

 

I've locked myself into the Backlog Challenge to be extra careful, so my backlog shouldn't grow this year.

Lol, that looks like a solid plan .

 

Simple... I just add more to the backlog lol jk

I do that too . Those games like to glare at me while I slowly go through the backlog  .

[Undead Wolf]

The first step to handling the backlog is to admit you have a problem. "Why must you keep buying all these games faster than you can actually play them" you must ask yourself. Now you're ready to start tackling the backlog head on. 

 

I usually make it though about one game from the backlog before I succumb to the urges, and end up splashing out on like 5 new games. You know what? Don't listen to my advice. I suck. 

Edited August 10, 2016 by Undead Wolf

[Lackadaisicool]

I just play what I want when I can; I don't want my backlog or trophies becoming a chore or job.

[Bumperklever]

I just buy more games (or isnt that supposed to happen?) 

[Evil_Joker88]

Mostly i decide randomly when i look at my trophy  list

 

But there are exceptions of course... for example i worked a good way through Crysis 3 just because i decided i want to have a platinum trophy from games to complete the alphabet... like Assassin's Creed II, Batman Arkham Asylum, Crysis 3 ...

 

Then next up i priorize retail games higher than digital ones... And i think about how many hours will be needed for completing a game... DLC existing or even available? Games like Dirt 3 with all dlc at my disposal was played first to the contrary of Bioshock 2 for example

 

Oh and i did write a platinum trophy list from 60 to 70 and already failed the last 2 entries and probably won't get the next 2 of this list ... there just too many good games here

[sssande93]

I don't have much of a backlog anymore, I have finished a lot of my games recently   
I'm keeping my profile clean, trying to not go under 90% completion. It's mostly just dlc trophies in my backlog, which I will do later on.

[Rngesus37]

I don't. Every sale it just keeps growing.

[FeralTurtle]

How I handle my backlog: Don't let a backlog grow.

Currently I only have about 5 games in my backlog. I pretty much only buy more games once I finished everything. The other cases are if there's a really good steal or there's something hard to find.

[Dragon-Archon]

I usually make it though about one game from the backlog before I succumb to the urges, and end up splashing out on like 5 new games. You know what? Don't listen to my advice. I suck. 

I just buy more games (or isnt that supposed to happen?) 

I don't. Every sale it just keeps growing.

That's one way of handling it .

[skateak]

By not talking about it. Maybe they will plat themselves and go away.

[Feral]

I handle it by closing the cupboard door and forgetting about it lol.

In regards to choosing what to play next, I just look at the games and go oh I wouldn't mind checking this game out. Then throw it in and see what it's like on an alternate account, of course.

[Scorpiio93]

Anything that is quick and easy to plat/100% is completed first. Then I'll start on the longer/harder games

[Mcbeanstr]

Geez I know the struggle. Backlog never ends with some of the deals you get the store at times as well as interesting ps plus titles.

 

I try to group certain games together and finish a group as quick as I can. RPGs usually take a backseat until I am really tired of a platformer or an TPS etc. DLCs are another aspect that just pile up and add to the backlog. 

 

Slowly but surely though I know I can get most of it done. The motivation levels need to be pretty high though

[de_digibeet]

Is backlog only games that you've started and are therefore as incomplete in your list, or does it encompass all bought games which you haven't started at all?

To me, every game I have but have not finished counts as a backlog, I call it queue though, and my queue grows steadily every month with sales and psn plus.

 

Either way, I only play up to one game/console at a time. Usually one on the vita and one on the ps4 or ps3. Having too many active projects doesn't work for me. I try to 100% the game, and in most cases I succeed. In some cases I don't and I "give up" for the time being. I occasionally go back to games I've given up on, and sometimes I 100% them. Mostly to my surprise.

Which game I start after finishing one is usually random. I have an organized list of the games I have bought and not yet completed. And I pick a new one (or pick an older one to try to finish) based on subconscious processes which somehow manage to crystalize into a decision.

Games I've started that have multiplayer trophies: I try to get those first, due to servers shutting down for several games. I can selfboost most of these trophies, which makes easy work of them.

I skip games with shut down servers altogether (nba games for example, even if the game is new, the servers shut down too soon to try). If the 100% percentage on psnprofiles is too low, I usually skip the game as well. I might come back to these if I've cleared my queue. Though I doubt that'll happen this (or next) decade. And who knows, I might  move on to another way of passing the time. I might have to if my medical issues get worse and I can't handle a controller anymore. I hope that doesn't happen, but it might ...

[ResidentScrub]

I'm only really trying to keep my PS4 backlog down. I've recently banned myself from buying any new PS4 games until I've finished some I've already started and maybe played some of the ones still sat in their wrappers.....mainly because I got sick of having to manage the space on my hard drive by deleting / reinstalling games. Plus by the time I would get around to actually playing some of the games I've bought or want to buy.....they'll be cheaper.

 

My PS3 backlog doesn't really bother me that much and I still just jump around from game to game depending on my mood as they don't eat up space as much...I figure they'll get finished eventually. I still have a stack that I've not started and there's a handful more that I will probably buy at some point but PS3 games are pretty cheap these days anyway.

 

[Nitro]

I handle it by closing the cupboard door and forgetting about it lol.

In regards to choosing what to play next, I just look at the games and go oh I wouldn't mind checking this game out. Then throw it in and see what it's like on an alternate account, of course.

 

Judging by your 45% completion I wouldn't say that was obvious.

 

 

But as for what i do to clear my backlog, I usually have a few games going at a time just to keep things fresh. But when I do get close to a platinum I will continue going for it, no matter how boring as batshit it is. For example, at the moment I am only a few guns away from platting Black Ops 3 and I haven't played another game since my under defeat plat.

[delboy_rules]

I don't worry about my backlog.  I try and keep this site up to date with what games I have available to myself by loading them on my profile.  That way I don't buy games on sale that I bought 3 years ago and still haven't played (It happened too often).  And when I am stuck for something to play I just browse through all my games at work for something to play when I get home.

[TristanBrown17]

I have recently decided to start tackling my backlog (we'll see how that goes when some of the games scheduled for this fall get released  ), and I have been trying to go through and alternate between games I know decently well and games that will take a fair amount of time and patience. I also try to do series at a time if that applies. Like I'm finishing up Infamous 2, then I will move onto doing the Call of Duty games. I also try to target online trophies for games first, to make sure I don't have to worry about server closures. 

[Xillia]

I started to hold off on buying new games until they go on sale, which basically delays the purchase by like a month or two at least. The exceptions to this rule are a few high-priority games that I know I will start playing immediately.

 

It's pretty easy to maintain a reasonable backlog when you don't add new games to it every other week.

[Maxximum]

I play a lot of games at a time, then I finish 'em one by one. That's how I do it, it's not that hard to handle a Backlog 

[Feral]

Judging by your 45% completion I wouldn't say that was obvious.

Completion rate means nothing, more about just finishing the storyline.

[dalailama1989]

Personally, I'm aiming for a high completion rate - as of now, it's 91,21%. My ultimate goal is to reach 95% - so right now I am finishing/plat'ing/100%ing the games that I started some time ago. First I try to finish all the games that I'm able to 100%, afterwards I go for the games where I'm not able to reach 100% or platinum, but still can tackle a few trophies out of the way.

So that's the stuff I will do over the next few months, until some nice new games will come out this fall/holiday season

 

As of now, each bronze trophy will raise my completion-rate by 0,01118 %, each silver by 0,02237 % and each gold by 0,0671 %. Let's see how much I'm able to tacke out of the way

 

As for the backlog itself, I only have 3 bought games in my library, which I haven't started yet. And I think I'm able to 100% all of those. There also is all the DLC, which I already bought to complete my games - which I haven't started yet. I own all DLC for all but one game in my list.

I do have all the PS+ stuff as well, but most games are not my thing. I download them, start them on another account and usually delete them within a few minutes

[Ratchet2425]

I normally play about 5-10 at once and focus on the ones I like the most, while also changing it up depending on what I'm in the mood for. As a game get closer to platinum I tend to put alot more effort into finishing it, but I prefer to play games that I enjoy more than the ones I'm trying to grind through and platinum. Unfortunately for me (and alot of others it seems), by the time I do finish off a game it seems like I buy another 2-3 to take its place.
 
As for picking which games I'll play next, it's a combination of a few different factors that help to weigh the "importance" of me finishing game X versus game Y or any of the others in my backlog. The main thing I've been trying to do is finish up older games first, especially ones that are close to platinum but I stopped playing for whatever reason. Games with online trophies also take priority over non-online games, but only until the online part is done, just so I don't completely ignore singleplayer games in order to finish up my online games. Because of Flash Sales and various game collections, I have a few different franchises with multiple games purchased but not started (Hyperdimension Neptunia, the Metal Gear Legacy collection, Mass Effect collection etc.), so I've recently been trying to finish up some of these in order to move on to the next in that franchise. Another big factor is the size that a game takes on my PS3/PS4's harddrive, I've picked up alot of digital games over the past couple years and haven't been able to install them because I lack the space, so clearing a game that's around 20GB (Like DC Universe was when I finished it last year) will let me install alot more than if I were to complete a game like Texas Cheat'em or Farming Simulator (90 and 462MB respectivly).
 
With the start of the FInancial Year Backlog challenge last month, I'm hoping that I can really start getting through my backlog and getting to games that I've left behind

[penumbrous]

I use a spreadsheet listing my backlog, time, difficulty etc. Then browse through it too pick what I feel like playing usually based on genre but sometimes I focus on older games with multiplayer aspect in case the servers get shut down.