Need a little advice on how to not feel like games need to be rushed.

[RJP_X]

I see other people do it as far as getting platinums, go from one 50-150 hour game to the next at a constant fast pace and I do for periods of time as well, where i can make games feel less enjoyable. Often lately I dread how much longer a game is going to be and what kinda steps you have to take to reach the plat. so sometimes I'll be enjoying a game, but thinking long term how much there is left, get panicked and try something else.

 

I have Asperger's and I'm really obsessive over gaming, always have been lol. But I've always had this one thing in my life that I feel like I got to rush, in school if something was due in a week or two I'd try to finish it that day or within a few days cause I'd want to get it over. When I was in school I use to not sleep most nights cause I'd be so anxious about what it was going to be like and getting it over. I have that same problem now, at 24 if I know something is coming up I wont sleep cause I want to get whats coming up over quick. I worry about that if I had a job if I wouldn't sleep, and I don't go many places cause of anxiety.

 

I have this obsession right now of trying to get more anime styled game platinums than what i have for regular game platinums, I'll rush quite a few in a row but then I just get burned out and try some regular games for a bit, enjoy them till I'm burnt then get burned out again. Then end up at a point for awhile where I wont enjoy much at all, or just don't feel bothered to put any time into anything. Thing is I'm so obsessed that I'm not even taking the time to watch as much anime, its more gaming that takes up my day anyways, and I feel like there really isn't much time in a day, so i'm either racing my days to get through a game/or show. or just not able to other days and accomplish nothing.

 

It don't help that I'm tempted by so many PSN sales like the flash sale cause i got a saint seiya game, SAO HF, and corpse party. which now i got to watch the animes of saint seiya and SAO while playing the games. but just like anything in my backlog that i plan on getting back to, and whatever i add to it, i just want advice on how to really take things at a relaxing and enjoyable pace.

 

this is my first post here btw, not sure if i'm on the right forums sorry, and sorry for so much writing omg, and my weirdness. ;'c i was googling this issue and couldn't seem to find anything. i cant think of a better place to ask than maybe a trophy site, maybe someone(s) have something similar or have some advice. i feel nervous entering this. >.<

[xZoneHunter]

You should definitely take your time with games on the 1st playthrough. Read a guide to see if there are any missables or things you should do on your 1st playthrough, but other than that just enjoy the ride. Games are more than just another platinum. And if you play them like that, i'm sure you'll enjoy getting the platinum a lot more. 

 

Another good thing to do is to mix things up. Make a list of 5 games you want to play/finish (mix it with different genres/platinum lengths and what not) and switch between them every few days. 

Edited September 24, 2016 by xZoneHunter

[StrickenBiged]

Trophies are only as important as you make them. It might help to remind yourself that you are totally in control here. No one else cares about your PSN score as much as you, so don't feel under pressure to improve it at the cost of your lifestyle.

It might help also to try and be a bit less hard on yourself. If you stop enjoying a game, put it down and play or do something else like catch up on your anime. No point in playing a game once it has stopped being a source of entertainment for you. Keep doing that and you'll only go on to resent your hobby.

I don't have Aspergers, but I am one of those people who can develop bad habits and minor obsessions alarmingly quickly, so I hope that these two tips help.

All the best.

[angelgrievous]

I don't really know your gaming habits and I haven't looked at you profile so I'm firing in the dark here but... 

 

Playing video games is not a job, unless it is your job.  In which case I highly doubt you'd care about trophies.  I may be way off here and I'm sorry if I am but, try to take things slowly and in stride.  Don't look at your backlog as a timebomb but more as a bucket list.  If it's something you can get to then awesome.  Play it, play it at your own pace and try to enjoy it.  Remember that a plat is not a symbol of greatness to others but a personal accomplishment.  A plat is not designed for a weekend warrior but for a true believer.  Someone who loves the game and wants to get as much out of it as possible.  If it feels like a chore then move on.  There is no shame in games.  There is only what you take from each experience.  Try a new hobby for one week.  Make it a goal to get the "plat" in woodworking, or drawing, or writing a short story.  Design trophies for yourself based on a new hobby and see if you can get it done.  Take a few days off and play some games you may have played as a kid, rediscover you love for gaming.  Remember why you still care.  It will all come back to you, I promise.

[FLUX_Rezulta]

You should definitely take your time with games on the 1st playthrough. Read a guide to see if they're any missables or things you should do on your 1st playthrough, but other than that just enjoy the ride. Games are more than just another platinum. And if you play them like that, i'm sure you'll enjoy getting the platinum a lot more. 

 

Another good thing to do is to mix things up. Make a list of 5 games you want to play/finish (mix it with different genres/platinum lengths and what not) and switch between them every few days.

Just as Zonehunter says games are more than just about getting trophies. Just try to have a relaxing 1st playthrough keeping in mind any missables. Play at your own pace but try not to stress about trying to fly through it. Try and enjoy the game for what it is.

Also, welcome to the PSNP community! There's so much to explore on this website and if there's any help you need then don't hesitate to ask for help.

[PooPooBlast]

I don't really know your gaming habits and I haven't looked at you profile so I'm firing in the dark here but... 

 

Playing video games is not a job, unless it is your job.  In which case I highly doubt you'd care about trophies.  I may be way off here and I'm sorry if I am but, try to take things slowly and in stride.  Don't look at your backlog as a timebomb but more as a bucket list.  If it's something you can get to then awesome.  Play it, play it at your own pace and try to enjoy it.  Remember that a plat is not a symbol of greatness to others but a personal accomplishment.  A plat is not designed for a weekend warrior but for a true believer.  Someone who loves the game and wants to get as much out of it as possible.  If it feels like a chore then move on.  There is no shame in games.  There is only what you take from each experience.  Try a new hobby for one week.  Make it a goal to get the "plat" in woodworking, or drawing, or writing a short story.  Design trophies for yourself based on a new hobby and see if you can get it done.  Take a few days off and play some games you may have played as a kid, rediscover you love for gaming.  Remember why you still care.  It will all come back to you, I promise.

Wow such beautiful words. Good to see some helpful and empathetic people here.

[KingGuy420]

For a long time, I was pretty hardcore obsessive about trophies. Then I got hooked on a few games that I cared more about in game goals then I cared about trophies, loot based games did it for me. This REALLY helped me remember that there was more to games then trophies. I still hunt trophies, obviously, but it's definitely not my main priority anymore. I don't know what would do it for you but hopefully there's something out there for ya.

BTW, welcome to PSNP. Can't believe I never thought to recommend this place to you before lol.

[ProfBambam55]

there's a similar thread about game "burnout" if you're interested here:
http://psnprofiles.com/forums/topic/41323-do-you-get-videogame-burnout/
seems pretty simple to me...the question is the answer...how do i not rush games?...don't rush games...
not to be judgmental here but frankly, it kinda sounds like you have too much spare time on your hands...since you haven't mentioned anything about career/studies, family, other hobbies, etc. i'm gonna have to go with try filling up some of your free spaces with constructive things to do...want an extraordinarily fuilfilling activity that costs you next to nothing?....volunteer your time to terminally ill people at your local hospital...it might make your gaming woes seems less important....

[Satoshi Ookami]

Maybe try to give yourself completion goal.

That way instead of playing 10s of games, you will only concentrate on a small portion

It's pretty fun seeing old games getting slowly completed and your own completion raise

[DARKB1KE]

Trophy hunting is a job and a chore.  It's a lot of work and dedication.  Anybody that says otherwise is lying to you. 

The number of hours required to plat most games is absurd.  Especially when you have 200+ games in your library/backlog, it adds up to a lot of stress. 

Combined with the fact of dead servers, game shutdowns, terrible boosters (selfish people) on this site, and a whole lot of other problems, yeah trophy hunting sucks at times.  

Edited September 24, 2016 by DARKB1KE

[ladynadiad]

Looking at your profile, I think it's more that you are picking games that are longer and do require multiple playthroughs to platinum that is the issue.  I think what might help is to actually knock off some easy platinums from games that either only take one playthrough and have mostly story related trophies or if they require multiple playthroughs that the game is shorter.  With that you'd have the satisfaction of adding some platinums in a short time and would feel less of a need to rush them because they are shorter.  I don't know if you own any games you haven't played yet, but if you have them Akiba's Trip and Ys: Memories of Celceta are two good ones that take around 40-50 hours to platinum.  If you don't have Akiba's Trip, it's in the flash sale currently running for a pretty nice and low price.

 

And since you mentioned wanting some more anime styled game platinums, have you tried visual novels?  Most of those are anime styled and they are easy platinums, often around 30 hours even considering that they often require multiple playthroughs.  The Danganronpa games are really good if you don't mind violence.  Or if you'd like more of a hybrid of a point and click and visual novel, you could try Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward which is also a pretty easy platinum.  Good stories either way but I know the sheer amount of reading isn't for everyone.  It might be worth it to give one a try since a different sort of game also may be a nice change as well.

[PSXtreme_]

Play the game for the game... 'nuff said

 

Edited September 24, 2016 by PSXtreme_

[SugarIsTheDevil]

Another option not mentioned here yet is therapy. You're problems seem a bit more complex than gaming alone. Psychologists are trained to help you with those. Of course you'll have to want to see one and work for it if you want to succeed, but it won't get any worse if you try.

Edited September 24, 2016 by SugarIsTheDevil

[Dragon-Archon]

You should definitely take your time with games on the 1st playthrough. Read a guide to see if there are any missables or things you should do on your 1st playthrough, but other than that just enjoy the ride. Games are more than just another platinum. And if you play them like that, i'm sure you'll enjoy getting the platinum a lot more. 

 

Another good thing to do is to mix things up. Make a list of 5 games you want to play/finish (mix it with different genres/platinum lengths and what not) and switch between them every few days. 

Trophies are only as important as you make them. It might help to remind yourself that you are totally in control here. No one else cares about your PSN score as much as you, so don't feel under pressure to improve it at the cost of your lifestyle.

It might help also to try and be a bit less hard on yourself. If you stop enjoying a game, put it down and play or do something else like catch up on your anime. No point in playing a game once it has stopped being a source of entertainment for you. Keep doing that and you'll only go on to resent your hobby.

I don't have Aspergers, but I am one of those people who can develop bad habits and minor obsessions alarmingly quickly, so I hope that these two tips help.

All the best.

I don't really know your gaming habits and I haven't looked at you profile so I'm firing in the dark here but... 

 

Playing video games is not a job, unless it is your job.  In which case I highly doubt you'd care about trophies.  I may be way off here and I'm sorry if I am but, try to take things slowly and in stride.  Don't look at your backlog as a timebomb but more as a bucket list.  If it's something you can get to then awesome.  Play it, play it at your own pace and try to enjoy it.  Remember that a plat is not a symbol of greatness to others but a personal accomplishment.  A plat is not designed for a weekend warrior but for a true believer.  Someone who loves the game and wants to get as much out of it as possible.  If it feels like a chore then move on.  There is no shame in games.  There is only what you take from each experience.  Try a new hobby for one week.  Make it a goal to get the "plat" in woodworking, or drawing, or writing a short story.  Design trophies for yourself based on a new hobby and see if you can get it done.  Take a few days off and play some games you may have played as a kid, rediscover you love for gaming.  Remember why you still care.  It will all come back to you, I promise.

These pretty much say it all. But for the sake of emphasis: just try to have fun while playing games and things will go much better.

[KiraxKira]

You shouldn't feel nervous about getting advice from a community of trophy hunters. For the most part, I've found this community to be really supportive and encouraging, especially since we share similar struggles with our hobby. We're here to listen to your venting and to cheer you on.

Being a type A person myself, I totally get how you can be your biggest critic, even when you don't necessarily want to be. It's hard to fight that feeling. My advice would be to agree with others in setting smaller goals, so you feel accomplished in achieving those and not bogged down when you haven't achieved the platinum. JRPGs are a huge time commitment. I got really frustrated trying to go back and grind out part of FFXIII. Heck, I still haven't finished Rainbow Moon. But to me, it's the enjoyment of the games that I value most. Try not to lose track of why you started trophy hunting. Surely you loved gaming first, right? I also suggest playing a few games at once to switch through. It helps me to not burn out when I'm stuck in a grind. Maybe also try throwing in some easier plats (that you'll enjoy) to help keep you motivated.

Another option not mentioned here yet is therapy. You're problems seem a bit more complex than gaming alone. Psychologists are trained to help you with those. Of course you'll have to want to see one and work for it if you want to succeed, but it won't get any worse if you try.

I agree wholely with this. Mental health is very important, and therapy can help make sure you're at your very best. They could help you create strategies that work well for you to help manage your anxiety.

Hopefully you find some of these opinions helpful. Don't hesitate to reach out to us when you need to talk.

[Manuelito]

Since you know you have Asperger I assume you already had some kind of talk with doctors and specialists. I have a family member with Asperger and one of the symptoms is known as "obsessive/compulsive disorder". Seeing what you said on the OP make me believe you have it as well. Now I'm not a psychologist so some of the stuff I say may not be correct but I can still share the experience we had in the past with this family member. He had to follow a psychologist for a couple of months and what he was told to do was to:

1- Start doing some sports to release/alleviate some of the stress through physical activities.

2- get out of his comfort zone. Although it was very hard and traumatic at the start it ended up working with nice results.

Now, of course, it's easier said than done but these two "tips" alongside good therapy and, at the beginning, medicinals helped him get through his disorders. I hope this will help you with it and good luck!

Edited September 24, 2016 by Winston

[ProfBambam55]

jesus...i totally skipped over the part about Aspergers when reading your first post and clued in while reading the post above...i owe you an apology as i interpreted it as a "poor me, i play video games so much that i get tired of it" and assumed perhaps you had too much time on your hands...i usually hit up this site before going to bed so often am pretty tired when reading posts...i think pese is headed in the right direction here...it seems your condition, depending on what symptoms you have, will make you obsessive regardless of what you do...if not video games, then something else would take its place...rather than asking how should i not rush video games on a site dealing with video games, perhaps looking into proper therapy might be the solution if you're not already involved with a specialist...i'm really not an expert here, but it would seem gaming is not the problem...whether or not video games can be part of your treatment is something you might want to discuss with an expert who knows more about your specific situation...
 
i taught kindergarten/elementary school kids all through my 20s and one of the most difficult situations for me was always when i ended up with a student who had a behavioral/mental disability...it's not such much the student but the lack of training that i had in understanding how to treat them in my classroom...sometimes it was so disruptive that i had to talk privately with the parents and suggest getting help...i always found it unfair to these kids because more often than not the parents' mentality was "my child is normal...he/she will outgrow it/learn to cope with it...you must not be a very good teacher"...fortunately, now more than ever, our understanding of these disorders is getting better and treatment options are increasing anually...learning how to live with your condition in check might unlock a heck of a lot more doors than any platinum trophy ever could...you've made it this far and asked for help on this site...maybe it's time to take it to the next level?...

Edited September 25, 2016 by ProfBambam55

[RJP_X]

there's a lot of well thought out responses here and i want to thank everyone here for taking the time to respond like you have and with as much effort, as well as welcoming me to the boards. i also want to apologize once more as i believe i have in my OP for my craziness. but obviously i really couldn't think of a better place to ask these kind of questions, than a trophy hunting site.

 

i wish i could respond to everyone by direct post for each person but that would take quite a lot of novel quantity amount of typing to everyone so i'll try to cover it up in this post.

 

i was surprised to see kingguy420 make a post here as we are friends on PSN and talk a bit time to time so i felt a bit embarrassed when i signed onto PSN earlier and told me this was a good site i was like oh no he saw my thread. ;O_o

 

anyways yeah with asperger's i've always had a tough time with OCD, i've always had switching of what i'll be obsessed with. but when i get over other obsessions gaming really takes over. i've been trophy hunting on and off since 2012 sometime, for the first 3 years i've had times of going more than half a year without getting any platinums. but ever since i quit drinking over a year ago, my gaming and trophy obsession took a huge leap. it was basically the replacement for a bad habit i had. i think because gaming does create a lot of happiness or maybe intense euphoria is the better words for it? that makes it so hard to step away from it. but when i go through droughts in moods of not being able to enjoy to that level i get depressed and feel like there's nothing else to do. although music for me has that effect, maybe sometimes more than video games that intense euphoria feel. but its hard to just sit and relax to music i gotta be interacting with a game or something. i especially at times oddly love the heavy grindy parts of games that are pretty mindless just so i can enjoy music while doing them, that's how i get most of my plats. or put as much time into a game as i do.

 

but sometimes its really tough to enjoy other things like anime cause while i'm watching i'll be thinking about just how many games i got to get to, and like someone here said, its probably best to think of a game more like a bucket list. which i'm not %100 sure what that term means, i'm not the most wisest of persons lol. but the statement of basically just look at everything as another choice, rather than a to do list. that's how i want to help myself to feel at this point, instead of concerning myself after awhile,''man, i'm not getting a plat. anytime soon... to finally clear a game'' i hate feeling like that, but i do. i can easily jump into a game where i left off if i was tired of it after so long, so i somehow need to learn to stop concerning myself with,''theres 15 nearly or over 100 hour plats. i need to make happen'' some of them i like coming back to after awhile and putting more grind into like the kingdom hearts games. but i get upset with myself if i switch to something else without finishing the tasks.

 

or there's some games that i really want to get into but whilst looking over the trophy guide i get overwhelmed cause some of or even most of the trophies look confusing, whether its game features, or certain tasks you have to do at times or throughout, there's quite some of those games i've yet to start or get very far in cause of a trophy guide making a lot of the game sound like a lot of confusing things are ahead. tales of zestiria comes to mind lol.

 

@laidynaidiad: all of those games were pretty fun, have the plats. for them all. i was considering the vita version of akibas trip since it has a separate trophy list from the ps3 but i got plenty from this sale. sometimes i wish i could try to make a few months without buying from sales but man, especially flash sales, i cant exit one really ever without at least one game. ;'c

 

but yeah as far as therapy its a bit complicated in my house hold, its really tough going places when ma has two younger siblings of mine to take care of, and my anxiety being so bad i cant take city buses i'd honestly probably be so nervous i'd go way past the destination, its happened before when i tried it, i'm not overly familiar with my outside surroundings as i don't get out really ever. and when i start going for walks to try and get exercise its two things why i quit exercise everytime within a month or two: one if i'm outside i'm so anxious and worried if others are looking at me or will bother me, and two, i don't feel the benefits of exercise very often. sometimes it makes me more tired and depressed oddly? oh and a third, which implies to most things besides exercise i feel like most things are distracting from game time. i get real miserable and bored when i'm stuck doing other things or stuck with some family members a whole day. (i guess i'm kinda like legit addicted to gaming lol... ;c )

 

wow, i want to say sorry again, now for this. there's probably more that i wanted to say, but there's so many responses(i didn't know it'd be so active here. so i took a good hour or so, i hope no one feels they were ignored i'm trying to consider everyone here. ;>.<

ew. so many emoticons were edited into smiley ones. ;'c