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How to clear backlog while being able to enjoy new games


JEDI_BROTHERS

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I have the desire to buy these games I don't have and play them but my backlog keeps haunting me so I decided a smart way to balance both of them together without burning out on old games

 

The way is: before you start a new game you must platinum one game from your backlog and only after you get the platinum you can start the new game (try your best not to let the platinum or 100% slide on the new game either) 

 

I think this is a good way to balance out clearing your backlog and enjoying new games. What do you think 

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I think a lot depends on if you care about what your completion is or not.  Think of it this way, if you buy a game and don't play it, it just is added to the backlog too.  I've used a few methods to balance things a bit though.  One is to play a few incomplete games in my profile for long enough to increase their trophy grade a bit.  So I played 5 E ranked games up to D.  I then continued to play the one I had the most fun with until I had the plat.  That was a nice balance because I made some progress in some games I barely played and got far enough to get excited about playing them and then went back to the one I had the most fun with.  I got to most of them eventually, but that's part of why I now have no E ranked games unless I just started something recently.

 

Another thing that can work is to devote a small amount of time each day to an older game and then the rest to something you're more eager to play.  This is especially good if what remains are some long grindy trophies until you get a plat or you have a long time before another trophy in a game.  Another idea to is go find a short game and knock it out.  I use the PSNP+ script to keep a listing of my unplayed backlog and sometimes I'll go sort that by rarity and pick the game with the highest rarity to knock something off the list fast.  I also will join some of the various events in the forums because sometimes those help give me some inspiration to try games I would have kept putting off. and encourage finishing the games.  Having people working towards a similar goal can make tackling the backlog more fun too.  Though a drawback of events is that you can end up finding out about stuff you never would have found on your own that you'd enjoy and your backlog then gets bigger.

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Honestly, I just pretend my backlog doesn't exist (like that math book under your bed) and play what I like, but I think it's different for everyone. Everyone has their own schedule to squeeze games into so everyone tackles it differently. You're way seems good though. It's a nice self-reward system imo. 

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2 hours ago, JEDI_BROTHERS said:

The way is: before you start a new game you must platinum one game from your backlog and only after you get the platinum you can start the new game

This won't really work if you keep buying new games. Because of this. You'll play one older game then a newer game. Every time you buy a new game it will just push other games in the middle of your collection toward the back of the list into your "backlog" and you won't make any progress. It's a 1 for 1 trade off. Your backlog might not grow any larger but it won't do much to clear it out. Cause if you buy a new game every time you finish an old one there is no progress. Unless you DON'T BUY ANY NEW GAMES at all.. And we all know that's not going to happen lol... I have the best system for this situation. You ready? Not many people will do this (myself included) but it's the most surefire way to clear out a backlog. I SHOULD do it.. Maybe I will do it one day. Ok this is what you have to do. You look though your games. And you start with the oldest games you own first. Don't worry about the new ones. You already own them. They aren't going anywhere. Unless it's a multiplayer game. I would advise doing those first. Because the older a multiplayer game gets, you'll have less and less people you'll have to play with. People will move on to other newer games And you'll risk server shutdown. Single player games will be good forever! You can do them anytime. If a game is good now. It will still be a good game in 5 years from now. You won't miss anything. It will Just be and older game. Soooo just play the oldest games first. And work towards your newer ones. Good luck!!!! 

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You'll want to complete/plat at least 2 backlog games before you buy/play new ones. That's what I've been trying to do, but it doesn't always suit, especially when I want to take advantage of sales. I also have many long JRPGs in my backlog, so I might not always be in the mood to play those. Saying that, you should do what's best for you. 

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I’ve come to learn my ps3 backlog especially is there for a reason - the games are hard, grindy, and/or tedious to plat or 100%. But I finally have been starting to tackle it. I played nova-111 for example and got all but three trophies without even finishing the game. I bought a few new ones I admit recently but haven’t touched them until I get through the backlog more. 

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Not a bad idea. Though having to plat a game before getting a new one could end up being a pain.

 

My way of doing things is just finishing a game before starting a new one, less annoying this way. Not being too interested in recent releases has also kept the backlog down.

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The only way I slowed my backlog from growing was... Instead of buying games, even when they're an incredible deal, I just add them to a list. The money I would have "saved" buying them for a great deal, only to sit on a shelf for a decade or two, is still a waste if I have never gotten around to using the thing I paid the money for. 

 

I have a Switch list with about a dozen games on it, I have a PS3 list with maybe two dozen games on it (bought a lot before I refined my process), I have a PS4 list with two dozen games on it, same with Vita. And no doubt I'll start a PS5 list. Ballpark estimates on what I would have spent on the games on my list is easily over a grand to get most of these games at a good price and obviously more than that if I bought them at regular or launch prices.

 

The dozens of PSP and PS3 and Vita games on my shelves (not even looking at my PS2 and older backlog) are a reminder enough of how much money I have spent on things I haven't used yet, When I'm ready to play another game, even if I pay "full price" for a game and then play it right away, it was a better use of my money.

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