How do you complete your games ?

[wasp_f15ting]

So the other night I had to get my smithing to 100 in Skyrim so to stay awake during this boring piece of shit task I put a vicks inhaler in my nose to give me a burst of sharp pain so I didn't nod off.. since I have a chest infection anyway it wasn't that bad.. this is all because I wanted to see for myself what

Spoiler alert

dragon armor

[close]

would look like.

Prior to this, I have put really powerful mouthwash in my mouth so I can complete boring laps of Forza and also put a handful of fisherman's friends in my mouth to stop me from dozing off. This all sounds a bit OTT but sometimes I really do get bored of racing games, and games where you have to grind a bit to progress. By the looks of some of your achievements you are all far more hardcore than I and are completionists too.. so whats your secret?

[The Region Legion]

If playing the game is that much of a chore that you struggle to stay awake, maybe just don't play it? That's certainly what happened with me and Assassin's Creed 2. Played for about 5 hours in total, met da Vinci a few times and was just utterly bored. This has not been a problem in Saints Row 3, I'm hooked and can't stop.

So to answer your question, I finish games by enjoying them.

[mobias]

I must admit there's a large part of me that dislikes the boring procedural side of gaming. Just finished U3 a few days back and I deliberately played it on the easy setting just so I could sit back and enjoy the story and take in the splendour of the game without getting stressed out going through the same gunfights again and again and again until you win your way through them. I think my attention span must just be rubbish these days when it comes to gaming. If I spend too long over one bit I tend to forget where I actually am in the grand scheme of things and with totally linear story driven games like Uncharted that's not a good thing. I'd rather enjoy the story than wrestle with gunfights. 

Anyway I totally limit my gaming in the evenings to about an hour or so. Though that changes when games like GTA come out and gaming genuinely becomes more fun than reality.   

[Neomod]

I'm with The Region Legion on this one. If a game is boring me I'll just stop playing it.[nb]step forward Quantum of Solace ye bastid![/nb]

[Famous Mortimer]

I had a revelation while playing WoW, years ago, that this sort of gaming just wasn't for me. If I wasn't enjoying it, then I didn't bother. I barely ever replay games (apart from ones where just controlling the main character is a lot of fun, like Tomb Raider: Legend) and any element of grinding for me nowadays just results in me turning it off, or getting rid of it.

I think of the sheer volume of time that some friends have mine have sunk into games like WoW, and I just think of all the other things they could have done - admittedly, I've spent most of that time reading and watching films rather than doing anything particularly useful, but you get the point.

[wasp_f15ting]

I think this is the main reason I don't play games for months on end. I looked at my gaming behavior and it seems that I get really off put by games when they get tedious.

Like you say about U3, on normal it is really hard for no bloody reason. You need to do 5 head shots to kill someone.. there is no way you can enjoy the story this way. I might start to cruise games from now on as I really don't want to get put off by them..I think the last game to put me off gaming was Halo Reach on legendary - which is my fault really. But yeah dying again and again really put an end to my enjoyment of the game.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

On consoles I only really play the Bethesda Games  - Oblivion, Fallout, Skyrim; which after an initial burst of interest and excitement, get put to oneside, and then I play them over a period of months - again usually in bursts.  But I can go weeks or months without playing them.

With other games, if they're not interesting enough to keep me awake, I'd not play them again.

[HappyTree]

I remember I grinded (ground) in Fable I for about 2 days to generate lots of cash. It was some gambling/save game cheat workaround. It was repetitive so I put on some music and listened to all the Queen and Led Zeppelin albums in order, back to back. It was good, like meditation. And at the end of it I was a gazillionaire and bought all the best stuff.

I also like to do treasure hunt quests (like the little statues in Spiderman 3 or orb collecting in Crackdown) whilst listening to podcasts or talk radio. So basically I find it good to split my attention between audio and visual stimuli.

[Neomod]

On consoles I only really play the Bethesda Games  - Oblivion, Fallout, Skyrim; which after an initial burst of interest and excitement, get put to oneside, and then I play them over a period of months - again usually in bursts.  But I can go weeks or months without playing them.

With other games, if they're not interesting enough to keep me awake, I'd not play them again.

I did this with Fallout but returning to it I've no idea what's going on so I think I'm going to have to start it again.

[Zetetic]

I've had that problem with Planescape: Torment and having no idea who anyone is or why they're following me. Which does seem sort of apt, but...

[The Boston Crab]

I just play Nintendo games where they have one brilliant bit after another. Solves the problem.

[madhair60]

I just play Nintendo games where they have one brilliant bit after another. Solves the problem.

Which ones?

[The Boston Crab]

SMG, SMG2 and Nintendogs.

[Brent Cockman]

The last game I played that had me doing any traditional grinding was Red Dead Redemption, but I enjoyed it in that game as it was all for optional stuff and the world was big and fun enough to get lost in if/when the grinding got boring.

I think this is why I predominantly play fighters and love them ahead of almost all other kinds of games. If I grind, I want to see an improvement in ME, not my character's attributes. Grinding in fighting games is fun for me because I see real improvements in my reaction times, strategic thinking, dexterity, and so on. And it's also that pay-off from grinding in fighting games that makes using a shit character to beat a tough opponent using a good character so rewarding.[nb]And why I will always be an advocate of reasonably imbalanced fighting games ahead of balanced fighting games.[/nb]

[wheatgod]

I now tend to only buy AAA titles I like the look of and have had reviews that push my buttons - so rarely am I disappointed by a game.

I try to only have one game on the go at a time - once I complete it, I'll sell it on and get the next one. Exceptions are multiplayer games (MW3 etc) that sit in the background for a while.

I play on hard difficulty to present a challenge and prolong the game a bit.

I'm something of a completist - explore every nook and cranny, do every sidequest, hack every terminal and so on. Tend to finish games with loads of currency/extra items/ammo.

[Garfield And Friends]

I now tend to only buy AAA titles I like the look of and have had reviews that push my buttons - so rarely am I disappointed by a game.

And there's so many AAA titles this gen (and last generation), we're really spoilt for choice.

[DocDaneeka]

I normally just play to the end of the main story, I do like a side mission in Rpgs or the like so if they are good I'll usually do them too.

If getting the collectables or achievements is actually fun I'll do it. If it's just looking for pigeons with the aid of a guide or shit like that I won't bother. Achievements are laughably named anyway and Achievement Unlocked should always be read in a very sarcastic tone of voice.

[jimmymckooel]

I'm a seasoned gamer having played them for 20 years!  If a game is good, I'll play it again once I've completed it. I get annoyed if a game is too easy, like fable.  Dying in games constantly is annoying, like that ridiculous electric woman in Deus Ex, but it adds to its longevity.  If the ai is non existent, I turn it off.  Games with challenging ai which are well story boarded like gears of war or halo spur me on to complete a game and I'll play them again.  Gears of War1 was made in 2006 and its still great - must've finished it 5 times.  Multiplayer games like Left 4 dead or COD never really end because every game is different in a way.