In reality, the backlog is actually the way. The funniest part of this to me is how it plays to something all of us that are parents have probably done and some of us might recognize: We try to avoid something we experienced in our lives and we’ve chosen to never let our kids have to experienced… only to find out later the kid has had different, but still unpleasant experiences because of that choice. The reality is that every parent will make mistakes (as all humans do) and every parent will try to save a kid from the stuff… Read more »
Dodgy
2 years ago
When abouts was his birthday? Because we might be on to something here. Was it laziness, lack of dedication, different priorities? Or did he really want to savor the game, complete it to it’s fullest, really take it in?
You need to be careful here Tim. A side effect of his way of upbringing is that you may create someone who rushes games. Who skips all the side quests just to finish a game and therefor misses most of the details and it’s nuances.
This is the age old quandary : Is it more about the journey or more about the place you get to at the end? A lot of us growing up being goal driven and thought it was all about the endpoint; It was your focus for a long time, but you didn’t stop to appreciate the scenery and to have other things catch your eye along the way and open you up to new opportunities. Then you get enough of these milestones and targeted goals achieved, you realized what you lost along the way. And of course, if you were… Read more »
Kasaix
2 years ago
There’s still games from the DS, PSP, and PS3 I haven’t finished. Or started. *sobs* God I need help.
Same here. But that is because I take the “collecting” part of the hobby very seriously. That and that I have a pre-AOS night goblin army consisting of close to 1000 models…
*Looks at my father’s three rooms of scale plastic models. Then to my stacks of boxes of miniatures from different games.*
Yeah I don’t have a clue either.
Models were the thing far enough back. I remember doing a lousy paint job on my U.S. CVN Enterprise with all of its little plastic planes. But I loved that model. I still have at least one big box of unfinished models I haven’t touched in decades because I did them with my grandad. After he died, something went out of it and I can’t touch them anymore.
About 400-500 unpainted minis, about 60 unbuilt or unpainted vehicles… and that’s only in the scifi section where I have about 2500 figures painted. Of course, I haven’t bought any in years because there just isn’t the time and space now that I have a family.
Freddie
2 years ago
Tough, yet fair.
John Swift
2 years ago
OMG. I carfully scrolled down on this one to try and not spoil whatever crazy thing you made it about and I’m glad I did.
GCo
2 years ago
This hits so close home it almost ain’t funny. Almost.
Eldest Gruff
2 years ago
I’ve lost track of how many amazing, fantastic, highly rated games that I own, which I’ve never even had time to try yet, but bought simply because they were on sale.
And how many games are in my backlog because I stopped one game “just to try that new game” and got completely sidetracked and never returned.
It was easier when I was a kid and didn’t have any income. I had to stretch each game out for as long as I could. Now my biggest constraint is time.
I know that feeling all too well. I have over a thousand games in my backlog, and I don’t have time to play them. Maybe after I retire…if I ever get the chance.
Yeah I used to pick games when I was a kid based on how much content I could get out of them. Was a big fan of sprawling RPGs for that reason. It’s the opposite these days, I bought The Witcher III a while ago, played it for an entire 8 hour plane ride and realized I’d basically done nothing.
Eldest Gruff
2 years ago
Also – as Tim’s emotions get wilder and wilder, the moustache grows.
Soon, all will be ‘stache.
Casra
2 years ago
If a game is good enough, you’ll play it through. If it is not, you will not. Once you realize it is not you who has failed, but rather the game that let you down, then you will conquer the “Backlog”.
Until that time, it will gnaw at your soul, and relish in your agony.
There’s a huge flaw in that reasoning I can clearly see.
What about the titles you bought, but never launched? Haven’t even installed/downloaded?
Plus, from a psychological point of view it seems like a pretty good example of denial.
I’m not a native speaker, could you simplify and explain what you meant, please?
Adun
2 years ago
Second frame: “and I now I can’t stop” I think is a typo…
Pal87
2 years ago
I play games that have no end.
Problem solved.
lechuckGL
2 years ago
Let’s not forget the Steam/Epic-Sale-Mania: is this game free or cheaper than a candy bar? I’ll add it to my game library, maybe play it for 10 minutes, and never touch it again.
Michael L Livote
2 years ago
But, but….Steam Summer Sale…..*sobs*…..
El_
2 years ago
Ah, yes. “The Backlog of Shame”. I know it all too well..
Last edited 2 years ago by El_
Ziegfried
2 years ago
Oh, c’mon Tim, you just don’t want to pay full price on launch, right? 😀
I was so very bummed when I finished Witcher 3’s second DLC and came to the realization that it really was over. I have not enjoyed a game’s story that much in a loooooooooong time, and the fact that the Blood and Wine DLC was INCREDIBLE definitely did not help with the subsequent withdrawal.
James Rye
2 years ago
I honestly wonder if I will be ever able to play all of my backlog games…
DeusFever
2 years ago
On PlayStation, every backlog title will end up “free” on PlayStation+. It hurts like an elbow to the stomach.
pgok
2 years ago
I feel like I might hold a record for not finishing a game. I have (literally) never finished the main quest in Skyrim, even after hundreds of hours played, and no DLC. Why? Because I want to “finish” a sandbox game, and “Oooh, you need me to save your chicken in the next town over? Say no more! Alduin can wait.” and also “You know, I’ve spent a lot of time as a sharpshooting mage, maybe I should try to be a heavy hitter instead.” 50 hours later “And I’ve progressed into a sharpshooting mage again…” Please no spoilers. I’m… Read more »
Legends state that Alduin was slain not by sword, nor arrow, nor flaming glyph, but by sheer boredom, as he scried the Dovahkiin for nigh-on three hundred hours: gathering the Stones of Barenziah, stealing knick-knacks from random NPCs homes for the Thieves Guild, working to create a college for bards, and more.
His last words were a curse to an unknown Aedra, Tohd’oward, as the Dovahkiin’s exploration of a random cave stuck him in Blackreach for the umpteenth time.
I was super excited for Skyrim, then I played it and realized how few ways there actually are to play the game. I started a new game and decided to focus on the main storyline. They do a piss poor job of making the main plot feel more interesting than any of the other side plotlines.
This, but morrowind for me. Being able to custom craft your own spells and create all sorts of crazy effects and light shows was a good time.
Not that Brian
2 years ago
I feel this so so much.
Luigi’s mansion must take a backseat to Arceus however. I’m sorry Luigi, but pokemon…
Robin Sizemore
2 years ago
I’m okay with the games I didn’t finish, either because I decided I didn’t care for them or they got too hard. But I do have a large backlog of things that never even got a fair try.
Brenton
2 years ago
I was always really good at finishing games and not starting new ones until I had completed what I was playing. I was playing Majoras Mask, and had picked up Windwaker to play after. Also grabbed a couple high-rated games as well to play because they looked different then regular marque games.
Then I tried out World of Warcraft.
I still haven’t finished Majora’s Mask, or even started the other games. They’re gathering dust.
RIP. This was me too until I found Dota (Dota 1 at the time, now Dota 2). I played and finished Doom 1, Heretic, Starcraft, Diablo, Warcraft I, Warcraft II, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R and the sequels. But since Dota, haven’t played any other game.
That said I will be trying the next S.T.A.L.K.E.R when it comes out though. And I’m still waiting for Half-Life 3…
Last edited 2 years ago by James
Namefield
2 years ago
It’s okay to miss out on bought games if you’re already getting what you wanted from the games you have. Must consume it all is only a Borg directive. You’ll automatically rob yourself of a lot of quality time that any good game has to offer if you plan to just rush through it to complete your “played that one” list. Thousands of backlogs can’t be wrong on this.
foducool
2 years ago
good parenting lmao
Muppet
2 years ago
Nothing wrong with a solid backlog. Lets you play whatever you want, whenever you want. And if you don’t ever finish some game, just don’t worry about it, no one else will judge nor care.
faaresemo
2 years ago
I mean, technically the new games you don’t start are added to the backlog whether you’ve begun them or not. The couple of still sealed games I have on my shelf are testament to that.
Ultimately new gamers are being born into the world with a pre-established backlog. They’ll never get through it all. I feel bad for them not being able to pick things up as they released like my age group got to do
Jesse
2 years ago
Ironically after beating Halo: Infinite I realized I had a couple months before Horizon Forbidden West, and I finally played through The Wolf Among Us. I don’t really have a backlog, but that one had sat in my Xbox cloud storage for a few years. What I enjoy more is getting into a game after the sequel has already come out, because then you can just keep playing after finishing the first one. I played Yakuza 0 on furlough in 2020, which lead me right into Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 (then I skipped a few and played Yakuza 6).… Read more »
James
2 years ago
I LOVE the post and facial expression of dad in the background. The whole joke is perfectly delivered in the last panel – both picture and wording – beautiful.
Last edited 2 years ago by James
noonecareswhoiam
2 years ago
Naw man, play a game because it’s fun, not because you want to beat it. If it stops being fun, move onto something else that’s fun. Who cares if you beat it or not
Ryan Mahood
2 years ago
Is it just me or is Tim’s mustache starting towards that of Evil Villian territory?
I’ve moved more the opposite way as I’ve gotten older. I play a game until I don’t want to play it anymore. They’re a hobby and if the effort put in isn’t worth the fun I get out I’ moving on.
Snowfae
2 years ago
800+ games on Steam alone… ;-; And thats not counting my Xbox Games Pass, PS4, or Switch libraries or the games I have on Epic. You’re a good man Tim, a good father… ;-;
Crestlinger
2 years ago
The first game company to publicly exorcise itself of NFT practices and instead incentivize people Finishing their backlogs is going to be Rich. An example: if steam sees you have 100 games downloaded and if you can show you finished half of them you get a 40% discount on your next purchase.
Soag
2 years ago
I admit it’s a problem of mine as well, but one I’m actively battling. If I can suggest something it would be what I’m doing right now. I believe somewhere in the 3rd quarter of last year I made a commitment to clean up that backlog and the goal is to erase it completely. By the end of last year I made an addition to it: games I paid for have a priority, all the freebies, no matter how good they are, have to wait patiently in line and no new titles are to be bought (yes, Dying Light 2,… Read more »
Last edited 2 years ago by Soag
GreatNate
2 years ago
This is how I have a backlog of like 800 games on steam. The backlog keeps growing. I’ve been tempted to do that steam randomizer site to pick a random game and at least play an hour of it.
Kevin Greenbaum
2 years ago
Unfortunately I have a number of games I haven’t started yet that I own, but I am working on 4 or 5 at a time, currently Resident Evil Village, Metroid Dread, Pokémon BD and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (I’m depressed at how far behind I am with that series).
southpawfrenzy
2 years ago
I see it more as investing in my retirement. Because in 30 years I might be able to afford and purchase a GPU that will play today’s games, and I’ll have the time to play them!
Last edited 2 years ago by southpawfrenzy
Dom
2 years ago
Tim, you have a hole in the back of your throat in panel 1.
Dom
2 years ago
Even If I lived for eternity, I’d never finish my backlog. ?
Psybite
2 years ago
Haha I thought he wanted to buy into a CCG or purchase a Warhammer model until I reached the last panel.
24
That is the way.
This is the way
In reality, the backlog is actually the way. The funniest part of this to me is how it plays to something all of us that are parents have probably done and some of us might recognize: We try to avoid something we experienced in our lives and we’ve chosen to never let our kids have to experienced… only to find out later the kid has had different, but still unpleasant experiences because of that choice. The reality is that every parent will make mistakes (as all humans do) and every parent will try to save a kid from the stuff… Read more »
When abouts was his birthday? Because we might be on to something here. Was it laziness, lack of dedication, different priorities? Or did he really want to savor the game, complete it to it’s fullest, really take it in?
You need to be careful here Tim. A side effect of his way of upbringing is that you may create someone who rushes games. Who skips all the side quests just to finish a game and therefor misses most of the details and it’s nuances.
Is it worse to only play the critical path, or to be an achievement hunter?
Yes.
This is the age old quandary : Is it more about the journey or more about the place you get to at the end? A lot of us growing up being goal driven and thought it was all about the endpoint; It was your focus for a long time, but you didn’t stop to appreciate the scenery and to have other things catch your eye along the way and open you up to new opportunities. Then you get enough of these milestones and targeted goals achieved, you realized what you lost along the way. And of course, if you were… Read more »
There’s still games from the DS, PSP, and PS3 I haven’t finished. Or started. *sobs* God I need help.
You’re ok, I still have SNES games on my backlog…
I’m still planning to get back to finishing Manic Mansion on the C64
Shinobi on the Game Gear :o(
My dad gave me all his old Coleco and Atari games. Someday I’m gonna play them…
Shinobi is one of the few I ever got to the end in.
Sometimes the wanting is more sweet than the having.
Suffering in Steam backlog…
*Looking at the mountain of unfinished warhammer projects*
Don’t know what he is talking about…
Same here. But that is because I take the “collecting” part of the hobby very seriously. That and that I have a pre-AOS night goblin army consisting of close to 1000 models…
*Looks at my father’s three rooms of scale plastic models. Then to my stacks of boxes of miniatures from different games.*
Yeah I don’t have a clue either.
Are you my child from the future?
Models were the thing far enough back. I remember doing a lousy paint job on my U.S. CVN Enterprise with all of its little plastic planes. But I loved that model. I still have at least one big box of unfinished models I haven’t touched in decades because I did them with my grandad. After he died, something went out of it and I can’t touch them anymore.
About 400-500 unpainted minis, about 60 unbuilt or unpainted vehicles… and that’s only in the scifi section where I have about 2500 figures painted. Of course, I haven’t bought any in years because there just isn’t the time and space now that I have a family.
Tough, yet fair.
OMG. I carfully scrolled down on this one to try and not spoil whatever crazy thing you made it about and I’m glad I did.
This hits so close home it almost ain’t funny. Almost.
I’ve lost track of how many amazing, fantastic, highly rated games that I own, which I’ve never even had time to try yet, but bought simply because they were on sale.
And how many games are in my backlog because I stopped one game “just to try that new game” and got completely sidetracked and never returned.
It was easier when I was a kid and didn’t have any income. I had to stretch each game out for as long as I could. Now my biggest constraint is time.
I know that feeling all too well. I have over a thousand games in my backlog, and I don’t have time to play them. Maybe after I retire…if I ever get the chance.
Yeah I used to pick games when I was a kid based on how much content I could get out of them. Was a big fan of sprawling RPGs for that reason. It’s the opposite these days, I bought The Witcher III a while ago, played it for an entire 8 hour plane ride and realized I’d basically done nothing.
Also – as Tim’s emotions get wilder and wilder, the moustache grows.
Soon, all will be ‘stache.
If a game is good enough, you’ll play it through. If it is not, you will not. Once you realize it is not you who has failed, but rather the game that let you down, then you will conquer the “Backlog”.
Until that time, it will gnaw at your soul, and relish in your agony.
There’s a huge flaw in that reasoning I can clearly see.
What about the titles you bought, but never launched? Haven’t even installed/downloaded?
Plus, from a psychological point of view it seems like a pretty good example of denial.
Hmm, well I never buy/DL a game until I have the time to play it, so I guess in that particular case, it is in fact on you for setting the fail table.
Lo someone has failed to note the grandiose language and thinks that reason and logic are to be applied like liniment to a festering wound.
I’m not a native speaker, could you simplify and explain what you meant, please?
Second frame: “and I now I can’t stop” I think is a typo…
I play games that have no end.
Problem solved.
Let’s not forget the Steam/Epic-Sale-Mania: is this game free or cheaper than a candy bar? I’ll add it to my game library, maybe play it for 10 minutes, and never touch it again.
But, but….Steam Summer Sale…..*sobs*…..
Ah, yes. “The Backlog of Shame”. I know it all too well..
Oh, c’mon Tim, you just don’t want to pay full price on launch, right? 😀
Bold of you to assume that a Switch game would ever not be full price!
I’ve just finished Witcher 3, after 3 years of putting it off after doing 80% of the main quest line and all the side quests.
I have to finish Tales of Vesperia, I’m pretty sure I’ve got about 20 hours left on that one.
I just lose motivation when I’m near the end.
I was so very bummed when I finished Witcher 3’s second DLC and came to the realization that it really was over. I have not enjoyed a game’s story that much in a loooooooooong time, and the fact that the Blood and Wine DLC was INCREDIBLE definitely did not help with the subsequent withdrawal.
I honestly wonder if I will be ever able to play all of my backlog games…
On PlayStation, every backlog title will end up “free” on PlayStation+. It hurts like an elbow to the stomach.
I feel like I might hold a record for not finishing a game. I have (literally) never finished the main quest in Skyrim, even after hundreds of hours played, and no DLC. Why? Because I want to “finish” a sandbox game, and “Oooh, you need me to save your chicken in the next town over? Say no more! Alduin can wait.” and also “You know, I’ve spent a lot of time as a sharpshooting mage, maybe I should try to be a heavy hitter instead.” 50 hours later “And I’ve progressed into a sharpshooting mage again…” Please no spoilers. I’m… Read more »
Legends state that Alduin was slain not by sword, nor arrow, nor flaming glyph, but by sheer boredom, as he scried the Dovahkiin for nigh-on three hundred hours: gathering the Stones of Barenziah, stealing knick-knacks from random NPCs homes for the Thieves Guild, working to create a college for bards, and more.
His last words were a curse to an unknown Aedra, Tohd’oward, as the Dovahkiin’s exploration of a random cave stuck him in Blackreach for the umpteenth time.
I was super excited for Skyrim, then I played it and realized how few ways there actually are to play the game. I started a new game and decided to focus on the main storyline. They do a piss poor job of making the main plot feel more interesting than any of the other side plotlines.
This, but morrowind for me. Being able to custom craft your own spells and create all sorts of crazy effects and light shows was a good time.
I feel this so so much.
Luigi’s mansion must take a backseat to Arceus however. I’m sorry Luigi, but pokemon…
I’m okay with the games I didn’t finish, either because I decided I didn’t care for them or they got too hard. But I do have a large backlog of things that never even got a fair try.
I was always really good at finishing games and not starting new ones until I had completed what I was playing. I was playing Majoras Mask, and had picked up Windwaker to play after. Also grabbed a couple high-rated games as well to play because they looked different then regular marque games.
Then I tried out World of Warcraft.
I still haven’t finished Majora’s Mask, or even started the other games. They’re gathering dust.
RIP. This was me too until I found Dota (Dota 1 at the time, now Dota 2). I played and finished Doom 1, Heretic, Starcraft, Diablo, Warcraft I, Warcraft II, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R and the sequels. But since Dota, haven’t played any other game.
That said I will be trying the next S.T.A.L.K.E.R when it comes out though. And I’m still waiting for Half-Life 3…
It’s okay to miss out on bought games if you’re already getting what you wanted from the games you have. Must consume it all is only a Borg directive. You’ll automatically rob yourself of a lot of quality time that any good game has to offer if you plan to just rush through it to complete your “played that one” list. Thousands of backlogs can’t be wrong on this.
good parenting lmao
Nothing wrong with a solid backlog. Lets you play whatever you want, whenever you want. And if you don’t ever finish some game, just don’t worry about it, no one else will judge nor care.
I mean, technically the new games you don’t start are added to the backlog whether you’ve begun them or not. The couple of still sealed games I have on my shelf are testament to that.
Ultimately new gamers are being born into the world with a pre-established backlog. They’ll never get through it all. I feel bad for them not being able to pick things up as they released like my age group got to do
Ironically after beating Halo: Infinite I realized I had a couple months before Horizon Forbidden West, and I finally played through The Wolf Among Us. I don’t really have a backlog, but that one had sat in my Xbox cloud storage for a few years. What I enjoy more is getting into a game after the sequel has already come out, because then you can just keep playing after finishing the first one. I played Yakuza 0 on furlough in 2020, which lead me right into Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 (then I skipped a few and played Yakuza 6).… Read more »
I LOVE the post and facial expression of dad in the background. The whole joke is perfectly delivered in the last panel – both picture and wording – beautiful.
Naw man, play a game because it’s fun, not because you want to beat it. If it stops being fun, move onto something else that’s fun. Who cares if you beat it or not
Is it just me or is Tim’s mustache starting towards that of Evil Villian territory?
Snidely Whiplash territory!
I’ve moved more the opposite way as I’ve gotten older. I play a game until I don’t want to play it anymore. They’re a hobby and if the effort put in isn’t worth the fun I get out I’ moving on.
800+ games on Steam alone… ;-; And thats not counting my Xbox Games Pass, PS4, or Switch libraries or the games I have on Epic. You’re a good man Tim, a good father… ;-;
The first game company to publicly exorcise itself of NFT practices and instead incentivize people Finishing their backlogs is going to be Rich. An example: if steam sees you have 100 games downloaded and if you can show you finished half of them you get a 40% discount on your next purchase.
I admit it’s a problem of mine as well, but one I’m actively battling. If I can suggest something it would be what I’m doing right now. I believe somewhere in the 3rd quarter of last year I made a commitment to clean up that backlog and the goal is to erase it completely. By the end of last year I made an addition to it: games I paid for have a priority, all the freebies, no matter how good they are, have to wait patiently in line and no new titles are to be bought (yes, Dying Light 2,… Read more »
This is how I have a backlog of like 800 games on steam. The backlog keeps growing. I’ve been tempted to do that steam randomizer site to pick a random game and at least play an hour of it.
Unfortunately I have a number of games I haven’t started yet that I own, but I am working on 4 or 5 at a time, currently Resident Evil Village, Metroid Dread, Pokémon BD and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (I’m depressed at how far behind I am with that series).
I see it more as investing in my retirement. Because in 30 years I might be able to afford and purchase a GPU that will play today’s games, and I’ll have the time to play them!
Tim, you have a hole in the back of your throat in panel 1.
Even If I lived for eternity, I’d never finish my backlog. ?
Haha I thought he wanted to buy into a CCG or purchase a Warhammer model until I reached the last panel.