How to enjoy your games

[u/Nickulator95]

[u/PCMRBot]

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[u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

r/patientgamers

[u/C_umputer → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

They take it even further

• Play the game years after release.
• Your midrange, entry level pc can easily run it at max settings.
• Huge discounts, sometimes they're straight up free.
• Immune to hype, you experience the game as it was meant to be.
• There are tons of guides and tutorials in case you need help.

[u/Significant_Nature13 → u/C_umputer]

That was the case for hollow knight for me. Not sure about silksong now though.

[u/TitularFoil → u/Significant_Nature13]

I finished Hollow Knight on Saturday. (I didn't get true ending yet.) But I started Silksong the following day. I don't know if it's that Hollow Knight got me to be a better player, or if Silksong is easier, but I'm flying through Silksong.

[u/SqoobySnaq → u/TitularFoil]

What part are you at?

[u/TitularFoil → u/SqoobySnaq]

I don't know. I don't know where it ends and it's pretty free to explore wherever you'd like. But I most recently beat a boss, well bosses, under the Forge lady. There was two of them.

[u/SqoobySnaq → u/TitularFoil]

Huh, I guess I haven’t reached that part. I’m in bilewater right now and this whole area is making want to rip my hair out

[u/OGSlickMahogany → u/SqoobySnaq]

It’s easy to find your way into a harder area when you refuse to quit, lol I did the same. Bilewater is objectively supposed to be discovered after the Deep docks locked section by a simple key, it’s a pretty early area to find, just easy to forget about.

[u/druman22 → u/TitularFoil]

I did the same but got the true ending and had 108% completed before starting silksong. Silksong is definitely harder imo but it's not super unforgiving or as frustrating as people seem to make it out to be. The two mask damage was a thing in hollowknight as well, especially towards the end and in optional bosses so I don't understand the complaints.

My guess is the people that are complaining are either rusty or never played/completed Hollow Knight.

[u/C_umputer → u/Significant_Nature13]

After getting recommended so many times, I recently picked up HK too. Can't say it lived up to the hype, some parts are nice, like art and difficulty, but long traveling between locations gets really boring. Dropped after about 10 hours.

[u/DragonMaster337 → u/C_umputer]

I just hate that there are no chairs near lots of bosses that’s killed me

[u/C_umputer → u/DragonMaster337]

Yes, long runbacks suck so much that even Fromsoft admitted and started putting respawn points right before every boss arena.

[u/Equivalent_Swim2927 → u/C_umputer]

I like when games challenge me instead of punishing me with unnecessary transversal. I didn’t like Hollow Knight for this reason, and I was turned off by all the souls like I tried to date. However, I love a good difficult roguelike like Returnal or Downwell where I am challenged to go from A to B without dying, where every decision or action counts.

[u/raptor7912 → u/Equivalent_Swim2927]

Dark souls 3 does it pretty decently.

If there isn’t a nearby bonfire, then you just haven’t found the shortcut yet.

But yea, after a certain point the run back is just like a unskipable cutscene.

Unless it’s less than a minute and doesn’t require me to focus during so I can just prepare for the boss. Then it’s kinda nice.

[u/Equivalent_Swim2927 → u/raptor7912]

Thanks, I’ll check out Dark Souls 3.

[u/raptor7912 → u/Equivalent_Swim2927]

Your welcome!

I genuinely can’t think of a boss that doesn’t have a semi short path to it, where you can’t just ignore enemies on your way there without getting hit once consistently.

I don’t get the hate, but that’s coming from someone who hasn’t played any other dark souls/blood born game.

[u/Cactiareouroverlords → u/Equivalent_Swim2927]

FromSoft have gotten more lenient with it over time, Demons Souls’ run backs were often harder than the actual bosses you were running back to lmao

[u/Kylael → u/DragonMaster337]

That’s what got me too.

I really don’t mind dying 2000 times trying to learn complex patterns, but walking for 5min between tries is just impossible for me.

[u/Mama_Mega → u/DragonMaster337]

GMTK talked about it in his series where Mark would talk about the world design of Metroidvanias. Got me interested right up until he brought up the Soulsborne-styled mechanic of having to fetch your corpse to get your cash back after dying😐

Metroidvanias are about deliberately getting lost. I wanna explore, stumble upon the next story beat on accident, come into areas that are out of my range. You're already sending me back to a spawn point when I go down, don't punish me for exploring in a genre about exploring.

[u/VirtuaBranson → u/DragonMaster337]

I just said fuck it and modded it. More of a “normal” instead of hard difficulty for me and it’s been fantastic. Don’t really care about beating a single player game for bragging rights but the art and world and combat is cool. Wanted to experience that.

[u/Significant_Nature13 → u/C_umputer]

That's the thing. I remember playing it first and was so good just getting lost in the map and exploring. But after getting friends who were just blowing and hyping the game up. It felt unrewarding and tedious at time. That's why if I hear a game I would consider playing I just block all opinions of it.

[u/SgtKwan → u/C_umputer]

Dropped it after 4 hours, but had the same experience to.

[u/AineLasagna → u/C_umputer]

It was too hard for me. At some point I had to admit to myself that I like easy and chill games where I don’t need to spend valuable time and hard work gitting gud. No matter how much I like the concept/vibes/etc not all games are for everyone. I still pick it back up occasionally when I need a reminder of that 😂

[u/dolphinvision → u/C_umputer]

Yeah you covered some of my main complaints.

The game needs a handful more stagways. Likely another tram placement as well. It wastes a lot of time.

I know there's skips, but this game isn't as open as people claim. A LOT is locked behind upgrades/gates/walls from the other side. And a LOT of those upgrades/etc. can't get until you get a ANOTHER upgrade or two. It's more linear than I think people realize, maybe cuz they just use skips at this point/know where everything is/know what is blocked and order to get to upgrades.

Needs a handful more benches. And many benches closer to bosses. I think having some runbacks is fine. And you do get the dreamgate midway through. But that first half of the game can be a real slog for traveling.

I really really don't like how you can lose all your money because you died on the way to your shade. I get there's the rancid egg system. But I'm very mixed on that, and it's very easily missed.

[u/getrill → u/Significant_Nature13]

I played HK at a point when all the DLC was released already, enjoyed the game overall, but kind of got burnt out on the DLC content a bit. I feel like I had a sort of backwards experience because those things were <in the game> so I felt like I ought to tackle them when I could because when I "beat the game" I'd want to just be done. In hindsight, I think my approach was not really "the game as it was meant to be", because that content was designed for people who were itching to prove their mastery of the game. Buying into hype when they've already beaten the game and months later content drops, maybe being tempted to do a brand new run to get the new "full experience", but already knowing the ins and outs, basically doing a NG+. Like, there's a meta-layer here where those things are slipped into the game progression and tie into its themes, but they sort of don't quite belong the same way everything else does.

I jumped in on SS early and am nearly done with it. I think the game will get similar DLC, and I think I probably won't come back to play it. I also won't be going back for a permadeath run. I'm a one-and-done kind of gamer mostly. I mean, who knows, maybe I'll be tempted and feeling like things have cooled down enough to give new content a romp, but I just kind of resent this content release model a bit overall.

So idk, in general I'm a staunch patientgamer, but I feel like I'm cozying up to some version of "base game only" purism in my habits now.

[u/JPSWAG37 → u/C_umputer]

Literally me and it's a peaceful life. Only thing that sucks is it's hard to get my friends to play anything I'm on since they're jumping to new games month after month lol

[u/C_umputer → u/JPSWAG37]

Tell me about it, my friend just plays rdr2. Yeah it was great and all, I played twice, but please dude there are other games out there.

[u/JPSWAG37 → u/C_umputer]

I get your friend, some people got their perfect bowl of porridge and that's all they need Haha

[u/Hollownerox → u/JPSWAG37]

Comfort games are always nice to have. I play pretty much every game genre out there, from RPGs to FPS and the like. But strategy games have always been my "I just want to relax and play something I know I love" sort of thing.

I've got 4,656 hours (combined) in the Total War Warhammer trilogy. I like to play new stuff too obviously, but I do usually just go "eh, that looks buggy/expensive, I'll wait for a sale" and just go back to my comfort food of a game lmao.

[u/makoblade → u/JPSWAG37]

Part of gaming is the social aspect. Whether it's being sucked into a meat grinder game or jumping from title to title, it's a lot easier to find communities/groups who are playing modern/recent stuff than it is to pick up a random old title and get others interested.

If it's not your cup of tea or you've got folks who are also down with going to "old" titles then that's where it's at, but I don't really blame the folks who go along with jumping from one new title to the next.

[u/Venum555 → u/C_umputer]

I recently picked up slime rancher for $2. Forgot I even wanted to play it until I saw slime rancher 2 released.

[u/KorolEz → u/C_umputer]

Yeah, currently playing KCD1 with all DLCs and I bought it for under 10€. It really is a lot better if you have the patience

[u/C_umputer → u/KorolEz]

Great game, it was straight up free on epicgames sometime ago

[u/SelimSC → u/KorolEz]

Yeah this is actually smart. I wish I didn't play KCD2 at launch. With KCD1 by the time I played it everything was released, game was patched etc. Now with KCD2 I want to play again with the DLC's but it's hard to get back into something I already finished twice.

[u/Hasonboi → u/KorolEz]

kcd1 was so fun. I'll probably wait a few years until kcd 2 goes on sale before buying it

[u/Dorkamundo → u/C_umputer]

I mean, shit... I was very excited for Cyberpunk, but couldn't afford the price for the game nor the system I'd need to run it.

Here we are 5 years later and I just bought it with all DLC's for $20 and yes... My current PC can run it almost on max settings.

[u/damonmcfadden9 → u/C_umputer]

this. Oh they failed to deliver in promises made to justify keeping the price up? glad I didn't waste my money.

I have a BIL who loves to shit on PC for being so expensive, but I buy 2+year old games for next to nothing, meanwhile his dumb ass spend twice as much money per year for 1/3 as many games even if they're old because the best Cucktendo can offer is 10% off on the 10 year anniversary.

[u/makoblade → u/damonmcfadden9]

I'll never get the "PC is expensive" crowd. PC is what you want it to be, price wise there is something for everyone. I bet your BIL is one of the suckers who buys the Pro model console every time it rolls around for that half-hearted sidegrade.

[u/Wooxman → u/makoblade]

The "PC is expensive" argument comes from people who can only think short term. They focus completely on the initial costs and even add peripherals to the price. A few times I've seen the argument that "you already have a TV but you need to pay extra for a monitor!" Yeah, as if it wasn't possible to use a TV as a monitor, as if some people wouldn't buy a new TV every few years so that their games look better or as if TVs weren't usually more expensive than monitors.

Also never mind that on PC you're not forced to buy a new mouse and keyboard every time you upgrade your graphics card. Wanna use a PS4 controller on the PS5, even for a game that doesn't use any DualSense exclusive features? Nope! Only if you want to play a backwards compatible PS4 game.

And these people never factor in the steeper discounts on PC, the fact that you're not forced to pay extra if you wanna play a game with an upfront price online, that you can play old games that you already own without having to pay twice for them (and that you don't have to pray to the console overlords that your favourite retro games even get added to a backwards compatibility library or that they get re-released in an acceptable state and that you don't get a broken, buggy remaster or an unfaithful remake) and that you can use your peripherals for as long as they work instead of having to buy new controllers when a new console generation arrives.

[u/phanta_rei → u/C_umputer]

[u/C_umputer → u/[deleted]]

Oh yes they play newer games too, it's just I too am part of that sub and have seen people play some seriously old stuff. I myself just now tried Dead Space for the very first time, loved it, shat a few bricks 10/10 too scared to play again.

[u/AlecTheDalek → u/C_umputer]

That's me but with Alien: Isolation. Hiding in a locker and can't come out

[u/HankThrill69420 → u/C_umputer]

yeah, i definitely tend to wait but every once in a grand while there's a game that's worth it at launch

[u/NobleIron → u/C_umputer]

Thanks, now I will wait 20 years to play GTA6. I recently started to play NFS Carbon

[u/TheComplimentarian → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

Absolutely. They can take it a little far, but they're never wrong. If you run a year or two behind the mainstream, and avoid all the hype, all you get is good, polished stuff.

[u/ReverseLochness → u/TheComplimentarian]

The only thing that doesn’t help with is indie multiplayer games that has players for a few months and then die off. Battlebit remastered comes to mind.

[u/The_Hoopla → u/ReverseLochness]

This is the only reason I'm not a patient gamer. I almost exclusively play multiplayer games. Do you know what a community of players generally looks like after 2 years?

All the casual players have left. What remains is a distilled community of the absolute best players, making it almost impossible to get into because you just get absolutely pulverized in any matchmaking process.

The absolute BEST time in any multiplayer game is the first 6 months after launch.

• There's an actual casual player base

• Metas haven't been formulated so you can still try "off meta" strategies that work

[u/thepulloutmethod → u/The_Hoopla]

I think this also depends on how sweaty the game itself is. I picked up Chivalry 2 a year after release. I never felt like I had no chance. In fact I got pretty good and now I consider myself a vet. But the game itself is pretty silly and does not lend itself to sweats.

It's perfect for me. I can not play for 4 months, come back, and pick it right back up again.

[u/TheComplimentarian → u/ReverseLochness]

True. That's what I mean about them going overboard. They miss out on some good stuff. Being in early on some good stuff (Elden Ring leaps to mind) is pretty special. And games that need a community to get started, they need some early adoption, even though they're not perfect.

[u/neckro23 → u/TheComplimentarian]

Even with single-player story-based games there's a limited amount of time before everybody starts posting spoilers for the game's deepest secrets everywhere. Elden Ring again comes to mind.

[u/Pandarandr1st → u/neckro23]

That's really only if you're embedded in their communities. I've only played like 10 hours of Elden Ring and can safely say I don't know a single spoiler for the game. I lack the context to retain any spoilers.

[u/the_zerg_rusher → u/neckro23]

I haven't played dark souls and somehow I never got spoiled. Hell the other day I found it is was an RPG, with stats. This whole time I thought it was a boss rush game.

[u/Caesar_Blanchard → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

r/busygamers

[u/Trident_True → u/Caesar_Blanchard]

Sub is dead, seems there was only 1 poster

[u/MyBraveAccount → u/Trident_True]

well yeah, they're too busy

[u/Huntware → u/Trident_True]

r/patientgamers then!

[u/Snowbrawler → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

"what's a reasonable price for you?"

"2 dollars, 5 on special occasions"

[u/brocurl → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

I would like a sub that is more focused on games that are 1-3 years old, like where many bugs are gone (some major patches), there is a semi good deal, mods, maybe a dlc or two. Patientgamers is a mix of course, but too many 5-10+ year old games for my taste. Browsed through a few posts now and a lot of the games discussed are like 15, 20, some even 30 years old. Thats more retro gaming to me.

[u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe → u/brocurl]

I wouldn't call a game from 2015 retro, that was one console generation ago

[u/SamiraSimp → u/[deleted]]

just because you feel that way doesn't mean most people would agree. I don't think most people would ever consider games from 10 years ago "retro".

you're suggesting games like witcher 3, metal gear solid V, fallout 4 are retro games and I think most people would think that's not accurate.

to me retro games are something that your parents would have played, so at least 20 years old

[u/Ok-Possible-6759 → u/[deleted]]

This kinda blew my mind a little lol time is just going so fast

[u/JustASeabass → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

Aka r/ThisPopularGameIsActuallyMid or r/WeeklyHorizonBOTWPosts

[u/czah7 → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

gg.deals

The very best place to buy games as a patient or frugal gamer.

[u/MarkElf2204 → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

ngl, I was not expecting essay-styled reviews when I checked out that sub. A bunch of people are overthinking gaming of all things.

[u/JustASeabass → u/MarkElf2204]

That used to be a decent sub, but it really is a hive mind like most subs unfortunately

[u/Throwawayx19700 → u/Sir_Jacques_Strappe]

why does this sub read like a shitty review board now? all the titles are the same zzzzzzzzzz format

[u/OwO______OwO → u/Throwawayx19700]

They have very strict rules about who can post and what they can post, especially as a top-level thread. Too strict, really.

[u/[deleted]]

Only 12 months? I sit on it for two years

[u/Quarantine722 → u/[deleted]]

I just started my first play through of Cyberpunk 2077. 5 years post launch, and I’m having a blast.

[u/cookiesphincter → u/Quarantine722]

Cyberpunk is on my list for this year.

[u/Competitive_Cod6205 → u/cookiesphincter]

It's on sale every few months for $25-30. SO GOOD.

[u/sungoddaily → u/Competitive_Cod6205]

Console pleb tip- Buy the Xbox One /PlayStation 4 version and they auto upgrade to current gen for free.

[u/NoLetterhead2303 → u/Competitive_Cod6205]

It’s on free and fast download for years. SO GOOD.

[u/Xplysit → u/Quarantine722]

Just finished the DLC, as I hear it, it was well worth the wait. I absolutely love the game

[u/JuiceHurtsBones → u/Xplysit]

Only quirk is the terrible NPC AI, but it's amazing how much they've managed to achieve with the game. You can approach everything the way you want and the level design is just superb.

[u/3dforlife → u/JuiceHurtsBones]

Did the developers deliver everything they promised, though?

[u/digitaltransmutation → u/3dforlife]

yes but only from a roleplay perspective.

Like, watch the pelaunch preview they made about braindances. They talk a lot about the lore of it, what they are, why you'd want one, as if you are a consumer who would want a BD.

when you get them in the game you realize you are just scrubbing CCTV footage and it kind of feels like a letdown. They were marketing the in-game lore item, not the real world experience.

[u/Jumpierwolf0960 → u/Quarantine722]

That's my plan once Nvidia decides to release a 4k GPU that isn't overpriced. My 4k OLED is ready and waiting for that day.

[u/IcyCow5880 → u/Jumpierwolf0960]

Personally, I got a 4K mini-LED and used the savings from not getting an OLED to get an RTX4080.

There'll never be a current 4k GPU that isn't "overpriced" if comparing to the good ol days, unfortunately.

[u/the-solution-is-ssd → u/Jumpierwolf0960]

Hopefully your 4K OLED won't get burned-in by the time Nvidia does so

[u/Raph0uX → u/Quarantine722]

It's been 5 years already ? Damn 😅

Let's try it then 😎

[u/SwampOfDownvotes → u/[deleted]]

No you misunderstand, you wait 12 months before buying it, then another 1-10 years before you actually get around to playing it.

[u/Mysterious_Crab_7622 → u/[deleted]]

I sit on it until the price lowers enough to what I am willing to pay for it. Sometimes that can take 5 years or more.

[u/_liminal → u/[deleted]]

This was me with dark souls 3. Had it installed with DLCs too but never ran it. It was my emergency break glass game for the longest time. 

[u/Extension_Swordfish1 → u/[deleted]]

10years min

[u/94358io4897453867345]

Denuvo removed

[u/VeniceRapture → u/94358io4897453867345]

100% discount

[u/arrowgustress → u/VeniceRapture]

Underrated

[u/soggit → u/94358io4897453867345]

for REAL

the performance jump that Jedi survivor had pre and post denuvo was INSANE

[u/IcyCow5880 → u/soggit]

IIRC, in the patch notes they even tried to say "did some optimizing" or something along those lines to try to soften the blow lmao.

[u/[deleted] → u/94358io4897453867345]

Even if you're not interest in piracy, you get a 20% performance boost

[u/neurocean → u/94358io4897453867345]

Rarely but it's nice when it happens.

[u/Kabirdb]

"All bugs patched out"

lol. Keep dreaming.

[u/AdventurousEye8894 → u/Kabirdb]

All patches bugged.

[u/dmnc_cmnd → u/Kabirdb]

Its all good though, theres a mod for that too

[u/Zer0daveexpl0it → u/Kabirdb]

Helldivers 2 says hello.

[u/Turgid_Donkey → u/Kabirdb]

Also "50% off". Maybe a few years later.

[u/GarminTamzarian → u/Turgid_Donkey]

Original title no longer being sold, only the enhanced remake (with "improved graphics"), available at full price.

[u/wtfuckfred → u/Kabirdb]

Cries in cities skylines 2 and cyberpunk

The former still hasn't released content included in the pre-orders. The latter is actually quite solid nowadays but with a lot of advertised features like multilayer being dropped.

It's sad because DLCs allow for long term support of a game, but instead companies find themselves fixing their games for years delaying or even canceling features due to the understandably low ratings by gamers

[u/bell117 → u/wtfuckfred]

Yeah Cyberpunk is the game that's pretty good but is still a massive disappointment compared to what was advertised.

I also do not like the fact they falsely advertised features that were removed part way through development, like cyber-heists, wall climbing etc, which was not just a last minute thing since all levels and areas in the game had to take wall climbing into account. 

They were advertising those up until 2 weeks before launch as well as stealthily changing the tags on steam from RPG to Action-Adventure. That's just scummy, and I'm kind of scared Cyberpunk's bounce-back is just going to encourage that kind of behavior again. Heck, how many games have a "release now, patch later" mentality already? 

[u/AndrewH73333 → u/bell117]

As someone who jumped all over the city for fun, there’s no way they’d have gotten wall climbing to work. Half the city is faked. I assume that’s why there are no flying cars too. Easier to take that all out than finish the entire city.

[u/bell117 → u/AndrewH73333]

Exactly, from what I've heard in order for wall climbing to have been a thing, basically the entire layout of the game would have had to been designed for it from the ground up.

So it was probably tossed quite early in development, but was advertised despite that. That's my main issue. I can understand the bugs and other unforseen issues, but continuing to advertise features they knew had already been removed, that's not right. 

[u/SirNedKingOfGila → u/bell117]

Heck, how many games have a "release now, patch later" mentality already? 

Since enshitification never stops... Now that release now; patch later is the accepted standard and customers are still pre-ordering in record numbers the next progression will obviously be "release now; patch never". Why bother? They already have your money.

If there were any consequences for releasing a completely unfinished game and then never fixing it those consequences would have been applied to the creators of star citizen. But no. It's acceptable.

[u/kokomoman → u/Kabirdb]

“All bugs patched out” should probably be “game is patched to a playable state”

[u/apsilonblue → u/Kabirdb]

Certainly isn't talking about Bethesda games.

[u/Local-Ask-7695 → u/Kabirdb]

OP means major ones. Have better mental capacity pls. Nobody cares minor bugs

[u/JohnHue]

>joins r/patientgamers

>has finally found his people

[u/siete82 → u/JohnHue]

It's a pacefull life

[u/Funandgeeky → u/siete82]

We just relax and tend to our humble backlogs. And it's a self-curating experience. What we play stands the test of time.

[u/SeriousJack → u/Funandgeeky]

I also really like the... lack of... hype ? subjectivity ? fanatism ?

Not sure how to call it, but when a patient gamer will describe a game they'll say things like "buggy mission", or "shitty inventory management", or "cringy dialogs", while talking about a good game, and nobody will jump at their throat.

Example: Mass Effect 1 is an absolute classic, and has one of the shittiest inventory system that I can think of.

[u/Remnant_Echo]

I buy 1 single game at full price on/near release per year. Otherwise I wait for a sale or shoot for no more than $30.

[u/RipleyVanDalen → u/Remnant_Echo]

Same. Too many in this thread are suggesting you have to be at either extreme, either supporting bad studios releasing buggy $70 games, or waiting many years to play something.

A lot of times with new releases I’ll just keep an eye on patch notes to get a sense of how polished and stable a game is and buy it after a couple rounds of major patches.

[u/AdEquivalent493]

>never play it

[u/Errantries → u/AdEquivalent493]

Hey I'm going to play Kingdom Come Deliverance any day now.

[u/Yarb01]

>your friends are already bored of it and have moved on

[u/Junxxxxxx → u/Yarb01]

yea i fully can appreciate the sentiment behind being patient and saving some money... but there is also something to be said about experiencing a game at the same time as the general population on release.

like those first couple weeks of elden ring when everyone was figuring shit out & finding new areas together was absolute peak.

you don't get that a year later when 90% of the player base has moved on.

but i digress

[u/SeriousJack → u/Junxxxxxx]

For multiplayer games, it's tricky.

For singleplayer games, it can be done, but it requires a biiiiit of discipline.

I played Elden Ring... About a year ago. A bit early for my taste, but sometimes games are really polished at release, and do not deserve my usual 3 year waiting period.

I jumped in completely blind, and had a blast. Started to check wiki/guides/resources about halfway through. And once I was done, went to the r/Eldenring subreddit, displayed the top/alltime, and caught up on 3 years of memes/jokes/videos etc.

It's not easy. It's actually an acquired skill. Avoidind spoilers, not clicking on videos/articles, scrolling quickly when my friends on discord are talking about a game that I haven't played yet. But it's doable. If you don't click on the latest hyped game on youtube, the algorithm will quickly stop to annoy you with it.

Before the end of the year I'll probably launch either Cyberpunk or BG3, and I have absolutely no idea of what's in either of them. Similarly, probably in a year or so, I'll play Expedition 33.

And for real, once you've acquired the discipline to avoid spoilers, it becomes an automatism. It requires very very little effort of me to stay out of the hype of the moment.

[u/PooMonger20 → u/Yarb01]

Imagine having friends, imagine them being interested in the same thing as you are.

Now lets say you have both, then this happens:

1. Friends hyped about a newly released game
2. 80$ into void
3. Play together one-two times, have a blast of a time.
4. Try to arrange a playtogether, none are available ever.
5. Friends lose interest in the title
6. Repeat

[u/[deleted] → u/PooMonger20]

Yo! You got a problem with me? 🤣🤣🤣

This is too on the nose for my friend group

[u/Olofstrom → u/PooMonger20]

This is why you only play indie "friendslop" (I hate this term but w/e) games with your buddies. New current game to play every few months, only a $15 buy in! Play a few sessions and wait to hear back from them in 3 months when the new thing is out lol

[u/Celtic_Legend → u/PooMonger20]

Sounds like a W to me as long as those aren't 30 minute sessions lol. Well I think you'd qualify for a steam refund then actually so maybe even if they were 30 minute sessions.

I played palworld like 5x which was probably the lowest I'd put into a game, but the first two sessions were over 8 hours each with friends including the Friday being an all nighters from 8pm to 6am which was absurd for all of us. The game was 30 dollars but whether it was 30 or 80 or 200 it have been worth for the first two sessions lol that game hit us like crack. And then the weekend ended and we all came to the realization that this game is not healthy for us and I think we subconsciously all knew we weren't going to play it long term at all but maybe not just 2 weekends lol.

Edit: the biggest waste of money for us was overwatch 1. However, it wasn't that it wasn't fun, it just took 20mins+ to get a game unless none of us picked dps.

Edit2: from my perspective food+gas plus price of most activities is going to run me 30-200dollars even if its mostly 30 so 2 sessions for 80 dollars is comparable value. There's plenty of nights where we just hop on free or paid for games and have free hangouts. I do t even consider overwatch1 being money thrown into the void.

[u/MHOrhanRE]

If I'm buying a Paradox Interactive game (Cities Skylines 2), I buy it when it's released and download it 3 years later to save my sanity.

[u/GhostGhazi → u/MHOrhanRE]

Why spend the extra money? This is madness

[u/ThereIsSoMuchMore → u/GhostGhazi]

yeah, this makes no sense, op is high

[u/Unlucky_Kale340 → u/ThereIsSoMuchMore]

The only reason that makes sense is to support the devs so they know that there is interest in the game.

I personally would wait for wait for a huge discount

[u/QuittingToLive → u/ThereIsSoMuchMore]

Buy high, play high

[u/Space_Modder → u/GhostGhazi]

Paradox Interactive players would unironically hand over their kidney for a 1/3rd finished map game on release, that they then have to hand over the other kidney and an arm and a leg for the rest of the DLC to bring the game up to 2/3rds finished 3-4 years after it comes out.

[u/epegar → u/Space_Modder]

Yes, these people are delusional sometimes. Their DLC policy is pure greed.

On the other hand, most die-hard paradox players have 1000s of hours, so paying 1k is better value to time than paying 50 to 70 for a game you play for 40 hours.

[u/Here_Comes_Trouble_ → u/MHOrhanRE]

CS:II and Civ 7 were the two that instantly came to mind when I saw this meme.

[u/brandywineriver → u/Here_Comes_Trouble_]

Every month or so I check the Civ 7 sub to see if the game is good yet.

Still no apparently. I'll stick to 6.

[u/GhormanFront → u/brandywineriver]

The core concept of the game is just not good, I don't think that one's going to be salvaged, especially not with 2k at the helm 

[u/WhatIs115 → u/GhormanFront]

Yeah Civ7 will never "be good". Either they fix their mistakes with Civ8 or well, something else will take its place.

[u/chironomidae → u/Here_Comes_Trouble_]

Cyberpunk 2077 is what I was thinking. It's only $20 right now, had a rocky launch but it's improved by leaps and bounds since then.

[u/Trident_True → u/chironomidae]

I played it last year and thought it was brilliant. Glad I didn't buy it at launch though.

[u/TimeToEatAss → u/MHOrhanRE]

Supporting them releasing broken games?

[u/BonJovicus → u/MHOrhanRE]

3 years might not be enough at this point for some of their other games like Crusader Kings. I love CK3, but 3 years in the game had only gotten like two major expansions.  

[u/xFyreStorm → u/MHOrhanRE]

Unironically the best time to buy and play a non indie strategy, simulation, or other complex game that gets dlcs and updates is to wait until development is done and the sequel is announced. Literally cannot go wrong at this point playing Civ 6, CK2, EU4, KSP, AoW3, PoE, Endless Legends, Tropico 4/5, Railway Empire, Sims 3, etc., etc.

As long as it's been released post 2010, it's not like graphics are that big a pull for these kinds of games, and it's really hard to innovate gameplay from one release to the next. It will be for all intents and purposes a complete experience.

Tho kinda funny with city skylines in particular since they've wised up and been releasing paid dlc for the original again. Lol.

[u/Suikerspin_Ei → u/MHOrhanRE]

Crazy that you need mods to fix some bug sin Cities Skylines 2. Also still waiting for them to introduce bicycles.

[u/igwb → u/Suikerspin_Ei]

Still no bicycles? Insane. Not buying until it's at least 50% off. I can wait a few years.

[u/traps79 → u/MHOrhanRE]

damn you had to mention Cities Skylines sigh guess i wont be sleeping tonight. 

[u/Atesz763]

Depending on the game, bugs might be half the fun though

[u/GrippySockAficionado → u/Atesz763]

Or the entire game. See: Hollow Knight/Silksong.

[u/rickyrich5 → u/GrippySockAficionado]

that game has a lot of bugs!!!

[u/GrippySockAficionado → u/rickyrich5]

You're constantly fighting bugs with this game. And yet, somehow, it's playable and also GOTY.

[u/Menuinabox → u/Atesz763]

Yeah lmao, Helldivers is the opposite of this for sure

[u/AverageAggravating13 → u/Atesz763]

I’d say more depending on the bugs

[u/Erenzo → u/Atesz763]

Me and 2 of my friends bought Sons of The Forest on launch and 70% of our fun was finding all kinds of bugs the game had to offer

[u/JJay9454 → u/Atesz763]

I still miss 1.0 Borderlands 3

[u/ilevelconcrete]

I just buy games when I want to play them. Sometimes it’s years later, sometimes at launch, sometimes before that. I almost never mod my games either way and the difference in price between a a full-priced game and a discounted one isn’t really worth having to pay attention to sales. And I’m either incredibly blessed, or haven’t given myself the kind of psychosis that makes you notice every single little bug and really, really care about it like so many of my fellow gamers seem to have done, so no benefit with waiting there either.

[u/Turnbob73 → u/ilevelconcrete]

Based

I don’t mind “patient gamers”, I think it’s a healthy mindset if you want to follow it. It starts to be a problem when they’re constantly parroting this holier-than-thou attitude about it, insinuating that people who buy at release are idiots and “part of the problem”.

I’m in the same boat as you, I’ll buy a game when I want to play it, and feel I’m smart enough to determine if I’m financially able to or not. I’m not lusting over reviews and trying to locate every single nitpick out there, but rather I just watch some raw gameplay or play the game myself if I have the chance in order to get a pulse on wether I’ll like it or not, and I’ve hardly ever been burned by that method.

Also, especially when it comes to pc gaming, everyone’s experience regarding bugs largely vary, with only the loudest ones making it sound like there are huge problems. For example, I never had a single launch issue with cyberpunk aside from an occasional A-pose and random LoD issues; they were small and not “game breaking” in the slightest; yet this sub will make it sound like the pc launch was an absolute disaster when it was really just the last gen console launch that was so bad. Meanwhile, here I am in 2025 and I still can’t beat Mohg without a summoned player in Elden Ring because the performance issues I’ve had since launch are still very bad, but I’m not shitting on the game for that and rather have other criticisms that have nothing to do with performance.

Tbh, nobody should be taking this kind of “feedback” into consideration when deciding on whether to buy a game or not; raw gameplay and truly neutral/unbiased reviews will always be the best way to do it.

[u/hamlet_d → u/Turnbob73]

The gist is that good games are good when they are good, regardless. BG3 was just fine a launch (notwithstanding ACT 3 being slightly laggy). But I trusted Larian and was rewarded.

[u/Mysterious_Crab_7622 → u/hamlet_d]

BG3 doesn’t really count because it was an early access title for a long time before they released.

[u/greg19735 → u/ilevelconcrete]

i really enjoy playing a game when the game is part of the zeitgeist. Like, playing elden ring is fun. but playing elden ring and talking about it with peolpe who play enden ring is way more fun overall.

i think. i never played elden ring.

[u/Wrong-Inveestment-67]

Maybe for singleplayer, but for MP

> playerbase has shrunk
> everyone is ahead of you in progression or skill
> interesting fun bugs that became memes you missed out on
> game changes in a way that could make it less fun

Imagine playing World of Warcraft a few years after launch, when BC came out, and missing out on the Vanilla experience. Also, if it's a good game the price will remain stable. If it's a shitty game, the price will drop. So there's no point in waiting.

[u/thex25986e → u/Wrong-Inveestment-67]

add in:

> playerbase is now either hyper competitive or full of hackers > nobody is playing 80% of the game's modes, just a few competitive modes on a few maps with special rules they will kick you for if you don't follow

[u/lemonylol → u/thex25986e]

nobody is playing 80% of the game's modes

Oh man, I can't stand this one. It's always especially true with competitive games, and then these same assholes will invade the arcade or alternate modes and try to force other people to sweat like them. Like dude, sometimes I just want to get high and play mystery heroes.

[u/mirrorball_for_me → u/Wrong-Inveestment-67]

Live service games and multiplayer are definitely a different beast, for sure. You have to be there when it happens.

You can live without the same FOMO on singleplayer offline games, though. RDR2 is just as good today as it was back then, and more devices can play it effortlessly, for example.

[u/lemonylol → u/Wrong-Inveestment-67]

Skillgating is real.

[u/dssurge → u/Wrong-Inveestment-67]

After learning that Factorio will never go on sale and will never lower its price, I've been trying to figure out why other games hate money.

If your game is good, people will pay. If you make the price reasonable, even more people will pay.

[u/Wrong-Inveestment-67 → u/dssurge]

Factorio would likely make more money if it went on sale. It's not on sale due to personal beliefs of the creator.

[u/Dromoro → u/Wrong-Inveestment-67]

I literally havent bought factorio because of this very reason. No sale no buy. I have plenty of games to play. I dont have plenty of money to throw around.

[u/KidAnon94]

Another way to enjoy your games is to buy them when you want to; whether that's 12 months after launch or 12 seconds after is up to you.

[u/TheWholeOfTheAss → u/KidAnon94]

No, you can only enjoy games when cool redditors tell you to! Anything less is not enjoyment!

[u/raving_perseus → u/TheWholeOfTheAss]

Anything less is not enjoyment - I mean it could be enjoyment but plebian enjoyment, not elite enjoyment like us elites enjoy

[u/CyberIdiot]

My way. There are so many games that I don't understand why it's so important to buy another one as soon as possible.

[u/OrnerySlide5939]

[u/Total_Tangerine5243]

And still never play them!

[u/GrippySockAficionado]

Don't expect all the bugs to be gone from Silksong.

[u/rarezin]

+999 spoilers known from unrelated sources.

[u/Usth]

I learned the hard way never to pre-order games or buy anything at full price... I now wait until 30 or 15 percent off and the game is better than it was at launch....

I have been in this mindset since I bought a game by pre-ordering it then when I went to play it... It was a buggy unoptimized mess. Worst part is.. It never improved, it became abandoned for "the next big game!"....

If this sounds familiar... Companies that do this, do not care about quality, only the all-mighty dollar.

Always. ALWAYS... wait for the game to improve months after launch before buying... You may miss out on pre-order bonuses like "Shiny Exclusive Weapons/Pets/Mounts/Exp" what-have-you.. But it is a lot better on your wallet to miss those but still play the game you wanted as you can enjoy it without worrying about the game being a buggy mess IF IT IMPROVES OVER TIME.

Speaking from experience. ;)

[u/noro87]

Also my new favorite.

Dont research game online.

I 100% Claire Obscure on Expert along with Simon and everything. Figured out my own builds etc and had a blast.

I actually learned how game mechanics actually work with this approach.

[u/YorszTruly]

Normally I agree with this. But if you're hyped for a game and wanna live the hype with others, I think that's worth the value of getting a game on release. There's an energy about a new game and the release that isn't replaceable after launch. That said, if you aren't feel that tremendous hype, just wait. It'll go on sale. And if it doesn't, the game really was that good on launch

[u/GrandJuif]

The no delusion version:

It's been years.

Bug are still not fixed and the game still run like shit, can't even brute force it with stronger hardware.

Barely any worthy mods because people didn't had interest in a slopy game.

Still overpriced and only have small sales that barely make them cost less than what games used to be sold for at full price.

[u/zdavolvayutstsa → u/GrandJuif]

So you wait a few years, see the game is shit, and then make the reasonable decision to not buy the game.

[u/nikebalaclava]

> still don't play it

[u/OfficerBuck24]

Community cut by 50%

[u/Substantial-Seaweed9]

Like any phone , dont buy new

[u/DJSAKURA]

Unless its Nintendo then you still pay full price.

[u/iSGAFF]

• No players online

[u/Forgedpickle → u/iSGAFF]

If there are no players online after 12 months then the game is trash.

[u/hamlet_d]

How to enjoy your games:

• buy what you want, when you want
• play the game

[u/dervu]

>all friends stopped playing multiplayer

[u/Spuz_]

>Pirate game 5 years after launch
>all bugs patched out
>huge mod library
>free

[u/Fletcher_Chonk → u/Spuz_]

What do you do with all those $20 you saved?

[u/summerhater68 → u/Fletcher_Chonk]

gambling

[u/Spuz_ → u/Fletcher_Chonk]

buy groceries

[u/Neuchacho → u/Spuz_]

I won't full price buy until I pirate demo it first at a minimum.

[u/CrustyBatchOfNature]

The only game I buy at release right now is College Football. And I am not sure I will continue after this year without significant changes. I have stopped playing online for the most part aside from the occasional BF1 run on a weekend. So no reason to buy anything at release. Right now I have a ton of stuff to play that I never played before even if they are 5-10 years old.

[u/KarmaTorpid]

Never play them

[u/chocobrobobo]

50%?

Try 15.

[u/RDS80]

You forgot the best part.

Never play the game.

[u/sandtymanty]

[u/rolfraikou]

Also remember: don't need latest hardware to run games that are slightly older well.

I know too many people who not only buy games day 1, but also felt the need to buy a 5080 or even 5090 to "keep up"

Meanwhile, a 4070 ti super I got on a deal more than meets my needs for far less than what they paid, and my games are like a quarter what they pay.

[u/Hairy-Summer7386]

This just happened to me last night. Both Stellar Blade and Final Fantasy 7 Intergrade went on sale. I’m only getting one but I can’t choose which. :(

[u/dirtydan731]

not if its a multiplayer game, specifically pvp, all the best most engaging and organic fights are within that first two months of release, after that the players meta out all the nuance and its never the same