52n365 - 2020 Edition
52n365 - 2020 Edition
Now for the seventh year running , my own way of tracking the games I beat.
The original goal of this list is to make backlog blasting fun while still allowing myself to play more current things. Encourage positive thinking in myself and to discourage game hopping (I always like to finish things that I like), overspending and "paralysis by analysis".
Inspired by Resetera's- 52 games/1 year annual thread https://www.resetera.com/threads/52-games-1-year-2018.13773/
Discussion on 2019's results-
Inarguably the most successful year I've ever had doing this. Had a pretty healthy mix of long games, short games, AAA games and indie, New and old, S-ranks and just ole vanilla clears. Still worked in single player games while continuing to play PUBG etc. Managed to cut my annual gaming expenses by roughly half without feeling like I was depriving myself. Also perhaps most critically managed to clear the stated goal 52 games. Highlight of the year was removing Twilight Princess from the backlog, that's been on there since 2006(!!!) (runnerup: was picking up Borderlands: Pre-Sequel save from where I abandoned it previously). While I didn't knock out any abandons from 2018, I did clear two huge older ones. And I only abandoned a few large games in 2019.
So a lot worked here, gamifying and adjusting the points helped direct my what to play decisions in a way that I feel better about. It feels super good to finish some of these long abandoned games of mine and I really hope I do a bunch more. And the huge spreadsheet I built to track my expenses really helped laser focus my spending more on stuff I'm more likely to play.
(EDIT: 1/26/2020
Upon normalizing all tracked previous years with the current point scoring system, last year was an even bigger success than I previously thought. Significantly new high totals in points and S-ranks. The point system seems to be working and I probably ought to lean more heavily into incentivizing certain outcomes)
Some of the core problems still remain, I'm still not clearing as many big games as I'd like, and the backlog grows ever larger despite the pretty fast clip I beat games.
And then there is the advent of services of Game Pass. What does a Backlog even mean in an era where your access to games is increasingly transitory to begin with? Probably not a whole lot. Especially in the digital era, once the money's spent it's spent. So perhaps it's time to reframe the goal a little bit
So for 2020, I'm going to tackle the endeavor like this-
This list's main function will be prioritized around building my gaming resume. Making sure I'm encouraged and rewarded to play to the best of the best of what I have access to. I have built a silly simple algorithm in my spreadsheet that weighs factors like length of ownership, how much I paid and how badly I want the game in my gaming resume per say.
The Backlog aspect of the problem will be reassigned to my intake spreadsheet. I need to continue to be choosier with what I buy. I've got the tracking side of expenses under control, this year I need to hyper focus on the Wishlist side of it. Make sure I'm prioritizing what I want to play over great deals. I hope to cut expenses by another 20% whilst possibly buying new Hardware if an appropriate deal presents itself. I plan to heavily on Game Pass and possibly Humble Choice for most newish releases this year.
52 clears or 100 points is considered a win in my book with this. Last year I managed to achieve both.
2020 Scoring System (italics indicates changes)
Not: I don't feel the threshold goal structure worked last year. Going to try to reframe them as points achieved per clear with the point value determined by the total annual number I'd like to achieve (for example if I wish to beat 5 WiiU games this year, each WiiU game I clear gives an extra 0.2 points)
| Game Length | Points |
|---|---|
| -Credit Roll (00-20 hrs) | +1 |
| -Credit Roll (20-40 hrs) | +2 |
| -Credit Roll (40-80 hrs) | +3 |
| -Credit Roll (80+ hrs) | +4 |
| -DLC Under 5 Hours | +0.25 |
| -Single Episode of uncompleted Season of Episodic Game | +0.25 |
| Bonus Points | |
| -Backlog Bonus, Game owned longer than 1 year | +1 |
| -Backlog Bonus, Old System. Game owned longer than 1 year + non-current system | +2 |
| -Load my Last Save Bonus, Finishing any game that I've not played for more than 2 weeks | +3 |
| -Achievement Bonus, 100% single player achievements completion or 100% collectibles | +0.5 |
| -ZeitGeist Bonus, Any current release eligible for GotY | +0.07 |
| -ZeitGeist Catchup, any GotY contender from last 3 years | +0.1 |
| -Bucket List Bonus - Beating a game off the Holes in my Resume list | +1 |
| -Key Franchise, any game from my favorite franchise list | +0.2 |
| Platform Bonuses | |
| PC | +0.05 |
| WiiU | +0.25 |
| PS4 | +0.1 |
| 3DS/DS | +0.2 |
| PSTV | +0.5 |
| Genre Bonuses | |
| Platformers | +0.1 |
| Adventure | +0.2 |
| Action Adventure | +0.1 |
| Open World | +0.2 |
| FPS | +0.2 |
| Fighting | +0.2 |
| RPG | +0.2 |
| SRPG | +0.5 |
| Other | +0.01 |
| Game Type Bonuses | |
| AAA | +0.07 |
| Retro (Games from before 2000) | +0.2 |
| Indie | +0.07 |
- Expansions are treated as separate Game title (i.e. Brood War is a unique game from StarCraft)
- If an entire season of an Episodic game is completed, score according to time played using previously stated rules.
- Old games that are "new to me" Such as GoG.com DOSbox games, Virtual Console do not qualify for Backlog bonus points.
- Current Systems for 2020 are considered to be PC, PS4, 3DS/DS, WiiU, PSTV. Anything that is currently hooked up is considered personally current whether it truly is in gaming society or isn't.
Some things non point scored goals I'd like to achieve this year
- Clear two Final Fantasy games
- Finish my existing WiiU backlog
- Halve my PS4 backlog
- Save enough on game purchases to acquire new hardware if desired
Previous Years Results - as of 01/25/2020
| Year | Credit Rolls | Points | S-Ranks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 11 | 38.65 | 3 |
| 2013 | 26 | 71.10 | 7 |
| 2014 | 63 | 108.25 | 16 |
| 2015 | 40 | 74.60 | 12 |
| 2016 | 31 | 88.78 | 5 |
| 2017 | 40 | 83.88 | 15 |
| 2018 | 26 | 75.67 | 16 |
| 2019 | 52 | 143.25 | 20 |
| 2020 | 42 | 108.22 | 18 |
| Totals through 2019 | 289 | 684.18 | 94 |
| Averages through 2019 | 36.125 | 85.525 | 11.75 |
note: all point totals have been adjusted to 2020 scoring rules
