My job consists of staring at a computer screen for 8 hours, so at the end of the day I don't feel like touching another computer. As a result, unless I'm on vacation or performing visits out of the office, my gaming takes place on the weekends, and I tend to favor short sessions anyway. Not many chances to get bored of it!

But I can get fatigue of individual games (and sometimes genres) when I've been playing them for months. When that happens, I switch for a while to a totally different game, usually an 8-10 hour point-and-click adventure. For some this doesn't work and end up abandoning the first game, but for me it does the trick. It also helps if you plan carefully when to stop (the best point is when you are done with most of all quests/stuff in an area and the only thing you have to do next is go to a new place).

Sounds like you need a break and need to do something completely different for a while ... unrelated to your PC especially. It can also be called "gaming burnout". I doubt this is the case, unless having so much variety means you never take a break. Gaming like so many things can become so addictive it becomes unhealthy for you. Well all you can do really is refresh yourself ... take that break I mentioned. Variety, and not just with games, is the spice of life.
Socialize, read, go for walks, watch stuff, play sport, create stuff, take up a few hobbies, gather knowledge, etc.

This 100x.

I don't think achievements are a bad feature (though I am of the opinion that they should be part of the game itself rather than a platform-wide feature); it's just that they need to be used right.

Some examples of good achievements:
* Ones that involve an unusual solution to a problem, something a typical player might not necessarily think of doing.
* Ones that encourage that sort of out-of-the-box thinking, much like the previous example.
* Achievements for different types of failures, especially more unusual ones. (One example might be an achievement for a double kill on a boss, another might be for dying as the result of a useless action that does a small amount of damage (like walking into a campfire, for example). This would be especially good for troll games.)
* If the game has boss fights that you are not supposed to win (and I hope the game would telegraph that fact somehow), winning one of those fights could net an achievement. (Lufia: The Legend Returns had one boss fight in particular that you're supposed to lose, but which the game doesn't make obvious (unlike some other "supposed to lose" boss fights in that game), and I actually won that battle without knowing on my first play through; there is a reward for doing this.)
* An achievement whose description contains a hint for a puzzle solution, and where the player is expected to find some hints. (This is only a good idea if the achievements can be viewed in-game; games that rely on the client for achievements should not do this, as it would be unfair to those playing the game without it.)

Some examples of bad achievements:
* Achievements that are gained through the normal course of the game. (For example, killing a mandatory boss, or picking up a mandatory pick-up; if Metroid had achievements, an achievement for picking up the morph ball would be a bad achievement.)
* Achievements that take a lot of mindless or repetitive work, like reaching a high level in a game that has XP/based levels.
* Secret achievements. These almost always fit in the first bad example I mentioned.

Some people seem to be using them for gauging how deep others have delved into a game and, based on that, the authority they have when talking about a particular game. Sometimes in a piss-contest way.

Like, "Kill a boss with only your leading character" and so on. That does not really add to the game, unless you want to do that for fun... In that way, achievements might actually encourage the player to do things that normally a player would not think of doing, just for the sake of getting the achievement.

These might reward unusual approaches or feats (like that of winning a tough fight against opposition well above your weight). But rewarding in a way that is not actively twisting the way a player would approach the game.

Some players do not like to be herded, while others need to get (and show) achievements. Does it have something to do with, er, displaying real life "achievements" in FB and other social networks?

My coping method is to fall back to other things I like. Books and anime are two of the loves of my life besides gaming, so those tend to be good when I need a break from games. When that doesn't work, I take a short nap or do something take to my mind off it.

I have so many games installed that have not been completed for one reason or another. Sometimes I find myself wondering why I even bought them. Understanding that is probably part of the key to completing some of these games, at least for me.

So why did I buy the games I have?
- It was part of a genre that I like, so the initial temptation was already there (RPG, strategy, adventure).
- It seemed to offer something new or a different take on the old.
- There was a lot of chat or hype about the game and I got caught up in the excitement.
- Sometimes it's nostalgia. Recalling fond memories is a powerful incentive.
- Sometimes it's simply the price. Picking up games on the cheap is not as easy to resist as I thought, especially since it was already on my wishlist. Unfortunately, I add things to my wishlist that I probably shouldn't.

There's probably a ton of other reasons.

So, what happened to stall these games from being completed?
- I went in with expectations. A good way to get disappointed if it fails to meet.
- I tried to play too much in one sitting and burned myself out too early. Not knowing when to walk away for a bit.
- Some games are meant to be played in small chunks. I just didn't recognize that and probably still lack that understanding.
- I let other games contaminate my thoughts while playing. Example: I play the game like it's Baldur's Gate, only it wasn't.
- It probably doesn't help that I'm a completionist or a min/max player. Some games aren't meant for that. It probably kills the mood lol.

There are probably plenty of other reasons to cause gaming fatigue or maybe it's just mental fatigue.

Gaming for me is a temporary escape from the world of the living. When the game doesn't meet expectations, be it the story, the gameplay, the design choices or whatever else, it no longer becomes that escape.

It probably all boils down to knowing yourself and properly managing your activities. Unfortunately, I currently lack that understanding and the wisdom to finding the path to move in that direction.

I'm probably overthinking some of this stuff, but I guess maybe I'm posting because this topic reminded me of how frustrating it is to leave all those games unfinished. It also doesn't help knowing I spent money on a game I'll likely never finish...
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You just reminded me of my time in Everquest 2 and Guild Wars 2, both of which I played for years. I got so burned out on both at some point. MMOs are fun for a while, but it can be fatiguing in the long run, especially raiding lol.

And yeah people online can bum you out at times...
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I have more of a people fatigue, and as a result I've been pushing myself away from multiplayer games.

I understand that, expecially give the behaviour of many of those on-line players. But I miss the arcade times when you could always go there, play co-op together and make new friends.
Playing videogames was a way to socialize with other nerdy kids in real life.

Sometimes just hitting that "start" button can be the hardest thing. I do go days without gaming and I just do something else like reading books, watching movies and such. But when it comes to gaming then I will force myself to just hit that start button and begin to play the game no matter how much my brain tells me it doesn't want to play that game. And once I start playing I will usually begin to have fun after a little while. Starting is the hardest part.

Yep and that can be just as true for reading or any other pastime or hobby ... hell I even have trouble having a shower some days ... ha ha ha. Once you make that move though, usually before too long it is wonderful that you did ... especially that shower. ;)

Absolutely - with you on that one, mate.

You we're the only person to show any appreciation for my joke. Most people down voted it into oblivion.

Alas, some jokes are just not universal, especially in this one dimensional landscape with no emoji.