I've gotten better at not buying tons of games lately. I ask myself if I am definitely going to play it right now. If it would just go straight into my backlog, I try and pass on buying it.

Yes, I almost feel a bit repulsed even, when I contemplate buying a new game after having seen just how many that I have not yet played. It puts things in perspective for me: 'am I actually going to play this game right now or will it simply end-up in my backlog for who knows how many years?'.

For me it's been more or less a hoarding problem, sprung from my insecurity of future income. I've had employment problems for quite a while. So I've been thinking 'better get the games now while I still can afford to buy games'.

Depression has played its part as well, as I do feel happier whenever I buy a new game. If you don't have anything else to happy about in life, moments like this is what you are left with.

Once I get rid of that insecurity and get a more stable job, I really think I could manage my issues better, I would not have the same doomsday scenario in my head.

Work / school / growing up + backlog = ;(
Got myself making calculations the other day, something like ''well, if I start to play like 8 games a month, in one year I'll play ____ games, but...."
That's no fun. At all. Math and games won't mix and yep, I was a huge Number Muncher fan ;P

Fantasysci5 gave herself a budget of $30 for the Steam Summer Sales.
She went $10 over, but got 11 games!
Don't be like Fantasysci5.

i'm tempted to buy neverending nightmares, mostly because of the great discount. can someone stop me?

I can't stop you, only you can stop yourself - but here is some inspiration that might help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZmdAWxI_J8

Yes, I can stop you. By gifting neverending nightmares steam copy!!!
PM me if you want to play it badly. :)

thanks
no, don't need the steam version. thanks

Well, I just hit the 500 mark on games on GOG. I really need to cut back here, though I've gone through almost the entire Steam summer sale without buying anything. I'll just pick up Way of the Samurai 3 and call the sale done for me there, although that'll put me at 345... I need to actually play more of the shorter games in my backlog instead of the RPGs and other longer games where I end up going for 20+ hours easily (60-90+ for the really long/expansive ones like WOTS4) to min-max my stats, max out my gear, do all the quests, and basically try to 100% them.

NOOOO!!!!!! I must resist!!!!!!!

Ok so today's quality releases are admittedly a real challenge, no doubt about it.

Here's a quote that I find helpful:

"Discipline is choosing between what you want NOW and what you want MOST"

Surely, you want to buy the new releases now but ask yourself what you want even more than that, long term. Don't you want to be the best Gnostic that you can become? And how exactly is buying those new releases going to help you with becoming that best Gnostic? Not at all, of course. Perhaps you want to work on a personal project or pursue a non-instant-gratification hobby, and buying these games won't help with that, either.

I've been taking cold showers for the past couple months and it's making a noticeable difference. It's not that I'm now magically more disciplined, I still procrastinate etc but taking cold showers has done wonders on many levels. Just try it out for yourself, of course it's more effective if you live in a place where tap water on the coldest settings is actually cold.

After taking a cold shower, you feel a little bit like a boss. So when you come out of the shower as "little bit boss Gnostic", you're going to be less likely to go and buy puny little computer games because it's not the most boss-like thing you can do in that moment.

Mmm, Dead Space... MMM, Dragon Age... MMMMMMM, SIM CITY 3000!!!!!! *cackles evilly*

Must they be mutually exclusive? :-(

Resisting theses games? I can do that with ease. But I did just spend a bit too much money on books today. :-(

So tell me about those cold showers. Using water below body temperature is doable, but really cold water, as in not heated at all is quite a punishment to me. Probably a lack of habit thing.


EDIT: Congrats for the record.

:D

If the cold shower at least prevented you from buying Deadspace and the Dragon game then it's a partial success :)

Well of course not, it depends on the context and there might be a congruence depending on your goals. However, I can hardly believe anyone's most wanted thing in Life is adding more video games to their collection. Or to use jurisdictional lingo, I have reasonable doubt.

Same demon, different skin: Instant gratification. Beware of it, it tries to tempt us in many shapes and forms!

I takes about 3-6 weeks (give or take) to build a new habit. Once taking cold showers has become a habit, it requires less willpower.
In the beginning the cold water shocks your body and you get an adrenaline rush and it robs your breath, making you almost hyperventilate. To make things easier, you can slowly build up your tolerance by gradually using colder and colder water and increasing the time you expose yourself to the water. Start by showering your feet.

Once you get used to taking cold showers, the shock effect gets weaker and weaker, unfortunately the adrenaline rush also gets weaker and weaker until it practically disappears so you get less of a kick out of the cold shower.

The goal is not to feel "cold ass mothafucka" lika Guts from Berserk, it's more about becoming more based and resilient. Read about the benefits of cold showers on this page:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/benefits-cold-showers-7-reasons-why-taking-cool-showers-good-your-health-289524

One effect I find most interesting isn't even physiological but purely psychological: If you exclusively take all cold showers then you're doing something that only a minority of people (in the comfy and spoiled 1st world) can willingly endure. If you know that you can endure something most people around you can't then that edge gives you an additional small motivational boost. Whatever works :)
Anyway, I mainly do it because I feel more refreshed and as a positive side effect my electricity bill will be a little lower. I feel happy about having successfully formed a good habit (for once) and will keep it going.

Thank you! The current clean streak is built on 40 relapses over the course of an entire year, it doesn't mean I've beaten the addiction for good but it definitely shows very promising progress.