How Steam Makes You Buy Games That You NEVER Play

[@MARCM0DE]

The fact that you cited your sources in a KZbin channel with under 1000 subs is amazing. Destined for greatness

[@davisdlc]

I appreciate the fact that you noticed! Thanks for watching and I appreciate the support 🤝

[@xHalfBlindx]

​@@davisdlc I was going to comment about you being at 1.9k but had to log in and you hit 2k in minutes. Congrats man!​

[@davisdlc]

Thank you bro 🤝

[@MarcusRayGonzalez]

FOR REAL so many people don’t cite their sources

[@Apple_Beshy]

@@davisdlc Who uses steam to play games? We use it to collect games.

[@austinking5092]

Ahhh Steam, the gift that keeps on giving. Ever since I’ve joined the Steam market it has felt like a great place to get cheap games but then I realize I haven’t touched about 60% of my library 😂

[@user-eu5ol7mx8y]

After years of enjoyment on xbox360 I finally built my first gaming pc only to find myself playing almost no games.

[@jasonstrange4196]

Same but it might not be all your fault. Myself as an example I play somewhere in the ballpark of 60 games a year over 1000+ play sessions a year. The backlog comes in from a subscription to humble bundle and a reasonable purchase of games on steam. I ignore the majority of sales and have a almost 200 game wishlist.

[@HUYI1]

I'm good, mainly a console gamer but the fun never stops on consoles either 😂

[@Ober1kenobi]

0:51 I have all the time in the world, outside of my day job. I could easy play for 8 hours a day, work for 8 hours and sleep for 8 hours, I have no kids, no spouse, no extra curricular activists or events to go to I am a hermit outside of work I have ZERO motivation to play these days. Whether it be I just don’t want to play against sweaty tryhards who think they’re playing for 1million dollars in a public game lobby Or just too many players not playing gamers with Any integrity, (yeh it might sound weird) Just because certain things are in the game or you can play a certain way, doesn’t mean you should Just because Battlefield 4 had the XM25 Burst, doesn’t mean you have to clock up 10,000 hours with that ‘gun’ standing in one spot being an absolute tw@t /end rant But the motivation to play is just very little It’ll be sporadic and I can only play for a few hours a day before I have zero mental composure left It’s probably a me thing

[@HUYI1]

@@Ober1kenobi stop playing online and competing against little kiddies who have no prospect or future is the only advice i can give you, i'm in a similar situation but i play games to enjoy and be happy in a environment where i can enjoy the experience, i don't have kids, serious relationship also but i'm still here and fighting but fighting against something that is only going to make you feel worse inside you have to be better than this! i wish you well and i hope you make the best choices for yourself

[@tarazzzs]

Sometimes I buy games just to support the developers if I feel like they deserve it or I want to support their none predatory actions towards their clients.

[@VaeVictus17]

That's dumb, only buy something you're gonna use. No wonder people like you don't have any money.

[@Moli05]

nice way to lose money

[@VaeVictus17]

@@Moli05 exactly. What kind of person buys something for just charity to devs? Such a fake gamer issue. How about buy something you're gonna use? Like if I buy chocolate for a fund raiser to promote towards breast cancer, you bet your tuckus I'm eating it or doing something with it. But to buy a game to "support devs" is such a dumb thing to do.

[@Jeemo31]

​@@VaeVictus17it's your money? No so why are you angry ?

[@Den_Vazw_Onoma]

@@VaeVictus17 if we are not talking about big companies, it's always nice to support creators who (aside from all the work) have clearly put their hearts into a project. Maybe it's just the fact that im a creator myself, but i personally never felt that i "wasted" my money by supporting a smaller creator whose work affected me

[@BrokenNoah]

In the end, we are all just playing Inventory Management Simulator

[@itzhazardgaming3950]

whoever has more games is more cooler

[@zaodacrusher7498]

One think people need to realize, you're not saving 70% you're spending 20 bucks. Sales don't save money, they let you pay less, but you're still paying.

[@rayderrich]

I think it was 2019 when I announced to my gaming friends that I would go on a non-game-buying-streak for 3 months. They called me crazy, I would never make it, as I owned over 400 games already and would continue to fall for it. That is what I thought as well. Now, in June 2023, that streak is still going. Did not expect it, do like it. Great talk, Davi.

[@Styphoryte]

Fitgirl repacks are goated fr

[@user-eu5ol7mx8y]

I figured ignoring sales and buying ONLY what you actually want to play right now might end up being cheaper in the long run. Less stressful too.

[@jonservo]

Man, sounds like you had a real problem. I thought I had a big library at around 30 games lol. It's important to remember that we're all different and what may seem fine for some people might be unhealthy for others according to their own personality and emotional makeup. Sounds like you thought it was becoming a problem and you decided to take a positive step. I say good for you 👍

[@rayderrich]

@@jonservo It started to become an issue when I could not decide what to play anymore. The buying had to stop to give me more space. I also install only maximum 10 games these days so my mind does not wonder over to the other 400+ when launching Steam.

[@jonservo]

@@rayderrich glad it wasn't something worse like an addiction to buying like some have. Still kudos to you for seeing a problem and working it out, that's more than a lot of us manage at times lol

[@ayubshahab6403]

If you think about it, it seems kinda messed up that alot of our impulse buying, games or not, is heavily influenced by psychological tricks. They be playing on our emotions. 100% rule, framing effect, fomo, u name it.

[@ShooterPat]

Fair I suppose. I almost feel like I should reframe my own standards. Steam sales seem like a far cry in sleeziness compared to whatever it is the AAA companies are doing with their microtransactions though.

[@nickcarballo6039]

​@@ShooterPatjust buy what you want if you have to consider you prolly don't want to play it that bad anyway. Let's plays are still I thing too to help a decision

[@ShooterPat]

@nickcarballo6039 I agree my dude, there are definately things that are a "I'm gonna buy this" sort of deal. But it is absolutely worthwhile to do some research before yah buy. Granted it's all opinion in the end anyway

[@louisinese]

@@nickcarballo6039yea I get a new Star Wars game every may 4th because of the sales

[@Kinos141]

Yeah, well, that's life.

[@ApoJake13]

This hits way too close for me. I don't know how many games I have in my Steam library that I either haven't completed or haven't even installed, but it's way more than I'd like to admit. A lot of them are good games too, I just don't have the time to play them like when I was a kid. I've always said, life is a constant shifting of 3 things: Money, Energy, and Time. When we're young, we have Energy and Time, but no money. When we're middle aged, we have Money and maybe Energy, but no Time. And when we're old, we have Time, and maybe Money, but no Energy.

[@coffeebean_tamer]

It could be the simple fact that too much choice makes you unhappy.... You can see this with Streaming how time you waste watching something here and something there without even watching a series or movies to it's completion. I think smartphones are also a cause and social media has limited out attention spans.

[@louisinese]

@@coffeebean_tamerusually as a kid your parent tells you to pick something out and you have to wait to get another thing like the video said. So I think you are right about choice. Also I like sticking to one show and see it through, so I force myself to watch at least 3 at a time so I don’t binge too much of one show, but I think you have a point as far as multiple titles releasing at a time. It’s hard to focus when a lot of good things drop, opposed to when there appears to be a dry season in gaming.

[@feddy1103]

This hits way too hard 😭😭😭

[@xTurtleOW]

I got 1700 games on steam. I have 300 installed. Yet I have finished maybe 100 out of them. Too much money to buy games but too little time to play them

[@RailRide]

--looks at his collection of off-the-air tv shows recorded to VHS 'back i n the day' --looks at his Jaguar collection --looks at his Saturn collection --looks at his Dreamcast collection --looks at his 360 collection --looks at his XBone collection --looks at his _model train_ collection (the biggest of all) ... ** Well, that hit like a ton of bricks...

[@timothymarcoux6569]

I think I have the gift of being so INCREDIBLY stingy when it comes to selecting a game to play that when a sale comes around like the current summer one, I only get 1 or 2 games that really REALLY attract me or I've been wanting to play.

[@dimlockfork5170]

i have lots of free games that i have not played but every paid game has at least 50 hours on it

[@icemans1matedude339]

Thats a good way to go about it since you prioritize the main things you want

[@danielsurvivor1372]

W Mindset. Also helps to buy games from your favourite genre first(unless it's online game then I doubt you'd spend time trying other online games) and play them first.

[@EEE-1409]

Honestly same. I'll only buy a game on sale if I think I could get some good gameplay out of it. And I rarely purchase games that are over £20.

[@unqualifiedforyoutube4383]

ok but how about piracy

[@calebcarroll7641]

You spoke to my soul with this one. I grew up poor and rarely got to play video games. Towards the end of middle school and through highschool, I worked a steady job. After saving my own money I bought an xbox and started playing Halo. That was some good times. The lan parties... But even then I didn't make much money and often went without a new game while listening to my friends talk about their shared experiences. The FOMO was beyond real, I literally was missing out. Now, I have a Steam library packed with games that I don't play. I never understood the idea of retail therapy until I started taking stock of the money I've spent on Steam. I do, I totally love buying games more than I love playing them, sometimes. Currently jamming pretty hard on Baldur's Gate 3 and have a co-op game starting in a couple of days. It's one of the rare ones that takes you back.

[@TheOfficalHappyGold]

Since ive found ways to get steam games even cheaper and anytime i want via other means, i generally only buy games I'll play immediately, but spot on for us buying or going through hoops to play the games we loved as kids

[@nickcarballo6039]

Same I got cyber punk through other means (thankfully) and still haven't played it

[@ForestSlump]

What are these other means. I want to be enlightened. (If you mean sources other than Humble, GOG, G2A, ECT)

[@matys333]

​@@ForestSlump Pretty sure he has an Argentinian or some other country account where the price of games converted to dollars is negligible to the original one.

[@somewhatlow]

​@@ForestSlumpHe's probably talking about sites like Kinguin, "grey market" places to get really cheap Steam keys

[@randallflagg6271]

I don't think he's talking about any of those. 😊;)

[@Matty002]

training yourself to not fall for these psych tactics is a skill more people need to work on

[@prod.kidmizu]

I agree, I had to teach myself to ignore sales and only get games that I'm actually dying to play

[@B2washere]

@@prod.kidmizu Its easy, just be poor! :(

[@bakutie]

its not hard tf are people doing

[@EQOAnostalgia]

It's pretty easy, just be poor. Problem solved.

[@HUYI1]

And I have for a while, sometimes I fall in the seams and make a bad purchase but I'm always on my toes about the situation

[@kalega311]

Bundle. One thing I started doing a couple years ago is making a list of games and organizing by various categories to determine priority of what I play next. It definitely works in STARTING new games. However, a lot of games I start still go on hold in favor of new releases, which do take priority. It's not perfect, but I think it does work for me to still finish a solid 25-35 games a year.

[@waled7564]

The best plan for now

[@GameoftheYear-fx4mq]

Holy moly, I can barely finish 2 games a year! I think the last game I rolled credits on was Borderlands 3 last year, this year I'm close to finishing RE4 remake but I keep putting it on hold to play modded Skyrim for the 98th time. Last night bought fallout 4 for the first time and instantly went to mod it. Played a bit more this afternoon, going to play far cry 6 now tho

[@snowman1886]

@@GameoftheYear-fx4mqthis is exactly how I work

[@GameoftheYear-fx4mq]

@@snowman1886 I'm back on fallout 4 lol, I think Bethesda is my top 3 ATM. Starfield on PC is gonna be crazyy

[@nordicrain]

New releases take priority? I'm the exact opposite, any new games that seem interesting (which there aren't many anyway) just automatically go near the bottom of the backlog list, with very few exceptions, and in the end I just boot up some older goodies I guess that's just me not being the biggest fan of modern gaming.

[@corey2232]

I actually got tested for ADHD based on this exact thing. It wasn't just my regular doc telling me yes or no, it was an 8 hour undertaking, twice, at a specific testing center. The "decision paralysis," the buying games I never play, the wasting all my free time trying to figure out what I'm going to do in my free time... it was driving me crazy! Worse yet, I'd look at all the exciting new games I'd buy, debate on what to play, then just waste 5 mins playing a quick game on my phone or playing a round of some multiplayer game.... then another 5 minutes, and another 5 minutes... until I'd wasted all my time getting nothing done or playing any real game 😢 My ADHD results came back, and I was in the 98th percentile, so luckily it wasn't all just in my imagination. But I did learn the sales tactics & other things you mentioned are known issued that people with serious ADHD/ depression struggle with even more. I'm sure people with other, more serious mental health issues feel it even worse too. I'm not saying it's Steam's fault or anyone else, but before I got help I was way more vulnerable to wasting money on a bunch of games I've still never played to this day. Thankfully, PC Game Pass has helped with that 😂

[@mrb6094]

I have ADHD too. I've literally spent the whole Steam sale so far wondering what to buy. I bought Days Gone and there was too much going on for me, so I got a refund. I've lost track of how many hours of KZbin I've watched to try and find something I'd like. I often sit for a gaming session and just end up watching KZbin or floating around forums instead.

[@rageqv]

​@@mrb6094 I got to this video by doing this exact thing lmao

[@rrurangi]

I have adhd but I didn't play game for 1 year.

[@corey2232]

@@rrurangi Did you still keep buying them even though you weren't playing?

[@rrurangi]

@@corey2232 I didn't buy.I don't have a computer

[@Verociity]

as I kid I'd save for weeks to buy ONE game and it was the best game ever, now it's harder to appreciate any game because I have so many. This was really well edited and informative, especially the sales and psychology.

[@dickward1090]

I’ve actually started to get into the habit of every time steam sends me a notification something is on sale to check my library to see what I haven’t played yet. it’s allowed me to play some older impulse buys I had long since forgotten about.

[@pax1217]

Another one is to create groups of games, even marking one as "favorites" minimizes your choice selection, and when you see a game that you dont play often, remove it from there. I got one called "random stuff" with all the games I haven't played, and I also remove games from my wishlist that I know I wont be playing if I buy it

[@Unitedsteaks.]

​@@pax1217or just pirate games and jail break consoles 😏

[@rewater]

@@Unitedsteaks. So how not to buy games you don't play is to play games you don't buy? alright I guess

[@MrBeetsGaming]

Just turn off notifications...

[@HUYI1]

​@@Unitedsteaks.I do that as a hobby actually 😅😅

[@darthllama1]

Found this video by chance, I just assumed from watching that you were a large channel due of the quality of the video. Well done, looking forward to seeing your channel grow.

[@DarkS707YT]

Same lmao

[@BlurryCMen]

For real, this is one of the channels that you know will grow to be huge, because of the narration quality, production, editing, etc... It basically can't fail.

[@junoperberry]

​@BlurryCMen you'd be surprised how many amazing channels never end up successful

[@thesidneychan]

In my country back then, piracy was normal and out in the open. As a kid I did not know the difference between original or pirated. I just put the disc in the ps2 and played. Years later I've been rebuying old games on steam and GOG. Never touched piracy again. If I can't afford it, I won't play it. If I didn't feel like playing, I'd watch a let's play video.

[@knowledge4741]

Emulation is amazing honestly, some consider it piracy. Having access to over 30,000 games from my past, most run great is awesome.

[@suc125]

I remember the shock when my brother bought some original games (around 15 - 20 years ago)....like what was the point? Never heard someone would do such a ridiculous and luxurious thing.... Nowdays I wouldn´t pirated a game again....as someone said, we used to play games we didn´t buy, now we pay for games we don´t play.... During 90s and early 2000s, games consted like 1/4 - 1/3 of an average salary in my (post communist) country ....who could afford that? Pirating wasn´t viewed as something bad, because noone would buy most of the games we used to play anyway

[@heroe1486]

Has litteraly nothing to do with the video, although huge sales and pir*cy work the same in the sense that you might not enjoy/play games anymore because you have too much of them

[@BLVCK6]

"How steam makes you buy games you never play" >Be me >Never installed steam iml >Not even visited their website ever >Still plays any steam game i like >How ?

[@MarkPorter-ci9it]

And what is the answer? 🤔

[@ishantripathi9707]

We've got ourselves a pirate mate

[@MrSuperman957]

A fellow sailor of the high seas, I see

[@user-fh7cz7eo8l]

well written, perfect pace and flow, simple and relatable yet includes studies and psychology and sources cited, over high quality. banger video this channel deserves more subs

[@davisdlc]

Wow, thank you!

[@GalacticPoisonX]

Do you really read every single comment?

[@davisdlc]

Yes 👍

[@1God1Fury]

While channel small enough they can

[@Meirdom]

Do you really really read every single bundle

[@davisdlc]

I read yours 👀

[@dudethedude1220]

@@davisdlc That’s nice to know

[@Kymus]

I used to spend so much money during the seasonal sales (winter especially), but now I only make a purchase if either (A) the discount is incredibly steep (resulting in a final price that's like $6 or less) or (B) the discount is significant (75%+) AND I also really want the game. Nowadays, sales come and go and I typically don't buy anything.

[@ayubshahab6403]

Its insane how this level of quality in a video, u would normally expect a channel to be easily over 100k. Heavily underrated. Bright future big man!

[@r.p.7174]

I feel called out by the section on multiplayer games I never play☹️ Also, "bundle"🙂

[@KippurCatArts]

ya, will be interesting watching this channel

[@CosmicReverberations]

Had I not seen this comment I would've assumed the same lol 😵 300 subs?? Quality content 🔥

[@VaeVictus17]

Nah this guy is a phony reviewer and gamer. I have a full time job, a family of 4, a house to maintain, a car to pay off, bills out the butt, and STILL HAVE TIME TO PLAY GAMES. You know what I don't have time for? Playing steam games. I have to download it, update it, find a third party patch, upgrade a PC, or troubleshoot half the time. 90% of the game time for steam is troubleshooting, the rest is playing the actual game. 😂 This guy doesn't know Jack squat about video games or gaming habits or spending. There is no paradox to choice. You choose to buy something that youll never play. Not thinking about the whole concept of buying something is a common impulse buy. Americans are known to impulse buy, I know I have. But the difference here is steam makes it easier to give into your impulses to buy said game by lowering the price. As for CONSOLE GAMING: I buy the game, download it depending on the console, update takes a few minutes or half an hour and then It goes straight into gaming for hours at a time. This guy didn't even know what he was talking about. His future is very low because he's pulling these numbers out of his butt when it comes down to simple and common sales tactics that are hardly psychological. He's a phony gamer and a phony psychologist. He's a a KZbinr, that's sums him up and his future isn't really bright if this is all he can manage to do.l is say pure nonsense.

[@UUDripz]

@@VaeVictus17bro what are u talking about

[@godmode3611]

There is one another reason I would add: The fact that when you get used to buy games just to play them whenever you want and the amount of time you want and stop caring about finishing a game before buying another, then nothing can stop you from buying games each month. It is difficult to establish this rule because if you did you wouldn't be able to buy or try anything new (only demos) unless your finished the games you own and that would be virtually impossible. I sometimes only use this rule with sequels of the same game. I won't buy the next one until I finished the one I have. That rule has saved me a lot of money. I used to buy trilogies xD

[@VRManCave]

I am shocked you only have 2.5K subs. This was such a well written, good paced and nicely edited video. I've subscribed and look forward to your next vids, good job man, GOOD. JOB.

[@RichardJNeo]

I had the Stalker games in my library for overs 10 years and never played them and then during lockdown I finally loaded them up and they’re so amazing!! Definitely worth jumping into your library and digging into some of those unexplored gems 🙂

[@LordOOTFD]

You can actually set up a steam collection which automatically includes all of you unplayed games. I use it to slowly narrow down my backlog, though about 70% are probably random stuff I got from humble bundle over the years and I don't really do much more than try them for a half hour.

[@moyomo]

if you liked the stalker games then try stalker anomaly and stalker gamma

[@RichardJNeo]

@@moyomo oh yep. Loving Gamma

[@stsk7]

I felt this when I first started working and making money. I've since adapted by making a list of my backlog that I must play before buying any new game, regardless of price

[@Ghost88o9]

Not a bad idea. anther option is only spending so much on games. I was thinking only if I beat a game can I buy one or buying one game a month 🤔

[@rajeev_kumar]

I don't play games for completion, I play them for relaxation and fun.

[@NisseHult101]

I think this is pretty much spot on - I have 221 games on steam and about 90 of them I haven't started even though some of those (20+) are actually also installed. Most of these I bought on various sales.

[@AJ-po6up]

I have over a 1000 games on Steam now and I barely play 10 games in a year, heck right now I'm going through a 2004 game while I still keep buying new games, something is terribly wrong with me lol, this video has helped me understand where the root of my problem is and how it got this bad, and how Steam has tricked my brain into buying more games that I will never play.

[@knowledge4741]

I have over 1000 games in my Steam library alone, I think I paid less than $1000 total over the years, basically every AAA title in the past 10 years. $1000 is literally no money, and the amount of time I put into a few of the games alone was worth it for me. My library is worth over $9,000 if paid at full price. I paid near $2500 building an awesome DAS drive with near 200TB, downloaded my complete Steam library and started playing a new game every day. I started this Jan 1st this year. Also, on this drive I downloaded EVERY game from past consoles on emulation. Even have over 1000 Switch games that all run great. My drive is sitting at over 30,000 different games. I have literally EVERY title available to me and I absolutely love it. Whenever I have friends and family over, I can bring up any game from our childhood, play any 4-player game, it's just great. Some people like me, just enjoy having a collection of games or an archive for literally NO REASON.

[@mavrikgaming970]

@@knowledge4741 man i have Minecraft (not in steam but i own it) bopl battle (it’s actually quite good and it’s like 10 bucks or smth) satisfactory and orebores king (rouge like chess game) lol I have prop over 100 hours in Minecraft and over 20 hours in the rest fun vid to watch but doesn’t apply to me cant tell of i should be happy or sad…

[@Satoog]

I just really started playing games when I bought a Steam Deck. I have 162 games in my library 3 of which I attempt to stumble through fairly frequently. I have 64 games on my wish list. I’m 68. Sadly, I still I peruse the games on sale … very frequently.

[@BlairSantos]

Are you at least retired? I always wondered what I would do in a situation like that.

[@Satoog]

@@BlairSantos oh yea, very well retired thanks :)

[@thecodingponcho]

Solid video. I've been collecting games on sale and humble bundle deals in anticipation of buying a gaming PC (which I finally got last weekend). Now to see how many of those games I actually get to....

[@Kittysune12]

and then you ended up spending more time on F2P games than the game you bought yeah

[@yolobathsalts]

@@Kittysune12 me: has literally tens of thousands of dollars worth of games Also me: plays world of tanks daily since it was in closed alpha testing 😶

[@UltimateTS64]

There was a point in time where I considered myself a collector, but then I eventually got scammed out of a lot of money at one point and had to fight tooth and nail to get myself back in a decent financial situation again (I'm a broke college kid). During that time I traded in most of my collection accept the few games I actually played with friends and family. I also trained myself to not buy games unless I REALLY REALLY want them, making it easier to ignore most games now. A tip that helps with games on sale is to wait until the last day of the sale to see if you really want it, if you stop thinking about it by the end of that sale, you either knew you wouldn't have the time to play it or didn't want it that much in the first place.

[@Styphoryte]

God dammit I am just so happy to have been born around 2000 and had a dad teach me to torrent at age 4 😂😂 Only buy it if necessary is the way I roll lmao or if I really fw the devs and the game I may decide to buy it, it really depends. At least this way ur not out 60 bucks wishing a month later wait why did I buy this game again?!?!

[@UltimateTS64]

@@Styphoryte Yeah my parents never really specifically taught me that skill, but just generally how to save. Different circumstances taught me different skills and gave me a new mindset though.

[@kosmique]

if you really wanna cut down on buying games, start deciding by studio / supporting only devs and publishers who are not super scummy (since they almost all are...) or totally go against your morals. you'll be niched pretty quick. there certain ones i just avoid nowadays, or at least try my best to...

[@personaslates]

Game collecting died when we stopped buying physical copies of games.

[@UltimateTS64]

@@personaslates I mean people still just buy physical only, that's what I used to do

[@LiamTheOne]

commenting "bundle" is a market strategy used by youtubers so that we may feel like we achived something and get more engagement. Commenting this im part of the problem

[@jackbrown6788]

I also think that the amount you pay for a game has an impact on the value you place on it. I buy many of my games from Steam at 60% to 80% off but I wonder if I payed full price I would be more inclined to play it all the way through. If you only pay between £3 and £6 for a game you instantly see it as a cheap, disposable game, even if it's a triple A title. I find this is true of music as well. Back in the days when I used to buy a full priced album on cassette or CD I would play the crap out of it. Now, with cheap, downloadable music I rarely listen to an album all the way through, the same as a rarely play a game all the way through.

[@MateoVilla-pz7cg]

I had a similar thought as well. I think the price we pay has a lot to do with it. Also, money wasn't easy to come by. If we pay full price, we want to get the most out of it. If it's dirt cheap, another trinket to add to the collection of more unused trinkets. So I guess a study looking into the psychology of pricing and how it affects how we interact with products.

[@TheEternalFather92]

I bought so many games when I had friends. We played them regularly up until the few moments before they just left and never spoke again. I found that talking in a discord or console party chat helps me focus on playing single player games.

[@FreelanceUnfiltered]

I can relate to this. When I was a kid all those games from Steam mostly I can't afford and I dreamt of buying them. But now, I was 31 year old, I have money to buy everything from Steam, but since I am already an adult and have a family my mindset now has been changed, and instead of playing games I prioritize work, and whenever I have time to play, I still don't and instead choose to rest and sleep.. 😂

[@markdevlin3630]

Fantastic and thoughtful video. That paralysis by having too many decisions combined with not wanting to waste the precious time that you have left before you have to do adult things again is real.

[@kosmique]

i always joke with my freinds " i am playing a game called "looking through my library for a game to play" ... believe it or not i spent upwards of an hour multiple times scrolling.

[@dumiahbro]

The “if you have less games you might spend more time playing games” statement is so true. My steam library is 10 games and I’ve never ran into the problem of not having anything to play

[@GokuTributeZ]

If you buy physical games, the chance is much higher you play them and it feels more worth. At the end of the day, you never can´t play all games, that´s why quality and what you really want to play, is more important than having 100 games on sale, that you never touch.

[@dadmitri4259]

This is why I'm so hesitant when I buy games, even when my friends want to play it with me. Especially humble bundles. I've never bought a bundle, because I don't want 10 games at half price that I'll never play. I want a single game that I'll actually enjoy.

[@DavidMartinez-vk7wr]

Same man same. Although I’m waiting for Cyberpunk 2077 to go on sale again since I put so many hours. Since like I play it on my series S. It is so I can have it on my steam account on my laptop. also that I can mod and such.

[@bettybunbun9664]

0:03 wait you guys are playing 63% of your games? 😮

[@TodorSRB]

This video is EXACTLY what I was looking for the last 2-3 weeks because I started thinking I have ADHD and this video NAILS how I feel, I have a library of 400+ games on steam and for the last two months I didnt play a single game except when Tears of the Kingdom came out which I completed in a few days of nonstop playing it and now I'm back to playing nothing, I have that mental barrier you mentioned that prevents me from trying new games. And even if I force myself to try them I have no patience for them no matter how good they are (RDR2 for example, played only 2hrs of it) and I'd rather play something I know and have played before so this video is really spot on. I also realized, just like you mentioned having only one or two games installed is a way better choice if I want to play something (didnt know it was called Decision Paralysis), since if I open up Steam and see 10+ installed games and then try to decide what to play I just end up closing it and not playing anything. Even got myself a Steam Deck thinking it will SURELY make it easier to play and enjoy games and it did at the start but it faded away quickly, it was awesome for Tears of the Kingdom though. So amazing job on an amazing video, you nailed how I've been feeling and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one. Most of the other videos I looked up on "How to enjoy games again" or "Why you aren't enjoying games anymore" just didn't hit that mark for me.

[@5persondude]

Expanding on the FOMO bit, another thing to consider is games being delisted. As of July 2024 (when I wrote this comment), Forza Horizon 4 is about to be delisted from all digital stores in December of this year. As soon as the announcement was made, the game sold tons of extra copies (myself included 😂) and the player count skyrocketed. On a side note, I also remember having Battlefield 2 on my Steam wishlist for a while but not buying it because I wasn’t immediately interested in buying it at the time… only for EA to suddenly delist the game in 2014 because of GameSpy servers shutting down (even though you could still play against Bots and mod the game to restore Multiplayer), and I am still kicking myself to this day for not grabbing it for the $10 or less it was priced at on Steam.

[@SakuyalzayoiTheMaid]

sometimes just not switching to the shop tab and looking through your not installed games give the same dopamine as getting a new game with the benefit that, you bought it so it has to be decent enough for your liking to end up in your library.

[@GigglesYeahMan]

I like this video because it doesn't just apply to games on sale but it also applies to every day life. The example you made with the MacBook is a good example, you may not actually BUY it but its more tempting to buy due to the price discount when normally you wouldn't even look at it.

[@VisualVitamin]

Did not know about the Rule of 100 but it makes sense lol and i like that you put the sources in the description!

[@davisdlc]

The goal is to educate and entertain ✅

[@RandomDude-bb2wv]

I see your channel blowing up in the next year! The quality of your videos is just too good for your sub count

[@davisdlc]

I appreciate it thank you 🙏

[@sampenny4586]

Really good work here. I've gone away and checked my Steam library and done the maths. I have 130 games, I've tried 80 of them, I've spent a reasonable amount of time on 30 and there are 8 I've spent lots of time on. So about 100 games I shouldn't have bought. Having done that I'll head back to Stardew Valley I've just knocked up 8000 hours on it and the goal is 10000!

[@secret5774]

its crazy how everything you said lines perfectly with me

[@aberforth]

I think I just like collecting games. The feeling of seeing them in your library already satisfies me for some reason. This may sound weird but ok lol

[@TPD_fools_gold]

This hits close, I used to collect games and i had 100s of physical games, when i discovered steam i bought a lot of really cheap games to make it feel like it was a good deal, now i have 6000+ games that i probably couldn’t beat if i wanted to.

[@AdamsOlympia]

Dang, and I thought my 3k+ steam library was excessive ! I used to buy lots of cheap (1 dollar) bundles full of indie knockoffs to pad my library size but now I just hide all the low quality junk and stick to higher quality bundles like Humble Monthly + gems from steam sales.

[@davisdlc]

SUBSCRIBE and comment what you think down below 👀

[@VaeVictus17]

Fake argument. You didn't account for 90% of titles on steam just simply not being unplayable due to steam selling defective games that no longer run on current OS or how 99% of games are usually just crashing. Steam is not a gamer friendly company and often people have to find third party patches to games that should already be functional when you download. Furthermore, most gamers can still play games and have time for them. The "I have a job, family, and bills" argument is a false one because if I can do it, so can you. This is strictly for steam games and steam games just enable impulse buying with super low sales and add to the fact that steam games are often unplayable or are mostly consistent with troubleshooting, I rather just play on a console. Fun fact about console gaming: there's almost zero troubleshooting to play. I don't have to download a sketchy third party patch, I don't have to worry if my game will crash 99% of the time. I just get to game. From what I can tell is you're either a normie or just a fake gamer. This wasn't informative or helpful.

[@chillyman7340]

@@VaeVictus17 I got a lot of hate/backlash for saying Console gaming is more fun than PC lol 😅🤷‍♂😂, The fact that there are so many broken games that still sell for full price on pc is crazy, steam pricing is crazy. It's nice to know that someone agrees with my take on pc gaming VS console gaming. Back when I was younger I could sit and play for 3-6 hours on my PS3 and on PC I just can't do that.

[@VaeVictus17]

@@chillyman7340 dude you're not alone. Anyone whose actually dealt with a PC knows damn well that PC gaming is BS and riddled with troubleshooting errors. Fake gamers are the ones who claim PC is best. If PC is so great, why can't every PC play all PC games yet every console can play games that are designed for the console?! 🤣 These fake wannabe gamers don't know anything. You're a true G sir, don't let liars bring you down

[@chillyman7340]

@@VaeVictus17 Thank you man your the best 🥇

[@VaeVictus17]

@@chillyman7340 you're the best. Keep it real man

[@clairement3734]

To me this is a non issue 37% games not played is really low concidering the amount of bundles and trash gifts people received

[@somebutter6755]

I think another big contributing factor for me at least is that so many games take so much time to play now. Back when a game had to be sub 10GB a 20 hour game was pretty long. Now most of the notable releases that aren’t old games with fresh coats of paint take AT LEAST 50 hours, and it’s usually well past 100 hours.

[@S3verance]

I got a chance to buy the whole assassin's creed bundle for 90% off. I haven't even downloaded any of them but I have played most of them as a kid by pirating them. It's my way of giving the childhood me permission to play those games and appreciate the developers.

[@SubtoXtra]

The editing on this video looks very professional. You are really underrated. Keep up the great work!

[@beartackle]

This is so well researched! With the amout of discounted games I purchased and the free games I receive every month (from Xbox Live Gold, Epic Games, etc.), I'm overwhelmed with all the games I have. It took me a long time, but now I have more self control and I'm holding off on buying anything unless I feel I will really play it soon. For example, I really want Diablo 4, but I know I will probably hold off on it because of Zelda, Starfield, and other games in my backlog, wiill take up a lot of my time. What's nice is that when I eventually do buy the game, it will be at a discount with most of the bugs ironed out!

[@user-fh7cz7eo8l]

exactly,other people have made this video, but nobody did it as well. underrated channel

[@davisdlc]

Appreciate it! I'm glad you enjoyed the video

[@viktor8552]

Having been exposed to Steam sales for over a decade it has taught me valuable lessons that might’ve come more expensive if learned in another market. 1. Almost never buy a game in early access thinking I’ll try it out for an hour now and then pick it up again when it comes out of early access. You probably won’t try it out again. Instead put it on your wishlist and wait for the full release unless you want to be involved in the devolpment of the game. 2. I now always ask myself before purchacing a game: when am I going to play this game? If the answer is right now or I have a solid plan of when, like after I finish my current game I’ll jump into this one or during my vacation that stars in 2 weeks. That way the game I purchace always gets played. I found that when I bought games that I had wishlisted being on a deep sale and thinking; yeah I’ll probably play that some day, I never do. So a solid plan of when you are going to play it before you purchace the game will help.

[@max1mus540]

Extremely thoughtful treatment to a very relevant topic. Well organized and clearly presented. Awesome potential for further exploration of topics like this. Have been gaming for 35+ years and I enjoy it. But it's fairly obvious that some of the "fun" is actually manipulation in disguise. It's a real service to help folks understand the "game within the game," so they can make informed decisions about how and why they're spending their time and money. Keep up the great work.

[@Backup-wm9cn]

I don't have a whole lot to say about the video, but I think that your channel has insane potential given the video format. Very high quality content man!

[@mostunique5941]

Amazing video bro, cannot believe you don’t have more subs. Continue what your doing, you do a great job

[@davisdlc]

Appreciate it bro! Thanks for watching :)

[@xNyyct]

This is so true. When i got my PS4 the only game i had was downwell, i loved that game and i played it for HOURS, nowdays i would not even consider playing it because my steam account is filled with hundrets of other games

[@dinsmeteorite5068]

I realized I had this problem during a period where I really had to save money. Now I mostly buy new games day one if it’s the next in some of my favorite series of games.

[@TechClique]

I’m part of the problem cuz I know these tricks and still buy games and don’t play them 😂😂

[@revert_irelia]

this guy is spitting 100% facts like this is actually so true

[@robertvalenica8999]

That moment when I had money as a kid and still bought every game on steam and never touch them😂

[@BrokenRealityYT]

My steam library is basically a dirty basement with most of my games collecting dust after having played them only once or twice, or never even taking them out of the wrapper. Then there’s my shelf of 5 or 6 games that I play all the time.

[@malachishaner690]

If I want a game, I just wishlist it. Unless the sale is outrageously good and/or I'm ready to play it right this second

[@nervsouly]

My pile of shame thankfully is not that large because I usually keep games on my wishlist for a really long time before I buy them, with exception of a few really big wants that get instantly played. On the pile there usually are some indi games that I bought on sale because they looked interesting and were cheap, but I just never gotten around playing them since my all time favorites eat up most of my playtime constantly. I'm honestly feeling more guilty about buying games and only play them for around 10 hours instead of getting my money's worth that the unplayed ones. I'm considering around 30 hours an okay buy, 60+ a good buy, and over 100 an amazing buy.

[@V3ntilator]

This video is correct. I have nearly 3000 games on Steam. Last year i made around 30 categories in Steam Library, so it's much easier to find old games i perhaps even forgot the name of, but know the genre. I can find as good as any game in short time now as it's all sorted. Besides game genres, i also have categories for VR, 3D glasses, Controller Support/PC Handheld and other things. 1 game can be in up to 6 categories.

[@ryanviertel7059]

This made me look at my steam library and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I've played most of the games I paid actual money for. I also claim every free game I find so I literally have hundreds more that I haven't touched and probably never will but they only cost me the time that I took to claim them.

[@jasonhatt4295]

That's the way to do it!

[@MissInformer]

Phenomenon like this is why i make a habit out of installing and playing every game i buy for at least long enough to complete the tutorial. If it isnt particularly engaging, then hey, theres a 90% chance that i didnt pay for it and if i can remove it without deleting other bundle content, i usually do. If i cant, well, then it gets hidden. Using the collections system on steam is really helpful for avoiding the paradox of choice, because i break up one massive choice into several smaller ones that are way less dauntingly. An example of how it works is ill make collections for the different genres i have in my library, and ill pick a genre. Once i decide that, then i choose a game in that category, limiting the amount of choices i have after that point, and can usually decide on a game in a couple minutes. And, hiding ones that did not give a good impression further reduces the clutter that makes a lot of people like deer in the headlights.

[@namewitheld334]

Great video! I am a "buy a game on sale" addict. I will try to keep what this video said in mind next time I see 80% off!

[@14483OYK]

Unless it is geometry dash

[@RoadTo_MD]

Great video. I purchased a good amount of switch games that I have full intention of playing. I often wait on sales and with a “little bit of money” as you correctly stated in the video, I purchase them. I played most of them to completion but the time available to play them all is so limited but in the back of my mind I’m always hopeful I’ll find time to complete them. #Bundle

[@DontFuckWitDreDay]

I completely agree with you! Every gamer should! But how.....How can we re-live the feeling we all got from the games we played in the past when we were young?

[@amyb2589]

There's definitely ways to avoid this if you want to be a scrupulous buyer, but all very true and still sometimes tempting. I've turned decision paralysis against myself by making my steam wishlist way too long (unintentionally tbh!) So I regularly see the games I'm interested in on sale but as there's quite honestly always something discounted, I'm less affected by it, and instead I use it to look for games i think my friends might like when birthdays come around. I also recommend making a list of games you already own/have access to to prioritise the games you're most interested in and actually tick some off

[@mrmorrisjh]

Man! You hit the nail on the head. I bought the entire Witcher and Batman series like two yeras ago (on a sale, of course) because I never played them before and I still haven't touched them 😂

[@thej6472]

consider playing them if you can, great games

[@Generationalwealth94]

To be fair, the Witcher 2 is like 3€ on sale. And the Witcher 1 is like 1€ lol

[@kawaii2811]

bundle

[@davisdlc]

Thanks for watching until the end! 💪

[@AvaiLeon]

They're not making you buy anything, and it's very easy not to. While it's true that I've never played about 65% of games in my Steam library, I also didn't pay for them either ("100% off" sales and such). What I buy I do eventually play. Games typically just sit on my wish list indefinitely until the nearest sale after I'm ready to play them. You just have to be more mindful with your spending habits. Matter of fact, there's such a game I've had the urge to play in the past week or so and it's been on my WL for years. Now I'm just waiting on the Summer sale which is in a couple of days.

[@KettleClogScratch]

I've literally beaten and played all of the games I have on steam. Why anybody would buy a game and never play it is just something I will never understand.

[@V-95K]

I miss the times when my parents gave me money to buy a game, then I went to the shop, and it was so difficult to decide which game to buy, then when I finally decided which game to buy, I would be playing that game non stop… sucks that it was at least 14 years back

[@nightmanlol]

-Wow what a information video -fasy forward 2 days from now when the steam summer sale starts -buy, buy, buy

[@Skrenja]

I actually _do_ think games have gotten objectively less interesting -- it's not just us "getting old" or having too many options. However, VR games have fixed that for me. They still hold my interest 9 times out of 10 and pretty much single-handedly renewed my passion for gaming. VR truly is the next frontier for gaming and _needs_ more widespread adoption.

[@joshuaoperle1162]

Dude made a 10 minute video to admit he has no self control

[@amorten_]

That's why I never have more than ~10 games I haven't played yet. I allow myself to buy the next game only after beating the previous one. And it works pretty well. It makes me buy games I really want to play and will play. Thanks for the video and enjoy your gaming sessions guys!

[@metalcore4338]

i am 31, and in last couple years i bought 240 games on Steam sales. Games i played in past or wanted to play but don't had powerful enough pc or console. And i haven't played any single game yet lol. Family, work, problems . Time fly fast. Missing that good old school times when you could play something for days and enjoy it a lot. So kids - enjoy that times when you are still able to, it's not going to last forever

[@meagain416]

Great video analysis. Everything you said was spot on. For a sec, I thought you were talking about me. 10 years ago I made a resolution to stop smoking. Never touch a cigarette again since then. My new resolution, no more game buying. Thanks for the video, really helpful.

[@StarlightNkyra]

I remeber three or so games in particular where I booted up the game and decently enjoyed it, but then I got stuck on navigation, or a puzzle, or lost a lot of my progress, then quit. But I want to play the games again some time and see what they really have to offer, thinking about them time to time, and I never end up getting back to them. (I have the time, I just never do.) Still, the video game industry is one of the most manipulative industries, and its a shame.

[@MrBeetsGaming]

I spend way more time deciding what to play than actually playing and then if a game doesn't hook me fast I end up playing something else almost immediately. Like right now I'm playing Uncharted 4, the last of us, Ghostwire Tokyo, Days Gone, and then a handful of indie horror games that I just play here or there. Certain games hook me in and I'll play them straight through without starting something else but not very often.

[@kosmique]

haha those games are very alike, of the same cloth if you will. how you end up deciding hours between those? those are even the type of games you probably would not want to constantly interrupt haha. if you keep it down to one title per genre maybe you would have an easier time... get an RTS, an RPG, a horror adventure, a rogue like for quick short fun, a game a bit more relaxing, and smething online/competitive and let your mood drive you.

[@sped325]

I have games I haven't played despite buying 6 years ago, time moves by so fast and even in my free time I feel overwhelmed to start a new game instead of playing something else or wasting my time in a different way. Even when I have free time I don't. However I have been forcing myself through it and managed to finish 6 different games during a month vacation and am feeling really proud, it takes a lot of effort but you just to push yourself to get the ball rolling. This only applies to games with a set competition and not endless time sinks

[@nuptay]

all games that I bought is finished, and even paid games that I crack (shhhh) is finish, I don't understand how it is possible to buy a game (and everything else even IRL) and let it die alone

[@majnkraftzpolski5176]

Make sequel about PirateBay: How PirateBay Makes You Play Games That You Never Bought

[@Setorrs]

I had this problem. My solution was i stopped adding everything that seemed a bit interesting to me to my wishlist and only added games that when released i would really like to play. In adition i made it my mission to clear out my backlog on steam. From the 635 i have only 76 that are unplayed or unfinished since i'm playing them curently. As for my wishlist right now it has 29 games, before i used to have 150-200+ easily.

[@RockyVegaTV]

I figured all of this out back in 2018. Even still, I don't regret the many games I purchased because some of them are good games and now delisted.

[@civilwarfare101]

I buy primarily off the PS Store and yeah...this applies to me in many ways, sales are basically the closest thing I have to an archnemesis, I can't even imagine how much money I might've saved over the years if I didn't buy games on sale that I was never going to play. I do at the very least if I buy games especially digitally, I'll either play it right away or buy games on sale every once and a while, buying sale games in moderation doesn't seem too bad, the only problem is that while my ideas are sound, temptation has beaten me, many, many, many times. I notice that with games I buy right away, that my chances of playing them are noticeably higher than games I keep lying around in the backlog for so many years. Those games might as well just be added weight now.

[@DarrenCurtisII]

Not for me as a stay-at-home dad. It's either depression (ADHD-C), online friends want play different games and I get hook or I've changed my mind after a few days of purchase when steam didn't allow refunds at the time.

[@MrGencyExit64]

Oh! Next do games Steam makes you buy twice because they break the Steam client and you have to buy it from another store. That's tons of fun.