EPT
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A few months ago, I had a revelation. This proclamation might seem ridiculous to those that know me/read this blog, but it rang true to me nonetheless.
I was not playing enough video games.
Shocking, I know.
Well, okay: that wasn’t exactly the issue. The real problem was that I played a game long or consistently enough to finish it. At least, not without forgetting the plot or how to control the characters with any competence. I just didn’t play all the way through games, especially single player ones. What usually got in the way were other (usually multiplayer) games, since popping into a 30-minute game of League of Legends is easier than sitting down for three hours to slog through Xenosaga. In short, I strove to complete my games, but my day-to-day whims often kept me from regularly playing them.
I decided that I needed a gaming schedule.
This may seem strange. Schedules are typically associated with work and chores rather than hobbies and amusement. Why would you want to regiment something fun? On the other hand, the reason schedules exist at all is for helping people reach their ambitions. If you’re stalling on a set of games, what better way is there to ensure you beat them than a schedule?
Luckily, you don’t have to ask these questions yourself. I’ve done it for you.
Scheduling Strategy: Assign a Game to a Day
My first scheduling idea was to assign a single game to each day. This is what it looked like when I started:
- Monday: Guild Wars 2
- Tuesday: Borderlands 2
- Wednesday: League of Legends
- Thursday: Starcraft 2
- Friday: Torchlight 2
- Weekend: Free Play
Plus: I played a lot of games on this schedule. My gaming palette varied in genre, playstyle, and intensity. Every day of the week brought a large, refreshing shift in focus and tone. I enjoyed this immensely. It’s not always fun to only play one kind of game. For example, I love League of Legends, but playing Ranked every day and being super intense about it and getting super frustrated when I lose so I go to bed super annoyed is a really bad idea. A far better choice is to do that maybe one day a week and then switch to something relaxing like exploring the world of Guild Wars 2. Then, after that low energy day, I’d shift to the craziness of Borderlands 2, which offered that wacky visual style and nutty sense of humor in addition to an addictive FPS. Variety is the spice of gaming and this schedule’s ever-changing selection exposes you to all kinds of video game magic.
Minus: Unfortunately, the progress was very slow. Turns out that a little bit of a game one day per week doesn’t ever get you very far. If I marathoned a game every day, perhaps the method would be more effective, but I really don’t have that kind of time. Instead, I crawled through each game’s story, even the short ones. I just couldn’t give each game the attention it deserved by playing them so infrequently. And while single-player and story-based games barely advanced, my skill in competitive multiplayer titles never improved. Playing LoL or SC2 only a little each week is not nearly enough to develop your gaming skills, even at the (incredibly low) level at which I play. Since nothing got enough consideration with this model, it was completely unsatisfying for my goals. Even “Free Play” weekends couldn’t address the overall lack of progress because getting to play for a while on weekends was rare. More devastating to the schedule were the occasional weekdays when I couldn’t game, putting a crippling two week gap between play sessions.
I also ran into the biggest problem with scheduling hobbies: the schedule ignored what I wanted to do. After all, sometimes you just want to come home and play a round of Halo, and playing anything else would suck. You can’t stand a story, you don’t want to play a ranked match of anything, you can’t deal with searching a world map… you just want your Halo. So what happens when you schedule something that you don’t really want to do? It becomes work. That is the opposite of the plan. If the idea of playing games compels you to do something else, then you are definitely fucking up.
Finally, I noticed that having a specific plan to play an MMO or competitive multiplayer game on a given day is a good way to NEVER USE THOSE DAYS FOR ANYTHING ELSE AGAIN. If the progress you are making in Guild Wars 2 is slow, it’s impossible to get to the end game. Also, there’s no actual end. It’s an MMO (yes, I should’ve realized this earlier but… reasons). As new games came out, my Mondays would still be deadlocked on that single game. Even though the games of other days changed, there would always be a few static ones, which interfered with my goals of playing and completing many games.
Clearly I needed a new tactic.
Scheduling Strategy: Play One Game Straight Through with Sporadic Additions and Marathons
After doing away with the aforementioned plan, I developed a system in which you mostly play one game, but also make time for a couple certain quick games every day and a day for a game marathon once a week. The schedule became the following:
I’ll play Heart of the Swarm‘s campaign until I beat it, then move on to Deus Ex: Human Revolution. In addition, I’ll play a game of SC2 or LoL every day to practice. Finally, I’ll play a huge amount of LoL with my friends on Wednesday nights.
Essential to this schedule are the “types” of games which comprise it.
- Primary Game - This game you play through as quickly as possible. Optional is maintaining a list of the next games which will become your Primary.
- Side Game - This game you can play for a little bit each day without distracting too much from the Primary Game. There should be value in playing it every day, but not (necessarily) for a long time.
- Marathon Game - This game is one you play for a long time every once in a while (week, month, etc.). You shouldn’t need to play the game every day, but it should benefit from long sessions. You can choose to marathon either the Primary or Side Game instead of choosing a separate title.
While this might not be a strict schedule (no times to speak of), it’s a great way to approach gaming with a defined structure. Instead of a specific plan for each day, there’s an overall theme for managing gameplay time.
Plus: Being focused on a single game makes them far easier to finish. Despite only getting busier, I’m completing games more quickly than I was on the previous schedule, just by virtue of playing them more often. Along with the additional time comes a greater appreciation the story, gameplay, and presentation because I’m more immersed in the game’s world. It’s the difference between a buffet and a single course: you don’t get to eat every delicious-looking thing at the buffet, but you get a quality piece of something that you savor for longer.
The Side and Marathon games provide a wonderful exception to the focus on one game. The Side games give you an opportunity to keep up with a game that requires daily attention but little overall time. You can do a small quest, a single multiplayer match, or a strategy RPG fights, but those short samples do not significantly dilute your focus on the Primary game. In my case, the Side games allow me to practice the eSports titles I enjoy while continuing through one game’s storyline. Marathon games (a raid or a series of games or anything like that), on the other hand, ensure you spend hours in a game which demands them, but only requires your attention once every week or less. That way, the Primary game is never far from your mind even if you spent a whole day on the Marathon game. Both the Side and Marathon games permit you to scratch the “I need to play” itch while maintaining concentration on the titles which you really want to finish.
Minus: With this format you do lose out on the gaming smorgasbord of the original. You play two or three games a week at most, so you might crave further universes in which to immerse yourself. Of course, most would suggest that two to three games a week is more than enough, but… well, you’re talking to a person that needs a schedule to beat video games.
However, that does appear to be the only drawback. This schedule is far more effective than my original one. The toughest part is choosing the right games for the Primary/Side/Marathon slots. For example, a Primary Game should be completable, a Side Game should be quick and easy (even a mobile game would suffice), and a Marathon Game should be something you don’t (necessarily) need to play often, but is incredible in large doses. Furthermore, I would recommend against adding too many games to the non-Primary roles, since then this schedule will quickly turn into the first (or none at all).
Giving myself a gaming schedule has helped my gaming a lot. Playing with a goal in mind is extremely useful for accomplishing gaming tasks in a timely fashion. While my initial attempts at scheduling turned out more onerous than anything else, I’m glad I’ve arrived at a system that works well for my habits. If you find yourself never getting anything done in the game-sphere, you should find a schedule that works for you! I just expect royalties if you’re using mine.
You can read this silly post and many more at the N3rd Dimension.
