# Computer games you've bought, possibly during a Steam sale, and never played **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 29, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870 "2014-09-29T15:49:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/1 "2014-09-29T15:49:29Z")
To go with the other two threads about games you’ve not finished. What games have you spend good money on, that seemed like a good idea or deal at the time, but you’ve never got around to actually playing and you think you may never? Note that games that you do intend to play (such as on the list after you’ve finished this run through of Titan Quest, or Early Access games you intend to play once they are more complete) shouldn’t be included. I will be lenient on the “never played” thing though - if you’ve installed the game at some point and ran it up just to see if it worked, and then never went back, it still counts. My Steam list is as full as anyone’s of stuff that I’ve bought in the sales and never played. The names that leap out at me as I look down my list include L.A. Noire, DiRT 3 and Alpha Protocol. Also a huge bunch of indie games that I may sit down and play, but the chances are good that other games will always jump ahead in the queue - Pid, La-Mulana, UnEpic. And many, many others. What’s in the graveyard of your Steam list? ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/2 "2014-09-29T16:21:48Z")
None, actually. I’m pretty good about not buying stuff during Steam sales unless I’m going to play it in a reasonable timeframe. It really helps that I tend not to buy games during sales for later. I’ll wait until I need a new game and then buy whatever is on sale that looks good. I know a ton of people who are icon collectors and I’ve learned from their mistake. (If you see it that way.) For example, I just got Portal 2 the other day. When my bandwidth resets in a few days, I’ll download it and give it a go next weekend or whenever. During the summer sale, I bought three games and played them all. During the previous sale, I didn’t get anything since I was pretty much only playing Dota 2. The thing really clogging up my Steam library these days is garbage titles from Humble Bundles. You buy the bundle because you want one game, but then you’re stuck with four others. It’d be one thing if they were all garbage games since then I’ll toss them into my Garbage category, but some of them look half decent and I feel as though I should give them a playthrough. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/3 "2014-09-29T16:25:30Z")
Does “stuff you bought because it was part of a bundle with stuff you did want, but which you never actually wanted and only got because the bundle was still a good deal on the stuff you did want even if you treated the stuff you didn’t want as a complete loss” count? Because I have some of those. Otherwise, well, actually, I’m probably never going to play my copy of Psychonauts. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/4 "2014-09-29T16:53:39Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > What’s in the graveyard of your Steam list? That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with long periods of nothing you want coming out and/or being bored and broke, even the mentality of ‘I’ll never play that’ may die. Steam may not be GOG, but it’s not like Valve is EA. You bought the license. It’s not going anywhere. What’s the hurry? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/5 "2014-09-29T17:05:23Z")
Yeah, tons of bundle stuff for me. I also have stuff where it’s “A superior sequel is already also in my possession because I backlogged the original for so long”. I’ll likely never play Tropico 3 instead of Tropico 4 and while I haven’t played either Witcher yet, my understanding is that the original has much clunkier game play than the sequel. I HAVE played both Borderlands but I couldn’t recommend playing BL1 if you own BL2. Looking at my Steam details, the oldest occurance of this is Torchlight. Bought Torchlight 2, played it through but will never go back to play Torchlight because TL2 is just the superior game. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/6 "2014-09-30T04:27:36Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > Steam may not be GOG, but it’s not like Valve is EA. You bought the license. It’s not going anywhere. What’s the hurry? Eh? Does EA revoke your license if you don’t play a game for a while? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/7 "2014-09-30T07:03:03Z")
I actually have a lot of CD and DVD games that I bought cheap thinking I’d play them when I got around to buying a new PC. By the time I did, I either wasn’t interested anymore, they wouldn’t work, or better games had been released. I still have them. I think the experience kept me from getting overly ambitious with Steam purchases. Caesar IV Warlords Battlecry III Europa Universalis III IL2 Sturmovik Cossacks Port Royale 2 Close Combat V Bundle titles aside, I think I only have one Steam game I haven’t played at all-- Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons. Needs a controller. I do have some that I’ve barely played and a couple I regret buying. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/8 "2014-10-01T02:23:29Z")
Yeah, I’m another one who has some bundled games. Mostly from a couple of Humble Bundles, but also one that was a few LucasArts games, one of which I remembered fondly and figured was worth five bucks. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/9 "2014-10-01T06:37:11Z")
I’m not saying I’ll never play these, but given my declining enthusiasm for gaming (only game I’m really looking forward to is Binding of Isaac: Rebirth) I’d probably just end up watching a let’s play of a lot of these to save time. To the Moon Just Cause 2 The Ys Games Pack Dungeon of Dreadmor The Void Prototype Walking Dead DLC Dragon Age: Origins FEAR 3 Breath of Death 7 ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/12 "2014-10-01T12:47:22Z")
I’ve got so many of these I can’t even tell you what they are. Since the baby got here in February, I’ve had precious little time to play anything. There have to be at least 75 games I’ve never played on my list either because they seemed like a good buy during a Steam sale or they were part of a bundle. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/13 "2014-10-01T14:02:13Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > To go with the other two threads about games you’ve not finished. > > What games have you spend good money on, that seemed like a good idea or deal at the time, but you’ve never got around to actually playing and you think you may never? **Note that games that you do intend to play (such as on the list after you’ve finished this run through of Titan Quest, or Early Access games you intend to play once they are more complete) shouldn’t be included.** > I will be lenient on the “never played” thing though - if you’ve installed the game at some point and ran it up just to see if it worked, and then never went back, it still counts. > > My Steam list is as full as anyone’s of stuff that I’ve bought in the sales and never played. The names that leap out at me as I look down my list include L.A. Noire, DiRT 3 and Alpha Protocol. Also a huge bunch of indie games that I may sit down and play, but the chances are good that other games will always jump ahead in the queue - Pid, La-Mulana, UnEpic. And many, many others. > > What’s in the graveyard of your Steam list? There are games I’ve picked up on the cheap, played a time or two, then given up on. There are games I haven’t gotten around to playing yet - for over a year - but fully intend to play at some point. But there are no games in my Steam library that I haven’t played and don’t intend to play. Unless I am misunderstanding the OP. If I haven’t played it yet, why would I give up on it? I still have games I bought 5 years or more ago in my library. They’re not going anywhere, and if the description, pics, or video was enough to sway me to buy it at some point, it’s going to get played at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/14 "2014-10-01T15:41:08Z")
Actually, come to think of it, I also have a copy of Fallout (the first two, actually, I think) that I bought in a deep-discount sale from GOG, and which I haven’t bothered with yet because I need to set up a Windows computer to run them on. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/15 "2014-10-01T16:13:10Z")
I found one in my library : Toy soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/16 "2014-10-01T17:45:08Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > I still have games I bought 5 years or more ago in my library. They’re not going anywhere, and if the description, pics, or video was enough to sway me to buy it at some point, it’s going to get played at some point. Of course, the games on Steam are always going to be available\*, but I think there are situations where you’ve bought a game, not got around to it, and now realistically things have changed and you realise that you now will likely never play. There’s no game on my list that I haven’t played that I _know_ I will never play - they are always there - but I know there’s some, as I listed above, that I’ve come to realise that I will never get around to. There will always be games above them on the list. \*Steam games may not always be available. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/17 "2014-10-01T20:51:27Z")
I bought a ton of games during the last sale and only played two so far. I have a bunch of others. Not at home but a few off the top of my head: Shadowrun Batman Arkham City and Arkham Origins Gone Home LA Noir There is at least three more but I am blanking. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/18 "2014-10-01T21:26:33Z")
I bought Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity, I downloaded it at least a year ago. I have on at least half a dozen times fired it up, got to the “You must sign up for a Uplay account”, gone Nope! and exited the game. It’s not even that I didn’t know that requirement, and I’m not even a Uplay hater (although it’s well-deserved from all I’ve heard), I just can’t be bothered. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/19 "2014-10-01T21:42:54Z")
I bought Tomb Raider for like $5 during their big summer sale, and just booted it up for the first time this week. Fun game though. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/20 "2014-10-01T22:01:59Z")
Steam games that I bought on sale because they sounded good but won’t be playing any time soon: [ul][li]A-Train 8 - opened it a couple times and it’s so different from the one I played years ago that I can’t get interested.[/li][li]Baldur’s Gate: Enahnced Edition - played the original CDs years ago but never finished. Have yet to open this one.[/li][li]The Bard’s Tale - mainly got this in hopes of finally finishing the original trilogy.[/li][li]Batman Arkham trilogy[/li][li]Bioshock 1 & 2[/li][li]Company of Heroes[/li][li]Drakensang trilogy[/li][li]Echo Prime[/li][li]Total War series[/li][li]Galactic Civilization I & II[/li][li]Grand Theft Auto 1 - VC[/li][li]Mass Effect 1 & 2[/li][li]Pacific Storm[/li][li]The Settlers 5 - 7[/li][li]Silent Hunter 3 & 4 - just can’t get into this. Went to GOG and bought Silent Service II instead.[/li][li]Space Empires 4 & 5[/li][li]Starpoint Gemini 2 - might not even finish the first one.[/li][li]Theater of War 2 & 3[/li]Viking: Battle for Asgard[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/21 "2014-10-03T19:44:51Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Eh? Does EA revoke your license if you don’t play a game for a while? 😕 They probably are referring to the EA games that require always-on Internet connections to play. Like, IIRC, Mass Effect 3, Simcity 4, and Spore. EA won’t be running the servers for those games forever, and they may or may not patch them to allow offline play before they pull the plug. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870/22 "2014-10-03T19:51:53Z")
Yeah, way too many. Especially early on I would buy anything on heavy sale that looked remotely interesting, and a lot of them have been gathering dust in my Steam collection. Since then I’ve been much more discriminating. I wish there were an easy way to filter out games that were ported from other systems, since I’ve had overwhelmingly bad experiences with them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-games-youve-bought-possibly-during-a-steam-sale-and-never-played/699870.md?page=2)