today i activated all the games from the september humble monthly and then canceled my subscription. my second annual subscription ended after this month and for the past few months i’ve been feeling like i’d do better just buying a single $10 indie game each month (or just playing stuff i already have) than getting a bunch of games i’m only marginally interested in and don’t have time to play anyway.
so maybe next month i’ll feel like something’s missing, but i expect i won’t really notice. at least if i decide to go back they’ll probably have a pretty good deal going for “new” signups — in fact they offered to only charge me $9 instead of $12 for next month because i was canceling!
I had your exact opposite reaction - I didn’t renew my subscription in May because at the time I couldn’t afford it, and just didn’t pick it up since. This month’s bundle had three games I was interested in, and I’m hemorrhaging points trying to enter in all the GAs for them. I’m kicking myself for not reactivating now that I have the money!
Even if I didn’t like any games in the bundle, I still liked having it just for the ‘what if!!’ surprise.
Which games are you trying to win from the HM?
Figment, Battle Chef Brigade, and Little Nightmares.
i liked opening up each month’s bundle for a while, but that’s died down for me. figment and little nightmares were both on my wishlist, but in the sense that i’d like to try them not that i’d buy them. i only look at giveaways that are on my wishlist so not getting humble monthly anymore will probably make steamgifts look a little less empty for me.
Look at the bright side, your backlog will grow slower now :D
On a more serious note: I get what you mean. I have the same feeling sometimes, when looking at the monthly bundles.
the maybe i should just buy a few games i want instead of bundles full of games i’m not going to play anytime soon feeling?
Exactly! All in all, a game you really want to play is often more satisfying than 4-5 ‘meh’ games. That said, I’m sticking to HM, albeit sometimes thinking the same way you do.
Definitely often conflicted about that possibility myself – been subbed since the beginning and not paused once, and the “value” versus when I’ll actually end up rescuing a game from the backlog is also a contributing factor for the actual worth of the Monthly Bundle since I definitely don’t mind playing games that have been out for a number of years already and don’t play multi-player games that often.
I recently re-discovered all of the boxes from the PC games of my youth and was sort of in awe over the fact that even though there were lots of games in the pile… I played every. single. one. of them. Two were lessons on not buying games without waiting and reading reviews, but I even played those two for a good number of hours before giving up on them. The Monthlies are lucky if I get to one or two out of the bunch before the year is out.
But… they’ve also usually got something from my wishlist… and $12 a month isn’t that bad compared to what I paid for those boxed games of my youth (The Longest Journey has a pricetag of $19.99 on it… Syberia a tag of $29.99…). So… it’s a tough decision. Congrats on having the strength to go through with it!
now i want to find my old game boxes and put them on the shelf where i can see them, but i think i actually recycled most of them the last time i moved. i used to put so many hours into all of those games, writing out my strategies on paper during school and everything. now there are so many games i like the ones i can put 10-20 hours in and experience the whole thing and cross it off my backlog. i don’t have enough free time or enough friends with the same games to play much multiplayer, especially since i’ve never enjoyed playing against random internet people. having fun with fallout 3 right now though — i don’t need to get new games right away :)
congratz
my frequently paused yearly sub ran out and I got the month with the escapist then went back to ignoring it.
feel alot better although now I’m staring at my backlog in dread with how large its grown
i never paused mine; the early unlocks were almost never my favorites so pausing didn’t make much sense. there’s plenty in my backlog to keep me busy though, and not being subscribed might make me decide to buy a few games i really want without worrying that they might be in next month’s bundle. still with a large backlog i don’t buy games outside bundles unless i’m going to start playing them right away.
in terms of buying stuff outside of bundles I haven’t for years now.
I’m trying to reach a goal of “when I feel my backlog has shrunk enough” but haven’t given myself a concrete explanation of what “enough” even is and my backlog has grown faster than I can enjoy it so idk
i figure it doesn’t really add to my backlog if i buy a game and complete it within a few weeks. the last game i bought was unavowed which i immediately played (and replayed) and will complete next tuesday when i get the last achievement.
:shy: