Today is a sad day

Balder - A few things strongly rekindled my interest recently. First, it was playing Ys VIII: for some reason, it gave me a sense of adventure so strong that the last time I remember feeling it was with Ocarina of Time in the late 90s (the game is flawed and has some repetition, but it hit that sweet spot of not feeling like I was just playing one more game of my backlog and I was truly invested in it). Secondly, it was a small thing, but buying a wireless controller for my Saturn made it more comfortable to play, so I ended up playing/replaying many games that I hadn't played in ages. Third, I was talking to a friend who is really into RPGs, which made me become interested again in the genre that I've neglected for so many years and now feels completely new to me.

But I'm used to have ups and downs about the hobby: sometimes, after playing a very long game or too many short ones, I spend a few weeks not playing anything and just reading books, watching films, tv etc. Just last month, before starting Final Fantasy XIII, I spent three or so weeks mostly reading Claymore and Berserk during the time that I would normally be playing video games: I not much of a manga guy, so reading them and getting into a new thing for a while was exciting. It's good to have more than one hobby and try different things when you get tired of one of them to go back later.

Also, trimming down a collection, as you're doing, might also help: amassing a huge collection can feel like work and make us feel obligated to play even the bad or mediocre games in it, when we should really be focusing on the fun side of it. A few years ago I would buy pretty much any famous game that was discounted enough on Steam or would buy random cheap bundles; nowadays I'll even pass on almost all free games (like those Epic Store promotions) as I only want to have in my collection stuff that truly interests me.

I understand you completely, Balder.  You've got to do what keeps you happy.  I've noticed there are a lot of collectors offloading a large chunk of their collections while playing less.  You've got to prioritize what's important in your life.  Keep what you like and play what you like.  

Definitely man. I still love going to and arranging LAN parties, and that made me realize that I enjoy sharing my video game experiences much more than playing alone. It doesn't have to be a multiplayer game, but sitting together with someone and just playing something makes it a much better experience.

I've been having technical diffulties too. I started getting a "USB Device Over Current Status Detected" error. Took it to a computer shop, they charged me $100 to do a "full error scan" fix it, then the Power switch broke. The second shop told me I was ripped off for just then resetting the machine's CMOS.