A Title worth Skipping?

So the question that has been on my mind these last few days is should I even bother picking up ACIII and beating it before I play the new one? Now, the last thing I'm trying to do here is start another AC thread, however I think that oftentimes I ask myself where to cut the corners. I for one have a lengthy list of games to play, movies and shows to watch, and books to read. Knowing full well unless I dedicate my life to being a shut-in (not that there is anything wrong with that) I sometimes make the difficult decision of missing out on something in order to move on to something better. For example never having played the Arkham games I jumped straight to Arkham City, I understand Asylum is probably a great game but the commitment of a trilogy just seemed a bit much. I also played and enjoyed BioShock Infinite without ever picking up a BioShock game before that.

So aside from answering my question of should I skip ACIII and just read the synopsis, tell me some of your own corners cut in games. How do you determine which titles to skip out on?

unless i know that the games in a series have no direct relationship (final fantasy main games, for instance), i generally either start from the beginning or don't bother at all.

thinking back on it though, i might try jumping into the middle of more series'. one of the times i didn't start from the beginning was the mass effect series, where i played 2 before 1. i can definitely understand why some people didn't like ME2 or 3 because ME1 started with just throwing you into this whole galaxy of lore to learn and it's sequels didn't have that same pleasure of learning a big new place. that's why i feel like i got the best of both ME1 and ME2 at once by playing ME2 first. i had all the improved systems of ME2 (yes, i know plenty of people hated the changes) while still getting the sensation of being introduced to the fiction for the first time.

I usually do what you did here and ask friends or the on-line community. Some games really need to be experienced whereas others (like Killzone for example) could easily be read about

Its pretty much random for me.

I played all the AC games besides the first one. I played Mass effect 2 first, than I played 1 before playing 3. Played Uncharted 2 and 3, and have yet to play part 1, but Im going to get it soon.

If I skip a game in a series, Ill usually end up playing it later on.