How do you stop yourselves from rushing thru games?

Rushing thru games is big problem for me.

Whenever I start a new game, I take it slow, listen to all dialogue, and enjoy the sights.

But, few hours later, I'm rushing thru the game; skipping dialogue and cutscenes, and just running thru locations without ever pausing to admire the scenery.

It always happens, and I'm quite unable to stop meself.

So, how do you do it? How do you stop yourself rushing thru the latest game?

Can you stop yourselves from skipping dialogue/cutscenes?

Can you take it slow, or do you find yourselves just rushing thru every game like I do?

All comments welcome!

Self-imposed rules. I have dozens of them. Some makes sense, such as never skipping dialogue unless I've heard it already. Others are inane, such as never skipping dialogue unless I've heard it already IN THAT SPECIFIC PLAYTHROUGH. So when I replayed Mass Effect 2, I had to sit through the dialogue all over again, even though I heard 95%+ of them already. Also, if I'm save-scumming dialogue choices, I can't skip my final decision, even if I've already tried it before.

"Rules are rules, even self-imposed ones," as I like to say. Yeah, I think I might be a wee bit eccentric.

I don't do that anymore. No point, since I won't be enjoying it. For example, no way I'll beat Odyssey before RDR2 releases, but I'm still taking my time, and I'll put it on hold when RDR2 arrives. I'll go back to it when I'm done with that if I dig it.

These games are not going anywhere, plus it could keep me from burning out sometimes.

I just want to experience the game, and cutscenes and dialogue are a part of it. I like knowing the reasoning for my character doing whatever they are doing.

I don't understand the compulsion to rush through the game. Is it an ego boost to just be able to say you finished a game? Are you being paid to finish them quickly?

Because the game isn’t fun and you just want to move through all the content and onto the next one.

Games are just too linear now open world or not.

I don’t tend to play a game in a prescribed way I do whatever and stop when I get bored.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever even completed a game.

I also go slow at first, but its cause I'm slow to get into groove. By mid-point I got everything down and sail through. But I never skip cutscenes, I don't think I've done that in several years. Even when I plowed through Unity doing just campaign I still watched everything.

Of course I play things I actually like and won't continue games I don't like, or save for when I'm in the mood for them.

Sounds like you’re playing games you’re not enjoying.

Agreed. I never skip cutscenes on my 1st playthrough of games and i don't rush them at all. I like getting as close to 100% completion as I can. I feel like i am doing myself a disservice when I don't tackle the side missions and collectibles as that is when you tend to admire the scenery

I used to do the same thing, and realised I was just going through the motions of playing games and not actually enjoying them. So I decided to be more choosey with the games I play, instead of just playing everything, and taking my time with them.

I'm enjoying games alot more now.

I think the biggest reason for this rushing is all the other new games on me shelves.

So, while I'm playing the latest game, at some point I start thinking about the next new game and just want to finish the current game asap. So as to get to play the next new game!

Also, I dont like to jump between games that much. I rather finish the current game before moving on, which makes me want to rush to the end even more.

There was a game quite recently, where I was not allowed to skip cutscenes. That drove me mad! :D

Never rushing on my first playthrough, what's the point? If I think the game is crap I just stop playing it, not try to rush through it.

I don't particularly enjoy games that are so slow to let you get on with the story. I'm finding far cry primal a bit like that.

I always listen, watch and read cutscenes and diolog... My one rule is this...

"is this story taking advantage of my time?"

Meaning, is this story gripping me, do I care about the characters or even what our emotional draw is In the game? If they haven't convinced me within a few hours I simply start skipping scenes.

It really is up to them to make the story and characters relevant to the player. I don't feel bad skipping bad video game stories and I adore finding a game who's story grabs me...

I worked 65hrs this week (and 2 days we finished early due to rain) so I wish I had your problems. Maybe play games where story/cutscenes are not the focus, like racing games, sports games etc.

#lifestooshorttowatchmoviegames

But they patched in a skip button recently for that game, "for the players" LMFAO.

have you tried not playing ubisoft games?

I normally don't play games with lots of cutscenes a dialogues, as I think really good games should tell their story through gameplay instead. I love the way games like Dark Souls, Hollow Knight and Metroid tells their stories. But when there are cutscenes and dialogues I normally don't skip them. If I do, it's because I don't really feel like playing the game I'm playing, and then it's just better to stop or play something else.

Rushing through games isn't my style at all.

I can't remember where I read it, but the older you get, the more fixated you become on goals/challenges and completing them (natural part of being an adult) as apposed to being a kid where you will run with your imagination and do lots of silly stuff not concerned about the end-goal.

This applies to more than games obviously.

These days, time is a bigger factor than money.... so finishing a game is more important, that and doing any end-game challenges (which alot of games are sadly lacking these days.... seems the western guys never learned from the japanese..... )

I don't know, I rarely have that problem. My bigger problem is the opposite - getting bogged down in too much of the game's filler because I can't bring myself to skip stuff

I been gaming since 1993, it never comes to my mind I would skim right through games like that, I just play, look around, doing side quest, (if they are worth a damn that is) and all of that in a game, and this goes for open world games as well. I never skip dialogues & cut-scenes, even if I did beat the game like 5 times, I rarely do that unless it's a lol scene then I'll just skip that little part of the game.

Sucks to be you :(

This is why I’m fine with short games.

I prefer enjoying the games I play, not merely finishing them.

@henrythefifth: Seems like you don't care much about dialogue based games with loads of cutscenes. Have you tried to play some old school arcade/Genesis/Snes games? There isn't much of a story, and you won't finish the games quickly as they are usually hard as f☆☆☆ (unless you cheat of course).

When I play modern games I don't skip cutscenes, and I start out on hard mode. Games like Far Cry and Mass Effect are so much more satisfying that way and take longer to complete.

I only cared about finishing a game quickly when I was a kid. I wanted to beat a game (usually platformers/arcade) before my chums did. But, that was long ago.

Nowadays, it's setting an objective, scouting, planning, gearing up, execution, extraction/escape. Then, set up the next objective. Otherwise, it's exploring just for the sake of exploring.

I traveled a lot in the real world. Same with the games I like.

I enjoy watching any cutscenes and reading any dialog in the games that I play especially the first time around. Never really had a problem rushing through games myself.

Well I do find dialogue often a needless 'chore' in games these days.

Dragon Age Inquisition for example. I only went thru all the dialogue with companions, so as to unlock special missions on the war map for them. But everything the companions actually said bored the heck outta me!

'Really, Iron Bull? You beat ten men with wooden spoon? Gods, I need another drink...'

In Far Cry 5 I only spoke to everyone in case they unlocked side mission. But they never had anything interesting to say that would've been worth listening...

I get the feeling modern games have less interesting dialogue than last gen. On last gen games, I actually found meself genuinely interested in what charactres had to say in games like Fallout 3, Mass Effect Trilogy and Dragon Age 1&2. And Witcher 2.

This gen, only games where I was genuinely interested what people said have been Persona 5 and MGSV.

But I do love story based games that have good narrative. Its just been bit hard to find good stories this gen. Detroit was good try, but even there it got bit dull at times with lots of eye rolling dialogue.

That happens so rarely for me, it's not a thing I have put any thought into. If the game is good I don't want to rush through it. Hell, if it's just not filled to the brim with repetitive bull shit I don't want to rush through it.

The only game I've played recently I can think of having this problem with was AC: Odyssey.

I'll skip dialogue if it's pointless and boring. All of the dialogue was pretty damn good in The Witcher 3, so I never skipped any of it, but Odyssey I've skipped a bit. There are some fairly good dialogues, though, like the Family Values quest.

Also, if the combat or gameplay is crap or gets old, I'll end up rushing through the actual gameplay content. Wolfenstein 2 was one I just simply began barreling through at the halfway mark. I just wanted to finish it, and ended up feeling a little regret at spending 50 on the game. Not because of rushing it, but because the game was just mediocre.

I tend to avoid heavily story-focused games, such as rpg's, since I don't have much time to dedicate to gaming. I also choose games that are not too long to finish. I may be one of the few gamers who prefer a well-paced 5-6 hour games than one that lasts 50+ hours with too much grinding or side missions, cause it feels like a waste of time to me.

well I dont play story games so that part of 'the rush' is immaterial but I do have a habit of rushing.

If I could, I would disable running. I try to remind myself to slow down but I always end up running

Rush through games? Ha ha! I have the exact opposite problem: I get so distracted with exploring every nook and cranny that I almost never finish them.

I find myself wanting to do EVERYTHING... and then burning my self out on the game because of the snails ass speed I set for myself and being WAY over leveled at every turn... lol.

I need to find a way to START rushing more. Maybe a happy medium of sorts... lol

I'm always so afraid I'm going to miss something really cool, and instead never wind up finishing half the games I start, or end with about a billion items I was saving up "just in case."

Sometimes it can be tied to a personality trait. Some people have difficulty slowing down and enjoying things, and instead feel almost compelled to finish and move onto the next thing.

@shellcase86: I understand. Being able sit in stillness is at the root of much spiritual work. I find when I let go of good/bad I’m more presently aware rather then in my head.

Sounds to me like you're playing games in pussy easy mode...... play them on hard....that'll slow you down.

I couldn't stand skipping cutscenes and dialogue, even if the game is slow. I'm just afraid that I'd miss a key part of the story. Well, unless it's a pointless NPC that just has filler before he gives you a sidequest.

Me too. I love running around and exploring and I be procrastinating like a mf lol

Depends. If it's a game like Half-Life 2, well I dread the narrative as well as the gameplay. Pew pew zombie dead, time to ride my waterboat, listen to joke about "Free-man".

If it's like Metal Gear Solid than I wish I could rewind the cutscene, several times over and preferably watching it at least one time in slow motion, for every single nuance and detail I might have missed.

I'm a sidequesting whore. I have to get all the extra stuff done before I finish the game. I like to get every $ I can out of my games.

I'm also a bit of a lettuce head so I always find myself forgetting about the mission at hand and wandering around the opposite side of the map chasing whatever random thing caught my eye. That's why I love games like GTA, Skyrim, Red Dead and Fallout. So much to do and so much to get lost in.

I don't, sounds like something that happens if I am bored with a game and want to be done with it. In that case, I will just stop playing and find something worth playing.

When a game is very clearly telling me that I should go right, I'm the kind of player who is inclined to go left instead.

Sounds like you are kinda bored with games which I can understand at times if you're not feeling it I wouldn't force it do something else that captures your interest.

Easy it's called life. No in all seriousness you just kinda have to pace yourself. Like if the game has interesting side activities then do the side activities. There is no real true and tried method.

It really depends on the game. If the story, or even gameplay, doesn't enthrall me, then I can find myself skipping important aspects. Other than that, sometimes time constraints are an issue. As i've gotten older, the gameplay sections have become more and more important... As a kid, I loved JRPG's, but nowadays it can be difficult to put in 10+ hrs, especially when they can range in the 50-60+ minimum.

Yeah, that's a great point.

Very good point.

I only do that when there is something else I want to play. I took my sweet time with Spiderman and enjoyed it. I played DQ11 next and I enjoyed it but I really wanted to finish it before RDR2 and I finally beat it last night.

Ummm....WHY stop yourself from rushing through games? If the dialoge is boring or frivelous to you, why force yourself to listen? Just skip it and get back to gameplay.

I find that when I care about the story in a game, I'll generally watch the cut-scenes and not feel an urge to skip them. On the other hand, with some of the insane dialogue tree driven RPG's I'll stop caring about frivolous conversations and want to skip through them. Especially if they are not really relevant to the main story. Or sometimes I don't even care about the main story, at which point the determination is whether the game is even worth finishing (generally, I'll force myself to finish games even if I"m not liking them, but I sure as hell am not going to force myself to sit through mind numbingly bad dialogue)