Jade Empire

[A Black Falcon]

I don't like clicking on monsters.

It's not very different from button-mashing in a console game... but yeah, in either case it gets old. That doesn't change the fact that it's a very well made game.

And as to your need to get to the "end" of a game.... well.... Ever hear the phrase "the journey is more important than the destination"? I mean, it's a martial arts movie cliche (and no, I don't want you to point out that most of them don't have that lesson, they probably don't, but the majority of people who aren't "in the know" would think martial arts movie when hearing that phrase). For me, that means I don't CARE if I am getting to the end any time soon so long as I'm having fun right THEN. If I'm having fun the whole time, I don't WANT to get to the ending. If I ever actually get tired of it, I stop playing for a while! I'm okay with that, and as I said, when you finally want to pick up that controller again, wouldn't you RATHER have something more to do in the game than have NOTHING to look forward to than closing the game's box and sticking it on some shelf somewhere so you can say "I have BEATEN you, GAME! Bow to me!".

I agree with this (well, the point it makes anyway). If I'm having fun along the way, I don't really care if I finish it or not... sure, it's nice to be able to say 'I have finished!', but it's hardly necessary. I really am not all broken up over that big pile of unfinished games, and with most of them haven't tried to progress in a long time... finishing is a nice thing to do, but for most games what I care about is the 'having fun' part, not that 'must finish!' part. I mean... if I quit because I was stuck somewhere sure, it's annoying, but after a while I won't go back and keep trying to beat it (like Wizpig in DKR)... if I stopped playing because I was bored, or just for no reason other than because I wanted to, though, I will probably pick it up again sometime. When that 'sometime' will be I don't know, of course, but sometime...

Oh, and this really isn't that weird. I know other people who also usually don't finish games... it's a perfectly normal thing.

Last... yes, there is a sense of satisfaction when you beat a game. Of course. But I don't see a point in forcing myself to finish a game when I'll have more fun doing something else... and I really don't mind leaving what's left for later, in most cases.

Why do I finish games then? Who knows. Some because they are awesome, but I haven't beaten all of the games I would describe as 'awesome and well worth getting'... sometimes because they are short, or just because I was having fun and managed to get through it... who knows. Various reasons. Luck, sometimes, perhaps (ie I didn't get anything better while I was working on it). It really doesn't matter. What does matter is that while it's nice to win a game, I don't base my fun on winning and don't require winning when I start a game (ie I don't say 'if I don't finish this game I'll be dissapointed').

Heck, even with Starcraft I quit on the final mission (cheating to see the end cutscene), and I never finished Brood Wars (again, cheating to see the end -- which shows how good the story was -- I actually cared about seeing what happened)...