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I'm guilty of it. I'd say that many of you are as well. We try to blame other things, but in the end, we are the guilty party. We complain over and over about not having enough time to play RPGs, but we usually have two or more games in progress at any given time. As of right now, I'm on the second dungeon of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, the first dungeon of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, the fourth battle in Suikoden Tactics, the fifth battle in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, two hours into Radiata Stories, and six hours into Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls and that's not counting the non-RPGs. Why does this happen? I've not become bored with any of these titles, but I'm gathering quite a backlog.
For me, this multitasking dilemma happens because I buy a new RPG and put the one that I'm currently playing on hold. The excitement of a new game always makes you want to play it, but what about all of those old games you've been trying to catch up on? They are going to keep stacking up. You buy a game in August, get half way through it by the middle of September when you purchase another new game, and then you continue on the same old cycle until you have a wall of backlogged games or you hit a major RPG drought. These RPG droughts do occur, but so do RPG floods; just look at the flood coming for the 2006 holiday lineup.
There is a fix to this, but it's not an easy one. Limit the number of RPGs you start. It's easier said than done, and there is more to it than just saying "limit your RPGs." I purpose starting a maximum of three RPGs, one console and two portable, and less if possible. Generally, people only have one major console gaming area, so you should dedicate that area for one console RPG at a time. If you don't like the RPG you are playing, then by all means set it aside, but if you are enjoying it, keep going. Keep all other RPGs, especially new purchases in another area. This way your main gaming area doesn't leave you an easy option of playing something different until you put your current game aside. The two portable RPG limit is a little more flexible since you can game on the go easy enough to allow variety. It would be helpful to limit things to one game per portable system.
This solution is not for everyone. I would imagine that some people enjoy playing bits and pieces of many RPGs all in the same time frame, but for those that don't, try this. It might just help your backlog of games start to seem a little more manageable. Now I just need to try to take my own advice. RPGs droughts never seem to happen at a time where I can make any progress, so until then, things will just keep building to where I will never be able to finish all the RPGs in my collection.
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