RPGs are too long

[Grauken]

Make notes.

As glib as this answer sounds, this is basically it. Even with in-game journals and whatnot, nothing beats making your own notes about what to do, where to go. I have a much easier time getting back into a game after months, when I do my own notes (including maps plus notes) than when just relying on in-game journals

 

[eXalted]

Make notes.

Or you can just scroll quickly through a walkthrough to remind yourself where have you been.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Some rpgs are too long (when they lack the content or interesting gameplay to fill those 60 hours),some you just don't want to end, and you search every location, complete every sidequest and explore every plot to lengthen the experience.

Then, the are short, good rpgs like Fallout 1, with lots of replay value. We are speaking about 20 hours for a single campaign. Or in the case of Age of Decadence, more like 8-10 x 10 hours.

fyp, np

 

[logan]

Completing games is overrated

Playing games for fun is underrated

 

[JarlFrank]

Also there's a difference between 60 hours of actual well-made content, 60 hours of replayability time due to mechanics and/or randomized content (roguelikes, 4x games like Civ, pretty much all multiplayer games, etc), and 60 hours of grinding the same uninspired copypasted encounter over and over again until you die of boredom.

One of these three is not like the others.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

RPGs should be longer. In fact, ideally, they should have infinite length, ie you play them for as long as you want to. Something like Dwarf Fortress - Adventurer Mode, that produces infinite procedural content.

But even for non-procedural content, RPGs should be HUGE and EPIC. I am talking about those RPG maps that used to come with games, where you would see different continents, and mountains, forests, and deserts, and have simultaneous orgasms. If you have grown too old and mature to enjoy that, the problem isn't with RPGs, it's with you.

 

[Bigg Boss]

No woman ever complains about it being too long. Why should RPG's be any different?

 

[ProphetSword]

Despite all the advertising claims of "60 hours of gametime!!!" I usually get through these games in 20, maximum 30 hours. And I don't even rush through the games. I do sidequests, even try to be completionist, and yet I never reach a playtime of 60 hours in games that promise to have a playtime of that length. Games are always much, much shorter than advertised in my experience.

This man speaks the truth. Most games promising 60+ hours usually only give me around 15-20 hours. I don’t rush through them, either. Who are the people who are putting in 100+ hours in some games? I don’t get it.

 

[MilesBeyond]

Whether any media - game, book, movie, song, whatever - is too long has less to do with how much time it actually takes and more to do with what the time:content ratio is. An RPG that can be completed in an afternoon can be too long, while an RPG that takes 200+ hours to complete can feel too short. Repetitive dungeons, tedious combat, large empty areas, obnoxious minigames - these are the things that can make an RPG feel too long.

That being said, I do get the complaint. When life gets busy and you might be able to only really fit in a couple hours a week for gaming, it can be pretty daunting to take a look at an RPG and think "This will take me well over a year to finish." But that's not really the game's fault, it's just that you've ended up drifting out of the game's target demographic. Which kinda sucks, but that's life. Nothing is forever.

 

[octavius]

A few CRPGs are too long, like The Magic Candle, Wizardy 7, Baldur's Gate 2 + Throne of Bhaal, and Jagged Alliance 2.
But in general it's not a problem, I think.

 

[octavius]

Who are the people who are putting in 100+ hours in some games? I don’t get it.

You see them on YouTube. They have characters that are lvl 255 with max in all stats.

 

[Micormic]

I've played a few that were too long, a few that weren't long enough.

Off the top of my head, Thunderscape, Might & magic 6, BG2 + TOB dragged, Ultima 6 and 7 to an extent mainly due to the tedious nature of the inventory systems in both games. I'm sure there's a few others.

If a game stays fresh and interesting I have no problem playing it for like 50-60-80+ ect hours. If a game just tacks on dozens of hours with shitty areas and filler content then I consider it too long.

 

[Micormic]

RPGs are high culture now, like Shakespeare.

People used to play them for fun, now they do it in order to appear cultured.

I actually laughed at that, sort of like people who said they enjoyed the movie 'inception'.

 

[KateMicucci]

Are you sure you like the genre? Or are you forcing yourself to play them so you can boast you have a refined taste in entertainment. I understand this is quite common with music.

We're talking about sweaty barbarians wrestling with orcs, not dressage.

The culture has changed a lot since I started playing them, but I still consider discussing video games as classless as discussing your favorite pornstar.

And preferring the three minute videos to the 60 minute ones doesn't mean you don't really like porn and are just a casual trying to appear refined.

 

[Jokzore]

We're talking about sweaty barbarians wrestling with orcs, not dressage.

The culture has changed a lot since I started playing them, but I still consider discussing video games as classless as discussing your favorite pornstar.

And preferring the three minute videos to the 60 minute ones doesn't mean you don't really like porn and are just a casual trying to appear refined.

Sometimes I wish games were still considered nerdy hobbies for pimple faced geeks and basement dwellers. But they're not. Believe it or not, since mainstream acceptance of vidya the classics such as Fallout and BG are considered highbrow entertainment only a true intellectual can enjoy.

And so you have an influx kids who grew up on Skyrims and Call of Duders trying to play the oldies purely for the bragging rights. They want to feel superior to all of their ''normie'' friends.

And what happens when they find out their taste is not as refined as they thought? What happens when they find out they enjoy the idea of playing an RPG more than actually doing it? Well it can't be them being wrong, surely it's the games fault. Just like SJW they start a crusade demanding the games change to fit their pallet.

The problem is people identify with their entertainment, if they enjoy something that's considered dumb, that makes them feel dumb. There's nothing wrong with liking short games, there's nothing wrong with long games, same goes for classic games, new games, shitty horror movies, cheap comedy, pulp fiction, kids cartoons. At the end of the day its just entertainment, you like whatever you like and to each their own. You shouldn't feel guilty about it and you shouldn't judge others for their own taste.

Can't we all just enjoy ourselves.

 

[Morkar Left]

Dear Ms. KateMicucci,

FUCK OFF!

Thank you.

Kind regards
Morkar

 

[Jokzore]

Games shouldn't be shorter or longer, especially not RPGs. They should be exactly as long as they need to be in order to tell the story the devs want to tell.

Sometimes it will be 10 hours , sometimes it will be 100. It doesn't matter as long as it fits the game and the story.

 

[Reinhardt]

Who cares about game story?

 

[Dorateen]

Too long. Right.

Spoiler

 

[KateMicucci]

Games shouldn't be shorter or longer, especially not RPGs. They should be exactly as long as they need to be in order to tell the story the devs want to tell.

Sometimes it will be 10 hours , sometimes it will be 100. It doesn't matter as long as it fits the game and the story.

The story should exist to serve the game, not the other way round.

 

[Jokzore]

The story should exist to serve the game, not the other way round.

That's neither false nor true. Developers sometimes just want make a video game and sometimes they want to tell a story through the medium. A lot of the time they want to do both.

Ideally gameplay and story should compliment each other. However if the developer prefers one over the other there's nothing wrong with that.

In case of PST it was clearly story before everything else, and it wouldn't have been the same game if it was approached differently.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

but what is an RPG?

This is RPG:

 

[DexRiwus]

Long RPGs are good unless i lose my savefiles, then long RPGs suck.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Long RPGs are good unless i lose my savefiles, then long RPGs suck.

 

[Matticus]

Long RPGs are good unless i lose my savefiles, then long RPGs suck.

What about diablo 2 hardcore (or other longer rogue-likes) where you can play 40+ hours on a character and then it dies and it gets deleted? That was a ton of fun.