Finishing Games

[Johnway]

War of the Chosen is mighty huge to be called DLC. That's a $40 expansion that revamps a ton of stuff and came out 2 and 2/3rs of a year after the main game. It's more like XCOM 2.5.

I'm pretty sure much of it is because i'm tight fisted and i always try to get the best deal where i can. I always blieve that GOTY should have absolutely everything in it (old school) but seeing added extras just hacks me off as it seems like its not the complete package. if they guarenteed i get ALL the future stutf (like shovel knight promised) i wouldn't be quite upset. Although more annoyed that i now have to go back to finish the game proper and i keep to a schedule when i play stuff.

Recently its the Division 2 warlords of new york that has vexed me. I already bought D2 last year (at £17-£22 so yeah egg on my face). Now i have an epic voucher to spend and i notice that D2+warlords of new york is 16.00. Do i throw more money at it (not sure what's going to happen to my copy of D2 on Uplay whether it will create some paradox and error somewhere) or whether i move on. I heard its not bad to its disappointing. If you like the division 2 but i haven't played it yet. guess i'll have to leave it for now or buy it now when its at a rock bottom price.

 

[Brian Boru]

How motivated are you to get through the main storyline of a game?

I'm motivated unless the game changes significantly to something which isn't fun for me.
Eg I replay Crysis & Warhead every year, but only the first half of each—the introduction of the aliens ruined the fun for me.
Far Cry 5 is another—i stopped playing after the 3rd auto-capture when I discovered there were 6 or 9 more of them. I found the Resistance mod a few months later which allowed me to play most of the game, apart from the story—I'm ok with that, the non-story part is great fun.

I played FC5 New Dawn earlier this year without going near the story end, as what I saw/read suggested it devolves into a spray n pray, which doesn't interest me. But again that's ok, the rest is great—I replayed it shortly after 'completing' my first run.

grind one game until it’s done or do you jump between titles?

I tend to have 2-3 going. Right now I have Civ6, C&C Remastered and Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 on the table.
I've replayed Far Cry 3 6-8 times, and in the middle ones I said "Ok I'm gonna get all the shiny stuff this playthru"—never happened, each time I came back after a few days interruption, I'd lost interest.

does game length affect your purchasing of new games?

No. I don't buy new, for big games it'll be a year or two later before I grab the complete collection, so games are always value for me. As regards playing time, I'm fine with a little 3-hour indie or 1,000-hour AAA like Civ.

Finally, what other things make the time spent in a title worthwhile to you? Achievements? Hours played compared to dollars spent? A library of great screenshots?

Screenshots, there are screenshots?
Dollars not an issue.
Achievements in the modern sense, little interest. Last time I recall pummeling a game into submission was a summer in the 00s I spent on Brutal difficulty in the Generals Challenges in C&C Generals Zero Hour. Fun at the time, but if I replay it'll be on Easy!

The main payback in any game for me is simple—fun. Did I enjoy it?
No need to play on Hard, unless that introduces something interesting—but it's usually just a tweak of damage. No need to 'achieve', just to enjoy.

I guess I subscribe most to Sid Meier's philosophy that a game should present the player with interesting choices.

 

[Zloth]

I wonder how subscription services will affect this. $60 won't be standing between you and the latest hot game if it shows up on your subscription!

Screenshots, there are screenshots?

(Zloth faints)

 

[Brian Boru]

$60 won't be standing between you and the latest hot game if it shows up on your subscription!

Very true, and that's definitely the way the industry will move. I already enjoy access to Netflix and Britbox for TV & movies, and would surely go the Spotify route if music was a biggie. Hardware might be an issue for the latest & greatest—I upgrade my PCs when it's time hardware-wise, not because some game needs it.

I'll probably still want to spread a few dollars around though to support devs I like or admire. Eg I bought the earlier Witcher games on sale, altho I'll probably never play them much or at all, just to support the guys who made GOG happen and who still seem to have players welfare as their top priority.

Same with Bioshock & Mass Effect series—I've tried & failed to want to play past a few hours, but am completely happy to support renowned masterpieces of the industry. Loads of indie games too, which are mostly languishing in my TBP pile, just to support small guys who are producing quality stuff.

 

[Zloth]

Well, you could just look up their corporate address and send cash, @Brian Boru. Then your pile doesn't get larger!

 

[Brian Boru]

@Zloth I wish that were true. However careful observation has established that the sprightlier members of my TBP pile are breeding. I suspect Alan Wake—AW—and Lara Croft—OOH—started it all, and are egging the others on, so to speak.

 

[Zloth]

...and are egging the others on, so to speak.

I see what you did there!

Ummm, do you by chance have a Command & Conquer game as well as a Halo game? If so, I think you need to play through one of them fast. It's biologically very unlikely but, if the Zerg and the Flood get together, no one will survive it. Especially if there's a Tolkien based game hanging around. That guy has always respected metaphor over biology.