Judith on 17/2/2017 at 10:49
Typically, adults have pretty busy lives and tons of responsibilities these days, which means leisure time is limited and precious. Both AAA and indie developers recognize that, making games a bit shorter or at least easier to manage in 20-30 minute chunks.
But, TTLG crowd always seemed to be different from general audience, that's why I'm curious: how much time do you have for FMs? Do you spend 2-3 hours in one sitting, or rather split it into 30 minute sessions? Also, what is "too long" and "too short" for you?
Shaz on 17/2/2017 at 11:27
I will (and have) spent hours in FMs, though it is sometimes split up over a couple/few days. I seldom start playing an FM if I don't have at least about an hour to devote to it. I often have a notoriously slow playstyle, so even 'quick' missions can take me a decent chunk of time, but I'm seldom disappointed by 'time taken'. If it was short, but the story/gameplay/architecture/etc. was engrossing, I finish quite pleased. Too long is only too long if it was dragged out/not engrossing. Using DarkLoader, I left notes on my completed FMs. I believe out of all the FMs I've left notes on (and I've played the vast majority of them), less than a dozen even mention time, and only a couple of those would be disparaging, so it's not really one of the aspects I rate an FM on. An FM takes the time it takes, and so long as the time spent was enjoyable, I'll take as little or as much as the FM author deigns to create for!
Unna Oertdottir on 17/2/2017 at 11:45
Some spend their free time watching TV shows, others are playing Thief fan missions or other games. I consider watching TV shows a waste of time. Mostly.
If you have a family, sharing free time can be difficult. It can be fun to play games and fan missions together. ;)
Melan on 17/2/2017 at 11:51
I only play fan missions rarely (especially since the tide has narrowed to a steady trickle), but when I do, I try to reserve a free evening for them. It is more immersive and relaxed when you know you don't have to get up in 30 minutes.
The same goes for computer games. I play fewer and fewer, but I try to do it right and avoid the rush. E.g. I have been taking in Dishonored 2 at one mission a week.
Judith on 17/2/2017 at 11:58
Great input so far guys, keep it coming! (although no pressure)
Btw. I had something like that with Dishonored 2 as well. It seems like 45-60 minutes is just about right for a mission (i.e. when you get there).
JarlFrank on 17/2/2017 at 13:56
Usually, I spend entire evenings on FMs when I play them, at least 1 hour or more. Yes, adult life is busy, but that's exactly why when I have free time I want to take the time and relax properly by immersing myself in a good FM for an hour or more. The shallow AAA games of today don't really do it for me... yes, I have a lot of work-related stuff to do but that means when I want to relax with a PC game, I want to get into it properly and not waste my time with something shallow (I think this whole idea of "adults have less time so the games should be shorter and shallower so they require less effort to get into" is completely wrong).
Most FMs take me between one and two hours to complete and those I might finish in one sitting. Big exceptions were the recent Godbreaker and Behind Closed Doors, Godbreaker missions 2 and 4, and BCD, all took me almost 3 hours in total to complete and I spent about 3 evenings on each.
Cavalorn on 17/2/2017 at 14:23
I never play FMs when I only have like 30 minutes or so. I always spare a whole evening for playing a mission at least, as I like to finish them in one sitting.
Judith mentioned that 45-60 minutes is about right for a mission in Dishonored 2, and I agree. However, a mission in DH2 is just a small slice from the big cake, while Thief fan missions could also be considered as kind of like "full games" with a complete story, thus I don't mind even 3-4 hours long FMs.
Judith on 17/2/2017 at 15:00
Quote:
(I think this whole idea of "adults have less time so the games should be shorter and shallower so they require less effort to get into" is completely wrong).
Just to clarify this, it's not wrong at all, there at least two factors here. First one is the game literacy. Obviously devs want their games to be played by as many people as possible. There's nothing wrong with that. But, unlike literature or music, the "reception" of games isn't taught in schools (yet), and almost every game has it's own set of rules, so they have to be fairly easy to learn (and preferably hard to master). Minimizing player frustration is crucial.
The length is more related to questions like: "what kind of story do you want to tell?", "what do you want players to learn"? (obviously playing games is basically being rewarded for learning). Long time ago, there was the "CoD: Modern Warfare (2?) controversy", because single player campaign was like 4-6 hours long. It felt pretty short for a 50 dollar game, but if you see the gameplay and the story, it's pretty understandable that devs didn't want to go further. After 10 or 20 hours, even most intense and heroic firefights become dull, and the military action movie story will be forgotten long before the end. That was pretty bold decision at the time, but it was a right decision.
But that's just that, go on please :)
Calibrator on 17/2/2017 at 15:04
I most often play a mission in a single sitting but exceptions do occur:
- Some missions are either so long or "juicy" that I often intentionally break the fun (Behind Closed Doors = three evenings). City missions are my favorite type and I probably want to "live" a bit longer in these missions...
- I usually split campaigns as I want to give my brain some time to "reset" itself. One example would be the swamp mission in Godbreaker, even though I had a peek at the next mission. I decided to stop and to attack the next mission on the following day, which was very wise indeed, given the scope of this fabulous city mission.
Time isn't a real problem for me (I have at least 5-6 hours a day available - the perks of being an old single ;-)) but that my interests are quite varied and I don't want to neglect them.
So while time isn't an issue I don't play as much anymore as in previous years. I only play modern triple-A titles on my PS4 (and only very few per year) and my PC really has become an indie & retro machine, when games are concerned. In fact I'm considering switching over to Linux for several reasons (a topic for another day). It also certainly hasn't helped that the mission output has slowed down...
But when a mission (or a brilliant game) comes out I usually priorize it over anything else. I abort some of the more boring missions, though, while good missions get all the time they need.
Renault on 17/2/2017 at 15:09
30 minutes is waaaaay too short for me, I'll always just hold off if that's all the time I have to play. I'd say on average I play for 1-3 hours at a time. No kids here, so that helps a lot. I've also have rare sessions when I play for 4-6 hours straight, as long as my wife is off doing something else for part of that time. I agree with Unna though, some people kill so much time watching hours and hours of reality TV or whatever lame show is on like The Bachelor, to me that time could be used to play games. :cool: It all depends on what you're into I guess.
