Be Honest, You Don’t Finish Your Games - The RPG Files at MMORPG.com

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Be Honest, You Don’t Finish Your Games - The RPG Files at MMORPG.com

For the last couple of years, I’ve been fascinated at how few players actually complete their games. It all started when I read this IGN write-up of a GDC talk where the narrative and design leads from Microsoft and Riot revealed that, at most, half of the games they examined were finished.

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Elvoc

I can get on board with this, usually when a new game comes out that I cant wait to play I log 10-15 hours and then Im jumping games. Its even worse during Steam Sales. I think a majority of this issue is that everything is downloadable so you can download something and never look at it again, where in the past you got a box, maybe a cool map, a manual and some other stuff that you had right in front of you on your desk, so you paid more attention and didn't just file stuff away, and of course now their is also much more variety.. I am constantly finding myself reloading things in Steam and playing a game again trying to finish without success because the next best thing is coming out the following week and I am just killing time

Sovrath

I'm in this boat simply because some games require a lot of time and energy and those games I "chip away at". The Dark Souls games fall into that category.

Some games just lose their narrative or it becomes painfully obvious that if I'm going to finish them I'm going to have to fight with the game mechanics.

Dragon Age inquisition is one of these, I felt that their "world" was utter crap and that the quests they would send us on really weren't interesting and would essentially break the narrative. I'm still planning on taking time "just" to finish the main story and ignore all the rest.

The Gothic games have horrible elements that, after a while, i felt they were'nt worth it.

I've played through the Elder Scrolls games for years each but one doesn't have to do any of the quests in order to get enjoyment out of them if you are wired "that way".

I usually end up finishing my games but some of them I just take far longer than others.

Ozmodan

Well if you play a MMO, there really is no finish.  

meonthissite

Actually usually I do if they have good content. Now I've made several issues towards the general design flaws in Star Trek Online however their content was good and worthy of mentioning. (it's just their economy and progression that was terrible). Elder Scrolls Online is one of the shining stars of MMOdom and should be praised, I'm working on this one right now. World of Warcraft has always been good in the content department storyline is important to them. And Even with Lotro's terrible design flaws even it has some shining moments. So there are quite a number of games that I've completed at least on one character because they cared about the story of the game.

vonryan123

I have finished single player games and I have a ton I havent. It has more to do with the simple fact I didnt like them. I buy humble bundles for A game and wind up with 4-5 I dont care for or didnt want so yea i have a ton of games i either havent played or dont have time. One day when my kids are a few years older they will get my steam account and have a blast.

laserit

I put 160 hours into Skyrim but never finished it, didn't even come close. I had fun just fucking around, maybe I should reinstall it

jesteralways

"It is the journey that matters."

FrodoFragins

I'm just not cut out for games like Skyrim.  I just do the main storyline and then quit.  I remember trying to continue but went to an area where my character, that beat the final fight was getting his butt handed to him.  It was just really odd.

Amathe

I no longer enjoy single player games. But I lie to myself and say that I do. I even buy them. There is a stack of single player games next to my computer. None have been played for more than an hour.

rojoArcueid

I have a lot of games i need to finish. I like finishing my games but i am extremely indecisive. I start playing a game and a few minutes later i want to play something else. Most of the games i have finished have been either in one sitting or playing only that one game until i finish to avoid getting distracted and picking up something else. And it only gets worse as more platforms get released and i need/want them (waiting for PS4 NEO and NX, and will probably get an XBOX because i dont want W10 UWP apps), i pretty much have the rest of the platforms.

As for mmos, i consider an mmo "finished" when i hit max level and finish the main storyline because i don't consider repetitive time killer tasks (gear threadmill/pvp) as content. Do it once, and that's it for me, unfortunately it is the easiest way to level up.

Graey

5. This certainly lends credence to the idea that gamers have terrible attention spans. At the very least, with how well major games sell, it’s enough to make you question whether gamers just compulsively move on to the latest and greatest every month.

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed reading this article. Very informative. That being said as I"m sure you are aware life has a tendency to get in the way and with that one moment you are playing the Witcher 3, the next moment it has been 6 months since you last touched the game, which has been my problem. I've actually sat down to make a list of the games I need to finish before I can purchase other games. Of course this does not work, and the last game I finished was Digimon Cyber Sleuth for the Vita.

I do a lot of impulsive buying. Also I'd blame MMOs for it as well as the world is not as static as regular games so I get to create imaginative characters and explore in an evolving world. I'm currently playing:

I am Setsuna
Yokai Watch
Ratchet and Clank-PS4
God Eater Resurrection
Monster Hunter 4
Final Fantasy Heroes or something like that
Star Ocean-PS4
Wild Star

The above games I usually play every day or every other day, making sure to play them at least once that week. What I'll probably end up doing is categorizing them with WIld Star as my MMO and I am Set, Yokai W. being the ones that I concentrate on and finish. Also Ratchet and Clank. Then hopefully I can do this all before No Mans Sky comes out because I love the idea of being out in space and I have no clue what I'll do when that releases.

On that note I would argue that yes some games should probably be smaller in scope or if not smaller then episodic. Like for instance there used to be a game called Dot. Hack I think on the PS2. It had many episodes spanning over so many discs. I would say an RGP should be around 40-75 hours or so give or take. We don't realize how long that actually is but Digimon Cyber Sleuth I've spent well over a 100 hours in that game.

Rusque

I didn't realize completion numbers were so low. I tend to finish any game I start, however I only purchase games that I want to play.

From that list I have:
Dark Souls 1,2,3 - All finished.
Darkest Dungeon - Finished/Unfinished (haven't gone back for new updates)
Divinity Original Sin - Finished
Dragon Age Origins - Finished
Dragon's Dogma DA - Finished
Legend of Grimrock - Not Finished - won't be finishing
Lords of the Fallen - Finished on warrior and cleric
Mass Effect 1 - Not Finished - won't be finishing
Pillars of Eternity - Not Finished but want to
Skyrim - Finished
Witcher 2 - Finished

SEANMCAD

I think the industry should study questions of story much more closely then they do. I think they would be surprised to learn how many gamers ignore it, avoid it or not really into it and that is a huge waste of developer dollars that can be spent elsewhere. To be clear i am not saying ALL gamers do I am saying I think the % of gamers who do is higher then the industry thinks

mmorobo

I finish every game I play. Sometimes there is "extra content" that is not fun. When the fun runs out then I am finished even if it only lasts for an hour.

Avarix

I'm guilty of this, depending on the type of game. The Final Fantasy games I complete and then never look back. However, games like Baldur's Gate I have put a crazy amount of hours into and only completed it once. Usually what happens in these games for me is I am playing a Mage, get to a dialogue/quest crossroads, and think 'Hmm, this probably would have played out differently if I had rolled a high Charisma Bard' which leads to me promptly quitting the game and then going to roll a Bard and starting over.

I like playing that way. It allows me to come up with some crazy character concepts and then trying them out. I have a crazy amount of fun just in the character design phase of games, depending on if I have enough options and freedom. Once I see the end of a game though it's over for me. Only reason I have been able to go back to games like Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 is because I have forgotten the end. For instance in Pillars of Eternity, I have been at the end at least twice but stopped playing and rolled a different character. I like the journey. Seeing the end of a game puts a stop to that for me, so I tend to avoid it in a lot of circumstances.

Sovrath

Rusque said:

I didn't realize completion numbers were so low. I tend to finish any game I start, however I only purchase games that I want to play.

From that list I have:
Dark Souls 1,2,3 - All finished.
Darkest Dungeon - Finished/Unfinished (haven't gone back for new updates)
Divinity Original Sin - Finished
Dragon Age Origins - Finished
Dragon's Dogma DA - Finished
Legend of Grimrock - Not Finished - won't be finishing
Lords of the Fallen - Finished on warrior and cleric
Mass Effect 1 - Not Finished - won't be finishing
Pillars of Eternity - Not Finished but want to
Skyrim - Finished
Witcher 2 - Finished

Rusque said:

I didn't realize completion numbers were so low. I tend to finish any game I start, however I only purchase games that I want to play.

From that list I have:
Dark Souls 1,2,3 - All finished.
Darkest Dungeon - Finished/Unfinished (haven't gone back for new updates)
Divinity Original Sin - Finished
Dragon Age Origins - Finished
Dragon's Dogma DA - Finished
Legend of Grimrock - Not Finished - won't be finishing
Lords of the Fallen - Finished on warrior and cleric
Mass Effect 1 - Not Finished - won't be finishing
Pillars of Eternity - Not Finished but want to
Skyrim - Finished
Witcher 2 - Finished

We have sort of a similar list ...

Dark Souls 1,2,3 - 1 mostly finished, 2 had issues with "block as there is a delay so night not finish, working through 3
Darkest Dungeon - no interest
Divinity Original Sin - not finished
Dragon Age Origins - Finished
Dragon's Dogma DA - Finished but still playing
Legend of Grimrock - Not Finished - won't be finishing .. didn't like this game, lost interest
Lords of the Fallen - not finished but intend on finishing
Mass Effect 1 - never played, no interest
Pillars of Eternity - Not Finished but want to
Skyrim - Finished but still playing
Witcher 2 - still playing.

maskedweasel

I think "beating a game" as I did as a kid and "finishing" a game are different these days.

For example,  I  "beat the game" when I played Grim Dawn,  but I didn't do the hardcore stuff, or make a bunch of different characters or complete every quest or whatever.

I will often "Beat the game"  but I won't go for all the achievements or things like that.  Sometimes they make certain parts abnormally abysmal to complete to test your resolve... but I'll stick to just playing the fun parts.

DAOWAce

I have over 1,400 games on Steam.

I've played about 20% of them.

I have unfinished games from the Playstation era. Hell, I think I never even finished FF6 on SNES.

I actually can't stand open world games at present because I never finish them (and most are extremely buggy *cough* Bethesda). I put about 90 hours into Oblivion without touching the main story before I got tired of playing. Don't know how much I put into Dragon Age: Origins, but barely got halfway through the game.

I'll take a shorter, more directed linear game over long open world ones. Keeps my attention for the whole thing, and I can actually finish it.

Oh, and it also doesn't help that I've become quite elitist with games. One little thing can annoy me to the point where I don't play it, and if a developer doesn't respect my preferences and issues, I won't buy it. (example: Tomb Raider has camera sway; it induces motion sickness in me, there's no option to turn it off. I also have a 21:9 monitor and my own control scheme; if there's no 21:9 support (or it renders Vert-) or key rebinding of ALL keys, I'll lambast the game along with not playing it).

So, yeah, shorter games with gear directed campaigns that are made by developers who give a damn about their playerbase. Hard to find games like that, unfortunately.

dave6660

I've never played a single game on that list.

Most of the games I do play either don't have a definitive end or are quick games that are meant to be replayed a lot.

mmorobo

I just want to know what kind of person would finish every or even most games. I mean there are a few sad pandas out there with mental problems, but what normal person would finish most games.

Just like TV most people watch an episode just to see if they like it or a few more if they are on the fence. I watched the pilot and didn't like it but I'm going to watch the next 7 years because I started it said no one ever!

Gatlan

I played about 300 hours of Skyrim but never finished the main quest. I remember being proud of finishing every game I played but that was way back around 2000. I'm not sure what happened but now I too have about 30 partially completed games, most of them I plan to get back to but not sure if or when.

SEANMCAD

Gatlan said:

I played about 300 hours of Skyrim but never finished the main quest. I remember being proud of finishing every game I played but that was way back around 2000. I'm not sure what happened but now I too have about 30 partially completed games, most of them I plan to get back to but not sure if or when.

yeah I have almost 300 hours as well and no friggin clue what the story is about. i did have to do one quest because it was required but other than that I tried to avoid quests.

In fact, the opening trailer? I literally started the game up once I knew it was loaded I went for a walk (hand to god true story). I knew there would be a long cut scene and I knew I would not care. Then of course I had to reload it again, ticked me off too

Nixeska

Well I'm not gonna force myself to finish a game that sucks.

waynejr2

jesteralways said:

"It is the journey that matters."

Until it doesn't.

psychosiz1

I finish the games I like, If the game sucks to me, I don't.  Rather simple really for me.  Of the games on the list, I liked 7 of the ones I played, I finished all 7.