The Working Man And Skyrim

[AltreU]

First of all, the article from Cracked.com-

#4. You Think Games Are Suddenly Too Long

 

Of course, not every game is "beat it in an afternoon" length. The very next notch up the scale of game length is the "you will never f***ing see everything even if you play it for three years" games. Skyrim is promising "over 300 hours of gameplay". Games like that have endless tricks to stretch out the game experience forever and ever -- from assloads of side quests, to the promise of a completely different experience if you go back and choose a different character class or skill set (see: Borderlands) .

You can always spot these bloated games immediately, because you have to invest 10 hours in the intro mission that teaches you the menus ("What, you mean Fallout 3 isn't about a dude who spends his entire life inside this f***ing underground vault?").

 

But more does not mean better. I didn't have to skin too many coyotes in Red Dead Redemption before I realized I was playing a time wasting simulator. Now please, somebody tell me if this letter icon on my map will actually advance the f***ing main story, or is just another side mission to earn $35 so I can buy bullets for the next side mission. Since when is entertainment about making the audience wander around aimlessly so you can boast about the sheer tonnage of hours you gave them?

But the Truth Is...

Boredom is a young man's disease. For me, every minute I spend playing, more s*** is piling up in my work inbox. No, I don't need a game that will kill time. I need a game that will give me the most possible fun in the precious few hours of spare time I get in a week. Trust me, if you ever see me reopen my World of Warcraft account, it means I probably got fired from my job.

 

Thank you, hot mage chick. That money was really weighing me down.

And this is when I realize that these are the games I specifically asked the industry to make 15-20 years ago. Back then, one of a game's selling points was the amount of hours it took to beat it. A 40-hour RPG was a big deal, and even after you beat it, you still wanted more. There are RPG's I've beaten a dozen times. Grinding and leveling was such a "rinse and repeat" set of motions, there were times when I'd snap out of a daze and realize that I had been killing the same monsters for three hours, increasing ten levels on autopilot. I fantasized about endless games that you could just get lost in.

Well, game developers listened to the 17 year-old me. It's just that by the time they got around to figuring out how to make a 300-hour game, I had a job and three kids, and 300 hours represents every minute of gaming time I'll have available to me in the next three years. In other words, selling me that game is the same as taunting me, reminding me that the same obligations that let me afford to buy games also prevent me from playing them.

Source-http://www.cracked.c...ld-video-games/

 

Being a 19 year old young man myself, I do find that I have time enough in my life right now to do practically whatever I can afford (which isn't much, other than purchase CE Skyrim and devote countless hours to it).

I'm curious, though-do a lot of men in the described situation (I imagine around 30-50 years of age, has kids, may be married, has a job) really feel this way about games these days?

My reason for asking? I like understanding people and their plight. I've read about a lot of our members here enjoying games with their children. I'd like to know what your experience is like as a busy working man putting spare hours into games.

*I posted this here as I think it pertains to how you'll approach Skyrim as well as your past gaming experience.*

Edited September 23, 2011 by AltreU

[xaliqen]

I like long games and there are times when I have very intense time commitments which limit my gameplay time. I don't really understand why someone would want a shorter game. Is it because they want/expect to finish a game in less than a day?

 

I prefer my games to last for months, isn't this a better value? Oh well, I suppose certain people have different tastes and want shorter games.

 

If I hear a game has a single-player campaign which is less than ten hours, I simply will not buy it. While this eliminates many of the popular multiplayer games currently on the market, I know myself well enough to understand it's very likely I wouldn't enjoy a game unless it includes a significant backstory and lengthy campaign. This also speaks to my preference for role playing games over classic first person shooters.

 

I'll go out on a limb and say most of us who enjoy RPGs probably prefer lengthier games provided the player character has plenty of room to expand and diversify their specializations. An RPG that doesn't interest the player in the world enough to where you imagine things going on outside of the realm of gameplay and presentation is somewhat of a failure IMO. If a game has that imaginative spark, then someone like myself wants it to last as long as possible, since it encourages my own imagination and creativity.

 

Putting my preference for longer games aside for a moment, I definitely agree that more doesn't always mean better. A longer campaign in a game should also encourage the player to interact and understand their character's development and the broader world in an evolving way. Without this evolution, you just end up "skinning coyotes" for 20 hours as the Cracked article pointed out, and I think we can all agree that 20 hours of tedious gameplay is inferior to 10 hours of well developed and tightly-woven storyline.

Edited September 23, 2011 by xaliqen

[jedimembrain]

That guy is full of it .. thats just an excuse from someone with a classic case of adult ADD .. Or he cares more about climbing the ladder of work life and making that next buck then relaxing and enjoying the small things like a golden game like Skyrim .. He insulted Red Dead for christ sakes o_O If you can't spend more than 10 hours in a game then F@&% you .. Don't go around bitching .. I'm tired of games getting shorter and shorter .. and really .. That vault scene took him ten hours? .. bleh .. screw that hater... and yes .. more than likely someone worrying about money either lives in a big city with crazy housing cost or they have kids .. But thats his fault not Skyrims :P

 

I'm 23 and I make just enough to have a little rain day money .. I dont drink I dont do drugs I dont eat out and I only need to support myself .. and I'm happy about it :D I have time for games,reading,movies,forums .. people get themselves into spots where they need more money to keep up with they cost of living they are a custom to and I feel bad for them that they can't take a step back and look around them to see what they really need from life .. smart phones, digital cable, large homes they are talked into getting from their wife, kids "same reason".. Its all costly and pointless .. I guess I might sound young and stupid to some of you but I think your old and living a cluttered life :P

Edited September 23, 2011 by jedimembrain

[Alcrin]

Nonsense. Nobody over the age of 20 is on Cracked.

[Squiggoth_the_mighty]

I haven't bothered to read all that tripe; suffice to say I'm 30 and massively put off paying £40-50 on a game I can beat in less than a week... I'd rather buy something like Skyrim and never complete it than buy something as short as Streets of Rage was back in the day (althought that's a bad example, because SoR was epic at the time) and complete it in one sitting.

[ITOS]

By his standards no-one would play a game like Minecraft.

[elderiii]

I like long games and there are times when I have very intense time commitments which limit my gameplay time. I don't really understand why someone would want a shorter game. Is it because they want/expect to finish a game in less than a day?

 

 

 

I agree with every point in your post. I am about 30, I have a wife and a son, and all the time obligations that come with that. At the same time, since my "free time" is less my own than it was when I was 19 and single, those hours that I have to play a game are that much more precious to me. I don't want to buy a game for $60 that I beat in one Sunday afternoon. I want a good value and a good, immersion laden experience throughout. I buy very few games at this stage of my life and I want them to last a good long time when I do. :)

[Schattenu]

Nonsense. Nobody over the age of 20 is on Cracked.

Now THAT I'm going to have to call out as BS. I don't know a single person under the age of 20 on Cracked.

 

I actually think it's funny, reading this thread, that you guys are being extremely judgmental about how judgmental he is based on one small part of one article he wrote. Just because this doesn't apply to you personally doesn't mean he's full of it; he actually outright says in the majority of his articles that his stuff doesn't apply to everyone. But he is right -- I'm 21, single, no kids, no full-time job yet, but I still have a lot going on between college and several family issues, and while I do love longer games, I find that shorter ones fit better because I won't have as much to keep track of and muddle things up. The Elder Scrolls is pretty much the exception for me.

 

Read his other stuff, he has several articles that involve the transition to adulthood and such, and most of the time he's right. There's a reason he's rapidly becoming a favorite columnist on there.

[Deleted472477User]

Nonsense. Nobody over the age of 20 is on Cracked.

 

I must only be 20 then :D I wish. I'm 46 and am a female. I read that article and thought about how far out of the normal demographic I am. I should be playing Farmville, not Elder Scrolls according to stuff like this *is amused*

[BigBodZod]

I'm 49 and have been playing video/console games since the 70's

 

I guess I should dust off my old Magnavox Odysee and Mattel Intellivision now.

 

I enjoy exploring and in anticipation of Skyrim have restarted playing Oblivion as a Nord.

 

I guess if you do indeed have other responsibilities like a family to take care of you need to place gaming down on the list, lord knows you have that "HONEY DO" list to take care of first :tongue: