I've played 800 hours of Skyrim, without ever finishing the main storyline ! With mods you can make your own story.
Looks like Fallout 4 is going to comfortably beat that though, I'm at 550 hours and I've only explored 30% of the map...
Let's be honest, 95% of games have pretty forgettable stories, it's not exactly high literature. In most cases the story props up the combat encounters, which is what the game is really about...
I don't think I've ever finished a game. Not even back in NES days. There was always a new game that just came out that I had to try. And now with all the various "Bundle" offers out there I'd say there's a good percentage of the games I own that I haven't even played.
I enjoy pretty much every game I play, but... new shiny!
I'm guilty of it too. It's one reason I stopped buying games. I made it to the last battle of Shadowrun Reborn but rage quitted because my character didn't have the shotgun skill which is what you need to use the special gun that destroys baddies.
I think that's part of a bigger problem. If you have more options to build your character then you have more to get things wrong. If you find out you're on the wrong path, the effort to fix things may be too much.
So what. Play til the game doesn't engage you anymore. If a game's mechanics or story grate on me, I quit. If the game makes me replay significant parts of it due to instability or design, Quitsville 2. Etc. It's not a 'must finish' contract.
Doesn't mean the game is bad, either. It can just be a style you'd prefer to avoid.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
Guess I'm different. I have finished a lot of games, especially RPG's. In some cases, more than one playthrough.
Just to list a few.
Every Bioware game ever made I have finished, in some cases multiple playthroughs, especially the earlier stuff like BG and NWN. Morrowind through Skyrim, finished main story more than once, Oblivion and Skyrim further played with mods. Just Cause II and III - finished Tomb Raider - finished Half-Life X- finished (even the spin off games) Assassins Creed I - finished (bought AC II for PC, it wouldn't work, never returned to series) Divinity Series - finished Two Worlds - finished I could insert many other titles to the list from many genres
I do understand why some people don't finish games though, they lose interest or are enticed by some new shiny. Steam sales don't help either.
I do have a ton of games sitting in my Steam library that I haven't touched yet. Some really good titles like Human Revolution, Borderlands 1+2, Bioshock Infinite, and Dishonored. These don't count though as I've never even started them.
There are some games though that I do need to revisit and finish. Pillars of Eternity is at the top of that list.
Anyways, reflecting on this, if the game is even somewhat half decent I think I have a pretty good chance of actually seeing it through to the end.
It's no surprise, new shiny gets released during the time the old shiny start to wear off and - poof - get the new shiny!
Repeat above x infinity
The games I really love - I've finished all of them.
I wonder if the OP or someone else thinks there is an alternate universe where 100% of the players finish 100% of the games? This is kind of a no brainer. And a game sucks, how many are going to finish it?
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
When a game loses it's appeal, I just shut it down or log off. Sometimes I'll literally be walking around with a character and my brain will say, "I'm not having fun, I'm out".
My current list is Fallout 4, Pillars of Eternity, Deus Ex: HR, Divinity: OR and probably a few that I've forgotten.
Fallout 4 just got... boring. It's not a bad game, but honestly 3 and New Vegas were far more interesting to me. I should really load it up and finish the last chapter.
Pillars of Eternity... somewhere in the last chapter I just got sick and tired of the game mechanics being so radically different from AD&D. I mean part of the reason that I loved Baldur's Gate were the game mechanics, and honestly if you don't have a weapon with high DR by the last chapter, then don't bother playing.
Deus Ex. Bleehhhhhh. For all the damned hype, I was completely underwhelmed with nearly every aspect of this game from the boring cybernetic upgrade paths to Pritchards voice that made me want to chew licorice... and I hate licorice.
Divinity... was touted as the "Isometric RPG that we've all been waiting for" except it wasn't. Limited party members, confusing often broken character progression, and horrible itemization made me give up right around the point where I sent some lady to talk to a lonely troll.
First RPG I finished I think was Vampire the Masquerade. I played Fallout 2 my first RPG I got into games on the PC relatively late in my life but since I did not get the car I fell behind badly and did not want to restart the game so that game was left unfinished.
On the Play Station the very first RPG I finished was Wild Arms and then Final Fantasy 7.
Among the games I have finished are Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Dragon Age Origins. Lot of other I have not yet finished including Witcher 3 ,Divinity Original Sin and Pillars of Eternity. I have more games unfinished than finished.
Skyrim - 220 hours logged. Never finished. Not sure how much of that time was spent modding though. (that's a game all in it's own right) Happily waiting to revisit with the upcoming release.
Legends of Grimrock 1 and 2 - Finished both. Amazingly crafted games, although not quite as hard as the Dungeon Master games they are a shout out too.
Too many games are utter crap to me. I'm an extremely picky gamer who knows what he likes. I've bought too many titles in recent years and happily shelved them.
Happily playing Vanilla and BC WoW, again, since September 2016.
What does it even mean to finish a game that is not blatantly linear? Over the past ten or so years, in particular, I have watched these "achievement" catalogues emerge. Yet do they really coincide with how people freely experience accomplishment? - or do they control the way in which people get their gaming vibes? Might be one or the other, I don't mind - but personally, I've always found it strangely estranging to have someone anonymously tell me what a quantifiable "achievement" is.
What does it even mean to finish a game that is not blatantly linear? Over the past ten or so years, in particular, I have watched these "achievement" catalogues emerge. Yet do they really coincide with how people freely experience accomplishment? - or do they control the way in which people get their gaming vibes? Might be one or the other, I don't mind - but personally, I've always found it strangely estranging to have someone anonymously tell me what a quantifiable "achievement" is.
I'm surprised it took someone this long to finally ask the question. Digging into their research, they're basing it on Steam Achievements which is an arbitrary way to consider a game finished. Just as an example of one title (Skyrim), I could call finishing the main story finishing the game. Or I could call completing all the trophies/achievements finishing the game. Or I could call finishing every quest in the game finishing the game. Given that it's impossible to complete every quest in a game like Skyrim because of decision branching, no one would ever complete it under that last criterion. It's also more likely someone would finish the main story line than go trophy hunting (which tends to be obscure specific actions required to complete). I don't know that these numbers say much because the metric used for the analysis seems lacking from the outset.
___________________________ Have flask; will travel.
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.
To a degree that's me as well. MMOs are also part of the reason why my single player games sometimes fall by the wayside though... "Hmm... new content release... finish this game first... or go play that new content? Ah fuck it, I'll go with the new content. I can always come back to this one later!" and then the "later" never happens, or I've lost the "feel" of the game and just start over. =/
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
Count me in the "I finish what I start, with a few minor exceptions" category when it comes to RPGs.. Unless a game is completely crap and turns me off within the first 30 mins, I tend to stick with my games to the bitter end (I'M LOOKING AT YOU MASS EFFECT 3!!)
Ahem..
Since I hate wasting my time and money, I try to research titles beforehand and then only buy what I know I will play all the way through.. In the rare cases of impulse buying, I got what I deserved and dropped them pretty quick..
..because we're gamers, damn it!! - William Massachusetts (Log Horizon)
What does it even mean to finish a game that is not blatantly linear? Over the past ten or so years, in particular, I have watched these "achievement" catalogues emerge. Yet do they really coincide with how people freely experience accomplishment? - or do they control the way in which people get their gaming vibes? Might be one or the other, I don't mind - but personally, I've always found it strangely estranging to have someone anonymously tell me what a quantifiable "achievement" is.
I'm surprised it took someone this long to finally ask the question. Digging into their research, they're basing it on Steam Achievements which is an arbitrary way to consider a game finished. Just as an example of one title (Skyrim), I could call finishing the main story finishing the game. Or I could call completing all the trophies/achievements finishing the game. Or I could call finishing every quest in the game finishing the game. Given that it's impossible to complete every quest in a game like Skyrim because of decision branching, no one would ever complete it under that last criterion. It's also more likely someone would finish the main story line than go trophy hunting (which tends to be obscure specific actions required to complete). I don't know that these numbers say much because the metric used for the analysis seems lacking from the outset.
I assumed that would be an unfinishable game and out of context for the thread. Like how do you stop and unstoppable object or how does the never ending story end.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
Dark souls 1-3. finished Darkest Dungeon. finished Divinity original sin. finished Dragon age origins. Finished Dragon age 2. finished Dragon's dogma. didn't finish since I found the last part dull and boring. Fallout new vegas. finished Fallout 4. finished Legend of grimrock. disliked it almost immediately, didn't finish Lords of the fallen. Returned it after an hour played. Mass effect 1-3. finished Pillars of eternity. finished Skyrim. finished Witcher 1-3. finished
Completion rate of 85% for games listed.
Edit. Achievement completion for divinity original sin is misleading since most people have both the regular and enhanced edition on their steam account.
What I always found fascinating are people that rave about specific games as they were launched but when you ask them a month later they still didn't end up finishing the game for various reasons.
Iselin: And the next person who says "but it's a business, they need to make money" can just go fuck yourself.
Some games just end up getting boring and I have to stop playing or else I risk the chance of breaking my keyboard with my face due to falling sleep. Then there are games that you start to think actually suck after a little bit of playing. You then want to play as much as you can since you spent money on it and hoping that you will find some redeeming value in the gameplay but often to no avail. Sometimes though, I admit that another game pops up that I want to get while I'm in the middle of a play through in another game or I catch something on sale on Steam that is on my wishlist.
What does it even mean to finish a game that is not blatantly linear? Over the past ten or so years, in particular, I have watched these "achievement" catalogues emerge. Yet do they really coincide with how people freely experience accomplishment? - or do they control the way in which people get their gaming vibes? Might be one or the other, I don't mind - but personally, I've always found it strangely estranging to have someone anonymously tell me what a quantifiable "achievement" is.
I'm surprised it took someone this long to finally ask the question. Digging into their research, they're basing it on Steam Achievements which is an arbitrary way to consider a game finished. Just as an example of one title (Skyrim), I could call finishing the main story finishing the game. Or I could call completing all the trophies/achievements finishing the game. Or I could call finishing every quest in the game finishing the game. Given that it's impossible to complete every quest in a game like Skyrim because of decision branching, no one would ever complete it under that last criterion. It's also more likely someone would finish the main story line than go trophy hunting (which tends to be obscure specific actions required to complete). I don't know that these numbers say much because the metric used for the analysis seems lacking from the outset.
While anyone could complete, and many have completed various Skyrim storylines on multiple play-throughs, the brand is a fine example, if we are not entirely concerned with MMOs. The ES series has precisely a reputation (ESO absolutely doesn't count as part of the franchise) of letting the gamers create their own stories and classes, without incarcerating them with pre-designed professions, or political or moral stances. Compared to Daggerfall or even Oblivion, Skyrim did force a hefty bite down our throats, forcing us to play an epic role of the dragonborn. But to be honest, it was also possible to be a drifter in that world, without submitting to the text.
The whole idea of achievement, one that can be named, seriously? While this position can probably be traced back to my ancient roleplaying background (psychodrama versus script), I'd be awesmacked, should any significant population recall the pre-determined names of these achievements as their actual Elder Scrolls achievements, and the dearest gaming memories. My guess is that the real achievements are elusive, often mistakes, and when you capture them with a formal, commensurate name, they fade. Apologies for being a little bit romantic. Anyway, good stuff is detailed in experience, but it cannot be the detailed sensory sequence by someone else. The developer enables and emancipates the gamer, the developer would not do well to limit the gamer to his or her very limited literary mind. And if you want to do that, please hire some real writers, most of whom are inevitably already dead.
I don't finish all the games I start. I finish the ones I like and want to play. Once I no longer want to play I stop playing. Not important for me to finish. Just to enjoy.
“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
I'm actually very picky about spending my time in a game. I can get a quick feeling for a game and make a determination somewhat fast. Little things can make me quit, like mouse control or bad animations. Also, if the game is kill 20 chickens and come back, and kill 20 wolfs I'm probably going to get bored real fast. There are exceptions, If i like the controls and the world, and I see a very healthy engaged population I play it a bit longer to see if I can really get into it.
I completely relate to this, I think I own most of the Final Fantasy Series and I've completed three of them. I've completed 3 of 6 Dragon Quest/Warrior games I've ever owned, completed 2 of three Dragon Age (still haven't finished DAI) I've finished (if you can finish) only one MMORPG through to most current content, and that's SWTOR. I've not even finished the Elder Scrolls games which I love ( and I mean the main stories). I'm not sure why I just have too many things going on at the same time I guess and just not good at juggling them.. Or maybe I have gamer ADD?
Comments
I've played 800 hours of Skyrim, without ever finishing the main storyline ! With mods you can make your own story.
Looks like Fallout 4 is going to comfortably beat that though, I'm at 550 hours and I've only explored 30% of the map...
Let's be honest, 95% of games have pretty forgettable stories, it's not exactly high literature. In most cases the story props up the combat encounters, which is what the game is really about...
I enjoy pretty much every game I play, but... new shiny!
I think that's part of a bigger problem. If you have more options to build your character then you have more to get things wrong. If you find out you're on the wrong path, the effort to fix things may be too much.
So what. Play til the game doesn't engage you anymore. If a game's mechanics or story grate on me, I quit. If the game makes me replay significant parts of it due to instability or design, Quitsville 2. Etc. It's not a 'must finish' contract.
Doesn't mean the game is bad, either. It can just be a style you'd prefer to avoid.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
Just to list a few.
Every Bioware game ever made I have finished, in some cases multiple playthroughs, especially the earlier stuff like BG and NWN.
Morrowind through Skyrim, finished main story more than once, Oblivion and Skyrim further played with mods.
Just Cause II and III - finished
Tomb Raider - finished
Half-Life X- finished (even the spin off games)
Assassins Creed I - finished (bought AC II for PC, it wouldn't work, never returned to series)
Divinity Series - finished
Two Worlds - finished
I could insert many other titles to the list from many genres
I do understand why some people don't finish games though, they lose interest or are enticed by some new shiny. Steam sales don't help either.
I do have a ton of games sitting in my Steam library that I haven't touched yet. Some really good titles like Human Revolution, Borderlands 1+2, Bioshock Infinite, and Dishonored. These don't count though as I've never even started them.
There are some games though that I do need to revisit and finish. Pillars of Eternity is at the top of that list.
Anyways, reflecting on this, if the game is even somewhat half decent I think I have a pretty good chance of actually seeing it through to the end.
I wonder if the OP or someone else thinks there is an alternate universe where 100% of the players finish 100% of the games? This is kind of a no brainer. And a game sucks, how many are going to finish it?
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
My current list is Fallout 4, Pillars of Eternity, Deus Ex: HR, Divinity: OR and probably a few that I've forgotten.
Fallout 4 just got... boring. It's not a bad game, but honestly 3 and New Vegas were far more interesting to me. I should really load it up and finish the last chapter.
Pillars of Eternity... somewhere in the last chapter I just got sick and tired of the game mechanics being so radically different from AD&D. I mean part of the reason that I loved Baldur's Gate were the game mechanics, and honestly if you don't have a weapon with high DR by the last chapter, then don't bother playing.
Deus Ex. Bleehhhhhh. For all the damned hype, I was completely underwhelmed with nearly every aspect of this game from the boring cybernetic upgrade paths to Pritchards voice that made me want to chew licorice... and I hate licorice.
Divinity... was touted as the "Isometric RPG that we've all been waiting for" except it wasn't. Limited party members, confusing often broken character progression, and horrible itemization made me give up right around the point where I sent some lady to talk to a lonely troll.
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On the Play Station the very first RPG I finished was Wild Arms and then Final Fantasy 7.
Among the games I have finished are Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Dragon Age Origins. Lot of other I have not yet finished including Witcher 3 ,Divinity Original Sin and Pillars of Eternity. I have more games unfinished than finished.
Legends of Grimrock 1 and 2 - Finished both. Amazingly crafted games, although not quite as hard as the Dungeon Master games they are a shout out too.
Too many games are utter crap to me. I'm an extremely picky gamer who knows what he likes. I've bought too many titles in recent years and happily shelved them.
I'm surprised it took someone this long to finally ask the question. Digging into their research, they're basing it on Steam Achievements which is an arbitrary way to consider a game finished. Just as an example of one title (Skyrim), I could call finishing the main story finishing the game. Or I could call completing all the trophies/achievements finishing the game. Or I could call finishing every quest in the game finishing the game. Given that it's impossible to complete every quest in a game like Skyrim because of decision branching, no one would ever complete it under that last criterion. It's also more likely someone would finish the main story line than go trophy hunting (which tends to be obscure specific actions required to complete). I don't know that these numbers say much because the metric used for the analysis seems lacking from the outset.
___________________________
Have flask; will travel.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Ahem..
Since I hate wasting my time and money, I try to research titles beforehand and then only buy what I know I will play all the way through.. In the rare cases of impulse buying, I got what I deserved and dropped them pretty quick..
..because we're gamers, damn it!! - William Massachusetts (Log Horizon)
I assumed that would be an unfinishable game and out of context for the thread. Like how do you stop and unstoppable object or how does the never ending story end.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Darkest Dungeon. finished
Divinity original sin. finished
Dragon age origins. Finished
Dragon age 2. finished
Dragon's dogma. didn't finish since I found the last part dull and boring.
Fallout new vegas. finished
Fallout 4. finished
Legend of grimrock. disliked it almost immediately, didn't finish
Lords of the fallen. Returned it after an hour played.
Mass effect 1-3. finished
Pillars of eternity. finished
Skyrim. finished
Witcher 1-3. finished
Completion rate of 85% for games listed.
Edit. Achievement completion for divinity original sin is misleading since most people have both the regular and enhanced edition on their steam account.
What I always found fascinating are people that rave about specific games as they were launched but when you ask them a month later they still didn't end up finishing the game for various reasons.
Also guilty, very guilty and it does not mean I dislike the game. Last game I finished was Bayonetta 2, that was frigging awesome.
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
While anyone could complete, and many have completed various Skyrim storylines on multiple play-throughs, the brand is a fine example, if we are not entirely concerned with MMOs. The ES series has precisely a reputation (ESO absolutely doesn't count as part of the franchise) of letting the gamers create their own stories and classes, without incarcerating them with pre-designed professions, or political or moral stances. Compared to Daggerfall or even Oblivion, Skyrim did force a hefty bite down our throats, forcing us to play an epic role of the dragonborn. But to be honest, it was also possible to be a drifter in that world, without submitting to the text.
The whole idea of achievement, one that can be named, seriously? While this position can probably be traced back to my ancient roleplaying background (psychodrama versus script), I'd be awesmacked, should any significant population recall the pre-determined names of these achievements as their actual Elder Scrolls achievements, and the dearest gaming memories. My guess is that the real achievements are elusive, often mistakes, and when you capture them with a formal, commensurate name, they fade. Apologies for being a little bit romantic.
--John Ruskin
¯\_(ツ)_/¯