How Long Do You 'Give' A Game Before You Stop Playing?

[jdogtwodolla]

I don't have an average time. I just stop when i realize i'm just not that into it.

I played Epic Mickey on a few occasions and enjoyed myself while doing it. I wouldn't go back to it though because it just couldn't grab me.

Same with Grand Theft Auto 4: Lost and Damned only this time because it made me sick from second one.

 

[Batou667]

I'm going to radically buck the trend by saying "depends" like literally everyone else. On the whole though I think I'm more patient/forgiving than the average player, and even if a game initially puts me off I tend to gravitate back a couple of times to give it another chance.

By contrast, I have a friend on Xbox Live, and the number of games on his record that have 10GS or less is mind-boggling. In many cases he quite clearly hasn't even finished the tutorial level before giving up.

The closest I got to a "Yeah, nah" moment recently was when I fished Rage out of my gaming backlog and gave it a try. Ten minutes into the game and you're being given your first NPC fetch/kill quest. "Wow! A real live vault dweller! You guys are pretty rare and incredibly valuable! Here's a rusty pistol, I need to you single-handedly take out a gang base." Bullshit.

Pretty skyboxes, mind you. Also kind of amusing how hard they try to break away from the typical Bethesda "hundred yard stare" during dialogue and have the NPCs practically cartwheel around over-energetically.

 

[bearlotz]

How long I play depends on what I don't like about a game. If the mechanics or controls are bad or just don't appeal to me, I'll drop a game within an hour. If the story isn't interesting, I'll give it an evening or two. If the world scaling is bad or a game is too grindy, I might make it a few weeks (for RPG-ish games).

It depends on the type of game and the specific issues that I have with it.

If a game has terrible controls or hideous voice acting, I may give up within 30 minutes (even less sometimes).

In the same boat here, if the mechanics/gameplay are bad then it's getting tossed within an hour. If I see QTE's, I'm putting the controller down and running the opposite direction.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

I'm not likely to give up on games before I finish them, for two reasons. One, I don't buy very many due to limited funds, so I don't give up on a game easily. Second, I am very careful about what games I do purchase. I do research, I rarely buy new releases, and when I do it is because it is a sequel in a series I am very invested in, such as the sequels to Borderlands. So I really almost never regret playing a game.

However, in the very few cases that I have given up on a game before I finished, it was always after several hours in. Basically, I will play a game long enough to get a grasp on all of its mechanics and understand where its story seems to be going, and if all that is so offensive or aggressively boring that I can't continue without harming myself, then and only then will I leave it and not come back.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I'll generally try to get through the tutorial section and maybe play a level/dungeon or two. In the case of open world games, I'll probably put in a few hours exploring and doing random quests. So, generally, about 1-5 hours depending on the game. Generally speaking, if the game at least shows some potential (e.g. the mechanics are solid but the early levels are poorly designed), then I'll at least continue in the hope that it will get better. Otherwise, I'll just move on.

 

[verdant monkai]

As long as the game is easy enough, and in one of the genres I like, or at least has some cool themes, then I can finish it.

If I'm not finding it interesting and on top if that its hard or requires me to do something monotonous, then I'll knock it on the head after about 2-3 hours.

 

[DirgeNovak]

If I really hate basic game mechanics, I'm done within an hour. But most games I abandon last at least five or six hours, and more often than not it won't really be the game's fault. I'll just start a replay of a game I love as a palate cleanser between two sessions, end up playing through that and then forget I even owned the other game, pick it back up months later, rinse and repeat. I'm so, so sorry, Batman: Arkham Asylum. I've treated you so badly.

Pretty skyboxes, mind you. Also kind of amusing how hard they try to break away from the typical Bethesda "hundred yard stare" during dialogue and have the NPCs practically cartwheel around over-energetically.

That's because it was made by id, not Bethesda.

As long as the game is easy enough, and in one of the genres I like, or at least has some cool themes, then I can finish it.

If I'm not finding it interesting and on top if that its hard or requires me to do something monotonous, then I'll knock it on the head after about 2-3 hours.

Oh yeah, that too. When the difficulty curve suddenly turns into a wall with a big sign that says "FUCK YOUUUU" in neon letters (looking at you, Final Fantasy III), I'll usually bow out and not touch it again.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Sorry to be really vague, but there *is* no average time in my case. I've gotten really far into games just to drop them for no apparent, (Alan Wake) and also given games about 2 hours, only to pick it up and finish it and love the crap out of it and play it again (Dark Souls). So, no rule applies. There are fighting games as well that I thought I would really get into (SFIV) and just didn't have the appeal as the earlier ones did, and there is the opposite (MK9).

There's RTS games that I finished 2/3rds of (Dawn of War II, C&C3), and RPG's that I still vow to finish after starting and being very engrossed in, but just not having the time to dedicate YET (Divinity: Original Sin, Torchlight 2). So whatever case you can bring up, I've done it. You can even include driving games to that list. Except sports/ball games. Never touch those.

To draw a correlation, I guess it comes down to how much I *want* to finish a game, despite how good or bad it is. I loved the pants off of Dungeon Siege 1 & 2, but when I started Dungeon Siege 3, it was such a slogging disappointment I should have put down 1 hour in. It never got better, I think I put in about 6 or 7 hours before I finally threw in the towel. Same goes for the Jagged Alliance: Back in Action reboot. Thankfully X-COM didn't turn out so bad.

 

[Fox12]

I haven't played a bad game in a long time, but a bad game isn't going to magically going to become good. So, not very long.

I used to. I used to try. I have FF13 14 hours of my life. I tried to like it. I tried to see the good in things. But there was nothing good there. I'm much less charitable now. I don't have time to waist on something that isn't fun.

 

[GrumbleGrump]

Frankly, it usually comes down to the first sequences. If it fails to draw me in I just leave it to rot, like a fungus infested strawberry.

 

[Ryallen]

Two hours, usually, but I only stop playing just because I never really feel like playing it ever again. Whenever I play a game and stop, it's rarely because I genuinely don't like it, it's just that I'm never really in the mood to play it again.

Take Dark Souls, for instance. I like that game a lot. I really do. But I haven't played it since October. It's not because I don't like it, as stated above, it's because I'm just not in the mood right now, and might not ever be. I hope to be someday soon, but as of right now, I'm not. Divinity II, however, was a game that I, at first, liked a lot, then quickly stopped. But, I gave that game three hours before I stopped for good. I gave Dark Souls 2 hours. Like I said, it's just a thing of when I feel like it.

 

[sageoftruth]

It often depends on whether or not I expect it to remain the same throughout the experience. If things look like they're going downhill, I'll head here and ask among the forumites whether or not I'll be rewarded with a better experience for sticking to it. That's essentially what I did with Ni No Kuni. After having cleared 3 adventure towns, people pretty much said, "If it hasn't impressed you yet, it probably won't down the road." That was it for Ni No Kuni.

 

[babinro]

I'm in a similar boat as the OP though I'm more forgiving than just 2 hours.

For example, I hated GTA4 and yet revisited the game repeatedly over 2 weeks playing maybe 10 hours before selling it to a friend. Other games like LA Noire I knew I wouldn't like within 3 hours of game play.

There's still the occasional anomaly though. I wasn't happy with Skyrim and yet I have close to 70 hours in that game. I simply forced myself through the campaign and a few of the guilds in hopes that something would change my mind. My added attention to this game was largely due to the escapist forums...soo much love for this game even voting it the best game ever made if I recall. I just felt like I was missing something. Turns out I wasn't. As much as I loved Oblivion before it I could not get into Skyrim.

 

[sageoftruth]

I haven't played a bad game in a long time, but a bad game isn't going to magically going to become good. So, not very long.

I used to. I used to try. I have FF13 14 hours of my life. I tried to like it. I tried to see the good in things. But there was nothing good there. I'm much less charitable now. I don't have time to waist on something that isn't fun.

I'd beg to differ on that, particularly when it comes to games with lousy tutorials. My all time favorite RPG, Persona 4, can take up to 2 hours of plot railroading and ultra linear, cutscene-riddled "gameplay" before the main plot has been established, the training wheels get taken off, and you get to actually decide what happens from then on. It's a blast from then on, if RPGs are your thing.

Good games can still have slow-paced, super boring tutorials hiding what actually makes them good. It sucks when that happens, but it also sucks to miss out on the good stuff because of it. Still, I'm not condemning you for giving up on FF13. 14 hours is really pushing it.

 

[Tanis]

It REALLY REALLY REALLY depends on the genera.

RPGs, J or otherwise, tend to take a bit longer to 'get' anywhere.

A shump should 'get' me into it by the first level.

 

[Fox12]

I haven't played a bad game in a long time, but a bad game isn't going to magically going to become good. So, not very long.

I used to. I used to try. I have FF13 14 hours of my life. I tried to like it. I tried to see the good in things. But there was nothing good there. I'm much less charitable now. I don't have time to waist on something that isn't fun.

I'd beg to differ on that, particularly when it comes to games with lousy tutorials. My all time favorite RPG, Persona 4, can take up to 2 hours of plot railroading and ultra linear, cutscene-riddled "gameplay" before the main plot has been established, the training wheels get taken off, and you get to actually decide what happens from then on. It's a blast from then on, if RPGs are your thing.

Good games can still have slow-paced, super boring tutorials hiding what actually makes them good. It sucks when that happens, but it also sucks to miss out on the good stuff because of it. Still, I'm not condemning you for giving up on FF13. 14 hours is really pushing it.

The beginning to Persona 4 was actually one of my favorite parts, haha. I don't think that "slow" necessarily equals "bad." Kingdom Hearts also had very slow start, but when it starts, it delivers. Those games,though, do a really good job of weaving the tutorial into the narrative, and both the story and game play are good in those titles.

My issue is with games that are legitimately not well made. A game with broken mechanics, bad graphics, and a poor cliche story aren't suddenly going to have great mechanics and a genre defining narrative half way through.

That said, I'm wary when I'm told that a game gets good 12 hours in. It usually isn't true, but even if it is, I have precious little free time to spare. I can't really spare twelve hours on a game to get to the good bit. If it takes that long, then it's usually a failure of the designer. The only exception I can think of is Dark Souls, since you need to understand it to fully appreciate it. Once it clicks, though, it's one of the most rewarding experiences out there.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Some games I have spent the better part of a year playing, some were 10 minutes of "The fuck is this trash?"
Certain games I loved the concept and playstyle of (Fallout 3 and New Vegas I'm looking at you) but initial release bugs prevented me from actually playing those games for about 2-3 year post-release. When I did finally go back to them, I loved the hell out of them.
It also can depend on game mechanics. ARMA 2, for example, is a cool concept to me and I like a lot about it but the mechanics learning curve is so damn hard for me to initially grasp. Demon's Souls was another game that frustrated me despite liking it a hell of a lot, but I did come back to it later and got fairly far before I forgot about it in a wave of new games... I feel bad about that because I really did enjoy the hell out of that game. Same with Dark Souls, though the lag time between first and follow-up plays were less.
I'll only give up on a game if it really sucks and there's no patching out the suckness.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

I have a bad habit of playing a game right up until the end and just lose interest.
Notable games where this has happened:
Dark Souls
Dark Souls 2
Final Fantasy 13
Wasteland 2
Metro 2033
Mass Effect 3
etc.etc.etc.

So yeah, I don't generally lose interest in games unless I'm at the very end.
Which is odd.

 

[Ladylotus]

For me it depends. A game with a great story will keep me into it, and with those I usually finish. What keeps me into it, however, is the characters. Companions, side characters, villains, just people you spend the majority of the game with. The characters are why I go back to Dragon Age: Origins, why I've beaten it 18 times and bought five copies of the game over the past few years. It's also part of why I've beat Dragon Age 2 a combined total of two times.

The final thing for me is gameplay. Which is, again, why DAO was WAY more fun for me than DA2. It's why I found Saint's Row: The Third more interesting than #2, and why I loved Mass Effect 3 more than 2.

All and all, how long I give a game to impress me varies. If it's a huge open world game, or an RPG, I give it about 6 hours. If it's a shooter it gets an hour.

(Note: There are exceptions to my opinions, take Wasteland 2 for example. Companion characters really suck and the story is fairly mediocre, but the universe and tone in it is enough for me to come back to time after time)

 

[Something Amyss]

As long as I keep playing it.

I've spent hours on a game hoping it'd get better, and also given up within minutes of playing a game.