Why develop 40 hours Solo if less then 10% get there!

Hi all.

I have a question

I read numerous articles and facts that only 10% only finish a Game, Story of a Game.

The highest number drops out at 20% of a Games content and still rate it good!

Still based on that fact gamers complain if they read that a game has instead of 50 hours story only 20

That is actually stupid.

Why waste as a developer time to create content 90% will not see.

And why do we as customers do not ask for shorter but maybe more intense story.
That all of us also finish. 5 hours for example.

To much money waisted for Game Content the majority will never explore?? Or not?

I just played good old Portal. 5 hours and done. Did feel like i accomblished something and did enjoy the complete product.

Maybe SotA should reduce Solo Content to 10 hous but make that awesome instead of trying to make 40 hours no one ever plays?

 

On the other hand you could say: Why develop a housing or PvP system which only a small portion of the gamers will enjoy?
People have different preferences. Part of the players like PvP - but not all of them. Part of the players like housing - but not all of them. Part of the players like a story and quests - but not all of them.

Devs have to find a balance between all of the features. And they have to find a balance in how long the story content should be. 40 hours maybe is the "magic barrier". Some people will play right through those 40 hours, others might stop in between and come back some time later. Some don't like it, others don't have time for it...
But that's the problem with every feature. If the devs would focus on creating a deep and complex PvP system with ranking etc. who is to say that half of the players wouldn't stop playing after some time for various reasons? Then the question would be asked why the devs "wasted" time on creating such a complex PvP system when half of the players don't use it?

 

Stupid question:

Is the 40 hours Story SotA did promise for all 5 episodes? 8 hours each?

Or 40 hours for episode 1.

 

Sure I think that less than 10% players even finished the ultimas... It was hard and not linear, but the fact it was so complex and layered is what made it immersive.

You know something else might be revealing another facet of the mystery, and that kept you exploring, perhaps even replaying the game multiple times to get all easter eggs and metaphors.

It's nice to have a 10 hour game and voila you're done, but that would be hurting replayability value and also perhaps severely limit funding for subsequent episodes.

Ultima is a continuity, not a line in the sand, see what I mean ?

 

There are no stupid questions, afaik its 40 hours for episode 1, and if its good, then portalarium will think about leaving RG and TH on the payroll, by launching a kickstarter for episode 2

 

No no no, please do not distract the Devs from polishing another town I will never visit.

 

Single Player Games are very successful nowadays (if done right):

 

Erm... so you would prefer a game that got onle 10% content and then shows a message like "You just finished all the stuff we made, thanks for playing" ???

 

I've already spent 362 hours playing this game in a month so that would mean I have beat the game ~36 times in a 10h game that is not really enough content. I realize I'm likely in the 10% but that short of a game would have to have major replayability for me to keep killing it that many times. I would have to get some major romance options like Dragon Age/ Mass Effect for me to want to beat it that many times

 

It is like ordering a meal that you
can't handle. And sad to see the food thrown away.

There is a trend of more and more Games going the Episode Road.

Life is Strange, Telltale Walking Dead, Tomp Raider and i could find many more examples.

I finished Life is Strange ( all Episodes)
I ask myself if i had finished it if all Episodes would have been delivered as one Game.
I think "No"

I think it is a good strategy to split very long Games into pieces and sale them each for less

I agree with all of you that the more content you get for a game the better.

Was just wondering if there is a way to get a higher % to actualy finish the Game.

 

The Ultima series is very well known for the short main story line.

It's also very well know for the robust side quest. That gives the game months of replay value. A living world to immerse into.

The old school Ultima fans are the type of people that will do those side quests. To not have them is to give up the idea of being a spiritual successor.

Edit: and to think the 40 hours is the only story line available is kinda odd too

 

I know quite a few people pledged for a SP story in the spirit of Ultima and they should get one...I'm just not one of them.

I play for the MMO sandbox. Please make it more sandbox and forget about story in MP. Fix combat, PvP, crafting, etc. instead. One of the beautiful things about a sandbox is you can make your own story. No "on rails" stuff needed.

 

As part of the 10% who normally spends 100+ hrs to complete EVERY facet of single player RPGS, I would be sorely disappointed by a lack of single player content

That being said, I have found that the social experience of a MMO (this being my first one...) greatly enhances the game experience and keeps me wanting to come back for more, ensuring that I will be playing Shroud with my friends for many years after I have completed all of the single player content

 

It is also a question of the game category. Traditionally, RPGs have much longer play times than any other type of game. This is due to a couple things:

• developing a character. Imagine if Ultima 5, or Mass Effect 2, was only 10 hours long. You would completely lose the sense of attachment to your character that comes from developing it to your personal playstyle, and the sense of accomplishment from (in Ultima's case) finally being able to kick some serious ass once you achieve the higher levels.

• world exploration. Being able to explore a world at your own pace and discover things that don't necessarily have anything to do with the main storyline adds a huge amount of playtime to this. Your examples of episodic, shorter stories very rarely have this aspect of gameplay. Some easter eggs, sure, but you don't spend hours wandering through the forests of Tomb Raider or a Telltale adventure.

 

People do play solo in MMO game as well. Not everyone always want to be in party with anyone all the time. Sometimes folks will go solo until their friends get online.

 

The concept of the "evil" forces not sitting hidden away in some instance waiting to be killed is the MMO side. The sand box is what is used to keep the story open and free from the treadmill.

The overwolrd map is a delivery system to feed content in an ever changing story arch. (Notice the monthly patches) They sold this game to us as a living world and that they will be able to have content happening all around us.

To scrap the story in OPO is to follow the UO path the EA way. Kickstarter was used to avoid that.

 

lol never say never, what if town invasions come in? This would be great incentive to me to visit every town there is

 

I think these kind of estimates include people who buy a game, spend an hour in it, decide they don't like it and quit. I'd bet that makes up a substantial proportion of the 90%. Those kind of people are probably not repeat purchasers for future episodes/sequels and are probably not of the greatest value for evaluating monetary return on content production. However, if we limit to people who actually play the game >40 hours, and the number ends up being like 30% - 40% completion rate (and the content is satisfying, encouraging future purchases) then the value of the content is probably justified.

 

But they are valuable to evaluate monetary return on future content production.