CNN: Why most people don't finish video games

[throwback]

For me, it's difficulty.

I never completed Gears of War for this reason. I complete the game to the General Raan boss fight. This boss fight is incredibly difficult, and I spent many hours attempting to defeat the character without success. This boss is harder to fight than any character or enemy in the rest of the game. The difficulty stays constant, than ramps up very quickly for this boss. Defeating this boss requires quick reflexes, and not all players are blessed with quick reflexes.

For me, it's characters.

The design of RPGs prohibits character development, and the characters are one-dimensional and don't respond well to changes in the environment or to the choices the players have made.

My favorite games include Bioshock, Prey, Dead Space 1 & 2, and the first FEAR.

 

[Trubinator]

I make a point to finish every game I can. I can't stand people who buy and trade without finishing their titles first. If I enjoy something, I see it through. It the game sucks, then fine ... skip the ending.

 

[Jax]

The only way I won't finish a game if it sucks or become just simply boring. I have a habit of getting halfway through a game and then leaving it for few weeks or months if the games becomes a little boring but I come back and complete it. At the moment I need to finish off Enslaved after getting two/thirds of it done and leaving it a few months back. I've done some of Alan Wake but left that because its simply not very good so doubt I will bother with it.

Just started New Vegas and thats a 50 hour + game so my other console games have little hope of getting my attention.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I make a point to finish every game I can. I can't stand people who buy and trade without finishing their titles first. If I enjoy something, I see it through. It the game sucks, then fine ... skip the ending.

Jeez, why so judgmental about how people play games?

 

[captcalhoun]

serious sam 2: didn't finish cuz i got to the last boss fight, my video card died, lost the save games when it was repaired and couldn't be assed to redo it all.

halo 2: see above.

tony Hawk's pro skater 3: still playing, very hard to get objectives and unlock next levels.

C&C, C&C 2, Driver, Red Alert 1, Hind, Jane's F15: got bored with a hard mission and gave up.

Every other PC game i've got, i've beaten. EF1 and 2, RTCW, Serious Sam first and second encounters, NFS: Most Wanted and NFS: Underground, CoD/UO, CoD 2, CoD 4, MW2, UT3, Quake 2 and 3, DF: Land Warrior, DF: Black Hawk Down/Team Sabre, DF Xtreme and DFX2, Halo 1, Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Academy and Republic Commando.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Time is a finite resource. I'm not wasting mine playing a level over and over again so I can figure out the precise time to jump, or the exact way to nail all the enemies. There's a reason most of the games I play are sandbox simulations.

 

[gh4chiefs]

I can't stand people who buy and trade without finishing their titles first.

And how does that affect your game playing exactly?

For that matter, how would you even know if somebody finished their game or not?

 

[Kelthaz]

I almost never finish games these days because I get bored long before the end comes. I can rarely sustain my interest in a game for more than 10-15 hours. I think the longest game I've ever finished is Twilight Princess and I only stuck that out because it's Zelda. Games don't seem to be designed to be finished any more.

I much prefer short, simple games that will be over, win or lose, in under an hour. I never have to worry about remembering where I'm supposed to go if I take an extended break. I never have to worry about learning the complex controls (for me, B shoots and A jumps is all you need). I also have time to play a greater variety of games instead of spending an entire month on one single game. I pop in the game, play for 45 minutes, and then move on to something else.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I have yet to finish Star Ocean 4, due to difficulty and the fact that the only way to get past that is to grind the minor enemies that wander around, and Star Ocean 3 due to a difficult puzzle that was only halfway through a long quest thing.

 

[Yminale]

I've beaten every game that I bought (which makes me a complete loser). The only exception is Just Cause 2. I'm not that excited of being a CIA sponsored terrorist.

 

[Lindley]

I have a standing goal to completely beat every game in Command & Conquer: The First Decade eventually.

I admit I stalled on Tiberian Sun when Starcraft 2 came out. And there was one mission of C&C: The Covert Operations that was just impossible to even start, so I skipped it.

 

[gh4chiefs]

It looks like with a few exceptions, for the people who don't finish games, the main contributing factor is difficulty. I guess it's hard for game designers and programmers to find a balance between the hardcore and more casual gamers. But at times, I feel like the game designer forgot that "Hey this is supposed to be fun, not frustrating." I don't play games to prove anything to myself or anyone else, I'm just trying to find something entertaining and enjoyable. A little challenge is fine, but it shouldn't be near impossible for people with less than great skills.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

With me, I sometimes would rather not finish, than have the adventure be over.

 

[Owain Taggart]

It looks like with a few exceptions, for the people who don't finish games, the main contributing factor is difficulty. I guess it's hard for game designers and programmers to find a balance between the hardcore and more casual gamers. But at times, I feel like the game designer forgot that "Hey this is supposed to be fun, not frustrating." I don't play games to prove anything to myself or anyone else, I'm just trying to find something entertaining and enjoyable. A little challenge is fine, but it shouldn't be near impossible for people with less than great skills.

Exactly. I'm loving Red Dead Redemption because of this. It's fun and not terribly hard and is more concerned with being a great experience set in the old west.

 

[Kelthaz]

I'll quit a game over difficulty too, but I'll do it if it's too easy. I understand that we challenge gamers are rare, but I'm hardly alone. I just don't understand why developers have abandoned difficulty levels that allow gamers of all skill levels to play your game. Increasing the health of the enemies isn't enough -- the game is still just as easy, but it takes longer to win. I'm talking true difficulty levels.

Easy

- Save Anywhere
- Plentiful Ammo
- Mostly basic enemies; few advanced enemies
- High health
- Simple objectives

Medium

- Checkpoint system
- Moderate Ammo
- Some basic enemies; some advanced enemies
- Moderate health
- Normal objectives

Hard

- Limited Checkpoints
- "Don’t miss" Ammo levels
- Few basic enemies; many advanced enemies
- Low health
- Complex objectives

Goldeneye did this perfectly back in 1997, so why is it that today, in the age of the open world, we have regressed in terms of player choice over difficulty? I loved 00 Agent mode.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

A problem I have with finishing videogames is that sometimes they're just too damn long. Return to Castle Wolfenstein on the Xbox had that problem. It went on for about 10 or 15 levels after the point where you'd expect the conclusion of the game to take place. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind had that problem too, especially with the Nerevarine and Hortator quest near the end.

 

[gh4chiefs]

I'm loving Red Dead Redemption because of this. It's fun and not terribly hard and is more concerned with being a great experience set in the old west.

That's a great example of a great game experience without having a ridiculous level of difficulty. I just finished Mass Effect 2, and I played it on the easiest difficulty, and it was exactly the same thing as you're saying here. It was about the overall game experience, not the combat difficulty.

A problem I have with finishing videogames is that sometimes they're just too damn long.

I remember feeling that way about the original Half Life. Great game but it finally got to a point where I didn't think it was ever going to end. That being said, I'd still rather have that then some of these 6 hour games that have been coming out recently.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

A problem I have with finishing videogames is that sometimes they're just too damn long.

I remember feeling that way about the original Half Life. Great game but it finally got to a point where I didn't think it was ever going to end. That being said, I'd still rather have that then some of these 6 hour games that have been coming out recently.

Indeed. I was really disappointed when it took me all of 10 hours to polish off Splinter Cell: Conviction.

 

[SPCTRE]

I finish every game I start, because

A) I know a thing or two about video games, so I do not buy shitty ones,

B) I'm not fucking retarded.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm loving Red Dead Redemption because of this. It's fun and not terribly hard and is more concerned with being a great experience set in the old west.

That's a great example of a great game experience without having a ridiculous level of difficulty. I just finished Mass Effect 2, and I played it on the easiest difficulty, and it was exactly the same thing as you're saying here. It was about the overall game experience, not the combat difficulty.

Yeah, exactly. To me, part of the gaming experience, especially if a game is tight on story, is the journey and the choices you make to getting to the end. If a game is going to be too hard and take away from that, then that's simply not fun as it stops me from going forward on that journey. If it's too hard, then story won't matter very much, as in The Force Unleashed.