Listen guys,
You should not really measure a game in length of time it takes to play. A good game can not be said to be a game which plays for 10 - 15 hours. There is far more to it than that. I understand that you are trying to get a feel for what people expect, but you should really be looking at the other end of the spectrum. You should give players what they don't expect - and by that I mean give them something they wouldn't dare to expect, i.e. give them some good things which they didn't think they would get - even if they asked for them.
Also people play games at different rates of achievement - so what s 10 hours to an average player will be 4-5 hours for a really good player. Innovative games may not be as successful as they should be with the mass market, but being honest about it, neither will an fps game that any of us write in the same vein of other work, even if it lasts a 'good length of time'. The games we write - as people who love games - should aspire to the heights of innovation, and creativity. We should stray across old staid boundaries, daring to push them back, letting in some fresh air and allowing our audience to see some new light.
IPete2.
PS and if you asked Red Oktober - he'd tell you that time did not exist anyways!
You should not really measure a game in length of time it takes to play. A good game can not be said to be a game which plays for 10 - 15 hours. There is far more to it than that. I understand that you are trying to get a feel for what people expect, but you should really be looking at the other end of the spectrum. You should give players what they don't expect - and by that I mean give them something they wouldn't dare to expect, i.e. give them some good things which they didn't think they would get - even if they asked for them.
Also people play games at different rates of achievement - so what s 10 hours to an average player will be 4-5 hours for a really good player. Innovative games may not be as successful as they should be with the mass market, but being honest about it, neither will an fps game that any of us write in the same vein of other work, even if it lasts a 'good length of time'. The games we write - as people who love games - should aspire to the heights of innovation, and creativity. We should stray across old staid boundaries, daring to push them back, letting in some fresh air and allowing our audience to see some new light.
IPete2.
PS and if you asked Red Oktober - he'd tell you that time did not exist anyways!