Your gaming attention span.

[Gare]

A simple enough thread. Are you the type of person who manages to play a game for hundreds of hours until you finally see the credits roll, or are you more used to playing in short bursts, maybe an hour or two at a time?

Also, how often do you actually finish your games? Many people have no patience for, say, longer RPGs, while others get completely immersed. Which category do you fall into, and why? When you play a game, what exactly it is that makes you keep going - and to look at the other side, what aspects of a game -or your own personality- can lead to abandoning a certain title?

Share your own experiences and do some self assessment. Tell us what kind of a gamer you are.

[Chocobolicious]

I never finish games these days. Don't get me wrong, I'll make it to the very end then just stop for one reason or another. Either I found something I missed, I need to do some grinding, I tried a few tactics that didn't work and stopped for the night... whatever.

I can pick up, say, final Fantasy V and do a job fiesta playthrough no problem. Yet I can only seem to play Crysis up to the last area then just stop. It isn't like I'm not even enjoying myself still, I just feel no desire to finish it.

I have quite a few RPGs saved at the final save point that I've just never gotten back around to. It's really odd. Occasionally I can find a game that really hooks me, and I'll dump days into it no problem. I couldn't really pinpoint what hook draws me in though. The last game I've had a lot of fun with was... Well, just started playing Singularity and it's a lot of fun. Before that it was definitely Dissidia 012. I also spent about 200 hours on Rift even though I didnt think it was a very good MMO.

I can and will beat any megaman, Castlevania, Phantasy Star or similar old franchise game put before me, though. Huh, well, whatever to that. (Screw you Bionic Commando.)

[NinjaKangaroo]

For me it has little to do with how much I enjoy a game. The most determining factor for how long I can sit and play a game is just how involved it is.

I can sit and play a good RPG for as long as I have time to play (and sometimes longer if I lose track lol), enjoying the story, characters, customization, soundtrack, anything that is good about the game. The game play for most RPGs, JRPG and otherwise, is substantial enough to keep me enjoying the rest of the game, or even in some cases one of the highlights of a game, but never feels quite as involved as action games by nature.

Action, shooting, fighting, platforming games have you controlling your characters more directly for the most part, and I just find that after a couple hours of gameplay I fall into this routine in most of them of just going through the same motions and taking myself out of the game. That's when it's a good time for me to stop regardless of anything going on. Not to say I don't enjoy these games, I just like to switch up the gameplay routines I fall into, and the best way to do so is to break up the game time.

As far as finishing most of my games, most of the games I've owned, and some I've rented and borrowed, have been finished. This year I got a pretty large amount of games at once, though, and I'm currently working on these, so many aren't finished yet.

[Baumshlager]

I can play a game for weeks and then delete all save games and start over (Fallout 1 & 2 just to name some) and then leave them again just so i can come back to them after a couple of years to finish.

[Jakethegreat12]

Dont remember the last game i finished.. i think fallout 3.. but i can never last that long playing the same game.

[Josh]

My gaming attention span has definitely gotten shorter over the years. Some times I find it hard to even get myself to sit down to play a game for an hour or two. However, there are some games that I have no problems playing. From last June until early March, I clocked over 90 hours into Pokemon Heart Gold. In similar fashion, I have close to 43 hours in my Pokemon Black game which I purchased on day 1.

[Littledood]

I usually only play games about 1-2 hours at a time. I don't want to finish them the day I get them. I do beat games, the story anyway, if it's something like Fallout or Marrowwind or something like that, then I will try to get all the side quests and what not done. For something like Pokemon, I usually only beat the story. It's good, but not good enough to make me want to catch 'em all.

Although I did beat Pokemon Pearl all the way, and I'm working on beating White all the way too.

[Gypsy]

I'm kinda lazy but it depends on the game. Honestly once I get rolling I steam roll. My biggest problem is actually getting started. I've had several cases where I've had a game for months before playing it and then once I start it's done in 2-3 days.

[Slacker Magician]

It's very game, and console, dependent for me. I played and finished Armored Core 4A super fast, then I played through a few more times. I beat PoP:FS in two sittings. Beat Vanquish in less than 10 hours. I beat Ar Tonelico 3 pretty quick but, I spaced it out over several days. Most of the time I play RPGs, I get really far in and forget to finish them until way later.

[Nick]

I finish most of them. Don't want to waste my money or download I guess. Just play in short burst through the week and a bit longer through the weekends.

Some people say I have AD.... something. Oh look a bunny.

[Drageuth]

Depends on the game for me. I usually have no patience whatsoever with longer RPGs -- I actually find them kind of boring. I usually like to play a game that takes about 20-30 hours to finish on the first playthrough. That's about the right length of game time for me. Also, if it's a lot of reading/searching out people to talk to/exploring to figure out where you need to go next/grinding, I tend to get bored really quickly.

[Gypsy]

Yay adhd!

[LeftyGuitar]

Well my gaming attention has gotten shorter over the years. I used to be able to play oldschool games for hours on end. With newer games, I'm seem to stop after a hour or two or perhaps even shorter then that. Unless of course it is a game I really enjoy.

[Dr. Ivo Robotnik]

My gaming attention span essentially goes until the end. I always think "I'll complete it to 100%", and once I finish the final boss, I think ".........eh."

[Kouen Hasuki]

mine is dependent on the choice of games i have really

i get spoiled by the choice of it all