I think it was inevitable. Before HL2 we had Deus Ex. It was glorious. Fans loved it. Game devs looked at it and went “F*%@ that! We’re not making 3 games worth of content when you’re only going to see 1 on a given play through!”

So that defines the basic tension. Gamers love replay value and multiple paths and different character builds and tons of secrets to explore. Game devs on the other hand want players to see every little blade of grass and tree they worked so hard at placing in the game. I think they also have a lot of data from achievements that show most gamers barely finish the game once, let alone discover all the secrets and alternate endings etc.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

I'll just say as an aging gamer, I simply do not have time to grind or replay things. I could do that stuff in highschool, but not anymore.

Grinding especially is a no-go for me. 100% achievements? No chance in hell that's happening.

Life moves too fast and there's too much entertainment. Devs that think people have time to sit there and enjoy some obscure shit they hid, will be disappointed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

That’s an interesting take! I’m getting to be an aging gamer myself and I no longer really play story-focused games. I play Roguelikes which I can pick up and drop any time, 5-10 minutes at a time, here and there. These games are designed to have maximum replay value. So even though I don’t have a lot of time I spend it on replaying rather than playing new games!

It’s an interesting difference and I think it depends on what we both look to get out of games.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

Yea that's also good. I do that with chess 😂