Concerns of the Time Conscious Gamer

Playing a game takes time, time that could be spent doing other things. As an increasingly busy student, finding the time to play the games I love is getting difficult. Assuming I don’t abandon my responsibilities, I have to start really scrutinizing what I play and when I have time to play it. Sinking hours and/or dollars into a game that turns out to be a waste, or something I never finish, or play again is a real problem that I have, partially thanks to Steam Sales. There are probably many gamers like me who have other types of obligations filling up their schedules, which begs the question: What kinds of effects are games, players, and developers experiencing as a result of this hour counting culture?

Whether it’s hunting for a rare piece of loot, power-leveling a character, or practicing a non-combat skill, players have to invest a lot of time to achieve what they want in an MMORPG. However, the traditional grind is something that can dissuade a multitude of players from playing simply because they have no time for it. To address this, lots of free-to-play MMORPGs feature boosters for experience or loot drop rates in their cash shops to help people get things done faster. While this works for some players, other players like myself, without the time or coin, end up flocking to different games or genres. Compound the problem of partying up with friends of similar clogged up schedules, and some games are unplayable.

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The developers of modern games have not been oblivious to the problems of busy consumers, and have adapted new game genres to cater to different schedules. Mobile games appeal to a very wide audience including gamers that are short on time. While mobile games lack the depth of fully fleshed titles played on consoles or computers, their simplicity is a boon to those wanting to play shorter sessions intermittently through the day. The mechanics of progression in mobile titles typically involve waiting for timers to count down, granting resources, money, or research for the player to use. If a player is impatient, most games have microtransactions that provide paying players with cooldown resets, instant resources, and other tempting time-savers that make most MMO cash shop boosters pale in comparison. For example, a common practice is for a game to offer a paid revival if a dungeon run doesn’t go quite as planned. Players that purchase this might not have the time or patience to farm the resources to do another run of the dungeon after they’ve gotten so far in. Instead, they opt to (hopefully) finish what they started for a trivial fee. I’ve fallen for this pitfall before with Brave Frontier, in which the game gives you free premium currency to encourage you to buy more so that you can purchase such services in the future. Regardless of whether you’re a paying customer or not though, mobile games are crafted to be simpler and quicker, but entertaining and profitable in their own way.

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Some games are also better played… by not playing them. The semi-recent sudden popularity spike of idle games spurred by titles such as Clicker Heroes and Cookie Clicker have drawn attention to a somewhat barebones genre of games where you simply check into your automatically filling progress bar, maybe purchase some upgrades if you can afford it, and subsequently carry out your day. It seems odd to the unaware observer, but the appeal lies in the sense of progression one gets from these types of games. Similar to the sense of gratification one gets from grinding and leveling up in traditional MMORPGs, players can get the same satisfaction, without the cost in time, effort, and money (real or in-game) of traditional grinding. Having said this, players must be careful not to get mesmerized watching the automatic progression carry out like clockwork, or one could end up wasting more time than they intended to save. I would be lying to you if I said I played Cookie Clicker without staring hypnotically at the growing number of cookies I was baking for at least 5 minutes straight.

YouTubers and Twitch streamers have quickly become one of the most prominent forms of online entertainment. This is handy for those who want to experience or appreciate a particular game, but don’t have the time, willpower, or skill to properly play. I partake in more of this than I would like to admit or realize, watching everyone from EpicNameBro playing Dark Souls III, Chuggaaconroy playing Nintendo titles, or countless speedrunners on Twitch. Each personality has their own unique commentary to add to the gameplay viewing experience, and in some cases can help viewers like me appreciate the game more due to the fact that they could bring up interesting secrets or trivia that would have otherwise been skipped over in haste.

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The live viewing experience on Twitch is also very much unique, as the nature of livestreaming with chat interaction can lead to varying experiences depending on how large the stream is. I do like visiting the larger streams, like witwix, Cirno_TV, or iateyourpie, where chat hype flows freely, but I like the smaller streams just as much, where everyone knows each other’s name. Most importantly, for me at least, streams allow me to watch, enjoy, and experience a game passively while I focus my attention on other things. This is of course, assuming I can multitask well. Sometimes, I end up taking more time than I intended to, which is hilariously unfortunate in retrospect. I’ve been known to frequent Shurelya’s Late Night Live streams while I attempt to get a quick assignment done, and considering I tune in right as I get home from evening classes, it’s a nice, alternative way to relax at the end of the day.

It is not hard to see the shifting effects of gaming tendencies caused by increasingly busy schedules. Not having the time to play forces gamers like myself to really consider what my time and money goes into so that I don’t end up wasting my precious limited resources. The industry as a whole knows about this demographic, and while not every game caters to this fairly, some have capitalized successfully on the issue and have created adapted titles that I enjoy as a result. Even if I don’t get the chance to play a game, I know that someone playing it for an audience is just a few clicks away. There will be a time eventually where I finally settle in to clear up my backlog of games and finally start my own hardcore grind in the MMORPG of my choice, but until then, I’ll have to make do with whatever precious hours I can get to enjoy the hobby I love.