I’m curious what game you guys have sunk the most hours into. Mine has to be RuneScape, I don’t know the total hours because I’ve had so many accounts over the years I don’t even remember half my passwords, but it’s definitely in the thousands of hours now. I’ve played on/off RS2, OSRS, and RS3 since 2004.
I’ve also probably sunk anywhere from hundreds to 1000+ hours into Skyrim and Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura, though I don’t know the counts there either since neither were through Steam. Embarrassingly enough I’ve never completed either of those two games - I get sidetracked making so many alt characters.
What about you guys? & What got you hooked on said game?
I don’t have specific numbers since some of these games were played on various platforms or outside of environment which keeps track of play time. Still, these are the things that come to mind in regards to where I spent most of my game time.
I’m putting each title into a spoiler to avoid a huge wall of text. I tend to get a bit rambly when talking about games, sorry.
Civilisation V
I never played IV and I don’t really like VI, Civ V however managed to grab me in a way few other 4X game could. I haven’t played it in a few years but I still remember the feeling of “one more turn” - this stuff is addicting.
The Division (both games)
I was curious about the story concept for the first game but didn’t like the idea of a modern shooter with bullet spongy enemies so I avoided it for a good few years before giving it a shot. When I did jump in however, my initial hesitation evaporated pretty quickly as the atmosphere of winter New York grabbed me 100%. There are still times where enemy tankiness or firepower can be annoying but that’s mostly end game issues and something I can deal with if I lock in.
I probably have more playtime in the second game by this point but I still think there are some things the first game did way better than the sequel (writing, atmosphere, enemy factions, some skills, cosmetics). It’s why I tend to alternate between the two whenever I’m in the mood for more TD.
Girls' Frontline
Came for girls with guns, stayed for the story. It’s a gacha game, which I know many people might scoff at, but it’s from the time when the monetisation practices and tactics where very different to the current landscape (there’s no premium pulls, paid weapons or anything like that, the only thing you’d really spend your money would be skins - if you want).
Gameplay is pretty simple (build your squads, traverse node based stages, partake in semi-autobattler combat and complete objectives) but it’s pretty enjoyable for the most part. It also does a great job of combining stage challenges/difficulty with what’s happening in the story (something its sequel is simply unable to do due to a modern, dupe based character gacha and progression).
We’re two weeks from the final main story event of the game, which after more than 7 years of playing feels somewhat bittersweet. It was a fun journey though.
Gothic 2
Played it multiple times, never finished it - usually because I got distracted or just had my fill of fun.
I actually like the Gothic series more than any of the Elder Scrolls titles. These games feel somewhat more alive and immersive to me, to the point that even the unusual control scheme, preset protagonist (I really like making my own characters) or lack of “forever fun” aren’t enough to make me lean the other way. There’s some “magic” in Gothic that’s missing from TES games for me, even if they’re great in their own right.
I finally managed to finish the first game a few months ago so I hope I’ll do the same with this one “soon”. I’d like to scratch it off of my backlog, if only to give myself some closure in that regards.
Skyrim
I don’t really like Skyrim. I find it to be pretty shallow and boring in its vanilla state and the only reason I spent as much time on it as I did is mods. I pretty much use all Elder Scrolls and (modern) Fallout games as a base for a modern life-sim experiences where I just do whatever I feel like at the time - anything except for being the hero. So yeah, it’s just a backdrop but I guess it counts.
I wish Cyberpunk 2077 had as big modding scene as Skyrim. It’s another title I like to use for my “be whoever, forget the story” playthroughs and one I vastly prefer in pretty much every aspect.
Team Fortress 2
I haven’t touched it in years but it’s still one of my most played multiplayer titles ever (or at least it feels like it). I tried going back to it a few times over the years but modern TF2 is simply not the same. I also really don’t care for PvP these days so while I was curious about the classic mod/rework released some time back, I never even gave it a shot. I think I had my fill of competition.
There are probably a few more titles with similar play times but I don’t want to make it look like I had no life as a kid (I didn’t). I love games man.
Was it a specific mechanic, the whole theme of the expansion or something more specific like how it was utilised with the difficulty you play on? I’m pretty sure I like all of the expansions for that game but I’m also a rather casual player when it comes to 4X games so I’m curious about your experience.
Division is a top 5 for me too. The gameplay just perfectly aligns with my brain for some reason. I wish there were more weird builds to play with but what’re you gonna do. I can’t fricking wait for Survivors though…
I never really got too deep into builds and just threw together whatever looked or sounded cool until recently. I’m finally starting to try come up with things that actually work properly within the intended mechanics though even then, I don’t really care about min-maxing and popular builds and simply tinker on my own. That said, I mostly play solo so it’s not like there are people who could get angry at me for not playing “optimally”.
Do you also alternate between the games or did you found one that stuck with you for good?
Occasionally I’ll play a couple rounds of survival in 1 but I’m mostly in div 2 now. The mobile game resurgence just got an actual PC release so I’ll probably play some of that too. I’m mostly a solo player also ✌️
I should really give survival another shot. I played it maybe 3 times so far and while I did like it, it never managed to stick with me beyond that - I’m not sure why. Guess it’s as good of an excuse to reinstall the first game as anything else.
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I don’t have specific numbers since some of these games were played on various platforms or outside of environment which keeps track of play time. Still, these are the things that come to mind in regards to where I spent most of my game time.
I’m putting each title into a spoiler to avoid a huge wall of text. I tend to get a bit rambly when talking about games, sorry.
Civilisation V
I never played IV and I don’t really like VI, Civ V however managed to grab me in a way few other 4X game could. I haven’t played it in a few years but I still remember the feeling of “one more turn” - this stuff is addicting.
The Division (both games)
I was curious about the story concept for the first game but didn’t like the idea of a modern shooter with bullet spongy enemies so I avoided it for a good few years before giving it a shot. When I did jump in however, my initial hesitation evaporated pretty quickly as the atmosphere of winter New York grabbed me 100%. There are still times where enemy tankiness or firepower can be annoying but that’s mostly end game issues and something I can deal with if I lock in.
I probably have more playtime in the second game by this point but I still think there are some things the first game did way better than the sequel (writing, atmosphere, enemy factions, some skills, cosmetics). It’s why I tend to alternate between the two whenever I’m in the mood for more TD.
Girls' Frontline
Came for girls with guns, stayed for the story. It’s a gacha game, which I know many people might scoff at, but it’s from the time when the monetisation practices and tactics where very different to the current landscape (there’s no premium pulls, paid weapons or anything like that, the only thing you’d really spend your money would be skins - if you want).
Gameplay is pretty simple (build your squads, traverse node based stages, partake in semi-autobattler combat and complete objectives) but it’s pretty enjoyable for the most part. It also does a great job of combining stage challenges/difficulty with what’s happening in the story (something its sequel is simply unable to do due to a modern, dupe based character gacha and progression).
We’re two weeks from the final main story event of the game, which after more than 7 years of playing feels somewhat bittersweet. It was a fun journey though.
Gothic 2
Played it multiple times, never finished it - usually because I got distracted or just had my fill of fun.
I actually like the Gothic series more than any of the Elder Scrolls titles. These games feel somewhat more alive and immersive to me, to the point that even the unusual control scheme, preset protagonist (I really like making my own characters) or lack of “forever fun” aren’t enough to make me lean the other way. There’s some “magic” in Gothic that’s missing from TES games for me, even if they’re great in their own right.
I finally managed to finish the first game a few months ago so I hope I’ll do the same with this one “soon”. I’d like to scratch it off of my backlog, if only to give myself some closure in that regards.
Skyrim
I don’t really like Skyrim. I find it to be pretty shallow and boring in its vanilla state and the only reason I spent as much time on it as I did is mods. I pretty much use all Elder Scrolls and (modern) Fallout games as a base for a modern life-sim experiences where I just do whatever I feel like at the time - anything except for being the hero. So yeah, it’s just a backdrop but I guess it counts.
I wish Cyberpunk 2077 had as big modding scene as Skyrim. It’s another title I like to use for my “be whoever, forget the story” playthroughs and one I vastly prefer in pretty much every aspect.
Team Fortress 2
I haven’t touched it in years but it’s still one of my most played multiplayer titles ever (or at least it feels like it). I tried going back to it a few times over the years but modern TF2 is simply not the same. I also really don’t care for PvP these days so while I was curious about the classic mod/rework released some time back, I never even gave it a shot. I think I had my fill of competition.
There are probably a few more titles with similar play times but I don’t want to make it look like I had no life as a kid (I didn’t). I love games man.
My Civ 5 experience was similar. Steam has me at 800 hours though I don’t count all of that since some was AFK. But 5 was just so addicting to me.
One of the later expansions kinda ruined it for me oddly enough but there was a time when I could just devote an entire weekend to it.
I tried 4 and 6 and neither worked for me at all.
Was it a specific mechanic, the whole theme of the expansion or something more specific like how it was utilised with the difficulty you play on? I’m pretty sure I like all of the expansions for that game but I’m also a rather casual player when it comes to 4X games so I’m curious about your experience.
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I actually know it exists thanks to a few cross-posts between it and [email protected] but I keep forgetting to check it out. Thanks for the reminder!
Division is a top 5 for me too. The gameplay just perfectly aligns with my brain for some reason. I wish there were more weird builds to play with but what’re you gonna do. I can’t fricking wait for Survivors though…
I never really got too deep into builds and just threw together whatever looked or sounded cool until recently. I’m finally starting to try come up with things that actually work properly within the intended mechanics though even then, I don’t really care about min-maxing and popular builds and simply tinker on my own. That said, I mostly play solo so it’s not like there are people who could get angry at me for not playing “optimally”.
Do you also alternate between the games or did you found one that stuck with you for good?
Occasionally I’ll play a couple rounds of survival in 1 but I’m mostly in div 2 now. The mobile game resurgence just got an actual PC release so I’ll probably play some of that too. I’m mostly a solo player also ✌️
I should really give survival another shot. I played it maybe 3 times so far and while I did like it, it never managed to stick with me beyond that - I’m not sure why. Guess it’s as good of an excuse to reinstall the first game as anything else.