We all have those games that sit on our pc or in the box on our counter that we will finish someday. Then someday never comes. For myself, I have a sick habit of making myself miserable to the point of insanity forcing myself to complete almost all games I play. Well, come to find out this isn't as common as you might think. In fact the majority of people never finish a given game even if it's a popular title.
Ever since Steam has unlocked the global achievements for everyone to see, articles have been popping up from time to time about how people just don't tend to finish video games. This is has been know by game developers for quite some time. I am going to beat a dead horse and bring in some of my own perspectives. Here are a few thoughts on why I think players wont finish a game.
Time:
Bill Watterson once said, “There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.” This couldn't be more true for video games. As someone who works all week and tries to keep something resembling a social life, gaming time will fall by the way side. I can't imagine the stretch that parents must feel. When you look at the Steam achievements, games that take a modest amount of time like F.E.A.R. 3 have 33.5% people achieving the end game achievement. It only took me about 6 hours to beat so this was a pretty small investment in my time and easy to do. Only 27.2% have the final achievement "Passed The Trial" on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This easily has to do with the proportion of time to beat the game, even though it can be said The Witcher 3 is a fantastic game it is not a short one. Especially if you explore.Not Wanting to Miss Out:
This is something that effected me more when I was younger and less now but there was always a fear of missing out. Game advertisement in particular has a really good track record of hyping games up and until you get old enough to have been burnt enough times, you believe it. Then you talk about it with friends, in school, or at work and psychological effects of wanting to be a part of something kicks in. So one new game piles on another and your bandwidth to even finish a game diminishes to nothing.
Lost Interest:
In conventional usage, boredom is an emotional or psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is not interested in his or her surroundings, or feels that a day or period is dull or tedious. I can't think of a greater example of this definition then one of the games I am working through right now which is Disgaea PC. While I do like the game it gets really grindy in the late game. You have to get your characters to a level to be able to sustain damage from attacks and in one chapter that level jumps significantly. So now you have to go back and repeat levels ad nauseam to get stronger. This can get boring real fast. Especially when you consider the average time to beat the game is 40 hours. I can't be the only one who feels this way because the end achievement "What Lies Beyond the Battle" has a 6.7% completion.It can be really hard to pick that extra flower, to die from the same boss for the 100th time, or just perform the same set of moves over and over again. No matter how good a game can be at the start, if you get bored, you will lose interest. Just visit any game forum and you will find your "did anyone else get tired of" post. Sometimes interest is lost and there is nothing you can do about it.
Bad Content:
You might also just have a really bad game on your hands. Games like Umbrella Corps and Raven's Cry are two great examples of games only the bravest of us will dare try and get through or even play. When a game sucks, its sucks and there is nothing else to be said. I think John Irving's quotes on books ring true here when he says "“Grown-ups shouldn’t finish books they’re not enjoying.”Even games that have potential can turn out to disappoint. I have not played it but the consensus is coming out that Mass Effect Andromeda leaves you feeling that too much is missing. This game takes around a modest 20 hours to beat but is still a commitment in time. There is no point in committing the time when you know you will be disappointed. This is on top of the many other reported of bugs for the game. While many are aesthetic, it is not too pleasing for consumers to have to deal with. For myself all of these have left me less then excited about this title, then again I have the other Mass Effects to play and god knows you can't just skip titles.
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