Why Don't People Finish Games?

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Gamestar: What was the last game you finished? What kept you playing?

Ray Muzyka: I have a bad habit -- starting too many video games and continuing to play all of them in parallel. I find that for games I really enjoy, I try to take as long as possible to play them...I have a bunch of games where I've finished them to nearly the last battle but still have my save games from those last battles because I just hated the idea of never playing that game again! The last game I finished completely was Far Cry (a month or so ago), but I still have Doom III installed on my PC plus a bunch of great console games for PS2, Xbox and Gamecube mid-way in progress right now (and WarioWare for GBA -- that game is one I never really want to finish, it's too much fun). I think the thing that kept pulling me along in Far Cry was the feeling that each area looked better than the last one -- there was also a lot of different ways to get to the end point which I enjoyed -- it made the game feel like you could explore, which is a feeling I also enjoy in playing RPGs.

GS: What do you think are the main reasons people don't finish games? Not enough time? Too many other good games to try? Something else?

RM: Speaking personally, I find that there are too many games released these days and it seems like there is always another great game to play just released in stores...speaking of which, I am really looking forward to playing Fable, as we're huge fans of RPGs at BioWare (plus we want to check out what Peter and the gang -- whom we respect a lot! -- have done in that game so we can continue to put in things which help make our own Jade Empire, which comes out in March 2005, even better!

RM: At BioWare, we focus on story, character interaction, exploration, and character progression as the main hooks to keep players playing -- these are many of the hallmarks of a great RPG. A great interface (easy to access, yet deep and rich for players who want that), awesome graphics, and a really fun, compelling combat system are other important attributes we spend a lot of time on. We do find that story is one of the most important attributes though -- the success of a roleplaying game story really reflects a number of other things in the game like a compelling world, a rich backstory, solid subquests, and solid interactions with NPCs.

GS: How important is the story or plot in a game? Has it become more or less important in the past few years?

RM: As I mention above, I think a solid storyline with at least a couple of good plot twists is one of the most important attributes in our games at BioWare. It's reassuring to hear that other people in the industry also feel this -- increasingly, we hear that good storylines are becoming integrated in all manner of different genres of games.

GS: We often hear that games have "40 hours of gameplay". Does that term really mean anything? Do you think there's a "magic number" to target?

Greg Zeschuk: I don't think there's a magic number to target in terms of game length. I think each game has a unique "ideal length" based on the gameplay, story, pacing and introduction of new elements. I certainly have enjoyed games that lasted less than ten hours (and I would have preferred they weren't any longer), and I've also enjoyed games that are much longer. Recently, as I've become busier, I've been appreciating shorter, more intense gaming experiences.

At BioWare we consider game length extensively, partially because we've made some of the larger games around (Baldur's Gate 2 could clock in at greater than 150 hours), but also because we want to create the ideal length of game for the development of a great story and characters. We're really focused on matching the gameplay length to the quality of the experience in games like Jade Empire (which is a good-sized, but not enormous game).

GS: Does it bother you that a good chunk of your audience may never see the later parts of your game? Do you spend less time on the end-game as a result?

GZ: We spend equivalent effort throughout the entire length of the game, though we tend to sequence it uniquely. To be more specific, we usually finish the beginning of the game last because we've found that our creators have learned a lot during the development of the game, and they can apply the lessons they learned on the beginning of the game. We usually work on the end right before we finish the beginning so both are awesome!

We specifically craft multiple paths through our games and thus have to consider how the audience may never see parts of the game, depending on the choices they made. We've found this to actually drive word-of-mouth excitement on the game as players really enjoy the concept of their game experience being "unique." No two play-throughs of our games are the same, even though the overarching story is more or less the same.

GS: Some hugely popular games don't have an "ending" to reach. What makes someone eventually stop playing EverQuest, for example? The Sims?

GZ: I think that people ultimately stop playing a game, even an open-ended one, once they've experienced everything they want to experience. Sony has been very smart by continuing to extend the EQ experience with expansion packs -- people keep playing because there are new things to experience. The same goes for the Sims -- if the content never ends, the game never ends.