Doing some spot checks on HLTB with comparable RPGs then and now, it really feels quite subjective to me. I don't see the big differences there. But maybe it's different with strategy games; that's a genre I'm not as familiar with.

It's probably true though that nowadays long length in itself is not unanimously seen as good worth anymore, with so many gamers being adults with fewer time, and so many games competing for their attention.

I've also noticed though that some RPGs nowadays boast about their word count, as if that would actually say anything about the quality of the writing. So quantity and length still seem to be a factor in trying to get people to buy your games.

Hypothetically, but it's more fun to log onto forums and complain about games instead. :p

I wrote this many, many moons before in another thread here: I once played a (by that time, already several years old) game on Steam, that had both:

- a non-skippable tutorial mission and
- "achievement percentages" (= how many players achieved this and that during their playtime).

After I had finished the game and I got presented the achievements available and the percentages attached to them, I was surprised to find, that only between 15% to 25% (it's been a while, I don't remember the exact number anymore) of the owners of that game, had ever played and finished the tutorial.

In reverse, that's 75% to 85% of owners of that game, that never finished the first 15 to 20 minutes of said game - and possibly even never have installed it.

Not that I am any better.

Very recent example: I spent the entire last week playing the first half of "Wasteland 2 - Director's Cut".

Mind you: it's not my first time playing it - I played it directly after its release in 2014...but hopefully, this time around, I will also finish it.
Back in 2014 (10 years ago!) I stopped playing after I had cleared the prison.
Never made it to the "Titan", the "Silo" - not to mention California.

Now, after all these years, I can't remember, whether it was RL issues, that kept me from playing, or if I simply lost the drive (though after finishing the Arizona half just yesterday - I think I lost the drive...gosh, there are so many small things that annoy me in that game).

However - I am now in California, and I'm dead set to finish THIS playthrough.

As I said: 10 years after I bought the game (I actually backed its KS).

Imagine the madness, to buy stuff, that then doesn't get used (in its entirety) until 10 years after the purchase happened - if ever.
Imagine the money I could have saved, if I had known in 2014, that I will only be seriously playing this now (in 2024).

And "WL 2" is far from being the only game in my collection, that fits that scheme.

One of the reason(s), why I don't buy new (old) games lately. And definitely not for full price anymore.
Why spend unnecessary money on something, which you then don't play?

If achievements actually are "telemetry in disguise, used by games studios to know on what they should focus their efforts", like vv221 wrote here in this thread, then this should also tell them that they have to get players hooked from the start. Most non-skippable tutorials I've seen are truly sleep-inducing and a huge turn-off. What good is a game with great gameplay if players don't even get to that part and give up right at the start because the tutorial feels like a boring school lesson?

I play some of my games, albeit not all of them

I actually do play them. Maybe that's why I have "so few games". lol
Not many games on my backlog. 3 to 5 at most.

But yeah, if there's one thing achievements are good for is to follow stats of how bloated this industry is.
People buy games just for the pleasure of buying or moved by FOMO with its discounts, launch it one time and never even open it again.

Taking Steam for example, I'd say most of Valve profit comes from this. Which is... scary.
People are just throwing money at companies that make bad games and never play them, to then complain that they're bad, so they can buy next product, not play it, and keep the cycle going..

It's quite disturbing if you think about it..

Not surprising. The gaming market is insanely oversaturated: free-to-play titles compete with 90% discounted games on sale and the next shiny thing is always waiting around the corner. A lot of games are picked up just to be forgotten in the backlog. To be fair, a lot of games are pretty forgettable anyways and probably deserve so...

True classics (especially those that became such when they were excellent and one of the few alternatives, plus well known in the then-small market of old days) don't have to be up to date, except about graphics and not even always. They are valued by themselves, as some sort of museum piece but actually usable (with a bit of UI headhache, I admit).
This bunch of selected titles will stand.
C&C, the Prince, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter franchises, D&D best renditions (with or without Infinity Engine), JRPG bigger sagas, Civ, etc.
You don't want something better with those, you want just it.

Not only over-saturated, the quality/creativity is in a down-ward spiral, mostly in bigger studios. Modern business models have made it more profitable to give gamers a false sense of what is a good buy and likewise accomplishments. And constant sales can be just as addictive as gaming, poker, sex, and drugs in general, and then you have effectively over-dosed yourself.

A little sidestep: Just look at mobile apps and their gamified tactics to make you hook-ed into the rush of this false sense of pride and accomplishments. I use Duolingo since I suck at learning languages, and while I know very well where these "gems" and "gold chests" stems from, I wouldn't have used it unless there was a real gain there. I remember Khan Academy did the same thing many many years ago so it's not all bad.

How to Make Learning as Addictive as Social Media by Luis Von Ahn at TED

And achievements are often just a poor excuse to artificially extend the game, so yes, why care about quality, especially later in the game, when 90% only play 1/3 - 1/2 of the game?

I don't have many games (relatively based on what I read many here have), and I prefer to finish them, but there are some games I have that I just can't get myself to finish for various reasons. Though to be honest - I still do have plenty of games that I haven't started yet as I really don't play all that much anymore.

Haven't bought more than two this year (GoW and Selaco, which I fully intend to play to the end) so here's to hopefully get rid of the rest of the backlog, some time in the future.tm :D Nice reference, btw. Though, to be fair, in the end it did end well for him too. ;)