Which types of games, genres or even entire franchises have you given up due to time restrictions?

Just curious... what types of games have you given up becaues of time limitations?

I, for example... no longer invest time in the following:

FIFA GAMES
MADDEN GAMES
Racing games
FPS (I have never really liked them)
Most sports games in general

Aside that, for one reason or another I have never ever played a single game in these franchises:

Skyrim
Fable
Assasins creed
Tomb raider (i need to play the one my wife gave me as a bday prestent for my xbox one)
Infamous
Witcher
GTA
Disgea
Persona
Y´s

I used to enjoy games like Tekken, and SF but no longer play fighting games.
Still a big big fan for JRPGS, which obviously does not help to my time and backlog hehehe.

The obvious one for me is MMO's. Mostly World of Warcraft, which was more or less the only game I played for three or four years. Kids put an end to that, thankfully!

The same is happening to me with Final Fantasy XIV... now with 2 kids.. I no longer play that to much. I d enjoy the story so I just do that as new patches come out. But no longer interested in raiding on a fixed schedule etc.

JRPGs.

I say that, but the truth is that it's partly time commitment and partly that the tropes of JRPGs have gotten less tenable and more objectionable the older I get.

I see what you mean.
Yet for example... despiste them requireing ALOT OF time... I try to focus on the story. I play or invest time in JGPS that have a good story and a fun battle system.

Currently, I am playing Windwajerm Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Trails of cold steel on my vita.

Nothing explicitly, but I do find myself not playing as many strategy or sports games. I'm unfamiliar with them, and my experience with them has been mixed in the past, so when it comes time to choose something new to play, I usually go for safer/known experiences.

As far as franchises go, I'd like to try the Trails in the Sky, Trails of Cold Steel, and Kingdom Hearts games, but the time commitment involved is definitely off-putting. Same with Stellaris or Crusader Kings II - the learning curve is very intimidating, and I know it'll be several hours before I have any sort of competence at the games, so I keep putting them off.

Upon reflection, I still play a bunch of ridiculously time intensive games (my go-to genres are sim racers and turn-based strategy/tactics).

I just play fewer of them at a time, and accept that it'll take me 12+ months to get through a single run of yer XCOMs and Battletechs (if I even make it at all - haven't rolled the credits on XCOM2 yet, either vanilla or WotC).

All of the above?

I pretty much play PUBG almost exclusively now (and kind of hate myself for it, though I do legit enjoy it), largely because there's a low barrier for entry, I can drop games faster than start them if the baby needs me, and it let's me simultaneously shut my mind off from life & work stresses while providing that psychological reward system that I crave from games.

With the almost-2-year-old + my new job, I only have 2-3 hours per night to myself. Nothing else on PC is really enticing at the moment, and I don't have a PS4 for God of War or any of the new titles coming soon on there. I really should be getting back into making art on the side, and have a plan in place to ramp back into that, but I'm kind of stuck grinding my gears there and end up just giving up and playing a quick game of PUBG before I'm "forced" to go to bed at midnight (either by my wife's scolding or my heavy eyelids, whichever comes first).

I’ve completely given up on competitive shooters and RTSes/MOBAs, though I still enjoy grand strategy, RPGs and WOW. I just need to temper my MMO expectations and try to ignore sharpshooting from pugs if my dps isn’t up to par.

I have given up on being competitive on FFXIV for example. I just play solely for the story -which is amazing- and have even stopped worrying about being a completionist and getting trhophies etc. I play for the story inb games and enjoyment

I had decided to give The Witcher 3 a chance in spite of Andrich's lukewarm recommendation.
I got to the first bulletin board where the game conviently concentrates the majority of that town's side quests.

When I walked away with 20 to 30 new sides quests I realized how many hours this game needed for me to really dive in to its world. I felt something akin digital agoraphobia.

I turned off the PS4 and never looked back.

MMO’s and pseudo-MMO’s like Destiny and The Division. Nowadays I want a game that ends. I can’t keep up with the everlasting grind.

Anything that isn't on the Switch

For me it's less the total playtime and more a question of 'what is minimum playtime in a single session'. Anything that requires more than 30-45 mins to complete a mission or reach a save point just doesn't work for me anymore. Family responsibilities basically limit my playtime in a single session. I don't mind chipping away at something over a long time but the game needs to be able to segmented like that.

My sweet spot is either:
a) a game that plays through in 10-15 hours where a half hour session feels like I've accomplished something
b) a game like Overwatch where a couple of matches can fit in a session

Given up on:

MMORPGS.. Wow was a one-of-a-life-time experience. And the experience of riding your steed through Stranglethorne Vale for the first time, or experience an Unreal capture the flag with wizards and shamans can't be topped.

Shootings.. The verily moment I realized aging make me slower, I never like shooters anyhow

Adventures... The sheer railroading of stories is not my cup of tea anymore.

And as a franchise: Football Manager. The bigger and more complex the game got, the more Tamagochi-like it became. No matter what you would do, nurture the playes into happiness was the key, not tactics and so on.

gewy wrote:

MMO’s and pseudo-MMO’s like Destiny and The Division. Nowadays I want a game that ends. I can’t keep up with the everlasting grind.

^^^ So much this! If a game requires a commitment, then I don't want to know anymore.

I'm with Darkhaund on Madden games. I was always a purist, so I had to play 15-minute quarters and full seasons. That's almost a job.

I'm surprised though, Darkhaund, that you've also forsworn racing games. Surely they're the definition of dip in/dip out? I still dust off Gran Turismo 6 and my Driving Force GT wheel occasionally and spend an afternoon with them.

I also agree with EvilDolphin about the importance of making progress in short periods of play. It is for that reason that I'm probably not going to play any more of From Software's Souls-style games. I simply cannot spend a one-hour session not beating - or sometimes not even reaching - a boss! I look longingly at Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but I know that I can never buy it.

JRPGs.

I loved them when I was younger (say about 5 to 25), but I've given them up. It's not that I don't have the free time to play them, but my time is more valuable and they don't make the cut. JRPGs have repetitive battle systems and stories that range from abysmal to mediocre. Why should I spend 60-100 hours on a JRPG when I can read a fantasy novel with a far better story and no trash mobs to fight in about 10-20 hours?

detroit20 wrote:
gewy wrote:

MMO’s and pseudo-MMO’s like Destiny and The Division. Nowadays I want a game that ends. I can’t keep up with the everlasting grind.

^^^ So much this! If a game requires a commitment, then I don't want to know anymore.

I'm with Darkhaund on Madden games. I was always a purist, so I had to play 15-minute quarters and full seasons. That's almost a job.

I'm surprised though, Darkhaund, that you've also forsworn racing games. Surely they're the definition of dip in/dip out? I still dust off Gran Turismo 6 and my Driving Force GT wheel occasionally and spend an afternoon with them.

I also agree with EvilDolphin about the importance of making progress in short periods of play. It is for that reason that I'm probably not going to play any more of From Software's Souls-style games. I simply cannot spend a one-hour session not beating - or sometimes not even reaching - a boss! I look longingly at Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but I know that I can never buy it.

Thing with racing games is.. that I am a story driven fantasy person and the concept of a racing game no longer holds my interest.... and I also read books, but I do still enjoy that magical way that a video games tells a story. If it is good obviously. Taking specifically about RPGS

For example... some years ago, a cousin gave me for my bday the DS game Lufia curse of the sinstrels... it was hell and all over hell again. horrible game. So I JUST dont play ALL jrpgs, but the ones I truly enjoy. Speaking of which... Star Ocean is another franchise I have skipped

Another example it... I own and have heard nothing but wonderful things about The last story on the Wii. I have given the game a try and still cannot connect with it.

The biggest omgwow moment, is with Ocarina of time. I have timed at least 4 times to play that game and it just does not work for me. And I am a Zelda fan and I have played many Zelda games to satisfaction.

The only racing game -if you wanna call is that lol- that I play is the Mario Kart game with my wife

MMOs, I used to play Everquest 1 and 2, following into Vanguard and WoW, now with 4 kids, I have hard time playing a game that I can't pause.

Good thing about me playing Xenoblade on my Swich, when it is not docked, is that i can put it on sleep or pause as i see fit

For lack of time, pretty much none. I just play fewer games. Oddly enough, I actually play more long games (mostly RPGs, but also endless strategy games) than I used to.

For non-time related reasons, though... I stopped playing most first-person games because they make me sick. I stopped playing Rockstar games because I think their attempts at humor are somewhere between eye-rolling and offensive and almost never funny. Stuff like that.

FPS games. I like them but most of them require too much time to get good. Back in the day I could snipe a target moving at 300kph in tribes, or shoot a hunter out of midair in L4D2. But I had to practice for dozens of hours and if I quit playing for a week I'd rust so much I would need to start from scratch.

So these days I avoid twitch shooters like Unreal Tournament, CS:GO, TF2 etc in favour of playing slower games like Vermintide (which has a melee focus) and Deep Rock Galactic where the firearms aren't pinpoint hitscan weapons. I can play these on and off and still perform fine whereas in a more intense game I would have to practice daily and I don't have the time for that anymore.

Paradox grand strategy.

I love the idea of EUIV and Stellaris and Hearts of Iron, but I’m terrible at them and just don’t have the time to put into them to improve.

I’ve started each of them a number of times and either get crushed (Stellaris, specifically) or have to put it down for other obligations and have no idea what plans I had when I pick them back up.

I'm with everyone else on the kids/responsibility thing. With the tiny amount of free time I do have I'd rather use it to work out and fight Middle Age than level up my Wizard.

That said, I've found tremendous freedom in sticking solely to a single genre: FPS. I love them and I don't care about being competitive. Completing Doom in the last year was some of the most fun I've had with a video game in probably 4 years. Just amazing.

I've dropped:
RPG
Racing
Fighting (tear)

I have also had to drop games like Civilization.. wich I used to love.
I also have had to restrain myself from getting new games. I have still boxed unopened games hehehe

I think I will rotate through but any game that doesn't allow me to jump in and out relatively quickly is off the books. I can barely find 30 minutes to game at a time so I less limit by category. I have started Farcry Blood dragon 6 or more times and get interrupted. I don't know if I can do that intro one more time.

I never was a fan of some categories like MMOs, or have tried much of 4x, JRPGs. If a game is huge I am happy to chip away at it as long as it is fun and easy to save quick!

Shooters, sports games. I was never into MMOs or JRPGs to start with.

Also, I will abandon an open world game a lot more readily, whereas I used to push through to get to that final mission, even when I’d stopped enjoying the to do list in that world.

Even tho my gaming sessions are shorter and further apart, I don’t mind longer games or turn based games like Fallout, Civ or XCOM because they are easy to come back to and remember where I’m at.

Last night was the VERY VERY FIRST TIME EVER my wife and I played MARIO PARTY 10 on the WiiU what an amazing game.

This was ONE of those franchises that I had never bothered to play.
It was good quality time and we had fun.

Browsing to my backlog I also noticed that I have some DS run factory games that I havent even touched

MMOs- It's not quite that they don't respect my time, but they don't reward it well enough. I haven't found any where the mechanics are worth it on their own, and the pacing is such that I don't get enough story progress for my time. I have a LOTRO lifetime subscription so there's no cost to play but I've still got better things to do. (And I can bank my monthly store points and level to max pretty much any time I want anyway )

Hard-core flight sims- I really want to be the kind of person who plays these but I just have too many interests to spend that much time learning a game. I really miss mid-core flightsims like the late-90s Janes series. I suppose I could play Falcon 4 or DCS dumbed down but I'd always have in the back of my mind "you're doing it wrong". I want a game where I have to beat the situation by planning well and flying well, not by remembering the right MFD incantations.

Anything with online competition. For the same reason as flightsims, I don't have time to git gud, and I don't want to be called a ***** by some fourteen-year-old because I didn't play to his standard or, ghod forbid, violated today's meta. (Can't say I've given up MOBAs since I've never played them, but that's why I don't.)

And I'm with EvilDolphin in that a game where I can jump in for a bit and jump out is much more likely to get time from me.

Evenso... most of us still mange to play.. this is what we like

Great idea for a thread! For me, it would be combat flight sims. I just don't have time in one sitting any longer to play one mission. Even with time compression, usually. It's a shame, because I love games like Wings over Flanders Fields and what not, I just can't devote to them the time they demand and deserve.