Community Playthrough Suggestion Thread

[GrayGhost81]

so this is a kinda silly request.  when a play through is announced, can you make the name of the game link to the database then its easier to click and see if we already have the game or not

That's a good idea! We'll discuss it behind the scenes and see the best way to implement it. Thanks Doug.

[Fleach]

so this is a kinda silly request.  when a play through is announced, can you make the name of the game link to the database then its easier to click and see if we already have the game or not

Great idea! It's not difficult to pull off. We're all pretty comfortable with the BB Code used here so I'm we can provide links to the database.

[MaterialHandlerMike]

Just got a copy of Persona 3. Is this a game that could be played within a month? If so,  MCP would be a good excuse for me to play it.

[GrayGhost81]

Though it's one of my favorite games of all time, and I've been dying to play it again, it took me 120 hours to complete. Too long for a playthrough I'm afraid. Don't wait to play it, Mike. Clear your schedule and dive in!

[Fleach]

I know Persona games are long, but that's incredibly long! Were you going for a 100% run?

[GrayGhost81]

No, I just took my sweet time with it.

[singlebanana]

Uh yeah, Shawn's not exaggerating: http://www.howlongtobeat.com

[GrayGhost81]

Uh yeah, Shawn's not exaggerating: http://www.howlongtobeat.com

http://www.howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=8441

[MaterialHandlerMike]

81 hours? that is quite the time investment. Way too long for a month.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

If you had enough people sign up in advance for it, you could hold a 2-month playthrough... You just need to make sure there's enough involvement to do something like that though.

[singlebanana]

I think that's still too long for a 2 month playthrough. Even at 81 hours, that's 10 hours per week. I just don't see that many people putting in that sort of time commitment to delegate 2 months of our playthrough to it. 

We learned our lesson last year with the Suikoden II playthrough (32.5 - 50 complete). That was way too much to bite off in one month and it hurt our month. Any RPGs played in the future will have to be around 20 hours, or if played in 2 months, no more than 50 hours. It's just too much to ask of our hosts and participants.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I was just thinking about how SMRPG was 2 months, and I felt it should've been 1 month...and yet, 2 months seemed to work out well. I think the 20 hours limit is probably a good idea. I was more trying to get the point across that we've done multi-month playthroughs in the past, so don't let time limit if there's large interest. 80 hours is definitely a time sink for most, even across 2 months. Not sure what I was thinking there, as I don't have that much time after work even if I played every night.

[Fleach]

We've thought about this quite a bit internally and Rich identified the issues very nicely. At the end of the day, though, I think it'll be the demand from the community that influences the decision. If people are willing to commit 2 months and 50+ hours that's great, but it's lot more involving than playing a long game for yourself for fun.

I just don't think that people will be able to commit at least two hours each and every day. And let's not forget that sometimes you don't get very far at all in an RPG in two hours.

[techwizard]

i think an occasional 30 - 35 hour game wasn't too bad last year, Phantasy Star and Chrono Trigger were both that length and it went pretty well for most people, participation was fairly high. i definitely can't see anyone playing a 40+ hour game in one month, and 2 month playthroughs are always hit and miss because some people will finish really early, and over that long a time people tend to get bored and drop out.

20 hours is really reasonable for 1 month, and that covers a lot of great games. anything above that might be better if it's limited to 1 or 2 playthroughs a year.

[Fleach]

We had some people finishing late on Chrono Trigger, which isn't all that bad, but ideally you want people finishing around the same time. Wouldn't you guys so?

I think it's a definite maybe depending on the community's commitment.